» Sun May 05, 2013 9:26 am
Stormcloak and Imperial forces.
Pale Pass near the border of Skyrim
Early Morning.
After leaving the general’s position, Rebec went the lines of the Stormcloak archers and infantry that are arrayed behind the shield wall. In the middle of a mixed unit of redguard and Nords, she finds Suri. The girl looks as calm as if she were at a lecture rather than on a battlefield. Ra gada meditation, probably. “You should have a shield, auntie,” Suri admonishes. “Your axes won’t help you against arrows.”
Before Rebec can reply, a nearby Nord says, “Here, take mine, admiral. I’ll find another. I came in from Fort Neugrad. Before we set out we had a fine meal with cheeses, cured hams and ale the men say you took off imperial ships. Take this as my thanks."
“The imps put on a fine captain’s table, I’ll give them that.” Rebec stares at the shield, indecisive. She finally gives in and takes it, thanking the soldier. An arrow had taken her out of the Rommulas battle far too soon, after all. She’ll drop the shield when the fight gets hot. Briefly putting an arm around Suri’s shoulder, Rebec then moves back eastward, so that she can keep a good view of the battlefield. If the worst comes, someone would also need to help make an orderly retreat."
Up front, the Necro Nords’ armor glints in the morning sun. As she watches, Rebec notices fire and smoke suddenly go up on the eastern ridge. No flank then? The admiral scans the Stormcloak formations. These are slightly more dispersed towards the east than they had been, but there is no time to re-form them again. The attack must be coming up the middle after all. Baldur would read the signs. Gods, please...
She didn’t know what she was praying for exactly.
As he and his men sat crouched with their shields raised, Baldur couldn't help but smile at the feel of adrenaline in his veins. It had been quite a bit of time since he last killed someone. At least for a Nord. He was anxious and ready to start the bloodshed, but the Imperials were just looking at them with their shields raised.
"Hmm, looks like we should've waited to raise our shield wall til after they charged. They aren't stupid it seems. Whoever's leading them, they know this charge will cost them. But at this point, they aren't going to have a choice but to come for us."
Baldur looked back and yelled out to the back where the archers were.
"Archers, take aim! Fire!"
Baldur listened as the arrows swooped high above his head, and he started grinding his teeth in anticipation for the sounds of arrows meeting metal or flesh.
"Your move, Imperials."
Baldur heard screams coming from the imperial forces, as flaming arrows hit legionary flesh. However, fire came roaring towards the stormcloak shield wall along with imperial arrows.
"Hold, men, hold! Let the shield wall do the work. The archers will soften up those mages shortly!"
Baldur was beginning to sweat from the heat of the fire as the tempurature began to rise within the confines of the shields surrounding him and his men. His Dunmer men for now were holding up, and his enchanted cape was doing it's job.
"Keep up the arrow fire! Aim for the front ranks where the battle mages are firing from!"
Baldur could hear from the imperial side, "Battle Mages fall back to the rear and fire Flame Mortar's..."
As he said that, the fire balls stopped hitting the stormcloak shield wall, until a few seconds later when the fire was being fired into the sky and landing in the stormcloak force.
Gracchus' men had set up their own wall opposite the Stormcloaks', whose archers let their arrows fly towards his men.
"Men, raise shields and crouch! Battlemages, wards up. Keep your concentration, and return fire with your firebolts! Archers, fall back, and return fire when the arrows hit!"
With that, the Stormcloak volley fell, causing several casualties, while his archers returned tha favor with a volley of their own.
The fire mortars began hitting the back ranks of the shield wall, where Baldur had put the Necro Nords. The impact and heat was beginning to become more than some could handle, and some of the men let some of the flame through. The other men knowing that a break in the shield wall would mean death and defeat for the rest of the force simply closed in the gap by moving forward. The men who were caught on fire died on top of their comerade's shields, and were used to protect the others from the rest of the onslaught.
"Do not break the wall! Keep holding! Archers, fire higher towards the back where they moved! Anywhere those mages go, you fire. They can't keep up this attack forever. Keep Firing!"
All Baldur could think about at a time like this was how Rebec was doing, and if she too was wondering the same about him. He forced the thought out of his mind, and forced himself to consentrate on the task at hand for the sake of his men.
"Archers, concentrate all your fire at their archers. Same with you battlemages! Take them out!" yelled Gracchus over the noise of screaming men.
Prefect Lorgar made his way to his Superior officer, Legate Graccus who was busy ordering his troops to do various things , Lorgar asked him, "Sir, where the **** is General Marius?!"
