The Colorado Meat Grinder

Less than three weeks after the Twin Mothers were destroyed, Caesar began pouring troops into Colorado from the ruins of Mesa Verde's old inhabitants. The region was continuously built upon by Legion forces as more and more troops assembled there before filing further into the Colorado wilderness. The Interfector and Aleron returned to Circle Junction to support the advance in their normal role and seeing to the establishment of a proper military fortification in the Mesa Verde region. The old homes of the Twin Mothers were rapidly filled with more military structures, camps, food stores, and resupply points until the bulk of Caesar and Graham's rallied forces from across Arizona and New Mexico marched into Colorado.

Little changed for Aleron and his Primus after the Twin Mothers fell, but Montano remained in Mesa Verde for a short time afterward until Caesar's secret spearhead for the Colorado Campaign arrived. This secret right hand of Caesar was of course the "Centurion Carnifex" a giant of a man who battled Caesar for the Hidebarks or was a man who made legionary at age 12 and impressed Caesar throughout the New Mexico Campaign. Though Caesar's mysterious commander was still relatively unknown in the ranks of his forces, those who did know of him knew he was a monster of a commander, a monster that furthered his reputation in Colorado. There is far more to the legend of Carnifex, or the man who would later be known as "Legatus Lanius," but at the start of the Colorado Campaign, Montano was immediately thrown into the thick of it.

Even after the events at Mesa Verde, the start of the Colorado invasion was slow at first. Many more reconnaissance groups were sent out from the new staging area in Mesa Verde, but it wouldn't be long before the recon groups returned with a new enemy for Caesar to focus on. Slowly but surely, the Legion forces would enter Colorado, eradicating tribes one by one over time. Although, for each square mile the Legion expanded into Colorado, the worse and more numerous the enemies became.

Unlike the Arizona and New Mexico Campaigns, the pace of this new front was far quicker due to the Legion's size at the time, but was far worse mortality-wise. Similar to Arizona and New Mexico, the Colorado wilderness was another quagmire of violent tribes and raiders, but the Legion was not used to the terrain and tactics of the Colorado enemies. Arizona and New Mexico were populated by a similar amount of tribes, but the grand battles in open fields and desert plains characteristic of those campaigns were replaced by endless guerrilla wars in the mountains, valleys, and woodlands of Colorado. Much of the Legion's forces would be lost to attrition in the new climate, but Caesar wasn't one to be stopped by something as simple as mother nature. The size of his Legion was massive at this point and with resources and manpower unlike in past campaigns, the Colorado Campaign eventually gained a nickname from the soldiers who fought in it, especially the ones who served under Caesar or his pet monster in the east. This nickname for the bloodiest and most manpower draining campaign in the Legion's history was: The Colorado Meat Grinder.

The name for this campaign came from what you would see if you looked at the entire front from something like an old satellite. If you could only see the Legion's advance from that high up, you'd see one long stream of Legion forces endlessly coming up from Arizona and New Mexico, filing into Circle Junction, and then through Mesa Verde before moving up the old highways and interstates only to branch off into different places in the Colorado wilderness to meet their ends in bloody tribal battles. By the end of 2273, the display was such a common sight that seeing one endless column of legionaries marching along the old Colorado highways was something that displayed the terrifying nature of Legion power in this time.

With the Legion's entire focus on this front, it should also be mentioned that this is where the next generation of Caesar's forces became the dominant one. With the first breeding camps established in the early to mid-2250s, these Legion-born soldiers eventually made up the majority of those who fought and died in Colorado. Those "Legion Babies" as the Interfector was known to call them were all grown up now and were born solely to die for Caesar on his fronts. So, this endless practice of continuously birthing soldiers early on helped mitigate the Legion's manpower needs from the conquest of places like Arizona and New Mexico. Still though, the recently assimilated and fanatical soldiers of prior conquest were the most readily available in the start of the campaign and those who didn't fall were rapidly filling the leadership roles of prior units all along the new front.

