Prism had been surprised when he'd discovered a small mana convergence just outside the hole in the wall. Its mystical energies were so condensed and localized that he could have missed them entirely in his mana-starved condition. But he'd been just close enough to see it, just close enough to absorb it all in one greedy gulp. However, just as it was dangerous for a starving human to eat too much too soon, Prism's sudden absorption of the convergence had its own risks.

  Ursun raised his hand up to Prism. “Hold on,” the commander shared with a harshness that reminded everyone who was in charge. He could see the telltale signs of Prism’s mana-high; the enlarged pupils and the sweat that started to bead down his forehead. “You need to cover our escape. That’s the priority right now.”

  Prism relaxed his shoulders and lowered his chin as he began to glare at Ursun. “Right…of course,” he said flatly.

  “Speet’s the closest to us, so we’ll head to him first. You can than clear the way for us to get to Utcao and Kitra.” Speet and Utcao shared where they were outside in relation to RED-1 while Ursun spoke to everyone telepathically. He ignored Prism’s body posture, knowing it was another temporary side effect of having absorbed such a large amount of mana so quickly. “From there, we’ll all join Cril and Ruz in getting the heck out of here through this mountain’s northern pass.”

  “Good thing you gave us this winter gear. It’s like the beginning of a blizzard out there.” Leanna shared. She watched the snowy wind stop at the blasted opening in the wall in front of them as if there was an invisible barrier in its way. "I'm worried about Speet. The sooner we get to him, the better." Her eyes scanned the opaque white and gray backdrop beyond the barrier for her old friend, but she could only see flashes of gunfire and random missile detonations.

  “What about the other True Twins? Are we going to just let them get slaughtered?” Prism shared with a naked anger that he let travel through the link.

  “My people will be fine. They may not have your magic, but their unity is just as powerful.” Wadaw shared.

  “Nevertheless,” Ursun walked up to Prism, then stopped beside him. He placed his heavy hand on the alien’s armored shoulder. “Do your best to help them as we make our way across the battlefield. Just make sure that you’re keeping us safe, too.”

  “You’re the priority.” Prism made his sarcasm clear to everyone. He felt Ursun squeeze his shoulder like a thinly-veiled threat. Prism scoffed and said, “Shall we, boss?”

  Ursun nodded and Prism took off running out of the base as the guerrillas executed the soldiers that hadn’t been killed by Prism’s wind blast. The rest of his team ran after him, accelerated by the same magic that had restored their health and stamina. They ran out into the wild white winds that streaked across the large open courtyard dotted with a mix of soldiers, guerrillas, androids, and vehicles.

  The partially-lit sky was grey and featureless as the snow fell, making it hard to tell what time of day it was. It made it hard to see the numerous types of projectiles that flew around them, but Prism erected a golden field around each of them to shield them from being struck. Even the invisible energy beams being fired at them did nothing against Prism's magic.

  "Androids are converging on your position." Utcao shared with Prism and the others while he viewed the white machines running across the snow. If it hadn't been for his rifle's specialized scope, he'd have missed the well-camoflauged androids.

  Utcao picked off a few more heavily-armed soldiers from his secluded spot on a rocky outcrop to the east, overlooking the base. A thin black blanket covered him as he lay on his belly, camoflauging him and his weapon from the scanning lasers installed throughout the area. Despite how careful he'd been, he knew that he'd be discovered soon. Each shot from his sniper rifle helped his high-tech enemies pinpoint his location.

  "Not an issue." Prism shared.

  He leapt into the sky as he ran and raised his arms above him, stretching every muscle in his upper body. He brought his fists down upon the ground first, creating a shockwave of blue light that expanded on the ground all around him and his team. As the magic struck the white androids that blended in with their surroundings, each of them stopped in their tracks. They stood like perfect manikins, their rounded joints colored a cloudy white like long-frozen ice. Even the enemy's vehicles and heavy machinery that the radial blue wave made contact with stopped working. It finally stopped after it traveled 100 meters in all directions.

  "Very nice!" Srell shouted aloud and through the link.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  He and Lorias passed by Prism and continued toward Speet, who was within eyeshot of them both. Leanna stopped near Prism as he stood with his fists clenched in front of his chest. "There are still more soldiers and androids headed our way. Is this some sort of EM field or..."

  "Watch and learn," was all Prism said before he stretched out his fingers and closed his eyes.

  The machines that he'd paralyzed started moving on their own again, but not towards Prism. Each android ran to and then attacked the soldier nearest to them. Military vehicles started to run over any soldier that couldn't jump out of their way, leaving the vehicles' drivers and passengers to grip the machines for dear life. The few heavy bipedal and treaded Sguvan mechsuits under Prism's control, each standing at about three meters tall, unloaded their guns and missiles on their previous friendlies while crushing the pilots within them using their adjustable cockpits. With one powerful spell, Prism had gained a mini-army of machines to fight alongside him.

  "Magical Boy, indeed..." Cril shared. He and Ruz watched as the machines spread out across the battlefield, unleashing death and destruction to their previous owners. "Kitra's not far from you guys. We offered her a telepathy clasp, but she refused it."

  Prism opened his eyes, revealing deep blue irises to Leanna. "Back to it, then," he said with a quick nod to Leanna. She smiled and followed him towards the others who'd already met up with Speet. The tall young man kept behind Ursun, Lorias, and Srell as he did his best to keep up with them while carrying his heavy weaponry.

