Jack Crow: Rogue Tactician
By FutureCam
Chapter six:
A/N: This is the last update I can make until July, due to exams. Bloody hell, I wish that this story would let me get to the interesting parts quicker...like Araphen...
Disclaimer: If I owned Fire Emblem, then the Tactician would appear in some shape or form in every game. But I don't.
...crap.
Kent knew they were in trouble. For the last fifteen minutes, 'his portion' of Lyn's Legion - himself, Gale, and Sain - had been forced to withdraw further into the breaking-down fortress as the bandits wore them down with sheer numbers.
"What did you say about being able to hold this place?" Sain yelled at Gale, who leaped away from a slash and countered, giving Sain the briefest look.
"Hey, I remember saying if he had a bunch of Blackwings the boss could hold this place, and he has one – me." He shot back, diving forwards into a trio of ax-wielding bandits. The three were surprised by the ferocity and skill that Gale had, as it had far outstripped that of the two cavaliers their companions were fighting. "How d'you like that, you bastards?" Gale taunted as he cut the three down. "Not so tough now, are you?"
At that point, Wil came dashing down a side corridor, Crow on his heels. "They've broken through one of the walls back there! More of them are coming!"Wil shouted at the group, before spinning around on his heel and firing an arrow into some unseen target.
"How many are there?" Sain groaned in disbelief.
"By my count, twenty are coming up your way, and five are following us." Crow replied, stepping in front of Wil. Sure enough, five more bandits, one with an arrow sticking out his shoulder, came charging around the corner and set upon the pair with gusto.
"...You have got to be kidding me." Kent said flatly, blocking another ax. "If you're right, we can't hold out much longer."
At that moment, Lyn, Florina, Natalie and some red-haired ax-fighter came crashing around the corner and, with the exception of Natalie and Florina, dived into the mass melee the rest of the legion was fighting in. A trio of swordsmen came around the corner, but Florina – fighting on foot due to her Pegasus still being in the center room of the fort – managed to hold them off with her lance, barely surviving until Wil added a few shots into one of her opponents, killing him and allowing her to dispatch the last two.
"That's all from our side" Lyn shouted across the hall at Crow "What next?"
Push forward, all of the remaining foes are here anyway. We need to regain the advantage in this fight, and to do so, they need to be retreating. He sent. The ax-fighter jumped back and cursed, a terrified look on his face. Crow face-palmed – he was getting tired of this. ...ax-fighter, whatever your name is, I'll explain later, got it?
The fighter nodded.
Good. Get back in the fight, then.
The fighter nodded again, before charging after the stunned bandits.
"I don't think they expected us to be this good." Wil said confidently, knocking another arrow. Crow suppressed the urge to hit the back of his head.
"Just stay focused on your aim. We only need to drive them off, and we need accurate fire support to do that" He replied, giving his scimitars a few spins before diving back into the fight. Wil shook his head and aimed another arrow.
"Whatever you say..." He muttered, releasing it. He missed. A slightly amused voice materialized in his head.
I told you so.
"Shut up, Crow."
"We're lost."
"For the one thousandth time, Kalut, we are NOT lost."
"Alright then Shura, what's the name of the next town?"
"...Kathelet?"
"...Shura, that's where we came from-"
"WILL BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP?" Fane yelled, getting up. "YOU ARE MEANT TO BE PROFFESIONALS!"
"Well, if Mr. Magic over here can't find his way around a house..." Kalut muttered, before Fane decided to talk in the 'language of Sirroco'. In other words, a punch to the face. As the thief staggered up from the ground, clutching his bleeding nose, Fane glared at Shura.
"Here's what we're going to do. We are going back to Kathalet, wait for news of the boss, and protect Ninian and Nils while doing so. Understood?"
"...Yes." Shura stammered in reply. Kalut just nodded. As soon as Fane turned his back, Kalut muttered "Jackass."
"I heard that."
********
Sain ducked another ax for what seemed like the thousandth time that hour. For the love of... He thought, only to be interrupted by another ax whistling towards his head. "How many are there!" He yelled in frustration.
"About fifty more." Crow replied "But their morale is breaking, so we shouldn't need to-AAGH!"
Sain looked over to where the Blackwing leader had fallen. "Jack!"
A particularly large bandit stood over him, waving his troops forwards. "Come 'on, Lads! They've lost their leader!"
At that moment, a purple blur dashed past Sain, and the two bandits he was fighting fell back with bleeding stumps for arms. The leader turned and, somehow, managed to block Gale's Ōkatana as it dashed towards his jugular.
