1 day since the last chapter...

Beastmen plains, Broken wing canyon

 

The first battle of Broken wing canyon had passed, and their victory allowed them to secure the aid of some of the local gophermen. These underground dwellers had many abilities that made them incredible diggers, as well as powerful fighters in the ground. The main advantage was their large, naturally enchantmented claws,  which allowed them to soften dirt and break rocks more easily.  Their claws could create vibrations to fracture the weak spots in the rock.  Their claws are also harder than some metals.

 

“Thank you so much! I feel much better about this fight now!” Snow said happily as she reached forward and shook the large clawed hand in front of her.

 

“We have connected a lot of these small tunnels around the canyon, you can also pull on these roots to collapse the ceiling,” a female voice responded.

 

The gopherwoman was covered in short brown fur, and she had the large incisors that most rodents did.  Her fur was so soft that the dirt and mud slid off as easily as water slid off a duck’s back. The small foxholes and dugouts had been upgraded with many interconnecting tunnels, something gophermen hated. The gophermen hated this open style because they usually built the tunnels closed with stale air and no light, closing any open passages.  Their usual style of passages also tended to be ramp-shaped, slowly spiraling down. Most beastmen would need to move on four legs through these tunnels, but that was comfortable for ground-bound beastmen like the mousemen and foxmen.

 

“These will be a great help to our war efforts, I will inform Lady Lunas, and from there it will be reported to Greko directly.” Snow told the gopherwoman with a smile. 

 

The gophermen traditionally ate roots, this made them a pest in most areas.  Most of the canyon was fairly barren due to their eating habits. The roots that survived were bitter roots belonging to weeds the gophermen didn’t like to eat. The remaining plants ensured that the snipers had excellent cover. Snow carried her trusty rifle on her back as she walked on all fours down the tunnel. .  On the plastic buttstock she had begun to carve lines to make tallies, these were her kills. So far 29 lines have been carved in total.

“That will be wonderful, we have also decided to send some of our young to learn under the Supreme Cheese. Greko has also sent some of the young mousemen along with them, I am hoping my daughter can make some friends.” She responded.

 

“We have also sent some of our own young, Greko is using the mousemen to begin farming, and we have also begun herding monsters and animals for ranching. Soon we will never have to worry about food again, according to Lady Lunas, she lived on an island where none starved. Our children will be leaving to learn skills from them and when they return, they will bring back many skills with them.” Snow said this with a smile. “The Supreme Cheese is said to be a kind and generous person.”

 

“I am kind of surprised that such a kind being chose to live with the succubi.” The gopherwoman said. “Aren’t most demons a cruel species?” 

 

“Lady Lunas told us that he created all kinds of different things for the people to do. We have our men mine for us and that is how we trade with the succubi. Now that your people will be taking on that duty, we will probably have them help in the fields and our future factories.” Snow explained.

 

“What is a factory?” The gopherwoman asked.

 

“I remember you told me that you have several rooms dedicated to storing food in your community?” Snow asked.

 

“That’s right!” She confirmed.

 

“A factory is a place where people work together with machines to produce different things.” Snow explained then took her rifle off her back and held it up and began pointing out different parts. “This gun is made of many different parts, each one is made in a different part of the factory.”

 

Snow peaked her head out of the hole and glanced up in the sky, she was looking for any birdmen before she retreated her head back into the hole. Both of them were sitting on the dirt enjoying the cool air that came from the tunnels during the hot day, it was currently summer. The vegetation in the canyon was sparse and more earthen except the occasional tree or brush. Large shadows were cast from how steep the walls of the cliffs were where some of the gopher holes even came out the sides of these steep cliffs. Everything was carefully arranged by the gophermen for this battle.

 

Both the beavermen and gophermen were prime targets of the various birdmen races for food. If it wasn’t members of these two beastmen tribes, then it was often the mousemen who suffered from predation as food. Even the foxmen had losses on occasion to some of the larger birdmen who used other predator species as a rite of passage. This was a mission the combined group of beastmen had taken on happily together since it meant getting some revenge.

 

Suddenly Snow’s gray and black ears perked up and turned to face the outside of the tunnel. She had heard something off in the distance that carried through the valley.  Before long she heard a much louder second wave. It was a yipping noise made by fox snipers to signal when the birdmen entered the valley. After a few moments, Snow peeked her head outside of the hole and began screaming out the same noises, adding to the cacophony.

