Chapter Fifty
Norritt was proud of his men and himself. For over one hour, they held their stretch of tunnel without losing an inch, without letting a single monster pass. The broken bodies of Titans and Oni had almost formed two layers on the tunnel floor, to points where Norritt was as tall as a human standing on the remains.
Yes, there was much pride to be had here today. So much that he sent one of his rear guard away… not to necessarily save the young Asura's life… but so that someone could remember and tell the story of the last stand of the First Elite Defense Krewe… so that someone could tell the world of the greatest Asuran warriors to ever live.
But, there comes a point where even the greatest tire… where even the sturdiest shields splinter, and the sharpest weapons lose their edge. The Krewe reached that point just shy of the two hour mark of the battle.
The lines had dwindled over the course of the battle, at some points only two deep. It was there that their enemies final charge broke through, and once the lines of the phalanx were compromised, the entire Krewe fell quickly.
To the very last man, they fought… until only Norritt was left, surrounded, wounded, and bleeding, his fallen comrades being drug away, presumably to be the "food" the Seers found sustenance in.
You have failed, just as it was a certainty before you were ever born.
The voice of insanity hadn't spoken in such clear words before, but to Norritt, they were as blustering nonsense as ever. The great old one had no power over him.
The Asuran krewe chief smiled triumphantly, and muttered in a slurred voice, "On the contrary. You monsters can eat my flesh, but you can't take my spirit, and it angers you all, doesn't it?"
The tiny warrior charged one final time as his foes closed in, to die a worthy death as a free living being.
* * * * *
"Are we there yet?" Cynn asked between labored huffs of breath.
"No." Vekk replied. "Not much further though."
Bhu'khahuh's forces had not caught up to them, and still were not in sight whenever any of them could spare a glance… however, that would likely soon change. Report from the remaining Forgotten of Atal Ra had reached Vekk that the First Elite Defense Krewe had finally fallen, and so there was no telling how long it would be before the villains would make up the distance.
The Forgotten had declined to join the retreat, not wanting to mingle with either the humans or the Charr. Those few ancient beings had decided their time had come, and would offer one final bit of resistance for the fleeing population… not that they imagined it would be all that much.
Aidan was already plotting their strategy. Now that they were in the tunnel approaching the surface, it would allow his allies to delay their foes more easily and for a longer period of time, hopefully long enough to allow Vekk and the Asura with him to finish pushing the weapon past the blast doors and beyond.
"The invading force has reached the Academy proper." Vekk's communications unit declared. "All still living personnel are reported to be in the tunnels; awaiting clearance to initiate blast door closing sequence."
The blast doors were actually three separate doors with layers of insulating gel that would fill between them and allow the doors to withstand any potential shockwave or fallout from the A.T.O.M. bomb detonation. The process took some time to complete, and so it needed to be started early in order for it to finish in time.
Vekk freed one hand from pushing in order to grab the communicator. "Any report on Headmaster Coran or Ascalon Captain Devona?"
"Negative, Vekk." Was the reply. "However, if they are among the last to retreat into the tunnel, we haven't been able to get any confirmations of any specific individuals due to the panic."
"Understood. Has Acting Headmaster Ouda given clearance to begin the closing sequence?"
"No."
Vekk took a deep breath before saying, "Then I am. Begin blast door closing sequence."
"Affirmative, initiating sequence… 25 minutes until blast doors are closed."
Vekk hooked the communicator back to his belt, as Aidan asked, "Is that going to be enough time?"
The Asura didn't offer much confidence, "I'm estimating that's about how long it will take a largely unfettered, advancing inhuman army to reach the blast doors from the Academy."
"I see." The ranger replied then making the orders to the rest of his team. "We have fifteen minutes, then we're breaking off to provide cover."
"What about me?" Gwen asked. "I can help."
"We can't take too many people or the weapon won't make it before we run out of time." Aidan declined.
Even as it was, they did not have terribly good speed. Asura were passing them in their flight rather quickly, the beings growing increasingly panicked in their flight… suggesting Bhu'kahhuh's minions weren't too far off.
The pushing group managed to enlist some of the more sane in the retreat to lend what strength they could, but it was still rather slow going to move that sort of weight up against the pull of gravity.
Five minutes later, it was clear they were at the back of the line… none had passed them for some time, most notably not a human pair dressed as a paragon and a warrior. Aidan had little doubt the next sounds they would soon hear would be the hissing and unholy howls of evil incarnate from behind them.
"Mhenlo, Cynn, Eve, Yue… get ready." Aidan declared grimly. "Break off on my mark."
And then, a voice they didn't expect to hear interjected, his voice barely audible from the strain in his words. "Now, now… I don't think that will be necessary."
In their shock, the progression momentarily stopped… although that pause did allow Devona and Coran to catch up. The warrior gestured to Mhenlo, and said, "He's been poisoned… see what you can do while I take your place."
Which she did; the warrior's strength providing a noticeable difference in their speed up the incline, joined a half second later by Coran and Mhenlo, the former sufficiently purged of the Seer's poisonous touch.
"We have about ten minutes before the blast doors close, I'm guessing?" Coran asked, confirmed by Vekk's nod. "That should be plenty of time."
"What about the beasts coming from behind?" Aidan asked in curiosity.
"Oh… I have one more surprise waiting for them." The headmaster said with a smug grin. "In fact, they should be receiving said surprise right… about… now."
Then the tunnel behind them was filled with the roar of explosives, joined shortly after by the howls and hisses of beasts and monsters. "As Devona and I were pulling back, I happened to notice an unused weapons cache from when the Academy was flushing out the remaining Destroyers. Seemed rather wasteful to leave and not use them."
"However, that's not going to be anything more than a small delay, because Coran obviously didn't want to collapse the tunnel entirely." Devona replied. "Hopefully it will make them move forward more slowly."
Instead, the explosion seemed to serve to stop the advancing foes, as silence ruled the rest of the party's progress. Devona really wasn't terribly shocked by this development… Bhu'khahuh figured it had already won. Why not let the "food" struggle hopelessly for a little while longer?
Soon, came the literal light at the end of the tunnel… and without much time to spare. The group barely fit the A.T.O.M bomb through the closing doors which closed with a thud, then a hiss.
"Do you honestly think this will hold the father of the gods?" Aidan asked disbelievingly.
"Of course not." Coran retorted. "But these were made to withstand destructive power incomprehensible by current mortal understanding. They should hold long enough for our purpose. Vekk, what will you need to make the modifications?"
"Not much." The Asuran engineer said. "I designed the unit specifically in the off-chance that this might happen. The only great concern is that the additional Agroium fuel is still below."
"One problem at a time, Vekk." Coran said, holding up his hand, his attention turned towards the north. The Ascalon standard had appeared, bearing royal trim; and there was no telling how their presence would be received by the increasingly demented King Adelbern.