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Chapter 14 – Midnight Attack
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Airships. I never saw that coming. In my world only the Germans had airships. I later did some asking around and found that the man who designed the zeppelin had a hard time getting it funded, and eventually got some capital from someone in Gaullia-Aquite, but as a result both nations had the design and started building passenger airships before the war.
I'm not upset that the Gaullians had airships. I'm only upset that they didn't fill them all with hydrogen.
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“I count twelve Gaullian mages that just popped out of the airship!” Amber declared. She looked over to the Ox Soldier and saw that he was relaying information to his commander.
Schaab's voice came over the comm. “Form a defensive position!”
Amber spoke with more calm than she felt inside. “Lieutenant Schaab, sir, our priority is that airship.”
“We're outnumbered! We can't take the fight to them!”
“Their target is the hundreds of men below us!”
Schaab's tone was marked with unhappy resignation. “...You're right. Alright boys, arrowhead formation! We're gonna punch through those bastards and hit that blimp with everything we got!”
Amber switched her comm line. “Ravens, where you at?”
Ochsner chimed in, “Sorry Commander, I'm still with Auk Squadron! But we're on our way!”
Nussbaum came in next, “We're almost to your position ma'am!”
Amber was no stranger to making quick tactical calls, even if the cost of real life was new to her. “Alright, Nussbaum, you're Flight Alpha, your target is the airship. Berthold, you're Flight Bravo, I want you to engage the enemy mages; focus on protecting the others. I'll let you two decide how to divide the privates between you. Ochsner, tell the Ox Commander that we need someone to alert the ground troops to evacuate, and his scout is our best option!”
The shadow had descended out of the clouds; the airship was visible. It was making visual confirmation before dropping its payload.
Schaab called out “One of them broke away from the others; Shyne he's fast! I think he's heading to our command center!”
Amber saw the glowing lights from the sky bike, speeding away. “He's going to destroy our radio! I'll stop him!”
Schaab replied “You'll never catch him in time!”
Amber smiled menacingly. “Watch me!”
Amber was already speeding to intercept as Schaab began warning the radio operator. The enemy was indeed fast, and Amber had a slightly harder time catching up than she thought she would. As the distance closed, she realized that he would reach the radio tower before she did. 'And if he's so fast, he has a high power level, and it will take a lot to break his shield.'
Amber aimed her rifle, but just before she pulled the trigger she realized a better tactic. 'I'm going to be running low on mana before the night is through; I need to save what I can...'
The soldier reached the base's command center. He didn't grab his rifle, but a satchel. He stopped right in front of the radio tower.
Amber, however, didn't stop. With her bayonet held forward she plunged right into the soldier. The bayonet was charged with her mana, and as such it went through the flesh like butter. But the rifle wasn't so graceful when it came into contact with the body, and neither was Amber when she did the same a few nanoseconds later.
The enemy soldier tumbled off his sky bike as the blade tore through more of his body. The force of the impact bounced Amber off at an odd angle, and she tumbled around in the air as she struggled to bring herself to a stop. The sky bike, bereft of a pilot, found gravity asserting its dominance and soon crashed into the ground, in the process snapping one of the guy wires for the communication tent.
Amber stabilized herself and looked around. The soldier laid on the ground with a gash in his back so massive he was halfway to being cut in half. A portion of the tent roof was partially collapsed. Major Detmold stood in front of the tent with his bodyguard in front of him, the bodyguard's rifle brandished toward where the soldier had been.
Amber put her hand to her orb and announced “Tango down, radio is secure.”
From within the tent, Amber heard the radio operator's exasperated voice “Oh thank God!”
Amber wasted no time flying back to the battle. In the distance she could see flowery explosions flashing in the air where the battle was taking place. The whole time she could hear the Hornet's comm line as they engaged the airship. “Watch it, on the left!” “Keep going!” “Pull up! Fire! Fire!” “What the Hell?! Our shots went right through it?!” “Is it a decoy?” “That's impossible! It's too big!”
Amber pondered what she had heard. Perhaps the fact that she was tampering with the attackfire spell just moments ago is why she had the moment of clarity that saw through the problem. “The bullets need to impact with something to explode; they'll just tear through the skin without going off! Over-charge your shots to make them explode early! Or aim for the rigid parts like the engine or the cockpit!”
Amber saw scores of soldiers running through the trenches away from the battle, many of them in their skivvies, while the amplified voice of the Ox scout echoed his call to evacuate. The battle wasn't quite above the reserves yet, but not for long.
