Siblings of Sol: Death of a Planet

Chapter 19

General Vos sits atop his totally black Kur and surveys the stronghold of the rebels that sits below the ridge he has assembled his troops upon. He knew that there would be no hope of approaching unseen with the five hundred men he had brought with him, so he did the next best thing, and that was to display them to the watching eyes of the rebels on the walls of the old monastery. He wanted to make as threatening an approach as possible, so that the rest of the people in the lowlands would not come to the aid of the rebels, who are supporting Lucien and his band of men.

Vos had spent most of the night planning the best way to attack the rebel base and rescue The Man from The Sphere as quickly as possible. The safest approach was to attack one of the walls on the side, which would, once breached, allow them access to the main courtyard where they would have room to maneuver as they swarmed in and subdued the defenders. The only problem was the amount of time it would take to complete such a move. Unfortunately, the Council had made it very clear that time was critical, and they needed The Man returned safely to The Peaks, because they suspected that he may be the only one who could explain what was happening around them and what they might be able to do to save the people left.

Vos, himself being a military man, had not put much stock in the stories and beliefs of the Brothers and Priestesses of the Order that worshiped on The Mount and revered The Sacred Sphere. He believed in his men and the power of their swords to accomplish what needed to be done. Vos looked out to each side and smiled to himself. "Now, we will do what needs to be done to stop this band of rebels from interfering with the true power of this land."

Carlo has set up his command post on the second floor of the monastery in a room right at the corner that gives him a commanding view of the courtyard and the long tunnel to the west. He had spent time discussing the possible attack strategies that General Vos might attempt with Lucien and Mur all morning before they left with The Man from The Sphere. They had concluded that he would either breach one of the walls or would come at them down the tunnel from the west. One way would take them a while to do, and the other would be suicidal because of the armed posts down the length of the tunnel that could hold off a small army. Their contact in the Palace had told them that the council wanted The Man back as soon as possible, so they had decided to cover both options and any other that Vos might come up with.

The land around the monastery sloped down steeply except for the west tunnel and the north wall beside the central courtyard, so Carlo had set men on the top of the walls with enough arrows to rain down on the enemy whichever way they came, plus he had a group with large shields and long spears arranged two deep around the entrance to the Main Hall to hold off the attackers as the archers picked their targets and protected them.

Carlo only needed to hold off General Vos and his men for about two days, till Lucien could carry out his plan for the Starman as he called him. He was more than confident that he could accomplish such a simple task with the thickness of the monastery's walls and the ease with which the tunnel could be defended.

One last look out at the force that had gathered on the ridge, made him smile as he went back to his small desk and waited for things to start.

Vos raises his sword into the air, pointing straight to the clouds in a defiant pose, and calls out loudly. "Forward March!"

The troops all along the ridge move as one down towards the old monastery over fields that are now bare because of the crops already having been harvested. The line of Kur's throwing up dust in the dry soil, adds to the menacing approach that Vos had planned throughout the night. He wanted as quick and lifesaving attack as possible, with the one goal of retrieving The Man from The Sphere, so the more fear he can place in the enemy, the better his chances of accomplishing just that.