Burning Skies Saloon

[Gryphos]

--Eastern wall--

Tristan
"I don't like this, the night is dark and full of terrors, come sundown the enemy can move freely without discovery."

Nidhogg came walking towards them from further along the wall.

Nidhogg
"I suppose the first skirmish was a win for us, we suffered few casualties and the enemy practically lost all of their squids. If we hold out like this, the battle is ours."

[RearAdmiralZill]

-But then it broke-

Zill watched on as the events unfolded. Lauren's tar block left the remaining pursuers retreating back to their fleet. He saw Sunderland's wreck out in the distance, but the enemy had no idea where they were, luckily.

He then thought of the council order undermining his. He quickly reeled over and turned his boat at the council hall. He popped kerosene and told William and Jun'ko to keep up. The groaning engines mumbled their confusion.

Zill came alongside the antenna used by the council hall to transmit its frequency on his port side. He silently went over to the port side and gazed down, looking for any men. Once clear, he got on his flak and fired two volley's of greased rounds into the antenna, knowing it off the roof and crashing to the streets below. By the time his crew figured out was was going on, the antenna was already a fiery wreck.
_Nova
"What the flak was that?!"

_Zill
"I will not have my tactics undermined by a diplomat in a comfy bunker. If we are going to survive, then I'm calling the shots."

_William
"You put a lot of faith in your tactics..."

_Jun'ko
"And I know first hand that they save a lot more lives than any council thinking would ever achieve."

Zill flew back to the wall, surveying the battleground. The city walls took the brunt of fire, holding nicely. The gun towers had sustained damage, and a few batteries were out.
_Zill
"Wall: replace those guns with whatever you have that can shoot. I don't care if it's a flare gun. Station troops at the main gate, as well as .5 km behind the wall. We will need to be clever when they get in."

_Officer
"You think they will breach?"

_Zill
"It's not if, but when."

His grim sentiment could be heard over all the frequencies. Many wanted to prove him wrong, but others knew it wasn't going to be a quiet evening.

[BdrLineAzn]

--Eastern Wall--

As the five Yeshan mercenary ships land behind the City's way, all of it's crew jumps off to assets the damage. As BdrLine and Niko deboards the Dawn Break they notices the amount of armor that has fallen off and the damage the actually hull has taken. As the two of them and the rest of the galleon crew inspect the ship, BdrLine notices a few ships bearing Baron markings.

BdrLine
"Niko look, must be Zill's and Yiski's mates. Glad most of them are alive."

Niko
"Yeah, I bet they hat the new 'king' held under the penalty of death if they don't comply. That's harsh. *He looks to BdrLine and notices something on his side" Bdr, what's that?"

Niko points to the spot that he saw and BdrLine follow his finger until he sees it. BdrLine places a hand on it and feels that it was wet. He brings it up to his face to have a better look and notices that it was blood. Niko sees it as well as he goes over to BdrLine and catches him as he faints from the blood lose.

Niko
"Oh flak, oh flak. *he then has a flashback to the moment the mercury hits the mast and realised that Bdr was the nearest and must have taken shrapnel* Medic! We need a medic over here!"

He calls out frantically.

[Plasmarobo]

--Eastern Wall--
BdrLine was in luck.
After the Point Wing had docked, Plasma made his way rapidly to the Eastern Wall with a Medical team, exactly for this reason.
He points the doctors to the frantic Niko.

_Doctor
"It's going to be alright. Good thing you brought us here."

Plasma nods to him. He turns to Niko as the Doctors take BdrLine and check his injuries rapidly. Preparing a stretcher.

_Plasma
"Is anyone else hurt? You all took one hell of a shelling. I want all of you checked, even if you don't think you're hurt bad, internal injuries can kill just as easily as external ones."

By now it was clear the Council was no longer giving orders. Not for lack of trying. Several messengers had reached the Point Wing. All were turned back, and the Council didn't have the resources to court martial the whole military in time of war. Plasma checks his radio and reports the condition of the ships and personnel.

