Inciting Assault

Mikara barely counted as Entelan military. She was technically on duty as an enforcer, and even then, she was technically part of an entirely different plane’s enforcement. The only reason she considered herself as military is because she was armed, and she had as good a reason as anyone else to put up a defense.

She wasn’t the only one. Rianne, a scout that was unarmed but had a ton of powerful magic to use, wanted to help too. The problem was that both of them were late. Both of them had to come from Entela, and the only reason they even knew anything was wrong was because of a flurry of messages in the middle of the night coming from the local chain of command on Agahia. The first warned of a potential attack. The second warned of an active attack. The third warned of Hannah’s disappearance.

Then there was a second flurry of messages, from a small Entelan outpost on the plane of Leritha. Almost at the exact same time as the message of Hannah’s disappearance, an attack came against the outpost, and they were requesting backup from Leritha’s local military.

Master Sara, the main ruler of Entela, sent out her own set of messages, requesting any soldiers that were doing nothing – something Mikara was a master at – to get ready and meet at Entela's Tunnel to be teleported over to Agahia. Mikara arrived in heavy platinum armor, something that was almost worthless against firearms but worked wonders against magic and Entela's own aethertech.

Even though it was midnight in Entela, it was still kind of bright on Agahia. Twilight had set in, but real darkness was lagging behind a bit. The lamps were starting to kick on, too, so when the darkness did come, it wasn't going to be too bad. The buildings stretched farther off into the atmosphere, blocking out any way to use the recently set sun as a compass – something Mikara still found herself trying to do even though methods like that were replaced by technology.

Mikara and Rianne had joined up with a couple of the straggling Entelan soldiers. One of them was male, with dark hair, silvery eyes, and darker skin than the majority of Entelans. He had introduced himself as "Rivek", and stood taller than anyone else in the general area. The other, "Marrin", presented as more feminine, with long brown hair tied into multiple braids, but Mikara had talked with them on more than one occasion to not make that mistake more than twice. They had lighter skin than the majority of Entelans, probably coming from somewhere north of Entela, but their solidly yellow eyes said their family came from far east. Neither of them were wearing any kind of armor – just their black-and-gold uniforms and a vest. To their credit, if they were from Volaria, the plane where Entela was actually located, they probably couldn't wear platinum anyways – the antimagic would mess with their bodies, too – and nothing else would be effective if the rebellion from Daira was using Entelan weapons. At least they were properly armed, each featuring a rifle, a couple back-up glass 'energy cells', and at least Marrin was carrying a couple of glowing purple grenades. In case the fight left the city?

Rianne had no excuse. She showed up to fight with no armor, no real weapon except for her magic, and she was wearing a pale blue dress that looked almost like it was made of ice. It almost seemed like she came to perform rather than to fight. Mikara hated the idea of her being in a combat zone dressed like this, where any Entelans might mistake her for a guerilla and shoot at her. Mikara was already pushing it, but at least her armor would take away most of the damage from potential friendly fire.

Even so, Mikara understood why she was here. She was taking deep, calming breaths in preparation for probably using the most magic she had ever used. No one said anything until she was done – let the scout do her jobs. Her eyes snapped open and, without moving her head, she scanned her field of view. Her deep blue eyes gained a bright blue shimmer. At the same time, two bright flashes of light left Rianne in the space of a heartbeat, and suddenly, she was panting as if she had just run a marathon.

“Fighting to the south and west,” Rianne said. This was something they already knew from the many previous messages. Good to confirm that they weren't missing anything. “South gets fought off… before we get there… West collapses without our help… prepare for ambush.”

"... how many spells did you cast?" Mikara asked. Rianne looked up at her like she was an idiot, the shimmering blue still coating her eyes. She held up three fingers rather than actually answer her. "Right, West it is."

Marril tilted their head and seemed ready to ask a question for far longer than Mikara was comfortable with. Eventually, they finally got something out, "What are you doing to be able to tell that?”

