Battle of Ziekden Fortress

The Battle of Ziekden Fortress is a battle occurring during the plot of Final Fantasy Tactics. It pitted the Order of the Northern Sky against the Corpse Brigade. The battle followed an assassination attempt on Dycedarg Beoulve during which Tietra Heiral was taken hostage. The main Northern Sky force was led by Zalbaag Beoulve, who was assisted by Argath Thadalfus. A secondary Northern Sky force was led by Ramza Beoulve and Delita Heiral, who were attempting to rescue Tietra.
==Preliminary Skirmishes==
While Zalbaag and Argath marched directly on Ziekden Fortress, Ramza and Delita attempted to breach the rear of the Brigade's lines. At Lenalian Plateau they encountered a Brigade patrol led by Milleuda Folles. They defeated this patrol, killing Milleuda in the process. This enraged the Leader of the Brigade, Wiegraf Folles who was Milleuda's brother. He made a stand against Ramza at the Windmill Hut, but the Northern Sky carried the day, forcing Wiegraf to flee into the mountains. Discovering that Tietra was not at the Windmill Hut, Delita urged Ramza to continue toward the fort, approaching it from behind.
==The Main battle==
Meanwhile, Zalbaag and Argath engaged the main of the Brigade's force. Since Wiegraf was preoccupied dealing with Ramza, the Brigade units at the fort were led by Gragoroth Levigne. The Northern Sky were victorious, leaving Gragoroth vulnerable to capture, but he held a knife to Tietra's throat, threatening to kill her or detonate the explosives inside the fort if the Northern Sky came any closer. During the standoff, Ramza and Delita arrived. Delita called out to Tietra immediately upon sighting her, but the arrogant Argath Thadalfus decided to end the standoff at any cost. He intentionally shot Tietra with his crossbow, and before Gragoroth could react, mortally wounded him with a second shot.
==Northern Sky Infighting==
As Tietra collapsed, Gragoroth retreated inside the fort. Zalbaag left to pursue Wiegraf, leaving Ramza and Delita with Argath. Delita, furious at Argath's shooting his sister, launched an attack at Argath's units. Ramza sided with Delita. Argath summoned his small reserve force to assist him, but Ramza's faction won. Delita mortally wounded Argath, who collapsed to the ground cursing against Ramza and Delita as he breathed his last. Delita then ran up to Tietra's body: the girl was still alive, but just barely. Just then, Gragoroth ignited the gunpowder within the fort, causing a massive explosion. Tietra used the last of her strength to protect Delita, succumbing to the blast herself.
==Aftermath==
Ramza fled and quit the Order, joining a group of mercenaries led by Goffard Gaffgarion. This led him to be present when Princess Ovelia was kidnapped and resulted in his discovering the Lucavi plot. Meanwhile, an enraged Delita vowed revenge on those who had manipulated him, and set himself up as a Order of the Southern Sky double-agent who would infiltrate both the Northern Sky and the Church of Glabados.
==Gallery==
Zeakden-battlefield.jpg|Battlefield at Ziekden.
Category:Events in Final Fantasy Tactics