Chapter 8 : Callings of the Camp (Malcolm)
This was the thirty second half-blood rescued this month. I had to admit, Chiron's plan was bearing fruit, Camp strength was at an all time high. Due to us senior campers eliminating the major monster war bands over the past three months, travel to Camp had become exceedingly safe and neglible numbers of demigods actually got hurt while making the journey. What was even better, was that the deaths had practically stopped. Things were still hectic at Camp however, the increased footfall created several logistical issues which had to be settled to ensure the proper functioning of the camp.
These days, most of those who arrived got claimed within a day. Our cabin together with the Aphrodite and Hephaestus cabins had been engaged in the planning, renovation and remodeling of the Camp, which now sported completed cabins of Hades, Hecate, Hypnos, Nemesis and Janus, with a lot of other buildings still undergoing construction. For the undetermined, a separate cabin had been set up, complete with shrines to all the Gods to aid those kids in getting their messages through to their divine progenitors. We had started working on a proper road, the plan was to connect the various cabins to the Big House via a set of well-paved stone roads. These days I do wish that Annabeth was around to help us, but orders from Olympus took priority as always.
"Hey Malcolm, this is Sera. Could get her set up in the last cabin," my musings were cut short by the voice of Travis Stoll introducing a new demigod to me.
"Right away. Now Sera could you please provide me your full name and date of birth so that we can set you up faster."
The child looked slightly intimidated but answered nonetheless, after which I had one of the Aphrodite girls take her on guided tour. Hopefully she'd do well in Camp. The new kids did seem to lack a sense humbleness, I suppose not getting hunted by monsters every step of the way to Camp does make one veritably complacent. These kids were having it easy, for now atleast.
The Camp's training regimen had shifted to a more rigorous one though. Clarisse and the Ares cabin took to training the newbies with extreme amounts of enthusiasm. Their recent loses in battle had spurred them onwards to create a new batch of demigods who would be better prepared to deal with combat situations. When Percy was around he would run the trainees through a series of war drills and instruct them on combat roles and techniques. His fame as a swordsman had gathered him several eager pupils, and Percy seemed unsure what to do with this newfound attention.
The Camp's defenses were undergoing slow repairs under the supervision of the Hephaestus cabin. They had already started developing a series of fortifications around the hill, by the fist and beside the water. These would serve to deter attacks from any side of the Camp. We had also been making plans to create a permanent guard for garrisoning the defenses, it entailed the participation of all the campers. Each of the cabins would create groups of four with at least one archer among them. Five of the cabins would be selected for a single guard shift, which would last for a week. After he completion of one shift, five other cabins would be selected to provide guards for the defenses.
The Last Cabin, had been one of mine most hectic fixtures. For one, the entire cabin had been rushed to completion within a duration of nine weeks. Getting people settled in was something I was ratherr uncomfortable doing, and so I outsourced it to the Aphrodite cabin, who had so far been of little assistance. Setting up a half-blood registration had been a slightly contentious idea at first, but with more and more evidence pointing to traitor demigods being hugely responsible for the rise of Kronos, the tide shifted. The unrecognized, new half-bloods were asked their names and dates of births, while the claimed ones also needed to fill in the column which inquired about their abilities and powers.
There were whispers of the Camp turning into a quasi-police state, but that didn't matter anymore. Last time around, they had lowered their guard, become complacent and inefficient. Now, they would change that and I would be at its forefront.
Chapter 9 : Skirmish in Salem (Percy)
A cloudy, overcast day. Depressed teenager for company. Children and possibly depressed teen in grave danger of becoming monster breakfast. A perfectly jolly morning, by all accounts I must say.
Me, Nico, Will Solace, the Stolls and Jake Mason had been dispatched to escort Katie Gardener and a large contingent of demigods she had come across. Apparently they had run into some trouble and had gotten besieged in one of our safe houses in Salem. Our task was to eliminate the monsters laying siege to the safe house, retrieve Katie and the demigods, and sew them safely escorted back to Camp. Not too complicated, but could run into some difficulty should the kids Katie found, get into some trouble. The safe house in Salem was newly established and was therefore not in Nico's shadow travel list. Katie had been the one to set it up along with a few of her siblings from Demeter.
