Fated Destiny Book Three

Chapter Thirty-Four: Camp At Last

We arrived in the city of Mediolanum days later and in passing I noticed there were a high number of soldiers in the city. Nero explained to me that Mediolanum was where many of the frontline soldiers came for rest and relaxation. She went on to add that Mediolanum was a fallback point if the defenses in the mountains were ever broken and housed a large legion who guarded the city. It was also apparently a place where supplies were kept to feed and support the frontline troops, so it was critical that this city was protected. I told her if only the supply lines were as well protected as this city was and Nero let out a sigh.

Following our arrival in Mediolanum it was only a day later when we rode into the expedition camps at long last. The journey itself had taken almost a week, and the path to the Roman defenses had been a winding road going through a valley made up of steep cliffs and mountains that were covered in heavy woodland. I think I had even spotted some snow covering the mountain peaks, and given the choice I'd rather be up there then down here sweating my ass off. Upon reaching the camp we found there were several hundred men lined up in rows waiting. Behind the rows upon rows of Roman soldiers were hundreds of tents that accompanied them. The camp itself was situated in one of the wider parts of the mountain pass with cliffs flanking it on either side. I know Nero had said that the landscape was rugged and impassable, but this camp seemed like it was just a massive killbox. If a determined enough individual had wanted to scale up the mountains and get behind us they could just as easily shoot down at us from above. We'd be helpless against such an attack and it made me wonder why the enemy hadn't tried it themselves, it's something I would have to bring up with Nero later. Right now though we were getting closer to the camp and Nero pulled ahead of us and rode up to the front of the massive group of men waiting for her. She proceeded to head to one end of the first row before trotting to the other end and back again before pulling back on the reins of her horse bringing it to a stop in the middle of the soldiers. Nero turned the horse to face them and placed her hand on her chest before taking a deep breath.

"Ego sum Nero Claudius imperator!" Nero proclaimed loudly. "Dabo tibi honorem me audiendi, et attende!" Nero announced. The rest of us had stayed back and listened to Nero from behind, but even from back here we could still hear her. "Expeditio Gallicana milites, incipias a te indefesso labore pro me, civibus, et Roma meis gratias agere.Multos labores, multis cicatricibus inflictos, multas noctes vigilias perdurasti.Haec omnia per multos menses contra indefessa proditorum catervas ante limen tolerasti, qui agros nostros diripire ac Romam tuam perniciem facere volunt." Nero pointed at the walls in the distance. "Gratias autem vestros labores hodie pervenerunt ut subsidia expeditionis hodie cum novo Generali supplemento traherem, qui novas opiniones cum pluribus novis sociis habet." Nero said. "Mitto etiam vestrum vulneratum aut debilem Romam, quo recepturi estis heroes.Mecum remanebunt qui adhuc pugnare possunt, ut in venturo praelio ad hostem repellamus ac amissas terras repetamus." Nero went on. "Nunc igitur cum novo duce ac novis sociis nulla est causa quod amittat proxime proelium venturum.Victoria mihi est, et Roma vos omnes amatis! Pro Roma!" Nero finishes raising her fist into the air and the valley echoed with applause.