บท 25: Phase 21: Farm Wars 1
"Shiro!" Colin called, but his wolfcat was way ahead of him.
"Yip!" Shiro barked at Warc.
"Yip!" he barked at Meek.
"Yip!" he barked at Rall.
"Yip!" he barked at Colin.
And then he dashed off into the nearby woods along with Colin's other Comrades.
"Okay, I didn't quite catch that." Colin grunted, as he ran after them.
He saw what they did clearly enough, though. Warc scratched lines on the first tree to tell the others where to cut. Rall clawed at the lower line until it fell. After that, Shiro attacked the higher line while Meek worked on clearing away the branches.
By that time, Rall was already working on the second tree and Warc was done with the third.
"How many trees do we need anyway?" Colin asked. "We don't need a super fort, we just need three short walls. We don't even need a roof; it's easier to use long-range attacks that way."
"Yip!" Shiro barked at Warc, so that she stopped and went to help Meek. Rall had clawed down the second tree in the meantime. By the time he clawed down the third tree, Shiro and the other two were working on the second.
This time Shiro barked at Rall. "Yip!"
"Rawrl!" the bear replied, and went over to the first log, now cleared of all branches and stuff, and started dragging it towards their fort site.
It was too heavy. Colin turned to Warc. "Hey, Warc! Mark it into three equal pieces! Rall, cut the log where she marks."
They did just that, and Rall was able to carry the logs to their building site.
Colin faced another problem once they arrived back with the first piece of wood. "We don't have Ants or Arachnids. We have nothing to tie them together with."
There was no choice. "Warc… I need you to flatten out the tops and bottoms of those logs. Use Bubble Stream."
Warc's Bubble Stream was slow. Colin frowned as Shiro and Meek finished up their other work and joined the flattening effort.
He could see Farmer Edward and his six giant ants carrying whole logs to build his fort. Katrin's beaver actually managed to cut her wood into planks. Her Flying Squirrel and brown-and-white weasel were cutting the edges of her planks into jigsaw-puzzle like pieces. This, in addition to her Arachnid webbing the planks together as they piled them into walls.
"Nuts." Colin said. "Their forts are going to be way stronger than ours. All we can do is stack wood on top of each other."
"Yip." Shiro barked at Meek, and Meek scurried off.
Colin watched in some amazement as she went to grab some vines and twine them together into thin ropes.
They tied them together, log upon flat log, three logs high, three walls in a C-shape, and then they were done.
"This looks more like a turret than a fort." Colin admitted. "But it's good enough, I think."
Katrin, meanwhile, was building something that looked more like a bunker. Farmer Edward's was the only one that really looked like a fort – he was using whole logs to build the thing, and it had a tower as well as space to stand and shoot from the roof.
Colin looked back at his little 'fort' and said, "We're not going to last a minute. Come on. Let's give it a roof, at least."
So they added another round of logs and then put roofing on two sides, leaving the middle for them to use long-range attacks from.
Now with a 'fort' that looked a good deal more like Katrin's bunker than a mere turret, Colin turned back to see Farmer Edward's army building outer barriers made of spikes.
"Enough!" Colin yelled. "I'm done!"
"Me too!" Katrin shouted back.
"What? Already?!" Farmer Edward protested.
"Yeah! We're done! Enough building!" Colin yelled. "We're starting the second game!"
"What?!" Edward managed before both Colin and Katrin shouted at the same time.
"ATTACK!"
***
It was obvious who had the advantage.
Edward had those six Megants. He had about twenty other Comrades at his command and a huge, well-built fort. It was very clear to both Colin and Katrin that if they tried to take it slow and fight from their forts, they were both going to get wiped out in no time.
Their only chance was to gang up and attack with everything they had all at once. They didn't even talk to each other to discuss what should be done, they just charged, all-out, at the same time.
Shiro was way ahead of anyone else, but halfway there, he stopped and sent a trio of Sonic Bolts into the spiky barriers around Edward's fort. Warc caught up with him and added a Wing Gust and a bubble stream to his attacks. Between them, they tore down a good part of the outer barriers.
In that time, Meek and Rall were almost there, while across the pond from them, Katrin's beaver was practically {eating} his way through Edward's spiky barriers.
