Title: "The Tower Falls"
Author: Lieutenant Benton
Stardate: 2460260
Earthdate: April 5, 2383
Location: Xenon III

"What sort of intelligence do we have on the Horde?" asked Johnny Chee.

Richard Wallace looked up from his charts and answered, "Lieutenant Benton led a team behind their lines, but we haven't heard from them since early this morning. If I could spare a man I'd send a runner.

"Do we have anyone who can coordinate things here?" Johnny asked.

"Certainly! Kylar here's pretty sharp," Wallace said, indicating the Borial officer.

"Great! Get someone in charge, and grab your gear. Let's go meet Benton and see what we can do to the Horde!" Johnny exclaimed.
__________________________________________________

Benton looked at Sitto and Francesca. The three of them were crouched in their little hideout behind the Horde lines. They had just decided to attack the enemy siege towers.

Benton quietly sprang out of the ditch and the others followed suit. Trying to maintain the element of surprise as long as they could, they sprinted for the nearest Horde tower. It was near the base of the cliffs at the southern end of the city near the main gates.

Benton could see it more clearly now. It was a massive wood and steel construction, towering an impossible 150 in the air. An intricate network of scaffolding led from its wheeled base to the small platform at the pinnacle. For a moment, Benton wondered how such a colossal structure could be wheeled about, then guessed it was probably done with the sweat of hundreds of Aody slaves.

At the top of the war machine was a large trebuchet-like contraption, and Benton could see plumes of smoke wafting upward. He decided he definitely didn't like the look of that. Smoke meant fire, and fire meant the Horde had something unpleasant planned. Several Horde engineers could be seen working on and around the trebuchet, turning and aligning it so that it pointed into the city.

Dozens of Horde warriors milled at the base of the siege tower. Just then a loud snap and twang sound came from the top of the tower. Benton looked upward in time to see a black cylindrical object lofting through the sky to land somewhere behind the city walls. An orange fireball mushroomed upward, and a muffled explosion boomed in his ears.

"They've rediscovered gunpowder!" exclaimed Benton, horrified at the implications. *Noran doesn't stand a chance against an attack like that!*

That settled it. The towers must be destroyed! A plan was forming in his head.

Suddenly, a huge shadow loomed behind Benton. He spun, but it was only Thudd.

Benton waved Thudd forward toward the tower along with the rest of his team. He, Sitto and Francesca had been steadily advancing all this time. Thudd acknowledged the direction with a nod of his mighty head and an eager grin.

Finally, a few of the Horde warriors surrounding the base of the siege tower noticed their approach. They gave up a fearsome war-whoop that sounded not so much like intelligent beings but rather like a pack of ravenous hyenas. They clashed their weapons and charged their attackers. The battle was joined!

Thudd was the first to reach the Horde warriors. He whirled and swung his mighty idej with such speed and deadly accuracy that no Horde could approach him. He was soon completely surrounded and swamped by
Horde warriors and was lost to sight.

Benton and Sitto took up positions back to back and engaged the Horde in that fashion. They protected each other's blind side and dished out bladed death in a broad swath before them. Meanwhile Francesca, who had taken Benton's supply of crossbow bolts, darted around the periphery of the battle picking off Horde who were coming too close to breaking through the men's line of defense. The bodies were piling up quickly, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep their footing on the slippery, blood soaked ground.

In this way, the three Virgos fought their way toward the siege tower. At regular intervals, Benton could hear the snap and twang from above, and resulting explosion from the direction of the city. As they approached, Benton risked taking quick glances around. He was looking for something in particular, and there it was!

"Sitto! Cover me!"

Benton sprinted the rest of the short distance to the base of the tower. There were no Horde directly in front of him. Behind him, Sitto shifted his stance to protect Benton.

As Sitto and Francesca fought desperately to keep the Horde from Benton, Benton climbed up onto the lowest level of the tower, about four feet off the ground. It was the storage area for those black bombs. There were hundreds of them here! It he could set one off, it would blow up all the rest in a massive chain reaction that would take out the tower, and hopefully suggest a course of action to the beleaguered Borials and Virgos inside Noran.

Benton pried open the top of on other canisters and dumped the contents onto the wooden deck. Then he scooped up a double handful of the black powder and sprinkled a trail away from the pile he had spilled.

It was his intention to lead the trail as far as he could, then light it with the spark from a rock off the edge of his idej. But before he could hop off the storage deck, a huge shadow loomed up behind him. Benton turned, expecting to see Thudd again, but found himself instead face to face with an infuriated Horde warrior.

