Helga, having managed to avoid a shifting paw and stay on her feet, shouted at Alexander, “Lift me up! Get me on its back!”
Alexander obligingly cast Levitate on her, raising her up twenty feet in seconds. Then with a twitch of his hand, he sent her flying leftward over top of the sentinel’s back. When he thought she was positioned to miss the spikes along its spine, he let her down as gently as he could. Which, as limited as his experience with the spell was so far, wasn’t all that gentle.
The monster didn’t register the weight of the angry barbarian on its back as it continued to thrash and paw at the flames on its face. To add to the distraction, Del and three of the dragons began casting blue magic missiles into its face, attempting to blind it. The other dragons had taken up healing to assist Sasha and the others in counteracting the massive damage that the hound was inflicting.
Wayne and the other two tanks who’d been crushed were recovering their feet and moving toward the line when the tail whipped around and smashed into their backs. The three of them flew forward over the line of tanks and skidded into the healers and casters. Sasha was knocked flat, her leg split open by the edge of Wayne’s shield.
After casting a heal on herself through gritted teeth, she tried casting Thorn Trap on the dog. Huge, thorn-covered vines shot up through cracks in the stone. They wrapped themselves around the sentinel’s legs, the thorns piercing its flesh and muscle to dig in and grip the limbs. The dog stopped spinning, the resistance holding it still for a moment. But a lunge toward its enemies snapped most of the vines. Still, the melee moved back in and resumed stabbing and slashing at the legs.
Helga, who had been gripping the tough hairs of the dog’s back with both fists, trying to hold on as it spun, took advantage of the relative stillness. Drawing her sword, she activated her Berserker skill. Running up its back just to the left of its spine, she reached its neck and drove her enchanted sword downward into the flesh.
The sentinel let out a howl that caused nearly everyone in the raid to drop their weapons and clutch at their ears. All except Helga, who was immune due to the buff she received from her weapon. She planted a foot on either side of the sword and jerked the weapon free, levering it back and forth as she did so to open the wound and do as much damage as possible. As soon as the sword was clear, she stepped forward and slammed it in again, this time angling it toward the monster’s spine. She could feel the tip of the weapon grind against its vertebrae. But it didn’t penetrate.
Worse, the attack caused the dog to roll over in an attempt to dislodge her from its back. The melee, who were grouped at its left feet, had no warning. Some were alert and fast enough to dodge forward under its belly, the rolling hound passing harmlessly over them. But the majority were caught beneath its body as it slammed to the floor and rolled.
Sasha shouted and cast an AOE heal as Martin and the others did the best they could. One of Pollock’s guys perished under the crushing weight along with two other players, three orcs, and a minotaur. Helga was able to throw herself from the sentinel’s back, taking her sword with her and widening the wound she’d made as she dragged the weapon free.
Sasha cursed loudly at the loss of more citizens. She watched as their health bars dropped to zero, then back up to just a sliver. But as the sentinel rolled, it had the same effect as a DoT, causing additional damage that finished them off. The large number of party members trapped under the monster meant that the aoe heals were spread thin, and not strong enough to save everyone. She gritted her teeth and cast as quickly as she could to heal those who had survived the attack.
Alexander had gotten an agreement from Fitz and the dragons that they’d stay out of the fight until it was absolutely necessary for them to step in. Mostly because it somehow seemed worse to him for an eternal and noble creature like a dragon to perish than for an orc or minotaur. And the gamer side of him didn’t want them to disturb the XP distribution algorithms.
But they were losing people too quickly and this mini-boss sentinel was still over half health. With a nod toward Del, the dragons entered the fight. Almost in unison, they each held up a hand and sent a sustained ray of blue light streaming into the beast. Its fur and skin smoked and crackled where the light moved across it. It howled again, a simple howl of pain this time, rather than the previous stun spell.
