Campaign: Rebel Assault
MGRR - Return to Ashes (The Boneyard Mix)EveryoneWith the plans decided and any last minute preparations taken care of, the teams depart for their circuitous journey towards the town while the rest of the troops aid with last minute fortifications to the camp and prepare to move closer to the village. A small group of warriors are left to defend the camp, watch over those that cannot fight and make sure that Air mage prisoner doesn't try anything 'smart'.
Hostage TeamZechariah watches the watchtowers' searchlights, leaning out of the side of the small wooden house. He's trying to determine a pattern in their movements. Their arcs of movement are more or less consistent but their starts and stops are mostly random, yet he can get a feel for them, an understanding of how their operator moves them. Better than doing nothing as he tries to catch his breath (who knew a few extra weapons would be so heavy?). At least this way his mind doesn't wonder to less pleasent subjects.
The two Water mages beside him are displaying similar fatigue. They're not carrying weapons but water, a necessary material in their magic which is hard to summon from
thin non-humid air. They looked much worse earlier, when the Dark-magic wave of the ritual hit your group, but by now they appear to have recovered.
Zechariah can still feel the Dark energy, a coldness in his heart and a feeling as if the shadows have become something living and solid. But he knows that this feeling also means his Shadow abilities are more powerful, boosted by absorbing the power leaking from the ritual.
Theri and River appear the most fresh despite carrying the most, thanks to their superior strength and endurance.
After having had a couple of minutes to catch their breath, the team moves out. They run the distance that separates them from the wall until a searchlight gets too close to them. The group skids to a stop and hugs the ground as Zechariah focuses on concealing them with an illusion. The water mages could also hide them, but doing so is expensive, it would be best if they reserved their water supply for later. The illusion takes, making them appear light brown like a dirt-covered rock. The searchlight quickly passes over their location. Looks like they didn't see them. They whisper a few words to coordinate and then get up and start running again.
...
The team reaches the wall where Theri deploys their ladder. She secures it and holds it in place while Zechariah carefully climbs it and checks the other side. For all the time he has been watching them, the searchlights never illuminated this section of the wall. However that doesn't mean there couldn't be a patrol on the other side of the wall right now. He slowly raises his head and peeks on the other side like a cat ready to pounce. Nothing. He gives the all clear to the others.
He helps the Water mages cross before carefully lowering himself to the other side. Theri climbs next. She catches River as he jumps on the ladder and then onto her. She then pulls the ladder up and lowers it on the other side of the wall. She gets down and hides the ladder amongst the grass and bushes so that it won't be spotted by a passing patrol. They mark the location so that they can find it later and move further into the town.
...
The team moves slowly, trying to walk lightly and step on the dirt instead of the stones. The town is eerily dark and quiet, no light shining out of windows, no drunken singing from the taverns, no late night conversation escaping from the houses' walls. Even the various creatures of the night are mostly quiet, only the occasional cricket shyly chirping a couple of times before stopping again or maybe the clicking of a bat as it flies overhead. In conditions like these any noise they make would be easily heard. But it works both ways. By being quiet, they can hear their enemies and be prepared.
They hear speech coming from up ahead. It's the smaller warehouse they identified earlier. It's a somewhat square thing meant for food storage, with a sturdy outer and inner wall meant to help keep vermin away as well as a few underground compartments where more sensitive things can be kept. Only one entrance, two sliding doors currently left half-open, letting light and the sounds of conversation escape. Someone is talking loudly inside it. Doesn't sound angry, more like they're having fun. The team hides their extra weapons in an alley and moves closer to investigate.
...
"Okay, so I heard this one from Botan down at the Airfield."
"Oh, this ought to be good."
"I swear there's something wrong with that guy. He comes up with the weirdest stuff."
So, a Roy General and a Sovereignty General meet in the middle of the batlefield. They decide to resolve the conflict by showing who has the bravest soldiers. So the Roy General says
'Oh, my soldiers are the bravest and here's the proof. Proctor, my second in command!'
'What is your order, oh General?' responds Proctor as he runs to his general's side.
'Take this here sword, charge into the enemy line by yourself and slaughter them all!'
Proctor screams a mighty war cry and charges into the Sovereignty frontline... where he is easily taken out.
