Fic: The Last Stand 4/?
Title: The Last Stand 4/?
Author: gatechic
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Wyatt and some OCs.
Spoilers: Not sure, there might be.
Summary: Pre-series. Central City is the only thing standing between the Sorceresses' complete control over the OZ. Her Longcoats will have to face an obstacle in their quest for the capture of the shinning city on the hill: the Tin Men.
Word Count: 2,395
Disclaimer: Tin Man characters belong to the SciFi Channel, RHI, Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle. I also borrow from L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire and Rachel R Cosgrove (Payes). The OCs are mine. This is purely for fun and I’m not making a penny off of this.
A/N: This is a WIP. This is also a companion piece for Road to Nowhere. I would like to thank my wonderful beta erinm_4600.
Prologue||Chapter 1||Chapter 2||Chapter 3
Chapter 4
When the Nome King’s army invaded the city and were defeated by the Quadling Red Army, led by Glinda, the wall surrounding the city underwent renovations. A ‘line of defense’ was added when the wall was reinforced and extended outward from the city for another twenty feet. The ‘Hall’ was a hollowed section in the great wall, located midway up the wall and followed the entire length of the wall. Along the Hall were ‘slit windows’, where soldiers could mount a first line of defense in protecting the city. There was another row of ‘slit windows’ near the top of the great wall, for another line of defense.
These defense positions could be used effectively - if there were enough men; something the Tin Men were severely lacking without the help of the army.
Zerona and Draves’ squads were positioned at the windows on either side of the gate, while Naryn’s squad took up positions on the second level. Wyatt and Oland’s squads were positioned behind the closed gate, in case the Longcoats broke through.
Wyatt could see the light from the fire of the cauldron that was positioned above the eastern gate. Like a warm fire in a hearth, it was meant as a welcome for travelers and those returning to their home in the city. Wyatt shook his head at the irony of having the cauldron lit to welcome the Longcoat army. But, that fire was a symbol, and no one even mentioned cutting off the supply of gas that kept it lit.
Zerona waved down to Wyatt from the entrance to the Hall. Wyatt waved back and watched Zerona disappear. Oland shook his head. “This waiting is worse than a stakeout,” he said to Wyatt, checking his gun for the hundredth time.
“Mmm,” Wyatt responded, thoughtfully. Oland was right: this was worse. Stakeouts never ended with a battle for the freedom of the city. There was a lot at stake this time around. He actually wished he was outside, hiding, to see where the Longcoats were located; see what their numbers were; and the extent of their artillery. Not that it would matter. Perhaps, in this case, ignorance was bliss.
A few more hours passed and the Tin Men were becoming agitated. Now, they just wanted to get this battle started. Wyatt did everything he could to ease their minds and their adrenaline. The Longcoats had to know that the army wasn’t there yet, or not coming at all, and were playing mind games with the Tin Men.
Zerona and Draves emerged from the entry and waved both arms. Wyatt waved his arms in response and then glanced over at Oland. That was the signal. The Longcoats had emerged from the forest.
“Well, Oland, looks like your wait is over,” Wyatt commented, dryly.
~*~
General Lonot ordered his troops to stop. Zero sat on his horse, next to him. “Looks like the people of Central City have planned for our arrival,” General Lonot said, gazing at the barricade blocking the entrance into the city.
“Nothing that we can’t handle,” Zero countered, partly amused at the attempt to delay the inevitable. “Looks like the Tin Men want to fight,” he added with a smirk.
“We knew that was going to happen. But they can’t outlast us,” Lonot replied, looking through his binoculars at the great city of the Outer Zone. They could easily surround the city and put up a blockade, to prevent food and other supplies from entering the city. It wouldn’t take long to starve the people into submission. Nevertheless, Lonot had his orders: take the city by force.
“What are your orders, General?” Zero asked, itching for a fight with the Tin Men of Central City.
General Lonot turned towards Zero and saw the look in his eyes. Zero’s eyes were hungry for blood, in particular, for a certain Tin Man. “Dismantle that monstrosity and then destroy that gate.”
Zero smiled. “Yes, sir,” he said and then guided his horse around to send his best men to dismantle the barricade.
~*~
Wyatt decided to have a look at what the Longcoats were doing and for an update. He stood next to Zerona with binoculars and someone caught his eye. He lowered the binoculars in disbelief. “It can’t be,” he said softly.
