War Mage Chronicles- Part One

by Charles R Case

  “That was odd,” Cora said, watching the retreating figure.

  Chapter 3

  Sara and Cora changed into shorts and tee shirts and then settled down on the floor of their dorm room, the rug they had bought at a flea market warm and fuzzy beneath their legs.

  Sara soon became full of nervous energy as Cora continued working on the spellform in silence. Not able to take the waiting anymore, Sara began the yoga routine she had memorized for just such moments of anxiety. It was nothing difficult, but it got her muscles moving and cleared her mind.

  “Why do you always do that?” Cora said, not looking up from her tablet as she sketched yet another idea.

  “You read, I do yoga,” Sara said from Warrior Three. She gave it a ten count then moved back to plank.

  “I guess it’s the same. If you think sweating is the same as expanding your mind,” Cora retorted, a smirk distorting her words slightly.

  Sara moved to Standing Triangle. “Just because you’re about as flexible as a steel rod doesn’t mean you have to make fun. I don’t call you a nerd for reading all the time.”

  Cora dropped the tablet to the coffee table, her mouth hanging open. “You called me a ‘nerd’ ten minutes ago.”

  Sara glanced through her legs at Cora, then, remembering that she had, in fact, called her a nerd, began to laugh, her form falling apart as she fell to the floor. “It’s just like a nerd to remember every word I say.”

  A pillow hit Sara in the face.

  “Get over here and help me. You’re the one that wants to do this,” Cora said, holding a second couch pillow in a threatening way.

  Sara held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.” She grabbed a local brewery’s Hefeweizen from the fridge, and rejoined her sister on the floor.

  After several sketches and making notes where necessary, determining what Cora thought should go where on the complicated three-dimensional plan, they came to a spellform Cora thought most likely to be right. Unfortunately, there was no way to test the spellform without actually casting it. This was why spellform theory was so hard: nothing happened most of the time if the spellform was wrong. But, it was also possible to completely drain the Aether well of someone if the form was off, and that could cause coma or, in extreme cases, death.

  “So, this would work? You think the spellform is stable?” Sara asked.

  “More than likely, but I’m basing that assumption on what the book says. As far as I can tell, it’s a secondhand account at best. I think the author had the concept explained, but never actually cast the spell,” Cora said, looking over her sketches once again.

  “But if there’s a description of the spellform, then I would assume he saw a mold of it, right?” Sara took a sip of her beer.

  “Not necessarily. If he had a model, why not include it in the book?” Cora stretched her arms over her head, “I’m beat. I think I’m going to turn in. We have our final in the morning, so we should get a good night’s rest.”

  Sara held up the half empty pint. “I’m going to finish my drink then head to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Cora rolled to her feet and stumbled a little. “Damn, my foot’s asleep,” she said, shaking the numb appendage. “Be sure to turn the light out. And, Sara,” she gave her twin a hard stare, “don’t even think about casting that spell. It was fun working it out, but I didn't do it so you could cast it.”

  “Seriously? You think I would cast a spell you made up? Are you crazy?”

  “No, I’m not crazy. You are, and I don't want to wake up to find you comatose on the morning of our final.”

  Sara took another sip from her glass and smiled, “No worries. I’m just not wasting this delicious beer. Someone worked very hard on it.”

  “All right. Goodnight, I’ll see you in the morning,” Cora said, retreating to her room.

  “Night,” Sara called through the closed door. She took another sip and pulled Cora's tablet closer.

  Cora had come up with a complex spellform with two separate parts that rotated one another, each unique in their construction. The program Cora had been using was purposely designed for spellform creation, letting the creator select from a list of prebuilt standard shapes, then sketch in three dimensions to add effects to the base spellform. Each effect was based on a particular geometric shape, then tweaked according to the needs of the caster. The caster would need to envision the shape and hold it in their mind while feeding it Aether from their well of power to activate the spell. The spellforms Cora had created were based on a binding form and a healing form, but modified so much that Sara would have had trouble identifying the base if she hadn’t seen where her sister had started.

  The Elif taught that you needed to split the mind in order to cast with spellforms. One portion of the mind created the spellform, while the second fed the spellform with Aether.

  How would I cast two spellforms?

  She again opened the book on her tablet to look for a clue on the actual casting. The author mentioned that the spellforms rotated, and Sara thought at first, they would literally spin on an axis. When she thought about it more, she realized this could mean that the spellforms rotated each other.

  Sara leaned back against the chair and took a swig of beer. That could work. The rotating would combine the spellforms. I think. I would need to create them separately and then combine them.

  She drained the rest of the beer in one gulp. The sketches were calling to her. She wanted to try it, if only just to see if she could make the spellforms combine.

  Sara glanced at Cora's door, and when she couldn’t see any light glowing from underneath, she reached over to pick up Cora's tablet, studying the spellforms.

  She put the first one together in her mind. It being based on a simple form, it took her little mental effort, once she could wrap her mind around the additions.