The mostly-healed melee fighters jumped back into the fray, more wary now of the sentinel’s movements. The casters, who had never stopped attacking, redoubled their efforts, draining their mana at an alarming rate. Several already had mana potions in hand ready to reload. Fibble, who had fallen to the floor screaming, his sensitive ears bleeding from the sentinel’s aoe attack, got back to his feet. He deafly shouted, “PEW! PEW!” much louder than normal as he shot heals at the melee fighters. Alexander couldn’t help but smile when the little goblin finally realized he needed a heal for his hearing and shot himself in the face.
With the channeled attacks from the dragons added to the group’s DPS, the sentinel’s health dropped rapidly.
Purebred Sentinel
Level 120
Health: 58,400/110,000
Sasha shouted in raid chat, “Fifty percent! Back off and be ready!”
The melee raiders ceased what they were doing and fled from the beast as its health dropped down to the halfway point. They stopped about twenty feet away and turned with weapons ready. There was no cover to hide behind, so they were going to have to try to dodge whatever attack came their way. Several of the players, expecting another stun howl, covered their ears.
When the sentinel’s health dropped to the fifty percent mark, it froze. The casters and ranged DPS continued to blast away as the thing’s hindquarters began to lower as if it were going to sit. A moment later, it froze again and a steaming pile of excrement dropped to the floor. A stench filled the chamber as the pile grew to over six feet in height. The odor was a mixture of what Alexander imagined toxic waste would smell like, combined with rotting meat, intestinal gas, and death.
“Aagh! Durin’s hairy bunghole, that stinks!” Brick groaned as he fell backward several steps, trying to use his shield hand to cover his nose. Instantly, the closest raid members were overwhelmed with the toxic fumes. Their eyes watered and several vomited up their stomach contents. The minotaurs, with more sensitive noses, were forced back, half blinded and unable to withstand the olfactory assault.
The sentinel took immediate advantage of the temporary incapacitation of the melee group and lunged their direction. Its jaws snapped down on Pollock, quickly severing his torso from his legs. Several others were bowled over and took impact damage as the sentinel savagely shook its head left and right. Blood and internal organs sprayed the area, causing a few more players to vomit. Even the casters, far removed from the shit pile, were having trouble casting spells that required them to speak, preferring to hold their breath.
Fitz cast Wizard’s Fire on the pile of shit, instantly creating a column of smoke just as toxic as the original odor. He immediately followed up with a wind spell that pushed the smoke away from the group.
As everyone began to recover, they resumed their attacks. Lugs and the tanks began to shout and cast taunts as they crouched behind their shields, which were raised overhead to protect them from the sentinel’s acidic saliva.
The sentinel moved back to its original position, right next to the burning pile of shit, driven by some game mechanic meant to inflict more misery on melee players. This forced the tanks to follow in order to keep aggro. Each of them held their breath as long as they could, but it wasn’t long before they had to suck in more air.
After an experimental breath, Brick called out, “Fitz, ye bloody genius! Ye cleared most o’ the stench fer us!” He hit the dog with a Holy Smite and pounded his shield. “C’mon, ye big shitmonster!”
Hearing this, the melee DPS charged back in. The minotaurs were especially motivated, angry bulls wanting revenge for the assault on their senses. Huge axes cleaved recklessly into the feet a
nd legs of the sentinel. Molgo managed to sever a claw and a chunk of toe with one mighty swing.
Max got a critical hit with one of his Multi-Shots, the single arrow bursting into five arrows right in front of the hound’s left eye. The arrows blasted into the eye in unison, pulping the orb and blinding the eye. It shook its head as it whined in pain, sitting down and using a forepaw to try to remove the shafts. But it quickly shot back up, having sat upon its own pile of flaming shit. The Wizard’s Fire spread to the hair and skin around its ass, causing even more pain. The massive beast tucked its tail between its legs and fled.
Lugs and the tanks were knocked down as the mini-boss rushed through them, fleeing the flames on its ass and tail. The ranged and casters scattered and fled as it blindly bounded in their direction. Between the flames on its face and its blinded left eye, the sentinel’s sight was extremely limited. It crashed head-first into a wall behind the spot where Sasha and the healers had been standing.
