DCA forces lined up within the tower, ready to throw themselves into the launcher runes.
Dwarves and their mounted compatriots moved out from their barracks and to the different areas where they could drop from.
The mounted actually took large lifts through the soul gem underneath the castle to large bay-looking areas. Off to the side, there were racks of metal plates with runes and a fence around them. The creatures stepped onto these plates, now trained to get past their original fears.
A gravity field encompassed them as they moved over the bay doors so that it didn’t even feel as if they were flying.
The dwarves were split up between groups that marched onto this landing platform to others that were ready at chutes buried deep inside the soul gem island that the Citadel rested on. These were basically slides that the dwarves or other single-person forces would jump in, the slide guiding them through the soul gem construct and out below the citadel.
Then they would use their teardrop-shaped backpack to guide themselves to their drop zone.
All over the place, there was training staff. All weapons and armor had been removed so that they couldn’t get in the way. Here, they were just doing the basics; later they would get into holding weapons and more complicated maneuvers like the kind that they might need to use if they were getting attacked at range.
The massive flying citadel crossed the sky. The other training forces in the different citadels looked upward, staring at the monstrosity in the sky.
The only floating creations they knew of were the Per’ush Islands. To see an entire citadel flying across the sky— even though they had seen it in the Mirrors of Communication training—was much different in real life.
The citadel came to float near the second citadel’s location so that forces, once they were done, could pass through the ono to allow the next citadel fighting force to move through.
Trainers who could fly took to the air around the citadel, looking about to make sure there were no threats and ready to intervene if any issues arose.
“We are hovering outside of Citadel Two,” Flight said.
“Good. Keep us on a hover. Make sure that we get the information on crosswinds to the groups dropping today,” the captain said.
His command crew did their tasks with economic movements. Nervous at first, they relaxed more and more, getting used to their roles. They had practiced for weeks in the Mirror of Communication. They knew how to work their stations; it was only the pressure of practicing it and then actually doing it in real life that made their nerves hit an all-time high.
Deia, Anna, Quindar, Steve, Lox, Gurren, and Induca were within the command center.
“So, anyone else want to jump off a perfectly good flying citadel?” Steve rubbed his hands together.
“We’ll go check on the different ground forces.” Lox indicated Gurren and Steve at the same time.
“I’ll check in with the aerial forces quick,” Anna said.
“I’ll join,” Quindar said.
“Want to go and help those on safety?” Induca asked Deia, looking to the people who were floating around the citadel, making sure that no one got into too much trouble and that everyone got to the ground in one piece.
“Sounds good to me—be able to see just what they get up to.” Deia smiled. She was nervous as the people who were doing this for real for the first time. If something went wrong, it would reflect back on her. She’d got a lot of help from Anna and the others but this was her show; she was the training commander of everyone here.
They took elevators from the command center heading to the different parts of Citadel One.
Deia and Induca took to the sky, twin fireballs as they moved.
“I’m surprised that Dave and Malsour aren’t here,” Induca said in a private chat with Deia. Talking with the air rushing past would have been impossible.
“I know. They probably wish that they were here too, but they’ve been wrapped up in their own projects. It seems that everything has just gone mad in the last couple of weeks,” Deia said, her voice quiet. She missed spending time with Dave. It felt like a lifetime ago that they had let loose and relaxed in Per’ush.
Deia shook free those thoughts and smiled at Induca. “So, after Malsour showed that he was actually a Dragon, how have people been?”
“Well, they’ve mostly figured out that I’m a Dragon too. The players are all losing their shit and the people of Emerilia are a bit stunned. However, I think it’s still hard for them to try to understand that I’m human and I can also turn into a massive red Dragon. I think that it might be good that way as most people aren’t treating me too different,” Induca said.
“Now that it’s out of the bag, are you going to fight in your human form or Dragon?”
“I’m thinking my Dragon form for most things. We’re coming up against creatures and groups that are much stronger than us. We need every advantage that we can get,” Induca said.
“Yeah. I thought at one time that anything higher than Level 100 was powerful. Though Emerilia and the portals are showing me just how foolish that idea was.”
“Well, there’s no limit to how powerful someone can be on Emerilia. There’s bound to be people who push those boundaries—look at Denur,” Induca said.
“You have a point.” Deia laughed.
“First drop, ready to go,” one of the overseeing trainers said over the trainers’ channel.
Deia changed over.
The various people who had been flying around now moved closer to the flying citadel, ready to help where needed.
“Five, four, three, two, one. Drop, drop, drop!” Bay doors slammed open underneath the citadel as platforms dropped downward like rocks. Beasts yelled out as they dropped even though they couldn’t feel the dropping sensation but saw the ground all around them, and the sudden change of scenery made them feel disoriented.
