by Domino Finn
Lash grunted in agony. She must've had a torn Achilles tendon or broken leg or something—the combat log was too busy to catch everything. What was clear was that she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, and I doubted I was strong enough to carry her. As the rogues fanned out to flank her, I moved to stab whoever got close.
Backstab!
56 damage
I whirled and struck my attacker.
Backstab!
62 damage
I grunted and swung again, preemptively killing the next enemy lurking behind me, but I couldn't hold out any longer. They had just enough people in place, after just enough attrition, that they'd gotten the better of us. It was gonna end. And Hadrian was still nowhere in sight.
I swung the dragonspear with increasingly wild attacks, fighting with heart and soul instead of tactics. It was all I had left. As I was backstabbed yet again, teary eyes scanned over the battling forces on the southern road. Scores of bodies, many clad in black but others from my side as well, littered the streets with abandon. Ogres charged through distant lines, and I smiled at the fact that our forces had the upper hand. They would continue fighting, even without me.
Somewhere across the haze of the battlefield, a blurry behemoth charged into my field of view, galloping right at me, and I blinked.
[Izzy] cast Icicle Blast
Missiles rocketed past me, cascading into the floor and the enemies behind.
[Glinda] cast Minor Healing Aura
You are healed and instantly relieved of minor status effects.
Our health bars surged upward. My vision cleared and I saw a beautiful thing. Izzy and Glinda charging into the fray atop a powerful black stallion and one very-pissed-off mountain bongo. The pixie flipped off my magnificent pet and landed on her toes, slamming her staff back and forth. Bandit's horns crashed into a stream of assassins coming for me, hooves trampling any not quick enough to escape.
Glinda dismounted as Izzy and the turrets did mop-up duty. The priest cast a spirit buff and ran to our side. Lash ripped off her helmet and breathed in exhaustion, smiling from ear to ear. "Damn, you guys know how to make an entrance."
Despite being restored to full, I collapsed on the road beside her, laughing. "You are certifiably insane, Lash, you know that?"
"Takes one to know one." She tiredly reached for her cleaver, but there was no one left to kill.
"Look at the trouble you get into without me," said Izzy, helping me to my feet.
"Don't I know it." I gave her a hug and checked the battle map. "Don't worry. There's plenty of trouble left to come. The Whisperer is still amassing forces on the thoroughfare."
"He hasn't even shown his face," complained Lash. She salvaged Crux's gear and gave his fading body a solemn nod. "The kid did good."
I gritted my teeth and clapped her white pauldron. "For a pacifist."
I rubbed Artax's neck before shooing him to the sidelines. He didn't need to be involved in this battle. Bandit stuck close to me as we moved down the street to support the others. Somewhere during our reprieve my overloaded skills returned to active duty. Good thing as there was still plenty of fighting to be done. From here on I resolved to be more judicious with my use of overloads.
Glinda frowned at the battle-scarred terrain. "So everything so far has just been Hadrian's opening salvo?"
"If the defense map is any indication." It was worrying to me how completely Hadrian was able to reinforce his numbers.
Lash looked the two over. "Where did you ladies get off to, anyway?"
Izzy shrugged. "It was some kind of teleportation spell. Stuck us out in the boonies. Somewhere random, I think. It wasn't dangerous except for the pack of bandits outside the gates, but most of them were moving to the river north of town."
"The kraken controls the river gate," I explained. "The breach is feeding the their army."
"And the shadowguards?"
"Still alive. Still protecting Hadrian."
Lash shook her head. "How are we gonna stop them?"
"Our vacation gave me a lot of time to consider that," said Izzy, "and I think that Void Orb spell requires both shadowguards to cast."
I nodded in revelation. "That's right. They worked together both times they used it. So if we kill one of them..."
Lash slipped her helmet back on her head. "Then we neutralize their superweapon."
Izzy pressed concerned lips together. "Not counting the titan."
Our rejuvenated group made easy work of the remaining rogues on the street. Glinda and Caduceus provided much needed support to the troops. Our low-level healer was dead.
Dune came sprinting back. "They're in the water!"
"Who is?"
"Undine!"
According to my display, we had two incoming enemy spearheads: those snaking down the river to the east and others filing into the ruins to our west. What little time we had to recover was almost up.
Grim silence overtook the battlefield. Rogues peeked out from rubble. Grips tightened on weapons. Scattered flames on the river surface dwindled as scaly bodies drew ever closer.
The third wave was about to begin.
1460 Command & Conquer
Errol and the pirates had the most experience against the undine. They drew hooked weapons and split to defend against the river incursion. The other half of the faction covered the street. I couldn't shake the feeling that thinning ourselves out was a losing strategy, but what else could we do when we were surrounded?
Talon: Kyle, any luck with those sockets?
Kyle: Negative, Alpha Leader. The bone pearl just doesn't want to slot onto anything. I switched the dove pearl to the wind socket, but it looks to give the same functionality.
Talon: Too late for messages to help us.
I cursed.