"Marius is...gone. I'm not sure where. I told the men he was sick, poisoned, and in Bruma recovering treatment. The men can't know. We have to win this battle, and the men wouldn't fight if they knew he was missing. We need to beat this wall!" Gracchus told Lorgar.
Missing?
Lorgar nodded at the Legate's assessment,
"What do you need me to do sir?"
A Dunmer at Baldur's side looked at him with worry. Baldur gave him a reasuring smile.
"Don't worry men. I committed our entire stormcloak force besides the Grim Ones and Hammerfell men to archers. Right now, we have much more men sending arrows raining down on their heads. They'll have to decide when it's time to stop this and charge. And when they do, we'll hold them back as long as we can. Just keep holding...a little...longer."
The heat was beginning to get to him, and his arms were getting sore from the impact of fireballs. The man above him blocking fire over his head was dripping sweat on Baldur's helmet, and now had to rest his elbow on Baldur's shoulders.
"Just keep holding. Take strength from the sounds of their dying men! Don't worry about our archers. They're giving more than they're taking."
"Battlemages, up the fire! Make as much smoke as possible, we need to disguise the troop movement!" he yelled to his troops.
"The rest of you, twice as many cohorts to the east and west flank, make the middle look weak, where the battlemages will be behind to support. Prepare to charge in a few minutes. Until then, keep firing!" Gracchus yelled above the army.
"Lorgar, you tell Velan to lead them, I need someone I can trust to lead the charge. I have to have them break," he told the Praefect.
Rebec had taken up position with the infantry reserves near the back of the battlefield. As imperials appeared in the Pass and coming down the eastern ridge, she saw the forest of arrows from Stormcloak archers arc up through the sky, soon followed by more volleys. Then the sounds of a fierce melee drifted back, and the men around her began shouting and tamping their shields. “Hold!” she ordered. “Let the shield wall do its work!” They would enter the fray only if there was a rout, and that she did not expect to happen- not knowing who stood on that wall.
Boldir could barely see given the sweat pouring down over his face. Everything appeared as a blur. He kept his shield up, trusting it against the storm of fireballs and arrows raining against it. He felt helpless, unable to strike back at the enemy.
Damnit! When is this going to end?!
Boldir chucked.
Next time, we need to bring some more damn mages besides Witchie.
"Funny you should say that, Boldir...I have a trick up my sleeve."
Lorgar nodded to his new CO, before joining the V infantry cohort, they all looked weathered but not scarred, they we're legionaries after all. However, as Lorgar joined them, there moral seemed to sky rocket. One of them, a lad no older then nineteen said, "The darkened Archer...we might survive this..."
Lorgar nodded to him, before drawing his two ebony knives and addressing the troops.
"All right soldiers, prepare yourselves, the legate has ordered us to charge in a few minutes. Get ready..." Lorgar approached a questor , Velan,
"Questor, your to lead in the front, Legate's orders..."
""Alright sir. On your go." said Velan.
The assembled legionaries all saluted him, before getting into position, swords and shields drawn. Lorgar took position in the front.
"Alright men, now, now is the time we take back what is ours. We will charge! For the Empire! For the Emperor! For your brothers in arms! Charge!" Gracchus commanded the army, who yelled and cheered before charging at the Stormcloaks.
He wheeled his horse east and west across the battlefield, urging his soldiers on, as they charged with the ferocity of a tidal wave.
"FOR THE EMPIRE, FOR THE LEGION" Screamed Lorgar, as he charged at the stormcloak line with all the other legionaries in the front.
Boldir could hear the Legion screams before he could see the charge. He blinked several times to clear his vision. As he opened his eyes, he could see the mass of charging Legionnaires. Just like every other man on the line, Boldir stood steady. It would take more than a bunch of Legion grunts to break a wall of Grims Ones.
Lorgar, getting lost in the thrill and acceleration of the battlefield, decided to let out a spine chilling wolf-howl. Even among all this chaos, Baldur could hear the howl of his rival, and his neck hairs rose in excitement.
"Okay men! Now the real work begins! They have more foot soldiers than we do, but we are the Grim Ones! Let's show them what we can do! This will be harder than holding off the fire and arrows, but do your best, and allow our archers to keep firing at their back ranks!"
