My apologies for the extreme delay in posting this chapter, it was difficult to write and some other things kept interfering.

A couple of weeks back The Defective Hermit received a review that I found to be mean-spirited. The spoiler below contains further details, if you’re interested.

Spoiler :

After chapter 28 there was a review posted for The Defective Hermit that I found to be quite insulting. There will almost always be someone who will find fault with your work even if you are perfect and I am FAR FROM PERFECT. But the general tone of that review and the language that the reviewer used I thought was offensive. What has been worse in my opinion; is that nine people (at last count) have given that review a “thumbs up.” I know that most of my regular readers probably don’t look at those reviews but if any of you can scan for the one that uses “CUCK” in its title and give it a down check, I would sincerely appreciate it. I know that it would help with my mental outlook, thanks.

If you spot any mistakes please leave a comment, thank you.

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Chapter 29: Two Very Boring Days

After the convoy left, I collapsed on my bed and slept almost until noon because of my long night. While I needed to enchant items and help out in the factory there were two other matters that interested me and I was BORED with doing the same old thing day after day. The one task that I really wanted to get a start on was extending the borders of my tiny kingdom. Simply because I was so much more powerful when I was on my own land, which is obviously a good thing. Sadly with most of our military forces away, it was far too dangerous for me and whoever went with me, to leave the Stronghold at the present time.

The next item to attract my interest was to look into my worries concerning Teleportation. In college when I was into role playing games; I always thought of Teleportation as being a “cheat.” Thieves, assassins, raiders and monsters would teleport in, past all of my expensive and elaborate defenses, do their dirty work and then depart. I had hated teleporting foes. Now I lived in a world with Teleporters in it and it would be stupid for me to assume that only my friends and allies would have that ability. When I played some games in the past, I would weave a net of wires throughout my vaults and other important rooms to prevent people from just magically popping in, I’m not sure if it ever worked but none of those rooms were ever plundered. But doing something like that in real life would be a pain in ass if not impossible; especially since the most important things that I have to protect in the Stronghold are the lives of the people that live within it.

My Land Ownership ability which seems to be a related to my Earth Magic, tells me when anything is happening on my land. Someone walks across it, I know it; someone takes a dump on it, I know; someone drives across it, etcetera, etcetera; or rather I should say that I can know, because there is just too much information for me to handle and since I’m not that skilled yet and I might never be, it all becomes background chatter or like the sound of the wind, rain or surf. Is it really possible to distinguish the sound of one falling rain drop out of the total noise generated by a rain storm?

There is an exception though, when people use Earth Magic or Teleport while within my Kingdom, then it’s like someone’s ringing a lunchtime counter bell, which can be pretty annoying and distracting at times. But it’s usually okay because my Ownership ability somehow recognizes that it is someone that is sworn to me that is ringing that particular bell. It’s like the family dog suddenly perking up at a strange noise within your home but then immediately realizing that it is one of his “family” causing that noise, so your “dog” settles back down and goes back to sleep.

But what about outsiders, can I use my Land Magic or Ownership Ability to somehow deny them the ability to Teleport onto or off my lands or maybe use my magic in concert with some enchantment to at least deny them the ability to Teleport within the Stronghold or just parts of the Stronghold?

I got out some scratch paper and began doodling on it. I always seemed to do my best, creative and “out-of-the-box” thinking when I doodled. I didn’t expect to come up with a solution today but at least I had begun thinking about the problem. I would give myself an hour or two to contemplate the matter then I would get back to my regular BORING work.

Sometime soon I also needed to introduce my grandchildren to their new Aunt Nina. I’ve only seen them in passing over the last few months and a long visit would certainly be nice. I wonder how much weight they’ve put on.

I’ve also been putting off speaking with my son-in-law James Lopez; he has some family matters he wants to discuss. Although in my own defense, it’s not like I have that much, if any free time. Since the first Warning came, months ago, it seems like the only time that I am not working is when I’m sleeping.

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After lunch, Guardian Evonne Sting was taking another walk along with her family about the Stronghold. She was still trying to adapt to her new environs, it was just so very different from home and radically different from how she and her tribe had been living since coming to this benighted world.

The Stronghold of Hermit’s Forge was a busy and vibrant place, yes the people lived in it, under threat of death from the monsters that roamed outside its walls, but still the lesser nobility and the commoners within this mighty fortress, also had hope and confidence in their strange “King.”

According to her translator, Sir Storm Wind, they all firmly believed that they had an excellent chance of survival so long as everyone did their part and continued to work hard. Certainly from what Evonne could tell, no one seemed to work harder than their Monarch, Vincent Standish.

Walking along one underground boulevard she could see that some new brightly painted murals had been added to the walls just since yesterday and she had just heard through Sir Wind that there was going to be music in the cafeteria after the day’s main evening meal, she was looking forward to that. Evonne was startled to see that her children were exchanging greetings with various “alien’ people as they passed by. Her young ones were certainly picking up at least some of the words spoken in the Stronghold much more quickly than she or her husbands were.

It had only been a couple of days, but the constant fear that her babes had been exhibiting, since coming to this horrible world, had radically diminished.

While the people here, looked so very different from her own and slightly repulsive with the way that they only stood on two legs, she knew intellectually and in her hearts, that after seeing her children smiling once more, that she and the rest of the Guardians had no real choice but to join with the people of Hermit’s Forge and swear oaths to its King.

But it made her fur stand on end to see how careless he was with his own safety. She was a Guardian and her primary responsibility before anyone else in her tribe had been to Lady Song. It still shamed her that she hadn’t been there when her mistress met her end but at the time Evonne and the other two surviving Guardians had been relieved of duty so that they could get some much needed sleep.

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Boris Khan was worried, since the departure of the rescue convoy; the day was going far too smoothly. It was late afternoon and the only strange encounter had been when a family of large dog-sized jackalopes had hopped by. His past experiences with his new world, made him confident that this relatively peaceful time, was just the calm before the storm.

A lookout shouted out, “Lieutenant, I can see three humans approaching, they’re armed with crossbows.”

Sir Khan called out orders to his soldiers. “If they’re hostile, terminate them but if they’re not, be ready to give them covering fire.”

He leaned out a second story window to get a better look at who was coming; he could see three men. They were cautiously moving from one bit of cover to another. The men were less than a hundred yards away and easily within his Appraisal range.

Adam Bitar

Mikail Usamov

Albert Osborne

Relieved to see one orange with the small group, Boris gave orders to let the men inside. He went to greet the newcomers along with Captain Long.

All three men were staring wide-eyed at the “Real Aliens” that were working alongside humans. Lieutenant Khan let Captain Long handle the introductions.

“Hello, I’m Captain Barbara Long with the US Army. Who might you gentlemen be?”

The man that Appraisal identified as Albert Osborne snorted. “You mean you don’t know who we are; after the Army came, stole our electrical generator, the steam engine that we almost had working, half of our black powder and the most skilled of our people. Doesn’t the US Army keep track of who they LEAVE TO DIE?!!”

Captain Long looked stunned by Osborne’s reply, so Sir Boris decided to step into the now more than uncomfortable breach.

“Hello, I’m Lieutenant Boris Khan. I’m an Officer with the Hermit’s Guard which is the military force for the Kingdom of Hermit’s Forge. My country was founded after everything went to hell. Our King got some major magical bonuses for creating his own nation which is the primary and possibly the sole reason that he did so. He’s a pretty good guy, he’s rescued a bunch of people and we’ve been struggling to build up our forces and our tiny country so that we can rescue some more. We haven’t done any real searching for survivors as of yet but when we do come upon people, so long as they’re basically good folks, we always offer them a home with us, so long as they can obey our rules which are all pretty much common sense type stuff.

We’ve made a deal with Captain Long here,” Boris nodded his head towards the female Army Officer, “to transfer her people to our Stronghold in exchange for some of the Army’s military equipment that we need. We’d be happy to take you along with us, as soon as our vehicles get back from the mission that they are currently on. Are there only three of you?”

Over the grumblings of the other two newcomers, the man who possessed the orange screen responded; “I am Adam Bitar. I worked for a steel distributor that has a facility approximately eight miles south of here. Because of local zoning regulations, there are also several other small heavy industrial businesses gathered in that same area. About seven days into the countdown; my boss, other business owners and the majority of their employees all got together and started making plans for the long term survival of themselves and their families, just in case all those things that the Warning Messages were saying came true.

