by Dean Henegar
One of the engineers gathered some tools and helped to pry the still attached claw from my ruined shoulder. With a crunching sound that reminded me of cracking a lobster claw at the dinner table, the appendage pulled free and dropped to the ground. I slapped a bandage on my shoulder and watched as the crews manned their weapons and began to add deadly scorpion fire in support of our other forces. Our casualties had been massive, but I could tell the drones were nearing the end of their rope as well. There had been nearly two thousand drones in the initial fight and now there were about eight hundred left assaulting our positions. The problem was that our forces had dropped from nearly seven hundred to only around three hundred or so.
One of the engineers looked behind us to the south with wide eyed shock. Fearing another attack from our now unguarded rear, I hazarded a look back.
A line of Drebix spear throwers approached, hurling their deadly and accurate fire into the swarm of drones. Dozens of their raiders charged into the fray, hacking away at the drones surrounding the remains of bravo company. Several larger men glowed red and attacked the drones with large, two-handed axes, hammers, and clubs, cutting swaths of destruction into our foes. These last were the feared berserkers of the Drebix. A familiar face approached as his forces came to our aid.
“Beremund! You arrived just in time, my friend. I was beginning to worry you’d stopped for a nap,” I joked as we clasped hands, pain shooting up my shoulder from the claw wound there. Beremund motioned the half dozen large berserkers by his side into the fight along with two men painted in strange patterns and holding staves decorated with bones and symbols. The Drebix information appeared in my interface as I greeted my friend.
Drebix Raider, Level 7 (125)
Drebix Skirmisher, Level 7 (24)
Drebix Berserker, Level 8 (20)
Drebix Shaman, Level 8 (2)
Beremund, Baresark of the Forerunner Clan, Level 9
“Glad we were here in time. You and your soldiers saved my people once and now it is good to not only return the favor, but also fulfil our vow to your town,” Beremund said. The fresh troops reinvigorated our defense and we gained the upper hand once again.
The Gul Dorg Master must have sensed the battle slipping away from him. The drones stood bolt upright again, allowing scores of the creatures to be cut down before they turned and ran toward the town. I held back pursuit, not wanting to fight inside the cramped streets of the city until we reorganized our forces.
Nearly four hundred drones returned to the town. The last through were the infected men of the legion that Burnside had led. The Gul Dorg that wore Burnside’s body raised his arm in salute, mocking me before he entered the town and the gates closed behind him. I began to organize the men, trying to bring order to chaos.
“Let’s get the wounded pulled back to here,” I indicated the relatively clear area near where I was standing, “then get the defenses rebuilt. Company commanders report your unit’s status here in five minutes.” The legion and the dwarven forces slowly reorganized while the Drebix stood watch in case the Gul Dorg decided to sally from the town to assault us again. After a few minutes, I began to receive the reports.
“Sir, bravo company is down to forty-seven effectives with another twelve wounded but likely to recover by the morning. Their company commander has been killed, and from the pile of drones around his body, he took a lot of them with him. Alpha company has eighty-two effective and another eleven wounded that should recover and return to service when the others do. Alpha has also lost their commander,” Brooks reported
“Roger that, Top. Have the men work at rebuilding the defenses and clearing the dead from inside our perimeter. Be sure to police up any ammunition we can reuse.”
“Sir, Ignominia platoon is down to twelve effectives and no wounded. We’re ready to fight, sir,” Wrend said proudly. They had done well in the fight and I was proud of their brave efforts.
“Sir, the engineering unit has sixteen ready for duty. Both catapults are operable but we’re down to one scorpion,” Corporal Tavers reported.
“Have your men get the catapults ready to destroy the gate and move the scorpion to support the men in case we’re attacked again. Sergeant Brooks, take over alpha platoon and have Wrend and his men join bravo for now. He can command them until a replacement arrives,” I ordered. As the men got organized and back to work, Rollox approached and gave me the rundown on the dwarven forces.
“Raytak, we’re down to forty-one stonebreakers, six pathfinders, and three runesmiths. Bhartak was lost fighting one of the abominations. He held the thing’s attention until we could bring it down . . . a worthy death for a noble warrior. The pathfinders are low on ammo and the runesmiths report their mana and runes are almost depleted as well,” Rollox advised. I placed my hand on his shoulder at the mention of Bhartak.
“Bhartak’s axe will be sorely missed. It would help if your men could assist mine in clearing out our defenses and gathering any useable ammo that can be found,” I asked. Rollox nodded and got his people to work.
Soon, we had the battlefield cleared of the dead and got the defenses back in order. We buried our losses in a communal mass grave a hundred yards back from our lines, the runesmiths and Drebix shamans saying a few words and chanting over our dead. The diligent runesmiths also made a pass through all our forces, ensuring none were somehow infected by a Gul Dorg. With our numbers so heavily depleted, I had Beremund’s forces defend the north, directly across from Holdfast. Alpha held our left and bravo the right. The dwarven stonebreakers watched the rear while I had the runesmiths and the Drebix Shamans form up near the siege engines to add their magical power in case we had to fend off any more attacks.
Thump!
Thump!
