Octavian dispatched a small squad to guard the other entranceway to the City, on the far side from the direction they had entered from. The rest of the Legionaries gathered in the centre of the City, in front of the small Palace. Dom was stood at the front with Guo Sheng, with around two hundred Legionaries behind him, the rest guarding the particular areas they had been assigned.
Dom had stood everyone down for now, allowing them to take a drink or eat any dried food that they had on them, whilst they waited for the Tiger Cavalry that had been requested when they departed. Dom agreed with his Centurion's opinions that having some Sabre Tooth Tiger's with them, would relieve a lot of the stress of the unknowns, their noses being much stronger than their human counterparts.
Some of the Legionaries took a break, whilst others worked through the buildings that hadn't been full of human remains, making sure to note down what was inside for the teams that would follow and clear the place. Dom had made it clear that some of the buildings should be burnt to the ground, but the others they would claim.
After waiting for a further ten minutes or so, there was movement at the top of the stone staircase, they had entered from, that entered in to the large open cavern that the City was based in. Dom was glad to see some of the unmounted Forbidden Guard that were carefully beginning to direct their mounts down the steps. The Tiger's seemed to have their ears peaked and were sniffing the air as they descended.
Behind them, some more figures appeared. Dom recognised more Legionaries from their armour, the distance too great to discern the faces of them. Behind them were two more people and a group of tall Warriors, Dom assumed this was two of his Generals and their guards, but he wasn't sure who from the distance. Following them were about fifty lightly armoured Warriors which Dom assumed were most likely Slingers.
After a few minutes the unit arrived, having been led by one of Maruis Legionaries that had been guarding the perimeter. Dom was both surprised and grateful to see that both Subutai and Xun You had arrived, meaning that the battle of Nakbe must have progressed well if they had come here. The Century of Legionaries was led by Centurion Flavius who was one of Gan Ning's Centurions, as well as the Tiger Cavalry led by Chen Lu.
"It seems you have discovered something interesting." Xun You commented as he appeared, his eyes looking over the many structures that they had passed. There was a slight smudge of blood on the bottom of his pants, his body wearing light armour. He had wanted to wear his normal robes, but Subutai had pushed him in to wearing light armour.
"Guo Sheng and Centurion Marius deserve the credit." Dom replied as he met his two Generals half way. Centurions Flavius and Chen Lu passed Dom, saluting in greeting, before heading to the other Centurions for an update. "How is Nakbe?"
"Ours." Subutai replied with a wide grin. "A mess for now, but it is ours. Tomoe did a great job in keep their attention on the centre, we were able to encircle them with Tomyris's men and Gan Nings, the battle was won when Sun Ce's forces arrived. It was a bloody battle, but from our perspective it was an overwhelming victory."
"I would say that it was key that we got the reinforcements from General Tomyris." Xun You commented, "I think the exhaustion would have cut in eventually, the Legionaries performed well. Tomoe and Gan Ning both deserve recognition."
"What happened with Sun Ce?" Dom asked Subutai, "I heard you had to go and support him?"
"A group separated and headed in his direction, their leader being one of the armoured warriors. I didn't want him caught unawares and we couldn't afford to leave one of our flanks open. Thankfully he didn't need my support." Subutai replied honestly, "His men were well prepared for any eventuality after hearing the Arrows being launched. The enemy were impaled between his spears and our swords."
"Where there any survivors?" Guo Sheng asked, interrupting the conversation but wanting some positivity after everything they had seen.
"We have found around fifty people that are living, most are in a better situation than Itzel, there are a few others that are on the edge of life and death, our men are doing what they can." Xun You explained, "However, once Urien explained the situation whilst waiting on Centurion Chen Lu to finish his task, we prioritised supporting you. So I am not sure on anything else yet."
"Tomyris has taken command of the army whilst we are absent, she has sent the Batavi Cavalry to scout the perimeter and the Civilian Volunteer Lines should be approaching soon." Subutai added, "They'll count the kills, the damages and then explore the city and see what we have gained, but I doubt it will be anything in comparison to this."
Guo Sheng explained everything that had happened so far, from discovering the large number of human remains, the living dead in the cages, the beds made from human skin and the cross species breeding they had discovered. Subutai and Xun You both showed a varying of expressions as they discussed, whilst the reinforcements got in to position with the rest of their forces.
"So we have three key tasks then." Xun You began, "Explore the Palace building, explore the different routes and mark down what is part of our network within Mount Calm River and what potentially leads towards the West of the Calm River. Finally we need to decide what to do with this place once we have finished."
"I agree, let's search the Palace first. Hopefully it is an empty building like the others, but the men are lined up and ready." Subutai agreed, stroking his chin as he was in thought. "If the tunnels do lead to the west, then this could be our hidden forwarding location. I will want them all temporarily closed so that we can maintain control of the situation. Any tunnel that does not lead to Mount Calm River needs managing."
"There has been a lot of loss here." Dom replied, changing the conversation back to the City they were in. "It should be destroyed, but I understand your thoughts."
"We can use their tunnels as an extra layer to our exploration and future raid campaign." Subutai explained, "Gan Ning with his Navy above, and a military force below. I am not proposing this for now, this place would near clearing, cleaning and a redesign."
