Chapter 30

What you fear. That was what Mike had said and so Adrian knew what was coming before Mike said it.

“We’re running out of time. The elite squads. Alpha, Beta and Charlie will all make for the hole and jump in. The rest of us are going to engage the class three mage and keep it occupied. Broadly speaking, the elite squads’ only priority will be to disable the portal, and our job is to distract the mage. We’ll commence in five minutes. The mage is a significant threat and we’re going to need to coordinate. The fate of humanity rests on us winning this fight. We have to be sufficiently threatening that it does not follow the elites down the tunnel. I’m proud of everyone here. People are going to die, but it will be to save the world.”

Mike paused momentarily to let that sink in before continuing, “The monster has two primary attacks.” Mike then explained the shell’s power and the method they were going to use. Adrian felt sick listening to the plan. It was basically sacrificial waves with the dedicated shell breakers on suicide strikes aiming to hit on the fault lines. Apparently, the traders had handed out stones that would propel them at incredible speed through the air. It was hoped that someone would survive going through the air snakes above them.

“Fuck,” Murphy said.

“It’s possible they’re getting the easy job,” Joanne said. Paul sucked in his breath at that statement. The plan for above the surface was basically kamikaze runs. If that was the easier path… Jules and Murphy had not flinched at Joanne’s words, they already knew that going down the hole was probably suicide.

Adrian pictured Emily and the kids. This was for them.

“Bah,” Jules said. “This is a warrior’s death for a worthwhile cause. What more do you guys want?”

To live!

“To win!” Adrian said out loud.

“Pah, of course, we’re going to win. We have The Billionaire on our side.”

Joanne snorted.

“Yes, I’ll use my economic clout to send them to sleep.”

Jules laughed. “More seriously, we’re the heroes of Albury. Of course, we’ll win.”

“Yeah, I still wonder whether the interfaces cheated to get us through that.”

“I don’t, especially not Albury. You can guarantee their interfaces cheated just as hard in their favour.”

“Yep, they would have,” he agreed. “We’ve got this.”

“Elite squads.” Bec from earlier was talking. “You all can get to the bottom of the hole.” He looked in surprise at Jules. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small purple stone that appeared to be constructed of delicate crystal.

Stone of Sky Fall

When falling, crush this stone to guarantee a soft landing. This object uses air tendrils to sense the ground and slow you at the last moment.

“When I give the order I need you to all run for the hole. Do not get within a stone’s throw of the mage. If it is in your way, go around, otherwise, run as hard as you can and jump in. We need as many of the squads hitting the bottom together as possible. After you are down, we’ll reassess your battle strategies. However, it is our belief that the communication bracelets won’t be able to connect from the bottom of the hole. Kiyoko and myself are coming with you. If we die, then Adrian, Ollie, Pig and then Murphy are next in line to take command. Priority is to destroy the portal, not kill the shells.”

The communicator clicked off, and they waited as small squads started running down into the crater space. The mage responded to the groups approaching the hole, but mostly they were just feints and the teams would retreat before entering the main killing area. Despite the power of the mage, Adrian realised it had to protect a lot of space. That would leave gaps for them to slip through.

The suicide missions started when one of the five people teams instead of retreating would instead accelerate into attack. The breakers struck out at the shell and everyone else in the team focused on the limb. Then, when the wall came, they would trigger some sort of escape mechanism that would throw them through the air. The trajectory was pretty random and one time an old woman was launched straight into the spell she was trying to avoid, another time the escape capsule dropped over the hole to presumably fall to his death, however, the vast majority of the time the technique worked, as they zipped on parabolic arcs towards the relative safety of the mountain beyond the funnel. Loosely, Adrian estimated that one in four was surviving the suicide attacks.

And the suicidies kept coming. Adrian could only marvel at the bravery.

The pattern changed. Sometimes squads of five would get close, then juke away before suiciding. It was like clockwork, and they kept doing it even though they knew it meant their death. Five minutes passed, the mage was getting frustrated and its shell was looking chipped.

Yet it kept its discipline protecting the hole.

Mike still had not sent them forward. Adrian knew he was waiting for a mistake on the opponent’s part.

Another squad struck, and the breaker landed a tremendous blow on the shell which cracked. A spontaneous cheer went up, but it did not help the hero that had landed the blow before he could activate anything. A pillar of white flame manifested above him and he disappeared into the generated inferno. A sword, a boot, and half an arm fell away from the flames.

Adrian looked away as more people attacked like gnats. Worrying at the zxeatra without truly hurting it, but if there were enough bites. The mage was becoming more active, hunting the parties coming to hit it. Proactively attacking with its limb, mass and magic, moving up the slope away from the hole to make sure it landed killing blows.

The different squads were striking faster now. The same pattern, but instead of a couple of dozen squads rotating inwards sixty were going at once. Despite the apparent chaos, the frequency of suicide assaults had not changed.

“Get ready.” Bec’s voice made him jump, pulling him away from the intricate, hypnotic dancing patterns the squad movements had been generating. Another wave of non-elites swept in and out. Another three brave fighters died, which was a significant result because it meant two had escaped.

The zxeatra veered away, going up the crater, chasing a larger group than usual where too many squads had congregated.

“NOW!” Bec screamed.

Adrian, with the rest of the team, sprinted towards the hole.

That accidental crowd of random people suddenly stopped running and turned to face the mage. Forty fighters rotated to face the incoming monstrosity. Willing to die to be a distraction.

The deadly earth wall spell rushed out. They held their ground, as the walls twisted and folded and briefly obscured them. When the magic passed, half of them still stood. White fiery flames bubbled over them. They dodged but did not flee. The limb slapped one of them and another three went up in flames.

Jules and Adrian both matched the pace of Joanne and Paul. It was important. The squads stayed together.

Tears ran down his face. Forty heroes had just sacrificed themselves to buy a moment. The shell was suddenly shooting back towards them.

Buff of Strength, Battle Wraith.

He plucked Joanne and Paul from under their waist. Trusting Jules and Murphy to look after themselves.

Step, step and then a normal stride over the lip of the crater and then he was falling. A blanketing explosion of wind gusts accelerated everyone downwards, after all the mage was coming.

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