> Legion Invictus?
>  by Thylacine Nightmares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter I
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Legion Invictus?


 


By Thylacine Nightmares


 



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Marcus Ventrix Lupus, Primus Pilus of the Legio IX Hispania, stood with his sword in his right hand. The grizzled grey-haired warrior bellowed out the orders to what was left of his Legion. He had been separated from the rest of the Legion with this mixed group of troops. 

He had six Contubernium, tent groups as they were known, left. It was not many, the rest of the Legion were in a battle to save their own lives. Over the past sixteen hours they had been wittled down from their full strength of over five thousand men, not including the slaves and baggage train, nor even the Auxillaries, to just over one thousand, and now he only had direct command of a little over one hundred all up.

“<Pilus…!>” Marcus heard his name called and he turned to take a quick look after gutting the Pict that tried to take his head off with an axe. He saw a young recruit come running, he smiled as he saw the lad had a sword almost as bloody as his own.

“<Pilus…>” The lad said again as he approached, out of breath, “<A slave has found a cave we can re-group in, behind the rocks one hundred paces to our rear…>”

Marcus nodded quickly. “<Pass the word lad, fighting retreat, and if the slave survives, have him come to me once we can regroup.>”

The lad nodded and set about working his way through the ranks to pass on the word of the manouver Marcus required. He brought his shield up to break the face of an approaching barbarian and felt it smack into warm flesh with a satisfying squelching nose before he quickly grabbed another’s beard and slipped his sword into the man’s throat. Within a few seconds, but it felt like another hour, Marcus was walking backwards towards the rocks he’d noticed before.

It took them a full fifteen minutes before they were inside a very large cave, even though the mouth of it was small enough that his five foot three frame had to duck and squeeze in sideways. He noticed that as soon as they were inside some of his men had the wherewithall to bring up rocks and dirt, on their shovels, to pack the mouth of the cave to hide themselves. 

“<Sound off!>” Marcus called out as he slumped down to rest on the wall of the cave. After a few minutes he heard the last voice call out and counted out fifty seven men, not including himself. He then looked around as his eyes accustomed to the light level here.

He noticed there were at least double that number and he growled out again. “<I said sound off, that includes you lot too…>” He pointed to the slaves, and others. He got a small smile on his face as they followed his orders.

Once the count was complete he was gratified to find his numbers were closer to one hundred and twenty. “<From this moment on,>” Marcus said with a sigh as he pointed a bloodied hand around the group, “<you are ALL members of the Ninth, your status does not matter, slaves, civilians or Auxilaries, Manifex, Immunes or Tirones, you are all Legionaries of the Ninth, and…>” He glared around at them. “<By the Emporers, you will fight like the harpies of hell…>” He smiled slightly as he heard the tired cheers of the men around him.

Half an hour later he noticed the lad from before approaching him with a middle aged slave. The lad saluted him. “<Quintus Varien Aldus, along with Becia a slave, reporting as ordered sir.>”

Marcus nodded his head at the pair. “<You’re the man who found this cave?>”

“<Y… Y… Yes sir…>” The slave timidly spoke up.

“<Becia,>” Marcus gave a sigh as he smiled slightly, “<you are a member of the Ninth, and as of my orders, a freeman…>” 

Before Marcus could complete his sentance Becia spoke again. “<Primus, I am Becia, once slave of the Ninth, now Tirone, reporting as ordered… SIR!>” He gave the Primus a salute.

Marcus gave a grin, his missing teeth adding to the friendliness of the gesture. “<Yes you are lad; now, I understand that you found this cave?>”

Becia nodded his head. “<Yes sir, I used to be a hunter, sir…>”

Marcus nodded. “<Smart move, now go get some armour and weapons, and check with the other freeman, see who can fight.>”

Becia nodded and, after a quick salute, moved off towards the secondary group. Marcus once again turned to the young lad. “<Okay, Quintus, you’re now an Octio, you’re my forth in command, under…>”

“<Sir,” Quintus spoke up, “I’m afraid I’m your second in command, the others fell…>”

Marcus swore under his breath for a few moments. “<Alright lad,” he said after sighing, “you’re my number two, and from now on you’re in direct command of our scouts, find any who are like Becia, ex-hunters, and form up a Contubernium of them. Find out how far this cave goes, and also what resources we have.>”

Quintus nodded, saluted and moved off to conduct his orders. Marcus smiled as the lad started barking orders like a pro. Marcus sat back down and closed his eyes for a few moments of peace. 