More of the Hornets' chatter came through, this time punctuated with more gasps, grunts, and verbal winces. A distinct cry was heard “We lost Renner!”
Schaab nearly shouted “Push through! Regroup! Regroup!”
Amber could only faintly see the lights from the airborne soldiers, but in a moment she had a flash of understanding. 'They have no idea how to fight a large ship; they've only been trained on how to fight mages!' Luckily, there was a stage like that in every space shooter she ever played. Amber decided to broadcast the directions over the radio so the other squadrons could hear it. “Make sweeping runs against the ship! Line up your shots while heading straight at your target, and as soon as you've fired, turn away and speed up to keep the fighters off of you! Then circle back and make another pass! Keep moving so you're harder to hit!”
Nussbaum responded, “Roger!”
Schaab replied “Good thinking! Alright boys just like she said!”
Amber ordered “Alpha Flight, sweep in from a different angle than the Hornets; make it harder for the enemy to track you!”
Schaab declared “You three split off! We'll hit this thing from every side!”
“That's the ticket!” Amber smiled as the battlefield properly came into view. The airship loomed high above; it had descended out of the clouds but came no lower, and was far too high for any mage to reach. The glowing embers of air mages danced around below it like fireflies. Small groups of cyan fireflies arced upward and fired magic bolts at the giant cigar above before sharply turning away. The pale orange fireflies fired magic bolts at the cyan fireflies, most of them missing.
Amber caught sight of a Gaullian glow in front of her as it fired at one of her comrades. His back was to her; it was a perfect opportunity. She dashed at him with her bayonet held out, but this time she knew how to handle herself. She aimed the blade at his nape and turned so she didn't run into him. The soldier promptly fell out of the sky.
There was another silhouette right in front of her, facing to the side. Amber sped forward and dispatched the enemy in the same manner as the last one. 'This is easy; in the dark they don't see me coming!'
Amber spotted her third target: another Gaullian shadow with the pale-orange glow radiating from the underside of the sky bike. She again rushed forward with her bayonet held out.
There were pale orange eyes floating in the shadow; Amber realized too late that this one saw her coming. She immediately pulled away to the side, but her reaction came too late to counter her own inertia. The soldier had his own bayonet out, glowing with mana. Her rolling motion barely missed it, and the blade went through her sleeve. Her other arm bashed into the sky bike and she bounced off from the impact.
After a moment she asserted herself and stopped her movement. The enemy soldier also regained his balance from the impact. They both stood there, in the air, almost close enough to spit on each other.
Amber glanced down at her right arm. There was a wide gash in her sleeve; no blood though. And of course it was her other arm that hurt at the moment. '...That almost went very, very bad.'
Neither soldier made a move; both just stared into the other's glowing eyes. If one shot first, the time it would take to chamber a new round was enough time for the other to rush in and fire past the limits of their shields. It was a deadly distance for a mage to be.
Amber knew that she could fire far faster than the other mage could react, but even so, he could manage to pull a trigger before he was dead. 'No, I've risked my life on showy moves too much already.' The other soldier had grenades strapped to his chest, barely visible in the obstructed moonlight. Amber pulled the pin out with her telekinesis.
Amber drifted away from the soldier and put a hand to her orb. “Ochsner, where are our reinforcements?”
Ochsner responded “We'll be in range in a couple seconds!”
“Excellent.”
There was an explosion and tiny bits of shrapnel peppered Amber's shield.
Ochsner continued, “Also, the Auk commander wants to know how his men would be the most useful.”
Amber could see their lights coming into the battlefield. “Have him focus on the enemy mages; keep them off of everyone assaulting the ship.”
Amber headed straight for the airship. As she caught sight of it again she gawked. From a distance she never really got a proper sense of the scale of the vessel. It was massive; bigger than any building she had seen in this life, and yet it floated in the air higher than anyone could fly. “That's big... That's real big...”
Small fires were burning at various points along the hull. They were scoring hits, but yet it still remained airborne. 'How are we going to stop this thing? I've never fought anything that big without a health bar appearing on the screen!'
Amber spotted some motion on the underside compartment, and then the sounds of explosions started. It was finally in position; the bombing had begun.
