To fly with the angels, one needed wings.
Early in the morning, Alisson received his wings alongside Celis. They were brought to an inner sanctum of stone and light, devoid of any others. He could hear prayers and litanies from somewhere, but he never saw anything out of the ordinary other than an apparatus that hung from the ceiling. Alisson was instructed to kneel, and when he did, the apparatus descended, and crested upon his bare back two searing wounds; The branded wings of a sinner.
…
The hangar was abuzz with activity. Angels clad in armor crouched low, holding on to catapults embedded in the floor, waiting for the time to launch. Alisson took a deep breath, and spread the wings that had been branded to his body earlier in the morning. The pain he felt during that process was only eclipsed by the haze he remembered it in. He was awoken and taken there, and didn’t remember much else. The wings he now bore were temporary blessings, white, translucent wedges that sprouted from his shoulder blades, and hung down, at the ready.
The same story went for Celis. The both of them still wore the white robes given to them, in a addition to extra layers to protect from the air and the cold at the high altitudes. This included a black mask that he clicked over his face, the glass visor in front of his eyes would help shield his vision from the rush of air, or so he had been told.
Angels floated between the columns of waiting fighters holding thuribles of burning incense, and others behind them threw holy water with aspergillums across those waiting.
<< Tactical Air Command online. Standby for launch. >>
Alisson heard from the device tucked into his ear that had been given to him. Alisson took another deep breath, and pulled the hood of his robe over his head.
<< Assault package 1 is go for launch. Fly. May God will victory. >>
The Angels nearer to the hangar exit were launch out of the bay doors from the catapults that they held; The ran along the floor and propelled the gliding angels to an incredible speed before they let go, and soared out into the white of the blinding sky. The rows of Angels continued being launched from the hangar until it was his row’s turn. The handlebar at his feet sprung forward, and he felt the air rush under his wings as his body glided off the ground. The catapult continued to pull him across until he reached the edge of the bay doors, and he was shot out, into the sky.
Flying with wings was a first for Alisson, but it was similar to the flight spells he had used before. These seemed to give more raw power to his movements, more control, and allowed him some sense of how fast he was going. Celis was close behind them, and they rose up as they had been instructed.
Celis served no practical purpose on this mission; However, she had insisted and twisted the arms of the Angels into being brought along. It appeared she didn’t want to leave him alone to himself.
Alisson took a glance behind him at the city.
AB-0 was lit up with activity as Angels poured from all hangars that he could spot, leaving air contrails in their wakes. It was a mesmerizing sight, and a wonder how they didn’t crash into each other.
<< Increase altitude and rendezvous with His Majesty. >>
The commands issued to him by the TAC were sometimes general, to all angels, but this was a command to him directly. Alisson did as he was told, and shot upwards toward the clouds alongside hundreds of other angels.
This mission was two-fold. A show of force, and a way to cripple the northern Irinian army, to slow them down. It would be quite the journey firstly, so several refueling vehicles had been launched in advance. Alisson could see them circling above; They looked like triangles with underslung hangars from which angels could land to rest and regain their mana to continue operations. He reached the altitude of the orbiting craft, and quickly found his assigned refueler, His Majesty. Higher in the sky, where there existed no clouds, was a circular craft, flanked by angels with halos so large that he could spot them from his elevation.
<< Airbourne Warning and Control System online. Commence operation. >>
With that announcement, the orbiting refuelers and the squadrons of Angels that had formed up around them began moving southwest, toward the Irinian army’s basecamp. As they moved, the formation formed neatly together; The angels paired off in squads of four, and the refueling aircraft lay in the center of formation, alongside Alisson and his detachment. They were the ones nearest to the center. The angels that flanked him and Celis were the most elite of the those in the air.
Whereas the majority of the Angels deployed today would be acting as a distraction, Alisson, Celis, and a couple dozen of these elite Angels, would be penetrating the army’s airspace. With such a large formation, the Irinian mages on the ground could probably detect them, even so far away. However, the real threat were those in the air. A spherical array of aerial mages acted as a defense net for the army on the ground. The angels in Alisson’s posse were to punch a hole in their net, slip in undetected, and then rain fire on their supply depots. They didn’t have the firepower to destroy the whole army, but they could certainly starve them.
