Chapter 62

The adelshaut stood silently in the neardark; rank upon rank waiting to fight their enemy and purify creation from the blight of creative thinking beings. That they fitted that category did not even occur to them and even if it had, they would have sacrificed themselves at a word from the patripure.

“The shield fails,” the senior patripure announced to the gathered caveatra. “Begin!”

Commands went out and the adelshaut moved to the various positions from where they were to attack. Several carried a minimised troichin egg, adapted by the patripure to explode upon a mental command and release its energy to breach the fortifications. Ahead of them, the screen flickered and wavered as the mental energies of the patripure tore at it and reduced its efficacy until finally huge rents in its surface appeared just before it collapsed totally.

“Now!” came a cool quiet command. “Show us what we face!”

“Shield is breached!” Arwen announced. “Adelshaut advancing in strength on four sectors with several infiltration probes going elsewhere.”

“Pretty much where we expected them to go,” Arch nodded.

“Get the Drow into position. Inform Crnnch, though I suspect he already knows,” Roxanne ordered.

“At once, Mage Roxanne,” Arwen replied.

“Confirmation from our allies that the shield is down and the Vultoqi are advancing,” Crnnch informed his team. “Move the reserves to cover where the main attacks are going,” he ordered.

“By your command, Seeker.”

“Kurl, inform Draenoric of the situation.”

“Already done, Seeker,” came the reply.

“May Ar-Thenna bless and protect us.”

“Aye!” came the response from all his staff.

“The Vultoqi are keeping under cover and not exposing themselves as yet,” Fumel noted.

“Would have been too much to expect them to walk in straight lines for us to shoot them. Still, let’s see how they cope with the anti-personnel fields we’ve strewn in front of where the shield was,” Crnnch chuckled morbidly.

“Shots fired from the tall outposts,” Slaarg noted. “Vultoqi casualties, though not many.”

“Ar-Thenna’s allies,” Kurl nodded.

“Vultoqi have reached the anti-personnel fields,” Fumel announced. “They’ve stopped their advance.”

“Stopped?” Crnnch asked, a deep sense of foreboding settling on him.

“Yes, Seeker. Right at the edge ... wait, I’m detecting some sort of energy output.”

All along the line where the shield had been the adelshaut came to a halt and remained under cover as best they could. Their minds were linked into the patripure network and guided into storing a mass of quantum energies until it peaked and was launched into the air above the assembled adelshaut to explode into a massive focussed sonic wave that hit the zone ahead of them like a huge, heavy hammer blow and setting off or destroying all the anti-personnel devices up to the fortress walls. Weeks of work by the Orcs had been snuffed out in less than ten seconds and in the ensuing dust cloud the adelshaut could advance unseen and unharmed towards their prey.

“Damn!” Arch muttered as he saw the effects of the Vultoqi strike. “I’d hoped that that might have delayed them by at least a day.”

“Not a single casualty on their side either, though the in-built shields in the fortress walls held,” Arwen added.

“Small mercies,” Arch nodded. “Tell the troops to switch to infra-red and see if our Mages can get a breeze going to blow the dust cloud away.”

“At once, Mage Arch.”

“Get the grunts ready to open fire, the moment the Vultoqi get to the wall!” Crnnch ordered into the stunned silence as his command staff reacted to the Vultoqi strike.

“Y ... Yes, Seeker,” Slaarg replied swallowing slightly.

“Remember, what we want and what we get are two different things and our enemies will try to ensure that!”

“Yes, Seeker,” came a much more positive reply.

“Anything from our allies?”

“They report the Vultoqi are advancing, but aren’t in range of the shield nullifiers, yet,” Fumel replied. “They are engaging with their long-range weapons and have ... created a wind to blow the dust back into the advance. We will have clear shots towards the edge of the nullified zone by the time the Vultoqi get there.”

“Fat lot of good it will do most of the grunts,” Crnnch muttered.

“We are moving the blesséd of Ar-Thenna to the focus of the attacks. Their weapons should be more effective,” Kurl announced.

“Confirmation from Draenoric that the reserve hordes are on alert and ready to move,” Slaarg added.

“Doubt they’ll help if we get a breach, but thank you,” Crnnch nodded.

“Vultoqi approaching the edge of the nullifier zone. Grunts beginning to engage!” Fumel announced.

