Yeah, I think Armok has a good point... I need to focus more on tactics.
I was getting kind of nervous that the tech involved in the dwarven super-weapon would be going too far, but I've already put out hints as to what it'll be (it's based on a super-weapon in another piece of steampunk art, actually), and nobody has complained, so I'm assuming that means it won't be a big deal. If it turns out to be one though, then this is probably the only time when I'd go back and edit. Still shouldn't be a problem though.
Anyway, now to continue...
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Blitukus sped up, jogging towards the edge of the region. Luckily, the regions edge was only slightly outside of the town going east or west. They had actually managed to damage his armored vehicle... it wasn't so impervious to attack after all. He would face much stronger resistance at the dwarven stronghold, so he couldn't afford to charge in full of rage as he did toward the goblins. He had to calculate his every move, otherwise even small bits of damage could add up over time to ruin his machine. He stopped as he reached the regions edge. He heard a popping, and a stinging pain as the bone in his face shifted to its original position. Then, all the pain died away as the bone and flesh mended to its original state. He rubbed the right side of his head, and noticed it was back to normal. He smiled, but remembered what Dracha had said. Magic was a fading force, and some day, the regions border would no longer offer healing. He was definitely glad to still have it available, otherwise he wouldn't have made it this far. He turned around, and jogged back to the town. He realized... the super-weapon would pierce right through his armor, whatever it was. The dwarven super-weapon left fried bodies, melted metal, melted stone in its wake. It was a weapon that was based on the very same energy that Blitukus sought to harness... an energy that metal machines in particular is very vulnerable to. Blitukus couldn't afford to fall under fire from the weapon directly, as it had burned holes through stone... it would likely just as easily burn holes through his machines armor, and leave him as a charred corpse within. He would have to temper his rage, and fight carefully. Good thing his new friend was a general.
He marched back into town, and walked up to his armored vehicle. The front had been lifted from the ground by several extendable supports of some kind. Other than that, nothing had been done. Around, human troops were straightening their blades, cleaning and checking their crossbows, inspecting the components of their automatic versions, and in general performing basic upkeep on their equipment. A human, dressed in red clothes and holding a tool kit, seemed to be admiring Blitukus' armored vehicle. Blitukus walked up to him, and spoke, "Greetings!" The human turned around and seemed to be pleasantly surprised to see Blitukus there. She spoke, "It's really you!" He offered a handshake, and she eagerly accepted. She spoke, "You're one of my personal heroes, you know." Blitukus laughed happily, "Thank you!" He was flattered by her admiration. She was obviously a mechanic, not only visible due to the toolbox, but also due to the red tag on her clothes, an international designation for mechanics, much like a guild designation. She began to spoke, but Ori shouted from a rooftop, "Mechanics! Focus and finish up quickly, I want that broken valve fixed 5 minutes ago!" The human mechanic grumbled slightly about the ill timed call to work, but spoke, "I have to go, may I have a chat with you over breakfast?" Blitukus smiled and nodded, "I would be happy to." There was shouting and the clanking of metal being moved. She looked around, then jogged away after finding the most critical task at hand. Blitukus thought for a moment. It might be breakfast to her, but it would be dinner to him. In fact, he was getting slightly hungry. He crouched down, and slid under the propped up front of his armored vehicle. He felt a bit nervous, seeing the immense weight of the metal held up above him by human-made extendable supports. Each tread had 3 of these supports under the front, so if one failed, he would have time to move from under the vehicle. Luckily, a toolbox had been set under the vehicle as well. He had found good allies, they provided enough help to make accomplishing certain tasks much more efficient, without being intrusive. The lower front armor plating was bent badly, two struts had severely bent, and the front axle was slightly bent. The reverser had been knocked out of its proper meshing and had jammed. He fished out a hammer from the toolbox, and pounded the axle straight once again. Then, he used the handle to leverage the gears of the reverser, and with a loud pop, they jumped back into place. He saw that he had been in such a hurry to meet his new ally that he had left the boiler pressurized. He slid out from under the vehicle, climbed in the top, shut off the generators, opened the pressure release valves, climbed out, then slid back under the machine. He reached