Miles fell in line behind her carrying the disco ball. “Where are we going?”
“Outside the village to prepare while we party, silly,” she replied with a toss of her ponytail. “I can rally troops like the best of them. I have everyone behind you now.”
Miles turned to see that, in fact, all of the villagers and Owen and Asher were actually following them out of the village and into the nearby forest. Each person was carrying something from the party as they danced. “Nice work, Bunny!” Miles said appreciatively. They could party and plan at the same time.
Once they were in the clearing, Owen searched the skies for the probe. He spotted it hovering over Cedric the wizard’s green hut at the edge of the village. The light was still green, but the probe didn’t show any signs of giving up the search. He reported back to Miles.
“Great,” Miles said. “The last thing we need is to prepare for an invasion only to have the probe get impatient and leave before we get to do any fighting!” He decided they had some time to spare so he could give everyone time to enjoy themselves before he started shouting out orders.
The group was chatting excitedly and enjoying the new party venue. Sarah the stylist helped Bunny string the lights around the clearing while Isabella the dryad threw a wall of protective vines around them for good measure and to add some pretty decoration to the party. Miles didn’t join in the fun. He decided instead to run through the last battle in his mind, thinking of ways to stop the aliens and counter the attacks.
From what he remembered, there were several types of aliens attacking all at once. The saucer shot out a steady stream of lasers, but the lasers couldn’t get through walls. The walker was like a walking version of the saucer, only smaller. The turret would electrify anyone in the area, so all turrets needed to be taken out as soon as the engineer placed them. He’d probably need a dedicated turret gunner. The drone seemed like an annoying bug that would explode like a bomb given the opportunity, but he wasn’t sure yet how it would behave in a fight. The rest of the enemies were Martians, and they had different jobs and levels of protection. Their danger seemed to be in their numbers, not necessarily their strength.
Miles calculated they’d need a roof overhead, a gunner for the turret, traps for the Martians and lots of weapons on hand to keep them safe.
Confident he had a good read of the situation, he scanned the party space for his companions. Asher was being lifted on a chair in the center of the dance floor by Isaac and Autumn as the rest of the group crowded around and cheered. Who knew Asher would be such a major party animal?! Cedric the wizard was happily shooting off colorful fireworks inside the vine canopy. Miles found Owen at the edge of the clearing, searching the skies for the probe. “How’s it looking?” Miles asked, joining him at the lookout point.
“Still hovering. Still green,” Owen reported. “This thing’s patient, but it has picked up speed and it seems to be getting a little bolder, going lower in the sky to make sure we’re not hiding somewhere.”
Miles nodded. “Okay. Sounds like we don’t have much time before it spots us out here, especially with Cedric’s fireworks going off inside the canopy.” As soon as he spoke, a burst of blue and purple sparks erupted from Cedric’s arsenal. It was met by ooh’s and aah’s from the crowd. “Here’s what I’ve figured so far.” Miles recapped his thoughts to Owen about the battle and they began outlining a plan.
Soon, Asher spotted them in the corner and came over. He was wearing a party hat and his clothes were covered in confetti. “What’s up, party poopers?” he asked, draping an arm around each of his friends’ shoulders. “Having fun being boring?”
Miles smiled and gently shrugged off Asher’s arm. “Glad you’re having a good time, but unfortunately, the party’s about to be over.”
Asher removed his party hat and shook off the confetti. He was suddenly all business. “Okay. What have you got so far?”
Miles and Owen outlined the plan they were beginning to put together. It was a solid plan of defense, Asher had to agree, but it didn’t have any of the attack skills that Owen had suggested, and there was no opportunity to farm aliens and rack up their drops. “You’ve gotten good at defending yourself, Miles. You’re becoming a great villager. But you have to remember how to think like a warrior again,” Asher reminded him gently. “Look, old pal, we can avoid the battle entirely if you want. We can wait long enough and the probe will go off on its merry way and leave us alone for good if that’s what you want.” Asher looked Miles in the eye. “Is that what you want? Because you need to make a choice, and you need to make it right now.”
