Crowded around a small fire, the high troglodytes discussed their plans to attack after the second scouting party had returned from their venture. The leader of the party and one of the only survivors of the small scouting venture, Kuisotle, reported what he found which greatly alarmed the troglodyte leaders.

“Is a direct assault even possible?” one of the troglodytes asked.

“We do not know until we send more scouts to try and probe for new paths. But that will give the iron monsters time,” Tenokotle, the leader of the troglodytes, rebuked.

“The high priest is right. Those monsters are almost as smart as us. We know we aren’t the only civilization in this mortal realm, so these iron monsters could be another civilization to worry about,” Kuisotle grumbled as he struggled with his arm. It was patched up with dried vines and leather, and it smelled badly of medicine. During his escape, one of the drones managed to stab his arm, but other than that, he was mostly fine.

“It will be better if we simply block the monsters’ nest,” a troglodyte dressed in heavy dyed leather said.

“Monsomon, while I know you and your tribesmen are cowards, the rest of us will not sit idly for the inevitable flood of monsters. It will take too much time to block every passage available, time that we do not have,” Kuisotle chided.

“You dare call my people cowards? To dare slander the name of Monso, you ask Lord Tilapola to take your soul!” Monsomon stood up and looked down on the much smaller vine-covered troglodyte. Kuisotle didn’t back down, and instead, rose up until they were only a breath away from each other’s faces.

“Enough! We agreed to forget about our differences to settle the matter with the iron monsters. If you have any wrath left in you, point it towards the demonic beasts,” Tenokotle shouted.

The two continued their staring competition until Kuisotle backed down. “I back down in deference and great respect to the High Priest. But if we are ever alone, merchant, you will soon find yourself asking for mercy.”

“Priests,” Monsomon spat then went back to his seat.

When the two finally decided to separate, a troglodyte walked up to Tenokotle and whispered closely to him. He had a surprised face, then announced, “Prepare your weapons.”

“I smell them,” Kuisotle said to the surrounding troglodytes. “Get your men ready.”

The high troglodytes prepared their men, and went towards the back entrance of their camp. In the distance, large figures could be seen moving in large groups towards the troglodytes. The first figure to come out of the shadow made the troglodytes lose their breaths.

It was large, and its face was scarred from many battles. Its size was much, much larger than the current leader of the troglodytes, Tenokotle. Many of the lesser troglodytes, called polas by their own cousins, couldn’t help but get on their knees.

“You have finally arrived, Huatotle,” Tenokotle shouted with his arms out wide.

“I have come, High Priest,” Huatotle replied as he approached with his own arms spread out as well.

The two shared an embrace, though it was somewhat awkward since Huatotle was twice the size of the high priest. The troglodytes all stamped the ground with their weapons, welcoming the great troglodyte and his warband.

“Huatotle ‘Sword of Lord Tilapola’ of the Otle Caste. It is great pleasure to meet you once more,” Monsomon greeted.

“Monsomon of the Mon Caste. It is good to see you as well, old friend,” Huatotle responded in kind.

The other troglodytes also gave their own greetings, and the high troglodytes made their way back to the center of the camp.

“I have not seen such a gathering since thirty years ago,” Huatotle remarked with a cheery croak. He sat next to the High Priest Huatotle, then rested his mighty weapon, a large mace with a bronze head, against his shoulder.

“Indeed. It brings me back when I was a young priest,” Tenokotle said as he looked at the fire. When it was growing weaker, he raised his hand towards the fire. Instead of a chant, he made a long, low croak which made the fire grow stronger.

“Where is Kanotle? I heard he joined you,” Huatotle asked.

The high priest solemnly shook his head then explained, “He died when he went to scout out for the iron monsters. His last act of defiance was giving Kuisotle or any other brethren a silent warning.”

The vine-covered Kuisotle nodded his head and added, “If it were not for Kanotle’s scent, I would’ve walked into certain death.”

Huatotle was silent, but he did not look distraught. “As long as he died in battle, and in the defense of Tilapola, then it is not a sad death, but a honorable one.”

The troglodytes weren’t unfamiliar with foreign forces attacking them. In the first place, the very reason why they had stopped killing each other a long time ago was because another race threatened to wipe out all of the tilapolas. The troglodytes dropped their differences and created a united front against the foreign invaders which ended with the foreigners being driven out of the troglodyte territories completely.

With an outside enemy to focus on, the troglodytes developed into a united society which had presisted for many years. Though their enemies were out of the troglodyte’s homeland, they were still out there. Huatotle himself was one of the mighty defenders of the Tilapolas, holding off armies of invaders with his renowned warband. Now, he was at the outer fringes of tilapolan territories once more to defend his home.

“I have heard of the summons. Tell me everything that I have to know,” Huatotle said.

