Fleet Mage: Star Sorceress: Book Three, page 16
“We’ll move in and Captain Kirkman will demand their surrender, if they refuse, I’ll give the signal to roll them up. I expect once they’re down, their families and the kidnap victims will be far more cooperative. If fired upon, you are cleared to take them down, but do not fire the first shot without orders. Understood?”
The marines all yelled, “Yes, sir!”
The colonel nodded, “Get to your drop ships, we move at ten hundred hours.”
Her and Ella were assigned to alpha, while Stacy and Matt were with bravo. Daniel and Crandall were with Charlie, while the last two were with Delta.
Chapter Sixteen
The drop ship shook wildly as they punched into the atmosphere, which is when the world slowed down around her, as her perception speed picked up by twenty five percent. It should be the easiest mission of the overall mission, a company of trained marines with mage support facing down less than a platoon of defenders.
Which was worrying, because no one was that stupid. They had a surprise up their sleeve, she just needed to be ready for it. She’d already cast her usual active spells for battle, shield, telekinesis, and levitation. She’d also activated two of her sorceress spells, thaums regeneration and active recovery. Magical detection as well, but she always had that on out of habit so hadn’t been a part of the preparations.
The fireball around their dropship’s shields from the high heat of friction cleared as they got deeper into the atmosphere, and they headed straight down toward the colony’s main street. The usual anticipation and adrenaline had her energized and super focused. She was ready to end this and finally put that part of her life behind her, the last breath of the Harbingers, and she wished them all long lives in the prison they’d be put in.
Death would be an escape, she wanted them to languish in prison to pay for those crimes.
The engines fired crushing them to the seats, then they hit the ground with a sharp jolt and the doors started to open. Drop ships had multiple egress points, to get a platoon out as fast as possible. They trailed after, as the platoon moved forward up the left side of the street in six staggered squads while Bravo did the same on the right side.
The buildings were all brand new, prefabbed panels sitting on plascrete, and obviously temporary until more permanent and hardy structures could be built. It looked like the only building in the colony which was reinforced and built to last was the government building they were heading too. Which completely explained building it and using it as a shelter, a harsh tropical storm would take down every other building in the area.
There were plascrete sidewalks, but the road itself was dirt and hadn’t been paved yet, which was normal enough for a nascent colony of only a few months.
The marines started to move more carefully between cover as they approached the building, and one of the enemy from the squad in front of the building started to walk down the street toward them.
His walk was arrogant and unconcerned, and he held his mage rifle casually hanging at his side muzzle down, like he didn’t have a care in the world. In his left hand he had another device, it looked like a remote detonator.
Her stomach sunk, as she marked his face.
Zane Argyle, the son of Admiral Jason Argyle, and the cadet she’d gotten kicked out because intelligence had investigated him on her behest. He was a narcissistic sociopath and had no business being in the fleet. To him other people were tools to be used up or roadblocks to be annihilated, not humans with feelings and ambitions and desires of their own.
She never imagined she’d be running into him again, but the universe had other plans.
Zane said loudly but in a casual tone, “Send out your leader, I wish to speak to them.”
She said, “Be careful, sir. He’s a narcissistic sociopath. That’s not just hyperbole just because he’s a harbinger, that’s his actual medical diagnosis. Zane Argyle was a cadet in my year, thrown out in his second year for faking his psych profile. He also tended toward extremely aggressive planning during exercises, so his horribly anemic defense setup is not the full story here, I can guarantee that much.”
Kirkman said, “Understood. I’m going out there, cover me.”
Kirkman started to walk out slowly, while all of alpha and bravo took a bead on Zane. No doubt if Zane’s weapon rose, he’d be shot by all forty-eight marines.
The remote detonator’s implications twisted her stomach, or the one holding it did, as she looked at the buildings around her warily, and itched to put up shield walls.
She said, “Get shield walls ready and hold them, if he looks like he’s about to hit that button, cast them between our platoons and the buildings.”
Matt asked, “You think he led us into a trap? Started walking forward to make us halt right next to a bunch of bombs?”
She sighed, “I hope so.”
Matt frowned across the street at her over that response, then his eyes widened as he realized the implications of her words.
Matt said, “Do what she said, all pairs get a shield wall spell ready.”
Ella asked, “Where else would they be?”
She said quietly, “The bunker. Maybe both. We’ll find out soon enough.”
Ella looked as horrified as she felt, when that sunk in.
Kirkman stopped right in front of Zane. They only heard what they said, because Kirkman had kept his mic live. They spoke in normal tones.
“You need to stand down. It’s over, no one else has to die here today.”
Zane smirked, “Here are my demands, captain. Return our leadership and the Copernicus unharmed, and then go home. We need the ship’s manufacturing capability if we’re to survive, and we’re no longer a threat to the Union. You should’ve just let us go our own way.”
