Chapter 11: Magic Hour

The assault begins but the best Letiel can do is watch.

Now things were in motion. Maelstrom watched from hijacked cameras and his own surveillance equipment as Veil's men started to move in. As soon as they entry points they had planned on we're created, he'd move in.

Veil watched from his own set up HQ, his radio going crazy.

"Northern tunnels open, enemy engaged."

"Third east tunnel has been destroyed, no go here."

"South tunnel is op-" 

More reports came though with mixed success. Everywhere the tribe was breached, units were met with resistance but half of the breaching points were sealed up. 

Veil's eyes narrowed. Letiel was bottlenecking them.  

Mael could see it too. He opened communications.

"Veil, we're being herded. Draw the enemy back out as far as you can and I'll have my groups move in. I'll have a look at those blockages as well."

He switched channels.

"Groups four, six, eight and ten, move in. Support the human infantry and press forward."

Veil responded, annoyed, "They won't come out. This is a defensive battle for them. If we start pulling out they'll use the time to collapse the entrances."

Maelstrom frowned.

"Then order them to the hug the sides of the tunnels. My units will come straight through and open a path."

Veil opened all lines of communication and gave the order. Where possible, units pulled out to open the way for the hulking machines.

Within seconds of splitting up, lines of Peacekeepers were charging full tilt between the SEAL teams. The gunfire from the tribe's defenders pinged and ricocheted off thick slabs of metal. The machines crashed through the defending lines, scattering the enemy troops.

 

"We're losing the lines!"

Letiel's head shot up and she ran to the computer assistant reporting. 

"Some sort of machine is barreling through the lines."

"Peacekeepers," Tempest explained, "Extremely durable. Your regulars won't have a chance. You need to pull back and collapse those tunnels."

"I'm not blowing the place until it's completely too late."

"Really? You'd rather lose everything than pull back and regroup? We can beat them, L, but not like this."

Letiel drummed her fingers on the desk. "Start pulling everyone back. Destroy the tunnels."

 

Kasumi was a smallish woman. She was raised in Japan and was recruited by the Eloium leader, Talem when she first learned archery. Her skills with a bow were unmatched and the Elite Talem knew it. He taught her his secrets and made her a Snip, a member of a special level of marksmen who fueled the primitive weapon with magic to make the shots as deadly as a sniper rifle. 

She was set up in the southern part of the tribe and was camped out on the mountain slopes, slightly hidden in a crack that dropped into the tribe. Dressed in camo and hidden behind a screen enchanted to mask her thoughts, she knew she had about five shots before the rounds could be traced back to her position. 

The massive bow was a light wood, carved from a special tree that only grew on the Eloium homeland and the string that wound through the compound pulleys was made of fibers from Eloium feathers. 

She drew three arrows and positioned them in their own grooves. 

"Saburo, how much juice am I giving these guys," she whispered into the radio. 

"A lot," came the reply. "I've never known anything like these guys."

"I Imagine that means I should hold off," came another male voice. 

"Wait for me to drop a few," Kasumi whispered in response. 

She let fly at three peacekeepers just entering the cave entrance. All three of them took the blow in the neck and dropped but the drain was excessive. The instant the arrows hit and her energy dispersed, Kasumi felt exhausted.

As the three mechs dropped, their comrades in the rear crouched low behind their shields and brought their weapons to bear. Within seconds, everything down range of them was under fire, bullets and high-velocity explosive shells flying past the sniper but always barely missing her. The machines weren't actually aware of where she was exactly, but they she was ahead. They started to creep forward slowly, their fire ceasing.

Kasumi shot down two more and then slid back into the tunnels. 

"I can't keep this up guys," she panted. "They're too strong."

"Ok, pull back."

When each one fell, the column would stop, duck down and begin firing again. On the final shot they had finally determined Kasumi's exact location, but it was too late. She'd slipped away just in time to avoid a storm of bullets.

"Yasu, you're going to want to be really, really careful," Kasumi gasped. 

"I hear ya," came the response. 

Yasunari was also recruited in Japan but he was born Caucasian and never really fit in with the Japanese schools. Letiel found him pickpocketing and four years later he took the Meideran oath and became one of her top assassins. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and would've destroyed the world if he and Conar teamed up. No one could handle him. 

The orders to retreat and regroup reached the units he was monitoring and he casually ignored the order, tucking himself up in a corner where the ceiling started to climb higher and the hallway wider. A long knife was in one hand, it's pair in his mouth while he balanced himself on the ceiling. 

Once Peacekeepers started to go by, he dropped between them and started killing. 

Just as Kasumi had warned, Yasu had to pour energy into his blades to give them a strong enough edge and after three peacekeepers went down he was getting too tired to safely continued. He bolted down the hallway, turning on his tech shield to protect his back. 

The mechs were caught totally unaware when the assassin dropped in on them. The tunnels were to narrow for them to space out and counter properly, so their response was less than impressive. All they could do was fire on Yasunari as he retreated. They wouldn't have a chance to advance and catch up with him. As they started to move again, the ceiling caved in on them.

