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I do not own the story of How to train your dragons or any of the original characters or the original storylines. Any names matching public or historical figures are strictly coincidental. The story is rated M because of language and adult situations. Anyone below the age of 17 should probably not read this story.
Chapter 4 The Raid
"I, Stoick the Vast Chief of the Hairy Hooligans Tribe welcome all of you to Berk. We are gathered here today to discuss plans for the Upcoming
punitive raid one the criminal element on Outcast Island.
As you all know, these cowardly slime bags we call Outcasts led by Alvin the Vengeful recently made an unprovoked surprise assault on the peaceful citizens of Berk. In typical Outcast fashion, a small group of Outcasts was able to infiltrate our defenses and kill our lookouts.
I am ashamed to admit that we were totally unprepared for the predawn attack. Several of our people were murdered in their sleep, some of our women were raped and many women and even children were put to the sword. We recovered quickly and in an eighteen-hour running battle were able, at great cost defeat and push these cowards back into the sea.
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We lost nearly 150 warriors including my father," Harold the Bold. I ask your help in punishing these honor-less bastards hard enough so that they will think twice before attacking any of the tribes in the archipelago again" said Stoic, then he sat down.
There was much grumbling then from the other Chiefs. There had been relative peace in the archipelago for ten years since Harold the Bold had brought them together at an annual meeting of the tribes known as "The
Thing".
At the 'Thing' the Chiefs met to discuss the creation of basic Viking law, problems each tribe had internally, to settle tribal disputes that would have otherwise led to war and to make trade agreements. Each tribe prospered
under this new reality.
The dragon war was often discussed as well as individuals who broke the laws and needed to be tried. In the archipelago, most crimes had brutal punishments. Steal a chicken lose a hand, abuse your wife without cause equaled flogging and divorce, do it in public and the wife's family would require a blood debt which was death, disobedience to your Chief, meant death or exile, rape, castration and death, murder, death. Viking law was strict, and justice swift.
After a few moments, Oswald the Agreeable, Chief of the Berserkers stood, "Stoick, your father was a great warrior and Chief. Most of us at one time or another have fought beside him or against him and we all agree there was no better man than he. Those of us in this room in one way or
another owe him a life debt.
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We must still protect our own lands from the dragon raids we know will come but the Berserker tribe will provide 15 longboats and 300 men. My son Ragnar the Bloody will lead them."
Big Boobied Bertha leader of the Bog Burglars (an all-female warrior tribe) stood, "My mother "Agnes the Intense" was raped as a young girl of twelve, she never got over it. She described the attack to me and to Bog Burglar warriors when they came of age to take up shield and sword to take their place in the ranks. Most men dream of subjugating women, to turn them into baby-making machines, to exhaust their lusts and to tie a woman down to a life of servitude and finally to make women second class citizens".
There were shouts of anger and disgust coming from her male counterparts. Bertha held up her hand and continued, "Vikings, our tribe was created to give the women of the archipelago a choice. We do not completely disavow our own lusts, we do not look down upon motherhood, we do not
look down upon men or the bonds of marriage.
We Bog Burglars exist to show that women are just like any man. Though we will never bow to any man, like you, we recognize the need to procreate our line but we do not force any man to procreate or live on Bog Island against their will. No individual has the right to force themselves on another. It is a violation of the body and soul that no amount of cleaning can ever remove.
Because of this crime against young girls and women, we Bog Burglars will fight beside you to crush this scourge against our sisters. We pledge 10 ships, 250 warriors. We only ask, NO DEMAND, that any male prisoners be handed over to us. Before they die they will know the true meaning of
violation as they beg for death!"
"Agreed" shouted Stoic. As she sat down she looked over at Stoic with a
sly smile and winked. Nobody but Stoic picked up on it.
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In rapid succession the other Chiefs jumped up, each trying to outdo the other offering support. King Stormheart of the Mongrels spoke, "The Mongrels have had our women raped, our homes burned, our merchant longboats plundered as well. The Mongrels pledge twenty longboats and four hundred warriors and fifty shield maidens. My daughter and heir Princess Eir will lead."
And so it went until a force of 93 longboats and just short of 2000 warriors, over 400 of which were Shieldmaidens.
