Cranggggg!
Screams and shouts came from the siege walker. Even withtheir thick shields between the legionnaires and the bolts, some of theprojectiles still managed to find their marks. The rebels reloaded and aimedagain.
The initial wave of bolts had been like the first lightningstrike of a thunderstorm. One man in the lead caterpillar took a shaft throughthe eye as he adjusted his shield; he dropped, creating a gap in the formation.As the second rank struggled to get a man into the space, another wave of boltsprompted more screams and cries of alarm. A third wave, and the greenlegionnaires were faltering in the face of such deadly fire. Julius and theunder-officers shouted orders to steady them while tightening up theirformation.
Back in the third crawler, Gwendyrn saw the first takingpunishing hits from the tower. “Hold up, men,” he called out. “It’s time wepaid those rebels back with this baby.” He patted the ten-pound ballista beingpushed along beside him by several men. Behind them, other men pulled the smallammunition sled for the sleek machine. “Let’s give our lads some supportingfire, shall we?”
The artillery crew quickly hauled their weapon intoposition; the rest of the men under the third siege caterpillar formed aroundit, protecting it while the crew assembled the destructive device. Only a fewbolts were launched at them from the tower; the defenders were concentrating ondecimating the closest siege engines.
Finally, the gunner cranked back the holder and the loaderplaced the explosive projectile into the groove. The gunner raised his hand.
“Step out!” called Gwendyrn. The men in front quicklysidestepped, leaving an opening for the weapon to shoot through.
The artillery commander adjusted his charge, aiming down thecrosshair sights to adjust for distance, then fired. The wires vibrated with adistinct tunggg, throwing a black sphere through the air. In a beautifulshot that would go down in the XIII Germania’s annals, the explosive sailedover the defenders, through the shattered base of the tower, and detonated. Redand yellow flames shot from the dark opening, accompanied by a wave of shrapneland a brief drizzle of red liquid and body parts. Screams and shouts echoedfaintly over the sizzle of the flames against the steel and stone walls.
Seeing the destruction, the men in the first caterpillar raisedtheir explosive plumbatae and launched a second, devastating blast ofexplosives at the defenders, wreaking more havoc. Gwendyrn watched as thecenturion’s men charged, eager to dish out some retribution on the remainingrebels. Finally dropping the protection of the siege crawler, they ran forwardat full speed, hacking down any enemy survivors. A short time later, a singlefigure waved his hand at the other caterpillars.
Mustering his men, Gwendyrn ordered them forward to jointheir comrades at the foot of the tower.
~ * * * ~
Julius led his men three abreast through the large openingat the base of the tower. Low fires smoldered inside, barely illuminating thelarge, dimly lit space and casting looming shadows over the blackened walls.Men cursed as they tripped over unseen objects on the ground. Julius called fora light, any light, to show the way. Finally a legionnaire brought forward ascavenged lantern, and Julius turned it up to full strength-revealing a charnelhouse. Dead men and dismembered body parts lay everywhere. The smell of deathhung heavily over the place. Several men began to dry heave. Wiping his ownmouth and taking a drink of water to settle his stomach, Julius pushed his menonward, thinking, I’m fortunate I don’t have much left to give. Thelonger they stayed in this place, the worse it would get.
Moving quickly now, the first demi-cohort charged up thetower stairs. Foot by foot, the 13th Cohort fought its way up the tower. Eachfloor became a miniature battlefield as they went toe to toe with the remainingrebels. Several of the legionnaires began using plumbatae warheads to helpclear the rooms by unscrewing the warhead, quickly opening a door and chuckingthe warhead as hard as possible inside, and ducking back, hoping that thewarhead would detonate.
The last bastion of resistance succumbed after a desperatesword fight, with new centurion Julius leading the way. Although not a swordmaster, Julius at least had the rudiments down. His opponent, apparently theleader of the rebels, was a thin man who handled a broadsword like he’d neverused one before; in fact, he looked almost incapable of hefting the largeweapon. Julius advanced on him as his companions spread out, taking the fightto the enemy.
Surprising Julius, the leader ducked behind a ballista,heaving it around toward the oncoming men. Tunnngg! The machine bucked,but the untrained rebels had forgotten to load the weapon. Abandoning theartillery piece, the man advanced, swinging his sword at Julius, who took the blowon his raised shield. The sword sank several inches into the wood and steel,the force of it nearly wrenching the safeguard out of his hands. Arm numb,Julius backpedaled, avoiding another swing.
The man flailed away at him, taking large, predictable swingsthat were quickly tiring him. A glance around confirmed for Julius that therebels were all but eliminated. A moment later, the last vestiges of resistancecrumbled as the few men left fled onto the battlements.
“Give over, man, it’s done,” Julius called to the leader.
The rebel grunted and wiped sweat off his brow beforehefting his massive sword once more. “I’m dead either way,” he growled, andcharged.
Julius parried, ducked another blow, then stabbed with hissword as he had been taught in basic training. Short, chopping strokes drovethe man back one more time, until Julius got right in his face with his shield,pressed forward, and sliced. The sword slid across the man’s chest. Dark redblood welling from the deep gash, he collapsed, sword clanging onto the metalgrating beside him.
Trembling, Julius took a deep breath. He cleaned his swordon the dying man’s tunic, whispering a hasty apology. Sheathing his sword, helooked up to see Gwendyrn’s squads arriving.
“Didn’t leave any for us?” Gwendyrn asked, looking around.
“There are plenty left, if those other gate towers are heldby the rebels. Take your men along the wall. I’m going to try to get in touchwith headquarters. It seems the rebels were using the wireless set here in thetower,” Julius replied. “My tech man was killed; do you have someone who canwork it?”
“First sending my men out to do the dirty work, now stealingmy techie. Instead of senior centurion, perhaps your title should be seniordelegator?”
Gwendyrn had stepped over the line. The mood in the roomcooled, as men turned to watch the confrontation between their officers.Sensing the mood shift, both Julius and Gwendyrn stared at one another. Juliusheld the panic inside his heart in a tight grip, refusing to let it show on hisface. Finally, the junior centurion twitched as a bead of sweat trickled downhis temple. Gwendyrn blinked.
“Well, if you’re too lazy to go over and figure out what’shappening at the gate, I suppose I can find one of my men to lead your squadsfor you, Junior Centurion,” Julius said. “Perhaps you will be one ofthose men, if you cannot find the courage necessary to lead your men.”The challenge hung in the air, with only the sounds of distant fightingproviding a soundtrack to the tension in the room.
Gwendyrn finally spoke, the words sounding as though theywere dragged from the pit of his stomach. “No need to get all testy, sir,I’ll lead them.” He jerked a thumb back at one of his men. “Klautus here willhelp you contact the tribune.” He gave a sloppy salute. “By your leave, sir,I’ll be taking my men out.”