The Battle of the Birge

Background

It was a cool January day. The snow eddies twirled as the soft breeze wafted over the lands of Victoria. However, beneath this surface calm, trouble was brewing. The previous day, January 6th, at midnight, turmoil had been unleashed to shatter the winter stillness. Charity Ball’s Assassins had begun.

Almost immediately, skirmishes had broken out; however the action did not heat up until the morning. Some parties immediately launched themselves into the fray. Shortly before 10AM, a chase occurred across the Quad, with VUSAC MAL Sidky pursuing Ms. Johnson of the Cat’s Eye. This attack would prove to be a harbinger of future events.

The Cat’s Eye juggernaut warmed up, with one valiant warrior racked up a trio of kills in a few short hours, while other subcommittee members also found their targets. Among early casualties was the VUSAC communications secretary, caught unawares, having barely equipped herself for battle. Many fell in their homes, without knowing conflict had even begun.

Later in the day, The Cat’s Eye was struck a grievous blow when both her managers were cut down and eliminated from competition within hours of each other, before having a chance to attack. The day ended with the second of these assassinations, in a climactic battle outside the very doors of the Cat’s Eye itself. VUSAC too suffered a blow when two members turned upon each other shortly following their weekly meeting.

Large scale battle began upon the second day of hostilities, January 7th. Early in the day, treachery struck within the ranks of the Cat’s Eye soldiery when one senior officer turned upon his compadre, striking him down in cold blood. However further signs of collapsing VUSAC morale were soon evident when a member of the executive ambushed another after extensive preparations.

However, despite these inner signs of discord within both the VUSAC and Cat’s Eye factions, the smouldering conflict between these two Victorian powerhouses was soon to erupt full-scale.

Reconaissance en Force

Battle drew near as the Cat’s Eye rolled out in marching order, on an intelligence gathering mission to the VUSAC stronghold in the Birge-Carnegie building. The perilous objective was to rescue an agent concealed in the safe zone of the reading room. This required full force, rendering stealth nigh impossible. This was also a high risk mission, as the aforementioned Johnson, still in contention for the championship, took part in this foray. Her hunter Sidky lurked in the adjacent VUSAC office.

Phase I
Initial Probing
1700 hours

Initially all seemed to be going well, with rescue of the Cat’s Eye agent going according to plan, while other Cat’s Eye forces distracted their rivals in the VUSAC office. However, through a communications failure, the threatened Cat’s Eye spies failed to escape back to the sanctity of the Wymilwood building before VUSAC grew suspicious of the ever more obvious attempts at concealment of the mission. VUSAC scouts spotted Johnson and alerted Sidky as the target sat oblivious to imminent danger, although nevertheless protected by the neutrality of the reading room.

After this initial skirmish by recon forces, both sides drew back and prepared for battle. With VUSAC Vice-President Goel and Commuter Commissioner Rizwan at the helm, VUSAC mobilized their forces for a siege of the reading room. The sides were now set and the battle lines drawn for an encounter of heroic magnitude.

Phase II
Chindits
1705 hours

VUSAC moved quickly to flush out the Cat’s Eye from the reading room by blockading the doors and extinguishing the lights, but neutral parties protested fervently and VUSAC was forced back. However a siege was nonetheless maintained, and given the equivalent numbers of the two armies, Cat’s Eye forces were prevented from making a quick escape. In light of this, the members of the Cat’s Eye plotted a commando raid to enable a breakout – however as later events would make clear, the plan did not adequately detail communications and the specific roles to be played by members.

Sgt. Rubbini, though himself having fallen victim to assassination and elimination earlier in the day, was charged with a raid on VUSAC’s weaponry, without which they would be unable to slay Johnson. He broke through the blockade and successfully led Sidky on a chase across the campus of Victoria for several minutes, during which the Cat’s Eye contingent could have escaped. However, the aforementioned inadequacy of communication during planning prevented such a getaway, despite the success of the raid.

Phase III
Ambush Foiled
1710 hours

However, the raid was not without its benefits, as VUSAC drew back to their office citadel to regroup for the next round. This presented a window of opportunity for a quick escape from the reading room, once that the Army of the Cat’s Eye moved to seize. The vanguard scoured the Birge for VUSAC positions, and, through the assistance of a mole within VUSAC, an ambush by Sidky was detected and sprung before it could draw blood. A phalanx of Cat’s Eye members held back an opposing phalanx of VUSAC members while Johnson withdrew back into the reading room.

Phase IV
Breakthrough
1715 hours

So as to prevent any communications failures in their next escape attempt, the Cat’s Eye thoroughly planned out their breakout route. Meanwhile, VUSAC formed up in their office bastion to counter any sortie with a counter-rush by massed numbers. The battle began with a Cat’s Eye dash to the chokepoint of the VUSAC office door, in order to contain the bulk of VUSAC forces, while an escape convoy fled back to Wymilwood. The attempt to emulate Thermopylae under Manager Bailey’s leadership was successful, as a trio of Cat’s Eye members fought a rear-guard action to hold back the VUSAC horde. Nonetheless, eventually superior numbers prevailed as the Cat’s Eye formation was torn apart and tossed aside into the walls of the Birge. Meanwhile, VUSAC cavalry raced after the fleeing Johnson and her escort.

Fortunately, the retreating Cat’s Eye forces had by this time reached the fortress of Wymilwood, and left holding forces at the entrance. A suicidal stand by one Cat's Eye auxiliary held the line of the doors against vast numerical superiority, which stalled the VUSAC advance long enough for Johnson to reach safety from whatever VUSAC could muster.

Aftermath

As Johnson hid, the rampaging VUSAC war machine tore through the Wymilwood building, searching high and low for their evasive prey. She was nowhere to be found and, defeated, VUSAC retreated in shame to their sanctuary in order to plot new offensives, and to pick up the pieces left by the destruction of the battle. Later in the day, Cat’s Eye scouts kept watch on the vanquished VUSAC forces lest they attempt another sortie, while further Cat’s Eye offensives secured additional kills. As the sun set, quiet descended upon Victoria once more: but all slept with one eye open.

-Sgt. Rubbini