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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2616871" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 93, “The Hidalgo County Battle”, Sunday, March 19th, 1882, 1:30 A.M.The party moves out to until they reach a dry riverbed.   During the annual rainy season a river up to fifteen-feet wide and six-feet deep covers this bed, but now it is dry and the French are using the riverbed as their roadway through the valley, given that it travels along a low and easy path with a minimum of obstacles to tow their cannon around.  The six observe the approaching French Army from higher ground, counting a total of thirty-eight horses, sixteen of which are paired and pulling the total of eight cannon behind them.  As the cannon are being towed with the barrels pointing towards the rear they decide that a frontal attack would be best, since they would then need to turn the cannon around in order for them to be deployed.   The group carefully climbs further down the hillside to the riverbed without being seen.    They choose a spot along the road where a series of boulders, some up to ten feet high, can be used to provide cover to the party.   They decide to split into groups of three, with each group on a different side of the road to catch the enemy inside crossfire.   Arcade, Gonzales and Hank and Arcade go to the southern side while Louie, Morgana and Sam remain on the northern side.    Each group member finds a good rock to hide behind that is no more than twenty-feet from his or her next teammate.   Each trio then stays together initially at the center person’s rock, to plan and then move out when the enemy close in. As the approaching forces get closer the group can see that they are comprised of four distinctly separate groups of individuals.   There are ten-mounted French Foreign Legion troops attired the same as those fought earlier, all of which are paired up with each pair pulling a cannon.   Accompanying these forces are fourteen Arabs riding Arabian horses.  They too are paired, with the first four leading and acting as scouts with each of the other five pairs riding behind each pair of Legionnaires.    Following them is a group of six mounted men dressed in civilian garb, who Gonzales concludes are probably the French wizards.   The final group of eight is French Soldiers wearing the uniforms of the regular French Army.   Three of these pairs are enlisted troops who are pulling the remaining three cannon.  The other two appear to be officers, a French General and his aide, a Major.  Each team members evaluates these threats differently.   Gonzalez is most concerned about the wizards; Arcade thinks the officers should be the main targets; Sam and Morgana are both concerned about the Arab scouts because they are closest to them and probably the most experienced with fighting in rough desert terrain; Louie sees the Legionnaires as the greatest threat; and Hank just wants to shoot somebody.  The plan is for Arcade’s trio to initiate the attack, but not to begin until all the enemy has moved up along the road so that they can all can be seen by the party.    Hank positions himself on the tallest rock, looking down at the enemy below while Gonzales moves to a spot closest to the enemy so that he will have a clear view of the wizards and their specific actions.    Arcade takes the first shot, the bullet striking and killing one of the Legionnaires hauling the second cannon.  Hank immediately fires his rifle at that Legionnaire’s partner, seriously wounding him and causing him to both drops his gun and fall from his horse.   This effectively leaves the cannon blocking the roadway/riverbed, causing all of those behind to have to stop while cutting off the eight troops in front from the remainder of their battalion.  Gonzales next lets loose a Fireball spell two-thirds of the way back, which envelopes over four of the wizards and two mounted Arabs.  Pair of the wizards appear to have magical fire protection on them and are minimally harmed although their mounts are both killed as are all of the others caught in the blast.   This pair immediately runs for cover behind the nearest rocks.    This move has the effect of further dividing the battalion, with the thirty troops not yet engaged in battle in the roadway now comprised of the front eight, a middle group of twelve, and the final group of ten.Louie and Sam both fire at a pair of Arabs in direct line of sight from them at the end of the front group, killing one and wounding the other.   Morgana watches the two unhurt wizards towards the back, holding off on throwing her Magic Missile spell until they begin spells of their own.  The four Arab scouts in the very front of the Army ride forwards towards higher ground.   Louie and Sam both fire at them, prompting the quartet to keep on riding.  Hank pivots around on the rock and fires two more rifle shots, striking the pair of Arabs now at the front of the middle group.   Arcade shoots at a Legionnaire behind those Arabs, missing, but striking his horse, which collapses to the ground.    Morgana releases her Magic Missile at the two still unhurt wizards, disrupting their spells.   Unfortunately her hiding place is not far from the front of the middle group and the sight of magical light flying out from her position causes the remaining nine Legionnaires and Arabs in the middle group to concentrate their fire towards her.  She immediately ducks down behind a rock to avoid being hit.   Gonzales now lobs the second of his three Fireball spells towards the enemy in the rear group, catching the two wizards who Morgana had struck in it as well as four of the regular French army troops, their mounts and two cannon and killing all of them.      