Following the Skywolf - Printable Version

Following the Skywolf - Printable Version

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Following the Skywolf - SoF - 10-15-2011

Birth of the Raiders

It's said that, when our people were lost, exiled themselves from their old homes and wandered in the endless deserts, they followed a wolf in the sky and passed through a mythical gate. The wolf brought them to a harsh land, and said to them "one day I will be back, and I will bring with me the heaven,". With that it was gone, and this was how the Samarrans were born. The wolf never came back.

All my life I lived on this barren world... seamlessly extending dry deserts, hot by day, freezing by night. People here squabble like vultures, fighting over food, water and limited resources. Tribes and their leaders called the Great Sheiks make wars to gain control of these, they kill or be killed. People on Samarra are born into castes, and live their lives as slaves to this cruel and, for some, fair system. While the priest caste steps on all the other castes, the slave caste is stepped on by every other, with nearly no hope of freedom and salvation.

But I have seen the Skywolf. He descended on the castle, looked at me, called for me... I woke up in my tent, my hair was wet with sweat... I lost no time, I rushed to the castle, and I saw an attendance of a hundred men or so, three of them in the front were speaking with our Great Sheik Darius.

One of the trio started, he said that they are caste-less thugs, bandits, thieves... stealing and murdering to survive. They had come to offer their help to Sheik Darius in his war. Even though this was something to be ashamed of - being caste-less, being thieves and bandits - there was no shame in his voice or in the manner he acted. You would think that he thought of himself even higher than the Sheik.

Normally they would be killed on spot, but these men looked dangerously strong. Especially one of the trio looked off, an otherworldly fire was burning in his gaze that no man could dare to meet. Not that he looked excessively strong, but it is excessively hard to explain... I saw that the Sheik was avoiding his direction as well, and the guards training their guns to the trio were shaking in fear.

Another reason they were not shot was that the Sheik needed all the help he could get. His tribe was losing the fight. The bandits probably counted on it, and hoped to win their castes as raiders.

They were right. The Sheik accepted their help and from that day onward they were called raiders.

Following the Sky Wolf - SoF - 10-18-2011

The Watchtower

That night in the sky we have seen ominous lights blinking over the castle. Far enough that we couldn't make out anything of them, neither our scanners could show any vessel readings. I asked the old man Abdul about them and he replied, "they are the ancient gods, Anunnaki, watching over us and saying that they are still here,". I wondered if the Skywolf had anything to do with them. The lights flashed one last time and disappeared. Couldn't find them no matter how hard we looked in the starry ocean over our heads.

The nights on Samarra are long, and shivery cold. But the cliff just under the mighty castle protected our tents from the sand storms. Heavy coats and pit-fire kept us warm. We were listening to the stories Abdul would tell us every-night to pass time. He told us many of them, from the Skywolf, to the Anunnaki and the founder of the Temple who brought order to our lives.

While we were spending time near the fire, three dark figures approached us. I couldn't see them very clearly.

"We really scared the poor guy, heh-heh" spoke merrily the big silhouette with a deep voice. "Did you see how the guards trembled?"
"Maybe they were like that because it is so damn cold... My balls are frozen," the one in the middle replied calmly.
The slim figure on the left probably realized that we could hear them "I apologize for my overgrown brother. He's a bit... stupid," he said towards the fire, putting emphasis to the last word.

As they got closer to us I could make out their faces. The big one had a long, rough beard and his eyes were like large, flaming coals, fiercely staring at the slim figure who kept his cool and just ignored him. Which was a great feat, I thought. He was in total contrast to the beast in every manner, thin and refined. The one in the middle kept a bored stare towards the fire while he announced, he was confident of himself and his voice was clear.

"My brothers and I had no caste until recently, but our Sheik Darius graciously accepted us and made us raiders... like you," he paused for a moment to scan his surroundings, "We were told to set up our tents here,".

I realized now that they were dragging some equipment with them. No one said a word to them or got up to welcome them. The big one was annoyed by the treatment they received, he was breathing angrily as he threw us dangerous looks one by one. The one in the middle kept his calm appearance, and the slim figure was completely uninterested. They started to make their tents a bit further from the rest of the camp.

Following the Sky Wolf - SoF - 11-06-2011

The Opposition

It had been a few hours since the sun started to rise, the freezing cold was being replaced by the merciless heat gradually. The raiders were already out of their tents which were being protected from the sunlight by a deep cliff. They were doing their morning practices with a weapon called pala, resembling a long handled spear with blades on both ends, and could be used as a long ranged weapon with medium accuracy thanks to the rifle attached to one of its edges.

