Taking the City

Convienently skipping over the first part of the war - let's call it an attempt to protect any small, innocent children from our detailed visual descriptions of some serious amount of violent death - this ends us up where we are now. A quick review might be in order though....

The rebels and anyone willing to join had made a storm for the walls of Daeron, the capital city Afallon. Fortunatly accompanied by Sa'Ida's troups, as well as her strategic knowledge, along with the element of surprise, they had a great advantage on their sides. Though good men (and women) were lost on both sides, it proved fairly easy to surpass the city walls.
Once inside, for a moment it seemed the rebels' luck had turned, as the place was crawling with soldiers! This wasn't a reflection of any kind of preperation, the place was just always packed with soldiers, that was how it'd always been. Naturally the rebels had anticipated this, but as you may understand there was only so much you can do (similar to how you can anticipate jumping in a freezing cold pool will be unpleasent, but anticipating it hardly makes it any less of a shit experience).

Finally the outer rings of the city had been taken, thus only leaving the inner circle. This was were the kingdom's elite, and of course the royal castle, were to be found. It being the 'highest rank' of the city, sort of speak, it was also placed higher (geographically), about a meter or so. The castle itself was placed even higher than that, tall stairways leading up to it as it stood towering over the rest of the city. One might argue that this made it an easy target - very much in plane sight and whatnot.

Unfortunatly for the rebels though, an unpenetrable forcefield had been cast over the inner ring of the city, shielding it from further attack.
The forcefield appeared transparent, only casting a dark blue shade over whatever was on the other side, but it soon proved to work otherwise. First off, as explained before, it was impenetrable, with nothing from physical violence to clever magic breaking through. At some times, unknown to all outside and most inside of the forcefield, gateways would open to allow people or supplies to travel in or out. These gates weren't visable as actual openings, they were just places in the forcefield that could temporarily be passed through. The locations of these gates changed quickly, with pleanty being opened at one point and none at another. This left the war in a bit of a rut, an interesting contrast with the rapid progression they'd made earlier.

Now we've caught up with the present. The rebels had settled in but also around the city - there being too many men and to little left-over housing, what with half of the city being blown to pieces. This was a time for burrying the dead, tending to the wounded and fixing the colleteral damange caused by the fighting. It was a good thing that the larger part of the people living in the city actually welcomed the revoluation with open arms. Several had even fought along side with the rebels, and even some soldiers had changed sides. Now the people of Daeron were happy to help out those who had fought in the revolution, whether it was by providing food, or care, or shelter - or guarding the city jail of course, which for once was filled with people they actually thought deserved to be behind bars.

Now came the time for a new plan. The original was to only have the leaders of every joined battalion present for this, like Sa'Ida, Maudre, the whole deal... but considering circumstances, they'd bent the rules a little by allowing just about anyone who had relevant information to share. Maudre was meanwhile trying to figure out the forcefield with her magic, while Sir Axel was interogating the prisoners they'd taken. Valdez, who was just now coming in handy due to his knowledge of the city's elite ring (instead of his murderous tendencies) was missing ever since the big battle, with no one having a real clue where he was - but then again, no one really remorsed about this. So now there were (namen) assembled together in a local inn called "the traveling vendor". It was a place usual known for it's low-life company, but at the moment one of the few places around that was still standing up straight.

The charries that want to be involved from my side
Sa'Ida, Amy (first dimension), Elena, Robyn and Mercedes
and if I come up with another name we can just say that they where delayed or something XD

From my side: Sir Axel + Jack + Adrianna (Sameea's company accepted) + lady V + rebel leader + everyone else I have forgotten right now... XD

A map of the city was spread out on a big round table in the middle of the group present. In the middle of the map lay the castle. Instead of it providing some actual information about the castle - or at least any other entrance than the main stairs - it was just a shape that resembled the outlines of the castle, filled in with a giant, overly detailed, fancy-looking crown, and surrounded by some pompous-looking decorations that made the castle look a little like a sun, aka the centre of the universe. Also, there was a line around the inner circle of the city - though this was drawn on later, to mark where the forcefield was.

