Chapter 75 - Do the Unexpected

The new and improved gate we were forced to cobble together was neither new nor improved. Well, that was unfair. The gate was “new” in that it was a new configuration of old materials, in this case, repurposed logs and cross beams cannibalized from our stake wall. As for the “improved” part, it was very easy to open. Right now it was just being held up by friction and prayer. An outsider might argue that this was actually a weakness, but what the hell did they know?

The hard edge of Samila’s pauldron dug uncomfortably into the middle of my ribcage as the five of us pressed as close to the new gate as possible. In front of me, Sissa and Geddon both had their hands on the diagonal support braces that held the gate closed and kept it from falling backward into the fort, and the two were readying themselves to pull. At the very back of the formation, Bole *tinged* the naked steel of one of his hidden knives off of the hilt of another that way he did just before any sort of up close fighting.

At our feet, a steady trickle of tiny bullet ants marched under the gate and made their way to the reloading station. If one knew how to listen, they would be able to hear the gentle whir of the stirring systems and the *click**click**click**click* of the tiny pistons inside the machine shoving bullets back into magazines.

Worker drones, fat and misshapen with newly mined metal, dragged themselves over the ragged stone tops of the walls to plop heavily onto the stone floor. From there they would only have about fifty feet further until they met their final rest in one of the reshaping bowls.

The guns were still firing, of course, in little fits and starts. I could feel damage and experience notifications trickle by in my combat log. I’d long since minimized it. The flow of information had ceased to be useful a while back, about when the guns were pretty much ‘on’ 24/7.

Not all of the turrets were active at once, of course. The scourge were still teasing at the edges of our defenses, keeping us on our toes by probing the perimeter where they could get away with it, but at least two or three of the guns were engaged with something out there all the time, generally in one or two second bursts. By now, the scourge had figured out that my guns weren’t going to shoot through tree trunks, so they liked to hide in those dead zones and peek until one of the guns would send them back into hiding. Today, it seemed they were probing mainly from the east.

A whistle, some bird call I didn’t recognize, came from Trix’s hanging sniper nest. That was the signal.

Together, Sissa and Geddon yanked on the pull ropes attached to the support braces, and the gate groaned as it pitched back and slammed into the floor.

“Go!” Sissa shouted, hefting her equipment onto one shoulder, and the five of us surged forward.

It was only a second before the collective howl from the surrounding scourge shook the forest, louder even than the guns. Then it was on. We’d made it maybe a dozen steps before the entirety of our ballistic arsenal was back to spewing lead in every direction, suddenly inundated with valid targets.

The scourge were coming for us.

As we’d planned, Geddon, Bole, and I all took positions on the outside of the formation to shield the dragonkin and their precious cargo. My eyes darted everywhere, waiting for the first monster I would have to fight, and despite my Body score and relative level of fitness, my breathing quickly drowned out most other sounds on the battlefield.

The women set the pace. Sissa and Samila, despite their full armor and awkward burdens, stepped surprisingly lightly, hopping over exposed roots and fallen branches. The dark, metal constructs in their hands jangled together dangerously as they ran, and every clink and clank conjured a new nightmare I had to consciously dispel from my mind. I’d opted to over-juice the clamp Triggers rather than potentially using too little, so severed fingers weren’t entirely pessimistic fantasy. The sooner the sisters were rid of their payloads, the better I would feel, even if we were going to be hip deep in scourge afterward.

The scourge weren’t ready for our surprise sortie. Precious few of them were out here in numbers and in range to respond. Scattered clumps of corrupted animals flanked by nimble, snarling Black Ones were the first enemies we saw alive. They sprang out from behind trees and up from depressions in the ground, never in large enough numbers to be a problem for the guns but still alarming in how close they’d come to the walls.

Bullets whizzed past us, snapping like tiny firecrackers as air pockets collapsed in their wakes. Anything unlucky enough to be in our way and brave enough to come out of hiding fell to the ground full of holes or missing vital parts or their anatomy, and we never even had to raise our weapons. If the scourge had been hoping to ambush us with these groups, they’d either not gotten sufficient numbers in place to do so, or it had underestimated how mechanically efficient the tracking on my turrets had become.

That meant the scourge would have to stick with swarm tactics if it wanted to catch us out. Good. That would take time to materialize.

Breathing heavily despite the short distance traveled, we reached the inner perimeter well before the scourge could, and our formation skidded to a stop. Those that weren’t carrying chain constructs fanned out and formed a protective barrier for our demolitionists. The tree that would be our first victim of the day looked like a huge bite had been taken out of it on the side that faced home, courtesy of the worker drones.

Samila carefully uncoiled the multi-hinged device in her hand, allowing it to droop down until it nearly touched the ground, then began to whirl it around herself. She swung it like an olympian with a throwing hammer, around and around, letting her body counterbalance the weight, lengthening the chain link by link.

