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I will add it to post-war 3 |
"I will in a moment, but I have another question first. How long have you been in this location? Also, can your scans show any signs of underground tunnels or bases around here?" "I have been here for 2 of this planet's days, and there are no caverns or underground bases within ten miles of this location. That is part of the reason why I chose this spot there would be fewer people who would attack me." This time, Leizak asked the question instead of Norman: "How far can your scanners reach?" "First, before I answer your question godly human. I need my master's permission." "Go ahead and answer him, hologram. We may have different DNA, but in this life, he is my father. For him alone show him the respect you show me." "Yes, master, your command that he has authority second only to you is now recognized. My range for scanning when grounded is only 10 miles. If I am in the air it is 30 miles. From orbit, it would be 500 miles, but that scan would be very limited in scope." "If that is the case I will give you some of my vast amount of PPE. Then I will want you to scan that Ley line over there. Leizak points to the Leyline that has the villages. Then tell me if you see any underground structures." "Yes, of course, masters father, I will do as you say." As the power is given the lights on the ship become brighter, Then the ship slowly rises off the ground. As it goes higher into the air. It stopped at around 30 meters/yards above the ground. Then it scanned the Ley line it was told to scan. "I do not sense any underground passages. Should I try moving north or south of this location?" "Norman shouts North. Also, continue scanning!" "Yes, master moving at a steady pace north." "Master, I have found five villages with large underground tunnels. The last one has a massive underground tunnel full of explosives and weapons." "Move past the last one and park on the Ley-line to recharge your systems." "Yes, master." "What do you think, Father?" "I will telport back to Dwoemer. For now, watch this ship carefully." "Understood, Father." "Can we get off this thing now, I feel queasy?" "Sorry, Garidon we kind of forgot about you. Keep the speed steady but not too fast so that my friend gets sick." "Yes, master." "By the way, what do I call you?" ????, My name is lost. The crash destroyed parts of my shipboard memories. Only the most crucial information is saved. My capacity to identify, and modify elements. The capacity to scan the area around me for possible treasured finds or danger. Then being able to move throughout the whole ship to assist the crew in their daily tasks as a hologram." "Does that include repairs, I am great with machines, but you are a bit out of my league." "That I can do. It may take a lot of time, for this world is fairly simple, it is at least 1000 years behind where I came from." "What about spare parts I am sure you have had a lot of damage." "If you can provide the elements, I can create the parts needed. Up to a point." "Can you, really!?" "Yes, I can craft at a molecular level. My size limit is roughly 4x4x6 feet." That means 4 inches thick, 4 inches wide, and 6 feet long, or 2 yards long. "Any part, from any machine?" "Yes, as long as I know what we need, and have the right elements to make it." "When you say elements you do not mean air, earth, or fire, right?" The ship landed, and Garidon hurried to get off. "Of, course not. I am not a primitive like that guy who just got off my ship. No the periodic table of elements of course." "That is perfect I am so glad I found you." "So am I, I can only be owned by an Elf, who can trust me. You passed the test with the shot. It might take 50 years, but we might be able to fly in space. If we could get past the blockade. Or to a world through the rift that does not have one." The next day well Norman was cleaning his new ship. "Your father is here shell I let him in master?" "Yes, go ahead Adan." Leizak walks to the bridge. To see Norman cleaning the ship. "You know you could have your villagers do that." "Yes, but I have already given the old crew a funeral pyre, so I thought that I should at least clean up all the broken pieces of stuff all over the floors. Some of it might still be useful." "The Magi are now moving to the new fort in the south that the Coalition made. They will take it tonight. I thought you should know." "What about the Magi who murdered my fellow High Magi? Will they get off free because they are Brethan's shadows?" "We still can't prove they were responsible." "I see, still not enough evidence. Norman says with an angry low voice. You know Dad if we talk about this we would just fight again. How about instead you help me hide this giant ship." "That was one of the things I wanted to talk about. It can't be in Dweomer, and this is too much in the open. Who controls the nexus points to the North and South?" "I am friendly to the Lord who controls the South. To the North, it was just recently taken over by a Necromancer. Do you care to join me in eradicating him, and then building a castle at the Nexus point?" "That is the plan the ship will be hidden inside the castle then you could build a fort around it. You could even call it Fort Grey." The necromancer was easily defeated due to Leizak being a god, who can throw high-level magic about without a care--even spells of legend. ************************************************************************ Normans stone masters, and warlocks worked with the construction team from Dweomer. Leizak oversaw the construction. Because this is a small nexus unlike the one in Dweomer. The size of this castle acts as a focus point for the power of a nexus. can be much smaller. Only a quarter of the total size. Well, the construction is happening Norman is forced to go to the Acadamy. He is made a teacher, by Leizak. Much to the contempt of the human staff. Including Greg Summers. The only one who was happy about this was Caterina Humbre. Terinica her older sister did not respond much to the news. Even though Caterina swears that she is happy about it too. It did become big news in the city for the first time since the purge. There is a non-human teacher. Someone who is considered to be a rogue and outsider by the Lord Magi, and human school staff. It seems to be the reason he was chosen directly by Leizak was because of his many accomplishments. So much so that he is recognized as even a Lord in the Federation of Magic. Just like Greg Summers, who always uses that line when chasing tail. Now that he is also a Lord and wealthy from his business. He became a major womanizer. He is the polar opposite of Norman Grey. Because Norman is in the city instead of around the Magic Zone proper. Norman wears his copy of the Lioness armor. That his friends made for him the year before. For him, it is a keepsake from Jannett and Sussy. The Girls made three versions of the Lioness. The basic form is comparable to the huntsman. The light form only has 1/2 of protection but can be worn as daily wear. It is not cumbersome. Then the Heavy Form has more movement restrictions. But provides 50% better protection. That is the one he wears in the school and the city in general. The reason is to remind himself, and his enemies that he knows what they did. So take your chances and come at him. His main job is to work with the students who are about to be dropped from the High Magus classes. Mostly the Non-humans have a failure rate of 90%. Leizak knows it is a lie most of all when those same students became other mage classes with ease. In other words, Norman is in charge of the misfits. Of all races and ages. Most of course will be non-human. The purge happened after Norman Jannett and Sussy convinced up to 17 battle magus to join them against the Coalition. This angered the Brethan who made his policy clear, Dweomer would stay Neutral. Since it was humans who went to fight against the Coalition. Likely manipulated by their non-human teachers. Brethan replaced the teaching staff with Humans who were dedicated to his word. That many of these teachers were human supremacists was soon learned. It has been three years of discrimination. Norman who was one of those rebels and a non-human who is now a teacher. He will be at the center of this academic fight That Brethan. By finding the students that have the talent to be a High Magus. He can in a roundabout way find the teachers who are failing the good quality students. That Way Leizak can have those teachers barred from teaching. Then if needed expel them from the city, or post them away from the city. Discrimination is not allowed in this city. Even Coran is thinking of sending in a D-bee to do the same thing for the controllers. He will likely wait till next year if he sees this as successful. Brethan is stubborn though. He does not