A series of explosions rippled across the ground; the flashes of lights seemed painfully blinding in the darkness of night. The thin ceilings of the dugouts quickly crumbled under the pressure waves. The path of carnage headed straight into the courtyard; the glow from flight packs rose into the air just barely ahead of the bombs as Condor Squadron at last made it to the sky.
Amber looked intently over the airship, trying to discern a viable path to its destruction. Evidently it wasn't filled with hydrogen, and the small fires would eventually cause it to leak too much gas, but it would take far too long. There was only one other weak point she could find. “Alpha Flight, I want you to target its bomb bay; get a shot right inside where they are dropping the bombs from!”
Nussbaum's tone was more of disbelief than uncertainty. “Could you repeat that ma'am?”
“Shoot it in the boom-boom hole, Lukas! Give that thing an enema!”
“Ma'am that's a tough shot to make while on the run.”
“Then pick a spot and hold your position; I'll cover you. Ravens, form a defensive perimeter around Alpha Flight!”
Amber found the three lights that was Nussbaum's flight. Sasha and Albrecht were with him. The airship had stopped dropping bombs and was making a wide arc as it prepared for another pass. Amber came in close behind Nussbaum.
The enemy soldiers were merely shadow-blobs perched on glowing lights; it was impossible to discern who was aiming at them and even more impossible to see where the rifles were so she could nudge them. Thankfully, the rifles had to glow before their spell could be cast, and thus she knew exactly who was about to shoot. Even so, she had only a brief window of time to react.
Nussbaum was looking at the underside of the aircraft. “Shouldn't you be taking the shot, ma'am? You're the one with the incredible aim.” Three streaks of fiery orange magic zipped by the group, one right after the other, each narrowly missing them. “...Nevermind I see that you're busy.”
“This is a lot harder at night,” Amber admitted.
The rest of the squadron gathered around the trio, but the cluster of cyan lights only seemed to attract the focus of the enemy. More shots came raining in; one slipped in from behind and hit Ochsner.
Berthold called out, “We've got your back! Make it count!”
“We need to get closer;” Nussbaum yelled, “fly higher!”
The whole group climbed higher; many of them started swaying as they approached their altitude limit and started losing maneuverability.
Amber softly stated, “Take your time; hurry up!” Her words came out mindlessly as her primary focus was on finding glowing rifles. “...The choice is yours, don't be late.” She deflected another two shots.
Bombs began dropping from the airship again. Another shot hit one of the soldiers protecting Alpha Flight, but Amber couldn't look away to see who got hit; the shots were increasing in intensity.
Nussbaum raised his voice and his rifle. “Alright, take aim!”
“Ready!” Sasha declared.
“Ready!” Albrecht said.
Nussbaum paused only a moment. “...Fire!”
In nearly perfect unison the trio fired. It was impossible to tell which of them actually managed to hit inside the bomb bay doors, but it was also impossible to mistake that at least one of them did. All the munitions on board erupted into a spectacular fireball, completely blowing out the converted passenger compartment, and turning into a wall of flame that cut its way up through the middle of the massive blimp. Everyone on both sides of the battle stopped to gawk at the incredible scene.
Amber excitedly yelled out “BOOM-Shaka-Laka! He's on fire!” as tiny bits of shrapnel bounced off of her squadron's shields. A warm wave of heat pleasantly bathed over them for half a second. The sound of hundreds of people cheering rolled up from the ground below.
The airship's hull crumbled apart, ripping out from the center. Along the bottom edge the exterior cover looked like a flag flapping in the wind as it began peeling off of its aluminum skeleton. The giant gas bladders were visible where the skin had peeled away, but in the middle there was nothing left but shreds.
The tattered zeppelin fell slowly, giving ample time for all the pilots to move out of its path. It was a deceptive motion that looked as if it would land softly and gracefully, but the incredible mass of the structure ensured that would not be the case.
Amber connected to the radio. “Airship down! Repeat, airship down! All units, let's focus on those flying rats before they scurry away!”
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Major Detmold felt a great swell of relief as he saw the airship become engulfed in flames. He kept his binoculars fixed on the floating foe and began softly muttering to himself. “Fall, you son of a bitch! Fall!” He watched the entirety of its descent, and a wide grin wrapped his face as it crumpled against the black void that was the ground.
Lieutenant Fessler called up to him. “Sir! We just got a call on the radio: the airship is down and they're mopping up the enemy mages now!”
