First author comment in a little while, this is the part where I really had fun. I suppose it's about half the action of a paragraph of an Exotroopers adventure or The Rookie…
Of course, there were many things happening in the midst of the coup against King Ajax, involving several who had no direct part in the main attack. In the main Guard Room, five Guards found that the door was barred from the outside, and the window had somehow been welded shut. On the edge of the palace grounds, one of four rather disreputable Mushroom Men loitering near the South Gate hurled a Phial that created a green door in the eroded brick. In the main dining room, the dozen or so guests and servants still at the table looked up in relief at the arrival of one of the Guard, until he made a pointed gesture with his Royal Fire Plant. In the adjoining Grand Corridor, one Steward Boletus unlimbered a 14-barrelled volley gun that had been carefully locked in a display case. And meanwhile, an almost unnoticed disturbance unfolded at the door to the Royal Storehouse…
The dust was still clearing as Persephone was pushed forward. Behind her came Diantha, holding a pepperbox pistol with four barrels arranged in a diamond. Another Maiden leaned into view, wielding a crossbow. Ajax recognized her as Persica. Screams could be heard from the dining room. They grew fainter as a third stepped into view. It was a Lindorm servant, familiar to Ajax but not known by name. He shed a jacket, revealing light battle harness and a pair of razor-edged throwing discs. Beside him, a Royal Guardsman named Cremini assumed a combat stance. "Thanks for making this easy, m'Lord," Diantha said. "Listen up! We're taking the King for his royal honeymoon tour. We might even bring him back."
"Why?" Ajax said to Diantha. His real concern was signaling Meliboia to treat the Lindorm as a threat.
"Why?" Persica parroted back. "She wasn't even in on this before you threw her over."
"Shut up," Diantha snarled. She pointed her weapon at Persephone, who remained clearly far more enraged than fearful. "Now, if you'd rather have your Favorite bear your Fruit instead of fertilizing the garden, you're going to open the Trophy Room and get one of the Relics that will get us all out of here. If you don't, the Bombadgers can always throw another bomb." A glance confirmed that not one but two of the furry creatures were outside at 30 Cubits' range, each with one paw inside a bag.
"The first Bombadger did not try to spare my life or any other," Ajax said. "What has changed, if anything has? How do I know you will not kill us all when you get what you want?"
"I suppose you don't," Persica said. "Just be glad somebody wants you alive. Tiamo back there? You killed his brother." The Lindorm twirled one disc on his finger. "And in case you need encouragement, take a look outside." As Ajax looked, the Bombadgers each sent a bomb scuttling along on tiny legs, on a course that would reach the hole in perhaps 30 seconds.
When the shooting started, Cerasa and Lemmia were talking with Skarff in the Grand Corridor. She noted with vague suspicion the Steward making his way toward the case with the volley gun, but she turned back to the conversation. "Oh, Meliboia asked me to find an Attendant to check her purse," she muttered. It occurred to her to look inside. "Dammit, Mel…"
That was when the Steward hefted the volley gun. It consisted of two central barrels that each had 6 more wrapped around them, in an outlandishly unwieldly assembly that still had double triggers and a shoulder stock. The Steward shouted an order that was garbled by the acoustics of the hall. The guests paid attention when three more armed Mushroom Men burst in through a side door. Then an old Lindorm belched a jet of fire that burned a portly patron into a shriveled husk.
"Are you going to do something?" Cerasa said to Skarff. As she spoke, the Steward managed to fire half of the volley gun's barrels in a slightly staggered sequence at four Guardsman who came rushing from the far end of the Corridor. One of them fell with two slugs through the chest.
"Union Law specifically proohibits me from aiding eitherr side of an indigenous conflict," the Eater said. "In any event, the technoology I carry is of a primarily defensive nature." As he spoke, a blunderbuss slug flattened as if against an unseen wall a half-Span from his belly. "If you stand behind me, you should be rreasonably safe." The women did as he said, and a small group quickly gathered as others followed their example.
"To Cocytus with this," Cerasa said. She leaned around Skarff's girth and fired on the intruders with Mel's compact pistol.
"I must ask that you stop that," Skarff said. "I cerrtainly cannot provide you cover if you try to leave this position."
"Of course you are," Cerasa said as she answered the returning fire. "You owe my Lord money. What do you think he will say if you let me get shot?" One of her bullets hit the Lindorm in the throat. A burst of flame reduced it to a briefly upright skeleton that tumbled to the floor.
"Oh, ddear," the Eater said. "I say, felloows, understand, I have no control overr this female's actions, nor do I condone them. I do suggest you trry not to harm her, her mate is Loord Xaja, I believe you will have heard of him." The attackers did indeed withdraw and regroup. Cerasa pushed Skarff forward. "Might I suggest a ceasefire? Perrhaps a negotiated surrender? I have ample diplomatic credentials. Do you have any demands, perhaps a manifesto of an ideological nature? Ah, please don't do that."
