The War of Vengence

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the oncoming storm
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The War of Vengence

Post by the oncoming storm » Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:54 am

I had to write a story this year for school and made it about a water war. I hope the community likes it, please comment.




The War of Vengeance


It was a humid spring evening, and I had gotten home from work a half hour later than usual. As I pulled into the driveway of our home, I saw my kids trying to knock over some cups with their water guns. They were clearly excited to see me and came running over to hug me with their slightly wet hands. My older son James (10) said “Hey dad! We're having week long town water fight the first week of summer break. Could you help us?” Without hesitation I agreed. I chuckled a little to myself as went in the house to clean up for supper, remembering some of great times I had with water guns in high school. That night in my dreams an old memory surfaced...

“The sun was setting on the horizon and the situation was looking grim. We had been caught off
guard when an attack by the Sabers trapped us in our base. We had held them off fiercely for 3 hours but at great cost. Now only one balloon was left, and I loaded it in my sling I scanning for one last target. I saw him crouched behind a clump of bushes about 160' out but still very visible, thanks to his white shirt. It was their commander Cato; now directing the assault on us personally. I thought to myself “Excellent.” as I pulled back to shoot. “Thwack!” It was a nice shot and landed on his chest with a satisfying splat.

I climbed down from the tree-house and immediately ran down to our final ring of trenches to assist. Several people turned when I jumped into the trench, and I quickly told them “I'm out”. Everyone turned to our commander Rebel expectantly for a reaction. He replied with a glance and a nod. We knew what to do. I drew my SL 1500 and charged.

There were only about a dozen of us left at this point - mostly veterans, and we all came over the trenches yelling “Eagles!” soaking several Sabers before they could react. However, those in the second trench ring fought back. In particular a 4100 fired a volley of suppression fire at us. I dodged, but Flash was hit. Our brief advance halted while we exchanged shots losing all three surviving Greenies before we finally broke through.

The brief pause at the trenches was costly but ironically had helped us. The bulk of the Saber's reinforcements had been sent to our right flank to force us back and were now behind us. Now free to leave the fort we started down the trail towards the pond as fast as we could, hoping to escape and fight another day. When we glanced back, “Flood” (the elite Sabers) were already closing the distance. Tempest stopped and called out “Gold group! Try to buy the others some time!” The few survivors from his squad stopped immediately while the others, including me ran on.

We were nearly a mile down the trail when we encountered a squad blocking the path in front of us at a crossroads. “Left!” I yelled but it was no use. Another enemy squad emerged from some bushes not 100' down it, blowing a perfect ambush but effectively blocking the trail. We started exchanging shots with the two squads while moving backwards very slowly, but were then blocked by Flood when they arrived. Their squad leader spoke up.“Surrender or be destroyed!” I didn't care, and we must have all had the same thought because as soon as he finished his little taunt, we all opened fire. I blasted 2 of them, but with the dense brush along the sides of the trail in that area we had nowhere to run. Suffice it to say that within 30 seconds we were all drenched. “

Suddenly I was woken by my wife shaking me. Apparently I had almost pushed her off the bed because I was moving around so much. After that I couldn't sleep and just lay in bed till the alarm went off. On my daily run, I ran to the old fort on Eagle Ridge where we had fought that battle what seems so long ago. Clearly it was abandon and had been for years. Bushes now covered the hillside and the tree-house near the top had fallen in. Surveying the place I had spent so many days as a teen, I inhaled deeply the smell of the yellow honeysuckle that now covered it.

My first priority was a trip to the store to get some quality water guns, a move that was a little unpopular with my wife since the ones they were given last year still worked. A quick look around showed only a few blasters like what I remembered, and I told them to pick between a few of them James picked out a Colossus for himself and Daniel (8) a Python 2. I didn't see anything that suited my fancy there (they were all so small) so later I did a quick search through my attic and pulled my old 2700 "warhog" it out of it's box.

Training was the next thing on my planing list and the best way to learn how is skirmishing, let them learn by example. So I arranged for their teammates Jack(8), Carter(10), Sam(11), and his sister Sarah(9) along with their entire families to meet us at the park after work one day. After a few not so friendly fire incidents while we were filling blasters threatened to turn into a FFA frenzy, I let my 30x drilled nozzle do the talking and tried to force them back in line. Basically someone (I forget who) had said something about the girls acting more disciplined than the boys and after some disagreement shoots were fired by both sides. I shot one of the mothers who seemed to be instigating it with a 30x shot to the chest and she replied by trying to dump a 5 gallon bucket on my head, with that chaos ensued.

