Travis Starnes
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The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 8
🕑 Added 2019-10-29 13:10:28 +0000 UTC
Seventh Legion & Ninth Legion Camps, South of Devnum
Velius led Ky towards a much larger tent in the center of the camp, which he assumed was Velius’s quarters or some sort of meeting area. Inside, eleven men were gathered, each introduced by name and their position, none of which made much sense to Ky. He hadn’t considered it yet, since so far he’d only met the commanders of legions which he’d internalized to being equal to a regiment in the ground forces of his time, although without, apparently, the larger command apparatus that he was used to which existed between field commanders and their Emperor.
Velius outlined Ky’s plan for them, which didn’t take much time considering the simplicity of the Seventh Legion’s part in the upcoming battle.
‘Could you explain how the military operates here?’ Ky asked the AI internally as Velius began explaining each commander’s responsibilities for the upcoming battle.
“Not all information on current Roman military formations is currently available. From reviewed historical documents, there is a known deviation from the organizational structure of either second century B.C.E. at the point of the deviation or the structures from the time period of the early Roman Empire. Extrapolation from reviewed historical documents suggests Roman organization structures developed on a new path adapting structures used by other nations to counter falling Roman manpower and respond to repeated Roman defeats.”
‘So the structure they have now is unique to this timeline.’
“Correct, Commander.”
“Do you have details of the current structure used in this timeline?”
“Yes, Commander. Enough information on current structures is available to extrapolate.”
‘Then extrapolate.’
“Due to manpower shortages, the largest field unit currently deployed by the Romans is the legion. From reviewed records, it appears the legions rarely work in groups greater than three and normally deploy in singles. According to the map and documents in the council of war you attended, the Romans can currently only field five legions. Each legion is commanded by a legate and reports directly to the Emperor or the senior legate if the legions are operating collectively. The legion is made up of nine standard and one reinforced cohorts and led by their senior centurions. The standard cohorts are made up of six centuries of eighty men each while the reinforced cohort has five centuries of one-hundred and sixty men, with each century headed by a centurion. The centuries are further subdivided into eight-man units called contubernium led by a decanus. The legion is supplemented by one-hundred and twenty man cavalry commanded by a centurion and which could be further divided into groups of thirty, each lead by a decurion.”
‘What about artillery’
“Romans of this time seem to use artillery only in sieges, a rare occurrence due to their defensive nature. Each cohort is assigned between one hundred and five hundred auxiliary troops who are used for tasks ranging from manual labor to skirmishing to manning artillery pieces as needed. There seem to be no soldiers dedicated to artillery itself.”
‘So, let me get this right. They use whoever is the highest-ranking centurion to lead a cohort, which leaves his century under his second in command. They have no serious cavalry and no one who’s actually dedicated to learning field works and artillery.’
“Not precisely commander. The armies at this time are primarily focused on heavy infantry with cavalry’s primary role being scouting or as mobile ranged weapons. Although enough information on artillery in this timeline is not available, the corresponding artillery in the originating timeline was limited in quality and functionality and not primarily used in a field setting. As for command structure, this is largely correct. With some exceptions in support staff for the legate such as engineering and clerical specialists, Romans on this timeline have no concept for staff officers.”
‘That seems like a poor way to run an army.’
The AI had no response to that and Ky let it drop. Velius was winding down his instructions and turned to Ky.
“Ky, anything to add?”
“No, you covered everything. Just remember you must hold them in place until the Ninth Legion can strike them. If they break through your lines, they will be able to turn on the weaker Ninth and wipe it out.”
“Good. Make sure your men have a good night’s sleep. We expect the Carthaginians at some point tomorrow morning.”
“Do you have some well versed in artillery?”
Velius turned to a man whose name Ky didn’t remember with a questioning glance.
“Sepurcius has always been a bit … overzealous when it comes to those damn things.”
“I’ll need to talk to him, next,” Ky said.
“Right. Gordianus, bring your man here. The rest of you, get to it.”
The ten men filed out of the command tent, leaving Velius and Ky along.
“I find your organizational structure very strange.”
“Really? Even after our displacement by the Carthaginians, Rome is still known to have the most professional military in the known world.”
