The Ordinator, The time of change is approaching... Options

[Gaius Maximus]

So, I decided I would psot it ehre as well. Enjoy!

Chapter I

Raynari Vandareth sighed in relief, taking off his Indoril helmet. Sweat gushed down his brow, and he could feel the same was happening to his back, which gave him an uncomfortable feeling, since he could do nothing with his armor on. However, he wasn’t an Ordinator captain for nothing, so he could endure this feeling, like he endured the hits that came from Corprus monsters a mere several minutes ago.

“Captain? Are you alright?” A voice distracted Raynari from the dead body of a once-man in front of him.

Turning around, he was faced with an Indoril helmet, worn by one of his Ordinators, with whom he was tasked to clear out a nest of Sixth House heretics.

“Yes… Yes, I’m fine. Only several dents in my armor… Those damn monsters know how to pack a hit.” The Ordinator Captain replied, cleaning the sweat off of his brow with a gauntlet-less hand. The gauntlet that was supposed to rest on the hand was lying in dirt, deformed to the point where it was impossible to use it for its original purpose.

“Casualties?” Raynari finally asked after a moment of silence.

“We’ve got at least half a hundred of those beasts. Yet at a high cost, they took at least a quarter of our own men, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s double the number of them left in this cave.” The lower-ranking Ordinator replied with a sigh. Raynari shook his head slightly.

“Tell the remaining men to regroup into a schiltron. The heretics aren’t known for patience, they’ll come at us soon, so we have to be ready.” The Ordinator Captain ordered with a weary voice, again cleaning the sweat from his brow – it was still pouring. “Dismissed, Suleri.” Raynari added, cleaning the tip of his spear into the ground, which was also stained in blood.

With a salute, the Ordinator called Suleri hurried off, leaving Raynari alone with his thoughts once again. However, those thoughts weren’t the nicest ones, as the Ordinator Captain could hear footsteps approaching them – more Corprus beasts were coming into the cavern in which the Ordinators were trapped.

If this lasts for long, we’ll all be dead. Apparently, the informant underestimated the Sixth House while gathering information about this goddamn cavern… Vehk save us if no reinforcements come. Raynari sighed again, then shot a glance at his Ordinators. They were all weary, yet still more than willing to fight for the glory of the Temple and the Tribunal. They didn’t have much hope of surviving, and the little hope they did was in the form of a circular schiltron, a forest of spears deadly against cavalry and useful against infantry.

When the second wave of Corpus monsters finally began, the spear-armed Ordinators met it with grim face expressions and tightly gripped spears and shields. However, the mad beasts did not stop for even a moment of consideration, slamming into the schiltron. The tight formation retreated slightly, yet suffered light casualties, while leaving many bodies of Corprus monsters on the ground.

The Corprus monsters slammed into the schiltron again, suffering more casualties, yet making the circle of spears retreat a bit more. This was certainly not a welcomed situation, as soon enough, the Ordinators would be pushed into the wall, and their formation disrupted. Raynari had to quickly think a way out of this. However, it wasn’t that hard.

When the Corprus monsters slammed into them for the third time, he yelled out the command that could either doom the Ordinators or save them:

“ATTACK!”

Thus, when the Corprus monsters slammed into a part of the schiltron, their flanks were crashed into by the other Ordinators. Soon enough, the Corprus monsters were forced into fighting on three sides – their flanks and the front. Now was the time when Raynari had to lead a handful of Ordinators to smash into their rear, an action that the Corprus monsters would not expect.

As fast as possible, the party of some ten Ordinators separated from the main force, trying to stay away from the fighting. It didn’t take long for them to reach the location from which they could charge down on the rear of the Corprus beasts, hopefully turning their attention away from the other Ordinators long enough for the fighting to turn the way they wanted.

