The Arcane Trilogy: Sins of the Past - Book 2

Chapter 27: Nightfall

The night was haunted by a biting chill as the salty sea winds flowed above and below the bridge. The moon looked down upon the series of four barricades that had been erected along the pathway connecting Zaun and Piltover together. Enforcers and Noxian warriors alike patrolled the battlements, spotlights fixated towards the shadowy borders of Southside. The battle axe wielding warriors under Ambessa's employ strode between the barricades with a restless edge, tightly gripping their weapons in preparation for a fight. It had been too long since their last proper fight, and considering the rumblings that had undercut the days prior, they were salivating at the prospect of another violent workout. On the other hand, many of the enforcers were tense with apprehension. The drastic events of the week prior showed that the Undercity had evolved, and that enforcers were no longer seen as the unwavering killing machines that plagued their dreams. Both the Progress Day attack and the bombing on the bridge showed that, and that reality was etched firmly into the mind of all the enforcers. Those spiralling thoughts only festered and grew in potency as the night went on, with no firm authoritative leader in a Sheriff's uniform in sight to snap them out of their detrimental contemplative state. The only source of strength they had to lean on was Ambessa, who seemed to not care for the morale of the enforcers, seeing them as ultimately unnecessary extra bodies.

As Ambessa spoke with her higher level subordinates on the Piltovian side of the bridge, several enforcers stood watch on the metallic battlement that sat closest to Southside. A small handful of Noxian warriors sat further back from the elevated barrier, closer to the middle of the bridge and the second barrier, sharpening their weapons or engaging in small conversations, unaffected from the internal dread that plagued many of the enforcers.

Suddenly, a purple flair shot out above the Southside rooftops, illuminating the night sky. This sight put the enforcers on edge, their eyes frantically searching the darkness in front of them. A few silent moments then followed, only for a surge of green flashes to bolt out of the darkness.

Chemtanks.

Their sickly green blades glowed softly as a group of four rushed the barricade.

"Contact!" Screamed one enforcer as he raised his rifle to fire. His comrades did the same, with the thunder of bullets piercing the night. Their spirits were dampened slightly when the lighting quick hulking killing machines seemed to anticipate the bullets, and would zip to the side by a few metres, dodging the round. The firestorm of bullets continued, but to the surprise of the enforcers, a similar wave of death was being thrown right back at them.

One enforcer was hit in the neck by a spike, clutching his throat as he fell back off the battlement. Another was hit in the arm, causing him to cry out in pain as he fell back into cover. Assailants wielding improvised ranged weapons had followed the Chemtanks approach, using the distraction of their unrelenting speed to sprint across the open ground that led towards the bridge, before throwing themselves into cover behind the titanic support beams.

It had all happened so fast. The endless flood of spikes and improvised munitions began to slowly whittle down the numbers of the defenders as the Chemtanks reached the first barricade. To the horror of the defending enforcers, the suited monstrosities leapt up at them, with the barrier proving to be nothing more than a slight inconvenience to them.

Within the blink of an eye, four enforcers unlucky enough to have been targeted by the Chemtanks were pierced with an animalistic ferocity. The momentum of the suited enemies caused them to fly over the barricade and land firmly behind the first barrier, the dead enforcers crashing into the floor on the ends of their blades. The remaining enforcers then faced a horrifying conundrum. They were flanked by rifle weidling opponents from one direction and unhinged killing machines on the other.