Tornak raged. Grabbing the man by the throat, he slammed him to the ground. Then he reached back and, with another howl, pulled the wooden spear from his back. He looked at the dripping blue blood, then down at his attacker, who lay dazed at his feet.
Snarling, he rammed the bloody end of the table leg into the chest of the Elif emperor.
Boon blasted the doors open with a small force spell, just in time to see a large, horned Teifen, covered in blue blood, ram a pointed stake into the emperor’s chest.
“No!” she screamed, slashing at the Teifen’s chest with a blade of force that split him in two. She rushed forward, falling to her knees beside the wide-eyed emperor.
Without thinking, she ripped the stake from him and opened her gloved hand, pressing it to the bare flesh of his neck. She began dumping power into the spellform that Silva provided, squeezing her eyes shut with the effort, but the Aether would not flow.
She tried again, but nothing.
Opening her eyes, she met the emperor’s glazed, dead ones. She was too late. Only a living body could be healed.
She began preforming CPR, but with every compression, blood gushed from his chest, and she was forced to accept the truth. He had been stabbed through the heart with a fist-sized stake; he was dead before she’d even gotten to him.
A tall, thin Elif woman fell to her knees on the other side of the emperor. Her face was pale white with shock as she stared into her dead husband’s eyes. With a wail of anguish, she buried her face into his neck, and began to heave with sobs.
“Shit. Boon, we have a problem over here,” Gonders yelled through their comm link.
Boon tore her eyes away from the weeping empress and looked over to the door just in time to see Gonders throw a shield over the open doorway. It immediately started sparking and distorting with golden waves as concentrated gunfire beat at it. The number of slugs slamming into the shield increased exponentially over the next half a second, rapidly turning the shield orange, and then red in the blink of an eye.
Boon threw up a second shield behind Gonders’ just as it was overwhelmed, and caught the incoming fire. She rushed to the panting mage’s side and, through the distorted barrier, she could see Teifen pouring through one of the passages leading deeper into the ship.
“Oh, crap. Let me see what I can do. You take a breather,” Boon said, noting that her shield was starting to turn a little orange. She pumped more Aether into it, then sent a force blade out through the atrium. It was hard to see, but she did catch the flash of golden orange light as a shield absorbed most of the blast.
Shit!
"They have mages.”
Chapter 45
Multiple fireballs blasted the shield right in front of Boon’s face, making her take a step back in surprise. Her shield had blocked the blasts, but it was costing her a considerable amount of Aether to keep it up.
She sent out a stream of smaller fireballs—almost at random, her visibility was so bad. She could see flaming figures running before falling to the ground, but she also saw just as many attacks splash off shields.
She was half-blind and firing at random. Not to mention that she had been using attack spells nonstop; her headache was getting worse by the second. She knew that was a bad sign, but there really wasn’t much she could do about it.
She sent out some more fireballs, and was rewarded by a volley from the enemy.
“Isabella, I need you to find us a way out of here. Do any of those doors lead to an exit?” She figured the room wouldn't be used as a prison if there were multiple ways out, but it never hurt to check.
She kept up the ‘fight’, blasting anyone she could pick out from behind the constantly distorted shield. There came a point where she was blasting with such regularity that she entered a sort of Zen state, and the world around her fell away.
It was just her and the fire.
The enemy shoved her, and she shoved back, but harder. She wouldn't let them win—they didn't have the right. They were murderers and rapists. They would burn for their sins, and she would personally usher them through the gates of hell.
She sliced, and coated the atrium in ice, then melted it with fire, then started the whole process again. She could hear the beating of her heart in her ears. The ragged sucking of air into her lungs. The swelling of power in her mind’s eye.
She hadn’t even noticed that the shield had stopped taking fire, and was now clear. She just aimed and blasted. Aimed and blasted.
Her face hurt from the smile that was plastered on it, but she couldn't seem to stop.
Aim, blast.
A Teifen was enveloped in flame, burning to ash before it hit the ground.
Another was frozen solid.
Another was cut to ribbons.
Then there were no more; just a sea of blue blood and burning bodies. She searched, but found nothing. So she searched again.
There, coming from the passage, a whole group of them.
She raised her arms and focused on the new group, ready to blast them to a bloody pulp, when she was dragged down from behind. She threw up her arm, but her effort was blocked. She tried to focus on the new enemy, but they were wrestling her down to her back, and she was not strong enough to stop them.
They’re going to make me pay for what I did to their friends. They’re going to make me their slave, like the Elif. They’re going to—
“Boon! Alicia, snap out of it. You got them,” the person above her said.
She recognized that voice…
Wait…I don’t know any of the Teifen.
She was on her back, her arms pinned above her head, and a woman was straddling her chest, holding her wrists.
Why does she seem so familiar?
With a quick movement, the woman’s faceplate popped open, and slid back. “Alicia. It’s me. It’s Isabella.”
I know that name. It’s the name of someone important. I need to break free, need to find my love.
The woman leaned in and kissed her hard on the mouth. When she leaned back, a tear rolled off her nose and landed on Boon’s face.
