The Praetorians noticed our intervention in their small victory, as did Claudius. He immediately recognized me, and pointed his sword in my direction and yelled. Many men turned away from the legionnaires they were fighting and started running towards Helena and me, completely exposed and alone. I primed the grenade and chucked it in their path, and Helena quickly followed suit with hers.
The grenades detonated just as the first men passed by them, obliterating another dozen or so from their ranks. There seemed to be an endless stream of them funneling through the breach and I knew it wouldn’t be enough. I kept up my fire from my kneeling position, reloaded, and spent one of my last magazines as they came within ten yards of my position. Then I froze when I saw them nearly upon us, having no idea what to do.
The training drilled into my skull during the past winter completely abandoned me. Hesitation in the face of impending death was an interesting feeling. It wasn’t something I was familiar with, and because of it, I couldn’t even attempt to help myself. All I could do was wait for the inevitable as I squeezed my eyes shut.
When it didn’t come, I felt my fear turn first into confusion, before it turned into fear again. When I peeked through my right eye, I saw hundreds of spears flying over my head. It took me a second to realize these spears hadn’t come from the enemy, but from a maniple of the legion’s 3rd cohort, who had been ordered to secure this position as well. I got my senses about me in time to see three Praetorians running at me, survivors of the pila barrage. No time to pull my shield from my back, no time to think, no time to run, when the first Praetorian lunged at me, my Special Forces training finally kicked in, and I immediately reacted to the threat.
Still kneeling, I pivoted away from the man’s sword thrust, grabbing his sword arm in one motion. Using his forward momentum against him, I stuck out a leg, tripping him to the ground, while using his fall to pull me to my feet. Mid maneuver, his sword brushed across my forearm and opened up a nasty gash there, right where the last one had healed after escaping Rome.
Helena was not going to be happy.
The motion that threw him to the ground, and brought me to my feet, had so much momentum behind it, I nearly stumbled alongside him. With a little luck, I kept my balance, and turned to face my opponent, who was still lying with his face in the grass. Just as he started to twitch, I put a bullet in the back of his head.
I looked frantically for Helena, and quickly found her standing over the remaining two opponents, her shield at the ready. The bodies had a cluster of neat bullet holes in their chests.
Apparently, she hadn’t panicked.
How embarrassing.
I turned back towards the gap in our lines, only to find it still there, and another wave of Praetorians running at us. I sighed and pulled out my sword and shield, slinging Penelope behind my back, waiting for the onslaught. I was so distracted by my own doom and gloom that I barely noticed my saviors from the 3rd cohort rush past me. As they ran past, I knew I wouldn’t have to fight this battle after all. The one hundred and sixty legionnaires met those few remaining Praetorians, and started pushing them back towards the hole.
I fell to my knees and dropped my equipment, gripping my forearm.
Helena calmly walked over, knelt beside me, and gently inspected my arm. Shaking her head, she pulled out yet another bandage and began wrapping the wound.
“You really need to stop getting hurt,” she told me matter of factly.
“I know, I just…”
“You have a shield for a reason.”
“Yeah, but…”
“They help stop swords.”
“But…”
“No excuses,” she said, tightening the bandage to punctuate her order.
I groaned slightly under the pressure. It always seemed to hurt more when she was fixing me up.
“You are relentless,” I said smiling up at her as the pain resided. “It must be why I…”
I was interrupted by even more commotion. I turned to see the legionnaires nearest me looking to the far left, pointing with expressions of shock on their faces. I followed their outstretched arms to see both loyal and rebel Praetorians still pounding against one another. I also saw Santino and Vincent, running randomly throughout the battle, sticking together and using their rifles only against immediate threats. I saw Wang near the rear, working on a man who already had his left leg amputated. I had no idea where Bordeaux was.
The only thing exceptional enough to draw the attention of the entire legion had to be Caligula. He and his cavalry bodyguard unit had crashed into the enemy’s line, and were steadily and smoothly chopping away at the enemy Praetorians, who were in complete shock at his reckless bravado. Claudius noticed as well, and moved to meet the challenge.
This must have been the sign Caligula had told us to look for, and Helena’s expression confirmed my theory. She pulled me to my feet, and we ran to join Vincent and Santino, who were trying to make their way to Caligula’s side as well.
“How much ammo do you have left?” I asked her, as we pushed allies to the side and sidestepped corpses.
“Half a mag, but a full load for my pistol. You?”
“Pistol’s fresh, but only one mag for my rifle, and I’m saving it.” I had already shouldered Penelope, and pulled out my Sig.
After Caligula had gallantly charged forward, his Sacred Band had kept its U-formation, trying to follow in his wake. Normally, it would have been fruitless, but with Santino and Vincent helping out, they were moving through. Once Helena and I joined only a minute later, our Praetorians had effectively pushed the enemy’s left flank aside, and were wheeling around, trying to get behind the enemy Praetorians who were still systematically destroying the XV Primigenia. The legion was probably a bit below half strength at this point and could use our help as soon as possible.
Santino and Vincent had been reduced to their pistols as well, but protected within the Sacred Band’s cocoon; the four of us could pick our targets with ease. We ignored our training of aiming for a person’s center mass, and went for head shots. Moving along the interior of our lines, I would pop a shot off at the first target of opportunity, spin out the way, and find another target. It was tedious and gruesome work, but with two opposing forces deadlocked in a clash of shields, it was the only offensive gesture I could perform.
We pushed our way through the throng of bad guys as a unit, and found ourselves witnessing a spectacle one only read about in rare histories or mythology. Seated on their horses, Caligula and Claudius had engaged themselves in a duel of emperors, the death of one enough to perhaps end the war. It reminded me of Homer again, who when recording the duel between Patrocolus and Hector, amongst many other duels, indicated men on both sides simply stopped fighting, to form a protective circle around the duelists, and watched.
If only that were the case here.
Instead, a circle had indeed formed around the emperors, with a diameter of about thirty yards to fight in, but instead of the perimeter watching, it was being contested as well. As though on secret orders, the Sacred Band spread out to fortify the circle, letting no one in, or out. It would be tough to accomplish, with many enemy Praetorians from the battle with the legion turning to aid their traitorous emperor now fighting behind their lines.
Caligula had made a far bigger mess than any of us could have ever hoped to.
I settled into position along the circle, waiting to see a target pop into view, while trying to keep at least one eye on the battle. When this was all said and done, I was writing it down, and it was going to be accurate to the letter. I’d lost track of Helena once again, but she seemed to be handling the whole legionnaire thing better than I was anyway.