The Ninth Legion / Nex Vexillum

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cosmo
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The Ninth Legion / Nex Vexillum

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The Ninth Legion


A group of Senators, Legates, Magistrates and Military Officers stand arguing in the dim light of a small room adjacent to Romes Senate Forum. Praetorian guards stand mutely outside.


Senator Julianus bangs his fist on the table and raises his voice " this is intolerable, three towns have been emptied of all the citizens, the huns are restless and this surely must be their work. More importantly no roman should ever be taken as a slave, it sets a bad example for the other barbarian tribes, and they must have been as there are no reports of any bodies in the area...we must send in the legions to crush the huns once and for all time"

magistrate Agricolis clears his throat " This is why i say it is not the Huns doing this, the huns have no qualms about butchering men, women and children and leaving the bodies to rot where they fall. we should be careful before sending in the legions and committing to war, this is not the tactics of the huns at work here"

" There are reports that the huns have also been attacked and indeed, that they are falling back, trying to get as much distance as possible between them and whoever is doing this " Captain Greis added

Senator Gregorius looked around " we must have solid information, we must know what we are facing, is a new tribe? is it a plague? is it some form of deception the huns are using against us? how widespread is this threat? is the safety of Rome itself threatened? ...... we need to know!"
there was an excited babbling of voices agreeing and arguing, slowly the voices become less frantic as Senator Marius gestures for quiet" i agree, we need to know what is going on, but Agricolis is right, i am loathe to send the legions in until we know who we are dealing with.

a figure moves forward and clears his throat in an attempt to gain attention.

" you have something to suggest general Cornelius? " Senator Gregorius asks

the general nodded and stepped fully into the light " instead of blindly sending in the legions, and maybe provoking an unwanted and expensive war, let us send a single legion to spy the lay of things then report back, i would suggest the best battle hardened unit we have. The ninth legion, they are currently stationed at vindalanda engaging in special operations against the Picts"

The group murmurs amongst itself, some seem happy that some action will be taken and senator Julianus calls out, this is a good plan, i second it, let us take a vote "

there is a chorus of ayes and the idea is accepted, " i will send orders to the ninth to travel to Germania immediately " Senator Marius resolutely says.
.

General Cassius rides ahead of his troop column, a good vantage point to see the rider in the distance heading in their direction. Always wary of a Pict ambush he raises his hand to stop the column "stand ready" he orders and the soldiers move into seperate groups in readiness for an attack from any direction.

the general calls for the rest of his legionary cavalry to form around him, he waits till they are all gathered then quietly tells 40 of the horsemen to slowly move back along the column and drift into the nearby woods, He also sends word to the unit of equites riding a few miles to the east of them. If this is a pict trap he wants to bring them a surprise.

the rider slows as he approaches the waiting soldiers, the general can see he is in roman armour, he waits until the rider is almost at the column then waves the rider onwards, the rider gallaops forward and stops in front of the generals horse " sire, i seek an audience with general Cassius, i bear a message from the senate for his immediate attention "

"then you should deliver your message, i am Cassius " the general says as he dismounts "captain Quintus, set out perimeters and let the men rest, let those who wish to cook or sleep do so, they may not have another chance for a while "

the rider steps away from the others gathered around and reaches into a leather pouch and retrieves a scroll which he hands to the general. Cassius turns away from the rider and sees the seal of the senate on the scroll which he breaks wondering what lies within.


for the eyes of general Aristos Cassius only

general Cassius, you are hereby ordered to take the ninth legion to germania with all haste, you will be met at the town of Samarobriva by someone who will give you a full briefing of your mission, this information is to be withheld from your officers and men until you cross into hun terrority.
this mission is of the upmost importance to the safety of rome, you are authorised to take any and all men and units you might feel are required for the success of your mission.
you will report directly to the senate only, no one else must be informed of any findings upon pain of crucifiction.
you will destroy this document upon reading it, no records of these instructions will be kept.
the gods aid you in your endeavours


The rider watches as the document starts to curl and disintegrate in the flames of the fire that the General had ordered be built before handing him another document, "this is to be given to you once the other was destroyed.

to any officer, magistrate, or administrator

the bearer of this document is acting on behalf of the roman empire and the senate of rome on a mission of great importance
he is too be given any and all aid he requires, this includes troop units, supplies and weapons
let none hinder him on his mission

Cassius looks up " by the gods " he thinks " what kind of mission is this to be? "

" Captain Quintus " he calls " tell the men to rest for we have a hard journey ahead, send riders out to the velite scouts and equites, they are to reform with us here "

it is almost dark and the last of the patrols are arriving at the makeshift camp.
the general sits in front of a fire with his officers, " we will march at first light for Vindalanda make sure the men are fed and rested, i cannot tell you of our mission as i have no information myself yet"

the officers look surprised, it is strange to be sent on a mission but not be forewarned of what they are facing


on their arrival at the Vindolanda town gates the local magistrate is waiting for them, " general, good to see you are well. i have been instructed to tell you that you and your troops are to report to Segenunum, where there are boats ready to take you and your men across to gaul "

" we shall rest here overnight, magistrate, only a fool would force march in the dark " replies Cassius “ I will be leaving the artillery unit here and collect men in Gaul”.


the voyage down the coastline and across to gaul is nervewracking with high seas and strong winds, but apart from being delayed for a couple of days to wait for some stragglers who had been blown off course to catch up, they arrive without major incident.

