I decide I'm going to stay in my pod for this fight. It's too dangerous to be out there myself and I can fo a hell of a lot more while in my pod. So I hop back in and start reimmersing myself while the twiglings move into position. It looks like they finally all entered my area, the total count puts them at fifty six total bodies. I'm looking at thirty five church warriors, four archers, and their captain, the apprentice knight orc. That dude is going to be a problem. He's, well, an orc. Giant, green, muscled man with a face only a mother could love. The issue is he is carrying a very nice looking glowing broad sword and wearing full plate armor.
The hunters however are going to be the thing that makes or breaks this fight for both sides. Two parties of five, each taking point on a wing of the formation. In party one is:
Sasil (Human, Level 50 Hydromancer)
Devin (Human, Level 35 Earth Tank)
Flair (Catlanx, Level 30 Archer)
Seymour (Human, Level 31 Archer)
Sage (Human, Level 42 Warrior)
I’m assuming with a class name like earth tank that she specializes in defensive earth magic. Also who the hell names their daughter Devin? The hydromancer however is giving me ptsd flashbacks to the damn fish lady. Thankfully they are not a fish person and are much lower level, plus there are no rivers around here. A cat person archer, who is hopping through the trees like a damned monkey. That's going to be a pain in the ass to deal with. The last cat person I dealt with killed me painfully, so this one dies first. Another human archer and a warrior, nothing to write home about with these two. The problem with this party is their formation is very spread out. The archers are off on their own, while the warrior is close to the two mages, but they aren't on top of eachother. That makes them very resistant to the twigling bombers but easily mobbed individually, so I might have to concentrate more twiglings over there to get them down quickly at the start of the fight. The other party however is going to be much easier to deal with.
Grognar (Human, Level 52 Magic Caster)
Sean (Human, Level 43 Warrior)
Daric (Human, Level 50 Swordsman)
Karel (Human, Level 39 Warrior)
Jack (Human, Level 38 Archer)
I'm disappointed Grognar isn’t a barbarian, but a generalist caster is going to be just as much of a pain in the ass. Now the other problem, what the hell is the difference between a Warrior and a Swordsman? Probably better with swords in particular but I don’t know for sure. Either way I don't plan on finding out, they are getting suicide bombed first. And that’s going to be easy because this group is so close together they might as well be glued together at the hip.
Now the question is how do I want to approach this, obviously party two is getting suicide bombed first thing. But where do I go from there, do I want to sweep all my twiglings down the line while they discombobulated? No, that won't work if they reorganize quick enough. My guys are severely out matched in terms of ability, I need to keep them disorganized and confused or my guys will get torn to pieces. And twigings in pieces aren't very useful. God damn it I'm an IT major not a tactician, I don't see how the hell I'm going to be able to beat these guys down…. Maybe that's not what I need to do.
I've been thinking about this in terms of wiping them out completely, but maybe I don't need to do that. They don't know about me specifically, probably. They just want to deal with the monsters that have been killing their guys, or find the night stripe. Either way I don't need to kill them all, just make it not worth their while to continue this way. Which means not just killing them, but making their lives absolute hell out here.
Now what is the best way to do that? Well I can start by doing this. The geomancer of party one is pushing his way through some bushes at the moment, so I take a risk. I reach out with the lowest parts of the nearest bush and wrap them lightly around his right ankle, then I pull against him when he tries to pick up that foot again. The force is just enough to throw him off balance, causing him to stagger forward and tumble through the rest of the bushes. He stammers out the other side but manages to regain his footing. The little trick is still a success however, as he looks down to check himself over and immediately curses aloud.
"Damn it! I just bought this shirt!"
"Ahahah, maybe don't wear it on an expedition then, or watch where you're walk…. Ack!" The warrior behind him jeers at him before she herself suffers a similar fate, but instead getting some scratches along her pants.
The two then proceed to get into a jeering and insulting match, while the rest of their party rolls their eyes and seemingly ignores their two compatriots. Turning to the bulk of the church group I start pulling the same little trick. A warrior falls over hers, another stumbles there. I even manage to get one of the archers to fall flat on her face and spill her arrows everywhere, leaving her to gripe as she picks then all up and inspects them one by one for damage.
But I'm not done, nearby, just out of sight a large branch slowly curls back into a taught position. When it's released it violently smacks into another, weakened by me, branch and produces a loud crack like a whip. This is followed by the loud thunk of the impacted branch hitting the ground echoing through the forest. They all pause, but quickly resume their slow march as a small group of them five break off from the rest to investigate the noise. On the other side of the formation, party two is suffering similar issues, with two of the warriors fumbling when pushing through some bushes. These guys however are much more on edge and seem to be growing suspicious.
“Something ain't right. Sean and Daric getting snagged on a bush? Sean I could see but Daric is way more careful than that.” Grognar says.
