World Conquest Online

"How is it going?" Dom asked Percennius as he reached the Centurion, a slight drop of sweat on his brow as the men around him began pushing the lifeless bodies of the Cove warriors to the side of the thin zig zag pass.

"General Qin Ming is ahead with his men and the second and third Centuries under Macro and Varro." Percennius explained as he stabbed the body of an enemy that wasn’t quite dead enough for him. "We didn’t suffer any losses, but one of my idiot men got carried away and slipped in the blood, twisting his ankle. He’ll recover easily enough, but he’ll regret it when he does recover."

"Accidents happen." Dom replied, trying to alleviate the situation and give the poor Legionary a break before Percennius punished him.

"They do happen, but if he had stayed in formation and kept pace then this wouldn’t have happened." Percennius countered, before turning his attention up the path where the sound of fighting could still be heard. He turned to Septimius who was stood beside Dom, a look of thought on his face. "We’ll follow you up with my Century after we have finished here, we are making sure to create a safe retreat path if needed. General Tomoe would have my head if anything happened to Lord Lazarus."

"She would have all of our heads!" Septimius agreed, whilst Dom laughed in agreement from beside them. He wouldn’t argue with Tomoe if he could avoid it, and if anything did happen to him, she probably would have their heads.

"What are your thoughts on the enemies?" Dom asked them both whilst his men prepared themselves to join in with the fight above. Some were cleaning their swords, whilst others were taking a quick drink from their water skins.

"Untrained and unorganised." Septimius replied with thought, his eyes closed as he seemed to be trying to recall something from his past. "They remind me of the Cilician Pirates before they were suppressed by Pompey."

"I wouldn’t disagree, they have the look of villains all over their face." Percennius spat in disgust as he looked at the dead around him. "The quicker we can get this place cleared, the better."

"Have you seen these birds?" Actumerus commented, having picked up one of the domestic birds that was nearby. The bird was round and meaty looking, with a long thin neck and a long beak. Dom felt that he had seen a bird similar to it before in a history book, but he couldn’t remember the name.

"They look tasty, we don’t have many birds in Riverside!" Septimius laughed, before turning to Lord Lazarus. "Do you think Mayor Lucius would like some of these?"

"He definitely would!" Dom laughed, happy that there was something none battle related here. Lucius would definitely like to breed these birds and increase the food production. They did look tasty and he made sure to pass an order to those nearby to not kill them and to gather them if possible.

"Can we not eat any of them?" Actumerus grumbled as he put the bird back on the floor gently. Dom was confident he had seen the bird before, possibly in a book of extinct species that humans had pushed to extinction.

"Then let’s get a move on before Actumerus fills his belly and support Qin Ming." Dom put forwards as he began to head up the tight path himself, followed by the Praetorians and his Batavi Guards. The Wudang Archers had ignored the path and were climbing up the sides of the cliffs and continuing to loose arrows from both sides and support the two Centuries on the front line. Actumerus didn’t leave his side at any point, making sure that if anything changed in the situation he could get Dom out of it. Dom imagined that if the battle turned against them, Actumerus would probably carry Dom over his shoulder back to the Galatea below.

Qin Ming was stood at the back of the long line of Legionaries, having a discussion with Centurion Macro, a Legionary that Dom had a positive inclination to as he was one of the originals to arrive in Riverside under Centurion Octavian. The long line of Legionaries was slowly heading upwards, with the arrows from the Wudang Archers giving them good cover.

Dom looked in to the distance and could see that the houses eventually stopped climbing and began to disappear in to the darkness beyond. It was a sight that wouldn’t have been seen by the scouts when they conducted their activities and it seemed odd to him that the Cove seemed to continue to grow.

"Where do they keep coming from?" Qin Ming grumbled to Centurion Macro who was stood beside him, his hands on his hips as he bellowed some orders to the back line to rotate forwards and give the Century under Varro a rest.

"No idea General, due to the terrain we have the advantage of experience and equipment, however this wasn’t the battle we was expecting." Centurion Macro replied in a serious tone. Marco was known as an excellent engineer, but he was also a fearsome Warrior.

"Any news on Tomoe or Subutai?" Dom asked them as he approached, catching them both off-guard.

"Nothing so far, but they wouldn’t abandon us." Qin Ming replied, his fiery temper being quelled in front of his Lord. "I am just relieved that you and your men are here. I was wary to push much further with only two Centuries."

"Gan Ning has given us some of his Marine Hoplite’s as well, so we are close to four hundred Warriors with the Archers." Dom replied after some thought, "Let’s push on and clear the Cove, maybe Subutai and Tomoe are in need of our support."

"They have three times our numbers, they shouldn’t need our support." Qin Ming grumbled in response, before catch himself before he continued. "But I agree, we need to get it cleared so we can see what has happened."

