Machinist of Mana Chapter 114 Emergency Takeoff

“What's going on,” I asked as we escorted Ignus into the hall.

“The short version is this, they made it through the portal and managed to escape the fortress on the far side. I'm still unsure how they knew, but the gate was scheduled to open so the people on the far end didn't immediately sound a full alert, a miss on our part. It was enough, and those goblins made it through another city.”

“Going where?” Grandfather inquired.

“I'll let his Grace give you the full details,” he told us as he opened the door to the office.

“Please tell us everything we need to know,” I requested.

“That death priest made it to one of the duchies, not the nearest to the capitol thank goodness, but one near enough. He's also managed to take a train, loaded with passengers.”

“Well, the king's men need to do something then,” Grandfather put forth.

“They are, they know they can't risk that train making it to the capitol, and the danger if it does.”

“So what, they'll send knights to board it and slaughter the beasts?”

“... no it is going too fast for that to be reliable, by the time proper forces can be arrayed it will be too late. His Majesty has weighed the options and made his decision. The train will be derailed, about half an hour outside the city in a place where they can bombard it until nothing remains.”

“The passengers and crew though,” I pointed out.

“Aren't as important as protecting the city. It is a hard decision, but the kind leaders must make.”

“They'll be sacrificed,” I mumbled.

“Unless someone can get to them and kill the goblins in time. However you'd need something fast and agile to overtake the train, and coming at a speed and from a direction none could anticipate.”

“Does the king know of this?” grandfather asked.

“Specifically? No, but he did tell me to do find and do what I could. This is that is it not? Can you do it?”

“How much time to we have?” I asked.

“Three hours at most.”

“Then we need to leave now.”

“I cannot seriously believe you're considering this,” grandpa Darksky complained, his pointed ears moving as he listened to our words.

“I'm going either way, are you with me or not?” I asked.

“Very well.” With that he moved to the window behind the duke. “We're going my way though. Your Grace, please have the gate ready for us along with maps, we'll need them if this farce is to have any chance.”

I moved behind him and felt chains of force wrap themselves around me. Sure, I could've resisted, but this seemed to be part of his plan, and what a plan it was. With a movement of his hands he flung us out of the window.

He'd called this flight, stating that it wasn't a good way but something he could do, and I had to agree. It was a terrible way, and nothing like the flight our machine could achieve. No, instead grandpa basically flung himself like a missile forwards, dragging me along. The pull was uneven, like it came and stopped, letting us drop at times before slamming back into me. The most wild roller-coasters from Earth would've been envious at the amount of nausea this particular ride induced, hurling me this way and that.

“This is a disaster,” I complained as we were tossed through the sky over the city.

“Better than it used to be, now silence yourself, it isn't easy.”

Below us I could see people moving through the lanes where traffic once moved. Groups of men faced off against groups of the little green beasts, hacking and shooting where they could. Around the palace there were formations of soldiers beginning to spread, moving between buildings in professional lines, but they were outnumbered by the mobs defending their homes three to one.

The defenders weren't fully successful though, and it places it was clear to see that things weren't going well. Whole buildings were ablaze, flames licking at the stone or brick shells as they consumed the insides. Bodies lay sprawled in puddles of blood, wrecked carriages and dead horses lay where they'd been felled, splintered and broken like children's toys.

Finally we passed over my childhood home, or what it would have been. The whole block was nothing but a crater, littered with broken masonry and shattered wood. A circle had been almost cut in the earth, everything collapsed within it, hundreds of feet wide and full of nothing but debris. Even around it there were fallen buildings, structures that couldn't survive the explosion that had followed the initial strike. Those still standing in the area bore scars across their facades, one whole side of them peppered and blasted apart.

Grandfather said nothing as we passed over the place I'd grown up. No more where the familiar rooms lined with trophies and knick-knacks, gone were the halls I'd frequented since I was a baby, the hidden hallways and backrooms now reduced to nothing. Even the streets I'd known since I was a child were torn apart and cast aside like they had never been.

Somewhere down there was what was left of my father, assuming anything at all had survived. We'd have to look when this was over, try to find some piece of him and give him a proper burial. That would all come later though, now we needed to stop the one who'd started all this, put an end to the man who should've ended years ago and worlds away. If nothing else that could serve as a memorial to him.

We made better time than even grandpa had thought, arriving perhaps ten minutes after leaving the palace. With a thud we slammed into the field outside our makeshift hangar, and though I was disoriented I sped towards the doors. With quick movements I threw them open, revealing our noble steed.

The plane we'd spent years perfecting the design of, sourcing the materials, building, and testing stood silent, ready. I was faster so made it to the cockpit first and began the pre-flight checks. The magical engine was full, ready, and as I moved through the minimum once over everything looked perfect, ready, ready to do what it needed.

“Ready?” my grandfather asked.

“As we can be,” I responded as he settled into his seat behind me and I tossed the throttle forward, silently pulling us out of the shaded hangar and into the light.