After we started to run low on water and it was clear the girls weren't going to be driven away from the hose to let us fill again safely. I took some form of control and got the boys to disengage, leading them into the woods towards the creek thoroughly drenched from my effort to take it. This was a dangerous time from a moral perspective, and we needed to do something to draw them into the woods were I could swing the momentum in our favor. They weren't likely to follow us far at this point and the boys would soon be demanding another doomed full on attack without action. So I needed to take a hostage! The boys likely couldn't be trusted to keep it quite so I only told Dean and Josh my real plan and a full attack order to the boys.

The hose itself was 100' long and located on the full outside wall of a 20'x 30' pagoda with a perimeter half wall on three side and a pair of bathrooms on the other. Inside was a second hose faucet that would allow the defending team to refill without having to take the hose out of play. We emerged from the woods on toward the half walls on the side closest the hose, the plan was for me and Josh to feign a refill and sneak around the back unnoticed grab a small one and be gone before they could stop us then Dean would start the full retreat and we would all regroup in the woods and hunt them down once they entered the woods in pursuit.

The full attack was just as bad as I knew it would be but the girls bought it and focused their all energy and manpower to hold it back hardly noticing when we Josh and I left. Three minutes later we were hiding behind the full wall waiting for a suitable victim. Dean was keeping the pressure high and yet had managed draw them towards the end of the hose reach to give us more space. Soon Josh's daughter Hannah (7) returned for more water and we sprung the trap, she didn't even know we were their till Josh covered her mouth. right as Sam's mom rounded the other corner! A few pulse shots on 10x kept her at bay just long enough for Josh to get a small head start before I too broke into retreat.

Pursuit wasn't exactly hot and we soon lost her in the woods, but now we controlled them and they would have to hunt us. The boys started cheering and yelling when they saw what we had done. I called my wife to negotiate her "return" only to find her phone was on silent. I sent Dean to see how many of them were left at base and he reported than only 4 had been left behind to guard it. I decided to seize the opportunity and moved us all back towards to fort hostage in tow.

The blaster armed troops were easily overwhelmed by raw firepower as all 12 of us poured it into them and then drove the hose away from the faucet and turned it off. Josh then called his wife and told her where we were. They returned in full force now only to meet the same unbreakable defense they had themselves put up earlier, my plan was simple when they run out don't let them escape to refill as they had us. It too worked and the whole thing start to finish lasted just 45 minutes.

Later rounds were done during the training session (with the actual team vs everyone else) but I don't think they were nearly as noteworthy.

The first day of the war we were all required to meet at the school playground at 11am to hear the rules, and be told who was playing on what teams. The rules were simple. If you were soaked as a result of action you were out, last team standing wins Ect. As we were reading teams a few names of friends stuck out in my mind Mike (Tempest) and Barry (Flash) were on a team together with their kids, and Tyson (Rebel) on another with his. I started weighing my options on how to take them out, but was jerked back to reality when I heard that Cato was helping his son's team. It was had at least 30 members. Calling themselves Sabers and which had several people from the old team. I remained fixed on Cato as they called off my team which was the last one, It constituted myself, my two sons James and Daniel and four of their friends from 2nd and 4th grade. I couldn't help but think Cato seemed a little impatient to get started.

By default we had 5 minutes to spread out before the war began and I knew Cato would be all too eager to go on the attack once the grace period expired. I rallied my team to get on their bikes and follow me as I ran towards the last place they would think to look, the Saber's home base. It was a great hiding place and we stayed there for a couple of hours. By then the kids were getting very restless and wanted some action. I weighed out the risks and thought by now the initial battle must have died out, and the Sabers heading to base. I ordered us towards the Pine Wood subdivision hoping to catch some limited action.

It was nearly 2 miles to the subdivision from the Saber's base but we covered it in just 12 minutes and even on bikes the children were short of breath. I told them to hide the bikes behind the sign and proceeded into the subdivision on foot. At the first stop sign I looked both ways glimpsing a team spread out over a front yard a couple of blocks away uphill to the left. I advanced us up a block before turning our group left hoping to attack them from above. We had to cross a backyard to get in position but it worked, and we emerged across the street and uphill from them while they had no idea of the impending ambush. Suddenly a war cry went through the air. We all looked down the hill to see a squad of Sabers rushing up to battle!

I forgot which team I was on for a second and before I knew what was happening we were running towards the Sabers to assist. “We're coming” I yelled, as the team below scrambled to grab weapons that had been scattered carelessly around the yard. They were completely stunned and didn't react until we had started firing back at Sabers ourselves. It took a while but outnumbered and with the ground in our favor the Saber squad was forced back down the hill losing several people before ordering a full retreat. I paused to check our casualties. We had been lucky. Only one girl from the unknown team had been hit.

