Chapter 290

Chapter 290

Matt was sitting with Aiden, working on utilizing his Intent with the help of the older Ascender, when an alert bypassed his mutes.

Reading it, he realized he was finally free from the Tier 31 who refused to let him train alone. A red alert for Team Zero. Thanks for the tips.

Aiden nodded and waved him away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go have fun killing things while I have to sit here for another few months.

Matt rolled his eyes even as he cranked his perception and left.

Duke Waters had been saying he would be leaving in a few months from the moment he made his way back to Camp Lightfoot, despite all the healers, Melinda included, stating that he would be out for at least two years subjective. That was only three real months in the Tier 35 rift, but Aiden insisted that was too long and that he would be leaving in the next couple months subjective.

As Matt arrived at the Team Zero briefing room, he found everyone but Light there, who arrived just a moment after he did, which seemed to be the cue for General Darrow to start the briefing.

We have a priority mission. Matt felt like that was obvious, and Allie opened her mouth, probably to say as much, but Darrow continued before she could. Pator-Sul has fallen under a surprise push, and the system cant be allowed to fall so easily.

General Darrow brought up a dozen screens showing the situation. Pator-Sul is a hub world that was well defended and was expected to hold out for decades, but the Sects managed to slip a team behind the shields on their initial probing attack. That team managed to not only disable the shields long enough for the Sects to land two full divisions on the planet, but they also managed to lock themselves in one of the supply bunkers and are holding the items hostage.

Matt read through the reports and nodded along. The Empire could push through the bunker and get the spies, but that would waste a lot of healing supplies and new weapons for spies who were otherwise contained and unable to do more damage. The problem with the spies was that the Empire was diverting troops to ensure they didnt make a break for it and wreak more havoc in doing so, but the major issue was the two divisions of troops who had overrun a portion of the fortress planet. The enemy troops were now making pushes to the shield generators that protected the planet.

If that fell, the Sects would be able to bring in their orbital troops without issue, which would spell the end of the siege and the opening of another avenue deeper into the Empire.

A few of their previous missions had been similar, and Matt felt like he was going to become incredibly familiar with this kind of mission in the coming years. Despite everything, the Empire was on the defensive. Which meant that they, as an Ascender team, were constantly bouncing around, trying to put out fires and keep ahead of things.

It just wasnt always possible.

Their enemies werent dumb, and could enact plans to rapidly take down an important fortress world.

To make matters worse, Pator-Sul wasnt even a Tier 25 battlefield; it was a Tier 27 one, which meant they were going to be fighting up to their limits.

Matt took the opportunity to check in with the war situation as a whole.

The Empire was doing its best, but had been pushed in by at least one planetary jump from the border regions with the Great Powers they were still at war with. Most areas were pushed three or four planets deep, but those weren't the parts that worried him.

The areas he focused on were the areas like Pator-Sul, where important fortress worlds were being attacked en masse. Entire sectors of the Empire were being attacked. It was less a question of the planets being under attack and more a question of how strong the attack was.

Morgan stepped forward and shook her head. Her ponytail was now a bright blue instead of the red it had been before. She had felt that there were enough redheads with Dena and Liz, and so changed the color to something closer to her bloodline feathers color. Are the Great Powers trying to push through our lines?

General Darrow shook his head despite agreeing. Yes, but this is more of a probe. Any place that falls will be a great win, but they are simply feeling us out. Once they better understand our distribution of troops, we can expect the other Great Powers to send more targeted attacks in those directions. But that is all beyond our pay grade. Our job is to keep Pator-Sul from falling. Once we manage that, we will be relieving a number of Tier 25 and 26 worlds.

Darrow opened his mouth but said nothing for a long moment.

It was long enough that Allie prodded him. What is it, boss man?

General Darrow turned on his heel and flicked his finger to show a recording of a monstrous crystalline spider breaking down fortress walls and sending Empire soldiers scattering. Dao Child Maven has recovered from her last fight with you, and has been attacking a fairly large number of border worlds with little obvious strategic merit.

Aster leaned forward and spread her hands in a questioning gesture. And so why are we going to Pator-Sul instead of smacking the fuck out of her?

