The War Chronicles of a Little Demon
Set in the Return Verse
A Saga of Tanya the Evil fic thingy.
By Sunshine Temple
Naturally, I do not own Youjo Senki. So here's the disclaimer:
Saga of Tanya the Evil its characters and settings belong Carlo Zen, Shinobu Shinotsuki, and NUT Co., Ltd.
Previous chapters and other works can be found at my fanfiction website.
Other website Temple of Ranma's Senshi Seifuku
C&C as always is wanted.
Chapter 13: Command, Control, Reconnaissance, & Revenge
We were outnumbered.
Our Polyxo Squadron of 12 Pilots, commanded by
Prefect Centurion Quirinus, faced a heavy squadron of at least 16 Zioxan Pilots. About 2 Flights of their Satori ground strike models and 2 of their Tjardu air superiority.
Making the situation worse, the Zioxans were supported by a network of Villeneuve golems that could fire Toulon anti-air missiles. The launchers came from House Trosier but were operated by the Diluvians. After all, the Diluvians had been the ones who had courted the support of the Great Houses of Ziox and Trosier for their struggle against minor House Crocelli. Proxy or not, the Diluvians remained the nominal enemy we were here to fight.
The worrying part of the current situation was the level of apparent coordination between this batch of Zioxan mercenaries and their Diluvian allies. Even a slipshod degree of active communication between the opposing forces would hand the squadron commanded by Samoth Rodswor control over a zone of airspace where they could operate freely and we would be hampered by missile barrage. With a proper level of communication, that already unpleasant situation worsened precipitously.
Fully integrated comms would enable the Zioxan forces to provide constantly updated targeting and guidance data for the salvos of Toulon missiles. From what information I could recall about Trosic weapons systems, their targeting systems should be fully compatible with Zioxan Ritual Plate scrying and sensor suits. The two Houses were strong allies and shared a mutual a fear of BlackSkyvian Ritual Plate, which had informed the development of their own systems.
The Tjardu was the fruit of this inter-House cooperation on weapons development. Based on the Rochefort, House Trosier's own air-superiority suit, the Tjardu retained the robustness of the ancestral design while improving on the efficiency and performance to a near-peer level with the Harmonia suit. Admittedly the cost in materials and enhancements represented by each Tjardu made them very expensive, even by Ritual Plate standards, and the Tjardu had an infamously steep learning curve for Pilots, but it was nevertheless san example of multi-House cooperation mad manifest.
That cooperation was at the root of this proxy war. And, plausible deniability aside, House Ziox had increased their commitment. And it was up to us to deal with it and keep our own House informed. Quirinus had finished updating Flight Ops and my Display updated.
According to Command there were now 2 Occultias in high altitude orbit over the theater. One of the most expensive and rare models feilded by House BlackSky, the Occultia was a reconnaissance specialized Ritual Plate equipped with advanced and powerful scrying systems. An Occultia pilot had to be skilled in operating, collating, and distributing the data intake on top of all the other qualifications a Pilot entrusted with one of the House's greatest weapons required.
Air combat was more than just who had the most weapons, the greatest thrust, or the most maneuverability. Though those were all useful things, accurate and up to date information on the tactical and strategic situation was equally if not more important. Information the Occultia suits specialized in providing.
Compared to the Computation Jewels of Visha and I's previous lives, fighting for another empire, Ritual Plate was bulky, expensive, and maintenance-intensive. It required a far more involved logistical backend in skilled support staff, parts, power systems, munitions and the like. And all for a system that had less maneuverability and reaction in the low-velocity regime.
Yet all that expense resulted in a combat platform that had a greater altitude ceiling, velocity, power distribution, operational radius, weapons options, and of greater concern to the informed: communications and data sharing.
It was an amusing synchronicity; in both of my "next lives", I had been strapped into advanced magical flight systems and sent off to act as an artillery spotter. And now, once again, I had been put back into the old familiar role of a spotter.
Except it was technically not artillery we were spotting this time, and our targets weren't grounded like a marching column of unwary infantry.
I would have preferred to simply have a Fleet Airship, or a Torpedo Bomber just fire a mass of Vel Missiles at the enemy. Fujiwara Aerial Torpedoes were large, expensive, and effective, and thus were in high demand.
However the assets we had did allow for something... close.
The Telephe Ritual Plate was House BlackSky's strike model. Their primary weapons were Lance batteries, extremely high power, relatively long-ranged weapons that could take out capital ships and other large assets. Their energy release could also be tuned to take out convoys as was done earlier tonight, but at a cost in efficiency.
The downside of Lances was that given the sheer level of specialized arcane energy required, a Telephe only had a handful of shots. Not to mention the breathtaking energy density of the lance's power flasks, or the expense in enchanting them with even a modicum of safety. Polyxo Advanced Multi-Role suits could be configured in a Strike Package which gave near parity, at the cost of a slightly reduced capability. Meanwhile, the, less capable but less expensive, Polydora Multi-Role had lower power, range, and capacity when it was configured with Lance batteries.
Quirinus had taken her squadron to the Vihn Garrison to provide ground support fire. She had 2 Flights of ground-attack configured Polyxo and 1 Flight in strike configuration.
Lances were not the most efficient way to go after most ground targets. But as I told Quirinus when I was just a Cadet and she was my instructor: a Lance strike makes for an unforgettable ground support run.
Flight Ops was vectoring in support and our House Crocelli allies in Vihn Garrison had some fixed-wing assets, mostly Barrister ground attack craft, and some Archer Ritual Plate suits, but the former were extremely vulnerable to the Zioxans and the latter were dealing with defending the Garrison itself.
So, Quirinus had 3 Flights to play with. My Flight was the one with the best scrying equipment, and I would argue also at least the second best Flight in terms of combat skill. Given First Flight's presence, thought, there wasn't really much question about how Quirinus would use my Flight.
Going in low and fast, my Flight came in with more power to our Veils. The heavy rain made for a greater challenge and power consumption, but the longer we could obfuscate our targets the better.
Our path was going to put us in line with a grain elevator to the east of the town. Past it was a concentration of Diluvian infantry, a mortar formation, and a cluster of their air defense network. The enemy concentration was a textbook target.
Having a Flight of ground-attack Polyxo scout, strafe, and provide targeting data for a Flight of Strike Polyxo, despite facing superior enemy numbers was the type of aggressive challenge bordering on contempt our enemies often expected.
We flew into the teeth of the Villeneuve air defenses and a waiting heavy Squadron. As the range decreased it would get harder and harder to conceal our approach.
House BlackSky had a reputation for bellicosity. Among the service branches, the Imperial Legions had a esprit de corps reflecting their role as airborne shock infantry. And of the Legionary specializations, the Volantes Centurions, the Ritual Plate Pilots had the most speed and personal firepower.
A degree of recklessness and arrogance would be expected for any Pilot. Now, consider a young Countess who got that title for taking out nine Zioxan Pilots from the Second Assault Infiltration Wing, including the War Mistress in command.
