Kingdom Of The Weak

The important thing was, the Foresight could fly and could shoot. There were a few unexpected wobbles, but the XL Ballista proved capable of accurately spearing wooden targets from 300 meters away. The shots not only hit the targets, they struck with enough force to tear right through them. At 400, the accuracy dropped and the targets were hit off-center, but still tore through the wood like nothing. At 500, half the shots were glancing blows, but even they managed to knock the targets over sideways. At 600, Candice began to miss, hitting three out of five, and there the demonstration shifted over to Denise.

Shooting one of Candice"s high-powered crossbows from 100 meters in the air, Denise actually managed to hit a target 500 meters away. She missed four out of five, but the one time she did hit the target, the bolt struck solidly and stuck.

"I could do better." She grumbled to Remian later. "I just need more practice."

Candice held the same opinion of her performance with the Ballista. Even Mindy thought the same of her performance with piloting the Foresight.

But everyone else thought they did great.

***

In the following week, the Iron Legion moved their camp to the North Side, as they had planned to long, long ago. It was a sign of confidence now that they moved camp into the town area, a sign that rather than being prepared to flee the town, they expected to be able to stop the Beast Wave outside it

They began to gather materials for the airport and the road. Heavy foundations were being laid in all directions. The new airport was going to make the old one look like a child"s playhouse.

The Burning Steel Forge suddenly re-appeared in the ruins of the West Side overnight, except this time they appeared to be working with the High Rock Clan to set up a large smelter beside it.

Two wood-built churches appeared, one in the central area of the town ruins, another at the workers" quarters west of town. The Adventurers Guild and the Burning Steel forge both opened shop from cart-stalls at the town center.

Housed at the workers" settlement temporarily, the families and children of the workers roamed the town and west of town area freely. The sound of children laughing and playing was heard in the Frontier once again.

Oddly enough, those children never, ever entered the East Side. No matter what, rain or shine, even in the middle of a heavy downpour and there was no shelter nearby… they would never enter the East Side.

That suited the Secret Waves gang just fine. They had their fish, their drugs, their source of income, they could trade with the airship… they didn"t need anything else. They eyed the progress of the town with dark looks and low whispers, but beyond that, they made no move against the newcomers. Not openly, at least.

According to Tim, six separate attempts had been made for some sort of mischief or the other. The Lynxmice and Vigil got word to him very quickly, and he had Markus or Max or some officers of the Legion over at the trouble spots in short order. It was nice to have the Iron Legion camp near by. None of those six attempts ever managed to accomplish anything more than a brief sense of unease.

Speaking of unease, the Secret Waves didn"t say it, but it was them who felt more unease than the others. All of a sudden, everyone else except them seemed to get along just fine, and they seemed to be on the outside and in the dark about what was going on.

It might even seem like they were being left out on purpose. That was no small cause for anger. But they gritted their teeth and waited, counting the days until the next Fryday, when the airship was due, and everybody was gathering at the temporary airport when they spotted it from afar…

The timing was astounding. Just after the airship was spotted, and people were running all over the place gathering their trade goods, a column of smoke went up in the far south, and then a second, and a third.

The next Beast Wave was upon them.

***

"That"s the signal! Everyone into the mines!" Aren ordered as the alarm drums were beaten. They had kept a dozen scouts taking three-man (or child) shifts to watch the horizon for that very signal since sunrise, and they were not at all surprised to see the smoke just before lunch. Their response time was superb; they were beating on the alam drums within a minute of the third column of smoke rising up. "Call the scouts back!"

They lit counter-signals, twin columns of smoke in close proximity. This not only signaled the scouts that they received the message, but also guided them home.

But the scouts did not rush back. Instead, a weird green column of smoke rose up.

"The Wave has pa.s.sed the scouts! They"re moving fast!" Aren shouted. "Shut the doors! Full barricades! Now!"

"They"re here!" lookouts from the arrowslits facing south announced.

"Shut the doors!" Aren roared, but there was no need. With a loud BOOM, the double doors slammed shut. Heavy bars were laid in place immediately, wood reinforced with steel and then more steel frames bracing the doors.

"Fire at will!" Aren told the crossbowmen at the arrowslits. There were just a handful of arrowslits and just a handful of crossbowmen, but they fired steadily, and with gusto.

There were snarls, and howls, and something crashed into the door, and then again, and a third time, but afterward, the sounds of yowling and snapping faded, and there was no more impacts upon the door. The whole thing pa.s.sed in mere minutes and then there was a cautious, uncertain silence.

"Is it over?" Zane asked Aren carefully.

"I guess it is, kind-of?" Aren eyed the arrowslits. "At least, it is for us. The rest is up to the others."

***

Mindy was already on the airship when the alarms sounded. "We"re lifting off!"

Candice and Denise were already with her. Two High Rock clansmen were actually there with them, loading up the steel spears that served as the XL Ballista"s ammunition. These were bigger, thicker and heavier than the ones the Guard Tower Ballistae used; each of them handled the spears with care and caution, but when the alarms sounded, they exchanged glances and started scrambling to load up more.

