Chapter 5

Boom! A thunderously roar erupted behind the attacking Orcs. All around the gate Orcs dropped. When the rest of the Orcs turned to see what was happening, Boom! Another volley ripped through the Orc’s numbers. Just as the second volley was fired, the gunners made room for their melee troops to pass through, a green wave of Orcs flanked on either side by humans charging with pikes. The attacking Orcs knew this new enemy could completely turn the tide of battle. As the Orcs near the gate turned and began to charge many of them were ripped apart by an oncoming wave of fist sized rocks. Just as the barrage ended, a lone man on a horse rode ahead of the charging army.

The Baron’s horse slammed into an Orc, sending him flying, and at the same time Baron’s saber sliced through the exposed neck of another Orc. He just needed to survive for a couple seconds before his men reached him. An Orc behind him raised his sword to attack. The Baron’s eyes began to glow bright yellow and the Orc froze completely, shaking as though he was struggling against some invisible force. The Baron turned his horse away from the Orc and parried a strike from another, thrusting his saber through his exposed neck and shortly after slapping his horse’s rear, causing it to kick the frozen Orc square in the face and at the same time raise the Baron up, helping him retrieve his saber from an Orc's neck. The Baron turned in his saddle to parry another strike, and as he did the Orc screamed in agony, three pikes sticking out of his exposed flank.

The two lines slammed into each other, sparks flew as metal crashed against metal. The pikemen kept the enemy at a pikes length away, all those hours of drilling and real combat have taught them how to work together to keep an enemy back. The swordsmen, both Orc and the occasional human, tore through their enemies. The enemy was already tired from what could have been hours of fighting beforehand, and the Baron’s men were fresh. Even if all else was equal, the Baron's men still had a huge advantage. But, not all was equal. Udo tore through swordsmen, having mastered the art of using a longsword in tight formations. Gripping his blade at the middle, he thrust into an Orc's armpit, ripping it out and sticking the blade up through the Orc's jaw. He dodged an Orc slash from behind and punched his guard into the Orc’s eye, ripping it out, lifting the sword above his head, and slamming the guard down onto his head, piercing the Orc’s helmet.

Fergus tripped Orcs with the beard of his ax, either finishing them himself or allowing the pikemen near him to do the job. An Orc swiped at Fergus’s head which was blocked by an Londonsburg Orc, being swiftly tripped and stabbed through the heart by Fergus. Fergus rolled over the body and brought his ax down on the head of a distracted Orc, splitting his kettle helm and skull like they were paper mache. A Yorksburg Orc raised his arming sword, but as Fergus turned to deal with him a shot rang out and the Orc’s brains splattered onto Fergus’s face. Fergus smiled and wiped the gore off of his face, howling at the sky and flying at the thickest group of Orcs he could find.

Gaius had decided to protect the pikemen. His massive two handed falchion like sword was unsuited to fighting in tight formations, being, as was already said, massive, as well as having no fine point. An Orc managed to slip past the pikes, but as soon as he raised his sword his head was sliced in half, and a huge chunk of his shoulder butchered as well. Gaius noticed out of the corner of his eye another Orc raising his sword at a pikeman. As the Orc swung his sword, Gaius thrust his own in front of the pikeman, catching the sword just before it opened his neck. Gaius flicked his sword up, pushing the Orc’s much smaller arming sword out of the way, and thrust the rounded end of his sword into the Orc’s neck. Though it did not have a fine point, the edge was still sharpened, and Gaius was incredibly strong,. The sword pushed clean through the Orc’s neck and Gaius swiftly flicked his sword up, popping the Orc’s head off.

The pikemen prevented the Orcs from getting close to the wagons, but they weren’t perfect, a few were able to slip through. Though the few who made it past the wall and noticed the wagons were quickly shot down by the Gobs stationed on the wagons. They jumped for joy every time their shot hit its mark, one of them celebrating so hard he fell off the wagon and had to be helped back on by a nearby musket man. He felt no shame.

The Baron fought with his men from horseback. As much as he wanted to dismount, there wasn’t much charging he could do in this situation, it wasn't like he could just leave his horse behind. She had been with him since the formation of his company and served him well. In a few years he might even retire her, let her run amok across the planes of Bickenstadt province. The Baron and his men were near the gate itself, only a few enemy Orcs remained, and they were getting slaughtered quickly. The gate made quite a nice anvil for the Baron’s men to hammer them upon. An Orc wearing gray plate armor looked over the parapet to the Baron. The Baron gestured to his men with his saber.

