Reality's Plaything 4: Savants Ascendant Read online

  Bannor stepped forward and threw out his hands. “That is enough.” He focused on Quasar. “No one is going to be a martyr.” He turned to Idun and Euriel. “No one is going to kill anyone.” He drew a breath. “I really don’t give a dragon-flop about the politics of this frelled situation. I don’t care who made the damn stew we’re in or why. I just want out—alive. We have to stop these Baronians now—or we’re going to have them at our backs. So, let’s focus on that shall we? We can argue about who to blame later.”

  “Well said,” Loric agreed from the middle of the group.

  “All that talking was makin’ my head hurt anyway,” Tal rumbled.

  “Lady Solaris, Dulcere, Eclipse,” he turned to the jeweled Kriar. “Quasar.” He pulled the axes off his side and flipped them. “I’m ready. They’re coming after me regardless. I might as well face them here away from my family.”

  Daena stepped forward and raised glowing fists. “I’m with you, Brother.”

  “Might as well fight,” Wren said holding up her arms and looking down at her armored body. “I’m already dressed for it.”

  “Where my sister goes, I do,” Azir said with nod, wrapping his arm around Wren’s neck.

  “We fight as a family,” Euriel growled. She pointed a finger at Quasar. “Still, I will have satisfaction over this matter—apology or not.”

  “I am with my wife,” Vanidaar said.

  “And my place is with my daughter,” Idun rumbled.

  “The Shael Dal are here to do a job,” Tal said. “Namely kick Baronian arse—so you know we’re in.”

  “The Kergathas are our friends,” Loric said with a hand on Desiray’s shoulder. “If they’re in, we are.”

  “I should help keep the young savants out of trouble,” Damay said in a wistful tone.

  “We’re with father and Wren,” Radian said, an arm around Ziedra.

  “Now, respecting all the experience and brainpower here,” Bannor said. “I have an idea that may really help us out.”

  “Speak,” Aarlen said.

  “Most of you saw what happened when I linked the savants at the party.”

  “Yeah,” Azir made a fist. “That was awesome. You can’t do that for very long though can you?”

  “No,” Bannor shook his head. “I can’t. However, during the fight with the Daergons, Lady Idun gave me an idea.”

  “How is that?” Idun said.

  “You lent Damay your strength.”

  “Aye. It is not a difficult thing.”

  “Could you hold me together while I link up all the savants?”

  “I get it!” Wren said. “Yeah. You could do a spirit merge with Nonna and probably be able to do it for bells. The thing is—I don’t know how long the rest of us can maintain that much tao energy.”

  “Even if we can only maintain it for a short time,” Damay said. “We would be certain to put them back on their heels. Especially with the others to support us.”

  “There is one small problem,” Quasar said.

  Everyone focused on her.

  “All right, what’s the bad news, Goldie?” Tal asked.

  “They come to fight Kriar. I have no doubt in the open space of this bioclave, that they will employ mecha. Many of the tactics that worked against individual soldiers will not work against top-of-the-line Kriar war machines—that is what they will bring to this fight. Count on it.”

  * * *

  Chapter Six

  Mecha

  « ^ »

  Me and that artifice magic, I can use it, deal with it, but it ain’t really my thing. All that said, there’s something about piloting a suit of armor as big as a house that just turns me on…

  —Talorin “Tal” Falor,

  Beta Class Protectorate Enforcer

  Mecha. The word meant nothing to Bannor, but just the way Quasar said it made his skin prickle. Top-of-the-line Kriar war machines… The phrase was alien, but the meaning was clear—Kriar combat artifices. He gripped the Mark VI on his side and glanced down at it. Such a small device, yet capable of generating devastating force. He visualized Baronians wielding even larger and more powerful versions of it and shuddered. He looked around to the other members of the assault team. Half the group looked in pain, the other half simply confused. The Shael Dal and those closely associated with Kriar seemed to understand all the implications.

  Tal thumped his forehead with his fist. “Yer certain of this? I mean what’s yer source? They showed up twice, ain’t nothin’ been seen like that.”

