>>4732959
>Adding her to our [Menagerie] so we can adjust her stats for effectiveness.
Miellewds-guy here.

>>4732967
>>4732967
Howdy. Sorry I've been so slow on posting, the regional ban is a pain to deal with. I can do other sites perfectly fine, I have no idea why not 4chan.

***

Well, you could call it anti-climactic, but we really should have thought about this. She's too high level for us to just use [Capture] on without weakening her first.

"Hn. It has been a long while since this happened." We stare at the [Capture Failed] message in front of our eyes
"Aww~ don't worry, Master. I'm sure it'll work if you give it five minutes to rest, first." Dawn cuddles up to us and gives us a comforting smooch
"You know that's not what I meant!"
"I couldn't resist."

Ugh, seriously, what do we do now? We need to shave her hp down to at least 30% of its max before we can 'catch' her, but we're NOT hitting our silly maid.

>Have Lyann use a debuff like [Poison] or [Toad] first
>Other

>>4733014
>Have Lyann use a debuff like [Poison] or [Toad] first

>>4733014
>>Have Lyann use a debuff like [Poison] or [Toad] first

>>4733014
Oh, wait, wasn’t there a spell called Demi that would reduce the Current HP by half?
Or am I thinking of a different spell system?

>>4733741
yes there is. Should we use that a couple of times?

>>4734595
Yes. That's probably faster than [Poison] or [Toad].

>>4734595
sounds good.

Jesus i clicked on submit so many hours ago! I was wondering why there were no replies
>>4734792
>>4734710

We hit our horny maid... no, wait, right now she's just a horny monster, isn't she? Either way, we apply [Dami] on her three times, which is enough to allow to [Capture] her.

Uhmm... her magic resistance is so high that it probably wouldn't have gone through if she hadn't allowed it to. That's pretty interesting.

Oh, she has evolutions available. Well that much should be obvious since she's technically on the first stage of her 'new' race.

>Evolve her
>Keep her as is

>>4735278
>Evolve her

>>4735499

Actually after thinking about it for a bit, she should be at the peak of her evolution line, since typically the first is always stronger in most myths, aren't they? Like how in Lord of the Rings the ancient elves, dragons, humans, etc were stronger and everything "modern" is lesser, so instead of evolving within her own evolution line, I was thinking of giving her the option to evolve into a drone-type, like Kya.

I think it would be cute to have a couple of cute shoulder girls. And since they're technically pets, they could even do naughty stuff in the open and ppl would just go 'd'aww'

Well, do you want to make her a drone, or not?

>>4736487
On the one hand, yes, it'd be cute to have a second shoulder girl to go along with Kya,
But on the other hand, I want to keep her as a maid.

I know you want Dawn as a drone, but I'm going to have to disagree and say no.

As consolation, how about having Dawn create an offspring with Kya, a new Erinyes that will evolve up into a drone. The new drone pet will be named "Orien".

>>4736789
Why with Kya? I think it would be more interesting to have a less submissive girl be the "father". Because fuck the feelings of eternally offended people, nature vs nurture is HEAVILY partial towards nature, and personality has been proven to be a genetically-inherited trait.

*harrumphs*

Anyway, I was thinking of either of our 'natural' dragons being the 'father' since they both have more 'pushy' personalities AND bat/dragon wings and awesome dragon horns so our little devil-girl can look the part better. What do you think of that?

>>4738080
Okay, sounds good. Since Tania already got an offspring, how about with Spelth’Gagaron?

>>4738542
I feel Spelth is the 2nd most classy of our pets after Miel. So I guess the result would be either an elegant young lady with a playful streak or a very 'classical succubus'. You know, very openly sexual and seductive but elegant about it?

>>4738604
Elegant with a playful, seductive streak?

>>4738707

"Hmm..." Our newest pet looks at us with an amused expression after we smooch her and ask her to wait.

