“Right then, this looks good enough.” Serena held up her hand, feeling the strength and direction of the wind. Her gunners would need to adjust slightly, but for a crew as experienced as hers, they would hit the target easily enough.
“Are you sure this is a real training method?” The target in question complained before putting her hands on her hips and pouting. “You’re not making this up so you can shoot your adorable girlfriend, are you?”
Serena felt a sly smile form but otherwise chose not to reply immediately.
They’d set sail from Shimashina that morning. After clearing the aetherscope range of the city’s perimeter ships, Serena ordered the Vengeance a few dozen klicks away from the regular travel route and found a small mid-sky island floating six klicks above the continent. Dagon had taken command as acting captain while Serena and Amelia jumped the few dozen meters down onto the island with their training equipment.
With only a few thousand square feet and a handful of trees, the island was mostly unremarkable. One thing of note was that the island was lumina-locked; without significant external force the island would maintain its current location and elevation perpetually.
Lumina-locking occurred naturally and artificially. The military used the technology to capture islands and use them as entrenched defensive artillery positions or early-warning aetherscope installations. In the hands of the rich and powerful, luxury islands and private resorts were traded on the markets. Serena once heard that a Centralis merchant took a particular liking to an island floating around Fengra and had - at tremendous cost - it transported all the way to Centralis.
Serena shook her head, both at the thought of owning an entire island and at Amelia’s question regarding training. Once a mage or a warrior became proficient with their aether control, they would be put through this gauntlet. Even if someone’s talents meant they were now effectively resistant to bullets, their previous instincts often took a while to adjust.
“You’re essentially immune to conventional weapons,” Serena explained to the pouting target dummy. “Even if you know this, the demon body - I mean - the human body, will react naturally when untrained. For example…” Serena unholstered her pistol and shot Amelia in the stomach. Amelia tensed a bit as her wards easily defended against the bullet. Her girlfriend gave her a tilted look which seemed to say, Seriously?
“You’re better than before,” Serena said with a smile. “Before, you would jump like a surprised peeka. You need to eradicate all normal reactions to gunfire and being hit. In a fight you cannot waste time with things that cannot harm you!” Serena picked up a rifle and aimed it at Amelia, causing the woman to clench her fists and hold her breath. “Don’t anticipate the shot,” Serena informed her. “A rifle bullet will go straight through several soldiers without stopping. It is wards and aura that stop a bullet, not tensed muscles! Focus on strengthening your wards!”
A subtle pulse in the aetherfield informed Serena Amelia had done precisely that. With her girlfriend’s skill at cloaking her magic, that subtle pulse likely reflected a titanic amount of reinforcement that would drain the reserves of any normal mage in seconds. “Ready?” Serena asked. The moment Amelia nodded Serena pulled the trigger and a thunderous boom sounded as the rifle bullet slammed into Amelia. The woman squeaked and took a step back.
“As you can see,” Serena explained once the smoke had cleared. “Even if your wards protect you, the bullet's momentum must go somewhere. You might be able to take a cannon shell directly, but that same cannon shell could launch you out and away from the battlefield. Remember when Korvus and his men tried to assassinate you? You survived, but the forces flipped you over, and you lost your bearings?”
“Right,” Amelia replied, eyeing the rifle warily. “It’s so much louder than the pistol. I can’t help but react! How can I ignore something like that with my enhanced hearing?”
“Good question. Suppression through noise and chaos is one of the best ways to limit the effectiveness of enemy Speakers.” Serena remembered the field manuals describing the recommended amount of munitions to throw in the grid square of a Speaker to prevent their effective command. She had, on more than one occasion, been subject to such a barrage.
“There are ways warriors can manipulate their aura to protect their ears. Some of my previous squad commanders preferred to fight practically deaf so they could focus on the aetherfield and their eyes. From what I’ve heard, mages can do something similar.” She operated the rifle's bolt handle, loading another round. “Ready? I’ll keep shooting you. Focus on your reaction and your ears.”
The one-sided assault began as Amelia took bullet after bullet against her warded torso. After two dozen rounds she stopped reacting so noticeably but would still cringe if she saw the weapon aimed at her head. Serena explained that while it was a natural reaction, Amelia’s head and even her eyes were as protected by her wards as her torso. Once Amelia had gotten used to her head and face being targeted, Serena had her turn around so she couldn’t see the shot coming.
After another fifty rounds at the back of Amelia’s head, the human stopped jumping entirely. Next, Serena ordered her to practice her kata while under fire. This was a repeat of some of the training she had undertaken in Kenhoro, although Serena and Grandmaster Gu had used a small calibre pistol.