Detmold pulled down his binoculars. “I didn't need a radio to tell me that,” he muttered. From his perch atop the ladder he had a good view of what was going on around him. He spotted the sergeant-major ushering the troops who were filling the camp. He yelled to him, “Rottmayer! The ship is down! Start moving these troops back to their camps!”
Rottmayer yelled back “Yes sir!” and began ushering the troops back in the opposite direction.
“And I want to know how bad the damages are!” Detmold looked back to Lieutenant Fessler. “Has the enemy started their ground assault yet?”
“No sir!” Fessler called back.
Detmold scowled. “No?! Are the phone lines still connected?”
“Yes sir, I was just talking with our forward station! They are still being bombarded!”
Major Detmold looked out to the East. “Well what the hell are they waiting for?”
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It wasn't long after the airship hit the ground before the enemy mages were overpowered; at that point they were outnumbered four to one. After some brief heated combat there were only three left. One of them tried to rush back to his home base, but eight different soldiers shot him in the act. The remaining two quickly landed, got off their bikes, and stood with their hands in the air. The troops on the ground swiftly surrounded them and took them prisoner.
Amber did a head count over the comm; everyone in her squadron was alive and accounted for, but most were at their limit. She breathed a sigh of relief as a wry smile crossed her face. She looked at her rifle. 'I didn't even have to reload. ...How many rounds do I have left? I need to keep better track of that.'
She looked down to the glowing fire of the airship's wreck. There were survivors who had escaped the crash. Gaullian officers stood with their arms in the air while soldiers wearing only underwear held them at gunpoint. Amber began laughing at the scene before her. “Oh, that's great, that's great! This is a Kodak moment! Oh, I wish I had a camera for this!”
Amber's jubilee was quickly terminated by the next call that came over the radio. “This is Lieutenant Galishoff. One of my scouts reports a massive shadow crossing the frontline. There's another airship coming in about three-quarters of a hetch to the South!”
Amber breathed another sigh, this time of resignation. “Of course,” she quietly breathed, “I forgot that I was playing on Hard Mode.”
She glanced around; it only took her a fraction of a moment to recognize the advantage they held. There were two dozen glowing lights in the air around her; tired as they may be, there were four squadrons geared up and ready. And there was just enough time to form a plan.
Amber cupped her orb and the radio made its 'do-biip' chirp as she connected to it. “Squadron commanders, lets meet up! All squadrons on my position!” She summoned a decoy, which was particularly visible in the dark. She made it glow brighter, turning it into a beacon. She waved her arm in the air, (which motion the beacon copied,) and let herself gently drift downward.
The cyan glows in the sky began congregating around her, gradually taking the forms of people as they got closer. The high-pitched shushing sound of the flight packs grew louder as they got closer, and then began abruptly stopping as people began landing. Once it seemed that everyone knew her location she dismissed the decoy.
She recognized Lieutenant Schaab as he got close. All the various air mages formed a loose circular shape, leaving room in the middle for the lieutenants. The lieutenant from Condor Squadron came in and exclaimed loudly “Fuck me, my camp!” As Amber took a second glance she realized that the tattered shell holes they were next to was all that was left of the condor nest.
Another lieutenant joined the center of the crowd; by process of elimination it had to be the ox commander. He had a protruding chin and a pencil-thin mustache. With his aviator cowl and goggles on he reminded Amber of Dick Dastardly. A look of surprise jumped onto his face. “You're the one who replaced Jäger?”
'Like you're one to talk about appearances.' “Good things come in small packages,” Amber stated. She checked her footing carefully as she landed; it was easy to misjudge where the ground was at night. “Is your scout calling an evacuation order where the airship is headed?”
He nodded. “He is.”
“Good.” Amber faced the three commanders. “Alright; the moment they realize we know they're there, they will deploy their mages and we'll have this same mess on our hands. We need to hit them hard in a single blow; get the airship down as quickly as possible.”
The Condor Commander spoke with a sneer in his voice. “Where do you get off, kid? Trying to take control here? Know your place; you don't order us around.”
The statement jarred Amber something fierce. Certainly, he was right; she didn't have any authority over them, in fact they all outranked her. But the immediacy of the situation should overrule that! Amber's mind jammed gears as those two thoughts contended with each other.
Amber tried to speak politely, although through gritted teeth, “What I am saying needs to be addressed, regardless of who says it.”
The commander scowled harder. “Don't take that tone with me, girl!”
