110 Phase 96: Katrin’s Command

Sandy was relieved to see Katrin arrive. "Kat! Where's Colin? We could really use his help around now!"

"He's gone to meet Satrox, I think." Katrin answered.

"Great! We just need to hold out until they get their act together." Sandy turned back to the battle. "We're getting hit pretty bad here."

Scopia's sea forces were proving just as strong in fresh water as they were in salt water. Half the town, the half nearest to the river, was filled with fighting. The other half was getting badly damaged by heavy artillery from underwater, shot at by unseen Comrades from inside the river itself.

The source of the river here was a lot deeper and bigger than the one at Floras, Katrin noted. It was big enough for Scopia's mass of seaweed to lurk in. As long as that mass was defending them, nothing could touch her or that underwater artillery.

"We're in trouble." Katrin agreed.

"We lost all our own artillery before I even arrived." Sandy grimaced. "The town mayor put them on the walls facing the river, ready to shoot down enemy ships. Scopia's underwater forces took them all out in a single minute."

Katrin put a call through to Satrox. "Hey, is Colin ready yet?"

"He's just left. Who knows where he's going or what he'll do? But he did declare for us, so I expect we'll see some serious action soon enough." Satrox answered. "How are things going over there?"

Katrin told him.

Satrox fell silent for a bit, then said, "What exactly is Scopia throwing at you? That heavy artillery you're talking about?"

Katrin checked. "Ice, mainly. Big chunks of it. And I mean big chunks."

"Water-types…" Satrox said, as if confirming something. "Katrin, do you have any strong water or earth types of your own?"

"Me?" Katrin thought about it. "I've got Colin's old Comrades. Bubblesaur… growly bear… desert wolf… rainduck…"

"Not good enough." Satrox said. "I've seen them. They can't stop a river."

"Stop a river?!" Katrin gasped.

"Or divert it, just for a while. You'll need to go up into the mountains, and build a dam. The best way would be to use water element work, just pile up chunks of ice until it all clogs up together. Lacking that, rocks will do. It doesn't have to be there long, just until the river dries up below."

"What good will that do?"

"Scopia's artillery is almost definitely fish." Satrox explained. "And her seaweed's stronger in the water than on dry ground. If you can remove the water, you weaken her Comrades a great deal, maybe even leave her artillery dry and gasping."

"Makes sense." Sandy nodded. "Kat, I'll send Lithon with you. He'll collapse some boulders into the river. That should do the trick, at least buy us enough time for Colin to arrive."

"Who's Lithon?" Katrin asked.

"My Comrade. A stone golem, good against physical attacks and a Command-type to boot." Sandy told her. "You should ask the Mayor about the best place to collapse rocks on the river."

"All the best, Kat." Satrox said, and cut the link.

Katrin turned to Sandy. "Who's the mayor?"

Sandy pointed out the window.

***

Francis Harmony, elder son of House Harmony, was half covered in dust and barking orders non-stop on the fifth line of defense when Katrin reached him. "Mr. Mayor?"

"Yeah?" Francis asked, then yelled, "You there! Back up a little! You're too exposed to long-range attacks!"

"What's the best place to collapse some rocks and block the river?" Katrin shouted, as another huge chunk of ice smashed into a nearby house.

"Go through Creepy Mines!" Francis barked a laugh. "The main tunnel leads to a huge cavern with the river running through it. Plenty of those sharp rock things hanging from the ceiling… what do you call them? Stalactites? Something like that?"

Another chunk of ice landed six feet in front of them. Francis and Katrin dove to the ground as sharp pieces of ice went flying in every direction.

"And hurry." Francis added, trying to dust off his armor. "We can't hold much longer!"

A dazzling ice beam slammed into Francis and the next thing Katrin knew, he was gone. "Oh, scrap…" Katrin winced.

"We're DOOMED!" one of Francis' aides had his hands to his head, eyes wide. "Our commander's dead!"

"Calm down!" Katrin barked. "Francis just respawned!"

"Commander!" someone yelled. "Unit Five has reached the enemy flanks! Should they engage the enemy under water? Orders?"

Katrin gaped. "NO! Do NOT engage! Scopia's got a giant seaweed monster down there! What does Unit Five have?"

"Crabs, mainly. That's all we have for water units." The aide told her.

"Crabs." Katrin shook her head. "Defensive tank-types?"

"That's right."

"Put them on our front lines. They should do well even if they're bombarded with water-type artillery." Katrin said.

The aide nodded in agreement. "Redirect unit five to reinforce the front lines! Send them to fill in the eastern breach!"

"Commander!" Another yell sounded. "Enemy reinforcements coming upriver! Lookout reports two Rhinotles!"

"What do we have at the western front?" The aide asked.

"Units Three and Four! Air support and the jumping monkeys! Both hit-and-run teams!"

Katrin shook her head. "Those Rhinotles will smash them."

"What do we do?!" The aide, wonder of all wonders, was looking at her.

"Rhinotles…" Katrin found herself looking at Lithon, the gigantic stone Golem that Sandy sent her. Lithon was perfect for the job. "Can you handle it?"

Lithon rumbled.

"I'll send you the bears and the panthers for support!" Katrin offered. "You're a command-type, right?"

Lithon rumbled again.

"Fine, I'll send the Shadow Hawk and the Bubblesaur too!" Katrin told him. "Just stop those Rhinotles!"

Lithon marched off with Katrin's strongest seven Comrades.

"Commander…!" Another yell sounded.

Katrin sneaked a glance and found all of Francis' aides looking at her expectantly.

