Wizard Betrayed (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 6), page 18
Zenthra made a final check of the Crosioians’ forces. They only needed the signal from their master computer to close the jaws of the trap. He checked the link to his form in the past on Portalis. He was still controlling everything from fifty years in the past.
A feeling of satisfaction passed over Zenthra. The Dragars’ primary computer that he’d possessed a hundred thousand years ago was still in the past on Portalis. Even if the Crosioians’ master computer was somehow destroyed, his Dragar computer avatar would still be safe. He could just possess another computer in the Crosioians’ network and continue the battle. The Dragars’ computer in the magic dimension was safely buried under thousands of meters of rock on Portalis. The computer room was hardened by every spell at his disposal. The room was further encased in energized titanium. Nothing could teleport in or out without his permission. Even his brother demons couldn’t harm him. He was invulnerable.
My only concern is that the Master is not allowing me to receive information from my future self, Zenthra thought. The host of computers at my disposal has calculated billions of possible outcomes, but I still do not know for sure how the current battle will end. It will be a toss of the dice.
Zenthra pondered the problem for a dozen nanoseconds, then finally made his decision.
“Commence attack,” Zenthra commanded through his guise as the Crosioians’ master computer.
The Crosioians’ fleets immediately obeyed his orders. They always obeyed their master computer and were eager to destroy the Empire.
Chapter 28 – Beachhead
____________________
Fighter shuttles swooped low, laying down a dense barrage of covering fire. Richard huddled deeper into the ravine as soon as he’d sensed the fighters making their attack run. Without a connection to the tele-network, he knew the fighter pilots would assume he was an enemy soldier.
Whoosh!
Dirt and debris kicked up as a massive troopship touched down. Dozens of light Warcats and their slightly heavier Tomcat cousins spewed out of the troopship’s door. They were followed by platoons of power-armor clad infantry spreading out in all directions. The initial wave of shock troops was followed closely by a swarm of UHAAV armored cats and tracked vehicles of every make and model. Armed hover cars zoomed overhead, seeking out enemy targets.
Richard was impressed. The soldiers landing in the troopship were obviously marines. While it took a long time to squeeze a marine division into a large assault ship, he knew an experienced unit like the marines took very little time to disembark.
In less than a minute, a pair of Warcats leaped over the ravine where Richard was hiding. He had his best stealth shield up, so the cats continued on their way without noticing his presence. Sensing the approach of a squad of infantry, Richard cautiously raised his hands in the air and stuck his head over the lip of the ravine.
“Wizard Scout Richard Shepard,” he shouted over his battle helmet’s external speakers. “Don’t shoot.”
A marine dressed in power-armor and carrying a portable rocket launcher sighted at Richard’s head. “I’m not picking up an IFF signal from this one, Sergeant. Do you want me to fire?”
Richard instinctively wanted to duck back below the rim of the ravine but forced himself to remain with his head exposed. As a precaution, he wrapped himself with Power in preparation for shifting into the void if the need arose.
“My battle computer’s connection with the tele-network is out,” Richard tried to explain. “I’m one of sixteen wizard scouts who landed a half hour early.”
“Sarge?” asked the marine carrying the rocket launcher.
By that time, the entire squad had their weapons pointed at Richard. A marine sporting sergeant stripes on his power-armor walked up until only a few meters from Richard.
“Hold your fire, you mugs,” said the sergeant. Pointing the barrel of a large rifle in Richard’s direction, the sergeant said, “Raise your visor, wizard scout. I want to make sure you’re not a bat before we get any further.”
It’s pretty obvious I don’t have wings, Richard thought. With a dozen weapons pointed at his head, he didn’t argue the point and complied with the sergeant’s request. As soon as his visor was up, the sergeant’s visor raised as well.
“Well, I’ll be,” said the sergeant sporting a wide grin. “If it isn’t cadet 832. You’re lucky Alice didn’t blow your head off instead of taking the time to ask questions.”
Richard recognized the sergeant. She looked older than when he’d last seen her. Stress lines showed in several places on her tanned face, but he thought she was as cute as ever.