“Hey! Open up! We’re sent by the skipper of London! Oh shit-”

The Baron parried one slash and ducked to avoid another, drawing his pistol and firing at one Orc as he simultaniously opened a large wound across the other’s chest. The Orc at the top of the castle gave the Baron a thumbs up and left the parapet. The Baron breathed a sigh of relief.

“Men! Hold the line! We’ll be within the walls soon enough!”

The men cheered and redoubled their efforts. The faster they fight off their enemies and get the wagons into the castle the faster they could rest. Just as the last of the enemy Orcs were killed or rendered harmless, the first wagon parked just outside the doors. The others were lining up behind it, gobs and humans firing from them and celebrating when they hit their targets. The rest of the assaulting Orcs had finally noticed the Baron’s army and were moving to reinforce that side of the castle. The Baron looked around to find something to slow them down, and found that the castle tower near him was on fire. Perfect.

As more Orcs made their way over to the gate, a large object blew through them, killing ten Orcs at once. Soon, more cannonball sized boulders were flying at them, cutting down Orcs left and right.

“Dey’re frowin’ rocks at us! Spread out boyz!”

As the Orcs spread out, so did the rocks, becoming smaller and more numerous. It killed less Orcs per volley due to their loose formation, but causing any amount of casualties would make things easier for his men. Just as the reinforcing Orcs finally reached the pikewall, the gate opened, slowly, and more Orcs poured out, running into and through the pikewall to engage their enemies. The Baron’s men spent most of their time trying to figure out which Orc was friend or foe. They didn’t have much in the way of standardized colors, just tendencies the men noticed. Yorksburg tended to have more warm colors like reds, oranges, and yellows, and Londonsburg tended to have more cool colors, like blues, greens, and purples. Though that convention seemed to be more of a guideline than actually hard and fast rules.

“Head in men! Don’t be shy! Give 'em a kiss if you please!”

The wagons began to roll forward, entering the courtyard. The Baron could see that it was littered with corpses. A lot of corpses. As well as broken stalls, intact scaffolding, and other things you would expect to find in a castle under siege. The Baron entered the castle, followed closely by Ludwin on his horse, and rode over to the nearest Orc.

“You! Take my horse to your stables! I fight with my men!”

The Baron jumped off his horse and ran off towards the fighting, joining in with the pikewall. He could hear Ludwin yelling something as he left, but he didn’t really care. He needed to be there for his men.

“Hold the line! Just a little bit longer! The wagons are heading in! Prepare to retreat into the castle! Close in men! Close the gap!”

The ends of the pikewall began to walk backwards, defending at the same time, until they connected with the other side. The wagons were fully encased in a mobile wall. The men fought hard, working mostly on keeping Orcs away rather than actually attempting to kill them. A couple of Orc got past their pikes and began to attack. An Orc lifted his sword high, and then dropped it harmlessly behind him as a bullet ripped through his eye. The Baron lunged forward and stabbed another Orc through the heart, stepping forward and striking another with the pommel of his saber as he pulled his sword out of an Orc, quickly raising his saber and lopping off the Orc's head. Next to him Gaius reeled back and slammed his sword into another Orc, smashing through his sword, helmet, and skull in a single strike.

About a minute after the Baron joined the line, all of the wagons made it into the castle.

“Alright men! Retreat to the castle! Active retreat!”

The pikewall began to slowly inch back, keeping the enemy at bay as they condensed the formation. Every few seconds a pikeman or swordsman was felled, either caught by an Orc slipping past their pikes, or being physically ripped out of formation by a Yorksburg Orc. The sporadic fire from the muskets was making a difference, however small, but they were stuck in less than Ideal conditions. Since there was no elevation for them to stand on, they just had to find targets clear from their comrades to fire at. As accurate as the Baron’s men were, there was only so precise they could get with a smoothbore musket.

Slowly but surely, the pikewall got smaller and smaller as more and more men made it past the gate. They were near the Yorksburg battering ram, which seemed to be cover in black powder and alcohol. They were close to completely retreating into the castle. The Baron, Udo, Fergus, and Gaius stayed behind to protect the men. Helmut was also helping them, though try as he might, the Baron still had trouble keeping track of the man. He just seemed so unimportant to focus on at times. The Orcs tended to agree, it almost looked like they didn't mine being gored by his rapier at times, just walking right past him even as he was actively attacking them.