Chapter 13:
MARTIAN MADNESS
Miles didn’t need to think it over. He knew Asher was right. He had to get his head back in the game. He wasn’t about to give up a fight before it even began. “Did either of you bring a workbench?” he asked. “I have a candle and some water. All we need is your crystal ball and we have ourselves a water candle.”
“Yes!” Asher replied, hugging Miles. “Miles the warrior is back!”
Owen reached into his inventory and pulled out a workbench. “Now we have what we need. Let’s craft that mob-farming alien magnet of a water candle!”
The three friends crafted other items and pulled their friends in one at a time to purchase supplies for the fight. They didn’t stop the party until the last possible moment. When everyone was fed and rested and the party space had been cleaned up, they were ready for the fight. The mood had grown quiet and expectant. A big change from the festive atmosphere of the party just minutes earlier. “Everyone know what they have to do?” Miles asked. The group murmured in agreement. They each checked their supplies, fixed their armor and lined up to head back to the village. “Remember, as soon as the probe sees us, the attack will begin.”
Miles led the march into battle, holding his Crystal Storm rod more for visual effect than military effectiveness. A confusion debuff wouldn’t cause much damage—it would just buy them time—but it looked good to lead the charge with such an imposing magical weapon.
As soon as they entered the village clearing, the probe spotted them. It turned red. “This is your last chance to get out of this,” Asher whispered to Miles. “Let it escape and it’s all over.”
“Not a chance,” Miles replied, his jaw set tight in resolve. He holstered the Crystal Storm and pulled out the Nettle Burst, obliterating the Martian probe with one shot.
A status message appeared once again: “Martians are invading!”
The villagers quickly sprang into action. Autumn the mechanic and Isaac the tinkerer dug a trench and filled it with lava. They built an altar for the water candle just beyond the pit. Meanwhile, Carlo the painter, Sarah the stylist, Roland the tailor and Bunny the party girl built a tall and very stylish platform with a wide roof. Carlo and Roland almost got into a fistfight over whether the stairs should be cobalt blue or sky blue, but fortunately Sarah stepped in and got them to compromise with alternating stripes of each color.
Katie set up an infirmary at the clearing and asked Danny to help her harvest as much honey as he could to have on hand for healing during the battle.
As the teams worked to build their battle arena, John the merchant and Jack the demolitionist joined Asher and Owen on the roof of Jack’s house to defend against the first wave of attacks. Miles walked among the groups, checking on supplies and helping out where he could. He had his repeater ready for the first sign of a walking enemy as they prepared, knowing that the attack could begin at any time.
Just as the team was completing the roof of the structure and everyone was getting into position, the Martian saucer appeared, raining down lasers on the village. Cedric panicked and summoned a vase of flowers instead of his flower of fire. Fortunately, Isabella was nearby and threw up a protective wall around him as he sorted himself out. “Thank you, Carmella,” the wizard said gratefully to the dryad. She smiled at the unusual name he gave her. As she fixed her gaze on the sky, she wondered absently i
f Cedric mixed up everyone’s names on purpose. But then she looked down at the poor wizard trying to herd a family of bunnies back into his hat and realized the poor man wasn’t nearly that calculating.
Fortunately, Isaac and Autumn were more prepared than the wizard. At the first sign of alien invaders on the ground, Isaac threw a spiky ball at the oncoming trio. The ball bounced three times, taking out all of the aliens in one shot. Meanwhile, at his side, Autumn tossed her wrench at an oncoming walker, taking out one of its three legs. The walker tottered forward as the wrench returned to Autumn’s hand and she threw it again, taking out the alien’s second leg. Autumn realized too late she had miscalculated her attack. The alien fell forward like a tree being chopped down, and it was falling toward Autumn. Isaac rushed over at the last minute and pushed Autumn out of the way of the falling walker. He threw a spiky ball at the alien’s head, obliterating it. Autumn sat stunned, realizing Isaac had saved her from certain death. “Thank you,” she said breathlessly. “You saved my life.”