As that endless crimson stream marched up the old Colorado highways to distant battlegrounds, the Colorado Meat Grinder was working in full swing, consuming the bodies of Caesar's servants, and the Emperor himself had no intention of letting this up. After all, this resource-consuming process was working excellently. Despite the tremendous losses of expendable soldiers, the system was moving the Legion borders further and further. More bodies were thrown into the machine over time, and each inch of Colorado claimed proved that the Meat Grinder could and would be clogged. Rendering the machine inoperable was proving to work because in less than five years after the start of the campaign, it was almost over, and a new dynamic was shown in the array of Caesar's leaders.

The timeline of this campaign is indeed a bit uncertain, with some believing that Caesar invaded Colorado after his first attempt to invade Nevada. However, many know that the Legion's biggest asset from this campaign was used extensively in the later "Mojave Wars," and that asset came from the big prize of Colorado: Denver.

With each day that passed in the Colorado Meat Grinder, recon further up the line went farther and farther as each tribe fell until Caesar had his eyes on the old world city of Denver, better known as "Dog Town" in the days of the Legion. By the year 2273, much of southwestern Colorado was under Legion control, but at some point, it is believed that the front was divided. Caesar himself oversaw much of the initial campaign with help from his secret right hand leading many of the victories. Although, with the number of enemies in each region of Colorado, it is believed that Legate Graham was tasked with progressing along western Colorado. Meanwhile, Caesar and his true right hand were moving the bulk of the campaign north and east towards Denver. Progress was very slow under Graham in the west, but by 2274, much of it had fallen and Caesar ordered him to begin probing Utah while Caesar himself was busy furthering the Meat Grinder in the east.

Throughout the majority of the campaign, the Interfector and Aleron ensured the steady flow of soldiers into the Meat Grinder, and did so expertly. Much of the progress under Graham in the west was again said to have been slow. This meant that the majority of resources and supplies moving into Colorado were focused on supporting Caesar and Lanius in the east, with each offer of assistance to Graham being denied in 2274. The reason for these refusals are unknown, but the Interfector continued to assist Caesar on the eastern front because by that year, and despite the river of legionaries continuously flowing into the Meat Grinder, attrition and battlefield losses were high while reports from Graham were infrequent and minimal in detail.

Even though this too is largely disputed and unclear, later stories would say that Legate Graham's progress in western Colorado and reach into Utah was slow on purpose. It is said that Legate Graham did not want to invade his homeland. Graham is said to have blamed most of this on logistics since the Interfector needed to support Caesar's demand for soldiers and supplies in the rapidly moving east, but western Colorado and Utah expeditions still weren't unfruitful to the Legion's advance. Notable battles along western Colorado were equally bloody as the ones under Caesar, but much of the differences in this divided campaign were easily chalked up to leadership styles. Legate Graham's slow advance along western Colorado could be explained by his handling of the battle at Crimson River Trail, a battle where Legion forces struck a devastating blow against a tribal enemy whose name was lost. Though the attack was a success, local wildlife continued to harass Legion forces until a withdrawal was initiated to preserve forces. It is said that the local vegetation saved the Legion forces in this withdrawal during their continued harassment by wasteland creatures until the cohort could reach the safety of their outposts at the edge of the western front. In the end, Graham was a calculating commander, and his slow progress on the west could be easily explained by his caution as opposed to his unknown rival in the east who was gaining a reputation for excelling at throwing legionaries into the Meat Grinder.

As stated previously, whether eastern or western Colorado, all along the old world state, the Legion marched its soldiers further and further. However, as it was also explained, the biggest prize in the region was Denver. Denver was the biggest city in Colorado and its standing in the days of the Legion gave it the name of "Dog Town." Though the reason for the name will be elaborated later, the city was home to an enormous tribe known as the "Hangdogs" who valiantly offered their assistance to the other tribes of Colorado the second they knew the Legion was marching on them.

