Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Acacia Sgt]

Preparations ready, John looked over where the captain was. <Might as well, let's see what's the course of action,> he thought as he walked over. Gil for his part resumed to follow Grabacr with his gaze again.

[Phoenix]

Main Deck

Mandy and Talitha didn't have time to put Summer and Autumn down below decks, which seemed like it would only complicate the situation further. For the moment, the two women approached the captain along with several others to try and figure out what to do. The Leverager itself was going to have one hell of a time escaping the port with so many smaller ships crossing their path. It was more or less a traffic jam, but the helmsman was doing a good job of steering them through and not ramming any of the smaller ships in the process. There was still virtually no chance of them slipping through the net of rebel ships approaching, however; he could already tell ....

"Whether or not everyone's here, we have to get out of here. Grab anything you might need and get ready for battle, all of you. They might try to board us, but our mission is to escape this port. Do not pursue anyone no matter what happens.

Seconds later, Ringo swooped down onto the deck. Gabbie and Reign got off and the latter approached the captain just like Gytha, Mandy, and Talitha had. "Sorry I'm late. If you need something set on fire or need another trigger man, let me know." he greeted.

[Mercakete]

"Aye, aye!" Gytha replied before asking, "So, d' ye want me helpin' with th' cannons, preparin' fer boardin' 'r findin' a rifle 'r somethin'?" She didn't have much practice with rifles -- she was far more familiar with her pistol -- but she could try to help with anti-air efforts if they needed someone for the job. Waiting around to be boarded wasn't exactly productive, but at least they'd have people on standby for that just in case. And obviously if every hand aboard the ship went to the cannons there wouldn't be enough room to work and a lot of people would just be standing there. She just had to figure out which group she'd be placed in.

[Ether]

It seemed there was not much for her to do with regards to the assault, so Faatina readied herself for the chance that they were to be boarded. There was not much else she could really do.

**********

Seems they had made it back aboard the Leverager in time, if only just. Lisandra let out a dissatisfied groan, it seemed that there would not yet be a chance to relax. Retrieving her axe, she began to search for that merchant woman. Melee would be useless in this sort of situation, but perhaps she could be allowed to make use of one of the firearms in the wagon.

**********

"Alright Fox~ I'll try to find their auras for you~" The woman responded, as she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift, her own magical aura bringing itself to light in the process, a steady weight filling the air about the lead ship.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Good idea then to prepare in advance,> John thought at the Captain's words. Then Gabbie and Ringo arrived to the ship with Reign in tow. <So Reign was still back in town huh. Well, at least he did had the means of heading back.>

The captain had already issued a general course of action. Well, better to relay this back to Raquel so he headed over to get back inside the ship; there was still time after all.

[Phoenix]

The Cage

As the rebel ships approached the port city, they spread out across the water, with the ships toward the center slowing down to form a semi circle. The ships at the docks were struggling to get out to sea before they were boxed in, but those that did make it away from the docks early found themselves being fired on. Of the five ships that reached the fleet trying to escape, only three made it back. A small fishing vessel and a merchant's ship were both destroyed while the survivors turned their damaged ships around and tried to return to the relative safety of the patrol fleet.

Fox saw the destruction and looked slightly irritated by it. "I do wish they would make certain they aren't destroying my prize before firing like that. Kit, the dragons weren't aboard either of those ships, were they?" At the very least, the destruction of the two ships had sent a clear message to the survivors.

Overhearing the man, an officer took the initiative and grabbed a nearby crewman by the collar. "Get a message to all the other ships in the fleet and tell them not to destroy anything else until we find and mark the ships we're looking for! Got it?!"

"Understood!" the man replied nervously before running off. Fox spared the officer a glance. That was what he would have had him do, so it saved him the trouble.

Traffic Jam

"The situation isn't clear just yet, but we will definitely need all the cannons firing we can get." Bogdan replied to Gytha. "We can't let them board us, no matter what happens." he added as a warning. "Any rebel ships that get too close to us have to be destroyed."

Shortly after saying that, he saw the results of the civilian escape attempt. He shook his head regretfully as two of the ships went under. It was hard to see so many people die for their 'mission'. "We have to get out of here before this gets any worse."

The Leverager and Dark Utka tried to get away form the docks, but there wasn't a real plan in place, just yet. They had other problems to deal with first, though. There were too many ships trying to get away from the docks while a half a dozen were trying to return after the fleets violent demonstration. The Dark Utka barely managed to slip by a smaller ship passing by, while the Leverager had to turn to avoid it. That put the Dark Utka far ahead of the Leverager within a couple of minutes, and the helmsman had to make several more course corrections to get them back on track.

"You crazy helmsmen! What's the matter with ya! Doncha realize there's only room for a couple'a ships at a time?! This is madness!" Had he said that any later, he would have been cut off by the sound of another merchant ship crashing into a cog. "What the ... just ... just ... just great! Outstanding helmsmanship, right there. Captain, we're gonna get RAMMED out here!"

