<br/><strong><br/>Captain Jana</strong><br/><br/>Captain Jana ducked behind a crenelation, others were not so quick, screams rose on the wall.  "Where's that coming from!"  She yelled.<br/><br/>Indistinct answers, nobody knew, shooting at the mob below lightened up as crossbowmen began searching further afield for targets.<br/><br/>Odo's voice cut through the din "It's not coming from below, dammit, it's out there!"<br/><br/>Right, Quinta got a grip on herself, searched the field, if they were advancing they couldn't shoot, if they shot they had to stop marching... there, a clot of shields, shields dropping briefly as men shot at the walls, shield went back up, quarrels pincushioned wood and steel.<br/><br/>"There, there!"  She whooped, "Right, we got them, lay our ballista on them, do it now!  Send a runner to the gatehouse, the far tower, mark the target, mark it for them!"<br/><br/>Boys crouched low sprang from the doors, ran bent low, and the barrage slowly began to shift, to concentrate.<br/><br/><br/><strong>Astra</strong><br/><br/>Heavy iron bolts, four feet long began crashing through tower shields, then a brief pause... and the barrage resumed, intensified, settled into the steady rythym that would smash her command to pulp and splinters.  The mob at the wall seemed to be shaking itself into some order, but there were too few ladders left against the wall, too few, and more were going down than rising back up.<br/><br/><strong>Thane</strong><br/><br/>A cold cold voice in his head.<em> Better.  Much better.  But not enough.  Withdraw.  They chose this time, they goaded my children to strike, my children did not choose with their heads, they chose with their hearts, with the fire in their blood.  Withdraw.<br/></em><br/><br/>People were looking at him, his voice touched them through the chaos, order began to spread, a cold calm seemed to flow from his presence.<br/><br/>And the last handful of ladders came down with screaming men on them.