We gathered supplies, started making other things while we still had power, and began converting the large warehouse and factory that I worked in, into a kind of fort.

Originally, there were over three hundred of us and we thought that we were pretty well prepared for what was to come, until the power grid failed. We had an old generator that still worked and we were making a steam engine which we planned on hooking up to an air compressor, so that when electricity did stop working we could still use our air tools.

However right at the end things went sour for us. What with I-75 running right by our makeshift fort, it was probably easy for those military convoys that were driving by, in their old trucks, to see that we still had working electrical lights, which is what probably what screwed us. I don’t know if the people who showed up were really US Army, Air Force, National Guard, or somebody just pretending to be them because they looked kind of shaggy for real soldiers and they were wearing a mixture of uniforms too.

Anyways, a dozen or more, old green Army trucks showed up one day and they began talking with the business owners, engineers and the most skilled of those people amongst us. Now a lot of the stuff that we had, I guess was the property of those folks that they were talking to and before the rest of us could even begin to guess what was about to happen, the soldiers with that convoy began taking those items while the people that they had been talking to and their families began climbing into the backs of those Army trucks, which mightily screwed the rest of us; what with them taking both the electrical generator and the steam engine. That happened only about fifteen hours before all regular automotive engines stopped working and after that we were never able to get our act back together and get ready in time for when things really did go all to hell.

There were originally 208 of us after the Army left but what with the monster attacks, there are only ninety-six of us still alive. There were ninety-nine of us but three of us got killed on the way here. Six of us, started out yesterday because we saw lights shining from this area for the past few nights, but with only our crossbows and what little magic we have, we’ve had to do a lot running and hiding in order for us to make it here alive. Three of us, including our only Healer, gave their lives so that we could arrive here safely. Back at our fort, we’re out of food and we’re starving. We’ve got a lot of children, many of them orphans now, the Army might have shafted us but I’m not too proud to beg so long as our kids get fed.”

Captain Long looked like she desperately wanted to speak and deny their allegations but she kept quiet, probably figuring that this was the wrong time.

Lieutenant Khan replied, “It’s dangerous but we might be able to help you folks out. I know there is an enclosed utility trailer across the street. We’ve got a lot of extra food because we just brought a large shipment here from my Kingdom. We also have a steam powered light tank.” The three men looked surprised and excited at that bit of news. “Now, don’t go getting your hopes up. I said a light tank; it only has relatively thin aluminum armor. We normally travel in convoys consisting of at least three armored vehicles because it’s too dangerous to do anything else. I can’t leave here because of prior agreements with Captain Long but I’m willing to ask my people if they will haul a load of food and arms to your fort so that you can hold out until my Captain and our convoy returns which should be in a day or two.

However, there’s a problem you can’t go, that tank is only built for a crew of three, we might be able to squeeze in a fourth person but it will be extremely tight and the trailer it will be towing won’t be armored at all. You should already know how many monsters there are out there, that can literally shred a thin-skinned trailer like that.”

“Lieutenant, we’ll take your offer but I at least have to go. We had to abandon our Healer in an old house about two miles from here; she was badly wounded and told us to leave her behind. Reluctantly we had to do so; with your tank, we just might be able to reach her in time to save her or at the very least comfort her during her final moments. Just knowing that we’re bringing food to her grandchildren will mean so much to her. I have to try; she’s done so much for us.”

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An hour later with the help of many hands, the Scorpion tank commanded by Sergeant Latisha Steele drove out of the factory parking lot, pulling a large utility trailer. It was loaded with food, black powder and some weapons which Lieutenant Khan had asked his soldiers to temporarily give up. Said firearms included four shotguns, two bolt action 30-06 rifles, and two of the new lightweight fifty caliber single shot rifles.

Two of the newcomers were riding inside the trailer, while Adam Bitar rode inside the tank and gave directions.

When they came to the house where they had left the Healer, Lin Chang, they found a pack of eighteen dire wolves scurrying about the building and trying to force their way inside. Canister shot and aimed fire, from the tank commander’s 20mm rifle, killed half of the creatures and chased the others away.

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Lin was so very tired, what with hunger and using up her limited resources to heal others, she now didn’t have the strength to heal herself. She thought that her time had come when she heard the first gunshots. Less than ten minutes later Private Stacy Nord who also possessed the Healing gift was lending her magical strength to the Grandmother. Twenty minutes later, after being stabilized, Lin Chang was gently loaded into the utility trailer for the ride back to the warehouse fort.

They arrived with no further problems but it took almost an hour before one of the warehouse’s large garage type doors could be partially opened so that the Scorpion tank with its trailer; could drive inside.

A sounder of giant wild hogs came by early that evening, Sergeant Steele having a love of barbecue shot three of the massive pigs. She was relatively content with how her mission was going so far but she was definitely looking forward to getting one of the new land cruisers when they finally started rolling out of the Forge’s factory. She just wasn’t very impressed with the Scorpion’s armor, firepower and general roominess though she did like how fast it was.

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Captain Mesquida had left the Stronghold only yesterday and while I knew it was completely unreasonable, I had hoped that he and his forces would be able to accomplish their mission in one day.

Today, I was helping out in the factory. Sean had some 90mm prototype cannons that he needed my assistance with building and Grace also needed my help with fabricating a prototype steam generator. Glen had a new production line building the 330 hp steam engines but our latest recruit Rufus, is convinced that by using the designs for our four cylinder 200 hp steam engines as a template that he can make some eight cylinder 400 hp steam engines which would be even better for our new land cruisers than the 330s but Rufus will certainly need time to develop and test said engines. I think I will give him two days; I am SUCH A NICE, EASY GOING GUY.

A giant bear tried breaking into the crude barbican fort we have on the other side of the moat. According to what I was told at dinner, the bear had to be over eight meters tall when standing on its hind legs but a 20mm bullet put paid to him and got us a lot of meat and a useful fur too.

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Boris was muttering some curses as two wounded flyers were carried into the old factory. Some huge birds that Appraisal labeled as “Blood Falcons” had attacked the pair of flyers after he sent them aloft to act as airborne lookouts. He had been hoping for them to maybe see some sign of Sergeant Steele and the Scorpion tank.

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Even though they had only had to deal with a pair of giant chipmunks, Latisha Steele was now feeling outnumbered and ill equipped for her current assignment, the huge rodents had been pursuing eleven craftmakers and before she could step in, three of them had been killed before reaching safety.

She well knew that there were many formidable monsters now in the world, yet she only had a puny tank and very few weapons to keep over one hundred people safe. She prayed for the convoy and Captain Mesquida to return as soon as possible.

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It had been an awful night for the people in the armored vehicles. Before the convoy’s departure from the Stronghold, hammocks and air mattresses had been made or located but even with three tiers of hammocks strung inside the trucks, everyone had spent a terribly cramped and unpleasant night, however it had been far better that sleeping on a cold steel floor or outside.

Mayor Warren returned early the following morning. After an hour long discussion with Captain Mesquida, it was agreed that six of her people would join the convoy so as to evaluate things at the Hermit’s Stronghold. The time of their return though was uncertain, Captain Mesquida estimated that it would be at least two weeks and the price of their round trip ticket was set at; one hundred pump action shotguns, a dozen micrometers and a large box filled with assorted pressure gauges.

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After leaving Ervin, Sergeant Vargas’s tank was once more in the lead, the town was about seven miles behind the convoy and the highway that they were on, was passing through an area with dense evergreen trees on either side. Suddenly and almost silently, eighteen large silvery shapes swiftly arose from behind those trees.

Once they were high enough for their belly turrets to fire down upon the convoy; a deafening loud, mournful, wailing horn sounded from those huge aluminum arachnids.

There were four Dominators to the west of the Sherman, three on the northern side of the road and one on the southern side; those monstrous machines immediately began moving so as to block the westward route of the returning expeditionary force.

To the east of the Hellcat, which was at the tail end of the convoy, there were three mechanical spiders and they too moved in so as to block any attempt to retreat. That left eleven more Dominators on the northern and southern flanks of the convoy; six of those targeted the three tracked vehicles of the Hermit’s Guard. Those half a dozen mechanized monsters, each fired twin 74mm belly cannons at the M4 Sherman, M7 Priest and M18 Hellcat.

