by Chris Fox
“I hope you didn’t missive me merely to say thank you.” Voria’s heart went out to the man, and she wished she were close enough to help him. A healing potion might save his life.
“I must…” the screen flickered, then the image returned a moment later, “…you to save our families. I’m sending coordinates. We have a full battalion of Marines and our loved ones awaiting extraction. You’re their only hope.”
Voria closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn’t deny this man. He was an ally of the Confederacy, and he needed her help. She looked up at the screen. “We’ll get them out, Admiral. You have my word.”
8
Aftermath
Sergeant Crewes hadn’t been sure what to make of Major Voria when he’d come aboard. She’d seemed a decent enough officer, but she was far enough removed from the men that he’d never been able to get a read on her.
Her decision to help the Marines and their families changed all that in a heartbeat. He saw in the Major all the compassion that was lacking in Thalas. She knew that going after these people was dangerous, and against Confederate orders, but she was going to do it again, because it was the right thing to do. The human thing to do, not the Shayan.
“Major,” Thalas choked out. Crewes snapped his attention to the captain, whose eyebrows had knit together in undisguised fury, “You cannot do this. We’ve done enough for these people. We have saved their entire city. Their evacuation will continue. Let them figure out how to save these marines. What are they to us? Are you willing to sacrifice a fully-armed spellship and several powerful mages?”
“Captain, please,” the major’s voice had gone deadly quiet. She was focused on flying the ship, and Crewes realized she was already making for the city below, not for orbit. Thalas had to know it too. “I could ask you to do this for honor, for the fact that we swore an oath to the Shayan Confederacy, and that part of that oath demands we protect its peoples. But I know you don’t care about that.”
Crewes gripped the stabilizing ring with both hands. He prayed Thalas didn’t attack Voria, because he had no idea what he’d do, or even could do. Maybe he could take Thalas, but he wouldn’t lay odds on it.
“If you admit that, why persist in this folly? You know I’ll have to take action, Major.” Thalas shook his head sadly, but there wasn’t a speck of compassion.
The major turned her full attention to Thalas. “Captain, you and I disagree on nearly every conceivable thing, but there is one area where we are in concordance.”
Thalas cocked his head. “Our only common ground, so far as I know, is that the Krox need to be stopped.”
“If we save those Marines, where will they go, Thalas?” The major’s tone caught Crewes, and if she’d asked him to jump out and fight the Krox again, in that moment he’d have done it. “They have no home. No unit. They’d have to stay here, and we badly need the help to keep this ship flying. We’ve just lost a full company of tech mages. We need to replace them with something.”
Thalas’s face warred with itself, but in the end he gave a tight nod. “I cannot believe I’m about to say this, but fine… I will not fight you on this, Major, but let us at least be quick about it.”
“My thanks, Captain.” Voria nodded gratefully, and even Crewes felt a little less contempt for the captain than he usually did.
Crewes tapped a fire sigil and shifted the scry-screen to show the military base beneath them. Several domed buildings sat in a tight cluster, with a neighboring airfield. That was clearly the major’s target, which made sense as a dense crowd of tiny specks clustered there.
The specks were flanked by larger objects. Tanks, he realized, as they flew closer. The major wasn’t wrong. They needed more firepower and more manpower. These people presented the opportunity to add both.
“Sergeant Crewes,” Voria ordered, “please head down to the cargo bay and help our new arrivals get situated.”
“Yes, sir.” He snapped a tight salute, and when she returned it, he exited the matrix and headed for the door. “You two are with me.” He nodded to Bord and Kezia, who’d been whispering together in the corner, trying to avoid notice most likely. Not a bad idea with sparks flying between the major and the captain.
The two surviving tech mages fell into step behind Crewes, and they walked the length of the ship in silence. Even Bord was blessedly silent. It gave Crewes a little time to think, which he’d have avoided if he could. All those mages…dead. Wasted, really.
They’d accomplished the mission, but the cost was horrendous. All over the system, anywhere he looked in the sky above, if he were able to see it, he’d see similar costs being paid. Similar ships, Confederate or Ternus, getting hammered by the Krox. He was just thankful he wasn’t the one presiding over this shit show.
They reached cargo bay one, the only intact one, and went immediately to the blue membrane sealing the bay. Crewes keyed the controls on the wall, and the membrane winked out of existence. Normally doing that would equalize pressure, but the Hunter had enough holes that apparently the pressure had already equalized.
“There’s so many,” Bord said quietly. “And some of them are girls.”
“Shut up, Bord.” Kezia was just as quiet.
Crewes stepped forward and took off his helmet. A hovertank glided forward, and Crewes counted five more behind it. People swarmed around them, the vast majority wearing the same olive uniform he’d come to associate with Ternus.
Some of the people wore civvie clothes, though. And some of them were kids. Every last one wore a terrified expression, but not a single one cried. Damned, these kids must have had it hard. It took him back to the slums on Yanthara. Crap like this made you grow up quick.
“Hey there,” called the man standing atop the lead tank, “I’m Captain Davidson.” He had dark circles under his eyes, and the wind played havoc with his short blonde hair. “Where should we park these?”
Crewes gestured at the hold behind him. “You leave me that little corner to train my tech mages, and the rest of this whole bay is yours. Welcome to the Wyrm Hunter, Captain.” Crewes snapped a tight Confederate salute, fist over heart, and then glared at Bord and Kezia until they did the same. “I’ll get out of your way. When you’re ready, you come see me and I’ll introduce you to the major.”
“Thank you.” Davidson nodded gratefully, and then the convoy began loading.
Crewes waited until the last of the stragglers was aboard, and then keyed in the protective membrane. Moments later the ship rose into the air, and began leaving the doomed planet. He stared down at the city below, at the tall spires and endless roads.
All of it lost.
Another world given to the Krox, just like Vakera. Where would the hammer fall next? Thankfully, that wasn’t on him to solve. Crewes trusted the major. She’d find the right battle, and when she did, he’d do what he always did.
Fight. Because he was a Confederate tech mage, and, by the goddess, that’s what he’d die as.