Matt leaned forward to show he was in agreement, which was a move mirrored by all of Team Zero.

General Darrow sighed and raised up his hand to forestall arguments. I already requested that mission, but Chess rightly pointed out that it's clearly a trap.

Allie flipped her dagger before she caught it and threw it into the far wall. What kind of logic is that? Triggering traps and killing everyone involved is what Ascenders do!

General Darrow shot a passing glance at Zack.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.

Allie, the other Ascender said pointedly, and his partner wilted.

Thank you, Ascender Light, Darrow nodded. Now, this is not a typical trap. While undoubtedly our enemies do have something particular in mind for once we do face Maven, Chess believes that the true intention is to bait us out and force our hand while the Sects finish overrunning Pator-Sul. Once we have relieved Pator-Sul instead of a direct confrontation we will be taking a step beyond that, infiltrating past enemy lines and striking here, Helios Delta. Its an Empire border world turned Republic supply depot, and we intend to take it out and loot it for all its worth, cutting off support for this wing of the assault.

Matt nodded as he followed the highlighted attacks and agreed with the plan. If he saw the other Ascender team slowly moving towards them, he would assume they were planning on a confrontation.

Battles between elites happened like that a lot of the time. At least, when there wasnt an ambush waiting, like what happened to Duke Waters.

As that thought came to him, he raised a finger and asked, Is this push happening because Duke Waters was hit and injured?

General Darrow nodded. We believe so, and that is why we dont want to risk a second ambush with the rest of our Ascenders. Hitting the supply depot is a better move, and if we can pull the elites away from anything they were able to prepare, all the better.

They went over a few more bits of information before they piled into Drifter's ship, and Shadow teleported them across space.

Team Zero went from inside a rift in the heart of the Empire to months away, by even the fastest ship, in a moment.

They went to war.

Shadow didnt have a waypoint at Pator-Sul, which meant they teleported as close as possible and would be flying the rest of the way on their own. It was a good thing Drifter was their pilot, because she broke every rule of flying through chaotic space and got them to Pator-Sul in just a week.

Matt was ready for a fight the moment they arrived in Pator-Suls real space, but things werent so easy. The Sects ships they expected to be surrounding the planet were instead floating just miles above the fortress planet's surface.

They had arrived too late.

General Darrow sighed at the sight even as he stood up. Nothing is ever easy. That said, our job hasnt changed. We are to push the Sects out and reinstate the defenders and Empire rule on this system.

His third eye flicked around seemingly at random for a few seconds before he nodded. Drifter; full speed. I dont want the Sects to reactivate the planet's shielding. The Empire defenders should have destroyed it as is

Even as he said that, the planet they were watching on the screen flickered as a light blue barrier appeared.

Shadow laughed and punched Darrow on the shoulder. Ha, you fucking jinxed it.

General Darrow ignored her and instead looked to Origami and Matt. I want a plan to crack the shield before we arrive

Drifter heard the implied question and shouted from her pilot's seat, One hour if I dont slow down for an intercept and just drop you guys off.

Hearing that, Darrow nodded. If possible, I dont want the infrastructure of the planet damaged. Ideally, we can hand this planet back to the captured defenders so they can continue to defend the planet.

Light stepped forward slightly, and despite his dry voice, his words held concern. Will the Sects allow us to do so? They are Tier 27, and certainly not about to surrender.

Bolt's blue hair nodded in agreement, but General Darrow shrugged. If that is the case, we are to destroy the planet so thoroughly that the Sects are forced to replace it if they wish to hold the system, or back off, allowing the Empire to retake the system. But that is a last resort. Quill, Origami, I want a preliminary plan in fifteen minutes.

Matt moved off to the side and asked Aila, Do you know anything about the fortress worlds defensive structures? I dont know anything about them and there isnt anything stored on the ships LocalNet.

Aila nodded. I know of them and even have their blueprints stored. She put her words to action and sent him the information.

Matt quickly scanned it and let out a long slow breath.

He wasnt sure he could take the shields down without frying the infrastructure completely.

A Liz fell to his location and merged with one gorey mess before two rose up. Both clones repeated that action, but Matt wasnt able to enjoy the show.

