"So… Devon was it?" Greg asked the cloaking mage as they walked, the small pocket of earth moving with them as Greg's smoke dissolved the dirt in front of them and reformed it behind them. He was taking them in an arc around the Technocracy's camp, so they'd come up from behind, where the forces were thinnest.
"Dillon, actually." He replied.
"Right, Dillon." Greg nodded. "Were you ever a rat?"
Dillon blinked. "I- yes, actually. I'm- I'm surprised you recognized me."
Greg grinned. "I'm pretty good with faces. How's bird girl and the others? You kept up with them, right?"
"They're fine… well, as fine as anyone else. No one's really sure how to take the Republic's betrayal." Dillon sighed. "It's like all we have to look forward to is dying to the Demon Empire, or dying to the Republic… not much of a choice, now is it?"
"No it isn't." Greg sighed. "But the situation isn't completely hopeless. Turns out the Republic actually has some good points. Basically, they believe that magic is the only way to combat entropy, and it's their duty to spread it as far as possible, no matter the consequences. Which, you know, I get. As someone who is unavoidably immortal, the heat death of the universe is pretty much my personal version of hell. If I don't want to spend eternity alone, then magic is pretty much my only hope. That or somehow becoming the universe, which… might be possible? But I think magic is still the better solution."
"Wait, that's why they're doing this?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's so… I want to say esoteric, but that feels off… I mean, entropy has to be millions or billions of years away! Why are they worrying about it now?!?"
"Well, mana does extend people's life span… theoretically, entropy is something some of them legitimately need to worry about, cause they're going to live long enough to deal with it." Greg shrugged.
Victor blinked. "Well, when you put it that way."
"I don't think it justifies destroying people's lives like that…" Dillon muttered. "I lived like an animal for two years, at the mercy of anyone even a little stronger than me. So many people I used to know are dead… just so a few powerful people can enjoy a longer life?"
"Well, it isn't just them, but your descendants as well. All future generations." Patrick commented. "If entropy continues, the universe ends and no one lives."
Dillon frowned. "I guess… I don't know, they're still murdering people for their own benefit. Even if it ends in a net positive, it's still murder. It's like the trolley problem. If you kill one person to save five, it still makes you a murderer."
"Eh, I've killed for less." Greg shrugged.
"Shit, I'd kill for a Klondike bar." Victor chuckled.
"What would you do-oo-oo~" Greg sang.
""For a Klondike bar~"" Victor joined in, before they both burst out laughing.
Patrick shook his head. "You both have issues."
"Hey, I don't want to live in a world where you can't laugh at death." Greg retorted.
"Not that you'd have much choice." Victor commented with a grin.
"Ugh, right? Immortality sucks." Greg sighed. Patrick and Dillon just shook their heads, though Patrick seemed to be more amused, while Dillon just seemed incredulous. The four continued to make their way towards the cannons, all of them growing more somber as they moved closer to the Technocracy's camp. "Alright, we're here." Greg whispered, the last of the dirt falling away to reveal the underside of the cannon. "Patrick, you're up."
Patrick nodded, stepping up. He glanced at Victor and Dillon, who both nodded, concentrating on cloaking the four of them from detection. Patrick let out a nervous breath, raising a finger, concentrating as a small point of light condensed above it, before a beam shot out, piercing a small hole in the force field. Immediately Greg sent a condensed ball of smoke inside, before signaling the rest of the team to get down, filling in the hole as a few of the soldiers paused, glancing at the cannon in confusion. A few of the fairy Gregs watched nervously as the soldiers approached the cannon, one of them placing a hand on it, before turning to the others and shrugging.
Greg let out a relieved sigh. "Okay, let's get the next one." They moved through the next four cannons with little to no difficulty, the only notable exception being the increasing confusion of the soldiers. That is, until they surrounded the area around the last cannon and raised it up a few feet in the air, weapons at the ready. "Ah, shit." Greg groaned.
"What?" Patrick asked, freezing.
"The Technocracy knows something is up. They have the last cannon surrounded and raised up." Greg explained, his expression twisting.
"Shit!" Victor cursed.
"How did they figure it out?" Dillon wondered.
"Well, they were obviously noticing when we broke the force field." Greg sighed. "If you notice all your cannons having the same malfunction over and over, while you're in a war where you know your enemies need to take them out, it'd be pretty stupid to assume it's nothing."
"That would be pretty dumb." Victor nodded.
"So what are we going to do?" Dillon asked nervously.
