Despite Blake’s faith in the shield, he flinched as the munitions fell, and released the breath he did not realize he held. The iridescent dome above him shimmered opaquely over a two hundred foot area.
Donna Summers: Blake, that brought the shield down to seventy percent. It’s climbing again, but not as fast as before.
That’s not good.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: I think it’s because the shield’s still on fire up there. Once that clears, it should go back to full strength.
Donna Summers: I hope you’re right.
Blake squinted as what looked like fiery goo slid down the surface of the shield and hit the ground outside the wall. The tall, dry grass immediately ignited, and the fire began to spread.
I need to put that out.
He cast Improved Flame Shield on himself, stepped off the merlon, and landed inside the fire. By the time he arrived, the flames had already filled the distance between the wall and the road, which acted as a fire block. Unfortunately, there was still plenty for it to burn on his side.
How am I supposed to put this out?
Blake’s spells were meant for combat, not utility. Out of all of his abilities, only Gale would affect the inferno, and that would only serve to fan the flames. Unable to think of a solution, he hurried through the now smoldering remains of the grass towards the road. Once he stood on the loose gravel, he turned and stared in horror at the devastation.
The grass was not the only thing on fire.
The explosion had thrown fiery debris for hundreds of feet in all directions. Three separate clusters of Ponderosa Pines had already begun to burn, while fire raced through the barren field next to them. In just minutes, it would engulf the vacant barn. Meanwhile, more molten sludge dripped down from the dome and dropped to the ground below.
I can’t stop this.
His only hope was for the fire to burn itself out before it spread across any other roads. If it did not, it could start a chain reaction that could not be stopped. Especially if they did not allow firefighters into the area.
They’re going to burn Pinetop to the ground.
Donna Summers: Blake, I think we have a problem.
What now?
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: What’s wrong?
Donna Summers: I’m looking at our treasury, and the nano is dropping.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: What do you mean dropping? How fast?
Donna Summers: I’m pretty sure it was at twenty-eight million nano this morning. Now it’s at twenty-one, and dropping by around five thousand a second. Do you think it’s using nano to repair the shield?
Shit! Of course, it does! Why didn’t I consider that?
Blake was not a member of faction leadership in his past life. He was not included in any meetings, and did not know the nitty-gritty details of how these structures worked. He cursed his lack of knowledge.
I should have asked Metal more questions.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: How strong is the shield right now?
Donna Summers: It’s back up to ninety-one percent.
So, it used about seven mega-nano to repair by a bit over twenty percent. If they keep this up, we’re going to run out of nano quick.
Distant blasts from the north suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Fifteen minutes had passed since the last salvo, and Blake had hoped it was the last. Unfortunately, as before, the blasts did not relent. Every few seconds, a new explosion resounded.
I have to stop this. NOW!
Blake sprinted down the road and activated his Alacrity. He did not know the location of the artillery, but the blasts came from the North. By the time he reached the main highway and turned, the launches abruptly ceased.
Good, it’s not any more than last time.
His Alacrity came off cooldown, and he activated it again to speed his journey. Blake knew the military was likely watching him through either satellite or a high-flying drone. Wherever they were, they would be ready for him when he arrived.
It did not matter, he had to destroy their destructive equipment regardless.
Donna Summers: Shield integrity dropped to sixty-one percent this time, and we dropped below twenty-mega nano.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Don’t worry, I’m going to stop them.
Donna Summers: What are you going to do?
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: I’m going to blow up their missiles and take whoever’s in charge hostage. I never should have let those cops go.
Donna Summers: Be careful.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: I always am.
Donna Summers: Sorry. Logically, I know you’ve done this for years, but I can’t help but worry. If it’s not too much to ask, can you try not to kill anyone?
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Sorry mom, I can’t promise that. I won’t go out of my way to kill anyone, but I can’t just wait for them to get clear before I blow up their weapons. That’s a great way to end up dead, myself.
Donna Summers: I suppose that’s the best I can hope for. And you’re right, I’d rather you survive.
Blake closed his interface and reactivated Alacrity. He had travelled over five miles, and had yet to find a trace of the military. While he did not want them to launch another salvo of missiles at their town, he may not be able to locate them if they held their fire.
Just how far away are these guys?
He traveled another three miles before he finally found them. The Dall-mart parking lot was filled with military vehicles and personnel. A line of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other equipment Blake had never seen formed an outer perimeter. Beyond, were around fifteen rocket artillery units along with large cargo vehicles. Soldiers hurriedly unloaded the rockets from the back of the truck and continued to reload the platforms.