Too late, Sitto shouted, "Look out!"

Benton threw the remaining gunpowder into the Horde's face at the same time the Horde swung his idej. The blow went wide, striking instead the metal lid of the spilled powder keg. A spark flew off and landed on the powder trail, igniting it. This fuse was a lot shorter than Benton had intended.

Benton and the Horde looked at each other in wide-eyed shock, and then both dove off the deck, all thoughts of killing preempted by their sudden desire to get as far away as possible from the imminent explosion. They didn't get far.

When the Horde bombs exploded, the shockwave picked Benton off his feet and sent him cartwheeling ahead of it. The sound of the explosion slammed into his eardrums with such force that his head threatened to explode from the reverberation.

The last thing Benton remembered was the ground rushing up to meet him far too quickly.
 

Title: "Battle for the Gate"
Author: Lieutenant Garek Loran
Stardate: 2460260
Earthdate: April 5, 2383
Location: Xenon III

The Horde troops were approaching the trap that lay in wait for them, in the narrow valley passageways in the rock, that led to the gates of Noran. The four engineering teams lead by Garek Loran were situated high up in the rocks. They, along with other Borial archers and foot soldiers, were going to have their duck shoot. Nearly a thousand were approaching, seeing this route as probably one of the easiest ways to get into the city.

Garek was hunched behind a boulder, up on top of one of the sides of the canyon. He looked across the ways to see Jacob Celchu preparing an arrow for firing. The Beta Team leader was a quick study, and seamed
to learn and apply things easily. Jennifer Antilles, Alpha Team leader was set. She then began instructing more members of her team on where to position themselves, and how to shoot a bow. *She's a natural leader,* Garek thought. Marcus Jacobsen, leader of Delta Team was fiddling with his bow over to the right side of Garek.

"Just make sure to try and hit the bad guy. It shouldn't be so hard since there's going to be a lot of them coming through here." Garek grinned.

"Point noted, sir." Marcus said, acknowledging the senior officer with a smile. He then began to fix an arrow. Farther down the line was Eric Wiley, Gamma Team leader. Garek called him "Late Shift" do to the nocturnal nature of his shift. A strange birdlike call rang out, from behind where Garek was, on a higher point of the hill. It was a Borial female, the spotter for the group. Using hand signals, she would say what was coming. Garek turned, to get a better view of her.

She motioned quickly, giving the arm signals for calvary, two groups, numbering about 200 people. Then, she motioned for acid archers, numbering fifty. Finally, a signal for foot soldiers, ranging from 500 to 700. The acid archers were discovered on a foot patrol by some of Lieutenant Benton's men. The acid was taken from a type of plant which was indigenous to the area where the Horde had established their cities. The plant was boiled in water, where the acid was released into the water. Then, by some type of straining process, it was collected into small bowls. From there, the acid was added to a type of powder to make it into a gelatin type form. The gelatin was then affixed to the end of a small bolt that would be launched from a bow. The idea was that the gelatin would break up in flight, raining the acid mixture down on the people it was used against.

Garek, using hand signals, communicated to Jennifer across the way to aim for the archers. She acknowledged with salute, saying that she understood, and began to tell her archers to do the same. The Horde was approaching quickly, and soon enough, it would be crunch time.

Within a 20 minute span, then Horde had just entered the mouth of the "valley" that led to Noran's gates. As most of the group entered, a loud "FIRE" was heard, and then bolts rained down on the Horde from above. Arrows filled the air, hitting marks all across the small base of the valley. Glap'tas fell, dying. Horde were being struck in the torso, arms, legs, and if one person was good, bolts flew strait through the heads of the lethal enemies.

The acid archers, being near the rear end of the group, armed themselves, and fired. The gelatin mixture, just as advertised, began to break up, raining down small pellets of the lethal material down on the Virgos and Borials.

"COVER YOURSELVES!" Garek yelled out. Each person took out their bronze shield they were required to carry, and raised it above their heads. The pitter and patter against the shields could be heard. Once the sound was cleared away, they removed the shields from over their heads to see that there was barely any damage to the shields, however, people were yelling out in agony, after the strange concoction had hit any piece of flesh on their body.

Apparently, the gelatin appeared to work on only organic matter and not metals. Even small pieces of this material were causing pain to the unbeknownst victim. Skin was reported to "dissolve" and burn off, revealing the inner layer of skin and muscle.