believe his hand-picked shadows were wrong, I mean his Lord Magi. During this transition to being a teacher. News of the going on is learned far faster than in his village. He for instance learned that Fort Andrew was within four years was going to become a massive complex that could hold 2000 soldiers. They were going to make four forts like the one they have now. Then combine them all with a curtain wall. It is an outside wall of the four forts that combines them to be one big Fort. If that happened it would have been super hard to push them out of the magic zone. Most of all if they had gotten reinforcements. The Fort is now called Fort Summers, after Sussy Summers. As can be expected Greg claims it is named after him, and his sister because of how high their quality is. The only people who believe his bull are the students who do not know any better. I am concerned for the survival of the troops at the fort. Considering it is only manned with 40 men. It can house 480 men. With some work, it can even hold up to 640 men. If the troops swap beds during shits. No other faction of the Federation of Magic has those numbers yet, that live in the area. The southwest part of the magic zone is the weakest part of the magic zone. In the northwest, there were us magi, a few dragons, and other factions whose power matched ours. That was why we had no problems holding Death Valley. Because if there was an invasion at that point. We would be united in crushing it. In the North, it is the only way into the magic zone without a Ley line transport. Unless you wanted to spend months making a new path. Thus attracting all the border Lords of the Federation of Magic. I also learned that Greg convinced our volunteer army to retrieve all the coalition gear for him to sell on the open market. I hope he has luck with that if the money goes to the Summer's village. ************************************************************************ I have 20 kids in my class. Much more than the normal 3-5 students for High Magi. Every day for the first hour was spent in meditation and prayer to the three gods of magic. Where their good traits were mentioned. The three humans in my class were all failing in this part of training. They could not build a connection to the three. So I had them focus all those traits to Leizak and prey to Leizak alone. I then told them the secret, that it was what I did when I was a kid. Do not tell this secret to the other teachers though. Leizak was the world to me when I was four years old and starting my magic training. He was my daddy even back then. I learned that Sussy Summers felt the same way. That explains why he was so adamant about destroying all the people at Fort Andrews. Because one of his own personal priests was killed in an ambush. Sure the Coalition pulled the trigger. Yet, both he and I know that the Lord Magi let them in and worked with them to set up the ambush. No matter how Brethan may deny it as possible. It took four weeks for the humans to build the needed connection after that they returned to their normal classes. Within a decade those three students will become teachers themselves. They will then teach the way I taught them. To focus only on Leizak. By the time the tolkeen war starts roughly 20% of all the High magi worship Leizak exclussively. Because their emotions and thoughts radiate with Leizak, Just like mine, and Sussy's was. Many of those High Magi will lead an army to help defend Tolkeen. Not a small force of 20. No, we are talking about a full company of Magi. 160 of them with controllers this time. Even if they are reduced to only using earth thunders. As can be expected Brethan blamed Norman Grey. Norman was also leading his forces as well. His forces worked hand and hand with the magi. Only the Lord Magi did not participate. For the non-human students. Most of them were right where they should have been. Only two failed outright. One of them was going through psionic changes from puberty. I took him to the techno-wizards. The kid has a necessary desire to learn about machines. He just can't focus on the training of faith with the class because of his headaches. Techno-wizards are both mages and psionic users. After I explained this to the Techno-wizard teacher. The teacher was glad to have the kid along. I even covered the charges for the kid to change classes. So his family did not need to worry. Plus those classes are cheaper in the long run anyway. When it came to the dropout kid, he was a rich kid who had no interest so I kicked him out after the first week. I continued to teach the 15 non-human children until Adan my ship warned me about a massive army moving to Fort Summers. That used to be called Fort Andrews.************************************************************************ As I called an end of class giving everyone a recess. I heard a knock at the door. It was Caterina Humbre. I greeted her and told her I had to leave for a few days. I then asked her to sub for my class. She guessed that there was a battle that I had to go to. So I told her yes. "Fort Summers will be attacked. I am the only one fast enough to get there in time. So please." "She smiled up at me and said I can do this for you. For I am a senior on break. You owe me a date when you return, do you understand?" "Sure, I will take you out for a nice meal of your choosing." "Good, Now if you will excuse me I am your sub for now." She then proudly walked into the classroom. Then introduced herself, and in her introduction, she added the title of Lord Prince Norman Grey's Fiancee. I did not have time to deal with it, I was in a hurry. I quickly got to my home in the city and then used the traveling circle to travel to the circle I created in Adan the ship. "Welcome back, Master. We have two days to get to the Fort. Judging by the movement of the enemy forces." "Adan is your defensive weapon strong enough to destroy the road?" "Of course. Even the primitive weapons of this world could do that." "Good, you will create four massive holes in the road. From halfway through the forest to the fort. That way their APCs and Jeeps will be stuck. We then will fly to their rear and start to destroy them from the back. Until we make our way to the destroyed roads." "Does this unit have any robots?" "Yes, there are 12 robots, 24 APCs, 40 jeeps, 40 motorcycles." "Is that the formation they are in?" "Yes, master. If we attack from the rear we will hit the robots first." "That is perfect. This way only the motorcycles will get through the blockade. The fort can handle them with ease. They would move ahead to ask the Fort for help. Then to learn to their dismay that the fort is already taken. Meaning the whole army is trapped. Once I deal with the enforcers." You said your weapon is weak. It is master, For a corvette class. This is a very weak gun. Well, whatever. Please send two more of those blasts down there. I am going to change and prepare my gear. Then I will jump from your ship useing winged flight. I will be targeting the stabilizers on the robot's feet. What I want you to do is create more of those 20-foot potholes in the road. Ahead of the robots, That way they are forced to use their no longer existing stabilizers. This will make them all fall on their faces. With all of their weapons being forward facing. They would no longer be a threat. The best they could do was crawl. When you shoot at the road in front of them make sure you are at max range. We can't have them shooting back. Yes master, For this situation gravity will extend my range and reduce their own. I see no problems with your plan master. Other than you being shot or crushed. There is no need to worry about that. I have killed enough giant robots that I know how to fight them. The part I hate the most is the APCs. Each of these mark 1 APCs has 30 soldiers in the back. 24 of them will be exhausting to deal with it. The fun part will be the jeeps, for they are just open-canopy troops. I left the ship and glided down to the robots. I am using My chitin armor, with the Techno wizard winged flight, and Lightblade. I have cast the spell "invisibility simple" on myself. To not be noticed as I glide by their right feet To cut off the toes. Adan will begin to fire on them in five minutes. I should say fire on the road but he may hit a few of them. Being he is over ten miles up. You can't have good accuracy at that range. The enforcers are the only thing that can hurt Adan. If they get a lock with their medium missiles he is in trouble. Let us just hope they all fall face down. As I finished my first pass I noticed that I missed a few of them. As I was turning around I saw the blasts come down on the enforcers. Three of them were hit. All of the pilots seemed to have panicked. As they tried to dodge the incoming artillery shots. Many of them got tangled in trees outside of the road and fell forward. Most of them that did so stayed down because they were missing their stabilizers. Three more fell on the road before even reaching the new potholes. Two others fell in the potholes. There were three left standing. Thankfully none of them were thinking of useing their thermal imaging. Because my lightblade would glow bright white. Where my armor would stay cool in the sensors. I did manage to cut the toes this time. The problem is one of the three did fall face up. He shot a missile in the air at Adan. I do not know if Adan was hit or not I can't tell from 10 miles away. I raced to the cockpit anyway then used the spell "D-step" to pass through the armor into the cockpit. Where I killed the pilot and gunner. I then deactivated Winged Flight and the lightblade. Then I walked out of the hatch at the head of the armor. As I went to each robot to kill the crew. Many of the crew left their robots on their own. This made killing them easy. Adan only fired six shots, enough to distract them from me. When I was done I ran into the forest to hide. Well, the sound of the APCs was arriving. The road is too narrow for them to turn around. 