The War Chronicles of a Little Demon
Set in the Return Verse
A Saga of Tanya the Evil fic thingy.
By Sunshine Temple
Naturally, I do not own Youjo Senki. So here's the disclaimer:
Saga of Tanya the Evil its characters and settings belong Carlo Zen, Shinobu Shinotsuki, and NUT Co., Ltd.
Previous chapters and other works can be found at my fanfiction website.
fic/
Other website Temple of Ranma's Senshi Seifuku
C&C as always is wanted.
Chapter 8: And Kill Them Part 1
Rescue missions and urban combat make for a frustrating combination.
A Spatha Light VTOL had gone down over southern Ortov and my Flight had been sent in. The situation could be worse. Myself and my three Pilots were on the upper three quarters on both power and munition levels.
Of our two combat sorties, one was a strafing mission over enemy infantry, with some anti-air support, and the other was bombardment spotting. The latter did not require us to fire any of our own weapons, merely provide intel and targeting telemetry for a Fujiwara aerial Torpedo strike.
Given all that, we were maybe 70% left on our anti-infantry Falx projectors. Though we were at maybe 80% on average for our anti-armor Pilum projectors. And were still on a full load of our anti-arcane Verutum launchers. Additionally, my capacitor earrings were still at a full charge.
The map display showed the location of where the Spatha had gone down. It... could be worse. Though it could be a lot better.
"Spatha 2. Spatha 2. This is Diamond Flight. We are coming to your position. What is your status?" I asked over the channel the Light Carrier's Spatha Flight used.
There was a hash of distortion and a clipped signal.
"Diamond Flight, good to hear you! We are pinned down. Returning fire." There was a squelch and then the sound of gunfire. The VTOL pilot, if that was who she was, sounded ragged.
I ordered my Flight to go to full dash speed. It made us more visible as we raced over the city which was a calculated risk. "Understood, we are coming in 45." Can you designate targets? How many alive? How many can fly under their own power?"
There was a bitter laugh. "Cockpit took a lot of damage Diamond Flight. I'm on backup comms. We've got five survivors. Myself and the VIP are okay. Of the Legionaries their medico has a bad leg, but she can fly. Another is unconscious, maybe stable. Last one got shrapnel through her wings."
I winced. "Are the injured movable? Is anyone pinned by wreckage?" The numbers were not good, but there were still options.
"Nobody alive, Diamond Flight," She tersely replied. There was the sound of some sort of grenade going off.
"Even just a direction incoming fire is coming from can help."
The Ventus Centurion laughed. "I can do better. Ready Diamond?"
I gave confirmation and she started reading off coordinates and strengths, which I populated onto the map. It was all vague and she paused to get confirmation from the other survivors.
But that allowed for me to split my attention and share the targeting data with the rest of my Flight and outline my plan.
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The downed VTOL was part of HFV Syracuse, a Damocles Light Carrier's, Spatha Flight. Coming down in a plaza in the south-western Ortov, the Pilot had tried to make a landing, but the Spatha laid halfway onto a shattered fountain on its left side, with one engine nacelle burst wreckage while the other had been torn off with its wing and lay under the aircraft.
Well... the Ventus Centurion had gotten most of her passengers down alive.
Getting them out was now our job.
The plaza might have been nice once. The fountain's center-piece was some abstract thing. The night hour did not help but the whole place had a desperate shabbiness to it, like an old garment worn thin by too many washes. Though I suppose the city was close to the occupied zone.
True to the VTOL Pilot's description, the Spatha was under fire from thee sides.
Down a broad avenue to the north was sporadic gunfire. To the east shots were coming from the second floor of what looked like a soul-less concrete apartment bock. That was where the surviving Legionaries had put most of their fire to suppress the enemy. According to the Pilot, they had started out with some sort of heavy machine gun, but after the first gunner and then the replacement gunner were killed the enemy had been more circumspect. An alley way to the south also was the source of some potshots, but was fairly quiet.
The whole plaza was empty and had more than a few abandoned and burning cars. The intersections around the crash site seemed to be blocked, thought there were a few Vualian civil authority vehicles that looked to be caught between containing the scene and keeping the populace held back.
Either way, they were neither rendering aide nor attacking, and my orders were prioritizing getting our people out. At the moment, I still had no idea who was behind this attack, insurrection, civil war, coup or whatever it was.
That was above my pay grade. My concern was the status of the survivors and that of certain buildings around the plaza. The evening sky was starting to cloud over, reflecting some of the fires that had started in the rest of the city.
"Mark targets, Violet," I ordered as I continued to check out our surroundings, There was what might have been a terraced office building that had promise.
The four of us raced in at near full velocity as blocks swept past below us. The picture ahead became clearer with each instant as VioletBlood did her work. The sudden stop was going to be painful but vital.
"Got it!" VioletBlood said as the suspected markers the Spatha Pilot gave me changed from yellow to red. At least two of the sets of markers.
Sustained fire started to come out of that apartment. I guess they found someone willing to take up that heavy machine gun.
"Confirm! I take apartment; you take avenue." I exhaled and launched a Pilum bolt into the offending building, while VioletBlood used her Falx projector to strafe the area around the roadway.
The fire from the avenue scattered while that whole apartment blew out. The Pilum was set to go through armored vehicles, so aiming at a concrete wall would cause the arcane bolt to detonate and spray concrete inside. It was not a perfect solution, but it was at hand.
I might have had greater concerns, but it was the irregulars who decided that a residential building made a good place to mount heavy weapons.
And then from that alley some sort of missile or rocket grenade was launched right at the Spatha.
VioletBlood and I swiveled to intercept, but the warhead was caught and blew apart against a shimmering, iridescent wall, projected before the downed craft. Oh, that was not a standard warding that was a bit more... psionic.
