There are 3 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. [DL-N] Cherry Gets Around
From: Bianca Payne <biancaknox@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
2. [DL-J] Adding Up the Aftermath (JP)
From: "Katrina Gischer" <kgischer@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
3. [DL-J] Lessons in Imperial Intrigue
From: trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
1
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:35:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bianca Payne <biancaknox@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-N] Cherry Gets Around
Day 5
Early Morning
Medical Centre
Cherry lay in the narrow, slightly lumpy, bed at the medical center
and decided that today she'd go exploring. How often would she ever
get the chance to see a Warren, after all.
She wanted to make the most of her few days here before the pale
doctor fellow released her and her sister to go back home. Celeste was
in a room by herself further down the hall, and recovering almost as
quickly as Cherry herself.
Most of her own clothing had been shredded and burned during the chaos
in the orchard, but one of the attendants here at the medical centre
had brought her a simple dress of soft blue fabric that she could pull
over her head. It had thin ribbons to lace up the sides so it wouldn't
gape and more along the arm from the elbow down so she could keep the
sleeves from trailing in whatever she was working on. It wasn't a
style she was familiar with, but she intended to show her mother when
they got home.
The attendants hadn't left her any shoes, but Cherry had spent most of
her life going barefoot. After carefully pulling the dress over her
head and lacing it to fit, she ran her fingers through her hair and
quickly braided it, wi****ng she had something to tie it off with, and
knowing it wouldn't stay long.
Ready to explore something beyond the walls of the medical centre, she
leaned against the door and listened for noises outside in the
corridor. It was quiet. Cherry pushed the door open and headed quickly
down the corridor.
Sneaking out of the medical centre was easy. It helped that she'd
gotten lucky. The staff was busy being concerned with the young woman
who was bringing in the cart of food trays from the kitchens for the
patients' and staff's breakfasts. In the confusion of sorting the
trays out, she slipped past them and hurried out the door.
Respectfully submitted by,
Cherry
aka Bianca Payne
Summary:
Day 5 early morning, Cherry sneaks out of the med centre
---------------------------------
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 20:59:15 -0700
From: "Katrina Gischer" <kgischer@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-J] Adding Up the Aftermath (JP)
Day 1
Morning
[snip]
Mely looked up at the strange displacement she felt in the air near
her and
the next minute Gus was appeared and landed with Loki. Mely let out
a soft
cry of alarm at seeing Gus all bloody.
"GUS!"
[end snip]
Gus swung her leg over Loki's head and slid down to land with a thump
that had her clenching her jaw against a wince. She glanced down at
the sword still gripped in her left hand as though surprised to see it
there and then to Jerram.
Yup, no doubt about it - he had that tight-lipped, white faced,
mustache-twitching look about him that meant he was less than 10
seconds from a full-out mother hen attack. A brief survey of the
scene her told her she had a lot to do - that she COULDN'T do with him
hovering and fussing.
"Jerram, I need ya t' get that prisoner back t' Tara. Ya might try
and shake a healer or two loose before ya come back. Reckon they need
all they can back at the warren, but if we could at least get one? And
maybe a stretcher?" His perpetual scowl darkened and Gus hastily
added, "Best hurry, we gotta lot t' do here. I'll be waitin'."
And if Jerram misinterpreted that to mean she wasn't doing anything
UNTIL he came back, as opposed to just simply he was gone and she was
waiting for him to return...well, that wasn't HER fault, now was it?
As soon as Jerram took off with the white-faced and shaking Radass
bound to Seydor's saddle, Gus turned to Mely. "Yer lookin' awful
white, Mely - how bad is it?"
Mely stood shocked at the condition that Gus was in. She opened her
mouth to say something, and closed it. If Jerram felt she was ok to
be left and not tended to, she must not be that bad. Maybe it was the
blood of the others. Mely had checked on some of her own in her
group, and luckily some looked worse than they were.
"I'm not sure, we lost a few. Jonas did too, we are gathering them to
help the worse off first, and those who are not hurt are making the
barricade stronger," she re****ted.
Gus nodded in approval. "Yeah, good. Natimbi said he'd pull his guys
back, but...well, I aint sure how far t' trust him - though it's
lookin' ok so far - and I aint sure what the real leader o' them
sea-folk is gonna do. So, keep alert fer more fightin'." She
gestured vaguely in the direction of the wounded with her sword. "Ok,
so show me what we've got."
Mely nodded and turned to lead Gus to the wounded in the area that
they had made. She noticed the sword, and had not remembered seeing
it before, but it seemed to be natural for her to use to point so Mely
figured she had just not seen her with it before.
