Sorry for the wait everyone, I know updates have been sporadic but I hope you enjoy an action packed chapter!
Orkish horde, the plains several miles from Piltover
Jinx had been enjoying her newfound status as a pseudo "Nob" as Gunzak had appointed her being one of his chief consultants. She held command over the smaller Orks who obeyed (after being "incentivized") her every order without dispute. While physically she was scrawny which was frowned upon by Ork society, they did end up accepting her after she turned several unfortunate grotz into ammunition for new explosives she wanted to try out; as well as her unhealthy love for guns and extremely high explosions. In the end she was seen as a pseudo Flash Git combined with a mad mek. Since the horde was in its' infancy, being in the feral stage by normal classification the army had to move by foot instead of vehicles since they lacked any. Weaponry was also a concern for Gunzak, as his boyz had no proper gear besides the occasional choppa looted from a village, only a handful of boyz could even be called shootas because they stole some guns from one of the smaller settlements during a raid. Thankfully, this lack of technology was supplemented by vast numbers, as uncountable amounts of Orks rallied to the call of the WAAAGH! The area teemed with them only after such a short time, thanks to the reproductive ability of the species. Another boon would be the element of surprise, as no one knew about the incoming horde as there was a lack of civilization to give the nearby city states any warning of the wave of violence that would soon crash down upon them.
"So what's your name small green and mean?" Jinx chatted with a nearby Mek who had one of the few rifles in the horde as well as a giant nail embedded in his skull.
"Deyz call me Mista Iron 'ead boss, I works on everyfing shooty and splodey." The somewhat smell Ork spoke with pride, always walking with a hunch, he was roughly at 3/4 Jinx's height.
"Huh weird, I woulda called you Mister Nailbrain or somethen, oh well I guess that sounds more piratey' the girl shrugged. "So, I guess you've got really nothing to do since there's no tech to work on eh?"
"True that, though the boss says there'll be plenty of shiny bits to loot and gear to make once we take dis ere city! I can't wait haha!" cocking his rifle he had yet to "customize".
"Once we find somewhere decent, I may wana try out some new Orkish gear for my arsenal. You think you could manage that Ironhead?" she spoke with a glint of excitement, eager to try out foreign explosives and weaponry.
"Eh… sorry boss but even though you'z is one of us, you'z is not an Ork, our gear only works for us cuz we'z green and mean. I'd try boss but we've tried dis with ova humies before." He was obviously saddened he wasn't able to give his extremely destruction hungry boss something to help blow more people to shreds.
"Oh well, guess you can't get everything you want, any idea how long till we reach Piltover?" she responded.
"Well da boss sayz it'll be not too long now, only a few more hours which is good because da boyz is getting restless, we need somethen to shoot, smash, chop, and stomp!" The mek imitating each motion with slashes and stomps into the air, causing Jinx to giggle in response. The grots had come from scouting ahead over the next hilltop, informing the horde the city lay just beyond, much to the excitement of many an Ork as war cries rang out en mass.
"I think we're gonna get along just fine".
Piltover, Mayor's office 1 hour later
The room was awkwardly silent as mayor Steinwick sat with Jayce at his right, Heimerdinger to his left and Caitlyn on the other side of the table. All remained silent until Vi came through the door obviously annoyed.
"So what's this about? More bullshit about cupcake's replacement?" She was obviously in no mood to deal with the man she loathed, especially on such a sensitive matter.
"Enough Vi, I'm sure he has a good reason to have called us here." Caitlyn didn't even glance as she scolded her partner, the room quickly fell silent as the rowdy officer took her seat
Steinwick sighed heavily and silently stood above the table, placing his hands onto its' smooth wooden frame for support "as of this moment this is no longer a center of government, this is now a command center for all operations within the city." Everyone besides Heimerdinger sat confused at his statement. "Show them if you would please." He motioned to the scientist who pressed several buttons on the table, a holographic image played in front of the group.
"On the outskirts of the city, my sentry cameras picked this up." He stated as they watched a tiny green creature attempt to sneak across the open grassy plain above the city. Upon spotting the city state, it immediately bolted back out of view. The timer advanced 45 minutes ahead, large hulking creatures with green skin and primitive weapons came into view, their numbers too large for the screen to capture. The crowd parted for an all too familiar being to stomp its' way through, the monstrosity everyone recognized; pointing at the city with his gun and yelling something the entire horde bellowed a deafening war cry that shook the camera lens with its' ferocity.
"My god… there's more of them, and they're here" Caitlyn was completely awe struck, a rare sight for any who knew her; Vi also found herself speechless which was even more uncanny.
"I've already ordered the police force to form a defensive perimeter in the direction of the attackers, they'll be upon us within the hour. You two will be commanding on the front lines while I aid Janna in evacuation efforts. Heimerdinger will do his best to aid you however he can, he's already set up a secondary turret grid for when you pull back."