  “Investigation,” Quasar answered. “Kriar ships are designed to dump their cargo manifest to the station cybers when they approach a way-point. The Baronians attempted to destroy all the way-point’s data stores but they missed one. So, I was able to assemble a weapons inventory.”

  Dulcere frowned. She let out a breath obviously upset at the failure of the other Kriar investigators to find something apparently so important.

  “Five thousand suits of Karanganoi variant of the Phalanx armor. Over a thousand Mark XII heavy rifles—” She pointed to the big gun slung over Dulcere’s shoulder. “Sixteen armed landing craft, eight mobile support emplacements, forty suits of Daedalus armor, and twenty four suits of Gryphon heavy assault mecha.”

  “Gryphons?” Tal asked. “That those big bruisers with those plasma claws we fought on Karanganoi?”

  Dulcere answered with a nod.

  “Spit,” Tal muttered. “This is accurate?” Tal asked. “You’re not readin’ stuff from when the ships was in Karanganoi service?”

  Quasar put her hands behind her back. “The Baronians don’t trust their slaved Kriar engineers, so they use repair drones to service the Karanganoi equipment. Drones are meticulous record keepers.”

  Aarlen clumped forward, pulling at the strands of her white hair in thought. “Well, that rules out any kind of direct confrontation.”

  Wren put hands on hips. “Perhaps you’d care to translate for those of us, who have no idea what was just said.”

  “That Daedalus armor is a suit that flies,” Tal said. “It flies faster than anything you can imagine. The Gryphons are big—like ten paces tall, covered with fist-thick plates of this stuff.” He tapped the chest piece covering his torso. “Those emplacements—think catapult that can knock down a castle with one shot. The landers are big armored flyin boats with weapons on ‘em.”

  Bannor stared at big man, then swung around to look at Quasar. His stomach twisted. “You must be jesting. How do we deal with that?”

  “I have analyzed this engagement carefully,” Quasar said looking around. “First, getting their strike team aboard is risky and time critical. Homeworld defenses will fire on them the instant they are in range. They must approach, transport, and retreat—all within moments. Taking the time needed to gate in even a tenth of their force is dangerous. It’s likely they’ll make passes and send squads. That gives us more time and a better chance.”

  “How do we crack those Gryphons and emplacements?” Tal asked.

  “Estate Lorning is a fortress,” Quasar answered. “Slow targets like the Gryphons pose a minimal threat. Even should they manage to bring all of their heavy bombards to bear—the screens around this tower will keep them out for half a day. The real danger is the Daedalus armor and Phalanx suits. The Daedalus is too fast for heavy emplacements to track, and the stealth of the Phalanx suits defeats the fortress sensing artifices.” She pointed a finger at Bannor. “If the trick that he and Daena performed during the fight at the party can be replicated here, the estate’s defenses will be all the backup you need. Kriar artifices cannot see through the Baronian stealth, but savant senses can.”

  “Okay, so we have a chance,” Desiray said. “What’s the point though? Why not let the Kriar military in here to do their job?”

  “The council gave strict orders not to assault the Baronians, only defend,” Marna said. “As Quasar said, the council is afraid. They fear
a reprisal. I myself think that shrinking from this vanguard is the surest way to encourage further attacks. However, they have voted down every measure I have brought to the table to strengthen our position. Even if Quasar lets the Kriar army in, they will simply give up the prisoner to the Baronians and drive them away.”

  “This stinks,” Algernon muttered. He glared at Quasar. “I understand the problem, but you shouldn’t have brought these kids into it. There were other emergencies you could have set up for your little council coup.”

  Wren put hands on hips. “I am not a kid.”

  Euriel raised an eyebrow. “Shush.”

  “I don’t know what we’re standing around for,” Ziedra said coming forward. “We knew we had to deal with these guys, and they’re too powerful for us to be picky about our allies.” She shot a hard look at the Kriar warrior. “Those Baronians are vicious animals, and every one we stop here can’t attack the T’Evagdurans.”

