Defense of Hollow Bastion

It wasn't long before Sora and the others reached their destination at Hollow Bastion. There it stood in all it's grandeur as it appeared from out of the morning mist.

"Hollow Bastion," Mickey shouted, "dead ahead!"

However, as the little gummi began to near it, they eventually saw flashed of light accumulating around the castle. As they drew nearer, the flashes of light soon became apparent that they were energy beams and explosions.

"Look at that!" Sora said. "Hollow Bastion is being bombarded!"

"It's the Dark Empire!" Riku replied as he pointed to the banners waving in the air. "That is the symbol of the Dark Empire, the infamous Cross of Conquest!"

"We have to avoid contact with their batteries." Donald said. "Otherwise, they'll attempt to shoot us down. I'll pull us up a little higher and place the gummi over the top tiers of Hollow Bastion." Donald ascended the gummi far over the battery reach and descended onto the highest platform of Hollow Bastion. The five stepped out of the ship and gazed down at the constant barrage from the artillery. Hollow Bastion, due to its excessively strong walls was able to withstand impact from the battery barrages. Energy Beams only caused minor damage to the walls. Hollow Bastion itself had been armed with special artillery weapons to help defend the fortress itself.

"Let's go down and see if we can find whoever's in charge." Mickey said. "Hurry, we have to help as best we can."

The five ran down to the lower levels. They jumped off platforms and using Super Glide, they reached the lover levels. As they descended, they saw upon some of the abandoned ramparts, the bodies of the slain men. There had been fierce hand to hand combat there and both sides found these areas to be insignificant. The barrage continued as energy beams flew over their heads.

"I wonder how long this siege has been going on." Donald asked.

"By the looks of it," Mickey implied, "It's been going on for some time now."

"Hey look!" Goofy said. He pointed to show a mass of Imperials coming towards them.

"Brace yourselves guys," Sora said as he drew out his sword, "We have company!"

"Well, I think this is the perfect opportunity for us to try out our new techniques, eh Sora?" Riku said. He rushed forth with his sword drawn. "Kuzu ryu sen!" Using the technique given to him by Kenshin Himura, Riku rushed through the ranks at great speed and eliminated ten Imperials at once. One Imperial dared to strike at him, but Riku countered with the Darkness Decoy technique and vanished from the sight of the Imperial. He then emerged again and struck at the soldier. Sora attacked as well and deployed the infamous Shadow Death Wave. The darkness energy wave spread throughout the ranks, killing many of the Imperials instantly. But still they kept coming. Mickey rushed forwards using the Gatotsu that he got from Saito. Thrusting and slashing, he diminished many more Imperials. At the same time, Donald was using a constant barrage of the elemental attacks and Goofy went in with shield drawn and continued to use his Tornado Spin and rush attacks. Still. Despite these efforts, the Imperials kept coming. Riku used all the energy attacks he had learned like the Iceberg Shurikens, Cinder Canister, and Hurricane Slash. Sora battled with the power of Ragnarok and Ars Arcanum, along with Tundra Canister, Twister Strike, and even the powerful Trinity Limit. But by using all these powerful attacks, they quickly exhausted their supply of ether and potion. Still, the Imperials came and eventually the KH team had to give ground.

"Where the heck are all these guys coming from?" Sora said.

"It's like there is no sign of them stopping!" Mickey added.

"We'll have to figure something out!" Donald said.

"Don't give up!" Goofy cried.

Suddenly, they heard rumbling behind them. The party turned for a minute to see a beam cannon aimed straight at them.

"Get out of the way!" a voice cried. "KH team, get out of the way now!"

Sora and the others did what they were told and dodged out of the line of fire.

"Open fire!"-

There was a powerful blast of energy from the cannon and the Imperials who were attacking were blown away. Many fell to their deaths down towards the basin of the grand fortress. Others continued to plow forward.

