by TR Cameron
They made it only ten feet down the corridor toward the conference room, near the first intersection, when both of them barked, “Hold.” His subordinate continued, “Got a laser eye.”
Jared tapped the button on the side of his goggles that would display electrical emanations, looking all around to see what the detection device connected to. Nothing showed. “Whatever it feeds must be powered down. Can you disengage it?”
“We have the technology, boss. Thirty seconds.”
“Okay, what do we have on the magical side?”
The dwarf replied, “Can’t tell for sure. Doesn’t feel like a cloak. Maybe a backup sensor, in case we spot the laser. Seems to be at floor level.” He had descended to one knee and held a hand parallel to the ground, about a foot up.
Jared frowned. “Can you get us past it?”
“Send Chan up.” Another of Grentham's people advanced, and the pair chatted briefly. Then, Chan waved his arms, and Karna said, “There will be a step up here.” If he tilted his head just right, Jared could see the shimmer that indicated a layer of force now resting over the carpet.
Kendris reported, “We’re good.”
Jared nodded. “Okay, Team Two, you branch off to the left. Keep an eye out for traps. My team and Team Three will continue forward.” His second most trusted lieutenant was in charge of Team Two. Arguably, that should’ve been reversed, with his most reliable operative heading up the other team. However, his prime goal was to survive the encounter and he’d shift anything he needed to increase the probability of that happening. When Team Three was halfway across the force barrier, it suddenly vanished, and they dropped to the floor, requiring them to take a moment to catch their balance. He barked, “What happened?”
The infomancer replied, “Anti-magic emitters came to life all around the place. I’d say their defensive posture has switched from passive to active.”
Jared frowned. “Well, hell.”
Grentham said, “Unexpected, but we can deal with it. Most of my people took rifles, so we still have solid offensive capability. Scimitar, are you able to identify the emitters?”
“Working on it.”
Jared asked, “What are you thinking?”
“By activating the emitters, they’ve eliminated the ability to portal in reinforcements. If we can selectively activate or deactivate them, that whole defense will work to our advantage.”
The computer modulated voice said, “Yes, on identifying them. I can probably turn them off at will although how long I’ll be able to keep them that way is anyone’s guess. Plus, there’s always the possibility that they can do the same, so you should be wary of sudden magical attacks.”
Jared replied, “Got it. Moving forward.”
Grentham thought for a second, then decided to switch up his strategy a little. “Let’s do this. Turn off whatever emitters cover the lobby in three minutes. We’ll give them a landing point and see if they’ll take the bait.” He moved two of his teams that were originally supposed to follow Jared to help explore the building and positioned them around the lobby with their backs against the walls and weapons pointing more or less toward the center, careful to avoid crossfire.
He patted the senior-most Aces Security personnel on the shoulder. “I’m taking one team inside. You hold here. If anyone shows up, whoever they are, you burn them down.” The man nodded, and Grentham clarified. “Well, anyone other than the police, or the sheriff, or the PDA, that is. If those folks show, yell a warning and portal away.” They had very few limits on the night’s operation, but getting themselves branded outlaws was not on the list of acceptable outcomes.
He reviewed the positioning of his people and decided it was the best he was going to get. He toggled his microphone on. “Okay, I’m on the move. Keep pushing forward, and we’ll meet you in the back.”
Chapter Seventeen
Jared and his team navigated several more technological traps, and by the time they’d reached the third, the infomancer had achieved a deep enough access to display what they were attached to. When he saw, Jared exclaimed, “Holy hell, they’re not messing around.” If they inadvertently triggered one of the traps, a ceiling turret would have descended to hose down the trapped area with bullets. In the absence of magic caused by the emitters, the assault would be equally lethal to anyone in range.
Thus far they’d encountered laser eyes, motion detectors, and a heat sensor, solutions for which they’d prepared in advance. They were only thirty seconds off the planned timetable, which was a total win, in his opinion. The building was full of offices, as expected, but most of them turned out to be unoccupied at the moment and appeared as if they went unused during the day, as well. Jared said, “This is ridiculous. There have to be defenders here, right? Or is this some sort of elaborate trap?” With each step deeper into the facility, his nervousness about the situation grew.
Grentham replied, “I guess, given the ability to portal, they could use this building as a front but operate out of their main base. That’s not that bad an idea.”
Scimitar’s voice came over the line. “An anti-magic emitter just switched off in the section beyond the one you’re in, Team One. Be wary.”
Jared said, “Acknowledged. Weapons ready, people. Magicals right behind our trap detectors, shields up as soon as you have the ability.” He always pictured magical shields acting like the ones in Star Trek. That’s just what the Enterprise needed, a wizard or two.
Their path led them into the building’s huge garage, which occupied probably half of the facility’s square footage on the first couple of floors. It had appeared as simply a big open space on the blueprints, but the external doors the recon drone had spotted gave away its purpose. What was entirely unexpected was the complete lack of vehicles and the presence of the welcoming committee, led by the elf they’d met earlier, all of them holding riot shields. She waved. “Fancy meeting you again, Mr. Trenton.”
He nodded. “We did explain there would be consequences for not joining us.”
