“If we bargain once for a hostage, the renegades will expect us to do it again,” Sergeant Horus replied. “It’ll open a flood gate for kidnappings and demands.”
“Well-spoken Optio,” the Centurion said. “What’s your plan to retrieve Stylianus and to appease the Dulce Pugno. And, to punish the rebels.”
“First, I need to collect all the Night Bees,” Horus said listing the steps. “Then, I’ll need two squads of heavy infantry and.” The Sergeant stopped and looked around at Decanus Eolus. “How long to sneak into the warehouse and secure the Centurion. You’ll need to guard him until the heavies arrive and butcher the renegades?”
“Private Sisera and I will need time to slip in and secure the Centurion,” Eolus replied. “We’ll enter, pull the officer to a defensive location, and guard him. It’ll be close once we stir up the rebels. Don’t be late Sergeant.”
Alerio was shocked to be included in the rescue. He’d expected to be among the heavy infantrymen, but to be part of the entry team was a complete surprise. It apparently caught Horus off guard as well.
“Why Private Sisera?” asked the Optio. “Wouldn’t you rather have a team of Light Infantrymen?”
“It’s going to be bloody gladius work in the warehouse,” Eolus admitted. “Sure, I’d like a squad with me but only two men can slip in silently. Once it gets hot, I’ll need a swordsman with me.”
Chapter 51 - Preparation, The Hallmark of Legion Raiders
Alerio followed Ceyx Eolus to the armory. When the Armorer bulked at Ceyx’s request, Lance Corporal Eolus reached across the counter, grabbed the man, and shoved his chin into the wooden counter top.
“Armorer. My Centurion is being held captive,” Ceyx said between clinched teeth. “Your Centurion is wounded and being treated by a Doctor. Assassins are hunting your Optio and a Decanus of the Guard. I’ve had an extremely long day and I still have to pay a social call on a warehouse full of blood thirsty agitators.”
The Armorer mumbled something, but Ceyx wasn’t done. “All I require is for you to tool together two sword belts so they fit the broad back of Private Sisera,” he said. “I haven’t the time to run over and ask Corporal Thornernus to come and ask you nicely. He’s rather busy organizing two squads of heavy infantry. So, will you make the rig? Or do I knock your teeth out and go find someone more willing to help?”
Despite the beefy arms and the weathered hands on the big man, the Armorer seemed intimidated by the lean, Light Infantryman. ‘Was it the overwhelming force and the steady flow of words?’ pondered Alerio. ‘Or was the man convinced once he heard the entirety of the situation?’
He didn’t have time to think further about the Armorer’s motivation. Alerio was dragged to the back of the tent. While standing in the midst of hanging leather and metal armor pieces, shields, straps, and belts of all sorts, the Armorer snatched sword belts of different sizes and shapes and piled them at Alerio’s feet.
When he produced a short, curved knife, Alerio was worried for a second. But the knife wasn’t for him. The Armorer laid belts over Alerio’s shoulders, adjusted them then carried the belts to a work bench. There, he sliced off sections until the straight edges of the belts had curves and notches.
After another fitting, the Armorer pounded in rivets to permanently join the two sword belts. When he finished, he slid two gladii in the sheaths and held up the finished cross harness.
“I don’t see a reason for carrying two gladii,” he said as he fitted it over Alerio’s shoulders. “You can only use one at a time.”
The hilts hovered just above Alerio shoulder blades. After knotting a strap across his chest to secure the harness, Alerio reached back and easily drew both swords. He carefully inspected the blades.
“They’re fresh from the metalworkers,” the Armorer said with pride. “You’ll not find a ding or a rough spot on those blades.”
Alerio whipped both gladii in a circle before aiming the tips over his shoulders. One went in on the first attempt. Ceyx stepped up and helped guide the other into its sheath.
“Practice putting them away later,” the Veles NCO instructed. “We’ve got business in town.”
Private Ireneus met them outside the Armory. He had two dark colored, hooded cloaks draped over an arm.
“Wido is scouting the warehouse,” he said as he placed a cloak over Eolus’ shoulders. “We’ll meet up with him three blocks from the building.”
