Hive-Master Recluse screeched in anger as his Warriors again took cover from the weapons fire pouring from the Command Lair of the human Hive-Master. "They are like Zantar guarding their eggs. The humans are only animals though. They fight not from a sense of duty, this must merely be instinct by the Drones of their Hive-Master."
He saw that he only had 5 Special Attackers left with him. "Units 1 through 9 continue keeping the humans at bay. Units 10 through 19, cease destruction of the Drones and equipment and come to me to cleanse the human infection. "
A perfect chorus answered. "YES GREAT ONE!"
***
Sempronius had been firing his plasma rifle as he saw the body of his E.C.M Team Decurio flung back when a gauss round penetrated right through the command car he had taken shelter behind. His Vigiles units were dug in on the left. He saw a group of Data Entry Specialists behind a sandbagged checkpoint furiously reading the manual on the heavy plasma repeater they were attempting to assemble. He smiled briefly as he heard them fumble with the weapon.
"NO NO NO Lentullus place the dual pronged power feeder cable (A) into the NEGATIVE reciever socket (B) and rotate COUNTERclockwise. How in the name of Pluto do the combat guys figure this stuff out! NO, ground it with the BLUE cable!"
He wished he could tell his staff at how proud he was of them, holding off troops as well armed and trained as the Frumentarii that were attacking them, but he knew anything he said would be a distraction.
He saw an Arachnid that was advancing against the plasma rifles suddenly torn apart by a heavy plasma weapon. Sempronius looked to his right and saw a very surprised group of Data Entry people looking at what their weapon had done.
He almost laughed out loud at the chorus from the 3 Specialists. "WOW! COOL!"
He frowned as his heads up display showed a new group of Arachnid Frumentarii heading towards his position. He did a quick count. "We can't hold against 10 more of these armored bastards."
He was about to order a complete evacuation of the headquarters area when a nearby Legionarii turned towards him. "Do you hear something Consul?"
Sempronius upped the volume on his powered armor's sound sensors. What he heard brought an evil grin to his face.
***
Flavius saw a power armored Arachnid aiming a heavy gauss weapon at number six Lorica. Before he could fire number two Lorica fired their secondary weapons. Automatic Laser fire blew three of the Frumentarii's legs off and before the Arachnid could topple to the ground, number two Lorica swerved to the left and crushed the Warrior under their treads.
Third Century rolled into the outer areas of the maintenance bays hunting targets. Flavius heard a series of impacts on the left side of his Lorica. Minor penetrations were being recorded as he slewed the turret to bear on another Frumentarii. Drusus didn't wait for an order before firing. The Arachnid simply vanished along with the cargo boxes he was sheltered behind.
Flavius was searching for a new target when the comm popped. "Centurio get this guy off of us!"
He saw a pair of Arachnids on top of number two Lorica. One was attempting to rip the top hatch off as the other was placing an object on the Loricas back deck. Flavius knew as he tried to bring the turret to bear on them that he would be too late.
The top hatch peeled way and the Arachnid dropped a thermal charge inside and as he and his partner dove off the Lorica, a huge explosion rocked the engine deck and plasma fire leapt out of the top hatch.
Flavius heard Drusus cursing as he killed both Arachnids with a single main gun blast. Flavius looked at number two Lorica as the rear hull started to glow from the heat of the thermal charge eating away at the Lorica from the inside. Flavius closed his eyes and added to the List, "Iunius, Bruttius, Lepidus."
A voice cut in on his comm, "CENTURIO, my hatch is jammed and it's getting real hot in here please get me out."
Flavius turned white, how Lepidus' driving compartment had survived he didn't know. Flavius looked at number two Loricas hull glowing with enough heat to fry anyone that approached.
Lepidus's voice was near panic, "Centurio I am burning up in here, can you help me please?"
Flavius's hand moved without conscious control as he brought the turret to bear on number two Loricas front slope. His voice cracked as he spoke "Gunner. Target. Number two Lorica."
Drusus's voice was a whisper, "identified." Drusus looked up over his shoulder with tears in his eyes. " I can't Centurio." Flavius just nodded to him.
Lepidus came back over the comm, his voice weak, "Centurio are you gonna be able to help me?"
Flavius grabbed his command override, "From my position, fire."
With the sound of the main gun firing, Flavius gave Lepidus the only answer he had. The men of Third Century stared at the remains of number two Lorica for a moment. Flavius keyed his comm with a voice that was as cold as death itself. "Galenus get us moving, Drusus find your own targets and kill everything that doesn't belong here.
He then switched to the Centurys Frequency, 3rd Century move out and scour the area of any hostile troops." Number one Lorica moved on leaving behind a burning wreck and another piece of their souls.
***
Hive-Master Recluse looked at all his remaining Special Attack Warriors. "All Units we will assault as one, I will lead to kill their Hive-Master. We will not stop until they are all dead. Fire all weapons as we charge and cleanse the infection."
