The Fire & The Fury Pt. 3

‘TREBUCHET!!’ Shredskin hollared, running back to alert the three battalions as they entered the narrow pass from Ashford Plains to Iron Marches. They dove for cover; one second later a boulder sounding like a shell from a Fort Trinity cannon slammed into the left front of a war wagon, bending it down into the track and busting the large rock into mortar shell and shrapnel sized stones thunking into the ground all around them, wounding dozens. The wounded war wagon screeched to a halt.

‘GET THOSE DAMN TREBS!!’ Grimcrotch roared. ‘ON IT, SIR!’ the driver yelled. The engines of two war wagons fired up as they adjusted the tracks to aim at the trebs; Wrathclaw yelled something to the centurion, Grim turned to the 2nd Battalion commander, waved and pointed him to Stonesheath direction. He acknowledged and ran off with his men and four smaller tanks in tow.

Two more boulders came screaming in, one from the Stonesheath village and another from across Bloodfin Lake, the one from the west slamming into the ground somehow finding a soft spot to bury itself, the other bouncing off the ground then slamming into the mouth of the wounded war wagon.

The driver pounded his fist into the drive panel, then hopped out as two more wagons began firing on the trebs across the lake, the soundwaves rolling over the army of charr. On the ground, the driver looked up then pointed at his wagon’s mouth and turned to the trebs that hit his baby. ‘OH LOOK, NOW YOU’VE PISSED HIM OFF, HE IS SNARLING!’ Another boulder came hurtling in making an awful screech before rifling into the side of the hill below them.

The driver jumped back into his wagon and re-aligned the sight. He yelled ‘EAT IT, YOU….’ and let fly, the shell hammering the airwaves with a frightening sound as it descended and punched into the ground, digging a ten foot crater next to the others that missed, disintegrating the treb and launching what was left of the flame legion yards away, ‘…BASTARRRRDS!!’, shaking his fist in the air and firing again.

——

With most of the trebs cleared from the point, Grim told the 4th Battalion to head east and take the Bloodfin Lake bridge while Dinky set up mortars and started hammering the point , along with the war wagons, while the 2nd Battalion pounded the trebs at the village then moved in on foot. The Whispers he sent swimming under Ironhead Lake to the back side of the point, to move in on queue.

At Monger’s Sink, in between their mortar and rifle fire they could hear the war wagon booms in the distance, and the entire fort gave a rousing cheer after wondering how long they could actually hold out. The fort commander yelled, ‘Reinforcements are on the way, you sons of ogres! Put your backs into it before I give you all a kick in the tail!’ A chorus of ‘BLOOD LEGION ‘OORAH!’ went up, then the artillery and small arms fire nearly doubled in intensity.

4th Battalion signaled they were ready to cross the bridge, but it looked like it had to be now or never, more flame legion were moving up on the point. ‘Alright Warband, let’s go for a swim!’ The only time you see a charr want to dive into water, is when there is something to kill on the other side, he thought. Our species was too easy sometimes, heh.

S. Iron Marches, w/ lone holdout Monger’s Sink north

As they moved along under water, the small arms fire began to get thicker; Poppler, Grimpaw and several other engineers moved quickly below and in front of the lead, getting as close as they could then heaving turret packs onto the shore. Their flame and gun turrets broke up the group of flame legion gathering on the shore, then several rangers with Grimcrotch fired their barrage shots from just under the surface moving them back even more.

The 12th Battalion morphed out of the water firing a wall of Charrzooka, rifle & pistol shots, arrows, elementals lobbing balls of flame and walls of fire with their minions pushing them back…. suddenly moving up between and in front of them was the Wraith and Wrathclaw warbands from under water with their heavy armor, swords and hammers to clear a path, leaping into crowds of flame legion with their backs to the cliff, the only way out was death.