They walked among those who were not heavily wounded and Gus spoke to
each one and acknowledged them and their efforts. The numbers were
not good, but the neat orderly rows of dead spoke more to her than the
rest of the carnage around her.
Gus blinked her eyes and turned to view the carnage and the partially
rebuilt barricade and those that still toiled to make sure they were
not attacked again.
Gus stood for a moment and viewed the ravine and gritted her teeth
against the bile that surged upward. So many bodies. She stared at the
damage for a long time, saying nothing, but simply trying to decide
what it was she was SUPPOSED to do. She had guessed at how to fight
based on how to fight on the streets - but no street fight left a
scene like this. Finally, she swallowed and turned back to Mely who
was watching her white-faced. A small voice at the back of Gus's head
suggested that she looked WORSE than the erstwhile Ismene rider, but
she ignored it. "Let's get a few o' the spare riders out there t'
pick up bodies." She hesitated before continuing, but finally managed
to get out, "If any o' the kataani are livin'....if they CAN survive,
brin' 'em up back here for healin', otherwise...well, put 'em outta
their misery."
Mely called to Aggie to send out a few riders to go thru the rest of
the bodies scattered in the ravine. Mely thought the better word
would have been gauntlet. For that was what it was, they marched
through the bloody gauntlet and left behind their life's essence to
seep into the ground and hallow the ground. She would never see this
canyon as anything else again. Sacred hallowed ground.
Mely looked over at Gus and noticed that she held her one arm funny,
and she took a good look at her. She appeared to have been injured.
"You alright there Gus? You look a bit peaked and your arm looks like
you hurt it."
Gus shrugged and immediately wished she hadn't, though she - mostly -
suppressed the flinch that followed hard upon moving her right arm.
"I've had worse," she muttered. She gestured with the sword again.
"We got any walkin' wounded 'round here? Once the ones near dyin' is
dealt with, they gotta be next."
Mely saw the flinch and smiled. She understood how Gus felt. When
you are the wing-leader, your wing comes first. Mely knew it was not
mortal injury, or she would not be up and moving around. Although she
noticed that Gus had not put her sword away.
Just then a few more of the wing came up caring more wounded, and got
them settled.
Mely turned around and gasped, for Jonas lay on the ground, his face
white and he was.. Mely went to him and checked his pulse. She sighed
in relief. He was alive, breathing, probably fainted from the..she
looked at his arm and shook her head. Gashed to the bone, and yet he
still clung to the hand, and had helped others, too.
She suddenly looked at Jonas and the way he held the sword, and then
back to Gus.
It was similar. Mely motioned for them to help clean up Jonas, and
bind his arm.
She stood and faced Gus.
"Gus, why don't you put the sword away?" she asked gently. She
already knew why, and she hoped that Gus could read the look on her
face and know it was ok to ask for help.
Gus was silent for several moments while she watched the others tend
to Jonas's arm. When she was satisfied that the cut was tended to -
AND that the idiot wasn't going to get back up - she turned back to
Mely. She hated to admit the problem, though judging by the look on
the girl's face, she was well aware just why Gus still held her
bloodstained sword. With a sigh and a sudden realization that it'd be
better to deal with this BEFORE Jerram came back to fuss, Gus managed
a sheepish half-grin.
"Can't. Gotta be cleaned afore it goes in the sheath and I can't move
my other arm t' clean it."
Mely smiled and nodded and stepped forward and took the sword from
her. She was surprised at how heavy it was, and she marveled that Gus
would wield it with one hand.
With both hands on the sword, another stepped forward and cleaned it
for her. The older man seem to know what he was doing, so Mely let
him clean it, and polish it, and then place it back in the scabbard.
Mely went back to holding Gus' good arm and waited with her while
another bandaged her arm.
Gus made a face at Havelok as he carried the sword like some legendary
relic and he grinned back at her. The older rider was a long-standing
goof, but she'd eventually become accustomed to his silliness. Amos,
who after a moment's struggle Gus identified as one of the herdsmen
that tended to the ambulating dragon fodder, began to wrap her right
arm in a bandage. Despite being old enough to be her father, the
cattleman declined the op****tunity to fuss - at least after the first
whistle of amazement at the length and depth of the slice on her arm -
and Gus relaxed as he began to wrap a long rag around it as a bandage.
Ruefully, she realized that fetching REAL bandages likely should've
been part of the preparation for the fight and that it was HER job to
think of such things. Irritably, she yanked her good left arm out of
Mely's grasp.
