Vaudevillain

Dextra Black stood on top of the outpost on Resource Hill, watching the incoming wave of Quli aliens. The orange-skinned foes weren't easy to see in the forest, their skin naturally masked by the autumn leaves. Dextra looked down from his vantage point at the clearing around him. Titan and Oro had worked hard to remove the surrounding forest, which gave the players easy firing lines when the Quli walked out.

"Two more squads coming from the North," Dextra relayed into a communicator.

"Got it, dude," Riptide answered.

Dextra watched as the fellow villain jumped onto his surfboard and rocketed away. Dr. Zlo had replaced the board when he came down to help. Since he couldn't build anything without the materials, and because deliveries cost time, the group had decided to start grinding for Alienite. Right now, they were at the start of their last wave. Well, hopefully their final wave.

The early stages of the grind had been a bit hectic. Menagerie knew how to work as a team, but only with the people they were accustomed. Rampart, Dr. Zlo, and Dextra had different ways of communicating, which became apparent when Dr. Zlo and Rampart moved to reinforce the same position. The resulting fumble had broken their palisade wall. Luckily, Rampart's assumption that the dirt mounds behind would hold stayed true. The only result was the Quli attempting to storm the dirt rise. They fell into the spike trap placed below, which gave the rest of the group a chance to recover.

After each round, everyone had gone out to collect the various item drops, and now the fortress's NPC defenders had plenty of advanced technology to hold off the Quli. That, combined with Dr. Zlo's various minions, freed up the players to focus on the more dangerous walkers. It also helped that Menagerie had fallen into a sort of rhythm while grinding. After their first mistake, Rampart and Dextra had huddled the teams together and worked out some simple commands. Dextra became the spotter, his superintelligence power helping to identify weaknesses, while Rampart issued more tactical orders, like where to place new defenses.

Dextra caught a glimpse of a grey body walking through the treeline. "Walker coming from the East, possibly a four-legged."

"Hey Zlo, get the cables," Oro joked. "Go fly around and trip up its legs."

"And risk my life?" Dr. Zlo replied. "You must be kidding."

The two players had surprisingly hit it off during the fighting. Oro's durability meant Dr. Zlo didn't need to worry about collateral damage, and the villain used that trait to its highest advantage by tossing the various explosives he held. The explosions would then give Oro enough time to subdue one alien and move onto the next.

"Merla, you got enough juice for another shot?" asked Titan.

"Yeah, if you buy me some time," the magician answered.

Merla, Titan, and Rampart worked together to take on any threat that was too much for the mercenary NPCs. Though at the moment, Rampart was standing near the artillery setup. The long-barreled weapons allowed for easy sniping, but their fixed location made it just as easy for return fire, which Menagerie, unfortunately, realized on one of the more challenging waves. After the first two hours of grinding, the waves started diversifying. One wave would have scores of rank and file infantry, while others held entire squads of irregulars, irregulars like mortar guns.

Since Dextra hadn't gotten this far with the Quli invasions back in Haven City, his superintelligence hadn't given him the info. So the first few mortar shots were hell. Explosives rained down like glowing spheres of hail near the artillery positions, breaking a few of their hard-earned guns to pieces. The team immediately switched up their tactics, Shizuka and Riptide acting as forward scouts while Rampart hung around the guns to cast barriers if needed. Titan and Merla split the fortress with Dr. Zlo and Oro. Both would deal with threats as they came. Sweet Dream, who had been with Riptide before he scouted, became something of a reserve troop, running to reinforce whichever side needed the assistance.

"Another walker coming in from the West," Dextra said. "It looks like they're trying to pincer us."

"The fools!" Dr. Zlo shouted, clearly enjoying himself. "Don't they know they face the greatest group of powered people known to the planet?"

"How long were you thinking that up?" Oro asked.

"I don't have to think up anything," Dr. Zlo scoffed. "My brilliance naturally creates these colorful conversations on the spot."

"Three-legged walker this time," Dextra said, getting a better look at the machine. "Seems it has something attached to it, possibly a special weapon. Dr. Zlo, you might need to use a self-destruct device."

"On something other than my devices? I'm appalled."

"Hand me the device already," Oro said with an outstretched hand. "Think of it as you trying to blow me up, and I use it as a weapon against the aliens."

Dr. Zlo looked at Oro suspiciously but handed the device off. "How is it you know the inner workings of my mind so well?"

