9 Chapter 9: The plan part 2

The air was still, fires outside of the goblin caves crackled as the green creatures surveyed their surroundings. It had been a few days since they clashed with the powerful golems. Some of their hunting parties had never returned, but orders were given to refrain from investigating their disappearances. The goblin chieftain planned to rally the horde for an attack on the golem base, and once they were dealt with, the humans would be their next target for consumption. Just as they were enjoying the fire, a large amount of movement caught them off guard. A human woman emerged from the brush into view of their guard post. The goblins shrieked in alert and began preparing for action. A few hobgoblins rushed outside from the tunnel to assist their fellow goblins.

As the goblins readied themselves to feast on the woman's flesh, they failed to notice two other figures accompanying her. The sentries, masked underneath clothing, sprung up from the sides and began cutting into the group. Jess also joined the fray, wielding the weapons she had retrieved from Vulcan. She focused on the smaller goblins while leaving the sentries to handle the stronger variants. The fight concluded swiftly, with Jess noting that the sentries assigned to her were stronger than the normal kind and could pose a threat to a town like Roriksten.

"The plan is set in motion; we should..." Vulcan trailed off momentarily in his speech.

"What? Are you alright?" asked Jess, looking at the sentry for a response.

"It's nothing. Something interesting just developed, but nothing I can't handle. It will be a surprise when this is all done," said the sentry, chuckling to itself. Jess ignored its antics and followed it into the cave tunnels.

Encountering groups of goblins rushing to the entrance, the trio pressed forward. They faced more resistance, but the narrow tunnel allowed the sentries to manage the goblins' numbers effectively. Jess dealt with any stragglers or enemies they missed.

As they progressed, the stench of death assaulted Jess's senses. Despite her experience with such odors, it nearly made her sick. They reached a large cave chamber, wide and tall enough to accommodate thousands of goblins. Corpses of young human adventurers hung lifelessly, triggering memories of Jess's former team.

"JESS! Snap out of it; this is the part where you're needed the most," Vulcan's loud voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Droves of goblins rushed towards them, but they paused as if waiting for someone. Loud footsteps reverberated as ruthless-looking hobgoblin warriors appeared, led by a towering figure adorned in a reptile's pelt and skull.

"They managed to kill a mountain wyvern; that's insane," Jess commented, while Vulcan noted the creature for future reference. He wondered if it was as formidable as Jess seemed to think.

"You bring great honor to come directly to your death, human and golems," declared the goblin chieftain as he approached the trio.

Jess's mind raced with hundreds of thoughts. She had believed this plan to be foolproof, but now she questioned whether she had been lied to and betrayed. Glancing at the sentry beside her, she found no answers, only a shake of denial.

The chieftain laughed. "You think we are dumb? I have been hunting in these woods since my beginning," he proclaimed, pointing at Jess. "I can smell her fear, but you... you reek of nothing," he continued, gesturing at the sentry.

During the chieftain's monologue, Jess noticed movement behind his head. Several small silhouettes were climbing around the cave ceiling, placing the death spheres she had seen earlier. Feeling a surge of relief, she realized that Vulcan had not abandoned her to die.

Her moment of relief was interrupted as the chieftain spoke again. "Golems, I wish to see how strong you are. Duel my warriors, and if you prove yourselves worthy, I will fight you myself before granting you death."

The chieftain placed his hand on the warrior to his right, who didn't need to look back and walked forward with his large axe on his shoulder. Vulcan's sentries didn't say anything to Jess, but one of them stepped forward with its spear ready.

Jess was going to say something, but the other sentry held her shoulder and pulled her behind him. In a whisper only she could hear, he said, "I'm only stalling for time. When I yell 'run,' you run, and I'll cover your back."

She didn't respond but acknowledged the plan. She didn't want to admit it, but she was glad someone as strong as Vulcan was with her in front of these goblins.

"The fight begins," declared the chieftain, his voice echoing through the cave. "Let's see the strength of these intruders!"

The warrior swung his axe with ferocity, aiming to end the fight quickly. The sentry dodged the attack effortlessly and retaliated with a swift punch to the warrior's abdomen.

The warrior stumbled back, clutching his stomach. The sentry picked up the axe it left buried in the ground and threw it back in front of the warrior. The enraged warrior picked up the weapon and swung in a diagonal motion. The sentry simply lifted its spear and parried the attack and finished by delivering a high kick to its face.

The kick hurt, but this only pissed of the warrior more, and this continued for some time until the chieftain had enough and stabbed the warrior with his sword for failing him. The warrior let out a gurgled cry as the sword penetrated his chest and collapsed.

"This isn't a fight, I will show you the strength of a real goblin," declared the chieftain as he stepped forward into the dueling circle. The goblin horde started shrieking and making sounds similar to cheering as they also clanked their weapons on the ground together.

