⫸ [ TIME: 02:15 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: DEEP TUNNEL – COORDINATES 0,0,0 (DIRECTLY BELOW SUN-SPIRE) ]
⫸ [ STATUS: FINAL PREPARATION ]
The tunnel ended in a cul-de-sac of solid granite.
The air here was thin and hot. Above them lay three hundred meters of volcanic rock and the reinforced floor of the Golden Crow Fortress.
The fifty Deep-Kin bearers lowered the twelve-meter barrel of the God-Killer. They groaned as the weight settled. The metal made a heavy thud against the stone.
Gha-Kull wiped sweat from his brow. He looked at the ceiling.
"WE HOLD IT HERE," the Dwarf said. He gestured for his kin to form a bracing line beneath the breech. "WE HOLD. YOU FIRE. WE BREAK THE SKY."
Elian looked at the setup. He looked at the massive capacitor bank on the sled. Then he looked at the narrow tunnel.
"Stop," Elian ordered.
Gha-Kull paused. "STOP?"
"Physics lesson number seven," Elian said. His voice was tight. "Newton's Third Law. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."
Elian slapped the cold metal of the railgun breech.
"This weapon accelerates a twenty-kilogram slug to Mach 25. The recoil force will be measured in gigajoules. If you hold this when I pull the trigger the kickback will not just break your arms. It will liquefy your internal organs. It will turn this entire squad into red paste on the back wall."
The Dwarves stepped back. They looked at the gun with new fear.
"And gravity," Elian continued. He pointed up. "If we shoot straight up we create a chimney. Thousands of tons of molten rock and debris will fall back down the hole. We will be burying ourselves."
"THEN HOW?" Gha-Kull growled. "THE ROCK IS HARD."
"We let the mountain fight the mountain," Elian said.
He marked a spot on the floor with his laser sight.
"Dig a pit here. One meter deep. Reinforced with iron plates. We anchor the breech against the bedrock. The planet takes the recoil."
He pointed to the ceiling.
"And we angle the barrel. Eighty degrees. The debris falls downstream of the tunnel. We stay dry."
The Deep-Kin moved. They understood stone. They understood digging. Within twenty minutes a recoil pit was cut into the floor. The God-Killer was lowered in. It sat at a steep angle like a mortar aimed at the heavens.
Elian knelt by the Fabricator sled.
He held the power cable.
[ Warning. Power Requirement for Breach Shot: 100% of Available Reserves. ]
[ If you fire this you drain the Sled and your Suit. ]
[ You will enter the fortress with no HUD. No Thermal-Lattice. No Life Support. ]
[ You will be a cooked potato in a tin can. ]
"Circuit separation," Elian commanded. "Isolate the Exo-Suit battery. Keep me at twenty percent."
[ That leaves the Breach Shot at 85% power. It might not penetrate. ]
"It will penetrate," Elian said. "Tungsten doesn't argue."
He ripped the cable from his suit and plugged it directly into the railgun's solenoid starter.
The gun hummed. The capacitors on the sled began to whine. The air in the tunnel ionized. Small arcs of blue static danced across the barrel.
Elian stood back. He signaled the retreat. The Deep-Kin and the Giants moved fifty meters down the tunnel around the bend.
Only Elian remained. He crouched behind Grom's massive tower shield which had been planted in the ground as a blast barrier.
"A.R.C.," Elian whispered. "Fire in the hole."
BOOM.
It was not a sound. It was a pressure wave that reset the heart.
The railgun fired.
The recoil drove the breech into the bedrock. The entire mountain shook. Dust rained from the ceiling. The sled's capacitors detonated from the rapid discharge showering the tunnel in sparks.
The slug left the barrel at 8,500 meters per second.
It hit the ceiling.
It did not drill. It vaporized the rock. The kinetic energy transfer turned the solid granite into plasma instantly.
A roar like a jet engine filled the dark.
Elian waited for the debris.
Crash... Crash... Crash.
Tons of molten slag and shattered rock poured out of the new hole. But because of the angle it fell ten meters away landing harmlessly in the empty tunnel section.
The dust cleared.
A shaft of light pierced the darkness.
It was not the blue light of the moss. It was the golden light of the Sun-Spire.
"We have a door," Elian coughed.
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: 03:00 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: THE COOLING SHAFT ]
⫸ [ STATUS: ASCENT ]
The tunnel created by the slug was perfectly round. The walls were lined with glass—rock that had melted and re-solidified in seconds.
It was still glowing dull red.
