79 Orlando (1/2)
An empty plain several miles outside of Orlando. Ed and Bolin stood in front of the 200 superhuman and 200 chimera soldiers. Tao scurried out from the chimeras and climbed up Ed's back, choosing to rest on his shoulder. Ochre, Ash, and Eli stood in front of the soldiers, awaiting their orders.
Ed folded his hands behind his back and looked towards his loyal creations. ”Listen up!” He yelled. ”There are at least 200 espers in Orlando that will fight against us. That's in addition to the 100,000 ordinary soldiers stationed here. There are only 400 of you. Worst of all, the mayor of this city has telepathic powers. He'll know the second the invasion starts and instantly communicate orders to his various officers. If we allow him to do so, then we've lost before the battle's even begun. Fortunately, we have a plan.” He stepped back and looked towards Bolin.
”Ahem.” Bolin coughed into his hand. ”I'm unable to transport the superhumans due to the manullium in your bodies. However, I have no problem transporting the chimeras. I'll be taking us straight into the Mayor's office. From there, it'll be up to you to quickly kill the mayor and his highest officers. Once the mayor is dead, their chain of command will be broken, ensuring an easy victory. Meanwhile, the superhumans will invade by flying over the city walls.”
”What will Forge be doing?” Ash interrupted.
Ed smiled. ”I'll naturally be storming the fort with the chimeras. This city is the most likely location for peace negotiations at the end of the war. It's absolutely essential to my future plan. Now, let's begin!”
”Sir!” The soldiers saluted.
Bolin began to create a black portal, but suddenly frowned. ”No good. They have some type of barrier setup outside the mayor's office. If it's a barrier esper, then it's only a matter of time before Mayor Mick is warned of the intrusion attempt.”
Ed furrowed his brows. ”We don't have time for this. Send us directly above the barrier. We'll come in from above.”
”From above?!” Bolin questioned in shock. ”You don't have parachutes. Do you want to die?”
”We'll be fine!” He replied as scales began appearing all over his body. The chimeras behind him followed suit, giving their army a very diverse range of colors.
”Fine.” Bolin nodded while creating a large black portal. ”Good luck.”
”CHARGE!!!” Ash and Ochre screamed as they ran forward, being the first two to enter the portal. Ed was right behind them, followed by the rest of the chimeras.
Eli looked towards his fellow superhumans. ”Remember, stick with your squads. Don't enter one on one combat unless you have no choice. We're heading for the city walls. Let's go!” He waved his arm as blasts of flame shot from his feet. The other superhumans quickly followed behind him. The massive jettison of fire from the battalion appeared like a meteor in the sky.
...
Orlando Mayor's office. A black portal appeared in the sky. Citizens on the ground stared and pointed at it as they discussed what was happening. Suddenly, two men of varying heights fell from the portal. One was covered in yellow scales and the other red scales. Then another man appeared, covered in 7-colored scales. After that, a continual stream of scaled men fell from the sky.
Ed concentrated on the mayor's office as he fell, the wind whistling past his ears. The ground appeared to grow bigger as he quickly fell. He pointed his knee towards the ground. THUD! Suddenly, he stopped in midair. His knee had slammed into a translucent barrier that shone with a blue light.
'A water-type barrier? That's going to be a pain in the ass.' He sighed. Most barriers could be brute-forced relatively easy. However, water barriers were irritating in general, for it was flexible and soft. If pressure was placed on any one point of a water barrier, then the rest of the barrier would strengthen it by spreading the pressure out.
A series of thudding sounds rang out as more and more chimeras landed on the barrier. One particular chimera landed poorly, causing his ankle to snap. His eyes turned red from rage as claws and a tail appeared on his body. His ankle quickly began to heal, soon returning back to normal. He clawed downwards towards the barrier in rage.
'Huh?!' Ed's eyes widened in surprise. 'Chimeras at the 80 percent level have healing powers? I never noticed before, since I always healed all the injuries when I sparred with the chimeras. This is an unexpected benefit. Looks like chimeras at the 50 percent level don't have these powers though, otherwise, the scar on my face would have healed on its own.'
He shook himself out of his thoughts. Now was not the time or place for it. He glanced at Tao, who instantly understood. It lazily glanced towards the raging soldier and released a low growl. The soldier's eyes returned to normal as he regained his sanity.
The chimeras quickly gathered together under Ochre's and Ash's orders. They acted like one entity as they clawed down towards the barrier beneath their feet.
'This is taking too long.' Ed frowned. They didn't have time to waste. The mayor likely already knew of their arrival by now. He pointed both arms down towards the barrier. His mana poured into the light, fire, and wind mana-batteries. Incredibly hot flames appeared in his hands. They were nearly invisible to the naked eye. The only reason they were visible was because the radiating heat pushed against the surrounding atmosphere, creating a vague outline of the flames.
He pushed the flames down against the barrier. Steam whistled from the barrier as the flames boiled the water. The steam created a fog that helped conceal the chimeras, though it hardly mattered in the current situation. If anything, the massive amount of fog was more noticeable than when they were just standing in midair atop the barrier.
'Faster!' Ed clenched his teeth as he poured more mana into the batteries. The flames easily eliminated the water, but more flowed into place to replace it. However, the barrier as a whole was slowly growing thinner. The stronger chimeras' claws were easily breaking through the barrier. Even the weaker chimeras' hands were starting to barely break through. 15 seconds passed, and a popping sound rang out. The chimeras fell through a newly created hole. The remaining water of the barrier fell from the skies, drenching the building and chimeras.
The mayor's building was big enough to take up several football fields. It would be more accurate to describe it as a palace. The various chimeras landed near the center of the building. ”GO!” Ochre yelled as a tail appeared behind his back. It slammed against the roof of the building, causing a hole to appear. There was no hesitation as he dived through it, eager to prove his valor in the upcoming battle. Ed and the others quickly followed him inside.
...
Just as Ed and the others broke through the barrier, Eli and the superhumans reached the city walls. As soon as they flew past the walls, sirens began blaring through the entire city. The citizens on the streets panicked, as the sirens were only used during emergencies. At best it was a mutant flood, and at worst it was a nightmare attack. The thought of an invasion didn't even occur to them, for it had been decades since any wars on Florida soil. The last battle in Florida had taken place just a few years into the Mana Apocalypse, as America was one of the first countries to manage restoring order. The citizens were unfamiliar with war in general.
There were plenty of soldiers stationed on the city walls and near them. However, their bullets couldn't reach the superhumans in the air. Even if they did reach, then the bullets would either be melted or just break skin and hit their metal skeletons.
Eli looked back towards his men. ”Don't kill the ordinary soldiers. We're to focus on killing the espers.”
”But Captain!” One of the soldiers protested. ”It'll be easier to fight if we spread the flames everywhere! So what if some of their ordinary soldiers die as a result?”
Eli frowned and questioned the soldier. ”What is the mission of Harmony?”
”To make humans and espers true equals!” The soldier replied proudly.
”Right.” Eli nodded. ”Now, how can we do that if we drag the ordinary soldiers into our fight? They'll resent Harmony and everything it stands for.”
”I disagree.” Another soldier interrupted. ”If we want them to be equal, then we should treat them equal. There are no qualms when an ordinary soldier manages to kill a noble or king on the battlefield. The opposite should hold equally true. Besides, we're not actually espers. We should just-”
”Enough!” Eli yelled, his face turning red from anger. ”Am I the captain, or are you? I was put in charge here! If you have complaints, then tell Forge after the war.”
Just as they finished arguing, smoky tendrils snaked up from the ground. Hundreds of them shot towards the flying superhumans.