[Phase 4] Tinto vs Scarlet Moon at Karakas/Lampdragon Pass [Concluded]

[Vextor]

Phase 4: Turn 1 - Scarlet Moon Empire vs. Tinto between Karakas and Lampdragon Pass

After the armies of Tinto marched south toward the Karakas desert for a full week, they finally managed to exit the mountains separating Tinto from the Toran region.

As punchdoll's magican unit numbering 6562 rested after the lengthy march, they suddenly heard a mighty war cry from the distance. The banners of Assistant to Milich fluttered in the distance, and Punchdoll grinned in anticipation. "Cavalry are no enemy of ours," his magicians said as they readied for battle. However, instead of cavalry, they were greeted by 16874 lightly armored swordsmen; Assistant of Milich stood at the fore.

"For the Empire!" he roared as his men--rangers--charged ahead. Punchdolls' magicians frantically cast spells in defense, defeating many enemies before the rangers reached their ranks. The rangers' expert swordsmanship and magic tore through Punchdoll's unit like lightning, decimating them completely while they themselves suffered a casualty of 3281.

Seeing the defeat of his compatriot, Vengeful Child and his unit of 6601 magicians were enraged. As they pursued Assistant to Milich's unit, they were besieged by Seraph, the Scarlet Moon Magician, and his 1076 magician unit. Vengeful Child's unit quickly unleashed a hail of destructive flames, decimating Seraph's unit in an instant, while 538 of his own men expired in the process.

Observing all this from a distance was the cold eyes of Queen. Watching troop movements, she saw one enemy unit that seemed to be in a tactically critical position. She quickly ordered her magician unit numbering 12162-- the Elemantal Emissaries-- to summon elementals to attack the enemy unit that she has determined as critical.

Total havok was conjured as the warlocks unleashed the elementals on the enemies. 6081 of TheAngelicSin's infantry unit perished immediately as they were blindsided by the warlocks' powerful magic.
Undeterred, TheAngelicSin ordered a counterattack. The brave infantry soldiers mounted an offensive against the elementalists, defeating 2619 enemy magicians.

Results--

Scarlet Moon Empire

Assistant to Milich (Rangers) Soldiers: 13593 (-3281) WIN
Seraph (Magicians) Soldiers: 1076
TheAngelicSin (Infantry) Soldiers: 10475

Tinto Republic

punchdoll (Magicians) Soldiers: 6562
Vengeful Child (Magicians) Soldiers: 6063 (-538) WIN
Queen (Magicians) Soldiers: 9543 (-2619) WIN

Tinto wins this turn!

[iscalio]

Nicely written, whoever it was. Of course, it is also nice that we won.

[Vextor]

I wrote it! Yay!

[Decado]

Having written only a single report this turn I can sympathise with poor Synchysi when he was having to write 10 or so by himself.

Well fought Iscalio.
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[Vextor]

The Scarlet Emperor, Kornholio, surveyed the desert before him. The sun was soon to set, and the battle would very likely begin. In the desert, it was suicidal to move during the day, let alone make war. It was perhaps suicidal to begin before full darkness, too, but he doubted he would have the luxury to wait. The mountains in the distance mocked him, but he was not about to give up so easily on his plans. At his side stood the Assistant to Milich, commander of one of the Emperor's most trusted regiments. No others were trained quite so phenomenally as the Assistant's, and if they were to push the Republic back to the foothills of the Twin Dragon Mountains, it would be their personal units who turned the tide.

President Iscalio of the Tinto Republic sent his most trusted warriors out of the Twin Dragon Mountains, to continue the push against his enemies. Karakas was a bleak land, with no real worth to it, but it was the gateway into the Scarlet Moon Empire, a nation with whom he had been at war since the inauguration of his presidency. A victory today could push them to the edge of the desert, where he could invade the Empire proper. Across a large expanse of desert, Queen watched the enemy's fortifications. Today, she knew, was a day for powerful magics. Now that they were out of the foothills, and into the sandy expanses of Karakas, the footing would be very difficult for her people, long used to the mountains of the Republic. Though there were deserts in Tinto, they had not truly seen fighting there in so long that none of her people would know how to fight in the sand. The same strategy worked at the edge of the desert, and would continue here this day.

