Chapter 84
Redwood
Redwood was one of the oldest cities on the western continent, founded by remnants of Zefer's revolutionaries who reached its southern shores after the Fracture of Centra. Like Sequoia, it got its name from the bountiful and towering redwoods that provided timber for the construction of its permanent dwellings as construction from stone fell out of fashion.
There was once a time when those redwoods had blanketed the whole eastern side of the continent. Alas, as of the horrific deforestation of the previous century, this was no longer the case. The Galbadians, and later the Esthari, had lain waste to the forested landscape so that the nearest redwoods were several miles inland, and many of these were stunted and missing many of their branches. The Galbadians had almost burnt the city to the ground during their invasion four decades before, an event rightly remembered as 'the Burning'. While most of the wooden structures were now gone, the few stone buildings from the city's founding had survived the Burning, including the famous pantheon overlooking the harbour. Yet Redwood had been reborn as a bustling port hub, one of the busiest in the World, with its new buildings sprawling away from its gigantic U-shaped stone harbour.
At the bow of the White SeeD Ship, Thalassa beheld Redwood with her people behind her. The ancient city had not long recovered from the hard-fought and most recent Battle of Redwood two summers prior, which was the first time the current generation of White SeeDs had fought a major engagement against Esthar.
This time around, they were not inserting from the base of cliffs twenty miles away to march overnight, but were at the head of the Centran fleet, with the two captured airship carriers either side of her. There were no children present, having stayed behind with Ellone at FH, including Ifrit. The frigates and destroyers from the FH base were in two rectangular formations behind the carriers. She knew Relm was in command of one and Noctis was captaining the other. Fujin had opted to aid White SeeD again, satisfied that her son would be adequately watched over by his GF, who would also safeguard the other children.
Cannons came from the enemy ships as soon as they were in shooting range; multi-coloured balls of exploding plasma arching through the sky toward them. Give 'em hell, Thalassa relayed to Leviathan, who begun preparations to conjure a huge wave to smash this fleet against the harbour, sinking below the surface. All the same, Redwood's harbour could be a death trap for an approaching hostile fleet, and its U-shape would reduce the effectiveness of Leviathan's tsunamis and whirlpools. The big wave was deliberately slow moving as it took form, also covering their approach, which was hastened by Pandemonium, though it would also veil their view of the enemy fleet until it made contact.
Yet things rapidly changed.
They're not there! Leviathan warned.
What?
She got no response, and started looking along the wave. Indeed, it had passed by the first line of sphere-shaped enemy destroyers as though they were not physically there. When the tsunami should have been lifting and capsizing the second, the ships simply disappeared. They had been looking through a hologram curtain, and had evidently just passed through it. Thalassa was looking at an empty section of harbour, with the only enemy ships protectively arrayed in a row by the moorings to prevent enemy ships from docking. They begun firing upon them.
Leviathan suddenly returned to Thalassa, and she knew immediately that he was significantly weakened.
What the hell happened?
I was struck with depth charges, imbued with lightning! he rasped. This is the work of Marcus Ramius! He knew exactly how we would attack and where I would need to be! We have been outsmarted here, little one!
Thalassa had no time to respond. The unmistakeable and deafening report of Paracelsus cannons were now coming from land, striking at her ship and the two carriers with deadly accuracy. The closest western militaries had to these weapons were railguns. No forcefield lasted long once a Paracelsus was trained on it.
Full-grown and navy-reared fastitocalons were floating over the rails, in addition to some slave-crowned imps, diverting critical attention away from the larger threat ringing the harbour. The monsters were soon joined by re-commissioned Gespers and Elastoids. These notorious and somewhat quirky loose cannons had been rendered obsolete before the end of the First Sorceress War as the first generation of cyborgs had been completed. They had been awkward fighters at best, more apt to malfunction and begin attacking their own people, but they had been repurposed here to be launched at enemy ships and sow distraction and discord.
