Lets Create A Story

[Sovy Kurosei]

Sorry, been sick for the last while

But tomorrow I will be better, and I might post up a story segment if I get the chance to!

[Captain]

Originally posted by Sovy Kurosei
Sorry, been sick for the last while

But tomorrow I will be better, and I might post up a story segment if I get the chance to!

Oh, that's too bad. No rush. Take care of yourself first. Hope you're feeling better soon! That 5-2 win has got to cheer you up though!

[Sovy Kurosei]

The Chinese offensive was going as expected as planned, and within months of the Chinese invasion, the English were forced to sign off their fate.

It went from neutral, to bad, to worse, to even more worse!

During the first few weeks of the English/Chinese landgrab war, the French decided this was the perfect time to revolt.

Of course, the suppression was immediate for the soldiers in the former French cities, but it also enraged many frenchmen.

It has been often said that no English man dared go beyond the gates of Toules, for the French will maim you and crucify you. The only ones to go so far North were the unwilling, both soldiers and settlers.

Of course, the French cities were all bordering the ocean, or had easy port access to the sea. The Chinese decided to use this to their advantage.

DoD ( Day of Defeat ) -6 weeks.

"M'lady! Terrible news have come from our garrisons to the north!" squelched a young lad, as he ran into the meeting room of Queen Elizebeth. Queen Elizebeth was talking amongst her advisors on the current war situation. Things weren't getting any better, but they weren't getting any worse either. The Chinese advance has stopped to a crawl, and the English were sure that the Chinese will have to fall back once their supply lines are securely cut.

"What is it, my young one?" Was Elizebeths reply. She turned to face the young lad as he stopped at his feet to admire the wooden luxuries the royalties were allowed to have. The oak table, the pillers of redwood, such fine stuff, for so few.

But he changed to face Elizebeth, having to bear the news that will disturb her greatly.

"My lady, the French to the north are revolting. All the sol-" was what the boy was saying. Elizebeth raised her hand to stop the ramblings of the messenger, and said.

"Tell the general to suppress these meager riots, with whatever means necessary," was the Queen's statement. She had enough of these Frenchmen. They shall all feel her wrath after this war.

"But my Queen! The French are using the same weapons as our garrisons, and have overwelmed them! All the former French cities have thrown their garrisons out save for Toules, the divided city!" was the boy's outcry.

Elizebeth was horrified by the news. The French were able to possess such arms? But how? A resistence faction? No, all our arms are checked, and only 478, or was it 487 of the English Muskets were missing since their production. One of her soldiers turned against her and supplied the French? No, all officers are Englishmen, and none would betray her like so, to aid the French.

Then it dawned on Elizebeth.

They just experienced a taste of their own medicene.

"Ugh... Let the French Revolt! Secure the frontlines and impose drafting in more soldiers! I want more weapons from our colony island to the north to make sure we are supplied plentifully."

"My liege, I believe the Chinese supplied the resis-"

"Thats enough young Squire, return to Toules, and gather more information on the French situation,"

It was a hectic day alright. The Chinese supplied the Frenchmen. Just like how the Englishmen supplied the Russians during their battle against the Zulu's. And all available man power is necessary to make sure the front lines do not collapse. She prayed the French will collapse as soon as their form of supplies from London is cut.

DoD -4 weeks.

The English officer knew what they are up against. A bunch of misfits in Toules. This will be a splendid day for the English indeed!

The Queen, after a week of seeing the French situation throw her nation into more disarray, ungarrisoned some troops at the front lines, and placed them in command of General Duke, to take care of the French in Toules, and Orleans.

"General Duke, the French resistence is sure to succumb at the end of this week!" was the status report handed from the luitenent.

General Duke was in his ready room, studying the map of Northern England. The french are lacking in supplies, and are in need of more saltpeter. They are finally out ever since the ports were blockaded by a few English frigates.

"Heheh... Good job, we will defeat the French, within this week I must commend!" was the Generals chuckling reply.

But within moments, a loud explosion blasted off over the hills in the Toules port area.

"Wha... What was that?!" thought the general to himself, as he sat up to look at the general direction of the explosion. He will be informed soon enough.

And soon enough it was, as a lad on a horse raced down the path to the Generals hut, stationed a few kilometres from the town of Toules.

The boy dismounted, or fell, but quickly got up and ran to the general.

"General Duke! The Chinese have landed in the port of Toules!" was the messengers statement when he erupted from the front entrance of the Generals hut.

How could this be?

"They have sent in a number of schooners! We thought they were measly Zulu trading vessels, when they unleashed their cloak of disguise, and began firing on our frigates! Our frigates destroyed at least one of the Chinese Saltpeter supply ships, for I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Bu... Quickly lad! To the queen! We will deal with the French and the Chinese here!" ushered the General.

The situation turned from bad, to worse.

And it was quite simple for the Chinese really. At first the French refused to allow their own ports to be landing posts for the Chinese.

So, the Chinese still gave the French weapons. When the French learnt that their supply was low, and the Chinese were being pushed back into the sea (infact, false propaganda just for SOLELY for this mission) The frenchmen knew they were in for a paddling for sure.

So, the French were too deep in doggy doo-doo now to back out. They allowed the Chinese to invade the English from behind, where only a few of their soldiers were stationed.

Mao worked his plan perfectly. First the uprising, then the uprising fearing for their lives... It is now time to launch phase three of his plan...

DoD -1 week.

Toules, Paris, Orleans.

All the French cities finally had the resources to declare their independece. But they also allowed Chinese soldiers through their ports.

Tis a sad day for the English. Their Northern cities were either occupied by the Chinese, or partially razed down from the Chinese bombardment.

The English were holding out, and will make this very miserable for the Chinese. If the English die, so do the Chinese. A number of rioters are already making the Chinese life miserable.

And the English still had their Man'O'wars at their control.

Or so they thought they did.

"My majesty! Our mighty fleet of Man'O'wars are sailing their way home for resupply and repairs" was the harbourmaster informing Queen Elizebth.

