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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/DrDoritosMD on 2024-12-24 01:53:51+00:00.
Early Merry Christmas everyone! I'm gonna be catching up Arcane Exfil over the next few days, until I get up to date with RoyalRoad. Enjoy your holidays!
Blurb:
When a fantasy kingdom needs heroes, they skip the high schoolers and summon hardened Delta Force operators.
Lieutenant Cole Mercer and his team are no strangers to sacrifice. After all, what are four men compared to millions of lives saved from a nuclear disaster? But as they make their last stand against insurgents, they’re unexpectedly pulled into another world—one on the brink of a demonic incursion.
Thrust into Tenria's realm of magic and steam engines, Cole discovers a power beyond anything he'd imagined: magic—a way to finally win without sacrifice, a power fantasy made real by ancient mana and perfected by modern science.
But his new world might not be so different from the old one, and the stakes remain the same: there are people who depend on him more than ever; people he might not be able to save. Cole and his team are but men, facing unimaginable odds. Even so, they may yet prove history's truth: that, at their core, the greatest heroes are always just human.
Quick shoutout:
If you guys are interested in more military fantasy and wanna see the US military fighting dragons, check out Grimoires and Gunsmoke
Chapter 7: First Strike
“Yeah, we’ll be there. Just uh, give us a few minutes to wake up and change.”
The same polite voice resounded from the door. “Of course, my lord. We shall await your convenience.”
Cole retreated to the bedrooms, shaking Miles and Ethan awake.
Miles put on his vest. “What’s goin’ on?”
“King allegedly wants to see us so he sends goons to pick us up instead of hopping on the magic mirror.”
“Fuckin’ A,” Ethan grumbled. He readied his FAL. “Plan?”
The keyhole ahead was big enough for a peek. He could try to get a look, but if these weren’t actually knights, getting close to that door was asking to catch a bullet to the eye. Good thing they had a Scrying Pane. Perhaps the other guard posts would know.
“Give me a sec. I’ll check in with the guards.”
Cole returned to the master bedroom, moving the dial to the first guard post.
“Yes, my lord?” A bearded face appeared, torchlight flickering behind him.
“Quick question. Did the King send anyone up to get us?”
“No, my lord.” The man frowned. “His Majesty retired hours ago. Has someone –”
“Yes.” Cole slapped the emergency rune before the guard could finish. Red light blazed across the mirror’s surface.
The pounding at the door started before the glow even faded. “OPEN THIS DOOR!”
“Yo, they’re getting antsy out here,” Ethan called out as the china set up by the door rattled.
Shit. The emergency alert worked both fucking ways, apparently.
Another slam hit the door as Cole stepped into the living room. There went any pretense of legitimacy. These fuckers had just been waiting for an excuse.
“Ain’t lookin’ good, Mercer.” Miles flipped over a heavy table, taking cover behind it.
Cole positioned himself beside Miles, flipping his weapon’s selector to auto before fishing out a flashbang from his kit. “Yeah, no kidding.”
The door pounded again, splinters of wood flying off. The hinges were probably a few more hits from complete failure – maybe a minute before whoever was on the other side could force an entry.
They needed a way out. The window was right there, bright moonlight spilling in, but… well, it probably wasn’t the best idea. Sure, he’d managed to float his pack across the room earlier with barrier magic. Moving 30 pounds several feet without slipping had been hard enough; trying to control a full descent down four stories would be suicide. And that was just him.
Miles couldn’t even keep his pack from sliding off his barrier, and Ethan’s attempt barely fared better. Maybe shape the barrier into a box and give themselves an elevator ride?
Cole created a small proof-of-concept, the blue glow confirming it could work. Still, though, it wasn’t something he wanted to try unless absolutely necessary.
Parachute fall? They weren’t designed for unassisted falls, but what if they could strengthen their entire bodies with magic, to absorb the shock? Same principle as their arms during training. But one screwup trying magic they’d just learned today and they’d be testing if those healers could put them back together. Not exactly Plan A material.
