Chapter 534 - Attack On Thalmor

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Side Quests were fun. Slowly but carefully and on the span of two days, Jon started finishing most of these side quests that he could remember. It gave him a great nostalgia and an incredible insight on how his actions and decisions can affect everything around him.

He even got himself involved in the feud between the Grey-Mane clan and the Battle-Born clan. Even though Jon Battle-Born and Olfina Grey-Mane were already married, the political feud from the game happened nonetheless but it was way less intense. Unlike the game when the Battle-Borns were taking an indifferent attitude towards the situation of Thorald Grey-Mane who was captured by the Thalmor, this time they were actually a bit open with the Grey-Manes and told them some details that their son was captured somewhere in Solitude to force the Grey-Manes to switch sides as it seemed that they have contacted General Tullius for the release of Thorald but they didn't say anything regarding the Thalmor.

Even though the feud was much lighter than what happened in the game, a feud is still a feud and the ones who were harmed the most by it in the game were also the same ones who were harmed by it now, Jon Battle-Born & Olfina Grey-Mane.

After Jon's return to Skyrim, Jon Dare and Jon Battle-Born met after the subjugation of the first dragon, Mirmulnir. Jon Battle-Born is one of the few people who knew the true identity of the Dragonborn as a personal friend to Jon Dare and a Company Executive. When he heard that the Dragonborn offered help with Thorald's situation, he was the first to don his armor and carry his sword for the cause.

Just as that happened, Avulstein Gray-Mane was also carrying his dane axe and wearing his armor to free his brother from captivity. Of course Jon revealed that Thorald was captured by the Thalmor and the only way to get him out is through. Knowing the Thalmor, some powerful mages must be present in a Thalmor stronghold and the fight won't be easy thus Jon insisted on hurting some Talos Cultists as mercenaries and a small Warband was formed in a cave north to Whiterun after clearing it from bandits.

The number reached 50 combatants of the strongest fighters from various backgrounds. All of them were aura masters from different age groups who came together to save the people that were imprisoned by the Thalmor in Northwatch Keep.

As the men were put together and recognized the Dragonborn as the youth who wears the Horned Helm, Jon instructed them to go north on horseback towards The Pale and take raid the pirate camps hidden in that area to take their Longboats. In the span of one week, the group managed to reach their designated location and created a big scene by eliminating three pirate camps in two nights.

With 50 hardy Nords and 3 Longboats in good conditions, Jon led them into the sea traveling west north to Hjaalmarch and Solitude. Along the way, the Warband of the Dragonborn made a name for itself by destroying every pirate ship in its way all the way to the shores of Solitude. There, the Imperial Fleet met them and tried to force them back but with the identity of the Dragonborn and the fame of the Warband, the Nord officers of the Imperial Fleet showed reluctance towards their commands which by its part led to the Fleet commander appeasing the tension by letting the 50 Northmen pass.

What can go wrong with letting 50 Warriors led by a Dragonborn pass anyway?

Either way, the Warband made another accomplishment by successfully getting rid of the dangerous pirates that were lurking around the mouth of the Karth River under Solitude who were led by the Argonian siblings Jaree-Ra and Deeja.

Following such an achievement, the 50 men landed in Solitude's docks and loaded up for more raids against the pirates. The clans of Solitude tried to invite in the Dragonborn but the ships left as soon as they landed. Until now, one week has passed since they moved from The Pale. Jon was sure of how those 50 men can fight and how he should employ them in the next battle.

During the next two days, the band landed not too far from Northwatch Keep which was used by the Thalmor as a prison and made contact with a nearby fishing village to announce their presence. Meanwhile, Jon and Nefertiti went towards the Keep to scout it from the shadows and figure out a plan. It all went well and Jon found a total of 7 Thalmor High Mages, these were the ones in charge of the whole scene.