‘QUIT FIRING YOU IDIOTS!’ someone yelled to the mortars on the other bank, still firing in backup with shots landing nearly on top of them. The charr at the mortars stopped, then began laughing and pointing at them. A legionnaire turned and shaded his eyes to see who it was, but they quickly turned away to not get caught.

——

Meanwhile the 4th Battalion had cleared the Bloodfin Lake bridge and started moving toward the centurion and his men on the bank, three tanks rumbling up behind them to defend their rear, unloading murderous rifle and flame thrower fire. At the same time the Whispers had moved in behind the legion in complete surprise, quietly cutting their throats and snapping necks. Dinky grinned seeing the quiet ruthlessness while he blocked an axe with his shield then jammed his sword into another flame legion stomach with a twist.

After Stonesheath village was recaptured and left with defense, Grim sent word to the 2nd Battalion to head toward Champion’s Shield and check for any pockets of the legion, but to go no further north than Ironhead Lake bridge. They all needed to be together when they went for Monger’s Sink. The centurion had 4th Battalion clear the rest of the point, then told Shredskin, Dinky and the others to check for dead and get the wounded to the village to be patched up.

The war wagons and the four tanks were posted directly across from the furthest west spot of Ironhead Lake point with the 2nd, just north of Stonesheath village on the road. The rest of the tanks were positioned in the cliffs just short of Warhound Village in Harvester’s Glade with the 12th and the 4th, where the flame legion had scouts and a small defensive contingent in the area, the rest of them on offense against Monger’s Sink.

Grim had sent the Whispers forward to scout around up that way and to report. When they returned, he learned that the trained hounds were fried to death in their cages; when the two battalions learned of this, a wave of rage rolled over them. ‘Patience, there’s nothing we can do right now,’ he told Dinky, Shredskin and Fyon. ‘We have to lick our wounds. When we get our wounded sorted out, I want everyone taking a break. The Whispers will be helping us square this situation away, before we hit the fort.’

The centurion organizing war wagons for the final assault on flame legion, near Monger’s Sink

He ordered them to sneak into Warhound Village and capture the small flame legion defensive squad, and bring them back to the camp, leaving a blood trail. While they were doing that, Grimcrotch had the soldiers cut and bury tree branches, sticking straight up to neck height then cutting the tips into points, under trees. While they buried the branches, many of the soldiers were heard cracking jokes and laughing, speculating on what the centurion had in mind.

When they returned with twelve flame legion (one dead to leave the blood trail), their arms already secured behind them by the Whispers, Grim gave them to the soldiers on the condition they weren’t killed. The remaining legion were beaten nearly to death, but they stopped short as agreed. He then told them to drop each of them onto a speared branch through their crotch and upper body, hence below the trees.

As the flame legion were lifted up into the trees, those that were still aware screamed and feebly fought back against the inevitable. After many of the deeds the bodies slid down, shoving the spear through their skull, exploding the head and showering the soldiers with blood and brain matter, bringing on bloodthirsty laughter. The trap was set; now they pulled back behind the cliff rocks and waited…..

The Fire & The Fury Pt. 2

‘What mischief are you into again, Rytlock?’ the voice said behind the tribune. Recognition clicked with him right away, and he quickly turned around. ‘Imperator Ruinbringer! Good to see you again, sir. We have been busy with the flame legion, as usual.’ He motioned to a chair but Bangar waved it off, then pulled out his maps of the contested areas in Ascalon, and proceeded to update the Blood Legion High Commander on events.

‘We have sent several battalions through the Divinity’s Reach Asura Gate to Ebonhawke to reinforce centurion Grimcrotch. If this is to continue to be a Blood Legion-only operation we will have to send the rest north.’ The tribune walked to his small bar and poured two sour mash, handing one to the Imperator. Ruinbringer took a sip. ‘That is good whiskey, Brimstone.’ Rytlock nodded, ‘Grimcrotch and his legionnaire Dinky made it, sir. It is good, I agree.’

