World Conquest Online

Dom followed as Gan Ning and Meng Ai led them through a windy path with the Hoplite from Halicarnassus that were acting as guides. They travelled slow, the path seemingly used by goat herders in the past, but the mountain had reclaimed most of it. Gan Ning slashed his sword as he walked, cutting through over reaching branches that would cut away at the Warriors ankles as they passed otherwise.

The hidden path itself was uneven, with loose rocks that had been worn by decades of rain and abandonment from it’s original purpose. Dom’s men walked the path with little difficulty, but those that had joined them struggled to follow in his elite forces steps. Dom watched as Meng Ai spoke with the Halicarnassus guides, looking for anything that could potentially be a trap laid by the Persian forces if they knew of this path. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"I would use this as an ambush point if I was the Persian’s." Pericles commented, as he walked beside Dom, with Archidamus on the other side. Centurion Septimius walked behind them, his Praetorian’s walking walking with their soft fur strapped to the bottom of their shoes which normally would crunch against the stones. The fur had good grip, but if for some reason the sun disappeared and rain replaced it, it would easily become slippery.

"I agree, either they could suspect us taking this route or they could use it to sneak behind either your father’s lines or my own’s." Archidamus agreed. The two future leaders of Athens and Sparta discussing strategy and tactics as if old friends, rather than the younger representatives of their City States.

"It all depends on if the Ionian’s have told them about this path, if the Ionian’s have discussed it, they are either unaware for some unknown reason, or they were keeping it a secret escape route for themselves if things turned against them." Dom replied, only a year or two older than the two himself, but feeling a bit like an older brother educating his younger siblings. It felt a strange experience compared to usual, as these powerful youths in their own rite seemed to show him a level of respect of an elder.

"If the Ionian’s are intent to leave the Achaemenid Empire, then an extra escape route would be ideal." Archidamus replied with the nod of his head as he looked around, his ears listening to the sounds that passed them. Pericles had been brought up as an upper class Athenian, receiving education and training from his families experts or those they had hired for his education. Archidamus however was different, he was a future heir to one of the two Spartan Thrones, and even though he didn’t need to, he like the other Spartan boy’s, had entered training from the age of Seven and was a Warrior trained to hunt and kill. "I can hear your outer scouts in the forest to the east, their footsteps are louder than expected."

"Meng Ai’s men are deadly killers in the forest, if they are making a noise, it’s intentional." Dom replied, having not heard them himself, but looking at the young Spartan with a look of respect. The Hoplite from his own forces had already done the same, knowing that he had a challenging upbringing and was still a very level headed Warrior.

"It is a shame that Pisindelis could not join us, it seems that he also wanted to fight." Pericles commented, discussing Artemisia’s teenage Son who had argued to join the fight and not been left behind.

"He hasn’t trained to the level that we have and is still young, maybe in a year or so he could fight." Archidamus replied, agreeing that the young Halicarnassus Prince would have been another enjoyable person to discuss the wider situation with, as Pisindelis has received a similar training to Pericles, but with more of a Persian variation.

They suddenly abruptly stopped, an unnatural silence now filling the path as the four hundred men that travelled up the path all came to a stop. Gan Ning at the front had crouched down, his arm raised to hold the forces, whilst Meng Ai slowly moved forwards. The outer scouts had also gone completely silent, with Archidamus listening closely to see if he could hear them. They stayed silent for just over a minute, before Gan Ning waved them forwards again, continuing to travel slowly up the path as they went.

A Legionary approached Dom from the front, asking him to make his way up the line towards Gan Ning, who had slowed them down to an other level as the Legionaries with him continued to cut down the branches on the side paths. Dom left the two heirs and made his way forwards, passed Actumerus who had been making sure that Dom’s own path had been cleared.

"Lord, we will be in sight of the Fort within the next couple of minutes, there is no sound of battle currently commencing. I intend to head forwards with Centurion Meng Ai and watch for either the Athenian’s or Spartans to engage. They should be here any moment, we have had the difficult terrain but the timings should be about right." Gan Ning explained, wanting the two larger forces to cause a distraction before anything progressed with them.

"Then we will move up and get ourselves in to formation and wait for your signal." Dom replied in acceptance, as Gan Ning smiled at him in response.

"Once we’ve taken this Fort, we can then take our ships and return home." Gan Ning said with a grin, "And what ever else we can take."

"Then let’s take it and make sure that we get as many gains as we can whilst we do it!" Dom agreed as Sun Ce approached from the rear guard, the three Leaders of the Lazarus forces on this battlefront together.

"I’m going to head forwards with Centurion Meng Ai and signal when it is time to begin." Gan Ning explained as a large smile appeared on Sun Ce’s face.

"I can’t wait!" He grinned, "Brother In Law, do you want the left or right wing?"