But Farmer Edward was replying with long-ranged attacks. Spitballs were flying at Colin's team and Edward's own Rainducks were blasting away at them with Wing Gusts and Bubble Streams. Katrin was taking a bombardment of sonic attacks and a couple of huge fireballs.
Warc was the first to get knocked out. A powerful Wing Gust scraped her wing and slowed her down enough for a Megant spitball to hit her smack in the face. She was trying to clear her eyes, Stubborn as she was, when three streams of exploding bubbles swamped her over. One last spitball hit home and then she was tumbling to the ground.
"Wuark." She complained, shaking her head as she landed, and stayed still.
Meek went out next. She was taking shelter behind a piece of fallen wood when Edward's Firebull decided to change directions and sent a big fireball right at her.
The explosion sent her flying six feet into the air, turning her completely black and fritzing out her whiskers. She landed on both feet and sat down with a thump.
"Mik…?!" she blinked, smoke rising from her fur.
Rall went down soon after that. A whole flood of spitballs and wing gusts bowled him over and after a while he just stopped getting up.
"Rawrl." He growled, and sat there shaking his head.
Which left only Shiro.
"Yip!" Shiro yelped as every one of Edward's Comrades facing their direction concentrated their fire on him.
Raiki saw it happen. She was usually too sad to fight, but when Shiro was in trouble, she stood up in Colin's hands. Her hair stood on end as she formed a whole row of sonic bolts in the air above her for a Sonic Barrage.
She sent twenty bolts into Edward's fort before they turned their fire on her and Colin had to run for safety before he got blasted.
Shiro, meanwhile, had reached the fort and was fighting one of the Megants on top of it, using his teeth and tail at full speed.
Colin found shelter where he'd built it – his own fort. Raiki went on firing sonic bolts at Edward's Fort from there, and he left her to it as he checked on Katrin.
Katrin had lost all three Rainducks, the weasel, the arachnid and the Flying Squirrel. Her Watergull and her purple beaver were the only ones still moving, and the beaver looked like it was going to fall any time soon. The Watergull was too busy dodging to really get close.
Shiro took down one Megant and fought a second.
Raiki hammered at Edward's Fort with her Sonic Barrage, even as Edward's Comrades were hitting Colin's fort with spitballs, Wing Gusts, and Bubble Streams.
Colin knew it was coming… it was only a matter of time before…
There. He saw it. One BIG fireball coming their way. Their walls were already falling apart. Colin knew this was it.
"We're outta here!" Colin grabbed Raiki, who mewed in protest, and ran as hard and as fast as he could.
He dashed for the next available shelter: Katrin's Fort. Shiro was done with his second Megant and was fighting a third, and Raiki's Sonic Barrage had seriously thinned down the wall in front of Edward's Fort, but Edward's Comrades had taken down Katrin's beaver and both she and her Watergull were running for shelter too.
A sudden change of target, the full concentration of Edward's firepower, and another big fireball ended that scramble. Katrin's Fort, too, went up in flames.
"Game Over!" Edward announced, and the firing ceased. Shiro, however, finished off his third Megant and started on a fourth.
Edward yelled.
"Stop the fighting! The Battle of the Forts is concluded! Two Forts down, one Fort standing! I win!"
***
They took a half-hour break for everyone to rest and recover. Colin retrieved his Comrades and fed them with some of Edward's stock of food.
"No need to pay me for it." He laughed, when Colin offered. "I haven't had this much fun all year!"
"You know, we really don't stand much of a chance." Colin grumped. "You've got way too many Comrades and that big fort of yours!"
"Really?" Edward grinned. "Tell you what. Why don't we even the odds a little?"
"How?" Colin asked.
"How about you and Katrin take the Fort and gang up on me?" he offered.
Katrin loved the idea. "Done!"
"Done." Colin agreed.
"And done!" Edward roared. "Get ready! My army and I will siege your fort in ten minutes!"
***
This time, he and Katrin talked about what to do.
"Get Raiki to the top of the Tower." Katrin suggested. "She's the most powerful long-range attacker we have. Put the stronger shooters on top and the weaker ones below."
"Why?" Colin asked.
"Because the higher you are, the more things you can aim at." Katrin explained. "Rall's lousy at long-range, isn't he?"