The other team seemed disorganized even compared to most and so I asked them who was in charge. Twin girls answered “Our dad”. After a pause, one of them continued. “He went scouting, but never came back.” I thought for a moment before realizing they meant Rebel. Since Rebel wasn't there to command them, I offered to let them come with us. An offer which they gratefully accepted.

After this I decided that we needed to find out what had happened so far and set out at a slow jog towards the park. It was relatively peaceful when we arrived. A small group had set up base on the play-set and judging from the number of water balloon fragments and fresh mud on the ground, there had been a fierce battle sometime earlier in the day. “They have a position of strength their not going to talk.”I thought to myself. Oddly the pagoda the training day had shown me was easily defensible (at least in soakfests) wasn't claimed, I now followed an almost unseen trail of disturbed grass away from the playground battle towards the woods. Not too far in we found a piece of wood placed between 2 trees as a defense. It wasn't much, and so the three people guarding it were willing to talk.

We found out that the Sabers had indeed struck early, wiping out two teams that tried to escape, and decimated three more before breaking off. Later, two of them joined together to seize the playground and fought off this team which had also tried to take it. Just before we had arrived, their scout had reported that an alliance controlled the schoolyard and the Sabers were not anywhere in town. However, they had no clue as to Rebel's location or even that of the Sabers.

We left them alone after this, and I headed away towards Eagle Ridge to set up a permanent base at the old fort. When we reached it I noticed that a small trail had been cleared to the top and the ground walked on by a pretty fair number of people. Based on my experience I decided that Cato had more than likely left town to stalk the larger teams based in the subdivisions. Therefore it must have been Tempest's team, with this decided I advanced up the hill with my weapon over my head to show my intentions were not aggressive. I was nearing the second ring of trenches when several shots landed next to my feet I lowered my gun and to shoot back and suddenly a voice yelled out in an annoyed tone “What part of don't shoot unless we tell you too. can't you people understand?” It was Flash.

Flash broke cover and came running over, his wiry profile was unmistakeable “What are you doing here Centurion?” He asked, I replied “Needed a base. You?” he answered “Tempest thought we could hide out and still have our full force with us for the final battle.” and after a pause to look at the group I had brought asked “Where's Rebel?” “Been wondering the same thing.” I replied “picked up his team after rescuing them from a Saber attack.” I glanced at my watch 3:30pm I was starved, Tempest had them heat up a few packs of hotdogs for us and we gorged ourselves as I recalled to them the events of the day.

After lunch we made decided to form any alliance “The Eagle alliance” Flash left by himself to try and locate the Sabers and Rebel, it was almost 5:00 when he returned to report back. The Sabers had been wearing down a team in the subdivision closest to their base using repeated ambushes and only suffered token casualties. Meanwhile the Schoolyard alliance had broken up after a battle and were both greatly weakened, but Rebel was nowhere to be seen. We decided that in the short term it made sense to sit still and later around dark we would try to claim drive away the playground team and use the pagoda as a forward outpost for future offensives.

It was nearly 9:30 when we entered the park by way of a trail in a small gorge nicknamed Hidden Valley by Rebel years ago because it wasn't on any area maps. Emerging from the woods silently already spread out in combat formation, we broke into a run and were almost to their position before the lookout could sound the alarm. After a few minutes of trading shots I moved around to the other side of the playground silently with my sons and blasted a Colossus 2 in back near the slide before motioning the boys to enter the base through the new breach in their defenses. Under attack from 3 sides, it didn't take very long to turn almost everyone inside into human sponges. After this Tempest's squad returned to Eagle Ridge and left Flash's squad (I loaned him Rebels group) and mine at the outpost as guards.

In the morning Flash woke me, and after breakfast Flash went off to scout some more. Around 8:00 he reported back. Sabers now held the subdivision they had been attacking yesterday and the survivors from that team had been forced to join the Sabers, and they appeared to be moving to strike against some other outlying team. After some talk with Tempest on the phone we agreed that, our first priority was to occupy town and then try to engage the Sabers in a conclusive battle.

We were still waiting for tempest to bring his half of the army down from Eagle Ridge and back to the park when a bike messenger arrived from LaMancha subdivision requesting aid in holding the Sabers back. I talked with Flash for a bit, before we decided I would go with my squad. Our plan was that by sending aid to them the Sabers would think our team was also in the outlying areas causing the Sabers to lose several days trying to find and destroy us there, while Tempest and Flash secured the town.

