Story so Far:
* Ingrid organizes a dinner party for Autumnhollow and Ram Ranch
* A funeral is held for those killed by the Dead Eaters. The mice hold a 21-gun salute.
* Iroquois fireteam Lakota is formed
* 189 fireteam "Gold" is renamed to "Santiago"
* Equipment for the new mice were being made, as well as a modernization of Santiago's M-14 rifles into EBR's
* The rescued mice are officially made part of the swarm; forming UMBRA, FOXTROT, and POTATO
* Alchemist Knarru offers to produce and sell to Ingrid some Red Moon fertilizer for a fee
* Bvalinn gives the mice free "Bubble Helmets" which bolster their defenses.
* Wyrmscale charm is added to the Rhokalian Dressform.
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S03E07
Into the Breach
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Days Later:
The dungeon of Teth-Odin was still pitch-black, A combination of Cecil’s floodlights from his portal-mounted caddies, Viel’s firebirds, and Cuddly’s glowing butterflies illuminated the round chamber where the Whales teleported into. The same chamber they used in their first foray.
From her mainframe inside Cecil’s room, Neith quickly adjusted the lights to prevent blinding her team with the glare as the floodlights bounced off the walls. Viel and Cuddly were thinking the same thing, keeping their constructs dimmed as the party quickly organized itself.
“Montessa and Kvaris, with me. Aviz and Kinu, go with Omega.” Ingrid said quickly. The mice squeaked in response and scrambled to position.
Fireteam Montessa, originally consisting of Arthur and Sully, were joined by the foxy mice Finn and Ollie, as well as the “potato” mice Pat and Tucker. Meanwhile, Team Aviz’s Charles and Oscar were joined up with Xavier and Tuomas from the foxy mice, and Alvin and Troy from the potato group.
Each fire team now totalled to six mice each.
The foxy mice were armed with newly minted Swiss SSG-550 battle rifles; fully automatic rifles firing full-sized, full-powered cartridges. Meanwhile the potato mice, due to their noticeably better accuracy were given modernized Dragunov marksman rifles, the Soviet-era analog to the golden mice’s precision M-14 rifles which had been converted into the more modern EBR.
As Montessa and Aviz scrambled to Ingrid and Sammy respectively, the Santiago Team; formerly designated “Gold”, took position as well, forming the corners of an imaginary square around the Center Group, which consisted of Neith’s spider-bot, Philia, Siria, Iohann, and Viel. The shadow mouse Riker stood atop Neith’s porter rig, providing overwatch for the other shadow mice should he need to teleport them anywhere else. The five shadow mice adding to Santiago Team’s numbers made them the largest fire team at nine mice. In total there were now 21 mice on the ground, if the clones were counted that would even out at a nice 25.
The golden mice raised their paws and focused their mana, generating their clones. The shadow mice Usher, Mason, Baker and Archer quickly stood off to the side and behind them, shotguns in their paws while their golden counterpart wielded their razor-sharp glaives. This outermost perimeter as well as Riker formed “Santiago-Dos”.
While the mice took their assigned positions, the duskberry Johnny happily wiggled his way to the back along with Kinu and Aviz, croaking in excitement at the feed that was to come. Meanwhile, Peanut hovered near Philia, who patted her cap affectionately. Viel quickly padded over to the spider-bot, the second firebird roosting atop it. As she got into position she pointed with her free hand down the corridor, causing the first firebird to fly across it and illuminate the Promenade ahead. Simultaneously, the second firebird assumed it’s place high up the ceiling, staying there until the party had moved of the chamber and trail them from a distance.
Iohann took her post opposite Viel’s beside the spider-bot, sacred fire welled up at her thurible’s censer, filling the chamber with the light scene of sweet-smelling smoke which she gently swung around in benediction.
“Mic test, Whales, how copy?” Zefir asked.
“Loud and clear, Baseplate.” Kvaris replied.
“Copy, Anubis. Baseplate out.” Zefir said.
Ingrid turned to face her team.
“Neith, deploy the drones. Everyone, let’s take a walk.” she told them.
The second expedition had begun.
___
“Path clear, move up.” Zefir spoke over the radio.
The Whales walked along these corridors at a casual pace. There was no need to hurry from one point to the next unless they were looking for a way out and they were looking to spend a few hours there, confident that the monsters would be eager to spare them the trouble of looking for a fight.
Viel’s twin firebirds lazily flew in circles, keeping their positions in front and back of the team to illuminate what was ahead as well as anything following them from behind. Cuddly’s butterflies kept an ambient light around the party as the constructs flitted low to the ground, ensuring the team could properly see around them without highlighting the party’s true number and composition. In between Cuddly and Viel’s lights were Cecil’s portal caddy-mounted floodlights. Neith automatically adjusted each floodlight’s brightness so that the glare would not be detrimental to anyone’s vision except for when they shone far ahead or behind the team, or into the side corridors.
Cuddly’s duck-folk decoy walked ahead, just at the periphery of the lead firebird’s light, presenting himself as a tempting target for any ambusher lying in wait.
Far behind him, Alpha Team consisting of Ingrid, Cuddly, Selphie, and currently, Kvaris and the Montessa team, led the way. The elder Enthana sister walked ahead, sniffing the air around her, her sword and shield at the ready. She felt better with a weapon in her hand and it served another purpose, to deceive the enemy of her true reach; which thanks to her polearms and ranged weapons were much longer than her sword’s.
Selphie followed behind her, her stance now refined after Ingrid and Philia ran her through drills on how to carry a firearm. Just as before, her role during the movement phase was simple; to shoot anything that presented itself as hostile.
Ingrid was close behind to the two, ready to jump in once a fight breaks out. Her reflexes were the quickest of the team and regardless of which direction a threat came, she would be able to interpose herself between that and her team in the blink of an eye. There was also the advantage of having a “ferocious”-looking Nemesis-Stalker such as herself at the forefront of the party: other parties with less-than-honorable intentions would definitely not want to mess with them. Her Argus Precept was also activated, the spectral owl hovering above her head, its piercing gaze seemingly homing in to any and all observers. It pulsed its radar-like detection aura at regular intervals, letting all who were stalking the party know that their presence would be known to her if they got close.