"Totally." Colin admitted.
"Rawrl." Rall protested.
"It's true!" Colin said.
"Velvet's not too good either." Katrin petted her purple beaver. "And Streak's long-range techniques use too much MP." She petted the brown-and-white weasel.
They put Katrin's Arachnid, Flying Squirrel, three Rainducks and Watergull on the top of the fort with Warc. Shiro, Meek, Rall, Streak and Velvet stayed on the lower floor with Colin and Katrin.
"Here goes…" Colin said cheerily as Edward's Megants started spitting spitballs at them.
***
At first, it seemed easy. The Ants and Arachnids were spitting at the fort, and couldn't hit any of their Comrades from that far away. Graybark, Edward's big gray wolfcat, shot off a few Sonic Bolts and his Firebull tossed a fireball at the Tower, but didn't bring it down yet.
Raiki was blasting them with her Sonic Barrage, and Warc was using Wing Gusts at a fast pace. Katrin's Comrades were taking turns to strike so that every second, there was something hitting one or the other of Edward's army.
But all of a sudden, Edward sent out his birds; five Rainducks flew overhead and bombed them from above. Katrin sent her own Rainducks and Watergull to fight them in the air, and Colin sent Warc to join the fight.
Then Edward sent his two strongest Comrades to the attack; Graybark and Firebull charged directly for the fort. Graybark was faster; he dashed in and used his tail to knock away a good piece of the barrier for Firebull to run through.
"Yip!" Shiro barked, and he and Rall dashed out the side, followed by Velvet and Streak. Meek shot some Blades of Grass at Firebull, but the bull didn't even seem to care.
Katrin's Arachnid and Squirrel on the roof were still busy trying to fight off Edward's birds. Raiki was a bit smarter and turned her Sonic Bolts towards Firebull, but Graybark started blasting at her Tower with his own Sonic Barrage and she had to turn her attention to him. Their Sonic Barrages hit each other's shots and cancelled each other out.
Meanwhile, Firebull was almost on them. Shiro, Rall, Velvet and Streak all attacked from the side at the same time, and almost managed to make him stop.
But they didn't quite manage it. Firebull reached the Fort and hit it with his horns. Fire burst out from his horns and the whole Fort shook for a few moments before the wall exploded.
Colin, Katrin and Meek were running when Firebull reached the fort, and they were outside safely when the fire burst out. Katrin called her Arachnid and Flying Squirrel down from the roof.
"Raiki! Get down here!" Colin called.
Too late. The wall shook, and then collapsed, and the whole fort started to tilt over.
"Warc!" Colin shouted. "Get Raiki!"
"Wuark!" Wark spun in mid air and dropped to the tower, where Raiki was still exchanging shots with Graybark. Warc tried to grab her, but one of Edward's Rainducks hit her with a Wing Gust, and she ended up crashing into Raiki, sending them both tumbling down from the Tower.
"Shiro! Rall!" Colin called.
"Yip!" Shiro spun and dashed to the rescue. He ran up the side of the Fort's wall and jumped off it to catch Raiki before she fell. His jump brought them both towards Colin, who caught them in his arms together.
Warc, meanwhile, had blasted away at Edward's Rainduck with her own Wing Gust and was chasing that duck through the air angrily.
Without Raiki to stop him, Graybark turned his Sonic Barrage to Rall, Velvet and Streak, and bowled all three of them over in a short time.
Without those three to stop him, Firebull hit the fort a second time. This knocked down a second wall, and the rest of the fort collapsed at once.
"Charge!" Farmer Edward shouted to the rest of his Comrades, and his whole army dashed forward to the attack.
The third Game, Colin remembered, was a free-for-all. It wouldn't stop just because the Fort had fallen.
"Shiro! We have to stop Graybark before Edward's Army gets here!" Colin told his wolfcat.
"Yip!" Shiro jumped off Colin's arms.
"Mew." Raiki agreed, standing up again. She drew up another Sonic Barrage.
"Streak! Sand Wind at Graybark!" Katrin called.
Edward, meanwhile, had a totally different idea. "Everyone! Attack their birds!"
Colin gaped as twenty Comrades threw everything they had at Warc and Katrin's four birds. The Rainducks and Watergull tumbled down in short order.