“I’m sorry, Legate, I wasn’t implying your men weren’t professional. I just know of some other organizational structures that might be more effective.”
“Again, I’d like to hear about these at some point. You seem to have a wide range of knowledge we do not. I’d be a fool to not hear about it.”
“Maybe. Mine is all theory, however. I was a very different kind of soldier than you or your men, so my theory may not work in practice. Once this is over, however, I’ll share what I know and you and your fellow legates can decide what would work best with your armies.”
Velius gave a rye laugh and looked away.
“What?”
“One of the reasons Globulus and some of his old guard dislike me is my lack of respect for the old ways. I’m not sure you’d find many welcome ears.”
“We can deal with that when we get to it.”
The tent flap opened and a man younger than Velius ducked through. To Ky’s age, he was almost a child and not a soldier.
“Legate?” the young man said, slapping an arm across his chest and keeping his eyes downcast.
“You’re Favonius Gordianus’s man?” Velius asked, sounding as if he was harboring some of the same doubts Ky felt when he saw them.
“Yes, Legate,” he said, his voice squeaking.
“This is a guest of the Princeps who has agreed to help us prepare for tomorrow’s battle. Gordianus tells me you are familiar with our siege engines?”
“Yes, Legate.”
“Do you have something that will hurl clay jugs filled with a liquid roughly a hundred yards and keep the vessels intact on launch?” Ky asked.
“The onagers would be able to. We made adjustments to them in last season’s campaign to throw containers of Greek fire.”
“All of your shots went on target?”
“One misfired, and the container fell, catching the crew and equipment alight, but the rest hit close to their targets. I’ve been working on modifying my weapon for greater reliability and accuracy.”
“How many of those do you have in your legion?”
“Three.”
“How many in the Ninth and First Legions?”
“As far as I’m aware, the Ninth lost their baggage train in their last conflict. The First has four, my lord.”
Ky turned to Velius and said, “How much trouble would Globulus give us if we asked him for his four to be put under a joint command.”
“It shouldn’t be any trouble, Dominous,” Sepurcius answered.
Velius’s eyes narrowed slightly, aware of a context to the statement Ky didn’t understand or perhaps for speaking out of place.
Velius must have chosen to ignore it because he asked, “Why is that soldier?”
“The Fifth hardly ever uses their equipment. They don’t have anyone assigned to look after them and most the men are more annoyed having to transport them. I’ve asked to borrow parts off them a few times, and they never care.”
“Perhaps it’s best if we let Sepurcius get the equipment for us, to avoid Globulus suddenly deciding he must have them because we asked.”
Velius smiled and said, “It seems you have a very good read on the legate. Yes, that’s probably for the best.”
“Sepurcius, do you have others you know of that you could trust to man these and follow specific instructions? We also need someone who knows how to mix chemical compounds.”
“Yes, Dominous, I do.”
“Before I go to the Ninth, I will put together a series of containers for you. Velius has your orders on what to do with them, but please be aware firing short will blind your fellow legionaries and cause serious trouble for them in the battle. It’s vitally important you hit the targets Velius gives you.”
“I won’t fail you Dominous.”
“Good,” Velius said. “Go and get us the siege equipment and any men you need to operate them effectively. By my order, they are under your command for the coming battle.”
The young man smiled brightly and slapped a fist to chest again before practically running out of the tent.
“I see the men have heard of your exploits,” Velius said.
“Why do you say that?”
“The address Dominous is usually one given by slave to master. They wouldn’t call me or the Princeps that. The only reason a Roman citizen would call another man that is if he wasn’t just a man.”
“Velius, please don’t buy into the stories Ursinus and Lucilla are sharing. I’m just a soldier.”
“Sure,” the younger man said, clearly not believing a word of it.
Ky went over a few more ideas for the upcoming battle and left to begin his journey to the Ninth. Velius assigned a soldier as a guide and for protection, even though Ky assured him neither was necessary. Before he left, he talked to one of the camp engineers and found the supplies he needed to make his special packages for the artillery. That done, he headed for the Ninth, who had the hardest task for the next day and with whom he’d be spending the night.
