"Aye, Miss Veliky! I'm doin' me best!" Astrid shouts in response. Her eyes lock on to the big kruthik breaking into the fray. That thing is big. Very big. Also scary. Yet because of Veliky's spell, she feels an almost unnatural courage and even more strength running through her veins. It doesn't even occur to her that Veliky wants to use the drill on it. She's got a hammer and an extra spark, and oh, boy can she smash bug brains with it.

Another kruthik runs up on her, and with the faintest blue spark in her eyes, Astrid slams her hammer through two of its legs. It drops to the ground, its other legs clacking against the stone floor and trying to recover. She doesn't give it a chance and mashes it too. The tiny dwarf girl lets loose an unhinged battle cry.

"LET'S GO! COME ON, YA CRUNCHY BUGS!"

Her noisy voice draws the attention of several bugs that are larger than her, but she'll do whatever she needs to give Zarius an opening to handle the biggest and baddest of the bunch. She continues to pummel bugs as best she can like taking some deep rage or aggression out on these things. Perhaps it's even some ingrained hatred for underground creatures that pose some threat to her dwarven ancestors. It appears she could be overwhelmed. She pays this no mind.

This is fun. She would do this again.

"Zarius, find some way to pin it down!”

Veliky didn't have to ask twice. Zarius drops down from the ceiling, twisting in the air and landing on his feet like a cat.^[1] Standing up amidst the chaos, the chittering, and the sounds of combat, time seems to slow from the tiefling's perspective as the shadows cast by the swarm flicker like black flames. A chorus of whispers ring in his ears and his gold eyes flash blue briefly as he stares down the queen kruthik.

The membranes of the creature's glossy eyes slide across their surface in a slow blink. The pupils constrict and flit about in a flurry of delirium as the creature suddenly throws its head back and spins around in a confused rage.^[2] It scratches at its own skull, raking its chitinous legs across its armor plated skin before lashing out indiscriminately at those nearest to it, its own kind.

A smaller kruthik screeches as it is impaled on the leg of the much heavier queen. A wave of confusion and panic washes over the other kruthiks as their own leader turns on them as if it could not tell friend from foe.

The momentary distraction was all the tiefling needed to close in from behind and slide underneath the insectoid creature. Gripping his knuckle knives tight, he strikes upwards slams his fist into its gut. A reverberating shock pulses into the creature's body, bypassing the natural armor.^[3] The force of the strike not only cracked the plating, but he managed to twinge a nerve and lock up one of the legs which vastly hindered the creature's mobility and ability to strike out in defense of itself.^[4]

Screeching in pain, the queen kruthik tries to scratch at the tiefling below its belly, but can't quite reach. Zarius reaches up and grabs onto the armor plating on its underside with slightly elongated nails wrapped in a dark miasma, latching onto it like a leech.^[5,6] He throws his weight down and manages to pry a gap open between the chitinous plating that would be just large enough for Knight to get the drill under and damage the fleshy, vulnerable vitals of the creature.

---

[1] Cats Grace
[2] Whispering Madness
[3] Resonating Strike
[4] Stunning Blows
[5] Abyssal Darkness
[6] Iron Grip

Finally, the tides are turning! Whatever Zarius did, the kruthik tyrant is downed, screeching and thrashing. Veliky is no entomologist, but she remembers enough from dealing with bees in King's Valley: bugs of this type, like people, are worthless without a leader.

"Perfect! Knight, you're up! Take the drill and pierce that thing's hide!"

The shielded bot, Knight, backs away from its place at the defense and makes for the toppled cart.. It's a bold gambit; without the bot there to act as bastion, the kruthik trickle has become a kruthik flood. Veliky is forced to vanish^[1] and take to the air^[2] in order to protect herself from a veritable wave of insectoid death. But it's necessary; with Zarius pinning the beast, Rook protecting Astrid and the other bots incapacitated, only Knight has the wherewithal to see it through. Veliky herself couldn't even hope to lift the device. The only other option would be...

"Astrid!" Veliky shouts. She'd turned just in time to see the child swinging her hammer and obliterating kruthiks two by two! In fairness, 'safe' is a tenuous concept on a battlefield, but this is far from what Veliky had meant when she'd told the foundling to keep herself safe. Namely, safety normally entails *escape.*

At least she isn't alone. Dozens of insects fall around her, untouched by her hammer yet bisected by an unseen guardian. That sword wasn't cheap, but damn if it doesn't get the job done^[3].

