Chapter 78 – Tactics

Sal stepped back from his handiwork and couldn’t help but smile. Only the tracker was able to deduce the trap that lay underneath the illusion. With Ioseph’s help, they had managed to set up a series of spaced-out traps that would act like land mines when stepped on. They led the entire way to the campsite and even into the interior around the building.

The barriers from their first week had been erected again and had visible traps on the ground in front of them. That idea had come directly from Barry, to lull the attackers into a false sense of security by having some of the traps visible. Sal and Brophy had thought the idea was genius, even though Ioseph seemed against it. Even though he had orchestrated the destruction of an entire forest, he had qualms about hiding traps. Apparently, it was cowardly in his eyes.

Erika, on the other hand, was completely behind the idea. She had started to look at Sal a little differently when he showcased the illusions he was working on. It wasn’t the reaction Sal had initially feared, as she saw the value in luring their ambushers to their demise.

The tension and anxiety that had sprung up from their last assessment was in the past, as Erika had reverted to her calm and cool demeanor. If Sal had to pick the person responsible, it would have been either Brophy or Rochelle who had broken the ice and worn down her resentment. Brophy had framed their plan as the perfect method to turn the tide, with the ambushers clearly expecting the team to be in a state of turmoil. If they worked together and used that assumption against them, they’d have a stronger chance of securing victory.

Once Erika had heard the plan, she practically posed for Sal to get her likeness right. All the small details that both Sal and Brophy had missed were remarked on by Erika as she pointed out how the illusion could be better refined. She even went so far as to do a series of gestures that Sal could mimic with the illusion, from an attacking pose to a frantic screaming at them to get things in order.

Sal was floored by her level of self-awareness, in that she knew all the telltale Erika-isms that would add credibility to the illusion. All it confirmed to him was that she was well-aware of how she was perceived by others. Sal guessed that she both knew and didn’t care.

Rochelle was the most reluctant to try the plan because a key part of it was smearing their gray uniforms with mud and dirt from the surrounding area. They needed camouflage and their uniforms stood out too much. After Brophy insisted that Sal could clean them with one of his powers, Rochelle conceded and started to cover herself in muck. Erika had even made a joke that Rochelle should cover her red hair with mud just to be safe, and the horrified look didn’t leave Rochelle’s face, even when Erika had started laughing.

Thankfully, once they had all gotten behind the plan, things progressed smoothly, with Brophy guiding the team through the woods to explain the different routes they would be taking. He had put together a series of encounter plans, which everyone listened to carefully. It sounded convoluted at first, but after his third time explaining it, they started to understand. Ioseph had a series of unfinished battle-wards on the trees around their safe zones. All they needed were a few seconds and Ioseph would have them covered with barriers.

Sal would be in the trees, acting as their scout and picking out the targets. To improve communication, Brophy decided that Erika would read Sal’s mind from a safer position farther into the forest. They had found a set of trees that had a line of sight, which would give Sal plenty of time to warn them of the ambushers approaching.

Brophy would be stationed with Sal, giving him enough time to escape back to safety before retreating himself. Ioseph would be stationed with Erika and Rochelle. It was a chaotic plan, that involved them sacrificing the building, but everyone was behind it completely. It was using tactics that suited their abilities, and gave them a much stronger chance of ambushing their attackers.

Sal looked around at the group and gave them a thumbs-up. “That should be all of them. Should we get into position and wait them out?” He looked at Erika, who nodded and hiked her thumb over her shoulder.

“Yes. Let’s get into position now and keep an eye out for their approach. Can you put the illusion Erika into the tower?”

She squinted at the tower in the distance, and Sal could almost tell what she was thinking. It was a preposterous amount of space to project an image to, but just as Barry said, the effort it took to maintain static illusions was ridiculously low as long as you didn’t make them move much.

“Sure can. I’ll set it up now.” Sal tapped the side of his visor and brought up the saved template.

He had to position it manually, which was quite difficult from a distance, so the team got to enjoy a floating Erika phasing through the building at weird angles a few times before it finally looked natural. The template that he had chosen made the fake Erika look diligent in her scouting duties.

“Don’t forget the eyes,” Erika reminded him as she looked at the illusion.

Sal switched out the template with the one with her powers activated, and the golden eyes suddenly became visible in the distance. It would keep the ambushers’ attention on Erika’s eyes rather than the ground they were stepping on. Even if Ioseph saw it as cowardly, it was a pretty smart play. Sal definitely owed Barry a crafted knife for that suggestion, especially if it resulted in them getting a win.

