Olimpia

Kathren froze from sheer disbelief for a moment. What were the odds? And why are they out with a whole century at this time in the morning? Are things that bad?

Pushing away the pointless thoughts, she jumped into action while taking a quick over her shoulder as she broke into a jog toward the legionaries. Three of her pursuers had stepped out of the hole in the wall, but at the sight of the legionaries, they slipped back into the shadows like the practiced rats they were.

She could only nod in recognition of the sense of self-preservation they showed.

"Halt and announce yourself," shouted the centurion at the front of the formation as she approached, adjusting her stance to prepare for an attack.

Slowing but not stopping, Kathren continued to approach the centurion with her hands raised to the sides to look less threatening. She needed to get close enough to talk at a level that wouldn't carry, and the closer she got to the legionaries and their lanterns, the safer she would be. She tried to keep a confident look as she approached, but her gut was twisting with unease as the multiple calls to stop made her wonder if she would soon find an arrow in her chest.

"I'm a scout of the 15th." The centurion's narrowed eyes didn't waiver as suspicion burned in their depths, "I was tasked with discovering the threat in the slums."

Still — not that Kathren blamed the centurion — she didn't look convinced. Reaching into her bag, she took a quick look over both her shoulders, then tried to shield the head from view as she drew it out and stepped into the light of their lanterns.

Kathren heard gasps and murmuring of shock as the legionaries laid eyes on the head, and there was a shuffling of feet and clanking of steel as they moved to get a better look. The centurion's only move was the hard line of her lips curling down slightly and the creek of leather as her hands clenched around the handles of her short sword and shield.

"I need to make it back to the Prefect." Stated Kanieta as she slipped the head back into the sack, "It's the proof she's been looking for."

The centurion's eyes flicked from her to the head, then back before she nodded and shouted, "Century, form up! We are escorting this scout back to the fort!"

Feet tromped over the ground as the legionaries marched forward, quickly passing by Kathren and placing her in the center of their formation.

As the formation came to a thudding stop, a tendril gently probed Kathren's mind, and she accepted the invitation. She let the collective will of the union wash over the surface of her mind. It tried to sink deeper, to impart the collective identity onto her, but with practiced ease, she pushed it back from the core of her mind and erected a shield. Then she pushed some of her psy and will into the pool of power they all shared, slightly reinforcing the union.

"What's the situation." Asked Centurion… Klep? — yeah, that was her name — through the union at the speed of thought.

"Tracked and killed one of the dark elves in the slums," Reported Kathren, feeling the curiosity and shock of the others in the link, but no one was surprised. They had heard rumors of their hidden enemy. "Detected a complex pulse that alerted the local gangs to be on guard for me. I encountered a group of humans and a half-human, and they chased me here."

"Locals are hostile," Stated Klep.

"Perhaps. Some might be neutral or even friendly. I was funneled right to you. No other explanation for our encounter." As she sent the words, she sent a flash of memories of being pursued until she ran right into the century.

“…Understood. Opinion on Priorities?"

It only took Kathren a moment to come to a conclusion. The situation was so far beyond what she should be dealing with it wasn't even funny. But she knew the right decision. The one that would let her live with herself, no matter the cost. "We must deliver the package. The legion— no, the Republic, must know of our enemy."

"Agreed." Confirmed the Centurion. "Kari! Send a report to command and ask for assistance." Ordered the Centurion.

Kathren felt the pull of psy as one of the legionaries constructed a telepathic casting. The directed pulse was released, and then… nothing. There should have been echoes of the pulse and, at this range, a near-instant response that command received the message, whether or not it would be responded to or acted on. And yet, no one felt a thing.

"I'll send another—"

"No," cut in the centurion, her mental voice grim. "Eight Century of the Seven Cohort, Turtle Formation. We will deliver the package. Nothing will stop our advance."

The Legionaries responded with a *clang* *clang* by hitting the flats of their blade against the steel edges of their raised shields. Those on the outer edge of the formation had turned to face outward. Even those at the rear of the formation had turned all the way around to walk backward.

Without the union, it would be all but impossible. With everyone's minds linked together, knowing where to step or where they could move so as to not interfere with one another was like being able to touch your nose with your eyes closed. Everyone just knew where they could move.

The legionaries in the center of the formation raised their shields over their heads, covering for any attack from above. It was a real possibility, considering they were walking down a road with buildings on either side.

The street they were on was big, with enough room for three large carts to drive abreast and still leaving enough room on the sides for stands and pedestrians. A remnant from a time when the town was once bustling with life. But it wasn't so large that a thrown rock from a roof would fall short of the century walking down the center of the street.

Usually, the main worry was arrows, spears, and boiling liquids falling out of the sky, not rocks, but Kathren remained hopeful that the gangs wouldn't be able to muster such a response. A feeling that everyone in the century was sharing.

Besides being in the union and thus knowing everyone's thoughts, she could tell because of the gaps in the shields overhead.

Kathren was the one at fault here. The five women across and ten rows deep formation they were in was thrown off a little. You know, given that there was not, in fact, an exact number.

But it was surprising how much space could be gained by every person creating a gap in their shields by an inch rather than properly layering them together. To be exact, it was enough space for Kathren to remain in her half-crouch under four shields and still have everyone remain in nearly proper formation.

