Day 81 continued

The clockwork mechanisms spun and interacted in strange and seemingly arcane ways to the trapped army beneath it. This scene instantly changed the thoughts of every soul present in the 'kill room' to conjure up the words of fantastical horrific legends. The names of places equivalent to Tartarus or to Hell in their culture.

Because not only was the ground a shifting, hodgepodge of traps designed to kill, incapacitate or hinder in many flavors, the sky above was worse. Forget the streams of hundreds of pack hunting monsters floating down, forget the gears... the room itself unveiled the disturbing fact it had been watching the invaders and slowly, inexorably had been digesting them a handful at a time.

Several dozen camera drones on articulated mechanical limbs moved around, staring at the room and the harder to kill individuals within. Sizing them up for the next attempt.

In a sense the attackers were luckier than they could realize, because this last ditch defence system had been limited from it's inception. Rick had many lethal toys currently active and waiting to bite; only a few were dangerous on a large scale, none had an area of effect outside of the 'kill room' and connecting passageways.

To put it more bluntly; Rick did not use toxic gases or powders when he built this defense system he nicknamed 'Myriad'. This was simply because he couldn't think of any ways to ventilate the caverns sufficiently in the aftermath of chemical weapons. Nerve gas, mustard gas, chlorine gas, corrosive powders and gases... they were completely possible to produce... just harder to disperse after use.

Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (CO2) even more so, due to the almost undetectable nature of the gases in question.

Niala in fact didn't quite understand the concept of 'gas' to begin with. So it would have been a nightmare to explain the finer points of these weapons and their risks.

However while gas based weaponry wasn't in use, acids and other fluids were. Originally intended for use against invading giants and their massive steel weapons, the acid was sprayed around from nozzles on the roof down onto the anyone in range carrying metal weapons. Considering the concentrations and volume of acid in use, the victims were dissolved in a burst similar to a fire-hose in use. Those who received merely minor burns from proximity were still quite sorry, stumbling about in agony only resulted in feeding other traps on the ground that perhaps could have been avoided.

Even non-lethal traps used in concert with the others were decidedly lethal, with tranquilizer darts and taser-like shocks stunning soldiers long enough for the other traps to target them, or if the ape was particularly unlucky they would be eaten alive by the swarming black monsters as they lay unable to fight back.

It was utter chaos, as the army panicked as a whole. The initial casualties were extreme due to the surprise and forcefulness of the trap. They were down to a third of their numbers in the first five minutes.

The ones to take the brunt being the heavily armed soldiers, as their lack of mobility doomed them.

Some traps were almost cartoonish in their activation, sections of the floor being converted into springboards sending unfortunates flying. Some just nightmare fuel: using the same principle as an ant-lion nest, a sloping depression leading to a set of wicked grinders.

Rick had simply thrown these together on a whim, there was no particular design for these to work together. So in the end this was the first thing that caused the downfall of the system. They were hundreds of traps almost entirely separately operating.

The ones that worked well together mere flukes; Rick hadn't completed this yet.

It had actually expanded into something like a hobby to pass those hours when everyone around him slept. He didn't even need to get out of Minke's arms at night to do this, since he developed the remote golem core control and camera drones.

And when they were stricken by the parasitic mind controlling monster, it took his mind off of his situation to just build whatever he could think of.

This was the weakness of the system, because for all of it's terror inducing novelty and ridiculously concentrated nature, it fouled itself up. It was not designed for longevity like the other modes.

Boiling tar overflowed as several large men fell in. This reached the edge of a spinning blade trap, gumming up the mechanisms and halting the saw-toothed blade from continuing down it's track.

Acid sprayed at several people worked it's way into numerous mechanisms in the floor, disabling and destroying several more complicated and fragile machines.

Monsters got caught up in the traps in confusion, some accidentally taking darts and bolts intended for specific apes, others triggering single use booby-traps.

The tunnel exits chewed up more fleeing monsters than soldiers, because the soldiers were quite aware of the lethality of these enclosed spaces.

With the initial surprise out of the way, the command structure of the army came to action. First taking advantage of the broken and disabled traps as 'safe' zones.

The dozens of men that came to their senses, most notably the spear commander and his handful of living men leading the reformation.

First order: secure the safe areas and observe the traps.

After several minutes of careful observation it became obvious several traps were already expended, the acid spray had been used up in the first minute alone.

Mechanical traps were mostly still functional, but the worst of these were inside the tunnels.

Second order: carefully disable the traps and rescue survivors.

Once again poor planning on Rick's part lead to disaster as the traps were used against each other.

The boiling tar carried in bronze pots, caps and shields was poured into anything that moved, cut or otherwise was mechanical.

Rocks were forced into dart launcher tubes.

Armed men gathered and struck back at the massed black monsters, some even fighting bare handed and biting. It was not a clean victory against the beasts, these creatures were smart pack hunters. They withdrew and reorganized as well in response to the stiff retaliation.

But the numbers were too different.

By the time the second attack of the swarm took place the apes had gathered weapons and patched themselves up a little. It was a far cry from the previous scramble. With ruthless efficiency the apes coordinated to mop up the monsters.