Slightly behind Ingrid and fanned out to the sides was team Montessa, who let out quiet squeaks like meerkats on lookout duty. Whatever fears the newcomers still had from their previous experience in the dungeons were long gone. The memory of the loud noises of gunfire, the scent of gunpowder, and the feel of the gun in their paws made them feel like they were apex predators fifty feet tall.
Hovering behind the mice was the Apache Team’s portal. Cecil’s graft held the mounted machine gun on steady tendrils while the slime’s main body kept a sharp eye ahead. Occasionally he flicked his eyes up at the indoor caddy-mounted tablets to check the cameras. Ralph behind him also kept an eye on the tablets and let out regular squeaks into his earpiece. He and the mice had their dedicated channel which they used to coordinate with each other along with Neith.
Meanwhile the Center Group was led by Siria to the left and Philia and Peanut to the right, with Viel and Iohann close behind them respectively. Neith’s spider-bot brought up the rear of this group, with shadow mouse Riker riding atop it, providing overwatch for the other shadow mice should he need to pull them back.
The rest of the Santiago Team; formerly Gold, kept their square formation around the Center Group. As soon as a side corridor popped up, the golden mice clones on that side would scurry over, followed by their umbra counterpart and the real golden mouse to cover that entrance. Anything that would have tried to leap out would have had to get past the golden clone’s razor-sharp glaive, the shadow mouse’s shotgun and the golden mouse’s EBR.
On top of that, one of Kiowa Team’s flying portals would also hover by to provide “air support” and illumination… making such an ambush attempt foolhardy to say the least. More than once, some creature was sent scuttling away at the bright spotlight and the sight of multiple armed mice rushing over. That said, the sight of Ingrid walking past them would have been more than enough to send any lesser creature scampering away.
Iohann had her hands around a rosary, quietly reciting a prayer of protection. She looked vulnerable but anything that tried to harm her at this state would only invoke the wrath of her Thorns Blessing.
Philia seemingly carried no weapons either, but a combination of her Aegis Armlets’ ability to summon Guardians which would intercept any attacker as well as its ability to summon her guns made attacking her an unwise choice. That was assuming of course, anything could hit her as her true position was obscured thanks to the enchantment she had on her capelet. Peanut, who hovered around her, served to only further confuse Philia’s true position.
Viel padded quietly behind Siria, and despite her being one of the two pacifists of the group, she was a lot more agile than she looked, and she had ways to defend herself and her teammates without breaking her vow.
As for the spider-drone itself, it silently moved across the floor by deploying wheels from her legs, Philia had upgraded her porter rig by giving the cabinets a hydraulic arm to allow her to open up compartments by herself and install LED lighting to easily indicate what compartment should be opened should there be a need to do so.
Bringing up the rear was Omega Team. Sammy and Kinu took turns walking backwards to scan behind them, watching anything that might be following. The Aviz team did the same, squeaking to each other as they took shifts watching the back. Johnny followed a couple of feet behind, his roots trailing almost fifty feet back, popping up tempting but volatile fruits to explode in the face of any ambusher tracking the party. All the while, team Lakota’s portal hovered and kept rear watch, shining their lights brightly to discourage all but the most determined attackers.
___
"Sounds like a rainforest in here." Ingrid remarked as the air was full of various monster calls as well as sounds of distant creatures furiously engaged in territorial fights with one another.
"Rainforest?" Sammy asked, not familiar with the term.
"It's a super dense forest on Earth with a ton of rain, all year round," Philia began, "it's also pretty crowded with animals as there's plenty to eat there, both other animals and people..."
"A profitable place." Kvaris smirked, sniffing the air. She pointed her sword at a right-hand turn, indicating she detected some possible prey.
"Get eyes on that right-side corridor, Baseplate." Ingrid said.
"Acknowledged, Starchaser Actual. Standby..." Zefir replied, he eased the drone Oberon across the corridor, towards the intersection a hundred feet away. The drone soundlessly flew towards the intersection, mindfully keeping as close to the ceiling and wall as possible to reduce its outline, with Neith automatically correcting its flight to avoid collisions.
___
Control Room, Autumhollow:
"I got eyes on..." Zefir began, unsure of what he was looking at. "Anyone?"
Gwen glanced at his monitor and replied with "Mossbellies..."
"Mossbellies?" Ingrid asked.
As they conversed, Zefir took the time to refill his coffee. He kept the monitor on the corner of his eye and noted that just like the Whales they were moving along like an organized group.
"Frog...things." Philia said. "Not to be confused with bullywugs, i.e. the upstanding frog-folk in our world."
"So they don't turn to princes if I kiss them..." Ingrid sighed.
"A what now?" Siria asked, laughing a little at the absurd idea.
"It's some fairy tale in Earth." Philia explained "Some prince was cursed and turned into a frog.... sort of like a little bullywug, he helps a princess and gets a kiss to break his curse."
Sammy who was also giggling at the absurd thought then said "Wait a second, there's a similar fairytale here, but it was a golden stag. Instead of a kiss, he lets himself be shot by the huntress, but in his act of surrender the Valiant God not only turns him back but grants him his sacred visage."
“That’s quite a gamble.” Ingrid remarked “though I don’t know the full story so I guess there’s more to it.”
“Correct.” Sammy replied.
“And no, Ingrid. It’s not like the guy gave up and decided to just let the huntress shoot him, I mean, think how silly it would be to see Dasher get up on his hind legs and T-pose on you.” Philia remarked.
“I think if a reindeer did that to me, I would hear him out.” Ingrid smiled.
“I’m looking at steel here, weapons and armor, and they looked organized.” Zefir said. “Swords, spears, and axes. We’ll have to assume they’re experienced with taking out adventurers like us.”
“Guns it is then, we’ll play the distance game.” Ingrid said, turning to the mice “Stopping power tactics, boys. If they’re smart that means they can feel fear. The bullets should demoralize them pretty quickly, watch out for arrows.”
___
The Dungeons of Teth-Odin, First Level:
“So, what do we know about these mossbellies?” Ingrid asked.
Iohann started praying louder, shrouding everyone with a comforting aura.
"They're a poisonous bunch," Philia told her.
