Chapter 17

Trading City of Vicenzo

“You are being highly unreasonable!”

“And you are being an ass!”

And you’re all subhuman…

Dennis watched the men argue in their local tongue and kept his thoughts to himself. The legionnaires on their side of the wall were silent, of course. The looks of trained watchdogs standing by, their teeth not yet bared. Spears on hand. Ready to attack. Just not yet.

But the legates…

“You failed to burn the city down, Octavius! You hear that?!”

They killed thirty of your people.

“You should consider it a mercy!” Sulla barked back in mild frustration as Octavius did not reply.

Rhodes had not bothered asking him to translate yet. It just wasn’t worth the effort at the moment and it was painfully obvious. Half smiles on the faces of the legates as they traded shouts; not quite like the officers of the twentieth century.

What would be worth the effort is…

Dennis eyed the obvious target on the field. Octavius was also silent. He watched from a little further back while Sulla continued to bark away. He saw the pair of marksmen that had him in their crosshairs. He could see their index fingers as they kept themselves just off the trigger. But of course, they could not shoot just yet.

The man was still holding up a shield over his head.

Oh, the round, be it from the M1903’s .30-06 or his M16’s 5.56 NATO, would have no trouble cutting through it and the human flesh and bone that harbored the general’s soul. But this was how men opened peace talks in this world. It was the equivalent of a white flag. A sign to pause the fighting momentarily.

Dennis watched the man with disdain but forced it all down to maintain his calm and professional exterior.

It was all a facade now.

I’m tired…

“They’re still going back and forth on the dick-measuring?” Rhodes asked.

“Yes, captain.” Dennis replied, forcing the thoughts away.

“Well, maybe that girl will talk some sense into them.”

Huh?

Dennis heard the galloping and turned. He saw the girl hop from her horse and rush up the ramparts. Without any armor. Behind her, two of her bodyguards wearing armor and carrying large shields kept up just barely. She stood ramrod straight next to Legate Marcius and immediately cut him off.

“Are you men laying down your arms?!” she demanded in anger.

Sulla paused, as though startled by the presence of the emperor’s daughter. Dennis watched as the man appeared to struggle with himself slightly for a brief instant. But then he spoke as though nothing was wrong.

“Your attacks last night did little damage, highness. If your intent was to break the Imperial Army then I am afraid you underestimate your people.”

Dennis saw the girl scoff as she added “If that is true, then why are you here asking for terms?”

“We are not asking for terms, we are offering-”

“Lies!” Again, Parthea Traianus cut him off, “Your men tried to burn the city down! You harmed Imperial Citizens! You have betrayed The Empire! You and that bastard over there!”

“Highness, the fact is-”

Parthea ignored him and started yelling in the direction of Octavius, “I told you to wait until my father learned I was here! Has he contacted you, yet?! Has he been informed at all of my presence in the city?!”

Sulla tried, “The orders he gave-”

“You shut up, and you answer me, Arminius Octavius!”

Dennis rubbed at his eyes with a faint hope it would ease the throbbing veins on his forehead that made his head feel heavy.

Rhodes asked, “What is she yelling about?”

“Princess is trying to argue her peace case again, sir. Emotionally.”

Rhodes sighed.

Sulla loudly said, “Highness, we are willing to give the citizens a chance to evacuate-”

“They have nowhere to go! You’ve burnt the fields and it will take some of them too long to get anywhere safe! And I gave you explicit orders not to attack!”

“And I warned you it was treason!”

Dennis turned his gaze to Octavius. The man kept his shield up high as he called out in anger, just loud enough to be audible despite the range. For a man who was in the latter half of his life, he appeared no weaker than the average legionnaire.

“The city of Vicenzo must burn, highness! Those are my orders given by Emperor Traianus and they overrule yours! You have seen the threat at hand. If you wish to burn along with the traitors then so be it!”

“Is that what you’ll tell my father?!”

“If I must! You have been warned for the last time!”

