Disclaimer: All characters, names, settings etc belong to their respective copyright holders, only much of the convoluted plot, Night Wolf and a few other things are of my own creation (but inspired from many things under copyright, which aren't mine).
Chapter 26
Brigadier Winifred Bambera walked through the corridors of her HQ throwing the skull between her hands as she walked, she'd just been personally dealing with a bunch of university students impressing upon them the severity of the situation…trying to find the 'secret' nuclear reactor under central London.
Walking into her office she placed the skull of a pterodactyl that had some how been missed back in the day when they did the first clean up of the site, it was another thing she would need to see to.
Most likely after the various 'mystery' fights, 'mystery' cold snaps and various other events labelled as 'mysterious' by various authorities had passed.
It had been getting worse over the past three years, her meetings with General Lethbridge Stewart and the MI5 had been getting much more frequent…that was troubling and ominous in itself…
Typing a pass code into her computer she read over the reports coming in from her 'undercover' agents.
She had taken to placing a certain number of UNIT personnel under cover in and around London and various locations…after the Candlebright incident, which considering it had been covered up very efficiently, but also it hadn't been reported to her…being the head of UNIT UK she should have been the first to know about it…
So now she had her own agents out watching the world, the changing world…and more than likely the watchers.
It was late afternoon that the communication beeped at her.
The beeping was announcing a communication encrypted using the changing codes for UNIT ranking officers.
She typed in her code, it was only one person…as she hit the final letter of her pass code she hit the extra device linked into her communication systems, both in her office and on the roof of her HQ, it was a uniquely 'in house' design that her scientific division had invented on her request.
It was a very powerful…and guaranteed to work this time tracing device.
Ever since General Lethbridge Stewart had taken command of…his command…Bambera had wanted to know what it was…it annoyed her…
Lethbridge Stewart was part of something…she didn't know what…but he and the other man…they were representing UNIT…and obviously had more secrets than she had cups of coffee…but his secrets still intrigued and annoyed her.
"Hello Bambera." The screen flickered as the trace program engaged over the top of the transmission.
"General."
"I have an assignment for you and your people." He said with a grim smile.
"A mission sir?" She frowned, not at him but at the tracing program.
On the roof of UNIT HQ two satellite dishes spun on their axis re-adjusting to towers used mainly for TV signal, but piggybacked to obtain a wider scanning range…yet still it failed to find the signal, which according to the security protocols was coming through with power and strength.
Bambera watched as Lethbridge Stewart turned and she saw behind him a dull grey wall, she heard him chuckle.
"You're trying to get a trace on my transmission location Bambera?" He said with slightly less grimness then before.
She just raised an eyebrow.
"Are you alone?"
"Yes sir." She answered curiously.
"I need to brief you Bambera, I'll be with you shortly."
Then the communication cut out, the tracing device signalling that it had failed to locate the source of the transmission, Bambera sighed and looked at the device giving it a withering glance.
Then…then the air rippled in front of her desk, and where air had once been standing a man…in a dark shirt and pants holding…a set of filed…materialised in front of her…Bambera was grasping for the gun she kept in her desk and was pointing it at the man…who merely raised an eyebrow at her.
Then she connected the face with the man, and…switched hands to her left hand and saluted.
"Sir!"
"Bambera…I did say I would see you shortly."
"Clearance code…sir."
Lethbridge Stewart rattled off today's security code, and waited for a second watching Bambera…it was protocol after all, there were numerous aliens which had some form of matter transmission technology.
He'd only just managed to grab a 'free ride' with Firefox as they headed out, he'd been in London, making sure it would be empty in the locations that Harry had advised during this…attack…but he also wanted monitoring equipment set up some distance…and had requested Harry Pearce's MI5 officers for the task…but with peak hour traffic in full force…and the evac of the certain areas…Firefox had been more the willing the teleport him from central London out here.
Bambera relaxed slightly, placing the gun back in her desk and saluted.