Raynari smirked, looking at the temptingly vulnerable rear of the Corprus monsters. However, the smirk was left unnoticed by his companions, since his head was covered with the Indoril helmet, which was in turn smeared with blood, as was his whole armor. He knew that soon enough, his armor would receive a new layer of blood, and a new set of dents from the monsters that fought ahead of them. Since there was no time to be wasted, the Ordinator Captain lifted up his spear into the air, then yelled out the phrase that all of the Ordinators were eager to hear:

“CHARGE!”

It took several moments for the Corprus monsters to realize what happened when the handful of Ordinators slammed into their back, and when they did, several of the monsters’ numbers were already dead with spears in their backs. However, when they did realize what happened, they turned to fight with ferocity that Raynari had not foreseen.

The Captain himself, though, fought with ferocity that equaled, if not surpassed, the ferocity of his enemies. However, his ferocity blinded him temporarily, which almost cost him his life. As he impaled a Corprus monster with his spear, another one lunged at him from behind, knocking him on the ground.

Raynari was unfortunate enough to land on a rock with his unarmored hand. With a sickening crunch, he looked as his arm twisted in an unusual way, indicating that it broke. As if that wasn’t enough, he cut it quite deeply, and blood started gushing out of his wound. But it wasn’t the only of his problems – the Corprus monster jumped on him, pressing him to the ground.

After a bit of struggling, Raynari managed to turn himself around, coming face to face with the disfigured face of the monster. A sickening stench blew at his face, though he did his best to ignore it, hitting the monster in the face. This didn’t seem to have much effect, though, and in return Raynari got a hit that broke his nose. He felt warm blood on his face, yet ignored it, moving his head to avoid another such hit.

What the Corprus monster failed to see was that Raynari’s fine arm managed to grasp the shortsword that hung at the Ordinator Captain’s side. Just as the creature was going to land another hit, Raynari swung the shortsword. It too several moment for the monster to realize what had happened, yet it soon roared in pain, staring at what was left of its arm. The rest of it landed nearby, cut off by Raynari’s shortsword.

Blood poured out of the remaining part of the beast’s arm, mixing with the blood on Raynari’s face and arm. The Dunmer frowned in disgust, then drove the shortsword in his hand into the creature’s neck, causing more blood to pour on him and mix with that of his own. With a one last roar, the monster fell down on Raynari in full weight, hitting his head against a rock.

The last thing Raynari heard before passing out was cheerful shouts and heavy footsteps of many armored feet.

***

Raynari looked around a large room, seemingly made out of gold. He did not know where he was, nor how he got here, yet what he knew was that he didn’t want to be here. Still, the room was so beautiful, and the wooden door leading outside seemed so ugly in comparison, he couldn’t make himself leave. What drew him more were other doors, made out of precious gems and diamonds of all sort.

In an oddly sluggish way, Raynari walked towards the diamond doors. It took only several moments for him to reach them and open them. However, when he did, he felt himself falling through the floor before he could even see what was inside. As he fell into the abyss, darkness surrounded him. The Ordinator Captain heard someone laugh, before opening his eyes.

Sweat gushed down his enormously hot brow. Raynari felt weak and sick, which was probably the case, as the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was a man in blue robes – the Ordinator healer. Raynari was back in Vivec.

[Gaius Maximus]

Chapter X

Raynari frowned, lifting his palm up above his eyes. Pressing the cold Indoril gauntlet against his brow, the Dunmer shielded his eyes from the sunlight, fixing his gaze on the dark clouds that were looming in the distance. His eyes registered a quick flash, which he identified as a lighting bolt.

Slowly, the ex-Ordinator lowered his hand again, grabbing the rein of his guar. His head turned a slight bit, a ray of sunshine quickly crossing his face, which made his frown grow.

“Looks like it’s going to rain tonight, Endus.” The Dunmer murmured, which made the Ash Vampire sniff loudly:

“I can see that myself.”

Raynari sneered, the frown quickly morphing into a smirk.

