Aetherial Annihilation (35 page)

"Hit the other engine," I told my team.

We swooped beneath the cockpit to the other side. Pixie and Boris destroyed the other engine with their spells. Despite the lack of maneuverability, the airship was still very much a danger once my Murk shield wore off.

We flew back beneath the aircraft in time to witness the turrets on the second airship explode with a deafening roar. The hull buckled, rippling like water, and the remains of the cockpit fell away in a trail of flames. I considered hitting my target's turrets with more Murk, but knew the gunner would hold fire.

I had to take it out with brute force. Summoning Brilliance, I waited until the ultraviolet shield around the turrets dissipated and then blasted a torrent of white energy at them. My inner demon surged at the thrill of destruction. I fought it back and slammed it into its cage.

I gritted my teeth and sent the unruly half of my soul a message.
I'm the master here.

Smoldering resentment was the only answer I felt from the trapped beast.

"Back off," I told Pixie and Boris.

They flitted back just as the turrets detonated. I threw up a shield to ward off the blast. The last thing I saw of the airship crew were their horrified faces before the flames took them.

"Skywraiths, regroup." I flew up and north. The others joined me seconds later, and we watched with satisfaction as our three targets spiraled into the robot army below, crumpling and hopefully crushing battle-bots beneath their bulk.

"Explosions on impact would've been nice," Boris said. "But that felt damned good."

I turned around to face the remaining airships. Bodies of the dead and the silvery forms of robots littered the ground below. Crucibles soared through the air from behind our frontlines, exploding in the midst of the enemy. Some flew high enough to hit the airships. I noted several destroyed aircraft on the opposite side of the battle from us.

Bits and pieces of battle-bots flew in all directions. Lycans and felycans fought in packs, tearing the robots to pieces while Daemos in their half-demon forms commanded packs of hellhounds against the metal hordes.

Then the mega-bots reached firing range, and massive lasers and missiles fired into the melee, heedless of friend or foe.

"We've got to stop the big bots," Ivy cried out. "They're killing everyone!"

"I still count six airships," Boris said. "We've got to take them out first."

I looked back and forth between the two targets.
What do I do?

"Justin," Elyssa said. "Prioritize the mega-bots. Victus's robots are in range of the airships."

A formation of Victus's battle-bots raced behind our front lines and arranged themselves in neat rows before the looming airships. Volleys of missiles streamed forth from them while airship lasers blasted into their ranks.

"Attack the mega-bots," I said. "Hit them the same way we hit the airships. Target their weapons." I pointed out the closest towering humanoid robot. The thing rivalled the size of the goliath golems we'd fought during the war, standing several stories tall. I flicked my hand forward and our formation made a beeline toward the target.

Multiple turrets on the monstrous robot's shoulders turned our way and fired quick short blasts, filling the air with deadly light.

"Watch out," Delectra said. "They have anti-air weapons."

"Evasive maneuvers!" I took my own advice and dove beneath the sizzling energy. A turret tracked me, rapid firing, keeping me constantly ducking, dodging, and weaving.

I heard a scream and saw a smoking body fall from a broom.

"Pixie!" Boris shouted. "No!"

He narrowly dodged a volley of laser fire and swooped back up, then thrust forward his staff and fired lightning at the closest turret. Ivy slagged three turrets with a tremendous blast of Brilliance while Mom and Nightliss engulfed the large laser cannon on the mega-bot's chest with Murk.

I destroyed the small anti-air turrets on the robot's other shoulder and swooped behind its back to avoid fire from the quadruped mega-bot to its right. I looked in vain for a panel or other access to the robot's energy core, but the smooth metal surface betrayed no weaknesses.

"There are people inside the robot!" Ivy shouted. "In the front!"

I swooped around the head and found a polarized window I'd mistaken for a large eye. Barely visible behind the glass, two men sat before a control panel.
We just found our weakness.

My lips peeled back in a snarl. "Give it everything you've got."

"Look out," Mom said.

I heard a whoosh of wind and saw a giant arm swiping at us. We scattered. The downdraft sent my broom into a spin. I recovered and turned back to the mega-bot. Ivy and Delectra flew past the window and raked it with attacks. I fired a bolt of Brilliance into the center, and the armored glass glowed a sullen red. I broke off the attack to dodge the robot's other massive arm.