However, now was not the time to think about this. The group opened fire again, raining down more destruction on the impending invaders. The Horde fell like heaps to the ground. Numerous enough to start blocking the entrances to the valley itself. Another cry was heard, "INCOMING!"

Everyone raised their shields. Garek started to raise his, when he was hit by a minute piece of the gelatin in his left eye. "ARGGGG!!!" he yelled out in pain, clutching his face in his hand. He could feel the tissue burning away in his eye socket. He ripped off a piece of cloth from a cloak he had with him and wrapped it like an eye patch over his eye, keeping his eye shut until he could seek out medical attention. Yelling out, "MEDIC!" he hoped that a medical officer, or a Borial physician would appear. However, his cry fell on deaf ears, and no one came. *You're just gonna have to bite the bullet and stick it out,* he thought. Doing the best he could to aim with one eye, he fired, striking a Horde archer in the eye. The arrow passed out the back of it's head, and the Horde fell to the ground. *An eye for an eye...*
 __________________________________________________

Eventually, evening came. The battle with the Horde was over. Noran was safe from attack through the valley. Garek wiped his face off, and began to look for any person with medical training. Lucky him, the first person that he was able to see was Dana.

"Doctor! I need you to look at something!" Garek yelled out, moving, as fast as he could towards her.

"Hello Garek I... By the Prophets what happened?!" She moved over towards him, and began to remove the cloth that covered his eye. She gave a type of disgusted look, then, "Well, do you want good news or bad news?"

"Right now, I don't really care."

"Well, the good news is that your wounds have sealed themselves mostly. However, the bad news is that it looks as though whatever happened..."

"The Horde acid gelatin hit me."

"Well, the Horde's acid gelatin appears to have, well, melted your eye. You're not going to be able to see from that eye again."

"Well, that's just great," Garek said, walking away from her. A wooden door led to a room in the building. Garek stood next to the door, and took a deep breath. He punched the door, driving his fist right through it. He then swore, and walked back over to Nori. "I apologize. I'm just a little upset right now."

"Well," Dana started, surprised to see a complete change in his mood and actions, "that's understandable. However, if we ever..." She stopped. "No. When we get back on the *Virgo* I should be able to provide you with a cordical implant."

Garek took another piece of cloth, and wrapped it over his eye. "I'd greatly appreciate that. Thank you." He gave a weak smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go evaluate what happened, and figured out how many people I've lost." He moved aside, and walked passed the Doctor.
 

Title: "The Day Is Upon Us"
Author: Captain Stephen Maruu
Stardate: 2460260-60301
Earthdate: April 5-20, 2383
Location: Xenon III

April 5, 2383

"One hundred forty-seven dead Borials and 28 dead Virgos," announced Jonathan slamming his fist against the marble table.

Neklus sighed. "And the battle inside the palace cost us only one head priest." He looked at Dana and sighed again. "How could I have been raised by a Lorean. I am so ashamed."

Johnathan Valdago tried to comfort him. "There was no way you could have known..." He knew what it felt to be in league with an evil person, or android as the case may be.

"Should we include Stephen and Dweezle among the casualty lists?" asked Benton. "After all, they are missing."

Jonathan answered, "No. They're alive. They were captured by the Horde."

Richard argued, "I saw our 'captain' leaving right next to a Horde as if they were longtime buddies! He wasn't captured. He betrayed us!"

Jonathan shook his head. "No. He must be planning something."

Dana nodded. "He couldn't have betrayed us! He wouldn't!"

Neklus agreed. "Kalmar never lies. He said I was to trust Stephen as his heart was pure."

Richard retorted, "Your god couldn't figure out your own damn priest! How could he presume to know anything about Stephen?!"

Neklus could only bow his head in shame.

Jonathan slammed his fist against the table again. "All right, listen! Last month Stephen pulled off some damn good trickery to save us from the Dominion Totalitarian Force. He has to be planning something similar now. He must be working on a way to get us out of this mess." He paused. "We cannot let this matter separate us. We have to come through. Is this understood?"

The senior officers all yelled, "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, Richard, you suggested hunting to the captain as a way to teach people to kill. We'll organize hunting parties. That will be one of our priorities."

Richard nodded in agreement.

"Neklus, we need all your forces to meet at Stonefist in two weeks time. We can't risk bringing them all here. We will close off the Horde little by little until we take Stonefist. We have to plan a full attack on the city. Before three weeks, I want that Horde capital in ruins! We'll organize training courses. Anyone who doesn't know how to use a weapon will learn. Is everything clear?"