 

Normally gophermen lived solitary lives and only came together to mate and raise young, then they went their separate ways after they were finished, and the kids struck out on their own. Hostilities with the dwarves and even other beastmen, like the molemen, had forced them to live in larger communities for protection. In response to the foxes’ calls, the gopherwoman turned her chubby body around in the small tunnel and began issuing loud squeaks into the tunnels.  

 

“I am going to go down and help them seal off the non-combatants.” The gopher woman stated before she moved down the round tunnel.

 

“Right! Thank you for your help!” Snow called back down as she pulled back into the tunnel and laid down on the cool, moist ground. 

 

Reaching behind her, she took the rifle off her back using the special sling that the foxes developed for comfort. It was a three-point harness, with an extra arm attached to the gun and making a y-shape. The scope had a plastic covering that went over the gun to keep it from getting knocked out of position on the mount. Soon she was in position at the end of the tunnel, her rifle facing skyward using the incline of the tunnel.

 

Molemen dig their tunnels straight up, and their dirt holes tend to look like small round mounds. Gophermen dig their holes with an incline, so the dirt tended to form crescent moon shapes when poured out of the tunnels. Snow was using this mound to help her steady her rifle and aim it into the sky. Her large gray and black ears listened closely to the sounds above her, behind her the gopherwoman retreated into the tunnels, and she could hear the sounds of gophermen squeaking loudly through them.

 

It wasn’t long before she finally caught sight of a large shadow moving through the clouds. “Why are they so high up?” She couldn’t help but mutter this as she reached forward and grabbed the bolt on her rifle and pulled it back making a loud clicking noise, then drove it forward sliding the first round into the chamber. “Do they really think that flying a little higher than last time will save you?”

 

Boom!

 

“And one.” She counted coldly.

 

***

Meanwhile…

The Sky above the valley

 

“Listen to the fear in their cries! I haven’t had fox meat in a long time!” A large birdman with dark brown collaboration proclaimed.

 

A large group of 2000 birdmen was flying in the air, and just like last time they also carried a payload in their talons. Stones, pitch balls, and bundles of javelins were carried for the group. Spears, bows, and old blades were carried by many of the Warband and they comprised many races. This time much larger species like eagles, owls, vultures, and larger birdman tribes were present in the group. 

 

“Their fur makes the best nest lining unless you can get your hands on some gophermen or molemen!” An Owlman called back to the eagleman.

 

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

 

“Hey, do you hear that pounding?” A birdman asked.

 

“I think it is coming from the beavermen’s area, maybe one of them is hitting a tree with their tail?” One of the flying birdmen responded.

 

“It sounds hollow.” One of the crows remarked.

 

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

 

“That sounds nice! Catch the furry rodent and bring it to my nest, I can just eat him when I get tired of him!” The large eagle demanded.

 

“Shouldn’t we wait for the rest of the forces?” An out-of-breath birdwoman panted from the rear.

 

“Why the hell should we do that?! And miss all of the best pickings!” A large buzzardman asked.

 

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

 

The eagle began nodding his head along with the rhythmic thumping from the large beaverman fort off in the distance. “I love it! Quickly, find me that furry creat-” He was cut off when something struck his chest followed by the sound of loud noise.

 

BOOM! Splat!

 

An explosive charge detonated when the bullet began making its way through the large eagle’s ribcage. The small hole the size of a quarter was then violently ripped open sending blood, feathers, and pieces of bones flying in the air. The flaming and charred remains of the large eagle in the lead were seen falling from the sky towards the ground.

 

“What the hell just happened!” One of the owls screamed out in horror.

 

Boom!

 

The sound of the gunshot rang out from the ground into the air, telling them all of Snow’s intentions. Snow was letting all of the birdmen know that death was coming, this was because many other bullets began ripping through the air and smashing into targets. Each large bullet had an explosive charge built inside of the heat of the round that would detonate when the bullet deformed. While many hit targets, 3 in every 10 bullets also missed, a testament to the foxes skill with a rifle.

 

“Do we go higher?” An owl called.

 

“Go higher!” An aged voice called from the back.

 

The large group continued to flap their wings and try to gain height, but all around them, birdmen were dying one after another. No matter how high they continued to climb, blood, feathers, and bone continued to rain down from the sky after the explosive rounds found their targets. This led to a panic among the group of bird men, as the sound of the rifles was slower than the large-caliber bullets. The fear of a sniper with a high caliber bullet has to do with the nature of a supersonic round, it goes faster than the sound it creates.