So, after four years and after countless lives were thrown into the Colorado Meat Grinder, the campaign was winding down as Graham continued his slow advance along the west and Caesar began to consider dealing with other regional factions like a chapter of the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel. Even though Caesar was already expecting hostilities from the other regional factions, he attempted to mitigate this since he would need time after such a vicious campaign. As Caesar began taking steps to ensure a solid territorial foundation for the end of the Campaign, by late 2274, there was still one enemy remaining. After four years, nearly 70% of old-world Colorado was under Legion control, but that last true enemy of the front was still the city of Dog Town, an enemy that was rapidly being surrounded by Caesar's personal monster: The Butcher of Eastern Colorado, The Carnifex of Caesar's Failed Commanders, The Monster of the East.

The story of our duelists picks up in this time. After over four years since their last meeting in Mesa Verde and after nearly five years since their last fight, the story of both men continued to remain in the minds of soldiers marching up the Colorado Meat Grinder. Even though much of their legendary fights were forgotten in the daily conflicts of Colorado to focus on enemies in front, both men were still known by soldiers and auxiliaries across the Legion. An officer or legionary who approached either man wouldn't dream of asking them about their conflict, but so many in the Legion still knew Of them.

With news being almost nonexistent in the lower ranks of Legion forces, stories like theirs continued to serve as examples of inspiration for service. Even in the newer generations of soldiers marching into the Meat Grinder, stories were very important in the Legion's society.

The reason stories about the Monster of the East, the Burned Man, the Interfector of Phoenix, or the Feud of Aleron and Montano even circulated in the first place was because regardless of indoctrination, legionaries continued to need reminding about how to serve Caesar, even if the question "Why should I serve" is never considered.

"Serve with merciless vigor and maybe I'll get to serve under the Monster of the East."

"Don't let Caesar down, or I'll end up like the Burned Man."

"The nameless opposition of Caesar will ultimately bow to him when the crimson wave arrives and reveal new titles of unshakable loyalty."

"Honor and Glory will be brought to Caesar's Legion and anything less will be met with steel against steel."

The latter is the duality of the message in the duelists' feud. Both men love the Legion, love Caesar; both are the offenders against and the defenders of Legion Glory. Who was at fault or who was right whenever they fought was irrelevant when the story was told around campfires on the Colorado Front. The origin of the conflict was lost but everyone still knew their names, and life continued for them despite their reputations. The only message received in their feud was that both men were more than willing to kill the other for their pure love of the Bull.

For most of the Colorado Campaign, neither man really thought of the other since both were so easily lost in the day to day of their duties, and even incidents like their cooperation in the Twin Mothers' destruction proved that the two could work fine together in the right circumstance. Still though, both men played different roles in the Colorado Campaign. While Aleron spent the majority of that ensuring stability across the Legion's lands in Arizona and New Mexico or aiding the Interfector in the most brutally competent method, Montano was serving in the thick of it again. Montano was scooped up and thrown into the front nearly at the start and spent a majority of those four years under Lanius or Caesar's force in the east. Montano had survived being thrown into the Colorado Meat Grinder so many times that he had become part of it, constantly returning to the rivers of soldiers streaming into Colorado to show them where they'd meet their ends. At the same time, Aleron and his Primus were amongst those vital men in lands of past conquests who ensured commanders like Caesar, Lanius, and Montano had sufficient bodies and supplies to toss into the machine.

It is in late 2274 that the story resumes. The Interfector was recently called up to directly oversee the delivery of the Legion's heaviest equipment for the encircling of Dog Town while Caesar was preparing for the end of the bloody campaign. There, along the crumbling old highways where thousands upon thousands of soldiers marched to Denver and tribal holdouts that the duelists meet again; a short window of time in the Legion's history before the enormity of its power starts to face a dramatic shift towards its ultimate destiny.