It is twilight and general Cassius and the ninth arrive at the gates to the town. Cassius dismounts and the rest of the cavalry follow suit " captain Quintus " Cassius calls out " see the men are billeted for the night, then grant them leave to make use of the towns taverns and other facilities and ask the other officers to join me in my quarters in one hour to share a bottle of wine or two " the general smiles.

Quintus immediately turns and starts barking orders to the troops, the general turns and walks towards the local military adjutant`s office to report the ninth`s arrival.

the dimly lit adjutants office appears to be empty except for a small rough looking wooden desk with a pitcher of water and goblet on it. He and walks over and pours himself a goblet, and as he raises it to his lips a low voice says " general Cassius i presume "

in a fraction of a second Cassius has his hand on his sword hilt and whirls toward the disembodied voice " who is there, speak now or face the consequences "

a hooded figure steps forward from the shadows in the corner of the room and raises both hands to throw back the hood " I am Decius Brutti, and i am to give you as much information about your mission as we have "

" in the name of jupiter " thinks Cassius, " from how high in the empire does this mission come?, the Brutii family hold much power in rome and much glory in their past deeds, they were present at the founding of rome itself, this man, if he truly is Desius Brutii is as close to the emperor as they come "

" i am honoured to meet you, but i assume by your presence this will be no easy mission " says Cassius
" indeed not,” replies Desius “come let us sit and i will tell you all we know and perhaps we can divine a plan to end this chaos "

" some months ago we started getting reports of attacks on settlements to the north-east, but as these were far from our borders it wasnt given much attention, but then we started hearing of attacks on the hun settlements not too far away, the local towns were warned to be on their guard."

Cassius listens intently and then and looks around for a map of the region, locating one he spreads it on the table " can you show me where the reported attacks are sire? "

Desius leans over and points to a number of towns and villages that had seemingly been attacked.
Cassius scrutinises the map closely " these attacks appear to be random, if there are tactics at work here i cannot yet discern them, however it seems that whoever is doing this is heading in this direction "

" indeed so, however our inteligence in these parts is limited and we must know who or what is doing this " replies Desius

" or what?.... do you not think this is an invader force sire ? " asks Cassius

Desius looks directly into Cassius`s eyes " there have been some ..........." Desius pauses and looks away " "...... odd reports connected to these attacks general "

" in what way odd sire, please explain, the more information i have the better i can prepare for the mission " said Cassius
Desius takes a deep breath " what i am about to tell you is considered to be of the highest secrecy general "

" when you were sent the orders to report here, there were three roman towns that had been attacked, that number is now five towns as well as a number of small villages and hamlets, both roman and hun. the number of missing is now in the thousands, notice i said missing, thats one of the odd things, when these towns and villages have been investigated, only a small number of bodies have been found in each location, it is as if the population has suddenly been rounded up and marched off, but there are no tracks to indicate such a thing, there were no bodies at all in most of the villages, there were no funeral pyres... the people simply vanished.

a few huns have arrived seeking sanctuary and have been interrogated but they keep saying the same thing over and over again, it translates as Pluto`s legion or Pluto`s army, yet they describe it as a disease or plague
but for the most part the huns have faded away and moved to other areas away from the region, whatever this is it has the huns scared enough to run "

" this indeed must be bad, the huns do not run from a fight easily " comments Cassius

" there is more you need to know, at each town, village, farm and homestead we have investigated, every animal was slaughtered. no, not slaughtered, devoured is a better word....... the carcases were ripped to pieces, they looked like some ferocious wild beast had eaten them alive, not one beast was spared, if this is some unknown invading force they are beyond barbaric. another of the strange things about this is although the livestock were killed, the few valuables were left untouched. what kind of raiders leave the goods and wealth of conquered towns untouched yet take the citizens?”

“seven days ago, we sent three units out, about six hundred men, to investigate a reported attack on a village not far from here, we have heard nothing from any of them since then, the citizens here are becoming nervous, many of the traders have already packed up their wares and moved on to safer cities
something must be done before this situation spins out of control and we have an uprising on our hands, this is why you were sent for, we need our best, most battle hardened unit in control
your mission is to advance on the enemy areas and observe only, gather as much information as possible then report to me back here”

“you are not to engage the enemy unless attacked, if you do enter into combat, try to take prisoners so they may be interrogated. you will need to move quickly and quietly so you will have to leave the majority of your troops here, i suggest a single unit of hastarti and your equites and legionary cavalry until we know better what we face "

Cassius looks at Desius aghast " sire " he says " with all due respect, you have already sent over six hundred men and they have been lost, eighty or so cavalry and one hundred twenty men will not be able to hold long if we are attacked, at the very least allow me to take a small contingent of engineers with us in case we need to construct defensive fortiforcations "

" very well " replies Desius " but the remainder of your troops will remain here to reinforce the garrison and as speed is of the essence, the sooner we know what is happening the sooner we can prepare our defences .may the gods bring you a swift success general Cassius, you will depart at first light"

the general leaves the office and heads towards his quarter. had he somehow made a powerful enemy in rome?, why was he being sent on what was essentially a suicide mission, this surely must be wrong, if it were an enemy army then a show of force was needed and if it were a disease the extra men could be used to quarantine the areas affected