 

The worst part was that since they were grouped up, a missed bullet would sometimes find an unintentional target. The owl woman was the daughter of one of the clan chiefs, and the eagle beastman had been one of her various suitors. She had snow-white feathers with gray streaks and a small beak with large yellow eyes and black pupils. This was the first battle she was going on and it was supposed to be easy, instead, she was seeing blood and feathers flying everywhere around here followed by the loud explosions from the bullets detonating.

 

“This isn’t working! We can’t escape by flying higher! We are just slowing ourselves down and making ourselves easier targets!” She screamed.

 

The first instinct birdmen had to erase when they got into a battle was the instinct to scatter when they were afraid. Moving as a group was hard for some species and the Falcon King was one who used the speed of his forces over their strength. After all, birdmen were some of the weakest beastmen physically due to how light their skeletons needed to be to allow their flight, they also couldn’t pack on too much muscle. This limited what they could fly with unless they were willing to spend a lot of energy and mana to carry something heavy like a body.

 

“I see flashes coming from the valley!” A birdman called out.

 

“Is it Dwarven boomsticks? I heard they had them!” A beastman called.

 

“At this range and accuracy? No, these are something else.” The aged voice from the rear said again, causing the beastmen to go quiet. The aged voice sighed sadly as the sound of bullets tearing through the air caused fear to spread, but no one dared to disobey the aged voice. “Dwarven boomsticks were never capable of this, they must have improved them.”

 

The aged voice belonged to an aged vulture with a bald head and slightly milky eyes, he also had dark spots forming on his exposed head. A whizzing noise was heard as a bullet passed right beside the aging vulture's head and struck one of the females at his side, blasting her into pieces. The vulture did not show any emotion to the death that had happened right beside him, even when it was one of the lovers who had been by his side the longest. Instead, he continued to calmly watch the battlefield.

 

“We can’t stay together like this anymore! This tactic has worked for fighting prey for a long time but no more! Until we figure out the source of the flashes, abandon the idea of attacking the beavers! Work together and dig these creatures out of their holes!” The old vulture commanded from the rear.

 

The old vulture was one of the leaders under the Falcon King and was one of his advisors, he came because his own son died in the first raid. It was not out of vengeance but out of curiosity that the old vulture had come out of his nest one last time. What he did not expect was for the battle to be so outside of what he had expected.

 

“Split into groups and flush out the prey!” He finished.

 

Meanwhile, the old vulture’s attention turned back towards the beaver fort and a look of confusion crossed his face. The rhythmic sound of the beavers beating on wood was continuing from within their fortress and he had no idea what the source was. From the gaps on the outside mud and leaves were used to seal the entire structure, it was more fortified than he remembered. There were also mounds placed around the fortress in an elevated position but they looked like some kind of small hill.

 

***

Meanwhile…

Beastman plains, Broken Wing Canyon

 

Snow was watching through her scope as the various birdmen began to break into small groups and start making their way towards the holes from which the foxes were sniping. A smile crossed her face as she used her finger to hit the release and drop the large metal magazine from the bottom of her rifle. She then reached behind her and pulled another magazine from the pouch she was carrying, it was the last one she had.

 

Looking over she could see the small drawstring bag she used to carry empty ammo, the end of the drawstring was in the bag currently. Inside were four similarly empty magazines, the new one became the fifth one she had used and each held 5 rounds. Sliding the magazine into position, she gave it a tap and released the bolt to chamber a new round and sighted a new target. 

 

“I am over here!” She said mockingly, as she fired a round at a cluster of the more colorful birdmen that were exposed when the formation began to open.

 

They had brought many more of the birdmen with special abilities, these were the ones you had to watch out for. Some clans were special among the beastmen and produced offspring with special abilities. They could breathe fire that got more powerful the stronger they got, they could summon ice and snow, they could do various things. Sometimes these types of beasts also became beast kings.

 

“They are ditching the tarballs, are you planning on coming into the holes?” Snow questioned as she watched a group break off and head toward one of the holes a gunshot came from.

 

She looked up in the air and also saw a group heading towards her tunnel, she just watched them with a flat look as she turned her sights towards the colorful birdmen who were trying to spread out. She quickly emptied the magazine, firing one round after another. When the last brass casing was ejected out the side of her firearm, she reached over and used the thick pads on her hands and moved the bullet casings into the bag that the magazines originally came in, and put it in the larger bag with the empty magazines.