Rianne physically looked up at her, but her eyes were in constant motion. Maybe she could have answered for herself, but she would need her focus. She just nodded at Mikara, who answered instead, "Time magic. If something goes wrong, we come back here.  Takes a damn good concentration though."

"... got one left, try not to die," Rianne put together. She wasn't trying to talk through pants anymore. Now she was trying to talk through paying attention to at least three different spells.

"Can you fight in that state?" Rivek asked. "You seem more likely to be blown away than get involved."

"I'm… leaving some floating for combat spells," Rianne replied.

"... some what?"

Rianne didn't even get around to answering Rivek's question. Mikara didn't know enough about magic to fill in an answer either. Enough of their precious time had already been wasted anyhow, so when Rianne decided to start running off in a direction, Mikara ran off to follow her. Unlike the Entelans, she didn’t have a rifle. She had a sword. And, while it was a fancy sword that could cleave magic, it meant she didn’t have much for ranged options, so she needed to be as far up as possible. If absolutely necessary, she had an adaptor pistol, but that she was much less good with it.

Her Entelan friends, conversely, were trailing behind a bit, being extra cautious around corners that Rianne outright blew past. This was expected to be around where combat was started, so the caution was understood, but they maybe didn’t fully understand what Rianne had done. She’d already gone through this. She knew where there were people, up until the group all died and she went back to guide them again. And evidently, there were people not here.

The sounds of combat were much quieter than Mikara had ever expected. Rather than the explosions generated by firearms on Virilin, all the Entelans – and, it sounded like, most of the Dairans, were using aethertech that made very little noise. A click, maybe the feel of magic if you could feel that kind of thing. Some of the weapons had the smallest sound that the person firing the weapon could hear, so that they could tell that it worked. The real noises associated from them came from damage to buildings – and even those noises were typically not very loud.

The lack of sounds, however, didn’t mean nothing was happening. Bright flashes of light were common from Entelan weapons, and that left a hazy glow in most directions. Occasionally, beams of glowing magic went off into the sky from people trying to make ambitious shots against people at the tops of buildings.

Rianne slowed and held up a hand. The building style changed across this street. On this side of the street, skyscrapers filled with apartments and condos, made out of aethersteel-reinforced wood and stones. On the other, warehouses and industrial sites made of black metal lined with gold plating. Rianne pushed herself behind a window along the wall to the left, staring straight at a window just barely visible across the street.

She waited for the Entelans to cluster up behind her before giving very short instructions. “Grenade there.” And the sharpness of her command scared Mikara a bit. This was a girl that loved using long, poetic sentences, and even when she had come to a decision on her own, she always wanted to check with everyone else first. There was none of that here.

“I’ve only got tenebrite,” Marrin returned. “That’ll take down the whole building.”

“Industrial complex. EnTech’ll pay for it.” Rianne’s voice was also almost entirely devoid of emotion, where she was usually a little ball of excitement. She had not looked away from this window.

“Whhhadddya mean EnTech’ll pay for it?” Mikara asked. “Shouldn’t we be, uh, avoiding damaging… you know, private property.”

“EnTech’s the government.” She nodded her head to the building. “Government manufacturing. Master Sara won’t mind, neither will Hannah.”

Mikara wasn’t convinced. Marrin, conversely, was. They grabbed one of the grenades off their belt and hurled it into the air. Right at the peak of the throw, they grabbed onto it with a whip of silvery magic and flung it far faster than Mikara had seen one of those thrown. In the space between seconds, Marrin pulled a field of silvery magic that Mikara did recognize. When Mikara wasn’t busy, she spent a lot of time doing odd salvage jobs, recovering loot from decrepit locations before the governments repurpose the area. This was the same spell salvagers used to keep explosions off themselves.

