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Line of Sart

Darkar sart (Deseased) Razen Sart (Living)

Line of Daject

Asint Daject (living)

Pluvus Daject (Living)

Caitlin Furl Daject (Deseased)

Line of Tuss

Helic Tuss (Deseased)

---Brothers---

Deslic Tuss (Living)

THE SAGA (second take)

Chapter 1

Asint "Razor" Daject was already on edge. He paced, his armor weighing him as he studied his battle plans. He was a tall, thin greyish tom cat, and he was on edge. Things were not shaping up at all how he thought they would. With most of his army routed at the battle of Merr, he had been pushed back to the plateaus of the east. Worst of all was that his son, Pluvus Daject a pure white tom cat with flowing long fur, had sided with the enemy.

His enemy was strong, and he had known that from the start; but he had severely underestimated how strong they would be. Rain "the blue" Furl was a short black blue she cat, and she was his sister-in-law and aunt to Pluvus, having raised him as a child when her sister Caitlin Furl Daject had died in child birth. She was also the opposing general in this conflict.

Helic Tuss, the previous Regent, who ruled on behalf of the house of Sart had died suddenly. Since Razen Sart was too young to rule when Dakar Sart, his father, died; and since he was the only heir to the house of Sart, Dakar had named his trusted vice minister Helic Tuss to rule in his son's stead till Razen's twentieth birthday.

Asint then tried to claim the throne in the name of the house of Sart as a Regent as Razen was still only seventeen when Helic Tuss died. Razen had agreed to Asint as a Regent but there was one opponent. Rain "the blue" Furl had challenged Razen saying that having a glorified ex-general as a Regent could only lead to a military state. That was the cause of the civil war that consumed Vellore.

When the problem of a Regent arose, Rain "the blue" Furl nominated Deslic Tuss, Helic Tuss' brother. However Deslic was a holy fur and absolutely refused a part in high politics of the nation. So the question of a Regent went unanswered. With Razen's blessing Asint gathered an army to take control of the capital of Vellore, Merr. Rain "the blue" Furl gathered her forces from the country side, mostly from southern Vellore.

Before he had fled the capital Asint had commanded Razen to stay, telling him that siding with Asint was mostly a lost cause, and that it would be better to be a general under Rain's rule, than dead alongside Asint in a failed revolution.

Now the problem was that Rain's army would be here in a matter of days and he had no idea on how he was to stop them. In total his forces amounted to a mere five thousand infantry, with just a few hundred light cavalry and a handful of artillery pieces.

From what his scouts had reported to him Rain's troops numbered in the range of about fifteen thousand infantry with one thousand light cavalry. She had also, as if to scorn Asint, placed Pluvus as head of her artillery, which numbered at about two hundred pieces.

Asint knew that his son was the best artillery commander in all of Vellore, and arguably one of the best in the known world. He showed a mastery of precision and patience. It had hurt Asint deeply when Pluvus had decided to side with his aunt instead of him, but he could understand the reasons. Asint had been more focused on his career when Pluvus was born, and since Caitlin, his mother had died in childbirth his aunt had raised him, so Pluvus saw Rain as a mother figure, and Asint could see how it would be impossible to side against her.

Asint looked over the map of the area for the thousandth time that night. He knew troop placement would be crucial, as he was severely out numbered. He had made his camp at the top of one plateau, letting the rolling hills bellow serve as a somewhat defensive front.

Asint had considered building a trench defense layout, but that would limit his ability to use his cavalry and would make his defending infantry an easy target for Pluvus' skill in artillery.

He was near certain that Rain couldn't maneuver her troops up behind his thanks to the steep plateaus behind him. So that left the battle field as such. A line of trees served as the farthest point of reference from his camp, from there a long field turned into hills before arriving on the plateau in which Asint now made camp.

Asint decided then that he would have his artillery on the plateau he was on now, to cover the fields before the hills. Then he would have his infantry at the foot of the hills, with the cavalry he had behind that, to strength the lines when they needed it, and to charge if the need arose.

Asint sauntered out of the tent, tired of leaning over that wooden table looking over the map. The stars looked down upon him with cold hesitant. Asint looked back at them knowing that now even they shunned him. He thought back at how his wonderful home land had ended up like this.

