(5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flag
The two nodded and then were quiet the rest of our walk. The canyon floor was sparse, mostly packed earth and small rocks. The rock walls on the sides rose up to over a hundred feet high, we walked at a downward angle towards the center, and where the men were waiting. I had decided to leave my familiars because I wanted to keep Freak and Winston a surprise. The Conquistadors had probably not seen any horses in the New World yet, not to mention a giant battle tiger. No reason to tip our hand and all that.
“Chief, I want you to be the leader, sorry Chieftess, these men don’t respect women, I’ll play the bodyguard along with Thunder Foot, plus I’ll be the interpreter, just stand there and nod.” I explained to my small group.
“You make me like these invaders even less, which is not something that I thought could happen.” Chieftess Shining Eagle growled.
I shared a grin with Running Hawk, warrior women were something special. We walked on and I let the Chief take the lead. The three horsemen hadn’t dismounted as we approached, and they sat their mounts, rude mofo’s, studying us, as we studied them.
My eyes fell to the foot soldier first. I was mildly surprised that he was with them, but it made sense if they needed an interpreter or guide, I doubted that anyone had the Babel Fish skill like I did. What was even more surprising, was that the man was dressed similar to The People. He didn’t wear garb like the rest of the foot soldiers. He was in hide pants, shoes, and vest. He had the same skin tone and hair color as the rest of The People.
The main difference was his eyes, they were a hazel, which was a color I hadn’t seen yet. Another big difference, was that I noticed designs on his clothing and tattoos on his body that were not typical to Native Americans. The main thing that caught my interest was the weapons he carried. On one hip was what looked like a short sword and the other a hand axe, not a hatchet. I shrugged, filing the information away for later and switched my gaze to the first of the horsemen.
I estimated his height, as he was sitting, but he was probably, 5’8” or 5’9”, swarthy and broad. He wore an armored breastplate, greaves, and boots, the rest of his armor looked to be made of padded leather. His head was covered by a conical armored helm, looking just like an artist’s rendition. An extremely handsome face, a pointed and well-groomed goatee and beard, both blonde like his hair, and piercing blue eyes completed the look. My eyes roamed to his weaponry and whistled softly to myself. A long Spanish steel sword hung at his hip, the pommel was gold and ornate, a steel tipped lance rode in his saddle sheath on his right, and a harquebus rode on the one on his left.
Behind him were two more Conquistadors. They looked to be exact opposites of each other, except for their gear and armor, which was almost exactly like the first mans. The one on the left was tall, blonde, blue eyed, and was of Celtic descent, judging by his tattoos and weapon, a Celtic longsword. The man on the right was shorter than both the first and second man, he was also white, but his hair was a dark black, I could tell because of the ponytail that hungover his shoulder, his eyes were a light green, and he had also tattoo’s on his arm that I recognized as Celtic.
That was interesting, two of these men were from a different country than the other. When we approached within fifty feet they quieted down. I heard bits and pieces of what they were saying, but my Babel Fish skill must have not heard enough to kick in, because I couldn’t make heads or tails out what they said. It was almost as if they were speaking a pidgin of different languages.
The four of us stopped ten yards away, Chief Running Hawk taking the lead, with the Chieftess by his side. Thunder Foot and I pulled up the rear. The eight of us looked each other over for a moment, no one spoke. Finally, after what felt like hours, but was only seconds, the lead rider spoke to the translator in Spanish. I knew this because I took it in high school and college for a total of eight years, still can’t speak a full freaking sentence though.
My skill kicked in and I began to hear their conversation. I played dumb and listened with an ignorant expression on my face.
“…and make sure they know that if they capitulate now we will let them live. Fight and we will destroy them. We will kill every male, rape every woman, and enslave every child if they fight.” The Conquistador leader said, with a bored expression on his face.
It was tough for me to keep my expression neutral, but I did, and in doing so watched the reactions of the men to his statement. Both the other horseman made sour faces, while the translator frowned openly. At least some of them had some type of moral qualms. The weird looking translator listened and then faced us when his leader had finished speaking.
