Seemingly all hell broke loose when the goblin-gnome coalition army broke the treeline. Seemingly on cue several dozen more wasps started pouring out of the various tunnels as the ones that were already on the cliffside started skittering downward toward the cliff’s base. Guard wasps detached from the wall and took to the air. Although they did not advance, they just hovered near the cliff face, their wings moving in a blur. More shockingly two more orangish yellow drones climbed out two of the top tunnels.
“Maybe we should have sent a few more troops,” Amelia said, her eyes as big as saucers. Mark did not respond, but he was feeling the same way.
Cedrick was already yelling for them to form up. The gnomes only made up about a quarter of the army, but they took the front and center with the goblins on both flanks. The gnomes quickly formed up in ranks with each other. It was very apparent that they were very well trained.
The goblins on the other hand were scrambling back and forth frantically. They had intermixed during the several mile trek through the trees, and now had to struggle to get back with their assigned units. However there was a good 500 to 600 feet from the tree line to the cliff face. The wasps had clumped up near the top of the cliff face, so they still had a ways down, and the flying wasps were seemingly holding off till their fodder could pull their enemies' attention before striking from above.
Unfortunately, they were not in their own territory, so they did not have an exact number or get their enemies power ratings. Mark estimated there to be about 60 workers. There were about 10 guard wasps, and he was fairly certain there were just the 3 drones, although there could easily be another one that had been airborne above the field somewhere.
Eventually, the goblins through the cursing of their leaders had been able to get mostly back together and take up their positions alongside the gnomes. Mark had designated all of the legionnaires as lieutenants. Thirteen units was the bare minimum to form a patrol allowing for a lieutenant, so each legionnaire had 1 yellow hobgoblin sergeant and 11 green goblins under their charge. Since there were 10 patrols, five stood to each side of the gnomes.
Nasal had been put in charge of the 20 mages. It was the patrol that Mark had linked them to, so if Nasal and the mages were wiped out they would lose their feed. Luckily they were in the back of the formation. Even behind the archer line that had formed behind the melee fighters.
The patrols had the standard 3 green goblin archers that were put in each of their standard squads. The gnomes had five more. There were only two gnome mages in the army, although they were clearly superior to even the red hobgoblins. They likely had more experience and were level 3 mages.
Cedrick along with a pair of his best gnomes had formed up with the mages to both protect the valuable mage assets, and be in position to see the whole battlefield.
Whether in position or not Cedrick roared for archers to “loose arrows” when the wasp workers were about 200 feet away. The five gnome archers shot out in perfect unison. Each arrow went about the same height and had the same flight trajectory streaking toward their target. They all struck one of the advancing worker wasps, bringing it down. It was picturesque and graceful.
Mark could not keep from frowning when comparing it to the far from graceful goblin archers. More than a few fired a second or two late. Arrows sailed in all sorts of trajectories. Some sailed fairly flat. While others sailed in high arches. A handful landed short. Half the rest, traveled far enough, but missed in between the wasps. Few if any of the wasps were hit more than once, and if they were it was by pure chance. Likely due to the unconcentrated fire, not a single other worker wasp went down.
The Worker wasps were moving at a slow jog, so the archers could have shot another couple volleys at the workers, but Cedrick redirected their focus hollering “Aim to the air! Aim to the air!” The archer's focus shifted to the guard wasps that were closing far faster. They were still farther away from the army then the workers were, but they would likely arrive just before the workers did.
The last organized volley of arrows rose to meet the guard wasps along with a dozen mage bolts. Most of the mages were preparing fire balls for the approaching worker wasps, but Nasal had directed a third of them to hold off. He had then quickly directed them to fire at the guards.
Fireballs streaked from the back of the army at near the same point in time. Leading to a chaotic clash as fireballs easily hit their targets on the ground, exploding in flashes. Blue bolts and black streaks sailed through the flying guards. Many hit some sailed past. It resulted in several of the guards falling from the air, although the exact number was hard to determine since the rest shifted their trajectory to slam into the army.
Wasp guards smashed into the midst of the army. Several landed entirely flattening any goblins and gnomes who either jumped away or were thrown away to the ground. The majority of the guards elected to remain airborne. They smashed into the army ranks, their legs snatching for goblins and gnomes. They were soon beating their wings even more furiously to increase their altitude, many with one or two unfortunate goblins in grasp.
However, Mark could hardly keep track of them since the remaining 30 or so worker wasps smashed into the coalition armies lines. Half their numbers were still going up in flames some ways away, but they seemed not to care. They were only about five feet long and several feet off the ground sitting on their thin legs, but they only had to rear up slightly to have their mandibles at the level of their small statured opponents heads or chests. Their tiny wings buzzed behind them to help them keep their front half aloft. They could not fly, but their wings were enough for that.
