Leondis Magius’ blade leapt from its scabbard and into the Stormcloak’s stomach. With a twirl Leondis removed the blade and moved onto another opponent as the Stormcloak fell to his knees. The second opponent charged him with an axe in one hand, a shield in the other. Leondis jumped to the side of the opponent with the axe in hand, his right side. The Stormcloak attempted to strike Leondis but he was prepared. Leondis ducked the blow and pushed his sword through the Stormcloaks chest. This was a move that Leondis had learned in the Imperial Army. He had perfected it at a very young age, probably about 18. Leondis stood up, took back his sword and kicked the dying man in the stomach. He looked up with a sudden urgency as he heard his fellow Imperial soldier Marcus Stratus, “Magius! We need to advance upon the keep!” he had more to say but he was interrupted by a Stormcloak. He quickly dispatched him. “Will you charge it with me?” “Of course I will!” Leondis replied swiftly. Together they charged the Stormcloak keep. Together they killed upwards of 20 Stormcloak rebels. They celebrated their victory. Leondis and Marcus were brothers. Not by blood, but by honour. They had joined the Imperial Legion at the same time and had risen up the ranks together. They had each other’s back.
Leondis and Marcus were sitting in their newly formed Imperial base with the other men in their squadron, drinking and chatting. There were men and women from all over Tamriel. Tim-Ku the Argonian was their scout, he would head in to enemy controlled locations giving them the information they needed for a successful mission. Dalavesa the Dark Elf, some say she is the best healer in Skyrim. Then there was Ma’Dat and Dro’Baad, two Khajiit archers who were inseparable from since they were cubs. There were others, but they were mostly a bunch of young faced Nords and Imperials. They all sat by the fire telling tales and singing songs when there were a knock at the door. Tim-Ku walked over and opened the door. Standing at the door, drenched in rain was Legate Verus. You could tell the man had higher authority by his armour and medals and you tell he had experience by the scars. He walked into the base with a pride only achieved by those of his status. He waited until Tim-Ku joined the rest of the soldiers. Once they stood in line they saluted Legate Verus. He replied with a salute. Leondis and his men threw their arms to their sides.
“You’re probably wondering what I am doing here so late at night. That is because time does not wait for man, so I don’t wait for it. We have reports of a band of Stormcloaks hiding around in the mountains near Winterhold.” He stopped to make sure we all heard, and then he continued. “I want you and your men to scout the area, find the rebels and eliminate them. Leave as soon as you can. That is all. I hope to hear of your success. Any questions?”
“Just the one. How many men should we anticipate?”
“We have no idea, but we should assume something around 30 or more. Nothing you can’t handle.”
He nodded, Leondis and his men nodded and then Verus walked out of the warm room and into the cold rain of Skyrim. Leondis turned to face his soldiers. “You heard Legate Verus. Pack your bags and grab your swords, we are going on an adventure!” His warriors cheered and rushed off to pack whatever they needed. Then they finished their food and storytelling and slept.
The next morning, at the crack of dawn they marched for Winterhold. Leondis had never been to Winterhold before, but he had heard of the freezing cold. He had also heard tales of Ice Wyrms attacking travellers and merchants. He kept those thoughts at the back of his head as he marched. After a day of walking they reached the small town of Winterhold. There they set up camp just outside of town. Leondis sent Ma’Dat and Dro’Baad to get supplies in the town. He then sent Tim-Ku on a scouting trip in the mountains. He then gave some arrogant Nord warrior the thankless task of guard duty. They spent the rest of the night training and formulating plans. The next morning Tim-Ku came back with good news. In his time in the mountains he spotted a lone Stormcloak. Tim-Ku easily sneaked up on the unaware soldier and knocked him out with a choke hold. Leondis sent some men to retrieve the unconscious Stormcloak. When the soldiers returned they had the Stormcloak. They set up an “Information Retrieval Tent” where they could extract the whereabouts of the base from the Stormcloak. By any means.
