by Dean Henegar
The last of her mind entered the container, safely ensconcing itself within just moments before the teacher’s body expired. The drones obeyed their final commands, picking up the golden insect and following the road they were on; after all, roads led to civilization and civilization led to a host. The drones hadn’t traveled more than a mile when they went down under a hail of arrows and sling stones. A small party of humans emerged from cover and approached the bodies of the Gul Dorg.
“What do you suppose those things were?” one asked.
“No idea, but they sure are ugly,” another replied, kicking the Gul Dorg corpse in front of him.
“Look! These things have valuables!” a third exclaimed after seeing the sparkle of gold peek out from the hand of the drone that had carried it.
“Finders keepers, right?” the man asked, hopeful.
“You know you can’t keep that, Sully. Everything we loot goes to the greater good. How can we create a true utopia if we don’t share what we have with each other? We’ll report that these things were poking around the transition point and turn this over to People’s Commissar Yuri,” the first man ordered. With a sigh, Sully handed over the golden insect to the first man and they returned to report what they had found.
Inside the insect, Guile bided her time, excited. These humans would bring her to someone important. Perhaps she would find a truly worthy host this time.
Chapter 35
The night passed without any further attacks or even a sign the Gul Dorg were still out there. The column quickly formed again, using the same formation as the previous afternoon. We traveled on with only small breaks during the day so the men could eat and drink. As the morning turned to afternoon and no threats showed themselves, I called over Rollox, Bhartak, and Brooks.
“I’m beginning to get the feeling our enemy has pulled back. Perhaps their losses were too great for them to sustain attacks today? Rollox, do you think we can send some scouts out safely to find out where the creatures went?” I asked.
“Aye, its been quiet so I think it worth the risk. We should be approaching Holdfast later this afternoon so I’m betting they’ll all be waiting for us there,” Rollox answered.
The scouts went out again and reported no signs of Gul Dorg but plenty of signs they had fled north without making any effort to hide their trail. One of the scouts spotted a dust cloud on the road behind us; the resupply caravan had arrived. I called a halt and waited for them to join us. Soon, a column of six wagons loaded with supplies appeared, along with the first of our replacements. As they neared the formation one of the runesmiths hurried to my side.
“Raytak, allow me to examine them before they get too close. Could be an infected hiding amongst them,” the runesmith advised. I nodded for him to carry on. The runesmith walked around the caravan holding up one of the detection stones. Once given the all clear, the supply caravan joined us and unloaded our resupply before turning around and heading back to Hayden’s Knoll. I counted eight soldiers guarding the caravan and could see how they would have been easily taken by a foe without the twenty plus extra soldiers my replacements had added. In all, I received twenty-two replacements that I spread around to the platoons that had suffered the highest casualties. We were still down over fifty men, but at least it was a little better than it had been when we started the day.
The march continued and we began to pass eerily vacant farms. A shiver ran down my spine as I guessed at the fate that the residents in the farms had met. Eventually, Holdfast appeared in the distance. The scouts had given us a good rundown of the town layout earlier. Situated at a crossroads, the surrounding terrain was flat with only a few trees for cover. We couldn’t approach without being seen, but the enemy already knew we were coming so surprise was never an option. I called over the rest of the nco’s and the dwarven leadership to plan our assault. Squatting on the ground, I sketched out my plan.
“We’ll set up just within catapult range of the southern gate. Despite their losses, I must believe our foes still outnumber us by a large margin and they have control of a fortified town. We’ll construct our own defenses before we begin to pound them with our artillery. I have a feeling once we attack it will be like poking a hornet’s nest. If we can provoke them into attacking us, we’ll crush them against our superior defenses and save ourselves the trouble of hunting them down inside the town. Does anyone have anything to say about the plan?” I asked, wanting feedback if it improved our chances.
“Sounds good overall, but with the potential of a longer siege we need to make sure our supply lines are secure,” Brooks offered.
“When the time comes, the runesmiths have prepared a few tricks to open breaches in the town wall or gates as needed,” Bhartak advised.
“Great, let’s send what’s left of my scouts to cover the road behind us. They’re not to engage, but to spot any enemy trying to cut the road. If the enemy tries anything cute, we’ll send some of the legion reserve out to take care of it. Rollox, I would like to keep pathfinders here with us. We need the ranged firepower their crossbows can provide. If there’s nothing else, let’s get to work. I want defenses in place as quickly as is humanly, and dwarvenly, possible,” I ordered. The column approached the town which was eerily quiet. Distorted faces of infected townsfolk peeked above the town wall every now and then, the only indication of the opponent we faced.
At just over two hundred yards from the town wall, the column halted and began to move into action. I had the entirety of bravo company facing the town with alpha covering the other three sides and contributing a platoon to the legion reserve. A platoon-sized force of dwarven stonebreakers joined the reserve along with the Ignominia platoon. Everyone got to work digging a defensive trench to surround our forces. While the work progressed, Bhartak approached and both of us split our attention from the growing defenses to the town, waiting for a reaction from the Gul Dorg.