If a single word could be used to describe the ex-Dark Queen, it was "thorough". Upon her rebirth in Terragalia, and as soon as she was able to grasp the language and restore her motor abilties, she immediately got to work studying everything she could lay her hands on to get a feel of the world she now found herself in. As a result, she had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the flora and fauna both native and alien to Terragalia.
"They're semi-fungal lifeforms" Philia continued "They're constantly releasing poisonous spores into the air. That said, Ingrid, your Aegis aura shreds up those spores into harmless micro-dust."
"I do stay squeaky clean thanks to Aegis." Ingrid remarked. "Iohann, no need to shield me, keep it up for the others."
“Very well…” Iohann replied, and resumed her prayer.
“Iohann’s benched as she needs to keep this protective field up.” Philia said, nodding to the fluffy sheep-girl. “We gotta adjust our plans.”
Ingrid thought for a few seconds.
“189, focus on taking them out from a distance. Valkyrie Squad, don’t charge in unless they get close, so as not to strain Iohann.” Ingrid said. “Iroquois, you will be our back guard this time around. Johnny, intercept the mossbellies with your fruits, don’t let them come near.”
“Copy, Ingrid.” Cecil replied. The pumpkin croaked in response, snapping his jaws shut in emphasis while the mice squeaked their affirmatives as the 189 fanned out.
“Philia and Peanut, same plan, intercept anyone trying to come in. Selphie, hedge them off with those whipcrawlers.” Ingrid continued. “Cuddly, use your Fae Harriers to protect Iohann. Siria, I want you on standby in case we get some interlopers. Or they got spellcasters.”
“Alright.” the elf replied. Cuddly “ermm’d” and put away his carrot.
“Team, they’ve seen the firebird.” Zefir said. “They’re coming over.”
“Guess I’ll have to play meet n’ greet…” Ingrid said, walking over to the intersection. “Everyone else, stay put.”
The croaking ahead got louder as the mossbellies approached the intersection. Ingrid took a deep breath before calling out. “Adventurer team, The Whales. I prefer we talk this over since you folks look rather civilized.”
“They’re now hurrying over.” Zefir told her.
“Let’s hope they just wanna exchange business cards.” Cecil chuckled at his own joke.
“We don’t have business cards.” Ingrid deadpanned. “Maybe we should print some.”
“No one’s got phones here.” Philia said wryly “but P.O. boxes do exist. I hope you guys like snail mail.”
“Snail mail?” Viel inquired.
“Mail sent the traditional way, as opposed to electronic, which is instant.” Philia explained.
Ingrid was going to make a joke about not giving the mossbellies their “real e-mail so as not to get spam” when the creatures themselves finally appeared.
They looked more like toads in Ingrid’s eyes. Powerfully built and bipedal, their mouths sported prominent tusks and their fingers ended with claws. Ingrid narrowed her eyes and sighed in annoyance as they immediately charged, swords and spears in the air.
"We’re just lunch to these guys." Ingrid said. "Stopping power, boys. Weapons free."
The mice of the 189 let out a loud squeak of assent and fired in in well-spaced bursts. The pellets easily punched through their steel armor and stout wooden shields, and upon hitting the body, the mossbelly hunter crumpled as if struck by a sledgehammer. Few if any of the pellets went through them, which wasn't necessary. There was a great deal of stumbling around as the front ranks instantly collapsed, causing those behind them to trip and fall into the line of fire.
The gold mice on the other hand, used precise, single shots to take down those who managed to slip by the burst fire volley. All the pellet guns were linked to Ralph's Companion Rogue Shillelagh charm, as such, every hit conjured a facsimile of the heavy war hammer registered on that charm; brutally shattering limbs or crushing skulls with a powerful swing. As such, the mice only needed to aim for the center of mass.
The potato mice had a different job. They used their bullets; the enhancement lens on their guns caused the full-sized cartridges to pierce through the crowd and quickly cut down their numbers.
___
“Nothing personal!”
Before the initial volley of pellets hit their mark, Ingrid rushed in so fast she became a blur of black and red, and landed a hypersonic punch at the foremost mossbelly hunter. Her fist was wreathed in the destructive aura that was Nemea, manifesting as a fiery cestus with the fearsome visage of a roaring lion.
This resulting explosive impact flung the creature backward with tremendous force, the upper body disintegrating into a grisly shower of flesh and bone. The remaining mass smashed through the enemy ranks, its weight and velocity having the same destructive effect had Ingrid thrown a steel beam at them.
“Coming through!”
By the time the first pellets struck the front ranks, Ingrid bull rushed her way into the thick of the fray, smashing through them like a trailer truck at full throttle. Reaching the center of the mossbelly army, she abruptly halted her charge and unleashed a powerful uppercut that generated a whirlwind, sending several bodies flying as her Aegis aura redirected the force of her momentum upwards. Their croaks of anger turned to panicked squeals as they were smashed against the ceiling at terminal velocity, before sending their now lifeless bodies hurtling into the bodies of their kin.
“Wanna play rough!?” Ingrid yelled above the din. “I’ll play rough!”
Ingrid stomped the floor hard, causing the ground near to to tremble and causing the nearby frog-hunters to stumble. The sight of the ground was the last thing they saw as Ingrid closed the distance in a heartbeat, her explosive punches tearing through their ranks with ease, coring out a hole in their ranks that grew bigger by the second.
___
"Leave the middle to me!" Philia called out, her rifle and shotgun materializing in her hands. Gleaming rings of light encircled her legs, propelling her into a swift skate across the floor. She fired bursts from her FAL battle rifle as she closed in, deploying her twin Guardians before quickly backing away with blasts from her newly-modded shotgun.
Whenever a mossbelly hunter got too close, she deftly twirled out of the way. Stellar Spellblades, which were mounted to her guns as bayonets, extended to the length of a longsword as she used the momentum of her spin to deliver a powerful slash. With each elegant riposte like so, a crescent-shaped shockwave erupted from her enchanted blades, cutting a swathe through the advancing enemy horde like a whirling buzzsaw.
She also made use of the Janus Blade. Sometimes she would have it manifest to block incoming attacks while she herself delivered the killing blow, and at other times she would parry the attack herself and summon the spectral blade to dispatch her prey.