  The second was based on a binding form and was much more complicated. Giving Cora's door one last glance, she smiled.

  It wouldn't hurt to just do the spellform. I don't have to actually power it, she reasoned to herself.

  She scooted her butt until she was sitting straight-backed against the chair, and did a quick breathing exercise to clear her mind. She easily made the first spellform in one section of her mind. While holding this first form in place, she began to construct the second. It was more difficult than she had first thought, but she soon held the two forms in her split mind.

  The next part was the hardest.

  She first tried to mash the spellforms into one idea, but they resisted. She gave up trying to combine them, and instead began to rotate them separately. The effort to change the orientation of a spellform in her mind was more than she could take, though, and they both collapsed.

  She opened her eyes and wiped at the sweat that had beaded on her forehead. She stretched her neck to loosen a small knot of tension and tried again.

  The forms came quickly, her mind better understanding the complicated nuances of the spell, and this time, instead of trying to rotate them, she had the simpler of the forms begin an orbit, while leaving a diameter large enough that she could slide the second form into it. Her mind rebelled, but the approach was smart, and the second form eventually slipped inside.

  With a wash of relief, she realized she was no longer holding two separate forms, but one extremely complicated form.

  Sara smiled at the accomplishment. Opening an eye to make sure Cora was still in her room, she thought, It would be a shame to have made it this far and not give it a little Aether to see if it would work.

  Taking a deep breath, she gave the new spellform a small shot of Aether. Just enough to see if the form would even take any.

  Sara gasped as the spellform drank at the Aether like a parched man who had found a well.

  Her panic rose as power flowed from her uncontrollably. She tried to banish the spellforms from her mind, but they had taken on a life of their own, feeding on her and showing no signs of stopping.

>   A strangled cry came from her throat, and she fell to the floor, her cheek burning from its impact with the rug.

  She felt her Aether well begin to run dry. It was more than she had ever tried to use, and the speed at which it was flowing was increasing.

  She opened her mouth to scream as the last of her Aether tried to rush out, but she held onto the last dregs with every fiber of her being, like a man lost at sea holding onto a piece of broken ship. It was too much in the end, and she felt her world fading away as she blacked out, her scream dying before it ever escaped.

  Before she completely surrendered to unconsciousness, she heard the voice of a man, sounding shocked and little angry.

  “Are you serious?”

  Chapter 4

  Colonel Charles Grimms sipped on his coffee in the conference room as Admiral Hefestus Kurtz went over his new posting. His eyes drifted over to the windows overlooking the big island, which was still under construction after twenty years of its establishment as the world capital. Hawaii was selected for its combined isolation and centralized placement to the world powers. It always struck Grimms as odd that such a beautiful place was no more than a few steps from the war machine.

  Such is fate, he supposed.

  Colonel Grimms was a stocky man, still thick with muscle, despite working from a desk for the last four years. His hair had gone grey with age, and his knees ached when it rained, but he was still ready for a new posting. If he was going to be trapped behind a desk for the rest of his career he would probably take his retirement and do his sitting on the beach.

  He looked out the window again, taking another sip. If he squinted, he could just make out the white sands dotted with people sunning themselves.

  No, the beach wouldn’t be any better than the desk. I need to get back out there. Besides, I would have to start drinking those stupid fru-fru drinks if I wanted to do the beach properly. He thought, taking another sip of his black coffee and smiling at the bitter taste.

  The admiral cleared his throat, and after pulling up something on his tablet, continued the meeting, “She’s a brand new ship design. The Elif are touting her as the hidden gem of the fleet,” the Admiral said, sliding a tablet across the table with the design specs pulled up. “The Raven will primarily be a lone operator in enemy territory. The new controller interface is far more responsive than anything currently in use and can outperform the next closest ship by a factor of ten. All we’re missing is a set of twins to power and command it, but we have a few sets getting ready to graduate that have grabbed our attention. The amount of Aether the controller twin will be able to channel is astounding, and the interface with the Captain twin is nearly instantaneous. ”

  “Why hasn’t the new system been integrated into all the ships? Is it dangerous?” Grimms asked, looking at the numbers.

  “Not so much ‘dangerous’ as ‘untested in the field’. This will be a two year test run, and if the results are positive, they will start implementing the system for all the ships in the fleet.”

  “It says here that the controller will be interred in a tank for the duration of the commission, is that right? They will never be off duty?” Grimms didn't like the sound of that; people needed down time. His gray hair was not only a testament to his fifty years, but to the stress of too many hours in combat without leave back when he was with the SEAL team.

  “The Elif tell me it won’t be a problem. Something about how the controller perceives time and the space around them. Evidently, they have years of lab tests to prove its validity. They want to make sure the new controller knows what they’re getting into and has the skills to pull it off. They’re being very selective on captains, though. The Raven will need a set of twins that will use every opportunity to their advantage. A twin set that can get the job done when the conditions are less than favorable will stretch this ships capability and really show us the advantages of the new system.

