Dog Town Pt II
The Next Day
Lord Interfector stood beside Lanius with Aleron on his other side and the other 10 centurions under their shared command taking in the same view as the Elites. The large crowd of staff officers stood behind their prospective commanders on the edge of the rooftop outpost looking out over the city. Another series of catapults launched their flaming cargos at the highrises nearly a mile off and all of the commanders watched the flame trails approach steadily towards the Hangdog fortifications before smashing on the steel girders and concrete ruins of the two towers. The Hangdog highrises were an impressive and solid fortification. The hollow old towers were occupied by over a thousand in their tribe and since the siege began it had been an all hands on deck situation. As each boulder smashed against the fortifications, the fires spread only to be subdued within a few minutes before they could spread. Although the continuous bombardment was still taking its toll over the weeks of siege the situation on the Legion's end wasn't much better.
Since the siege began, it had been an enormous drain on energy and time even if it wasn't the most manpower draining siege the Legion had ever done. Scouting of Denver since the first march into Colorado showed just how dangerous the city was and preparations to mitigate the danger were put in place for almost as long as the campaign itself. As the boulders landed, Hangdogs scrambled across the catwalks and platforms between the twin highrises and Lord Interfector looked down at the streets below. Why was the city so dangerous? was a question that didn't stick in the minds of new legionaries very long since looking down at the streets below showed an endless horde of vicious mongrels for which the city was named. Denver was an old world city that had lost its human inhabitants in the bombs only for man's best friend to take over and completely occupy the ruins. Where so many hounds came from was a mystery, but the city had been known for decades by the name Dog Town for exactly that reason. Half mutated mongrels owned the city, endlessly roaming the streets and fighting other packs for food, only uniting in the event that trespassers enter the limits. Even the scores of deathclaws that roamed the eastern ruins had a tremendously difficult time waging their war against the endless hordes of dogs and were very much appreciative for the Legion distraction in recent days even if they couldn't express it.
Since the Legion entered the city nearly seven weeks prior, the forces of Caesar found themselves in a very unique situation. While they began their siege of the Hangdogs in the center of town, the Legion very quickly discovered that they were being besieged as well. The initial outposts across the line were built on the rooftops of the structures of downtown and as the fortifications were erected and the siege engines were built, the masses of dogs surrounding each outpost along the line grew bigger and bigger. For the first days of the siege, the hangdogs were safe in their towers and felt they could wait out the encirclement, but as soon as those first onagers were built, panic set in. Though it's unknown how the Hangdogs made peace with the four-legged majority of Denver, the situation was seen as a very frustrating one as the weeks went on. The Legion could hardly move due to their own siege and the onagers did their work, but as the siege continued, resupply and logistics in general was an increasing issue. Once the Interfector's force arrived, they battled their way to Lanius's rooftop fortifications with minimal losses, but each dog killed meant three more to replace it when they finally arrived to back up Lanius.
The seas of mongrels in the streets of Denver below grew and grew as the days went on and the ground level fortifications were overwhelmed or broken into on multiple occasions only to be rebuilt by the Legion's expert forces, but something had to be done. The Legion surrounding the Hangdogs were well supplied with food from the slain dogs, but ammunition, water, armor, and new blades were in increasingly short supply while the siege went on and on. Each resupply group that came in after the Interfector arrived had to fight their way through more and more rabid hounds and a small series of slim avenues were quickly constructed for the safe entry of supply forces into the city. Those flimsy barricaded roads were enough for small teams to enter from the outskirts of the city, but by the time those avenues were constructed the siege had already been going on too long in the eyes of many soldiers and commanders there.
Because the Interfector's specialty was logistics and supply, he understood this situation, and though his forces could keep living on dog meat for the next couple months, he too was struggling with exactly how to handle the siege. This indecisiveness came from two factors. The longer the siege went on, the more legion lives he felt he was saving, and though this was true in some respect, he knew that the longer they stayed put, the more losses his forces would accrue against their own besiegers. This was a rock and a hard place for him; hold the line and save some lives in the assault, or stay put and lose those lives to the dogs of Denver. Those highrises in the distance continued to be wrapped in black smoke and burn in the continuous bombardment while intel had just reached them that the Hangdog forces cut off in the north had reorganized enough to pose a real threat to the line; this was factor two. So, after nearly 7 weeks of siege, the Hangdogs in their home were still holding on, the line was besieged by the creatures of Denver, and the stray Hangdog forces were going to attempt breaking through the line in less than a week's time. All this wasn't to mention the danger posed by the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel that had been ramping up their defensive abilities after continuous failed diplomacy with Caesar himself.
