Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine was determined. She lowered her brow and nodded. Ahead of them, the twin forces of Dominion and lycan soldiers spread their formations to approach the tower.

Either by professional focus or by indifference, the Dominion commander and his subordinates failed to so much as recognise the looks and attire of Hjergir and his men, though they did not hesitate by telling Hjergir of their approach. The conjurers in the unit summoned a number of fast-running clannfear Daedra to rush the lines with their bony, crested heads while more destructive mages lobbed magicks designed not to kill so much as force the enemy behind their barricades. The main line of infantry thumped forward at double time with shields, wards, and spears forward to meet the enemy. The few archers with angles on enemies they could see shot to kill. They were especially interested in airborne foes, against whom they could show off their many decades or even centuries honing their aim.

Sabine focussed as narrowly as she could on the highest platform of the tower. She took her time while the enemy was engaged at the base of the tower to line her entire body up in just the exact way to help her precision. The magic gathered slowly at first, and then grew into the familiar overwhelming power required to open a portal. It opened after a while at both ends at once. Something the pack had not seen before and somehow made the experience all the more strange.

Gro-Tagnud narrowed one eye. "Risky, but you know your troops," he said.

"Let us see them show their courage," Teroiah agreed. "I wish to see these Daedra forced by a feint their arms commit to despite their minds' knowledge."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros had Leaps slide to a stop beside Meesei. Even atop the wamasu, he was barely level with Meesei's eyeline while she was hunched over. He pointed one end of his bow towards the tower's top. "You or Sabine could take us to the top. A few units beseige the base. We work our way downstairs with height on our side. The rest of the force can start moving on the next tower."

"A portal!" Sabine realised.

Over at the command centre, Gro-Tagnud's stern face did not betray any disappointment or elation. "We have to draw their attention, make them commit too early if possible," he advised. "Our fastest troops need to split away forward and goad the enemy into wasting time and energy. It'll take pressure off our front line and put pressure on them."

"You underestimate the enemy's patience and endurance," Teroiah said over her glass.

"It's not bait," Gro-Tagnud retorted. "It's buying time. If they're suicidal, they'll give chase for long enough."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

@Muttonhawk I've been good, all thing considered (covid, uni etc.) What about you?

@Vec

Just chillin'. Working from home, going on jogs, feeding the cats, the usual. In a pretty lucky spot. Glad to hear you're doing alright.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine exchanged a glance with Fendros, catching her breath. "I should stay with my pack," she said firmly. "You go, Fendros."

"I could use the mobility," Fendros said under his helmet. He skipped up to grab Ahnasha's hand and pull himself up in barely a moment. Unlike Sabine, he could take advantage of quick repositioning on Leaps to angle his shots and survey the battlefield. All the same, he smiled and gave Ahnasha a quick hug around her torso before letting her on her way.

"Feeling better yet, Lorag!?" Janius roared as they started towards the Dominion advance. He was covered in Daedric ichor and sprung for action.

Up in the command post, Legate General Gro-Tagnud commented once he was confident Hal-Neesa was occupied. "That vampire had better be all Marod puffed her up to be or this is all about to take a real bad turn."

"With respect, Gro-Tagnud," Teroiah responded. "Focus on the enemy's next move."

Gro-Tagnud grunted. "General Ri'vashi. You got better eyes than I do, your werevultures might signal a flare from further out than we thought. Eyes peeled, everyone."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Me neither!

Hey @Vec, how are you doing? We're on the final chapter pretty much, yeah. Big climactic battle and all.

Elite, Vec is from another RP I was in. He's cool.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gro-Tagnud breathed in and Teroiah interrupted. "Acceptable losses, less resistance than expected," she reported, her nose wrinkling.

"There's still that titan flying around here somewhere," Gro-Tagnud added. "The advance towards the watch towers proceeds. A more solid defence should show up any minute now."

With the battle going on, neither the Legion nor the Dominion commander quite wanted to engage the word games required to order Hal-Neesa to do exactly what they wanted.

"Any insight for us, Hal-Neesa?" Gro-Tagnud asked without looking directly at her.

Teroiah took a slow sip from her drink.

A few bright flashes lit up the valley below as Sabine conjured up what appeared to be a rain of speeding stone meteors from destructive magic to rain down on the enemy Daedra.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Over at the command centre, the three commanders stood in various settings. A table had been set up with a map of the area unfurled and weighed down by a few stones. Gro-Tagnud stood rod straight beside the table with his hands behind his back. Teroiah had set up a metre-high standing litter topped with cushions upon which she sat cross-legged with a stemmed glass of water and three potions to restore her magicka. From their views upon the plateau with Ri'vashi, they observed the devastation Meesei's pack wrought.

