Rock and Roll

Although the day was an arduous one, Linus still busied himself through the night, pounding and grinding with a mortar and pestle saltpeter, sulfur, charcoal, and other miscellaneous chemical solids. Burning the midnight oil, he weighs the ingredients carefully and mixed them in different proportions. Then, he rolled the mixtures in paper, the very first batch of paper he acquired from his school project.

Gunpowder, Linus had thought of its manufacture for a long time but there was the lack of materials, labor, and interest to invest in it. In Solus, saltpeter was already difficult to find, and it was expensive, more expensive than salt as it was useless to the common folk.

But the problem wasn't in the difficulty of the material to prospect, but because there was very little demand for the commodity that traders do not usually deal with large orders. Sure, nobles used it to freeze water to cool alcohol, but in the usual day it wasn't a necessity.

With luck, Samir accidentally brought Linus guano. The powdered bat excrement caught on his clothes and shoes came off when he dusted himself talking to Linus about prospecting gold. When asked where he got the dirt, he said it came from a random cave around the Mountain fortress. Linus connected the dots together and correctly deduced that the dust was probably guano.

To confirm his theory, he gathered the dust in a crucible, poured some water in it, and filtered the insoluble dirt. As the water vaporized from the mixture, it left a small amount fine white residue at the bottom of the container. With his interest piqued, he asked Samir to scoop more of the dust for refinement.

To test the substance, he refined more of it and mixed a substantial amount with powdered charcoal and sulfur. When ignited, the substance went poof! He got a bright flash of light and a cloud of smoke in the air, filling his workshop with the familiar burnt smell associated with the dangerous concoction.

Linus had it in mind to weaponize the powder in the future, but he never had the opportunity because of how busy he was with bronze and porcelain related work. Now that he had the opportunity, he was too short of time to manufacture weapons that took advantage of the powder.

Plus, they were expensive. Casting a cannon out of bronze is literally the act of spending copper coins in the thousands. It required so much material that it was an impractical expense even if it worked. With the hardness of bronze nearing that or even exceeding cast iron, boring the gun was also a problem. He needed hardened steel cutting tools as well as water or animal powered lathes, which he currently didn't have.

Regardless, the boy had a different approach to take advantage of the concoction in his fight against the pirates.

Morning came just as fast as he blinked. Linus only had less an hour's sleep working on his plans and experiments all night. Still, he had to meet the folks at the wall for another assembly.

Linus stood on a platform and this time without even using <Grace >, everyone was oddly quiet and there was no protest. All the warriors were there, standing fearsome with a tiger look in their faces. Linus witnessed firsthand the discipline in battle the Sons of Solus had, so it didn't surprise him seeing the warriors' composure.

[<Grace > is in effect.]

Linus commenced his speech. "Men of Solus, earlier in the day I received reports that the pirates already started their march towards our settlements. With the Mountain fortress' defenses, it would be nigh impossible for them to besiege it in a short time, even when they have the advantage of having more men. However, there is a possibility, that a big portion of our enemy's forces will come to invade our Town of Solus as a means to supply themselves for the war of attrition. We will not let them have their way."

"I don't know where they get the information from, but they might already have an idea of our army's strength for a long time. In fact, my father and I suspect the bandits to be a part of their operations. They would have long invaded if it weren't for our overwhelming victories in the past two battles."

"But if they marched in just as we expected them to do, we should be prepared to punish them. I trust that our commanders here in a brief meeting with their recruits already handed down the basics. Stab our enemies in the heart, treat them like cattle. They shall fall down to the might of our new bronze weaponry. And now that we do not have many heroes on our side, we need to be professional. Consider each one of you as parts of the body. We may be diverse, we may differ as men in many aspects, but we fight as one. The Sons of Solus shall prevail! For victory!" Linus ended his speech.

"Praise Lord Enqui!" enamored with the speech, the men cheered.

"March! To the river ford!" Linus commanded the men.

***

"Boss, our enemies expected our arrival. They cower inside the walls of their mountain fortress." a grunt reported.

Crunch! Stepping out of a palanquin, Jared took a bite off an apple, his long dark eyelashes filtered the glare of the morning sun. After swallowing a portion of the fruit, he batted his delicate eyelashes saying "Oh, interesting. I heard Solus only had 500 fighting men. Let's bring that wall down and call out their bluff. Men, march! Hohohoho!" His laughter traveled a mile.

Slowly, swaths of warriors a thousand men strong occupied the base of the mountain. Like a colony of ants, the motley crew of pirates arranged themselves organically in jagged rows with a few of them towing massive logs, threatening to ram the fortress' gates.

"Shall we send a message?" A grunt asked Jared.

