The Pirate of Baserria/The Attack

## The Attack

"**The Attack**" is the fourth chapter of *The Pirate of Baserria*. Like the entirety of the novelette, this fourth chapter was released privately on January 2021 and publicly published to the site on May 22, 2022.

## Plot

Everything was set in motion: Alwyn located and observed the pirate base, Lydia fortified the town’s outer walls, Mysolus made room for a shelter for the young and elderly, and Linh helped further flesh out the farmer turned fighters, all with the help of the villagers by their side. By the end of all the planning, Linh’s crew was confident that the town would be able to fend off the Kawalan pirates, at least enough for them to not disrupt the harvest any time soon.

Sundown struck the golden planet. Everyone felt a myriad of emotions; some were antsy, some were cautiously brave, and some were just eager to get back at the invaders of their lands by showing them what they’ve learned over the course of several weeks. The young and elderly were safe underneath Tornac’s, and the outer walls were fortified enough to protect the town. The Kawalans normally attacked the taro fields at dusk in order to mask themselves with the night.

This time, however, they were a bit early to the party. Before the two bright suns of Baserria could set completely, the fields rustled with anguish. Dark figures emerging from the western forest could be seen charging towards the paddy fields. They must have been desperate, Linh thought, to have attacked sooner than the villagers often reported. Mysolus and Cydi deduced that these raiders were not one for foraging; only ransacking. Unbeknownst to the raiders, a few fighters hid within the paddy fields themselves. These farmers were not afraid to get dirty when they needed to, and this situation was perfect for that. When the raiders got close enough, the hidden farmers did just as Linh instructed them to.

“*ATTACK!!*”

Tedan and several other determined yet furious farmers rose up from the shallow waters like spikes suddenly protruding from the floor. The Kawalans were taken massively off guard. They never faced this level of opposition when stealing from the paddy fields. Most of them were not quick enough to react to the angry fighters charging at them with effective wooden spears. Much of the raiding party—which only consisted of about one or two dozen Kawalans—fell rather easily to the trained farmers out of sheer surprise. These Kawalans were not as militant, organized, nor clever as anything the likes of the *Glass Comet* crew had ever faced. Everyone was pleasantly surprised. The few Kawalans still standing put up a brief fight, wounding some of the farmers in the process. It wasn’t long before they were outnumbered and overpowered by the other farmers in the fields, who still held onto their frustrations. The raiding party was defeated as quickly as they came.

But it was not yet the time for celebration. After all, Linh reminded them, they needed to destroy the pirate base entirely. Based on what Alwyn and her small lookout team have said, there were many more Kawalans to be fought. After the initial raiding party was taken care of, much of the cavalry rode out from within the town’s walls on the domesticated reptiles, called domasan by the locals. Even with their stubby legs, the domasan managed to take the fighters into the forest rather quickly. Lydia and Alwyn made it their jobs to watch over the settlement proper, guarding the town from any further invasions that night with the help of the villagers who stayed behind by their side. Villagers like Mera and Feffis guarded the town from within its walls while their loved ones joined Linh and Mysolus. Linh and Mysolus rode in on domasan, leading the rest of the villagers through the forest and up the hill, just as Alwyn discovered the base.

The base was not well lit at sundown, likely to hide the base from the attention of the villagers. *Though they didn’t do too good of a job if they could be seen in broad daylight*, Linh thought. Several Kawalans could be seen patrolling the hefty main tent with sharp weapons in their hands, like the raiding party before them. Smaller tents were scattered around the camp, with several other Kawalans standing outside of them wielding the same weapons as their comrades. The weapons looked to be only slightly more polished and sturdier than the villagers’ wooden spears. They would need to maintain the element of surprise.

There was a blind spot outside of the main tent that the patrolling Kawalans were, at that moment, furthest away from. This was perfect. Linh and Mysolus led several villagers down the hill in the stealth of night. After finishing their patrol of the perimeter, two Kawalans were shocked to be confronted by more than a few dozen villagers, armed with pikes and looking ready to strike. The two marauders were easily outnumbered, and easily defeated. Tedan felt satisfied to defeat this many Kawalans. He seemed to very much resent their presence on his homeworld, as did other villagers. Cydi and Allie were more calm and collected about their feelings of vengeance.

“Alright,” the captain started, wiping a sweat off of her forehead. “Now we’re going to split into two groups, just for now.”

“Splitting the groups again?” Tedan looked confused, and almost frustrated. The captain explained her plan to him before he was able to start protesting.

