The first thing that struck Jonas as he crossed the Gate was the sound of muskets. There were still dozens of soldiers trying to fire on the incoming tide of Professionals pouring from the Great Gilded Gate of Versailles. He rushed down the Gate ramp, readying spells in case. But the only threat was already ending, as a last handful of soldiers tried futilely to take down some invaders before being overwhelmed, only to be struck by a lightning strike from another high-tier spellcaster.
For a second, Jonas had a flashback to that fateful day when the French had assaulted the Gate, and the guard trying to stand against them. But there had been only a handful of saboteurs, not the literal horde pouring out of the Gate. The French guardsmen present never had a chance.
All the Professionals had already been inserted into a global team for the secondary objective, to allow anyone to notice any problem occurring. As more and more names popped into focus as they crossed the Gate, Jonas found himself heading to the side. He spotted the high-tiered Professionals already rushing toward the Chateau, whose steps lay behind the Gate.
The Gate itself was in the middle of the former royal gardens, at the centre of a rectangular plaza. The London Gate was located in what everyone called the Queen’s Gardens, but this place was truly gardens, not a park area. Manicured hedges, late-autumn-blooming plants. Despite the strategic importance of the Gate in their middle, the royal gardens of Versailles were impeccably maintained, as if the King was still there, and not ruthlessly executed by the French Revolutionaries three decades ago.
He quickly scanned the horizon… and spotted a small blot in the skies. At least one of the skyships was already visible over the trees. The assault was, so far, on schedule.
Jonas finally spotted Thorebourne, waving toward the side of the gardens. He did not need to turn to know, from the descriptor, that his entire team had finished crossing. He started running across the alleys, toward the corner of the gardens, where the Village was located just beyond a treeline. More Professionals started down that way.
Ira and Jonathan caught up to him as they ran toward the objective.
“So far, so good,” he said.
“Found Adjustment VIII,” Jonathan replied.
“Wait? What? Right now???”
“When we crossed and I went to help tackle those guards, I… could see a base descriptor.”
Jonas threw a glance at the defender.
“A bit weird. I think it is a bit like Gauge Enemy, except it works on non-Labyrinth. Mundane people.”
“You see their Potentials,” Jonas said, remembering the discussion with the Zulu rebel.
“Just like you said what that Zulu Adapted King is supposed to be able to do. I couldn’t see a name or anything, just a list of the ten Potentials and some values. Which instantly vanished as they went down.”
“Well, so much for immediate help.”
Jonathan made a head gesture as they kept on running, nearly half of the garden’s length gone.
“Potential readers are expensive and rare. I can recruit the next generation of Professionals against France. You can, too. As soon as you get it.”
“By the time we do, it won’t be a problem. But… you are right. It’s the kind of things that we can do easily, but comes harder for everyone else.”
“Isn’t it what Adjustment always does?” Ira asked.
Jonas startled. Ira was right. Except he was not.
“I don’t think anyone can do Gates as we do.”
“They repair themselves, according to the Duke,” he countered.
“We don’t break rules,” Jonas considered.
“No, we bend them. Big or subtly, but we just do that,” Ira said.
“And we pay for that, but that’s a good price,” Jonathan said.
Then the trio reached the treeline and started to slow down, allowing for the rest of the team to catch up. Other Professionals split to the sides, heading into the forested edge that separated the gardens from their target.
Guss, Laura and Alton caught up, and they plunged through the trees, coming out into a larger open expanse. To the side was a small palace, but to the right was The Village.
The thing that immediately struck him was the ditches. There was a moat surrounding the Village, ditches full of water and a ridge of pointed wood spikes running across the central berm, between ditches. Inside the perimeter were a bunch of houses, farm buildings, and a weird pair of towers that seemed out of place in the countryside. Jonas had noticed them on the model, but in reality, they were even odder.
To the side, one of their teams was already rushing a pair of leather-clad obvious Professionals. Swords were raised, hammers fell, and Jonas turned away, scanning at the area for the rest of the local guard.
Three additional Frenchmen were rushing toward the fight, and he pointed toward them.
Ira raised his claymore, starting to run to intercept them, while the rest of the team rallied. Jonas saw them hesitate. He realized that the appearance of Professionals with what looked very much like Artefacts would be a cause for worry. They did not have the skills to figure out the levels of their opponent, but neither would the French, probably.
Still, they rushed, and a sword popped, while Jonas launched his first area spell, making them dodge the splashing fire. They ignored Ira, who whirled around, trying to catch them. Two of them converged on Jonas, and he backpedalled before remembering his Aether Window.
The greenish transparent square that popped stopped the assault for a mere instant. The two enemies broke through almost immediately, but their rush had been blunted, and the rest of the team engaged them.
You are pummelled for 111 damage.