All Viking women were raised to fight and defend their families, their homes and their villages. Shieldmaidens were a special breed of women who chose to forgo the traditional life of a family for a strict existence dedicated to the defense of their homeland. They trained harder than any man, were experts on all types of weaponry, they were excellent sailors and were some of the best infantry in the archipelago. They could track as well as any animal, they were brave to a fault and they were totally dedicated to the sisterhood of Shieldmaidens.
All Shieldmaidens took a blood oath to protect their land and people to death. Most sisters never made it to forty. To join the sisterhood on had to not only be a great warrior but had to be of positive moral fiber. They could not marry or bear children. They were not celibate, but discretion was mandatory and any woman who became with child was immediately
removed from the ranks of the sisterhood never to return.
On very rare occasions a woman could leave the order, but most stayed for life. They were vicious in combat, feared on the battlefield and only retreated under direct orders of their Chiefs. They were held in high regard by their comrades and male counterparts. Chiefs usually gave the first portions of any plunder or slaves to the Shieldmaidens. It was an honor hard to achieve and not lightly given up.
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Stoic knew that an attack on Outcast Island was going to be a tough nut to crack. The island was roughly 30 vikas (miles) long and 10 Vikas wide. It was surrounded by cliffs. There were four small mountains that provided easy observation and but one was fortified with guard towers and each had at least four catapults.
There was only one beach capable of landing ships and troops. It was called 'Blood Beach' which was only a Vika in length and was covered by catapults.
To get to it an attacking force from Berk one had to sail 250 Vikas to the island from the southeast, travel past the mountain called 'Odin's Beard' on the eastern part of the island under observation within five Vikas from a
wooden fortress known as "the Citadel".
Continuing east one was still under observation from an armed watchtower on the southern tip of Odin's Beard. Then, still under observation, the task force would have to sail past the village, (called Freeman), and the watchtower overlooking Dead Mans Cove then sail past a
small plain known as Farmers Stretch.
At Farmers Stretch, a decision must be made. Just offshore on the westernmost point was a huge obstacle known as MacGuffins Reef. One could either sail through the very narrow Knifes Channel on the inside of the
reef near the shore or around it.
The problem was that not only is it a very narrow and shallow channel
there is also an armed watchtower in front of a mountain called Crows Peak.
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To the Northwest of the reef are three prominent sea stacks named (from south to north), Dragons Tongue, Thor's Eyes and Pigs Ear. Thor's Eyes has an armed watchtower a well. If that were not enough, if you made it past all the observation points unobserved, once you enter the main entrance to the island called Raiders Bay they would face what was left of the Outcast Fleet.
Now to get to Blood Beach the assault wave had to enter Slavers Cove. Slavers Cove was under the guard of two remaining mountains. The central mountain was called 'The Needle' also had an armed watchtower and just to the north was 'Harold's Mount' on which stood a small fort. There was no way around the fact that an assault force had to land a Blood Beach and the
docks.
These two points were protected by catapult and most likely longbowman. The only thing Stoic and the Chiefs figured they didn't have to worry about was cavalry since horses were difficult to keep alive in the archipelago due to the winters and the fact they were tasty meals for dragons.
Outcast Island was difficult to live on but very easy to defend. Or was it. Stoic had learned warfare from one of the greatest Vikings of their time, his
father Herald. Stoic saw the weakness in the Outcast defenses.
In his estimate, when Alvin attacked with his 30 ships and his six hundred men and the bastard only returned with just over ten ships and two
hundred men he was substantially weakened.
Sure he would have had to have left behind around three hundred men to defend against dragon attacks and to keep the slaves in line (because the Outcasts heavily depended on slave labor to run the fields on Farmers Stretch and to watch the Yak and sheep herds in the area just north of Odin's Beard and the Needle. Alvin would have to keep a close watch on the
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slaves. That took a lot of men. Manning the two fortresses and all those watchtowers took more, manning what was left of the fleet would stretch his
manpower even more.
Alvin wasn't stupid and he would know that The Hairy Hooligans would want revenge. He would keep the fortresses manned. He would have to maintain patrols as well. Stoic would gamble on two things, a) Avin couldn't maintain all of the watchtowers and b)he couldn't man the fleet and
maintain constant land patrols with the men he had remaining on the island.