With this information, Jon returned to the village to openly make a ritual dedicated to Talos and ordered a man from the Warband to disguise himself as a villager and tip off the Thalmor in the fort about them. Without a single suspicion, these Thalmor sent a Justiciar along with ten Dominion Soldiers to arrest the man who openly conducted a ritual and led him back into the Fort.

This whole thing was staged from the beginning and as soon as the arrest happened and the man was taken, Jon and the rest of the Warband showed up in the village and asked for their friend just to make a proper excuse for what follows.

And what followed was carnage.

The Dragonborn and the Warband of 49 Warriors raided Northwatch Keep at night. As soon as the Thalmor were alarmed of the raid, Jon had already infiltrated the Fort and hid in the darkness.

{Hooman, 160 feet north on the wall.}

{I see him.}

With the torches of the Warband being thrown around the fort to start a fire at anything burnable, Jon was inside assassinating the High Mages with [Mehrunes' Razor].

He marked the dagger, flipped the [Old Man's Coin] then threw the dagger with all his might at the mage 50 meters away.

Instant Kill!

Jon teleported near the dagger using his mark, took it out and attacked anyone nearby before jumping off the fort's wall and running away.

"ASSASSIN! Catch him!"

There was no way he would be caught in his current momentum. He had a Warband distracting the Thalmor outside and killed everyone in his way.

The reason why he had to do such a thing instead of venturing alone into the fort and killing everyone was to make fame for himself aside from being just a Dragonborn. His abilities are clearly that of a Warrior rather than a Mage which is something to the liking of all Nords and his talent in leading raids is as legendary as Ysgramor himself. He wanted the Nords to associate the number 50 with the 500 Companions of Ysgramor so that his popularity increased further.

The other reason he did such a move was to prevent the Thalmor from using hostages against him. It would be very troublesome if he found a blade pointed at the neck of a helpless prisoner and he can't do anything about it.

With the mages dispatched and the prisoners located, Jon went inside the fort's dungeon and broke the man who was imprisoned free.

"You alright, Jon?"

"I am, Jon."

"Then take your sword and shield and don't let any Thalmor near those prisoners, Jon."

"Thanks, Jon. Leave some weapons for those men locked over there, we will defend this place together."

"Good, Jon. Here you go." We will break the Gates now.

"Good luck, Jon."

"To you too, Jon."

Jon and Jon parted ways in the Dungeon as Battle-Born remained to secure the prisoners and Dare went to join the attacks.

Outside the Keep, the situation was extremely chaotic as the Dominion Soldiers were mobilizing the defense equipment from the front of the Keep to its back where enemies are not supposed to attack. The Warband chose to attack from the back despite the walls being higher and thicker to force the Dominion Soldiers to move the arrows and shields all the way to the back but when they finally got the signal from Jon, the Warband retreated and circled around the Fort to attack from the front. This caused the Dominion Soldiers to move all their equipment once again.

This time however, the Warband was not just shooting arrows and hiding behind trees and shields, they were forming a particular Shield Formation that resembled a battering ram as they marched towards the Gate.

There was no way this formation would work. What they were trying to accomplish is by no means possible unless they have a High Mage themselves or the assassin inside the Fort shows himself and breaks the gate open.

The truth which faced the Thalmor was different. Once the Shield Formation reached the gate under the constant arrow and spell attacks, a dangerous presence was felt at the gate and those who were above the gatehouse lost their consciousness.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The gates were blown away and the Dominion Soldiers' defense formation behind them crumbled with the two massive blanks of wood flying at them turning anyone in their way into meat-paste. It was then when the raid truly began.

"CHARGE!"

Jon shouted a Battle Cry and the axemen flowed in like water. The fort's yard was overtaken and the walls were being cleaned from any Elves almost instantly. The rear of the fort showed some resistance as the Dominion Soldiers managed to cause some damage to the Nords but Avulstein Gray-Mane served his dane axe the necks of those Elves. Jon even sent out Nefertiti to kill any Elf that seemed like a threat.