"We'll need time to recharge the cannon to full strength."-

"Then, we have to fight these Imperials hand to hand!"-

A warrior suddenly emerged from behind the cannon and presented himself before the oncoming onslaught. When Sora placed eyes on this dashing young warrior, armed with a rather large sword, he knew right away who it was.

"Cloud?" he uttered. "Cloud Strife?"

"It's been a long time hasn't it, Sora." Cloud replied. "Glad to see that you've come to give us a hand!" Cloud turned towards the ranks of massed defenders. "Alright Leon, give it to them!"

"Leon's here too?" Goofy asked.

"Good to see that you're still alive!" Leon shouted out. He drew out his Gunblade and gave the order to attack. From behind the cannon, hundreds of defenders came charging into the ranks of the Imperials. There was bloody fighting as men by the scores. Blood was shed on the thin walkways as sword and shield clashed with one another. Artillery from Hollow Bastion aimed at the oncoming Imperials and eliminated a great many number of their ranks.

"Come on boys!" Cloud cried. "Push them back!"

"Let's get 'em!" Sora shouted as he, Riku, and the rest of the KH team joined the fight as well. For a good fool minutes, the battle accelerated in ferocity. Eventually, the Empire's soldiers had no other choice, but to withdraw. There was a grand cheer from the defenders. As The Imperials retreated, the soldiers of Hollow Bastion returned to their posts and stood guard, ready to engage in the next confrontation.

Cloud and Leon met up with the KH team to see if they needed further aid. The KH team was restocked with potions and ethers.

"So tell me what brings you here?" Cloud asked.

"We came here to fulfill our mission." Mickey said.

"Yeah." Goofy added. "Something about the Imperials wanting to open the door to darkness again."

"What was this?" Leon asked. "They've come to reopen the door to darkness?"

"But it's impossible to reopen the door." Cloud added. "The door to darkness has been sealed forever and we destroyed all the technological facilities of Ansem's Darkness Project."

"Then why would they attack Hollow Bastion?"-

"Well, we understand that the Imperials are hoping to resurrect the door to darkness." Sora said.

"Is there something that we might have overlooked?" Cloud thought. "Perhaps there's something missing?"

"By the way, Leon, what are you doing here anyway? I thought that you were back at Traverse Town."-

"When I heard that Hollow Bastion was being under attack, I had to help defend it." Leon explained. "I was given permission by Sneer. Besides, he has that company of Alliance soldiers to protect the place. He thought it best that I look to the fate of my own home this time."

"How long has this siege been going on?" Riku asked.

"At least three days."-

"I don't understand though." Cloud uttered. "Why would they come here of all places when they know that there is nothing left of Ansem's work. We destroyed all evidence of his discovery to the Heartless in order to not repeat further mistakes made in the past."

"Maybe there's something about the Heartless and the door to darkness that the Dark Empire knows about that we still need to acknowledge."-

"That would explain why the Empire has declared to attack Hollow Bastion. Perhaps Ansem left something behind for future scientist to discover. Geniuses like him always keep spare information hidden away in case the truth needs to be revealed again."-

"But at this rate, Hollow Bastion will fall to the forces of the Empire." Mickey implied. "Despite the bravery of all the soldiers and warriors here, they won't be able to stand against such a powerful foe infinitely."

"Then, we'll just have to somehow break their supply lines!" A voice shouted. The party looked up to see Yuffie descending upon them.

"Yuffie?" Sora asked. "You're here too?"

"Of course."-

"Did you manage to collect any data from the enemy lines?" Leon asked.

"Of course I did."-

"Well, tell us what you found out?"-

"I found out where the endless numbers of men were coming from." She ran to the ramparts, to the highest observation station. The others followed her. She took out a pair of binoculars and pointed out into the horizon. "Look over there just right of the Imperial pontoon!"-

Leon gazed into the binoculars and looked to the furthest horizon. He observed what looked like a large ring erected horizontally upon the ground.

