“Yes… Yes, I think he’s waking up,” Hilden’s voice, and the beeping of machinery, reached Garder as both of his eyes slowly fluttered open and bright light burned his pupils. “Garder? Can you hear me?”
“Ungh…” he groaned. “W-what…”
He saw Leovyn and Milla looking at him near the door of the burrow’s small infirmary, both with relief on their faces.
“You had us scared for a while, Mr. Nolland,” Hilden said. “Your vitals only just improved about ten minutes ago, and now here you are, back with us… Easy!” she insisted when he tried to sit himself up against the infirmary bed pillow. “Your body’s still recovering. The injury to your side is healing. And you didn’t exactly get very much of what we can call proper rest during your long sleep. Take it slow, and breathe.”
“H-how… Augh…” He rubbed his forehead. “How long?”
Hilden hesitated, but answered, “Three weeks. I’ll go prepare a very warm, very soft meal for you. You should speak with your family.”
Once she had left the room, Garder muttered, “It doesn’t feel like I’ve been out of it for three weeks… Ugh. Don’t think I’ve ever felt worse.”
“You look it, too, kid,” Leovyn sighed, handing Garder a chrome surgical tray so he could see his reflection. “Any bad dreams?”
“I didn’t dream… I was just alone with my thoughts, and his.” He looked at the dark rings under his eyes, neither golden anymore. “Even in a coma, I never really ‘drifted off.’ Feels like my body’s been through hell.”
“I’m guessing you were the one who went lights out, but Caeden just kept your thinker going all that time. I’m sorry, kid. That’s rough.”
“Garder…” Milla said quietly.
He murmured, “Don’t say anything. I know I screwed up.”
She shook her head. “That doesn’t matter right now. I’m just glad you’re at least starting to recover, and can tell us how you feel.”
“You should’ve sent me to Earth to bleed out. I’m not sure what might happen between me and Caeden in Hold right now, but I know I’d be fixed up on return, instead of… out of commission for three weeks.”
Garder read the looks his family gave him, and after thinking a moment, he said with a groan, “Right… You think I’d ask Mom for help and she’d be nuking regiments with hurricanes the next day…”
Leovyn got out a nervous chuckle. “Something like that. Look, I’m glad you’re awake, but you actually caught us at a bad time. I’m very busy with… other matters at the moment. Milla can stay a while longer.”
“… What’s that all about?” Garder asked Milla once their father rushed out of the room. “Priorities, I guess… So… Look, I, uh…”
“Who am I talking to? Be honest,” she questioned firmly.
“Both of us. Although I know how to keep Caeden’s anger under control. Usually. I don’t think you could disentangle us at this point.”
“… Can we talk about—”
“No,” he said emphatically. “The before, and after, I’m more open to. But what happened in T? No… Call it unhealthy all you want.”
“It’s okay,” Milla assured. “But why’d you get put on the plane?”
“Insubordination with my former commander. He was an idiot. I thought the program that gave us Sasoire and the other kids was a joke too, but she’s at least competent. He didn’t believe anything about my apostle powers, didn’t communicate with his superiors, and saw me as fodder. Still, I didn’t fight the order. Figured it wouldn’t be a difficult mission.”
“And after? I dug into the records and saw that you returned to active duty a month after your disappearance, on a Tillethy battleship.”
“Not much to it. I stole a small boat from the harbor, set out, and started broadcasting. Milla…” He swiveled and dangled his legs off the side of the bed. “I overheard you and Dad talking about H and P at some point. I can help. Some protein drinks and a week of PT, and I’ll be ready to go.”
“No. Garder, your fight is over. You’ve done more than enough, and what little may be left of this war will involve large battles, which haven’t been your place. You can advise and help with plans, but you’re staying at C. You need to start emotional recovery, moving past these years.”
“Milla—”
“Don’t argue. I have one last question. You must know something about this Neisa that’s been floating about in Caeden’s whispers.”
Garder looked at the floor. “Not really. He keeps any thoughts about her locked up tight… She’s a maternal figure, but… maybe Caeden’s older sister? No idea what happened to her. This assault—”
“It’s already happening. That’s why Dad’s busy. The Guard sent 150,000 new recruits on ships to Onasia, and there’s 75,000 still in L. We’re moving now, while they’re in the middle of the ocean. Have faith in us.”
He exhaled shakily and replied, “I’m really trying.”
City H was a coastal metropolis, positioned where America’s state of Washington existed on Earth. In the west it had beaches, many with accompanying resorts. During the summer, visitors from both the large City itself and from across the world had since come back in lesser numbers after local recreation reopened following the Angels fleeing the region, though many hotels had yet to run at full capacity again due to the war. In winter, tourists stayed home. The water was frigid, and the sand was icy. And in places that were far from those currently-closed resorts, there were concrete bunkers and anti-air emplacements. The Guard was determined to keep the Angels from taking H again, but more than that, the tourism companies had demanded some security theater to help their margins.
That morning, there was no one on the beach other than some fishermen at the piers. Out on the horizon were dozens of watch towers, all of them filled with Guardsmen and host to powerful high-velocity cannons that could take out an airship in a single shot. Reinforced aeropads held one interceptor and personnel carrier each, ensuring a fast response should the radar systems pick up an incursion by sea or air from miles out.
“Hey,” an older Guardsman lieutenant said to his junior watch partner in one of the tower turret canopies, as he nudged him with a thermos of coffee in hand. “Your shift’s up. Did you zone out again?”
“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Guess so, sir,” the seated corporal replied and yawned. He got up, his eyes still on the swells of the ocean outside that ceaselessly battered the tower’s supports below them. “Was just thinking about what I’m going to do once I’m out of this ice box.”
“Promotion come through, then?”
“No. No, sir, they put me here to punish me, remember?”
“Not really,” the officer replied, disinterested. He took the warm seat, put his legs up, and sipped his coffee as he began his eight hours of looking out at the gray outside, and the orange ocean haze past the local sun’s protection. “The days and people just blur together out here. Hell, guys don’t even talk about the time we kicked the Angels out anymore.”
“I was there. Helped make it reality. Thought I’d go places after that, but here I am, still… Five years… later… Hm?”
“Something up?”
The standing corporal returned to the monitoring equipment and pointed at the analog buoy array. “We got a lot of red lights. Is that a fault?”
His superior gulped down a mouthful of coffee and tapped at one of the blinking lights before replying, “Has to be. They wouldn’t all go off at once like that. Hold on…” He got on the radio, dialing it to another station. “Zeta? Phi here. Did your Bravo line of buoys just… They did? Anything on your radar? … Okay, good. Should we call this in?”