4 of the 24 APCs backed up to where the fallen enforcers were. They unloaded all their infantry. So there are between 80-120 troops crawling around the enforcers. Also, some of the troops are searching the forests. I am not in a position to charge them. Now that they are trapped on the road with the craters to the east, and the downed enforces, and craters to the west. The only vehicles that could escape are the motorcycles. Of course, they could all walk to the fort but that would take a week. So they will instead camp here and wait for reinforcements. They do not know that the Fort is already under our control. I have the advantage at night because elves have 90-foot night vision. I can sneak around and kill them in mass without wasting PPE. My armor has built-in blades, and it is also black, then of course silent. Most of these men will not wake up tomorrow. ************************************************************************ We came back as fast as we could well traveling backward. Somehow our enforcers were under an artillery strike, even though we were very deep into the magic zone. It is common practice to charge your enemy after such attacks. Yet when we arrived all 12 of the enforcers were down. Their crews were already dead. The few of us who could pilot a robot tried to get them up. Yet it failed every time because the stabilizers were torn off. Some of the stabilizer pistons were cleanly cut, and others had too much pressure that they snapped off. Our technical officers in the end said it is likely faulty parts along with some foul play. This batch of right-leg stabilizers was just made bad. We would have to get to the fort to repair them. Thankfully the damage is light. My two soldiers who can pilot robots with some basic skills are trying to remove them from the road right now. Even if it is a challenge. The only other possibility was that someone targeted the pistons of the stabilizers. That would be impossible. There is no way anyone in the magic zone would understand how robots work. Then create giant potholes to cause the stabilizers to completely break off. That is something I am sure of. Now when it comes to the dead crew. Half of them were killed outside of their robots. Likely trying to flee into the woods. Where the artillery fire was not hitting. Well, the rest were killed in their cockpit. Often still strapped in. I have never heard of a monster that can phase through things. So it is likely that they had the hatch open and were shutting the systems down when the monster crawled in and killed them. We do not know the number of monsters or types because of the mess caused by the artillery strikes on the panicked rookie pilots. All evidence would have been erased by the 30-foot-tall robot's own footprint. So far the troops have found no evidence of a large group of monsters. Even with the newly issued IR googles that our sergeants wear. It was a requirement that we had more IR than just the robots. Because many mages and demons indeed use invisibility. That was why it was standard gear for our sergeants. Who could then direct their troops even against such monsters? Still even with those, to still find no evidence makes me worry. What are we dealing with? This reminds me of the ghost magi in the war that just ended three years ago. Even though the last of the magi were killed. There were no robots in that war, and the only power armor was the glitterboys who protected Chi-Town. The glitterboys have a silver polish to them that makes them resistant to lasers. Lasers do reflect off their armor. This is on top of their near-indestructible armor in general. Then there is massive boom gum. that shoots scattershot at a high Mach speed. With the damage enough to tear off a giant robot's arm in one shot. It was them from free Qubec that allowed our armies to turn the war around against the mages, and demons. Sadly they are considered lost technology. So we can't produce them in numbers needed for the whole coalition army. Whatever happened here they could have withstood it and then pulled a victory. I hear that all the pilots are heirs of their own father's glitterboy power armor. Most are from 6 or more generations, It became a family heirloom. The vision of a line of them destroying everything in their path is something that will forever be in my mind. Now back to our sad reality, our robot jocks are too green with our robots being brand new clunky, and not streamlined like those guys from Free Qubec. Yet this is the best we can do with modern technology. It would normally be enough except we were in a narrow line for travel. I gave the order to prepare camp. Nightfall will be coming soon. There is no way we can sleep in the APCs. Humans can't get proper sleep well sitting straight up. So we set up camp instead. That meant clearing the trees near the road away. The trees would block the view of our lookouts and can be burned to provide warmth, and for cooking. We did this on both sides of the road. So that you could see across from one end of the campgrounds to the other. The camp is on both sides of the road. The sergeants then set up watch groups. Each group would be 18 men who would have a 3-hour shift, for a total of 4 shifts. During their shifts, they would be useing the spare IR goggles. We made sure the tents were surrounding the campfires so that the watches did not accidentally see the fire, and damage the goggles. ************************************************************************ I left the area to meet up with Adan, well I waited for nightfall. Adan had zero problems tracking me, so he caught up to me in moments. I went five miles up the road that the coalition used to turn onto this trail. So I was at least 20 miles from their camp. Adan offered to blast their camp for me, but I planned to do it personally. Instead, I had him take me the long way around to where the fort was so I could warn the men there of what was coming. To let them know that I expect 40 motorcyclists and that they should let them inside and get comfy then when their guard is down kill them. I also told the soldiers, that I was delaying the rest of the Battalion. If they do get by me. You should run back to Dweomer. There is no point in 30-40 men holding off 400. If they do come in mass it would be infantry. Because their vehicles are stuck, only the jeeps could possibly get by with enough forest cutting. Even then it would take a few days. As I was preparing myself I decided to do some meditation, to help me build up my PPE, Thankfully I was within a mile of a Leyline So I was able to build it up at a faster rate. I want to have as much energy as I can get. This Coalition unit will learn why you should never invade a magic bee hive with 10,000+ Ley lines. All of my spells will have 50% greater effect and range. This is combined with my already being a highly skilled combat mage. This was why cutting the stabilizers was so easy. I noticed when I was meditating that I was surrounded. I opened my eyes to see four humans three male and one female. I looked back at them as they studied me. Currently, only my helmet is off. I am still in my combat suit, the chitin armor. Then who I assumed was the leader spoke to me. "We felt someone use temporal magic on our turf, who is not part of our coven. Was that you?" "Yes, I am not a temporal mage, but Father did teach me some of the spells to expand my abilities. A few miles in that clearing I trapped a battalion of Coalition soldiers. I am currently rebuilding my PPE to finish killing them." "Who are you then, Mage? We did notice the Coalition move through but our numbers are too small to destroy them." "I am Lord Norman Grey the last lord of the Magi squad. Killing the