Lanius or Carnifex was not content to sit on his hands in siege for any longer than necessary, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to figure out exactly how long "necessary" was. As stated previously, he did work relatively well with the Interfector, so long both remained in their own roles and focused on their specialties. The only real problem was that Lanius wasn't able to perform his specialties yet. He was an expert in butcher's work, the reason for his name, and a siege offered little opportunity to display such actions. Since the Interfector arrived around a week into the formal siege, Lanius understood the Interfector's assessment in the necessity of an encirclement, but as the days went on with little change in the situation, the antsier the butcher became. With the arrival of the Interfector and Caesar's chariots, much of the real work done in the siege was done by the chariot crews.
Throughout the days since their arrival, the chariots were dispatched throughout the rubble filled streets of Denver doing the thing they were outfitted to do specifically for this conflict. With each of the 13 chariots outfitted with cages of barbed wire around the gun or pilot carriages and armored with spiked plates around the vital areas, the chariots slowly chugged through the streets between the Legion outposts across the city for the sole purpose of keeping the Denver monsters at bay. Clearing the streets was a simple but relatively effective role, but still didn't seem to do much as more dogs continued to spawn out of the mud and rubble.
Each chariot had a driver and three gunners locked inside their contraptions as they crawled over the asphalt on daily patrols. Some were even outfitted with bait, large sacks of decaying meat hanging off the sides to lure the Denver hounds to them while others were outfitted with small wire nets on the back to capture the hounds for either meat or eventual use. As each pack or horde of dogs swarmed the chariots, the crews were largely safe behind their wire fencing as the chariots continued their slow advance while the gunners lobbed spears, stabbed, and shot at the monsters who approached. Countless dogs were crushed by the wheels of these machines and many more were butchered by the crews on each patrol but every now and then the forces of Dog Town would become victorious. On a few occasions, mechanical problems would cause the machines to break down or the carcasses of enumerable dogs would get caught in the wheel wells and render the machines immobile. On the few occasions this happened, the crews were surrounded by too many hounds to be rescued by engineers, and in a city where one killed dog was replaced by two more, these crews could only go down fighting or pray that the monsters would spare them after obtaining the bait sacks. Few soldiers in crimson ever escaped the scene after a mechanical breakdown, but those who did usually did so by being less desirable than the mountain of slain dogs around their broken chariot. So, as excellent as these contraptions were at clearing the streets and even capturing Denver's occupants, the swarms of problems around each outpost along the line were by no means ended. Despite all this, the siege was still underway and the Hangdogs' home continued to taunt each commander, especially the Monster of the East.
So, with the situation across Denver not changing in many days and with no new word from Caesar to either commander, the simple question remaining was still lodged primarily in the mind of Lanius and other veteran commanders of the Meat Grinder: "Have we waited long enough?" With his display of slaughter at the end of week six, Lanius felt it was time, so there they all stood on the primary encampment on the south end of the line, overlooking the smoking highrises.
As the Interfector, Lanius, Aleron, Montano, and the nine other centurions of the surrounding force stood on that rooftop, they remained silent the whole time. Watching the flaming payloads soar towards the Hangdog highrises, and looking down into the hound flooded streets below. More boulders smashed upon the skyscrapers and flames spread as the Hangdogs scrambled across the interconnected towers like ants.
Finally, after nearly five minutes of standing, waiting, and watching, Lanius had seen all he needed to. The golden giant turned his helm to the Elite of Phoenix beside him. With the duo resembling a blood-spattered metal father looking down at his ash-covered and machete-wielding armored toddler, Lord Carnifex's signature voice echoed out of his terrifying helmet's mouth slit, "Return to my quarter."
Even though the address was to the other Elite, it was actually to all the commanders. Another succession of catapults gave their sound, and the large group of centurions and their staff followed Lanius to the monster's quarters, a sizable officer's tent with Caesar's emblem on the open rooftop across a small series of catwalks.
Each commander and the two Elites took their seats in the center of Carnifex's tent, the twelve chairs seated in the same spot as they were during the last meeting there four weeks prior. There had been several other meetings of the centurion commanders, but those were usually done in the Interfector's quarters a half mile from this one on another rooftop. The Interfector preferred his own quarters for meetings, not only because it was more neat, tidy, and homely than Carnifex's but because the Interfector preferred to clean up any "messes" that'd been created inside his quarter. Though Aleron didn't mind the several mutilated bodies in the corners, decapitated heads hanging from hooks, horrendous smell, and blinded slave women chained to the tent poles too much, he preferred the Interfector's tent as well because there was a seat for him in that tent's circle during meetings. Although Aleron did understand why Carnifex didn't leave a seat for Aleron, he tried not to think about the fact there was one for Montano. But he again understood that his lack of a seat in Carnifex's quarter was simply because of Aleron's position in the Interfector's staff, not due to personal quarrel.
