Wings of Honor: Deciding Destiny

Chapter 7: The Vulture's Nest

I woke up with a splitting headache on the floor.
As the fog lifted, I saw a man standing tall, his telltale Bren gun leaned against him.
"I must say, you're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid and lucky, Grace." I heard McManis chuckle. "Marvin might be the second one."
I felt a gentle hand pat me as I struggled to lift my head. "What happened?" I mumbled out.
"Firefight." McManis plainly said. "Some Japs snuck past the perimeter guards, teleported or otherwise."
"Mmmph." My mouth felt strangely dry and with a terrible taste.
"Looks like Goldman has finally gone nonlethal as well. Some of them were armed with dart guns. Ankh said it was the stuff the RainWings used as tranquilizers. You managed to catch one in the mouth. Thank God you're big enough that Ankh just had to climb in and grab the dart."
I swallowed. "A-and Thorn?"
McManis nodded. "She's fine. Everyone's fine. Although, she isn't happy that there are assassins after her now. Her thoughts of Goldman haven't improved."
I only chuckled.
McManis hung his head. "They... tried fighting us. But... once they knew they were outnumbered and outgunned, they killed themselves."
A cold front drifted over me as I frowned.
"They had nothing of meaning. Travers says they were likely enchanted."
Still, I hung my head.
McManis just slowly shook his head. "Still. I can't believe something that small put you out for a good eight hours. It's sobering just how vulnerable we are."
I shivered. "What time is it now?"
"Speak of the Devil."
Travers walked in. "Oh. Hey! Grace's awake. Damn."
"Hey, Travers." "Travers." We greeted him.
Travers handed McManis a few papers. "Courtesy of people even more daring than we are."
"What is it?" I asked.
"A troop complement." Then McManis got the biggest frown that I have ever seen him wear. "Holy shit." He said softly.
I looked between him and Travers nodding.
"Yeah. It's that big." The sergeant had a worried look about him.
"What?" I faced McManis.
He just sighed. "We're looking at attacking around thirty dragons and a reinforced platoon element with, what? Forty dragons? Fifty?" McManis consulted a nearby sheet. "Yeah. Forty soldiers, Thorn and her guard, and us."
I sat up. "Thorn's coming?"
Travers chuckled. "Hell yeah! She wouldn't miss taking down Vulture for the world!"
I just looked toward the ground, realizing the impending size of the operation.
McManis sighed once more. "We might have the numbers advantage still, but there's a reason Vulture's Compound was such a hard target before."
I drifted over towards McManis, looking down at the paper myself.
"S2 is purporting the Scorpion Den becoming a no-fly zone. Vulture's locked down the airspace with reports suggesting up to four guns with radar."
"Damn," Travers exclaimed. "There goes the easy route."
McManis nodded. "They're still letting dragons fly just outside the city, but anything within the walls gets flack."
I nodded. "H-how are we getting in?"
McManis sighed. "Thorn's thinking of getting some of her people to start a fire somewhere. That way she has an excuse to send a load of troops, hopefully under Vulture's nose."
"That seems dangerous." A little worry showed through my voice.
McManis slowly nodded. "Either way, we just need the ruse to last long enough to cover our advance into staging positions."
Travers chuckled. "Maybe I should have kept that mortar. Use it for smoke."
McManis tilted his head, entertaining the idea. I nodded in agreement.
"That could work."
"Hell, I could get one if we need it!" Travers motioned to the sheet leaning against the wall.
"Eh." McManis shrugged. "It won't be a game-changer, but it'll be nice to keep in our back pocket."
I nodded. "Which we're gonna need. Once we hit the gates of the compound, everything in the desert will head straight for us."
McManis kept nodding. "A lot of the forces there are roaming thorough the city. The compound isn't as defended as it could be, but that means any counterattacks will be almost as fierce."
"A slaughter." I shivered as those words spilled out of my mouth, tears threatening to well in my eyes. Panic threatening to seep into my chest.
"Hey." McManis caught my attention. "We've done this a thousand times before. Travers, you remember Adanti."
I saw Travers ponder a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Yeah! The rooftop AA guns on the Town Hall!"
McManis nodded. "We got this, we've handled worse. I have no doubt we'll take the compound."
What McManis said at face value was true, and it succeeded in taking away the fear growing in me. But I couldn't help but recognize what he didn't say. He was sure about the victory, but he didn't mention the cost. And even I knew attacking an entrenched defender without at least double their forces was a recipe for disaster, unless there were favorable circumstances.
Looking over the situation again, there weren't many additional things going for us. We didn't really have the surprise advantage, Vulture was on high alert and radar-equiped. Our manpower advantage was minimal and partially offset by any enchanted NightWings stationed at the compound, as well as the weaponry the Japanese also had. And once the attack began, the clock was on to not only take the compound but also hastily put up a defense against enemies seeking to counterattack.
My head began to ache, even without looking into the future, the chances of something going wrong were just too great.
But then I had an idea. One, I deeply regret in hindsight. But for my own reasons, maybe because I was too doubtful and hesitant of the people entrusted to me, I let my emotions allow my mind my mind to settle on an idea without looking at all the consequences.
"Could..." McManis and Travers looked to me. "Could we enchant our rounds to not be affected by Goldman or Darkstalker's magic?"
McManis looked surprised that I was the one to offer that suggestion. Travers just chuckled, throwing up his hands.
"Now you take my idea?"
I looked back at McManis, he looked my idea over. "We have no guarantee whether or not they enchanted the SandWings, let alone the NightWngs." He nodded. "Yeah. You and Travers, fly out into the desert and enchant our rounds so they are anti-magic."
I took a shaky breath. As if my body somehow knew this was the wrong decision before my mind did. Maybe I did know, but I kept lying to myself.
But we all agreed. Travers led me back outside, and we took off. McManis got up, reconvening with Thorn, getting the latest on the plan of attack.