'See you Sovereignty scum? This is the bravery of the men of our Kingdom!' the Roy General boasts.
'Ha! You call that bravery? I'll show you what real bravery is like. Richard, my second in command!' the Sovereignty General retorts.
The Sovereignty General looks around.
'Richard? Richard!'
Eventually Richard arrives to the frontline and approaches the two generals.
'I'm here, I'm here. Whadya want?'
'Take this here knife, charge into the enemy line by yourself and slaughter them all!'
'Oh brother, you woke me up from my midday nap for this? Go do it yourself.' Richard says and walks away.
The Sovereignty General looks at the Kingdom General and nods approvingly.
'See Roy scum? That's the bravery of Sovereignty men.'
"Ha! So true."
"For you? Certainly."
"Well, you're not exactly a model soldier yourself,
sir."
"You know, I'd reprimand you for that, but I am too bored right now."
One of the soldiers gets up and starts walking towards the door.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"I'm going out to take a piss. What, you wanna come watch?"
"Fuck off. I think I'd rather stay here and steal your smokes."
"Don't you dare you little thief." the soldier says with a smile as he walks out.
"Hey, why don't you go piss in there?" the other soldier yells after him while pointing towards the inner door.
"Those animals are already stinking the place up, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you added your stink to it."
"Ugh. It's bad enough they have us babysitting them, feeding them and cleaning them."
"I can't stand the constant crying and begging. The more time I can spend away from them, the better."
"I hate that we have to do this. Why don't they just take them away?"
"Yeah, I get what you mean. So many people slaves... Feels wrong."
"Not to mention boring as hell."
"You can bitch about it all you want, but I'd rather be here bored and knee-deep in shit than dying at the frontlines."
"Hm."
The soldiers sit in awkward silence for a good part of a minute.
"Now see what you went and did? You bummed us out with your crap. Come on, anyone up for a game of Trick Cards?"
"Bet with smokes?"
"Sure."
"'kay, I'm in."
"Me too."
"Okay, that's three out of four."
"Hey, Hagi! We're playing Trick Cards for smokes. You in?" the soldier shouts towards the door.
They stay quiet for a moment, waiting for his response but no response comes.
"Where the hell is he?"
*sigh* "I'll go get him." the soldier says as she gets up.
"Hagi! Where are you you asshole? Did you manage to get lost? You literally just have to walk across the street." the soldier continues shouting as she walks outside in search of her comrade.
The two soldiers sit in silence for a few seconds, arranging their cards and getting their smokes out of their hiding places.
"Maybe he's having some... 'personal time'." one soldier says to the other and winks.
"Hah. I bet that will be a nice surprise."
"For Jana?"
"For both."
"Well, here's hoping Jana doesn't kill him."
They sit in silence for a few more seconds.
"What's taking them so long?"
"I dunno. Do you think love can bloom on the battlefield?" one soldier jokes but the other is no longer in the mood for joking.
"There's something wrong here. Get your sword."
"You're getting paranoid. Every civie is locked up."
"Yeah, well, better paranoid then dead. Besides, there might be monsters out there for all we know."
The other soldier sighs, gets his sword and follows the first as he carefully makes his way outside.
They walk softly and look around. Nothing.
"Hagi! Jana! You two out here?"
"Ssshhh! Shut up you idiot!" the other whispers.
The other soldier gives him an annoyed look but says nothing.
They keep walking for a few more steps before they hear something behind them. They turn to see a group of men pointing their swords at them. They turn away from them to run but find themselves facing a huge dog and a beastwoman.
"Fuck." one of the soldiers says as they lower their weapons and allow themselves to be captured.
...
It turns out this warehouse was used to hold women and children. They thought they would be easier to manage and require less space. This also kept the prisoners in the other warehouse in check, since if they tried anything the soldiers could threaten to execute their families.
The team's original plan was to arm some of the civilians and let them defend themselves, but that is no longer viable. The people here are in no condition to fight. They might be able to repel a small patrol if they are lucky, but anything more and they'll crumble in seconds. It will be a slaughter if they don't surrender immediately.
