The Fall of Have-Su
The light of morning started to show through my tent, and I barely got any legitimate sleep that night. I got up to put on all of my armor and made sure my shotgun was loaded. Putting on my helmet, I heard the sound of gunfire intensify while I watched the rest of the century prepare for battle. Centurion Talamon stepped out of the command tent with his helmet on and approached the muster while holding a strange spear looking thing. It was a long metallic post with several switches and knobs around the handles, with a small spark coming out of the tip. I wondered what the weapon was, then I recognized it. Centurion Talamon was going to wield one of those "thermal lances" used in prewar times for melting steel as a weapon. I guess that also explained the oxygen tank in the center of the grips. Those things use super pressurized oxygen to cut through thick steel by incineration. Needless to say, I would hate to be on the receiving end of that thing.
It was nearing that time, and Decanus Roblesius approached me helmet in hand asking, "You ready?" I nodded yes, and followed him with my legionaries to the staging area where the rest of our forces were gathering. I noticed the Twisted Hairs Scouts leave the staging area and charge off towards another ridge overlooking Big Rock. Gunfire soon erupted and kicked up sands around our forces still trickling down the cliff to join us. I took another moment to survey the surrounding ravine and large force of black and crimson masked troops ready to move. Standing with the other officers or decanae, I noticed three more legionaries stood away from the crowd wearing coyote skull helmets with the Legion banner mounted on their backs. Roblesius caught me eyeing the flag bearers through my goggles, and lifted his bandana saying;
"If you get separated, or after we've broken through, rally with one of those guys carrying the flag. They're called a, 'Vexillarius..."
With that, a horn sounded, and we all formed up. Roblesius said one last thing, "Remember to stay with me" and the second horn sounded.
I was briefed on the plan but had no experience in a Legion assault. So, I simply followed the lead of one of the forward decanae, and we charged over the rocks and through the brush. Over the rocks, we were faced with flat desert where our troops fanned out staying with their leaders. We sprinted through the no man's land, and then gunfire began to fall on us from up ahead. Several legionaries dropped to the sands, and a few dozen tribals sprinted towards us from behind their lines. As the tribals got closer, we shouted into the wind, burying the roar of gunfire through the muffles of masks. I halted, aimed my shotgun ahead, and fired three times before my men passed me to clash with the tribals. Joining them, I drew my machete, and began carving tribals to pieces in a blood rage I never knew I had. The tribals screamed for mercy as the legionaries to my left and right severed limbs or cut throats in a display of total carnage. I took a free moment in the heat of battle to notice several glints of scopes up on the ridge behind us. Our Twisted Hairs auxiliary were picking off the Have-Su gunmen, and their other warriors sprinted down the rocks to join us with axes drawn.
Covered in the blood of the Have-Su, I charged through the ranks of my men and tackled one of the Have-Su gunmen. I slammed my machete into his neck and shoulders while the legionaries poured themselves upon the rest. I hacked away at the tribal on the hot desert sand until my goggles were so fogged I couldn't see the soul's face anymore. Hearing Roblesius' distinguished voice, he shouted over the chaos at me. "LET'S GO! WE'RE PUSHING UP!" Ripping off my goggles, I moved with the legionaries towards Big Rock where the tribals were evacuating to the main village in the prewar Have-Su ruins.
Roblesius led me to a ridge where I saw waves of crimson pour over the landscape burning everything in sight. The centuries of Signifer and Reylos broke through their lines and were beginning to torch the outlying settlements or forward encampments. The other armed legionaries and decanae joined Roblesius and I on the ridge to begin firing on the train of evacuating Big Rock tribals. Blinded by red, I loaded slugs into my shotgun and rained death upon those fleeing. Although, there was something in the back of my mind telling me to aim too low or too high. In the moment, I couldn't even remember what I did. Perhaps my training from the past two weeks made me aim true, but part of me hoped enough of my conscience was intact to miss all those shots I fired on those running away. The howl of our guns continued until the refugees were far out of range. We halted fire, and there we saw a trail of corpses leading from Big Rock to Have-Su itself. When the gun smoke cleared, I turned around to see the tribal village of Big Rock cloaked in flame. Our men marched toward the road to Have-Su following a Vexillarius out of the thick black smoke. One of the Vexillarius legionaries ordered a halt just before us, and Centurion Talamon marched up being escorted by his veteran troops and tribal auxiliaries. Looking at us on the ridge, Centurion Talamon said, "Fall into formation! AD VICTORIAM!"
