CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 27

With nothing to distract them and a new confidence in Johnny, Julia and Margaret encouraged a speedy return to Radiant Alliance Head Quarters so his training could continue and the formal assumptions of his duties may begin.

Johnny drove two more days, only stopping to pee and make camp. He found himself more comfortable than he ever thought he would be with his Wardens. He understood and even appreciated Margaret and her harsh, violent ways— training with her may have saved his life.

And Julia…Johnny was still curious about the platinum blond elf. In an effort to get her to speak about herself, Johnny regaled them with stories of his past, his racing days and history, the family he’s fighting to get back to and the brutal, messy years of the Convar Invasion.

She listened, asked questions even and generally participated in the conversations. Today, he was on the edge of giving up entirely, they were close to the HQ now and his efforts would surely drown in the presence of others.

“No, Margaret, I couldn’t just murder the Convar supreme.” Johnny groaned.

“Why not?”

“Because! Like with most things in the military, not everyone is on the battlefield. Least of all the higher ups.”

“Ohh, so he was a coward then. I get it now.”

“I…actually don’t know. Maybe he was. They were far more technologically advanced and so…his orders, his wishes were all he needed to conquer us.” The levity in Johnny’s voice evaporated into a hatred he was reminded of every time he thought back to the war.

Margaret took note and said. “You won though, right? Humans and Convars live in peace, some version of harmony?”

Johnny nodded. “Some version of harmony…yeah.” It wasn’t all too bad that they had but the fact was Convars ruled, and humans obeyed.

“At least, you have a home world to return to.” Julia said in a subdued voice. Johnny instinctively slowed down the Voyagers rumbling speed to listen closely to anything else she would say.

She didn’t look like she would say anything else but both Margaret and Johnny let the air free for her to speak into it. And she did. “My home was destroyed. Only myself and one other survived.”

“One other?” Johnny blurted, curiosity having the better of him.

The small smile and snort from Julia made him regret his basket mouth. I should have just shut up, she’s not going to say anything now.

And she didn’t. The drive through the savanna continued uninterrupted and without incident for another hour. They filled the silence with idle chatter, a hum of songs shared from their cultures.

As Johnny listened to Julia’s angelic hushes he found himself grateful that she bothered to share even that. The emotion behind each tune and sustained octave made it evident the memories the song brought were precious.

They had just cleared the last canyon pass when Julia stopped singing. The thrum of her bracelet distracted her. She swiped around it and the voice that broke through was tight with urgency,

“Julia, are you there? How far from headquarters? We’ve got a situation. I’m not sure how long we can hold out.”

Julia looked over at Johnny, a question lingered on her lips before she lifted the bracelet to her mouth. “We’re a few hours out, I think.” She glanced at Johnny again, who duly sped up, whatever the trouble was, if they were calling then they needed to be there fast.

“What’s going on? Shouldn’t your constructs be enough? And what about Korby?”

“That’s the problem. The goblin war chief is back. And he brought a new dreadnaught-class airship. Their attacks are draining our shields faster than we can recharge. We’re running on scraps here.” The voice said.

Johnny didn’t understand half of what it said— skyship? Shields? What he did understand was he wasn’t moving fast enough. His grip on the steering tightened as he floored the pedal.

Julia clung to the hand grip for stability while the voice continued. “And…worse is. They want Korby! And the dumb tech-head is almost right out the doors. We’ve had to restrain him.”

Korby? That’s the technomancer they mentioned right?

Margaret yelled over from the back seat. “What about Qin? Lisa? Chloe? Where are they!”

“There’s no one else nearby. You’re the closest. Please help!”

Julia muttered curses in another language. Shutting her eyes as she declared. “We’ll be there. Hold out as long as you can.”

She ended the transmission and looked over at Johnny. “I know, I know. I heard it too.” He said.

“We won’t make it in time, not at this speed Johnny…if Korby gets captured then…”

“Don’t think about that. It won’t happen. I won’t let it.” Johnny declared. “Albert.”

“Yes, Johnny?” his trusty co-pilot answered, his lights lifting across the dashboard,

“Override the creation core. I want an infinite boost so cut power to everything non-essential and dump it into propulsion.”

“Understood! Rerouting Dimensional Core energy now. Boost functionality will be available in sixty seconds.”

The engine’s growl deepened as Johnny slammed the pedal. Julia and Margaret exchanged nervous glances, bracing themselves. A new button blinked to life on the dash.

Johnny gave them a crooked grin. “Might want to hold on. If we lift off, blame physics.”

He slammed the boost. Popping a wheelie.

The Voyager screamed down the path, vibrations rattling every bolt loose. Warning lights flared. Julia yelped as her stomach dropped. Margaret just laughed, gripping the edge of her seat with white-knuckled fingers.

The Voyager soared over into the final stretch of land, the HQ came into view at last. It sat sprawled across a giant mesa, several concrete bases as large as homes were built into the mesa and its surroundings in such a way that the HQ became a cascading pyramid of organized weapon manned bases. At the foot of the mesa was more, easily sprawling to the size of a small town before stopping at a magically secure wall and gate.

A steel behemoth circled above; the goblin dreadnaught casted a long shadow over the HQ and the battlefield its exterior had transformed into. Everywhere Johnny looked there were goblins hurling spears, Radiant warriors casting arcs of lightning and thundering canon balls falling upon the heads of chained ogres.

