PUMPS makes Latina Book Club's best list of 2013!! Read the review, here!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Raider-Charger Wars

I wrote this short story the other day. My brother liked it, so I thought I'd post it:

Raider Charger Wars

It was a cold blustery winter night off the coast of San Diego. The old wooden frigates slowly approached the shore, undetected by the onerous coast guard and navy patrols that were too busy looking for steel vessels. The pounding rain swooshed and battered with the ferociously howling winds, reducing visibility to a mere twenty yards. As the first frigate hit the beach, the first of the silver and black clad Raiders staggered onto the sand.

The Raiders were ugly, mean, reeking of sweat and seawater. They were tired, hungry, angry, and they were thirsting for blood. The formed a march in the sand, with their shields, armor, and weapons clinking and clanking with every step. Black and silver paint was smeared on their faces. Their black uniforms, struggling to cover their armor, hung tattered and torn.

The heavily armored lineman carried the long, iron-tipped pikes. The linebackers in light armor carried swords with the defensive backs mounted on horses. The offensive linemen rolled the battering ram and cannons, and the mounted receivers carried bows as they made their way through the beach and down the valley, marching on to the castle, Qualcomm stadium.

At Qualcomm, the Chargers were carrying on with their normal practice routine. The mounted squad were jousting and practicing sword-fighting matches. It was a normal sort of preparation for the impending AFC battles that could ensue at any given moment. But as the strangely cold, rainy, wintery-night fell, they huddled into their tents on the field to rest for the next day, unaware of the Raiders slowly marching towards them through the valley.

It was before the first morning light. The first group of Raiders was making their approach to the parking lot when the Charger scouts spotted them. “Ambush! Ambush!” yelled out the young water boy as he panicked frantically from the deck of stadium. Alarms began to sound off, those who were awake already scrambled to wake everyone up. The king and his court, housed high up in the stadium were ushered to wake up and make their escape with the princess, the head cheerleader.

The first of the Raiders’ mounted riders rode onto the parking lot and fired arrows lit on fire into the stadium concrete outer wall. Others were firing at the first of the Chargers who were beginning to file out of the entrance slowly. The Chargers were struggling to mount their horses, and some linemen were rolling cannons out to the middle decks of the stadium outer wall.

Within the fortress of the stadium, the royal front office was in shambles. Guardsmen scurried about trying to make sense of the chaos and keep the king safe. His personal guards were working on a exit route out of the back of the stadium. The king’s second in command, Duke Smith, pleaded with the king to make haste. The princess and her handmaids waited patiently in fear in the princess chambers. They knew not of what was going on, but hoped that she would be kept safe.

General Campbell of the Raiders led his armored steed to the front lines. “Receivers go long!” he ordered as the attacking horsemen met the defensive archers on the second deck with a barrage of arrows. “Fire the cannons!” he ordered as the running back and fullback fired a cannonball into the first line of defense.

The Chargers were filing out, forming a line of defense at the entrance of the castle stadium but the cannonball shredded their wall, and sent the defense scattering. More Charger came rushing out, trying to mount a counter attack, but the Raiders slashed and fired upon them, cutting them down. “Cannon!” shouted General Campbell, and the Raiders launched a cannon ball onto the second deck, sending slabs of cement tumbling down, taking out more Chargers in the process. The Raiders linemen moved forward with the battering ram, to push in the castle door. “Full attack!” shouted General Campbell.

It was over before it began. The powerful Raiders swordsmen and a barrage of arrows easily struck down the remaining mounted Chargers, sending them fleeing in all directions. The Raiders linemen broke down the front door, and the linebackers stormed the stadium first. They plundered and pillaged their way up the ramp to the second deck destroying kiosks, filling their carts with kegs of beer and nachos.

The running backs, leaving the cannons for the defense to guard, entered into the king’s chambers, but he was not to be found. They next entered the princess’ chambers and found her, along with her handmaids, trembling in fear. The king had left them to fend for themselves. The mighty warrior, McFadden, pulled the head cheerleader out and led her away. She was now captured and would be under Raider control.

The Raiders surprise attack was flawlessly executed. They finished off the Chargers, leaving them bruised and injured. The stadium was pillaged and plundered. The king had gotten away. The dark lord, Emperor Davis, sat on his frigate command center just offshore, laughing at the news of the victory, as he watched the smoke plumes rise from the castle in the distance.
of the victory, as he watched the smoke plumes rise from the castle in the distance.