by P. S. Power
"Can you all hear me?" Twenty people responded all at once, which really wasn't going to work. Only Kolb had kept his mouth shut, just gesturing at her and making eye contact. When the rest got quiet, he started speaking.
"Operational silence then. That means don't speak at all unless you have something really important to say. In a few seconds the wall will open, then Tiera and I will move to the front and lead you all in the right direction. Try to keep a visual on everyone the whole time. Havar, you and Sir Derring take the rear. Make sure no one gets lost. Remember, you can all fly, so this isn't a problem, just a quick way of doing things."
Then, almost as if Judy could hear them, the wall in front of them vanished and so did the gravity. Without waiting, and trying not to push anyone out of the way, Tiera moved forward like she'd been told to.
"This way. Keep on target and remember, the last one down has to buy dinner." She was kidding, of course, except that, realizing that Karen and Havar were in the back and had orders to be the last ones down that really worked, didn't it? She grinned, her face tense and mind suddenly empty of everything except the job at hand. "Keep to your buddy groups. Lairdgren Group people will be tasked with finding the Ancients on the ground. Lost Section, you're going to fight the dragons. Just target them and turn them off first. If that doesn't work, melt their amulets after you get the field off. They're made of shield, so you'll need to turn them off first."
The Earth was vast under them, but other than a few wimpy sounding gasps, mainly from Farlo and Sam, no one said anything. They were on the right side of the world and while Callwood wasn't right above them, it was pretty close. It had a small border that connected with her own County, but she didn't really know where the city of Callwood was itself. Luckily Kolb did and took the lead by a good margin.
The trip down was silent enough, but, even after everyone spread out, so they wouldn't smack into each other, they didn't get lost. Farlo was whimpering, but she still went along with the rest, scared or not. It was good enough really.
The city was easier to see, as they closed in, since it was smoking in several places and the dragons were the size of large buildings. Kolb took over, giving the needed directions as they settled into place, his voice grim.
"Dragon fighters to the front. Pick one and stay high. Make them come to you. Builders, trace the lines of information back to their handlers first. Everyone else will move closer. Watch for missiles too. If at any time I tell you to run, fly away as fast as you can. Does everyone have that? We're not here to prove how brave we are, our job today is slaying dragons."
That sounded pretty good to her at least.
The battle itself wasn't easy, really. Not at all, even if it was clear they had the element of surprise. They mainly hovered well above things, and moved in slowly, taking out the dragons two and three at a time. A few were turned back on, but when that happened, the kids changed tactics and worked as a team. Making removing the field from the amulets the goal.
Most of the actual Ancient finding was done, surprisingly, by Farlo, who had a large wet patch on the front of her clothing, but had dropped into a nicely deep trance it seemed, and was pointing their enemies out one after another. Tiera moved in with Kolb for most of the kills, trying to moderate her force level, using the new weapon she'd made, so that she didn't rip apart a lot of buildings when she did it. Almost everyone was hiding, indoors, which wasn't always working, since, as Kolb had mentioned, missiles and some other weapons were in play at the same time. Including some intense light ones that were pointed up at them a few times. They were more effective on the ground, setting fires all over the place wherever the white hot beams touched. A few people that had come out to try and fight died under those weapons too.
"Tiera, Tim, take out that laser system to the north west." This got barked at them, but it wasn't too hard to figure out what he was talking about. She flew right at the thing, which hit her, making the world go black. Her shield could block the intense light it seemed, but that didn't mean she was able to see when it did. A few seconds later she could however, since her brother had simply hung back and used an explosive weapon on it. Not one of hers, however.
It removed the top of the building the thing had been on. Which was sloppy. She'd have to remember to needle him on that later.
They did two more that way, and a last was taken out by her buddy team. Clyde, Ali and Lewis. The boys flew at it, getting it to be aimed at them, uselessly thanks to their shields, and her sister in-law destroyed the thing. That was done using some kind of new device that didn't make a mess at all. True, the woman that had been using the machine, who was a solid black color, like Monroe, popped in a wet mess, but the building was fine. So was, she realized, the weapon.
Another clone started to move into place, but Ali made him pop too and no one tried again after that.
The whole mess went on for over an hour, and then they moved directly into flying over the city, hunting the remaining clones down. They found two, who huddled together, as if for warmth, in the alcove of a barn like building where wagons seemed to be made. She was about to kill them both, an all black woman that looked to be in her mid-twenties and a small white colored boy, when Timon called out.
"Hold! Everyone hold. I'm going to go in... Ali, get ready to do that thing." He didn't say what, but no one else spoke. Operational silence and all that.
Tiera however moved in too. If her younger brother was going into danger, she had to help him. It was, as everyone in her family would have said, a rule.
What Tim was saying seemed strange to her however. Very much so, especially coming from him. If Tor had said it, she would have understood. Or even Terry, but Timon? It didn't seem that likely, but here it was. Right in front of her.
"Hello! Would you two like to live? More to the point, would you like to help our side? I know you may have been told otherwise, but we're actually the good guys, and don't want to hurt anyone. Notice please, that the people that you're with keep trying to kill everyone else? And here we are offering a very different thing."