“Cadet 647,” Richard said. “I haven’t seen you since pre-Academy.” He returned the ex-wizard scout cadet’s grin. “I’m glad to see you’re still alive.”
Turning to her squad, the sergeant said, “Lower your weapons, mates. I know this ugly mug. We were cadets in pre-Academy together.”
In truth, Richard knew they’d been more than fellow cadets. She’d been DFR’d from pre-Academy, but during the six months before that, they’d become very close.
“I’ll say,” said Nickelo intruding on Richard’s thoughts. “From what I can see in my databanks, you spent more time trying to figure out how to set up secret rendezvous with cadet 647 than you did studying for your exams.”
Richard felt his face growing warm. He lowered his visor. “Hush, Nick. Mind your own business.”
After dispersing her squad in a defensive perimeter, Richard’s ex-classmate turned back to him. “We’re not cadets anymore, though, are we? By the way, in case you’ve forgotten, my name’s Sharon; Sergeant Sharon Falcio, to be precise. I’m assuming I can still call you Richard. We were close at one time, if you remember.”
Richard felt himself blushing behind his visor again. “I remember your name, Sharon. Please call me Rick. All my friends do.”
“Am I still your friend, err…Rick?” said Sharon. “It’s not like you’ve been burning down the tele-network trying to contact me.”
“Uh…, my life’s been, uh…, complicated.”
Sharon laughed. “Ain’t everyone’s?” Then the sergeant grew serious. “I can vouch for you, but that ain’t good enough without an active IFF signal. I’m going to have to take you back to the colonel.” Turning to a nearby soldier, she said, “Corporal, take the squad to our objective. No one’s had any contact yet. I’ll try to join you before anything interesting happens.”
“Aye aye, sergeant,” said the corporal. “All right, you mugs, move it out. This war ain’t gonna wait while you to take your own sweet time.”
Sharon hefted her rifle and pointed the barrel in the direction of a group of tracked vehicles. The pieces of armor formed a small perimeter about a half klick away. “Shall we? I’m sure the colonel’s going to have some questions.”
Richard shook his head. “I don’t have time to waste, Sharon. I need to see your division commander ASAP. It’s urgent. We’ve all walked into a trap. There’s no time to lose.”
Sharon bit her lip, then whispered something into the helmet’s mike. After nodding her head a couple of times, she lowered her visor and pointed at the tracked vehicles again.
“Sorry, Rick, no can do. The battalion intel officer says the tele-network has nothing on a wizard scout being in our sector. She says according to higher, only fifteen wizard scouts landed on Estos and that none of them were named Shepard.”
“I have a feeling Secretary Reaster has wiped your mission from the tele-network,” said Nickelo.
“Ya think?” Richard replied, growing angrier by the second.
When Richard didn’t move, Sharon said, “Rick, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve got my orders. I don’t want to fight you. I know how that would turn out. Regardless, I’ll do my duty. Our battalion commander’s a reasonable woman. She’ll get you up to division lickety-split if your information warrants.”
As it turned out, Richard wasn’t destined to find out how reasonable his friend’s battalion commander was. A salvo of ground-to-air missiles took off from several nearby tracked vehicles. Multi-colored beams of plasma and phase energy shot upward from anti-aircraft batteries on the troopship. Sharon took off running for the battalion headquarters. Richard ran after her.
“We’ve got incoming Crosioian warships,” Sharon shouted over the continuing noise of ground-to-air missiles and other anti-aircraft fire. “The troopship’s activating the division’s force field.”
Richard sensed lines of energy shoot outward from the troopship and form an invisible barrier 4,000 meters in radius. A missile came screaming down from the clouds and slammed into the force field.
Boom!
The shock of the nuclear explosion knocked both Richard and Sharon off their feet.
The division’s force field held.
At the bright flash, the visor on Richard’s battle helmet automatically darkened. Once the light dimmed, he sent the command to revert the visor to normal night vision mode. When the visor cleared, he didn’t like what he saw.