"Do what you can to get us out of this mess. We have to catch up to the Utka. After that, we'll find a weak spot in their formation and punch through." Bogdan replied to the helmsman. "... READY ALL CANNONS ... ALL OF THEM!!! This is going to be tough to get out of ..."

"Runnin' a blockade in a galleon, huh? Since the alternative is a slow and extremely painful death, ya can count on me, Captain!"

Volya VS Ofnir

With the area clearing out quickly, Volya flew back down to try to use the buildings for cover. Up in the air, he was at a nightmarish disadvantage, but down on the ground, he had less room to maneuver while Ofnir seemed content with just plowing through anything in his way. Doing so may have slowed him down, but not enough to make up for all of the things Volya had to avoid, himself. As the wind dragon chased him through the streets, it occasionally sent a series of wind blades out to strike him. With so few being sent out, Volya usually intercepted him with his powers, but at other times he would make an effort to avoid them. He was getting tired.

It all came to a head when he landed and began running on his feet. Ofnir wrecked two buildings as he squeezed through an alleyway, and then unleashed a gust of wind that knocked Volya to the ground. "Urgh! Persistent as all hell ..." Volya stopped running and slowly picked himself up to face Ofnir head on. "I'm not quite ready to face down an opponent like this ... not yet." he admitted to himself.

As Ofnir approached, Volya looked up to make eye contact. "You're stronger than I am, dragon ... for now. You'd better hope we don't meet again ..." Ofnir didn't seem to want to meet him again, either, and quickly thrust his claws forward, impaling Volya and smashing him through a stone wall. Ofnir pulled his paw out from the hole in the building to reveal his blood stained claw. It was a devastating attack, which was good enough for him. The dark avian had to be dead, so he beat down his wings, and took off.

"... I ... w-wanted to defeat that dragon ... wit-th ... out ... wrecking this place ... but I can't do it." Volya coughed up blood as he pulled himself up. The gaping hole in his chest had already closed, but there was even more blood all around him, and a lot of his feathers were scattered about. He wondered if he had been smashed into someone's home or some other establishment. It was difficult to tell with the place now in ruins.

[Acacia Sgt]

John reached the dinning hall, to find almost everybody from before were still here.

''Everybody's back on board,'' John informed. ''And we're now en route to meet with the enemy. The captain said for everybody to get ready for battle just in case.''

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

The sailors were pouring in, but given the amount of cannons the Leverager had, she was able to find an unoccupied one. She waited to see what the other sailors did so she could follow their lead. Not my weapon of choice, but at least if I die I'll go down fighting... she thought grimly.

Nadya

As she began to see other ships getting shot, Nadya decided not to remain on deck where she could easily be picked off by cannonballs or dragonfire or Mercy knows what else. She went below decks and unhitched Luca. At least he might not drown if this all starts floodin'...ugh I feel like a rat stuck in a barrel. Never travel on ships. she thought despondently to herself.

[Mercakete]

"Aye aye!" Gytha replied before flying down to the gun deck. "Hoy! Let me know where I'm needed," she quickly demanded as she came onto the scene. It seemed that Veronika and someone else were already there, as well as several cannoneers. The ship's movements involved a lot of turns... Traffic must have been terrible for the helmsman.

[Phoenix]

Battle: Port Tremere

Battle Map

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/JETZ34/Fire%20Emblem%20Custom%20Sprites/Extras/PortTremerebeta.png

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[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

Allied Fleet:

Leverager(26)

Type: Galleon

HP: 100 Evade: 2 Defense: 3 Shots: 14

Loadout: Light x2, Medium x5, Heavy x6, Ballista

Supports: Aerial Squadron, Dark Mages

Dark Utka(18)

Type: Galleon

HP: 100 Evade: 8 Defense: 3 Shots: 8

Loadout: Light x2, Medium x4 Heavy x2

Supports: Engineer Team x2

Rebel Fleet:

Outer Sanctum(02)

Type: Carrier

HP: 145 Evade: 1 Defense: 6 Shots: 4

Loadout: Fireshot x2, Ballista x2

Supports: Fire Dragon, Wind Dragon

Add-ons: Fire Rune Rigging

Fire Dragon* (04)

Wind Dragon* (??)

