So far, the third and fourth line had remained unengaged, but the front was steadily approaching our position. They’d be on top of us very soon. Things were about to get very messy. Another messenger arrived as more and more bodies fell to the ground in front of me and the 9th moved into position on the right.
“Centurion,” he panted, “the left has been hit hard and the men are rapidly falling back.”
I looked to the left past the 1st cohort, and saw staggering lines and wavering troops. Things were definitely not going as well as we’d hoped, and I couldn’t see past them to find out what was happening with Caligula’s men. I couldn’t help but think this whole thing might have been a big mistake, and that our plans had failed the day Santino and I failed to set the explosives along the walls of Rome.
I looked to Nisus, waiting impatiently for my orders.
He was keeping his calm, but he knew he had to pull this thing together before it fell apart completely. “Go,” he said to me. “Find the breach on the left. I will take the 1st and 7th to assist.
I nodded, before glancing over at Helena. “Ready for this?”
She tilted her head to the side and met my eyes. “I am, but remember…”
“No dying… I know.”
“Right. Let’s go.”
We peeled away from the 1st cohort, and ran behind their lines as fast we could. We passed between the 7th cohort, receiving cheers as we did so before we came face to face with the grim reality that was the 8th cohort’s fate. Its line wasn’t only breached but being annihilated, chopped down by a swarm of Praetorians, and I quickly knew why.
Behind them, high on his black horse rode Claudius, sword and orb in hand, shouting orders, his anger and charisma driving his men forward.
Even so, he wasn’t the problem right now, and I focused my attention on the troops.
Just as with the 2nd cohort only ten minutes earlier, the Praetorians had crashed into the gap between the cohort segments. Unlike before, they exploited it far more effectively and had pushed aside the halved cohorts beyond the point where they could help each other. There might have been forty Praetorians standing within the gap, effectively surrounding the 2nd.
Placing myself thirty yards from them, I dropped to a knee and started pouring fire into the gap. I counted two dozen men go down, before I had to reload. A new magazine in place, I pulled out my second grenade and readied to throw it. Helena was still firing her P90’s larger mag, while simultaneously readying a grenade of her own.
The Praetorians noticed our intervention in their small victory, as did Claudius. He immediately recognized me, and pointed his sword in my direction and yelled. Many men turned away from the legionnaires they were fighting and started running towards Helena and me, completely exposed and alone. I primed the grenade and chucked it in their path, and Helena quickly followed suit with hers.
The grenades detonated just as the first men passed by them, obliterating another dozen or so from their ranks. There seemed to be an endless stream of them funneling through the breach and I knew it wouldn’t be enough. I kept up my fire from my kneeling position, reloaded, and spent one of my last magazines as they came within ten yards of my position. Then I froze when I saw them nearly upon us, having no idea what to do.
The training drilled into my skull during the past winter completely abandoned me. Hesitation in the face of impending death was an interesting feeling. It wasn’t something I was familiar with, and because of it, I couldn’t even attempt to help myself. All I could do was wait for the inevitable as I squeezed my eyes shut.
When it didn’t come, I felt my fear turn first into confusion, before it turned into fear again. When I peeked through my right eye, I saw hundreds of spears flying over my head. It took me a second to realize these spears hadn’t come from the enemy, but from a maniple of the legion’s 3rd cohort, who had been ordered to secure this position as well. I got my senses about me in time to see three Praetorians running at me, survivors of the pila barrage. No time to pull my shield from my back, no time to think, no time to run, when the first Praetorian lunged at me, my Special Forces training finally kicked in, and I immediately reacted to the threat.
Still kneeling, I pivoted away from the man’s sword thrust, grabbing his sword arm in one motion. Using his forward momentum against him, I stuck out a leg, tripping him to the ground, while using his fall to pull me to my feet. Mid maneuver, his sword brushed across my forearm and opened up a nasty gash there, right where the last one had healed after escaping Rome.
Helena was not going to be happy.
The motion that threw him to the ground, and brought me to my feet, had so much momentum behind it, I nearly stumbled alongside him. With a little luck, I kept my balance, and turned to face my opponent, who was still lying with his face in the grass. Just as he started to twitch, I put a bullet in the back of his head.
I looked frantically for Helena, and quickly found her standing over the remaining two opponents, her shield at the ready. The bodies had a cluster of neat bullet holes in their chests.
Apparently, she hadn’t panicked.
How embarrassing.
I turned back towards the gap in our lines, only to find it still there, and another wave of Praetorians running at us. I sighed and pulled out my sword and shield, slinging Penelope behind my back, waiting for the onslaught. I was so distracted by my own doom and gloom that I barely noticed my saviors from the 3rd cohort rush past me. As they ran past, I knew I wouldn’t have to fight this battle after all. The one hundred and sixty legionnaires met those few remaining Praetorians, and started pushing them back towards the hole.
I fell to my knees and dropped my equipment, gripping my forearm.
Helena calmly walked over, knelt beside me, and gently inspected my arm. Shaking her head, she pulled out yet another bandage and began wrapping the wound.
“You really need to stop getting hurt,” she told me matter of factly.
“I know, I just…”
“You have a shield for a reason.”
“Yeah, but…”
“They help stop swords.”
“But…”
“No excuses,” she said, tightening the bandage to punctuate her order.
I groaned slightly under the pressure. It always seemed to hurt more when she was fixing me up.
“You are relentless,” I said smiling up at her as the pain resided. “It must be why I…”
I was interrupted by even more commotion. I turned to see the legionnaires nearest me looking to the far left, pointing with expressions of shock on their faces. I followed their outstretched arms to see both loyal and rebel Praetorians still pounding against one another. I also saw Santino and Vincent, running randomly throughout the battle, sticking together and using their rifles only against immediate threats. I saw Wang near the rear, working on a man who already had his left leg amputated. I had no idea where Bordeaux was.
The only thing exceptional enough to draw the attention of the entire legion had to be Caligula. He and his cavalry bodyguard unit had crashed into the enemy’s line, and were steadily and smoothly chopping away at the enemy Praetorians, who were in complete shock at his reckless bravado. Claudius noticed as well, and moved to meet the challenge.
This must have been the sign Caligula had told us to look for, and Helena’s expression confirmed my theory. She pulled me to my feet, and we ran to join Vincent and Santino, who were trying to make their way to Caligula’s side as well.
“How much ammo do you have left?” I asked her, as we pushed allies to the side and sidestepped corpses.
“Half a mag, but a full load for my pistol. You?”
“Pistol’s fresh, but only one mag for my rifle, and I’m saving it.” I had already shouldered Penelope, and pulled out my Sig.
After Caligula had gallantly charged forward, his Sacred Band had kept its U-formation, trying to follow in his wake. Normally, it would have been fruitless, but with Santino and Vincent helping out, they were moving through. Once Helena and I joined only a minute later, our Praetorians had effectively pushed the enemy’s left flank aside, and were wheeling around, trying to get behind the enemy Praetorians who were still systematically destroying the XV Primigenia. The legion was probably a bit below half strength at this point and could use our help as soon as possible.