Cassius is so wrapped up in his thoughts he doesnt see the cloaked figure following a few steps behind him until a voice quietly whispers " a denari for your thoughts oh great general "
Cassius turns and sees the figure, in the dim light he can not see his face but he was sure he knows that voice " have you a denari of your own to spend Marcus "

the figure laughs and moves forward with his hand out, Cassius clasps it and laughs.
Marcus Cornelius, his old friend, who had served with him until a spear in the leg had cut short his cavalry career, they had grown together, trained together, and this was one man Cassius knew he could trust implicitly
" what brings you to this place Marcus? " asks Cassius
" you " replies Marcus " i heard rumours of a great general coming here before leaving on a secret mission for rome itself "
Cassius looks at Marcus sharply " by the gods, how did you hear of this, i had no details of the mission myself until a few minutes ago"
" i have my own sources of information " grins Marcus
" in which case Marcus do you have any information on what we are about to face? "

" on this matter i have little knowledge cassius, but i do know whoever they are has a lot of my men spooked, we have had some desertions already "
" your men?...you are still acting as a mercenary captain? "

" i am and i have some units that may be of some use to you........ if you can meet the right price " laughs Marcus

Cassius grins, he still has the authorisation letter from the senate and so could commandeer any gold needed from the town`s local magistrate, and he wants extra troops for this mission, even if he has to hire mercenaries
" come Marcus, let us share some wine and discuss terms " He grins

when Cassius and Marcus arrive at the generals quarters they find three officers there already, sitting at a table with flagons of wine in the middle, the three are pleased to see Marcus and again and as the wine flows the conversation turns to past battles and old comrades, after two hours captain Quintus stands " it is late and if we are to move out at first light then i should retire, good night gentlemen "

they all stand and the other officers make their excuses and leave. only Cassius and Marcus remain
" so tell me Marcus, what extra troops could you lay claim to at this time, the faster and lighter armoured the better? "

" at this moment in time i can call upon a unit of armoured hoplite 120 men..... a unit of cretan archers 50 men...... two heavy onagers and a repeating ballista..... i have access to a unit of parthian cataphract cavalry but they will not arrive for some days and i suspect you will be unable to wait"

" you are right, i have no time to wait, i can only use units that can endure forced march pace for a period of time, can the hoplites keep with us on those conditions? " replies Cassius

" they will stay with us, they are good men, brave and strong and more importantly they will hold their place in the line " Marcus assures him

" then in that case i can make use of the archers and hoplites, the artillery will slow us down and prevent us gaining any element of surprise, have any other units you may have brought into the city to help reinforce things here, your price will be met...... i admit, i wish i had more men, i am uneasy about this mission, i do not like facing the unknown, give me a straight battle with an enemy that i know anyday "

" if all you need are more bodies to throw against the enemy then perhaps you should set your sights lower than mercenaries " says Marcus thoughtfully

" what do you speak of my friend "
Marcus stands " come, it is perhaps time to call upon our local magistrate "


Cassius and Marcus stand in front of the magistrates desk, the magistrate is a fat, officious little man " but general what you ask is impossible, the games are in three weeks time, there will be no one to entertain the masses if i grant this "

Marcus bristles " what good are the games if no one remains in the town to watch them and they are leaving in their droves, the people are more in need of security than entertainment magistrate.”

" these are dangerous times, unrest is already spreading, the games are important to divert the plebes from their hardships " snaps the magistrate

Cassius stands and watches the arguing for a few minutes, then loudly clears his throat, the arguing stopped and both men looked at Cassius

Cassius hands the magistrate the senates document " this matter is resolved magistrate " he says " i will have those who volunteer and you will accept it"

the magistrate slumps back into his chair as he reads the document, and looks up resignedly " then let it be so general, i have no desire to anger those in the senate, take who you wish, i will send orders ahead to alert the guards of your arrival"

Cassius and Marcus stand in an open courtyard, ahead of them is a grimy looking building with a red door, the paint peeling off, a couple of flickering torches the only light, the door opens and two auxilla`s march out and across the courtyard, behind them come a line of men in chains followed by four more auxilla

the chained men are made to stand in a line facing Cassius

" you men know your fate, you should thank whatever gods you worship for my arrival, for i am to offer you wretches a chance to redeem yourselves, should you survive, i would speak highly in your favour for a release and dropping of all charges, should you run i will have you cut down where you stand, should you choose not to volunteer, you may return to your cells and await your fates "

the men in the line look around at each other then back to Cassius,. one steps forward " for what do you need the likes of us general? "

one of the auxilla leans forward and says softly to Cassius " Wotanus, sir, a hun turncoat, sentenced to death for desertion and cowardice, he is not to be trusted, even his own people have sentenced him to death by wild dogs, thay have not even bothered to ask for his return to face the punishment, they are happy enough to let us do it for them "

" the mission itself is not for you to know, i need men who know how to use a sword, who can track, hunt, fire a bow, if any of you possess those skills and wish to avoid the games, speak now but know this, if any one of you desert all will suffer crucifiction, is that clear? i will give you five minutes to decide "

Cassius and Marcus take a few steps back out of earshot, " this place really is cosmopolitan isnt it " comments Cassius " i noticed a couple of britons, some bastarnae, illryilans, dacians, gauls and huns in that ragged bunch "

" it matters not where they are from only that they are capable soldiers and able to fight and die well " notes Marcus

" indeed " agrees Cassius before walking back over towards the line of men who by now are gathered together in a huddle " what say you, will you take your chances in battle or go to your gods placidly?