"How'd the fellow manage to cut both your arm near the elbow AND your
hand way down on the palm, Gus?" Amos looked genuinely confused, but
ripped up more of the former ****rt, it looked like, being turned to
bandage and set to work on the hand.
"Didn't," she answered shortly but without heat. "Did that one
myself."
Mely looked at Gus in surprise. "How did you do that?" she blurted
out. She could easily see how it could have been done, because she
felt the weight of it. She noticed that a few others were waiting to
hear Gus' explanation as well.
Gus looked at Mely like she was a simpleton. Slowly and in words of
one syllable, she tried to explain. "Got hold o' the blade with my
right hand and -" she made a graphic twisting gesture with her
uninjured left hand, "easy. How else are ya gonna give a blood oath?
Stab myself in the heart?"
"Blood oath?" she asked weakly. "Whatcha do that for? And with
whom?" she asked puzzled. Although nothing she could have said would
not make some sense.
"Well, with Natimbi - the er, I guess second o' them kataani. Why
else'd he believe anythin' I said? Hadda make him see we aint holdin'
the Emperor nor Kiyomi hostage, so's he'd be willin' t' LEAVE." At
the blank stares she was getting, Gus blew out her breath in
frustration. "Dammit, aint ya never heard 'bout 'the enemy o' my
enemy'? He aint one o' Oga's. Which means we can use him t' keep US
from doin' the fightin' and dyin', see?"
Mely stood and listened and knew she was wrong. It made NO sense.
She heard the grunts coming from some of the wing and she looked back
over her shoulder to Jonas lying there white, and deathly pale. She
then looked to the neat rows of the dead, and wondered how many of the
seriously wounded would join their comrades in the final ride. She
looked back at Gus and rethought what she had said.
"I guess it does make a bit of sense." She said louder than she meant
and looked up to see the stares from some of the others.
"Well, Gus is right, we can't fight them. Not with their numbers and
weapons. None of us are warriors like them. If they want to kill
themselves off, let them, and maybe we can have some peace."
Gus shook her head. Mely was playing along, but she clearly didn't
get it either. And looking around, it didn't look like anyone else
did either. She sighed. "Somethin' like that," she muttered. "Hadda
end the fightin' - the dyin' - as fast as I could." She frowned at
the large numbers of dead - on both sides - and stifled a shudder at
the blood guilt that lay on her hands. "Wasn't fast enough."
<Incoming and Seyd's says he's in a stew.>
<THAT aint news,> Gus retorted dryly, but she waved Amos hastily away
and began struggling to pull her ****rt sleeve down over the bandaging.
"Mely, quick, gimme a hand here," she demanded. "Jerram'll be back
any second and if he sees this, I'll never get the work done."
Without a second thought, Mely stepped forward and helped Gus with her
sleeve. She did not know why she was suddenly flustered or rattled,
but maybe Jerram was bringing bad news. Mely straightened everything
and nodded her approval.
"Can't notice a thing," she said with a smile. She glanced down the
slope and looked back to Gus. She did not want to think what the
possible bad news could be.
Gus grimaced a thanks, as there was the air displacement that heralded
Seydor's return. There was a clatter as the stretchers the big blue
had carried in his claws fell to the ground and then fully half a
dozen of the lesser healers from the MedCenter slid from ropes off
Seydor's back and hurried off to tend the wounded. Bemused by this
sight, Gus failed to note Jerram sliding down and helping Raleon to
her side.
"I'm sure her arm got caught, tend to that first and..."
Gus danced hastily out of Raleon's reach with an apologetic grin his
way. "Nah, got bandaged already, it aint bad. Got worse hurt, see t'
them first."
Raleon raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and turned to follow his
fellow healers. Gus swore inwardly. The night ****ft healer was no
fool and he'd be back - and scolding worse than Jerram, no doubt.
At that thought, Gus spun around to find Jerram glowering at her.
"Not that bad, is it?" He stepped closer and reached for the arm,
crowing in victory when Gus hastily moved it away. "I'll get him back
here."
"No, Jerram, dammit, it AINT that bad. Lookit them what's really
hurt." Gus grabbed Jerram's ear and craned his head around to see the
damage. "They need him more'n I do. AND we gotta get sorted out in
case we get t' fightin' again."
Jerram grunted sourly. The rows of bodies, dead and wounded, spoke
clearly. "Fine," he ground out. "But you ARE going to get seen too,
is that clear?"
