The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 2

Lucilla whipped the rump of her horse hard urging the animal to run faster. The ten remaining men of her guard were close in around her, each riding equally full-out. A glance over her shoulder confirmed that their pursuers were still behind them, although she and her guard had managed to gain a little more distance on them.

Their lead was a temporary situation at best. Their horses could not maintain this grueling pace indefinitely. The enemy must have realized this as well, which is why they let their horses slow slightly, allowing Lucilla’s small group a small lead. They knew it was only a matter of time until their mounts collapsed from exhaustion.

So far, their reaction since the ambush had been purely instinctual for Caedicius, the leader of her Praetorian detachment, who had immediately ordered Ursinus and his small detachment to get Lucilla to Devnum. As the optio had pushed her on a horse Caedicius had turned his remaining soldiers into the teeth of the much larger force they had been ambushed by. That had been the last she’d seen of the gray-haired centurion who had been in charge of her security detachment for as long as she could remember.

“We are not going to make it toDevnum,” she yelled across at Ursinus, who had stuck right by her side since the mad ride had begun.

He glanced back and grimaced, “We'll keep pushing until the horses die under us or we lose them.”

His voice was hard, with the sound of a man who knew he was doomed but determined to do his duty to the last.

“Optio,” a voice to the right of him yelled, loud enough for Lucilla to hear.

They both turned and looked, seeing a dust cloud rising ahead of them and to the east, veering towards them.

“Reinforcements?” she asked hopefully.

Ursinus thought for a moment and shook his head, “I don’t think so. We have no forces out here. If they had been sent out ofDevnum, they would have been headed south, not west. If their commander is as good as the ambush indicates, he had additional soldiers set to stop us from making a break for it. I think those riders are part of our pursuers, not our reinforcements.”

Even yelling, she could hear the apology in his voice as he crushed her hopes of rescue. There had been no warning anything was amiss until the moment their attackers had burst out of the trees. The fact that Caedicius’s men, including Gallus Gratius Ursinus, had managed to fight through the soldiers who had surround them and managed to get her this far had been a miracle.

Ursinus made a hand motion, indicating that his small force should turn away from the incoming pursuers. The land to the west and northwest was marshy, heading into a large floodplain that had clearly been filled to the brim. She was not a soldier, but she was observant enough to realize that land would slow them down, probably fatally. Ursinus, however, seemed to have little choice. They would not be able to skirt the marsh and stay out of the hands of the force bearing down on them, and ten men, including him, could not possibly fight through the oncoming attack.

Their pursuers continued to push them into worse and worse choices, and Lucilla knew she was running out of time. She would soon be in the arms of the gods. She was determined to add some of her attackers to the legions of Hades before she went, however.

They didn’t even make it as far as she had thought they might. They’d been forced to slow, twisting down a dry patch of land that led into the marsh, and came up hard against an open bog that would only end up breaking the legs of the mounts had they tried to rush through it.

“Dismount,” Ursinus yelled, his men complying instantly. “I’m sorry, mistress, we will not be able to outrun them.”

She nodded. Even on foot, the marsh would have been a death sentence. They would have been easy pickings had they tried to go through the thick sludge.

“I understand, Optio, you’ve done your best.”

He looked almost relieved at her proclamation, turning to his men as they pulled shields and weapons off the horses and prepared to make their stand.

“Give me a sword,” she demanded before he made his way to his men.

He looked back at her for a moment, his face looking almost questioning before returning to his horse. The hesitation was brief as he pulled a spare gladius from one of the horses and handed it to her.

“We will try and hold a rank in front of you, but even with the marsh at our backs, we will be too heavily outnumbered. They will work around our edges.”

“I will be ready.”

They didn’t have to wait long as the narrow lane they had taken into the marshland filled with horseman slowing as they neared their prey. The symbols painted on some of their shields made it clear who their pursuers were. The horizontal crescent above a circular skull marking proved them to be Carthaginians.

“Here she is,” the lead man said as he pulled his soldiers to a stop, a few spans of open ground from Lucilla and her handful of remaining guards.