“Good, now draw your sword,” Serena instructed after half an hour. “We’ll lightly duel, and I’ll show you how firearms can be used in Speaker swordfights. I’ll stick to orange. Try and match me.” Serena drew her sword and Amelia followed suit. She had been given a soldier’s sword from the ship’s armoury. “We’ll keep it sharp and fast, no strong moves, lest one of us is thrown off the island.” If that were to happen, both could Speak and return to the island by flaring their aether against the lumina, but it wouldn’t be ideal.
After the traditional pre-spar bow, Serena moved her aether into orange and began her attack. Amelia had become quite proficient with the Grandmaster as her instructor but she still fell short against Serena’s experience. Her assault kept Amelia’s defences on the brink of collapsing. In between the stabbing and thrusting, Serena began slipping her pistol through gaps in Amelia’s defence and letting off a shot point-blank. The first few times, it caused Amelia’s defence to collapse entirely. Eventually, she got used to the tactic and could ignore the pistol.
“Enough,” Serena commanded, stopping the duel and bowing. “You learn fast, Amelia.”
“Mmm!” Amelia nodded, retying her hair. “It was scary at first, but I’ve got a grip on my hearing! One thing I’ve been thinking of is that all this training is to get used to ignoring firearms, right?”
“Right,” Serena said with a nod.
“But now we know there are firearms with black-crystal rounds. Isn’t it a little…” Amelia shrugged. “Counter-intuitive?”
“I’ve never heard of a single example of those rounds being used,” Serena explained, shaking her head. “While we might become a target of the Darkblades, it sounds like the amount of black crystal is far and few between. The vast majority of firearms we’ll face will almost certainly be conventional.” The abhorrent existence of black moon crystals was easily detected by anyone in the vicinity with an ounce of aetherfield perception.
At their final meeting at the Shimashina airdocks, Chesterfield informed her that the reason behind the Kenhoro Greatlord’s sudden interest in the Crimson Reaver’s cargo was a tiny bag of black-crystal fragments discovered in one of the crates. He had also implied that the Salinas and Taruna Speakers they battled were in Kenhoro to oversee its transportation and it was Serena and Amelia’s interference at Lord Yulan’s Highguard Hotel that prompted the cafe attack.
She didn’t know if those Speakers were Darkblades themselves, but that insidious group was certainly pulling the strings. Anathor told her that wherever black crystal was to be found, the Darkblades would be nearby. She tightened her fists, feeling determination and anger rise. No matter what, she would do her part in destroying the sworn enemies of the Empress and the Empire!
“Hey! You've got that look in your eye!” Amelia exclaimed.
“What look?”
“The look where you’re thinking about shooting and stabbing someone other than me!”
This idiot!
“Well then!” Serena declared, “Let’s correct that grievance! Back up a few meters!” She motioned with her hands and Amelia retreated. “You’ve got control over your hearing, right?” Seeing Amelia nod, Serena moved the equipment into a depression in the earth and fished out two handflags, one green and the other red.
“Flags?” Amelia asked. “What are they for?”
“Communication,” Serena replied. She turned towards the Vengeance. Dagon had manoeuvred the ship to hover at the same elevation as the island, approximately half a klick away. At this distance, an average person might struggle to make out details but for Serena and the observers on deck, it was not a problem. At this distance, they could probably hear each other shouting, but using flags was the military norm. Serena raised the flags, one in each hand, and made a series of gestures.
Ship. Receive.
The observer on deck responded with their own series of movements.
Ship. Received.
With the line established, Serena gave the order.
Heavy Flak. Two-second burst. North of Target. Ten meters. Confirm.
The observer on deck repeated the set of movements. Heavy Flak. Two-second burst. North of Target. Ten meters. Confirm. Seeing the command was successfully understood Serena gestured back Confirmed. She turned to Amelia. “I just ordered incoming flak fire at a location north of you. Brace yourself.” She pushed her aura into yellow.
“O-okay!”
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The heavy flak turret turned in their direction, its six barrels pausing only a moment before spewing fire and fury. With a muzzle velocity almost three times the speed of sound the first shells hit their location before the gun had finished its burst.
Thirty-eight flak rounds impacted the earth, exploding with black smoke, throwing up dirt and spraying fragmentation. Despite experiencing this level of barrage before, Serena couldn’t help but grit her teeth. Each shell sent a shockwave and a wall of fragmentation that impacted her aura.
“Fuck!” Amelia spun around, tripping on her feet and falling over. “Christ!” As quickly as it began, it ended, and after a moment of relative silence where only the sound of falling twigs and leaves could be heard, Serena helped Amelia to her feet.