The platforms shot down toward the ground and into various formations. They flew in separate groups, following programmed flight plans so that they weren’t ontop of one another or that they were in the flight path of the others who were leaving the citadel.
Dwarves dropped out of the chutes; their teardrop backpacks took over as soon as they left the citadel in a stream. They raced toward the ground as well. All of the forces were spread out so that it would be headed to kill a large number of them in one hit.
It looked as if the citadel were a bee’s nest and that all of the bees inside were rushing to attack something that had disturbed them.
From the flight deck, the DCA-based aerial crew jumped into the different jet streams, launching into the air. They curved around and turned toward Citadel Two.
Mages and ranged attackers went through the motions of what they would do without actually completing the action of firing their weapons or releasing their spells. Right now, they were just seeing how they could deploy their forces and the kind of effect it would have. Adding in live fire as well as testing out all facets of the citadel could come later, once everyone was used to dropping from the citadel and launching.
The sight made Deia’s heart clench as she continued to watch on the interface that was tracking everyone who was dropping. Shard managed all of the different flight’s so that they wouldn’t hit one another. The trainers hovered around, ready to aid if needed.
The dwarves with their backpacks hit the ground first. Their creatures followed them as they moved into their armored formations. The creatures screeched and flew above their heads.
In battle, they would continue to attack whatever was in the dwarves’ way as they advanced forward, allowing them to hit the enemy at range instead of only being a close-quarters fighting group.
The platforms flared before settling on the ground. The fences around the platforms dropped as the mounted forces rushed outward, headed for Citadel Two while the Dwarven formations on the platforms marched off, their creatures jumping into the sky.
With every group that made it to the ground sa
fely, Deia felt slight relief. Still, there were hundreds of platforms and thousands of people and moving parts all going at once.
There were some complications but they weren’t too bad and they were easily solved. Still, the first drop took about forty-five minutes before everyone was deployed.
“We’re going to need to work on that time,” Deia said, even as she had a smile on her face.
“No one injured and only a few mess-ups—room for improvement but not bad,” Induca said.
“I want those platforms and the landing backpacks reset and ready for the next group. I want this reset and ready for the next citadel crew coming through in an hour and a half.” Deia moved toward the forces that were now walking toward Citadel Two, talking to one another about what had happened.
“How long until we can get more platforms and backpacks?” Induca asked.
“We’re getting more every day. Florence says that in three weeks, we’ll have all of them,” Deia said.
“That’s cutting it close to when the Alliance wants us to hit our first target.” Induca frowned.
“Yes, it is, and we’re going to need to test every single piece of gear. We’re dropping from the sky— I don’t want to have any complications,” Deia said.
“Do you think that the trainees will be able to keep up with everything?” Induca asked as they moved to where a group of platforms were rising back up into the air. As they could land, they could also return to the citadel. All of it was under the guidance of Shard.
Each platform could hold a hundred warbands, or five hundred dwarves, or two hundred mounted.
“I know that it’s one hell of a punishing schedule. We’ve got them training for real right now, then we’re going to be doing multiple drops and introducing them to live fire and full gear by the end of next week. The week afterward, I want to have them working with those barrier trainers that I used with the DCA. If we slack their training, then we’re doing them a disservice. The more sweat we spend here, the less blood we’ll have when it’s real,” Deia said, her voice firm.
Induca looked at Deia. Deia was a driven woman, much more driven than Induca had been before she had left Emerilia. She had even gone into hibernation when she and the Dracul clan were moved to their other planet. Now that she was back on Emerilia, she worked to improve her abilities to the utmost.
Deia had a stronger base to go from, being the daughter of a goddess. However, combined with her work ethic, she had struck a powerful figure that Induca looked up to.
“I was wondering if you wanted to train together?” Induca asked.
“Sure.” Deia smiled.
Induca smiled as well. Her fight with the Xelur Grand Demon Lord had shaken her up more than she let others know. She’d come close to dying and even Suzy had been badly hurt. She wanted to protect her girlfriend but now even her Dragon form that she had relied on before to fight others wasn’t strong enough to fight the opponents they were finding.
They reached the ground and collected the different backpacks that had been laid out. Once collected, they headed back up to Citadel One so that they were ready for the next group to come through.
***
Within the asteroid base, a miner moved away from a slip as automatons started to lay down a superstructure. The pre-made parts came together as the repair bots with their flight drives and carts moved from the nose of the craft toward the rear. As it moved downward, a soul gem construct was placed in the fore of the craft. Reaching out from the asteroid base, bundles of runic lines running through a soul gem construct reached out from the base, connecting the fusion plants of the asteroid base to the superstructure of the craft.
The soul gem construct spread across the superstructure, corridors started to form with runic lines across it. Different supports and panels were attached to the superstructure; the soul gem construct grew over it at a rapid pace as the craft started to take shape.