The Man'O'wars that were battling the meek Chinese navy were returning home after a battle staged between a large number of Chinese supply vessels, sinking many months of supplies for the Chinese army.

Of course the Queen was overjoyed. This was the break they needed to get out of the war with the Chinese was finally at their hands! All the queen needed now was to grab, and claim it for her own.

But the Man'O'wars were carrying more than just treasures and stories of their journey.

And the white masts slowly slinked their way into the London Harbour, where many crowded to see the site. Man'O'wars, Galleys, carracks, frigates...

A grand site to see so many vessels.

But the cannon covers opened, and within a few seconds, the London harbour, long protected from the outside with mighty walls, was covered in soot, dust, and destruction.

Fires sprang up as the Man'O'wars turned against their allies, and fired into fellow frigates and ships that were not part of the fleet that sailed in.

To the English Queen's horror, it was the Chinese.

She couldn't believe, how could they take over their Man'O'wars, and not leak any information?

She thought to herself, a few conclusions before she settled on one.

Her man'O'wars did find the Chinese fleet, but they were boarded. Entire armies landing on ships, and taking them over in firefights and swordplay.

The Man'O'wars didn't stand much of a chance. The galleys plowing into the Man'O'wars, and boarding them.

It must have caused thousands, tens of thousands of deaths in that suicide rush.

But as she pulled away from her glass window into the burning streets below, she knew she say the face of defeat eyeing her over the horizon.

She knew she was defeated.

DoD, -2 hours, 13 minutes.

In only a couple of hours, the final forms of the defeat of England will be signed by the Queen.

Actually, the Queen was quite curious to the generosity of the Chinese. Not only did they vow to return all English cities that were captured to the English, but will also withdraw all troops stationed in England.

The only few exceptions is the handing over some sciences, the losing of over 5/6ths of their total fleet power, and not re-invading the new French Empire. As well as taking in Chinese 'settlers' at a greater pace then before.

She was distressed. Where did England go wrong?

General Duke entered her ready room.

"My lady, the Chinese Ambassador has arrived..." was what he said.

It could have been worse.

English DoD, +6 days.

Mao was happy. Not only did he stave off the overpopulation problem a bit more longer, he also had a fleet that nobody could compare to!

The Zulu's were land warriors, and don't know the difference between the main mast from the rudder.

The Russians were defeated, and their navy was taken. Catherine is more interested in the Indians then on the seas.

The English lost their fleet to... Well, you know the rest of that story.

And the Anklodians... They had no real fleet. The entire gallery perhaps, here and there?

He smirked.

He staved off his overpopulation for now, but he most settle new lands, and secure them this time.

He turned to the Anklodians.

The same Anklodians that the Spanish will invade soon...

It could have been worse, he thought.

He could have only gotten one half of the English fleet!

[Captain]

***

Good one! Nice switcheroo on the Chinese arming the French like the English with the Russians. Hope you're feeling better.
I'm coming down with something too so I might be delayed a bit in actually posting my next section (although I have it already all figured out in my head.) Also, my computer is having some serious trouble - it's just so wacked out I might have to reformat it.
---------

I'll be editing this post here and the next one to insert the story.

The storyline I'm thinking of is split into two sections (sortof) so I grabbed the next post too so that when I finish editing them, you can read them both in one shot.

Like the posts I've been hinting at before, it's going to be the meat of the Spanish Invasion of Anklodus, (the Reyanaldo vs. Sanchez duel), fleshing out Naldo's story in the defense of Anklodus + the thing with Elwyn's pregnancy... and an intro to "Kyros", the southern Anklodian lands where reconstruction of old Roman ruins and the influx of Zulu/French/English/Chinese/Spanish immigrants over the next few centuries leads to a curious thing... hope to post really soon -don't wanna keep you in suspense too long!


------here is part of the first section I'm posting ------


"Now, if you look over here, you'll see what at first glance appears to be just another stone." The professor pointed to a one metre high mottled pink and grey granite sitting on top of the windswept bluff. The sun blazed in the brilliant cloudless blue sky and warmed the huddled cluster of students. The sounds of distant waves breaking below and the taste of the sea-breeze made this an inviting place, despite its darkened history.

"It is not just a stone. It is an ancient memorial. How many of you know its significance?"

Not one of the students raised a hand. The professor stared at them incredulously. His surprise turned to a look of disgust and anger.

"You mean to tell me that not one of you has read chapter four of Jocan's Civilization? I assigned that reading over a month ago!"

The students stared at their feet.

"What is this, grade two again? You're University students! Take some responsibility already!" The professor was a graying man of sixty who walked with a limp and had heart surgery three times already, but he still managed to intimidate the entire group of thirty undergraduates.

"The University of Beijing and the Historical Society of Anklodus didn't organize this exchange just for fun! You're here on studies! Because of your laziness, I'm going to have to spend the entire morning reviewing the relevant portions of that chapter. There's no point in seeing these artifacts and places if you've no sense of why they're significant. We'll have to cut your afternoon market time short to cover the rest of the town's history."

A subdued groan went through the crowd, but no one challenged the professor.

The professor continued, "We will, of course, be having dinner in one of the local restaurants. It's important that you get a sense of the local fare. I'm highly disappointed that you won't get to spend more time in the market - there are some exquisite pieces there. Next time do your readings."

The students glumly followed their professor to the stone memorial.

"Now, Mr. Henderson, would you please remind us all of what era we are talking about."

"Um... the Age of Armadas?"

"Thank you. Your confidence overwhelms me." The professor turned his back to the students and folded his hands behind him. "Ms. Chen, remind us of the historical event that concerns this memorial."

"The...uh... um, well, it's the... uh..."

"I see. Ms. Lim, perhaps you know?"

"The Spanish Invasion sir."

"Thank you. Split up into small groups and take fifteen minutes to explore the nearby area. Look both high and low. Make observations and report back here with any conclusions you've arrived at."