"Evacuation? Pulling back? This is my fucking home! I ain't running! No way in hell! We need to fight for our homes, our families! Running is for cowards!" Vi bursted in outrage, the thought of retreat in the face of an enemy was impossible to her.
"He's right Vi, we aren't Demacia or Noxus, we don't have a standing army. Our police force couldn't possibly fight a force of that size, even with Heimer's advancements and other champions' aid. We need to regroup and come back to fight another day, now cmon' we have a job to do." Picking up her rifle the sheriff walked out of the room, her partner quickly following in tow.
"We'll survive this sir, I'm sure of it" Heimer consoled the mayor in his usual chipper tone.
As the scientist left, Steinwick could only think to himself "maybe we will, but how many will have to die for that goal to be realized?"
Just outside of Piltover, Ork horde
Gunzak had assembled his army just outside of the city, he would've preferred to charge in the first chance he got but it made more sense to wait until every boy was ready to go. His patience paid off as the defenders seemed to have prepared a shambled defense to give his horde a nice challenge. Jinx was talking to her weapons again (giving more Orks the feeling she was a wierdboy in disguise) as he made his final check to make sure everything was in place.
"Alright ya gretchin lovin Nobz! Dem humies iz all ready for us, so let's go give em a good and proppa fight eh!? Let's show em a right and proppa WAAAAAGH!" His horde echoed his war cry as they charged forth as a tidal wave of living destruction and violence. Jinx simply yelling wohoo's as she ran blindly at the city she once terrorized, the Warlord himself thundering behind the green sea of bodies around him towards his next victims.
Piltover Defensive Perimiter
The defenders stood shakily, gripped in fear as nothing they'd ever encountered could have ever prepared them for this. Jinx was one thing, but an army of murderous beasts with that behemoth at the head coming to crush them utterly terrified the men and women of the police force. Vi and Caitlyn had arrived just in time before the horde crashed into their lines, the two attempting to keep morale strong in the face of such a foe. Even from such a distance the cries of WAAAGH! Rang out, the brutality and bloodlust of the species encased in a single world, struck terror into the hearts of those unfortunate enough to be on the opposite side of the call. Shortly after the ground began to shake, many officers looking around expecting to see armored columns or some mechanized construction to cause such a disturbance, a young private turned to the sheriff.
"What's going on mam? Is it an earthquake?" The sheriff simply shook her head "No private, enemy battle formations"
The man's face went pale as soon an ocean of green swept across the horizon, many hands shaking as most struggled to keep a hold on their rifles. Heavy MG turrets had been set up behind barricades, though few had experience in them as the design was experimental on the ground its' only other use being on Corki's airplane. Sandbags and other resources had been used to construct defensive positions on key streets and locations while snipers used their knowledge of the terrain to find good vantage spots in the urban jungle. While she showed no anxiety, a cool drop of sweat could be seen flowing down Cait's cheek; knowing hell was about to be unleashed.
"Don't give them an inch! These are our homes our families we are protecting here! We need to buy time to get the civilians safely out, after that it's our turn! I've served with most of you for years, if this is the last time we speak, then it's been an honor fighting alongside you; I couldn't have asked for greater company in my final hours. Give those monsters nothing, but take from them everything! Open fire!" Her men shouted in agreement as a hail of bullets erupted from the streets as the greenskins closed in. Within the first wave, many boyz found themselves caught on some of Cait's famous Yordle traps, leaving them unable to move for just enough time for the defenders to zero in on their position. Bullets filled the air as the Orks seemed to have no end, their durability paying off as it took multiple shots to the torso to bring down a single slugga, and while the defenders unleashed an unending rain of steel upon them, the greenskins simply kept coming. The narrow street played to the defenders' strengths, the right and left flanks were exposed if the attackers took secondary routes, but Caitlyn had established small garrisons at each entry point to stall such an advance. Vi charged forward into the assault, blunting the advance with a squad of men with riot shields and heavy batons to keep the melee focused army at bay. The strategy was sound in theory, except for the fact that the average Ork could crush a man's skull with his fist if hit enough times, and their brutish strength and proficiency in melee far outclassed their human counterparts. One of the men found his riot shield had been torn from his grip, his arm along with it; his screams of pain only lasted seconds before a green foot crushed his face. Bodies began to pile up in the streets as wave after wave of Ork met wave after wave of bullets; yet the deadlock would soon be broken as the MG had been forced to stop firing in order to reload.
