Chapter 151 – Faith for Money
"Cover your flank: you're too exposed! Try to support each other, no heroics!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Around me, the battle between the Empire and the Republic continued unceasingly between cannon fire, explosions and the screams of those who had not been careful or fast enough to remain intact. Behind us, Fort Arnau's fixed heavy cannons opened fire again. Machine guns reserved showers of bullets on advancing enemies, mortars rumbled.
Just another day on the Rhine front.
Today the purpose of the mission was to attack a battery of medium guns, which the Republicans had managed to bring almost within range of the fort, before they could begin their own bombardment. By eliminating the cannons, the fort would be safe until the enemy could bring in new ones, thus giving's the soldiers trapped inside the the fort's interior at least one more week. Of course, the Republicans knew that we would attack their cannons, so when the assault had taken place, we had a party waiting for us. Light and heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft guns with repeating fire, short and medium range guns with enough firepower to destroy a light tank. All accompanied by the ubiquitous Republican mages, which made it almost impossible to focus our attention on the targets on the ground.
"Second and Third Company, continue with the attack on the Republican ground forces and their artillery. We will attempt to cover you!"
"Sir, Second Company is currently under the combined fire of three Republican heavy machine guns, and is unable to proceed with the operation. We must destroy the machine guns if we are to advance."
"Third Company, can you complete the objective on your own?"
"Negative sir: the enemy mages are more numerous than expected. Currently, enemy magic air forces are engaging us, and we are in no condition to focus on enemy artillery."
This is bad, I thought in frustration. If the enemy didn't give us a break and kept committing our forces so that we couldn't attack the real target of the mission, our position would soon become... untenable. The fort's artillery did not have anything with sufficient range and destructive power to unlock the situation.
But I did.
"To all units, focus on the enemy units you are currently engaging, eliminate them or at least try to disengage. Once that is done, regroup at fallback altitude, and await new orders."
"Sir, what about enemy artillery?" asked Tragen through the communicator.
"You disengage the enemy and fall back, I'll take care of them!" I said, clasping my hands over my rifle. It was time to employ my secret weapon, which only my four cores operational orb could afford.
I looked ahead. The Republicans were advancing, confident of their seemingly imminent victory. But I was about to turn it into a rout.
I closed my eyes, as stray bullets pounded my shield, and chanted the prayer
"Dear Lord, To You, our God, we come for safety. We come to ask for refuge and grace, since the barbarians are now at our gates".
A stream of energy began to flow through my veins. I knew, without needing a mirror, that once again my eyes had changed color.
"Protect us from the reckless actions of people who intentionally or unintentionally disregard the welfare and wellbeing of other people around them."
The energy inside me grew stronger and stronger. A bright light began to shine in my hands, illuminating the butt of my rifle.
"Those who start destructive fires, those who cause war and suffering to us, and those many others who give no thought to the harmful consequences of their irresponsible actions."
The barrel of the rifle began to glow with its own light, while the energy inside me condensed inside the barrel. The bullet inside was now saturated with magical energy.
"Shield us, I pray, from the injurious situations that these kinds of people cause, and let them be hindered from carrying out their malicious intents. Let them alone suffer the consequences of their own actions".
The gun was pointed at the enemy; the magic energy within me was at its peak. More bullets hit my shield, but once again, they did not make a dent.
"Amen."
I pulled the trigger, and a new blaze of fire, shrouded in a yellow flame, shot out of the barrel at great speed, following the direction of the rifle, rushing at great speed into the midst of the array of Republic forces.
For a few brief moments, nothing changed. Then, a bright light shone between them, and soon after came the explosion.
A dazzling flash, and a few moments later at the place where the Republicans had their guns, ground forces, machine guns and all, a cloud of smoke, fire and flames rose high, surrounding the entire area, for several miles around in misty, poisonous, deadly smoke. I knew, without needing to approach, that nothing could have survived.
"Sir, what was that black cloud in the shape of a giant mushroom?" asked someone over the communicator, breaking radio silence.
"All units: Republican ground and magic forces annihilated. Republican heavy and medium cannons destroyed with a 90% probability. Keep your distance: the smoke now surrounding the area is most likely poisonous. Any reconnaissance operations should be postponed until the area has been deemed safe."
"Good heavens, Major: was that you?"
"This is the true power of the Empire Dragon?"
"Never seen such destruction. Not even the heavy cannons of our battleships achieve such destructive power."
"....inaudit! Power...."
"Shut up, damn it!" thundered Tragen's voice over the communications channel. "The major has given clear instructions, obey the command!"
"Yes, sir!" repeated the others, suddenly alert.
"Thank you Tragen." I said, assuming my calmest and quietest tone possible. "To all officers and mages of the 205th Battalion, what you have just witnessed is as nothing but the power of a spell made possible to you by the operational orb model Elenium Type 95. Such equipment is still very unstable and difficult to produce; therefore, officers who assisted in the initial testing of such devices possess the only specimens currently deployed on the front lines. However, advances in technology and the Empire's production capabilities will likely make such a device more accessible in the future."