Not that she had much opportunity to do so. Her magic capelet's obscurement of her true position left many would-be attackers stumbling as they attacked a Philia that wasn't there, only to find her a few feet away from her perceived location, their momentum and inertia leaving them wide open. Even though the mossbellies didn't know what a gun was, as Philia pointed the hollow tube at their heads, they knew that it was the end for them.
Once deployed, her twin Guardians also accrued their own body count. Inheriting Philia’s defenses, a Janus Blade they could deploy at will, and fencing abilities that scale off to Philia’s own prowess, they were only dispelled after being overwhelmed with sufficient numbers. However, the persistent barrage of gunfire took its toll, quickly reducing their numbers and making it increasingly difficult for the attacking mossbellies to achieve the critical mass necessary to overwhelm the twins. By the time the Guardians were undone, the mossbelly warriors that achieved what others could not quickly found their victory pyrrhic, finding their numbers absolutely decimated.
___
Peanut constantly weaved about in erratic circular patterns behind Philia. A light flick of the wrist and a tiny, miniscule infusion of her mana was all it needed for her wand to shoot a sparkly wedge-shaped projectile. Resembling a chevron that trailed fairy dust as it streaked through the air, it struck with the force of an ogre’s punch, all concentrated into that pointed edge. The negligible cost allowed Peanut to constantly fire a barrage of “Chevron Strikes”, and could manifest even as when Peanut twirled her wand to cast other spells.
“Thunder Ward!” Peanut traced a circle and a glittering ring of golden light appeared some distance away. The mossbellies were caught in a grim predicament as they would find that anytime they ran or brushed against each other while inside that glittering ring of fairydust, it generated a nasty burst of static electricity with fatal voltage. If they walked however, it only made them easier targets. Philia’s guns punctured through their shields and armor just as easily as the mice’s and any attempt to sidestep it meant walking into the avenues of gunfire that were decimating their comrades wholesale.
“Firebolt!” Peanut yelled, tracing figure eights with the tip of her wand. Spears of flame shot forward in a fan. On impact, each caused a small explosion of flame that burned those nearby.
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The little mushroom focused on point-defense for Philia, ensuring she wasn’t blindsided. She pointed her wand at a small group of mossbellies stampeding forward, the glowing tip of her wand forming a spiral.
“Gale Burst!”
A short ranged but powerful blast of concentrated wind smashed into the squad of mossbellies, knocking them over and sending some flying backwards as if they were run over by a horse on full gallop. While it wasn’t fatal for most, it left them defenseless.
As Peanut flew around, she dispersed small spores that carried her mana. These would in a few seconds coalesce and shoot forward like an arrow towards a random target, ensuring Philia was well covered.
___
At the first sound of gunfire, Selphie quickly fired shots into the crowd, turning the unfortunate frog-men into mindless whip-crawlers. Their long, powerful tendrils whipping about indiscriminately as they pushed their way into their boiling throng.
She was mindful to keep her shots to those closer to the walls of the corridor; the whip-crawlers did not discriminate between friend and foe except for herself. There was a great deal of panic amongst the frog-men as they now had to contend with some wizard that turned their own into horrific plant-monsters with multiple lacerating whips.
Viel too, was actively in on the fight. The mossbellies had mages among them and she was shutting down their spells. An ominous symbol materialized above the team and Viel pointed her staff to it, her magic circles overwrote the spell’s composition, causing feedback as the symbol crumbled into dull motes of light.
Somewhere in the middle of the melee, one of the mossbelly mages yelled in surprise as its staff shattered, peppering everyone nearby with a potent explosion of mana, metal fragments and wood splinters. Another mage tried to shoot a fireball at the mice, but a (harmless) shot from Viel caused the magic that was holding the fiery sphere together to come apart, turning into a shower of pathetic sparks that couldn’t even light up dried up kindling. One mage that tried to freeze the mice’s guns found its own staff sucking up all its mana, forcing the mage to drop the staff, which quickly got kicked away in the pandemonium.
Ingrid too was dealing with all spellcasters she could see, her Nemea-shrouded fist collided with one wizard’s barrier, rather than try break the barrier, Ingrid used her aura to violently redirect and accelerate the deflected force, effectively turning the now-frightened and confused wizard into an impromptu mounted machine gun. Gripped with fear and panic the wizard tried its best to keep its barrier up, at the cost of more and more mossbelly lives as every punch generated a lance of pure energy that shot forward.
Another wizard tried to use some kind of immobilizing spell on Ingrid, only to suffer a massive drain of mana as the Starchaser used the connection to redirect the energies that should’ve locked her in place into an omnidirectional volley of energy bolts.
Neith, using Oberon’s cameras, provided the sharpshooters of the 189 the direction of where to shoot their piercing rounds into, further decimating the spellcasters.
Cuddly kept the Duck Hunter active. While its arrows did no real harm, its ability to inflict pain with its phantom projectiles were as intense as the real thing, allowing it to paralyze enemies as it scrambled their nerves and left them open to attack. Furthermore, they phased through solid objects, reacting only to living matter, further causing panic and chaos among the frogs.
___
Any efforts of the frog-warriors to shoot the party with crossbows were proved futile; The 189's supporting arm didn’t just hold up and steady their firearms, they also had tiny bucklers strapped to it, facing the enemy. This allowed the mice to fire their guns uninterrupted thanks to the Pavise Charm imbued onto their otherwise tiny and pointless bucklers, which generated a forcefield the size and toughness of a thick wooden door. In their fanned out formation, the mice formed a defensive wall for the Whales. The mice didn’t flinch as the fast moving crossbow bolts bounced ineffectually off of their forcefields, but it did make them turn and shoot a few bullets into that direction.
Fireteam Santiago-Dos stood in front of the 189, the golden mice clones throwing their glaives in arc, then recalling it to their hand. While seemingly pointless it also served as a distraction, forcing some of the warriors to watch out for them. The umbra mice, on the other hand, used the secondary barrel of their shotguns to shoot high-velocity pellets.
___
“Continual Breeze!” Siria exclaimed, activating her spell as soon as the mice had opened fire on the attacking frogs. The spell caused a constant flow of fresh air to blow at the direction of the enemy, preventing their poison from reaching the team. The 189’s and Philia’s firepower, Selphie’s whipcrawlers, Viel’s constant interruption of their magic, and Ingrid's absurd powers made her confident that this engagement would not only end soon, but that the only one in real danger of being affected by the poison would be Philia. Even that was inconsequential, as Iohann now only had to focus her prayer on the princess, further relieving her burden.