“We’re going to wrap around the camp in two different directions.” She gestured over to these spots to make it as clear as possible to all the villagers present. “We take out who we can, and then we make some noise in the main tent.”

“Solid plan,” Allie smirked.

“So far so good,” Cydi added.

Linh took Cydi and Allie under her wing, along with a couple other villagers. Mysolus took Tedan and the Proxim Dolun with him, splitting into two equal groups. Taking out the Kawalans by the smaller tents wasn’t as easy as the first time. Once a group of raiders spotted the villagers led by Linh, they charged at them with their metal spears. Some of the villagers’ wooden spears easily broke upon the impact of the Kawalans’ superior weaponry, but they still managed to outnumber the Kawalans. Linh subdued them with a small blaster she carried on her person, making them easier to strike down. The stout matriarch of the yellow-capped Basidian family finished off the Kawalans, surprisingly skilled with the spear after her training. The villagers regarded her as a powerhouse, already recognizing her for her strength. The group did this to another small band of Kawalans by another tent, and to another until they were eventually done wiping out their side of the camp.

“Like you said,” Linh commented. “So far so good.”

Linh glanced over at the other side of the camp that Mysolus was taking care of. The villagers hid behind the tents for cover so no other Kawalans could see them. Linh saw Mysolus and Tedan, ready to give them the signal to charge into the main tent. The entrance was guarded by only two Kawalans, so Linh began to think how easily this could be accomplished.

However, Mysolus was not picking up on Linh’s signal. Linh watched Mysolus as he spoke with Tedan behind the cover of a tent. They were too far away for Linh to hear or make out any of their words, but Tedan didn’t look so happy. And then as if by instinct, Tedan rushed out of cover with Mysolus reaching out to him, trying to stop him from going off alone. They were both unsuccessful. Attempting to take out the two front guards on his own, Tedan was seen coming from a mile away. Allie covered her mouth in shock as the Kawalans began to point at Tedan with their metal spears. Something was going to go horribly wrong.

That is… Unless Linh and Mysolus were able to interfere first. Mysolus finally noticed Linh across the camp. She gave him the signal just in time. The two groups converged at the entrance, running out of cover and charging at the two Kawalans, who were too overwhelmed by the sudden influx of opposition to deal any blows to Tedan. The two Kawalans were taken down easily, but they were not alone. From within the tent came out a dozen more Kawalans, armed with the same powerful spears. They clashed with the villagers, who had weapons of poorer quality but more forces. Some of the villagers armed themselves with the metal spears dropped from Kawalans previously defeated. A smart move, Mysolus thought.

During the chaos of the clash, Tedan ran inside the main tent by himself. This was not part of the plan. Linh and Mysolus noticed this while they were fending off some raiders of their own. A familiar villager stepped in to knock them away to give the two crewmates an opening.

“Go help Tedan!” Allie shouted, striking her Kawalan opponent with a metal spear. “We can take care of the guys out here!”

“We’ll make sure no one comes in after you!” Cydi knocked out another raider. “Now *go!!*”

## Appearances

### Dramatis Personae

* **Linh Malina** - Human-Penumbrian. Captain of the *Glass Comet*, ready to get the job done.
* **Mysolus Pravo** - Praeliorian. The fellow crewmate with much to teach and with many talents.
* **Alwyn Nimbus** - Culician. An eccentric privateer with a genuine heart of gold.
* **Lydia Jezda** - Makuran. Horror novelist/privateer and long-time friend of Linh.
* **Cydi Thaidero** - Human. The Baserrian farmer who contacted the *Glass Comet* crew for the job.
* **Mera Mishum** - Human. Cydi's loving wife.
* **Allie Lamaand** - Human. Tedan's sister, who often keeps him in check.
* **Tedan Lamaand** - Human. Allie's brother, who doesn't think before he acts.
* **Tornac Rehl** - Coronan. Proprietor of the one of the only taverns on Baserria.

### Other Characters

* Feffis Bhidran
* Dolun Vazi
* Basidian family
* Kawalan bandits

### Locations

* Cassiopeia Galaxy
	+ Central Expanse
		- Gran Axuda Sector
			* Baserrian System
				+ Baserria
					- Baserria settlement
						* Tornac's
					- Baserrian pirate camp

### Sentient Species

* Basidian
* Culician
* Human
* Kawalan
* Makuran
* Penumbrian
* Praeliorian
* Proxim