Possibly, without requiring stupid miracles, and with a different set of volunteers to act as lab rats for Shugel, I thought with malice.
"Commander." said the voice of Katarina Engelmann, commander of Fifth Company, at that moment. "I am receiving a communication from Fort Arnau. It seems that your little explosive show had a small audience."
"Put him through."
"Major König!" came a gravelly male voice. "Can you hear me? Do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear. What's going on? More Republicans?"
"Thank goodness, no: the ones you just bombed won't be able you will be able to hurt us anymore, and the remaining forces in the area are too disoriented to attack. You have done us and the Imperial Army a great service: the longer Fort Aranu resists the enemy, the more time our brains at Strategic Headquarters have to think and prepare for a solution."
"So, what's going on? My unit and I were going to fall back, and resume patrolling. Just because the Republicans are no longer in a position to attack, doesn't mean we can't do the same."
"We know that, but there was a change in plans. The fort commander was at the observation post when you... destroyed the Republicans' guns, and he personally witnessed it. He asked me to get in touch with you, to ask you to land in the fort: he wants to talk to you, face to face."
For a few seconds, I paused to ponder the request. Fort Arnau was the temporary home of a large garrison of Imperial soldiers, so the mages in my battalion would not be ill received. Besides, from a certain point of view, staying in the fort and waiting for a possible enemy was much better than flying aimlessly, looking for possible traces of Republican convoys. And one more Imperial officer among those I could consider valuable pawns in my network was something not to be despised.
"Message received. Report to the commander that we will be landing immediately, but cannot stay long."
"I will gladly give him the message."
When the mages of the 205th Battalion landed inside the fort, the various soldiers who made up its garrison greeted us with great joy. They were dirty and tired soldiers, whose uniforms were covered for the most part with mud, blood and dirt; yet they insisted on welcoming us with great honors, and on sharing with us their meager rations.
As exaggerated as this behavior was, from a certain point of view, it was also logical: more than once the mages of the Empire had helped fort Arnau successfully repel Republican attempts to conquer it, while saving many lives of their comrades. To them, we were the rock stars of the conflict.
"Major König?" said a young officer with a mustache. "I am Oberleutnant Fietje Bartz, current commander of the 5th Fortress Artillery Battery. The fort commander, Hauptmann Carsten Lerner, is waiting for you in his study. I am instructed to escort you to him."
"Lead the way." I said, looking one last time to the mages of the magic battalion. "Tragen you assume command in my absence. Behave yourselves; we're all on the same side: I don't want to see futile arguments."
"Yes sir!" the mages of the battalion roared, almost in the same breath. As much as I doubted that unnecessary conflicts would arise in my absence (partly because, when I wasn't around, it was Tragen in charge) every opportunity was good to check and evaluate discipline among my men.
I turned my back on my mages, and followed Oberleutnant Bartz into the narrow corridors of the fortress. In those small passages, there was just enough space for one person at a time (two at most, if you took into account my and Tanya's physique): useful for defense if the enemy managed to break through, but not very comforting, especially if you had claustrophobia issues. War is the realm of friction, the books I had studied at the Academy had said, and I had learned this bitter truth on my own skin, every day.
Finally, the walls widened again, and I found myself in an enclosed room with only one exit door (which was also the entrance). Inside the room, several filing cabinets, folding tables and chairs, a large solid wood table, two communications radios, with as many people working on them, and numerous maps, either hanging on the walls or arranged on the various tables. In particular, one map caught my attention: it was a colored map, showing the position of Fort Arnau and the enemy forces around it, with a man in a dark uniform, bent over it.
"Hauptmann!" Bartz said, greeting his own senior officer. "Major Frederick König, commander of the 205th Rapid Response Battalion of the Imperial Army Mage Corps."
The fortress commander, hearing my name, stood up, and looked in our direction. He was a man of average height, with a mustache and goatee, and his eyes were blue, cold as ice. The moment our gazes met, I had the impression that he could see past my face and into my soul.
"You may leave, Oberleutnant." he replied. The other junior officers and soldiers on duty in the room, who had been intrigued by me up to that point, also refocused on their jobs. Apparently, curiosity was not welcome in this room.
"Major." Hauptmann Lerner finally said to me, once the door closed again. "Allow me to express to you again, on behalf of myself and all the soldiers under my command, my sincerest thanks for what you have done to date. Without your support, this fortress would not have endured to this day."
"We have only done our duty, as mages of the Empire." I replied, keeping myself guarded. I was sure the commander of the stronghold's kind words were intentional, a means to soften me up and get my guard down before revealing what he wanted from me.