"Yes, sir!" yelled the crew.

"All right then. I REALLY want to take a sonic shower so let's end this damn war!"

The crew dispersed to carry out their commands.
_________________________________________

April 8, 2383

"You have to know something, damn it!" Stephen backhanded his twin.

The good Stephen would not speak. His face was terribly bruised. His chest was bare, and his back was marked with lashings.

"You're making it really hard, you know?" Stephen kneeled next to his twin. "Just tell me. How many people are in Noran? Weaknesses in the wall surrounding the city. There must be something you can tell me."

Stephen looked at his evil twin fixedly for a few seconds. Then, he spit on him.

Stephen stood up quickly. "Not too smart, bro." He wiped off the spit and turned to a Horde guard. "Again. Ten blows."

The Horde headed behind the good Stephen and whipped him, hard. Stephen could only shout out in pain. After the lashings had been expedited, he looked at his twin. "Why are you doing this?"

The other Stephen kneeled next to his twin again. "Because it's fun, you know? It really is. It releases some type of secret fantasy of mine. I always wanted to be a bad boy. To hate those damn Cardassians for killing my parents. To hate the Kirusans for killing Lili. To hate ANYTHING! But you wouldn't let me. You and your 'pure mind'. What a crock." He kicked Stephen in the stomach and turned away.

The good Stephen gasped in pain. "You have some good in you." He gasped. "You can come back to the light."

"I don't want to, bro. And you know why?" He paused, expecting answer. "Because it's boring. I like having no conscience. I'm glad to be free from you." Stephen looked at the Horde. "Put him back in his hole. We'll try again tomorrow."

The Horde untied the barely conscious Stephen and carried him back to the dungeon.
_________________________________________

"Captain! Captain!" Dweezle was shaking Stephen, trying to wake him up.

He was slowly waking up. "Ow. What happened?"

"The guards and the other guy that looks a lot like you beat you again."

"That would explain the blood on my face." He winced after touching a bruise on his cheek.

"What are we going to do?"

"Wait. Jonathan is planning something. I can feel it. He's going to stop them and take Stonefist. Then, I'm going to pay back that twin of mine."
_________________________________________

April 20, 2383

After two weeks of training, they were ready. The Borials and Virgos were prepping for their full-scale attack on Stonefist.

A herald suddenly arrived at Noran's gates. Neklus quickly went to meet him. "Open the gate!" He took the message from the herald. Neklus quickly gave another and sent him on his way. "Close the gate!"

Jonathan and Dana ran to Neklus. "The armies are ready. We will meet at Noran in two days when the sun is at it's highest point."

Jonathan asked, "How big are your armies?"

"Each army has 1,000 men. There are twelve armies."

"We can't lose." Jonathan faced the palace and some grouped Virgos and Borials. "We leave when the second sun sets. Prepare yourselves. This time, we finish it."
 

Title: "The Blasted Land"
Author: Lieutenant Benton
Stardate: 2460307
EarthDate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

The cleanup after the Battle for Noran had been messy. The funeral pyres for the slain Horde were still smoldering, and would continue to do so for some time to come. The smoke and stench fouled the otherwise
pristine air somewhat, but a stiff breeze had been blowing most of the time, scattering the smell out to sea.

The wounded among the Virgos and Borials had been tended to, and the dead buried with honor. All in all, Virgo and Borial losses had been very light, while the Horde losses had been complete. After the Horde siege towers had been destroyed, their entire war plan had crumbled. Benton would never have believed such an outcome was possible if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. Perhaps the Borial gods were responsible somehow.

But the Virgos had suffered one very significant and demoralizing setback: Their captain, Stephen Maruu had been lost. Strangely, no body had been found. Jonathan Lataro had assumed command of the Virgos. Also missing was Dweezle. Maybe someone had mistaken him for a Horde, which he so closely resembled.

The war ships that had brought the Horde army to Noran had been captured easily, since the Horde had left only a token force behind to guard them. Their blood-red sails had been torn down and burned, then replaced with clean, white sails. Black pennants gave way to the colorful Borial standard.

Now, a fortnight and three days after that terrible battle, on a bright and sunny morning in mid-April, the refreshed Virgos and Borials set sail for the land of the their enemy. Even though the Horde had been defeated at Noran, they would come again eventually, and they still held dominion over the Aody. They must be defeated once and for all, and the source of their evil destroyed. With that goal in mind, the Virgos had brought along as many of the canister bombs as they could salvage. The bombs had nearly proved to be the end of
Noran. Likely, they would be as effective against the Horde.