The Ninth was camped a half-mile away and was, if anything, was much more ramshackle than how the Seventh Legion had appeared. Many of the men looked to be injured in some way and their equipment was dirty and well used. He’d been told they’d only recently returned from a fierce battle that had cost them their commander and a portion of their legion but seeing it was a different experience for Ky.
Before his trip through the bridge, combat was an almost surgical thing, where nanites would repair all but the most serious injuries and the AI could walk back a person who’d been rendered unconscious, after a fashion. Walking wounded was not a thing he was used to experiencing in his time.
Ky tried to keep a positive expression on his face as they walked through the camp, realizing from each man’s expression that they’d already begun to hear stories about him and the silly Sword of Jupiter thing. Even though he didn’t believe in it, they clearly did, and in a battle where they’d be heavily outnumbered and hoping on luck as much as talent, morale was key.
He stopped and talked to some of the men, trying to give as many as he could a word of support or hope for tomorrow’s battle. It was only when they hit the medical tent that he lost the calm exterior he’d been fighting to maintain.
“STOP!” he commanded, grabbing one of the priests before he could place a bandage on a soldier.
“What’s the meaning of …” the man started to say as he turned around, only to stop when he realized who grabbed him.
“Dominous, is everything okay?” Aelius said, looking concerned.
Ky had already tried to squash the Dominous thing multiple times, but Aelius wouldn’t stop and seemed almost aghast at the suggestion he should call Ky by his name.
“They are going to kill these men.”
Several of the priests in the hospital tent began protesting at once. They were all very respectful but clearly incensed that their professionalism was being called into question.
“I watched you pull this stained wrapping off one man, and you were about to apply it to this other man. You’re going to cause infections that will very likely kill him.”
‘How would a bandage cause his ailment to spread? We applied vinegar and honey to the wound and seal it with the bandages to keep the vapors in the air away from it.’
“While not as effective as true antibiotics or even primitive chemical disinfectants, both honey and vinegar were used to good effect in ancient times to combat bacterial infections.”
Ky ignored the AI, although once again realized the software offering unrequested opinions suggested things he would sooner not think about at the moment.
“The honey and vinegar are well and good, but if you put a bandage removed from someone else’s infection and place it on that man’s wound, it will just cancel out everything you’re doing with the honey and vinegar. The infection spreads by traveling from one infected region to another.”
“A Varroite,” one priest said to another, both giving knowing looks. “We know of Varro’s ideas, but they’ve been widely disproven. We appreciate your suggestions, but please let us work.”
“I have no idea who Varro is. I do know what you’re doing is wrong.”
“Medico, perhaps you could consider what he’s saying,” Aelius said. “I heard he took the Emperor from the brink of death to walking briskly out of his bedchambers by just placing his hand on the Princeps arm. If he can do that, I think he’s worth listening to. An avatar of the gods knows how to heal men’s wounds.”
Everything in Ky made him want to tell Aelius he had it all wrong, and there was nothing mystical about what he’d done, but keeping these men from killing more sick soldiers took priority. The priests looked at each other, considering his words and almost certainly considering both Ky’s supposedly divine provenance and his connection to the Emperor. Both religious and more practical reasoning seemed to have its effect.
“What would you have us do?” the priest asked.
“Any bandages that touch an open wound must be boiled thoroughly before being used again. The same with bed cloth, clothing, and any metal tools that might be used on a patient. Anything the injured man touches should be boiled and dried away from anything that contains bodily fluids. Continue to apply the vinegar and honey, but make sure wounds are cleaned when bandages are changed with water that has also been fully boiled for several minutes. The boiling will kill the things in the water or cloth that could cause sickness, making it clean to use.”
“So you do believe what Varro said, that small creatures are what cause wounds to fester and sickness.”
“Partially. It’s too complicated to go into now, and much of it I don’t think you’ll believe without proof. I can give you some, but the experiment I would show you will take time. Time which we don’t have. For now, please humor me. When we come out victorious tomorrow I will talk to the Emperor and teach you what I know. All I can tell you, for now, is that where I come from almost no one dies from wounds like this, most children are born healthy and live to adulthood, and neither sweating sicknesses nor the pox plague us. I’m not sure if I can make the same true for the Roman people, at least not quickly, but I can try to tell you why we don’t fear these things.”
