268 High risk EVAC/CASEVAC 2

[OPERATION +150, CALL OUT FROM FIRE SUPPORT COMMAND, BRIMSTONE, RED. SECONDARY EVAC ON STATION, DUST OFF IN 50 SECONDS.]

As the CAS-7 which was supposed to have been their ride out of the elder infested imperial capital crashing in a fiery explosion about 20 floors below Dax's group, IMI's cold and synthetic voice called down the time they had left to move to the secondary evacuation point, at the same time its callout of brimstone, red signalled that the MIRV antimatter strike package was past its final abort point, in a bit the imperial capital was going to be blanked in multiple warheads a magnitude more powerful than conventional fusion or fission strikes.

And that was regardless if Dax and co were still there, after all, artillery doesn't care about friendly fire.

"Move it! Secondary extract will leave in 45 seconds!"

While orbital fire support in the form of 540 mill railgun shells and high velocity smart anti tank guided missiles had already started raining from the sky with some semblance of friend or foe awareness which succeeded in alleviating some of the pressure Dax and the others were under, they needed to constantly sacrifice ground to do so. Still, that was partly in their favour, as they needed to move towards the secondary evacuation point anyway, but that meant the elders, and subsequent fire support targeting them, was getting uncountably close.

"Ifrit, open up a path! Don't bother killing them just make sure they can't harm us!"

Picking up the injured Terra in his arms, Dax continued to bark out commands as he had done for the entirety of this operation. Jumping over the gap between two rooftops with Terra in his arms, Dax landed heavily as the roof underneath him cracked as he was weighed down by his manatech armour, still the qiton used those vibrations to his advantage, injecting mana into the ground through his feet, he amplified the vibrations and focused them on the buildings supporting structure. Collapsing the building on an elder which had tried to sneak up on them from below, Dax simultaneously created an improvised smokescreen of debris and dust, blocking other elder's long range spells from the rear. While Dax kept up the rearguard, Ifrit secured the group's advance by launching a hail of their flesh eating mana crystals at elder's which were in their way, leaving Lux to finish off those that were too close while Phillipa kept the flanks free of issues with her speciality in long range attacks.

(What the hell kind of upgrades did Dax's arsenal go through while I was away!?)

Understandably flustered by the sheer amount of destructive output not only Dax wielded, but also the orbital artillery seemed to be of an entirely different calibre compared to what she had seen before.

"There she is!"

Ifrit who acted as the advance guard of the formation was the first one to spot the CAS-7 which was burning hard as it landed a few blocks ahead of them, with a somewhat relieved smile they weaved a final spell formation which succeeded in disabling the elders around the craft as its rear ramp lowered, promising safe haven as long as they made it inside before it launched. Still, they had to make it there in one piece, but more importantly, the craft could not survive being targeted so a fast take off was prefered. With those priorities clear in mind, Ifrit who was the first one to reach the transport activated the flight module on their manatech armour and took up a position of overwatch in the air immediately above the CAS-7, Then Lux and Phillipa who arrived next took up defensive positions near the loading ramp of the craft, they turned their attention towards Dax and Terra, acting as the rear guard until the two of them where on board, then they would act as the final defence and board at the last second before the transport took off. As Dax reached the CAS-7 still carrying Terra his first order of business was securing her inside the craft, basically he locked her to a seat so she wouldn't become a problem.

"Ready!"

"Ifrit!"

Having his shout relayed by Lux, it reached Ifrit up top that was busy launching flesh eating mana crystals at the approaching elders.

"Got it!"

While the engines of the CAS-7 had already started warming up for take off, Ifrit realized it was time to call it and landed back on the roof before boarding the transport. With Ifrit onboard time was now of the essence, with no all around cover the elders would have no trouble closing in, and so they did.

"IMI prep for immediate launch!"

[DIRECTIVE CONFIRMED.]

"Lux, Phillipa get your asses on board now!"

Churning mana out of his armour as fast as it could generate it, Dax weaved a series of shield formations which surrounded the CAS-7 and allowed for the rear guard to evacuate safely, or so it was supposed to go anyway.

"Gha! Fuck!"

As Phillipa started retreating she was hit in the leg with a mana crystal fired by an elder which somehow managed to make its way through Dax's defences. With the crystal the size of a forearm stuck in her thigh, Phillipa fell to the ground unable to get herself back on board.

"Shit!"

Seeing the situation from inside the craft Dax acted instantly. 

"Lux, cover!"

"On it!"

Running out to Phillipa, Dax took hold of a handle on the back of her armour which was designed for this exact purpose and started dragging her back into the CAS-7.

Having also seen the problem unfold, Terra attempted to unlock the clasp binding her to her seat, but as she found it was locked she crushed the locking mechanism with the power of her hand alone, then took a rifle and went out to cover Dax and Phillipa together with Lux.

"Terra get back inside!"

"Not until she's on board, I'll cover together with Lux!"

Seeing his disciple coming to his aid, Dax was less than pleased, but as he had his hands full at the moment he couldn't really do anything about it at the moment. Getting Phillipa back inside and secured as fast as he could, Dax left her treatment to Ifrit and walked back out on the ramp.

"Lux! Terra!"

With his shout, the two rearguards made their way back to the CAS-7 as it started lifting off the ground.

[OPERATION +200, DUST OFF. BRACE FOR IMMEDIATE ACCELERATION.]

As IMI called out, the CAS-7 immediately started accelerating off of the ground, flying into the sky the elders had no way to reach them, or so Dax had falsely believed for a split second.

"TERRA!"

"Eh?"

Having mistakenly turned her back to the ramp as it was still open, Terra failed to notice an elders tentacle which had reached all the way up to her, before she could react it wrapped around her and yanked her out of the CAS-7.

"FUCK!"

Without even a hint of hesitation on his face, Dax jumped out of the transport himself, Ifrit who saw that also tried to follow him but was stopped by Lux who held them back.

"Don't."

"But!-"

"Dax has this under control! Trust him a little!"

Holding on to both sides of their face, Lux shouted those words right into Ifrit's face. While she didn't entirely believe those words herself, it was of the utmost importance that they didn't risk another person to rescue him.

Glancing back behind him as he fell through the air, Dax confirmed for himself that the CAS-7's rear ramp had closed and no one had followed him, then he activated his flight module and sped up to reach Terra which was falling towards the ground below him. Reaching Terra in a matter of seconds, Dax cut apart the tentacle which was pulling her down before picking her up and started to decelerate at maximum thrust, but he was too close to the ground to slow down entirely before landing. Shielding Terra at the expense of himself, Dax plunged through the roof of a skyscraper as he landed hard, crashing through multiple floors before he finally came to a stop.

-

"DAX! DAX! WAKE UP!"

He must have been out for only a few seconds, but when Dax opened his eyes he found Terra on top of him desperately calling out.

"I told you… To stay the fuck inside."

Coughing up a mouthful of blood as his lung regenerated, Dax got back up on his feet and inspected his manatech armour. Having landed on his feet when he hit the roof, the shock absorbers inside the armour had done their job admirably, but after crashing through a few floors he had landed on his back, crushing the delicate machinery inside and rendering the armour nothing more than dead weight.

"Shit."

[OPERATION +258, TERTIARY EXTRACT ON STATION, DUST OFF IN 42 SECONDS, CALL OUT FROM FIRE SUPPORT COMMAND: BRIMSTONE, BLACK.]