NOVEL FROG Chapter 106: The Diversion
Heading up the stairs, Saint, Ace and Chappy stumbled upon an open shaft of the conveyor transfer tower. Right next to the door leading the roof, they saw where all the raw steel came from, and since it had stopped delivering materials for a long while now, they safely poked their head into the narrow but tall shaft to see where it led. To their surprise, the inside was mostly hollow, it was just a chute with many beams on the side for them to climb up to the top. Seeing this opportunity, they had to take advantage of the alternative round, and it was Saint who sneaked into the tower while Ace and Chappy ran upstairs like they were supposed to.
Once they reached another door to the roof, they waited for Saint to climb for a few seconds before opening the door, but they could already hear people outside, and it sounded like they were heading inside. Before the enemy could reach them, Chappy and Ace went ahead and stepped out to surprise the antipunks, where they found themselves in a small section slightly bigger than the hallways below. The roof was much more open, but since there were beams supporting conveyor lines and platforms, they had less space to work with than expected.
The main conveyor line cut the roof in half, but since some sections of the factory were much taller than others, they were also blocked from the sides. The result was a small corner of the roof that was dangerously close to the conveyor line right above, and all they had was a square the size of the diner to fight, but with many pipes and vents in their way, making it harder to traverse. But those weren’t the biggest hurdles to get to a good view point of the quarry as the main threat was found in front of them.
A small group of sword-wielding antipunks were ready to attack them as soon as they opened the door to the stairs. Ace and Chappy were distracted by their surroundings and the fact the enemy was charging at them went unnoticed until they were right on their face. But as they let out a shriek, Saint was alerted while he was still trying to climb to the top of the tower. He immediately picked up the pace, having to put Dominion away to use both hands, and even taking risky leaps to grab on to the next ledge until he was finally at the top. The shaft connected to a small platform wide enough for the conveyor line coming all the way from the quarry ground to cut through it. It was a bit flimsy, and since the conveyor line went the opposite direction, Saint had to keep his balance by grabbing onto the railing, but as he worried for his friends, he wasted no time in searching for his targets.
Taking a look what they were confronting, he saw a couple antipunks already knocked out on the floor, with only four left fighting Ace and Chappy right at the door. They had their backs against the wall, but they were able to hold up their own in swordplay, mainly because the antipunks’ weapons weren’t as sharp and deadly as theirs. But while they did receive a couple hits, they continued to fight until Saint showed up, who drew the antipunks’ attention away from them by casting a shadow over them as he stood firmly on the platform above.
Ace and Chappy quickly took out the four remaining enemies while they weren’t looking, and they were relieved to see Saint when they looked up, but that sentiment turned to fear when they noticed what they were about to face. Before Saint even got a chance to help or get down, he slowly turned to the conveyor line to watch as more antipunks came to the roof, using the conveyor to attack directly, though some did try to climb through the sides. But the ones that were coming straight at Saint were the top priority, at least for him since they were solely focusing on him and hadn’t seen Chappy or Ace yet.
To keep the enemy away from the door, Saint took out Dominion to take them on not realizing there was a full line waiting to fight him. He froze with a dreadful expression as he watched one antipunk after the other slowly ascending through the conveyor line, which kept bringing more enemies at a concerning rate. He remained determined, and despite a literal line of enemies to fight, he fearlessly charged directly at them before they got too close while Ace and Chappy stayed below to guard the door.
Having to run against the conveyor line, Saint prioritized a steady footing over speed since the structure was barely big and stable enough to hold the weight of tens of antipunks, and there were only two low bars serving as railings for ores, but they wouldn’t do much to stop him from falling if he lost his balance. He didn’t have trouble running as long as he stayed in the middle, unlike the antipunks, who couldn’t stand right and could barely keep both feet on the conveyor belt that was moving them forward, especially when they were crammed and trying to attack Saint.
Ace and Chappy split up to cover more space on the very little area surrounding the door, but they couldn’t really fight anyone as everyone was coming after Saint. Since they were obscured by the shadows of the conveyor line, they hid below to look for a way to get up, but they soon realized that there was no space for them. They couldn’t see much since they were now staring at a dark gray sky, even with the moon slowly rising on the horizon behind the several mountains surrounding them. Regardless, they used it to their advantage as they looked for a way to cut off the line while Saint fought the enemy off on his own for a few moments.
