LOL I am highly tempted to sig that comment.

Well, if you want something a little more stress-free you could have Fari dance round the garden singing "here we go looby-loo" perhaps?

Or for something more meaningful...hmmm...you could meet Soven...have a chat with Mathew Green (who seems to have fallen out of the story)...sit down and talk with the few remaining Kebelites...go and sort out Jacen as he'll no doubt be thinking Kebel wouldn't have fallen to the Custodians if it hadn't already been so weakened by the attack he started...

Or even skip ahead to the beginning of the invasion tomorrow.  We'll catch up.

It all depends what you're in the mood to write.  A battle scene, some cool dialogue, something emo...LOL

Here's something one of you can do - write a battleplan for the seige defenders (where to defend and how, possible traps, ambushes and counterattacks).  I'll write one for the attackers and we can put them together to give us an idea of how the battle might go and how to write it.

The situation:

Penance's army is split in two, surrounding Bevelle from both north and south.

His navy is also split in two, and is maintaining a distant but tight blockade of the bays to east and west.

There is a fairly large breach in the south wall (caused during the first attack), but the northern defences are intact.

The Kebel tunnel network is under Penance's control, but Fariel knows where all the exits within Bevelle are.

The defenders have a sizeable air fleet consisting of Guard airships and helijets, as well as Soven's airships, which you can use in any way you can think of.

They also have some ships which could move out to put up some resistance to an amphibious landing, or maybe even stick close to the shore and shell Penance's troops as they close in - again your call.

The defenders are also spoilt for choice for troop types.  Though Home was destroyed there will be some Al'bed survivors and the Machina Faction will have some seriously big guns and other tech for them to use.  The Ronso will provide excellent close-quarter muscle, particularly in defending the breach (hint hint).  The elves are the best mages around and can blast the enemy, throw up shields, or stop demons from teleporting nearby (again, big hint).  Soven's Shadows will fight like demons but might be difficult to control.

The defenders have literally dozens of leaders, with wildly varying abilities and skills.  Have a think about how you could use them best.

The Guard have done a fairly good job keeping the civvies under control, and they'll hide or retreat to designated areas when the fighting starts if you want them to.

Now, what you're up against - the attackers are very understrength in terms of Fiends and Unsent thanks to Gau nabbing the resurrection orb, so the only cannon fodder troops they have are what's left of Ghede's mutants.  Demons provide line troops, and are adept in hand-to-hand fighting and magic.  Serpent demons can do a bit of both shooting and fighting, but their biggest threat is their ability to teleport.  Atellians provide firepower and are very mobile thanks to their wings.  Custodians are good archers but longbows are by now slightly outdated and it'll be close combat where they'll really excel.  Soren's White Knights provide even more hand-to-hand.  Think about where each of these troop types might be used, and how you can counter them.  Also note that Penance has an obscene amount of artillery - his army is full of powerful mages and the ordnance carried by his fleet could flatten the city if the ships are allowed to get close enough. 

In leaders, the attackers are rather lacking.  Overall command belongs to Shuruk'jaar.  Soren is in theory a leader too but has little influence beyond his White Knights.  Shuruk'jaar is the last of Penance's generals, and he is not the strongest but he is the most cunning.

Hehe, mark well this day Sean, for it is the day something we wrote made Hannah go ""

And, er, no.  No it bloody well isn't incest ^^; It's just a dangerous concentration of Aeon powers :P Not that it'll matter by the end as the Aeons are leaving them.

Well, I put up some ideas of things for you to write about a couple of posts ago (ignore the one where Fari dances around the garden singing :P).  Or simply skip ahead to tomorrow; then we can have the Angels leave to fight Penny and I can kick off the attack on Bevelle.

Which reminds me, do the defenders have a plan yet?  It doesn't have to be posted in the story, it's just to make writing it easier.  And don't worry, I won't cheat and change the attackers' plan if it ends up them walking into a brilliant trap of your devising and getting slaughtered as it'd be great for the story XD

Basically I'm not gonna save them if they go walking across a minefield :P

[BOSS]Fenix wrote:

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Hehe, mark well this day Sean, for it is the day something we wrote made Hannah go ""

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 HAHAHA please, as if i went "".  I was in absolute HESTERICS!  It was soooo cliche XD LOL

okay! I'm going to finish what i was writing and post it up later tonight! Promise XD

Okie dokie, here's Shuruk'jaar's plans revealed (I haven't changed them) and my predictions of the outcomes:

CUNNING PLAN NO 1

Begin the attack with a massive bombardment from the fleet, seige engines and the demon mages - not only to cause terror and havoc, but to cover the advance of the main attack force.