The ships landed on the bleak shores of the Horde lands. The allies began their inland march toward the land of their sworn enemy. What sort of reception would they find?

As Benton topped the last ridge and got his first glimpse at the heart of Horde domination, he froze in his tracks at the sight and just stood rooted with his mouth hanging open. He was chilled to the bone. As the rest of the tired Virgos marched over the ridge one by one, they had the same reaction. They stood staring, horrified. Some had tears in their eyes, even the Marines; the sight before them was so drear and dispiriting.

The land was broken and ruined; all life had left it. When the Horde had come millennia ago and brought their corruption with them, the land must surely have resisted them, but in the end the land had lost. All had become ruin and death.

The only living thing left seemed to be the nauseating green muck that covered everything. It covered the ground, it coated the rocks, it pervaded the noisome rivulets that meandered this putrid place. Even the glowering clouds in the sky seemed dripping with the stuff, and perhaps they were. If the Virgos hadn't brought their own water, they would have been dead from thirst within a few days, or sooner from having drunk the water here.

Where life had given way in the land below, chaos now ruled unchallenged. The land seemed torn and shattered, as if a giant's hands had wadded it up into a ball and then tried unsuccessfully to flatten it out again. Ancient lava eruptions oozed between highlands; the smooth roundness of the hardened magma seemed almost biological in origin. In stark contrast, the severe edges of the crags and valleys of the highlands gave the appearance of having been carved and sliced by an enormous blade.

But underneath everything else, under all the slime and chaotic upheaval, the land looked like it had been burned. Burned until the very stones grew soft and turned to glass. At some point in the distant past, the land here must have suffered a holocaust of apocalyptic proportions.

Benton's eyes followed the widest of the old lava rivers. It flowed from near where he stood toward the base of one of the knife-carved plateaus. This plateau was a little different from the others however. Its top was relatively flat, and served as the foundation for the Horde capital city of Stonefist.

There it was at last! The end of their journey and their only hope of returning themselves to the *Virgo*, if they could but prevail in the battle that was to come.

Stonefist resembled the surrounding topography to the point that it wasn't immediately obvious that you were looking at an artifact instead of a natural formation. Its walls bulged and sloughed in an almost organic way in some parts, while in other sections they were perfectly straight. The towers and turrets of the fortress were slender and razor sharp, etched with the same chisel that had carved the surrounding cliffs. No gate was evident from this distance. There were no pennants flapping overhead, but flames flickered in the slits in the towers.

Benton could not have imagined a more evil-looking place. The effect of the place was entirely unnatural and twisted. There was nothing wholesome here; only evil remained. Evil *flourished* here! He shivered despite himself.

But then his errant gaze looked past the stygian city and came to rest on what lay beyond in the mist-shrouded distance. His senses recoiled in terror. Every revulsion he had just felt about Stonefist and the
land of the Horde was focused and seemed to emanate from this one object.

He could barely stand to look at it, but in the haze beyond Stonefist there stood a mountain. Tall and narrow it loomed; a megalithic overlord frowning down in hatred on all it could see. Every last hair on the back of Benton's neck was bristling. He suddenly had the strange sensation that the evil mountain could see him, and it took all his willpower not to run back the way he had come, screaming insanity. Then he knew that the true resolution to their predicament lay not at Stonefist, but rather there.

Jonathan Lataro had recovered enough to resume the march toward Stonefist. As he passed, Benton heard him saying to his wife, "I think we should head for the old lava flow. There might be some lava tubes we can rest in and use as a base."
 

Title: "Delenda est Stonefist" (Part 1 of 2)
Author: First Lieutenant Johnny Chee
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

The march inland had been grueling, both physically and emotionally. Johnny had never seen such a tortured landscape in his life.

The intellectual portion of Johnny's mind understood what he was seeing: landscape blighted by industrial pollution and overuse, a river overrun with algae rapidly being displaced by prokaryotic organisms. The oxygen had literally been leeched out of the water by the nitrates and phosphates of the Horde's primitive industrial
efforts. Johnny vaguely recalled seeing a very old video clip from the late 20th century of an Indian (though not one of the People) observing what civilization had done to the once-pristine wilderness of North America, and weeping.

Johnny felt like doing more than weeping. And he had an army of a thousand at his back with which to do it.

