Chapter 77

“Why don’t we simply drop an atomic bomb on them, my Mage, or borrow a Loegrian kinetic bolide launcher?” I asked out of curiosity during a boring planning session.

“We don’t want to give them ideas, John,” Morgana chuckled, knowing how bored I was doing a necessary task.

“Won’t be enough of them left to have an idea,” I grumbled.

“We don’t know that, John. Besides my way means that they get to know they were beaten by humans,” she replied.

“That’s true and it’s got to hurt,” I chuckled.

“It will, plus it will also enhance the status reformists under Queen Titania and Verenestra if they have many allies fighting alongside them,” Morgana explained.

“Do you believe the reformists can keep control if we win?” I asked.

“Difficult question, John. If Titania and Oberon pledge the unbreakable oath of the Calvagh then, yes, possibly. That plus they have a legend of a uniting with humanity to return to their roots as guardians of the natural order,” Morgana explained. “In the past it was used as an excuse to dominate the lesser races, until we started fighting back effectively, that is.”

“We’re going to kill a lot of them aren’t we?” I said quietly.

“Yes, John. Most of whom simply cannot conceive of us being equals, nor even that we aren’t to be kept on as anything but food animals for hunting, torture or sport,” Morgana sighed.

“William seems convinced they can be changed,” I replied.

“Yes, but even he knows that they need to be facing extinction before they will,” Morgana stated.

“Thing is I like Verenestra, we talked a lot when she was here and I struggle to see the similarities between her and other Sidhe I’ve met ... and killed mostly, come to that,” I mused.

“They were great once, John. The Daoine Sidhe have done things with magic we can only dream of at the moment. They’ve crossed the stars, explored other planets even made a construct in the outer reaches,” Morgana responded.

“Crossed the stars?” I asked.

“Yes, John. Though we don’t know how, though Verenestra once confirmed it to Roxanne,” Morgana replied.

“Tachyon bubble,” I replied.

“Pardon, John?” Morgana asked looking confused.

“You wrap yourself in a tachyon bubble and project yourself like a portal to a fixed set of coordinates. Only because the tachyons go faster than light, you get there more or less at the same time you leave,” I explained.

“Seriously?” Morgana asked.

“If you do it whilst slightly out phase you don’t run into anything either, plus you’d probably need a radiation shield,” I chuckled.

“Bloody hell, John!” Morgana gasped as she explored the possibility with her mind. “No experimenting either.”

“Yes, my Mage,” I said with a grin.

“And no mentioning it to anyone else. There are some Mages out there who’d give it a go before checking to ensure it would work,” Morgana warned.

“Of course, my Mage,” I repeated myself.

“I mean it, John!” she said sternly.

“I know you do, my Mage,” I replied.

“You have a very frightening mind, John,” she sighed, looking at me and shaking her head slightly.

“Just seemed obvious to me,” I chuckled.

“To you, yes, but to other Mages, no,” Morgana replied.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I promise you we’ll look into it, but not until we’ve dealt with the Nephilim and the Sidhe,” Morgana finally stated.

“Thank you, my Mage,” I replied with a slight smile as Thea entered with another set of reports for us to go over.

“Thank you, Thea. So, this is our military readiness?” Morgana asked whilst Thea placed a single red rose in a small jar surreptitiously behind her.

“Yes, Mage Morgana. We’ve been promised forty wolves of the Zielona Gora Lycana as well as another twenty from the Lycana Belikovna, some sort of amazon group of wolves led by a woman called Leonova,” Thea explained.

“I assume Jacob arranged this via Marja?” Morgana asked.

“Yes, apparently they are seeking a way to the wolf world and this was part of the price,” Thea replied.

“So long as they obey orders, it matters not,” I chuckled. “Though I can imagine Adok having a few issues.”

“Marja’s in charge again, so Adok’s pretty happy,” Thea chuckled. “The Juwes are sending thirty vamps, no other clans of the Drăculești were interested, though they all crave the influence of the Juwes.”

“Typical, they’ll be hoping the Juwes fail and they can worm their way into our good books,” Morgana snorted.

“Pretty much what Richard said,” Thea acknowledged. “They want the power, but aren’t interested in the necessities of earning it.”

“Yes,” Morgana replied. “Now I believe the Gorgons are sending aid too?”

“They’re sending ten hoplites, the Aglaia warned that it’s unlikely they’ll be able to use their ‘curse’ on Tír na nÓg, but they are trained in various combat roles and it’s a sign of good faith on their part Morgana,” Thea responded.

“They’ll want to fight, Thea,” chuckled Morgana. “They haven’t much to do except guard the meeting chamber and entrances on Zakynthos.”

