The Battle (24 page)

"Undershot," I read Gimmick’s lips as the desire to tear his head off seized me once again.

One of the trebuchets cracked and collapsed, sliced in two by the Droid’s fire. A cloud of dust covered us. Apparently it was not an obstacle for the Droid’s sensors as the robot kept firing accurately and incessantly.

The trolls, ogres, and other huge, meaty characters had it rough. But I too caught a few shots with my back, each taking a thousand HP.
Holy fuck...

The Chinese came to our rescue: the NPCs on castle walls predictably fired at the target that was now within their firing range. Many players also joined in on impulse.

Attacked from behind, the Droid instantly spun around, cut the parachute obstructing its path, and charged at the castle. Phew.

"We’ll be alright now; I got the pattern!" Gimmick assured us as he saw the bullet-ridden bodies and met several angry glares.

"I swear on Juggernaut..." he added just in case and hurried over to the third trebuchet.

A loud bang resounded two hundred yards away. Someone’s portal opened for ten seconds. Stealther raiding parties came at us from the rear.

"Tighten the ranks! Alpha-group - cover sectors B3 through B9! True Flame torches to the right flank!"

The officers proved themselves worthy by responding instantly and effectively. The next second, another portal opened nearby. A personal iridescent gate appeared far away.

I wondered if they wanted to split our attention, or if these were on-lookers from different alliances. Probably both. Striking the back of the wounded winner was the favorite approach of many rowdy clans.

"Now!" a voice bellowed.

The counterweight banged and the Droid, flashing with machine gun fire, flew right into the enemy Nova’s main square.

"Bingo!" the satisfied Gimmick raced to the last trebuchet.

I came back to the first, which the orcs were already setting up again. Our kamikaze with his aerial bomb 500 was already getting in.

His Holy Unmercenary status had us hoping for some fine spoils. Although looting was just a nice bonus in the given situation. The main goal was to bust the gates and send as many of the Chinese to their eternal hunting grounds as we could.

"Ready?" I asked the pale suicide lieutenant.

He nodded silently, buckling on his leather harness and hugging the mithril bomb tightly.

Deathbringer
, that’s how our boys signed the present. I hoped it would live up to its name and wouldn’t misfire.

The main thing was to hold the bomb tightly, otherwise it was unclear which side the game mechanics would attribute the victims to.

"Launch the drone! The clan’s ready!"

The Big Bertha 3 fired with a bang, launching a low-level stealthed warrior into the sky.

"Shit... Boom!" came the report of what we all expected; a bloody splash on the fourth floor of the donjon. I hoped he'd taken screenshots.

After a thirty-second analysis, the Headquarters sent us a lotta info,

"Preliminary debriefing data. Two thousand enemy warriors total. Up to 20% calculating error. Most are on the walls and in the yard. Preparing to contain the gate attack. Setting up barricades! Nine light and medium golems total! Locating the two resistance zones – the Droids are almost gone! Two portal arches open on the portal pad. Traffic capacity: three hundred warriors per minute!"

I nodded.
It’s time!

I leaned over the bomb, tore out the first safety catch, removed the cap and unscrewed the second catch which was an airscrew vane. That way, nothing would prevent the kamikaze from detonating the whole thing manually in case of a collision with a surface.

I slapped the lieutenant on the shoulder. "Launch!"

The counterweight creaked again. The beam whistled, and the man-projectile shot into the sky.

I watched his flight path anxiously. My greedy pig was pacing the bottom of my soul, its fingers crossed as it whispered,

"I think I can, I think I can get more, and more, and more!"

Boom!!!
reality replied.

"Headshot!" shouted the Analyst, monitoring the logs. "Over a thousand frags and twice as many loot items!"

I tossed my head, making my hearing return, and raised my staff over my head,

"Charge!"

Chapter Sixteen

S
ecret residence of the Shui Fong
clan.

A one-off three-floor dungeon covering one square mile.

Discovered over two years ago. Suspended for nine months to grow and ripen.

Protected by the Youdie farm group. Total loot equals 2.180.000 gold plus three artifacts.

Self-destruction is prevented by slaves bricked into its walls, 12 in total. Routine replacement: once in three months (following personality disintegration).

Location access: by portal only. The only exit point had been turned into a massive mountain ridge by a wizard of the nature.

A Phantom Dragon soul had been let into the dungeon to perform daily housekeeping. Duration of agreement with the entity: 99 years.

(Portal coordinate retrieval is blocked by the emanations of Stones of Pain).

Ops Headquarters

"The warriors Si-Ling and Si-Lu had interrupted the current battle mission. They are attacking the neutrals!" said one of the analysts monitoring the situation.

His voice made Prince Cao Cao hunch his head into his shoulders. Why did the Grand Prince appoint him as leader of this riffraff, of all people?

The best shock troops were currently finishing off the domes of the Russian castles and freeing up space for excellent spoils. Fresh straw was put into the slave pens. New feeding troughs were set up for the lovely Slavic girls.

And Cao Cao, who had been embarrassed at the negotiations with the First Priest, was put in charge of the scum of the Alliance to beat the already dead bones!

