Scheiß! Battle of Fort Irrigan!

in der morning, i hear da familiar knock of brekkfast. I follow close behind bwicky who answers da door, n just as i hoped, he hands me a couple warm bread rolls from off da food cart. i scurry back ta where Ede is sitting n we eat together, listening as Tobias ‘splains how he found Mr. V at hims hometown in da dreamscape. turns out V admitted to killing dat hume commander, Stormblade. we dont has much time to discuss before Drexla gets a message on her beepy doodad about a whole army of chimera heading fer fort irrigan! only a few miles away (will dis happen to every town we go to now?? i could never ever visit home if das it..) V shows up outside our window just long enuff fer an argument when we get another knock at da door – louder and meaner than da first one. Tobicat promptly shoves V back out da winder, agreeing to regroup later. da guards reealllyyy want inside, but we make ‘em wait as long as we can so V can get away. they barely listened when we said we were all still nekked! sheesh.
 
deez guards are all humes, dressed just liek da ones we saw arresting Mr. V yesterday. they toss our room around lookin fer him, finding nothin. They then walk us to some council meeting. on da way there we feel da ground tremor, n see whole buildings flying in the air! all da Dimin buildings are being carried off by drones.. do they already know about da army? do they not have enuff hope to fight fer their home?
Highbloom is first to arrive after us, n hurries into da chamber where we are all sat to meet wif da council members (all but da dead one). as we wait, i just sit quietly on my hands.. everyone is talking, with urgency n worry about what to do. What could i hope to comtribute, i dont know how to plan shit! i never been in a city dis big, seen so many pepol. ..not since Arknoka.
i tune back into my surroundings when a scarred, pale woman wif short spikey hair shoves through da door, carrying da corpse of a chimera over her brawny shoulder. dis is da one whos most in charge here, Commander General Brightshield. da whole band of soldiers on patrol wif her sacrificed their lives so she can be here wif us right now.. there is a determination in her emerald eyes that reassures me. All doze troops believed in her, and she believes we can win this.
 
Brightshield scoffed, unsurprised to hear of da selfish Dimin’s escape. Drexla leaves ta see about whos left n convince dem ta help. she returns shortly after, having been promoted ta Dimin Commander (wow wow! impressive!) her n Luna take dis opportunity ta inform da Commander General of Dr. Matthias’ role in causing all dis mess. they urge Brightshield to send him away, so he cant easily interfere. he is summoned to the meeting hall (i hope she listens, n just kills him! i’ll help!). i dont even smell hims yet, when i can feel Ede stiffen next to me. then she runs off! Bricky runs after her, and i after him.
All da pepol are panicking, but i manage to weave through the bodies and we manage to find Ede at the end of a short alleyway. shes crying.. when we approach her, Bricky kneels down to comfort her. she expressed her fear of Matthias, of his plans.. i can only hold her hand in solidarity. her n Bwicky share a unique existence, after all. he tries to comfert her best he can, sharing how he also felt dis way. “we all hate ourselves in the beginning”...
just then, we saw Dr. Matthias pass the alley – followed by Luna n Tobias. Bricky n i agreed to take Ede to da harbor in hopes we can put her on a boat out of harm’s way. its hard not to feel anxious while everyone in da street is panicking, but we press on.
Ede starts freakin out again, so we quickly run n hide underneath a dock. sure enuff, Matthias's chonky bootfalls approach overhead. Bwicky holds Ede close, almost liek to hide or shield her. i hope she can feel safe with us now.. i smile n rest a hand on her shoulder, as i sign fer her to be quiet wif us.
Luna again follows not far behind Matthias. i can sorta make out what shes sayin.. ooh! sounds liek shes kicking him outta town! ya take dat Dr. Creep! but..uh.. from under the beams of the dock tho, i confess accidentally seen up her skirts.. “you shoundnt look,” says Bricky, putting his big ol hand in fronta my eyes. (gah ‘course he noticed, now my face feels so hot!) i let out a giggle, having stolen such a look. Bricky seems to soften, a grin creeping onto his face as he rolls his eyes.
 