Momentarily stunned, the hound wobbled on its feet. The casters and archers, now scattered on both sides of the beast, resumed their attacks even as they backed away. Fibble shot the thing in its face a few times, fearlessly standing his ground. The dragons continued their channeled attacks as its legs gave out and the creature leaned against the wall. With a shout from Del, they all focused their streams on the underside of its belly. Like a laser scalpel, the concentrated beam cut deeply into the skin, opening a widening cut from which intestines and internal organs began to drop.
The entire raid was struck again by the stench and fled. Only the dragons managed to keep up their attack for several more seconds. By the time they quit and retreated, a ten-foot long gash in the sentinel’s belly poured out blood and bile onto the floor. It whined again and Sasha almost felt pity for it. The thing had to be in immense pain.
Its legs buckling completely, the hound slid to the floor with its back against the wall. It lay there, legs twitching as it tried to rise, its strength gone. Sasha quickly cast Trap Soul on it.
Purebred Sentinel
Level 120
Health: 19,100/110,000
“Finish it!” Sasha shouted at the group. She wanted this miserable fight over, and for the dog’s pain to end. This was more intense than any fight she’d experienced, and not in a good way. She stopped healing, as none of her party were taking any damage just then, and cast her own meager damage spells on the mini-boss.
The melee were unwilling to approach. Even the tanks stayed back, the monster clearly not going anywhere. Orcs and minotaurs began throwing their weapons at the thing, trying to do what little ranged damage they could. Lugs pulled one of the seven-foot spears from his bag and dropped his shield. He raised the spear above his shoulder and trotted forward like an Olympic javelin thrower. When he’d built some momentum, he hurled the spear. It flew fast and straight to penetrate the dog’s neck and drive up into its skull.
The sentinel’s legs twitched again briefly, then went still. Its health bar dropped to zero and everyone but the dragons leveled up.
Level up! You are now level 74!
Your Wisdom has increased by +1
Your Intelligence has increased by +1
You have 8 free attribute points available
Max took a deep breath before dashing forward to loot the corpse. He laid a hand on it, took everything without looking, then turned and sprinted away. The rest of the group retreated back to the stairwell entry, where the game mechanics had left the air clear. They sat and recovered as they waited for the corpse and the burning dung pile to disappear.
As they rested, Pollock’s voice came across raid chat. “Hey guys! Respawned back here at the spot we teleported into. The others are here, too. They tried to get back to the group, but the doors are sealed. So we’re just kind of sitting here twiddlin’ our thumbs…”
Alexander laughed. They had assumed any of the dead players would respawn back at the keep. “Hold on, I’ll come get you. Clear some space around the entry point.”
He waited several seconds, then closed his eyes and focused on his memory of the room they had stepped into when they entered the portal. He pictured the center of the room and activated Teleport.
There was a golf clap from the respawned players when he appeared. Pollock grinned at him. “Glad you could come fetch us. As nasty as that was, I’d rather be in the fight than just sitting here.”
Alexander looked around. “Did you guys get XP from that mini-boss?”
“Yup!” Pollock looked pleased with himself. “Seems as long as we’re in the raid and physically still on this side of the portal, we get to share in the XP. These fellas…” he jerked at thumb at the first two players to have died, “tried to get back but couldn’t get past the doors. So they came back here for a nap, content to let the XP pile up.”
Alexander chuckled at the guilty looks on the player’s faces. “Don’t sweat it. I’d have done the same thing. Not your fault we sealed the path behind us. Can I assume everybody’s up for jumping back in? This is looking like it’s gonna be a long day.”
They all answered in the affirmative. Alexander had them gather close and teleported them to the chamber where they’d just fought the sentinel. Immediately, all but Alexander began to cough and gag at the stench, which still hadn’t faded. One of the players who’d died first asked, “What the hell did you guys do? That’s just rank!”