“I gathered as much and we’ll send them where they can fight. They do have some limited magical skills too, it isn’t all Theurgy based with them,” Thea replied. “Joras of Loegria has promised his special forces too, they’re being led by a Lockhagos Gindo.”

“He got a promotion,” I chuckled.

“I remember him from the Rwandan conflict. We were told not to probe, but it was fairly obvious they had some neat high tech equipment,” Thea replied.

“Yes,” Morgana replied. “Rowenna had her work cut out editing memories to remove references to Loegria. They were a Godsend to us though; the Nephilim never did get a handle on their abilities.”

“Is that a special gift of Mage Rowenna’s?” I asked.

“Yes, John. It’s not as spectacular as yours, but pretty handy as, unless you’re looking for it, you can’t sense it being done,” Morgana chuckled.

“Coupled with Mage Benjamin’s ability, it makes for a formidable talent,” I mused.

“Yes, though Benjamin mostly repairs, whilst Rowenna deletes,” Morgana replied.

“We’ve also got several Special Forces from our Earth that we’ve trained coming along too,” Thea added.

“Good, what of our other off-world allies?” Morgana asked.

“The Æsir have promised several Seiðkonur along with their dróttina. The Craebh Ruadh some Draíochtari and the Murians a small bolt guard unit, but no magician support. They need theirs to keep the Tuathans at bay,” Thea replied. “Hinnit will be bringing several sanctums of Azurans to the party too.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Morgana replied. “Most of this is symbolic as we’re going to be using modern weaponry to reduce the ranks of the Sidhe and the Mages to keep them from communicating and escaping.”

“I’ve sorted out the radio communications side of things my Mage,” I added. “Going to be controlled by the Americans using their encrypted protocols, or rather NATO’s.”

“Amounts to the same thing,” Morgana replied with a smile.

“Total forces involved will be around about 1,500, Morgana. We’re going to be heavily outnumbered and we won’t be behind fixed fortifications,” Thea added.

“We’ll be using surprise as an initial force multiplier, then modern arms to equal the odds,” Morgana replied. “I don’t expect it to be easy, nor that we’ll come away unscathed, but I do expect we’ll give a good account of ourselves and give them a hell of a lot to think about if they decide they still want to come knocking.”

“We have Veda and Maraú-Uxuí promises of back up too,” I said.

“I only intend to use them if we’re pulling a fighting retreat,” Morgana replied. “They have difficulties coping with humans at the best of times.”

“Anything from the other Earths?” I asked.

“The Rutasi won’t even acknowledge other Earths exist outside a very select group of Mages and the god-emperor himself. Their military is mostly concerned with ceremonial duties or keeping the few dissident groups they have in line. The rest are tied down in religion or have no military experience to speak of,” Thea replied. “The alien groups are simply not interested in anything save self-defence and hoping we’ll win without having to involve themselves. Though the Mazdani have indicated they may help on the Tuathan worlds if the Nephilim look like taking over completely. However that’s only likely if the Tuathans are extinct ... probably.”

“Don’t blame them, although we’ll probably help relieve the pressure if we ever take the fight onto Azurana,” I mused.

“Not for a couple of years at least, we need to get the rebel Azurans out and getting them across enemy lines is not the best way to do it,” Morgana replied.

“Jerhz and Mergna are struggling to keep up with the demand too. It’s not enough to get them out, there aren’t enough houses for them or farms to feed them,” I said.

“We’re helping clear land, plus they’ve new feeder colonies in China, India and America ... well you know what I mean,” chuckled Morgana.

“Yes, my Mage,” I chuckled.

“Well, we’ve two weeks until our attack goes in. Verenestra’s people are monitoring things and preparing the shielded areas for our debarkation. The site will be surrounded and the Seers will ensure no communications go in or out as well as teleportation. We need to spend a little more time on the fine details as well as the logistics as I suspect we’ll have a hell of a fight on our hands once the initial shock wears off,” Morgana concluded.

“It’ll be interesting to see if we can kill off the Daoine Sidhe or if they’ll revert to their energy form,” Thea added.

“They may even do it if we destroy the physical bodies. Verenestra’s pretty sure they do, although none have returned from Azurana as far as she knows,” I replied.

“Either way, the point of the mission is to hand them a defeat on their home turf that they can’t easily shrug off or deny,” Morgana stated.

“Yes, my Mage,” I agreed along with Thea’s nod.

“Be nice if we could get some armoured support,” Thea chuckled.

“Next time perhaps, bit too short notice for us to borrow a tank regiment,” Morgana chuckled.

“Judging by the way the journo’s monitor the various militaries in the west, I doubt we could anyway,” I replied.

“We do have the power to make them look the other way, John,” chuckled Thea.