“Ermmm!” Cuddly grumbled loudly.
The Enthana sisters began barking loudly, just as Siria’s sharp elven ears picked up the sound of multiple feet hurriedly scurrying over from behind the team.
Gwen spoke on the radio.
“Several monsters approaching from behind!”
“We got company, Starchaser!” Cecil said. “They’re like… De Loy’s Apes with the nightmare fuel cranked to eleven!”
The Iroquois mice let out angered squeaks like cornered rats as they trained their guns at the mass of nightmarish-looking apes. They stood seven feet tall and vaguely resembled spider monkeys standing upright. The light reflected off of their wide grins as they showed off their sharp teeth, while their glowing eyes continued to stare the Whales down. Sammy, Kinu, and Kvaris met their glare, feeling particularly restless.
“Ixitils.” Gwen explained “They’re opportunistic pack hunters. For now they seem content to just watch and see who wins. If this fight drags for too long however...”
“They’ll think we’re worth taking on, got it.” Ingrid said, parrying a sword with one hand. Her foot quickly lashed out and shattered the hunter’s shin, causing it to shriek and loosen its grip on the sword. In one smooth motion, Ingrid grabbed the weapon and plunged it straight to the heart. Another sword came at her, ending up in Ingrid’s hands as her parry ended up breaking the mossbelly’s arm. She swung the sword down so hard that it not only cut the enemy from left collar bone to right hip but also broke the blade in half.
Ingrid quickly rushed in and buried the broken sword into the next mossbelly’s gut.
“They’re not budging even though I’m shining the floodlights at them.” Cecil said. “It’s making my trigger finger itchy!”
“You don’t have fingers, Cecil!” Ingrid laughed, in the length of time it took to say that phrase, she had blitzed through several warriors, punching just hard enough to dent their armor from behind as their backs bulged from the impact, content to let the several ruptured organs take them out of the fight permanently. She was holding back on the more destructive techniques, as the mossbellies were clearly buying her ruse that could not muster anymore explosive mana tricks on them. Her hand-to-hand techniques however, were clearly infuriating them as they croaked louder and louder.
You guys need to watch some anime, Ingrid smirked as met another group’s charge head on. She became a blur to their eyes and they only felt a light tap to their bodies as she passed. As they stumbled and turned around to attack her from behind while she busied herself with another squad, they felt something snap inside them…
"Valkryie squad, Santiago-Dos, stay close and rearguard, no lance-charging." Ingrid said as she leapt high into the air, carrying a wildly flailing mossbelly. She rapidly twisted the creature into a spinning piledriver, plummeting eighty feet to the ground below and merging her enemy's mana with her own, creating a literal "power bomb" and obliterating the cluster of adversaries beneath her.
At the mention of “Santiago-Dos” the golden mouse clones and Umbra quickly disengaged and scrambled to defend the rear of the team.
"Overlord, take charge of rearguard and engage at your discretion." Ingrid added, ducking behind a hunter who was struggling on its feet. She grabbed its waist and stunned it with a quick suplex, maintaining her grip as she flipped back on her feet and sailed high into the air, into a backward swandive as she performed a high-altitude,high velocity suplex into another cluster of enemies.
___
Philia's Janus Blade materialized and swung upward at a shallow angle, slicing off the hunter's arm and causing the axe it was carrying to clatter on the ground. The creature's agonizing scream was swiftly silenced when Philia plunged the bayonet of her shotgun into its chest and then opened fire at point-blank range.
Meanwhile, a trio of opportunistic adversaries attempted to capitalize on Philia's situation, only to be thwarted by Peanut's Node. The spectral paws generated by her Vindicator Gauntlet crushed the skulls of the first two and cut deep and fatally into the neck of the third.
Peanut, for her part, flicked her wand skyward and swept it gently in a circular motion, a group of mossbellies cried out in surprise as they were caught in a geyser of energy that burst from the floor beneath them. The ensuing shower of sparks landed on those nearby, and burned through their bodies. More tried to push through the gap generated by Peanut's powerful spell, only for Philia to summon her Siege Spears which pinned them to the ground, the still-burning flames on the floor searing their bodies. The spears themselves were embedded firmly, creating an impromptu barricade that kept more at bay.
"We should take them out!" Philia said, letting out burst fire from her rifle in the direction where she launched the Siege Spears. The mossbelies trying to push through the firmly embedded spears were met with a hailstorm of lead. "Even if they sit this out they're going to want all our loot!"
"True." Sammy said, setting down her halberd, smacking the spike-tipped butt of her weapon against the floor with a loud thud. She walked ahead of Johnny, Kvaris and Kinu did as well, clanging their swords against their shields to get the apes' attention. "Cecil, they've been warned enough, let them have it!"
"Pellet shots, open fire!" Cecil yelled.
The portal-side mice took aim and fired, as the pellets passed their portal's built-in enhancement lens, the little spheres of steel underwent a massive velocity increase. The ixitil’s screeched in horror and pain as they witnessed their packmate's bodies have large holes blown through them or their heads simply disintegrate into a red mist. Like the potato mice, the designated marksmen in the Iroquois fireteams used bullets, cutting through the dense mass of Ixitis which stampeded forward in rage.
The Valkyrie team, the golden mice clones, and Umbra rushed forward to meet them head-on.
“Hailstone Fusillade!” Siria cried, raising her staff. A dense cloud of ice-cold mist formed high above the ixitils’ position; large, jagged blocks of ice began raining down from above, crushing the advancing horde below. The size and weight of each individual block guaranteed each hit was fatal, and many apes who got felled by them exploded in a mess of crimson spray and flying limbs. As an added bonus, the apes now had to contend with navigating the blocks of ice. Several ixitils ended up screaming in agony as their hands and feet adhered to them, the extreme cold so volatile that even if they weren't shot by Iroquois, or cut down by the melee squad they would have died anyway from hypothermia quickly seeping in.
The golden clones and umbra rushed the advancing ixitil horde together, the latter firing away with pellet shots from their shotgun's secondary barrel to whittle down the number of advancing foes. Then, they would rush forward, drawing their daggers which transformed into the massive "pike-cleaver" great swords.