We joined the ranks and marched slowly towards the ruins of Have-Su proper, stepping over the dead who dotted the trail. Then, I saw the Twisted Hairs scouts charge past us to fix another position closer to Have-Su. We marched on through the desert, and then through the ruins of the old town where we met up with the rest of the Legion forces. Past London Pass, and on the tribal occupied side of the divide, we dispersed to join the other legionaries. The sun soon vanished behind the smoke, and clouds rolled in from the west to blanket the hot sands in a grey tint. There were over 250 legionaries all collecting their breaths and tending to wounds. One block away, we were facing over a thousand tribals, and about one third of them were said to be warrior age males. Centurion Talamon met with the other officers, and I counted my men next to Roblesius who was chugging water through a hole he made in his bandana. I only lost one man who's name I sadly forgotten (If he even had a name) while Decanus Roblesius lost three.
Roblesius was wrapping his arm up from a tomahawk sustained wound and said, "You're doing great, Decanus. We're looking at a wave assault next to finish them off. Based on that giant group of tribals over there; we're probably gonna be the second wave!"
He motioned towards a group of 50 or more tribals all armed with melee weapons, and a minute later, Centurion Talamon's voice thundered from atop a rubble pile, "AUXILIA! MARTII!"
The horde of our tribal allies began to march forward being escorted by a single decanus, and then they started to sprint into the ruins. Soon enough, we began to hear the shouting, gunshots, and clashing steel of battle. A horn boomed throughout the ruins, and Roblesius got up saying, "Come on… We're next."
My heart still raced as over 150 of us formed up, and awaited the second horn. The horn sounded, and every single crimson clad and masked soldier shouted, "TRUE TO CAESAR!" I charged with my men over the rubble and ruins of the old-world town, and passed many burning huts or desecrated tribal totems. Soon, we saw our tribal auxiliary survivors of the first wave engaged in a brutal fight with the Have-Su's last warriors.
Joining in another fight over the crackle of continuous gunfire, we began our annihilation. My machete was starting to dull from the constant hacking, but I made due using what was left of my shotgun shells to blow apart some of them. Through the carnage, I noticed some of the legionaries picking up side arms or rifles from the dead Have-Su warriors and begin using them for themselves. We lost many legionaries in the first few minutes of the attack, and as soon as the thought of being overwhelmed entered my mind, the third wave hit. 50 more heavily armed Legion veterans stormed through the battle zone and continued the slaughter. This tipped the scale heavily in our favor, and our exhaustion was thrown out the window by an enormous boost in morale and carnage fueled adrenaline.
The Have-Su began to fall back, and I saw one of the blood covered veterans with a Mohawk of red feathers along his helmet point a dripping machete towards the river. The legionary's voice pierced the noise of the thinning warzone, "MEET THEM AT THE COLORADO!" Everyone charged forth, following the several Vexillarii who led the way. Entering the Have-Su tribal town, legionaries began to fan out and torch the place almost robotically. This massive horde of legionaries clearly knew what to do, likely having done this to many of Caesar's enemies before. The slower tribals still in town fled left and right, or made the mistake of helping the wounded, but the bulk of the tribe were already over the ridge and down the clearing to the river. With the town up in flames, we marched forth again to capture the rest of the Have-Su by the banks of the Colorado. The entire force stopped on another ridge, and I stood with Roblesius to take in the scene. Several hundred tribals gathered around the river trying to board a flotilla of pre-war boats. Gathering on the edge of town and preparing to march down on them; a spree of gunfire came from the boats, killing dozens of legionaries all around me, and clipping my arm.
I fell from the pain in my arm and crawled back a few feet to the legs of Centurion Talamon who stood over me and the other dead, wounded, or sheltering legionaries. He shouted over me in frustration while the rest of the force continued to scramble for cover, "SHIT!"
He looked down at me trying to halt the bleeding of my injury and shouted, "Get up and regroup with the rest of our men in town! Centurion Reylos has a way of dealing with them." I gave a nod and winded acknowledgment to my commander.
Then, I stood up and wandered back to the rest of our forces in the burning village. I was now only down to four of my men. I sat by some of the other legionaries treating their wounds and began to assess my own. The pain of getting shot in the arm was intense and there was little I could do, but I wrapped it up good and tied it off to stop the blood. Luckily, the bullet didn't hit any arteries, so it just took a tiny chunk out of my bicep. I wished I had some drugs like Psycho or Med-X to numb the pain, but the Legion took that stuff from me when I entered the school in Flagstaff. Roblesius approached and took a seat next to me saying;
"Great work, Decanus. I knew you had it in you! We just have to scorch the rest of the town and detain all the tribals now." I asked about the rest of the tribe and the boat fortress.
All he said was what I already knew, "I heard that Centurion Reylos is going to have his boys take care of it."
