Battle Ready (Dusty)

Feverishly the elven soldiers worked to secure the many hatches and shields that had recently been set up as protection against a troll firestorm attack. As the wooden fixtures were put back into place Dusty surveyed each ship with its captain to ascertain any damage that might have occurred. So far the inspections had turned up little, the wards spoken by the casters before the attack had indeed done their job.

Meanwhile the enemy forces Dusty had noticed earlier were fully massed in the small vale below them. The Troll leaders did indeed have Gnome casters with them, because now they were bending the rock into assault ladders so as to give several small squads a chance to attack the elven ships on the rocky cirque. Though it seemed as if the elves were not the major target, which would explain how so soon after touching down the elven warships had been located.

Checking over his charts, while at the same time keeping an eye on the progress of the gnomish benders Dusty realized that there was a medium sized human settlement about two hours march from his current location, which meant that the troll forces were massing to attack the settlement. The very circumstance the elves feared when they learned that a troll fortress had appeared in Gatshimntol Pass.

Dusty slowly strode out of the command hut. Walking toward the western edge of the cirque he contemplated the task forces next move. Considering the possibilities he noticed a small group making their way toward the mountain vale from the direction of the human settlement.

“Sir, the gnomes have nearly finished the steps.” one of the elven archers said rushing into earshot of Dusty.

“Very well then, take out every gnome that is visible. Be sure to hit them in both eyes so that they can’t be resurrected.”

“Sir!” he acknowledged. Turning and running back to his post the archer commander shouted out Dusty’s orders.

Weighing everything Dusty decided that his forces needed to help the small sortie from the human settlement dispatch the group in the vale, before continuing on with the attack on the fortress itself.

“All right gentlemen here are the plans…” Dusty started walking back into the command hut. “…we need to drop down and take care of the group down below us. Aktolan, the nearby human settlement has dispatched a small force to investigate or maybe even take on the troll forces next door. They won’t have a chance. We hafta help them out. I want to split our forces. Half will stay on the ships that I want to lift off and circle around the mountain coming in from the north with a hard landing. The other half will stay here and descend the mountain, using the gnome ladders, once the ships touch down. Most if not all of the gnome casters should be dead so the biggest concern will be the ability of the trolls to regenerate. If you take the head they can’t.”
“The Miarason, Shiatsun, Quebecoix, Rainbow, Mirrowbrook and Brighten will stay with me. You other six will be the air assault force, with Commander Waymarker in charge. You must hold out until we can descend the mountain, so you’ll be on your own for the first little bit. We they see themselves out flanked I’d imagine things will turn pretty quickly.”

“Aye sir, we will more then hold our own.” Waymaker replied.

“Good. Now Commanders Suntracker and Waverider I want you to summon the casters. Each of you take half of them and tell them to bend tunnels down through the rock to where the troll gnomes left off in trying to bend those damn assault ladders up the mountainside. Send word right before you break through for the ground units to rally and drop through immediately upon completion.”

“Aye sir.” The two replied in unison leaving the command shack to carry out their orders.

“Commanders Moontripper, Cloudwalker and Dirtmover will ensure that the ground troops are ready for their part of the assault. We should only have the usually Troll forces to contend with but outfit them with gear for repelling majic attacks too. Elemental shields, diamond armor and mithril blades I’d say should see us through.”

“Should we rig for dragonfire, Admiral?” Commander Cloudwalker asked rising to leave on his assignment.

“They need at least a full day to eat brimstone after a run. I certainly hope they don’t have access to more dragons then what we saw. We’ll just hafta take our chances. Let’s get to it lads.”