“Hey, first, screw you. Second I agree, Daric doesn't just trip on bushes. But something ain't right about that bush, it wasn't that my foot was stuck, I was careful to avoid that specifically. No, it felt like the damn thing was pulling back on my foot as I tried to move.” Sean replies.
“Yea, it's called getting stuck.” Grognar says.
“No, not like that. You know how when some ones got your arm and is pullin on you while you try to pull away. It felt like that, but was real subtle and small.” Sean says.
Grognar was about to reply to Sean once more, presumably to continue the argument when Daric chimed in.
“I agree with Sean, something was definitely happening. It was subtle but still there, keep your guard up, we don’t know how these creatures operate. There could be dangerous traps ahead.”
“Should we tell Stalt?” Sean asks.
“Like he would believe us if we claimed the bushes tripped us. Just keep your wits about you and be ready for anything.” Grognar replies.
Ehh well, I seem to have tipped them off slightly. Won't save them in the long run though, the line is approaching my ambush point, and the warrior party is going to get blasted first. I think I’ve got an idea on how I’m going to approach this. Step one will be a suprise from a single suicide bomber into the warrior squad. I want them to take a swing at it and kill it, its payload will be the opening blow. It should work because they won't be suspecting it, and hopefully it will at least cripple the squad, if not outright kill them given how close they are to each other. Step two will be a rush from twenty five of the thirty melee twigings. They will run in and attack while the defenders on that side are still disoriented by the blast.
Step two actually takes place at the same time as step three, which is to send the throwers around the side of the formation while they rush to help their comrades fight off the melee twiglings. Even if the throwers get spotted early their flanking position will put a lot of pressure on the group and force them to risk the stand or back out immediately. In the case of the former I’ll employ step four, if the latter happens I’ll just pick them off as they run using the thrower twiglings. Step four is to suppress the formation temporarily with the thrower twiglings. Once they decide that ducking is better than getting speared I’ll send in a second suicide bomber covered by the remaining five melee twiglings to wreck some havoc.
If they don’t route by that point I’ll just pick them off with the remaining twigings and use the last two suicide bombers whenever I get a good opportunity. I’ll definitely need one for that captain though, I might use one on the other adventuring party if the opportunity arises but I doubt it. They’re ranged heavy and will probably blast the thing from a mile off once they know what's going on.
Well, enough scheming, it's time. The line has approached my selected ambush point, about a mile from my pod. Even if this attack fails I'll have plenty of time to pack up and run unless they beeline straight for me. But I doubt they will do that, too many reasons not to. Then again, humans, and anything related to them, are insanely stupid.
The expedition's formation is a line perpendicular to my home area. The second adventurer party is on the left side so that's where my attack will start from. I'm going to try and avoid engagement with the first party if I can as they will be more of a pain to bring down. My hope is that my plan causes a route when they start to panic, I'm not too concerned about after that. We are in the middle of bum fuck no where so by the time they get back to civilization and back out here with reinforcements I'll have plenty more twigings to boot.
Slowly they creep forward, my first suicide bomber hiding behind a nearby tree, waiting for them to get just a little closer. The forest is silent, all the birds and other small animals that normally give it life have vanished, apparently sensing the upcoming fight. The invaders meticulously check everything around themselves before taking each step. They are visibly on edge, from the lowest warrior to the captain in the back. The captain is by far the most composed, barely showing it, but the others take no effort to hide their fear. They know something is happening, they just don't know what yet.
"Hey, isn't it a bit too quiet for this part of the forest?" Sean asks.
"Yea, somethings definitely out there. Do you think those bushes were some kind of early warning system?" Grognar asks.
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"Isn't this area a little low level for monsters to set up those kinds of things?" (Other warrrior) asks.
"Normally yes, but this is a new and unknown monster we are talking about. There could be…." Grognar replied, only to be interrupted by a blood curdling scream from the other end of the line.
Everyone stops and turns their attention in the direction of party one while the sounds of fighting start to echo through the forest. What the hell is going on over there? I didn't order an attack yet. I look over to the opposite end of the line only to find party one in complete disarray, haphazardly firing and trying to chase something as it runs away with the lowest level party member in its mouth by their torso. The poor girl, who looks like a human girl with extra hair plus cat ears and a tail with barbs, is desperately trying to claw her way free while the beast viciously shakes its head in an attempt to incapacitate her.
Night Stripe (Level: 45)
It's the fucking night stripe again! That stupid oversized house cat wannabe is screwing with my plan. Now they're all ready for a fight and…. Facing the other direction. I can't hold back a smile as more of the expedition breaks formation to try and help party one, the orc in the back shouting at squads to reinforce that flank. Now it's the perfect time, party one isn't ready, only one of the warriors is looking even remotely in the right direction.