 

She then put her rifle away and put the plastic clamshell case on her scope. Looking up she could see a group of birdmen rushing towards her position, so she turned around and began making her way into the tunnels. Pulling the end of the drawstring closed on her bullet bag, she revealed a small rubber ball at the end that she hooked in her teeth and dropped to all fours.

 

The dark and damp soil would be claustrophobic to humans and other creatures, but many beastmen had built their original homes in a hole in the ground for safety when they had to fight against the monsters they differentiated themselves from. For the foxes, it was as comfortable as being on the surface surrounded by the sunlight.

 

Using her sensitive nose she was able to immediately pick up many different scent trails that had been left behind from all the activity. The scents that the succubi used in their soap were being used by the beastmen to leave scent markers, these clear trails were like glowing lines leading her straight to her destination. 

 

“I think it was a fox, or maybe a weasel! Follow them quickly!” An enraged voice called from the entrance of the tunnels.

 

Most beastmen were able to make modifications to their bone structures, birdmen could change the bones in their arms to form their wings and back into a more humanoid arm. They kept sharp talons on their strong legs that made them able to fight in their way. Snow’s job was only to kill the ones who were flying.

 

“Wait! Something isn’t right here!” One of the birdmen called.

 

Snow smiled at another furry creature who was making its way past her in the tunnel, it gave her a smile in return and made its way towards the voices. It was a mouseman with brown and blonde fur-wearing gray smoke-colored camouflage. Snow thought that all of the mousemen always seemed happy when she saw them, it wasn’t something she noticed before. One of the rules that Lunas had brought to the foxes was that predation of other beastmen stopped.

 

“Hey! Is that a mouseman?” The voices in the tunnel called.

 

In response a squeaky laugh was heard, followed by a cheerful response. “Cheese and Beer, comrades!” 

 

Then the sound of the bullpup shotgun getting pumped was heard before a string of gunshots began to sound out into the tunnels. The screams of the dying birdmen echoed briefly before quickly fading as it was absorbed by the wet, moist soil of the tunnel walls. The round tunnels were very clean, and her nose became the best guide as she started trotting through the tunnels on all four legs, her bushy tail straight behind her to stay clean. It took her less than a minute to reach her destination, a large open cavern.

 

Sitting calmly on blankets that had been rolled out on the ground were young foxwomen.  They had buckets of bullets and clips to assist in the task of loading magazines. Several succubi and older foxwomen were helping to raise and educate these young and bright-eyed foxes. Small magical lights worked to provide light to everyone, and compressors were pushing fresh air through the tunnels, something the gophermen were reluctantly allowing for now.

 

“Look! It is Lady Snow!” One of the young fox girls squealed in excitement and began bouncing around.

 

“She is so cool!” Another kit began yipping out.

 

She had to stop herself from chuckling and dropped the bag of empty ammo from her mouth to the ground. A young fox eagerly rushed up and picked it up with her mouth before rushing over to a bucket of bullets and eagerly sat down. She then used a clip to begin sliding bullets into the magazine, this was because beastmen had clumsier fingers than humans or succubi, so tools to aid fine work were needed for some species. In another corner of the room, mousemen children were both being taught the same process for their parents’ shotguns.

 

While the mousemen possessed short arms and small hands, they were capable of incredibly fine movements. With fingers capable of acting as tweezers, they had the ability to do precision work which humans needed tools to do. Loading magazines for the young mousemen was much faster and easier. This also allowed the young children from the two races to play together and begin interacting in ways that were healthy for both of them.

 

This started as competitions reloading magazines and races inside of tunnels, some of them had even started wrestling. Bullets were piled inside of large buckets, and off to the side, a group of succubi were using another machine and reloading ammunition. They were measuring gunpowder and reloading spent shot or bullet tips and using a press to join everything together if the brass or hulls had no issues. Several presses were kept on the boats used by the island's Navy and the succubi had borrowed them for this battle.

 

“Here! More bullets!” A young fox said as she rushed forward and dropped a bag filled with bullets at Snow’s feet, the young fox had to drag it most of the way with how heavy it was for her.

 

Hunting was being done on a large scale by the foxes. They were fast and agile, and when paired with a rifle they were able to bag large amounts of monsters from the mainland. Snow herself was a part of this process and was helping to feed the large community, while Greko was starting to farm using fertilizer shipped from the island. This was only until the mousemen had enough time to begin making their own.

 

“Thank you!” She said as she reached down and picked up the drawstring with her mouth and began making her way into the tunnels connected to the large chamber.