The spider to the north of the Sherman landed a solid blow on the old tank’s steel turret. Fortunately, the snail’s steam powered shell had less than half the striking power of the Sherman’s original WWII era gun. The M4’s two inches of enchanted side armor easily defeated the 74mm projectile.

The arachnids targeting the Priest and the Hellcat all missed to the relief of the Hermit’s Guardsmen inside said vehicles. Without the aid of their computers and advanced electronics, the snails were forced to aim their weapons manually; they even lacked useable optical sights.

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Captain Mesquida felt extremely small and vulnerable in the Hellcat. While the tank destroyer looked quite deadly and was reasonably fast, it actually possessed the thinnest armor of all the vehicles within the convoy.

He shouted at the driver of the tank to “Get us the hell out of here! Take the Hellcat to the east!” George then began issuing precise driving instructions to the frightened driver, interrupting them only to give orders to the tank’s gunner, to fire on spider legs as the opportunity presented itself. The tank’s main gun was only capable of elevating up to a maximum of twenty degrees, far less than the sixty or more degree angle that was needed in the current situation, to fire upon the mechanical arachnids’ central bodies.

Sir Mesquida was still standing up in the commander’s hatch, since the M18’s only weapon that was able to aim at the huge silvery cylinders was the one mounted there.

Corporal Brandy Zhang, who was driving the Hellcat, drove off onto the verge of the road and actually between the legs of one of the metal behemoths moving in from the south. George seeing the chance for a point blank shot took the opportunity to put one round into the arachnid’s right-side middle leg. He almost launched a flame strike as well but he decided that his magic wasn’t currently powerful enough to do any significant damage to the smashed aluminum, armoring the Dominator’s leg, at least not while being used in a high speed pass. The Captain’s twenty millimeter enchanted bullet didn’t blow of the leg but it did put a large hole into the six meter diameter limb, thus rendering it completely inoperable. The mechanical monster had been moving its right front leg at the time and with only one functional right-side leg now in contact with the ground, it began to twist and fall. Sadly for the Hellcat, the huge spider was falling in the same direction in which they were going.

Captain Mesquida screamed at his driver to “GO FASTER!!” George looked behind him and prayed, as the Dominator crashed to earth, just missing his speeding tank by less than thirty feet. It’s possible that the Captain having a close up view of that event; might have wet himself. Luckily with the judicious and careful application of Fire Magic he was able to dry his pants and save himself from any embarrassment.

Breathing an immense sigh of relief, George ordered Corporal Zhang to turn around and liking how the mechanical monster had fallen over, the Captain proceeded to snipe at the legs of any of the huge spiders that he could see.

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Sergeant Vargas was not a happy man. Something had tried to kill him, yet again, and the gunner of his tank had missed her shot at a spider leg. The damn thing was HUGE, how could she miss that shot, he asked himself. Luckily, though it takes multiple 20mm rounds to blast through the hull of a Dominator, the armor on their legs was far thinner and there was no intervening layer of ballistic gelatin; that weakness had been discovered by the salvage teams while dismantling the arachnids that had attacked the Stronghold.

Jeff’s first shot was not as successful as Captain Mesquida’s but his target was leaking hydraulic fluid which was slowly weakening that particular arachnid leg.

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Lady Knight Night was in the T800 and because of crowded conditions within it; it was only possible for half of the 20mm rifles to immediately respond to the attack; however their foes were extraordinarily large and slow moving targets. The soldiers were concentrating their fire on the hip joint of the Dominators’ middle legs. There had been many discussions about fighting the metal monsters and everyone had agreed that if a Dominator or even an Annihilator lost one of their middle legs that should render them virtually unable to move and perhaps even cause them to fall over.

Lady Night was wondering if she should have the T800’s rear ramp lowered so that her flight could sortie however she was worried that doing so would expose the APC’s passengers to danger since the ramp was actually part of the vehicle’s armor.

She was also gravely concerned about the passengers in the armored utility trailer that the T800 was towing, since the trailer had far thinner armor than the converted dump truck.

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Sergeant Derrick Miter, who was commanding the Priest, wished that he was driving since to aim the howitzer, it was necessary to point the whole tracked vehicle at the intended target, but he wasn’t and it was far too late to change things now. And has been previously mentioned the spiders were very BIG targets. The M7’s first shot was an astonishing success and caused the arachnid that was hit to almost fold in half, before falling to the ground. Elated, Derrick reconsidered his regrets about not driving the Priest.

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On board the Oshkosh APT, there was a similar problem as with the other armored trucks, only half of their weapons were able to fire because of the terribly crowded conditions within the vehicle. But that particular armored transporter was equipped with fifty millimeter Holman projectors which were loaded with IROD shells that could reach out and touch anything up to one thousand feet away.

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To the snails it was like they had knocked over a hornet’s nest, except these hornets had guns! However, it was now the arachnid’s turn. What with the blows struck by the convoy only sixteen of the Dominators were still in the fight and five of those had taken damage but all of them let loose with their wailing horns once more and the fourteen spiders that had clear lines of fire on the humans, responded with twenty-eight steam powered projectiles.

The Dominator to the front of the Sherman fired two shells into the tank but the projectiles were easily shrugged off by three inches of enchanted steel armor. However the spider to the south of the tank almost put a round right through the thin armor on top of the Sherman’s engine compartment, if the one inch of armor had not been enchanted, the relatively weak steam powered projectile would almost certainly have destroyed the M4’s 330 hp engine.

The two spiders firing upon the Priest completely missed their shots though one did come close enough to scare the M7’s driver, sadly that driver did not possess Fire Magic, and thus he was unable to dry his pants.

The trailer on the C500 was struck twice by the two Dominators shooting at it, putting sizeable dents and cracks in its outer layer of armor but the snail’s projectiles, failed to puncture the APT’s six inches of enchanted armor, though the noise and physical blow to the armored transporter caused many of its passengers to panic.

Even though they weren’t hit, the two man crew of the C590 loader/backhoe felt like ducks in a shooting gallery. Though their tractor was more heavily armored than the Hellcat they felt extremely exposed in their ungainly vehicle, especially since they were towing a large flatbed trailer which limited their mobility.

The Oshkosh APT was equally fortunate and no rounds struck it.

The T800 was struck the same as its larger Kenworth C500 cousin and with the similar results, no serious damage but its passengers were panicking.

Luck ran out though for the Hellcat. It only had a half inch of enchanted armor on front of its driver’s compartment and while that armor was radically sloped the snail’s 74mm shell was also coming in at a downward angle, rendering the tank destroyer’s armor unable to stop the incoming projectile. It struck the front of the tank’s hull piercing the steel armor and taking the head off of Private Hoops Cooper who was the Hellcat’s co-driver. Bits of metal and flesh splattered Corporal Brandy Zhang, who shuddered, barely suppressing her screams and the urge to vomit. She kept the tank destroyer moving because she knew that if the M18 did cease being a difficult to hit target, that she and its entire crew were probably all dead.

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The Sherman now took its second shots at its foes. Sergeant Vargas swore loudly when all three of the M4’s weapons missed. However, the Priest once again succeeded in proving the superiority of its gun crew by destroying another Dominator with a single enchanted round from its powerful 105mm howitzer. While the C500 finished off the two Dominators that it had damaged earlier. The Oshkosh APT only managed to destroy one spider with its next round of shots, because of terrified passengers that threw off the aim of the sharpshooters and Holman operators on the left side of the armored transporter, at exactly the wrong moment.

The T800 APC succeeded in damaging two arachnids that were attacking it. As for the Hellcat, the damage to the tank destroyer and the death of one of its crew had wrecked everyone’s performance, the M18’s gunner and Captain Mesquida both missed when they fired off the Hellcat’s two weapons.

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The Sherman tank now had a new foe; however one of its old ones had switched to firing at the M7, since the Priest had proven itself to be so deadly a combatant. The snails had miserable luck with their next round of shots or maybe the drivers in the Stronghold’s convoy had learned better how not to be where the enemy was aiming, even within the limited confines of that section of road. The T800 was again hit; the trailer it was towing was throwing off its ability to evade enemy fire, however once more its six inches of armor stopped the enemy shell. The Hellcat was almost hit but luck was with its crew for once.

