The Raid - Part II
Written by Jean Marcel l ImpĂ©tueux   
Friday, 17 February 2006

The tale still weaves itself as the dreaded chaos commences their attack onto Bretonnia just after Duke Marcel finds out about their attack.

The drums beating in the distance shook the waters as the ships came into sight. I looked over to my peasant crew for the trebuchet and said in a disciplinary voice, “Ready….. Fire!!” With a sound of cranks and gears turning, the massive wooden machine let out a cry as it shot masonry at the ships. One of the many chaotically designed ships was sunk as 3 more would appear out of the mist. My army was not going to hold.

I yelled for another 3 to fire as they lobbed 3 in different directions this time as one hit an squished the chaos warriors on the ships, another sank a whole ship and the third knocked some of the drummers out of his seat.

We could not keep this up forever; soon the ships would be in range and would knock my trebuchets apart. That is when I ordered them to fire at will, all individuals with missile weapons I ordered to fire non stop once the enemy became in range of their arrows or in range of their masonry.

With the commoners having little sense of what their range was they fired a full volley to see how far they could shoot. The trebuchets continued to fire knocking enemies on the ships or just sinking a whole ship. That is when our luck just ran out. A sudden earth-shattering “BOOM” was heard as a sound drew nearer until a daemonic cannonball spitefully hit one trebuchet and then another was hit by a second cannonball.

I saw this coming earlier as I had a second line of trebuchets further back for later purposes, but for now let them destroy them. I told my peasants to fire one more time then to retreat from using their machines. They fired and they had actually sunk another ship. The drum beating was getting closer now though and there would be no more rocks to stop it.

As they drew closer, there was no firing at our knights, I was surprised and I guessed that they wanted to keep as much battle as possible for the followers themselves. The ships drew within shallow water as they docked up; the red mist engulfed the shore’s sand as my knights moved back recoiling from the mist. The chaos followers jumped off the sides of the ships as some ramps were put down for the chaos knights to take their steeds onto the land. They slowly approached forming their own oddly formed battle line as the Pegasus knights and I waited for them to come out of the mist.

As they came forth from the mist I watched as my bowmen fired upon the warriors as they would shrug aside the pesky arrows falling onto them, only the odd one falling to their death. I raised my lance high into the air, my army still standing at attention and still watching these worshippers walk closer in synch with each other getting closer with each step, I commanded my army to charge into them, charge into their hearts and do not let their souls reach the heavens by instead keeping them here to wander for all eternity.

My knights spurred their horses as they gained momentum and they formed into ranks as they hit each unit of 60 warriors dead on, splitting their lances while driving them through the enemy. One particular battle between Knights Errants and Chaos foot soldiers had particularly interested me as the warriors tried to flee as they were cut swiftly down by our knights. I looked upon the Pegasus knights under my command and directed them to a combat as I looked down upon some chaos knights about to hit my own, I swiftly grabbed Skie by the reigns and charged into the battle swooping through the air while point my lance for their champion’s head.

I rode to and through the dark knight’s head as he flew off of his steed and onto the ground dead. I turned around and landed Skie and charged on the ground as I hit another knight off his horse and stabbed him with my lance through his stomach. Leaving my lance in place, I drew my sword and began to fight the other 3 knights of chaos on my own. I parried repetitively with them as I would turn Skie to the left and parry to my right and a sudden smart move as Skie would kick a knight off of his horse, crushing his bones in all manners. I hit another knight’s sword up leaving his neck open as I would puncture my sword straight through his neck, killing him almost instantly as he’d fall to the ground gasping and saying foul words in chaos language. I turned to face the last knight as he swept his blade for my head and I moved back, Skie hit the knight in his face with his wing as I then went for the kill but was blocked. He then swooped with his arm, holding the gigantic sword; up as I had failed to hold on to my blade and I fell off my mount. He rode close ready to stab me through my armor as I took hold of the Grail shaped golden chain I was wearing and ripped it from around my neck and held it up as the knight moved his arm to stab me he was thrown back from me with a forceful push from nowhere. I picked up the blade and cut his throat before he could get up. The Lady had been there for me again.

I turned to see regiment after regiment of my knights trapped in combat with these damned worshippers. I took my steed valiantly and charged toward a unit of warriors. I counted a rough outnumber in their favor.

I surprised them in their side as I hacked through their chaos armor and shedding their blood on my shores, we couldn’t hold much longer. This was the only the first three ships to have made it to the shore as in the distance I could see another 4 or 5 approaching through the mist, maybe even more coming then that. I killed the remaining chaos warriors almost as if they were no challenge at all as I wielded my father’s great sword.

I the kicked Skie on the sides lightly to make him take flight as I commanded my fellow knights mounted as well on a Pegasus to do the same. We were winning right now but when the other ships would hit the shore we will lose by then. I flew with the 4 knights towards the ships as we were planning to assault them dead on. The mistake was when we saw three Minotaurs holding massive maces. We landed anyway looking for honorable combat. We charged right on the ship as the drums were beating in the heat of battle, one minotaur smashed a Pegasus flat as the rider was able to jump from his mount before it had been squished. I myself charged into battle and jabbed my lance’s tip through the beast.

