Albius slowly walked up to the centurion that stood waiting for him. He was tired from fending off a swarm of young cazadors. He was dragging a spear behind him, which was covered in the greenish blood of the swarm. He also had some of their blood on his armor.
Albius was stung a couple of times on his left side by one of the cazadors. A wave of pain occasionally emanated from the site of the stings.
Albius stopped a few steps away from the centurion.
"Ave." Albius said without any emotion to the centurion. He was breathing heavily which he tried to control.
"Ave. What happened?" Asked the centurion.
"Myself, my decanus, and three others were going to regroup with the rest of our scouting party to come here. We stumbled upon a cazador nesting ground and tried going around it. A small swarm ambushed us even though we made a good amount of distance away from the nests. The other three had fallen as they fought along side me while our decanus fled. I managed to kill off the remaining swarm and administer antivenom. Then I followed my decanus here." Albius said to the centurion.
"You fought off cazadors by yourself? Hmph. I declare you as the decanus of your group. You earned it. Now go rest." The centurion said with a smile. He then turned around and walked back near the dock of Cottonwood Cove to be with the other two centurions present.
Albius walked further toward the camp where a legionary handed him a medical kit as he passed by. He took it without looking at the legionary, and in the process he felt his side ache again.
Next, Albius walked to the storage building to sit against the wall. Once there, he opened up the kit and it only had bandages along with healing powder. He quickly applied a couple of bandages covered with the powder to the area where he was stung, and when he finished he just sat there, laying against the wall. He closed his eyes for a brief moment where he started to relive a piece of an old memory from a time long gone.
He heard the sounds of people going on about their lives along with children laughing as they played. The wind blew through near leafless trees and he could also hear brahmin as they wandered. The memory ended when he opened his eyes. Albius sighed and continued resting. Now really wasn't the time to remember.
While Albius rested peacefully, Cassius approached him. He was older than Cassius by a few years and often spoke to him. Albius met him when Cassius was assigned to their scouting team and their decanus had paired them. Albius had to get Cassius familiar with the routines of being a scout. All that was five years ago.
"Albius…" Said Cassius as he stood in front of Albius. Albius was briefly silent before he responded to Cassius' presence.
"Sit down." Albius replied without looking at Cassius.
Cassius sat near Albius against the wall. The two briefly said nothing for Albius was watching the other legionaries at the dock already moving a raft across the Colorado River. Then Cassius finally spoke.
"I can't believe we lost." Cassius lamented.
Albius did not reply immediately to Cassius. Instead, he continued to observed the other legionaries in silence before he made a response.
"Hm. That's war." Replied Albius with indifference. He then looked up toward the sky and there were only a couple of clouds present.
"Aren't you worried what this means for the Legion?" Asked Cassius with a concern expression on his face. Albius then turned his head to look at Cassius.
"No." He said blankly to Cassius. Albius' response left Cassius shocked.
"We are without a legate or Caesar himself, Albius. The Legion's fate is uncertain! How can you say you are not worried?" Cassius responded. Before he responded, Cassius sighed.
"The Legion survived the campaign on Denver and there are many candidates for leadership. The Legion will sort itself out." Albius replied without any enthusiasm, sounding more contemptuous toward the idea. Cassius gave no immediate response for he wasn't sure what to say back, and he also didn't pick up on Albius' tone.
Albius looked again at the sky and noticed one of the two clouds were closer. He hoped maybe it would get close enough to provide shade to him.
Finally, Cassius gave a response to Albius.
"Fighting among us may be... inevitable. I don't want it to come to that..." Cassius lamented. He simply stayed silent while Albius winced in pain from the cazador stings.
"Why? We both seen decani and centurions beat each other to death to earn a higher rank. It isn't new." Replied Albius.
"Caesar was chosen by Mars himself to lead the Legion, Albius!" Cassius vehemently said back but he quickly lowered his voice when Albius pointed at the other legionaries. Luckily no one heard Cassius for they were too busy. Before Albius spoke back to Cassius he sighed.
"Think of it like this: Mars will choose another person. Surely he wouldn't leave what his son left behind to crumble." Albius said.
Cassius contemplated on Albius' statement. He thought that maybe he was right but he still felt uncertain. Albius didn't believe what he said. He never bought into the idea Caesar was the son of Mars or the whole religion. He knew better then most in the Legion.
Cassius then looked off at the sky and stared at it for a few seconds before he spoke.
"I wish I was at the battle for the dam. I probably wouldn't make a difference but at least I... I could..." Cassius then thought of the Courier when he watched him travel through Boulder City. Cassius was starting to feel a small bit of rage growing inside him again. He balled his hands into fists which Albius noticed.
"What else troubles you?" Albius asked Cassius.
"Ever hated someone so much that deserved to die? Like a person that is worse than any degenerate our Legion had crucified? Except crucifying them is too kind? I wish I was at the dam so I could fight the profligate responsible for the Legion's pain..."
"The Courier... He took the dam?" Albius replied quietly to Cassius.
"Yes. He had an army of machines. He slain our brothers and drove the NCR out. He deserves pain unlike any other. Perhaps something like Caesar did to the Burned Man though that may not be right. For killing Caesar, there must be something more special. What I would give to avenge Caesar." Said Cassius. Albius then moved himself to have his body completely face Cassius. He cross his legs and was no longer leaning against the wall. Then, Albius finally replied.
"Hold on to that anger," Albius began "It'll give you strength. If you desire revenge, perhaps you will one day see it."
Cassius then imagined himself standing before the Courier with only a dagger. The Courier just silently stood there, observing Cassius behind the visors of his ranger helmet. Their surroundings were fire and scattered clouds of smoke and dust. The sky was blocked out. Then, Cassius imagined running toward the Courier but his fantasy was interrupted by Albius.
"You should go join the others. We should focus on getting back home across this river. I'll be at the dock in a few minutes. The pain from my stings are not bothering me as much."
"Oh. Uh, yeah." Cassius took a deep breath and got up. Before he could take a step, Albius said something else.
"Don't forget my advice... It could be useful in the future." Stated Albius while he stared off at the other side of the Colorado River before looking at Cassius again. Cassius then walked away in silence, leaving Albius alone with his thoughts.
That boy... If only he learned there is more to life than the Legion. At least he may actually be useful to me.
Albius then turned his thoughts toward the Hoover Dam. A small smile formed on his face.
So the Courier was victorious... Finally, someone powerful enough to absolutely destroy the Legion. The Legion is crippled now but it is likely to heal. It must die. I can use this situation. Thought Albius. He then got up from the ground but groaned in pain for his side ached a bit.
Albius then walked away from the wall toward the dock by a couple of steps before stopping. He silently observed the river as it slowly flowed south. He quickly was developing many ideas and a piece of him started to feel extremely confident. A plan was brewing inside his mind. He then stopped looking at the river and moved on.
At the dock, a legionary on a small boat was preparing to take the last of the supplies from Cottonwood Cove across the river. Meanwhile, the other boats were returning from the other side to pick up the legionaries to take them home.
The three centurions present yelled for all their warriors that were resting to get to the dock. Everyone was quickly heading to the dock, lining themselves up. Albius and Cassius joined up with the rest of their scouting team. They all boarded the boats in small groups and ferried back and forth.
Cassius while on the dock waiting for a boat to come back to take him and some of his group across turned around to have one last look at Cottonwood Cove. Next, he boarded the boats when they arrived, following the lead of Albius since he was the new decanus of the group. Soon they would be back home. Cassius felt eager for what waited there but he hoped things will not be so bad.