“What?” Zerona asked, picking up his own binoculars.
Wyatt directed Zerona where to look by pointing. “Tell me who you think that is,” Wyatt said, leaning against the wall, anticipating Zerona’s reaction.
“That looks like-” Zerona glanced at Wyatt, “-General Lonot of the Fourth Brigade.” Wyatt gave Zerona a sage nod while biting his lip. Zerona checked again to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. “That bastard,” he said, blistering.
“The Fourth Brigade…is not coming,” Wyatt said, pausing for a moment during his comment. While a part of him wanted to be disheartened, he was not at all surprised.
“That means…”
“We’re on our own.”
“You were right, we are soldiers,” Zerona said to Wyatt. “Does this mean we get double pay?” Zerona asked, watching Wyatt snort and then push himself off the wall. “What do we do?” he asked Wyatt, looking through the binoculars one more time.
Wyatt stared down the hall, looking at the officers, ready at their posts. We weren’t trained for this, he thought to himself. Would we be considered cowards for letting the Longcoats walk in here without a fight? We took a pledge…it’s just words…or is it?
“Cain, what do we do?” Zerona asked again, with more force behind his words. He stared at Wyatt, who looked lost in thought for a moment.
Wyatt paused, feeling the air get heavier - or was it fear that gripped him, making it hard for him to breathe? “We hold our ground and fight.” The words were out of his mouth before he knew it. “If we go down, let’s take a few of those damn traitors with us.”
Zerona patted Wyatt’s back. “They’ll be singing songs about us with grogs in their hands,” he said with a smile.
“That’s a Quadling tradition, Zerona. Are you feeling alright?” Wyatt teased.
“It’s better to die fighting, even if the battle can’t be won, then to conquer as a coward.” Wyatt raised a brow, surprised that Zerona could be poetic. “I surprised you, didn’t I?” Zerona shrugged his shoulders. “The words just flowed.”
Wyatt nodded. “Maybe that will be part of a song they’ll sing about us.”
Zerona smiled, clapping Wyatt's shoulder.
~*~
Dismantling the barricade was taking longer than General Lonot hoped. He called in more men to help, including some of their artillery-trucks, to help remove the barricade.
Wyatt and Zerona watched as the trucks moved in and their cannons were aimed at the barricade.
“Those cannons are going to ruin our plan,” Wyatt commented.
“Well, why don’t we use the ‘welcome’ to our advantage? We’ll open fire and, since we’re behind this wall, they’ll need to move in more of their trucks. We’ll wait until they’re closer and then blow the barricade. The shrapnel alone should do some damage,” Zerona trailed off, noticing the smile spreading across Wyatt’s face.
“Who knew that Tin Men could think with a military mentality,” Wyatt said.
“Well, since the last time we played those army fuckers in kaskana, they beat us, and most of them turned traitor: they deserve the ass-kicking, compliments of the Central City Police Department,” Zerona said with a slight nod.
Wyatt chuckled and then glanced down at the concrete floor, realizing that this was, in fact, the first time he’d been in Hall. He clapped Zerona’s shoulder. “Well, then, let’s say ‘Welcome to Central City’. Good luck,” Wyatt said, thinking back to the time when they first met; a meeting that didn’t go so well.
Zerona’s expression became neutral. “You know, Cain…”
Wyatt shook his head. He knew what Zerona was going to say. “Save it for when we talk about all this over a cold glass of grog.”
Zerona smiled and nodded. He watched Wyatt pass through the entrance and could hear his footsteps fade. He glanced out through the slit. “May Glinda help us all,” Zerona said softly.
After ten minutes had passed, Zerona and his men opened fire; Draves and his men joined in, along with
Naryn’s men.
~*~
General Lonot and Zero ducked as the gunfire erupted from within the city’s wall. A Longcoat, positioned by the cannon, jerked and then fell over. Unbelievably, more Longcoats started dropping to the ground.
“Damn!” Zero said, heatedly, watching his men fall. He glared at Lonot, not because he was angry with the general, but with himself; he underestimated the Tin Men and that was something he was not going to let happen again.
General Lonot ordered more artillery trucks to move in and take position behind the barricade. “Aim at the wall and fire when ready!” he yelled over the barrage of gunfire.
The artillery trucks opened fire, striking the wall, but they were too far away to do any significant damage and most of the artillery shells fell well below their intended targets.