"Keep up cover fire until we can reload the heavy emplacement!" Caitlyn shouted over the sounds of carnage and death around her. The officers did their best but an Ork "Booma Boy" had managed to brave the hail of gunfire to get just close enough to throw an angry squig directly at the gunner who was handling the ammunition. The small creature flew briefly through the air directly into its' target, its' razor sharp fangs digging into the man's arm as it fell upon him. The gunner frantically tried to yank the squig from his arm to no avail, when others tried to help him they noticed all to late the all familiar Jinx "chomper" explosive strapped to its' body. Before any could react, an explosion tore through several unfortunate officers around the emplacement; the gun itself was severed from its' tripod rendering it ineffective on top of its' crew being obliterated. With this lull in heavy support fire, the Orks had little to stop them from overrunning the defenders and Caitlyn knew it. She could see smoke rising from fires to her right where her first bulwark against a flank should be, while on her left she noticed a man clutching his arm limping towards her position; only to fall from a knife that had embedded itself into his back. Emerging from behind the new corpse was a happily screaming Ork, obviously enthralled by his latest kill. Caitlyn knew their position was doomed, but had little time to react as she quickly turned to her lines being overrun by the green skins.
"Everyone fall back to the second line! I say again get the hell out of there!" She signaled a retreat using hand signals incase people couldn't hear her over the sounds of chaos and death.
The retreat was anything but organized, the line immediately crumbled as Caitlyn began to fall back causing many to trip on themselves or others; soon to be engulfed by the unending tide. Vi had to be practically dragged away from the fighting, desperate not to seem weak or cowardly in the face of the enemy. Snipers did their best to cover their comrades, unfortunately they proved ineffective as few had been trained for such combat situations, causing many bullets to simply hit the torso or other limbs of the brutes; this merely angered the berserkers further causing them to simply level buildings snipers were in rather than clear them out. Upon reaching the second line, Caitlyn was able to take a small break to catch her breath and take in her surroundings. This line had much more time to prepare and it showed, several of Heimer's turrets were in strategic positions while armored cars and SWAT teams with heavier weaponry laid in wait. An officer by the looks of his uniform quickly dashed to her noting her appearance.
"Mam! Heimerdinger wanted me to give you this" Handing her a small device which resembled an earpiece. "He said it'll give you quick communications to the other champions coordinating the defense."
The man was young, probably mid 20's to 30 years old at max but he seemed calm and capable. She put on the earpiece and addressed the man "What's your name soldier?" the phrase "Soldier" feeling awkward to her since Piltover officially had no military.
"Shepard mam, Joseph Shepard" he gave a quick salute.
Checking a nearby map she took note of nearby blockades that had been setup, she took note of one to the west several blocks down. She pointed at the position and addressed Shepard "You are now in charge of this positon, consider yourself a commander of that outpost by my authority" The man quickly overcame his shock at the sudden promotion, but simply saluted and ran off to his new post. While the main fighting would be in her current area, that route lead to the main armory the police forces used; nobody had the time to get the weaponry and supplies out before the assault. She had sent for a convoy group to bring everything back to the academy of science which had become the evac point by using airships similar to the ones used in the Zaun vs Piltover race, but had heard nothing so far.
"This is the Sheriff to all commanders in the area, report in" She quickly brought herself back from her thoughts and kicked herself into command mode, she had mere moments before the tide crashed into her lines again and this position was far less favorable since the street was much larger. Vi had been sent to check on the weapons cache as well as the convoy coming to collect it, much to her protest but Caitlyn couldn't risk her in a close quarters engagement with this many bullets flying around.
The first transmissions began to come in "Jayce here on your right, ready to show these evil doers what a real hero can do!" Internally Caitlyn sighed, the man's ego always got the better of him. "Ziggs here! Ready to blow up some baddies haha!" She was extremely surprised to hear the nearly insane Yorlde on the line, she doubted his ability to lead and was cautious about him destroying the city they were trying to protect, but his skills were undeniable and his particular skillset dealing massive area of effect damage would come in handy against the horde. "Janna here, evacuation efforts are going as fast as they can, I'll update you if anything changes" She finally felt relieved that someone competent was on the line, Janna was trustworthy and useful in a fight, and the sheriff only wished she could be on the front lines. "Death from above here ready to let loose and fly!" Instantly she recognized Corki's voice, his aerial perspective could prove quite useful, if only she had more eyes in the sky to use. They had a strong front line she reasoned, Corki seemed to be unable to go airborne because of heavy anti air fire (mostly random Orks with guns firing at a moving object in the sky but when it comes to bullets, numbers matter). She was about to issue orders but a new voice took her by surprise "Point me at your enemies, they will die" She was very shocked to hear Orianna's voice, wondering what she was doing here, much less commanding forces but she took the hand she was dealt.
"Alright everyone hold your barricades as long as possible, if you need to pull back let me know immediately so I can reposition you. Keep me updated on your situation's periodically am I clear?" A resounding yes' and yes mam's answered her orders, and not too soon as she heard the screams of Orks echo through the air as they closed in on their position. The order to fire never had to be given, as once the green skins were in sight, a storm of bullets crashed down upon them. Within minutes every outpost in the area reported contact with the enemy yet all positions were holding for the time being. She flinched at what she could've swore was a bullet whizzed by her and struck a nearby wall, the Orks didn't have advanced technology there's no way they had the time or resources or industry to produce modern rifles surely. Taking a peek over her sandbag she indeed saw several groups of Orks using weapons presumably taken from the corpses of those who had fallen in the initial assault. What confused the sheriff is that the green skins were using semi-auto rifles, yet they simply held the trigger and bullets continued to spew out when they should've needed to reload long ago; as if they simply believed holding the trigger would somehow continue firing endless amounts of rounds, the strangest thing was that's exactly what happened. A renewed wave of return fire forced her to take cover behind her position, an unfortunate man to her right fell to the ground, a pool of his own blood quickly stretching outwards from his body. It was obvious the Orks weren't interested in a small thing such as "accuracy", they simply fired to their hearts content until they felt like stopping. After taking out several of the attackers with carefully picked shots, Cait received a transmission.