Amber's hand twitched as she debated choking the man with her telekinesis. She knew she would be reprimanded later, but right now there was no time for such squalid squabbling. Her fist tightened and she invisibly prodded his neck with her mind to find the right spots.
Lieutenant Schaab turned to the condor's commander and said “I'll take that tone with you! If it wasn't for her, you'd be dead right now!” He threw his hand out to the ruined remains of the condor's quarters as he made his point. “She's the reason we have a counter-offensive to begin with! She's earned the right to speak; what have you done tonight?”
The condor lieutenant looked at Schaab with clear contempt. “She's not in charge here!”
Lieutenant Galishoff shot out “You're right, I'm in charge here! I'm on night-watch, and that gives me authority over you all in a nighttime attack! Now stop your bickering! For the love of Hell; there's a battle going on right now! Don't make me call the captain on you two!”
Before a response was given, the radio chirped and the Major's voice came through. “This is Major Detmold! Did you say there's another airship coming in?!”
Galishoff glared at the other lieutenants, then put his hand to his orb. “That is correct sir; we're planning our attack right now.”
“I have a plan,”Amber declared. She paused long enough to make sure she wasn't about to be interrupted. “When the last ship deployed its mages, one of them was a runner who tried to blow our communications. I could use his bomb on the airship, take it out in one blow.”
Lieutenant Galishoff spoke up, “How are you going to manage that? No one can fly that high.”
“I'll take one of the Gaullian sky bikes; they can fly higher than our packs. Plus I'm lightweight; I can get close enough that I can throw it the rest of the way.”
The Condor Commander still spoke with a distrusting tone. “That's still a hard one to swallow. Are you really expecting us to sit around while you fumble with a bomb?”
Amber held her composure. “That will be plan A. What's plan B if that doesn't work out?”
The condor sneered. “Obviously we're just going to shoot the damn thing as much as we can! I don't see a reason why we should waste our time on your plan A.”
Schaab shook his head. “It is not that easy! Our shots pass right through the shell without detonating; we have to overcharge our shots and try to hone in on the right distance. We only got the last one because of a damn good lucky shot. It is well worth the chance to let her try to bomb it.”
Amber snapped her fingers. “We can stop at our camps and pick up range-finding scopes! Pair everyone up with a spotter to help them gauge how close their shots were!”
Galishoff grinned widely. “I like that plan! We'll go with that. Raven-One can try her Plan A, and if it doesn't work, we have Plan B. Once the ship is down, Plan C will be for everyone to focus on the mages.”
“I doubt our scopes survived,” the Condor Commander stated dismally.
Galishoff's eyebrows raised sardonically, “Then you'll be the ones to protect everyone else; keep their mages off of us.”
The Condor Commander's face showed displeasure, but he didn't say anything.
A private from one of the other squadrons spoke up, “Pardon me sir, but why don't we just hit it with our artillery?”
Galishoff turned toward the soldier. “Because every shot that misses would hit our own base!”
Amber spoke up, “The calculations our orbs make are strictly two-dimensional; our targeted strikes won't give us the arc we need to hit it.”
The Condor Commander followed up immediately after Amber, “We'd have to walk our shots all across the very people we're trying to save.”
Amber raised her voice. “Does anyone else have anything to bring up?”
Gering called out with a concerned voice, “Sorry ma'am, but I took five hits, and I don't know if I even have enough mana to make it over there.”
Amber responded sharply. “Then start walking back to the nest!” She raised her voice, “Everyone who can still fly is joining the battle!”
Galishoff yelled out in a similar tone “All right men, this is what you signed up for! Let's move!”
The lieutenants all lifted into the air, shortly followed by their crews. They began forming into their squadrons and flying to the south.
Amber unmuted her comm. “Ochsner, I'm going to need you to take command of the Ravens for now. I have to get that bomb, and if they have another runner I'll have to chase him down.”
He responded “Yes ma'am, I can take care of things.”
Amber flew to where one of the Gaullians had landed. The Gaullian was still there, still held at gunpoint, with another soldier patting him down for any other supplies he had missed.
Amber landed directly in the seat of the sky bike and immediately powered down her flight pack and began charging the sky bike. “Hey nice bike mind if I take it for a ride kay thanks bye!”
She lifted in the air; the jets on the bottom of the craft casting a cyan-blue glow on the faces below her as her orb powered the vehicle. The smell of dust filled the air as the vents blew against the ground, and it made a deeper shushing sound than her flight pack did. The craft felt sluggish as it turned around but she was soon on her way.