He turns back to Niko, grinning unabashedly.
_Plasma
"He'll be fine. You all are lucky your friends are such great shots!"

[Yiski]

--Eastern Wall--

Althea and Frank watched as Yiski started barking orders over the radio and to Defenders in front of him for the evening.

_Yiski
"I want regular hourly flares from all major angles from the city's wall. I do not want a bloody vessel to get even within three kilos of here. I also want flares along the Gauntlet."

Althea was amazed by the command and power Yiski held over almost all the military units in Anvala.

_Frank
"Can't expect less from the man who wiped over three-quarters of the Guild fleet in the Conflict."

_Althea
"You cannot argue against a man who can hit lumberjack shot from six kilometers either."

_Yiski
*turning to Frank* "You think you can keep this rabble in line?" *Frank nodding* "Good. I'm checkin' up on BdrLine and his crew. You comin' Althea? Pretty sure you wanna check up on your boyfriend."

_Althea
*blushing* "Com... Commander, he is not..."

_Yiski
"Not yet and come on. You have to guard me right?"

Althea sighed as she and the Defenders guarding him earlier head for the Port.

[BdrLineAzn]

--Eastern Wall--

As the doctors place BdrLine on a streacher and brought to the nearest medical tent, Niko stays behind as more doctors check over him and the rest of the crew. During the time he talks to Plasma.

Niko
"It just a miracle we got out of that alive. I mean were we so far and had so much guns pointed at us. Almost like we cheated death. "

He then sees Yiski and Althea coming over and a grim look come upon his face.

Niko
"Excuse me."

He stands up and walks towards them.

[Yiski]

--Triage--

Yiski sees Niko approaching him as Althea rushes past them both to check on BdrLine. Yiski stops in front of Niko and spies over Niko's shoulder to see BdrLine in a bed. Yiski looks back to Niko.

_Niko
"Thanks for the sa..."

*WHAM*

Althea turns to see Niko fall backwards to the ground and Yiski with his arm extended and his hand in a fist.

_Niko
"The hell was..."

_Yiski
"Do you have a death wish?"

_Niko
"What? No!"

_Yiski
"Then why the in the bloody skies were you so and your group so heavily overextended?! This isn't the bloody canyons of Yesha! We're on a wide open field last I checked."

_Niko
"I'll admit we underestimated our engagement range and would have died without you and the squid giving cover."

_Yiski
"Stray from the plan again and I'll let you die next time."

Althea was appalled at Yiski's declaration, but she knew from his expression that he was dead serious. Althea couldn't imagine letting airmen die intentionally. She really didn't want to imagine Yiski letting BdrLine die intentionally.

_Althea
"Commander!"

_Yiski
"Are we clear?"

Niko looked to BdrLine and looked back to Yiski and nodded.

_Yiski
"Good. Once your ships are back in acceptable condition and find some replacement crew, you're on rear guard."

Yiski left quickly to head back to the Eastern Wall leaving Althea in the triage tent. Back at the wall...

_Yiski
"Status."

_Frank
"Doesn't seem like the Baronies are moving. We'll lose visual in about an hour though."

_Yiski
"Just make sure the flares go off in regular intervals."

Yiski walks over to the radio and sets the frequency for But Then It Broke.

_Yiski
"Zill how you holdin' up?"

[N-Sunderland]

Meanwhile, N-Sunderland flew the quickly patched together HMCS Duck Pharaoh into the city walls, landing it and immediately getting to work on repairing it.

[RearAdmiralZill]

-But then it broke-

The radio next to the helm cackled with Yiski's voice. Zill got up from inspecting the hull and went over to answer.
_Zill
"Fleet is doing ok. I think they lost two or three for every one of ours. Still, we can't take that kinda loss. At least the council can't issue orders any more."

_Yiski
"I saw. What do you need us doing?"

_Zill
"Make sure you're ready for a breach. I'm expecting them to make at least two breaches, plus the gate. We have the better gunners."

_Yiski
"Till then I'm sniping every last one of them I can."

The call ended and William came over.
_William
"You sound like you want them to breach. Care to share your real agenda here?"