‘Yet another reason for you to save his tail. Good move threatening the human queen for Gate access, what was the reaction?’ The tribune chuckled a bit, ‘She never said a word to us. But the first pawful of warbands we sent through had a welcoming party. As they started walking into the city some children began screaming, adults ran to get weapons and started taking potshots at them. The first six warbands destroyed a trail of buildings from the entrance to the Gate. By the time their soldiers organized we were through to Ebonhawke.’

‘BAHAHAHAHA! That is too funny, tribune! Hahahaha!’ The Imperator slapped his knee and shook his head as he laughed, Brimstone joining in as they took a drink together. ‘Oh, to be a grunt again, what a time that would be, having free reign in the human city.’ Ruinbringer was lost in thought for a moment, then snapped back. ‘Alright, back to the matter at paw. You said they have at least 1200 soldiers between north Fields of Ruin and Blazeridge Steppes.’

——

‘Yes, sir. From here to here in Fields,’ he pointed at the map from Tenaebron Lake to Tanglerot Hills, ‘pushing south. They don’t go near the Brand, so Bento Canyon and Ebonhawke have had the easier end of it. The rest of the number north into southern Blazeridge Steppes was our best estimate from Grimcrotch bringing in the Whisper organization, but that’s just down here.’

‘We haven’t gotten them further north yet so we don’t know what’s up toward Iron Marches, but Monger’s Sink has sent back word occasionally; last contact said our eighty soldiers were holding off approximately 350-400 flame legion. I’ll be heading to Warrior’s Crown to lead the southern assault.’

The Imperator’s eyes lit up as he looked at the tribune, ‘To hell with the other legions, eighty Blood Legion soldiers holding off five times their number, what a fight! Now, get the centurion out of there where he can be more effective and send him up north to command. Have his battalion, the 2nd and the 4th, take three war wagons and six tanks and bail out Monger’s Sink then start pushing east to Blazeridge. We can let Iron & Ash mop up north Iron Marches, let them fight over the crumbs.’

The centurion inspecting his battalion tanks

‘When they get hit hard enough flame legion will send some soldiers north to reinforce, that’s when you and your commanders at the Crown push north and break up their party. They’ve out-stayed their welcome, it’s time to clean house.’

The Imperator looked at the map with his paws on hips and nodded. ‘Good work, Brimstone. If you need anything you know the drill….’ The tribune looked up and smiled, ‘Take care of it my damn self, you got it, sir. Have a good trip back.’ Rytlock saluted, Bangar returned it casually, finished his drink then headed toward Hero’s Canton for a few more.

——

‘Change of plans,’ Grim told Shredskin, Dinky, Fyon and Wrathclaw at Warrior’s Crown. His replacements and reinforcements had arrived through the Asura Gate at Ebonhawke, so it was time for them to move on. ‘We are meeting up with the 2nd and 4th battalions in Ashford Plains at the Iron Marches road, moving as fast as possible to take command at Monger’s Sink, then pushing east and south. Iron and Ash legions will mop up north of there.’

Dinky laughed, ‘Iron will be ticked off, boss. This is going to be fun.’ The centurion grinned. ‘Wrathclaw, we will have a few extra wagons and tanks, that’s your department. Add them to what you have, when this mess is over I’ll see that you get to keep them.’ Wrathclaw’s jaw dropped, ‘You got it, thank you sir!’ Grimcrotch nodded.

‘Shredskin, I want you with the Whispers on point leading the way, watch for and clear mines so Wrathclaw doesn’t lose his vehicles. Take a couple of engineers with you for the mines. Grimpaw Grindgear and…’ he looked around and saw a knee-high shoulder pauldron behind Grimpaw. ‘Asura, step forward. Who are you and why are you here?’ Grimpaw spoke up ‘Ah, sir, he works with me. He’s an engineer and helped me design this armor, he is very tough and knowledgeable.’

Grimcrotch placed paws on hips and stared daggers at the little asura while speaking to the charr engineer, ‘I’ll deal with you later, Grindgear. You got a name, Asura?’ He nervously stuttered, ‘I..uh…Poppler Swizzlestix, centurion,’ then fumbled a bad version of a charr salute.