Tenokotle was about to answer when forward sentries came into the center of the camp. They looked like they were scared out of their wits and out of breath.

“What happened?” Tenokotle asked one of the sentries.

“High Priest Tenokotle,” the troglodyte greeted, then he realized that Huatotle was sitting next to him. “War Priest Huatotle.”

“Yes, yes. Get on with it,” Huatotle beckoned the sentry.

“The demons come in great numbers! Our forward outposts were attacked and they’re still-... No, they must have fallen by now. It won’t be long until the demons reach us,” the sentry reported.

“From which outpost did you-...” Before Tenokotle could finish his question, another sentry appeared, followed by another. Scouts from different parts of the underground labyrinth arrived, all reporting the same thing.

The troglodytes had set up small outposts towards many tunnels which were deemed likely to be used by the iron demons so that they could be warned where the attack was coming from in advanced.

However, it seemed that the iron demons had decided to swarm from every path conceivable. Even from tunnels they had not previously explored or seen before, the demons sprung forth unexpectedly.

“How many of them are there?” Monsomon gulped. The scouts couldn’t tell - there were simply too many to count.

“Recall every outpost immediately!” Tenokotle ordered, sprouting the nearby troglodytes into action. The high troglodytes immediately dispersed into every direction to gather their men, and to prepare for a defense.

“I ached at the thought that we would have to march long to get to the enemy, but it seemed that my troubles were saved,” Huatotle joked as he slowly got up.

“I do not know how they found our camp with my knowing, but it seemed that they did. Huatotle, these monsters are much more cunning than we anticipated. Do not do anything rash,” Tenokotle warned.

“Are you telling me to retreat if victory seems unlikely?” Huatotle asked.

“Come back here to the center at the first sign of defeat. There is no meaning in dying here without anything to gain, not even honor,” Tenokotle commanded.

“Do not be foolish, High Priest. I know that. I have not survived thirty years of brutal combat at the Tilapolan Border for nothing,” Huatotled assured. “On the other hand, I beg of you to take care of yourself. I can be replaced, but the High Priest cannot be replaced so easily.”

“No tilapola is easily replaceable, War Priest,” Tenokotle chided. “But I will stay here at the heart of the camp for my safety.”

“You pessimists should really learn to look at the brighter side of life. It’s also possible we could beat these iron monsters for good in this one decisive battle,” Kuisotle pointed out from the side. With his injured arm, he wouldn’t be able to participate in battle, so he was left with sitting on the sideline with his men in tow.

“If Lord Tilapola wills it, my friend,” Tenokotle replied as he watched the troglodytes prepare for battle.

At the vanguard of the Varangian assault, several spider drones charged forward towards a shoddy pile of rocks which the troglodytes had stacked as a form of barricade. The spider drones launched themselves recklessly towards the troglodyte defenders, but they were immediately pushed back.

As soon as the warrior drones managed to close the gap towards the troglodytes, the monsters retreated deeper into the tunnels. Several worker drones bashed the barricades aside to make way for the combat drones.

‘These defensive positions are not very good at keeping us out,’ Apoth reported.

‘Because they are not meant for keeping us out, dummy,’ Exarchi pointed out.

Exarchi and Apoth led the vanguard which contained the latest iron-framed warrior drones and the new prototype Thane drones. As usual, Exarchi carried a pair of spider drones on his front and back which acted as a form of armor.

“Why are you here anyway?” Apoth asked.

“It’s because all I’ve been doing is instruct drones on where to mine rocks or cut trees. It’s not as exciting as trampling organics, you know?” Exarchi answered.

“Exciting, huh… What does it mean to be excited?” Apoth asked.

“Please, don’t bore me. If you want to know, ask Red. It’s more efficient that way,” Exarchi replied as he pretended to sigh. “Why are you here? You’re not good at the whole ‘killing organics’ thing anyway.”

“Mind you, comparing me to Slayer or Princeps will only garner you a biased sense of what is ‘good’ at combat. Besides, we’re slowly being replaced by the newest models for frontline command. We might not even have to fight in the near future, so combat abilities would be irrelevant in the long term,” Apoth argued.

“Then this will be a good chance for you to marvel at my ability to command!” Exarchi proudly proclaimed.

The two Daedeli were stopped when Thane Alpha-Alpha-One approached them.

“Reporting. Vanguard has reached Alpha.”

Exarchi could see that the tunnel ahead was filled with rocks and mud piled into makeshift barricades, and there were spikes made out of bones protruding from the barricades. Not only that, there was also a great amount of troglodytes defending the tunnel.

“We’ve finally reached the entrance of their camp,” Exarchi observed.

“The other groups are also reaching their destinations,” Apoth added.

Thanks to the collective hivemind of the drones, they were able to coordinate in real-time without the need of leaving things to chance or sending messengers out. Even now, Custodian was micromanaging some parts of the assault force, but the A.I. was still trying its best to leave the whole situation to the Thane and Daedeli drones.

