Chapter 10 - The Battle Of The Imperial City
"I am worried they may be preparing to break out" Arch-Mage Traven said. "I sent one of my mystics to the bridge to cast a Detect Life spell and it showed a large concentration of beings just behind the gate"
"The bridge is well-guarded enough to withstand it" Jauffre replied. The leaders of all three armies had gathered at the bridge for a council of war.
"Lando, Arch-Mage Traven, your force is the biggest so you shall storm the bridge and break into Talos Plaza. Myself and Captain Burd will lead an attack on the bridge between the prison and the Market District. Mazoga, Swordsman, your forces must secure the Arcane University and use it as a foothold to attack the Arboretum. We will converge in Green Emperor Way"
"As you command, Grandmaster" Swordsman's ghost said.
"What is the signal to begin the assault?" Lando asked.
"I shall cast a glowing light high into the sky" Jauffre replied. "When you see this, charge!"
"That sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Swordsman muttered.
"I am hoping it will go slightly better this time" Lando replied. "Oh, and it's good to see you again, Swordsman"
"Likewise, Captain" Swordsman replied. "I look forward to fighting alongside you again"
As Swordsman and Jauffre began to return to their battalions, Lando took Raminus to one side.
"Raminus, there is a curse upon my body" he said. "At times it can cause a burning pain so great I am left paralysed. There isn't time to explain the details"
"Stay with myself and the Arch-Mage" Raminus replied. "If anything happens, I'm sure between the two of us we know enough about magic to get you on your feet again"
"I'm going to be on the front lines" Lando said. "Not on the backlines casting spells. Can you use a sword?"
"Yes, and I can summon myself a damn good one from the realms of the Daedra too"
"It still won't be as good as my sword" Lando said. "Gather our men at the end of the bridge, we must await Jauffre's signal. I'll lead the army across the bridge, you attack from the shoreline and we'll convene at the gate to the Talos Plaza"
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Minutes later, a great ball of light shot into the sky, almost as bright as the sun, coming from somewhere in the north. Jauffre's signal.
"Charge!" Lando shouted at the top of his voice. No sooner had he done so when the gates of the Imperial City opened and an enormous amount of Imperial Legion soldiers poured out onto the bridge.
Lando led the men of Chorrol and Skingrad in a charge along the bridge.
"Once we start fighting, begin to retreat!" Lando ordered as he ran. "We need to let Raminus' men flank the Imperials!"
The clashing of the two armies was brutally spectacular, each side fighting for their own vision of Cyrodiil. Lando had been sure to place the most experienced fighters at the front of the ranks to add force to their attack – he had gathered the finest Imperial and Redguard swordsmen and Orcish hammermen he could find in the army. The Imperial Legion were overwhelmed and began falling back along the bridge.
"Don't let them retreat!" Lando shouted. He swung Goldbrand hard, slaying another brace of Legion soldiers. Next to him, The Divine Avenger was doing the same, fighting hard but not pushing forwards, allowing himself to be forced back as the Legion won more ground on the bridge.
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Down on the frozen lake, Raminus and Arch-Mage Traven led the men of Kvatch and Anvil. They reached the shore of City Isle and began climbing the bank.
"Archers! On the battlements!" Captain Lex of the Anvil guard shouted. The men were being pinned down by a hail of arrows, holding their shields to protect their heads and being unable to climb the bank.
"Return fire!" Raminus shouted, turning to his company of archers and signalling them to fire. They did so, returning a volley of arrows and knocking several men off the battlements of the City.
"Raminus, get some Daedra up there!" Traven shouted. Raminus began reciting a spell whilst concentrating on the battlements, and before long a Xivilai appeared on the battlements.
"And so Daedra attack the Imperial City once again" he said to himself.
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Meanwhile, Swordsman and Alaina were carrying out their plan to reclaim the Arcane University. As Alaina led the Leyawiin Watch and the remaining Bravil guard towards the secret entrance to the Mystic Archives, Swordsman and Mazoga led the Knights of the White Stallion towards the University across the frozen lake.
As Swordsman's men mounted the bridge that connected the University to the Arboretum, the expected happened – the Imperial Legion broke out of the city and began attacking Swordsman's men.
"Fall back!" Mazoga shouted. "Fall back to the University!"
The swordsmen of the White Stallion, led by Mazoga, battled with the Legion whilst retreating along the bridge, and the White Stallion archers unleashed volleys of arrows into the Legion force. Swordsman, immune to the Legion's regulation steel weapons, stood at the front of the chaos fighting the Legion with a conjured sword.
Soon, they were forced back into the University, past the Arch-Mage's Tower and into the main grounds of the University.
"To the Chironasium!" Mazoga ordered. The White Stallion men began a full-scale retreat into the Chironasium building, where the door was closed and barricaded. Swordsman broke out of fighting the Legion soldiers and raced towards the Mystic Archives.
