Commando Part 54

Maurice and his twenty-one-member party sat on their cushions and seats wondering if they should do something. As though they were not celebrating anything the village sprang into action and cleaned the center. They urged their guests to hand over seats and cushions while they prepared to leave the village in case they were attacked. Maurice turned to Maphai and one of his Vestrisian companions. He ordered both to have their own unit prepare to leave and fight if they needed to. Maphai and Vincent did as he ordered them and urged their party to be ready to fight then leave. Most of the villagers ignored them while Tondrah and other village healers tended to the wounded runner. In moments Maurice went for his steed where he had left his weapons. His whole unit joined him and prepared to leave once they fought off whoever was attacking these Drow villages.

            With permission from the villagers Maurice’s unit drew up a line of defense within the village clearing. The pair of Nevradit companions Toberis and Minerva got in the way a little bit. Once they had a defense drawn out they heard gunshots, screaming, yelling, cries for help, and war cries. Scores of Drow civilians raced out of the jungle being chased by savage tribesmen. These tribesmen were covered in hide skins, tattered pieces of clothing, garments, and apparel painted brownish green colors, including other colors found among tribes. Many of them grew wild hair, had dreads, others were braided, and had shaved heads. They all wielded spears, machetes, war clubs, various knives, and weapons from other factions and parts of the world.

            In front of village and Maurice’s unit these tribesmen cut down the fleeing dark elves. Before they knew what happened flaming projectiles hit some of the huts and homes. Maurice ordered his unit to open fire on the attacking savages while avoiding any harm to the innocent. Many of the attackers fell from the first volley. Drow women and children raced passed them with more tribesmen giving chase. Multiple Drow Guardians came in to help hold the line. Arrows flew over their heads and into the rabble of tribesmen who began tearing the village apart. A few volleys of arrows slew a crowd of over 175 tribesmen. This forced the attackers back a little. It allowed a few families to leave the village for safety.

            In a column of four to five rows they stood their ground against the attackers. Another wave was pushed back yet it had larger numbers. Having a larger wave of attackers come at them brought them into close quarters melee combat. Every defender drew a melee weapon when the attackers came within striking distance. Maurice cut down a dozen of these warriors before trying to calculate how many of these attackers they had to face. Using his pole arm sword Maurice held his ground killing more than a small unit worth. He had companions on his flanks holding their own against larger numbers. Trion hacked at a few attackers and even bit one of them. This frightened the attackers making them wary of the canine-badger humanoid.

            His country men had little to no problem in this battle. Alongside each other Minerva and Toberis moved like snakes, striking down enemies left and right. He heard Eyanosa’s war cry and the roar of the two orcs. Behind them Maphai, Vylinsis, and Oraceth had their pistols out shooting any attackers who slipped through. Their Drow friends fared well against these attackers. Ordoz used his alien weapons to defeat scores of foes. Their new Drow friends also fought well against the attackers for a while.

            As the confrontation turned into a battle their numbers started to drop. His own unit had two or three Drow in between them at the height of the battle. Each of them slowly fells to overwhelming odds. They fell against the odds of six to one. The swift movements of these village guardians brought down ten attackers for every one of their own fallen. More warriors came pouring out of the jungles with other groups coming in from behind. This battle died down a little allowing the defenders to pull back further into the village. Nearly a thousand corpses littered the area. Most belonged to the attackers and more than half the defenders lay dead. The amount of bodies that lay in the path and parts of the village would make a wall.

            Maurice spotted a few of his own men laying among the dead. He turned his head left and right counting how many he had left. Just four of his own men were missing, Nanim the Drow mercenary, Managhan the Orc pirate, Sorrowmind, and Ryfan. Seventeen of his own men were left and less than half the villages guardians remained. Inside their perimeter stood more tribesmen, warriors and the other groups who came in from behind. These new comers consisted of thirty-four members of the syndicate, forty-five renegades from other tribes and eleven pirates. With another force of tribesmen, they arrived at the village. Without hesitation or warning these newcomers opened fire on both defenders and attackers. Their focus was on the guardians and the other tribesmen.

            Exhausted from the battle Maurice and his decreased party did what they could to limit how many Drow died. Their attempts were in vain as the new comers already raced past them as if their quarrel were with the Drow and not them. Whatever the new comers intended to do was clear yet it appeared to become setback. As they killed Drow and Tribesmen alike the tribesmen and some Uxane turned on them. Most of the village was set aflame and too many enemies raced past them to attack one another and the remaining villagers. Tondrah came out her hut that was in flames full of fury, and anguish at everything around her. She herself was inflames armed with a long knife cutting and slicing at whoever was nearest her. Maurice pulled out his pistol shooting at one of her assailant’s moments before she collapsed to the ground. Seeing this defense was a futile one Maurice ordered his own unit to race out of there with the steeds. He fought his way to the corpses, so he could collect the two dog tags from his fallen companions. Hilastes and Amonif joined him in pushing through the fight that was surrounded by homes and trees set a flame. When he made it to the corpses the area was now full of smoke from the flames forcing everyone to flee or suffer death by suffocation. The Captain coughed from the heavy smoke and the pain he felt at the loss of two countrymen. By the time he reached them he was almost on the ground breathing in the smoke. Hilastes pulled him up helping him collect the dog tags after digging through the corpses. When they had all four dog tags they fled the scene through the village graveyard.