When arrived at the front-lines it was clear the Sabers had the upper hand. Our lines had been deformed into a crescent shape and we were taking fire from 3 sides, I decided our priority would be to clear the right flank and then do a little flanking action of our own. Sabers had just started a drive to completely encircle us as I start to put my plan into effect, it was hard work for me to try and keep a full squad of Sabers pinned down under fire but it was critical to my plan, every second I held the sabers back here the rest of my squad came ever closer to getting on the flank to start driving them back.

Unfortunately my plan had counted on holding the left flank, and almost the instant our ambush destroyed the Sabers right flank our left fell back to a position less than 100' from where we had been. Nevertheless I moved to flank the Enemy lines anyways, trying to buy time to evacuate the center which was practically surrounded, as our flanking action continued the center pulled back to form a new front. All this time the left continued to lose ground and we ultimately swapped our positions with the sabers. They held us off for a while but because the center had dumped most of their supplies when they pulled out, we could afford to stay stalemated.

Nearly half an hour into our attack the Sabers line broke into full retreat as several key players cried “every man for himself” I assumed the sabers weapons were almost dry, and ordered a charge. Despite the extreme bulk of my fully loaded 2700 (I had only just refilled) it didn't take long for me to outpace the children that formed the bulk of our army and turn several of the fleeing Sabers into “human sponges”. With the initiative against them a few Sabers surrendered as they grew weary of running, The leaders on the other-hand quickly gave me the slip.

I as I tried to catch up to the Saber commanders minutes slipped by and finally my pace slacked, suddenly I saw in the corner of my eye as a glint of light reflected off of a stream of water the size of my fist I ducked behind a tree to dodge. After it missed I looked out from behind the tree and quickly found the CPS 2000's wielder. A stocky 12 year old boy bathed in sweat with and with an empty 2L bottle on the ground next to him. “Rich noob”, I thought to myself as I ducked again to avoid another rapid shot. I thought to myself, “got to waste his pressure”. The stream hit the right side of the tree while I popped out to the left and answered with a pair of tap shots from my 2700. Judging by his reaction when the first 10x whizzed over his head due to a gust of wind, he hadn't been expecting anything to possibly range his mighty 2000. Desperately he took cover behind a bush as a second shot just missed his feet, as he re-pumped from his shots. Then he jumped out and sent a full chamber downrange hoping that some of it would hit home, giving me barely any time to drop my head and shield myself from any stray droplets with my gun. Still ducking from his shot I gave the 2700 a quick pump and charged the bush, “Cree-sh!” just a second later his entire back half was soaked and most of the front.

I finally regrouped my thoughts. “How long have I been running?” I asked myself, and guessed that 10 maybe 15 minutes and realized just how vulnerable I had left my squad to counter attacks with my mad pursuit and so set off back towards them at a slow run despite the fact that my lungs were begging me to give them a rest. Fortunately, pretty much everything was alright when I got back. Daniel however had sighted Cato running away who as I learned after asking around had collapsed our left almost single handedly about an hour ago now with a “Massive black water-gun bigger mine” (as several people put it). I muttered to myself “Desolator” and remembered.

“Desolator” was a modified Monster XL Cato had commissioned XL neverfacedefeat on Aquatica to make for him in to replace his broken CPS 3000 (But never paid for). This mammoth blaster could almost range the 15/1700's that were popular among many of the other local teams at the time and had been painted all black. My thoughts now ran to it's first reported sighting, the Battle of Bedford Hill in late June of 2000. I had been called by my commander Tempest who said that he had just seen a Saber army assembled there. Our siege had lasted 2 hours before the effort was abandon at Tempest's command. The next day Rebel's team made an alliance with us to drive them off, and thus started the 100 Days War between what would later become the Eagles and the Sabers and only “ended” when school returned that fall.

About this time I got a call from Tempest who had been furious when Flash told him that I had gone to provide aid to another team without his consent. But permitted me to aid any team dealing with the sabers in the “outer rim” provided that I would limit my squad to indirect engagement only. When I got off the phone I noticed that no one was repairing the defenses in case of another Saber attack. Instead they were having an argument about whether something was a touchdown or not, as they had taken to playing 2 hand touch football. I thought to myself “and this is what they were probably doing when the Sabers attacked the first time round” and then told them to refill their blasters, man hoses at several houses around the outside of the subdivision and fix the barricades that had been damaged in resent battle.

