- [F.A.E, Three] - Advanced Indirect Fire Recon

A blurry view scans over the landscape in the distance, the focus coming into sight as he turns the mechanism between the binocular’s lenses, bringing the horizon into sharper clarity. Heikki watches the distance and then lets out a quiet whistle. A rustling comes next to him as a second fairy crawls forward on his stomach, preceded by the elongated telescope antenna pressing out from his metal rucksack strapped around his back. “Ground’s crawling, Aaro,” says Heikki quietly, setting the binoculars down to look at his radio operator’s stripe-painted face pressing out from the foliage. Behind them is a shifting of movement as the third man of their squad moves into a better firing position on an outcrop behind them. A dulled, matted rifle scans the forest around them for any Tango patrols as the two of them below return to their observation.

Forward fairy reconnaissance units are small squads of three men each. Their primary goal is mapping and observation of the enemy deeper within hostile territory, with orders to prioritize escape over direct engagement every time. This is why fairies are specifically chosen for this duty, given their innately small stature and ability to fly. Fairy rifles, being smaller than normal ones, are heavily augmented with magic, which makes shooting them extremely visible to the eye — ignoring the heavy crack of gunfire that can be heard for miles around. If they ever need to engage in a fight, they’re already in big trouble.

“Is the target clear?” asks Aaro, pulling out the receiver of his radio pack and holding it in his hand. A coiled cable leads back around his side to the technical equipment he’s carrying.

Heikki looks back through the binoculars. There are monsters everywhere down near the horizon. So many that the ground itself looks like it’s moving, rippling. Spiders. The fairy forward operator glances over several thousand spider-like creatures, made up in half out of a spider’s lower body and the upper half of corrupted hominids. They’re everywhere he looks, crawling over and across each other with relative indifference as they gather together weapons and prepare with a somewhat feral organization for what looks like a march against their lines. “They’re still getting ready. But I think they’re about to make a move,” says Heikki quietly as the binoculars finish their movement on a massive stone spire — an obelisk.

The massive white stone structure is surrounded by thick spiders’ webs that span around it down to the ground and nearby trees. From it’s upper end run thousands of glistening, silky strings up toward the sky, toward a floating island that he measures is about a kilometer or so in the air.

“Goblins?” asks Aaro.

“Spiders,” replies Heikki dryly. “Hybrids.” He nods, looking over at Aaro. “Call it. One-point-three kilometers north-east from our way point.”

Aaro holds the receiver up to his face, releasing the trigger on the phone, which opens the free communication channel he has back over the relay antennas to forward command. “Command, this is F.A.E. Three. Tango invasion point confirmed. Confirming fire target. Marker Richter, apple-cherry north-east.” He covers the speaker for a second, looking back at Heikki. “Density?”

“Full,” replies Heikki quietly, looking at the crawling ground. The obelisk begins to glow at its peak. “We’re hot.”

Aaro nods, speaking back into the phone. “Copy. Command, full saturation.”

Heikki sets his small, fairy-sized binoculars down, putting them back into their holster as Aaro hangs the radiophone back into the pack. “We’re live,” confirms the fairy. “Hornets are buzzing.”

Heikki nods, looking back over his shoulder at their shooter. The third fairy is still there, watching the forest. Looking back ahead, he reaches into his pouch and pulls out a ration bar, opening the crinkling foil and then biting into it as the two of them watch the enemy fortification off on the horizon. “So, how’s Leika?” asks the fairy, looking at Aaro as he bites into his ration. Crumbles from the cracker-dry enriched-grain and high-fat bar fall down onto the leaves below them.

Aaro sighs, shaking his head. “She’s fine, thanks,” he replies somewhat listlessly.

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Heikki raises an eyebrow at his squadmate’s tone. “Doesn’t sound like it. What’s got your head spinning, Aaro?”

Aaro shrugs, looking at him. “Honestly, we’re having a fight right now. It’s stupid. I don’t even know why,” explains the radio operator. Heikki bites into his bar again, and then pulls out his binoculars with one hand, quickly scanning the distance.

“No change,” he confirms, looking back at Aaron. “Did you make fun of her nose again, Aaro?” asks Heikki. “You know she’s sensitive about that, idiot.” He breaks off a piece of the ration bar, and hands the rest of the wrapped half over to Aaro.

