VI
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Arc VI Chapter 21
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Anno Imperii 05.08.1936
Eager to fight, her adversaries lost no time. Nobody told them to, but they did not need an invitation. As expected from the guard, they were quick to act.
The FlaK opened fire with all calibres, accompanied by a wide arrange of spells. The bombardment commenced to pin her down. Concentrated. Focused on a single target. Taking her under intense crossfire, not that she expected otherwise. It was standard procedure according to imperial doctrine. A classical handbook against hardened targets. Orthodox, yet undeniably effective, at least normally.
“FIRE!!!”
Her senses served her well. Time slowed at her command. The world decelerated. The flash of igniting powder lit up the horizon in a blaze of glory. The deep roar of artillery, a synchronised orchestra of expanding propellant echoed across the plains.
“BBBBRRWWWwweeeehhHHHHHH!!!”
The ground trembled. The air oscillated. The rounds approached. And they approached fast. The shells spun along their perpendicular axis, forcing their way through the air. Armour piercing intermixed with a substantial amount of standard high explosive rounds. Latter served to annoy her, to distract her. The former to finish her.
The rounds converged from all directions, heading straight for her. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55. Armour piercing shot. Ballistic cap. Armour piercing cap. Hardened tungsten core. Diameter 8.8 cm. 10.5 cm. 12.8 cm. Weight 10.2 kg. 15.1 kg. 26 kg. Muzzle velocity 820 m/s. 880 m/s. 880 m/s. Strike velocity variable. The FlaK hit hard, in her experience, not to mention hurt quite a bit, Not much of a surprise when such calibres and velocities were involved. The laws of physics were not your friend.
Aurora braced for impact. Her mana answered her call, with speed beyond comprehension. Materialising, hardening in an instant amidst a purple glimmer, her mana protected her, forming layer upon layer of shielding. Multiple layers in depth. Spaced apart. Varying thickness. Increasing hardness. Sloped. Angled. Just as Father had taught her. Her defence stood in time.
“ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!”
The rounds connected. The rounds impacted. The rounds truck. Violently. Smashing against her shielding with the supersonic speed of accelerated tungsten and steel. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. More followed. 21, 34, 55. An incessant rain. Round after round struck. Round after round glanced off.
The ground trembled. The air oscillated upon impact. The sheer kinetic gave her pause. Yet her defence stood. Enduring. Ever enduring. She had endured worse. She would do so again.
“TttttTzzZZwwWWWrrrRrEEeerRRR!!!”
“TTtttZZwWrrRrEEeerR!!!”
“TTtttzzZZwWWwrrrrrRrEERRR!!!”
Impact. Head on. The rounds splintered, spalled. Their caps shattered upon impact, like brittle glass in a shower of steel and shrapnel. The shells jerked, wrenched, twisted, deformed. Hardened steel turned softer than rubber, more liquid than water. The rounds penetrated. The first layer. The second layer. The third layer. Voracious, the mass of twisted steel pushed forwards, biting its way through layers upon layers of mana. Until stopped. And so they were.
Each layer absorbed. Each layer resisted. Each layer took its toll. The rounds began to tumble, to plunge, to drop. Harmless and innocuous, they had expended all their energy, turning into a mere lump of twisted metal ...
...
Stolen novel; please report.
... ...
... ... ...
The bombardment had fallen silent, but only for a fraction of a moment. Unsurprisingly, the next salvo already greeted her. The good sportsmen they were, her adversaries offered her not the slightest respite. Not that she would have expected otherwise. Her friends from the guard spared no effort. The gun crews overclocked, their pace frantic, their sweat running down their foreheads. Their guns devoured round after round, craving more and more.
“FIRE!!!”
“BBBBRRWWWwweeeehhHHHHHH!!!”
“ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!”
“TTtttTzzZZwwWWWrrrRrEEeerRRR!!!”