Mom and Nightliss swooped in behind and hit the glass with one massive coordinated blast. It melted like wax.

"Die, you sons of bitches!" Boris cast his lightning spell right into the cockpit.

The crewmen screamed and danced like puppets as the electricity coursed through them. Their smoking bodies slumped at the controls.

The robot's arms dropped to the side, and it stood still in the middle of the battle.

Boris flew his broom up to the window.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He slid through the window and twisted one of two joysticks on the left console. The robot lifted a leg. He tested the right joystick on the other console and the right arm rose and fell back down.

"I'm going to give them hell," Boris said. "Go without me."

"This isn't the plan," I yelled back. "Get back on your broom."

"No," he growled. "This is for the others."

"You can't control that thing on your own," I said. "It takes two people."

I saw the quadruped mega-bot rotating toward us, its anti-air lasers aiming for our position.

"Get behind the robot," Boris said. "I'll shield you." He grabbed the two joysticks controlling the legs and rotated them. Lumbering awkwardly, the mega-bot turned to face its four-legged companion.

"Behind the robot," I commanded.

We flew behind its bulk as anti-air lasers filled the sky. The captured mega-bot walked toward its former ally slowly at first, then gathering speed. It slammed into the quadruped. The earth below shook. Enemy robots tumbled and fell. Boris's robot lifted both arms and hammered them into the other mega-bot with a deafening clang. The arms rose and slammed down again.

All the lasers on the other robot fired on its new enemy while Boris maneuvered the arms of his monster lower and slammed them against the belly of the other metal beast. The humanoid mega-bot pushed forward. Metal groaned and cracks appeared in the hull. The quadruped toppled to the side, falling in slow motion and slammed to earth. A tremendous cloud of snow rose into the air.

The other bipedal mega-bot opened fire on Boris.

"Boris, get out of there!" I shouted. "Get out!"

"It was an honor serving with you," Boris said. "Skywraiths, form up!"

Chapter 30

Boris's mega-bot exploded. A wave of energy flashed through the air.

"Evasive maneuvers!" I shouted.

My command came too late. The shockwave slammed into us, casting us through the air like dandelion seeds in a storm. I heard a cry and saw Delectra tumble from her broom. I shot out a strand of Murk and barely managed to snare her.

Doing my best to hold the channel while I spun, I fought to regain control. Panting with exertion, I wrestled the broom back into level flight.

Ivy zipped over, Delectra's broom in tow with a strand of Murk. She slid it beneath the woman and Delectra desperately grabbed it and seated herself.

I released the Murk and looked around. Mom and Nightliss hovered a distance away, but they seemed okay.

"Thank you, Justin," Delectra said. "You saved my life." She turned to Ivy. "And thank you for my broom."

"Any time," Ivy said brightly.

I surveyed the battlefield. The third mega-bot lay on its side in a smoking heap. The explosion of the other two bots must have taken it out. The airship flotilla likewise lay in ruins, aside from two fleeing units. The remains of the enemy robot army fled to the west toward the secret base while hellhounds, Daemos, vampires, and lycans hounded their flanks.

I wanted to think it was over, but we still had Frankenberg's base to contend with.

"Justin," Elyssa said, "I need the Skywraiths to pursue fleeing enemies and take them out before they reach the base."

Everyone, even Ivy, looked as exhausted as I felt. We'd fought with everything we had and lost people I'd come to know as friends. If I'd learned anything from the crystoid incident, it was that you don't give enemies a chance to recover. If I'd crushed Cephus right after the war, none of this would have happened. We couldn't allow Frankenberg's troops the chance to reinforce his home base.

I squared my shoulders. "I know you're tired, but we've still got work to do."

Mom put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm ready."

Ivy lowered her hood and wiped tears from her eyes. "I can't believe Pixie and the others are gone." Her lower lip trembled and look of pure rage shaded her face crimson. "Let's kill them all."

Nightliss, eyes wide, simply nodded.

"You have proven yourself a leader," Delectra said. "I am ready to follow."