We go through her attributes and evolution options. She's the first of her species, and this gives her a noticeable 25% bonus to all attributes.

Hm. From experience, a pet's attributes influence their offspring, so we could in fact customize the entire species by rearranging her attributes right now.

>All-rounder. People always forget the 2nd half of "Jack of All Trades, Master of None." is "But Better than a Master of One."
>Magic tank
>Physical tank
>Magic attacker
>Physical attacker.
>Other

>>4740822
>All-rounder. People always forget the 2nd half of "Jack of All Trades, Master of None." is "But Better than a Master of One."

>>4740822
>>All-rounder. People always forget the 2nd half of "Jack of All Trades, Master of None." is "But Better than a Master of One."

>>4741196
>>4740865

With any preference, or literally just an even distribution?

>>4741611
I was thinking of leaning towards a Magic Attacker, with good Magic and Physical Defense.

>>4741611
supporting >>4741792

>>4742806
>>4741792

Alright, so make str her dump stat and raise int as high as it can go, right?

Do you want her to be a dodge-monkey and not get hit in the first place, or an impervious tank type?

>>4743067
Go with dodge tank.

Archive?

>>4743366
Not yet, I think. Unless rhe archive later updates what we post hereafter.

Anyway, dodge monkey, then? Like the harpy 'tanks'?

>>4743652
I was thinking that an impervious tank would be good for dragons.
Both Succubus and Vampire give the impression that they'd rather dodge and be elegant than power through things like a dragon.

>>4743731

Alright, so we adjust Dawn's stats with STS being the dump stat in favor of int for magic damage.

High dexterity, moderate endurance, high magic resist.

***

Once we are done adjusting our horny maid's attributes, we 'free' her and she goes back to being a 'citizen' right away.

Let's give her a smooch.

"Hm~ I can't hide my wings anymore... " She sort of complains as her pink wings flutter behind her slightly.
"Your new body is a stable one, that should have its pros and cons." We smooch her again
"I'll need to adjust my clothes." She sighs.

Well, we don't mind a little back window in our pink maid.

"It should be fine? I mean, magical clothes adjust to the user's shape, right?"
"They do, but I don't want just a couple of slits for the wings, I want something more fashionable, Master."

Ah, fashion. Well, that's fine. We can talk to Tazar later.

"You do remember we have lots of extra sets for our winged pets." Yup, a lot of virgin-killer sweaters.
"...those are a little..." She blushes a little bit as she looks away
"Oh?" Well, now we have to dress her up in those.

Sadly, we don't have the time to play with our cute pink maid anymore, as sometime between sunrise and breakfast, a massive blob of filth just 'drops' from the sky like an oil stain unto the world, popping as it falls unto the ground and splattering the [ERROR]s army all over the land.

The keep's forcefield keeps them from landing directly unto the city, but in the blink of an eye and with the sound of wet filth, we're surrounded.

>Run to the outer wall
>Run to the command center
>[Treestride] to the LEV-dreadnought
>Other

>>4744855
>Run to the command center
Did we also get that offspring from Dawn+Spelth'Gagaron?

>>4744855
>>Run to the command center

>>4745253
>>4745040
>>Run to the command center

"Uu~uh... my breakfast with big brother Eldric... I won't forgive them!" Zoe was in the middle of preparing breakfast when the invasion began.

She's still wearing her cooking apron. It looks cute, so let's not mention it. Yup.

Everyone else 'equipped' her clothes and armor using [Inventory] so it would be instantaneous, and quickly join us as we make it past the bedroom area.

]ATTENTION, DIMENSIONAL BREACH DETECTED, ATTENTION...] A pre-recorded female voice is blasting through the Keep.

I guess our ancestors had multiple measures in place.

[DISCARDED INVASION CONFIRMED. SWITCHING TO SIEGE MOD- WARNING, 59% OF SYSTEMS ARE NON-OPERATIONAL! WARNING, 59% OF SYSTEMS ARE NON-OPERATIONAL! WARNING, 59% OF SYSTEMS ARE NON-OPERATIONAL! DISCARDED INVASION CONFIRMED...!]