"General Sir…"
"Yes Bambera…I'll need you to read and sign this before we can go any further." Lethbridge Stewart handed her a folder inside was a bound together set of papers 'Official Secrets Act – Amended Articles.
"Sir? I already have the highest clearance." She asked curiously, without opening the document.
"Not this Bambera…"
She nodded and quickly read through it, it was the typical Official Secrets Act phraseology, except that what stood out was what it didn't say, whilst acknowledging that was she was agreeing to was far outside that which the Official Secrets Act didn't cover, and that within itself was interesting.
Lethbridge Stewart accepted back the Amended Articles from Bambera and placed them back within their folder he had with him.
"Now General can you explain exactly what is happening?"
--//
Bambera sat next to one of Lethbridge Stewart's men as they drove towards London reflecting on what she'd been told…
It wasn't as fantastic as she'd imagined…
It seemed that her world just got that little bit more complicated…
Bambera had believed all the stories…of quests and magic that Ancelyn told to her, and now the twins…of mages, knights and witches…of an England ruled by magic instead of technology…ornithopters ruling the skies along side dragons and organic spaceships…
But to find out that there was a…real world of it here…was surprising…
It wasn't surprising that Lethbridge Stewart, one of the founders of UNIT was in charge of this new part of the world.
Now she was in one of two UNIT vehicles thundering down the motorway towards London, timing, the General had said wasn't of the essence, that…"you'll be called when it's necessary…".
Supposedly his part of UNIT….Night Wolf had a man on the ground to deal with the…vampires…
Bambera rolled the word over in her mind…
There had of course been reports of exsanguination, here and there in police reports…but there hadn't been any aliens that fit the profile of exsanguination of a subject…except the case at a military base in 1943, it was still being cleared out today…UNIT had reports of everything 'unusual' reported by the military going back quite far before UNIT was formed, and that incident certainly fit the profile…'A short man with a light Scottish accent and a young girl arrived on base…a blue box also turned up at the time…' that was one of the sentences of the report that stuck out for Bambera…but she was thinking of it now because of the suggestion that 'vampires' had attacked the base…the 'Doctor' had been quoted as stating that they were 'haemovores'…or something like that.
Bambera made a mental not to ask the General about that…and anything else she could think of at a later date.
The General had left not quite as quick as he'd arrived.
He'd climbed into a helicopter that had landed at the back of her HQ, explaining he also had a situation to deal with.
--//
General Lethbridge Stewart stood on the Dover cliffs reviewing the shut down of all operations across the tunnel.
That was part of the reason he'd been in London since some time the morning before.
Their contacts within France's UNIT (NUIT) and their own contacts that they had within the wand user community there had indicated a large force moving through the country side, and it was all converging tonight.
Obviously to coincide with the attack on the wand user's main retailing wing in London, and the attack which…he hoped Harry would be able to deal with outside in London proper.
Alistair had placed Bambera in charge of back up for Harry, and of course clean up and whatever else.
Alistair had been meaning to advise her of UNIT's extra knowledge, while London had been the target of many alien attacks, the frequency had dropped off since the Martian attempt…but there was still a focus on London, and the UNIT commander there needed to be best informed, now, and probably several follow briefs she would be.
This was one of the largest concentrations of artillery that the British army had out laid on British soil for some time.
There were tanks along much of the Dover port, however there were also anti-air craft guns placed at varied intervals along the white cliffs and at other strategic points.
Alistair looked down at his latest report on his hand held computer.
---Confirmation: 3 Dragons---
This report along with the photos made him glad that he'd requested of the military…everything they had that could shoot…
Not everything was useful, the knew from their analysis of the Dragon that was right now at Night Wolf Command being analysed for weaknesses, that the dragons couldn't fly high, or more accurately the pilots of the dragons couldn't gain a large amount of altitude…making many long range artillery not so useful.
There was also the problem of heat seekers…which wouldn't function on a reptile.
Lethbridge Stewart was coordinating this assault from the ground out to sea and sky.