Oro grabbed the device and started sprinting for the trees. "Call it a hero's intuition," he called back.

"Or call him James Bond," Merla said over their communicators.

"Gasp! Merla! Did I detect a joke? And here I thought you didn't have a funny bone in your body." Oro replied snarkily.

The communicators were designed by Jack, who was hard at work using the second part of her power to periodically upgrade the defenses. With the change to Dr. Zlo's power, Jack was the only one who could reliably make devices. Dr. Zlo would run out of Sciencium if he needed to make equipment for everyone. Better for him to stick to fewer, more powerful creations.

With the aliens dropping technology left and right, Jack had plenty of materials on hand to keep the guns upgraded. Jack could create blueprints of the turrets and swap out materials with the recovered Quli technology with her power. A few guns and some armors later, a new weapon would replace the old one. Jack could then use the other guns as more materials. At the moment, the player was reinforcing the South entrance. Menagerie had chosen to build most of the houses there, which left little room for emplacements. Jack's increased firepower helped keep the NPCs alive.

"I don't see anything else at the moment," Dextra said. "Shizuka, Riptide, how's the forest?"

"All good here, dude," Riptide said.

"Found another group of camouflaged aliens trying to sneak by. Punted a squirrel at them and used the distraction to take them out. Hunting the last straggler now," Shizuka answered.

"Keep me posted," Dextra replied.

Titan and Merla had pushed out past the palisade wall and into the woods on the East side of the fortress. The NPC mercenaries kept them covered, firing raygun shots into the trees to keep Quli from attacking. Merla's shield and Titan's durability stopped any lucky shots from hitting. Once past the treeline, the two forced their way towards the towering walker.

The four-legged machine had an oblong shape and was sleek like the motherships. The legs moved with a strange grace, bending at odd angles to maneuver past trees. A bulbous head sat on the frame, and the two players could make out a Quli seated in the cockpit. Another sat beside it, strapped into a visor and glove combo. As Titan neared, the walker turned to look down, the visored alien inside mimicking the motion.

Merla saw two openings at the top of the walker and quickly activated her rebound shield. Just as she predicted, two lasers shot out straight towards the heroes. The lasers rebounded off Merla's shield and flew off into the distant sky.

"Scatter!" Merla said.

Titan jumped to action, rushing straight at the walker's leg. It was his job to hold the weapon down while Merla charged up. One good shot from her would break this tin can to pieces.

"For my ancestor's glory!" Titan shouted.

The hero leaped at the last second, wrapping his muscular arms around one of the walker's legs. The alien craft reacted by whipping the hero away, but Titan held on like a tick on flesh. Grunting, Titan started to climb up the whipping leg. Noticing its predicament, the alien walker switched tactics. It slammed its leg down, squeezing Titan between itself and the Earth. Still, Titan held on.

With Titan distracting the walker, Merla could use the time to charge her power. She ducked behind an especially large tree and started weaving. Her hands flashed through the symbols as performed the signs as fast as she could. Vert had changed how her magic power worked, but only slightly. Her old ability worked by preparing a list of spells and going through a sort-of minigame where she had to recreate the hand signs at the appropriate time, like a rhythm game. Now, all Merla needed to do was perform the gestures accurately, the next sign appearing as soon as she finished the last.

Finishing the last of her signs, Merla popped out from the bushes and aimed at the walker.

"Titan, I'm firing!" she announced.

Titan released his hold on the walker, letting it send him flying into the trees. He sailed through the air like an untrained skydiver, tumbling straight into a thick tree trunk. Titan's durability protected him from the blow, and his bulk splintered the tree's body. He popped up as he landed on the ground, ready for another round.

With Titan out of the way, Merla could unleash her spell. Bright light coalesced and fired, an orange-tinted beam of energy. The walker twisted to move out of the way, but Merla moved her hands to follow. The beam swung around, keeping with the alien craft. Merla kept the beam up until she saw the head break off, her light beam sending it straight into the sky. It landed a few hundred feet away, though the Quli's escape rings were already pulling the walker back to wherever it came from.

Titan jogged over to Merla, "How much power did you use?"

"About twenty-five percent," Merla said. "These mobs are getting stronger. It was only twenty percent last time."

"Let's hope that Oro and Dr. Zlo are doing just as well, then."

Merla moved over to the item drops the walker left behind. A glittering orange stone rested on top of a breastplate. Merla grabbed the two objects and stored them. "Only four more grams to go," she said.

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