"It is definitely an option." Dom agreed reluctantly, as his eyes turned to the Palace. "Let's deal with that first."
...
Guo Sheng had volunteered to lead the party that would explore the Palace, backed up by four squads of Legionaries led by Centurion Octavian and eight Sabre Tooth Tiger Forbidden Guard, who were using the Tigers for their senses, rather than riding them to battle that were led by Centurion Chen Lu. There was expectation that the building would be empty like the rest, but the rest of the Legionaries were all prepared in the courtyard to support if called upon. Dom had wanted to go through first, but the other General's didn't want to put him at risk. They could have sent more forces in, but they didn't want to send in three hundred Warriors and completely fill the place if it wasn't needed, as the hope was that it would be more an initial exploration and clearance exercise.
Dom watched from the front line of the forces that were waiting on standby, with Subutai, Xun You and the other Centurions. The Slingers had been dispatched to guard the other entrances to the Cavern and Underground City whilst the other Tiger Cavalry and Legionaries were stood with their weapons ready. There was a slight tension in the air, a feeling that once the Palace had been searched, then this part of Riverside's history could end.
The Palace was larger than that of Dom's in Riverside, but was built in a similar style, but more from a military perspective rather than a living perspective. There were four large flagpoles in each corner of the ground that surrounded the palace, each with tattered remains of a black flag. There was a patterned tile that surrounded the Palace, some had slight images of some patterned flowers remaining, but most had succumbed to age. The Palace was at least four stories high, and the ground floor was wider than the Town Centre in Riverside.
Guo Sheng had walked up to the large double doors of the Palace, that even the tall Batavi Guards would struggle to reach the top off. Centurion Octavian was stood beside him as two Legionaries headed forwards and began to push at the doors. As they began to squeeze open, the Sabre Tooth Tiger's began to grow uncomfortable, with two of them starting to growl, whilst another began to pull away from his rider and begin to back off.
Dom watched as Centurion Octavian raised his arm to signal for the Legionaries to prepare themselves as the two pushing squeezed the door open more. A small cloud of dust escaped and blocked the vision of those opening the doors, so that Dom and those around him couldn't see what was happening at the Palace.
"Shields!" Dom heard through the dust cloud, as loud screeches could be heard.
"Reinforce them now!" Subutai ordered quickly, reacting before a breath had even been breathed. Centurion Flavius was the first to react, leading the first Century of Legionaries towards the Palace that was only a few metres from where Octavian and Guo Sheng had led through.
There were now the sounds of clashing as metal hit metal, and the grunts of the Legionaries and the growls of the Tigers could be heard as the cloud began to disperse. Centurion Flavius and his men were quickly at the large doors, entering behind those that had already entered. Dom didn't wait much longer himself, charging towards the chaos with his own guards and the rest of Octavian's Century. Subutai was beside him, with Xun You staying behind with the other two Centuries, preparing to send reinforcements when needed.
The dust had cleared and as Dom approached he could see the chaos that was taking place in front of him. Guo Sheng seemed to be duelling against a tall Type 3 that was wearing thick armour that seemed to have little gaps in it. The Tigers Cavalry were loose and running wild through a crowd of Type 3's that were better equipped than any seen so far. A large number of them were female and were pushing heavily against the Legionaries that were fighting them, their teeth baring and attempting to bite the Legionaries, whilst their swords and other weapons clashed against the shields. Some of them wore armour like the males, where as others only covered part of their bodies, with other parts exposed.
Flavius's reinforcements had been key, quickly pushing their shields against the backs of the first line that had entered with Guo Sheng and Octavian and supporting their allies from being pushed back. The Legionaries that had come with Dom also quickly joined the wall, creating a solid line of Shields, whilst the Tiger Cavalry ran rampant behind and Guo Sheng duelled the for. Subutai quickly grabbed his bow that was strapped to his waist, placing an arrow and shooting it in the direction of a Type 3 that was about to interrupt Guo Sheng's duel.
"Xun You, I need another Century and send the rest of the tigers!" Subutai shouted behind him in a commanding voice. Xun You didn't respond but more Legionaries suddenly appeared, creating a thick wall.
"Rotate!" Octavian shouted from the front, allowing fresher troops to take over from his men, fighting a tough battle against an enemy that had no further to retreat.
Dom counted that there must be over two hundred armoured Type 3's in the room that looked like a giant hall. Breaking the room up were some large pillars that seemed to hold up the Palace from the inside. Beside the large pillars were several Stone Statues of Warriors, all clad in stone armour and holding a variety of stone weapons that were carved exceptionally.
Behind the lines of attacking Type 3's was a central pathway that led to a raised platform with a throne on it. On each side of the pathway were more Stone Warriors, much taller than those at the Pillars and seemed to be looking down at all of those beneath them and casting judgement. Dom felt a slight sense of inferiority and felt a chill as he looked at them. However, his eyes were pulled to the figure sat on the throne. A Type 3, much older and wider than the rest. Rather than the thin and agile looking Type 3's they had seen so far, this one was more humanlike with thicker muscles and eyes that seemed aware of the situation in front of him, rather than the rage like actions of the others. Behind the throne Dom could see the large structure of a stone coffin, it's shape destroyed but clearly the resting place of the owner of this Palace.