‘He’s alright, Grim,’ Dinky said. ‘Been working with Grimpaw on a lot of stuff like my …er, our..barrel bomb we used on the flame legion and ogres. Grindgear’s armor is entered for a Snaff Prize in…’ The centurion held up his paw, ‘Enough, Dinky, he can stay.’ He turned to Poppler, ‘Go with your pal Grimpaw; pull twice your weight or I’ll kick you back to your Rathole Sun or whatever you call the nest where you creatures spawn.’ Poppler nodded, ‘Got it, centurion.’

‘Anyway Shredskin, as I was saying, take note of what you find out there, and kill what you can without adding yourselves to that list.’ Elexus stepped forward, ‘Understood, sir.’ She pulled her daggers and spun them in both palms, then dropped them into their sheaths at the same time. The centurion reached out and gave her a friendly slap on the bicep.

He then turned back to his soldiers and spoke up, ‘The rest of you look alive and watch our backs after we leave Ashford. These guys have been pulling some things they don’t normally do, expect anything. Get your gear in order we move out in 20 minutes.’ Grimcrotch saluted then raised his longbow and shouted, ‘TWELFTH BATTALION!’ The entire battalion saluted and roared back in unison, ‘BLOODY TWELFTH ‘OORAH!!’

The Fire & The Fury Pt. 1

Inspired by the song The Fire & The Fury by Firewind

The human delegate stepped over to the glass wall in Rytlock Brimstone’s office, looking out over the Bane. ‘Absolutely not. There is no possible way we can grant this request without following the proper channels. Do you realize what the people of Divinity’s Reach would do if they saw fully armed charr military squads roaming their city?’ The human turned as he said it, watching the tribune’s face morph into an angry beast.

‘This is not a request human, you have two choices.’ Brimstone said, sitting on his desk. ‘You can either tell your queen to grant us the right to use the Ebonhawke Asura gate now voluntarily, or we can invade Divinity’s Reach itself, finishing off you pathetic people as we should, and take the Gate, and Ebonhawke, by force.’ He stood and walked to the human, leaning in toward the man’s face, and said in a threatening voice, ‘So tell me no again human, I look forward to it.’ He emphasized the last ‘t’ while baring his fangs.

The man leaned back, eyes wide and nervously sweating. ‘I…I’ll inform the queen of your plans, tribune. I’m sure we can come to an understanding.’ Brimstone turned back toward his desk while the human walked to the front of it. ‘As long as she understands we will be using her precious Gate whether she likes it or not, there will be no problem. We are done here.’ The tribune said dismissively, then pointed toward the door.

From what Rytlock understood of the flame legion forces rolling through Iron Marches, only Monger’s Sink was still in Blood Legion control and they couldn’t hold out long without reinforcements. Blazeridge Steppes had Steeleye Span holding out with a very capable legionnaire but had flame legion blocking the supply road from the west and they, too, needed backup. Splintercrest Fort down the road was holding at the moment, but they had FL climbing over the walls and getting picked off, it was only a matter of time for them as well.

——

Fields of Ruin had the legion pouring into it from Blazeridge. They clearly had planned this invasion well in advance, as all of the separatist humans and rebel charr were coordinating with them on the map, attacking several charr fortified positions at the same time.

And if Brimstone hadn’t sent centurion Grimcrotch out to force Kailani the Foolhardy back to the Black Citadel itself, she and her flying contraption would both be lost. As it was all the flame legion had to get from her machine was scrap metal, so they left it alone. Another machine could be made, or that one saved, another Kailani couldn’t.

He had told Fangfury Watch to fall back to Warrior’s Crown and support the war wagons. What was left of the human delegation there that hadn’t run back to Ebonhawke were dug in next to them along with the charr, who weren’t about to give up even one of their machines, let alone the six that were at the summit. Two broken down war wagons were left up north before the legionnaires pulled back from Harvester’s Glade, but they were resourceful enough to remove the engines and guns from them, basically rendering them useless.