Once all the battlefield centurions were seated and all the staff members had taken their places behind their prospective centurions, there were at least 60 Legion officers crowded in the tent and the meeting began.
The meeting was simple and much like many of the others before this one. Each centurion was called upon by Lanius and one by one they gave their unit readiness and status updates. The commanders each covered progress on previous assignments issued at prior meetings and the centuries assigned the Interfector's chariots went over their vehicles' operational ability, recent acquisitions from the streets, and the state of clearance in their patrol routes. Once all the chariot groups were accounted for in the present, the total operational chariots across the line were 9 strong, having only lost four since their arrival in the siege. The Interfector was asked for a reminder of the original amount of chariots brought to the line and again reminded the Monster that 13 arrived in Denver while one was totaled in a collision after a mechanical malfunction on the march to Denver. Every time the duelists heard the Interfector's excuse, they cringed as the Interfector wondered why he'd been asked the question at every meeting since arrival. Either way, the meeting went on, and the Interfector took brief control over the meeting when he used this time to run over the new objectives and patrol routes he had intended for the chariots. All this ended when the Monster of the East said;
"No. I require their use and your cooperation in the assault tomorrow."
This was news to the Interfector as well as all the other commanders there. The Interfector turned from his focus on the chariot assigned centurions and to the golden mask asking, "Wait? Tomorrow?"
The Monster turned his head slightly to completely face the standing Elite of Phoenix as the word, "Yes" came from the mouth slit for all to hear.
Lord Interfector immediately asked in all humbleness, "Lord Carnifex? I thought we agreed before my combat in the arena that we would wait for the backup from Circle Junction to arrive?"
The Monster remained silent for a moment and all the other centurions adjusted idly or uncomfortably before the mask inquired, "And how far out are they?"
For a moment, the Interfector was silent as well, knowing the answer, but also knowing Carnifex's answer to that answer. The Elite of Phoenix said, "About two weeks now if I had to guess."
Again, the monster stayed silent for several seconds before answering, "That is too long to wait. The Hangdogs north of the city will attempt to break through our line in a matter of days, so the highrises will fall before they have a chance to prolong this siege.. Have a runner divert the Circle Junction force to Caesar near Cheyenne, we'll do without them."
Lord Interfector too was beginning to feel that two weeks was too long to wait since the siege was already going on longer than comfort permitted, but he couldn't shake his feeling that the assault would go terribly or be too costly without those supplemental forces. The Murderer also did not care for being ordered to do something by someone he was technically senior to despite being of equivalent rank. The Murderer of Phoenix had been an Elite of Caesar for far longer than Elite Centurion Carnifex, which meant that the Interfector's call was usually the dominant one in similar conflicts of rank. At the same time, however, the Interfector knew exactly who Carnifex or Lanius was. He met him before at that auction all those years ago and he was fairly certain that he was the Hidebark Monster he helped Caesar subjugate. Despite the reputation of Lanius, the Elite of Phoenix knew exactly who he was to Caesar as well. Being the head administrator of the Legion's territory, and being directly in charge of logistics and regional governance during so many campaigns or fronts meant that he knew that Lanius was not just a servant of Caesar, he was the right hand of Caesar himself. Spared by Caesar one way or another, this was a monster who was only part man, was the beast who was sent to succeed where others had failed all across the Colorado Campaign. Lanius, even during this time, was the secret right hand of Caesar, a spirit, an entity unknown even to other legates including Legate Graham. Carnifex was not a man who brought glory to the Legion or gained recognition by excellence in battle. He was the embodiment of Caesar's bloody vengeance on those who defied or failed him. Many battlefield commanders or even legates of the Legion didn't even know the name Carnifex or Lanius until it was too late and they were to be replaced. Lanius was Caesar, a piece of Caesar. Lanius was the part of Edward Sallow that saw the inevitable defeat of the tribe he was chained to and decided to unify that tribe with the nightmarish world around it by being an even more terrible nightmare.
The Interfector understood all of this, and knew the man or monster he was talking to. He was talking to a part of his own self, the part of himself that betrayed those who trusted him to become a prominent member of the monstrous world that scarred him in his early years.
