A large section of the wall came tumbling down. Defenders were swallowed up in the rubble as it crashed to the ground below.

The Herculean Spinecharge Beetle was now inside of Olympus. The citizens of the town scrambled for safety as the beetle stamped its feet, preparing to unleash mayhem on the townspeople.

Tank and Crash were accompanied by a trio of soldiers. Among the soldiers, one stood out with the Whisperwind Hammer, a powerful blunt force weapon they had taken from Knox’s general. With the big bastard out of the way, they had an opportunity to get behind these beetles and hopefully target unprotected weak spots. Making a wide arc, the advancing group positioned themselves behind the exposed rear of the beetles. As expected, they were a soft target behind their metallic barricades. Each of the soldiers rushed a different beetle.

Tank and Crash kicked it off. Tank had rolled a skill-generated grenade under the first beetle, punctuating each second of the timer with blasts from his pulse pistol. Each shot tore into the beetle, spraying bug guts from the wounds as it slowly struggled to extract its shield from the ground.

BOOM!

Thousands of formless piles of goo were created when Tank’s grenade detonated under the first beetle. This fight would be over in a flash. These beetles were designed for siege warfare and had significant weaknesses once you got past their barriers. As they systematically destroyed their chosen beetles, they collapsed in a line, channeling their efforts towards the next one. Not a single one of the beetles had managed to extract their shields from the grounds to engage the attackers. Unfortunately, their mission had been accomplished. Tank looked back toward the destroyed wall and quickly organized everyone to follow him through the breach.

On the east wall, Marshall was tending to Calvin with Field Surgery. The others had already rushed into the city to form up a defense against the gigantic intruder.

“Up and at ’em Cal.” Marshall said, “No time for you to be sleeping on the job.”

Calvin groaned and sat up, experimentally moving his limbs. Everything hurt.

“They told me you were a slave-driver, I didn’t want to believe it. What’s the situation?”

“Well, you turned big boy there into a dino nugget. Congrats. The big bug bastard punched through the wall. Everyone’s forming up now to take it down. We gotta move.”

“Through the wall!?” Calvin’s pain was put well on the back burner as he leaped up and charged into Olympus.

“Non-combatants! Get to the shore of the lake!” Seth called out. He was positioning his barrier drones around the enormous beetle.

Artisans and their families scrambled from their homes and workshops as they fought to escape the area. None of them had the tools to fend off the Spinecharge beetle and would just become a hindrance to the fighters.

The beetle waved its head back and forth. The scythe-like mandibles clicked menacingly as if it was threatening death to any who approached it.

Soldiers formed ranks in a semicircle in front of the beetle. Ranged combatants scrambled on top of walls and buildings to gain a vantage point.

The creature was heavily armored, and everyone doubted that their attacks would be effective against the creature’s shell.

Reaper kicked things off with a well-placed shot to the creature’s face. The pulse round exploded on the armored shell, clearly causing the creature pain. Small cracks formed on one of its mandibles but otherwise, the creature was unscathed. All six of its armored legs lifted in sequence and slammed into the ground like pistons on an engine. With a terrifying hiss, the Herculean beetle spewed a pale green substance from its mouth. The slimy discharge splattered all over nanite barriers, buildings, and some of the front-line soldiers.

Screams erupted from those soldiers as their armor began to smoke and dissolve from their bodies. Three of them scrambled out of formation and were lucky enough to remove their armor in time. One of the soldiers was not quite as lucky, as the substance had completely enveloped his head and seeped underneath his armor. The man’s agonizing cries ended swiftly as his body slowly decayed away into a sizzling puddle on the ground.

“Spread out!” Liam ordered.

The soldiers expanded their formation swiftly, their movement speed enhanced by their motivation to not be dissolved.

Arrows pinged harmlessly off of the creature’s armor. Even the nanite-infused arrows had little effect. Some of the archer’s shots had found purchase in small cracks between the armored segments, but nothing that would even be considered a minor wound against such a colossal beast.

“The legs!” Calvin shouted as he sprinted into the fight, “We can’t break the armor, we need to take out the legs.”

The beetle acted as if it had heard Calvin. It swung its massive horned head to the side and smashed through a home, bringing it tumbling down in a pile of sticks and stones. Then it charged again.

Soldiers desperately leaped to the sides to avoid the crushing charge and massive, skewering legs.