Goblins who were caught up in the mandibles were instantly crushed. Others were knocked aside by the wasp’s long black legs. At first glance it was alarming. Seemingly the goblins were getting routed, although the gnomes stood as a resolute bastion, but based on the unit counter the goblins were actually not dying in droves. They were giving way, avoiding death in their very opportunistic approach to battles, when they did not feel they had an overwhelming advantage in numbers.
Worker wasps would move toward a clump of goblins to only have them dissipate in all directions. Some then came in from the sides stabbing in with their spears, or hacking with tomahawks. Within a minute all of the worker wasps found themselves like islands amidst a sea of goblins being stabbed at from all directions. Although the wasps were catching plenty of goblins themselves.
The gnome lines on the other hand had held, with all worker wasps kept to the perimeter, and surprisingly it did not look like a single gnome had perished. Mark noted that, right before three perished all at once as a drone smashed into their ranks. Quick as lightning its mandibles turned one into mush. Two more were killed by the drone’s front legs. One had his head knocked off. The other was speared directly through the chest.
The wasp was likely a good 12 feet long. Even when resting on its legs its head would likely be a good four or five feet off the ground, which was higher than most of its enemies. Mark was prepared for it to continue to rampage, but the gnomes soon were hounding it from all sides. It had also become the favorite target of the goblin mages, who still found themselves safe for the moment. The archers however had already become embroiled in the threats near to themselves.
Blue bolts streaked into the large wasp. Each hit provided another deep smoldering wound on the creature, however it was the gnome mages that finished the job. Two yellow magic lances shot out spearing the creature through its two large compound eyes with perfect precision. The drone only whipped around for a few more seconds before collapsing.
Whether they learned from the first drone or the guard wasps that had landed, Mark did not know but the flying wasps were now only streaking in to directly kill or to snatch up the goblins and gnomes. The victims that were picked up were soon dropped from hundreds of feet up. They screamed as they plummeted. It was possible some could survive depending how they landed and what they landed on. The wasps were not carrying them too high up, and many of the unlucky victims were dropped into trees or the dense underbrush. However, even in the best case they would still likely have broken bones and not be a part of the fight.
Apparently, the remaining two drones also decided to perform these hit and runs. One of them had chosen the largest clump of enemies to approach, which was the mages and leadership. However, the drone met a war hammer directly to its head, which deflected the creature.
“How did he do that!” Amelia exclaimed. To which, Mark just shook his head. The gnome had jumped nearly 20 feet into the air to meet the incoming wasp.
However the battlefield was quickly becoming chaotic as the chaotic sea that was the goblin ranks was pushed back into the mages. The pair of gnomes accompanying Cedrick had to move to intercept incoming worker wasps. Nasal had moved to help one of the legionnaires intercept a guard, who had landed due to a damaged wing. The goblin mages bunched up, forming a kill circle. Magic bolts sailed out to meet guards or workers who came their way, usually driving them off.
However a couple mages got pulled into the air by a guard wasp. Another one had been dragged out of the group by a worker wasp. The goblin mages were likely already low on manna, likely already having consumed enough eres rock to have them start to feel queasy, but they struggled on. The clump moved away from threats, until a guard slammed into their center. The mages had noticed it beforehand, a hole opening well before it smashed into the ground. However the guard had effectively fractured the group, as they all escaped in different directions lost in the sea of battle, leaving the couple who were not fast enough to escape.
Cedrick was far from being able to help them. The same drone was challenging him directly. It zipped in. The two exchanged blows. Then the wasp separated back into the air lazily arcing around to come back. The gnome leader was doing exceedingly well since the drone was likely quite a bit more powerful than him. However one wrong move, would probably be it for the gnome.
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The gnome mages had abandoned the goblin mages once their leader had been dragged away in his own fight. They had joined the other gnomes, and were able to keep themselves fairly safe by keeping one of the gnome fighters in between them and the threats. Occasionally, a gout of flame would leave their staffs toward an enemy.
Ten minutes had passed, and in typical succession battle fashion the fight between the two armies was already wrapping up. Mark would have thought that battles would go on and on, but when one side was relentlessly attacking the other with no thought on self preservation they became fairly short.
The orcs were battle junkies and had relentlessly attacked till they either killed or were killed. Neither did the constructs or undead have a sense of self preservation. It was clear to Mark that the wasps had the same notion. Easy to assume since insect species were generally not very individualistic. They would give it all to protect the hive or the queen that likely was within.