“Sir, are you seeing these transponder pings? I’m picking up thirty ships. Are any of them actually talking? I’ll try and ID a few.”
“Another tower already looked up five of the vessels. All reported stolen from K. I think we can assume all thirty of them are suspect.” The senior officer listened to his headset, adding, “Copy. We’ll target and wait for the signal. We’re still hailing them.”
“Stolen ships? I hadn’t heard about a mass theft like that.”
The superior went over to the turret control panel and adjusted the tower, which rotated the entire platform, and along with it the long barrels on either side of the fortified structure.
He then explained, “It happened over a week ago. Dead of the night, freighters and civilian boats were taken out of K’s harbors and went quiet. There was no evidence the Angels were behind it, but better to take precautions. We’ll aim at them and force them to stop.”
“What if they don’t? Are we dealing with smugglers? Refugees?”
“Could be. But nothing gets into the City unless authorized.” The senior officer spoke into his headset again, this time broadcasting to all the approaching ships, “Incoming fleet, this is H Overwatch. Cut your engines at once and prepare to be boarded for inspection. Failure to comply will…”
“Sir! A message just went out to the towers. It sounds automated, claiming these are all fire ships full of bombs. What do we do?”
“Damn it… Ah…” The officer grabbed for the hanging binoculars nearby, looked through them, and tried to see if anyone was manning the helms or bridges of the ships. “All towers, does anyone have a visual on passengers, crew, hostages? Anything? Phi reports negative.”
“This isn’t good, sir… Something’s off about this, I don’t…”
“Keep it together, soldier. We can take them out in seconds. They won’t get through.” The officer waited a moment more as confirmations hit his ear, telling him what he had expected. He didn’t hesitate to give the order, “Solid copy. All towers, pick your targets and take them out.”
One after the next, the heavy cannons that were suspended over the ocean unleashed their destructive shells on the unmanned fleet ahead, many of the boats being obliterated with a single hit. Explosions churned up water and sent out shock waves, but none were powerful enough to suggest that any bombs were onboard the vessels.
And meanwhile in another world, the Mezik flew high up in the sky over the Pacific Ocean, the coast of Washington and the city of Seattle on the horizon. As it was filled with Angel officers manning the comms, Colt had made sure to fly steady and treat them well during the journey so far. But out of necessity, the smooth flight was about to end.
“This is it,” he told his passengers. “Everyone, check your belts.”
Masayuki, in the copilot seat, did just that and clenched onto the arm rests. Colt gave everyone the few seconds they needed to brace, and after taking a deep breath, he turned the yoke sharply to the left, rolling the bird to invert her, and then dove sharply from eighty thousand feet in the air. The g-forces were brutal, and through it all Masayuki had to concentrate on the brand-new missile lock console in front of him, its large screen currently showing no possible targets; none existed on Earth.
“Good old USA’s probably scrambled fighters by now. We get one chance at this…” Colt prepped the amplified claws deep inside the engine. “I hope everything Rayna pumped into our crystal missiles didn’t leak out.”
After hitting the sound barrier, the Mezik tore open a gateway into Aurra and instantly appeared far above her thin gray clouds. Masayuki’s screen, reading in the infrared, lit up as it identified H’s watchtowers down on the rapidly-approaching ocean below.
“I have visuals on the towers,” he reported. “I see turret fire from all of them. They’re still targeting the boats. I have five… six locked onto so far. Now eight. Hold on.” He studied the screen closely, while the altimeter spun below fifty thousand feet. “We were spotted—some of the cannons are moving up toward us. I have twelve tower locks. Still rising.”
“It’s going to be tight. We can only afford leaving two, maybe three of them intact. I’m opening the bomb bay. Payload is ready.”
“Eighteen, nineteen… We’re running out of sky fast, Colt.”
The tower turrets opened fire on them at twenty thousand feet, but the Mezik was going so fast that she proved nearly impossible to track a shot onto, and the large incoming shells blew right past them.
“We can’t launch below five thousand, Masa. How many you got?”
“Twenty-eight… Nine… Crap, I’m not going to get all of them!”
“I’m pulling up. Gotta kill momentum. All passengers, prepare for our Aurra exit and a sudden climb. Masa?”
“Thirty. Thirty towers! That’s all I can get!”
“It’ll have to do. Firing.”
At six thousand feet, thirty missiles left the launchers sticking out of the bomb bay doors on the belly of the ship in rapid succession, each of them no bigger than a person. Like their bulkier cousin that first saw use against a destroyer in N’s river, each one of them had an alchemagi crystal in its warhead—and this time they were all imbued with unstable, highly energetic nova energy straight from Aurra’s sole adept.
Back down in the tower, the senior Guard officer watched with panic in his voice as most of the anti-air cannons in the area tried to take down the fearsome Angel flagship, which had only picked up more speed on its descent. The aircraft had become almost as fast as a rocket.
“Someone shoot it down!” he bellowed. “One good hit is all we—”
“Sir! It launched something—the radar’s lit up!”
“What—” was all the older officer managed to get out, before the small missiles began destroying the towers, sometimes up to three at a time.
The nova warheads went off in bright flashes with accompanying bursts sounding like thunder cracks. While they didn’t entirely obliterate each watchtower, they still left the large turrets in flames and blew apart the metal shells that protected their operator centers, while leaving white hot embers in their wake that looked like burning thermite.
“All crews—take cover… Get into… Oh, God. They’re gone.”
“It’s too late, sir…” the meeker of the two murmured. “It was an honor serving the Guard. In the next life, I’ll… Ah…”
Upon realizing that they were still alive, the junior operator looked up from his crouched position, just in time to see the Mezik almost dive straight into the ocean. Instead, with its loud engine roaring at full strength, the demonic bird of prey leveled out and skimmed the waves for a moment more before crossing back into Earth via instantaneous dimensional gateway. As the matter displacement sonic boom rattled the pod, the two soldiers got a look around and counted thirty fires burning across the coast.
“They missed us and one other tower,” the senior officer reported, and got right back onto the turret controls. “Look alive, Corporal. We still have a job to do. Show these invaders who controls this continent.”
“… Invaders? The attack isn’t over?”
He was handed the binoculars, and with trembling hands looked out at the horizon to see the shimmering hulls of many Angel interceptors, bombers, and sling ships. Beyond them, only seen as colorless lumbering forms at such a distance and out of accurate range, were six airships.
“We can still do some damage. Put on a brave face and get on the controls, Corporal. We shoot down as many of those slings as we can, and then we go to Hold and tell all our friends that we blew up one—no, two of those airships before we clocked out. Corporal! Are you listening?”
