Chapter 36 Part 2 of 2 (Patreon)

“They usually have their casters under mana barriers and they’re getting better at hitting us out of the sky. If you do another pass coming in from a different angle, vary it up. Hit them length ways, then cut off the end of their lines and get going. The longer you attack one target, the greater chances of getting hit. Also they have taken a fancy to spell scrolls which can really fuck up the skies. Watch out for that shit. You feel mana building, put on the speed and fuck off.”

Wazny looked at the understanding faces and nodding of heads.

“Okay, let’s get going. I’ll lead the first, then we’ll AAR.  Vesik take the second, we’ll do the same and then I’m just along for the ride and to bomb some fucks.” Wazny clapped his hands together.

“Your AO, your call,” Vesik held out his pinky and thumb, shaking his hand.

“Appreciate it,” Wazny said.

He led them to the aerial beast masters. The sparrows were energetic and ready to fly, their stores of ammunition had been reloaded and prepped.

Wazny got into his cockpit, support staff checked to make sure that he was secure and that the emergency spell scrolls were ready.

In the event of emergency, pull on the red silk to activate spell scroll. Wazny repeated the lines from his training, checking his controls.

He scratched the Sparrow he was on, getting a chipper sound from the war beast. He smiled a little before focusing.

The sparrows flitted forward, half-stepping/flapping their wings out of the hangars.

Wazny pulled on the cocking handle readying his twin repeaters.

The sparrow wing, all eight of them moved to the acceleration platforms. The sparrows gripped onto recesses in the ground.

Vesik went through the takeoff procedure before the formation activated.

The sparrows hopped and spread their wings, flapping them down as the formation’s power increased.

Wazny’s stomach was forced into the back of his spine as they caught the air and pushed forwards into the path of the other acceleration formations as Wazny was pushed back into his harness by the sheer acceleration as they climbed up and forward into the pitch black night.

The acceleration slowed as the sparrows glided, their heads twitching from side to side, taking in the change of location.

Wazny’s goggles picked up on the special bands that had been added to the sparrow’s legs, allowing him and the others to find one another without alerting the enemy of their position.

Vesik talked to flight control.

“Looks like we have our target,” Vesik shared his map with everyone.

Wazny looked at the map, checking the elevations of the surrounding mountains.

“I’m thinking that we come in from the south east, ride low and dirty, come over the mountains as fast as we can, start dropping as soon as we clear them and bank off to the west. I don’t like how closed in the area is there. Target rich, but they could have more mages in there.”

“We’ll follow your lead.”

“Okay,” Wazny checked his position against the target and altered his direction. The wing rose higher into the sky, accompanied by only the creaking of their wooden cockpits and the flapping of their sparrows wings.

Wazny checked his gear and the map, he couldn’t see the other wings that were out there, though he thought he saw a few of the identifying bands on Kestrel or Sparrow legs.

“Bit high up here,” Vesik asked through the sound transmission device.

“Better to be a little high than too low and discovered. Altitude is our friend.”

“Amen to that, and the boredom from take off to target fucking sucks.”

Wazny snorted.

“Ah-fucking-men. Don’t worry we’ll be sooner than you think and it’ll be over faster than the first time you met your wife.”

“Shit, it was a solid second!”

“Hah! What was it, self serve?”

“I was satisfied.”

“Fuck,” Wazny shook his head.

Time went by slowly until they were nearly there.

“Alright, wake up you lot,” Vesik said.

Wazny checked his map.

“Get ready to dive.” The wind was with them, their mounts only needing to flap a few times to keep them aloft.

Wazny contracted his muscles getting the blood flowing ready for what came next.

“Once we’re over the mountains, three seconds drop, ten seconds climb bank to the left, Got it?”

“Over the mountains, three seconds drop, ten seconds climb bank to the left,” They repeated back.

“Good, let’s do this. Follow me, maintain spacing.”

Wazny’s mount tilted forward. The speed picked up immediately as his sparrow kept them level. Wazny was scanning the ground for life and watching their position on the map.

Wind screamed through the cockpit, forcing Wazny’s goggles into his face as he leveled off. They were silent death riding on the invisible waves of air.

He saw the ridgeline ahead. There was light on the other side from its occupants.

Wazny looked across the sky for aerial beasts.

“Here we go!”