The flight lasted all of thirty minutes. Granted, they were traveling at high speeds, but Alisson was already getting winded, unused to such prolonged flying. It made the week of travel up to the HACA from the Queendom feel pedestrian in comparison.
<< Rally point reached. Assault package 1, split from main force and commence infiltration. >>
That was their cue. Alisson rolled and dived down alongside the other angels in his formation. The refueler His Majesty was quick to follow, flanked by its escorts. Apparently those craft were not piloted. They were Angels. They had been fused, body and mind, to the inner workings of the craft.
<< Alright Alisson, it’s time to show us what an outsider can do on borrowed wings. >>
The flight lead, Throne Constantius, spoke to the formation, giving a cursory glance back at Alisson. Alisson couldn’t make out his face, for all the angels wore sleek helmets from which no light escaped. They continued onward at a lower altitude toward the Irinian defense net.
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<< There’s our target. Prepare barrage. >>
Alisson couldn’t see anything in the distance, only clouds.
Regardless, the angels around him started to prepare their attack magic, or ‘divinations’, as they called them.
<< Fire. >>
The Angels unleashed a rapid and focused long rage attack, a flurry of golden, silver, and blue magics shot with high velocity into the clouds in front of them. After a moment of a silence, Constantius reported:
<< AWACS reports mage mana signature is gone. The net is broken. Let’s move. >>
With those words, the elite angels exponentially increased their speed, shooting forward, and Alisson hastened to keep pace. The refueler and its escorts were left behind to orbit outside Irinian airspace.
With that, they had slipped in.
<< Increase altitude. >>
They shot upwards as they moved above the target facilities. They were within the sphere that Irinian’s aerial defense forces had created; A sphere that was very large, and probably more focused on the main force of Angels a great distance away.
<< Flight of four Irinian mages bearing 270. Intercept. >>
A squad of four angels gave a flourish to their weapons, which suddenly materialized as burning yellow blades, and peeled into the clouds. The Irinians must be responding to the sudden disappearance of one of their mages with a patrol to investigate. This time, they were so close that Alisson could hear the fighting; He heard the rumbles of explosions faintly. The angels rejoined them promptly thereafter.
<< Flight of twelve, bearing 70. >>
<< Flight of four, bearing 330. >>
More angels peeled away to intercept. They continued on, and passed one engagement, speeding by it. Alisson could only spot for a few seconds, mages flying in tandem with Angels, as if they were dancing, they shot spells at each other, and the Angels closed in with their burning yellow blades and cut throw them with great speed.
It felt wrong to be escorted this way, but Alisson was a novice in aerial combat, he’d probably be beaten by a common Irinian mage. He had only ever used flight to maneuver terrain, not to engage in combat.
<< Over the target area soon. You ready, outsider? >>
Alisson didn’t know how to operate the communications device, so he simply gave a thumbs up to Constantius. They reached the presumed spot. Alisson assumed that directly below them, thousands of meters, was an Irinian supply cache, one that they had hauled and built to supply their army for the coming campaign into the Queendom. It would go up in flames, alongside anyone nearby.
Alisson and the Angels halted, creating a circular formation around him.
<< You’re clear, start your heathen magics. >>
With a flash, Alisson materialized his Opensen, and split his tails into Bacilla. A net of dozens of white tendrils surrounded him, and he saw some of the Angels stealing nervous glances back at him, like he was some kind of monstrosity. He began pulling mana from the surroundings and channeling it into his Bacilla with fluid motions. His Bacilla peeled and peeled, separating into hundreds of individual strands.
<< AWACS just reported in. Irine knows we’re here. They’re sending all available air defense to us. Expect anti-air fire from the ground. >>
Two large Angels floated nearer to Alisson, with shields slung to their shoulders. Another, very frail, unarmored Angel neared; she looked younger than even the apprentices.