The team could help them erect a few barricades. This is a sturdy building, a patrol would be unlikely to make it through the walls. However the enemy is known to use explosives, so if they went and brought a bomb, they'd be able to get through any barricade in no time.
They could leave someone behind to help defend them, but anyone they leave behind is someone they can't use to assault the second, more heavily defended warehouse. Not to mention that even then it might still not be enough if the Sovereignty launched a serious offensive.
They could split up and have someone lead the civilians back the way they came from, but if they are detected by any of the watchtowers then that would surely trigger an alarm. Then Nikolai would be forced to open fire with his Artillery, which means he might strike the second warehouse before they can finish rescuing the civilians held there.
They could have someone lead them to the Eastern entrance. If Ahos has managed to capture it, then they should be able to easily exit undetected through there. But if the Eastern gate is not yet under their control or if they encounter a patrol their situation would be even worse than if they were caught outside the walls.
Or they could use their commwires to try to contact the others to see if they have any suggestion, but if anyone is monitoring such magic then that could lead to their detection.
Airfield TeamThe two teams regroup near a small house outside the town's walls, clinging to its walls to hide from the searchlights. They take a few moments to catch their breath, prepare, wish each other luck and then split up. Each waits for the searchlights to point at a convenient direction before making a run for it.
Ike and a couple of his fastest archers race directly towards the airfield's Eastern watchtower while the rest take a more circuitous route. Just as the searchlight is about to fall on them, Ike activates the Mirage device, rendering his small group invisible. The device burns through its water supply at an insane rate, but it's enough for him to cross the beam of light and reach the base of the watchtower.
...
"-aren't talking out of your ass again, are you?""I trust the guy. If he says that's what he heard, I believe him."
The soldier lets go of the searchlight and turns to face the other.
"Hmm... I guess it makes sense. That's why they never come back out of the Spine. But why all the secrecy?""I dunno. Maybe they don't want the Roys to know we can move our troops to wherever we want?"
"No, no, it doesn't add up. If they can do that, why haven't any of us gone through one of those portals? Why do we get supplies through airships and not through them?""Hey, how should I know? I'm not a freakin' mage. I'm just telling you what I heard."
The soldier throws his arms up in frustration and looks away from the other, towards the tents of the airfield.
"Besides, would you
want to go through one of those things?"
"I mean, for all we know it might scramble your mind or something. Better test their magical shit on the civies instead of me."
"What's your problem? Think it's too dark? Well, let me-"
He turns around ready to angrily point his finger at the other soldier, but he misses, pointing instead to the empty air above the searchlight.
"Huh?" the soldier exclaims as he looks around in confusion, his buddy nowhere to be found.
"Hey, where'd ya-" is as far as he manages to go before a sword's blade erupts out of his chest. He tries to shout but the shock, the pain and a destroyed trachea prevent him from doing so.
...
Ike climbs down from the watchtower while the archers recover their arrows from the other soldier's body. The rest of the recruits come join them soon after. Thankfully their help is not needed. The soldiers were distracted and the watchtower fell quietly. While the archers help the rest of the recruits through the fence, Ike refills his Mirage device, just in case, occasionally glancing at the still quiet airfield camp.
...
Ike hides behind the Glider's frame, his head brushing up against the fabric of its wings. Someone has carved the words 'little Valerie' on the wooden frame, probably with a knife. Behind him, the archers are standing ready, bow and arrow in hand. Next to him a recruit is holding his sword with his eyes closed, praying silently.
Looking to his left, he sees the two teams getting ready to take out the watchtowers, led by the Water mage. The soldiers have their backs turned, should be easy. The Water mage had some trouble earlier due to the Dark energy but he's looking better now. Should be fine.
Looking to his right, he sees the alchemist leaning against another Glider. She downs three colorful vials, one after the other, and then closes her eyes and looks up, shuddering with an euphoric look on her face as she strokes her musket. Maybe letting her come along wasn't such a good idea.
Looking ahead, he can see some soldiers sitting around the fire. One of them is dressed differently than the others, wearing tight, form-fitting clothes. Probably one of the pilots. Ike's enhanced senses let him know he's not saying much of consequence, just some joke about how much their enemies suck. His senses also helped him determine the number and location of the occupants of the camp (the ones that were snoring were especially easy to find). He made sure to let the recruits know and spread them out accordingly. Now all he has to do is wait for the signal that the watchtowers are down before attacking.
