middleofsomewhere | The Will to Fight: Finale: All teams

The Far Gate

Given that people have scouted ahead, it will be no surprise when those who arrive at the Red objective find an army of demons there. Unlike the other packs they have encountered, these ones are not roaming, and don't appear to be heading towards the city. Instead, they are guarding something.

A gate. It is larger than the others they have seen so far by an order of magnitude, and if there are this many demons outside, the keystone must be guarded just as well.

For those who are actually on the red team their SCA will flash up a message: This gate has multiple keystones. It is the focal point for other gates closer to the city. Close it.

Around the City

In the Caverns

Once the rockfall was cleared, those that wished to could make their way back towards the city. They might come across demons on the way, small packs scouting the land and hunting survivors, but for the most part their way will be clear until they get to the city and to the Voidtrecker camp.

For everyone else, there are plenty of non-combatants that need protecting. The cavern itself remains warded against demons, but patrols still pass and keeping everyone safe and hidden is important.

Almost all the citizens have thrown off the mind control now. Some of the younger children have started having nightmares, and keeping everyone positive and calm is harder than it was before with a goal in sight.

In the City

The sigils hum and glow. For those feeding them power it's a very long couple of days; though once the monks are free they join in, brusquely waving off any questions or concern about their wellbeing to focus on the task at hand: protecting the city. They will of course accept any extra energy. The wards are not meant to go out completely, it will take a lot of energy to restart them.

By the eleventh day it is clear something else is wrong. Some of the focus stones on the city walls are out of place, either knocked awry in the battles before the false peace, or sabotaged by demons. Either way, for the wards to fully activate they will need those not giving energy to go out onto the walls, to find the stones and align them. It's not too technical but might be dangerous, because outside the walls, a fight is about to begin…

The Battle for the City

The attacks have gotten more frequent but on the evening of day ten they stop. Silence. No gates open, no demons attack. The whole night is spent in a tense, almost eerie silence.

It is broken at dawn the next day, two massive gates open, one to the north of the city and one to the south. Demons march out, heading towards the city.

Not just demons, they each have two large structures, siege machines. It seems they wish to knock this city down completely, securing their victory over the humans.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She rolls her shoulders, trying to at least work a bit of the tension. She hasn't slept the way she probably ought to.

Which is really nothing new. An answer to the question. "It's pretty close. The magic is new, but that's not so different from them developing a new piece of technology."

Some of it's just about how you think about it.

"You don't have anything like it your side of the...space?" He says, for a better lack of a word. Maybe void, but sometimes, your brain doesn't work that well in the moment. It wouldn't be the first time he's heard that, but it makes him curious all the same.

"Not even a few people doing stuff that everyone else can't?"

"THere's the Force, but it's... different." It's not really magic though. Kanan and Ezra would be better equipped for this than her, but still not as ready as a lot of the people here. "Most of the Jedi were killed when Palpatine came to power. Whenever we run into anything to do with it, I've always been able to trust Kanan to look after it."

She can't help smiling when she says that last name.

There's a curious lift of Tidus brow, one that dips back in and meets the frown as Hera goes on with the story. Even with the fondness that's hard to miss, so is the whole 'killing' part of it too.

"Do people hate them? People with the - Force?" he clarifies, waving a hand from where they're otherwise folded. Even adds as he goes on, "I've heard stories like that. People going after others 'cause of what they can do or believe in. Kind of like that?"

"The Jedi were the defenders of the Republic. Palpatine knew that they were a threat to his attempts to grab power. He didn't want anyone to have those capabilities who wasn't under his control." She grimaces. He still doesn't. Every kid like Ezra was in danger. "There were thousands. Now there are only a handful with any sort of training."

"Ergh," Tidus sounds, disgust in his expression. "Sounds like a problem no matter where you're from. All the more reason to get rid of this Palpatine guy and the Empire!" he says more passionately.

Because wiping out a weapon, just because of what they could do? It makes him understand Kitty's situation with the Mutants a little more...

"Too bad you had to get sidetracked with us." He gestures to the camp the mission they're on now. "How're you been doing with the mana drive? Did you get the hang of it?"

She can't argue with that. There are so many reasons to take down Palpatine. "Revenge might not be the Jedi way, but making sure Force sensitive kids aren't targeted is."

She glances down to the tool. "It's helped me get people out of some tight spots out there. Every advantage helps."

Spare the healers some work, for one thing.

"Great! It's good they're getting used. They don't take you out a fight, but some protection does you good. And these demons..."

He waves a slow hand. "I dunno who's the bigger pain, the ones throwin' magic or the whips. Those fast runners are something too, 'specially on their turf. Gotta wonder if there's anything else they're hiding - now that they've gone quiet."

It gave them the rest to prepare for whatever was coming, but it still left the apprehension of what they'd have to face.

"At least the big ones are easier to see coming." You can get ready for them when they're visible so far out. Get ready to deal with them. "Some of the smaller ones pack a really nasty punch. The shell helps with that, a bit, if I can spot them fast enough."

"Oh yeah, that magic? They're good too - I was having trouble keeping their magic off even with the spells I know." It wasn't fun - he was going to have to train.

"This is one of the harder missions we've been on, though. I mean... I guess I can't say, we've had harder, but when it comes to fighting, the others were easier to deal with. Last time we really had to fight, it was like...computers, and robots!"

"That would at least make more sense than the magic." She's adapting, she has to do that. "If this one's unusual, hopefully that means the next one counts as a break."

Given that these odds are about what she's used to, maybe it'll even feel like one in general.

"Never know - the next one might be magic and robots!" he jokes, oh so helpfully. "That was what it was like where I came from. All fiends and old machina roaming around. The last war we had was a thousand years ago."

Nothing like this place, or Hera's side of home.

It probably could. That would make about as much sense as any of this. "They say my galaxy went that long in peace, but it's hard to imagine. At least magic robots would mean all of us are just a little off kilter."

"Welll, it wasn't exactly peaceful, all those years," Tidus admits with a tip of his head. Far from it. "The war was actually between magic users and machina. Whole lot of fighting over nothing, you know? It didn't do anyone any good, anyway."

"The last war was like that. The only person it did any good was the Emperor." Which was probably why no one actually was clear on who had won the CLone Wars. Only one person had, the galaxy had lost.

The Will to Fight: Finale: All teams

Re: camp

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