B3 Chapter 18: Into the Breach

The commanders of the Roman forces gathered to watch the ongoing assault, keeping close tabs on the orcs’ progress. The officers of both legions waited with anticipation, ready to act on their Legatus’ orders and begin their own attack. The few former Novarans with them wore tight expressions as their own anticipation built for different reasons.

Soon enough, Tiberius saw it. An orc reached the top of the wall, then another. Slowly, the defenders found themselves losing ground to the attacking horde.

It was hardly the first time the orcs had gained a foothold. However, this time was different. The defenders were tired, weakened, and without reinforcements. Which meant that this time, the incursion would not be so easily repelled.

“It’s time,” Tiberius said simply. At his words, the commanders saluted

There was no horn blast or roar of men to accompany their assault. Rather, they moved quietly and efficiently toward the city walls. Considering the orcs’ appetite for battle, Tiberius suspected that they may well divert their attention away from their current goals if they saw Rome’s forces. Just one more benefit to attacking the opposite end of the city, out of their sight.

Not that his men were being particularly stealthy. They simply utilized the massive wall and the surrounding terrain to their advantage. Though whatever noise was produced by moving thousands of troops likely went unnoticed beneath the bellows, hollers, and sounds of active battle coming from across the way.

Unlike the orcs, the Novarans were able to see the Legion’s approach clear as day. A few fighters near the fringes diverted to address the new incoming force, only to be summarily dealt with by the elven archers from afar. The rest of the Novarans had bigger problems.

Siege towers sped toward the walls, their movement aided by the skills of their engineers and the stats of the Legionnaires themselves. Dozens upon dozens of ballistae, trebuchets, catapults, and other weaponry stood ready to attack, just in case something went wrong. But they weren’t needed yet. Nor did it seem that they would be.

Of course, they could have used some of the heavier artillery to punch a hole right through the wall. But on top of being unnecessary, it would open up an easy path for the orcs to swarm through as well. They would be easier to manage so long as their approach remained bottlenecked like it was.

Tiberius’s attention alternated between watching the men maneuver into place and the progress of the orcs. The green-skinned barbarians were making quite admirable time. They’d noticed some time ago that the smaller orcs, the ones who were consistently muscled away from the ladders by their brethren, had been corralled enough to build more ladders at a different location along the wall. It split the defenders, just as Tiberius would have—though those ladders had been quickly commandeered by the larger orcs as well.

It was quite a revealing move. The fact that the smaller orcs seemingly hadn’t considered this possibility was a testament to their shortsightedness. But the fact that they could be maneuvered to do such a thing in the first place… It seemed that their commander not only understood the stupidity of his own forces, but knew how to exploit it.

Of course, the Legion had managed to locate the orcish commander with relative ease. It was not difficult to pick out the largest, burliest orc of them all. But Tiberius suspected that there was something else at play here. The “commander” showed no signs of the intelligence he expected, most of his orders seeming to consist of emphatic and largely useless commands to charge forth and attack. So who was truly pulling the strings?

He had men working to answer that very question. But the fact remained that it was a losing battle for Novara. In fact, the only reason the city hadn’t fallen sooner was the dogged determination of the defenders atop the wall. It was easy to underestimate the abilities of a man who fought to protect his home.Especially when that man sported several skills dedicated to doing just that.

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Considering their current pace, the Roman forces should be able to sweep through the city just in time to staunch the flow of incoming orcs. Assuming neither side had any additional surprises to pull out, of course.

In the meantime, Tiberius watched as the defenders started to pull back to the towers in the wall, ceding an entire section to the orcs for the first time. They doubtless intended to hold them against the enemy and keep the invasion from descending into the city.

Most of the orcs pursued the humans with howls of pure bloodlust. But not all of them. Many of them decided to take a shortcut.

“Sir!” One of the officers pointed. “The orcs…”

Tiberius swore. Clusters of the muscled idiots began to leap over the wall, disappearing down the other side and into the city. He would have rejoiced at their obviously suicidal intentions if he hadn’t watched them survive worse up until this point.

“That is… certainly a tactic,” Gaius muttered. “I don’t suppose the Novarans have a spike pit at the base of their wall, do they?”

Duke Redcliffe shook his head, face pale. “Not as far as I’m aware.”

The distant sound of terrified screams confirmed his words. Evidently, at least some of the borderline suicidal orcs had survived the drop. Which did not bode well for anyone. It seemed that their timetables had been moved up.

“Have the men rush their advance,” Tiberius ordered. “Sweep through the city quickly before the orcs are able to spread out. Gaius, prepare the artillery to thin their numbers, then take field command of the first legion. Take an aide with you to receive further orders as necessary. Quintus, prepare the cavalry to intercept the enemy outside the city where their numbers are thinnest. Sylendor, have your men take the top of the wall. Coordinate with the first legion to contain them. Move!”

The orders went out in a rush as the commanders hurried to obey. They dispersed toward their men, the orders already moving ahead of them courtesy of messaging skills, as the emperor frowned. He had expected the orcs to go for the stairs or even pull the ladders before using them to descend. But they’d seen the orcs’ resilience. All of them had. He should have expected them to utilize a tactic like this.

The siege weaponry swung around to aim at the orcs as a cohort moved to protect their position. But they didn’t fire yet. Once they began, the orcs were certain to begin rushing headlong at their new aggressors. Which was why Tiberius wanted to wait until everyone was in the best position they could be.

Legionnaires swarmed up the towers and onto the walls in a stream of red and forest green. But this was no chaotic sprawl as the orcish assault had been. Rome’s forces moved with speed and efficiency that had them up and in position in a flash. Sylendor’s forces split off as they reached the top, moving quickly to secure its circumference and move toward the breach.

It wasn’t a moment too soon. A veritable flood of orcs now waterfalled over the edge and down into the towers. As soon as the elves were within range, they began raining volleys of arrows upon the orcs. As the attacks drew attention, the elves focused their efforts, those in front kneeling to allow a solid wall of empowered projectiles to tear through the oncoming attackers.

Tiberius watched for a moment longer before repositioning as well. Remaining anywhere near the siege engines when they fired was simply asking for trouble. Besides, if he wanted to maintain a good vantage, then he’d need to move inside the city. As soon as an area was secured, of course. Though judging by the men’s speed and the lack of Novaran resistance, they should have a base established by the time he arrived.

The fact that the orcs were already inside the city put a wrinkle in things. But it was merely an inconvenience. If anything, this would simply cull the Novaran defenders further. And even though the orcs could clearly survive a fall from a great height, that was not to say all of them would. Even the ones that did surely would emerge with some injuries to speak of.

“Sir.” Lucius spoke. “The Novarans are pulling back. What few remain are retreating to the castle, pursued by orcs.”

Tiberius nodded. Whoever led them had some sense, at least. Though whether or not they’d be successful remained to be seen.

“Leave them,” Tiberius commanded. “Have men keep tabs on the orcs pursuing them. I want them hunted if they go off course and become distracted.”

Lucius nodded silently and conveyed the orders. Then, Tiberius took in the state of the battlefield. The elves were making progress toward the orc’s section of wall, though they were having trouble making progress against their sheer numbers. He couldn’t see the progress of the human Legionnaires within the city, but he had not yet received word of anything amiss on that front. And it appeared that the cavalry were in position.

He turned once more to his aide. Everything seemed to be in order. And that meant it was time to thin out the horde. And given their resilience… The engineers’ latest innovations would finally get their chance to truly shine.

“Fire.”

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