Jack Henderson and Jillian Chen shuffled off up the hill to find their buddy Chandra Gupta. Too bad he was already teamed up with Esther Lim. That brown-noser Esther always snagged Chandra at first chance. Jack and Jill were childhood friends of Chandra's and couldn't see why Chandra tolerated that insufferable snob Esther. Of course, they did have to admit she was the only one in Chandra's intellectual league - the only two in the whole class that the professor ever praised. Well, they'd just have to look around without Chandra's help and see if they could figure anything out. Even Chandra and Esther were regretting not reading that chapter. They had no idea what the professor was looking for, but that set of four ancient wooden posts by the cliff's edge might be a start.

***

Hacik raced up the path. It was always hard running through the sandy part but the dirt was packed down better in the section near the bluff and he'd be able to make up some time. He wasn't sure how late he was, but when he woke up, the top bulb of hourglass had already been emptied. He was too tired for running but he knew it was his duty to be on watch this time. His friend Udam had already covered his last two watches and it wasn't a good way to repay the favour by being late to relieve him. None of the boys liked watch duty and their four hour shifts were the low points of the week. Going out to the windy and isolated tower to watch for a threat that never came seemed a poor alternative to playing stickball with the rest of the village boys. Hacik looked up at top of the bluff where the wooden watchtower stood. It was pretty far but it looked like there was still someone up at the top of the tower. He only hoped that Udam wouldn't be too angry with him. He sped on up the hill.

***

“Lieutenant, is it clear?”
The lieutenant nodded. The bosun shuffled past him into the empty galley. The Chaplain was sitting at a bench fingering his rosary beads. The bosun nervously sat down beside him.

"Chaplain, I am not sure this is wise."

"Keep your voice down bosun. There's no one here but the three of us. Plus the cook, but he's one of ours."

"But the consequences! I trust the Commander but the Admiral is a dangerous person to cross!"

"We are a thousand leagues from Spain, and Commander Reynaldo holds the authority on this ship. The Admiral may outrank him and he may be very dangerous, but at sea, he is at our mercy. Should these marines kill us all, who would pilot the ship? Not one of them is qualified, not even the Admiral."

"How can you be sure of that? He is an Admiral, and the Marines are navy-trained - "

" - to assault shorelines. Not sail ships. They need us and they know it. All the same, when we reach shore, they’ll no longer simply be baggage. That’s why I’ve called you here. They won’t be a tenth as civilized then as they are now and they’ll hold a grudge. You remember last time. We’ll need to be prepared. You know what I’m asking you to do... "

"We are not warriors! We are sailors! We cannot hope to restrain these men when they’re free of the ship. Is it worth . "

"Think of the Commander then. Notice that we’re the only ship without a Captain? Despite his being the de facto Captain of this ship, his enemies have blocked his official promotion. Those same enemies have been trying to get him shuffled to another ship for some time. Only the Commander’s reputation and his political savvy have prevented us all from being cast to the winds. We owe him so much. Everywhere else, our heritage makes us anathema, but Commander Reynaldo treats us as though we were purebloods. This ship is a sanctuary but it will not be one if we betray our principles for what is expedient!"

The bosun looked at him. The chaplain couldn’t be more than a few years older than him. He looked decades older, but the intensity in his eyes was still that of a young man’s.

"All the same, perhaps a back-up plan is in order?"

"You know the Commander as well as I do. When don't we ever have a back-up plan? Your cover-story is already being put into place."

The bosun cracked a smile. It would be a difficult task, but he was working with the most dedicated crew in the Spanish fleet and they were the very best.

***

Hacik scampered up the last leg of the path before the top of the bluff opened up before him. The woods blocked out sight of the village and even the path he had just come out from. Up ahead, he could see Udam perched on the wooden tower peering intently out to sea. He called out but it seemed Udam wasn't listening. Perhaps he was truly angry. Hacik scurried up to the rough-hewn rungs and clambered onto the observation deck. Udam wasn't paying any attention to Hacik. Was he asleep or just ignoring him?

Hacik started with an apology but Udam held up his hand. There was hardly room for the stout Udam even with his legs hanging off the side, Hacik's skinny frame just managed to squeeze onto the platform. Wordlessly, Udam handed him the spyglass. Another one of Recife's inventions, this particular spyglass was made by Recife's son, Ryland, also a reknowned inventor. Hacik brought the glass up to his eye and looked out to where it seemed Udam was concentrating.

Nothing. He panned to the left. Still nothing. He panned to the right. Nothing. No, wait. What was that? A blip in the horizon. A small triangular shape protuding from the sea into the sky. Tiny, almost invisible against the bright sky, but Hacik could swear it looked like a sail. And then he saw another shape, a little smaller, to the right. Another ship! And another!

"I counted four. They appeared about an hour ago. That reminds me, you're late." Udam said it without any anger in his voice. There was a touch of puzzlement in his voice, as though he had just realized he had spent an extra hour on duty without noticing it.

"There's five now." Hacik was still looking through the spy glass.

"What should we do?" Udam turned to look at Hacik.

"I don't know. They tell us every year what the procedures are, but I can't remember - I never expected to ever have to use them!" Hacik was just as stupefied. Whose ships were those? And what were their intentions?

Hacik brightened. "I suppose we should light the fire. That's what we're supposed to do when seeing ships, right? We could be heroes!"

"Well, that's for a military threat or emergency. We don't know anything about these ships. Maybe we should call one of the elders to see."

"It'll take those old farts hours to get up here! Those ships could get here any second and we'll be overrun by barbarians!"

"Don't let your imagination run away with your Hacik. Those ships are a good half day's journey from here. Besides, remember that the fire gets lit on this platform. That means our warning signal to the rest of the Republic consumes our best means of watching the ships. We won't be able to keep track of the ships as well without the tower. Plus, the signal's hard to see in the day and the watchers on the next tower might not be paying much attention either."

Well, what do we do? We gotta do something!"

***

"Sir, the advance fleet has sighted the coast. They are attempting to stay far enough to avoid detection while still probing for the correct landing points marked out on the charts. "

"Good. We'll be there in about two days then. I've had enough of this hellhole. Get the men out on deck and start practicing loading and firing. Inform Commander Reynaldo and send a reply to the advance fleet to be prepared for our arrival."