Kirkman shook his head, “Don’t play the victim card. You aren’t refugees, you’re terrorists who have murdered over a million people in the last twenty six years, as well as stolen, pirated, and destroyed trillions of credits worth of infrastructure, buildings, and resources, and you will pay for those crimes. You don’t get a clean slate, just because you decided to run away. Now, tell me why on earth we’d do that, instead of stunning the eighteen of you and taking you all back for trial, while bringing your families back to their old lives in the Union?”
Zane held up the detonator, “Because we would rather die than face a mockery of a trial, only to be executed or thrown in a dark hole for the rest of our lives. Accede to my demands, or we all die, captain. If I push this button, that building behind me will collapse, and ten thousand innocent people will die. Is that really worth petty revenge? I’d suggest you call your colonel, and let him send it up the line, if the whole colony dies the Union will blame you, personally, if you do something foolish without orders.”
She knew that didn’t mean they were safe either, she’d bet if he hit that button, he’d want to take as many of the enemy with him as he could, even as he casually murdered ten thousand people and committed suicide.
“Stay ready, there could still be explosives around us too, I’d bet my life there is, but we can’t let him hit that button.”
Ella shook her head, “How the hell did he talk the other seventeen operators into accepting this plan? They all can’t be willing to see him murder their families, can they?”
She tilted her head. It could be a bluff. He was a sociopath and wouldn’t hesitate to do it himself, but he was also good at fooling people, and Ella had a point. If he’d come up with that plan, willing or not himself, the others might’ve killed him for even suggesting it.
Unless they were crazy too, it was a bluff, and the only real threat was against them. Surrounded by bombs. But with ten thousand lives on the line, could anyone afford to call that bluff?
She knew she didn’t want to make that call.
Zane shrugged, “I’m shielded, if you or your men try anything I’ll have more than enough time to hit the button, and even if I’m wrong, the other two squad leaders have one too, and all three of us are top tier mages. One of us will succeed, and we will all die. Freedom from the Union’s oppression, or death. Those are our choices. I’m going back to my men now, let me know what you decide before you retreat, or there could be a misunderstanding. I suggest you not move your men until we’ve reached an agreement.”
Zane turned and walked away, and the captain returned to them while speaking quietly over his comms. No longer transmitting to all, and no doubt talking to Colonel Ayers aboard ship.
Kirkman asked Ashley, “Do you think he’d do it?”
Ashley replied, “I have no doubt he would, but it could be a bluff anyway. Ella pointed out that the other mages and soldiers would balk at such a plan, killing their families. Chances are they’re not all narcissistic and psychotic, and those would’ve killed Zane for suggesting it. Whether or not he would set explosives on the government building, we can be sure we’re surrounded by some inside these buildings, which is why we all have shield walls ready.
“Blowing up the buildings to kill some and disorient the rest, while his squad picks off the survivors, is exactly the kind of plan he would favor. To be fair, it’s probably his best tactical move as well, against a superior force. Ambush and high explosives.”
The bluff was just in case it would work, they’d win and get their leaders back, as well as most of their operatives who’d been working on the ship. He knew if they took out a company here the Union would never give up, and they’d never get the ship back, but she suspected as soon as he thought they wouldn’t give into the threat, he’d set off the explosives around them.
She hesitated, then said, “All three mages are shielded at power level twenty. Knowing that we could take him down in one attack, but he could see it coming, giving him time to dodge or hit the button, given how far off we are. Power level six magic bullets would be impossible to dodge, but his shield at that level would give him several seconds to hit the button.”
Kirkman sighed, “So you’re saying we need to call his bluff, and use your shield walls to defend against the explosions, while we hope to hell that doesn’t get ten thousand people killed?”
She bit her lip, “That’s about the size of it, sir.”
Kirkman nodded, “We don’t negotiate or make deals with terrorists, save them accepting unconditional surrender. Why did you hesitate earlier, and look frustrated now?”
She blushed, “Because if not for my rules of engagement, I could turn all eighteen of them into paste in a split second, and not risk the explosions going off. But it is what it is, and we can’t use starship level powers on the surface. It’s a door better left closed.”
Kirman said, “I agree, exceptions in a good cause with good intentions will just lead to horrors in the future, but I understand. That call is harder to justify when you’re gambling with ten thousand lives.”
Ella said, “There might be a way, sir.”
Kirkman said, “I’m all ears.”
Ella replied, “If we shield wall and then hit them with thaums burst, your men hit them with stun rounds in the wake of it, before they can recast shields or hit any buttons. Then a half second later, as their shaking on the ground, we’ll hit the mages with mage capture while you rush forward and take them into custody and disarm them.”
She frowned, “It will work, but one of us will have to drop their personal shield and recast at a lower level to do it. Thaums burst is two hundred and five Solis, so it will take down their level twenty shields with one spell. It’s worth the risk given the circumstances, and I should’ve thought of it myself. I volunteer to do it for alpha and Bravo, but we’ll need a support mage in Charlie and Delta to do the same to the other two mages.”
It was a hole in his plan that Zane would never see, because it involved acting from a place of making yourself vulnerable. To Zane such an act would be unthinkable. It bothered her that she hadn’t seen it, but she wasn’t begrudging that Ella did. It was probably just because Thaums burst wasn’t usually used in a small skirmish, it cost too much Solis.
