Part 183: Zyla: Update 21
Siege Two. The end.
The spawn outside quickly descend on the retreating crackmaster, and deliver him into the afterlife.
The champions charge, along with a couple of guards, a124! and Chance II.
Kaninrail is completely surrounded. He begins to cackle, shouting that he has them right where he wants them
Pumpinglemma gets to work, wading into the spawn, and throwing out brutal body shots.
Even the moles loitering inside start to bite as the spawn begin to breach the golden road.
Pumpinglemma is completely surrounded outside, but seeming to have the time of his life out there bashing one after another into the walls of the fortress.
Tehsid and the other champions finally reach the front lines.
The spawn are wearing down kaninrail as he takes a brutal body shot.
The champions fight to clear the doorway of spawn.
Pumpinglemma is having a field day out there, and is just brutalizing the spawn.
More spawn swarm up the ramp.
Knockknees finally makes it to the road, but there is no way to the lever! He'd die instantly if he tried at the moment.
Pumpinglemma falls into a deep trance, amplifying his combat ability.
Screaming Idiot joins the fight, urging his men on to victory.
Pumpinglemma has so much blood on him that he chokes on it and blacks out, falling into a deep sleep.
The spawn take no mercy upon his fallen body.
Screaming Idiot looks down, staring in disbelief at the injuries he has sustained. and yells to tehsid "don't let us down lad, you're all we've got left."
"I can see the pumps...they are...Beau..ti..f...."
He falls, along with calaros, and kaninrail.
Still more spawn swarm up the hill. It's looking like this is over. Tehsid cannot hold out forever. He runs towards the front, trying to buy time for the defenders inside to organize a last stand.
Chance II, A124!, NiceAaron and another guard make up a new line inside of the golden road. The spawn CANNOT BE ALLOWED to breach the second door.
Backhand fights bravely, taking injures that would obliterate lesser dwarves, but fainting in the end with his arms wrapped around a spawn's head.
The guards at this line fail to hold back the spawn as well.
Niceaaron hulks out having seen so many of his fellow guard fall to the spawn.
A124! launches one off the lower bridge.
Not again, cries Niceaaron, taking a second tumble off the bridge with a spawn in tow. He quickly cleaves it down and rushes back inside.
Mofeta, who had recently woken up and charged with tehsid's corps is surrounded and killed, but takes out several spawn of his own.
So...much...blood...and still the spawn press on.
The spawn carved a bloody path to the center of the fortress, destroying several work areas placed at the front of the fort. But the defenses held.
The mole lever remains unpulled. How many dwarves would have lived had it been pulled successfully?
The siege is broken, and tehsid finds the final spawn trying to limp away. He ducks into a full sprint, plants his leg and crumples the thing with his hammer. It flies as if shot out of a cannon. Tears stream down his face as he watches it fly into the distance.
and there it lands, cratered in the side of the mountain.
War? War never changes.
Thus ends the second siege of Syrupleaf in the year 148 by the Spawn of Holistic.
Screaming Idiot wrote :-
"If'n yeh bloody bastards 'ad installed a proper magma-pump system, we wouldnae be in this mess! But nay, yeh 'ad ta 'ave yer molenerok.
"Well, now lookit me! Disembodied spirit, no place ta go, an' I cannae even work tha levers! Who's gonna work tha pumps now, eh? An' who's gonna comfort Markie over 'is poor departed brother?
"Ach, least tha pain's done. I cannae believe I fer got ta set mself alfame before tha spawn got ta me--I'da loved ta go out in a burst o' greasy glory, just like me da' an' 'is da' afore 'im."