The adelshaut charged forward into a maelstrom of mostly ineffective fire from the fortifications, as, although their mental shields no longer worked, their thick hides prevented any realistic penetration to vital organs. Occasionally, having been hit in a vulnerable place, one of their number would go down to the powerful beam weapons of the old enemy, or by one of the annoying long-range darts of the new enemy, but not enough to make any difference as they reached within a hundred strides of the walls.

“Fire!” I ordered my team and the various adjuncts to it in the way of a thousand Drow.

The noise was thunderous, but we rapidly adapted for it as our firepower slammed into the advancing adelshaut and all but wiped away the first line of their attempted charge. The other lines though carried forward, dodging and weaving, relentlessly chased by our firepower but closing rapidly until they flung what I presumed was a grenade at the walls which stuck and then exploded with incredible force.

‘Damage?‘ I sent to Róisín who was co-ordinating with the Seers.

‘Not too bad. The internal layers reflected and deflected much of the shockwave. Assuming they break off, the Orcs will be able to repair most, if not all of it, tonight, ‘ she replied after a moment’s conference with one of them.

‘Felt pretty bad down here, ‘ I chuckled, relieved somewhat.

‘Looks pretty active, but that tactic won’t get them through. We’re keeping an eye on the infiltration groups too, looks like they have a plan. You may need to go out hunting tonight, ‘ she warned.

‘No problem.‘

“They’re pulling back under cover; looks like they’re going to have a re-think,” a Drow non-com called Birintuphaloq (shortened to Birry) stated.

“Thought they might. Get the other corporals to check ammo status and see if any need medical attention.”

“Yessir,” he saluted, then bellowed out, “Cease fire!” before giving out a raft of orders.

“We held, Seeker,” Fumel confirmed.

“Good, after the anti-personnel disaster, I was somewhat worried. Do we know what it was they threw at the walls?”

“Some form of explosive device from the reports I was given, but it lacked penetration power to do any real damage.”

“Have the repair squads sent out to check the surfaces and re-coat with the nanite compound,” Crnnch ordered.

“By your command, Seeker.”

“Weapons effectiveness of the grunts?”

“Poor, Seeker; except for the beam weapons and the ones with the upgraded weapons ... even then they did not really affect the Vultoqi. Most of the killing was done by the forces of Ar-Thenna, though some reports I have tell me the blesséd of Ar-Thenna acquitted themselves well,” Fumel replied.

“I’m going down to inspect the blesséd of Ar-Thenna groups and get their take on the battle, see how they feel their weapons managed. Slaarg, you’re with me. The rest of you carry on, you know what needs to be done; keep me updated should the Vultoqi renew their attack,” Crnnch ordered as he stood and left the centre.

“By your command, Seeker,” the rest of his staff saluted.

“The attack failed,” the senior adelshaut reported back to the caveatra.

“As we expected. This new enemy’s weapons are formidable and deadly to our own. How go the other preparations?” the senior patripure replied.

“The wrath-bringer is under assembly. It will be able to reach its full strength now the shield has gone,” the reply came in rapturous tones.

“Launch a series of diversions; keep this enemy busy until we are ready to strike.”

“At once, my patripure!”

All along the lines, the adelshaut began a series of diversionary attacks, never committing to a full-scale assault, but always keeping the defenders busy and alert. Hidden away though from prying eyes and other senses, a group of patripures and adelshaut were assembling an ancient engine of war and its power generators, linking them to the troichin eggs as they prepared to attempt to breach the fortress walls.

“They’re up to something,” Arch stated to Roxanne and her command group.

“Undoubtedly. These aren’t even spoiling attacks, never mind probes. All they are doing is keeping us occupied and them not dead,” Roxanne agreed.

“We cannot get through the blocking shield around the temple of the footfall to look,” Melanie added.

“Nor are we set up to infiltrate, not even with the Drow, wolves or Nosferatu,” Arch nodded. “There are just too many of them.”

“Then I suggest an assault on their main entry route for their screen, it might be enough for a Mage to get close enough for a Seer to scan through them,” Roxanne replied thoughtfully.

“Well, as we can’t sneak through we might as well try a probe of some kind, though it might be costly,” Arch agreed.

“Aye, but we need a look, even if it’s only just enough to enable us to get our people and the Orcs out of the way.”

“Yes, Mage Roxanne. I’ll see to it.”

“You want me, my team and the Drow here to aggressively probe the Vultoqi lines, breach them and get close enough for a Seer to scan through us? Tonight?” I asked Arch incredulously.