“I bring greetings and salutations from the great and terrible Sun God, Pedro de Alvarado.” The man said, with great flourishing motions and in a voice like a boxing announcer. “In his graciousness, the Sun God has decreed that if you surrender now, and pledge to serve the god as faithful servants, he will spare your people and you will prosper. Refuse and try to fight us, you will be destroyed. Every man and boy in your tribe, down to the last will be killed. All your women will be raped and taken as slaves, your homes will be destroyed, the fields will be salted, and your stone fortress will be brought down around you. No one will remember your names or people, you will be erased from history. So sayeth, the Sun God.
(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_de_Alvarado
He spoke the same language as The People and the Jicarilla I noticed, as my skill translated his speech perfectly. It all seemed rehearsed, as if they gave this spiel to every tribe they try to conquer. I had to compartmentalize my mind, as the man spoke, anger filled me in every iota of my being. I watched as both the Chief and Chieftess bristled, their faces darkening like thunder clouds, now that they could understand. I turned and saw Thunder Foot put his hand on his weapons. Catching his eye, I made a negative motion and he let go, his fists clenching hard at his side.
“Who are you to speak for this god?” The Chief said, anger lacing his words and tone.
“I am of no importance, just the herald for the Sun God, but if you must know, my name is Montezuma.” The man replied.
TRACK 8 – THUNDERSTRUCK – AC/DC
Holy shit, the Montezuma? I looked the man over again and took in his garb, which was nice, if a bit frayed and dirty.
“What is their answer?” The leader barked out in Spanish. “I grow tired and bored.”
“I will let them know of your ire.” Montezuma said, then turned back to us. “The Sun God grows angry, what is your answer, do you choose service and life, or death and destruction?”
Before any of us could react Chieftess Shining Eagle stepped forward and glared at the four invaders. If looks could kill, all four of them would be skinned alive, killed, and then washed, rinsed, and repeated for as long as the Chieftess could. She hocked a large loogie and then spit right at the feet of the self-titled, Sun God’s horse. The man’s bored expression changed to surprise, and he stared down at the tiny Chieftess, almost incredulous at her actions. She stared the leader in the eyes as she spoke, her gaze never wavering.
“You tell this scum, this trash, this piece of offal, that my people will butcher him and you, we will kill you all, the earth will be littered with your bones. None of you will escape. This I vow, on all the gods.” She spat, then turned and began marching back towards our side.
The Chief, Thunder Foot, and I shared a look of disbelief, peppered with pride, even Montezuma looked impressed, as all four of us watched the beautiful Chieftess’s backside as she stormed off.
“Well, there’s your answer.” The Chief said, grinning at us.
The two of us grinned back and then all three turned and followed after the Chieftess. I gave Montezuma a last look, and smiled wider at his nonplussed look, have fun translating that to the Sun God, what a dick name. Although, judging by the man’s expression from atop his horse, he caught the gist of what she had said.
The men turned and began galloping back to
their lines, Montezuma running along behind them. We had caught up with the Chieftess and all four of us began running to get back to our people, and walls, as fast as we could. Horns were already sounding as we got to the berm, ropes were already hanging down for us. I skipped the rope, with a jump and a push off I hit the top with my hands and pushed myself up, my tribe’s folk right behind me, climbing up the rope as fast as they could.
Once at the top, Moon Flower and I hugged briefly then I patted Freak on the head. I reached a hand down, along with my fiancé and Ice Blossom, and helped our friends up. More horns sounded again and we all turned to watch.
The three riders had retreated to the back of the foot soldiers with the rest of the horsemen. As soon as they arrived another longer horn sounded out, and all the indigenous foot soldiers began to charge our way. They started slowly at first, then began to pick up speed, all the different tribes, chanting, screaming, and yelling as they charged us.
“Jicarilla! Bows up, prepare to fire.” Moon Flower called out.