The man’s Latin was thick with the accent of the southern Mediterranean, sounding sluggish. His statement also indicated that their ambush of Lucilla and her guard wasn’t happenstance. They had been looking for her specifically. That meant someone who knew her itinerary had betrayed her. It saddened her to know that she would never be able to deal with the traitor. She hoped her father would realize this after her death and kill the man who’d gotten her sentenced her to death.

“You gave us a good chase,” he said to Ursinus, “so I will make you a deal. I’ll let you and your men go if you hand her over to us. We even promise to take her back to Londinium in one piece. Make this bloody, there is a good chance she won’t make it out of this swamp alive.”

Ursinus’s response suggested the soldier attempt some things that were anatomically impractical, eliciting a snarl from the mounted trooper.

“Fine,” he said, waving his men to fan out, half surrounding the legionnaires. “Take them.”

The troopers, who knew better than to try and ride into even a small shield wall, dismounted and charged on foot. The smaller shields of the riders smashed against the large Roman shields as their heavier, and longer, swords tried to find an opening in the armored wall.

For a moment, the two sides held, the Romans curved in tight around Ursinus and Lucilla. Then the first of them fell, screaming as a sword found a hole and punched through the legionnaire's chest. His friends tried to pull in tight over their fallen comrade, gladii stabbing out, catching more than one Carthaginian unprepared. Their smaller shield didn’t offer nearly as much protection. Men stumbled back from the Roman formation, clutching wounds, or just fell dead.

But there was always another Carthaginian to take the fallen comrade's place and all too soon another legionnaire fell. A Carthaginian broke through before the Romans could tighten up their formation to close the hole. He ignored the defending Romans and charged right at Lucilla and Ursinus, sword raised.

Ursinus began to move to repel him and stopped. Before he could bring his weapon up to catch the Carthaginians attack Lucilla took a lunge forward with amazing speed, her Gladius lashing out, catching the soldier in an unarmored spot under his arm, sending a gush of blood washing over her outstretched arm.

She stepped back, recovering into a defensive position even as the man’s body fell. Ursinus didn’t have time to marvel at his charge’s surprising ability, as another legionary fell, and then another. The tide had turned, and the Roman wall crumbled.

Two of the Legionaries had dropped their shields as their defenses fell apart, managing to get back to guard the sides of their commander and charge. A third had tried to join them but an ax ended his life before he could retreat fully.

The rest of the small group of legionaries died quickly and violently. Ursinus pulled Lucilla further back, the two surviving legionnaires following suit. Their backs were almost to the horses, which had started to panic. Their small brains locked in deciding whether they should run from the flashing metal and coppery smell of blood into the nearly impenetrable mud.

As seems to happen in many battles there was a small lull; the enemy not making the collective decision to charge forward yet, knowing they could take the four survivors but none wanting to be the first to attack a wounded but still deadly opponent.

Bodies littered the ground and Lucilla was heartened to see there were maybe twenty Carthaginian dead scattered around the seven fallen Roman bodies. Her men, and she thought of them like that even though she wasn’t part of their hierarchy, had done themselves and the Empire proud.

“Kill th…” the leader started to command and then suddenly stopped.

Everyone, Roman and Carthaginian alike, froze in place and looked into the sky through squinting eyes as a second sun appeared above them.

“Commander,” a voice sounded.

Ky was disoriented as he came awake. He had a moment of confusion as his brain caught up with reality. It came back in a torrent as he remembered the bridge, the ejection, and the explosion.

Ky opened his eyes and saw a small landmass below him quickly growing larger.

“Deploy canopy,” Ky said groggily.

“The canopy is already deployed, Commander.”

The suit was designed to extend its kinetic shielding in large wings that functioned almost like the fabric used during the classic days of aviation. The shielding would create wind resistance that slowed its wearer to a safe speed, although with notable variations for its less high-tech predecessor. Under the AI control, since it was able to make the constant calculations needed, the wings would change in pitch and shape as needed to alter the rate and direction of descent, like an invisible hang glider.

Looking over his shoulder, Ky could see the AI had indeed deployed the canopy while he was still unconscious. A small piece of Ky’s mind noted all the independent actions the computer personality had taken on its own since the bridge had begun failing and then pushed them aside. He had larger problems to deal with at the moment.

“Where are we?”

