“Sergeant, form up two platoons from alpha into testudo and clear out those elves. Take two of the runesmiths with you and then move up to join the rest of the legion once you’ve taken out the roadblock,” I ordered the nameless npc sergeant. The sergeant saluted and began to form up the two nearest platoons.
I looked out over the terrain, trying to spot anything that might help. The only distinguishing feature was the road itself, being slightly higher than the surrounding terrain to provide runoff. The edges of the road also had small gullies where water drainage had etched into the soil.
“Top, form up the legion on the road itself. Prepare what defenses you can in the time we have. The roadblock will be the dividing line. Facing south, bravo will defend the road to the west of the roadblock and alpha will take the eastern side. Each company will form up by platoon, slight gaps between each platoon. One platoon from each company will be held in reserve. The reserve platoons will again provide cover for the siege engines as well as prepare to respond to any unknown developments . . . and we all know those occur.” I paused as another scout came running up.
“Sir, reporting the enemy is twenty minutes out and marching northeast directly toward the roadblock. Numbers are as follows, sir,” the scout advised as the system populated the report, the first time it had done something like this.
Scouting Report:
Humans, axes and shields, 2 blocks of 200 men, level 16.
Elves, no new gear, counted 127 in number, appear short of arrows.
84 humans, 6 elves left to cover unknown number of ogres trapped in a cave.
The numbers were nearly equal to ours, but the human enemies were much higher-level. I needed to know how powerful the humans were before I could decide on a final plan. I paused as the npc sergeant’s platoons began their assault on the roadblock. A pair of scorpions were loaded and ready to provide cover. The runesmith at the catapults cast their rune as the siege engines fired one last round each. As the rounds hit inside the roadblock, there was no explosion this time, just shouts and the sounds of weapons clashing.
“That’s a little surprise Tavers and I dreamed up, sir. Think ye’ll like it,” Harbox said. As the dust from the hit cleared, I could see two human-sized creatures made from stone and earth swinging their rocky arms with reckless abandon at the elves nearby. The elves found their sword-and-dagger dual-wield style much less effective against the elemental creatures.
“Very inventive, you two. Well done,” I said as the elves were distracted from the approaching soldiers of alpha company. The flash of a rune from one of the runesmiths accompanying the assault flared, followed by a flash from the other. When I focused on my troops, the armor buff icon from the fortification runes appeared on them.
The few elves not engaged by the earth elementals began to take shots at the approaching troops. The men closed the distance quickly, well-protected behind their shields and benefiting from the missile defense bonus of the testudo as well as the reinforcing rune buff. Still, several men fell to elven archery in the assault, but not more than a half dozen.
When they were ten yards away, the testudo formation broke apart and the men charged the defenders. There was no room for fancy maneuvers, just an all-out brawl where our superior numbers would be matched against the skills of our opponents.
The men vaulted over the broken remnants of the wall and were met by the elves. The benefit of the elf warriors’ dual-wield style soon became apparent. The elves were a blur of steel, their weapons hitting our shields continuously until they found an opening. Once an opening was revealed, a sword or dagger was ready to exploit the gap. The damage dealt by our foes was heavy, their blows taking large chunks of a soldier’s health away with each swing.
The elves were slightly more powerful than my soldiers, one on one. Luckily for us, we had them outnumbered and my men knew how to fight as a team. Whenever an elf launched a series of attacks against a soldier, he left himself open to the soldiers next to him. Each successful strike from an elf resulted in at least two strikes from a gladius in return.
We were a bit too far away to make out much detail, but the battle ended within minutes once my men made it past the remains of the wall. The sergeant hustled back over to report.
“Sir, there were around twenty of them left inside. Must have started with twice that many, but the siege engines did a number on them. We took six casualties in the approach and another five once inside. Several wounded are being tended to, but they can all return to duty momentarily.”