We six had decided on an impromptu plan of sorts. I and Nico would draw the monsters away with our scent and by creating commotion. Once the monsters were safely put of the way Will and the Stolls would retrieve Katie and her charges, while Jake would keep guard and be on the lookout for any threat.
"Right, so Percy, Nico you'll draw them towards the Willows Park. Once they are there feel free to exterminate them," Jake's voice had hint of worry in it, perhaps he felt uncomfortable dealing with a pseudo hostage situation.
"Will do Jake, don't worry so much eh," I sure hope that lame attempt at reassurance calmed him down a bit, because I certainly didn't want our resident pyromaniac being jittery in a rescue mission. As the rooftop of the safe house came into view in the distance, we stopped the van and moved out, with me and Nico heading straight for the decrepit looking building while Travis, Connor and Will took cover in a nearby patch of vegetation.
"Nico, you will join the taunts okay, " I instructed him as I took out Riptide, "we need them to be angry enough to chase us and forget their siege."
"Right...right. So we just barge in and start insulting them."
" Exactly. Now come on, we've got monsters to taunt."
As we approached the makeshift blockade established by the monsters, I could see that they were not present in extremely large numbers. Most of the besiegers were dracneae and empousae, with a few manticores present amidst their ranks. The empousae archers could potentially cause trouble for Nico, Katie and the rest as they were not invulnerable like me.
"OI! You dumb beasts. How does it feel getting killed by heroes again and again eh?"
"Did Echidna tell you that you were the best, because you sure are the best at sacrificing your mortal forms in the hopes of a quick meal! Did Typhon not feed you?" I could see their ranks shuffling with agitators clamoring for a fight against us.
"There are just two of us and yet you hesitate to attack." As I shouted out those words, I could feel their impact coursing through the heavy air that now surrounded us. They. Were. Livid.
"It seems like they don't have even the smallest bits of self respect. "
"Aye. They know they'll lose. Just like the-," my sentence was cut short by a series of howls uttered by the manticores who broke ranks and started chasing after us. Soon the greater part, some four-fifths of the host, began following us. Through the corner of eye I noticed three shadowy blurs rushing towards the safe house, with some good fortune, they'd be able to rescue Katie and something like ten half-bloods. Ten! No wonder they were under siege. Even if they had been demigods of minor deities, their combined aura would be similar to that of the demigods of the Olympian council.
Under a hail of empousae arrows, Nico and I ran in the general direction of the Willows Park, hoping to draw the monsters away for the evacuation to succeed. We must have looked insane to the few mortal onlookers still on the street- two teenagers being chased by sixty or seventy very aggressive and rather oddly dressed people, who were screaming out a torrent of abuse. The plan had been to turn and give battle at the park, but it seemed that we'd have to engage beforehand, if only to silence their arrow fire. As we turned another corner, I decided to inform Nico that we would engage them right here, instead of the park.
"We fight, Nico. Here. Feint left," I whispered to him before diving towards the right. The monsters thought that Nico would be the one to launch the attack and thus moved up the manticores to the left to counter the expected assault. They were left dumbfounded, however, when I launched the first strike from the right, cleaving through the empousae archers before engaging with the hastily prepared dracneae spear wall. On the other flank, Nico launched his own attack, reaping the soul of a manticore using his blade of stygian iron. With the monsters in disarray and suffering losses, I decided to to end the game once and for all.
"Nico, summon your army. End this."
With a flick of his hand , a score of warrior skeletons rose from the ground and then proceeded to drown the monsters in a tidal wave of death. After casually dealing with the monsters, they gave Nico a salute before disappearing into the ground.
When we returned to the safe house, Will informed us that they had encountered some resistance in the rescue, but one of the kids with Katie had apparently charmspoken a few monsters to sleep, allowing the Stolls to eliminate them with ease. With Katie and ten new demigods secured, we started our drive towards Long Island. This had been the biggest rescue so far, and ten additional demigods within the Camp would mean ten less demigods in the Fields of Asphodel. All in all, a successful day.