Zerona grabbed an officer by his shoulder. “Tell Cain to blast the barricade! NOW!”
Wyatt looked up and saw the flag waving. He waved back, put his hands on the detonator and pushed it down. The barricade erupted in a cascading effect that started at one end and finished at the other. The blast from the explosions shook the massive gate. Wyatt slowly turned and looked at Evan. “Just how many explosives did you use, Dowler?”
Evan smiled. “Not enough, actually,” he said, sounding disappointed. “It should have been a lot louder.”
“Maybe that’s because the gate’s closed,” Wyatt added.
“Hmm... could be,” Evan said, after a moment of contemplation, “but, it still should have been louder.”
Wyatt shook his head as he chuckled. He always knew the men in the bomb squad were out of their minds. Now, he had proof.
~*~
The unexpected blast knocked General Lonot and Zero back a few yards. Debris fell on and around them, and a dust cloud surrounded them as Longcoats were running from the area, covered in bits of earth, metal and some wounded. Those seriously injured could be heard moaning and calling out for help.
Zero’s ears were ringing as men were trying to ask him and Lonot about a retreat. Zero grabbed the Longcoat and tossed him to the ground, took his gun out and aimed it at the man’s face. “We don’t retreat!” He pressed the trigger; the man’s body shook and stilled. “Now, would someone else like to retreat?” No one dared answer.
General Lonot needed to take control or Zero was going to shoot all of his men. “Okay, enough! Regroup the men, Zero. Find out if any of our artillery trucks survived. Send a man over to the west gate; I want to know if they’re having any better luck.” Lonot turned and stormed off. His part of the campaign got off to a bad start and he was embarrassed because a bunch of Tin Men had bested him, so far.
Zero turned to face the city. “Well done, Cain, well done.” Zero was genuinely impressed with the Tin Men’s tactics. This is the first real test his men had had to face. Most towns and cities were conquered with little effort while, others, didn’t put up a resistance at all. They just let the Longcoats roll into town.
Their only real fighting had come from the Resistance. Zero welcomed the tough fight, because it made him more determined to win.
Zero gave out Lonot’s orders and glanced at the city. “What do you have planned, Cain?”
~*~
“Sir-”
Wyatt turned and saw Officer Trey Halpin saluting him. He rolled his eyes. “We only salute when a coffin carrying a police officer goes by, Halpin. Do I look like I’m in a coffin?” Rookies, he mused.
“Sorry, sir. Officer Zerona reports that the Longcoats suffered heavy damage to their artillery trucks and many men are wounded and, there appear to be casualties,” Halpin said, with some hope in his tone and slightly smug look on his face.
Wyatt nodded. Their plan worked - so far - on this side, but what about the west gate?
“They’re going to be pissed,” Oland said. “We showed them up and they’re not going to look too kindly on that.”
“They were cocky and they won’t make that mistake again. At least, on this side, we may have taken their trucks out of the battle. Apart from being out-numbered, we leveled the battle a bit more,” Wyatt said and then glanced around the city and then back to Oland to continue, “This is far from over.” Wyatt’s face creased as a thought came to mind. “Let’s put some of our cars in front of that gate.”
Looking at the gate, Oland nodded. “Just a little something to buy us more time?”
“Yeah.” After letting out a sigh, Wyatt said, “We need as much time as we can get.”
“What for?” Oland asked, curious as to what Wyatt had in mind.
“Without their trucks, they’ll have to go through the gate themselves. We can pick them off through the window slits and increase our odds,” Wyatt let his words trail off. The Longcoats seriously out-numbered the Tin Men and it was just a matter of time before the city fell. However, it would be mental victory if they could hold off the Longcoats. Sometimes, losing a battle could lead to a victory, later on.
~*~
“We have two trucks that can still fire, but we need to fix the treads.”
General Lonot glanced from Zero to the Longcoat. “Fire on the city by shooting over the wall; that should keep them occupied while we break through that gate.”
“I don’t think our canons can fire that high,” the Longcoat said.
“Then fire at those windows. We need the cover,” Zero said, showing his anger at how long it was taking to get inside the city. For annuals now, Zero had imagined Cain, groveling on his knees, begging for mercy. Now, that vision was so close to becoming a reality, he could feel it in the pit of his stomach.
He grabbed one of his men, “Tell the men, I want Wyatt Cain taken alive, everyone else, execute them.”
