chapter 31 : Battle of the Damned

The celestial troops prepared themselves, they needed to go to fight, 50 archers out of the 300 men selected without counting the 1500 ex-slaves trained in combat, they were not exceptionally strong but by making them fight together for several hours by day, they had quite good combat experience.

 The prevailing war equipment was simple. No matter what weapon everyone is going to use, it was more than necessary to be equipped with a round shield.

 Orion did not want to lose any of his men and he prioritized defense and strategy, each pair had to fight together during the melee to avoid individual blind spots or surprise attacks.

 He wanted to weaken his enemies as much as possible before exterminating them to avoid unnecessary risks and had prepared what was necessary for that.

Strength was not everything on the battlefield but luck was and he was going to put all the chances on his side against Crassus.

 Orion watched as each of his men bid farewell to the others before following him and it hurt to think about it, his men, his brothers and friends were going to risk their lives to follow him.

 Yet the celestials never stopped reminding him that they were there for themselves. The majority of them were slaves of the Republic or survivors of the peoples conquered by the Republic and they now had the opportunity to return the blows to those who were their oppressors.

 Very quickly, 1800 men left Baiae to go towards Sinuessa, each of them had a determined look and a heart ready for battle. As always, Orion was at the forefront leading the way, he was not one to hide behind the troops.

 [Hours later in Sinuessa]

 Spartacus was in a meeting with his men, preparing to receive a shipment from Heracleo when a rebel burst into the room with a serious look.

 The rebel: The Romans...the Romans are at our gates with catapults and war machines, there are well over 10,000 men in their ranks.

 Spartacus and the others took a few seconds to realize the events before raising the alarm throughout the city to prepare for battle while evacuating women, children and non-combatants through the back gates of the city which overlooked the mountains.

 Crassus on his horse had his lieutenants at his side including Caius Julius Caesar who contrary to the canon had not been sent to Infiltration among the rebels.

 Caesar: Should we first look for a way to free the citizens held in the city ?

 Crassus: To give them time to escape and save some of them ? No matter the price now, I will have the head of the Thracian today or I am not a Crassus.

 Caesar: I thought you respected this rebel slave...

 Crassus: That's the case, Spartacus defeated legions with the little he had. He beat everyone who opposed his quest for freedom but in his actions he took the lives of my wife and my eldest son. At first I wanted to get him psychologically but now I'm going to have to crush him in one hit.

 Caesar: What if the celestials get involved ?

 Crassus: That would surprise me a lot. This man only acts when he is attacked first and what's more, the senate has already granted him ownership of Baiae. When I was around him when he was a gladiator, he was a fairly lazy man who didn't really like to leave his comfort zone and now that zone is Baies. Sooner or later we will take it back. Besides, even if by some miracle he were informed of our attack, it will be too late for the rebels.

 Caesar: I still think that…(interrupted)

 Crassus: Orion, according to information from my spies, only occupied Baiae with a little more than 280 men, we have more than 10,000 men here. Do you think he can surpass us with this low number?! I have never failed and you know why?! Because information is power and I have the power. Now charge the catapults and destroy this wall, we will show these rebels what the divine power of Rome is.

 They immediately began bombarding the city walls under the determined gaze of Crassus determined to take revenge on a certain Thracian rebel. Crassus was no longer the same, he didn't want to think too much when he could crush this rebellion here and now to avenge his beloved son.

 For his part, Spartacus asked his men to immediately take shelter as far away from the city walls as possible. The women were frightened and the children were crying in terror.

 Spartacus: Get ready, they will break through the walls of this city after destroying them. Let those at the rear complete the evacuation of the non-combatants, we remain here waiting for them firmly. There is no way we are going to go back to wearing chains and calling the Romans "masters".

 Gannicus: They are really crazy, there are still Roman prisoners in the city who are being killed by the bombings ! 

 Oenomaus: This time, the opponent is determined to stop us no matter the cost. I'm afraid we can only wait.

 The Romans eventually made large openings in the city wall and Crassus ordered the troops to charge immediately. He did not want to give the rebels any time to escape from the city and had even placed soldiers near the second gate at the rear of the city and the rebels had noticed this.

 Stuck and without a way out, the rebels believed they were living a real waking nightmare. Spartacus panicked that the non-combatants be quickly sent to the aedile's villa and others under the stables where Laeta had hidden the Romans. As for them, they immediately charged into battle to defend the city.

 Fortunately, the rebels were extremely numerous with over 7,000 individuals ready to fight for their freedom.

 Spartacus, Varro, Oenomaus, Segovax and Gannicus took command of the majority of the rebels to defend the main gate and the back gate would be protected by Sura, Saxa and Agron who took the rest of the men to fight the Romans at the back gates.