The Interfector silently nodded in agreement, and just as he'd done many years ago, he thought, "If the world's going to be consumed in this way, the least I can do is do my best to help consume it."
Lord Interfector took his seat and signaled for Aleron to carry out the order. Aleron did so by dispatching one of the staff members as a runner to the Circle Junction forces on route to Denver, and despite the Elite agreeing with the monster, he could visibly be seen as unnerved by the plan of assault so soon.
After going over the basic rundown of the plan Lanius had been considering for several days, the Butcher addressed the Interfector again after seeing the unease in his countenance;
"Does the Elite of Phoenix have words for me?"
The Interfector looked up from his thoughts and met the black eyes of Lanius, "... I agree that these Hangdogs should be destroyed as soon as possible, but..." He paused and shook his head slightly, "Lord Carnifex, the Brotherhood of Steel is going to be a costly foe to fight and we can't afford to hold the Denver Line and fight the Brotherhood-"
Lanius interjected calmly but still scarily, "You doubt we will succeed if we assault without the Circle Junction force?"
Lord Interfector met the eyes again and immediately replied, "Oh we'll win if we attack right now, we'll even defend the line if the Hangdogs up north attempt a breakthrough tonight, but there won't be many left to fight the Brotherhood."
Lanius knew this and knew that the Murderer would still be concerned about the losses even if he accepted the plan as he already did. Lanius said calmly as he stared back into the Interfector's eyes, "That's what the Circle Junction backup is for. Through the use of veterans or not, regardless of the northern force, the Hangdogs will fall, and a Hangdog surrender will be forced through slaughter in the morning. Their northern Hangdogs will be irrelevant after our fight in the highrises, the Brotherhood will know what we're capable of, and the losses will not matter. Your continued concern for reserves and garrisons across Arizona and New Mexico will prove unneeded when the mere mention of Caesar's name already pacifies those who see our banner."
The Interfector sat back, staying calm and cool despite just having his mind and unspoken concerns partially read in front of everyone. He replied softly, "So you know what the kinds of losses on this campaign are turning us into?"
Lanius said, "I think you're too sure of what you believe to be true to recognize what Caesar's Legion will truly become in the impending conquest. A name alone can be far more terrifying than any amount of soldiers. You should know this better than anyone, Murderer..."
All remained silent for several long seconds as the Murderer thought about his own past and the truth in the Monster's words. Then he came to the realization that each and every servant of Caesar came to whenever they found themselves worried about the future or what would happen in a coming battle. The Interfector came to that conclusion many times during the march into Colorado and so many times during the siege whenever he thought about the problems he had to deal with upon finally returning to his Praetorship at Circle Junction. This realization came in the next and last words from Lanius, a stern reminder from the mind of Caesar. The Monster said;
"Do not underestimate what Caesar can achieve, Elite of Phoenix. Leave the future to him, and concern yourself with nothing more than the eradication of our enemy in front."
Though the thoughts and concerns would remain in the Interfector's mind, he again knew what was important in the present, and that was what Carnifex had said. The Hangdogs would be destroyed, many would die in spectacular glory, and one way or another, Caesar would be victorious. Whatever happened in the aftermath of each killing pit would only mean another chance to slaughter till even more blood rained from the sky and more honor would increase the terror in each name under Caesar's banner.
Preparations were done for the attack immediately after the meeting was dismissed as each centurion returned to their units across the line. It is said that one of the greatest elements of the legionary is that they are ready to fight regardless of whatever situation they find themselves in. This fact was true in the fall of Denver too, as each soldier in crimson had been ready to see the end of the Hangdogs or their own since the encirclement began. In the early hours of the next morning, the chariots were staged and ready to begin their role as the mass of Legion forces congregated at their assigned positions. Beneath the smoke-covered sky and darkness of the early morning, the crude but lethal plan was put into action. It wasn't the most tactical of plans, but it was the most fitting for the conclusion of this front. The Colorado Campaign, also known as the Colorado Meat Grinder, was to achieve the bloody end it called for.
Each century left behind not more than a single contubernium behind to watch over the fortifications and slaves while everyone else across the line held their weapons at the ready on the ground level of each outpost. The chariots crawled out of the layered gates and into the hound flooded streets of Denver, grinding up any hound in the way as the gunners kept their weapons quiet, leading the majority of the encircling hounds away from the outposts.
