Chapter 161: The Iron Spider takes the Scenic Route

P'tashPak'r, the Exalted General of the 10th Host, beloved of the queens, and champion of the Many-Legged Army, marched forward at the head of her army. Behind her came countless brave and deadly spider warriors. The noise of her army's passage was much less than usual. She had remarked on this, and the second in command told her of the stealth training each of her warriors had undergone before being selected for her army. Indeed, she would have thought that her army was much smaller if she didn't know better. Even the growls of the Wolf Guard could hardly be heard.

Her advisor was showing her the maps of the enemy’s lair. "The route chosen is through the next few caverns. We will be able to attack with surprise and capture many of their gatherers. We must move quickly. We must take control of a narrow tunnel leading to the main hollow."

P'tash looked over the maps. "And this second route? It seems to lead more directly to the heart of the hollow."

The advisor pointed to a maze of tunnels. "These are the mines below us. In planning the raid, the first plan included splitting your vast army and using a pincher maneuver to attack the foe in two places at once. But there is not enough room to move a large force through the mines. We have instead been flooding the area with spiderlings for some time. They will surge forward and cause a small disturbance."

H’spat knew that the Queen had been extremely angry with the spiderling plan. A half dozen egg-layers had been secretly placed in nearby caverns so that spiderlings could overrun the mines and weaken the Hollow. Instead, the ratkin whelps were hunting them to gain levels and experience! It had been embarrassing to find out that the ratkin had turned the spiderling invasion into a training ground for new fighters!

Some of the spiders cheered. Others clapped softly. The mechanical voice box the general used creeped them out. Grobit revved the engine and let out the clutch, shifting gears and engaging the mechanism that sent power to the legs. The dwarven mechanisms still confounded him and annoyed P'tashPak'r. He'd been unable to do as she wanted and put the controls where she could reach them. (Not that he thought she'd ever figure them out. Some spiders made good mechanics, but not this one.)

The Iron Spider moved forward several steps, and then a leg became stuck in a crack in the ground. As she strained and finally removed the leg, Grobit saw the gap widen as the ground around the Iron Spider started to shift. The other spiders jumped back as the cavern floor they were in gave way under the weight of the giant walking tank. It was like a hole had just swallowed the general!

H'spat looked down and saw the General getting her legs back under her, nearly thirty down. Grobit just shrugged. "I think I see the light up ahead."

P'tashPak'r yelled to her advisor.

The advisor despaired. It wasn't possible to lift the hulking metal monstrosity back up to this level, and it was already marching into the mines. Nothing was left but to follow the abomination's orders and lead the rest of the army herself. Perhaps it was even better this way. H'spat pointed to twelve random spiders. "You are rewarded with the title 'The Twelve Finest Warriors!' go and escort the General to victory as our army closes the trap's jaws."

The rest of the spiders moved around the hole and advanced on the gathering fields.

The miners heard the Iron Spider coming when it was two caverns away from the cathedral. It sounded like a dozen squeaky ore carts rolling down a bumpy track. Two miners ran to see what was going on and were spotted by Grobit as both groups entered a large cave from opposite sides. The spider seemed slow, and the miners paused to look at it. Grobit opened up on them with his gun, killing one of the miners and wounding the other.

Her twelve chosen champions cheered. Two raced ahead to scout, and four dropped back twenty paces to guard the group's rear. They moved slowly through the caverns, following the wounded ratkin and sometimes making detours to account for the Iron Spiders' bulk.

"Watch how you wave your damn legs around! If you knock out any more supports in these tunnels, it will be your day to be buried!"

The goblin mechanic studied the maps of the caverns made from information gathered by the little spiderlings. They needed more details. Spiders just didn't think like anyone else. "We should be coming up to a huge cave next. The far exit has a straight run to the Hollow. But get ready. If I had to fight a bunch of eight-leggers in tunnels, I'd do it there where you could see them coming and blast the hell out of them. Uh...not that I'd ever fight spiders."

The Iron Spider paused, then commanded her army to the front. Time for her twelve champions to earn their supper.

"Master Clawhammer! We've got trouble. Ned just packed in his cousin, Crusty. They saw spiders in the tunnels. Big ones! Both of them took some nasty wounds from a cannon of some kind. Crusty's dead, and Ned might not make it. They ran him down to the healer on a stretcher."

Clawhammer cursed inwardly but put a confident look on his face. Miners were a hardy bunch, used to his barked orders. But he needed to use a different tone for everyone else. It was bad enough that they were scurrying into this emergency shelter, and three quarters of the Hollow were glassy-eyed zombies, but now they had spiders attacking? It wasn't a coincidence. And that was a big caravan full of guards parked in their outer cave.

"Get everyone who can fight armed with a pick or hammer and anyone who can't back in the far corner. Pile up the supplies and carts in front of them. Carl, take Jak and Vin with you and collapse tunnel #3 about ten feet in. It's been shaky lately. I want enough debris down to stop someone from using it to get to us. Do the same with #5 if you can. The main tunnel would take hours to block off, so leave it, but put whatever timbers and rock we have loose in front of it. We can use it as a defensive line to fight behind. Jessy, bring the extra lamp oil and lamps. We can probably cook a couple of them.

The miners accomplished a lot in the small amount of time they had, and two dozen of them crouched behind the makeshift barrier in front of the main tunnel. In the distance, they heard the sound of many legs, and then they could see the outlines of the spiders rushing at them, preceded by a hoard of spiderlings. Something large and noisy moved at the rear.

Lamp oil had been poured in the front of the tunnel. As the spiderlings reached it, Jessy tossed a lit lantern at the floor, spreading fire. Air in the cavern rushed to the fire as the tunnel was filled with flames and the screams of dying spiderlings. But the lamp oil didn't burn hot. It burned long and gave a lot of light. The minor damage the spiderlings took was enough to kill or cripple them, but it only annoyed the more giant spiders.

A dozen giant spiders emerged from the smoke and flame like something out of a nightmare and leaped at the miners behind their makeshift barrier.

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