The catapults fired at the gate and wall in front of us. The first shots fell short and Tavers went into a fury that “his” crews missed. He personally sighted the weapons before their next volley and both shots slammed into the gate. The stout gate held, but cracks appeared on the doors. After several volleys, the gates finally crashed to the ground, the men cheering as they fell.
“Keep at the walls, Tavers. I want several entry points before we assault. Nco’s and faction leaders to me. Let’s plan how were going to root out these things once and for all,” I ordered. The sergeants, Rollox, and Beremund hustled to join me.
“This is going to be a brutal street fight. I’ve done this before many times,” I said thinking back to the numerous buildings and towns I had cleared in my real-world military career. “We’ll go slow and steady through the town. Sections of five will breach and clear each house while reserve squads stand ready to join in if the breaching teams need assistance. There’s one main street from the gate leading north and a smaller one that follows the western wall. We’ll clear up to each of the side streets and slowly make our way to the town square.
“I’ll be entering with both my companies. I’d like Beremund with his raiders and berserkers as well. We’ll keep Rollox and his dwarves along with the ranged troops and siege crews in reserve. Be ready, I have a feeling we’ll be calling on you. I’ll take two of the runesmiths and Beremund will take his shamans as support. That will leave one of the runesmiths here. He’ll make sure any of us returning to camp are free of parasites. How far away will the runes be able to detect a Gul Dorg?” I asked.
“Depends on how many of them are gathered together . . . I get what you’re thinking. If a mass of these things is waiting in a house the runes should show us at least a slight glow. Same for any of the things hiding in basements. They tend to like dark, enclosed spaces when they’re not being directed by a master or daughter,” one of the runesmiths advised.
“Good to know. We’ll make sure each breaching team has a runestone ready. Don’t just rely on them though. Make sure your soldiers do a thorough job clearing each house. A single Gul Dorg drone hiding in a cellar or under a bed may not show on a rune until it’s too late,” I ordered. Everyone nodded and then it was time.
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Tavers ceased fire as I led the remains of my legion toward the main gate while Beremund led his men toward a breach in the wall that the catapults had opened. One way or another, it would all be over soon.
Chapter 36
I led alpha company into the town first. The sound of shuffling feet greeted us as a group of drones emerged from a nearby house and attacked. Similar groups spewed forth from other houses further in the town, joining the assault. The streets were wide enough for a front of ten men across and the boys of alpha company held fast.
“Hold them, then cut them down!” I shouted as the first of the drones hit our shields. The men held and then began to strike back. Quick sword thrusts lashed out from our shield wall, damaging and killing with each strike. The drones were mindless, grabbing, slashing, and clawing at the men. We held our ground and began to cut them down. I activated Shield Bash and the front rank of drones stood there dazed as they were easily dispatched. I didn’t instruct the soldiers clearing the town houses to bring javelins; in such close confines, they would have just gotten in the way I had thought, but out here in the streets with the bunched mass of drones, they would have been devastating.
“Back five paces and rotate, now!” I ordered. We had killed so many that they started to pile up in front of our shield wall and I was worried some enterprising drone would use the mound to leap into our rear ranks. Fresh soldiers rotated to the front ranks while the tired soldiers formed up in the rear. The sudden relief of pressure as our shield wall moved back caused the front ranks of drones to stumble and fall. The men took advantage of their clumsiness, dropping them with disciplined sword thrusts. The drones suddenly broke, running away from our troops, several charging into the abandoned buildings.
“Make note of the buildings those things went into,” I shouted, moving alpha company forward to the first intersection with a small side street. Once at the intersection, I could see Beremund’s forces doing the same thing to our left.
“Bravo company, start clearing houses up to this side street and then form up behind us and wait further orders.” I ran down the street to meet up with Beremund and his front ranks.
“Beremund, we’ll hold here at the cross street and clear everything behind us before we move up to the next one. There are only two more small cross streets before we get to the town square. We’ll halt there and take stock of our situation at that time. Have your men keep a kill count so we have an idea of how many of these things are left. We know there are at least four hundred of the them lurking about in here,” I advised.
“Will do, Raytak. I was also going to send word to my skirmishers to watch for any of the things trying to leave by the other gates to circle around and hit us from behind,” Beremund added.
“That’s a smart idea. Make it happen and see if the dwarves can add a squad to cover each gate as we clear it. They can take down any leakers or drones trying to escape over the wall or through the gates. I’m also going to send word back to our camp for them to bring us some of the remaining javelins. If these things pack themselves together in the street again, they’ll make easy targets,” I added before running back to my own troops. I passed the word to get a kill count and had one of the soldiers add up the dead from our initial push.
Surprisingly, we had taken no casualties in our initial push . . . but that changed as we began to clear houses. Most of the homes and businesses were empty but occasionally there was a lone drone. The single drones were easy enough to take down unless they surprised the clearing team. By the time bravo reached our position they had killed eleven more drones to add to the sixty-four we had killed in our initial push, losing four soldiers in the process. Beremund sent a raider over to tell us he had finished off a total of sixty-eight drones.