Admiral Sanchez watched the colonel retreat to the holds. Over the last few days, a series of incidents occurred that severely aggravated the marines. Some supplies of powder had become wetted and useless. Several containers of bullets had been lost – dumped overboard by accident claimed the bosun. The main armory had been flooded and some rifles damaged. A few rifles even had their socket bayonets rusted in place. Bronze was preferred for marine use but it was far too heavy in comparison to the lighter and stronger iron barrels. Sanchez didn’t want his men unnecessarily burdened. He had intended to march them quite hard. He was beginning to regret his decision. Some of the marines were also feeling ill. It was far too early for the standard pre-battle sickness. He suspected a few were just constant complainers, but there were altogether too many sick men to ignore.

Sanchez suspected the crew might have had something to do with this, especially after the fights almost broke out between the marines and the crew. He particularly suspected the bosun (*boatswain, in charge of ship’s hull & supplies) and the outspoken Chaplain, but Commander Reynaldo considered the accusations completely unfounded. The man had a fantastic reputation, but the Admiral was beginning to have doubts about Reynaldo's loyalty. Just in case, he decided to send off another message, to Commander Guavarez of the SS Madrid. Admiral Sanchez always had a back-up plan.

***

"Now that we've confirmed the reports, we have perhaps a day or so before those ships arrive. They are only half a day's sail from here, but it seems they are holding off approaching any closer. They may be waiting for more ships, or to approach by night, but for whatever reason, we've likely got until tonight before they arrive."

Argraves, the chairman of the Havensport council, looked at the seven other men gathered in his living room. They were all looking intently at him. Four of them seemed quite shocked. Only Jason the blacksmith, Nyllind the shipwright and Radagas the butcher seemed to have their heads on straight.

He continued, "We don't know their intentions, but we should be prepared to meet a hostile force. They've now sighted twelve ships total. They seem to be small, fast ships, but we can't be certain. We also don't know how many will be following them. "

"I think we should request a second regiment. We've only got the one here and they're mostly made up of folks who haven't seen battle their entire lives."

"Yes, a veteran regiment from the Zulu wars would be good. They'd know how to handle a threat."

"And one of those new musket regiments too!"

"Those things aren't proven! We've never seen them in battle before. None of the Republic has."

"I hear they've proven quite devastating in the Russo-Zulu war and the English are quite fond of them too."

"Continents away! It could be all hearsay!"

"Well now, the Council of Citadel wouldn't have equipped eight regiments with these muskets at huge cost if they weren't useful."

"The Council has been wrong before."

"Still, since our taxes went to pay for them, why not have them send a regiment anyways? I'm sure they'd be eager to see how well they fare."

"Well, just be sure to ask for a few regular regiments of swordsmen too, alright?"

"Alright, sounds good. Argraves, are you getting this down?"

"Yes. The carrier pigeon should get to citadel within a few hours. We might not get a reply until those ships have already landed. But it will still be good to know how long we might have to hold out for before reinforcements arrive. Radagas, you've already alerted the garrison?"

"Yes, just before this meeting. I guess I'd better get started calling up the reserves too."

"Good. And Argraves, add a catapult or something to that list. Maybe we could sink some ships with it?"

"Alright Nyllind. Will do. Now what can you do for ships and the harbour?"

"Well, as you already know, we haven't got any military ships around. We've just been doing local trade and none of our ships are equipped to venture far from the coast. As for the harbour, I think I can set something up to secure it against hostile ships landing. "

"Good, go to it. Jason, you know what to do."

Radagas and Nyllind rushed off to take care of their tasks. Jason called upon his assistants and then proceeded to his smithery to see what weapons they could forge. The rest of the council argued quietly amongst themselves as to what to do next. Argraves completed the letter and took it to the pigeon-roost. He then called Udam and Hacik. If the letter didn't arrive in time, or the pigeon was waylaid... he couldn't take that chance.

"Light the fire."

***

The people of Havensport waited in nervous anticipation. The sails had not gotten any closer in the last two days. Their initial panic was beginning to give way to a sense of having overreacted. What if the ships left? Or if they were friendly trading vessels? Then arriving reinforcements might not be pleased at having to march halfway across the continent for no reason. Argraves was feeling especially sheepish. Jason and his assistants were still hard at work in his shop forging swords and spears from farm implements. Nyllind was busy down with the dockworkers working on some elaborate scheme. Radagas was still urging the local garrison commander to help train more recruits. One regular regiment was not enough. Radagas wanted to conscript every able-bodied man into three reserve regiments. People were beginning to talk of boycotting Radagas' shop. The man was making outrageous demands and his "vigilance" was bordering on paranoia. Even Argraves was beginning to agree that this might be a time for level-headed calm. He didn't need Radagas stirring up panic.

Radagas was the most unpopular man in town that third day, until Udam reported another two dozen ships sighted.

***

“You see, even today, the town of Havensport remains a smallish community. The harbour took a good twenty years to rebuild. Extremely slow, even for ancient standards, but there was little motivation to rebuild it compared to some of the other projects underway. There has never been much trade along this coast, especially since the Spanish ships were unwelcome for nearly a century. By the time trade picked up again, the newly founded cities on the southern coast had picked up the bulk of trade. The steam ships weren’t subject to the prevailing winds and for them, it was nearly a week’s shorter trip to the Spanish mainland. As you can see from the - ” The professor droned on.

Jack, Jillian, and Chandra were huddled near the edge of the cliff where the professor was pointing at various indistinguishable spots out in the ocean.

“I wish he’d shut up already. We’ve been here for three hours already. I really have to go.”

“There’s always the bushes.”

“It’s too windy to be ill-equipped for point and shoot.”

“Will you two shut up already? He’s just starting to get to the good part. Looks like it’s going to be at least another half-hour here, Jill. But it sounds like we’ll be moving in to the town to see the rest of the sites.” Chandra was exasperated at his two friends. Sure they were top students with him at Canterbury High, but how they managed to stay in Beijing U’s elite History program when they were such slackers was beyond him.