Coalition is my specialty." "The Last of them, I thought there were five?" "There was, recently a group of mages who betrayed my companions. Well, I was away. I came back to learn that those mages were still free in the Federation and invited the Coalition in mass both in the North, and South. The North is now clear, I am working on removing them from the South. For there are no Federation forces in the South who have the numbers to kill them off." "We have not heard of there being fighting in the North. Is that where the other Magi died?" "It is, then my allies killed a force of 600 in the Fort, called Fort Andrews. This army I have trapped was heading to that same Fort. That currently only has a temporary force of around 40 people." "You are saying they will not stay in that large Fort." "Exactly. Their home is too far away for them to stay to defend it. I hope that we can come up with a system to defend this region with the local villages. As of now, the South has no fighting force to speak of." "We did have some power, but some unknown mages came through our region destroying our defenses. This opened up this region for the Coalition invasion. There were around 50 of these mages, who were not even locals. We do not know who any of them were nor was there magic known to us." "I have an idea who they were, if I am right they are my enemies as well. For they were the reason why the Coalition was able to kill my companions. If they are who I think they are, I can not kill them yet, because of politics." "Why are you defending our lands?" "I swore an oath to defend the Federation of Magic from all enemies. All of us in the war did. Even if I am the only one still doing it. My companions died doing so. As for the others who were not part of the Magi unit, what can I say?" "How will you kill this unit?" "The group that came from those four APCs are tonight's targets, I already neutralized the 12 30-foot tall robots earlier today. Tomorrow will be More APC crews. The way I planned to do it is to D-phase into the APCs kill any that are in there then lock up the APCs." "Then before I target the troops as a whole I will reset the unlocking code for the APCs so that it can't be unlocked from the outside. Considering how rare it is for the Coalition to use real keys. Instead, everything is electronic." "Let us do that." "Do what?" "You are defending our lands well we watch. Let us lock the APCs, and kill the crews. Then you can massacre the troops outside. For that part, we are not strong enough to do in mass." "That is a valid point. You are all temporal wizards, right?" "Yes, we are." "Then you are perfect for the role. Deal that would allow me to save on my PPE if any problems occur. I will make sure to kill the lookouts on the right side of the road first. Then when the coast is clear go in and make your move. If you are inside you can override the key without me needing to mess with the computer systems." ************************************************************************ When nightfall hit the watch was not ready for Norman. His chitin armor gave off no heat, plus it was a dull black that did not reflect light. This combined with his stealth from years of war made Norman an exceptional assassin. Then there is the added bonus of his combat suit having built-in melee weapons. Not just a single blade, but basically giant scissors. The scissors extend from the top of his wrist. These weapons are monster grade so they have the power to kill a man with a slash, stab, or even the chopping off of limbs. Including heads, with almost no resistance. The poor guards could be looking right at Norman yet never see him. After Norman removed the guards on the right side of the APCs. He informed the Temporal mages that they could move in. They never saw or heard him till he started to speak to them. Greatly raising their evaluation of Norman in their own eyes. The four mages made their way to their target APCs. It was decided to hit each of them as a group. To increase their chances of killing any crewmen. Unlike Norman, the normal mage would lose every time in a short-range battle with a soldier. Lucky for us, there was only one crewman left inside the APCs in case they were needed for a fast getaway. Too bad for them it will not happen. All the troops who later ran to the APCs trying to hide from the giant insect monster were all killed banging on the locked doors. Some of the men ran into the forest. None of the soldiers had the time needed to put on clothes much less their armor. So they were fighting in little more than a tee and underwear. They formed lines to try to stop Norman and the illusion monsters that he created. With their lasers firing off in what looked to be random locations. The human soldiers were losing their minds in the chaos, well trying to follow there sergeants commands. The Captain was trying to find a place to hide. In the end, he went under the first APC, along with 2 other soldiers. That was already there. They just watched in horror as their whole battalion was being massacred. When the screaming finally ended. The smallest of the bugs the only one of them that walked on two legs went to each of the four APCs to knock on the doors then informed the mages that he was done killing the soldiers. The mages slowly got out of the APCs to see what all happened. There were bodies everywhere, most of them were slashed to death. So this is the legendary slayer, massacrer is more like it. This event will be how Norman Grey gained the new title of massacrer of companies. Or else known as the battalion slayer In the end, Norman grabbed all the weapons and armor from the camps and loaded them up in the closest APC. When the mages asked why he was taking the soldier's gear. Norman told them that he uses it to equip his soldiers. Norman left the tents bedding, and everything else behind for the locals to use if they wanted it. After witnessing everything unfold, the mages invited Norman back to their camp where he was given a hero's welcome. That Norman fell asleep well before it was over was no surprise to the mages. The last time Norman stayed up days on end was when he traveled from his lands down to Texas to kill vampires as he was grieving. The next day when he woke up he was ushered to a meeting room in the building he was sleeping in. There were around 50 people there of many different races. ************************************************************************ Meanwhile, in the lead APC, the captain and the two soldiers were going to meet up with the major to report their huge problem. Not only was one of the Magi still alive, he is pissed, and it was he who defeated a company of soldiers. As they reported this to the technical officer who is directly under the major, they also learned that there were massive holes ahead of them blocking off the convoy from going to the Fort. This combined with the blocked-off access to the road back they came from. By the time the technical officer realized the gravity of the situation he quickly ran off to find the major. Who did not want to be disturbed, because he was eating breakfast from his personal servant girl, Lieutenant Sandy brown. Everyone knew how she got promoted. Still, the technical officer forced his way into the tent interrupting the meal. "Sir, We have a huge problem!" "You know my breakfast is no time to annoy me. Did you fix the road yet, Sandy and I require a lockable door. This better have been worth disturbing me." "Sir the company that went to investigate the giant robots was slaughtered last night." "What, how many enemies are there?" "I don't know sir, The captain of that unit is freaked out and is on his way back with just 2 soldiers. All the rest are dead. They should catch up to us soon at the speed they are driving. They have not slept a wink trying to get away as fast as possible." "Call back the jeep crews we may require their extra manpower. The Motorcycles can continue to Fort Andrews. Now leave us and do not disturb us again in the morning." " Yes, Sir, I will put your plans into action." ************************************************************************ "I am glad you all want to help me with our enemies. Just know I can't defend any of you well in battle. Sure my illusions will distract many of them, well I am secretly slaying them. Are you sure you can fight on your own?" "We Temporal mages will do the same thing we did last night. We will lock down the APCs." "We Leyline walkers can't do that, but we can add extra firepower with our spells." "My undead can cover for the Leyline walkers. We are necromancers, we will follow up your illusions with our zombies made from the troops you killed last night. That should be more than enough to distract the human soldiers. To ignore the Leyline walkers. They will be walking out on the field with the zombies." Normally, I