“More intense than you would think, isn’t it?” Serena dusted Amelia’s shoulders. “And that wasn’t even directly at you. Like I said before, war is loud. Are you okay?” Amelia didn’t swear often, so Serena was a little concerned. Amelia was powerful but didn’t have the mental constitution of a soldier.
Amelia sniffed. “Sorry. It was so overwhelming. My wards held fine, of course… but even so… dammit, I’m crying!” Tears had formed in her crimson eyes. “I’m not even sad! Why am I crying!? Ah, how embarrassing!”
“It’s normal,” Serena explained. “The intensity of war. It happens with new soldiers all the time. Trained men, crying in the trenches under their first barrage. Throwing up and pissing themselves. Those are tears of frustration from the feeling of being powerless under the barrage of shells. Of course, you aren’t powerless, but your body doesn’t quite understand that. Want to end it here for today?”
“No, I’m fine,” Amelia sighed, wiping her eyes. “I’ll get used to it. What’s next?”
“Same again, try not to fall over this time. I’ll stand next to you.” Serena signalled the order to the Vengeance and a few seconds later the heavy flak thundered next to them again. Once the dirt had settled and the smoke dissipated, Serena was pleased to see Amelia fairing much better.
“Is it weird that even though I know it’s training, being shelled like this angers me?” Amelia raised the question with clenched fists. “If it was another ship, I would be very tempted to respond.”
“Very normal. Anger can be a good emotion on the battlefield when it can be used to overcome fear and hesitation but be careful not to lose yourself in it and get others killed.” Serena glanced at the Vengeance. “Want to try the same at our location?” After Amelia nodded with a face tense with determination, Serena gave the command.
Heavy Flak. Two-second burst. On Target. Confirm.
Heavy Flak. Two-second burst. On Target. Confirm.
Confirmed.
“Here, turn and face me,” Serena said as the impeding barrage was moments away.
“Wow, you look so pretty under shellfire.” Amelia intoned sarcastically.
“Idiot.”
“These date ideas of yours are so romantic. Here I thought you’d take me out to a candlelit dinner, and instead…”
“Shut-”
Serena was cut off as the world exploded. The smoke blinded her, and her yellow ward rippled as she took a direct hit.
“Bloody hell!” Amelia exclaimed from somewhere in the smoke.
On a sudden impulse, before the smoke cleared, Serena reached out and pulled Amelia close, stealing a kiss. “Mmph” Amelia quickly relaxed into the moment of intimacy and it was Serena who had to push her away as the smoke thinned.
“I see anger isn’t the only intense emotion under shellfire,” Amelia said with a grin.
“You… taste of gunpowder,” Serena said, licking her lips.
“I wonder why?” A quick burst of magic and Amelia and Serena were spotless. They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Amelia asked, “Hey, does the military use smoke rounds? I remember we had something like that.”
“Yes,” Serena nodded. “Although their usage is very situational. It’s good to smoke out a Speaker, but it’s only a temporary measure as they can easily relocate. It also prevents you from seeing them, so careful consideration is needed. We also have illumination rounds for nighttime.” The illumination rounds were more for the regular soldiers. Even a warrior with only red aura could see well enough in the dark.
“Mmm! Understood!” Amelia nodded. “What’s next? You’re not going to nuke me, are you?”
Serena tilted her head at the unfamiliar phrase. “Nuke?”
“Ah, oh…” Amliea trailed off, her voice suddenly becoming quiet. “It’s an expression from my realm. A nuke is a, um…” She wiggled her hands. “A big bomb. Bigger than anything your military has.”
“Our heavy bombers carry some big bombs,” Serena replied. One mission she had undertaken was to be the advance scout of a bombing run on the Republican lines. Those heavy bombers carried bombs weighing three thousand pounds that could level any fortified structure.
“I guarantee it’s bigger than whatever you’re thinking of,” Amelia explained. “Remember the story about the Empress speaking the Third Word and creating the Shattered Isles? It’s that level of power.”
Serena was taken aback. “In a bomb?”
“Right”
“How big is the bomb?” The entire Empire probably didn’t produce enough explosives yearly to match the power of a Third Word. Even if the technology of Amelia’s realm had more advanced explosives, such a device would need to be enormous. How would it even be delivered? By one of those ships that Amelia claimed could travel to other planets?
“About… this size?” Amelia spread her arms about a meter apart.
“Surely you jest,” Serena shook her head. “Explosives can’t be that powerful.”
“No, no, it doesn’t use explosives. Well, not the kind you’re thinking of. It uses a different mechanism entirely,” Amelia explained.