"Wuark!" Warc complained.
"White-tail! Nutcracker Bite on his Rainducks!" Katrin ordered her Flying Squirrel.
Her Squirrel jumped up, spread its arms and caught one of Edward's Rainducks. The duck flapped wildly for a bit before they crashed into the ground. It stopped moving soon after that, and White-tail the Flying Squirrel jumped up at another Rainduck.
Meanwhile, Raiki and Shiro were striking at Graybark from either side. The big wolfcat was having trouble concentrating on the Sonic Barrage while also fending off Shiro.
Rall and Velvet were playing tag with Firebull, but Firebull blasted Rall with a powerful fireball and the honey bear collapsed all at once.
"Rawrl." Rall raised both paws, signalling that he was out.
Meek jumped onto one of Edward's Rainducks. "Meeekik!" she squeaked as she and the Rainduck went tumbling into the ground with a lot of crashing noise. Both of them stopped moving after that, declaring themselves 'out'. Then, they sat back side by side to watch the show.
"White-tail! Hurry up with that last Rainduck!" Katrin called. "Velvet! Switch targets and help take down Graybark! Lead Firebull into him!"
Velvet spun and dashed towards Graybark, who was still trying to fight off both Shiro and Raiki at the same time. Firebull chased her.
"Run right under Graybark!" Katrin called excitedly.
Colin watched in wonder as the purple beaver ran right between Graybark's legs, with Firebull almost on her. Firebull, predictably, didn't quite manage to catch her because Graybark was in the way.
The bull crashed into Graybark and sent him flying some ten feet into the air. Graybark saw how high he was and snatched up a pair of binoculars to take a good look at what things looked like at that height.
When he landed, he sat down and started wiping the binoculars. He was out too.
"Velvet, lead Firebull into Edward's army!" Katrin called.
"Scrap…" Edward didn't like the idea. "Bubblesaur! Use your strongest long-range attack on Katrin!"
On… {Katrin}?! Colin spun and dashed forward. "Katrin, look out!"
Bubblesaur, a small blue dinosaur with a roung head, looked up at Katrin with watery blue eyes and closed them, drawing his head back.
"Kat!" Colin yelped, when he saw that she wasn't running away. She probably didn't even hear what Edward said, she was concentrating too hard on the battle.
"Velvet…" Katrin began.
"Bubblesaur! NOW!" Edward shouted.
"Kat!" Colin jumped in between her and Bubblesaur.
And then it happened.
***
"Ah… CHOO!" Bubblesaur sneezed.
SPLAT!
"Ugh." Colin said, completely covered with Bubblesaur's 'strongest long-range attack'. There was a LOT to go around. "EWW!!"
"Pond's that way." Katrin pointed.
Colin didn't hesitate. He ran right in. "Yuck! Yucks, yucks, YUCKS!"
***
Shiro dodged the last Rainduck's Wing Gust from above while White-tail tried to catch it again and failed. "Yip!"
Raiki spun and shot off a quick Sonic Bolt, blasting the Rainduck out of the air.
"Squawk…" the Rainduck sat down and didn't move any more.
"Velvet!" Katrin gasped, as the purple beaver was finally caught by the firebull after leading the bull through half of Edward's army. Velvet, too, went flying some ten feet high.
Where Graybark had taken out binoculars to see the view from that high up, Velvet took out a telescope.
"Chitichi." She said, looking quite impressed.
Shiro slammed his tail down on Firebull. Raiki hammered him with Sonic Bolts.
Streak chased Bubblesaur up a tree.
The rest of Farmer Edward's army closed in.
"Yip!" Shiro barked to Raiki.
Raiki jumped onto Shiro and together, they blasted their way free of the army.
Streak, meanwhile, got hit by the spitballs of six Megants and was declared 'out'.
Colin turned around to see Shiro and Raiki running for dear life with Edward's nine last Comrades on their tails.
He frowned. "Shiro looks bigger than he was before."
***
It was MP shortage, in the end, that ended the game. Shiro used his up halfway around the pond, and Raiki finished hers off before they managed to take down more than four of the Megants.
Farmer Edward, with five Comrades still able to fight, was declared the winner.
Thus ended the first of what would come to be known as Farm Wars.
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