  The BIGPAW he held, also known as the Ballistic Interchangeable Gauge Precision Automatic Weapon, looked like a slightly sleeker version of Ursun's coilgun, save for the backpack it forced Speet to wear. Four black metallic tubes ran from the backpack to the large, heavy weapon, serving to transport the mini-missiles and other projectiles that were made in the backpack's micro-factory to the weapon itself. The backpack, which also contained a bio-computer, even had two smart turrets on either side of it, offering 360 degree protection for its wielder. Weighing over 40 kilograms, the BIGPAW weapons system is only suited for the biggest and strongest Red Wolves.

  “Those cannons might become a problem for us soon.” Leanna shared as she pointed up at the barely-visible, double-barreled, light gray turrets that dotted the top of the round base’s light gray curved walls. The walls were made out of a smooth, basalt-based concrete that made the facility look clean and dignified amongst the snow. “If they restore power to their base, they could mow us all down.”

  “I’ll have the mechs target the turrets, then.” Prism shared. His eyes flashed blue as he sent the command to the machines as if he were a computer himself.

  A sniper up on the wall managed to land a shot directly at Prism’s face. Prism was thrown back by the force of the bullet, landing on his back onto the snow behind him. He closed his eyes and kept his mind trained on the control magic that he was exerting over the machines. He saw through the eyes of on of his mechs, seeing the young sniper who hit him smile to a colleague up on the wall near a turret. Prism had the mech fire a barrage of missiles from its shoulder-mounted launchers, sending a cavalcade of explosions that engulfed the inactive turret and all who were around it.

  “Are you okay!?” Leanna shouted as her eyes moved between the destruction of the turret and Prism bleeding on the ground.

  Prism’s magic barrier had protected him for the most part, but he still felt blood begin to fall from his nostrils down over his lips. All sound around him became muffled and was replaced by a medium tone that only seemed to grow louder. He reached up to feel where the projectile had been deflected from, right between his eyes. He winced and pulled his fingers away when he felt the exposed flesh. He soon saw Leanna standing over him with a can of regenerative gel aimed at his face.

  “No, I’ve got it.” Prism could hardly hear his own voice as he spoke. He pushed away Leanna’s arms as he got up shakily. He took in a deep breath and caused white sparkles of light to shimmer around his head. His injuries vanished and his hearing returned to normal. “See? All better.”

  Leanna shared what had happened over the teams’ link with a quick stream of images, in case any of them had assumed the worst had happened. She and Prism then managed to get to the rest of RED-1 and Speet not long after. Leanna and Speet shared a brief moment of joy upon seeing each other, celebrating how they'd once again beat the odds to survive yet another messed up situation.

  "I was worried, big guy. I thought you'd end up like..." Leanna said after giving Speet a quick hug that was made awkward and difficult by all the gear the two of them were wearing.

  "You're going to bring her up right now? Our little firecracker...*sniff*...you're gonna make me cry in front of everyone." Speet leaned down and said in his low voice as quietly as he could manage. He wiped his nose and looked away from Leanna before firing a homing missile at an approaching group of enemy androids. He was grateful for the sudden distraction as the resulting blast turned the machines into useless bits.

  The Prism-controlled mechs continued to bombard the walls of the base while the androids and vehicles Prism also controlled covered his team's escape across the vast white courtyard. He caught glimpses of guerrillas in isolated skirmishes with soldiers here and there, but the increasingly strong wind and snowfall obscured more and more of the battlefield with each passing second. He briefly thought of using magic to calm the winds and clear their view of their surroundings, but he just as quickly realized that he'd exhaust the rest of his mana if he did that.

  The conditions became so bad that Prism was forced to bring two of the vehicles to him and the others. Ursun, Leanna, Wadaw, and Prism rode in a smaller white all-terrain vehicle while Speet, Lorias, and Srell rode in a larger transport with a heavy mounted gun affixed to the back. Speet had no trouble manning the gun as he holstered his own on the side of his backpack.

  “Anyone see Kitra yet?” Wadaw asked the two teams telepathically.

  “The last time I saw her, she was helping a few True Twins onto a vehicle that I’d “liberated”,” shared Utcao along with his brief memory of shooting the vehicle’s driver.

  “Wasn’t one of mine…” Prism shared. He modified his vision to better see through the blizzard, but he could barely tell the friendlies and the enemies apart. “This is madness.” He thought to himself.

  Cril left Ruz's side and got into a small white snowmobile only a few meters from their discrete vantage point in a wooded area overlooking the militarized valley on the edge of the Amagadi mountainside. "Kitra's determined to take this base. We'll be here a while, but not too much longer," he shared as he zoomed off to join the fighting.

  "Go on, get out of here. We'll manage here." Ruz shared confidently over their combined links. He stood with his hands on his hips while he lost what little visibility he had of the base below. "Speet knows where to find us once you losers get off the mountain. You can borrow him until then."

  There were telepathic chuckles and sarcastic exchanges, but ultimately RED-1 did as Ruz said. With the continued use of his magic, Prism drove the two vehicles closely to one another, doing their best not to leave each other’s sight. They were soon driving free of the battlefield, up into the woods that that rose further up onto the mountain.