“Everyone in this building is a combatant.”
“Not for you to decide, buddy, nor me. While there are still human laws in the land, we’ll abide by them.”
“Like kidnapping a Councillor on his home soil?”
Taylor glared at Parker. He already realised he was being hypocritical, but he didn’t have time to rephrase his comment.
“All right, enough bullshit. Let’s get this son of a bitch before this little holiday is the end of us.”
Taylor led the way through another two rooms that were full of experimental equipment they didn’t have the time to investigate, finally reaching a control room. It was large and filled with screens monitoring the facility. At a distance, Taylor could still just about see a few of the screens and frantic movement on them, which he already suspected were other troops in the facility gearing up to fight them.
“It’s over, Colonel!” Armand shouted.
Taylor laughed. He noted the Councillor was now wearing a Reitech suit he had clearly hastily pulled on since their arrival. His suit was crumpled up beneath it, and the helmet was ill fitting and almost dropping over his eyes.
“You’re coming with us, Councillor. Alive is preferable, but we’ll take what we can get.”
There were only three guards standing beside him, and one of those was clearly the pilot who had flown them there. Taylor turned his focus to address them.
“You can walk away from this. No need to die.”
“These are soldiers loyal to me, Colonel.”
He knew that meant they were either Krys agents, or deeply loyal to those who were. It was all the evidence he needed to condemn them. He lifted his rifle and fired two shots at the first, and his comrades quickly did the same. They hadn’t even got their muzzles up before they were hit and had certainly never expected such violence.
“You forget who you are dealing with, Councillor.”
“Evidently. Then let’s do this man-to-man, the honourable way.”
Taylor smiled as Armand picked up a shield and Assegai.
“We don’t have time for this,” muttered Parker.
“We can give the man his chance. It won’t take long.”
Taylor drew out his Assegai and approached. Against any one of his own marines, he would fear opposing them without a shield when they were equipped with one. But against Armand, he didn’t give it a moment’s consideration. At first, the Councillor stepped forward uneasily, as if he were the kind of rookie who had never used the equipment before. It amused Taylor and caused him to approach without caution, but as he did so, Armand leapt into action like a different man altogether, like a trained soldier.
Taylor managed to jump aside in time to avoid a thrust that was coming to his face, but he was off balance. As a result, Armand struck him with the shield, and he stumbled across the room.
“Mitch!” cried Eli.
He regained his balance, cursed himself for being so foolish. He’d seen enough surprises in his life now to never throw caution to the wind, and yet he still did.
“Right, let’s do this.”
He rushed forward as if in a wild charge, stopping abruptly as Armand held his shield out to stop him, spun off to the side and smashed the weapon down on the inside of the man’s knee. It buckled. The Councillor dropped down onto one knee and let out a scream of pain. The strike had been like nothing more than that of a baton as Taylor knew the edge did no more, but it provided immense satisfaction to see the pain in Armand’s face.
“You’re a traitor to your people, Councillor.”
“You think you’re my people just because we look alike!” he yelled, as he got back up and raced forward once more. He attacked quickly with repeated short stabs that were difficult to counter. They forced Taylor to give ground across the room. He was backed against a worktop and had to spin out from the attack.
“Why do you fight? You know you cannot win.”
“But you always did. You and your Immortals went into many a fight you should never have been able to win, and yet here you are today. Standing before me and ruining things once more.”
“Your monologuing bores me,” replied Taylor.
Armand jumped forward once more as if to continue with his quick thrusts but used it only as a feint and drove his shield forward as a barge once again, but Taylor would not be caught off guard a second time. He caught the rim of the shield with his offhand and forced it forward, pulling Armand off his feet and launching him across the room. Taylor held a firm grip on the shield, wrenching it from the Councillor’s grasp.
“You’re coming with us, whether you like it or not.”
Armand let out a roar of a battle cry and rushed at Taylor, launching a clumsy long lunge. Taylor stepped aside and took a hold of his arm. He drove a knee below the torso armour into Armand’s abdomen. He keeled over. The weapon dropped from his grasp, and he was done for. Taylor wanted to feel some respect for the man having tried, but then he remembered all that he had done against his own people, against his own race.
“Your ass is mine now, Councillor.”
“Mitch, we got incoming!” Parker shouted.
He looked over to the screens. Mechs and human soldiers were flooding towards them from other parts of the facility. He looked down at his watch, three minutes.
“Let’s go, go, go!”
He smacked Armand in the face, knocking him unconscious, threw him over his shoulder, and took off back the way they came. As they burst out into the room where they had fought the line of Mechs, they found Riley still firmly planted against the wall with his rifle held ready to fire. Taylor didn’t have to say another word. Jafar grabbed him, and another took the body of the fallen marine.
As they rushed into the corridor, they could hear a tonne of gunfire where Silva was clearly meeting some resistance where he had taken up position. Taylor didn’t slow one bit, nor have a weapon to hand. He held onto Armand firmly with both hands and darted for the exit.
“Where the hell have you been?” Silva shouted. He slammed in a new magazine, and the rest of his squad kept up the fire.
“Getting the job done! Lay down fire till the last have gone by, and then get your ass out of here!”
“Hell, yeah!”
He turned the corner and kept firing. Taylor continued on and broke out into the daylight. It was the best sight he had seen all day and gave him a real sense that they could succeed in their mission. He didn’t have to tell Rains anything, for the engines of the Adrienne were already running.
“All squads back to the boat. We are leaving!” he called down the comms.
The scene on the mountainside was eerily quiet and peaceful like when they had arrived, but they all knew it wouldn’t last. Taylor was the first to reach the ship and jumped aboard to be sure Armand was secure. He kept a hand firmly locked on him.
“We got incoming, fast!” said Rains.
“Just a few more seconds.”
“A few more seconds, and we’ll be dead before we get off the ground!”
Taylor didn’t respond. He looked out the door. Silva was the last man out, and as he reached the craft, a bullet went through his leg, and he dropped to the floor.
“Hold him!” Mitch bellowed to Parker, throwing the Councillor at her. He jumped out, took a hold of the Sergeant, and threw him in through the door. As he did, a bullet clipped his cheek and burnt the flesh, but he barely noticed in the rush to get out alive.
“Get us in the air!” he shouted before his feet had even got off the ground.
The Adrienne lifted off, and he had to use a little of the power of his suit to launch him up into the doorway. Jafar pulled him in safe. Silva nodded in appreciation as he winced in pain.