The losses were bad, but not as bad as I had feared. We also now had a better feel for our foe. We were outmatched one on one, but the advantage was not insurmountable. Still, I didn’t want to have understrength units in the next fight. Also, there was the situation with the ogres to consider. Coming to a decision, I began to issue orders.
“Same as before, people. Alpha on the road to the right of the blockade, bravo on the left. Your company reserve platoons are our only reserve, so use them wisely. I’m going to take our extra platoon and break it up to fill where we’ve had casualties. We’ll go into this fight with both companies at nearly full strength. The scorpions will be spaced out with two attached to each company and the catapults in the center,” I said, pausing for a moment to catch my breath.
“Sir, where do you want Ignominia?” Wrend asked. He looked nervous; Wrend didn’t like to be held back in reserve, wanting to be in the thick of the fighting.
“I’ve got a separate assignment for you, Wrend. How do you feel about being detached for independent action?” I asked. Wrend had a grin on his face as he replied. I knew this was just his thing.
“Ready to go, sir. Where do you want us to spread the death and mayhem?” Wrend asked.
“Head to the southeast to avoid the approaching force, then cut toward the ogres that are holed up and see if you can free them. If the forces covering them seem too strong, just hold off until the rest of the legion can come up to support you. I’ll send most of the scouts with you, and you get the pick of the litter from the reserve platoon to bring your forces up to strength. Can you do it, Sergeant?” I asked.
“Yes, sir! We’re on our way,” Wrend replied as he ran off to gather his soldiers and the replacements he wanted. He was going to be outnumbered by higher-level opponents, but if anyone could pull it off, it was Wrend. Having most of our scouts with him should help with the ranged firepower we normally lacked.
“Harbox, have two of your runesmiths that still have a full loadout of runes accompany the Ignominia Platoon. They’ll need the support. As far as the others, have two assigned to each company. I’ll leave it to you as to how you want to employ your skills, but don’t hold anything back,” I ordered as everyone hustled to prepare for the coming battle.
Chapter 11
I stood on the wreckage of the blockade, watching as soldiers gently brought down our men who had been strung up by the Ikbose. The soldiers had obviously been tortured and didn’t have an easy passing. A cold fury simmered just under the surface, pushed down by my need to orchestrate the coming fight. I had an entire legion at my command but couldn’t prevent two of my soldiers from being captured, tortured, and killed. The sounds of shovels and hammers rang out as the men dug in and placed the sharpened stakes we used to help defend our fortified position.
Several squads were out fifty yards from our position, digging small holes to trip up attackers. Inside each hole, sharp sticks or broken crossbow bolts stood ready to pierce the foot of anyone unlucky enough to step in one. The roadway gave a small height advantage, but there was not much in the way of terrain to help in our defense. I feared that the enemy would begin a protracted battle of maneuver. The composition of the legion was more geared toward set-piece battles than a war of maneuver.
“Think they come in to engage us, sir? Wouldn’t want to try and chase a band of elvish archers around the zone,” Brooks said as if reading my thoughts.
“I believe they will come straight at us, at
least this first time. From what we experienced here at the blockade, these Ikbose elves are arrogant. They’re used to being the top dogs in this area and aren’t used to fighting an organized army. We can only hope they stay stupid for as long as possible,” I replied.
“I hope they do press the attack here. The men are ready for a scrap after that,” Brooks said, pointing toward our tortured dead. I nodded in agreement, looking forward to getting a few blows in myself during the coming fight.
Looking back, Tavers and the crews were muscling the second catapult into place. Rather than tear it down and reassemble it in its new spot, we used the brute force option. Dozens of soldiers were employed to lug them the hundred yards or so to where the corporal wanted them.
A horn blew in the distance, followed by several more . . . Our foes had arrived. The work parties out in front of our forces ceased their efforts, hustling back to their units. The men digging in along the road and hammering the defensive stakes kept at it, as it would be some time before the enemy was in range.
