Goblin outpostBarbarossa held up his hand, clenched into a fist. His men stopped, Oldbeard grumbling about the march, his bow, the lack of respect people had for him and the surrounding vegetation, which was too
green. Barbarossa had told him to shut up, but all that it did was cause him to start mumbling about kids these days. The captain decided not to bother. He ordered his pathfinder, another bloody elf, forward. They moved forward a couple dozen yards, slowly, and peered out from behind a tree. The outpost, he had learned, contained food to supply a battalion sized force of goblins and made an excellent staging point for any raids. Not more much longer, if all went well.
“There’s no cover” murmured Barbarossa, looking out at the outpost “there’s not a
shred of cover, goblins have clear cut the land” It was true. The land for about 10 to 20 meters around the goblin outpost was burned clean and stamped into a flat, rocky clearing, providing no cover for anyone who tried to rush the place. The elf next to him was seething with rage.
“These… these
savages! ” he hissed “They
dare, they
dare to cause such an affront to nature! How could they? They will rot in hell, fire will coarse through their veins, their very
bones-”
“Oh shut up” grumbled Barbarossa, who was worried about the planned assault “they’ll all be dead within about an hour, if all goes as planned”
“Nature will see that it does” replied the elf stoutly which, in Barbarossa’s opinion, was never a word that should be applied to something as poncy as an elf. He pointed at the building.
“See that?” he asked
“That affront to nature itself, yes” replied the elf. Barbarossa sighed. Honestly, just because it was made out of wood… but he wasn’t prepared to argue the point.
“Yes, that. What do you see on the roof? You have better eyes than mine, elf”
The elf motioned at some of the vague figures on the roof.
“The barbarians have posted sentries, armed with goblin made crossbows. I counted three, but there may be more”
“Thank you” said Barbarossa, mentally kicking himself for saying it. He motioned for the elf to move back, formulating a plan.
“Alright men, you need to listen up. We have 5 hostiles, all goblins, wielding axes. The crossbowdwarves will prioritise on taking them out but I don’t expect you to be perfect. Swordsmen will have to take out any wounded goblins but move
fast. There is an unspecified amount of snipers on the roof and they have the advantage of fortifications. Under
no circumstances are you to fire on them, is that understood?” there was a chorus of yes sir’s.
“Good. Oldbeard, do you think you can make it that distance, that fast?” asked Barbarossa
“Young whippersnapper, thinks I can’t run fast
in my day we ran 40 miles without stopping, whilst being chased by giant skeletal eagles, don’t tell me how fast…”
“Um…. I’ll take that as a yes. Okay, miners, you guys stay back and wait for the all clear or the run signal, okay? And, uh...” Barbarossa sighed, looking at the soapmaker “
you just stay behind that tree and run if something that isn’t a dwarf shows up with something sharp, okay?” The dwarf was shaking but looked excited
“Sir! I want to come with you sir!” he said loudly, prompting a chorus of shushes from the assembled squad. He was armed with a low quality sword and shield because Barbarossa reasoned that if he was captured or killed, the kingdom hadn’t lost anything valuable. What the hell kind of dwarf used soap anyway?
“No. I can’t risk you, you’re a liability” The man looked disheartened, but was dwarf enough to salute, clumsily.
“Okay, now, do the assault teams know there roles? Squad leaders?”
“Yes sir!” replied Bardbeard and the other leader, both captains of their respective 4 man squads. Bardbeard was ecstatic. Finally he would be able to take revenge on the animals that had killed his friend, and the minions of the beasts who took his father.
“You know the signal? Good. Move out” commanded Barbarossa. The men turned and silently, with the exception of Oldbeard, who was still grumbling quietly, moved off, the soapmaker watching in obvious envy.