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 empress, 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.
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.”
They began to jog cautiously, not wanting to be taken by surprise, but everywhere they looked, only the dead stared back. It seemed the fighting had really happened at the end of the atrium, because the body count became obscene the further they traveled.
“I think I see her,” Boon said, pointing through the trees.
Baxter squinted as he jogged; the girl was right. There was a huge, three-story set of double doors standing open. Inside the room was a figure in black armor. She was in a fighting stance, but her left arm hung limply, and there was a small pool of blood on the ground where it was dripping from her fingertips.
Baxter picked up his speed, the others keeping pace.
As soon as they broke through the trees, they saw Sara getting hammered by multiple spells, thrown by unseen enemies. Fire and ice and force blasts slammed into her shield from all angles.
Baxter watched her go down on one knee, and could see her shield burning red from the abuse, then it winked out. Before he could even shout, a force blade slashed through the air, raking across her chest and throwing her onto her back. Her armor was split open, and blood ran from the gash in her torso.
Alister was standing next to her body, his stance low, but he was ultimately undefended, with Sara so out of it.
Baxter roared in his helmet, but before he could do anything, Boon flung herself forward with her own force spell, flying through the doors as another bolt of force sliced through the air toward Sara and Alister.
47
Boon let the force spell die and powered a shield around Sara, Alister, and herself as she slid in close on her knees, her armor sending up sparks from the stone floor.
The force blast shattered against her shield, but she paid it no mind, instead opening her glove and pressing her bare hand into the open gash of Sara's armor, coating her digits in sticky, red blood. Boon poured Aether into the healing spell Silva provided, hoping she wasn’t too late, like she had been for the emperor.
The Aether flowed, filling the spellform and rushing into Sara. Boon choked a laugh of victory as her captain’s eyes opened, though they were still dazed from the impact. It would take her a few minutes to come out of her stupor.
Alister ‘merow’ed, and jumped onto Sara's chest, nuzzling her face. Somewhere along the way, Sara’s faceplate had been damaged and removed. Probably in that massive fight out in the atrium, Boon thought.
She turned just in time to see several spells slam into her shield. She had to feed it more Aether, but it held firm. She surveyed the room.
A throne was on a raised dais at the back of the one hundred and fifty-meter square space, perched in front of giant windows that looked down the spine of the dreadnought.
Standing in front of the throne was a figure Boon assumed must be the governor.
He wore white and gold armor that covered him completely, which was then covered by long, white robes that hung to the floor. He was more or less human-shaped, but he had a long, thick tail that whipped angrily back and forth as he stared down at Boon and the prone figure of Sara. His face and horns were encased in a helmet that featured a blank, white faceplate.
Though she couldn’t see his face, Alicia guessed his expression would be one of surprise. That thought made her smile cruelly.
Surrounding them in a semi-circle were ten Teifen, all of whom were obviously mages. They wore similar armor, though no robes, and their stance implied attack rather than pride, unlike their ruler.
Boon didn't hesitate. She lashed out with a force blade, catching the right arm and leg of the nearest mage, cutting them free with sprays of blue blood. The nine others all began to return the attack at once.
Two of the mages dropped from slugs to their necks as Baxter came over her comms. “We can snipe from the door, but try to keep them busy.”
In answer, Boon lashed out again, while her shield was battered to a burnt orange. She shot off a fireball at another mage, but it splashed against a hastily erected shield spell. Another round of spells slammed into her own shield, and she struggled to keep it up, almost losing it before she could focus enough Aether.
Another mage dropped to a rifle slug, but his demise caught a compatriot’s attention, and a few turned to deal with the snipers. Boon took the
opportunity to send out another force blade, and caught one of the distracted mages in the shoulder, slicing his arm off.
The barrage on her shield continued, and she became overwhelmed.
Another fireball pushed the limit of the shield too far, and before she could reinforce it, her protection fell. She was immediately struck with a bolt of force to the chest, and staggered to her knees. She fired a bolt in return and caught the Mage in the face, crushing her white faceplate into her skull, dropping her to the floor, dead.
Another force bolt hit Boon just before her shield came back up, dazing her and making it too hard to concentrate and power the spellform. Silva gave a squeak of fear and anger from her spot in the hip pouch in reaction.
Boon could see the governor walking across the floor toward her and Sara, his gait slow and steady.
He stopped right in front of her, and raised a hand. “Die, human,” he growled, and shot a bolt of force right at her face.
But the bolt hit a shield—a shield that Boon didn't remember making.
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Sara standing behind her. She had a hand on her own armor, closing the ripped steel and composites with a mending spell. Then, reaching down, she opened Boon’s faceplate, and touched her finger to her cheek.
A warmth rushed through Alicia as Sara healed the broken bones and bruised muscles she didn't even realize she’d sustained.
“I forgot to keep it balanced,” Sara said with a smile just for Boon.
The governor slammed her shield again, but it would not budge. Sara checked the room and saw there were only two mages left.
Baxter and Gonders have done well.
She quickly and viciously lashed at the last two Teifen mages with force and fire spells, until their shields were overwhelmed and they were burned down with the relentless attacks.
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