The enemy started as small dots in the distance, growing as they closed in. Eventually I could make out a gaggle of human warriors walking in a mob without any formation. They were armed in leather armor, carrying hand axes in one hand and small wooden shields in the other. These made up the bulk of the enemy forces; they resembled marauding Vikings more than soldiers.
Reavers, Level 16.
I wasn’t sure what a reaver was, but if these troops were any indication, I wasn’t impressed. Following the horde of reavers were the elves. These were the same type of level 12 elf warriors we had fought already. They were formidable fighters, dangerous in melee and deadly at range. Upon seeing our lines, the reavers altered their course and headed directly toward us while the elves held back away from the mob.
I caught a glimpse of a hooded figure lurking around the back of the enemy formation but couldn’t get a good enough view to have the system populate his information until he stopped to argue with the elf Nharia.
Darkfallow, Level 12 Necromancer.
It was him! The guy that had tried to recruit me and then arranged for my assassination. The fight just got more deadly—and more personal. I had a bone to pick with Darkfallow but was more concerned with what this meant for our zone. Was the purported invasion underway? I could worry about it later; I had a battle to win.
The enemy reavers had closed to just inside catapult range when they stopped, the elves a good fifty yards behind their human allies. I couldn’t tell what Nharia and Darkfallow were arguing about, and I wasn’t going to go ask them.
“Corporal Tavers, are your batteries in range of the enemy?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. Both catapults are at extreme range, ready to fire on your command.”
“Let’s not keep our new friends waiting. Priority of fire is the elves if they get in range; I want their bows shut down. For now, fire at will,” I ordered.
“Sir, how does he know which one is named Will?” a soldier from bravo company asked. It was the same soldier that had been out taunting the terror birds to get them to attack because they were so tasty.
“Quiet in the ranks, Jenson! Report to me after the battle for extra duty,” Sergeant Brooks hollered from his position. Great . . . I get another named soldier and it’s this moron? Maybe I could assign him to Blevins as his assistant. My devious thoughts were distracted by the thump of the catapults firing.
The reavers looked on in surprise as the two large rocks landed among their hordes. One of the shots missed hitting anyone but the other crushed a reaver to pulp. There was shouting and gesturing toward our lines by the reavers and the argument between Nharia and Darkfallow intensified.
“I don’t think they expected us to bring all our toys, sir,” Tavers said, excited to see the chaos his weapons were causing. A second volley fired and a pair of reavers were crushed.
Darkfallow finally turned toward our ranks, black lines of necromantic energy spreading forth in the space between our forces before soaking into the ground. Moments later, the surface of the ground was disturbed as first one, then another, and then dozens of skeletal hands shot up. Undead scratched and pulled their way to the surface, summoned by the necromancer. Darkfallow looked physically drained by the spell, but the results were ominous.
Between the two armies, over one hundred skeletons stood. They clutched rusted weapons of various types. The necromancer pointed toward our lines, and as one, the skeletons turned and began to shamble toward us. Following behind, the reavers roared their battle cries and charged.
The scorpions clacked as they began to fire at the skeletons within their range. The bolts found their targets, shattering bone and dropping the skeletons back into death’s embrace. The skeletons were reasonably fast for undead, closing the gap between our lines quickly. Several tripped into the traps that the men had been digging, but the effect was negligible, as the skeletons had no flesh for the spikes to affect, the points just skittering off bone.
At fifty yards, I ordered the men to release a volley of javelins. Hundreds sailed out, thudding down among the skeletal undead. Many were hit, but again, the damage was lessened by the type of creatures we faced.
“Ranks three through five, hold volleys until the reavers are in range,” I ordered, thankful the AI made my commands easy to hear by all my soldiers with the new Voice of Command ability. The first two ranks prepared to receive the charge of skeletons while the rear three ranks readied to throw. The skeletons hit the defensive stakes, several shattering themselves on the impediments as they blindly rushed in to get at my men.