“All data indicates we are on Earth, above the European continent, specifically above Britain.”

“Everything’s missing!” Ky said.

That was true. From his height, he could see the outline of Europe and Britain except with every major man-made feature missing. The Berlin metropolis, which covered almost a third of Europe, was nowhere to be seen. Even in daylight, it was clearly visible from much higher than his current, although thankfully now much more slowly decreasing, altitude. Looking above him Ky noticed the huge space station that should have been floating in Earth orbit was also missing. Britain, which was essentially a single massive city, looked nearly devoid of all but the smallest settlements.

“Confirmed, Commander. No expected man-made points of reference can be detected. However, topographical and astronomical data conform to general known terrestrial parameters.”

“But where is everything? How can this be Earth?”

“Insufficient data available to answer the query beyond speculation, Commander.”

“Speculate then.”

“Touchdown in under one minute and seventeen seconds, Commander,” the AI replied instead of answering his question.

“Do we have a suitable spot to land?”

“Yes, Commander, there are multiple areas that would be acceptable. However, there seems to be native activity in most of the area within our landing profile.”

“Show me,” Ky commanded.

A section of Ky’s helmet changed from showing what was around him to an enhanced view of the area he would need to land in. The same thing could have happened over his eyes as well, even without the helmet, but Ky preferred to see visuals on the visor of the helmet over the ocular implants if possible and had long ago set the AIs defaults to operate to his preference.

A section of the land beneath him was marked with possible landing points available on his current glide path, even with changes to his canopy. Most of that area was overlaid in red, showing it as unsuitable for landing. A mental command focused in on that area Ky agreed the marshland would be dangerous to land on at the speeds he would touch down at.

Along the far eastern edge of his possible landing area was a small plain which would be perfect for landing, if it didn’t currently hold dozens of men on horseback. He could see archaic weapons either on the horses or in the rider’s hands indicating that they were not gathered there for some type of recreation.

There were smaller cleared areas that stretched into the marsh area, although most were small enough that it was questionable if he could accurately hit them even with the precision his AI could deliver. While it could make rapid changes the closer he got to the ground the more wind gusts and other unpredictable atmospheric changes would cause enough inaccuracies that successful landing became problematic.

There was one other area that stretched into the marshland that was large enough, but it too had people on it. Ky enhanced that area and looked at the people. Instead of milling about, like the horsemen further back along the plains area, there seemed to be two distinct groups. One group which extended all the way back to the larger collection of horsemen surrounded another, much smaller group. The smaller group was made up of a collection of unmounted horses and four people each holding weapons, although at the moment those weapons were held at their sides as they looked up towards where Ky was descending towards them.

It was evident the larger group was threatening the smaller group. Ky could make out a collection of bodies between the two combatants showing that they had already begun to clash before his sudden appearance.

Ky was aware he was not coming in stealthily. Besides the explosion of the ship, which would have been impossible for anyone to miss, his speed had been such that a significant amount of air friction was occurring all along his Kinetic shielding causing it to glow with heat along the length of its surface. At some points, pockets of gasses were reacting against his shielding, bursting into flame here and there as well. The overall effect would have been a somewhat humanoid figure who appeared to be wreathed in fire, with two long planes extending from the shoulders, which would also have seemed to be on fire.

If these people were as primitive as their equipment suggested it would be spectacular.

“Put me between those four individuals and the larger group.”

“Chance of being engaged in hostile action in that location exceeds base safety protocols.”

“Are there any places where we can land safely that don’t exceed safety protocols?”

“Negative, Commander.”

“Then just do it.”

The AI didn’t respond to Ky’s harsh tone, which was to be expected. It was programmed to give warnings for things like this, but his command would override those protocols.

The ground was coming up quickly now, rushing to meet him.

“Adjust shielding for impact,” Ky said.

The canopy disappeared instantly. They were close enough to the ground that it wouldn’t slow him much more at this point and that power could be better used to harden and distribute the impact. The kinetic shielding was good at this since that was the primary purpose it was designed for although it was also used for minimal protection from ballistic or low powered energy weapons as well.