"We have maintained our momentum," Teroiah said. "It is time we sought an objective while our artillery is brought to bear."

"Don't get cocky," Gro-Tagnud rumbled without taking his eyes off the field.

Teroiah laughed condescendingly. "I shall draw upon my own experience, Legate-General. How about you hold the flank like we discussed and my soldiers will make for the towers. Ri'vashi? I trust you have retained the strength to keep the Daedra scattered?"

She did not wait before sending a magical signal light up from her litter. It was all in their battleplan anyway. Enough Dominion troops had emerged from the portal that they were ready and poised to emerge from the gaps in the Legion lines like fluid gold. The frontline had conjured bound spears and shields, behind them were mages bringing forth more conjured Daedrea skirmishers and destructive spells, and at the rear were archers set to clear the way. They advanced down the plateau in an assertive formation, heading towards the towers to take them before the chaos below could fully resolve.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The charging adversaries met with a rolling wave of claws, teeth, weapons, and noise. The faster combatants positively leapt onto their first kills. Bones and shells were crushed and broken, while pained yelps and whimpers heralded retaliation from the Daedra themselves. But without a solid formation, not to mention without silver, the Daedra were at a disadvantage in breaking the lycan momentum.

Janius took his axe blade to the enemy in a frenzy that his werewolf form relished. A surprised hunger was planted into the ground by his first overhead swing. With the leverage, he pulled himself forward to grab the beak of a charging clannfear and directed its momentum upwards to slam it body-first into the ground behind him. The next row of Daedra were cleft across the middle or otherwise forced to dodge away from another swing. Barbs, claws, cruel weapons, and arrows failed to surpass his armour as he cut a swathe through the growing numbers before him.

Sabine had much to concentrate on. At first, she struck lightning and frost into the enemy in wide areas to fell as many as she could in a short time. When the smaller mindless chaff of the enemy thinned and proved ineffective, she directed more focussed spells to benefit the pack. She fortified their speed to keep up with the waves of the enemy and she struck her more powerful debilitating spells out to the spider daedra and other magically-inclined creatures to keep them from disrupting her allies.

All the while, Fendros aimed for the most dangerous. Through thin keyholes in the lines, dark arrows would appear through the necks, armpits, or knees of the most heavily equipped Skaafin and Dremora.

The orders shouted out by the Legate-General were hard to hear for the pack at their distance, but the army of steadily marching armoured boots behind them was apparent to all. The shield wall was consolidating their ground as they received more sections to widen the formation. With their uphill advantage, the occasional stray Daedra that would break through the lines was stuck with several spears before it could see the eyes behind the crested legion helmets before it.

The spare moments allowed legion, lycan, and dominion archers to bring themselves to bear. Again, the high ground gave them more range to fire volleys over the lycans, though the commanders were sparse with their fire orders. The staggered arrangement of the enemy and the possibility of another airborne attack kept them reserved.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The commanders were calm and in complete control. While their initial rush had not been given the time to solidify into a fortified bastion, what they did have was a foothold, enough room to manoeuvre, and a vanguard of disciplined soldiers.

"Shield wall!" Gro-Tagnud boomed with an experienced, resonant voice. "I want this plateau fenced end-to-end!"

Battlemages either side of him shot signals up into the air towards the enemy. The covered formations of the legionnaires broke into a chorus of unified footfalls as they morphed into a many-ranked line formation to face the oncoming enemy. Rows of spears lowered to meet the charge.

Teroiah, standing with her still sparking hands clasped behind her straight back, opted for a magically enhanced voice. She carried just as much weight in her words. "Command Sergeants! Break this charge!"

The thinner numbers of Dominion soldiers in their yellowed moonstone armour rushed up behind the legion shield wall in teams of three, each team several meters apart. Unlike the legionnaires, their shields were on their backs and they had only backup weapons at their belts. In a graceful series of movements, the centre dominion soldiers began gathering purple-blue conjuration magic in their hands while the two either side hefted them up by the legs. At the height of the lift, the spellcasters shot a hand each out beyond the formation, opening up thrumming portals from elsewhere in Oblivion. Each one brought forth the a steaming, crystalline forms of large ice atronachs.

The atronachs did as they were mentally commanded; curl into a ball and roll down into the oncoming horde.

The pack kept their eyes out for particularly powerful threats. Fendros already had an arrow nocked with a long shot in mind for the vital point in the best target.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Good to hear you're doing alright with it.

I agree, it'll be a while. I already miss going out to do things other than exercise and grocery shopping. Here's hoping the economic fallout doesn't hit us either.