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CH 55: Probing Attacks
🕑 Added 2024-12-13 15:00:00 +0000 UTCReid's vision was still a bit messed up, but that didn't matter much right now. It was tough to miss.
He sat in the lifeguard-style chair Mark had grown for him. It towered above the rest of the wall, and Reid had half a squad dedicated to handing him things to hurl at the enemies.
With his right hand.
Danny was putting his left arm back together. Reid's torso was set, and he was mostly certain Danny had semi-secretly delayed finishing up on his arm to turn what had been a debilitating concussion into a 'mild' one. He still felt... off. Like he was just a bit silly.
Reid whipped a handful of mandarin-orange-sized rocks out at the attacking salamander group, and watched two kill notifications pop into view. He was up to twenty kills so far, but nothing he took down was higher than level nine.
Danny shouted at Reid's helpers over the screeches, gunfire, and other screams while Reid lifted up his next projectile.
"No! I told you, no explosives! Not yet!"
Someone tried to yank the thing out of Reid's hand, but he didn't let them. It looked magnificent - like a bunch of bananas, but where the bananas were grenades, and the stem was a string that would pull out every pin at once. Reid yanked it out with his teeth and hurled the grenade-bundle out at the enemy. He got one notification from an impact kill. Then the grenades exploded.
Another fourteen notifications flew by. Five of them were higher levels, but still in the single digits. Reid bent his head sideways towards the helpers. "I want another one."
Danny pointed at Reid with a finger. "Reid, no. You have to wait until I say it's okay before you do that again. You could hurt yourself."
Reid nodded, and aimed a large rock at one of the eight-foot salamanders. It sailed over the thing's head and turned a line of three single-digit-leveled beasts into pink mist. The ones that didn't die writhed on the ground.
Walt's walkie talkie squawked nearby.
"No Susan, he's not ready for transport. He's still healing, and we shouldn't move him even when he's ready. I think the big ones are scared of him. They've just been probing our defenses for the last fifteen minutes by rushing in and running away, and they're steering clear of where he's sitting. He moves, they'll actually hit the wall and we might start losing people. I want to continue like this as long as they let us."
Squawk-crackle-crack.
"Marlene, you shouldn't. The last transport just got out of here. Let them get the personnel and supplies over to you before you try sending anything or anyone back through."
Crack-crackle-crack-wah-wi?
"A few boxes left for long gun ammo, and we're using those sparingly for our sharpshooters. Almost everyone else already swapped over to arrows. I'd say those are about ten percent down."
Crackle-wah-crack-crack?
"Mitchell thinks we've gotten about two dozen of the 10-12s out of the total so far. The other 115 or so kills are the little ones. Reid did confirm the rapid regeneration and the glowing claws were both new skills. So yeah, if one of the bigger ones gets to the wall, we're going to be in trouble."
Crackle crack?
Walt looked at Reid. "He'll be fine. He-"
Another grenade exploded out in the salamanders. Two kill notifications flashed by.
"Reid! What did I just say? No more grenades until I finish working on your concussion!" Danny admonished at the top of his lungs.
Crackle? Wah? Crack squawk crackle!?
"Mild concussion, Susan. He's fine. Still knows what he's doing. And he... doesn't have time to talk right now."
Another explosion sounded in the distance. Reid let out a giggle. Danny groaned.
#
#
The last transport had left ten minutes ago. Reid had almost-full use of his left arm back, and Danny had finished healing his head after confirming Reid could move his fingers. Reid hadn't really taken it in while he was concussed, but the man's sudden assertiveness was a happy surprise. Whether it stemmed from his work with Marysa, or because he saw Reid as a patient he needed to heal, Reid was glad to see him standing up for himself and voicing his opinions.
Reid was not impressed that Walt had chosen to prioritize his ability to throw rocks over his ability to think clearly, but... he couldn't argue the results. Reid had killed another 15 of the lizards, and his XP was getting some notable gains. The progress was showing in the quest's sub-objectives, too.
Quest Sub-Objectives:
* Prevent Losses: 10
* Defeat the Crimson Titan: ( 0 / 1 )
* Defeat the Crimson Titan's Guardians: ( 1 / 3 )
* Defeat the Crimson Titan's Elites: ( 1 / 10 )
* Defeat the Crimson Titan's Minions: ( 172 / 2,106 )
* (Optional) Sue for peace.
* (Optional) Negotiate with the enemy.
