(Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20)
A.C.224.01. Emerging from the Dragon's Maw, eclipse still in effect, the crew and their Panzers approach their destination- the Howling Gate.
A mere handful of soldiers defend the gate, and assume the crew are enemy panzers attacking!
With a painful slowness, the soldiers crank one turret around and fire, but the shot goes wide.
Cali and Hunter manage to convince Agoreth, the gate commander, that they are allies. After tense negotiation, the crew are welcomed in, and they hide their Panzers behind the gate.
Exhausted, the crew bed down inside. The howling, whistling wind can still be faintly heard outside, but Cali manages to crash out immediately. But the other crew are alerted to the sounds of struggle in the next room...
Cali dreams that she is a giant Auran, like the one that helped her back at Chatterly Manor.... In the dream, she walks through secret tunnels that lead into the Gate, following an enemy Devourer that has snuck in ahead of her.
Inside the gate, an actual Devourer bursts through a hole in the wall, surprising two gate guards in the armory!
The Devourer opens fire, atomizing the guards! The commotion is what alerts the crew, but somehow Cali sleeps through it all...
As the crew confront the invading Devourer, an Auran appears and helps to take the Devourer down.
Earlier, when the Panzer crew were traversing the Dragon's Maw, Cap'n was sailing the long way around to the Howling Gate.
He comes across two straggling soldiers who explain they were part of an expeditionary force launched from the gate to intercept Gora and the Swindon army... But they were badly beaten and barely escaped alive.
Cap'n picks up the two survivors, who warn that Gora is on his way to the gate!
As the Stormstalker arrives at the gate, alarms are sounded.
Enemy forces are spotted inbound, not far behind the ship!
First to reach the gate are the enemy Beastmasters, who open fire with their cannons...
...blowing the gate wide open with a massive blast!
A second shot hurtles straight for one of the gate's turrets, manned by Kit Carson, veteran cannoneer.
Kit manages to time a retaliating shot, and the two projectiles collide and explode in midair!
Meanwhile, Cap'n and Finn open fire on the Beastmasters, disrupting their attack.
The crew scramble to their Promaxis Panzers, and charge out through the shattered gate and over the cliffs to engage the enemy.
Purket, Tara, and Griff flank the Beastmasters and use their Panzers' flame jets to bathe the Beastmasters in fire.
Meanwhile, Squalor and Cali climb over and through the cliffs on the left flank, preparing to ambush the enemy.
The next wave of enemy forces, a Swindon landship, comes under fire by Squalor and Cali...
But they manage to pass through and charge straight into the open gate!
As Swindon troops disembark, Hunter and the gate defenders sally out to meet them. Odds are not good...
...Until Tara manages to double back and trample half of the attackers!
Unfortunately the next wave of enemies to appear are three Devourers, who concentrate their fire on the Stormstalker!
Badly damaged and on fire, Cap'n realizes the Stormstalker can't last much longer, and sets course for the gate.
As the crew abandon ship, the Stormstalker blocks the Gate, taking out even more Swindon troops.
Cap'n manages to grab the Amphorica containing Dr. Ossuary before diving from the burning wreckage.
But more enemy forces arrive- a full contingent of Panzers and infantry, led by Gora himself!
Squalor and Tara work together to try to stop the Monocot Panzers.
But Gora charges Squalor, cutting the head off his Panzer with a deadly Drill Sword attack!
Desperate to stop Gora's assault, Cali's Auran launches a Flare magic arrow, blinding the enemies.
The Devourers charge the gate, scrambling over the wreck of the Stormstalker.
The defenders look on in horror as the Devourers bear down on them...
But Purket manages to grab an enemy cannonball and hurls it at the Devourers, stunning them.
The wind picks up speed, coalescing into a whirling tornado bearing down on the battlefield!
Purket and Tara barely escape the whirling column of destruction...
But the Devourers are not so lucky, and are sucked up into the sky.
The Tornado rips apart the burning remains of the Stormstalker, turning into a column of fire.
Cali's Auran manages to pull Squalor's Panzer out of the path of the Tornado and into a nearby cave, as the fiery maelstrom tears through the remaining enemy forces. Gora and a handful of survivors flee the battlefield, leaving their allies behind.
Griff spots something falling out of the sky, and barely avoids being crushed by a discarded Devourer, delivering a killing blow to the stunned enemy.
Finding one of the Beastmaster giant Rhinos running amok, Griff cuts loose its howdah and soothes the beast with treats.
The gate has held, and the enemy repelled!
As the crew celebrate their victory, the Eclipse finally breaks loose, returning night to day.
As their Panzers fade away, the crew are left standing by.
All except Cali, now awake and staggering out to witness the aftermath... "Guys, I had the weirdest dream... wait, what?!"
ON TO PART 12!
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