She stopped struggling, and blinked. She was still confused, but starting to come around. Then she was kissed on the mouth again, and desire flooded in, pushing the rage back a bit.
“Come on, Alicia. I know you’re in there. I can’t have lost you on our first mission, I’m a better soldier than that,” Gonders wept, leaning in once again to kiss Boon.
This time, something cracked free, and Boon kissed her back.
Gonders laughed and sobbed at the same time, as she pulled away with a smile on her face. “I thought I lost you there for a second,” she said, still dripping tears.
Boon cleared her throat. It was beyond dry.
From screaming, she realized. Then she said, “To be honest, I think you did. But it’s good to know I can count on you to bring me back.”
“Anytime, babe,” she said, kissing her again.
“You all right, Boon?” Baxter asked, coming through the broken and charred door.
Gonders was pulling Alicia to her feet, but she spun quickly at the voice, going into a defensive stance.
“Baxter? When did you get here? I didn’t realize the cavalry had arrived,” Boon said, noticing for the first time that the atrium was now held by the Marines.
Both Gonders and Baxter gave her a slightly concerned look, before Baxter asked Gonders, “She was that far gone? That’s what you’re supposed to keep her from doing.”
Gonders held up her hands. “What was I supposed to do? We were being pounded, and I had no way to attack. It was either let her go, or be killed. I was keeping an eye on her; I kept her from attacking you.”
“I almost attacked you?” Boon asked in horror.
Baxter gave her a hard look of assessment. “You’re not used to your powers yet, but from what Sara has said, it’ll get easier. Just try to keep your head about you, okay?”
“Got it. What about her,” Boon asked, pointing back to the empre
ss, only to find her gone. Instead, she saw the body of the emperor, covered with a sheet from the bed. “Where did she go?” She looked around the room in a panic.
Gonders put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s all right. We already sent her back to the others. They’ve set up a stronghold, and have half the men guarding the prisoners. We’re just waiting on word from the Raven.”
“I can feel Sara getting closer,” Baxter told them. “We just need to hold out a little longer.”
Gunfire broke out in the atrium, drawing everyone’s attention. The team rushed to the door and saw a large group of Teifen coming down one of the halls, then fire came from another. The Marines had set up quick defenses, using the barriers the Teifen had brought, and were well defended. Not to mention there were half a dozen mages with the Marines, covering and healing as best they could, while still getting the occasional blast down one of the hallways.
“Shit. Looks like our break is over. Get over there and defend the second hall,” Baxter ordered, slamming his faceplate closed and taking cover before aiming and firing his rifle.
Boon and Gonders closed their faceplates as well, and took up position with a squad of Marines that was happy to have them. Then they settled in for what was going to be a drawn-out fight.
Chapter 46
The Marines were holding their own, now that they had the defensible position inside the atrium. Baxter was assessing the battle, while also healing the occasional Marine and then moving on. He looked over at Boon and saw that she was doing the same. With each healing, she seemed to become more like her old self.
That was a good thing; Baxter had seen on Colony 788 just how far a runaway War Mage could go. And according to Gonders, he’d nearly been on the receiving end of the small woman’s considerable fury only a few minutes ago. That sent a chill down his spine.
War Mages are truly a double-edged sword. Sara and I are going to have to come up with some kind of training to keep them from losing control. If that’s even possible.
Their position, while defensible, was not perfect, and he was losing Marines at a slow but steady rate. Already, two dozen men had died before a mage could get to them; the constant use of Aether was running the mages dry. There were fewer and fewer shields, which was driving up the number of his injured troops. He had brought two hundred men with him, but they were slowly being picked off.
Eventually, the mages would not have any Aether left, and the real toll of this battle would start creeping up.
Baxter pulled his hand away from a Marine who’d had a round pierce through a ruined plate of armor on his arm. The healing was not complete, but the soldier would be able to continue the fight. Baxter reached for a second man, this one hit in the lower torso, and was beginning the healing process when the entire ship rumbled and shook.
“What the hell was that?” someone asked.
Baxter finished the healing with a smile on his face. “That was an explosion, deeper in the ship,” he said. He closed his eyes, and there she was. He could feel his captain, not far away; he was pretty sure she was on the ship.
“They’re falling back. Something has them spooked, I can see them heading in the opposite direction,” one of the Marines said, peeking around the barricade.
Baxter’s comm chimed, and he answered immediately. “This is Baxter.”
“Sergeant Major, this is Grimms. Damn, it’s good to hear your voice. How are you holding up?” Baxter was greatly relieved to hear the gruff voice of his commander.
“Better now that you’re here, sir. We have fifty or so highborn Elif, along with the empress, that need extraction. Unfortunately, the emperor didn't make it.”
He watched as the Teifen left a small force behind, while the majority of them ran off to fight a new battle.
There was another rumbling explosion, and the lights flickered for a second before stabilizing again.
“Sir, are you attacking the ship?” Baxter asked, trying to figure out how the Raven could be doing that much damage.