There was no time to ponder which of the survivors had extra capabilities, but that very well might be useful in the next phase of my plan.
"GreyDawn, Octavia, go!" When it came to splitting my Flight, I picked them for one simple reason. I was the shortest and slightest member of the Flight and VioletBlood was not much bigger. Their Polydora suits were less capable than the Polyxo that VioletBlood and myself wore but that was not a factor, at least in this.
Ritual Plate did give much of a strength enhancement, beyond helping bear the weight of the armored flight suit itself. Not just the weight, a fully kitted Legionary was a bulky, person-sized load. And those two members of my Flight were the tallest.
I gritted my teeth as VioletBlood and I slowed into a rolling loop over the plaza. GreyDawn and Octavia dropped right down to the VTOL.
"This is Diamond Flight!" GreyDawn said over the Spatha Pilot's and the Flight's channel. "We're here to take you out."
"Two of you?" The Spatha Pilot asked.
"We'll each take one of your wounded. The rest will fly with us."
"But we're not in flight armor," one of the legionaries said.
"I might be able to get a bit of help, some of my Zephyr survived the crash," the Spatha Pilot admitted.
"Outstanding!" I said as I fired down that alleyway. VioletBlood was to my back as we hovered over the plaza. It was a horrifically exposed position, as was intended. "We're only having you fly a short distance, you're way too exposed down there."
"Right."
"Is the VTOL ready to be scuttled?" I asked.
The Pilot paused for a moment. While there was no official way to self-destruct such a craft, even a Spatha Light had enough highly power-dense fuel cells, onboard munitions, and other energetic components to make it feasible. And if your position was at risk of being overrun well... that was the prudent option.
"Yes, right after I secured the sprit sanctum," she admitted.
"Good."
"I might be able to help," a polite voice cut in as we were talking at a dinner party.
"You the psionic?" I demanded as some small arms fire bounced off my warding.
"I am."
"Wonderful!" I tried to sound sincere. That was the best place for someone with such mental powers, where they could protect the other survivors and be too far to pry into my own mind. "If you can shield or intercept any incoming, that would be appreciated. There's a terraced office building to the south. Fifth floor; that's your destination right now" I said as I sent a short Falx burst at the group that had fired on me.
A lot of the bottom floor stores of the office building were boarded up. Which I suppose was prudent in light of tonight's events. But it helped show that this place was on a desperate decline for a while.
Behind me my wingwoman send a longer burst at whoever had fired on her. "Violet, mind your ammo use."
"I've got some signals to the north! Might be armor, might be infantry, or both," VioletBlood said.
Lovely. I glanced down and saw that GreyDawn and Octavia were each carrying a person in front of them supporting on their arms the wounded, who had their own arms around the pilot's shoulders. Though the grip of the semi-conscious Legionary was not great. And the other survivors were ready.
"We are going!" I ordered as I figured out and VioletBlood followed. The Legionaries fired themselves, launching a pair of underslung grenades.
Under the barrage, the two Ritual Plate with the heavily wounded and three survivors flew out and up.
Fire intensified around them as the irregulars opened up, but was shot down as Violet and myself used a few judicious Pilum shots to blow up obvious enemies and Falx bursts to suppress.
They flew out and across the plaza. There were a couple splashes of iridescent power as Octavia, GreyDawn and the psion formed wards around the Spatha Pilot and the Legionary medico who could still fly. The VTOL pilot was also carrying a bulky cylinder on a shoulder strap which was probably some sort of spirit sanctum.
Her own Zephyr were helping push the group faster than normal unpowered flight speed.
When it became clear that they were leaving the plaza, VioletBlood and I dropped back and turned to cover their escape.
I gave a bit of relief when the survivors landed on the terrace and had survivors helped secure that office building.
"VioletBlood, scuttle that VTOL," I ordered.
I could just feel VioletBlood's distaste but she complied and lined up a Pilum shot. I sympathized with her plight. Under normal circumstances, the Legions would recover the bodies of the fallen. We would probably send in an Umbra Medium to act as a sky crane and recover the Spatha Light.
But our resources were cut thin, and this city felt like it was about to rip apart at the seams. I could not justify possibly losing an even bigger VTOL with more people on it to recover this one. But that Spatha contained sensitive information, not to mention our fallen comrades.
And without any contrary orders, it was up to me. I was the commanding Centurion on the scene.
VioletBlood fired and the plaza briefly turned into day as the downed Spatha exploded.
"Flight Ops, this is Diamond Flight," I said over the command channel.
"Diamond Flight, go."
"We have five survivors from Spatha 2, including a presumed VIP. They have been moved to a more secure and elevated position. "
"That is fantastic!" emotion slipped past her normally controlled tone.
"I'm routing you with the surviving Spatha Pilot, she can give you a status on the wounded."
"Understood, I'm getting another communication officer to talk with Ventus Centurion Opal so I can keep you on the line."
I made the connections and introduction and held back and glanced to the map.
"ETA on pickup?" I asked when it was just the two of us.
There was a pause. "The situation has gotten more complex Diamond."
I kept from swearing. Or at least I cut off my microphone for half a minute while Flight Ops explained.
"House Luxon has sent a Brigade-strength force across the border. Scouting Branch has detected integrated artillery support and a wing of Ritual Plate. Scarab VTOLs are already sending Janissaries to secure points ahead of their spearhead."
"Are they headed for Ortov?"
"Correct, they're saying they intend to provide security and help the other negotiating parties figure out where their hardware came form. Queen Vualia is... considering their request."
I gave a bitter laugh. House Vualia's defensive plans for Ortov were... don't.
It was too small of a location, too close to the border and too easily overrun and while there was a major base of support several hundred miles to the south, it was felt that putting too many defenses in Ortov would leave then vulnerable to a concerted Luxon push.
