Dimensional Travels: World at War Chapter 188: Trials

Eric and Benitez sat on the crest, watching the convoy amass in the valley. Cartharic soldiers were scanning the periter; patrols walked through the wide path, weapons up as they secured the area. Eric looked at the Brios/ Llrathel prototype. Engineers and mages were currently working on it; he heard the echoes of shouting as a man stood in front of it, pointing at the prototype. Eric couldn’t make out what the man was saying, but he could tell sothing was wrong.

Eric and Benitez crawled back down the mountain, and Eric called Mia again. "Helios three, Helios one." He said after wrapping himself and the radio in mana again.

"Go ahead, Helios One."

"Yes, can you hear what they are arguing about? I can see the man standing in front of the prototype, but neither Benitez nor I can hear what they are saying."

"Give a minute." She responded.

Eric sighed. "Copy, Standing by."

A few minutes later, the radio ca back to life. Mia’s worried voice ca back over the radio. "Helios one, this is Helios three."

Eric wore a grim expression. He and Benitez looked at each other. They could hear the worry laced into her voice.

"Go ahead, Helios three."

"They are planning on moving again in the next half hour. Apparently they no longer think we are trailing them, and the reason they no longer have the smoke dispersal running is that the mages ran out of mana. They are letting the mages recover. The reason for them stopping is the prototype has stopped functioning. They can’t get it to move."

Eric looked at the ground, trying to calculate how long air assets would take to get to their location. "If those mages recover fully through mana potions and rest, the air support might not do much," Benitez muttered.

Eric sighed. "I know, but we still have a few pieces of the puzzle to figure out."

He took out his notebook. "We know this convoy is going to Nedoria. We think it is not a trap, and we think we only have a thirty-minute window. That thirty-minute window is entirely predicated on if they can get the prototype functioning."

Eric sighed. "It’s ti to call it in. We can’t afford to wait. If we wait while trying to figure everything out, we will miss the targeting opportunity we have right now."

Benitez stepped away, heading to where the soldiers were pulling security. "I’ll keep watch."

Eric read through his notes again and grabbed the radio. "Helios One to Hood actual. Urgent report, priority ssage."

The radio buzzed, and Milano’s voice ca over the net. "Go ahead Helios One."

"Roger. The two convoys have rged at sector one nine Alpha near Nedoria. They are currently located approximately three miles from the city, and are stationary. Break."

Eric turned the page in his notebook, his frown deepening as he read through the data again. "We have assessed with high confidence the convoy is carrying both the mana cores for the Ark, but it is also escorting a large Brios/Llrathel prototype. Break."

"Current assessed destination for the convoy is Nedoria, and combat strength is assessed at Battalion plus, with force modifiers. They have ten Llrathels and fifty mages, with an additional ard escort of one hundred foot soldiers. Break."

"Requesting imdiate air support. Enemy smoke screen is currently down, and the prototype appears immobilized. Assessed strike window is less than thirty minutes." End of report."

There was a brief pause, and Eric tapped his fingers against the ground. He looked towards where the soldiers were pulling security, and debated having one of them check on the convoy.

His thoughts were interrupted by Milano’s response.

"Helios one, Hood actual. Send current friendly grid locations and target grid for enemy unit. Confirm no civilians present. Break."

"Confirm Helios oversight for target package, and confirm whether convoy is stationery. Over."

Eric looked over at Benitez. "They haven’t moved yet, right?"

Benitez nodded. "Correct. The enemy has not moved. I just had one of the soldiers check. They are still conducting maintenance on the prototype."

Eric grabbed the radio again and called for Milano. "Hood actual, Helios one. Over."

"Helios one, Hood actual. Go ahead."

"Hood actual, no civilians are present in the convoy. Grid follows: Three-three Tango, Tango Foxtrot, one-niner-eight-eight, eight-eight-eight-eight.

