» Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:45 am IC:
It was the final battle of the Hammerfell rebellion, a last ditch effort by the rebels to break the legion lines and drive them back. They would fight to the death for the city of Sentinel, but even if the plan succeeded, the rest of the legion would come to wipe them out. This last stand was no longer about survival, but for honor. They would fight to the death for their people's dignity, as redguards are very honor-bound people. Their remaining forces had high moral, and a well motivated enemy is a dangerous enemy indeed.
The Knight of the Imperial Dragon, Marcus Alerius, laughed the idea off as nothing more than a "pitiful attempt for a small victory". He personally came out with some of his officers to claim the glory of the final battle, even though none of the officers were actually fighting on the front lines. But once the black robed forces of the redguards attacked, things changed quickly. They struck like lightning while the scouts were resting, so our forces had almost no idea they were coming. Their attack was too fast to allow the legionaries to prepare, so they fell back to the officer's trench. It was there that Alerius regretted his decision to thin the lines, as he and every other officer there was killed. The enemy had caught them off guard and successfully killed off their leaders, leaving the bulk of the army leaderless. The only hope they had left was the only officer that chose to stay on the front lines. A young Knight Errant that was given the task to rally the forces and win the day.
The Knight Errant of the legion wondered if the general was still mocking their opponents in the afterlife now that he was dead. The former Knight's corpse lay next to the second in command with a javelin stuck in its chest like a flag pole without the flag. The rebel's plan may have seemed very simple and crude, but it was still successful. They broke through the battle line and managed to surround the general's unit, which this Knight Errant happened to be in. This same thing was happening to the whole battle line, multiple units of men being surrounded by rebels and cut off from the rest of the battle line. The fact that the rebel ballistae were moving up added a new factor of danger. The Knight Errant wanted to stay positive, but his fellow legionnaires nearby were hiding in their trenches and begging for the Nine to deliver them from death, even if they knew that it would never happen.
The Knight Errant and his men were surrounded by bloodthirsty rebels that wanted nothing more than to draw legion blood. And to make matters worse, a desert storm was brewing and heading their way. If he did nothing then the confusion caused by the storm would make the rebel's job easier and get them all killed. "If only the general wasn't so foolish as to leave the Scorpio's behind!" he muttered angrily as he gripped his shield and tried to get better cover in his trench. The rebels were circling their trench on horseback and throwing javelins, filling the air with death. The Knight Errant and his men all had their tower shields up to block the javelins but they could not hold out forever, as the enemy ballistae were moving closer. "Legionnaires!" he called sternly, "Prepare to leave the trenches!" His men hesitated for a second, but fell in line quickly, hoping he could get them out of here.
He picked up one of the javelins and waited for a rebel to ride by before throwing it. It hit the redguard in the shoulder and knocked him off his horse. As soon as the rebel hit the ground the Knight was upon him, impaling the rebel's chest with his silver long sword. "Testudo formation!" he yelled as he drew his sword from the now dead rebel. His men came rushing from the trench and formed up around him, overlapping their shields and facing forward. The Knight took up his own shield and stood at the front of the formation, his shield covering him from his chin to the middle of his shin. Other nearby legionnaires rushed to join the formation that could very well save their lives. There were around seventy men in the formation now, with the twenty remaining battle mages forming their own Testudo in front of the Knight's. "Everyone go forward!" he yelled to both formations, "Battle mages cover us until we can reach the other units!" The battle mages began marching, followed by the Knight and his men.
This caught the attention of the nearby rebels, who moved in to attack. They let loose a hailstorm of javelins, but they harmlessly bounced off the shield formation. One rider burst into flames as he was hit by the battle mage's fireball. Another was knocked off his horse by a bolt of lightning that hit the rebel right in his face. The battle mages continued to give cover fire as the formation moved forward towards the rest of the army.
"The storm's approaching!" a soldier yelled from the back of the formation, "We need to go faster!"
"Double time!" the Knight yelled as he spotted a unit of legionnaires up ahead. The battle mages heard the command and started moving faster, spewing out lightning bolts and fireballs when rebels rode near. The unit up ahead was fighting against infantry and cavalry, taking many casualties. "Slow down and bring up the rear!" the Knight called as they approached the enemy infantry, "Break formation on my command!" They slowed down and waited as the back half of the formation fell in on their side, forming a horizontal Testudo. Then they continued forward at their normal pace, the Knight waiting until he could see the perfect time to charge.
All of a sudden, the Knight felt a rush of air pass him as a ballistae bolt flew by and took out almost half the column of men to his right. The enemy artillery may have arrived, but if he could get close enough they would be useless."Keep moving!" he yelled as he tried to spot their attackers. He finally spotted them on a hill above the infantry's position, giving their forces cover. "Battle mages flank the ballistae from behind!" the Knight yelled as another bolt flew past and took out a few stragglers in the back. The formation of mages broke off and went marched towards the back of the hill. The Knight hoped that the mages attack would buy them enough time to engage the infantry. "I can't engage the enemy if all my men are shot down!" he thought as he watched another five men get taken out by the ballistae bolt.
"The storm!" one soldier yelled as they continued forward, and the Knight glanced over his shoulder to see the dust storm gaining on them. He could feel the strong winds and knew that with the storm going with them and not against, it would be their best chance at surprise. With their backs to the wind and sand it would not affect them as much as the rebels were getting hit by it from the front. The Knight noticed the ballistae had stopped firing and turned to see the bright lightning of the battle mages light the artillery ablaze. The other men saw the burning ballistae and released a battle cry as they closed in on their targets.
All the rebels heard the battle cry, but only the ones that weren't fighting turned to meet them. Fear swelled up in the enemy's hearts as they saw that there was a storm right on the legionnaire's tail. They prepared for the legionnaire's charge by putting their spears in front of them and crouching, waiting fearfully for the storm to consume them. "Hold and crouch!" the Knight yelled as he turned and saw the storm about to wash over them. The centurions all yelled the order over the noise of the winds, and all the men stopped running and crouched. The storm blew past the lieutenants' men and knocking some of them over, but most of them held firm under the winds force. The rebels were not so lucky however, as they felt the full force of the coming winds. Many of them fell over and some even dropped their weapons to cover their eyes. Many of the rebels and legionnaires that were fighting were pushed hard by the winds, knocking a bunch of them over and forcing them to fight on the ground. The Knight saw his chance and decided to take it.
"Charge!" he yelled as they all stood up and ran towards the frightened rebels. The storm was beating on his back, but the lieutenant didn't care, for the only thing he saw now was victory in front of him. The men under his command clashed into the enemy with a loud battle cry, convincing a few of the rebels to run away from the legionnaires. "For the empire!" the lieutenant yelled as he finished off a few dazed rebels. It was at that second that he knew the battle was won.....
For the rest of the battle the Knight drove his legionnaires into the flanks of the rebel forces, driving them back and forcing them to retreat. The day was theirs a Sentinel was there for the taking. The legion army slowly regrouped, and the only thing that could be heard even through the dying storm was the legionnaire's loud chant. "Marius! Marius! Marius!" they chanted over and over as the hero of the battle, Gaius Marius, removed his helmet and watched the last of the rebel army retreat. He surveyed the battlefield and looked at the many corpses that littered the land. The chanting slowly died as they watched him walk out into the battlefield, pick up one of their fallen and tattered banners, then walk back over to them with the banner. He planted it into the ground in front of his men and looked at it for a few seconds before turning to his now silent men. "For the empire!" he yelled, and soon the others were cheering and chanting all over again. The rebellion of Hammerfell was as good as over, but the story of Gaius Marius was just beginning.
