Planet Earth 13

Planet Earth 13: The Warlord of the South (Part 1)

Six men crouched behind a group of trees in a huddle. Each of them armed with crossbows, two also carried large war axes and the remaining four carried swords. At the moment, all six of the men had their crossbows out and ready. About 30 yards downhill from the men's hidden post was a two story stone building.

"Okay, quick re brief before this goes down." Said one man quietly. They were all dressed for combat with armor suits made from a meshy fabric which was light for mobility but stronger than any heavy steel armor. The color of the men's armor resembled their surroundings, a mix of different shades of green and brown with some black; except for the speaker. The speaker's armor was all black. He had long twisted dark hair, and wore a cloak made from the fur of a massive tiger-like beast. He had killed the notorious Blood Tiger, named for both its characteristic crimson coloration and killing some of the best hunters in the land, several years ago. Since then, the cloak had become a symbol of terror to his enemies and one of inspiration to his men.

"We know there's at least 20 fighters in there, maybe 25. There's three points of exit on the building. The main door is facing us. When the ambush starts, I'm guessing about half of them will rush out from this door, and the other half will split between the two smaller exits. Wait to fire until most of them are out of the building. Once we each get a shot off, we drop the crossbows and charge. The other groups should be doing the same thing from their positions. We have a few archers posted in the trees, each overlooking the windows that the enemy might try to shoot us from.

"Brothers, this is bigger than anything we've ever done, but we've never needed to do something more than we do now. The nomadic tribes that we have fought off before were disorganized. They just wanted to raid our villages and move on, and we stopped them all. But the Koralls won't move on. They will murder and enslave our people, just as they've done with all the others. They want to build an empire based on servitude and tyranny, we can't let them.

"I chose each of you for this mission because we are the most elite fighters in all of the Southern Plains. If this becomes a drawn out fight, we'll be outnumbered but we can handle it. The Koralls haven't faced professional soldiers until today. They use their numbers to overwhelm helpless tribes of hunters and gatherers, then subjugate the people under a harsh regime. We won't fall so easily. We represent the noble people of Urudah, who are counting on us to preserve their independence. Now, let's start a war."

The speaker withdrew a small instrument and held it to his lips. A loud yet subtle tone emitted from the device. It was the perfect signal for an ambush, as it was loud enough to be heard by the other groups waiting to attack but subtle enough to not disturb the enemies inside. Moments after the tone, arrows flew into the windows of the building. Almost immediately, armored men began rushing out of the building.

The ambushers stayed hidden but aimed at their targets. They waited as the confused men vacated the smoking building. They looked around in bewilderment, but could not see where the attack was coming from due to the thick forest surrounding them. As they stumbled over each other in panic, the ambushers began their assault.

Each of the six bolts fired into the group of ambushed men struck true, taking out six warriors. Before the remaining men could get into a defensive formation, the attackers were upon them with swords and axes drawn. The man in black was the first to reach his targets. He crashed into one man, throwing him into his companions. Swinging his sword with learned skill, he sliced through three men before his own men reached the fight. They quickly overwhelmed the group of surprised warriors, then rushed into the building to finish the job.

Shakir did not have much time, Korall reinforcements could arrive at any moment. He searched desperately, hoping to find some kind of door to a basement. His desperation grew as he heard the beating of hooves on the earth as a group of horses approached. He kicked a large table over in his frustration, but found an outlying shape in the floor underneath where the table had been. He called to one of his axe fighters, "Spiker, the door's here.", pointing at the shape in the floor. "Open it for me."