Chapter 39: The Canyon of Decoy
After the battle for Bigrock was won, Aonghus kept his promise and freed the Skeletons. Their king was very grateful, and they all vanished into the clouds as ghostly versions of their Mercenary selves. While the majority of the Robots had been beaten down, there were a fair number of casualties on the Mercenary's side. One of the most significant deaths was King Terenti, who was slain by the Android Soldier, but he was avenged by Ivana while she was disguised as a Heavy. The other tragic death was that of Sergeant Donathan who set himself on fire just as Franklin woke up, and then he threw himself off of the second-floor balcony. Fortunately, Patten managed to save Franklin from the same fate as his father. But that didn't change Franklin's bitterness on the whole affair, yet he allowed Aonghus to take his place as the next heir to the throne. Meanwhile, Mickey and Patten were busy catching up after they had reunited by chance on the battlefield.
"It's amazing how resilient Scouts can be," Gerald mused as he watched Mickey and Patten talk from a distance. "All this death and destruction has just occurred, and yet they still find the time to talk about the simple things in life."
"Speaking of Scouts," Franklin said, approaching Gerald cautiously. "I think I might've met some at Lakeside."
Gerald turned to face Franklin with a surprised look. "You what? Tell me everything!"
Franklin hesitated, but then he told Gerald all about capturing Freddie and Steve, bringing them to Lakeside, interrogating them about the Bomb, and then helping them escape when the Robots attacked. Gerald listened carefully, but he did not speak a word while Franklin spoke. Then once Franklin was finished with his story, Gerald took him to the office where Aonghus, Matthias, and Gavin were waiting and after the doors were closed, Franklin repeated what he told to Gerald.
After that, Aonghus sighed and said, "Aye, I feel like I could use a Scrumpy right now."
"Same here," Matthias added. "I can't believe those two blokes are still alive after all this time, considering what they've been through."
"But their journey isn't over yet," Gavin responded. "They've still got to cross the Egypt Area and I've heard tales of a terrible monster that lurks there by the name of Painis Cupcake."
"You mean that cannibalistic Soldier? You've got to be joking!" Matthias laughed sharply. "Nobody believes in that kind of nonsense."
"Yet it was the Skeletons, who were also considered 'nonsense,' that saved Bigrock," Gerald reminded. "But I fear we have only been lucky so far. The real test is about to begin."
"What're you talking about, Doc?" Gavin asked.
Gerald adjusted his glasses before speaking. "In order to succeed in our mission of destroying the Bomb for good, we need to keep Gray Mann's forces occupied and his Monoculous trained elsewhere. To do that, we must use the Bombinomicon."
"Wait a minute," Aonghus said. "You want us to get Gray Mann's attention so that he'll attack us to give Freddie and Steve the time they need to destroy the Bomb inside the Moving Fortress?"
"Precisely." Gerald nodded.
"Bloody brilliant!" Aonghus shouted.
"Alrighty then!" Gavin responded.
"Then let's get to it," Matthias said.
After Matthias and Gavin exited the office, Gerald took out the miniaturized Bombinomicon, which was still sealed by leather straps. Aonghus nodded, and Gerald waved his Freedom Staff over the Bombinomicon. The leather straps came free and the Bombinomicon grew back to its enormous size. But before the cover got the chance to speak, the Bombinomicon opened up on the page depicting the Monoculous, which came to life and stared at Aonghus not with a pupil but the face of an old man with menacing eyes. The face didn't speak, but Aonghus still heard a voice in his head that was ancient but chilling.
"Are you a Demoman?" the voice demanded.
"Aye, and the great-great-great-great-great grandson of Iomhar." Aonghus reached behind his back and pulled the Lahnin Géar sword from its hilt. He held the blade up to the Monoculous and said, "Do you see this blade?"
In response, the Monoculous flinched. "No…it can't be."
"This is the re-forged Claidheamh Mòr sword, the same one that took your bloody life centuries ago, that has now been renamed 'Lahnin Géar'. If you think your tin cans can take our forces on, then meet us at Decoy in three days' time."