Experience: 84,119 -> 91,069 / 102,400
Things that were not going great included the truck that was now non-operational because Requiem had snapped its driveshaft in half, that they were getting very low on long gun ammunition, and that the salamanders kept changing their tactics - and taking lives.
After the single combat adventure, the attacking beasts had advanced in a single large group. They came within range, but didn't try to attack the wall directly once Reid was over it. Then, they'd done the same thing while including higher leveled versions. They split into two groups and rushed at opposite sides of the wall forces, then split off further until they were in groups of twenty or so. They had stuck with that formation, and were getting closer to the wall defenders with each rush forward.
The lethal development was an odd one. Possibly trying to emulate Reid's thrown rocks and grenades, or trying to mimic what Reid had done to get back on the wall, the level tens had thrown their smaller compatriots up at the wall's defenders. Some slammed low into the wood and died when the impact crushed their skulls. A few flew high overhead, and defenders had to move attention inside Sanctuary to kill the beasts. Three had 'landed' properly in the defensive squads - and savaged the groups before they were put down.
It was Sanctuary's first deaths in the conflict, and they came at the hands of some of the weakest enemies. All of those deaths had been on the left side of the defenders. Squad 3 lost an archer, warrior, and their magic caster. Squad 4 lost their officer and two archers. Squad 6 was down four warriors. Another handful of fighters were getting treated by non-magical medical staff and were out of the fight from their injuries. It frustrated Reid - but the defenders hadn't been ready for or expecting salamanders to suddenly be in their midst.
Surprisingly, the salamanders didn't continue with that tactic, and instead pulled back.
The enemy group seemed to be testing out different strategies they could use to harass the wall defenders and do damage. What Reid didn't understand was why they hadn't simply sent a larger force directly to the wall itself. He looked out at the two remaining guardians and the Crimson Titan. Their eyes scanned over the battlefield, but always returned to Reid.
Reid had theories. His performance against the elite and the guardian made them all more wary of Reid and Sanctuary's defenders than they rightly should be. Defeating them in single combat made the leaders want to see if there were other, ranged attacks strong enough to kill the more powerful creatures. They were trying to draw out some reserved defensive skill that would be single-use like the Titan's roar, or the elites and guardians were just testing things and didn't care if the smaller creatures were killed.
He shuddered at that one. Maybe they just didn't care if they ended up losing those forces, because the weaker creatures were considered expendable. Expendable, but still capable of tearing apart Sanctuary's defenders. A final salamander was thrown at the wall on his right, and slammed into the side. Its skull compacted and crushed down into its neck, and it fell to the ground dead.
The archers there were splattered with a bit of brain matter, but seemed okay. Everyone was either very quickly getting used to gore, or would be soon.
They were also starting to get mentally fatigued from the repeated engagements.
The flow shifted on the field. A group of 5 large and 12 small salamanders rushed forward as a unit. The small salamanders ran in front of the level 10s in a horseshoe shape, and their larger compatriots seemed to try to duck to avoid ranged blows. When they got to the wall, the beasts started to climb. Their crystalline claws bit deep into the wood and splinters flew as they propelled themselves up the battlement. Reid was once again thankful that Mark had been so diligent about improving their defenses and raising the height of the walls. They weren't high enough to properly stop a guardian or the Titan itself, but they forced almost everything else to slow down and climb.
Squads 14 and 15 compressed in on the beasts. Their 8 archers and 3 magic users leaned over the side and sent as many attacks into the climbers as they could manage. Three of the smaller salamanders fell to the ground. The rest kept advancing and made it to the top. The ranged attackers retreated, and the squads' 7 warriors took over and stepped in to take any melee blows. Or, that was what they tried to do. The first salamander over the wall took one of the magic users in the back with a rising strike. Claws raked through ribs and tore flesh out of the man's back as he shouted and stumbled forward. He tumbled off the rear side of the wall and landed head-first in the dirt. Reid saw the defender's casualty count increase as his neck snapped on impact. Reid winced. If the man had put any of his free points into constitution, he probably would have lived.
The commotion made enough space for two more salamanders to summit the wall. A trio of warriors smashed through the first salamander's skull, and the other four split into pairs that engaged the two other salamanders up with them. The remaining magic users and archers repositioned and leaned further out over the wall with renewed vigor to shoot the still-climbing attackers. Four more small salamanders fell off the wall dead, which left the pair of squads with five small variants and five of the eight-footers.