Aigaion(02)

Type: Carrier

HP: 170 Evade: 1 Defense: 4 Shots: 4

Loadout: Ballista x4

Supports: Aerial Squadron x3

Aerial Squadron A*(02)

Aerial Squadron B*(02)

Aerial Squadron C*(02)

Bad Bachelor(09)

Type: Ship of the Line

HP: 150 Evade: 1 Defense: 8 Shots: 10

Loadout: Heavy x8, Chainshot x2

Supports: (Engineer Team)

Ship of the Line A(03)

HP: 150 Evade: 2 Defense: 7 Shots: 10

Loadout: Medium x4, Heavy x6

Ship of the Line B(05)

HP: 150 Evade: 2 Defense: 7 Shots: 10

Loadout: Medium x2 Heavy x8

Galleon A(09)

HP: 120 Evade: 3 Defense: 8 Shots: 8

Loadout: Heavy x6, Fireshot x2

Galleon B(05)

HP: 120 Evade: 3 Defense: 8 Shots: 8

Loadout: Heavy x6, Fireshot x2

Diligence(15)

Type: WindJammer

HP: 110 Evade: 1 Defense: 10 Shots: 5

Loadout: Heavy x4, Ballista x1

Supports: Earth Mages x2

Add-on: Naval Ram

WindJammer A(07)

HP: 110 Evade: 3 Defense: 10 Shots: 5

Loadout: Medium x5, Heavy x2

Supports: Earth Mages

Add-on: Naval Ram

Fluyt A(05)

HP: 100 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 8

Loadout: Fireshot x2, Heavy x6

Fluyt B(07)

HP: 100 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 8

Loadout: Chainshot x2, Heavy x6

Fluyt C(07)

HP: 100 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 8

Loadout: Grapeshot x2, Heavy x6

Frigate A(15)

HP: 90 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 4

Loadout: Medium x2, Heavy x2

Frigate B(06)

HP: 90 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 4

Loadout: Medium x2, Heavy x2

Spotter Seven(04)

Type: Corvette

HP: 70 Evade: 8 Defense: 3 Shots: 4

Loadout: Ballista x4

Add-ons: Dark Rune Rigging

Wolfen(03)

Type: Corvette

HP: 70 Evade: 10 Defense: 3 Shots: 3

Loadout: Fireshot, Chainshot, Grapeshot

Add-ons: Dark Rune Rigging

Tremere Fleet:

Brandish(17)

Type: Ship of the Line

HP: 120(damaged: 100) Evade: 5 Defense: 3 Shots: 16

Loadout: Medium x4, Heavy x10, Ballista x2(destroyed)

Add-on: Chaser Guns

Courage(17)

Type: Frigate

HP: 60 Evade: 8 Defense: 1 Shots: 10

Loadout: Medium x6, Heavy x4

Frigate A(19)

HP: 70 Evade: 6 Defense: 1 Shots: 10

Loadout: Medium, x4, Heavy x6

Clipper A(23)

HP: 50 Evade: 10 Defense: 0 Shots: 8

Loadout: Light x6, Medium x4

Sloop A(17)

HP 50(damaged; 30) Evade: 7 Defense: 0 Shots: 8

Loadout: Light x2, Medium x2, Heavy x2, Ballista x2(destroyed)

Sloop B(20)

HP 50(damaged; 30) Evade: 7 Defense: 0 Shots: 8

Loadout: Light x2, Medium x2, Heavy x2, Ballista x2(destroyed)

Civilian Fleet:

Sloop A(24)

HP 50 Evade: 11 Defense: 2 Shots: 2

Loadout: Light x2

Sloop B(25)

HP 50 Evade: 10 Defense: 1 Shots: 3

Loadout: Light x3

Add-ons: Chaser Guns

Sloop C(28)

HP 50 Evade: 10 Defense: 3 Shots: 2

Loadout: Light x2

Argus(27)

Type: Fluyt

HP: 100 Evade: 9 Defense: 1 Shots: 6

Loadout: Medium x6

Add-ons: Dark Rune Rigging

Fluyt(25)

HP: 85 Evade: 10 Defense: 6 Shots: 4

Loadout: Light x4

Objective: Bring both the Leverager and Dark Utka to [05] and clear it of all enemies.

Defeat: The Leverager or the Dark Utka are defeated.

BATTLE START

Edited August 25, 2012 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, I take my leave,'' John said, before proceeding to head back out to the deck, where Gil was waiting.

''Alright Gil,'' John said as he put on the helmet and mounted. ''Time for take off.'' <And hopefully once this is mostly over, that there let be a ship to get back to... or for something to return to the ship. Whichever sounds better as a whole I guess, heh.>

[Phoenix]

Forward: Leverager

"What's he doing?" Mandy asked no one in particular as John took off on his wyvern. Talitha shrugged in response. She hadn't a clue. "If that dragon shows up again, he might get killed ..."

"What are we supposed to do about that?" the other guild member replied.

"Urgh ... I hate sticking my neck out all the time but ... we should help him. It doesn't look like there's anyone else around." She quickly headed over to her pegasus and took her reins. "It's going to be dangerous up there, Summer, so don't do anything crazy, alright?"

"Oh no ..." Talitha finally realized 'helping' meant they would both be up there taking flak from that dragon. "L-let's just not wander too far from the ship, okay?!"