She was more familiar with flying now than when she had tried flying a Gaullian sky bike in flight school; it was easier for her to appreciate the differences between the different crafts. The sky bike wasn't as fast as her flight pack, but it was a lot more comfortable. It drained less mana and didn't require a harness which would dig into her flesh after a couple hours. She began pondering if she should capture a full set for her squadron to use on longer recon missions.
Momentarily she came upon the command center. She flew to the site where the runner had crashed; she spied Major Detmold in the space between the command tent and the communications tent, speaking with an officer. The major's bodyguard quickly aimed his rifle at Amber and it glowed with magic.
Amber swerved to the side and held up one arm. “Whoa whoa! Friendly! Friendly!” she shouted.
The bodyguard lowered his weapon.
Amber looked back to the man he was guarding. “Major! The runner who came through here earlier! I need the satchel he was carrying!”
The lieutenant he was talking to dashed off into the command tent.
“The satchel?!” Detmold repeated, “it was full of explosives! It's a bomb!”
Amber lowered the sky bike to the ground. “Yes sir, that's what I figured.”
“What do you need it for?” he demanded.
Amber spoke with a softly pandering tone. “Well sir, that bomb doesn't really belong to us. I think I should give it back to the Gaullians. It's the right thing to do. But I'll keep the pin as a memento.”
Detmold held back a smirk. “Hmn. Permission granted. By the way, you're bleeding.”
“What?” Amber looked to her arm where her suit was cut. It wasn't bleeding before, but it was now. It wasn't significant though; it didn't seem like anything to be concerned about. “It's just a scratch.”
The lieutenant returned with the satchel in his hand; he presented it to the major. “Here it is sir!” He paused and then swung his arm toward Amber instead. “Uh, ma'am!”
Amber took the satchel, lifted the flap and peered inside. It was filled with several metal canisters connected at the top by a small box. There was a simple dial with numbers painted around it like an egg timer. 'Glad we can always count on the military to keep things simple enough for any idiot to use.'
Amber looked over to the command tent as she slipped the satchel's strap over her shoulder. “And, do we have a camera that is loaded and ready?”
Another lieutenant held up a camera that was already in his hands. “This one has five shots left on it!”
Amber pulled it directly to her with her telekinesis. “Yoink!”
As she sped away she just barely heard someone exclaim “Nice toss, Alan!”
The radio chirped and an unfamiliar voice began speaking. “This is Auk Five, the airship is just about over our camp!”
Amber connected to the radio. “Has it started its engine or dropped beneath the clouds yet?”
The radio chirped. “No ma'am, it's still just a big quiet shadow that I can only see when it's near the moon. I have to keep moving to keep it in sight.”
Amber breathed easy. “We still have time then. It's going to pass over us before starting its engine, and then it's going to make a wide loop so it can line itself up for a strafing run, perpendicular to how it came in.”
The radio chirped and was followed by the condor commander. “How do you know this?”
Amber replied “I think about what I would do if I were in their place. It's not complicated.”
Shortly thereafter Captain Bain came over the radio. “I'd like to know what this plan is you came up with.”
Galishoff began explaining the plan, during which time Amber soon spotted the glowing lights from the squadrons. As she watched and approached the other lights she realized that she didn't quite know how far south she was supposed to go.
The scout chimed in over the radio, “I just heard the engine start!”
Amber started climbing. She scanned the clouds but could see no signs of the airship.
Schaab chimed in, “Where is this thing? I can hear it but I don't know where I need to position my men!”
The scout replied “It's turning, uh, it looks like it's turning south, ah, I see a squadron that's right below it but I can't tell who that is...”
Amber spotted the scout and tried to work out what angle he'd be looking at to keep its shadow within the moon. She followed it back and could see a massive shadow not far ahead of her, a shadow that was growing.
Amber began broadcasting. “Pick up your visual scanners; it's coming through the clouds right now!”
The belly of the airship began breaking through the black velvet ceiling, little wisps of darkness skimming across its surface. This one looked to be a different model, with the gondola on the underside appearing longer and narrower than the last one. It was making a wide lazy circle as it swung around to make itself parallel with the line of trenches. The dorsal spine of the craft remained concealed within the clouds as it refused to come any lower than it needed to. It seemed as if it were mocking the combatants with a display of altitude it knew they could not match.