Chapter 10 : Chiron calls a counselors congregation (Percy)
Imagine my surprise this morning, when Chiron trotted up to me and told me to gather all the head counselors in the Big House after archery practice for the kids. Most of the other counselors were just as confused as to why this meeting was being called. So here I was, sitting by the ping pong table, waiting for Chiron to arrive with whatever message he wanted to share with us.
"Reckon there's some message from Olympus, Percy?" asked Connor Stoll, his face was lined with mild confusion. I frankly had no proper answer since deduction was not amongst my best skills, so I decided to go with a non-commital response:
"Dunno Connor, its probably about some new training schedule for the newbies. Maybe we get to form an army or something." I saw Malcolm perk up at the mention of an army. Along with Clarisse, he had become one of the most vocal supporters of creating a standing army of sorts for the Camp.
"We already have the makings of an organized force. If we implement regular schedules and set up a drill camp, I can safely guarantee the creation of an army in three weeks." Malcolm seemed quite excited at the prospect and I saw Clarisse about to enter the discussion, when Chiron came into the room, looking rather serene.
" I have called you here for three things. Firstly, I would like to commend you for your success in the search and rescue missions. Camp Half-blood is teeming with new demigods, and we can try and start to mend the wounds from the war."
A loud cheer went up that.
"Secondly, I have here a list of missions for you to take a look at. If you deem them feasible, then inform me and I shall make the necessary arrangements to aid you in its execution."
More missions, eh. Well, wouldn't hurt to help out a bit.
"And lastly, a warning. There is something wrong with the monsters. They are regenerating at an alarming rate. Such a thing can only mean some degree of interference in Tartarus itself. And whatever is strong enough to influence Tartarus, is not something that bodes well for us. I am afraid, there will be a second war soon."
On that happy note, we ended our meeting.
Chapter 11 : The Legion Campaigns : Cohort IV - Preparations (Nerovar)
The cohort had been tracking down war bands for weeks now. Since before the Siege of Othrys, Camp Jupiter had been on a wartime footing. Each cohort had been raised to a strength of eighty five - with ten contubernii of eight legionares each serving under a Centurion, an Opito, a Tesserarius, one Cornicularius and one Signifer. They had successfully managed to recreate a single century of the Empire. The losses we had sustained at Mount Tam had forced us to raise a levy to fill in the ranks, and as such only half the cohort was composed of veterans who had seen prolonged combat beforehand.
The centurion had been hesitant to go on a search and destroy mission this soon, but the glory of Rome could not wait for dallying officers. The order had been given, and here we were. Preparing for a fight against a force numbering some three hundred odd monsters. While their numbers were not a concern, the inexperience of our new recruits was most certainly concerning. No one wanted to die because some recruit wanted to gain glory and thus, broke formation in order to achieve it. The centurion had declared that disobedience of orders would earn us thirty lashes and a week of latrine duty. I could only hope that this was reason enough for the new recruits to stay in line.
Centurion Cador had appointed me Signifer of the cohort, just over month ago. While my role as standard bearer and chief logistics officer of the cohort was not enviable, it did allow me to keep an eye out for certain things which would otherwise miss the centurion or the opito's eyes. Just a week ago, while updating the cohort records, I spotted a maniple of manticores heading eastwards towards Lake Tahoe. Upon informing my centurion of this development, he had ordered the cohort to follow the maniple in pursuit. This had led us here, to a small ridge overlooking the lake itself. Our scouts had located the enemy war band to be present by the northern shore of the lake, and tomorrow we would attack and raze their camp to the ground.
Today however, we prepared for a clash. Individual contubernii were practicing line battles against each other, some legionares were going through the equipment, checking whether the weaponry was up to the mark, while others were working on improving the fortifications around our temporary encampment. As I walked towards the tents legionares sent me salutes before continuing on with their work. The veterans were showing the fresh recruits how the various tasks around the camp were carried out, I could see the veterans instructing them on combat discipline and some even provided individual training.