Uh, 'The discarded', is it? Its the first time we actually hear their name properly, with none of that 'Error' censorship. I wonder if the system message is older than the censorship, or if the ancestors just didn't give a fuck.

*cough*

Let's give it a try.

"System, cancel that alarm and ..."

>Reroute all controls to the aviary. That's the new Command Center!"
>Lead me to whatever systems can be repaired at this moment.
>Other

>>4745333
>Lead me to whatever systems can be repaired at this moment.

>>4745333
>>Lead me to whatever systems can be repaired at this moment.

>>4746174
>>4746046
>>Lead me to whatever systems can be repaired at this moment.

[USER RECOGNIZED]

The alarm ceases, but you can 'feel' things moving just behind the walls. Somehow, you know the Keep is arming up for battle.

***

"What is going on!?" The gryphon knights captain looks down with worry as the outer stonework begins crumbling on the keeo's 'gargoyles'.
"I... have no idea, sir."

***

A large, bright white arrows with a clearly defined black edge appears on the floor in front of us, moving towards the nearest teleport pad.

[WARNING: SECURITY SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS. SECURITY SYSTEMS FF INOPERATIVE]

Well, of course it is. Such a cliché development couldn't be passed on, could it be? With a sigh, we hurry to the teleport pad along with our party, and find ourselves in a new level of the keep.

8ft tall 'knights' of metal and stone line up the sides of a reinforced door, and immediately activate upon our arrival, bearing halberds with something similar to our [Magic Gun] at the end.

"Stand down!" Well, its worth a try
"INTRUDER DETECTED"

It was worth a shot.

The room is not very big. It has nothing to take cover behind, either, so the most tactical we can get is picking who goes in the frontline and who goes in the back.

>Our usual formation with us, Lyann and Stella in front, then Dawn, Zoe and Aritsu at the back.
>Other

>>4747458
>Our usual formation with us, Lyann and Stella in front, then Dawn, Zoe and Aritsu at the back.

>>4747458
>>Our usual formation with us, Lyann and Stella in front, then Dawn, Zoe and Aritsu at the back.

>>4747684
>>4747490
>>Our usual formation with us, Lyann and Stella in front, then Dawn, Zoe and Aritsu at the back.

The guardians aim [I]behind[/i] us and open fire, lighting explosions blooming in the middle of our back lines.

Right, they're meant to fight [ERR- I mean, the discarded, so of course our ancestors would equip them with lightning weapons.

We are the only one with a [Taunt] skill, so we aggro the guards while our party attacks...

"E-Master, w-what do we do!?" Lyann seems conflicted about attacking the ancient guardians, and everyone else pauses after she says so.

>We have to get past them, so take them down
>Try and 'break' them. We can repair them later
>Other

>>4747796
>Try and 'break' them. We can repair them later
If we respond with lightning attacks, that should scramble them and cause them to shut down.

>>4747796
>>Try and 'break' them. We can repair them later

>>4748665
>>4747988
>>Try and 'break' them. We can repair them later

"H~ y-yes Master!" Lyann seems really uncomfortable with our order, for some reason.

All the same, she uses a [Song] and [Dance] at the beginning of her turn in order to buff us and debuff the 'guards', though the [Toad] and [Poison] did not affect them.

The [Berserk] and [Slow] effects went through, tho. This is the first time in well over two years that her debuffs have been resisted, isn't it?

As for ourselves, we try using high level [Lightning] magic in a shotgun blast against the closest guard, but it barely seems to have one anything other than cancelling out the [Slow] on it.

I guess our ancestors properly insulated the lightning-wielding guards against eachother's attacks.

Stella just swings a fist at the same guard, and successfully damages it as normal. Right, they are tough, but not invincible.