_Zill
"You'll see. Have a little faith in me Will."

[BdrLineAzn]

Before night has fallen, the twelve ship formation of Zankif and Melin lands at the docks of the battered city. The two exits their respective ships and roam around looking for signs of BdrLine or any of the Yeshan mercenaries. They spot Niko as he is back with Gang working on their galleon.

Melin
"Niko"

Niko looks up and sees the both of them and walks to them.

Niko
"Melin, Zankif, glad you guys made it out."

Zankif
"Yeah we were about to head in to assume the main body, but once we heard of Bdr's message we bugged out. Luckily a cloud bank was near us and were out of range of their guns."

Melin
"Speaking of Bdr, where is he?"

Niko looks away from them and towards the direction of where the triage tent was. Melin and Niko follow his gaze and was shocked to understand that their friend was inside it.

Melin
"So during the retreat, right?"

Niko
"Yeah. But we didn't noticed it until we landed. He looked fine when he was helping with the fixing."

Zankif
"Must be the adrenaline kicking, he must haves ignored the pain."

Niko
*sighing* "Yeah, but still, how did we not notice we drifted away so far from the city. We didn't know they were regrouping."

Zankif puts a hand on his chin and thinks for a second

Zankif
"Maybe it was the assumption during the initial attack, I meanthey were advancing in and we sort of disorganised them a bit from our sniper fire. That small time frame was maybe why you guys entered."

Niko
"Yeah maybe. But just, I almost had my men and my best friend killed."

Melin
"Well it's time for some rest then. I'll go and find the detectors, and see what they know."

The three then split off in their different directions to fill their own agendas.

--Triage Tent--

Inside the tent on one of the beds, doctors has placed a blood pouch and stuck an IV in BdrLine to replace he amount lost. Over on a table lay all of his equipment that they took off to bandage the wound. Besides the bed standing is Althea as she has one arm across her chest and a hand on one of his. She stares at his unconscious figure.

Is this what he ment about being scared? Afraid about losing someone close."

A single small tear form at the edge of one of her eyes as she grips his hand tighter.

[BdrLineAzn]

--Narrator--

As the last light fade over the horizon, many of the defenders of the city take this brief moment of silence to rest after a prolong day of fighting. Many just lay back on the walls of buildings or slept on the decks of their ships. Others are awake anxious of whats to come in the morning.

The blackness of night continues only to be interrupted by flares set off on the walls to see for any movement. So far noone has spotted any signs of the aggressor which has regrouped back and out of sight of the city prepare for the second day.

In a commendered room just near the Eastern Wall, men are converted the once living room of a citizen into a makeshift command center. Inside, Zill, Yiski, and many of their trusted officers are around a table containing a map of the city's defense and the surrounding area. Throughout the night, the group spend their time discuss plans for the imminent attack.

Meanwhile, somewhere near the frozen northern border of the Baronies, a small squad of eight men creep through the snow and darkness towards a prison facility. The leader of the group uses quick hand signals which were registered by the others. One man goes up to a wall and places a charge on it. With a signal from the leader, the man detonates the explosive creating a hole which all eight goes through. Alarm sounds throughout the whole complex as guards scramble to the blast site. The eight men, all carrying tranqulizor guns, subdue any guard who come close and finally makes it to a cell to reuse the man they came for. After opening the cell door, the now nine man team races back to the hole where two squids are waiting for them. The squids then rises and flies off returning to their base of origin.

End of Narration

-End of Day 125

[Plasmarobo]

--Start of Day 126--

--Narrator--

The entire city is on edge.
The Baronies fleet had not been idle during the night. What damage the fleet had taken had been restored, save for the loss of a few ships. Some of the remaining Squids had tested the defenses of the city, launching answering flares back into the night, burning with a cold green glow, taunting the defenders.

The reports of damage were encouraging. Of the Squids, only four remained, one having flown too close to the walls during the night. Seven Pyramidion, eleven Goldfish, Eighteen Galleon and Fifteen Transport.

