Reborn General: My Interstellar Arsenal Slays Magic

Chapter 5: Ambush at Crow's Throat

Dawn broke over the Northern Pass in a haze of pale gray and biting frost. At the narrowest bend of Crow’s Throat—a jagged cliff-side trail sandwiched between a sheer mountain wall and a two-hundred-foot drop—the mountain wind howled like a dying beast.

Leonidas lay prone on a ridge overlooking the pass, wrapped in a white snow-camo ghillie cloak. Beside him, Kael held a lightweight tactical monitor that received a live video feed from the RQ-11 Raven drone gliding silently three thousand feet above the clouds.

"Target sighted, Commander," Kael whispered, his breath pluming in the freezing air. His finger traced a cluster of heat signatures moving down the canyon road on the screen. "Three heavy transport wagons, twenty mounted provincial knights, and two robes... mages."

Leonidas adjusted the optical scope of his newly unlocked Barrett M107A1 .50-caliber sniper rifle. The massive anti-materiel weapon rested steady on its bipod, its long barrel pointed down into the gorge.

"Distance: nine hundred meters," Leonidas murmured, his voice as calm as still water. "Wind: seven knots East-Northeast. Kael, inform Teams Alpha and Bravo to hold their positions behind the rockfall until the lead wagon passes the mark."

"Copy that," Kael spoke into his tactical radio headset.

Down in the pass, the snow crunched beneath the iron-shod hooves of heavy armored warhorses. At the head of the convoy rode Captain Voris of the Provincial Guard, his silver plate armor etched with minor protection runes. Beside him rode two court mages, their long wool cloaks pulled tight against the cold as they complained bitterly about the northern climate.

"A waste of time," one of the mages grumbled, rubbing his gloved hands together. "Escorting raw mana-stones through this frozen wasteland while the capital prepares for the Imperial Summit."

"Quiet, Mage Julian," Captain Voris warned, his hand resting on his broadsword. "Reports came in last night that Prince Valen’s delegation encountered trouble at Frostpeak. The wilderness isn't safe."

"Trouble?" Julian scoffed. "From that mana-less garbage cadet? The prince probably caught a cold and blamed the locals."

A mile away on the ridge, Leonidas aligned his crosshairs directly with the center of Captain Voris’s chest plate.

Purchased: 5x .50 BMG Raufoss Mk 211 High-Explosive Armor-Piercing Incendiary Rounds (50 Credits).

"Let's show the capital how cold the North really is," Leonidas whispered, slowly exhaling.

BOOM!

The heavy rifle roared like a cannon shot.

Down in the pass, long before the sound of the gunshot even reached their ears, the supersonic .50-caliber incendiary round struck Captain Voris. The bullet shattered his magical chest rune, blew through his steel plate armor, and detonated inside his torso. The provincial captain was blasted clean off his warhorse, his upper body exploding into a cloud of crimson mist and burning metal fragments.

"AMBUSH!" the second mage shrieked, his eyes wide with absolute horror as Voris's headless horse galloped frantically into the snow. "PROTECTIVE BARRIERS NOW!"

The two mages frantically began chanting, their staffs igniting with bright yellow defensive mana-shields.

BOOM!

Leonidas cycled the bolt and fired a second shot. The round hit the lead mage’s barrier spell full force. The sheer kinetic energy—over fourteen thousand foot-pounds of force combined with an explosive incendiary payload—didn't just breach the barrier; it shattered the mage’s mana core entirely, throwing his mangled body into the rocky cliffside.

"FIRE!" Kael shouted into his comms.

From the rocks on both sides of the narrow pass, twenty conscripts from Teams Alpha and Bravo popped up from hidden snow trenches, opening up with M240B medium machine guns and assault rifles.

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

A wall of 7.62mm and 5.56mm lead swept across the narrow canyon. The provincial knights, trapped in a single-file line between the mountain and the cliff, had nowhere to run. Their plate armor, designed to deflect arrows and glancing sword blows, was shredded within seconds by concentrated heavy machine-gun fire.

Warhorses reared and collapsed; knights fell like standing corn before a scythe. The surviving mage tried to cast an incendiary fireball, but before the spell circle could even form, three high-velocity rounds from Team Alpha took him in the head and chest, cutting his incantation short.

In less than forty seconds, the entire escort of twenty elite provincial soldiers was completely wiped out.

"Cease fire! Secure the convoy!" Kael ordered over the radio.

The firing stopped, replaced by the crackle of burning supply wagons and the groans of dying horses.

Leonidas stood up from the ridge, slinging the massive Barrett sniper rifle across his back. He hiked down the snowy slope to the pass, where his men were already sweeping the area, checking for survivors, and securing the transport wagons.

Kael pried open the heavy iron lock of the main transport wagon with the butt of his rifle. Inside sat dozens of reinforced oak chests. When he cracked one open, a blinding blue light illuminated the blood-stained snow.

Thousands of pure, high-density mana-stones glittered in the dark.

"Commander..." Kael gasped, his eyes reflecting the brilliant blue glow. "This isn't just a monthly tax. This is enough mana-stone to fuel an entire Imperial battle-fleet for a month."

Gideon, the former Imperial guard, stepped forward, his face pale. "Lord Vance... this convoy wasn't meant for the provincial garrison. This was the Imperial Crown's emergency war reserve. Taking this means the Emperor will send an entire Iron Legion to wipe us out."

Leonidas picked up a fist-sized mana-stone, feeling the hum of dense energy within it, before tossing it up and catching it effortlessly.

"Then we won't give them the chance to assemble," Leonidas said, turning to his system screen.

[HIGH-PURITY MANA-STONES DETECTED.]

[CONVERT TO SYSTEM ENERGY?]

[ESTIMATED VALUE: 50,000 MATERIAL CREDITS!]

Leonidas smiled, a cold, calculating look in his eyes.

"Convert it all," he ordered. "It's time to buy our first fleet of heavy armor."