I had my doubts to that calculus, But even if I agreed with the overall strategic picture... just the limited resources of a smaller power facing a grinding invasion from a larger power that had to deal with crumbling loyalties would make holding Ortov a tough call.
However, tacitly, nearly openly, admitting that Ortov would not be defended would upset the people who lived here. No wonder this place was a hotbed of strife.
"Have the Luxon forces said they'll engage us?"
"They're continuing to keep us informed, technically," the comms officer gave a wry chuckle. "But we're also getting more of the irregulars in Ortov taking to the air."
"Composition?"
"Multiple Squadrons of Archers and we have imagery of at least two Flights of Yeoman. They're slowly getting more organized and have realized that we'll pick them off unless they both defend their ground forces from the air and organize said aerial assets."
"Understood." I frowned. The Yeoman was one of Alecto's higher end export models of Ritual Plate. It was what House Alecto called an airspace defense model. Its main role was to protect friendly ground support Ritual Plate while being able to engage enemy suits. It had slightly reduced defense systems and more low speed agility when compared to a BlackSkyvian Harmonia but it was a reasonable suit.
It was also rather expensive compared to Alecto's other export suits, and thus was supposed to have been kept under tighter control by forces loyal to Queen Vualia. "I see."
Flight Ops chuckled. "Vualia has been making noises that this may be more than irregulars. Our consensus is this might be a form of civil war or abortive coup."
It was no coincidence that these forces rebels or irregulars were deploying their Ritual Plate now. They started off with relatively light air support and seemed to be more concerned with moving their heavy ground equipment.
Maybe they thought they could move their troops in and escalate on their terms, but then we started hitting them with Torpedoes, and Luxon crossed the border in strength. Did they not know how we would respond to provocation? Did they think they had a deal with Luxon?
And once their ground forces were being hit, they deployed their Ritual Plate. they could have kept their Ritual Plate hidden and moved them out of the city via conventional means. Maybe they still were.
But I was worried if the enemy was engaged in a sunk-cost fallacy. Some officers, those more driven by ideas of sentiment and honor had a hard time realizing that sometimes you had to stop throwing good troops after bad.
That I was having these thoughts while engaged in a rescue mission did not escape my notice as I continued to scan over the cityscape. For the moment the office building was secure, but it was hardly secret were the survivors had gone. "All the more reason to get these people out."
"We're getting a force ready, Diamond Flight. Good work on extraction. You are free to move them and delay enemy forces as you see fit."
"Understood," I kept the sigh in. What could I say? I ordered Spatha 2 blown up because I did not want us losing another VTOL trying to recover it.
Flight Ops was taking a similar concern. A rescue force could easily need rescue of their own.
Especially with Luxon adding even more stress to the situation with their own invasion. Though Ortov would be a problem for them as well.
Unless they advanced over a broad front, Ortov would be a salient that even Vualia could surround if not fully encircle. Not to mention, Vualia's northernmost major base was in easy striking distance of Ortov.
The city was close to the border, but it was still far enough that occupying it was a poisoned chalice for Luxon. Unless Luxon was willing to push a good part of the front forward to secure the corridor between Ortov and the Occupation zone.
The situation was spiraling out of control. That Vualia was still talking with Luxon despite a major border incursion was a sign of... something.
Possibly that both the invaded Minor House and the occupying Greater House were willing to coordinate to crush these "irregulars". Which if this was a coup could mean that someone's catspaw had failed and was being cleaned up.
"Diamond Flight, after consulting with Ventus Centurion Opal as to the status of the wounded, we are giving you a reference point that should be an easier extraction. Give them time to stabilize and use your best judgment to move closer to there if you can."
As she read the coordinates and I confirmed them, I looked at the map where that location was. It was a good number of miles to the south and basically on the outskirts of the city.
A city with an airspace that was starting to get more unfriendly.
"Getting the survivors there is not required but the closer to that point the more easily recovery can be done."
"Understood," I kept in another sigh. "If we can't move them, we'll try to open up a corridor for the recovery VTOLs."
"We'll vector what support we can but-" Flight Ops' voice cut off for a moment as a city block to several miles east blew up with several buildings collapsing in on themselves as a plume of smoke and fire went into the sky.
"Diamond Flight, that was not one of ours!" Flight Ops stated the composure of her voice slipping a bit. She swore under her breath. "Diamond there's going to be some counter battery fire on our end."
Another building to the north went down.
"Ours?" I asked. there was no two-tone chime of an incoming Torpedo strike. It did not sound like Hourus artillery guns. But soon enough Luxon would be adding their own firepower.
"Nope, we're getting footage of irregulars firing on each other. They might be splintering in light of the Luxon advance. Or possibly due to what Task Force 403 is doing to the East." Flight Ops paused. "Beyond your concern."
"Understood." If our larger Task Force was engaged all that meant for me was that reinforcements from them were not forthcoming.
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The medico among the survivors had enough time to stabilize her own broken leg and ensure the Legionary with the shredded wings would not bleed out and was on enough analgesics to maintain composure. Wings, especially membranous ones had a surprising amount of blood flow and while the bleeding could be stopped it did limit flight capability. The unconscious legionary was woken up and the upside to me was that the medico did not yell at me too loudly for the lack of immediate extraction.
I took that as meaning her charges were reasonably stabilized and that moving them and waiting for Evac would not be too detrimental. Not that the alternative was much better.
The psionic VIP may have helped calm her down. "Karena is passionate but she understand your situation," she transmitted to me, after patching in through Centurion Opal's communications system.
"Does she have any ire towards you, Evadne?" I asked. Evadne wore a set of Legionary lorica armor and helmet over grey casual-wear that would have blended into Ortov. She said she was an Palace Librarian which was either a cover or some academic who was caught and needed immediate extraction.