The horizon erupted, set ablaze in a torrent of steel and tungsten. The rounds impacted, deflected, bounced off, ricocheted. Yet the gunner never tired, nor did their ammunition supplies. They had brought plenty this time.
“FIRE!!!”
“BBBBRRWWWwweeeehhHHHHHH!!!” The guns roared. Chung. The guns recoiled. Ching. Expelled casings, sent flying. Ga chuk. Breach open. Reload. Ga chuk. Pneuamtic pressure. Breach closed. Fire. The cycle repeated, their rate of fire never tiring.
“ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!”
“TTtttTzzZZwwWWWrrrRrEEeerRRR!!!”
The barrage intensified. As it turned out, her friends were quite unwilling to give her even a single foot of ground. At least, not without a fight. So be it.
“BBBBRRWWWwweeeehhHHHHHH!!!”
“ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!”
“TTtttTzzZZwwWWWrrrRrEEeerRRR!!!”
“BBBBRRWWWwweeeehhHHHHHH!!!”
“ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!”
“TttttTzzZZwwWWWrrrRrEEeerRRR!!!”
“BBBBRRWWWwweeeehhHHHHHH!!!”
“ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!”
“TttttTzzZZwwWWWrrrRrEEeerRRR!!!”
1 000 m. 1 000 m was not much. Only a number, a distance to cover. Her resolve steeled, Aurora moved. Her mana rushed through her veins, accelerating her metabolism, reinforcing her legs, pushing her body to the limit. Her sprint commenced. Her sole goal, closing the distance. The adversary took notice. They were quick to redirect their fire. Not that it mattered.
“ZzzzttTTeeeeEEEWWW!!! ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!
ZZtttTTeeeeEEww!!! ZzttTTeeeeEWWW!!! ZZzztttTTeeEEEWW!!!
ZZzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWW!!! ZzzzztttTTTTTTEeeeeEEEWW!!!”
750 m. The rounds kept flying. Kept impacting. Kept glancing off her shielding. Kept missing, sailing past her, biting themselves into the surrounding ground. Unperturbed, Aurora increased her pace, approaching their positions. Left. Right. Jump. Dodge. Zig zag. Evade. Sprint. Faster. Faster.
“ZZtttTTeeeeEEww!!! ZzttTTeeeeEWWW!!! ZZzztttTTeeEEEWW!!!
ZZzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWW!!! ZzzzztttTTTTTTEeeeeeEEEWW!!!
ZzzzttTTeeeeEEEWWW!!! ZzzzzttttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!”
500 m. The rounds whistled in the air, their number saturating the entire field with craters and explosions. The closer, the lower the reaction time. The harder to dodge. Not to mention, they had changed ammunition type. Less and less standard armour piercing, more and more dedicated anti magic ammunition. Steel and tungsten ... Mythril silver alloys ... Substantial aether component ... Aetherochemically strengthened ... Heavily enchanted ... The percentage of hybrid kinetic penetrators had risen sharply. Hardly a coincidence on their part. Their choice was ... quite deliberate.
“ZZzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWW!!! ZzzzztttTTTTTTEeeeeEEEWW!!!
ZZtttTTeeeeEEww!!! ZztttTTeeeeEWWW!!! ZZzztttTTeeEEEWW!!!
ZzzztttTTeeeeEEEWWW!!! ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!!”
425 m. Unfaltering, unwavering, Aurora gripped her sword. She was getting closer ...
“BBBBBRRRRRRRRRREEEEEWWWWHHHHHHH!!!”
400 m. Aurora braced herself. They had a nasty surprise in their repertoire, one she should have seen coming.
“BBBOOOOOHHHHHWWWWW!!!”
“BBBBOOOOOHHHWWWW!!!”
“BBBBBBBOOOOOHHHWWWWWWW!!!”
This time, she took 21 cm, 115 kg of aether enriched high explosives directly to the face. Not once. Not twice. But thrice. In quick succession. They had only waited for her to close the distance. She could veritably sense the grin on the lips of the battery officer. He had quite his fun. His amusement would be short lived.