For a few moments, Jonas marvelled at the notification system. He could only guess at who he was actually fighting, in terms of build, but he knew his enemy’s exact skills when used. The man pulled back his two-handed mace and tried to pummel Jonas again, as Jonathan slid his swords in front of him.
Healing Increased by 30% regeneration.
Suddenly, all the French turned and rushed to his side. Jonas’s head followed them and realized they had noticed Guss. And Guss had less health and armour than Jonas.
Jonas dropped a new Ice Storm around his friend. Fire Funnel was far too small in area, and they could probably reach through it. Then he got stabbed back, as two of the French switched targets again against him.
He had to admire those. Given the weapon and damage, they had to be upper tier-three or some such, probably under their own levels. Yet, at three against six, they were trying to take at least one of their enemies.
All of the team was piling on the smasher with his huge Labyrinth mace. He swung again, scoring some damage, while Guss retreated.
Then Jonas noticed more people arriving. Half a dozen more guards. And since only one of them was trying to aim a musket, mostly Professionals. The lone mundane started firing, and Jonas jerked, as a supernaturally aimed bullet hit him to the side of his face, leaving a notification but little else.
Kinetic projectile hits. -47 (70-23) health.
Jonas belatedly remembered that modern French muskets could have as much as eight firings before they needed reloading. Musket fire might only be dangerous for a lower Professional… but it did add when you also had to deal with real ones, as the incoming team crashed into his own team.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Jonas found himself pushed away, by an Air Burst, no doubt. Then pelted by another spell.
Ice Dart does 58 cold damage to you.
He tried to spot the enemy caster, but curiously, none of them sported robes or obvious Aetheric gear. But there weren’t that many staying slightly behind the rest…
Ice Dart does 63 cold damage to you.
There it was, the white projectile coming from a woman in tunic and trousers. His instinct told him the caster had certainly specialized into that spell. The ramp-up could be significant, each spell doing 8 to 10% more than the previous one. Of course, he had much better at hand.
Elemental Spray does 251 earth damage to Clarisse Rochette.
He could see her pale. She probably had no idea how Elemental Spray worked, but the nature of the damage, the amount, his artefact robe probably painted a picture of a Professional much higher than he actually was. Yet she grimly set, pelting him again.
Ice Dart does 69 cold damage to you.
“Laissez les autres, leur sorcier est putain de haut niveau, lui!” she yelled.
Jonas could only guess at the words, but three of the other Professionals broke from their assault and tried to reach him, while the rest kept on pummelling on Guss. Jonathan and Alton both kept moving to provide bodily blocking, but their opponents’ assaults were relentless.
Elemental Spray does 251 earth damage to Clarisse Rochette.
Ice Dart does 75 cold damage to you.
Double Slash does 109 physical damage to you.
Underhanded Strike does 88 physical damage to you (no defence).
There was only one way the whole thing would end, though, unless they managed to turn the mess into a manageable affair, it could still go badly. He couldn’t let her ramp up her Ice Darts. The spell was fast.
But the woman was still, all things told, a relatively lower Professional. And they obviously had no healer.
Ice Dart does 82 cold damage to you.
Elemental Spray does 251 earth damage, terminating Clarisse Rochette.
Another Professional attacking Guss fell almost at the same time, and, just like that, it was now six against six. Jonas switched to the man attacking him whose garb looked the most basic, tearing chunks of health
Another Professional fell, then another. And suddenly, Jonas found himself surrounded just by his teammates, amidst corpses strewn on the ground.
“Whew.”
“Tier four helped,” Ira commented.
Jonas Mark Sims
Health: 74/2440 (1424)
Mind: 2016/2096 (1821)
Endurance: 902/950
Aether: 2854/4357 (4241)
As he watched his descriptor, realizing how close it had been, Jonas’s health ticked slowly upward, thanks to the ongoing regeneration from Guss. Then, healing hit him.
Minor heal wounds: +215 health.
“Thanks, Guss.”
“I almost bit it as well,” he said, looking mildly annoyed.
Jonas realized that the mundane guardsman had disappeared. Probably without ammunition, he’d made the right decision and retreated while his Professional comrades had tried to defeat Jonas’s team.
Then movement at the side of his perception attracted his attention, and his gaze rose.
A gigantic patchwork cloth square passed over his head.
“I think reinforcements are finally there,” Alton laughed.
They had barely enough time to reach the Professional before he managed to unlatch his harness. The man’s chainmail, plate helmet and large greatsword at his side told of the obvious build.
“You’re good?” Jonas asked.
“All good. Looks like you did not wait for us.”
“No time once we crossed the Gate.”
“Anything still moving?”
Jonas turned and pointed toward the small palace next to the Village area. There were already dozens of people massed in front of it, and from the looks, a battle was raging already.
The man abandoned his parachute gear and started jogging, along with the team, toward this next fight.
They reached the courtyard next to the building – the Trianon if Jonas remembered correctly the model’s label. It was basically the garrison building for the Village. And the French who had not been on patrol had noticed and were trying to mount a counter-attack.