Having helped as much I could under Tempests orders I left with my squad to cause some trouble as the Sabers returned to base to regroup. Around 10:15 I tried to draw one squad into a mouse trap ambush but they didn't take the bait. Later still around 11:00 we encountered a pair of scouts and shot one carrying a Python 2, the other ran off and fearing an ambush. I didn't follow and returned to the subdivision before the Sabers could react. After a good half hour, I decided to hunt on our right flank, judging that left would be to well guarded for the sabers to attack. Not ½ a mile down the trail I heard Sabers tromping nearby and I moved us into the woods creeping as stealthily as is possible with four kids in tow. Finally after a half hour of stalking we caught them taking a break next to a creek.

Their were seven of them armed with everything from a Point Break to a CPS 1200 and small Stream Machine. I motioned for James to shoot the Stream Machine with his Colossus 2 and gave my 2700 an extra pump for good measure while I let the others pick their targets. Suddenly a kid with a Gremlin spotted someone, and started to stand up. Without any hesitation I yelled charge and advanced as my first shot hit a kid next to the 1200. My squad however was afraid to advance into range of the 1200 which appeared to be k-modded, forcing me to take him out before their numbers could be brought to bear. I fired several rapid shots at him driving back till he fell in the creek. “Out!” I cried, and the others in my group cheered. Only 2 of them escaped our slaughter, and I gave them a warning never to come back.


After the success of the ambush, we returned to the relative safety of the subdivision to replenish our supplies, fearing to linger at the creek, and stayed long enough to eat lunch. While we were eating, I called Tempest to get an update on the campaign in town. The two teams that held the playground the night before had returned to the park and then retreated when a pincer movement by Flash's squad soaked four of them and threatened to trap their whole army.

After lunch I moved my squad into the woods near the edge of Saber territory figuring that and attack their was inevitable. Pretty soon, two squads of Saber came down the trail towards our hiding place but we couldn't fight or outrun them all and I had to let them pass unopposed. Following five minutes behind was a supply wagon pulled by a large dog, with only two guards. We soaked them all and stole the water bottles, and as many balloons as we could carry, before slashing the rest and draining what blasters they had.

The rest of the day was pretty much the same- ambushing supply wagons and delaying Saber reinforcements whenever they attacked. After sunset we quietly returned to the subdivision hoping to have a quite night, only to be wakened at 1am by the loud “Thwuk” sound of several pneumatic water balloon launchers from all sides. “Take cover!” I yelled as I scrambled out of my borrowed sleeping bag and reached for my 2700 which had been leaned against a tree.

The first volley had awoken all but the soundest sleepers, yet my teammates ignorantly chose to remain in place, not realizing the danger. As I listened for the *splat* of water balloons landing nearby, a pair of them slammed into the house about 40' away. Suddenly, the porch light switched on, and my whole squad was illuminated for the Sabers to see. We all ran under the deck for cover. Several minutes into the artillery barrage, as the Sabers were reloading, I thought I heard the sound of footsteps running not too far away in the woods.

My fears were confirmed when a shot much closer than any before hit the foundation wall. “Retreat!” I ordered and started running as fast as I could without my squad mates falling behind. We paused about a block in so we could rest a little, while I listened. I was hoping to discover where the bulk of the attack was, and judging by the yells of the Sabers, they were coming at us from the left flank, and the artillery was only here to keep us from escaping.

With that decided, I moved my squad stealthfully out of the subdivision and into a field covered in grass so tall that, with the exception of me, no one in our squad could see over. Judging it a safe place, we hid there until all the fighting was over. With the Sabers on all sides, I was unwilling to move us until they dispersed. At first light I woke the rest of our squad from an uneasy sleep. Having spent the long hours before dawn on guard myself I was not at all rested.

We reentered the subdivision carefully, only to find it abandoned by our hosts. Still, at least there weren’t any Sabers. Balloon fragments were the only sign that any action had taken place. It wasn't a mystery to those who lived there and had been kept awake by the sounds of battle. The majority of the Rouges had surrendered to the Sabers around 1:45 am and were then ordered to hunt down those who still resisted the Sabers. We received 2 1st graders both girls who had been kept inside during the battle due to how late it was, and now were all that remained of the Rouges as part of our group and returned to town.

Flash and Tempest had been very productive while I was gone, but the Schoolyard was still under control of the alliance. I rehearsed the events of the previous day to them, afterward we decided that the schoolyard alliance would have to go today if at all possible and started laying out plans to take them out.

