by D. R. Rosier
General Wei Xun stood in the control room in the observation tower as the ship came to a stop. It was still dark out for another half hour or so, and he’d wait for false dawn before starting the mission. It was just prudent. It should be a surprise, but for all he knew an entire army was on shore and hidden by the darkness of night.
The control room was operable by any human, magic or not. The controls were simple enough to operate the weapons as well as the magically driven engines. The enchantments monitored the positions of the simple jeweled slides and knobs that controlled the ship. There were also illusion spells to give the current status of the ship’s systems as well as the charged state of the magical engines.
It was the engineering deck at the bottom of the vast ship that needed the sorcerers. There were eight large disk-shaped magical engines made of jewels, silver, and gold down there, covered with enchantments. All of them fifty feet in diameter. All eight could be used to power all systems, and they were on a staggered charge time so only one ran out at a time. A single spell from one of the sorcerers assigned down there would cause the engine to suck in vast amounts of magic from the ambient flows around the earth. The magical cost at any time, high or low, was spread evenly across all engines to maintain their staggered charging schedule.
Each engine would have to be charged once a week during normal operations. Weapons use and moving the ship lowered that time considerably, so in a fight the ship would have to be charged much more often. That’s why there were eight sorcerers assigned to engineering, they could charge an engine every single day without going over their limits, if it were required.
Of course, the engines did more than move and fight the ship. They were also responsible for keeping the air fresh and comfortable inside the ship’s lower decks, the lighting, sickbay, the mess hall for cooking, and for charging the many amphibious craft with magic for landings.
He was confident, but he felt some anxiety he knew would pass as soon as operations got started. He was no stranger to war and the cost in blood, but it was a bit disconcerting to know many of his people would bleed and die to reach their goals.
The captain of the ship turned, “General, your troops are ready to disembark.”
He said, “Have them standby, we launch when we can clearly see the shore.”
The captain nodded and sent the orders down.
As usual, Sun Ming stood by his side with a disturbingly inscrutable look on her face, but he was long used to it and hardly discomfited. She had on her official robes as a Priestess of Phaphine, and she looked like a flawless porcelain statue. She was as always incredibly beautiful but disturbing remote and cold. He hadn’t even seen her move once the last few minutes.
Her soft voice startled him, but he didn’t show it.
“The emperor is pleased, and he wishes us success.”
Demands success, is more like it, but he didn’t say that out loud.
The sun had not yet peaked over the horizon, but there was more than enough light from false dawn to see the empty beach and no signs of civilization. The few buildings in sight were dark and still, and he imagined they’d lied empty these last five years.
He said, “Start the mission.”
The orders were passed down. Large waterproof doors on the side of the ship were opened up, and they sent up big splashes as they swung down on their bottom hinges, and the tops of the doors slammed into the ocean sending up sprays of water on both sides of the ship. The doors then acted as ramps, as the hundred magical amphibious craft used them as ramps to slide down onto the ocean. Each craft was large enough to transport two hundred standing soldiers, so it would take two trips to land the eight companies.
Three smaller craft also left the ship, carrying the three quads assigned to the mission. Relatively small, they were still twenty feet in length, fifteen in width, and twelve feet high. They weren’t just troop transports, but protective water and land craft that would be best described as a magical tank. They had independent magical engines that were powered by the two sorcerers in the quad, and that would make them quite formidable against any defending magic users be they sorcerers, clerics, or witches.
He stepped over to the sideboard, and he poured himself a coffee. Holding something in his hand would help him project confidence. He wished Sun Ming would go away, she didn’t bother him overmuch, but the bridge crew were obviously nervous and intimidated around the woman. There was no changing things however, so he’d deal.
He felt good and morally justified about his mission. The world needed to be tamed and placed under the strong rule of their emperor and laws. Modern civilization had fallen, and the rest of the world was too undisciplined and weak to restore order. His own ambitions were caught up in it of course, but in the long run he believed this to be the best thing for mankind.
He just wished he had better intel on the enemy, and he was sure that’s what would bite them on the ass and make this difficult. Still, he suspected it would be outlaws using hit and run tactics, there was little chance he’d run across an organized military effort.
He ordered, “Clear those trees. We need a larger landing area to set up our rear base, and I don’t want blind spots anywhere near us.”
The captain ordered the gunner to take care of it.
Sy’lia would’ve gaped if she’d been there in person. Gigantic ship just didn’t do justice to the behemoth floating on the water off the coast. It was ugly, all gray steel, and she was shocked by the huge amount of small boats moving troops to the beach. There had to be at least two thousand of them on those boats. She was watching through a fox’s eyes at the edge of some woods near the ocean.
At least they’d identified the enemy, or Sean had, they were from China.
The eight of them were with the thousand undead soldiers in Devil’s Lake. The community behind them was quiet, most of the people had started a march inland to avoid the upcoming fighting. The second village was safeguarded by the other half of Sean’s undead army. They didn’t have much of a plan yet, but when the enemy troops formed up and moved out, they’d make one.
