As they approached the Faith Settlement, Atlas could see the towering level-three walls looming ahead. Made of thick stone and reinforced with metal, they were a fortress in every sense, designed to keep invaders out and to protect the devout inside.
Crushir stomped up beside Atlas, eyes wide at the massive walls. “How we get in, papa? Big walls too high for Crushir.”
Portilla nudged her brother, her sharp eyes scanning the fortifications. “We break them down.” They had the battering rams ready to go.
Atlas crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing as he carefully thought through the situation. Nadir's main force had been crushed, but there were still around a hundred men left in the Faith Settlement. They were weakened, no doubt, but the real problem was the walls. They stood tall, imposing, their sheer presence enough to make any frontal assault a fool’s errand. Charging headfirst would be suicidal, costing way too many lives.
‘There’s no way I’m doing a Zerg charge,’ Atlas thought with certainty, his mind running through potential strategies.
His gaze drifted to the horizon, his thoughts shifting to something lighter, if only for a moment. ‘It would be so much easier if this was some cheesy TV show,‘ he mused, a wry smile tugging at the corners of his lips, ‘where there was always a secret passage underground with easy-to-access gates and doors that, for some reason, no one ever pays attention to. Why can't my life be that easy?‘
But reality was far from that kind of simplicity. He needed something more clever. He couldn't just throw lives at the problem until it solved itself. Clark had done that before, and it had worked, but the cost in blood was something he was no longer ok with.
Atlas glanced back at the men, already feeling the burden of leadership weighing heavily on his shoulders.
"We're not breaking anything just yet," he said finally, his voice calm but laced with determination. A devious smile began to form as the seeds of a plan took root in his mind. "This is about strategy, not brute force."
Atlas could feel the shift in the air as his words sank in. The men watched him closely, awaiting his next move. He knew what was at stake, and more importantly, he knew that if they played this right, those walls would come down without losing more than necessary. ‘We outsmart them,‘ he thought, ‘not out-bleed them.‘
The smile lingered.
‘‘‘‘
John, his second-in-command, approached with a raised eyebrow. “We can’t scale those walls with ladders like Nadir’s men tried to do. And a direct assault will drain our forces. What’s the plan?”
Atlas turned to the trolls, a new idea forming. “Portilla, Crushir, you’ll lead 100 men, you're going to cause a distraction. Use that battering ram. Make it loud—make them believe the entire army is coming at the walls. But the rest of us? We’re going in a different way.”
Portilla grinned, her jagged teeth showing as she cracked her knuckles. “Loud? Crushir and I can do loud.”
With the trolls ready, Atlas ordered part of his force to remain behind the hill with him, hidden from view. The trolls, however, charged toward the front gate, causing the ground to tremble beneath their heavy steps. They banged on the gates, roaring and taunting the soldiers inside.
"Come out, tiny men!" Crushir yelled, his deep voice booming. "We smash you!"
As expected, the Faith Settlement’s forces panicked. From their towers, arrows flew, though they barely scratched the trolls’ thick skin. The 100 remaining soldiers scrambled, focusing their attention on the massive distraction at the gate.
The Portal Crushers accompanying the trolls had one job. To prevent any flames from hitting the trolls or the battering ram. Heavy shields soaked with water were held aloft with extended poles designed for this purpose.
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‘‘‘‘
Meanwhile, Atlas led the rest of his forces along the wall. Instead of finding any structural weakness, Atlas studied the pattern of the guard shifts. After a while, he noticed a section of the wall that was poorly manned due to the rush to reinforce the front gate.
“That’s our opening,” Atlas muttered, pointing at the weakly defended section. “We don’t need to dig under; we’ll go over when they’re distracted.”
Wang Bo stepped up beside him, tapping his staff against the ground lightly. “Climbing it is then?”
“Climbing it is,” Atlas confirmed. “We’ll take advantage of their distraction. Once they focus all their attention on the trolls, we’ll send a group over the wall.”
Wilfredo cracked his knuckles, grinning. “Ready when you are, boss.”
As the teenage trolls continued their raucous assault on the gate, Atlas’s group moved swiftly, staying in the shadows of the wall. They reached the weakly guarded section just as the soldiers on that part were pulled away to deal with the front gate.
