Something whistled through the sky, streaking down towards the defending group of humans.

"Take cover!"

The group on the ground ducked behind the line of vehicles. An instant later, one of the projectiles fired from the ship slammed into the earth ahead of them, shattering into a million pieces and sending up a column of green flame. More followed, peppering the area in a rainbow of multicolored fire. One of the projectiles impacted the side of a car, sending it rocking. The resulting flame ate into the door like acid.

"Someone take those cannons out!" Sheriff Clay called. "Shoot em' with the missiles if you have to!"

"I don't think I can hit that precise! Not from here!" The Infantryman called as he shouldered the second missile launcher. "They'll have to get closer!"

"I'd very much like it if they didn't!"

"On it!" Chad pulled his arm back, his muscles bunching tightly as he moved. Then, he hurled the sledgehammer forward.

It shot through the air with blinding speed just as the second missile fired, spinning end over end so fast that it looked like a solid wheel. The two projectiles kept pace with each other as they slammed into the side of the vessel. Another explosion rocked the ship and blew a second gaping hole in its side, sending its just-righted form listing once again. Oars exploded out from the impact zone like splintered toothpicks.

The sledgehammer didn't have quite the same theatrics, simply punching through the hull without fanfare. He'd missed his main target, which was to be expected. But that was ok.

A second puff of splintered wood exploded from the ship's roof as the hammer curved back and forth through it, shredding everything in its path. Chad kept throwing other rocks, tools, ceramic toilets, and other heavy items they'd brought along at the longship, peppering it with small holes. Eventually, the Curveball-imbued hammer spun back toward him, a little bit slower now.

He failed to suppress a grin as it slammed back into his hand with a thunderous impact. The throw had twinged his back a tiny bit, but nowhere near as bad as before. And the catch was no problem.

Hell yeah.

You have defeated a Aristani Vanguard (Lvl 9)! +36 Exp.

Level nine? He whistled. Shit, these guys aren't fucking around. That's a problem.

Another round of deep booms erupted from the ship. There were fewer this time, meaning he'd probably taken out some of the cannons. But not all of them.

Bang.

One of the incoming spheres exploded in midair in a burst of bluish flame. Chad looked up to see Annie already reloading her rifle.

"Nice shot!" Squawkers praised.

"Shoot 'em outta the air!" She called back to the others. "Don't let 'em hit the ground!"

Gunfire rang out as the others followed Annie's lead. The resulting storm turned the battlefield into a skeet-shooting range crossed with a fireworks show. Rainbows of flame erupted in the space between them and the ship. It was still moving, despite the holes in the side, but hadn't fully managed to right itself after the second missile. And the third one was on its way.

"Squawk? Can you see the cannons?"

"Yeah!" The parrot peered forward intently. "There's three more. Throw that hammer again and I'll tell you where to aim!"

"Got it!" Chad agreed. As soon as the skill came off cooldown, he hurled the sledgehammer again and activated Curveball. The hammer screamed forward, arcing through the air at breakneck speed.

"Lower! To the right! A little more... steady!"

A moment later, Chad felt the hammer impact the top of the boat. From this distance, it was hard to see the splinters of dark wood that scattered into the air, but Squawkers certainly could.

"Got one! Nice!" The parrot praised him with a flap of wings. "Now come back, to left! No, not that far left! Now you need to go right! Other right!"

After a lot of squawking, some showers of wood chips, and a few outright misses, Chad managed to send the hammer careening through the other two cannons. While he worked on the issue, another missile managed to punch a third hole in the ship's side.

"Finally!" Squawkers cried. "That should be the last of 'em!"

After a moment of waiting, no more projectiles launched their way. Chad gave a triumphant fist pump. "Ha! Take that, jerks!"

A fourth explosion racked the boat as the final missile landed home. The ship finally tilted dangerously to one side, losing altitude as it did.

"Hit! She's going down!" The Infantryman called from behind cover.

"They're abandoning ship!" Pride and relief filled Squawkers's voice. "We did it!"

Cheers rose up from the crowd of volunteers. Chad grinned up at Annie. "See? I told you guys we'd be fine!"

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"Uh... might want to hold off on that for a bit longer." Annie's scope was still trained on the wreckage. "I don't think we're out of the woods yet."

Chad squinted harder at the falling ship. During the battle, it had drawn close enough to make out a bit more detail. Orange and red flames licked up its sides hungrily, sending plumes of thick smoke into the sky like roiling stormclouds. The entire side of the boat was a mess of splintered and charred wood, while its roof had the appearance of very unappetizing swiss cheese.

As the ship fell, Chad spotted figures moving about it. A collection of tiny humanoid forms fell through the sky like meteors -- likely the enemies who were abandoning ship. However, not all of them were falling. A swarm of them remained hovering around the ship. And they were getting bigger.

"Shit, they're coming!" Squawkers warned their group. "We've got company!"

As the bird cried out, the cloud of airborne figures began to pull away from the ship, curving through the air in their direction.

"All teams, get ready!" The sheriff called through the megaphone. "Time to protect our town!"

Squawkers swore under his breath, catching Chad's attention. "What?"

"They're level nine."

"Yeah," Chad nodded. "I know. I got a notification for one."