Jack was staring at the map with an almost child-like interest. He'd seen a map of the city earlier, of course, to know where to go during their attack but at these times he'd been more preoccupied with remembering his route. Now that he finally had a moment to admire the city in peace, he suddenly felt quite some admiration for it - pitty they'd blown half of it pieces, but very well nonetheless.

Sir Axel was standing by the table, on the north side of the map, looking it over for a moment. "Alright," he said, "I believe we all know why we're here. We aren't really complete yet, but I don't see why we shouldn't start brainstorming already. So..." He paused, looking over the others with a serious expression, "does anyone have a contribution?"

Sa'Ida was looking at the map from the south side. She had been wrecking her mind ever since they had stumbled upon the forcefield. She had never come across anything like it and it made her wish she had tried harder to convince at least one Plainwalker to come along with her and the troops.
She had spread several of her soldiers around the forcefield in civilian clothes hoping that they could provide some information. All they had found out so far though was that supplies was brought in at random times at random spots in the forcefield. No pattern found yet and no clues of where the next gateway could appear or how to recognise a gateway.
"So far the best suggestion I can think of is sneaking someone in with the help of the supplies that are being delivered," she said in her business like voice.

Mercedes in the meantime wasn't looking at the map she was busy sketching on several pieces of paper. Her sketches all had the same outlines as the castle on the map only she was filling in the details in it.

Elena was staring at the map without really seeing it. She was there as a representive of the pirates from Bloodlust Bay that had joined in on the revolution. Which basically meaned that she would just have to pass on the new plans ones they were made.

Robyn was sitting besides her father, incapable of seeing the map or the forcefield which annoyed her beyond believe. So she didn't have a clue of what to do, but she hoped that she could help brainstorming nonetheless.

Amy was sitting besides Jack, staring at the map as well. Her mind was on the forcefield though. Mainly on how it was made and what it was. Was magic involved or technique? Magic was the most likely answer in this world, but what kind of magic...? That was the question she was pondering about.

Sir Axel nodded agreeingly at Sa'Ida's idea. "That sounds like a good plan. But also dangerous, so we should plan that well." He frowned for a moment, mulling it over for a moment.

Joining into the out-loud thinking, Jack mused: "someone with supernatural abilities might have a greater advantage when it comes to moving around, and defending themselves," he said, "but they would be at a greater risk of being found out."

"It should be someone who can either go around completely unseen, or be very adapt at looking like they belong there," lady Victoria added to that without looking up. Then she did look up and added in a slightly grim voice: "I don't need my future-seeing to predict that any one person who falls out of place there is not facing any good fortune."

"Would it be better to go in with more than one person then?" Jack asked.

"That would make it harder to get in though," the rebel leader argued, "one extra person they might not notice, but with several extra men things will get more suspicious."

"Well yeah," Jack replied, "but considering there's a pretty big chance that whoever goes in there gets caught, it might be smarter to send in several people - so we ca cover more ground in one night. Cause, I'm thinking, if one of us gets caugth while inside, they'll quadruple the security after that, and our chances of getting in again would be zero. While, if we have a couple of people in there... if one person gets caught, we can still get information back from the others, and also... if one person gets caught, the others might still help him or her...?"

Sir Axel frowned at what Jack said, then the rebel leader, then mused to himself; "I suppose then, what the question is, is whether we prefer a smaller chance of succes at the risk of losing one man, to a greater chance of succes while risking the loss of several."

A silence fell over the table, all where in thought about the question at hand. Even Mercedes has stopped her sketching. She would have volunteerd to go inside, but she was a 'kill on sight'-target.

"I think we shouldn't send in more then two people," Sa'Ida said after some time, breaking the silence, "They make a small target, they can help each other and in unfortunated case that one does get caught the other can hopefully still make it out and report, grim as that may sound."
She didn't like putting it like that, but she didn't know any other way to put it. And well it was war, things where already grim.

"It doesn't matter how many people you send in if they don't know how to behave like the elite they'll get caught within an hour," Mercedes said without looking up from her sketches in a matter of fact kind of way.
"I'm sure anyone who has ever even just visited the elite part of one of the cities knows that they have their very own way of behaving and speaking."

"A highly annoying way of behaving and speaking," Robyn agreed having some childhood memories of it from when her birthfather was still alive, "but someone dressed as a guard or soldier of the city doesn't have to act like that. And they do have a lot of moving space..."