She laughed. “Consequences for you, I’d say.”
Grentham advised, “We’re coming your way as fast as we can. Stall her.”
Jared clasped his hands behind his back. “There’s still time to change your mind. We could turn this into a party, knock down a few drinks together, discuss cornering the market on security here in Magic City.”
She shook her head. “Oh, it’ll definitely be a party. But not one that you’ll enjoy.” Without instruction, the gathered magicals around her surged forward.
Jared yelled, “Go, go, go,” and backpedaled, raising his rifle and looking for clean shots. Magical attacks deflected from the shields his people tossed up. The elf darted at him, and the riot shield she carried intercepted the bullets he sent at her. He growled, “Damn. I hate competent enemies.”
She called, “Surely you didn’t think we’d be unprepared for you to have anti-magic bullets? I mean, you must be at least marginally qualified to have lasted this long.”
He muttered, “I’ll show you qualified.” Louder, he said, “Scenario Charlie is a go.”
Ahead of him, the magicals fell back and created a wall to guard their retreat. They backed into the hallway they’d used to get there, moving carefully but quickly. The infomancer warned, “Masks on,” and the ones who weren’t already wearing breathing protection took a moment to set it in place.
The building’s fire suppression system went off, clouds of gas billowing everywhere. Jared ordered, “Pop smoke,” and he and his people tossed canisters in each intersection they passed through, maximizing the disruption of lines of sight. On their goggles, a blueprint map of the place showed their location. His team moved to their assigned positions, each human supported by at least one magical, ready for their opponents to advance.
When the first enemy appeared, a hulking Kilomea gripping two riot shields in position to cover him high and low, Jared palmed a fragmentation grenade. He announced, “Free to engage,” hurled the caniste
r forward, and ducked around the corner. It detonated and pulled a shout of pain from the Kilomea, who hadn’t tracked the bank shot off the wall that put the weapon behind him through the smoke. Jared grinned. “Let’s get him.”
Grentham had led his team up the first flight of stairs to the second floor. Scimitar was deep enough in the system now that she could warn him of technological traps, and with the anti-magic emitters running there was no risk of the other kind, so they made good speed. His subordinate in the lobby reported, “Contact,” with the sound of rifles chattering behind him. A moment later, the man said, “Clear. I’m guessing they won’t try that again.”
Grentham shook his head. “Don’t be too sure. Could’ve been recon. Find new positions and be ready.”
His group encountered a pair of defenders, two elves who came around the corner at them in a dead run through the smoke his team had been tossing as they advanced. The enemies’ shields intercepted the bullets fired in reflex, then they slammed into the dwarf at the head of the party, knocking him sprawling. A gurgle followed a scream, and he saw the flash of metal in one of their hands.
“Melee,” he ordered, and the troops he’d detailed to engage in hand-to-hand combat pulled out weapons and surged ahead at their foes. A brief flurry ended with both elves down, along with another one of his people. “Potions, now.” Two of his team peeled off to assist the fallen, two more went to make sure the elves were out of the fight, and he ran ahead with those remaining.
They were attacked twice more as he moved toward the rear of the building, then a final trio of enemies appeared in a hallway with big glass panes providing a full view of the garage below. Only one figure remained there, the elf, apparently coordinating her troops’ efforts from the rear. He grinned. “No one appreciates someone who leads from the back. I think I need to go explain that to her.”
Jared replied, “The elf lady?”
“Yeah.”
“Kick her ass.”
“Happy to.” In truth, happy was exactly what he felt as he smashed his rifle against the window, shattering it, and jumped through.
Jared’s first inclination was to assist his partner, but Scimitar’s voice distracted him. “Armory is unlocked. Third floor, back corner.”
He directed his team toward the stairs. “I’m going to need a portal to move that stuff. I don’t care where, we can move it again afterward. Everyone not engaged in combat, head for the armory.” A path appeared on his goggles, courtesy of the infomancer, and he trusted the same was true for all his people. When he arrived at the room containing the security company’s equipment, it was like Christmas, and his face split into a grin. “They’re definitely not using this place as a front. There’s a ton of stuff here. You don’t know what you’re missing, partner.”
Grentham, who had used magic to break his fall and spent the next several minutes trading blasts of fire, lightning, and shadow with his opponent, growled, “Little busy here. Let me know when you’re all clear.”
The elf looked annoyed, and her formerly pristine leather was now scarred and singed. He’d managed to slice off one of her braids, which had made her growl and him laugh. Although, I suppose I’d be just as upset if someone chopped off a hunk of my beard. He called, “Sure you don’t want to call this done and partner up?”
She replied with a force blast that caught him in the shoulder and spun him around. He finished the turn by snatching an ax from his belt and pitching it sidearm at her. She’d abandoned her shield early in the fight since it was useless against magic, and waved a hand to deflect the weapon before it got to her. He charged, then dropped and slid as she produced throwing knives from nowhere and hurled them at his face. “Nice move,” he said as he popped to his feet. “But not nice enough.”
