The Horde troops were approaching the trap that lay in wait for them, in the narrow valley passageways in the rock, that led to the gates of Noran. The four engineering teams lead by Garek Loran were situated high up in the rocks. They, along with other Borial archers and foot soldiers, were going to have their duck shoot. Nearly a thousand were approaching, seeing this route as probably one of the easiest ways to get into the city.
Garek was hunched behind a boulder, up on top of one of the sides of the canyon. He looked across the ways to see Jacob Celchu preparing an arrow for firing. The Beta Team leader was a quick study, and seamed to learn and apply things easily. Jennifer Antilles, Alpha Team leader was set. She then began instructing more members of her team on where to position themselves, and how to shoot a bow. She's a natural leader, Garek thought. Marcus Jacobsen, leader of Delta Team was fiddling with his bow over to the right side of Garek.
"Just make sure to try and hit the bad guy. It shouldn't be so hard since there's going to be a lot of them coming through here." Garek grinned.
"Point noted, sir." Marcus said, acknowledging the senior officer with a smile. He then began to fix an arrow. Farther down the line was Eric Wiley, Gamma Team leader. Garek called him "Late Shift" do to the nocturnal nature of his shift. A strange birdlike call rang out, from behind where Garek was, on a higher point of the hill. It was a Borial female, the spotter for the group. Using hand signals, she would say what was coming. Garek turned, to get a better view of her.
She motioned quickly, giving the arm signals for calvary, two groups, numbering about 200 people. Then, she motioned for acid archers, numbering fifty. Finally, a signal for foot soldiers, ranging from 500 to 700. The acid archers were discovered on a foot patrol by some of Lieutenant Benton's men. The acid was taken from a type of plant which was indigenous to the area where the Horde had established their cities. The plant was boiled in water, where the acid was released into the water. Then, by some type of straining process, it was collected into small bowls. From there, the acid was added to a type of powder to make it into a gelatin type form. The gelatin was then affixed to the end of a small bolt that would be launched from a bow. The idea was that the gelatin would break up in flight, raining the acid mixture down on the people it was used against.
Garek, using hand signals, communicated to Jennifer across the way to aim for the archers. She acknowledged with salute, saying that she understood, and began to tell her archers to do the same. The Horde was approaching quickly, and soon enough, it would be crunch time.
Within a 20 minute span, then Horde had just entered the mouth of the "valley" that led to Noran's gates. As most of the group entered, a loud "FIRE" was heard, and then bolts rained down on the Horde from above. Arrows filled the air, hitting marks all across the small base of the valley. Glap'tas fell, dying. Horde were being struck in the torso, arms, legs, and if one person was good, bolts flew strait through the heads of the lethal enemies.
The acid archers, being near the rear end of the group, armed themselves, and fired. The gelatin mixture, just as advertised, began to break up, raining down small pellets of the lethal material down on the Virgos and Borials.
"COVER YOURSELVES!" Garek yelled out. Each person took out their bronze shield they were required to carry, and raised it above their heads. The pitter and patter against the shields could be heard. Once the sound was cleared away, they removed the shields from over their heads to see that there was barely any damage to the shields, however, people were yelling out in agony, after the strange concoction had hit any piece of flesh on their body.
Apparently, the gelatin appeared to work on only organic matter and not metals. Even small pieces of this material were causing pain to the unbeknownst victim. Skin was reported to "dissolve" and burn off, revealing the inner layer of skin and muscle.
However, now was not the time to think about this. The group opened fire again, raining down more destruction on the impending invaders. The Horde fell like heaps to the ground. Numerous enough to start blocking the entrances to the valley itself. Another cry was heard, "INCOMING!"
Everyone raised their shields. Garek started to raise his, when he was hit by a minute piece of the gelatin in his left eye. "ARGGGG!!!" he yelled out in pain, clutching his face in his hand. He could feel the tissue burning away in his eye socket. He ripped off a piece of cloth from a cloak he had with him and wrapped it like an eye patch over his eye, keeping his eye shut until he could seek out medical attention. Yelling out, "MEDIC!" he hoped that a medical officer, or a Borial physician would appear. However, his cry fell on deaf ears, and no one came. You're just gonna have to bite the bullet and stick it out, he thought. Doing the best he could to aim with one eye, he fired, striking a Horde archer in the eye. The arrow passed out the back of it's head, and the Horde fell to the ground. An eye for an eye...
Eventually, evening came. The battle with the Horde was over. Noran was safe from attack through the valley. Garek wiped his face off, and began to look for any person with medical training. Lucky him, the first person that he was able to see was Dana.
"Doctor! I need you to look at something!" Garek yelled out, moving, as fast as he could towards her.
"Hello Garek I... By the Prophets what happened?!" She moved over towards him, and began to remove the cloth that covered his eye. She gave a type of disgusted look, then, "Well, do you want good news or bad news?"
"Right now, I don't really care."
"Well, the good news is that your wounds have sealed themselves mostly. However, the bad news is that it looks as though whatever happened..."
"The Horde acid gelatin hit me."
"Well, the Horde's acid gelatin appears to have, well, melted your eye. You're not going to be able to see from that eye again."
"Well, that's just great," Garek said, walking away from her. A wooden door led to a room in the building. Garek stood next to the door, and took a deep breath. He punched the door, driving his fist right through it. He then swore, and walked back over to Nori. "I apologize. I'm just a little upset right now."
"Well," Dana started, surprised to see a complete change in his mood and actions, "that's understandable. However, if we ever..." She stopped. "No. When we get back on the Virgo I should be able to provide you with a cordical implant."
Garek took another piece of cloth, and wrapped it over his eye. "I'd greatly appreciate that. Thank you." He gave a weak smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go evaluate what happened, and figured out how many people I've lost." He moved aside, and walked passed the Doctor.