When the trio arrived to the scene, everyone were already paired up. Me and the old man Abdul had grown attached to each other over the years so we were training together as always. Despite his old bones, he was extremely agile and strong, rarely I could beat him in our sparring. When I turned my head to see the newcomers, he struck me just below the bladed area of his pala, then cut my feet off the ground. He was, as always, giving me advice... and this time it was about keeping my eyes on my opponent. I ignored him and let him to his ranting while I watched the trio being hailed by a big man. His name was Hadar, there weren't many who wasn't afraid of him. Many stopped what they were doing to watch this meeting.

"Hey hey, fresh meat... Did you sleep well?" Hadar blocked their path with his large frame while he spoke with a mischievous tone. "You should be out of your tents hours ago!"

The trio did not answer and tried to change their paths, but Hadar cut in front of them. To everyone's surprise, a second later, Hadar was on the ground kissing the sand. The one who was responsible for that was the bigger one of the trio, a huge grin on his face. But his friends were not so happy. Hadar got up as soon as he could and took out his pala, ready to strike the giant who brought him down, but fell to ground a second time. Then again... a third time, it looked really embarrassing for Hadar.

Everyone rushed to hold Hadar down so it wouldn't happen again. The one who looked like the leader of the trio spoke, apologetically "I am sorry for my brother's brash nature, please -" before he finished his words, a mobile descended from the fortress. On it a messenger bearing news from Sheik Darius. He spoke hurriedly without leaving his mobile "The Great Sheik Darius orders you all to prepare for battle! Our enemies are gathering close to the fortress!" He then scanned the crowd to find the man he was looking for, "Aeden you are summoned by the Sheik. He has instructions for the raiders."

Aeden was a great man, he was the most experienced of our raider group numbering three thousand. He was strong and clever, proved himself over and over in the battlefield. He had watched Hadar and the trio silently, and let them solve their problems raider style. Even though raiders had no leader officially, and they followed only the Sheik, when Aeden said anything, it was obeyed to the letter as if it is an order.

When they heard the messenger, raiders howled like wolves, then rushed about preparing for the upcoming flow of blood. Hadar stared grudgingly at the trio, his pride was devastated, but he was a professional, and knew he would have to rely on them soon, as much as they will have to rely on him. So it looked like he let it slide for now. I don't know if the trio thought they needed anyone else in the world though. They were still lazily staring at the other raiders. I stopped watching them to prepare my mobile, which hovered above the earth like a half meter. Fighting on these vessels wasn't easy, and they needed years of training. Pala is designed especially to fight on these mobiles, and the two were the symbols of the raider caste.

A short time later, everyone took their positions and were ready to meet the opposing Akkadians.

Following the Sky Wolf - SoF - 11-07-2011

Battle for the Black-Gold Fortress I

Out of the comforting shadow of the cliff, we were under the direct heat of the sun. Our mobiles were hovering above the sand, our weapons were reflecting the light towards the enemy that gathered all their forces a mile away. It was obvious that they were prepared fully. Their numbers summed up to probably twenty five thousand, and were supported by their war machines. To move that much force unnoticed, they had used the cover of night. On our side, Sheik Darius had fifteen thousand standing army, and our raiders were three thousand.

If the enemy marched all night to catch us unprepared, they were surely tired, yet they seemed eager to strike soon rather than late. Darius would love to drag this fight on, despite a possible advantage of attacking while they are tired. In the desert, there is no water, and the sand storms are nasty. Supplying the army over a massive desert was tough for Sheik Akkad, and waiting further would just give more discomfort to the soldiers. Try to keep your tent bolted while a dust storm ravages your camp, not too pleasant.

If they waited more our forces could find the time to prepare the defense fully, and we had enough supplies to last a while at the expense of the poor. The fortress was a great place to defend, surrounded by one side a cliff and mountains on the other side.

Aedan came with orders "We will hold the left flank of the Sheik, while he draws the enemy and feigns retreat into the deeper parts of the city, we will use our mobility to harass them while they are chasing Sheik's guards, then strike their right flank." He was appointed as the commander of the raiders again by Darius, it was the obvious choice.

This plan depended on the tiredness of the enemy and the mobility of our forces. Sheik Darius' guards were all professional soldiers, they would also know when to retreat and to strike back when it is time. After all, the Great Sheik Darius held the Black-Gold Fortress, the jewel of Samarra, and it was a great feat to hold it for as much as ten years. This fortress was a great source of resources - oil and water, two most important things for an army in this barren world. But because of that, the fortress was also a target for every tribe who wants to hold some power in Samarra. Our enemies, Akkadians, were an aggressive bunch, they had already united a few great tribes, and they had the support of the Temple. They could field great armies, and their ambition sure was greater.

