by R. H. Tang
Lightning crackled through the frame of his Spell Titan as he cast the SPG Caster's third spell, an area of effect attack that spread electricity across a broad area. The lightning bolts smashed into the first round of ammunition, causing it to explode high above their heads.
He grimaced. He only had one more shot. Maybe he should ask Felix to come back out again? It'd be a greater risk, but it'd give them two more spell casts.
He pulled up his communications link and only saw the two options from before.
Shoot. He'd forgotten about the jammer.
Julian could call Felix up, but he wouldn't be able to ask his friend for his opinion. It was such an annoyance, but Julian understood why the Fortress Master had programmed the change. If you were going to send a player to safety, you would have to play with a real three-person team, no backseat coaching allowed.
Tyler buzzed at the bottom of his screen.
"Do you want me to get those attacks, or should I keep attacking?"
Tyler could get it without casting spells, but if he did that, their team would have almost zero offensive firepower. Unless she used spells, the barrier completely nullified her rifle. She was still skirting around the rooftop, trying to find a way around the massive riot shields. Julian wasn't sure what a sniper could do against such a well-organized army. The Grunts were already set in the optimal position. Killing the officers wouldn't do much of anything.
"I…umm…"
Julian's mind whirled.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The army drew closer, and there was another wave of blasts. This time, Tyler intercepted it. Julian groaned. Tyler shouldn't be wasting his Overdrive time playing defense, but if he didn't…
FIFTEEN MINUTES UNTIL THE NEXT WAVE
He groaned.
Julian had a long way to go when it came to his strategic decision-making and shotcalling. He was just about to call Felix up again when Emma's crystal clear and confident voice cut through his thoughts.
"Got them!"
There was a streak of lightning and then a massive explosion.
He thought she'd spotted an officer, but she did something far better. One of the escort units crashed to the ground. Emma had found a gap and shot it in the leg, forcing it to lose balance and drop the shield.
She shouted before Julian could even process what was happening.
"Attack! Attack! They grouped up behind him!"
Before the enemies could shift, Tyler released another trio of golden blasts.
Julian doubted that his friend had dramatically improved his skills in just a day, but his practice earlier in the day had warmed him up. Tyler's reaction timing was near the peak of his abilities.
The enemy army had wisely grouped for cover behind the powerful escort unit, which protected everyone from Tyler's powerful beam weaponry. Unfortunately, that also came with a severe drawback—if the unit fell, the whole line was immediately vulnerable.
There was a tremendous explosion.
Bright red letters flashed across Julian's visor.
COMBO KILL—1,250 CREDITS
Overdrive provided you with additional rewards for downing many opponents at once, but it wouldn't tell you the Credits someone else got unless they did something truly spectacular.
That'd been a truly fantastic shot from Tyler.
When the smoke cleared, a whole fifth of the enemy army had been decimated. Not only had Tyler eliminated all the units that'd been hiding behind the downed escort, but the flames and explosions had also spread to include the rest of their army.
Best of all, yet another one of the escort units had fallen too, lining up their next shot.
"Yes!"
Julian raised the beam submachinegun Felix gave him and started firing at the re-organizing troops. Beside him, Emma did the same. Tyler attacked again, but their foe's scattered formation didn't last for long.
The AI swiftly abandoned the Riflemen and Spearmen to their fates, focusing their efforts on protecting the all-valuable artillery units.
There were a total of twenty units left. Julian quickly scanned the opposition, picking out the priority targets.
Emma was right. The officers didn't matter, not so long as the Escorts could protect the Artillery machines. Considering their situation, a disorganized Artillery army was a far more significant threat than a disciplined group of Spearmen. It was better to go with an unconventional solution.
Three Escorts, six Artillery, seven Spearmen, and four Riflemen.
The remaining spearmen and riflemen stepped forward and then promptly detonated Julian's mines. Emma and Julian's continuous attacks quickly finished off the most damaged units. Emma wasn't even using her scope. She fired without it, confident that she could destroy the immobile targets. Julian's spray of bullets polished off the rest, leaving only two healthy survivors.
They stumbled to their feet until Emma blasted off their legs.
Julian let out a relieved sigh as he finished them off. So far, they'd been doing an excellent job of keeping the riflemen and spearmen irrelevant. They were low-level Grunts, but you couldn't let them swarm you. Facing off against ten of them in close range was a daunting proposition, one they'd fortunately avoided thanks to his mines and Tyler's Cerberus Roar.
TEN MINUTES REMAINING.
Tyler fired another blast, but it was again shielded. The enemy machines had established another simple formation—a Riot unit shielding two Artillery Units. The final nine enemy soldiers were wholly entrenched in their positions.
Emma scurried along the rooftop, then cursed and returned to her hiding place beneath Julian's shield.
"No angle this time."
The bullets continued thundering down on their team. Tyler raised his arms and started picking off the enemy attacks.
But a trio of shells went through.
Julian wrapped his well-armored Mech around Emma's, doing all he could to shield her from the blasts.