"Enough! Everyone aboard!" Mindy called. "Remian said there won"t be much time!"

There were supposed to be archers or crossbowmen on board to provide support fire, but like Mindy said, there wasn"t much time. The ammo loaders both jumped on board the airship and started loading the XL Ballista.

Back during the demonstration that work had been done by the three girls and they had taken their time. Now, Candice would have two guys helping her reload and crank the Ballista. That would make a huge improvement on the Ballista"s rate of fire.

"Airship lifting off!" Mindy barked, as she cast off the lines and heated the gas overhead just a little to speed things up.

***

At that time, George was at the farm. Lunar"s howling warned him that the signal had been spotted.

"That"s the signal! The Beast Wave is coming! Gather all the families!" George shouted. "Call out the wolfcats!"

There were a few screams, but generally the families of the workers gathered slowly, often with yells of "wait" or expressions of unhurried complacency. They knew that the Wilds attacked the town; this settlement to the west of it had never been targeted. All their preparation here was just in case something unexpected happened.

In minutes, green smoke rose up in the distance long before they got into position. People were still running about yelling for children, scolding, looking for a weapon, asking if anyone had seen someone…

The wolfcats (Red and Lunar"s family and all those under Carrie"s command) began to form a line facing te south. The families gathered behind them, bringing makeshift pole-arms to bear, usually farming tools like hoes, shovels, and rakes, several mere pole without any sort of head, or in one inspired case, a mop…

George scratched his head, wondering if these folks were anywhere near taking this seriously.

Then yellow smoke rose up. "The Guard Towers have engaged! Everyone ready?"

There was no response, just a few chickens squawking (where did these people get chickens?!), a wolfcat yelping when some kid grabbed its tail, and a mother scolding her child.

***

"Beast Wave in sight! 1000 meters!" Candice announced.

"Ready!" The loaders announced, letting go of the cranks.

"Wind blessing!" Mindy cast it on both the XL Ballista and Denise"s crossbow.

Candice aimed and fired without skipping a beat. One loader picked up another spear; the other started turning the crank already. They reloaded in mere seconds, and Candice fired off the second shot.

"They"re coming in fast!" Denise noted. "Mix of Tier 3 and 4 light Wilds! 900 meters!"

Remarkably, out of Candice"s first four shots, one of them actually hit something in the oncoming Beast Wave. At that time, people were still making their way to the Guard Towers. Only one of the Guard Tower Ballistae sent out a shot. The other one seemed to be waiting or something.

"800 meters… 700… 600…"

Only then did the second Guard Tower start shooting. Yellow smoke began to rise from a signal fire. By that time at least six of the Wilds in the Beast Wave had been nailed by the Foresight"s XL Ballista. The first Guard Tower"s Ballista… hadn"t quite done so well.

Denise started shooting. They were farther back from the Guard Towers by about a hundred meters, but she and the crossbowmen at the Towers began firing at the same time. It was hard to figure out who hit what, but across the Beast Wave, Wilds staggered and fell.

400 meters. The Wilds at the very front of the incoming Beast Wave were led by a cheetah with a mix of stars and dots on its fur. The Starry Rain Cheetah was one of the fastest wildcats in these lands, especially known for its speedy burst of power. Candice fired off a shot straight for its face; it lunged, ducking under it as it charged ever forward, but then another spear lanced out from the guard towers, catching it in the shoulder, and a trio of crossbow bolts struck its legs and chest. Slowed down by its woulds, it stumbled; Candice"s next shot nailed it and ended its charge completely.

By that time, four other Tier 4 light Wilds had caught up and very quickly pa.s.sed the cheetah. Two antelope-types, an oversized mongoose and a lion with a scorpion"s tail rapidly approached the Guard Towers.

"300 meters!"

"Target the lion!" Candice told Denise.

Denise shot it in the paw, then the tail, and a third time in the left shoulder. It slowed, a little. It was not much, but as it roared back in anger, Candice managed to sent an XL spear ramming down its throat.

"Eat that!" Candice barked.

"200!"

The antelope-types and the mongoose went down under constant fire.

"100!"

Five other Tier 4 Wilds and about a dozen Tier 3"s neared the Towers. The other tower let out a different colored signal as soldiers with handheld spears sprung into action, turning each tower into a p.r.i.c.kly target for anything that wanted to barge in.

Orange smoke went up as the spears and the Wilds clashed.

***

Orange smoke rose. George felt a chill run down his back. "They"ve reached the Guard Towers!"

"Ready!" Nadia called. Taj"s wife was the one all but running the show here while the chiefs were at the mines. "Everyone accounted for and in position!"

"Finally!" George heaved a sigh. "Send up the yellow signal!"

Yellow smoke rose up from the settlement, showing that they were in position, but unthreatened.

***

That was when Tim turned the Secret Waves" own weapon against them.