Zoe tries using an AoE [Fire] spell, and it goes through normally.

Dawn uses her special ability to give us and Lyann another turn. Lyann draws out her bladed staff and strikes at the one we had attacked before. It had already been attacked by Stella, and it looks like this is enough to disable it, causing it to fall limp on the spot.

Aritsu stores the 'guard' in her [Item Box], then its the guards turn.

Their front line projects glowing shields and form a wall in front of us, while the backline uses their gus to cast AoE [Lightning] at our own backline.

Aritsu and Zoe take some damage, but Dawn seems unaffected.

We get to go twice thanks to Dawn's [Tea Time] Maid ability.

>Attack with magic
>Attack with sword
>Other

>>4749521
>Attack with sword

>>4749521
>>Attack with sword

>>4749863
>>4749712
>>Attack with sword

We move forth in order to slash at the one Stella already targetted, and have barely enough time to feel the buzz as we swing through the electrical barrier.

Hn. It would be nice to have these barriers deployed on the field.

Our first swing cuts away the guardian's left pauldron, and the second removes its head, causing it to fall down.

On Lyann's turn, she uses her bladed staff to strike through the barrier at the head of the next target. Stella jumps through the barrier with us to take it down, then Zoe targets their backline with another [Fire] spell.

Dawn uses her [Tea Time] on us again, giving us another turn.

>Swing at the next one
>Use magic
>Other

>>4749958
>Use magic

>>4749958
>>Use magic

Btw Im starting a new character in Conan and I'm trying to make either Lyann or Athena, so if you feel like it, drop by and give comments. Im trying to find the right hairstyle right now.

>>4750512
>>4750090
>>Use magic


We've moved forth and used our [Taunt] skills, so this is a good moment to attack and build on it. A close-range shotgun-type blast to the nearest guardian takes it down, and with that we've already gone through two of the six guards.

Come think about it, the ERR- I mean, the discarded haven't actually used magic before, have they? I mean, they use supernatural abilities and in their own world, one of them spit some sort of energy discharge at one of our probes, but actual magic? Not that we can remember, so perhaps it makes sense that the guardian automata haven't been fortified against it.

Our next spell takes down another guard, and then its Lyann's turn.

Seeing as how our own spells are so effective, she uses a [Cold] spell to attack one of the three remaining guards, and then Stella swings at it and breaks its head apart to take it down.

The remaining three guards approach us and... detonate.

"Hn."

We hadn't died in a long time. Thankfully, Lyann always casts [Auto-Raise] on us at the beginning of every fight.

The girls fuss over us and rush to see if we're okay, but we don't have the time right now, so after kissing and patting them, we move everyone forth and into what looks like a generator room.

(Roll 1d100 twice please.)

File: file.png (3.52 MB, 1920x1080)

3.52 MB PNG

Ended up making grown-up Ren/Mako I guess.

Still in character creation tho

Rolled 5 (1d100)

>>4753404
One per person, right?

>>4753588
yup

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>4753404

>>4754054
>>4753588

Well, the 5 was terrible, but thankfully the 59 helped us pass by, if only just.

By the way now would be a good time to save the thread, I think. "Beginning of the Invasion" would be a good title, I believe.

***

The generator room is full of advanced magical technology... no, we should say ancient lost tech. It takes us more than a couple of moments to get our bearings, but thankfully our girls are some of the smartest people in the continent.

"Aritsu, see to those power couplings."
"Y-yes!"
"Zoe, please try to make sense of that console over there."
"Yes!"
"Lyann, help me look for redundant parts we can use to replace the burnt ones."
"Yes Master." She replies, sounding quite happy for some reason.

"Me, me! What do I do, big brother!?" Stella's tail is wagging happily as she waits for us
"...watch the door and make sure we don't get attacked while doing this."
"Ye~es!"

"I'll prepare some tea." Dawn smiles and starts pulling things from her exclusive [Maid Inventory].