While we were not at our strongest currently, I didn't think that a mere three hundred demons would trouble our troops too much. We had faced worse odds when we scaled the cliffs of Othrys and put it to siege. The fourth had held off assaults from the main fortress gate, while the first and the third had scaled the walls. It was a bloody day, and atleast a fifth of the total host had fallen with a similar number being injured in the fighting. Two Centurions, all five Opitos, three Signifers and one of the Praetors had also dies in combat.
PROOOOOOM!
The Cornicularius was summoning us it seemed.
I rushed to my tent and hastily put on the armour and equipment I had, before grabbing the standard and bolting towards the forum. When I reached there I saw Centurion Cador standing with Opito Trego, ordering soldiers into formation. Once the legionares spotted the standard in my hand, they hastened their pace, arranging themselves in order within minutes. The centurion gave me a quick smile before addressing the cohort :
"WARRIORS OF ROME!
Tomorrow we shall strike at foes who seek to destroy us. Destroy Rome. Such threats cannot be allowed to fester lest they grow in strength and endeavor to harry us with greater strength.
No, we must destroy them before they reach our homes. Every one of you here has friends and family in New Rome, should these vile fiends overcome us, they will all perish. Answer me now - Do you want that?"
"No sir!" Came the reply from us all.
"I cannot hear you legionares."
"NO SIR!"
"LOUDER"
"NO SIR"
"THEN TOMORROW WE SHALL WIN! WE SHALL DESTROY THEM! WE SHALL WIN GLORY FOR ROME!"
"ROMA INVICTA!"
Chapter 12 : The Legion Campaigns : Cohort IV - Battle (Nerovar)
The Centurion had organized the cohort in the traditional Roman order of battle, with three lines of battle. The first and second lines both held three contubernii each while the third line held four. The plan was simple, we would draw the monsters out of the their encampment using horns and by making as much noise as possible. Once the monsters were out on open ground, the first line would advance into battle, upon failing to defeat the monsters, they would retreat behind the second line. The second line would hold the monsters till the third line managed to surround them and attempted a double envelopment. If successful then the monsters would end up getting encircled and anhilated. A well made plan, but then again, no plan survives first contact usually.
"PRIMA ACIES! Shields up! Pila ready!" At the centurions command I tapped the ground twice with the standard, signaling the advance. We were making as much noise as we possibly could, with the third line even beating the drums they had bought from the mortal settlement nearby. In the distance I could see the monsters forming up into rudimentary battle lines. Their strategy seemingly depended upon the thirty or so manticores, were in the first line, perhaps they would be the armored cover which would allow them to attack. Behind the manticores stood Telkhines and Dracneae with spears and tridents and behind them were the empousae archers, hellhound cohorts and Laistrygonian giants.
We kept on marching, straight up to their lines. No fear. No hesitation. The new recruits maintained perfect discipline as they trudged alongside the my own position beside the second line I could make out the slight tinge of nervousness within the monsters, as now the entire cohort had gone abruptly silent. Unwilling to be attacked first, the dracneae broke ranks and charged soon followed by the Telkhines and hellhounds from their rear. The manticores too started advancing slowly and I could make out the empousae trying to get into firing range. Then the ground started shaking gently, as the host of Laistrygonian giants began a charge. This was it, I could notice the troops tighten their holds on their pilum, ready to throw at a moments notice.
"PRIMA ACIES! PILAM IACTA!"
At the blast of the war horn, the first line propelled their pila towards the advancing enemy. The effect was devastating. Within moments of impact, the entire monster first line along with two thirds of the second evaporated in a shower of golden dust and screams.
"SECUNDO PROELIO ACIES! PILAM IACTA!"
The second volley was equally devastating, if not more. Some if the pila had impaled two or three of the monsters at once, and hence the two volleys had reaped far more than fifty souls.