The atmosphere became hectic, and Jess started feeling nervous when the chieftain towered over Vulcan's sentry, easily surpassing him by several feet. The chief lowered its stance and before the sentry could react, it had cut off the arm holding the plasma spear. The arm still clutching the spear was caught by the chieftain mid-air.

"A small trophy to keep after I finish you off. I will make great use of this against the humans, if this tiny weapon can kill a rock beast in one hit then it will only make my horde stronger!" As it paraded the arm and weapon in front of the excited goblins.

Jess couldn't believe it, she couldn't see its attack. Earlier, the goblin warrior was being played with by the sentry, but now the tables have turned. Just as the chieftain turned around to look at the one-armed sentry, the metal arm still clutching the spear moved on its own and stabbed the spear into the chieftain's eye.

The chieftain roared in pain as he never expected something like this to happen. He looked at the sentry in rage but found the sentry jumping on top of him. It wrapped its last good hand and legs around his neck.

"This is how you end," said the sentry close to the chieftain's ear. The sentry's body started overheating, the hot metal sizzling the skin of the chieftain as he tried prying the thing off his neck.

In the distance, the sentry protecting Jess hugged her and covered her with his body. A large explosion covered the area with the chieftain at its epicenter. Jess could feel flickers of the explosion licking her sides, and they burned but not enough to cause great harm to her. Once the dust settled, she and the sentry that protected her from the blast stood up. Nothing within several meters survived. The only thing left was the chieftain's lower body charred black and in a kneeling pose.

Just as they were dazed and admiring the destruction, the horde, enraged at the death of their leader, had gathered their strength and stormed after them. "Run, Jess!" yelled the sentry in alarm. She didn't need to be told anything else as she bolted for the tunnel behind them.

"What about the plan? Did you succeed?" yelled Jess as she tried remembering the path back to the opening they went into. "It's all going well, I just didn't expect the chieftain to be that strong. We only have a couple of seconds until everything starts collapsing soon.." he didn't finish his sentence as they both heard loud cracking booms behind them. The explosions had started, and the tunnel itself had begun to collapse on itself as well.

Just as Jess saw the clear mouth opening they entered, the ceiling in front of her was going to crush her from collapsing. It all went still, and she allowed herself to think about her fiancée at the last moment. She was ready to be with him and their friends once again. But death didn't arrive, instead, the sentry who was with her was on top of her and holding the large boulder from falling on top of her.

"Jess, run! I can't hold it forever," said the sentry as its metal joints strained under the immense weight. Tears welled up in her eyes, she remembered this scene. It was the same scene that left her without sleep for many years, She was being saved once again. This time it will be different she said to herself as her mind locked in, she got up and grabbed the sentry's weapon.

The sentry looked at her odd behavior. "What are you doing? You should get out, now." But Jess didn't listen and put the spear underneath the collapsing boulder to make it act as a support for the sentry. "Trust me on this okay? Let go on three. One. Two. Three!" And the sentry, knowing what she was doing, let go and just for a split second the boulder moved but it was enough for them to leave together.

The spear supporting the rock bent in shape after a while, until it broke. It had served its purpose. All this happened while the cave was still shaking. With the help of Jess, the sentry held onto her since it had taken severe damage from catching the ceiling and the explosion earlier. Escape was only a few more feet away, Jess strained every part of her body. But just as they were home free, she felt immense heat coming from behind. The heat from the explosions escaped from the tunnel they were coming from and the immense pressure sent both of them flying.

Vulcan tried using his sentry body to protect her but his sentry was too damaged. Jess was launched meters into the forest, as parts of her limbs had been cauterized off. She only felt the impact of her body land, her hearing was completely gone and she was having trouble breathing. She knew this was her last moments and she felt relieved. Relieved to finally not be the one being saved but the one to save her team. Even if it was a cold-hearted piece of metal.

Vulcan had plenty of sentries surrounding the goblin base, and they soon rushed to where Jess's body lay. She looked horrifying; large parts of her body were missing, and her skin was melting off. Not too far away from her, the sentry that was with her wasn't doing that well either. It also had parts of its body missing.

Vulcan pulled out a nano stim, but he didn't go towards his sentry. Instead, he went directly to Jess. She was smiling, and this made his choice more clear. He stabbed her with the stim and watched as her body recovered. The process made her fall asleep, and he recovered her body to be taken back to the fortress.

It had been a long night; the remaining goblins would be dealt with, but he had another problem that just came up. Since Jess was asleep, he had to deal with this problem alone without her opinion. This was also a way for him to thank her. Ever since his last life, no one had thought about his well-being like she did in the moment earlier. She could have left; the sentry was only one of many. Yet, she risked her life, and this touched him in a place he hadn't thought was still a part of him.

With that, he followed his sentries back into the surrounding darkness of the night.