RuneScape Forum Archive | The ScapeRune War

WolfLord7777

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Chapter 22: Secret Paths
The two large transports glided down out of the dark clouds and skidded down the wet runway to come to a complete stop almost at the end of the mile-long strip of tarmac.
The Nightwing planes put out their rotor blades and lowered themselves to the ground, whipping the rain pouring down around them into a frenzy.
Men poured out and headed for the overgrown hangars just off to the right, leaving most of the equipment and the injured men on board.
Dorn was the first to reach the huge hangar doors. They rolled open as he strode up to them and he did*’t pause as he went inside.
“You’re late, Dorn,” a voice said from his right, almost spitting the words out.
“We got held up,” he replied, not bothering to turn around.
“Of course, you always come up with some excuse,” Deother said almost mockingly.
“I see you’ve begun to be influenced by your races prejudices,” Dorn said softly.
“Prejudices? Prejudices!,” Deother said angrily, “You slaughtered thousands of my kin! How is that prejudice?”
“That was over seven thousand years ago,” Dorn replied.
“Seven thousand years for you to hand yourself over to be appropriately punished!” Deother yelled, fuming.
“What punishment can you give me now? When your pitiful race was at the pride of its powers I slaughtered entire armies of your best troops like cattle. What can your petty remainder of what you call a species do to stop me?” Dorn replied, his eyes burning.
There was now a large group arrayed around the two of them, staying back at a distance. They all knew Dorn’s reputation by now and anyone who could speak like that to him was definitely someone to avoid.
“You’re power dwindles too Zadorn!” Dorn visibly flinched at this. “The time of the gods is ending. Our power dwindles as theirs does, as does yours. Your master was always weak here, and it has not been helped by the war,” Deother yelled.

12-Oct-2010 06:13:29 - Last edited on 16-Dec-2010 11:22:36 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

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“I cast off that name after the third age, as well as all evidence of my old master,” Dorn said, his voice crackling.
“Oh yes, I forgot, you’re a traitor twice over aren’t you?” Deother said mockingly.
“The first betrayal is so small and occurred so long ago that it does not matter. And the second one, well, he was only a temporary master anyway,” Dorn said, beginning to cool down a bit.
“You call eight thousand years of torture and mass murder in his name temporary?” Deother said incredulously.
Dorn considered this for a moment.
“Yes,” he replied, “In the grand scale of things.”
Deother opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Fang.
“Interesting though this conversation is, I think it would be much better if it continued another time. OK?”
The two glared at each other for a few more moments then turned towards the offices at the other end of the huge hangar.
Fang was about to follow them when he started.
“Where’s Roal?” he said, looking around.
“In one of the Nightwing planes. Hawk’s teaching him some of the planes advanced systems,” Selvaria asked, walking past him without a backward glance.
“What would he know about planes?” Fang asked, confused.
“He’s a pilot in the G15. Youngest ever member. Now get those planes unloaded!” she ordered.
Fang shook his head at her condescending manner, then turned and started organizing the unloading of the transports.
Within minutes he was drenched from the rain.
Inside, Selvaria, Deother and Dorn were discussing their next move, sitting in the comfortable chairs of the officers quarters next to a large fire.
***
“So, you think you can get us past the ScapeRune forces?” Selvaria asked Deother.
“I don’t think, I know. Though our race is know in decline, we have retained a large amount of our knowledge,” Deother replied.
Dorn snorted derisively but made no other comment.