Inside the Keep, the fight started as Jon Battle-Born secured the dungeon against the elves who tried to use the prisoners as hostages. He had a band of prisoners with him that assisted him in the ambush. As the fight outside was nearly done, the backdoor of the dungeon was opened and the Warband flowed through. From the main gate, Jon shouted once again and broke in all by himself cutting the Elves to shreds with a Greatsword.

As he walked the hallway of the Keep, the doors opened from left and right as the Nords were killing and pillaging, they even had some Dominion Soldiers tied up and dragged out of the fort as prisoners.

Jon finally reached the torture room where he expected to find Thorald Grey-Mane. Kicking it open, he easily expected an ambush that he withstood by a shield as he pushed against the ten or so Elves before he swung the greatsword with one hand to kill them all.

Jon Battle-Born and Avulstein Gray-Mane followed him in as they stormed the last room where Thorald Grey-Mane was chained to a wall.

"Thorald!"

"Avulstein!"

"What in Oblivion? How are you here? I thought there was a war outside?"

"There is a war outside."

"… Wha…"

"Come, let's get you out."

Jon Battle-Born and Avulstein unchained Thorald and helped him walk out as the Warband was finishing up things.

Elf prisoners were taken and the important documents were secured. As the prisoners were made to kneel in the keep's hall, a round of beating and kicking started especially from the ones who were imprisoned in the Fort. Jon simply distanced himself from the noise and skimmed through the documents while mumbling.

"Slave trading, human experiments, sexual assaults, mass murder, assassination orders, espionage… if these documents land in the hands of Ulfric, the Empire is totally fucked if they covered for this knowingly." Jon said as he kept those papers in the Cube.

Rumors can travel all they want but hard evidence would make a very disturbing stance if the Nord Nobles were to react to this. Of course the Empire is mostly unaware of what happens in Thalmor prisons and those who are aware would be traitors. The White-Gold Concordat gives the right to hunt down the Cults of Talos, not to commit racial crimes but simply speaking, the Empire wouldn't be able to deny its knowledge and even its citizens would lose faith in its credibility.

By tracking down those leads and legitimizing them, Jon would have the Empire itself by the balls.

"Nefertiti, on the way back, would you please drop by our Imperial friends and leave them this gift?" Jon ripped off a page from a document and gave it to Nefertiti.

She appeared from his shadow and turned into her human form then took the paper and tried to read it but to no avail.

"Human scratchings make me dizzy."

"Good luck… oh! And stick around the Imperials for a while, tell me what face General Tullius makes when he sees it." Jon said as he returned back to the Warband.

***

It was a dark face… very dark even by Redguard standards.

General Tullius was having the worst month of his life.

People have a Midlife Crisis and he was having Midlife Disaster. Not only did he lose Ulfric Stormcloak in Helgen but he ended up causing Winterhold to switch from the Neutral stance to the Stormcloak Faction. Yet now as the month was finally going to pass, he received news of a Nordic Warband led by the rumored Dragonborn acting heroically and clearing up Pirates, which was a good thing, until the damn Thalmor decided to arrest a member of the Warband.

All hell broke loose a few nights ago when the Warband led by the Dragonborn raided Northwatch Keep and pillaged every last scrap in the place freeing all Nord prisoners and taking Elf prisoners for themselves. The Warband then hurried back to Dawnstar and handed the elves over to Jarl Skald the Elder who rewarded them with Gold.

On the other hand, Military Legate Rikke informed him of a note delivered to her by a little girl. This note was a ripped page from a Dominion Report that contained details about some Imperial Officers receiving bribes from the Dominion to overlook their ruthless activities.

This was a scandal from a whole new level and it would harm the Empire in one go if left unchecked. The General ordered to bring out those officers and put them on secret trial then execute them swiftly and report them as missing in action.

"So… this Dragonborn… he is going to be another pain in the ass, isn't he?" The General asked.

Legate Rikke refrained from answering and focused on the Report.

