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((Oops. Lol, Giyari. Sorry, I had to!))

Shizuru's hand approached the dot that she had seen buzzing around and could see from the street lights,and she hit, but it hurt! To her surprise, the dot was still there, and something cut on impact. Shizuru didn't cry out, but there was some pain.

The doctor felt some blood flow from her palm. She immediately brought down her hand to look at it in the light. She scrunched her face. "What kind of fly does that?" There was a thin line of blood, and her wound was definitely more than what a fly would do.

Picking the simplest option to stop Forest from running out and getting killed, Shravra merely picked her up and hefted her onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Passing through a short tunnel to reach the higher parts of the wall, he uttered a cry of surprise as the world had went as dark as night. It wasn't even past lunch yet. Turning to the inside of the walls instead, Shravra looked at the only major light source left. The single shaft of light was falling somewhere to the north section of the city. What's with that light. It's falling on... the cemetery? ”Captain, how are the skeletons doing against the enemy. Will they hold out? Tightening his grip on Forest, Shravra joined Adam at the edge.

((Giyari, don't worry about waiting for me to post as the investigator. You can go ahead and interact with Shizuru. Oh, and welcome N.A.T.A. who has just joined.

South Gate - Adam, Shrava, Forest))

"WTF just happened?" Adam sputtered as his view of the skeleton and the enemy completely went dark as the world suddenly became very very black. "Quick, light some blasted torches. Wait, no, forget that. Don't. Those bastards will know where we are and we won't know where they are!" He turned around to face Shrava and raised an eyebrow, though it would be hard to see with the darkness. What the f*** is going on? That's the castle cemetery! As far as he knew, it was a cemetery with no significance besides a secret passage to the castle.

When Shrava picked Forest up and hefted her up, she protested. "HEY! Let me down, Shrava! I'm a good girl!" When they reached the top and everything was dark, she blinked. "OOOoooooooo!" That didn't mean she stopped struggling though.

The infantry captain grunted and replied to Shrava's question, recognizing the elf's voice. "Well, only one now. Before everything went dark, one of them broke. I don't know, metalsmith. Forest, shut up."

"Noooo! Let me go!" Forest cried with no tears streaming down her face. The hound Fang was still on the lower ground, barking.

Just then, someone stumbled into the soldiers below, a messenger from East Gate. "East Gate has... fallen."

"You're effing kidding me, right?" Adam growled. "Pfft. Kira." He shouted down to the men. "You, lead that squadron over there for support! We got to cover each other's asses here. The city will NOT fall, not on my watch!" He couldn't leave his post. Even if no one could see anything, it didn't mean the enemy wouldn't try to attack. "The rest of you, keep your eyes peeled!" He wished there was some way he could see what was going on outside the gate and for that matter, how Kira's gate had fallen.

"Hey, Shrava! Let's go to East Gate and see what's going on!!!" Forest pleaded as she kept struggling to no avail.

((If anyone DIDN'T get a PM about the treasure hunt, let me know. ))

((Pleased to meet everyone. I hope this post will be to your expectations. ))

When the call to arms came down the chain, Arthur already had all hands on deck. After all it's not like they hadn't been drilling from dawn till dusk trying to keep their skills on par. To be sure, there wasn't another task master tougher than Arthur Kirkland. Once the command to deploy a back up fleet came down, Arthur was the first to respond. This would give his men something to do.

The deck was alive with men scrambling this way and that, and while it seemed like a chaotic mess, there was a method to the madness. His men had been drilled in quick time response because that was a must, one had to think on their feet and react accordingly. The young captain of the HMS (His Majesty's Ship) Implacable strode quickly across the deck, his heels hitting the deck with a heavy sound that could not be mistaken, he was the captain and this was his ship. The sea breeze caught his coat and it billowed out behind him. Once he reached the quarter deck he surveyed the ships' progress. His first mate Alfred was already standing by to report.