"Where's the ghost going?" a Legion soldier shouted.
"Who cares?" his commander replied. "Find a battering ram! Break that door down!"
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An enormous explosion ripped through the tunnel far underneath Lake Rumare, resulting from one of Alaina's explosive potions. The cave-in Traven had triggered was cleared, and the Leyawiin guard ran through the smoke, soon emerging in the Mystic Archives, where they were confronted by Swordsman.
"I worried you had not made it!" he said to Alaina. "We must break out before it's too late!"
Alaina readied her bow and signalled the Leyawiin men to break out of the Mystic Archives building, whilst Swordsman vanished through the wall in the direction of the Chironasium.
The Leyawiin guard burst forth from the Mystic Archives and devastatingly collided with the Imperial Legion, catching them by surprise and taking down many of their number. Shortly after they had begun their attack, the door to the Chironasium flew open and Mazoga flew out, immediately slaying two Legion soldiers. The Knights of the White Stallion followed her. The Legion began to retreat.
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"Force them back!" Lando shouted. "They cannot be allowed to reach Weye!" The Legion had done as Lando had planned – forced them back across the bridge, leaving the sides and rear of their number exposed. However the retreat had been too effective and Lando's men had almost been forced off the bridge. He made a hand-signal to his men to charge forwards as he plunged Goldbrand into another Legion soldier. Come on, Raminus…, he thought to himself.
On the shores of the lake, Raminus and his men had finally climbed the bank and were making their way along the perimeter of the city wall towards the bridge. Raminus and Captain Lex led the group, with several Xivilai and Dremora summoned by mages filling their ranks.
"This is it, we must defeat the Legion presence here then secure Talos Plaza. This is the big push. Godspeed to you, men!" Raminus said. "Charge!"
Raminus' army began running towards the bridge, slamming into the side of the Legion force and effectively splitting them in half – some men trapped on the bridge, others falling back into the Talos Plaza.
"Captain!" Raminus called to Captain Lex as he fought with his conjured sword. "Help Captain Armitage secure the bridge! We are going to take on the plaza!"
It did not take long for the remaining Legionnaires on the bridge to be killed – Lando's men attacked from one side and Captain Lex's from the other. They had nowhere to go.
"Prepare to assault the Plaza!" Lando ordered to his men. "What are our losses?"
"We did well, I believe we only lost around 10 men" The Divine Avenger said.
"We were decimated by the Imperial archers" Raminus said. "We do not have nearly as many men left as we set out with"
"From here we are one giant army. No splitting into groups, we stay as one" Lando said. "We need to clear the Talos Plaza then move onto Green Emperor Way!"
The entire army charged into the Talos Plaza. There were few Legion soldiers left and they were quickly killed or forced back to Green Emperor Way.
"We must hold our ground here" Lando said to his men. "We need to await the signals from Jauffre and Swordsman. Raminus, send out our signal!"
Raminus cast a glowing ball of light, the same as Jauffre had used to signal them earlier, into the air.
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"It's Lando's signal!" Baurus said, pointing to the sky. "If only we could call them for aid…"
Jauffre, Baurus and several other Blades were in a dire situation. They had attempted a discrete assault from the sewers but the Legion had anticipated them and were waiting for them. They were now trapped in what was little more than a storage area and had barricaded the gate shut. The Legion were trying to break down the barricade, whilst Captain Burd and his men were vainly trying to fight their way to the Blades from the other side of the Prison plaza to help them.
"If we take too long we could place everything in serious jeopardy!" Jauffre said. "We must break out! For Cyrodiil!"
Baurus removed the planks they had used to barricade the gate and kicked it open. The Blades all charged out and began bravely fighting against the myriad Imperial Legion soldiers.
Baurus and Jauffre stood back-to-back, using each other as support as they fought off soldier after soldier. Suddenly, Jauffre felt Baurus go limp against him. Plunging his katana into the soldier he was fighting, he turned round to see Baurus lying on the ground, blood pouring from his throat. There was nothing Jauffre could do but avenge Baurus' death. He picked up Baurus' katana and began fighting again, one katana in each hand.
He raised his sword to slay a soldier but stopped when he saw the signature yellow uniform of the Bruma guard on the soldier.
"Jauffre! You are safe!" the soldier said.
"Only just" Jauffre said. "What's the story on the rest of the plaza?"
"We are driving them back towards the City" the soldier replied. "Captain Burd says we should make a push to reclaim the Market District"
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As the recombined Blades fought their way through the Market District, Swordsman and Mazoga slayed the last of the guards fighting to defend the Arboretum. Swordsman sent his signal up into the air, and shortly later Jauffre did the same. The time had come to launch the attack on Green Emperor Way.