Coldsteel, glad you are enjoying it.
Chapter Fourteen (L + 27 days)
The chirping of the early morning insects filled the woods as the armored figure slowly walked the perimeter around the artillery unit he was assigned to guard. Patrols-Without-Tiring checked the status of its squad as they guarded the resting artillery troopers. The rain continued to patter down softly on the nearby tents and vehicles. As it stared towards the distant mountains that still held the remaining soldiers of the humans it shook its head and wondered why these humans fought the inevitable.
Its musings were interrupted by a strange signal in its helmet. Four of it?s eight soldiers on the perimeter were showing as incapacitated or killed. It tried to signal an alert, but a jamming field blocked the transmission. It moved towards the artillery troops to rouse them when it saw a pair of wraith-like forms moving from tent to tent. It raised its rifle when it felt a sharp pain in it?s back and a moment later across it?s neck. It tumbled to the ground and found itself looking up at a human figure looming above it. The human signaled more of it?s kind forward into the sleeping units perimeter.
Patrols-Without-Tiring felt its life slowly fading but made an attempt to grasp its rifle. The human above it leaned down and kicked the rifle into the brush and spit a brown liquid onto the helmet?s visor. The explosion of the artillery vehicles a few moments later lit up the night. It turned its head slightly to watch the humans moving off into the trees as quietly as they had come. Through the brown stain on its visor it saw flashes light up the distant mountains as the human artillery began raining down.
***
Metellus?s helmet banged against the hull of the Legati for the third time in as many minutes. He keyed his comm again ?You trying to kill us Decurio? This ride is getting kind of rough.?
The exasperated voice of Decurio Longinus came back a moment later. ?It looks like the Rocks have been busy in the past month. If you want to get out and walk through all these minefields that Saturninus is trying to bypass Principale, be my guest.?
The chuckle of the Contubernium filled the crew compartment. ?No, that?s alright Decurio, with Ursus?s big feet, we would be setting off every mine between here and the mountains. So how long till we get to our next position, we are going to need some time to dig in before the Rocks start heading for us??
The Decurio keyed his command board. ?Well, if we can avoid a few more of these minefields, we should be to our new position in 10 minutes. The Tribuni needs us blocking that road junction ASAP.?
Several bumpy minutes later the Legati came to a halt. The Decurio?s voice came over the comm, ?we?re here Manipularii, although it looks like this place has already been hit a few times. Deploy and we will be hull down on the hill for fire support if you need us.?
The ramp lowered and a soft rain blew into the troop compartment. Metellus saw his Manipularii run down the ramp and come to a halt. He exited the Legati and looked around. The nearby buildings showed damage and several craters marred the road. The large three-story building they were in front of was scorched; large holes marred the front surface. Still legible were the words ?LU UL US?S Gr in nd F ed?. Metellus and his Manipularii looked at the large crater and the Lorica wreckage then towards the cratered hilltop overlooking the road.
Sempronius seeing the troops still standing on the ramp, walked to the rear of the Legati. ?Everything alright Principale?? He asked softly.
Metellus looked back at him. ?The Gods have a smegty sense of humor Decurio, this is where we lost most of the Century on the first day.?
Metellus just shook his head. ?Don?t worry about us Decurio, our Contubernium has already payed in blood for this ground. They won?t push us off it till we?re all dead.? Seeing the look in his eyes Sempronius just nodded.
?We?ll be covering the road from the hill, I see plenty of places we can hide up there. Just call us if you need us.? In a moment the ramp raised and the Legati headed down the road and then up the hill.
Metellus looked around at his Manipularii and spit off to the side. ?Alright Manipularii, we know the ground, we know the enemy so let?s get it done. Varus, I want you on the top of this building keeping watch for anything coming. We are gonna let them come right in here before we hit them. Macer, you get in that red house, and be ready to slam any heavy armor you see. Ursus, you SURE that Mk.V H.P.G. is working now? We can?t afford to have it crap out in the middle of another firefight.?
Ursa just grinned at Metellus. ?No problem Principale, I practically rebuilt it from scratch once I got the spares out of that Urbanae supply Principale.?
Metellus looked at him and smiled. ?I?m not gonna ask how, just make sure whatever you did do it doesn?t get to back to the Tribuni, something makes me think he doesn?t have much of a sense of humor. Now get into that storefront and be ready to burn whatever rolls in here.? He hesitated a moment and put his hand on Ursa?s shoulder. ?You watch yourself Ursus, this one is gonna be hairy.?
The big man just smiled at his Principale. ?We?re ready for them this time Principale. They?re gonna pay for what they did to the Century.?
Metellus watched as each of his men ran to their assigned places. He walked over to the large crater in front of the feed store. The mangled wreckage from the Lorica was showing signs of rust on the exposed metal. He turned to move off when his foot struck something. He leaned down and picked up a charred object and rubbed the mud off of it. One of Optio Scaevola?s partially melted dogtags was revealed.
Metellus looked around his feet and saw a few shattered shards of bone. His knuckles turned white as his fist clenched around the mangled tag. ?Sorry it took so long to get back to you Scaevola.? He whispered. ?We are back though, don?t worry, we are gonna make the bastards pay in full for you and the rest. I promise.? He put the tag into his pocket, looked around the crossroads once more and moved towards a nearby building.
Now all we have to do is hold off a bunch of Loricas with four Manipularii and a Legati command vehicle. How do we get stuck with all the Garum smelling jobs? He laughed to himself.
***
?How do we get stuck with all the garum jobs?? Urbanae Magnus snarled as he loaded another box of ammunition onto the truck." I mean, why is it always the Urbanae that gets treated like a bunch of pack mules and stevedores.?
