Postmaster
This too shall pass.
In the entrance hall of the building, Beckton stayed as flat as possible against the wall and risked a look out of the open doors.
It was chaos. Cars were on aflame, filling the otherwise overcast palette with fiery yellow and rich orange tones. He could see a number of green-uniformed GIs, gunfire illuminating their positions behind walls and vehicles.
Further down the road and firing back with considerable gusto were a smaller number of overcoated civilians, but they were supported by arcane fire that came roaring in from somewhere out of sight. There were already several scorched bodies scattered here and there, and the Army troopers were clearly being pushed back.
Beckton held up a hand as Osterley came out into the corridor, one hand holding her weapon and the other her skirts - worn leather boots just poking out underneath. Behind her was Newkirk, who was preparing a spell.
"Tell me you have something big."
The wizard nodded. His eyes glowed like embers.
"Fireball. I'll need some cover."
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Comments (3 so far!)
HSAR
GI - with a variety of meanings, but most commonly used as "General Issue" - was a generic term used for the soldiers of the US Army.
The enemy are using Firebolt, which as mentioned in "Helen of Bikini" (#41641) and "X-Ray" (#41643) is a very common and effective offensive magical spell.
A quick note about the background of the piece - in this timeline I equate mankind's harnessing of gunpowder, explosives and petrochemicals during the interwar and early WW2 period with their equivalent mastery of the element of fire. Thus we see in "X-Ray" (#41643) and "Teller-Ullam" (#41660) that Beckton and Newkirk are attacked thusly, with modern spellcasting. We see this again here.
As mentioned in "Helen of Bikini" (#41641), Fireball is an explosive, wide-area spell of the third level. A spell of considerable power and wide effect, Newkirk clearly intends to make his entrance with style.
- #3902 Posted 4 years ago
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HSAR
Operation Postmaster was a successful operation conducted by the British Special Operations Executive to commandeer a valuable cargo vessel with a potentially German-allied captain on the West African island of Fernando Po. Technically in neutral Spanish waters, the flagrant disregard of neutrality meant that the operation was not communicated to British governmental figures until its success.
@RQ: The iron filings trick is mine! I'm quite proud of it - sometimes you have to go a little low-tech.
- #3903 Posted 4 years ago
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Inspired by (sequel to):
Osterley approached Newkirk as he placed a sheet of waxed canvas on the floor and unscrewed the cap …
Wildhorn- Published 4 years ago and featured 4 years ago.
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Robert Quick
His eyes glowed like embers is the great line. Gave me chills a little.