As the Baron thrust his saber into the open mouth of a screaming Orc, Udo, standing beside him, fell backwards, a large gash on the right side of his head. The Baron yelled for someone to grab him, and he was swiftly dragged into the castle by some Londonsburg Orcs who ran out of the castle. The Baron breathed a sigh of relief and took stock of the situation. Almost all of his men had made it inside the walls now. It was just him and 60 or pikemen. He needed to keep the gate clear so they could close the doors. Luckily for him, the tower was still burning.

The Baron took a step back from his pikemen, his left eye glowing dark green, his right eye glowing bright yellow, and he punched the ground, burying his arm up the the middle of his forearm. Spikes of earth shot up from the ground just in front of his pikewall, impaling Orcs all around them. Another wave of spikes shot up, crisscrossing with the first ones, obliterating the corpses of the Orcs already stuck. The Baron raised his other arm and checked on the tower. The flame which encompassed almost the entirety of the flammable material in the tower had been reduced to still glowing embers with an occasional weak flame peeking out from the rubble.

“Close the gate!”

The defenders did not hesitate. The gates began to close. slowly. Agonizingly slow. Orcs began to crawl over the earth spikes, and the Baron punched, retracting the spikes into the ground, making the Orcs fall. As they tried to get up, he extended them again, killing more Orcs. One of his pikemen tried to grab his collar to drag him away from the gate. The Baron was shivering, the tower had been completely stripped of fire, and he had to draw on his own internal energy to finish his spell.

“He-he-help me get my arms ou–t of-f-f the ground. P-p-please.”

A couple more pikemen came to assist, and they quickly took the Baron out and dragged him into the courtyard. One of the pikemen yelled at some nearby Orcs.

“Start a fire or something man! Baron’s getting cold! Start the fucking fire!”

The Orcs looked confusedly at the pikeman, but quickly got to building a fire as the rest of the Baron's men started yelling as well. As a few enemy Orcs slipped through the nearly closed gate, they were filled with holes by a line of musketmen. One of the Orcs fell, landing with his arm in the path of the door. As the doors finally closed, it effortlessly crushed his arm, a sickening crunch ringing through the courtyard. two gates dropping with a deafening Thunk! Smashing through the corpses of the Orcs who managed to slip through the doors.

One of the Baron’s men jumped off a wagon and ran over to the Baron, who was shivering next to a fire.

“Baron! sir! I need one of your logs! Sir!”

The Baron shakily gestured to the fire and smiled.

“T-t-t-take your pick.”

He grabbed a log and ran off. As a pikeman threw more logs and other debris onto the fire, the Baron looked around to see if he could find someone in plate armor, though he didn’t move an inch from the fire. A few moments later, the Orc commander came and found him, literally curled up next to the fire.

“Oi, youz da Baron? I ‘Eard Jack’d be sendin’ youz, didn’t really fink it was gonna ‘appen! I’m Jake by de way.”

The Baron looked miserable. Miserable and cold.

“Well then, Jake, I’m here. Is the enemy still attacking?”

A loud Boom! was heard from the other side of the gate. It shook the ground violently, and dust and debris flittered down from the ceiling of the gate.

“Doubt it.”

“Well, go find-” A Gob ran over to Jake, literally jumping for joy.

“Boss! Does Yorksburg gits is retreatin’!”

“-alright then. Um, if you don’t mind. Could we save the formal introduction until after I have warmed up?”

Jake threw up his hands jokingly and backed away.

“Roight. Don't wanna interrupt yer lesiure! See ya after countin’ da dead!”

He turned around and walked off. The Baron held his hands over the fire. Never before had he missed modern conveniences so much. As he was getting feeling back in his fingers, he remembered something important and shot up from his fire.

“Udo! Is Udo alright?!”

The Baron ran over to the medicine wagon and found Geidpfeld working on an Orc. The Orc was missing every finger but his thumb on his right hand. Geidpfeld placed a bulb of garlic in the Orc’s palm and touched a lit match to it.

“Geidpfeld! Have you seen Udo?”

Geidpfeld’s eyes began to glow pale pink, making hand signals over the bulb of garlic. The flame burned faster through the bulb, and some bone before to form where each finger used to be. Geidpfeld responded without looking away from his work.

“He’s fine. Up and about, in fact. Sword pierced his skull, but no brain damage.”

The Baron breathed a sigh of relief.

“Then I won’t interrupt your work further.”