"Cupcake we got trouble, I found the group that was supposed to be at the armory, everyone's dead and their vehicles are trashed. Someone hit these guys hard and fast, I'm not seeing any survivors." Vi was obviously troubled by the revelation, Caitlyn also hadn't expected any kind of infiltration by a race that so obviously lacked any kind of subtlety.
"How did they get behind us? There's no way these brutes could use stealth effectively… maybe traitors in our midst? Vi, head to the mayor's… I mean the command center in case they try to take out our base of operations; I'll let him know you're coming." She received a quick "will do" before switching frequencies to the main command channel.
"Sir, the convoy heading to the armory is lost, I'm sending Vi to-" she was cut off by the sounds of heavy gunfire and explosions.
"Sheriff! Good, haven't been able to send out a message because of the fighting" Maniacal laughter mixed with the sounds of battle echoed in the background.
"Sir!? What's going on!" she was becoming frantic at this rate
"The damn things somehow got behind us the sounds of metal meeting flesh can be heard damn! More gunfire can be heard I'm sorry Cait, I should've never doubted you, I've failed a door can be heard bursting open I'll see you in hell you bastards!" The last sounds that came through was a loud WAAAGH! Before going to static.
"Mayor!? Sir come in!? Steinwick damn it answer me!" Before she could attempt to pull herself together, a strange Ork carrying an unknown staff arrived on the battlefield.
"hehehe hahaahah! It's about to get weirder!" were the only words he spoke before charging an electric ball of energy above his staff and sending it hurtling towards the defenders
"INCOMING!" a defender shouted, albeit too late for anyone to react as the orb exploded violently on contact with the first object it touched, igniting the police car into a ball of flames as well as either vaporizing or mutilating nearby officers.
"What the hell is that!? A nearby woman yelled as she attempted to lay down some cover fire for her comrades to pull back to her position.
No one knew the answer, nor could they respond before the staff lit up once more, yet instead of creating an orb the wierdboy pointed it at the defenders sending a stream of lightning that electrocuted the unfortunate captain who stood in its' path. The bolt then jumped to several nearby officers before finally stopping, yet the people who were struck by it twitched and convulsed violently before finally passing on.
"Someone shoot that son of a bitch!" her fury was evident yet her command was unable to be followed as a wave of sluggas charged into the newly weakened lines forcing the defenders to focus their fire on them or be overwhelmed in an unwinnable melee. As the screams of WAAAGH! Grew louder and more numerous, the wierdboy seemed to grow sickly, eventually puking out psychic energy from his guts, the substances seemed to slow and weaken the defenders while Orks were empowered by it, on top of this the pseudo mage joined in the screams of the WAAAGH! His energies seemingly empowering his comrades making them even more difficult to kill.
"Enough of this" ignoring all other distractions, Caitlyn focused her sights on the skull of her target; she made sure she had a clean shot as she pulled the trigger. The round struck, yet hit the center of the chest of the Ork since he had raised his body up to charge another attack, yet the bullet seemingly did the job. Unfortunately, the Ork slowly hovered in the air, then spastically flying above the battlefield obviously out of his own control before finally exploding in a gory mess that also killed several combatants on both sides.
"This is Caitlyn, everyone be advised the enemy has some sort of spell caster, consider them highly dangerous and eliminate them at all costs but watch out for area of effect from their death throes." She immediately warned her fellow commanders. "Also the command center has been compromised… the mayor is KIA" her voice was solemn in those last few words, though she had little time to linger on such things.
"Cait! This is Jayce, I'm pulling back there's too many I- a wall can be heard collapsing with thunderous footsteps following Ah! Dere you are ya scrawny git!" Caitlyn immediately froze, she remembered that voice that haunted her nightmares for what felt like ages now.
"Jayce get out of there! Do you read me retreat immediately get the hell out!"
"Metal can be heard smashing against metal just die you ugly piece of!-"the defender's voice was quickly cut off "snip snip little runt haha! The sounds of bones being crushed accompanied by guttural screams of pain ha! Time to die ya git! The transmission goes quiet after a single bolter shot went off"
"Jayce!? Jayce come in! Does anyone have a vision on commander Jayce's position!?" she was forced to duck her head after a grenade went off nearby, sending several people screaming as their bodies were thrown like ragdolls from the blast.