Birmingham mean while was on the RNS Indefatigable, he and many other Sorcerers from Night Wolf were coordinating with the Navy, while many of the targets would be coming via air, there were reports of several giants and ogres being herded and controlled through Europe and France…
Even the most powerful magic carpet wouldn't be able to carry the giant and ogres at the same height as the dragons so, they'd need to fly lower to the ground, or in this case sea.
Along with the Indefatigable, there was the Renown and Hotspur all of which had a set of Sorcerers from Night Wolf. They would be treating various ordinances on the run in order to target the incoming enemies.
In theory the ordinances would hit the targets, however the research department had suggested that the targets would be travelling with a great many charms placed on their cargo to protect them against; wind, sea spray, and various other problems encountered when travelling that close to the ocean.
The sorcerers were also on the vessels to assist in 'painting' the targets, many of them could concentrate fire of spells and conjugations that would assist in targeting…
They were also on hand as defence…Birmingham had brought with him enough potions, extracts, herbs and dusts to cover the ship and occlude it from view…should the need arise.
There was also the very real possibility that the ships could be boarded and come under attack from Voldemort's forces…
On each of the ships there was a small contingent of Night Wolf troops.
It would have been larger, but there were already smaller battles breaking out around the United Kingdom, disruptions to public transport and motorways…all with a wand user at the heart of it…all designed to throw the country into unawares so Voldemort could move troops in from the continent without anyone finding out.
Birmingham looked out the window from the bridge of the ship listening to the ship's crew around him.
"…it's almost completely still sir…"
Calm before the storm…
--//
Lethbridge Stewart watched the sun sink slowly down as the daylight became twilight…
He looked over his deployment map, they had a lot of artillery and quite a many ground troops, hopefully though the ground troops wouldn't be necessary…but nevertheless they were also armed with rocket launchers and ground to air missiles.
The only thing that Lethbridge Stewart was concerned about was the state of their non-magical coverage field.
He'd sent three jamming devices with Bambera, there were at least 10 spread around his battle area, and even then it was spreading them thinly, some areas, should ground troops land were covered, whilst others had some blind areas.
Birmingham had made his case for 'his' ships to be best covered and each of those had three on each vessel.
There were several of the jamming devices holed up in Night Wolf Command under repair or rebuilding. Many of the smaller battles taking place around the country were doing so without assistance from a null magic field.
Alistair didn't like it, but it was the best they could do with the time they had…it was better than some…at least this time they had some forewarning.
--//
"Got a contact!" The radar operator called out.
"Where Lt?" The captain called out. Birmingham was staring out of the window, the wind was picking up, but he could see a shimmering some distance from them of a light in the almost night.
"Straight ahead." He stated, the captain turned to him as he gestured out the window.
"Alert the Renown and Hotspur."
Birmingham almost smiled to himself.
While Night Wolf was a large portion of UNIT, it mostly focused itself in the areas it needed; space vessels, sorcery and the places in between.
Unfortunately when it came to needed naval vessels for this operation they required the Royal Navy…and incidentally the army for the Brig's part of the opp.
Their contacts and liaisons with the British armed forces had allowed them have all officers participating sign the Amended Articles, however they weren't told anything outside of what was required for the mission.
They would be debriefed following the operation…and whatever information needed to be imparted would.
--//
Lethbridge Stewart looked down from looking out across the horizon with the night vision goggles.
His computer indicated a message from the naval battle group, the had first sight of the enemy.
"Not too long now…" He murmured to himself as he walked back the mobile command centre set a small distance behind two of the tanks.
--//
Birmingham accepted the helmet from the officer standing outside the bridge, as he checked his waterproof suit and harness.
He would be directing the assault from the bow of the ship, he was in charge of the sorcerers, but he was also one of the most capable…just as the Brig's role was directing the battle his was to direct and fight it.
Birmingham was glad however of the harness which hadn't seemed such a need when he's walked out to the bow of the ship earlier, but now as the ship swayed in the wind, it was seeming like a much better idea.
"Alpha One to all units, prepare for engagement, lead assault to bow of the ships, secondary units prepare for ordinance overlay and protection. Alpha One out." Birmingham said as he made his way towards the front of the ship opening the steel door and stepping out into the heavy sea spray.
