CHAPTER 117: SEND THEM ALOFT

A younger Techno Wizard was the first to rise and hand Dominic a glowing Magitech Orb.

"Good luck with the defence of the city. As we hear, you’re going to need it."

Then, one after another, the rest finished their work and joined the crowds headed for the airships.

"You know that the Marquis is going to be pissed that you let all the Techno Mages leave, right?" The Royal Guard asked once they were alone.

"I have the blueprint for the Magitech Orbs, I have the extra supplies, and they will come back when their shift is over. The schedule is on the wall. Twelve hours they’re supposed to be in the air before returning." Dominic replied.

"I think that he will be more upset that they’re going into battle, and they won’t be here for him to blame when he can’t come up with some hair brained idea about how to use magic to get his city defence plans to work."

In the corner of the room, a radio crackled, giving them an update on the situation outside.

{Ships five through eight are off the ground. Ships nine and ten, land and prepare to be supplied.}

{Defence cordon vessels have engaged the Dagos fleet from superior altitude. Preparing to fire.}

Only a few seconds later, cannon fire could be heard from the distance, at least four volleys, and possibly six.

In the overcast of the day, it was impossible to tell if any of the Dagos ships had returned fire, but the radio reports were positive.

{Four enemy vessels losing altitude fast. One is burning up.}

That was half the Dagos vessels that they had detected coming for the city, lost in a single volley.

{Dagos vehicle force is within sight of the northern walls. All ground force orders are now going radio silent.}

The last of the Magitech Orbs were finished, and the airships were beginning to leave the platform. However, the battle overhead was becoming more intense by the minute, suggesting to Dominic that there were far more than just ten enemy airships in the vicinity.

"Alright, I have done what I can here, and all the Techno Wizards are in the air with their vessels. Let’s go relay the message to the Princess." Dominic informed his shadow from the Royal Guard.

They quickly made their way through the Keep to the strategy room on the top floor, and Dominic nodded a polite greeting at the people inside before moving to the window to get a firsthand visual of the situation to the north.

And quickly realized that was a mistake.

He was happier not knowing.

"Well, it looks like Dagos hasn’t been slacking on their military forces. I see that they’ve mounted catapults to trucks as well. Not particularly high-tech, but if they’re drawing them with a hydraulic winch, they could be brutally efficient." He noted.

Princess Alexis sighed. "I just got the Marquis to calm down, did you have to bring up more bad news?"

Dominic shrugged. "I don’t think that it will be too bad. Mobile catapults still need to stop to fire, so it’s no different from the strategy for any other set of siege weapons.

The Techno Wizards got a head start on the day, and I have a whole set of Magitech Orbs available now, if we’re getting more airships, or have mages to keep the wall cannons stocked."

The aging Marquis huffed in annoyance, then gestured to a map on his desk.

"We do have nearly a hundred certified mages in the city’s defence force. A few per shift moved to the wall to feed cannons doesn’t seem excessive. We have eight squads of three already set for wall duty. If they start out loading cannons until the enemy is closer to the city, it should allow us to stretch our stockpile." He announced.

"And where will the rest be?" Dominic asked.

"Either on fire prevention or resting until the walls are challenged."

The Marquis then pulled a cord that rang a bell, and a boy in a uniform with the Marquis’ crest on the jacket entered.

"Call up one of the mage corps officers. We have new equipment for them before they go to the wall." He ordered.

The boy took off running, and Dominic sat in silence for a few minutes before a middle-aged man in mage robes jogged in.

"Sir, you said you have equipment for us?"

Dominic took out eight of the Magitech Orbs and handed them over.

"Split those between the force on wall duty. It’s preferable that you use them unbonded, but if you want to Attune one and level it up, you can apologize to the Techno Mages later." Dominic informed him.

The mage smiled as Dominic continued. "They’re for automatically loading cannons. Explosive shot, and you can set the timer as you activate the orb. It defaults to maximum time, and the balls are stone, not metal, so they’re better for fragmentation than bowling through enemy forces."

"Oh, that will work wonderfully. Keeping enough powder and shot for the later days of a battle is never easy. Thank you, Lord Sorcerer. How is the battle going overhead?"

Dominic looked to the Princess and the Marquis, who should have the most news, as there was a radio in the room.

"Twelve confirmed kills so far, with none of our airships lost. The Dagos ships are loaded so heavily that they’re struggling to gain altitude, and we’ve been able to fire down at them from over a kilometre away. They haven’t been able to return fire effectively, so our damages have been light."

The mage nodded and then rushed out of the room with the eight orbs.

"Was that the whole supply?" Princess Alexis asked.

Dominic shook his head. "No, I have a few more, in case we get more airships. We sent two per airship this morning, in case one was damaged or lost overboard. They’re only carrying a token amount of actual powder and shot, so without the orbs, they would be in trouble nearly instantly."

The Marquis nodded, and then frowned.

"We considered trying to evacuate the city, but it’s been built so densely that the operation would prove impossible.

The gates have been sealed and blockaded, and the walls are thick, designed for an extended siege. But I don’t know how long the city can hold against a modern force." He explained.

Princess Alexis smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Well, once they’ve dealt with the airships, we’ve got nearly a hundred more cannons in the air to be turned on the Dagos force."