Chapelle's finest enchantments worked wonders with the umbra mice. The globe of limited invulnerability allowed the jet-black mice to attack with utter impunity, the heavy sword and the weight-negating enchantment imbued on it allowed them swing their swords with ease, as if they were mere cardboard cutouts, but the weight and momentum still applied to everyone and everything else. The seven-foot tall muscular apes' bodies were sliced apart so easily as if their tough bodies were made of paper mache. The umbra mice would end each swing by switching the sword back to the dagger, allowing them to easily reposition themselves for another devastating attack with their sword, or summon their glaive with their other hand to deliver a surprise thrust.
The wild, uncontested swings of umbra's pike-cleavers, complemented by the golden clones' precision thrusts with their glaives created a steel barricade that the ixitil apes could not breach. Moreover, they also had at their disposal the Janus Blade just like Philia, although considering the length of their preferred weapon it was mostly used defensively, summoning the spectral blade to cut off an attacking limb, which it did so with the ease of a hot knife through butter. This strategic use significantly prolonged the duration of their sword's globe of invulnerability, with the spectral weapon severely damaging if not outright severing attacking appendages that would have otherwise diminished the barrier's lifespan. The dagger’s ability to temporarily turn the mice invisible and generate an illusion of them moving the opposite direction also threw off their attackers while preserving the durability of their forcefield.
___
Control Room, Autumnhollow:
“Damn!” Zefir exclaimed, looking at Gwen’s screen as he watched the shadow mice do their work on the nightmare fuel apes. “Sammy, the Umbra team is holding up perfectly!”
“Good to know!” Sammy called, there was excitement in her voice as she masterfully took down her opponents wholesale. The sounds of battle had been filtered out thanks to Neith’s excellent processing ability, allowing the team to communicate well without being distracted by other noises.
“And watch out for some of the ixitils.” Zefir added, “some at the back look like they’re going to try to throw rocks and spears at you.”
As he spoke, he watched as Sammy simultaneously perform a dodging maneuver while cutting down multiple opponents in one fluid motion. The bowling-ball sized rock flew inches past her head.
“Nasty little things aren’t they?” Sammy laughed as she effortlessly avoided a sneaky spear thrust.
“I hate them!” Kvaris snarled, in one swing of her flail she obliterated ten heads, the headless bodies crashing backwards and causing those in the backrow to stumble, allowing her to start wildly chopping away with her Meteor Axe thanks to the crowd being pushed back by the recently killed. She angled her downward slashes, allowing her to cut through multiple bodies at once while making sure the axe blade would strike the ground as per the summoning requirements of her Deregor Weapon.
Zefir flicked his eyes on the feed of one of the other drones, showing the shadow mice in action. Just before their pike-cleavers’ protective globe flickered and winked out, they executed a perfectly timed teleport, reappearing behind the golden mice. At this, the golden mice let out a ferocious squeak and charged, their umbra counterparts following close behind and providing fire support with their powerful shotguns. The high velocity wall of buckshot shredded ixitil bodies, with more than a few pellets punching right through the initial targets to hit those behind. The golden mice used the chaos to deliver swift, brutal attacks, their glaives piercing through flesh and bone with ease.
“Santiago-Dos is holding up perfectly, Starchaser.” Zefir reported.
“Nice!” Ingrid replied. Zefir looked up at another drone’s feed and saw Ingrid pummelling a dome-shaped forcefield. The mossbelly mage that had cast it was cowering in fear as the Nemesis-Stalker pounded it with her fists, each punch either creating a shockwave that knocked others back or fired an explosive bolt of energy at yet another unfortunate mossbelly.
Zefir looked back to check on the rearguard.
Like Santiago-Dos, Sammy was a whirlwind of steel herself, her Silent Storm rapidly switching from halberd to greatsword as the situation demanded. Zefir found himself breathless. He still found it so hard to believe that either weapon, so large and heavy-looking, could be swung at such speed. The spectacle was so awe-inspiring that he was convinced that even in the absence of the Guardian Blades that manifested to deliver their own subsequent strikes after each hit, Sammy would still not be overwhelmed.
What was also impressive was her tactical alertness. Sammy consistently maintained her Standard of Valor active, resummoning it the instant its duration lapsed.
It materialized in her hands as Sammy slammed it's pole to the ground, and at once the enchanted Standard, a masterpiece worthy of leading an imperial army, activated and emitted rhythmic drum-like sounds that staggered all the apes as each pulse struck them hard as if Sammy had put all her strength into a punch to their faces. A few pulses was enough to cause several apes who were still in the back row to collapse from a fatal concussion. Many of those in front became wobbly on their feet as the pulses rendered them punch-drunk and unable to defend themselves.
Sammy also had impeccable management of her Cataclysm Hammer. While the Guardian Blades were still slashing around her, she would summon the great war hammer in her hands and smash it against the enemy before returning to her Silent Storm. Once she accumulated enough hammer-blows she would smash it against the ground, creating a series of pillars of light that smashed through the mob.
The effect of the orc's pulses had a different effect on her teammates. Each pulse invigorated them, and as a result of regularly training with each other everyday, the Enthana sisters had long memorized the rhythm of Sammy's enchanted Standard and timed their attacks to its beat. The potent thrusts of their corsecas and unstoppable massive slashes of their meteor axes either kept enemies at bay or provided cover as one sister slashed and bashed her way through. The corseca’s ability to generate a long energy spike on hit and the Meteor Axes’ heavy weight and long shaft meant that either pole weapon was guaranteed to inflict several casualties in a single strike.
The ixitils' strong bones were no match for their heavy Storm Crusher flails which simply pulverized them into splinters that sliced away at their own insides, nor were their thick hides and strong muscles any good against their longswords Firestorm and Inferno which cut through them like flimsy fabric.
Kinu's shield vanished, and its place was her second sword Frostbane. The coordination between the two sisters was almost telepathic as Kinu focused on ther enemies without needing to watch her blindspots as Kvaris's lightning-quick corseca thrusts intercepted all would-be flankers. With a wave of Frostbane, Kinu created a strong, icy-cold blast, subjecting everything in front of her in a fan-shaped area to an intense chill. A second later, a wicked-looking barrier of ice-spikes erupted from the ground like a Friesian hedgehog. With the now slippery floor, the front-row apes found themselves quickly impaled.