"The same goes for merchants," Elena agreed with a smile, "I know enough people from Bloodlust Bay that have done business within the elite part of the cities. Though the elite would of course never admit that."

"So merchants and guards/soldiers are the way to go." Amy concluded, "Either that or people who know to act like the elite and no more then two..."

"One or two of my soldiers could switch uniforms and go in," Sa'Ida suggested, "though it would probably be better for at least one of the people going in would already have some knowlegde of the heart of the city..."

"At least one person going inside as a soldier does seem like a good idea," Sir Axel mused, "they would probably be allowed into more areas than any regular citizen. And as Robyn said, they could probably cover a lot more ground without being suspicious."

"So, will we send in two soldiers in then?" Jack asked, not sure if that was Sir Axel's conclusion or not. "I mean, like you said... anyone pretending to be an elite has less moving freedom than a soldier, so... if we can even find someone who can act like an elite without being recognised... he or she'd better know where to go- know their way around."

Just after Jack had finished talking someone entered the tavern. It was Valdez, better late than ever - sortoff - who seemed quite cheerful and upbeat. Very uncharacteristically he didn't really announce himself, rather than just leaning against the wall next to the door, where he wrapped his arms over eachother and continued to follow the rest of the conversation quickly.

At the sound of the door of the tavern opening and closing Mercedes looked up, like some of the others at the table, to see who had come in. She was surprised to see that it was Valdez, let alone that it was a cheerfull Valdez who wasn't being theatrical, yet. Jack's word ran through her head.
If we can even find someone who can act like an elite without being recognised... he or she'd better know where to go- know their way around. He or she... He or she... That's it!
"We can send in Valdez," she said knowing without looking around the table that she was being stared a "Maudre gave him a disguise that made him unregconisable when we where still in the school. And he definately knows how to play the part of someone that belongs amongst the elite and he knows his way around."
Sa'Ida, Amy, Robyn and Elena all stared at Mercedes even after her explanation. But Elena was the only one who's expression betrayed that she saw potential in the plan.
"Good plan," Sa'Ida said after a moment of consideration, "but who is going to keep him in check?"

Valdez eyes widened when Mercedes started her plan, and his expression did not in any way improve when she explained further. By the time that the question '' came by, he'd just about had it and exclaimed in a raised voice; "first of all, can people stop talking about me like I'm not here?! Second, I-"

"Elena?" Sir Axel started, completely ignoring him, "considering your experience with squash-bucklers heavy-drinking pirates... you must have some experience with steering extremely impulsive people?"

"Not a problem," Elena answered calmly, "but will my type of merchant be allowed within the bubble?"

"If you don't want people to talk about you like you aren't here then try showing up on time in the future," Mercedes countered to Valdez before continuing with her sketches.

"Okay so have two canadites for infiltrating," Robyn concluded, "but how are we going to get into the bubble? I've overheard a few merchants that wanted to enter the bubble and they all needed some sort of form before they where allowed entrance..."

"Oh just leave that up to me and the rest of Bloodlust Bay," Elena said with an amused smile.

Sir Axel thought about Elena's question for a moment. Before he could reply though, Jack had turned to Elena and asked her; "what are you planning to do?" He could already guess, but didn't want to assume.

Then Sir Axel replied: "we might want associate us with with the merchants allowed inside the bubble a little closer-by," he said, "in order to find out what the norm is." There was something else he was thinking, but he didn't really want to say it. Fortunatly Valdez felt no such qualm.

"So we raid some merchants, steal their form - and whatever ekse we find useful - then..." he used a cough to unconvincingly cover a grin, "persuade them to share all valuable information they might have about the inside of the bubble... seems simple enough."

Sir Axel looked a little conflicted. It wasn't a bad idea, per se, it just naturally sounded like one because it was Valdez saying it...

Elena was about to answer Jack on how they handled this like this in Bloodlust Bay when Sir Axel already answered. She raised a brow, it wasn't a bad plan, but it was a slow plan. When Valdez came with pretty much how they do it in Bloodlust Bay.
"Well it's pretty much what I was planning as well," she said with a grin at Valdez, "but I don't think I or anyone else from Bloodlust Bay is safe inside. We can do our best to behave, but a leopard doesn't lose it's spots overnight..."
"One of my soldiers can go in dressed as one of the kings soldiers," Sa'Ida proposed, it had suprised her that Elena had even considered going in, "only Valdez will have to take care of himself. I won't let one of my soldiers risk his or her life because you had to be thearetical. Understood?"