The goblin’s green face turned bright pink with embarrassment. “Think nothing of it. These aliens are a lot harder to defeat than evil goblins. Are you hurt?” he added with concern.
Autumn hid the large scrape on her arm and shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks! Let’s get these guys!”
Isaac and Autumn battled the ground crew side by side. Miles came by to check on them. “Need any help?” They said they did not. The alien numbers felt manageable, and the two decided they didn’t want to take valuable resources from the rest of the fight.
From Asher’s position on the roof, he looked down over the lava pit. “Hey, the pit’s not working. We were supposed to be farming aliens down there.” He looked more closely and realized he had forgotten to activate the water candle. Asher made his way down the blue striped steps without noticing how lovingly and beautifully they had been crafted and set the candle on the altar. “Now we’ll see some serious action!” He said out loud to no one. Almost instantly, the spawn rate of ground aliens increased. The aliens marched toward the candle, some with protective bubbles on their heads, others in different colored uniforms. They flocked to the candle like moths to a porch light, not noticing the pit of doom that lay between themselves and the candle. They fell one by one into the lava bucket, dropping their precious gold and armor into the pit below as Asher laughed and clapped his hands. “It’s working!” he called to Miles and Owen. “We’ve got ourselves a real alien farm!”
Miles gave him a thumbs up and Owen murmured his approval from where he was stationed in the middle of the structure. His attention almost entirely focused on taking out gigazapper aliens, Martian engineers and the Tesla Turrets before they could inflict any damage on his friends.
The battle raged on, with the Martian saucer spewing out lasers, occasionally searing clothing and once even lighting poor Carlo’s hair on fire. Sarah quickly put out the fire and promised him a fabulous haircut when the war was over. Carlo spent the rest of the battle locked in his house wailing loudly about his lovely locks. With him out of commission, Roland grew more comfortable. He whipped out his book of skulls and fired shadowflame at any passing alien on land or in the air. Bunny was impressed with his skills and did her best to support his efforts with encouragement and the occasional confetti burst when he landed a particularly good shot.
Miles turned his focus to a nearby Scutlix and its rider. Asher joined him by his side. “Don’t worry about saving the Scutlix this time. Let’s just take these guys out and finish them off.” Miles nodded in agreement and fired his repeater at the pair. Asher hit the Scutlix as Miles hit the rider. They high-fived happily. Just then, a laser shot between them, knocking them both back. They were both hurt. Katie the nurse and Danny the angler rushed over to help. “You’re supposed to save your celebration until the end, you know,” Danny scolded them.
“Reckless behavior,” Katie shook her head at them as she bathed their wounds with honey. “Would have expected more from you two.” She turned her attention to the burn in Miles’s side and began dabbing at it angrily with a gauze pad. “Watch what you’re doing. That’s what I say.”
“Ouch!” Miles winced in pain. “You’re not being very gentle,” he said accusingly.
“You’re not being very careful,” the nurse shot back. She placed a bandage on the wound. “There. That should hold you. Now stay out of trouble, you two,” she cautioned them.
They thanked her and headed back into the battlefield where they met up with Isaac, Autumn, Hope, John, and Jack. They were all showing signs of exhaustion and none of them had escaped without any injuries. Miles’s brow furrowed with concern. He, Asher, and Owen had a lot to gain from this battle, but the rest of them were just there to support them. He felt badly for roping them into such a difficult and dangerous situation. “Are you guys okay?”
“We’re doing great,” Autumn reassured him. “Don’t worry about us. We’re here to support you, no matter what.”
Isaac agreed. “We’ve got the ground assault. You take care of what you need to do.” Isaac gave Miles a gentle shove toward his position in the structure. “We’re at our assigned posts, now you run along to yours and leave us to do our jobs.”