One Gesper elongated an arm to grab her, though as Thalassa raised her gunblade a fraction the grasping, chrome hand was knocked over her shoulder. She launched forward to strike its head, but it just bounced off as though she had swung a baseball bat at a lump of metal. Instinct took over as she rolled under another clumsy grasp, expending a fraction of Leviathan's depleted power to knock it through the ship's wooden rail. It dropped through the water surface like a dead weight, but she knew it would be back.
'Lightning!' she shouted, then repeated it into her comms. 'Elemental attacks on those tin cans, now!'
Not that White SeeDs even need to be told; she could already hear the sizzle of bolt-imbued weapons making contact. But the crises did not stop there. Warding off a pair of a imps and a wheeling turtapod, Thalassa heard Noctis speaking frantically in her earpiece from his own ship. As soon as the two Centran airship carriers entered the 'U', the first line of FH-helmed frigates had smacked into a solid barrier, an invisible wall denying them entry and separating them from the strongest of the fleet.
The next stage of the subterfuge revealed itself. The remainder of the Esthari fleet in the area had also been veiled by their hologram curtains. While the Allied ships could only see empty waters behind them, an imperial fleet was now tearing across the narrow strait from Nanchuket Island. About halfway across, they passed through the curtain and made themselves known. Thalassa knew for certain that Marcus Ramius would be leading the foray, and the Aged Admiral was going to deliver a debilitating blow to Centra's untrained New Royal Navy, now horribly exposed out in the open waters. Distant reports signified more Paracelsus cannons were placed strategically down the harbour, targeting these endangered ships that were now desperately changing to an eastern and western course. And Thalassa knew Ramius would be targeting their large civilian liner first, which carried roughly a quarter of Centra's fighting force.
Hyne, how could we have been so naïve? she thought
Perhaps the recent string of victories over the Empire, capped off by the acquisition of Griever, had made the Allies too confident. This was a very sobering reminder that, despite recent defeats, the Esthar juggernaut was still a very dangerous and formidable enemy. Selena Vlahos was now presumably High Commander and had already shown she shared the tactical genius of her grandsire, coupled with the ferocity of the Shieldmaidens on her mother's side. If they got on land, Thalassa knew Vlahos would be there to meet any GF bearers head on.
We're sitting chicobos out here!
I can deal with the ships in the harbour in one, Leviathan assured her. But Ramius will have anticipated my movements.
You're right! Thalassa thought resignedly. But we don't have a choice! If we don't get on land soon, the cannons will wipe us all out!
Her GF parted from again, this time leaving her with water magic as though she had absorbed a full stock from a draw point. Thalassa knew he would not be lending her any more strength for the remainder of the battle. Despite the lack of any power-ups, she cut down an imp as Tian and Sendo neared her. Tian fought most similarly to Xu than either of her twin brothers did, with the jian and bishou, though she knocked a stumbling Gesper out of commission with a para-magic loaded shuriken. Sendo made another one haywire simply by parrying a clumsy swipe with his lightning-encompassed broadsword, following with an stout blow to its rotund midsection. A third converged on Thalassa, who conjured a sphere of clear water to lift it many feet into the air, before suddenly banishing the spell it to allow it to plunge comically into the sea.
'I didn't know we were playing blitzball!' came from Gilgamesh, who had appeared at her left.
With her flank covered, Thalassa had a small window to look around. She saw the flexible appendages of the spinning Elastoids were making kindling out of the walls of the cabins, each crunch of a connection like blows to Thalassa's chest. Their home was being ransacked before their very eyes! She could see four of them, with one heading her way. A White SeeD named Amos, while fending off a jaw-snapping fastitocalon, was hurled over the rail as the Elastoid's metal tentacles made a connection with his torso.
'I got it!' Gilgamesh said confidently, launching himself at the Elastoid with Ultima Weapon's broad, simmering blade covering his large form.