And the signal does come, but not in the way he expected it to. Suddenly one of the searchlights swivels violently and ends up illuminating a great bright circle on the town's wall and most of the camp via reflection. Ike has no choice but to order the attack. A rain of arrows falls on the confused soldiers near the fire, killing them quickly but not before they make some noise. Swordsmen and Spearmen rush in, toppling tents and murdering the men and women inside, many of whom had no chance to realize what's going on. There are some shouts and screams, both from the dying and from the recruits trying to coordinate with each other, but no alarms. Some of the enemy try to fight but they can't really put up any sort of resistance. A few quick thinking and/or cowardly ones fall on their knees and beg for mercy. The rest are mercilessly slaughtered.
All except one. A blast sends a tent flying into the sky. Ike rushes in to confirm what his ears are telling him.
"You thought you could come here and kill my friends?" the soldier shouts as he plunges his sword into the guts of a stunned recruit.
Another recruit charges with his sword raised above his head. The man pulls his sword out of the first recruit's guts with impressive speed and brings it up to block the incoming strike. The recruit brings his sword down only to watch in surprise as it is broken in two and ripped from his hands. He maintains that same look of uncomperhending surprise when the blade rises to cleave through his head and explode it like a watermelon. Enchanted blade. Just great.
"Take me on? An Ace?" the man shouts as he turns to look for his next target, his eyes falling on Ike.
"I'll make you pay!" he threatens as he charges towards him.
Having some basic pattern recognition and an advantage in reflexes, Ike focuses on dodging and counterattacking. But the Ace does something unexpected, twisting his blade and quickly bringing it towards his body before slashing towards Ike. The Ace is still a couple of steps away from Ike but Ike dodges anyway, just in case. The ground he was standing on erupts as it is slashed by a blade of compressed air. The Ace follows up with another slash. Ike blocks the strike while jumping back and manages to hold on to his sword despite the strength of the blow being enough to send fragments of metal flying. He throws his damaged sword to distract the Ace while he retreats to a safer distance. The Ace blocks the sword and sends another air-slash towards Ike, however it quickly dissipates before it can reach him. Hm. Short range then.
Ike holds out his hand and a recruit places a replacement sword in it. By now he can sense that most of his men not otherwise occupied are heading towards him, including the alchemist. The water mage and his group should be coming too, but he can't hear them yet. All of them together can definitely take care of a single soldier, even one as skilled and well armed. The question is how to do it without him killing too many of them.
The Ace begins twisting and pulling his sword towards him before slowly moving it away, repeating the motion as a line of distorted air begins to form along the edge of his blade.
Artillery TeamNikolai lies in the dirt, watching the town from a safe distance. With the moon up he can see the shape of the airship's oppressive presence floating above the city. It's strange, even now it's hard to make out. He was expecting it to be a more visible target. Maybe it's covered by some strange material or maybe the dark magic is affecting it somehow. Below it many of the lights in the Sovereignty camp have gone out, the soldiers that were using them having returned to their tents for the night. Small lights patrol around the camp, the ones holding them invisible with this light and at this distance. Further out the searchlights continue moving about in their lazy, semi-random patterns. No sign they've noticed them yet. He should start seeing the ones near the airfield stop moving soon, the attack should start at any moment.
Somewhere behind him his men are about to finish assembling the trebuchet. They've done some test shots with it, so they have a good estimate about approximately where it should be aimed. Hopefully his Tsaring won't change the trajectory too much. The crossbow is already placed on a short platform and recruits stand ready to reload it. Nikolai has also asked Lune to remind him and everyone else to stand clear before he Tsars it. The lightning cannon stands ready to be rolled forward so it can shoot at the airship, with or even without Tsaring if necessary. But for now it remains hidden just behind the hilltop, its power stone covered until it is needed.
