Trajan had been
scouting in the woods of Gaul with two of his
Praetorian guards when they heard noises of men coming close to them. They were obviously drunk as they were
yelling loudly; but that didn’t make them any less dangerous. Trajan had to use his instincts to tell him
where the attack would come from. He
heard footsteps in the distance. He put
his ears to the ground and recognized about twenty men coming their way.
He signaled silence
from his two praetorian guards, then told them to hit the dirt. He wanted them to think there was only one
Roman here.
IF they had known
whom they were fighting these Gauls might have turned back right where they
came from. But Trajan looked like a
regular soldier—chest plate shielding his body; studded iron helmet; gladius
blade; and two javelins—rather than the emperor that he was. His captains had told him that he shouldn’t
go on scouting missions with only two guards, they wanted at least a century to
go with him, yet he knew if he had done that they would have left traces that
they had been there; and it was vital that they held the element of surprise. If the Gauls knew three roman legions
were in the area they would likely retreat and try to sweep around onto the
supply line; at least that’s what Trajan would have done. He made it his business to stay a few moves
ahead of his opponent, and if he could do that victory was that much
closer.
When Trajan saw
them within twenty meters of his position he made it known that he was there by
banging the edge of his blade against his armor. The Gauls all stopped and started whispering
to each other. Trajan didn’t know the
language that these warriors spoke, but he could sense they smelled blood, they
wanted to fight; and that’s just what Trajan wanted as well.
The first move came
from the Gauls as they spread out and encircled him. They were making sure Trajan didn’t have a
route of escape.
They must think
me mad for not running.
He was very
confident. He planned out the battle in
a way that would give him an advantage.
He had the Praetorians, the best soldiers Rome
They slowly stepped
closer, waiting for Trajan to run—but he never did. Trajan held off a smile; he was going to take
them all down; and that would be one less raiding party to disrupt his supply
lines. The Gauls weren’t strong in
direct attacks, they lived off hitting and running.
One of the Gauls
didn’t think Trajan had seen him out of the corner of his eye. He tried to
sneak up behind the emperor. Trajan
waited for just the right moment then rested his hand on his javelin, turned
around, and threw it into the head of the Gaul standing a mere ten feet away.
The Gaul lost all control over his body and
hit the ground. The others, not
surprised by this, continued to close the distance with Trajan. He grasped his other javelin and threw it at
the man he thought was the leader; he hoped that by taking this man out the
others might not immediately retreat when the Praetorians showed
themselves.
The javelin pierced
the Gaul leader’s chest, he groaned in agony
and fell to the ground. Trajan signaled
and the two hiding Praetorians jumped up; each had a javelin ready and threw
them towards a pack of Gauls. Two more
Gauls were hit in their chests and fell quickly to the ground. Four down.
The others showed courage and charged the Romans. Two more javelins were thrown by the
Praetorians one striking a Gaul in the leg and
the other narrowly missing another.
Trajan realized
that they couldn’t be allowed to retreat and give the rest of the Gauls news of
the arrival of the Roman army. He knew
if that happened his plan to surprise them would be gone. So with fury he charged into the heart of the
group, blade in hand. “Emperor!” One of
the Praetorians sworn to protect him yelled out. “Emperor this is not the time for
heroics.” The Praetorians charged to his
sides watching his flanks as he cut down Gaul after Gaul . He used his blade skillfully, but the Gauls
never wavered.
He saw one of his Praetorians fall and then killed before he
could do anything about it. This
obviously disturbed the other Praetorian and he rushed to Trajan’s other side
and decaptitated the Gaul . Just then, right when Trajan’s survival was
in jeopardy, he heard a sound he had never heard before; and saw a light he had
never seen before. Whatever it was he
dropped his blade. The second
Praetorians looked at him then at the light.
Trajan looked back to the second Praetorian as the light washed over
him.
It was like he was
being pulled through time in some mystical gateway. He didn’t believe in visions or in dreams
pointing to things in life; what he believed in was that men believed in what
they needed to believe in. And he didn’t
waste his time on such thoughts. But the
moment the light enveloped him he began to wonder if he was being punished for
his pagan views on the world.
“Red Athens needs new leadership,” Edgar Willow said to the
old lady, “we need a new direction for the city, and that isn’t something the
old Houses can bring. If you vote for me, to be next military consul, I’ll not
only stop the Italian Communists from taking this city…I’ll rebuild what they
destroyed across this planet.”
“And what
experience do you have?”
Edgar knew she
would ask this question, this being the twentieth house he had come to he had
been asked the same question in half of them.
“I used to be a tank gunner for the Confederation, then I moved my way
through the ranks. I understand what
happens when politicians try to be generals, I was a private once, I know how
to speak to and handle the common soldier..”
“But the Dorians
are like the Kennedy’s back on Terra. Do
you really think you can beat James?”
“I don’t just think
it, I know it. Sure, Dorian has more
money than me, but I think I can work with the other houses better than he
can. And that means progress for the
city.”
Edgar Willow was running to be the next military consul of
Red Athens. He knew this office was the
most powerful on the planet, next to the leader position of the powerful
Italian Communists. He promised to take
the war to Green Sparta and the Italian Communists, to break the siege, to end
the gang wars between the Black Dragons and the Tygers. But on this day he was running for the
office, if he wanted to do anything to help his people he first would have to
win. His main challenger was named James
Dorian, a member of the powerful Dorian house.
Edgar was a citizen
common on Red Athens; he wanted to make a difference. He didn’t stand out in a crowd; didn’t have a
high IQ; often quit on projects that he started; but none of this mattered to
him—he had to think he could do it if he was going to have a chance.
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