Thirty-five short, dark-skinned warriors raised their bows and drew them back. Out of the ninety-four Jicarilla builder/warriors only thirty-five were able to fight. Not only that, they all had the old bows and stone tipped arrows, but that was all part of the plan. My elite warriors were spread out evenly down the line with their new bows, and the new arrows I had made. We could shoot to the other end of the valley while the Jicarilla could only fire a hundred yards max. Luckily, the canyon was only double that and as the enemy hit the halfway point the game was on.
“Loose!” Moon Flower commanded, drawing her own bow. “Draw and prepare to fire!”
Forty-four arrows flew out as one arcing up high and coming down as one crashing into the lead enemies. Most of the Jicarilla arrows fell harmless, sticking into the wicker and hide shields that they held over their heads as they ran. But, what they didn’t expect were the eleven steel tipped arrows that my elites and I fired. Each one plunged through the shields as if they were paper, and then impaled the running warriors.
“Loose!” My fiancé commanded again.
We all fired as one and eleven more of them dropped. They were within fifty yards now but were slowing as a fifth of their number were down. At twenty-five yards we had fired three more times and over half of them had fallen. Such losses were hard for anyone to take and they broke, turning around and running back to their side of the canyon. Which was just as well, because the first of the falconets were just coming into view. Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, and as if on cue, drops of rain began to fall, the storm was closing in on us.
“Switch targets!” I called.
“Keep firing!” Moon Flower told the Jicarilla archers.
They kept firing at the running foot soldiers, who were running away now and the Jicarilla arrows, now no longer blocked by shields, slammed into their targets. Even more of the foot soldiers fell, while the elites and I, switched our aim to the far end of the canyon, and the three falconets that were starting to get set up. The horsemen still hadn’t come into play yet as they all sat at the rear just ahead of the cannons. Which was perfect for us because none of them saw our first volley of arrows arcing down towards them.
Each of the falconets had two horses and a three man team. We had aimed all our shots at the first one that came into view and I cheered mentally as they all fell, each taking multiple arrows. Our second volley was already winging its way to the second falconet as they realized the first team was down. It was at this point that the great and powerful Sun God, and his coterie, realized things were not only amiss, but terribly fucked up. He shouted orders as the second falconet’s crew fell to our arrows, then all twelve horsemen wheeled around and began to head our way.
“They are coming. Time to initiate plan Rochambeau, Freak go!” I called out to my companions and my familiar.
If anyone doesn’t know what it means to pull a Rochambeau, please, please, let me educate you. Basically, it’s a game where you and a friend, usually male, have a contest to see who can take more kicks in the nuts. Stupid already right? Well, here is the best part. The rules work like this, the first one to go wins. Now, it was dick kicking time mofo’s!
“Remember, don’t hit the horses!” I called out.
“Massed fire! Target rear right, fire!” Moon Flower commanded.
All the elites, plus myself, took aim and fired on the target. The People had been skilled archers before I arrived, and that was with primitive bows. The newly designed composite bows that I had created for them, combined with the new tri-tipped steel arrowheads, was like upgrading from a flip phone to a I-Phone.
The horsemen were in full gallop eating the distance up at a rapid pace, as the first volley crashed down into the trailing most rider. Not every arrow hit, but enough did, the Fire Steel Arrowheads easily punching through the man’s armor. He fell back out of his saddle as if punched, his left foot sticking in his stirrup, causing the already dead man to be dragged and bounced along behind his mount. I watched as all eleven remaining riders turned and stared in shock at their downed man.
“Massed Fire! Target, rear left, fire!” Moon Flower called again.
Once again, our arrows streaked out and slammed into our target, another man fell out of the saddle. We’d had hours to prepare for the arrival of the enemy. Part of that time was spent practicing shooting distances inside the canyon. We fired arrows every twenty-five yards, from the far end of the canyon, to our berm wall, at preplaced markers.
“Target, rear right, fire!” My fiancé called yet again.
