The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2

Part 11

"We've been working on that for a while, and we finished it yesterday." Helemia grinned. "The demon's psionic Shielding blocks almost everything, but one thing they don't block against is someone simply projecting their awareness inside their Battle Shields, but outside their bodies. Like you would if you were going to Translocate there, for instance."

"But what good does that do?" Dalia asked. "You still can't get any spells past the Battle Shields they use to block physical and magic attacks."

"Ah, but one thing their Battle Shields don't block is sunlight." Reggie stated, with a grin that matched all of his team-mates'. "If you blast 'em with enough light to cause some damage they'll block that, but they don't block the sun unless you do, not the light of it, or the heat of it, or the Source, or the warlock's Source. And if you're really careful, when your awareness has been projected inside their Battle Shields, you can cast a spell from there, using the power that's already in there from the Source and the warlock's source that's shining on them from the sun. It's not much, but it's enough to cast a tiny Translocation on a ball of stuff about two centimeters wide inside their heads. You only move it over a centimeter and you don't cast displacement, so there's a space left on one side that causes a little implosion, and on the other side there's too much stuff all of a sudden, so it explodes because of the extra density. And just to make it both easier and more dangerous, you under-power the Translocation. That's why a few of them lost their whole heads; the messed-up Translocations release some energy from the Translocation medium, and it causes a lot of damage."

"It took all four of us pooling our awareness to do it to that many enemies that quickly." Karzog pointed out.

"And it takes all four of us to cast the spell, too, even though it's all automated." Valentia added. "It's a pretty hard spell. We call it the Brain Bomb, because it makes a bomb in their brains. Even if they grow their brains somewhere else in their bodies, we always target a few centimeters behind their eyes, so it's pretty sure to mess up a lot of important stuff.”

"And you don't think you should have announced that you were going to join the exercises before you did so in the middle of one?" Quewanak asked, sounding slightly miffed. "Perhaps I was trying to make a point with this one?"

"We waited until the outcome was pretty much decided before we intervened." Reggie pointed out. "Everyone here knows that if it had been real, and if we four hadn't been able to do anything, everyone would've been killed. The demons weren't having much trouble finding the emplacements, so they'd probably have found the shelters soon, and if they didn't, they'd have starved us out, like Alilia said."

"Hm. Perhaps it wasn't a complete waste of time then." Quewanak nodded. "Do you realize what point I was trying to make?"

Reggie shook his head.

"Anyone else?" The green dragon asked as he looked around.

"We need a plan to escape from Hiliani in case we get overwhelmed here, and we don't have one." Mark stated immediately. "That is correct." Quewanak said with another nod.

"Oh, don't be so growly, you old lizard!" Ria teased with a big smile. "They all responded extremely quickly to a drastic escalation in the immediacy of their enemies' attack, and all of them were Translocated to shelter before any were injured. None of them got hurt until they took the fight to the demons. They kept their heads when they all thought the attack was real, and you and I never thought to make our simulations vulnerable to some of what had become ineffective before in order to protect the deception. Not to mention that what these children did was brilliant in its creativity and execution, and as far as I can tell, it would have devastated real demons as thoroughly as it did our simulations. From what the Triax told us, I doubt even the DemonLords have any defense against such a thing, and they have power to rival a god."

"Because they're still physical." Mark mused. "They may have the power of a god, well a god of the Triax at least, but unlike gods they're still dependent on their physical bodies."

"How can we make a plan to flee from Hiliani when we're confined in here by the time-bubble?" Talia asked.

"We will assume that the time-bubble protects us as thoroughly as it confines us." Quewanak announced. "It's a logical assumption. We can be reasonably certain that the demons cannot attack us through the time-bubble, so if we're actually attacked, we will assume that the time-bubble has fallen. If we are no longer protected, we are no longer confined.

"Therefore, if you attempt to escape from Hiliani during a training exercise, you can assume that we are no longer confined by the time-bubble. If I judge that your attempt to flee would have been successful, those who fled will then be out of the exercise, in the same way they are when they are 'killed'."

"All right." Mark nodded. "We'll maintain readiness to Translocate all of our non-combatants to Hilia at the first sign of trouble from now on."

"And I will first check to confirm that Hilia is still a safe place to send them." Povon stated. "If we're truly attacked here, there's no reason to assume that Hilia wouldn't have been attacked first. If it's unsafe there, I'll find a safe destination before we transfer our dependants."

"Should we simulate the Translocations, or can you deal with it if we truly cast them?" Alilia asked.

"As with the other spells you cast during the exercises, do what you would truly do if it were a real attack." Quewanak instructed. "I train you for battle, not for games, so you need to be trained to cast spells and attacks, not simulations of them. I'll deal with the limitations of the time-bubble. Those who Translocate away from Hiliani will be re-directed to the main shelter below, and will not be attacked or perceive any simulated demons, even if the shelter is attacked in the exercise."

"That's a neat trick, re-directing a few hundred simultaneous Translocations!" Yazadril exclaimed.

"All of us are being trained and are learning new skills, and I'm no exception." Quewanak revealed. "I'm still exploring the abilities I've gained since I was Healed, and learning to apply much of what I learned during my long dream."

"And I know your secret for sure now, newest of the Draconian Gods." Helemia told him in a tightly Shielded Speaking, with a bit of a mental giggle.

"Then I would appreciate it if you keep it to yourself.” Quewanak acknowledged.

"Six and Val and Karz already know 'cause we're still Linked, and I wasn't blocking it when I realized it." Helemia told him. "But we'll keep it to ourselves."

"Thank you." Quewanak told her.

This exchange had only taken a fraction of a second, during which the green dragon had continued the audible conversation without pause or visible acknowledgement of the psionic one.

"Exercises will be conducted without prior announcement from now on, as they were tonight." he announced. "They will be at random times and at least once per week, with no more than three exercises in any given period of five days."

"Now see here!" Sana exclaimed. "Maybe it was good for our training to not know whether tonight's exercise was real or not, but it scared the soul out of the children, and disrupted their sleep besides! I can't see how that's good for anything, and if we do it repeatedly, it's likely to harm their mental health and their development!"

"I agree." Quewanak nodded. "I'll amend my plans. From now on, all non-combatants will not perceive my simulated demons, and if they're asleep when the exercise begins and you Translocate them to safety, I'll re-direct their Translocations to leave them asleep in their beds. You can then consider them to be outside the exercise and safe. If they're awake when the exercise begins, they'll be informed that it's only an exercise as they're Translocated to the shelter. I'll work with Hilsith to ensure that none of the children is permanently affected by tonight's events.