The Flint Knappers - Chronicles [Episode #12]

Name: Newman Smith
Mission Date: d+375

It has taken me a few days to get settled down enough to make this entry. I got my bell rung pretty good by one of my own explosive charges but I'll tell you about that in a moment. I have to begin much earlier in the day, as we were preparing to launch the attack.

Everyone was in their respective positions before dawn. I was waiting a safe distance from the narrow pass that lead on to the center of their nesting clusters. We were all waiting for our first respective signals to act based on our specific duties. The first rounds to go downrange would be the chlorine canisters from the mortars. They would continue to fire until they were out and then they would change to an observation mode and use signal fires to let those down in the valley know when to move.

We didn't expect the chlorine to kill them but we did hope it might weaken them and from our previous autopsy we had learned that their respiratory tracts are vulnerable. Still, it was primarily intended to force them out of certain areas and into others. We hoped to channelize them into our well laid gauntlet of traps and ambushes. We would then try to lead them on a wild goose chase designed to keep them separated while the quick reaction force moves in for a team kill.

So, with all that in mind we began shelling as the first rays of light came streaming across the lake. I could hear the distant thump of the mortars and assumed things were ok as the thumping continued. I got a sense in the pit of my stomach that we had just kicked a hornets nest even though I couldn't know yet if the barrage had been effective.

Using gas is nasty business. It can never be predicted accurately so all we could do was cross our fingers. There was even a small chance that the normally predictable winds coming from the lake could shift. If that happened we would find ourselves getting a dose as well. Fortunately we got a lull and the gas settled into the low lying areas and stayed there for a good twenty minutes. I realized this when I saw the first signal fire on the south western ridge.

That was my warning that the gas had flushed them out and they were coming our way. I sent the runners immediately to tell each team to stand by. Next I moved to the top of the lime furnace because it allowed me an unobstructed view over the treetops of most of the valley. This wasn't perfect but would help me monitor the tempo of the battle. Angada would stay by my side and help with communicating with the Various teams. Their telepathic abilities wouldn't allow precise messaging but would still be critical in reacting to whatever the Rakshasa might do.

I heard the first explosion after about thirty minutes. It was well off in the distance but I could tell it was on my side of the nesting grounds. That meant they were heading right into the gauntlet. That was the best thing I could have hoped for. Less than a minute later I heard another explosion but it was very far off. That would be the amphora mines we left along the trail heading towards the lake. We didn't really expect them to go that direction. How many would be important for the next phase of the plan. We would later find out that there was a mating pair trying to escape with a bunch of eggs. The male was killed by the explosions and the shrapnel wounded the female and broke some of the eggs. This was evident by the blood trail and smelly egg yolk that led towards the lake. We never found the female.

Over the next ten minutes or so there were several more explosions eventually accounting for about 80 percent of the mines I had placed. That meant whatever was left would be hitting our skirmishers soon. I asked Angada to tell everyone to stand ready as I continued to scan the ridge lines for the next signal fire.

All down the valley I could see the tree tops shaking and parting as the Rakshasa rampaged and stomped about. They seemed to have divided into two groups of about 6 or 8 per group. That was a disaster for our plan. If we couldn't get them to split up we would get slaughtered and they would keep going until they got to the caves. All of the female Vanara and their young had already bunkered down but they wouldn't be able to defend for long if everyone above ground gets killed.

The elite warriors of our QRF were eager to head into battle. They were practicing their tail strikes and swinging their axes like batters on deck in a baseball game. They would be busy soon enough but we needed to wait a little longer.

Angada tells me that the two groups are inflicting heavy casualties everywhere they go because they still haven't split into smaller numbers. We hadn't expected this level of coordination. If we didn't do something to get them to scatter we were toast.

Something was not adding up to me. How could they have managed to group up so fast without our spotters letting us know? I later discovered that two of the teams on the Ridge had been attacked and were unable to light the signal fires until after the threat had been dealt with. Apparently there were two Rakshasa on the respective far edges of the valley and they immediately began hunting when the first mortars fired. They found the teams and managed to kill or wound nearly half of them before they subdued the beasts and lit the signal fires to tell us which direction to move.

Once everyone had a better idea of where the Rakshasa were we moved in to surround them. There was a problem though. It was as though they knew we were moving into an effective position and they kept just out of our reach. It was almost like they were picking up on our telepathic messages. If that was the case then we were going to sustain very heavy casualties and the battle could go on for days.

My heart sank as I realized the fight may be slipping away from us and then something amazing happened. Angada placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me an innocent "don't worry" look. Soon after that I heard my chakora cry out. The weird thing was he was still back at my place. Then I realized, no, he's heading this way and the reason I knew this was because I was picking up on his thoughts. Suddenly the forest was filled with a cacophony of chakora song which was heard with both the ears and the heart. It was like a cloud of sound and thought that made it impossible to think straight. I noticed Angada nodding and mumbling to himself and soon realized he was talking to someone.

In the cloud of chatter they were hearing only each other and thinking in whispers. Somehow this clouded the Rakshasa ability to know where we were moving and the tide of the battle turned. Between our taunting and tactical maneuvering we were able to split them up and kill them all except for two.

Those last two were smart enough to flank us and made it all the way to the path leading to the cave entrance. By this time I had already lit the signal calling for a full defense of the caves. Every remaining warrior knew to fall back and regroup. I made it to the rally point first and hoped that others would get there soon as I could hear the two Rakshasa smashing their way through the forest. The next few minutes seemed like days as I waited for backup. Angada and I stood shoulder to shoulder gripping our weapons, determined to protect the caves.

Thankfully several small groups of Vanara came running to our position and quickly fell into a line formation, three deep. As soon as the Rakshasa came into view they were met with a hail of at'latl spears. One of them went down on one knee and the axe warriors pounced on him swinging wildly. They were being tossed around like rag dolls but still fought on fiercely. I expected the other Rakshasa to come to the aid of his comrade in arms as it would have been a clear victory. We were really outnumbered having failed to kill one of them with the first volley. Instead he did something that I didn't expect. He bailed on his buddy and ran straight for the cave entrance. He planned to exact revenge on the Vanara cubs. It was almost like you could sense the visceral blood lust.

Angada had become embroiled in battle with the other one which left only me standing between one pissed off Rakshasa and the cave. So what did I do? I ran the other direction. That's right, I did. I then grabbed the last of the amphora mines that I had hidden in the bushes and hastily punched a hole in the bottom and ran back towards the cave. Trailing gunpowder as I went there was still over two-thirds of it left when I placed it at the entrance of the cave and ran back to where the trail started. I could hear the Rakshasa howl in disgust as he realized that the cave entrance was blocked beyond the main gallery. My hands were sweaty and shaking as I took out my flint and sent a stream of sparks onto the trail of gunpowder. A fiery snake of burning powder raced all the way to the cave entrance igniting the mine and bringing down a rain of stone and dust. I was thrown a good ten meters backward by the blast. The entrance was sealed and the Rakshasa was trapped inside our decoy cave. It had been abandoned the day before so we could prepare the trap.

The last signal fire was burning out as the final warriors came streaming in. Vijay, Katherine and Astrid were all safe but we lost many brave Vanara warriors. We took some time to regroup before clearing out the cave entrance to finish off our last enemy. We wound up just opening up a hole big enough to throw our remaining gunpowder through and then set it all off in a glorious final report. The last Rakshasa in our part of the world thus met a quick and fiery end and we closed a long history of fear and trepidation.

Once we have taken care of the wounded and had some rest I think it's about time we got started on a proper human settlement. It's way past time for the flint knappers club to settle down and start a family.

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