“They isn’t good for her condition,” Doctor Katz said while looking at me. I just stared right back at him and he let out a sigh. “Alright, I will get her strapped up.” It was always the plan to use the Avatar as a ballistic missile. The gurney with her was wheeled across the open deck of the airship. There were two huge cannons lined up facing forward as well.

Doctor Katz had suggested putting her on a bed instead of strapping her to the front of the airship like a figurehead. I overruled him. She was coming along and was going to be at the very front of whatever was going to happen. If she lived, then she either had the eleventh stat of luck, or the sphere really was part of the System and this entire thing was just another part of the Systemic Lands and not something outside of it.

It wasn’t a perfect test, but it was good enough for me to settle some of the doubts I had been having. “I am taking full responsibility for this Almighty System,” I said. While I might lose my meta-point or be killed, I needed confirmation on this issue. I wouldn’t be able to rest easily if I didn’t know.

Also, it was a good chance to get rid of a troublesome prisoner. While I enjoyed having her suffer through endless paperwork in the Kafkaesque hell I had created, it was better to remove threats whenever possible. A lesson I had learned early on and still remembered.

I made my way to the rear crew quarters and opened up the door. The beds and other furniture had been removed and Jacob was in here setting everything up. I looked at the circular portal he had made. There were several symbols around the outside, and the portal was resting on rotating hinges, allowing it to spin in one direction.

“That’s it?” I asked. It wasn’t very big.

“It is,” Jacob looked back at me as he set a crate down to the side. I noticed it was filled with annihilation bombs. “The inscriptions are tied to energy types. The crystals attached to the outside of the ring, feed into them, and creates a sustained annihilation effect. A person then creates a tether through this explosion, and then it tears right through. The edges are deadly, and it isn’t self-sustaining.”

“How long does it work for?” I asked.

“About half a minute. It’s a three dimensional portal. That makes crossing through hard. You need an energy coating. Same with looking through it. You have to stick your head through,” he said.

“That sounds incredibly dangerous,” I replied.

“It is. How the Astrologer made it look so easy had to be a meta-point and lots of innate talent. Regardless, one portal to the lower layer all ready to go. Hopefully I spot something there and can throw annihilation bombs at it. If not, well, I can throw them off the side,” he explained.

“You are back here instead of up front, because?” I asked.

“An accident happens. The hope is that I don’t take down the whole airship. The real risk is that the portal will be moving in the lower layer. That’s why I plan to activate it right before we reach the boundary to block terrain. If it does hit something, well it could impact the interior of the airship at speed, depending on how fast we are moving,” Jacob explained.

“Good, you appear to have things managed. And the engines?” I asked.

“Just back there. I can damage them when needed, so they don’t explode. I have already worked that out with Captain Francis. He has been laying out our flight plan quite extensively,” Jacob said. With my questions answered I went to the bridge.

“How are things going?” I asked Captain Francis.

“Flight plan laid out. We are going to ascend and build up speed. Go in on a ballistic trajectory. Its already been worked out, to where you said the sphere is. We should be pretty close and minor adjustments can be made while we are in flight,” he said.

“The bailout plan?” I asked.

“Michelle will be handling that portion. We fly in. Jacob does his experiment. Doctor Katz fires the super weapon, and then we bail with Michelle. We will take cover as the airship impacts the target. There was talk of bringing more bombs, but the risk of one of them being set off accidentally while we are under fire is too high,” Captain Francis explained. I nodded at this.

The attacks from the golems and the sphere went through me. That meant they could go through almost anything else except themselves and the surrounding terrain. “Once we reach the ground, we will protect Michelle as she engages in summon warfare, while attempting to support you at a distance. Probably won’t be able to do much.”

“That is fine,” I replied and an idea hit me. I went back to see Jacob.

“Jacob, what if we have chests of crystals and load them into the engines before impact?” I asked.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“The explosion is minor compared to the annihilation bombs on hand. Also, we put in the big one. A cluster munition, which is next to the energy storage on the airship. This thing crashes, which will launch and activate several annihilation bombs all over,” he replied.

“That wasn’t part of the original plan,” I said with a frown.

“I made it yesterday evening after our chat. I was going to bring it up during the final planning meeting,” he said with a shrug. I was annoyed, but anything to make this plan work was important. It wasn’t time to complain about chain of command and inform me the moment he did something. I let out a long breath and forced myself to calm down.

“Good job. We need everything we can to have a chance at winning,” I said, and he nodded. I left him to his preparation and ran into Clarissa as I was headed back to the bridge.

“Ready?” she asked me.

“As much as I will ever be. Everyone else is doing their final bits of preparation. How about you?” I asked.

“Making arrangements for my absence. If I don’t make it back, Samantha will be running things,” Clarissa said.

