Touch of Fate

Chapter 199: Target Acquisition

"Objective secured! Let's move!" Carlin yelled to his squad as they raced through the deserted campus of the University. Thankfully, the guard was occupied with defending the city as a whole, so their internal defenses were virtually unmanned.

"How are we looking on time?"

Terra, his second in command checked a circular magic device which Mage Hunters used to track the passage of time during missions. Its face showed a number of flashing wedges of light, only three of which remained. She frowned at the device, before reporting her findings. "We have six minutes, give or take thirty seconds, until the scheduled link up. Crossing the wall will take two at the minimum, so we will need to move quickly."

Carlin grimaced as he checked around the corner of an ornate dormitory building to see if the coast was clear, before waving the last three members of his team forward. Salvan, the burly bear beastman who specialized in grappling techniques, was carrying their target inside a canvas body bag.

"Alright, we're moving through the Magic Department. Keep your eyes peeled and weapons at the ready." He ordered quietly while directing the crew to a grouping of elegant, square buildings aligned in a circle beneath a floating tower.

Their progress through the deserted department was slow and steady. Fortunately, they didn't encounter anyone, and were able to climb to the top of the University wall and repel down without any trouble.

They were crossing a major road and heading into the meandering residential district that dominated much of the eastern portion of the Old City, when a squadron of Almiran cavalry rounded the corner and spotted them. Carlin heard one of the leading riders exclaim, "There they are! After them!" as they broke into a gallop.

"Move! Across the street!"

He was hoping to find some cover to protect them from the charging cavalry, but the large and slightly palatial houses in their vicinity came equipped with extensive lawns and gardens. It looked like they would need to find a building to take shelter in, at least for the time being.

Carlin sprinted up the steps of the nearest mansion, and launched himself into a flying kick at the door. With an audible crash, the wooden frame snapped under his heavy blow. Rolling to a stop in the foyer of the mansion, he motioned for the others to follow. "Bartlett! Salvan! Man the door. Make them keep their distance. Kali, sweep the house, make sure we won't have any unpleasant surprises and locate any points of entry or exit."

A veteran of urban warfare, Bartlett quickly used the shattered door to create a makeshift barricade, allowing him to fire his rifle from cover. Salvan dropped his package on the floor before taking up a position next to him. Kali, the team's recon specialist began quickly clearing the rooms of the mansion, even though it seemed likely that the owners had fled.

Terra checked another key Mage Hunter magic device, a rod made of glassy obsidian. This device was created in batches of at least five, and all of the rods were linked by sympathetic magic, so that when the end of the rod was pointed in the direction of one of its fellows, it would shake. The strength of the vibrations indicated how close the other rod was. While it took practice to use effectively, the items gave Tenundian Mage Hunters an edge when it came to operating with coordination in areas of limited visibility.

She pointed it in several directions, before slipping it back into the specially made holster. "Closest team is about three blocks away, heading in another direction."

Grimacing again Carlin spoke while eyeing the nearby rooms for any promising windows. Unfortunately, it looked like the house had a rather extensive garden, making it difficult to freely escape without exposing themselves to a cavalry charge. They would have to use a more unorthodox method.

"Carlin! They're circling around to the back." Bartlett called from the front door between bursts of rifle fire.

"Two back entrances detected. Both locked, but they can be broken into relatively easily." Kali responded from upstairs.

[That means we've only got a minute or two before their on us.]

"What's the feasibility of line exiting?" He yelled up at the woman.

"Feasible, but only two options. One will take us closer to link up point. I will start putting the base line together." She replied calmly.

"Good. We're moving in 30 seconds. Bartlett, you're on trail. Salvan, secure the objective and move to the base point. Terra, get to the roof and fire a green flare. We'll need the support if we can get it." Carlin gave a series of quick orders while moving to the manor's third floor.

He heard the sounds of more rifle fire from the front door, as well as some thuds from another part of the house. It seemed that the Almirans were starting their assault. By the time he'd gotten to the third floor, his subordinates had already completed their individual responsibilities. The escape line had already been placed, leading from the window of the manor to the roof of a nearby house that was a little shorter. Kali had already winched the line tight.