“Looks like everything is in order,” Brophy remarked as he took special care of where he was stepping. “Shall we move now? They should be arriving in a couple of hours.”

Sal took one last glance at the illusion before turning and setting off with the team. He felt confident in their plan, but there were so many things that could go wrong. All he was certain of was that they were going to try their best.

It was less than an hour before Sal saw movement with his tracker. His locked targets had come into view and approached the camp in a wide circle formation.

The sun was still setting, and it was an earlier attack than what they had experienced up to that point, but they were ready this time. Sal was perched on the higher branches of a tree, almost twenty feet above ground level. His revolver was primed and ready for any attack, and his eyes followed their movements carefully. From his own memory, he knew that they were coming close to some of their perimeter wards, and it was likely going to kick off soon.

Sal had to fight with himself to remain calm. His heart thundered as he tried desperately to get it under control. He couldn’t tell whether it was excitement or anxiety, or a blend of both.

One of the ambushers halted suddenly and took a knee. The silhouette of their body was visible in the distance, and Sal could see them gesturing for another person to come up carefully. It was too far to see any of the signals that were being communicated between the groups.

Sal was sure they had noticed one of the traps, and he was hoping that it was one of the visible ones. If they were able to identify the ones covered in illusions, it would drastically reduce their chances of success.

The red shapes on his visor moved around the trap and kept a close eye on the ground in front of them. Their approach had slowed at the discovery of potential traps. The others moving gradually closer to the camp hadn’t slowed down, which had ultimately resulted in the party starting with a bang.

A wide smile crossed Sal’s face as the first explosion erupted in the distance. One of the invisible traps had been triggered, and resulted in pandemonium as the other ambushers froze in place. Many of them were communicating to one another with rapid hand signals that Sal didn’t understand, but he got the idea that they were trying to determine what had just happened.

The individual who had stepped on the trap was lying on their back, but Sal saw them raise their hands to give a slight round of applause. It wasn’t nearly enough to take them out, but they acknowledged the trap as being enough to defeat them in the exercise.

One of the silhouettes disappeared, and Sal knew that it was the ethereal woman. He kept scanning the horizon to see where she’d reappear, and his heart froze as he contemplated whether he had been found out already. Much to his relief, her body took form on the other side of the camp barrier, in a narrow space between their fortified keep and the barriers. She looked like she was hiding to carry out a surprise attack.

The illusion of Erika in the tower was making the group cautious of approaching within a certain line of sight, but the explosion had made them wary of the ground at their feet. As a result, the forward movement of each person had slowed to a snail’s pace. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the ambushers moved tentatively closer, avoiding all the visible traps on the ground. It took close to ten minutes before the next explosion erupted near the camp. Whatever communication went on between the group, all of them seemed to activate at the same time.

Sal twisted his head in multiple directions to keep sight of all the ambushers as they broke forward into a run. Maybe it was an attempt to regain momentum, with two of their team already taken down. He watched as two of the ambushers launched into the air in an incredible jump, bringing them into what they assumed was the safety of the camp.

Unfortunately for them, the entire surface area of the interior was connected to explosive wards. When the first made contact with the ground, it exploded in shards of rock and dirt, creating a temporary cloud of dust. The second desperately tried to latch onto the rooftop of the keep, but his momentum dragged him down to make contact with the ground. His foot barely graced the rock before he was launched back into the air with an assortment of rock and debris.

In just a few seconds, they had managed to dispatch four of the ambushers: two from carelessness in the forest, and two who tried to jump to safety. When the dust finally cleared, the two ambushers were revealed to be sitting on the ground, looking around curiously as they pointed at the wards. Sal wished he could hear them from that distance, but his Deduction ability was telling him that they were likely conversing about the traps. He could have figured that one out himself, but he was grateful that the visor tried to help.

With the smokescreen girl still in hiding, it left five ambushers in the forest who had managed to get to the barriers. Sal barely noticed it in time, but a projectile was thrown directly at the illusion of Erika. He tried to move her position to a template that would make her take cover, but in his haste, he loaded the template that had her celebrating. He watched in horror as Erika’s image raised a clenched fist in the air as the grenade sailed straight over her shoulder and bounced against the rooftop behind.

An abrupt flash of light burst out from the device and to everyone watching, Erika hadn’t reacted in the slightest. That was enough to make the ambushers suspicious, and they exchanged a series of hand signals to one another. The two dispatched people who sat in front of the keep laughed as they figured out the illusion, and Sal hoped they wouldn’t communicate it to the rest of the team. His visor was telling him that the ethereal woman was moving forward and backward anxiously from her hiding space, trying to get a read on the situation.