Haakig Snow-Bane had the same hopes and dreams as the other Nord boys his age. He wanted adventure and action. He also had a dislike for strangers so it was the obvious choice for him to join the Stormcloaks. At the age of 15 he finally made the journey to Windhelm and joined the Stormcloak. His uncle being a high ranking general in the Stormcloak army helped a lot. After 5 years of training and small missions he became surprisingly good at what he does. He was promoted and given charge of a small group of soldiers not unlike Leondis’. At the age of 33 he was posted to Winterhold. There he was stationed somewhere in the mountains. One fateful day he ventured outside the camp to get to the town of Winterhold. Then there was darkness. When he woke up his was in a tent, tied to a chair. It was cold as he was only wearing rags. Next to the chair was a table with some horrendous looking equipment on it, covered in blood of unfortunate victims who came before him. This is probably some Imperials hoping to get information from me. No chance. They would sooner kill me then I would tell them anything. He thought when he was suddenly interrupter by the tents flaps opening. In walked an Imperial soldier. He was young, younger than Haakig. He had scars. “My name is Leondis. I am here to ask you some questions. How this conversation pans out is all up to you. We can do it the clean, easy way or we can do it the messy, hard way. My methods of torture range from the very precise ways to the simple ways.” Haakig wasn’t going down without a fight. He spat in Leondis’ face. “I see.” Leondis said while walking towards the table. “Sometimes good men have to do unspeakable things when there is no other choice.”
“Real nice line,” Haakig said sarcastically “but what does it have to do with me!”
“I am a good guy, and I have nothing to lose.”
Marcus stood outside the tent. He grimaced when he first heard screams, but he eventually got used to it. After a while he got bored of waiting and walked towards the make shift cafeteria. There he got himself a mug of ale and a pork leg. He then went to his tent and slept. When he woke up, he went straight to the torture tent. He had made the mistake of walking in and seeing what had gone on so he stayed outside. He called Leondis out. “Hey Leondis, can we chat?” from inside the tent he heard “On my way.” Out walked a blood stained Leondis. He had bags under his eyes. Had he stayed up all night? “What do you want?”
“Well I was wondering if you had gained the information.”
“Yes. First he bled blood, and then he bled information.”
Marcus hated this side of Leondis. The cruel side. It was sadistic. That was probably why he was at one point General Tullius’ personal Inquisitor.
“So what were you still doing in there?”
Leondis gave him a wiry smirk. “Cleaning up.”
After he was done, Leondis gathered him men in the big tent they used for military planning. Leondis stood at the front, next to a board with a map of Winterhold pinned up. In his right hand he held a stick he used for pointing; in his other he held his helmet. He was staring at the map before suddenly turning around an addressing the crowd of soldiers.
“Legate Verus thinks we are the prime candidates to take this Stormcloak base. I will be damned if we prove him wrong. We have the location and we have a plan. Ma’Dat and Dro’Baad will provide a quick distraction. Tim-Ku will have already infiltrated the base by now. The rest of us will charge the base. We have to be quick while the element of surprise is still our friend. If you’re with me say aye!”
The whole room erupted into a shouting of AYE and TO GLORY.
“If you’re not, then go whimper in a corner. Now let’s move!”
All the soldiers put on their helmets and sheathed their swords, axes and maces. They marched out of the tent and towards the Stormcloak base. Ma’Dat and Dro’Baad scaled the mountains, on the left side of the base. There they entered the Stormcloak base. Inside they met up with Tim-Ku. For the diversion Dalavesa had taught Tim-Ku a fireball spell. Using it he hit an oil container causing a huge explosion. While Stormcloaks rushed to put out the fire Leondis and rest of the soldiers charged the base. There was the clash of steel, the burning of flesh and the sounds of men and women screaming. Leondis and Marcus stood back to back fighting off a horde of Stormcloaks who outnumbered them 4 to 1, but they still held their ground. When the Stormcloak number started to thin out Leondis caught sight of the Stormcloak general making a run for it, guarded by about 15 Stormcloaks. Leondis turned to face Marcus. “To Glory, Marcus?”, Marcus gave the nod which meant I will follow you to the deepest, darkest reaches of Oblivion itself for glory. With that the two Imperials charged towards the rebels.
Comments