The Emperor through his looking glass saw the forces of Tinto begin to advance across the sand towards their encampment — as he guessed, while the sun still sat upon the mountain range to the west. His aide sounded the call, and almost ten thousand soldiers under the command of Decurion zeal rushed to their gul-horses and mounted. They were amongst his secret weapons this day; he knew the Republican forces would not expect to find mounts so at home in the desert. What he did not count on was maken's Dust Mages foresight. Instead of trusting that they would be able to pick apart a hampered cavalry charge, they concentrated their fire magics deep into the sands themselves. Very quickly, the sand grew white hot, and it was impossible for the gul-horses to charge. The lizardlike horses screamed in pain, rearing and throwing their men to the ground; the Imperial soldiers, too, screamed, as they were burned by the sand-turned-glass. They only suffered a short while, though, before the Dust Mages unleashed another firestorm that consumed the Imperial forces. The only soldiers who survived were zeal himself, and roughly a third of his men who were able to pull back away from the danger in time.

Saying a quick prayed to the souls of his departed, Kornholio angrily took the field himself. If they could not close the distance, then a long range attack of their own would succeed. He ordered the Assistant's unit forward. When Queen saw this through her own looking glass, she sent her own unit, the Elemental Emissaries, forward to do battle. She began to unleash her magics, an even more devastating combo than maken's; earth and fire lashed out, ready to swallow the enemy even as they burned. But as soon as they began, a command was issued, and Kornholio's personal unit launched thousands of arrows at the Emissaries from between the ranks of the Assistant's men. Within moments, the enemy magics quieted; not one Tinto magician was left uninjured, and most were amongst the dead and dying. Queen herself was injured, but not killed, leaving the enemy momentarily leaderless.

Into the lull charged the Assistant's rangers. The front lines lashed out with water magics, cooling the still burning sands; behind them, earth magicians shattered the glass, and wind magicians carved a safe path through the shards for their charge. Having no leadership to speak of, Ayreon stepped forward to try to salvage the devastating loss of Queen's Emissaries. His men raced forward, desperate to save those still living, including Queen herself. His Universal Migrators lashed out with their own magic, to slow the tide, but many of their attacks were countered. They succeeded in slowing the rangers enough to rescue Queen, but casualties on both sides began to increase. Worse, the distance was now closing, and Ayreon knew his men would have no chance once it came to close combat. He ordered the retreat of all Republic forces, desperate to save Queen's life. As long as she lived, they could still return to take Karakas in the name of President Iscalio. The rangers were not so forgiving, however, and continued to pursue them. Virtually all of Ayreon's men were cut down; of his nearly seven thousand men, less than only two hundred made it safely back to the foothills of the Twin Dragon Mountains.

Finally, the Emperor signaled his trumpeters to call off the charge. The sun was almost fully set, now, and soon they could begin the march back towards the Pass. His men were tired, though, and he knew if they did not succeed in taking the Fortress of Sai soon, they would have to abandon their attack on the Lampdragon Pass and pull back to the Senan region. But if his own men were tired, so too were Tinto's. The next days' battle would be the deciding factor.

The Scarlet Moon Empire vs. the Tinto Republic between Karakas and the Lampdragon Pass
Scarlet Moon Empire
zeal (Cavalry) Soldiers: 9907
Kornholio (Archer) Soldiers: 30276
Assistant to Milich (Ranger) Soldiers: 13593
Tinto Republic
maken (Magician) Soldiers: 6817
Queen (Magician) Soldiers: 9543
Ayreon (Magician) Soldiers: 6943

Results:
maken (0 soldiers lost) defeats zeal (6817 soldiers lost; 3090 soldiers remain)
Kornholio (0 soldiers lost) defeats Queen (annihilated)
Assistant to Milich (3483 soldiers lost; 10,110 soldiers remain) defeats Ayreon (6796 soldiers lost; 170 soldiers remain)

The Scarlet Moon Empire wins 2-1.

The Scarlet Moon Empire and the Tinto Republic are now tied at one Turn apiece.

[Shrew]

Not that it affects the outcome, but didn't Assistant to Milich lose 3281 troops last trun? So shouldn't he have had less this turn? Or is that something to do with those crazy Rangers he has?
_________________


Fear our Vagueness.

