Battle of the Fallen

Fought at the crossroads from the city of Solden to Redwater and Egeria south of the Darrus Lake. Pharus picked this spot because it was the quickest location to get enough troops to to quickly construct a significant amount of defenses. The cleared lands also allowed Pharus to spot any attacking force quickly and redirect troops where needed.
Viira noticed though that the lands to the west of the area Pharus made his fortification was sloped upwards making her attack less strenuous on her troops hopefully keeping them fresher longer. Viira settled her camp up the slope and planned to attack the next day.

The Conflict

Prelude

Pharus' fresh legion managed to create some fortifications providing a significant defensive advantage for his forces. Pharus was now the one who was outnumbered and was attempting to mitigate that disadvantage as much as possible. Viira was planning on overwhelming the fortifications as much as possible forcing the enemy legionnaires to spread as thinly as possible to hold it. Both legates didn't want this conflict, but Viira was following direct orders from Vernica and wanted to make this as quick as possible while hopefully keeping casualties low.

Deployment

Viira waited until after midday to assault to force the sun in the eyes of the defenders where her main attack would come. She lined her legions up and prepared to send one third of her forces straight at the defenses while the rest would surround the fortifications and try to force their way in. Pharus began to spread his forces along the defenses facing the Viira's troops leaving several legions in reserve to respond to an encirclement which he knew was probably going to happen. Pharus's scouts spotted a large force coming from the north and panicked realizing they were outnumbered now almost three to one and didn't think he would be able to hold. Pharus began attempting to retreat from his location not understanding how Vernica managed to raise so many more legionnaires. He realized though that Viira's first army group was almost upon them and realized that it would be far worse if they fell back from their position. Pharus began reorganizing his troops in the hopes that his fortifications held.

Battlefield

The battlefield consisted of a hastily constructed wall with a few obstacles strewn about in front to try and breakup any attacks. Viira's legions were marching down a slight slope towards the forces relatively flat with only a few boulders and steep slopes breaking up their lines. They began to spread out to surround the Solden fortifications.