Terra issued a quick report before moving to take her place as second on the line after the recon specialist. "I have received acknowledgement signals from two teams in the vicinity. They are moving to support. I estimate at least one minute till they arrive."

Since they were participating in a high priority capture mission, Carlin's team had the authority to request assistance from other infiltration teams, even going so far as to supplant their given missions depending on the circumstances.

Carlin acknowledged the report with a nod. "Get moving. Once you're over, get repelling lines set up for the team." He turned and walked back to the balcony overlooking the foyer while prepping a small, but powerful, incendiary magical device.

Bartlett was at the front door, in the process of loading another round, but looked up when he heard the sound of footsteps. Seeing the object in Carlin's hands, his face paled slightly and he immediately started heading up to the third floor, following behind Salvan, who had already been moving.

Setting the charge for 30 seconds, Carlin dropped it over the side of the balcony, turning back to the escape line before it had even hit the ground. From the looks of it, the female members of the team had already moved to the other building. Their passage had not gone unnoticed, however, and he could hear the sounds of a cavalry officer yelling at his troops to move onto the next house.

Once Salvan had joined them at the window, Carlin helped the beastman to strap the target to his broad back. Properly secured, Salvan pulled out a strip of heavy silk, flipped it over the escape line, and jumped out of the window. He slid down the rope with an audible hiss before landing heavily on the roof next door.

Carlin waved Bartlett on next, before following after. While he was still in the middle of his descent, he heard the incendiary charge go off with a subdued 'Whumpf.' The sound was almost immediately accompanied by the screams of unfortunate Almiran troopers who were caught in the blast.

Landing softly, he quickly moved to the side of the roof, and grabbed one of the repelling lines that had been hooked into the tiles. With practiced ease, he threw himself over the side, bouncing against the side of the house twice before landing on the ground. Noting that the rest of the squad was ready to move, he signaled for Kali to take the lead, while falling into the rearguard position himself.

He took a moment to scan the street, noting that the other Mage Hunter teams had already started engaging the cavalry with a variety of ranged weapons, successfully drawing their attention. Mentally giving his thanks to the comrades who were putting their lives on the line to buy them time to escape, Carlin turned and followed his team to the link up point.

The dark and largely unused alley had one occupant when they arrived, a nervous looking mage. Next to him was the rune scribed cylinder of stone, about a meter tall and a half meter in diameter, which served as the means of transport. Seeing the team arrive, the mage spoke in a high-pitched voice that betrayed a large amount of anxiety. "Hurry! You are already running late. Another minute and I would have left you behind."

Carlin grimaced at the man. "We ran into a patrol of cavalry and had to evade them."

He knew that the mage would have been severely reprimanded if he had actually abandoned them in the heart of enemy territory. Especially considering the importance of their mission.

"Whatever, just get over here so we I can start the activation." The mage replied, slightly subdued. As soon as the team was within range of the teleportation cylinder, he started chanting the lengthy spell which would send them back to camp.

Suddenly Kali swore. "Shit! We got incoming. Someone strong from the looks of it."

Following her pointing finger, Carlin saw a figure in gold armor sprinting towards them, and felt a thrill of panic settle in. "It's a Royal Guardsman! Ranged weapons! Hit him with everything you've got!"

Bartlett's rifle fired almost immediately after he finished speaking, however the golden-clad warrior batted the bullet away with contemptuous ease, not even slowing his steps. The other team members, with the exception of Salvan, also started shooting. Kali launched an ineffective hail of arrows while Terra began throwing knives as quickly as possible.

The Royal Guardsman ignored most of their attacks, since they were unable to even scratch his high quality armor. The few that looked possibly dangerous to him, he simply dodged or blocked with lightning fast sword work. Carlin was starting to feel desperate. They needed to do something to slow the man's advance. Thankfully, the mage had continued his chant despite the situation, but he still needed more time to complete the spell.

