“So you just thought you’d help yourselves.” Logan spat on the ground, his grip on his rifle tightening.
“Hell yes!” Rhonda practically growled. “The aliens have attacked us twice. Killed a dozen of my people. We saw what we thought was a way to get some payback, and claim a Stronghold at the same time.”
Juanita put a hand on Logan’s shoulder. “C’mon, man. You might have done the same thing. There’s no harm done here. I know Rhonda. She’s good people.” She looked from Logan to Allistor, her expression pleading.
Logan relaxed his grip, lowering his weapon and taking a deep breath. Rhonda put her hands down, letting herself relax a bit. “Look, I’m sorry. If we had known it was yours, we would have just knocked and asked for help.” She took a moment to look over at her newly healed comrades. Only one body still lay prone on the concrete. The man who’d fallen and landed on his back. He’d been dead before the droids carried him over. “Thanks for healing my people.” she muttered.
Juanita stepped forward, moving between two battle droids and extending a hand. “Good to see you again, Rhonda. You said you got attacked?”
“Goblins.” Her eyes flashed with fire. “Little bastards swarmed us in the middle of the night. Our guards must have been asleep, because they were inside our walls before we even knew they were there. We were forced to abandon our Stronghold, and I lost six people. We retreated about thirty blocks and took refuge in a warehouse. Lost two more people clearing the building. A bunch of us didn’t even have weapons. Didn’t have time to gear up before we ran.” She paused and took a deep breath, tears forming in her eyes.
“They attacked again the next evening. Four of my guys with decent rifles held the front door while we escaped through a sewer tunnel. They died giving us time to get away.”
“Shit.” Logan stepped forward, extending a hand. “I’m Logan. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.” They shook hands.
Allistor motioned for the droids to back off, and they each took about ten steps back. The prisoners got to their feet. He stepped forward and addressed them.
“We’ve been attacked by goblins as well. In fact we’re apparently involved in a blood feud with them now. At least, with the clan that attacked us. We can help you get your Stronghold back. Or you can decide to join us. Either way, we’ll kill those goblins. But for now, let’s get you guys some food.” He looked at the group of humans. “Is this everybody? We can send vehicles to get the rest of your people.”
Rhonda stared at him for a full thirty seconds, clearly trying to decide whether to trust him. When she looked to Juanita, the woman gave her a smile and a nod.
“It looks like Juanita trusts you, and I trust her. There are a hundred and twenty of us total. No need for vehicles, the others are close by.” She whistled loudly, and waved both hands in the air. A moment later, people began to emerge from a dark building down the street. As they moved closer to the lights, Allistor could see the twenty or so in the front carried weapons, those behind them carried meager supplies, gear, and a few children.
Allistor smiled at the approaching group, trying to look friendly. “Let’s get everybody onboard, and we’ll take you back and get you fed.”
A scream from the approaching group was quickly followed by shouting and gunfire. A man shouted, “Goblins!” even as the group broke into a run, fleeing their attackers.
Goblins poured out of the surrounding buildings, firing weapons and swinging blades. Allistor shouted, “Kill the goblins! Defend the humans!” as he ran forward. “Nigel! Tell Prime we’re under attack! Send more troops!”
The battle droids, Allistor, and his entire party charged into battle as the mostly defenseless survivors fled toward them. His people started shouting, “Get inside the ship! It’s safe in there!”
Allistor targeted the nearest goblin that was about to stab one of the men trying to defend his people and cast Mind Spike. The goblin dropped its blade, screaming as it grabbed its head with both hands. Another human picked up the weapon and stabbed the creature in the face.
Allistor ducked out of reflex as several plasma blasts blew past above his head. Kira had activated some of the ship’s weapons, and the cannons blasted away five or six goblins with each hit. There were too many to count, though, and the cannons were barely making a dent.
The battle droids formed up in a line between the goblins and the humans, each of them firing two plasma rifles simultaneously. Charging goblins dropped by the dozens, but still more of them charged forward. Allistor Examined a few of them.
Goblin Raider
Level 35
Health: 9,500/9,500
Goblin Scout
Level 40
Health: 8,200/8,200
A moment later, one of the droids broke out of formation and trotted back to Allistor. Prime’s voice emerged from its voice box. “Sire, I have two hundred battle droids with flight capability en route. They will arrive in forty seconds. You are within range of two wall-mounted cannons. Have our people get down, please.”
Allistor looked at the chaotic scene in front of him. He saw humans on the ground, wounded and bleeding, but still moving.
“Hold! We’ve got wounded humans among the goblins, Prime. Don’t fire the cannons until we have them secure. Send in the droids to retrieve them.”
Instantly, every other battle droid in the firing line sprinted forward. Guns blazing, they blasted their way through the charging goblins, most of whom had already bypassed the wounded in their haste to chase down the others. A few turned to follow the droids, attacking them with swords, spears, and clubs. Allistor cast Mind Spike over and over, taking down each of them as they followed the droids.
There were ten humans down in the street, and each of them was lifted by a droid. Those who didn’t have a passenger turned and began to fire at the goblin horde from behind. Those carrying wounded dashed off down a side street and out of Allistor’s line of sight.