There were no words, but both of the strange looking people laid down on their stomachs, with their hands over their heads, as if it were something they'd planned. Timon moved in and made them strip, which took time, but none of the kids flew over and killed them or anything. Yet.
She thought she got the idea. Some of the clones, like Monroe, had their own minds, not versions of Gray or Cordes. These two both did, it seemed, or at least had someone else in there. The all black woman felt a lot like Monroe even, meaning she was probably a pure slave. The white boy... He seemed funny. Not human at all.
"Tim, what's the boy..." She was a little scared, but her brother just shrugged a bit.
"I'm already on that one. You're one of the Remy, aren't you? May I ask which one?" Timon looked at the kid as Tiera paled and got ready to fight. The Remy were super assassins, and so dangerous that almost no one could defeat them. The only person in modern times that had was Tim, and while he seemed calm, she certainly didn't like her own chances if it came to a fight. He'd had to use special magic to stop the last one, after all.
The thin looking white boy, who seemed about fifteen, stood, but didn't change shape or even glower at being caught out.
"I'm Remy Two. This is Maris. I understand that you have to take my own life, if you can, but I'd ask you to consider leaving her alive and intact. She's a good person, and deserves fair treatment." It was said pretty blankly, and Timon nodded.
His words were strange though.
"Are you personally committed to being on Gray's side in this?"
The boy looked at the woman lying on the ground, who was like a lump of coal, given her color and how little she moved, and faked a sigh.
"Not so much. I'd infiltrated to see what was going on, and managed to get sent out here. That's all. Gray isn't sane anymore. I nearly started the protocols to destroy her, but didn't get to it before they managed to send me out. I have to say, I do
love the modern warfare. I heard a rumor that Remy Seventeen was destroyed? Is that true?"
Timon stiffened a bit, holding something in his right hand, but then gave a single, somber nod.
"I killed her. Using magic. To be fair, she was trying to kill me too, so it wasn't as if I'd really just moved on her or something like that." He didn't move, but there was a sense about him, that his intent was poised to strike, like a snake. On the device in his hand, which was made of silver, rather than Focus Stone.
The boy... smiled.
"That's impressive! Maybe, when this war of yours is over, we could fight too? I don't want to bother you, right now, if you're busy at the moment. But it would be interesting to see if you could do that twice. Do you think you can?"
Her brother let his head come up a bit, but looked sad.
"I can. I have a device that will kill all the Remy on the planet, if it comes to it. Remy Seventeen suggested I use it. As a kindness to the rest of you. I wanted to get with some of you first however, in case you don't want to die."
There was a pause and the boy finally looked around, and, oddly, waved at Tiera.
"I can wait a bit, if you want. Now, are we to be prisoners or what? I doubt you could really hold either of us. We'll go along with you however, and do what you say. For now at least."
She looked at the boy, and getting the general idea took a step forward.
"All right, if you both give your word to be on our side in this, we'll find a place for you. Say, on the Moon? You'd have to help with the new colony there, but it will put you out of the line of fire, and be useful work." Also, it would keep them from attacking too many people. After a moment she wondered if Tim would allow it though, since they might sabotage things there, and if Terry was going in a few weeks...
He didn't though.
"That sounds like a plan. Maris, you can be in charge of something or other, if you'd like? I'll let you decide what, or if you want to at all. You can also go anywhere you want, but it might be best if we kept you away from the Others right now." It was a strange way to treat a prisoner, but he gestured to her, and got a smile in return. "Would you like to stand? Or not, as you choose."
The woman did get up, and slowly, Kolb and several others came over. Trice did too, since her husband was right there, and so did Ali, for some reason. The others all stood back and either looked around, as if scared, or covered the two new people with weapons. Ready to kill them, if they turned out to be evil Ancients.
That got her to blink a little and turn to face the Austran kids.
"These people are Revered Ones that were forced to fight against us. They're joining us now. First things first then, are there any more of you around here? If so, are any of you possibly friendly?"
That question didn't get answered, because the Callwood guard forces finally came out. They were pointing weapons too, but some of them were literally swords, which meant they were pretty much ignored by the kids. They came on foot, not even using the older flying rigs.
The man in charge, who was dressed in a rather stately tan outfit with a white helmet, bellowed at them, then stopped after the first words left his lips.
"Halt! This is Callwood and you are required by the Countess-"
Then the man pretty much froze up, looking at all the tall people that were, if he was paying attention, very well armed. The kids all hovered in the air a bit too, about five feet up, and had weapons pointed at the four, probably very brave, men that were looking at them.
Karen bowed at them.
"I'm Sir Karen Derring. Conserina First, Derring. We've repelled the attack, for the time being. We have Countess Baker with us, who was called in for such assistance by your Countess. We also have the Lairdgren Group, some instructors from Lairdgren School, and... the Lost Section. Also known as the Dragon Fighters. That would be the kids that saved you, there?" She waved at them, and the men, who weren't overly tall, started bowing. To the kids first, which was smart, really. Then everyone else, not particularly noticing who was which person, Tiera didn't think.
