Situated deep within the heart of the vessel, the bridge of the Aeneid was always a hub of controlled chaos. Huge screens lined the room to provide video feed from any needed source, while admiral Varro Marcellius oversaw the operation. For Camilla, standing there on the bridge doing nothing was painful. While born a member of the Mali Kingdom, she was now a 100% loyal Roman citizen, and the first female Praetorian. Her martial skill was what had carried her to the rank of Tribune.
She and Gaius had thrown lots to see who would take this mission, she had lost, and her cohort was standing by a reinforcements. Gaius was an able soldier, and even though the mission had been on for almost an hour, had met no resistance. In fact, they had found no one. The station was sealed, they had been forced to blast open the hangar doors with precision strikes from the fleet, all defense turrets were disabled, security systems spiked, blast doors sealed and while there were signs of struggle everywhere, no bodies. While watching Gaius' HUD camera on one of the screens, she opened up a comlink with him.
"We still haven't found anything on the scanners. How are you holding up?'
"We've spent the last five minutes walking down empty corridors and prying these cheap storm doors open with our hands. We've seen no sign of Trebonius. The men are worried we might not find him. The maps we have are incomplete at best. The place could self destruct at any moment." He relayed, "And I'm starved. How are things on your end?"
Camilla couldn't help but smile. Gaius always seemed to think of his stomache. He wasn't joking about prying the doors open, though. Whatever alloy the Cornarians used could be molded like clay by their powered armor. "We're holding together well. The BCN is fully operational. The Virgil and Livy are here. They're handling most of the load." The Battle Command Network was an ad-hoc connection between all Roman units on the field, allowing an upreceded level of intelligence and coordination. Due to its nature, it was nearly impossible to tap into from an unauthorized source.
Camilla hoped that they could find Trebonius. They needed to. He was a hero, and an excellent soldier. His mere presence could shift the sway of a battle. They had fought together almost everywhere. They were comrades in arms and... And were in love. They had kept it quite. Camilla, Trebonius and Gaius were the only ones to know. Naturally, she and Trebonius followed all rules and regulations about interaction between soldiers, but they wouldn't be in the army forever.
Gaius spoke again into the comlink. "I swear, if we don't find something soon, I'm gonna start knocking down walls to-" He paused. "Camilla, tell me my radar isn't malfunctioning."
To his 2 o'clock, there was a weak Roman IFF transmission that wasn't registered with the rescue team. Camilla didn't have a chance to speak before Gaius took off after it, without even informing his squad. He bolted down the hallway and rammed the door with his shoulder, sending it flying into the room.
It must have been a medbay, but now it was a morgue. A single huge one-way window brought light into the room and gave a beautiful view of the star system. Rows of dead Cornarians on medical stretchers filled the room. Medical droids sat deactivated. And in the center was a sight that made Gaius freeze and Camilla's blood turn to ice.
There lay Trebonius Cinna. His armor was rent, and deep gashes were visible through it. They were far too many to have been done by a blade, even one with an ultrasonic generator. Pieces of the armor such as the helmet had been removed. He looked peaceful, and his hand still clutched a rosary. Trebonius had been a Christian, but even pagans adored him. At the sight of this, Gaius began to shake. He turned around and punched a piece of medial equipment nearby with his great fist, leaving a huge dent in the metal.
"Damn it!" He shouted out loud. "I was too late! This is all my fault. I should have pressed forward faster..."
By this time, his squad had arrived, and the medic Quintus had already scanned Trebonius' body. "Sir, he died three days ago. His blood does not lie on your hands. Logs show he was hooked to life support for a few days before it was cut. The memory core is still intact, we will find who did this."
Gaius stood still, facing the window, the Aeneid in full view and Cornaria in the background. "I am no oracle, but even I can divine this: Cornaria will burn, and I," He turned to face his men,"By Jove, I will throw the first firebrand."
Sullust had already reported their finding on the BCN. Gaius tried to open a comlink with Camilla, but her comlink was not responding.
Topic: Wrath of Rome: Dust and Echoes (Read 2616 times)