At my signal, we pushed toward the second side street. No flood of creatures contested our advance and we waited patiently for bravo company and Beremund’s forces to finish clearing this block of buildings. The kill count for the entire second street was only fifty-seven, much fewer than our initial push, but we were getting closer to finishing them off. There was still no sign of the master and I wasn’t sure what it would look like. The runesmiths didn’t know either and their consensus was that a master would look like a drone, as their texts didn’t mention anything different about their appearance.
We finished clearing the next street and netted another twenty-eight drones when something odd happened. The drones flooded out of the buildings and charged toward the town center. One even came up from behind us, having been missed by the clearing teams; it was quickly killed by an embarrassed soldier from bravo platoon. Gritting my teeth, I ordered everyone to converge on the town center; it was a gamble, but I had to figure most of the remaining Gul Dorg were all headed to the same place.
I wasn’t wrong.
An ornate fountain still operated in the town center. The pleasant sounds of splashing water were in stark contrast to the sight that awaited us there. Next to the fountain, a new abomination was forming. Instead of a dozen bodies like the other abominations, this one housed hundreds. It stood thirty feet tall already, and as I watched more of the drones ran up to it, jumping on and clinging to it as they were slowly absorbed into the mass. To my horror, the thing turned to me and spoke, its sibilant voice echoing from the hundreds of mouths that covered its body.
Siren, the Master Abomination, Level 15 Boss Creature.
“Do you think you can stand against the great Cacklemaster . . . I mean Siren? Join us now and save the wastefulness of further conflict. You will know contentedness and a brotherhood like you have never experienced before.” The harsh voice turned soothing and I found myself relaxing as I listened to it. Watching detachedly as a few of Beremunds raiders walked openly to the growing creature. It was beautiful how they opened their mouths to receive their new friend. The . . . the . . . yes, our new master dropped something into each mouth. It was so nice that they volunteered to join the hive. I should head over and wait my turn as well . . .
Magic ability resisted. Your innate magic resistance has triggered, and you have resisted the ability Master’s Call.
I shook my head and looked on in horror as more and more of our men walked toward the growing “master.” To my left, Wrend shook off the effect as well and dug into his inventory, pulling out a familiar red javelin before looking to me. I had forgotten we still had one of the deadly things left and nodded my approval. He grinned, and the javelin sailed true, hitting the master right in the chest. A column of fire flashed down from the sky onto the abomination. It shrieked in pain, breaking its Master’s Call ability and freeing the rest of the men. The recently infected were incinerated by the blast and a large chunk of health dropped from Siren’s health bar.
“First Legion of Hayden’s Knoll, bring that thing down, hit it with everything we have before it recovers!” I ordered. Obeying my own orders, I activated Tessel’s promise and sent a stream of acidic sap at the Gul Dorg master. The acid burned into its flesh; I unleashed the second blast just to be sure. While I was doing this, javelins thudded into the huge target while spikes of earth shot from the ground and impaled its legs, holding the behemoth in place. The runesmiths threw the last of their Earth Elemental Summoning Runes down, three of the constructs charging the master.
The Drebix shamans were also casting, each summoning a large bear that joined the attack. Dozens of raiders charged into melee range, getting cut down by the master’s multiple arms almost as quickly as they arrived. Then the berserkers reached it even as I ordered alpha company forward. The berserkers hewed through limbs and smashed parts of the monstrosity into a bloody pulp with each blow. Unfortunately, the berserkers were not enough; the class relied upon their attack power and high health pool to overwhelm an opponent’s defenses, but the master was able to tear berserker after berserker apart, growing new limbs faster than they could be cut off or destroyed. A steady stream of drones continued to move from the northern part of town to meld with their master, and
each new drone absorbed added its small health pool to the master’s.
“Brooks, take bravo and cut those things off! It’ll keep gaining health if we don’t stop it from absorbing more drones.”
Brooks led bravo company just out of reach of the master and began to cut down any drone that tried to approach. The drones were mindlessly moving toward their master now; they didn’t even put up a fight, only trying to brush aside any soldier in their path to answer Siren’s call. Beremund had the same idea and sent a score of his raiders to help bravo company, the rest continuing the attack on the master.
I used the last weapons in my arsenal, activating Goon Squad a final time and summoning my Corrupted Wolves from Tessel’s promise. The goon squad barely distracted our foe, but the wolves were much more effective. They stayed just out of reach and shot roots from their mouths into the master, pumping it full of the corrosive sap. Small totems covered in bones and symbols also appeared around the master, shooting small balls of flame at our foe; the shamans under Beremund’s command were far from powerless.
With its health nearly depleted and its supply of fresh drones cut off, the master tried one last and disgusting trick to flee our wrath: the behemoth creation fell apart.
Bodies of drones rained from it as it broke back into individual drones. Most of the drones were already dead before they landed, since the damage the master had received was taken from their health pools. In addition to the dead, dozens of living drones fled off in all directions. Hidden among the mass of creatures, the master lurked, but how could I tell which one it was? If it escaped it would just start the whole process over again, building its hive until it had the numbers to overwhelm the zone. I scanned the group, frantic, until one Gul Dorg stood out; it was the only one taking evasive action to avoid groups of soldiers, and the only one with a high health pool remaining.