"We're just trying to keep the wyvern rider guy alive, right? So we'll follow him for now, but you can tell him that yourself once we're up there, okay?"

"Urgh ..."

Back in the galley, Raquel stood up from her seat and put her head down. "I'm going to go see if there's anything I can do."

The helmsman kept the Leverager on course, and once they were through the heavy traffic, there was a clear and humbling view of the enemy before them. Bogdan was completely dumbfounded by the scene now that he could see the enemy as a whole. "So nine dragons is worth all of this destruction, then ... It's as if they were expecting trouble, though." he quickly looked over at some of the sailors and scowled. "Hurry up and get the ballista in place! We won't get another chance!" he ordered. "Tell the gunners to blast any rebel ship that gets too close to us, and one of you scouts find a weak point in that formation. We need to plow through!"

Raquel arrived on the main deck right as the ship hit a small wave and nearly lost her balance. "Did we hit something?!" she asked, looking around in a panic. The next thing she noticed was the ballista being set up. The more she looked around, the more it looked like an all out war. There were dozens of ships crowding the port and a fleet lined up out over the water and smoke rising from various places. She was officially scared spitless. "C-captain ...?" she tried to get his attention, but her small voice was drowned out in the shouting.

LEVERAGER MOVES TO ZONE [19]

Forward: Dark Utka

"Ugh ... there aren't a lot of them, but the rebels have a few fast ships that can catch us even we lose this fleet, now." Filat assessed. He quickly turned to his helmsman. "Keep us heading straight for now, and try to outmaneuver anyone who closes in on us." Next he called over to one of his spotters on the aft deck. "Oi! Keep an eye on the Leverager! If they send us a signal or something, let me know! I don't want to be out of the loop and mess up any plans he might have!"

The scout nodded and took out his spyglass to see what was happening on the deck of the Leverager. "Hah! Captain, they're pullin' out a ballista and a couple'a fliers just took off!"

"It's not much, but I bet they can give that dragon pause if it shows up, again." Filat said to himself. "Any direction, yet?"

"Not yet, Captain! I'll let ya know if anythin' changes!"

"Good man! Alright ... time to earn my place as captain of this ship."

DARK UTKA MOVES TO ZONE [11]

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Edited August 27, 2012 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

And so they took off. They didn't flew far away from the ship, and kept following it as it moved across, obviously having an easier time evading the other ships.

It was a dangerous gamble after all, he knew they had no chance to actually survive an encounter with the dragon, but if anything they could make good bait for a distraction. A distraction that would hopelessly last for a couple seconds, but a distraction nonetheless.

After all, if anything had been to go by, it had destroyed the most potential threats. Mainly, any ballista it could find. So with the Leverager setting it's own it meant it was time to make damn sure the dragon wouldn't destroy this one out.

And so they went, until they were soon joined by the Guild ladies. ''Ah, good timing,'' he said once they had gotten close enough. ''This will yield better odds.'' Now if only the other fliers of the group would come over to help out too... but then again, that was a downside of a plan you never bothered to tell to anybody: You hardly gain volunteers that way.

[Aerial Squadron moves to Zone 19.]

Edited August 27, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[roymbrog]

With all the chaos and activity going on above decks, Synthia was in a hurry to get out of the way. Not to mention being out in the open was just asking for trouble. As soon as she regained her wits and stopped gawking at the destruction around them she headed below decks where she might actually be useful. Lo and behold, she encountered Valter in the hallway. “Why are you out here? You're supposed to be in the infirmary. We're being attacked.” And she tried to push him in the other direction, which turned out to be pretty ineffective actually.

Valter, for his part, was relieved to see her even if he was annoyed by her shoving. He had been looking for a healer, and look! He found one. The universe smiles its blessings. He took a step back, and the way Synthia tripped over herself was comical. “I know we're under attack. The surgeon is going to have his hands full with the injuries, you should come help.”

“What, they don't have a healer on their ship?”

Valter shrugged. “Apparently not.”

-----

This had been a looooong day, Katrina thought, leaning against her wyvern. Volga was busy chewing on a fish or something she'd managed to drag from the water. Katrina wasn't entirely sure what it was. She was half tempted to swat it away, after the debacle that morning.

What hadn't been a big problem on land had turned out to be a complete catastrophe on water. Volga was almost constantly hungry and would occasionally sneak off in search of food. Usually that meat an hour or two disappearance while she caught something or got into someone's refuse. With neither option available to her on the water, the wyvern had broken into storage on their ship and eaten a whole two barrels of salted pork. Needless to say, they were left at the next port without a job.

Katrina gave into her urge and kicked Volga's snack off the dock. The wyvern's hurt expression made her regret it immediately. She scratched her scales and tried to apologize, but Volga wasn't paying attention. Katrina peered off into the distance to discern whatever it was that drew her wyvern's attention. She stared in horror as she realized what it was. “Oh my gods... Is that a dragon?”