Gus just rolled her eyes at his raised voice. "Fine, " she answered,
careful not to agree to anything, "so let's figger out what we gotta
do next."
Mely watched the interaction between the two and stood quietly waiting
for a break in their discussion. She had noticed several of the older
members of the wing grin slyly and turn their heads and pretend to
work on something.
"Yes," Mely interjected when she heard something she could help with.
"We need to make sure this is not a trap for us. They could come
back, like the raiders used to.."
Raiders? Gus frowned, then remembered Mely telling her about the raids
on her village. "Could be. We need t' get them hurt folks outta
here. I aint sure the Warrens no safer, but I bet the healers'd
rather work there than out here. Figger out who aint hurt too bad t'
fight...maybe switch some with the group on the Warren road... "
Gus strode off towards the barricade to inspect its damage, still
listing off the chores ahead of them. Both Mely and Jerram added
their input and gradually they began to organize the remnants of the
battle group to prepare for the rest of their stint at the road.
Someday, Gus hoped idly, she sure hoped she learn WHY she'd had to
hold this road anyway.
******
Sentari huddled in the shadow of a big rock and watched as the
warrenfolk moved about. They were tending to their wounded now and
mending the barricade - which was both good and bad. They wouldn't be
able to go through along the road now, but the riders should be
sufficiently distracted.
Gods knew he'd had his share of bad luck enough today. First that
sententious old fool Natimbi had to argue with him over the orders.
He'd just known the man would be a problem - one, he guiltily
realized, he should have mentioned to Oga - but he never expected
either that Natimbi would somehow realize the treason OR usurp
command.
Or that the men would follow, so beaten down by the fierce opposition
that had been cutting the kataani army into chum. Sentari cursed
silently, careful not to give away his hiding spot.
It had been the one stroke of good luck not to be spotted by the
landers coming out to finish the dying. He'd been so sure he was
about to be gutted...but they had turned away too soon to spot him.
"Sir," his puali guard still hovered at his side, as he should.
"Should we move out? Isao is a hunter, he can guide us through the
mountains, even without a road. The trans****t you mentioned will not
wait forever."
Sentari nodded. The only way Oga would forgive this screw-up would be
if he redeemed it by fetching the sceptre. He could only be glad not
everyone in the warren was as competent as whoever he'd faced here.
"Move out," he ordered in an undertone. "It's a long way to Haven, we
must hurry."
______________________________________________________________________
Submitted by:
Carys as Mely
and
Katrina as Gus
Summary: Gus and Mely begin to deal with the battle's aftermath. But
Sentari has escaped undetected and begins to sneak toward Haven, aided
by someone from within the Warren - but who?
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Message: 3
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 01:52:08 EDT
From: trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[DL-J] Lessons in Imperial Intrigue
Counselor Oga
Day 1, Morning
Just offshore from the warren
"You wished to see me, General?" Oga asked, swimming up to where
the
General and his staff waited.
The tall, golden-armored figure turned to face Oga with a curt
nod. Had
they been standing on the ground, the general's much greater height
would
have been immediately noticeable. With both of them swimming in the
water this
was somewhat minimized, but the general's much greater size was still
apparent.
And in his ornate armor, he looked all the more impressive.
"Yes, Counselor," said General ****amo, the Army Commander. "I am
going
to issue our ultimatum to the warren in just a moment. It is my
desire that
you stand with me."
"I do not think that would be a good idea," said Oga smoothly.
"This
being a military matter..."
****amo waved a hand and cut him off; he was one of the very few in
the
Empire who would have dared to do so. "Counselor, it is necessary for
us to
impress upon the Landers that both the military and civilian
authorities of the
Empire are behind this ultimatum." His eyes narrowed as he regarded
the
Counselor. "Unless there is some reason that you do not wish to be
seen by the
Landers?"
"No, General, I will be *most* willing to accompany you," Oga
replied.
In truth, he did have reason not to wish the Warrenlady or that insane
warrior-woman to see him, but could not admit this to the General. He
watched as a
group of soldiers towed a wooden raft into position on the surface,
then stopped
to anchor it in place.
"It is time," said General ****omo, and he ascended to the surface
and
climbed up onto the raft, followed by a number of junior officers.
With a
resigned sigh, Oga followed them.
/snip from [DL-J] Jump Forward - And Never Retreat/
As Gus and Jerram departed on their mission, Tara and the others
saw a
large wooden raft being towed into position at the front of the
nearest troop
rectangle. A Kataani officer in an ornate uniform climbed onto the
raft,
followed by a half dozen other officers who all appeared to be of
lesser rank.