would kill Necromancers, but like in the war I fought beside them before. So I am not as bothered by it as I was when I was younger. It still creeps me out a bit, but I can deal with it. "Let us change things up then. We will start with the zombies. Then my Illusions, with the Leyline walkers following your zombies. My illusions should be by themselves because the enemy will shoot right through them. Then when they are fully focused on the illusions and zombies, the Temporal mages can make their move." "I think the illusions should be first. That way I take less losses to my army." "You will be gaining more to replace them, besides zombies can be hard to kill." "Not as hard as mummies, But I lack the time to make them. We are in a hurry to remove the Coalition from our lands." "Fine, we will start with the illusions, but not till I reduce their numbers with stealth. It is possible, but unlikely that they know we are coming, or that their other unit was destroyed because the original unit did not respond by radio." "The rest of the unit would know by now that they are trapped and will likely be ready for our assault. Well also trying to prepare an exit plan. The jeeps are the best off-road vehicles they have for the forest if they can make it through the trees. If both they and the motorcycles get through the Fort will fall" "How far up the path did you set the roadblock, asked a Leyline walker?" "It might take us two days to get there on foot I normally fly. I can't carry 120 zombies. Honestly carrying one would be hard enough" My hidden earpiece goes off in my ear. "Master I might be able to do it, but it would take up all of my space." "No, it would be a waste of resources. Besides I do not want to smell death on our ship. Thanks for the offer, Adan. I knew you could for you had a crew of 20 elves before the crash. Because of the damage you received from the crash, your structure is not stable enough for cargo including moving lots of people. All that you gained from the Leylines is minor repairs and a full energy supply." "Did you say something, my Lord?" The female Temporal wizard asked. "No, I was just thinking sorry for the mumbling." Norman can tell by the way she smiles and blushes along with how her voice is higher pitched when talking to him. That she wants a more formal relationship. She might even see herself in the mind's eye of the Lady of my lands. That of course will never happen. I will never bed a human woman, much less make one my wife. I may pretend to be a human, but that is for convenience. Not because I want to be. This is a human world and humans are welcome in every part of it. So elves can find it easy to get by in such a world with some minor modifications to our looks. The girls always used makeup on me when I was out in public as a member of the Magi when I was not wearing my mask. Makeup can make one ugly as well. That was what they were doing. Because my beauty as an elf is far too high. It causes distractions when dealing with other units and people in general. Most of all high raked females. Because of the emergency of the situation, I did not have time to apply the makeup before I left Dweomer. So this woman has seen my real face multiple times now and is infatuated. If I was a self-centered person I could use her for my own gains without losing anything by it. The reason I was hidden was mostly so Sussy our unit's leader could shine brightly. She was required to be the face of our unit. She had the most charisma and was the most likable of us anyway. My face would only cause problems. In Dweomer it is different. The elves when I was born made up more than half the population. So elven beauty did not mean much. Instead, it was about magical power. That is what mattered. Even more so for us elves. Even now magic is near the center for all elves for desires. So much so that in this world almost every elf can become a mage. Instead of the 5% for humans. Then we would be fully trained and still remain a child in size and age. This greatly expands our abilities. For instance, I was 14 when I graduated as a High Magus. Physically, and mentally I was a seven-year-old. Normally an elf only needs six years of mage training, instead of the normal 10+ years for humans. Magi training is the odd one out because of the physical requirements. I may have become a bit more jaded, and more evil from my experiences, but not self-centered. That just means the value of human life is of lower value to me now. For instance, like I told the guys earlier I will not run in and try to save them from death. My only goal is to kill the Coalition in this situation. Most of all humans from this world. The humans of my world live alongside us elves and dwarves. They see us as elders to be respected and are glad to be guided. In this world, humans long ago eradicated all the non-humans. Then turned on different clans of themselves. In the end for such people the only answer is genocide. First, they have to gain dominance like the humans in Dweomer are doing. Then separation of the races, which is going on in Dweomer slowly. As the elves are slowly being driven into a corner of the city. The sad thing is most elves do not even see it. They are just going on to get along. The elves are the target now because they have controlled the town that is now a city for the last hundred + years. The elves will stay the rivals for at least another hundred years. Till their populations become too small. The population is not being reduced it is actually growing fast by elf standards. The difference is generations. The humans have 10 generations for every elf generation. An elf generation is 200 years well a human's is 25. Even if it is only a small portion of humans that are genocidal. It would still be massive compared to us elves and the dwarves along with many other races. The humans don't reproduce at ten times our rate they grow at 100 times our rate. If what I am thinking is true why would they target us Magi? Even they thought we were all human. The reason for that is tribalism. They are tribe Dweomer first then humanist second. We were considered to be traitors to the tribe. As for Greg, he was mostly led by greed. Anyway, I will think about human problems later. We have at least 200 years before it gets to mass betrayal. Even then, many humans will still fight on our side. Like with my fellow Magi, who caused great suffering to the Coalition. Each of them was able to kill well over 10x of their own numbers of enemies. For their own losses. I will raise up new humans who can do the same. Humans who wish for a world of many races to live in peace. Regardless if they focus on magic, psionics, or technology. Hopefully all three, like myself. ************************************************************************ When we finally arrived at where the main camp was set up. we parked our APC behind the line of the other 20 APCs. Sadly for us, only six of these APCs had troops the rest were used for the transportation of materials. The reason we used them instead of normal transport trucks was two reasons. The first was that they are more rugged and do better in rough terrain. The second reason was that this area is not safe enough yet, for civilian or semi civilian transports. The gear could be destroyed by an enemy attack or even a rogue gunshot. Major Moore is the man in charge. He is the son of a deceased general. Like most of the old elites, he is an inept man who has his lower-ranked officers take care of all the situations. I being the only surviving officer of the last company will be planning the defense alongside the other three captains. I just hope that all three of us are here. All three of us were grunts before the war. Then all gained our ranks when the Chi-Town needed new officers and we had the knowledge needed to pass the testing test for officer training. We likewise were promoted from lieutenants to 1st lieutenants during the fighting around the city of Chicago. We were promoted again in the post-war recently. We had all seen the devastation brought on by the Magi platoon. If what I heard was right, and this is Slayer pretending to be a bug monster. Looking for revenge for the deaths of his companions. We are in trouble, He was the most dangerous of the Magi. During the war, the masked Magi often took down full squads by himself. There were even records of him killing a platoon solo. Well, the rest of his unit killed a full company. Like what happened last night. If the Slayer has more help then we are in trouble. Even with all four hundred troops. Well 402, I did bring two guys back with me. The only advantage we have is their numbers are too small to destroy our convoy in a single attack. So they hit us in pieces. The best thing to do now is to consolidate our forces till we can get the path open and clear again to get to Fort Andrews. I