The priests didn’t say anything one way or another, but Ky could tell one or two were listening. While he still didn’t like it, he was thankful that the AI had flashed the ideas of sweating sickness and pox to him as he was talking. He would have to look in its databases, but his guess was these were major concerns for people of this time.
Either way, the priests were doing what he asked, and large pots were being hauled to fires outside the tents to begin boiling the water for sterilization.
“Have we heard anything about the city levy that is supposed to be joining us tomorrow?”
“Yes, Dominous …”
“Aelius, when it’s just the two of us at least, can you try calling me Ky. This Dominous thing is starting to wear on me. I promise you won’t be struck by lightning or anything. I wouldn’t ask you if it was going to offend me.”
“I will try,” he said, but Ky noticed he still didn’t use his name.
“You were saying?”
“Yes. They will join us at first light. We don’t have the room to have them camp with us, and since their homes are so near, it seemed a better solution. I am concerned about their role in this. They are little more use than an unruly mob.”
“They should be up against the camp followers and rear guard. All they need to do is catch as much siege equipment and people as possible and make the road impassable. For that, an unruly mob is just what we need. We’ll hold a century back to provide them with security once our trap is sprung. If everything goes right, anyone coming back to the forest road will be disorganized and easily captured. If things go wrong, it wouldn’t matter where they would have been at the end of the day, since all of Devnum will be gone.”
“Then we should try to keep things from going badly,” Aelius said. “I believe you said you wanted to get an early start. Let me show you to your tent.”
Carthaginian Camp, Ten Miles South of Devnum
Zaracas wiped his mouth and waved for the slave to clear the food that remained.
“Excellent,” he said as he watched her picking up plates. “Bring me my wine.”
She bowed and left with all the scraps she could carry, hurrying to meet his request. They’d been well trained and knew the consequences of not meeting their responsibilities.
“My Lord,” a voice said from the tent flap. Looking up, Zaracas could see one of his personal guards holding it open, a dust-covered man standing behind him. “The scout has returned.”
“Send him in,” he said as he reached out and took the cup of wine from the girl.
Zaracas’s hand shot out, grabbing her as the scout came in, holding her in place. She froze instantly, looking up from the floor so she could see any command he would give. Releasing her, he pointed at the floor next to his table, where she knelt at his command.
Turning his attention to the scout, Zaracas said, “Report.”
“While we couldn’t get as close as we would have liked, due to the Romans putting out many more pickets than I’ve seen before, we were able to see their troops’ camps. It appears to be three legions, although one of those legions’ camps appeared much smaller than the other two. They have camped in the plains between the mouth of the forest and Devnum.”
“That isn’t a surprise. We know some of the Romans escaped that fool Arvad and warned their soldiers. It doesn’t matter; we have four times that number in our army. We will sweep them from the field tomorrow. Continue.”
“We saw no sign that they’ve called up their town levy, although I believe that is only because they are close to town. As, in your great wisdom, you said, they almost certainly know we are coming, so I expect their town levy to be in the field tomorrow.”
“Farmers and cooks. They won’t change anything. No sign of the legions they sent north?”
“No, my lord. We sent scouts two days ago riding far around the town to detect if they are marching south, but so far none of the scouts have reported finding anything. If they are marching to the relief here, they won’t be here before we can defeat these Romans, and prepare for their reinforcements.”
“Excellent. I never put as much trust in the cutpurses and oath breakers that the Governor likes to employ, but for once they seem to have come through. Of course, I have no doubt we could defeat all seven legions at once, but the great one has entrusted me with your lives, and so I must hold to the best strategy to keep this army as strong as possible. We will attack them at our strongest where they are weakest.”
The scout genuflected further, his head almost touching the edge of the rug that served as the tent’s floor.
“Your brilliance knows no equal, my lord.”
Zaracas looked pleased at the compliment and went on to his next item, saying, “What about their cavalry?”
“The first two legions have a full complement. It is unclear on the smaller legion, as they had cavalry with them, but they just arrived, and have performed no field maneuvers or training since they set up camp.”