The chariots crawled slowly over the rubble-filled streets and along their avenues of advance, each one congregating along the main avenue to the Hangdog skyscrapers between the highrises and primary encampment of the two Elites. Many of the mongrels across downtown Denver were asleep, but when the chariots packed with gunners and supplemental engineer teams reached their positions, the catapults began their bombardment, awaking the occupants of the highrises. More mongrels swarmed towards the whines of their kind, and towards the smell of those filled bait bags. As the Hangdogs awoke and more hounds swarmed to the defense of their human allies, it was already too late.
With the bulk of the Denver mongrels focused on the chariots along each section of the avenue, the route of advance was clear as streams of crimson soldiers marched on the skyscrapers. On each road along the avenue, the chariot crews were holding off what appeared to be hundreds of dogs as the Legion centuries marched up to the foot of the twin highrises. The catapults unleashed volley after volley like never before as flaming boulders smashed into the buildings and prevented the defenders from doing too much damage to the oncoming forces. As each chariot kept the dogs from the main avenue, groups of slaves and engineers quickly rolled out wire barricades to section off each street and do what they could to keep the mongrels at bay. The wire barricades were by no means a permanent solution, but they would buy plenty of time as the chariots reversed and more dogs became tangled in the wire.
Montano straightened his helmet atop his head and embraced the shower of debris as he witnessed another boulder smash into the highrise above him. With all his soldiers in place, he gave the signal to Aleron and Aleron screamed up at the driver of a chariot as the Interfector directed his forces around the highrise plaza. Engineer groups and slaves had finished their construction of the barricades and began laying mines and traps along each intersection as more centuries approached the towers. At Montano's signal and Aleron's order, the charioteer maneuvered his vehicle towards the steel fortified gate of the first highrise and locked the machine on the drive position as he leaped off. The chariot sped towards the entrance and slammed straight into the fortified gate of the "East Tower." The train pilot battering ram attached to the front of the vehicle blew the steel gate off its hinges and the chariot continued another 20 feet inside the structure before getting stuck in a wall. The vehicle continued to try moving forward with little success, instead flooding the ground level of the highrise with black smoke. Unable to see what was happening to the ground level's interior, the Hangdog defenders of the East Tower didn't have to wait long as Legion forces poured through the smoke and met with the tribals. Montano hacked and slashed away at each man in front of him as the smoke continued to fill his nostrils beneath his tattered mask and more centuries streamed into the first highrise while Hangdog defenders on other floors poured boiling water and crates of stones onto the legionaries below. Five minutes into the breach and the ground floor was secured. More and more forces under Carnifex stormed into the building and Carnifex, usually being one to be the head of a charge, postponed that routine role in this attack for the moment. Once the tower had been breached, Lanius had ordered the Interfector to take charge of the other before storming towards the opened East Tower. Per the plan, Lanius had told the Interfector again to use his own inclination to spare as many civilians as possible when the "West Tower" was opened because Lanius himself had no intention of showing anyone in the East Tower mercy.
Not long after the Monster disappeared into the East Tower, Lord Interfector had another chariot maneuvered into position and the fortified entrance to the West Tower was opened. As the Interfector's century under Taurus stormed into the black smoke of the West Tower entrance, Aleron charged the into the Killzone as well, leading the Interfector's staff. After one last look at the avenue and all the reserve forces holding the monsters of Denver at bay, he had all the reluctant faith in the world that the remainder of the attack would continue to go as planned before turning around and joining Aleron in the carnage of the West Tower.
Floor by floor, the Legion cleared the Hangdogs' home. After the initial fighting in the ground levels of each structure, the highrises, as predicted, proved to be a devastating battleground to wage war in. Between the mix of tribal homes in old-world office spaces, floors dedicated to meals, ceremonies, and everything else, the Hangdogs fought viciously for each inch of their homes. Many of the tribal non-combatants were in the Interfector's West Tower, but non-combatants were in both and the two towers were equally defended. By the time Montano reached floor 12, the Monster was moving up to floor 13 and every legion soldier filing up those decayed old stairwells was completely covered in blood and dirt. At the same time, Aleron and the force he was leading were equally as putrid but having soldiers separated from their commanders keep watch over the groups of civilians cowering in the corners. When each floor of the West Tower was secure, the legionaries keeping watch over the civilians then escorted them to a designated spot on the second floor as they waited for the black smoke on the ground level to clear.
