HK 47
Member
|
Tommy took his place on the watchtowers overlooking the only "safe" passageway into Orcish lands. Naturally, it was the single most well-defended spot for the Orcs. Ahead laid the human lands, a lush field of green and beauty. Behind him was the Orcish desert, a nearly inhospitable wasteland where his people had taken refuge from the Elven attack over nine thousand years ago. Tommy often times wondered what would await him when he finally got his first deployment. So far, he had been confined to the wall.
The one thing separating human lands from Orcish lands, besides the mountains all around the desert, was the Great Orcish Wall, a marvel of engineering. Constructed out of solid stone, and reinforced with adamantine, the wall was strong enough to resist any attack thrown at them. No matter how many times they attacked, the Elves and the Humans were never capable of destroying the wall. They always had to go over it, or have a spy unlock it for them. Along the wall laid many Orcish runes, stating various things, the most notable being "Keep out, if you wish to survive", printed in large Common letters. It never deterred anyone, but it was put on there anyway, mostly to amuse the engineers.
The wall had suffered numerous defacings on both sides. On the Elven and Human side, there were various defacings in various languages, the ones that Tommy could read usually called out the Orcs as a bunch of cowards for hiding behind their wall. The Orcish side had various paintings done by bored Orcs, though there were a few runes that asked questions such as, "Is this our fate? To fight and die for all eternity? Shall this be what shall remain of us? A garrison of Orcs, fighting for our lives against a foe that we cannot defeat?"
Tommy always thought such words to be words of those without much faith in The Horde, the official name for the Orcish army. In practice, there were a bunch of unofficial monikers used by both sides, the most common Orcish one being, "Guardians of Hope". Each Orcish battlegroup was officially designated an Orcada, Orcish for "Battalion". In practice, likely due to the fact that officers were constantly being rotated in and out, and always being taught to seek their own tactics, Orcada was just the most common name. Various names had emerged regarding various battlegroups. Most had specific titles associated with them, such as the 110th Orcada "Champions of the Orcs", a nickname gained by the fact that the 110th Orcada has succeeded in more battles than any other Orcada. It was the 110th Orcada that had managed to break the siege of the Elven fortress "Kierlyn", a previously unassailable location that had long prevented the Orcs from launching any deep raids against the Elves.
The 110th Orcada had also managed to break the back of a human raid that had managed to sneak past the Dragon camps undetected and caught the Orcish flank completely unaware. Many Orcs said that were it not for the 110th Orcada, they would have fallen a long time ago. Tommy always found their reputation to be interesting, but somewhat overblown, especially upon closer inspection. Many of their deeds suffered from hyperbole and bold-faced lies. But, such was their reputation that many Orcish armies rallied when the 110th Orcada arrived to reinforce them.
Of course, what many people didn't say was that the 110th Orcada had 3 full battalions of Orc Commandos. To many Orcs, the Commandos were more of myth than truth. Warriors who many have never seen and fewer even know properly. Commandos tended to operate away from the rest of the Orcs, launching their attacks, breaking enemy lines and defenses with well-placed explosives, perfectly timed flanking maneuvers, and good old-fashioned recon. Most of their reputation was overblown by order of the Orcish High Command, specifically to frighten the enemy with tales of Orcs who would be able to meld into the shadows, assassinate leaders without the targets knowing what hit them, and being able to survive for months on end without any support. A reputation that many Commandos worked to upkeep.
Tommy may still have been in training, but he already was competent enough to battle many opponents at once. He had seen many of his comrades pass away during the training, or wash out, but he worked forward to make his family proud. I may still be in-training, but when I manage to pass, I'll do my entire people proud. I'll show these Elves what the Orcs really have in store for them…Tommy thought, overlooking the plains ahead.
One of his fellow Orcs on guard duty, a Sergeant named Brom, climbed up the ladder and stood next to Tommy. "You know," Brom stated, "Your first deployment will prove to be most dangerous." His voice, like many Orcs, had a very low tone to it, almost growling at every word. His skin was a deep emerald, much like Tommy's, and he was also heavily-muscled. He stood wearing his NCO's armor, identified by the Orcish rune Nagam, standing for "Leader". Their official designator was still Sergeant though. In his hilt laid a standard Orcish battle axe, a well-crafted, yet plain-looking, weapon, crafted from the finest Orcish steel that was not put into the bonding process to make Adamantine.
Tommy nodded his head. "I know," he replied. "And I know my purpose here on the wall, as do all of us. This wall is our most important location, the only way for our enemies to safely get inside. But, more importantly, this task is to teach me patience, to watch for signs of trouble from a distance. In doing so, I am to apply this towards my missions, to be able to observe a battle, or an enemy force, from a distance, and then to know when to strike."