Amber sped her way to the airship. “This is Raven One, I'm making my attack run now!” Her approach felt sluggish; she was too close to her ceiling to make good speed. She dipped down a few hundred feet and sped forward. Once she was almost under the ship she pulled up as sharp as the sky bike could manage. The enormous vessel loomed ever closer, but she could tell she was moving slower again. In fact, she was at the point where the airship was starting to move faster than her.
She reached out with her mind, but she couldn't make contact with the gondola; the rear of the hull, yes, but not the part where where she needed the bomb to be. She focused her mana and boosted her jets; it gained her some altitude and a little speed, but she knew it wouldn't last long.
She reached out with her mind again, and at last it was within range of her telekinesis. She pulled the satchel in front of her and lifted the flap. As she looked at the timer, it occurred to her that it wasn't as foolproof as she had thought. 'Are these numbers in minutes or seconds?'
She twisted the knob up to fifteen and watched it carefully. There was no movement, no sound – it wasn't doing anything. She looked around the box to see if there was a safety switch she had missed. There was a ring on the side – not a ring, a pin, just like a grenade. She grabbed it and pulled. It made a ratchet sound and a cord pulled out behind it. The box was now buzzing. She looked at the timer. 'It's in seconds!'
She slipped the satchel's strap off of her, cocked her arm back, and looked up – it had moved too far away for her to make a connection with her mind.
She boosted her jets again, but as she stared at the butt-end of the gondola, she could tell that her gains were minimal, and the soft buzzing from the satchel told her that it wasn't fast enough.
'Desperate times,' Amber thought, and leapt off of her sky bike. She pushed her mana into her flight pack and boosted it to full throttle. The mechanism inside didn't appreciate this and made a high-pitched screeching noise she never heard it make before, but in a moment she was flying at full speed. She was softly falling, but she caught up with the airship before gravity caught up with her.
She flung the satchel and pushed it with her mind with as much force as she could manage. It soon became a black speck in the darkness, and at the last moment she had any control she jerked it into a window where it broke through the glass and went out of sight.
Amber cut all power to her flight and let gravity take her, collapsing into the air as an exhausted breath escaped her mouth.
The fifteen-second timer expired.
Amber reflexively held her arms over her face from the explosion. There was a flash of light and fire shot out of the windows. The gondola split and fire billowed out of the crack. The fireball was quickly swallowed up by black oily smoke that flooded outward and rolled up the rounded edges of the ship's hull.
It was a fantastic sight to see, but Amber realized that it wasn't the destruction she was aiming for. She cupped her orb and connected to the radio. “I'm sorry, I missed the munitions load; we need to switch to plan B.”
Galishoff came in over the radio, “Forget plan B, you took out the engine and its dead in the water! Everyone get ready for plan C!”
Amber slowed her descent and took a closer look at the damage. Black smoke poured out of the rear compartment with occasional glimpses of reddish flame. She'd seen the same style of carnage on cars before; it was an engine fire. But just as she started flying away to get a better sense of where the ship was, another startling discovery manifested itself.
This airship wasn't filled with helium.
An immense plume of bright fire enveloped the rear of the hull above the burning engine. Amber immediately jumped away from the spectacle; a wide grin wrapped her face as she realized what she was witnessing. She grasped her orb and exuberantly declared “Oh, the humanity!” The flames began running toward the front as the rear of the vessel began falling, and a stream of fire shot out of the nose. Amber aimed the camera and took a photo.
Glowing lights began popping out of the thing's belly as the air mages tried to make their escape. The first three managed to escape the burning wreckage but were promptly shot down by a dozen Argan forces. The next few that made it out were caught under the burning craft as it plummeted faster.
Amber finished twisting the knob on the camera and took another photo.
The airship crashed into the ground with considerably more force than the last one. Metal groaned and girders snapped. A thick wave of dirt and ash gushed into the air and then slowly floofed its way to the ground. Most of the fire was extinguished by the cloud of soil, but some of the deeper fires managed to re-ignite what remained of the airship's skin.
The sound of cheering wafted up into the air. Amber looked down to the source of all the hollering and for the first time got a sense of how close the airship came to its goal. Another twenty seconds of delay would have cost lives.
Amber connected to the radio. “Tango down! Repeat, tango is down! Good work everybody!” She began softly descending and unmuted herself on the comm line. “Raven Squadron, sound off; I want to know everyone's status.”
