Surface- Twisting Hills Region

Free Lands- Outside the City of Uldon

4 Days Ago...

Once the army had reached sight of Uldon they had quickly moved, considering that it was the middle of the night, no opposition had sortied from the city. Also since it was night time, the city was shut down and closed as well. Still, the mounted units of the army had pushed quickly taking control of two bridges and organizing on the northern side of the Misty River. The Eighth Legion was following the mounted units as quickly as possible while the First Legion made camp on the western side of the city, the Sixth camped on the south, and the Third made camp on the east side of the city of Uldon.

According to Nadal, half the troops would be creating temporary camps while the other half would be creating fortifications for the troops to fall back too if Uldons soldiers pushed them back. The Siege Engines were already being unpacked and being put together by the field Engineers and War Engineers. Eight Siege Towers and two Battering Rams were also being assembled, but only one gate was present on the southern wall.

It took the defenders nearly 30 minutes to realize an invading army was present outside their walls and the alarms sounded throughout the city. By that time the Eighth Legion had four Cohorts on the northern side of the Misty River, no escape would be possible for them now.

Three hours later and about an hour before the sun came up, the main gate finally opened and a small party from the city rode out. Jacob had been helping dig earthen rampart when word reached him that High-Lord Gregory Daniels was demanding a meeting with the leader of the 'ragtag group of ruffians'. Jacob snorted as Cathrine laughed, "Dear husband, I am sure he would be disappointed if he saw you digging into the dirt." Jacob next shovel full of dirt was thrown at the Banshee who scrambled quickly out of the way.

"James, get me a detail of the Heart Guard please," Jacob stated as he climbed his way out of the dirt and switched the shovel and pickax for armor and the sword. Star quickly stood and stretched her legs as they prepared to meet one of those responsible for the deaths of over 4,000 soldiers of Ordgan and over 300 Legionnaires of the Empire.

"I demand that your army withdraw immediately!! You have no right to invade our territory and impune upon our sovereignty." High-Lord Gregory Daniels finally finished his blathering.

"Are you done?' Jacob asked and the man frowned but nodded. 'Good, I didn't want you to think I was being rude. Now, why don't you explain where you respected the sovereignty of the Empire of Night when you assisted Ordgans' invasion." Jacob stated as Star moved slightly closer to the High-Lord and his accompanying party of two Mages, a dozen guards, and what appeared to be two advisors.

The High-Lord blustered in response but they both knew High-Lord Daniels didn't respect anyone but his own ends. "Enough, you assisted in the invasion of the Empire. As soon as you accepted the Slavers Union bribe and helped Ordgans attack on the Empire, you sealed your cities fate in joining the Empire. Your city will join us through unconditional surrender or conquest, either way, you will pay Gregory Daniels for your greed and your part in the attack. If you truly cared for your city and its people, you would surrender, but we both know you will not." Jacob stated while shaking his head in disgust.

One of the advisors frowned at Jacobs words and glared at the High-Lord, but the main pointedly ignored the man and sneered at Jacob. "Why should I give up what is mine? Uldon is mine by right of birth, I won't give it up to anyone, not even you. The Free City Alliance will crush this army when they come!!"

Jacob smirked before laughing, "Do you take me as a fool? Your city is no longer part of the Free City Alliance, Uldon stands alone.' Jacob stated evenly and both advisors were glaring at the High-Lord now. 'Your city will fall, you will be hunted down like the animal you are and killed. Surrender and you can spare your people suffering and your soldier's unwarranted deaths."

Of course, the High-Lord laughed and turned back toward the city and rode away, his party close behind him as Jacob moved off, the Heart Guard close on his heels. As soon as the gates closed the Legions went back to work, any negotiations had been broken down before they even really started.

3 Days Ago...

Ballista Bolts and ammunition from Trebuchets, Onagers, and Catapults slammed into the shield. Dozens of microfractures were readily apparent, but the shield was holding for now. Two attacks had sortied to the north, and both attacks had been soundly defeated by the Eighth Legion. They estimated that at least 600 soldiers had been killed, Nadal was sure they would not try it again after having both sorties slaughtered.