Stoic called for attention, "Chiefs I have a plan. Bertha, can your Bog
Burglars scale cliffs?"
"Aye Stoic, better than mountain goat," said the Bog Burglar chief.
"Aida, can the Berk sisterhood do the same?" asked Stoic. Aida Freidasdotter had been chosen by the Shieldmaiden society to lead them
only second to Big Boobed Bertha.
"Yes Chief, as Bertha says, better than mountain goats" answered Aida.
Stoic grinned, "Well this is what we are going to do. Our force will rendezvous at three Three Fates. When there, we will consolidate and reorganize our forces.
On the following day at high noon, a hand-picked group of Bog Burglars and Shieldmaidens, led by Bertha, will leave on a single longboat painted black, with black sails and muffled oars will head for Hogs Head on Outcast Island.
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Your maidens will wear dark furs. They will darken their faces and their hair. You will only approach under cover of darkness. Your force will climb the cliff at Hogs Head avoiding contact with Outcast patrols. If you come
upon a patrol they must be dispatched quietly and quickly.
Bertha, you will divide your force. One will maintain a hidden position in the forest close to the main cattle herd. Aida, your task is trickier. You must take your troops past the Needle and Crows Peak to Farmers Stretch. The Fleet will only be hours behind you. Just before daybreak the Bog Burglars will attack both herds and attack and destroy any crops located.
The fleet will head North outside of the visual range beyond the stacks. With the dawn, we will sail into the North Channel and attack the fleet in Raiders Bay. Only specific ships will attack the Outcast fleet, the main body will proceed to Slavers Cove where we will offload our warriors onto our assault boats and land on Blood Beach.
Our main landing force will have three objectives. 1) Forces under Mogadon will keep Outcast forces inside the fortress on Harolds Mount, 2) Thuggory, your troops will attack and hold the docks and 3) Our forces will, under Prince Viggo of the Dragon Hunters, attack and hold the watchtower on the Needle.
Bertha, after you scatter or kill the yak herd, regroup your remaining warriors in the forest on HogsHead. Hold that position and attack any forces that Alvin sends to reinforce the fortress on Harold's Mount. Aida, it is vital that after you attack Famers Stretch that your sisters climb and hold Crows
Peak. Do not attack the village.
Alvin must either send his forces to reinforce the village, the Needle and finally, the fortress on Harolds Mount. I am of the opinion that Alvin cannot
do so effectively with the forces he has left.
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Those longboats attacking the Outcast fleet under my brother-in-law Spitelout are our reserve and second wave. He will find me and I will tell him
what holes we need to fill.
Princess Eir has had catapults placed on her vessels and will bombard the Citadel. I am of the belief that Alvin's men have been shaken badly by the casualties taken at their on the defeat at Berk. I believe if we achieve two of our three objectives they will panic and hole up ether in the Fortress on Harold Mount or the Citadel.
This is a reprisal raid, not a murder raid. I do not intend to waste lives trying to take either fortress. We will destroy their crops, their animals and their ships. We will take the village after we take the Needle. We will liberate as many slaves left alive and then we will burn it. We will be victorious. We
will take casualties. That is an occupational hazard for Vikings.
The Outcasts who survive will finally see we are a united front and if they ever recover, they will keep their raiding activities centered on the
English. What say you?" Asked Stoic?
Mogadon answered, "You're a crazy bastard like your father. That's why this plan will work". There were cheers of death to the Outcasts and after orders were written by the scribes, the meeting broke up and Chiefs returned to their quarters.
Late in the evening as Stoic began to walk back to his house there was a noise behind him. He was suddenly knocked over onto his face. When he spun around and began to draw his sword, he noticed he was staring in the face of a smiling Big Boobied Bertha who already had her sword drawn.
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"I told you my part of the plan would work Stoic,'' she answered. "Now
it's time for you to pay up," she said.
"You're not honestly going to make me go through with THAT are you?" he mumbled as he stood up.
"A deals a deal,'' she said, "and this sword is out to ensure you keep your word. Later that night strange screams sounding like a Skrill dying came from deep in the woods. Stranger still, almost nine months to the day, Camicazi Horrendous Berthasdoter was born.