His subordinate was in shell shock, and his body refused to move. The lieutenant couldn’t wait for him to snap out of it, so while keeping his rage under control, he began to unleash hell on the Angels. Each shot from the twin turrets rattled the canopy, and several enemy slings exploded on impact. The other surviving tower had also opened fire, taking out more Angel troop carriers as they waited for the airships to come into range.
Once the Blue Rosely, even at its distance, managed to fire off a kinetic round at rapid velocity that pierced and destroyed that tower with startling accuracy, the corporal completely lost his nerve. He fled the turret pod, emerging into the cold misty air protected by the City’s sun.
“Come back here, you coward! The Rosely needs to recharge—”
The shouts of the lieutenant towards his subordinate were cut off when two regular missiles from an Angel interceptor destroyed the turret, the explosion knocking the younger officer off the ladder and down onto the concrete dock below, near a life boat bobbing in the waves.
He flipped over on his back, scuttled into cover beneath the burning platform, and watched as sling ships and flying fighters soared overhead towards the beaches, the City just past them now issuing warning sirens that hadn’t been heard in years. He felt like a failure of a Guardsman, but he knew he was likely the sole survivor from the tower array. And before he passed out, he saw the underbelly of the Mezik go by.
“All towers are down,” Colt said from its cockpit. “SAM sites are next, and I’m less worried about those. Good job, everyone. As long as we hit the airbase before their birds take off, and hold it, H will be ours.”
“We lost six of our slings,” Masayuki lamented. “If we only…”
“Don’t dwell on it, Mr. Xin. We took out five more of the towers in the dive bomb than expected in our best estimates. And we have two unused warheads aboard. Those could save people later.”
The lightning paradigm leaned forward in his seat to get a look at the nearby coastline and saw the missile launcher emplacements taking aim. The surviving eleven sling ships blasted ahead of the Mezik, and as swarms of heat-seeking rockets took to the sky to destroy them, the Angels’ sleek transport aircraft deployed volleys of flares, filling the air above the scenic beaches with blinding phosphorus which sent the missiles scattering.
The slings broke off to let the interceptors in and start picking off SAM sites, but they couldn’t stop several launchers from sending a total of six missiles towards the Mezik. Without breaking a sweat, Masayuki swatted them out of the sky with a torrent of tracer slugs that left orange trails.
“Hell yeah!” Colt exclaimed and hit the yoke. “Two weeks, Masa! Planning to implementation—two weeks for those point defense cannons!” He turned to Mr. Xin and grinned. “Michael is an engineering genius.”
“I’m glad they worked, but please don’t call me ‘Masa’.”
“Everyone okay down there?” Colt asked the officers in the assault command center below deck. “We’re almost over land. Back into H we go. This time with feeling. And a big, badass warbird.”
“I’m not sure I like ‘Excited Colt’,” Nym muttered from her post between radio chatter in the narrow but well-protected belly of the Mezik.
“Viktor, we’ll be dropping off foot soldiers just outside the airbase in about five minutes,” Sasoire told the biggest, oldest adult in the room, who was in his full armor and League of Flame regalia. “Are you ready?”
“Of course,” he gruffly assured her, while clinging onto a support.
Back in the cockpit, Masayuki and Colt kept a close watch on the City passing by outside, the Mezik now nearing its slowest airspeed so that it could stay near its escorts and not get ahead of everyone else on their way to the airbase. Sporadic anti-air gunfire broke out against the invaders from small emplacements and rocket launcher-wielding Guardsmen, and a few Guardian interceptors had taken to the skies, but the Angel air power had been dominating H ever since it made it past the beach.
“I expected this to go worse,” Masayuki sighed.
“It still can, by a lot, if the Guard gets their air squadrons going,” Colt replied. “In either world, scrambling takes time. We came in hard and fast; didn’t give them a chance to organize. But this is still Mightoria. The Guard will be fighting to take back the City within a week, and we’d never hold it with half an army. Good thing we’re not sticking around.”
“It is a very beautiful place,” Masayuki remarked.
“Agreed. Architecture reminds me of back home, old San Fran. Ah—over there, see that?” Colt pointed to a large circular campus much farther out. “That’s Aurra University. The biggest around. I read that they have the premier ‘Continuing Earth Studies’ courses. Wonder what the students would think of me if I visited a class. Being an Earthen and all.”
Masayuki pondered for a moment, replying, “I’ve always wondered, what, exactly, is the point? You can’t take the knowledge with you back to Earth, and very few get themselves to a position where they become Aurrian operatives that live and work there. Not at the scale of a graduate class.”
Colt shrugged. “People naturally hang onto the past. After a few go-arounds, you get used to life in Aurra where you have recollection and remember how everything operates. You fall into similar rhythms. But every rebirth on Earth gives you a distinct story and perspective, new families and communities, a fresh set of interests. And who says those interests have to go away when you arrive in Aurra? Just because you don’t have a permit to visit, doesn’t mean there aren’t still things to learn.”
“I suppose so. I feel like most of my accomplishments across lives have been in Aurra, though. It’s always felt more of a home to me. Not like Shin. She’s had poems written about her exploits across East Asia. All lost to time, sure, but it’s in her soul to make a name for herself.”
“And so it goes…” Colt, who had kept an eye on every readout available to him during the chat, sat back up in his seat and breathed out to release some tension, before getting serious again. “One minute to the airbase,” he told the passengers. “Our infiltrators have opened a landing spot for us right outside it, and bombers are already taking out Guardian birds on the ground. Get ready, it could still be hot down there. And Mr. Xin, I do believe that this is your stop. Thanks for flying with me.”
“I’m glad someone can keep things casual in this war,” Masayuki said and got out of his chair. “You’re going high after we land, right?”
“That’s the plan. The officers can keep clear contact with everyone from up there. Watch out for yourself, and everyone else.”
The Mezik settled onto the empty main avenue in front of the large airbase, the main gate ending up by her nose. The engines stayed spooled as the cargo door opened, and Viktor and a hundred of his men departed.
Masayuki rushed out to join them, and Colt was pleased that he didn’t hear any shooting or alchemagi spells break out while he was still on the ground. Now that the Mezik’s load was much lighter—all of the gear and soldiers had added up—she took to the air as fast and gracefully as usual. In the control room, Sasoire, Nym, Shiloh, and several other officers hit their peak workloads as they commanded over the major operation.