Could I stop him, in case our interests conflicted? I was a major, he was a captain, so my rank outranked his, but the hierarchical scale between us was not direct and technically we did not have the same superiors. Without prior approval from Strategic Headquarters, it would have been an interference in the hierarchical ladder, something my career could gladly do without.
"Without a doubt, Major. However, that does not diminish the magnitude of your actions. Although, I must admit I have never seen magic such as you have used today, against Republican cannons..."
That's where he was going with this, I thought as a siren in my head rang out to sound the alarm. Likely, the captain wanted to use his thanks as a means to gain insight into my spellcasting, fighting power, and more. Clearly such information would have appealed to someone, but who would be the beneficiary? The Strategic Headquarters, some ambitious general, the Imperial Family? Certainly not the Republic, since if he had been at its service the stronghold would not have remained standing until now.
"It was just an explosive medium-range bombing magic, already described by our training manuals. The apparent greater explosive and destructive power is only due to the different operational orb employed. Most Empire mages still use outdated models, with only one core, but the 205th and 203rd battalion mages already use the new models, with two cores."
"This... is the power of an operational orb with two cores?"
"No." I said. Lying wasn't going to do me any good, especially if the truth could be discovered with a simple check. Besides, I had (at least for now) no reason to hide this information.
"The operating orb I am currently using is an experimental model, prototype of the new one, with four cores."
Caught off guard, the captain took a step back. Even some of the other people present, who had heard my sentence and were standing behind Lerner, gave me worried looks.
"Four?!" Lerner said, fear appearing clean on his face.
"Failed Army magical project." I said in a monotone tone devoid of emotion. "Major Degurechaff and I were... selected, after our first engagement with the Entente, to assist Development Chief Engineer von Schugel in perfecting a new model of prototype operating orb, which was to replace the current ones. However, the models were... unstable. Each experiment ended in increasingly blatant failures. Although Major Degurechaff and I finally succeeded in stabilizing our orb specimens, our unrepeatable individual successes could not redeem the failures of the project, which was eventually shut down, and its resources deployed elsewhere."
"And yet... you seem to use it perfectly."
"The conditions that allow me to employ this orb have never been successfully replicated by any other mage than Major Degurechaff. The resources necessary for the research and development required to achieve this are currently unrealistic."
"So, only you and Degurechaff can currently do this?"
"Roughly, yes."
For a few seconds, none of us spoke. It seemed natural at the time, but now I know it was a mistake.
"I understand the situation. In any case, such skills might come in handy, during our next sortie..."
"Sortie?" I said, not expecting that word.
"Major, you and your battalion have aided us on numerous occasions, preventing the Republicans from storming the fortress, however, this has not prevented the subsequent reduction in our supply of provisions. Contrary to your assertions, the Imperial Air Force has not succeeded in its goal of resupplying all of the Imperial strongholds that remained trapped across the front line, and we have also received supplies far less than the quantities needed: currently, we have enough supplies to sustain the Republican attack for only three more weeks."
"But if that's the case, why do you want to attempt a sortie: do you perhaps hope to replenish your supplies by looting the Republicans' supplies?"
"That, however tempting, is unrealistic. But we have managed to coordinate with Strategic Headquarters, and to organize a contingency plan: our armored and mechanized forces, that is, what remains of our mobile reserves, will attack the Republican forces from the front while we, having left Fort Arnau, will attack them from behind. If the plan succeeds, we will be able to break through and rejoin our lines."
"It is an ambitious and risky plan." I said thoughtfully. "You will have to abandon your defenses, and all the heavy artillery. Moreover, you will leave a formidable fortification in the hands of the Republicans."
"We will use our remaining artillery ammunition and all our explosive supplies to sabotage the artillery and the fortress in such a way as to make it impossible for the Republicans to reuse it any time soon. Nevertheless, we'll be left in the open, with no artillery support, and we will be easy prey for the Republicans long-range guns and tanks, unless…"
"Unless you receive air support" I concluded, looking at him "Do the Strategic Headquarter agree with this?"
"Not yet, but it will soon. Believe me, major, I have some big friends who outclass and outrank both of us, and that consider me a pawn useful enough to don't discharge me at the first bad military situation."
That means I had made the right choice when I decided to not play bigger ranks with you, I smiled internally.
"You think the 205th Battalion will be more than enough to help your retreat?"
"Of course, especially if you can do replies of your little explosive spectacle of today. Of course, since I don't want to feel like I am blackmailing you, I believe it is right if I give you something to compensate for what you and your men will do."
"That is?"
"Bring it here!" he ordered to some of his men. They jumped up, and hurried outside of the room, returning with a small wood box.
"What is it?" I asked, dumbfounded. In response, the two soldiers removed the lock, so the content of the box was now visible to me.
My mouth opened of itself as I recognized… something.
"Tell me, Major: do we have an agreement?"
I looked at him, my mouth still open. Then, a demonic smile appeared on my lips.
"We have an agreement. And now, we have to get to work on it…"
