Realizing that I will not be able to reach the outpost in time to aid in the defense, I stay in my astral form at the outpost while directing my drones to get into their assigned positions. I decided to split my hornets into two teams, one to act as the surprise ambush team who were stationed inside a few buildings on central paths leading to the outpost and the others who were left back at the outpost in order to cover the latter retreat. All of the EMP hornets were stationed with the ambush group due to their slightly shorter range due to their less aerodynamic ammunition.
Along with the hornets, the scorpions were also part of the ambush group and would be carried back while acting as a rear gunner after the initial ambush was sprung. The vultures were staying back at the outpost acting as a reserve force in case something unexpected happened and I needed a strike force right then and there. The hounds and ants were stationed around the outpost as well, scattered in seven teams of four or five each, all split forty sixty with there being more hounds than ants in each group. In a few of the groups were one of the fire beatles that I managed to pump out in time for the battle.
Last but not least were my spiders who were scattered everywhere either preparing to emergency repair injured drones or manually activate some of the traps. With everyone in place, there was not much to do aside from sitting back and slipping into a front row seat of the action which I chose to be one of the ambushing hornets. Soon enough, the first drones of the attacking force began marching in with their ants taking point, shortly followed by some termites and hounds.
All in all, they numbered somewhere in and around the mid forties with a heavy emphasis on ants who made up a solid half of their force. I suppose that's why they took longer than expected to arrive here. The ants aren't exactly the fastest drones available. Instructing my hornets to hold fire for a little longer, I watched as the first ants reached the first of my traps was a series of pitfalls which caught one of them as they toppled down into the spiky floor.
The enemy drones seemed to hesitate for a moment before, even slower, they began testing every step they took before putting their body weight into it. As they did this, they slowly revealed that there was only a tight path which had not been perforated with spike traps and so they began clumping together and slowly advanced through the street. Then, as I gave the signal, every single hornet and scorpion in the ambush party unleashed their entire salve into the crowded path. This immediately destroyed around seven drones and stunned at least a half dozen more.
Unfortunately, that is when the counter fire began as enemy hornet support realized we were here and began shooting wherever they saw us firing from. This took out a few of us but as per the plan, most of my drones had disengaged immediately after firing their shot. With utmost haste, my hornets began taking off while others picked up scorpions who had tipped over upside-down and backwards in order to face the enemy. With their ammunition spent, the enemy hornets were unable to fire upon my fleeing drones but the majority of their hornet force decided to give chase.
Switching over to the view from one of my scorpions, I could now see the true number of the hornet that had decided to follow us which turned out to be a little over twenty hornets. As they gave chase to my fleeing hornets, my scorpions quickly managed to dissipate the heat off their burning hot coils and so they fired once again, nailing a few of the enemy hornets who promptly fell from the sky. Despite losing some of their number without closing the gap majorly, the hornets stubbornly continued to chase.
Then they decided that they were close enough and halted before aiming their stingers and firing into my hornets backs. Thankfully most of my hornets were too far for any of the projectiles to hit, however some of the hornets carrying the scorpions suffered glancing blows, or in one case they were hit in the abdomen which forced both the hornet and the scorpion they were carrying tumbling to the ground.
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Not long after the enemy hornets fired their volley, my ambush squadron reached within range of the outpost and subsequently the defensive hornets who quickly fired off a volley which worked more to dissuade coming any closer rather than actually downing any. The enemy hornets swiftly decided that they were not going to win this and so they began to retreat back to their main force.
But my ambush team were quick to act on their roles becoming reversed and subsequently shot out their salvo which managed to land a couple of hits. This truly kicked the fleeing hornets into gear as they abandoned all pretext of an orderly retreat as they sped off even faster than before, not even checking to see if we were pursuing.
Deciding that giving chase was not worth it, I have my ambush team disperse themselves into defensive positions. Switching my perspective once again, this time I slipped into one of my spider drones who, with a few others, were manning one of the half dozen or so rock fall traps.
Not long after I slipped into my spider drones view, the enemy ground troop column slowly came into view. The column advanced with a large degree of caution which was well within reason. Guessing from the brief headcount I did, at least a couple more drones had met their unfortunate fate, or rather fortunate for me and my drones, by the hands of my various traps.
Above the infantry column were their hornets who had decided not to chase after my ambush group. It seems that they must have decided that if they were going to be ambushed again, they should at least bring all their weapons to bear. Behind the enemy ground drones, I could now see a few crabs who looked to have a pair of scorpions perched on them each.
Like the path before it, this road had at least a few spike traps but it seems they had developed a strategy against it as they moved their crab walkers up. Then, as the crab began poking at the ground around it, the scorpions sitting on top of the crab bagan firing in wide sweeps across the ground. This caused all of the traps positioned where the beam hit to activate and crumble away revealing their location to the outer world.
As the enemy drone column began moving forward down the set path which the spike traps forced the drones down, I smiled to myself. Upon twisting down the path and near the building which my spiders were settled in, my drones quickly shoved with all their might causing the large chunk to fall down onto an unsuspecting termite.
Hornet spike fire was immediately deployed against my spiders but, due to their small stature and the enemy hornets lack of direct line of sight, none hit although there were a few close calls. My drones hurried away into various hiding spots or escape routes before any more retaliation could be inflicted upon them.
This continued for a couple more times before I had finally ran out of prepared traps that were ready for implementation. With the absence of my drones' constant harassment, the enemy drones were able to pick up their pace and quickly advanced into the outskirts of my outpost. Asides from a few brief skirmishes of varying success, my drones fell back into the cover of my hornets firing range.
The enemy formation looked hesitant to move forward due to my hornets presence but nevertheless, they advanced while staying behind the buildings as much as possible. Preparing for the inevitable engagement, I order my two outermost infantry drone teams to begin advancing slightly forwards so they can collapse on the enemy's flank if they charge straight ahead.
Unfortunately, the MAI drones seemed to have noticed my newly positioned vanguard and have sent two similarly sized portions to block them off. Then their hornets must have finished positioning themselves within their building of choice as they let loose a torrent of fire against my own hornets. My drones take minimal damage from the volley due to their already entrenched positions but when they shot off their counterfire, they did not manage to confirm any kills.
As both of our hornets expended their ammunition on each other, the MAI drones took it upon themselves to charge towards my drone lines now that there was no longer any hornet overwatch. All of my drones braced for impact as the hoard of drones barreled down towards them.