Bitt runs into the uglier side of the locals. People who neither forgiven nor
forget.
This whole scene was started long before Black Lives Matters and was inspired
by Northern Ireland. Where the locals were killing each other for some 500
years. And reasons of who was right and who was wrong had long ago faded to
just hate and raging violence.
Only recently has some peace come to the area. I hold out hope that it lasts.
ChrisThe Lurking Fox
*********************
Statue of a feral lioness stalking a feral ibexPurple Amethyst, finely
carved.5m Meter high by 1 meter long7th century ADItem: 3157243NE5:Uncovered in
the 1973 Allendale Expedition at the ruins of Makan Maleun. Giftedto the Museum
by the estate of Philip Allendale 2003. Always there was talk of raiders(of
various nationalities and groups but especially the Parthians), bandits
andthieves. Also people spoke of rebels who had never accepted Imperial rule
andfought it. Just as they had fought the Greeks before them. The worst seemed
tobe the locals. They always seemed to be feuding and fighting each other.
Mostlyfor reasons that baffled Bitt. Back home the clans were always bickering
aboutsomething but it was nothing compared to the full blooded feuds going on
here. Someone always seemed to befighting about something. Politics, money,
religion, land, diplomacy. Any ofthose mixed together or even all at once.
There was one tribe whose namehe couldn’t pronounce who were constantly at war
with another tribe whose nameBitt also couldn’t say properly. No one was really
sure why. Tossius attemptedto explain it but he didn’t seem to understand
either. Back home the clans feuded attimes but always came together for
common causes. In the past that had usuallybeen to fight the empire. But not
here. The empire had conquered the area bypitting the different groups against
each other. This let the empire take overone piece at a time. Even conquered
the locals still bickered and feuded andargued. Often the only thing keeping
the peace were the Legions. All this meant that things werenever truly
peaceful. That the legion always had trouble somewhere thatrequired
legionnaires to keep the peace. It was October. That didn’t haveany special
significance to Bitt. Back home the harvesting had been done forover a month,
People were still laying in stores of wood and coal for keepingthings warm for
the cold, winter days. Most people were settled in for the winter andthey
might already have snow on the ground. But the Legionnaires dreaded thismonth.
It was festival month. One of the local holidays was a week-long event.But it
was never a fun celebration. Long ago two groups had fought abattle and the
event was marking it. One group (descendants of the winners)celebrated their
victory while the other (descendants of the losers) honoredtheir loss and the
heroes who died. What exactly they fought over no one wassure. The winners
were always willingto rub it in by killing more people and the losers were
looking for revenge anda rematch. There was never really peace between the two
groups. A previousemperor had forcibly moved a large group of them to another
province. And yetthey still found ways to kill each other. They never got
along and there was always tension and trouble betweenthe two. The problem was
serious enough this time that the commander sent FOURcenturies. They were being
sent to help the two centuries already there. So Bitt along with 342 of
hisfellow legionnaires found themselves in the city of Dium. It seemed typical
ofthe local towns he had visited before but much larger. It certainly looked
nodifferent. The bloodshed started early.Buildings were already burning when
they arrived. The glow from the fires wasvisible in the predawn as they marched
closer. A smoky haze lay over the citythat gave the air a tang of wood smoke.
The first people theyencountered were a stream of refugees fleeing the city.
They didn’t seem tohave a destination in mind. Just the idea of going somewhere
else. Somewherepeaceful. They stopped just short of thecity in an open
field. The legionnaires took the moment to check that everythingwas all right
and that they were ready. A legionnaire walked down theline of assembled
Legionnaires and gave each one a long length of thick wood.It was as thick as
his arm and about the length of his gladius. A stout club.It was a potent
weapon not to be under rated. Even if it was essentially just athick stick. The
one Bitt got had been carefully smoothed, shaped andvarnished. He noted several
dents and gouges that spoke of previous use. The tribune addressed
theassembled soldiers. “We are here to restore order. If a person is obeying
thelaw leave them be. If they are fighting, knock them down. If they get up
andattack; kill them. Do not take sides. Treat them all equally.” “Remember
your training. Stay information and act in unison,” the tribune ordered. “They
are just adisorganized mob.” “What if they join forcesagainst us?” Bitt
asked out loud. “They won’t,” the tribuneanswered. “They never do. They’re
too busy killing each other,” he added sadly. Bitt shook his head in
response.“That’s stupid.” The tribune laughed a mirthlesslaugh. “What
are they fighting about?”Bitt asked. The tribune shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to them,” the foxcountered. The tribune nodded in
agreement.“But not to us. We are here only to keep order and maintain the
peace.” He ordered them into a line thatstretched completely across the road
from one side to the other. Three linesdeep. They locked shields and started to
march down the street. Moving slowlythey kept in step being sure their paws hit
the pavement in unison. The tramp,tramp, tramp echoing loudly off the pavement
and walls. When their left pawshit the pavement they struck their shields
loudly with their clubs. It made foran impressively loud noise that echoed
everywhere and seemed to drown out all else.They marched down the street and
into pandemonium. The road was filled with peopleof both genders and a score
of species all of whom seemed to be trying to killeach other. There was no
organization. It was a huge brawl. Buildings wereburning and debris and bodies
were scattered everywhere. No one seemed to notice them atfirst; too intent
on their own mayhem. The slow-moving formation swept down thestreet and Bitt
saw people take notice. A deer and a canine were energeticallytrying to kill
each other with knives. The canine glanced in the direction thelegion was
coming from. Their little fight stopped and they both turned andfled down
different side streets in opposite directions. A rabbit who was busylooting a
stand full of fruit looked at them. Her eyes grew wide and shebolted. Running
away as fast as she could. Taking her stolen fruit with her. A noticeable
ripple ran throughthe crowd as word of the soldier’s arrival spread. Some fled.