Thinking quickly, Carlin grabbed his two remaining smoke bombs and tossed them in the direction of the Royal Guardsman. "Hold your positions!" He yelled over his shoulder before running into the grey tinged smoke while drawing a pair of daggers.

He knew trying to fight the gold armored warrior would be a recipe for disaster. The Almiran Royal Guard were legendary for being powerful Tier 3 fighters capable of taking on entire armies almost single-handedly. Even for a veteran Mage Hunter like himself, the best he could hope for was to distract the man for few crucial seconds at the cost of his life.

Relying on his training, he crouched low before aiming a reversed-grip dagger thrust at where he thought the guard's knee joint was. If he could just injure the man's legs, he thought he might have a chance. However, a sword blocked his attempt with preternatural skill, pushing his arm far to the right, and leaving him open to a counter.

Thanks to long years of experience fighting individuals with superhuman abilities, Carlin could anticipate the follow up strike, and desperately killed his forward momentum in an effort to jump back. He felt a sharp stabbing pain in both knees as his joints protested the sudden maneuver, but the evasion succeeded in mitigating most of the blow.

A line of fire stitched across his chest, cutting through his alchemically reinforced leather armor like it was made of tissue paper. The force of the attack knocked him off of his feet and sent him sprawling into the dirt outside of the smoke cloud. He barely had time to process the sudden injury, when the Royal Guardsman stepped forward to deliver a downward chop.

Time seemed to slow down for Carlin as the blade descended with lethal intent. He couldn't see any means of blocking or dodging. A feeling of resignation washed over him as he was forced to watch the approaching weapon. He hoped that his team would have enough time to escape with this.

A massive form suddenly intercepted the sword, and Carlin heard Salvan's pained grunt as the blade cut across his torso. With a roar, the bear beastman simply grabbed the Imperial Guardsman, hefted him into the air, and threw him with all the force he could muster.

While looking slightly surprised with the turn of events, the gold armored warrior nevertheless flicked his sword across Salvan's neck, delivering a parting blow that would prove lethal in short order.

Without thinking, Carlin grabbed his larger teammate and started dragging him back towards the teleportation circle.

"Hurry! He's almost done." Terra called as she threw another pair of knives in the direction the guardsman had traveled.

With a titanic amount of effort, the team leader heaved Salvan's limp form into expanding magic circle. A hum of building energy told him that he'd made it with seconds to spare. As the tingling sensation that accompanied teleportation began sweeping through his body, he had time to watch as the Imperial Guard, still completely unharmed, burst through the remaining cloud of smoke, sword at the ready.

Carlin and his team vanished just as the shining blade was brought down. He took a deep breath as he realized the sudden change of scenery meant that they had succeeded in escaping. Almost immediately, he regretted it. A sharp stab of pain left him gasping, as the move pulled at the cut across his torso. Now that his adrenaline was wearing off, the injury was proving agonizing.

"Get a medic in here, now!" Came the steady voice of Jiri, the Marshal's strategist, who had evidently been awaiting their arrival.

As the rush of personnel swept into the room and started tending to Salvan, she stepped over to Carlin and began speaking. "It looks like you had a rough time of it, but you managed to secure your target nonetheless."

"Yes ma'am." He was able to reply.

"Secure the captive and take her to the interrogation tent. The stunning effects should be wearing off soon." Jiri commanded before switching her gaze back to Carlin. "Well done, Mage Hunter. With this, our victory is one step close."

She trailed as the body of one of the Tenundian soldiers was hurled past her at terrific speeds. The man exploded through the tent wall before skidding across the ground and slamming into a supply wagon, collapsing into a boneless heap.

Carlin looked back in the direction the soldier had come from, and felt the hair on the back of his neck start to rise. The statuesque, black-haired woman that had been their captive was standing upright with a slightly vacant expression on her face.

"I'm not sure where I am, but I guess you are all enemies, yes?" The woman asked while tilting her head. Before anyone had a chance to respond, she reached out and grabbed a wooden tent pole. With an audible crack, it splintered in grip as she pulled it from the ground with ridiculous ease.