I sat there for a while with my men and Decanus Roblesius watching the town burn. There was something oddly tranquil about watching that much smoke and fire be created, if you didn't think about those flaming places as homes for families, worship buildings, etc. Decanus Roblesius was nice enough to give me some of his "Healing Powder." That stuff tasted terrible, and snorting it made my mind get all muddled. On the upside, the pain in my arm was gone, and I eventually felt the herbal powder moving through my blood vessels to the site of my injury. It was then that I took in the human part of the scene. The few tribals that we captured were already being tied up and awaiting assessment by the centurions.
About 30 minutes passed before I saw four slaves carrying two large green boxes marked, "US Army." When they set the boxes down, several veterans took out missile launchers and stuffed projectiles into loose fitting leather satchels. When they marched off, it wasn't long before we heard loud explosions coming from the river. Roblesius and I got up and approached with our remaining men as the other 200 remaining legionaries continued sacking the place. Looking over the wreckage, only two of the thirty boats were destroyed. The rest of the rocket craters scattered the frenzied Have-Su crowd. More legionaries approached the scene with us and began to march down to the river while the veterans sprinted forth. The Have-Su warriors held up white cloths, not wanting to see any more of their people get ripped apart by missiles. There, the veterans escorted the warriors off of the boats at gun or spear point.
Our forces took a good beating, but we actually won. The sky was getting darker and the fires from the region glowed steadily brighter. I assisted in marching the hundreds of tribals back to the village where they would all be either "discarded" or "assimilated." We tore down tribal totems, burned sacred artifacts, collected food stores, slaughtered the livestock, and piled the corpses of man and beast alike. All the slaves from the different camps soon joined us at the center of town being escorted by the forces who got to stay behind. The current Legion slaves were then escorted by legionaries out to battle sites where they hauled back the equipment and bodies of our fallen forces as well as the Have-Su's; both types of bodies were burned, but in separate fires. What happened next was what I'd only heard stories about.
The legionaries and slaves made wire pens where we segregated the tribals by age, gender, and health. Tribal leaders or officials were set aside while crosses were made from the wreckage. Healthy warriors were split into groups; male warriors began getting beaten and thrashed while female warriors were taken aside for execution (Due to their seeming incompatibility with docile slave life). Healthy women were given a red X on their chest and back just like my slaves as a slave master with tools began immediately showing them who was in charge. Anything perceived as weapons were confiscated, and personal items were burned in a bonfire. Young boys were assessed by the centurions in strength, and put in either the "Soldier" group or "Sick" group. Fit and healthy young boys in the Soldier group were prepared for a march to an undisclosed soldier camp, and beaten all the while. The elderly and or sick group were taken in groups of six or seven and executed in mass graves by the veterans in full view of the slave pens. Although, some of the elderly were set aside for their purpose as healers and given red Xs. The little girls were marked with red Xs or sent to the sick and elderly pen based entirely on their perceived health. Healthy little girls were then assessed on their "beauty", and very few were selected for "Elite Servitude" (Which I later learned to mean they'd be adopted daughters for Centurions, or breeders when they came of age). The group of healthy women stopped getting beaten by the slave master, then had Centurion Talamon assess their own beauty. Centurion Talamon eventually rated 17 out of the near 200 healthy women as "Beautiful enough for breeding" and the rest were set aside for a life of manual slave labor to Legion units, mines, farms, ranches, teamsters, or general workers. Just as the story went, that was what I saw; "Anyone that could be useful to the Legion was used, and the rest… discarded."
I watched the scene initially with curiosity, but as it went on, that changed. My short time in the Decanus School made me view the aftermath of Have-Su in a way I never would have thought. Everything the members of Swilling's Resistance told me about the Legion was confirmed by what I was seeing, but it didn't have the profound effect I always imagined. I am not going to say that what the Legion does to the conquered is "Good" by any means, but I did "Understand" it in those moments. Caesar's Legion is a 100% "War Tribe" they deal in slaves and death. So, as horrible as the aftermath of Have-Su was; I was able to formally understand the bitter cold and calculated logic behind the Have-Su's annihilation with my morals and conscience removed from the equation. As it went on, I was authorized sleep. However, I couldn't sleep, and watched the whole thing go on as more of my conscience trickled back into me.
The process of assimilation continued through the night and into the morning. They didn't want me doing any of the assessing because of my status as "Honorary" but I watched Roblesius gladly assist in nailing up the tribal leaders or lesser warriors selected for crucifixion. The night echoed with the crackling of fire, weeping of tribals, occasional screams of those foolish enough to try escaping, and smell of the burning dead. Finally, exhaustion got the better of me, and I managed to fall asleep, still grappling with my role in the ordeal.