"Foolish mortal," the voice said angrily. "I'll take away everything you hold dearly, including your beloved woman."
Angered, Aonghus impaled the Monoculous with his sword, but the blade went right through and stabbed the Bombinomicon instead. To Aonghus' surprise, the book suddenly caught fire and burned up till there was nothing but charred pieces of leather. Gerald waved his Freedom Staff over the mess and cleaned it up before the carpet was stained.
"Do you think he took the bait?" Aonghus asked, sheathing the Lahnin Géar sword.
Gerald smirked. "Without a doubt, Kamerad (Comrade)."
While Franklin, Ivana, Mickey, and Patten stayed behind, the other Mercenaries marched out from Bigrock with hundreds of Heavies and Soldiers following them. At the front of this unit was Aonghus, wearing the same Dark Age Defender armor he wore back at DeGroot Keep with Ava's red sash over it and the Lahnin Géar sword sheathed behind his back. To his right marched Matthias and Gavin who carried their Huntsman's Bow and Jag Wrench respectfully. Then to his left Gerald marched with the Freedom Staff glowing brightly in his hand alongside Ivan who carried the Minigun King Terenti used. For three days, they strode across the endless sea of sand-dunes that lay south of Bigrock until they came to Decoy.
It was an Area that was originally meant to fool the Robots into thinking the Mann Co. base was there, though it wasn't, but had sense fallen into ruin. While most the old buildings still stood, there was no one around to occupy them, and the paint that covered them had already faded. The canyon walls covered one side the Area, and through a gap Aonghus and the others saw several large figures approaching them. They were Giant Robots, and the same ones Freddie and Steve saw before they were captured by Franklin. With the smaller Robots from Asteroid controlling them with glowing rods on top of their shoulders, the Giant Robots punched their way through the canyon walls and stood firmly on the other side of the Decoy buildings.
"You seeing what I'm seeing?" Matthias said, lowering his Huntsman's Bow.
"Yeah, and I don't like it one bit," Gavin replied.
"I should've known Gray Mann would bring the Giant Robots down from Asteroid," Gerald said, gripping his staff.
"There is no turning back now," Ivan said, turning on the Minigun. "We fight like men, or die as men."
"Agreed," Aonghus said, and unsheathed his sword. "Leeeeet's do iiiiit!"
The battle itself seemed to turn both ways. In the first half, the Giant Robots had the advantage as Shotguns and arrows were not match for them and they crushed any Soldiers or Heavies that got near them. Then Matthias came up the idea to scale one of the Robots, a Heavy, until he got to the shoulders where the smaller Robots stood. He had to fight several of them and eventually sent them flying off the Giant Robot with two rods in his hands. Using them, Matthias was able to control the Giant Heavy Robot and started clobbering the other Giant Robots.
On the ground, Gavin and the others assisted him by firing at the Giant Robots' feet, causing them to lose balance and fall over. Meanwhile, Aonghus created makeshift bombs and tossed them at the Giant Robots' heads, which either exploded or destroyed several of the smaller Asteroid Robots. Once the Giant Robots were down, Ivan moved in and fired several rounds at the Robots' heads with the Minigun, causing the Giant Robots to stop moving. After that, all that was left were the Asteroid Robots, and they didn't stand a chance against the Mercenaries who obliterated them till there was nothing but heaps of shiny metal.
While the casualties were significant on the Mercenaries' side, their overall unit was still strong. It was at that point that Aonghus decided to press on towards Coal Town, where the Moving Fortress was located. Matthias, Gavin, and Ivan agreed, while Gerald sent a message to Bigrock by dove to send reinforcements as soon as possible. So they marched through what was left of the canyon walls, and into a sandy wasteland where the faintest outline of Coal Town could be seen in the distance. But what drew the Mercenaries' attention more was the large structure near it, which they recognized as the Moving Fortress.
End of Chapter 39