 The fight began and clearly, the rebels were outnumbered but despite this, they fought bravely even if the difference in numbers was greatly felt.

Crassus and his lieutenants also entered the battle and were extremely fierce against the rebel army. He had sent Caesar to support and command the troops at the city's back gate before charging into the fray himself.

 Some time later, Orion and his troops arrived and Phobos who had preceded them reported to Galatae.

 " Not good ! Big brother, the rebels are in very bad shape. We have to act quickly." Galatea said seriously before giving him a detailed report of the situation.

 Orion: Well, everyone knows what to do. But don't forget to always prioritize your safety and your defense, you are monstrously strong but put all the chances on your side! UNDERSTOOD ?

 The celestials: YOLO ! (I don't care if the language is too modern, it's fanfiction not a documentary. Those who have watched the series know that the language is quite modern at times.)

 Orion: What is this motivational cry ? Who taught you that ?

 Demiclas: Boss it was Ajax who accustomed us with this word!!

 Orion:…

 Demiclas:…

 Others :…

 " Brief !! Maybe it will be popular in the distant future! Archers, pulverize Crassus's catapults and other crap before you open the way for us! Theokoles you are at the front with me, Salma you'll go with Demiclas, 100 celestials and 500 infantrymen to surprise our Roman friends at the rear of the city. We have to hit hard so that Rome lets go, ALL IN POSITION!! »

 Galatea , Uzziah , Enesie and the other archers began to bombard the rear guard of the Roman army with arrows attached with vials containing Vulcan's blood. There were 50 archers lined up and 50 firing, some immediately neutralized the Roman machines while the majority fired at the Roman soldiers.

 [I'm writing while listening to the AC: Valhalla soundtrack ''Raid Song – Til Vinskapar'', try while reading, it's magical]

 The celestial bows were of excellent quality, their ranges were excellent, and their users were nothing short of awesome.

 The damage done to the Roman army with the blood of Vulcan once again profoundly exceeded the expectations of the celestials, it was too Tyrannical.

 Everywhere, we heard the horrible screams of Roman soldiers who were being burned alive in excruciating pain.

Not only were the explosions large, but the fire spread too quickly. The blood of Vulcan was living up to its name in the most violent of ways.

 As the Romans realized they were being heavily attacked in the rear, they immediately heard the sounds of several hooves behind them, it was Orion leading the 50 celestial horsemen in the charge.

 The Romans did not expect such an attack and this only made it easier for the celestials to break through their ranks.

 "RIDERLY ATTACK FROM THE REAR!!" A Roman shouted to alert the others but it was already too late, like a knife through butter, the celestials were buried in the ranks.

 They had already lost quite a few soldiers to the sky archers but the rest who were in the way of the enemy horsemen were being killed with reckless ease.

 The Romans tried to react quickly but they were taken by surprise by the rest of the celestial army and the former slaves of Bayes and its surrounding villas.

 Orion massacred the Romans as if they were an adult among children, he was fast and deadly efficient just like his men who were practically having fun during the battle, yet even though they were having fun they also remained cautious both for them and for their partner.

 As the fight was going on, Galatea and the other archers were climbing the edges of the city using grappling hooks.

The houses in the city of Sinuessa were built close together so moving from roof to roof was not at all difficult and it was the ideal method of attack for them who had to stay on high ground.

 Crassus was valiantly fighting the rebels when one of his men told him that they were being attacked from behind by the celestials. The imperator was quite surprised by Orion's intervention, even if he had mentally prepared himself for the intervention of the celestials after Caesar's multiple warnings .

 The poor Roman believed that even if Orion wanted to interfere in this battle, the distance between Bayes and Sinuessa was great enough for him to finish stopping the rebellion before he arrived.

 He didn't know how he had learned of their maneuver so quickly because he had done everything to attack Sinuessa by surprise.

 Orion not only knew what he was going to do for a long time but he also had the most efficient spy in the world to know the movements of the Roman arrival, it was Phobos the celestial among the celestials. It wasn't really the intervention that shocked Crassus but its timing.

 Crassus: How many are there ?

 Soldier : A little over 1000, imperator.

 Crassus: Is that all ?! Tell the Fourth Legion to stop them.

 Soldier : The Fourth Legion has already been wiped out by them, Imperator. It is the same for the eleventh and the twelfth.

 Crassus: SEVERAL THOUSANDS OF MEN KILLED SO QUICKLY!? YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT A THOUSAND MEN DID ANNIHILATE THREE LEGIONS SO QUICKLY?!

 Soldier : Imperator, these men...they are no longer humans, their horsemen ravage everything and their foot soldiers fight like demons. The worst are the archers who attack from the roofs, they kill the majority of our men by burning them with... with a strange and destructive fire. They destroy our ranks as if to prepare a path for their riders throughout the city.