"Friendlies are four Helios OPs around target. Helios One, north of target, one point five klicks. Helios Two west, one point five klicks. Helios Three south, one point five klicks. Helios Four east, one point five klicks. Break."

"All friendlies are under cover, no movent toward target. Request air support hold fire until positive confirmation and final friendly position check. Over."

Milano ca back on the net a few minutes later. "Helios One, Hood Actual. Strike package Three Zulu One approved. Ti to target: twenty mikes. Maintain eyes-on and standby for final clearance. Hood actual out."

Eric set down the radio and looked up at Benitez. "Have the soldiers sit along the crest. We have twenty minutes until the strike. We need to prepare for visual confirmation of the strike."

Benitez nodded, and Eric inford the rest of the Helios teams that the airstrike was imminent. Milano had contacted him in between his radio calls, informing him the strike would consist of two AC-130s and the B-2. He looked down into the valley, a grim expression plastered on his face. "Benitez, have you ever felt shockwaves kick you in the teeth?"

Benitez tilted his head slightly sideways while his eyebrows arched. "No. Why?"

"Well, you’re about to."

The Empire soldiers had been standing around for forty-five minutes. The mages had run out of mana after the idle waiting. Each mage was currently resting against the mountainsides, the sun to their backs. One of the mages looked over to his right; his friend was currently drinking a mana potion. "Hey, Sariam. How long do you think it will take for them to get the prototype running?"

Sariam looked over at the cannon assembly, shaking his head. "I have no clue. They have been working on it for forty five minutes now, but have had no success. What was the Empire thinking, having a prototype move along with us?"

The other soldier shook his head. "Do not lay doubt on what the Empire does, Sariam. Our God knows more than we do. Us mortals should never dare doubt him."

Sariam felt a pulse of mana flicker in the air, and looked around. His eyes narrowed as he looked up in the direction of the pulse. The signature was weak, but it ca from the mountains to their west. "Fiate. Did you feel that?" He muttered. Other mages stood up with him, their hands reaching for their mana guns.

The commander noticed that so of the mages were standing up and looking around warily, so he walked over. "What is it?" He said, his eyes darting up towards the mountains Sariam was looking at.

Sariam pointed to where he sensed the pulse. "Commander, I felt a mana pulse to our west."

The commander frowned and crossed his arms. "A mana beast perhaps?"

Sariam shook his head. "No sir. A mana beast has fluctuating mana that runs rampant as the beast hunts or uses it. This felt controlled."

The commander looked into Sariam’s eyes. "Are you certain? If you are not, I will have you hung here on the mountain. I cannot waste my n’s prec-"

He heard it. A large buzzing sound that ripped through the air. The acoustics of the mountain caused the sound to appear much louder as it vibrated off the rocky slopes. "Shields up! Every mage with mana left, protect the cargo!"

The mages scrambled, running over to the prototype and the Ark cores. Sariam threw his body over a crate and funneled all his mana into creating the strongest shield he could. As he hugged the crate, he prayed. "Lord Mithrael, save us." He muttered.

Ear-splitting roars answered his prayers. Mana barriers shattered one after the other as panicked orders were shouted. Sariam couldn’t open his eyes as he heard one explosion rip through the air after another. The mana barrier he erected couldn’t stop the air pressure pushing against him like the wind of a hurricane. He flew through the air, slamming against the side of the nearest mountain.

Sariam tried to stand up, but the wind kept him from doing so. His knees buckled as he felt the heat push against his body. He scread in agony as his body began to feel like thousands of tiny red ants were biting his skin. He could no longer hear, but he saw it. The towering wall of flas was barely held back by the rest of the mages. He tried to push more mana towards their barrier, but failed as large chunks of the earth began to explode up towards him. Large tallic blasts ricocheted off the ground, tearing through everything in sight. His barrier exploded, throwing him to the side once more. He felt his vision fading. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a wall of fire towering over the prototype, and more wind rushing against him.