The plan went into effect at 11am. Taking 3 man sling and with the other three squadies for defense I began to soften up the defense by eliminating as many players as I could. Mean while the other 3 squads under Flash and Tempest and some teen I didn't know by name surrounded them and pressed on the other 3 sides. At 12:30pm they raised the white flag and attempted to negotiate a favorable surrender, at 12:45pm Flash came in on the radio “They just tried to soak Tempest, show them no mercy”. The battle resumed promptly and it was 1:15pm before the white flag went up again. This time we reached an agreement. We would let the survivors escape if they gave us the schoolyard and ended their co-alliance.

With the schoolyard in our control we rested till 3pm while flash scouted in the subdivisions. When he reported back we found out that the schoolyard alliance teams had not broken up as we had agreed and taken Pine Wood subdivision as their new base. Three subdivision teams were at war with each other, and the Sabers like us were content to sit back and let the other teams destroy each other. So the rest of the day passed with the only action coming when Flash's patrol chased off a group of people trying to flank another team.

Day 4 got interesting early when Flash reported that Saber's had absorbed the alliance teams in another late night action and were marching towards the subdivision war to attack. We talked about our options and decided that we could no long ignore the Sabers since they already outnumbered us 60 (approximately) to our 24, we would attempt to ally ourselves with the remaining subdivision teams and lead a massive guerrilla campaign to even the odds before attacking the Sabers home base. Just in case things went wrong Tempest would stay at Eagle Ridge and prepare the old fort for a siege.

Being the fastest over long distances Flash and I were sent to run ahead of the army to establish the cease fire and alliance between the three warring teams. When I arrived at Arcadia it was already 9:50am. They all showed a little miss-trust toward me but still led me to their leader and after a short debate I persuaded her to focus on the Sabers and ally with us. Flash called not long after to confirm the same regarding the team from Maple View.

“Two down one to go” I thought to myself and after the flip of a coin decided that I would go to Greenwood to secure their aid I set off. It was 10:05am when I arrived on the outskirts and was greeted by a pair of hoses that refused to let me enter or even speak to the person in charge. I explained the situation to them instead hoping to change their minds. However fearing a trick, they made it quite clear to me that they would continue the war in the subdivisions.

I texted Flash and Tempest the results I had gotten as I walked towards Maple View where the army had been sent pending my arrival. Once I was there we spread our patrols out along the most likely approach routes 2 of them facing the Saber base and the other towards Greenwood.

Around 10:45 my patrol encountered a bike scout from Greenwood but failed in our attempts to pursue him because of a downhill stretch. Later, around 11:15am we shot two Saber scouts near Arcadia but not before they could inform others. Around 11:40 an attack on Maple View by Greenwood was reported and we rushed to their aid.

As it turned out it had been a raid, Balloons were smashed and buckets knocked over but no hits were made. Not long after a large scale Saber attack came from the rear and advanced nearly a full block before being driven back by a brilliant flanking action by Flash.

After the attack was over we ate a quick lunch and resumed our patrols. At 12:30pm we got a text from the other squad reporting a successful ambush resulting in 5 unanswered hits against the Sabers near Maple View. I decided to raid Greenwood and see what they were up to, around 1:20pm I arrived and found them in battle against the Sabers but I couldn't bring myself to do anything and just left. So most of the day passed ambushing, and driving off Sabers left and right with little to note.

6:30pm I started stalking a saber squad that was somewhere off trail nearby, it took a while but I finally found an ambush spot along a narrow animal path that I assumed they were moving on around 7:00pm. I was right, around 7:05 a squad of Sabers slowly came into view with Rebel at the front.

As they got closer I noticed that he was unarmed and had someone holding a CPS 2100 to his back “Good he's just a prisoner” I thought. I quietly grabbed a pebble and bounced it off his face, he glanced towards me and his eyes grew wide. I pulled the trigger back on my 2700 and almost instantly Rebel hit the ground letting a 5x shot hit his guard, others in my squad followed suit and hit a few more before the surviving Sabers ran off.

I came running over and he was clearly confused “You do remember I'm not on your team don't you?” he asked, I replied “You could just say thank you.” something was bugging me and I had to ask “Why didn't Cato just shoot you?” He was quick to answer “Cato had me captured because I know so many hidden trails”. “Where's my team“ he then asked “Flash has them” was my reply.

I texted Tempest and Flash quickly to let them know I had found Rebel, and started asking him about Saber positions, overall firepower, and most importantly numbers before Texting the information to the other Squad leaders. Through this we learned things were better than we had hoped for, the Sabers had been reduced in number to around 37 players. Even better most of these had been sent to hunt us in the woods leaving their base's 8 defenders isolated without any chance for reinforcements. We decided that we would gather our forces and seize their base, cutting the supply chain and forcing to them to shift tactics. Something Cato had never been good at.