Author: gatechic
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Wyatt and some OCs.
Spoilers: Not sure, there might be.
Summary: Pre-series. Central City is the only thing standing between the Sorceresses' complete control over the OZ. Her Longcoats will have to face an obstacle in their quest for the capture of the shinning city on the hill: the Tin Men.
Word Count: 2,395
Disclaimer: Tin Man characters belong to the SciFi Channel, RHI, Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle. I also borrow from L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire and Rachel R Cosgrove (Payes). The OCs are mine. This is purely for fun and I’m not making a penny off of this.
A/N: This is a WIP. This is also a companion piece for Road to Nowhere. I would like to thank my wonderful beta erinm_4600.
Prologue||Chapter 1||Chapter 2||Chapter 3
Chapter 4
When the Nome King’s army invaded the city and were defeated by the Quadling Red Army, led by Glinda, the wall surrounding the city underwent renovations. A ‘line of defense’ was added when the wall was reinforced and extended outward from the city for another twenty feet. The ‘Hall’ was a hollowed section in the great wall, located midway up the wall and followed the entire length of the wall. Along the Hall were ‘slit windows’, where soldiers could mount a first line of defense in protecting the city. There was another row of ‘slit windows’ near the top of the great wall, for another line of defense.
These defense positions could be used effectively - if there were enough men; something the Tin Men were severely lacking without the help of the army.
Zerona and Draves’ squads were positioned at the windows on either side of the gate, while Naryn’s squad took up positions on the second level. Wyatt and Oland’s squads were positioned behind the closed gate, in case the Longcoats broke through.
Wyatt could see the light from the fire of the cauldron that was positioned above the eastern gate. Like a warm fire in a hearth, it was meant as a welcome for travelers and those returning to their home in the city. Wyatt shook his head at the irony of having the cauldron lit to welcome the Longcoat army. But, that fire was a symbol, and no one even mentioned cutting off the supply of gas that kept it lit.
Zerona waved down to Wyatt from the entrance to the Hall. Wyatt waved back and watched Zerona disappear. Oland shook his head. “This waiting is worse than a stakeout,” he said to Wyatt, checking his gun for the hundredth time.
“Mmm,” Wyatt responded, thoughtfully. Oland was right: this was worse. Stakeouts never ended with a battle for the freedom of the city. There was a lot at stake this time around. He actually wished he was outside, hiding, to see where the Longcoats were located; see what their numbers were; and the extent of their artillery. Not that it would matter. Perhaps, in this case, ignorance was bliss.
A few more hours passed and the Tin Men were becoming agitated. Now, they just wanted to get this battle started. Wyatt did everything he could to ease their minds and their adrenaline. The Longcoats had to know that the army wasn’t there yet, or not coming at all, and were playing mind games with the Tin Men.
Zerona and Draves emerged from the entry and waved both arms. Wyatt waved his arms in response and then glanced over at Oland. That was the signal. The Longcoats had emerged from the forest.
“Well, Oland, looks like your wait is over,” Wyatt commented, dryly.
~*~
General Lonot ordered his troops to stop. Zero sat on his horse, next to him. “Looks like the people of Central City have planned for our arrival,” General Lonot said, gazing at the barricade blocking the entrance into the city.
“Nothing that we can’t handle,” Zero countered, partly amused at the attempt to delay the inevitable. “Looks like the Tin Men want to fight,” he added with a smirk.
“We knew that was going to happen. But they can’t outlast us,” Lonot replied, looking through his binoculars at the great city of the Outer Zone. They could easily surround the city and put up a blockade, to prevent food and other supplies from entering the city. It wouldn’t take long to starve the people into submission. Nevertheless, Lonot had his orders: take the city by force.
“What are your orders, General?” Zero asked, itching for a fight with the Tin Men of Central City.
General Lonot turned towards Zero and saw the look in his eyes. Zero’s eyes were hungry for blood, in particular, for a certain Tin Man. “Dismantle that monstrosity and then destroy that gate.”
Zero smiled. “Yes, sir,” he said and then guided his horse around to send his best men to dismantle the barricade.
~*~
Wyatt decided to have a look at what the Longcoats were doing and for an update. He stood next to Zerona with binoculars and someone caught his eye. He lowered the binoculars in disbelief. “It can’t be,” he said softly.
