Aulos Klaudyos inadvertedly crumpled the scroll holding his formal orders. He cursed by the twelve and carefully straightened it out. Damaging the scroll while unrolled risked corrupting the entwined copy. He needed to keep his family out of this. Any document showing that he would act under formal orders would be vital to them.
He yelled for a slave to ring the assembly bell. His shame for having to give the order aloud confirmed the wisdom of doing so. He straightened himself and his face. In a purely military sense his orders made sense. They had to deny the revolting natives passage to the ports on the southern coast. What it took to make that happen was the right decision. He kept telling himself so and would proceed to tell his officers.
----------------------------------------
Titos Khravnaghaizaz listened for Liviya Metella, his new deputy, ordering the noon rest, while keeping the war golem, whose extensive back he’d been riding on, fully powered. He pondered his orders. He didn’t dislike them, for that would require understanding them. On the surface they were clear enough. In fact they were ridiculosly detailed, not even leaving the choice of people, let alone the units to be detached, to him.
„Boss, she is on her way“ warned Ekho, his old deputy, now third in command. He decided to let her climb up to establish dominance right away, at the expense of chivalry. Causing a pregnant woman to climb a golem still seemed churlish to him, even after a decade in the armed forces.
Yet, in an unclear situation at least the chain of command had to be clear.
She addressed him as commander stressing his role as her direct superior rather than using his rank, circumventing the oddity of a mythic branch officer given an independent command. For operations in the field the manual permitted that. Was that tact or just insecurity on her part as well?
„We have reached the last camp before the Long Wall. We are close enough to reach the fortress in a forced march today.“. Was that a test or did she know more than he? Well, she was a telepath. Of course she knew more. Was it relevant? He decided on the conventional answer „No, that would require a forced night march. Our orders are clear. We are to proceed at the best speed compatible with taking no undue risks to the force. Proceed at standard pace and order a halt at the standard hour for a fully fortified encampment.“. Did her face express approval? Impossible to tell with those southern women who have dedicated their lives to the order of Remus.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
----------------------------------------
The great aircruiser Glory of Persepolis proudly led the fleet on a spiral course taking them above the weather layer. The most experienced helmsman of its squadron made sure to stay over the emitter grid to climb without depleting the internal reserves of the fleet.
On the ground people stared at the display of imperial power. Many a mouth hung agape. A few drivers failed to control the animals pulling their carts. In one case a stand for caramelized hot fruit left unserviced for too long caught fire.
In the Reman embassy the safes holding papers became hot to the touch and the ambassador pondered the philosophical question how akin to suicide purposefully wiping your memories is, as he downed the potion that would erase everything not under the Seal of Minerva out of his brain.
----------------------------------------
Kaduriks rode his totem animal. A unicorn would be impractical if one intended to live in a big city. But it gave you the reserves to extend your aura over a camp. The invaders would not read their minds.
They took great care to camouflage the earth they removed by digging firing pits. Enchanted dummy shots were used to let the catapults be calibrated to fire into the place the enemy would be forced to stop at. The archers put fresh poison on their arrows and their black witches and druids cursed as many arrows as they could.
----------------------------------------
Ekho put her hand on his shoulder. „I think you’ve passed her first test“ she mused. „Indeed“ he replied, only to continue „The question is, the first of how many. I cannot blame her. This command should go to a combat engineer. Or an archer. Or an infantry officer. Or, for the blessings of a bored god, even to a logistics officer, if the general is expecting a siege. Short of a naval officer or a cavalry officer, I am the least obvious choice, leaving aside the question of status.“
She looked at the kenturyo of the somatic archers crewing their war golem, who did her very best to stare straight ahead and pretend that she had heard nothing. Ekho could sense that she had reached the third level. Thus she could hear a cricket fart, if she concentrated. Unusual for her rank. But you have to accept tact when it is offered. „Maybe you are the only one he could spare? Or you will do until Klaudyos arrives“ she volunteered. He just chuckled and replied „Thank you for the confidence. But it is not an answer. He is sending Klaudyos after all, just inexplicably slowly. I know that we are so unlucky that all our teleporters have been ordered to handle the Sarmatian trouble. But Klaudyos could still ride.“