"Step. Away. From the boss." Gale snarled, and lashed out at his foes legs. The bandit leader jumped back, and gestured his troops forward towards the Blackwing. Gale's eyes hardened, and he got into a battle position, sword pointing forwards and feet apart.
"You want to try and beat a master of the Wind style of fighting? Try me."
Two of the bandits dived forwards, and Gale charged forwards to meet them. He slashed horizontally with his blade, slicing the two, and continued forwards to their leader, who attempted to bring his ax down in a feeble attempt to stop the swordmaster, but he simply ducked inside the blow and quickly delivered two diagonal slashes – one from the left hip to right shoulder, the other from left shoulder to right hip – followed by a final thrust through the chest, before Gale drew the sword out and decapitated the man.
There was a brief silence as the bandits stared at the Blackwing in horror. So did most of Lyn's Legion.
Gale smirked. "Boo."
The bandits panicked and, with a scream of 'They got the boss! Run!' stampeded out of the fort.
"Thanks, Gale." Crow muttered, pulling himself up. "That could have gotten nasty without you."
"Looked like it already did." The swordmaster replied. "Anything serious?"
"Just a few scratches." Crow shrugged. "No big deal."
Gale looked at him. "You know, I'm sure you used to be faster..."
"Runesword or something hit me in the side during the trip here. I think it's done something to my muscle structure... I'll have Blizzard look at it when we get back."
"Sounds good to me."
Crow turned to face Lyn's Legion. "Alright. I think we've seen them off for now, so get some rest. We need to move before dawn tomorrow or they'll just be back with more troops at their backs. Is anyone injured?"
It turned out that Florina had a rather nasty slash across the leg, and Kent had a large cut across one of his eyes.
"Ouch." Gale muttered, looking at him. "That musta hurt."
The knight nodded back at him.
"Alright. A vulenary should stop the bleeding and fix Florina's leg, but until we find a healer you're going to have one hell of a scar, Kent." Crow informed him. The knight took the proffered potion and left.
"...Is it just me, or did it get colder in here?" The ax-fighter said. Crow turned to him.
"Sorry about that, mister..."
"Dorcas."
"Right. Dorcas...wait...you're Natalie's husband?"
"Yes. I was working with the bandits for money to help her."
Crow nodded. "I see. Listen, you're a good fighter, and the bandits will probably try to kill you too now. Why don't you come with us – we can't pay you as much, but it's not as dishonest as working with them."
Dorcas considered this. "Let me talk it over with Natalie first."
"Of course. Anyway, see you tomorrow." With that, Crow turned and headed towards the entrance, trying not to step in any blood or bodies.
"BOSS!"
Crow looked up as Marcella swooped down to him.
"Hello, Marcella. Find anything?"
"All routes are blocked off by bandits, apart from one."
"Which one?"
"...The one that goes through Araphen."
Crow froze. "There are no alternatives?"
"Not unless you want to take a year to get back, no."
Crow started cursing rapidly. "Dammit! Why?"
Marcella knew a hypothetical question when she heard one.
"Why do I always end up near that stuck-up moron of a marquess? Last time we met, he tried to execute a group of honest civilians to cover up an atrocity committed by his guard!" Crow ranted. "After we stopped it, he declared me Public Enemy Number one! If Rath hadn't helped from the shadows, Kalut, Fane and I would be hanging on the gallows!"
"Boss?"
"Yes."
"You might want to keep the volume down."
"Right. Sorry." Crow turned and went back inside, as Marcella guided her Pegasus in with her. "Let's get some rest. We've got a long way to go tomorrow."
A/N: For those wondering what Gale did to the leader, two words: Critical. Hit.
My explanations for 'critical hits' are in fact the special moves that can be learned from various secret books. Each belongs to some kind of 'elemental style', but doesn't actually do anything involved with the element unless a certain weapon is used – the element just describes what sort of style it's like. Wind is fast, Fire often effects multiple targets, Water is defensive, Lightning is fast (But not as fast as wind) and strong (But not as much as Earth), and Earth is slow but deals incredible amounts of damage to single targets.
Moves shown so far are:
Wind Style - Tornado Slash – Lyn used it in Chapter Five during a training session. She doesn't know what it is, but Crow does.
Wind Style - Gale Combo – Gale actually created this move. Used in this chapter against the bandit leader.
Wind Style - Hurricane Slash – Gale used it to charge forward and defeat the two bandits between him and the leader.