  “Let us make this simple,” Eclipse said, looking around. “Does any of you plan not to participate?”

  Everyone looked at one another. It was the fight rather than the choice of allies that no-doubt weighed heaviest on everyone’s mind. No-one spoke up.

  “Any objections?” Eclipse asked again, looking around. After a long pause he turned back to Quasar. “Let’s be clear, Marna charged me with being responsible for the members of this team. Terms of engagement will be my discretion and that of the team officers and their point people.”

  The Kriar woman sniffed. “Understood.”

  “Wren,” Eclipse said. “You will work with Bannor on team two. Azir, you will work with your mother and father on my team.”

  The two savants nodded.

  “We’ve wasted a lot of time with all this talk,” Bannor said. “All this standing around is making me antsy.”

  “Man after my own heart,” Tal rumbled, smacking a fist into his palm. “Let’s get crackin’.”

  “You want everyone to be able to see the stealthed Baronians like I can, correct?” Bannor said.

  “That would be optimal,” Eclipse said.

  “I have an idea that may work,” Bannor said. “Most of us here have ties to eternity—the savants through their nolas, the Shael Dal through their weapons, the Kriar through their time-sense, even Lady Desiray has a link through a spirit-binding that I sense in her.”

  The white-haired guildmistress reflexively put a hand to her chest.

  “Loric, Idun, Euriel, Radian there are common threads in you that I can use as well. Everyone willing, I can try an experiment that may help us all.”

  “I am willing,” Eclipse spoke up first.

  “I’m interested,” Aarlen said folding her arms.

  Dulcere said.

  He looked around. “This may be a bit weird, anyone want to opt out?”

  Everyone looked around, mostly they shrugged.

  He turned to Ziedra. “Lady Ziedra, I need your assistance.”

  The dark-haired savant put a hand to her breast in a ‘me?’ gesture. He nodded. “Ummm, okay. What do you want me to do?”

  He held out his hand. “Take hold.”

  The woman glanced at her husband and then at Wren. The blonde savant nodded to her. Ziedra stepped over and took his hand. Her fingers were cool and dry, her grip was firm as she locked thumbs with him.

  “Okay, I need you to cast a spell on everyone. Something that will give you a nice solid link to everyone like when you do that fly magic.”

  “Why?” She paused a moment and her expression brightened. “Oh, I see!”

  “A spell binding,” Loric said with a nod. “Zee, it will need to be something high order, something that can’t be dispelled.”

  The magic savant frowned. “You’re right. Lend me your shoulder then, take me through a binding.” She looked to Bannor. “I’m going to need both hands for that. Do you need to touch me?”

  He nodded and released her hand and placed it on her shoulder.

  “Perfect,” she responded with a nod.

  Loric stepped over to Ziedra and she stepped behind him, placing both hands on his shoulders, and pressing her forehead between his shoulder blades. “Go.”

  The gray-haired elder clapped his hands and went into a chant, uttering deep thrumming words that made the chamber seem to vibrate. A reddish glow came around his body. This was no common magic, the threads he saw spinning around Loric were ancient and primal. The elder had obviously understood exactly what he needed. The warmage focused his eyes on Desiray, a blue glow started on the surface of her skin, growing brighter as the elder gestured and murmured. With a grunt and a thrust of his fist into his palm the spell ended. The sounds seeming to echo through the room. In his thread sight, Bannor saw a strong spiral of threads now connecting the Lord to his wife.

  Ziedra leaned back and blinked a golden glow shining in the surface of her dark eyes. She shook her head. “Ow.” She blinked and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “This may be overkill for what Bannor wants to do, but let’s do it. Take me through.”

  Loric repeated the spell only this time Ziedra mimicked him focusing on her husband Radian. At the conclusion, she had formed a link just like that between Loric and his wife.

  The woman nodded. “Wow. That’s quite a binding.”

  “Ziedra, you may bind me next,” Idun said. “Then I will lend you strength.”

