Willow and Hank got to the cisterns beneath the palace easy enough. Opening the emergency release valves wasn’t hard either. But even after the last of the water drained, nothing happened.
They tried closing the emergency release valves in case there was some kind of failsafe. But still, the pumps refused to kick on.
Hank scratched his head and tried to troubleshoot the problem. “The valves are closed, everything is how it was before we drained the tanks. I don't get it.”
The cisterns were swimming pool sized tanks with walkways between them. Willow wasn't an engineer. But she was observant, and this wasn't her first time dealing with broken equipment in a necropolis. She walked over and smacked something inside the cistern.
The kobold looked at her in awe as the entire palace began to shake and the pumps kicked on.
“The float was stuck.” She explained. “Now, what else can we turn on?”
***
Mac watched from above as a wave of skeletons rushed the defenders. To its surprise, about half of them began to slow down and some even stopped moving completely. The ones furthest from the action seemed most affected. They would stand motionless on the sidelines until some unknown force compelled them to rejoin the fight. If the demon had to hazard a guess as to what was happening, it seemed as if whoever was controlling them had suddenly been forced to ration their Mana.
The handicap hurt the attackers dearly, they couldn’t overrun the defenders with sheer numbers. But there was still a lot of fighting to do. Chuck was engaging in hit and run tactics with the other mounts, running through the forest and trampling any skeletons that strayed from the main horde.
Julia and Shiv were working as a team to defend the crumbling earthen walls, destroying wave after wave of skeletons. Jack and Ronan were doing much the same. And it almost seemed like they might win.
But, as fearsome as Francis and his team were, it wouldn't be enough. There were too many undead and not enough defenders. Once the main body of the second force hit, it would roll over their defenses like ants consuming a corpse. Cutting them off from Brexis’ Mana had slowed the approaching horde, but it hadn’t stopped them.
Normally the demon would have been thrilled to see the god who tricked it pounded into hamburger. Unfortunately, there was one slight problem.
Their agreement wouldn't be voided by the Marine’s death. If Hades got ahold of Francis’ soul in the afterlife, he could use it to control Mac. And that simply would not do.
“I am getting bored up here. Do you mind if I take a shot at some of the skeletons? I've got one hell of a fire spell ready to go.”
Francis sounded hesitant, but he was too desperate to say no. “I’ll let you take one shot, as long as you don't hurt any of my people or our allies.”
“Deal!” Mac said as it began to cast Firestorm. But the demon felt like showing off, so it burned ten Stress and activated an ability to maximize the damage. “I love the smell of hellfire in the morning!”
***
One second Francis was smashing the head off a skeleton with Relativity. The next, his vision went white and every inch of exposed skin felt like it was burning off. Before he could collect his thoughts enough to curse Mac out, the pain subsided and his vision began to clear.
Everything was on fire. The trees went up like torches, and the approaching army of skeletons melted as they ran through the flames. Mac’s spell stuck like napalm and continued to burn long after the initial blast.
But Francis and his allies were safe, except of course for the remaining skeletons trying to kill them. There was no way the demon could have included them in the destruction without taking Francis' team out in the process.
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“Holy fuck, Mac! Nice shot!” the Marine said as he decapitated another undead with his staff.
“It was, wasn't it?” The demon laughed. But it didn't laugh for long. Mac’s senses detected a massive amount of undead somewhere beneath the battlefield. “Francis! Watch out! More are burrowing up towards you!”
Francis felt something move beneath his feet. “GET TO HIGHER GROUND!” The Marine called out as he pushed past the skeletons surrounding him. “THE FUCKERS ARE COMING UP FROM BELOW!”
Ronan used his magic to reshape one of the thorn and dirt walls into a platform. The crew climbed up to the top, fighting back to back against the remaining horde as reinforcements clawed their way to the surface. “There must be more than ten skeletons out there!” The hound shouted.
Everyone paused to process the fact that Ronan couldn't count, then went back to fighting for their lives. At least a hundred undead were coming for them, and an unknown remainder were still lurking below.
Francis nudged Jack with his elbow. “I sure could use a machine gun right now.”
“I know, right?” the hound said as he burned five Stress and summoned a Divine Weapon. A belt fed machine gun appeared in his hands. He held down the trigger on his M249 SAW, grinning like a maniac.
Waves of skeletons were chewed up by the fully automatic gunfire, pushing back the horde and giving them some breathing room. Ronan continued to use his magic to reinforce the platform, making sure they didn't get undermined.
The Marine was happy his trick had worked. The Divine Weapon ability said that the patron deity chose the weapon. And as Jack’s god, that meant it was his choice what weapons were summoned.
Not to be outdone, Francis called on the Murder Cube for his own Divine Weapon. He frowned as a tiny pump action shotgun appeared. It was a Serbu 12 gauge super shorty. “Fuck it, I'll make do,” Francis said.
As the Marine used his new toy to turn skeleton after skeleton into bone meal, he began to understand why Murder Cube had chosen it. Divine Weapons didn't require ammunition, or overheat. As long as he kept working the action and firing, he could pump out a seemingly endless stream of buckshot.
Jack took care of the larger groups with the belt-fed, while Francis and the others made sure the hound didn't get overrun. The platform they were on was small, but that made it easier to defend. Unfortunately, the weak link in their chain had finally snapped. And it was a vital one.
Ronan keeled over, panting as the Stress and fatigue set in. He had put every last bit of MP into keeping the platform together, and now he was done. Too tired and used up to even move.
The Marine made a decision as the ground crumbled beneath them. “Chuck, I need you to get ready for medevac. Ronan is down, we'll break contact and regroup back in Brexis.”
“Got it! Meet us north of the horde for pickup.” Chuck confirmed.
Francis turned to his team, casting Telepathy so they could hear him over the roar of the machine gun. “That's it, we're moving! Head north for pickup. Jack and I will make a hole. Julia, grab Ronan and follow. Shiv, cover our asses.”
Whoever was directing the undead had changed their tactics in response to Jack’s machine gun and Mac’s hellfire. Instead of coming at the defenders en masse, the skeletons were burrowing to the platform and emerging almost beneath them.
As Jack and Francis surged forward, skeletons burst from the ground and attacked. But Francis was ready for them.
With a shotgun in one hand and Relativity in the other, Francis thrust his staff into the ground and cast Freeze. The ground froze rock solid, trapping the undead trying to burrow up from beneath.
Those that made it out were blasted apart by Francis and Jack while they continued to move forward. As the Marine continued this process of moving and freezing, he realized something. The undead were completely ignoring Julia and Shiv.
Francis didn't know why the attackers seemed to have lost interest in the newlyweds. But he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to get his people to safety. “New plan, ladies. Get out while we distract them.”
“Got it! We're moving!” Shiv replied, tapping her wife on the pauldron and hopping down from the platform. No skeletons emerged from the ground to attack them as they carried Ronan to safety.
Francis went back to work blasting at the undead. He could only freeze ten meters worth of ground at a time, and the mana cost was significant. Their weapons couldn't run out of ammo, but they were on a timer. By his estimation, there was less than one minute remaining before Jack’s machine gun disappeared.
They could have run for it, tried to get through the fallen dirt and thorn walls before the horde did. But each time they tried to move too fast, the undead swarmed them from below.
Francis could keep freezing the ground until he ran out of mana. But then they would be facing an army of undead without any spells or Divine Weapons.
“Fuck!” Francis swore as he realized the unwinnable situation they were in. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuuuck!”