Zone Control - I38-FB
Swarm Growth
60%
Local
40%
“You’re right.” Heinz said and he dismissed the message. “Local control does feel higher.”
They stood or sat around the open space in the converted barn. They had been making final checks before leaving when Phil had voiced the question.
“I guess we keep an eye out then.” Phil said with a grimace.
“They’re people.” Heinz’s frustration from the shouting match yesterday carried into his voice.
“I know but that Courtmacsherry group was scared for a reason.” Phil gave him a tight smile. “We need to be careful. That’s all.”
They set off into the fields, leaving the rising sun behind them.
Phil led the way as they walked single file. It wasn’t their usual formation but Phil was wary of more Slimes or Caltrops. He was making progress on his bestiary and had shared some of his findings.
Phil had not limited the bestiary to descriptions and weaknesses for each kind of swarm. He added theories and anecdotes to the entries. Each unique swarm was compared to the others. Their differences, how they could fight together and how they could be related. Using this, Phil grouped the swarm in categories or archetypes as Luke had put it. It wasn’t an original idea but one that had fallen in popularity as the Swarm grew more diverse.
Some of the Swarm were easier to associate than others, the Slug becoming the Leech, but it grew complicated as the creatures morphed and branched apart like a tree taking root.
Caltrops were an original offshoot from this tree. Somehow its sharp grass-like spikes transformed to the whipping cords of a Slime. Its patterned colours shifting into messy patches as the creature grew.
Phil took the presence of the two Slimes yesterday as a warning. Caltrops could be nearby. So he led the way with Louise behind him. Stepping on a Caltrop wouldn’t kill you but it would stop you from doing anything useful until you healed.
“Three Hedgehogs and something new.” Phil called back.
He had climbed up an earth wall dividing two fields for a look before they dropped over. The wall was covered in thick brambles and while they were well wrapped up it would be awkward to cross in a hurry.
Phil climbed back down to them.
“It’s bigger than the hedgehogs and chitinous.”
“Do we try the new tactic?” Louise asked as she pulled her knives out of her belt and attached them to her wrist.
Phil’s face contorted as he considered the question.
“No. It’s not quite as big as the Slaad was. I think we can treat it like we would a Hyena or a Pangolin.”
“Alright. Heinz, Tara and Shane take a Hedgehog each while you and I tackle the new thing.” What was once an order was now a suggestion but they followed Louise’s directions all the same.
The pack of Swarm was further along the hedgerow but they crossed on the count of five at Phil’s viewing point. The Swarm pack were easy to spot in the field. Heinz picked out one of the spiked football sized creatures on the left for himself before looking over at the new type of Swarm.
Like the smaller creatures around it, the new Swarm was covered in plate-like structures. Large curved panels combined to form the trunk sized torso. It differed in the number of limbs branching off its body. 8 limbs total, four each side, with a set holding its bulbous head off the ground. Three legs were swaying gently in the air, two on the side closest to them.
As Louise started to run, the three legs in the air twitched towards them. The legs twisted on several joints and descended to the ground.
Heinz focused his attention back on his chosen Hedgehog as the two groups neared. The new swarm had split away from the others and Heinz had no trouble singling it out. It ran towards him on stubby feet but it seemed so slow. Heinz slowed and lifted his halberd up, preparing for an overhead blow. In the past the creature’s tough hide had required multiple strikes from Shane’s axe to split.
Heinz swung. The creature continued straight, confident in its armour as the sign edge came down on its back. There was a slight shudder as the edge connected, before the armour cracked and the halberd continued down to the ground.
Heinz frowned at the bisected remains. He raised the halberd for another blow before the familiar sensation of a new message grew. The Swarm was dead.
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“Tara, wait! Swap!” Shane bellowed to Heinz’s right.
Heinz turned to see him abandoning his wounded target and moving to Tara’s. Tara knocked her hedgehog back with a blow and with a confused look on her face moved to Shane’s.
Heinz was curious too but he turned to Louise and Phil’s fight. Phil was at the creature’s head, fending it back with jabs from his spear while blocking blows from the front limb with his shield.
He moved to join Louise at its back, who was hacking through a limb.
“We have it under control.” Louise called to him as he approached.
Heinz hesitated. They had talked about this during training earlier. Getting practice working in smaller groups against Swarm or fighting them one on one. Louise and Phil looked like they had it under control and he had the most Credits in the group and likely Energy too.