  The woman nodded, repeating the process. After which the goddess stood at her shoulder and helped her cast. One by one she linked each of the team members to herself.

  “Is this good, linking everyone to me?” Ziedra said as she was nearly finished. “What if something happens to me?”

  “Don’t worry,” Bannor answered. “This binding is more than I hoped for.”

  Ziedra linked him last, creating a powerful magical bond between him and her. The magic wrapped itself like a warm hand folding cottony fingers around him.

  With each person linked Bannor had been pulling in their signatures, learning the feel of their spirits, taos, and minds.

  “All right, Lady Ziedra,” he told her. “Now, it’s my turn. I’m going to share the garmtur with you, and you’re going to share your nola with me.”

  She stared at him and gave him a slow nod.

  He closed his eyes and focused down into Ziedra’s threads. He had already touched her on two occasions before, and now shared a magical bond as well. It was a simple matter to find her connection to eternity and press his nola into it.

  Ziedra gasped.

  “Baby, are you all right?” Radian asked his wife.

  The dark-haired woman shuddered and brushed at her hair. “Whoa. I thought seeing magic was wizard.”

  Little by little he mingled their nolas. While he could see magic, he did not have Ziedra’s innate grasp of it. Ziedra on the other hand saw magic only in terms of the arcane and not its relationship to eternity. As he increased their shared awareness, he realized there was a third component missing. Who to use though?

  He glanced around. Which was the strongest? Eclipse? Quasar? No. It was Marna. “Lady Marna, are you willing to assist us?”

  The ancient Kriar blinked glowing eyes. “I know little of magic, Bannor.”

  “I know, bear with me.” He held out his hand.

  The Vatraena let out a breath. “As you wish.” She stepped forward and took his hand.

  The Kriar Matriarch’s hand was warm, the skin silky smooth to the touch. Her aura was so strong he didn’t even need his nola to sense it. Marna did not have a nola to bind with like Ziedra, but she was tied to the magic savant through the binding. That gave him the conduit through which to insinuate the garmtur.

  The elder Kriar was like a sponge, she soaked up his tao energy in a fashion that was frighteningly close to how alphas and betas joined. He pulled back a bit, this alarming discovery making him hesitant. How could she be so closely synchronized? Would he be able to unbind?

  It was too late, they’d already committed so muc
h time to this. He proceeded.

  Marna made a sound, flinching as he poured his nola into her.

  The Kriar matriarch’s mind and spirit were vast indeed. As he pulled her senses into the binding with Ziedra the sheer beauty made his stomach churn. With Marna he had only sought to bring her temporal awareness into their perception. However, the eons old creature brought something else to the mix—understanding. She saw the universe so much clearer, with a clarity and purity that made each shade and pattern as obvious as black and white.

  The Vatraena drew a breath and seemed to lean into the connection. As she added her will, things appeared to speed up (or was it slow down?) and split apart. Bannor blinked as echoes of time resonated around them, infinite shades of probability.

  This was so much more than he intended. He knew they could see through the Baronian stealth now, but how could he possibly share this with everyone? It was tough to think much less move. How would they fight?

  He felt Marna sigh. In his mind, it was as if she wrapped her arms around he and Ziedra, hugging them close.

  Marna whispered into the fabric of their taos. He felt her smile.

  He swallowed and nodded.

  Bannor watched and felt as the Kriar woman stepped over and took Ziedra’s hand as well. She rocked her head back, eyelids fluttering.

  Inside himself, he felt the seed of Marna had planted begin growing, insinuating tendrils of will all through his psyche. It felt as if his limbs became weightless. The threads of the world speeding around him slowed, each becoming distinct and familiar. His own body, the beating of his heart, the pumping of his blood, the tiniest slide of a muscle in its sheath were all there in his awareness. So much information, he was drowning in it. She had made it worse, not better! The Kriar was everywhere in him now. It felt as if she split him apart inside, the replicated shards of his self dividing and subdividing, each component accepting and ordering the mass of sensory images.