"There is no need. We'll end this quickly and take what is ours." Jared replied, revealing a wicked smile. "Send a company of fighting men with archers to clear the walls. We'll march behind them to add pressure to the defenders. Should they see us standing next to the gates, the only logical move is to surrender."

"Yes, boss." the grunt replied.

After organizing in what closely resembles a linear formation, the archers, protected by some random shield men, marched to the front line, closing into the walls. The defenders remained oddly quiet and didn't make a reaction to their advance.

"The tall walls are just there for decoration. A bluff I tell you! Igor was defeated by them the same. He didn't have enough men, so he lost. Send the logs forward and let's march! Hohohoho!" Jared's queer laughter echoed, commencing the march. Rows of infantrymen inched into the frontline. After closing in just 100 meters from the nearest fortification, they still haven't gotten any response from the defenders.

A silhouette of a man stood tall atop the ramparts, unmoving, seemingly looking down at the fighting men down the wall.

"What are they doing there just standing? I hate it when I'm wrong, but I must be right, these men and their petty confidence tricks! Archers, let loose!" a volley of arrows were shot at the walls, but only a few made it on top. With the shots missing their targets, the guards were unharmed and unmoved.

"Are you blind, you can't even shoot your targets. Let me!" Jared snatched the bow and arrow from the archer and shot at the silhouette of the man.

Snatch! The man caught the arrow with his hand. Jared's eyes almost popped out of its sockets, exclaiming. "NO WAY! Someone so dreamy, oooh! Keep on advancing men! Get the logs ready to ram! It's just a bluff." he kept affirming, but deep inside, he was somewhat nervous and excited.

Looking above, Jared yelled at the man "Come here handsome! Don't wait till papa breaks down the door. I'm coming for you! We'll have some sweet, sweet time over milk and honey. I'll treat you generously!" Jared clasped his hands and his eyes twinkled red, bloody veins manifested in them, fueled by lust.

"Ptooey!" The man atop the wall spat in disgust. "Fools! Archers, slingers, send our reply!" heavy arrows were let loose by the defenders aimed at the log carriers who threaten to bust the gate open.

Thun! Thun! Thunk! With astonishing accuracy, many of the log men went down, pelted by the arrows. The remaining few were unable to carry out their work and panicked. Stones rained on them, knocking a few down as they retreated.

Jared reached to the retreating men and barked. "Fools, don't run! Archers, shoot! We need more men at the logs. Bust down those gates! Advance!"

The archers shot another volley of arrows up the walls. Many of their arrows planted themselves on the palisades harming no one, with a few making it through, injuring a few of the defenders. At the same time, the infantry line advanced, threatening the gates, with some picking up the logs the other men left.

"Trebuchets! Archers! Slingers! Everyone! Fire at will!" The tall man above the walls yelled, and soon, massive hundred-pound rocks found themselves over the wall and up the sky, falling down on the advancing units.

SPLAT! A wave of cattle-sized rocks fell down from the sky, crushing infantry in their wake. CRACK! Sounds of bones breaking echoed and chaos ensued as a storm of stones and arrows rained down on the infantry and archers down the wall, striking down several tens of them. Before the men even recovered, another batch of rocks fell down from the sky, causing more death and mayhem. Seeing their fellow men get crushed, a few men broke out of the formations and ran away.

"Cowards! I'll kill you myself!" Jared raised his axe, threatening to hit them, but a shadow soon covered his face. As he looked up, a goat-sized rock found itself over his head, connecting. SPLAT! Its massive heft pinned the poor commander to the ground, shattering his skull and splattering its contents into the earth.

Missing the commander, the troops on ground were embroiled in chaos. None of the officers stopped the deserters, so some squads retreated, while some remained. Yet the onslaught of gigantic rocks from the sky continued, and so did the rain of stones and arrows, slaughtering men by the hundred every minute.

THUMP! The ground reverberated to the tune of the falling rocks. In panic, many of the men broke out from their formation, fleeing. Soon, the entire army of pirates routed, running in all directions.

Turning to his men, the tall man was unhindered by the silhouette. With the cover blown, the sun shined generously on Rock's face. It was him all along overseeing the defenders. He addressed the men, saying "Good job brothers! It was a flawless victory. Just stay still and don't pursue. Our job is to defend only. Send the boys to retrieve the arrows and any article of value."

***

"What did you say? Jared the queer got himself killed? Oh, that's unsurprising knowing how much he lusts over enemy men. He had it coming. But seeing his forces crushed to this extent makes me think that there must be more defenders up in the mountains." Garry, the old pirate general assessed, scratching his nose.

Sporting a massive bronze axe on his shoulder, a burly old pirate replied to Garry, saying "Hmm… enough! We'll take the route to Solus instead, and once subdued, we'll resupply. Let's see if those defenders can keep their smiles when they see their loved ones violated and mutilated. Hahahaha!"