"I am General ****amo, Commander of the First Army!" the officer
called
out. "In the name of the Imperial General Staff and the Council of
Ministers,
I am empowered to make the following ultimatum to the Warrenlady Tara
of
Jasra. Is she present?"
"She is!" Tara called down from the battlement. "What is your
message,
General?"
General ****amo cleared his throat. "That you are to release the
person
of His Majesty the Emperor, Her Majesty Princess Kiyomi, His
Excellency Baron
Kiriisha, and the remainder of their party. If you fail to do so,
your
warren
will be taken by assault. You have two hours!"
/end snip/
/snip from [DL-J] Battle Lines/
Suddenly, Tara stopped. "Look," she said to Hsina.
"It's him...!"
Hsina's gaze locked on Oga immediately. "Whatever else happens, that
man
will not live to see tomorrow."
/end snip/
Oga frowned, seeing Hsina's eyes fix themselves on him, despite his
efforts to remain inconspicuous among the assembled Imperial officers.
Well, it
didn't matter, soon she - and all the Landers here - would have their
hands full
with other matters.
* * * * *
Tara
She looked at Hsina with confusion. "Have these people lost their
minds?" she asked. "They must know that the Emperor isn't here...?"
Hsina shook her head. "There is treachery here," she said in a
flat
voice. "The only question is...is it directed at us alone, or is
there a more
complex plot here?"
Tara started to ask her meaning, but then realized that the
Kataani
officers - not to mention Oga - were waiting for an answer. "General
****omo!" she
called out in as loud a voice as she could manage. "We do not
understand
your demand. Princess Kiyomi is here, but is not a prisoner - as she
will tell
you herself, when she joins me here. But the Emperor and his retinue
are not
here. They left some time ago, as you must be aware."
She looked anxiously behind her, hoping to see the Princess coming
up the
steps, but there was no sign of her yet.
"We do not hear your words, Warrenlady!" General ****omo called
out.
"Only your actions will satisfy us. Send out the Emperor, the
Princess, and
their party!" And with that, the Kataani stepped off the raft and
left it empty.
"Oh, damn it!" said Tara, clenching her fists. "If they'd waited
just a
moment, the Princess could have told them that they're mistaken."
Hsina shook her head. "Warrenlady, ask yourself what Counselor
Oga is
doing here. How he COULD be here. You will see that there is more
here than
meets the eye."
Tara shook her head. "Hsina, remember that I didn't live at a
royal
court. You're going to have to explain what you mean."
Just then, Tara heard footsteps coming up behind them. She
thought it
would be Princess Kiyomi, but when she turned she saw that it was
Lecia. The
junior queenrider had an agitated, almost frightened look on her face.
"What
is it?" Tara asked.
"Tara...no one knows where Princess Kiyomi is," Lecia panted
breathlessly. "She's not in her quarters...but it looks like there
was a fight in
there...things broken, furniture overturned..."
"She must be here somewhere!" Tara insisted. "Have the warrenfolk
look
everywhere for her."
"I already told everyone I saw to search for her," Lecia said.
"But so
far, we haven't found her. No one I spoke to has seen her since
yesterday
evening."
"They should keep looking," Hsina said without expression. "But
we will
be fortunate if we find her alive."
"We have to find her," Tara insisted. "She has to tell the
General that
her father isn't here, and that Oga is a traitor, and..." She stopped,
and
her face went pale. "And that's why we're not going to find her,
isn't it?"
"If you were the Emperor, what is the first thing you would have
done
upon reaching the Imperial capital?" Hsina asked in return.
"Have Oga arrested?" Tara asked.
Hsina nodded. "And what does Oga's presence here tell you?"
"I'm not sure," Tara admitted. "That Oga didn't go back to the
capital
and so wasn't there to be arrested when the Emperor got back?"
"That would be possible," said Hsina, "were it not for the
presence of
this huge army. How do you explain that?"
Tara thought a moment. "That Oga did get back. But that means
that the
Emperor...didn't."
"Most likely not," Hsina agreed. "And if Counselor Oga was
involved in
that somehow, then it would leave only one person who could denounce
him as a
traitor, would it not?"
Tara felt a sense of dread come over her. "Princess Kiyomi," she
said.
"At least, she's the only one that anyone would believe. He couldn't
leave
her alive, could he?"
Hsina shook her head. "Or, at the very least, he would have to
take her
captive. He most certainly could not leave her in position to tell
what she
knows." The tall Assyrian turned her attention out to the sea, where
the
enemy army lay. "But, this tells us that we have one advantage."
