Part 58: Mission 58: Death Valley

A few more intelligence reports came in as we made preparations to attack the mountain pass. The first one, detailing the restoration of frescoes that had led us to Karadan-Ka, was obsolete by the time I received it.



The second one concerned the Darkswords of the Gods, the relics we now found ourselves racing to find. The report, developed with the assistance of Sil'Vain, upended everything we thought we had known about our own history.

There was a reason that so many of our enemies had taken the form of monsters and beasts of legend. Elves and orcs. Harpies, dragons, and demons. We'd spoken of these creatures in our myths because we had seen them in the flesh. Magic had once dominated the world as it was threatening to do again today. An ancient war between gods and titans had left the latter defeated and the magic banished, but the tales of their struggles had endured.

Perhaps the Forces of Darkness had thought that they could invade us at their leisure - that they could simply open the gates and magic and superstition would again seize the world as though they had never left. To the ancient wizards and immortal gods of the Forces of Darkness, a decade was a day. Developing mundane weapons powerful enough not just to withstand magic, but to prevail against it, must have been unthinkable to them. Yet out of necessity, they had launched the invasion anyway, and they had adapted to our military capabilities frighteningly well.



We only had a few final preparations to make before we closed the noose around Medusa's neck. The UDES had had a few too many close calls, so we replaced their Tanarit plating with Andurital and gave them Archotral engines that would allow them to evade some of the slower enemy projectiles. With these enhancements, UDES easily surpassed Destructors in terms of survivability. We estimated that even a Fortress of Terror would require extended bombardment to destroy a single one.



Finally, it was time. The only way in was a treacherous gorge, the perfect killing field sure to be guarded by Medusa's best. It was a daunting task, but if anyone could break this defense, it was us.

Mission 58: Death Valley

Attending:
Lazarus (Forlorn Hope, Mobile Infantry)
T. Hinman (Ethereal Corps, Mobile Infantry)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Mobile Infantry)
Gordon Frohman (Concerned Citizens, Mobile Infantry)
Solrick Skaft (Scion of Emer, Mobile Infantry)
Joe Moore (War Boys, Mobile Infantry)
"Doctor" Snark (Mage Killers, Mobile Infantry)
Emil Västerström (Trollhunters, Mobile Infantry)
Mael Radec (Radec's Rhinos, Destructor)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Destructor)
Patrick Gallagher (Just In Time, Destructor)
Erik Spanner (The Toolbox, M1 Abrams)
James "Griff" Griffin (Party Crashers, M1 Abrams)
Basil (Paladin, M1 Abrams)
Reginald P. Linux (Doom Squad, Leopard 2A5)
Grandalt Noddington (Tea Battalion, Leopard 2A5)
Hulk Hogan (The Hulkamaniacs, Leopard 2A5)
Aethereon Darkfyre (The Mary Sues, UDES)
Stephen Smith (The Counts of Monty Python, UDES)
Grand Inquisitor Solaus (Balkanian Inquisition, MLRS)
Michael de Boulogne (Chivalric Order of Saint George, MLRS)
Gregor (The Swell Swords, MLRS)
Pusher Bot (The Space Robots, MLRS)
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, M106)
Cholmondely Featherstonehaugh-Smythe (Sphinx Battery, Roland)
Sigrún Raske (Skysmasher Brigade, Roland)
Roger Murtaugh (Less Than Lethal, Roland)
Billy Mays (Infomercial Men, Mi-24)
Bob & Doug McKenzie (Royal Canadian Red-greens, Mi-24)
Vlasta Devínská (Paper Tigers, Universal 2R)
Charles C Thuluu (Strange Aeons, Universal 2R)



Aethereon Darkfyre: Truly, this is the valley of the shadow of death.
Mael Radec: Yes, our enemies' deaths.




Vlasta Devínská: I see more of those sheer rock faces ahead, like we found at the fortress. Bet anything there's Mammoths on them.
"Doctor" Snark: Let the flyers handle it, then, we shouldn't be in any-



"Doctor" Snark: Damnit!



Erik Spanner: Guess they didn't feel like waiting to corral us onto those narrow ledges.



Aethereon Darkfyre: Mammoths! The great beasts of old are trampling me! Figuratively. With guns.



Patrick Gallagher: Bunker down, form a line! Let them come to us!



Michael de Boulogne: Pat, this was a terrible idea!



Stephen Smith: They've got a Mammoth hiding northwest, too! Good thing their shells roll off my new armor like a summer breeze.



Svetlana Aliyev: They've put themselves in range! Make 'em regret it!




Anil E. Hilated: Path's clear!