Prime didn’t need to be told the humans were clear. Cannon blasts from atop the walls of Invictus were followed by massive explosions among the goblins that sent bodies and body parts flying. The ship’s cannons continued to fire as well, taking out small groups of the little monsters.
Allistor’s party were all firing and casting spells as well. Allistor saw more than one goblin scream and fall apart as they were eaten by Andrea’s Dissolve spell. Multiple Flame Shots blasted out in the form of fireballs, and came crashing down in columns of fire from above. He saw Ramon cast Erupt, causing a spike to shoot up from the ground and impale a goblin that was about to throw a spear.
Behind him, he heard Rhonda shouting at her people, encouraging them to get into the ship. A moment later, she stood next to him. A green glow surrounded her hands, and the concrete under the goblin’s feet erupted in several places. Thick vines whipped up through the cracks and took hold of any goblin that got too close. Some were ripped apart, others squeezed into pulp.
Turning to catch Rhonda’s eye, he asked, “Druid?” She nodded, her face grim. A moment later she cast another spell that caused six goblins in front of her to sprout some kind of mold on their skin. The green patches started small, but rapidly expanded to cover their bodies as the goblins screamed and writhed on the ground. Another goblin stumbled over one of the afflicted, and it too began to scream as the killer mold spread to its skin through contact.
The sky brightened as two hundred battle droids with rocket packs floated down from above. They began firing before they even hit the ground, devastating the front of the horde. Several tossed out grenades before they landed, continuing to fire with their other three hands.
As the droids touched down, the entire block in front of them erupted. The grenades threw flame and shrapnel in every direction, cutting through the goblins and knocking over a three-story building in the process. More goblins were buried in the rubble.
Allistor got a party invite from Amanda and accepted it without thought. He continued to cast Mind Spike and Erupt,
burning through his considerable mana pool as experience numbers flashed across his interface.
The fight lasted less than a minute after the reinforcements landed. Outmatched, the surviving hundred or so goblins scattered, retreating into buildings or down side alleys. Immediately teams of droids set off in pursuit. Allistor and everyone else in sight leveled up.
Level up! You are now Level 37! You have received two Attribute Points.
Level up! …
Level up! …
Level up! You are now Level 40! You have received two Attribute Points.
Amanda appeared next to Allistor, grabbing Rhonda’s arm to keep her from charging away. “Rhonda, hold on. Your people are all on the ship. The ones who were wounded are being healed.” She sighed before continuing. “Three were killed.”
Rhonda raised her head to the sky and let out a scream of frustration. “Aaaaaaargh! God damned goblins! I hate this new world!”
Amanda brought her into a hug, squeezing the woman tight for a few moments. When she let go, there were tears in both their eyes. “I’m Amanda, by the way. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”
“Thank you for your help. I saw you healing my people earlier. I appreciate your kindness.” Rhonda mumbled, her heart not really in it as she was distracted by her pain.
Allistor tried changing the subject. “I was impressed with your casting. Never seen those spells before.”
“What? Oh. Thanks. I’m mostly a healer, but when I chose the Druid class at level ten, it came with a couple offensive spells.” She shook her head as if clearing her mind. “Listen, I think I need to thank you again. Those bastards must have followed us. They were probably sitting there the whole time, waiting for us to open that Stronghold so they could bum rush us and trap us inside. We’d have had no way out.”
Allistor nodded. “Glad we could help. And I’m sorry for your losses.” He looked around at the hundreds of goblin corpses. “Amanda here was quick-thinking enough to group everybody up. So hopefully your people got a bunch of levels. Even with all of us splitting it up, hundreds of level thirty and forty mobs means tons of xp.” He looked back at the ship, then at the remaining droids standing guard.
“I think it’s safe now. Have your people come out and start looting whatever bodies they can.”
Rhonda nodded and walked off toward the ship, calling to her people and waving them toward her. Allistor turned and walked out into the piles of bodies and parts, reaching down to loot whichever bodies he could. Since it was his droids and weapons that killed the vast majority of the nasty little monsters, he was able to loot most of them. His people moved forward with him, helping out.
Every once in a while, more experience would flash up on his interface as his droids caught up with goblins and eliminated them. The droids would loot those bodies for him and whatever they received would be deposited directly into Nigel’s vault.
When the looting was completed, Allistor tasked six of the droids to gather wood from the collapsed building’s rubble pile. They retrieved enough to create a sizeable pyre. Amanda saw what was happening and went to speak with Rhonda. After a few moments, the woman nodded, and her people went to retrieve their dead.
The bodies were placed upon the pyre, and Allistor gave Rhonda time to say a few words. When she’d finished speaking, he called a column of flame down upon the bodies, and the pyre began to burn.
Allistor was turning back toward the yacht when more than a dozen experience notifications popped up. Immediately after that, all but the highest-leveled among them glowed gold with additional level-ups as a notification popped up.
Congratulations!
You have successfully defended an attack upon Invictus City!
Your party has defeated a goblin horde!
Defense bonus: Horde’s average levels at least ten levels above your party’s average level! Reward: 700,000 experience points.