"What's that?" Tara asked.
"Who does he fear would hear the Princess' words, if all of them
out
there are part of his plotting?" Hsina asked in return. "Who must he
hide his
duplicity from?"
"General ****omo?" Tara suggested.
"It would be good if it were so," Hsina said. "And he may in
fact be
loyal to the Emperor...but we cannot be sure of him, or the officers.
But the
soldiers themselves, at least, must believe what the General just
said."
"In any case, there's only one reason why they would come here,"
said
Tara. "Oga wants the Scepter."
"He must not get it," Hsina said simply. "He has little time,
for I
mean to end his life this time, as I should have before."
"We need to get in touch with Corwin," Tara said, hurrying down
the
stairs with Hsina close behind. They found Eliase near the beach,
with Riyanne.
"Eliase, I have something very im****tant for you to do," she
said.
"I'll do whatever I can," Eliase promised.
Quickly, Tara filled Eliase in on what she and Hsina had talked
about -
though carefully avoiding any mention of the Scepter of Ythfaru.
"Have
Riyanne contact Syngnath or one of the other seadragons. We need to
get word to
Corwin that he must send some of his riders to try and find Emperor
Toru and his
party - if they're still alive. Also, they need to be on the lookout
for
Princess Kiyomi."
"Understood," said Eliase.
"And, also tell Wingleader Corwin, that I consider it very
im****tant
that he find out where Captain Dolfis and the Marquesa are. If he
finds Dolfis,
he is to take him into...protective custody...and notify us at once."
(Tag Rachel and Arlene)
* * * * *
General ****amo
"Is there any word from Brigadier General Sentari?" the
Commanding
General asked for the tenth time. And, for the tenth time, the aide
said that
there had not been.
****amo swore to himself. As soon as he got word that Sentari's
brigade
- with two other brigades coming in behind it - were coming down the
land
road north of the warren, he planned to order a diversionary attack on
the
southern end of his front. Not a true attack involving soldiers
storming the
defenses, but bombardment from high-powered ballistas, and a
formidable display by
Counselor Oga's sorcerers. Sentari would take the defenders from an
unexpected
direction while their attention was elsewhere, and overwhelm them.
The diversionary force was ready to go, but he couldn't order it
forward
until he knew that Sentari had taken the road and was moving toward
the
warren.
And when he did hear news, it wasn't at all what he expected.
"General!" an aide came swimming frantically up, saluting hastily
when
the general turned to regard him sternly. "Sir, one of our regiments
is
attacking!"
"ATTACKING??" General ****omo roared. "They were to wait until we
had
word from Brigadier Sentari..."
The aide gulped audibly. "General sir, it isn't the diversionary
force...apparently, an attack order went to the 151st Regiment..."
"The 151st?" General ****amo demanded in amazement. The 151st
wasn't
part of the diversionary force, wasn't even in the right sector. The
151st
Regiment - Colonel Tono's regiment - was very nearly at the center of
the Imperial
army's line. "Order them to stop!"
"Sir!"
Another aide swam up just as the General was giving his order. He
turned
to glare at the newcomer. "What is it?"
"Sir, the 151st has made contact with the enemy defensive lines.
Fighting is occurring now!"
General ****omo had only just begun to issue new orders, when other
aides
swam up to tell him that other regiments on either side of the 151st
were
moving up to sup****t Colonel Tono. This was something their officers
had been
trained to do...but who had given the order to initiate the attack in
the first
place??
Well, no time to straighten it out...he had to go forward himself
to try
and get the situation back under control. Waving the aides and other
officers to follow him, he set off for the front line.
* * * * *
Tara stood with Hsina as line after line of determined-looking
Kataani
troops came into view. "All right," said the Warrenlady, "I guess we
have no
choice now. Do what you have to do to keep them from getting into the
warren."
(Tag Andrew and Rachel!)
Submitted by:
John
Warrenlady Tara & Varaenna
Jasra Warren
Counselor Oga
General ****amo
Summary:
Morning, day 1: Tara and Hsina discuss the meaning of General ****omo's
ultimatum, and deduce that something has happened to both the Emperor
and Princess
Kiyomi. Tara instructs Eliase to contact Corwin, and have him look
for the
Emperor as well as Dolfis, who may also be in danger. Per Oga's plan,
one
regiment begins to advance and attack the warren defenses, while the
General goes
forward to try to get them to disengage. Tara orders Hsina to repel
the
attackers.
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