I was doubtful an academic would also be a powerful enough psion, but such things did happen.
She had been helpful when it came to moving the survivors from the office building to the roof of a garbage truck depot that was a bit further out of the city. The Legionaries complained a bit about the smell but that was just standard grousing, It's not like the trash was stored there, just the trucks. They had been there long enough to get some more medical care, have something solid to eat, and drink.
Having a stash of vehicles had potential, especially ones that seemed functional. Ground travel had some advantages. For my purpose, the main one was that the non-flying wounded could be moved without having half my Flight act as "stretcher bearers".
Fortunately, given the battle, the workers had decided to stay home tonight.
The condition of the trucks was surprisingly good, then again the streets were still somewhat clean. When a city started to have a garbage problem that was when you knew something had gone very wrong. Our sense of smell was more sensitive than a human's which was one of the reasons why higher population densities were... problematic for us.
The other reasons, our aggression, access to fire and claws, and pressures when empaths were in close proximity to tens of thousands of other empaths, were why I wondered how much of this city would remain come morning. After we blew up the plaza there had been some small mobs, but the civil aggression was still boiling up.
"No," there was a pause. "Kaena knows I lost my bodyguard in the crash."
"Right." I exhaled. "Honest assessment Evadne: should I have GreyDawn bundle you up and fly off with you while Octavia takes whichever Legionary Karena thinks is worse off?"
"For ideal performance at most half of a Ritual Plate formation should be carrying wounded," the librarian recited.
"I'm not giving away half of my strength to just get one person out," I stated. In a pure rational vacuum, I would have. If Evadne had some sort of intelligence that by sensitivity or volume could not be transmitted, then getting her out was the priority. Several Legionaries had already died to get her this far.
However, that decision did not exist in a vacuum. As bloodthirsty as my superiors could be, I knew they did have a sentimentality to them. More importantly, if I got the reputation as someone who would do whatever required for our intelligence services, no matter how coldly-cruel it was, then that would make me appealing to them.
Dangerously so.
If I were known as someone who could surmount impossible odds while being ethically callous to support intelligence operations, then the Office of Cultural and Strategic Reconnaissance was sure to snap me up. And as risky as being a Legionary Flier was, working for CSR Spooks as their fire support would be even worse.
"Your concern is appreciated, Countess of the Preserver Order," Librarian Evadne said. "But I will also stay here to protect our Legionaries."
Great, she knew who I was. No choice now but to lean into it. "I would expect no less! I will ensure that you all will get out, no matter who I have to cut through in order to do it. We came here as arbitrators to oversee a ceasefire. But no, these oath breakers have drawn us into their treason! They have attacked us for no cause, and they will pay."
After a moment I heard quiet cheers from the Legionary survivors. Damn. Evadne must have put us on their common channel.
"Huzzah!" VioletBlood cheered.
Octavia seemed similarly awed based on her commentary.
Oh, I was also on the Flight channel.
I was very happy that my Wingwoman was both far from me and that I was wearing an opaque mask.
My tail flicked in the wind stream.
"Well said Primus, but we still have to decide if we hold here for a bit longer or move right now," GreyDawn stated, as she switched to a private channel with me.
"I'm open to suggestions. We've got a few contingencies readied."
She and Octavia were flying closer to the garbage truck depot but we were all in the air and using our camouflage systems, reasonable Veils, and careful flight paths to make it not obvious what we were patrolling over.
"Our Squadrons are engaging the Irregulars, and we have the upper hand in the air but it's not decisive."
"Yeah, they picked a hell of a time to get their air defenses organized."
"A Mechanized Infantry Brigade of Luxon Janissaries does wonderful things to focus the mind," GreyDawn joked. "But the main air threat to them is our forces. Not to mention, they don't want their southern flank exposed. We've already tangled with their scouting elements on the ground. They will push past or formation soon enough."
"They're got forces out past us. They have troops going after our landing zones right now. There would have been more if not for the troops we killed when our Centuries first landed."
"And I'm sure they'd be willing to thank us for it," GreyDawn's light tone had a bit of tension. It was one thing to be captured by a Great House as a Pilot. We had value. Granted, as the case with that Zioxan War Mistress I killed, that value could be expressed in a twisted way.
Irregulars? Well they might not think too kindly of someone who was killing their fellow infantry in mass numbers. And my kind could get especially creative when it came to putting punishment upon a hated foe. This was one of the cases where our healing and regeneration was a decided detriment.
"And at least one of our Centuries is fighting their reinforcements." I glanced over the map. Functionally, we were behind enemy lines. This was less of a novelty given how House BlackSky preferred high mobility aerial insertion.
That still meant we were charged with protecting a tiny infantry force who could easily be overwhelmed. "Suggestions?" I asked
"Get another Flight or two in here and we fly everyone out in one go," GreyDawn stated.
"Yeah, that's pretty-much what I'd prefer. It won't be subtle, so I think we can get the Legionaries a bit closer to our forces before we start an airlift swarm." I looked over the depot. "It would take time to get that organized."
We could stay longer, this was not a bad place to wait until then. The fences gave a bit of an access barrier to the perimeter, and parking lot, maintenance bays, and ground gave some clear fields of fire.
But I preferred to keep the survivors moving. "I think we should use a different form of transport and move them to a closer rally point. If a mob finds us we might have to deal with hundreds of civilians mixed with who knows how many irregulars. Move then airlift."
"Would be a shorter distance airlift too," GreyDawn added.
A two tone chime went off and there was a series of explosions to the west. That was one of ours. It looked like a Skofnung. The air to air Torpedo carried nearly two dozen Vel missiles. It was useful in a counter missile, Ritual Plate or other enemy air assets role. Good targeting data really helped with the performance, especially with fast or nimble targets.
