Even though it had not been a direct hit, and even without protective measures like Power Armor, this was the first time Tatyana had seen someone survive being struck by a Plasma Handgun. But she was not sure how long that fragile life could last, because the carbonized skin beneath the charred robe was rapidly swelling.
The shield had blocked most of the heat, but the heat spilling from its edges was more than an unskilled Arcanist could endure. This overly foolish Psionic had not even managed to cast another protective spell before the heat in the air broke his concentration, and the blazing white plasma flames scorched him.
Before the battlefield medic arrived, no one knew how long this Arcanist apprentice would survive. Tatyana, however, did not care about the apprentice's fate. After only a brief pause, she continued leading her squad forward. As the vanguard of the arrowhead formation, she and the other Battle Sisters still had to provide cover while the engineering soldiers of the First Secret Regiment planted thermobaric explosives.
The heavy gates Kamar-Taj used to divide its courtyards could not be pushed open or destroyed by mortal strength. The tactical briefing stated that the gates, reinforced with Psionic Sorcery, were strong enough to withstand a round from an Abrams main battle tank—or, more precisely, an M829 A4 depleted uranium fin-stabilized discarding sabot armor-piercing round fired by an Rh-120 smoothbore cannon.
No matter how strong the armor, it was not indestructible against subatomic flame and molten metal jets.
Tatyana stepped out from cover toward the front flank, swung her muzzle around, and swiftly passed through the shattered metal-and-wood gate. Soldiers from the First Secret Regiment and Battle Sisters poured through the breach blasted open by the Thermobaric Bomb, while circuit-board-like psionic traces along the edges of