Imperial Duty

Ralen walked into the Imperial City, a hand on his silver longsword. He shuddered; those last few ghosts were vicious. He was glad he made it out of there alive. They tore through his usual armor, forcing him to leave the caverns in a hurry. He raised his hand into the air, adjusting the legion gauntlets. He was fortunate enough to pass by an Imperial Legion on horseback, who gladly gave him his suit of armor.

…After he was killed, of course. But with that nearby Oblivion Gate where the body was, it was quite obvious what had happened. Well, the armor was not going to help the Imperial Legion where he was going, and he was sure as hell not joining him. So saying a little prayer before raiding his corpse, he took the armor, glad to know at least his hide was safe.

But at least now he was safe in the Imperial City. He needed to get to Rohssan to have her repair his armor, maybe paying for another training session while he was there. That, and he should probably sell that war hammer he found; not quite what he was interested in fighting with, personally. Hearing and feeling his sword slide in and out of his sheath was oddly satisfying.

He walked further into the Talos District, hoping to take the way around the Imperial Palace. He walked past the Imperial Legions standing guard. He was slightly surprised when he acknowledged him. Surely he did not think of him as an actual legion…

He walked through the double doors, staring straight at the Imperial Palace. He smiled; the view of the Imperial Palace always relaxed him. It had to be the slight pride he felt in living in the city and actually being its resident. Sure, his house was in the Waterfront, but he was still a resident. He placed his gauntlet on his cuirass, his smile growing slightly. He was no Imperial Legion, but he was proud to have this armor. He somehow felt that much closer to the city. He should pray to the Nine when he returned home – pray for the Legion a safe journey home.

He walked down the stairs, making his way toward the Market District doors. As he walked through, the pair of Imperial Legions on duty acknowledged him. Now he was starting to get a little scared; did they really believe he was a legion?

With a sigh, he walked further into the Market District, passing by The First Edition. He needed to get his armor repaired so he could change out of the Imperial Legion armor. While he enjoyed having it, perhaps wearing it in the Imperial City was not such a good idea…

"For Lord Dagon!"

"Oh great…" Ralen said, unsheathing his sword. He ran toward the sound of the voice, running pass A Fighting Chance. He would have to take care of his business with Rohssan later. And there she was. Another Mythic Dawn member… "Why must they stalk me wherever I go?" he said under his breath, slashing at her.

"You will die, non-believer!" she shouted as she swung her mace. Ralen brought up his shield, easily blocking it. Suddenly, the Imperial Legion from the western gate ran over, unsheathing his sword as well. Ralen ignored him, lunging in. Unfortunately, she recovered faster than he had expected, and struck his armor. He staggered back, taking two more hits from the woman.

"Die fiend!" the legion said, slashing at her wildly. Ralen rushed in, slashing back. He spun around, knocking her mace onto the ground. She simply put up her fists and tried to punch him on the cuirass. He put up his shield once more, watching as she recoiled back in mild pain. Lunging forward, he knocked her to the ground, the bound armor vanishing with a poof.

Ralen gasped for breath; he overexerted a bit that time. He quickly sheathed his sword, almost missing the scabbard, and placed his free hand onto his leg.

The legion walked forward, handing him the cloak and hood of the woman. "Here, since you killed her, you get to keep the bounty money. Can you walk?"

Ralen looked up, nodding his head. "Yes, I think so. I just need a moment…" he said, feeling his arm being thrown over the Imperial Legion's shoulder. "What?"

"Here, I can help walk you to your post." the legion said, pulling on Ralen to walk with him. "Then later you can head to the tower and claim your bounty money."

Ralen shook his head in disbelief. He did think he was an Imperial Legion after all… And here he was almost at A Fighting Chance… He had to stop this before it was too late. He shook his head wildly, trying to knock himself out of his daze. "Thank you for helping, but I'm not really-"

The legion stopped, nodding his head in understanding. "Ah, my apologies. I suppose I should not have made you seem weak." he said, slowly lowering Ralen's arm from off his shoulder. "You do not need assistance walking to your post. Good luck." he said, walking away before Ralen even had a chance to explain himself.

Ralen sighed lightly, slowly walking toward his post. What was he to do? They thought he was an Imperial Legion, simply for wearing the armor. He could not just leave, or he could get in trouble before he could explain himself about the whole thing. And what if he ran into one of the captains of the guard? He would not stand a chance. "By the Nine, what have I gotten myself into…?"

"Your shift is up." Ralen looked up at the legion that was supposed to replace him. "You can rest at the barracks now."

Ralen mentally sighed, unsure of where this was going to lead him. "Alright, thank you." he said, walking off. Luckily, he managed to stay in the city long enough to know where the closest tower was… Although this was the time where he could slip off and none would be the wiser. However, that risked him the chance of another unnecessary post duty, and he was already exhausted. He would have to play along this time; hopefully they would not find out about this mess while he was asleep.

He walked toward the Northeast Watch Tower, sighing when he was out of hearing range. He reached the door. "Well, here goes nothing…" he said under his breath, walking inside.

He immediately ran into Itius Hayn standing by the door, a bag in his hand. "I was called out here because there was a Mythic Dawn member that was killed. Are you the one who needs to claim the bounty? Provide the cloak and hood as proof." Ralen gasped lightly before going into his supplies and pulling the hood and cloak out. "Ah, excellent. Here's your bounty. And I'll take the hood and cloak so that it cannot be reused." Ralen handed him the cloak and hood, grabbing the bag shortly thereafter. "Now I must be off. Take care, legion."

Ralen merely nodded his head, unsure of what he should do. He watched as Itius walked out of the tower. So even an Imperial Guard Captain mistook him as a legion… They really needed a better way of keeping track of who's who… He looked at the table, finding a legion sitting there. "Come, take a seat and eat, already."

Ralen nodded his head, sitting on the other side of him. He grabbed the meat sitting on the plate and ate it in silence. Upon finishing, he yawned, standing up. He turned toward the ladder that led to the barracks, he smiled a bit. He figured he may as well head up for the night. Staying awake was not doing him much good. Climbing up, he lifted the hatch and moved to one of the vacant beds. Changing out of the armor and into his regular clothes, he lay down on the bed. He sighed. Hopefully he would be out of this mess soon.

"Ralen! There you are!" Martin said, getting up from his seat in the Great Hall. "You have been gone for almost four months. I was starting to fear that you were dead…"

Ralen shook his head, sighing loudly. 'No, I was… preoccupied." he said, shifting his eyes away from Martin. He took a seat across from him. "I am sorry to have worried you."

Martin shook his head, taking a seat. He placed his marker in his book, closing it. "Please, I would like to hear of your tale, if I may ask."

"Well…" he said, shifting his eyes again; he rested his hand on his Blades cuirass and leaned back into the chair. "I was attacked by ghosts in a cavern, and they were stronger than I thought. They tore through my Blades armor, thoroughly damaging it. It was capable of being repaired, yes, but I had to see an armorer for that."

Martin gasped lightly, a hand going to his mouth. "Were you badly injured? How were you able to survive?"

"I was lucky." he said, shaking his head. "I ran into a dead Imperial Legion along the roadside. I looked off into the distance to find that there was an Oblivion Gate close to him, so I could only assume he was killed by roaming daedra." he said, moving his arm off of his chest and resting it by his side. "With my armor in ruins, I took his armor and put it on at the spot, hoping to stay alive long enough to get into the Imperial City."

Martin closed his eyes, shaking his head. He folded his arms across his chest and coughed lightly. He sighed. "I see… I suppose entering the Imperial City was not the best idea."

"No, it was not." Ralen said, watching Baurus walking into the Great hall, a glass of water in his hand. He placed it on the table in from of Ralen. He reached for the glass of water, picking it up. "Thank you, Baurus." he said, taking a drink. Baurus gave a light nod before walking back out, keeping their conversation a private one. He soon finished the glass, placing it back down onto the table. "I wandered through the city hoping to make it to my friend, Rohssan, who repairs armor. That was when I ran into a Mythic Dawn member."

"Ah, I see. They have been showing up more frequently these days…" Martin stared back at the Mysterium Xarxes. If only he could figure out what that last item was so that they may open the portal to Mankar Cameron's Paradise; then they could put a stop to this madness. "I suppose you had to take care of them…"

Ralen weakly nodded his head. "Yes. And that was when I faced a slight problem. The guard that helped me fight the Mythic Dawn member was about to go off duty, and thought I was to be his replacement." he said, sighing. "I could not leave the post, since there would be no guard there, and that would have been suspicious. So I remained there, hoping for the next shift to arrive soon." he leaned back into his chair. "And when it came time for the next shift to arrive, I was too tired to do anything else but sleep. So I hesitantly went to the tower barracks."

"Luckily, they still thought of me as a legion, and everything went well. But every time I tried to tell them I was not a legion, they were already gone or I could not get a word in at all. They were ignorant, to say the least, to simply assume that I was a new recruit who appeared out of nowhere. I could have been an infiltrator wishing to bring their destruction, and they would not have noticed, or maybe even cared, it seemed."

Martin stroked his chin, humming lightly. "I see… That is something that I will have to rectify in the future, when we are able to reach the throne. But I'm glad to see that is no longer the case and you were able to explain yourself. I merely hope you were not charged and faced jail time."

"No, I did not. I was in major trouble, but because this was caused on an accidental whim, that I was with the Blades and I was the so-called 'Hero of Kvatch,'" he said with a sigh as he put his hands slightly into the air, "they made me pay quite a hefty fine. I suppose you cannot jail a hero for something that he did not mean to cause, but I thought for sure I would be. I suppose it would look bad for the city as well. But I digress. Luckily, I could pay for the fine, but that was not the end of it."

Martin raised an eyebrow. This he had not seen coming. He was hesitant to ask, but he had to know. "What do you mean?"

Ralen sighed. "I was with them for almost three months, unable to break the routine, since they would not listen to me. Because of that, they did not want it leaking that someone managed to infiltrate the Imperial Legions." he said, closing his eyes. His hand went to his helm, resting upon it. "They made me join the Imperial Legions. While they are aware of my other duties with the Blades and the Mages Guild, I must report for duty for a total of at least four months, every year."

"Luckily though," Ralen said, lowering his hand from his helm and resting it on his cuirass, "I just have to do it a week at a time, whenever I am in the Imperial City. My commanding officer is Itius Hayn, a good man, if I do say so myself." he said, looking over at the Mysterium Xarxes. "But while I was gone, were you able to decipher the materials to open Mankar Cameron's Paradise?"

Martin sighed; that was all he was going to hear from that, he could tell. He closed his eyes; at least their only hope was safe. "Yes, but please, move back slightly in case you happen to be too close to the book." Martin turned his gaze to the book, opening it only after Ralen was at a safe distance. "Now then, where should I begin…"

Okay, I must admit, I didn't think I'd do something like this, but whatever. Slight irritated that you can't join the legions (I know this is old news, but I only started playing it this Fall...) I somewhat wish I had the PC version so I could make use of the Legion Mod... Ah well, such is life. Review if you want.