Yes, yes it was a dragon. The port was soon in chaos, alarm bells sounding and things bursting into flame. It was not a pretty sight. She tried to ignore the destruction below her as they flew out to sea. There was no way the merchant vessel could've escaped the wall of ships she saw on the horizon.

-----

So Valter and Synthia arrived at the infirmary again. Doc was missing. Huh. Valter scratched his head. Synthia threw up her hands and sighed. "Well, that was pointless."

-----

It wasn't long before Katrina spotted the vessel out in open water, readying its ballista. Before she could even get close, however, the dragon destroying port destroyed them. The explosion was enormous, and the pair had to dive underwater to avoid flying shrapnel. Volga surfaced sputtering and tried to lift off the water.

It took a few attempts, but they were once again airborne and took a few moments to circle the wreckage. There was no way anyone could've survived that mess. It was depressing, that. At least Katrina hadn't been on the ship when it happened...

Regardless, they had spent too much time out there already. It was only a matter of time before one of the enemy ships spotted them, or worse, the fire dragon. As they circled around to return to port she spotted a large galleon heading towards the barricade. What, did they have a death wish or something? It looked like they were setting up a ballista. Were they going to suffer the same fate as the sloop?

Anyway, there were some people flying nearby as well. Goody. Hopefully they wouldn't take her for an enemy.

Edited August 27, 2012 by roymbrog

[Mercakete]

It felt weird with the ship moving so much, but Bert managed to keep his eyes closed and just rest. The more he did that, the sooner he'd be on his feet again, he supposed. When the door opened, though, he opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows to see who it was and lo and behold, Valter had returned with Synthia. And apparently, something was pointless.

"If you were looking for the doctor, he's not here," Norbert needlessly informed, "I'm sure he's somewhere on the ship setting up to handle more injuries than this place can hold." After a pause, he continued, "So, Valter, are you still determined to head out there or are you going to wise up and sit this one out? Obviously you're in better shape than me right now, but somehow I doubt you're at your best."

[roymbrog]

“Huh. I didn't think he would've left that soon,” Valter mumbled. They would have to decide between looking for him or just waiting for the guy to return...

Meanwhile, Synthia gestured to Bert and proclaimed, “Finally, someone who speaks sense! Valter, you stay here with peggy boy. I'm going to go find that surgeon.” And she was off, out the door and down the hall before much of a response could be had.

Valter reluctantly sat on one of the empty bunks , without much of a response given. “I am not an invalid...”

[Mercakete]

"Peggy boy?" The phrase confused him for a second, along with the fact that someone had just referred to him as someone who speaks sense. The confusion evaporated, though, as his attention returned to Valter.

"I know that," Norbert replied as he lied back down, "I just don't think your life's worth risking over...whatever reason you have for risking it. You may be in good enough condition to take care of yourself normally, but that doesn't mean that you're in good enough condition to fight people. They'll take whatever opening they have, I'm sure." He paused a moment before asking, "So, what got you stuck in here, anyway? The last thing I remember before waking up in here was trying to get up after having a sword stab through my back." His tone was pretty calm and he seemed to be able to relax at least somewhat in spite of the chaos going on outside the infirmary.

Edited August 28, 2012 by Mercakete

[roymbrog]

“I never said I was going to fight anyone,” Valter replied, annoyed. Why did everyone assume that? Besides, bows didn't require close combat fighting anyway... “I was stabbed, and passed out. I woke up here.” And that's all the detail he was going to give at the moment. He hadn't asked the extent of his injuries, and he didn't want to know. They were gone now, regardless.

[Acacia Sgt]

So Raquel decided to see what she could do. I should probably do the same, Sophia thought. Well, it was obvious what she could do. But the thing to find out here was just where exactly could she put her abilities to use.

It was likely that they could get attacked just about anywhere thanks to that dragon and cannon fire. And considering the dragon, the deck was probably not a very inviting area to be. On the other hand, it was precisely that kind of dangers where a healer would be needed the most. After all, there were little chances of everybody making to the infirmary, or for the doctor being able to get anywhere and everywhere on time.

So in the end, she decided to follow and head to the deck too. Though either way, she'd do well sure to find a good cover place.

[Snowy_One]

Robin and the group had returned to the ship, having managed to evade the crowd, right before it set off. But now that they were on the ship and had taken off only to see a load of enemy ships coming before them a sudden feeling of utter uselessness came over her. What on earth could she do? Her arrows would be useless against these ships. Even if she had a full-on rifle she couldn't really damage any of the ships! The only thing that could would be the canon. And the only one she could think of who knew how to use it would be Connor... maybe... (had he even seen one before coming onto this ship?), MAYBE Zach (far less likely), and... Gytha.

"Zack, please tell me you can teach me how to use a cannon so I can protect Raquel?"