A pair of Legionnaires now cut the cannon they are towing loose from the mounts and charge the rock that Morgana is hiding behind.   Sam stays low on the ground and crawls out from behind the rock.  He fires a fatal shot up into the closest of these, the man falling back in the saddle of his horse.   Louie deals with the other by standing and unloading his shotgun into both the man and his horse.   Unfortunately this move also makes Louie a prime target for the other seven troops who had previously fired at Morgana as well as the one that had been previously dismounted.   All eight fire at Louie with two shots hitting, one rather seriously.  The half-orc collapses in pain behind the rock   Sam stops shooting and crawls over to help protect his ally.   With Morgana and Louie drawing the attention of the remaining enemy troops that leaves Hank and Arcade free to rain fire down upon the other troops, with them concentrating on the rear four in the second group.   Both Legionnaires are killed and the horses are shot out from beneath the Arabs, who run to the cannon that the Legionnaires had been pulling to use it as partial cover.     The two lone mounted Arabs at the front of the second group opt to ride away and gallop off the road towards the south and past the rock that Hank is on top of, with him deciding to just let them go.   The two French Officers in the rear order the remaining pair with them to turn the last cannon around and fire at the rock where Hank’s shots are coming from.   They have the cannon half turned when Gonzales lets fly his final fireball, dropping all four of them.     The burning debris, bodies and adjacent grass and brush resulting from the fireballs now illuminate the entire area, assisting the remaining foes in better seeing their surroundings. Morgana manages to get over to Louie and cast a healing spell onto him as Sam moves to another rock and fires at the two remaining Legionnaires in the middle group, killing one of them.   The remaining three Legionnaires and Arab in the front group have managed to regroup and move to slightly higher ground, concentrating their fire down on Sam, Morgana and Louie, with Louie getting shot once more.   Sam fires back, supported by shots from Arcade and Hank, wounding one Legionnaire and killing the Arab.   One of the two remaining front group Legionnaires now gets Arcade within his sights for what would have been a fatal shot but at the very last second a well-placed shot from Sam keeps him from firing while a very angry Louie dispatches the other.   The remaining wounded Legionnaire in the front group decides to surrender.  Shooting has now ceased.   Gonzales casts a spell to allow himself to detect invisibility and then has Arcade and Hank accompany him towards the rocks where the protected wizards have retreated to.   No one is present and Gonzales concludes that the pair has managed to teleport away.    Sam is ordered to climb the hill and confirm that the six Arabs who rode off have left the area.    The two Arabs cowering behind the cannon are tied and gagged.   Gonzales discovers that the French General and Major are both still barely alive with severe burns.   They are both securely tied up before Morgana casts healing spells on them to prevent them from succumbing to their injuries.   The General remains unconscious while the Major temporarily wakens before falling unconscious again.   Most of the party is surprised to discover that the only surviving Legionnaire is not French but Italian.   Arcade tells them “That’s pretty common, the French hire mercenaries from many countries.   He introduces himself as Joseppi Franjoluppi and asks that the party not kill him, saying that he is no soldier and never even fired a gun until that day.    “What were you doing with these troops then?” Morgana asks.   He replies, “I was the Company Cook, I work as chef back in my native Milan.”     Arcade and Hank exchange glances and Arcade says, “An Italian Chef?  You interested in staying here with us?”  He replies, “Here?  In Tunisia?”  “What makes you think we’re in Tunisia?” she asks.  He replies, “That where French Wizards say they bring us.”     Morgana says, “Guess again, you’re in the United States.”    “America!” he exclaims.   “The good old U. S. of A.” Hank replies.     A wide grin crosses Joseppi’s face as he pulls his Legionnaire hat from his head, tosses it onto the group and stomps on it.  “I quit Legion,” he exclaims.    Arcade then helps heal the bullet wound in Joseppi’s arm that he had just a short while earlier caused.  The Zeppelin in signaled to fly in and land near where the battle is fought.   It is decided that the two French officers and the pair of Arabs should be turned over to the United States Army.  The closest Army Fort is near Deming, New Mexico, which would be a two-hour flight to the northeast.   They decide that Arcade should lead that group and be the one to talk to the army due to his reputation as the Gang’s leader.  They also decide to bring the four undamaged cannon with them, but to keep for themselves for potential future use instead of giving them to the army.   Gonzales attaches one of the four levitation devices to each and then activating them in order to not weigh down the Zeppelin.  Gonzales does not want to leave behind the fifteen horses that survived the battle, six of them Arabian stallions, since his granddaughter Sonoma now owns a ranch.   Morgana and Louie offer to ride back west to Promise City with him and the horses.   They decide it best to also send Joseppi with the riders to avoid having to explain who he is to the U.S. Army and potentially lose their newly acquired chef.</blockquote>

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