"Alfred!" He barks sharply. "I've checked this ship from bow to stern and as usual....it's spot on. Can you get nothing wrong?" Now a smile on that usual surly face. Alfred returns the smile with a slight bow, a mannerisim that Arthur has had to train all his crew to do. If they were going to pass off as a well trained crew of His Majesty's Navy they had to adopt the behaviors as well. Only a small detail really, but as they say, Devil is in the details.

"You flatter me captain." The blond says curtly.

"Oh stop it, you know I don't mean a word of it. Let's drop those sails and get this old girl out of here, we've a sea monster to bring down!" Arthur says loudly, and his crew that is already at the ready starts to cheer. The sails are dropped to catch the wind and Alfred takes the wheel as Arthur stands by, he always loved setting sail from the ports, sometimes he felt his ship was the happiest then, not being tied down to anything.

"I find it curious....." Alfred finally speaks up after the ship is well under way. Arthur keeps his eyes ahead. "I thought Captain Kevin was to see to this threat....He is one of the best is he not?"

There is a sigh as Arthur looks back to his first mate for the first time. "Seems something's come up. When I got the word, this sounded like a clean up. Something is amiss and I'm glad I'm not the only one to feel it too. Regardless, let's just finish this job as quickly as possible. I've got some fellow captains back at port that I've been wanting to shove their words down their throats and watch them choke on it. They say their cannon reload time is about sixty seconds. Ours is thirty. Think we can beat that score?" A sneer.

"With out a doubt Captain."

It wouldn't take long for the Implacable to reach her target area, and if one sea monster and an armada of enemy ships didn't send shivers down one's back, nothing did.

"All right boys, man yer stations! Once we get within a few yards of our targets, I want every cannon primed and ready. Let's make sure to let them know we're joining the party!" A loud cry came up from the crew again. "Do we want our country taken over by disgusting, lawless demons?!"

"NOooOOoo!!!!"

"Do we want to find our cities in shambles and ruins and these dark beasts praying upon our young?"

"NOOOOO!"

"Then let's send them back to hell! And remember, though we fight for Chronopolis, this ship is Ackertia!" There is one last loud cheer from his men before the Implacable dives bow first into the fray. Arthur stands at his place next to the wheel as Alfred steers her into the heart of the battle. And when the Implacable's side is lined up perfectly with her targets, Arthur throws his hand out and shouts for not just his own crew to hear, but their enemies. "FIRE!!!!!!!!!!"

Kevin watched closely while maintaining balance on his feet on the severely rocking deck of the ship he was on. Miraculously and perhaps, due to some skill, the cannon fire did not seem to hit the two ice dragons battling it out in between the two sides.

I’m trying, Master. I really am. Kevin almost hoped that the enemy would just withdraw as they were having as much issue keeping the ships straight as the Chronopolitans were because of the turbulence in the water that the fight between the two ice dragons was causing.

Suddenly, from behind, he heard a line about Ackertia followed shortly by a rather loud “FIRE!!!” “Heh, the reinforcements finally came,” the Captain of the Sea Guard muttered. True, reinforcements meant that the Chronopolitan navy would seem a bit more crowded than before, but with greater firepower, hopefully, it would finally drive the enemy away. He hoped the mage general Tia had a handle on taking down the ice dragons, both of them, even if one of them was one their side and one of Tia’s summons. However, the captain was under the impression that the Lord had forbidden large scale summoning, and the ice dragon seemed pretty large scale.

The spiky haired captain grinned at the sight of HMS. Ackertia was a kingdom next to Depocah, where Chronopolis resided. The former pirate captain Arthur Kirkland held loyalties to Chronopolis and Ackertia. As long as the two loyalties didn’t interfere, Kevin was fine with the man and his crew being in the Sea Guard. The ship’s crew and skills were an asset to the navy, and it showed as it demonstrated its fast cannon maneuvering and aiming prowess.

“Yahoo!” Kevin shouted, seeing the HMS’s cannon fire hit an enemy ship, as one of them very visibly sunk. While that was heart lifting, someone else had apparently hit one of the dragons. Uh, oh. Luckily, the dragon lurched toward the enemy, and the other dragon too engrossed in taking the first dragon down closed in after it.