Saint got the upper hand on the antipunks by using the thin railings at the side of the conveyor line to not only hold his ground but boost himself and swing his sword accurately, getting some clean hits on the upper bodies of the first three antipunks in line. But as soon as he hit them, he realized they weren’t dying instantly like before now that Dominion was back in its regular form, and instead, he had to wait for the cuts on their throats and chest to kill them. His targets died pretty quickly, but the fact they took longer to perish this time threw Saint off just for long enough to lose his focus and let the enemy advance.
The next enemies in line didn’t hesitate to kick their dead teammates off the conveyor line, which Ace and Chappy had to dodge, and they attacked with everything they had, which unfortunately were only think and weak swords that almost broke on contact. One of the antipunks landed a hit on Saint’s chest, which stunned him as it didn’t actually cut or draw much blood, though it did lead to a second strike. After checking to see if he was actually wounded, Saint blocked the next couple swings while backing away. He used the conveyor line to distance himself for a few feet before trying to push forward, and while he was lucky enough to only fight one or two enemies at a time due to the thin platform they were on, he soon found himself unable to deliver any attacks.
The antipunks piled up on the conveyor line, pushing Saint back to the point he was right at the shaft, and almost making him fall if it wasn’t for a panicked move after trying to fence off all the antipunks in his way. Since he couldn’t kill every single one of them at a time, he began grabbing each enemy in front to toss them aside, shoving them off the conveyor line to the side of the roof where Ace and Chappy were waiting. It played in his favor as he started clearing his way forward, all while his friends made sure to attack every antipunk he pushed off as soon as they fell into their reach, not even giving them a chance to stand up after an eight-foot fall.
The strategy proved effective, but all it did was draw more attention to the three of them. The antipunks at the back noticed they weren’t getting anything done by attacking straight, so they began climbing down the conveyor line to deliberately fight Ace and Chappy. There were only a few that came at them, so it turned out well since most antipunks were too dumb to hold on to the conveyor line and just continued being shoved by Saint. He didn’t even have to use much force to push them off, a mere tap was enough to make them fall, and so, he made his way through half of the conveyor line.
Saint almost reached the part where the slope began, where the antipunks had a harder time climbing and staying on their feet. But his luck ran out when he encountered a more robust antipunk leading a group with heavier equipment. As a result of the fight they put on the roof, Saint, Ace, and Chappy garnered the attention of the antipunk army below, and instead of sending disposable soldiers to overwhelm them, they deployed their stronger troops. Large antipunks with makeshift but deadly axes, scrap shields, and even some armor plates for protection began making their way up to the roof. But it was the one that showed up right in front of Saint that made him realize they were now facing some real trouble.
A not so muscular but burly antipunk with a big metal backpack and a gas mask showed the first sign of a new threat to deal with. He appeared to be carrying a gun, so Saint immediately tried to push him off before he could aim it. But after only moving him an inch, he tried to disarm it, grabbing onto the long rifle with a wide barrel before seeing first hand that the antipunk wasn’t like the others as soon as he placed his hand on it. The weapon was something he had never seen before, and as the enemy resisted and held it tight, Saint’s hands slipped to the barrel, where he kept a tight grip until the antipunk accidentally pulled the trigger.
Saint backed off as soon as he felt his hands burn. The barrel heated up insanely fast once the enemy opened fire, but it turned out to be literal fire as a puff of smoke and flames shot out of his gun, nearly missing Saint by an inch as he stepped out of the way. Ace and Chappy gasped at the sight of a large fireball suddenly lighting up the roof, but since the other antipunks were also drawn by it, they got a glimpse of them below and began swarming. They only saw Saint running back to the tower, trying to avoid getting burned to death as the antipunk behind kept aiming his flamethrower and pulling the trigger, but Ace and Chappy couldn’t even watch as they had some problems of their own.
–What the fu-...!– Ace exclaimed as he kept glancing at the antipunk chasing Saint with his flamethrower, getting distracted for a second before realizing that he and Chappy had to fight antipunks with better gear, and there were more coming in now that Saint had to retreat. He couldn’t risk losing his composure, and despite more enemies getting on the roof, he and Chappy managed to hold them off without directly fighting them while Saint tried to avoid the flames of the antipunk pyromaniac.