"Damn it all… everyone fall back! I say again fall back!" while getting her troops to run she decided to update her fellow generals "Everyone this is Caitlyn, Ziggs you need to fall back or you'll be surrounded, I believe Jayce is dead." She gave no hint of her sadness at saying those last words, yet she gave no time for a response "Corki we are falling back so you'll need to regroup with us at the main defensive line near the academy, Shepard can you hold your position until Corki's group gets to us?" She needed that junction to hold or else she'd lose countless troops to encirclement as well as the enemy having an easier time pushing forward.
"They're hitting us hard mam but we'll give em hell!" Was the short response with heavy gunfire in the background almost drowning out his words.
While outwardly it was a retreat Caitlyn knew this was quickly turning into a full on rout, her men were doing their best but morale was close to breaking at this point and no speech was going to fix it. What few handfuls of men she had remaining were running for their lives towards the last bastion of safety in the city, the Yordle academy of science where the evacuation by airship was going on at its top floor. She'd hoped to have bought them more time but the enemy was merciless and relentless. Guerilla warfare proved ineffective as the Orks simply used whatever explosives they had to simply level any buildings that shot at them rather than clear them out and traps did little to stem the seemingly endless tide of green terror. After what felt like hours the remainder of her forces finally reached the safety of Academy walls. The former head of scientific development on the continent now resembled a small fortress, bristling with defenses as Heimerdinger had setup his turrets in strategic positions as well was rallied every available patrol bot for its' defense.
"Janna it's Cait, I need an update on the evacuation; we've lost most of the city and I'm not sure how long we can hold here." Hoping things were finishing up in the top areas so she could get her troops to safety.
"We're going as fast as we can, but nobody was ready for this kind of thing and a lot of people have to be evacuated in a short span of time; we need an hour minimum." That was the last thing she needed to hear.
"We don't have an hour, I don't care how you do it but speed things up I'm losing more men than I can afford to and their seems to be no end to these things." Her voice hinted at the extreme exhaustion that was slowly crippling her body's ability to perform adequately. In League matches you didn't suffer from fatigue or anything of the like so nobody had an unfair edge, but out here in real war there were no safeguards; if you got killed you didn't come back as many learned the hard way.
"I'll do what I can, Heimerdinger is preparing defenses for the interior of the academy and will join you when things are too much out there." The transmission ended and the Sheriff took a moment to observe her new defensive position. Turrets lined the walls as well as patrol bots on the ground to act as shields to keep the melee forces away from the wall. The enemy would need high grade explosives to punch a hole in the gate of the wall itself, she hoped that would buy her time. The now familiar rumbling of the ground accompanied by chants of war put everyone on edge, it wasn't long before the tide poured into the main street making its' way to the wall.
"Patrol bots! Keep them away from the wall as long as you can! Everyone else keep up constant suppression fire!" She snapped her orders and they were quickly obeyed. The Bots charged into the screaming ball of violence and clashed with the greenskins, turning the street into what resembled a bar brawl while bullets rained from above on the wall. The melee battle was painfully one sided, the Orks were built for melee combat, easily able to tear machines created to arrest and use non-lethal methods in melee apart. The defenders did their best to keep suppressing fire up to give the machines a chance, but there was no real contest between the organic killing machines and their protector counterparts. While reloading Caitlyn noticed something from the corner of her eye, focusing her sights on the object at first it just seemed to be a ball of fire until the focus on her rifle kicked in. Her eyes quickly widened as she recognized the incoming projectile from an all too familiar nemesis "Incoming rocket! Get down!" She attempted to warn her compatriots but it was too late.
The massive explosive crashed into the once proud walls utterly decimating them while simultaneously incinerating or mutilating any unfortunate enough to be too close. Caitlyn was lucky as the blast merely sent her crashing into the ground below instead of ripping her to pieces. The blast had plummeted the once loud and chaotic battlefield into utter silence, save the cries of the dying and the moans of the wounded begging for help. Caitlyn was unable to hear either as her ears continue to ring as she slowly rose to her feet, her eyes trying to shake off the blurred vision that hindered her perception of the battlefield. Several seconds passed before the sheriff was finally able to gain her bearings, many of her troops had been in the direct path of the blast but the rocket did not discriminate as it carved through many Orks before slamming into the walls. Gathering up the survivors and the wounded that could be evacuated, she began making preparations for another retreat; one she didn't want to order so quickly after the skirmish began. She hoped the explosion had wiped out the attacking forces which gave her time to breathe, this theory was supported by the fact that she hadn't heard anything other than human voices and the battlefield was littered with the bodies of the green monstrosities. While she was looking for any more survivors, she saw movement in the corner of her eye in the smoke that still loomed over the battlefield, quickly taking a crouching stance and raising her rifle she prepared for the worst; her remaining forces quickly dashed to whatever cover they had and prepared for another assault.