Service corridor? Nah. Even if they could make a chokepoint out of it, all those locked doors meant they’d just be trapping themselves. They could try following the path into the service floor, but who knew what the layout was like? Not to mention getting some maids caught in the crossfire. Heroes probably shouldn’t start their career by getting civilians killed.
What else was there? Window was out, service hall was out, and staying to fight completely hinged on help arriving promptly. They just needed any way out of this box – one that Ethan’s kit might just have a solution for.
“Walker, think you can make a hole into the next suite?”
“Yeah.” Ethan grabbed his gear, already grabbing a breaching charge. “Four minutes, tops.”
4 minutes never sounded longer, though it wasn’t as if there were any better options. “Alright. We’ll keep ‘em busy. Let’s just hope I’m tripping.”
For once he actually hoped he was just being paranoid as fuck about these ‘knights.’ If tonight was just a false alarm, he’d gladly take the L on that one, and possibly try to find schizo meds. Castle maintenance was sure to bitch about the wall, but either way, they could take it up with whoever the fuck was trying to break down their door.
A barrier materialized ahead of Miles – akin to riot squad transparent plastic, but glowing blue. The angle and shape were good too; just enough space to work the shotgun’s barrel through.
Another hit rocked the door. Hinges had already popped out of the frame – one, maybe two more before they were gone entirely. Cole kept his thumb on the spoon of his flashbang and worked the pin out.
The door exploded inward. The first observation to grace his eyes was the fact that yes – these guys were indeed knights. Brigandine armor, tabards, just like the guys they’d seen patrolling. Most up front with swords, a couple in the back with older rifles – probably earlier versions of the ones they had messed around with earlier..
For a split second Cole wondered if he’d fucked up; if this really was some official business and he was about to flashbang legit royal guards.
But ain’t no way did a mere summons demand a whole breaching operation, nor did it warrant the use of those big-ass anti-demon rifles. He was almost flattered they considered them that much of a threat – which they were – but fuck if it wasn’t absurdly overkill. The two in the back raised their weapons, taking aim.
And after all that talk about how bad they needed heroes? Yeah, these definitely were not the king’s men.
As muzzle flashes lit up the doorway, Cole tossed his flashbang and immediately prepped a grenade. The concussion should’ve disoriented them, at least bought them a few crucial seconds, but these guys barely even flinched. Shit, they probably had that admittedly fantastic hearing protection under their helmets.
The frag would have to do more work then. He tossed it over the front line, the little ball of death rolling right under the doorway as Miles let his shotgun ring. Blue barriers flickered into existence at shin height while he worked the pump.
It was the type of shit Cole wished he could’ve had available to him; God knows how useful even a trick like this would’ve been. Coveting – let alone implementing – such cheap ass moves might’ve hardly been fair or honorable, perhaps even unheroic. But it was damn effective, and all’s fair in war – especially when the enemy couldn’t care less about stealing away a solid night’s sleep.
The barriers caught their legs perfectly. First ‘knight’ hit it at a run, shins slamming straight into solid magic as the grenade detonated behind them. Somehow, tripping up seemed more effective at slowing them down.
High explosive plus frag coil in an enclosed space? That equation was supposed to equal chunks of dead motherfucker. These knights, it seemed, remained unfazed by it, barely staggering.
Their unholy shrieks and the purple blood leaking through the gaps confirmed what he’d suspected in the split second they entered – they were not human. It also confirmed another important thing: if they could bleed, they could die.
Good thing Cole decided to go full auto.
His 5.45 zipped through their brigandine armor easily enough, and while it was a relief that modern ammunition could still hold its weight, it ultimately didn’t matter when the rounds did jack shit. They penetrated, yeah – obvious enough given the blood flowing out, but they just kept pushing, absorbing the hits like they were nothing.
Three rounds center mass would fold any normal human. These fuckers? Barely slowed. Five rounds into the same target and it still advanced. Damn near a half a mag later and the monster was finally starting to stumble, but its sword arm was still trying to come up for a swing. He tripped it up with barrier magic to cover his reload. It was like trying to take do...
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