"You two are getting out of here." Patrick stated firmly. "Greg, get them back to the ship. They can't help anymore. Once they're far enough away, Greg, you'll open up a small hole, which I'll shoot through to open a hole for your smoke."
"Patrick, they'll find you!" Greg protested. "Do you know what Tessa's going to do to me if she finds out I got her brother killed?!?"
"Greg, if we don't take out the last cannon, all this is pointless!" Patrick retorted. "If my sacrifice can save the others… it's worth it."
Greg grimaced before letting out a frustrated groan. "I know you're right, but… fuck, hold on, let me talk to Tessa and the Generals. Maybe they'll have another idea."
"We can find another way!" Tessa exclaimed. "Without the other five, we'll have time to figure something else out! We don't need to sacrifice anyone!"
"If we don't take it out now, we'll need to assault it with a full force, which would mean the deaths of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of others!" The punk protested. "If we can take it out now, only risking a single life in the process, then we have to!"
"But-" Tessa began, her expression twisting.
"Colonel Evans, he's right." The preppy dude sighed. "I know you have a personal connection with the man, but… the amount of people this can save…"
"Oh, so now you're on board for sacrificing a few to save the many, huh?" The punk snorted, raising an eyebrow at him.
"This is not the time!" Bianca interjected. "We are deciding whether to doom a man to death! We don't have the time to entertain your petty arguments!"
The punk looked down, ashamed. "I apologize, you're right." He turned to Tessa. "Colonel Evans… I know this isn't easy, but it must be done. Our only advantage is the ship and our defenses. Anything that forces us to venture beyond the walls will end with a significant loss of life. If we don't take this chance, it will cost us so much more."
Greg paused. "Wait… if I dissolve the cannons, I can just make my own and we can use it to take out their cannon, right?"
Biance shook her head. "There is no way your mana pool will allow you to simply create something with that much energy."
"Ah, ah, I don't have a mana pool." Greg countered with a grin. "My smoke isn't mana, remember?"
Bianca frowned. "That may be, but your ability cannot be unlimited! I refuse to believe there's an ability that allows you to simply poof something like that into reality!"
"That does seem a bit far-fetched…" The punk muttered. "If we could test it… but taking the risk on something you may not even be able to do…"
"Yeah, but if I can, Patrick doesn't need to die." Greg retorted.
"But if you can't, hundreds more will!" The punk countered.
Greg frowned. "Then… what if I do test it? I can try to dissolve and reform an energy source right now!"
"Yes, but what if you fail?" Bianca asked. "The Technocracy will notice when one of their cannons lose power and they'll go on high alert! Patrick won't have any chance to get you through the last force field at that point!"
"Well, we could have Patrick ready? If it doesn't work, he'll be the first to know, and he can fire immediately. Same results as before. If it does work, the Technocracy won't notice anything, and we can simply leave then." Greg explained.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The punk paused. "That could work…" The rest of the Generals nodded along. "Alright, that's the plan."
Greg nodded, getting his smoke surrounding the energy source. Victor and Dillon helped Patrick get set up under the last cannon at the edge of the range he needed to be within to reliably break through the force field, before Greg led them away back towards the ship. He didn't take them all the way, since if this worked, they'd need to come back to pick up Patrick again, but there was no reason for them to stick around and potentially get killed if it didn't work.
"Ready?" He asked Patrick nervously as he got ready to dissolve the energy source. If this didn't work… This might be the last time he ever talked to the man. He knew they weren't close, but he was Tessa's brother… losing him would hurt her, and hurting Tessa was the last thing he wanted to do. He knew it was wrong, but he would sacrifice hundreds of others just to save Tessa the pain of losing her brother. Probably a good thing he wasn't in charge. Patrick nodded, arm already in a hole pointing directly at the cannon. The moment Greg gave the signal, he'd fire.
Greg nodded back, before focusing on the energy source. He hesitated as his smoke condensed around it, ready to turn it into steel, tension keeping him from taking that final, simple step. He just had to do it, but… if he failed, someone would die. Normally not an issue for him, but it was Tessa's brother. Yet… it had to be done. With a sigh, the smoke turned to steel and- *Ka-BOOM!*
The world shook as the energy source exploded! The cannon was ripped apart from the inside, sending shrapnel flying everywhere! The Technocracy's soldiers screamed as they were torn apart, everyone within a hundred meter radius getting instantly vaporized, and more dying even beyond that, a significant chunk of Technocracy's army taken out in an instant! The small cavern Patrick and Greg were hiding in collapsed, crushing them both under a ton of rumble, Patrick coughing up blood as the pressure wave hit! "Patrick!" Greg cried, quickly dissolving the rubble, jumping on top of him, feeling for a pulse, before letting out a relieved sigh. He was alive! Barely. But if he could get him back to the ship, they had healing magic! They could save him!
