by Shawn Muller
A pattern emerged before me. So far, all of us from Earth were involved in one or other elite fighting force, in some way or another we had come across one another, or had contact with one another’s units in the field. Whoever it was that was throwing us together, wanted people who were familiar with each other.
I studied the two newcomers. Bruce was very outgoing and hit it off with just about everybody. He made quick friends with Tachojay, showing him a boomerang, of all things. He was of average height, with blue eyes, a sunburnt face and short, thinning blond hair that he kept under a wide-brimmed hat, similar to the farmers’ hats worn Down Under. He wore a brown desert combat fatigue pants and a plain brown shirt which seemed part of his uniform. Ivan was about six feet tall, with pale skin and his brown hair kept short on his skull. He had dull brown eyes set deep on his face. He bore a nasty-looking scare on his left cheek and a small piece of his left ear lobe was missing. He too, wore an olive drab combat fatigue uniform, complete with his Spetsnaz cap.
Something else that was similar with all of us was the fact that we all ended up wearing earth-style military combat clothes. Not like the colourful clown-like hose and puffy-sleeved shirts the local armies wore over here. My platoon’s clothing was based on Earth combat clothes. Currently we wore a brown combat fatigue, similar in colour to the grass-lands through which we rode. I even had Hioki paint our armour that same colour as much as possible, not that she was very impressed by that. To me it made sense. After years of experience on the battlefield, especially being covert, you had to be as invisible as possible, hence our current combat gear. If we had to fight in the forests, our uniforms were already waiting for us. Even for Fremod and his huge ass. So when we met up with Bruce and Ivan, seeing them in their combat fatigues it was a sense of doing something right.
After an early supper, I led the explanation as to why I was leading this platoon, and what our current mission was. Both men jumped at the opportunity to join us, both rolling up their sleeves to join the band by blood brothers. Tachojay looked on in disgust until he saw the four dwarves and the troll do the same. After that, his outlook towards us changed, his arrogant sneer in our direction softened somewhat, looking more confused than anything else.
Bruce explained that Ivan and he had taken up bounty hunting to gather money to stay alive. They took up the contract to gather information on the whereabouts of the same gang of bandits we were hunting and were on their way back to Bereken with information.
“We actually saw a large gang of bandits heading north east from here not even two days ago. So we followed them at a discreet distance to see where they were going,” Ivan was saying. “Just before the thunderstorm broke, they approached one of those big fortified farms that are dotted around here and they were greeted at the gate by another band of heavily armed riders. Bruce managed to sneak up that night just as the storm was about to break, which was amazing because I never thought that he could keep his mouth shut for so long,” Ivan said to a laughing crowd. “He scaled the walls and spotted the one-eyed leader in the courtyard. It seems that this bandit company has made its hide-out in this farm.”
“So, now we know where they are hiding. Tachojay, I want you and Bruce to head out before sunrise to find the house. Deez, Max, Carl and Farpae, I want you to range out far in front of us and to our flanks. Keep an eye out for any movement out there. Stay off the hilltops as much as possible. Fremod, you cover our rear, make sure nobody is following us. Sandstone, I want you and the other dwarves to check your equipment. You’ll be doing some climbing soon. Thackeray, think of some useful spells that we may need. The rest of you, sharpen your swords, we gonna need them,” I finished issuing out the orders and set about getting my own equipment ready.
The platoon’s anticipation of its first fight hung thick in the air that night. Sleep was slow in coming. We were all tense and excited, but slowly, one by one we all drifted off to sleep except for the guards.
Morning broke over the plain with the promise of more spring rains that would aid us somewhat by hiding us from any roaming bandits out there while we hunted them down. Tachojay and Bruce had left before day-break to locate the bandit camp more accurately, while Deez led the scouts off just after dawn to ensure our flanks were secure. Soon, the rest of us were following at a slower pace, careful to avoid any high ground in case we were spotted. Carl brought word that a group of about fifteen riders were riding east, possibly a raiding party heading off. We rode on and continued to keep off the hills. By the time dusk was starting to settle, we were at a base of a rather large, pine-covered hill, or what I assumed was a pine tree. Tachojay was waiting for us there.