"Encountering radar interference…"
"Contacts?"
"Approximately…10…no 15…sir we're just getting a wash of contacts…it's like we're being jammed with static…"
"Captain, it'll be line of sight until they get within our jamming field…and then you won't need radar." Birmingham said in the relative silence that the helmet afforded against the wind and sea spray.
"Yes sir…" The captain answered, technically Birmingham didn't have a military rank, aside for Sorcerer…however on this operation he had the field rank of Brigadier, something which amused the…General Lethbridge Stewart.
"If your ordinances are in range my officers can…shed some light on the situation…as it were…"
The captain heard the offer come through the bridge and glanced at his 2IC who was watching over the shoulder of some of his officers at the feeds from the various cameras around the ship, while they could definitely see, and had targeting solutions on some things…none of the computer targeting would confirm a lock…and there was France behind the target…
The enhancement systems just gave off a fuzzy questionable static, it wasn't even a guaranteed static, they could definitely see something, but what they could see…and then every time they had a lock the wind would whip around and effect their systems...
"Brigadier sir…are you sure those…devices are fully functional?" The captain asked quickly.
"Captain, if they weren't this sea spray would me much like a hurricane blowing a path out of the way for our…targets, and we would be dead in the water, most likely under it."
The captain nodded at the answer from Brigadier Birmingham, who had upon arriving had stated; just Birmingham, and while he didn't speak like an officer…he had the standing of someone who had seen a great many battles…old eyes as his father would say.
"Alright Brig…Birmingham…start your light show…" He paused. "All hands prepare for…illumination and assault."
"Alpha One to all units, prepare to light the path…"
Birmingham withdrew his wand with one hand whilst resting the bag of focusing material; a paste his department had prepared instead of a standard dust mix for use.
He wouldn't normally use his wand, except in this circumstance he needed all the power and force that he could have, those on the other ships had two people, although some were as proficient in a wand as they were other sorcery means.
Birmingham exhaled into the sea spray slowly relaxing, feeling the wind whip around him, feeling the magic which swam in the air and along the texture of the ocean, sensing its patterns, sensing its force…taking a deep breath in he tasted the ocean the spells that had laced the water, the spells cast forth by the death eater's approach, the spells designed to sink, destroy and remove ships such as the one he was standing, tethered to. Then he uttered one word.
"Commit."
In his hand he formed a pair of swirling masses of light, spinning gathering energy from their spin, from the magic in the air and the force of his intent, whilst in the other he chanted to himself, chanted in his head then chanted at the same time out loud the power building through his wand.
On other ships other sorcerers prepared in similar and different ways, chanting, muttering phrases which assisted in concentration, in power control and management through their focus, through their bodies, pushing it outward and through.
Birmingham's two masses of energy reached counterpoint and leapt outwards flying across the sea, momentarily blinding the infrared cameras trying to gauge an image from the magically induced haze.
The spinning rotating balls exploded to a halt illuminating and would do for several minutes…they only showed 1/6 of the group that was travelling…but the other sorcerer's balls of light and energy stream across, their contributions exploding, swirling and spreading out like smoke across a battlefield, lighting up the sea, like an aura borealis.
Even before the first ball of energy had reached the target guns were already pointing downwards towards where the last radar contact was, their…extra officers, who called themselves 'sorcerers' stood by ready to…do their thing…they'd explained it to them…it was to assist them…against the enemy's countermeasures…but it needed to be performed just before the ordinances were launched.
James sniffed the air around him, the pockets of the…Sorcerer…that was what she'd called herself, smelt of so many different places and things…
But she had hardened, but not grim expression as she stood waiting for his go, she held in her hand what looked like a bunch of herbs and a set crystals…
She's said it wasn't just about the ammunition but the weapon as well, it would all work together…her friend would be assisting his mates by…painting the targets…just not with lasers…supposedly it wouldn't work…
James heard the order to fire come through just as he got a target…
Whatever the Sorcerer was doing she was already doing it.
