Ballistic Coefficient

"Kayla, move!" Pale shouted as she hurriedly reloaded her weapon, then began to pour fire down on the advancing horde. Several people dropped dead under her onslaught of bullets, but they kept coming, and she was forced to retreat backwards, Kayla following after her.

Pale reloaded once more, continuing to shoot even as she ran away. Her and Kayla sprinted deeper into the forest, trying their best to lose their pursuers, but it was no use – Pale wasn't sure how many she'd cut down, but it simply wasn't enough, as she could still hear them all lumbering through the forest after them.

"What do we do?!" Kayla shouted.

Pale looked around, frantically looking for something they could use. Her gaze landed on the nearby trees, and her eyes narrowed.

"Burn the forest."

"What?! But-"

"Now, Kayla!"

Kayla didn't argue further, instead obliging Pale's request. In an instant, several trees went up in flames, which began to spread through the dense, dead foliage with ease. Once she saw that the fire had been started, Pale grabbed Kayla and pushed her deeper into the forest, then followed after her, taking shots at anything that moved behind them.

The fire spread rapidly, and before long, Pale heard a chorus of panicked screams erupt from behind them. That was both reassuring and worrying – the former because it meant her impromptu plan had bought them some time, and the latter because it wouldn't be long before the flames reached them, as well.

"Back to the beach," Pale commanded.

Kayla bristled. "We can't leave-"

"We aren't. But we need to leave the forest now, while we still have a chance."

Kayla hesitated. Pale instantly grabbed her and forced her to stare into her eyes.

"Do you trust me?" Kayla nodded. "Then listen. We need to get back to the beach, and fast. Understand?" That earned her another nod. Pale let her go, then without another word, began to double-time it back to the beach. Behind her, the forest continued to burn, the bandits still screaming as they were set upon by the flames.

Eventually, they reached the beach, and Kayla doubled over, gasping for breath. She looked up at Pale, and through gulps of air, managed to get out, "What… is your plan now?"

"This. Cover your ears."

Pale snapped her fingers. For a moment, nothing happened, but then, something came streaking across the sky, almost faster than either girl could track it. It fell into the forest, and the moment it did, the entire thing went up in a massive explosion. Kayla was knocked down by the shockwave, landing in a heap on the ground; all she could do was stop and stare at the crater where the forest had once stood, watching the smoke curl up from it into the sky.

"W-what…" She swallowed nervously. "What did you just do?"

"250-millimeter explosive shell," Pale reported. She offered Kayla a hand and pulled her to her feet.

"And… you have more of those?"

"Only a few."

"Y-you… you couldn't use something a little less destructive?"

Pale's face darkened. "That was the less destructive option."

Again, Kayla swallowed nervously, her whole body beginning to tremble as she surveyed the destruction once more. After a moment, Pale checked her weapon to make sure it was fully loaded, then began to march back towards the forest.

"Wait!" Kayla called. "You're going back in?"

"Of course," Pale said without looking back. "We still need to get your father back." She cast a glance back at Kayla over her shoulder. "You coming or what?"

Kayla didn't need to be told twice.

​XXX

The girls marched through the remnants of the forest, Pale listening as Kayla dry-heaved behind her at every mutilated body they found. By her estimate, a good portion of the bandits had died to smoke inhalation or been burned to death before she'd even called in the artillery shell. There must have been a few mages with them, because she could see traces where they'd attempted to douse the flames with water or earth, only to be caught by surprise when she called down the shell on top of them.

There were a few odd survivors, still managing to cling to life through ruined limbs or grievous burns; Pale, for her part, was careful to put them all out of their misery with a single well-placed shot. Kayla whimpered at every man she executed, but she paid it no mind.

This was war as she knew it – brutal, without mercy, and on a certain level, inevitable. As far as she was concerned, these men had signed their own death warrants the moment they'd made a mad dash for the two of them with murder in their eyes. Putting them down was necessary for the success of the mission, same as it always was.

They made it through the remnants of the forest easily enough, emerging out the other side and marching towards the town. The women and children were still there, and upon seeing them and only them exit the forest in one piece, many of them screamed and began to rush them; Pale tensed, raising her weapon just in case, but it proved unnecessary for most, as the people simply ran past them and towards what remained of the trees, trying in vain to search for their loved ones.