Baldur knew that this would have an unwanted effect, which is that the Legion would push harder to stay away from the back, putting more force on his men. But Baldur knew it was a risk he ad to take, as arcs were the only way that his archers could shoot with the Grim Ones blocking off the passage, and the back was the only place they could hit without accidentaly hitting his own men as well.
As the Imperials charged, his men rose up and braced themselves for the smacking of their shields upon eachother. Baldur brought his axe down on an Imperial's shoulder in front of him, and the electrical current sent the man seizuring onto the ground, only for another Imperial to take his place.
"Hold the line, hold the line!"
Gracchus, surveying the battle as his men charged, noticed the exposed rock above the Stormcloak shield wall.
This had better work... he thought.
"Battlemages, aim for the rocks above the enemy shield wall! Make them fall I their heads!" Gracchus commanded.
The firebolts slammed into the rock face, and the boulders tumbled down onto the screaming men below.
Boldir blocked a blow from a Legion soldier before bringing his axe into the man's head. As the Legionaire dropped into an ever-accumulating pile of bodies, Boldir came back into his defensive position behind his shield. Before the next man could reach him, he heard a thundering sound echo throughout the pass. He looked over to his right and saw a mass of troops at the end of the wall being crushed by a rockslide.
[censored]
A quick glance left proved that the same had occurred on that side.
"You seein' what I'm seein' Baldur?"
Baldur could hear the chaos of men being crushed behind him, and he took a look back and saw a score of men dead from the tactical and cunning move made by the Legion.
"There's no more rocks falling down, so move forward!"
Baldur turned his head to Bodir.
"I see it. It makes no difference. Smart move, I'll give them that."
Men around Rebec’s position gasped and gave angry shouts as they saw part of the cliffside tumble down onto the Stormcloak forces. Her own fear and anger had subsided into the calm she feels during sea battles. Despite the losses, the wall was holding longer than she had thought it would. Send them screaming to their ancestors, Baldur.
The archer fire ahead of Rebec began to slow as the archers ran out of arrows, and she heard their officers calling retreat. They would move back through the narrow gap into the ruined farmland before Falkreath, to join other Stormcloak forces there.
When the archers were through, Rebec called for the infantry reserve to follow them. The men were reluctant to leave the field. The sight before them at the neck of the Pass was mesmerizing, and they knew their friends were dying up there. The admiral wanted nothing more than to blood her axes, too, but the wall was still holding and an orderly retreat was more important. If the imperials pursued, they would find fresh troops eager for revenge, all the way to Falkreath. All the way through Skyrim, Rebec corrected herself.
Lorgar noticed a arrow covered body of a legionary, who had a shield and sword on him. Lorgar quickly sheaved his daggers, and picked up the discarded weaponry, before continuing the charge beside Questor Velan.
Now that Baldur could see the sky since his vision wasn't blocked by the inside of his men's shields, he could see that the arrows his men were sending were on fire and some were even exploding on impact, and causing chaos in the back of the legion formation.
"Boldir, how in the hell are we doing that?"
Boldir grinned.
"It's a little trick that Witchie's been playing with lately. Came in real handy back at the Legion camp."
Baldur had a bewildered look on his face as he watched the fire fly over their heads.
"That's just plain scary."
Lorgar collided into a stormcloak soldier with his imperial shield raised, normally the nordic carved shield would have held, but Lorgar put his entire body weight into the collision, causing the stormcloak soldier to be thrown to the ground. Lorgar took the chance to pin the soldier onto the ground, before finishing him with a slash to the neck with his sword.
The arrows exploding caused Gracchus to topple off his horse, but he hurriedly climbed back on, before shouting, "Battlemages, wedge formation, use shock spells, those Dunmer are resistant to fire, and the Nords to ice, so disintegrate them! Everyone, charge! Take the battle to them!"
With that, the battlemages and reserve infantry charged full force at the Stormcloak shield wall, screaming like banshees the entire time.
Baldur stepped over a Draugr Dunmer who had just been overpowered beside him, and had pushed against the man who had finished him off with his shield. The man unlike the others was able to push Baldur back, and he gave the order for his men bahind him to give him support, so he could withstand the tide.
"Say, you're definitely not like these other milkdrinkers here that you call Legionares. What is your name? I'd like to know the name of the foe I'm about to end."
The hooded soldier merely, said in a cold voice,
"Lorgar Grim-Maw."
Baldur's ears perked up at the name when he heard it, and his excitement peaked to levels he never felt before.
"You don't say. Pleased to meet you again, ex Legate."