Wings were brought together by repair bots and joined together into a single form as the main body of the craft extended backward. The three sections met up and came together as the soul gem construct continued to grow through the ship. Mounts appeared, and holes where missiles would be held. Fusion reactors started to take form as power continued to flow into the craft.
People came to watch the craft as it grew. A few moved inside, checking on the progress as other superstructures were laid down. As the asteroid shipyard grew, more and more hulls were laid down. Two more destroyers were started in front and behind the original. On the other side of the shipyard’s main thoroughfare, a massive mile long hull was under construction. Multiple soul gem constructs were already laid down, flowing over the Mithril frame and creating the rooms where the fusion reactors would be held and Mana wells were inserted strategically throughout the Battleship. Repair bots and carts moved continuously as missile tubes, gun mounts, and other structures that couldn’t be made from the soul gem construct were placed within the different ships.
Miners and cargo shuttles left while it grew, moving to other asteroids that contained materials needed to fuel the ships’ progress.
Malsour and Dave were once again within the asteroid base, watching as the first of the battleships was finished. Its reactors were working but it still needed armor and its coding was an issue. That meant over a hundred people were swarming over every inch of the craft, checking it—along with Jeeves—to make sure that everything functioned properly.
Dwarves were some of the best Magical Circuit making people known. But when they had been working with Magical Circuits in order to enhance weapons, they were dealing with maybe a hundred characters and they were within a formation. They could copy them over and it would be completely fine. With magical coding, they were used to hundreds of different runes that could be put into simple combinations and greatly enhance the original effect.
The difference between using magical coding to decrease the weight of an item or allow it to have an ice attack was like comparing a math test to someone solving out how to fly from Earth to Mars with pure math. The learning curve was sharp but they knew it on a small level. They were just adjusting what they already knew and placing it onto the coding that was running through the battleships.
“Bob says that he’s ready to wake up the first of the players,” Malsour said.
“I know.” Dave looked out over the ship.
“Nervous?”
“A bit. These people are going to just be torn from their lives and shown this truth—it’s going to be a bit incredible,” Dave said.
Malsour made a noise of agreement but didn’t say anything else. There was no knowing how the players would react.
Dave touched the wall of the asteroid base, sending his consciousness through the wall and into the first destroyer that was the closest to completion. It might look complete on the outside, but inside there were still runic lines growing through the soul gem construct and unfinished hallways were coming together.
The fusion reactors were pouring constant power into the soul gem construct; , the walls around them were the strongest and the most complete. From there, power lines ran outward toward the different areas across the ship. All of these would need power and were ready for the components that were to be inserted.
Although most of the interior was made with soul gem construct growing, here and there the more complicated magical coding was compressed down into runic lines were made in factories, assembled, and then placed into the craft. They were fully integrated into the soul gem matrix of the ship melding with these complex constructs to make them one and the same.
There were greenhouses that were busy converting the atmosphere in the ship into breathable air. With the speed at which the different plants grew, they were able to easily scrub the air, making it possible for the people of Emerilia to walk through the ship without needing to bring their own air in a Mana shield.
Support beams spread through the ship. The armor bolted onto these different hard points as the soul gem cons
truct created the command center, missile tubes, hallways, light strips, sleeping quarters, and drop circles—as they were being called by the development team.
Dave felt a sense of excitement and apprehension. He had never built something as complicated as the warships and he was scared that they might not work.
Everything was coming together but he was filled with nerves and a feeling of uselessness. He could do nothing but sit back and support his party from the rear. He wanted to be up front and on the front, where he could use his devices and tricks.
“Damn Jukal.” Dave sighed and pulled his hand from the soul gem construct.
“What’s the matter?” Malsour asked.
“Just—I have all of these weapons and I know that I could finish off a lot of groups that we are fighting with just a few moves. But I can’t because everything that I use would tip off a damn AI or some kind of sensor. We have warships. We’re working to develop our own massive portals. We’ve got nuclear fusion bombs in grand workings. We’ve got grand workings and cannons that make what the dwarves have look like they’re playing with water guns. All of this and we still have to sit and wait, hoping that we’re ready for what the Jukal bring to bear on us once we go to war with them,” Dave said.
Malsour nodded. He, too, felt these pressures; at least he was able to use his gifts to fight. Dave’s abilities didn’t always come from his magic—it came from what he had made, greatly enhancing his abilities and making him a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
“The time is coming closer and closer. With these bases in Nal, it won’t be long until we can reveal some of our strength.” Malsour paused. “I think it might be time to talk to Sato about our plan to undermine the Jukal.”
Dave looked to Malsour, thinking on his words. His face became harder as he came to a decision and nodded his head. “You may be right.”
Emerilia Series Box Set 4 Page 64