“Will we be fine without Master Custodian’s help?” Apoth pondered.

“Watch me,” Exarchi replied. With a beating noise emanating from him, the spider drones made the first move.

While the tunnel was so small that only a few attackers would be able to attack at a time, the drones could use their inhuman abilities to their best extent. Exarchi ordered the spider drones to begin attacking from the ceiling, followed by warrior drones on the ground. Meanwhile, warrior drones with four arms grappled onto the walls with two of their hands, and used their free arms to aim their crossbows. At the back of the drone’s line, crossbow-armed drones stood on top of platforms made from smaller shield drones.

This strategy echoed from Exarchi’s side and back into the hivemind. Every attack group started imitating the vanguards even if they were tunnels away from each other.

Instead of using the tunnels to their advantage, the troglodytes now found themselves being limited by the tunnels. The frontline defenders were outnumbered, and the defenders at the back were being peppered by bolts.

The frontline troglodytes found themselves trapped as well, as spider drones jumped behind the lines and attacked the already chaotic back line.

“Shieldwall, my lovelies!” Exarchi cried and his ringing voice echoed across the tunnel.

The warrior drones locked their shields, then began pushing one by one. The Thane drones learnt to coordinate each step, and they simultaneously bashed their shields forward.

“Step!” the thanes commanded, and a single simultaneous step crashed against the ground.

“Push!” the thanes followed up, and the warrior drones pushed their shields forward.

“Stab!” came the last of the three commands, and the screams of the troglodytes rang throughout the tunnel.

Each time a warrior drone fell, a new one would take its place, and the broken drones would be taken to the back by smaller spider worker drones. A mini-Custodian close to Exarchi and Apoth reattached limbs or patched up minor problems, but it couldn’t fix the severely damaged drones. Nevertheless, it still meant that some drones continued to trickle back into the fray. On the other hand, the troglodytes couldn’t do anything for their injured as spider drones continued to rain from the ceiling.

Some smaller troglodytes desperately launched themselves over the Varangian shieldwall in order to cause mayhem with some success, but the troglodytes were being pushed back steadily. The barricades slowed the drones only until some miner drones smashed their way through them.

“Step!”

“Push!”

“Stab!”

The horrifying noise of what seemed like drums beating to a war song to the troglodytes continued to echo, and some troglodytes began to lose their nerves.

“Stand your ground, little ones! Lord Tilapola will- Argh!” a high troglodyte tried to rally the defenders, but was shot, then stabbed by a warrior drone.

‘Master Custodian, the vanguard has reached the dome area,’ Exarchi reported as he continued to relay orders to every Thane drones without interruption. From the other side of the tunnel, he could see a large underground dome the size of a stadium which acted as the main forward base of the troglodytes.

Pushed back into the large dome, the troglodytes retreated back into the central camp. Not only were troglodytes flushed out of the tunnel where Exarchi was at, many other tunnels also fell to Custodian’s forces.

The troglodyte main camp had a low mud wall, but it wouldn’t be a challenge to the drones which had already stormed two castles previously.

As the drones flooded out of the tunnels and into the underground dome, troglodyte slingers and javelin throwers hanging from the vines hanging against the high ceiling attacked the drones. In response, Exarchi ordered some warrior drones to break off and climb the walls. The drones will not only have to contest for the camp on the ground, but also for the ceiling, it seemed.

The drones formed a battle line towards the camp, then began marching slowly towards the troglodytes. Large rocks were hurled from the inside of the camp by crude-looking catapults. Several drones were crushed, and some Thane drones were even lost.

‘We don’t have catapults to counter them!’ Exarchi exclaimed worriedly.

‘We don’t need to counter large boulders with other large boulders,’ Apoth suggested.

Drones with specialized slings began to form up at the back of the drones’ lines. They reached for their pouch hanging by their waists and took out vials. They hurled the vials towards the center of the camp, and explosions erupted from within the camp which caused panic among the defenders.

The drones didn’t use Apoth’s explosive concoctions earlier since the slingers needed a good angle to hurl the vials, and the tunnels were also too narrow which meant that the drones would also get caught in the explosion.

Now, Apoth could show off his creations to Exarchi who looked very impressed at the result of his explosives. “You also used explosives in the assault against the castle under Mount Varangia, right? How much of those could you make?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t make a lot of them. It requires some materials that seemed hard to get and limited,” Apoth replied.

“The water from the pool, right?” Exarchi asked.

“Yes. Master Custodian and I concluded that the water is special, but since there’s only a pool of it, Master Custodian decided to limit how much I could get. He told me to find other alternatives, though,” Apoth explained. “But I still have the acid from the spiders.”