Amber listened intently as everyone responded. After she counted six responses there was a pause. Then a seventh voice softly spoke, “This is Gering, I'm back at the nest. ...Good to know I can sleep easy.” His voice sounded like he was holding back emotions.
Amber descended to a spot in front of the crash site and soon found her squadron gathering around her. Ochsner spoke up, “Well commander, what now?”
Amber looked to the wreckage burning behind her, and then back to Ochsner. She held up the camera hanging by a strap around her neck. “I'd like a picture in front of this thing,” she said with a smile.
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As Amber approached the command center she took a greater notice of the bustle than she had before. There was a large collection of unarmed soldiers that had been directed into the space behind the tents, in the area where the convoys had been unloaded. Half or more of them were in their skivvies, without even their boots. These half-naked soldiers were huddled together, hopping and stamping their feet to stay warm. A couple NCO's were handing out blankets to them, and a handful of soldiers were bringing out bundles of tents to set up.
On the front side of the command center there were more troops rushing in, others rushing out, and the sergeant-major directing them. Amber landed where she wouldn't be in the way.
The major was in the communication tent, on the phone and surrounded by an entourage. Several captains were in the command tent, reviewing papers and maps while locked in discussion. Captain Bain was among them; he stepped away to approach Amber.
After salutes were exchanged Amber held up her camera. “I took some pictures! I'd like them sent to the newspapers so they can print them with a big bold headline 'Gaullian sneak attack ends in flames!'”
Alan hustled over and took the camera before scurrying off.
Bain cracked a smile. “I like your attitude, Darkwood!”
There was something in his tone as if his enthusiasm was restrained, and Amber noticed it. With a softer tone she asked “This battle's not over yet, is it?”
Bain shook his head rather somberly. “There's airships attacking every forward base along the Bar-la-Sal, as far as we can tell.”
Amber breathed softly, “Every FOB we set up in the trenches they dug, marked with the courtyards...”
Bain nodded. “We've gotten word of at least ten ships that have been sighted and engaged.” He glanced over to the busy communication tent. “Might be twelve now. Probably twenty before the night is through.”
He gave a defeated sigh before continuing. “We've passed along everything you've found out, from the runners to using range-finding scopes; it's given everyone a fighting chance. Hopefully enough people survive to reinforce the lines against their ground assault; most of the evacuations started before the airships were sighted. A lot of them sound like they got their mages in the air before it was too late, but we won't really know how well we did until the smoke clears. We've already lost contact with number 236.”
“Then send me out there,” Amber softly pleaded, “they need our support!”
Captain Bain's eyes narrowed sternly. “You're bleeding, Lieutenant.”
Amber looked over to her arm. “Weird, usually it's someone else's blood.”
Captain Bain remained stern. “236 is nearly twenty hetches away. Do you have enough mana to fly out that far and still fight?”
Amber clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. There were lives at stake; lives she could do nothing to help.
Bain's tone relaxed. “I appreciate your determination; I wish more of this army had such resolve. But as I keep telling my peers: men can't fly on determination alone. I can't have you fight when your magic is depleted. Go back to your camp and recharge.” He pulled a watch from his pocket and checked the time. “I want your men to sleep in an extra hour; that's an order. We don't know what we're going to be up against tomorrow, but I want you ready for it.”
Amber nodded, “Yes sir, I'll pass that on to my crew.” She turned around and started walking.
At the captain's order she felt a tremendous weight lifted from her, and at the same time it lifted away all her energy. A minute ago she was ready to continue the fight, but now she was suddenly aware of how late it was.
She walked around the mass of deposed soldiers that were moving about, and jumped into the trenches at the spot in the front of the redoubt. It had been dug wider than the others to serve as a thoroughfare, and it was a bit less noisy here; there were a few people running about but the crowd was elsewhere.
She pulled apart the gash on her sleeve and took a closer look at her wound. The bleeding had stopped a while ago, but there was a little bit of fresh blood kissing the edges of the cut. She would have to get it dressed and disinfected before she went to bed. But it almost felt like it would be worth the risk to just get some sleep first.
She unmuted herself from the Raven's comm line. “The captain has ordered us all to go to bed and sleep in an extra hour.”
A moment later she heard Nussbaum respond “Well you don't have to tell me twice!” followed by a few chuckles from various members of the crew.
Amber dryly stated “If I'm not back at the nest in fifteen minutes, someone come find where I'm passed out and throw a blanket over me.”
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