Our own Ritual Pate, specially RavenSnow's squadron, followed in to mop up, and then take out the ground forces that had been trying to flank our landing zone. The Ballista Projectors Harmonia carried for air-to-air roles were a bit overkill in anti-infantry even anti-soft vehicle roles even when dialed down in power, but they would be effective, if not efficient.
It was not quite as bad as using Pilum bolts on infantry, but the poor Hoof-sloggers might not know the difference.
Though that did not have my primary attention. That fell onto movement to the North, far closer to us.
"Diamond, are you seeing this?" VioletBlood said using a priority interrupt as she added her take to my map display.
My scrying system could just start making out the screeching sound of incoming fire from Horus artillery guns. Great. House Luxon was close enough to start firing on the northern part of the city.
However, that was not what VioletBlood was highlighting. There was something far closer to us. And at least was smaller than the mess RavenSnow's Squadron was dealing with.
"I am," I switched to both the Flight channel and the survivor's. "Okay, we're getting some signals. A mixed air and ground force to the north."
"Looks like a couple troops of Crocodiles with a few Hathors as some anti-air. Ground troops are still forming up," Octavia noted as she observed the intake. Her scrying system was the standard model but at the moment she was a bit better placed to get info on the ground elements.
"They're supported by a Squadron of Archers, who are in turn got overwatch by a Flight of Yeomen," VioletBlood said.
"Are they coming to us?" Librarian Evadne asked.
I double-checked the map. "Their track seems to have the ground troops pass parallel to your location by a few blocks, but they might turn, they might have scouts that pick you up. Those Yeomen have rather good scrying systems."
"But they will notice you four," Evadne noted.
"They will soon enough." If I took my Flight and left, then the enemy column might miss the survivors. We certainly were not circling right over the truck depot so even if they spotted us now they would knot know why we were over the city.
It was probable that they would assume we were set up as a force to destroy their ground troops. Hence why they had their own RP Squadron covering them. Though they might suspect BlackSkyvian forward scouts had infiltrated the city.
That was part of our doctrine. And if they found the survivors what the enemy would suspect them of being.
That would be three wounded Legionaries, a VTOL Pilot and a Librarian against at least two centuries worth of infantry with Ritual Plate and mechanized support.
It made my decision easy enough. "We're going to take out the column, the armor, the infantry, the Ritual Plate, all of it."
"What will we do?" Evandne asked.
"You'll be getting ready to extract." I focused on the garbage truck depot. The vehicles were bulky and heavy duty things, they had fewer hydraulics than the ones in my first life, but were more than the glorified horse carts of my second. "And you, my Librarian, are going to ready one of those trucks you've inspected and get it up and running. Unless Opal, you think you're a better driver?" I asked our VTOL Pilot.
A garbage truck was hardly subtle, it was also not really armored, but it could barrel through most obstructions, and if we timed it right, after my destroying, or at least mission-killing that column, my Flight could provide escort.
And Evadne could provide extra protection.
It might get them closer to an area where we had enough air assets to pull them out. If not, it would at least give the survivors something to do. And would give them another option for a way to exit the combat zone.
Honestly, I considered having GreyDawn and Octavia help move the wounded on wing; I had a couple potential locations already shared.
But now, my focus was on getting rid of this enemy force. I put a request into Flight Ops for support, either a Torpedo strike or more Ritual Plate assets.
It would be nice, but I would honestly prefer a VTOL with Ritual Plate support to come in and pick up the survivors. That would free my Flight up.
However, given the fresh assault on the centuries at the resort I could understand the limit of resources. I would have to make the most of what I had to put the most pain upon the enemy.
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Two centuries of BlackSkyvian Legionaries was not enough to make a full barrier to the Irregulars, rebels, or whoever were trying to flee from the Luxon advance. However, they were still positioned to be a threat to anyone who was going South. Especially given how the foothills in this area consisted of many sprawling valleys.
This new column was enough of a force, especially with the air assets attached to them to represent something the Irregulars would have to wheel widely around to pass without issue. Otherwise, they would invite massed air attack, or even a Torpedo strike. And fall the same fate as the group RavenSnow was wiping out.
Not that directly attacking our Landing Zones would not get such a reaction. But perhaps their view was with enough troops, they could keep our assets fully engaged while the bulk of their forces could escape to the South.
It was a wasteful policy, but it had some merit. A bloody-minded enemy commander could try to throw enough targets at us, in enough numbers, to get us to expend the majority of our Torpedoes. But that would only limit part of our offensive assets.
It was true that, at the moment, Flight Ops only had one Ritual Plate Flight to throw at these forces. The rest of BlackSkyvian assets were already engaged and we had used quite a few of our limited stock of Torpedoes So perhaps there was something to that theory.
The overall picture of the urban combat was one of multiple spearheads of irregular forces trying to move in a roughly south-eastern direction. With the largest concentrations, those with significant anti-air assets, and those closest to our diminishing Landing Zones being the focus of our ire.
Right now, it seemed that our Landing Zones were used as less of a spearhead point for infantry operations than a temporary forward base to act as nucleus of supply, anti-air assets, and VTOL support. On the upside, it did shorten flight times while keeping our vulnerable airships further back. On the downside, it meant we still had ground assets that needed defending.
I was not sure I would agree that was a worthwhile exchange.
But that was not my part of the battle.
My part was protecting the survivors of Spatha 2 from this Irregular column that might stumble into them. Though the more I saw them the more I wondered if they were a bit too organized and rebel might be a better term.
First, I had my Flight move to the North and go under heavy Veils.
Veiling at that level came with several costs. First, it required a lot of Pilot concentration and skill to do well, and unless a Pilot was specialized in it, would fatigue her rather quickly. Second, it took up a lot of a Ritual Plate's power budget which meant less ability to do maneuverability or speed while also under Veil.