Brimstone had ordered Grimcrotch to hold the front line there at the Crown as long as he could, but it didn’t matter how good a commander on the field was, no one could hold out against superior numbers like that for long.

S. Blazeridge Steppes w/ Steeleye Span, and Splintercrest Fort just north of Splinter Hills

Even Ashford Plains had buttoned down; movement was restricted to essential supply and military for the time being after small pockets of separatists were scouted attempting to sabotage fort guns and sniping. They didn’t get through to Ascalon City ruins from Stonesheath Overlook in Iron Marches, however, they were already near Irondock Shipyard in the Loreclaw Expanse.

Two war wagons, three small tanks, countless mortar and the 9th Battalion made sure nothing alive would get through that road. The Duskrend Overlook entrance to Ashford Plains from Blazeridge Steppes was just as fortified as the other, only with the 5th Battalion.

That’s why he said what he did to the human diplomat, Brimstone wasn’t about to lose his right paw charr because of a human bureaucracy. He would go to the human city and take their queen’s head himself if he had to make the access to their Asura Gate happen. He considered actually doing that for a moment, then the hard reality of a wider war sank in, so he shook his head and forgot about it. For now.

——

Centurion Grimcrotch had sent several Whisper agents out into the field to scout and generally make mischief for the invaders. Being one of them had its advantages, he thought. But something concerning had been discovered while they were out. In the past the only time flame legion had broken up Black Citadel forts out in the field was when they held them for a long time or the forts were constantly contested; now the floor grates in them were being ripped up and placed as heavy defensive walls out in the field soon after being taken.

Apparently nearly 1200 flame legion planned to be around for a while.

Axedrag Cut, Warrior’s Crown, and Ebonhawke/Bento Canyon, the Fields of Ruin front line

Grim had set up an impenetrable wall of the six war wagons and several hundred soldiers from the north cliffs at Warrior’s Crown southwest to Bento Canyon. They held Skoll’s Bivouac for a time, but the attacks got so heavy and frequent that he ordered them to fall back. At the narrow pass of Axedrag Cut no life was to be found; the moment any flame legion were brave enough to attempt passage, over fifty mortars and the 6th Battalion were were there to greet them.

But the flame legion were slowly chipping away at them, trying to wear them down before they could be reinforced. It was the heaviest attack attempted in years; things were going well for them so far, but they also knew of the commander of the 12th Battalion who was running the show there, they had to hit hard and fast everywhere before he could be effective anywhere. Once that centurion was given an opening he went for the kill.

And that’s just what he was doing; he couldn’t find an opening, so he was planning to make one with his legionnaires Dinky, Shredskin, Fyon the Wraith, Wrathclaw, and his unseen friends in the Whispers.

The Battle of the Black Citadel

Grim dozed on a rock outside of the Black Citadel, his pet Death running around chasing after rabbits and moas. Just playing; the carrion devourer had learned long ago that when they were around the Citadel, it wasn’t fight time, it was break time. A messenger walked up near the centurion and said ‘Uh, sir, tribune Brimstone would like to see you.’ He continued lying down but opened his eyes. ‘Alright. Thank you.’ The messenger saluted, then turned and ran off back toward the city.

When he arrived near the doorway of the Citadel itself, about 30 cubs were running around and talking loudly right inside the entrance. One of them ran up to him, tugging on his armor and asked ‘What is happening to Rafka? You’re her friend, please find out for us!’ Bewildered, Grim answered ‘I don’t know what is going on, cub. I am here to see tribune Brimstone.’ He strode up the long walkway to Brimstone’s office.