" there are two amongst us that do not wish to go but the rest say aye " says one of the group
Cassius looks over at the auxilla, “seperate the two and return them to their cells, have the rest bathed, fed and quartered for the night "

as dawn breaks, the gates of Samarobriva swing open and cassius rides out, he has a small contingent of legionary cavalry to act as his personal bodyguard but this only numbered twelve men, the majority would stay in town. He rides to the side of the road and stops, he wants to see exactly what he has at his disposal.

two units of velites, a unit of hastarti, equite cavalry, a small group of medics, the engineers and the condemned....... not a lot to face an unknown enemy with he thinks. he would meet up with Marcus`s mercenary units about two miles north west from the town

as the last men file past him, he turns to ride to the head of the column but as he is about to ride off, he hears a womans voice calling out to him " general, please, my husband was one of those six hundred men that have vanished, please try to locate my husband and return him to his wife and children "

" if we are able to find the missing, they shall be returned to you madam and more, i shall inform him of your heartfelt plea " Cassius replies, he dismounts and walks over to the woman, he speaks to her softly for a few minutes and she seems to be reassured with each word, and he turns and mounts his horse once again and sets of along the column

as he rides past the equites, he slows to speak to Vitelius, the captain of the unit " take your troop and scout the land ahead for about two miles, report back on anything unusual you see immediately "
" at once sir " replies Vitelius before barking a few orders and the equites ride off and are soon lost from sight
Cassius has little faith in the fighting effectiveness of the equites, they were not regular soldiers, their training was not always up to roman standards, but then, they were the sons of the wealthy and powerful in roman society, adventure seekers rather than true warriors, but they did make effective scouts as long as they didnt run into any enemy units. it wasnt long before one of the equites ride back towards the column to report a group of soldiers not too far ahead

as the column approaches the encamped soldiers Cassius is surprised to see Marcus at the camp, he calls out jokingly " what is this Marcus, are you so unsure of your mens sense of direction that you had to show them the way or did you just ride all this way to bid an old friend goodbye? "
this ellicits a few laughs within the column

Marcus laughs " neither of those reasons general, did you think i would pass up a chance to once again fight by your side? "

Cassius grins and nods. they briefly make camp and eat a meal, then move off again this time with the mercenary units moving a few hundred metres away and marching in a parralel column
Cassius nods, it was good to see that they knew the roman military maxim " march divided, fight concentrated " he thinks

they are making about 14 miles a day and it isnt more than a week before a small group of the equites ride toward the column

" general, captain Vitelius requests that you ride forward to investigate something strange " one says
Marcus looks across at cassius then back to the messenger " how far ahead is this happening?

" about three miles hence sir "

" captain Quintus, bring the men to forced march pace if you please " calls Cassius

" aye sir " come the reply. the general, his twelve bodyguards and Marcus ride forward following the equites

the equites, being lightly armoured were the fleeter horses, and easily rode ahead of the others, they slow in a large clearing with a dense forest to their right, a stone field to their left and some elevated rolling hills in front of them
Cassius looks around at the terrain first, the stone field was probably previously used as a quarry or stone working area, there were enough boulders and smaller rocks to make it dangerous for cavalry
the forest to the right was dense enough to render cavalry useless

" a good spot " Cassius thinks " useful if they needed to fight a defensive battle

ahead is a grass clearing leading to the hills, the rest of the equite unit are waiting at the foot of the hills
the general spurs his horse towards the equites, as he ride he notices large areas of the ground that appear to be covered in blood, then he notices some pieces of roman armour and weapons, and even a few limbs laying around, a small number of bodies laying around each with their heads cleaved or smashed
" this is obviously the site of a not too long past battle " he says
" aye sir but all is not right here " replies Vitelius
" how so " asks Cassius turning in his saddle and looking around at the area " apart from the limited number of corpses "
" its the corpses i speak of sir, look " Vitelius gestures to one of the men who dismounted and uses his foot to turn over one of the bodies
" by the gods " exclaims Cassius, horrified at the sight, the corpse was rotten and maggots had fallen from one of the eye sockets this man looks to have been here for some time, was this battle fought on a previous battlefield

" all of the bodies here are in the same state " replies Vitelius " there is a lot of spilt blood here general, there should be a far larger number of bodies "
Cassius looks around at the clearing " i want this area thoroughly searched, look for any survivors or at least any fresh roman bodies "
as he says that the main body of his troops came into view, Cassius glances upwards, the sky is grey and overcast, the light would be gone in a couple of hours, they had better make camp nearby for the night. He turns to meet the incoming troops

" captain Quintus, we will make camp here for the night, have the engineers erect pallisades (*1), i do not trust this area "
" aye sir " Quintus replies and marches down the length of the column barking orders

the engineers immediately gathered their equipment and begin erecting the generals tent
Marcus and Vitelius ride over to Cassius

" captain, have your equites watch over the engineers while they work " orders Cassius before walking over to the tent and sitting on the ground near a small fire that had been lit, Marcus dismounts and sits on the other side of the fire

" do you sense it also? this place feels wrong somehow, it is as if the land had suddenly been cursed "

" it is indeed as if the gods have abandoned this place " replies Cassius " listen, do you hear it ? "
Marcus cocks his head and listens intently " i hear nothing but the wind in the trees " he says with a puzzled look on his face

" precisely " says Cassius " only the wind in the trees, no sound of animals, no birdsong, no noise of any kind save that made by the men, there is great evil at work here my friend "

" when the pallisades are erected, i have something that may help us both to sleep more soundly " replies Marcus
" i am uncertain if Hypnos himself could help me sleep soundly in this accursed place " comments Cassius " but what is this surprise you have? "