met up with Major Moore to explain the full situation in the officer's tent. As can be expected of the elites he only paid half attention to what I was saying. He instead went off in his own head, after I mentioned that Slayer may still be alive. Major Moore started to laugh and told us to make sure to capture this fake bug. It can be his chance for a promotion. Just like General Andrews Major Moore is a useless officer. We all look at the guy like he is stupid, mainly because he is. To my dismay, only one of my fellow Captains is here. The other refused the order, and instead made a new path for his jeeps. I can't really fault the guy. His actions were correct. It just does not sit right with me to be stuck in another ambush. We then went to work on creating our plans. We knew that we would be attacked at night or at least there was a very high chance of it. So we made sure to have half the men on night duty. We only had a few guys as night scouts. The rest stayed around camp fully loaded and ready for combat. Thankfully I was permitted to be in charge of the day crew, well my fellow captain took over the night crew. Still for this to happen in the Fall instead of the Summer really blows. I do not really want to be running around in my Tee and undies in 40-degree weather. Nor do I want my troops to do so. So I told my troops that because of a possible night attack, all soldiers were allowed to wear their daywear to bed. I made sure that they understood what happened to the last unit I led, and that trying to fight when you are freezing is no good. Most of all when it often rains being the Fall. They could not possibly sleep in their armor, but they could sleep with their rifles in hand. Just not with a magazine in it, so that they do not accidentally discharge it during the night. So I made sure every soldier had their magazines close by but not in the rifles. Normally for sanitary reasons, the troops are not allowed to sleep with their daily wear. Likewise, they can't have their gun by them for safety reasons. This event is the only reason they can break regulations. Whatever we are facing is just that damn dangerous. Whether it is Slayer or just a bug king. That bug-dressed guy led a small group of bug monsters that slaughtered 120 men. ************************************************************************ It did take us two days. First, the locals wanted the leftover stuff, then we had to collect all the bodies, and every local fighter that would be involved. That in itself took a full day. Then we planned our approach. I would be attacking from the front instead of the back as I have done so far. Well, the Zombies will attack from both sides of the tree lines. Then the mages and local fighters will attack from the rear. To catch the enemy in a pincer move. It was a simple plan and would work as long as I removed the screen of watchers, or you could call them scouts. This time I will have Adan help me do that. Not with fire from the heavens but with telescopic sight from five miles up along with IR vision so he can tell me where the scouts are. After I remove them I will move in for the real attack. That is my normal operational strategy. When attacking a sleeping camp. What I did not expect was for them to have 120 men up and operational. This will make things more difficult. Every one of these temporary allies may die in this operation. Still, we should be able to win this. I do not mind losing the necro's, but I will try to keep the tempro's alive. They would be useful in my villages even after the battle is over. I will recruit them later. Just like two nights ago the outer scouts fell easy enough. I then started to prepare my illusions. With it being night and even darker than normal because we were in a forest I had to use a different kind of spell around the illusions. It is called (Heavy breathing) It makes it sound as if something is right beside you breathing heavily. I used this spell well I was using (invisible minor) to freak out the troops around the camp. It would only be a matter of time until they find the Illusions and start shooting well in a panic. The double effect well also being at night will make it super hard for them to tell where the real enemy is. When the shooting starts I start to kill random soldiers. The soldiers are just assuming that there are extra monsters in their camp. As they are looking around and even up at the night sky for the monsters I just keep on chopping their heads off. Unlike last time I couldn't be more stylish about this because they already had almost a full company out and active. The necro's will complain but I do not care about them wanting more bodies. They can go out there and attack the Coalition without me. Then they can get all the bodies they want those damn cowards. ************************************************************************ Hurry man and help us! I do not know why you are not wearing your pants when you had the option to sleep in your clothes, but we need extra help with these monsters. Hey! Why are you grabbing my gun just use your own gun! That man who was complaining then screamed as the zombie bit into his neck. This same situation played out on both sides of the road as zombies from the woods attacked the soldiers as they dealt with the illusions. Five minutes later the next assault started it was locals with melee weapons and mini fireballs lighting up the camp. The fireballs were actually a spell called (firebolt). For weak mages, it is more effective than a fireball in both power and energy costs. The soldiers quickly joined the melee not realizing that many of the people in the melee were zombies. They just thought that they were fellow troops who just woke up. Until the Captain who was sleeping saw the situation and shouted out that the guys in their underwear were zombies. "Those Evil Mages turned our fallen comrades into the undead, don't bother with IR goggles the Undead don't have body heat. For any of you that are still using them. I faced these kinds of undead a lot during the war against Chicago." "Just use burst fire with your C-10 rifles till they drop. Fill them with holes so that they stay down. If you have to cut off their arms and legs with yur vibro-knives, that works too. If they pull you into melee. Don't do fist fights or wrestling on them you will lose they are as strong as gorillas." That we are facing this on top of the insects I just hope the soldiers can pull this off, we really need reinforcements. If only the other captain was here with his troops. I do not know Captain Maver well, but he is really needed. As I was watching the troops fight I noticed that there was blood splatter floating in the air. I also so shimmer here and there. There is someone among our troops killing my men. I took my C-10 and aimed at the hidden enemy then unleashed a full mag into it. That would be enough damage to completely destroy coalition body armor. Even with the reduced hit rate. Many of my shots found their mark causing the would-be assassin to lose their footing. I quickly loaded another meg in my gun and found my mark to continue my assault well I started to laugh. I found you, You Demon that is you isn't SLAYER. You and your Magi killed so many of my friends, now I can avenge them. Even if I die as well I will take you with ME. As I was about to unload a new meg into my target, yet it quickly rushed me. I felt two blades pierce my chest and raise me into the air. I slammed the but of my rifle into what should have been its head, seeing that it did nothing I tore off the mask. The full mask helmet came off. I was facing the Demon of the War the SLAYER. Very few have ever seen this demon's handsome face. He must be a true playboy. Still even being uncovered he kept his regal attitude that just made me madder. As I pulled my sidearm to shoot this beast in the face. Sure the pain was beyond anything I ever imagined being raised into the air by two blades in my chest. He then spoke to me. He congratulated me for being one of the few humans who had seen him without magic. He then told me before you die tell me your name. For you alone, I will honor with a proper burial. As my shaky hand raised to aim at his head the demon removed one of the blades from my rib cage to cut off my weakened right hand. From pain and blood loss. Before my consciousness faded I said my name, Captain Samuel Higgins. ************************************************************************ Well, I let the dead man slip from my blade I noticed some of the other soldiers saw that brief battle between me and their commanding officer. As they raised their rifles at me, I quickly cast (impervious to energy) on myself as I was awash in light, and part of my armor was yet more shattered. You soldiers do not deserve your commander's honorable burial you will all be dead soon. I then cast