The rising light of day soon shattered that hope. Reinforcements had arrived. A new contingent of Goldfish, Squid, and odd looking Pyramidions, adding thirteen to the Squids, three to the Pyrs, and ten to the Goldfish. The new Pyr's seem to be modified, a new design. Almost as if the front point were thicker somehow. The squids seemed heavy, with no visible weapons, almost as if they were carrying great weights...indeed, they seemed to be crewed by a single pilot, if the scouts were to be believed.
But little of them had been observed, as they arrived during the night and the Baronies fleet had collected itself well out of range of the weapon batteries. They appeared to be floating in a great V formation, Galleons screening transport ships from fire like a great floating wall.

The first fingers of rising sun finally revealed the worst.

A voice cracked over the radio, to the military docks.
_Lookout
"They are in front of the sun! The bastards moved in front of the sun!"

Spears of light began to lance from the rising orb. Blast shields and tinted glass were employed, but with the sun directly aft of the enemy fleet, it was a rather large advantage. Then the Goldfish inched forward. Their movements were unpredictable. Few, save the best gunners, manged to land even a single hit on them. Then the roar of rockets filled the skies.

Confusion rapidly spread through the batteries. They were far out of rocket range, what could the fleet possibly hope to achieve?

The rockets burst high, in a wide spread in front of the fleet. But there was little flame. No conventional explosive bursts issuing from the rockets. Instead a thick, dark smoke filled the air. Slowly drifting down, forming a wall which defied all optics.

Terror came in the form of dozens of engines engaging at once. The Baronies were giving Anvala no more time. They were coming.

--End Narrator--

[Captain Lockheart]

Lockheart quickly scrambled his ships, and got them in the air. They were just behind the walls of Anvala. The Yeshan Dragon ready to provide its constant fire support, and the White Whaler was underneath it sniping with Mercuries.

Lockheart
"We just gotta keep them at bay until i can get re-reinforcements.... and a new radio that has a wavelength to go all the way to Chaladon and back... So it looks like no Re-reinforcements from father..."

The ships remained at their range supporting the batteries down below and occasionally hitting any squids that got too far out.

[Gryphos]

--Eastern wall--

Nidhogg and Tristan just stood there gazing at the ever approaching fog of war. Neither of them had even heard of this kind of tactic being used before.

Nidhogg
"My god, they're completely obscured. And the wind is pushing the smoke in front of the fleet."

Tristan
"It won't be long until the transports are close enough to disembark their troops."

Nidhogg
"At least our troops still hold a fortified position, and the home field advantage."

Tristan
"But I imagine the sheer force of the enemy numbers will no doubt be enough to overcome that obstacle. Only one thing's for sure."

He turned to Nidhogg.

"This will be a fight to remember. Are you ready?"

Nidhogg
"I have armour, weapons, and allies, I'm as ready as one can ever be."

Tristan
"Yes, true... But so are they, no doubt."

[Surette]

"Skies, is this really happening?" Surette wondered aloud, waking up and peering out his window. He had spent the previous day making final preparations--ensuring Serenity was in top shape and gathering together what few weapons he had. He knew there had been battling the day before--it was difficult not to, with all the noise and smoke in the air, but he didn't want to rush in to fight until he was positive he was ready.

"Well, it's now or never. I know I'll regret it if I stay inside any longer." He climbed aboard Serenity with two pistols and a combat knife on his belt and took off towards the Eastern Wall. He lowered the ship into a clearing nearby and jumped over the railing--his landing didn't have quite the same flair as Sunderland's landing in front of the Saloon two nights prior, but Surette was more interested in keeping his ship undamaged before the fight. He hurried over to the group of familiar faces, who were staring bleakly in the direction of the sun; after following their gaze, Surette could barely make out the outlines of ships, clouded in a black haze of smoke.

_Surette
"Well, that's a little unfortunate," gesturing towards the cloud. "Sorry I missed the fun yesterday, was making final preparations, and truth be told I got a little nervous. I knew if I didn't act soon though, it might be too late. I'm here now."