"Gods…" Kayla muttered. "I… I didn't think-"

"Don't feel bad," Pale said without looking over to her. "Those men did the same thing to countless other people. Ultimately, they had this coming to them."

Kayla said nothing in response. Pale could tell she wasn't happy with that answer, but it was all she had to offer at the moment.

The two of them made their way to the center of town, where Sven's house was situated. He was still there, Kayla's father still bound and kneeling at his feet. When he saw them approach, his eyes widened.

"Kayla…" he breathed, tears filling his eyes.

"Dad!" she called. She was about to rush him when Pale stopped her by holding out a hand.

"Wait," she said.

"Wait?! My father is-"

"Sven wants you to rush in." Pale turned her attention towards the bandit leader, giving him a pointed look. "He's waiting for one of us to do something stupid."

"Pale-"

"Don't argue this point with me. I can tell just by looking at him that Sven is a cut above the others we've had to fight."

"You have me at a loss, I'm afraid," Sven Greymane said evenly. "You know who I am, and yet, I know nothing of the two of you."

"And we'll be keeping it that way. I'll make this simple – hand over the girl's father or this town will be razed to its very foundation, along with everyone in it."

"Pale!" Kayla protested.

Sven merely smirked. "I think not."

Pale bristled. "Did you not see what happened to all your men in the forest? Do not try to test me, Greymane."

"First off, those weren't all my men. Those weren't even a fraction of my men. Did you truly think I was warrior-king over just this little village?" Sven shook his head. "I have a great many men at my disposal, young lady, not that you will ever get to meet them in-person. As for your little ultimatum… there is one problem with it – if you were going to raze this town and everyone in it, as you claim, then you would have done so already without having to expose yourself to me." His grin widened. "You know what I think? I think whatever you did in the forest, it's much more indiscriminate than you would have me believe. You can't risk doing that again for fear of killing the girl's father, because you need him back for her."

Pale scowled. Sven barked out a laugh. "Ah, I knew I was correct! Well, now that I have you figured out, let's say we have a little chat, hm? Tell me who you are, otherwise I'll kill him right here."

Sven drew his knife again, placing it against his captive's throat. Immediately, Kayla screamed.

"No, don't!" she begged. "Pale, please talk to him!"

"If you kill him, you'll lose your only hostage," she warned. "There will be nothing stopping me at that point."

"You still won't be able to use your strange magic without killing yourself and your friend," Sven pointed out. "And before you say you'll simply walk out and use it once you're a safe distance away, I assure you, that won't happen, either."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'll have killed you both long before you've made it to the outskirts of town. Simple as that."

"You're awfully confident."

"Because I know your weapon doesn't work on me." Sven stretched his arms out. "Don't believe me? Try it. I'll give you as many free hits as you want, even. It'll just make killing you all the sweeter."

Pale's scowl deepened, but she didn't take his bait. Instead, she stood there, trying to desperately think of some way out of this. The only thing that was clear to her was that Sven was right – he must have been a mage of some kind, because just like earlier, her bullets kept pinging off some kind of invisible barrier before they could make impact with him.

That meant her only option was to get up close and personal with him.

Grimacing, she slung her rifle, then drew her pistol in one hand and her own knife in the other. Sven grinned at her once more.

"Ooh, how daring!" he complimented. "It's not often that I find someone with a backbone like you, whoever you are. Tell me, before I kill you – what's your name?"

Pale didn't rise to the challenge, instead beginning to cautiously creep forwards, her pistol trained directly on Sven's head. After a few seconds, his grin faded.

"I said, what's your name?"

Still, she offered no response. Sven's face suddenly contorted in rage.

"Such dishonor…! Very well, then – I suppose I will simply have to have my fun another way."

Then, before Pale could react, Sven pointed past her, at Kayla. A large mound of earth and stone suddenly tore its way out of the ground, and came flying towards her. Kayla was unprepared to deal with it, and Pale heard a dull crack followed by a moan of pain come from just behind her. Instantly, her eyes widened in shock, and she whipped around.

"Kayla!"

Kayla was lying in a heap on the ground, a trickle of blood flowing out from a crack in her forehead deep enough to expose part of her skull underneath. Still, against all odds, she wasn't out of the fight – she struggled to her feet, wincing as she did so. A wave of relief washed over Pale, though it was quick to fade when she heard Sven rush her down.