Those on the streets got to work as the dust cleared from the liftoff, with Masayuki and Viktor quickly dispatching the guards protecting the main gate. Lightning and fire flew from active engine swords, cutting through both the iron lattice of the fence and the armor of the Guardsman infantry trying their hardest to keep the vital compound out of enemy hands. The Angels swarmed over the area to create a living barrier and protect the paradigms, who were having an easy time of it so far.
“Come on, give us a challenge!” Viktor yelled boisterously, after slapping away a crossbow bolt with his burning blade. “I know none of you can be happy to see our boots back on Mightoria dirt, ha!”
“Viktor, don’t charge on ahead again!” Masayuki sternly asked of him, before unleashing an arc of lightning that let out a thunder crack and took out two more guards as they raised their rifles. “We’re here to secure the entrance, not slice apart aircraft. Leave that to our air support.”
“Where do you get these ideas, eh?”
“You have a few bad habits, my friend.”
The familiar screech of a rairer cried out, and everyone turned to see one of the armored war beasts charging at them from the other end of the avenue. Friendly bombers roared by overhead, on their way to hit more grounded aircraft, while a couple dozen Angel soldiers opened up on the charging bull rairer—which shrugged off the light gunfire. Half of the force wasn’t even heavily armed, as they were cleaners laden with demo charges and whose job it would be to clear the runway of destroyed aircraft.
“This is more like it!” Viktor bellowed and held up his great sword.
“And here I was thinking this might be easy,” Masayuki grumbled, and summoned his vibrant electric hawk elemental.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
The rairer let out an enraged snarl and picked up speed, and Masayuki commanded his bird forward, directly into the creature.
Back at the burrow where it was much quieter, Garder shambled into the comms center, a room dimly lit by its many monitors and a pair of glowing glass panels, which displayed maps of two battlefields. Lit up in red LEDs were the Angel battalions, their positions updated every few seconds. Milla, Osk, Simon, and Leovyn were the only people inside, calmly speaking to the overseeing officers from across oceans. For Garder, this was all new.
“Understood. Good to hear it,” Milla, her eyes glued to a screen, said into her headset after receiving an update. Seeing Garder’s reflection in a darker portion of the glass, she added, “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
She got up and gave her exhausted brother a quick hug.
“What’s all this…?” he murmured. “What is this room?”
“The burrow’s command center,” she answered, and guided him to a nearby seat where he could observe. “We haven’t used it very often, since Aurra lacks a satellite network, or robust transcontinental wires.”
“I’m aware. Commanders usually need to be within radio range to issue orders. This is like Earth-grade communication… How?”
“We needed real time sitrep on this one, Garder. Give us enough time to set something up, and we can get that.” She looked at the hanging glass map in the room and continued, “Last week, Angel operatives hidden in H and P secured us some lines on Guardian networks. That gave us our initiative to go through with all this. Look,” she pointed at the coastlines, made of illuminated blue lines, “twin strikes on both Cities. Air power against H, where we take their airbase. Mostly naval power against P, which has less Guard presence. Tabi and Corus are leading an effort to seize their radio station and throw out disinformation, to mask our slower southern approach. We won’t stay in either City for long. Just to refuel and supply.”
Studying the map, Garder replied, “And then…”
Milla put a finger on the glass and traced it towards the Grandis subcontinent off western Mightoria. “City B. And from there, the capital. By the time the Guard fully diverts that mass of soldiers from L that are on boats to Onasia, it’ll be too late. We’ll already be at the gate to City A.”
“But how did we get past H’s defenses?”
Milla smiled tiredly. “A lot has happened in the three weeks you were out of it. We got some sudden help from disillusioned Guardsmen in X, a few of which had access codes to the merchant network and assisted us in stealing several ships. Our operatives in K automated their guidance, made them seem like hostile fire ships, and sent them to H.”
Leovyn added from his station, “And all of that was just to get the watch tower turrets to adjust their aim, down at the boats. Distraction.”
“So we could safely bring in the Mezik and take them out.”
Garder remarked, “So… we’re not going to K after all.”
“If we pull this off, there won’t be a need. But we still had a good number of our people in the City already, in advance of a possible invasion, just eagerly awaiting something to do. And they were great with the ships.”
“But how’d we take out the towers?”
“With a flurry of small missiles, empowered by Rayna.”
“Hm. You always could make a plan come together… Speaking of the kids, where are they in all this? Not on the front, right?”
“No, of course not. We posted them topside, on guard duty for Pangs. We’ve moved out most of our soldiers. We didn’t want to leave C totally unguarded. This is working, Garder. We’ve caught them entirely by surprise. By the time they mobilize, we’ll already be on our way to B.”
“City B…” Garder murmured and looked at the map. “I could never imagine actually living there… Milla, you’re throwing everything at this, aren’t you? What if it fails? Could the Angels come back from it?”
“I know it’s trite, but we can’t fail.”
“I always thought this would end with us storming A’s gate together. I should be out there, seeing this through.”
“Garder…” Milla tried to look empathetic.
But with a sigh, he replied, “I know. I need rest, and to heal. No sane superior of mine would send me back out into battle, after all that.”
She couldn’t think of how to respond before Osk spoke up from his station, “Commander Nolland. Ms. Feretta is on a secure line for you.”
“I’ll let you get back to work,” Garder said wearily. “I’ll just… get some more rest. Tell me how it all goes.”
She gave him a nod and returned to her station. On his way out, Garder took another look at the map, his focus on B. The City Milla was once planning to move to. He had a tantalizing urge to visit.
City P was close to the equator, existing where Haiti did on Earth. But it was no island metropolis; it was inland, a few thousand miles east of B, on the northern half of Mightoria. Several million tall trees, all Earth imports, covered a swath of hilly, rocky land. Protected by one of Aurra’s largest suns, the tree farms and milling operations spread past the horizon, with most goods being exported via train to the harbors on the coast.
The wood traveled around the world, valued for use in paper and lumber products that were of a much higher quality than synthesized lignin. What remained local was often used to construct fire-resistant, light, sturdy buildings. P was the one City where non-synthesized towers outnumbered those made with synthids and mental architects, though their buildings tended to be far shorter than the world’s typical skyscrapers.
Today, on a bright afternoon too warm for snow, it was under assault—albeit by Angels acting as gently as possible. Guard presence was light, but many of the local military forces had pledged loyalty to the global governing force. Some fought back, but others did lay down their arms and let the rebellion move through and over the City, towards the west. It was only a few hours ago that several airships and destroyers appeared at the harbor and established a blockade, while the Amber Moth kept near the coast. Accompanying them were two of F’s air fortresses, patrolling high above with their loud propeller engines, six on each aircraft.