It looked to Mikara like the explosive was going to miss the window. And it did… sort of. If the open window was the target, the grenade fell short. However, unlike most grenades that Mikara was used to, this one didn’t wait until it found a rest place before detonating. The tenebrite one connected with the metal wall below the window, and then the explosive, the wall, and the immediate surroundings were contained within a bright flash of brilliant golden light. Fragments of metal scattered outwards, some of which deflecting off the salvage shield. The rest of the building collapsed under its own weight, pushing further metal fragments out.

Mikara was thinking earlier about how quiet weapons were. And yet, the first weapon fired here was going to attract the attention of so many more. “How many people were…” Mikara started to ask.

“I’m not answering that question.” Rianne peeked past the corner. Mikara put a hand on her sword, ready for Rianne to jump back. The ground was now covered by a circle of metallic debris. Much of it was stuck in the walls of the surrounding buildings. Some of it went off into nowhere, obliterated by the heat of that blast. Not a single person in there made it out. “Should be two patrols that move in on us. One to the south arrives first. That’s the last thing I know.”

Rianne fell back, letting Mikara take the front. She could hear the Dairans muttering to themselves. She couldn’t see them, but she knew the panic they were feeling, because she was just feeling it. She understood exactly where they would be looking: everywhere. They had no idea what just happened. They were about to walk directly into an ambush where they should have had control, and they knew it.

The first one to come into view. He looked to be about 19, probably one of the newest recruits of the war. He made a fool’s mistake: he was busy looking across the street, rather than around the corner, when he passed in front of Mikara. That also meant he was probably pushed up way further than he was supposed to be. Or, maybe their experienced soldiers had left them to handle the situation. He was wearing pristine platinum armor, in a very different style than Mikara’s own. He had no helmet, but thinly shaved dark hair on only slightly lighter skin. Mikara drew her blade, and let gravity help her bring it back down.

Historically, Mikara hadn’t ever had to use her sword as a sword. She could use her fists most of the time. She obviously trained well with it – an imperial retainer like herself had to. She had drawn it in ceremonies. She had drawn it to show off. She had never drawn it on a person. While her mind wanted to falter, wanted to stop doing what she was doing, her training refused. Her body carried on without the mind to guide it. The sword dug into the person – not cleanly enough to sever anything but blood vessels, but those blood vessels were going to be enough.

And then her body noticed what it had done. And while she was processing it, more came around the corner. A woman, around Rianne’s apparent age of 25. Golden hair, dark eyes. She had watched her friend go down, but couldn’t line up a clear shot before Rivek sent a pulse of black magic through her head. She suffered no physical injuries, but she went down just the same. And then people stopped coming, too afraid to round the corner into who-knows-how-many Entelans.

“I can’t hide those two,” Rianne noted.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mikara replied. “I’m fine. Just, uh… New.” The shock was starting to wear off. This was the reality of war. This is what she had to do to protect Agahia and Entela. This is what she had to do to protect her own empress, too. She grew up fighting. She could do this. Mikara tightened her grip on her sword.

Marrin sent two shots — icicles? – across the street to a group pushing past the north corner. Rivek pulled back first to find a more covered position. Marrin went next – there was space between the buildings further back, so they could use it to keep the fight going. Mikara, conversely, had to get closer. If she could get across the street, she could take cover on that side, and maybe her adaptor pistol could do its job.

Marrin sent another icicle at the northern group, and Mikara took the opportunity to sprint across the street.  Like an idiot , she told herself. Someone from the south group took a shot, using the same black magic that Rivek used. It hit her square in the shoulder, and Mikara could finally feel a bit of what it was doing. Even through the antimagic, it was pain. Pain that, under the right circumstances, could cause someone’s heart to stop, and even under slightly worse circumstances, might debilitate them for a little bit. Her armor saved her from that fate, but who knew what would happen if she took a shot like that again?

