269 High risk EVAC/CASEVAC 3

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

As Terra heard those words from IMI she formed a grim smile on her face. Dax meanwhile spent his time a lot more productively, first purging his broken manatech armour in the shortest time possible while he formulated a route to the last available evac point and calculated his and Terra's chances of survival, coming to one inevitable conclusion.

He needed to go all out, with no regard for the after effects of his actions.

"Terra, if you don't follow my commands exactly you're going to die."

Taking a short, shallow breath before his last remaining lung stopped working, Dax ripped off his t shirt while ignoring Terra's questioning look.

"IMI punch it."

[DIRECTIVE CONFIRMED PREPARING FOR FULL MIND DOMINATION. WARNING: COMPLETE MIND MELT IN EFFECT. EXPECTED CORRUPTION AT 100% PATTEN BLACK NOW IN EFFECT. NEUAL SYNC COMPLETE, IGNITING PRIMARY REACTOR, MOVING TO OUTPUT LEVEL 4.]

Before Terra knew what had happened, a series of long, narrow metal fins extended out from Dax's back, then mana started collecting in the air around him.

[MANA INTERFACE ONLINE, OUTPUT STABILIZING. OPERATION +270, TERTIARY EXTRACT ON STATION, DUST OFF IN 30 SECONDS.]

While Ra and Mu had developed the manatech armour, they had also upgraded the comparatively crude mana interface Dax had used before, Dax had taken the liberty of having the new and upgraded interface installed before the reconquest of the imperial continent started. Just as Dax's mana interface came online an elder burst into the room, its tentacles swarmed forward to capture Dax and Terra, but they never managed to reach either of its targets.

[Optimal area domination pattern archived: Paladin.]

As Dax uttered those words, the elder's tentacles were blocked by an array of shields made out of highly compressed mana crystals, at the same time Dax tossed Terra a spare earpiece as he gave her his first command.

[Run long and hook right, stay on the same level.]

"Right!"

With no hesitation in her voice, Terra left Dax behind with the elder. After lazily looking at her leave, Dax once more turned his attention towards the mindless elder which was still trying to claw its way past his shielding. With no time or patience for fancy spells, Dax simply extended an empty hand towards the elder, in response the floating shield sections started flocking towards the elder and smashing it as they closed in around it like a vice, after compressing the elder down to a sphere with the radius of about 2 metres it seemed like the spell had reached its limit, but Dax simply clenched his outstretched hand and at the same time the elder's core cracked under the pressure, killing it.

[Go up two levels then halt, await further instructions.]

"O-okay!"

[Time?]

[24 SECONDS TO DUST OFF.]

Looking at the chunks of rock which gradually grew smaller, people from the world of magic might have confused them with javelins or spears, but in reality, they were approximations of 540 mill armour piercing fin stabilized penetrators like the Guardian type 19 railguns which surrounded Kingstead used. As the penetrators completed they gradually flowed through the air towards Dax, forming up around him as his cybernetic eye lit up bright red.

[Reload complete, prosecuting relevant targets.]

Right as Terra started to wonder what she was waiting for, some kind of projectile cut through the wall right beside her, continuing on straight through her skyscraper till it hit an elder straight in the core and exploded in a bright flash.

[Ascend to the roof and advance to evac, you have 15 seconds.]

"Roger!"

With Terra's way out now clear, Dax started thinking about his situation as the various shield tiles floating in the air around him closed in, collecting in tight groups which kept a strict 1 metre orbit around him. Finding the hole he had created when breaking his fall, Dax bent down in his knees slightly, then he disappeared leaving deep cracks in the floor below. Flying up through the air above the skyscrapers, Dax confirmed the CAS-7's landing approach as he cut off the mana supply to the runes which kept the building he had launched from together, giving Terra a glance as he reached the high point of his jump.

10 seconds left before evacuation dust off.

Quickly locating the elders around the landing site, Dax focused the mana around him to weave together runes on the remaining supply of rock projectiles, priming them with 'explosives' and arming the rounds.

9 seconds left.

Letting the armed rounds fly as he fell through the air, Dax witnessed 9 distinct explosions as he fell headfirst and towards the ground. Flipping around mid air as one of the clusters of shield formations suddenly moved and intercepted a spell launched from an irregular elder, Dax landed on a single shield tile and used it to set off in a jump towards the CAS-7 which was about to set down.

7 seconds.

While pushing the mana interface to the absolute limit, Dax stepped on another shield tile as he twisted his body to the side and avoided another spell from an irregular elder which was clearly out to get him. Without any remaining concrete shots, Dax returned fire with his pistol, as he squeezed the trigger an acceleration spell formed in front of the barrel and increased the speed of the already supersonic rounds even further.

5 seconds.

Before the CAS-7 even set down completely Terra rushed in the ramp, securing herself before turning her attention to Dax, who she noticed still had a fair bit of distance to cover before making it to safety and to make the situation even worse, the CAS-7 was already heating up its engines for takeoff.

3 seconds.

Having pushed his mana interface far beyond its limits for a while now, the waste heat radiator sticking out of his back was already glowing bright red, worse still, the waste heat was already starting to cook Dax from the inside out. Landing on the roof a block away from the CAS-7, Dax was out of time, now was no time for caution or worrying about how much damage he took, otherwise he could kiss his life goodbye. Strengthening the ground beneath his feet, Dax employed the same acceleration spell he had used to augment his pistol on himself, leaping forward through it and launching himself towards the CAS-7.

[OPERATION +300, TERTIARY EXTRACT DUST OFF CONFIRMED. CALL OUT FROM FIRE SUPPORT COMMAND: BRIMSTONE, BLACK. STRIKE IMMINENT.]

Having correctly judged the CAS-7's ascend, Dax just managed to reach the rear ramp as it reached a height of about 10 metres, pulling himself inside he didn't get the chance to secure himself before the craft accelerated, racing to distance itself from the imminent strike. Just as the CAS-7 reached the minimum safe distance from the imperial capital, night turned to day as a grouping of fireballs suddenly extended past the skyline of the city, then like water dripped onto a hot pan there was a quick sizzle, then nothing.

When the dust eventually settled not much remained of the imperial capital, only some parts of the imperial castle somehow managed to remain standing as the rest was reduced to craters.

-

"Next time I tell you to do something doing an operation, you fucking do it okay?"

"O-okay… I'm sorry."

Out of immediate danger, Dax plugged into the CAS-7's cooling system through a port on his back, finally stopping the half melted mana interface from cooking him from the inside out as he scolded Terra in a slightly exhausted manner. After spending some time in silence, Dax finally spoke up as he rose to face Terra.

"And I'm glad you're alive Terra, I was sure I lost you."

"Thanks, I'm also really happy to be alive."