The Greenskins came rushing out of the hole, and a cracking boom of handguns raked their frontline. Her dozen men along with three dozen mercenaries delivered a powerful first strike, the Precision boon that she had given them allowed them to hit more soundly than they would have, and as a result, the first wave was reduced to nothing in a pair of volleys. Estaria had dropped a few hundred spare Nuln-forged bullets into the Mercenaries ammo barrel earlier - they were like droplets of rain to her these days - and so they had ammo for several volleys. And that was exactly what they needed, as she got a pop-up.
Wave 1 completed. Commencing Wave 2 in 60 seconds
The wait time was skipped after the handgunners had reloaded, because she didn’t want to run down the clock and lose her men. This next rush held the same Boyz, but in a larger number, and some with shields. The whittling volleys managed to reduce them in number, but there was some skirmish on the front-line with a few surviving Orcs. Waves 3 and 4 went the same way, though more and more Orcs were reaching the frontline. On Wave 5 - designated the Boss Wave - a Boar-riding Biggun came out and Estaria cored his brain with her Hotchland shot. By Wave 6, most of the front line had been replaced with large, Black Orcs, who’s armour reflected the bullets and massive physique soaked any that managed to hit them. It was here that the butchering began. Close quarters in vicious numbers, Estaria brought her sword to many of them, and with a surprising zeal, she was joined by the mercenaries. Men fell to Orc axes, Orcs fell to Human blades, and the bodies mounted up on both sides with alarming speed. In front of them was a minefield of Orc and Human, leading for some treasonous footing that more than one Orc tripped on as he charged the human line.
By Wave 10, the human line was flagging. Tired, wounded, and thin, it stood against a second Boss Wave, where a Biggun and his Trolls charged the line. This was not going to go well, but Estaria whipped out her pistols and took down the Biggun in a hail of gunfire, before rushing to get stuck into the Trolls.A few Handgunners had managed to survive, and were taking pot-shots, but most were dead or wounded. Summoning her men again, and using the Hotchland strike, Estaria pulled out all the stops and used all her skills to push back the Trolls. It was rough work, and not work she escaped from unscathed. Even with her stamina, the Fatigue bar was encroaching 60% and she was on her Health, luck having been depleted a while back. But with zeal and fury, she managed to push back the last Troll, drive her sword into his skull, and then lean on it. There was no way she’d hold Wave 11. Maybe she should call the Dwarves, and damn the rewards?
Congratulations - you have completed the Defence Mission
A much welcome pop-up was seen after the last troll was down, but she really wished it would be more clear. There was no indication that there was only ten waves to do. Still, no use crying over spilled milk, aye? A Dwarf detachment appeared to tell her what she already knew - that it was time to pull back - and Estaria nodded. Gotta get the people that were wounded back to the camp, the dead into the ground, and then talk to the Dwarves some more. There was no chance she was passing up this opportunity to obtain some serious, honest-to-Sigmar Dwarven Equipment. Plus, the head-sized chunk of Gromril might make a few of the Dwarves happy.
Captain’s Halflings have looted the battlefield You gained 25,000 gold pieces
You gained 3x Troll Meat
You have leveled up
Experience limit reached. Please choose a Job to continue gaining experience
Secondary job - at level 30, you can earn your secondary Job, giving you access to more traits and skills.
Relationship with the Dwarves increased. Simple Dwarven craft is now accessible in the Shop
You have earned a Red Job - Red Jobs are jobs that require certain standing in society. Unlike Orange jobs, they are not objectively superior to normal jobs, but can open doors to new places and equipment that is otherwise difficult to possess.
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Estaria got inundated with a host of windows after the defense mission. Reading them and then shutting them down, she bashed it all to the side and helped out with the carrying of the people to the carts kept safely in the rear. Dead for one cart, injured for a second, and everyone was on their way back to the camp. What they saw there was a marvel of Dwarven engineering and robust work ethic. In but a few hours, they had dug in and made a sturdy redoubt that would be able to resist large-scale attacks, and were even starting on stone-work to make it a true Fortified Camp, walls and all. They truly were a magnificent race to be able to do this in such a short time. Pulling in the dead cart and informing the human Organizer of the reason behind it, Estaria headed out to find the Dwarven Commander of the Redoubt.
