Captain Darrius Mahakam was, of course, doing paperwork. Filling out a report here, replying to every letter sent to him. Fuck, he spent half his life doing this stuff. Back on the streets he used to smell steel and blood, now all he smelt was damp parchment and ink. It was choking him. He needed to get some air.

He stepped out onto his balcony with his wine as company, but didn't keep it for long. It slipped from his grasp as soon as he saw the first lights, and heard the first screaming. The city was under attack! Why in gods name had the alarms not been rung?!? Sergeant Ferri arrived right on cue as the barracks awoke. "Sir!" he spoke, out of breath, "Necromancers, sir! The dead assault our barracks across the city!" Of course they would, stop the guard and spread panic. Darrius started, "Sergeant, help wake the men and gather your own troops, call the other sergeants here for orders, if they aren't here in 2 minutes I'll hang them myself."

The veteran sat in his office, and counted up to a minute before sergeants started to arrive. The loud clatter and moans of men arousing from slumber ran through the building. He gave orders to the sergeants as they arrived, setting his plan 
"Haratio, Yvette, Francis and Killian. I need you to take all your men and put out fires. Johnson, David and Wilson, you must head out to the other barracks and find out what has happened to them, take the heaviest men you have. Johnson I rely on you to manage where these men go, as it is they are probably buckling beneath the assault. Even if this is the case we need those fires out."
"Dillian, Feross and Abatha, we will form the main assault force. We may not be much but our main objective is to block up the main plaza. The area us currently not exposed to fire and the streets should help us hold off the enemy. Not only does it nullify the enemies numbers, but the number of streets means we should be able to distract a large number of them."

"That leaves both Jason and Veldron. Jason take your bowmen and set up on the rooftops around the main plaza, not only will this reduce the enemies number advantage even further, as you can fire into their ranks, but if you see a Necromancer I want him feathered before he can raise a hand of magic. This should make the battle quicker and a lot more winnable, as a single spell could blast open our defence."
"Veldron you are to tell civilians to make for the main barracks for safety, and gather scattered guardsmen across the city to meet up with Tor, captain of the mercenaries. You must race to the Cultivators aid, they are pretty much defenceless yet key to the city!"
"Is everyone clear!" His last command was met with salutes and boots clapping. "Let's get to it!"

10 minutes and a half from when the first reports of the attack and Darrius was out of the barracks with his guard. Various numbers of forces headed off in different directions. The fires had only got worse, the slums were tight packed and, worse, it hadn't rained for several days. Darrius began to wish he had sent more people to deal with the fires, even though The Day Master was probably dealing with it already. His force of 200 men had split up into 3 different groups which each took 3 different routes to the market square, not only to reach there quicker but to cover a larger area on the way there. There was very few enemies on the path there, but upon seeing the plaza Darrius understood why. 

There was a number of Necromancers ready to start an assault on the main palace. More importantly, however, were the undead surrounding them. An experienced Captain, he quickly assessed the size of the crowd, despite it not having order at all. Probably about 350 shambling abominations, probably entirely citizens, though he recognised the occasional guardsmen armour. Darrius' unit of 75 swordsmen and 50 archers were the only ones there currently, and they needed this plaza. If they couldn't hold this ground then the path to the palace would be clear for their reinforcments. "Dillian!" the stout sergeant marched up to him as the group of undead started to leer. 
"I need you to take 25 men and hold this street behind us, Jason should be able to assist in this, and get him to order his finest marksmen to aim for the necromancers. Bear in mind the square will become as chaotic as a bar brawl when more and more men flood in so I don't want volleys flying into our men, got it? I will take 50 men and distract their force. Remember they lack grace and skill, so as long as we don't get tired we can easily fight them barely losing a man. Let's go."
Darrius shouted for his men to hear him. "Remember men, these aren't your friends anymore, just soulless shells! Attack!" At the head of his men, he clashed into the waiting abominations, just as Abatha's men shuffled into the square with war-cries. This was the definition of a blood bath, but if you too had been living in Antioch, you'd be used to it.