He lowered his shield then and quietly moved his horse back behind the safety of the hills

“No shoot!!!” Parthea suddenly shouted at the marksmen in blatant English.

Dennis winced and Rhode’s eyes went wide, the pair of marksmen turned to them, unsure suddenly. Parthea turned to him and spoke in Latin again.

“That bastard will hang by our laws! Please let him be for now.”

Dennis translated in as neutral a tone as he could manage, which was just enough. Rhodes rubbed the back of his head but did not argue.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Governor Lucretius has also made a decision to order all civilians to move to the larger buildings in the city. It should be easier for your men to defend this city that way, no? More spread out, less damage?”

Translate.

Rhodes appeared pensive for a second before speaking.

“On the one hand, the AA guns should have the range to cover most of the city if we can lift them up on those rooftops, which the Major’s guys are already doing. But fewer civvies in the city might help if they try to drop those firebombs again.”

Then he simply said, “Tell her we won’t interfere.”

He did.

Parthea smiled, as though pleased not with the results but with herself. She whirled around with a hop in her step, as though she’d won some great victory there. Her guards sighed in relief as they began to move back down with her, keeping their own shields at the ready.

Above them, the distant rumbling of helicopters became detectable. Dennis turned and could just see the newly arrived Chinooks escorted by UH-1s.

“Orville, let’s head back. You could use some sleep, right?”

Dennis only said, “Yes, captain.”

The city’s population was now moving every which way. Dennis thought back to the movies he’d watched with social unrest, The War of the Worlds once again coming to mind, but this was nothing like it. In The War of the Worlds, there was fighting, killing, and overall bedlam, but here they simply moved quietly. Almost wordlessly, they gathered a few things and walked down the dusty roads. No complaints that he could detect, though the tired looks of acceptance spoke more of it.

He and the other troops heading away from the outer walls kept their distance as much as possible, sticking to the walls, and close together. None spoke to them. There wasn’t any resentment that he could see. Tired gazes, perhaps reluctant acceptance. As though their lives might end soon and they all simply accepted it. Or at least for the most part.

An older man was yelling at some legionnaires. The pair of men explained why they could not simply leave the city. The man seemed like the only one truly struggling with the situation.

Suddenly, the old man pointed in their direction.

“Enemy! You are the enemy soldiers, are you not?!”

Just keep walking…

Rhodes didn’t have to order it, as the only acknowledgment the old man got was a turn of heads. Dennis, however, lowered his gaze and shut his eyes, trying to fend off sleepiness and distract from the present. It was just for a second. A vain attempt at clearing his mind as he felt a headache flaring.

Just gotta sleep a bit…

He had just opened them again when the rock hit the side of his head. His M1 helmet took the brunt of the hit, but the force of the impact still knocked his head slightly to the side and he had to move quickly to not lose his balance. He almost tripped over the uneven ground. Quickly moving his left foot over his right, he tried to stop himself before it was too late. Then the tiredness and the gear he was carrying conspired against him and he fell to the dusty street, only his left arm stopped the fall.

He turned to the man who’d moved away from the legionnaires just as all eyes turned to him.

The man laughed triumphantly, then yelled “Oh! Now you listen, eh?!”

Dennis didn’t reply and got up quickly, ignoring an outstretched hand as it was no big deal. No big deal at all. Sure, his arms ached a bit and he was sure his knees were a bit scraped, but he was not about to get into an argument with a civilian or cause a big fuss about it. The legionnaires even seemed to at least try to de-escalate. He heard them at least.

“Sir, you hit a boy that might be taken away by the wind.”

The old man then shouted, “I do not like this cowardly way of fighting these creatures brought with them! So I shall stay here and let men like these know!”

Dennis winced at his captain suddenly calling out.

“The hell happened?!”

“Old man threw a brick at the ‘terp.”

“You alright?”

“Yeah, cap’n, helmet took most of it.”

Dennis swallowed his… Was it anger? He wasn’t sure what he was feeling. Shock? Why would he be shocked? These people were still technically the enemy, were they not? This was to be expected from their civilians. It was no big deal.