" a moment " Marcus says, and stands in order to walk over to one of his archers and issues a few curt orders, then he turns and walks back to accompany Cassius by the fire
in a short time two archers came running over carrying four large leather sacks, marcus nods for the men to drop the sacks beside Cassius who reaches over and opens one, he looks up with a smile " a good idea my friend, these may prove themselves very useful. it may be wise to deploy these caltrops (*2) around the pallisade tonight, they can be collected in the morning before we move out "

the engineeers and equites had developed a system to make the work go faster, some of the equites would remain astride their horses to keep a look out for any enemy trying to launch an ambuscade, others had dismounted and were helping the engineers with cutting trees and branches, others were loaded with three or four posts and ferried them back to the camp

within three hours the encampment had a four foot wooden pallisade around it which just as well as twilight was approaching thought Cassius who ordered that the caltrops be spread around the edges of the walls and across the clearing ahead of them, that would be the most obvious place for any attack to come from. |The enemy would either be caught on the caltrops or impaled on the staves around the palisade

the men had been busy erecting their tents and shelters, now they sat down around freshly lit fires and began to prepare meals. the sound of laughter reaches Cassius’ ears and he looks across the camp as a man he recognises as Wotanus runs awkwardly toward a small rock

a voice rings out from amongst the men " it seems you were right after all, Wotanus is as full of shit as you say" this brings roars of laughter from some of the other men in the group
Wotanus heard the comments but at this moment he needed to empty his bowels, he must have eaten too much of that roman food "
he arrives at a smallish rock and hoists his tunic, he sits and the relief on his face is evident
but he had made a basic mistake, he had not checked the area before squatting, he had not seen the severed head nestling against the rock, he had not seen its eyes snap open as the warm flesh of his buttocks had neared its rotting face

a shout of pain rings out across the camp and cassius stands and places his hand on his sword hilt, he looks across at the direction of the sound, in the fading light he can just make out Wotanus furiously stamping and jumping on something

a couple of men run over to see what the commotion is and, by the time they arrive he has stopped crushing whatever it was and is alternately looking at and holding his upper leg
as Cassius watches, one of the men recoil in horror at what he sees, he is intrigued enough to walk over, Marcus wasnt far behind him

" what is it " Cassius demands " what causes you to rouse the camp so? "
"it bit me " Wotanus whimpers " it bit me, how could it do that? "
Cassius looks at Wotanus, who is wide eyed and beginning to panic " what bit you, get a grip man, what happened, speak clear "

" a head, a head bit me, how could a head bite me? " Wotanus’ voice was raising and it was evident to Cassius his sanity was begining to desert him
"" stand to man, control yourself " he orders “ severed heads do not generally bite people "
Cassius looks around, some of the other men had arrived to see what the commotion was about and Cassius could see Wotanus’ words were making them uneasy

" it bit me i tell you " Wotanus says as he raises his tunic, clearly showing teeth marks in his flesh
" you must have just squatted on it and its teeth dug into your flesh? " Marcus says hoping to allay the fears of the men
" go, see the medic, get some balm on that wound " adds Cassius
as Wotanus moves off and the other men follow him Cassius reaches out and holds Marcus’ arm " stay a moment "
when they were alone, Cassius points down at the now crushed skull " notice anything?
" apart from the rotten flesh on whats left of the face, theres not much left to inspect " replies Marcus looking closely at the bloody mess at his feet

" look again Marcus, the blood is dark, this is not freshly spilled, and the angle of the head would not imprint the teeth into that poor fool like the wound suggested "
" then this is an attempt for him to be medically removed from the front line you think " asks Marcus " from his reputation he could be capable of deviousness like this "

" in this case i do not believe this is his doing, there was genuine fear and terror in his eyes " replies Cassius

Marcus looks at his friend sharply " what you are suggesting is impossible, surely even the gods with their cruel humour would not empower a severed head to bite "

" we shall see Marcus, i have a bad feeling about this mission and what we shall find at its end"

as night falls, Cassius makes sure sentries are posted and that the camp is secure, he had sent the equites off to camp deep in the forest, if they were attacked at night he wanted them to ride in from behind the enemy, they were secure enough amongst the trees, should anyone approach their camp the horses would alert them

those who could sleep, slept, those who couldnt tossed and turned fitfully throught the dark hours
it was well past midnight when Marcus gave up trying to sleep, he rose and dressed then went outside to take the fresh air
he is surprised to see Cassius already sitting at the fire again " you could not sleep also? "

" what man could sleep in a place like this without fearing his very soul to be taken while he slept "

they sit in uncomfortable silence, each straining to hear every noise, staring at the dark in case they should see something
suddenly a scream rings out, Cassius grabs a flaming branch from the fire and holds it aloft, the scream becomes a series of hoarse shouts, then silence
Cassius walks across the camp and Marcus falls into step beside him, they stop at the tent used by the medics who comes out unsure what to tell the officers

" speak man, what is this commotion " Cassius demands
" it is the prisoner that was earlier injured " the medic replies " the wound though not deep has become infected and he is wracked with fever, i have never seen the likes of this ailment before, its onset is so swift, and worse, he keeps muttering something about severed heads biting, he appears to be deep in a delirium "
" can you quiet him for now " asks Marcus " his screams will alert any enemies nearby and unsettle our men "
the medic looks over at Cassius who was his commanding officer, not this mercenary upstart
Cassius nodded to the medic indicating he should speak freely
“he is quiet for now i have given him a draft of mandrake and opium, he should sleep for some hours "
Cassius nods at the medic and turns away
as they walk back to the warm comfort of their fire Marcus asks " so do you believe this head bit into that man? "
Cassius looks at Marcus with his eyes lowered " at any other time, in any other place i would laugh at the thought of such things marcus, but here, now, in this godforsaken land, i do not know what to believe "