The troops work under the faint light of Irine's Sword. Its fire is gone, all that is left is a weak and flickering glow like that of the embers of a dying fire under a weak wind, hopefully too weak to be noticed by anyone. Besides it Irine is laying on the ground in mostly silent suffering, with only quiet whines escaping her snout as she and the Sword fight against the darkness clawing at their souls. Her impossibly reflective fur is disturbed by her trembling, occasionally sending reflections of the Sword's light to his eyes. A recruit gently places his jacket over her to protect her from the cold of the night. A meaningless gesture, since she's trembling due to an entirely different kind of cold. Nikolai thinks she's looking better now, compared to how she when the Dark spell began. He can only hope that she'll recover enough to be able to fight soon, otherwise he's going to have to take care of the second part of the plan without her.
Suddenly the searchlight of the Airfield's northern watchtower swivels violently and ends up pointing towards the small camp in the Airfield. Half a minute later the searchlight returns to its previous position. Hm. Looks like Ike's attack has began. Nikolai lets his men know to be ready, just in case they have to start this show early. If they're unlucky, someone in the airship might have seen this.
Campaign: Alan's Day Out
N.A.S.A. - MoneyThe next few days pass quite pleasantly.
The mornings are somewhat boring. You wake up around midday in the tower, check up on your new Angelic friends and the go about exploring the College or the Palace. Sometimes you wake up and find yourself already walking down some corridor, you think you might have began sleepwalking. But it doesn't bother you that much. It leads you to exploring interesting places if nothing else.
Then you're usually called away by your step-dad or some servant to discuss about super boring things. The war, resources, the progress of the construction works for mum's special project... You try to dismiss them as quickly as possible or sometimes ask help from mum to make them go away more quickly. Sometimes you have to go check up on the elves to make sure they're making good progress on the portal in the basement. They're always polite and happy to see you and very nice, but they sometimes get a bit too touchy and frankly kinda creepy, so you try to keep your distance.
In the evenings you usually make your way to the mansions of the various Lords, participating in their lavish events and charming everyone with your lovable personality. You make sure to tell everyone how great your step-dad is and how much good and noble their support is. After all, once the war is over and everyone there is liberated and happy they will want to buy all the Lords' goods in exchange for their resources.
Except for some nights when you are called back to your Mum through one of her portals and you spend some time bonding. She can't speak but she can somewhat communicate and doing so makes you feel good. You also throw meals her way, she seems to enjoy that, even when you throw them a bit too hard and she has to use her magic to stop them. No matter what you do she's still hungry though, you can feel it in the power you share, the constant draw and the constant increase in power.
The past few days have been all well and good, but things have been getting kind of boring. You think you need to do something else for a change. As you stare at the city from the top of your tower, your feet dangling off the edge, you consider your options:
1. The Arena has long been the primary source of entertainment in the Capital. There are often cultural events organized there like poetry contests and plays, but what the crowds are most eager to see are the bloody fighting events and the brave gladiators that fight in them against rare beasts from all over the world. There has been some discontent recently but if you made an appearance on the Arena (and got your step-dad to pay for everyone's tickets) then you're certain everyone would like you and become happier knowing they have you defending them and looking out for them.
2. While most mages in the College are quite friendly to you, one old meanie called Ventis has been saying bad things about you. You don't think he can see through your mum's special make-up but he might be able to soon and that could get awkward. You've heard he'll be attending the gala held to celebrate the launching of Lord Audrey's new airship, a Lord that you recently managed to make your friend (probably so he can whisper bad things about you to her). You're certain you could get an invitation to the gala if asked Lord Audrey nicely. When you're there, you're certain you can find a way to make him your friend.
3. Chaos warbands have been terrorizing the East coast, plundering towns and fishing villages for supplies necessary to their rituals. They don't bother you or the capital but their raids are making your step-dad rather grouchy. You could take some of your friends and convince them to play nice, through friendship or maybe even a time out. You don't know much about them, but half the fun in these sorts of things is finding out.
4. Your step-dad has brought you a most wonderful gift! A great Grey dragon to have as your pet. However he has not been cooperating and this has set your work with him back somewhat. He's not much use to you locked up in the dungeon like that. You tried talking to him but he just said some really mean things and didn't listen to you at all. You get a feeling from your mum that he would be a lot more cooperative if you showed him who's boss. It's just like training a dog, only much more dangerous and with more fire involved. Otherwise you'll have to put him down and that would be kinda sad.
Poll
15 (42.9%)
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1147722 times)