"What is that thing?" Leon asked, as he passed the binoculars to Cloud.

"That looks like some sort of teleportation gate." Yuffie explained. "That's the reason why there is an endless amount of troops appearing to make the charges every time."

"So that's how they did it." Cloud said, passing the binoculars to Riku. "By using that gate, they can deploy as much manpower and ammunition as they please. They could deploy an entire legion here if they wanted to. If an entire legion were to attack, we wouldn't be able to stop them."

"Uh…why not?" Goofy asked.

"You seem to have everything under control." Riku added. "Your soldiers have managed to maintain a strong defense of the castle."

"For now they have, but there are only ten thousand of us here to fight off the forces of the Dark Empire." Leon said. "The legions of the Dark Empire are far greater than that though. If they decide to send in a full legion to attack us, even the best of our soldiers would be completely overwhelmed."

"Well precisely how many men are in a legion?" Sora asked.

"Sneer tells me that there may be a total of 500 million men within its ranks." A shocking look of terror came over the faces of the KH team.

"500 million?"-

"But that can't be!" Donald shouted. "How could there be that many soldiers in one place at one time?"

"If they were to send a legion against us, they would send in one wave at a time, trying to tire our defense out." Leon uttered. "Eventually, we would give in to exhaustion."

"But Leon," Cloud explained, "it wouldn't be the legion that I would worry about, but rather the heavy artillery that they would be transporting. Up until now, we've only been barraged by light artillery and nothing more. I've seen the heavy duty siege guns that they use. With heavy artillery, they could level the entire castle within minutes."

"Then, there's only one thing we can do." Riku said. "We'll just have to cut off their manpower and supplies."

"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked. "Are you suggesting, Riku, that we attack the Imperial forces head on?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."-

"That's impossible though." Leon said.

"Why? Why is it impossible?"-

"That's why!" Leon pointed to the Imperial pontoon bridge. The bridge consisted of metal pieces that connected together to make an excessively long bridge that could reach up to the defenses of Hollow Bastion. "That pontoon bridge that was set up by the Dark Empire is now the only access ramp to go either in, or out. If we try to attack the Imperials lines with all our forces, the Empire could easily demolish the pontoon to their will. For the passed three days, the Imperials forces have always attacked at least twenty five times since the siege began. Their bombardment would be random at times. So far, this is the longest cease fire that we've had. They always maintain a cease fire until all their men have crossed safely back to the Imperials lines."

"When do they usually attack?" Sora asked.

"They attack every five hours, or so." Yuffie uttered. "But after this, they won't have to worry about a time limit; they could always attack us from another direction."

"What do you mean by that?" Cloud asked.

"I mean that!" Yuffie pointed out to reveal that a second and third pontoon bridge was being constructed.

"More spittoon bridges?" Goofy said.

"Pontoon!" Donald said.

"Yeah! What you said!"-

"They're constructing two more pontoons?" Cloud said.

"Make that four more pontoons!" Sora shouted as he pointed to the opposite side of the gate. There the party saw more pontoon pieces being connected across the waters of the rising falls.

"Oh God!" Leon said. "That's just out of the question."

"We have enough trouble trying to hold off the attacks from across one pontoon bridge" Cloud added. "Now there are four more being built?"

"Then we have no other choice, but to go with Riku's plan. If we attack the Imperial lines and take out that teleportation gate, we could easily cut their strength to the limit. Pretty soon we will have no trouble fighting them off."-

"But wait though. If we send in even a quarter of our forces, we'll further decrease our efforts to protect this city."-

"You do have point."-

The party looked down, dropping all hope of ever carrying out with a plan to help foil the attack on Hollow Bastion. Sora then looked at the tattered remains of Imperials soldiers. Just then, he was stricken with an idea.

"Maybe we don't have to go so far as that." He uttered.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"Care to clue us in?" Donald said, thumping his foot.