◤ THERMAL ALERT ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Ambient Temp: 400°C
⬢ Suit Integrity: Stable
⬢ Battery: 18% (Reserve Mode)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Elian climbed.
He dug his fused, ruined boots into the hot glass. His Thermal-Lattice skin absorbed the heat transferring it away from his flesh. To anyone else this was a chimney of death. To Elian it was just a warm ladder.
Behind him the Deep-Kin followed. Their heavy iron skin protected them but they climbed slower.
Elian reached the top. The edges of the hole were jagged where the floor of the fortress had shattered.
He pulled himself up.
He stood in the Great Hall of the Sun-Spire.
It was a palace of gold and obsidian. Massive pillars held up a vaulted ceiling painted with scenes of fire and conquest. In the center of the room stood a statue of a Golden Crow.
And surrounding the hole were fifty Cultivators.
They were Golden Crow Disciples. They wore pristine robes. They held staves tipped with rubies. They were staring at the hole in their floor with expressions of absolute shock.
They had expected an attack from the sky. They had expected an army at the gates.
They did not expect a man to shoot his way through the solid rock beneath their feet.
Elian stood up. He was covered in soot. His armor was scorched. He held The Arbiter Mark-III.
A silence stretched for one heartbeat.
"Intruder!" a disciple screamed.
"KILL HIM!"
Fifty staves lit up. The air temperature spiked.
Elian didn't wait for them to chant. He didn't wait for the fire.
"GROM! NOW!"
Elian dived to the side.
From the hole behind him a massive projectile launched into the room.
It wasn't a bullet. It was Grom.
The Giant had been thrown up the shaft by the combined strength of the Deep-Kin. He flew into the air roaring. He landed in the center of the formation.
He swung his shield.
CRUNCH.
Three disciples were broken instantly. The formation shattered.
Elian rolled. He came up on one knee.
[ Target Lock. Priority: Casters. ]
He pulled the trigger.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
The snub-nosed railgun barked.
The disciples had their passive shields up. The shimmering red bubbles of Aether surrounded them.
It didn't matter.
Aether shields were designed to stop energy. They were designed to stop fire and wind.
They were not designed to stop a dense metal slug moving at hypersonic speeds.
The first slug hit a disciple's shield. The shield flickered and shattered like glass. The slug continued through his chest.
The second slug took the head off a chanter.
"They are soft!" Elian shouted. "Close the distance!"
More Deep-Kin poured out of the hole. They swarmed the hall like angry ants.
A Golden Crow Elder stepped forward. His robes were embroidered with complex mandalas. He did not panic.
"INSOLENT WORM."
The Elder flicked his wrist. A whip of liquid fire lashed out.
It caught Elian across the chest plate.
HISSS.
The metal groaned. The heat alarm screamed.
Battery: 15%.
Elian was thrown back. He hit a pillar. The wind was knocked out of him.
The Elder laughed. He began to form a second seal. A massive fireball grew above his head.
"You have no Qi," the Elder sneered. "You are hollow."
Elian looked at the fireball. He calculated the expansion rate. He calculated the casting time.
1.2 seconds.
Elian raised The Arbiter.
0.05 seconds.
"I'm not hollow," Elian gritted out. "I'm efficient."
He fired.
The slug didn't hit the Elder. It hit the floor directly in front of him.
The concrete exploded. Shrapnel sprayed upward.
The Elder flinched. His concentration broke. The fireball above his head destabilized.
WHOOSH.
The spell collapsed on itself. The Elder was engulfed in his own uncontrolled mana. He screamed as the backlash burned his spirit.
Elian stood up. He ignored the pain in his ribs.
"Push them back!" Elian ordered. "Secure the room!"
The battle turned into a brawl. The Deep-Kin used their pickaxes to hook the disciples' legs and drag them down. Grom was a whirlwind of violence.
Elian walked through the chaos. He didn't run. He moved with the cold economy of a machine running on low power. He shot anyone trying to cast a spell.
Double-tap. Move. Double-tap. Move.
He reached the far doors. He sealed them with a magnetic clamp.
The Great Hall was theirs.
The floor was littered with golden robes and broken staves. The Deep-Kin cheered. They raised their bloodied axes.
Elian leaned against the door. He checked his power.
◤ SYSTEM STATUS ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Battery: 12%
⬢ Ammo: 15 Rounds
⬢ Health: Stable (Adrenaline Masking)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"We have the lobby," Elian said. He looked up at the spiraling staircase that led higher into the tower.
"Now we go for the Heart."
[END OF CHAPTER 24]