There would be a more significant loss in psy than normal if anything landed on the shields, as they weren't correctly interlocked, but what were the chances that would matter. Come on, we're only going at most a few miles.

"Century, forward march!" Ordered Centurion Klep.

Everyone stepped forward with their right foot at the same time. The combined thud of a hundred and one feet hitting the ground simultaneously was like a giant walking over the earth.

There would be no hiding their movement, but legionaries didn't care. A legion's purpose was to smash into an enemy, then grind their way forward with quick and precise stabs and slashes of a short sword while the enemy broke against their shields.

It was like they were beating a war drum as they marched. An inevitable boom boom boom, as the century moved down the street.

Minutes passed as they marched, but during that entire time, no one looked away from their zone. A legion formation was all about trust, and as such, some individuals found being within their ranks nearly impossible.

Through inclination or by the feelings being beaten into them over their life, some individuals just do not trust easily or at all. They can not turn their back to someone and never throw a glance over their shoulder. It is not in them to trust that others are as well trained as themselves. And that should a threat appear, the others will do all they can to stop it or, at the very least, send a mental message about how to dodge or deflect the attack before they would just have to take the wound.

Against smaller numbers, a legion formation was all but impenetrable. Unless the land was ripped apart to swallow the century, it would not break against a smaller force. But there was a limit.

Legionaries were mortal, and as such, they had mistakes.

A deep thump of compressing air followed by the cracking of stone sounded on the street.

"Brace ri—" The Centurion didn't have the time to send her mental message before the century was rocked. While the words weren't sent, the initial burst of intent made it through, and every woman reacted by leaning to the right and supplying psy.

Shoulders pressed together, and instead of the stone from the exploding wall impacting a single line of interlocked shields, they hit the combined weight of a hundred women with a wall of psy reinforcing the shields.

It was possible to stop the rocks cold, but it wasn't worth the cost. Using their own strength to absorb what they could before making up the deficit with psy was where the real skill of a shield wall lay.

The entire formation swayed as chest-sized pieces of stone cracked into the wood shields and clattered over the roof.

"Charge!" Shouted someone from the dust cloud a moment after the wall exploded, followed by roars as a wave of people carrying long spears appeared out of it.

“Arch…" Sent a weak voice before it trailed off.

Faintly, Kathren heard the gurgles of people struggling to breathe, only to have their own blood stop them.

"Get those shields back into position!" Mentally shouted Centurion Klep. The legionaries had tilted their shields, positioning their roof to better deflect the stones from the wall, but at that moment, five archers stood up on their left flank, releasing a volley into the gaps of the shields.

Every single arrow hit someone in the throat.

*Boom*

A second explosion rocked the street as the building under the archers exploded outward.

A wave of panic bloomed within their mental network. While the explosion on the left was smaller in that it didn't tear off the entire front of the building, there was far more debris than should be explained by a nine-foot section of wall. Debris that was all headed toward a clump of five.

The same five that now had a line of women behind them drowning in their own blood slumped on the ground, gasping for air.

Centurion Klep tried to shift the psy she had supplied to reinforce their right flank from the spears wielders to the left, but she could not move the psy fast enough.

Grunts turned into screams of pain as the shields, then the psy reinforcing them, and finally, the women's arms and bodies cracked under the force of the impact. The broken women were knocked off their feet as the full force of the crushing weight of stone fell onto them.

A volley of a dozen arrows came out of the dust, slipping into the gaping hole in their formation. More women grunted and cried out in pain as arrows hit them.

Those arrows were poorly fired, with a few hitting the dying on the ground and others in the legs and gut, but they didn't need to kill. Wounding six more after ten were all but killed was a devastating blow.

"Pull back!" cracked a voice over the street.

Hardly five seconds had passed from the start of the attack to now. Those attacking on the right had charged out with spears, aiming to wound the legs of the legionaries while acting as a distraction. And now they were retreating through the hole in the house after inflicting five minor flesh wounds.

In the momentary gap from the initial attack, seven were killed, and nine were so wounded that it was better to leave them behind.

Kathren knew what happened. Everyone did, though it all happened too fast for them to react.

"Century form up!" Roared Centurion Klep, breaking everyone out of the shock from the overwhelming attack. "Wounded, secure a house and hold up waiting to be relieved." Acknowledgments instantly came through the mental link, and those designated started to act.

Kathren clenched the sword of one of the dead in her grip from where she stood in the center of the formation, dread building inside her. If this was their first probing attack, what would it be like when they were serious?

**********

Two cloaked shadows stood upon a terrace of a decrepit building, looking down at the battered century as they slowly marched up the street.

"Are we really going to let them escape?" Hissed one of the figures, his voice filled with rage.

"If they make it, they make it," Calmly replied a feminine voice from the other figure. "We will not intervene further."

"They killed Orok!"

“…Are you questioning me?" Said the female, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.

"No, My Lady…"

"Good." Stated the female shadow as they started to turn away. "As to why… well, them having proof of us is meaningless now. This could even be helpful for my plans." Her voice took on a cruel amusement at the end like the thought of playing with her food brought her joy.