[COR FB] Temple battle

[Flavius Gratian]

The information gained when interrogating the captured natives was very disturbing. Apparently, their chief intended to unite the tribes of Celestia in a vicious assult on Jameston to drive all new settlers from the island. It would all begin with a sacrifice of the captured expedition both to gain favour with their feline gods and to send a message that the colonists were weak. Thankfully, Ohtli had managed to learn the path to the ruined temple where the sacrifice would take place. Lawliet had ordered a forced march through the jungle and they arrived just in time at sunset. As they gathered below the ridge on top of which the temple was located they could hear the noise from the gathered natives.

"I don't like the tactical situation", Lawliet said. "The only path up is the stairs, and it will put us at a significant disadvantage."

"It's perilous, indeed, sir", agreed Sergeant Ferris. "We must hope that Mr Swift's scouting mission will bring some success."

While they waited they could hear the shouts from the temple, particularly the native chief who made some sort of speach. Ohtli tried to understand as much as he could.

At that moment Tom Swift returned out of the jungle with his two scouts.

"Good news, sir!" he said after a quick salute. "Further down the ridge lowers and gets flatter. It's possible go around and then return to the temple from a better direction."

"Well done, Tom! How far down is it?"

"Probably a half hour, and then you have to go back through the jungle at the top of the ridge."

Lawliet looked troubled. "That's too long. We can't leave Barlow and his men alone for so long; they could be sacrificed by the time we return." After a moment of thought he decided. "Sergeant Ferris, take your marines and a few of our gunmen and move around the way Tom described! When you're in position we'll start the attack. Be quick! We might have to start without you."

"Yes, sir!" Ferris said and moved out with his men.

They waited in silence, the only sounds coming from the temple. It was a good thing that the chief had to shout to be heard, as Ohtli continued to listen intently.

Suddenly, something changed among the native. The atmosphere turn tense and expectant. Another voice took over the shouting. "It's the priest", Ohtli wispered. "It sounds like some sort of ritual." Then the terrified screams of a Corlander reach their ears.

"It's begun!" Ohtli cried. "They're starting the sacrifices.

"It's time!" Lawliet shouted back to the men.

"Don't we need the element of surprise?" Tom asked in a lowered voice.

"No, we must draw their attention. Charge! Come on men! For the Queen!

They pushed up the stairs and despite their noise they managed to achieve some bit of surprise.

As they had feared, the height difference of the ridge and the bottleneck caused by the stairs quickly negated the surprise effect and training of the Corlander seamen. The battle turned to a stalemate.

Just when it seemed hopeless and the men started to tire, a flash of fire and smoke erupted from the natives flank. Ferris's marines had arrived.

This turned the tide of battle. The sudden loss of so many of their comrades with the chock of enemy reinforcements caused the natives to break. Ferris and his men pushed from the flank while the Lawliet and Tom charged up the stairs.

Lawliet stormed into the ruined temple where he was immediately met by the chief himself and the native high priest. Lawliet fired his gun at the priest, which hit him right in the chest, and then went for the chief.

Their duel was short. Seeing all his men falling around him, the chief realised the battle was lost and surrendered. As a gesture of his defeat he offered Lawliet his sword.

The chief's surrender ended the battle. He and the remaining natives were taken prisoners and moved out from the temple. While the bodies of the fallen were taken care of, the prisoners meant for sacrifice were released. The first to approach Lawliet was a man in his thirties with noticeably finer clothes than the others, although they had been worn out by his recent experiences. Recalling the famous words uttered by Don Isaac Montoya, Lawliet smiled and said: "Mr Barlow, I presume?"

"You would be correct, Lieutenant...?"

"Lavendwood, Lawliet Lavendwood. I trust we didn't arrive too late?"

"Not at all, Lieutenant! I must say I owe you my gratitude!"

After Mr Barlow walked away to rest, Lawliet finally met his boatswain.

"Higgs, reporting for duty, sir!"

"Indeed, you and your men have been assigned to my command on the HMS Intrepid. I'm glad to finally meet you! This whole endeavour has been for your sake. I'll be expecting your report when we're back in Jameston, but for now I think you've deserved some rest.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is the conclusion of my Celestia storyline. Although it has been fun and I've built at least few things I like, I'm glad it's over so I can move on to other things.

It was a real challange to do this build, as so many things were going on, and to be honest the build is too small for the amount of minifgs I used. But it was really fun to do a battle sequence, which as far as I know are a bit rare here in BoBS. I wanted it to be a night scene but my camera isn't the best so I fear the quality in some of the pictures might have suffered, tell me if something is particularly bad! 

Comments and criticism is always welcome!

Pictures in daylight:

Edited January 23, 2019 by Flavius Gratian

[Ross Fisher]

I really like it! Are you based in the UK by any chance?

[LM71Blackbird]

Great build Flavius! Some of the pictures are a bit dark, but I can clearly see everything that's going on. It adds a nice ambience to the build and story. Nice conclusion to the storyline!

[Fraunces]

I also liked it very much. More Battles in BoBS!

[Spud The Viking]

Really nice action scenes here! I like your dilapidated temple.

 

[Ayrlego]

You managed to capture the action of the battle scenes really well. On my phone the photos looked quite dark, but here on the PC they work really well for the night battle; I don't think you would have captured the same atmosphere with bright lights. Great job on both the story and build!

[Bart]

You succeded in portraying the chaos of a battle, well done. 

 

[Flavius Gratian]

Sorry for late responses, but I've been away on vacation!

On 7/29/2018 at 3:17 PM, Ross Fisher said:

I really like it! Are you based in the UK by any chance?

Thank you! No, unfortunately not

On 7/29/2018 at 5:33 PM, LM71Blackbird said:

Great build Flavius! Some of the pictures are a bit dark, but I can clearly see everything that's going on. It adds a nice ambience to the build and story. Nice conclusion to the storyline!

Thanks! As long as it's visible I'm happy. Glad you like the mood!

On 7/29/2018 at 10:08 PM, Fraunces said:

I also liked it very much. More Battles in BoBS!

Thank you! I agree, but people keep calling off all the wars

On 7/29/2018 at 10:25 PM, Spud The Viking said:

Really nice action scenes here! I like your dilapidated temple.

Thanks! This is a bit of a redemtion for me, as my temple for Cha 1 Cat C was disappointing. So I'm happy you like!

On 7/30/2018 at 8:55 AM, Ayrlego said:

You managed to capture the action of the battle scenes really well. On my phone the photos looked quite dark, but here on the PC they work really well for the night battle; I don't think you would have captured the same atmosphere with bright lights. Great job on both the story and build!

Thank you very much! It was hard to pose them but I also think it worked. I was a bit afraid about the photos first, but for me, too, they look much clearer on the computer screen.

On 7/30/2018 at 10:11 AM, Bart said:

You succeded in portraying the chaos of a battle, well done. 

Thank you! Since that was the point I'm very happy it got through!

[Ross Fisher]

1 hour ago, Flavius Gratian said:

On 7/29/2018 at 2:17 PM, Ross Fisher said:

Are you based in the UK by any chance?

Thank you! No, unfortunately not

I only ask because the main bookstore chain is selling little light-up moons that would be the perfect way to light your night scenes.