“Took you long enough,” the elf greeted us.
“The farmhouse is just other side this hill. The bandits seem to have some slaves in captivity, mainly to cut wood for the fires and to do the usual low-class jobs,” I thanked him and ordered the platoon to make a temporary camp where we were.
Tachojay left us to scout out the small woods, and to relieve Bruce who was keeping an eye out on the slaves cutting down trees.
“Yea, boss. This is the place. Me and Ivan climbed through the woods at night to scout around. The dumb bastards are cocky enough not to patrol the area.”
I waited until night fall before climbing the hill myself. By that time the slaves were being herded back into the compound and the gates closed. From a well-concealed vantage point, I could see the fortified farms walls and gatehouse. The gatehouse had two guard towers on either side of it, both lit by torches but unmanned. The walls had a lone guard walking the entire perimeter, leaving large areas without any observation. As I watched the routine, a plan slowly formed. A constant watch was set, both on the hill to keep a look out for anybody leaving the compound plus at any change of the guards’ routine, and also a guard for our small encampment. A cold meal was eaten before we all turned in for the night. Tomorrow the planning for the raid would be hashed out.
Dawn came and went, and regular watches carried on through the day, led by Tachojay and Bruce, using a mixture on elven woodcraft and good old Earth ghillie suits, which is a type of netting that is worn by a person to break their outline as they crawl, slither and hide away from their prey. The well-camouflaged suits also tended to have local shrubbery and plants stuck in them to make them blend even more with the surroundings. This suit idea really seemed to please Tachojay, who jumped at the opportunity to wear his whenever he could, even for the smallest excuse.
While Tachojay kept watch the following day, the rest of the platoon took turns to rest and prepare for the assault I had planned for much later that night. My simple, yet brilliant plan was to wait until the early hours of the morning, when the lone guard walking along the walls was really looking bored and tired. Two men, Tachojay and Deez, would then scale the walls behind the guard and quietly take him down. Once that was done, the dwarves would follow over the walls. Their job would be to secure the gate-house towers before Fremod joined them to secure the gate itself. The rest of the platoon would split in two, half heading for the gates, the other half for the walls, armed with bows and crossbows. The larger group by the gates would move on to the bandits’ sleeping area. Hopefully the sleeping area would be easy to secure simply by locking them in their quarters before they even woke. Max, Bruce, Ivan, Titanius and I would peel off to hunt the leader down and try and capture him, or failing that, take his head with us back to Bereken.
Deez and Tachojay, under the cover of a cloudy night sky, crept forward to a darkened area behind the farm. Here they waited until the guard was passing them before they quickly scaled the ten metre high wall. Lucky the walls were roughly built, providing plenty of hand-holds. This part was probably the trickiest. Both men wore no armour, for fear of making a noise before they could kill the guard. The dwarves and Fremod wore only their chainmail, also to keep any noise down to a minimum. The rest of us would follow decked out in full battle armour, with one soldier pulling a mule, carrying spare armour for the d
warves and troll. Deez would head back to the camp, to meet up with Farpae and gather the horses and mules and bring them back once his work was done.
Like dark, silent ghosts of death, like our name-sake, Deez stalked the lone guard. Armed with a simple dagger, Deez grabbed the guard from behind, left hand clamping over the mouth while he drove the dagger into the back, straight into the kidney. Tachojay, right behind Deez grabbed the guard’s spear before it could fall and make any noise. Job done, Deez laid the body down against the wall as deep into the shadows as possible before slipping back over the wall to carry on with his tasks. Tachojay, spear in hand, resumed the dead guard’s patrol towards the gatehouse. Once there, he signalled for the next part of the operation.