---

"Waiting orders for cannon-firing! Just tell me what to do and I'll do my best." Fred didn't know what else to say. Unless this came to ship-to-ship combat all he could do was stand back and let the experienced crewmembers handle the cannon.

[Mercakete]

"If you go somewhere where people want to kill you, you'd better be fighting back," he answered in response to Valter's mentioning he wasn't planning on fighting anyone.

"And last night, we were going into a place like that right after you recovered from that illness. You can't tell me you were at your fighting best then and going out where there's a dragon flying around isn't exactly safe either," he went on, a bit more of his irritation coming into his voice before taking a moment to sigh and calm down some. Then, he went on, "I don't like being stuck here. I want to get out there and see for myself just what's going on and help to protect everyone. The problem is that my body seems to think I need to stay here and rest. Thinking with my head instead of my heart, yeah, it's right. If I went out there at less than my best, I'd probably get in the way or die or both. I'd be endangering Riz, too... And my uselessness is just making me angry."

The wording wasn't coming together the way Bert wanted it to, which only frustrated him further. "Look, I just don't want you wrecking yourself, alright?! You're a great horseman and bowman so it's not like you won't be able to go out there and kill anyone you point an arrow at normally, it's just that it's not necessary to risk it right now! Right now they have the advantage!" He had to stop a moment, seeing as the room was beginning to spin again. More calmly, he concluded with a groan, "You're killing me, Valter... I wouldn't be this worried if you were at your full strength."

[roymbrog]

“I had no intention of going on deck; I’d only be in the way,” Valter replied, irritation mounting. This was going nowhere. He certainly knew his limits better than Bert did, and he wasn’t going to purposefully put himself in harm’s way. If the Pegasus knight was just as frustrated with his own condition, why was he lecturing him? Scratch that, why was he making such wild assumptions in the first place?

The horseman had really just had enough. He glowered at Bert. “Finished, mother?”

[Mercakete]

Valter's reply was only mildly irksome. At this point, he didn't want to talk anymore. I laid out what I thought. That's good enough. "Sure," Norbert replied, "Sorry for caring. Didn't think it'd bother you that much." Of course, I make a friend, I start to worry about risky choices he makes, I make him mad at me. I'm too tired to sort this out. Maybe I should just sleep while I can... "Just do what you want. I'm sleeping before something explodes."

[Phoenix]

Charge

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Down on the gun deck, the cannoneers looked around the area as the other brought in ammunition and supplies. The doctor showed up after another group brought in some shots. "Oh, hey!" the gunner called over.

"I figure there's no way Bogdan's gonna let this come down to a boarding battle, so most of the injuries are going to come from you poor bastards eating enemy broadside fire. Are the others ready?" the man asked.

"Right over there." he replied, pointing toward the front end of the deck. There were people all over the place, but one in particular stood out. There was a scruffy looking sailor with an old worn healing staff. He was also clumsily referencing an old book.

"We're going to need someone on the main deck, too. Maybe Raquel's healers can take care of that. If we're lucky, we won't have any casualties. We pull that off, and I'll be quite impressed." The sound of cannons firing caught their ears and the cannoneers and surgeon ran over to the gun port and all peeked out of it. "Looks like they're getting started ..."

"Daaaaammiiiit," he said in a low angry tone. He quickly pulled his head back in and pointed his finger at Veronika and Fred. "Alright, looks like we're going to have to shoot our way out of this blockade. If you forget any of the steps to operating this thing, just look around; it'll refresh your memory. Lance and I are coordinating so wait for our commands before blowing anything up." he instructed. "And you," he glanced at Gytha. "You're one of Raquel's people, right? You'll be in their cannon team too."

ENEMY PHASE

Grabacr, having spotted more ships coming out from the docks, began to turn around to head back into the chaos. There weren't any ballistae to worry about, and the enemy's air power was minimal at best. Now he just had to find the most dangerous ships and set them ablaze. A long ways behind him, but moving to assist with air support were several squadrons of wyvern riders. Some of them had pikes for picking off crewmen from ship decks while others had heavy firearms for flyby shootings and anti-air attacks. The small flock moved together after they left the Aigaion and followed after Grabacr.

Meanwhile, one of the fleet's larger ships moved southward and opened fire on the Dark Utka. The attack was expected, but the sheer number of cannons firing at them forced the helmsman to make a hard right. If they hadn't, some of the shots would have raked them and killed dozens, but they still took some considerable damage due to their exposed broadsides. The engineer teams scrambled as fast as they could to contain the damage. "We can't take on that whole group ... not without the Leverager ... come on, dammit! Catch up!" Filat exclaimed, mostly to himself.

Meanwhile on the other end of the battlefield, the rebel fleet's heavy Windjammer, Diligence and one of its frigates moved eastward and the latter unleashed a long range assault against the Tremere Fleet's capital ship, the Brandish. The attack caused quite a bit of damage, but the ship didn't sink, and none of the masts fell.