 

In her mind, this battle was just starting.

 

***

Meanwhile…

Beastmen Plains, Inside the beaverman fort

 

“Yes! The great work of the beavers begins here!” The chief of the beavermen roared to the group of working beavermen.

 

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

 

A group of four beavermen was standing on four legs using their large flat tails as hammers and driving a pole into a clay mold. This clay had a log that was hollowed out around it to form an outer shape. This log had a guide to ensure it was driven perfectly centered into the hole. This entire setup was made using wood and clay, and a little further off a large crucible filled with brass and iron was being heated. 

 

In between indistinct squeaking noises and his own excitement, the beaverman chief continued to rant on as he watched the beavers working around him. “Yes! Work harder! The fate of this war rests on your shoulders!”

 

A finished mold was pulled out of a massive kiln and revealed a cannon made from clay that was then used to make a giant mold out of steel. Using this, they could then pour the brass and iron in and produce a cannon in a single piece, it then only needed some slight modifications before it was finished. They used a traditional fuse and it was kept on spools that were being measured out by another group of beavers,

 

Potassium nitrate was something Greko was incredibly familiar with, and some of the iron gave them the sulfur they needed, add a little ash and you have gunpowder. It was crude, most of the equipment had deformities and bulges, but the finished cannons made from it were almost perfect. It took only a few hours for the succubi to begin setting this all up when the beavermen and the gophermen decided to work together. Hundreds of beavermen had begun tirelessly working in shifts once they began to see just what this strange production method was capable of, then over a few trials, it got more efficient. 

 

“We have been working for two days already, why do we only have 28 cannons?!” The Chief screamed angrily, his tail bashing on the floor like a leather paddle. “Look at how much the gophermen have done?! Are we going to be outdone by those fucking gophers?! We are Beavermen!!!”

 

What he was pointing to was a massive pile of ore that came from underground in the canyon; it had even formed small hills outside of the beavermen's fortress. Thousands of pounds of ore in various colors and types were piled up by the gophermen who were so happy to have some way to get rid of it. Then the gophermen were given the miracle of casting and smelting metal, something they did not understand previously. Using coal and raw beaver power, they began building this makeshift factory inside the main hall of the beavermen’s fort, it was where they partied a few days ago.

 

“This mold is ready for firing! Prepare another!” A beaverman screamed out, as he led his team to extract the wooden mold from the hole in the ground they placed it in.

 

The mold was then carried inside of the wood to a large kiln and placed inside of it. The entire front of the kiln had to be remade each time, but the beavers didn’t care when they shattered it open with their flat tails. Many parts of the wooden floor had been chewed out in the last few hours by a team of beavers and reduced to sawdust. The succubi had been shocked at just how much work they had done.

 

“Is he still going on like that?” Welch asked the succubus next to her.

 

“Yes, ever since someone transcribed the letter that Bob sent and gave him the item Bob prepared for him,” Kira replied.

 

Both women were preparing their weapons for battle. Welch had her shotgun and pistol and Kira had her rifle, both women were preparing for war. Upon their heads were garish headdresses adorned with many brightly colored feathers, almost like a Native American who decided to use a mix of peacock and flamingo feathers. They were all different shapes and sizes, many succubi also thought this was quite a cool fashion statement.

 

“What was in it anyway?” Welch asked.

 

“He told him that the world was round,” Kira said.

 

“That is it?” Welch asked.

 

“Yeah. Bob then sent a colored sphere that was divided into a blue half and a brown half, with a golden wall separating the two of them.” Kira said,

 

“Wait, what?” Welch asked in confusion, turning to Kira and halting her movements.

 

“He laughed at it when he saw it then threw it on the ground like trash,” Kira replied, as she finished checking her rifle. “Then at some point, he must have come back for it and went back to really ponder it.” 

 

“And this is what he came up with?” Welch asked.

“Chief Flattail was in 7 other packs under different beast kings before he settled down here,” Kira explained. “He said that any beaver would eventually conclude that this was the best idea to utilize the land. When he left his room the next morning he was like this.”

 

Kira could only sigh when she looked over and saw the former placid beaverman chief now foaming at the mouth as he ranted and raved with bloodshot eyes. Before long they could hear the yipping and cries of the foxes, then they could hear the squealing of rodents from underground. Instead of fear, a look of manic glee spread over the beaverman chief’s face.

 

“Here they come! Let’s welcome them all together!” The beaverman chief screamed out to the excited squeals of the hundreds of working beavers.