Having caught the Grand Prince’s eye, Cao Cao quickly rose. "The warrior Si-Wu has been publicly insulted! Only blood can wash this away! Another half hour, and he’ll wipe the foul neutrals from the camp territory. It’s in our best interest: the lightsters wanted to follow the Invincible Armada and storm the Super Nova all on their own."

The Grand Prince, who was incredibly powerful in both realities, raised his brow in irritation. "You have ten minutes. A hundred warriors from the Tiger Guards will be sent as reinforcements. Si-Wu is to be punished. Cast him into the fire for a day so that he loses his ego and stops putting his own needs before the clan’s."

"Yes, my master..."

Cao Cao let out a sigh of relief. He himself could have easily ended up being the warlord that had fallen into disgrace.

The analyst spoke up again, "Code Orange! Portal opened by Shui Fong-3! Attackers identified as the Mao’s Legacy clan, 430 warriors in total. Not enough for a siege. The Dome will hold up for at least two days. Our defense consists of a hundred and ten warriors, all level 200+ according to the rear subdivision ranks. Available NPC guard reserve amounts to 40,000 levels in total."

He froze for a second, then opened his eyes wide in alarm. "Attention! Code Red! A High Circle spell has been cast: Astral Mana Dispersal! Time left until shield failure: 90 seconds!"

The Grand Prince bared his teeth in anger. "Mobilize the NPCs! Send the Ci-Ba detachment! Squeeze the Maoist castles! More hostages! They will pay with pain for their insolence!"

"Understood. Orders have been passed on to the corresponding subdivisions."

The Grand Prince smiled with satisfaction and leaned back in his armchair. He loved luxury and comfort, but no one was bold enough to reproach him for it. Those with guts were quickly sent to the dungeons of mental torture.

The twenty analysts in their trance jumped simultaneously. "Portals opening: castles Shui Fong
-
2, 9, 16, 4, 12. Attackers are Russians and Vietnamese."

"Attention! Guard groups under attack: Silver Mines and Kimberlite Bonanza! Assailants are Tanglang raiders and a detachment of the Maoists’ allies!"

"Alchemist Town is no longer safe! Indian combat elephants have been spotted! Sire, it’s the elite of one of our top neighboring clans!"

"The Jade Pillar fortress is under siege by the Japanese clan Sho!"

"The capital’s Summer Palace is under attack. Guards are fighting off the Korean Seungli clan!"

The clan leader’s face froze. His brain absorbed the incoming info and sought the optimal solution. At last, he interrupted the continuous reports,

"All forces: abandon current missions! Assume defensive positions, PvP-scheme buffs and gear. Stop and await redeployment orders! Alliance-wide Code Red! Mobilize NPCs on all perimeters! Guild hiring: gather everyone in status Zero! Request assistance from all clans and allies. I demand reinforcements per our agreement!"

As he spoke, repeat reports of his orders were being rattled off. "Missions abandoned - complete! Terminating battle activity: seven percent manpower! In progress " twenty percent! Temporarily unavailable: all the rest!"

"NPCs mobilized. Time: 15 minutes, daily cost: 240,000 gold."

"Mercenary Guild, 1,700 fighters available in status Zero. Hired, time: 10 minutes. Cost: 3,500,000 gold."

"Locating portals by Shui Fong-1, 6, 8, 10. Attention, all castles under siege except in the capital! Commandants ask permission to use operating reserve."

"All key
production facilities and mining spots are being attacked! Approximate attacking force: 50,000 from six different clusters!"

The Grand Prince's eyes glazed over. He began to drool. His well-trained body fell into a controlled trance, speeding up his brain at the expense of other organs.

He was absorbing information from ten different channels, perceiving and analyzing a great wave of reports, but had no resources left to come up with solutions.

That was the downside of total dictatorship and one-man rule. The efficient system functioned like clockwork. The on-site reports were fast and clear, while responses to them arrived with more and more delays. They could not keep up with the constantly changing environment of a hundred trouble spots. Initiative among officers of lower ranks was suppressed to the point that they couldn’t make decisions independently.

The Grand Prince had always appointed executives, not leaders. He had plenty of smart sergeants and lieutenants, but only one general.

"The Alliance permits a 19,000 warrior reinforcement! Correction: 12,000! The Zhao clan withdraws its warriors for self-defense! ... Correction: 9,000! 5,000!... Sir, reinforcements are not available; all castles are under siege. Allies resorted to a wait-and-see approach, delaying their response. They are scared and don’t wish to interfere! We await your orders, Sire! We await your orders!... Current reserve – 4,300 warriors – awaiting orders!"

The Grand Prince barely moved his lips raw from biting. "Divide the forces among castles with no domes."

His voice could barely be heard over the analysts’ cries, "
Shui Fong-3 requesting permission to evacuate the treasury and all A-list items!"

"Shui Fong-9: the enemy has occupied the Control Room, the capture timer’s ticking!"

"Unrest in slave pens, the guards can’t control it!"

"Commandants of nine citadels are begging for reinforcements!"

"Guard forces in subsidiary locations have been forced out of their positions and are losing strength in pointless counterattacks!"