Would said War Mistress' sister be surprised when she sees the Countess' Flight, at a close enough range my wings will be rather identifying, charging into battle? Samoth saw me fight alone at eleven when outnumbered 9 to 1. My Flight versus her Squadron was still 4 to 1.
Would she think I was that conceited? That I was another BlackSkyvian war-maniac young noble?
I hoped she would.
Samoth struck me as arrogant, and if she was half the woman her sister was, she should come into it. Breathing and checking my telemetry I reflected that this plan required us having the superior psychological profile of the enemy commander.
"GreyDawn, VioletBlood! Pull in, increase your speed," I said over the Flight channel. They had been flying in at a proper distance. Not the one prescribed by the book, but the correct covering range given our situation. I did not want proper, I wanted them to look gung-ho, to look aggressive.
Based on the composite imagery from our Gorgon Rigs' passive intakes and the various active scrying feeds, it looked like a Tjardu Flight was moving towards us. Both enemy Flights of Satori were a bit behind them to provide support and the last Tjardu was on a central higher altitude overwatch post.
Their positioning lacked the fluidity of a truly well-trained squadron, but at least they were not holding static positions. A fault many Pilots with poor experience is that they would hover at a given location, take a fixed following distance, or move in some other predictable pattern that made them easy targets.
In this case both Tjardu Flights were reasonably placed to respond to anything a smaller BlackSkyvian formation could do, and they were taking advantage of the anti-air missiles on their side.
If anything, they had a bit more distance and were retaining more of a reserve of energy potential being at a higher velocity and altitude, as if they were worried about facing Harmonia, and not RP suits with less velocity and high speed maneuverability.
They were playing to their perceived relative strengths. Lighter and with greater turning capability, they were worried about Air Superiority Polyxo, which like the Harmonia had greater protection and overall speed. Granted the Harmonia was a bit better in those regards than either model, but it showed an expectation on the party of the enemy.
I was thankful for the Occultia support, as the Tjardu was supposedly an easier platform to Veil, which with their overall lower power systems did make sense. Without the additional scrying support we might have missed them until we were much closer.
"They seem to be skilled enough," Visha noted on a private channel.
"At forming up and flying low-profile," I replied. But she was right, the Tjardu had a steeper learning curve than BlackSkyvian suits. Part of that was that the design was a cobbling of two different House's design philosophies, arcana, and parts.
Their whole concept of making the Tjardu to fight the Harmonia reflected institutional biases and how doctrine should be limited to what a polity has the resources to invest. The Harmonia was actually the less expensive suit. This both came from advantages of scale and experience. House BlackSky simply produced more Ritual Plate suits. MuArc
Amalgamated constructed more suits in a month than all of House Ziox produced in a year. And MuArc was just one firm that made Ritual Plate.
And when it came to Harmonia versus Tjardu production numbers, technically House Ziox had not built any of their air-superiority Ritual Plate. They purchased the core enchanted components, essentially stripped suits, from House Trosier. Not to mention, they had a far smaller pool or Pilots and Instructors for their Ritual Plate corps.
I gave a forced grin. "Uplink check," I transmitted on the command channel. My Display had the symbol for a valid connection with Flight 1, but it would have been sloppy to not verify.
"We are getting telemetry from all four of you," Quirinus replied. "We're seeing a lot of good ground targets."
"And more?" I asked as I had my Flight go even lower, again, into a textbook ground attack run.. We were practically skimming over the rooftops of Vihn now.
My feathered wings tingled with the stress my Zephyr were under as they pushed me forward. The ground-attack mode for the Polyxo sacrificed velocity, climb, and high speed maneuvering for more weapons systems, protection, and low velocity capability.
Which meant that even though the Tjardu cost more than a Harmonia for what I evaluated as the inferior suit, it was still an air superiority model that by the basic stats could fly circles around my own Flight's equipment.
It was one thing to say how overall the Tjardu could compete with the Harmonia, but only at a far greater cost in resources, logistics, and Pilot skill, and thus that on a given campaign my House would field more air-superiority Ritual Plate than House Ziox.
But that ignored that House Ziox did make use of fixed-wing assets, both piloted and golem craft Which did have advantages against Ritual Plate, provided one was willing to be limited to airbases or large naval carriers. Also Zioxan strategy depended on having allies to support them in any major action against a larger enemy.
But more importantly... on the tactical level. House Ziox planned to use concentrations of force and focus on enemy Ritual Plate when they had local superiority in numbers and capability.
Such as this exact situation.
"Sprint Mode. Sprint Mode, Prepare for Ranging Fire" I stated and then pushed my Zephyr to what would seem like their max. "Violet make sure you don't actually get out of formation," I cautioned my most... excitable pilot.
The four did what seemed like a redline thrust, especially given how our emissions shot up. It would also put a spotlight on how the four of us were in a ground attack configuration. Our formation spread out as it looked like each of us was rushing and we were about to lose cohesion.
It was something that a stereotypical, or at least hidebound, Flight Instructor would twist the horns on her students if she caught them making such a sloppy formation. However... a sensible Volantes Centurion would note that we still had mutual support in both angles of fire, scrying, and maneuverability.
And given the Instructor I had as a Cadet was my Squadron commander.. well I doubted a fellow bearer of the Honor Name "Magnus" would be upset with me.
Especially since Prefect Volantes Centurion Artemis Magnus
Quirinus was the one who came up with this plan and approved of my adjustments to my Flight's part in it...
On my Display, the four markers of my Flight raced towards a series of roughly concentric lines that represented various ranges of the Toulon missile. My vision was assaulted with a nearly overwhelming amount of visual data from the view out my eye lenses to the display projection with its overlays and maps, targeting data, to ancillary rear views.
Much of Ritual Plate design theory involved finding ways to reduce visual clutter while allowing for quick reference and managing to keep things informative. Not to mention battle-hardening the various spells projecting the illusions.
It all melted back as I no longer saw the Display and simply took in the data holistically and integrated it with the suit, my Zephyr, and my Flight.
The closer Tjardu Flight pushed their own air spirits and dove down making use of what standard theory told them was a superior position and moving to make use of it. As the faster air superiority suits moved in to intercept us, the two Flights of Satori suits split into two wedges. One took position flanking the Tjardu, gamely attempting to keep up, while the other held back over the rough center of the enemy ground position.
We were outnumbered Three Flights to One, two to one if you were optimistic.
And then all Villeneuve anti-air golems opened up and the sky filled with dozens of the light, quick Toulon missiles. Ah, and on the way up they snap-changed their vectors after the initial climb. It was likely that the Zioxan suits had full coordination with the missiles.
I grinned. Perfect.
The telemetry was a bit overwhelming. The warning indicators were suddenly quite insistent. Fortunately, all the telemetry data was still being transmitted.
My estimation of Samoth increased slightly. I had expected her to gloat over the open channel. Maybe she was being cautious as my Flight was still far enough that we could reverse and fight a retreat.
She might not have been in that forward Tjardu Flight, but she was somewhere up here.
"Lance Strike away!" Quirinus stated as she and the three other Pilots in her Flight opened fire.