"I’ll get the men to increase the pace." Macro replied, before turning back to his unit that were rotating with Varro’s and bellowing loudly. "Increase pace, I want this place cleared now!"

There was a roar in response as the hundred and sixty Legionaries in front of the Officers began to push forwards and at an increased pace, with Centurion Macro leaving them and heading to join his men at the front, whilst Centurion Varro joined them. Septimius led his Praetorians to become the second unit so that Varro’s could take a short break, having been exposed for the longest.

"We think they are pirates or bandits." Centurion Varro explained as a table was brought from one of the nearby small stone houses and placed in front of them. Soon a few seats were also brought and Dom felt strange that he was sat in the middle of a battle beside Qin Ming, whilst Centurions Varro and Percennius stood beside them. "Looking at the houses, we do not believe they built the houses but have claimed them."

"So it’s possible that they travelled here?" Dom asked the Centurion, a new face he hadn’t seen before. Varro was also from the Legio I Germanica as well as Percennius, and had received praise from the Generals that had worked with him.

"Most likely, we need to explore further in to the Cavern beyond the Cove to find out more, but it would make the most sense." Varro replied, "I have spoken to one of the Wudang Archers who have a better view, they passed a message that the Cavern has some light and then seems to just go in to pure darkness. I would have suspected to have found some ships in the cove itself if they were Pirates though, but nothing has been spotted so far."

"There could be some elsewhere, or they could have travelled by tunnels like those we had found in Noctus." Percennius replied seriously, waiting for Macro to rotate his men out so he could follow up as the second unit behind Septimius and the Praetorians. "I wish it was wider, we could have it cleared by now."

"We have the numbers, but not the space!" Qin Ming agreed in frustration again. "We can increase the pace, but as long as more of them keep coming, then we could be here for a while. Once we have broken through to the cavern beyond itself, then we should be able to break out and clear it out quickly."

"My turn." Percennius explained as Macro appeared in the distance, the First Century now moving forwards whilst the second under Macro came and took a break. The Third Century under Varro now preparing themselves to replace the Praetorians when they left the formation.

"I’m heading to the front, I want a better view of the Cavern beyond." Dom decided out loud, the Centurions all nodding in agreement. Dom had a positive reputation across the Warriors as he was keen to put himself on the front lines beside them, as a lot of the Generals did.

"I’ll come with you, I need to get my sword bloodied." Qin Ming smiled, a terrifying sight for his enemies, but reassuring for his allies.

The two of them pushed through the ranks of Percennius’s unit, who had their shields ready and were prepared to push forwards. After pushing through those ranks, they arrived at the back of the Praetorians. The Praetorians all pushed their shields forwards in to the back of the Praetorian in front of them, swords held ready for when they were needed.

"Generals coming through!" Qin Ming bellowed in front of him, as the Praetorians stepped aside slightly to allow them to pass through, without turning or impacting the routine in front of them. Eventually the two of them, with Actumerus behind them, reached the second line where Septimius was stood and pushing his men forwards.

"Stab them, push shields, stab again, push shields!" Septimius repeated as Dom could finally see beyond the zig zag path, the Legionaries had cleared most of the path upwards now, with the houses being checked as they passed them. Most of the houses had the doors ripped from them, showing the small stone insides. Dom had noticed some comforts such as woollen blankets and wooden beds, however there didn’t seem to be much luxury.

The Cliff face raised above them now, with the cavern under the cliff edge being a large open space. Candle light seemed to illuminate parts of it, as a large number of buildings could be seen inside. Part of the inside of the cavern reminded him of Noctus when they found it, a large underground town. However, unlike Noctus or even the Underground Ancient City, it seemed more poorly made.

"This must be where they have come from!" Qin Ming bellowed, seeing that there was only a few hundred enemies in front of them now, the back of the cavern in total darkness. To the far left there seemed to be light and another opening which seemed to open on the southern coast of their Kingdom. Dom suspected that it would have been a hidden opening from the scouts and was the reason it hadn’t been mentioned. Dom suspected that Gan Ning and his fleet would be heading towards this hole soon, and he hoped that they could close off any retreat routes the enemies may have.

Whilst Septimius had his lines extended, Percennius brought his Century up to support. With those under Varro now also appearing. Dom felt the Centurions would be happy that they could finally have the space needed to fight in a proper unit, rather than the dogged battle up the paths.

The poorly equipped warriors in front of them seemed unfazed by the losses of their allies, readying themselves to fight against the Legionaries who were preparing for a final push. Whilst Dom and his men prepared themselves, the sounds of battle echoed within the Cavern from beyond in the darkness, a battle unknown and unseen to those forces beside Dom. Dom wasn’t sure what was taking place beyond, but he was partially worried that those noises were from Subutai and Tomoe’s forces and what ever had kept them away from the battle at the Cove.