Harlequin glanced over his shoulder at Britton as he went. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Something new,” Britton answered. “Go back to your masters. Tell them that their precious regulations are no longer valid. Tell them there’s a new way.
“From now on, Latent people get a real choice. And I don’t mean a choice between soldier and Selfer. Tell them if they don’t get my message out, I’ll do it my damned self. You can’t stop me from doing the one thing you fear the most: telling the truth. I can make sure that people know about the Source, the FOB, what you really do with Probes, everything.
“And this. Tell them I’ll be visiting them real soon to discuss the new order: President Walsh, Senator Whalen, all of them. They have this one chance to do the right thing. After that, I’ll visit the newspapers and TV stations. They don’t get to decide how magic is regulated anymore. You know why? Because I can be anywhere at any time, I can spread the word. I can show everyone the world they’re so desperately trying to hide, and there’s no way they can stop me.”
Harlequin nodded, the corners of his mouth rising slightly. “You’re one hell of a dreamer, Oscar. I’ll be seeing you real soon.”
“I’ll be ready,” Britton said, as the Aeromancer stepped through the gate, the rest of the assault force in tow. Sirens had already begun to sound outside the White House fence, and Britton could see white-shirted police pushing their way through the crowd.
When the last of the soldiers was safely through, he closed the gate and stared out over the ruins of the village. Already, the wreckage of the helicopter had begun to cool, and several Goblins picked through it or hauled off the small children who were playing too close to the remaining fires.
Behind him, Britton could feel the gazes of what remained of the group he’d led out of the wreckage of the SASS: Therese, Swift, Tsunami, Peapod. He could hear Marty speaking in soothing tones to his tribe, who were crowding closer. Truelove cradled Downer, still unconscious. Britton could feel the tension of their expectation, waiting for his attention.
But he took a moment before that next step, inhaling the intensified smells of the Source. The air was still thick with the stench of blood, fear, oil, and spent gunpowder, but underneath it was something sweeter, a light odor that spoke of the hearths in the houses still standing, of the buds on the old tree behind him that had been spared the fire, of the acres of grass and foreign trees just outside the palisade wall.
Oscar Britton took a deep breath and turned to face the coming dawn.
GLOSSARY OF MILITARY TERMS, ACRONYMS, AND SLANG
This novel deals largely with the United States military. As anyone familiar with the military knows, it has a vocabulary of acronyms, slang, and equipment references large enough to constitute its own language. Some readers may be familiar with it. For those who are not, I provide the following glossary. Many of these terms are fictional. Many are not.
ANG — Air National Guard.
AOR — Area of Responsibility.
Apache — An attack helicopter, also known as a helicopter gunship.
APC — Armored Personnel Carrier.
ATTD — Asset Tracking/Termination Device. A beacon/bomb that can be placed inside a person to track their movements and, if necessary, to kill them.
Blackhawk — A utility/transport helicopter.
Butter-Bar — A second lieutenant in land-or air-based service, or an ensign in maritime service. The lowest commissioned officer rank in the United States military.
CAC–Common Access Card. A government identification card used across all five branches of the US military.
Carbine — A shortened, lighter version of the traditional assault rifle used by infantry. It is better suited for tight spaces common in urban operations.
CO — Commanding Officer.
Comms — Communications.
Coven — Replaces a squad for organizational purposes when magic-using soldiers are concerned. A conventional squad contains four to ten soldiers led by a staff sergeant. A Coven contains four to five SOC Sorcerers, led by a captain. Training Covens are led by a warrant officer.
CSH — Combat Support Hospital. Pronounced “Cash.” A field hospital, successor to the MASH units of TV fame.
DFAC — Dining Facility.
Druid — Selfer slang for a Terramancer.
EC — European Caliphate. The political entity, operating under strict Islamic Sharia law, which now encompasses the former European Union.
Elementalist — A person practicing the prohibited school of Sentient Elemental Conjuration. This is the act of imbu-ing Elementals with self-awareness. This is different from automatons — Elementals with no thought, who are entirely dependent on the sorcerer for command and control.
FOB — Forward Operating Base.
GIMAC — Gate-Integrated Modern Army Combatives — MAC integrated with Portamancy. Also known as “gate-fu.” See MAC definition below.
Go Dynamic — Command given to assault a target without regard to stealth.
Go Nova — When a magic user is overwhelmed by the current of their own magical power. This results in a painful death similar to burning. A person who has “gone nova” is sometimes referred to as a “magic sink.”
Healer — A Physiomancer. They are sometimes also referred to as “Renders” in deference to their ability to damage flesh as well as repair it. Offensive Physiomancy is prohibited under the Geneva Convention’s magical amendment. Offensive use of Physiomancy is also known as “Rending.”
Helo — Helicopter.
Hooch — Living quarters. Can also be used as a verb. “You’ll hooch here.”
Hot — Under fire. Usually refers to an arrival under fire. A “hot LZ” would be landing an aircraft under fire. Also refers to a state of military readiness where personnel are prepared for immediate action.
Indig — Indigenous.
Indirect Fire — Sometimes shortened to simply “Indirect.” An attack, either magical or conventional, aimed without relying on direct line of sight to the target. This usually refers to artillery, rocket, or mortar fire, but also Pyromantic flame strikes and Aeromantic lightning attacks.
IO — Information Operations.
JAG — Judge Advocate General. The legal branch of any of the United States armed services.
KIA — Killed in Action.
Kiowa — A light reconnaissance helicopter.
Klick — A kilometer or kilometers per hour.
Latent — Any individual who possesses magical ability, detected or otherwise.
Little Bird — A small helicopter usually used to insert/extract commandos.
Logs — Logistics.
LSA — Logistical Staging Area.
LZ — Landing Zone.
MAC — Modern Army Combatives. A martial art unique to the United States Army, based on Brazilian Jiujitsu.
Manifest — The act of realizing one’s Latency and displaying magical ability. Latent people Manifest at various times in their lives — some at birth, some on their deathbed, and at all times in between. Nobody knows why it