The Engagement

Viira gave the order to strike and her legionnaires began to surround the walls and began scaling them or attempting to break them down. Each side was throwing javelins at the other attempting to force the other side into a more submissive stance. Viira finally finished the encirclement of the walls when the northern legion's rearguard spotted that troops were beginning to bear down on their position. The Legate in charge of the northern quadrant tried to get word to Viira what was happening, but decided to take action into his own hands and broke off from attacking the walls and took a stance to defend the western and eastern quadrants from being flanked. The legate watched as more and more troops began appearing over the hills and began panicking as he realized that the forces were not Solden, but were the dead.
During this time Viira was leading the frontal attack from the west. Her legionnaires were having trouble scaling the walls and Pharus' forces were doing an admirable job preventing them from scaling the fortifications. Viira began planning a new course of action to try and beat the fortifications. Firrim was able to have a significantly greater deal of success. He was commanding the Southern quadrant and was able to quickly brush aside the defenders protecting that flank as Pharus had redirected most of them to the north. Firrim immediately began attempting to flank the western defenders creating a quick victory for the Republic. As Firrim began planning to spread out throughout the fort he spotted the northern flank also began to scale over the wall. He quickly realized though that it wasn't Vernican forces scaling the wall, but forces of the undead beginning to throw themselves over the defensive structures. Firrim quickly stopped his troops and bellowed for the nearest Solden legate. He told them with her and told her to report to Pharus that Firrim's legions were going to support the Northern flank against this new threat.
Pharus during this time was focused on the northern flank getting swarmed by the undead legionnaires from the Battle of the Drifting Legionnaire slowly cracking the wooden defenses. Pharus received word from his legate that the southern Vernican forces were planning to help them while the west and east continued their attacks on their position. Pharus didn't know what to make of the situation any more as their were now effectively three separate legions all fighting each other. Pharus accepted the help of Verrnica's legions as they would die regardless if they planned to betray them. Firrim ordered the legates under him to shore up the northern wall while he would go to the western wall to try and get Viira to break off her siege. As he rushed over to the western wall he heard an explosion and a large amount of splintering wood showering the area.
Viira during this time had been approached by the Mianan engineers attached to her legions approached her saying they had a way of getting through the walls. They had been working on creating explosives capable of creating holes even in enemy stoneworks and these would more than do the trick. They had been saving them for an eventual attack either on Solden or on Egeria again, but thought this was more pressing. Viira ordered them to do what was needed and attached them to a testudo formation to approach the walls. The Mianan engineers planted the explosives and then made a mad dash to Vernican lines and turned around to watch fireworks. The bomb created an intense cacophony of sound and showered the area in dirt and splinters. Viira smiled at the development and orderd her troops through the gaps. It was at this time though when her troops almost reached the gap that Firrim stepped through waving his arms telling them to stop. The troops luckily knew who he was due to his efforts at the Gates of Egeria and immediately stopped their advance confused at his presence. Viira rushed forward and asked what was happening and Firrim informed her of the undead legions attacking from the north. Viira realized that their enemies created the same events that almost brought their destruction during The First Republican Civil War and they had fallen for it a second time.
Viira immediately began dispensing orders to reinforce Pharus' army against the undead legionnaires attacking their forces. The Western forces and southern forces knew to combine with Solden's legions and began reinforcing their positions. The Eastern force was still assaulting the wall fighting the other while the northern force was getting overwhelmed by the undead as they were still caught outside the walls. Viira sent messengers to the northern forces telling them to slowly fall back to the gap in the wall while Firrim went to the eastern wall to stop their assault. While this was happening Viira went to coordinate with Pharus to survive the onslaught. They supported the retreat of Vernica's northern legions and supported them enough that they were able to fall back into the fort with a large portion of their forces still in tact. Those forces filled the gap in the western wall preventing large portions of undead from pouring into the fortified position. Firrim got onto the eastern wall and saw that the northern flank that retreated to the east had been completely overran and began engaging the eastern flank. Firrim ordered Solden's forces off the wall and tear a hole in it to allow the Vernicans in. When the hole was created Firrim ran out and began ordering legionnaires through the hole and to take orders from the Solden legate inside. Firrim continued to run out and began communicating with the Eastern Quadrant's legate telling them what was happening and what they needed to do. They continued falling back before they were consumed by the undead armies throwing themselves at the legions. The legions took massive casualties just in the attempt to fall back as the hole only allowed a few men through at a time slowing the process significantly. They managed to get about three fourths of the men through the hole and began spreading out to begin covering areas which were getting overtaken.
Many of the troops began covering the southern portion of the fortifications as that side had been abandoned in their attempt to get the legions to fight together. With all legions inside the walls they began cutting though the hordes of dead piling themselves on the wall. It was quickly realized there were far more undead than just the ones killed at the Battle of the Drifting Legionnaire. The two breaches in the walls were getting difficult to maintain as the bodies of both the dead and living began to pile up. The clerics were doing their best to blast them with their divine powers, but they found it increasingly difficult to channel the powers of their gods and were doing significantly less damage than usual. The battle continued on for several hours and the end of the undead armies could finally be seen. The hole in the western wall had faltered and were pushed back into the fort. They needed to hold their as the end was in sight, but if the remaining forces could overwhelm and flank the other sections they still could easily lose. Viira herself marched over there and went to the frontlines striking down undead left and right. 
Emboldened by their leader fighting along with them the exhausted legionnaires doubled down and even began regaining ground. As they rescured the breach Viira started to fall back to make sure the rest of the forces were managing to hold on when the flesh from all of the dead in the area began coalescing and forming a massive undead creature almost twenty six feet tall. It raised its fist and crushed down on top of the legionnaires defending the gap as well as Legatus Res Publica Viira of Vernica. Pharus and his troops were finishing killing the remaining undead in the area when he turned to see the massive monstrosity. He watched as it began tearing through the troops crushing them underneath it feet and fists. He took a section of his and Viira's troops and made his way over picking up whatever pila nd javelin they could and began throwing them at the creature. After barrage and barrage of javelins as well as troops slicing off hunks of flesh slowly bringing it to its knees they managed to kill the creature and clean up the remaining undead throughout the area. Pharus attempted to find Viira only to receive word from the surviving legionnaires on the western flank that she was slain by the massive creature. Pharus began giving orders to clean up the area and save any wounded soldiers. He began writing a report to Solden about the situation and to end the fighting in order to combat these new threats that were beginning to rise and need to be dealt with to survive.

Outcome

The legions of Solden and Vernica worked together to fight against the hordes of undead barely surviving further reducing the troops left for both sides

Aftermath

The battle forced Solden and Vernica to finally find a solution to end the conflict and deal with the new threats appearing around the provinces.

Included under Conflict

Third Republican Civil War

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

13 C.E.

Belligerents

Province of Vernica

• Province of Vernica

Led by

Strength

19 legions each roughly containing
3,680 Legionnaires
800 Light infantry/Skirmishers
200 cavalry

Casualties

31,250 legionnaires
3,400 Light infantry/skirmishers
1,460 cavalry

Objectives

Initial: Put Pharus' legions out of action
Secondary: Hold out against the hordes of undead

Province of Solden

• Province of Solden

Led by

Strength

16 legions each roughly containing
3,680 Legionnaires
700 Light infantry/Skirmishers
350 cavalry

Casualties

28,840 legionnaires
5,400 Light infantry/skirmishers
630 cavalry

Objectives

Initial: Hold out against Viira's legions
Secondary: Hold out against the hordes of undead

Undead

Led by

Strength

estimated at 200,000 undead

Casualties

200,000

Objectives

Destroy Solden and Vernica's legions