Third, it burned through more mana and arcane power. Which overall reduced the endurance of a Ritual Plate suit.
Timing was key. GreyDawn and Octavia split off, slowed, and descended while they took a new heading. Meanwhile, VioletBlood and myself rose up and vectored towards the column.
Our scrying intake built into a clearer picture. The Yeomen were above the Archers who were, in turn, overseeing the Crocodile Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Hathor dual-purpose guns, and their supporting infantry.
The Ritual Plate formation was textbook. House Alecto provided rather good training. And whether these forces were directly trained by Alecto or by Vualia before turning their coats, they seemed to be using Alecton doctrine.
Or at least their export doctrine. That is how they taught a Minor House how to field Ritual Plate. How to make do without the funding, size, or institutional experience of having a dedicated Ritual Plate air corps. This was part of what made the Archer a popular model.
By Ritual Plate standards, it was cheap and simple to fly, and maintain. If a Minor House was fighting an enemy who was even smaller than them, then merely having any Ritual Plate would make a key difference in protecting their ground forces and ravaging enemy ground forces.
Even against a Great House like Luxon, the Archer would at least would force the enemy to invest in air defense systems and make it so Luxon could not simply attack Vualia ground forces with impunity.
The Archer was also more effective when supported by a more capable suit like the Yeoman. Which was all Alecton export doctrine.
VioletBlood and myself angled in so we came from the North east. Minding our Veils, I pushed our speed up and kept an eye on the enemy formation watching for when they would detect us. Unless they were laughably inept, they would.
It was well known that House Alecto would sell to any House, provided said House was not a rival nor at war with them. And provided said House could pay and the sales would serve Alecton interests.
It was also known that Alecto would sell training, maintenance, support, spares, and consumables alongside their weapons systems. All things that were vital to have said weapon be more than a hangar queen that would be shown off at annual "victory" parades.
It was a bit less well known that they sold mundane components, manufacturing, and other areas of supply chain and sub-component and system support. The least well known was that Alecto also sold information.
We were outnumbered, but I was not worried. They key part was to not get bogged down. I checked to verify the positioning of my Flight. The closer we could get without being detected the smoother this would go.
All of the Diyu Great Houses were in the armaments export business to one level or another. And the information of who you sold what items to could be valuable in and of itself. Beyond sales orders, one could also inform a third party on all sorts of other factors.
House Alecto and House BlackSky had a very close alliance and exchange of military technology and arcana. House BlackSky's submarines, frigates, and seaborne logistics ships were either built in Alecton naval yards or domestically built with extensive Alecton help. Meanwhile House Alecto's smaller airship fleet and their Ritual Plate training and systems design came from House BlackSky. They also flew many of our models especially higher end specialized ones, albeit a couple Marks behind the versions we used and with a few other modifications, mostly for navalizing.
Thus, we of House BlackSky knew exactly how Minor Houses were taught to use the Alecton RP suits they had bought and were trained on. Which was why seeing them in such a textbook formation was relieving.
More experienced fliers would know that formation was suboptimal when supporting ground troops in urban combat. Maneuverability was cut down when you had to move through streets and thus the ground columns could not be dispersed in the same manner.
There.
The Yeoman Flight was shifting position but it was a Flight of Archers that were moving to cross our vector.
The Yeoman, especially compared to the plain Archer, was a fairly elegant suit with sweeping lines, solid plating, and intricate gauntlets.
"Now Violet!" I transmitted as we both dropped Veils and pushed our Zephyr to max.
The four Archers that were ahead of us turned and tried to intersect.
The last time I was outnumbered in an air battle I was alone, functionally unarmed, and against peer-level suits.
VioletBlood hit the first Archer, using a short Falx burst to blow apart the enemy's wards while a second more precise orange bolts blasted through the armor. Her wingwoman got a couple shots off at VioletBlood.
Seeing that enemy getting target fixation, I took her out with a single carefully aimed Pilum strike as we blew past.
By conventional analysis our speed, and our direct strike, would be reckless, especially at a relatively low altitude of being only a bit higher than the irregular rebels.
If the enemy RP commander reacted to us and only us, she could still maneuver her forces and throw an entire squadron at the two of us. But that would leave the ground forces uncovered.
Here was the risk, would the commander adhere to her training? Training that doubtless warned her about how a multi-pronged attack with the intention of driving her forces out of position would aim to defeat them in detail. Would she throw everything she had at us? Or would she hold back in case there was a second wave?
Two Archers were still on our tail as we traced towards the Yeoman Flight.
They opened fire as red beams shot out. The Yeoman had good range on its projectors but this far out they lacked power. I was in the lead and jinxed and evaded, using the superior maneuverability of a Polyxo advanced suit.
Instead of trying to close into us at a head to head the enemy Flight leader was angling her forces around to try and get us in a crossing engagement. A reasonable tactic.
My wards lit up and I pulled out and began firing back. The Falx shots were little more than distractive ranging fire at this distance, but would not be for long.
I counted and... There! Three of the enemy Yeomen were firing at me.
"Go!"
Ever since our cadet days, VioletBlood edged me on straight-line speed. She went from being in my flank position behind me to racing ahead. This maneuver pushed her Zephyr and burned her power reserves.
She shifted and came in right towards the enemy Flight. It took them a moment to adjust from targeting me to targeting her.
That moment she used to close the range and open up with her Falx. And get precise targeting info that was fed back to me. That she wore a Gorgon rig helped, especially in the data sharing, but this was a maneuver that a standard scrying set could do.
When the wards of the Yeoman Flight started failing both Violet and myself each popped off a pair of Pilum shots.
Both of mine hit and one ravaged through a fallen ward. Arcane energy tuned to burn through the composite protection of an armored vehicle hit the relatively thin plate armor of Ritual Plate. That enemy pilot died quickly. The other had just rekindled her ward and managed to take most of the Pilum's energy before the rest bled through and nearly cooked her in her suit. She started dropping as her wings flailed. She might survive.