She turned just in time to avoid having her throat slashed by Sven's dagger. Her heart skipped a beat, and Pale instinctively tried to bring her .45 around, but Sven intercepted it. Pain blossomed across her dominant arm as he impaled it with his knife, forcing her to drop her pistol, the gun discharging a shot that harmlessly pinged off of his barrier before landing on the ground. Before Pale could recover and go for a stab of her own, Sven brutally kicked her in the torso, sending her skidding across the ground; she landed next to Kayla, but leaped to her feet.

"Interesting," Sven observed, his gaze dropping to the discarded handgun lying at his feet. He went to bend down and pick it up, and as he did so, Kayla fired several bolts of lightning at him, but they had no effect. Pale tensed as he picked up the gun, and then aimed it at them.

"How does it work, I wonder?"

Sven's finger stroked the trigger, and the gun barked, discharging a shot into the ground a few meters away from him. Slowly, a wide smile split his face.

"Oh, I like this," he observed, aiming it at them once more. "I like it a lot."

"Kayla, behind me!" Pale shouted. Kayla ducked behind her just in time for a shot to ring out; it struck Pale directly in her body armor, her plates catching the round, causing her to let out a grunt of discomfort as she felt the lightweight depleted uranium deform slightly in order to contain the bullet.

Sven was unperturbed, however – he continued to pull the trigger even as Pale started to advance, her knife in hand. He fired again and again; his technique was off, but by sheer luck, he managed to get a hit in her left shoulder. Pale grunted as she felt the .45 caliber hollow point burrow its way into her shoulder, missing the bone by mere millimeters.

She was counting his shots as he advanced, and by this time, she knew he only had one left. Sven took aim at her once more, and Pale tensed.

Then, at the last moment, Kayla's father moved. He jumped up from his spot on the ground, latching onto Sven's arm and throwing his aim off. The gun discharged one final time, but it wasn't a miss – instead, Pale watched as the round erupted out of the man's back.

"Father, no!" Kayla screamed.

He fell to the ground, clutching at the hole in his torso with wide eyes. Blood poured from his wound; Pale grit her teeth at the sight of it, but there was nothing she could do about it, even as he fell to the ground and laid there motionlessly. Kayla tried to charge past her, but Pale stopped her, holding her there.

"Let me go, damn it!" Kayla screamed, tears pouring down her face. "Father! Father!"

Across from them, Sven stared at the gun, its slide locked back. He attempted to raise it towards them and fire it again, but got nothing. He shrugged, then unceremoniously dumped it on the ground.

"I suppose that was a fun play-fight," he blithely stated as Kayla dropped to her knees and began to sob, her eyes locked on to her father's corpse. "Now then, what to do with you two…? The Beastkin would make a good slave, but the other seems a bit feisty to be a good slave… then again, perhaps her weapons could be useful, if she knows how to make more of them…"

Pale grit her teeth, rage welling up within her. With a final, desperate cry, she reached for her rifle, raising it and dumping another full mag directly into Sven. Just like the last one, it had absolutely no effect. Across from her, Sven shrugged.

"It can't be helped, I suppose," he stated, taking a step towards them. "I'll find a spot for you two yet."

Pale didn't wait to hear more. Instead, she dropped her rifle and took Kayla by the hand, then began to run. Kayla tried to fight her, but Pale wasn't having it – she used all her strength to drag Kayla along as she ran out of the camp, and as she did so, with her free hand, she snapped her fingers just as they reached the treeline.

Unlike the last artillery strike, this was no mere single shell. Behind them, the night sky was suddenly illuminated by an entire orbital bombardment. Kayla gave another choked sob as she watched the entire bandit encampment go up in explosion after explosion, knowing that if her father wasn't already gone for sure, he would be now.

Pale dragged Kayla back to the boat and threw her in, then climbed in herself before pushing off from the shore. She gave one final look behind her, but Sven seemed to have stopped his pursuit at some point, as he was no longer following them. She breathed a sigh of relief as the wind struck the boat's sail, propelling them forwards across the sea. Pale stared up at the night sky as it was rocked by a final few explosions, listening to the symphony of destruction she'd left behind her, as well as Kayla's crying. A hollow pit formed in her stomach as the realization of what had just happened sank in.

She'd failed.