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Sergeant Vargas was ready to chew bullets, climb out of the Sherman, and physically assault the spiders when once more his tank missed with all three of its weapons. Not only was the M4’s driver throwing off the aim of the enemy with his erratic driving style but he was also doing the same for his fellow crewmembers.

The Priest missed with its big gun but one of its Holman IROD shells hit a Dominator, damaging it. The sharpshooters inside the Kenworth APT finished off the spider damaged by the Priest and then went on to damage two more.

The Oshkosh transporter defeated one of those damaged by the Kenworth and then its Holman operators and sharpshooters destroyed two additional Dominators.

George was enraged over the loss of one of his people and carefully aimed when he fired his next shot. He succeeded in severely damaging a middle leg of one of the mechanical monsters.

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Of the original eighteen Dominators, ten were now down, and four had varying degrees of damage, leaving the last four completely unharmed. A weird screeching sound came from one of the aluminum arachnids; the sound was quickly echoed by all of those, still on their feet. The monstrous spiders fired again but now they seemed more concerned in getting away rather than continuing on with their attack, so much so that all of their shots didn’t even come close to hitting any of the vehicles in the convoy.

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The M4 missed once again with its main gun but Sergeant Vargas along with the Sherman’s co-driver, for once each managed to damage a spider leg on the machine that Jeff had shot earlier, thus causing the mechanized monster to begin sinking to the ground.

The Priest’s gun crew was successful yet again and they destroyed another Dominator. While the Holman operators in the Oshkosh APT caused a different arachnid to fall to earth. The T800 defeated two of the retreating spiders; as for the Hellcat, they finally slew another one after their first victory at the start of the battle.

There were only two Dominators left standing and they were the ones that were the furthest to the east of the Sherman tank. Those machines had absolutely no interest in continuing the battle and were doing their best to escape at a blistering speed of three and a quarter miles per hour.

The machine just south of US 36 came under the combined fire of the M4 tank and the Priest motor gun carriage. The tank’s co-driver managed to damage one leg. As for the Priest, it landed one crippling blow with its left side Holman projector.

Once more, those two tracked vehicles fired on the same machine since they needed to destroy it before they could safely pursue their last foe. Sergeant Vargas and the tank’s co-driver, both successfully hit a leg again causing the machine to begin falling to the ground. As for the M7 gun carriage, for once its gun crew completely missed their target, perhaps because of overconfidence.

Barely squeaking through a gap between two fallen Dominators, the Sherman and Priest began their pursuit of the last enemy vehicle.

It took them a few minutes to get to a proper firing location and by that time the alien arachnid was over a thousand feet away, which was actually much worse for it. Because what with the increased distance the gunner of the Sherman was easily able to aim at the spider’s central body despite his cannon’s limited elevation capability. But once more despite having an easy and slow moving target, the M4’s gunner missed. Sergeant Vargas at the point was raging internally, he didn’t know if his gunner needed more training or if he needed a new gunner for his tank. He was leaning towards a new gunner. On the other hand those crewing the 105 howitzer aboard the Priest; shattered the escaping Dominator with an enchanted projectile.

The battle had been furious; but it had also been extremely brief, perhaps lasting as long as only seven minutes until the eighteenth and final Dominator had been brought down.

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Captain Mesquida wanted to depart the area as quickly as possible. He knew the convoy had been lucky and he was extremely worried about the possibility of facing Annihilators or even just better armed Dominators. He directed Corporal Zhang to drive the Hellcat towards the center of the stalled convoy so that they could properly deal with Private Cooper’s body and then resume their trek for home. But what he saw when passing by one of the fallen mechanical monsters; caused George to completely change all of his plans.

Worming her way out of a ragged gap in the hull of the fallen spider that the Hellcat was just passing was a skinny human female in tattered clothes. There was no way, what with her general appearance, that Captain Mesquida even for a moment considered her to be part of the spider’s crew, no his first thought upon seeing the girl was that she was either prisoner, slave or worse yet livestock.

George used the tank destroyer’s air horn to send two messages to all of the vehicles within the convoy; first was “Prepare for Dismounted Action,” and the second called the T800 to his location. He wished that he could dismount and see to the girl but it was his job to remain at his post.

Star was in the T800 and while her abilities hadn’t detected the ambush, possibly because the snails had initially been over one hundred and fifty yards away from the road, George was hoping that Lady Star’s talents could perhaps tell him which mechanical spiders contained living prisoners or snails and which did not.

--------------------

Lady Knight Night was given command of the rescue operation and in this she was aided by Sergeant Jacobs. Many of the soldiers had to stay with their vehicles so that they could man their weapons in case of another enemy attack, that left only twenty-seven of the Hermit’s Guard, including Lieutenant Night Storm, and the 590 tractor to search for victims.

Luckily, many of the newly rescued humans, craftmakers and flyers volunteered to help as well. Lady Storm and Lady Star picked the healthiest of them to act as stretcher bearers.

Starting at the far eastern end of the ambush, Star detected the minds of many humans within a shattered spider’s hull but she did not sense any snails.

It was already known from salvage work done on the original arachnids that had attacked the Stronghold, that the Dominators were divided into four decks. The bottom and largest deck was for engineering, going up one level was the command deck where the snail’s bridge was located. The next level seemed to be a berthing deck, while the topmost and smallest deck was extremely spartan and appeared to be either a place where the lowest ranks were housed or more likely a prison.

What with the fallen Dominator on its side, the prison deck was actually the easiest for the Hermit’s Guard to access. With the help of the 590 to pry things apart and an RMW (standing for Ron’s magical wand) which was becoming a more common accessory for some of those gifted with Fire Magic, the soldiers cut their way through the spider’s aluminum hull and into a location that Star recommended.

--------------------------

Herbert Cupples was crammed into a small cell with his youngest daughter and two other people. When the First Warning had come, he had called his closest relatives to the family farm and with what little time they had, they had fortified a hill on his property, building a small network of tunnels and eventually surrounding the hilltop with palisade made of earth and logs. Two days ago he had been working with his daughter, converting her old pickup truck to steam power. When suddenly his oldest grandson had come running down the hill to warn them about a swarm of mechanical spiders that he had seen approaching, in the distance.

Everyone had retreated to the tunnels and all signs of living inhabitants were hidden but it hadn’t worked. The huge machines had surrounded the hill, while all the while sounding their awful horns. After which, several of the monstrous machines had very carefully lowered themselves to Earth, and out had come the snail-like Reeze, all of whom sported blue screens and Appraisal labeled them as a species that practiced slavery.

By using their cannons, Fire Magic and poisonous tentacles, the Reeze had forced their way into the Cupple family’s refuge. His family had fought back but it was to no avail. Herbert wasn’t exactly sure how many of his kin were still alive but he knew that it was far less than half. He had to stop himself from howling in anguish because amongst those that he knew were dead, were his wife, son and grandson. For some damn reason the damn Reeze had decided to merely incapacitate him with their poison instead of killing him outright or turning him into a living torch as had happened to his son.

The machine that Herbert was imprisoned in had been stopped for hours, with the Reeze only bringing to his cell a tiny bit of water. Suddenly he could feel that the arachnid that he was captive in was moving again and then just as abruptly that horrifying horn sounded once more.

Herb could feel and hear as the cannons almost directly above his head fired, it reminded him of his days as a Gunner’s Mate in the Navy. Strange vibrations were conducted through the hull and into his body. It soon became obvious that the Reeze were fighting someone, and whoever they were engaging in battle was fighting back, hard! He clutched his daughter Michelle to him and prayed that the end came for her painlessly. After a few minutes everything started to tip, he kept a hold of Shelly wrapping his body protectively around her own. They were falling! The machine crashed down, Herbert could feel several bones in his body break and then he lost consciousness.

--------------------

Shelly Cupples could feel the protective arms that had held her ever so tightly begin to loosen.

“Dad, are you okay, Daddy?!!” Her head was on his chest, so she could hear his heartbeat but it sounded so weak and he seemed to be barely breathing. Gently she straightened out his limbs on the former wall and now new floor of their cell.

She checked on her other two cell mates as well. The man was dead and the woman was apparently injured, worse than her father.

