(This would have been up sooner, had I not had a terrible revelation: I can't write a good action sequence! Please accept this instead.)
The Plan, as explained by Teach:Mobilize the Citizens Brigade
Head to the walls, and shoot until there ain't nothing left to shoot.
If that doesn't work, open up the back entrance, invite the orcs in for tea and impalings.
Fightin' if necessary.
Siege should be broken by now.
Head to the dining room for beer and waffles.
............
The first phase of the siege went pretty much the same way that the last two or three had. Teach and his squad went to the walls, peppered the orcs with bolts, and managed to wipe out a squad and it's leader. This time it was Renna who claimed that honor. And, as usual, the orcs stubbornly refused to leave.
That was when phase two went into effect. First, it was Inaluct's job to draw the orcs into the narrow tunnel that Solon had fled to so many years ago. She accomplished this by digging around the channel, running to the entrance, and hopping up and down shouting random curses at them. Not subtle, but quite effective. The orcs charged after her as she fled back into the tunnel, the spearmaster Thisot Bindbad close behind her. They were promtly met by the impalings, but tea was in short supply these days.
Rysith roared into the fray and promptly had his knee snapped by the butt of Thisot Bindbad's spear. The massive orc stood over him, preparing to finish the job, and likely would have if Aban hadn't smashed his face to a pulp (followed by his neck, spine, stomach, and legs).
Teach stood at the far end of the tunnel, firing aimlessly into the writhing mass and somehow managing to only hit orcs. When Solon asked, (or screamed towards him) “What the hell are you doing?!” He simply answered, “Bustedlung knows who to kill.” Somewhat disturbing, but it was hard to fault his accuracy.
Cain proved herself to be actually worth the price of the sword she was using, killing her first orc there in the hall. Of course, the sword had been free, taken from an orc's body in one of the earlier sieges, so she wasn't worth much. But damn it, she was still worth more than Rysith.
For a few moments, it looked as though the orcs would break through, but soon Teach was joined by the rest of the squad. The combination of unerring crossbow fire, the solid dwarfy wall presented by Aban and Geshud, and (Solon though privately), the irritating and constant pok-ing sounds proved to be too much. The orcs, for the first time in five years, broke and fled.
In the end, astonishingly, not a single dwarf had died in the battle. Rysith and Baltiel had both had a leg broken, and Bembul was down with an unpleasant head wound, but otherwise they were casualty free. (Though Rysith couldn't stop looking out for Aban whenever she walked by, that only marked him as a casualty... of love.)
It really was amazing.
Author
Topic: Greatbridge of Oceans (community fort, why not) (Read 46169 times)