บท 244: Subterfuge (2)
We briskly walk along the tunnel walls and I take care to lose as few skull goblins as possible whenever we reach branching paths. This tunnel has many entrances and exits, all hidden and resulting in a wide net of branching paths.
With the dungeon map I can see where the lost skull goblins are but there is no time to go get them. The mass of green dots assaulting the first line of defense is already beginning to thin out.
With a sense of urgency I hasten the skull goblins along as the tunnel begins to slant upwards telling of our nearing exit. I know that there are a few scattered guards outside but with the 4'000 skull goblins with me I doubt they will be a problem.
What matters now is speed.
No matter what, we need to reach the second line of defense as quick as possible to avoid them having time to prepare against us. If we can get close enough to the army gunners their effectiveness will diminish greatly and they won't have the time to rearrange the turrets to face us.
We break out of the tunnel in a way that I can't help but be proud of. The skull goblins may be stupid battle maniacs but that doesn't mean I can't make use of that.
Instead of slowly clearing the rocks blocking the tunnel, I simply tell the skull goblins that there are enemies on the other side. Once they hear that, they have no patience to clear rocks. Like a tidal wave their bodies surge forth and blast open the exit with sheer mass and charging force.
I get swept out of the tunnel exit by the mass of advancing bodies and need a second to find my footing. The front most skull goblins are like thirsty travelers in a desert who've just spotted water. Only that that water is a scared human soldier with only one weapon and not enough courage to even raise it.
Before he can even let loose a scream of terror they descend upon him stabbing, biting, and clawing at him.
However, they quickly get off him and charge towards the sounds of the first line of defense. It would seem my training is already paying off. Instead of getting hung up on the poor soldier they besieged him with attacks until he was dead and moved on immediately.
I also draw my daggers and hide in the charging horde as it heads toward the second line of defense. We rush past a few rock formations that split the skull goblins into smaller groups and reach the back of the second defense line.
I spot two turrets set up to on either side of the narrowing walls of two rock formations. People in army camo are manning them casually while chatting with their comrades who stand next to them, their rifles at the ready.
Despite their casual demeanor it quickly becomes apparent that these aren't regular grunts like the soldiers around them. Two army gunners whip their heads around the moment we round the corner and give a warning to their team mates.
An impressive display of attention towards movement from their backs but still too late. Gunners are most effective when they are a certain distance away from the enemy. While they managed to spot us thereby avoided being killed without the chance to fight back, we are already too close.
They get off one volley of shots that thins out the first few lines of skull goblins but due to most of them wearing at least some armor they effectively act as shield for the ones behind them.
The two army gunners manning the turrets are currently my biggest worry but after seeing us they don't attempt to turn the turrets on us. Instead, they step away from the turrets and draw their handguns. Seems those turrets can't be turned around without disassembling them.
With my biggest worry cleared, I can finally let loose. I speed up and move from the middle of the charging group of skull goblins to the front. Before the army gunners can fire again, I send four energy daggers at them. They seem surprised and are forced to dodge in an exaggerated manner.
This brief interruption gives the skull goblins and myself enough time to fully close the distance. The soldiers and dwarves stationed closer to the first line of defense only just now realize that something is going on. By the time they are here we'll have taken down a few of these pesky army gunners at the very least.
I focus on what has to be the captain of the army gunners stationed here and as I move closer to him I happen to hear his radio go off.
"Lewis, mind sending a few of your guys to help us out here? There's some kobaloi with equipment here and some of them even have sling shots. They're pushing us back way too quickly! If you don't reinforce us we'll have to move the defense line back early."
The captain's face falls and he yells back into the radio.
"Idiots! You've already been breached! We're under assault ourselves and we can't turn the turrets towards them since they came from behind us! Get your shit together and stop whining!"
Wow, not very constructive criticism. Seems the captain of this squad thinks that we broke through some other place and turned back. However, I really don't think anything that isn't horribly over leveled could break through one point of each defense line and bring such a horde with it unnoticed. He's probably just panicking.
"What? Don't make things up! We just had a group check in and everyone from our line reported being under pressure but none said they were breached!"
They might figure things out at this rate so I'll have to at least stop these guys from guessing that there is some alternate path we can use to forgo their defenses. Other captains may think of it too but there's nothing I can do about that.
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