“I have to compliment your forces on the defensive works you are able to create so quickly. I wanted to mention it to you last night but was too busy reorganizing my dwarves after the losses we took during the day,” Bhartak said.
“I appreciate the compliment, especially coming from a clan known for their skill in building. Let’s hope they give us time to finish and it’s enough of a force multiplier to help us beat these things.” We watched as the trench was quickly completed and the men began to hammer stakes into the ground as others scattered caltrops outside the perimeter of our defenses. The setup was nearly the same as our nightly fortifications, save for our weaker numbers everywhere but to the north where the whole of bravo company was stationed. One of the scouts approached from the south and I had him quickly brought over to me.
“Sir, reporting a large force approaching from the southeast. Looks like Drebix sir,” the scout advised.
“Excellent, that would be Beremund’s clan I believe. Head back out and contact them. If it’s the forerunner clan, lead them in from the south. I don’t want them getting caught in the crossfire if the fighting starts before they arrive,” I ordered, and the scout ran back to carry out my orders.
“How are you planning to deploy the Drebix, sir?” Sergeant Brooks asked.
“It’s going to depend on their troop composition. I believe their spear throwers and berserkers would make good skirmish forces. What are your thoughts, Top?” I asked, curious to see what Brooks would come up with.
“I agree with them as skirmishers, but the berserkers should be held inside the fortifications. They get too caught up in their rage at times and won’t disengage when they should. Better to keep them bottled up here and point them at a breach in the wall. They can plug those pretty well and not be inclined to blindly chase after foes if they have to climb over fortifications to do so,” Brooks advised.
“That sounds good. We’ll wait and see what Beremund has brought for us to play with before we make a final decision.” The defenses were nearly done, and Tavers had all his siege engines emplaced. Remembering how squis
hy they were, I had Bhartak assign some of his stonebreakers to guard them. Two squads of stonebreakers formed up behind the engines, ready to defend or just lend some muscle loading the weapons if their crews began to tire. The pathfinders and sagittarii were placed among bravo company to add some more ranged damage to what I believed would be the focus of the fight. The infiltrators were to stick next to Brooks who would send them where they were most needed. I was just about to order Tavers to start firing on the town gate when it creaked open.
Out of the gate marched a platoon of Gul Dorg drones dressed as Soldiers of the Imperium. The men stopped work to stare at the sight of the drones carrying weapons and armor that were all too familiar.
“What in the name of the Emperor is that?” Brooks asked.
“I think those are Burnside and his men, now infested with parasites,” I said.
“Here they come!” the bravo company sergeant shouted as more of the drones poured out from the gate in a flood and began to charge our lines. The gates on the east and west ends of the town also were opened, spewing forth yet more attackers.
“Tavers, engage with your siege engines when ready,” I ordered, but then the ground beneath us began to move.
The soil exploded upward and hideous abominations clawed their way out of the shallow holes they had been buried in. The creatures looked like the melding of dozens of Gul Dorg drones. The beings were twelve feet tall, walking on two malformed legs. Each creature had dozens of arms, some holding weapons and some ending in the crab like claws that many of the drones possessed. Faces covered their bodies, the eyes flickering back and forth as the monstrosities sought their prey.
Gul Dorg Abomination, Level 10 Elite (21). The Gul Dorg masters can fleshcraft their daughters into hideous abominations. The transformation combines the daughter and anywhere from ten to twenty drones into a single creature. The daughter is destroyed in the process, the pain of the transformation driving the creature mad with rage. The abominations can be controlled directly by the master or can be left on their own. If left on their own the abomination goes berserk, killing everything in reach. They will stop only if directly commanded to by the master or when they’re destroyed.
The things sprouted up between our defenses and the town. Most appeared outside the perimeter, but four had erupted inside our defenses, one just a few yards from me. The creatures looked about for a moment before flying into a rage, attacking anything they could reach while murmuring mad phrases from their many mouths. The closest one charged in my direction, smashing a wagon holding one of the scorpions while tearing its crew into bloody chunks with its flailing limbs.
I summoned my Elite Guard. Four elite soldiers appeared between me and the abomination, their inherent Taunt ability causing the thing to focus on them. The abomination tore through the first two guards like they were made of paper. Seeing the elite guard wasn’t going to be enough I activated Goon Squad to help; nine goons appeared this time, and since it was the closest foe, all nine attacked the abomination. I backpedaled while my summons fought. I needed to get out of the fight so I could see the bigger picture of what was happening.
Just then, a volley of javelins struck the abomination as Wrend led his platoon into the melee. The Ignominia troops showed no fear, stabbing and hacking at the thing. Their swords bit deep and blood gushed out. The thing didn’t care about the damage it received and was immune to the pain inflicted on it; it just kept attacking, the arms slamming into or grabbing soldiers at random.
