Alt: The Battle of Korroloka Tunnel

The trigger is slightly squeesed, sending the hammer slamming into the end of the bullet. The impact causes a tiny explosion within the barrel which propels the projectile forward at an amazing speed. It exits the muzzle and crashes into the chestplate of an Antican several feet away. The soft lead bullet spreads on impact, crushing out against the creature's carapace before pushing further into its body and tunneling through its flesh. The lead blob leaves through the creature's back with slowing velocity, dropping to the ground a few feet later. A few strands of blood cross the gaping hole in the Antican's chest and the creature lets out a gross wail before toppling over. Time slows to a crawl for each musketeer desperately waiting after pulling the trigger, hoping to hit foe not friend.

Inbetween shots their fingers flutter rapidly, struggling to quickly reload, reaim, and take another life. They gradually become desensitized to the grotesque wounds inflicted on their targets, seperated somehow from the consequences of their actions. In the daze of battle their senses are blind to the sting of hot metal against their fingers as the heat builds on their rifle.

The Antica number several hundred, pouring into the tunnels like water. They spread out as they run rampantly towards prey, screeching and skittering their way with weapons held high into the air accompanying the charge. Many are shot before they reach the Galka and Hume which form the first line of defense. They fall to the ground with a quiet thud, inaudible among the sounds of murder. Their last act in life is becoming a speed bump for their bretheren as their body is crushed against the ground.

Axes continuously clash against swords and shields, in the center of the fighting this sound is only interupted by a chorus of gunfire. Most of the front-line defenders are morbidly aware that they lack the strength to actually pierce the thick armor of the invaders, they're only there to buy time for rifleman perched safely behind them and on the cliff edges. An occaisional scream breaks through the noise of battle as the Antican weapons find unprotected flesh.

The air is thick and smoky from the eruptions of gunpowder and unsettled dust. With each spell cast the floating particles illuminate wonderously, giving the battle an ethereal glow. In this chaotic time of brutality and panic some find their stride, mercilessly slicing through foe after foe gracefully with an invincible rhythm, and others die before even pulling their sword from its sheath.

Occaisionally orders are shouted into the midst of the bloody skirmish, but they go unheeded. All discipline is lost, survivalism has taken over as each soldier struggles to dodge their grave. The Galka are especially ferocious, roaring as they brutally heave their massive weapons at their ancestral nemesis. Some even break their own bones attacking with every ounce of their strength.

The tidal wave slows to a river, then a stream, fading out as the number of corpses littering the ground increases proportionately.

ooc: Put this here, since it's somewhat of a continuation of this story.
------

It was suprisingly humid in Quicksand Caves. Not for the first time, Xille found herself swabbing at her forehead with a cloth, keeping the beads of sweat out of her eyes. The air musty and thick, it made for unpleasant travelling, and that was the least of the troubles. She wasn't even sure they were supposed to be this far inside the Antican homeland. Mopping her brow with the cool, soft cloth, she let her shield fall for just a moment.

A pronounced "thud" made her eyes flick over to her company, two Engineers from Bastok, fussing about over a small patch of pathway about twenty feet away from her. One of them had driven a thin metal rod into the hard ground and in doing so, had been too effective with his mallet. He looked apologetic, but said not a word, only pausing a moment to hear if his indiscretion had caused any signs of Antican disruption. Xille herself raised her shield to the ready and rested her palm on the hilt of her sword in preperation. She cast pointed looks at two other men, dressed in similar military fashion, and they immediately tightened grips on their weapons.

The engineers knelt in silence, looking to Xille for confirm their safety. Sidestepping quietly, fush with the wall behind her, Xille took a few steps towards the corner of the wide corridor, then peeked slowly around the corner. The two Anticans that were seemingly stationed about three-hundred feet down did not stir. With insect heads it was difficult to tell what they were doing, but Xille got the feeling that the two of them seemed bored if anything. Pulling back, she looked over to the Engineers and nodded assuredly.

The Engineer with the mallet stood back, while the other slipped a thin rope through the looped end of the rod and gripped it tight. Straining a little, he managed to pull the rod cleanly from the earth, leaving a hole no more than a centimeter wide. The Engineer with the mallet produced a small grey pearl from his pocket, popping it into the small hole and easing it down gently with the end of a smaller metal rod. Xille kept close watch on the Antican down the corridor, peering back periodically to check that things were still going smoothly.

By now, she had worked out exactly what the engineers were doing, and she had to admit, she was impressed with the idea. Link Pearls were being placed around all the exits of the Caves, and the various tunnels in Korroloka, and the holes they resided in were so small they were invisible to the unwary eye. Buried in the dirt, they couldn't pick up speech or intricate noise with any clarity, but they were put to brilliant use as rudimentary seismographs. If the Antican were to send a troop through any of the tunnels they had placed pearls in, whoever had the Linkshells would be in the know immediately. She recognised the importance of this endeavour, and that made it all the more satisfying, while at the same time being frustrating. Since she'd been promoted to Leader of the 5th Cohors, she'd been given more non-disclosure statements than she ever had as a Centurion of 'The Spitzer Tod', her personal Unit.

The Engineers stood quietly, brushing dirt off their knees. The taller one with blonde hair gave Xille a thumbs-up. Quickly peeking around the corner again, she could see the Antica suspected nothing. Their eyesight was almost completely useless, so as long as the expedition group made minimal noise, detection was unlikely. Xille walked calmly back to the engineers, calling in her men from their guard.