behind the center of the vehicle, and detached a generator from the boiler. He tweaked the generator, allowing its upper loop to function solely as a magma loop. Despite the motion caused by the circulating magma, Blitukus held it against the damaged armor plating, waited for the plating to glow with heat, then pounded it as straight as he could reasonably get it. He repeated this for the rest of the dented armor plates. Blitukus searched the toolbox, and found one extra extendable support. He wedged the device between the left tread and the armor plating above it, then extended it, slowly causing the plating to rise. He continued extending it until the broken struts lined up once again. He then used the heat of the magma loop to weld the broken ends of the struts together, mending them. He shut down the loop, reattached it, then slid back out from under the machine, and after the weld had cooled, retracted the support, placing it on the ground. The plating retained its raised position. He smiled... for a second. He had fixed the damage, it was damage mostly absorbed by the armor, the internals within suffering only mild damage. But still... it was damage, physical proof that his machine was not invulnerable. He collected the tools he had used, placed them back in the toolbox, then opened the valves on the extendable supports holding the front of his armored vehicle up, allowing them to retract. When they had retracted, Blitukus removed the supports from under the front of the armored vehicle. He carried the extendable supports and tools back to the supply wagon, waiting in line to return them. The line moved swiftly and efficiently, Blitukus exchanging smiles with the person in front of him after said person double took after spotting Blitukus. Many of the mechanics had finished up repairs, and were returning their tools as well. Several others were waiting idly for the tools to get sorted out. When Blitukus had returned the tools, he walked back to his armored vehicle, climbed into the cabin, then shut the hatch above him. He sat there and waited for the rest of the troops to finish readying themselves. During this time, the villagers came out of hiding, and entered their town once again. In a multitude of ways, they thanked the all of those who defended them, including Blitukus. Blitukus smiled and accepted the thanks. They may not be citizens of Anthath Sizet, but they were honest citizens, and that entitled them to the right to live, regardless of nationality. Blitukus considered it part of his duty to protect those in need from vile criminals. His smile faded, and he sighed. Still, this war was in and of itself vile enough to corrupt even the most honest deeds.
Ori announced the call to move. Blitukus powered up his generators. Ori climbed into his vehicle, and the troops attached the supply wagon to the rear of the steam driven vehicle. Many of the troops crowded together, sitting down in the back of the wagon, sitting on the top of the wooden-armored vehicle. All supplies, weapons and munitions were loaded into the wagon too, the boilers of the human-made automatic crossbows taking up a lot of room. Many of the troops were left clinging to the side of the wagon. Blitukus opened the hatch and stood, whistling then shouting out, "I have room for 6 more!" There were exactly 6 troops clinging to the side of the wagon. Those 6 jumped off, jogged up to Blitukus' armored vehicle, then took a seat on the front and rear armor plating, thanking Blitukus. Blitukus responded, "No problem at all." Then, he sat back down, and shut the hatch above him. He had noticed that unlike himself, Ori was a very structured and orderly person, although such traits are rather common among the military. Oris vehicle let loose a puff of soot, then chugged forward. Blitukus pressed his reverser forward, and followed. The equipment performed as intended once again. They followed the road south, passing through another village. At the third village they came across, the road ended. They continued through the grassland along the river. Many of the humans took this opportunity to sleep, but Ori continued driving his vehicle tirelessly. Blitukus pondered the idea of Ori being one of the rare nocturnal humans. Several hours of night-time travel passed, following the tracks of the goblin vehicles back toward the mountains by the moonlight, and Blitukus pondered his strategy... but found that without prior knowledge of details such as terrain, he would have to improvise nearly all of it. The very act of plotting and calculating his strategy made him feel as cold hearted as he had thought his foes to be, but he would not let it leave any permanent effects on him. He would make sure to the best of his ability that this battle would be the last battle fought in this type of warfare. Dawn was approaching on the horizon. They followed the river through a long canyon, and emerged on the other side realizing that they had entered one of the most secluded regions of the world. Far back, near the horizon, a large reservoir of water slowly spilled over, creating an enormous