|
Plait the Prison
Planet
Issue #4
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Four
Ambush
The words "ambush" echoes through the pass as the men all
rush to find cover. Some jump under the wagons, other try to find a rock they
can get behind. Within seconds of discovering them, the caravan is canvassed
with arrows. At least a dozen arrows rain down on the men. Most of the arrows
stick in the caravan or a few into the snorts, who barely notice them. The few
men who did not get out of harm's way are quickly impaled with the arrows. After
the first volley, the party is down by two men, both of whom are instantly
killed. Azrael looks up from his hiding spot on the wagon and sees the Takken
warriors moving down the hillside. Then he sees something that he did not
expect, the Grey Ranger has moved out from under the caravan and is climbing up
the mountain. He moves very quickly up the rock and it takes little time before
the Takken warriors notice him. A rain of arrows flies at the Grey Ranger as he
scales the mountain side. He stops his progress and amazingly plucks them right
out of the air. Once he snatches the arrows, he tosses them aside and continues
his climb towards the bird men, who are stunned by the display of reflexes that
is quicker than even theirs.
Tredd burrows deep in the caravan, behind some of the
freight, as he does not want any part of the fighting. He is a coward by nature
and likes to fight only when the odds are stacked way in his favor. The thought
of being a target for some bandit's arrows is not is idea of bravery, rather it
is foolishness. He hopes that none of the men realize he is hiding. The last
thing he wants is to be labeled a coward. That is a tag that can mean a quick
death on this planet.
As Azrael watches the Grey Ranger scale the mountain, he
decides it is time for him to join the battle. He leaps from the safety of the
wagon and heads towards the mountain. Lucky for him, the Grey Ranger is
diverting the attention of the bird men and he can climb without becoming a
target. Unlike the Grey Ranger, he can be hurt by their arrows. He knows that he
must maintain a strong presence or face the possibilities that the men will side
with the Grey Ranger and overthrow him. As he climbs the mountain, the rest of
the men slowly look out to see him heading to battle. They will not fight unless
they are told to. They are not paid enough to sacrifice themselves. There are
very few reliable men on Plait. Most will not go to battle unless a greater
threat awaits them if they refuse.
It takes little time for the Grey Ranger to reach the first
two Takken Warriors. He has never seen the bird men before but this does not
stop him from advancing. He notices that they have painted their plumage to look
more menacing. Takken Warriors are known to paint designs on their feathers
before they go to battle. While they are normally brown or black in color, they
favor painting with bright reds and yellows. They also will ruffle their
feathers to appear larger than they are. The bird men see him coming and quickly
shoot a volley of arrows to stop him. Because of the close proximity, he is
unable to catch all of the arrows. Two of the arrows get past his lightning fast
reflexes and hit him in his chest. But with his tough hide, he is not affected
by the arrows as they just bounce off his armor like skin. This spooks the birds
even more. Before they can load another round of arrows, the Grey Ranger is upon
them with his long dagger. He slashes the first bird across the eyes, blinding
him instantly. Blood spurts from the wound and he falls to the ground as he
tries to stop the bleeding with his hands. The other bird man jumps towards the
Grey Ranger and tries to dig his sharp talons into his arm as he snaps at him
with his curved beak. The talons do not break the skin, but do hold on tight. In
one fast move, the Grey Ranger pulls the bird towards him and flips him over
onto his back. The bird hits the rock path the birds have made in the cliff and
has the wind knocked out of him. He struggles to breath as he gasps for air. But
before he has a chance to regain his breath, the Grey Ranger plunges his dagger
deep into the bird man's chest. He screams out a blood curdling scream as the
dagger punctures his internal organs. He struggles for a few seconds to pull it
out, but the Grey Ranger keeps it held firmly in place, twisting it back and
forth. The bird man struggles a few more seconds and then goes limp as the
dagger has severed a vital organ. When he stops resisting, the Grey Ranger pulls
the blade from his chest and looks to the other bird that is laying there
bleeding from his eyes. He walks over and stabs the bird through his neck,
quickly putting an end to his suffering.
As this battle is ensuing, Azrael reaches the ledge where the
Grey Ranger is and watches as he cleans off his dagger. He looks up and sees
some of the other bird men scurrying towards them. As they reach a small path
above them, they prepare their bows. Azrael runs over and grabs a bow left
behind by the dead warrior and aims towards the bird men. Their arrows fly down
and head towards the Grey Ranger. He quickly turns and once again catches the
arrows from their flight path. But this time, he does not discard the arrows.
Rather he takes them and throws them back at the bird men. While the arrows do
not connect with their target, they do distract the bird men long enough for
Azrael to get a shot and strike one of them right between the eyes. The birdman
screams as the arrow hits him, but once it reaches his brain, he falls dead. The
other bird man then turns around and heads back up the mountain. After watching
in horror at how easily his comrades were killed, he decides this is a lost
battle. The rest of the bird men also run away. While they are good warriors,
they are not stupid and will not commit suicide.
Once the threat is over, Azrael looks the area for anything
he can scavenge. He grabs the other bow left behind and all the arrows he can
find. He then grabs one of the bird's claws and cuts it off with his dagger. He
puts it in a bag and says to the Grey Ranger "A souvenir. You may want to get
one yourself. Put it around your neck and people will fear you." The Grey Ranger
just looks at him with his emotionless face and then heads back down the
mountain.
Back at the caravan, the men are all coming out and cheering.
They are happy to have the Grey Ranger along as he saves them the trouble of
having to fight the bird men. As Azrael climbs down, he looks at the pile of
rocks that blocks the path. "Men, we need to get out her and break these rocks."