Not having anything else she could do because of a lack of resources she began gently talking to her unconscious father about happier times.

Suddenly there were vibrations outside the hull; pounding and cracking noises, the Reeze were trying to get back in!

There was a burst of condensed flame high up on the former ceiling but fortunately well to the side of her father. She heard voices and they were speaking English! She called out for help. The smoke from the melting/burning aluminum began to make her cough. A large portion of the aluminum hull fell away and fresh air rushed inside. She stood up to look out and found herself staring at a short big breasted feathered female with wings on her back and a pump shotgun in her hands. Weakly Shelly said “hello” in a tentative voice.

“I am Lieutenant Storm of the Hermit’s Guard. We have come to rescue you. Are there any more humans alive and are there any snails nearby?”

(I wanted to put some kind of funny reaction on Michelle’s part right here but I just couldn’t think of anything good enough for the situation.)

--------------------

Lady Knight Night knowing that time was of the essence left a fire team and some volunteers behind at the first fallen spider, once they had ascertained that no snails or as the rescued woman called them, “Reeze” were still alive or at least able to access the prison deck of that Dominator. The volunteers equipped with the very same hammocks that they had used the previous night, started transporting the injured to one of the armored and heated transporters, where those skilled with Healing Magic were standing by to render aid.

Night now took the bulk of her forces to the next fallen alien machine, where the first human girl had been sighted by Captain Mesquida. That girl was currently staring around at everything in wide-eyed shock; she was wrapped in a blanket and being comforted by a female craftmaker. Now, the human saw short angels approaching her and it took all of her willpower not to faint.

Lady Knight Night gently asked, “are there any more humans still inside?”

The girl, not daring to speak, nodded her head for yes.

“Do you know if there are any snails still alive?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders, for “I don’t know.”

Sergeant Jacobs then led a fire team inside to investigate, hoping that Star was indeed correct in her judgment that no living snails were still inside.

-------------------------

Later on, after having dealt with seven fallen spiders and starting ongoing rescue operations on three of the monstrous machines that had people imprisoned within, an exhausted Knight Night was approaching her eighth arachnid when Lady Star who was at her side spoke up. “I can sense evil, arrogant and squishy minds inside this next Dominator, but no humans.”

Lieutenant Night immediately stopped, while searching the previous enemy vehicles; Star’s senses, at least at close range, had proven to be hundred percent accurate. The female craftmaker had even been able to detect unconscious and almost dead homo-sapiens. Groups of volunteers were still moving rescued humans from the Dominators that had any, to the Guard’s armored transporters. Sadly, four of the mechanical monsters that they had inspected so far, had been so thoroughly mangled in the earlier battle that all of the captured humans inside were dead. Lady Knight grieved for them but even if the convoy had known about the human prisoners, she didn’t know what else they could have done but fight as hard as they could.

Up until now, all of the snails that they had found were dead; however Lady Star did not detect any living humans inside this new arachnid. So Lieutenant Night decided that for now a fire team would be assigned to keep watch on the fallen alien craft while she and the rest of her forces continued on with their search for human survivors.

They checked four more machines with Star detecting nothing but the thirteenth Dominator yielded six human survivors. At that point in time, the fire team that been assigned to the first fallen spider had completed rescuing the captives held there, and they now returned to rejoin Lieutenant Night’s small ad hoc platoon.

Her forces only had five more Dominators to go and Night was looking forward to getting back on the road and away from this place. She dreaded the thought of a major monster attack happening while all of their forces were so dispersed and ill prepared. Star checked the next two metal monsters and sensed nothing, but the following two mechanical spiders had fallen almost end to end to one another, with just a narrow gap between them and in those machines she sensed both living humans and living snails.

------------------

Sergeant Richard Jacobs was not a happy man; he was taking point while going into the Dominator because he judged himself as being the only one there with right kind of experience but it still sucked in his opinion. According to Lady Star there were at least seven snails within and the same number of humans.

Rich was wishing that his own telepathic abilities were the equal of the female craftmaker’s but they weren’t. He had received most of the physical enhancements when he swore his oath to the Boss, including all of the sensory boosts. As for magical abilities, Sergeant Jacobs had gotten what seemed like a weak Telepathic talent, and a modest gift as an Animal Trainer, but his most significant ability seemed to be in Sound Magic.

Using his True Sight skill, all of his enhanced senses and his Sound Magic ability to guide him and alert him to danger, Richard cautiously crept into the alien vehicle once a hole had been cut into its former roof, fervently wishing all the while that there was someone else that he could send in his place or that he at least had a few hand grenades to pave the way.

It was known that the snails’ shells were tough, so hard in fact that a normal rifle bullet would not always penetrate with a single shot. However, when the creatures withdrew into their shells they posed significantly less of a threat. That being the case, Rich had decided to use his shotgun which was loaded with buck and ball, with the plan that he would blast any soft squishy snail parts as he saw them, especially their poisonous tentacles. In addition, he had slung on his back Lady Storm’s personal single-shot fifty caliber rifle, which was loaded with a non-magical bullet, in case he came upon any living snails that had retreated into their shells. The Sergeant was certain that the large powerful fifty caliber bullet would easily puncture the natural defenses of a Reeze.

He cautiously walked by the cells holding the humans. Soldiers following his steps would see to their rescue. Coming to a large hole in the wall, the former floor, where a wide ramp was located he slowly stepped through the hole and onto the alien’s Berthing Deck. On the new deck, he didn’t encounter anything but he did hear some noises coming from the Command Deck, the soft sound of slithering and a muffled clatter. The Sergeant held up his hand signaling the four soldiers that were following him to stop.

Rich certainly didn’t want to get roasted as the Boss had succeeded in doing during the first snail encounter. He was debating on what to do when he remembered some of Vince’s words and cursed himself for being a fool. There was no reason for him to advance any further. He was certain that the only captives on board the Dominator were those that were behind him. He decided to establish a defensive position somewhere on the current deck, such that the only way the snails could get to the prison deck and the rescue operation that was going on there would be by getting by him first. And if his officers wanted the snails dead then they could always use artillery instead of putting any soldiers at risk.

Putting action to his thoughts he retreated with the rest of his fire team to what he deemed was a good location and settled in to wait for the ongoing rescue to finish. He sent back one soldier to inform the Lieutenant about what he was doing and why.

It took slightly over an hour before he heard that things were almost complete and that he would soon be able to withdraw. Sadly it was just a little too late, because he heard the sounds of slithering and sliding coming his way.

Rich didn’t use foam earplugs as many of the soldiers did while in combat, for he had instinctively learned to protect his hearing with his Sound Magic Ability.

At the end of the corridor he first saw some tentacles come from around the corner. The appendages were grasping some strange sort of gun. Slowly the eyes of a Reeze mounted on stalks followed suit. Rich had the fifty caliber rifle aimed right at the corner, and he had earlier changed the bullet inside it, back to a much more effective, magical round.

At almost the exact same second as Sergeant Jacobs fired his rifle, the Reeze while barely exposing itself fired its own gun. The snail’s bullet ricocheted off the wall on Rich’s left, while his own bullet, blasted a very large hole through his foe. Afterwards he could clearly hear the sounds of retreating snails.

The Sergeant crept down the hall and to the fallen Reeze. He looked at the strange alien gun. It bore a distinct resemblance to a “Super Soaker” rifle but it was made out of metal. Appraisal labeled it as a fifteen millimeter flash steam rifle. First, donning a pair of leather gloves, just in case there was any poison on the snail’s gun, he then took the Reeze weapon as both a trophy and for intelligence gathering purposes.

Upon his departure from the alien craft, Lady Knight ordered the Oshkosh APT to open fire on it with their Holman projectors so as to reduce it to a pile of scrap.

Entry into the next enemy vehicle went almost exactly the same with Rich again leading the way. Except this time while there were no snails on the Prison Deck, he could plainly hear numerous Reeze on the Berthing Deck. Cautiously he crept towards the hole in the former floor which gave access to the crew’s sleeping quarters.

Hearing perhaps a dozen foes on the other side of the aluminum wall, the former floor, he sent back a messenger to Lieutenant Night Storm.

Shortly after that, both Lady Night and Lady Storm carefully crept to his position. Lieutenant Night whispered in the Sergeant’s ear.

