Chapter 613 - The War Beneath

A/n: it seems that I wrote two chapters and forgot to publish! Silly me!

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"Troopers!" Jon called, "Advance!"

For the first time in a thousand years, the dark and quiet Blackreach witnessed an all-out war that no one of its locals anticipated.

The humans who were invading through the Great Lift swarmed down the stone slope and started a slaughter never seen years. Almost a Thousand Dare Troopers were active in this operation.

The small army divided itself into 4 teams. The vanguard, led by Jon, headed towards the heart of the city where the Dwarven Colossus was stationed; they swarmed towards a location known as the Silent City. The right flank was led by Wulfur as they advanced westward at a location known as Reeking Tower in order to attract as many Dwarven Animunculi as possible and destroy them. The left flank was led by Jullanar and that group headed towards the forest of Glowing Mushrooms in order to root out and kill the Falmer. Finally, the Rearguard was a group consisting of magic casters and they were led by Alina who held the stone slope in front of the fortified hub.

"Advance to the first choke point! Secure it and wait for confirmation from the other team! GO!"

Jon's team were mostly Vanguard Troopers, a pack of brutal axemen carrying round shields, axes, and short and long spears, their specialty is crowd control. While this team was the slowest, it was systematic with its movement and had a basic knowledge of what to expect in a Dwarven Ruin.

Jon stood on a Storm Atronach Bear as led this party and pointed out all the places from which resistance shall come.

Meanwhile, Wulfur's team was fast-paced but lightly-armored. This team carried large weapons carrying simple Shock Damage enchantments which are going to play a pivotal role in their mission. This mission is to disable as many Dwarven Animunculi as possible and divert the attention of the Animunculi from Jon's party with their loud and fast movement.

The third team was the one Jullanar was leading, it headed south in the dark cavern area away from the Dwarven Ruins. While this team wasn't all that stealthy, they were completely silent as if they stopped breathing. The Troopers on that team were Archers and they were all wearing muffled boots and non-metallic armor. This team was to intercept the Falmer infestation in the outskirts of the Silent City.

The fourth team, which is Alina's, was the support squad. A role that Alina mastered too damn well.

The other side was a menacing enemy, a walking mechanical giant, a machine beyond what is sensible.

If it was the large Dwarven Centurion, which terrorized the Dungeon Delvers for years, it would have been a piece of cake to deal with if it was only 4 or 5 troopers. But this thing was gargantuan with lots of unknown abilities.

The mere sound of its dynamo core made the sheer idea of fighting it seem unrealistic. Who in their right minds would charge towards that thing.

Jon chose the moment to take action to be the moment when the Dwarven Colossus is at the farthest point it reaches during its patrols and the Troopers would have enough time to blast the number of the enemies around the Silent City and get a chance to retreat and regroup with the others.

The noise started to come from the western front as Wulfur pulled the right flank away from the Animunculi swarm and activated a chain of rune traps imprinted on the ground by Alina's team. The Animunculi are programmed to spot traps and neutralize them but it seems that during combat, this function seizes to take action as they focus on annihilating the enemy.

"Like a moth to the flame." Wulfur said as the blasts started echoing through Blackreach and hordes upon hordes of Dwarven Spiders started coming from every nook and cranny to compensate for the losses.

On the other side, Jullanar had a game of hide and seek with the Falmer. Those blind fiends had an outstanding sense of hearing which gives them an overwhelming advantage in the darkness. This advantage was eliminated by Jullanar's silent squad.

With their light steps, the troopers took down the Falmer patrols with ease before running into a camp full of Falmer Younglings and Chaurus Insects. To avoid an open battle, the team marked the perimeter of the camp and moved away.

A minute later, Fireballs descended on the camp and obliterated it to nothingness. This was Alina's squad as their support role was to bombard things from distance.

Every once in a while, a signal would be sent to Alina that a place had been marked and she would instruct the Destruction Mages to carpet the locations with fire. The long-range staff combined with the Marking spells proved to be outstandingly useful at creating this strategy.

Wulfur's team arrived at the Reeking Tower and scared the location by destroying all the hatches which the Dwarven Animunculi use to travel.

Jullanar quickly crossed the mushroom forest and secured part of the ruins in the shape of a bridge that was utilized to snipe the Falmer on both sides.

Lastly, Jon's team spread through the ruins and dismantled any form of Dwarven technology in their way until nothing was left standing between them and the Silent City.

"Steel your nerves, men." Jon called as his group was finally advancing towards the center of the ruin.

"Boss, we're too close to the thing. We can feel its footsteps." Officer Ivar called.

"Here goes the plan." Jon called, "There is something in this place we need to secure. Once we have it, you will retreat and I will stay to face the Colossus."

Initially, Jon spoke about something that he wanted to secure in the fort-like building in the middle of the ruins of the silent city. He didn't go in-depth about the nature of the subject but to those men, he made it feel like something important.

As he said, there was indeed something important for him to secure. Any player who went to the central area of the Silent City under the great fake sun of Blackreach has once encountered them.

"Trap Formation!" Jon called.

Instantly, the troopers started to separate into an array of small square formations carrying their shields and patiently waiting. This formation is basically used against enemy cavalry in order to trap them and annihilate them with long pikes.

However, this situation was not against cavalry and the spears were ordered down. The only thing to be used was the shields and the shields alone.

And here they came.

Confused expressions appeared on the faces of the Troopers as they saw what charged at them.

People… simple and normal people.

They were mad, screaming, grunting, acting like the Falmer, and charging at the Troopers with sticks and axes.

Those are Falmer Servants, what remains of those who are kidnapped by the Falmer and not eaten. Mindless crazed folk.

The Trap formation worked as it should. The enemy would charge at the first line but meet a heavy resistance with the unmovable shield wall. Once they think about entering the trap formation, which is inevitable in some cases, they would be met with chains and ropes.

The Falmer Servants screamed madly. Between them was a score of Nords, Imperials, Khajiit, Bosmer, and a lot of Dunmer.

Their origins may vary but the truth is that many Adventurers fall to the Falmer and many travelers who tend to camp beside the mountains get kidnapped at night. The tragic thing is that when the Falmer get too bold, they would get off their caves in winter and raid the villages they come across. A situation that happens around Dawnstar more than it should.

There was no hope for the Falmer Servants against the Troopers. Without using any lethal force, the Troopers started bashing the crazed folk with their shields and tightened the formation around those who charged between the array, chaining and tying them.

But the second round was already there.

"Incoming arrows! Raise your shields!" Jon called.

Immediately after that, arrows started to flow down from the top of the ruin as the Falmer started to shoot them at the humans.

Their plan was to send the servants in order to confuse the humans then pick them off with arrows. Despite their blindness, the cunning Falmer were good at this kind of play, and their hearing substituted for their sight with an exceptional echolocation-like ability which Gluttony absorbed.

"Alina." Jon spoke faintly and a second later, a barrage of Fireballs descended on the Falmer above the ruins and wiped them off.

"Take the prisoners and retreat."

And that was the last command Jon gave to his men before his battle.

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