Chapter 10 – Conflict with the Prefect
At Aulus' command, the 60 auxiliary guards, already in formation, confronted Septimus' 60 private clone guards.
The fight began suddenly, and the private clone guards, using their combat experience as gladiators, engaged the auxiliary guards with their gladii.
In a little over 10 minutes, both sides suffered losses. The private clone guards had experience as gladiators, but in fights involving Roman formations they had a slight disadvantage. Likewise, gladiator combat uses excessive and flashy fighting movements that are less efficient on a battlefield.
On the other hand, the 60 auxiliary guards did not have much advantage. In individual combat they could not defeat the clone guards, and their advantage in formation was gradually diminishing as the clone guards adapted to that style of fighting.
In just over 20 minutes, the formation of the auxiliary guards broke, and the clone guards began their charge.
Thanks to the skills learned in hundreds of fights in the underground arena, the clone guards were accustomed to killing by all kinds of dirty means.
The clone guards began killing the panicked auxiliary guards easily, as if they were unarmed men.
Seeing this situation, Aulus turned pale. In his mind, he had not believed that this young man and these men would be so bold as to attack and kill his auxiliary guards; he was a prefect and was carrying out his duty.
Seeing that the situation was irreversible, Aulus knew that this man planned to rebel, so he prepared to flee.
When they saw Aulus mounting a horse, 10 clone soldiers took horses brought by other clones and began to pursue him. Since the situation had reached this point, Septimus did not plan to show mercy.
In the worst case, he would rebel. In a few months, with the death of Consul Marius due to old age, Consul Cinna would begin an even more intense witch hunt against the supporters of Sulla.
If Septimus were forced into a dead end, he could rebel and seize Capua. With his ability to easily generate clones, he could assemble a completely loyal army and resist in the region of Campania.
The 10 clone guards pursued Prefect Aulus and managed to intercept him after riding 20 kilometers. With a slash of a gladius, one of the clone soldiers killed Aulus' horse, causing him to fall to the ground and hit the dirt hard.
The clone guards surrounded Aulus.
Aulus stood up, dazed, seeing that his horse was dead and that he was surrounded.
"What are you doing? I am a prefect. You are defying Rome!" Aulus shouted cowardly.
"To hell with Rome," one of the clones said, staring coldly at Aulus.
As they approached with malice, using their swords they dismembered Aulus' body before decapitating him and impaling his head on a spear on their return to the villa.
Septimus knew that his actions would bring serious consequences, so it was time to bare his fangs. The nearest legions to Capua were three days away with a forced march, and the closest force was 5,000 men under the command of the admiral of Campania. Those troops were dedicated to protecting the region from pirates and were trained in naval combat; only half were considered marines and could be deployed.
With the situation already established, Septimus ordered the battlefield cleaned. He had lost 26 clone soldiers and taken 32 prisoners. With a gesture of his hand, the clone soldiers, amid the prisoners' screams and pleas, killed them. Septimus was not one to show mercy to the enemy.
At the same time, 300 clone soldiers left the villa heading toward Gaius' ludus. Septimus was not going to let that man get away with it; he had to pay the price of blood with his own blood.
Septimus also sent clones to buy more armor and weapons. Before the situation became widely known, he planned to form a full legion of clones.
After assigning tasks, Septimus headed to the villa under the nervous gaze of the beautiful slave women, who were full of questions but did not dare to ask.
A slave woman with reddish hair and a well-proportioned body, nervously looking at Septimus, gathered her courage.
"Dominus, one sister heard shouting outside from the prefect accusing you," the slave said with a hint of panic.
Septimus understood. It was when Aulus had been shouting at the clone guards that some nearby slave had heard the cries. The prefect of Capua was also their administrator and represented Rome; it was understandable why the slave women were so worried.
In Septimus' villa, aside from attending to Septimus' physical needs and doing household chores, the slaves performed no other work nor endured humiliation from the clone guards, who kept their distance and only helped with tasks requiring strength. Additionally, Septimus treated them kindly, as if they were his own women.
For these slaves, having a master like Septimus was a blessing from all the gods; therefore, they feared losing their way of life.
If Septimus were taken and judged by the prefect of Capua, they would lose the good life they had. That was why, although they were slaves and knew that Septimus was good and tolerant toward them, the red-haired slave dared to ask.
Septimus looked at her and, at the faint cry of the slave, embraced her while grabbing her buttocks and looking into her eyes.
"You are my woman and my slave. You do not need to worry about anything else and only need to serve me," Septimus said seriously to the slave while kissing her forehead.
The slave nodded quickly while in Septimus' arms.
The other slaves remained silent and also nodded at Septimus' words without asking further questions. They understood that Septimus would not harm them and treated them as his women, but they still retained the identity of slaves.
Septimus, with the slave in his arms, took a second slave at random and headed to the bedroom. He was going to vent some of his fury through sexual intercourse.
Meanwhile, Gaius' ludus turned into hell.
The 300 clone guards advanced and launched a direct attack without making noise or shouting.
At first, the guards who were guarding the gate of the ludus believed they were auxiliary guards of the prefect coming to deliver the results of Septimus' judgment, but when they saw their companions being attacked, they went into shock.
Two hundred clone guards entered the ludus and unleashed a massacre against the guards, gladiators, and slaves of the ludus.
The screams grew more intense, and the smell of blood filled the entire place.
Two clone guards dragged Gaius while the other clone guards killed the slaves along with Gaius' wife and children with a slash of the sword.
"Who are you? Cursed men, you have made a mistake. I am a friend of the prefect!" Gaius shouted in pain as he heard the screams of his wife and children.
He still did not understand who these men were or why they were attacking him. The shock of the massacre of his entire ludus overwhelmed him, and he could not process the death of his family, believing it was a nightmare.
Seeing him in that state, the clone soldiers brought the heads of his wife and children close to Gaius, letting him see the expressions of terror frozen on their faces at the moment of death.
Gaius looked at the heads in shock, unable to understand whether this was a nightmare.
"In the name of Septimus Novius, the Impaler of Heads, he sends you greetings. In your next life, pray to your gods not to offend my lord," the clone soldier said while cutting off Gaius' arms and legs.
Upon hearing the clone soldier's words, before Gaius could process the statement, he felt intense pain from the loss of his arms and legs. One of the clones waited 10 minutes before he bled out and then cut off Gaius' head.
Septimus planned to forge a name for himself and proclaim himself the Impaler of Heads. He also planned to have a motto and customize a standard using cheap colors in Rome such as gray, black, brown, and red.