*WHOOSH* *WHOOSH*

In the distance, I saw that the scourge was gathering itself, singular bodies streaming in from the side while a main column of monsters flowed like black water, approaching the outer perimeter en masse, a rushing river of flesh and bone. Wild-eyed, open mouthed monsters rushed forward to throw themselves into the jaws of my machines. The flowing mass of bodies splashed over one another, uncaring if those next to them were blown to bits, their only desire to get one step closer to killing me. Monsters on the outside of the mass died quickly, but their bodies fulfilled their purpose well enough, forming semi-solid “banks” through which the rest could flow forward.

I cast a sideways glance at the spinning dragonkin. It had only been a few seconds, and it was already taking too long. Judging by the tenor of the turrets, the scourge were going for broke. Their quarry had come out of its hole, and this was their chance to end it. They had to be taking huge losses, but what did they care? If they had the numbers to bog us down and drown us, that would be it. The turrets would stop firing, they’d have their human, and they’d go back to assimilating the planet.

Come on. Come on.

Finally, Samila finally let fly. The hinged rope of shaped charges whirled through the air and smacked up against the bare flesh of the mendau tree. The chain, as it was programmed to do as soon as it was in contact with organic matter, deployed hooked blades from its edges that sunk into the wood and contracted with a series of *clunks.*

I dropped out of line to run a hand over the links and confirm they were working.

Good. They were already beginning to glow.

I gave everyone a thumbs up.

“Done!” Samila shouted just before a body thumped down in the middle of our formation.

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“Eyes up! They’re above!” Geddon boomed, cranking the engine of his sword as he expertly bisected another airborne creature.

Above, dozens of spindly black figures were busily shimmying down toward us from the top of our tree. Another of them bent its legs and pounced, rocketing down toward us. This one seemed to lose its enthusiasm half-way down and flop bonelessly just short of my feet. Squinting, I saw tiny needle holes dotting the Black One’s torso.

Hot damn, Trix. you’re scary.

I exchanged a look with Sissa who held her own device that needed to be deployed. She gave the chain an experimental lift then glanced toward the oncoming horde. The scourge were getting closer, maybe a hundred yards away. Meanwhile, more bodies dropped out of the trees as Trix kept the skies clear. The sergeant was clearly weighing the odds, not liking what she was coming up with.

I was no tactical genius, but I didn’t like it either. We had mabe a 60/40 shot at doing another tree without getting bogged down in a fight. Then again, we needed this. We couldn’t last forever without changing the landscape.

“We can do one more!” I yelled to everyone.

Sissa hesitated for half a heartbeat but then gave me the nod.

“One more,” she agreed. “Go!”

To the next tree we went. This time, we didn’t get there before the scourge. There was a pack of monsters huddled behind the great trunk, out of sight of the guns, wounded, bleeding, but more than willing to attack us. Meanwhile, even more streamed in from our surroundings, dashing from other points of cover to get to this one. The guns cut down what they could, but the sheer number of targets was starting to overwhelm them.

Geddon, as Geddon loved to do, charged, chainsword revved, never even breaking stride as he barreled into the enemy. Samila covered his left with her shield, while I took his right.

As I raised my pistol up to take aim, I felt the brush of something unfamiliar behind my eyes, a strange potential, a sort of gentle readiness that told me I had the option to do something more here.

Death Eye: While aiming with a pistol class weapon, you are passively made aware of the most vulnerable points in your target’s body. Focusing on these points will highlight them in your vision in a manner of your choosing. Targets of significant power may require longer periods of aiming with Death Eye to reveal their vulnerabilities.

Level 5 pistols had been good to me.

I allowed my new ability to “refocus” my eyes briefly. What was once a writhing mass of disparate humanoid and animal bodies now had a new layer on top of it. Blotches of red, pulsing light began to pop in over the monsters as I swept my muzzle over the lot. It was the places you’d expect such as the eyes, the hearts, intersections of bones that could cripple, spinal columns, nerve clusters that would paralyze. What’s more, I could almost feel the slightest sort of tug on my aim just as a new glowing vulnerability popped into existence, as if each one had a weak gravitational pull.

Death Eye would be a downright godly skill for someone with a steady hand like Trix. With Death Eye and a precision instrument like a Colonial anti-material rifle, maybe a las-model or something, he could kill whole buildings.

With me, though… I was a ‘quantity over quality’ guy, I guessed.

My machine pistol barked.

Most targets that caught my eye died with multiple holes in their chests. Others, tightly packed in as they were, were victims of the massive recoil and the weapons’ propensity to shift my aim up and to the left. I didn’t fight it. Instead, I went with it, allowing the bucking steel bull to draw my fire sideways, drifting from the general vicinity of one glowing red point to the next in a scything motion that ended a new life every other round.