"No, they're all level nine, at least." The bird explained, shifting nervously. "They're way out of our league. Not to mention there's a ton of them..."

Chad couldn't even estimate how many "a ton" was. The flying attackers were more like a swarm of gnats than anything, their forces numbering a few hundred at least.

"It's ok, buddy." Chad hefted his sledgehammer again. "We'll keep 'em safe. Just keep an eye out for me."

The forms drew closer, their motley shapes growing more distinct by the second. Many flew on wings of various descriptions, but the majority seemed to float on something more akin to hang gliders. But regardless of how they moved, they did it fast. Much faster than seemed reasonable.

But not fast enough.

Once again, he hurled his favorite hammer-of-throwing forward, aiming at the closest group of enemies -- a group of eagle-headed beings with purple feathers and bat wings. They disappeared in puffs of gory mist before they could even react.

You have defeated a Skylvelt Lancer (Lvl 9)! +36 Exp.

You have defeated a Skylvelt Raid Scout (Lvl 9)! +36 Exp.

Take that, suckers! I rule these skies! Well, me and Squawk I guess.

But as he curved the hammer back around, the attackers didn't stay idle. Their neat and conveniently organized flying V formations scattered into disordered, ever-changing clouds as they sped toward the ground even faster. They buzzed about like flies and proved about as difficult to hit.

The enemies drew close enough that Annie and the others could join in the fight as well. Gunfire once again rang out through the sky, sending the already chaotic cloud of motley creatures into a renewed frenzy. Scores of them fell from the sky as their bullets struck true.

As Chad continued weaving his hammer through the cloud, scoring occasional hits on unlucky foes, he saw many of them attempt to deal with his assault. Shimmering barriers appeared before the hammer as gusts of wind tried to buffet it aside. One even conjured chains out of nothing to wrap around its hilt, only to be jerked along behind the flying tool with a scream. They managed to slow it down a bit, but that was all.

He spotted a figure with skin like cooling lava, its body shooting through the air on jets of flame. The figure managed to barely dodge the spinning tool of death, fingers brushing against it as it passed. The hammer grew red-hot in an instant, disintegrating into droplets of liquid metal that spewed in every direction. Cries rang out from above as the rapidly cooled metal pelted the other flying figures, and they sent glares at the offending individual. However, Chad didn't care so much about that.

My hammer!

The tool's head had disappeared in an instant, along with half of its grip. Now, Chad was left with only a stubby stick curving through the sky. A stubby stick that his skill no longer seemed to recognize, given the way it careened into the distance and outside of his control.

Chad clenched his fist. Damn. I liked that hammer. I was even thinking about naming it...

Vowing to avenge his new companion, he began hurling rocks and hardware even faster. The fliers darted to the sides, maintaining their scattered flight paths and making them hard to hit. Still, bodies fell from the sky into the forests and fields below as thrown projectiles and bullets struck home.

"Incoming! Chad, duck!"

The back line of creatures took action. Arrows, fireballs, and spears of ice rocketed forward as Chad and Annie both dove behind the truck. He felt the impacts reverberate through the vehicle as it was turned into a pincushion. Worse, the impacts didn't let up.

"Geez, they really hate you!" Squawkers called as he huddled against Chad's chest. "Why are they focusing on this one so much?"

"I don't think they are!" Annie shouted as she reloaded. "I think there's just too many!"

"Any ideas?!" Chad yelled over the hail of attacks.

"Don't get hit!" The parrot called over the sound of screeching metal and thudding impacts. "And don't stick your head up! I don't want to see you get brained with a damn popsicle!"

Damn... he's right. But I can't see where I'm throwing like this. Chad grimaced. Maybe if I throw something big, I can hit a bunch of 'em?

Glancing around, he searched for anything large enough that he could toss their way -- something that could block the incoming shots, too, if he could manage it. Nothing fit the bill.

Wait, what am I thinking? Duh.

"You guys might wanna move!"

"What do you--? GAH!"

With an almost casual motion, Chad grabbed the underside of Tom's truck and lifted it above his head.

It seemed like a great idea at the time. Unfortunately, he hadn't accounted for the rest of his body's reaction. His arm was fine, of course, but as soon as the vehicle left the ground, Chad felt his back and legs scream under the sudden stress. The weight threatened to shatter his knees even as it sent them straight to the ground, then sinking down into it.

"Shit!" Chad overbalanced, nearly losing his grip on the truck as he fell forward. It slammed back into the ground with a heavy impact. His body beathed a sigh of relief.

"Chad, what the hell?!" Squawkers yelled.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?!" Annie shouted at just about the same time.

"No!" He protested. "Let me try one more time..."

This time, instead of lifting the truck while standing, he simply put his hand underneath and tried to flip it into the air. The vehicle spun end over end like a top, shooting into the sky faster than should have been possible. Its doors flew off their hinges like comically large frisbees. He heard shouts of alarm as an entire cluster of the enemies were pulverized by the flying truck.

Yes! He grinned triumphantly, sprinting toward the next car for cover as the enemies were forced to regroup. A slew of new kill notifications flew through his vision, followed by one that widened his grin further.

You have reached Level 13!

Rewards:

+3 Stat points

+1 Skill

But wait, there's more...

The spinning truck began to curve through the air, circling back for another pass.