Velan charged headlong into the smallest Stormcloak he could see. The man was probably about 6'2, 200 pounds. Using his slight size advantage, he was able to push the man to the ground. However, the Stormcloak's comrades prevented Velan from completely breaking through. He did manage to kill the man he knocked down however.
Lorgar, ?continuing to push against the stormcloak officer, felt nothing as his former rank was mentioned.
"Is that you Baldur?"
"It is I, honored foe! Come, and try to send me to Sovngarde if you can! Boldir, give me support! Men, V formation! Let the wedge push in, then squeeze the enemy from both sides!"
Baldur peeked over his shield so that Lorgar could see his face under his bear helmet.
"I'm glad this day has finally come, Lorgar!"
Gracchus, seeing the Thalmor trying to maneuver around the enemy yelled out, "Osgumund, the area is too tight for that, join in the wedge! We must break that wall!"
He rode across the battlefield, ordering troops around and urging them on. "Archers, if they retreat, I want you to fire! Take out as many as possible," he commanded.
Lorgar laughed, a hollow and dark laugh,
"I told you long ago, I don't believe in Soverngard..."
Lorgar yelled out to his troops,
"Break off, Loose formation, charge them from the sides!!!"
Baldur watched as the front line turned from a V to a straight line again as the men from the side of the Legion pushed back to counter his V formation.
Fine by me. That wedge was beginning to get problematic.
The front line of men moved to more traditional head on combat, so Baldur now had more room to maneuver and fight Lorgar head on. Baldur sent his lightning enchanted axe towards Lorgar's neck hoping to lob it off.
Lorgar side stepped away from Baldur's axe with in-human speed, before slashing at Baldur's right side while saying mockingly,
"I should thank you Baldur, you've helped me forsake the things that held me back..."
"Thank me for taking you out of a position you couldn't handle!"
Baldur blocked the swipe with his shield, and began attacking and parrying with Lorgar.
"Boldir, move up with me on him!"
Gracchus, seeing his men's wedge even out because of the enemies V formation, ordered out, "Concentrate your attacks at the center, battlemages. Break them now!"
After the Stormcloaks abandoned their odd V shaped formation, Velan was able to resume head on combat with the enemy. He avoided an incoming blow from one of his enemies, and about decapitated the man with a shield bash. While he was dealing with one Stormcloak, another one began to swing at him. Velan swung his sword with fury, meeting the Stormcloak's sword mid swing. The Stormcloak obviously wasn't prepared for the amount of force behind Velan's swing, because it knocked the soldier back a few steps. After a quick scuffle, he was able to dispatch his attacker.
Lorgar noticed Captain Boldir coming to join in the duel, Lorgar continued to focus on Baldur's right side
"I concur, I was too weak to hold the position of Legate, clinging onto pathetic values that have no real meaning...I have none of those weaknesses anymore."
Boldir circled around Lorgar's right side as he fought with Baldur. The Captain was now just outside Lorgar's field of view he moved in close. Boldir raised his own axe and brought it down in a swipe toward Lorgar's left collar.
Lorgar, blocked the axe blow with his imperial shield, while at the same time blocking an attack from Baldur with his imperial sword.
As both of Lorgar's weapons were locked, Boldir followed up by putting all his force into swinging his shield at him.
Lorgar, was thrown off his feet. Before he feel, he quickly drew his two daggers and threw one at Boldir before he could advance on him.
Boldir realed back as the Ebony dagger skidded the edge of his helmet. That was a close one.
He moved back in after Lorgar.
Baldur noticed the Legion battle mages were once again up to no good, and they were too close for his archers to hit them without hitting his front lines as well.
"Sorry Lorgar. It's been fun, but we gotta scram. Boldir, fall back! Draugr Dunmer, up front! Execute Reval Formation!"
Baldur pulled Boldir back and he worked his way with him to Witchie, who was draining magicka from the soldiers nearby with the rest of the archers. The Dunmer were all yelling out Reval formation so that everyone could know what was going on. The Necro Nords stood back from the line of Dunmer as they all raised their shields making two separate shield walls. One with the Dunmer in the front, and the other with Nords in the back, who were keeping a safe distance from the mass of Dunmer warriors pressing aganst the Imperial Legion forces once more.
Lorgar got back up on his feet, as he watched Baldur and Boldir flee. Before he had a chance to purse, they were behind a good amount of "Grim ones".
****...I'll be seeing you Baldur...
Gracchus heard someone shout "Reval formation," and all the Dunmer in the Stormcloak lines created a shield wall, while the Nords created a separate one.