He called his ax back to his left hand and shot lightning at her with his right, landing a glancing blow as she dove to the side to avoid it. The interplay of electricity and muscles impacted her roll, leaving her sprawled on the ground. He threw the ax again, and it sliced a gash in her thigh as she twisted away. She clamped a hand over the wound and limped to her feet, and he rewarded her perseverance with a blast of fire that coated her completely.
When his magic dissipated, she was undamaged inside a force cocoon. He blasted her again, and again she protected herself. He observed, “I can do this all day, but if you take your hand off that wound to heal it properly, you’ll probably bleed out before you manage it. So, it seems to me like eventually you’re going to succumb.”
She shook her head. “I’ll outlast you, dwarf.”
He summoned his ax, sticking it in his belt. “So you say. That assumes I don’t have any other plans, which, of course, I do.” A moment before, Jared had reported that they were done clearing up the armory and were evacuating the building. “Scimitar, let’s wrap this up.”
She replied immediately, “Vans are in position. Fifteen seconds.”
Grentham grinned and dashed away from the elf, casting a portal ahead of him. He shouted, “See you later, assuming you survive.” He dove through the rift an instant before the quartet of vans, each loaded with a truly excessive amount of explosive, slammed into the four sides of the building and detonated.
Chapter Eighteen
Ruby selected a portal spot far enough away from Margrave’s front door that Daphne could get the full impact of all the techno-magical items in his yard. He’d added a new one, a Halloween-style vampire that waved its arms and said, “Blah, blah, blah,” as they walked by. The grin on its face, though, was unquestionably Margrave’s, and she wondered if he was doing it in real-time or if he’d simply programmed the expression. I need to figure out how he does this stuff. I guess having decades' worth of experience gives you some unique abilities.
He opened the door for them when they reached the end of the sidewalk, and she introduced her companion. “Daphne, this is Phineas Margrave the Fourth, technomancer extraordinaire. Margrave, this is Daphne, one of my roommates and a brilliant witch. She’s working on some potion improvements, and I thought maybe the two of you could confer while we work.”
One side of the man’s mouth lifted in a smile. “Technomancer? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
Ruby shook her head. “Not as far as I know, but I like the term, and it seems accurate, so why not?”
He nodded. “I humbly accept this title.” Then he broke into his normal grin. “Okay, come inside.”
He had wrangled drinks and snacks, and they sat and made small talk for ten minutes while they put it away. Ruby ventured, “I noticed a couple of new defensive measures in the yard. Cameras? Detectors?”
He finished chewing his oatmeal cookie and swallowed. “Yes, those. Nothing active outside, of course, just detection.” The way he said it suggested that he’d beefed up his home’s interior defenses, a decision she thoroughly supported. One I need to do at our house, too.
Daphne asked, “What are you working on?”
He adopted an imperious tone and replied, “You might as well ask a magician for the secrets of his tricks.” Then he laughed and continued, “Some stuff for the government and the military, actually, so you’ll have to keep it to yourself.”
Daphne nodded. “No problem. I wouldn’t want anyone leaking my work, either. I totally understand.”
He cleared the dishes away and carried over a couple of boxes, removing his tools and components from it. Daphne did the same with the contents of her backpack, which included her burner, a small cauldron, and several potion bottles. Ruby hadn’t brought anything to work on, planning instead to assist Margrave. She explained, “I do what I can to help him with this stuff, figuring I’ll learn a bunch by doing so. So far, that’s worked out really well.”
Margrave snapped his fingers and stood, then grabbed another container. “You can start by taking a look at this. It’s a, uh, special forces weapon, for eliminating enemies non-lethally.”
Ruby’s ears perked up at that. Well, I guess my team and I
are special, and we’re a force, so technically accurate. She opened the hard-shelled black briefcase and took out the items nestled inside. A flexible strap held five tubes, one different from the others. She asked, “The closed one goes on the bottom?”
Margrave nodded, busy unpacking his other box. She strapped on the weapon. It fit perfectly around her upper forearm, which meant it would have to go on a little lower when she was in costume. Nestled in four separate cutouts were long, thin darts. Each was cut with grooves and had a point on the end that looked decidedly sharp and somewhat fragile. Even though she knew the answer, she asked, “What are they?”
He replied, “Knockout darts. They’re aerodynamic by design, and the grooves help them spin as they leave the barrels to give them better accuracy. The payload is a drug that will cause instant paralysis, then render the target unconscious for a while, depending on their size and species and so forth.”
Daphne frowned. “You’re making a weapon to use against magicals?”
He shook his head. “I’m making a nonlethal tool for use against anyone. Better that than having to shoot your target and risk killing them, right?”
The witch considered the question for a second, then nodded. “Makes sense.” She went back to setting up her cauldron and slipping her flasks into a small collapsible frame she’d assembled that supported them at an angle.
Ruby slipped one of the darts into place, happy to confirm that the spiky point didn’t stick out. “Compressed air?”
Margrave replied, “Yep. Same stuff they use in paintball guns, but at significantly higher pressure and miniaturized. It’s going to take some high-end precision equipment to replicate it on any serious scale, but that’s not my problem.”
Ruby laughed. “Create it, ship it, forget it. That’s your motto, right?”