For those that got close, I paused to stab with my sword, and those I couldn’t get a clean line on, Bole was there to take them from the flank. They never saw him coming. It was almost too easy for a man such as Bole, fast as he was, especially with monsters that paid him almost no mind now that their real prey (me) was in sight.

Sissa swung her shaped charge from the “safe” side of the tree behind us, the side with all the guns and none of the scourge. I wasn’t worried about her getting swarmed anymore. Now that I was within biting distance, the scourge only had eyes for me, and I gave them my undivided attention, hacking and shooting a new threat every second.

*CLUNK*

“Done! Back off!” Sissa ordered.

Geddon took one more mighty swing with Organ Grinder, and the ripping teeth cleaved through four monsters at once.

“Back!” He growled at all parties involved. Strangely, even the scourge seemed to listen, pausing momentarily in the ruined mess of their compatriots to give the big lion man and his chainsaw some space.

“Back!” Geddon ordered again, but the spell was broken. The monsters charged once more, leaping to try and get past him.

Well, if they weren’t going to listen to reason…

I emptied the rest of my mag in their faces. Seven kills in under a second thanks to Death Eye. That got us some more space.

“Break off now!” Samila shouted.

As one, we made a break for it, away from the half-cover of the tree and out into the open where the turrets could cover us. Sissa was there waiting for us, sword out, shield in place, but once we were all together again, we ran.

“Home! Don’t stop!” She called. No one had to be told twice.

The scourge tried to follow, tried to nip at our heels, but the majority of them met a quick, messy end. Those that did manage to get into our shadow to avoid the guns, Bole and I made sure to give a proper welcome. Knives flashed. Bullets flew. We punished them until our pursuers were too wounded or dead to keep up with us.

Pistols is now level 6.

Bole let out a victorious whoop as our pursuers scattered to find cover and wait for more numbers.

Grinning, I slapped another magazine into my pistol before resummoning my sword. We might just get away with-

“Turn! Turn right!” Sissa screamed from further ahead.

Something had made it to the approach before we did. A massive, toad-like creature the size of a cargo hauler. It seemed to slide forward on its belly, using its legs to ‘swim’ toward us and at surprising speed. The craggy, gray skin that covered most of the monster’s exposed body looked more like rock than flesh, and it didn’t seem like it was just for show. Dozens of bullets panged into the creature over and over, while little shards of rock shot into the air with every impact. Despite the pummeling it was getting, it seemed unbothered, either too far gone with the scourge plague to experience pain or too tough for a bullet. Other scourge crawled alongside the toad thing too, using its shadow as a safe zone.

We juked hard to the right, but the bulky monster made the corner with us, keeping itself precisely between us and home. It was shockingly nimble for its size, only slightly slower than our top speed.

“Is that a damned ignarog?!” Bole shrieked. “Where’d they get an ignarog?!”

“I don’t know!” Sissa replied.

Giant toad to our flank… In front: a countless mass of scourge poured toward us, and we were on course to meet them in a headlong charge if we didn't change direction.

“We’re being herded!” I observed, loud enough to be heard by all.

“Ryan! They aren’t dying fast enough!” Sissa made an observation of her own. “They should be dying faster!”

A quick check over my shoulder and ahead of us confirmed Sissa’s suspicions for me. “Some of the turrets are stuck trying to bring down the big frog!” I yelled back.

“Tell them to get the smaller ones, monk!” Bole shrieked. “Ignarog are deeplings! Unless you brought a pickax, you’re not bringing it down!”

“That’s not how it works! They aren’t programmed to move on until their target is dead!”

At that moment, the ignarog lunged sideways in a surprise attack, rearing up then crashing down next to us. Dirt and tree litter splashed over us, and the ground shook with the thing’s weight.

Bole’s voice went up a few octaves “That’s really shit magic, monk!”

“Shut up, Bole! Or get your own magic!” Sissa castigated him.

The main body of scourge were getting close, so close I could see the spittle flying from their mouths as they slashed at each other in their frenzy.

“We turn and fight then!” Samila said. “Right now! Turn and slay the big one!”

“Secon- Seconded!” Geddon puffed. As usual, the running part of combat was not Geddon’s strong suit.

“I hate that you’re right,” Sissa agreed, but that was all the hesitation she allowed herself. “Turn now! Sam, Bole, go for the belly, the joints. Bleed it! Geddon, screaming and chopping!”

That was all the big guy needed to hear. Geddon summoned a lungful of air and roared a challenge at the massive creature as he charged, chainsword held out like a lance.

Sissa’s instruction for me was a bit more open ended.

“Ryan, crowd control!”

Crowd control? I’m doing that right now, and it’s not working. That’s the problem.

I guessed I could run around to give everyone else time to fight, but that just meant I would die tired if they couldn’t bring down the toad in time.

That just left one option.

Let’s just hope this goes better than last time.