"Battlemages, ice magic now! Stop those Dunmer!" yelled Gracchus to his men.
Boldir looked at the General. He was fairly certain that this was not a formation he had heard of.
"Reval formation sir?"
"Reval Formation. Watch and see. Now!"
As Baldur yelled, the Dunmer all lit up like the flame of Akatosh himself, and released swirls of fire with their Ancestral Wraith ability that began to consume the front lines of the legion.
"Ha ha, that's for Reval, you sons of *******!"
"Whoa!"
Boldir couldn't believe what he was seeing. The entire front line was enveloped in flames, and the Imperials were taking heavy casualties as a result.
"Reval formation". Clever Baldur.
****
Oh [censored]...
Lorgar dove to the side as the Giant inferno came roaring towards him, he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"MAGE WARDS NOW!!!"
Velan was just pushed back from the front lines, when the Dunmer exploded in front of his eyes, enveloping his comrades in front of him.
"Damn you, that fire won't last forever."
The Dunmer all along the front lines lit up like ceremonial beacons, just like Gracchus had predicted they would. The battlemages ice magic poured onto them, and he commanded them, "Fallback men! Keep that magic on them, use your wards and ice, while the rest of you attack from the sides! Don't let up!"
The battlemages used their wards, and the ice magic and fire clashed in a mixing of elements.
"Hold out a little longer men! Concentrate!" Gracchus yelled encouragingly.
Lorgar quickly got up from his feet and drew his ebony bow along with an arrow, before firing on the blazing Dumner.
Light can be stomped out by shadow...
"Don't let them break the formation with the frost magic! Do what you need to!"
As Baldur said this, the front line of the Draugr Dunmer dropped their weapons and charged the enemy, and made suicide runs by jumping at their foes, and grabbing a hold of them so that they burned them to death.
"We will honor their sacrifice later! Fall back, and keep those arrows on them! Fall back!"
A crazy Dunmer tried to run at Velan, but he threw his shield and stopped the flaming Elf in his tracks. He then retreated from the suicidal Dunmer.
Disgust filled Lorgar.
Suicide bombers...Baldur.
"Archers, mages take them down..."
The Dunmer, in a crazy suicidal charge, dropped their weapons and pounced on the nearest legionairres.
"Battlemages, fall back! Archers, prepare to fire at the retreating Nords! Fire! Skirmishers, fall back! Battlemages, clear out of the way, and archers, fire at the Dunmer too," hastily ordered Gracchus, trying to coordinate every aspect of the battle.
Gracchus saw numerous Nords fall as the archers arrows found their marks, and the battlemages were clearing out of the way so the second volley would fall on the Dunmer.
As the last of the reserves were moving through the gap towards Falkreath, Rebec took a look back at the Battle of Pale Pass. When the smoke cleared, she saw a burst of flame go up in the middle of the Stormcloak ranks. It was an eerie echo of the last glimpse she had had of Reval’s end, only this time she believed that it must have been a rally of the imperial battlemages launching concentrated fire at the Grim Ones. A claw of fear gripped her, then anger mixed with sorrow. For all Baldur’s courage, he and Boldir and the others were just men, and they could only withstand so much. I’m going to have the heads of those battlemages, she vowed.
Boldir began to fall back as instructed. He noticed the Imperial archers preparing to fire on the retreating force.
"Shields up! The archers are still on us!"
The retreating Nords raised their shields to deflect the arrows.
"Come on, we need to get out of range! Move it people!"
Boldir followed his own advice and moved out of the pass, back into Falkreath.
Baldur's men took more casualties than he wanted, but all in all it was a good battle. The Imperials showed their true strength as did they, and it was time to leave.
"Time to move men! Witchie, can you summon one more blizzard to cover our retreat?" asked Baldur.
Lorgar fired a handful of more arrows at the fleeing stormcloaks, before a blizzard swept them from view, even Lorgar's advanced vision couldn't see them...
Damn it...
Lorgar took a deep breath, retrived his fallen dagger, and headed around too see how he could help...
With the last of the Dunmer gone, Gracchus ordered his archers to continue firing at the rest retreating Nords, while the skirmishers held and made sure none returned to try and retake the pass.
In total, their losses were as would be expected from such a bottleneck battle, but the pass had been taken, and that was all that truly mattered. His men had shown their mettle, and had achieved their goal.
"Get the wounded out of here," he commanded his men, as he did his best to coordinate the final aspect of the battle.