Urbanae Balearicus grunted as he hefted another crate. ?Well would you rather be out there on the line, holding off the Rocks or here loading crates??
Magnus moved some debris and found another intact box. He checked the serial number against his wrist comp. ?SUNSCREEN, what were these idiots thinking. They brought crates of sunscreen here.?
Balearicus laughed. ?Well leave it, we have a lot of stuff to find and not much time to do it.? Balearicus looked across the vast area of the landing zone and saw scores of trucks and numerous troops moving across the area. He saw combat engineers clearing booby traps in a nearby area. As far as the eye could see was cargo containers, destroyed vehicles and thousands of bodies that were picked almost clean.
He saw a stack of crates and checked the numbers. He waved a truck over and shouted to Magnus. ?C?mon Magnus, these are the drive train and fire control spares that they are looking for in the maintenance pool. We gotta get this garum loaded. The cleaner we pick this place, the more stuff we will have later and the less chance we will have to do this again.?
The truck backed up and the two soldiers began loading the boxes onboard. A steady trickle of loaded vehicles headed back towards the mountains. Across the ruined LZ, parties of soldiers picked through the wreckage and marked boxes for loading. Far off in the distance, they heard the sound of weapons firing.
***
The sound of Varus?s voice came over the comm, ?I have movement coming down the east road. Numerous vehicles, looks like they are coming in fast.?
Metellus keyed in immediately. ?I want them all in the firesack before we open up. Macer, you get the first guy in line, then the back guy. I want to nail the coffin shut in here so we can get them all. Decurio, we need you ready for support fire as soon as it starts.?
?Roger that Principale.? Came Sempronius?s reply.
A whining hum grew louder and louder. Metellus stole the feed from Varus?s helmet and saw a dozen vehicles moving down the road at high speed. ?They?ll have to slow down with all the rubble in the road here. Wait for my order.? The Principale saw the lead Siliconate machines slow as they approached the crossroads. As they made the turn Metellus counted eight Loricas and four Papilio?s. When the last Lorica slowed he keyed his comm, ?FIRE FIRE FIRE.?
Macer fired and the impact on the lead Lorica sounded like a bell. Ursus poked his Mk.V out of the store?s doorway and plasma washed over a pair of Papilio?s. He ducked back inside as they detonated. Varus leaned over the roof edge and aimed a light rocket at a Lorica. The rocket pierced the thin top armor and the detonation rocked the buildings. Another rocket from Macer arced overhead and slammed into the rearmost Lorica.
Fire from the two remaining Loricas struck the building that Varus was on. Concrete and brick glazed over and exploded. Metellus saw Varus?s marker moving to the rear of the building as it began collapsing in on itself.
Metellus noticed troops exiting the two remaining Papilio?s and began firing at them. He dropped two of them quickly and saw one of the Papilio?s turning towards his position. He keyed his comm, ?Decurio we could use a little help here!? A moment later, a gauss shell slammed through the Papilio?s skin and it went up in flames. Metellus heard another rocket fire into the area.
Then Metellus saw four armored figures rush towards the building that Ursa was in. He dropped one before they made it through the doorway. ?URSUS, you got three in your building! In the name of Hades get out of there!? He saw the building light up from within as plasma gouted out a shattered window. Metellus saw Varus run across the street, slap a magnetic mine on a Lorica and dive into the building where Ursa was. He heard the crack of the Legati?s gauss and saw the last Rock Papilio blow up. A moment later, Varus?s mine went off and another Lorica blew itself to slag.
Metellus sat quietly in his fighting position and popped the covers off his secret weapons. He looked out and saw another Lorica fall to Macer?s launcher. He saw the last pair of Loricas blow down a building to make a way out for themselves and start heading back down the road.
Metellus heard the noise he had been waiting for. ?Everyone go ?tronic neutral, NOW!? He shouldered the anti-air missile just as the first grav gunship popped over the horizon. The hypervelocity missile impacted the craft and detonated it. He grabbed another missile and locked onto the second gunship. The gunship couldn?t evade the HV and its wreckage joined its partner?s a moment later.
He keyed the comm, ?Everyone alright? Looks like that?s all of them for now.?
A moment later he heard Varus?s voice. ?Principale, you better come here quick.?
Metellus shouldered his last two HV missiles and ran down the stairs. He fired a round into a still moving Siliconate soldier and ran into the store. Parts of the inside of the building still burned and smoke filled the room. He saw Varus kneeling above a familiar form working frantically. Metellus squatted down and saw Varus stuffing bandages into the gaping hole in Ursa?s chest. Metellus felt for a pulse on Ursa?s wrist. He gently took hold of Varus?s hands that were still trying to pack the wound. ?He?s gone Varus, let him be. There?s nothing you can do for him anymore.?
He saw Varus lean over and pick up the Mk.V off the ground. A row of red malfunction lights was lit up on the readout. He turned to Metellus. ?I am gonna kill those Urbanae bastards! He would?ve had them if it hadn?t broken.? Varus stated as tears ran down his cheek.
Metellus just shook his head. ?It?s not worth it Varus, if your time is up, your time is up. Nothing is gonna stop it. Now lets get into position, we may get some more company soon.?
He watched Varus leave the building before kneeling down again by Ursa?s side. He detached one of his dogtags and added it to the collection in his pocket. He closed the now sightless eyes. ?Sleep well Ursus, may you hunt the enemies of Roma with Mars at your side.? He left the building without looking back.
He looked at the burning vehicles clogging the street.
This had better be worth it Tribuni, or I am personally going to put a hole in your head. He thought as he moved to a nearby building.