“Oh, can you now? One could think that after years of lurking within a dark Dwemer Ruin, your eyesight would become very poor. I’m glad my advisor is not blind.” Then, without giving his companion a chance to reply, he released a loud click with his tongue, urging his guar on to tread down the hill, where the clouds in the distance seemed to be mirrored by a large mass of Sixth House creatures.

Ever since Endus had arrived by the order of Dagoth Ur, tensions were high in the Sixth House camp. Raynari, while Endus’s superior in this operation, was considered below him by the Ash Vampire himself. Likewise, Raynari, who quickly formed the opinion of his second-in-command being a fool, held him to be a lower creature. The Ordinator, after all, never did learn how to behave around those whom he regarded as fools – a trait that could be blamed upon the fact that he was born under the Steed, and was thus sometimes too quick to decide abut people, or would, from time to time, suffer from the lack of patience.

Still, Endus had to behave. Dagoth Ur made it clear who was to be regarded as the head of this camp, and those few soldiers that still managed to think after being mangled by the Corprus disease had formed an opinion similar to that of Ur after the battle and the following fall of the Ghostgate. And those who did not preserve their minds during their evolution from a mangled beast into a somewhat Dunmer-like being did not matter – they would follow anyone.

Thus, Raynari still kept all the power and authority as the Grand Commander of the Sixth House Army in the Ghostgate Operation, only with added fame for accomplishing the Ghostgate Operation so quickly. Currently, he was the Grand Commander of the Sixth House Army in the Ald’Ruhn Operation.

Of course, not only the title of the operation had changed – Raynari had to perform different objectives as well. Currently, those were to capture the Redoran Council Seat, Ald’Ruhn, which was supposed to provide an anchorage point for future attacks against the Great Houses and the Empire. In reality, Raynari did not believe that it would hold for long – Ald’Ruhn, like any other city in Vvardenfell, was not a city suited to withstand a siege. Its walls were low, and it had only a few towers and no gate to speak of. The only really imposing military structure there was the Buckmoth Legion Fort, which was currently home to II, III, IV, V and VI Cohorts of the Legio VII Resdayn. The presence of Imperials Legion forces was what unnerved Raynari the most – as if the Redoran phalanx was not enough to deal with.

However, Raynari put much hopes into the terrain when it came to defeating the Redoran Phalanx. After all, the land around Ald’Ruhn was far from suited for a phalanx to fight on. Many rises and falls, many large boulders, and almost not a piece of flat land. Not even the ground in the city was flat – it was built on the slope of a hill, this was very uneven.

With such thoughts, hopes and concerns, Raynari rode down the hill, appearing right in the front of the leading Ash Slave colon. Endus stood on the hill for a few moments, muttering curses and insults, before the Ash Vampire descended as well, taking the lead of the rearguard.

***

Slowly, the sun was sinking beneath the mountains that overlooked Ald’Ruhn. Several Redoran watchmen lazily leaned against the walls of the tower, their blank gaze wandering around the bare landscape, their short spears thumping against the floor in a monotonic tone. As usual, it was not expected something would occur, even though rumors of the Ghostgate falling into the heretics’ hands have reached the Redoran Council, and the Strategos, Fadril Sendal Redoran had ordered the lookouts to be sharper than usual.

Thus, you could imagine a watchman’s surprise when his eyes spotted ranks and ranks of what were obviously soldiers of some sort, marching towards Ald’Ruhn through the Foyada. His spear’s counter-balance hit against the floor loudly, causing the other Dunmer to fix their attention to it.

Several moments later, a loud yell ‘ALARM!’, accompanied by the noise of a guarskin drum beaten in a steady manner disturbed the peaceful evening.

When those noises reached Raynari’s ears, the Ordinator smiled slightly, watching as alarm fires were being lit up in the several guard towers. Undoubtedly, the Redorans would soon mobilize a defensive force to fend back the Sixth House forces. Knowing this, Raynari turned slightly on his mount.

”Prepare for battle and press forward, for the glory of Sixth House!”