The beetle turned its body towards the largest group of soldiers and began hissing again. A spray of horrible beetle acid was soon to follow. Another well-placed shot from Reaper threw the beetle’s aim to the side as the acidic substance sprayed from its face. None of the soldiers had been caught in the devastating spray this time, however, more homes and shops were ruined.

Calvin was in a full sprint, he was nearly upon the creature now. He could see Amy and Freya approaching from another angle as he dove toward the creature’s legs.

CLANG!

He slammed his spear into an enormous tree-trunk sized leg. The blade sparked harmlessly off of the armor as Calvin’s charge continued, placing him beneath the beast.

The creature’s entire body spasmed. Calvin had a split second to jam his spear into its belly before he was forced to dive out from beneath the beetle. Its legs jerked wildly and its body slammed into the ground briefly before it regained control. Its hind leg lifted and slammed toward Calvin, trying to spike him into the ground.

Calvin rolled to the side and was immediately met by three more piercing stabs. He weaved between the strikes, as the creature frantically stabbed at him.

What happened? Calvin thought.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

As he avoided two more strikes and worked to put more distance from the terrifying creature’s legs, he finally understood.

“Ian! Electricity! The armor is conductive!” he cried out.

Ian was working to get a better position on the creature. Its most recent charge had placed several buildings between Ian and the massive bug.

“On it! 15 seconds!” Ian called out.

Ian sprinted to a better vantage point. He’d originally planned on getting to the walls, but scrapped that idea in favor of urgency.

The monstrosity of a beetle skittered back several steps and rose up high on its legs, stretching them out nearly straight. The armor plates of the Herculean Spinecharge beetle began to rattle and shift. The skittering and clacking sounds grew louder as thin legs began to appear from the edges of the armor near the beetle’s underside.

First, one small Spinecharge beetle dropped out from the underside of the behemoth. Then two, then five. This thing was a damned Trojan horse!

Ian came sliding around the corner in a reckless sprint. He finally had direct line of sight to the beetle and was only 15 feet away staring directly at its face. He unleashed Storm Surge followed by an electric Attuned Wall directly beneath the beetle.

The whip of crackling azure energy that was Storm Surge blasted out from Ian’s fingertips and slammed into the gargantuan beetle’s armor. The blazing arcs of electricity coursed through the armor plates and lashed out at the beetles falling from beneath the creature. The ones still inside the armor plates stood no change and were cooked alive, still tucked away. Several of the ones that had gotten loose were damaged or stunned. All in all, seven Spinecharge beetles managed to escape the onslaught and spread throughout Olympus. Some of them charged directly for the defenders and were defeated immediately. Others ran into shops, between houses, over rubble, or pretty much in whatever nook and cranny they could find.

“Get defenders to the lake!” Calvin shouted. He was worried some of these beetles would make their way to the non-combatants.

The Herculean Spinecharge beetle had been caught in the throes of electric convulsions. It fell over onto its side as its limbs seized up. As it desperately fought to gain control of its body, it let out one last spray of acidic goo before Amy descended on the monster.

She honed in on its exposed underside and drew long and deep gashes down the belly, spilling gallons of ichor out onto the ground. She slashed at the legs, in case the beast recovered and tried to regain footing. Shots continued to ring out from Tank, Crash, and Reaper, devastating the beetle’s undercarriage.

The Herculean Spinecharge beetle was on death’s door as its life dripped out onto the soil. The fighters all took a more relaxed posture as they came to understand the creature would fight no more.

“Ian, nice jo—“ Calvin started to say.

Ian was sitting on the ground, silently staring in shock at the dying beetle. His legs from the knees down had dissolved away, having been struck by the final spray of the beetle.

“Ian!” Calvin cried as he scrambled over to his friend, “Marshall! We need you now!”

Marshall quickly finished up a treatment of some minor wounds one of the defenders had received and came sliding in toward Ian.

“Hey buddy, I’m here.” Marshall said. He looked up at Calvin with grave concern, “Let’s get this taken care of. A little nanomist should fix you right up.”

Marshall poured everything he had into treating the injury. The Nanomist Surge helped combat the damage the remaining acid was doing to Ian’s legs and stopped it from progressing any further.

Ian’s shock began to wear off and the realization of his situation came crashing in like a wave.

“My… legs.” Ian said in disbelief, “I’m fucked.”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to be fine. Let’s get you into your cabin to lie down alright?” Marshall said, finishing up with his bandages.

“Marshall, I’m fucked. How am I supposed to survive out here? I can’t walk.”

