Show Down (Part 6)
Vertilline stared after Fisher as he disappeared back up the alley. She took a half step after him and then paused. There was nothing she could do by herself to help him. She turned away an ran to find Baider.
She moved down several streets trying to make her way back to the main Nydrian force. Last time she had seen them, they were only a few blocks away from the docks. Vertilline had forged a head after General Riggs, only too late had she realized it was a trap. She raced down a side alley, careened around the corner right into the bell shaped muzzle of a blunderbuss. The owner of the weapon lowered it and chuckled, "Sorry Vertilline, I almost blew your head off."
Baider, the man who had spoken, was first mate of the recently sunk Sky Pearl. Vertilline had moved in with the ground forces and watched in horror as her ship fell from the sky. She had very little time to grieve however because shortly after the ship went down, the ground troops got bombarded with mortar fire from the city's turrets. She hadn't realized how much weight was on her shoulders until it was suddenly lifted with the realization that her crew was still alive.
"Baider! what happened."
The big man smiled, "The Sky Pearl got snared by those barrage balloons. As she was going down we pulled the emergency parachutes. They didn't work quite as well as I had hoped, but they slowed the ship enough. We came down on top of a big building and had to fight our way all the way down to the ground. Those blasted Laracidians are everywhere."
"I'm glad your alright, but we have to go to Fisher's aid. He is facing off with one of General Riggs' inventions." Vertilline paused as she looked around at the men. They carried an assortment of weapons including swords, rifles, several blunderbusses, and two mortars. "I don't think we have the fire power to stop the machine."
Baider hefted his blunderbuss. "I've got an idea. It probably runs on diesel, right? We'll just have to set it's fuel tanks on fire."
"That'll be easier said then done. What ever we decide, I think we ought to do it there. I don't think Fisher can distract it forever." With that, Vertilline led the way back up the streets towards the machine.