The Underdog wrote:

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Its the final battle the defenders only plan is to throw everything they have in defending Bevelle

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If this is the case and the defenders are deployed mainly on the perimeter, there will be lots of mages on the walls casting Shield spells which should absorb the worst of the bombardment.  Here and there a shot might get through, but overall the defenders will get off fairly likely.  Therefore this plan will fail to have the desired effect.

CUNNING PLAN NO 2

Stretch the defenders by attacking from the north and the south at the same time, making the most of the attackers' superior numbers.  The fleet will launch a simultaneous attack, in close formation for maximum AA cover.

The Underdog wrote:

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Its the final battle the defenders only plan is to throw everything they have in defending Bevelle

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The Bevelle fleet will move out to block them, and will cause heavy damage because the enemy ships are so closely packed together.  What happens overall depends on what the Spiran airforce does:

Outcome 1 - The airforce moves to threaten the fleet, forcing them to stay in tight formation.  Thus the naval assault will probably be mauled or at best delayed, but the battle on the landward sides will be harder for the defenders.

Outcome 2 - The airforce stays away from the fleet's AA and supports the city instead, counterattacking Penance's land forces.  They will be caught up in a massive battle with the Atellians in reserve (see below).  The landward defences will have an easier time of it, but with no threat from the air the attacking fleet will be able to deploy and use all guns to smash the smaller Spiran fleet and force a landing.  Thus the defenders will have to fight on yet another front.

CUNNING PLAN NO 3

The Attelians will stay in reserve to counter the Spiran airfleet if it attacks.  If the airfleet moves to support the Spiran fleet instead, they will use their flight to overrun the city walls and to land on house roofs etc.  As above this has two possible outcomes, which go hand in hand with the outcomes above.

Outcome 1 - The Atellians land on top of the walls and start hand-to-hand combat with the defenders up there.  Others land behind enemy lines, combat-dropping on the buildings and taking the defenders in flank.

Outcome 2 - The initial Spiran airstrike will wreak some havoc until the Atellians move to intercept them, resulting in a massive airborne battle where the two sides strafe each other and the Atellians board the airships.  Arm topside!

CUNNING PLAN NO 4

Southern front:  Shell the breach until the last minute to keep the defenders' heads down.  Mutants lead the way to set off any mines etc and let the main wave (demons) close and attack the breach.  Serpent demons provide covering fire, while more advanced mutants shimmy up the walls either side of the breach.

The Underdog wrote:

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Their top priority would b to keep Penance out of Bevelle since its crammed full a civilians. Maybe if worst comes to worst ambushes and traps could be laid at the enterance.

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It's going to be very bloody whatever happens.  The attackers can bombard all they like but the defenders will still crawl out the rubble to meet the attack the second it stops.  In the firefight between the Serpent Demons and the defenders on the walls the Spirans have the advantage of cover.  The close-quarter fight in the breach will be murderous - even if the attackers can only channel so many troops through the breach, reducing their number advantage, some defenders will have to spread out to counter assaults on other parts of the walls.  If the elves fall, they will not be able to stop the Serpent Demons teleporting straight past the defenders.
But even if the attackers force the breach they'll face a devastating crossfire from the suburb streets.  They will take massive casualties in the open and will only be able to clear the defenders out by house-to-house and room-to-room sweeping.  The only thing that could make it even a little bit easy would be Attelian combat drops, and this will be impossible if (by Outcome 2 above) they are fighting the Spiran airforce.
The likely outcome will be huge losses to the attackers, but if they can weather the storm and their morale holds then their numbers will eventually tell.

CUNNING PLAN NO 5

Northern front: Mutants scale walls and demons lead a frontal attack, but this is just a diversion - troops will place explosives in the Kebel tunnels beneath the walls and undermine them, hopefully collapsing a section of the walls and creating a breach for the attackers to pour through.
The attackers have little chance of breaking the defences head on, but if the plan works then in the chaos of the explosion they will be able to get a foothold in the city.  After this though they'll still have to go through the same grueling house-to-house fighting as in the south.