He laid the second cloak over Alerio’s shoulders and commented, “A dual rig. Haven’t seen anything like that before. Don’t see the reason. You can only use one gladius at a time.”
Private Alerio and Lance Corporal Eolus jogged after Private Ireneus. The three passed two squads of heavy infantrymen. As the left stomp, left stomp faded, they swept through the main gate and flipped up their hoods.
Chapter 52 - Three Blocks Out
“It’s three blocks from here,” Decanus Wido explained. “They’ve placed guards at the entrances, the corners of the warehouse, and on the roof patio.”
“Do we fight our way in?” asked Alerio.
“Spoken like a true heavy infantryman,” Wido teased. “No. The roof patio has an interior ladder. That means there’s a landing above the warehouse floor. We don’t know if it’s a complete floor or just a landing. In either case, it’s your best chance of gaining entry and surprising the renegades.”
“And how, pray tell Lance Corporal Wido, do we get to the upper floor? Fly?” asked Ceyx.
“There’s a street vender booth at the southwest corner,” Wido explained. “The booth has a substantial roof built over the alley. From the roof, you can reach where the clay bricks are set back a course. Not much foot room but, it’s claimable.”
“What about the guard at the corner?” Ceyx asked. “If you start killing too early, you’ll ruin our element of surprise.”
“How many guards on the roof patio?” Alerio asked interrupting the skirmisher NCO.
“No more than two will bother you,” Wido promised. “Optio Horus sent me two squads of Archers. They’re hidden on the roofs of buildings across from the warehouse. Once you call out, the patio will become a kill zone. As far as the guard near the booth? I’ll distract him.”
Decanus Wido pulled a wine skin from his side, uncorked it and squeezed a spurt across his face. “Instant drunk,” he announced. “Everybody needs to have a drink with a fun loving drunk. When you’re ready Lance Corporal Eolus.”
Chapter 53 - The Rebel Warehouse
Alerio watched as Decanus Wido staggered down the center of the street. A soft tune, unevenly whistled and slurred, emitted from his lips between squirts of vino.
“Yo, friend,” he mumbled as he approached the guard. “It was a good catch and I’m celebrating. Have a drink with me.”
“Go away,” the guard whispered. Obviously, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself or his duties.
While waving the wine skin around, Wido jingled a coin purse on his hip to show his earnings. Once he was sure the thug had seen the bulging coin pouch, he shrugged, spun too fast and almost fell. In order to keep his balance, he stumbled to the other side of the street. There, he leaned against the wall.
As the drunk with the heavy purse slumped, the guard looked around. It was too easy. He pulled his knife and deserted his post.
Ceyx tapped Alerio on the shoulder and the two men moved forward staying in the deep shadows. As Wido sank to the pavers, he rolled over on the coin purse and began snoring loudly. The guard leaned over and shook the drunk. As he busied himself with trying to roll over the large, passed out fisherman, Ceyx and Alerio reached the low roof of the booth.
The covering was only head height and the two-man entry team easily vaulted to the top. With cautious steps, they crossed to the corner of the warehouse. A hip high ledge created where the thick lower wall ended, left a one brick wide shelf.
Ceyx placed a hand on Alerio’s shoulder and stepped up with his left foot. Slowly, he brought the right foot around
and placed it on the ledge. Shuffling his feet and hugging the wall so closely he scraped his cheek, Ceyx inched along until the fingers on his right hand curved around a hole in the brick face.
There were three openings in the upper wall. These allowed air flow into the warehouse at night and released heat during the day. The cavities were circular with a diameter of thirty inches. Above the openings, the wall continued upward creating the retaining wall of the roof patio just a few feet above Ceyx.
While Ceyx could easily slip through the hole, he worried about two immediate issues. What if the big Legionary didn’t fit? What if he couldn’t cling to the shelf? If Private Sisera fell, it would tip their hand and their task of getting silently to the Centurion would fail. With his finger cupping the edge of the air hole, Eolus reached out with his left hand.
The second issue resolved itself. Ignoring the outstretched hand, Alerio stepped up on the ledge without assistance. He shuffled rapidly until Ceyx had to move further down so both men could use the opening as a hand hold.