Dropping allpretense of righting old wrongs and running for safety. Those were
the smart ones. Some for whatever reason keptfighting. Others turned to face
the legionnaires. It was a very bad mistake. The line of soldiers reached
therioters. It was a chaotic scene of sounds and sights. The smell of blood,
urineand feces came to him but heavy choking scent of smoke was overbearing. It
madehim choke and cough. He never saw clearly what washappening. People
flashing past, clubs and sticks smacking into flesh and thesick sound of
cracking bones. He didn’t see clearly all that he fought. Justfigures in front
of him before he shoved them with his shield or battered themwith his stick.
Shields smashed many to theground while clubs dealt with the rest. Those strewn
on the ground were pickedup by the legionnaires in the second and third lines
and roughly tossed to theside. A scattered line of legionnaires trailed behind
making sure the onesdealt with didn’t cause any more trouble. Bitt found out
later that most simplyfled. Others were helped home by family or friends. And
some ironically woundup being helped by a legionnaire. After clearing that
street theyturned down another. And then another and yet another. The whole
city seemed tobe at war with itself. A spear came flying down andcaught
Rolozius in the leg. The hyena went down with a shout. Bitt looked up in the
directionthe spear had come from. He saw several people on a rooftop. One had a
spear inhand was raising to throw it. Without hesitating Bitt broughtup one
of his pilum and threw it. The missile rocketed up to the spear throwerwho
tumbled backward out of sight. He hefted his other pilum and kept lookingupward
at the roofs of the surrounding buildings. But no one appeared. “How ishe?”
Philippus worked energeticallyon his friend’s leg. “It’s not too bad. You’ll be
fine in a few weeks.” “How often do we come here?”Bitt asked without taking
his eyes off the rooftops. “At least once a year.” “I say we lock the
gates fromthe outside and let them kill each other,” someone commented. Bitt
was hard pressed todisagree with him. At first Bitt felt bad about fighting
people but each timethey marched into the streets these citizens were
butchering each other.Everywhere Bitt and his contubernium went there was chaos
and death. Peoplewere killing each other. Those not killing seemed to be
burning and looting.They were all dressed alike and seemed to be a mix of
species. So it was notLong Ear vs Short Ear. He never could tell the two sides
apart. After a whilehe stopped trying. It hardened him to a degree. Asthe
Tribune had explained, Bitt’s thinking was simple – if they are obeying thelaw
and behaving; leave them alone. If they are causing trouble – of whateversort –
knock them down – Hard. If they get up and come back at you – kill them.It
seemed wrong but there was no way to stop the violence. Harsh times
requiredharsh measures. It was a truly bad time foreveryone. Wherever they
went there was bloody fighting. Often Bitt foundhimself stepping over dead
bodies and debris. Often the mere presence of thelegion calmed things down. And
yet most seemed to simply take their killing andlooting elsewhere. Other times
all they could do was wade into the conflict andsmash and punch till the crowd
scattered. No sooner was one problem dealt withthan another popped up
elsewhere. This kept them moving about the town. Goingfrom one point to
another. Gradually the crowds thinned,the violence abated and fewer things
were burning. Soon the streets were quiet,but the tension and the hatred
remained. They patrolled the streets in groupsof no less than eight
legionnaires. It was two months before thingscalmed down and they were sent
home to Gemellae. Even so it was only becauseanother century came to replace
them. Things never really were quietthere and a full century was always in
Dion. Year round. It was considered worse dutythan Mozta. At least there only
the smell was trying to kill them. Of all the things that happenedto me in
the 76th the one event that still comes back to haunt mydreams is Dium. Twice
more over my years there did we get deployed to thatcursed place. Always the
people there were fighting. I never did understand why. *******************
_______________________________________________
MKGuild mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.integral.org/listinfo/mkguild