The men received the charge. the main bulk of our enemies came in at an angle from the southeast of our line and hit in the middle of bravo but did not affect alpha. Bravo company had its reserve platoon extend our line to the east, covering a longer front before the reavers added their numbers to the fight.
The shield wall held easily; the skeletons had little bulk and my men were strong, hardened by the endless drills we ran. With a shove, the wave of undead was pushed back, dozens hacked down with strong chops of the sword. Thankfully, undead were one of the few opponents on which hacking worked more effectively than a thrust.
Arrows began to fall among the men as the elves rushed into range. They concentrated on alpha company, trying to pin it down and disrupt any maneuvers we might have to make. True to his orders, Tavers had the scorpions and catapults firing on the elves as soon as they entered range. A couple of opponents fell with scorpion bolts through their bodies, but the agile elves easily dodged the slow catapult stones for the most part.
What the elves didn’t expect was for two earth elementals to suddenly appear within their ranks, distracting the archers’ aim. A second volley from the catapults unleased two more; the runesmiths looked to be using up all their elemental runes against the elves, a tactic I approved of.
The reavers were holding back, hovering thirty yards away from the remaining skeletal attackers. I couldn’t figure out why; they were being pelted mercilessly with javelins now that the rear ranks had them in range. The reavers didn’t have that great of a health pool, either, falling to less damage than my own level 11 troops would have survived.
The reason for the reavers holding back was revealed when more strands of black energy flew from Darkfallow and into the remaining few dozen skeletons. The skeletons froze in place, shuddering, allowing my men to kill another few with ease. Then, with a loud pop , each of the surviving skeletons exploded, shards of bone flying from their splintering forms.
Corpse Bomb: This daily ability allows a necromancer to detonate his remaining undead, dealing area-of- effect damage. Based on the type of undead, this attack may spread disease or leave bleeding wounds.
Our lines were breached. The skeletons had killed dozens of my men, several spots only held by one rank of soldiers now. Into the chaos, the reavers charged, hacking down stunned soldiers by the score.
“Sergeant, send alpha’s reserve platoon to help bra
vo, then wheel left and flank these reavers!” I ordered, jumping down from the stone barricade and charging to plug one of the gaps in the line. I activated my last charge for the day of Goon Squad, the ten summoned prisoners falling on the nearest foes and slowing the advancing reavers. Then I activated Tessel’s Promise, summoning both corrupted wolves to savage the nearest enemy.
The rear rank of the platoon in front of me was breached. A half dozen reavers charged directly at the first thing they saw after cutting down the last soldier in front of them—me. I quickly fired off a blast of acidic sap from Tessel’s Promise, hitting the closest reaver in the face and dropping him. The second blast hit another reaver in the chest, causing him to hiss in pain as the acid ate quickly through his light leather armor and into his flesh. Out of tricks, I readied my sword while trying to cover as much of my body as possible with my shield.
The ground in front of me suddenly erupted with stone spikes. The sharp points slammed through the legs and feet of the approaching reavers, killing or stopping them in their tracks. Another group of stone spikes burst forth in the middle of the breach, killing and stopping the approaching reavers. A soft white glow covered my soldiers in the area near the breach, the rune of mending replenishing health to the wounded.
“Bravo, fall back ten paces and close the gap!” I shouted. The men followed my command and began to step back in unison, soldiers shifting over in the back ranks to repair the line. This was one of the maneuvers we had drilled the men to exhaustion with. I felt a burst of pride; my men were performing just as we had trained, holding back a much higher-level foe and giving better than they had gotten.
Despite being higher-level than my men, the reavers fought poorly. They worked as individuals, ignoring fellow warriors in need of assistance. They were strong, but the health pools were smaller than those of my own men. In addition, their gear was sorely lacking, our swords being at least double the item-level of our foe’s swords. Their armor and shields were something I would expect a force of level 6 or 7 warriors to wield.
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 12