My eyes searched for the trio again within the crowd, without me realizing it. I saw them on the far edge of our left flank, they were silently sitting on their mobiles, staring towards the enemy we will soon meet. As for me... this was one of the first battles I had been in, and I was very anxious to be honest. Could still remember the pain of that bullet from the last time. I looked at Abdul, who was on my right. He nodded as if he wanted to put me at ease.

Soon the enemy made their move, they were steadily closing the distance towards the main army. A cloud of fog was chasing them. Aedan ordered us all to stand our ground until we were ordered to move. We could see Darius' engineers, trying to set up the defenses, digging up holes on the ground, putting the turrets in place. The enemy got close enough to charge in, the engineers started to run away, leaving their jobs unfinished as there was no time for it. Akkadians increased their speed before the charge, the first bout was devastating for Darius's forces, enemy's colossal war machines led the charge. Moving on two massive legs, they were dreadful beasts out there. I felt that I was getting more nervous by second. The enemy ignored our raiders, probably wanting to finish this as fast as possible with their overwhelming strength, with a quick stroke to Darius himself.

It wasn't looking good for Darius, they were being beaten real bad. Aedan was in front of our forces, with an eagle like demeanor, scanning the battle which was just a bit off our reach. A red flag, and Darius' forces started to retreat slowly into the deeper parts of the city. Akkadians gave chase, probably looking for the Sheik, to take his head and break the spirit of their opponents. Then a green flag, I knew what that meant.

Aedan shouted "Raiders! Howl!" All the raiders started to howl like beasts, it was a terrible sound, but it moved our hearts. I forgot my fear the second I took part. Aedan already started to move towards the enemy, and we all followed him like a pack of wolves. We first hailed the enemy with our long range shots while they were chasing Darius towards the city. When half the enemy followed them inside, Darius' forces stopped retreating and started to fight back. The other half we were harassing with our mobility. Yet it wasn't enough, the enemy was putting up a better fight than we expected, they were able to keep us separated from the main army while slowly shooting them down. Aeden ordered us to charge in now, we gathered up and rushed in, in a wedge formation Aedan on point. We started striking there and fro, made a rush into the midst of the enemy then got out, gathered up and charged in again.

After a few more charges, suddenly Aedan stopped his mobile, his eyes fixated on some point in the main army. I soon saw what was up, Darius was in trouble, his banner was surrounded by enemies, his own soldiers left him with only a few personal guards standing by him. Aedan's rushed towards his master without a warning, and after hesitating for a second, we followed him and covered his flanks. It wasn't a careful charge, the distance between us and the Sheik was long with many opponents inbetween. At least half of our forces couldn't get past the enemy and were cut off from us, the other half were being shot down, they lost their will to continue or died. When Aedan reached where the Sheik was surrounded, there were only a few dozen raiders with him, me and Abdul included somehow. We rushed to defend the Sheik. Aedan was a beast, many limbs he cut off with his pala, the enemy started to to run before him. But Akkadians didn't plan to leave this to chance, a giant war machine was slowly making it's way towards Darius, who was covering his head with fear, and was completely oblivious to the beast approaching him.

Aedan stopped chasing around the enemy soldiers and shouted "Concentrate your fire on that thing!". We all started to discharge our weapons towards it. It was at least 10 times bigger than a human. It's armor absorbed our fire, and it looked like we would not be able to take it down in time as it was getting really close to Darius. The man, when he saw it approaching to him, couldn't move, seized by fear... I don't know what made Aedan rush in-between the beast and his master, and what made him think that such an act would help at all. None of us could do anything, the beast just moved its leg forward and squished the great Aedan like a bug. We couldn't believe just what happened, and we lost all hope. I was ready to turn back and run away, with Abdul or not...

But three men replaced Aedan in front of the the Sheik. They were on foot, not on their mobiles. They had menacing grins, behaving in contrast to everyone around them. For the first time, I saw the slim figure taking something serious. His two friends were holding on to their weapons tight, while he was staring very intently at the machine. I don't know what really happened, the machine stopped moving first, then the big one of the trio simply hit one of its leg with his weapon... It fell down like a toy, quite unexpectedly. I can't be sure if I saw an otherworldly fire in the eyes of the slim one just after that.

From that point the battle was completely different, and we all forgot the death of Aedan. I saw the trio cutting down the enemy around them like a tornado, every one of us started to fight with renewed zeal, and every bullet missed us as if we were protected by some godly power.

A short time later, it was a full rout. The enemy threw away their weapons and armors, started to run with tails between their legs. We cut down many that day in the rout.

Counting after the battle, we lost a thousand of our raiders, and many were injured. The main army took more damage, lost half. Still it was a victory, and dying in battle was the most honorable thing for the fighting caste. There were many poor people around to replace the dead soldier. We held ceremonies for our lost, especially for Aedan. But more importantly, we gained three heroes, Jared Nomak, Bassam Hussaini and Adrian Thrax, it was a time for celebration for them and the rest of us who survived.