There was a brief window where a more cautious Zioxan force would have been on alert. Quirinus' Flight had just released a quartet bolts of extremely energetic long range evocation magical attacks. However, the Tjardu Flight was moving in to take out my Flight and the Satori were guiding missiles.
Besides, Lance Strikes were for large air targets or ground formations. And at that range, it would be hard to target individual Ritual Plate suits.
Except, my Flight was very experienced at providing targeting data.
"Eyes!" I ordered over the Flight channel; this was going to be very close.
As the Lances shot in, someone in the leading Tjardu Flight realized the mistake and tried to maneuver, but it was too late. And the long-range bombardment detonated among the enemy Ritual Plate formations.
Lances were very intricate high energy arcane creations. As a way for Ritual Plate to carry strike-capable armaments, the detonation mechanism was a major component. A Lance was designed to be able to pierce, or failing that weaken, wards, burn through armor and then detonate, or explode in an airburst above a target.
On first blush, it was a terribly inefficient use of limited firepower. Even with Occultia and Gorgon Rig targeting only three of the enemy Ritual Plate were hit. I was not a fan of waste, but it was gratifying to see.
A Lance was designed to punch through the defenses of a capital ship. Even taking a fraction of the Lance's power, a Ritual Plate's Wards stood little chance. It was like using a sledgehammer on a grasshopper.
It was hard to hit such a small and quick target, but if you could. And three Pilots were caught in the center of the giant blinding white orbs and the twinkling afterimages of the strikes.
Taking out a single Tjardu and two Satori were merely the largest casualties of the strike. The Lances had been set to air burst. Thus several more RP were damaged as well as a fair number of Toulon missiles. The missiles were further out, but they were entirely unshielded.
Most useful for my Pilots however was that the three Flights caught in the energetic blasts had their scrying arrays overloaded. It was maybe a bit much to hope that the Zioxan Pilots were blinded. RP Suits were supposed to have reactive eye slits, but either way they would be disoriented.
The trio of Trjardu kept formation, but given one of them had been deleted from the sky and another was sparking as her low-visibility systems failed it showed they were taking a moment to react. Sprinting at our actual full speed, my Flight dove in to deny them that time.
"Grey, Baroness, hit the straggler!" I ordered as the four of us fired our
Falx Projectors.
Visha and I each fired once on the two least damaged Trjardu while the fully visible one was hit by one anti-armor grade weapon and another. The first shot might not have gone through her wards but the second ensured it.
The luckless Zioxan blew apart. And now we outnumbered the air-superiority fighters two to one.
The remaining two Trjardu recovered and used their agility to survive the attacks Visha and I leveled. They twisted and shot towards us. And then GreyDawn and VioletBlood went after the trailing fighter who twisted up to avoid them and went into a sharp climb.
Which allowed me to take the last Zioxan fighter with my wingwoman at my side. "Visha clear any missiles that get on us!" I ordered, knowing that GreyDawn would be similarly protecting her wingwoman.
The Trjardu might be faster than us, but we had already closed in. They could run, but they were outnumbered and bolting might expose them to parting fire. As we eviscerated this air superiority flight, Mercy's Flight pounced on the Satori. She was outnumbered three to two, but two of the Zioxan Multi-role were in bad shape and they were split between defending themselves and guiding anti-air missiles.
They could fight Ritual Plate that was fresh and had the edge in performance, or they could spend valuable time reacquiring connections and controls with the remaining Toulon missiles.
Or they could pull back and have the Villeneuve golems launch more missiles, but that was when Quirinus' Flights launched their remaining two salvos and took out much of the Diluvian ground assets.
That left one uncommitted Trjardu Flight, and while Quirinus' flight was down to their backup projectors, the dirty secret was that a BlackSkvyian Strike model Ritual Plate suit was functionally an interceptor in performance and could work as a fair air superiority platform.
Distance meant that even with their higher speed the strike Polyxo would take a bit of time to get to the remaining Trjardu Flight but that they were vectoring in preventing Samoth from freely committing her reserve.
My wings ached as I did a snap roll to avoid incoming fire; this Trjadu Pilot had mostly gotten out of her stupor and was trying to reunite with her wingwoman. Meanwhile Visha was doing her part to help us threaten and limit the enemy's maneuverability as well as take out incoming missiles.
The Toulon was a light weapon, a single was unlikely to score a kill against a warded Pilot, and mostly worked by swarming enemy Ritual Plate. Its main role was as a relatively inexpensive air denial asset, but with airborne target spotting could be used in a more active role.
GreyDawn and VioletBlood were similarly pressuring their enemy and similarly by outnumbering the Zioxan in a close range fight had limited the Trjardu's advantages. Their low observable systems were less effective the closer one was.
Rolling, I adjusted my Falx-fire giving careful shots with the projector. Already slowed down, one of the orange bolts took down her warding and roasted the Pilot's pale blue wings. That this Pilot had refrained from reacting meant she was either not Samoth, or that Samoth had more self control than I thought.
"Visha!" I shouted as I slowed and switched to using Pilum bolt covering fire to stave off the remaining missiles.
Visha had been flying a bit higher and faster in a flanking position and had a perfect angle. "Enemy down," she stated after taking a perfect shot.
"I got mine too!" VioletBlood said over the Flight channel after a few more seconds.
I glanced at that part of my Display. VioletBlood had taken them out, and Mercy's Flight had gotten the better of the enemy Satori. Mostly by picking off the most damaged Ritual Plate and then conservatively harassing the three remaining survivors while warding off incoming fire. "That's great Baroness, but not time to rest on your laurels. There's still a contest to be won!" I cheered in my motivational tone and the four of us took off to the rest of the enemy formations.
"Diamond Flight, good work," Quirinus stated. "My Flight is also maneuvering to the remaining Trjardu Flight. Ground Fire is still an issue."
I quickly studied the map on my Display. There were marks for airborne assets other than the deep purple of House BlackSky and the dark blue of House Ziox. "What about the Garrison's Archers and Barristers? With us taking out these 'mercenaries' their Ritual Plate can be moved out and as long as the Barristers have some rockets left..."
The Barrister was a rugged and cheap fixed-wing aircraft that could takeoff and land on fairly short and rough runways. Another Alecton export, it mostly worked as a platform for carrying wing-loads and a belly-full of minimally guided rockets. Though the Barrister could also carry bombs and more expensive munitions, if their operators could afford them. The weakness of the Barrister was that just about any Ritual Plate, or fixed-wing fighter would have a fairly trivial time taking them out, but that was why their rockets had a fair range.
Quirinus took a moment to ponder. "I'll call it in," she stated.
My eyes widened, if she thought I was some gung-ho maniac who would rather engage in air to air duels than obey orders and do critical ground support missions... Being assigned tasks more suited to such a mentality would be the least of my worries. "I just think it's the most sound use of all our resources!" I quickly assured her.
"I'm well aware you're not unduly worried about your little bet, now let me talk to our local allies."
At least Mercy's formation was closer and providing support to her was entirely valid.