As the figure came closer, a silhouette began to form, one that confused the Sheriff. The shadow looked very human, female by the figure but something was out of place as it seemed to have something stick out from its' back. Cait's eyes widened as the figure was then accompanied by a horde of shadows from behind. What shook her to the core was the sudden childlike giggle that echoed across the silent field of corpses, she felt her heart skip a beat as her mind raced "No, impossible it can't be. There's no way it could be her". As if on cue, a young thin woman emerged from the darkness twirling her two longer locks of hair as she walked "Hey hat lady! What's up?"
The young terrorist spoke as if she was talking to an old friend she hadn't seen in ages, completely ignoring the small army at her back. "Not seeing fat hands anywhere, she didn't leave already did she?" Her switch in tone felt extremely genuine, she sounded like a child who had lost a pet, or someone who was saddened at the recent loss of a friend.
"What the hell Jinx!? How can you be helping these fucking monstrosities!? I knew you were psycho but this takes it to an entirely new level" Her own troops were shocked by this sudden outburst, Caitlyn had always kept her cool; usually it was Vi who screamed and threw fits when confronted with adversity, not their sheriff. It was clear now Caitlyn no longer had the capacity to keep her calm, collected demeanor up the battle had broken her and all she could feel at the moment was complete and utter rage. "Even though you treat it like shit, this IS your fucking home Jinx! Have you seen what these things do to people? I get you're insane but surely even you couldn't stoop this low could you!?" Silence reigned as she waited for a response.
"They're actually pretty cool when you get to know em, and cmon! You can't deny this isn't super fun! I'd never be able to pull off something like this on my own even in my dreams!" She spoke like a little girl seeing her imagination come to life, her eyes full of joy and wonderment; a stark contrast to the carnage around here. "Um you know a lot of people are getting hurt, maybe you should tone it down a bit?" Fishbones "Spoke" receiving a glare from its' owner "You know I can replace you Right?" somehow annoyed at her own weapon when she obviously spoke for it. Turning to one of her two nemeses the terrorist aimed her Zap gun at her opposing leader "So any last words?" Before Caitlyn could angrily retaliate she simply pulled the trigger "Ha! Just kidding, just die" The small electric bolt nearly striking the Sheriff's forehead before she dove to the ground mere milliseconds before impact.
The horde took this as a command to charge, instantly screams of WAAAAGH! Filled the air as they rushed to the exhausted defenders. Caitlyn was sure she was doomed, there was no way they could outrun their pursuers, nor did they have the strength to hold on; suddenly the sound of a loud whistle drowned out the screams of death and blood "Bombs away haha!" A massive explosion landed in the center of the horde, incinerating or outright obliterating most who had been unfortunate enough to be in the blast zone. Such high grade hexplosives could only be produced by one insane yordle "supports here! Haha!" Ziggs was always so happy and cheerful it was creepy, but she wasn't complaining as the mega bomb had bought her plenty of time to get her men out. "Ziggs! Oh I've never been happier to see you. I need to get my men out can you cover our retreat?" The wide grin never left his furry face "Sure thing boss! Today's been a good day to blow stuff up!" Turning from her he immediately filled the streets with his hexplosive minefields and threw bombs whenever possible to keep any would be assault at a distance. Everyone who could was now sprinting for the safety of the academy, she spotted Corki flying in with a damaged airplane and what seemed to be a handful of survivors. Every outpost that still had people alive reported being overrun and forced to retreat, evident by the growing crowds of wounded and panicking soldiers she saw flooding towards her same objective.
For the time they had a moment to rest, the attackers seemed to be taking time to re muster their forces for a final push. Caitlyn began to feel the full effects of the strain her body had been put under as extreme fatigue took its' toll on her now that the adrenaline rush had died down. Forcing herself to push forward, she began touring the academy, memorizing every detail she could to help better her knowledge of what she had available. The turret defense grid was their first and most reliable line of defense, every hall and area big enough had several of the automated defenses guarding them which would prove costly to any attacker. The network was extremely well put together, something she had to commend the scientist for being able to do on such short notice, yet this only reinforced her original fears. Should the turret system be destroyed it was over, the ragtag forces they had left stood absolutely no chance against any kind of assault. Morale was at the breaking point and ammunition was running low, combined with the fact over half the troops they had were severely wounded her fighting strength was close to zero. Noting this fact Caitlyn checked her waist where she kept her numerous pouches of ammunition, she normally had a ring of full pouches encircling her body; she just now realized she only had a handful left. Her realization of this fact shook her to the core, she had never once ran out of ammo even in the real world, in League matches any kind of ammunition was infinite so that others like herself wouldn't be at a massive disadvantage; she wondered if all this time her once keen senses had become dulled by the lifestyle she had lived in recent years.