We manage to get the room back up and running within 20 minutes or so, and can feel the walls humm. Outside, the stoneworks that had been covering the keep's guns crumble as the guns come online.

The weapons of the keep number in the hundreds, but the army of the discarded seems limitless. Still, it may just make enough of a difference to save thousands of lives.

>Rush back out to the command center, and leave Lyann and a few others to continue repair here.
>Continue to repair things here, we can use Lyann to stay in touch with the commanders anyway.
>Other

>>4757987
>Continue to repair things here, we can use Lyann to stay in touch with the commanders anyway.
We should ask the central computer how to repair the IFF system. We don't want the Keep's defenses to target our own people.

>>4757987
>>Continue to repair things here, we can use Lyann to stay in touch with the commanders anyway.

Archived

>>4758609
>>4758238
>>Continue to repair things here, we can use Lyann to stay in touch with the commanders anyway.

>>4758609
>Archived
Thanks

"The scout report." Said an officer as he handed the LEV-Dradnought's captain (normally a general, but tradition on a ship meant he was captain for now) about the airborne scouts report. "The monsters are congregating in the following coordinates..."
"As per the plan, aim the main guns and fire at will. Don't stand on ceremony. This is not an honorable enemy, you don't need confirmation to obliterate it!" The 'captain' called forth, and the crew replied formally as they began issuing instructions down the chain of command.

The courts had noticed something else, though. The monsters were flooding towards the city, yes, but in less numbers than they were moving towards the spots the dradnought was about to fire at, yet their numbers there didn't seem to increase.

It was hard to notice because of the constant flood of monsters falling from the gate overhead, but indeed, no matter how many went to the spot, the thickness of the crowd remained more or less the same.

***

"Hm." (all of) Lyann let out a thinking sound for a moment as she pondered this while doing other things.
"How is it?" Asked Ren for the umpteenth time while sipping from her tea cup, trying to hide her nervousness.
"It goes well, mistress. Sir Eldric is repairing the systems inside the keep, so he is not involved in combat at the moment. The defenses are holding well, and the monsters, while numerous, are not particularly large or dangerous."
"A-alright..."

Lyann smiled at her beautiful young mistress, and cut her another slice of grain cake. The doctor and her had agreed that it was better not to excite or worry her, and they had also agreed on a good diet that managed to indulge her cravings while staying healthy.

The redhead was quite pleased with the doctor going into detail about the regularity and sort of sexual activity that was ideal for the pregnant empress, as well as recommending a few things and giving lessons. She wished her beloved Eldric had such honest ideas about his own wants, but had recently given up on promoting such things to him.

"The keep had more defenses than anticipated, it should help with the fighting." She explained while taking the little treat to the table.
"A-alright."

***

We find that we needed to register personnel if we wanted the keep's defenses to allow them access to its inner workings, but we can at least count with a very simple IFF system that is simply set to ignore non-discarded combatants in the battlefield unless ordered otherwise.

The keep's main weapons system is named ALEXANDER, and consists of multiple cannons of magical power that can hit targets in mid air with enormous blasts. This system is probably responsible for the utter lack of flying troops amongst the discarded, as it is very, very old, meaning that they have long learnt not to give it any targets to focus on.

1/2

>>4760435

"Ugh... if only we could have Alexander target enemies on land..." Aritsu sighs as she finishes checking that the AA system is fully operational.

In fact, it has its own generator, backup generator, and multiple service drones specifically dedicated to it.

"If it did, it would scalate the situation too much, I think." Stella surprises us by chirping in from outside the door. "Its presence is a deterrent, but if it could target anything, the enemy would have to ignore it and charge in anyway... what?" She looks surprised at everyone looking surprised at her comment. "I went to a military academy! I know tactics!"
"Yes, Stella is a very smart lady." We smile at her, and cause her to smile and wag her tail.

Uhmm...