"Me?" Katrin blinked.

They nodded.

{I need to stop the river… but maybe I could do it with the regular forces instead of sneaking in through the mines.}

{Colin's leading entire armies now. If I do this, maybe I'll be one step closer to him.}

"Fine." Katrin sighed. "Let's do this."

With identical grins, the aides of the Silverveins command center got to work with their new front-lines commander.

***

Silverveins Town had seven lines of defense and ten units guarding it.

The first four lines of defense, perimeter checkpoints, minefields, surrounding bunkers and outer town walls, had been overrun. Scopia's forces had pushed Silverveins' defenders to the inner town walls, the fifth line of defense. If they had to, they could abandon the town entirely and fall back to the Town Keep, also known as Harmony Mansion. Harmony Mansion itself had an outer perimeter, which was the sixth line, and for the seventh, the building's own walls.

In other words, pulling back from the fifth line of defense meant losing the town and making a last stand.

{If we abandon the town, we're moving OUT, not locking ourselves in.} She decided. {We're holding the lines HERE.}

Of the ten units guarding it, three had J-Knights mixed in with the rest and played minor roles under Francis' command, which explained why Sandy was actually given the role of a Lookout rather than fighting on the front lines. Katrin was fuming when she learnt that Francis and his forces wouldn't accept Sandy as Commander, but would accept Katrin because she was a Heroine of Lamico for her part in re-opening the trade routes just last night.

{Blasted Lamico pride. It's odd. It was the Protectorate's people carrying me on their shoulders last night, and Scopia that we fought. Very funny.}

"Sandy!" Katrin called. "Francis got killed! I've taken over Silverveins Defense Command!"

"Great!" Sandy said. "What's the plan?"

"Stop the river, remember?"

Sandy yelped. "Don't leave Command! I'd rather…"

"I'm not!" Katrin said. "Can you stop the river?"

Katrin told her what Francis said about Creepy Mines.

Sandy laughed. "Looks like we switched roles. I won't need all my forces for that. I'll send you half my Comrades. Lithon should know what to do with them."

"Great!" Katrin said.

With Sandy off to stop the river, all Katrin needed to do was hold out, reserve their forces' strength until the river dried out and they made their counter-attack.

Towards that end, she pulled back their attack units, giving them a reprieve to rest. It felt odd commanding units, whole groups of Knights and defenders and all their Comrades. A single unit could have up to a hundred Comrades involved, and Katrin was moving them all by telling those three aides what she wanted.

She also made a change of policy that Francis would have howled to hear. "No, we do not need to worry about the buildings! Quit protecting them, and protect yourselves! We can always rebuild!"

Francis had been trying to save the town from damage. Katrin was trying to save the town from Scopia.

Scopia must have sensed a counter-attack coming when the Silverveins formations changed. She started fortifying the town's outer walls.

{If she digs in too well, this could drag out a long time… which should be good, since we're basically waiting for Colin.}

Katrin frowned. Scopia didn't seem like the kind to be willing to sit and wait.

"I need Scouts." Katrin decided. "Fast, accurate scouts who can get a clear picture. Can anyone do it?"

"There are two guys in Unit Three who have top notch air scouts." One of the aides assured her. "What are they looking for?"

"Check Scopia's formations. Find out what her attack units are doing." Katrin said.

The reports came in five minutes later. The aides heard it and whistled.

"She's pulled back her attack units to rest up too." Katrin shook her head. "Scopia's not digging in. She's laying a trap and preparing to counter-counter attack. Now that sounds like her."

Clever. Scopia's counter-counter attack was totally going to decimate Katrin's forces when she made her move.

"So… what do we do?" the aides asked.

Katrin thought about that for a minute, struggling with situations and ideas that had never occurred to her in real life, finding herself badly lacking in experience and knowledge in these matters.

For a long minute, frustration and despair threatened to roll all over her, but then a sudden smile came to her face. The answer had come to her as plain as day.

"I call Satrox."

***

Satrox did not disappoint her. He offered two possible solutions on the spot.

"A counter-counter attack?" Satrox mused. "You can try a step-by-step push, shifting defense and attack units each time you make an advance. Or better, use a draw-them-out tactic, dividing your forces into two or three groups. Send in one group to attack, let them counter, and pull back. When they chase you, send in the other from the side, or from both sides, if you prefer. Does Scopia have good recon?"

"Huh?"

"Is she able to see your units easily?"

"I think so. She changed her tactics the minute we changed ours."

"Then draw-them-out isn't going to work unless..." Satrox paused. "Hmm. This isn't going to take too long, and Colin's already killed Banjo over at Joseph Town."

"He's not coming here?" Katrin was disappointed.

"Maybe later. Right now, he's going straight for Port Rachel. He wants to end this fast."

"So he's going to sneak in and summon the whole forest out of nowhere?"

"Nah. He's trying to make them surrender, not destroy everything."

Katrin groaned. "That's going to take forever."

"Tell him that." Satrox said. "But about your problem, I think we can solve it. Do the Draw-Them-Out tactic, but send your entire force."

"What?!" Katrin blinked. "How is that…?"

"Pull back your force once they counter, and shift attack units for defense units. This will make Scopia think you're using the step-by-step tactic and she'll attempt to overwhelm you at your weakest point. That's when you withdraw step-by-step, and I'll come in."

"You?" Katrin blinked.

"Yeah. I'll bring some friends." Satrox told her. "Just tell me when the river dries up and you start your move. I'll be there by the time you start withdrawing."

"If you say so."