At the rear of the Temple was an entranceway to the interior, as well as steps around it that led to the top where Tomoe was seen fighting, her armour reflecting in the sun light. Dom wanted to head up and support her as she thought as a figure head for the Riverside forces, drawing the waves of enemies towards her. Gan Ning however had other ideas, having full trust in his counterpart, he directed their unit in to the interior of the Temple Instead, where sounds of shouts and clashes could also be heard. The majority of Gan Ning's forces had now entered the centre of Nakbe under the direction of Centurion Meng and Chariovalda, where Dom hoped the rest of his forces were arriving from the other directions.
"Flavius, get the men eight wide. Balius, have your swords ready and get in the middle of the formation, it will be too tight in here for your slings." Gan Ning ordered as Centurions Flavius and Balius followed their orders. Dom passed his Slaying Spear to one of his Batavi Guards, who easily attached it to a strap they had prepared for it for storage, whilst Dom drew his sword the Harpe. The Batavi were much stronger and taller than the average Warrior and the Batavi Guards were the best of them.
The Century had split in half, with forty Legionaries at the front in five rows, the fifty Slingers in the middle, with Dom, Gan Ning and their guards, with the final forty Legionaries at the rear. The inside of the Temple was surprisingly well lit, with glow stones similar to those found in the Underground Ancient Kingdom lining the walls. The floor was covered in stains of blood, and their was moss growing from different parts of the limestone tiled floor.
Shadows were cast as shapes danced amongst themselves. Big shadows jumped, followed by smaller ones that seemed to dance against the light, with patterns swirling as weapons were swung in the distance. Centurion Flavius increased the pace from the front, the group charging straight in to a large open space where a large skirmish was taking place between wild eyed Type 3's and a group of Tiger Mounted Forbidden Guard and a large number of Legionaries. Dom recognised both Chen Lu and Chen Ping who were both Centurions within the Forbidden Guard, directing their Sabre Tooth Tigers to claw and bite their way through the crowd, whilst they both swung their swords at exposed flesh.
The Legionaries that fought with them were in groups of eight, creating small circles and stabbing wildly at the enemies that ran straight to their shields. Dom looked to see who was in charge, only seeing the plumes on the two Centurions Heads amongst the chaos.
"Where are they coming from?" Dom asked loudly at the crowd, as Flavius ordered his men to charge in to the rear of the Type 3's, sandwiching them between Gan Ning's reinforcements and the Warriors already inside the Temple.
"They are coming from underground!" Dom heard a voice shout from one of the Centurions, recognising the voice as Centurion Pullo who he had only been training with a few days earlier. "If you can make space we can block them off."
"We'll see to it!" Gan Ning replied loudly, ordering the rear half of the Century and the Slingers towards a large hole that seemed to be in the floor to the right. Dom and his guards continued with Centurion Flavius, who now had his Legionaries spread in to a longer thinner line. He pushed his way to the front row, his Batavi Guards behind him and his Hoplite by his sides.
Dom raised his sword, slashing in to the back of an exposed Type 3, before cutting in to the one beside it. The Warriors on each side of him followed suit, quickly cutting down all of the enemies in the temple. whilst those that had already been inside did the same, getting themselves back in to a solid formation.
"Cut them down!" Dom ordered, as he continued to cut through the enemies, the floor crunching under his sandals as they stepped over the bodies of the dying Type 3's. Those in the second rows making sure to cut down any potential survivors. Dom turned to Pullo, whose bloodied face he could now see, a nasty cut above his eyebrow and under the rim of his helmet. "Where is Subutai?"
"He's gone with the other Sabre Tooth Cavalry to the East." Pullo replied exhausted, "We have no idea where they came from, but there was much more than expected. A group of them with one of their armoured leaders seemed to notice our arrival and fled towards the direction of General Sun Ce. General Subutai has gone to help!"
"Any sign of Tomyris?" Dom asked as Centurions Chen Lu and Chen Ping led their Sabre Tooth Tiger Cavalry to support Gan Ning at the temple's hole, soon followed by the other Century of Legionaries.
"Not yet, I am just grateful for your arrival Lord Lazarus." Pullo replied honestly, "General Tomoe ordered the attack upon arrival, we discovered they were about to do a mass ritual of some kind, there was over one hundred Humans about to be sacrificed. We had to act."
"You have all done well, I would have done the same thing." Dom replied honestly as he patted Pullo on the back as the two finally reached each other. The ground between them littered with the thin bodies of the Type 3's. "Now we just need to work out what to do with this hole they are coming from."
...
"A Second Arrow!" Gou Sheng exclaimed as they marched towards Nakbe through the Silver Forest and around the edges of Mount Calm River. They had departed at the agreed time and frustration was on the nearby Legionaries faces that they weren't the first to arrive.
"Something must have gone wrong if they are shooting the arrows that early!" Tomyris growled in frustration. "We need to increase the pace, Centurion Octavian, order the men to increase the pace."
"You heard the General!" Octavian shouted, "Double time, we have allies to support!"
"It came from the direction of Nakbe." Xun You commented, the strategist having joined Tomyris and was heavily guarded by four Batavi Guards. He had initially intended to fight alongside Subutai, but felt it was best to split themselves across the field of battle.
"I have a bad feeling." Guo Sheng explained, "The forest is too quiet, I have been in this forest or on that mountain nearly every day in the last four weeks. It is never this quiet."
"I agree, everyone keep your eyes out for any potential ambush!" Tomyris ordered.
Xun You turned to Centurion Octavian. "Have the second and third Centuries hold back and cover our flanks. We shouldn't be too far now."
"Around twenty minutes." Octavian replied, before passing on the orders to two of the Centurions. "Rufus, keep a Century distance between us and step to the left. Urien, you do the same but to the right!"