In one of the incoming sling ships, Tabi and Corus watched the towers in warm natural hues go by on their push west. All around, fighting broke out intermittently, but with four interceptors and two bombers flying in formation with their sling, the duo felt safe and tried to enjoy the view.
“What’s it like being home?” Corus asked Tabi, squeezed between him and the pilot. “It’s been a long time since you last saw the place, right?”
“Nearly fifty years. Though I was only seven years younger than I am now when the Guard tossed me into their Fragmented prison. It hasn’t changed that much, from what I can see. Heavier Guard presence from the war, but still a lot less than most Cities. From what I’ve read, my favorite local restaurant I used to go to as a kid is still around. As soon as all this is over, I’m taking Mesette on a date there. They have divine crêpes.”
“That sounds—” Corus was interrupted by an engine hitch that jostled the aircraft, and required attention by the pilot. “Crap, what now?”
“What happened? Are we hit?” Tabi asked the captain.
“No ma’am. Our number two engine just surged. Looks like a fuel pump malfunction. It’s too dangerous to fly with a bad engine on these birds. I’ll have to set down. Looks like there’s a clearing just ahead.”
“Ah, damn it,” Corus muttered. “Out here in the forest? Look—the radio mast is just a few miles ahead. Can’t you, I dunno, glide us?”
“Sorry, sir. There won’t be enough clearance for us up on that ridge. You need something with working vertical take-off and landing. I’m sure we can call in a dropship and have it take you the rest of the way.”
“Maintenance problems happen, in peacetime or otherwise,” Tabi huffed. “But dropships are too loud. We need to sneak up on the station before they call in reinforcements. Whole reason we’re flying under the radar, right? So…” She looked down at the large pine trees getting closer outside. “Send our escorts back and land. We’ll walk.”
“Through miles of forest in enemy territory?” Corus groaned.
“Hey, it’s a nice day. And I bet it’s been a while since you’ve seen so much green. We’ll be okay. This is my kind of environment.”
“Understood, Ms. Feretta,” the pilot replied. “Bringing her down.”
The radio mast, up on a heavily forested plateau, disappeared behind the pines as the sling settled into a clearing and the escorts turned around to go back and assist the other Angels in the sky. Tabi stepped out first, soaking in the misty air for the first time in nearly five decades. Corus was a little more apprehensive, adjusting his eyepatch as he stepped out.
“We’ll hang back and keep watch for anything that might follow you,” the pilot said, referring to the twelve soldiers in the grounded sling.
“I’ll keep in touch,” Tabi replied. “We should get to the station in about an hour, before F’s air armada arrives. Corus—let’s go.”
“Augh…” he moaned again, and followed her deeper into the woods, keeping his rifle at his side and at the ready.
The sounds of nature and chirping birds replaced the din of battle behind them, and Tabi was soon back in her element among the foliage, with no apparent concern on her face. Corus looked up and checked every tree, as if a Guardsman could be in hiding and waiting for him personally.
“Corus. I can pick up the slightest of human sounds in a forest, the smallest of rustling leaves that isn’t from an animal,” Tabi assured him as they walked. “Try to relax and don’t look so trigger-happy. We’ll get there.”
“You seem more at peace than I could ever be in these times.”
“I know how to appreciate these rare moments. Last time I was out in nature, it was with Verim… I sometimes feel lonely as a plant adept. We don’t really belong on the battlefield. We do vital work in making meds and more rations for the soldiers, but there are so few of us on the frontlines. He was always someone reliable, even just for a good chat, you know?”
“Shame I never got to meet him. But what do you think is the best thing most plant adepts can do? Throw a tree at a tank? I believe alchemagi is too chaotic in general for war, anyway. Especially when suppression kicks in and you hesitate to cast a spell because your mind’s telling you you’ll hurt a squad mate. Guns, vehicles, artillery, and armor. That’s all you need, here and on Earth. Anyway… I heard Verim was a beast of a swordsman, too.”
“He was. But Garder’s become even more brutal with a blade than he ever got. The things I’ve heard about his fight with Phisa…”
“That kid is bad news, Ms. Feretta. I could tell the moment I saw him. Should count ourselves lucky that the damage wasn’t worse. He broke. If he’d gone into that school with allies, not all of them would’ve made it back, if any. It’s not saying he would’ve attacked them, probably, but at this point, he’d have complete disregard for their safety. A guy like that should never be on the battlefield again. That kind of damage is permanent.”
“You seem to know a bit about psychology—or war, at least.”
“Both. They have quite a relationship. Good to know how they intersect; helps you understand soldiers. If Garder… Hold on.”
Having seen but not heard something, Corus raised his rifle and looked through the horizontal periscope. About two hundred feet away, in a valley of trees, was a small rairer walking deeper into the woods on its five legs. It hadn’t seemed to notice them, but Corus still unlocked his safety.
“Ease the trigger finger,” Tabi said. “Look closer. It’s leashed.”
“Probably by a Guardsman rider. And I hate those things. Vicious, ugly, strong. Better to take it out now instead of worrying about it charging at our backs.” Corus then found the beast’s handler in his scope, and let out a confused grunt. “Hmph. It’s a kid. Boy around ten, looks like.”
“Nice pet. Let’s just avoid them.”
“Might not be a choice. It’s already picked us up.”
Tabi also noticed with her unaided eyes that the rairer had turned towards them and was sniffing the air, and before they could duck behind some trees, the beast’s young master came over to it and noticed the two up on the hill. But the kid didn’t appear to be afraid; curious, if anything. He actually ended up waving to them both, and they didn’t respond at first.
“C’mon. Maybe he knows something about the area,” Tabi said.
“Damn it, Feretta. I deal with brats enough as it is.”
“We don’t know much about the radio station. It could be worth asking a few questions. I don’t think he’ll pull a gun on us.”
“Oh, funny.” Corus grumbled and returned the rifle to his side as he walked with Tabi down to the boy, his rairer cautious and tense but not threatening. “This was supposed to be simple. Fast. Easy.”
When they got closer to the child, adorned in simple and rustic clothing, he looked them up and down and asked in the light French-like accent that was common in the region, “Are you Angels? On Mightoria?”
“Are you a pretorian?” Corus glibly replied.
Tabi was more forward, answering, “Yes. We mean your home no harm. The Guard is our enemy, not the people they claim to protect.”
“I don’t live in the City,” the boy told them. “Used to. But my parents moved us out into the woods when the fighting started.”
“Ah, I see. What’s your name? I’m Tabi, and this is Corus.”
“Alphes. This is my rairer, Polly. She hunts for truffles.”
Corus swallowed a chortle. “You serious?”
“She’s very good at it.”