It stood looking stupid as it picked its weapon up and swung me aside as me and Skie rolled on the decks of the ship. The other 3 knights, still mounted, had killed off one of the Minotaurs through a combination of lances. As the gargantuan beast hit and shattered the floor into pieces of wood, it fell to the bottom floor squishing some of the chaos warriors under the decks. I got up as I left Skie on the ground as he struggled. I pulled my Great sword from the sheath on my back and went up against the massive Minotaur that had knocked me down before. He swung at me as I stepped backwards with the wind from the swing brushing against me. I charged forth as I ct a large scar through the monster’s belly. I looked at the behemoth. It moved its big paw down to its scar blocking it from bleeding as it would swing again down onto the ground with one arm as it would miss me just by an inch or two. As it raised its arm again I jumped into the air, slicing the beast’s large wrist. In pain in multiple places it cried out as its bloodshot eyes looked at its 3 wounds on its body bleeding externally and maybe even internally it turned to me, picked up its mace one more time. The monster grabbed the shaft with its other hand and raised it greatly above its head and that was my chance.

Running into battle, I jumped into the air and threw my sword with great strength hoping the Lady would guide it. She did, the sword pierced, cut, and brought down the Minotaur as it fell with the massive weight from its mace pulling its backwards and onto the ground, smashing through the ships top deck again. The last Minotaur was struck down by all 4 of us. We went below the decks and started to tear apart the chaos warriors and all of their followers from below.

After the viscous slaughter below the decks, we took one of the cannons away from its chains and fired it through the bottom deck. The ship slowly started to sink and we flew out. At first glimpse we were proud and honored but as we looked forward we were in shock as the other 3 ships docked at our shores and our knights, tired and weary and much more few in number, were about to find an even greater opposition.

We flew with great speed as I had mounted one of the knights onto my Pegasus as his was unfortunately killed in the heat of battle. We drew close to the enemy as I could see the bowmen firing down upon their new enemies and the knights backed up from the ominous ones approaching them. With this the Grail Knights accompanied by the Questing Knights charged into the exposed flanks of the chaos army.

As we saw the diversion taking place, our other knights changed their direction back to charge their other flank as the army changed direction to face the charge. An unfortunate event occurred suddenly. As the knights tried to attack the sides of the exposed flank, a Bloodthirster emerged from a ship, holding its daemonic axe in its hands as it would kill in the name of the blood god. It roared as with each step on the ground it took, it would shatter the shores and create volcanic earth and dust.

“There must be a daemon portal on one of the ships, there is no way else that they could have summoned the beast!” I said.

I flew towards the chaos ship docked on our shores, hoping that the knights would hold the Blood Daemon long enough for us to destroy the portal and then come to help. We went inside the unguarded ship and we saw some trolls standing by the portal guarding it with their primitive weapons in hand.

We assaulted them easily disposing of them as they were a bit on the slow side, easily punching our lances through their heads and me, swinging my sword rigorously through one’s body. We looked at this giant ring-shaped portal as it moaned and was made of piles and piles of skulls. We dispatched of it crushing the columns so it would fall. As it did it disintegrated into the air as horrible cries were heard as each speck of dust disappeared into the light.

We didn’t have the time to wonder why it was here or where it led as we took back off in a hurry. The Bloodthirster had dispatched of many of our knights when we arrived, but we wouldn’t let it kill any further. It turned around as it smelt the fresh blood that would be given to its god. We charged with all of our might but some sort of dark magical shield protected it. We were forced back as it pushed us away.

This was the time for my small secret weapon. I asked the knights to keep it busy as I flew off towards the castle. At a signal, damsel Elaine came to the castle’s tower and casted a light spell on the beast as its dark invincibility was now gone. But even then it thrashed at my unit of Pegasus knights. I pulled tight on the reigns for Skie to keep control over himself as I flew towards the beast with my lance tip ready to puncture through the daemon’s head. The Bloodthirster turned with blood dripping from its mouth from the recently eaten Pegasus. I rammed the side of the skull with my lance as it drew back. I held up the grail chain I had towards its face as it gave off a fey light. The beast looked away while swinging its giant axe randomly in my direction. I denied it from hitting me and with one more charge I stabbed its head once more, making it fall to the ground. It looked up, bleeding on my shoreline. It looked straight into the light as it started to whimper in a defeated way is it started to fall through the ground almost as if going back where it came from into its creator’s den of evil.

I turned around to see what was left of all my knights. I reassembled them under my control and told them to go to the castle and prepare the defenses. I watched demoralized as the chaos warriors would tear apart the knights in combat already, even though we were winning. I turned to see more chaos transports on there way and I went to finish off the worshippers left on our beaches then fall back to the castle.

I shredded my way with my great sword through the warriors with simple ease as they could not fight against the martial skill of a fully armored and martially skilled knight. After dealing with them and driving the other ones mad with casualties, I quickly flew to my keep with my fellow knights who awaited my command. My army had been defeated on the beaches and the chaos was now making themselves at home on my beach line. I looked back and told my scout to alert the second wave of trebuchets and to fire at will at the shore line.

At the sound of the call I saw huge rocks and dead cattle flying above the keep and a crushing sound along the shores. I climbed to the top tower to look upon the beach head and I noticed the armies of chaos were growing and we wouldn’t be able to stop them this time. Even if we had trebuchets raining down upon them and a large amount of bowmen in each spot possible, firing down upon the enemy, we would not win.

The enemies gathered into large blocks as a Chaos lord came out of the ship. Even after huge rocks hit and crushed 10 men in a unit, the nerve of the chaos units stood as they would stand at attention from their lord. He rose his hand up and they marched. There was no stopping them; we were trapped with no turning back.
Last Updated ( Monday, 20 February 2006 )