Veliky's about to say something more, but her attention is robbed as Knight clanks beneath her. It is slow, encumbered by the device that Astrid had somehow lifted so easily. Having unequipped its armaments for the task, it's hopeless and helpless against the kruthik swarm! It takes barely four steps more before it's deconstructed on the spot.

That was their last hope. Veliky feels her spell beginning to fade; without it, the remaining defenders won't have even a chance to fight off the kruthiks. No more options. They need to escape.

"Dammit! Retreat! Priority: Gold!"

Few yet remain to heed her command, but those that do - a handful of bestial bots and the miners - obey, fleeing in a dichotomy of terror and irreverent resolution through the entry tunnel. But the insects aren't three meters behind. It's a pyrrhic escape.

But maybe things are not so hopeless as Veliky believes. The drill slides along the stone, knocked from the crumbling Knight's hands. And it slides just within sight of the only one with both the strength and capacity to use it: Astrid.

---

1. Invisibility
2. Flying Broom.
3. (Sword for Dummies) X-01 Novice (Rook)

"Retreat?? RETREAT?!" Astrid's voice nearly shrieks in disbelief. These big bugs aren't that big of a deal! Look at all the ones she's killed! She's surrounded by their corpses. It does not occur to her that many of them have slash marks instead of bash marks. If anyone were to ask her, she's doing just fine! Maybe a bit tired, but she's fine! 

The Blixtbots^TM, however, are not. Ah, that's why they're retreating. But wait! The miners! The workers! They're too tired to fight, and if any of them could, they'd certainly be picking up a blade or pickaxe! Someone has to end this or the entire group in this mine is nothing but sitting ducks unable to safely escape. Hells NO, she's not retreating! But how can they win? That knightly bot went to retrieve her drill, and Miss Veliky shouted something about it. Pierce something? Astrid's eyes dart around and land on the queen and the perfect opening exposed by Zarius. They'll be sitting ducks if that's not dead right? But where's the-

There it is. The drill is right there. That's their only hope right now. It's kill or be eaten. Astrid takes a few breaths to psyche herself up then grabs the Kruthik trying to stab her by the leg and swings it into all of its critter friends with a primal yell. The path is just clear enough. She bolts for the drill, nearly tripping over the scuttling bugs until she hefts it up. "Runnin' won't do us no good!" she shouts to wherever Veliky is. "Hold 'er still, Zarius! I'm comin'! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" 

Astrid rushes across the cavern, one hand on the crank, the other supporting it from below. She holds it ahead of her and barrels through the chitinous sea straight toward the squirming queen. Rook keeps pace and protects her sides and back as they carve through the crowd. Her little legs carry her at the dwarven equivalent of light speed, each step seems to spark and glow. With another primal scream, Astrid drives the drill into the opening of the plates and turns the crank with all her might. There's cracking, squelching, screeching, and scraping as the kruthik queen struggles against the pain of impromptu surgery. Bug guts splatter Astrid's face and hair and hands and turns the child into a screaming, goopy mess until finally, the giant insect ceases. 

Without their leader, the rest of the kruthiks seem confused at best and frightened at worst. Many scatter away from the carcass of their dead queen, retreating down the tunnel they flooded from. Things go quiet except for a few dying chirps and Astrid's heavy panting. She turns back towards the others, her hair stuck to her face in clumps of green goo, her weary grin triumphant. 

"S-See? I told ya we'd do it."

And then she collapses from the rush of adrenaline and exhaustion. 

Zarius' feet start to slide out from under him as the queen kruthik thrashes about. Veliky shouts for retreat and he swears under his breath, smoke streaming from his mouth. If he lets go now, this thing would surely pursue the defenseless miners. Things were getting to a point where they might have to prioritize their own survival over the civilians, which he just KNOWS Veliky and Astrid would give him hell over. 

Surprisingly, Astrid is the one to reject Veliky's demands and charge towards him and the struggling queen. She has the drill in her hands and in a last ditch effort to end this thing once and for all, Zarius strains and makes the gap between the armor plates as wide as possible. 

