A Relatively Powerful Mage

Sylvi cursed as the radio remained silent. “Keep trying to reach HQ every couple of minutes. If something happened to them, we're fucked,” Sylvi ordered.

She had everyone do another gear check and search the penthouse for anything useful. She doubted they would find anything, but she used it to stall for a while. She prayed the next communication would get a response.

The wraiths did as ordered without complaint. Despite being a newly constructed unit, they already showed good cohesion and discipline. The same could not be said for Leslie, who started having a panic attack when the enormity of the situation caught up with her.

“We’re going to die,” the former baroness said repeatedly to herself.

“We’re going to get through this. There could be any number of reasons why they couldn’t get our transmission. We just need to stay calm and take things one step at a time,” Sylvi said, doing her best to project a calm confidence.

Leslie nodded; she wasn’t calm, but the words had some effect, and she was no longer terrified. Ashlyn handed the woman a paper bag, which she accepted and started breathing into.

After several minutes had passed, Sylvi took out the radio and tried to reach HQ. To her immense relief, a response was almost instantaneous.

“Sergeant Vesik, this is Major Harper. We had to evacuate to a more defensible location and reestablish HQ at the former marine base a couple of klicks north northeast of our previous location. What’s your status?”

“We’ve secured the primary objective, but the Nexus was already captured when we arrived. My unit is still combat-effective, but our ammo and mana supplies are low,” Sylvi said.

“Be advised, we have reason to believe the enemy will be converging on our position. Do not attempt to rendezvous at our location; you will be more effective in the field,” the major said.

“What about the intel we recovered?”

“We’ll have to discuss the contents over this channel; op sec be damned. Is Baroness Horn available to discuss the contents?” the major asked.

Sylvi looked over and saw Leslie take a deep breath and nod. She took over the radio and began conversing with Major Harper and the remaining barons.

“They needed a large enough space to hide the Titans, which eliminates most locations,” Leslie explained as she began filtering locations on her spreadsheet.

“It also had to be a secure location where people wouldn’t have been able to catch a glimpse of an Azala,” Baron Coleman added.

The remaining list was something far more manageable. They went through the remaining locations one by one. Each time, it turned out to be a site one of the barons was using, though none elaborated on what they were using it for.

“The docks? Coleman, I’m assuming that’s one of your locations?” Leslie asked.

“It isn’t. It wasn’t a priority, with the lake no longer being water. By the time I went there for parts, someone was already operating out of it,” Baron Coleman said.

“It isn’t mine either,” Baroness Dotson said.

“Is it possible that it was Pearson or Burke?” Major Harper asked.

“It isn’t likely. Those two aren’t exactly subtle, and I have reliable intel on both their organizations,” Leslie explained.

They continued reviewing the list of suspected locations, but none were as promising. When all the nobles and officers agreed, they transitioned to operation planning. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much intel on the location other than Leslies' notes on the perimeter security, which were woefully outdated. Reinforcements or resupply were also untenable, as every other able-bodied soldier would be defending the base.

“Alright, let’s go get those bastards,” Leslie declared when they finished going over what scant details they had.

“I need you to stay here. We can’t spare the attention to keeping you safe, and we can’t risk you revealing our location,” Sylvi said.

“Here? By myself?” Leslie asked, apparent panic in her voice.

“They have no reason to come back, and it will be safer here than with us,” Sylvi pointed out.

"And if they do come back?" Leslie asked.

"They won't," Sylvi insisted, not dwelling on the obvious if that did come to pass.

“Just come back for me when this is over,” she said. Without another word, she strode over to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of vodka.

“Well, that's one way to handle things,” Sylvi commented as they left the penthouse.

“Can’t say I blame her. I’d do the same thing if I were her in position,” Ashlyn said.

With time of the essence, they took the most expeditious route to the street, jumping from the penthouse to the ground below. The Low Gravity enchantment activated as they lept, allowing them to descend at a reasonable velocity. The streets were eerily quiet, devoid of Azala and civilians. Occasional gunshots or explosions broke the silence, reminding them that this was a warzone.

They moved as quickly as possible without bothering with stealth or securing an area. Instead, they were simply hoping there weren’t enemy observers in any of the myriad of buildings. Sylvi hated leaving their lives up to chance, but they didn't have the time or resources to do things properly.

They had gotten a couple of blocks closer, and Sylvi was optimistic they could reach their destination when the forward scout shouted, “Contact.”

A moment later, their targets came into view. Unfortunately, they weren’t the simple zombie-like Drones. Instead, they were the variant they had encountered in the first highrise, with a mutation that gave them an extra pair of arms. An Identify marked them as Ravagers, and they were around level 20.

The Ravagers moved with preternatural speed, quickly converging on the exposed operator. The wraiths sprang into action, moving to provide covering fire for the beleaguered scout. Arrows were loosed with a speed rivaling semi-automatic weapons. The projectiles pierced through the lead Ravagers and damaged those behind the intended target. Unfortunately, the Azala were unperturbed by their losses and continued their assault.