…and then the darkness set in, making everything ridiculously hard to see. Kevin looked around puzzled, spotting the only beam of light shining down behind the castle, probably hitting the North Cemetery. Oh, no. Am I too late? He had to go. “Follow the HMS’s lead. I need to do something.” The order spread out throughout the fleet.

((N.A.T.A, you have free reign to manipulate the enemy ships actions and the dragons.

Articx, maybe Shrava and Forest will pass by the harbor on the way to the North, if they go. You can NPC Forest.))

The first ship sunk did not go with out notice as Arthur leaned against the railing of the upper quarter deck. "Ha HAH! Straight to Davy Jones locker!!" And in record time no less, they'd not been here a minute?

All around them the waves crashed, but the HMS Implacable's hull tore through the waves like the sea faring ship she was. Arthur could hear just below deck the shout of 'relooooooad!' and with out a doubt they'd beat the reload time of 30 seconds. And with forty cannons lining each side of the Implacable's hull, that was a lot of pain to deal out.

As they passed allied ships, Arthur caught sight of the Captain of the Sea Guard's ship. Alfred was looking to his Captain because he knew, that Arthur knew that Kevin knew the true identity of their ship and crew. And this always put Arthur at unease. Even the name of the ship was fake. For the Implacable was actually more popularly know to authorities as the HMS Indomitable. A Formidable-class battle ship. Her colors, and her name were masked by the crafty crew of Captain Kirkland. Mannerisims and behaviors were taken on to further mask the deception. Some how while all the rest was fooled, Captain Kevin had seen through it. As to why the Captain of the Sea Guard would allow them safe harbor with in Chronopolis was almost beyond Arthur. But he supposed, they had best mind their manners for the time being.

Arthur gripped the front of his pointed hat and tipped it in Kevin's direction. A widely known sign of respect among the navy fleets. The battle was shifting and Alfred reported that the fleet was falling in line behind them.

"Sir!" Alfred points to the left. "Here comes the next contestants!" He says seeing the enemies advance, the waves created by the sea dragons was making life difficult for those not on the move. Which was why Arthur had instructed Alfred to keep the sails filled.

"Hard to Port! Let's show these men how we play at sea!" The Ship lurches to the left, a grand turn. "Tell the crew on the starboard side to stay at the ready!"

"At the ready sir!" A deck hand shouts and Arthur throws out a hand. "FIRE!!! And keep up the barrage!!!"

The Cannons exploded to life once more, and it was like a musical chorus to Arthur's ears. Luckily the ships following had assumed a staggered formation, and had also opened fire, creating one long line. This put the enemies at a disadvantage because there were no cannons at the FRONT of a ship. And as unfortunate as it may be, cannon fire did not discriminate and the dragons in the middle were caught in the cross fire.

In these means Arthur's cruelty would shine. Blasted lizards were a menace and weren't there LAWS to prevent such beasts to wreck havock? What was the point banning demons if people were allowed to INVITE them in?

When the day suddenly decided to die, Arthur looked about with no small amount of surprise. "What in Aeroth~?" But when he heard the string of cannon fire stagger, he shouted angrily. "Don't stop! Who the hell said you could cease fire!!??!" He stomped a boot angrily on the deck, and the cannon fire resumed. Luckily the other ships followed suit, as confused as they may be. Because it was just as likely that the enemy side was scratching their heads. The dragons also seemed to note the darkness and had looked above. How very unfortunate for them all.

"Sir, it's like....the sun was swallowed." Alfred shouts to be heard over the waves and cannon fire.

"Yeah...And I bet you anything that Mister Kevin knows what's going on." At the crow's nest call, Alfred and Arthur look behind to see a single source of light at the heart of Chronopolis. And suddenly the ship battle wasn't so interesting anymore. However, he was the captain, and the lives of his crew were his responsibility still. They best finish up here. "Keep it up men! We take no prisoners! Send them all to the bottom!!!" And this was a sad thing to hear because that meant no taking ships captive, no looting or burning her hull.....

