Operation Heathrow

Chapter 15: Assault on the City Hall

Meanwhile, in the game's world, the battle for that world's freedom rages on under the eyes of the players around the Perseria region. As the enemy reinforcements arrived at the city's gates, Monseigneur celebrates high mass near a gate, from behind the enemy lines. This causes the enemy forlorn hope to fall asleep. And then Clavet casts a lightning storm, electrocuting them in their sleep.

Yet, summoning multiple lightning bolts in an area may not necessarily kill those in it in their sleep. Perhaps stun them for a bit if they survive. Which the rest of the rebel cell exploits to massacre the enemy forlorn hope.

But before Clavet's cell enters the city, she issues her new orders for it, before another wave of Perserian troops come:

"It appears Jutudiel's cell is going through the waterworks to assault the upper city; we need to cover her backs. Yasama, Monseigneur, follow me to the city hall, everyone else reinforce the lower city!"

So while Clavet's rebel cell is staying behind to ensure the three could get to the waterworks and, from there, to the city hall, the three warriors make their way through a section of the city devastated by the fight for the city. A no man's land sandwiched between rebel positions. Residents being herded into the upper city by the remnants of the garrison.

Oh boy, we can't afford to let harm come to the city's remaining residents, who must be in herded in some of the fancy residences! Clavet starts thinking about how the three should act when they are going up the waterworks.

Speaking of the waterworks, the enemy doesn't seem to be patrolling these, believing them to be impractical to use for any attacker, mostly because people can only travel in single file through the upper city's aqueduct. Thank God for the outfitter magic waterproofing my gear! Monseigneur starts thinking while scaling a service ladder of the upper city's aqueduct.

"Once we get out of the aqueduct, we need to watch out for the cataphracts, ghost or real, patrolling the area around the city hall!" Clavet warns her fellow rebels as they approach a maintenance entrance in the upper city. "And make our junction with Jutudiel elsewhere in the upper city!"

Cataphracts. They were supposed to be Upper Perseria's strongest trash, and the elite Perserian cavalry. But the Sable Order awaits us around the city hall, and these are no joke, not the least because they are immune to the high mass, Monseigneur's memories of this fateful Upper Perseria run resurface.

Speaking of cataphracts, they are converging on Monseigneur, who promptly draws a bright line on the pavement. While ghost cataphracts charge blindly and headlong into her as they cross the bright line, the three rebels take cover behind a cheval de frise. With the three attacking the cataphracts, the ghosts are hurt, but they aren't down yet. And, for some reason, they somehow remain on their ghost horses.

However, the living cataphracts loose arrows on them from behind the bright line. And, because the enemy treats Monseigneur as a priority target, she gets hit by multiple arrows, bleeding her.

"You can't hide, Monseigneur!" the lead cataphract yells in her direction.

But as the ghost cataphracts' charge appear headed to hit the cheval de frise, the three move sideways, hoping the ghost cataphracts prove slow to turn. However, because Monseigneur is bleeding, she is the slowest to get out of the cataphracts' way.

"Just pull through, Monseigneur. If you can just LOS the living cataphracts..." Clavet helps an ailing Monseigneur get to a position where the enemy cataphracts will be forced to move to get to her.

The ghost cataphracts break their heavy lances against the bathhouse, as well as "killing" their ghost horses on impact. As the ghosts are thrown off their dead horses, the living cataphracts cross a fading bright line. While Clavet casts an alcohol cloud spell, the blinded cataphracts get drunk as well. But why is it that, in my last run of Upper Perseria, we couldn't unhorse cataphracts, yet we unhorsed them? A perplex Monseigneur wonders, with the ghost cataphracts coming their way.