Kirkman said, “I approve the plan.”
Ella frowned, “Why you?”
She smiled, “Two reasons. My Solis limit is three hundred and ninety-seven, so I’ll have to reduce my shield strength three power levels less than you would to free up enough Solis to cast thaums burst. The second is I’m running active recovery, even if my body is pulped, I’ll come back to life immediately.”
As long as her head wasn’t blown off her body, she’d come back. The goal of course, was to take them down before they could hit the button, but Zane would have a good half second to make the decision and carry it out, so it just made sense to be prepared for that possibility.
“Ready, sir,” she said, after taking care of it.
Kirkman said, “Everyone, on my mark. Three, two, one, mark.”
Four shield walls went up, two on either side of the street, between the buildings and themselves. A half second later, thaums burst exploded from her palm. The enemy squad and government building was at least seventy-five yards away, but it was pure thaums energy and moved faster than any bullet, for all intents and purposes the heavy and thick river of pure thaums hit them immediately.
The shields and other spells were worn down and torn apart, like an ocean wave hitting a sandcastle.
The marines opened fire, but not quite fast enough. It wasn’t Zane, but one of the others managed to push the button, unless he’d used telekinesis. The buildings around them exploded, as well as the buildings near Charlie and Delta, even as Ella’s mage capture spell slammed into Zane’s stunned body.
The shield walls were smashed, but not much of the concussive force made it through, barely impacting her shields enough to make her take a couple of steps to retain her balance.
Then her eyes widened, as she smelled the air grow thick with accelerants. The first explosion was just the first step, an explosive to seed fuel in the air. That son of a bitch had somehow built fuel-air bombs.
“Down!” she screamed, as she tackled Ella and created a power level twenty-one dome shield above the two platoons, right as the second explosion came. She wasn’t sure it would be powerful enough, but plasma shields would’ve been a serious mistake with the air around them flammable.
The powerful whump sound and whoosh of fire was deafening, as the fuel was ignited from smaller explosions inside the buildings around them. There was fuel inside the dome with them too, but it wasn’t ignited as flames slammed into the dome. The whole street rumbled and a powerful pressure wave slammed into the dome.
Right before her dome collapsed to the powerful onslaught, an inner dome popped up. She so owed Stacy a beer later, and she wasn’t at all surprised her friend had figured out the score fast enough to save them. The inner dome absorbed the remaining pressure wave. The heat of the flames was an issue, but no danger to the integrity of the dome itself.
Still, they were locked inside a dome, breathing fuel, and essentially at ground zero of a mushroom cloud that was burning above and around them. She put up yet another dome, just in case.
Ella said, “I have the air,” and used the air spell to filter out the fuel, which grew into a large puddle at the edge of the dome, then was slowly fed to the fire outside. Ella was also cooling the air, slowing down its vibrations to fight the oven they were standing in at the moment.
She took a sniff, “Better.”
Ella shook her head, “That was crazy.”
As the fire started to clear, the air outside the dome was completely choked with dust, from both earth and plascrete.
“They’re dead, the squads of the enemy, and Delta is gone. Our men are okay, they threw up domes as well.”
She couldn’t see them yet, but she could feel the dome’s magic.
Ella breathed out a shaky sigh, “Why did we volunteer again?”
She laughed.
Ella cast a detect life spell, then sagged and looked at Ashley in misery.
“The bunker is fine, but the building was torn apart and everyone that was in it is dead. That bastard killed a tenth of the colony’s population.”
She shook her head, “I was thinking C-4 and shrapnel, and I bet so did the others on Zane’s team. Zane really did want to kill them all as well as us, rather than surrender.”
Kirkman said, “Good job keeping us alive through that. When I scented fuel, I thought for sure we were dead.”
She nodded, “Sir.”
That it only took down one platoon and two mages was a miracle, and she was getting tired of toasting her friend’s sacrifices. She hadn’t even been at it a year yet, there were nine years and a few months left in her service tour. She hadn’t been that close to Jacobs and Grayson, they hadn’t been very social, but they’d been training with her and her inner circle of friends for the last two months, and they had survived the space battle.
Only to die because Zane was a psychopath and wanted to go out with a bang.
She cast an earth spell and started making the dust settle. There was nothing left of the building save rubble, and it was glowing with heat. The drop ships were also toast, so add two pilots to the blood price. The steel trap door appeared to be in good condition, and as far as she could tell the people below in the bunker were safe enough. Zane’s bluff had only been partial, but most of them were alive.
Kirkman said, “Copernicus is coming down.”
She nodded, and imagined it’d be a couple of hours before it cooled enough to subdue the rest of the population, and to get them onboard. A thousand dead, but nine thousand were still alive.
The serious fighting was finally done now though, civilians wouldn’t give them a lot of trouble, and many of them would be happy to be going home.
Harbinger was finally finished, but it was an empty feeling. She felt… hollowed out, but also finally free of her past. They wouldn’t hurt anyone else again, or do to others what had been done to her.
Chapter Seventeen