Geidpfeld didn’t respond. His full focus was on healing the Orc. The Baron left to find Ludwin to discuss what was to be done after the battle and found him on the parapet watching the Orcs pull back. Next to him was Fergus and Udo.

“Ludwin! Good to see you survived the battle! Sorry for leaving you, by the way, but we need to coordinate with our allies and put our things where they need to go. And by we, I mean you Helmut and Jean. I ask that you go find them quickly.”

After watching the Orcs march away for a few more seconds, Ludwin patted Fergus’s shoulder and turned to address the Baron.

“Yes sir. Of course.”

He looked a bit irritated, and his words contained a small noticeable amount of venom.

“Ludwin? What’s wrong? You sound tense.”

Ludwin sighed angrily and looked the Baron dead in the eyes.

“With all due respect, sir. You just left me in the castle. I had no orders.” The Baron gave Ludwin the smile he gave his own son when he felt he couldn't measure up to him.

“Oh. Ludwin. You’re no longer a simple Lieutenant, you’re my vice commander! You have full autonomy to act when I am not there. I left you behind because I trust you, Ludwin. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and you’ve got a keen strategic mind, I can see it. I have seen the way you look at a battlefield, the same as I. You’re able to take it all in at once. Next time I leave you like that, remember, I trust you to do what's best. You need to trust in yourself, not just in me. My original choice to have you command the men all the way back in Holenstadt may have been arbitrary, but the decision to keep you in that role was nothing short of a recognition of your talent!”

Ludwin took a moment to soak up his words before saluting and running off, presumably to find Helmut and Jean. Fergus looked impressed with the Baron.

“I ken you ken what you’re doin’, but that was right beautiful, what you did there.”

Out of the corner of his eye, the Baron could see Udo walking to the stairs.

“I meant every word of it-Udo! Come here!”

Udo froze in place and sheepishly turned around.

“Hello, Baron.”

The Baron looked unamused.

“You got injured out there. You very well could have died if you weren’t dragged to safety. From now on, I mandate that you wear a helmet into battle.”

Udo looked absolutely crushed.

“But, but you promised! I hate wearing helmets, man! I-I-I mean, sir! My head feels all wrong with one on!”

The Baron thought for a moment.

“How about this. If you can beat me in a duel, you can forget the helmet.”

“But sir! That’s not fair!”

“All's fair in love and war, son. Just be grateful I love you enough to keep you alive.”

Udo pouted and walked off. The Baron looked around to find Jake and found him near the medical wagon. As the Baron approached him, Jake turned to him and pointed at the wagon.

“Dat’s cool as ‘ell! What a good idea! Medical wagon! Can’t believe wezz neffa fought ‘o dat! You Empire gitz is smart as ‘ell!”

“That is not an Empire thing, it’s a me thing.”

“Den youz is smart as ‘ell.”

“Well it was Helmut who gave me the idea.”

“Meh, semantics! You did it so its youz'ez! Roight, so, wez gotta talk. Deyz been attackin’ us every day! So youz better get your men roight ready for it!”

“Don’t worry, we’re the best in the world. I imagine my gunners will be invaluable to the defense of this castle.”

Jake nodded sagely.

“Roight, I been finkin’ da same fang! ‘Ole time I been ‘ere I been finkin’, ‘man, wish I ‘ad some guns’, you know? I ‘eard you lot use em, figured dey’d be real good for defendin’ shit! An' dey'd make da Gobs more useful.”

“Your instincts are correct, nothing beats out a firearm for defense. You can get a man ready to for line infantry duty with just a weeks worth of training! Much easier to use than a bow!”

“Really? I been wonderin’ why we don’t use ‘em as much. I mean, it do be kinda cowardly to fire at gitz from a couple ‘undred yardz away, but well, what works works! Oi, fink you can spare a gun or two for me? Personal collection type fing.”

“I’m sure we have something laying around you can use. More importantly, we need to discuss our logistics. We brought a lot of supplies with us, but we need to make sure they last.”

“I know all dat! Why not ‘ave your boyz talk to my boyz? I doubt youz is doin’ dat personally. I don’t!”

Jake laughed raucously. The Baron smiled and slapped Jake’s shoulder.

“Yeah, We’ll let Jean take care of that stuff. Let’s talk guns!”

The Baron pulled out his pistol, emptied the pan and barrel back into the powder horn in his shirt, and handed it to Jake.

“Alright, so here’s how it works…”