There was an enormous explosion. Dust flew high into the air. Bright red lights flashed alongside his cockpit.
CRITICAL DAMAGE
CRITICAL DAMAGE
CRITICAL DAMAGE
"Julian! Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
He had about 20% HP remaining on his right leg. His shield arm was hanging by a thread. His other parts were still mostly functional.
"Can you try to get the Artillery Units from above if I boost you up? Just for a while?"
"No. They are still too far. The Artillery is just outside my range, and if I move closer, they'll take me out as soon as you left me up."
Julian cursed himself internally.
He should have thought of that. The Artillery Units had arm-mounted rocket launchers that were already locked and loaded. As soon as Emma peeked out behind cover, she was dead. Even if she managed to down an enemy, it wouldn't be worth it. They only had three units, and the enemy had an unlimited supply coming for the siege next round. They couldn't afford to trade one for one.
By now, Tyler's Mech had run out of Liquid State Eternium.
Even worse, Tyler could no longer use the Soulfire.
Julian cursed. He'd been so focused on the other machines that he hadn't even noticed.
There was another tremendous bang.
Julian's shield exploded.
His arm splintered, and he crashed to the floor.
Emma cried out in surprise. He shoved her aside, pushing the far lighter machine back towards the manhole. Emma wasn't safe here.
"Get out! Get out! Take cover!"
Emma dashed away, scurrying beneath the panel. He moved to follow her, but there was a loud creak, and his leg snapped.
Yet another round of missiles streaked down at him. This time, Tyler intercepted all of them.
"Julian! Get off the roof!"
Tyler was right. Julian wasn't safe either.
FIVE MINUTES REMAINING
Tyler cursed.
"We don't have
time. I'm going in."
With a proud cry, the Cerberus Roar leaped off the roof and streaked towards the enemy combatants. Julian watched with bated breath. It wasn't a bad idea. A frontline charge was a textbook way to take out an artillery unit, and with only nine enemy Grunts remaining, Tyler could take them on.
They outnumbered him, but they were still Grunts.
Tyler was using a World Championship class machine.
Unfortunately, leaving the roof was a huge risk. If Tyler didn't make it back in time, he was dead.
The enemies desperately backpedaled, leaving Julian free to leave the rooftop. Once he got close enough, Emma reached out a thin hand and yanked his machine inside.
The two of them went deeper into the base and toward the underground tunnel. The next portion of the mission involved holding it against a horde of enemies. As the besiegers prevented an escape, they sent a limitless line of soldiers through the corridor.
Their team's best bet was to get into position now.
He pulled up Felix on his monitor. Now that he was inside, he could finally talk to him. He was already waiting at the entrance.
"Did you find anything useful?"
His friend sighed.
"Nope."
That wasn't surprising. It'd been a bit of a forlorn hope after all—using a Minesweeper activated the hard mode of the mission. It was a Fortress Master's typical mercilessness to make sure that it didn't provide any additional bonuses.
ONE MINUTE REMAINING
ENEMY ARMY APPROACHING
Julian pulled up his screen and stared at the scene outside.
Tyler lunged furiously from opponent to opponent, savaging them the Grunts with a ruthless combination of beam blasts and steel jaws. The enemies were battered and bruised, with nowhere to flee.
But they were still alive.
The bulky Escorts were defensive specialists, and they wouldn't go down easily. Of the nine enemy units, there were still four remaining—two Escorts and two Artillery machines.
Julian started dragging his Mech outside. He had to call Tyler back. If his friend stayed outside while the enemy army arrived, he was done for. With the Artillery Units preoccupied with fighting the Cerberus Roar, there shouldn't be too much of a risk of damage to the rooftop.
He'd messed up. He should have told Tyler what to do before he fled. Getting good at shot-calling was very different from getting good at thinking for himself.
THIRTY SECONDS REMAINING
Julian finally made it outside.
Tyler was still fighting the last Artillery Unit. The two surviving escorts were doggedly protecting it.
"Get back! Just get back!"
There was no time for them to do anything now. Just charging up the cannons would mean that Tyler was in range for the next machine.
"Wait—I thought you said we needed to get these!"
There was a tremendous crunch as the jaws of his Tiger Head Cannon grasped around a shield and shattered it.
"Argh!"
Tyler was blasted back by a rocket launcher straight to the chest. If it hadn't been for the Roar's mighty armor, he would have been instantly defeated.
FIVE SECONDS REMAINING
Julian's words froze in his throat.
Should he ask Tyler to suicide and destroy the Artillery Units?
Should he just have Tyler retreat? They'd have to only deal with one Heavy Artillery, and they'd still have their Ace.
Julian didn't know what to say.
Tyler made the decision for him.
"No time, sorry."
Tyler charged.
The enemy army arrived and started shooting.
"Agh!"
The endless storm of bullets pierced Tyler's machine over and over again.
His friend whirled around and fired everything at once. The Roar bellowed at the top of its mechanical lungs. There was a tremendous golden blast that cut an enormous swathe through the enemy army.