“Hurricane Bash!” Kinu cried, the head of her flail glowing red as she swung her weapon, generating a swirling maelstrom of wind that surged forth. This whirlwind contained the accumulated might of every strike she had landed prior to casting the potent spell. With immense force, it hurled the ixitils high into the air or slammed them against their companions, carving a clear path through the cacophonous mob.
The sisters exchanged positions, with Kinu jumping back and throwing her multiplying axes while Kvaris sprang forward and executed a spinning slash with her Meteor Axe. Once again, Kvaris angled her attack precisely so it would cleave through everything around her while fulfilling the summoning requirement.
“Sitrep on the rearguard!” Ingrid said over the radio.
“The ixitils are crowding around the center line to avoid the mice’s guns, Starchaser.” Gwen replied.
As she spoke, Siria uttered “Flame Strike!” creating a pillar of flame at erupted at the rear of the Ixitil ranks, further decimating their numbers.
Fireteams Apache and Lakota spread out to the sides, firing away to prevent the ixitils to from outflanking their teammates engaged in the melee. Kiowa on the other hand stayed at the center, providing point defense for the melee fighters. Riker, sitting atop Neith, also bolstered point-defense for the Valkyrie squad. He fired in disciplined single shots, aiming to have each bullet penetrate through as many targets as possible.
Cecil and Rykard focused on thinning out the crowd as quickly as possible, releasing short bursts of fire from their machine guns, targeting the most densely packed groups. Soon, the ixitils were becoming aware of the danger that the slime-operated turrets posed and there was almost a stampede to compress into the center, corralling them into the whirling blades of the Valkyrie Team and Santiago-Dos, as well as the roots of Johnny.
The duskberry wriggled excitedly, croaking with glee as his roots lengthened underneath the feet of the ixitils, quickly growing fruits that detonated in their midst, showering the apes with corrosive acid. Johnny also sprouted long thorns that impaled their feet, inducing chaos into their ranks.
A few ixitils managed to leap past the perimeter of the mice and the Valkyrie team, who paid them no heed. These were quickly beset by Cuddly’s Fae Harriers. The marble-sized winged balls of light smashed against their bodies with a force that belied their diminutive size, breaking bones, fracturing skulls, and rupturing organs. Those that were not instantly killed were either knocked out or left in too much agony to ever put up a fight. These were either quickly shot by Riker from his perch, or executed by a second smash to the head by one of the harriers.
“Did any of them breach the center?” Ingrid asked.
“Not for long.” Gwen replied “Cuddly took them out.”
Cuddly wheeked cutely as he pointed at one ixitil leaping high into the air, a harrier intercepted it and smashed hard against its head, causing it to smack against the wall with a sickening thud. If that didn’t kill it then the head-first dive that loudly broke its neck definitely sealed the ape’s fate.
The once enthused horde of ixitils had broken into utter panic and chaos. Gunfire forced them into a tight cluster, only to be met with the lethal embrace of the Valkyrie Team's blades and Johnny's roots. Those that tried to run away suddenly found themselves carried off into the air as Iohann's nyx fish Yog-Zolom swooped down from above, carrying the horrified ape in its jaws before taking a bite and flinging the remainder aside like a ragdoll. They were surrounded by a deadly symphony of steel, fire, and nature, with no escape in sight.
“Ixitil forces are done for, Starchaser.” Zefir said, seeing their numbers rapidly diminish.
“Good job, guys! Hold on a sec, lemme deal with this one….” Ingrid said as she began excitedly grunting.
___
The Dungeons of Teth-Odin, First Level:
"YEAH! Come on!"
Ingrid was gripping hands with a particularly strong mossbelly warrior. The two of them relentlessly butting heads like bulls, each trying to overpower the other. As their foreheads smashed into each other it let out a destructive pulse that sent out a shockwave that sent other combatants flying. The creature's body was starting to fail, its legs trembling under the sheer force, its hands lost its grip as it staggered backwards.
The last of the attackers had fallen and the mice held their fire as they saw Ingrid walk over to the fallen warrior. She felt for a pulse, the creature was alive. She smiled as she realized this burly guy must have enjoyed a rude good health. With her other hand she held up a sign for the team to cease fire. There were still survivors left, but they were hesitating. There were only twelve of them left, nervously holding up their spears.
“Hold fire.” Philia yelled as Peanut personally bashed the last warrior coming her way. Rather than dodge, Peanut simply let the blade pass through her body by selectively turning parts of her body into free floating spores, allowing her to strike uninterrupted. The gigantic paw clipped the warrior right on the head, slamming it hard on the floor face-first.
The mice squeaked and complied. There were still a few more left, and they were being overwhelmed by a pair of whipcrawlers.
“Selphie, shut them off.” Philia said. Selphie held up a hand; a sigil floated above her open palm which she then engulfed in her hand, causing it to dissipate into blue fairy dust. At once, the whipcrawlers rapidly began to wither, just in time to make a final swing and decapitate five struggling mossbellies with a single swipe of its razor-vines.
Ingrid picked up the big warrior and dragged him towards his still-living comrades. With a jerk of her head they understood, and quickly they picked up their hero and quickly retreated. As soon as they turned their back, Ingrid was already gone. A second later, she crashed through a retreating mob of ixitils, screeching in terror as they gave her a wide berth.
"Well done!" Ingrid said "Anybody hurt?"
“We’re fine.” Cecil said, taking aim and gunning down the ixitils running away.
"My pride is!" Kvaris scowled. "I got seventy to Kinu's eighty-four!"
"That's quite a gap..." Ingrid smiled.
"What can I say?" Kinu said, "With sis watching my back I can get a lot done!"
The mice squeaked and pumped their guns, indicating they were all unscathed.
"Iohann?" Ingrid asked.
"Doing well." the cleric replied, "thanks to Philia and the mice keeping the mossbellies at bay I didn't have to work too hard in purifying the poisons."