Dakar Sart, A large Maine Coon tom, had been the first leader of Vellore that Asint could remember; the old leader was the twenty second monarch in his house to lead Vellore. Asint did wish that his king still walked the earth. He didn't wish to see his wife's sister in combat, but his worst fear was seeing her weaken his home with talk of civility and reform as other nations rose to assume a power of land and masses. A country built on words and rhetoric could only be defended by words and rhetoric, though when it should suffer steel and arrow it shall perish from the earth. It should be a rulers place to rule with an absolute authority so long as he led his constitutes to victory and glorified them in the ways of arts and victorious liberty.

One last look at the starts and the heavens was all Asint stayed to look at. His ancestors looked down at him from them. A starry audience of thousands, filled with compassion and wisdom, though he could scarcely understand it. He wished that they would lead him to victory in battle, but he knew if a destiny preceded his then it was unlikely. All he hoped for was a place among them, after he drew his final breath of mortal air.

The next morning

Misty was how the morning started out, which Asint felt, meant the heavens had scorned Asint further. Now the enemy had the element of surprise for their attack, while he was left the blind defender.

Asint had on his armor; he knew that even if the best happened for this battle he would have to fight. His armor was the standard of articulated steel. It protected heavily against almost all attacks except for higher powered artillery and some of those new fuse light muskets. Though he knew of no army that was equipped with such muskets, they requiring ready torches, and dry powder, they were cumbersome and only useful when defending at siege. Still they were expensive and the alchemy powder for them was even more so, he had only seen them stored and used on parade, never in real combat. He was armored with a light saber, a small self-wound pistol and a sturdier gladius. The saber was light steel with silver inlay for both elegance and as a disinfectant. The saber had no fuller and a dark yellow pommel was attached to the oval guard by a yellow lanyard. The small self-wound pistol was easily self-explanatory. It was a muzzle load with a small handle on the side, when the handle was wound a coil of flint and steel was tightened, then when the trigger was pressed the lock on the wheel was released making the coil give off sparks for the barrel. The gladius was just that, a standard issue Vellore gladius, it was an easy weapon good for close combat and excellent for thrusting.

He marched by his artillery one last time before joining his men. All he had in his possession were Ballista; he had given specific orders for them. Bolts where to be used for cavalry, while rocks where to be used for infantry.

He gave a final look at the camp and saw his artillery putting on final positions, before mounting his horse and riding down to the base of the peak of the outer hills with the rest of his army.

He carefully paced the line his cavalry posed. He hoped that by weakening the enemy with artillery fire, then making them fight his infantry he could the muster a light charge and route what would be left of Rain's army by that point.

He looked out across the battle field, knowing that his plan was far from envious and knowing that unless Rain made a serious mistake he would surely loose the day.

Suddenly he saw the first signs of movement across the battle field; they were moving too fast to be infantry though. He saw that Rain had sent her light cavalry in first hoping maybe to score a quick victory with speed.

Soon the cavalry was in range of Asint's artillery. Ballista bolts rain from overhead, piercing with a quiet and deadly accuracy. A horse's head was spilt clean open by the force of one bolt, sending the unfortunate rider tumbling to be crushed to death under other horses.

Soon the charge was fighting a wasp's swarm of bolts. The feral horses crashed into each other, their numbers slowly summing to a tsunami of riders driven forward by the momentum of crushing bones and dead horses. Slowly the artillery let off as the thinned heard advanced onto Asint's infantry line.

Asint watched as his own infantry easily over took the weakened line. He had, as every basic officer does, put his pike men up front for such an attack, so the cavalry was easily repelled. With a majority of their comrades dead the handful of survivors turned, to regroup and retreat.

Asint looked back at the line, he saw that what remained of the cavalry was retreating, and behind them were the main infantry of Rain's line. She had picked her heavy guards to lead a charge, letting them advance slowly, but with a strong defense, they were positioned in such a phalanx that even main artillery fire would not do much to them.

Asint smiled to himself, rain had sacrificed most of her cavalry so she could get her infantry though with as little artillery interference as possible. He gave a small laugh, being surprised by her audacity yet again. For a leader with dreams of liberty and suffrage, Rain had proven to be a brutal commander, willing to outspend the lives of her furs if it meant victory.

The battle from there on was one of strength, Asint knew his troops were stronger, that much was obvious since he had trained a lot of his officers himself. Rain still had the advantage in numbers though, and the battle seemed to be a test of which would prevail; numbers or strength.