“Alphes, do you know anything about that station up on the hill?” Tabi asked patiently. “We need to get inside. Is there information you can share with us? Do the Guardsmen go there a lot?”
Alphes nodded his head, and gave an answer that rather surprised the adults, “It’s dangerous up there. It doesn’t look like it is, but… it is.”
“Really? Do you think you could tell us more about it?”
“I s’pose so. C’mon. You can have some tea at the cabin. I don’t get to have many visitors anymore, not with the war and everything.”
“Tabi, we don’t have time for this…” Corus muttered as they got to walking towards a small house in the woods.
She promised, “Ten minutes. Let’s just hear what he has to say.”
Alphes tied up his small rairer outside, the beast about the size of a horse. She chirped as he patted its snout, while Corus grimaced at the sight of its rows of serrated teeth. The boy then led them inside the rural cabin, which was fairly spartan, and started a kettle as Tabi closed the door.
“Do you live here alone?” she asked him.
“Yes. For now. My dad is a reservist who worked in a lumber mill. He moved us out here to be away from the City, but then got called off to fight in the Tillethian seas. Mom was already a cook on a ship out there and is now on an extended tour. And my older brother got drafted and sent off to L… I know they’re all serving the Guard, but I don’t hate you.”
“That’s very… levelheaded,” Corus said. “Don’t buy the propo?”
“The Angels being devils and all that? Nah. I never fall for all the dehumanization that comes with times like these. I’m only a four-lifer, but they were long, and I’ve been around. Actually… if you’re on Mightoria now, trying to win the war, maybe I can help you end it sooner. I could save my family. Or at least my brother, before he gets on a boat to Onasia.”
“But what’s the story with the giant pig? Used to be, those things mostly worked underground before all this. Did your family buy her?”
“My brother and I found Polly wandering around the forest as a pup and tamed her. War and burden rairer get loose and breed. They’re friendly when you bond with them young…” Alphes handed his visitors cups of hot tea, though no one felt like taking a seat. He studied Tabi a moment, then added, “Anyway, I wouldn’t mind seeing that radio station destroyed. Like I said, it’s dangerous. Because it’s sending out a psychic drone. I’m a mind adept, so it hits me even more. Makes it hard to sleep.”
“Wait, a drone?” Corus replied, both he and Tabi now suddenly concerned. “Like, whispers into your mind or something?”
“Not even whispers. More like… aggressive white noise. You two might be able to hear it if you shut everything out and meditate.” He looked at Tabi again curiously, and then just had to ask, “I’m sorry, Miss, but I feel like you’re someone important. Do you have a connection to this City?”
She swallowed some tea and answered, “I’m Tabi Feretta. The plant paradigm. I was born here, but haven’t been back in a long time.”
“Ah. I’ve heard the stories. Guard tried to cover up your existence, but some of the old-timers still talk about you. What happened? You don’t look very old. Where have you been all this time?”
“The king put me in a prison in another dimension because I wouldn’t go along with his power trip. I didn’t age there.”
“Oh. Hm. I guess I’ll have to believe you.”
“You don’t sound totally convinced. Here.”
Tabi took a single seed out of the pouch at her side, placed it in the palm of her right hand, and covered it up. After a few seconds, she moved her left hand to reveal that a purple flower of some size had bloomed in an instant, and was letting out a faint sizzle from the growth heat. Alphes looked rather impressed and took it, smiling ever so slightly.
“Cute,” Corus sighed. “This is exactly why we came out here. To perform magic tricks. Alphes, could you tell us more?”
“Sorry, sir. There isn’t much else to tell. Well… maybe other than that people have been staying away from the radio station for months now. I only ever see Guardsmen go up there. Do… you want some more tea?”
“Maybe later, thanks.” Tabi suddenly looked ready to go, and told Corus, “Come on. Let’s go check it out. Quietly.”
“Thanks for the drink, kid,” Corus said and grabbed his rifle.
Alphes waved tepidly and the adults headed out, moving quickly yet stealthily through the woods until they were near the station. Without a clearing, the view was obscured, but Tabi had a solution that became obvious to Corus once she stopped near the largest tree around.
“Please don’t make me climb up a vine,” Corus pleaded.
“Tch, Corus. I’m a paradigm. I would never.”
She pressed a hand against the trunk of the redwood, and with the sound of crackling bark and groaning wood, an unnatural formation of branches began sprouting out of one side of the tall flora. Rungs appeared and grew one after the next all the way up, and after about a minute, a ladder had formed that reached an existing limb eighty feet up.
“You’re just trying to impress me,” Corus said and began climbing with Tabi. “Never knew a plant adept that could do this.”
Beating Corus’ pace easily, Tabi huffed, “I learned how when I was twelve. Trees are tough. They break easily. And I respect them too much to mutate them unless I really need to. The change is permanent, so I know there are still a few around with my alterations from when I was a kid.”
“Is that what you would’a done if you didn’t get tossed into a monochrome prison? Make a forest of horrors, scare the locals?”
“Maybe. Delinquent that I was. Look through your scope and tell me how many Guardsmen you see up around the station.”
Once he had climbed onto the limb, he carefully set up his rifle while watching his balance, and did as requested.
“It’s well-defended. Two watch towers, about a dozen sentries.”
“Think you can take out one of the guys in a tower?”
“Of course. It’s only about a mile away. No problem.” Corus chose his mark—a soldier that no one else would see fall from a quiet bullet, and moved his rifle into the right place after adjusting the diopter. “Ready.”
“Take the shot.”
“You got it…” Corus pressed his finger against the trigger. “Mm… hm… Just a little more… Need a second for it to be perfect…”
Noticing his facial tick, Tabi ordered, “Corus, just fire.”
“I am,” he assured her, his trigger finger now trembling. “He’s in my crosshairs… I swear I’m about… I just…”
“Crap. You can’t do it, can you?”
“If you weren’t so impatient—look, it’s not suppression. I know what that feels like. Still, I… I c-can’t… Quite work up the nerve…”
“This is what I was afraid of. I think they’re trying out a new form of providence. Alphes said you can hear it if you meditate, so…”
“But I’m not even sweating. I don’t feel like I can’t do it. It’s—”
“Shh,” Tabi said and closed her eyes. “Try and hear it. Relax.”
Corus grudgingly did so, entering a meditative state with his mission partner. It only took a few seconds for him to clear his mind, and then the noise filtered in. A droning, buzzing, quiet storm of static; a foam in the air that had been rewiring his subconscious without him realizing.
“We are being suppressed,” he mumbled and opened his eyes. “You don’t even feel it until the very last moment. Tabs, what do we do?”