Along the wall that he had just cleared, what seemed like a squad made up of higher-ups arrived. Matt would call them officers, but that wasnt how the Sects organized their military, and he didnt care to look up how this specific sect referred to their team commanders. They were smart though. Instead of targeting him, they tried to fire on the still-forming Lizzes.

As if Matt would allow them to attack his wife right in front of him.

He rushed forward with a freshly cast [Bulwark] leading the charge, providing cover for the multiplying Lizzes.

That concentrated the fire enough for even Matt to be slowed down which would lead to him being bogged down if he allowed the situation to continue. [Archmages Presence] flared to life and Matt felt his power skyrocket.

The armor, first made for North Star of the Cosmos, had been made with this exact spell in mind, and while it had been designed more to enhance bursts of usage, [Cracked Reinforce Stone] made it more than robust enough to handle Endless power just as well. With the spell in turn empowering the enchantment, it resulted in a very nice feedback loop strengthening everything Matt did.

It was enough to let him cross the distance in a blink, taking the arm off the lead Sect fighter as the man, more than two full tiers above him, was too slow to retreat.

There were five officers with gold trim around their robes edges, and each of them moved in a different direction the moment Matt arrived amongst them.

Two of them fired what he identified as highly modified [Mana Bolt]s, and though Matts spiritual sense said they were far more dangerous than they looked, he didnt dodge. The third woman had a saber, and was attacking where he would have to dodge to if he wanted to continue forward while avoiding the bolts. The fourth officer cast a spell that caused the shadows to rise up and grab Matts legs the moment he moved, while the final Sect officers threw a bolt of lightning at him.

It was a good combination he was sure would work on most people, but Matt wasnt most people.

He grunted as the two [Mana Bolts] punched right through his armor and tried to wreak havoc in his body, but Matt crushed their effects under an onslaught of [Barbarians Hide], putting himself back together with [Regeneration]. The lighting bolt was blocked by [Cracked Phantom Armor] without issue while Matt reached down to grab the shadow chains.

Instead of dispelling them, he flooded them with mana and only started moving when he heard the man who had cast them scream as his spell was used as a conduit, straight into his mana core.

He wasnt dead, but he was nearly crippled and unable to cast anything for a good long while.

Matt reached up and grabbed the descending saber of the woman and squeezed.

The blade didnt break like he expected. Instead it bent like putty. For a moment, Matt thought that was from his strength, but the blade had its own tricks and tried to crawl down his arm,digging at [Cracked Phantom Armor] like a worm trying to bore into him.

It didnt work; [Cracked Phantom Armor] was far too good at defending from such attacks. Matt ignored the blades advances in favor of driving his left hand into the woman's crossed arms, sending her flying back into the crenelated wall.

He sent out a flurry of [Gravitic Bolt], peppering the two mages. One of them had a [Phantom Armor] flare, which protected them from a bolt that would have taken their head off, and the second managed to dodge the bolts sent at them.

Matts spiritual perception was drawn above him for a moment as he saw the mages from Team Zero, slowly falling in the fortress Origami had created, bombarding the area Liz was fighting in. The active wards prevented him from finding out why, so he had no choice but to refocus on the fight that was in front of him, cutting off the hand of one of the mages.

As he did so, Matt felt a larger blast of lightning land squarely on his back. Absorbing it into [Cracked Phantom Armor] gave him a burst of speed, and he didnt let it pass. Using the small opening that the change in speed created, Matt lashed out three times in quick succession with his sword, sending out just as many [Mana Slash]s.

One of the [Mana Bolt] casters was a moment too slow and lost their legs, but his other two spells were dodged. The Sect officers had quickly realized that despite their Tier advantage, they werent able to confidently block any of his blows, and prioritized dodging.

Stepping to the side, he cast [Sword Twin], merging all four copies into a single blade and let that solitary blade block the saber woman who tried to ambush him from behind.

He was going to dart at the delegged mage who was preparing another spell, but felt a flare of danger from behind him, where the lightning mage was recovering. He also felt the shadows start to crawl up his legs once more, trying to lock him down.