"Go." She stated as they'd arranged previously.
He started to fire, the ammunition screaming out towards the target again, and again and again…
Birmingham watched, the targets were too far for most offensive spells, but set about casting various deflection charms at the things being flung in their direction or dispelling the small attempts at freezing the ocean around them, not that the death eaters had any where near enough power to freeze the whole channel…though if they managed to freeze the water around his ship, it would take too long to charm their way out…
Robert stood on bow of the Renown.
"Ready to paint targets Jo…"
"Ready when you are Robert…captain we're all ready here…" He heard her voice say. Jo was in the missile command, linking the final spells together, literally standing ready with the 'paint' activator…in his hand was the orange goo he would use to 'paint' as many targets as he could…it required a good eye and immense concentration on the target…
The rolling of this ship hadn't helped when he first stood out here, now the ship was rocking violently from side to side, he was vaguely aware that something like a frozen ball of water impacted less than half a meter from where he was standing, pushing himself into the bow of the ship and holding on with his one free hand which wouldn't be free too soon.
He'd been requested for this mission because he was one of the more capable sorcerers…not that he was regretting it…it was an amazing ride…
Robert ducked as another ball of ice impacted on the deck, it left a dent as it shattered, obviously the jammers only just killing off most of the charms in time.
"Going…now…" Robert took a deep breath, focusing on the hazy targets in that were every second approaching and becoming more and more clearer…
The sorcery department, where he honed a lot of his skill had said that he was one of a rare group, he had a degree of natural psi ability…a skill only a very few people had, not Occlumency of Legillemency what the wand users used to invade or scan a mind…Birmingham and the others had said that a genuine psi ability was something more, something different.
Robert knew it was something minor…but it was still something huge.
He focused himself out, the orange goo ripping through the air, a small spoonful painting itself onto one of the giants on the carpets, or onto the carpets themselves.
Robert felt a small trickle of sweat drip down his head despite the wind and the rain he was quite warm inside the survival suite which kept out the rain and sea spray.
He proceeded to 'paint' all his targets within view…that were within the attack arena of the Renown.
"All targets painted Jo, go for launch…"
Jo was down in the missile deck watching several beakers, so many that she had a couple of officers waiting in front of the missiles with them, they all started out a deep shade of green and each time Robert's portion was separated from his main stash it would change a colour to a corresponding element within the concoction here, linking them, guiding them…all that was needed was her to activate the connection fully, something she couldn't do until all of it on Robert's end was out.
"All targets painted Jo, go for launch."
"Go ahead, paint the missiles." She shouted to the navy officers around them as she did so a few and then moved to the closest that was ready to go into the missile launcher.
She gently sprinkled a small portion, less the a teaspoon of dust over the wet concoction and it glowed for a second as she muttered an archaic word.
Slowly she made her way through the deck, activating and preparing each one before nodding to the commander.
Robert turned as the missiles screamed out of the launcher towards their targets, he could see them now, and watched with satisfaction as their targets exploded, incinerating them or leaving them to drown in the deep ocean.
--//
Behind the small battle group out of view another battle was about to begin, Lethbridge Stewart stood waiting for the dragons to come into view.
"Report?"
"We have…oh…contacts on radar…at least 5 contacts, they fit the radar profile of dragons…several outriders, wand'rs on brooms…other intermediates…"
"Flying carpets…transmit coordinates to all units." Lethbridge Stewart ordered as he picked up his radio.
"This is Lethbridge Stewart, targets in bound, all weapons: go, ready all weapons, large contacts on approach."
Outside the dragons and their riders glided downwards towards the white cliffs of Dover, ready to set alight the towns, and create havoc for the 'muggles' living there…their Lord and chose this as it was the main point that the muggles use to gain access to France…
The tank operators using the information from the command centre and their own eyes…which they thought were betraying them nonetheless opened fire on the…dragons which were gliding towards them…
Quickly they realised that these would not be downed as easily as a bi plane, or even a larger machine…
The dragons which were gliding down towards the dull green boxes swerved quickly as mass amounts of explosive and artillery were fired, winging them or ripping their pilots to shreds.
