Southern Land of Cones
It was late evening, and the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains in the distance. The sky appeared a mix of orange and red, the last glimmers of the star. Fort Naka was all quiet, with most of the garrison except the sentries having retired to their compounds for rest from the day's activities, it was all quiet in the radius around the fort; which was made up of barren and rocky hills, both steep and gentle, while there was a wide yet shallow river flowing and cutting through the rocks nearby, over which the bridge was built that the garrison had to watch over. The bridge itself was no spectacular sight, just a plain stone structure with a few arches and nothing remarkable, but its position was what had earned it more than five hundred guards. The bridge joined the two opposite sides of a road from the northern coastal tip of the Land of Cones, down to the southern territories, and also branched off into the nearby Lands of Jungles and Rice Paddies. It was an important land route for trade, travelers, and any armies on the march.
Akio was getting lethargic on his sentry duty, resting over the wall nearby and leaning over his spear. He was a lean man in his twenties, of average height, with a shaven face and hair tied at the back of his head. He wore a metal cuirass made of metal plates interlocked together, with a portion that hung down to cover his upper thighs. a Kabuto helmet (yes there is a helmet with the same name), and shin and forearm guards; he also carried a yari spear. Below all this he wore common linen clothing in black. This armor provided relatively good protection but was nothing compared to that of the samurai, the core of any non-shinobi army. Akio was no samurai, he was only an ashigaru, a common footsoldier with minimal training and deployed on the battlefield.
He was stationed at the north-eastern tower of the fort, which provided a good view over the lands across the bridge. This task was boring, as it always had been; the fort's commander had told them to be vigilant as the Romans had mobilized an army against them, but it didn't change anything. Something caught his eye as Akio lazily leaned over the tower's wall. About five hundred meters away, behind the hills, he could see a lot of black smoke rising. This was odd, not a single village existed in the radius of a dozen kilometers of the fort, and yet there was this.
Akio quickly got up and rushed down the fort and towards a building in the middle, he was making his way to the commander. The building wasn't large, more like a small villa that served as the commander's office and residence. There was one entrance into the building from the front, and Akio ran toward it. But as he was quite close to the door, he was suddenly stopped by a samurai in bulky armor and covered his face with a mask. The man was big, about 5'9, and his armor and the naginata he carried made him evermore intimidating.
"Where do you think you're going?" The samurai quickly blocked Akio's way with the naginata and spoke with a stern voice. Akio got back to a safe distance and replied in a voice that slightly quivered,
"I-I need to speak to the commander."
"What about?"
"It's important." The samurai eased his stance and looked at Akio for a moment, but after that went inside the building. Akio didn't move but simply waited outside. He had a habit of shaking his legs in anxiety, and that took over for a moment.
Then suddenly, the commander came outside, accompanied by the samurai that had stopped Akio. The commander was a middle-aged man with a lean body, average height, and a dignified manner. He had some wrinkles, black hair grey at the roots and tied at the back of his head in a samurai bun, a small mustache, and a Van Dyke beard. The commander stood directly facing Akio and spoke to him,
"What's the matter?"
"There's, there's smoke in the distance across the bridge." Akio stuttered a little, it was merely out of nervousness, standing in front of someone like the commander. The latter glanced in the direction of the bridge and then looked back at Akio,
"Well then, show it to me." Akio didn't say anything, and hurriedly walked back towards the tower, the commander and the samurai followed him.
As they got to the top of the tower again, Akio merely pointed in the direction across the bridge. The commander walked forward and squinted his eyes, then he got back and spoke to Akio,
"You have a sharp eye, but again this doesn't seem that much suspicious. It can be a caravan of merchants resting or anything like that. But I'll send a small party to investigate." Saying this the commander started walking down the stairs. The samurai stayed there for a while and gave Akio a friendly but serious look, then followed the commander down.
In about twenty minutes or so, Akio could see a group of about thirteen horsemen riding out of the fort across the bridge.
Roman camp
Janus hosted a little council of war in his tent with all the other centurions. They had camped here the previous noon and had been examining the area and fortifying their camp since then. Now that everything else was ready, they just needed to draw out plans and execute them. Inside the tent, in the middle was a square table with a rough plan of the area drawn out over it. On one end was seated Janus in a stool, while the centurions stood upright and examined the map. No talks had started yet, as the centurions and Janus both studied the plan and devised strategies in their minds. After some silence, Janus spoke first,
"So, any plans yet centurions?" Most stayed quiet, but Marcellus, a middle-aged centurion with grey hair, a shaven face, and compact stature spoke while signaling at a section of the river near their camp,
"This part of the river narrows down quite a bit and is shallow. We can build a pontoon bridge here and thus flank the enemy during the imminent assault." Janus nodded, acknowledging the strategy as viable, and slowly after this, another centurion spoke,
"I like Centurion Marcellus' idea, but I would also suggest that we first try to starve out the enemy, or negotiate with them."
As the centurions thus discoursed, there was a lot of noise from outside. Janus raised his palm and commanded the centurions to stop speaking. He looked at the camp's entrance blankly for a while, and then slowly got up. Making his way out of the tent, he could see what the commotion was about. Twenty or so soldiers were proudly marching around thirteen foreign warriors around the camp, while the rest of the army cheered and jeered. This was a massive indiscipline for a professional army, but even the commanders could do nothing about a few thousand soldiers tired and bored out of their wits.
