>>5294197"Have your people dig in here.” you say telepathically to the Rak'kari champion. “We'll take up positions behind your forces, and set up a crossfire. That way to get at me and my daughter, they'll have to get over you all. And we'll cover your forces as well, firing horizontally into their forces and slowing them down.”
“Understood.” he replies, ending the mental link and swimming down to his forces on the sea floor. As he does, Caulifla turns towards you. And despite not being able to see her face, just by judging your daughter's body language, she's terrified.
“Half a million.” she <span class="mu-i">thinks</span>, the shock evident. “How are we supposed to fight that?”
“Not alone.” you reply, swimming over and putting your left arm over her shoulders while guiding her over the swiftly-burying Rak'kari. “We fight together, using our allies as they use us so we all can get through this.”
“Is that why we're hiding behind them?” she asks, turning her head up to look at you. At least, you think she's looking at you. With all the red eyes all over that dark creature's head, you aren't entirely certain where she's looking. “So they go after them first?”
“Partially.” you reply, drifting down to land on the sandy ground and turn her to face the crab people's defenses. Which settle in surprisingly quickly, the hundreds of Rak'kari all but invisible as they've settled down into the sand. Only by looking closely do you occasionally see a small area of exposed shell. Without your ability to sense ki, you would never suspect that hundreds of warriors are lying in wait for an ambush, forming a thick crescent moon shape beneath the sands. “But see? They're also using us as bait, to lure the Hydae directly into their trap. And once the enemy are above them, they'll attack as one and kill hundreds at once. But you know what this means, right?”
“Don't shoot the ones right above them?” she asks, creepy Dark head tilting to the side curiously.
“Exactly.” you reply, setting your hammer and sword down before lacing your fingers together and stretching them before you. “We have to funnel them in, and try to draw as many over the trap as possible. It'll only work at full effectiveness once, but after that first attack they'll start drawing the Hydae's attention as well. Then we'll have to cover them, as they cover us. Hopefully, we'll be able to grind these numbers down without the Rak'kari taking too many casualties.”
“Uhh, Dad?” Caulifla asks, voice nervous through the mental link. “Is it just me, or is the water over there getting...Darker?”
“They're coming.” you say, clenching your fists. There are so many Hydae approaching that they've darkened the ocean itself, blocking the faint sunlight drifting down to this level as they all surge forward as one. This is going to be a battle.
-Saiyan Conqueror Quest 176 paused-