12-Oct-2010 06:13:40 - Last edited on 16-Dec-2010 11:23:01 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Deother glared at the hooded figure before continuing, “Before they were wiped out by the invading ScapeRune army, there was a large Ogre settlement South of Yanille in the mountains. Beneath it were thousands of miles of catacombs and passages. There was one particular which led to a long-abandoned Dwarf highway which took goods down from the High Mountains and took them to the sea. It was badly damaged and almost unusable now, but it does have a number of hidden entrances and exits all along it. Some will be clear and should allow us to get to the surface south of their lines,” Deother said, looking into the flames dancing in the grate.
“I see the but coming,” Selvaria said.
“Quite so,” Deother said, “three buts actually. For one, the ScapeRune army is advancing and has probably moved north of where we need to go. We’ll need to head west almost to the Eastern Ocean and then head south before getting to a safe place to enter the catacombs. Two, I don’t have any accurate maps of the catacombs, only a number of small sketches pieced together into a very basic outline of some main tunnel.”
“You said three,” Dorn pointed out.
Deother smiled grimly. “The third point is the most serious. The entire catacombs network is infested with undead ogres.
***
A thin, watery sunshine broke through the clouds the next morning. The ground underneath was sodden, the result of the rain storm the night before.
The last few bits of equipment were being stowed on the transports, along with enough food and fuel to get them to a place where they could hide safely. It was now far too late to head for Ardougne, by the time they got there it would be under siege and there was no way they could get in without getting shot down.
“Why do we have to leave? Our orders were to rescue Roal and then protect him with our lives. And now you’re just abandoning us?” Fang’s second in command, Sgt. Parker told Fang, outraged.

12-Oct-2010 06:13:52 - Last edited on 24-Dec-2010 21:43:03 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

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“Look Parker, it’s not my decision. If we have more men it’ll attract more attention, and if we attract attention it won’t mater how many men we have,” Fang said.
“You’re still abandoning us. And anyway, since when could a Zamorakian mage order us around? They have no power over us,” Parker said, his lip curling in distaste when he mentioned Dorn.
“I would come with you, but I can** I have to stay with Roal,” Fang persisted.
“So you’re admitting that that mage has forced you to stay with him?” Parker said, angry now.
*No Parker!” Fang said, also starting to get angry, “No ones forcing me to, it just has to be done.”
“Why?” Parker asked.
“Because if I don’t Runescape will fall,” Fang told him.
“Listen Fang! No single person, no matter how important, can save Runescape! It’ll take many years of fighting to clear out these invaders, not a suicide rune into their on country with five people behind you!” Parker said, angry.
“No Parker,” Fang said, his voice soft now, *No matter how long we fight, we’ll never be able to fight off these ScapeRune armies. We need something with more power. We need divine intervention.”
“Since when did you believe in the powers of gods,” Parker asked derisively.
“Since I needed to. Without it, we can’t win. We must believe,” Fang said, even softer.
Parker glared at him and stalked off into the last transport. It was the only one still to take off. Almost before the rear hatch shut it had taken off.
Fang stood there for a long time, watching the sky long after the transports had turned north.
He had a gut-wrenching feeling in his stomach.
A feeling of guilt.
***
A piece of ancient, yellowed parchment lay spread out on the table in the middle of the room. On it was drawn, in dark green ink, a lattice-work map of tunnels detailing the main tunnels of the catacombs. Next to it lay a tube of some dark material that resembled tree bark. Inside it were three other maps, similar to the first, which detailed the other three levels.

12-Oct-2010 06:14:01 - Last edited on 24-Dec-2010 21:43:17 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

Posts: 1,881 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“We’ll enter the catacombs here, at the most westerly entrance. As you can see, we’ll follow this route, avoiding the smaller passages and other entrances,” Deother said, mapping a route on the map with his finger, “It’ll take us atleast a day to traverse the outer catacombs and another three to go through the inner ones to the Grand Stair, which goes from a hidden entrance at the surface to the lowest level, where it tunnels straight through to the roof of the Dwarf highway.”
Fang frowned, “Won’t there be a danger of someone entering that way? After all, it’s marked as the main entrance.”
“The main reason is that the Ogre settlement was built around a dormant volcano, with the main entrance almost at the centre of the settlement. Soon after the ogres were wiped out, the volcano erupted, burying everything in lava. The main entrance was above the lava flow, so wasn’t covered. The lava still pours out of the volcano at regular intervals, so it’s a relatively safe bet that no one will be anywhere near the entrance,” Deother answered.
“How dangerous are these undead ogres?” Selvaria asked, “And how numerous are they?”
“They are anywhere between ten and fifteen feet tall and have the strength of 30 of your strongest warriors. Their hard skin will stop most blades and will probably protect against your guns to a certain degree. They will keep going until their bodies are so damaged that they cannot move,” Deother said, “However, my blades are spelled to penetrate the toughest armour and the mightiest hide. One of them is also spelled to crumble undead bodies. I have also have several daggers, spelled similarly but of course weaker, which you four can use,” indicating Selvaria, Roal, Fang and hawk, “and I dare say that Dorn has some magic that will be able to hold them at bay.
As to numbers, it’s impossible to tell. All ogres that have ever died near their settlement are buried there, so many, many thousands. It’s impossible to tell just how many.”