Billy Mays: BUT THERE'S MORE ON OFFER AT THE WESTERN PASS!



Billy Mays: IT'S AN OFFER ACROSS THE BOARD! THE FORCES OF DARKNESS ARE PUTTING UP EVERY KIND OF DEFENSE YOU COULD EVER ASK FOR!




Solrick Skaft: Except, of course, the useful kind.



Bob McKenzie: Rotors are getting a bit chilly here, eh.
Lazarus: Hey, there's a Mammoth!



Lazarus: Don't you fuckers know mammoths are supposed to be extinct?




Billy Mays: IF THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE DOESN'T STOP YOU, NO PROBLEM! THE FORCES OF DARKNESS HAVE ANOTHER READY TO GO!



Habitually Red: Keep it up! I think I see the end of the chasm ahead, we're almost at the end of the pass!



T. Hinman: More are coming! Dinosaur riders wish to render us extinct, but it is we who will render them extinct!



Solrick Skaft: Hinman is right, if a bit awkward in expressing his sentiment.
Gordon Frohman: You know, the way Hinman always talks... I think I figured it out.
"Doctor" Snark: You have?
Gordon Frohman: Sure. There's only one reason someone would behave so uncannily, so unnaturally, when we've been fighting together for so long and smoothly integrated people from so many other countries, some of which don't exist.
Lazarus: So, spit it out!
Gordon Frohman: Hinman! You half-assed your foreign integration courses!
T. Hinman: ...
"Doctor" Snark: ...
Gordon Frohman: ...
Lazarus: ...
T. Hinman: Ah ha ha, yes, you got me! I skim study sections and cheat on tests! Please do not tell Alexander!
Gordon Frohman: Pffft, like I really would. We all bullshited our way through those.
Solrick Skaft: Yep.
Lazarus: Guilty.
"Doctor" Snark: But wait, if we all blew them off, then how come Hinman's the only one who-
T. Hinman: Fellow hu-mans, we must focus on the battle at hand! There could still be deadly enemies about! Possibly dragons!



Anil E. Hilated: Golems may not be a threat, but knowing the enemy can't replace them anymore makes them so satisfying to destroy.




Aethereon Darkfyre: The foe's assailment of our vehiclage never ceases!



Gregor: Is another moving stronghold, with cavalry to defend! Where are magic users when we need them?
Griff: Pretty sure we've got so much magical firepower and gear that we all qualify at this point.




Doug McKenzie: Qualify enough to get the job done, eh!



Michael de Boulogne: I don't need your heretical magicks to do kill my foes!



Vlasta Devínská: We're at the finish line! I see the fort at the other end of the valley and... hang on... I'm picking up something in the sky.



Vlasta Devínská: Some kind of flyers, ten of them! They remind me of the Mri with those swords.



Habitually Red: Thanks for the info, Vlasta. Let's see what it can do.
Joe Moore: Stick to the usual plan, people! Stay together and concentrate your fire on it. If Medusa's been holding it in reserve for this long, it's probably dangerous.



Habitually Red: Ow, shit! Yeah, just like teh Mri. They wave their swords and suddenly you're hurting everywhere.




Billy Mays: AND JUST LIKE THE MRI, HAVING A HIND MEANS NEVER HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT THEM AGAIN!



"Doctor" Snark: How are you guys doing over on the other side, anyway? We're already storming their defense post.



Aethereon Darkfyre: The enemy has continued to besiege us, but no more! Now we shall do the besieging!




Cholmondely: "Besieging" implies rather tiresome waiting. We can, and should, crush this rabble with all haste.



Billy Mays: AND WITH AIRCRAFT, NOT EVEN WALLS CAN SLOW DOWN YOUR RABBLE CRUSHING!



Charles C Thuluu: Alright, guys, roll 'em! All that's left are their summoners.



Stephen Smith: We did it! I can see the valley widening ahead.
Mael Radec: And that's where our next destination lies. Keep moving, people! No reason to stop now!




Faced with dozens of Knights of Death and artillery pounding us from all sides, we slowly and methodically picked our way through the deadly corridor without any losses on our own side. It had been a slow and laborious crawl forward, however, and Medusa had surely bought herself enough time to summon reinforcement, whether from the Gate or from elsewhere on Earth. We had also learned of a new airborne threat, one that could very well challenge the supremacy of our own air force.

These strange robed figures, however, were not are primary worry. We hadn't yet encountered the mysterious beast Medusa had summoned at the southern temple, and while each mission without it had been cause for relief, there was nowhere else left it could be. Whatever it was, it would surely be defending the Gate now.