‘This is the part where someone in the audience would yell, 'Of course, they left the side undefended!'‘ Atlas mused, shaking his head slightly as they prepared to climb. ‘Wishful thinking gets you nowhere though, huh?‘
“Go now,” Atlas whispered, signaling the others.
One by one, they used grappling hooks to scale the wall, each soldier climbing silently and efficiently. The few guards who remained were quickly and quietly dispatched by Wang Bo and Isabella before they could raise an alarm. Wang Bo had to refrain from yelling out the moves, and it wasn’t near as fun without them.
‘‘‘
From behind the shields of the army, Portilla and Crushir peeked out at the flaming bolts raining down from the walls.
BOOM. BOOM.
The battering ram kept hitting the gate,
The soldiers above frantically shouted orders. Every now and then, a flaming bolt would make it past the shields, and the trolls would roar in pain.
“Ow! That one stings!” Portilla yelped, rubbing her arm where the fire had grazed her skin, through a hole in her armor. The greater flame resistance potions they had taken were working, but they only boosted flame resistance 50%, and didn’t stop fire damage completely.
Crushir scrunched up his face, raising his shield higher. “Why they gotta shoot these stupid fiery pointy things, huh? I hate ‘em.”
“'Cause they’re dumb,” Portilla replied, peeking over her shield before ducking down just in time to avoid another bolt. “Humans are too scared to fight like real trolls. They gotta stay up high and throw stuff at us. ‘Cowards.‘”
Crushir grunted, fidgeting behind his shield. “I don’t like it, Portilla. It’s hot. And… and burny. Why don’t they come down here so I can squash ‘em?”
Portilla gave him a sharp look. “'Cause then we’ll squash ‘em too fast, and we gotta keep ‘em busy for Dad, remember?”
“Ohhh… yeah, yeah! Gotta keep ‘em distracted. But…” Crushir’s face scrunched up again in confusion. “Why can’t Dad just tell ‘em to stop with the shooty fire sticks? He’s the boss, right?”
Portilla groaned. “Crushir, you’re not smart. They ain’t listening to Dad right now, okay? We gotta keep ‘em all busy while he does his sneaky thing inside.”
Crushir’s eyes went wide, a light bulb going off in his head. “Ohhh! Like a trick! I like tricks!”
Portilla grinned. “Yeah, exactly. Keep our shield up, brother, or we both fried!”
Crushir raised his shield even higher, ducking as another bolt flew overhead. “Okay, okay! But after this… I’mma squish ‘em good. Dad’ll be proud!”
Portilla smirked. “Yeah, me too. No get squished first, brother.”
“I won’t! I’m strong!” Crushir thumped his chest proudly, then winced as another bolt landed too close for comfort. “Oooww.”
‘‘‘
Atlas moved swiftly through the settlement, his eyes focused on the central command building where the remaining leaders would be. “Let’s take them out before they know what hit them.”
His small group took out the guards at the entrance quietly, their bodies hitting the ground without a sound. Inside, a handful of officers gathered, unaware of the imminent danger.
Atlas kicked the door open, his twin swords drawn. “Your army’s defeated. Surrender now, and I’ll spare you.”
The officers turned in shock, scrambling for their weapons, but they were no match for Atlas and his team.
“Noooooo!”
“Stop them!”
Like bears on a beehive the Portal Crushers swamped them. Within minutes, the room was filled with fallen bodies.
With the leadership removed, Atlas signaled for the rest of his forces to enter through the now-secured wall. They swarmed up. And their goal? Opening the gate.
You would think taking a wall, having a fight and crushing the defenders would cause a commotion. It had. But two trolls screaming their heads off with a battering ram and a hundred men was a huge distraction.
The Faith Settlement, once a stronghold of the Prophet’s followers, was now vulnerable. Portilla and Crushir roared victoriously at the gates opened.
The remaining defenders, morale crushed, realizing their leaders were gone, dropped their weapons in defeat.
Atlas stood in the command building, surveying the settlement. He had won without losing a single man. The Faith Settlement, its walls still intact but its forces shattered, now belonged to him.
Turning to John, Atlas spoke with finality. “We are going to raze this settlement.”