“That was not a tactical nuke,” said Nickelo. “Based on its energy output, I calculate it was at least eighty megatons. The good news is that it was not one of those magic nukes. The force field is keeping the radiation from penetrating.”
Richard scanned the area around him, stretching his passive scan as far as he could go. He detected no remaining life forms on the ground outside the force field.
“There should be marines out there,” Richard told his battle computer. “The lead elements were outside the shield.”
“Yes, they were,” replied Nickelo. “They are gone now. You had best get moving. This battle is only starting unless I miss my guess.”
As if on cue, Richard sensed a buildup of energy in two locations inside the force field along with dozens of others outside the shield.
“It’s the static tele-bots,” said Nickelo. “Brace yourself.”
Sharon was just starting to rise to her feet. Richard knocked her down and covered her with his own body just as a nuke went off 2,000 meters away. Before the blast wave swept over them, Richard threw up a hasty defensive shield. Most of the nuke’s energy glanced off, but the wave of dirt, rocks, and broken pieces of metal that followed threatened to roll him off his friend. Using telekinesis, he deflected the larger items away. His battle suit handled the rest.
A wave of radiation swept over Richard and Sharon. Both screamed as the magic radiation penetrated their armor and began burning the cells of their bodies from the inside. Richard felt Power from his self-healing reserve attempting to return his cells to baseline. He wrapped Power from the reserve he used to heal others around Sharon. After comparing the way her body was with how it should be, he pulled the difference into himself.
Waves of magic radiation from other exploding nukes came rolling in. Each wave of magic reinforced the others, intensifying the damage to Sharon and Richard’s bodies.
“You can’t keep healing her,” Nickelo warned. “That magic radiation is going to cause more damage than you can possibly heal. Make for the troopship. Its armor will provide some protection. It may give us time to think of a plan.”
Jerking Sharon to her feet, Richard began dragging her toward the troopship. The Power in the healing reserve he used to heal others dropped rapidly as he continued to reverse the damage to her body. The double dose of pain from his friend’s injuries as well as his own made concentrating difficult. In spite of his hold, Sharon jerked out of his grasp.
“No,” shouted Sharon. “I’ve got to get to my squad. They’re not answering my calls.”
“They’re dead,” Richard shouted back. “Everyone outside the shield’s dead.” Grabbing his friend’s hand, Richard pulled her in the direction of the troopship.
As they stumbled along, Richard saw bodies of unarmored marines twitching in the last throes of death. A clean-cut young man screamed as he rolled up into a ball. His legs suddenly relaxed, and he stopped screaming. A shimmer left the man’s body and dissipated to nothing. Richard knew the shimmer well. He’d been seeing similar shimmers ever since he had helped destroy the Dragars’ temple on Portalis.
“They’re dying,” Richard told Nickelo. “I can’t do anything about it.”
“No,” said Nickelo, “you cannot. The magic radiation is killing unprotected personnel in thirty seconds. Those in power-armor may last five minutes, but that is it. Crews in armored vehicles may last an hour or more before they succumb. Those inside the troopship are faring better. They have a chance if they take off now.”
A trio of energy readings appeared high overhead on Richard’s passive scan, and coming in fast. Diving for the ground, Richard pulled Sharon underneath him once more. She struggled but to no avail. He used telekinesis to supplement the strength of his battle suit.
“You are down to forty-seven percent Power in your reserve,” said Nickelo. “Let the woman go. Head for the ravine. I have a plan.”
Richard held on tight to his friend. He sensed beams of energy streaking out from the inbound Crosioian destroyers in the direction of the troopships. The beams passed through the already weakened force field and struck the troopship.
Boom!
Even as he threw up a defensive shield, Richard knew he couldn’t stop all the energy. A wave of fire and pieces of metal slammed into him, throwing him through the air. Somehow, he hung onto Sharon and continued healing her even as they hit the ground.