During the weeks of training in Noran, Johnny had approached the *Virgo*'s engineers and the blacksmiths of the Borials, and arranged to have helmets made for the invasion force. A large number of casualties had come as a result of head injuries, most notably the loss of Lt. Loran's eye at the battle for the gates of Noran. After
that particularly gruesome wound, selling the rest of the command staff on the idea was not difficult at all.

The result was a helmet which was part *men*, or samurai helmet, and part World War I era "tin hat". It was specifically designed to protect against the Horde's acid attacks, shielding both head, neck, and eyes from debris. Nothing less than a direct hit to the face would cause injury. Johnny's helmet, like the rest of the army commanders, bore two tall, arcing projections like those of a samurai helmet. Company commanders had two horns, not unlike old Viking helmets. Platoon leaders had one Prussian-esque spike at the top of the helmet.

Johnny's army was divided into four companies, each led by one of his surviving Marines. Sergeant Barek had become Johnny's regimental sergeant-major, responsible for ensuring that Johnny's orders were followed and for making sure that Johnny got the information he needed to issue the orders. To the rear was Lieutenant Jenara Tomme, who had insisted (for some strange reason) on accompanying Johnny's army. Johnny was not entirely comfortable with the arrangement but something (the dream?) persuaded him otherwise. She would coordinate the archery and artillery unit to the rear.

The artillery consisted of the trebuchets salvaged from the Horde siege towers, mounted on carts and converted to ballistae, gigantic crossbows capable of projecting a javelin-sized missile over half a kilometer. Intelligence gained from escaped Aody slaves had indicated that very little (if any) fodder existed for glap'tas to feed upon in the vicinity of Stonefist; as a consequence, those glap'tas who had not escaped or were not killed during the stampede at Noran had been left behind. This meant that the troops had to pull the siege machinery.  Every one of them, Johnny included, had participated in hauling the gear up the beach and onto the road to Stonefist.  *The Duke made it look so easy in *Sands of Iwo Jima**, Johnny thought. *Of course, The Duke never had to do it for real!!!*

The combined Virgo/Borial forces had surrounded Stonefist. The river, green with all manner of anonymous chemicals and alien algae, was for all intents impassable. Three pontoon bridges had been built by the Virgo engineers, and had been set up under cover of darkness when the Horde's archers would not be able to pick targets so easily. The Virgos and Borials, however, had to press their advantage while they could.

Johnny's army was positioned immediately in front of the city gates; the armies of Lt. Benton and Lt. Wallace flanking him on either side. The first sun was just beginning to rise over the dreaded citadel.

"Sergeant-major, compliments to Lt. Tomme, and inform her that she may find her range and commence firing when ready."

"Aye, sir!" Barek replied, dispatching a runner to the archery line. Moments later, a lone archer fired, repositioned himself, fired again, and signaled to the rest of the line. A half dozen of the huge ballistae let fly, each carrying gunpowder charges.

*Jenara's aim is terrific!* Johnny thought as he watched the javelins strike the massive wooden gates of Stonefist. The charges went off with a low, rumbling *barrrrooommmm* and the gate shattered!  Only about half of the gate remained in place, the timbers smoldering in the dry air around the castle.

"Well, that should piss them off!" Johnny yelled to his troops, who immediately sent up a cheer! "Antipersonnel projectiles, independent fire at will!"

Barek dropped back to the archery line to help Jenara supervise the loading of the massive acid arrows which had been used with such horrific effect against the defenders of Noran. *It's payback time, you bastards!* Johnny thought.

The archery units of the other armies were following suit. No sooner than a Horde archer raised his head above the battlements than a barrage of ballista-driven and hand-fired acid arrows converge upon that position. The screams of Horde wounded and dying filled the air as smoke rose from the wood and stone of the battlements, the acid performing its ravenous task. Intermixed with the acid arrows were more fired gunpowder charges, intended to reduce the towers and other strong points of the citadel. By the time the first sun had reached directly overhead, most of the walls of Stonefist were smoking rubble. Johnny could see into the city and observe the chaos their attack had wrought.

"Okay troops, let's end this!!!" Johnny yelled as he led his army over the pontoon bridge onto the other bank. The Horde troops, seeing what was happening, started out the city gate and began forming lines around the city walls. *No mounted cavalry charges or fancy siege machinery this time,* Johnny thought. *This is going to be a real, honest-to-goodness hand-to-hand fight!*