Fire Dragon*(Grabacr) moves to zone [05]

Aerial Squadron A* moves to zone [03]

Aerial Squadron B* moves to zone [03]

Aerial Squadron C* moves to zone [03]

Ship of the Line B moves to zone [04] and attacks Dark Utka! http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3673971/

Medium: MISS

Medium: MISS

Heavy: MISS

Heavy: MISS

Heavy: AUTOHIT -13

Heavy: AUTOHIT -8

Heavy: MISS

Heavy: MISS

Heavy: AUTOHIT -9

Heavy: MISS

Dark Utka hp 70/100

Diligence moves to zone [16]!

Frigate A moves to zone [16] and attacks Brandish! http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3673994/

Medium: AUTOHIT -8

Medium: HIT -10

Heavy: HIT -11

Heavy: MISS

Brandish hp 71/120

[01][02][03][04][05][06][07]

[08][09][10][11][12][13][14]

[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

OTHER PHASE

The Brandish didn't wait past ten seconds to return fire and attacked both ships simultaneously. Both ships withstood the bombardment, and too many of the shots missed for them to take anymore than moderate damage. The Diligence had to endure an additional attack from the Brandish's escort, the Courage, however. In addition to the Brandish's attacks, the Courage managed to inflict even more damage and the attack gave the Captain of the Diligence pause. Going up against a ship of the line and an escort wasn't going to be a winning proposition until they were in range to use their naval ram. He ordered his teams of earth mages to begin making repairs while they prepared for the next volley.

Meanwhile the frigate had received fire from an unexpected ship, the clipper sailing toward them from the south. It turned right to expose its broadsides and then opened fire, sending a ton of shots their way. The ship's cannons were more accurate than the Brandish's, but frigate survived, likely because of this. The gunners in particular were fuming at the failed volley. They had only damaged the frigate which meant they were bound to lose another fleet ship any minute, now. They weren't even slowing the rebel fleet down with their attacks.

Brandish attacks Diligence and Frigate A! http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3674037/

Frigate A

Medium: AUTOHIT -8

Medium: MISS

Medium: HIT -5

Medium: MISS

Heavy: MISS

Heavy: MISS

Heavy: MISS

Diligence

Heavy: HIT -6

Heavy: HIT -4

Heavy: HIT -2

Heavy: HIT -2

Heavy: HIT -5

Heavy: HIT -2

Heavy: HIT -1

Frigate A hp 77/90

Diligence hp 88/110

Courage attacks Diligence! http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3674102/

Medium: HIT -1

Medium: HIT -1

Medium: HIT -0

Medium: HIT -0

Medium: HIT -0

Medium: HIT -3

Heavy: HIT -3

Heavy: HIT -1

Heavy: AUTOHIT -2

Heavy: HIT -2

Diligence hp 75/110

Clipper A attacks Frigate A! http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3674101/

Light: HIT -1

Light: HIT -4

Light: HIT -6

Light: AUTOHIT -6

Light: HIT -1

Light: HIT -3

Medium: AUTOHIT -8

Medium: MISS

Medium: HIT -5

Medium: MISS

Frigate A hp 43/90

[01][02][03][04][05][06][07]

[08][09][10][11][12][13][14]

[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

PLAYER PHASE

"Holy dragoons, they're engaged ..." said one of the spotters on the deck of the Leverager. "Hey, Captain! Think maybe these guys'll put up enough of a fight for us to slip through the chaos?!"

"No, but they can't send every ship at us at once. That gives us enough room to fight our way out on our own." Bogdan replied. He quickly turned toward his helmsman and said "Whatever happens, don't let the Dark Utka get too far away. We're in this together."

"Aye, sir. Might want to tell'em to change course, though. There's two big boys movin' into position. I Think they're gonna get pincered to death if they keep headin' straight north like that."

"Agreed. I'll get a signal to them ..."

When Mandy and Talitha caught up to John, he seemed to appreciate the backup, but Talitha was just scared. "We're not going to do something crazy like attack one of those ships over there, are we?"

"Not that we can't handle that," Mandy interjected. "But I think we should be fine just keeping the space above your ship safe. What do you think?"

UPDATED LIST:

Allied Fleet:

Leverager(19)

Type: Galleon

HP: 100 Evade: 2 Defense: 3 Shots: 14

Loadout: Light x2, Medium x5, Heavy x6, Ballista

Supports: Aerial Squadron, Dark Mages

Dark Utka(11)

Type: Galleon

HP: 70/100 Evade: 8 Defense: 3 Shots: 8

Loadout: Light x2, Medium x4 Heavy x2

Supports: Engineer Team x2

Rebel Fleet:

Outer Sanctum(02)

Type: Carrier

HP: 145 Evade: 1 Defense: 6 Shots: 4

Loadout: Fireshot x2, Ballista x2

Supports: Fire Dragon, Wind Dragon

Add-ons: Fire Rune Rigging

Fire Dragon* (05)

Wind Dragon* (??)