After raising a small brow at Elena, Valdez turned his eyes towards Sa'Ida. He pulled an incredibely unpleasent smile at her, as he sarcastically replied; "of course, your highness. I'll be certain to return the same kindness to your soldiers."

Sir Axel sighed, feeling less than confident about the plan forming, then concluded; "alright, so Valdez and one of Sa'Ida's soldiers will go in, and we needn't expect one saving the other... Is everyone ok with that?"

"Just to clarify," Valdez said before anyone could reply, noticing Sir Axel's uncertainty and feeling annoyed, "I have nothing to gain from ruining this, and much to lose from messing it up so-"

"Shut up," he was interrupted by lady Victoria. She'd gotten up from her chair and walked over to him, completely ignoring the dark glare he was giving her. She took his hand, then closed her eyes, seeming to focus her attention carefully. She stood like that for a moment, holding a very confused and annoyed Valdez' hand, before opening her eyes again. Then she turned around, walked back to her chair and said in a confident voice; "I'm ok with this plan."

It was clear Robyn wasn't too enthousiastic about the plan that was being formed, but on the other hand she had no better suggestion. And admittedly the main reason she didn't like it was because it involved Valdez.

When it became clear that the plan that had been proposesd was going to happen Elena got up from her chair and strechted.
"In that case I'll get a group together to convince some merchants to let you and the princess soldier inside instead of them."
With that she walked out of the tavern and went to the Bloodlust Bay group of the rebellion to bring them up to speed. Shortly after Sa'Ida stood up as well.
"I'll go find a volunteer from amongst my soldiers," she said and with a nod of her head she walked out of the tavern.
Mercedes who had been sketching through most of the meeting finally put down her pencil and lay her sketches on top of the castle's silhouet on the map in front of her.
"These are maps of the inside of the castle," she explained, "they cover all visible hallways and a few of the hidden ones, as well as details about how to get acces to them, that I had been allowed to know about for the princess her safety. There are many more hidden hallways, passages and rooms, but I don't know where they are or how to get acces to them."

The remaining group looked over the new information on the castle and after that all went their seperate ways. Either to make some final preparations before the infiltration of the bubble or to train or to help those who had been injured during the previous battles.

Before the end of the second day Sa'Ida had found a volunteer amongst her soldiers and Elena had, along with some other pirates, hijacked a group of merchants. Now they had the information and supplies to get into the bubble and was the waiting for Valdez.

Fortunatly everything went as planned. Valdez and Sa'Ida's soldier got in without any trouble, then each went their seperate way. Though Valdez had no intention of waiting for the soldier to return before leaving himself - he considered not ruining the mission was pretty much all the good that could be asked of him - they met up eventually. Appearantly the soldier didn't even consider leaving before Valdez had.
So after a kind greeting from Valdez ("ugh, you're still alive?!") they were on their way back outside.

As Sa'Ida's soldier and Valdez waited in line to get clearance to leave the bubble two small cloaked figures got in line as well. Their hoods covered their faces in shadows, but their height and clothing suggested that they were children, a boy and a girl. The girl was playing with a small worn down ball in her hands while the boy simply stared at the ground waiting patiently for their turn.
Neither Sa'Ida's soldier nor Valdez had any trouble getting clearance and they could leave the bubble without any problem. The same couldn't be said for the boy and girl though. The soldiers guarding the portal didn't seem to trusting of the children and already had their hands on their weapons when the boy handed one of them a folded piece of paper.
The second the paper was fully unfolded the girl let her ball drop which exploded on inpact with the ground causing a smoke screen. The hastened footsteps of the children could be heard under the cries of the blinded soldiers. One of them did manage to grab onto the cloak of the girl but she quickly unfastend it and kept on running.
They both kept on running once they had passed through the portal, just in case the soldiers would come through after them. That was until they quite litarelly ran into a soldier and a noble woman, Sa'Ida's soldier and Valdez to be exact. Both children looked surprised and scared by this turn of events. As Valdez and Sa'Ida's soldier would turn to look at them they would see that the children didn't belong inside the elite circle of the city. The children had grim and flith covering their hollow faces and worn clothes. The young girl was wearing an outdated soldiers helmet that hid most of her eyes, except the determind look them. The boy had the same look in his eyes, making it clear that they weren't planning on going down without a fight, despite their clearly poor physical state.