One freshly hired analyst was bold enough to abandon the expected laconic wording and threw in some words of his own,

"I dare suggest that we withdraw troops from secondary locations and unite them to defend the castles... Sire?"

The Grand Prince was silent. His pupils were bouncing like crazy beneath his eyelids. His mouth would open occasionally to snap an order. But another hailstorm of updates would change everything yet again.

"Attention! Shui Fong-0 is under attack! It’s the Russians. The First Priest’s with them!"

Finally, the Grand Prince beat his stupor and came out of the trance. Jumping up, he clenched his shaking hands into fists and commanded loudly,

"Staff ops are to develop opposition! They are now in charge of the operating reserve! Find backup troops, get the allies involved! We’ll easily crush these insolent upstarts! I will personally head the guards to defend the familial Nova, and have that arrogant Russian’s head! The enemy will be defeated!"

The Grand Prince teleported out, abandoning command of his troops.

The analysts kept spitting out reports, while the staff officers stared at each other helplessly.

Cao Cao was the first to get it together. "Send two thousand from the reserve to defend my citadel! And... mmm... a thousand mercs too! Like the Grand Prince, I too will lead the defense myself to protect the second most important spot after the capital!"

The shrewd vassal teleported away just like the Grand Prince.

The rest instantly jumped to their feet and began rattling off orders, overtaxing the meager reinforcements and ignoring the analysts’ monotonous reports.

The Colossus of Shui Fong turned out to have feet of clay.

We raced toward the broken gates under a hail of stones, squelching through dismembered remains. Some warriors were deafened. The reddish fog formed by the damage numbers popping up over our heads clouded our vision. The heavy bombing was taking its toll.

But for a 500K GP bomb, fifteen hundred feet is a joke: only a part of its lethal range.

A few NPCs on the walls who had somehow survived the massive explosion kept shooting at us half-heartedly. Most of the guards had been thrown off the bulwarks by the shock wave. It was their minced meat that now rained on my warriors, discouraging them.

The aerial bomb turned out to have surprisingly many levels of damage, which had been so conveniently amplified by AlterWorld’s physics.

The fiery flash had finished off many. The mithril shards had got the survivors.

The blast wave had picked up the remains, mixed them with everything it managed to tear out of the ground, and scattered them far and wide.

Some had been unlucky enough to have been smeared over the ruins of the wall. Others had flown five hundred feet and hit the ground, pointlessly losing XP as a result of a death due to carelessness.

Aha, and here are the breached gates
,
scowling
their dislodged stones at me like a toothless old man
.

The construction gang dwarves had already set up their narrow Jacob’s ladders over the spiked moat and even added safety ropes. Nobody was eager to fall into a fifteen-foot ditch studded with rusty lances, but few had a 100+ agility. Without it, the chances of stumbling increased according to the narrowness and difficulty of the surface.

Boots rumbled over the tight planks. My officers made it to the spacious inner yard. The sight of which was shocking.

It was a graveyard, a morgue subsidiary and a field hospital all in one. Hundreds of gravestones, heaps of rotting bodies and over a thousand wounded warriors, their HP down to yellow or red.

Many were still bleeding, having open wounds and broken bones, which the game mechanics had turned into long-lasting DoTs. Injuries were countless. Plenty were blind, shell-shocked, bent double, or in various limbless disarray.

Bloodless bodies were falling left and right, continuing to increase our kamikaze’s frag counter. He had left the ground a lieutenant and landed a major. The best thing was that the loot kept pouring in. The overloaded officer moaned and cussed in the service corps chat.

A small crowd of reinforcements scurried out of the portals, as well as shirtless warriors who wanted to return to the scenes of their demise and retrieve their equipment from their graves.

Our golems fought against the flow, approaching the open portals. The golem that reached the target first began kicking the enemy warriors back into the gates like a soccer player. What a sight!

After a minute, our golems blocked the portal slab entirely, cutting off the enemy flow.

I figured it’d be best to bring a cage next time, to set it up around the arrival zone to create an obstruction and trap securely the incoming foes.

As I ran by, I took a few stun grenades of various colors from my belt and added to the chaos by throwing them into the portals.
Catch!

No one heard the explosion, but the next group of Chinese arrived shell-shocked, staring blindly and shaking their heads like old men.

Well, looks like our bros can handle this.
Golems, archers, rogues for target illumination, and a few smart officers were enough to keep the portals covered.

I glanced around, analyzing the situation.

The ear-choppers cleaned up the walls, doing what they were made to do: slaughtering the NPC casters and archers in their leather armor.

The boys from the captured crew and the gunners were also up there at the top, checking out the ballistas and arrow launchers.

The rogues zigzagged around, combing the section of the yard where there were no visible enemies left to find the ones hiding in stealth. Close fights broke out everywhere because of this, and our side didn't win every time.

There were some pretty impressive folks among the Chinese, some far beyond level 300. And even if one of them was missing an arm or had been shot through the head, a rogue level 150 didn’t stand a chance against him. Calling for help in a fight like that wasn’t at all disgraceful, and was not indicative of any weakness. The rogue’s clanmates would rush to help, weighing down on the enemy like a band of mice on a wounded cobra.