A lone twiging emerges from its hiding spot behind a tree and starts rushing through the forest. Uncaring of the bushes in its path it shoves through them, carefully shielding its payload with its claws while it gets to its new designated point. It only takes seventeen seconds for it to travel the distance. The only vigilant warrior hears the twigling approaching a few moments before it arrives, its approach masked by the sounds of spells and screaming in the distance.
He readies himself just a bit too late. The twigling bursts out of the bushes and rakes its one free claw across the back of the mage. It doesn't do much damage, but leaves the mage screaming while stumbling forward in pain. The Swordsman is quickest to react, his sword flashes and suddenly his position has changed and the twigling has been cut clean in half, right along with the blast pod that was tied to its torso.
The resulting explosion instantly chains the pod tied to its hand and the two combine to engulf the party. The twigling is vaporized instantly as charred corpses are tossed away and into trees while the trees closest to the blast are uprooted and knocked over, left as nothing but black logs stripped of their branches. Only the archer, who was off a bit from the rest of the group, was spared an instant death.
Defeated: Human(Level: 53, Magic Caster - Level: 52)
+575 EXP
*Ding* You have leveled up!
Defeated: Human(Level: 45, Warrior - Level: 43)
+490 EXP
*Ding* You have leveled up!
Defeated: Human(Level: 50, Swordsman - Level: 50)
+550 EXP
*Ding* You have leveled up!
Defeated: Human(Level: 41, Warrior - Level: 39)
+450 EXP
Ahaha, and I got full credit as well! I was wondering how that worked out, and the answer is in my favor. I send in the follow up troops and start deployment of the flanking force. I also make sure to buff and shield all of them.
Silence has once again overtaken the forest, with even the night stripe pausing, the girl hanging limp in its mouth, and looking off into the direction where the fireball had erupted into the sky. Then, it happens, the screech of twenty five twiglings commencing their assault rips through the forest.
“Gods damn it, formation three! Formation three!” Stalt frantically yells from the back.
The remaining members of the expedition reform into their groups and start to move together as Stalt pulls an ornate horn off his belt and blows into it three times. The archer is the first to die to the twiglings, the opening explosion left him crippled and barely breathing. As such he was instantly torn apart when the twiglings found him, much to the horror of the few souls within sight of him.
Defeated: Human(Level: 38, Archer- Level: 38)
+430 EXP
*Ding* You have leveled up!
Once the twiglings were done there they turned their attention to the next group, five warriors who are a bit far away from the main mass of the expedition. The mass of angry sticks charged towards the outlying group, who promptly turned and attempted to run back to the safety of the new formation. They didn’t get very far before the twiglings chased them down, to their credit they fought valiantly. The first man managed to break the shield on and cut the first twigling in half with a skill. Unfortunately for him, the second one grabbed his left arm and pulled him off balance, then a third tackles him to the ground. Three more pile on and he’s quickly ripped to shreds.
Defeated: Human(Level: 34, Warrior - Level: 34)
+78 EXP
The next to go is an elven lad who looks like he’s barely old enough to hold a sword. He makes his first swing at the twigling charging at him but fails to use whatever skill or spell they all have to do so. The result is his sword pathetically bouncing off the shield spell, leaving his guard open as the twigling rips out his throat with a swipe of its claws.
Defeated: Elf(Level: 15, Warrior - Level: 5)
+30 EXP
The third dies in a manner similar to the first, this time killing two twigings before dying.
Defeated: Human(Level: 39, Warrior - Level: 38)
+87 EXP
The fourth died after whiffing his opening swing and being torn apart by sharp claws before even hitting the ground.
Defeated: Human(Level: 35, Warrior - Level: 35)
+80 EXP
And the fifth, he had the cognisance to see his friends dying and redouble his speed in an attempt to get to safety. All that afforded him was a set of claws to his back as a bunch of angry twiglings piled on for the kill.
Defeated: Human(Level: 43, Warrior - Level: 42)
+95 EXP
After that I order the twiglings to pause and regroup while I recast shield spells and heal up the few injured. They are getting a bit spread out, and their strength is going to be in massed attacks on singular targets.
“By the nine, they have protection spells!” One of them screams.
“What do we do!? Where are the hunters!?” Another screams.
“Silence! Maintain formation three! You, go ascertain the status of Sasil’s group.” Stalt barks out.
With that one of the warriors scampers off to find party one. Party one isn't doing too hot, the catlanx girl is on the ground and it looks like she’s barely breathing and I’m pretty sure I can see some rib bone. Oh the irony of the cat girl getting mauled by the oversized house cat. Her remaining four party members are by her side, the warrior and earth tank attempting to render medical aid while the others keep a lookout. Where is the nearest suicide twigling? Ah, the closest is currently sneaking up with the spear throwers, I’ll redirect it and send another to take its place. Delaying the suicide run won’t hurt my attack, they’re on guard now and an attempt would probably just fail.