The men hurry and grab crudely made pick axes and hammers. They come equipped
for such a task as it happens quite often. It takes a few hours for them to
break up the rocks but with the help of the Grey Ranger, the time is shortened.
Soon there is a layer of small rocks that lay around the floor of the pass. The
men then all return to the caravan. Behind them is the rest of the caravans that
have caught up with them. Word of the ambush and the exploits of the Grey Ranger
is traveling along the caravans. Azrael is a bit upset because there is little
mention of his part in the battle. He sees his influence diminishing and it
upsets him. But he knows that it would be suicide to try and battle the Grey
Ranger man to man. He has to think of a way to regain his dominance and not get
killed in the process.
An hour later, the caravan emerges from the pass. Out of the
constrictive pass they come to a large field. As they drive along, they see the
same scene as before. Rooters are going along and eating the dead animals they
find. Packs of rat hounds are moving along and trying to get to the tasty birds
and mammals before the other scavengers. In the distance, a fortress can be
seen. The men cheer as they know they are in the home stretch. They also see the
familiar eyes flying in the air and spying on them.
Within a few hours, they arrive in the next town. As they
pull toward the next town, they are greeted by another caravan. "Welcome to
Bugtown!" a man on the caravan screams out. "Ready for the exchange?" Azrael
screams back. The man nods his head and then yells to his crew "Inspection time.
Get moving!" The man an older man with a long white beard. He is big and burly
and has one robotic eye. After he screams out, a dozen insect men climb out of
the wagons and head over. While they are doing this, Azrael yells for his men to
do the same. The insect men look like large beetles. They have heavy shells on
their backs and six legs. Their large eyes are black and expressionless. While
they work, they make a clacking sound that is both loud and annoying. The town
is called Bugtown because the main planets that support the nearby fortress are
populated by insect like beings. Their planets are one where insects were the
species to evolve and become the dominant force on the planet. While most
insects are loyal to their colonies, there are always some that will break the
rules and so they are sent here to Plait. While they are not much of a threat
individually, they can be quite formidable in large numbers. And there is a
growing number of them on Plait. They are divided into four main groups. The
largest group is the Clicks, which are the beetle men that are working on this
caravan. They are named Clicks for the noise they make. They are probably the
weakest of the insect species, with their hard exoskeleton as their only
strength. They are average strength and speed and quite dumb. But they have good
endurance and make good grunt workers.
The second species is the Colonants. As their name implies,
they are ant like beings. Also as their name implies, they are colonists. They
are known throughout the galaxy as a species that is constantly going to other
planets and setting up colonies. They are the strongest of the species with
strength that belies their slender builds. They can easily lift three times as
much as a human and carry it for hours. There are different subspecies of the
Colonants as they have gone to different planets and evolved to climate and
conditions of the planet. There is at least a dozen different types on Plait
alone. They are loyal soldiers and will follow one leader to the death. This
makes them prized among the warlords of Plait and battles erupt to gain control
of colonies. Since there is no queen here for them to work for, they tend to
gravitate towards whoever is the post powerful in the region.
The third species is the Regaels. They are the largest of the
insect species and look like large praying mantis. They are also the only one of
the insect men that continue to grow throughout their lives. That is how you can
tell how old a Regael is, by its size. While the average height is about seven
feet, some have been documented to be as tall as twenty feet. They are skilled
warriors but seek solitude. They will work for a fee but will not join any
gangs. They are more like assassins as they are quite deadly fighters and kill
with no remorse. Their reflexes are among the fastest of any creature on Plait.
They are also one of the few creatures that can fly. While they can only fly
more short distances, it makes them more deadly as they are known to strike from
the air.
The last group is the Pedes. These centipede like creatures
are the scavengers of the group. They hide out in the shadows and wait for
weaker prey to come along. They then attack with their poison bite. They are the
only insects to be poisonous on Plait, though some of the ants have special
attacks. They like to hang in groups but shy away from other species. They are
the most unified of the insect species as they have their own fellowship of
Pedes. They refuse to work with other groups and instead wait for gang wars so
they can attack the injured. It is well known that if you fight in Bugtown, it
is better to just die than be injured as the Pedes will come to finish the job.
While they are strong fighters, they rarely will fight an even battle. They only
attack injured creatures or on occasion will attack a lone when they greatly
outnumber them.
Once the inspections are done, the two drivers and their crew
switch caravans. The men grab their belongings and head over to the other
caravan. But before they leave, the man yells out "Got a message that you are to
leave the Grey Ranger here." Azrael looks at him with a pissed off look and says
"Where is this message? There is no way I am leaving him here." The man pulls
out a rolled up paper and hands it to one of the clicks. They run it over and
hand it to Azrael who grabs it from the creature's hand. He reads it and sure it
enough, it has the seal of his boss. The paper does say "Leave the Grey Ranger
behind. I have work for him in Bugtown. Will send for him when job is finished."
Below is the seal of Radak, his boss. He throws the paper in the back of the
wagon and says "You heard him Ranger, your trip is over." The Grey Ranger just
looks at him as he makes his way off the wagon. "Watch yourself around him, he
is deadly." Azrael says to the other driver as he starts up the snorts and heads
out. Tredd, realizing they are leaving, jumps off and runs over to the Grey
Ranger. "We stick together." he says as he catches up to him. The Grey Ranger
just looks at him and says "You should have stayed on the caravan." Tredd looks
at him and replies "Without you, they are doomed."
|