273 Extermination 2

With the Hellwalker initiation ritual out of the way, Dax and the girls were joined by Lux, Phillipa, Ra, Mu, and Ifrit for a final tactical brief. Taking the lead of the conversation Dax put up a hologram map of the imperial continent.

"With Ra and Mu having completed a herbicide effective against the flesh eating fungi that the elders have been spreading, it is finally time to wipe out the elders along with every physical trace of their existence."

Bringing everyone up to speed, Dax focused the area around the imperial capital.

"While recent airstrikes and operations have heavily decreased the number of elders it would seem that the remainder has grouped up in the area around the former capital. The reason for selecting that area for their final stand is most likely the FTL drive of the Omega-7 derelict cruiser which originally brought me and Lux to this world."

"A what? ftl?"

As Ifrit wasn't afraid to ask questions they immediately interrupted Dax the second they heard a term they didn't understand, leaving Mu who was the subject matter expert to explain it using as simple words and terms as possible.

"A faster than light drive. It's the thing that allows ships to cover the vast distances between planets and stars in somewhat reasonable time frames. This one is an older type which does so by manipulating gravity, what's significant about the elders taking interest in it is that it can also be used to communicate over vast distances."

"So they're trying to contact someone? That sounds bad."

"That's only a possibility. It is way more likely that the elders see the drive as a possible strategic asset, seeing as it can manipulate gravity over vast distances it can be used as a weapon."

"Ah, like the crushing thing Dax did to that elder on the moon?"

Recalling the time Dax used something similar once, Ifrit quickly realized how that could be a problem to face.

"Yeah, exactly like what I did to that elder, except several magnitudes more powerful. Luckily we have the blessing of superior technology on our side, with the ship that Ra, Mu, and Phillipa arrived here in being able to counter whatever offensive means the elders try and use that grav drive for, but sadly the same can't be said about the defensive measures… With the drive under their control, no fire support except for orbital high energy lasers is going to work against them until we've disabled the drive. With that being the case, our primary objective along with closing off all routes of escape is doing exactly that, although the elders are most likely not going to allow us to do so. Lux, take it away."

Having explained the gist of the operation, Dax left the rest to his trusted XO.

With what could very well be the final military operation in the world of swords and magic only hours away, a heavy silence spread out over Dax's compound in the old part of Kingstead. The particular silence would only be too familiar for people used to high stress work environments, this was the literal silence before the storm. Every single person has their own way of dealing with that silence, and although the most common was panic, none of the operations member's showed such a response.

While humming a silent children's song, Lux sat on the ground in front of her assigned transport already wearing her combat gear as she polished her sword and serval throwing knives with a happy expression. Although her smile was surprisingly childish as she maintained her blades, the Hellwalker's eyes were that of a professional killer, utterly clenched of emotions save for a small hint of bloodthirsty excitement.

Phillipa was sitting a short distance away from Lux in a seiza on a worn looking woven rug, spread out on the rug was the entirety of the gear she was going to be using for the operation. The countless magazines for different weapons along with their firearms were all disassembled and laid out in a symmetrical pattern before Phillipa as she meticulously inspected and polished every single component with a focused expression on her face as she listened to death metal that was blasting out through the pair of large headphones she was wearing.

Lilly had found herself a quiet area of the compound with a bit of vegetation around, standing barefoot with her feet on a mix of moss and grass the elver's tightly shut eyes gleamed as the mana around her fluctuated in the same rhythm as her breathing. As her pulse and breathing gradually slowed down the vegetation around her started coming alive, as her braided red hair slightly swayed in the air it was like watching a timelapse with plants and flowers springing up the ground around her, all while the mana continued fluctuating ever more violently, constantly cycling through her body and strengthening her.

The archangel Solaris was likewise cycling mana through her body as she floated a few centimetres off the ground in the middle of an empty practice field. The pair of abnormally large pure white wings which sprouted from her back lightly fluttered in the wind along with changes in the surrounding mana while her long blond hair hovered all around her, glowing faintly along with her closed eyes and an intricately crafted spear which slowly orbited around her in a somewhat lazy fashion.

Alice was by far the youngest and most inexperienced of the group, but that didn't seem to bother her at all as she had placed herself against a building near her designated transport in full combat gear along with her massive greatsword breathed quietly, having fallen asleep standing upright with a perfect sense of balance from her days as a ranger. But even as she had fallen asleep without much issue, the former ranger still remained far more alert than most people would think as she had trained under Lux for quite some time as her disciple, Alice's instincts were almost as sharp as her teachers.

Ifrit was by far the loudest member of the upcoming operation, having isolated themselves inside an unused storage room they sat on the cold concrete flooring while chanting talking in several different dead languages at the same time while corrupted mana violently flowed through their artificial body as strange runes which covered the entirety of the empty storeroom lit up in otherworldly colours.

While his comrades did their best to either calm their nerves or prepare for the upcoming operation, Dax was quietly meditating in a relaxed posture. Of course, that was only how it appeared on the outside, the reality of the situation was entirely different if one looked beneath the surface. While Dax looked calm, he was currently tasking his IMI interface to capacity, running countless simulations while he worked through every single muscle group in his body to check for performance issues while also running through different breathing and pulse patterns Dax was truly in absolute control of his own body.

And that was everything he would ever need.

-

[We are a go for mission, use landing site delta.]

"Roger, see you on the ground."

Taking command of the first unit that was going to draw out the elders, Phillipa's aura had completely changed from her usual happy go lucky attitude into that of a hardened killer. While Ifrit took no issue with such a change, the same couldn't be said for Solaris, although she had fought together with Phillipa before the change was still quite jarring.

"Once we hit the ground it is going to be tough just to breathe freely, therefore I want to take this chance to say this before we get into the thick of it: Solaris, you need to shape up, right now."

After confirming communication cut off, Phillipa immediately set out to confront the biggest potential issue she saw with the upcoming operation, even as the person in question had no idea about it.

"Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me, it's clear you feel out of place here. That attitude of yours needs to change right now."

What Phillipa said was true, ever since seeing Phillipa, Dax and Lux work together to bring down the first elder using only prototype manatech equipment she had felt herself out of place, even if she was technically now part of the same organization as such outright monsters, it just didn't feel real.

"But-"

"No buts. I've acknowledged your skills, but more importantly, so has the commander. You second guess yourself every single step of the way is detrimental to operational success, I won't ask you to have the same level of self confidence as Ifrit, but having a fellow member of the 125th doubting themselves like this is an issue I can't afford to ignore when I'm about to entrust my life to your hands Solaris."

Before Solaris was able to answer Phillipa, the light in their transport went out for a second before it turned bright red, signalling that the craft was about to land inside hostile territory. With no time to finish her talks, Phillipa went completely into 'work mode' as she put on her entirely black face mask before placing a reassuring hand on Solaris' shoulder before sending the archangel a private message.

[This is your chance to really show off to Dax, don't waste it.]

"Let's do this!~"

As the light inside the transport turned green the rear ramp opened while the CAS-7 still flew at almost top speed, sticking to an extremely low altitude as it continued to avoid incoming fire. With no time to disembark normally, Ifrit deployed a drogue parachute which pulled them out of the transport with Phillipa and Solaris following close behind. The second that the CAS-7 was clear of cargo it immediately attempted to disengage, but before it got the chance one of its engines was severed, leading it to spin out of control before it crashed into the ground and exploded.

"Solaris, cover!"

"Got it!"

Not that Phillipa, Ifrit or Solaris had time to worry about the loss of their transport, for as it was destroyed they became the elder's primary target.