The shell rattled her shield and her entire body, smiting her like the sledgehammer of the gods. 21 cm hit hard, kicking her back a fair distance. Her legs slid across the ground, across the grass, before she came to a halt and regained her stance. 450 m, more or less.
The mages joined the fray. Their chants and formulas fired up, their spells springing to live in a blazing inferno. They rained fire and fury on her, with enough firepower to annihilate whole battalions. Fire. Lightning. Ice. The entire elemental chart. Sometimes she had the impression that they were really out there to kill her ... But only sometimes. They probably had the best of intentions ... Presumably.
“Bbbbbbzzzzzz!!! TTttZZZZ! Tsseeewww!! TTttZZZZ! BbbBBBZZzzzzz!!!”
BbbBbzzzzz!! TTSssSSsSWWww!! TTttzzzZZ!!! BbbBbzZZZz!! TTttZZZZ!
TTttZZZZ! BBBzz! TTttssSSSww!! TTttzzzZ!!! BbbBbzZZZz!!! BBBbzzz!!!”
She could not, and she would not stop, Aurora accelerated, notwithstanding the incoming fire. Reach the trenches. Take the initiative. Bring the fight to them. 350 m
The infantry joined the fight, welcoming her with a hail of bullets. Their machine guns had sprung into action, making things lively once more.
“Zzzzeewwww! ZZZeeWWWW!!! ZzzeeeeWWW!! ZZzzeeEWW! ZZzeeeWW!!!
ZzzeeeeWWW!! ZZzzeeEWW! Zzzzeewwww! ZZzeeeWW!!! ZZZeeeeeEWWW!
ZZzeeeWW!!! Zzzzeewwww! ZZZeeWWWW!!! ZzzeeeeWWW!! ZZzzeeeWW!!”
Short burst. Long burst. Bullets, tracers everywhere. The brilliant yellow of burning sodium illuminated the field, turning the entire clearing into a shooting gallery. Their guns devoured their belts, their barrels already glowing red. Nevertheless, their effect was ... minimal, their effect more psychological and intimidatory in nature than real. It was your usual test of nerves, nothing more. 250 m.
“Zzzzeewwww! ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!! Tsseeewww!! Bbbbbbzzzzzz!!! ZZZeeWWWW!!! ZzzeeeeWWW!! TTttZZZZ! ZZzzeeEWW! TTttZZZZ! ZzeeWW!!! TtTTttzzzZZ!!! ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!! ZzzeeeeWWW!! BbbBbzzzzz!! ZZzzeeEWW! Zzzeewww! TTttZZZZ! ZZzeeeWW!!! BBBbzzz!! ZZZeeeeeEWWW!”
Aurora moved, her shield increasingly taking a lot of punishment, even budging under the sheer volume of fire. They were hammering with everything at their disposal and the results showed. Her shielding was depleting, Her allowance was being drained faster than expected. Problematic. Remedies necessary. 150 m.
“ZZZeeWWWW!!! ZzzeeeeWWW!! TTttZZZZ! ZZzzeeEWW! TTttZZZZ! ZzeeeW!!! TtTTttzzzZZ!!! ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!! ZzzeeeeWWW!!”
100 m.
BbbBbzzzzz!! ZZzzeeEWW! Zzzeewww! TTttTZZZZ! ZZzeeeWW!!! BBBbzzz!! ZZZeeeeeEWWW! Zzzzeewwww!
50 m.
ZzzzztttTTTTEEeeeeEEEWWWWW!!! Tsseeewww!! Bbbbbbzzzzzz!!!”
0 m. Distance closed.
Aurora jumped, diving headlong into the trench, into the unknown. She had made it, although she harboured little doubt the local welcoming committee was already awaiting her. As usual, it was a healthy dose of lead and explosives, blank steel, and polished bayonets to greet her. This was going to be rough. Not that she was not used to it.
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