Another small salamander summited the wall and was dispatched. A level 11 was shot through the eye by a lucky arrow and fell to the ground.
And then one of the big ones got over.
Reid had imagined the larger salamanders fighting Sanctuary's defenders up close. He'd pictured them swarming through the walls and overwhelming the residents. But somewhere in his time fighting ever-tougher monsters, Reid had lost his framing on just how dangerous and deadly even a single level 10 could be to a normal person.
Claws flashed out from the larger beast - with more range than the previous ones had. It sliced through one of the warriors at the shoulder and flung the man's top half into a woman by his side. The beast turned its head to the right and bit out at Squad 15's officer. Hooked teeth punctured his chest, and the salamander lifted him into the air. It shook him like a chew toy, and the man's body pulled itself apart at the puncture wounds.
Warriors screamed and hacked at the salamander's limbs. They managed to sever its left arm, but it swung out with its right and split a warrior's skull at the ear. The salamander then spun and brought its tail to bear. The impact sent a warrior and an archer tumbling over the wrong side of the wall. A high leveled salamander still on the ground quickly ended their screams.
Reid was partway to the group to reinforce it, but a familiar figure got there first. Warren, the ever-gruff bartender, ducked under a swiping claw and slammed a bone-tipped spear up into the beast's lower jaw so hard, it came clean out the other side. He spun his body and let the fresh corpse fall over the inside wall, then took two steps over to the outer lip and thrust down hard. Another level ten that had been scaling the wall face dropped dead, a hole in the side of its head just above the eye.
Reid stood, mouth agog, as the old man cleaned up the rest of the attacking group.
Reid knew some people at Sanctuary could gain experience and level themselves up by using skills alone. Mark was a great example - the more high quality wood supplies he produced, the faster his experience would grow. Reid hadn't seen Warren fight anything, so his strength - and the levels that must have fed it - needed to come from somewhere. The puzzle pieces fell into place. Warren's bar never ran out of alcohol, no matter what Sanctuary's supplies were like. Even between the scavenger runs that brought back beer and spirits, there was never a dry day. As the man walked back towards Reid to re-take his spot with his own squad, he took an impossibly-long swig from a very small flask.
That sonnovabitch. His skill makes alcohol.
Reid gave the man an appreciative thumbs-up for clearing out the group, and jogged back to his place above the gate.
Some of the reserve troops passed him with sheets, and Reid gave them a curt nod. They'd wrap the defender's bodies, and get them down off the wall itself. Any dead salamanders would just get kicked over the side. They'd lost another seven people in that attack, and it was just from a small group of beasts. A group they'd been able to reinforce against with multiple squads and a backup member from an entirely different area. Reid's expectations for the battle sunk lower.
Another mixed group of single-digit-level and level 10 salamanders had started to approach the left side. Reid grabbed a softball sized rock and sent it hurtling through the head of one of the level 10s. He watched Marysa send a bodkin point through another. One was shot through the eye by a long gun. Even without his help, it was obvious the left side of their forces had better ranged fighters than the right, and the right side had slightly better melee fighters than the left. A solid wood spear slammed into a salamander's foot and held it in place. Magic users and archers all around poured the fire on. By the time the group reached the wall, only one large and two small salamanders were left. Mark's thrown spears and Marysa's archery at that distance put the rest down.
The Crimson Titan vocalized with a series of screeches that called the groups back into the main force. Every salamander attacking the walls broke off and returned to the mass of enemies.
Reid took the opportunity to make another few clusters of arrowheads. Even amidst the fighting, he'd tried to keep the other defenders supplied. Bodkin points popped out of the knuckles on his left hand, and he watched the enemy move. None of the salamanders turned around or assembled into the units they'd been facing so far. Reid looked down and swore. He'd pumped out more arrowheads from his left hand, but had also gone through the motions with his right. Instead of making arrows, he'd grown 4 spikes out of the knuckles on his right gauntlet. He waved for a runner to take the arrowheads to Mark. He could fix his armor later.
The group started to shift and reconfigure itself. Two elites and a large contingent of the 10s and small salamanders surrounded the guardians and the Crimson Titan. The other seven elites fanned out in a semicircle. Twenty of the level 10s wrapped each elite in a similar horseshoe shape, and another 65 low-levels moved to the front of each formation.
They spread roughly equidistant from each other. The elites lowered their heads to hide behind the level 10s.
A guardian screeched, and 602 salamanders advanced on Sanctuary's wall.