a true fireball. That sent all five of those men flying in the air, they died before even landing back on the ground. I then put my helmet back on and looked at the dead Captain saluting him in this world's fashion. At least in the old American dramas I watched. Then I returned to being invisible. ************************************************************************ I saw it all, this Magus that everyone fears is not a human but an elf. A very handsome one at that. Far more than common for elves, who are known for being the most attractive race. They are also one of the most magic-attuned races. That he survived and the others who were human did not is no surprise. In magic warfare, few can beat an elf that was why during the great war in Palladium the dwarves had no choice but to call on the demons of hell to even out the war in their favor. For they were losing almost every battle. Even with Rune weapons, that was another evil act that the dwarves did. Even with demons and rune weapons, the elves fought on. This time with a more even playing field. In the end, both races were nearly eradicated. Blonde elves that survived were rare. There were even claims that among the elves the blonde northern elves were the strongest. If those rumors were true there is no surprise that this world's humans can't compete with this elf. Not only is he a master of magic he is strong enough to hold a full grown man up with just one hand. Making him more demon than an elf. It looks like I chose the wrong side this time. I was sure the Coalition was the strongest force on this land mass. Maybe it is the Federation of Magic after all. Hundreds of humans are being slaughtered by only a few dozen mages. It looks like the humans had a five-to-one advantage in numbers, but in talent, it may as well have been reversed. Sure if the humans could use the weapons on their APCs, and if the 30-foot robots were not already neutralized it would have been different. Still, humans need such massive extremes just to have a chance to compete. As a changeling, I do not know what to do. I know this useless human I chained myself to will not protect me. I thought I could ride his coattails to the upper levels of Chi-Town where I would be safe. Among the elites who do nothing but parade around in their own egos. Still up there in the higher levels, commoners are not allowed to enter. Including the military, so I could live there with no fear of being found out. My race back in Palladium is hunted, we were also almost eradicated by the humans who became the dominant race of the world. Because we can shape change, and even look to be different gender. We could go into an inn as a man, and then come out as a female with a different size and shape. This is how my race has survived for thousands of years. For both humans and wolfen hunt us down for destruction. They are the top races of Palladium now. Since the elves and dwarves are now a small population races. As I was looking for an escape route, I noticed a human woman staring hearts at the elf, likely not realizing he was not a human. I might be able to use her for my escape if I could hear her voice and then copy it. For now, I will make my way to the APCs maybe we can get in there to hide. I will take this dumb dumb with me. He can still be useful if we escape. I know we will take the lead APC and then drive to where the Jeeps made the new path, it can't go off-road like the Jeeps can but it can at least buy us time till we get to the Fort. That Fort will have over 700 troops, and a Fort would be far easier to defend than 300 and so troops that can't use any machines to equal the playing field. If that fails I will remember that girl. ************************************************************************ The girl in question noticed them back and made to follow the person who was clearly the leader of this unit and his mistress. She will prove herself today so she prepared herself for the challenge, and followed after them. Just because she is a rookie mage does not mean she is useless she will prove it. Just wait Slayer I will be your wife. As she trails them her mind is full of fantasies. Most of all their wedding night. To pull that man close during the embrace makes my body tingle. She noticed that the two humans were skipping all the APCs, it was clear they were either going for the last one or just running. She will make sure to beat them to it. She uses her time-space magic called Temporal magic to get ahead of them. Then went straight to the last APC. Then used D-step to get inside. After that, she made sure the door stayed locked. No matter how many times they tried to get in. They would never get to the front that has all the controls. This was a mistake they made last time. Some of the escaped enemies managed to steal back one of the APCs to get away. Not this time. ************************************************************************ I was still dealing with the soldiers who were starting to get wise about my illusions. It took them some time, thanks mostly to how dark the forest is at night. I was mostly focused on the new arrivals from the tents who were sleeping before the battle started. The zombies and the mages were dealing with the armored troops just fine once they got in melee range. The soldiers had little chance against them. Sure going full auto on a zombie will stop it. The problem is there are more zombies than the soldiers who have spare mags for their C-10 rifles. Also unlike the humans who can not see the zombies unless they're in a lightened area. The Zombies and mages can see the soldiers. Laser fire does not provide much light outside a quick flash. For that purpose it is useless. To make it worse many of the mages are targeting the campfires to put them out. So the light for the soldiers would be even less. The fresh troops are unarmored but at least they slept in their clothes so they have some minor defense against this cold fall night. So I am just stabbing through them as I lower their numbers. Still, I am surprised that I was so close to being killed. I do not know how that officer saw me. All I know is that he did. If not for this Advanced Chitin armor. I would have been dead, or at least would have lost an arm from all that laser fire. I did not armor myself up in spells because I needed a lot of PPE for my illusions. The base lioness armor I normally wear is just over a third of the toughness of this advanced Chitin armor. Nor does the lioness's armor have built-in weapons or supernatural strength. Like the advanced chitin has. In abilities, it is night and day in overall value. As I was still making my way through the soldiers. Adan informed me that some people were running for the lead APC. Adan is still five miles up tracking the battle for me with his advanced sensors. I quickly finish this group of humans off. Then make my way to the lead APC. Even if they can not get far, I am still trying to keep all these machines close together for my future arsenal. This small-scale invasion is only a precursor of the true invasion when the Coalition feel they can run through the magic zone as they did through the great city built on the ruins of Chicago, along with the towns, and villages built around it. The magic zone itself is far larger and occupying many central states of the United States of America. Even if the Coalition could conquer it they would not have enough forces to to occupy the magic zone. Simply because of the near-endless number of nexus points that can spew out monsters at any time. It is also common for shifters, and summoners to use the rifts to conjure demons and monsters to make into their own pets. This greatly adds to the headaches the Coalition would have to hold this region of North America. Using the great strength of this chitin-like power armor I leap onto the last of the APCs. Then started to jump to each new one like I was on a train jumping train cars. That is how close these APC's are parked. Of course, this is not silent. Still, the chaos of the battle should be enough to hide my actions, along with the mat black armor. Even if it feels like it is falling apart. It did take a lot of damage. Thankfully it is living armor that can regenerate even if it does so at a slow pace. I continue along ignoring everything else going on. If you are wondering else what is going on that is simple. Soldiers are fleeing to the woods, and also running past the APCs trying to escape their own deaths. Not realizing their survival in the wilds of the magic zone is even lower than staying with their fellow soldiers. It does not matter to me either way. They will still die. When I reached the last APC jumped off it behind a man and woman who were trying to get inside. Slamming the control button on their remote and banging on the door. They did not even notice me jumping behind