Seeing they were about to be hit by another Flight, the remaining Satori tried to position themselves and used their remaining missiles to cover it. I had to give them credit for not breaking and maneuvering under control.
They were also trying to reunite with the Trjardu Flight. Not even two minutes had passed since the first Lance strike and so the four air superiority Ritual Plate were nearing their remaining allies.
And Quirinus Flight was still a bit out, but the Archers and the Barristers by the Garrison were moving. It was now a race.
One that we lost.
The Trjardu Flight reunited with their beleaguer allies and now without the pressure the guidance on the Toulon missiles improved. One of Mercy's Pilots was hit. She took out most of the attacks, but enough missiles got in to take out her wards and damage her armor, and a pair of Ziox air superiority RP destroyed the Polyxo.
In that instant I did not know who it was, I hoped it was not Octavia. Trjardu fighters moved in and tried to split off another Polyxo while the others were forced out by the missiles. Another Pilot was hit as her suit was briefly engulfed in flames and she slowed and started to descend. One of the other Pilots went to cover her, which left just one Polyxo remaining free to move. This was the weakness of the Flight as a combat unit. After the first casualty, any further combat losses would render the Flight combat ineffective.
And then my Pilots came in and fired a Falx salvo, and what had been a moment of Zioxan numerical superiority and defeat in detail turned back into a BlackSkyvian advantage.
Or at least we could get time. With some space we could get it to be at least seven versus seven. And Quirinus would not be far behind.
"Mercy Flight, check your wounded, and get-" I said over the squadron channel, there was a chance Mercy had been killed or incapacitated.
"I'm okay!" Octavia assured with a cough, "I've got my suit rebooted." To her credit she was flying better and the flames were out. Though one leg was bent in a way that indicated she would not be walking anytime soon.
"Yes, Diamond, you can take the Trjardu fighters, we'll finish off the Satori," Mercy gritted out; I could feel her anger. It took professionalism to set aside one's personal vengeance to the benefit of the unit.
But that was why we were the Imperial Legions and not the armed rabble of some warlord. Or a War Mistress.
It was interesting that no one in either Trjardu Flight used an overpowered attack similar to the ones the late Zaphania Rodswor was using. Though Samoth was the younger sister.
I was tempted to use the open channel, but I held back. One only got one chance to make a first impression, and I wanted to make my introduction special.
The Trjardu were gaining altitude and pulling to open a range advantage. That was expected, it played to the advantage of faster, yet more fragile suits. However they could not leave, not if they wanted to support the remaining Satori
Who I had to admit were fighting like angels. And having met an archangel, I can't say the idiom is wrong.
I ordered my Flight to go to our Falx projectors, we were running dangerously low on them, but they had the furthest range of the weapons we had. "Curve around to the following vector," I then said over the Flight channel.
The idea was to force the Trjardu Flight to choose between supporting the Satori where they would be pinned between my Flight and Quirinus' or abandon their allies.
It came down to timing. Would Quirinus get in first? Would the Barristers get into range to launch their air-to-ground missiles? How many anti-air missiles could the Villeneuve golems get off before getting hit? Would the Satori pilots be able to take out another one of my squadron-mates using their superior directing of those Toulon missiles?
How many Archers could the Garrison dedicate to this fight? What about the reinforcements Flight Ops was sending? How many of their Cadiz Ritual Plate would the Diluvians send into this fight?
The Diluvians had been repositioning for another attack on the Garrison but with their "mercenary" allies committed to fighting us instead of knocking out House Crocelli's air assets.
The map Display was getting even more dynamic and crowded with icons. And this was a relatively small squadron-level event.
Fire came in from the Trjardu Flight. They each picked a member of my flight to hit, which was likely more suppressive in intent. They moved for a quick fly-by and were going too blast past us to reinforce the Satori.
"Focus to wingwomen," I transmitted on the Flight channel. highlighting the two trailing members of the enemy formation.
We were slower but had heavier weapons and more protection. Our two formations scissored through each other in compels screwing and jinking maneuvers as each tried to hit the other. It was still dangerously close by Ritual Plate combat standards, but as spread out as we were there was no chance of us physically hitting each other, let alone being within sword range.
Zioxan energy blasts hit my wards and warning lights flicked on all over my display before the wards cut out. I grit my teeth as the status alerts went off for GreyDawn and VioletBlood. Neither was as bad as I was but my more experienced Pilot was having bad luck today.
Though the Trjardu Pilots had it worse. While everyone in my Flight had taken a bit of damage, VioletBlood and GreyDawn had managed to cleanly take out one of theirs while Visha and myself had burned through the wards of another.
I was splitting between rekindling my own wards and directing those two to take out the straggler. And then the sky got very busy and many things resolved at once.
Escorted by Archers, the heavy, canted-winged Barristers had gotten into an attack run as they neared the range and were about to and disgorged their load of Advocate air-to-ground missiles.
Like the Barrister, the Advocate was a basic and inexpensive, unsophisticated option for ground attack. It was heavier than an energy-based system with a far larger footprint, but given they were intended to be launched from fixed wing assets that was not considered an issue.
The Advocate missile and the Barrister ground attack craft made for an appealing option for a minor house looking to pummel ground forces on a budget, especially as House Alecto had many financing options.
Flipping over there was an instant as the heavy rain pattered directly against my suit and helmet. For a moment it was like being in a trench with a sheet metal roof. I could almost smell the mud of the Rhine.
Knowing their air defense systems were at risk, the Diluvians launched all their Toulon missiles, the Villeneuve running empty as they extended their internal magazines. The heavy cloud of sprinting little anti-air missiles went up in the direction of the Barristers.
Even with Archers providing an anti-missile screen, the Diluvians had a chance to take out a number of Barristers before they could reply in kind. But instead of keeping their vector, the bulk of the Toulon missiles twisted, and now rocketed in towards us.
The Zioxans still had direct control!
Not to take a better chance at survival, the Barristers disgorged their missiles and twisted away, hoping their escorts could protect them. I had an instant to appreciate the Diluvians cursing Zioxan perfidy as the realization hit.
The Toulon missile direction had been quite good but this action seemed personal. "Samoth's in one of the Satori!" I stated over the Squadron channel as my wards flared back. There was no reason that Samoth Rodswor's expertise had to lay with air superiority combat.
Our Ritual Plate forces were in a big intermixed column that stretched over the battlefield. Quirinus' Strike Flight was diving down to blast through the Trjardu and Mercy's depleted Flight had pulled to a more defensive posture and was engaging in anti-missile suppression.
"Quirinus, Mercy request your Flights cover mine, mine's in the best position to charge the Satori!" I ordered as I had my Flight increase our power to slice to the remaining Zioxan forces.
It was then that I realized that if my theory was right Samoth would be directing the majority of the missiles she had usurped to cross my vector from as many angles as possible in order to limit my maneuvering and saturate my defenses.
Sometimes I hated being correct.
"Visha, Violet, I'm going to clear the road, you two take any stragglers. GreyDawn trail position and fire on the Satori I highlight when I tell you with the weapon I tell you!" I ordered as I went to a near vertical corkscrewing dive.