The tempo of the Sixth House drums became faster and faster as a result, urging the Ash Slaves and Ash Zombies to hurry their step. If all went well and according, they would have the suburbs of Ald’Ruhn before the night fell over the city. By then, though, the Redoran will probably have a strong force ready, yet Raynari hoped that they wouldn’t dive into the chaos of night warfare, allowing him time to prepare to take Ald’Ruhn by storm.

***

Indeed, Raynari could soon congratulate on a job well done. The Redorans did not even attempt to hold the buildings outside their walls – the Sixth House found them completely abandoned. The entrance to Ald’Ruhn looked temptingly vulnerable, yet Raynari knew better than let his army to fall into what could be a possible ambush, as he imagined the Redoran might not have been as unprepared as it seemed.

Thus, as the Great Magnus Hole disappeared to be changed by the twin moons and a number of smaller holes in Oblivion, Raynari was busy not with directing a battle – no, instead, the ex-Ordinator was busy planning, while the numerous lesser Dagoths concerned themselves with establishing night watch.

Leaning against a well-made redwood table with his hands, Raynari sighed. It all seems to be going too smooth. If the Redoran would’ve wanted, they would’ve made a stand here and perhaps held some of the buildings. Instead, they retreat, against all previous cases of Redoran action on the field of battle… With another sigh, the ex-Ordinator buried his face in his palms. The Redoran Strategos is not a fool. While their Council Leader might be just a figurehead, someone who has no idea about things not involving swinging, the Strategos was always someone with a clear mind. We must tread lightly…

Without realizing it, Raynari drifted off to sleep, surrounded by the darkness created by his palms.

***

The Grand Commander woke up to the sound of thunder, yells and clanging weaponry outside. At first, Raynari thought that Endus had arrived with the rearguard and caused confusion – the Ash Vampire had stopped somewhere halfway to Ald’Ruhn due to some troubles with discipline in the march order. However, what struck him as odd was the sound of clanging weapons – none of the Sixth House troops carried anything that could’ve caused such noise.

Half-awake, Raynari stumbled up the stairs, and basically rammed the door down, charging out of the small manor he had chosen to be his headquarters. Almost immediately, he had to brandish his Ebony scimitar, acquired in the Ghostgate, and defend himself.

After landing a successful blow to the throat of his opponent, Raynari looked around, rain pounding down on him. A lighting flash made the situation clear for a moment, and revealed to the ex-Ordinator what was happening.

Somewhere nearby the walls of Ald’Ruhn, he could see the shape of a large mass of men, moving towards the manor. Several loose engagements were taking place already, mostly between the peltasts of the Redoran and the Sixth House servants that made up the night watch. For a minute, the thunder distinguished the sounds of combat that disorientated Raynari, allowing him to notice fires in the direction of the Ald’Ruhn gate – obviously, the suburbs were on fire, but that did not prevent the forces there to keep fighting for the burning ruins.

With rain sending wave after wave of large drops into his face, it took Raynari only several seconds to wake up completely. Yet it took a bit longer until he could actually begin giving out orders – the thunder overwhelmed him, ringing in his ears, the loud noise crashing against the sides of his skull.

Finally, though, Raynari turned to the nearest figure:

“Gather what forces we have available here, and retreat them towards the back of the manor!”

To his luck, the person appeared to be a Dreamer. The Dunmer nodded quickly and bolted off towards the direction of all the noise. Raynari, on the meantime, got a hold of his guar, and managed to mount the steed, getting himself together completely. It was not the most pleasant feeling, to have to begin acting almost immediately after waking up, yet, by sheer force of will, he concentrated his attention to the battle at hand, not letting confusion to overcome his brain.

While Raynari attempted to rally his forces near the manor, Dagoth Endus had noticed the flames in the distance, and sped up his force. Despite what Raynari thought of him, Endus was not a complete fool – he knew quite well how to act; else Dagoth Ur wouldn’t have chosen him to be one of his generals.