“I have several steam shells with me. Lady Star by using her Telekinesis Ability will maneuver them through the arming ring on my harness and deliver them to our enemies, like those much vaunted hand grenades you’ve been so vocally complaining about not having with you.”

Rich nodded his head in acknowledgement. He just prayed that Lady Star didn’t drop one after it went through the arming ring, such a thing would not only be disastrous but probably fatal too.

The first steam shell delivery went off without a hitch, with it being rammed into the shell of one snail, killing it and slightly wounding two others. The next shell Star accidentally dropped just on the other side of the wall, adding only slightly to the injuries of the two already wounded alien Reeze. That happened once more with Lady Star growing quite worried that she might drop one so early that it would blow up on the wrong side of the wall.

She voiced her concerns to her fellow Knight but Night Storm seeing no other alternative in their current situation urged the craftmaker to try one more time.

Star’s fourth attempt was as successful as her first, killing a Reeze. Using her telepathy, she could sense that all of the snails were now retreating to the Command Deck, which was good enough for Lady Night. Rich then advanced onto the berthing deck so as to prevent the enemy from returning.

That was the last encounter that he had with them. An hour later he was withdrawn and Lieutenant Night Storm had the Oshkosh APT reduce the fallen arachnid into monstrous mangled mess, killing its snail-like crew.

Further searching of the fallen alien vehicles yielded no more living beings except for the Dominator that they had left a guard on earlier, fifty millimeter IRODs put paid to that craft and the Reeze inside of it.

--------------------------

Captain Mesquida was very worried about the overcrowded conditions within the convoy and with how late in the day it was getting; while the armored battle had been short, the rescue operation had taken several hours. Now he had 67 more refugees to worry about, most of whom were wounded. The APC and the APTs were packed like sardine tins. He not only had people riding on the roofs of his vehicles but he also had some on the highly exposed flat bed trailer that the 590 was towing.

He issued orders to all of his soldiers, that if they saw the slightest threat that they were to destroy it immediately and not ignore it as they had been doing on previous trips.

A few hours later, it was with great relief that the convoy finally made it back to the Armory in Bradley. They had three more encounters during their trip, and rescued an additional thirteen people. Only the first encounter with a family of mega rhinos had been fraught with danger since the angry animals had surprised the convoy and the immense creatures had nearly made it to the tractor before being stopped.

There was one other minor thing that happened; Captain Mesquida was forced to use the Hellcat’s horn, in order to signal Lady Knight Night to cease firing on the spot where the corpse of giant snow tarantula lay, the flyer had her soldiers continuing to fire on the creature even after it had been killed and already reduced to fragments.

-------------------------------

Guardian Evonne Sting could feel her stomachs clenching as she walked the underground streets. It was hard for her to exchange even the simplest of waves or head nods with the “people” that she passed. Unlike her children, she was finding the “Inklush” language to be very confusing and now at this critical time what few words and gestures that she had learned had simply flown right out of her head.

Walking from the residential area she took the underground street leading to the manufacturing district, passing that noisy locale she then took the very short side road going to the Hermit’s Lair. She was so tense that her hair was standing on end and her muscles felt like steel bars. She could not believe that she didn’t even pass a single guard on her way to meet the Hermit King.

Walking into his workshop, she spoke in her own language knowing that because of his Translation Skill that he would understand her.

“King Standish, I greet you.” She bowed. “I thank you for making me and the few other survivors of my tribe, welcome in your home. I, my fellow Guardians, our husbands and our children; have come to appreciate what you have built here. Sir Storm Wind has been an excellent guide and translator. He has told us of your deeds, wisdom and kindness. If you will have me, I will swear an oath to you, binding myself and my family to you for as long as you shall live.”

---------------------------------

I need to get a door bell or maybe a pet goose; I’ve heard that they’re almost as good as a watch dog for alerting people to unexpected guests. I thought I was making progress with my theory for a Teleport Block, when Squiggly Wiggly shows up and poof I totally forget where my thoughts were taking me. Scratching my head in frustration, I begin to speak.

“Greetings Guardian Evonne Sting and welcome to my workshop. I am glad that you and yours have come to feel welcome here. It is not necessary for you to swear a lifetime oath to me or for that matter, swear any oath at all, since it is not a normal requirement for staying here within this Stronghold. You and your tribe can just continue to live here so long as you agree to help out. But if you really want to become one of my oath sworn people, I will not refuse you; just understand that it is not necessary.”

----------------------

Evonne was alarmed at first, since it sounded like the Hermit King was going to refuse her. She suddenly realized that she was almost desperate to join with this new Kingdom and belong to something again like she had with Lady Song. Guardian Sting was also looking forward to the magical abilities that she might receive by becoming a subject of King Vincent. Guardians were always looking for ways to become stronger so that they could do their jobs even better and crush their foes.

[color= orange]“Your Royal Majesty, I Guardian Evonne Sting do faithfully swear to serve you, for as long as you shall live, to protect you, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully live upon them, so long as they obey your laws and commands.” [/color]

-------------------------

Reaching out, I touched her upper right arm and then rested my hand on her upper left shoulder. “I accept your oath and I dub thee Lady Knight Evonne Sting. I recognize you as a Guardian and I ask for your aid in protecting my Kingdom and the people that peacefully live here, may you serve long and honorably.”

DING

Holy crap you just knighted a bug, are you crazy you old decrepit fool? You better kill it quick, kill it now, don’t let it scurry away to reproduce. Eeeek, I think I’m going to faint. Thud!

And you Lady Sting, you just swore your allegiance to a disgusting biped, who is only one brief evolutionary step away from eating worms, rotten fruit and throwing his bodily waste at his enemies.

Oh woe is me, woe is me, the multi-verse is doomed I say, doo-oomed! They told me that this was going to be an easy job. Just something to do between deployments, they said. I was told that I and the rest of my unit would have a jolly old time while advising the STUPID sentient beings of reasonable worth, on the planet Dirt. Like idiots, we took the job, by the second day we were spiking our morning blarg with the most potent hallucinogenic pain killing drugs that we could beg, borrow, make, buy or steal. I will tell you……”

Even though my new Lady Knight was not a humanoid I could tell by her wide eyes and open mouth, as well as the twitching of her facial muscles and limbs that she was becoming quite upset. I better put a stop to this.

“Hey DDS Dude, shut up. You’re scaring the lady. Can you please stop with the whining and reveal her abilities.”

Dude, DUDE!!! You dare to call me a dude! I will have you know that I am in my female phase this solar cycle and I will not be mistaken for a dude! I am going to come there and kick your ass so bad that it will swap places with your face. But you are already so ugly that everyone will think of it as an improvement and thank me!

“Oh no,” I moaned. This was going to be one of those days.

Quick, someone help me, Gary has lost it again. Grab her lower limbs Bomber, before she makes it to the rift.

I’m trying but she’s wearing combat boots on all four of her feet and the #@$%! is kicking me.

Get back everyone, I’ve got a stapler and I’m not afraid to use it! “Cha-chunk-cha-chunk”

Aargh, sheee shust shapled my lower slip.

Use the stupefying stick on her! We got no other choice.

WHACK! ROAR; I’m going to tear off all your limbs and use them for chopsticks. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Why I can see rainbows and stars, aren’t they so very pretty. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! I can taste purple and hear persimmon, it’s so lovely. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Hoist the sails, lower the anchor and find me a politician to use as bait. I want to go fishing for sea dragons. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! THUD!

Finally she’s down. She’s going to want to kill us when she wakes up or worse yet, mate with us!

Ah, Kevin, I think her Earth link has been open the entire time.

WHAT!!!

And it looks to be in speaker mode too, so they got text translations of what we said as well.

@#$%@#$%!!!!

Time passes with no further messages from the DDS and Lady Sting was looking increasingly distraught. I began to make gentle shushing noises so as to calm her down and I poured her a large mug of hot tea from my own carafe, while crossing my fingers that the beverage didn’t kill her. As far as I know tea wasn’t poisonous for swift runners but I’m a Healer so I should be able to save her life if it is deadly for her kind, maybe. Finally; after almost ten minutes, with Evonne still breathing and fiercely clutching the mug that I had handed her.

DING

Ahem, this was a test of the Ding-Ding System, just in case one of our exceptionally skilled advisors really had gone temporarily insane because of some bad blarg, lack of sleep and terrible working conditions.