Speaking of the flanking, the spear throwers are in position. Now all I need to do is order the melees to charge and the spear throwers to attack just before the melees reach. They will hopefully cause maximum damage in the ensuing chaos. Oh it looks like the errand boy reached the hunters party, lets see what they plan to do.
“Miss Sasil! We are under attack, what is your group’s status, how soon can you come help with the defense?”
“We are a bit busy making sure on of our own doesn’t bleed out, your going to make due with Grognar’s group only for the moment.” Sasil replies.
“Grognar’s isn't with the formation. That loud explosion occurred near them and no one has seen them since.” The errand boy replies.
“By the damned gods what do you mean they haven’t been seen since!? I know for a fact Grognar is no push over, and you mean to tell me that he’s dead!” Sasil screams back angrily.
The young boy winces and recoils a little bit under the older woman’s angry glare and loud voice before collecting himself and continuing.
“I’m afraid it looks that way ma’am. We don’t know what exactly happened, but after the explosion those things came from the direction his group was holding. I couldn't hear anymore fighting when I was sent off to find you. How soon can you rejoin the fray?” The boy asks.
“Damn it all, Seymour with me. Devin, do you think you can handle Flair’s wounds on your own now?” Sasil asks the earth tank.
“Yea, I think we got her stabilized enough. Not much more two people can do that one cant at this point. Just leave your healing salves with me so I can apply them.” Devin replies.
“Alright, Sage you're with me as well. We need to cut these things down before we lose anyone else.” Sasil says.
The rest of the party unceremoniously dump their healing items on the warrior and leave with the errand boy back to the formation. This is going to be a pain in the ass I can tell, so I order the assault to start before they can get there.
Back at the main ambush point the twiglings, which had been waiting unnaturally stationary, rapidly surge forth towards the closest squad. The fools were stupid enough to put their formation in a rough v shape, not even formed properly due to the trees,rocks, and other vegetation of the forest making for natural obstructions. As such the squad at the spear head is exposed, and worse for them is that a large patch of bramble bushes on their left is going to make it hard for anyone to help them on that side. People have a hard time moving through brambles, twiglings don’t give a shit.
“Squad five hold position and delay. Squads one and three move to support, four and six move to flank, archers pick off any stragglers!” Stalt yells from the back.
The moment he finishes shouting the whole formation starts to move, two groups of five fan out to the far sides and start moving to circle around, two more groups move to close in on the spearhead and assist them in repelling the charge while the archers stand back with Stalt who overlooks the battle field. They don’t get very far with this battle plan of theirs, as the party going wide left from my perspective closes the distance between itself and the throwers. I give the order to ambush and target the five in the encroaching gaggle. Somehow these dumb asses never saw the throwers moving up and as such had their guard completely down until the spears were burying themselves in their torsos.
The result was a bloodbath, all five were blind sided and fell to the ground instantly. Three died outright, one was gurgling on his own blood courtesy of the wood shaft buried in his neck. The final screamed out in agony as he looked down at his body perforated by four spears, two in his lower torso, one in his left arm, and one in his right leg.
Defeated: Catlanx (Level: 30, Warrior - Level: 30)
+70 EXP
*Ding* You have leveled up!
Defeated: Human(Level: 29, Warrior - Level: 28)
+67 EXP
Defeated: Human(Level: 41, Warrior - Level: 40)
+91 EXP
That scream got everyone else’s attention, and they looked on in horror as thirty five new enemies came out of the woodwork to out flank them.
“They’re on our fucking flank! By the nine what is happening!?” One man screams.
Stalt just stands there stupefied, as if he had seen something contradictory to the very existence he inhabited, while the group moving to help the spearhead engaged immediately turned and prepared to fight the new arrivals. Before they got their chance the second volley of spears went out, this one aimed at the aforementioned group. They were more ready than their comrades were but that still didn't save them from heavy damage.
One saw the throwers switch the spears from their off hands to their mains and immediately ducked for cover behind a tree, he was the only one to escape uninjured. Smart man, most of his comrades however, were turned into pincushions. One had a spear directly to the calf and a second to his sword arm, rendering him unable to fight or run. Another was killed outright by a spear to the eye. I'd make a joke saying he saw it coming but the blind bastard clearly didn't. Another jumped behind a tree, but not before a spear glanced off his leather armor and drew a nice large bloody gash along his side. And the final one took a spear in both legs, leaving him a sitting duck for anything that might wish to kill him, like an army of murder happy twiglings.
Defeated: Elf(Level: 43, Warrior - Level: 41)
+95 EXP
In the time it took the throwers to deliver their payloads, the melees had made contact with the spearhead of the group. It was at this moment Stalt finally broke out of his stupor. He lifted his sword into the air and charged towards the thrower twiglings screaming.
“Archers, with me!”
Ah shit, where did I put that suicide bomber?