At 8:00pm all three mobilized squads were gathered at a meeting place only 200 yards from the Saber base. All nineteen of us. Looking through his binoculars Flash confirmed Rebel's information was accurate before signaling the attack. It was suprisingly easy to hit the Saber guards. Can you say greenies?- too easy in fact. At 8:20 just as we were about to break through the defences and take the base. Flash got a text reporting a massive Saber attack had just begun in Maple View subdivision.

I calculated it out in my head and estimated it would take 40 minutes at a run for the whole army to cover the 3 miles between here and Maple View- probably longer. In that time the Sabers could easily take it. Rebel had come to the same conclusion and ordered Flash and me, being the fastest runners, to run with all speed to their aid, while he would bring the army behind.

Flash and I had always had a rivalry when it came to running, I could best him on hills, but his long thin legs could just outrun me on level ground. So we ran now, not racing for bragging rights, but running to try to and help our allies before it was too late. Minutes passed slowly and felt like countless years dragging on into eternity. At one point I fell in a rut but scrambled to my feet. I continued desperately trying to run ever faster. So we arrived on the outskirts of Maple View in a blisteringly fast 17 minutes. We were drenched in sweat and our hearts were pounding in our chests so hard we could barely hear someone yelling “Don't shoot! We surrender!”. Even with our haste, we were too late.

We took cover behind some bushes while I called Rebel to inform him. He answered the phone with “I know it's bad we're coming as fast as we can” I replied “don't bother, they surrendered just as we got here.”. At this point I heard the rapid footfalls that had been going on in the background just stop, then Rebel replied “that was quick, Cato must have planned the whole thing before I was freed.” I agreed and then proceeded to inform Tempest, who order us to Arcadia in case the Sabers intended to strike there to.

At 8:45pm we arrived in Arcadia and sounded the guard. Finally at 9:25pm Rebel arrived with the exhausted army in tow, and we all prepared to spend a mostly sleepless night on guard. Nothing happened. In fact nothing did happen until around 6:00am a little after first light, when, the sound of birds in the trees grew hushed. Rebel looked out uneasily and I knew why. Birds around sunrise tend only to stop singing when something that they view as a threat passes nearby, in this case several squads of Saber's.

I started quietly shaking our team awake and knocking on the doors of our Allies who's turn it had been to sleep. I was knock on someones door when a series of dull “Thwuk”'s from a Launcher Battery about 200 yards away on the right indicated the start of a Saber attack. Without a moments thought I was heading off in the direction of the attack with my squad in tow.

Understanding the kind of threat that artillery in daylight could be to anyone on the receiving end I moved my squad as close to the approaching Saber squads as I could. It was madness, even though they were losing players at an alarming rate. Still they kept coming, slowly driving us back by weight of numbers. Suddenly a volley of WBL fire from the left flank indicated an attack their, with our hands full I could only hope that others would do their best to hold them off.

Wave after wave of attackers came and retreated, each coming closer than the last to breaking through our defenses. By 8:00am our center, which so far had been unopposed, had been used to reenforce the flanks. This left the defenders there a little thin, and proved to be a critical error on our part. Because at 8:10am it came under attack by the greenwood team on bikes and collapsed almost instantly. The initiative was now in the Saber's favor and we were forced to run from the field of battle to avoid a massacre. Most of our ally's members, which had been tasked with guarding the center were shot as they attempted to fall back.

Somehow the Eagle alliance managed to escape the initial charge. Rebel proved invaluable against the pursuit that followed,. Despite the fact that the trails he led us down had quicker alternatives to reach the fort at Eagle Ridge, the Greenwood team didn't know where they led. Instead they had to pursue us over rough, winding trails that were better suited to running than bikes.

At 9:30am we entered Hidden Valley with with Greenwood team almost 200 yards behind. Halfway down the Hidden Valley was a sharp bend that couldn't be seen behind. Here we stopped and laid an ambush that wiped them all out.

Our next move didn't need any planning unfortunately because launchers could be heard firing at Eagle Ridge. As we left Hidden Valley we could see exactly what we were facing, between us and Tempest trapped on Eagle Ridge were some 40 Sabers. “Flank right, charge!” said Rebel and we built up speed even as we blasted our way into the fort.
Once inside our hands were full, but Eagle Ridge was a natural defensive position and even outnumbered almost 3 to 1 like we were then we stood a slim chance of outlasting them. We desperately held the Sabers at the edge of their range for over an hour without giving an inch of ground. By 10:45am we had used half of our water supply but the Cato showed no sign of giving up yet. Finally he grew inpatient for victory and advanced personally with “Flood”, the elite Saber squad.