Except there were three remaining, spinning up and down the gangways like giant chakrams. Thalassa needed everyone to regroup before anyone else was caught in their path, and screamed a command for everyone to assemble at portside, covered by their lightning mages. A sudden hurricane wind drowned out the sound of her voice, and such a tempest could only have been conjured by Fujin. The three Elastoids were caught in this vortex, their appendages continuously striking each other as they spun out of control. The whirlwind vanished a quickly as it appeared, at the snap of one of Fujin's fingers, and these oversized, battered mechanical units disappeared beneath the water.
With a huge upsurge, Leviathan's spell manifested itself. He upturned all the destroyers lining the edges of the harbour, catapulting every last one of the compact, rounded vessels into the air with unbelievable force and leaving them to plummet down onto the harbour. Not that there were any hapless soldiers placed on the harbour at present, as Vlahos and Ramius would have expected this. The boats were probably only manned by cyborgs for such an eventuality, likely remaining from the very first generation of cyborgs; operational for over forty years now, they were as much fodder as the Gespers and Elastoids were. In his already weakened state, such a feat took the remainder of Leviathan's energy, and he was defenceless as he was acquired by underwater cannons. He would be out of commission for a while, and his essence did not return to her, but at least they could get to land now.
Thalassa ordered their helmsman to follow Noctis' carrier to the eastern side of the harbour. The original assault plan had been for Thalassa and Fujin to lend their strength to Noctis' force, also containing his father, the Pluto Knights and the tonberries, to take the inner city. The other, led by Relm and Beatrix, tried to make the west. Relm's ship contained the remainder of the cactuars, now junctioned with handpicked Royal Army personnel, and it would be this speedy arm of the Centran force that would try to complete the original objective of reaching the outskirts of Redwood and intercepting the supply lines.
They were struck by Paracelsus' twice. Although sinking one of the carriers would result in thousands of casualties, destroying the White SeeD Ship and its whole fighting force would be a highly symbolic feat for the Esthari.
'How we holding up?' Thalassa asked their helmsperson, Amelia, fearfully.
'At sixty percent, Captain!'
'Shit,' she whispered.
'We can only take a few more!' Amelia proffered.
They were still a distance from the shore. Though, mercifully, it seemed the bulk of the Centran carrier was now shielding them from most of the firing cannons. Thalassa saw one more big flash, the broad beam firing at them from the harbourside road; Vlahos must have had it repositioned specifically for them. Thalassa saw Fujin trying to move it with strong winds, but sappers had already placed wind barriers around it in anticipation of her. The neon-green beam was checked by their invisible forcefield, but Thalassa had no time to see if it would hold as a turtapod spun at her. As she rolled along splintered deck boards to avoid it, Gilgamesh cut it in two with an upthrust, which both halves spinning to end up with their tusks stuck in the deck boards.
The frantic voice of the normally collected Amelia was in her earpiece again.
'Forty percent!'
She figured they would have just enough time to disembark.
Again, Thalassa had to acknowledge the tactical ingenuity of Selena Vlahos. She could see tight placements of troops upon the encompassing harbourside now, but none were exposed enough so that large numbers could fall victim to a GF attack. They were waiting on the far side, in tight squads with their back to buildings, one of the nearest of which was the famous pantheon. It would mean Thalassa could get a force on land in short order, but every yard would have to be fought for. They were not being harassed from the air either, as Vlahos knew Fujin would effortlessly swat any aircraft from the sky.
Thalassa also noticed many of the waiting soldiers were not Esthari, but wore the unmistakable white-cloaked attire of Temple Knights. Evidently, the Archmaester had thrown in his lot with Hyne's Favourite Descendant.
'Twenty percent, Captain!' Amelia warned frantically.