Achievement earned: Get Off My Lawn!
Allistor shook his head. Immediately after the notification, a large number of Fame Point awards scrolled across his interface. He lost count at two dozen, and some of them were for a significant number of points.
Looking around, he located Gralen standing not far away. Walking over to the beastkin, he asked about the Fame Points.
“I cannot say for sure, Allistor. Different factions will award points for different reasons. I noted that you did not use a firearm during the fight. That may have been a factor. Also, you defeated a horde of nearly five hundred goblins with minimal casualties. Some factions simply detest goblins as a race, and will award points for killing them regardless of the circumstances.”
“But we used the wall cannons, ship’s cannons, and droids with plasma rifles.” Allistor pointed out.
“All of that is perfectly acceptable and honorable when fighting large battles such as this.” Gralen hesitated for a moment. “I believe if you look closely, you will find Fame Points awarded by my guild. I have great respect for a commander who would make sure his wounded are evacuated from the field before unleashing cannon fire upon the enemy.”
“Wow. Well, thank you Gralen.” Allistor was oddly touched by the gesture.
As the last of the hunter droids returned to the battlefield, Allistor detailed a dozen of them to remain at Logan’s Stronghold until he could purchase some of his own. The rest boarded the ship along with the humans and beastkin, and Kira flew them back to the parking garage.
Prime was waiting for them as they stepped off the loading ramp. “Sire. The droids who pursued the fleeing goblins reported a Stronghold with goblin occupants. I have assigned three scouts to monitor the facility and report back hourly.”
Rhonda growled. “That’d be our home. I was hoping all the little bastards had come out and gotten themselves killed.” Several of her people mumbled similar sentiments.
“We’ll go finish them off in the morning.” Allistor promised. “I’ll arm any of your people who want to come along. But for right now, let’s get some food in you. We’ve got beds for everyone. Breakfast is at 7:00am, and we can talk some more then.”
Helen and Amanda led the way and Allistor smiled and waved or offered reassuring words to Rhonda’s people as they passed him at the bottom of the ramp.
When the last of them had walked down the ramp to exit the garage, Allistor said, “Nigel, put all of them in sleeping quarters on the same two or three floors of the tower. Prime, station a few extra guards on those floors, just in case. Once they’re in, nobody leaves those floors until breakfast. Can’t be too careful. Also, I need to know how many goblins are left in that Stronghold. And whether there’s a ship nearby that we can capture.”
“Of course, Sire.” Prime answered. “Though I doubt there will be a ship. This was a horde, not a group of colonists.”
“What’s the difference?” Allistor asked as Kira joined them, and they began to walk toward the elevator.
“Colonists arrive by ship. They are generally more intelligent, and fight as sentient beings with better weapons and strategy. A horde spawns on a world, generally in a small group of maybe twenty, including breeding females. If left unhindered in an area with sufficient food and resources, the horde will grow. They are considered monsters, though they are at the high end of the scale in terms of intelligence – able to craft crude weapons and armor to begin with.”
Kira looked thoughtful. “So this horde, they likely spawned here in the city sometime early in the Stabilization period? And they’ve been growing all this time?”
“That would be the most likely scenario, Kira. Though it is possible that someone delivered an intact horde to the city, it is unlikely.”
“And if they hadn’t run across us? Or been killed in some other way?” Allistor asked.
“Eventually, a horde may grow strong enough that they evolve into a clan. Their elders receive bonuses to Intelligence and Strength. They begin to improve their living conditions, learn spells, and develop or discover better techn
ology. The longer a clan survives, the stronger and larger it grows. When they reach a sufficient level of growth, they may branch out to colonize, as you have seen.”
“So basically, no different than human evolution.” Kira smirked.
“But much faster.” Prime replied. “A horde can go from its initial spawn, to a clan capable of colonizing, in a decade. Sometimes less if they receive assistance. There are factions that have been known to assist a horde’s development in order to use them as a weapon.”
They reached the tower shortly after Prime finished his explanation. Their guests were already gathering in the largest dining room, forming a line to receive a hastily prepared meal before taking seats. Allistor walked past a group who’d already begun to eat, smiling as he heard several complimentary comments on the food.
Wanting to retire for the evening, but not done with the business of the day, he asked Nigel to have his advisors return to the conference room to finish their meeting.
Chapter 15
Morning brought a few changes to Allistor’s expansion plans. Rather than send out raid groups to claim more territory, he brought them all together in Invictus City to form a single raid against the remainder of the goblin horde.
Rhonda and her people descended together for breakfast, and Allistor introduced her to the raid leaders. When they’d all finished their meals, Allistor stood to address them.
“We’re going to kill the rest of those damned goblins this morning. My people and I will be leaving shortly. I know some of you want payback, and if you would like to come along, you are welcome. But I need you to promise that you’ll hang back. These goblins are double, and for some of you, triple your level. You’re no match for them. I’ll give you weapons to defend yourselves with, but I will need a promise from each of you that you won’t fire unless they break through our lines. I can’t have you shooting me or one of my people from behind by mistake.”
Shadow Sun Rebellion Page 25