Greg turned his attention to the cannon. The explosion had taken out all their force fields, momentarily at least, not to mention the damage caused to the machinery. Greg had gotten his smoke into the last cannon, surrounding the energy source. Not dissolving it, obviously. He wasn't doing that again until he'd gotten Patrick far away from here. He picked the man up, tunneling back towards the ship as fast as he could.
[There!] Greg heard a voice exclaim behind him as a Technocracy soldier stepped into the tunnel, phasing through the stone and raising his weapon.
"Shit!" Greg cursed, throwing up a steel wall between them and ducking as a beam of energy burned a hole in the wall, before quickly filling back in.
More soldiers began to emerge into the tunnel as Greg weaved through, filling in the space behind him with steel, which helped block the fire, but the Technocracy's soldiers continued to simply phase through it, chasing him down! What'd gotten them so riled up? Oh, right… The constant harassment probably hadn't helped either. Greg suddenly froze as a soldier appeared in front of him in the tunnel, raising a hand and trapping him in a force field. "Abomination!" The soldier growled, glaring at him.
"Fuck!" Greg cursed, kicking at the force field, but it barely wiggled. Smoke billowed around him, dissolving all the rocks around them, but the soldier remained standing in mid air, completely unperturbed.
"Did you really think we would let you simply run away! You've killed hundreds and injured even more! We may not be able to hurt you, but your friend? He will suffer!" The soldier sneered, beginning to constrict the force field.
Greg gritted his teeth, creating a steel pole, trying to keep the force field away, but it only stopped constricting on that side, the rest still squeezing in. If he only had more smoke! But he'd been using it all to clear the way and make walls! He didn't have enough to keep the force field from crushing them! His mind whirled as he struggled to find a way to save them, anything! He couldn't break the force field, he couldn't hurt the soldier… What else did he have? As more soldiers filed into the cavern, pointing their weapons at them, Greg felt hope die in his chest. There was nothing he could do. Patrick- Patrick was doomed.
Greg collapsed against the slowly constricting sides of the force field in defeat. He knew that ultimately it wasn't that big a deal. Tessa would be sad, but this plan had been their best option to take out the cannons and they'd done everything they could to keep Patrick safe. She'd understand that. She'd mourn, she'd cry, she'd get angry, all that jazz, but eventually she'd come to terms with it, and everything would be fine again. It was just… Greg couldn't believe he'd actually failed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done something that hadn't actually gone his way… admittedly, a lot of that was because he was a very careful person who only took risks if it was absolutely necessary, but still.
He supposed he could count the Republic trapping him in the transmutation chamber, but that hadn't been a failure, that was just unavoidable. The Republic was way more powerful than he was, plus he'd had no idea they were even coming. There was nothing he could have done. But this? The explosion wasn't his fault. It was weird, and he'd have to deal with that later, but it wasn't his fault. The running away, on the other hand… he should have made copies of them both, dividing the soldiers focus and confusing them, made an entire network of tunnels they'd have to search. It still would have been dangerous, but at least then the soldiers wouldn't have known exactly where to find them! He just… hadn't thought of it at the time. And because of that, Patrick was going to die. Shit.
A few things happened next that Greg could barely react to. First, a beam of energy tore through the head of the soldier trapping them, causing the force field to disappear! Next, a new force field surrounded them as one of the other soldiers stepped below it, weapon firing almost non-stop as they gunned down the others. A few fired back, but their beams simply fizzled against the soldier's personal force field. Some tried firing at Patrick and Greg as well, but the results were the same. The last few survivors turned to run in a panic, but before they got more than a few steps away, the soldier gunned them down as well.
Greg sat in the force field, eyes as wide as they would go, completely stunned. "What the fuck just happened?"
"I saved you." The soldier grunted, releasing the force field. "Well, I saved your friend here… we both know you don't need saving. Now come on, let's go! I'm scrambling the signals but they're going to know something is up! We need to get out of here!"
"Uh… right. Right! Let's go!" Greg began to move, building a tunnel in front of them and running down it, Patrick on his back, the soldier not far behind. Back in the chamber, more Greg's formed, running in different directions as they created even more tunnels. He wasn't about to make the same mistake again. Greg after Greg split off, making tunnel after tunnel, until… The soldier jumped as the tunnel they were in collapsed behind them, the soldiers above scrambling as the entire camp sunk into the ground. Greg paused. "Huh… too many unsupported tunnels, I guess."