The conveyor line was now on fire, with a wall of flames blocking Saint’s way as the fire was pushed along to the entrance of the shaft. He had reached safety inside the tower, but he was more trapped since he dropped Dominion behind to be able to hang on to the ledge of the platform without getting hit. The antipunk kept blasting fire, almost burning his hair off despite taking cover, and it was only until he had to look past the fire that Saint managed to do something to stop him. With his enemy right on top, and his whole body hanging from his hands, he managed to grab the pyromaniac by the ankle and pull him down, dragging him into the shaft. The antipunk kicked his face, but Saint was able to continue hanging while his enemy fell on his butt.
Saint kept trying to drag him down, but the antipunk resisted and was somehow sitting on the conveyor line. That’s when Saint noticed it was the flamethrower and the backpack that kept the antipunk in place and prevented him from dropping down the shaft. So, while the antipunk was down, Saint climbed up to the platform again, and since the others were focusing on Chappy and Ace, he began to strip the pyromaniac of his weapon. The antipunk fought back, wriggling out of the straps of his backpack to punch Saint, but he returned the kick to the skull to knock him out temporarily.
He used that brief moment to steal his flamethrower and put on the fuel backpack before pushing him off the ledge. But with the enemy regaining consciousness right as he fell, he tried to grab onto Saint as a last attempt to save his life, only managing to grab his sword as it was passing by. Saint tried to reach for Dominion despite it being covered in fire, but he only saw a spiteful grin on the antipunks face as he pulled it down with him in the last moments of his life. He fell all the way down the shaft with a harrowing screech, but it turned into a sort of cackle right before impact.
Saint looked down in disappointment, seeing Dominion falling with the antipunk, unable to retrieve it without leaving his friends behind. But he quickly forgot about it now that he had a new weapon that he didn’t waste time to put to the test. He turned around, stepped aside to stand on the platform right next to the wall of flames that blocked his view of the rest of the line, and with a clear sight on the antipunks on the roof below him, he didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger to start roasting the enemy overwhelming his friends.
–GET DOWN!– Saint shouted at Ace and Chappy before lighting up everything below him. They were able to react to his warning in time and ducked behind a large square fan in the middle of the roof, keeping the antipunks on the opposite side, where they began burning alongside all their teammates blindly jumping off the conveyor line.
Saint set ablaze anything he saw moving in his proximity, and though it was incredibly effective at first, he stopped shortly after since he couldn’t see much from the smoke left by the fire. After the air cleared, he gave the charred bodies on the floor a good look before checking on Ace and Chappy. They were standing far away, completely safe, which relieved Saint for a second. But even with all of the other strong antipunk soldiers dead, the fire had alerted everyone on the ground below as all the commotion was impossible to overlook.
The antipunk army stopped sending soldiers to the roof, and instead aimed their rifles and special artillery, creating the sort of diversion the team was looking for. But while it was according to the plan, Ace, Chappy, and Saint were still forced to take cover now that enemy was shooting the conveyor line and everything around them, almost hitting the two fuel canisters strapped to Saint’s back. He quickly took off the backpack and handed the flamethrower to Chappy, who was confused as to what to with it until Saint gave him instructions.
–Give that to Cookie or Shade, that will help them cover their escape!– Saint shouted as he waited for Chappy to react, but he was stunned by the weapon, holding the flamethrower in his hands while staring at it in a mix of admiration and trepidation, refusing to let go. He also wasn’t the only one to refuse his order as Ace turned anxious at the sight of bullets flying towards them and tried to steal the weapon out of Chappy’s hands to use it for himself, though it only started a fight between them.
–But what about us? We need this to defend ourselves!– Ace argued as he tried grabbing the weapon, but Chappy yanked it out of him, though it was seemingly just to have it for himself instead of listening to Saint.
–No, we will be okay. We just have to distract them for a bit longer…– Saint replied with diligence, which was enough to convince them to stick to the plan. Chappy took longer to consider their options, but he reluctantly agreed, stood up, and headed downstairs while holding on to the flamethrower tight. He ran down stairs with a bit of hesitation, but then he saw that only Panda and Cookie were covering the wall, which had now been almost completely destroyed as more holes appeared.
–Here, we’ll keep them busy for a bit more. Make sure to put it to good use!– Chappy said with a fierce tone as he tossed the flamethrower behind Cookie before running back upstairs since their situation was way worse than what was going on in the roof. Panda and Cookie couldn’t turn around for one second but were able to hear him, and after Cookie eventually glanced back, he picked up the flamethrower lying next to him as soon as he saw it.