[Elc]

Yeah, the soldiers lost were taken into account, as in the first turn, Assistant to Milich had 16,874 soldiers while this turn he had 13,593 soldiers.
_________________


"You make me smash the clock and feel, I'd rather die behind the wheel.
Time was never on my side, So on I wait my whole lifetime."

[Vextor]

Yeah, he lost 3281 last turn. He originally had more than 16000 soldiers.

[Shrew]

Blah, drat, I'm blind. Sorry about the intrusion there. Good luck to both nations next turn.
_________________


Fear our Vagueness.

[Vextor]

In the hour before the dawn, Kornholio's encampment at the foothills of the Lampdragon Pass was alive with activity. Only a handful of short hours ago, they crossed the bloody sands. Many of their troops were left behind, to bury the dead, and to find if any still lived amongst the lost. If any had survived that assault, they would not survive the desert sun, and so the Imperials had to work quickly in order to save any of their comrades that they might. Reinforcements, thus, would not be arriving until later. This was up to his own men, and his rangers, men who were already tired from combat. He kept the dismay from his face when he looked at the two men standing to either side of him. Of the army he had sent to take the pass, only two other commanders remained, one of whom was an untested Decurion named Raze. And in all technicality, the man commanding his ranger regiment was an even lower rank than Raze; however, as he was the assistant to one of his most trusted Generals, the man had had more battle experience than many of his superiors. There were conspicuous absences, however, that he hoped would not cost him the battle. Since many of the losses were taken by Decurion zeal's gul-horse regiment, zeal himself stayed behind with the rest of his men. Likewise, several of his other unit commanders were helping the effort in Karakas. The Golden Emperor could see doubt in Raze's eyes. Perhaps if things went well enough, he would not need to rely on the lad at all yet. As they walked through the camp, the doubt he saw in Raze was echoed in many of the men, and not just from the Decurion's unit. Even some of the rangers, amongst the most elite warriors in the nation, could not hide their fears. Everyone was exhausted, and to take the Pass meant taking Sai Fortress as well. Spotting a good hill amidst some of the cookfires, he climbed to the top and shouted to his people. "Soldiers of the Empire! I know that you are all tired, that this has been a difficult march for you all. Many of you have lost family and friends. Twice now, the Republic has tried to take the Karakas Desert from us. They succeeded once, but we pushed them back. We must now push them all the way back to their capital! For the safety of our friends, our family, we will take Sai Fortress! I have faith in you, each and every one of you. I give you this day to rest; under the evening sun, we shall enter the Pass and set camp. On the morrow, Sai Fortress — and with it, the path into the Twin Dragon Mountains — shall be ours!" His men cheered, heartened, and soon went back to work on the camp, lighter footed than they had been.

Ayreon shook his head vehemently. "We can return when we have greater forces. Inko37 himself is not here to defend his keep, off to the west with President iscalio. If we stand, we will fall. If we retreat, we can save Queen, and take with us the riches of Sai. Unless we begin now, we will lose everything to the Empire. It is bad enough that the Imperials will walk these halls. Do you want us to be in the dungeons below the keep, or for our hard earned treasures to line their vaults? I do not." Vengeful Child simply sat there, an impassive look on his face.

Maken looked between them, and sighed. "Fine, go then. I made a promise to hold this fort, and I intend to keep it. We will meet the enemy in the passes, and buy you your time to escape." He smiled. "But if we win this day, you will regret looking so foolish."

"Then I will happily regret." Turning, he marched off, issuing orders to those few of his men who remained to begin preparations to depart. Carts would need to be readied, and the vaults emptied. His men could commandeer the fort's servant staff for help. If the Empire won this day, it would be a hollow victory; he would see to that himself. By the following morning, the fortress was a bustle with activity, and the afternoon saw everything loaded up on carts heading for the Lion's Maw.