Marcus looks shocked, to hear such a thing from one he knows to be firm of beliefs, clear of thought and ordered of mind and gives him pause to wonder if the strain is becoming too much for his friend
" it would have been as well had Wotanus not crushed that thing almost beyond recognition, then we could have at least seen for ourselves what manner of thing it was " commented Cassius

they had barely made it back to the tent when there is a loud commotion coming from the direction of the forest, they both take off at a run. as they approached the low wall of the palisade they can see the guards peering intently over the wall looking as far as they could into a deep dark forest
" it must be the equites sir " reports one of the wall guards
" indeed, have the men come to arms but stand ready only, we will not be lured out into the dark only to fall prey to an ambuscade " says Cassius " the equites will have to look to themselves this night, i will risk no more men "
by now other soldiers have arrived at the wall carrying flaming torches, still they could see nothing moving amidst the treeline. they listen as the sound of horses braying and men screaming gradually becomes fainter, then finally silence.
the soldiers stood ready for combat for over an hour but nothing untoward happened
Cassius instructed his officers to keep half the men at readiness while the other half packed away the tents and collected their equipment
Cassius watched the activity with Marcus standing beside him " dawn will break in an hour. we should be ready to move as soon as the light becomes favourable, the more distance we put between us and this accursed place the better"
" indeed " said Marcus " this is truly an accursed place "
" Marcus, as soon as the light begins to break, send four men to investigate the equite camp, have them report directly to me, no one else "
" it shall be done " replied Marcus

in the early morning gloom, four men slip quietly out of the makeshift camp gate, there is no sound to be heard as the vanished into the dense trees
the camp itself is still a hive of activity as the men load the pack horses and ensure their weapons are ready for combat, most expect that this day would see them in battle
a shout rings out from the treeline, followed by one of the guards ordering the voice in the trees to move forward slowly and be seen
four figures emerge cautiously and are waved forward by the guard, they enter the camp and make their way directly to where Cassius and Marcus are standing awaiting their report
" sir, the equites are gone, there was certainly a battle of some kind but we found only one body and she was not from the unit, much of their equipment lays upon the floor as though discarded "
Marcus looked at Cassius ashen faced
" describe the area " ordered Cassius
" the ground is covered in blood, there are weapons and armour scattered about the place, the embers in the fires are still hot to the touch, other than that the only sign of a battle there are the bodies of the horses sir, they have been torn to pieces as if by wild beasts "
Cassius thought for a moment " thank you, report back to your units " he ordered
the men quickly moved away leaving marcus and cassius looking at each other, both wanting to say something but neither daring to
" huns " came a shout from the guard at the makeshift gateway
" battle formation " orders Cassius as he and marcus run toward the gate, swords drawn and ready " archers, with me "
as he arrives at the gates Cassius looks up to where the guard was pointing " horse archers " he murmered to himself
" archers, on my command, bring them down " commands Cassius
" general wait " says Marcus " look, their bows are slung, they are not attacking "
Cassius looks closer, Marcus is right, these archers pose no threat, and there were only seven riders, too small for an attacking unit"
" archers, hold fire but stand ready " he orders
the riders are at full gallop as they approach the camp " romans, flee if you value your worthless lives, or stay and pray to your gods they take you swiftly, the devils are not far behind us "
with that, the riders spurred their horses onward and ride around the camp and off into the distance
there is a muttering from many of the men, what was this talk of devils they wondered
" silence in the ranks " Cassius ordered trying to stop further unease " remain at battle readiness "

Cassius walks over to Marcus " old friend, whilst this is a hateful spot in which to fight a battle, i see little choice in this matter, it would be unwise to break camp and be caught in the open unprepared, at least here we can narrow the attack and have some small defences "

Marcus looks at him " agreed, if we can channel the enemy towards the gate area we may have a chance to do much damage "

" captain Quintus " shouts Cassius " join us if you would "
the captain comes running over to where the two officers are standing
" we will make our stand here where our flanks have some protection against any cavalry charges " Cassius saays to Quintus " use any remaining caltrops either side of the gate, i want the hoplites to the front, hastarti behind them, then the archers, the velites will manouvre along the walls and use their javelins to reduce the opposing armies numbers as they approach "
" aye sir " snaps Quintus and immediately moves off, barking orders as goes
" it seems that today we will meet our enemy face to face " commented Marcus

" so it appears, i find myself hoping for a new powerful enemy, though i suspect we may be facing the hordes of hades itself "

an hour passes then two and still no sign of the enemy, Cassius had allowed the men to relax but to remain in their formations then a shout rings out " figures atop the hill sir " calls a guard
Cassius looks up at the figures, there are about ten people, no twenty , now thirty or more.
" to stations " he orders

some of the figures on the hill have noticed the encampment and a low sound emerges from them, a unearthly sound thought Cassius, a mix of a snarl and a deep moan. some of the figures begin lumbering toward the camp, Marcus watching them intently " general, that does not appear to be a military unit, there are women and children amongst their number "

" refugees maybe " replies Cassius
" no i do not think so, look at how they move, uncoordinated and ungainly, maybe they are indeed affected by some strange ailment, i do know they carry no weapons "