He heard a few mumble disapproval from the crowd, but the old man shouted again even as the legionnaires tried to reluctantly shoo him away to no avail.

“No words?! Cowards!”

Dennis shut his eyes again before turning to eye the man as neutrally as he could. Less to glare, more to make sure the man wasn’t going to try to throw something else at him again.

He was not surprised to see the man grabbing another brick from the paved road under them. Tearing it from the ground as though he knew which were loose and which were firmly in place. The legionnaires by now had moved to stop the man by getting in between him and them, but none had touched him yet. The guys from the 52nd had subtly angled their rifles and carbines. Safeties off. Ready for use if needed.

Still, no one wanted to push more of a confrontation.

Except the old man.

The man threw the brick again, and Dennis sidestepped. Then he promptly tripped over a slightly uneven part of the road and to one knee. The man laughed, while someone yelled at him now.

Dennis was standing up, feeling his cheeks growing warm as one of the guys went up to help him up while the others began to shout at the guards. Rhodes suddenly angry, barked over it all, glaring at the local legionnaires.

“Orville, tell them to do their job, otherwise we can’t hope to protect this damned place!”

Dennis was about to oblige when a voice broke through.

“Are you alright?”

He glanced up. Then he froze.

Her words were Latin, but the way her flowing hair shifted to her shoulders caused something within him to stir.

“I apologize, he is quite worried about…” she shook her head. “I was bringing water to the men. Do you need any?”

Dennis stared at her for a half second, then stood up without a word. She was indeed carrying a large clay jar, but it was the look on her face that he tried to shrug off the most. Especially as she placed the jar down and began to walk towards him.

Dennis instinctively took a step back.

“Young man, wait!”

“Please stay back, madame.” he managed, the guys around him now shifting their attention to the older woman.

“Hey, Orville, hold on!” Rhodes interrupted.

Captain, please…

Instead, he just said, “I just tripped.”

“Yeah, sure, and these guys need to be told to do their jobs, kid!”

“Yes, of course, cap-”

“And who is that lady?”

Before he could answer, a pebble hit the side of his helmet, followed by the old man chortling again.

The woman behind him suddenly shouted “Stop it! You two, get him inside for me, please!”

The pair of legionnaires obliged, and the man was moved along.

Then she turned to Rhodes, “Does he speak our language? I can help with any cuts or scratches! I know some healing magic!”

Rhodes turned to Dennis, waiting.

“She’s one of the local healers. She’s offering her if any of our guys need it.”

“Do you?”

“I’m fine, sir, I just tripped.”

No one chimed in to disagree.

“Please do not ignore me.” the woman grumbled.

Rhodes eyed him, then the woman.

“Alright, tell her as much, then let’s go.”

Dennis internally swallowed, then turned to the woman and forced himself to ignore the knot in his throat as he politely smiled.

“Thank you, but I am quite alright. You should go take care of the men at the wall. Please.” he forced himself to add.

The woman gave him a look of familiar concern that cut too deep.

“Alright. Take care of yourself now.” She said. Her resigned tone caused the knot in his throat to tighten further. Then she picked up her water jug and moved on, giving the bald man a glare as she walked past his window where he was now staring out of without another word. The man said nothing else but went back inside with a satisfied expression that...

“What the hell is that look?” one of the guys asked.

Dennis did not reply.

He kept his gaze low, and he kept quiet as he blinked away a few tears that threatened to spill through. Grinding his teeth together wasn’t helping, and neither was focusing on the weight of his gear or making sure he didn’t trip over his feet again.

Get a hold of yourself! She doesn’t even look like… damn it all!

He felt his jaw clench tighter as he tried not to think about it.

At the palace, the grounds were occupied by a few tents now, and he expected to just collapse near one and just completely clock out. He secured his gear, laid down near a tent, not bothering to sleep inside in case he was needed, secured his M16 by clutching it like a teddy bear as he laid back against his rucksack which acted now as a pillow, then closed his eyes as the Chinooks began to land.

Sleep refused to come.