“Well, if she is half as good as you, then she will be amazing,” I replied.

“Thanks. I appreciate the compliment. No weapon?” she asked me.

“Just the annihilation bombs I have on me.” I had a belt with four, and two bandoliers with five each. Giving me a total of fourteen. “Most powerful ones that could be made with what we had.” Jacob had less powerful versions.

“Well you are the combat expert, so I won’t second guess you. A shame another airship is going to be lost,” Clarissa said.

“Don’t remind me. I am crying inside,” I said with a heavy sigh. So much waste. I hated using consumables up, especially airships as mobile battle platforms slash bombs. Better to invest those points into myself or an actual person instead in my opinion. But the situation was dire enough that we had to throw everything at it and hope that something would work.

Clarissa then went to speak to Captain Francis while I went to speak to Michelle, who was sitting off to one side of the bridge. Clarissa and Captain Francis were talking quietly on the other side of the bridge.

“Everything ready?” I asked her. She had a crate bolted down next to her chair. There was also a doorway to the outside on the bridge as well, she could have summons move out of.

“Yes. The plan is to wait until we crossed over to the hostile energy area and then deploy summons in close proximity. Once we are in sight of the block terrain, I will have them move outside. The distance should be limited, but I have no idea how the block terrain’s lack of energy will impact the tethers. That is the biggest concern,” she said.

“Ah, sorry, I should have run a test,” I said.

“It is fine. There are tricks I have worked out that you don’t know. That is why you are bringing me along,” she said.

“Thank you. I don’t know if I have said it before but thank you Michelle for putting up with me and facing this danger,” I said.

“Do or die, right?” she asked with a grim expression set on her face.

“Do or die, so we better do. You feel comfortable about bailing?” I asked.

“I have the Infinite Block still, so it will provide a good platform to retreat on when needed. All the signals have been worked out already with Captain Francis,” she said.

“That’s good. Well, even if everything else fails, I should have a shot,” I replied. That was when Doctor Katz and Jacob entered.

“All right everyone. Preparations up top are done, so we can set off whenever we are ready. Oh, and the bracelets. Everyone gets one. If that cylinder heats up or deforms, chuck the bracelet off the airship. While it will expose you to the ambient energy, better than exploding,” Jacob said and handed one out to everyone but me.

“The Avatar?” I asked.

“I gave her one as well. All sorted out. Also checked her straps as well. She is tucked in just above the viewing area for the bridge. If you go right to the window and look up, you should be able to see her stumps,” Jacob said. I went over and checked. The Avatar was there.

“Anything else that we are forgetting?” I asked. No one said anything for a long moment.

“I would have brought a celebration drink, but that is being saved for when we return,” Clarissa said.

“I could use a drink right now,” Jacob muttered.

“The superweapon is ready. I will start the charging process, once we start our descent,” Doctor Katz said a bit nervously.

“How powerful is it?” I asked curiously.

“There is a chance the airship will rip in half from the recoil. And at these strengths, it would damage a level 8 heavily if not kill it, theoretically. Possibly damage a level 9. I would estimate, that it is at least ten times as strong as your two beam attacks,” Doctor Katz answered. I looked at Clarissa.

“It has been under improvement for a long time. With Michelle getting the crafting crystals we needed, it was made possible,” Clarissa said.

“Alright, let’s set off. Captain Francis?” I asked him.

“Yes Emperor Michael.” He had sent the signal, and we were detached from the airship port. Once in the air, he set off. I could hear the cheers coming from below. Hopefully they would still be cheering when we returned.

We all waited on the bridge togeather. As the airship set off at a low altitude and ramping up the speed. “Should be about a day?” I asked.

“At our speeds, a day and a half. We will reach the target just after dawn. Since a lot of it will be cruising at a slower speed,” Captain Francis said. I nodded at that.

“The waiting is the worst, since there is nothing more I can do,” Jacob said.

“That’s the military for you. Hurry up and wait,” Doctor Katz replied. We were technically the military of my nation. It was weird to think about in a way. I knew it, but Doctor Katz framing the situation like he did, put a new perspective on it.

“I guess that is true at all levels. Well at least we don’t have to battle our way there through endless hordes of monsters and traps. Two towers were more than enough,” I said.

“No objections here,” Michelle added.

“I would be interested at looking over one, sometime,” Jacob said.

“I plan to crash airboats into them. Just fly in and land right at the top. Going up through the inside is for suckers,” I replied.

“A shame. It would be interesting to see how the System changes the towers. Even more so if one is undergoing gooification as you described it,” Jacob said.

“It would probably sink, being tougher than the surrounding terrain. Make it easier to get to the top though,” I replied.

“If it still works,” Clarissa said with a touch of bitterness. We continued to chat as we flew towards the confrontation looming ahead of us.