VioletBlood still had her Pilum set to anti-material instead of anti-armor mode. The slightly less-intense and broader-spread bolts blew through one of the unwarded Yeoman while the second blast just missed the last member of the Flight.
Or would have if the Yeoman Pilot had not had gotten her wards back up. The bubble of defensive energy caught the burst evocation power and flash fried. Unlike my near-miss, VioletBlood's was still functional but the engravings and enchantments on that Yeoman were smoking. The formerly gloss bottle green armor was covered in scorches and smoke poured out of all the engravings as her wings jerked.
"Well done!" I told VioletBlood as she slowed a bit to allow me to catch up to her.
"I didn't kill them all," she complained.
Neither did I, but unlike my comrades I was not so bloodthirsty. "That's for the best, we need them agitated and weakened." I reassured. It was not like I would have minded if we had a clean sweep on that Yeoman Flight, but this was a fine consolation and I did not want my wingwoman to have self doubt.
The time for recriminations would come at the debriefing.
We did not slow down or even adjust our heading much. I wanted to give the impression of a strafing run where we would slash the enemy's air formation and the irregulars would want to get revenge.
That those two Archers were already following us was a good sign. Soon they were met by another Archer Flight and the remaining combat-worthy Yeoman.
I gave a vicious smile. We had a head start, but our speed was just enough that they might catch up. Maybe they thought we had just gotten damaged, maybe these Pilots did not know the speed ratings of a Polyxo in ground support mode.
It was not my problem.
They were focused on catching us, doubtless they would try to use superior numbers to envelop, reduce our egress options, and pummel us at range. Unfortunately, they went past the point I had marked out.
A point that Octavia and GreyDawn were approaching under heavy Veil at a perpendicular vector. Calibrating their speed to be in the right location at the right time, they managed to get just into Pilum range and opened fire. Three Archers had been taken out before the enemy started to adjust their positioning to deal with threats in two directions.
The enemy was right to worry about a multi-pronged attack that would attempt to draw their forces out of position.
Unfortunately for them, VioletBlood and myself had flipped over and fired a brace of Falx bolts that blunted the enemy vanguard. Then we were among them. With their wards down, the leading enemy Flight was picked off by Octavia and Grey Dawn. Which left an ad-hoc middle flight that was out of position and the remains of the trailing Flight that had been harrowed by the initial ambush.
My main concern was our ammunition usage. While there was some exchange between a Ritual Plate's main fuel cells and the power for various weapons systems. The evocation projectors were most efficiently powered by arcane energies specifically made for them.
Once you ran empty on weapons and started, quite inefficiently, using power for propulsion, scrying, and warding a Pilot would rapidly fund herself running on fumes. Not to mention that normal combat range meant that a Pilot did not normally get any energy from her kills.
GreyDawn and Octavia were not being idle. Their suits were just Polydora multi-roles but GreyDawn was an experienced hand and Octavia showed great promise. Arcing about, they continued to cross the enemy force.
VioletBlood and I moved in to support the rest of my Flight. Now that the initial shock was over and we were still slightly outnumbered, I did not want my forces defeated in detail.
There was a reinforced Flight of Archers left. And it was a question if they would rally or shatter. They began to fire upon us, and someone managed to coordinated their fire.
I saw Octavia's wards go down. GreyDawn was about to move to cover her. But I was about to cross in front of them.
"Keep attacking!" I ordered as I pulled into a deep dive with a full acceleration. My wings pulled back as I intercepted the line of fire between the enemy and Octavia.
Red beams flared onto my wards as I added my Falx fire to GreyDawn's and VioletBlood's. I yelled as the fire burned through my Wards and I flicked away. Fortunately, Octavia had used the time to rekindle her own defensive systems and maneuver.
The two remaining enemy Archers broke away and dove down to the street level.
"GreyDawn, Octavia, run escort. Evadne get moving!" I ordered on the combined channel of both my flight and the survivors of the Spatha crash. "Everyone hydrate if you can," I added.
"We're already getting into the truck, and we cut the gate!" the Librarian said.
"Understood. We've taken out the enemy air cover and will escort you while diverting their ground forces."
"You did?" the Evadne asked while I could hear the Spatha Pilot murmuring.
"We can talk about that after we're all safe on an airship." Then I switched just to GreyDawn. "Get them closer to our lines, if you find a good spot for them to hole up, do it. If you think you can punch through or manage to convince Flight Ops they're close enough for extraction, do that."
"Understood." GreyDawn paused. "You're not going to get too ambitious are you, Primus?"
I laughed. "GreyDawn, this was a team effort. I just wanted to clear the enemy and keep them distracted. We had to strip off most of their air support do that, simple as that."
"As you say," she noted.
"Status of you and your wingwoman?" I asked.
She told me. We were all about one-third left on munitions and half on overall power.
"Watch your ammo load-out. Use your Verutum launcher if you have to. But if you can get them out quietly I'd appreciate that." The Verutum used a physical projectile, and thus a low magazine, and had shorter range, but in the right role could be useful.
"Uh, yes, Ma'am," she stated in a skeptical voice.
"I'm counting on you to keep Octavia on a leash; she's young and green."
"As you say," GreyDawn repeated in a similar tone. Why was it that everyone else was so aggressive?
"I'll try to get Flight Ops to relieve us or simply get some resupply out to us," I stated.
She confirmed that and flew off with Octavia to escort the survivors further south. Despite the fires and increasing chaos in the city, southern Ortov was not nearly as unstable as the northern parts.
My brief conversation with Flight Ops as VioletBlood and I got to position confirmed that much. Scouting Branch had telemetry that Luxon Ritual Plate and Scarab VTOLs were assaulting the northern extremities of the city.
