Prickly

  The middle district would be the main front, with the lower district ag as a skirmish line. Here the bulk of troops were stationed, i on whittling down the invaders street by street, building by building. Radio operators remain in tact with each other from here, providing support to each other with stant updates ouation. Malen surveilnce was tasked with keeping a themselves, aing back to the troops. Flying units also took plenty of ces, demons would usually fly by bombing the area. Most demons were held back to keep the drakes in check, going through the barrier dome surrounding Malencia is a bigger hassle than it is worth, f the drakes to follow the ground troops by going through the wall breaches. Magical engineers also made the barrier just the smallest bit solid from the inside, causing immense smoke buildup within.

  Here on the ground the situation was the ugliest, Zulie had been deployed to one of many street barricades to hold. She retty sure the troops stationed ireets had it far worse tharoops in the buildings, but the buildings usually had no fallbas. If their building was breached, it became do or die.

  "This is 2-3, Target is suppressed, we are moving in quickly. Take it out, take it out!" Zulie's radio buzzes with signals from a nearby barricade moving in on one of the drakes, who seem to prefer to stride over the ground when possible.

  "This is 2-6, 2-4 how far are you from 2-3's position? Over." When the barricade isn't busy fending off an attack, Zulie also works as a radio operator, attempting to coordinate support. Initially, the pn was to have a tral and within the keep, but logistical s regarding the pnt growth in the deeper parts of Malencia caused them to be forced to rely on local anders like herself.

  "2-4 here, we are statio the transition checkpoint and are taking heavy fire from the east, 2-3 is about a hundred meters to the south of us!" The voice from the radio sounds somewhat desperate, and Zulie makes a short prayer to whht be listening that her own barricade isn't sounding like theirs. Still, it may be best te those units to prevent their destru.

  "2-4 you link up with 2-3 from where you are? Over." A slight crackle in the radio system indicates the strain on it, but it shouldn't deteriorate further with the omnipresence of fungal matter.

  "ive! ive! Quick get to the f&*#or south of us! They are rolling us with a couple of padins! Request Broken Arrow! Repeat! Broken Arrow!" Another voice from the radio firms the Broken Arrow, Zulie reizes it as the air trol for this sector.

  "Adventurers left side left side!"

  "tact left! tact left!"

  Zulie is forced to drop the radio as her own barricade is utack, sure enough oddly dressed people from all kinds of races e from the left. Her group noticed them before they noticed her, and they open fire. A few of the adventurers drop at the heavy fire, but not nearly enough to make them feel safe. In the world of war, adventurers are effectively powerful meraries. Various magic spells crash into the barricade, the reinfort on the barricade takes a beating but holds on. As Zulie's unit exges fire with the advehe radio crackles to life agaiing Zulie.

  "2-6! e in 2-6! Enemy units have overrun 2-3! Pull out of that sector, your fnk is exposed!" The radio goes silent again before Zulie get to it, but it's now clear to her that the adventurers are bait for the real enemy forces.

  Pig the mushrooms up Zulie yells at her troops to abandon the barricades, the adventurers shouldn't be able to run them down with the barricade still intact. The troops rapidly abandon their positions, running in the dire of the keep. Sure enough in one of the streets is a drake charging down fnked by a small group of adventurers. The adventurers move toward the keep as well, while the drake keeps charging in their dire. Zulie gestures for the men to scatter into nearby buildings, a up a defensive position on this street. Her radio crackles to life again as the noise of bat gets closer as well, the former barricade is taken.

  "Warhorse has ta all, rolling in to sector earby units find some cover from rolling thunder." The code for an airstrike is given, and as Zulie looks above her for the show, she notices drakes hiding in the smoke above waiting in their own ambush.

  "Drakes inbound! Warhorse break right!" Zulie's warning es a sed te, one demos her wing bitten off by a drake lying in wait.

  "I'm hit! Going down!"

  "I 't see him! I 't see hi-" The other demon of the duo got the warning in time, but a panicked rea causes this oo be killed on the spot by another drake.

  "Position 3-0 this is stalker, flight group warhorse is down, we see only one survivor. Position 2-6 and 2-7 have been overrun, factory in that sector is taking magic spells, it does not look good from where we are. How copy over?"

  "Stalker this is 3-0, solid copy on all. We do not have any close air support at this time, dispore secure location deeper into the city, and await further instrus, out." Just like that, Zulie and her units are abandoned, left to fend for themselves as positions are overrun. As she switches to her radio the only sound ing from it is pani the remaining units in the middle district. She fiddles around a bit with it, and finds the frequency that beloo warhorse instead.

  "*Cough* *cough* this... this is warhorse 2, does anyone read? Shit, I'm down near... fuck... I'm down near some drake that's running through sector C3." Zulie knows that warhorse is a couple of literal demons, but as someone who worked with demons before, she 't help but think of them as her rades regardless of how cruel they usually are. Everyone from this city is a rade against the horrors of the merge, whether they want to or not.

  "Warhorse 2 this is 2-6, we have set an ambush for that rown lizard, e to the sound of gunfire when you hear it." Zulie checks across the street from her own window, ahat the buildings across are occupied by her troops. 2-6 might be the most intait in this sector, and as such she feels they have duty to act as a bea that survivors flock to.

  Cheg the street from the window, she sees the wounded drake move through the street, it had certainly spotted them move by, but seemed to have been too wouo blindly charge. This street is a major road leading to the keep, and with some time, some padins would definitely pass by. The drake is most likely pnning to take this street, and wait for healers t it back from the brink. 2-3 did a number on the drake, that much is clear as the beast gets closer. Just as it passes by the manned house, Zulie opens up the ambush by firing her gun. The noise is followed by a cacophony of gunfire as the ey of 2-6 opens up on the drake. Despite the perfectly time volley, the drake seems to have been prepared for it. It shielded itself somewhat from the initial volley, preparing to breathe fire on the ambushers iurn.

  Instead of successfully burning half of 2-6 hiding in the buildings, the drake staggers as it gets bsted by numerous cutting streams of water from behind. Warhorse 2 stands behind the injured drake, missing a wing of her own. The drake tries to roar as an instinctual rea to seeing an enemy, but its distra costs its life as desperation fuelled 2-6. They reloaded in record time, and the volley nails the dragon in the neck. Its roar turns to a gurgle as blood fills the drake's throat, and it falls down after a short struggle to remain standing.

  Seeing the threat abate, Zulie cycles through more els for forces in the region, surprised to find a new el make tact with her instead.

  "Is mushroom listening? ...Hello? This is... two ackthual? Two ackthual! Yes, I bring order from leviathan dy! In case of invasioactic is... gwe- gueriy- goeril-... goril war! All liqqi-dators are to do ambush!" Reizing the voi the radio as being from a kobold, Zulie looks outside only to see very short liquidators climbing from one of the manholes. 'Leviathan dy' certainly refers to the mermaid who is currently not in Malencia, and with the kobolds being so dedicated to her, this must have been a standing order.

  Watg as the newly emerged kobolds begin to dance around warhorse 2 as they withe corpse of the drake, only oios on Zulie's mind.

  "Where the fuck am I going to find gorils?"

  Prickly