When Alerio was too young to remove stones from the fields or to construct walls, his father would lift him to the top of a finished section.
“A well stacked wall will stand for centuries,” the elder Sisera would say. “Just piling up loose rocks and it will fall in a season.”
Alerio would walk each course and tell his father where a stone rocked or slid. His father would dutifully reset the stone so the wall rose solid and strong. When Alerio grew older and could participate in preparing the fields, he would lay a course of newly dug up stones, jump up on the wall, and walk it to test for stability. The brick wide shelf on the warehouse wasn’t a problem for the surefooted farmer’s son.
Ceyx pulled himself up and into the air passageway. He needed to get a view of the warehouse’s interior. If required, they’d scoot to the next hole to find the second-floor landing. It was dangerous but not as dangerous as falling two stories to the warehouse floor. The plan was for him to peek and find out where the landing was located.
Alerio watched as the Veles set his hands on the passageway and pulled himself up. First one elbow vanished into the hole then the other. A kick of his legs for momentum and Ceyx shimmied into the air shaft. Suddenly, all of Ceyx’s body was swallowed by the dark passageway.
Shuffling rapidly so he was directly under the hole, Alerio got a grip and pulled himself up. Where the NCO had fit easily, Alerio needed to place one elbow over the other. Raising up on his elbows, he lifted his torso high enough for his shoulders to slip into the round opening. Keeping the high profile, he walked with his forearms while dragging his lower half into the circular air vent.
The dual sword rig scraped against the upper section and his forearms left a trail of skin and blood on the rough clay bricks. A shout sent a charge through his spine and Alerio rushed to catch up with the Veles.
“For the Republic,” Ceyx bellowed. “For the Republic.”
Alerio, still in the tight round opening, repeated the yell to alert the Legionaries outside the warehouse. The assault on the storage building had commenced with one man in the building and another still in the air vent. It wasn’t the plan.
Chapter 54 - A Rescue and a Prisoner
Lance Corporal Ceyx Eolus held his gladius and a curved dagger out at waist level. Three Greeks rushed towards him. The two bodies lying at his feet and the two behind him were the reasons for his hasty entrance.
When Ceyx reached the end of the passageway, he first noticed the solid wood flooring. A partial second floor extended from the wall and the legs of a ladder to the roof rested off to his left. The wood flooring extended out for fifteen feet and ended at a railing used for observing the storage space below. To his right and near another wall, an opening in the planking gave access to the warehouse floor below. The top of a ladder jutted through the hole.
Upon peering into the warehouse from the end of the vent, his first emotion was relief. He and Alerio wouldn’t have to heel and toe it on the narrow ledge to reach the next air passageway. His second emotion was horror.
Speckled Pheasant, the rebel Captain, had a knife in one hand and was pulling on Centurion Stylianus’ ear with the other. It was obvious the renegade leader was going to saw off the ear. Whether to show his resolve when he demanded the Night Bees or because he was a sadist, didn’t matter. Ceyx reacted by yelling and jumping from the passageway.
The leader of the revolution released the ear and danced back. For a fat man, Speckled Pheasant moved fast. He avoided Ceyx’s gladius but the two holding the unconscious Centurion were standing close to the wall with no room to retreat. Plus, their hands were busy holding up the limp Centurion. They weren’t quick enough to drop the Legion officer and draw their weapons. Ceyx’s blades slashed and stabbed. The men were still falling when Ceyx turned to face the rebel Captain.
The revolutionary commander was screaming for his guards and stepping back. One moment, he was upright, the next he tumbled over a chair. In four steps, Ceyx had the tip of his blade at the obese Rebel’s throat. Encouraging the Captain to stand and move with the point of his knife, Ceyx guided Speckled Pheasant back to where the Centurion lay. The hilt of his gladius swung around and the pummel connected with the temple of the Renegade leader’s head.
That’s how two unconscious men ended up beside the Light Infantryman. The three rushing towards him had come from the roof patio. He’d have to have a talk with Lance Corporal Wido about his ineffective placement of the archers.