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Blake had only a moment to take in the situation before the perimeter opened fire on him. The moment he heard the first blast, he immediately teleported twenty feet to his left. Despite his lightning fast reaction, he was almost too slow.
A pressure wave washed over him, which caused him to stumble. His hearing was shot, and his back bruised by debris, but he ignored the pain and teleported again. A moment later, he stood safely behind a Taco Hut. The restaurant was a standard brick building, which every fast food restaurant seemed to emulate.
Hopefully this gives me a few minutes.
While Blake waited for his teleport to recharge, he focused his regeneration on his ears. Unless he wanted to peek his head around the corner, he needed his hearing to know what they were doing.
That was when the building he crouched behind exploded.
Blake was thrown ten feet away by the blast and rolled another five before he stopped at the bottom of a small drainage ditch. His vision blurred, and a cloud of dust and smoke was before him, but he could easily see nothing remained of the chain restaurant. Before they could line up a shot on him, he quickly ducked into the ditch and laid frozen along the bottom.
Wow, they’re really going to level the whole town to kill me. I need to reach that front line!
If he could close the four hundred foot gap between them, they would be forced to ceasefire or risk hitting their own side. At least, the explosives and tank rounds would stop. Blake fully expected the mounted machine guns and small arms fire to follow him regardless.
Unfortunately, his Spatial Distortion charges were drained, and there was no way he would succeed without both of them available. Blake would need to remain hidden for at least three minutes before he could make the attempt.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
He was tempted to raise his head to peek over the rise, but suppressed the urge. Instead, Blake remained completely still in the hope they would assume he was dead.
After another minute passed, in which no shots were fired, he grew hopeful. Blake activated Oblate Mind Sense, and immediately celebrated at what it revealed.
They bought it!
A force of two armored vehicles and a Humvee had split from the defensive line. They crept slowly forward as a squad of soldiers paced cautiously alongside them. At the speed they currently moved, he would be within their sights in just another minute.
It’ll be tight, but it should work.
Seventy seconds later, a soldier yelled, “I have eyes on him! Tango down, I repeat, tango down!”
“Keep your sites on target!” another soldier ordered. “We don’t know what he’s capable of.”
No you don’t
Two seconds later, both charges of his Spatial Step were ready, and he enacted his plan.
Blake teleported from a prone position to standing, twenty feet closer to the infantry troops, and simultaneously activated Alacrity. Before they could react, he stood among the soldiers. Only a few shots rang out as they struggled to follow his movements.
“Shit! Target’s active! Target’s active!”
Blake ignored their cries and orders and focused on the greatest threat, the armored vehicles. As he ran, he unhooked his spear from his belt, grasped it tightly, and channeled chi to its tip. By the time it was fully charged, he was only feet away from his target.
As he passed the vehicle, he swung his spear and easily severed the extruding barrel. He then pivoted and repeated the maneuver on the armored vehicle beside it. Meanwhile, rifles and the Humvee’s mounted machine gun continued to fire. However, only a few bullets found their target, and none of them did more than annoy him.
Humvee next.
Three steps later, he swept the energized tip of his spear through the mounted gun just as it fired. The machine gun exploded, and the soldier who aimed it flew off the vehicle.
With the minor threats eliminated, and the line of tanks and other defenses unable to attack, he easily disarmed the infantry within seconds. Blake heard bones snap as rifles were pulled from their hands and subsequently destroyed. Each time he stole a rifle, he slammed the barrel into the pavement, which deformed the barrel.
Finally, when the last man was disarmed, he ordered the troops to stand in a line before him. If he wanted to reach the artillery before they fired another salvo, he needed human shields
“Surrender now, or you will be fired upon!” an amplified voice ordered from within the perimeter.
You already fired on me and it didn’t work, dumbass.
“What do you want?” a soldier before him asked as he cradled his broken fingers.
Blake brandished his spear. “I want all of you to slowly walk in a line back to the line of tanks where you came from. I’ll be right behind you. But, I’m warning you now, if any of you make any sudden moves, you’ll be cut down.”
“You think we’ll just play along?” another soldier growled.
Blake swung the butt of his spear into the man’s helmet. At impact, the defiant soldier flew sideways and rolled limply along the ground. Blake growled. “I don’t know if he’s dead or not, but if you don’t want to join him, I suggest you get walking.”
