Lambda, Gungnir and the two other players who had formed their makeshift party trudged through what had once been a market. Now it was covered in smashed fruit and broken wood, covered in the blood of the fallen. The party now got to add their own blood to the mix. Getting through the streets had been a chore, and although both the Monk and Lambda had a degree of healing, without a proper healer and after burning through their items they were desperately in need of health. Despite their wounds, they knew they only had a limited time before the city was completely overrun and they were all killed. Lambda opened up the player list to check who was still standing.
Remaining Players
Lambda
Gungnir
Ambrosia
PrayingMantis12
Cieth
Trident743
Skibabylon
“The others must have died while taking out that last teleporter,” Ambrosia the Armournaut surmised. “Who the heck is Cieth? Didn’t see them when we spawned in.”
“We’ve met him before,” Lambda explained. “Apparently he clipped through the floor or something. Dunno why he hasn’t just logged out.”
“Those other two can’t be doing well,” Mantis the Monk added.
“Which makes our job all the more necessary.”
They turned down another corner to finally see their target. The teleporter was at the end of a wide street that seemed to be an extension of the market they'd just walked down, but the invaders had crushed and destroyed the stalls so thoroughly it was hard to tell. It wasn’t quite as well defended as the first teleporter, but it was still flanked by a larger number of orcs than they could reasonably take on, and there weren’t any siege weapons they could launch back. The group flanked each side of the street, waiting for the right moment.
“How many skeletons can you summon?” Ambrosia asked Lambda.
“Not enough to take on a whole army, if that’s what you’re asking,” He replied. He looked around at the floatstone covered sky, trying to see if some formation of platforms would let them circumvent the blockade, but nothing came to mind.
“Lambda, duck!” Gungnir shouted. Lambda did as he was told, only for an axe to go sailing over his head, slamming into the wall behind him. Lambda stabbed his scythe into the orc’s leg, while Ambrosia and Gungnir proceeded to shoot it as much as they possibly could.
Orc 91
0/60 HP
----
Gungnir
Pistol Ammo
4/6
A group of orcs near the teleporter looked around as they heard the gunshots. They began to walk down the street.
“Company!” Mantis shouted as the others made sure the straggler was taken out.
“We can use this to our advantage,” Ambrosia said. “You guys flank them, I’ll draw their attention. Take out the teleporter before they kill me.”
“They’re not going to kill you, you’ll be fine,” Gungnir told him.
“They are going to kill me.”
“Right. Well, we’ll win before that happens. See ya!”
The others ran down an alleyway as Ambrosia proceeded to open fire. The group soon burst out into the blinding blue light. Now that they were up close and personal to one, they could see that the teleporter was sustained by a blue, floating crystal. A shimmering portal stretched out below it, almost like someone sliced through the air, and beyond they could see a black hall filled with vats of viscous liquid. Most of the orcs that were guarding it had rushed after Ambrosia, leaving the group guarding the Crystal sparse. Gungnir took this chance to take a shot at the crystal.
Gungnir
Shotgun
----
Gungnir
Shotgun Ammo
5/6
----
Teleport Crystal 3
340/400 HP
“You’re kidding me!” Gungnir shouted. “That’s practically boss HP! And they expect you to do four of these things?”
PrayingMantis12
Wind Punch
----
Teleport Crystal 3
300/400 HP
As the punch went out, the group received a weak burst of healing energy.
PrayingMantis12
Ki Points
7/16
----
Monk Trait
Ki Points
Channel protective energy from your strikes to support your allies.
You have a maximum pool of Ki Points equal to 2*LVL. When you auto attack you regain Ki Points, and skills expend a certain amount of them. When they are expended, you can either heal allies near you for SPL HP, or add SPL damage onto the attack, even if it would not usually deal damage.
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----
Lambda
85/100 HP
----
Gungnir
110/200 HP
One of the remaining orcs tried to attack Gungnir, but Lambda blocked the blow with his scythe before stabbing it into the orc’s gut.
Orc 98
45/60 HP
----
Ambrosia
0/300 HP
The group looked down the street to see their tank’s distraction had barely given them any time at all. As the horde pulled their axes out of the broken metal and wires of Ambrosia’s armour, they immediately turned around and started rushing back to the crystal they had failed to defend.
“Fire everything you have!” Lambda shouted. “Kill it as fast as you can! I can hold these things off.”
“No you can’t,” Gungnir said.