Knowing the Interfector had run past him up to the fighting on the 6th floor, Aleron led the staff up there and watched the Elite yank his blade out a Hangdog's abdomen. Aleron saw his Primus turn briefly to face him, breathing heavily, and dripping blood before directing a group of legionaries to take charge of a group of huddled children. Stepping towards an opening in the wall facing the East Tower, Aleron approached his commander's side and took in the same view, seeing that the forces under Lanius were already up to nearly the 12th floor. Each tower was around 25 floors, and even though both towers had many completely open floors, the distance and series of catwalks and cranes connecting the two buildings made it hard to tell exactly how much of the tower was claimed. The catapults had ceased their bombardment of the East Tower for focus on the upper floors of the West Tower, and the only way Aleron and his Primus could tell how far up Carnifex's Cohort was, was due to the number of bodies or people being thrown from the windows. Carnifex truly wasn't a man of any mercy, and the bodies continued to fall from the East Tower the higher up they went. The Interfector turned from the opening both tremendously sickened and savagely prideful at the image of victory in the East and marched towards the stairwell and carnage on floor 8.
Around two hours passed and the Interfector's forces had reached about the same spot as those under Lanius. It was clear that Lanius had encountered some kind of tremendous resistance somewhere around the 20th floor or his tower, but that resistance too was ended as both structures were almost completely occupied by the Legion. At this time, the chariot forces and groups of engineers had just retreated to the shelter of the highrises after keeping the hounds of Denver at bay for as long as they could. Many of the wire barricades were broken, and the stray dogs of Denver swarmed towards the East Tower as if they knew to stay away from the West Tower.
At some point while Lanius was clearing the 23rd floor, Montano was ordered to defend the lower floors from the monsters trying to storm the tower. Most of these mongrels' progress was prevented by the simple closing of the building's doors, but many packs of hounds had found their ways up and had to be killed while they feasted upon the countless fallen legionaries across each floor. Many of the hounds that infiltrated the building were just crippled when being dealt with and somewhere in the mess, Lanius had given orders for the dogs either dead or alive to be brought up to the combat on the last floor. Montano was in charge of this effort and by the time they'd brought up many mongrel corpses, the fighting on the top floor was over and Lanius was slaughtering the last defenders on the roof.
At the same time, Lord Interfector and the forces under him had smashed open the door to the West Tower's roof and the man emerged into the shadowed darkness of another smoke-shrouded and red sky. The sunlight beamed beyond the heavy clouds but the region was still so dark as that sun's light did little other tell the Murderer that it was around 9 or 10am. As his forces filed onto the rooftop, his staff's vexillarius took his place on the edge facing the East Tower and fired his gun in the air despite the spray of bullets from the Hangdogs on the West Tower roof. The vexillarius was met with a response from his counterpart on the East highrise and the Hangdog resistance on both rooftops was quickly silenced.
Looking upon the tribal constructions on his rooftop, the Interfector only had to watch as his forces washed over the remaining defenders, silencing the gunshots of the last defenders by indiscriminate fire or merciless hacking. As he walked towards the series of makeshift Hangdog structures on the West Tower roof, he saw three of his legionaries hauling out the bleeding and bruised remains of three Hangdogs from a decorated structure. The Interfector had known that the Hangdogs' leadership was on the West Tower and briefly wondered why he'd been assigned to handle it instead. Lanius was known as a being who'd leap at the opportunity to slit the throats of conquered tribal chieftains, but all this made sense when he remembered his role in the assault and when he saw what was happening on the East Tower. The remaining forces under Lanius were ripping down the makeshift shacks on the East Tower rooftop like they were nothing and stacking the debris on an elevated platform that had once been called a helipad. When Lord Interfector looked back at the carnage on his own recently claimed rooftop, his attention was diverted to the three men thrown at his feet.
Those three men hauled out of the structure were the three Hangdog chieftains who were immediately bound at the feet of the Interfector and propped up. One was clearly in agony, having suffered several gunshot wounds when the Legionaries perforated the structures. The injured man collapsed as soon as his legionary escort released his hand, but the body heaved winded breaths over the crackle of fire. The other two remained silent, staring at the Elite's feet and refusing to make eye contact as Aleron approached his Primus' side. When Aleron stepped up, he saw the three chieftains, studied the injured one, and glanced at his Primus just in time to see the order given. Aleron emptied the remainder of his submachinegun's magazine in the collapsed chieftain and as soon as he dumped the mag to reload, the chieftain in the middle looked up and spat flame at his conqueror. The elderly man went wild, swearing in his own tongue at the Elite who remained calm and waiting for him to settle. The other one continued to refuse eye contact with the Interfector until the legionary behind him was given the signal to end him as well. With two of the three chieftains now dead, the remaining defiant one finally began shouting at the Murderer in English;
"You think this is all of us!? Leejun scum!?..."