Acting on instinct, as he had a good feeling of what the man was doing, he cast [Cracked Air Slide]. Having been upgraded twice, the spell let out a burst of air which ripped him free of the shadow bindings, and Matt skated around the oversized bolt of lighting that punched right through the wall and dug its way into the dirt.

The man had cast with essence fueling his spell instead of mana.

Matt shook his head even as he continued his movement to make a circle to cleave the man's head in two.

Few were willing to sacrifice their painstaking efforts to cast a spell with their accumulated essence, even if they knew they were going to die. But it seemed that this particular man was made of sterner stuff.

Twisting, he grabbed the [Sword Twin] out of the air, merged it with his blade, and used the increased effect of the weapon to send out overlapping [Mana Slash]es, which ended the saber woman's life and finally stopped the metal of her sword from attacking his left arm. He took a blow to the chest for his troubles, but [Regeneration] was able to knit his torn flesh back together without too much issue.

Despite knowing it was useless, he offered the two surviving mages an offer of surrender, but when they responded with spells, he ended their lives before they could detonate their cores.

With this section of the wall cleared, Matt looked over to where the Sect commanders commandeered fortress stood. A glance to his left showed close to fifty Lizzes killing their way through a mass of Sect troops who had encircled a crater the mages had created. To his right he saw Bulwark, Stick, and Stone surrounding a trio of Torments summons who were cutting their way forward slowly but surely.

On the other side from himself was Shadow, who despite having her teleportation limited, was cutting her way through the enemies to the leader's section almost as fast as he was.

Seeing he was the first one to break free of the defenders, Matt flared [Archmages Presence] and slammed into the shield formation they had set up.

Reaching back, he drove his spiked fist into the blue shield. With each blow the shield turned more and more opaque.

On the seventh blow, the shield failed, and he rushed inside.

He took a blade to the head, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] deflected the strike and Matt grabbed the woman's head with a lightning-wreathed hand, ignoring her look of shock as her ambush didnt work. And the look of shock that came with nearly a million mana of lightning coursing through her body.

One squeeze later, a rush of essence confirmed her death, and Matt dove into the command center where a dozen gold-clad officers stood ready for him.

He threw himself into their waiting blades and disarmed the closest man, taking a gush of purple flame to his side that chewed through [Cracked Phantom Armor] like acid.

A quick pulse of [Mana Beam] ended that fight, but he was hit with a counterspell and [Forbid Spell] combo that fizzled the beam and put it on cooldown before he could eliminate the rest of the commanders with it.

Matt didnt mind doing things the hard way.

A burly woman tried to tackle him to the ground, but Matt twisted and drove a spiked gauntlet into her brain before tossing her into one of her friends.

He dodged a spear that felt dangerous, but took a [Earth Spike] to his own blade which knocked it out of his hand.

Disarmed, he must have seemed like an easy target, because two blade-wielding men rushed in and tried to take him down, regardless of the wounds he would inflict on them in return.

Matt used his left hand and arm to deflect the first strike and drove a fist into the second mans chest.

A third and fourth Sect officer jumped at him, wanting to take him down with pure numbers.

Flames roared as he cast [Dragonflame], and the fire chewed through those closest to him.

The same person tried to hit him with another [Forbid Spell], but Matt was ready for it and had dropped [Dragonflame] for an instant before reactivating it.

Turning his flames on the mages who had been peppering him with attacks from range, Matt stomped down to take out the single surviving woman who was trying to grip his leg.

The mages shield protected them for long enough that Matt thought the fight was going to turn into a slog, but Shadow kicked open the far door and started cutting her way through the mages' less protected flank.

Knowing his teammate could handle it, Matt simply flared [Dragonflame].

A dozen flares of essence tried to rush into him in as many seconds, which signified the death of the remaining Sect leaders.

Turning his spiritual sense to the fighting that was still going on outside, Matt saw how the mages were concentrating their spells to the east of where Matt and Shadow were. It was probably a mid level commander who was trying to direct the battlefield now that the leadership had been wiped out.

Matt nodded to Shadow who flickered away.

Matt called his sword back to hand and began charging it with lightning.

The fight wasnt over yet.