Mori made her way back to the front line, which had turned into a heap of slagged metal, broken Clockworks, and a few Talonecs desperately holding off the endless tide of Clockworks. Mori took a moment to search for her undeads’ souls, and she thankfully found none floating around. While she was looking for souls, though, Idle had taken it upon herself to do strafing runs with her fire breath, turning yet more Clockworks into slag. That helped, but Mori knew that she and Idle could only delay the onslaught.
To that end, Mori shot blasts of burning light at the encroaching hordes, which was less effective than she had hoped, but better than she feared. Still, the metal tide marched onwards. Mori eventually switched her spells up, throwing a mass of condensed fire mana at the front of the horde. Mori did not know exactly what would have happened when she threw the ball, but she hoped it would buy them more time.
She was right.
A massive fireball erupted from the center of the mana mass, scorching Clockworks all around and blocking the way for enemy reinforcements. Idle turned her head a bit as they flew, “What the hell was that?” Idle asked between fire breaths.
“A big ball of mana thrown at the enemy. I didn’t know what would have happened, but I like the result,” Mori replied, firing another beam into the horde, “Though, it takes a bit too long to prep for my liking.”
Idle shrugged-- the balance required to both shrug and not buck Mori off was not lost on either of them, “Whatever the problem is, we won’t be lacking targets. How large is the Hive, again?”
“About a hundred square miles. And we’ve just breached the outer shell. I’m just wondering where everyone else is; they shouldn’t be that far behind us.” Mori turned around, seeing the skiffs and ATHENA just crossing the horizon, “Maybe they are that far behind us… Whatever. Idle, let’s keep this up,” Mori said, firing another beam into the approaching tide. A lick of fire rose above the skyline for a moment, and Mori saw something flying that was not an artillery shell. Another lick followed it. Then a third. Licks of fire continued to brush above the skyline, sending little metal things into the sky. Mori watched as one of those things flew directly at her, nearly nailing her in the head before she cast a shield to block it, “Okay, that’s no fun,” she remarked. She spoke too soon, as the metal thing that landed on Idle’s head suddenly popped up, landing on the metallic legs it had in an octet, and threw itself at Mori.
Mori was not impressed, catching the little metal spider in the air and staring at it intensely. “Mistress,” Idle called, “I don’t mean to ruin your examination of that spider bot, but we’ve got more incoming.” She then unleashed a wide breath of fire across the sky, searing the spider Clockworks and turning them into husks, “We need to hold out, mistress. No point in complaining about it.”
Mori huffed a bit, crushing the Clockwork-- she was pretty sure it was called a Fulcrum-- and throwing it off to the side, barely sparing a glance as it fell to the ground. She continued firing beams at the shifting mass of enemies, which could not pin the Talonecs down, especially when Mori was providing a constant distraction for them.
What surprised Mori was the fact that it turned monotonous after a certain point. Sure, she could see plenty of larger Clockworks trying to get a shot on Idle and the cannon fodder below were trying their hardest to hurt Idle, but it became dull all the same. Mori turned her head a bit, looking at the approaching skiffs, and blinked in confusion. They were there, but they looked like mirages, the light around them bending and shimmering. Then she made the connection, and smiled. She renewed her attack on the hordes and blasted a few more apart before the first of her reinforcements arrived. Pandoran suddenly appeared atop the wall, mace held high above his head, and he flew like a bullet, crashing into a Soldier-Headhunter Hybrid. The Hybrid was crushed like a car after crashing into a telephone pole at sixty miles per hour. It toppled over after the hit, falling like a sack of potatoes.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Then came the orchestra of whining mana beam guns. The light they shot came from every nook and cranny a Talonec could fit, blasting the numerous Clockworks apart and searing them. Hundreds of Talonecs flooded the area, cutting the Clockworks apart with their bayonets. Mori watched with great satisfaction as her Talonecs tore the enemy to pieces. It was a spectacle, shining shards of metal flying into the sky like midday fireworks. When the Clockworks that flooded the front line were destroyed, a trio of Talonecs shimmered behind her, standing on Idle’s back with a bit of wariness in their steps, “Mistress,” Pandoran greeted, “All of our forces are ready. We can begin, whatever is needed.”