The blonde engineer spoke in whispers to Xille. "That should be the last of them, it'll be darkening soon."

Xille was about to respond with their orders, but her attention was captured by their scout, who came jogging silently in with a look of concern. "Ma'am, The Antica patrolling the surrounding desert are all being called in, we can't leave via this exit. They'll be in this corridor in approximately two minutes."

Reaching into her back pocket for a few vials of a transparent, viscous substance, she tossed two to the Engineers. "Oils at the ready, boys. We can't risk going further in, and this tunnel is thoroughfare only. Sign language only from this point until I give the clearance." The Spitzer Tod soldiers nodded in compliance, and the Engineers looked nervous but resolute, de-corking the vials and smearing the clear oil on their boots, gloves, and belts. Xille finished oiling her gauntlets, and heard the trudging and clicking of approaching Antica. There sounded to be at least ten coming from the exit.

She signed for everyone to move backwards towards the walls, where the light didn't reach so well. Once they had all moved to the wall, Xille held ten fingers in the air questioningly to her scout. He responded by holding ten fingers in the air, then five. Xille felt a bead of sweat streak down the back of her neck. As the approaching Antica came nearer, another sound captured her attention. The echo of numerous Antica footsteps resounded from down the corridors, but the sound emanated from deeper inside the Caves. The other members of the party looked in nervousness as the fifteen Antica descended the slopes into the Quicksand Caves corridors, but Xille kept her head facing the opposing end of the corridor, looking on curiously.

It must have been difficult for Antica to organise anything using sound, as their every movement was accompanied by the sounds of brittle scales rubbing against each other, and clicking speech. The Antica from the desert marched in, and as they past in front of the party, now wide-eyed and huddling as quietly as possible in the shade, they stopped suddenly. For just a moment, Xille expected them to about face and launch an attack, but it seemed that they'd stopped for some other reason, and Xille had no idea the echoes she'd heard were so important.

From around the corner of the corridor came the rumbling sound that was unmistakeably the movement of a mass of Anticans. Sure enough, a large Antican holding a chipped but sturdy blade and shield rounded the corner, followed swiftly by more Antican soldiers than Xille had ever seen in one place, dwarfing the recent Korroloka seige. It was breathtaking.

The Antican, who seemed in charge of the vast army, stopped before the Anticans called in from the desert and appeared to converse with their captain in the strange clicking way that Anticans had. Unseen by both armies was a small group of Bastokan soldiers and Engineers, now petrified with fright at the sight of the enormous collective. Xille was breathing as quietly as she could under the circumstances, but still had the mentality to try making sense of the situation.

The large Antican with the chipped shield seemed to speak at some length, it felt like hours for the seven huddling against the wall not even fiften feet from them. Even if the oil lasted long enough for the conversation to end, the chances of it lasting until every Antican had cleared the corridor was nothing short of an impossibility. They had to escape, and soon. Xille looked to her men, and noted the terrored expression on the face of their scout, whose oil appeared to be evaporating early. Fearful of his fate, he looked to Xille with pleading, helpless eyes.

Xille gave the signal for an Escape spell to one of her men, who responded with a "Are you nuts?" look. Sternly, she gave the signal again, and the soldier nervously took a casting position, the ethereal rising aura of black magic beginning to silently build around him. The clicking beside them stopped, as the head of the Antica in charge seemed to notice something against the wall. He drew his sword, as did the soldiers behind him, all looking in their direction. The soldier casting the spell looked terrified, unconsciously mouthing some unspoken curseword.

Xille drew her sword, still silent with the effects of the oil. Tapping into a hidden reserve of her power, she steeled herself, muscles tightening and tendons straining. She lunged forward and drove her sword clean into the side of the lead Antican's thorax. It clicked and gargled in pain and shock, as Xille whipped her blade out of the Antican's side, foul-smelling dark blood spraying from the wound. The Antican legion was on her in an instant, swords and axes rained down on her in the dozens, shields bashed against her body and head, and she struggled to even stand upright against the onslaught. More Antican rushed in to swing their weapons at her, but she was prepared, she'd brought herself to the point of physical invulnerability, a short-lived but powerful state known only by Paladins. She felt invincible.

A banishing spell swirled around her and she was dazed for a second, swinging her sword wildly, letting it connect where it might. Steel continued it's endless barrage on her until finally she felt herself being ripped through time and space, a void encompassing her, and her feet felt the softer sand of the Alteppa Desert.

"Altana be praised! That was-!"

"Quiet, moron!" Xille barked at the engineer as she slammed her sword back into it's hilt. "We're not out of danger yet, we weren't deep in the Caves, and there's an army of Antica calling for a fight just inside."

From the entrance to the Quicksand caves could be distinctly heard the sounds of thousands of Antica rumbling around. "We need to get back to Korroloka Tunnel and report this to the other Cohors. MOVE!!"

She broke into a run, followed swiftly by the others. Antican were fast through the desert, they only had a short headstart. With luck, she had injured the leader badly enough to buy them some time, but even so, Bastok needed time to prepare for whatever it was the Antican had planned. The mobilization of such an army had been a complete suprise, the attitude of the Antican in the area had seemed to suggest that they were demoralised from the defeat at Korroloka Tunnel, and now this? Whatever was in store for Bastok's forces, they needed to be ready for something huge. Xille just hoped that whoever had the Link Shell had been listening in...