Brom nodded. "Indeed so, Thomas," he replied, reaching for his canteen that was standard-issue to all Orcs. He took a swig, and put it back in its holster. "Patience is the most vital skill for any Commando. You will need to master these skills if you are to prove yourself worthy of your training."
Tommy squinted, looking out into the plains. The land was so green and lush compared to the brown and lifeless desert. Oases occasionally dotted the desert, but most Orcs knew that these Oases were important less for their water and more for their resources. Papyrus, clay, supplies to make ink. The Orcs, contrary to the common portrayal by the "Nobles", as they called themselves, and indeed, contrary to the propaganda spread about by High Command, didn't abandon all of their previous civilian knowledge. In fact, many Orcish camps dotted their desert, located nearby the oases, so that they can create civilian supplies such as clothing, pottery, and even paintings. These "Civilian" camps were kept under tight-wraps, as High Command didn't want anybody to know that their people still had some civilian skills.
It wasn't nearly as hard as it sounded, as nearly all of their items that they created were inevitably shipped out to their few outside allies, mostly human kingdoms that either came about to understanding, or were occupied by other Orcs, so that the Orcs could obtain food. Tommy knew that, from a theoretical standpoint, the Orcs had a rich land. In practice, such wealth tended to be forgotten when you had to give it all away just to survive. Even then, sometimes the Orcs wouldn't get the supplies from their allies, either due to a poor harvest, or the supply convoy being ambushed by the "Nobles".
Tommy always found the concept of the Elven side of the war being portrayed as the Elves and Orcs always having been at war with both contempt and amusement. On the one hand, the reaction to every Elven prisoner they had when they first saw that the Orcs weren't savages was always priceless. Sometimes, Elves were so taken back by Orcish hospitality that their minds nearly shattered, turning them into gibbering wrecks. Tommy always found that amusing. He knew that Elves weren't used to radical changes from the norm, something that the Orcs have learned to exploit, but seeing their minds break at the concept of friendly Orcs was surprisingly funny to him.
On the other hand, the claim that the Elves are the "Noble" race irks him to no degree, a sentiment that many other Orcs shared. Technically, the Elven side of the war was called the "United Noble Armies". In practice, they tended to get many derogatory nicknames on both sides of the fence, the most common moniker from the Orcs being, "United Nationalistic ****s". In fact, Tommy had noticed that it was because the Elves had such a hypocritical approach to themselves and their allies that some of their former allies had actually rebelled against them, notions that were either crushed swiftly, or rescued thanks to the Orcs moving in to rescue them. These rebels were then given a full Orcish defensive compliment, which was usually enough to ward off future attackers.
Tommy then noticed somebody coming over the horizon. "Think I see something," he said to Brom.
"Enemy soldiers?" Brom asked.
Tommy headed over to the scope attached to all of the towers, and aimed it at the oncoming person. Upon closer inspection, there were five people. "Five of them. An Elf, two Humans, a Dwarf, and a Halfling. Judging by their loadout, the Elf is the primary spellcaster. Human #1 is a Paladin, likely the leader of the group, the Dwarf is decked out in heavy armor, Human #2 seems to be a priest of some sort, and the Halfling is wearing leather, likely a Rogue. Standard adventuring party. Must think that they'll get glory by raiding us."
"Again? That's the fifth adventuring party within the past month!" Brom lamented. "Ya think these adventurers would wizen up by now, but noooo, they always have to raid us. Set up our usual anti-adventurer measures."
Tommy nodded. "At once, Sergeant," he answered, reaching for the lever clearly marked "Nazem Ka Alem", which meant, when properly translated, "Leave now, Adventurer". "Just give me the go-ahead."
Brom took over the scope, and kept his eye on the party. "Huh," he noted. "Looks like there's some kind of contingency between humans 1 and 2. They seem to be arguing quite loudly with each other. I'm gonna hate to rain on this parade. Wait until they are within optimal striking distance."
Tommy knew what he meant. The "Optimal striking distance" for their anti-adventurer maneuver was roughly around 200 meters away from the wall. Once the team was within that distance, he pulled the lever, and a catapult below them, armed and loaded with a bomb, shot their little "surprise" towards the party. For amusement's sake, the bomb was typically labeled with the human phrase "So long suckers!".
Immediately, the party scattered, the bomb hitting right in the center of where they once stood. The bomb was always set for a delayed reaction, as it usually meant that the party would walk right back towards the bomb before it explodes. Unfortunately, this group comprised of the "smart" band of adventurers, and they stayed away from the bomb until it exploded. There was a bunch of swear words being tossed at them, thought Tommy thought he heard Human #2 yell, "Hey, we were having a conversation over here!"