It's a gruesome end, but its effective. Zarius pushes himself and Astrid out from under the creature before it collapses, shortly followed by Astrid. Seeing her drop, he jumps over and is ready to shield her from any of the remaining kruthiks. The creatures however, have lost their will to fight and quickly retreat into the darkness of the mines. He breathes a sigh of relief and checks over Astrid quickly. Unconscious, but otherwise okay. He hauls her up onto his back with a grunt before looking at Veliky.

“She is going to need another bath back in Skypeak.”

They manage to herd the miners back to the lift and up through the entrance of the mine. The weather was still terrible outside, but at least they could rest in the cabins that were outside the mine.

The miners who are injured are given priority for claiming beds, but Zarius does ensure there is a spot for Astrid. They'd all be a lot worse for wear if she hadn't risked her life like that after all. He sets her down and makes sure she's good before sitting down. 

"Tough kid. We are going to have to make sure she can keep herself safe for when we are not around to help her." He looks at Veliky pointedly.

They couldn't stop Astrid from getting into trouble with her new found confidence which they were partially responsible for. That meant if she got hurt, the guilt would be on their consciences. It probably wouldn't bother him that much, he didn't know the girl that well after all. But Cantio and Veliky certainly would hold it against him and that was enough motivation for him to at least pretend to care. 

Looking up at Slumbering Astrid, Veliky still has yet to fully emerge from an undefinable stupor. What had happened after she called the retreat passed by in a blur; the next thing she knew, the tyrant-kruthik was dead and Astrid was lying on the floor, covered in blood and viscera. Needless to say, there was panic, but Veliky handles panic well. Under her and Zarius' command, the surviving bots corralled the miners to the safety of the exterior station whilst fending off stray bugs. Only now does, at this very moment, after organizing and securing the miners, does she have the chance to process just what happened.

Astrid did it. Against all odds, she did. There's something special about this child, and it isn't just her proclivity for metallurgy, her supernatural heritage or even her unshakeable optimism.

"Nygyt," the cold-faced halfling mutters. She doesn't know the word in Common, but she remembers how it was ascribed to her in her youth, when she bartered and brokered deals with merchants ten times her own age. Just like she did, Astrid wields power far beyond her years. Though that power might be slightly more... gory.

But, even with that natural talent, Veliky didn't always succeed. She made mistakes, and those mistakes cost her dearly. What would it cost Astrid if she made such a mistake in a battle like this one? In fact, the question is not one of 'if,' but 'when.' Veliky knows this well, and it fuels her stern glare, upward to Zarius.

"We *can't* make sure of that. Nothing can. No matter how much we try to prepare her, every time she gets into a situation like this is a gamble on her life. Even you make that bet whenever you get yourself twisted into one of these kahnhilf." She gestures at the still-shaken miners. Whatever the translation of 'kahnhilf,' it's clear she's referring to the job itself. "Preparedness and skill only boost the odds, and probability's a bitch. The best we can do for her is to teach her to be smart - to avoid situations, not just drill through them."

She returns her attention to Slumbering Astrid. If one can look past the copious viscera covering her, she really is just a sleeping child... Her safety, in spite of the horrors in the mountain, fills Veliky with an uncomfortable warmth that she doesn't wish to acknowledge. Unlike panic, compassion is not an emotion Veliky handles easily.

"Besides," she begins in a slightly softer tone, "didn't you see what she did in there, with that machine? She's wasted on jobs like this, just like Cantio's wasted on music. She should be drafting designs, creating things to make life better in Charon. She'll do more good that way than on any silver-a-dozen mercenary kahnpa-"

She stops at a murmur from the sleeping child. Is it possible that she's already stirring...?

What little of a nap Astrid's body forced her to take certainly leaves her amazingly refreshed. Perhaps it's a lingering effect of Veliky's empowering spell, or perhaps the kid just sleeps really well anywhere and everywhere. Regardless, she finally stirs. Her eyes slowly blink open, and she sits up. Rubbing them smears bug blood across her face, already sticky and drying against her skin. Things are quiet though, and that's probably a good thing. She doesn't seem to be dead, and that's also a good thing. Her arms are sore, and she's got plenty of scratches beneath rips in her coat that sting from the bug blood. 

With tired eyes, she looks around and sees that at some point, they've made it out of the mine. She's in a bed. When was the last time she had a bed? There's a few of the miners in here too, and Zarius and Veliky. "Huh," is all she manages to say. It's not a question, just an acknowledgment of the situation at hand. Astrid looks at the adults then slowly moves her feet over the edge of the bed to sit up. She's a little wobbly and slow to process, but she's up. "Looks like we won," she says through a sleepy smile. Then she looks down at herself and sees she is an absolute mess of insectoid viscera. This results in a despondent sigh. "Aw, I just got this..." There was some monetary reward for this job, so maybe that will be enough to purchase a new coat.