Dagoth Endus could not see anything else than the burning suburbs, so he directed his force there, with intentions of aiding the forces there, who were in a dire situation – the fire and the Redorans had cut them off of the rest of the force, and they were heavily pressed by the enemy, who received constant reinforcements from the city gates.

While Endus maneuvered to engage the Redorans in the suburbs, Raynari had already managed to assemble his force, and begin a coordinated defense. The Redoran phalanx, blindly marching towards the outline of the manor, was soon greeted by a hail of lighting bolts, sent towards them by the Ash Slaves. Their tight-packed formation made them easy targets, and the noise they caused on their march gave away their positions. Thus, many soldiers from the front ranks fell, and the second and third ranks almost tripped over the bodies, disrupting the phalanx. As if it was not enough, in the darkness, some of the front-rank soldiers, those who did not fall, continued marching forward, Dunmer behind them following suit. Those that pressed forward soon began stopping, however, upon noticing that there were none around them; still, the entire slope of the hill they were marching down had turned into a giant pool of mud by now, and the hoplites continued sliding down, some tripping.

Using this moment of weakness, Raynari ordered his troops forward. Yet they were not professional soldiers, and even if the Ash Slaves and Zombies could keep cohesion well enough in daylight, it did not mean the same would happen during nighttime. To increase the disruption, the Sixth House forces had to climb up the muddy hill, and it was not an easy task.

Thus, by the time the tow forces had collided, both were unorganized, dirty, and weary. Still, Raynari had the advantage – his forces, even if they had to climb up hill, were still more prepared for combat than the Redoran hoplites, who were being slowed down considerably by their heavy armor. Also, the phalanx had not managed to aim their spears at the Sixth House troops properly – when Raynari had reached them, most of the hoplites were still struggling to get up, or confused about whenever they should turn back or press on.

Since the Redoran did not manage to fight back with much efficiency, the Sixth House troops continued pushing forward, and soon managed to convince the hoplites that they had to retreat. The Dunmer began executing this maneuver, yet it soon turned from a retreat into a rout.

In the other places, the Redorans were facing similar difficulties, not to mention the arrival of a fresh force of Ash Slaves and Zombies in the suburbs, where the main fighting was taking place. Slowly but steadily, the odds started shifting towards the Sixth House’s favor, and the Redoran Strategos, Fadril Sendal, was soon forced to begin retreating his forces into the city.

With more or less cohesion, the Redorans started pulling back. However, by the time Fadril had ordered a retreat, Raynari had arrived to the suburbs with his Ash Slaves. Weary as those Corprus monsters were, they were still more capable of fighting than the Redorans, due to their enhanced strength and lack of any armor to weight them down.

Raynari had made up a quick plan during his advance towards the suburbs – after several more lighting flashes, he had noticed that the Redoran were receiving reinforcements through the gates. Thus, he decided to cut them at their roots, so to speak. Indeed, soon enough, his detachment slammed into the retreating Redorans’ flank, and effectively pushed them off from the gates, cutting the remaining hoplites off of the rest of their forces.

Surrounded, the remaining hoplites lined up back-to-back, in a schiltron-fashioned way. Still, they did not hold out for long against the hail of lighting. The Sixth House had earned themselves a moment of peace, during which Raynari and Endus needed to agree upon what actions were to be taken now.

And thus, as the sun again began resurfacing from behind the mountains, the two generals met.

Raynari’s appearance had changed considerably since the last time the two had spoken. Previously, the Grand Commander was almost gleaming, his armor polished and without a dent. Now, Raynari was bloody from the tip of his toes to his hair. Numerous dents and gaps were visible in his armor, and several cracks could be seen even on the scimitar – after hours of cleaving through the armor, flesh and bones of the Redoran, not even the nigh-unbreakable Ebony could come out without a scratch.