When the Eagle Alliance leaders saw Cato and “Flood” advancing, we concentrated ourselves to meet them . Rebel with a CPS 4100, Tempest with his camo CPS 1700, Me with my 2700, and Flash with his Mk3 XP 150. As we ran down the hill to meet them, several rounds of launcher fire forced us to take cover behind tree's. When we emerged “flood” was already in formation about 40' away. Including Cato their were 6 of them, all armed with heavy CPS cannons.

True to his nature Cato fired the first shot forcing Tempest to dodge left, I replied with a volley of 5x fire aimed at him while Flash showed off his skills by jump rolling into range to blast their 2700 in the face. Tempest had now recovered from Cato's first shot and fired on 5x at a CPS 2000 which dodged with a step backwards. Rebel now fired his 4100 at the 2000 and also missed. Now the Saber's retaliated, Cato with a volley of tap shots forced Flash back out of his range, while the 2000 missed me with a shot so close I could feel air moving as is it passed my right ear. Tempest then shot the 2000 with a 10x to the chest. That just left a pair of 2500's a 3200, and Cato's Desolator.

Now I finally made a hit by trapping a 2500 between a bush and a shot to the hip. The 3200 now fired a massive 20x stream towards me as I jumped right slipping on a wet rock in the process . Flash fired a tap shot towards him now, while I scrambled back to my feet Rebel now shot the other 2500, before Tempest and me both shot the 3200. Finally the other Sabers attacked us forcing us back, as we entered the trenches again I noticed that Rebel was still down their dueling Cato.

I watched unable to help as they squared off, Cato fired his first shot and it landed short. Rebel then opened fire with a 4x shot that hit Cato's gun, Cato then overshot on his next shot and Rebel missed his to. Then after a very close call with Desolator's dual 11x's Rebel rushed him and unloaded a full chamber into Cato from 30'.

With their leaders gone the Saber attack stopped dead in its tracks, and seeing a chance for victory I ordered a charge. Their lines broke instantly and those who had been on other teams at the beginning ran off as groups. Our army which had ran practically everywhere for the past day had to abandon the chase early but not before capturing several Sabers. We trailed the others for them for a while. Of the 26 Sabers that had survived the battle of Eagle Ridge a full 20% surrendered, Almost 50% destroyed each other as captured players reformed their original teams, and the last 30% were hunted down by us over the following 2 days, Victory Eagles.

7,000 words, the longest post ever made of Waterwar.net :P
Last edited by the oncoming storm on Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:53 am, edited 5 times in total.
If you ever bother reading these, I worry for your mental sanity. :oo:

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Re: The War of Vengence

Post by SEAL » Sun Apr 13, 2014 1:21 pm

I thought you were homeschooled?

Anyway, finally finished reading this. Pretty cool story, though it felt kind of hasty at times. It could have used a little more buildup in the beginning instead of jumping right into the action, but aside from that, it was an enjoyable read. Even if a weeklong 1HK water war involving a whole town is a little unrealistic, haha. Not that I don't wish something like that would happen. :p

Reminds me of my epic war story that I've been slowly working on for gosh, two years now? It's a little more than half finished, and it has well over 20,000 words, haha. I'll try to finish it someday; wish I had more time to work on it, because I like writing.
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Re: The War of Vengence

Post by the oncoming storm » Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:47 pm

I am home schooled, It was for our monthly Home Educators Developing Godly Examples (or HEDGE) group. Those time I made it a bit hasty were because I was getting hasty trying to advance to plot.

I was trying to give a realistic account of a fictional water war. While it never happened, I would like to think that it could have. Anyone think I should make a series out of this ? After all as the story says, it is an annual event (which gives us time for 9 more stories before the younger boy James is out of school).
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Re: The War of Vengence

Post by SEAL » Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:03 pm

That acronym is funny. "Godly Examples"? I know homeschoolers generally do better in life than public-schoolers, but "Godly" seems a little too big a word, haha. I used to be in a homeschooling group, but it was full of hippies and they got mad at me for making a gun out of tinkertoys or something. Consequently, I haven't seen those people in over a decade.

If you have the time and energy, feel free to turn it into a series. The challenge will be in keeping it fresh. Maybe write some from other characters' perspectives or introduce something new, like a legendary soaking warrior from another part of the country or something, haha. Maybe there could be thunderstorms, or a flood, or government forces trying to interfere. :p
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Re: The War of Vengence

Post by the oncoming storm » Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:28 pm

The thing is they don't have to win every time, just most of it. That means I just flip a coin twice and if it lands on the same thing both times they lose.
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