Mikara pushed herself between the buildings. The pistol she was armed with, while unexciting, was filled with the only element that might stand a chance against anti-magic armor. She peeked around the corner to look at the person that had fired on her. Man, probably around 40, like her. He had a necklace of the Church of Solari on. He probably thought that kidnapping ‘Saint Hannah’ was a service to the Church. He was probably fighting for religious reasons, and not because of the Dairan uprising. Mikara locked eyes with him, and for just a moment, he hesitated.

Not her. Not this time. She squeezed the trigger, and a bolt of silver light manifested itself from the barrel. Where it hit the man – roughly through where his stomach should be – Mikara saw the sharp, probably piercing indent in the armor left by the Force magic. The man staggered back behind the corner.

A message popped up on Mikara's transceiver. She didn't have time for that right now. If the Dairans wanted to push past the corner again, she needed to be ready to knock them down. If that ever happened.

This was almost worse than actually having to take shots at people: where were they? Were they still there, waiting? Were they leaving? Were they about to try to push? Theoretically her back was facing Entelan forces, but maybe they were trying to loop around or something?

The light buzz of a dragonfly's wings appeared, almost out of nowhere. Mikara thought she knew what this was, but then she wasn't sure. Surely the Dairans didn't have such talented spellcasters, right? It hovered next to her ear for a moment, then zoomed out in front of her. While it was definitely a dragonfly, it was made of day and night in equal parts – a molten mixture of the deepest darkness and the sunset's light. It flew across the street, intent to make its presence known to the rest of the Entelans.

Another message came through on her transceiver. Still not the time. She absolutely hated this waiting game, and part of her wanted to run up to the corner to make sure the Dairans were still there. Rianne still had a rewind left. She could afford to make some mistakes, right? At the same time, she knew Rianne would chew her out for being stupid if she forced another rewind just because she was impatient.

Finally, something changed. Kind of. A voice pushed itself into her head. A soft, careful, but confident voice. "Eternity Project Leira, providing surveillance and facilitating communication." That was nice and all, at least someone could get intel back to…

And then red and blue outlines of people appeared in her vision. Some of them behind buildings. Her own party was outlined in blue. There were two red outlines behind the building to the south – one of which was sitting firmly against the wall. That was probably the one she had shot. There were three more red outlines to the north, behind the building that Mikara was using as cover. She could see the outlines of limbs, even in enough detail to notice that one of them was checking the rounds in a kinetic magazine.

In the distance, she could see more outlines, blue and red, light up. Some of the red ones were falling back. Many of them, in fact. Some were vanishing instead. Blue outlines, too – while they were pushing forwards, they were taking losses too. And then it got loud. Commands were coming through from people Mikara didn't even know, directed at other people Mikara didn't know. Other people were panicking, the way she almost did when she took the first man's life. A few were sending information around, about injuries and deaths on the Entelan side. No one Mikara knew.

All the while, neither they nor the red figures behind the walls moved. Until, almost at once, all of the red figures started moving at once. Away. They were probably going to come back later.

"South repelled," came a voice in Mikara's head. "Collapsing on the west."

"No need, looks like they got a retreat order," another one said.

"Anyone gotten anything through to Entela?"

"Not a damn thing."

"Tunnel's not working either."

"Something's very wrong."

Very wrong indeed. After a few moments, watching the red figures running as fast as they possibly could to leave the city, Mikara finally felt she was definitely safe to put her weapon away. She also had an opportunity to check her transceiver. The two messages came from Master Sara, directed to anyone that could see it.

Please respond.

''Communications down. Respond when able.''

Though, from the sounds of it, people on Agahia could receive messages, but Entela couldn’t. Normally, that would sound like an Entelan problem, but clearly Entela could send messages totally fine. At the same time, she didn’t know much about engineering, but the aether tunnel that literally cut a hole in the space between planes was probably supposed to be working even if communications weren’t.

So why wasn’t it?

Characters
Rivek Marrin Leira Hoserai Sara Ylerne (in text)