A third horseman dropped from his saddle, but they had covered half the distance and there were still nine left, and now that the initial shock of seeing that some of their own can be killed had worn off, it was now replaced with anger. The leader called out an order and the remaining men all pulled out their harquebus’s, aiming as they charged us.
“Fire!” The Sun God roared.
“Everybody down!” I called at the same moment.
All of my people dropped down behind the berm wall, crouching low as the enemy weapons exploded like thunder. The roar of the gunpowder was shocking, even to me, and I had been around firearms my whole life. I was used to the sharp cracks and pops of modern weapons, not the roaring boom of primitive gunpowder. The berm wall quaked and shook, huge clouds bloomed, and chunks of earth flew through the air, covering us all in dirt and rock, but the wall held.
Keeping the shock off my face and replacing it with a stoic expression, I looked around at my warriors, seeing expressions of fear, doubt, and awe on them. Even though I could see they were scared, I saw determination behind the fear, good, they were holding up. It was time for the next step.
“That’s their only shot, everyone up!” I cried, leaping to my feet and motioning to my fighters.
“Let’s go! Jicarilla with me.” Dancing Lion screamed, right on plan.
All of her fellow tribe’s folk jumped to their feet, dropping ropes, and flying down the wall as fast as they could, led by the fearless and gorgeous Jicarilla woman.
The horsemen passed the fifty-yard mark and the ground began to rumble from their pounding hooves. In the moments we had ducked down behind the wall and then popped up, they had switched their guns for long steel tipped spears. Which, they already had lowered and couched for attack. The Conquistadors were well trained and fearless. Already, they had suffered massive losses to their foot soldiers and three of their elite horsemen had been taken out. I doubt, these men had suffered such losses during their entire time in, what they thought of as, the New World.
“Activate Flame and fire at will!” Moon Flower called, leaping to her feet and following her own orders.
The fire burst from the head of her arrow as she loosed, the missile streaking out in a fiery red line, quickly followed by more of the elites warriors arrows, also red lines in the darkening sky.
At the same moment Dancing Lion shouted orders out to her troops, each one gripping their stone hammers and
activating the Earth Magic imbued in each of them. The heads burst out in orange light, so bright it lit up the small canyon.
“Strike!” The heir to the Jicarilla tribe screamed loudly into the newly lit battlefield.
Thirty-six glowing orange hammers struck as one, a perfect wave of Earth Magic hit down the line. The pre-prepared trap exploded up as the hammers hit. The canyon became obscured by a huge cloud of dust, that stretched from wall to wall, and bottom to the canyon tops, rushing backwards towards the oncoming horsemen and covering them like a wave.
TRACK 9 – PARTY UP (UP IN HERE) – DMX
The screams of men and horses echoed from within the cloud of dust and dirt.
“Attack!” Chieftess Shining Eagle cried as she leapt off the wall, weapons already in hand.
She hit the ground, rolling forward to displace the momentum from the drop, and popped up, already charging forward. The rest of her people, daughter by her side, raised their weapons, and rushed after their Chieftess. The wind and rain from the storm was blowing, quickly dissipating the cloud. The foot soldiers had chased after the horsemen and were just arriving as the dirt explosion went off, causing the whole enemy group to become a mass of panicking men and horses. The horses, having the most sense, streaked off away from the blast, trampling their own men on their wild flight away from the battle.
I took this all in as I jumped off the wall, kukri and ka-bar in hand, the warriors of my tribe hot on my heels. I hit the ground running, not stopping for a moment, as I sped towards the downed horsemen in our pit trap. Screams and shouts of anger and pain could be heard as I ran. The Jicarilla, led by the Chieftess and her daughter, had engaged ahead of us, and their fight was obscured by the weakening dust cloud.
The sounds of battle were now all around me as I entered the obscuring cloud. I saw vague shapes ahead and pulled up my mini-map, which was in the top right corner of my vision, slightly opaque, out of my way, and saw a plethora of colored blips, red for enemies and green for friendlies. I angled my path and headed towards the closest red dot, surrounded by a half dozen green dots.
I Am Gamer II Page 4