Following the Sky Wolf - SoF - 11-13-2011

Ashes of the Fallen

After the battle, those who were there to see the death of Aedan, 27 raiders in total, were invited to the fortress for celebrations and a ceremony. Besides the raiders were the high ranked warrior caste and all of the noble caste. Aedan's remains were picked up carefully, burned and his ashes were put into a bowl. Countless candles were set up around his ashes in a great hall. We all praised the Anunnaki, prayed so that Aedan reaches the promised land only the most honored will see. The ceremony was brief, and after our prayers, the celebrations started.

The Great Sheik Darius ordered the rakia to be served and went to sit on his throne. After having his cup filled by a barely dressed woman he spoke, "First cup goes to the fallen warriors!" he spilled his drink on to the floor, all of us in the attendance did the same, "Let the celebrations begin!" suddenly the mood turned into a merry one. Everyone was happy except for Adrian Thrax. He didn't drink the second serving and spilled it on the floor again. Nomak gave a pat on his shoulder, but he still quietly left the scene. Didn't see him again that day.

Everyone else enjoyed the celebrations, though. Especially enjoyed the rakia and women, there were enough of them for everyone. A massive table was set up, all the finest delicacies were served. Countless slaves and servants were rushing about, the riches of the Fortress were gathered up and wasted here. After a while, Darius called for Jared Nomak and Bassam Hussaini. I watched them from my seat, couldn't exactly hear what they were talking about, but the Sheik was obviously praising them highly. Darius had a few women tending to him, and he was very drunk. To his praises, it appeared, Jared Nomak replied only with humility.

After celebrations, the next day in camp, all the raiders saluted us like we were heroes, especially the trio received high praises. I realized that the rest of the raiders were not forgotten, as I saw the women in their tents and empty rakia bottles all over the camp.

Another ceremony, privy to the raiders, was held after the women left the camp. The ashes of the fallen were scattered over the cliff, their remains joined with the river, and they started their new journey into the unknown. Maybe they were following the Skywolf in afterlife.

Following the Sky Wolf - Sol - 03-01-2012

A New March

Of course, the war is never over in Samarra. After annihilating the Akkadian forces in the field surrounding the Fortress, and done quickly with the ceremonies and celebrations, it was our time to strike back. The dead had been replaced by the poor folk quickly. Given minimal training, only the most basic weapons and protection, they would be driven on to the battlefields and to their deaths. This practice was not frowned upon, it was a good thing. The lower caste would pray for an open spot, one man's death would allow the other fill his stomach until he himself dies and leaves his spot to another poor man. If I am sure of anything, it's that being hungry is worse than being dead.

Our raiders stood prepared as always, though our leader was gone. The decision for the new chief would wait until we were given our orders. When the time came and the Sheik ordered Jared Nomak to the fortress, most of us were surprised... It's true that they were heroes, but were they enough heroes to lead us, the raiders of the Black-Gold Fortress? They were just recently admitted to our ranks, being lowly caste-less thugs just a few weeks ago. The look on Hadar's face was hard to behold, as he was so sure he would be the next in line. On the other hand, Nomak's friends were throwing each other victorious looks and smiles, Adrian patted Nomak on his back friendly which threw the guy two meters off.

When Jared Nomak came back, still on his mobile, he spoke to us in the attendance loudly, "Sheik Darius wants us to lead the vanguard and strike the enemy before they can recover from their loss. Our targets are a few outposts surrounding the Great March, the desert between us and the city of Akkad. We are closer to victory now more than ever, and we will not let it slip past us," he waited a bit afterwards, straightening his back and having a scan of the raiders before continuing with his speech, "I have been chosen by the Great Sheik to lead you. But you know this, what we will be doing will be what raiders do as always. We will make sure the enemy is scared enough until we cut off their heads and spill their blood. We will ride under the merciless sun, howling like the heartless beasts we are. Our palas shining on their faces will be the last thing they will see after our charge."

The speech was not very glorious, and many doubted this unusual choice still. Hadar was mumbling, "what do you know about being a raider..?" but he made sure they could not hear it.

Soon we were riding fast after the new chief, speeding over the dirt and sand, our shadows barely cast over the ground. No matter who was in charge, we would be doing what we live to do... Not to simply take lives, but to leave a bloody message while doing it... The watchtower on a small hill was in our sight. We knew it would be burning soon, with pikes set up all around it decorated with severed heads.

Do not mistake my literacy for weakness. I am a raider, I take lives. I ruin my enemies, and I enjoy it.