“What?” Zerona asked, picking up his own binoculars.
Wyatt directed Zerona where to look by pointing. “Tell me who you think that is,” Wyatt said, leaning against the wall, anticipating Zerona’s reaction.
“That looks like-” Zerona glanced at Wyatt, “-General Lonot of the Fourth Brigade.” Wyatt gave Zerona a sage nod while biting his lip. Zerona checked again to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. “That bastard,” he said, blistering.
“The Fourth Brigade…is not coming,” Wyatt said, pausing for a moment during his comment. While a part of him wanted to be disheartened, he was not at all surprised.
“That means…”
“We’re on our own.”
“You were right, we are soldiers,” Zerona said to Wyatt. “Does this mean we get double pay?” Zerona asked, watching Wyatt snort and then push himself off the wall. “What do we do?” he asked Wyatt, looking through the binoculars one more time.
Wyatt stared down the hall, looking at the officers, ready at their posts. We weren’t trained for this, he thought to himself. Would we be considered cowards for letting the Longcoats walk in here without a fight? We took a pledge…it’s just words…or is it?
“Cain, what do we do?” Zerona asked again, with more force behind his words. He stared at Wyatt, who looked lost in thought for a moment.
Wyatt paused, feeling the air get heavier - or was it fear that gripped him, making it hard for him to breathe? “We hold our ground and fight.” The words were out of his mouth before he knew it. “If we go down, let’s take a few of those damn traitors with us.”
Zerona patted Wyatt’s back. “They’ll be singing songs about us with grogs in their hands,” he said with a smile.
“That’s a Quadling tradition, Zerona. Are you feeling alright?” Wyatt teased.
“It’s better to die fighting, even if the battle can’t be won, then to conquer as a coward.” Wyatt raised a brow, surprised that Zerona could be poetic. “I surprised you, didn’t I?” Zerona shrugged his shoulders. “The words just flowed.”
Wyatt nodded. “Maybe that will be part of a song they’ll sing about us.”
Zerona smiled, clapping Wyatt's shoulder.
~*~
Dismantling the barricade was taking longer than General Lonot hoped. He called in more men to help, including some of their artillery-trucks, to help remove the barricade.
Wyatt and Zerona watched as the trucks moved in and their cannons were aimed at the barricade.
“Those cannons are going to ruin our plan,” Wyatt commented.
“Well, why don’t we use the ‘welcome’ to our advantage? We’ll open fire and, since we’re behind this wall, they’ll need to move in more of their trucks. We’ll wait until they’re closer and then blow the barricade. The shrapnel alone should do some damage,” Zerona trailed off, noticing the smile spreading across Wyatt’s face.
“Who knew that Tin Men could think with a military mentality,” Wyatt said.
“Well, since the last time we played those army fuckers in kaskana, they beat us, and most of them turned traitor: they deserve the ass-kicking, compliments of the Central City Police Department,” Zerona said with a slight nod.
Wyatt chuckled and then glanced down at the concrete floor, realizing that this was, in fact, the first time he’d been in Hall. He clapped Zerona’s shoulder. “Well, then, let’s say ‘Welcome to Central City’. Good luck,” Wyatt said, thinking back to the time when they first met; a meeting that didn’t go so well.
Zerona’s expression became neutral. “You know, Cain…”
Wyatt shook his head. He knew what Zerona was going to say. “Save it for when we talk about all this over a cold glass of grog.”
Zerona smiled and nodded. He watched Wyatt pass through the entrance and could hear his footsteps fade. He glanced out through the slit. “May Glinda help us all,” Zerona said softly.
After ten minutes had passed, Zerona and his men opened fire; Draves and his men joined in, along with
Naryn’s men.
~*~
General Lonot and Zero ducked as the gunfire erupted from within the city’s wall. A Longcoat, positioned by the cannon, jerked and then fell over. Unbelievably, more Longcoats started dropping to the ground.
“Damn!” Zero said, heatedly, watching his men fall. He glared at Lonot, not because he was angry with the general, but with himself; he underestimated the Tin Men and that was something he was not going to let happen again.
General Lonot ordered more artillery trucks to move in and take position behind the barricade. “Aim at the wall and fire when ready!” he yelled over the barrage of gunfire.
The artillery trucks opened fire, striking the wall, but they were too far away to do any significant damage and most of the artillery shells fell well below their intended targets.