Janus quickly went and stood directly facing the soldiers 'parading' the captives, and sternly questioned them,
"Who're these?" The soldiers left their relaxed attitude and stood facing their commander. One of the men, who seemed the youngest in his early twenties, replied nervously,
"We-We found these men spying from a distance sire. Tried to escape but caught 'em." Janus put his hand to his chin in thought and glanced over at the captives. After a brief moment of silence, he ordered the soldiers,
"Hand them over to Centurion Antonius, we'll interrogate them. And keep in mind, such indiscipline won't be tolerated again." The soldiers nervously saluted Janus, and roughly led the captive men to one part of the camp.
Janus stood there for a moment and gazed at the soldiers dragging the spies away. After that, he commanded the gathered soldiers loudly,
"What're you looking at? Don't you men have anything better to do?!" After being thus addressed, the soldiers looked at each other for a moment then quickly dispersed back to the tasks they were previously doing.
Janus watched the crowd disperse for a while, then turned back and slowly walked back toward his tent. Beside him stood Marcellus, the old centurion quietly gazed at the camp with his hands folded. Janus stopped for a moment put a hand on Marcellus' shoulder, and whispered in his ears,
"Start work on the pontoon bridge immediately, take as many men as you need." The old centurion gave a nod but didn't move, Marcus walked on and back into his camp.
Eastern Land of Forests (province)
It was the same fortress in the jungle, built in the middle of the wild. But today it wasn't as quiet as usual, as inside the fort could be found soldiers and samurai numbering in the thousands. Everyone was busy, some sharpening their fine blades, others tending to their armor and horses, while others merely rested or chatted. The thick jungle surrounding the fortress formed a canopy that didn't let sunlight easily pierce it, but the sun shone brightly inside the cleared area where the fort was built.
On the other side of the castle, where the higher officials and samurai resided, was Ishikawa. Today the man was clad in heavy armor that was dyed red, perhaps it represented the blood of his fallen foes, while the old samurai wore no helmet. Ishikawa was casually walking towards the stables, and following him was his advisor, assistant, and trusted bodyguard Sato. The latter was a young man in his thirties, with a clean-shaven face, a white band across his forehead, and his hair tied in a bun; he was clad in red armor that wasn't very heavy, and underneath it, he wore pure black clothing. Ishikawa continued walking at the same pace, and asked Sato without looking back,
"Sato, can you inform me of our numbers and strengths?" The bodyguard kept walking behind his master with his hands behind his back and head slightly down, and replied,
"We have roughly 1,500 samurai at our disposal, seven hundred of which have a horse. The rest of the 2,500 are foot soldiers and ashigaru, a mix of archers and swordsmen, lord. We also have five hundred light cavalry at our disposal." Ishikawa gave a slight nod, and upon reaching the stables he quickly mounted his horse, followed by Sato. Ishikawa checked his reins and then started slowly trotting his horse towards the main gate. While riding, he put up another question,
"And, what are the Roman numbers?" Sato replied after a brief pause,
"About 3,500, most of whom are heavy infantry as we know. They also have a sizeable amount of archers and riders."
"Hm." Ishikawa shut his eyes for a moment in thought, then replied,
"We have a slight advantage in numbers, but those foreigners mustn't be taken lightly. The last time I fought them was more than two decades ago, but I am telling you; those men are capable of turning any battle into a mindless massacre, of their enemies." Sato only replied in a moment, with a calculated tone,
"Our cause is just, and our blades capable. We will prevail." Ishikawa gave a small smile and turned his eyes to Sato,
"Your words are poetic. We older men lack the optimism of young warriors like you."
After this, both men spoke no more and only trotted their horses toward the main gate.
Upon reaching it, there were the other leaders of the revolt waiting for them. There was Izuna, who respectfully bowed to Ishikawa. The latter acknowledged him, and then joined the leaders in what seemed a conversation. Arashi, a more or less obese man clad in tight armor, questioned Ishikawa first,
"So, lord Ishikawa, our forces will be ready to march in a few hours. Have you come up with any strategy?" Ishikawa calmly glanced at the obese man, and replied,
"The Romans are likely to besiege Fort Naka. If we arrive in time, we can hit them from the flank and rear as they are busy with the fort. But for that, we must be quick, quicker than this." Ishikawa signaled at the soldiers and samurai who were still preparing. Arashi nodded in agreement. The lords remained in uncanny silence for a while, and then Izuna leaned near Ishikawa and spoke to him,
"What do you think?"
"What?"
"Will we win this?" Ishikawa turned his head to face Izuna and slightly smiled,
"Have faith, we are samurai. If we win it will be excellent, and if we fall, it will be for a just cause."
Izuna seemed satisfied, but his face reflected doubt. Ishikawa didn't mind, the man was young, and such ideas suited older men more who could already die any minute now. Thinking this, the man chuckled in his mind.
Author's notes
Alright, how did you like the chapter? The next one will be focused on Konoha more, so yeah. Forgive me if I am dragging such 'build-up' chapters too long, but I rather love to do things in detail. At this point, it must be visible to all of you that this fanfic won't be a 'Mega war between the mighty Roman empire and the Allied Shinobi Forces', and yeah it won't be that. It isn't realistic, both in a political sense and obviously. Any ideas are welcome.
Do review the chapter if you've read this far.