Jacob was looking at the current tactical display that showed the deployments of the Legions ringing Uldon and the scout reports from the surrounding area. "At the current rate, the Outer Shield will fall within six hours, after that...it will be up too you with what we will do Sir. Our scouts inside the city that over one hundred Immortals have answered the High-Lords Call to Arms and that the Inner City has been sealed up tight. They estimate that almost five thousand soldiers are garrisoned in the Outer City. "

That would mean that they could assault the Outer City just after midnight giving them almost six hours to take it before the Seekers of the Dawn had to pull back. "Make sure the Siege Towers and the Battering Ram are in position. I want at least two breaches on each side of the wall by the time the Siege Towers start rolling toward the city Captain-General." Jacob ordered and the decision had been made. It took a little over five hours of bombardment before the outer shield fell. After that, the outer wall held out for nearly an hour of bombardment before crumbling in multiple places. The Siege Towers were approaching the outer wall and a Battering Ram was pounding on the main gate.

Jacob was riding in one of the Siege Towers, the Dawn Guard filled it from the base to the top. Their silver and steel armored forms stood ready to attack the defenders and Jacob waited with the first two squads on the top platform. As the Siege Tower rolled closer to the wall Jacob could hear the shouts and screams of the defenders as they massed to repel them. Jacob snorted, the so-called 'soldiers' of Uldon were decently equipped but lacked the experience that the Legions had by extensive training and war. The Dawn Guard was a step above them in levels, the average level was low 60s and better equipment.

A solid wall of shields met the defenders' counter-attack as the Dawn Guard started pushing forward. Spells were blasting both sides, but Jacobs people had trained for this type of situation over and over again, so the Dawn Guards Mages were defending as well as attacking. Jacob activated Invigorating Shout hoping to give the nearby Dawn Guard an edge over the defenders that were only slowly moving back. Jacob launched a volley of Shadow Bolts at the packed rank of defenders, but most splashed harmlessly off magical or physical shields. A few lucky shots slammed into heads or arms, but no significant damage had been done.

Time to do something stupid Jacob thought as he activated Leap and slammed into the packed back ranks of the defenders. The nearest all went down or stumbled back as Jacob triggered Shield Slam and Hemorrhage before he started slashing and hacking at all the downed enemies. Jacob noticed that most of his enemies were lightly armored castors and not the frontline defenders that the Dawn Guard had been fighting, but it still helped them.

Suddenly Jacob instincts screamed at him and he threw himself into a forward roll and came up to his feet as a Rogue dropped out of Stealth as a Crossbow Bolt slammed into his shoulder. Jacob quickly Analyzed the Immortal and found out he was a level 44 Assassin.

Jacob triggered Piercing Lunge and Shield Bash stunning the Rogue and dropping the Assassins health below 50% and leaving him vulnerable to attack. Jacob activated Shadow Strike and Power Slash, the overpowered attack cleaved through the Rogues neck and down through his body exiting below the right shoulder.

Most of the defenders were ignoring Jacob at this point trying to keep the Dawn Guard at bay, but it left them vulnerable as he moved behind the front line fighters and activated Battle Stomp and Reaver Attack as he triggered War Cry. As they were Locals and not mobs, they ignored the Aggro, but the Accuracy De-Buff still effected them, but between the stunning effects and the Dawn Guards overwhelming attack the defenders' line finally broke.

The Dawn Guard quickly swarmed the area dispatching any downed enemies while others spread out facing north or south along where the wall extended. Jacob let a couple of healers cast a few spells while they checked him out for injuries as he gazed northward and where the other Siege Tower had gained a foothold further north and closer to the river. The First Legion was pouring onto the wall there and below at one of the breaches.

To Nadal:

Wall is secure and the First Legion is moving into the city on the west-facing wall.

Jacob quickly sent off the message to the general. Standing orders were to spare any soldiers that surrendered, anyone who offered resistance was to be put down hard though. Any Immortals that fought automatically gained 'Hated' status with the Empire of Night while those Immortals that stayed out of the fighting would remain Neutral with the Empire. Jacob checked the clock on his HUD, they had just over four hours before the sun was up and the Curse went into effect. Three hours later the Outer City was secure, the defenders of the Inner City were content to sit back and watch as the few survivors of the assault on the wall were rounded up and taken away. The First and Sixth Legions were doing door to door searches for any holdouts, any Slavers Union buildings were secured and their contents pilfered and turned over to the Empires coffers. Any financial books or correspondence had been turned over to Darren and his people so they could start going through everything and find out who was supporting the Slaver Union within the city.

A few small contingents of Mercenaries the Slavers Union had in the Outer City were rounded up, nearly two hundred were arrested. What was worse was they had nearly two thousand slaves penned in at the Slave Markets in the Outer City that Jacob had ordered released immediately and escorted outside the city where they could get some food, healing, and rest.

The door to door searches found another one hundred and fifty-three soldiers hiding or holding the inhabitants at weapons point, but those cases were rare. It had been a long day and time for them to rest as he headed out of the city, the Dawn Guard providing a close escort.