***


More is coming. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Soon, the attack.
Then the duel.
Then we return to the professor and his exchange students.

[Captain]

Post #2. See above.
to be edited soon so that there is a storyline here instead of this blurb.
Hopefully by tomorrow night.

--- Edit ---
Hah! I can't believe I actually thought I was going to have that written then!

But here it is, after many weeks of deliberation...

--- The Duel ---


The marine held the blade to Hacik's throat loosely. The Spanish marines kept their daggers in excellent condition and the slightest touch would be more than enough to end the boy's life. The marine held no personal animosity towards the boy, but neither did his conscience bother him at the thought of killing an unarmed boy.

Nearby a cluster of villagers were surrounded by the bayonets of thirty Spanish marines. Bodies were scattered in the street, victims of the bombardment and of the invisible Spanish arrows that punched holes through flesh and armour alike. Perhaps three or four marines had been killed by Anklodian arrows. Perhaps a dozen more by the musketfire of the new Anklodian regiment as the Spanish advanced on the town. The villagers cheered mightily. But the Spanish rifles outranged muskets threefold. The return fire was devastating. The Anklodian line blocking the path to the city broke. As the Anklodian defenders fell in heaps before the Spanish gunfire, Radagast pulled off a clever retreat firing from the cover of the nearby woods, forcing the marines to charge into woods as well. Radagas had then led the remaining swordsmen in a valiant charge in an attempt to overwhelm the marines before they could reload. He hadn't counted on the enormous time difference between the Anklodian muzzle-loading muskets and the Spanish breech-loading rifles. The few swordsmen that reached the Spanish line met a solid wall of bayonets. Sanchez himself killed twelve in that clash, including Radagas. Now, he stood in the town square directly across from the smoldering ruins of Radagas butcher shop.

Argraves stood apart, his weary body sagging even as he tried to maintain his dignity. A large gash ran down the side of his face where the marines had clubbed him in a brief struggle. Stripped of his clothes, he stood before the richly garbed Admiral Sanchez.

"Again, I ask you, where will the reinforcements be coming from? The North road or the South one? Shall another die needlessly?"

The translator was no native to the language, but he managed to convey Sanchez's meaning to the Anklodians. Body language took care of the rest. Argraves knew Sanchez was deadly serious. He had already killed two other villagers in an attempt to extract information from Argraves but Argraves had held firm. He knew what kind of destructive power this Sanchez wielded and he would not see it used against the rest of his countrymen. He could not betray the route that the reinforcements were taking.

But against the life of a child? Of Hacik? Who he knew since he was born? Whose parents he had introduced at a festival thirteen years ago? He wondered at how the boy could remain so calm, knowing that his life was soon to be taken from him.

But Hacik had no concern for himself. He could feel the cold blade resting lightly on his skin and the tight grip of the marine on his arm. In front of him, Argraves was standing naked in the town square amongst a pile of dead bodies and burnt buildings. The marines were rounding up any villagers they found hiding and herding them into the town square. The Spanish leader, Sanchez, paced back and forth in front of the villagers awaiting a response from Argraves. His eyes took all of this in, but he did not see it. All he could see was his friend Udam running towards him and then his neck exploding in a mist of red. The cheerful face that had told him many a campfire story was gone. He remembered his friend's body continuing towards him for a second even as his head sharply snapped sideways. His stout legs failed him for the first time Hacik could ever remember and Hacik ashamedly remembered thinking that he could no longer rely on his large friend to help him carry the wellwater. Udam's body collapsed in the dusty road and Hacik was whisked away by Argraves towards the centre of the town where a last ditch defense was being put up. No, this was not the way it was supposed to be. The two boys had spent their entire lives dreaming of having something out of the ordinary happen to their quiet little village, and they were even a little excited when they volunteered to run messages between the garrison commander and the commander of the new musketeer regiment. Hacik had even dreamed of a being presented with a shiny gold medal of valour from General Naldo himself. But now, his life would end here and that would be fine by him. It wouldn't be fair to Udam if he lived to get a medal.

In fact, Hacik could see his friend waving happily to him from the afterlife, where the Angels had adorned him with a dozen medals for his sacrifice for his village...

"Admiral, I must protest. He is only a boy."

All eyes turned to look at the speaker. The villagers couldn't understand the words, but they noticed the effect on the Spanish soldiers and their leader. Sanchez stopped dead in his tracks.

"Incredible. Simply incredible. A Commander wishes to tell an Admiral what to do." Sanchez did not bother to look at Reynaldo. "Go back to your ship and I will overlook your insolence this time."

"Admir-"

Sanchez cut him off. "Don't bother Commander. I'll see you court-martialed for obstruction. Make a note of that, Colonel." The Colonel hesitated. It would be hard to make such a frivolous charge stick against Reynaldo with so many witnesses around.

"Do it!" Sanchez barked at his Colonel.

"Very well then, if I'll be on trial in any case, then I shall speak my mind." Reynaldo chose his words carefully. "I now make a formal complaint against the Admiral's conduct in this campaign on the grounds of bringing dishonour to the Crown."

Sanchez whirled. "You accuse me of bringing dishonour to the Crown?!!"

Sanchez was aghast. No one without superior rank or political connections had ever dared rebuke him, much less level that charge against him. "You? You who are a mongrel amongst his betters? Yes! I know your secret, Reynaldo! I had overlooked it because you served with distinction, but you have sealed your own fate! You'll never be accepted in the Spain again. I'll see you exiled for this!"

Sanchez turned his back to Reynaldo. He asked Argraves once more. An uneasy silence followed, and before anyone else could act, Hacik's life drained out of his tiny body and fell to the dusty ground where it gathered in a dark red pool by the marine's boots.

Reynaldo hardened his gaze and spoke with measured tones.
"Admiral Sanchez! Against my better judgement, you ordered a full bombardment of this town, needlessly killing dozens of villagers, and destroying the very harbour we needed to make a landing. Instead, you forced us to very nearly beach our ship so you could land the marines without drowning them. Then, after the defending soldiers had already surrendered, you lined them up and executed them. You even cut down the villagers though they were unarmed. You set fire to the mill where only women and children were hiding and shot anyone who dared escape the flames. You have needlessly ordered the deaths of hundreds. You have killed two others in cold blood and now, you have taken the life of child. Your barbarism knows no bounds. It ends now. I declare you unfit for command!" Reynaldo spat out the last sentence with vehemence.