She stood up on the limb and replied, “We get the Angels to pull back until we can take out that station. I don’t think we’ll be capturing it after all. The situation here is worse than we expected.”
“Daschel won’t be happy to hear that. But I see your point.”
Tabi tapped at her headset, but it quickly become apparent that she couldn’t get a message out. “Damn. Too much interference from whatever is coming out of that station. If it reaches all the way to B, we’re… Corus, stay here and keep your eyes…” She winced when he looked up with his only good eye. “Sorry. Just keep watch. I’ll be back. I have to warn them.”
“Do hurry. We’re going to have to come up with a way to take out that place. I’m sure the suppression is protecting it, as well.”
Tabi gave him a nod and promptly leapt off the limb, diving downward feet first. Corus leaned over and almost expected to see her crash into the forest floor, but wasn’t surprised when her plant-wolf elemental formed under her—its soft, grassy back cushioning her landing. It then carried her off with impressive speed, bounding over tree roots.
“Show-off,” Corus sighed, and got back to trying to shoot a sentry in the distance… but still couldn’t succeed, no matter his mental effort.
After several minutes of wolf-riding, Tabi recalled the strong elemental beast, and the vegetation that created it became a pile of moss, twigs, and leaves on the ground. She ran over to an overlook at the top of a sheer cliff, which gave her a view of the large City all the way across to the horizon, where Angel airships and destroyers covered a distant coastline. A shielded sun tower was nearby, placed so it covered both the urban center and the vast tree farms and forests to the west. With a clear line of sight to her people, she was able to establish a link to them, albeit a weak one.
“Amber Moth, come in,” she requested.
“Tabi?” Menin’s voice replied over static. “What’s your status?”
“We have a problem. But let’s save some time by having you patch me through directly to Daschel, highest priority.”
“He’s a little busy, but I’ll do what I can. Hold on.”
Tabi waited anxiously, watching as dropships kept bringing in more troops and tanks, the Angels no doubt believing that the fight was over already. Soon it might be too late to pull them back easily.
“Tabi, what is it?” Daschel came in, sounding overworked. “Did you capture that radio station? We’re heading to the capitol building—”
“Commander, the light resistance we faced on the way in is just for show. We haven’t shot down any Guardsmen. We’re falling into a trap.”
“What makes you think they’re giving us a false sense of security?”
“The Guard might not have much presence here, but they don’t need it. They’re running some experimental new form of suppression. You don’t even know it’s there until your finger’s trying to pull the trigger. My guess is that they’ll come out of hiding and hit us as soon as we’re embedded. I need time to figure out a way to take it down.”
“You want us to retreat? And give up on taking the station… Ah, damn it. But I always trust your judgment, Feretta.” He could then be heard issuing an emergency order, “All aircraft, recall your men on the ground and circle safe skies immediately. Someone tell Jaraphim to turn around his landing craft. This operation is delayed.” He spoke to Tabi directly again, “Be quick. We can’t afford to be stuck here for more than a few hours. Everything is so damn time sensitive.”
“I understand. I’ll get it done, Commander.”
She looked at her old home from the vista for a moment more, then turned to leave—only to turn right back around as gunfire began to permeate the air. Dropships and slings were being assaulted by handheld rocket-launchers and heavy rifles from Guardsmen on rooftops. With the appearance of a retreat, they had come out of hiding to unleash on their enemy, virtually unopposed. In the chaos of war, the Guard could still sustain casualties, but providence gave them a massive advantage.
“Commander!” Tabi called in.
“We know,” Daschel said over the noise. “Focus on your job. We outnumber them—we can still take the City. Go, Tabi.”
She huffed out a curse, brought her wolf back to life, and headed back to the cabin. As she flew past trees, four Guardian aircraft soared by overhead, coming from the direction of the radio station.
Corus got in touch, “Tabs. Guard presence out here was heavier than we thought. Bunch of birds just picked up and left the area, and more sentries took up position in the towers. There’s no way we’re getting in.”
“Go back to Alphes. I’m working on an idea that may work.”
“You’re making me climb down this tree by myself? Fine, all right. Meet you there. This plan of yours better be a good one.”
“It’s all about using what we have on hand.”
The two interrupted Alphes’ early dinner, the boy having just fixed himself some soup. He let them in right after they knocked, then went to the table to gulp down a spoonful while the two adults in the room tried to keep calm about everything and Tabi gathered her thoughts.
“Alphes. How about we help each other?” she began. “That signal from the station just put all of our friends in danger. If you assist us, well, you won’t hear that droning anymore when you’re trying to get to sleep, and the Angels will be grateful. For whatever that’s worth to you.”
“How am I s’posed to do that?” he asked. “Don’t the suppression transmitters also… tell your mind that you can’t destroy them?”
“Yes. Normally, we’d bring in a breaker team for it, but this one took us by surprise and our people are already engaged. They’re going to be wiped out, or beaten back. I think you’re our best bet.”
“I dunno. If the Guard finds out I helped you, I’ll probably lose us the family home, my brother could get in trouble, they’ll take away Polly…”
“I know you’d be taking a risk, but as I said before, if you really care about your brother, you’ll help us end this war before he gets shipped out. If we lose here, it might keep going another seven years. Or, we might be able to end it within a month. And all I need from you is permission to have Polly deliver something. Suppression doesn’t affect animals.”
Corus gave her a curious look. “The rairer is your idea?”
“Right now, I rely on selling those truffles she finds just to trade for food,” Alphes argued. “I don’t like the Guard, but I’m not ready to get involved in the war. I mean, maybe the Angels can win, but I don’t…”
“Alphes, please, listen a sec,” Tabi insisted. “Recall any previous life in Aurra. It doesn’t matter where you lived, or who you were. Imagine a time before anyone had any idea about a growing resistance.”
“I do remember my first Aurrian life pretty well, yes…” Alphes concentrated. “I was scared, confused, born into a slum in Y… I’ve been trying to work my way up since, but… I just don’t know.”
“Come on, kid,” Corus muttered. “You don’t have to think about it for too long to remember how terrifying providence is. It wasn’t that most people wanted to hurt Guardsmen, even the bad ones, but the concept that they could do anything they wanted to you without repercussion was what led to this war. Maybe whatever power replaces them won’t be much better, but at least, hopefully, they won’t think of themselves as demigods.”
“They did take my brother away to fight. And he’s about the best sibling I’ve had in any life so far. We’re really close. And my parents… And back in my first life, I recall so vividly, the hatred I had for a Guardsman that kept… abusing my mother. Until one day, he killed her. He never even faced any punishment. He could be out there right now, reborn and doing the same terrible things to someone else.”