Wazny and the rest of the wing passed over the mountains silently. Their speed caused the trees at the top of the ridgeline just tens of meters below to shift and shake.

The ridge disappeared to reveal fighters pushing through the crater-like valley to the forest beyond. Even at night they were pushing on ahead.

They had light formations and fires to guide them.

“One dungeon lord, two dungeon lord, three dungeon lord. Release!” Wazny and the rest of the wing released their bombs, sending them tumbling out.

“One dungeon lord, two dungeon lord… ten dungeon lord.”

Wazny stopped the flow of bombs and banked, the rest of the wing followed.

Their sparrows started to flap wildly, gaining altitude and regaining speed as the first bombs reached the ground below. Ripples of destruction, nearly a kilometer wide, tore the forest and valley apart.

Fire bombs greedily drew in air as they spread through the valley.

Here’s some more light for you to see on your nightly walk.

Wazny and the group disappeared into the night.

“Watch for aerial beasts. They could launch them after we hit them.”

They didn’t see anything as the adrenaline faded in their veins.

“Captain Vesik, next one is all yours.”

“I have the feeling it’s going to be a long night.”

***

Rugrat and the special team were the first into the opening, scanning the area. Rugrat blinked his eyes filled with mana as he looked in the skies.

“Clear!” He lowered his repeater. He communicated to the Ten Realms through his mana, changing it. The covered ground cleared revealing the mortar pits.

“Fan out, defensive positions. Second Lieutenant Couto, we’re clear up here.”

“On the move.”

Rugrat and the rest of the

Couto and his people arrived a few minutes later. They broke down into squads with mechanical precision. They drew out their mortars which hadn’t been given the chance to cool in their storage rings. Mages set to cooling the guns as the gunner and first ammunition bearer sighted the weapon. The second ammunition bearer readied everything else in the pit while the squad leaders held a conference through the platoon channel, checking their position and range cards.

“We have two groups in range. They’re both spread out in the forests. We will target the group to our north west. Grid square one three three two. Confirm target.” Couto paused as squad leaders checked their maps.

“Confirm target at grid square one three three two.” The squad leaders relayed back.

“Chain lightning rounds, fuse to air burst formations. Spell: lightning enhance.” Couto ordered.

“Lightning rounds, air burst fuse, lightning enhance!” A squad leader near where Rugrat called out.

The second ammunition bearer pulled out the rounds. Their dark grey body was covered in formations that crackled with power. They unscrewed the round’s nose and replaced them with formation carved fuses.

The gunner and first ammunition bearer had set the gun. The heat dissipating blocks slid back down along the barrel, covered in a cold wind from the mage’s hands.

The squad leader moved beside the gunner and ammunition bearer with his map in hand.

“This is our target, heavy forest cover. Our target area is one three zero, three two four to one three five three two six. We’ll move from the south west corner serpentine up to the north east. Got it?”

“Got it,” The two nodded.

“Good,” The squad leader pulled out the range card and checked his map, studying it with his team.

Rugrat flexed his shoulders and studied the area.

The mortar crews changed their elevation and traverse, some re-sighting their guns so they could cover their two hundred by five hundred meter square, breaking down their one kilometer wide target grid square.

The cooling blocks rang out with metal hitting metal. The mage waved his hands, the cooling spell dissipated.

“Mortar Squad One Three ready!”

The squad leaders radioed into Couto.

Less than five minutes they set up, dialed in, and ready to rain down hell.

“Have your second ammunition bearer ready ammunition and dump them to your mages. Let’s hammer the bastards. Fire when ready!”

The second ammunition bearer dumped their ready rounds into the mage’s storage rings and continued to ready more mortars.

“Been some time since I did this,” the mage said as the formation under his feet glowed his spell covering the round as he passed it to the first ammunition bearer.

“What, a whole two months? Hang!”

“Fire!”

Conversation was ripped away as ten mortars fired, lighting up the night sky and sending their payloads skyward.

Mages pulled out the rounds, checked them and cast their spells, passing them to the first ammunition bearer. They dropped and ducked as the mortars fired one after another, recoiling and filling the air with tiny rings.

Rugrat checked his linked map. The mortar crew had fired three rounds before the first landed.

Rugrat saw red markers disappear, others remained in a semi-circle.

Barrier must have stopped the chain lightning.

He checked the area around his position. No fast movers over rough terrain. Coming for us, yet. Should be dawn in a few hours. Day three.