While the almost sixty kilometers per hour at which Ky was traveling wasn’t fast when compared to any modern form of conveyance, it was fast enough that even with the kinetic shielding the impact was going to be spectacular.

Ky unconsciously held his breath as he traveled the last few meters and smashed into the ground, the kinetic shielding directing the energy from the impact away spraying dirt across both groups of primitively dressed people as a small crater was created around him. The displacement ensured Ky wasn’t injured but he was still forced to his knees as he smashed to the ground, air being forced from his lungs in a grunt.

Both groups had flinched back brought their weapons up as Ky stood.

He was about to speak when a man sitting on a horse in the middle of the large group yelled something incomprehensible and guttural, breaking the spell his men were under. With a collective bellow, the men charged.

Ky had not needed the AIs warning, his hand was already on the sidearm that regulations required all pilots to carry, even in peacetime. The mass of men and horses charged forward, the ground trembling under their collected weight, only to slam into a wall of devastation as Ky pulled began to fire.

Although chemically propelled weapons were still sometimes used, mostly by hobbyists on target ranges, the military had changed over to energy-based weapons several hundred years ago. While humanity originally used laser weapons there had been multiple practical issues keeping them from being ideal weapons of war. They were replaced by plasma-based weapons once the technology was developed enough to make that a workable choice.

The weapon Ky carried was a modern version that still bore a lot of similarities to those original plasma weapons, although significantly more advanced. The main difference between those earlier plasma weapons and the one Ky used was the updated model no longer had to generate the super-heated gases itself, making the weapon safer to carry. Instead a small, very durable bead containing a chemical mixture that was ejected at a high velocity from the weapon. The bead passed through an energized field at the end of the weapon which activated it’s coating, turning it into an expanding ball of super-heated gas. The fiery ball expanded from a tiny 2 millimeters of the original bead up to one-hundred and twenty millimeters with temperatures in the center of the ball reaching thirty-five hundred degrees Kelvin.

While this was hot enough to burn through most metals, and certainly anything as fragile as a person, it wasn’t enough to breach the carbon battle steel used by modern ships, at least without sustained fire.

In an open environment such as this, a drawback to the weapon was it had a limited range. This was more because it would burn up the gases created by the igniting of the chemicals inside the pellet than because of any loss of forward momentum. Since most modern combat occurred on-board ships or in pressurized vessels the shorter range and limited breaching ability was actually seen as a benefit rather than a liability. The military did deploy higher impact weapons for ground operations or when dealing with properly armored opponents, but that wouldn’t have been something assigned to a pilot.

The weapon was, however, enough for the task at hand.

The bright balls of fire exploded along the line, burning men down and, in most cases, two or three more men behind the original target as it melted anything it came into contact with. Men, at least those whose lungs weren’t scorched by super-heated flame, screamed they burned, the plasma melting skin and flesh and vaporizing bone. Wooden shields or clothing actually hit by the plasma would also vaporize, but those at the fringes of the ball were set alight, adding to the terror and agony as horses and men burst into flame, even if they only stood next to someone who was actually hit by the weapon.

Their line did not so much break as totally dissolve as they witnessed their comrades melt in front of them or drop with holes burned clean through. They scrambled backward, colliding with the forces following behind the first wave of attackers, using the weapons in their hands or shields to violently knock any obstacle out of their way in their mad dash to escape.

The havoc wreaked among them was beyond anything in their experience. It broke any personal courage they might have. The whole force was wavering on the edge of total panic when one of the burning balls of gas found their leader on his horse as he shouted to rally his men. It impacted in the man’s upper torso causing his head and shoulders to disappear as though he’d been a drawing, easily erased. The horse somehow managed to survive the initial blast. It’s hair set on fire, the wounded animal panicked. Turning, the flaming beast ran away from what it perceived as the source of its pain, back into the routing soldiers. Like something out of a nightmare, the flaming stead crushed men under its hooves and set others on fire as it passed, all the while the lower torso of the men’s leader still gripped on its back, making the scene all the more terrifying.

Ky paused, seeing there was no more need to kill as the men ran headlong into their mounted companions further back, yelling screaming in their strange language. A general rout ensued as every man tried to escape in any direction they could, some dragging their still mounted friends to the ground in an attempt to get a faster means of escape.