There looked to be multiple teams trying to contain the British advance, but they were barely holding. So, when Jonas and the rest arrived, the fighting immediately started to turn, and the Professionals who had been pushing out the invaders started falling back slightly.
Kinetic projectile hits. -42 (65-23) health.
Kinetic projectile hits. -47 (70-23) health.
Fire Blast does 112 (117-5) fire damage to you.
Jonas immediately backed away. It seemed he’d been noticed, and again, his looks probably made him an instant target.
Kinetic projectile hits. -47 (70-23) health.
More musket fire was coming from the windows of the castle, and he had to retreat further, while Guss threw another healing.
“Balls, those muskets have a longer range than spells!”
The Imposing Fixer made a grimace in pained reply.
“They’re not that dangerous individually, but enough…”
Jonas could only shrug back. Looking around, he spotted yet another group running toward the castle, including Thorebourne.
“Why are you slacking, Sims?”
“I’m a bit of a target here. They see an Artefact, they think I’m going to kill them all by myself and try to take me out first. Can't get in range.”
The Explicit Observer laughed and flexed his hands. As he did, Jonas noticed the rivets on the gloves moving, spreading across the entire hand when extended, and grouping over the knuckles when the fist was curled.
“I’ve only got a single Artefact, and it’s not that blatant. Well, two, if you count the Core.”
He looked at the garrisoned Professionals. They had been pushed back to the entrance, and there were already corpses lying all around.
“Okay. Time to end this,” he said, before advancing.
“Don’t we… I don’t know? Let them surrender?”
“If the armies were already there, maybe. But we can’t let them stay behind us,” Thorebourne laconically answered.
As Jonas approached, no musket fire came his way again. There were no more fighters visible above. The British were finally breaking in, the blockage of the entrance into the castle broken. He stepped over a uniformed corpse, somehow feeling the lack of resurrection options, even without touching it directly. A French ordinary soldier, fighting against an overwhelming force right until the end.
Is this how our forces in India feel when the Chinese engage in battle? he wondered briefly.
When he followed Thorebourne in the castle’s hall, he found only wreckage and a couple of Professionals hanging back, panting. A quick check on the team status let him check that the two were completely tapped out on both their aether and endurance, waiting until regeneration started to kick in and let them go back to the fray.
He blinked.
Alton’s health was at zero.
“Balls.”
“What?” Thorebourne replied as he headed toward the right hall, and the stairs upward. Clashing sounds came from there, indicating that more fighting was ongoing.
“One of my team’s down,” Jonas answered.
“Happens. You’ll bring him back once we’re finished. There’s plenty of time… well, a bit less in your case, but still more than two hours.”
He touched briefly a robed corpse on the ground checking its status, before adding.
“That’s still better than any of those. No one will raise them in time.”
Thorebourne started running up the stairs, while Jonas took the leftmost wing, crossing a large room which had probably been the mess, long tables overturned, and in some cases scorched. Jonas's team was close, and he found them in the next room over, Ira keeping a last French defender at bay, while both Jonathan and Laura were determinedly destroying his last vestiges of health.
Elemental Spray does 218 earth damage, terminating Barthélemy Malet.
“You’re good?” Jonas asked once the man fell.
“Yes. The damn French was large. Took ages to fall,” Laura replied.
She looked at the side, and Jonas spotted Alton’s corpse.
“Thorebourne said to bring him back as soon as we’re finished.”
He listened, but the sounds of battle seemed to have ended. He turned back and saw both Laura and Jonathan hovering over the fallen Abiding Stabber. She had her hand cupped behind his head as he was dry heaving.
“Welcome back to the living,” Jonathan said.
“French bastardly gullion. He wouldn’t let me go.”
Laura’s health was ticking up again, as Guss brought her back from sacrificed low health. Jonathan pulled Alton up, the latter still grimacing from the resurrection nausea.
“Let’s get out then,” Jonas said.
They reached the porch of the castle, where more Professionals were gathering. Thorebourne exited just behind them, calling out to the British forces.
“Good job everyone. There might be some guards left, but I think they all fled. They’re not going to oppose any resistance in any case.”
He watched the assembling Professionals.
“I see no zero-health descriptors on the team, so we’re all back. All those who have Lingering Death, retreat back to the Gate. If you have Sacrificed, and are only tier four, go escort them, just in case trouble comes. You should still be good enough unless the main assault failed badly. If it has… run back here. Oh, and don't forget to grab any parachute you spot – that cloth isn’t cheap.”
The Observer looked upward. Jonas followed his gaze, looking at the four distant skyships that were manoeuvring over the town nearby. From here, he couldn’t see what they were doing, only imagine the bombs dropped. Thorebourne wasted no time though and pointed toward the Village.
“Entrance is through the other side. Hopefully, our agents will be there. Let’s finish this.”