waterfall as it fueled the rivers in this secluded area. One of the rivers was blocking the path. On the other side was a drawbridge attached to a lever, and the tracks crossed over the now retracted drawbridge. Ori stopped at the river, and Blitukus pulled up along side of his vehicle, stopping as well. Blitukus opened his hatch, and stood. Ori did the same. He vaguely remembered the orb of direction pointing to the front of the mountain range. They were very close, and even though his true objective didn't lie within this battle, he expected the orb had indicated his next objective to be within the dwarven fortress. He needed answers to the secrets of controlling raw energy, and he felt he would find the answer within, or at least near, the super-weapon. Ori asked, "Are you an Expert Swimmer at least?" Blitukus looked at the rushing water of the river, and replied, "No, and nor is my vehicle amphibious!" Ori spoke, "Neither I or anyone under me can swim in such a current, Blitukus!... If you can think of a way to use anything in the cart to flip the lever without tipping the dwarves off to our location, go for it! You know that cannon of yours better than any of us do." Blitukus nodded, and hopped down from his machine. He walked over to the back of the wagon, and inspected the inventory of it. Swords, maces, crossbows, boilers, gears, bolts, small lever with a clip on the end, a hook on a rope... A hook on a rope! Blitukus smiled, having immediately had an idea. He took the large hook and the long rope that was attached to it, and brought it back to his armored vehicle. He climbed up the front, and attached the rope to the front of the barrel of the cannon, stuffing the rest down the barrel. Then, he climbed into his cabin, and charged the steam chamber of the cannon, leaving the magma chamber empty. He didn't charge it all the way, instead, he turned to face the lever and aimed the cannon as high as it would go in order to use as little steam as possible. A large puff of steam might attract unwanted attention. He fired the cannon, and the steam forced the rope and hook out of the barrel. The hook flew through the air, trailing the rope behind it. The hook traveled a short distance, then landed in the river with a splash. Blitukus stood. Ori looked at the river, then looked at Blitukus. Blitukus shrugged. The cannon was never designed to fire such a projectile. Blitukus stepped out to the front armor, and reeled in the hook by pulling in the rope. When he had retrieved the hook, he loaded it back in again, and readied to fire once more. This time he used much more steam. He fired, and the hook shot out at a higher speed than before. This time it reached the end of its rope and recoiled back slightly, falling on land on the other side of the river. Blitukus slowly backed his machine up, stopping to change course occasionally. The hook was dragged along the ground toward the shore. Eventually, the hook cought the lever on the other side of the river, and the rope became a bit more taut. The lever clicked as the hook pulled it, causing the bridge to extend. Blitukus moved forward and back, finding the hook had become stuck on the lever. He tried to free the hook, and turned. The rope became very taut. The lever broke. Blitukus stood, and hopped onto the front of his machine again, reeling the hook in. It wasn't his lever, and he realized... he had just inadvertently guaranteed that nobody would sabotage the bridge to seal them in. A fortunate mistake. He reeled the hook in, and detached it from the front of his barrel. Then, he placed it back into the back of the wagon. He then proceeded back to his machine and entered the cabin once more, shutting the hatch above him. Ori nodded, and did the same. They continued over the bridge. Blitukus indicated to continue to the left, rather than forward. The orb of direction had indicated near the front of this mountain range, not a location sunk deep within it. They passed through an area more and more densely wooded, slowing them down. The sun was rising, and they were losing the cover of darkness. Many of the humans finished their sleep, those who weren't already interrupted by the river crossing. They passed through haunted forests. The sight of sickly animals, with the occasional skeletal and zombie animal, further added toward Blitukus' disgust with the war. The trees and terrain were darkened by soot, and the stench of spent coal drifted through the air. They were very close. Dawn had given way to a blue sky as the sun rose further. They came across a valley, an artificial valley carved into the mountain. Slowly, Ori and Blitukus ventured into this valley. On the other side of the valley, behind a patch of black, chemical scorched terrain lay smoothed walls, towering into the sky. These walls contained massive fortifications, siege machines resting on towers above. One would think such a militarily oriented facility would have a small, bottlenecking entrance... the entrance was truly enormous, as if something far larger than even a dragon were meant to travel through the corridors behind it.