“And that’s a problem for tomorrow, ok? Seth got Calvin a magic hand, so I’m sure he can cook you up some robot legs. Right, Seth?”

Seth looked down at Ian’s missing legs and back at Marshall. This was a whole lot different than welding a glove to Calvin’s arm. He neither had the skills nor materials to attempt something like this right now.

“Yup. Easy as pie. We’ll have you up on your feet in no time alright Ian?” Seth lied.

“Seth, you don’t have to lie to me. Thanks though, I know you’ll do what you can.” Ian said.

Seth and Marshall lifted Ian and carried him to his Cabin.

Calvin and Amy watched them go before Calvin slowly turned to survey everything around him.

The walls were in ruins. Defenders were digging through the rubble trying to rescue anyone who had been trapped under when the walls fell. Houses were destroyed, shops lay in tatters. All of that could be easily fixed with the base management features.

The gory ruins of the defender who’d been sprayed with acid caught Calvin’s gaze next, the remains of Ian’s legs sizzled away on the ground just feet away. Under the rubble at the breach in the wall were likely several other bodies. Defenders who had died protecting Olympus. Defenders who had died in a monster wave that should never have happened. One that probably happened because Calvin went out and killed the Nightclaw Queen.

He fell to his knees. Everything he’d been burying deep in the trenches of his soul, all of the doubt he’d been feeling that he tucked away, all came bubbling out in a rushing torrent to the surface. He was paralyzed by grief, by self-doubt, by an incredible feeling of inadequacy, and by the loudest voice he’d ever heard, screaming at him internally, telling him he was unqualified for this. That he’d caused these tragedies. That he needed to give up and wander into the jungle. Everyone here would be better off without him playing leader.

Tears began to pour down his face into the dirt below. His shoulders quaked with silent sobs before his mouth betrayed him and gave voice to the grief.

Amy kneeled down beside him and placed her arm around his shoulder. She understood the grief he was feeling and decided to support him silently for now. Nothing she could say would offer him any comfort until he’d had a chance to begin processing this on his own.

Tank and Crash had been standing nearby, however, Tank instructed Crash to meet up with Reaper and start helping the citizens. The defenders had been scouring the town for any remaining beetles, destroying them as they came across them. Crash nodded and took off.

Tank looked down at the nearly broken man. He knew this pain. He’d led countless soldiers, brothers, and friends into battle. Some of them never returned. He knew the weight of those decisions and the pressure of that burden.

“Calvin.” Tank said as he kneeled down in front of him.

Calvin looked up at Tank, not saying anything.

“I know you don’t want to talk. I especially know you don’t want to hear me talk. But I’m going to say this all the same. I’ve been where you are. Almost exactly where you are. I know the devastation you’re feeling. I know you feel like you killed those people. I know you feel like you have no business being in the position you’re in. I know you feel like you failed some great responsibility that the universe entrusted you with.”

Calvin looked away, ashamed.

“I also know that you’re wondering how you can ever look those people in the eyes again. The people whose loved ones may not be coming back today. Take it from someone who has been there and who had my ass delivered to me by many a senior officer, with much of the same speech I’m giving you now.”

Tank grabbed Calvin’s shoulder tightly.

“Those people trust you. I’ve been here less than an hour and I can see the faith these people have in you and your team. They fought to defend this town when they could have run. They followed the orders that you gave, knowing the danger involved… and those decisions you made, saved everyone who is still here today, my people included. Nobody is looking at you and wondering what you could have done better. Everyone here knows that this entire thing is fucked up… and I guarantee you, when this mess is cleaned up and the people have mourned the losses, they’re going to be right by your side again. But you need to get up. You need to show them that you’re in this just as much as they are. They need you to be stronger than ever for them to get through this.”

“I shouldn’t be in this position Tank. I’m a fucking project manager. I’m not a city lord. I have no experience with governing. In the beginning, as a group, we just acted as we needed to in order to remain alive. Somehow we’re managing a town and are responsible for other people.”

“Calvin… in my experience, the people who want to be in power, are the ones who shouldn’t be. True leaders are the ones who rise to the occasion and step up because they know it’s hard, and because they know it needs doing. That’s how you started this and that’s why you’re the person for the job.” Tank let those words sink in before slapping Calvin on the back, “Now, get your ass up and go talk to those people. We’ll start cleaning up around here.”

Calvin stood, took several steadying breaths, and nodded his thanks to Tank.

“Alright.” and with only that single word, he made his way to the people of Olympus.