A crackling sound in the distance tore Sal’s eyes back to the ambushers who had reached the barriers of the camp. One hit the barrier repeatedly at a terrifying speed. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for it to be destroyed completely, giving the group full access to the camp. It was still out of illusion Erika’s line of sight, and the surviving five people moved into the area cautiously. To Sal’s relief, the two guys on the ground didn’t say a thing or make any signals. Instead, they lay on the ground as though they were dead.

With ruthless efficiency, the team got into place and started to storm the keep. One of them had forcefully ripped open the door, leaving space for another to invade the building. Sal saw them falter ever so slightly at the empty surroundings, but a moment later they launched themselves up the stairs to take out Erika. Sal turned his head around and looked in the direction of the real Erika, who was perched in a distant tree. Her gold eyes watched him intently.

“Do it now,” Sal whispered as he sent the most deliberate thought he could.

Erika glanced down and made a gesture to Ioseph, who got to work immediately. Prestige’s advice was to destroy the keep, and they intended to do just that. Ioseph had rigged the entire place to explode, using all the gathered essence and Amplification ability to make something devastating.

Sal didn’t want to do it, but it was the best solution for their team. He was proud of the building, but it was unlikely that he would ever return to this place in the future. There was no point in being sentimental about it.

Turning his head back to watch the ambushers, he could see that the others had entered at the urging of the person invading the space. It wouldn’t take long for them to realize it was a trap, and Sal hoped Ioseph would remotely activate it soon.

Before the thought fully formed in his head, Sal watched in grim satisfaction as the walls of the keep buckled in unison. The red silhouettes inside rushed toward the door when the runes activated, but only a couple of them managed to get outside before the place erupted in a roar of snapping wood.

Whatever Amplify did to the runes seemed to have elevated the destruction to a whole new level. An invisible explosion of force destroyed the walls in sequence as the roof flew into the air at an angle. It was like an enormous bubble of air had expanded from the inside, and it reduced its container into weaponized shrapnel. Wood blasted in every direction, slamming into the ambushers unlucky enough to be in its range.

An aggravated wail sounded out from one of the ambushers, and Sal was horrified to see a shard of wood embedded into their thigh. A wave of guilt surged through Sal, and he fought to repress it. He couldn’t lose focus at a time like this.

The ethereal woman had been forced into the barriers by the blast but hadn’t been knocked out or incapacitated. She disappeared and didn’t reappear anywhere that Sal could see. It made him anxious, but he tried his best to ignore the dread growing in the pit of his stomach.

“How many did we get?” Brophy whispered from the ground below, his eyes still trained on the remnants of their camp.

Sal counted the ones he could see before giving a report.

“Two taken out in the forest, two taken out in the campgrounds, and three taken out with the building. I’ve lost sight of the teleporting one but can see the two survivors of the blast. They’re not coming this way yet.”

Their odds were good, and it really was a relief, but the danger wasn’t over yet. Just one of those people would be enough to take them out.

When Sal turned around to share the report with Erika, he froze at the sight of the teleporting woman standing on the branch above Erika. She hadn’t done anything yet but was watching her carefully. Sal implored Erika not to react to the danger above her, and Sal’s visor could see her almost imperceptible nod of understanding.

Ioseph’s barriers protected them from straight attacks, but not ones that came from above. Rochelle would be a bad match for a fight with her, as she needed time to siphon off essence. Their group was built for a war of attrition rather than a fast dispatch, and Sal was worried that they would get taken out the moment the ethereal woman attacked.

Sal raised his revolver and took aim at her. There was at least forty feet between the two locations and if he could take her out before she attacked, then they’d have a much better chance. Just as his finger tightened on the trigger, she disappeared from sight. He sent the instruction to Erika that the girl was gone, and that they should change location immediately. It didn’t look like he and Brophy had been spotted yet, but Erika’s group had absolutely been compromised.

When Sal turned around to check on the other surviving ambushers, he saw that the ethereal woman stood beside them, pointing directly at Erika’s group. They’d have seconds to retreat before the ambushers were upon them, and Sal was about to turn toward Erika to see whether she had heeded his warning when he saw the woman change the direction of her gesture. She was pointing directly at him. He didn’t know whether she was bluffing, or whether this was a method to intimidate him. When she waved at him from the distance, he was certain that she had noticed him.

“Brophy.” Sal didn’t even bother to whisper. “You’re up.”