"Here is what we know from Legate Julia's visit to Winterhold. The Dragonborn was there during Helgen, he is the man who was about to get executed when the Dragon attacked. He used to work for Jon Dare during his stay in Cyrodiil. The Cult of Ancestor Moth dictates that if this man is truly a Dragonborn, then there are incredible changes that will happen to the World. Seeing the Dragons and the situation with the Thalmor, we are in those times, General." Legate Rikke said.

General Tullius felt his skin crawling with the mention of Dragons but he kept his act together.

"I don't need cults and prophecies to win me the war, Legate. I need reliable information." He said as he slammed the table in frustration, "The Elder Council has kept the identity of Jon Dare as Krilon from us until that disaster happened, had I known he is of importance to the Emperor, things would have gone differently. Now I have to worry about Jon Dare and his Dragonborn running wild to solidify their stance."

Seeing his frustrated face, Legate Rikke kept her cool.

"Well… the East Empire Company advised us not to cause a situation with him."

"Are you suggesting that I should have listened to those gold-diggers merchants?"

"Jarl Elisef also advised us to keep a friendly relationship with Winterhold… and I had the same opinion."

"Well, congratulations! All of you are right and I am the fool in this party." General Tullius tossed a mead bottle across the room in a fit of anger.

After a minute of taking some breath to let the negative thoughts out. General Tullius turned back once again and took a seat reviewing the reports in front of him.

They were all accurate and well-detailed reports. Even the Corruption investigation proved to be thoroughly accurate, the thing that almost frustrated him all over again.

Still, in these reports he could read a certain name that wasn't actually written. In the past month, General Tullius developed the sense of sniffing out Jon Dare's presence in those reports. The changes of Winterhold, the relationship between Jon Dare and Vittoria Vici, the Bard's College espionage activities, the Warband of the Dragonborn, the Dragon Attacks. Jon Dare had either a direct or indirect fingerprint on each and every report here.

It is as his name was written between every word in those damn papers.

"Oblivion! If we are living in a novel about this Jon Dare, he wouldn't be this much, right?" He said and looked at Legate Rikke.

She followed the report with her eyes and made a helpless face.

"What will we do in this case? He knows too much." Legate Rikke said.

General Tullius looked at her trying to find an answer in her face but she was as helpless as he is. He then simply raised his shoulders and replied.

"Let's not bother with him. We'll have to cross his path in the future so let's keep things quiet for now. Maybe we can win something next time." The General calmly decided to leave the matters with Winterhold alone.

He may not like to admit it but he was rash when dealing with Jon Dare. Jon's return was very timely with the late chaos which put a lot of strain on the mind of General Tullius especially with the late sightings of the Dragons.

Dragons… those creatures left a terrifying mark on the General who always thought he had seen it all. If a Dragonborn is what it takes to kill a Dragonborn, then the Dragonborn it is. He won't stand in his way.

But he can't lose ground like that. The General finally felt some inspiration after one month of constant failure. If he can make an alliance with the Dragonborn, he can slip through the brash Nordic politics without and solidify the stance of the Empire.

Still, the Thalmor are a hateful bunch who will stand in his way. If that's the case, then there is a certain Jon Dare who has a kink of murdering Thalmor, he can always hit the Thalmor with that rock. They have truly offended the General and the Nords this time, it will also be a good opportunity to clear the Empire's responsibility from the scandal.

Still, the Dragonborn comes first.

What would a Dragonborn need?

"Legate, ask the Penitus Oculatus to compile a file on the Dragonborn… and check out any treasure we can get the Empire to send us?"

General Tullius had a devious idea to get close to the Dragonborn. He may be a military man but he is still a sly Imperial like the rest of his kind.

He smiled faintly as he felt his apatite finally better than the past few days. There was that thing with dried fish and wine somewhere around that table next to the wall. He could find the wine but no trace of the fish.

"Strange! Did Rikke eat the fish?"

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