Gungnir chuckled a napalm bomb over Lambda’s head and into one of the broken market stalls. It quickly ignited, and it wasn’t long before the flames began to jump to the broken wood and detritus in the street. The orcs slowed down, keeping back from the fire and trying to find another way around. Meanwhile, Gungnir and Mantis kept trying their hardest to destroy the crystal.
Monk Skill
Flurry of Blows
Bombard the enemy with rapid strikes.
Deal damage to a single target equal to expended number of Ki Points*STR. The number of Ki Points you can expend with this move at any one time is equal to half of your current level.
20 second cool-down
----
Teleport Crystal 3
190/400
----
PrayingMantis12
Ki Points
5/16
----
Gungnir
Pistol Ammo
3/6
The larger group of orcs began to run in through the backstreets, trickling in after being split up by the flames. One of them swung their axe at Gungnir, who ducked the blow and blasted a hole through his chest.
Gungnir
Shotgun
----
Gungnir
Shotgun Ammo
4/6
----
Orc 3
0/60 HP
Another tried to attack Mantis from behind, but he elbowed the Orc in the face before kicking them away.
Orc 112
40/60 HP
----
PrayingMantis12
Ki Points
6/16
“Just focus on the crystal before we get swamped by these things,” Lambda shouted, slicing into the orc Mantis just kicked away. “We’re on a clock here.”
Gungnir and Mantis turned their attention back to the Crystal as more orcs began to pour in from all sides.
Gungnir
Shotgun
----
PrayingMantis12
Wind Punch
----
Teleport Crystal 3
90/400
----
PrayingMantis12
Ki Points
5/16
----
Gungnir
Shotgun Ammo
3/6
The number of orcs surrounding them was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Lambda swung and twirled his scythe, trying to keep them away, but they were pouring in from all sides. He touched the ground and a skeleton sprung up, but it was immediately shredded by the horde.
“C’mon!” Mantis shouted as he punched another orc in the gut. “Almost…there…”
He prepared to strike the Crystal again with another skill, only for a zombie to smash him in the back with an axe.
PrayingMantis12
50/200 HP
He yanked the axe out of his back, staggered away from the zombie and fired another burst of air at the crystal. The diamond cracked, barely holding it together, but it didn’t break. As soon as he fired his final shot, Mantis was swiftly decapitated.
PrayingMantis12
0/200 HP
Available revive time: 3 minutes
Lambda tried to push through the crowd, but the orcs forced him to stagger back.
“I can’t revive him,” Lambda replied. “It’s up to you.”
“Easy,” Gungnir said. She aimed her shotgun over an orc’s shoulder and fired, shattering the crystal.
Gungnir
Shotgun
----
Teleport Crystal 3
0/400
----
Gungnir
Shotgun Ammo
3/6
----
Crystals Remaining
1/4
The blue light faded away and the teleporter closed. They’d cheer if they had the time.
Gungnir tried to run now that their job was done, but almost ran into an orc’s axe, only just sliding under it.
“Get out of here!” Lambda shouted “I’ll keep these guys busy!”
Lambda
Corpse Disposal
----
Lambda’s Abyssal Summon 13-17
30/30 HP
“No way!” Gungnir shouted back, dodging under another axe swing. “You’ll die here too!”
“If you stay, we’ll both die. At least this way one of us survives. Just run!”
Another axe slammed into Lambda’s back. He swung around and sliced the Orc, but his enemy blocked, and it couldn’t stop the horde crowding around him. Another orc tried to crush Lambda’s skull with his axes, but the skeletons got together and stabbed him in the back, which let Lambda stab him as well. Gungnir ducked and dived through the crowd. More of the orcs tried to stab her, but Lambda chucked his scythe through the crowd, landing in one of their backs.
The orcs turned to see Lambda, giving Gungnir time to slip through the group and through an open window, diving behind some ruined furniture. The orcs looked confused, but eventually turned and rushed at Lambda. Knowing his best friend had gotten away safely, Lambda and the skeletons formed into a circle, parrying the axe strikes from the orcs. He smiled.
“I guess if I go down, I might as well go down in flames.”
Gungnir Stats: Level: 8 VIT: 180/200 STR: 30 DEF: 5 DEX: 25 SPL: 5 INT: 0
Lambda Stats: Level: 8 VIT: 25/150 STR: 15 DEF: 5 DEX: 10 SPL: 25 INT: 0