If one of our mentally unstable combat hardened veterans, I mean one of our highly educated advisors had gone completely bonkers, we suggest that you duck and seek cover. It won’t really help but it might make you feel good during your final moments. We now resume with our regular announcements.

Lady Knight Evonne Sting, for swearing such a stupidly powerful oath and having it accepted by the Mad Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties. Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.

Access to the DDS Universal Translator

Water Magic Level One

Fire Magic Level One

Body Augmentation Magic Level One

Levitation Level One

Quick Thinking Level Five: When things go to hell and “quick thinking is required” your thoughts speed up by fifty percent.

+21 Percent Increase in Strength.

+43 Percent Increase in Dexterity.

+29 Percent Faster Reflexes.

+19 Percent Increase in Stamina.

+54 Percent Faster Healing Rate.

1.4x Telescopic Vision

Hearing is 2.3 times as acute.

2.1x Scent/Odor Detection

Looking at my new knight I didn’t know if she wanted to cry out in joy over her new awakened abilities or weep because of the way it went down.

I began wondering if there were some way that I could distract her. I momentarily considered giving her my Taurus revolver but I immediately discarded that idea, I had already given away a lot of my better firearms and considering all of the bad things that had happened to me lately, I needed a good last ditch weapon. I would talk to Glen and Sean later and see if they could hook her up with something that suited her.

“Lady Knight Sting congratulations on your magical awakening. I must say that the gifts and enhancements that you just received are quite impressive. What with your new Translation Access you can now freely speak with people while you’re learning the various languages spoken here. May I suggest that you tell your family what has happened and then perhaps you should meet with Lieutenant Wind or Lieutenant Murphy? They could probably give you some hints in regards to developing your new talents.” In other words I want you out of here so I can get back to work.

Suddenly her whole body seemed to communicate menace and firm resolve, she then said one word. No!

Oh, fudge!

# # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Equipment Glossary

Spoiler :

Hermit’s Forge M4 Sherman Grizzly Medium Tank, originally it was a Sherman Grizzly I Cruiser which was the Canadian variant of the American M4A1 Sherman medium tank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_I_cruiser

It has 75 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and it is 5.8 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 3 meters tall and weighs 30,000 kilograms.

Tracked Vehicle

One 330 horsepower steam engine; gives this vehicle a top speed of 38 kilometers per hour.

Primary Weapon is one prototype 75mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit’s Forge. Secondary weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles also built by Hermit’s Forge.

The original gyroscopic stabilizer for the main gun is no longer operational.

-------------------------

Hermit’s Forge M18 Hellcat Light Tank, it began life as an American M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer and has been heavily modified by Hermit’s Forge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Hellcat

It has 25 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and a roof has been added to its original turret. This tank is 5.3 meters long (without its main gun), 2.9 meters wide, 2.6 meters tall and weighs 18,000 kilograms.

Tracked Vehicle

One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 56 kilometers per hour.

Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit’s Forge. Secondary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle built by Hermit’s Forge.

----------------------------

Hermit’s Forge FV101 Scorpion Light Tank, it began life as a British FV101 Scorpion Reconnaissance Vehicle and has been heavily modified by Hermit’s Forge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV101_Scorpion

It has 12.7 millimeters of enchanted aluminum armor. This tank is 5.3 meters long, 2.1 meters wide, 2.1 meters tall and weighs 17,800 kilograms.

Tracked Vehicle

One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 79 kilometers per hour.

Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit’s Forge. Secondary Weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles built by Hermit’s Forge.

-------------------------------

Hermit’s Forge M7 Priest Motor Gun Carriage, started off as an American M7 Motor Gun Carriage but it has since been heavily modified.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Priest

It has 50 millimeters of enchanted steel armor, a roof and heightened full side walls have been added to it. This vehicle is 6 meters long, 2.9 meters wide, 3.2 meters tall and weighs 26,450 kilograms.

Tracked Vehicle

One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this vehicle a top speed of 30 kilometers per hour.

Primary weapon is one M119, 105mm howitzer which is the US designation for the British L119 105mm lightweight gun. Secondary weapons are two Hermit’s Forge 50mm Holman projectors and one twin-barrel 7.62 x 39 Murphy gun.

---------------------------

Hermit’s Forge T800 Armored Personnel Carrier, originally a 2011 Kenworth T800 Dump Truck, it has since been heavily modified.

http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/t800/

It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters. This APC is 7.6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 13,600 kilograms.

It has four wheeled axles and the rear two, are powered.

One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 56 kilometers per hour.

Primary Weapons are eleven bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit’s Forge.

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Hermit’s Forge C500 Armored Personnel Transporter, started off as a Kenworth C500 and a 27 foot long steel dump trailer, it has since been heavily modified.

http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/c500/

It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and have steel shutters. This APT is 14.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 21,319 kilograms.

The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear two on the truck/tractor are powered.

One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 39 kilometers per hour.

Primary Weapons are seventeen bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit’s Forge.

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Hermit’s Forge M1070 Armored Personnel Transporter; started off as an Oshkosh M1070 and a 40 foot long steel shipping container with attendant chassis; it has since been heavily modified.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_M1070_heavy_equipment_transporter

It has 160 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters. This APT is 18.7 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 4 meters tall and weighs 32,119 kilograms.

The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear three on the truck/tractor are powered.

Two 200 horsepower steam engines, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour.

Primary Weapons are eight Hermit’s Forge 50mm Holman projectors. Secondary Weapons are five bolt-action 20mm rifles, also manufactured by Hermit’s Forge.

-------------------------

Hermit’s Forge 590 Armored Backhoe/Loader; originally a Case 590 backhoe/loader and has since been heavily modified.

http://www.casece.com/en_us/Equipment/Loader-Backhoes/Pages/590-SuperN.aspx

It has 40 millimeters of enchanted steel armor. It is 7.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and it weighs 10,800 kilograms.

It has four wheels and all are powered.

One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this tractor a top speed of 42 kilometers per hour.

Primary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle, manufactured by Hermit’s Forge.

------------------------------

Armored Utility Trailer, outer dimensions 8.5’ x 20’, inside height is 6’ 6”

-----------------------------

Common Personal Weapons for the Hermit’s Guard

30-06 bolt action rifle with eight round magazine

12 gauge pump action shotgun

20 gauge pump action shotgun

Single shot titanium fifty caliber rifle

.357 magnum revolver

14” bayonet

Partial Character List

Spoiler :

Version six of the Defective Hermit Character List; is a work in progress.

Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it’s not, sorry. There are probably some errors too. This Character List is a work in progress. I am pulling together information from multiple files and having to decide what I want to reveal. I will keep tacking it on to the end of most chapters until I feel like I’ve got it right. (Which will probably be never, especially since it continues to grow.)

Population of Embassy: 174

Total Population of Stronghold (not including embassy compound): 803

People with assigned jobs: 628

Note: Many people help out wherever they can, like Clyde also being a Healer.

Those under fifteen (152), except for the very young, are now being encouraged to attend classes and apprenticeship courses. Those fifteen and over (38); have part time jobs and also take classes. Those eighteen on up have to work full time, twelve hours a day is quite common.

Unassigned: 15

Partial Character List, Version 5:

Name: Vincent Standish

Primary Class and Title: Hermit King

Class: Professional Hermit

Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit’s Forge.

Title: The Grumpy Hermit King

Title: The Grumpy Hermit

Warning Label: Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged. Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.

Name: Nina Rivera Standish

Title: Princess

Title: The Survivor

Sex: Female

Age: 11

True Sight Level: Three

Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4

Teleportation Level: 4

Telekinesis Level: 4

Alchemy Level: 1

Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.

1.2x Scent/Odor Detection

Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.

Daughter Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.

Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.

------------------------

Hermit’s Guard (276):

Name: George Mesquida

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Class: Soldier

Class: Combat Officer

Title: Knight Captain

Title: Captain

Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida

Name: Candace Murphy

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Class: Soldier

Class: Combat Officer

Title: Lady Knight

Title: Knight Lieutenant

Title: Lieutenant

Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy

Name: Boris Khan

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Class: Soldier

Class: Combat Officer

Title: Knight Lieutenant

Title: Lieutenant

Name: Storm Wind

Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan

Secondary Class and Title: Knight

Class: Soldier

Class: Combat Officer

Title: Knight Lieutenant

Title: Lieutenant

Title: Husband of Dawn Song

Title: Father of Mountain Breeze

Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.