The fighting was intense in the highest sense. One cat armed with a gladius easily severed another's arm muscles, rending the flesh to infect. Cutting through the skin he swung the blade around, slicing off a good portion of the cat's tail. As soon as he fell to death though another one took its place. The cat was about to attack again when a lone javelin briskly penetrated his eye, splashing his blood and brains to the troops behind him.

The troops were thinning on either side, but it became more and more obvious that Rain's troops were losing line and formation. Asint knew it was only a matter of time before a retreat was issued. He laughed to himself again; maybe the stars had not forsaken him after all.

He lamented on his choice of soldiers, he had chosen capital and royal guards to fill his ranks and lines when he formed his army in Merr. While Rain had swelled her ranks from undisciplined mercenaries and farmers from southern Vellore, so though she had the greater number, she was lacking in discipline.

After a little more fighting it started to end, soon the general retreat was called for all of Rain's furs. They left quickly glad to be out of the merciless killing fields of battle.

Asint gazed at the men, he thought before he made his final move. It was not only finale, but the deciding move in the history of the world. This decision would shape history for the next hundred years, and it all came down to Asint.

He made his choice, and who can say now if it was the right one, but it was the one chosen all the same. With one command from his feline lips the gears of fate and destiny set in motion, a time of great despair, and of great hope.

"Commanders give the signal to charge the enemy. Have the Infantry break to the flanks, so that we may ride center!" Came the last command of Asint Daject.

Horns blew out in an order for soldiers to understand. The line at the foot hills quickly parted and as they did so Asint drew his saber. With it thrust forward he urged his horse to the same direction, and so began the last charge of Asint Daject.

Asint and his cavalry quickly were at the start of the base of the hills, with the enemy being roughly forty meters out. The enemy cavalry had cleared to the trees by this point, leaving all of Rain's infantry helpless against Asint's charge. They caught up with the enemy halfway through the field, charging through the ranks of the enemy.

Asint felt as the tip of his blade cut enemies through to the bone in some places. One particular soldier had the pleasure of having his paw cut off about halfway down, leaving his thumb moving next to a stump of blood and gore as his fingers lay forever idle on the stained grass.

Asint quickly cut through the ranks of the enemy, he signaled for his cavalry to turn at the edge of the woods and double back for a second pass through of the enemy. Just as they were approaching the edge of the woods Rain sprung her trap.

A massive assault of enemy troops befell Asint as he neared the forest. They poured out seemingly without end from the trees, forming a defensive front. Asint turned sharp and was able to avoid an incoming soldier. As he turned back he saw the worst new imaginable. The enemies that his cavalry had just cut through had reformed into a defensive line again, effectively blocking Asint and all of his cavalry into a killing field between his enemies.

Asint knew the situation was rapidly deteriorating. He had enemies on either side of him with no possible escape route. The area between the armies was less than ten meters on either side, preventing him from using his cavalry at all. The enemy was also closing in, and in larger numbers.

"Dismount, form a mirror double line, kill mounts for barricades if needed!" Asint shouted the command before dismounting himself. He took out his self-wound pistol and aimed it at his horse's temple. The horse fell quickly and from there Asint fled to where the lines were forming.

Killing his horse had only given the enemy a minor inconvenience in positioning but it was all he could do. He sheathed his Saber and withdrew his gladius as the lines formed. He positioned himself in the back line facing the forest.

Once again Asint had under judged Rain's willingness to sacrifice anything to win, although even he would never know how far Rain actually did go to win this war. Asint did know however that Rain would most certainly want to be the one to kill him, so he knew she had to be in the mass of troops that came from the trees.

The first lines fell brutally. Trading blows it was only a matter of numbers. Asint stepped forward as the last line in front of him fell, the intestines of the last man before him had caught on a niche in the enemies sword, pulling them out in a violent manner as the cat that used them still struggled for breath.

Then the fighting slowly died down, Asint ordered his men to stop as the enemy disengaged. Then suddenly the enemy withdrew slightly forming a circle around the last of Asint's surviving troops. The circle slowly parted revealing Rain "the Blue" Furl.

Rain was dressed in a similar articulated steel armor that Asint was. She was much shorter though, where Asint stood at roughly one and three fourths meters she stood at slightly less than one and one half. Her blue fur showed off well in the early morning sun, but her eyes were the most striking feature.

She had vivid Blue eyes, which burned with passion, with ambition. Asint had seen the same eyes in his lover, and Rain's sister Caitlin; though her eyes burned not with passion but with gentle love. He had also seen those eyes, possessed by his son Pluvus; though his son's burned with the intensity of knowledge.

She carried an arming sword. The sword was very unique and allowed her to get the most out of fighting despite her small size. It was longer than normal, measuring almost ninety inches. The handle had been strengthened as well, to accommodate a double handed style. The blade, like Asint's gladius had no fuller, and the hilt guard was mostly a plain design, made for practicality.

Asint was careful, he knew that Rain had also been known to use throwing knives in the past to surprise enemies so he vowed to himself to be careful as he engaged in attack.

Rain spoke first, "I, Rain "the Blue" Furl, command you, Lord Asint Daject, to surrender the battle and all remaining troops to be judged. I offer only absolute and unconditional surrender. Now your saber, Lord Daject."

Asint smiled taking his saber from the sheath, turning it over in his hands and looking at its profound silver beauty one last time. He brought the saber down hard over his armored knee, the blade snapped easily, shattering into two pieces and falling to the grass.

"Rain "the Blue" Furl, I shall never surrender, nor will my troops so long as I am living. So you must put up your resolve for one last test. Take my head back with you if you can and you shall have the battle." Asint replied in a calm manner.

Rain chuckled lightly before answering his request, "I've been waiting since the day you knocked up my sister to cut your fucking head off."

They circled each other slowly; Asint had his gladius at the ready in a defensive stance, letting the blade cross across his chest in a slashing defense. Rain posed in a more aggressive stance, both hands fully grasped the arming blade, holding it out in front of her with the tip pointing nearer Asint, and with the whole blade cocked slightly.

Rain moved first, giving out a strong downwards thrust at Asint. Asint easily blocked the attack but was unprepared for the elbow to the throat that she followed up with. The blow was so strong that it knocked Asint back almost a meter, and bent all the armor around his neck.

He tore the Armor away from his neck, making his head mobile again, though he knew this was a risk. The fighter returned to circling each other again. Each was looking for the moment of truth.

Rain made the second move, lunging forward again with the same attack. Asint blocked it, but found no resistance behind the blade. Rain had let the blade fall from her hand, as she broke off from the attack.

Asint took the chance and powered through the feint. Thrusting with an almost lightning speed he went for Rain's left forearm.

That was when Asint underestimated Rain for the last time.

Rain blocked the blow with her left forearm, shattering her arm bones in two in the process. Then from out of nowhere her right hand produced a small throwing knife. She didn't throw it; instead she pushed the blade out of the way with her broken arm, and thrust the knife in her right hand right into Asint's unprotected throat.

The battle ended like that, Asint fell to the ground, to become another splatter of blood to feed the grass. He looked up to see Rain grasping her shattered left arm. He smiled, Rain might actually have the strength to lead the nation, but he could care less now. He would be joining his sweet Caitlin once again, so see her beautiful eyes for eternity.

"Rain...I'll tell... Caitlin...your greetings......." That was the last gurgled speech that left Asint.

"Nike, to the heavens!" Rain cried out holding her non-broken arm above her head.

Her troops roared with a victorious furry, they hoped that the perceived justness of this conflict would lead to a more prosperous nation of common manifest.

The dead that day were buried with honor, though they had lost their mean, and their objective they were still soldiers of Vellore, so they were all honored, Rain declared that any surviving members to be given amnesty and to simply turn in their weapons and go home.

A few days later she was in Merr, the capitol of Vellore for a very solemn occasion. She stood in a black dress; a veil covered most of her face down to her muzzle. Razen Sart stood with her, dressed in black robes, with a crown adorning his brow. Pluvus was also there in black military robes, as was Dimor Ves, an infantry Field Marshall who had remained with Rain during the civil war.

Baylea Sempta, A head priestess was presiding over the ceremony, and the only one wearing white robes of divinity.

"Though we seal him in the tomb of Daject along with his ancestors, his soul has traveled to the hunting ground of the stars, where all is peaceful, and he may be with Caitlin till the end of this eternity. In the name of all who watch us from the starry rift, we commend the soul of Lord Asint Daject, to you all, may you welcome him in peace, he overly deserves it." Baylea finished the service with.