Another blast from the Cornicularius signaled the first and second line to draw their gladius and prepare for melee combat. A few odd arrows started landing within our lines, but most of the arrow fire was being tanked by the shield wall made by the first line. With giants now nearly at the first, centurion Cador sounded his whistle to signal our secret plan into motion. The second line moved forward now, taking out long spears, which had been enchanted into lighters. These spears were around ten feet in length and had imperial gold spear tips. On the second sound of the whistle, the troops started thrusting the spears out through the gaps in between the shield wall. This prevented the charge of the giants from causing much damage, as not only were many of them impaled and slain, but they also routed almost immediately. The first line continued to hold firm, with the legionares using their blades to stab through the lines. They would not take out too many, since they were fighting defensively, but they didn't need to. We needed to hold the line and keep the monsters focused solely on us, which would allow for the third line to move around the line and attack their flanks. The centurion was using a skewed version of Scipio's plan at Ilipa, but it certainly was bearing fruit as I could see shadowy silhouettes and blurs taking positions by the flanks of the monster line.
By now the Opito and the Tesserarius had completed their deployment on either flank of the monsters, and with a loud cheer of :VICTRIX, the legionares of the third line charged. The manticores now surrounded on three sides, and slowly getting cut off from their encampment decided to hunker down and withstand the assault, while a third of the empousae along with a few giants retreated back to their camp. We would need to get them later, now, it was time to end this. I drew my gladius and marched towards the battle, knowing full well that the presence of the standard would reinvigorate the cohort. The personal involvement of the standard bearer would force the troops to fight twice as hard, in order to prevent the loss of the standard. Historically speaking, such maneuvers had changed the tides of several battles whether it be at the Battle of Munda or the Battle of Alesia. The commitment of the standard meant a fight to the death. To my not-surprise, it did exactly that and within five minutes of additional fighting, the legionares had managed to anhilate the manticores caught within the envelopment.
"ROMA VICTRIX!" Cheered the centurion.
"ROMA VICTRIX! LEGIO VICTRIX!" Came the jubilant response.
Chapter 13 : The Legion Campaigns: Cohort IV - Assault (Cador)
The enemy camp was a poor imitation of an actual fortified encampment. The curtain wall was barely five feet high, and the earth work defenses further inside looked half-baked at best. The only real threat were the empousae archers who had hunkered down behind the palisade, an assault under a hail of missiles was often difficult, and usually resulted in unnecessary loses. The giants could be dealt with easily, the third line had not yet released their pila, and should there be an attempted sally, the hail of spears should take it out in moments. They had already gathered seventy three war trophies, and more would be taken once we took the fortifications.
"COHORS PRAEGRESSUS!"
On my command Cornicularius Varo gave out a loud blast from his war pipe, signaling the attack to begin. My plan was simple at best, the first line would advance upto the walls in a testudo formation, after which they would use their shields to create a makeshift ramp which would then be used by the second line to enter the encampment and kill the surviving monsters. The third line would be kept in reserve, to engage only when there was some form of counterattack from within the encampment.
The cohort advanced in the three assigned lines of battle, entering into a slow jog towards the camp. That is when a guttural roar erupted from the monster's camp, followed by a Laistrygonian giant charging out with a small stick...ah, no three giants...with sticks...right, right, uh... eight giants with small sticks, little armour and no brains. Eight giants is what they send at us, all they send at us. Well then, time to pulverize them.
"COHORS CLAUDICARE!"
"TERTIO PROELIO ACIES! PRIMA IACTA!"
At my command, over thirty pila went hurtling towards the giants charging at us. Some of the pila couldn't pierce their thickened skin, but others impaled them, some even pinning them to the ground as all eight giants went up in a cloud of golden dust. With that taken care of, I turned my attention back to the encampment, and its fortifications. It would be best to order a testudo immediately for the first line, and order the second into formation once the first line reached the wall. He signaled to the Cornicularius to blow his pipe ah he shouted:
"PRIMA ACIES! TESTUDO FORMATE!"
"SECUNDO PROELIO ACIES! SCUTUM FORMA MURUS!"
Signifer Nerovar now moved to the centre of the second line, drawing his blade and joining the cohorts march directly. He made it clear that if they failed, he too would fall and they would lose the standard. Such shame and dishonor is not willingly taken upon. His action ensured that the legionares would fight to the bitter end, if only to protect their standard and their honor. The hail of arrows now began in earnest, atleast thirty empousae archers had taken refuge within the fortifications and all thirty were loosening arrows in our direction, forcing the first line to slow down their advance.