The remaining Satori multi-role suits were below us and an arcing cloud of Toulon missiles came between us. They rose up and came in at different angles and all focused on me.
I pulled my lips back, there was something to be said for brute force as I flipped to the open channel. "Samoth! Is this the value of Zioxan oaths?" I asked as I started Pilum bolts as fast as my targeting system could allow as I spun and twisted.
Exhaling, I went to active with my Gorgon rig and focused on the remaining Flight or so of Satori. One of the Pilots had dark feathered wings, another had a long ruffled tail, one might have had hooves. And one.... one was lean and had her wings spread out and was managing a bit stiffly as if she had an extra load splitting her attention.
"You are no mercenary! Even a basic sell-sword knows not to betray their client in such a debased manner!" I declared as missiles began to explode around me and on the ground the Advocates reaped their cost as the air-to-ground warheads cut through the Diluvian air defense, mortars, and vehicles.
That pilot might have flinched in her suit. She might have tilted her head to look up as she, and the rest of her Flight had rotated up and more missiles came in. It was a thin thing to identify a target on, especially if Samoth might have looked nothing like her sister.
But it was what I had. Still firing, taking the brunt of near misses that Visha and Violet had blasted that got past me. Pushing my Zephyr as far as they could go I pushed the targeting data to GreyDawn.
Above us Quirinus' Flight took on the remaining Trjardu.
I could not spare any attention for that bit of air combat. The good news was that it seemed we had found Samoth. More good news was that nearly all the pressure had been taken off Mercy's survivors which enabled them to clear out some of the anti-air missiles that had been targeting them and others. They even started to pressure the enemy directly.
This all came at a cost. A lot of Toulon missiles had been fired. Thanks to the fire support from the Garrison's air assets the amount in the air was all that remained, but there was still a large amount.
Fortunately, they were directed at one target which meant that a layered defense could be enacted. Mercy's Flight gave some sporadic but useful fire as, at the moment, they were closer to the enemy RP directing the Toulons.
And with less concerns about their own anti-missile defense, Visha and VioletBlood could give an interlocking Pilum fire that was quite efficient. GreyDawn was also contributing but her fire was more offensive. For the moment I had her making careful shots of what was normally a short ranged weapon system. Dozens of missiles were taken out of the sky before they got anywhere near their target.
That being the bad news. I was left with an intensifying amount of incoming ordnance. The Toulon's main advantages were also its limitations. It was a small, specialized missile designed as a defensive anti-Ritual Plate system and given its size an individual Trossic Naval Infantrywoman could have a launcher with multiple missiles, and the Villeneuve could fire over a dozen before reloading.
I could argue that the larger, and more flexible, Vel Missile House BlackSky used was the superior weapon system. But facing a swarm of Toulons I had neither the time nor the inclination.
My emitters, runes, and inlays flared as I fired both my Pilum and Falx Projectors. It was a profligate waste to use anti-armor grade weapons against missiles. But it was better to spend them now than die with an ammunition reserve. I even used my relatively short ranged Veritum launcher to lob explosive spells at anything that got through the other barrages.
As it fired an unguided, unpowered projectile, Veritum was a limited weapon system. Most Ritual Plate Pilots saw it as an auxiliary weapon system. Useful for specialized ground bombardment or anti-mage roles. The small size of the "pebbles" launched lack or propulsion, and that the energy was stored in a physical projectile made it harder to detect than other munitions.
Despite various management systems sweat had started to pool. Which given my inverted angle meant that it was trickling up my neck seal. Missiles exploded around me, as I flicked and maneuvered. But like my scrying systems I could not focus solely on air defense. This mad dash had a purpose.
More than being a missile magnet.
Visha and VioletBlood did their best, and GreyDawn continued her careful, precise firing solution.
Sweat dripped off my chin and my Display flickered with a series of blasts that hit my wards. The status board of my suit flicked from mostly green to a lot of angry orange as many fault alerts went off. I flicked over the board and was relieved that my Gorgon Rig and the data uplink were still functional.
"Prideful, parasitic Countess, did you really think you were strong enough to challenge a` Rodswor?" Samoth purred over the open channel.
Just a bit longer. Various lines had almost started to intersect on my Display.
"GreyDawn, would you kindly?" I ordered over the Flight channel.
Samoth's words continued as missiles blew up as I curled into a ball. "Maybe you took in a bit much of my sister's pride and n-"
The Blue Daisy pebbles that GreyDawn had seeded the sky with detonated. The heavy rain was some benefit as it provided a bit of scatter to help obscure the unpowered, tiny projectiles. Not to mention Samoth was busy managing a lot of missiles while doing air-to-air combat and evading while in a very busy sky.
Maybe her scrying systems missed them, maybe they were not seen as a priority. Munitions designed to clear trees and make landing zones blue up among the Zioxan flight. Well a handful did, most had drifted too far away in their flights, but enough did.
The Veritum Launcher was a limited system. Given the maneuverability of Ritual Plate, it would take a rare circumstance to have the enemy not simply fly out of range. However, imagine you were diving on an enemy. That helped mitigate the range issues. Provided the enemy wanted to stay in roughly a known area.
But that would require being able to goad the enemy into meeting one head-on. And even then... well someone had to focus all their scrying capability on providing targeting data.
Still firing against the incoming, I smirked over the view of two of the remaining Satori being critically damaged by the Blue Daisies and the dazed remainder jumped by Mercy's Flight.
Then my wards failed.
Samoth might not be able to direct the enemy incoming; the dumbly loyal Toulon still came in. My display flickered as I curled into a ball and I felt the armor on my leg get blasted apart, a side of my torso take a hit that bloomed with pain and a sickly wetness that now started to flood down my neck. I started to tumble and what had been a dive turned into an uncontrolled fall as my Zephyr reacted to my pain.
Something hit the back of my helmet. Maybe a bit of debris or a small fragment, it could not have been that big of a deal, as I was still alive. The medical system made it obvious given the warnings it was flashing and the analgesics and coagulants and other injections.
The status board had turned all sorts of ominous colors. It was interesting that one could become lightheaded when head down. I thought all the blood would pool towards the brain. I could see plenty of blood headed towards me.
I still had my Falx Projector and one Pilum, but something must have happened as my accuracy was wrong, even without full Display support I should not be this sluggish or... floaty.
Oh good, LoveBlood was still taking out the last of the missiles, and Visha was flying far too close to me for regulations. Odd, I knew all the Flight Ops alerts and all the suit alarms, but I was not familiar with one that was just a long steady ring. It was really hard to hear anything else.
I then laughed at the altimeter. I wondered which would drop surface altitude, that or the falling suits of Samoth and her Pilots.
Comforting my Zephyr, I noticed something coming over the command channel but it was hard to hear.
Then Visha grabbed me. I would have to reprimand her for breaking formation, but things were starting to grey out. At least my wingwoman stopped me from spinning uncontrollably, though I still had an embarrassing level of vertigo and wondered if my instruments were broken, as something was wrong.