On the other hand, Endus seemed to be exactly the same as before, and Raynari knew the reason for this- the cowardly rat had not fought along his men, or at least not on the frontlines. Still, he swallowed whatever comments he might’ve had about that, instead starting their ‘meeting’ with different words:

“Ah, Endus. So good to see you here. I am glad that you managed to find your way to us after all.”

The Dagoth sniffed silently.

“We have no time for this, and you know it. We need to decide what to do next, and the responsibility falls on you… Dagoth Nerevar.”

Raynari smirked slightly, yet the smirk soon turned into an expression of pain as the ex-Ordinator clutched the left side of his stomach – his armor did not completely protect him, yet he was almost sure this could be healed easily enough. If not, he could just morph into a Dagoth, and, according to Ur, all of his wounds would be healed.

Still pressing his hand against the hole in his armor, the Dunmer spoke:

“There’s no question in what we do next. We’ll press into the city, and destroy what is left of the Redoran Army.”

“And what of the Foreigner Fort?” Endus motioned towards the imposing structure that was looming in the distance. Oddly enough, the Fort stayed silent during the entire night of combat, even though the alarm fires were burning brightly in the towers ever since the suburbs had caught on fire.

“If they do not react, then we won’t touch them until Ald’Ruhn is ours. Just to be safe, though, have a fifth of our men guard our back and alarm us in case the Legion marches out.”

Endus nodded, for once without any sniffs or sneers. The Ash Vampire hurried off to his generals, leaving Raynari alone with his wounds.

***

As fast as possible, Raynari gathered his remaining forces. The night assault cost them one fourth of their entire force, yet Raynari hoped they had inflicted higher casualties to the Redorans. While Endus had the forces Raynari ordered him to assemble lined up outside the suburbs, Raynari and the four-fifths of the remaining Sixth House force advanced into Ald’Ruhn through the main gate.

At first, all seemed quiet – the Ash Slaves and Zombies marched through the main street undisturbed for several minutes. The rain had died down by now, yet the land was still wet, so their progress was slow.

However, somewhere halfway through the main street, when Raynari could already see the Skar in the distance, shouts and clanging of weapons was heard behind them. Upon turning around, Raynari was faced with a phalanx that steadily advanced towards them, cutting them off from Endus.

Knowing that coalition would not end well for them, Raynari ordered the usual hail of lighting to meet the Redorans. However, after all the ranks of the Ash Slaves had released their bolts, they began again, forcing the phalanx to speed up. Still, the effects of the rain of lighting was similar to those seen previously – the marching Dunmer tripped over their dead comrades. The only difference was that this time, the Redorans were advancing uphill, and instead of sliding away from the soldiers behind them, the hoplites who tripped or were cut down by the lighting slid at the ones behind them, further adding to the confusion.

Giving the phalanx a bit more time to completely loose cohesion, Raynari ordered his Ash Slaves to advance. The phalanx, however, did not even attempt to engage the attackers – instead, they began pulling back, managing to gain back their cohesion as the retreated, testament to Redoran training and discipline. Raynari, of course, had his own theories, especially regarding the leader of this phalanx – he suspected that Fadril Sendal was personally in the lead of this force.

These Redorans were the last major force left in Ald’Ruhn. Following their retreat out of the city, Dagoth Endus attempted to draw them into battle, however failed, and the phalanx successfully retreated to the Buckmoth Legion Fort.

Raynari, upon the retreat of Fadril Sendal, began the liberation of the city from the ‘heretics’. Each and every citizen unlucky enough to still be in Ald’Ruhn were given a choice – follow Dagoth Ur, or die for the Tribunal. After the predictable massacre, given that this was a Redoran settlement, and Redorans were fiercely loyal to the Temple, Ald’Ruhn was left with only several hundreds of citizens.

However, before Raynari could begin the assault on Fort Buckmoth, Dagoth Ur sent a message through one of his Ascended Sleepers, that Raynari was required back in the Red Mountain. Without delay, the ex-Ordinator mounted his guar and left, leaving Dagoth Endus to plan the assault on Fort Buckmoth alone.