Heinz stepped back and alternated between keeping an eye on their surroundings and watching the fight. If it started to go wrong he would intervene.
Shane and Tara joined him a few seconds later. They watched Louise cut off three limbs and gain unhindered access to the creature’s torso. Louise took one blade in two hands and lifted it high. She looked ready to sacrifice the creature on an altar. The blade shot down and cracked through the creature’s plates.
Clicking sounded from the creature’s head as it shook in pain. Phil took the chance to bury his spear into its head.
“Right. Get a lick in.” Shane commanded and strode forward to hammer a blow into a limb socket.
“Shane!” Louise shouted and backed away from the Swarm. A flurry of expressions crossed her face. “What are you doing?”
“More Credits total for five of us.” Shane called back and gestured Heinz and Tara forward sharply. “Phil said so.”
Phil yanked his spear out of the creature with a grimace at the slop that came out with and stepped back.
“Well yes but-”
“There you have it. You trained, now we do what’s best.” Shane said and let the head of his sledgehammer fall to the ground with a thud.
Heinz watched as Shane stared Louise down. This was a rebuke. Shane hadn’t commented during the discussion about Louise and Luke’s team yesterday but it seemed that a list of names wasn’t enough for him to ignore it.
Heinz turned to Tara and indicated her forward with his head. She flicked her eyes between Louise and Shane before taking a breath and walking forward to land a blow on its plates, embedding her axe head into them.
Heinz followed after her and with one hand on his halberd stabbed into the torso. The plate cracked but the halberd head didn’t fully penetrate.
Shane stepped back and waved Louise and Phil forward.
“All yours.”
Louise finished off the creature with renewed vigour.
Heinz received 1 credit from the bounty of this Seed and 2 Energy, bringing his total from the fight to 2 and 12.5 respectively. But from the satisfied tilt of Shane’s mouth, the shared rewards were a side bonus.
They would likely continue this method of reward sharing in the future but forcing the decision on the group? That was a message from Shane.
True to Phil’s predictions, a Slime and Caltrop were among the Swarm they encountered on their way to their destination. The Swarm was much easier to detect in the light of day and in the bland dirt field. Phil killed it after everyone struck a blow. Louise, Shane and Tara borrowed Heinz’s halberd to attack in a safe way. Shane and Tara likely didn’t need to borrow the weapon, the axe and sledgehammer allowed them to stay further back than Louise’s blades but safety first.
The Caltrop was also killed by Phil but by him alone. Shane and Tara had shared the Energy from the Hedgehogs earlier but only one credit was rewarded for each Spore kill.
User I38-3NA5
Credits
117
Classification
Fighter-R
Energy
Threshold
572.1
700
Heinz would be buying another augment when they got back to Kinmore today. Hopefully he would have passed the next threshold by then but it might be close.
“Alright, final check. We don’t know what we will find in the village so be ready.” Phil said before taking a swig from his bottle.
The first few buildings in Clogagh village were visible from the crossroads they had stopped at. The small collection of houses could barely be considered a village but that’s what it was called on the map. The village didn’t even have a pub which Heinz had thought a requirement. A garage and church on the north-west of the village were the only non residential buildings according to Phil’s SUV’s navigation map.
They settled back into their standard formation as they started to walk into the village. Phil and Shane led with their shields as the group formed a pentagon.
“Unmarked.” Louise reported as they passed by the first house.
This pattern continued for the next few houses until they stood at a T junction at the centre of the village.
“Left or right?” Shane asked.
“No ones been here.” Louise said, puzzled.
“But there’s no Swarm or signs of their presence.” Phil continued her train of thought.
“There’s something on the road over there.” Tara said and pointed to their left.
Further down the road there was some rubbish on the street. It was the only sign that anything had changed in the village. The plants were green and healthy and the houses undisturbed.
“Let’s check it out but move slowly. Something’s off.” Louise said.
Phil and Shane lifted their shields high and began to advance. Heinz turned to the left and began to walk sideways to watch for any movement between the houses.
Nothing moved or attacked them and they reached the items scattered in the street. What looked like rubbish from a distance was a mix of brick and glass. It created a trail that led from a house on the left hand side of the street off to the north.
“Well that’s not a good sign.” Heinz said as he took in the shattered front of the building.
Something had burst through the wall with enough force to knock debris out onto the street.
“I guess we follow the trail?”
“At least it’ll be hard for something this big to ambush us.” Phil said with false cheer as he gulped.