"So! We finally see where the famous Commander Reynaldo stands. He favours these dogs over his own people, his own country, his own Crown!"

Sanchez's turned to face Reynaldo, a smile of satisfaction on his lips. "No, no, Reynaldo. Do not attempt to explain your warped ideas of human worth. I understand now. I have had my suspicions for some time and now I need no more proof. You seek to undermine my authority and have acted against the best interests of this expedition and our glorious nation."

"Add sedition to the charges, Colonel. I'll see you hanged for this Reynaldo." Sanchez signaled his men. "Arrest him."

Two marines stepped towards him and Reynaldo's blade flashed out of its scabbard. They took a quick step back and raised their bayonets. The rest of the marines pointed their barrels at Reynaldo and the few crew members who had accompanied him.

"Let them go. They have nothing to do with this." Reynaldo held Sanchez' gaze.

"We won't leave without you, Captain." The Chaplain had spoken but all six crew members nodded in agreement. Loyal beyond measure, these sea dogs were past their prime but years of experience had them at the ready. Their pistols were already leveled with the marines, their swords poised, and legs crouched for a mad dash to cover. They were not soldiers like the marines, they were seriously outnumbered, and they were surrounded on all sides but something in their eyes warned the marines about treating them too lightly. Even a sailor knows how to fight, and these men had served under the very formidable Reynaldo for decades. These marines were young and brash, trained in the deadliest fighting techniques, but in their brief time aboard the ship, they had seen these sailors hold their own.

Sanchez signalled his men. The marines cocked their rifles, and Reynaldo's men silently prayed. Six, plus their commander, against thirty odd marines. They would not get out of this alive.

Reynaldo made one more effort.

"This is between you and me. Let my crew go."

"Why should I? You are all traitors to the crown and deserve to be hanged."

"We'll fight! and you'll lose some of your marines for sure! On top of that, my ship has orders to call a general retreat. It is the flagship if you recall. We can cause a lot of trouble, especially as we can sink all the supply and transport ships before they even know they're under attack. Unless my men and I return safely to our ship, your expedition will suffer greatly."

"Your pathetic threats won't save you. I've already countered that threat. The SS Madrid under Commander Guavarez has been
assigned to keep watch over your ship."

"Then I suppose it's too bad the Madrid is grounded on a sandbar, isn't it? Or did you forget that little detail when you ordered the Madrid to get closer to shore for heavier bombardment?" Reynaldo enjoyed reminding the Admiral of his blunder.

Sanchez paused.
"Well, well. You're quite the troublemaker. But I'll not let you hinder this expedition any longer!"

"Then let us strike a deal!"

"I do not make deals with traitors."

"You will be the traitor when news gets back to Spain that you foolishly allowed a mutiny in the ranks when you had a chance to avoid it!"

"Silence! Kill these traitors!"

Reynaldo made one last attempt.
"Coward! You send your lackeys to battle while you stay safe from my blade!"

That was it.

"Very well, dog! You think you can match my swordsmanship?" Sanchez gripped the hilt of his jewel encrusted sword. The marines backed off. Reynaldo waved his crew back. This was just between the two of them.

"A one-legged baboon could defeat you." he said with a smile.

"You shall meet your maker!" Sanchez snarled. With a lightning quick motion he covered the ten paces to Reynaldo. His sword whistled as it flew out of its scabbard towards Reynaldo's heart.

Reynaldo's own blade countered easily. He punched it upwards and slashed downwards to the left across Sanchez's chest. The Admiral had barely lept back in time. A small string of fabric fell gently to the ground.

Sanchez stepped back carefully to put six paces between himself and Reynaldo. He had underestimated Reynaldo but he could not back out now and hope to save face. Besides, now that he knew his opponent's ability, he considered his first attack clumsy and ill-advised. He would not make the same mistake again.

He studied Reynaldo carefully. Reynaldo's stance was steady, with the weight slightly on the left leg. He held his blade low and with two hands, swinging it slightly from side to side. The blade was slightly shorter than his own, and with fewer ornaments, but a very high quality steel. He had no doubts about it's sharpness either.

It was more rigid than his own, and the whip-like tactics that Sanchez preferred might be useful against it. His own, more flexible blade, might just reach around Reynaldo's defense. He doubted he could get a killing blow in like that, but tagging the sailor's arms a few times would slow him down.

He was still considering his best approach for an attack when Reynaldo struck. He had crossed the six paces in an instant and lay upon the Admiral with a quick set of three short downward slashes and a muted thrust to the head. Sanchez had parried the attacks while retreating. He had been caught by surprise and the retreat had been instinctual. He could feel his cheeks burning at the humiliation of being driven back by this mongrel. Unfortunately for him, Reynaldo did not let up. Two slashes to the midsection, a low attack followed by a rushing thrust forced the Admiral to retreat hastily and put some distance between the two.

Reynaldo grinned. He had the upper hand, having studied the Admiral practicing on board. He felt a bit slower than usual, probably due to lack of recent practice, and the Admiral was still unharmed, but he had humiliated the man in front of his own men.

Reynaldo stepped into another attack sequence but this time the Admiral was ready. Sanchez stepped into Reynaldo's attack, not only deflecting the attack but punching the sword away with the base of his own. Sanchez knew that Reynaldo's stiff blade could be unbalanced this way, unlike his own supple sword that would bend to absorb the shock. Thrown off balance, Sanchez' next attack nearly ended it for Reynaldo. Sanchez had calculated the thrust carefully to strike home even if Reynaldo lept backwards. But he didn't. Instead, he had dropped to the right, falling with his sword and taking the blade through the shoulder. It entered easily and and slid out with even less resistance. If it had been a stiffer blade, it would have torn out a section of Reynaldo's shoulder as his body dropped to the ground. Instead, it flexed and whipped back out. At the same time, Reynaldo's sword was turning back towards Sanchez. A clumsy but effective slash across the Admiral's left leg prevented him from making a killing thrust while Reynaldo rolled defenselessly away.