Looking around she realized that it seemed the entire patrol bot defense force had been wiped out in that last skirmish as none were present to defend the most key position in the city, this wasn't unexpected but it still would've helped to have at least some sort of melee protection even no matter how meager it was. While touring the inner halls of the academy, the sheriff turned general visited the uppermost levels of the building to see how the wounded were doing as well as how the evacuation was going. She decided not to enter several rooms after it seemed the doctors were forced to perform emergency surgeries to save a patients' life; she also couldn't bear to hear their screams of pain as most medicines were in extremely short supply and the physicians had little professional medical equipment to work with. Cait was able to visit several conscious soldiers who thanked her for standing by them against such an enemy, one gave her a locket with a picture of a beautiful woman and a young boy around four years old and told her to give it to his fiancé. When she told him he'd do it himself he simply smiled and replied "This is my last stop mam, I couldn't have asked for a better sheriff or a greater friend" afterwards slipping into darkness. No one was present to see the rivers that flowed from her eyes as she tightly gripped his lifeless hand, whispering to herself that she'd see to his final wishes if it was the last thing she did; she gently took his dog tags and exited the room with reddened eyes after the tears had stopped. Once reaching the top of the academy, she noted that thankfully most of the airships were already gone, meaning the time until they could leave was drawing close. She decided to leave Janna to her work, instead beginning to head back to the ground to prepare for the next big push, sending out an order for all commanders to check in. Ziggs was placing his minefields across the open streets to slow any substantial assault while Corki was repairing his damaged helicopter as fast as he could. Heimerdinger was putting the finishing touches on the defense network while Vi was overseeing the rear flank, and Shepard was with his unit in the courtyard. She felt confident in her current position until she realized something was off, she received no response from Orianna.
"Orianna come in, I need a status report" she reiterated her command, irritated the machine hadn't answered. Several minutes went by in silence, her casual stroll to the ground floor became a quick jog as she called for her fellow champion once more. "Someone get me eyes on Orianna before-"her command was cut short by an explosion followed by the ringing of gunfire from all around the academy.
"Cait we need you out here now! All hell's broken loose, the fuckers are everywhere!" Vi was shouting into her mic to overcome the deafening roar of gunfire, the sheriff dashed to the bottom of the institute nearly knocking several people down on her way out. As she found herself in the frontal courtyard, the sheer volume of enemy fire and the deafening roar of enemy war cries made it evident this was intended to be a knockout blow, which as she dashed to the walls gave her two ideas on her attackers' strategy. Either they were distracting the defense and keeping them occupied on the main assault so that a covert strike could occur unhindered; which she seriously doubted from such a brutish species. The other option was that they couldn't allow this invasion to drag itself out in a slow war of attrition which gave her hope that they'd damaged the enemy's numbers severely enough to force them to launch a final desperate gamble to take them out. She instinctually continued to aim and fire her rifle as soon as she could pull the trigger while trying to formulate some kind of contingency plan, if the walls fell too soon they needed a way to buy more time. Her thoughts were interrupted by a particularly large horde charging the wall itself with what looked like makeshift picks; this confused her until she saw the Orks simply jump at the wall, using the force of their impact to dig the picks in and use them as climbing tools.
"Aim down! Shoot them off the walls! Don't let any of them get up here!" she cried as she and her fellow soldiers diverted fire to the more immediate threat, ironically while she knew it was with reckless abandon the greenskins did this it actually made tactical sense; the defense couldn't risk using explosives or risk damaging the walls and they had to divert fire from the other attackers to prevent a more imminent threat, allowing ranged fire to be thrown into the now exposed defenders. In mere minutes, her group of defenders had turned into a handful of survivors. Their time seemed to be up as a particular Ork had a very poorly made "rokkit" attached to his back made from scrap found during the assault, with the push of a button the makeshift jet pack ignited and threw him uncontrollably into the air, it looked as if an invisible child was playing with him as a toy by the way he flew. Somehow the fly boy was able to direct himself at the defense that was too busy with the main assault to shoot him down "HAHA FLY HIGH AND SAY DIE!" he screamed as he crashed into the top of the wall where several soldiers stood firing on his comrades. Instead of disengaging and trying to catch the enemies in melee, the Ork simply exploded as his unstable Rokkit gave out, the explosion killing several soldiers and breaking off a chunk of the wall that was already riddled with bullet holes. This clandestine act inspired the Orks into a frenzy, every Ork who had anything that went boom simultaneously at the crack in the defenses' shell. The force of the explosion rocked the foundations of the wall as the weakened section collapsed in on itself. Caitlyn knew this was the end of holding them at the wall and gave the order to fall back, she knew most of her men wouldn't even make it to the doors of the academy before they were cut down but they had to run for it anyway. The green tide flowed in like a tidal wave through the hole in the defense, only for a small ball that flew in from seemingly nowhere landed in the middle of the mob. Unknowing of any danger, the Orks simply gathered around and looked at it, only for seconds later they found their bones snapped and bodies mangled as it seemed the very air around them snapped them to the center of the circle. Caitlyn was awe struck at the power of such a force, knowing only one machine… one girl who used such a technique.
"Orianna?! I thought you were gone I couldn't raise you on the radio!" The sheriff happily yelled as she ran towards the mechanized champion, only to recognize severe damage across her metal frame.
