mount weather narrative: Mustering the Troops WHO: The assembled fighting forces of Mount Weather WHEN: Saturday evening WHERE: Mount Weather gymnasium WHAT: Sgt. Rutherford gives orders for the upcoming battle WARNINGS: Impending doom and violence.
______________
Cullen had been concerned about the possibility of an attack from the moment Mount Weather had been faced with such a large and sudden reduction in numbers. They had only just defeated the witch Jadis with all the wit and strength they could muster...and now that power was cut in half. A change in the number of defenders did not in any way reduce the area they had to protect, nor the strength of the enemies they might yet face. It was a legitimate cause for worry.
They had done their best to muster their forces. A little reorganization, some of the reserves called up, and they had maintained the guard and surveillance presence they needed. It had enabled Mount Weather to spot the goblin threat, to take some time at least to prepare for it...but not enough. Hundreds of goblins were marching up tunnels to the mountains, and they had only moments to make ready for them.
The civilians had been ordered to the center of the mountain, taking the safest position they could. The military, along with those called into emergency service, had assembled in the gym for orders. For the first time since leaving Thedas, Cullen Rutherford found himself in command of a large force - and despite the dire enemy they faced, he felt confident that they could prevail. Not without losses, not without sacrifice...but he refused to fail Mount Weather as the Inquisition had failed Haven.
Cullen looked out over the crowd assembled in the gym, this army with no uniform and the most bizarre gumbo of training and skills that any world had ever seen, and he began his quick, firm delivery of orders.
“We are shortly to be under siege!” he announced, his voice carrying over the room without need for amplification. “Our numbers are reduced and the enemy is fierce, but this is our home and we will protect it from invasion.”
Cullen flipped open a notebook, reading briskly from a handwritten list. “Murdock, Alistair, Dela, Massad, Wolf, and Lane - join Bravo Squad and the Alpha Scouts at the Commons. Altman, Temeraire, Storm, McLean, Vakarian - you are with Charlie and the Bravo Scouts in the library. The rest of you - that’s Kili, Alenko, Antilles, Shepard, Darkholme, Collins, Pixie, Johnson, and Grace - you will be with Echo at the residences.”
Assignments given, he snapped the notebook shut. “The goblins are likely to attempt blasting through the walls. If you hear hissing, get your head down and keep it that way until the explosion is done - and if you are capable of creating a larger shield, cover as many as you can with it.” Barely a pause, and then he gave the order that he knew no one would like. “We do not have the numbers to take wounded to Medical until after the battle is done. If you see someone go down, signal for a field medic and keep fighting until we are clear. Come back for wounded when the fighting is over.”
No one liked to leave a downed comrade in the field. Cullen didn’t like it, either. It was worse, however, to leave a break in the line when those still standing required help and the civilians well behind them required protection.
“Do not let the goblins past your lines, and give no quarter,” he went on. It wasn’t an order he’d have to give in Thedas. No one was going to look at darkspawn or demons and think having a chat or knocking them down and leaving them for someone else to deal with was a good plan. With the widely varying ideas of what warfare and monsters meant here, Cullen made policy for the day clear. “We are not taking prisoners here. Ser Kili has explained once, but I will say it again: there is no such thing as a goblin non-combatant, and they are looking to kill every single person in this mountain and take it for their own. When we have killed the ones who are breaking in, then we follow the tunnels and we make sure we have taken out all of them.”
Only the final orders were left to give, and Cullen went through them with the same brusque efficiency that he had the others. “When we have defeated the incoming lines, Fair Weather Friends will be responsible for helping the field medics get the wounded to Medical. Echo Squad will perform a sweep of Mount Weather to be certain no goblins are alive in our halls. Krem--” he nodded to the most recently promoted sergeant. “--you are responsible for giving the all-clear to Command when you are satisfied that the mountain interior is safe. Bravo and Charlie Squads and Scouts, you will be following the tunnels out to the goblin camp to be certain we have dealt with them all.”
Silence hung over the room only for a few seconds, long enough for a single deep breath in and out. “Good luck, and Maker watch over you all. Dismissed.”