Twelve voices spoke as one."YES GREAT ONE!"
***
Centurio Cenaeus looked at his chrono for the 10th time as he listened to the sounds of battle outside intensify. One hour the Consul had said. He sent out the orders to all perimeter units and then he keyed the button to transmit the Consul's message to the Legatus Augusti. As Cenaeus was turning to grab his rifle to join the defense a flurry of gauss projectiles shredded the building and killed him before he could take cover.
***
Sempronius took cover behind a wrecked truck as the Arachnid fire flayed his troops. He felt gauss rounds glancing off his armor and a small explosion as one wrecked his plasma rifle. He saw the nearest troops flung back as they were hit. The elation he had felt earlier when he heard the music was gone now. "They must have run into and ambush and were destroyed."
He saw a movement to his right and he saw an Arachnid looking his way. He seemed to be looking at him and then moved on to kill a nearby Vigile.
"What in the name of Pluto? He had me 'dead to rights'." He said aloud confused by the turn of events.
He saw another Frumentarii nearby aiming a gauss rifle at him who seemed startled. He lowered his rifle and moved down the line killing some of his fabrii.
"What is going on here. Why aren't they shooting?"
He moved over to some nearby bodies looking for a weapon. He pulled a body away and grabbed up a plasma rifle. As he straightened up, he was face to face with an Arachnid in an elaborate suit of battle armor. A mechanical voice came from the figure. "Your DNA HELIX is weak and you will be cleansed."
***
Senior Hive-Master Black Widow turned to the Tech Drone and said, "Carry your out your orders. " The Tech Drone began keying in the required commands.
Hive-Master Orb Weaver scuttled forward. "With respect Senior Hive-Master but it has not been 10 Time Units."
Senior Hive-Master Black Widow pointed at the ships shown on the system detection screen. "The humans are swifter than expected. We must prepare for their assaults now. We have no more time to give Hive-Master Recluse."
***
Flavius rolled up on the Ops building and swiftly targeted all the detected Arachnids. "Drusus start punching some tickets. Use secondary weapons only, there are still some friendlies around."
Flavius heard the auto Lasers firing as he tried to find if there was a defensive line left anywhere. He saw Arachnids falling as Drusus fired controled bursts amongst the wreckage. Frumentarii fell one by one to the cool precise bursts of his fire.
Flavius detected something to his left and saw an Arachnid aiming his rifle to shoot a human in a power suit. Flavius knew he couldn't fire without killing them both. A limping figure ran in from a nearby building towards the two power suited figures. He covered the distance in a moment and he impacted the Arachnid low and drove the surprised Frumentarii back and they both fell in a tangle. Flavius saw the grey haired figure shouting.
The Loricas pickups made sense of his words "Shoot
NOW save the Consul! "Hive-Master Recluse was getting to his feet when a plasma bolt from number one Lorica vaporized him and Primus Pilus Saturninus.
Flavius could not detect any other Arachnids in the area. He was surprised to see the power armored figure of the Consul raise his helmets visor and walk over to the glazed area and lay his hand gently on the still hot surface. As he walked towards number one Lorica Flavius saw tears streaking down his face. He climbed up the front slope of the Lorica and sat a moment on the turret.
"Looks like this is twice your Century has saved the Army Centurio."
Flavius saw the pain in his eyes and knew it matched his own. A roar from overhead approached from the west. The Consul looked up for a moment.
"If they are sending more Frumentarii you are going to have to stop them Centurio because as I see it you and whats left of your Century are the Armys entire reserve."
Flavius nodded. "Can do Consul we will hold them until help gets here."
He looked at him as the roar came overhead and smiled. Flavius couldn't believe how bright his smile was. It was too bright to look on and he...
***
Aufidius saw the Arachnids streaming away from the four Loricas remaining on the ridge. "This makes no sense Paratus, they were almost on top of us and now they are running awa..."
A brilliant light from behind number four Lorica lit up the entire area. Aufidius popped the hatch and looked to the north, he slammed his hatch shut when he saw the huge mushroom cloud.
Holding his head in his hands he moaned, "ahhhhh no." His tears fell as the track rocked in the shockwave. He whispered, "Flavius, Iuinus, Drusus, Bruttius, Camillus, Lepidus," his List grew as he continued to add the rest of the Century.
***
To Flavius the light filled everything. He saw figures ahead Tzu, Livius, Iuinus, Bruttius, Magnus, Gracchus, Lunaris, Crispin, everyone from the List, everyone from Nova Londinium. He heard his schools band playing as they all reached out to welcome him home.
An officer turned to the Praefectus Classis. "We have detected a large fusion explosion on the surface sir, impact point, the targeted drop zone."
The Praefectus turned to his communications officer, "Abort the landing all transports regroup according to plan Alpha."