Still the continued to fire.
"Concentrate your fire, tank 1 through 5 north west quadrant, 6 through 11 south west quadrant." Lethbridge Stewart barked into his mic.
The tanks quickly readjusting to the manoeuvrable enemy which didn't use any conventional means of propulsion and took aim once more each firing off in quick succession with each other, re-loading and firing once more.
One of the large beasts fell from the sky as more than 20 shots impacted in several vital areas and it lost all motor function, it plummeted downwards to cliffs below, had a wand user been present they would have witnessed a group of muggles down a Ukrainian Ironbelly, faster and with more accuracy than any wizard alive.
"AA guns ready to repel secondary assault forces, brooms and carpets in bound." Lethbridge Stewart said as a second set of coordinates was transmitted out.
Étienne took no time as he and his team mates sought the targets taking them down, he didn't worry about simple things…such as that they were people in cloaks riding carpets, or cloaked men straddling brooms, though a part of his brain didn't consider briefly a class he'd taken in university about the importance of the phallus in some early pagan writing.
But it didn't interfere with his ability to shoot them down, they did explode with a satisfying explosion, the enhancements that the officers from UNIT really had enhanced his group's artillery…or it could be whatever they'd used was reacting with whatever they were firing on…
There was large thump about 5 meters from them, he turned briefly…the tent they were using to store extra ammunition had been flattened by a large…dragon with dark green scales and long golden horns…had someone from a dragon conservation heard Étienne's description they would have been both surprised and angry that a bunch of 'muggles' had downed a Romanian Longhorn.
Through the night the battle seemed to wage, but for the Brigadier he knew battle, this was a large assault, he knew that…but they were slowly making headway…they had at last count 4 dragons down and a majority of the air attackers were down…
However one of the dragons had broken their containment lines, together with around 10 brooms…all the carpets at least were smouldering wreckage around them.
"Get me RAF support." He barked. "Greyhound Leader, request 5 jumpers…" he turned to his radar operator. "Last position transmitting now…extreme risk." He listened to the confirmation.
"Jumpers on route Greyhound Leader. Contact when targets eliminated."
"Received." Lethbridge Stewart had had the Harriet Jump Jets on stand by, just in case.
The air force didn't want their planes flying and fighting over the channel, not with the navy already there with inside a heavy magic field.
But they had conceited that the jumpers might be necessary if not all the air attackers had been eliminated.
Jumpers 1 through 5 screamed thought the night air, the targets; one large target, and several smaller targets.
The smaller targets would be taken out with main guns…they had orders to use all missiles on the main large target…the dragon…
That's what the briefing had said…any whilst the pictures only showed a dead one…and old pictures…
A live one flew into view…a huge plume of fire thundering towards the jets which were flying at Mach 1.3, forcing them to peel off on a 180 degree turn. Turning around, jumpers 1, 2 and 3 looped around and came back face to face with the broom riders they flew steadily and at speed towards the broom riders cutting their brooms and bodies to pieces with hot pieces of metal, whilst simultaneously letting loose powerful missiles, aimed, not with head seekers but line of sight at the dragon with black scales and bronze horns…
Less than a second later jumpers 4 and 5 were behind the dragon, known to wand using wizards as Hungarian Horntail.
The combination of 10 high velocity missiles impacting on the body of the dragon was enough to rip it in three as it tried to escape them, it fell from the high sky down onto the fields below them along with the charred remains of Voldemort's guards that were accompanying it.
--//
As the battle in Dover was slowly ending and cleaning up, the battle in London was only half way done…a man who hadn't even finished school was fighting a hoard…
--//
Quite a high death count, some nice large action scenes, very big, lots of explosions, fighting, and quite a few dragons dead.
I almost split this chapter into two (with Lethbridge Stewart's battle part of the other chapter), except it seemed to all flow better as one.
Next chapter will see more of Harry, Bambera and other portions of the battle and aftermath.