Miles nodded and headed back to the safety of the structure. Had he done a terrible thing placing his friends out in the open in harm’s way while he was safe indoors shooting through barriers at the ship? It may have been a good tactical move but it still wasn’t fair, Miles thought. “What have I done?” he asked himself softly.
Sarah the stylist appeared at his side. “What have you done? Anything I can fix with my trusty stylish scissors?” she asked cheerfully.
“I’m afraid not,” Miles replied. “I’m just feeling like all this trouble is my doing. I brought this on.”
“Yeah, you did,” she replied plainly. “And you’d do it again too.”
Miles looked at her in surprise. “That’s not very nice. You’re supposed to make me feel better, not worse.”
“I’m your friend. That means I’m supposed to tell you the truth. And the truth is this is all your doing, but it’s also your job. Just as my job is making everyone look fabulous and Hope’s job is to make those cool contraptions and Isaac’s job is to tinker or something,” she said gently. “Your job is to build us homes, protect us, and provide for us, isn’t it?” Miles nodded. “Well, then,” she continued, “taking us into a battle where we have a lot to gain is a good way to provide for us. So go out there and finish the job so we can reap the rewards!”
Miles smiled weakly. He knew she was right, though he didn’t want to admit it. She’d never let him live it down if he did. “Fine. I started this, I’ll finish it.”
“Good,” Sarah said. “But do it quickly. Everyone’s looking a little tired. I don’t know how much longer they can take it.”
Miles looked out over his trusted crew. They were each engaged in a struggle and though the alien crowds were thinning and it looked like they might even come out of this with a win, time was running out. Miles just hoped he could pull off this battle without losing anyone in the process. He thanked Sarah, then made his way to the structure to see about taking out that spaceship.
Chapter 14:
ESCAPE FROM THE EXTRATERRESTRIALS
Miles positioned himself inside the structure, concentrating his energy on the Martian saucer. He fired his Nettle Burst through the walls as quickly as he could, knowing that taking out the saucer would reduce much of the damage his team was taking on. Suddenly, a Martian rider on a Scutlix rushed in alongside a Martian officer wearing a protective shield and a ray gunner. They seemed to have coordinated their efforts with this new attack and were focusing on taking out the structure. Pieces of the walls and ceiling were already crumbling. Miles knew his time was limited and he redoubled his efforts to take out the saucer. He wasn’t sure he could take it out before the aliens destroyed the structure entirely.
Just then, Cedric wandered over with his flower of fire.
“Hello. Anything I can do to help, Javier?”
Miles stifled a laugh. Even in the midst of a deadly battle, the wizard’s mistakes were still funny. “How’s that weapon working?”
Cedric looked at his hands as if he was surprised to find it there. “Oh, good. Good. Let me see if it works.” He pointed the flower of fire up at the sky without even looking and pulled the trigger. A line of fire shot through a hole in the roof and came into contact with the saucer. It was a direct hit! The saucer burst into flame and fell out of the sky. The rain of lasers stopped. “Looks like it works just fine, eh?” Cedric grinned and walked off. “Now to see about those rabbits. I wonder where they went off to.” Miles was certain he heard the wizard mumbling as he made his way through the alien attack to his house.
With the ship gone, the team was able to focus on the alien attack and come out from under cover. Jack the demolitionist ran into a herd of plain gray aliens and threw grenades right and left to take them out. “Boo yah! Take that, little gray men!” he shouted happily.
The rest of his friends began fighting with a renewed sense of spirit and purpose as well. Wrenches, fireballs, spiked balls, ranged weapons, and even Katie the nurse’s poisoned knife flew at the alien enemies, dealing damage right and left. The pit around the lava bucket was filled with loot and the few remaining straggling aliens that wandered over to the water candle fell in with a plop and a hiss.
Then, just as suddenly as the battle began, it grew quiet. Everyone looked around, weapons ready to strike, but the aliens were gone.
They all let out a cheer! “Victory!” Asher shouted, grabbing Owen and Miles around the shoulders and jumping up and down.
Martian Invasion Page 6