them. From above their own heads. For the APCs have a front door at the front of the vehicle instead of one on the side for the crew to enter. Like most vehicles After I landed I made my way to both of them using my enhanced strength I grabbed them both by the necks. Then lifted them up in the air well making sure they could see me. I have my mask on again. So what they see is a torn-up insect. Who is very pissed. Both humans show great fear as can be expected. I then notice the women's face start to fall off. Well not really falling off. Instead, the skin under her left eye starts to droop. Something only I can see. The man is too frightened to even look at her. For him he is wetting himself, something that often happens to cowards when they are forced to fight to the death. In my experience most Coalition officers are cowards. So this smell and action is something I am used to. For the countless officers, I have personally killed. I made sure my vice was deep but clear as I asked who they were. If they were the officers in charge of this unit. That was when I was hit by a strange feeling. It was a command. The next thing I knew I dropped the women. For some reason, I felt that I had to protect her. So I was then just pressing the man to answer my questions. I learned that he was indeed the man who was in charge of this unit and that he was chosen to command Fort Andrews. I then commanded the person in the APC to open the door. When the Door opened I flung the man inside it and then helped the women inside before I entered myself. I then reordered the door to be sealed again. Inside was the only female of the four temporal wizards. Who was so excited to see me. She went on and on about how she knew that the Coalition officers would run. That she even saw them doing so she made sure to beat them to the lead APC. To prove her worth to him. I was only half listening to her words as I was preparing my spell. This is a teleporting spell called Mystic Portal. it can transport anyone who goes through it to a location of the spell caster's choice. The same as the teleport spell except it is a one-way portal. I toss the man into it then the woman. With her gone I no longer feel the effects of her psionic attack on my mind. That she could effect me is scary enough. I will fully learn what they can do later for now I need to get to the battle. I then tell the temporal wizard to sty here and keep this APC clear of any soldiers. When I finished speaking I left to rejoin the battle. ************************************************************************ Where is everyone? We made it past the giant pits in the pathway we were using as a road. To come to an empty Fort. The Fort does show signs of a battle but for a place that had around 600 soldiers, there should be a lot of troops left who could have possibly killed so many soldiers. There was no way I would risk my soldiers in an ambush against mages. So I had my troops use their vibro-knives to cut down trees and then cut those trees into logs that were rolled into the pits that block our road. Then when the pits were full enough we road over them with the jeeps. Something that would be impossible for the APCs. Jeeps however are made for off-road use. Sure it was bumpy and the shocks of the jeeps were likely damaged. Still, the forty jeeps made it across. So now 160 of us are here in an empty base. No general Andrews, and with our allies currently fighting for their own lives against an unknown enemy. I need to prepare a Fort defense that can carry us to victory. For now, I am having my forces exploring the whole Fort. They were ordered to return to the courtyard in the middle of the Fort when they were done In roughly an hour. When the hour happened, only half the soldiers showed up, this confused us we did not hear any fighting. I called my sergeants to find out who was missing. It is always the sergeants that you can trust when things go haywire. Lieutenants not so much, for most of them are green anyway. That was when we noticed that we were surrounded by around forty men on the walls of Fort Andrews. All of them were armed with our C-10 rifles. The next thing we knew, they covered us with red beams of light. Not just one or two shots from the rifles, no it was full auto. We had nowhere to go. We were fully caught in this trap. Needless to say, we stood no chance. I was one of the last of the soldiers to fall. ************************************************************************ When the battle ended The Coalition forces were scattered with no vehicles, armor, and in most cases weapons. To defend themselves as they ran into the woods for temporary protection. Their chances of survival are close to 0% Being 20 miles into the magic zone with no defensive weapons to speak of. In an area known for having constant monster, and demon summoning. As the skies began to brighten showing the night of blood is over. I gathered up with my allies for this battle. Even though a few of them fell, the rest were still happy to see such a huge Coalition force killed off. My request for the Temporal mages to come to my village was accepted. The most happy of them was the woman who held the lead APC locked. I do not even need a mind read to understand her thoughts. It is the same everywhere I go if I do not wear a mask. I prepare a (Mystic Portal) for us five to leave this area and go back to my village. I need a good rest, and to also contact the Volunteer Magi army to get this stuff to my village for salvage. I plan to come back here tomorrow to repair the 30-foot robots, at least their right-foot stabilizers. The damage they received from Adan hitting them will remain for a while. For now, the zombies are loading the APCs up with the military gear under the command of the Necromancers. I also made sure that they knew not to use their necromancy on the Coalition hero who was the closest man to kill me in years. Captain Samuel Higgins. I also need to locate the forces that used the jeeps, and motorcycles. That was when I received a (Magic Pigeon). My warning allowed the Dweomer forces to protect the Fort from the Coalition forces. They did lose ten of their own forces though. So it took a lot of work. For that reason, they decided to abandon the Fort then to go home. I added raiding the Fort and occupying it to my list of things for the Volunteer Magi army to do. With roughly 70% of them being humans, it would be made just for them. The end plan for this situation is after the salvage is done. The 30% non-humans will stay as guards for my villages. Mainly the village of Grey. For the others are being controlled by the Lord Magi. That is a headache for me to deal with on another day. After a long day of sleep, I returned for the robot repairs. Sadly none of my troops are skilled at controlling robots. It was a jarring day for them to slowly crawl to the Salvage barges. Yes, they had to crawl with the robots. I do not have any driving skills at all, For me my driving is winged flight. It allows me to travel faster than any ground vehicle. I can also maintain the spell well by taking a nap. Even though I should be fully awake. The replacement parts and supplies for the fort were left at the Fort for the Volunteer Magi to use. Alongside the jeeps, and motorcycles. That they can use for personal use. I managed to set up Major Moore as the fake commander of the Fort. With him and Sandy Brown as the pretend commanders. The Volunteer Magi were pretending to be Coalition forces. This worked out for us for the true Coalition stared to make more, and more supply drop offs as they were focused on expanding the size of the Fort. Sandy Brown the Changeling became a double agent. She was promoted to captain in the Coalition. Her biggest fear was being hunted by the humans. For not being a human. So when she had a heart-to-heart talk with Norman. He reassured her that he would not hunt her people down. He even handed her magic scrolls of teleportation so that if the Coalition got wise to her people in Chi-Town. They could teleport to the lands under Norman's protection. This offer solidified her loyalty to Norman. For now, her fellow villagers are still in the lower levels of Chi-Town. There are thirty of them there. Until the humans find a way to distinguish them from other humans they should be safe enough. We decided to keep 6 of the New 30-foot tall robots called Enforcers at the Fort to act as guards. The rest would have been lost in battle alongside most of the APCs. We also have a few raids by zombies, and mages happen along the 25-mile stretch through the magic zone to Fort Andrews/Summers. Fake raids against my troops, and real raids against the Coalition. When they travel through the narrow path. The raids are small enough for them to not give up on the Fort but often enough for them to increase the time scale to build the Fort. |