The workers had all been exterminated, which only left the flying units. There were only a couple of guards left. The 40 or so remaining goblins had regrouped once they realized that individual goblins made easy targets. Wasps could snatch them up without having to worry about receiving attacks from other units close by. The clump of goblins once again formed a sort of kill circle, their eyes looking into the air.
The majority of the gnomes surrounded one of the drones. One of the gnome mages had shot a lance at the wasp, but had missed its main body. Luckily, it had caught both of the wings on one side causing the drone to lose its ability to fly. They were slowly whittling it down. The other drone was still occasionally challenging Cedrick, but was also picking off other units where it could.
Soon enough the gnomes were able to kill the downed drone. The remaining two guards had also fallen by this point. The final drone was practically unscathed, but it apparently judged that continuing to attack would be futile and retreated to reenter one of the tunnels.
Cedrick immediately set to taking account of the gnomes. He was cursing as he ordered the gnomes to start taking care of the wounded. The goblins mostly stood by uselessly. They did not care in the slightest about their downed comrades. Each was just thankful that they had made it. They only helped the wounded, when the wounded goblins were able to haul themselves to another goblin and ask for some specific aid. Which the healthy goblin would then help while grumbling.
The green goblins were pretty listless since their leadership had been all but wiped out. Goblin had not seen it, but Nasal had died again. Only one of the legionnaires had survived, but he was prioritizing recovering the clay pot of life essence that they had left away from the battle site. Of course only the hobgoblins could be trusted with such a task. Which meant the remaining two sergeants were sent off since the surviving hobgoblin mages were far too sick at this point.
Honestly, Mark was kind of happy that the legionnaire was taking the initiative to secure their next floor guardian. Perhaps it was a bit cold blooded of him, but goblin’s suffering was practically goblin nature. He would much rather lose more of them due to poor post battle care, than to not get his prize. Luckily, he had told the legionnaires and all the mages that it was one of the top priorities. Being the only able body left to complete the task, Mark was quite pleased with the Luentenants initiative.
Cedrick on the other hand had finished gathering his people and properly cared for the wounded. The gnome leader actually looked quite pissed. Mark could only assume it was due to losing more gnomes than he had expected. It was clear the battle had been a bit more intense than Cedrick had expected.
Still the gnomes had done quite well since there were still 41 of them still alive. Although a few of the number had grievous wounds that would impact them going forward. A couple had lost an entire arm or leg.
Eventually the counters stopped ticking down. Only 38 goblins had survived the battle, including the one legionnaire, 8 mages, 2 sergeants, and 27 green goblins. It was far worse than the gnomes since there had been 151 before the battle started.
Mark was more than happy to accept the outcome. He watched with anticipation as the two sergeants returned with the clay jug being carried with the use of two wooden poles. The hobgoblins plopped their payload down next to the Lieutenant who immediately got to work carefully spreading the life essence on the drone that the gnomes had whittled down. The first drone’s body was far too damaged with half its head in ruin due to the flame spears.
The second drone would not be able to fly since its wings were half gone on one side. Other than that it just had a bunch of smaller wounds that had added up to claim its life. Winnie was no different. They had speared and shot the bear full of arrows until it had died. Mark would not say he was an expert, but it was clear that the better the corpse was together the better.
Unfortunately, the body seemed to still be willing to soak up life essence when they ran out. The legionnaire was carefully shaking the pot upside down to allow any remaining drops to fall out. Once completed, he jumped down to take a break. It would likely take the drone a good hour or so to be reanimated.
Once post battle care was completed, Cedrick started to prepare for the actual nest assault. However, the assault would not be required. A half hour after the battle was completed, gnomes placed as sentries to watch the hive raised the alarm. The drone had emerged from near the top of the cliff. Cedrick started to organize the gnomes. He did not even attempt to get the goblins to join. They just watched from all around the battlefield.
However moments after the gnomes started to prepare a second figure emerged from the biggest hole. Mark did not have to check the status of it, but he did anyway, Cyan wasp queen (corrupted). The queen was probably twice the size of the drones. Although she was black like the rest. She had the same cyan marks as the rest, but also had rotted cess splotches randomly across its carapace. She had three sets of wings to keep her massive frame aloft.
It did not take an idiot to guess what had caused them, the toxic essence. The essence had also likely caused the corrupted portion of the queen’s status. Perhaps the queen was in the process of evolving into something completely different.
