Present Day

Mac sat next to his campfire. Even the border of Skyrim was pretty cold by Cyrodillic standards. He roasted the venison he "caught" earlier. The inviting smell of cooked mega filled the cold air. Right after he finished dinner, Mac would go to the border fence and find a way through. He still hadn't decided whether he should fight his way in, sneak, or attempt to hide his identity. Mac's personality would probably result in him killing the border patrol anyways.

Mac finished the venison and munched down a piece of bread before setting off again. It didn't take long before he caught sight of the large border gate. It was lit up heavily by torches, and he could see guards perched along the wall, much more than usual. Why there were so many guards, Mac did not know. Either way, he will get to Skyrim. He darted from tree to tree until he was finally near the pathway that led to the gate. Mac cursed to himself, regretting that he didn't take the hunter's clothes as a disguise.

There was a lone guard standing in front of the gate. The rest of his fellow Imperial soldiers were either inside the wall or patrolling on top of it. Unfortunately for Mac, the guard was standing right next to a torch and was even holding one himself. So that rules out stealthily killing the guard or trying to disguise himself. There was no other option, now. Mac unsheathed his sword and charged towards the guard.

Before the guard could react, a blade was plunged right into his guts, killing him before he could scream. The guards on the top could find the body any second. This has to work, thought Mac. He yelled out, "OPEN THE GATE!" To his surprise, it did. The guard who activated the switch immediately noticed his comrade's dead body, but by then, Mac had already ran off down the road. Arrows hit the ground behind him. Eventually, the barrage stopped. He panted in exhaustion after all that running. But at least now he could live somewhere where the Empire had less power.

Right now, Mac needed to lay low. Finding a settlement was top priority, but he also needed to find a map of Skyrim. He wandered around aimlessly. For a while, the mountainous southern area of Skyrim seemed barren and empty. But then he saw what appeared to be a camp! Mac slowed down his pace and walked towards it. He could find help here. Maybe stay for the night and leave at dawn. He neared the camp, and saw that the people of the camp were actually soldiers. At night, it was hard to tell, but these soldiers didn't seem to have Imperial equipment or armour. Not even the signature red colour.

The military is bad business for Mac. These people could probably be working for the Empire. The Imperials have been known to side with local militias in the past. Mac turned around and tried to sneak away, but someone already caught him.

"You there! Stop right now!"

Mac swiftly turned 360 degrees and his sword was grasped in the palms of his hands. The two men glared at each other in the dead of the night, each waiting for the other to make a move. The whole camp was alerted to Mac's position, and they all surrounded him. This is going to be bad, thought Mac. A man stepped forward and appeared to be the soldiers' leader. He spoke in a deep voice with a heavy Nordic accent.

"Who are you, stranger? You seem to have come from the direction of the border, so..." He paused.

"You are an Imperial spy." As Mac heard those words, he became confused. Imperial spy? Anger quickly rose.

"You call me that again, and I'll tear the guts right out of you and roast them over the burning bodies of your dead men!" Mac replied.

A few seconds of silence passed. The soldiers gripped their weapons tighter, but their leader put his Han up. Then, the leader began to speak again but in a less threatening tone.

"I... apologise for jumping to conclusions. Me and my allies have had rather tense moments in the past. Now, let me ask again. Who are you?"

Before Mac could answer, an arrow pierced the shoulder of a soldier. Everyone turned to see that they were completely surrounded by none other than Imperials. A female Imperial dressed in captain's armour told everyone to freeze and drop their weapons. At first, the soldiers in blue seemed to be ready to fight, but then they obeyed and surrendered. Even with Mac's help, the blue soldiers were heavily outnumbered and outgunned. Not even the leader decided to fight. Mac threw down his sword as well.

They handcuffed Mac and the blue soldiers and searched the camp, stealing various objects while at it. The Imperial captain walked to the leader, spoke a few words to him, and then had one of her soldiers gag him for whatever reason. Mac sighed. He had just run into the very thing he was trying to avoid.