Grinning at them, Alexander simply turned and walked back into the stairwell to join the others. The respawned players quickly followed. Brick caught sight of Pollock and laughed. “So… what were the view like inside tha’ beastie? Did ye see its tonsils?”
Chapter 15
Orcs, Hobgoblins, and Drow, Oh My!
Richard sat in his office, watching a feed on his holo. Michael sat next to him, along with Talbott the security chief. The FBI had come to claim Jenni and she seemed to be cooperating completely. They were watching the interrogation live as it was happening in a room down below.
“Where exactly is the cache of explosives?” the agent asked. The two of them were seated across a conference table from each other. They were alone in the room, but two armed guards stood just outside. There was a half-full glass of water in front of Jenni, which she paused to drink from before answering.
“Northeast side of the lake. About fifty yards beyond the tree line. There’s an old oak with a triple-forked trunk. Knot on the trunk just below the split looks like a face. The stuff is buried in a plastic box between the two biggest roots.”
The agent looked significantly at the camera and Richard knew that a team had just been dispatched to retrieve the explosives.
“What about inside the buildings? Have you planted any explosives anywhere? Like the bomb that went off in the pod?”
Jenni shook her head. “Not that I know of…”
The agent slammed his fist down on the table, causing the water in the glass to ripple. “Don’t bullshit me! You’ve had weeks to plant more bombs! Tell me where they are!”
Jenni glared at him. “Stop yelling at me! I didn’t plant any more. I was about to… but you found me. I just don’t know if Matt planted any more before he left. He didn’t tell me he did…” Her voice turned bitter. “But clearly he didn’t tell me lots of things.”
“Yeah, so you say.” The agent smirked at her. “Just poor, innocent Jenni, duped by the mastermind, right? Except this kid’s no mastermind. His father is the smart one. Matt was barely smart enough to get into college. You expect me to believe he outwitted a smart girl like yourself?”
Jenni sniffed. “He didn’t outwit me, asshole. There wasn’t a contest. He just fooled me. He was cute. Charming. And when he told me about his mom, I felt sorry for him…”
The agent cut her off. “Don’t really care how he got into your pants. Where is he now?”
“I don’t know! How many times do I have to say it? We’ve been here for hours. I need to pee. I’m hungry. I’m scared. And no matter how many times you ask me, I can’t
tell you what I don’t know!” she screamed across the table at him.
Richard turned off the feed. He looked at the ceiling. “Heimdall, please ask the kitchen to prepare some sandwiches and send them down to the interrogation room. Tell them to leave them with the guards.”
“Of course, sir,” Heimdall replied as Talbott spoke softly into a microphone on his throat. He was informing the agent in the room that food would be available shortly if he chose to change gears and play nice. A slight nod of his head told Richard that the message had been understood.
Michael leaned back on the sofa, letting out a long breath. “So. We’ll have the hidden explosives in a few minutes. Assuming she’s telling the truth and that’s all there are. She claims there isn’t another mole, at least not that she knows of. I think I believe her there.” He looked at Richard and Talbott, both of whom nodded in agreement.
Talbott added, “She said he was outside the walls before the last bomb went off. He knew we’d go into lockdown. So that’s one mystery solved. It was really pissing me off, not knowing how he got past our guys.”
Richard gave him a sidelong glance. “You still don’t know how he got out. There’s no video of him going out through the gate. So he had to have gone over the wall somewhere. And gotten past all the men and sensors in the woods.”
Talbott inhaled sharply. He didn’t enjoy being reminded of his failure. “Our best guess is that he stowed away in the back of a vehicle that was exiting. Before the second bomb, we were only searching incoming vehicles and personnel. We had no real suspicion of any ‘inside man’ at that point. As soon as Dayle’s pod exploded, we went into full lockdown and searched everything going both ways every time. Half a dozen delivery trucks and eighteen personal vehicles left the compound in the hour before that bomb went off. But again, that’s just our current theory. We just don’t know for certain.”
World At War Page 30