They had a basic idea, if there was one large deployment, they’d attack from the south, while the second group attacked from the north. If the enemy army split up into two or three groups, then each group would face an enemy. If there was a third then they’d both go after the third with whatever was left after taking down the first two groups.
They suspected there’d be no more than that, there were only three directions to secure after all.
Sean said, “There’s three smaller boats, that look more like amphibious tanks. The people in them are more brightly and elaborately dressed as well. I suspect those are the magic users we’ll have to face. Based on their clothes, it looks like two priests and two sorcerers.”
She couldn’t really make that out, but the fox was on the ground watching the boats approach at sea level, while Sean’s scouts were in the air circling the enemy from a thousand feet up.
She also wasn’t sure what to make of Sean yet. She wasn’t positive yet, but their worries he may be influencing the human High Priestess of Vadea seemed very unlikely to her at that point. She’d been watching his magic carefully the last few days, and there seemed very little between him, Mara, and Cassie except the love of mates and their concern for their people. She had to admit, he seemed to be a good man with laudable goals to keep his people safe, but she couldn’t get past the dark ends he put his magic to.
Was it possible he could truly resist the temptation his darker power offered, while still making use of it? She’d listened to their arguments, and had attempted to keep an open mind, but doubts lingered.
She wasn’t positive about Mara yet, because there was no way for her to monitor what he did when the three of them were in bed together. It was possible he was using sex and magic to bind them to his will, but she found that hard to believe. She also was very observant, and none of Mara’s attitudes, beliefs, or opinions seemed to contradict themselves. There were n
o sour notes between her convictions, personality, or actions that stood out. Which was common in anyone under magic influence or control. The vibes she got from the three of them were consistent.
Even more telling than all of that, Cassie and Mara disagreed with him about some things.
The council had also been pleased to find out what the danger was, and that it wasn’t Sean after all. When she’d reported, she’d discussed the idea of their people reaching out to the human communities on the west coast with magical teachings. Especially magical herblore which would replace many of the humans’ old medical care technologies, but for the moment they wanted her to stick with it until she was sure that he wasn’t abusing his power in some way and wasn’t a future threat.
It’d only been a couple of days after all, and she felt guilty for thinking it, but this war was almost a perfect way to test his resolve and morality. If he stuck to his stated morality during this trial then she thought it likely he always would. No matter how much that went against everything she’d been taught about life sorcerers who used the darker side of their magic.
She’d also been considering his and his companions’ arguments about his life magic use, and while they did have a few good points it seemed almost naïve. If he continued to play with fire, eventually he’d get burned. Power corrupts, it’s why her people avoided such temptations assiduously.
But… he hadn’t been wrong either, when he said that would’ve led to the death of the group fleeing into Washington. Not to mention the army currently landing. If he followed the elven way, without those undead scouts, a lot of evil would’ve resulted.
He was also an impressive man. Attractive, strong willed, intelligent, and he had intensely compelling eyes. He made her want to believe in his strength and ability to resist temptation despite her doubts. In short, she was conflicted about the whole thing.
Her eyes widened as part of the huge ship moved, large metal boxes with staves the size of tree trunks sticking out of them turned and raised. Explosive fire shot out of the ends forming massive fireballs that arced over the ocean, and then fell straight for the woods the fox was standing on the edge of. The animal panicked and ran, and she shifted her senses to some other small animals she’d connected to earlier that morning.
The large fireball landed in the woods, and she heard the explosive force from two miles away as the explosion turned half the forest to ash and had the other half burning in molten and magical flames. She felt sick, as she felt half her scouts die in the flames.
“My goddess, why would they do that, how could they do that?” her voice sounded as lost as she felt in that moment.
Sean said, “I’d say they were clearing the landing point, to have good visibility in all directions. Once those woods are gone no one would be able to sneak up on that area within a few square miles.”
She felt tears in her eyes at the wanton and pointless destruction. She was also taken by the comforting tone in Sean’s voice, even if she doubted he fully understood what such unreasoning destruction of nature would mean to an elf, to a priestess who served a goddess of nature.
She was also pissed. Fucking humans. Couldn’t they kill each other without destroying the world around them. That ship was a monstrosity.
He said, “We also just learned we shouldn’t attack them anywhere near that ship. Waiting for them to land and assemble was definitely the right decision.”
Cassie said, “You’re not wrong, I couldn’t duplicate that much damage even with the aid of my staff, without overusing magic. And I highly doubt they’re limited to a single shot.”
The fox had survived, and she watched as the soldiers disembarked and the boats went back to the ship, for more soldiers? Well, all the craft except three of them, which she could make out better now. They also had a similarly shaped weapon as on the ship, just a lot smaller.
They watched the soldiers form up into two groups, one was about half the size of the other, and the questions that garnered were answered a few minutes later as the amphibious landing craft were launched from the ship again, filled with another two thousand plus soldiers.
