"They're finally here!"
Just as Not Playing If I'm Not Having Fun spotted the anomaly and climbed down from the lighthouse, a low, rhythmic horn sounded from behind the Dock District's flank, drowning out the din of battle.
Then came an unbroken roar like rolling thunder!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Makon Alliance's reinforcements had finally reached the battlefield. Rather than charge straight into the chaotic docks, they rapidly deployed on a slightly elevated slope along the flank.
Dozens of Light Field Guns of various designs were pushed forward. Long tongues of flame and thick smoke erupted from their muzzles, sending scorching grapeshot raining like hail over the waters from which the Snake-Men were surging.
Their aim had clearly been adjusted with care. They avoided the shallows where the players were fighting as much as possible, covering the deeper waters farther out instead.
The instant the grapeshot struck, that stretch of sea seemed to boil. Thin columns of water shot skyward as unlucky Snake-Men were hit. Dark red stains spread beneath the surface, and Snake-Man corpses kept rolling up into view.
Although even such a massive grapeshot bombardment could not directly kill large numbers of Snake-Men hiding underwater, it severely disrupted and slowed their landings, pinning them beneath the surface.
As the artillery shifted its fire farther out, another urgent cavalry horn sounded.
Around a hundred Makon Light Cavalry wearing light armor and red uniforms charged out from the flank, spears in hand, like arrows loosed from a bow.
Their goal was not to join the players. Instead, they swept precisely across the beachhead, using the speed of their charge to thrust their spears hard into scattered Snake-Men that had just crawled ashore, had yet to find their footing, or were dazed by the bombardment.
Their tactics were unmistakable: strike