The fires across the city grew and grew and the conqueror of the West Tower remained silent.
"... Our brothers in the north and brothers of steel will come to our aid!..."
Silence.
"... You won't leave this tower! Our dogs avenge us below! Hahaha!..." The defiant man cackled
The Interfector and Aleron stayed silent and the remaining chieftain met the eyes of the Elite with pure evil in them, "... I hear about you 'Monster'! You kill all us, you all die! We will never bow to Caesar! Kill us for good and dogs will save us!"
When Lord Interfector felt the chieftain had said all he needed to, he motioned for the team of Legionaries to stand him up and march him over to the edge looking out at the East Tower. The man protested aggressively despite his age, and the few dozen other civilians of tribal leadership who survived on the rooftop were walked to the edge as well mid transport. As the edge of the West Tower rooftop was populated by the survivors of the Hangdog leadership and their families, all eyes were focused on the East Tower. The wreckage on the East Tower rooftop was piled on that helipad and set alight. The fire burned and more legionaries shuffled about. With the situation on the other roof being too far to detail, the Interfector removed his binoculars from around his neck and held them to the eyes of the remaining chieftain.
Montano marched to the edge of the roaring fire with a crippled and whining Denver hound over his shoulders. The thing protested terribly trying to bite at him but failing through the pain in its broken paws and uselessness of teeth against his arm guards. Montano walked at the forefront of the long line of legionaries walking towards the inferno on the helipad from the stairwells into the tower. Each legionary behind him too was carrying a crippled or dead hound from the streets below. Montano reached the foot of the helipad and the squirming rabid monster almost broke free when he caught its legs and silenced it by slamming it against the edge of the helipad. When his rabid mongrel was silenced, he continued up the short steps to the raging inferno and heaved its body upon the flames. As he turned away, he approached the golden Monster standing before the inferno at the edge facing the West Tower. Before taking his place, he gave one last look at the file of legionaries each approaching the inferno with their hounds before systematically chucking them into the flames. Montano looked across the way at the West Tower, seeing the line of civilians witnessing the deed going on behind the giant, and saw the distant plume of Lord Interfector's helmet before meeting the eyes of the centurion beside him.
The old chieftain saw all he needed to and despite not having binoculars, many civilians knew what was happening on the other tower. The chieftain, unsure whether he was enraged or completely heartbroken briefly looked down at the streets below seeing the enumerable dog corpses across the avenue and still seeing his tribespeople being thrown from the other tower. The elderly man looked one last time at the fire across the way and saw the golden mask beneath the inferno staring back at him in all clarity. He turned to his conqueror, the Lord Interfector, eyes wet and unable to speak clearly as the reality of his tribe's end was finally setting in.
Beneath an uproar of sobs from the other Hangdogs on the West Tower, the chieftain managed to sputter, "Why are you doing this?"
The Interfector stared into the soul of the chieftain, "Why did you think I was the Monster of the East you heard about?"
The chieftain didn't answer. The words of the Elite Centurion made the old chieftain realize that the conqueror of the West Tower was in fact the reasonable alternative to the true Monster of the East staring at him from the fire engulfed East Tower.
As the silence provided its own answer, the Interfector saw the realization in the chieftain's eyes and finally, the Elite of Phoenix went on;
"No, we do not have plans to eat or sustain ourselves on the dogs of this place anymore, what's happening right now is nothing more than punishment. This is a slaughter that will continue for as long as you and your forces in the north resist. All your fallen hounds in the streets below will burn forever alongside your people courtesy of that large gentleman across the way..." He gestured to the mask that had not moved as more legionaries on the East roof tossed their hounds on the bonfire.
The chieftain remained silent, taking in the Interfector's words, "... I am not the monster, but you will submit to Caesar. I will spare you, your people in this tower, and even the souls of your slain monsters under one condition..."
Still quiet, the Interfector went on after seeing the submission in the chieftain's face, "... You will formally declare the Hangdogs' submission to your forces in the north and you will serve Caesar, for each minute your forces up north remain hostile and threaten our line, more of your people will die and more hounds will be burned..."
There was nothing but defeat in the old man's eyes. He knew he'd failed his people and the whine of his tribe's sacred canine allies and friends being tossed into the crackling fire only solidified this message.
The Interfector finally concluded, "... Your people, your Hangdogs, never existed, understood?..." No words, merely acceptance in the chieftain's eyes. "... Your culture, your customs, your skills, your history, was never yours; it was ours. Understood?..." Another quiet but clear acceptance was given to the Interfector before he was done, "Now come, I'm sure you're eager to meet the true monster and tell your people up north about your new allegiance."