Zaracas frowned. That was the one area his army was weak. Arvad had taken the bulk of his cavalry, many of whom had been slaughtered in the marshes and many more of which were still running or hiding in the countryside. Zaracas had already decided when the Romans were crushed, he would request Maharabaal’s permission to track down and punish the deserters. Even if the smaller legion had no cavalry, his mounted force was already outnumbered. He would need to keep his cavalry deployed in his rear to make sure the Romans mounted archers didn’t get behind him.
“Fine, Anything else to report?”
“No, my lord. Everything else is what we expected to find from them.”
“Good. Go tell your commander to feed you properly as a reward for your good work.”
“Thank you, my lord. Your generosity is the thing sung of in praise. Thank you, ohh, benevolent leader. Thank you.”
The man kept up his approbation as he repeatedly bowed, walking backward out of the tent. Zaracas ignored him, reaching out to grab the slave girl by the arm and pulling her roughly up to him.
“Now, how should I celebrate tomorrow’s triumph,” he said with a sneer.
Ninth Legion Camp
Ky had slept very little the night before, relying on the nanites to put him into a short REM sleep and ensure he was rested enough for the coming day. He’d spent most the night going over the AIs plan, looking for problem areas.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of those given the size difference between the two forces. There wasn’t much they could do at this point. The plan looked good to Ky, but his tactical experience was limited to fighter command, and he had no practical experience with ground combat to offer much in the way of critique. He did have a stray thought that if he was going to stay with the Romans he was certain to get that type of experience quickly.
Soldiers standing outside his tent came to attention as he exited. He’d tried to convince Aelius the night before he didn’t need them, but relented when the Roman took personal offense to the suggestion. They fell in behind him and followed Ky to the command tent. He found Aelius already up and dressed in his armor, his centurions already pulled together.
“How are we coming?” Ky asked as he walked in.
“On schedule Dominous. The commanders of the Seventh cavalry reported in twenty minutes ago. The city levy has begun forming up outside the camp, surprisingly most with their weapons. We’ve only had to arm a few who lost their equipment.”
“Sold’s more like,” one of the centurions said, which earned him a glare from Aelius.
“What about the Fifth’s cavalry?”
“We have heard nothing from them. I sent a runner to find out what’s keeping them a few moments ago.”
“We’ll get ready without them. The Carthaginians are starting to break camp, and we have at least four hours before their units cross the forest road. We have to be in position before they come out.”
Ky had sent his drone off to check on the Carthaginians at first light and had a current feed playing in the corner of his vision. Aelius shared a look with a man named Lartius, the head of the Seventh Legion’s cavalry, that Ky had met the previous day.
“You’ll have to trust me that I can see the Carthaginian’s movements.”
“We believe you, Dominous,” Aelius said, his skeptical tone giving lie to the confident words. “We will need to take care of the Carthaginian scouts before the Ninth can move into place.”
“I agree, Legate. Don’t worry; I’ll take care of them. You focus on getting your legion ready to march.”
“How could …” Velius started to say and stopped. “Of course, Dominous.”
Velius looked fairly unsure but didn’t argue with him, which worked for Ky. He didn’t want to spend time trying to explain his abilities.
Ky stopped to borrow a gladius, bow, and a flight of arrows from the quartermaster. His sidearm wasn’t right for what he needed to do, and he wanted to save ammo until he absolutely needed it, since there was no telling what he’d face in the future.
Ky walked out of the camp, the eyes of the soldiers on him as he walked east away from the army. He was certain they’d talk amongst themselves about what his leaving meant, but he wasn’t particularly worried about it. He’d be back with the army before the main event happened. He’d make sure to move among the troops, so they knew he was still with them. He still didn’t think this whole Sword of Jupiter thing was a good idea, but he didn’t seem to have much choice in the matter. Word had clearly already spread out among the soldiers, and you couldn’t keep soldiers from talking.
Once he was far enough out of camp, Ky accelerated, pushing his augmented muscles hard to cover the ground needed. Considering the size of the area Carthaginian scouts could be operating in, even using the Infrared or Thermal settings on the drone wouldn’t have been enough for Ky to be confident he caught all of them. Thankfully, he didn’t need to find them alone.