The men looked a little lost for a bit, but then sent one of their number to run a message to the Countess, which had Trice wave, pulling her communications device out and hitting the right sigil. Then, without speaking she handed it to the thirty-odd year old man in charge.
He looked baffled and perplexed, but when a voice came a few moments later, he just bowed to it and spoke.
"Countess Callwood? This is city guardsman Lateen Royce. The attack has been repelled, by a combination of forces? We were told you invited them?" He sounded nervous, but the woman on the other side of the device just sounded pleased.
"I invited many people this day. Who actually answered the call?"
Trice stepped forward then, looking very serious.
"As your man here said, it's a mixed group, I'm Patricia Baker, Ducharina Third, Morgan. We have Countess Baker with us, in her own person, as well as Conserina Derring, Conserina Ross, Baron Kolbrin, Baron Havar, two Countiers Baker, Baron Sorenson, Sam Builder who is the acting Magics Counselor for the Kingdom, Lady Alyssa Baker who's also a Conserina Derring, Guide Eastgreen who is the Building Ambassador to Vagus, and the Lost Section. Those were the ones that actually killed the dragons for you. We also have two... Revered Ones, who were forced to fight against us, but who have come to our side at the earliest possible time. They aren't prisoners." Then she stopped, having said most of that without even taking a single breath. She did then, which got Timon to smile a bit.
There was no sound at all for a few moments, and then the Countess spoke, sounding nearly like she was crying, for some reason. Probably just relief.
"Thank you. Thank you all. Please, if you'd come to my palace, I'd host you as guests. Anything I have is, of course, yours." It was, Tiera knew, a big deal to say something like that. Given the rules in place, they could, at least potentially, abuse the woman for the rest of her life, based on her saying that. It meant she pretty much had to really mean it.
Kolb looked around and nodded.
"We need to finish sweeping the city, to make sure no one hostile is still here. Then we should call in a team to fight the fires. You have your own people for that, but some of the newer techniques might help-"
Farlo raised her hand and looked down at her wet pants, which she hadn't bothered to change yet.
"I have some equipment for that? I carry it all the time."
The Countess spoke again, actually sobbing a little now.
"I thank you for whatever support you can give us."
The girl took off, which had her buddies moving with her. Karen too. They seemed to be up on how to fight fires at least. Tiera wanted to go help herself, but realized she didn't actually have anything in particular that would be of much use that way. It was an oversight.
That left the rest of the afternoon, which wasn't that long at this point, to try and find who might be left. Terry put up his craft and hovered it over the city, taking Remy Two and Maris with him. Before he left, Tim pressed something into his hand, and whispered to him. What he said she couldn't hear, but Timon saw her watching, and told her, when they'd left.
"It's a Remy killing magic. If the thing kills him, it will stop it. Terry would still be dead, but I doubt that will happen. The shield he has on is really pretty good." There was a smile, but it was clear that Timon wasn't all that pleased with how things were going either. They'd won, for now, but there was a real problem at hand.
One which Havar addressed almost instantly.
"This isn't good. We have exactly one group of people that can stop an attack like this at present. The one here. If I were our enemy I'd have things ready to go all over the world. Doing the same thing, almost anywhere else, would be devastating right now."
It was the truth, so she nodded, and moved a bit closer to him.
"Agreed. What do we do about it?"
Being a nobleman, Baron Havar tried to look down at her, mainly out of habit, she guessed, and failed
for the most part, since she was only a bit smaller than he was now. His eyes softened for a bit, and for half a second, not knowing why, Tiera really thought he might kiss her. That was both out of character and place, given the situation, but Sam interrupted them anyway.
"What if we set up a few squads with Tiera's new weapons and shields like this? Put a builder with each one and set them up in space, on ships. Then if things start to happen, we can drop on the attack sites. That worked pretty well, didn't it? If we all work on it, we can have a thousand weapons ready by tomorrow sometime. More if Timon does it. I don't know who to get though, really. I... Don't want to send the kids after things like this, even if they did a great job today. I know that..." He turned, clearly expecting ten children to be holding him at weapons point, but got a lot of nods from them instead.
One of them, Ron, actually explained.
"Yeah. We here could do it, but most of the kids suck so far. I say we grab some of those Elite Flying troops for it. They're pretty good, and already can fly." It wasn't a bad idea, even if it did come from a child. It was better by far than the nothing that Tiera had, and she nearly said so, but then realized that it would be better if she were a bit less chatty about her own failings at the moment than that.
Instead they moved on the Countess's Palace, which had only taken a little damage in the fighting, clearly having been clawed a bit by a giant purple dragon. What seemed to have once been a nice spire on the northernmost corner was gone. Only rough lines in the stone, and some rubble, was left. Tiera wouldn't have even gotten that much, if there wasn't another on the other side that was still holding together pretty well.
At the gate there were guards, ten of them, all holding force lances of one kind or another, mainly older versions on small copper tubes, which marked them as being things that Tor had made. Even if they were expected, they had to go through the whole thing about who they were again, and wait for the Countess to be informed properly, before being let in. It took the better part of half an hour, but that was fine. Really, as far as she was concerned, they could have all just left. Her own palace wasn't that far away, if they were flying.