Scampering out of the forest, the dwarves, led by the huge Fremod, sprinted for the gates. The dwarves swung ropes with hooks high over the walls, which barely made a clank as they bit into the walls. Fremod simply jumped high enough to grab the top of the wall with his massive hands before pulling himself over. The dwarves quickly followed up and over the wall, climbing into the two towers without a sound. They made their way down the stairs, silencing the sleeping guard inside. Fremod lifted the heavy bar across the gates before pushing them open to allow the rest of us to silently run into the compound, armed with our favourite weapons.
On the walls, Tachojay directed the archers to cover all possible escapes. By now Deez was bringing in the heavier armour and weapons for the dwarves and Fremod. Those of us within the compound headed towards our targets. Fremod led the platoon towards the building housing the bandits, more a barn it seemed, while I led my small team towards the main farm house. The slaves were housed in chicken coops and Thackeray headed off that way to cast a localised spell on them to put them into a deeper sleep, just in case they would wake and made a noise. That done, he would roam with spells ready to provide backup as and when needed. Fremod used the heavy beam from the main gates to lock the barn doors, while the rest of the team spread out around the barn, guarding the windows and door. Deez and Farpae arrived with the horses and mules, and began distributing the armour, with the men helping the dwarves fit theirs quickly.
I led my small team to the main house, using the back door for our entry point. We used a classic spec ops entry, lining up either side of the door armed with small compact crossbows instead of silenced SMGs. I stood to the left of the door, Max to the right as I started a countdown. On zero I nodded and Max quietly pulled the door open. I stealthily entered the kitchen, crossbow to the shoulder, eyes roaming.
Right behind me was Titanius followed swiftly by the rest of the team. The kitchen and scullery was efficiently secured before we moved on to the rest of the house. The main house was a simple double-storey design - kitchen, dining hall and family room on the bottom and the bedrooms upstairs. Ground floor secured, I led us upstairs, careful that any of the wooden stairs may creak at any time. Once at the top of the staircase, we peeled off to the different rooms.
Lady Luck was on our side tonight - there were only three rooms and Deez managed to join us quickly and ultra-quiet. Titanius and he moved to the far right door, Ivan and Bruce the middle while Max and I took the master bedroom. Once we were all in place, I simply nodded once before we all opened the doors, silent like the deadly wraiths we were. Before us stood a large wooden bed, and snug in the middle of the bed slept One-eye wrapped up in the embrace of a young woman. I moved to the right of the bed, Max took the left, both of us training our bows on One-eye’s head. A few muffled sounds, and one distinct twang from a bow followed by a wet, meaty thud was heard from the other rooms.
“One-eye, in the name of Prince Marcus you are under arrest. Resist and you will be shot,” I spoke in a loud, clear voice intended to wake him.
One-eye slowly opened his eye before taking a look at first Max then me. The woman gave a small whimper before burying herself deep in the blankets on the bed.
“Okay, I will come quietly,” he said holding one hand up out the bed, the other under the blankets as he began to push himself up.
Without warning, the blankets were thrown off by the woman, who dived to the floor. One-eye lifted his hand from where it was under the now missing blanket, holding a small crossbow himself. Before he could blink, two crossbow bolts blossomed from out his skull, right between the eyes. The naked woman on the floor gave a single shriek before throwing herself at us armed with a large knife. Instinctively I swung my crossbow at her, managing to deflect the knife thrust that was aimed for my chest. Max was right behind me, using the butt of his crossbow to knock the woman over the head and knocking her out cold. Chest heaving, I high-fived Max who grinned back.
The scream must have woken the rest of the bandits, as they were beginning to discover they were now captives. A few tried to escape out a window, but my men dealt with them ruthlessly. I tied the woman’s hands together before throwing a blanket over her naked body. I lifted her over my shoulders and carried her down the stairs to where the other captives were being held. The bandits were all gathered in the courtyard, hands tied together behind their backs, sitting on the hard-packed ground while the platoon walked among them, crossbows and bows at the ready. Farpae was taking names and information from each bandit.