 Crassus:…

 Crassus was just realizing what was happening when he saw the ranks in front of him getting agitated, Spartacus and Varro on this front making their way with several other Rebels behind them, they looked tired and with several cuts on them but they still killed the Romans without much difficulty.

 "Spartacus..." Crassus muttered as he watched the Thracian in front of him fight his men, he knew his face well as he was the champion of House Batiatus after Orion's retreat, even if he was much less strong and spectacular than Spartacus. Orion, he was undefeated and his fame in the arena of Rome was great.

 Crassus: SPARTACUUUUUUS!!

 He screamed the name of the person responsible for the death of his eldest son and his wife before charging with his mount towards the rebel. Spartacus saw him coming and waited patiently, he was on the ground and Crassus on his horse but he already knew what to do to stop him.

 However, just as the two were about to meet, an arrow struck Crassus in the back. The penetration was quite deep, Crassus suffered a punctured lung and fell from his horse.

 "IMPERATOOOOOOR!" The Roman soldiers who saw him fall immediately screamed in horror.

Spartacus himself was quite surprised, he hadn't had time to notice that the rider was Crassus but when he looked over the rooftops he saw Uzziah accompanied by 9 celestial archers on the rooftops.

Varro: These archers are-(stopped) 

 He hadn't even finished his sentence before the celestial archers shot arrows that sprayed incredibly destructive fire into the rear of the Roman troops.

The fire was horribly devouring and covered a large area. Uzziah and his men moved right after they acted here.

 Orion's 50 archers were the celestials' real strike force. With Vulcan's arrows, they were destructive beyond words and Sinuessa was the perfect battlefield for them.

 They had split into 5 teams of 10 archers to cover more area of ​​the city from the roofs, the strategy was simple "Burn, run and jump".

 As Uzziah ran with his team from roof to roof, one of his men asked him.

 "Why did you shoot a regular arrow at that rider (Crassus) instead of a Vulcan arrow at the whole lot !? He looked important to the cries of the Roman soldiers, they called him…impera…imperathing…"

 Uzziah : I don't know, it was purely a reflex. The boss always told us to shoot important troopers or officers first and this guy not only was a trooper but he looked important.

 [Please forgive me dear readers for this death of Crassus but this is a battle, in a battle anything can happen. The strongest of men can die in the most stupid or unpredictable ways if he is unlucky. I always found it stupid the sudden encounters between the protagonist and the main antagonist suddenly in the battle for an "epic" fight without soldiers getting involved, the battle could take place without them crossing paths same and each would have died on his own. ]

 "THE IMPERATOR HAS FALLEN !! "

 "THE IMPERATOR HAS FALLEN !!"

 The news quickly circulated among the Roman troops but while others lamented the fall of their commander, others complained of the fire which attacked them.

 Very quickly, the rebels on this front understood that the tide was turning for them.

 Oenomaus was seriously injured due to a spear thrust that he did not have time to intercept, he and his men were overwhelmed until they saw the Roman ranks being immediately destroyed by the flames at the rear. He recognized Enesie's face and understood that the celestials were there.

 "Orion…" he smiled as he whispered the name.

 Gannicus and Segovax on their sides fought fiercely. They were tired and injured, Gannicus had been dangerously stabbed on his shoulder. Segovax was in an even worse state, he was more dead than alive with a lost eye and a nasty wound in the abdomen which had caused him to bleed a lot.

 They were waiting for death to come from the high and almost endless numbers of the Romans when fire suddenly struck the enemy ranks. As Gannicus barely looked at the improbable event before him, a voice startled him.

 "You look like a mess !! Retreat to a place to immediately close your wounds if you don't want to die." Galatea said looking at him indifferently.

 Gannicus had never been so happy to see the celestials as he was now, he smiled and started laughing as usual before leaving with Segovax.

 The Romans who wanted to follow them saw the path blocked by flames. The young teenager didn't waste any time after that, they shot down a good portion of the soldiers with regular arrows.

 [At the back of the city]

 "DON'T BACK DOWN, HOLD ON!!" Sura shouted to the troops who were desperately trying to hold out against the Roman numerical superiority.

She was quite tired from the fighting plus a deep gash on her thigh.

 Agron was fighting the Roman soldiers exhausted when his sword was countered by someone, it was Caesar.

He started a completely lopsided duel against Caesar who was much less tired than him and ended up losing, he was stabbed in the chest while the Roman smirked.

 "NOOOOO!!" Nassir who saw his lover being killed like that turned his attention away from the fight and tried to rush towards the place where Agron fell when a Roman spear pierced his side. The poor boy died in deep sadness.