"I was unable to hold sheriff, I am sorry. My communicator was destroyed in the fighting, and I had to get my soldiers out so I stayed behind to cover their retreat." Her metallic voice always made her somewhat of an outcast, as she tried so hard to be "normal" but never seemed to emit any emotion she tried to convey, yet it seemed at least now that Caitlyn could understand how she felt.
"You did a damn good job, let's get you inside and get you patched up alright?" She smiled as she tried to guide the champion inside, but the girl pulled her cold metallic hand back.
"There are wounded still here in the courtyard, get them inside. I will cover you." Her voice trying to sound genuine, although as easy the metallic nature of it made it hard to echo her thoughts.
The sheriff replied with a nod and began picking up and dragging any men still breathing back to the doors to be picked up by medics. She nearly had been struck by a stray bullet, narrowly missing her head as Orks again poured through the hole; one of them charged at her attempting to separate her head from her skull as she had laid her rifle down to use both of her hands to carry a man. This attempt failed as a bubble had surrounded her, absorbing said blow. Shortly after a metal star buried itself in the greenskins skull, his corpse unceremoniously plopping onto the ground. Caitlyn nodded thankfully at the (technically) young girl to which she received a gentle smile, this was interrupted as an axe buried itself in her back while she was distracted. Orianna quickly summoned her ball back and it crashed into the assailant sending him several feet away; but the skirmish could only go on so long and both of them knew it.
"Ori! Get the hell out of there that's an order!" Caitlyn wasn't taking any more chances but it seemed her commander was. The girl noticed a man slightly moving on the ground and rushed to his side, she gently picked him up and attempted to make a run for the entrance. Her orb's protect couldn't absorb the hail of gunfire raining down on her, she then used her body to shield the wounded soldier as more and more rounds embedded themselves in her metallic body; she was now limping towards the door as her leg had been hit by a particularly heavy slug taking a piece of the leg off with it. Before Caitlyn could muster an order, return fire erupted from the academy's windows to suppress the incoming assault. It seemed Shepard had been able to coordinate some kind of organized resistance while the general was busy. After what seemed like ages, the machine champion stumbled into the academy, softly handing the barely breathing man to a medic and then collapsed to the floor.
"Someone get me a medic! Or a mechanic whatever I don't care!" Caitlyn began panicking. "Ori!? Stay with me damn you, you hear me!? Don't you die on me!" She wasn't prepared to lose another ally, another soldier, another friend to these monsters.
The girl gave her a warm smile, something she normally didn't do "Thank you Caitlyn that means a lot" somehow for the first time it seemed she was able to convey her feelings accurately, as there was an uncharacteristic warmth in her voice.
"For what? You saved me, you've helped so many" Caitlyn didn't like where this conversation was going.
"For believing that I had lived in the first place" Caitlyn didn't even notice her wording, for Orianna to "die" she had to have lived, life being something many debated machines even had and it hit her hard. "Don't talk like that you're going to keep living you hear me? You-"Orianna's head gently rested on the floor, and the once bright glow from her eyes faded "Orianna!? Ori?! Answer me damn it don't do this!" The door began to shake as it seemed the defense was unable to hold them much longer, once the gate busted open they would be forced to pull back to the 2nd floor where the automated turrets were located. Shepard went to his estranged commander and softly grabbed her soldier "Mam we need to-" she immediately jerked her shoulder away "get off of me!" as he saw her face he could see the rage, the fury, the pain inside her; she was mentally broken and only blood would sate her vengeance. She gently picked up her fallen champions' body, like a parent handling a sleeping child trying to keep them from waking. She placed her gently in Shepard's arms "you take her to the airships, now give me your ammo" he complied and she took two bayonet's from a nearby table. "Now go, Vi is in command if I don't come back" she never even glanced back at him, still glaring at the door that was close to breaking. Shepard gathered everyone he could and began a journey to the 2nd floor. In his mind he took note of the word "If" he wasn't a fan of suicide missions but it was her choice and he would respect that.
Finding herself alone on the floor, she mentally prepared herself for the slaughter to come, she would kill as many of those bastards as she could or die trying. The booms grew louder as the cries of WAAAGH! Intensified, the door eventually giving way and busted open, a trickle of green some became a flood. With her bayonets on her side and her rifle aimed and ready none would pass this hall while she drew breath. She surprised the Orks as she charged at them in a way which would resemble a berserker with a blade in each hand "All right you monstrous bastards this is for Orianna!".
Hey guys I'm super sorry about how late this update took, I've been meaning to get this posted for a long time so I tried to make this at least 2-3x longer than my normal chapters so I hope that makes up for it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for staying with me! I know this chapter may seem to drag on but I really wanted to make up for how long I haven't updated this so I hope this comes to you as a special treat instead of a prolonged chore. Any critique is appreciated and I'll definitely try to get this story updated more often! (no promises) see you guys next time!