If that was not bad enough a half dozen black Cyan cutter waps emerged from behind the queen. Unlike the other wasps the cyan color seemed to be their predominant color. They had yellow and black streaks breaking up the light blue. They were likely on the stronger side compared to the similarly sized drone wasps. They must be like the queen’s personal guard.
Cedrick along with the coalition army were visibly alarmed, although the gnome leader did not back down. Fortunately, the queen seemed to only glare a them angrily before turning and flying in the opposite direction. The other seven wasps followed suit. Apparently, the queen had chosen to relocate to the south east rather than slug it out with the remainder of the coalition army.
It was lucky for the coalition army since Mark was doubtful they would have won against the 8 wasps. The goblins were basically spent. They would not be much help, and it was doubtful the gnomes would be able to take them on alone.
Mark ran his fingers through his hair. For a second there, he had felt like a kid who had received his candy to then have it immediately snatched back from him. Amelia clearly felt the same way saying, “Whoa”, while holding her hand to her chest.
Instead of having to send a raiding party to fight through the tunnels, Cedrick decided to only take an investigation team, leaving the majority of the forces outside. Of course it was far later in the day before Cedrick made the move. He decided to allow time for his forces to rest, which was fortunate for Mark since he was also extremely tired. He ended up dozing off soon after it became clear there was not going to be another fight.
Amelia roused him hours later as the investigation team started to enter the tunnels. Thankfully one of the goblin mages was good enough to walk along despite not wanting to. Although the legionnaire knew enough to take along one of the linked units, so that Amelia and Mark could follow along. However, they were the only two goblins a part of the team.
Cedrick had his own two mages along with a dozen other melee fighters. The team proceeded cautiously into one of the lower tunnels. Thankfully, Amelia had allowed him to sleep while they were working getting the rope ladder in place to reach a tunnel a good 50 feet from the base. All the units had been able to make the climb, although the goblin mage was still to weak and got hauled up from a rope under his armpits.
Watching the process gave Mark the idea of climbing the plateaus. It was not the first time he had thought of it, but it had always seemed fairly unfeasible without access to iron spikes. Maybe they could get the gnomes help in that area. Mark was more than curious on what could be up on top of the different plateaus. At the very least they would provide excellent places to post scouts to see approaching armies.
The nest was actually quite a bit simpler than Mark had been thinking. The dozens of tunnels all led to one central chamber. Cedrick only had to lead his team up a steep slope to arrive at the chamber’s bottom. It was a far simpler exploration than the maze of tunnels Mark had pictured. However the relief of having the simple exploration, was soon lost when the group proceeded around a bend into another chamber.
The chamber was lined with honeycomb-like compartments made from a yellowish wax. The darkened forms inside each of the compartments left no question about what was inside. Mark felt his heart drop a bit. There were hundreds of these compartments. In the center of the large chamber was a black pool. They had found the toxic essence. However Cedrick only confirmed the source before having his men break into one of the honeycombs. Out came a honey like glue along with the mostly formed figure of a guard wasp.
The wasp struggled a little bit. Its limbs twitched back and forth. The wasp was mostly formed, however it clearly needed some more time to incubate. It died without any help. Unwilling to leave a threat behind, Cedrick set his men to task. He sent a runner to retrieve most of the rest of the able bodied gnomes and goblins. Soon they were all at work killing the wasp larva, while Cedrick kept tally.
Mark and Amelia hardly left the couch as they watched the process that took hours. They were too stunned by what they were seeing. The final tally included 42 workers, 443 guards, and a couple dozen of a new type. The status read Cyan killer wasp and labeled them as deceased. They were not as big as the drones or cutters, but their name included the term killer. Mark guessed they did not want to see these things in action.
“It's like they were breeding an army for war. If those had all hatched…” Amelia trailed off.
“I think that is precisely what it is. What do you think mid-succession battle surprise?” Mark said before adding. “And if there is one, then the creators likely prepared more of these mid game surprises.”
Amelia looked at him wide eyed. The thought that there were more threats like this laying dormant throughout the map was terrifying. “Well, I guess since the queen had to relocate, the wasp threat might become a late game surprise… You know since she will have to rebuild.”
Mark nodded. “Perhaps the reason the queen jumped ship with the drone and cutters was to do precisely that. Can’t have baby wasps without the drone, and perhaps the cutters are not born very often. Maybe they are only born alongside a queen to be her lifelong protectors.”
They were interrupted with a new notification.
[Notice: You have discovered and cleared a unique location, Wasp nest. Due to the boon of your research building you will now have access to a unique branch under the beast tree, Creepy crawlies. However the rest of the beast tree will remain locked until unlocked naturally.]