“I’m so sorry you had to experience that,” Tabi said empathically. “I’m old enough to have seen it many times over across history. The worst of human nature, life after life. It gets exhausting. It can drive you mad. People do terrible things, but when there’s little hope of retribution, or even just the chance for your rulers and oppressors to account for their crimes, it only makes everything so much worse. Providence has corrupted people for millennia. The power goes to our heads. And, Alphes, we can speak from experience.” Tabi glanced at Corus. “We’ve both been Guardsmen ourselves, sometime in the past. We remember how it changed us.”
Alphes seemed to understand something, and replied, “The war isn’t about destroying people. You want to destroy an idea, a system.”
“For the benefit of everyone,” Corus concluded the argument. “Even the enemies we have today, for their next lives. We can’t blame them entirely. It’s natural to want to hold onto the familiar and fight for a system that raised and protected you. But we have to rip off the bandage.”
Alphes raised his bowl, gulped down the rest of the soup, wiped his mouth, and questioned, “What do I have to do?”
“Not much,” Tabi assured him. She took out a bag of seeds and handed it to Corus. “These are flower seeds. Don’t look inside the bag; just trust me. I can form a mental link with them after they bloom, and that’ll let me monitor the radio station. I need you to put them in Polly’s mouth, and tell her to deliver the seeds to a space between boulders on the bottom of the cliff under the station. That’s all there is to it. But she needs to run.”
Making an effort to not question it in his mind, Alphes nodded, took the bag from Corus, jostled the seeds, and responded, “Monitoring it. That’s all you want to do. I think I can help with that. Let’s go outside.”
“So, what’s really going to happen?” Corus wondered, he and Tabi watching Alphes give instructions to his rairer near her kennel, which he kept simple and repeated several times. “And will it work?”
“It should,” Tabi said, confidently leaning against the cabin’s log exterior. “It’s a seed bomb. Something Verim helped me develop. It’s full of the big ones that are tough, grow fast, and will dig into earth and rock. A crystal empowered with watairre energy is set to crack with an anvil and timer mechanism in thirty minutes. The water burst triggers the growth.”
“So, a plant grenade. And Alphes doesn’t believe he’s breaking providence. You turned him into a junior breaker.”
“I also double-blinded it by handing the seeds to you first. At least, I think it fits the definition. We make a pretty good team, huh?”
After she slapped his back, Corus grunted, “I mean… We didn’t even fight anyone. I haven’t fired a single shot. So that’s still up for debate.”
“Hey, there’s more to teamwork than battle-bonding.”
They saw Polly run off on her five legs into the woods, Alphes keeping his eyes on her worryingly until she disappeared.
Wanting to please her master, the beast ran through the forest at full speed, and kept going unnoticed and unopposed, the Guard not on the lookout for a stray rairer. She reached the boulders at the base of the cliff after about fifteen minutes, where the suppressor hummed loudly above. She sniffed around, clicked her tongue, and softly dropped the seed bomb like it was her own pup into a crevice “nest” between several big rocks.
Tabi, back in her ladder tree with Corus, later checked her pocket watch from up on the limb as Polly ran by under them, back home. Corus, his rifle at his side like always, had tempered his expectations.
“Here it comes…” Tabi said quietly.
“Are you sure a bunch of plants can really collapse an entire—”
There was a sudden explosion of green, and the boom of the shock wave hit them a few seconds later. Amid a massive upwelling of steam, a large, writhing growth of vines and brambles revealed itself in the distance, the sharp thorns digging into solid rock and tearing it apart. Like the beanstalk in the old tale, it climbed upward at fantastic speed, and the tangled mass of vegetation soon began to wrap around the station itself.
Corus watched from his scope as Guardsmen panicked and ran away, some of them taking a few shots at the monstrous flora as their on-site fire alchemagist sprayed it with flames, to little effect. Once the vines had reached the radio mast, its supports moaned as they were crushed. The tower collapsed, broke apart, and its debris field was spread across the forest moments before the entire cliffside broke apart in a landslide. It wasn’t long before everything was obscured in a growing dust cloud.
“Christ, Tabs. That actually ended up being overkill,” Corus said with a laugh. “What kinds of seeds were those, anyway?”
“The expensive and rare kind. I’ve been carrying that bag around for years, waiting for the right time to use it.” She closed her eyes a moment to meditate. “Mm-hm… It’s gone. Whew.” She tapped her headset and reported in over cleaned-up airwaves, “Jaraphim, you’ll be glad to know that suppression has been taken care of. You’re free to move back in.”
He replied, “Glad to fight them on equal footing again. We lost men out there and had flashes of the old times, but we’ll work twice as hard to make up for it. It’s a shame that B will see us coming, but you did what you had to. More support from F is arriving. We’re going to win this war.”
“You don’t have to remind me. And I’m sorry we weren’t faster.”
“Don’t be. You and Corus went above and beyond today. I’ll send a dropship to pick you up at your landing site, and there will be a warm meal waiting on the Moth. Daschel gives his regards. Over and out.”
“Did he say we went ‘above and beyond?’” Corus laughed again. “Yeah, I didn’t really do anything except bad-mouth the day’s savior and be rude to her master.” He looked out at the ongoing landslide, toppled mast, and fleeing Guardian transports, adding, “Hell of a view, though.”
Tabi smirked. “Nah, that’s not true. I might not’ve been able to hand the seeds to Alphes without you.”
At the captured airbase in H, Wendell joined Masayuki and Viktor up in the control tower as they watched the sun set over the coastline in the distance, the warm light sweeping across the City’s mostly undamaged towers. The City F air fortress that he had been gunning from was the first friendly bird to land on the cleared runway, which was flanked by the bits and pieces of the Guardian aircraft the demo crews had blown apart.
“Wendell,” Viktor greeted him with a grunt. “So you managed to climb the stairs.” He eyed the gift that the bearded animalect had brought up—six clinking bottles full of an amber drink. “Ah, what have we here?”
“I’m not nearly as ancient as you, old man.” Wendell huffed and plopped the beer down on the aircraft control console. “Just something I found while we were checking the base kitchen. Two for each of us, right?”
Masayuki grabbed one of the icy bottles, popped it open, and took a sip before replying, “I’m good with a single. You two can fight over the last bottle; I hate this stuff. Though one is fine… considering the day.”
Viktor tapped the others’ bottles with his own, took a deep swig, and went back to looking at the City now under Angel control. “About time we got some payback for what the Guard did to us here, eh, Wendell?”
“It’s cathartic, I suppose. But I’m glad we aren’t staying for long.”