The chieftain was escorted down the tower passing multiple floors full of his subjugated people being escorted mechanically onto the streets below. Upon emerging into the plaza, the avenue was full of slain dogs from the traps laid by the engineer and chariot crews that fell back. As they walked to the East Tower, they passed countless legionary survivors from the battle at the eastern highrise carting the corpses of dogs up to the rooftop inferno. By this time, the Hangdog people were being separated and segregated on the streets and the monsters that had broken down the barriers were nowhere to be seen. Almost like magic, the swarms of monsters had retreated to keep their distance, seeming to somehow be fully aware of the surrender agreed to by their tribal masters.
A few hours later, an envoy from the Hangdog force in the north stepped onto that rooftop and saw his last surviving chieftain standing in chains between the Golden Monster and Elite of Phoenix beside the roaring fire. After taking in the display and sight of his chieftain's condition, the envoy took the order of surrender and departed to relay the terms, mortified by the image of a fire being fueled entirely by their sacred hounds.
Once the envoy departed, the Interfector unbound the chieftain at Carnifex's indifference, allowing the man to return to his people in the streets around the West Tower under escort. However, after the complete surrender of his tribe and after watching more than three hundred dogs get added to the fire while they waited for the envoy, he was done. The second the chieftain was unbound, he ran as quick as he could over to the inferno and threw himself on it.
The action was almost unacknowledged by the two Elites and nearly expected by both of them. As the old chief joined his hounds in the fire, his screams echoed throughout the city. When the screams finally faded into the distance, Aleron glanced to his Primus, then back to the fire as he addressed the centurion next to him;
"An admirable conquest of the East Tower, Centurion Montano."
Montano stayed silent for a moment staring into the fire alongside his rival before saying idly, "I should offer you praise as well, Centurion Aleron. It's good that the West wasn't as fortified as the East, or else Lord Interfector's worries would certainly have come to true realization. Still, keeping the people subdued while fighting in ruin is to be commended."
Aleron replied, trying to make out the bones of the chieftain in the fire, "Perhaps the resistance in the East would've been less costly if the occupants didn't fear getting tossed from windows in the event of defeat."
Montano straightened his helmet and tucked the unfurled headwrap back inside as he looked back into the fire from Lanius, "I'll inform Elite Centurion Carnifex about your tactical advice, Aleron."
Without breaking from the fire, Aleron adjusted his armor, feeling some of his thermite burned skin around his shoulders get displaced from repeated blows as he said, "It's not my advice, it's Lord Interfector's."
Montano glanced to Aleron before looking past him at the Elite of Phoenix and Lanius discussing something, "I'll do you the justice of acknowledging how you perhaps know things that I do not, due to our stations, but know who you follow and where they stand in Caesar's ranks, Aleron."
Aleron's view of the fire was obstructed briefly as a man in legionary attire with a black hood walked past them towards the Elites, "I'll second that, Montano. Know who you follow, but just know that change is coming with the end of this front. One way or another, the Legion's glory will be tested, whether that is because of the outcome of this campaign or our next wars is yet to be seen."
Both remained silent after that until both of their eyes were diverted to the hooded legionary who handed a letter to the Elite of Phoenix. As the Interfector read the letter beside that golden statue, Montano said;
"It appears we'll be parting ways again. I'll be marching on the Brotherhood and you'll return to quell the fires in Lord Interfector's Praetorship..."
Aleron nodded silently and Montano looked to his rival before adding, "... Don't think we've settled our differences. I'm merely impressed you can keep your head on during a battle, something that's fortunate considering I'll be the one to remove it."
Aleron refused to look his way, instead continuing to stare into the flame, he replied softly, "You can try, you insubordinate creature. Stay alive on the next front for me. Can't have any 'paladins' stealing the honor I'll receive when I finally gut you."
The two stared into the fire together as their words for the other sank in. As the seconds passed, sinister grins crept across each of their faces until the Golden Monster stormed past and the Interfector stepped up to Aleron with the words,
"Aleron, collect my staff and make ready for departure. It's about time we returned to Circle Junction."
Aleron replied, "Right away, Primus" and jogged off before the Interfector tipped his helmet at Montano;
"Montano, I see you two are behaving yourselves."
That sinister smile grew across Montano's face again as he replied, "Of course, Lord Interfector" with a fist over his heart.
The Interfector returned with a salute and walked away from the rooftop inferno ready to depart the tower and newly tamed Dog Town.