I kept frustration out of my voice. The situation on the ground was deteriorating, and we simply did not have the troops to secure more than a small beachhead.
The enemy had realized that not protecting their ground troops with air assets would just get them destroyed, but was not quite able to commit to having all their Ritual Plate deployed. The hesitation was understandable, as their Pilots were facing both Houses BlackSky and Luxon, but it contributed to their shrinking ability to contest the airspace over the city.
If anything, my actions would help buy more time for an organized withdrawal. Especially if I could keep this reinforcement column of irregulars from advancing. We moved to the east, the enemy was not too far.
"You think, Grey and Octavia can get them out?" VioletBlood asked on a private channel.
"If they get discovered, it'll turn into a running gun battle with a garbage truck ramming everything they don't blow up from the air. I'd prefer it if they could simply drive out of the city to someplace isolated and get quietly picked up." Quickly studying the map, I sighed.
Luxon was advancing fast. It made me wonder if they had propositioned assets ahead of things, or if the Vualia positions between the border and this city had been emptied out.
Worse...
"Hathor guns are powered up," I noted as we flew to the enemy column.
"Confirm," VioletBlood stated.
"Well, they've only got two and-" I frowned. "Where is their Ritual Plate? There should be a Flight of Archers there."
"South of us," VioletBlood pointed out as I studied my map display.
"What are they thinking?" I pondered. Okay, being in the leading edge was not a terrible place if one had limited air support and was going into combat. But Ritual Plate had a speed advantage so one wanted to put in a place that had the best ability to respond to an enemy attack.
"Maybe they're not thinking?" VioletBlood asked.
"Eh?" I absently inquired as I marked points on the map, the enemy's ground forces was consolidating back into one column. They had gotten enough Crocodiles and purloined civilian vehicles to have all their troops mounted.
It was not quite as good of a choke point as crossing a bridge or a viaduct, but with apartment blocks overlooking a river to one side and a large business complex on the other the north-south roads in this part of the city had thinned out.
"Maybe they saw almost all of their friends and their elite protectors die, and now they're scared and alone."
"Huh, good point Violet. I had been neglecting the psychological angle." I made some more adjustments.
At the front of the column was a quartet of Crocodiles followed by another group of Crocodile IFVs, a few softer vehicles, and then a pair of Hathors. The other two Hathors were towards the end of the column with a cluster of guarding Crocodiles.
I confirmed VioletBlood's status. We have enough but the margin would be slim.
"Focus on the aft end when I start firing, Hathors then this group of Crocodiles," I explained.
VioletBlood paused then gave a chuckle. "Confirm."
I would take out the leading elements.
Normally one would hit the enemy Ritual Plate first, but with how much they had been pushed, and their lack of reinforcement, and their vanguard position, I wanted to do a ground attack run first.
That would force the hand of that Archer Flight.
I waited until the leading elements of the enemy column were nearly at the intersection that would allow them to spread out from one north-south route.
There was a lot to criticize, pushing ahead without enough air support, a lack of scouting elements, poor positioning, bunching up, but there was only so much one could do in urban combat. And for irregulars without much coordination, they were trying.
And the Hathors were on the ball. Though that might have been that my power reserves were low enough that I was not Veiling too intensely. Their fire did allow me to fix onto their positions as I went to full evasion.
After two Pilum bolts blew up those vehicles, I quickly hit the Crocodiles at the very front of the column. One had tried to reverse and turn, maybe out of fear of some ambush in the intersection.
Either way, that maneuver had it crash into the vehicle behind it. As both were fairly-armored boxes with wedge fronts and flattened turrets, the damage was negligible, until I blew up one of the Crocodiles. That cooked off the other and with a second shot to the one at the front I managed to kill three vehicles and block the front of the column rather well.
In time they could push past it, but for now it would work.
VioletBlood, who had switched her Pilum setting had taken out her Hathors, and then went forward to take out a trio of Crocodiles about two-thirds of the way back in the column.
The choke point where they had to go through one road was not long enough to get all of them, so I had us bottle as much of the forces as we could on that single road and then leave the remainder stuck on the north side.
"Strafe, strafe!" I ordered as we flew over that roadway right towards each other.
The Archers were caught wrong-footed and tried to follow me as I fired Falx bolts into the infantry. Many of them were protected enough by the Crocodiles, but those that were in the commandeered civilian vehicles did not do so well.
I got a transmission from GreyDawn that she and Octavia had escorted the survivors over halfway out of the city with only mild resistance.
The enemy Ritual Plate were angry and moved at full dash, right into VioletBlood. She took out two, and while her wards recovered I turned to fire at a third. Below us the rebel, or irregular, infantry scattered. They fled to the apartment and business buildings on either side of the roadway as the Crocodiles move to cover them.
Such dug-in infantry would be a pain to deal with from the air. Especially if they could disperse and wait in ambush with some good man portable anti-air assets. It was also a tactically acceptable way to flee the battlefield and lay low. It was not like I had the equipment to level whole city blocks at the moment. But the enemy there meant they would not be advancing to the south.
Things were going well and I was signaling VioletBlood that it was time for us to leave. And that was when a damn wizard came out from under her Veil and with a blare of energy a brilliant white beam shattered my Wards and made my Zephyr wail in pain as I suddenly lost altitude.
End Chapter 8
As I warned, I did end up splitting this chapter. Upside, this means the next chapter with rest of this battle, and the aftermath and homecoming is going along nicely. The main battle part is nearly done and now I have more space do devote to the aftermath and Tauria's welcome home when she gets back.
Updated with corrections. Thanks to Preier and RogueInquisitor for their commentary and critiques.
Update2: Chapters 5-8 have been gone through and given a similar correction and reread and edit as the first 4 chapters.