Behind the towering fortifications, smokestacks towered into the sky. Black smoke poured out of the smokestacks, corrupting the surrounding terrain and tainting the clouds above. The entire stronghold radiated an aura of corruption, an aura that one would say could have been the force that haunted the forests, the harsh chemicals, whatever was being ejected, causing the animals to become sick, to become zombies and skeletons powered by evil and corruption. Blitukus felt their sensed the intent of such a place. These dwarves had also advanced beyond the age of iron into a new era of industry, but unlike Blitukus, who wished to use the benefits of technology to bring wonders to the world, to build wonders, to build utopia... he sensed the dwarves within wanted nothing more than to exploit the world, to gain as much wealth and power as possible, leaving spent, scorched terrain in their wake. It was the ideal perversion of everything Blitukus stood for. He found himself sickened deeply by it. He saw that he had been dragged down the path of technologically enhanced corruption, to fight on their hellish terms. He growled, his fury renewed. His first impulse was to jam the regulator forward and charge in at full speed... but he restrained himself, and took a deep breath.
So I've crossed the bridge into hell... I'll fight the demon on his own hellish terms, and I'll win... or at least make one heck of an effort trying.
Ori slowed to a stop, then stood after opening his hatch. Blitukus did the same. Ori spoke, "They've built us a bottleneck here. Let's use it against them. We can draw them out and fire in from the exit." Blitukus responded, "Perhaps your forces should station on top of the hills of the valley here, where you could rain fire down upon those crossing below with impunity." Ori responded, "That'll probably just make them call in the heavy weapons first. We need to get their attention from ground level first otherwise they'll all see us and come at the same time!" Blitukus replied, "Yes, one of us has to draw them from ground level." Ori hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Are you telling me to sacrifice one of my troops? I'd like to at least think that these people aren't expendable!" Blitukus replied, "I have the heaviest armor of anyone here. I'll draw them." Ori replied, "Are you sure?" Blitukus nodded. Ori spoke, "Ok, then... Squads 1 and 2 on top of the left hill, 3 and 4 on the right, keep low! Heavy 1 and 2, cover the exit... he's going to have a LOT of heat on his tail! It's your job to pick them off. I'll be over the left, any sharpshooters who need a vantage point can follow me!" Ori turned his vehicle around, and drove back, turning to climb up the hill. The troops got into position, and they hid behind the hills, unseen to the fortress. Blitukus drove forward through the valley, out into the open.
As an old human classmate of mine once said... Whazaaap?
A goblin scout, stationed on a tower, spotted Blitukus' armored vehicle, peering through a handheld telescope. The goblin was standing next to a goblin crossbowman who was supposed to be the sharpshooter on duty, but was asleep. The scout pushed the sharpshooter, then went back to watching the armored vehicle through his telescope. The scout then kicked the sharpshooter, yelling, "WAKE UP! Moron..." The sharpshooter stood, then smacked the scout with his crossbow. The telescope was sent flying, shattering as it hit the ground. The scout and sharpshooter then engaged each other in a fist fight, obscenities flying about to and fro. A scout standing in a different tower was watching the two fighting goblins with his telescope, laughing, "Idiots!..." The sharpshooter on said different tower pointed toward Blitukus' armored vehicle, and asked, "One of ours?" The scout turned, and looked at the armored vehicle, zooming in. He spoke, "No." He zoomed in further. He continued, "... hey what the hell? I thought we were the only ones who had magma cannons." The sharpshooter snatched the telescope away speaking, "Give me that!" The crossbowman observed the armored vehicle, continuing, "Sh*t... Should we tell the artillery?" The scout replied, "Normally... yeah, but look, there's only ONE of them! Let's swarm him, tear him out of his cabin, and torture him to death! That way we get to keep his vehicle too." The crossbowman laughed in agreement, then they laughed together.
Blitukus was driving in a square pattern in front of the valley, whistling and intermittently growling.
Where the hell are these guys?