“One of the Orcs was carrying this chunk of Rock. It looked like metal, so I was wondering if you could tell me what it is” she asked, pulling out the large chunk of Gromril. The Dwarf’s eyes went wide and he quickly took the rock and set it on the ground, beginning a series of tests before returning his gaze to Estaria.
“This is Pure Gromril. Exactly what we came here looking for. How much do you want for it?” He asked Estaria, who just waved her hand.
“It’s just a rock to me. So you keep it, make something nice.” she said told him. The poor Dwarf’s eyes were about to pop out of his head when he heard that, and quickly it was picked up and taken to a small stone building with a heavy door, clearly some sort of Vault for the Gromril.
Relationship with the Dwarves increased. Advanced Dwarven Craft is now accessible in the Shop
Not like she’d be able to afford it right now though, her cash was a little on the slim side. But maybe she could rectify that with a show of skill around the Karak she was going to be lounging about for a while. As if thought summoned the Dwarf, with Traukon at his side, there was the one who tried to buy her sword. A “Level 30 Ironbeard” which reminded Estaria to check her own status later.
“There is not much left for Mercenaries to do, outside of maybe guard duty and some manual labour. Neither of which is a fit job for someone of your standing” he exclaimed, before, with vigorous passion, she was bundled into a Dwarven cart that had brought the materials, and was heading back to the Dwarf’s Karak.
“So, they seem to like you. What did you get up to?” Traukon asked, while he sat with Estaria in the back of the wagon.
“I got a Relationship boost for succeeding in the Defence mission, possibly without calling any Dwarf reinforcements. And then a second one for giving a large chunk of Gromril to the overseer” Estaria explained. And well, Gromril was quite important because Traukon’s eyebrows rose.
“The one from the shop?” he asked, to which Estaria nodded. “The 50,000 gold pieces one from the shop?” he emphasized, to which she nodded again. “You just gave away 50,000 gold pieces? How much did you even get from the siege?!” He demanded, leaning forward in his seat.
“Just shy of 200 grand. There was thousands of Marauders, and 88 Chaos Warriors there. As well as monsters, and it strips ally as well as enemy ”
Traukon sat back in his seat, and shook his head. It was preposterous that such a thing would happen.
“Without the system, I probably would never have survived. But I did, and so got stupidly rich and blew a lot of it on stupid stuff. Like the Gromril. And less stupid stuff like my Sword that the guy in front has” She said, leaning back.
“So Orange equipment has Runes? Lost Runes?” he asked. Gromril was one thing, but Lost Runes were entirely different.
“I wouldn’t say for certain. It was 50,000, same as the Gromril, so I never bought a second. But I would say it is a good chance” she told him. Traukon looked thoughtful, and then started to mess with his system. Apparently others of the game could see when another was doing it.
Taking this opportunity, Estaria opened her own and thought for a moment. She had a trait, and if she did her job first, she could unlock new job traits. But at the same time, being able to summon an entire regiment by herself would be fun….decisions, decisions. Eventually, she went with the Job first, and opened the list. The Red Job was at the top, and made Estaria just stare at it for many moments, until a bump in the road jolted her back into thought.
Greatswordsman
Why? She hadn’t done anything to earn that title. It was something reserved for those of the highest bravery. She felt bad even thinking about taking it, but take it she did, and added it to the list. Her job changed from Captain to “Empire Hero” which was too much flattery for her, so she just blushed and opened her traits. A lot of offensive traits, some defensive traits, and “To Me, My Brothers” trait, which summoned 4 Greatswordsmen to her. That was the one that she picked, 4 of the most valorous foot-soldiers in the Empire, armed with their Zweihander and armoured with Dwarf-forged Full Plate, they were a force to be reckoned with. And even 4 of them would be a grand boon to her. Dungeoneering with those would be made almost simple, doubly so because of her buff.
Second Job Unlocked: Greatswordsman. Traits reduced to one every four levels.
Ascension of Duty - Report to Altdorf
New quest, which had no time limit on it, so she decided to just brush it to one side. Most probably due to her new Job, which she still found hard to believe she had. She was just a Handgunner….she wasn’t designed for all of this. So instead, she just bought herself a minor potion of Experience, and pushed the bar over the edge, to level 31. With that done, she leaned back and stared into space. Greatswordsman, chosen bodyguards of the Elector Count, most valued none-Noble soldiers in the Empire. From there, it was a half-step to a Knighthood, were one to carry on such valorous action...That would be something she couldn’t handle. Being Sir Zashira….