Viel yawned, stretching as she prepared for the mass hauling of carcasses and loot, tampering with the enemy spells barely dented her mana reserves, especially when Ingrid and mice had eliminated them quickly. At the sight of her getting ready, Johnny croaked and excitedly began helping itself to some of the ixitil carcasses. Selphie got to work picking those who were still alive and shot a few of them. These whipcrawlers used up the last of their remaining life force to crawl up to Selphie and quickly release seeds and burls for her to later convert into her ammunition.
___
The air was tense as Viel got to work with her telekinesis, hauling away ixitil and mossbelly carcasses in big clumps.
"Everyone keep an eye out for another attack." Ingrid said "meanwhile, we'll begin dispatching once Viel's collected all the loot into one big pile.”
As one clump was lifted into the air. A few still-living mossbellies tumbled out, they managed to stagger back to their feet.
"Let them go." Ingrid said, waving her hand dismissively at them. "Hopefully they'll get the memo not to mess with us again."
The mossbellies must have understood, as they quickly staggered away from the scene of the carnage.
"Or..." Philia postulated "They'll come at us with bigger numbers and bring more shooters."
"It's possible." Ingried replied, unmoved "but if you really felt that way you'd already have shot them down."
Philia shrugged "just thinking of the possible trade we could have had."
Ingrid snickered "Damn, walked right into that one... we're black market adventurers now, sneaking into mossbelly camps and trading loot for... I dunno, what do mossbellies need?"
Kvaris thought for a bit. "They were pretty well-armed." she began, eyeing their armor, more than a few had quite some decorative bits on them. They looked well-worn rather than shiny but still it attested to their world possessing at least a decent level of craftsmanship. "The enchantments of some of them are quite standard though..."
Kvaris sat on her heels and poked at one of their armor "It's plain iron." she noted. Focusing aura into her eyes, she noted it radiated a substantial amount of mana. "Interesting, despite it being plain old iron the enchantment on it makes it as tough as well-crafted steel."
"Sounds like they can mass produce these." Ingrid remarked, picking up one of their swords. “No wonder it felt so brittle when I used one…”
"I doubt we can use them as well as they do." Siria remarked "chances are high they were using some kind of technique to let the soft iron take on the characteristics of well-forged steel...whether it's something we can acquire or it's something unique to how their world uses mana, that sword in our hands will need time to cook at a proper forge."
Minutes later, the team began the dispatching work.
"The ones that look like they won't make it, put them out of their misery." Ingrid said, her leg becoming a dark blur as she delivered a swift, precise kick to the head of a gurgling mossbelly. Its neck bore a fatal hole. "The rest... ehhh... let me know, I'll haul them over to the side."
"Far be it from me to protest." Siria said as she delivered a coup de grace to one warrior, "but leaving them here will just make them prey to scavengers if they don't wake up on time."
"Welp, that's what they signed up for. I'm sure." Ingrid said, her tone lacking any sense of regret. "Our next encounter with them may hopefully be a lot more peaceful, if not, at least they make it back alive to their buddies, and if neither happens, we keep our scavengers fat and happy."
"Since you expressed hope in one day having peace with them," Iohann said. "Let us leave one fallen mossbelly as a token of goodwill, should they return and find it, it might encourage parley."
"I like that." Ingrid said, nodding "Good call."
___
The Whales were on the move again, leaving behind the unconscious mossbellies who looked like they had the least injuries, as well as one dead warrior, whose arms were crossed around its chest, fingers curled around a battered sword. A sheet of cloth, taken from one of their cloaks was laid across its face. A candle lay burning near the body. They were all stacked up against the wall, out of the way.
The loot and carcasses had all been evenly distributed among Siria's, Peanut's, and Viel's Item Boxes to speed up the storage process. They took paths at random, aiming to head towards the sounds of the territorial calls of various monsters in order to further bolster their income.
"So Ingrid..." Kvaris said, "What do we do when we find...that."
Ingrid turned to look at her, "Like, if we stumble into it, right now?"
The garm girl nodded.
"Same plan as before, we find a redoubt and recuperate." Ingrid said, her eyes scanning the corridor ahead. "And if even a single one of us isn't in tip-top shape, or our consumables have dropped below..."
"Half-" Kvaris said, Ingrid cut her off.
"A third." Ingrid said firmly. "We're taking a lot of risks if we go there after all. We have to assume such an expedition might cost us more than half our consumables. So we play it safe. If either conditions are met, we give the location and we retreat to the surface."
She turned around and gauged everyone else's expressions. Everyone's expression reflected their agreement.
"We don't know what's waiting for us inside that Rogue Rift after all." Siria said "It's a whole world after all, we have no idea what other kinds of threats lie within. Say we end up in the world of those mossbellies we just fought, there's no telling if there's things there far more powerful than they are."
"Agreed." Sammy added "for all we know they're the weakest of what their realm has to offer."
"The thought just occured to me." Cecil said "Can we like... feel if that Rogue Rift is nearby? I mean an interdimensional portal like that usually radiates a lot of energy, right?"
"At least that's the way it worked with us back on Earth." Ingrid added "yeah...why didn't the thought occur to me?"
"It doesn't." Philia said "Given the circumstances of how it's formed, we're saddled with walking around till we find it. For now, we should stick to the original plan of filling our coffers so we can kick back and enjoy three-day weekends at Autumnhollow."
"That's a good idea." Kvaris said, unsummoning her sword. She gestured at Ingrid as she spoke, indicating that she smelled something approaching.
The corridor ahead had a junction leading to the left, Ingrid tapped on her earpiece.
“Starchaser to Baseplate, get me eyes on that left-hand junction.”
“Roger, Starchaser, standby.” Zefir replied, flying the drone around the corner.
"Everyone, halt." Ingrid said, raising a fist. Philia took a tablet out of her traveler's valise so everyone could huddle around her and see what Oberon was picking up.
The feed from the drone revealed a massive chamber. It had several columns supporting the high arched ceiling, but the placement was strange, the edges of the chambers were lined with them, and clusters of columns were in wide intervals around the middle.
"A titan cage." Siria explained. "These chambers have especially huge corridors to admit the passage of titanic creatures, while these columns are too narrow for them and were meant for us."
"They're magically reinforced, by the way." Philia told Ingrid "so yes, we can reliably use them for giant bear-baiting."
As she spoke, a massive sauropod filled the feed.
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INDEX: The Whales Party Sheet