Johnny eased off the boost and coasted to a stop. An electrice smoke had begun to fill the inside of the Voyager, he couldn’t press it for any more speed.

“That’s all it's got,” he muttered. “I can’t push the core again or we’ll risk a permanent meltdown.” It was already barely fixable as it was, anymore and there’s no turning back from the damage.

Julia stumbled out of the vehicle and vomited into the dirt.

Margaret patted her back. “You’ll get used to it.”

Julia wiped her mouth and activated her bracelet again. “Cameron. We’re here. What’s your status?”

“Thank the Radiant!” The voice, Cameron sighed. “I could use one of you on the front, your powers are really needed against these goblins.

“They’ve got the gates surrounded and we need to reinforce the outer barriers. Lots of problems with that though. The goblin ship has a new detachment, it's worse than last time.” Cameron said.

Julia faced Johnny. “We need to clear the gates fast, give them a chance to reinforce the barriers but that ship…” she trailed off, shaking her head as the Dreadnaught continued to rain fire and projectiles against the HQ’s magical defence.

“That ship, it’s barely scratched by magic. Whatever their defenses are, it's strong, only a few hits have driven it back but nothing too helpful. We can’t let it stay up there.”

Johnny followed her concerned gaze to the gleaming dreadnought. It hovered like a steel dragon, beyond reproach and above harm. Invulnerable and smug with the chattering cacklings of its goblin riders.

He scowled. “Regular missiles probably won’t cut it either. But maybe…no. Wait!” His eyes locked onto something in the glittering sky about, it circled over their heads in a programmed and mastered motion— Qin’s cyborg dragon summon.

“I think I’ve got a plan. Julia, Margaret, I’ll need you both.” Julia looked worried at the sound of that. “I promise it’ll save us, it hurts that you don’t trust me.”

“Who said anything about that? I’m just cautious of your…ideas.” She said reservedly.

“Come on, out with it. What’s the plan, Johnny?” Margaret urged, a knowing grin on her lips.

He matched it as he declared. “I’m thinking we blow that damn ship to hell.”

“This is your plan?” Julia asked with a huff.

Johnny was busy with Qin’s summon, fitting the dragon like cyborg creature with jury-rigged explosives from his stockpile. C4, napalm canisters all hooked up to an internal detonation trigger. Julia, despite her protests, helped layer it with multiple damage reduction wards.

“It’s simple right?” Johnny said proudly. “Just about emptied my stockpile for this. Now we just hope it survives long enough to do its job.”

Johnny hauled into the Voyager, slamming the door shut while Julia and Margaret flew up onto its roof. “You two okay up there?”

“Just drive, Johnny!” Julia yelled back as she and Margaret prepared themselves to head into battle. A flourish of Radiance summoned weapons to her hands and cast a ward over the Voyager for extra protection.

Margaret whistled at the draconic cyborg, giving it what will easily be its final orders. I just hope Qin is okay with this.

The flying explosive trap shot out into the sky, its wings beating and its jet boosters propelling it to heights Margaret could have easily reached but would have been too vulnerable to do so.

Johnny jerked the Voyager into motion, driving it towards the chaos of clashing sides. His eyes followed the flying bomb all the while though and just as soon as it became a spec in the backdrop of the sky and the giant ship it was hurtling towards, the goblins noticed.

The battleship took immediate action— flak guns thumped rounds into the sky where the cyborg flew, the air thickening with the explosive smoke. Qin’s summon took on heavy fire as the myriad of machine canons and hobgoblin shaman blasted power at it. Its wings shredded as it reached a peak altitude, it hung for a moment in the air, a flashing spec in the sun’s glare, and then it fell.

It spiraled towards its target, maintaining control even as icicles, arcs of lightning and rocks bashed against its magical wards. It banked sharply between overwhelming fire and continued its descent unperturbed.

“Come on…you can make it!” Johnny grinded his teeth, the Voyager bashed a sprinting goblin, running it over as Julia and Margaret leaped into the fray, their Radiance quickly turning the tide.

“Come on now, almost there!” His feet were as restless as the goblins he ran through, their bones shattering on impact and then grinded underneath the Voyager’s impossible weight.

Johnny clenched the bomb trigger, his eyes squinted to their limit as he traced the cyborg in its daring descent. Just as it neared the dreadnought’s deck, where a cluster of dark magic fired off from— Johnny hit the trigger.

The brave summon exploded into a rolling fireball, shearing the battleship in half with its impact. Shockwaves rippled through the air, sending a heat sprawling across the battlefield as metal screamed and groaned. The ship buckled, cracking and raining down loose, flaming metal. It crashed faster than Johnny thought it would, its rutters flung into the sky as another explosion sealed the deal with a thundering—

BOOOMM!

“Hahah! I still got it!”

He tossed the trigger at the back and focused on delivering hell on the enemy forces. Already cheers and victory roars came from the Radiant Warriors, the enemy forces of goblins and their shamans quickly broke rank, retreating in fear and confusion.

The battle was won.

Yet the ground shook. It shook so hard Johnny could feel the tremors even as he drove over the bone broken bodies of his goblin victims.

A deep, metallic thud echoed across the battlefield. Metal creaked and groaned, the wreckage of the dreadnaught’s flaming corpse stirred something anew.

Another, much smaller explosion rocked the wreckage, sending panels of metal flying as something came free. A massive shadow rose from the flames— a four-legged, armored thing. Metal grinded against metal as it walked forward and roared, a mechanical fury.