“Stop healing her,” Nickelo ordered. “The reserve you use to heal others is empty. You are using Power from your defensive and offensive reserve now. Don’t waste it. She is going to die anyway. I calculate they are all going to die. Release her.”
“Go to hell!” Richard yelled in his shared space as he stood up still holding onto Sharon, who was barely conscious.
The burning wreckage of the troopship told Richard there’d be no salvation from that quarter. He noticed several heavy cats still on their feet, firing all weapons skyward. Several marines in heavy power-armor were running to man crew-served anti-aircraft weapons. Some began firing upward in defiance. They were marines. Richard knew they wouldn’t quit.
Whoosh!
Turning in the direction of the sound, Richard saw a large troopship landing a klick away. Another troopship landed several hundred meters beyond it.
“Crosioians,” Nickelo said needlessly.
Swarms of bulky Crosioian cats came rushing out of openings in the side of the ship. Fighter-shuttles shot out from the top of the nearest troopship before banking into a hard turn, straight for the burning wreckage of the Empire troopship. The remaining marine cats and crew-served weapons switched their fire to the fighters and approaching ground forces.
“We’ve got to help them,” shouted Sharon as she broke free from Richard’s grasp again and ran for a nearby tracked rocket launcher.
Desperate, Richard sent out a call to his dolgars. If the pack leader, Sheeta, could bring his spirit-horse to him, he was sure he could get Sharon and him out of the ambush alive. The trouble was that the dolgars more often than not didn’t answer his calls for help.
“They will either come or they won’t,” said Nickelo. “I recommend making something happen on your own.”
“Easier said than done,” Richard replied as he took off after Sharon.
By the time he caught up with his friend, she was already helping two marines manhandle a fresh rocket into the vehicle’s launcher. Richard grabbed hold of the rear end of the rocket and shoved it into place.
“The firing computer’s down,” said one of the marine crewmen.
“Just fire it,” Richard ordered. “My battle computer will make sure it gets to its target.”
Without waiting to consult the crew, Sharon slapped the launch button. Fire shot out the back of the rocket before it flew out the end of the launch tube toward the nearest Crosioian troopship.
“Nick?” Richard said.
“I have it,” said Nickelo. “It’s not going to do any good in the grand scheme of things, but I have it.”
The rocket wavered at first, then steadied into a track heading straight for an opening in the side of the nearest troopship. Richard didn’t wait to see if it hit. He’d read the writing on the side of the missile. It contained a 5-megaton tactical nuke as its warhead.
Sharon and the other two marines were already pulling another rocket out of its storage container. Before Richard could help, a fighter-shuttle made a strafing run, firing small balls of energy as it came. Richard threw a defensive shield around Sharon. Two balls of energy glanced off before they could hit his friend. A ball of energy hit Richard’s ankle, knocking him off his feet. He screamed. He felt cooling liquid being shot into his veins from several of his battle suit’s thread needles and sensed Power from his self-healing reserve wrap around where his foot should be, although he couldn’t feel the appendage itself.
Looking down, Richard saw no sign of his left foot. All he could see were jagged pieces of his battle suit and dangling pieces of flesh below his knee. Blood spewed out the torn opening. Before he could pass out, another round of cool liquid shot into his veins, keeping him conscious.
“Stay with me, Rick,” said Nickelo. “Use your rifle as a crutch. You have to get to the ravine. The magic radiation is still attacking your cells.”
Richard looked around. The two crewmen were in pieces, as was the rocket launcher. Sharon was still on her feet. She swung her rifle off her shoulder and began firing at two Crosioians running in her direction. Richard recognized their armor. It was the same prototype armor he’d found on the asteroid.
Reaching out with his mind, he found the spinal cord at the base of one of the bat-creatures’ necks and twisted hard. The bat went down. A stream of plasma rounds from Sharon’s rifle traced along the second bat-creature’s neck. Most of the rounds ricocheted off the magic armor, but several rounds found a weak point. The Crosioian fell to the ground beside the other bat.
Sharon looked back at Richard, switching her visor to clear. Her eyes widened as they focused on his missing foot.
