Chariots and Dragonfire

The Atlanti War Chariots dive through the sky.

Before the body of Urraca Amadeus has even begun to cool, the Dreamers ignite a conflict that spirals into a full-scale battle between the Atlanti forces and Lord Bheatha’s troops.

## Plot:

The Episode opens with Lucius, Gwendolyn, and Saoirse aboard the Atlanti War Chariot, narrowly concealed as two Aachen Aviators start to prep the ship for flight.  They talk briefly about how the power cells could explode if dropped, and then notice Saoirse by the controls.  Lucius, thinking quickly, charms one of the men and Saoirse manages to fast talk them into thinking she’s on their side.  The charmed man gladly allows her to take his place as the pilot and they lift the ship off.  The jolt of Saoirse’s unpracticed takeoff knocks Lucius and Gwendolyn free of their hiding places, and Gwendolyn uses a loud Minor Illusion to cover the sounds of their cries and shouts to delay the response from the army below.

On the wall, Réalta and Mance ready themselves for an attack, Warbler and the archers begin to rain fire on Saoirse’s stolen ship.  Lord Bheatha begins to rally his men to fight as dragons begin to rise into the sky.

Saoirse ignores orders from the ground that she needs to land, and the others quickly kill the guard who had resisted Lucius’ charm.  Saoirse brings the ship around to fire on the camp below, and all hell breaks loose.  Dragons scream into the air, the other Sky Chariots begin to rise up, and the Atlanti forces marshal for an impromptu rush on the gates.

Ballista bolts and Catapulted boulders begin to rain on the wall and into the city, a solider tries to run in fear.  Doc rushes up to the fleeing man and stops him in his tracks, intimidating him into falling back into line on the wall, to protect the women and children of his city.  Doc then rushes to direct his triage efforts, pulling wounded soldiers and civilians into the church.

Réalta takes a running leap off of the wall and tries to hook on to Saoirse’s Sky Chariot with her grapple-shot, but narrowly misses and lands on the drawbridge.  A swarm of identical-looking Dragonborn soldiers begin to close in on her position as she ignites her advanced combat mode.

Saoirse’s Sky Chariot comes under fire from the other two vehicles as they lift off, and a pair of dragon knights drop from their mounts and engage Lucius in close combat.  Saoirse and Gwendolyn hastily leap from the deck of their now burning Chariot and onto one of the attacking vehicles.  With Haze’s help, they quickly dispatch the pilots aboard and Saoirse seizes control of the new Chariot.  Lucius narrowly avoids being killed by the two knights above him before he tumbles onto Saoirse’s new vehicle and the combatants watch as the flaming wreck crashes towards the ground.  The two knights aboard manage to grab hold of their dragons before falling.

Meanwhile, inside the city, the siege weapons and dragonfire has caused serious damage to the Keep’s outlying buildings and screams are coming from inside the kitchens.  Smoke billows up through gaps in the roof.  Spotting this, Doc charges into the burning kitchens and ducks through the falling rubble to make his way to the trapped servants.  He finds the main exit to be blocked by debris, but thinking quickly manages to put out the fire using the water on hand for the evening meals.  He gingerly leads the coughing servants through another exit, satisfied as he sees no serious injuries among them.

Back at the gates, one of the Dragon Knights swoops down over Réalta’s head and has his dragon begin to blast the gates with fire.  The Entity spins away from the approaching soldiers and hurls one of Saoirse’s battery bombs at the dragon and rider, shocking the two of them before charging in to engage, trying to distract the dragon.

Haze leaps from Saoirse’s new Chariot and springs across the air once again as he lands aboard the final Skywheel.  He begins to rain blows on the pilot and gunners to keep them from lighting up Saoirse’s ship too badly.

On a grassy rise hundreds of yards from the battle’s edge two dark-clothed forms step out into the sunlight.  Dhlangos Carrion and Zcernos Grimm regard the conflict, and then Grimm rolls his shoulder to loosen it up before hauling back and hurling his javelin through rank after rank of the Aachen army.  Soldiers are blasted aside by the force of the weapon’s path, straight towards the Gates.  Réalta is caught in the shockwave and hurled to the top of the gatehouse, rolling to a stop next to Mance and Lord Bheatha, who has been commanding his troops with incredible leadership.  The Dragon by the gates roars in pain, but continues its assault, further weakening the structure.

Just then, a hail of catapulted stones falls towards the gatehouse.  Bheatha snags Sir John and leaps away from the structure before impact, and Réalta, thinking quickly, grabs Mance and fires her Grapple-shot to yank the two of them clear of the stones just before they hit.  Soldiers who were not as lucky scream in horror as the gatehouse collapses with them on it, dropping stones onto Sir Robard the Ravager and the Dragon Knight below.

Saoirse concentrates her newest ship’s fire on the dragons whirling through the air, but one begins to tear into the side of the ship with its stinger and talons.  Smoke begins to billow from the machine and Saoirse locks the controls into a rapid descent before asking Gwendolyn to get her clear.  The two warp towards Haze’s Chariot, getting aboard just as the Genasi smashes the skull of the last airman aboard.  Lucius is caught unawares and barely manages to leap free, rolling on the ground as the plummeting chariot smashes to the earth in a brilliant burst of fire, crushing several Dragonborn troops as it does so.

Réalta stumbles to her feet as Lord Bheatha is taking stock of the situation.  Spotting the gap where the gatehouse had been… and the Dragon looming over Bheatha’s soldiers within, she maintains that she will hold the gap and drops down through the curling smoke to face the beast in a smoggy blur of blades and claws.  Her nanite blade digs deeply into the dragon’s flesh, and she narrowly prevents the creature from sinking its stinger into her chassis with a well-timed swing of her shield, but the creature is left bloodied instead of dead after the exchange.

Doc uses this opportunity to rush forward and pull Robard’s wounded form from the rubble behind the confrontation.  Finding the man still breathing, but with his armor crushed into his flesh, he begins a battlefield surgery to save the knight’s life.

Saoirse, Haze, and Gwendolyn turn the cannons of their newest Sky Chariot on the Aachen siege weapons, blowing a catapult apart.

On the horizon, Grimm winds up a swing of his blade and kicks up the battlefield’s dust with the strength of his swipe.  The wall of debris rushes towards the battle, prompting the trio aboard the still-functioning chariot to make haste towards the wall with destructive dust nipping at the engines of their chariot.  Lord Bheatha, seeming to have expected this, jumps down into the gap with Réalta and unceremoniously decapitates the dragon that had been giving her trouble.  He shouts for everyone to fall back behind the walls.  Lucius runs for cover behind the city walls, jumping over burning rubble and pushing past the dragon’s corpse as the dust encroaches.  Réalta drops a canister of flame gel to slow the advance of the enemy forces before she, too, ducks behind the wall’s edge as the tsunami of dust continues to destroy the Aachen forces.

Only a handful of Aachen soldiers make it through the gates.  They are quickly surrounded by Bheatha’s men and surrender themselves.

Zcernos Grimm and Dhlangos Carrion emerge from the dust and chat jovially about Grimm’s exploits, and then offer their aid to Bheatha.  Haze stares at the pair with hatred in his eyes as the episode draws to a close.