‘Have you identified all enemy targets?’ he asked the AI as he crossed the ridge that would be a major feature of today’s battle.
“Affirmative commander. Seven Carthaginian scouts have been identified.”
“Assign the priority of targets by the probability of escape and map on my HUD. Keep checking for more of them. We can’t let even one get away.”
Ky’s helmet snapped into place as an array of data began flashing across his vision. The take from the drone reduced to one corner of the heavily tinted visor as a map showing his position and those of the seven Carthaginians he needed to deal with before the Ninth Legion began to march. A suggested vector connected each of the enemy points together as the AI continually updated positions and how he should approach them.
The first wasn’t far from Ky. His golden flight suit altered pattern as it adjusted into stealth mode, something he hadn’t asked the AI to do. Ky added it to the growing list of things to be concerned about that he couldn’t do anything about.
He knew the scouts would be watching each other’s positions just as much as they were watching the Romans, to prevent exactly what Ky was trying to do. While Ky didn’t have time to do this stealthily he wasn’t going to be out in the open either. There was no way people from this time could comprehend, let alone expect, a hostile to partially blend into the background. Coupled with the speeds he’d be moving at, their first instinct would be to dismiss the moving patch of discoloration as a figment of their imagination. If he did it right, they wouldn’t know they were in trouble until he was right on top of them.
The first Carthaginian didn’t see him coming. He’d been staring intently at the Roman camps when Ky exploded through him, bow in one hand and sword stabbing forward in the other, his enhanced muscles lifting the man off the ground in an arc. Ky slowed enough to pull the blade from the man’s chest and then accelerated again. Partly because Ky was hard to spot and moving fast and partly because they were focusing on the Romans, Ky was able to dispatch four more before they started to notice something was wrong. This was thanks mostly to the fourth man letting out a scream as he was stabbed. Ky’s blade had gone in at an angle and missed killing the man instantly or otherwise rendering him unable to scream as he’d been able to do with the scouts up to that point.
The sixth sentry somehow picked Ky out of the surrounding fields and brought up his sword in self-defense. It was a valiant effort, but it didn’t change the outcome. Ky didn’t even bother attempting to block the weapon as it slashed down towards him, instead letting the blade slide off his kinetic shielding as if the man had tried to cut down steel. The scout eyes widened, and his mouth dropped in surprise as a blue shimmer appeared as his sword bounced off the shield. That expression would be locked onto his face forever as Ky’s sword removed his head from the rest of his body, sending it bouncing into the tall grass.
The final scout was close to the tree line and furthest from Ky’s starting point, holding the other scouts’ mounts as they had crept forward to get a look at the Roman line. He happened to be looking in Ky’s direction when he decapitated his comrade. Dropping the other reigns, he jumped on the closest horse and turned to escape.
Ky stopped running and dropped the sword and brought up the bow, pulling an arrow out of the rectangular pouch with the connected belt that he’d attached around his waist. In a single motion, he pulled the arrow back, following the muscle queues sent to him by the AI, and aligned the arrow with the provided guide path.
The arrow flew through the air, and dropped down in a smooth arc, ending exactly at the point where the arrow’s trajectory met the fleeing scout, slamming into the man’s back at a downward angle, burying itself almost to the fletching, the tip just exploding out of his stomach. The impact sent the man spinning off the side of his horse in a corkscrew motion. The panicked animal didn’t even seem to notice its falling rider as the smell of copper hit its nostrils, kicking its flight response into overdrive.
After he had the AI do one more sweep to confirm all the Carthaginian scouts were gone, Ky began an easy jog back to the Roman camp. It occurred to him that while firing the bow, the AI finally felt in sync with his actions as it was supposed to. He hadn’t realized it, but he’d started subtly fighting with the computer intelligence for control in most actions. It was so minimal the struggle had been going on at a nearly subconscious level. For whatever reason, perhaps because firing the arrow was closest to his training and experience in fighter combat, the temporary syncing up of himself and the AI brought the strangeness that had been bothering him into stark relief.
Now he just had to figure out what he needed to do about it while fighting a battle against massively unbalanced odds.