But the Admiral knew he had the advantage and pressed his attack. Reynaldo's slash had not taken any tendons, and the Admiral was still mobile. Blood streamed from the wound as the Admiral raced towards Reynaldo's rising form. A diagonal slash downwards was deflected but the next one could not be completely avoided. He had scored a second hit, on Reynaldo's left arm. The third attack pinked his wrist and the fourth nearly took his ear. Somehow Reynaldo managed to avoid the next three attacks and clamber to his feet to counter. Sanchez had over extended himself and now Reynaldo was using a very risky rolling attack. By forcing a certain type of block, Reynaldo used his own sword to direct Sanchez's blade down towards the ground. He swung his body around to deliver a devastating elbow to the head. Sanchez reeled backwards and slashed blindly to keep Reynaldo away. The whiplike blade was very good for this tactic, and luck must have been on his side too - for Reynaldo could not close in no matter his approach. Recovering his balance, Sanchez was still stunned by the attack. Punches and kicks were highly unconvential. It seems these sailors have their own little tricks. Very well, he had his own as well.

--- to be continued ---

[ike0481]

Bravo! Bravo!

I have been absent from the forums for the last few days but today I thought I would come and check on our creation and I must say I am very pleased. I'm sorry that I didn't contribute very much. Thanks to all that did contribute making this a very interesting story. You guys are great! I was smiling through the whole read.

[Sovy Kurosei]

Oi... I am sick ( AGAIN ) Plus the Apolyton forums were down. Oh well, when I get better, I can post longer stories again

[Captain]

My bad!
I feel like I've killed this thread by overposting and trying to reserve a section for a post that has gotten really bogged down.
I'm still writing the duel, but please, I hope this isn't stopping anyone else from writing a story continuation on the other dozen storylines going on.

Apologies all around. I will try to finish up my story section too. Then I will take a 4 week break before coming back.

[Matthew Hayden]

MORE STORYLINES

Halo everybody, Im thinking of posting here but I,ll need to get my bearings on how fast things go on this thread

***
Captain; You are not posting too much! If it's good, let it out!
***
This story has evolved fairly well, if quickly.
The problem is that it has barely covered a hundred years since the founding of Rome.
***
Pretty please don't rush into the World Wars yet!
***
I want to introduce SEVERAL new civs, trust me, they're not in anyone else's plans (This may be wishful thinking, though I think I know who the 'other' civ on the Zulu-Anklodian continent will be).

Please tell me now how many is desirable.
***
PS; When deciding on units and governments, should we stick to those in Civ3, or can we perhaps take some from elsewhere?

I won't start my story until the Elwyn story, and those of Sanchez and Reynaldo, have reached their conclusions.

[Matthew Hayden]

OK, I lied, I'm sorry, the thread does seem to be going a little slow, and I actually wrote that post before I even started my story!




OF THE END AND THE BEGINNING

So it came to pass that Diocletian, son of Julius Caeser and elder brother to the famed swordsman Augustus, led more than one-thousand of his people from the Roman capital only days before it fell, escaping through a series of secret tunnels dug especially for this purpose.
As they fled south, over thirty-thousand citezens joined the exodus.
All went as Diocletian had hoped, until Augustus heard of the massive fleet of galleys waiting along a four mile stretch of coast to take the exiles to Lydia, a newly dicovered land of many cultures including the friendly Greeks.
When news of the exodus reached him, Augustus flew into a rage.
"The treachery! To leave Rome to an undecided fate and flee like cowards! I renounce my 'brother'. Diocletian must be extinguished!"

The hidden Roman army in the countryside surrounding several small trading towns would not go into battle against the Zulus after all, now they would be sent to destroy these fools who had dared to disobey the Imperial Creed, stating that all Romans must fight to the last breath to save their homeland.

In order to ensure that the army would obey his orders, Augustus set rumours amongst them that those cowards who chose to run away were monotheists, those who had been oppressed for the last fifty years,
and these corrupt designs were indeed full wrought in just a week, at which time Augustus recieved word that his father had died in a duel with Naldo, the former head of the Imperial Guard.
Upon hearing this news, Augustus swore on all the gods to kill Naldo after the runaways were destroyed.
He immediately took his best legion across country to seek and destroy the heretics.

But Diocletian was aware of all that his pursuers intended, and made a plan to destroy them before they destroyed his people.

Diocletian and four-thousand of his men set to work to take full advantage of the forest in which they were now encamped.
They dug pits and set sharpened stakes within. Then they disguised them to hide them from the Augustan infantry. There were traps like this every few metres across a quarter-mile front, arranged in two lines set fifty metres apart, facing north.
Diocletian's army was organized into forty groups of about ten men each. Every group had its own standing orders.
Now all that was required was to await Augustus and his army.
The day after all had been made ready, the standards of Augustus' army were sighted and every man assumed his position.

