Ellis shuddered as a chilling wind blew through out the small bunker, he and his companions had constructed. It was simple yet sturdy. Pointed barricades pointed south, with a trench dug through the snow behind the barricades. Him and his team of 7 were huddled around a small improvised table, an overturned table, snow shoved around it, a safeguard from the box flying away in the wind. On the box was a small map of the immediate area, lines and dots marked the colorful map.
Ellis was in command here, most of his team were fresh out of training, this their first time with out a screaming instructor in their ear. He smiled confidently, as he looked to his left and right, trying to ease the worry in their eyes. "It's going to be simple, guys. This is routine." He said over the howling wind. "Our scouts say four poachers are making their way closer to Zetski. All were gonna do is announce our presence in a team of two. A team of three is gonna flank right, and a team of two is gonna flank left. It's a classic pincer. Once they realize they're surrounded, we demand they leave or we use force." He explained, he looked each one in the eyes. "This is routine fellows. It's gonna be okay." He said, with a reassuring and assertive tone.
"Jakobs. You're with me. We'll go down the middle, team alpha and team Bravo will pincer in the middle." He grabbed Jakobs on the shoulder who had been shaking the entire briefing. Ellis had the impression he was shaking for more reasons than just the wind. He pulled Jakobs aside, next to a wall while the rest moved out. "Jakobs. I understand excited with everything considered, but you have to have your head in the game or someone is going to get hurt." He said, softly. Ellis was no where near an experienced solider, he was only 3 years into first tour, but he was highest ranking near the border where they were stationed. His experiance in how confrontations went would serve these new recruits well.
They made their way through the dense forest as the team's began to gain distance from eachother. The foot steps agaisnt the snow echoed against the bark of the trees. Fourntely, for the team, the sound was drowned out by the howling of the wind. The deep greens of the ever greens and the blinding white snow kept the group hidden from the poachers. Within a few minutes travel, Ellis's ears picked up on the snapping of twigs infront of them a few hundred feet ahead. He signaled for him and Jakobs to stop. "I'm gonna go ahead, introduce my self. I will explain they are not welcome and they should back. If anything funny happens, take your bow and supply me cover. You got this. Okay?"
Ellis made his forward, handling his bow in his right hand, an arrow between his fingers in his left hand. As the snow storm ranged he could make out figures in the horizon between the trees. He strung the bow, the string taunt as his arrow lay rest next to his eye. "Halt! You are approaching Zetski!" He commanded, as the group continued forward, they held out their hands in a sign of peace. A man with a ginger beard walked forward, struggling to yell against the wind. Ellis could only make out parts of what the man was saying. "Ost path.. jured… sick." Ellis stared at the man, his hand non moving. "Why don't you come closer so we can talk?!" The man roared out.
Ellis weighed the possibilities in his mind. He didn't want to give away their element of surprise. The whole strategy hung on his team arriving with bows drawn, circling the strangers undetected. He walked forward, keeping his bow drawn as he closed the distance between him and the strangers. Ellis remained weary as he carefully placed step after step with thought and care. His eyes never moved from the man. A smile flashed upon the man's face. Ellis's eyes shot open, as he leaped to the left. A whooshing sound sliced through the air as he felt a heavy weight slam him to the ground.
He crumbled under the weight, his body falling onto the cold snow, face first he rolled over to see what had crushed him. A net with heavy weights attached to the ends had him ensnared. He growled, and shouted out to jakobs, who was hidden among the trees. "Fire, now!" He ordered. Ellis's eyes grew wide with horror as he watched Jakobs turn, and run into the forest, dropping his postion and retreating further into the deep green and brown forest. The group of poachers snickered as they approached the writhing Ellis. He shouted out insults and threats as the group unstrapped sharp carving knifes. The man with the beard knelt down, sticking a needle into Ellis's outstretched arm.
He inhaled sharply as the needle pierced his skin and felt a cold liquid with in his arm. "There, there. Shhhhhhh… You're gonna calm down now." The man cooed. He continued to shh Ellis as he struggled to escape the net with dispersing strength. Soon enough, Ellis was powerless to do even lift his arm in protest. With a nod, the men lifted the net and rolled Ellis over, his face once again in the snow.
He felt pats around his back, as he heard his over shirt being cut. He felt the cold bite at his skin as he felt his wings being pried open. He heard through the snow, although muffled. "Take the feathers, well use them as Fletchings for our arrows.
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