Ky turned to the three men and one woman who had been at his back, each with an expression equal parts terror and hope at the armored being with the strange metallic face. They retreated a few steps and let out a collective gasp as Ky mentally retracted his flight helmet, which quickly slid back piece by piece and disappeared into the suit.

They hesitated as the monster in front of them became a man. After only the briefest of pauses, the woman stepped forward, shaking off the hand of an older man who seemed to try and stop her and stood in front of Ky, saying something Ky couldn’t recognize in a defiant tone of voice.

“Can you translate,” Ky sub-vocalized.

“Attempting, Commander.”

“Who are you?” Ky asked, not expecting a response but hoping his speaking would prompt her to reply.

Thankfully, she continued, jabbering at him, pointing at the sky and then back to him, slowly at first and then more excitedly as she got going.

“Anything?” he sub-vocalized to the AI.

“It matches no languages in my installed database Commander. Multiple indicators match a language from the ancient past known as Latin, with eighty-seven percent correlation with language files on hand.”

“You have ancient languages loaded in your database?” Ky asked out of surprise.

AI’s were normally loaded with mission-specific data assigned by command, system critical data that was always loaded, and any additional space available for the operator to load as they wanted. When he’d been selected for this mission, however, they had required all of the data on his AI except that needed for piloting and system critical functionality to be wiped to clear space for the massive amount of storage needed for the test protocols.

Although he wasn’t sure what was actually contained in those protocols, since much of the information was well above his understanding, Ky was certain ancient language files had not been included.

“My database was altered just prior to and during translation through the bridge.”

“On whose order?”

“Data transfer was self-initiated.”

That was a terrifying answer and suggested that the doctor had been more correct than he knew. Ky’s AI was progressing faster than he was comfortable with. That, however, was one more thing he would have to deal with after things were a bit more settled.

“Fine,” he said to the AI, somehow managing to put a sigh into his mental voice. “Translate.”

“Affirmative, Commander.”

“Who are you?” he asked, and the woman paused, looking at him confused.

“Hand of the Lord of Sky,” she said, seeming to concentrate, “Verily, for my identity flowers from royal personage in child being.”

“What the hell does that mean?” he sub-vocalized to the AI, “Are you sure the translation is working.”

“The translation is accurate Commander. Spoken structure remains constant, the speaker altered word choices to those matching stored language files with ninety-eight percent accuracy.”

“So she recognized what I said and altered her speech to match what we have on file?”

“Affirmative Commander.”

“Why?”

“Insufficient data available to answer the query with accuracy, Commander.”

“Seeing as how weird this situation is, let’s assume that’s going to be the answer a lot. For the time being, if sufficient data isn’t available, speculate to the closest likely answer if at all possible,” Ky said and, after thinking about the ramifications of his comment, added, “but tell me when you are speculating.”

“Yes, Commander. Speculative answer: Subject speaks Latin or a derivation of Latin similar to that in my records. The subject appears to recognize and speak the form of Latin in my records to some degree. The non-standard word choice would appear to be either a gap in the subject's understanding of the form of Latin in my records or an inaccuracy in my records with that form.”

“Can you fix the errors in your records?”

“Unknown, Commander. A speculative recommendation, the language files in my database are built upon writings with little context to contemporary usage. There is a seventy-two percent chance the subject’s original choice was a standard usage form of Latin, with the files in my system being an alternate usage form. Possibility of communication easier using the standard form over alternate usage.”

The AI had made the leap from simple extrapolations of data to recommendations based on the speculation, which was yet another worrying sign that Ky had to ignore for expediency, filing it away with the other concerning choices the software was making.

“You’re saying we might have an artistic or archaic version of the language, which explains the weird word choices. You’re recommending that we adjust your translation files to match her dialect?”

“Affirmative Commander.”

“Why do we need to do that?”

“The subject must continue speaking in the original usage while files are altered.”

While the conversation with the AI happened at the speed of thought, it had been long enough that the woman and her companions were looking between themselves and Ky, their expressions suggesting concern at the sudden silence.

“Please speak the way you were before. I am trying to learn your way of speaking.”

“Finger of the shining father, my truest pleasure for your orders will be.”

