Strike Back with the Power in Hand
"Alright, I've got lots of questions, but first and foremost, what the hell are you wearing on your head Vincent?!" Flavia said loudly.
"It's a stetson. Stetsons are cool," Vincent flipped his hat off, threw it in the air and caught it.
Vincent flipped his hat back on inside the Feroxi citadel. They had arrived several hours ago with the Ylissean army in tow. Naturally the Khans were shocked.
Flavia sighed. "So what are you doing here with an army? I had to practically hold down my citizens myself to stop them from attacking!"
"If I may…" Lowell's soft voice drifted through the room. Vincent glanced behind him at Lowell, smoking a pipe as usual.
"Where did you-" Flavia began until she was cut off by Lowell.
"Valm is invading. They'll be here in roughly ten days' time," Lowell stated.
And with that, the Khan began military preparations.
Vincent woke up at the sound of his name. He quickly adjusted his hat and looked around the round table. He saw an annoyed Chrom, a smirking Khan Flavia and Lowell as stoic as ever.
"Huh?" Vincent said in surprise.
"Glad you could join us Vincent. We were just getting to the part where you opened the gates of the city for us," Chrom said irked.
"Sorry Chrom. Just tired. And daydreaming. Did you see those ruins we passed!?" Vincent had been very annoyed when Chrom wouldn't allow him to check out the ruins.
Well, perhaps it's for the best.
How so?
Don't you remember what you saw in that dream?
Dream? Sorry, I have a lot of dreams.
The one where you talked with your future selves.
That couldn't have been real. That just doesn't happen.
I can guarantee it is real.
How could you know? You're me.
Exactly. I'm the smarter part of you.
Enough! Just tell me why it's good that I am not having the time of my life in ruins?
Two told you to go to the ruins after the invasion. If he's you, he'd have no reason to lie.
Hmm…
"Do try and pay attention Vincent. An inattentive tactician isn't good," Chrom sighed.
"Spymaster."
"Whatever."
"So Chrom, what was this about me opening a gate?" Vincent said, leaning forward.
Chrom just laughed.
Son of a bitch! I swear Chrom gives me these missions on purpose!
Vincent and his spies crept forward towards the gate. Lowell had delivered the news that Port Ferox had been taken by the vanguard of Valmese. It was time to seize the city.
The spies and assassins of Ylisse were crouched low to the ground and moving quickly. Time was of the essence. The army was hidden nearby without torches. Waiting.
Matts and Heather paired up. The plan was to scale the walls on each side of the gate. Lowell had informed them in his reconnaissance how the gate was structured. They planned according to that.
Lowell and Vincent reached the stone wall of the city at the same time as Matts and Heather. Vincent grabbed the grappling hook out of his inner cloak pocket. Lowell pulled out his as well. They prepared to throw.
Guards walk by…turn around…ten seconds until…
"Now!" Vincent said in a hushed whisper. He threw his hook up the wall. It latched on, though a bit noisier than he would have liked. Lowell's of course had hit silently. Matts and Heather's were too far away to hear.
The tactician and the assassin made their ascent. Both climbing their ropes with different levels of expertise. Vincent's little experience in the field showed clearly to the trained eye. Lowell was a ghost climbing the rope. Though that was to be expected.
As they approached the top of the wall, they could see the Valmese guard pacing. Lowell took out a throwing dart. Poison tipped. And threw with precision.
A direct hit. The guard looked at his leg with annoyance. Then a blank look came over his face. And he fell over with a clatter.
Success.
Vincent vaulted over the wall, followed by Vincent. The giant gears for opening the gate were located on either side of the large metal gate.
It was Vincent's job to bring up the gate. Matts and Heather were defending him and Lowell was eliminating any aggressors that might try to harm them from a distance.
Vincent began to rotate the gear that opened the gate. It was noisy, and bound to attract guards. When he had the gate halfway up he heard the first scream.
Vincent spared a brief look at Matts, who was withdrawing a knife from a man's throat. Other screams could be heard, likely from Lowell's victims. Vincent began to work even harder. More and more guards began attacking the two spies that protected Vincent. They were felled with ease.
Vincent got the gate up and locked. The way for the Ylisseans and Feroxi was open. Now came the hard part.
Surviving.
Vincent joined Heather and Matts' knife work. His own knife shown red with blood. Distant clanking of armor could be heard. The army was on the way.
Lowell rejoined them some five minutes later, his tan clothes and scarf covered in blood. With Lowell's rejoining, an influx of guards occurred.
Guess he was making a difference out there.
Vincent threw his knife at the nearest knight, dropping him to the ground to choke on his own blood. Vincent held down his stetson and began to cast magic. He launched several fireballs at the heavily armored knights, melting the armor onto them.
The sounds of battle could be heard from bellow. Chrom's army had arrived. Now the real fighting began. Soldiers who were fighting Vincent's crew now left to hold off the surging Ylisseans and Feroxi. Lowell and Heather quickly dispatched of the stragglers while Matts and Vincent navigated themselves down the stone steps of the wall to the main fighting.
The two of them reached Chrom, who of course, was heading the charge. "Chrom! Orders!?" Vincent shouted over the chaos of battle. An arrow flew by and almost shot Vincent's stetson off his head. "Oi! Get away from my hat!" Vincent burned the offender and turned back to Chrom.
"If you can take out the commander, we should be able to push through!" Chrom shouted. Vincent nodded and rounded up his posse of spies and assassins.
The four of them broke off from the main fight and ran down the street. They ducked through narrow alleys and deserted streets. Occasionally they ran into stray Valmese, but it was otherwise boring. They had a poor commander if they expected to eliminate them with all their units in a frontal charge.
Damn, and I thought this battle would be hard.
Then they arrived at the port section of the city. And there floated the many Valmese ships. And what looked to be the commander.
Bingo.
Vincent motioned to the rest to surge forward. If they crept along the edge of the boat, they might be able to hush the guards and then the commander. Sounded like a plan. He quickly relayed it to the others.
They slowly snuck below eye vision of the people on the boat. Soon, they were near the bridge leading from shore to the boat. The four of them drew their throwing knives. And they struck.
It was a quick skirmish. The commander and his guards were taken by surprise and quickly silenced. Only a small stab wound was on Vincent. The other three, of course were clean. Vincent grimaced as he swallowed the foul tasting elixir.
Wish Anna were here…I should train her so she can accompany us on these types of missions. Actually, what if I had a whole team of people for missions that required separating from the army? That would work…!
Vincent and the other three rejoined the battle.