Still, the testudo reached the wooden palisade, suffering only one death, and used their shields to set up a makeshift ramp leading up to the earthworks further within. Nerovar, now led the second line in a charge up the ramp and into the camp. The legionares, furious at the loss of one of their sisters, enacted bloody vengeance on the empousae. The legionares struck with brutal precision, slashing and stabbing with their gladii. In close quarters, the empousae stood absolutely no chance against raging legionares. With the monsters now destroyed, I ordered the cohort to raze the encampment to the ground, collect the spoils and return to the fortified camp by the ridge near the lake.
The security of New Rome had been preserved.
Chapter 14 : The Legion Campaigns: Cohort IV - Aftermath (Nerovar)
The mopping up had been swift, and we had reached camp before twilight. Now came the time for my most dreaded task, updating the records for the campaign, recording the consumption of food, building materials and currency, loses sustained and trophies gained. It was certainly not an exciting job, but a necessary one nonetheless. I started going through the notes the centurion had provided me with, all the while sipping on the bottle of kool-aid I had managed to procure from the reserves.
The cohort had lost three of its legionares during the length of the entire campaign, while collecting eighty nine trophies from the monsters slain during the Battle of Lake Tahoe and a further forty six during the rest of the campaign. The cohort had spent the mortal equivalent of twelve hundred fifty dollars during the campaign and had eliminated an estimated five to six hundred monsters over the duration of five weeks. All good and great, but tedious to note down nonetheless.
Just then, the flap of my tent flipped open and the centurion walked in, surprisingly not donned in armor. As I hurried up to salute him, he dismissively waved his hands before beginning to speak:
"Signifer Nerovar, your conduct during the assault on the enemy encampment was admirable, and most honorable. I shall be recommending your name to the Praetors should the need arise to ensure the security of Rome." His relatively nonchalant tone and the little grin he had on his face did not make things any easier for me, as I stuttered out a response:
"I-I shall s-s-strive to perform my duties to the best of my abilities, sir."
"No need to take that tone with me Nerovar, I am not going to have to lashed for not referring to me as centurion every time you talk to me." While his were reassuring to a certain degree I would still keep my behavior in line with my principles, no need to disregard rank when regarding it does not cause any serious problems.
"Have you updated the Cohort records Nerovar, " while his tone was still friendly, I could sense tinges of authority spilling through the gaps of his facade.
"I was in the process of doing so sir, when you entered. I shall have the report completed by nightfall, " my words seemed to satisfy centurion Cador, as he nodded politely and handed me a package with a positively dilapidated covering.
"We found this in the camp Nerovar. Since you are the Signifer and have some experience dealing with mysterious objects, I am entrusting you with the task of figuring out what this is. I did not open it in fear of it being some cursed object, should you discover that it does hold a curse destroy it or dispose it off as you will." The Centurion did seem a bit uncomfortable when he was holding the thing, while now he looked visibly relieved. Perhaps it is indeed some cursed artifact from some bygone era, or maybe it's just an old package lost to time.
"Will do sir. I shall endeavor to not disappoint."
"Good, good. I shall have the trophies moved to your camp then Nerovar. See to it that they are packed properly, we will need to offer those up in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus." The sudden gust of cool breeze did not go unnoticed by either of us, perhaps Lord Jupiter was pleased to hear of the offerings we were about to serve at his temple.
"Yes sir!" With that he left my tent and went on towards the camp forum, leaving to my thoughts and ideas. An abandoned package, possibly cursed present in the middle of monster camp. The entire thing sounded like the plot from some mortal horror movie, where a creature is released from some unidentified object by the characters, who then get slaughtered by the very thing they helped release. I sure hope, I do not release some eldritch abomination which had escaped Tartarus. That would be highly inconvenient, and extremely time consuming to eliminate.
As I carried on filling up the records, I could swear on my father Mercury that I could hear a faint hissing coming from the old package. Well, atleast it will be an interesting journey back. The Signifer and the cursed package.