Aigaion(02)

Type: Carrier

HP: 170 Evade: 1 Defense: 4 Shots: 4

Loadout: Ballista x4

Supports: Aerial Squadron x3

Aerial Squadron A*(03)

Aerial Squadron B*(03)

Aerial Squadron C*(03)

Bad Bachelor(09)

Type: Ship of the Line

HP: 150 Evade: 1 Defense: 8 Shots: 10

Loadout: Heavy x8, Chainshot x2

Supports: (Engineer Team)

Ship of the Line A(03)

HP: 150 Evade: 2 Defense: 7 Shots: 10

Loadout: Medium x4, Heavy x6

Ship of the Line B(04)

HP: 150 Evade: 2 Defense: 7 Shots: 10

Loadout: Medium x2 Heavy x8

Galleon A(09)

HP: 120 Evade: 3 Defense: 8 Shots: 8

Loadout: Heavy x6, Fireshot x2

Galleon B(05)

HP: 120 Evade: 3 Defense: 8 Shots: 8

Loadout: Heavy x6, Fireshot x2

Diligence(16)

Type: WindJammer

HP: 75/110 Evade: 1 Defense: 10 Shots: 5

Loadout: Heavy x4, Ballista x1

Supports: Earth Mages x2

Add-on: Naval Ram

WindJammer A(07)

HP: 110 Evade: 3 Defense: 10 Shots: 5

Loadout: Medium x5, Heavy x2

Supports: Earth Mages

Add-on: Naval Ram

Fluyt A(05)

HP: 100 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 8

Loadout: Fireshot x2, Heavy x6

Fluyt B(07)

HP: 100 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 8

Loadout: Chainshot x2, Heavy x6

Fluyt C(07)

HP: 100 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 8

Loadout: Grapeshot x2, Heavy x6

Frigate A(16)

HP: 43/90 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 4

Loadout: Medium x2, Heavy x2

Frigate B(06)

HP: 90 Evade: 5 Defense: 4 Shots: 4

Loadout: Medium x2, Heavy x2

Spotter Seven(04)

Type: Corvette

HP: 70 Evade: 8 Defense: 3 Shots: 4

Loadout: Ballista x4

Add-ons: Dark Rune Rigging

Wolfen(03)

Type: Corvette

HP: 70 Evade: 10 Defense: 3 Shots: 3

Loadout: Fireshot, Chainshot, Grapeshot

Add-ons: Dark Rune Rigging

Tremere Fleet:

Brandish(17)

Type: Ship of the Line

HP: 71/120 Evade: 5 Defense: 3 Shots: 16

Loadout: Medium x4, Heavy x10, Ballista x2(destroyed)

Add-on: Chaser Guns

Courage(17)

Type: Frigate

HP: 60 Evade: 8 Defense: 1 Shots: 10

Loadout: Medium x6, Heavy x4

Frigate A(19)

HP: 70 Evade: 6 Defense: 1 Shots: 10

Loadout: Medium, x4, Heavy x6

Clipper A(23)

HP: 50 Evade: 10 Defense: 0 Shots: 8

Loadout: Light x6, Medium x4

Sloop A(17)

HP 30/50 Evade: 7 Defense: 0 Shots: 8

Loadout: Light x2, Medium x2, Heavy x2, Ballista x2(destroyed)

Sloop B(20)

HP 30/50 Evade: 7 Defense: 0 Shots: 8

Loadout: Light x2, Medium x2, Heavy x2, Ballista x2(destroyed)

Civilian Fleet:

Sloop A(24)

HP 50 Evade: 11 Defense: 2 Shots: 2

Loadout: Light x2

Sloop B(25)

HP 50 Evade: 10 Defense: 1 Shots: 3

Loadout: Light x3

Add-ons: Chaser Guns

Sloop C(28)

HP 50 Evade: 10 Defense: 3 Shots: 2

Loadout: Light x2

Argus(27)

Type: Fluyt

HP: 100 Evade: 9 Defense: 1 Shots: 6

Loadout: Medium x6

Add-ons: Dark Rune Rigging

Fluyt(25)

HP: 85 Evade: 10 Defense: 6 Shots: 4

Loadout: Light x4

Edited August 31, 2012 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

''That is precisely what we're doing,'' John replied. ''See over there?'' He used an arm to point towards the ship. ''The dragon is bound to aim for the ballista once it notices it, so keeping it operational is our main priority.''

At this moment did Gil decided to grunt. ''Hm?'' John turned back to front, to notice what seemed to be a lone wyvern rider coming towards them. That was from the direction of one of the unfortunate ships that got toasted before. ''A survivor...?'' He thought out loud.