Cassius looks again at the now onrushing rabble of people coming towards them Marcus is correct, there is not a sword or spear to be seen
Cassius also notices something else " Marcus look to the left, those men are in roman armour "
" legionaries " noted Marcus " but why are they now with these people? "
" unknown, " replied Cassius " but here they come "
Cassius turns to his men " hoplites.... form phalanx " he orders
immediately the hoplite unit spread out into a line of men four deep, they lower their sixteen foot pikes so that it forms a wall of points and brace themselves
" hastarti, pillums at the ready, archers, fire at will "
Cassius then faces his men, " stand fast men, whether this day we will return to rome in glory or have songs sung in our memories depends upon you, let us show them the folly of making war on romans "
there is a chorus of ayes and low cheers as Cassius finishes speaking

the first of the onrushing figures arrives at the spikes of the hoplite pikes and doesn’t stop, impaling himself through the upper right chest on one of the points, others follow, one slips on the iron spikes embedded in his feet and the spearpoint runs through his neck and out through the rear of its skull, the horde doesnt stop and those impaled are pushed further onto the pikes by the others behind them, soon the weight of the impaled on the pikes is too much for the hoplites, they drop them and draw their short swords
the first line of hoplites move forward hacking and slashing at the enemy

Marcus watches with incredulity, the caltrops are effectively penetrating the feet of the onrushing enemies, yet they seem not to notice, nor are they being dissuaded by the spear points and swords, they just keep advancing, he looks up and to his horror he realises he can not see the crest of the hill, it is swarming with more of these people, there must be thousands approaching them "" Cassius " he says and point at the hill top
as Cassius watches the clearing ahead of them is becoming cramped by the sheer number of approaching foes . wave after wave of arrows flew over the heads of the men at the front line and dozens drop on the hills as the arrows rain down again .body after body drop as the velites loose their javelins,
yet Cassius could not see many bodies laying around, surprising considering the number of hits they were taking
as he watches the bodies on the hill side who had been hit by the arrows rise up and continue forward
captain Quintus runs over to Cassius " sir, though it is hard to conceive, we are facing an unholy foe, they do not stay dead, i personally have seen a man bearing three arrows in his chest impaled on the end of a sword and yet still he came on "
" is the front line holding? " asks Cassius
" aye sir, but not for long at this rate, many of the men have taken bites from these creatures "
Cassius thinks for a moment " how do you kill a seemingly unkillable foe " then realisation dawns upon him, of course, curse him for the fool he was, he should have seen it sooner
" men " he shouts" aim for the heads of these beasts, crush the skulls, velites, stop throwing and stab at their heads instead "
Marcus looks over at him " you see an answer to this conumdrum "
" aye " " remember the bodies we examined before, all had had their heads destroyed, they must only be vulnerable at that place, maybe the brain has to be destroyed "
" i have another idea also if i may general " replies Marcus

" archers " Marcus calls out " use fire only, aim only at the densest parts of the enemy formation "
a chorus of ayes ring out and the archer on the left of the unit lowered his bow and ran along the line lighting small fires for the archers to use.

the slaughter at the front line continues, the hoplites and hastarti pushing onto the mass of creatures, now that they are hitting and destroying the heads the bodies are starting to pile up

flight after flight of flaming arrows puncture the sky before dipping down and burying themselves in either bodies or the ground, some of the mass burst into flames and thrash about wildly in a forlorn attempt to douse the flames others simply ran past them and ignited themselves that way, the smell of roasting flesh wafts over the battlefield

the group of prisoners that had been held in reserve till now are ordered into the fray, the Bastarnae, with their large heavy bladed weapons that could easily cleave a man in two rush in and start swinging wildly, a flurry of arms, legs and heads are thrown across the area as they move forward, the prisoners, though a small group in size do much damage to the enemy numbers until they are inevitably overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the creatures.

the hoplite unit wavers and routs, but as soon as they turn their backs to the enemy they are brought down by the creatures who swarm all over them, biting, scratching and tearing at their now bloodied flesh.

the bodies piled at the right side of the gate are so numerous that the other creatures are able to use them to get to the top of the palisade walls and begin dropping over and into the camp. Cassius is aghast to see a man, ablaze, sporting an arrow in his chest, another in his gut and two more in his legs charging towards him, Cassius brings his arm back and as the figure rushes toward him, mouth open, rotting teeth exposed and snapping open and shut, Cassius thrusts his gladius straight into the things face, the sword penetrates cleanly and exits the rear of its head, the thing drops and lays still.
Cassius places his foot on its chest in order to extract his sword, it is then he realises this was once a member of the unit of equites lost in the forest

there is a shout from behind him in the camp and he and Marcus rush over to intercept whateve had got behind them, the the scream had come from one of the medics, Wotanus had biten him in the forearm and the medic rushed outside whilst the other medics struggled to keep Wotanus pinned down
" Marcus, stay on the line, keep those things from entering the camp or we are all lost " said Cassius, who then joined the medics who soon had Wotanus under control with his hands lashed behind his back and his feet tethered to one of the tent poles

he lay there snarling and gnashing his teeth but powerles to do anything with them, one of the medics spoke to Cassius " sire, look at his eyes "
Cassius placed a foot on its head and leaned over to get a better look " by the gods " he thought, " the eyes were yellow in colour, nothing like any eyes he had seen before "