  “We’re going to need a solid win here, Grimms. I think you’re just the man to keep these kids in line while pushing them far enough to prove the system viable.”

  Grimms looked over the schematics as he took another sip of his coffee. The ship was technically a frigate, but crossed a lot of lines into cruiser or destroyer territory. Space vessels were much larger than their counterparts on the sea, so the distinctions between classes became fuzzy. There were currently three types of warships in the fleet: cruisers, destroyers, and corvettes. The Raven was built on a corvette frame, but armored like a destroyer and armed like a cruiser.

  Grimms gave a grunt of approval, “This little ship will take a beating.”

  This combination would have been unattainable with the current controller systems or, at least, it would not have been effective. The larger and heavier the ship, the slower it maneuvered, and the more armor it needed to take the beating it would receive. The trade-off was that the ship could pack in more firepower when it finally did engage, and could stay in the battle longer before needing to jump away. The traditional corvette class would jump in, fire, and jump away almost immediately, relying on the enemy not being able to target them quickly enough to do too much damage. Whereas a cruiser could jump in and fire several volleys before needing to disengage, the larger ships could suffer more damage while also doling out more destruction. The balance of speed and durability is what made space battle possible. Several corvettes could engage the enemy early and keep it busy until the larger ships arrived and destroyed them.

  But the Raven was a whole new level of warship. It combined the traits of all three without compromising too much. It was a ship designed to operate on its own, without the support of a fleet. The armor was rated for several Aetheric cannon blasts at range before it became compromised. The armor alone would have crippled the maneuverability of a standard corvette, let alone the increased armament. It had two Aetheric cannons, both of which were powered through the controller, instead of the standard one cannon on a corvette. It also had four tri-barreled gauss cannons instead of one, and these were rated for planetary bombardment, using the larger rounds found on a cruiser. Twice the normal point defense cannons (PDCs) at twenty-four, and an array of counter-measures normally reserved for destroyer or cruiser class vessels.

  All this additional armament took up a lot of room on the relatively small ship. Most corvettes were also used as transports, able to carry five thousand ground troops, along with accompanying gear and vehicles. This ship, however, could only accommodate five hundred troops and gear.

  “Sir, this ship looks like a beast… But I’m not sure why it’s needed. Won’t all actions be carried out in combination with the Elif navy? Why would we need a sole operation ship like this?”

  The Admiral gave a half smile. “Because, Commander, even the strongest armed force needs its black ops. This ship is designed to sneak in and hit the enemy hard and fast, leaving nothing but confusion and destruction in its wake. The concept needs to be tested, and, I won’t lie to you, Commander, this is that test. There is a very real danger that this will all go up in flames.

  “If, on the other hand, we can make it work,” he continued, “Well then, humanity is on its way to a new form of space combat. Up until now, all Elif engagements have been carried out as a group. They don't think like us, they’re too communal. Thinking about venturing out and striking the enemy alone terrifies them. They need us for the batshit crazy things we will do on their behalf.

  “This is an opportunity to push the limits of human ingenuity and daring. I need a good strong commander to help our new captains in this endeavor, and I think you’re just the man. You may only have five hundred troops on board, but they will be the cream of the crop. These guys are special forces all the way. They are going to be a bit much for a green captain to handle. You were a part of the SEALs back when it was still a thing, so you know how to handle these guys.” The Admiral gave him a grin, “What do you say, Commander? You up for an adventure?”

  Grimms looked over the schematics one more ti
me while he thought about his answer. He was getting old, but not so old he wanted to hang his hat up just yet. He liked the idea of doing something new, something important.

  Something that’s not behind that damned desk.

  There was only one detail that bothered him. “Who do you have to captain her? All the new captains are so young; their inexperience is going to get people killed. But I do understand we can't use just anybody.”

  “We have it narrowed down to two sets of twins. They both have their finals soon, and we will be making our decision then. I assure you they are the best of the best we have to offer. You will be in command of all ground operations, and be given codes to override the ship if they turn out to be not up to the challenge. We are confident that they will be a good match, though.”

  Grimms nodded, “Okay, Admiral. I would like to see this new design in action. Sign me up.”

  Admiral Kurtz clapped his hands once and rubbed them together, “Excellent. I knew you were the right man for the job. We can get you up there this afternoon, and you can oversee the final bits of construction. She should be ready in a few days. Now, let’s have a drink and celebrate the commissioning of your new ship. Your shuttle leaves in an hour.”

  Chapter 5

  “Sara! Sara, wake up,” Cora nearly sobbed.

  Sara’s eyes fluttered open, and she immediately regretted it, as the morning light cut across her face through the window.

  “Close the blinds. Oh god, my eyes,” Sara moaned as she threw an arm across her face.

  Cora gasped in relief, “What the hell happened? I came out here, and you were passed out. I’ve been trying to wake you for nearly ten minutes.”

  “Sorry. I, uh, had a rough night.”

  “Did you drink all night? What is wrong with you? You know we have the exam today.” Cora’s relief was washing away, anger filling in the gaps.