"Forget that and move!" The soldier yelled.
Greg nodded, continuing on, this time filling in the tunnel behind them, until about a minute later they met another pocket. The soldier immediately raised their weapon, before Greg jumped in front of them. ""Don't! They're friends(a friend)!"" Both Gregs exclaimed, one facing Victor and Dillon, who'd begun to prepare spells the moment the soldier had appeared.
Both sides paused, before Victor let out a chuckle. "I was wondering how long it'd take before you made a friend. So, what's her name?"
Greg blinked. "Her?"
Victor paused. "You mean they're not a girl?"
"Well, I only met them a few minutes ago…" Greg replied. "Haven't exactly gotten to know each other yet."
"You don't even know them?!?" Dillon exclaimed, turning on the soldier. "What if this is a trap!?! They could be trying to infiltrate the ship to shut off the shield!"
Greg paused, glancing at the soldier. That was possible… sacrificing a few soldiers to get into the ship and take down the shield would definitely be worth it. The soldier shook their head. "I'm not going to betray you."
"And how can we trust that?" Dillon demanded.
"Simple." The soldier replied, the suit suddenly splitting apart as… she, definitely she, stepped out, holding out her hands. "Without my suit and an energy source, I'm powerless." She explained. "Even if I wanted to betray you, I'd have no way of actually doing so. I am completely at your mercy."
Victor smirked, elbowing Dillon. "See? It's always a girl."
Greg scowled, sending some smoke at the soldier to make her some clothes. Why would anyone be naked in those suits?!? Wouldn't it chafe? "This is not my fault! You can't determine someone's gender through these damn suits!"
"Suuure." Victor replied with a smirk.
The soldier pulled at the new clothes, raising an eyebrow at Greg. "Is there a problem with my gender?"
"No." Greg sighed. "Just… seems like this always happens to me."
"Maybe try being less unique." The soldier commented lightly, before clapping her hands. "Now, shall we go?"
Greg gave her a weird look, before remembering Patrick. "Yes! We need to get back to the ship! Patrick needs healing!"
The other two nodded, and they quickly began making their way back, the soldier following, leaving her armor behind. Speaking of which… Greg quickly found the armor from the soldiers that had been killed, dissolving all of it, including the bodies, only leaving the energy sources. He then focused on one of the energy sources, frowning as he remembered what had happened when he dissolved the cannon's energy source. It'd dissolved just fine, just like everything else, but then… something had forced it back. As if the world was rejecting it being dissolved! All the smoke had been forced back into energy, which… well, did what energy did and exploded. However… strangely, he was still connected to it. He felt the energy, it was just… frozen. At least most of it was. He'd experimented a bit and it seemed like he could only have so much smoke at once, and if he wanted more, he'd have to turn part of his smoke real. Or more accurately, part of his smoke would be forced into reality. The strange part was that it didn't come from him. It didn't feel like he couldn't control that much smoke… it was as if something else was stopping him. Something that didn't allow that much smoke to exist. Greg just couldn't figure out what.
Still, that didn't matter at the moment. What mattered at the moment was whether these energy sources would overload his smoke capacity like the cannons did. Greg froze all his smoke, except the part he was using to tunnel back to the ship, before dissolving one of the suit cores, waiting for the explosion, and… Greg let out a relieved sigh. It was good! The energy source didn't break his smoke capacity! Which meant… he could make his own suits! That was a game changer. Greg solidified the energy source again, before doing the same to the rest. He then moved on to the soldiers who'd died from the cannon explosion, which… "Stop that!" The other soldiers cried as they watched their brethren begin to dissolve into smoke, firing their weapons at the swirling clouds of smoke and the small fairies controlling them. A few thought to cover the bodies in force fields, but by that point it was too late. Greg's smoke had infiltrated all the energy sources. There was no way to keep him from dissolving them anymore.
The final suit Greg dissolved was the one from the soldier who had defected, which was the only one which hadn't been damaged. He could probably have figured out how to piece together a complete suit from all the pieces he'd dissolved, but now he didn't have to. Of course, he'd still have to move all these energy sources into the ship at some point… but there wasn't any hurry. It was all his smoke now, he could do what he wanted with it. At least, as long as he didn't go over his new smoke capacity… he had to figure that shit out at some point.