Chapter 186: Cost
The answer to Eric’s question came not long after. Eric saw a dust cloud rising over the mountains to the south. Plumes of dust rose high into the sky, settling over the top of the mountains like curtains. Smoke trailed behind the dust, and Eric stared at the smoke, head tilted to the side in confusion.
"Helios one to Helios two."
"Helios two, go ahead Helios one."
Eric took out his notepad. "What am I looking at?"
"Eric, I’m gonna be straight with you. We have no idea. The dust and smoke is too high and too thick. I sent scouts out to an adjacent hill. They reported that even from the other vantage point they can’t make anything out."
Eric sighed, pressing the radio against his head. "All Helios units, displace to alternate vantage points. The current situation is unknown. Maintain observation if possible. Do not expose yourselves. Conduct radio checks when in position."
The smoke continued to rise and fall, and as Eric’s team settled into their new position one mile to the south, Eric noticed something strange about the smoke. There was a shimmering blue light keeping the smoke suspended. As the smoke rose, he could partially see the light before the smoke plumes hid the light again. He radioed the other teams. "Turn on infrared scopes. See if we can get at least a partial visual of what is inside that smoke plume."
By now, the plumes of smoke had reached an intersection of passes in the mountains. Each team could see the pillars of dust and debris. Once the scopes were on, Benitez handed Eric one.
"Master Sergeant, you may want to see this."
Eric looked through the scope.
And nearly dropped it in surprise.
"What. The. Fuck."
The radio calls came next. Cross traffic chatter filled the air waves, so Eric hopped on the radio. "One at a time!"
"Helios two, report."
The radio crackled, and Eric held it to his ear. The sound was distorted, and Eric couldn’t get a clear read on the person reporting. He groaned as he set the radio down and looked at Benitez. "We might have to send a runner to the other teams. Whatever that thing is, I am assuming the mana waves are disrupting radio traffic."
Benitez crossed his arms and looked at the smoke cloud. Wind was pushing the curtains of dust around, but the dust was staying in place. It wrapped around the area like curtains of rain in a storm.
"I don’t disagree, that is the doctrinally correct answer, but I think instead of trying to have the runners go to the other teams, they should move to a ridgeline that is further back and attempt radio contact. If they don’t get radio contact, they can come back here. We can then send the runners out to the teams."
Eric tapped his hand against the truck before nodding. "You’re right. Have one of your soldiers do so."
After the soldier left, there was nothing for Eric to do. He sat on the ridgeline, using a thermal scope to keep track of the movement from the convoy. It was moving slow, he estimated it to be moving no more than five miles an hour. "Benitez, what do you think that is?"
Benitez crouched down next to Eric, chewing on his lip. He pushed some of his dark brown hair out of his face and grabbed the scope again. "I’m not entirely sure."
Eric sighed, grabbing the scope once more. He held it firmly, scanning from the rear of the dust cloud to the front of it. In the middle, a massive heat signature towered over all the other vehicles. It looked to be at least fifty feet long, and taller than most trees.
"Is that..."
Benitez finished the sentence for him. "It looks like a large brios on wheels." The staff sergeant muttered.
The runner came back roughly half an hour later. The soldier reported to Eric, his face red and his breath coming in large gasps. The soldier began to speak, but Eric held his hand out in front of him. "Slow down, soldier. Nothing you are saying makes sense. Take a few moments to catch your breath, and then report"
The soldier nodded before collapsing on the spot. He leaned up against the truck and took small sips of his CamelBak. Eric and Benitez once more tried to radio the other teams.
They still only received broken words.
Once the runner caught his breath, he walked over to Eric and Benitez. "Master Sergeant, I was able to get in contact with Helios two and three. Helios three reports they have now lost visual of the rising smoke cloud, but mentioned they were able to sense the usage of mana through some sort of illusion and barrier spells. Helios two states that they have lost visual as well. I was unable to get a solid report out of Helios four. Their responses were radio static."
Eric looked out in the distance. The dust clouds had disappeared, but he could sense the residual mana from the cores. The air felt heavy with dread as he took a sip from his own CamelBak. Sweat dripped down his neck. "Alright. We have to get back in contact with the teams. The enemy makeup is too large for us to handle on our own, so we have to call in for Air support."
Benitez looked over. "Can it even handle a convoy of that size?"
Eric smirked. "On its own? No. But with some help? Of course."
Benitez looked at Eric with his brows furrowed. "What kind of air support are you thinking?"
"When the world’s merged, some air force bases merged into the area around Esponia. The closest assets we have are from Colorado and San Antonio. We have some AC-130’s fully mission capable right now."
Benitez’s eyes widened as he got into the truck with Eric. The rest of the team loaded up into the other truck. "We just have to give them a target."
After a few minutes of driving, Eric found a suitable hill for radio operation. He had the team park the trucks in a treeline while he and Benitez walked up to the crest of the hill. The team pulled three hundred sixty degrees as Eric pulled out the radio. "Any Helios station on net, Any Helios station on net, do you read me?"
There was a slight pause, and Eric held the radio near his ear with closed eyes. "Please..." He muttered. Benitez remained silent by Eric’s side. There was an occasional rustle from Benitez’s uniform scraping against the grass as he pivoted around, looking for potential targets.
Finally, a response came a few moments later. "Helios one, this is Helios three."
Eric exhaled sharply and opened his eyes. "Mia, thank God." He muttered. Helios three, we need to coordinate a targeting mission, but comms are down for anyone that gets close to the convoy. Any suggestions?"
"Negative, Helios one. We are actively tracking the Convoy. They have stopped at a distance approximately three miles from Nedoria. There appears to be a problem with their large cargo."
Eric paused.
Benitez stood up, his eyes narrowed.
They looked at each other. "What?"
Eric hopped back on the radio. "Mia, we couldn’t maintain radio contact when the convoy passed by."
"That is likely due to mana interference. If you put a small barrier of mana around the person operating the radio, it negates the mana interference. Did you not think of that?"
Eric stared blankly at the device he held. "What?"
Eric swore the radio call back was at the end of an exasperated sigh. "Eric, just coat yourself and your surroundings in a very thin layer of mana. The Empire has many mana devices that block or interfere with electronics. Learn to use the mana you have."
Eric rubbed his face and paced around the hill. "Okay. So back to the convoy. I assume you know their current strength and what the equipment is?"
Mia responded immediately. "Eric. It’s not good. An air strike alone isn’t going to solve this one. They have too many mages. And Eric?"
There was a slight pause. The radio crackled as Eric waited for her last line.
"They combined the Brios design with the Llrathel design. It doesn’t look functional at the moment. It has no mana readings, but we will not get this opportunity to target this piece of equipment out in the open again. We need to strike this thing down here and now."
Eric looked over at Benitez. "What do you think? Based off of what she says, we may need to call for multiple sorties."
Benitez looked across the valley. On the horizon, the mountains near Nedoria rose high above the clouds, their snowcapped peaks reaching the sky as if spearing the heavens.
"We can’t let them reach those mountains." Benitez responded. "We need to coordinate with Mia and destroy that convoy through whatever means necessary."