Augustus could see the enemy, a petty band of ruffians undeserving of the tile of Roman Citizens.
The two leading cohorts (one-thousand two-hundred men) advanced to attack the small band of swordsmen opposite them, and fell headlong into the traps. Instantly, two-hundred died and upwards of eight- hundred were wounded, and the survivors pulled back, leaving the badly wounded since Diocletians men in this area began to rain arrows upon the escapees, until only thirty managed to get out of range of the arrows. Thus, Augustus, with one century of heavy swordsmen, attacked through a thin, thirty-foot deep gulley whose floor was too hard to set any traps. They immediately came under a hail of arrows. Finally, as the remaining twenty of them reached the summits on either side they quickly wiped out the fourty or so archers, who were poorly trained in the use of swords. When the fight was over, only Augustus and two others remained, one of these men Augustus sent back to tell of the successful attack and to bring reinforcements.
While augustus and the soldier waited, an arrow cascaded from the woods nearby and killed the soldier instantly. Augustus ducked instinctively and squinted in the direction the arrow had come. He saw his brother,
Diocletian, with holstered sword and bow raised, ready to fire another shot and kill Augustus. But he didn't. Instead, Diocletian approached him, lowering his bow.
"Brother! I see you are well, yet you would kill your own flesh and blood over a decision just and fair. I merely wished to give the people a chance to live and become great once again."
"Lies! All lies! You're a coward, and you have sentenced the Roman Empire to death!"
At this the two brothers fought for more than an hour, continually parrying and dodging one anothers strikes, but Augustus was the greater warrior, and with a final desperate blow he struck Diocletian in the upper shoulder with his sword.
Diocletian doubled up and fell, but before Augustus got the satisfaction of killing his own kin, he was struck by an arrow and killed instantly.
At the sight of his dead brother, Diocletian summoned the strength to stand, march straight up to the archer, and beheaded him swiftly with his sword. But with his final purpose past, and his people now safe to reach the boats at their own pace, Diocletian could no longer keep himself going, and he died, alone in the wilderness, and the men whom Augustus had expected as reinforcements merely left and gave up to the Anklodians.

Here ends the first chapter in the Praetar Constantina Lidius -

The Epic Of Byzantine Lydia.



MORE COMING!!

[Matthew Hayden]

OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE EMPIRE-IN-EXILE

And so the Romans-in-exile passed the land of the Russians, and went further still north, to the super-continent of Lydia.
And they passed the realms of the Greek Satraps, and the farms of the Magyars, and the fort towns of the Slavs, who were alike to the Russians, and they passed round the western fringes of Lydia and set up a great settlement. With the passing of Diocletian the people would now be ruled by the House of Constantine, known until then as the House of Tantalus, a family of Immortals related to Julius Caeser.

Now when Constantine first set foot on the land he had chosen for his new city, he declared to all present;

"Romans, brothers, long did we toil against wind and storm to bring our future here, and here shall we build a city the likes of which no one has ever seen. We shall create an image of what Rome should have been."
The cries and applauding of the crowd drowned out even the tremendous winds that moved the mountains and changed the world.
Temporary settlements were built, a watch was set, small forts, placed half a mile apart and more than two-hundred feet high guarded the construction work, and envoys were sent amongst the peoples of the lands surrounding the city site.
A great palace was built over a period of twenty years, by which time a strongly guarded city of stone was Constantine's reward for his settlement decision.
After the completion of the palace, Constantine married Taesora, an Immortal from the woods of Rome.
But dark days lay ahead, for no fledgling nation had ever yet withstood the tide of the Babylonian Empire, and their ruler,
Hamurabi the Immortal, who called himself, shah-ie-shah, king of kings.

At the end of these twenty years, Hamurabi sent twenty-thousand cataphracts to ensure his dominance in Lydia.
But their position was betrayed by the immensely tall watchtowers of the Sun and Moon, from which a particularly sharp-sighted guardsman could quite easily see one-hundred miles or more.
As they marched through the desert, they were amazed at the sight of these two towers on the horizon, which never seemed closer, even after several days of hard riding.

As they came within sight of the wall surrounding a far shorter watchtower (in fact one of the old towers from when the Romans-in-exile had landed) they were beset by great cascades of arrows coming from the tower and almost any other crevasse in which a man could hide with bow and sword. In just one hour they were almost destroyed, less than one-thousand of them escaping, and most of these unarmed. Where they should go now, they did not know, the city of Ankara from which they had come would soon revolt when news of the defeat reached them.


THIS IS PRETTY QUICK I KNOW, BUT I'VE GOT MORE COMING SOON!

[ElDiablo]

Hey Matthew,

Thanks for posting. You've made a great addition to the story.

As for:

This story has evolved fairly well, if quickly.
The problem is that it has barely covered a hundred years since the founding of Rome.

we've already gone far past 100 years, unless the civs can build up their civs, go through countless revolutions, go from iron to gunpowder in that short period of time...

How many civs were you planning on adding? Make sure that they're not already there.

For the Russians you put in, are those the Russians in the western continent (the one with the Indians?)

Sticking to the Civ3 civs would be quite beneficial. As it is, we've only used about 10 of them up so far.

Sorry for the rant, but these were the things that I felt needed some clarification.

Also, for EVERYONE ELSE, I'm sorry about not posting the Russian/Indian continuation, but I have been quite busy... *Stupid work...* All work and no play makes ElDiablo something something...

[Matthew Hayden]

They were the same Russians indeed.
Although about the civilization thing, I hve chosen to use, on the northern continent, The Byzantines, Babylonians, Assyrians, Turks, Greeks, and Maybe the Arabians, with the Mexicans coming into the story later on (Spanish settlement).

The number of Revolutions and events that have so quickly passed by are exactly the problem, the Russian invasion was fifty years after the fall of Rome at the most.

But hey, it's only a story, and wer'e obviously not supposed to take iot seriously, which is why I decided to ask if we could maybe agree on some spaces between past events. We needn,t edit past posts, that probably is excessive, only I have a plan for the Byzantines which requires them to last many centuries and yet die out at about the time the story has now reached.

*Stupid work...* All work and no play makes ElDiablo something something...

Go crazy? A dull boy/girl- can't be sexist. El - Masculine - sorry, my Spanish is shaky.

[ElDiablo]

Hey Matthew,

If u look @ the middle of page 1, Captain's put in a map of the world so far...so, ur gonna have to ADD in a northern continent to use.
Also, you're gonna have to write about the Russians colonizing this northern continent...
Wow, this really is a battle-happy world!
I'm sure we can agree on the times between posts...I've been meanin to go through everything and write a small history of the world until "present times" so everyone knows what's goin on, but I haven't had the time to yet.
As far as I know, El is Masculine for "the" and Diablo is the masculine version of "Devil". Somebody want to correct me if I'm wrong??

[Sovy Kurosei]

Yup, I like how the story went on their Mathew

Sorry, been busy for the last little while, nearly every weekend I was either resting, working on my website, been sick, or been to camp...

*Sighs*

Busy, busy me...