Sean said, “Three groups then?”
Cassie said, “Most likely. It matches their soldier numbers, plus there’s three magical tanks.”
He took a deep breath, “Alright, it’s a good bet one will go south, one north, and one east to set up a wide perimeter to protect their beachhead. I don’t know how many more soldiers are on that ship, but they’ll probably try to secure the area before unloading all of them.”
Lin asked, “What’s the plan, master?”
Sy’lia shivered. She always did when one of the twins called him master with loving and bloodthirsty adoration in their tone of voice. She’d talked to them a few times, and tried to get past what they were, but it wasn’t easy, and she wasn’t sure if it wasn’t a fool’s errand. She also did her best to hide that distaste, because so far the only time she’d ever seen Sean mad was on behalf of the women in his life that he cared for.
That still boggled her mind, that he saw the twins as family and cared for them.
Sean said, “Let’s move up, and I’ll move the other half down out of the community. We’ll set up an ambush out of range of that ship. Let the army take care of the troops, it should be somewhere around thirteen to ten odds which they can easily overcome. We’ll focus on the tank and four magic users. Once we take them out, we’ll go north to assist the other group if we need to, then go after the eastern group. They’re last because there’s no communities out that way, at least nothing close. Forget the ship for now, we’ll figure out how to deal with that later, once we get through this battle.”
Cassie said, “I’ll try to take down the tanks themselves. If they’re anything like my enchantments I already have a good idea how to destroy them. The only trick will be getting past it’s shields.”
She volunteered, “I’ll cast enhancements on all of us, faster perceptions and movements, enhanced strength.”
Sean said, “Thanks.”
She pushed down the butterflies his warm tone put in her stomach. The man was far too confident, kind, and attractive for her own good. She reminded herself he was also reckless and would most likely turn evil any second, but her heart didn’t really believe it.
Mara said, “Emily and I will protect from those fireballs, assuming the turrets on the top of those tanks are like what was on the ship, only smaller.”
Lori said, “I’ll help take down the shields with Sean and Cassie, and then go after the magic users once it’s down. How will the northern soldiers deal with the tank?”
He shook his head, “They’ll avoid the tank. There’ll be thirteen hundred or so soldiers to attack, and they’ll be spread out most likely in over twenty platoons, give or take depending on unit size. As soon as we take out our tank, we leave the rest of the fight to the undead soldiers and Cassie will teleport us to the edge of the other community. Then we’ll work our way south and take out tank number two before we all head east and finish off the third. We’ll give them a little time to gain distance from each other, so the eastern enemy group can’t support the attacked northern and southern groups, or at least not quickly.”
She thought that would work. The enemy’s landing point was much closer to Devil’s Lake community, which is why they were starting there. The other community was at least five miles away.
Kim said, “Sounds like a plan. Otherwise make it up as we go along?”
He laughed, “Yeah, there’s bound to be surprises. Still, eight of us to their four should give us an edge even with their tank protections between us.”
Lin snorted, “Six to four, I don’t think you can count us as magical support, master. We’ll be keeping any soldiers from closing with the six of you.”
He nodded, “Right. Let’s go.”
Kim whispered conspiratorially loudly enough to be heard by everyone, “We’re just so awesome he got confused. Or maybe he was distracted by our hotness.�
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He snorted, which made them both giggle.
She suppressed an eyeroll, how humans found humor in times of death and destruction she’d never understand.
They’d found a good ambush point about a half mile off shore and a mile south. The enemy had assembled into three equal groups as they’d suspected, and slowly spread out in platoons of sixty as they marched in the three cardinal directions to secure the area. She wasn’t sure how large a perimeter they planned to establish, but thanks to their seer’s predictions they knew it would be at least as far as the two communities.
Sean was watching them through his birds, and as the enemy platoons separated, he was moving his zombie army through the suburban streets to match them. Each platoon of sixty would be engaged by a group of forty-three zombies simultaneously. While they were matching the tank’s line and the platoon accompanying that tank. The same thing was happening in the northern line, except the support platoon for the tank of magic users would be left alone, while the rest were taken out.
That made things a little more complicated, being so split up, since any zombies that were taken down the long daggers would have to be recovered, and whatever was left would have to carry their losses in corpses to Sean’s position so he could raise the losses before taking down the third group.
On the good side it made things more manageable, a lot of small skirmishes between platoons would be less insane and random than a single big battle.
Sy’lia prayed to Charites, and the magic of her goddess flooded her as she enhanced the speed and strength of everyone around her. She also had small animals all over the place, watching their progress.
The plan went well until they sprung the trap. The eight of them stepped out behind the concealment of several dead vehicles in the road, while the forty-two zombies who’d been hiding in the buildings ran out with silent speed and deadly strength to the enemy’s flanks. The first few seconds were total surprise as the zombies cut into the enemy.
Lori’s shadows darted toward the tank, and then stopped dead as they scrabbled at the shield trying to wear it down.