“No, no,” replies Aaro, taking the ration and peeling the foil further back. “She wants to put in an application for us to move into the same barrack together,” explains the fairy, rubbing the bridge of his nose as Heikki lets out a long, knowing ‘ooh’ next to him that has a hint of smugness to its tone. The fairy elbows him.

“Does she know you piss your sheets?” jokes Heikki.

“Shut up, Heikki,” remarks Aaro. “I just don’t think we’re ready to move in together, is all. I told her that, and she got angry at me, accusing me of not being serious about us,” he explains.

Heikki nods, chewing the last of his ration.

“Ah,” he replies dryly. “Well, are you?” asks the man, looking at his colleague and then back toward the horizon.

An odd, sortid hissing fills the air. It sounds like a long, violent exhalation. Aaro shrugs back at him, looking somewhat perplexed. “We just started dating half a year ago, Heikki,” replies the radio operator. “How serious am I supposed to be? This feels crazy to me. It’s too fast. How can I live together with a woman I just met?”

“From what you’ve told me, you seem to have no trouble with rushing any other parts of your intimate relationship, Aaro,” jokes Heikki.

“That’s different,” replies the other fairy, averting his gaze.

The growl in the air becomes louder. Heikki lifts his binoculars again, aiming them toward the horizon. Around them, the ground begins to shake, and the trees in the forest are rattling. Through his view, he watches the silky, white webs of the spider’s nest begin to shake and quiver as a disturbance runs through the air, which is now filled with a full scream of a furious god.

Streaks of silver and black rush overhead, fire spewing out like from a dragon’s throat, as a sharp whistling cuts the world like a razor’s edge. Long, cylindrical silhouettes fly overhead by the dozens — unguided rockets.

A full barrage of several dozen rockets, launched from the mobile launchers parked on the protected shorelines and landing zones, fly overhead in a full swarm. It only takes a few seconds for them to pass overhead quicker than he can follow with his eyes, and then, before Heikki can lift his binoculars again, the horizon erupts into a wall of fire. One rocket after the other impacts into the world, the barrage clustering all around the obelisk that had begun to shine with magic in preparation of an invasion down onto the physical world. One fireball rises into the air, followed by the next and then the next until the hundred individual plumes merge together into a massive cloud of debris and flames that crawl toward the sky.

Several of the unguided rockets fly off target, striking the floating island above and next to the obelisk, rumbling the entire construct and pushing it off-kelter like a toy boat floating over uneven water. Rocks and masses of rubble fall off of the element, tumbling down to the shaking world below. The impacts of the rockets hammering into the world pulse out a heavy vibration, each strike of the hammer rattling them. Aaro’s radio pack rattles and shakes with every impact, the clinking of metal audible next to him as it shakes together with the blond fairy.

In the span of ten seconds, the full barrage finishes its impact, leaving nothing left of the horizon except a gray and vaguely brown wall of smoke, ash, and fine debris launched into the air. Stones pelt down all around the area. Beyond the smokescreen, only a vague silhouette of a mound is visible on the ground, which is soon buried by the falling island that collapses in on itself. Countless tons of dirt and rubble fall to the ground, cratering like a meteor, sending a heavy rumble through the area and a plume larger than any of the rocket explosions.

Heikki watches the distance quietly for a while, scanning the area for any signs of leftover Tango. But there doesn’t seem to be anything left except what promises to be a beautiful, hilly, and very fertile forest one day.

“Confirming target destruction,” says Heikki, stowing the binoculars away for good. Aaro repeats the confirmation through the radio, receiving a chirp back from command to confirm their receipt of the confirmation. The two of them get up, crawling out of their cover. Heikki pats Aaro on the shoulder. “Everything is fast now in this world, Aaro,” he explains, nodding behind them. “War and love.” He waves over to their spotter on the cliffside as the three of them rise into the air, gathering back together to move on to the next target.

Aaro nods, securing his radio-receiver firmly for high-speed flight. Given that fairies are winged creatures, the I-column design of the rucksack has slanted cutouts on its sides and specific modifications to make it viable for their kind to wear.

The three fairies fly off, a massive plume falling through the air behind them as they go — very quickly. Time already goes by fast enough without any dallying around.