The Steward fired all seven remaining barrels of the volley gun at almost point blank range.
The backblast blew the doors to the dining room off their hinges.
"Well, you warned him," Cerasa said.
"All right," Ajax said, "I am opening the trapdoor." He took out his key, then bent down beside the Golem. "Golem, go."
His duplicate charged forward, absorbing two of Diantha's shots. Simultaneously, Mel drew her pistol and put two bursts into the iron doorframe that was Persica's cover. "My eye!" she shrieked. She lurched back and started to rise, only to stagger and reel. "My eye…" She flopped down convulsing. Meanwhile, the Guardsman launched a volley from his Fire Plant to one side, obviously dealing with a threat from elsewhere.
Ajax sprang up and grabbed the handle of the nearest item on a shelf of athletic equipment. He realized with unpleasant surprise that it was a tennis racket. Then his eyes locked on a bomb as it bounded through the hole. He hit it with a mighty swing. It went flying straight back at the Bombadgers. One promptly started digging back into the earth. The other by some instinct caught the bomb. It had just enough time to glance at what it had caught before a blast shook the grounds. Ajax dropped the racket and plugged his ears with a wince. When he opened his eyes, he beheld the Golem's head clattering to rest at his feet. He turned his head in time to see the Lindorm catch its returning blade.
Mel fired another burst that destroyed one leg of the second bomb. The smashed mechanism sent it tumbling to one side, to detonate with a blast that still blew a barred window out of its frame. Persephone pulled free from Diantha. Instead of trying to disable the other Maiden or wrestle for the weapon, she threw herself in front of Ajax. "You shall not harm my Lord!" she screeched.
Both Diantha and Nopalina said simultaneously, "Oh, grow up!" The former pointed her gun between Persephone's eyes. Suddenly, she staggered and shrieked in both agony and indignation. Ajax saw an arrow in her buttock, and followed the path to Persica, who had sat up. Diantha turned and made the same calculation. "Metrokoites!" she snarled. She put her next bullet in Persica's forehead. Ajax grabbed Persephone around the waist and hauled her down the stairs. The last shot ricocheted off the frame. On their right, Nopalina dived into the go-cart. The loading door started to open automatically as the engine roared to life. She pulled out before it could open fully. There was a crash as the rollbar hit the bottom of the door, damaging both.
Mel managed to snap the stock onto her pistol as she tumbled and rolled. She took aim at the Lindorm. He threw both discs, one overhand and the other horizontal. She got off two shots before the vertical disc hit her shoulder. She cried out in surprise as much as pain as the disc tore through her armor. She tracked an eerie hum as the second disc made a sharp curve toward her. She fired twice more before she dived down the stairs, pulling the trapdoor shut behind her.
"My Lord," Persephone said in the dark, "open the cabinet, and I can make an escape route…"
"What in Cocytus was that?" Mel shouted as she raced down the stairs. "This stuff is rated to stop my own pistols!"
"That was a Lindorm Royal Guardsman," Ajax said. "I warned you, even one is a formidable threat. We cannot oppose him without superior weaponry."
"Well, this qualifies, right?" Mel went to the alcove with her Lorica. She shed her greaves, and pulled on the left gauntlet and shield. The rest of the armor opened and reformed around her, except the helmet, which she put on last.
Ajax smiled. "You look well, My Lady," he said. He went to the alcove. This time, there was no challenge from the Guardian Orb. He threw on the base harness of the Lindorm armor, then the carapace. He twirled the throwing sickles experimentally. "If they break through, the Guardians will engage them. If that is not enough, we can defend ourselves. If we are pressed, there are ways to escape. Most likely, Angelo and Guards are already securing the upper Storehouse." Even as he spoke, the trapdoor shook with a blast.
Again, Persephone pressed him. "Give me the Door Phial," she said, pointing to the flask. "It is more powerful than most know. I know of ways to improve its range…"
"I will bring it out if we need it," the King said. "First, make any preparations you require." The Maiden began scratching a pattern on the floor, which centered on the outline of a shape like a lens.
Mel vaulted up the stairs to the landing. She loaded a fresh magazine in her pistol and took aim as someone or something pried at the damaged door. A slit of light showed as one corner came up. They heard Diantha shout, and there was a glimpse of a Bombadger's paw. Mel fired a burst through the opening. All withdrew, not before a bomb came skittering down the stairs. Just before the trapdoor slammed back down, there was a shout, "I am Olethreyonta, Destroying Angel! Surrender or bid my challenge!"
Mel flung herself in the path of the bomb. The blast flung her in turn, all the way to the far wall. She slid to the floor, where she settled on her knees. Ajax dropped his sickles and rushed to her. "I'm okay, I'm okay!" she shouted. "Koprophagoi!" She toppled forward, right on her face.
"Lady Persephone!" Ajax shouted. "Come help!" On the wall, the Mask Guardian rattled. He turned, just as the jar with the Death Cap smashed over his head.