We could actually somehow turn Alexander into an artillery battery, but like Stella said, it would affect -future- invasions.

>Do it anyway. We plan to attack after repelling them this time. There won't be future invasions.
>Keep it as it is, just in case.
>Other?

>>4760440
>Keep it as it is, just in case.

>>4760440
>>Keep it as it is, just in case.

>>4761082
>>4760609
>>Keep it as it is, just in case.

"Let's be responsible on behalf of the future, just in case." We comment as we pass on modifying the system.

Well, its a triumph card that we don't need right now. Of course, if the discarded do start to overrun us, there'll be no point in saving anything for "the future", so let's use if that happens.

Looking deeper still, we find that the generators in this section are geothermic, not magical, and act as a backup for multiple systems.

We could...

>Boost the shields
>Activate the [Ancestor Units]

>>4774518
>Boost the shields
I want to activate the Ancestor Units, but if the IFF system is still malfunctioning, they might attack us.
Let's save the Ancestors until after we fix the IFF system.

>>4776177
Well, its not "broken", it just hasn't been updated.

We have two options. We can manually enter every single "Ally" into the record, or just set everyone who isn't a discarded as an ally.

It may sound dumb, but normally the process of registration would start years, if not decades, previous to the invasion, so it would be a perfectly reasonable administrative job. Trooper signs in, trooper gets added to the IFF database.

For now, we can add those present in the room, which means that the defenses will either allow them through, or assist as needed, so let's do that.

Thankfully there's a 'scanner' in the room, so we painlessly register all of the girls.

>Allow every 'non discarded' unit on the battlefield to be counted as an ally, giving them access and support through the keep.
>Keep things as they are.
>Other

>>4777428
>Allow every 'non discarded' unit on the battlefield to be counted as an ally, giving them access and support through the keep.
The IFF database can be updated and pruned after the invasion. Right now the Discarded need to be pushed back.

>>4777428
>>Allow every 'non discarded' unit on the battlefield to be counted as an ally, giving them access and support through the keep.

>>4777990
>>4777863
>>Allow every 'non discarded' unit on the battlefield to be counted as an ally, giving them access and support through the keep.

The keep's system accepts our input, and while we cannot see it, the effect outside is immediate. The weapons that were hidden by the stonework start moving, and opening fire on Discarded as they approach the city, though because of the distance to the outermost walls (and geometry) the angle of fire has to be somewhat flat, and the weapons won't fire on the closest Discarded in order to avoid hitting the troops on the walls.

***

"Get ready men! I want to see the senate try and disband the army after this!" One of the field commanders readies his men while looking unto the discarded swarm from atop the walls.

As the men cry out with enthusiasm, beams of electric blue light flies overhead towards the swarm, exploding in quiet but dazzñing blasts of light, leaving scorched, empty holes wherever they hit.

"The keep...? The keep's guns, they're working! Get ready men, we've got to clean out whatever piece of [ERROR] filth makes it to the walls!"

The men cheer and get ready, while Fleur and her daughters begin to 'merge' with the vines covering the walls, spreading their consciousness all around the city.

***

Onboard the LEV-Dreadnought

"Sir, a report. The gunners report heavy enemy activity on the fifth target. The enemy is throwing themselves in the path of our guns to protect the objective."
"Well, focus fire then, consecutive shots from the main guns, don't give them time to get in the way."
"Yes sir!"

***

"Master, it looks like the LEV-dreadnought found one of their leaders. They should blast it soon." Our redhead informs us as we exit the generator room.
"Alright, but there should be five total, right? What about the other four?"
"No trace of them yet."

>It must be the commander of their vanguard, have everyone focus fire on it.
>The others may be in hiding and using it as a decoy, have the light-class rockitships spread out and search around the 'empty' ground.
>Other

>>4778280
>The others may be in hiding and using it as a decoy, have the light-class rockitships spread out and search around the 'empty' ground.
The [ERROR]s are not as stupid as they used to be. There's no telling that they haven't leapfrogged their tactical thought to be able to use decoys and feints, if they were able to gain the inspiration to make cyber-[ERROR]s this time around.