The deciding difference being the command structure of the army was back in full control.

With a scant few casualties the apes crushed the attacking force.

The general was down, having lost a leg to mechanical jaws in the first few minutes. He was alive though and in fine spirits, now they were on the offensive. With a bottle of spirits to numb the pain in hand he was barking out good natured orders and morale was high as the army tried to pull together to survive.

The scout leader had taken an arrow to the chest, but he was not one to be taken down by such a minor thing and proved this by snapping the arrow off at the base and returning to his command.

The spear commander was victim to acid spray, catching a few droplets to the face. Left eye blind he was still capable.

The obese strategist however had rushed out of his tent squarely into a fire-pit.

Now with quite a lot of experience the apes managed to secure and disable the majority of the traps inside the room. They were feeling fairly proud they had pulled through the disaster.

Until the room itself retaliated.

The gears above burst into action grinding in new esoteric designs as they shifted. A thick stone pillar lowered from the roof, telescoping. At the point of this artificial stalactite a ruby red crystal the size of a man's head.

The apes understood what this was as soon as it activated. They had seen something similar before.

It was a fixed position laser turret. A fully operational constant beam version. With a larger version Rick had successfully supplied sufficient heat-sink capacity for long term fire. It burned down the first ape it aimed at, then moved to the next in continuous operation. The invisible beam leaving a scorch mark on the stone floor.

There was no cover in the room, no place to hide or escape. The apes tasted deep despair as they saw the beam slice several of them down in moments.

The General in his final moments ordering them to fire on the crystal with all they had at hand.

Arrows flew, improvised slings were made from canvas torn from tents. Someone had the bright idea to sling a lump of tar.

The arrows and stones didn't have the force to damage the glass lens, but the tar was effective. Disabled, the laser system was helpless. For a little while.

The golem in control of the system rerouted backup acid into the spray system, cleaning the lens forcefully.

It damaged some of the movement systems for the turret, but this mainly effected the extending of the turret.

Spinning at high speed the lens was cleaned of residual acid, before returning to action.

The apes cried out in sorrow at the sight.

As the slinger near the tar pit moved to fling more, the laser targeted him first. Priority targets were now those near the pit and with slings.

Ape after ape fell, carbonized wounds cleaving through their bodies.

Arrows ran dry.

The slingers dwindled.

The spear commander had been firing a bow belonging to a dead scout, he found he had no more arrows.

He saw one more, on the ground. He rushed to grab it, the beam scorching at his heels.

It was not what he had hoped for. It was not an arrow, instead the broken arrow that had struck the scout commander earlier.

As he picked it up the beam swung at him. He closed his good eye, waiting for death. It didn't come.

In his way three of his men blocking with bronze shields.

They urged him to fire.

He winced as he knew it was hopeless. Then he had a brainwave. He had one item on his person that could be useful. His good-luck charm was still dangling around his neck, a fancy carved stone spearhead. He had found it long ago on the body of a soldier of the dog race.

He pressed it onto the wooden arrow and it connected firmly. Surprisingly so.

With a prayer to the spirits of his men he launched the arrow, but it was an erratic shot with only his one eye working. He willed it toward the crystal, but it veered away toward the turret. It hummed strangely as it flew, the stone obviously not intended for use as an arrowhead.

So when his men screamed and their shields melted under the beam he had no illusions he would be dying in a moment.

And then the turret was shattered by the strike.

The stone, solid at the atomic level broke under the impact of the slightly heavy arrow. It was not a natural outcome. The stone spear was a treasure of the dog people, an artifact on the same level as the anti-matter ring, the impact absorbing fern ring, the bloodhaze crystal and the gravity cube.

It was a device that harnessed resonance to destroy solid objects. It also doubled as a vibro-edge on a standard weapon. Considering the utility of the other objects there would obviously also be straightforward weapon out there.

The apes let out a cheer, the spear commander still trying to understand his survival.

In addition, that lens was directly connected to the golem core of the room. Rick had left it in the most solid section of the turret, but that was his mistake as the resonance hit it as well.

Brainless, the golem room became completely still.

Seeing this the apes celebrated.

Their number was down to just under nine hundred. But now they had no doubt they would win.

Current Ape Survivors:

Commanders: Ghost Captain and Spear Lieutenant

Heavy Infantry: 25 Living

Spear Hoplites: 132 Living

Skirmishers: 390 Living

Scouts : 347 Living

Total: 894 Soldiers

Lightly Injured: 795

Critically Injured: 72

Fatally Wounded: 10

Dead:

Commanders: General, Strategist, Brute.

Heavy Infantry: 1028

Spear Hoplites: 503

Skirmishers: 225

Scouts: 402

Total: 2161

What we learned:

Never underestimate the power of a coordinated and organized force.

Death trap, defeated.

The golem's design was in many ways it's own worst enemy.

Turning of the tides...

Anyway, I'm back.

I needed a breather after the Re:Ocean finale. But I should be back to regular releases for this and the new Re:Mana Spirit. Check it out, but be warned it's closer in tone to Re:Ocean than Labyrinth.