As mighty as the dragons were, they begin to succumb to the fire. More ships on the enemy side begin to sink, their masts and sails obliterated by the constant stream of fire. And it would be a glorius sight to Arthur (if he could see out that far.)who is leaning a foot against the railing and resting against his knee.

And soon, little by little, the enemy ships start to retreat, the first line of enemy ships were obliterated allowing the second line to take fire, and even they could not turn in time to return fire...

With the Euroasian fleets retreating, Arthur waited a good fifteen minutes before calling a cease fire. Usually he'd chase any opponent down like a damn mad dog, but he was suppose to be here under orders.

And there was the matter of the sky going dark and the pillar of shiny light shooting out of Chronopolis. And lo, Arthur was only a mortal and a creature of habit. And his habit was to steal all that glittered, why if he could, he would steal the stars from the sky and present them all to his king and beloved country.

Arthur, looking away from the retreating fleets, and to the light in the city barks an order. "Damage report!" The order echos as each crew passes down the order.

"Damage Report!"

"Damage Repooort!"

With in a few seconds another ship hand is climbing up from the lower decks. An auburn haired young man arrives, slightly covered in soot from all the cannon fire no doubt. He tips his head in greeting the captain respectfully.

"No damage to the ship sir, however two men were injured during the barrage due to the unsteady seas and gear coming unsecured from the lofts." Antonio explains.

Arthur doesn't look away from the light. "Is it serious?"

"One is a broken ankle and the other a pretty bad knock to the head. He's out cold and bleeding from the wound. Not terribly, but he should be seen by a doctor."

"Then let's anchor at the harbor and get them seen to, dead men are of no use to me. Alfred!"

" Yes Sir!" His second in command changes course and the large ship begins to make a hard port back to the docks. Arthur didn't very much care what the other ships of Chronopolis were going to do, he'd done what he'd been sent for. Two of his men were hurt, and he'd specifically hand picked his crew like the diciples of the all mighty one. He'd not risk a chance of loosing his most trusted crew. They were trained well, fiercely loyal and quite hard to replace.

"Once we're safely anchored, I want someone to scout out a good apothocary. Understood?"

Antonio snapped to attention. "Sir!" He replied smartly and turned on his heels and went back down to the lower decks.

Alfred waited till Antonio was gone before looking to his Captain. "And what should the rest of us do Sir?"

"I want the ship to go into recovery. Everything must be restocked and prepared, the lower decks checked and all gear aloft must be secured."

A pause and then; "And what will you be doing sir?"

The Captain looks over his shoulder with a sneer. "I'm going to be doing some scouting of my own. In the mean time I want this crew to be kept busy. Don't let me come back and catch you idiots loafing about."

A bored crew was a recipe for trouble. Arthur had to keep them on their toes and he'd hold his second in command responsible if anything goes wrong in his absence. But Alfred under Arthur's direction, has become a worthy vice captain, such to the point that should Arthur have to leave, Alfred would take over as acting Captain and do a damn fine job of it. The crew already respect Alfred as if he were Arthur himself. His orders are unquestioned and Arthur knows Alfred is a strong leader.

Once the Implacable reaches the ports, Arthur finds the city in utter chaos. Regardless, he sends three of his best men out to find a doctor.

Peter Kirkland, the Quarter Master and his rambunctious younger sibling, Francis Bonnefoy the Master Gunner, and Antonio Corrida the ship's Bosun. All three set out into the heart of the chaos, their only concern is procuring a doctor.

Arthur leaves the care and defense of the Implacable to Alfred his first mate with a specific set of instructions meant to keep all the men on board, busy and safe. With growing anticipation, Arthur disembarks from his precious ship to do a bit of looking about.

(As of right now my character is lost in the chaos of the city, anyone want to meet up with him and perhaps head to the cemetery in some way? I'm up for anything. I want to say he's been confined mostly to the ship so he's largely unaware of what's going on. And for future refrence, no one knows he's a pirate UNLESS they've been to other countries where he's largely wanted. Even then, the only one who really knows is Kevin.)