CUNNING PLAN NO 6

Custodians will infiltrate the tunnel network and come out in the heart of the city.  Serpent demons will also teleport behind enemy lines to bypass the walls and create confusion.

The Underdog wrote:

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With the Kebel tunnels under Penance's control their is no escape route no chance of getting people out of Bevelle so traps could not be laid, maybe if worst comes to worst ambushes and traps could be laid at the enterance but when Penance breaks through and swarms the city it'll b pandemonium.

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The attempted teleporting will fail because the elves spaced along the walls will be able to block the Serpent Demons with Dispel magic.  The Custodians however could be the biggest threat of all however - though the defenders know where the exits are, the booby traps at the tunnel entrances won't delay them long and if most of the defenders are at the walls the Spirans may not be able to hold back the attackers as they swarm from the tunnels.  They may, however, be able to delay the infiltrators until help can arrive.

So, there are some set pieces you can all write about as part of the seige.  Just one question to clear up - DOES THE AIRFORCE MOVE AGAINST THE ATTACKING FLEET OR THE GROUND FORCES (ie Outcome 1 or Outcome 2)?

This isn't trying to shape the battle into a win or a loss, it's just to give us some stuff to write about.  Either way the fight will be desperate, but Tanis' ghost army will arrive in the nick of time anyway so all is well :P

I'm working til late tomorrow and busy Sunday so don't expect any more from me for a bit.  Sorry to leave you with gaps guys but I couldn't put together a decent leaving scene for the Angels.  Felt somehow that there should be some argument over whether they should leave (ie abandon everyone in Bevelle to go after Penance, but it's the only way they can truly win) or some more Keiji/Eevee stuff first. :/

And sorry Steve for adding yet another battle to your to-do list...

PS Frak sake Bryn you made Jacen sound like such a wimp! :P

Hmmm...where is Steven anyway?

And do any of you have any ideas for a decent leaving-Bevelle scene coz I got nothing :P

Also, if someone doesn't make a call on the airfleet I'm going to toss a coin for it.

Not a problem - this is supposed to be fun anyway, not a chore.  If he's lost interest there's no point forcing him.

Good stuff.  Oh, and the coin came up tails by the way, so it's outcome 2.  So we'll be reenacting the scene from Flash Gordon where the guys with wings attack the star cruiser, only with better special FX :P

PS -

The Underdog wrote:

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on the way out she flung it on as the door closed behind her as the door as the door shut behind her

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Tee hee the record's stuck XD

What pics?

Are you two dead? Do i have to come over there and kick ya out of yer beds? ^^

In the meantime I'll make as if the Soven/Soren fight is done and start the attack on Bevelle.  I was going to write more as I'm on a roll but I should probably go to bed...

Anyway, I will continue what I've written later, hopefully tomorrow.

Wayhay, saw BOTH of you in Tesco today :P Really must register it for nights out coz it seems to be a great meeting lace XD That brings the total of old school mates I've seen there up to 8.

Travis was very quiet

And in response to the above you really don't want to know what he was doing... :S

fook knows whoever wants to, ive been coming up with awsome moves Keiji and Neji and Zell will b pulling off during the final battle and some Shadow awsomeness, mainly its introduction to the battle completely turning around the air battle, i'll give u guys a list of just what makes the shadow awsome.

electrified hull preventing boarding,
countless gun ports
many missles enought for three vollys
very advanced manuverbility
solid armor plates
Ofcourse with all of Neji's airships it has a mana cannon
Electric pulse, the ship unleashes a pulse of electicity from all around the ship handy when surronded
And finally its secret weapon and last ditch attack, Discharge, the airship unleashes all its energy out the mana cannon, drawing more from the mana cannon, and electirc generator aswell as from the engine and ship, equalling an immense blast, the draw back is it depletes all the ships energy from certain areas and afterwards the electric field is useless, Electirc pulse in unusable, as are the mana cannons, the ship loses alot of speed and becomes quite sluggish. luckly the main guns are still usable and so are the missles but they lose alot of power.