Kyle: I have a theory, though. We're ignoring the dirt pearl. There's a chance it can notch over one of the other pearls.
Talon: But then we lose our turrets.
Kyle: We could slot the shale pearl back in there.
Talon: We're way beyond choke points, Kyle. They're flanking us. Reposition the turrets. Two on the road and two on the riverbank.
Kyle: Roger that.
The shale turrets repositioned themselves. Despite being surrounded by superior numbers, there was something reassuring about having artillery on your side.
Errol: Here they be comin', Talon. Waves o' undine, crawlin' up the brick with nothin' but claws an' determination.
Before I could respond, a charge signal went out in the ruins. Units of bandits rushed the line with wild abandon. There were more of them than I thought. Red dots clustered together on a map were difficult to count. Even worse, location markers said nothing of the enemy type. When several ogres rose from their ranks, I realized Hadrian had been saving his big mobs for last.
The next surprise came just as suddenly. Hordes of imps spilled into the streets. They were nothing, white mobs, not a challenge at all. So why had they been reserved for this wave?
The barbarous imps loped on hands and feet, quickly overtaking their bipedal brethren. They poured into the street like a flash flood. As the turrets worked overtime to suppress them with shale, the enemy strategy became all too clear.
"Wait!" I called. "Hold off for the humans!"
Claws met steel as imps crashed into the line. Say what you want about noob mobs, but many of the Black Hats were low enough level to be shaken by the rush. As the trailing humans neared, I screamed, "Now!"
A line of grenadiers tossed destructive potions over the battlefield. Many of them were Kyle's stock of corrosive. Some had been purchased in shops or crafted by others. Isolated explosions harassed the incoming bandits and destroyed any semblance of order. Which was to say both sides of the conflict met with chaos.
Our weapons danced swiftly, taking out two imps for every human encountered. The initial wave wasn't enough to overwhelm our steely faction members. It hadn't been meant to. During our preoccupation with numbers, the enemy ogres
went for our defenses.
"Protect the turrets!" Bravo Team moved toward one while Izzy and I took the other.
We engaged the enemy ogres while I ordered our ogre crew to take on the humans. I could've pitted like against like for a solid counter, but that would only incur losses on both sides. I needed my biguns alive to clear the smaller mobs away. Sacrificing chess pieces was fine only when you had extra to spare. Taking them on ourselves was the smarter play.
Ogres were far from invincible. Their power, however, was undeniable. The trick to fighting ogres was simple: don't let their meaty paws catch you. It was an easy enough task for experienced fighters either quick on their feet or equipped with good gear. The problem was our turrets didn't possess either.
Although Izzy and I engaged one monster, the other smashed the shale column off its base. It stopped firing, and it was only seconds before its absence was felt. Izzy froze the second attacker to the ground as I impaled it with a deadshot. A couple more skill combos finished off the pair without effort.
Imps had fallen by the scores. I watched Lash cleave the final ogre to the ground. Unfortunately, the damage was done. Our turret was destroyed and theirs hadn't fared any better. The fodder mobs had achieved their objective.
Errol: We can't keep 'em off the shore, Talon. If we don't pull away, we're goners.
More bad news. I briefly considered repairing the turrets with our scant 8 DP, but the bandits rushing to flank us to the north and south changed my mind.
"Fall back!" I ordered. "To the center of Oldtown!" I repeated the order over brigade chat. Then I placed my fingers on my lips and whistled sharply. When Bandit cantered by I snagged her horn and swung onto her back. We rushed to the opposite front where Errol's men were retreating.
"Sorry, Talon. Thar riverbank's too dangerous. If they pull us in, we can't fight back." The shore was overrun with vicious undine. "Good news," added Errol, "is thems fish tails ain't what ye'd call efficient on land. They're advancin' mighty slow."
Watching the mermaids and mermen struggle over the grass and dirt was surprising. When Trafford rushed from the tower and fired some shots their way, an idea sprang to mind.
"Trafford, we'll be overwhelmed if both fronts pinch us at the same time. The undine are slow—we have to make them slower."
His arquebus flipped in his hand as he reloaded it with powder. "Aye, that's an accurate analysis. What'd you have in mind?"
Errol spoke up. "Maybe caltrops will give the fish even more problems than humans."
"Try it," I agreed. "But also construction supplies. The lumberyard lines the river. So does the tower." I pointed to my map. "If you offload lumber and stone at these positions, it'll slow or even redirect the undine. They'll take the path of least resistance."
The old man's head swiveled from me to the approaching fish people. "That's a tall order, chief. And my strength ain't what it used to be."
"Don't get snippy, Trafford. Use Jixa's crew. They'll get it done in no time."
The buildmaster general's eyes brightened and he hurried off.
"Pirates, let's reinforce our people in the middle before they're surrounded by bandits."
A chorus of hurrahs resounded and they charged through Oldtown.
Talon: Kyle, the turrets are down. With what we're fighting, I don't know if they're worth repairing. Give us some temp walls along the shoreline.
I quickly explained my plan while I scoured for additional threats.