Letting her hands fall to her sides, she looks at Veliky. "And ya said ta retreat. See, we did it! No problem. Just..." She remembers the hulking Kruthik overlord. "...a really big, ugly bug." Looking back at the quarterling, Astrid then shows off a messy grin. "Did I do a good job? Did we get ta use the drill ta get through the wall after alla that?" The girl has no idea how much time passed between her passing out and the present.

Her eyes then turn to Zarius. "Um, are all adventures like this? Should I buy meself a few changes of clothes first and foremost? What d'ya do when yer tired from fightin'?" 

Zarius frowns. "Wasted on music? Cantio seems to enjoy music and is quite skilled at it. I would not call doing what you enjoy is a waste."

Veliky spoke like someone who only cared about what was most efficient and effective. While he could understand that, he knew that that line of thinking was worthless in reality. People would always pursue their dreams, regardless of it helped or hindered the world at large. Selfishness was something inevitable. Kindness was a choice. He looks at Astrid as she begins to wake back up. 

"People need to choose their own path. Who are we to judge?"

He knew very well that Veliky judged a lot. She certainly judged him and his life choices. That was fine. It wasn't anything new and he wasn't going to change his ways just because a short quarterling disapproved. Astrid was young. She would likely make many mistakes regardless of what path she chose to follow. But that didn't mean it was their place to dissuade her from following any dreams and aspirations she had. No matter how silly Veliky might think they are. 

He smiles when Astrid asks if she did a good job. She had certainly shown some reckless abandon if nothing else. 

"Not always. Yes, we should get you a few sets."

The tiefling considers how to answer the next question. That wasn't something he could probably answer earnestly given current company. Veliky certainly would not approve and also the less she knew about his personal life the better for both of them. 

"I work on something I enjoy, like writing. It is important to have a hobby." That should be a good enough answer for them both.

After a pause, Veliky lets in a long, tired breath, exhausted both physically and mentally. 'This kid's going to die' are her approximate thoughts. Veliky could send her to a home, find her a half-decent family and try her best to ensure that Astrid never tries anything like this again, but that won't do anything with people like Zarius outright encouraging this behaviour. What can she even do to stop this...?

She looks to Astrid, almost as wearily.

"Yup. You did a good job." Though her words are congratulatory, her voice is exasperated and prideless. "We may not've used your drill against any walls, but, after killing that bug, it wasn't even necessary. Couldn't have done it without you."

She says nothing more; her eyes wander past Astrid, at some nondescript point in the ceiling behind her. Then, eyes downcast, she shakes her head.

"Either way, we're just about done here. Thank you, both of you," she looks at Zarius with eyes that don't exactly scream 'appreciative,' "for your assistance."

Eyes closed, she runs a hand through her messy, blonde hair.

"Stalker, what's next on the docket?"

At her cue, the by-now-familiar, arachnid golem scuttles from underneath Astrid's bunk, eight legs clicking against the hardwood floor. From somewhere in its thorax, a shrill voice resounds with the same monotonous, emotionless qualities as all her mechanical minions.

"Mistress Veliky, report: you missed six meetings during your absence and are currently late for a Priority Silver meeting with Count Thadda. It is unlikely that we will be able to reach Skypeak Village in time to join."

The news sends a visible wave of dejection through Veliky, who rubs both her reddened eyes.

"Kien-naaa... That won't be rescheduled for five months." She allows her hand to slide down her own face, unveiling an increasingly 'done' expression. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to go do what *I* do when I'm tired of fighting: bureaucracy. And buying something for headaches. Also, Astrid..." She tries to muster her softest expression as she meets eyes with the blood-soaked foundling. "Take care of yourself. I've seen far more experienced and talented adventurers than you suffer far worse injuries than you did today."

And, with those harsh parting words, she turns and begins her march out of the room. Only, she doesn't get far before one of the dwarven miners stands in protest.

"Hey! What about us?!"

She stares blankly at the dwarf for several seconds, as if trying to understand what he's talking about. It does come to her, though, in time.

"Oh, right. You're all fired."