Brimstone’s assistant could be heard speaking as he walked up to the open door and knocked, poking his head in. ‘Sir, you sent for me?’ Grim looked over at Rafka and the assistant, the cubs eyes wide in wonder, and silent. The tribune stood up, ‘Yes centurion, come in. A few days ago at the Bane when you fought Rageclaw, your little cub friend here felt the need to, well, hit me between the legs, in order to get my attention. Since it was concerning you, I thought you might like to know.’

Grim’s eyes grew big, and he turned to look at Rafka standing there with a nervous look. ‘Yes, thank you sir. Did you do this, Rafka?’ he asked. It seemed as if, when he spoke to her, he filled her with the strength to face whatever came at her with defiance. ‘The tribune wouldn’t tell me why you were fighting in the Bane. And you didn’t tell me you were doing that either.’ She crossed her arms and looked away angrily.

——

‘You can’t just go around doing that when people don’t do what you want, Rafka. If you do those things when you are grown, it can quickly lead to a fight to the death. And in this case, you did that to the tribune here. You do not do that to the tribune. Any tribune. Ever.’ Grim turned to Brimstone, ‘I’m sorry sir, I wasn’t aware she did this.’

Rytlock looked at the cub thoughtfully for several moments. ‘Alright. I am going to sentence Rafka here for assaulting me. This is what happens when you are a soldier and you disrespect an officer, cub. There are two drainage ditches behind the Citadel, near the devourer spawning grounds. The openings to those ditches have iron grates covering them, and rocks stacked in front of those grates. You will go to those drainage ditches and transfer the rocks at both of them from one to the other. It won’t be easy, but punishment isn’t meant to be easy.’

She turned to him with a defiant look, ‘I’m not a soldier yet, you can’t make me do anything.’ Brimstone looked stunned. Grimcrotch spoke up, ‘I will make you do this, Rafka. I will go there and watch every move you make until the punishment the tribune gave you is complete.’ The cub turned and ran out of the office, bumping face first into Rathgaar Firemane right outside the doorway and falling back on her tuckus. ‘What’s going on, sir?’ he asked looking down with a grin, as Grim exited the office.

The centurion explained the story, then took him to the side for a quiet discussion as the cub stood silent in the hall. He told the elemental about him being Rafka’s sire, and said he thought it would be a good idea to start spending time with her, this being a perfect excuse. ‘Rafka, Rathgaar here will be your supervisor making sure you finish your punishment, I have other matters to tend to.’ Grim and Rathgaar saluted each other and the centurion walked off.

Rathgaar Firemane, sire to Rafka Firemane, in the Eternal Battleground

When Rafka and Rathgaar walked out of the Citadel, the pride of cubs Grim had run into on the way in followed them around the building to the fields behind, under protest from the elemental. ‘Hey you cubs, get out of here Rafka is being punished, this is not fun and games!’ They all laughed, booed and hissed at him. He thought he heard an ‘…old smelly charr…’ in there somewhere. Damn cubs.

At the drainage ditches they all attacked the rocks and began moving them back and forth. Rathgaar got angry, ‘Hey, I told you cubs this is not fun and games, this is Rafka’s punishment. Stop doing that!’ Out of the noisy confusion a mudball came flying up at Rathgaar, splatting on his chest. ‘Oh, so you wanna fight eh? I’ll give you a fight you little…..’ He reached down into some mud and smeared it into the faces of a pair of cubs.

They looked at him in surprise, then reached down and grabbed pawsful of mud and began throwing it at him. It then turned into a free-for-all, the rocks forgotten and the mudslinging commenced. Word quickly spread of the epic mudfight growing behind the Black Citadel, soon nearly every charr cub was there diving into the melee.

Most older charr simply watched and laughed, many joined in. Even when tribune Brimstone got wind of it he went to watch, shaking his head with a grin at the huge crowd of dirt-covered charr big and small, slipping and falling all over each other, great blobs of mud flying through the air everywhere.

And Grim’s ‘other matters’? The time of day was perfect for the rock he was dozing on earlier to be sun-baked and warm; he stretched out on it and went back to sleep, his carrion devourer chasing around rabbits and moas again.