Kyle: Cool. That'll let me try out my water-dirt combination.
I watched him alter the socket layout.
Socket Manager
Feather:
Wind: Dove
Water: River -> Dirt
Earth: Shale
Unused: Bone
Walls erected between the mermen and myself. At the same time, the moved dirt pearl thickened the river with mud. The undine struggled and flapped their tails in the goop. Climbing the steep bricks from the shallow surface was now a slippery business, and I watched in satisfaction as the tide of undine was stemmed. Trafford and the ogres rushed by and unloaded supplies from the lumberyard. Makeshift obstacles added to the countermeasures. While the eastern front was far from neutralized, it was handily delayed.
I charged back to the central action, riding Bandit and using my spear as a lance. Errol's men had bolstered the defense and things were looking closer to even now. I wasn't sure if even was enough to stick this whole thing out when Hadrian hadn't even shown up yet. As always, it was up to the playmakers to save the day.
Barbed javelins of ice wielded by the frost mage mowed down cutthroats. The Scar of the Six Seas and his merry swashbucklers flung blood left and right. The white knight's cleaver arced through the air and leveled opponents, golden buffs turning the field to our advantage. The green ranger flipped this way and that, silver arrows punching their marks with unerring accuracy. The white witch and the good doctor traded off healing duties while the berserker and the barbarian tanked. I had never seen such precision and grace in a group effort, and I knew we had built something special.
Bandit galloped wherever we were needed, and no single enemy could withstand the might of my charging dragonspear. But our foes kept coming, and the battle map didn't give me any delusions that the wave was close to over.
Kyle: Oh ho ho, brother, you are going to LOVE me.
Talon: What's up? I could use some good news right about now.
Kyle: I finally figured what to notch the bone pearl into. I think it'll work, anyway, as long as you're cool with me taking the mud out of the river.
A stream of undine were mazing through Trafford's labyrinth, caltrops stymieing their progress. The mud in the river was drying out fast, losing its effectiveness. I decided we could risk it.
Talon: Do your thing, jewelry man.
Kyle: Done.
Kyle: But seriously, bro, don't call me that.
I chuckled as the river washed free, still stuck at shallow but water once again. The jolt of the transition actually washed some climbers upriver, and I wondered if alternating between water and mud was the optimal strategy. The shale walls lowered as Kyle removed the pearls. The ogres hurried to patch the defensive holes.
I was confident they had the problem well in their giant meaty hands. Much more worrying was the sudden rumbling from deep in the ground. All of Oldtown seemed to shake beneath our feet.
"Shit, Kyle. What'd you do?"
Socket Manager
Feather:
Wind: Dove
Water: River
Earth: Dirt -> Bone
Unused: Shale
So the bone pearl slotted over dirt. The tremors in the ground abruptly halted, leaving several fighters wondering what the earthquake had been about. Bandit reared on her haunches and nearly threw me when a skeletal hand ripped through the dirt.
Kyle: So... you know how the city's built on top of ancient catacombs?
I pulled Bandit aside as more limbs pierced the ground.
"What in the..."
One by one, the not-so-restful dead that resided in the tunnels below clawed their way from the ground around the barracks. Humans consisting entirely of bone limped over the battlefield. Some were naked, others wore tatters of cloth or armor. Their skulls were empty of emotion and their mouths and eyes full of dirt. In their hands were the rusty implements of death.
Any apprehension I had about the situation abruptly faded when a thousand-year-old knight smashed a mace into a fleeing bandit's head.
Talon: Kyle, remind me to give you a raise.
I screamed encouraging words to any Black Hats unsettled by the scene. Bandit weaved through the undead unmolested as I bashed passing rogues aground. The skeletons were cruel and unrelenting fighters, moving slowly over terrain but striking with supernatural efficiency. Daggers scraped across their bones to little effect, all but neutralizing the invading army's weapon of choice. As more rogues fell to the ghastly reinforcements, Black Hats fell in line with their n
ew compatriots. The dead were wholly on our side.
That was one way to turn the tide.
Brothers in Black scattered from the threats as best they could, but without a full retreat order they were only buying themselves precious moments. We combined spell and sword to slay as many as we could. The smart enemies mustered the courage to single out and gang up on targets. The even smarter ones used bashing weapons. Once a skeleton crumpled into disparate pieces that didn't reanimate, word was out that they weren't invincible.
As more and more skeletons rose from the dirt, our defense points ticked down. This obstinate army was a finite resource. However, as long as they indiscriminately slaughtered the enemy, the pool of DP refilled itself. We were holding at around 6 and I didn't foresee the flow of undead stopping any time soon.
Of course, mazing be damned, the undine did eventually reach the conflict's epicenter. The stream was slow, but they were game changers just as much as the skeletons were. Despite losing their main advantage on the ground, the average mermaid was still more formidable than the average cutthroat. Their claws were sharper than daggers, their natural poisons worse than anything the rogues concocted.
I recalled the healers to deal with withering sickness as we engaged the undine. Stigg bellowed in glee and hit our group with a buff.