Valdez turned around a little startled when (s)he felt someone bumping into him, half-expecting a last-minute turn for the worst. As such he turned around sharply, ready to fight if nessecairy - ironically the look in his eyes quite resembled that of the children.

There was a moment of confusion when he found the person who'd ran into him wasn't even at his own eye-height. Then, diverting his gaze downwards, his eyes finally met those of the children. He raised a brow at them, then looked up towards the portal - putting together that they'd just come from there, probably without the guards permission... so it wouldn't be unlikely for some guards to be showing up right about now...!

Indeed, two soldiers came through the portal, not a moment later*, still coughing and rubbing their eyes from the smoke. They didn't actually run after them though, but just stood phases away from the portal, looking at the children, Valdez and Sa'Ida's soldier.
Valdez frowned, wondering for a moment why there were only two of them, and why they weren't going after the children. He quickly realised, from the nervous looks on their faces, that the guards probably didn't want to step away too far from the portal so they could run back quickly if something went wrong. And the reason there was only two of them, was because they didn't want to risk more men being out there, in rebel territory, vulnerable for any attack.

"You!" one of the guards said to Sa'Ida's soldier, mistaking him for a real soldier obviously, "grab those children. They passed through illegally."

* I should point out that even the portals in the force field aren't see-through. It looks a bit more like this: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n41lSfmzBuQ/UOjRH0SIObI/AAAAAAAAgcs/OMIUTLvPF-g/s1600/portal.jpg.

Much like Valdez Sa'Ida's soldier thought that their cover had been blown after all and that they now needed to fight. When he saw that it where just two young children that very much looked like strays his expression softened. But just then the two soldiers came through the portal and his expression hardened again.
When Valdez and Sa'Ida's soldier looked up and behind them the two children also looked over their shoulders. Seeing two soldiers come out through the portal, but not coming after them the boy quickly concluded that they only had to take care of the guard in front of them to remain safe and free.
Probably much to the disappointment of the real soldiers Sa'Ida's soldier made no move take the children hostage.
The boy grab the girl's wrist and pulled her along while he tried to make a run for it again nonetheless. The girl on the other hand wasn't planning on just leaving. As she was being pulled away she reached for a small bow that she had hid underneath her clothes that looked a lot like a toy. She pulled herself free from the boy about a meter away from Valdez and Sa'Ida's soldier held the bow out as if she was going to fire. There was no string nor an arrow to be spotted though, so it wasn't very impressive, yet.
That when she placed her fingers so as if to pull back the bowstring and a silvery string and arrow appeared, radiating with light. She took aim and shortly after released the arrow which landed just before the feet of the real soldiers. On inpact the arrow exploded in a flash of light and dirt a small hole was now the only thing that gave any proof of there ever having been a form of attack. The arrow had dissapeared as had the bowstring. The girl stood there for a moment wondering what the soldier and the noble woman who they had run into where going to do, her bow still held out in front of her. While the boy still a few steps away from her keeping a close on the girl and Valdez and Sa'Ida's soldier uncertain about what was going to happen now.

The soldiers first let out sneering chuckles at the sight of the girl, taking out her seemingly harmless bow and aiming it at them. They were quickly silenced though, when the silvery string and arrow appeared, and they took a small leap backwards when the arrow was fired. They ended up staring at the hole in the ground where the arrow had just exploded, with considerable doubt on their face.

Valdez raised an impressed brow. What had seemed like a (to be honest) quite pathetic gesture had suddenly become fairly impressive. Even so, he found himself more aproving of the girl's attitude, rather than her abilities, with her not backing down or running away. A small smile came to his (or her) face as she looked at the girl, just before he returned his gaze back to the guards.