 That was war, anyone could die any way if they weren't careful. This is why Orion always implemented plans likely to spare the lives of his men as much as possible, the blood of Vulcan had been created especially for that, it was a weapon of mass destruction for that time and that gave him allowed him to put all the chances on his side for himself, for his men, for his family, the celestials.

 …

 Sura ended up facing Caesar who still had his same mocking smile, this coward took for granted the victories obtained over disadvantaged and exhausted enemies but who could blame him?! It was a war!!

 The fight began between the two and neither noticed the commotion behind the Roman ranks, which were much smaller than at the main entrance.

 The celestials were there and with them, 500 former slaves trained by them. They had no difficulty breaking the Roman ranks.

 Caesar too focused in a fight against an exhausted but valiant Sura did not notice the fierce woman who was approaching their position.

 He had disarmed Sura and was about to finish her off when just as he countered Agron, his glaive was also countered by Salma's.

 Caesar, caught looking at his opponent from the side only to be shocked looking at the warrior beauty who had interfered in his victory.

 "Do you really think that…"

 *Slash *

 The Roman hadn't even finished his sentence when Salma slit his throat before turning around and continuing to kill the Roman soldiers.

Sura stood there without saying anything and a soldier would have killed her because of his daze if Saxa had not stabbed him in the back.

 She picked up Sura before taking her away because the celestials were already taking control of the battle. Demiclas with his shield and his spear played the Spartan role, it was not Salma who led the men but him.

 Although he was someone who was always in the mood for laughter and alcohol like his mental twin Ajax, he was one of the most brilliant tactical minds after Orion and was the one who directed the entire offensive.

Thanks to his precise orders, the Roman extermination did not take too long or cause too many casualties.

 All over the city, Orion, his riders and the others were now cleaning up after the archers had passed. The rebels who could still fight seeing the Romans being killed like that had a boost of energy, the city was burning but it was better than their extermination.

 Some Romans escaped the city but had to face aerial bombardments from one of the most decisive actors of the celestials, Phobos who bombarded them with vials of Vulcan's blood . This bird was quite vicious and knew how to aim correctly.

 The celestial archers were there on the rooftops watching the Roman troops being killed with relaxed calm, they were the main actors in this victory and now watching the fruit of their action.

 Galatea : Now I realize how terrifying big brother really is! This perfect strategy, this infernal fire, since the day Commander Romain's son died on this beach, he had already imagined this battle in his mind, its progress and its outcomes. This city was the perfect setting for his plans. 

 Enesie: Commander, we must continue to cover the others from the three to avoid potential losses. These are the Lord's orders for our secondary mission.

 Galatae came out of her thoughts with a smile and she nodded at Enesie.

 Galatea : Let's move, let's finish this!

 The archers: YOLO!!

 "We really need to stop following the delusions of Ajax and Demiclas." Galatae massaged her temple.

 Time passed and the battle ended quickly. Orion's troops had some losses and they were not the celestials but among the former slaves who, although they fought and protected themselves very well, unfortunately did not have the same monstrous reflexes and experiences as the celestials. Fortunately, these losses were very minimal.

 The city burned because the flames were too intense so the rebels evacuated the city through the back gates as originally planned.

 Every time a celestial faced a rebel he received a lot of thanks and respect. Orion did not seek to meet Spartacus now, he waited for everyone to take some rest before immediately moving everyone to Baiae.

 Today, they had just delivered a truly brutal blow that Rome would certainly remember for a long time, the rebels had lost a lot of people but several were still alive although very weakened.

 Orion was on his horse with Salma at his side, the two leading the journey and chatting.

 Salma: It was a landslide victory. A battle in flames for the Romans, a battle of the damned.

 Orion: Yes, we all owe it to the archers. Galatea and the others were great, this victory is theirs.

 Salma: Thanks to your plan, once again, we didn't lose anyone.

 Orion: And therein lies my victory. I can't afford to lose you, your lives are too important.

 Salma: You worry about our lives all the time, but what about yours ? I know.

 Orion: I don't know what you're-(interrupted)

 "Please stop, stop!!" Salma's voice was shaky and when Orion looked at her, she was crying.

 Salma: I know you are sick, very sick! It's been weeks since I noticed it.

 Orion: (sighs) I'm sorry, my dear. I didn't want you all to be worried.

 Salma: Because you think you have the right to worry about us without us doing the same for you ? How long have you been hiding this from us ?

 Orion: It started a year ago but became more frequent a few months ago. I was planning to talk to you about it after this whole thing was over to go find a cure.

 Salma: No matter where you go, I will go with you and as usual, it's not a request.

 Orion: I love you.

 Salma: I love you too.