I don't remember how they brought me down from the tower.
When I opened my eyes, I immediately saw a stream of data.
I lay on a hard cot in the headquarters that we had set up in the basement of the Town Hall. The walls here were a meter thick, but even through them I felt how the ground vibrated from distant explosions.
"Iron, do you hear me?" Albert was shining a light in my eyes again.
"I hear you, Albert. Take the light away. It interferes with calibration," my voice sounded alien.
"What calibration?" the doctor turned to Wayland, who stood at the table with maps. "He's delirious. His pupils aren't reacting at all."
"In the northern sector, by the old warehouses, a landing is about to begin. Three boats. They are moving without lights, gliding."
Wayland was instantly by my side.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"I feel them through the disturbance of the etheric background. LUMON gives an error of three meters. Wayland, are your men in position?"
"The servants have already distributed ammunition to the turrets. Walter is in the 'Boar' on the market square, waiting for the command. Noah... left two hours ago toward the fallen flagship."
"Good. Then we begin."
I closed my eyes and "connected" to the city network.
"Wayland, take communications. Command the logistics. I need the gas supply shut off in the southern quarter, otherwise during shelling we will blow sky-high."
The Count nodded and briefly threw to his assistants, "You heard him. Southern quarter—cut off the gas. The wounded—to the basements of the monastery. Quickly."
The northern sector responded with a short crackle.
"Walter, your cue," I said into the microphone built into my collar. "Heading 0-15. Distance four hundred meters. They are coming out right at you."
"Copy," Walter's voice in the speakers was calm. "Darwin, throw some pressure into the left cylinder! Let's rotate the turret!"
On my internal screen, I saw the "Boar 2.0" tear from its spot. The machine moved smoothly. I broadcasted data directly onto Walter's targeting grid, highlighting the outlines of the enemy boats in bright orange for him.
The first volley of the "Boar" blew apart the leading boat. The mages didn't even have time to activate personal shields. The second tried to maneuver, but Walter, guided by my prompts, was already waiting for it around the corner of the warehouse. The steel ram of the "Boar" crumpled the side of the boat into the stone wall.
"Clear," Walter reported. "But there are more of them."
"I see. Noah, are you in place?"
"Almost," Noah's voice was barely audible because of static. "On the rocks. The mages are trying to extract the main communication crystal from the 'Golden Eye'. If they start it up, the remaining ships will get a unified coordination network."
"What do you need?"
"Give me three minutes of absolute darkness within a radius of a kilometer from the rocks. And don't shoot there from the 'Thundermaker' until I give the signal."
I immediately "squeezed" the flow in the northern direction, simulating an accident at the substation. "Done, Noah."
I saw through the flagship's thermal imager (which I managed to connect to via transmitters left by Noah) how a shadow glided across the debris of the deck. Noah eliminated only those who stood at the consoles and the communications officers.
Meanwhile below, in the very heart of the Town Hall, Elyria and Darwin fought their battle.
"Iron! The temperature on the third circuit is rising!" Darwin shouted. "The roots aren't coping, they're starting to dry out!"
I switched part of my attention to the basements. Elyria stood, forehead pressed against the cold metal of the main transformer. Her hands were entangled with glowing green veins that went deep into the winding. She was pale. Every surge of voltage resonated in her body with spasms.
"Elyria, hold on," I whispered, feeling her pain as my own. "One more volley. We need to ground their second battleship, otherwise they will begin an orbital bombardment."
"I... I'm holding," she rasped.
At this time, I looked at the sky again. One of the battleships, the "Silver Gryphon," was closing in. They realized quickly that the 'Thundermaker' is a stationary gun, I thought.
"Wayland, listen closely. Do you have those old copper reflectors left in your warehouses that we made for lighthouses?"
"Yes, eight pieces."
"Urgently move them out to the embankment. Set them at a 45-degree angle to the Town Hall."
He told his men, and a minute later I saw freight wagons harnessed with heavy horses tear from their spots.
A ricochet of the resonance impulse through makeshift mirrors—the probability of success was about 40%. But we had no choice.
"Darwin, prepare the accumulators. We are charging to 120%."
"Master, that's the limit!" Darwin shouted. "The winding will simply evaporate!"
"Doesn't matter! Do it!"
I felt the city compress into a spring. Walter in the "Boar" pushed landing groups back to the river. Wayland and his guardsmen set up mirrors on the embankment under heavy shelling from the sky. Noah somewhere on the rocks laid thermite charges into the communication node of the flagship.
"Mirrors in place!" Wayland shouted into the radio. I saw him through the turret camera—he stood on the embankment, covering with his shield a worker who was tightening the last bolt on the reflector stand. The mages' fiery arrows flew past them.
"Copy," my voice became completely quiet. "Elyria... it will hurt now."
I opened the fuses.
The energy of the Heart rushed into the "Thundermaker" so much that the Town Hall tower began to glow from within. The bricks became translucent. LUMON displayed: [CRITICAL ERROR. STRUCTURAL DECAY IN 5... 4...]
"Fire!" I exhaled.
The impulse struck down, toward the embankment. The huge copper mirrors flashed for a moment. The beam, refracting, went vertically upward, exactly into the belly of the "Silver Gryphon," which was just entering a turn.
The ship split along the seams, spewing clouds of steam and burning debris into the air. Its engines stalled, and the huge carcass began to slowly fall into the bay.
The wave from the fall swept away all the mirrors. Wayland managed to jump behind a stone parapet.
When I started to comprehend anything again, it was quiet in the headquarters. Only the backup generator hummed regularly.
I sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Next to me sat Albert on his haunches, wiping sweat from my face with a wet towel.
I tried to raise my hand, but could only move the fingers of the prosthesis. "What about the fleet?" I asked.
"Retreated," Wayland entered the room. He was limping, his coat turned to rags, and his face was black with soot.
"This won't be for long," I looked at my hands. "They will call for reinforcements. Or use long-range magic."
Walter entered next, wiping his hands with a greasy rag. "During this time, we'll manage to patch up the 'Boar' and install another couple of turrets."
Noah appeared in the doorway. He looked as usual, only his cloak was burned through in several places. He silently threw a heavy metal case, inlaid with runes, onto the table.
"Communication codes and flight logs," he said briefly. "I blew up their main crystal."
I closed my eyes. LUMON continued to whisper: [STATUS: STABLE. POWER RESERVE: 64%]
"How much time do we have until the next attack?" I asked, trying to stand.
"Eight hours, no less," Wayland replied, helping me get up.
"Good. Darwin, take the blueprints for cooling system No. 4. Elyria, I need more Iron Oak in the tower foundations. Walter, check the canister shot supplies."
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter