Casius was beginning to enjoy his new found infamy in Skyrim. At first it had earned him the ire of everyone and that caused no less than three Dark Brotherhood assassin's to come for him. The first had been caught by one of the numberless Dwemer constructs protecting him. The other two had worked together and almost got close enough to kill him. Unfortunately for the assassins, nothing seemed to get past Akonus, despite the fact that he seemed almost like a Draugr. Casius had decided to let the assassins go, so they might spread to their 'brothers and sisters' that there was no slaying him.
"Akonus I've a new task for you." Casius called to his slave. "Take thirty thousand Septims and send it with an apparition to Riften."
The slave prince made no response but Casius knew his forced loyalty was absolute.
"I just recalled that the red headed little girl everyone calls Dragonborn let slip a great secret." He continued with a grin. "When your apparition gets to Riften, have it seek out the Thieves Guild. I'll write a note with the details on the job the gold is for."
The Akaviri made no statement of acknowledgement but did as he was bade, creating an apparition of himself, which immediately made its way toward the vault Casius had taken to storing his plunder. As he did so, Casius began writing the note with a wicked grin.
"Once your little poltergeist is gone, we will march again." He stated. "The Mages College was too big a distraction. We lost nearly a tenth of our forces in one night to that mass of dragons. That little bitch Naspia is proving more resourceful than I anticipated. Still, Winterhold was dead. She wouldn't dare to burn a lush countryside to stop my army. Not when crops and livestock would be at stake. Do you agree?"
"I do..." Akonus whispered. His voice sounded choked and strained, a side effect of the binding that Casius found all too entertaining. The Akaviri would only speak if a question was directed at him, and even then he would only speak for as long as was necessary.
"Good." Casius snapped. "Then go give the order. We show some real strength tomorrow at dawn. And this time no ancient magical barriers will keep me out."
Casius took the sheet of paper, blowing gently on it to dry the ink and handed it to the apparition as it returned.
"If they seem to doubt how much gold is being offered, take the bag off your back and drop it on the ground. The loud, clinking thud should clew them in. As the note specifies, they may help themselves to a third of the bag's contents up front. Now go!"
The apparition took the note and clasped his hands together, fingers pointed toward the ceiling. Just as Akonus had done the night of his revival the apparition was covered in flames and then disappeared.
"Now then... let's go get me a stronghold, shall we?" Casius suggested to the real Akonus with a smirk.
"And there has been no news of the Dragonborn since then?" Ulfric Stormcloak demanded. "Where could she have gone? She can't have been slain."
"No, Jarl Ulfric." Ralof replied. "I don't believe she is dead. Some sources say that a mass of dragons flew toward Winterhold two nights past, but no other word has come from there."
"Then perhaps the Dragonborn has found a new way to fight this powerful menace." Ulfric mused. "But we cannot assume anything. Until Naspia returns breathing fire and splintering shields we must count her out of the fight against the Dwemer army. Ralof do you-"
"Jarl Ulfric!" A guard shouted as he blundered into the Hall of Kings. "My Jarl, the... the wall! We're under attack!"
"Have they crossed the bridge?" Ralof demanded, turning around. "How close are they, man?"
"No, they are still on the other side, but there are so many! It looks to be the same army that broke us and the Legion and scattered us."
"That was then and this is now." Ulfric stated, standing up from his throne. "We have stone between us and the enemy, catapults, archers. We are defending a strong position. This great brass army will not pierce our hearts tonight."
"Well said, as always Ulfric." Galmar replied stepping into the room. "I've already marshaled every man and woman who can carry a weapon. We've got the lads and lasses who joined us originally up front and our new militia watching their flanks."
"Well done, my friend." Ulfric replied. "Let us see this enemy that stands at our doorstep."
Casius stood up at Kynesgrove, pouring over the map of the area. His army, just at the foot of the mountain, had swarmed in from seemingly nowhere as they used the cave networks, graciously mapped out by Naspia herself, to outmaneuver Ulfric's patrolling Stormcloaks. Now they were too far behind to set up any forward lines, though in reality, forward lines would have just been a waste of Ulfric's fighting men. Still there was nothing stopping the automatons as they rolled in ballistas.
"Akonus, you are only to intervene if the Dragonborn shows up. Or if actual dragons do. I want the might of my army to be feared and respected, not just my pitdog."
Akonus made no noise, no motino and merely watched as the Dwemer constructs moved into place. All along the walls the soldiers of Windhelm were preparing for the city's stand against Casius. They wouldn't succeed and the mage knew it. Why they didn't just bend their knee to him was beyond his comprehension.
"Hear my voice, Stormcloaks!" Ulfric called from atop the walls. "Outside our gates, across our bridge, staring at us are the soulless abominations of a cowardly magicians metal army! Aye, his warriors are tall and strong, but they are not indestructible! They are not numberless! Most important, they have no hearts to drive them on in the face of defeat! With the hearts that beat in our chests, the blood running through our veins, the souls within us all, we will destroy this foe! It matters not whether the Imperial Legion, dragons, vampires or a brass army come for us. Skyrim belongs to the Nords!"
The clammer of blades and shields being clasped together in thunderous approval was so loud that Casius himself could hear it. Ulfric looked out across his hold, staring at the see of golden enemies that were moving into positions. It looked like Windhelm had seen its final days, but so long as he was in command of the city the battle would not end.
Casius grinned as he heard the excitement from within the city. Ulfric, if nothing else, was a great speaker. Probably a decent warrior, too, but that wasn't going to help him here. Neither would his ability to Shout. There was nothing stopping Casius this time.
"Ballistas!" Casius shouted, causing the Dwemer machines to stop moving. "Let loose!"
As soon as the order had been given scores of massive bolts were fired from the Dwarven ballistas and impacting on the walls of Windhelm. Most simply embed themselves into the thick, stone walls, one or two occasionally bringing a Stormcloak down, but the ultimate goal had been met all the same. Several had managed to bend and crack the great gates into the city itself.
"The damage is done." Akonus whispered. Casius nodded and made a simple hand gesture to the waiting army.
Five wide and three deep a small host of centurions began marching across the bridge, arrows and spells deflecting off of their powerful armor like pebbles. Behind them were dozens of spheres that remained balled up to protect themselves against the assailing arrows and magic. One of the mages, having consumed a large blue potion cast ice on the ground out at the bridge. As the centurions came close to it the first rank began slipping and they tumbled off the bridge to crash on the rocks beneath.
The second rank halted and the centurion in the middle spat steam onto the ground, melting away the ice and pushing forward. As they neared the gate the same centurion battered against it until the left side fell completely off its hinges, flattening two Stormcloaks that hadn't gotten out of the way in time.
The archers, slowly beginning to panic turned their attention to the enemies within the city. With their backs turned none of them saw the hundreds of brass spiders crawling up the outer walls, toward the distracted archers. In unison the spiders crawled over the top of the massive wall and attacked. Order and strategy fell to discord within moments.
Casius stepped into the Hall of Kings with Akonus at his side and a wide grin spread across his face. In one night he had done what the Imperial Legion could not in nearly three years. End the Stormcloak rebellion. Ulfric's wrists were bound behind him and, much like his trip to Helgen his mouth was covered to avoid any surprise Shouting.
"Ah, Jarl Ulfric the Usurper." Casius began, arms held high as though he were greeting a friend. "Traitor to his land and overall racist to all things Mer. At least you still have your love for Talos, right?"
Ulfric glared at the pretentious wizard with all the venom a man's gaze could muster. The Stormcloak officers around him, also bound spat on the ground at the insult.
"Now now, let's be civil." Casius continued. "This is a wondrous day, truly! Sure, I was forced to employ violence, but now I have a stronghold of my own, a place to gather my power, and best of all, a place where that dreadful Dragonborn girl cannot enlist her winged allies to burn my army to the ground without committing her own atrocities."
"So you hide behind the human shield of Windhelm's people?" Galmar demanded.
"Oh, when you put it that way it sounds much worse than it is." Casius replied with a laugh. "Come now, I may be the conquering lord of these halls now, but the fighting is over and I can greet you all as friends. You must simply agree to one small demand."
"And that is?" Ralof asked, glaring at the mage contemptuously.
"Allegiance." Casius answered. "Think about it. The Empire declares you all traitors. The Thalmor claims you are inferior. The dragons think of you as play things or supper. I am here, asking you to join the winning side in a new war. And when I have freed Skyrim from the Empire there will be no form of worship that is to be banned. My only demand is loyalty to me."
"You would have us trade our souls for convenience?" Galmar demanded. "You know nothing of true Nords, then! We are warriors. We fight for and with honor. We do not fear death, for Sovngarde awaits us."
"Well then, I hope you enjoy your new home." Casius replied, waving his hand. A sphere guardian unfolded behind Galmar and ran a blade through his back. The Nord coughed blood out onto the floor and fell to his knees. The Dwemer machine pulled its blade out of the dying man and folded back up, rolling to the wall near the throne. "And so ends the life of a man of honor."
"You coward..." Ralof muttered, looking down at his former commander's body.
"What you all call cowardice I call intelligence, my good man." Casius retorted. "After all, bravery is all well and good unless it gets you killed. Do the young men and women who die in ruins and crypts have heroic songs sung for them, or does history remember them as morons who were too brave for their own good?"
No one said a word. They couldn't argue with that. If a young lad bought himself a sword and set of armor and set off to fight a dragon for his first adventure the world would remember him as an imbecile, not a courageous hero.
"You see?" Casius asked. "Honor only gets you so far. Yield to me, swear your loyalty and you will not regret your decision. If Sovngarde demands you die a warrior's death then march with my brass army against the corrupt Legion. You will find that under my reign Skyrim will be a nation so feared and respected that none shall dare strike here again."
"And then what?" Ralof asked, looking around at the other Stormcloak officers, who were now questioning their role in the war.
"And then we move on to the rest of Tamriel."