“What’s the count?” I asked him.
“Well, One-eye was the definite leader of this bunch, pity about his migraine problem,” Farpae said with a grin. “Whip-boy is the second in command, but he took off with some of his closest, friends, to go and find some entertainment. Otherwise, Ivan took out one of the sub-commanders who tried to do something dumb, while ten others developed a permanent case of dead trying to escape. The rest here surrendered once they realised Fremod was gonna eat them if they tried to escape as well,” Farpae finished off by lifting his chin at Fremod, who bared his huge canines at us in return while the prisoners around him cowered visibly at that, much to our amusement.
“And the farmers?” I asked.
“Well, the farmer and his wife are dead. It seems that the naked girl is the farmer’s daughter. She met One-eye in Bereken and fell in love with him. He seduced her and convinced her to betray the farm. One night she snuck outside and opened the gate for the bandits to enter. The farmers and labourers who resisted were killed. The head farmer, her dad, was hog tied together with her mother. She summarily slit their throats to prove her love to ol’ One-eye.”
“Charming.”
“Seems that she has one evil streak in her. It was her idea to enslave the rest of the labourers, and it was her persuasion that led One-eye to lead bigger and bigger raids. She seemed to pick up a liking for pretty shiny things.”
“So she stands co-accused as the ring leader?” I asked.
“Yes I think so too.”
“Right, when can we expect Whip-boy back?”
“Within the next day or two. He normally heads to the highway, ambushes a caravan and has his fun then heads back.”
Thanking him, I left to consult with Max and Titanius. It seems we would need a welcoming party for Whip-boy.
True to his nature, Whip-boy and his lackeys made their way back two days later, all looking very happy and smug. It was near noon when one of my scouts raised the alarm that they were on their way in. Our “welcoming party” was quick set, ready to surprise them as the trap was sprung.
The farmers and workers who were slaves, kindly decided to help us by carrying on through the act of harvesting wood and food, except some of my squad were the guards. The bandits were all safely tied up and silenced within the barracks. Fremod hid deep within the forest, his new leather coat working well to hide him from view. He would once again lead the men outside the gates against the mounted bandits. Deez and Tachojay would hide in the gate towers with a squad of our best archers to provide any cover if needed. The rest of the men led by me, were hidden in the gate house itself. The idea was to let the bandits ride their horses into the compound before closing the gates. Fremod would ensure that no horsemen would escape ther
e. Once the horsemen were in the compound, I would step out and give them the choice of surrendering or dying there and then, thereby saving the Bereken law the hassle. If all went well, they would all surrender.
As fate would have it, the plan fell apart. Half the bandits made it through the gates, just before one of the captives, who had somehow managed to untie himself, burst out the barracks door to scream a warning. No sooner had the warning left his lips that an arrow fired by Tachojay lodged deep in his mouth quickly filling his throat with blood, slowly drowning him.
Titanius and Ivan had begun to close the gates, trying to force those caught within to stay in, and hopefully catch Whip-boy. Those bandits on the outside turned tail to flee but were met by Fremod and his squad, who quickly overwhelmed the startled men. The bandits within the compound tried to fight back, but a rain of crossbow bolts knocked most of them out of their saddles. Whip-boy somehow whirled his horse around frantically, looking for an escape. I shouted a challenge at him, warning him to surrender, but his hateful gaze told me all I needed to know - he was not prepared to surrender at all.
He grabbed his whip which hung coiled on his right, and swung it high over his head before lashing out at my face. I ducked low and caught the blow on my armoured forearm. I immediately pulled hard at the whip, using both hands and the element of surprise, causing Whip-boy to fall off his horse. Before he could recover, Max and Farpae had him pinned down where they quickly hog-tied him. High-fiving each other. Max and Farpae, together with the rest of the platoon inside the compound, gathered around the captives. Fremod opened the gates from the outside and led his captives through the gatehouse.