At least my Zephyr were happy to be near Visha's. I made a note to do more training with our air spirits, to give them some more intellectual stimulation. After that it got very hard to think.
++++++
A downside of my species healing capabilities meant that I was rotated back to Forward Operating Base
EmeraldInferno with worrying speed. Granted I did have a couple days to enjoy the facilities of our main base in House Crocelli, and I got to spend some time with Octavia and Primus Caenis, Quirinus's second in command.
There were also very polite conversations with medicos specializing in Trauma Accumulation over multiple days before we were sent back. Without us the 6th Squadron was down to 2 Flights. Though there was no bringing back Antonia FlashTalon.
Our flight back to
EmeraldInferno was on a resupply Umbra, at least we had a good escort. Still part of me was anxious at being a passenger in an aircraft. At least this time there was no expectation for me to jump out in midair.
When I returned, I found my Polyxo had also been repaired, but my Ritualista team had a few more things to check out. Tests that could only be done with the Pilot inside the Ritual Plate.
Thus I was back in the hangar annex, wearing my Polyxo, and my crew chief Optio Suzette Gibbs was up to her forearms in the interior of the lower parts of the right leg of my armor.
"Ma'am, there are limits to how much damage the maneuvering and power systems are supposed to take," she stated in that polite but firm tone all mechanics used when they were talking to pilots who had abused
their machines.
"I'll note that the next time I'm being deluged by missiles," I stated, trying not to cough at the incense one of her assistants, IvoryTail, had lit before she started working on my helmet's systems, which had a bright spot in the back where a dent had been removed. The white haired Ritualista, IvoryTail, ran an emerald-tipped probe down the engravings on the inside and outside of my helmet. Her green eyes narrowed in focus as she checked that the enchantments had been repaired.
A golden-haired, pony-tailed blonde, Flavia, was setting up a casting for my power and weapons systems, complete with the working circle over the power cell and cabling to the various parts that would simulate feeds to propulsion or wards. Only a bit taller than me, and probably only due to her dainty hooves, Flavia was setting up an evocation to make sure the suit's energy distribution artificing was solid. It was only a low-power test. If the suit passed that, then Flavia would do another full power test, in an isolated, shielded part of the hangar, without me in it.
My Flight Armor had already passed a full power proof test yesterday, but I did not object to another test. It was prudent and part of the procedures. The fourth Ritualista on my crew, Laurentia whose dark blue skin contrasted nicely with her pale braided hair, was using a Legion issue wind chime, ostensibly more robust than a civilian version, to commune with my Zephyr to make sure they were happy and comfortable. The actual flight tests to make sure they could provide the necessary thrust and maneuvering would come later.
Gibbs snorted and adjusted a few struts and went to the lower part of my boot. "How's the fit?"
"It feels like I'm wearing high heels." I flatly stated. "You know I had my calf muscle blown out?"
"You're fine, Ma'am," Gibbs stated. "That's easy to grow back. Do you know how much of your suit's power systems I had to redo? The other Ritualista complained about me taking too much from our parts stores to do it."
I gave her a flat look. I knew she was just venting; no Ritualista would spend limited parts to fix one heavily damaged suit when the same parts could repair three lightly damaged RP. Triage was applied to more than just physical injuries.
Though that was just an example as not all parts were not fungible. Despite work on making commonality of components to ease maintenance and logistics, Ritual Plate were still extremely complicated weapons systems.
My team continued to fuss and test over my Ritual Plate. It was soothing and comfortable to be back into my suit. The familiarity and power was back and I found I wanted to get back into the air.
"Impressive work," I said after reviewing the diagnostics for myself.
"It's a good thing you've got the best Ritualista team in the squadron," Gibbs confidently said. "Realigning your Falx and Pilum emitters is normally a four hour process."
"Good job," I said, praising my crew and trying not to cough at the incense. The Zephyr did like it so I would endure.
After a few more tests, they undid the various latches and let me out of my Ritual Plate. Flexing my wings and stretching my tail, I then rolled my shoulders and adjusted my flight suit.
"We'll have everything ready for when your Flight gets on Standby status," Gibbs assured, gesturing to three suits in addition to mine.
I bowed my horns to her and the rest of the maintainers and stepped out of the annex. Outside it was another sweltering day, at least it was just lightly raining, no more than a drizzle, and the overhead camouflage netting gave some shade.
Going around the hangar I found the quiet spot, which had a metal improvised roof now and a few scavenged seats in addition to the bench. Lares and GreyDawn were back there watching out over the mortar pits and the artillery positions.
The hulking Forest Person sat in a chair that was made out of a pair of pallets and some ropes. It was large enough to fit his frame. GreyDawn sat on the bench. She offered me her canteen.
"Good to see the local boy from Eastern Province is doing well," I said after taking a swig.
Lares shrugged. "Good to have you back."
"Oh, was there trouble with me gone?" I looked to GreyDawn.
"Of course not, the Baroness was a shining example of BlackSkyvian noble virtues," GreyDawn dryly said taking back the canteen and having a swig of her own.
"And Visha?" I asked, glancing up. A Spatha Light VTOL was coming in for a landing. I did not recall any Recon Patrols were coming back at this moment. Wait no, that was not one of the Spatha assigned to
EmeraldInferno.
GreyDawn shrugged. "Everyone likes Visha."
I sighed. "I'll talk with LoveBlood."
"Among other talks?"
"Quirinus has gone over the action reports with us." Caenis and myself had actually helped draft some of them while we recovered, which were supplemented by the actual combat recordings and the work Quirinus and Mercy were doing. I nodded to the older woman. "We did good. You did good."
"I heard it got pretty heavy out by Vihn," Lares noted. "Not just Ziox suits but actual Pilots too.
"Yeah, Ziox decided to commit forces," GreyDawn said.
I wangled a finger, my tail swishing. "Those were technically mercenaries. Samoth Rodswor tendered a formal complaint to her Dictatrix and is operating independently on a personal vendetta."
"Against your squadron?" Lares asked.
"Against me, for killing her sister," I added.
The big shaggy yeti stared at me. "That thing from when you were twelve, in all the cinema newsreels. That's what this is all about."
I shrugged. "It's an excuse. I guess she sounded mad and tried to taunt me, but that could have just been to get plausible deniability."
"It could be personal, too; I mean how would you feel if some kid in an unarmed cadet suit killed one of your sisters?" he asked.
I glanced to GreyDawn who flicked her tail noncommittally. "Given my older sisters are far better Pilots than I am? Pretty impressed."
Lares raised his heavy brows. "Your mother is Duchess SilverFlight."
"One of them," I cheerfully said.
"The rest of our Flight are in the barracks," GreyDawn said.
"Together?"
"Well no, Visha's in her rack reading, and LoveBlood was catching up with Octavia in the mess, at least that's where they were when I left out here."
I bowed my horns to her. "Thanks, we'll talk more later."