“We are taking out defenses and turrets, but what you’re probably feeling is the captain. She’s tearing a hole in the top of the ship as we speak. The dreadnought is dead in the water; right before it jumped away, a reactor was punctured, and we’re pretty sure it set off a chain reaction that disabled the whole thing. The shields and weapons systems are down, so we’re picking off what we can before they can get power to them.
“The captain has a plan to take out the whole ship, but she’s going to need Boon’s help. I’m sending you Captain Sonders’ location; you need to get Boon to her ASAP. Send the prisoners with as many Marines as you can spare to drop them off for extraction,” Grimms said.
“Yes, sir. They’ll be on their way shortly. It should take the whole group thirty minutes to get there.”
“Good. That gives us some time to trim this tin can of some of its thorns. Grimms out.”
Baxter opened the battalion-wide comm channel. “The Raven has arrived. Deej, I need you to get the prisoners and your people down to the drop-off point for extraction. I’m sending the rest of the troops down to meet you. Your pick-up ETA is thirty minutes, so don't dilly-dally.” A cheer went up before he cut the comm, and addressed the two hundred Marines in the atrium.
“I want a hard push to overrun the remaining defenders. Mages with enough juice for shields go out front. We’re going for a legionnaire push,” he ordered.
The legionnaire push was a formation used to rush opponents. It consisted of two mages providing a low shield and a high shield, with a slit large enough for the barrel of a rifle to fit in between them at chest-height. It was a quick attack formation because it depended on a mage being able to shield against the enemy’s combined firepower for the entire rush, while also not going too fast, or the riflemen would not be able to keep their rifles in the slot.
Baxter took point on his side, along with Specialist Oriel. He saw Gonders explaining the maneuver to Boon, and decided she was a good choice, seeing as Boon had more Aether at her disposal than the rest of them combined. Only fifteen riflemen would be able to attack during the rush, due to the constraints of the corridor, but the rest of the troops would follow behind to overwhelm the target in close combat.
“I’ll take low shield,” Baxter told Oriel, and she nodded agreement. Low shield took the most damage, and she was a force bolt specialist, not particularly strong with shields. “On my mark,” he said, checking that Boon’s side was ready. He was impressed to see that she was doing both shields, and also a bit envious.
“Go!” he shouted, bringing up his shield along with Oriel. Fifteen Marines piled in behind them and slid the barrels of their rifles into the slot and began firing. The entire group began to advance at a steady, quick walk. The return fire was intense, and Baxter had to pump quite a bit of Aether into his shield, but with his newly deepened well, he was able to keep it up.
The Teifen began to panic when the Marines were halfway to them, and continued firing wildly from behind portable barricades. The Marines stayed calm, picking their targets as they presented themselves, and cutting the Teifen’s numbers in half by the time they had made it three quarters of the way down the corridor.
The last of the Teifen broke, running for safety, but this just presented easier targets, and they were cut down with slugs to their backs.
Baxter would have to thank Sara when he saw her. This formation would not have worked if she hadn’t drawn so many of the enemy away with her attacks.
He could feel the occasional burst of gleeful determination coming from her, as she presumably tore through the enemy. But Baxter knew she wasn’t invincible; even a lucky shot could be the end. He needed to get to her, and soon. She had a habit of trying to bite off more than she could chew.
It had taken a few minutes, but the battle was finally over. Fifty Teifen lay dead or dying in the corridor, and no more were on their way.
“Gonders, Boon, you’re with me. The rest of you, get your asses down to the pick-
up, double-time. You’ve got twenty minutes before the Raven gets there. Move it, people,” Baxter ordered, and the Marines began moving out.
Gonders and Boon fought against the flow and made it to his side.
“We need to meet up with Sara,” he urged them. “She’s close, and causing all sorts of trouble, but I don't know how long she can last. You’re going to be our main source of offense for this trip, Boon. Are you up for it?”
“Do I have a choice?” Boon asked sarcastically, scratching at Silva’s head where it poked out of her hip pouch.
Baxter shook his head. “Nope. Let’s go.”
He started picking his way over dead Teifen, and led the women deeper into the ship.
They encountered only small groups of Teifen along the way, and dealt with them quickly, either by having Boon rip them in half, or the much simpler move of putting a few slugs through their thick skulls.
The deeper they went, the more lavish the decorations that filled the halls. They were obviously headed toward the Teifen governor’s seat of power.
They entered another huge atrium, easily five hundred meters across, and a thousand long. They entered at the midway point of the massive, open area, where there were trees growing from a center strip of grass-covered park that was lined by walkways along each side. The ceiling was a clear material that showed the twinkling of stars outside. The entire structure was breathtaking.
Except for all the bodies.
There were hundreds of dead Teifen strewn about the floor. There were even a few broken bodies stuck in the branches of the trees. It didn't matter if the Teifen were wearing armor or just battlesuits; they were flayed open or charred all the same.
Baxter could feel Sara to their right, and pointed that way. “She’s down here. I think she’s in rough shape… Her thoughts have gotten darker.”
War Mage Chronicles- Part One Page 49