>>4778280
>>The others may be in hiding and using it as a decoy, have the light-class rockitships spread out and search around the 'empty' ground.

>>4778504
>>4778415
>>The others may be in hiding and using it as a decoy, have the light-class rockitships spread out and search around the 'empty' ground.

"Yes, Master!" Our redhead replies right away.

***

"Sir, this one's Master requires that you send scouts to cover the seemingly empty areas around the city. This one's Master thinks that they may be using a decoy." She explains to the gryphon riders captain.

Well, he's also in charge of the light scout class rockitships.

"Understood, thank you for relaying the lord's words." He nods, and begins giving orders.

Sure enough, two of the scouts spotted strange shimmering on the ground coming from the east, down the bottom of the canyon, and one scout failed to report back.

(Of course, this is is after at least 10-15 minutes)

We are already arriving at the command post in the aviary when the reports start coming in.

>Go to investigate ourselves
>Send our high level dragons
>Send the harpies. The dragons are busy attacking the enemy already.
>Other

>>4779606
>Send the harpies. The dragons are busy attacking the enemy already.

>>4779606
>>Send the harpies. The dragons are busy attacking the enemy already.

>>4780033
>>4779985
>>Send the harpies. The dragons are busy attacking the enemy already.

We grith our teeth and order our babies away from the walls and into the 'empty' bottom of the cliff to take a closer look.

They'll be ok, right?

Aritsu notices our worry and leans her head gently on our back as she assures us that it'll be alright because they're our pets.

For the time being, all we can do is wait and watch over the unfolding siege.

The LEV-Dreadnought pours focused fire unto the spot the discarded were trying to defend in lighter, but quicker barrages, successfully breaking through the wall of bodies on the fourth short, and revealing an enemy commander.

Just as we planned for, they were hiding the commanders and ...they're feeding them their own troops. The 'commander' has a vaguely humanoid blue torso with no visible head and four tentacles where its arms should be, and its lower body is similar to a bull with some enormous feline's legs and claws. Its tentacles are holding weapons... no, they are fused with weapons, two with sharpened blades near the tips of what look like metallic sleeves near the end of its tentacles, and two where the tips of the tentacles have been replaced with large metallic spheres from which lightning pours out.

It is slaughtering its own troops as they flock to him and simply wait to die.

"It's leveling up." Murmurs Lyann

Indeed, every creature comes into this world as a level 1. That is an inumtable law of the world. Not even the discarded can get around it, so it is slaughtering its own troops to level up as quickly as it can!

>Go out and engage it.
>Order all artillery to rain on its parade
>Other

>>4786498
>Order all artillery to rain on its parade

>>4786498
>>Order all artillery to rain on its parade

>>4788449
>>4786715
>>Order all artillery to rain on its parade

"Yes, Master!" Lyann replies immediately and relays our orders to the different officers involved.

***

The Elite was known as Shapes The Void, and it was almost a 'he', or perhaps a 'she'. The master of the discarded had allowed it a shard of a soul, and nurtured it for centuries into a proto-soul so 'it' could command the troops and make limited decisions during battle. As such, 'it' was capable enough to order the troops to block shots for him, but not cunning enough to realize that discovery meant it was in danger.

'It' was content to devour its lesser and grow stronger, when suddenly he noticed the attacks had ceased. 'It' was something akin to curious, but not enough to dwell on the matter for too long.

As such, when the sky darkened over 'it' with a hail of heavy artillery, 'it' was incapable of thoughts more advanced than 'there's so many more to eat yet!'.

The shells and magical blasts did not create a single crater, but looking at it from above, it looked as if they had peeled the upper crust of the world to reveal a massive hive, the craters being so close to each other as to look almost like walls on some enormous building.