"I’ll take the right with Centurion Septimius, you take the left with Centurion Octavian. Let’s cause as much chaos as possible." Dom replied, the grin on Sun Ce being contagious to those that were around him.

"I’ll have the men begin some fires, if we can set our side on fire, that will cause enough chaos." Sun Ce agreed, his smile not leaving his face.

"Let’s just make sure it’s controllable, we don’t want the fire spreading in to the forest where we are based. Otherwise we won’t have a route to retreat if we need it." Dom stated, catching strange looks from both Sun Ce and Gan Ning. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It just seems that since you have two young followers, you have suddenly matured and are making really good decisions." Sun Ce replied, holding in a grin.

"I am the Lord, remember that." Dom threatened jokingly.

"I am your Brother In Law, and he is your first and favourite General." Sun Ce explained, trying to hold in a laugh, whilst Gan Ning covered his face with his hand.

"I’m taking the right wing, don’t get yourself killed, my wife and your wife would both be very disappointed." Dom replied, as Gan Ning let out a laugh that he struggled to hold back.

Gan Ning had soon headed forwards with Centurion Meng Ai, their outer scouts matching their steps forwards, whilst the rest of the forces continued up the path until it began to flatten out, around one hundred metres away from the striking figures of the wooden fort in the distance. Dom headed in to the forest itself, followed by two hundred men, a mixture of Legionaries, Hoplite and mixed Player forces. Sun Ce did the same on the left flank, as the Legionaries in both groups began creating controlled fires for the archers amongst them to let loose in to the enemy fort on Gan Ning’s signal.

Gan Ning could be seen ahead of them, crouched behind a tree that seemingly blocked him from the sight of the enemy Fort. The Fort wall was of a height where a man would have to stand on another’s back to breach it’s walls. It was on a raised point on the mountain edge, with a sharp incline on the side the Spartans were approaching, with a slightly smoother approach on the side of the Athenian’s. The back of the Fort was against the Mountain itself, a deadly drop that Dom felt wouldn’t have been as much of a worry if he had more of his Wu Dang forces with him.

The route that Dom’s forces had taken was the most direct, directly up a sharp part of the mountain, before coming in to a clearing on the flank of the Fort. No one would have normally attempted the route, if not for the path, but it gave his forces the ideal location to cause chaos so that both the Athenian and Spartan forces would have more opportunity to attack with reduced losses.

"He’s signalling." Pericles commented from beside Dom as he watched on. Gan Ning waved towards them, hinting for the forces to begin their crouched approach. The Archers in both groups began lighting their fire arrows that had been prepared before arrival, preparing to take aim on Meng Ai’s signal, who was beside Gan Ning.

The Athenian’s were currently making their way up their incline, with the Spartans doing the same on their own. Both sides were under attack from Archers that were on the balcony that covered the higher level of the Palisade wall, their approach being slow due to trying to make their way up whilst not taking unnecessary losses.

"Loose!" Centurion Meng Ai shouted, his voice echoing from the mountain wall behind the Fort, an array of Arrows suddenly flying from their position in to the enemy camp ahead of them, unaware of their arrival until this point. The Arrows began to fall within the camp, the summer heat helping their targets take to the flame.

"Charge!" Sun Ce shouted from his side as he broke from the lines and charged towards the fort walls, a group of Player forces following him who were brandishing large axes to chop at the Palisade Wall.

"Charge!" Dom echoed, his own men charging forwards as the Archers amongst them let loose a second set of fire arrows towards the enemy fort. The enemy Archers were unaware of what direction to look in, giving both the Athenian’s and Spartan’s time to get closer to the fort walls.

Dom ran, his Zhan Lu drawn as he ran forwards, Actumerus beside him, with the two Greek Heir’s following him. An elite unit of Athenian’s and Spartan’s followed the two heirs as they all charged towards the wall, where Sun Ce’s Axemen hacked at the edges where the enemy side gate that on their side was now assaulted.

"Target any enemy Archers!" Meng Ai ordered, his elite men and those of the Players targeting the sight of any enemies that could be seen. The Achaemenid Archers were an elite of the Persian forces themselves, a mixture of men from different parts of the wider Empire. However, their loyalty, as with a lot of the Empires forces, was to their selves rather than the King that they served.

"Don’t let Sun Ce take all of the credit!" Dom shouted loudly as the Player Axemen under Sun Ce made more and more progress. Pericles seemed to hear this as a personal challenge as he began climbing on to the back of one of his men, so he could attempt vaulting the wall. Archidamus seemed to see this as a challenge to himself as well, ordering his Spartans to follow the Athenian’s and try to vault the wall himself.

Dom turned to Actumerus, who rolled his eyes as he stood against the wall, his height at least a head taller than any of the others on the battlefield. Dom smiled, as he was assisted in climbing up Actumerus’s shoulders, not allowing the two Greek Heir’s to get ahead of him.