COMBO KILL: 10,000 POINTS!
Julian had never seen such an enormous combo kill before. The entire army had been directly in front of his attack.
"Yes!"
Tyler let out a cry of excitement as his machine was defeated. Even after losing in Overdrive, you could spectate your team and communicate with them in the aptly named Loser's Lobby.
A new group stepped forward, instantly replacing the one he'd defeated.
"Wait—what?"
"Yeah, it's a regenerating army."
Tyler cursed and pounded his keyboard.
The Heavy Artillery continued thundering down from the single surviving machine. Julian hobbled back inside.
For the rest of the siege, the roof was effectively inaccessible to them, which was a shame. The siege army couldn't fly, meaning that a balanced approach let you snipe down opponents from above as they forced their way into the entrance.
Tyler groaned.
"My bad guys."
Julian shook his head.
"Nah, that was on me, dude. I need to work on my communication."
At that point, there were two possible situations.
He could have called Tyler back in time, meaning they'd deal with the Heavy Artillery with four players. Or he could have had Tyler sacrifice himself to get rid of the last two Artillery units, giving Emma access to the roof. His friend had only attacked the army instead because Julian hadn't been clear about the regenerating army.
Julian's indecisiveness had led to the worst of both worlds.
Now they only had three players—really two and a half with Felix—and no roof access.
"Don't worry about it, man. I should have decided for myself. I'm still growing too!"
Tyler's support meant a lot. The mistake had clearly been Julian's.
"Besides, we're still in good shape. I know you can hold them off!"
He turned to Emma and Felix.
"Alright. Bring me down to the corridor. And find something for my leg. I don't need to move on it, but I need to stay upright."
Felix and Emma carried him down. His Mech couldn't walk properly after the earlier damage. Julian's Mech had no shield, and his leg was broken, but he had his sword.
He was still bad at shot-calling, and he still had a lot to learn about the game.
But he'd always been good with a sword.
Julian let out a long breath, and then released it.
"Yeah. It's my time to shine."
19
"Wow! Holy crap!"
"How does he do it!?"
His friends' encouragement felt good, but he had no time to respond. Julian pivoted around his dead leg—avoiding putting any weight on it—and slammed his sword again.
Crunch.
The massive broadsword had a sharp cutting edge, but it also weighed several tons. When applied to the thin Eternium armor of these Paragon grunts, it had the advantages of both a blade and a club. That was what he loved the most about it.
The machine fell.
Julian kicked the dying Mech back with his living leg as it sparkled and smoked. The explosion took out the unit behind it. The veteran swordsman had just enough time to breathe before two more machines charged forward. A beam soared over his shoulder, and the Grunt to the right exploded.
"Good shot, Emma!"
Julian didn't know how long he'd been fighting for. He didn't know how many opponents he'd slain.
The blasts continued thundering from above, a constant reminder of just how difficult this mission had become. Things would be easier if they could just thin out enemies from above. The merciless drumbeat of exploding artillery fire seemed like the ticking of some massive clock.
It was only when the red letters flickered across the screen that Julian realized he still had a long way to go. It felt like he'd been standing in the narrow corridors for hours.
It'd only been fifteen minutes.
FIVE MINUTES REMAINING UNTIL THE SIEGE IS LIFTED
The next machine arrived, and Julian intercepted it with a fe
rocious stab.
His hands were tight on the controls. Every move had to be perfect. He was terrified of moving too far forward and losing balance. His friends had replaced the lower half of his destroyed leg with a makeshift peg leg created from the walls of their base, but it was good for nothing other than keeping him upright. If he lunged too far forward, he'd topple over.
A knife whizzed toward him, and he blocked it with the stub of his other arm. There were currently three knives embedded in the devastated joint, but that was fine.
It didn't have a shield anymore, and he didn't have a second sword. He didn't need the arm. It was only good for blocking attacks.
Crunch.
Slam.
Thud.
Every strike was loud and brutal. It was grueling work. There were no combo kills here—just an endless process of viciously dispatching one machine at a time, one after another.
Crunch.
Clang.
Thud.
Two brutal overhanded strikes. A full-powered slash to his right.
Three dead opponents.
A brief breather as Emma and Felix fired out blasts from behind him. His friends only attacked when they were certain to kill. If they missed, they'd damage the wall and cause the roof to crumble. That would destroy the ceaseless storm of charging enemies, but it would expose you to the outside bombardment. For now, the tunnel was their greatest ally.
Julian swung again.
He knew he was sitting in the pod inside Overdrive World Headquarters, but at times like these, it felt like he was piloting his SPG Caster in real life. His arms felt sore after wrenching the triggers of his control board back and forth so many times.
Two machines charged at him. He met one with an abrupt tackle and then sent his sword plunging through the second's cockpit. Once again, he kicked it aside before it could explode.
Truth be told, his moves were more leg shoves than kicks. Without his other leg to push off of, he didn't have a lot of force.
By then, the other machine had recovered from Julian's surprise attack. It slammed the knife forward.