–Now this is what we needed… Step aside…– Cookie laughed with a mix of joy and malice before trying to push Panda away, who was confused at first but then ceased fire now that Cookie could provide as much as they needed. While Panda focused on holding his shield, he grinned ear to ear while Cookie held the flamethrower to his hip, and his amusement was only just starting as the latter stepped to the edge of the broken wall, and while only sticking out the barrel of the weapon, he opened fire on everyone outside.
Cookie and Panda laughed in delight as the antipunks burned to death right in front of them. Cookie only had to spray fire without even looking at his targets to kill them all, but he made sure not to overdo it, not only to keep a somewhat clear view of the scene, but also to let Panda reload while he held his shield. The screams of the dying antipunks were amusing, but they didn’t distract Panda from taking the next step of their plan. They were closer and closer to escaping the factory since the antipunk army was distracted, but he stopped to think for a moment, trying to get a view of the situation at the entrance corridor with the Heartaches. They were slowly falling back, but the plan appeared to be coming together despite the immense pressure from the enemy, especially when Zoey came in through the other hallway with great news.
–The diner is clear, I checked. There’s no one outside, we can go now!– Zoey announced with excitement but slightly anxious as she stepped into a fiery scene. She chose to ignore all the chaos outside and tried to get the attention of the rest of the team while they fought for their lives. But as she stood back and watched their escape route, she noticed that her friends weren’t in the hallway. However, as glad as Panda was to hear that they had a clear way to escape, he hesitated for a moment and then rejected the idea.
–We have to hold out for a little longer, just to make sure… Saint still has to give us the clear…– Panda replied firmly but quite conflicted in giving his answer to a now distressed and nervous Zoey. She was stunned by his response and seemed to freeze while thinking of Saint, Ace, and Chappy on the roof. But as much as that thought disturbed her, she didn’t waste time to express her disapproval of Panda’s order.
–But we can’t wait for that! He’s going to get killed up there!– Zoey argued in desperation, even trying to head up the stairs herself before Panda stopped her. He kept thinking hard of what to do, being pressured by her unsettled expression, which ended up changing his mind after checking back on Cookie and seeing him singlehandedly burn a quarter of an army as the antipunks just kept throwing themselves at the fire.
–Alright Cookie, cover the Heartaches while they escape, I’ll cover here. Tell Shade to check upstairs and bring the rookies back, we are leaving…– Panda ordered as he took over Cookie’s place at the exposed wall to block as much as he could with his shield while the smoke settled. Cookie immediately headed over to the stairs to help out the Heartaches, and while Zoey was grateful and began smiling at the thought of getting out of here, she decided to help as well to leave the factory as soon as possible.
Cookie ran to the stairs, where the Heartaches had gained some ground but were losing focus and getting overwhelmed in their attempt to block the hallways. But with Cookie showing up with the flamethrower in hand, he ordered everyone to run back to safety as he stood in front of a corridor full of enemies. Zoey helped out a few of the Heartaches to leave since they were too injured, but she stopped for a second to look back as Cookie began flaming everyone in front, blocking the corridor by filling it with fire, torching everything around as the flames reached the stairs, and almost burning himself in the process.
Although the fire prevented the antipunks from advancing, only the Heartaches retreated as Cookie stayed in his position, keeping the fire alive to not let anyone come through. Panda did the same, though he couldn’t really move from where he was standing as there was little wall for him to take cover. The rest of the team was now able to run off through the right hallway and only had to get Saint, Ace, and Chappy off the roof to escape together. Shade went ahead and made sure to reach the stairs, and as he ran past Zoey, she watched eagerly while taking the Heartaches to the diner.
Everyone else retreated and were ready to leave, so Shade hurried up to get to the roof, though he noticed the open shaft in the middle and checked it out first. He could see Panda from the other side as the left hallway had been completely destroyed, and it was clear he couldn’t stay there for long as he glanced back to see if the others had come down. He saw Shade, urging him to run upstairs, which he continued doing. But as soon as he opened the door to the roof, he found himself on the other side of where the other rookies were.
Shade looked around for a bit, becoming concerned until he heard something behind him. While he couldn’t get a view of Saint, Ace, and Chappy, Shade looked up at the conveyor line and saw it still in flames, with some silhouettes showing more enemies that they had to face. He tried to climb to the other side, but it became clear that they wouldn’t be able to leave quite yet as a certain group of antipunks had suddenly decided to show themselves once again.