once Matthias was gone, we left our hiding spot and met witf the rest of da group at the dock. V’s ship had finally reached Fort Irrigan, so we was able to put Ede on board wif the pirates we know rather than some random stranger. Drexla used her new techmology to load da puddyhole shoppe n a couple other buildings onto da boat, too. from there we made our way towards the front gate, which Brightshield assigned us to defend. using all of our available time, Luna helped me make healing potions, n i gave one to Drexla so everyone in da group had at least one. Bricky even gives me a treat~ a last minute Emnarian lesson, something i been asking fer a while– bad words! im gonna need em tonight, das fer sure. thanks you Bwicky, lets kick da sheiße outta deez chimera!
 
i feel so much better about da battle than i did dis morning. my friens make da best plans! tobias had the idea fer biiiiig trenches to be dug a ways out from da city, n Luna was given 10 casks of alchemic fire to play wif. Drexla also cast magicks on da ballistas, so they fire on their own! having a plan, n working wif da Commander-General, it's way more than we had in Arknoka. still, we were better off keeping some fear wif us. befoar we prepared to take our positions atop da outer wall, Bricky huddled us all together. da group needs a name he thinks, whether da people use it ta cheer us or remember us. (hmmm..)
all of us have a moment, n agree we’re just helpful travelers at our cores, so das how we’ll be known: The Travelers of Extrayus.
 
from my place on the wall, i can see far into da night. yet theres no landscape, only a seemingly endless horde of chimera.
Drexla cues her drones to drop da first wave of fire, blowing up da outermost towers n transforming da trenches into a blazing river. Luna creates a wall of light to impede any chimera dat manage to climb outta da fires, remaking it at da base of da gate as dey advance so no one can climb da walls. hundreds were just incinerated before our eyes, now we just gotta hold da line.
Bricky urges us all to get down behind da stone parapets, but im too entranced by da sight of massive fires n da swarm passing through them. i learnt my lesson real quick after im hit by da first volley of arrows bweeeheheh. while dodging endless arrows, our group throws everything we has against da horde. casters are castin, n me n Mr. V throw our retractable weapons. V is drawn to da left side wall, having detected enemies trying ta climb up. i make my way to da opposite wall, in case a similar attempt is made. i kept myself useful over dere by taking turns shooting da ballista, trying to help V get ridda the drei kenku-mera that’d managed to make it atop da wall.
when we thought it couldnt get worse, three moar creatures erupted from inside da courtyard! they’re extra monstrous lookin too, n while da green flying one goes straight fer Bricky da other zwei quickly flank me on boff sides! aah! one is a blue fleshy spider thingie, n the other is liek a red electric worm wif muscles. da blue guy shoots a typa web dat ensnares me fer what feels liek ages as da sounds of battle continue beyond my sight. i can hear booms from moar tower explosions, plus one inside da gates. now a fierce orange light bathes over everything, (im sure bwicky is fricking der fick out right now.. i need to get up).
i try my best to wrestle free, wif no luck. tho i am glad dis happened to me no ones else. my anger n frustration help me fight off da stupid numbing poisons in dis web, so im able ta keep gnashing at da red one at each opportunity. soon da blue one tries ta make its way inside down da wall, but i wont make it easy! i find a strong grip and hold onto da stone fer all i got, but its not enuff ta keep it from going after da others. it has so many arms, its able ta shoot another web, dis time hitting Luna! fick!!
after finally breaking free of da web stuffs, i turn ta see everyone else swiftly rushing ta Luna’s rescue. Tobicat even leaps from da wall ta spear it clean thru! dis means Bricky n me are free ta finish off da red one. once V tastefully finishes da webby one by cuttin its head off, da world is strangely silent fer a moment save fer da still blazing flames around us.
as we catch our breaths, scanning fer moar enemies, cheers can be heard slowly building from da other quarters of da fort. da Commander-General rides through da courtyard, officially declaring victory!! most of our friends meet up to talk wif her. Bricky steps around da goopy pile dat usedta be da red guy, n gives me a big hug (one-a da best things after killin, is getting a good hug! hehe). he says he's sorry he couldnt be there when i got webbed, but i giggle cuz I’M sorry i couldnt handle myself n go help him! hes da one wif all deez arrows stickin outta hims back! “awh don’t worry Bwickyfrien, its otay! we got ‘em. now let’s fix you up”
 
befoar making our way down to da others, i turn ta watch Brightshield’s party ride off from atop da wall, chasing down da few retreating chimera. i see a transformed landscape of fire n ash, littered wif enemy bodies. dat coulda been dis whole city... ..but we stopped it from happening! my friens, i mean – Da Travelers! we saved Fort Irrigan!!