Another night came and went. Maken would have wondered if the Empire had not packed up and abandoned the assault, if not for his scouts insisting otherwise. Apparently the Imperials had taken a day to recover. Good; that meant his own men had time to recover as well. The effort involved in turning such a large region of desert into molten glass was not minute, after all. Utterly exhausted from the effort, his own men could do nothing but run when those bedamnable Imperial Rangers charged Ayreon's men. Today, he hoped, would be different. He readied his men, when the word came in that the Empire was on the march once more. They assembled at the foot of the fortress, and began to ready their magics. Their last battle was a day for fire; today, for wind. As soon as the Rangers appeared, the Dust Mages unleashed swirling winds that picked up rock and dust, hurling them into the air. The Rangers faltered, momentarily unable to breathe as dust clogged their lungs. Sensing victory, the Dust Mages advanced, reading earth magics to bring the very mountain down on their enemies, when the Rangers' own wind mages forced the stinging dust storm away. Many of their number had already succumbed, either to stabbing shards of rock or the dust itself, but enough remained to charge on the Dust Mages' location. Quick work with the sword ended the battle, clearing the way for the Emperor's advance.

The Golden Emperor himself rode forward, high on a gul-horse of his own, where all his men could see him. It was a risk, exposed as he was, but he trusted his Rangers to protect him should the enemy try for an attack. They needed a symbol, visibly courageous, to rally behind. His own archers were ready. As he hoped, it was not long before more Tinto magicians appeared on the walls of Fort Sai. His aide, surveying the enemy with a looking glass, murmured, "Sarah, my liege. We know little of her capabilities; I suggest caution." Kornholio nodded, but continued to ride. The pass widened here, but hopefully not so wide that his plan would fail. Only a handful of his men were with him, rearmed with crossbows belonging to one of the regiments that stayed behind in Karakas. But there were not nearly enough crossbows or bolts for all of his men; the rest had made their way up one of the other paths just before dawn. If they were late.... No, he trusted his men. He reigned in, as did Raze's Shinigami. He shouted up to the defenders to surrender peacefully or be annihilated; his answer was a fireball the size of a horse landing not far in front of his steed. Looking up at the defenders, he could see tiny flashes of light coming from the mountains surrounding the fortress. If the fortress' usual defenders were present, this tactic would never work, but he knew the Arrows of Justice had marched to war elsewhere. He raised his hands and signaled for Raze to begin his charge, a decoy he hoped he would not regret. The mages on the walls cheered, and began their attack; concentrating on the pass, they did not see the threat on the mountains themselves. Even as they began to call upon the Runic powers at their command, crossbow bolts from Kornholio's ranks began to disrupt their concentration; but it was the arrows coming from either side that felled them one by one and ten by ten. The defenders, too late, tried to shift their attentions. But arrows and bolts had filled the sky, from over thirty thousand bows and crossbows; even if most missed because of the distance involved, it was merely a matter of time. When all was said and done, none of Kornholio's people were more than vaguely singed, while every last defender was dead or too wounded to call upon their powers.

Hearing the news of what happened on the walls, Vengeful Child merely nodded, and brought his people out to surrender. Ayreon had been right all along. Enemies though they were, he knew Kornholio was not so bloodthirsty as to order them all executed; sure enough, within the hour, the former defenders were exiled to the Lion's Maw, taking the wounded with them by the thousands. The Emperor had neither the facilities to imprison that many soldiers or the desire to kill so many in cold blood. It was enough that they had won. The fortress had been stripped of its wealth, but for now that was not his aim: the Pass was a strategic gain entirely of its own, even without the miners' wealth. A smile back on his face, he walked the halls of the captured fortress, the sound of merrymaking coming from the main hall. The war could wait for a little while; he had a celebration to attend.


The Scarlet Moon Empire vs. the Tinto Republic at the Lampdragon Pass
Scarlet Moon Empire
Assistant to Milich (Ranger) Soldiers: 10110
Kornholio (Archer) Soldiers: 30276
Tinto Republic
maken (Magician) Soldiers: 6817
Sarah (Magician) Soldiers: 6238

Results:
Assistant to Milich (3408 soldiers lost; 6702 soldiers remain) defeats maken (5055 soldiers lost; 1762 soldiers remain)
Kornholio (0 soldiers lost) defeats Sarah (annihilated)

The Scarlet Moon Empire wins 2-0.

Having won two out of three Turns, the Scarlet Moon Empire has claimed the Lampdragon Pass and its Fortress of Sai.

[KoRnholio]

............ok.............i........can....breathe.....now.....

Seriously now, that was the most exciting battle I've been in, or probably even read for that matter. I'm pretty sure my heart rate jumped up to dangerous levels there, opening the thread hoping my computer wouldn't freeze before I could read it all.

Well-fought, my friend iscalio.