The Praefectus felt something cold behind his ear and he heard a voice colder than deep space. "Praefectus, if you order those transports back I
will pull this trigger."
The Praefectus whispered. " We can't land in an area that..."
Legatus Augusti Agricola didn't give him a chance to finish. "The landing zones will be hot but the troops will have their protective armor and will survive. That is more than can be said for you if you try and recall those ships."
The Praefectus choked out an order. "Execute landing plan Omega."
The Praefectus didn't hear the Legatus Augusti leave the bridge but he saw a crumpled printout that Agricola had left on his chair. He smoothed it out and began to read it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
To: Magister Militum Agricola ( Supreme Commander Roman Ground Forces )
From: Consul S. Longinus ( Commander IV Ala Consular Army )
Situation Report: Have repelled all enemy attacks on perimeter, Frumentarii attacking headquarters, expect enemy to attempt to destroy Ops and Control with nuclear weapons to collapse perimeter before reinforcements arrive. Ordering full attack of all remaining IV Ala units to expand perimeter outside the projected blast area. If Ops destroyed, IV Ala will need command and control from follow on units to expand beachhead. IV Ala will continue to attack until relieved or ammunition runs out.
IV Ala will be here, always.
Consul S. Longinus
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Praefectus's hand shook as he finished reading the printout and looked at the update of the troop landing operations. He picked up his mike and keyed the All Classis freq,
"Praefectus Classis Vespasianus to all transport units. Any Trierarchus whose ship hasn't landed in that drop zone in the next 15 minutes will be relieved and shot. If you don't have the guts to do it turn your ships over to an officer who does. Vespasianus out." The Admiral gently folded the paper and placed it in his jacket.
.......................................Epilogue..................................
"This is your shuttle pilot, welcome to the Consul Sempronius Longinus Starport. Please wait until the shuttle has stopped motion before unfastening your restraint straps."
The sound of restraint clasps being unsnapped echoed through the shuttles passenger compartment. The door of the shuttle opened on a beautiful Nova Roma day.
He hesitated before stepping off the last stair onto the starports surface.
An Arachnid advanced towards him and bowed. "I have a vehicle waiting Great One. Your luggage will be brought to the hotel once it is unloaded." He looked towards the Arachnid baggage handlers working hard to empty the shuttles belly.
"Send the luggage in the vehicle , I will walk to the hotel later."
The Arachnid bowed again. "Yes Great One."
He glanced to the south to a barely seen ridge in the distance before walking towards an object outside the starports main building.
The Monument sat on a piece of untended grass. It was larger than it looked in the holo vids. The 3 foot tall letters capping the Monument, IV, shone in the sun as their gold plating remained untarnished. He read the plaque at the top.
Dedicated to all the Noble Romans of the IV Ala Consular Army who held the line.
................IV Ala will be here, always.................
All the names were here. As his finger touched a name their holo image appeared in front of him. He touched the topmost name. Consul Longinus was smaller than he remembered but the holo caught the determined look in his eye perfectly.
"Wonder if he ever smiled." he chuckled sadly.
He started searching for the names. He circled the Monument until he found the Equites Augusti Singulari.
"By the Gods, so many names."
His height worked against him as he found the section he was looking for almost obscured by the overgrown grass. His large hands ripped the offending vegetation away and revealed the names.
1st Ala Cohors
1st Turmae
3rd Century
Centurio Decimus Flavius
Principlae Marcus Iunius
Principale Lucius Gracchus
Eques Titus Drusus
Eques Gnaeus Bruttius
Eques Publius Lunaris
Eques Appius Camillus
Eques Quintus Livius
He touched each name starting with Livius. When he got to Flavius's name he hesitated a moment before touching it. Thirty years melted away from his memories as he saw Flavius appear. He knew the image would remain as long as he continued looking at it.
"Hey Centurio, been a long time. I am sorry I never came to visit you before today but I swore I would never set foot on this damned planet again. Well they go and decide to have a session of the Imperial Senate here to celebrate the 30th anniversary of us beating the Arachinds and attendance was mandatory. I guess the powers that be are still telling us what to do whether we care or not." He said with a sad smile.
He paused a moment before continuing. "Paratus is living on Apulia IV now and has his own software company, no surprise there. He has grandkids for cripes sake. After I got out I became part of the recolonization of the outer arm worlds that were slagged in the war with the Rockheads."
He glanced at his chrono a moment. "Gotta run Centurio, I have a committee meeting in 15 minutes. I don't think I will be back but I just needed to tell you we made it and... it mattered."
The image of Centurio Decimus Flavius remained for a few more moments as if watching a distant figure walking away before vanishing.
Senator Tiberius Aufidius, Centurio Roman Ground Forces retired and Representative for the planet Longinus IV, walked away leaving his Centurio and the last of his demons behind.
Thus endeth the Assault of the IV Ala. All comments are welcome. Without any I can't improve on what I have.