***

""Gunners report the target has been destroyed."" Lyann and (command room) Lyann report as we watch the site.

>Have her dismiss the 'extra' in the room. Or at least keep her quiet.
>Stay as is

"What about the harpies?" We ask
"They should begin coming in any moment now." Replies an officer.

Sure enough, reports start pouring in as our cute little birds return to the aviary. They spotted a shimmering 'river of empty air' approaching the base of the massive plateau the keep is built upon.

"Historically, they have tried to climb up dozens of times." Says Aritsu, quoting the archives. "But it has never worked. The stone is too smooth, and the river makes it moist and slippery. Specially so at this time of the year, with the river's level being so high."

>"We will go deal with it ourselves, just in case"
>"I am not worried about them climbing, I am worried about more commanders leveling up in secret. Send the harpies again, on a closer look this time."
>"Bombard them. Wide area dispersal."
>Other

>>4793745
>Stay as is

> Other: wide-area bombardment to eliminate lesser Discarded and prevent any Elites from leveling up in secret, and have the harpies observe from a distance; both to gauge the effect of the bombardment with relaying adjustments in targeting, and to be on the lookout for any Elites that are hiding in the horde.

>>4793745
supporting >>4793807

>>4794702
>>4793807
>> Other: wide-area bombardment to eliminate lesser Discarded and prevent any Elites from leveling up in secret, and have the harpies observe from a distance; both to gauge the effect of the bombardment with relaying adjustments in targeting, and to be on the lookout for any Elites that are hiding in the horde.

"Yes, Master!" Lyann relays our instructions to the officers in charge, and a few moments later, we can hear the whizzling sound of artillery falling all around us.

Well, an astronaut once said that the secret to being in orbit was to fall and miss the planet on purpose. I guess bombarding around us is like that, but...

There is a barely noticeable, very brief shivering on the surface of our tea as an artillery shell hits us.

Well, if they're going to bombard the river bed under and around the keep, it was to be expected that at least a couple of shots would actually hit us.

Our ancestors built a very, very sturdy fortress, indeed.

"Somebody's getting a demotion~" Dawn comments, very softly

>It was statistically unavoidable, remind me to make sure that gunner doesn't gets court-martial or something.
>Not as big a problem as it would be if they hit one of my babies. (the harpies)
>Other

>>4795770
>It was statistically unavoidable, remind me to make sure that gunner doesn't gets court-martial or something.
They don’t have radar and computer fire control, so I don’t want them court martialed. But they will lose a meal or be put on bread and water rations for a few days at least.

>>4795770
>>4795954
That's not to say we wouldn't be angry and make life hell for the gunnery officer in charge who hit one of our babies.
Just that we won't get them demoted and whatever punishment we do dish out won't be permament.

>>4795770
>>It was statistically unavoidable, remind me to make sure that gunner doesn't gets court-martial or something.

>>4796042
>>4795954
>>It was statistically unavoidable, remind me to make sure that gunner doesn't gets court-martial or something.

"E~eh, Master is so nice, ne~e..." Dawn relaxes a little as she supports her left hand on her cheek.

She looks like she's about to go 'ara ara', somehow.

"Well, they are calculating trajectories with pen & paper, against distance, indirect arcs of fire, unseen wind currents... yeah, it was asking for too much to hope every shot would successfully miss us." We sigh and then look at Lyann with a more serious expression. "Any reports from the harpies?"
"They are coming back in now." She replies. Her 'self' in the aviary under our feet seeing them arrive. "They report coordinates for where the mass of 'clear disturbances' are flowing to, and where it is emptying."

>Shoot at the spots where it is thickest. If their elites aren't there, at least we're doing maximum damage to their numbers. Its a win either way.
>Shoot in wide spread again, just to see what happens.
>Other

>>4797711
>Shoot in wide spread again, just to see what happens.