When the slinger drones ran out of explosives to hurl, they switched to throwing vials of acid. Though the acid wasn’t strong enough that it would melt through the troglodytes, it did cause some harm to the frog-like monsters.

‘Drones, forward,’ Exarchi demanded.

As troglodytes and drones fell from the high ceiling, warrior drones approached the camp. There were more and more high troglodytes taking up the front as the casualties started to mount up, and the warriors drones were beginning to struggle against the larger and more intelligent high troglodytes.

‘Huskarls to the front,’ Exarchi ordered.

The huskarl drones, which were previously kept at the back as reserves, began to march towards the front. With their steel frames and higher quality armor, they were a better match against the high troglodytes.

There were not just huskarls being thrown into the mix. Thane drones, like Thane Alpha-Alpha-One, were sent to deal with the strongest high troglodytes.

In some parts of the line, the drones were starting to give up ground, and the defenders were starting to get more confidence. “Lord Tilapola is intervening! Push them back!” a high troglodyte wearing a thick layer of dyed leather ordered.

He swung his hammer around, destroying three drones at the same time. He kicked another drone, then crushed the head of another with his fist.

Just as the drones’ line of defense was about to break, a large drone approached the high troglodyte. It was a thane drone assigned to destroy this particular high troglodyte.

“Fool! No matter how big you are, I, Monsomon, will crush you!” Monsomon shouted.

Followed by his own troglodytes, Monsomon attacked the thane drone head-on. He launched a kick towards the thane expecting it to fall as easily as the feeble warrior drones, but unexpectedly, the thane held its ground.

In fact, Monsomon was even pushed back.

“What the?!” Monsomon croaked.

The silent thane swung its axe forward towards Monsomon, but it was blocked by the troglodyte’s hammer. The drone quickly let go of its axe and thrusted its sword forward, catching Monsomon completely by surprise.

By some miracle, Monsomon managed to move his body to the side in time, but the sword still pierced his side.

‘Kuh?! What kind of weapon?!’ Monsomon groaned in his mind. He wasn’t critically injured, but he was injured nonetheless.

The troglodyte tried to step back, but he was immediately assaulted by an overhead strike from the thane. Again and again, the thane continued to swing, thrust, and even bash against the troglodyte, until Monsomon found an opening against the thane.

As the thane thrusted his sword forward, Monsomon grabbed the undefended arm. He proceeded to pull the thane, then lifted it up into the air with his large two arms before swiftly dropping the drone’s back against his knee.

With a crack, Monsomon was sure the thane’s spine was broken, yet it proceeded to turn its head straight at him.

“W-What kind of-...”

The thane thrusted its dagger straight towards Monsomon’s eye and plunged it deep. As the troglodyte’s lifeless body fell onto the ground, the thane repeatedly stabbed at the troglodyte until it was sure it was dead.

‘Thane Alpha-Alpha-One, report,’ Exarchi called out in hivespeak.

‘Minimum damage received. Objective destroyed,’ the thane answered as it got up from the ground.

‘Then what are you waiting for?’ Exarchi asked with a slightly annoyed tone. From what he could see, the thane drone was just staring off into the distance as warrior drones charged past it.

‘For further instructions.’

‘Go back to leading the drones.’

‘Affirmative,’ replied the thane.

With the death of their leader, Monsomon’s men quickly fell apart, and the warrior drones pushed forward.

Across the frontline, high troglodytes fell one by one, and the defenders were pushed ever inward into their camp.

“These monsters!” Huatotle cursed loudly as he returned with his men following him behind. Just as ordered, Huatotle and his men retreated back to High Priest Tenokotle when defeat seems inevitable. At the very least, he got to experience fighting one or two of those large iron monsters.

“Not monsters. Demons. We will have to retreat and use the tunnels behind the camp which leads straight back to tilapolan territories,” Tenokotle said.

“It is quite unfortunate that I didn’t get to watch War Priest Huatotle or his men fight today,” Kuisotle snarked as he raised his injured arm.

“We can still turn this around if you give me and my men the word, High Priest,” Huatotle insisted.

“No. We retreat while we still can,” Tenokotle ordered as he swiped his hand across the air. The fire at the center of the camp died, and the nearby high troglodytes began to prepare to retreat as well. “The polas, and whoever is still out there, will have to buy time for us.”

“And I shan’t be granted that privilege?” Huatotle asked.

“Do not argue with me, War Priest Huatotle,” Tenokotle hissed.

Huatotle looked back at the raging battle, and he could hear many of his brethren and lesser cousins scream out as the monsters slowly pushed into the camp. He wanted a miracle or some kind of divine intervention. Anything to find the right answer.

He looked around as his men surrounded him, waiting for an answer. They were all veterans who had spent many decades fighting with him and they were willing to follow him to wherever, all he had to do was give the word.

“Men,” Huatotle announced. “we retreat as the High Priest commands.”