Spikes of sharpened stone rose from the ground, impaling the abomination. Beside me, one of the runesmiths pressed forward, nodding before throwing another glowing rune at the creature. Where the rune landed, a swirl of dirt erupted from the ground, coalescing into an earth golem. The eight-foot-tall golem attacked the abomination, slamming its stony fists into the dying creature. The abomination’s health reached zero and it collapsed to the ground in a jumble as the bodies it was created from separated upon death. The golem moved away, directed by the runesmith to attack one of the other abominations that had appeared inside our lines. Wrend and his men did the same, their numbers thinned by the fourteen casualties that just one abomination had caused.
Catching my breath from the shock of the unexpected attack, I looked about. The three remaining abominations inside the defenses were being slowly whittled down. The entire legion reserve was actively engaging them with the runesmiths adding their powerful magic in support. Tavers and his remaining scorpions also got into the act; the huge scorpion bolts lanced into the abominations and removed large chunks of health with each hit.
The abominations outside the lines were as much a help to us as a hinderance. Three were bumbling their way through the caltrops and stake lined pit on the western side of our defenses, trying to get at the men defending behind the protective dirt berm and trench. Slowed by the defenses and hampered by their warped bodies, when they tried to climb over the defensive berm they were met by a hail of javelins and the stabbing blades of legionnaires. Two more abominations assaulted the eastern defenses while another appeared directly under the trench defended by bravo company. That was a problem; the creature was not only causing damage to our defenses, but it was also distracting the men from the horde of drones about to swarm our lines.
Luckily, the abominations were hurting the drone swarm as much as they were hurting us. The master must not have been controlling them directly and just as many launched themselves at the drone swarm as had attacked our defenses. Dozens of drones were crushed and ripped apart by the abominations before the sheer numbers of their smaller kin took them down.
The main swarm of drones made it to the caltrop field in front of bravo company and began to take damage. The abominations had cleared several paths through the caltrops and the drones naturally swarmed into those gaps. The ditch and dirt berm slowed their advance and bravo company valiantly tried to hold back the tide of creatures. But with their numbers depleted and gaps in the line due to the abomination attack, bravo’s line was soon breached and I could only watch; our entire reserve was already engaged in the fight with the abominations inside our lines, and there was no one left I could deploy.
Small knots of soldiers began to form from the remains of bravo’s defensive line, islands of organized defense inside a sea of enemies. Many of the small groups were pulled apart by the Gul Dorg; stout defense and skill can only overcome so much. The soldiers from alpha manning the east and west sides of our lines were also being forced back, their flanks turned by the drones attacking bravo while still under pressure from the drones to their front.
Without our formation acting as a force multiplier, the casualties mounted. Drones that we had been killing at a rate of ten to one a day earlier were now trading one for one with my isolated soldiers. I needed to bring order back to this chaos or we were doomed. I grabbed Sergeant Brooks and pointed him toward our thin southern flank. There was only a token force of a single platoon from alpha left to cover the south; the others had been dragged into the fight raging on our eastern and western flanks.
“Sergeant Brooks, gather the remaining platoon from alpha and start clearing the drones from our eastern flank,” Brooks ran off, gathering stragglers as he went and organizing the alpha company platoon into a cohesive formation instead of stretching them thin along the entire line. The drones flooded past bravo’s faltering defense and headed inside our perimeter in greater numbers. The dwarves protecting the siege engines along with their crews were fighting back, but they were too few to prevail.
I had no other forces to assist so I ran to the wagon-mounted scorpion that Tavers was still manning. There were four dwarven stonebreakers guarding the wagon, still unengaged as the drones hadn’t make it this far yet.
“Tavers, have your crew draw weapons and follow me,” I ordered. The crew of five and their dwarven guardians followed me to the next siege engine. At the catapult we gathered that crew and their remaining guards, making our way across the battlefield and growing ou
r force. Once done, I had gathered sixteen of the engineers and twelve dwarven stonebreakers. Looking about, I could see most of bravo company was down; only two small knots of their soldiers were formed up and fighting. Brooks had made some progress, gathering the scattered alpha company forces on that flank and trying to assist the beleaguered bravo. On the western flank, Wrend had organized the defense. He had gathered his platoon and the platoon of dwarves that had been part of the legion reserve. Combined with the alpha company forces on that flank they were holding steady, but unable to make progress against the swarm of drones.
I ordered the engineers to pick up shields from the fallen. They performed the same as standard soldiers in melee combat, despite their specialization as engineers. We were too few to make a difference in the ongoing melee, so we gathered two of the remaining scorpion carts and prepared to support the men with siege engine fire.
Drones attracted by the commotion we were causing assaulted our small force. I found myself facing two of the things, desperately trying to fend off the hands and grasping claws. A claw skittered off my shield as I thrust my sword back in response. I felt the blade bite deep as the bleed effect triggered, slowly adding damage to that foe. Pain then laced through my shoulder as the other drone’s crab like claw clamped down. The armor protecting my shoulder crinkled like aluminum foil as the claw slowly closed. I dropped my sword as the claw pierced deeper into me, my health dropping with each second. The appendage housing the claw then was hacked in two by the axe of a stonebreaker. Blood spurted from the drone as the dwarf continued his assault, battling both my attackers.