12-Oct-2010 06:14:13 - Last edited on 24-Dec-2010 21:43:42 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

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“So, let me get this straight,” Hawk said, “You want to circle round thousands of ScapeRune advance troops, traverse many miles of maze-like corridors and tunnels infested with huge zombies which are almost impossible to kill, find a main staircase which could be flooded with lava and then fall through the ceiling into a long-disused dwarf highway which could collapse at any second?”
“I definitely don’t want to,” Deother said, “but that’s the only way, unless you want to fight through the armies of ScapeRune?”
“How do you know all this?” Roal asked. His eyes felt like they were filled with sand, the result of a night working on fixing one of the Nightwing planes rear left exhaust gaskin.
“Roal, do you honestly think that this is the first time that we elves have needed to come south since this war started? Every five years a small group of five of our best huntsmen are chosen to scout the land south of here. This is the best way to do so without attracting attention,” Deother replied.
“Oh,” Roal said, quite unnecessarily.
***
The coarse salt air was freezing, a sharp contrast to the hot and humid air from the tropical jungles inland. Fog roiled off the breaking waves in thick sheets. Shapes loomed out of the dark cloud of water vapour. It smothered sounds and made everything appear ghostly.
“You’re absolutely sure that this fog is perfectly normal?” Fang asked, his voice breaking the eery silence around the group.
“Yes I am sure. I can sense no magical resonance from it, and the conditions are perfect for it. Now shut up!” Dorn told him.
“Deother, how far did you say it was to the entrance?” Selvaria asked.
Dorn looked at her sharply but Deother answered before he could reprimand her.
“I did*’t. But I expect we should be there by noon,* he replied.
“It IS noon you idiot,” Dorn said angrily, “So just get us there as quickly as possible and SHUT UP!”
The others glared at him but obeyed.

12-Oct-2010 06:14:24 - Last edited on 24-Dec-2010 21:44:01 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

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Chapter 23: Second Line of Defence
“You expect us to withdraw all our forces, from positions that thousands upon thousands of men have died for, on your word?” said one of the members of the Runescape Council angrily to the elf Lord in front of him.
“Yes, unless you want many more thousands to die and for the rest of Runescape be open to attack,” replied the elf smoothly.
“But we have only your word that this is true! If this isn’t true, and I pull my men out, then we’ll have to fight for that land back! When this council voted to retake Yanille I sent out a preliminary force of 50 000 of our front line troops, 25 000 Falador troops and several thousand scouts, mainly drawn from the Gnome rangers and the TRS’s. Over the course of the campaign that force doubled, then almost tripled to account for the losses we took. In all we sent out 95 000 of our troops, almost half our garrison for Ardougne, 55 000 Falador troops, almost all of their garrison here, 50 000 Gno*k troops, again almost the full establishment, and atleast 20 000 additional forces from other factions. Not including the scouts, that makes a total of atleast 220 000 men to retake Yanille. In total we lost 98 500 men, at the last estimate, and another 75 000 wounded. If we pull back now it will be many years before we have the numbers to do it again. So my question is, what right do you have to make all those sacrifices count for naught? What right do have, to make those men’s sacrifice be ignored?” the Ardougne general said, regaining some of his composure.