Both Centurions acknowledged his instructions and barked some orders as their men moved away from the central travelling column. The forest wasn't overly thick in this area, but all that they could see in front of them was more trees, after travelling for a few more minutes they could see the outline of a small hill within the forest that had been heavily quarried for it's limestone. There were wooden structures surrounding it, as well as several small buildings that looked like prison cells.
"Ambush!" Guo Sheng heard being yelled by Centurion Urien who was to the right of them, which was the southern part of their column. The ground in the centre of the Urien's Century suddenly collapsing, with several Legionaries disappearing beneath, including Urien whose crest disappeared beneath the ground. The rest of the Century seemed in dissaray before heading in to the ground beneath themselves. Shouts from underground hastening their pace.
"Support them!" Tomyris ordered quickly as she, Octavian and the other Legionaries headed towards them.
"Slingers, keep your eyes open and hit anything that comes towards us. Cavalry, support the Slingers." Xun You ordered.
"Archer, shoot two Arrows' we need to let people know we have met the enemy." Guo Sheng ordered as they ran towards Urien's Century that was currently in a fierce battle with enemies that had appeared beneath them. The Century was one of the newer built ones, full of ex Celtic Mercenaries who had decided to take up the Legionary training. They were taller and stronger than their Roman counterparts, but they still weren't fully used to working in the formations and tactics they had been trained.
Their natural strength however had been both an issue and a benefit in this situation. It seemed that they hadn't been intentionally ambushed, but their weight had disturbed the ground causing a cave in on the underground system below. Their tough bodies had reduced any damage from the fall and had allowed them to fight against the Type 3's that were now attacking them without being at a huge disadvantage.
The drop was a couple of metres, just above the height of a tall Warrior and the other Legionaries quickly dropped down to support their allies, who created a blockade on both sides of the pathway so that more allies could squeeze through.
"The Cavalry and Slingers will be no use in here." Tomyris said as she and Guo Sheng stood over the hole as Octavian's Century now climbed down to join Urien's Century. Those that had initial been injured in the fall and initial clash being tended to in the centre of the wide hole by their colleagues, whilst the rest pushed further down the tunnel in each direction. The tunnel seemed well lit by glowing stones that were placing within the walls.
"Rotate the lines!" They heard Octavian shout from beneath, the Centurion jumping straight down amongst the injured and dragging back a Legionary that was nearby who was fighting with a deep gash in his shoulder.
"I'll head underground with the Legionaries." Guo Sheng offered, as the third Century under Tomyris' current control, under Centurion Marius, arrived and prepared to descend.
"That would be a good idea, Tomyris and I will stay overground and continue as planned." Xun You stated.
"I'll take Rufus, the Cavalry and the Slingers to the quarry then." Tomyris agreed, as she looked around on the ground level and seeing that their wasn't any enemies nearby, "We'll clear it out and make our way in to Nakbe. The tunnel seems to head in that direction, I hope to see you there."
"So do I." Guo Sheng nodded, before climbing down with Octavian, whilst Marius's legion waited to bring up the rear.
Guo Sheng climbed down, a Legionary below helping him so that he didn't lose his balance. One down, he quickly moved away from the hole so those behind him could also climb down. Octavian and Urien were both talking in the middle, as the fresh Legionaries began to join their colleagues and push out in both directions.
"That way is towards Nakbe." Octavian explained patiently, pointing down the corridor where the initial fighting had been from. The tunnel was wide enough for six people to walk side by side uncomfortably, but with their shields in hand, the Legionaries were closer to four wide.
"It is, but the enemies were coming from this way." Urien replied seriously, the back of his hand rubbing against a small cut on his cheek. Guo Sheng looked him over and could see that he was covered in multiple grazes from the initial fall and clash.
"We need to follow this tunnel and get through to Nakbe." Octavian stated, "If this tunnel leads there, then our allies will not know they are coming against a much larger force than expected."
"We can't leave our back exposed either though." Urien argued back, as Marius, the third Centurion climbed down and joined them, having pushed through Octavian's men to join the conversations taking place.
"What's the situation?" Marius asked as him and Guo Sheng listened in. Marius was short with black hair and dark eyes, with a gruffness that showed his age as one of the older Legionaries to have arrived in Riverside.
"We are deciding which way to push our Legionaries." Octavian replied, "Our allies will need us in Nakbe, but Urien has a good point that we need to follow this tunnel westwards to make sure that no more reinforcements can reach Nakbe."
"Urien and half of your unit should head up the tunnel towards Nakbe." Guo Sheng interceded, directing his comment to Octavian who was the most senior Centurion in Riverside. Crassus had explained that if they had a full legion worth of Legionaries, Octavian would have the rank of Primus Pilus. "I'll explore to the West with Marius and the other half. The tunnels are too thin to maximise our units strength, you should be fine with one hundred and twenty men."
"If it get's too tough, we can block the way with our shields and shout for reinforcements." Urien agreed, happy that his advice had been listened to, but disappointed he wasn't given the role of exploring the tunnel.
"Fine then that is what we'll do. Marius when your men are all down, rotate with those on the west side. I'll trust my men to you and I'll support Urien with heading towards Nakbe." Octavian ordered, "Once we reach our allies in Nakbe, I'll bring the rest of my Century and catch up to you."
"Rufus is going to be disapointed he missed out on this." Urien laughed as the four men clasped arms. Guo Sheng would travel with Marius and explore the tunnels, whilst Urien and Octavian would head East through the tunnel towards Nakbe and aim to support their allies. Guo Sheng hoped that Tomyris was fine above ground and prepared himself for what ever was to come.