" you will place a sackcloth bag over his head and you will tell no one of what you have seen here, do you understand? " Cassius instructed the medics " remain here and try to keep him , it, alive at all costs, the senate must see this for themselves, should we survive this onslaught "
" aye sir " came the reply
Cassius rushes from the tent and back to the frontline at the gate, and sees Marcus wading in with his sword crashing down upon the heads of the creatures.
the battle rages for hours, and is so intense that once the archers see no more figures coming over the hills they drop their bows and pick up whatever they can find and wade into the melee

eventually the clearing is emptied of the enemy horde, the only ones moving are those that have had legs or torso`s amputated
Cssius wipes the blood and sweat from his face and orders the remaining men to go amongst the bodies to ensure they move no more by thrusting spears or pikes into their skulls
" the days bloody business is done, my friend " said Marcus " we have faced the hordes of hades and survived to speak of it "

" none will speak of this until we report back to the senate " snapped Cassius

a few hours later the deed is done, those in the fields and around the gates and walls would threaten no more, Cassius orders the remaining men to muster
when all the surviving men had assembled in front of Cassius, he looked around at them " so many men dead " he thought to himself
" the gods have seen fit to take many of our comrades this day, they shall not be forgotten, we shall sing their names with honour and pride, but we shall do so amongst ourselves only, none shall speak of what happened here today, any man caught doing so will have his tongue ripped out and will suffer greatly before death reaches out to him, now, we move out in one hour, those who need treatment seek it now, the rest will break camp and prepare to march out "

just before they were ready to move, one of the medics came over to Cassius " sir, many of the wounds we are seeing are bites as well as gouges and scratches "
Cassius looked a the medic " then tend them and hurry about it, we must reach Samarobriva as soon as possible "
Marcus interjected " no general, i think i know what this man speaks of "
" then speak it clear, i desire to remove myself from this place with all haste " said Cassius
" remember Wotanus " said Marcus " he too suffered a bite which became infected, then he changed into whatever he is now "
Cassius looks at Marcus solemnly " you know what this means? "
Marcus shakes his head sadly " i do my friend and i do not like it one bit "
" nor i " said Cassius " but this curse must be forever lifted from this land "
Cassius face is ashen at the thought of what has to be done, Marcus notices and says " general, you have enough to do, i will take care of this matter "

Marcus orders the medic to move all those bitten into one tent and when they were all in, he walks over to his cretan archers and instructs them to prepare to fire,
a flurry of arrows pierce the tent from all sides, those inside stand no chance
Marcus is taking no chances and he orders the cretans to fire again with flame this time, the men would at least have a funeral pyre instead of rotting here in the open at the mercy of beasts. once the tent is ablaze, Marcus orders large fires to be made in the clearing and the bodies of the fallen to be thrown upon it

Cassius is uncompromising on the march back to Samarobriva, he has the men at forced march paced almost the whole way, they do not stop at night, risking a devastating ambush by the local tribes
and by the end of the fifth day of marching they arrive outside the gates of Samarobriva. Cassius orders his men to make camp outside the city walls and away from prying eyes.

Marcus having been ordered into town by Cassius arrives at the magistrates office where he finds the magistrate and a few others talking. At Marcus`s appearence the magistrate dropped his flagon and stood up
" do not waste breathe asking questions " said Marcus " none will be answered, now , the general wishes you to arrange boats to transport us back to Rome with all haste " and with that he turns and leaves the office without another word



general Cassius, Marcus, captain Quintus and the surviving sixty two men from the battle and a few senators are gathered in the dimly lit room just off of the senate floor. one of the senators moves towards the soldiers
" after much deliberation, we have decided on a course of action on this matter " the senator nodded over at one of the guards by the door, who leans out and speaks to someone, a minor official comes into the room carrying a chest which is then opened and a number of small leather pouches handed out to all the men except Cassius and Marcus

the senator speaks again " for your services to rome we award each of you one thousand denari, on condition that each of you swears to never speak of this again "
the men look at each other and many smile
as the pouches were being given to the last of the men, the remaining senators approach them
" this was a terrifying experience for you men " says senator Marius " it has been decided that your knowledge would serve rome well, the ninth legion will be stricken from all records, there must be no trace of it for future genrations to find lest some enemy gain knowledge of these events and attempt to use this plague against us, let the history of the ninth legion be forever a mystery "

Cassius bristles " sire " he exclaims
" i know general, but hear me out first before you raise your objections "
Cassius opens his mouth to say something then thinks better of it
Marius nods and continues " as i say the ninth legion will simply disappear into the mists of time, you men however will have a new unit "
Cassius looks intently at the senator
" the ninth legion will hereby be renamed NEX VEXILLUM (* 3 ), it will operate under a cloak of secrecy and directly under the orders of the senate, its mandate will be to vanquish this plague wherever in the empire it may strike "
Cassius spoke up at this " sir, with due respect, an outbreak like this occuring outside of the empire will still pose a threat to rome and its citizens, the greeks have an old saying "
after the war, make alliances

Marius looks at Cassius approvingly, " that issue is under debate as we speak general, it seems to me this is one matter that affects all of us, agreements might be reached with the other nations, that we may confront it outside of the roman borders and prevent its spread “ Marius paused before saying " we will invite others to view the specimen you returned to rome general, the anatomists have dissected it and made numerous observations that should be shared with our allies, and maybe even our enemies. now general, take your men and rest, in the next few days you will have to select new men for your unit and the training methods you will use, and may the gods bless you and your future endeavours "



(*1) a pallisade is a series of wooden posts placed into the ground to form a small wall, at equal distances apart the posts were sharpened at both ends and placed at an angle so the point faced outward from the wall

(*2) a caltrop is a small iron device with four points, when thrown, one point always faces upward, used to channel enemy infantry into smaller areas and especially useful against horses , camels and elephants

(*3) nex vexillum ( latin ) meaning = death troopers
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