“What type of mechanism?” Serena frowned.
“I, uh…” Amelia hesitated. “I’d rather not say. In fact, it was a mistake to bring it up; I’m sorry. Actually, can you promise me you won’t mention this to anyone else? It’s a weapon that devasted my world on more than one occasion. Imagine if every nation could just produce Third-Word Speakers by the thousands? It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
Serena hesitated for a moment. “Alright, I promise. However, tell me one thing. Is this weapon something the Enemy could produce?” She felt a dash of relief seeing Amelia shake her head.
“No - I don’t even know if the materials to make it exist in this realm. It might be possible for you in… maybe a century? I don’t know; this world focuses more on magic development and its applications. The lumina might mean it’s impossible…”
Serena nodded. “Don’t worry about it, I won’t tell anyone.” She made a mental note to bring this up with Amelia in the future. A century was not a long time, and if such a weapon was possible in this realm, it was vital for Cascadia to develop it first. Still, she could sense when Amelia could be pushed for more information and could tell the woman would lock up if she prodded any more.
“Ready for the final tests?” Serena asked, changing the subject. “Instead of taking fire directly, I thought it would be a good idea to test your fieldwards against the Vengeance’s cannon fire.” Serena knew mages could cast their wards externally, much like a warrior would cloak their weapon with their aura. However, the strength of Amelia’s spellwork and her ability to fuel wards over large distances was an enormous shock to her. She had long hoped to test these wards and see if Amelia could potentially ward the entire ship in combat.
“Pick a first-circle ward and cast it between those two trees,” Serena gestured at the trees that had suffered a barrage of fragmentation. “Don’t cloak it; let it be visible to the gunners. We’ll start at the lowest ward and work our way up.”
“Okay!”
Serena sensed Amelia’s aether boil, and a moment later, a translucent crimson ward formed between the two trees. It shimmered and danced like a flame. Serena peered close. “Is that…”
“Igni’s Barrier, yup!” Amelia nodded happily. She had cast the entry-level ward of Igni, the first demon god of hellfire.
“Let’s give it a shot then,” Serena raised her flags.
Main cannon. Explosive shell. Single. Target ward. Confirm.
After confirming the order, one of the Vengeance’s main twin-barreled turrets turned. A singular barrel roared into life and the four-inch shell impacted Amelia’s ward at twice the speed of sound. The explosion ripped the trees apart and both Serena and Amelia were forced to step back from the shockwave.
After the smoke cleared, Serena was surprised to see the ward standing firm. “You… you didn’t reform it, right?” she asked Amelia, who shook her head. Seven hells! She knew Amelia’s spellwork was powerful, but to see a first-circle ward withstanding a cannon shell!? First circle spells and red aura were supposed to resist only small arms fire! Amelia’s weakest spells were as powerful as a talented mage’s third-circle wards!
She wasn’t done yet. She signalled the Vengeance once again.
Full broadside. Confirm.
The second turret turned and, with its brothers, spoke in anger as they launched four four-inch explosive shells into Amelia’s ward. It was a barrage that had destroyed many an enemy fortification and felled more than a few Republican vessels. The resulting explosion caused Amelia to fall over and Serena to stagger. She kept her eyes peeled at the moment of the explosion.
Amelia’s ward wavered but still didn’t break.
Ridiculous!
“Hehe!” Amelia chirped as she clambered to her feet. “Guess you’re going to need a bigger cannon! What!?” Serena caught herself glaring at her girlfriend.
“Apologies, I’m just used to my cannons doing a normal amount of damage to normal wards. Tsk!” Serena turned and waved her flags. If this didn’t penetrate Amelia’s weakest spell, then she’d surely grab her horns in frustration and cry!
Full broadside. Penetrator rounds. Confirm.
Tungsten was a rare and expensive metal in Cascadia. They had to import most of the ore from the Federation, and so little was mined domestically that tungsten rounds were rationed. They were supposed to be used against truly hardened targets, such as heavy cruisers or battleships.
Or one smug human’s wards.
The cannons fired, and Serena only caught a glimpse of the shells in flight before they pierced straight through Amelia’s wards, through the hundred feet of earth and exploded out the other side of the island taking with them a significant chunk of its mass.
“Ha!” she declared triumphantly. “Guess you’re going to need a bigger ward!”
Amelia bounced to her side, clapping her hands. “Well done!” she said with a smile. “You defeated my weakest spell! Shall we try a second-circle ward?”
“Fine!” Serena gave the command as Amelia set up the next level of magic.
The tungsten rounds were fired.
And the result?
Someone got their hair ruffled and their cheeks pulled.