"All we have to do is disguise ourselves." Sora picked up one of the tinted helmets. "Disguise ourselves as Imperials and infiltrate their lines."

"Great idea.' Riku said.

"Hang on, you two." Cloud said. "You may disguise yourselves, but the Imperial forces are on the constant lookout on the pontoon. If there is anyone else who dares to cross the bridge after an attack has been long over, that person will be killed, whether they're dressed as Imperials, or not. The Empire isn't taking any chances to let spies penetrate the lines."

"Well, it was a nice try though." Sora said.

"What're you talking about?" Riku implied. "This'll work perfectly. We don't go on in the dead of night, or stealthily in the day. No, instead we'll linger with the Imperials after their next attack. Do you know when the Imperials will be attacking again?"

"Within the next five hours, or so." Leon replied.

"Then this is how we'll orchestrate our initiative." Riku began to explain his plan to his comrades.

Within the next five hours, there was constant barrage fire as both sides fired energy beams and projectiles at each other's lines. The castle met the onslaught head on, inflicting her own damage against the Imperials.

By this time, Riku and Sora had disguised themselves as Imperial soldiers.

"Are you sure that you just want the two of you going over there" Yuffie asked.

"That's correct." Riku replied. "Two can stealthily make it passed the Imperial defense a lot easier than if five, or all of us were going."

"But what if you're discovered though" Cloud asked.

"We'll be caught a mile behind enemy territory with nowhere to turn. I doubt that we'd get out alive if we're caught. So we'll be sure to keep a low profile. Right Sora?"-

"I gotcha." Sora replied. Just then, there was the sound of drums pounding in the air, heavy and dangerous, causing the very ground to shake. The artillery barrage ended and there was the eminent sound of crying and screaming coming across the field.

"They're coming back," Cloud uttered, "A lot sooner than we had anticipated."

"Alright Riku, Sora." Leon said. "Prepare to integrate yourselves into the Imperial lines."

"We're ready." Riku replied.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Sora added.

"Good luck, you two.' Goofy uttered.

"We'll be waiting for your safe return." Mickey added.

"Come back alive!" Donald implied.

"Thanks, you guys." Sora said.

"Are you ready, Sora?" Riku asked.

"I'm ready. For Kairi!"-

"For Kairi!"-

The two ran to the mouth of the pontoon bridge and leaned against it's solid railings. Riku lay on his back and pretended to be dead. Sora did the same and they waited for the Imperial forces to pass them by. Sure enough, within minutes, the Imperials forces were passing by the two with great speed. So great was the speed to match with their numbers that the pontoon began to shake violently.

Meanwhile, Leon, Cloud, and the others, along with a thousand defenders prepared to make impact with the oncoming Imperial forces.

"Get ready, you guys!" Cloud shouted. "Brace for impact! Fight to the last man!"

"Don't let a single one of those Imperials break our defense!" Leon added.

"Don't waver!" Yuffie cried. "Let's give these Imperials a fight their never forget!"

"For Hollow Bastion! For our home!"-

There was a loud cry that echoed through the ranks. Within seconds, both sides clashed with one another. The Imperial forces spearheaded right into the mass of defenders. Within seconds, utter chaos erupted up and down the ramparts.

As the last of the Imperial troops passed Riku and Sora, the two key bearers jumped up and joined behind the rear ranks of the attacking Imperials. However, they made sure to avoid contact in the fight. The fight itself raged on and on for ten minutes, and one thousand, of the two thousand attacking Imperials were killed. The rest were forces to retreat in such disarray.

"This is an excellent opportunity." Riku uttered. "Let's go!"

"Right behind you!" Sora added. The two, took flight with the Imperial troopers.

As they watched the Imperials flee, Leon and the others engaged in a loud cheer.

"The trap is set." Yuffie said.

"It's up to Riku and Sora." Cloud uttered.

"Goody luck, you two." Leon said, quietly.