It felt like one of those moments where everyone should put their fists into the middle of a circle before throwing them up in the air and shouting something like "Go, Skywraiths!"

My mood was too somber for such things. "Skywraiths, form up and move out."

Our small formation arced around the destroyed mega-bots and swooped after the fleeing battle-bots. A group of them were just a hundred yards from us, but running so fast, a trail of snowy dust rose behind them.

Ivy projected a wall of Murk in front of the fleeing bots. The collision sounded like a truck full of pots and pans rolling down a hill. My sister sliced the robots to bits with a razor-thin beam of Brilliance.

We passed over a pack of wolves and huge felines tearing apart another squad of bots, crested a small rise, and found twenty more battle-bots fleeing. The small hills around the secret base lay a quarter mile in the distance.

Flying at top speed, we reached the next group of targets. Delectra cast a crackling net of electricity over one group. Sparks flew and the robots tumbled to the ground. Nightliss channeled a huge hammer of Murk and smashed more robots like aluminum cans. I followed Ivy's example and sliced the legs off robots with an ultra-concentrated needle of Brilliance. Within seconds, the remnants of the robot army lay in smoking ruin.

"What about them?" Ivy pointed to the two surviving airships headed south, away from the base.

I spotted a swarm of Blue Cloaks on flying carpets in hot pursuit. "I don't think we need to worry about them." Once again, we were the first of the allied forces to the secret base. "Elyssa, all robots accounted for. We're going to scout the enemy base perimeter."

"Affirmative." She made a kissing noise. "Be careful."

I chuckled. "Is blowing kisses standard Templar procedure?"

"From me to you, yes."

"Muah, babe."

I noticed the others looking at me and cleared my throat. "Um, we're going to take a look around." I flashed the signal to drop low, and took the squadron down to just a few feet off the ground. We crept up the hill then got off our brooms and peeked over the crest.

"No more penguins," Nightliss said in a relieved voice.

Mom sighed. "Thank goodness."

"I guess the building is underground," Ivy said. "The only thing I see now is a big boulder."

"Probably an entrance," I said.

"Let's go, then." Ivy tried to get up, but I held her down.

"Hang on." I noticed other small humps in the snow and pointed them out. "Those could be weapons."

Ivy frowned. "One way to find out." She pressed fingers to her temples and blinked her eyes. A replica of her flickered into existence. "I'm projecting," she said. "Just like I did the first time we met, Justin."

I remembered the day I'd seen my sister wandering among the graves at the funeral of Elyssa's brother, Jack. "Let's see what happens."

The illusion stood up and ran down the hill. Snow exploded from the humps, and turrets appeared all around the perimeter of the bowl-shaped valley. A brilliant laser show blasted the illusion.

"Take them out!" I shouted.

We rose to our knees and blasted the turrets to slag while they focus-fired on Ivy's illusion. The only turrets we couldn't reach were on the other side of the bowl.

"Let's shield and go." I channeled Murk, ready to protect us at any minute so we could rush the boulder and look for a way into the base. Before we took a step, the entire valley floor quaked. Ice shattered, and the suspicious boulder began to crumble. A thundering roar sent a blast of hot air washing over us.

The boulder collapsed to reveal a large windowed dome. I saw a dozen people inside, and in a big leather captain's chair sat Frankenberg himself.

"Holy alien aardvarks," I said, "we have a problem."

"What is that thing?" Ivy asked.

A flying saucer large enough to be an office building exploded from the ground in a shower of earth, ice, and snow. The hot exhaust rising from beneath the saucer melted the ice, showering us with sheets of water.

"Get to your brooms," I said.

We flew to a safer distance and watched the huge thing slowly rise. The platter portion of the saucer measured two stories high, and was probably the diameter of a city block. Massive landing legs folded into the bottom of the craft.

"Leave it to a mad scientist to make his secret base a flying saucer," I said in awe.

"Look at the turrets on the platter," Delectra said. "They're already destroyed."

"Those were the same turrets hidden by the snow," Mom said.

I magnified the view in my HUD and scanned for other weapons. It bracketed in red another dozen undamaged turrets on the other side, but indicated no other obvious weapons. "People, we've got to take that thing down."