Trying to do my best to stay behind the visibility barriers, I went to the low-slung prefab and then sandbagged the building complex that made up most of the barracks. Samoth was right in that it would not take too much in terms of intelligence operations to look for a Ritual Plate Pilot with a rare wing style and coloration. Especially one who was part of a Squadron of a somewhat rarer Ritual Plate model.
The barracks themselves were clean enough, and were cooler than the outside, though the humidity was bad. Still the living conditions, and the food made FOB
EmeraldInferno on the upper end of postings.
Which was more of a sign of how bad military postings could be, instead of a suggestion that this was a comfortable posting. I saluted the guards with a tap on my neck and ducked through the doorway, making sure to use a side entrance to avoid the mess area.
I wanted to talk to my wingwoman first.
As Centurions, the Pilots got slightly nicer accommodations. Though out here that came to the dozen, eleven now, of us were split into a couple rooms. The fifty or so Ritualista were also split up. The other squadron was similarly split up.
This was the classic issue of centralization versus decentralization. Having all your Pilots, and their maintainers, in one area meant that a single strike could take them all out. However spreading them out meant they were harder to defend and it might be easier to slip in infiltrators or other attacks.
Drawing on their experience the Legions went for a compromise solution. Which given to a Forward Operating Base has a limited footprint to begin with was unavoidable. Still this meant that while I shared a room with five other Pilots there was at least some semblance of privacy, if cramped conditions. At least we all had our own rack, so there was no need for hot-bunking. Not that too many of our kind minded that.
I shook my head, crazy demons.
Entering the small bunkroom I saw that Visha had it to herself at the moment. Which was not unexpected as the room consisted of my Flight and Octavia and Mercy Gabinus from Second Flight.
Visha had already rolled over so she was sitting up on her bunk. "Primus! Uh, how did everything go? Is your suit ready?"
"Everything is good," I sat down across from her.
She smiled, the tip of her tail flicking.
Our knees were almost touching, I patted hers. "Thank you, for saving me."
She gasped. "I couldn't just let you fall!"
I smiled. "It's still appreciated."
Visha nodded. "You took a lot of risks."
"I was best positioned and it allowed you to take out missiles while GreyDawn could help target the enemy. And I had the most skills to act as the final line. It was the logical play."
Visha put her hand over mine. My tail froze. "You've always been a good commander."
"Careful..." My heart sped up; if it got out that we were reincarnations that would raise our profile. Questions would be asked. There would be complications. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I had plenty of reason to be concerned.
"I will," she bowed her head. "It's just you can push yourself too hard."
"With good reason. Given the fight we just survived."
She looked into my eyes and we were silent for a moment.
"Quirinus is a good Squadron commander. This isn't like an... earlier command." I stated. While it came with many downsides, I was largely free to run the 203rd how I liked in our previous lives. An independent elite command had its advantages but came at the cost of being deployed to take care of the worst messes the Empire faced.
"It could be, or.." Visha turned my hand over. "There is... um... your future."
I nodded. Unless I died or screwed up in some other way, Squadron command was inevitable, long before my 20-year term in the Legions ended. If I was lucky I could get promoted to Tribune and have some desk or adjunct job supporting a Volantes Legate. There was also whatever that archangel wanted out of us, but if he objected to me having a few years in a safe rear-echelon posting...
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you'll be at my side," I assured Visha as I lifted our hands.
"Countess," VioletBlood said as she barged into the room. "GreyDawn said you were here-"
The Baroness looked between us with a little frown on her face as her tail still.
I slowly let go of Visha's hand and turned to her. "Yes, LoveBlood?"
VioletBlood blinked. "What? But... I wanted... you said you were waiting..." the noble whined.
Exhaling, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "What do you think is going on?"
"You're holding hands with that Islander commoner," VioletBlood stated. "The one you've been flying with!"
"It's not like that," Visha assured. "There's nothing to be jealous of."
I wondered if the Baroness would believe her. Her green eyes looked between us, then her wings ruffled and she seemed somehow even more pitiful.
"That makes it worse!" Wailing, VioletBlood's tail drooped. "I could understand being beaten by someone who is a more experienced Pilot, and you do fly well and it's not like Tauria marrying a commoner would be that scandalous, especially if you keep getting honors at the rate you do.
"But Countess, aren't you thinking at all about your future? You have a county to run, a future to prepare for, heirs to raise. Yes, you're not likely to inherit your mother's duchy unless something horrible happens to all your sisters, but you do have a duty to the House."
I looked at Visha.
"She's not wrong. There are responsibilities that come with your permission," Visha said.
I felt a headache coming on. "LoveBlood, Visha. I'm barely a teenager. This can wait."
"That's what you said last year!"
"Yes, and I'm still right," I growled. Crazy demons.
I looked between the pouting women. "You are Ritual Plate Pilots; Centurions in the Imperial Legions; you are professionals. Or was I wrong?
"You're not wrong, Ma'am," Visha stated.
"And do I need to inform Prefect Quirinus that I need her to approve a transfer?"
"You do not need to, Primus," VioletBlood gave a rigid salute.
I returned and kept in a sigh.
"Don't be too worried," Visha assured her. "Just have patience. I'm sure it will work out for you."
VioletBlood gave a slow blink. As she looked from Visha to me and back, her tails started to swish. "Oh... so that's how it is?" she asked, her haughty smugness returning.
Visha gave a little shrug.
"What?" I asked, not at all frantically. "What are you doing?"
"Don't worry, Primus," VioletBlood purred. "If you need patience, then... that's a small enough request."
This time Visha's smile did not reassure me.
VioletBlood sat down. On Visha's bunk. Right next to her. "Countess, when we get back we may need to make a few arrangements."
I glanced to the door. Part of me hoped for an interruption, but I knew articulating that desire would make things worse: it just might be granted.
The baroness shook her head. "Not like that, just some lessons. Deal with some of your rough edges."
"Deportment classes are very common for young officers. Especially nobles like the both of you," Visha stated as her tail flicked. It was nice to have someone helping me who knew how to wrangle headstrong, bloodthirsty noble Pilots.
My tail twitched as I tried to keep a firm emotional mask. "You are correct that many do take such lessons."
VioletBlood bowed her horns to Visha before turning to me she put her hand on her knee which nearly touched mine. "It's good that you're taking this seriously. We will have an image to maintain, a standard we will be measured against."
I stared at her. We were in a muddy Forward Operating Base in the middle of a jungle hell and had just gone through a running ground support and air to air fight in the pouring rain where one of our squadron mates died and many were seriously injured, including myself.
And she was talking about the need for us to take lessons in which spoon to have soup with and how to tell the maid which doilies were proper? Propping my hands on my knees I exhaled.
"It might make things easier for you," Visha said as she put her hand on mine.
"We are looking out for you," VioletBlood added, mirroring the gesture and capturing my other arm.
I was trapped. I needed a way out.
There was a knock on the door.
"Enter!" I eagerly barked, going to my feet and folding my hands.
One of Quirinus' Ritualista saluted us. "Ma'am, the Prefect wants to speak with you."
"Of course," I nodded. "May I ask about what?"