Ky smiled at her in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

“Why are you here?”

She began speaking, the words sounding like gibberish at first, before finally, he heard, “ … attacked … guard … visit the shrine at Glevum. The commander of my security force … the optio and a handful of soldiers to attempt to … to safety.”

“We have the correct translation?” Ky sub-vocalized to the AI.

“Yes, Commander. Correlations between known language files and newly presented language have been made, with a previously assumed inaccurately translated historical records matching to the newly presented language. A new database will continue to be built as new vocabulary is presented. Fluency will continue as new words are presented.”

“Why did they attack you?” he asked out loud.

Her face showed recognition, and a little surprise as the AI translated the language as he spoke it to the new, apparently correct, dialect. She, however, had enough wits about that it didn’t seem to deter her too much. The soldiers behind her seemed a bit more stunned.

“They were Carthaginians.”

“Carthaginians?” he asked the AI.

“Carthaginians, from the city of Carthage, a civilization located along the North African coast, dominating much of the trade in the southern Mediterranean during the first millennia BC. Destroyed by Rome at the conclusion of the conflict known as the Third Punic Wars in 146 BC. Most existing records on the civilization come from Roman sources, with early and non-Roman-centric references being limited or nonexistent.”

“North Africa? It appeared we landed somewhere in Britain, or what looked like Britain.”

“Affirmative Commander. The subject’s identified their original destination as Glevum. Records of this area indicate a later settlement of that name being built near the Gloucester district of the London Metropolis, which was itself a city prior to the urban expansion of 2193.”

“But, if we’re in Britain, then how is a southern Mediterranean civilization, here?”

“Unknown, Commander.”

“Speculate,” Ky said to the AI with a sigh.

“Unable to speculate, Commander. Records indicate the British Isles were not colonized by Latin speaking people until after the destruction of the Carthaginian civilization.”

“My lord?” the woman asked, as Ky had fallen silent.

“Why are the Carthaginians attacking you?”

“Because, we are Roman!” she said, seeming confused by the question.

“Well, it seems they have run, for now. You should be able to make your escape while they regroup.”

“My lord, have you come with us to help my people?”

“What?”

“You came from the heavens, sent by the gods.”

“I … ”

“Commander,” the AI interrupted.

“What?” Ky sub-vocalized angrily.

In the three decades since he’d gotten his first implant, he’d never dealt with an AI this … forceful before, and he was starting to find it a little bothersome.

“Describing details leading to your arrival to natives is unadvised.”

“Why?”

“They lack the basic knowledge necessary to understand the words you would use, most of which do not exist in their language. Studies in ancient cultures would predict their seeing you as either an agent of one of their deities or a demonic figure. If the latter choice is taken, predictive models suggest a high likelihood of violent response.”

“So lie to them.”

“Unable to answer the query.”

“You're a big help,” Ky grumbled internally, and then continued to the woman, who must be wondering why he kept randomly pausing, “I’m not sure why I’m here.”

That seemed to find the balance in the middle ground between giving no information and still not lying directly. She, however, seemed to take that uneasily.

“But, you saved us …”

“You seemed like you needed saving,” Ky said, noncommittally.

“My Lady,” one of the men who had been mute behind her said, reaching out and lightly touching her elbow, “They will be returning for us before long. The more distance we can put between us before they regroup, the better.”

“Will you come with us?”

“I don’t …”

“Commander.”

“Just say what you’re going to say,” he snapped at the AI.

“Additional data is needed on the present situation. Suggested course of action would be to continue with non-hostile natives who may be able to provide additional information not otherwise accessible until the situation changes or all available data has been acquired.”

Ky wanted to tell the AI to shut up and not bother him again unless it was life-threatening or he asked for a response, but he held back, mostly because it made an excellent point that Ky should have worked out on his own. He might not have been the pinnacle of his batch, but he was capable enough for at least that level of reasoning. His near decline of her plea spoke volumes about how off-balance he still was.

“I can go with you for a while.”

“Good,” the older man said. “You can use Tulus’s horse. It’s good with new riders, and he won’t …”

The man stopped speaking, his eyes darting to one of the bodies on the ground before continuing.

“We should probably get going.”