The skirmish devolved into a chaotic melee, where the Ravagers held the advantage. The wraiths frantically drew their side swords and desperately attempted to avoid the onslaught of attacks from the four-armed creatures. While most wraiths had classes specializing in ranged combat, none were inept, and they managed to hold their own while landing an occasional slash. However, Ashlyn did more than hold her own. Her twin short swords moved as a blur, matching the speed of the powerful Azala. The blades bit through limbs and scored killing blow after killing blow, quickly whittling down their opponents. Not to be outdone, Sylvi matched the young thief, her body moving fluidly thanks to the traits she had gained from fighting the Umbral Tigers in melee.

The Ravagers fought to the last, refusing to retreat even when it was apparent that the wraiths would emerge victorious. The wraiths didn’t escape unscathed; the scout had been completely overwhelmed, and the powerful creatures had inflicted deep gouges with their claws, having torn through armor like it was made of paper. Unfortunately, those wounds had been fatal, but there was no time to grieve the loss of their squadmate. The rest of the wraiths had minor injuries, including various cuts and gouges where claws had rent into flesh. The wraiths turned to Sylvi, the unasked question evident on their faces.

“As long as any of us are alive, we continue the mission. Each Azala that comes after us is one less attacking our HQ, and this might be our only chance to strike back, to inflict real damage,” Sylvi said.

The wraiths nodded grim determination in each of them. Morale wasn’t high, but no one would desert.

They quickly bandaged the more severe wounds and drank potions. Sylvi grimaced as she downed her potion, fighting the wave of nausea from drinking multiple potions in a relatively short time frame, the other having been a mana potion. She was loathe to stay in their current location for any amount of time, with the hive mind undoubtedly aware of their position. However, they were running dangerously low on ammo, so she took a calculated risk and ordered everyone to retrieve as many arrows as possible. She time-boxed it to two minutes, after which they would leave regardless of how much ammo they had.

Fortunately, their unit wasn’t a priority, or there wasn’t a patrol nearby because they managed to finish scrounging and move out without incident. Sylvi knew they couldn’t win many more fights like the one they just had. Their only hope was not to register as a threat until it was too late for the Azala to react.

They continued further towards the strange lake, not encountering any opposition. It became apparent why as the sounds of gunfire and explosions increased in frequency and intensity, reverberating throughout the city. Presumably, the Azala were beginning their assault on the military base. She just prayed the defenders could hold out.

The others seemed to reach the same conclusion, and the pace intensified. At this point, they were practically sprinting, abandoning all concern for their own safety. Sylvi knew they were getting close as she saw clouds of a mist-like substance nearby, coming from the strange liquid that had replaced the lake water.

As they neared the docks, Sylvi spotted an aerial Azala patrolling the perimeter. It was simultaneously reassuring and disheartening. She was now certain that this was some sort of Azala base, but they hadn’t conveniently left it undefended. However, they hadn’t come all this way to turn back now; they were committed to this course of action.

They spent precious moments scouting the surveillance from afar. Unfortunately, Sylvi didn’t see a way past them without being discovered. She considered waiting for nightfall, giving their mana time to recharge and increasing the effectiveness of their umbral magic. Unfortunately, that was still several hours off, and with each passing moment, they risked discovery. Worse yet, she wasn’t sure if the defenders at HQ had that long.

“It’s too bad we can’t swim through that strange liquid; they would never be able to see us in that mist,” Ashlyn pointed out.

“What if we could?” Sylvi asked as the kernels of a plan began forming in her mind.

“You heard the reports. It’s less dense than water; we’d just sink to the bottom and drown,” Ashlyn pointed out.

“Not if we weighed less,” Sylvi said with a grin, pointing to the Low Gravity rings.

They did a quick check of the mana levels and noted they were running low. It would only be possible for two people to make the journey safely, and even that would be draining the enchantments completely.

“Ashlyn and I will go. The rest of the unit will wait here,” Sylvi ordered.

“Sergeant, with all due respect, that isn’t what we should be doing. We need to consider everything to increase the chance of mission success. If we attack from the other direction, that will give you a better chance of going undetected,” one of the wraiths said, and the rest nodded in agreement.

Sylvi considered arguments to his logic, knowing that such an assault would likely wipe out the remaining wraiths. However, he was right; anything that increased the chance of success was something they had to consider, even if it meant sending good people to their deaths.

“Get out the moment they start coming for you,” Sylvi said. The man nodded, but they both knew it wasn’t a mission that they were likely to live through.

Sylvi and Ashlyn walked up to the edge of what had once been Lake Michigan. The mist was so thick that they couldn’t see where it ended and the liquid began. Not having any alternatives, they took a leap of faith.