"Do you know anything about it at all?"
"Sorry. Any contacts I ask about it have nothing more to add, but many are suspicious about what goes on there.”
“Why?”
“Ships regularly visit the Mittenwald, but nobody has any idea why, but…”
“But what, Major?”
“…I don’t know. I hear strange things about the place, rumours, and each time different. Nobody seems to know for certain, but I don’t like the sound of the place. I’d avoid it at all costs.”
“Negative. If Armand is there, that’s where we’re heading. Thank you for this, Major. But I must now ask you forget it all. At some distant day in the future we may we meet and answer all of each other’s questions, but until that day, protect yourself. We never had this conversation. You do not support the ideals of Mitch Taylor, and you don’t go looking into this Mittenwald place, you hear me? I’ve lost enough friends over the years. You stay safe.”
“I hope you are wrong about the Councillor. I pray that you are wrong, Colonel. But if you are correct, then good luck, and may we meet again in happier times.”
The transmission ended, and Taylor dipped his head, feeling the heavy burden placed upon them all. He turned and looked to see that most of the marines had heard the conversation and were looking to him for answers.
“So here we are, at the point of no return. We cross that border and we’re enemy combatants. It’s gonna be dangerous, no doubt. You know what we’re after, and you have some idea of how vital it is. Are you still with me?”
“Sir, yes, Sir!” they screamed.
It was all he needed to hear. He turned back to Rains who already knew what he was about to ask.
“We’re passing over the border now. I have submitted our flight logs and declared our intentions.”
“Think they’ll buy it?”
“A few weeks ago, sure. Now, we can only hope.”
Taylor looked out of the cockpit at the border, but there were no unique characteristics dividing the countries, much like crossing a state border back home. They all waited silently. Taylor half expected to be shot down, but as he held his breath, they passed over without any drama.
“Welcome to Germany!” yelled Eddie.
It was a small relief.
“How close can you get us to this schloss?”
“Area is a popular tourist destination, so I reckon with the flight path we put in, we can get within a few klicks before they start asking questions.”
“Good, then set a path for a location that does not draw attention. You can divert to the schloss at the last possible moment, and bring us in low.”
“That’s it? That’s the great plan?”
“Can’t say we had months to plan this one, Eddie. We’re doing what we have to do to get the job done.”
“Which means putting my ass in the firing line, as usual?”
“Damn right, but you only have to get us there. It’s the rest of us who have to go down and get the job done.”
“Hell, yeah, I just do the flying.”
The rest of the journey seemed to take hours. They sweated it out, expecting to be shot out of the sky at any moment. In reality, it was a short journey, even in the old hulk barely managing to stay in the sky.
“You know if it was anyone else, we’d say you were crazy?”
“I wish I was, Eli,” he replied dryly.
More than anything, he wished he had the support of the Inter-Allied troops that fought beside him during the war, but this day, he commanded just a single platoon.
“You’ll be taking Corporal Riley with you as your second-in-command,” said Parker.
Taylor looked over, and the Corporal nodded in acknowledgement. Taylor hadn’t seen him since soon after Demiran’s fall in North Africa. Riley’s skin was as dark as a human could be, and he stood a good head height over the Colonel. Taylor had known him since he was a fresh recruit and had never paused to share a word with the man. He bore a scar along the line of his chin and reaching up to his mouth, with burn marks still healing on his cheek. Gone was the rookie Taylor had known, replaced by a hardened veteran the likes of which Inter-Allied had become famed for.
“We got much of a plan?” asked Silva.
Taylor rubbed his forehead as he thought it over, but he couldn’t lie to them.
“We’re going in with no intel, and no idea of what we face. I can’t say there’s much of a plan beyond get in there and seize Armand. Fire only if fired upon. I don’t want to kill a single human, but I will if I must. As you all must. Powers operate on this World the likes of which none of us fully understand. All that matters here is we get Armand, you get me?”
They all nodded. The tone had changed now. They were bearing down on a kind of war none of them had ever wanted and had long forgotten they had ever trained for; war against humans.
“ETA two minutes, Colonel! You sure you want to do this, now? Once we start this, God knows what kind of hell we’re gonna bring down on ourselves!”
“That’s beyond our control now. I figure we got about thirty to forty minutes before any reinforcements come our way. It’ll be the last thing they expect, so we can only hope they aren’t prepared for it.”
“And if they are ready and waiting?”
“Let’s just hope they ain’t.”
The last few moments passed quickly as they banked hard and headed for the Mittenwald schloss. Twenty seconds later a transmission came in. It was in English but with a strong German accent.
“Unidentified transport, you are approaching controlled air space of the UEN armed forces. Please alter course immediately.”
Rains turned, looking to Taylor for answers.
“Tell him anything to buy time.”
“This is the Adrienne. We’re experiencing some problems with flight controls and cannot alter course. We’ve got nothing but students on board and are looking for a safe place to out down if we can.”
The line went quiet for a moment. They all waited for the response, which finally came.
Adrienne, you are cleared to pass over Schloss Mittenwald at your current course and put down two klicks east of our position. Local emergency services will aid you on arrival.”
“Uhhh, thanks Mittenwald, appreciate it.”
Taylor smiled. He knew no other pilot could have sounded as confused and convincing as a civilian in distress, but Rains’ acting himself pulled it off perfectly.
“Thirty seconds!”
“On your feet!” cried Taylor.
The marines jumped at his order, but they looked no less keen to do what needed to be done.
“Remember this is like every other mission we ever did. We’ll get it done, and we’ll get out alive!”
They felt the reverse thrusters kick in and splutter as they began to slow. A voice came over the comms again.
“Adrienne, continue on your current course, or you will be fired upon.”
They came to a hover, and Taylor pulled open the door.
“Another day in the Corps!”
Without another word, he leapt from the door into the open air. As he began to free-fall, the first thing that struck him was the beautiful scenery, vast cavernous valleys along the southern border of Germany and over into Austria. They were jumping into combat, and yet all around them seemed at peace. He looked up to see the others were close behind him, but as the last marine was at the door, a missile soared up from a hidden location below.
The Adrienne took evasive action, but the missile clipped the side of the hull and exploded. Taylor watched in horror as the ship soared off into the distance with smoke pouring from her.