Mori nodded, turning to the large, tall, Hive, “We can’t clear everything out in a timely manner. We can’t. So, instead, let’s cut the head off of this monster. When’s VII going to be here?” she asked.
“She left with the Necromechs, so whenever they arrive.”
“I see. In that case, we hold our position. The Necromechs can act as the spearpoint in this battle, while you guys can back them up. We cut our way to the Forgeheart, kill it, and help our allies clear out the remaining enemies. Oh yeah, if you happen to see, oh I don’t know, a mermaid or hundred, leave them alone. Actually, help them out if you see them. They’re on our side.” Her soldiers nodded, shimmering away a moment later to direct the battle. Mori had come to realize something about warfare with soldiers that could do all of the things that a Talonec could. It turned war from a battle of numbers, technology, and large-scale tactics into a battle of squad-level strategy, positioning, and flanking maneuvers. Mori reckoned that the Forgeheart would not have been having such a rough time of it if he realized that fact. Which he did not, seeing the state of his soldiers. They charged in blindly, acting without self preservation and ignoring anything that was not their main objective, whatever that was.
They were extensions of the Forgeheart, Mori found when she looked at their souls, like little fingers spread all over. The problem was, though, that, with so many fingers, the Forgeheart could only afford to focus on moving the hand they were attached to. He lost many of those metaphorical fingers every time he moved a hand. It was sloppy. “Mistress,” Idle said, breaking Mori out of her thoughts, “Are you sure you want to delegate so much to our allies? Many of them could die, you know.”
Mori considered her words for a moment, then nodded, “I’m sure. Even if they are in danger, we are only seven thousand strong. We can’t eradicate a Hive alone. If they have a problem with that… Well, we won’t be here for much longer.”
Idle nodded, going back to her business of breathing fire onto any of the poor Clockworks that were forced to charge. Mori stopped her attacks, waiting for the last of her reinforcements to arrive. They arrived a few minutes later. Large, bulky figures clambered over the remnants of the outer wall, VII perched on one of their shoulders. She waved at Mori and Mori waved back, looking at the fifty foot drop and shrugging a bit. “Mistress, you don’t have to-” Mori barely heard Idle as she threw herself off of Idle’s neck. “Dammit, mistress!” Idle shouted, preparing to dive.
“Keep up the air support!” Mori called back, still falling, “We already took a worse tumble not a hour ago!” Idle looked conflicted, then dove for Mori, snatching her out of the air “Idle…” Mori said, about to continue before she saw Idle’s expression.
“Mistress,” Idle said, “You’re like a mother to us. Stop acting like a kid. Please. Come on, I’ll bring you over.” She flapped her wings, descending until she was in front of VII and the Necromech that was kind enough to let her sit on its shoulder, “Please don’t do that again,” Idle added, flapping her wings and ascending, “VII, please talk some sense into her…”
VII nodded, giving Mori a look, “Don’t worry, I will. Keep up the good work, though.” Idle nodded, flying upwards again and returning to her position above the battle. That left Mori with VII, without anyone who would stop her from scolding Mori, “Mori, for the gods’ sake, don’t do that again. I know you’re practically indestructible, but that doesn’t matter. You’re their mother and they care about your well being more than things like logic.”
Mori sighed after a moment of internal deliberation, “I… Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I act like their mother, but… Yeah. But, for now, I can’t just sit back. We’ve got a Hive to conquer and a bit of revenge to get you. So, let’s end this. Ready?”
VII did not seem satisfied for a moment, but eventually nodded, “Yeah. I am. But, if you do something recklessly stupid again, I’ll be the first one to chew you out about it. Hear me? Even if your undead want a word, they’ll have to wait their turn. Understood?”
Mori smiled, jumping up and giving VII a hug, “Clearly. Now, let’s reclaim your… throne?” VII just shrugged in response, nodding nonetheless.