Chapter 38: Payback Time
                         ------------------------

Akfek waited impatiently with Sascha in the throne room in Doma for news
of the surprise attack on the Big Whale, the Falcon, and the Enterprise.
At last, General McArthur rushed into the throne room with news of the
battle but his face was shallow and a frown sat upon his cheeks instead of
the smile that Akfek expected.

"My lord and Lady DelAubre... I have the misfortune of informing you on
our progress," uttered the General.

"And what is our progress, General?" inquired Sascha.

"Our forces suffered serious losses.  Rokal failed the designated
objective.   We have lost three airships and our soldiers were forced to
flee the town."

"FORCED TO FLEE THE TOWN!?" raged Akfek, and his voice threw McArthur back
a few steps.  "We had guards posted in every corner of Kohlingen and our
Magitek Armor roamed the streets!  And we lose the town!"

McArthur, recuperating from Akfek's voice, slowly responded, "Our sources
were unable to determine the cause as to why the soldiers assigned to
their posts fled the town but we are attempting to solve this mystery."

"This loss is an embarassment to our Empire.  How can we be beaten by
such a small group of people?" said Akfek, and then he stopped as if
something had struck him; he realized that these were the same people who had
killed his brother.

"Perhaps we should deliver a warning to these brave warriors who oppose
us," suggested Sascha.

The anger left Akfek's face and a devilish grin formed instead,"Excellent!
You are a fast thinker, Sascha, just like I was when I was at your age.  They
will pay for this outrage.  Perhaps a town like...  Thamasa?"

"The perfect choice, your Majesty.  The town is a threat to our postion
in Vector and has suffered little damage in the past," responded McArthur.

"It will suffer now.  We will bomb every house in the town until the
houses become one with the ground.  When we take possession of the town,
we will set a post there for our future assaults.  Cid has developed
another potion for our needs.  If our forces encounter difficulties, I
will send Lore, along with Cid's potion, to deal with any these
difficulties.  Carry out the necessary preparations, McArthur.  That is
all."

	*		*		*

Onboard one of the airships was a man dressed in black leather low-boots,
leather breeches, and a black leather vest over a white cloth tunic.  He
was the captain of one of the attacking airships, promoted to the rank
of captain after Akfek had heard of his past services to Gestahl.  Some
officers of a similar rank grumbled about this person since he had not
fought one battle yet but was already promoted to a Captain of an airship but
they lacked the courage to confront this man. They knew about his rank
before in Gestahl's army and they knew he could possibly achieve this rank
again.

As the soldiers finished arming the airships, the airships left one by
one from Doma.  Several ships had already been sent from Vector, carrying
the ground force that was to land the assault on Thamasa and were already
near the town.   Following the bombing of the town, the ground forces
were to storm the town, destroying any resistance or any other obstacle
in their way.

Soon, the airships, cloaked by Shade, arrived over Thamasa.  As they flew
over the town, they uncloaked and bombed Thamasa until an orange tide
swept across the town.  Thick black smoke arose from the houses that
burned and burned.  Many fled the town while the others attempted to
contain the fire but were impeded by more bombing.  When all the houses
were in flames, the ground forces rushed towards the town.

But this time, it was different.  The townspeople had heard of Kohlingen,
Nikeah, Albrook, and Doma.  Their defenses were prepared and well
organized in case such an attack would occur. Their defenses were much
superior to the defense of the other four unfortunate towns, and even the
townspeople were armed.  They came out to greet the forces of the Empire.

The battle continued for hours but the town's defenses began to
collapse.  The reinforcements from Thamasa began to dwindle and their
supplies grew shorter as each hour passed by and the Empire advanced,
slowly.  Now, only a miracle could save Thamasa...