pulsating light that could only be the weapon and the source of the sound they were hearing.
'What can we do?' he asked.
'What more can we do? We just hit them with everything we had.'
Taylor slumped down in one of the seats and dropped his head into his hands.
'It's all over. We gave it everything, and still we lose.”
No one had an answer. There was no way to soften the blow of realising that all they knew on Earth were going to be destroyed in less than three minutes. Just when all hope appeared lost, Rains' voice broke the silence.
'Look!'
Taylor did not get up. He couldn't imagine anything could improve the scenario. Instead, Jones rushed to the cockpit to receive the news.
'My, God, the Washington. She's got power!'
Taylor heard the words and shot up from his seat, rushing to join the two officers. He got to the cockpit to first witness the grizzly sight of Perez's body in the co-pilot’s seat, and his blood splattered across the controls in front of him. He quickly turned his attention away to what was before them. As Jones had said, the engines of the their flagship, the Washington, were firing up.
'Can we get a message to Huber?' asked Taylor.
'Negative, we haven't got comms, and I doubt they do either.'
'What have they got?'
'Probably just what we can see, engines. They wouldn't have had time to get anything else going. It's a miracle they're even moving so quickly after the EMP.'
The Washington began to edge forward and gained speed at a steady pace, but Taylor could see the silhouettes of objects, seeming to be dropping from her hull.
'What's that?'
Eddie squinted to look.
'Life pods. They don't have any power, but enough oxygen to keep the crew alive for a day or two.'
'They're evacuating but still going forward? What is Huber doing?' asked Jones.
'The only thing he can. The Washington is the only weapon we have left.'
'But you just said the weapons were…'
Jones stopped as he realised what Taylor was saying.
'Huber's gonna ram the K'til, and he's getting everyone off that he can.'
Taylor nodded.
'God, almighty!'
They watched as dozens of pods dropped from the Washington and were left floating in space. The pulsating light and sound of the K'til's Planet Killing weapon was uncomfortably loud now and was forcing them to shout to hear each other. Jafar stepped up to join them and could barely squeeze into the cockpit to see.
'Admiral Huber, will he be safe?'
Taylor shook his head.
'A Captain goes down with his ship. Huber will be at the helm until the end.'
'A brave man.'
'Yes, and he may well have just saved humanity from extinction.'
They watched the last few pods leave the Washington, and its speed increased as it rushed towards the K'til. The massive carrier was still tiny compared to the huge super weapon of a ship. Taylor looked at his watch, praying they had enough time.
'One minute to go.'
The rest of the platoon sat anxiously in the ship. Only the three officers and Jafar could see what was about to unfold. A few enemy ships that had regained power had cottoned on to what was happening and were moving to intercept the Washington. Pulses smashed into her hull, but it was not enough to stop her.
'Good luck to you,' said Taylor.
The human flagship soared towards the opening at the core of the enemy weapon with ever increasing speed.
'Thirty seconds!' yelled Jones.
The noise was almost deafening, and they barely heard him.
The Washington pierced the light and vanished completely from sight into the K'til. The deafening pulse died almost instantly, and cracks began to appear in the hull of the Planet Killer. The light faded completely from it, and the hull began to prise apart. They watched as the monster of a vessel was torn in half and split at its core.
'He did it,' Taylor said quietly.
He turned around and shouted it again for all to hear. Rains slumped back in his seat and sighed in relief. It was too soon for celebrations when he sat next to the body of a dead friend, but he at least managed a smile.
Chapter 6
Taylor was speechless for five minutes as he watched the two parts of the K'til were drawn in towards Earth and broke through the atmosphere. Several of the enemy ships that had regained power followed. There was not a single remainder of the Washington to be seen, but everyone could see the evidence of her efforts.
'That thing is gonna land hard when it hits land,' Eddie said.
'No, those ships are going to assist,' replied Jafar.
'What do you mean assist?'
'They'll use their own power to reduce the speed and impact of the K'til.'
'Why?'
'Because Demiran is onboard,' said Taylor sternly.
'So?' snapped Eddie.
'Because those who don't make an effort to assist their Lord will feel his wrath, should he still survive.'
'Yes,' added Jafar.
'There must be thousands of Mechs aboard that thing too,' continued Jones.
'And you think they can break the fall of something that massive?' Eddie asked.
'Enough to save those aboard, yes. But the K'til will never fly again.'
Power was being quickly restored to those ships around them now, but clearly many still did not have access to weapons. Most of the enemy ships made a beeline for Earth to follow their leader. They passed the monstrous Earth Defence Grid lying lifeless and unable to stop them.
'We've stopped the weapon, and they're stranded here now, but we've got a long road ahead.'
'We've beaten them on Earth before. We'll do it again,' replied Jones.
'This battle is over. Eddie, get us back on firm ground.'
'Yes, Siree, batten down the hatches because we're going home!'
The Stallion landed hard, bouncing on the landing strip, but they quickly came to a halt and were relieved to once again be on home soil. Jones pushed open the damaged doors, with the help of Jafar, and stood aside to allow Taylor through first. He looked around to see the base was in absolute chaos. Fighters, Stallions, and others cargo ships were scattered all over. Larger ships had put down near the hangars. Fire trucks were trying to put out what they could, and medics and doctors were treating wounded at make shift aid points. A line of body bags lay across the way beside one of the buildings. They were the only things laid out tidily with respect.
'Colonel! Colonel Taylor!'
He turned to see General White and his entourage approaching. They were all armed and armoured with the same Reitech equipment he wore.
'Is the base under attack, Sir?'
'Uhh… no. This is precautionary only. We have no idea what to expect. Communications have been down with the fleet for some time, and we are only now getting reports through of what happened. Enemy ships have entered