Marcus was surprised when his shoulder was shook and his eyes flew open. He went to raise his sword but found it under Quintus’s boot. He gave a chuckle and looked up at him.

“<Sir, Becia Ventrix Venandi, first scout of the Ninth, reported to me an hour ago that we are not inside a cave but a tunnel, I dispatched him and a Contubernium of Legionaries to keep watch at the other entrance.>” Quintus spoke up.

Marcus nodded with a smile. He was smiling for two reasons. Firstly because Becia had followed tradition and took Marcus’s own Cogname as his own, as would all the slaves he freed, and secondly that the lad had given correct orders. “<Well done, Octio Quintus Varien Aldus,” He said in a slightly loud voice to reinforce the lad’s new rank, “couldn’t have done better myself.>” He then dropped to a whisper. “<How long was I asleep?>” He was rather surprised when Quintus didn’t answer in words but secretly held up three fingers. Marcus nodded and looked around at the group and noticed one man in three was curled up and he raised an eyebrow at him.

“<I ordered an hour rest per man, the last of them are due to be awakened soon sir.>” Quintus said swiftly.

Marcus nodded. “<And when did you get your’s?>”

“<An hour ago Primus.>” Quintus said not looking at his commander.

Marcus knew the kid was lying but nodded anyway. He remembered when he’d become an Octio, he hadn’t risked sleep for two days incase he’d fallen asleep on duty. “<Alright, now let’s see what you’ve found?>”
> Chapter II
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Marcus followed the lad along through the large tunnel, it was easily wide enough for three men to walk standing up and side by side. It took the two of them a quarter of an hour to reach where the men had been stationed.

“<Halt! Who goes there?>” A voice called out from the darkness.

“<Hades!>” Quintus called out.

“<Advance friend and be recognised.>” The same voice said and both Marcus and Quintus walked forward and saw a legionary step out of the darkness and salute them both on recognising them. 

<Report.>” Marcus said.

“<Sir, I am Antonius Lupus Vulcanus, Legionaire of the Ninth, and once blacksmith, we’ve been stationed here for the past three hours, as the Octio ordered, there’s no movement close to the mouth of the tunnel but it’s another Hades damned forest sir…>” The legionary said with a tired smile.

Marcus nodded and moved towards the entrance, nodding occasionally to legionaries he recognised, and some he didn’t, and peered out the slightly lighter darkness in front of him.

What he saw was indeed another forest but this one looked different, more wild than the last one, but in a way less dangerous. He stood there with his hand on his jaw, lost in thought, before his inner danger sense started to tickle. 

“<Alright,” Marcus said to no one in particular, “wait here while I check on things back at the other entrance, if nothing shows itself as a danger we’ll make our way outside and try to meet up with the rest of the Legion.>”

“<Sir!>” Came the reply.

Marcus turned away from the entrance and made his way back to Quintus. “<Stay here,” Marcus told the lad, “I’ll be back soon, until then you’ve got command here.>” He then smiled as the lad saluted and nodded. No words were needed between the two, orders had been given and received and that was it.

Marcus made his way slowly back towards the main group. He smiled as he came back towards them only to ‘feel’ a tingle in his ‘danger’ sense. This sense had never let him down yet, and he opened his mouth quickly. “<LEGIONARIES ALERT!>” He bellowed just in time to see the rocks start to fall away from the main entrance slowly.

Within moments all the remaining legionaries were armed, at full alert, and ready to fight. Even the most inexperienced amongst them were shielded and had their gladius out at at the ready. If the situation hadn’t been so dire Marcus would have had a smile on his face.

“<Ordered retreat, pull back through the tunnel, double quick, NOW!>” Marcus ordered and noticed his men quickly complied. He grabbed the first amongst them and whispered the watchword to him, he didn’t want any of his men accidently killed by their fellow troops. 

He waited a full five minutes as the last of the troops had passed him as he made his own way down the tunnel. He could hear the rocks falling faster behind him and soon could make up the sounds, and smells, of the Picts behind him as he jogged along the tunnel. 

Before he’d made his way more than a third of the way to the other end he could hear their footsteps behind him. By the time he’d been within fifty yards of the last of his troops he could see the light of the Pictish torches behind him.

Marcus raised his hand and motioned Quintus to get through the tunnel mouth as he thundered along towards it himself. He quickly dived out the entrance and rolled along through the forest floor until his head made contact with something hard and that was the last he remembered.