User:TheKnightOfOyashiro/The Lost Legions

My name is Lupus. Not even a decade ago, I seved in the Romulan armed forces -- a Legionarii, to be precise. After successfully subjugating the squabbling Greco kingdoms to the east of Constantium, our glorious capital, the Legions proceeded westward in an attempt to secure what was once the western half of the Empire.

If you have been alive in the last fifteen years, when we first discovered the Dominion to the west, you should know that we thought them barbarians. They gaped at us, in our brightly-colored uniforms and shining armor. Their "soldiers", Uruks, were dressed in rags. They wore no armor, and wielded incredibly crude weapons. When he heard of this barbarian people, the inhuman and barbarous Dominion, Gaius Caesar immediately decided that it would be worth it to attack and conquer their capital city. We didn't see them as a threat so much as a hindrance, something to step over -- or step on.

I was a part of that legion. We were lead by one Augustus Cakkius; he was supposedly a minor noble, although there were rumors that the man was actually a disowned son of the Emperor himself. There was nothing special about my rank or position. I was another Legionary ready to give his life so that the Empire may live. What happened during the first battle was far from what we had expected.

In hindsight, I imagine we could have won that first battle. We were on a hill, and it was raining; if we had held our position, we might have been able to pelt the enemy with javelins as they slipped on the mud. But Augustus Cakkius was a very anxious person, and in a burst of enthusiasm, he ordered an all-out charge down the hill. I, being in the front row of my company, was pushed down the hill. Many of us slipped and rolled down the hill as we "charged" towards the enemy, who, seeing us falling over ourselves, stopped and waited for us to come to them.

By this point, not only had every formation fell apart, but it had also began to spread thin. I don't remember seeing our first men hit the enemy formation, but I do remember the man in front of me, our Vexillarius, coming into contact with them. What those "crude" blades did to human flesh was horrifying. A single overhead swipe and my Vexillarius was cleaved literally in two down the center of his body; his entrails spilled out as he slowly fell aside.

I had the sense, upon seeing this, to try and halt myself. I raised my tower shield, bracing it with my elbow as I slid towards these gray-green creatures. The first beast that tried to hit me hit my shield, but I could feel all the force put into that blow: I was nearly toppled over by that sheer blunt force, and I could hear and feel my shield cracking from it as well.

Rearing back, I positioned my sword and took a jab at one of the enemy. I was met with serious resistance. The Uruk's flesh was as hard as steel, and my blade did nothing apart from scratch him. He growled and raised that cleaver overhead. Knowing my shield may shatter if I tried to block the blow, I leapt back. The metal blade struck the mud where my feet had been less than a second later. I took another jab, this time aiming for the head. It did the trick. the end of my blade met the Uruk's nose bridge, and it caved in. The further in it went, the more the Uruk's cranium pulled from his head. Suddenly, his head popped open, and blood gushed from his skull.

All around, legionaries began to retreat. They suddenly realized that for every one of them we were killing, we lost up to four of our own, and as such ditched their posts. Our general, Augustus, attempted to rally the fleeing soldiers, but to no avail: one of their Reptilii Arcebusii soldiers, armed with explosive bolt crossbows, managed to hit the general dead center of the chest, and caused him to effectively disintigrate. Although I hesistated, thinking of the consequences the Empire may throw my way for deserting, I ran as well. Only about one hundred, out of over a thousand, survived. We joined up a few miles from the site of the battle and began to march back east, as fast as we could.

But it was all for nought, as the Dominion's forces would pursue us all that way, and, lacking supplies, we could no longer run.