<strong>Thane</strong><br/><br/>Handing out the sealed potion vials took time, and the leading edge of the mob was halfway to the walls by the time the Zealots were on the move.<br/>The enraged horde had already been under crossbow barrage, now light ballista and catapults on the towers were bombarding the thicker clumps of attackers.  There was one point in favor of the attackers:  Since they had no formation, no organization, they had nothing to be disrupted by the barrage.<br/><br/>Thane felt something stirring in the back of his mind, a cold critical visage.  Emotionless.  Reptilian.  Calculating.  And perhaps in the tilt of the head.... disapproving.<br/><br/><strong>Astra</strong><br/><br/>The engineer liaison officer was watching the charge - the leading elements were already on the move, there was no organization at all - with an utterly appalled look on his face.  "No, no, nowhere close we need more time!"  He was almost stuttering, his eyes were glued to the wall now, examining the stir on the ramparts.  He was one of the few officers of the old army left in the ranks.  His piety was questionable, but his professional specialty had made him too valuable to sacrifice.  So far.  "Look at them, they're keyed up , they're ready, our people are gonna get massacred!"<br/><br/><strong>Tower Captain  Quinta Jana</strong><br/><br/>"Bloody hell, I didn't think they'd do it."  She had a slightly dazed look on her face.<br/><br/>Her Lieutenant, a big Northern mercenary named Odo lost no time.  "Crossbowmen front, loaders stand ready!"  One of the expenses Quinta hadn't spared was the number of weapons.  More than one for each crossbowman, one to be loaded by assistants while one was shot by an expert marksman.  The tower garrison shook itself into order, a similar shift of troops was seen all along the wall - but her men were slightly faster.<br/><br/>Her eyes swept her men, all were ready.  "Shoot!"<br/><br/>They didn't stop the charge.  they bled it but they didn't stop it.  But at the base of the wall, the attacker's lack of organization cost them.  Nobody was assigned to hold ladders, all wanted to climb them, nobody wanted to wait their turn, some actually came to blows with each other for position .<br/><br/>And death rained down on them.  Men were pressed against the wall by those behind, crushed against the wall.  And quarrels shot straight down, rocks hurled over the battlements, well, how could they miss?<br/><br/>They couldn't.  Screams of agony, wails of fear began to overshadow shouts of rage.<br/><br/>And the less frenzied followers of Kolyat, the more disciplined units that had taken time to shake themselves into order before charging beheld the bloodbath at the base of the walls as the torsion artillery on the battlements began to tear holes in their ranks.<br/><br/>At the top of the wall, ladders sought purchase some found it, some of those kept it long enough for men to climb to the battlements, and each found himself facing three or more defenders in better armor with better weapons.  That kind of fight ended only one way.  Bodies began dropping onto their comrades below.