"Can't say, Ma'am, but she's got someone else who flew in with her."
Feeling disquiet I nodded and followed my escort out. I was not sure if that was because I was worried about the meeting or worried about leaving Visha and VioletBlood alone with each other.
++++++
The briefing rooms in FOB
EmeraldInferno were nothing special. There were some Display capabilities and communications that could be set up, but really they were just a room with a table and some chairs.
Quirinus was already there, as well as a Centurion I did not recognize. Tall and striking, she had ivory skin even paler than mine, long black hair and grey curled horns. Her wings had black feathers and she had jet-black, silver-trimmed, hooves. She was dressed in standard Legion lorica that had what looked like normal wear and tear.
Outside the briefing room waited about half a squad of Legionaries. Their gear was similarly standard. And they had the expected modifications making the lorica a bit more breezy, carried more water, and the other minor equipment modifications of Legionaries in a jungle posting
They looked like a light, somewhat undermanned, Recon patrol and their patches bore that out.
However my suspicions were raised the second I sat down in the briefing room and the door was closed behind me, and our visitor took out a small forked crystal and tapped it, setting off a privacy field. My horns buzzed a bit with the baffling signatures generated by the field.
"Ah, the Countess has arrived; you can call me Centurion Nihilus," the black-haired demon said, her grey eyes sparkling.
A Centurion was often in charge of a Recon Patrol. However....
She smiled. It was warm but there was an edge to it.. "Your commander can vouch for my bonafides, right Artemis?"
That casual attitude with someone who was her superior. Technically Centurion Nihilus was the lowest ranked person in this room, but she was not acting like it.
"Yes, Invidia," Quirinus sighed. "This woman is who she says she is."
"Ah, I'm not saying any such thing," Invidia smirked.
I kept in a sigh but gave my commander a look.
Quirinus nodded
"I take it you are a Reconnaissance specialist then?" I asked.
Invidia bowed her horns. "One with a broader remit."
Quirinus shot me a warding look, but then nodded.
Managing not to swear; I kept my emotions in check. Wonderful, Invidia was an agent of the Office of Cultural and Strategic Reconnaissance. CSR was the military intelligence branch of House BlackSky.
One advantage they had over the various Imperial intelligence organs of my previous life was that CSR took the "Cultural" part of their name seriously. Much of their effort was spent on understanding the culture, industry, ideology, society, factions, arcana, history, transport, and commerce of other Houses and Polities.
Given the layers of proxies and catspaws in the House Crocelli's Eastern Interior Confederation, I would have been shocked if CSR was not active here.
"You sure can find them, Artemis," she remarked with a smile. "Though even for you to have a protegee get the Crown of the Preserver is quite the feather in your cap."
My tail flicked. "Is this about the late Rodswor sisters?"
"Obviously." Invidia's wings ruffled. "You made quite the impression."
I sighed. "Please tell me this was not actually some sort of revenge plot."
The spy's lip curled up. "No. While Battle-Lady Samoth Rodswor would happily kill you to avenge her sister's death, she was not terribly fond of Zaphania."
Snorting, I shook my head. "It was all a pretext to pretend that these weren't Zioxan regulars we killed?"
Quirinus gave a tiny sigh.
"Confirming that is not why I am here, Countess," Invidia smirked.
My tail stilled. Was this about my past life? Or was it something about my mothers? Did my Duchess do something illegal? Or did Mother Clementia get in trouble with the Church?
"Oh, you didn't do anything wrong." Invidia's laugh was cold. "Other than passing out before your girls could finish the job."
I narrowed my eyes.
Invidia murmured smugly.
"She's alive?" The first thought that hit me was this would really complicate the wager I made with the rest of the squadron. It would be easy, but bad for morale to come out and say "We failed. Nobody wins." I would have to come up with something.
"Using the combat footage, telemetry and standard analytical methods, we both confirmed which enemy pilots were killed and worked with local allied assets to recover as many of the Zioxan Satori and Tjardu suits. That is after Garrison and House Crocelli's Jungle Hunters cleared out Vihn."
"Ah, I was not available for that operation," I stated.
"You weren't," Invidia agreed with false cheer. "But we did what we could. The Diluvian retreat was not the most organized, but they did manage to pull out some assets and many of their wounded. However there was much they could not recover."
I pinched my nose. "Samoth was not among the dead."
"About a Flight's worth of Suits were not accounted for." Invidia shrugged. "Obviously, that does not preclude the possibility that the Pilots the Diluvians recovered were not already dead nor that they died from their wounds."
"But that's not a prudent assumption to make," I stated. I had personal experience with how badly one could get wounded and still survive, provided one got medical attention.
"It is not." Quirinus agreed.
"Does this mean now I've got some Zioxan noble after me?"
"I wouldn't say that," Invidia corrected.
"Oh?"
"Well, not the revenge part." Invidia waved her hand. "Yes Samoth might not take her sister's death personally, but she might take the loss of her squadron-mates as more of an affront."
I blinked. "Wait... what are you disagreeing about?"
"The Rodswors are not nobility."
I thought back to Samoth's parasite comment. "I see."
"That is part of Zioxan rhetoric against the nobility of our House and many other Great Houses," Quirinus said.
"But Samoth was set to take the command role of her older sister, and they are ruled by a Dictatrix," I stated.
Invidia flashed her teeth. "Yes, but they see it as authority coming from Ziox herself bestowed to those most worthy. As opposed to the hereditary structures of our system, ones separate from our Imperatrix."
"And I suppose reminding them that I was born a commoner and was elevated due to killing her elder sister would not dissuade such hate." I shook my head.
Invidia gave that cool haughty laugh. "On the contrary! It underscores how the merit advancement for our nobles is soaked in blood. They make the same argument for those who are elevated for industrial, academic, or developmental achievement, that it all is part of serving our war machine."
Which is not entirely wrong, I admitted to myself. "And what is she going to keep throwing Ritual Plate at me until one of us dies?"
"That would be an expensive proposition, especially for a 'mercenary'. Revenge is rarely profitable," Invidia playfully stated.
"And if she's subsidized by House Ziox?" Quirinus asked.
"That is why I am warning you. It is not just our little Countess who may be targeted, but your entire squadron Artemis."
"We are Imperial Legionaries, risk is part of the job," Quirinus stated. "Though being aware of such risks is an advantage."
I made myself nod. Combat risks were one thing, but having someone with access to Ritual Plate with a personal vendetta was a new level. CSR had warned me about this months ago, but that was a theoretical, now the risk of Samoth was far more likely.
"And this is why my Office exists," Invidia bowed her horns to me. "Now Countess, what can my associates do for you?"
End Chapter 13
I'm sure Tauria doesn't need to worry too much about her career, especially with fellow Legionaries there to help her.
Special thanks to
DCG ,
ellfangor8 , Green Sea,
Readhead ,
@WrandmWaffles, and
Preier for checking and reading over this chapter.
And apologies, I posted this early before all of Readhead's changes were in. Thanks again for going over the chapter I think it really helps smooth the flow and sharpen things.