Zerona grabbed an officer by his shoulder. “Tell Cain to blast the barricade! NOW!”
Wyatt looked up and saw the flag waving. He waved back, put his hands on the detonator and pushed it down. The barricade erupted in a cascading effect that started at one end and finished at the other. The blast from the explosions shook the massive gate. Wyatt slowly turned and looked at Evan. “Just how many explosives did you use, Dowler?”
Evan smiled. “Not enough, actually,” he said, sounding disappointed. “It should have been a lot louder.”
“Maybe that’s because the gate’s closed,” Wyatt added.
“Hmm... could be,” Evan said, after a moment of contemplation, “but, it still should have been louder.”
Wyatt shook his head as he chuckled. He always knew the men in the bomb squad were out of their minds. Now, he had proof.
~*~
The unexpected blast knocked General Lonot and Zero back a few yards. Debris fell on and around them, and a dust cloud surrounded them as Longcoats were running from the area, covered in bits of earth, metal and some wounded. Those seriously injured could be heard moaning and calling out for help.
Zero’s ears were ringing as men were trying to ask him and Lonot about a retreat. Zero grabbed the Longcoat and tossed him to the ground, took his gun out and aimed it at the man’s face. “We don’t retreat!” He pressed the trigger; the man’s body shook and stilled. “Now, would someone else like to retreat?” No one dared answer.
General Lonot needed to take control or Zero was going to shoot all of his men. “Okay, enough! Regroup the men, Zero. Find out if any of our artillery trucks survived. Send a man over to the west gate; I want to know if they’re having any better luck.” Lonot turned and stormed off. His part of the campaign got off to a bad start and he was embarrassed because a bunch of Tin Men had bested him, so far.
Zero turned to face the city. “Well done, Cain, well done.” Zero was genuinely impressed with the Tin Men’s tactics. This is the first real test his men had had to face. Most towns and cities were conquered with little effort while, others, didn’t put up a resistance at all. They just let the Longcoats roll into town.
Their only real fighting had come from the Resistance. Zero welcomed the tough fight, because it made him more determined to win.
Zero gave out Lonot’s orders and glanced at the city. “What do you have planned, Cain?”
~*~
“Sir-”
Wyatt turned and saw Officer Trey Halpin saluting him. He rolled his eyes. “We only salute when a coffin carrying a police officer goes by, Halpin. Do I look like I’m in a coffin?” Rookies, he mused.
“Sorry, sir. Officer Zerona reports that the Longcoats suffered heavy damage to their artillery trucks and many men are wounded and, there appear to be casualties,” Halpin said, with some hope in his tone and slightly smug look on his face.
Wyatt nodded. Their plan worked - so far - on this side, but what about the west gate?
“They’re going to be pissed,” Oland said. “We showed them up and they’re not going to look too kindly on that.”
“They were cocky and they won’t make that mistake again. At least, on this side, we may have taken their trucks out of the battle. Apart from being out-numbered, we leveled the battle a bit more,” Wyatt said and then glanced around the city and then back to Oland to continue, “This is far from over.” Wyatt’s face creased as a thought came to mind. “Let’s put some of our cars in front of that gate.”
Looking at the gate, Oland nodded. “Just a little something to buy us more time?”
“Yeah.” After letting out a sigh, Wyatt said, “We need as much time as we can get.”
“What for?” Oland asked, curious as to what Wyatt had in mind.
“Without their trucks, they’ll have to go through the gate themselves. We can pick them off through the window slits and increase our odds,” Wyatt let his words trail off. The Longcoats seriously out-numbered the Tin Men and it was just a matter of time before the city fell. However, it would be mental victory if they could hold off the Longcoats. Sometimes, losing a battle could lead to a victory, later on.
~*~
“We have two trucks that can still fire, but we need to fix the treads.”
General Lonot glanced from Zero to the Longcoat. “Fire on the city by shooting over the wall; that should keep them occupied while we break through that gate.”
“I don’t think our canons can fire that high,” the Longcoat said.
“Then fire at those windows. We need the cover,” Zero said, showing his anger at how long it was taking to get inside the city. For annuals now, Zero had imagined Cain, groveling on his knees, begging for mercy. Now, that vision was so close to becoming a reality, he could feel it in the pit of his stomach.
He grabbed one of his men, “Tell the men, I want Wyatt Cain taken alive, everyone else, execute them.”