Name: Night Storm

Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan

Secondary Class and Title: Knight

Class: Soldier

Class: Combat Officer

Title: Lady Knight

Title: Knight Lieutenant

Title: Lieutenant

Title: Wife of Metal Grinder

Title: Mother of Smoky Night

Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.

Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren. Normally he serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat. He is a world class sneak and throat slitter. Additionally he is an unconventional yet effective drill instructor.

Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank. No magical abilities other than the True Sight Skill but he has a very nice selection of physical enhancements.

Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest. Note: He can levitate, teleport, and use telekinesis. He also has several physical enhancements.

Sergeant Tornado Challenger, green screen, flyer, male, he is a daredevil when only his own life is on the line.

Sergeant Latisha Steele, orange screen, former Intelligence Analyst with the US Army. Always desired to serve aboard a tank but it wasn’t allowed at the time.

Corporal Fish Diver, green screen, flyer female, Tornado Challenger’s fiancée, she is extremely accurate when dive bombing her foes.

Corporal Sticks Spearmaker, green screen, female craft-maker, though she is still making weapons she joined the Hermit’s Guard because she feels that pole-arms aren’t as important nowadays.

Corporal Tammy Harding, green screen, former Army soldier, former INS Agent

Corporal Brandy Zhang, green screen, former US Marshall, normally serves as driver for Hellcat.

Corporal Fall Roar, green screen flyer

Private Dominic Jackson, green screen, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant. Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.

Private Waxy Candlemaker, green screen, female

Private Feather Fletcher, green screen, female

Private Strings Bowyer, green screen, male

Private Stinky Tanner, green screen, male

Private Net (Nettie) Fisher, green screen, female

Private Stacy Nord, green screen, female

Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit’s Guard to fall. Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.

Private Hoops Cooper, second member of the Hermit’s Guard to fall, died at the battle of US36, on March third, while fighting 18 Dominators.

----------------------------

Construction and Maintenance (75):

Name: Macallister Smith

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance

Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building along with his wife, Wendy.

Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at the County Building. She is a Green Screen with two children, Brittany is 8 and Peter is 5. Her husband is deceased.

--------------------------

The Shop Crew (93):

Name: Glen Stewart

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production

Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist

Name: Grace Lee

Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist

Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.) She now lives in the Hermit’s home.

Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron’s magic wand). (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)

Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man. (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)

Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker. (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)

Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.

Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer. Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.

Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.

David Hu, father, mechanic, True Sight

Linda Hu, mother, office manager, True Sight

Nicolas Silva, father, mechanic, True Sight

--------------------------

Motor Pool (24):

Name: Clyde Jenkins

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Title: Minister of Transport

Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.

Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.

----------------------------

Peacekeepers (5):

Name: Faith Harper

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Title: Lady Knight

Title: Minister of Justice

Note: Former Judge

Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.

Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)

Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.

--------------------------

People Who Keep Things Running (6):

Name: Jennifer Boon

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Title: Lady Knight

Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish

Note: Released Innocent Prisoner and she has two children, Elizabeth is seven and Stephen is four years old.

Name: Star Astrologer

Primary Title and Class: Lady Knight

Class: Wise One

Title: Leader of the Free Craft-Maker People

Title: The Wise One

Title: The Dignified One

Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.

--------------------------------------

Food Production (90):

Name: Isabella Gomez

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Title: Lady Knight

Title: Royal Botanist

Title: Minister of Food Production

Note: Released Innocent Prisoner

---------------------------

Logistics and Supply (18):

Name: Stephen Monet

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Title: Castellan

Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply

Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.

Name: Barbara Monet

Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).

-----------------------------

Health Department (13):

Name: Denise Murphy

Primary Class and Title: Knight

Class: Healer

Class: Soldier

Title: Lady Knight

Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer

Title: Wife of Sean Murphy

Title: Mother of Candace Murphy

Note: Nurse and an excellent shot. She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.

Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.

Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.

Giovanna Silva, mother, dental hygenist, Healer, True Sight

-------------------------

Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research (29):

Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.

--------------------

Flyer Population within Stronghold:

Long Flight Clan

Storm Wind OS, wife is Dawn Song OS, boy child Mountain Breeze

Night Storm OS (Black and Brown Wings), husband is Metal Grinder OS, daughter is Smokey Night OS

Tornado Challenger GS, fiancée is Fish Diver GS (her sister is Autumn Blaze GS and nephew is Star Bright OS)

Dawn Wind

Spring Breeze

Corporal Fall Roar

Winter Wind

Cloudy Day

Storm Cloud

Total Members: 62

Children: 32

Soaring Dawn Clan

Name: Dawn Rain

Title: Chief of The Soaring Dawn Clan on Earth

Title: The Unhappy Survivor

Morning Mist, Second Chief, orange screen

Total Members: 24

Children: 12

Craftmaker Population within Stronghold:

1st Group: 46 Adults, no children

2nd Group: 47 Adults, 17 Children

3rd Group: 7 Adults

4th Group: 12 Adults, 5 Children

Swift Runner Population within Stronghold: (13)

Tribe of Evening Song

Lady Song, deceased

Evonne Sting, Class and Title: Guardian

Husband 1: Aron

Husband 2: Ralph

Daughter Zuma: 14

Son: Foggy 8

Elva Slayer, Class and Title: Guardian

Husband 1: Long

Husband 2: Del

Daughter: Yun 9

Danni Blocker, Class and Title: Guardian

Husband 1: Ned

Husband 2: Vear

Daughter: Su 7

-------------------------

Captain Barbara Long’s Group of Survivors (630)

Lieutenant Jay Nichols

Lieutenant Kellie Cross, at Stronghold

Sergeant First Class SFC Patrick White

Staff Sergeants SSG

Lindsay Collier

Bernard Ballard

Corporal Julia Lewis

Private Shelly Hines

Howard King

---------------------------

Ervin, Ohio

Name: Sylvia Warren

Title: Mayor of Ervin

-------------------------

Wrenchburg, Ohio

Florian Forester, 38, gs, Bartender, Town Boss

Mathias Forester, 38, gs, Dentist

Susanne Forester 14, gs

Mathias Forester, 12, gs

Nadine Forester, 9, gs

Liam Edwards, 33, gs, concrete and masonry

Kai Edwards, 31, gs, real estate

Jasmine Edwards, 6, os

Lauren Edwards, 8, os

Reuben Moerkens 50, gs

Marian Moerkens, 48, gs

Giorgio Segura, 39, gs, restaurant owner and cook

Nadelina Segura, 37, gs, cook and hostess

Cara Segura, 14, gs

Helene Segura, 12, os

Viola Segura, 9, os

Alex Csorba, 41

Margo Csorba, 40, Dental Hygenist, gs

Judit Csorba, 20, college student, gs

Petra Csorba, 17, gs

Kevin Csorba, 14, os

Bradley Heavy Industrial Group (Originally 208 people, now 97 of which 52 are under eighteen)

William Bujdo, 36 Green

Violet Bujdo, 35 Orange

Andrew Bujdo 13 Orange

Adam Bitar, 35, Orange

Nazeera Bitar, 33 Green

Anisah Bitar, 11 Orange

Mikail Usamov, 28, Green

Albert Osborne, 27, Green

Lin Chang, 62, Orange, Dental Hygenist, Healer, injured

George Chang, 34, Green

Denise Chang, 33, Green

John Chang, 10, Orange

Anna Chang, 8, Orange

Ram Diaz, 26, Orange

Edith Diaz, 27, Orange

Justin Diaz, 3, Orange

Howard Leach, 31, Green, killed on trip to the Armory

Stephen Staton, 34, Orange, killed on trip to the Armory

---------------------

Miscellaneous

Dwight Cobb, GS, 21 members in his group.

Partial List of those, Rescued after the Dominator Battle of US 36

Martin Avis Alchemist Chemist

Michelle “Shelly” Cupples Bulldozer Operator, daughter

Herbert Cupples Retired Navy, father

Reyna Cupples Watchmaker/repairer, Herb’s sister

Robert Barton Boilermaker

Joyce Gause Paleontologist

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