“I will act as your telemetry and shot guidance. Please allow me, Alisson.”
She bobbed her head low. Alisson briskly nodded back, not wanting to distract himself from his motions. She floated to his rear and held onto his shoulders, whispering to herself. Celis looked on; He couldn’t see her face but he knew she was bitter.
As he worked, battle began to erupt all around him. The Angels shot forward into the clouds, and Alisson caught glimpses of Irinian mages beelining for him, before they were cut in half by Angels from their sides, flying through them with their slices. He could see their corpses fall down lifelessly under his feet. Long range magic also began to impact on the escort’s shells from the aerial mages. Loud rumbles and explosions sounded off that Alisson could feel in his chest. It appeared that, because of the elevation, and lack of a floor, the explosions of magic here in the open air were magnified in their intensity.
Alisson did not buckle or wince at these signs of combat; he had experienced it plenty on the ground before. That was until the first bolt of AA fire came from the ground. A massive spike of mana shot upwards, narrowly missing the entire formation; the shot split into dozens of smaller blasts upward. If that had met its mark, it would’ve decimated the entire formation.
<< They’re zeroing in on us. Outsider, ETA? >>
With one last motion, Alisson rose a hand over his head, a blue sphere of congealed mana visible above it. On each end of his Bacilla’s tendrils there was a similar ball of mana, glowing and wafting with power.
“Ready!” He shouted.
<< Fire for effect. >>
The small Angel at his backside tightened her grip on his shoulders, and said into his ear, “Follow this trajectory…I’ll do the terminal guidance.”
Across Alisson’s visor, he could see a line that shot down into the ground, into the clouds below. It must’ve been the work of the support angel. Following the line provided to him, he reached his hand into the ball of mana above him, grabbing it, and then swung it down, releasing it. A beam of pure mana erupted from his hand, sending quakes through his body. He did is his best to remain still, and control the mana. His Bacilla surrounded his arm, mana flowing through his body and into the beam.
This was the Moonlight Cannon.
A moment later, Alisson could hear a rumble from below.
“…Hit.” The support angel said quietly.
In the next instant, the mana dried up, and Alisson was finished. He breathed a deep sigh, and turned to the support angel. Alisson’s eyes widened and he recoiled back. Her legs were gone, and her hips were fading and disintegrating into white specks.
“W-what’s wrong with you?”
The support angel gave a smile and a little giggle. “I’ve done my task…You don’t have to look so panicked…Hehe.”
“Y-you’re…”
<< Good hit. We are pulling out. Go! >>
The Angels around them swung out and fled the way they came, but Alisson was stunned by the one before him.
“I’m only a few days old. It’s okay. It’s my purpose.”
She continued to flash a smile at him. Half her body was already gone. Celis flew nearer and pulled Alisson away. “We need to go!”
Alisson reluctantly turned and flew with her in the wake of the other Angels, speeding up to keep pace with them. Alisson turned to see the support angel, still there in the clearing between the clouds, fading into nothing. An AA shell from the ground impacted on the position they were at moments before, and the support angel was engulfed in a cloud of thundering explosions.
Alisson pried his gaze away and sped after the angels alongside Celis. He suddenly felt quite winded.
More AA shells fired up at them from the ground, they thundered all around with deep rumbles that shook Alisson to his core. He closed his eyes and just kept flying, hoping they didn’t impact any nearer to the formation.
They were soon out of the defense net, and to his relief, they spotted the refueler His Majesty orbiting close by, ready to take on any wounded.
<< Theater-wide alert: The mission is a success. Return. >>
Alisson heard the TAC issue an announcement to all the Angels in the sky. He was panting heavily by this point, and his body ached.
“Are you okay, Alisson?” Celis peered up at him.
<< Alisson, land with His Majesty. That fox-magic you used looks to have drained you. >>
Alisson did as he was told by Constantius, and flew into the underside of the refueler, where a small hangar was. Alisson touched the ground of the craft and held onto a nearby handlebar, panting heavily. He looked out behind him at the clouds, relieved that the explosions of AA fire had been left behind.
***