Samuel said, “I would rather have more than we could possibly need than not enough. You know we can always use them if they’re not needed. It will also keep the communities’ minds off the ones sent to fight.”
Jingo tilted his head and nodded. He respected this Human and was often amazed at his insights. The communities needed to be kept busy. He turned around and saw Jesa sitting in front of her home, crying because Jingo had not come back with Scotty. “Especially that one.”
On his way back to the nesting ground, Scotty asked Zreeg to fly over the area surrounding the forest and was stunned at what he saw. “Zreeg, how many Torg are moving toward the forest?”
Zreeg looked down and said, “More than a hundred thousand in the initial herd.”
“What do you mean, initial herd?”
“There will be at least four herds coming to attack our newborns. The follow-up herds are bigger than the first. “
Scotty looked down and saw Torg as far as he could see. “Why are there so many?”
“They know the exact time of our breeding cycle and have been coming for as long as we have been here. This is their largest meal of the year, and their numbers have exploded since they began attacking our nests. Last cycle no newborns survived.”
“Take me to the forest.”
Zreeg turned and flew toward the forest directly in front of the giant, moving mass of Torg.
Scotty came into the nesting ground and yelled for all archers to assemble. The thousand came running and Scotty waited for the last to arrive. He looked around the group and said, “It’s a lot worse that I thought.” He saw their apprehension on their faces. “I have just flown over the Torg herds, and it appears upward of half a million of them are coming to feast on the Zord’s newborns.”
Jingo heard the number and said, “That many?”
“Maybe more; I hope those additional arrows arrive quickly.”
Jingo looked at the group and said, “There’s only one way we stand a chance.”
The archers all turned to him and he continued, “We’re going to have to allow them to get close to the nests.”
Scotty agreed, but the other archers were shocked at his suggestion. Michael Blake asked, “Shouldn’t we should stop them before they get close?”
Jingo looked at Michael and said, “If we attempt to defend a large perimeter, Torg are going to get through. We need the smallest perimeter possible to make sure the number of pathways into the nesting ground is limited. The only way we can slow them down is to kill enough of them to choke their routes through the hedges. We have to fill the spaces between the hedges and pathways with enough dead Torg to block those coming from behind. That line must be where the killing starts, and then we take on anything trying to break through the barrier of dead Torg. I’ve scouted the area and there are a hundred ging roots leading into the nesting ground, and we must defend those paths. If we move fifty yards further out, the number of routes we’ll have to defend doubles from a hundred to two hundred. Ten of us will have to cover each pathway leading from the forest to the eggs. We know the initial numbers charging ahead of the main mass will be fewer than the mass pushing from behind. There will be one archer for every nine on the ground that will be up in a blind. They’ll be hitting anything that makes it through any path leading to the nests. Once the pathways are choked off, half of us will go up in the blinds and start hitting anything that looks like it will even remotely break through. The rest will go where they’re needed. Do any of you see another way?”
Scotty said, “Once we stop the initial charge, I want fifty archers in the center of the nesting area at all times to support any part of our perimeter that looks like it will be overrun. Jingo and I will lead that group. Michael, you will lead the northern approach and
Jingo tilted his head and nodded. He respected this Human and was often amazed at his insights. The communities needed to be kept busy. He turned around and saw Jesa sitting in front of her home, crying because Jingo had not come back with Scotty. “Especially that one.”
On his way back to the nesting ground, Scotty asked Zreeg to fly over the area surrounding the forest and was stunned at what he saw. “Zreeg, how many Torg are moving toward the forest?”
Zreeg looked down and said, “More than a hundred thousand in the initial herd.”
“What do you mean, initial herd?”
“There will be at least four herds coming to attack our newborns. The follow-up herds are bigger than the first. “
Scotty looked down and saw Torg as far as he could see. “Why are there so many?”
“They know the exact time of our breeding cycle and have been coming for as long as we have been here. This is their largest meal of the year, and their numbers have exploded since they began attacking our nests. Last cycle no newborns survived.”
“Take me to the forest.”
Zreeg turned and flew toward the forest directly in front of the giant, moving mass of Torg.
Scotty came into the nesting ground and yelled for all archers to assemble. The thousand came running and Scotty waited for the last to arrive. He looked around the group and said, “It’s a lot worse that I thought.” He saw their apprehension on their faces. “I have just flown over the Torg herds, and it appears upward of half a million of them are coming to feast on the Zord’s newborns.”
Jingo heard the number and said, “That many?”
“Maybe more; I hope those additional arrows arrive quickly.”
Jingo looked at the group and said, “There’s only one way we stand a chance.”
The archers all turned to him and he continued, “We’re going to have to allow them to get close to the nests.”
Scotty agreed, but the other archers were shocked at his suggestion. Michael Blake asked, “Shouldn’t we should stop them before they get close?”
Jingo looked at Michael and said, “If we attempt to defend a large perimeter, Torg are going to get through. We need the smallest perimeter possible to make sure the number of pathways into the nesting ground is limited. The only way we can slow them down is to kill enough of them to choke their routes through the hedges. We have to fill the spaces between the hedges and pathways with enough dead Torg to block those coming from behind. That line must be where the killing starts, and then we take on anything trying to break through the barrier of dead Torg. I’ve scouted the area and there are a hundred ging roots leading into the nesting ground, and we must defend those paths. If we move fifty yards further out, the number of routes we’ll have to defend doubles from a hundred to two hundred. Ten of us will have to cover each pathway leading from the forest to the eggs. We know the initial numbers charging ahead of the main mass will be fewer than the mass pushing from behind. There will be one archer for every nine on the ground that will be up in a blind. They’ll be hitting anything that makes it through any path leading to the nests. Once the pathways are choked off, half of us will go up in the blinds and start hitting anything that looks like it will even remotely break through. The rest will go where they’re needed. Do any of you see another way?”
Scotty said, “Once we stop the initial charge, I want fifty archers in the center of the nesting area at all times to support any part of our perimeter that looks like it will be overrun. Jingo and I will lead that group. Michael, you will lead the northern approach and
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