"Well, so much for plan #1. Shall we invoke plan #2?" Brom asked, clearly amusing himself with these adventurers.
Tommy grinned, eagerly reaching for plan #2's primary weapon, a ballista that shot off roughly twenty arrows at once. Horribly inaccurate, but with that many arrows being fired at once, somebody was bound to get hit. He aimed it carefully, seeing that the party was still trying to regroup. "Light me," Tommy said.
Brom immediately reached for his matches, grinning like an idiot. He struck his match, and then lit the fuse for the ballista. When the arrows shot off, the Elf was just about to let loose a fireball, and was on the final line of the spell before he saw the arrows and yelled, "OH CRA-!" Then the spell backfired on him, causing the fireball to be centered on his location, immediately blowing his body up into meaty chunks. The rest of the arrows wound up getting the Dwarf and the Halfling right in the face, and the humans had to scatter again, though the paladin got one arrow in his leg, causing him to fall to the ground. More swears were shot at them, the paladin daring them to come and fight them like a true warrior.
Tommy decided to shout back, "Hey idiots! You really expected us to play fair? You're in Orc lands now! And rule #1 of Orcish battle is: Anything goes, no exceptions! Run back home to your mother and cry some more!"
Human #2 cried back, "You're a coward! If it wasn't for your wall, you would have fallen long ago!"
"Well then it's a good thing we made this, isn't it? Sorry, but I don't like dying!"
Human #1 tried to stand back up, but wound up falling back down, the arrow injury making it impossible to stand. Tommy almost pitied the guy, if it wasn't for the fact that he tried to launch a siege of Orcish lands via the front door with about 5 people. For his people, it was those kinds of deaths that got them put in the "Tomb of Idiots", a sarcastic tomb designed to house the dumbest Orcs after they passed away. It was obvious that the human was suffering, so Tommy grabbed his bow and arrow, took aim, and fired off a mercy kill shot. A perfect hit, square in the chest. "Good shot," Brom said. "Keep that up and you might make it through the trials."
Human #2 was extremely pissed off, ranting and raving about how they killed her best friend. Tommy groaned and fired off another arrow to get her to shut up. Despite not even aiming for that region, he managed a perfect headshot, killing the target nearly instantly. "Well, that shut them up," he said, putting away his bow and arrow. "Well, I'll go down and reload our anti-Adventurer weapons."
"You go do that, I'll take over your watch."
Tommy nodded and slid down the ladder, walking over to the catapult. One of the Orcish engineers was standing over it, already in the act of reloading. This engineer, Kharn, was a bit violent at times, but fun to be around. "You need help with that?" Tommy asked, heading to grab the catapult's winch.
"Why did you shoot that thing?" Kharn asked, his tone slightly icy, but Tommy knew that was his regular tone of voice. "This thing is supposed to be used against an adventuring party of ten or more people, not your average five-party team."
Tommy just chuckled. "It's always funny to watch those adventurers scatter, and you know it," he replied, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"Well, yes, I'll give you that," Kharn said, setting down the bomb next to him. "But you've got to remember that these things are expensive. It isn't easy to get the fuse to the right delayed reaction without risking making the bomb a dud. You really shouldn't waste these things because you're bored. The brass'll chew us out for crap like that."
"Whatever you say," Tommy answered, putting on a grin of amusement. He turned the winch enough times so that the catapult was back in its resting position. As Kharn put the bomb on, Tommy asked, "So, any news coming from the rest of the engineers?"
"Rumor's been going around of a new weapon the brass are testing out, " Kharn answered. "Don't know the specifics though."
"Well, who knows, maybe this weapon will help us win the war?" Tommy put down his sword into the ground to support his weight.
"That's what they're saying," Kharn answered, grabbing his toolkit and looking over the catapult again. "Course, that's what they said last time with the whole fiasco involving the 215th Orcada."
"Oh yeah, that one. That's the one where they were testing out a new bomb that we can use on the sea, and it wound up exploding before it was deployed into the ocean, right?"
"That's the one," Kharn answered. "I would hate to be the engineer that made that bomb. Must've gotten his ass handed to him by the brass." Kharn stood up, announcing, "Looks like this catapult is A-OK for firing again. Just don't waste the next round, these things aren't easy to replace."
Tommy nodded. "Got it. I need to get back up the ladder to resume my duties."
"Say hello to Brom for me, will ya?"
Tommy grabbed the ladder, and looked back at Kharn. "Sure thing man."
|
Printable Version
Icon Legend
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread
