[The First Bastion Planet] [Location: Ethisian Half of Akrina] This update ıs available on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝔫𝔢𝔱 "Weather be good today?" Weather do be good today." "Do trade today in village?" "Village trade done for day. I’m going rest now." "Sunset I’m see you?" "Watch where you’re walking, you dumb species!!!" Three rugged, stubby, rough-skinned creatures accidentally bumped into an Ethisian soldier while on their way outside their little civilization. The sun had risen on yet another day and these three stubby creatures were heavily eager to leave their little community for some reason, so much so that they bumped hard enough into an Ethisian to the point where they nearly knocked it over. ’"Sorry, Ethisian."" The three creatures replied while speedily making their way to the plateau’s edge. About ten minutes passed and their stubby legs finally carried them to the edge. Once there, they checked to make sure no one followed them or watched them, and as soon as they were in the clear....they jumped. One after the other, the three stubby creatures jumped over the edge with their short hands and thick, stubby legs spread apart like jet wings. As they fell, their bodies started to shift quickly as they tore through the dense foliage shadowing the forest floor beneath. Falling with grace, the three stubby creatures finally landed on the forest floor...as Granians. "The scouts are back!!" Surrounding the plateau on all corners were Lord Gravax’s fleet of Granian and Cyclitharan soldiers. For over a week, these soldiers waited quietly and patiently while three of their scouts infiltrated, studied, and uncovered weaknesses in the Bastions. Instead of barging in senselessly, the Granians chose to take the longer and more effective route. Since they planned on overthrowing the Bastion, they needed to do it as effectively as possible. "Lord Gravax," the scouts reported, "the gates are open during the beginning of sunrise and sunset. The Ethisians guard it religiously, from the foundation of the walls to their top." "No Ethisian’s allowed to move in or out without proper authorization except for when the gates are open. The gates are reinforced. They’ll be too big for us to break through unless we come from above." "However, mounted turrets along the walls, that are powerful enough to take down a Colonial Ship in multiple rounds, will make it next to impossible for one of us to even land." "The Bastion’s a colossal structure. It will take us a full day’s battle to cover all of it so I’m expecting them to have about half of our numbers occupying it. Of those halves, I expect two-fourths to be experienced fighters with the other two-fourths being nothing more than cleaners, engineers, guards, among other specialists." "All in all, it will be possible to break into the Bastion, Lord Gravax, but it will not be an easy battle. There will be casualties and since we’re not starting the attack with any aerial attacks or majority of our land vehicles, it will take us much longer than we expect." As soon as the report was made, word spread quickly throughout the Granian and Cyclitharan troops concerning the possibility of them conquering the Bastion without suffering so many casualties. It was a gamble, one which none would do willingly unless they had a strong reason to. Thankfully, there was a more than strong enough reason for them to go through with the attack and if they wanted to evade said "reason, they needed to act quickly. "What shall we do, Lord Gravax?" the question was asked and the soldiers waited patiently while the Granian paced back and forth. As he did, the others in high positions, just below his, gave their opinions, ideas, and strategies concerning what could be done, how it could be done, and when it could be done. After pacing back and forth, an idea finally came to the Granian. He looked ahead and stared at the Crimson Knight. A glint of madness and ambition twinkled in the Granian’s eye as he opened his mouth and began spitting out his ideas and plan forward. As he spoke, mixed reactions came from the Granians and Cyclitharans with some opposing the ideas while others agreed. A few remained neutral for they felt as though Gravax’s plan was effective but too costly. Nonetheless, it still had to be carried out whether they wanted to or not. "We all must follow this straight to the core, understand?" Gravax concluded, "We cannot afford to screw up even ONCE. If we do, it could cost nearly all of us our lives and the entire safety of our goal at hand, so follow it to the dot. Do I make myself clear to all of you?" "Affirmative!!" they all whispered just loud enough for each one to hear. Once Gravax finalized the layout of his plan, the Granians slowly moved forward and concealed themselves, waiting for the hour to strike. Nightfall. The sun set over the horizon as it gave way to the beautiful night sky. A blanket of billions of stars twinkled and danced in the night sky with the view of plenty of moons calming the mind of the beholder. The cooling wind, purified by the foliage of the colossal trees, blew throughout the plains with a gentle song playing in the ears of those it blew against. A soft, chill but welcoming aura of air settled across the land, and with that came a sense of rest, calmness, and relaxation. After a long day of hard work, labor, tireless toiling—all done under a blazing sun—it was nice to relax with a gentle breeze cooling the body. Everyone, both Ethisian and short, stubby creature, was so relaxed that they did not notice the streak of dust quickly and quietly ran past the community outside the wall, past the WIDE OPEN gates, and stopped directly at the center of the Bastion. To make matters worse, it happened so quickly that the one responsible for the streak of dust could not believe how simple and effective it was...despite it having been predicted. ’Still cannot believe it worked.’ They thought, right before they moved on to the next part of Gravax’s plan. ’I pray this doesn’t fail.’