“Look after the Councillor,” he said to Jafar, “Parker, with me!”
They rushed to the cockpit as they heard a few shots being fired from the doorway.
“Can’t believe we made it,” said Parker joyfully.
“We ain’t home yet.”
They reached Rains, who was hoping and praying, as the ship was giving all it had to give. Taylor looked down at his watch. The timer had ended. It had been a pretty good estimate, but now they were in the shit.
“We got fighters incoming, and no, we can’t outrun them.”
“What do you suggest?” asked Mitch.
“Suggest? We’re in a flying coffin. I suggest you pray for a miracle.”
He waited for a moment and came close to doing exactly that.
“They’ve got a lock on us.”
“You must be able to do something?”
“We ain’t got speed, handling, weapons, armour, nothing. What can I do? Hang on, we have an incoming transmission.”
Taylor thought there was hope for a moment while Eddie accepted it, only to be met by the face of a German fighter pilot.
“Adrienne, you are in UEN airspace and are ordered to alter course to land in Munich immediately.”
Eddie gave no response, looking to Taylor for answers.
“I repeat, Adrienne, you are in violation of UEN treaties and are illegally holding a UEN Council member. You will be escorted to Munich airport immediately, or you will be fired upon.”
“They’d blow us out the sky and kill Armand in the process?” asked Eddie.
“Instead of letting us get our hands on a known Krys agent, damn right they will. Remember Ramstein? Whole base flattened to protect this secret.”
“Then I don’t know what to say to you, Colonel, other than open the doors and jump. Your suits will get you down safe, and you can try and make it out on foot.”
Taylor shook his head.
“No way, you’ve been with us through the worst of it. We’re getting out of this together.”
“Your sentiment is appreciated, Colonel, but it won’t save any of us.”
The fighter pilot came onto the screen once again.
“Adrienne, you have thirty seconds to alter course, or you will be shot down. Don’t make us do this. There is no reason for further bloodshed.”
The line went quiet for precisely twenty seconds.
“You have ten seconds to comply, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…”
Everything went silent for a moment until a red light began to flash on the console, and a recorded voice message sounded.
“Warning, object on collision course.”
It was repeated over and over.
“Hold on!” Eddie shrieked.
He banked as hard as the ship could, but it was a mild manoeuvre at best. One missile rushed past the hull. The other impacted and rocked them in the sky. Warning lights came up all over the console.
“We’ve got a breach. We’re losing power!”
“How many more of those can we take?”
“I’m amazed we lasted after that one, Mitch. This old girl is built strong, but she won’t take another!”
"You're just full of good news, Eddie."
"I can't do the impossible."
"How far back are those fighters?"
"About half a klick on our tail."
He shook his head. He was all out of ideas. He closed his eyes and hoped, for there seemed nothing else to do.
"We got another two missiles incoming!"
They knew now they were on borrowed time with just seconds to live. It wasn't the first time Taylor had been there, but he couldn't see a way out of this one. He turned and looked to Armand who had been hauled into the cockpit and stripped of his armour. Before he could speak, the Councillor uttered words through a sleazy smile.
"You can never win, Taylor. This is the end for you."
"But you're going down with us, you son of a bitch."
"My life to take out the great Colonel Taylor. It would be worth a thousand lives to kill you."
"Ten seconds to impact. Hang on, what the hell's that?"
Taylor turned around and saw several missiles roar towards them and past the cockpit. A few seconds later, and six fighters zoomed past at full tilt. Explosions rang out at their aft where the enemy missiles exploded.
"Who the hell's that?" Taylor asked.
Rains brought up rear monitoring screens and squinted to make them out.
"Well, I'll be damned. Those are French birds."
They watched as the fighters engaged those on their tail and quickly blew them out of the sky. Taylor looked down at the map screen. They were just twenty klicks from the border now. One of the French fighters came alongside them and gave a casual salute before putting through a call on the comms.
"Adrienne, this is Lieutenant Roux. We're here to escort you back home."
Cheers rang out amongst the marines. They’d all overheard, as Rains had transmitted the signal throughout the ship. Taylor looked down at his watch.
"War can't have been declared yet," he muttered to himself. He turned to Rains.
"Can the Lieutenant hear us?" he asked. Rains nodded in response.
"Lieutenant, you just entered UEN airspace in an act of war."
"I am well aware of that, Colonel, but I am told you were worth the risk."
"I'd say so," he replied with a laugh.
"Just one more thing, Colonel."
"Yeah, go ahead."
"A message from General Dupont. He says you better have the package with you, or he'll shoot you himself."
Taylor could only laugh louder at the message.
"Then I am glad to be able to disappoint the General once more."
The pilot didn't seem to understand the meaning or context and replied sternly. "Maintain speed and follow my course."
"Do what I can," replied Eddie, "but we ain't got a lot of power left."
There was no response. The pilot took up position in front, and Eddie looked down. The rest of his wing had formed up all around them. Taylor turned back to Armand with a broad cheesy grin on his face.
"Once more we live to fight another day."
Armand looked away as it was clear he was utterly defeated. But then he looked back up defiantly with anger in his eyes.
"You'll never get away with this. I am an elected representative of the UEN. They'll come down on you like a tonne of bricks. You'll wish you never met me, Taylor. You'll wish you’d met the same fate as your friend Tsengal, and Chandra, and all the other pathetic friends you have lost throughout these wars. I hope you survive long enough to see everyone you care for enslaved or killed."
Taylor sighed, thinking about the element of truth he spoke, but then nodded to Parker who knew exactly what he meant. She swung a hard punch into his stomach. He reeled over in pain from the injury Taylor had recently inflicted. She pulled him upright again, punching him hard in the nose so that it almost flattened to his face. It clicked as it broke, and blood poured out down his face and his suit. He cried out in pain.
"We're at war now Armand, and you are not an enemy combatant, not a civilian representative, and not a prisoner of war. No, you are a spy, and in turn we owe you no pleasantries. You'll see no court room."
Parker went to strike him once again, but Armand skilfully avoided the strike and ducked under, grabbing Parker's pistol from its holster as he did. He lifted the pistol up to his jaw to blow his head off. Before he could do so, Taylor's rifle was up, and he fired a single shot. It struck Armand's wrist and blew his hand off. He cried out in pain, but he found little sympathy. Parker looked sheepish as she picked up her gun and prised Armand's severed hand from it.
"Get that patched up," Taylor said, "and be sure to detain him. I want this son of a bitch alive after all the work we put in to get him."