Yasunari was bolting down the hallway and didn't slow until he rounded a corner the tunnels nearly falling in on him. 

"Kasumi, you still good? .... Kasumi?"

"Yeah I'm here," the radio buzzed. "Get back to Saburo."

 

Mael nodded at his screens. They were making excellent progress, which meant it was time for him to go in and observe directly.

"Veil, might I borrow a helicopter?"

Veil responded, "You can use mine." 

The chopper headed towards Mael for pick up.

Just as his transport arrived, Mael watched several of his units go offline at once. They'd collapsed the tunnels. With a deep frown, he checked the status of his demolition teams.

"I'm going mobile. Start setting up at the blocked tunnels, they'll be open in five minutes."

He tapped a few keys and set his computer to issue orders automatically, then boarded his chopper and took off.

 

"The tunnels are down," a technician reported, still typing away at the keyboard. 
One of Letiel's hands was on her sword, the other checked the time: 18:25. If the mountain were to open it needed to wait another 35 minutes. Magic hour was still weighing heavily on her mind. In the Tribe, it didn't matter but if the fight went to open air, anything dragonoid would be borderline blind. 

Minutes later, the tribe shook heavily. Lights flickered in the command center as a shockwave rolled through.

"What was that?"

Everyone was quiet as things flickered, Tem's voice, the only break in the silence. 

"Um," another tech started. "Breaches reported in all tunnels."

"The southern area of the central collection is breached!"

Letiel's head shot up. "What?! Get units there now!"

Tem left the center, already heading for the breach.

The leader watched Tempest and Kinthaydin leave. She didn't dare follow. As long as magic hour was still in effect it was hazardous for her to be under open sky.

The reports poured in and they all looked bad. Any reinforcements were being cut down and slaughtered before they even knew what was happening. In fact only two people made it through Veil's line and those two weren't exactly happy faces. 

Letiel growled and consulted her watch she had 20 minutes left until she was actually worth something.

"Put up the shields, no one gets in here, except approved units."

A hum rushed through the miles of tribe as a pale blue shield settled around the library, sensitive equipment, and other important places. 

 

Maelstrom touched down at one of the previously blocked tunnels. He'd had some of his mechs packing explosives into the blockages since the battle began. Now they were clear, and more PKs where invading the tunnels.

The Mage held a radio up and spoke into it, "Veil, tunnels are open."

Veil nodded to himself and opened up communications again. "All units engage the enemy, no prisoners."

"Sir, we have report of inbound reinforcements from the North."

"Maelstrom, I'm going to have my men intercept the Eloium reinforcements. You concentrate on wiping out those hiding in their hole."

Peacekeepers were pouring into the crack at the south, meeting little resistance from the I defended location. Anyone and anything they came across was cut down, and the added room let the machines maneuver.

When his troops had made some headway, Maelstrom followed behind them, flanked by a pair of his personal guard.

"Understood. We're sweeping through now."

 

Kasumi staggered at the blast wave. "Guys, what was that?"

"Um... Kasumi, Yasu, I think... I think the central ring of Central is exposed," Saburo mumbled into the radio, his voice shaky. 

Yasunari started running again. "Kasumi, Saburo is back there, the tunnels mean squat if they get in there!"

"I know, I know!" she yelled over the radio. She started running too, her bow in her hand. Behind her she could hear mechanical noises around corners. 

Saburo was a tiny kid. He was right in between midget and small person and was too frail to do much of anything on his own. The kid was paralyzed from the waist down, blind, and extremely weak but he was impossibly smart. Elite Kari had found and recruited the boy when he was very young and less than 6 months after he took his oaths as a Treigyree, the NSTF branch of strategists. His sensitivity to vibrations had earned him field status but only when accompanied by his two massive dogs. 

Aneko and Haruki were mixed breed dire wolves, giant, intelligent creatures that adored their boy and navigated for him. In a pinch they even carried him about, like they were right now.

The ground was shaking so bad, Saburo could feel it through Haruki and he was seriously in a panic. Mechanical noises thudded about him while the dog ran towards central command. 

 

Conar killed his eighth peacekeeper in the northern areas. The south was the only place suffering. The northern, western, and eastern boundaries were still closed up and enemies were bottlenecked. The best units were stepped forward and holding off the machines pretty well. The dragon himself was actually doing the best. He was even pushing them back but he didn't dare chase them into the evening light.

Eventually, he settled with a steady flame to hold the units at bay. Unlike most Eloium, he could literally hold the flame forever. 

Unfortunately for Conar, the heat of his flames melted the bullets as they flew at him, splattering him in molten lead. The Peacekeepers continued to retreat.

Conar growled at the spotted burns spattered on his hide. He shook his head but continued to spray the tunnel with fire.

Eventually, the minigun wielding mechs were replaced by those with chain guns. Explosive shells rained around Conar, his fire only serving to heat the metallic soldiers up.

Conar turned up the heat. 

Author's Note

Please grade harshly.