"Pardon me," he said to Sa'Ida's soldier without looking away, grinning darkly, "I've been holding this in all night."
With that (s)he sprinted towards the guards with all the strenght his legs (and the dress) allowed. The guards obviously weren't prepared for this kind of vampiric speed, and before they'd managed to blink twice Valdez had grabbed their heads. One brief, sharp gesture and an unpleasent cracking sound later, two guards fell lifeless to the ground.
Valdez stood in between them, looking quite content - like someone who'd finally been allowed to scratsch an ichy place. He then looked down and leaned over the soldiers. A moment later he straightened his backs, holding up two military identity seals; "that might come in useful."
Then, whilst walking back to Sa'Ida's soldier, he returned his attention to the children; "care to explain what's going on?"

Sa'Ida's soldier looked very interested at the bow in the girl hands. In a way it looked familiar, but he couldn't place it. It was a very impressive weapon. When Valdez 'excused' himself the soldier tried to grab him by the arm to stop him, but Valdez was already out of his reach. He let out a dissaproving sigh at the sight of him killing the guards that had come through the portal. Admittedly the soldier cards where something that could came very much in handy, but that didn't made it right.
In the mean time the boy had come to stand by the girl, uncertain of where this was going to go, but not about to let her go through it alone. When Valdez focused his attention on the two of them they moved a little close to each other, somewhat intimidated by how fast and easily she just killed the guards.
"No," the girl answered, she had meant it to sound strong and unafraid, but what came out was quite the opposite.
"We where just leaving," the boy added, pulling the girl along with him as he took a few, uncertain, steps backwards.
"Don't worry," Sa'Ida's soldier said in a reassuring voice taking of his helmet, "we aren't going to harm you." He gave Valdez a meaningfull look when he said that, "We are on the rebels side of the war. You can come with us, keep you safe and get you something to eat."
The girl looked up at the boy with big wondering eyes, it sounded like a good plan. And they could Always sneak away if it turned out to be not as good of a plan as it now sounded like. The boy clearly wasn't as trusting, a suspicious look on his face, but when he saw the shallow face of the girl his face softened to an expression of defeat. He let out a deep sigh and then nodded.
"Okay," he answered though his body language betrayed that he was far from trusting towards Valdez and Sa'Ida's soldier.
Sa'Ida's soldier on the other hand just smiled and nodded and started to lead them the way to where the rebels where camping.

Valdez' expression shifted to dissatisfaction when the girl denied him the explanation he was hoping for. Fortunatly Sa'Ida's soldier joined in, inviting the children to come along. Valdez cast him a glare in respons to his meaningul look. In the end he just let out a small, disgruntled sigh and quietly came along.

Much like Valdez Sa'Ida's soldier was curious for an explination, but he didn't push the children into giving one. At the moment his main piority was getting them, himself and Valdez safely back to the encampment. They weren't as fast as they would have been without the children though. Despite how hard they had ran when they had come out of the portal they had a rather slow pace now.

When they finally reached the encampment Sa'Ida's soldier guided the children straight to the makeshift hospital they had to make sure they were taken care of before reporting to Sa'Ida.

In the makeshift hospital both the children got wrapped in a blanket and shortly after that something to eat. Which quickly disappeared into their stomachs. The girl fell asleep pretty fast after that while the boy 'stood guard' so to speak. Expecting people to start asking them questions pretty soon.

To be fair, the boy hadn't been completely wrong about people coming to ask questions...
About 10 minutes after the girl had fallen asleep someone did indeed show up; Jack to be precise. He peeked inside first, to see if he could come in - to find the girl was asleep already - and quietly entered.
"Hello," he said to the boy in a softened voice, smiling at him. "I'm sorry to disturb but I wanted to come see how you two were doing."

The boy was starting to slightly dooze off himself when Jack peeked inside. He opened his eyes completely and straightened his back, trying to look sharp and alert. Even though he was still rather sleepy himself, something he didn't even wanted to admit to himself. He also quickly touched the hat that he was wearing underneath the hood of his cloak.
"Hi," he answered in a soft voice as well, a quick glance at the girl who stirred but remained asleep, "We're okay, especially now that we have actually eaten something... Thanks..."

Jack smiled; "good to hear." He had then already reached the point where the inevitable question had to be asked. With a slight bit of hessitation, he then started: "I can imagine your tired, but I just have to ask... what were you two doing in the inner ring of the city?"