After that, two soldiers complied with his orders, which led the others to follow suit. Blake marched close behind them as they slowly made their way to the line of tanks and armored vehicles. As they steadily moved closer, the amplified voice grew increasingly hostile until he finally gave Blake an ultimatum, surrender in the next ten seconds, or they will open fire.
You won’t fire on your own troops.
Unfortunately, Blake was wrong.
Two of the tanks opened fire and the ground beneath his line of human shields erupted. Blake quickly teleported twenty feet into the air, but not before he saw body parts fly.
What the hell is wrong with these people?
While airborne, with only a single hand available, Blake cast Gale. Less than a second later, he shot higher into the sky. Their stream of bullets attempted to follow him, but failed to track his movements. A few moments later, he reached his peak and began to descend just before the line.
Twenty feet from the ground, he used another charge of his Spatial Step and appeared on top of the tank. He stomped his foot on the barrel, and the thick steel bent downward. Blake activated Alacrity, rushed to the next vehicle, and disabled its main weapon as well.
Blake worked his way down the line as bullets rained down upon him. By the time he destroyed the last vehicle’s weapons, his body was bruised, and his hair was in shambles.
He did his best to ignore the rain of bullets which peppered him as he reached for his bow. The rockets were almost completely loaded within their platforms, and Blake needed to destroy them before they could fire. Blake retrieved an arrow from his quiver, channeled chi into it as he pulled the string back, and released.
The arrow penetrated a rocket within the artillery unit, and exploded from within. This caused the rest of the rockets to erupt, and within seconds, the entire line of artillery was gone. A massive explosion completely destroyed the equipment, which released a wave of shrapnel.
Everywhere, soldiers fell to the ground and screamed. All gunfire ceased as those who remained uninjured cried out for medics and rushed to their fellow’s aid.
No longer under attack, Blake searched for someone high rank to take hostage. He could only hope the Generals back at the Pentagon valued their soldier’s lives more than the local commander, or humanity was doomed.
Finally, Blake spotted a mobile command tent engulfed in flames. Soldiers stumbled out of the temporary structure before it fully caught ablaze. They did not get far before Blake stopped them.
“Everyone, stop right there!” he ordered.
At his command, they whirled, eyes wide with fear. The soldier on the end reached for his pistol, but Blake stunned him with a Mind Blast before his hand found its grip.
“If anyone else reaches for their weapon, they die,” Blake stated coldly.
“You’ll kill us anyway,” a man sneered.
“No, I won’t,” Blake argued. “A dead hostage is useless.”
“Is that what we are now?” another asked. “Hostages?”
“Yes, you are,” he confirmed. “And, you better hope your leaders care more about your lives than whoever was in charge here. Opening fire on your own men?” Blake shook his head. “That’s disgusting.”
“It was an illegal order,” a soldier in his forties growled as he eyed Blake warily. “I’ve already placed the CO under arrest. Colonel Stenberg will stand trial,” he promised.
Blake nodded. “Are you in charge now?”
The new commander nodded curtly.
“What’s your name?”
“I’m the XO, Major Dominguez,” he replied.
“Then you, and the rest of your command staff, are coming with me. Pick one person to remain behind and organize medical care, but everyone else is now my hostage.”
“Are you bringing us to the dome?” the commander asked.
Blake nodded.
The officer spat and turned to address his subordinate. “Tanner, you stay and coordinate medical evac.”
“Yes sir,” the officer confirmed the order with relief.
“Are we going to march the entire way back?” the commander asked.
“Of course not. You’re going to take one of the transports and drive us there.”
“This many people won’t fit in a Humvee,” he pointed out.
“Then we take an APC,” Blake growled. “Pretty sure you’ll all cram inside that. Oh, and bring a radio or some way to contact whoever’s in charge. I want to negotiate.”
“Are you going to surrender?”
“No, you are.” Blake replied.
Twenty minutes later, Blake sat in the passenger seat of an APC as they drove through the open gate to his city. During the drive home, numerous attempts were made to contact him through the radio. Blake only answered a single time. He informed them that he would only negotiate with a single person, the President of the United States. From that point on, he ignored their pleas.
He wanted his prisoners safe within their cells before he opened negotiations, and he was in no hurry to speed things along. There was only a week and a half left before Invasion day, and Blake intended to stall.