Thalassa saw a swarm of imps converging on the bridge. Some of them forced their way between the two White SeeDs guarding the steps. Amelia had seen them over her shoulder, but knew she had to steer them safely into the harbour. Thalassa started running toward them as three begun conjuring fireballs which swiftly engorged in size. She tried to use the last of her water magic to douse them, but the imps farther back merely dispelled it and shot some lightning bolts at her, forcing her to hit the deck. Just as portside got within plank range, the imps launched their fireballs into the bridge. As Thalassa got to her feet, she did not see Amelia get consumed within that blaze, but could hear her screams. Gilgamesh stepped in front of her to shield her from the imps.
Behind her, Kintara had lowered the gangplank. Thalassa had no choice but to remain collected, or many more of her people would be lost.
'Everyone off ship in twos, now!' she ordered. 'Lightning mages and myself, last!'
Her people followed in a tactical order, with Kintara and Fujin leading them off. Though with recent losses, the only lightning mages they had left were Raiden, Tian and Sendo. Those three were fighting tooth and nail to cover the escape of the others, and Fujin's gale-force gusts was keeping the bulk of the airborne monsters from landing on deck. The Gespers and Elastoids were unrelenting, however, despite one in five randomly going haywire before it even engaged a target. Gilgamesh left Thalassa's side to sprint along starboard, keeping the mechanical units at bay with broad swings of Ultima Weapon.
The cannon struck them again. On land, Thalassa saw Noctis and a detachment of Centrans going for it, but a formation of Temple Knight spearman had moved to block their sortie. When that neon-green beam made contact, Thalassa heard their shield fail with an audible sizzle all around. Now they were well and truly defenceless. One more hit, and the White SeeD Ship would be history.
On land, centuries of Esthari were crossing the road in a shield wall, likely in a bid to hem them in. Kintara had assumed command on the ground, and the White SeeDs were trying to force a path to the Centrans farther down, but were becoming hopelessly outnumbered.
For the few still on the ship, their para-magic was almost expended. Raiden and the other two were now struggling against a group of Gespers. One wrapped its arms around Tian, binding her like an anacondaur would. When Raiden realised, he advanced toward it, though the last of his lightning magic resulted in a couple of thin, pitiful bolts stuttering around his quarterstaff. Ordinarily, the underappreciated Raiden was a match for both Raine or his late father, but his latest, unmagical blow caused his weapon to splinter. His split second of dismay gave another Gesper chance to clamp its big hands around his long neck. Raiden's own hands went to the Gesper's metallic ones, but they soon tightened like a vice, and Raiden's jaw went slack. As Sendo expended his own magic, he fared just as poorly, his sword bouncing from an Elastoid's core and almost falling from his grip.
Thalassa knew they were not going to make it, but she was not prepared to leave them. As Captain, she needed to be the last one off the ship. There was no question of her leaving them to die. Matron and Kurin would have been of a like mind, she was sure of it. Raising Riptide, she took two steps forward, but found herself being constricted much in the same way Tian was and lifted off her feet. She realised Gilgamesh had scooped her off the deck like a small child, his three deathly-grey but robust arms stopping her from moving.
'Lemme go!' she demanded.
'Nuh uh,' Gilgamesh grunted simply, and sprinted for one of the breaks in the ship rail down the stern. Without Leviathan, she was powerless to resist.
'That's an order!' Thalassa protested furiously.
'Not a SeeD!' Gilgamesh shot back.
With a gigantic leap, Gilgamesh landed on the harbour, and did not stop running until they were at the rearmost of the other White SeeDs. From this distance, Thalassa saw the Paracelsus fire in its entirety as the circular, green plasma ray struck the now helpless wooden ship. 'No!' she screamed fruitlessly. The unrelenting beam cut through the hull as though it was not there, the Temple Knights able to sweep it from left to right. Thalassa saw it as though in slow motion; her home of twelve years, the ship she had been elected captain, blown apart. When the beam dissipated, the mast, sails and all the cabins abovedeck had been vapourised along with everyone and everything. The remains of the ship soon started to break apart, the exposed cabins below filling with water and gradually dragging it under.
The remaining White SeeDs gave a collective, anguished cry. While Edea's SeeD might survive this battle, her ship was forever lost.