12-Oct-2010 06:14:39 - Last edited on 02-Jan-2011 09:30:57 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

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If we do not pull back, then all those men’s sacrifices will still not mater because Yanille will be retaken anyway. If you don’t pull back then it will simply mean that we have an even lower chance of defending Ardougne. What really worries me is how few men you have though. Just the army’s forerunners would almost equal your numbers. Dwarf,” the elf said, turning toe the heavily armoured dwarf next to him, “Get every dwarf warrior you can spare to your mountain fort west of Ardougne, use that as a staging area before aiding the defenders here on the walls.”
“How do you know of Fort Keldgra?” the dwarf replied suspiciously, surprised that the elf had known of their secret fortress.
“We have our ways. You people,” the elf said sharply, pointing at the delegations from the Gno*k Alliance and Falador, “Get as many of your troops to Ardougne as fast as you can. And try round up as many more men as possible. Kharidian troops, Lumbridge guards, mercenaries anything.”
One of the Gno*k generals looked dubious.
“All this will take several weeks, possibly a month. You said the ScapeRune forces were a fortnight away. I think we should organize some delaying tactic. Wouldn’t the best place to do that be Yanille?”

12-Oct-2010 06:14:49 - Last edited on 02-Jan-2011 09:31:24 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

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“In a way, but Yanille is a smoking ruin. It’s very difficult to defend, large, complex and labyrinthine,” one of the Ardougne generals said, “The best place would be near the tree gnome village, where the river cuts east and broadens, creating a ford. If they wanted to attack Ardougne they would need to attack the west and east halves, which means that they would have to cross the bridge there or ford further downstream. If they do attack the bridge we can delay them in the Tree Gnome Village and then wipe them out on the bridge, and if they come up from further downstream e can hold them off in the ruins. Also, if they come up form further downstream, they can only come in small numbers, because there’s only two or three fords down there, and most of them are small, so either they can send piecemeal forces up in a constant supply, losing thousand of men, or put together a large force and then storm the ruins. Whatever they do, it will cost them dearly in men and time.”
“That’s your area of expertise. Organise it as best as you can, as fast as you can,* the elf lord said.
***
The dark crevasse loomed in front of them, shrouded in encroaching mists.
*That’s your back door, is it?” Fang said skeptically.
“Its not as bad as you think. There’s a small opening about ten feet down which leads to the catacombs. When that volcano erupted it caused large earthquakes, and one of the tunnels out this way was cut in two. That’s what the entrance is,” Deother said optimistically.
“Except that it’s on the other side,” Dorn said sarcastically.

***
The huge concrete bridge arched over the raging torrents thirty feet below. A cool wind blew from the South, and the small grey wisps of cloud were starting to coalesce into looming thunderheads. More towering dark clouds were floating up from the south. Small, sprinkling showers of rain were slowly turning the trenches being dug in front of the bridges from firm earth into a stinking quagmire.

12-Oct-2010 06:15:00 - Last edited on 04-Jan-2011 09:03:30 by WolfLord7777

WolfLord7777

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Several tanks rolled out from the other side of the bridge and rolled through the back trenches via a narrow roadway, moving to form a barrier of heavy armour between the enemy and the men in the trenches.
Colonel Grant “Snake” Webster stood inside the small command bunker built into a small hill near the bridge and overlooked the preparations.
Snake was the commander of Ardougnes famous 1st Armoured Marine Company, widely regarded as the best ground force in all of Runescape. The 1st Company was arrayed in the open ground around the command bunker, waiting for his orders.
“They’ll be here within the hour,” a voice behind him said.
He turned, to see a Falador general standing behind him. Ostensibly in charge of the operation, the general had given field command of the trench troops to Snake while he took care of the overall strategy.
“We’ll be ready,” Snake said confidently.
“You’d better be, or we’re all dead,” the Falador general replied.
Snake nodded and turned back to the scene before him.
Five minutes later he gathered his weapons from the weapons rack in the corner and strapped his utility belt on.
“1st Company, all units make ready. Form up and get to the front trenches. Squads one to five form a perimeter fifty metres out and call us when they arrive. Stay in cover and hold them back for as long as possible so we can finish the trenches. Squads six to ten get to the trenches and stay there. Command squad; get to the forward command position,” Snake said into the microphone on his wrist which was attached to a separate battery to his helmet set and only transmitted to his men. Below him he saw a flurry of movement as his men prepared for the oncoming storm.

12-Oct-2010 06:15:10 - Last edited on 04-Jan-2011 09:03:54 by WolfLord7777

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The ScapeRune War