Right now, Ceyx faced three armed men, and from the sounds, more were climbing the ladder from the warehouse floor. And there was no sign of Private Sisera.
Alerio reached the end of the passageway and scanned the scene. Two men were down, and based on the amount of blood, dead. Two others were crumbled in a pile. One displayed bruising on his face, chest, and arms. The other was fat and wearing a gaudy vest encrusted with multicolored stones. Decanus Eolus was standing beside them with a gladius in one hand and a wicked looking knife in the other.
The three, armed men were five paces from Ceyx when Alerio launched himself from the passageway. It would have been heroic for him to land on his feet in front of the Greeks. It would have been, except, his heels collided with the top of the passageway. He was in mid jump when the bump flipped him over.
Ceyx crouched with weapons extended ready to meet the charge. At four paces and closing fast, it was going to be a short and deadly encounter. The Veles didn’t have much hope of surviving. Then, the big body of Private Sisera flipped over his head and crashed, back first, into the three rebels.
The three men toppled over as if someone had tossed an oversized sack of grain at them. In this case, the sack was a dark cloak and it came up swinging elbows, fists and knees. Ceyx stepped forward and carefully stabbed between the flurry of flying limbs and took an agitator out of the fight. Alerio gained his footing and stood. One Greek’s head received a Legion stomp. The other caught Private Sisera’ weight in his sternum from a dropping knee. They wouldn’t be getting up.
“Nice entrance,” Ceyx teased while tilting his head and looking askew at the young Legionary. “Kind of reminds me of a circus tumbler I once saw. Except, he landed on his feet.”
Before Alerio could reply, rebels began streaming up the ladder from the warehouse floor. He reached over his shoulders and pulled both gladii from his back.
“I’d love to stay and reminisce about the circus, Decanus Ceyx Eolus,” Alerio said as he swung the swords to loosen up his shoulders. “But I’ve got to go and save your life again.”
“What do you mean, again?” Ceyx replied. But he was speaking to the young swordsman’s back. Alerio had already turned to face the ladder and the first of the rebel’s reinforcements.
Chapter 55 - Fight in the Warehouse
Five thugs leaped from the ladder and spread out. It was a good strategy. One at a time and they’d be cut down. Attacking in line would allow them to swarm the two Legionaries.
Ceyx was m
id step in following Alerio towards the fight when Speckled Pheasant moaned. He couldn’t leave an enemy combatant in his rear, so he stopped. Plus, he needed to guard the access from the roof.
While he rushed to cut lengths of cloth from his cloak, Ceyx watched in frustration as the young Legionary shuffled forward, alone, to face five armed assailants. Right away, he judged Sisera’s opening move to be a mistake.
Alerio held his gladii together with bent arms as if he were preparing to offer the weapons to the Renegades. The Legionary slid his left leg far out-front putting him off balance if attacked from the side. And his flanks would certainly be attacked when the men enveloped him.
Ceyx’s fingers fumbled with the knot as he bound Speckled Pheasant’s hands. Once they were secured, he rushed to tie the Captain’s legs.
The rebels faced a young man holding two swords outward with one foot extended out in front of the rear foot. His feet were a ridiculous distance apart with the front knee bent as if he were about to do calisthenics. Seeing the odd stance confused the five and they hesitated. When Alerio’s swords parted at a less than impressive rate, the renegades simply leaned back to avoid the moving tips.
Ceyx watched the unorthodox stance and his heart sank at the halfhearted opening swings. Maybe, he thought, it had been wrong to bring such a young, inexperienced Legionary on the rescue operation.
Suddenly, Alerio’s right leg whipped forward. As it passed the bent left knee, he flicked the swords an inch forward and nicked two of the gangsters. The right foot continued on its path and kicked the center rebel in the chest.
Air expelled from the man’s lungs as he flew back. Another agitator at the top of the ladder only managed to see the arrangement of the fighters on the second story before the flying man landed in his arms. Both fell screaming to the warehouse floor below. Another, climbing the ladder lost his grip when the falling men clipped him. He ended up hanging precariously from the side of the ladder with one hand. The flow of reinforcements stopped as the man fought to regain his grip on the rungs.
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