As if on cue, Blitukus heard the shouting of goblins rushing toward him. He turned to face them. They were forming a line, their front pushing along several wheeled tall iron shields that would at least partially absorb the impact of any magma projectile, and presented a solid wall against crossbow fire. He might be able to do away with some of them with a shot from his cannon... but at the expense of several more opportunities to fire. If he stayed to fire at them, he would be overrun, and then he would be defenseless against intruders into his cabin. He turned and fled from the goblins, driving down the valley toward the exit. The goblins chased him through the valley, but as the goblins poured into the mouth of the valley, Oris vehicle, several human crossbowmen standing on top of it, emerged from behind the hill. Several more crossbowmen emerged standing atop the hill. They let loose volley after volley of bolts into the crowd of bottlenecked goblins. The goblin sharpshooter yelled to the goblin scout, "YOU MORON! You said there was only ONE!!" Many goblins were picked off, and the crowds that remained began scrambling up the hillsides in an attempt to reach a position to fire at the humans. Each group of humans on each hill covered the opposite hill, picking off the goblins that were climbing up. Blitukus began to ready his cannon. Several of the iron shields were abandoned, but still two were manned, and a crowd of goblins still rushed toward Blitukus as he exited the other end of the valley. The heavy human infantry, with their two automatic crossbows, fired into the goblins pursuing Blitukus from behind. One of the remaining two shields was abandoned as those pushing it were shot dead. Blitukus then jammed the reverser back, skidded to a stop, spinning the machine around to face the goblins. His cannon was aimed low. He fired into the approaching goblins. It struck the iron shield, knocking it over. None of the goblins were killed by the magma, but now the goblins were without cover and further under fire from the human heavy infantry. Blitukus jammed the reverser forward, and moved the regulator forward fully. The goblins darted out of the way of the armored vehicle as Blitukus drove it into the crowd, but the goblins still tried to hop onto the vehicle. Several goblins were run over, one goblin trying to jump onto the front of the vehicle, and falling short, dying beneath the treads, another jumping and landing on the treads, thrown away by the motion of the treads. A third goblin jumped and clung to the side plating of the vehicle, dragging himself onto it. Blitukus stood and at the same time set his cannon to pressurize once more. The goblin unlatched the hatch, but just as he was about to open it, Blitukus slammed the hatch open, knocking the goblin off of the machine. Then, Blitukus shut the hatch and sat back down. Ahead lay a hail of bolts flying between goblins and humans about the hills, the humans having a hefty advantage due to terrain. The goblins behind him rapidly dwindled as the heavy infantry turned them into a bloody pile of corpses. Blitukus noticed goblins about to break through to the human crossbowman on the right hill. He stopped, and turned the vehicle to face the hill. He aimed, and fired a shot that grazed the very top of the upward slope, spreading magma about. The magma flowed down the hillside, setting some goblins alight, and forcing the rest to retreat down the hillside as human crossbowmen on the opposite hill fired at them. He readied his cannon once more, and fired a grazing shot across the top of the inner slope of the opposite hill. The same happened, and now magma was flowing down toward the bottom of the valley, human crossbowmen pelting away at the goblins as the goblins found themselves trapped by molten rock on both sides. Some of the goblins abandoned trying to get at the humans, but between the human sharpshooters, the human heavy infantry, and one more shot from Blitukus' cannon... they didn't make it very far. Flaming bodies of goblins rolled down the hill, and those who stubbornly tried to attack the humans found themselves trapped in a shrinking ring of flame as bolts rained down upon them.
So demons also have fun when they lose?
Blitukus sighed. He looked into the distance. Several siege engines and magma cannons were being readied among the fortifications. He saw small specks... the reflection of flame off of goggles... many, many goggles, in the distance, in the dark, within the fortresses inner tower. The eyes behind these goggles peered into the battle, their cold stares expressing little emotion at all. An iron wall rose, driven by steam, sealing them off from view. Blitukus realized... the reason the dwarves had enlisted the goblins as their fighting force was because they lacked a fighting force. The dwarves in this fortress weren't the cruel and brutal criminals he had expected them to be, they were members of the dwarven intellectual elite, masterminds of some kind of plot that spanned the entire world it seemed. A fortress of scores of elite scientists and engineers, working with heavy industry at their backs, had developed and assembled the super-weapon while they hired pawns to do their dirty work around the world. The entrance... it really was that big for a reason. A sense of dread overcame Blitukus. Whatever his comrades had seen the second before they were all fried by energy, was something truly never seen before in this world. Blitukus drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He knew that on that day, he would see what the citizens of Anthath Sizet had seen... he just hoped it wouldn't constitute the last second of his existence as it had theirs.
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And yes, if memory serves me that is a blatant rip off of the famous false retreat strategy.
[ November 11, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]
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Topic: A Kobold's Quest II (Read 76125 times)