The fight for Freedom!

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Part 8 continued.

Throughout the morning Brother Peterson organised the men stationed at Newbridge to build a funeral raft and pire in preparation to send Bryn's Son to his Gods later that day.

Most of the men there had known Brother Connel Murdoch personally, in fact a great many of the young men of Free Celtica saw him as their future King when this war was over. And so it was decided to honour his life with the last rights and funeral of a King, not praticed since the demise of the monarchy when King Brennus had been murdered by Chairman McGregors henchmen.

During this day Brothers Liam and Scratch arrived to hold council with Bryn on the next stages of the war. Brother Peterson informed them of the situation and their hearts were filled with sadness.

"Forgive the intrusion Brother Ive just heard the sad news."

Bryn looked up and through his tearfilled eyes saw his good friend "Oh thank the gods youre here!" said Bryn as he got up to greet Scratch.

Brother Scratch embraced Bryn "I am so sorry my friend!" he said softly.

Liam too entered the room "Brother please accept my condolences on your loss, he was the bravest of men that Ive known and I know that many shall mourn his death." he said to his Chieftan Bryn Murdoch.

"Thank you Brother for your kind words they are a comfort. I am heartbroken but I knew their would be sacrifices to make when I started out on this journey! and so did my Son. He was a brave man that is true and I shall deeply miss him. However I will have more time to mourn when this thing is over."

"Brother!! Kyle Donavon has arrived and he has brought your Sons body, shall I send him to you?" asked Brother Peterson.

"Yes yes please do!" replied Bryn, "have arrangements been made?"

"Yes sir everything is in hand!"

"Hello Brother, I am so sorry to have failed you my Lord!" said kyle as he bent down on one Knee and lowered his head.

"Nonsense man!! stand up I command you. You did your duty it was those Basta--ds who killed my Son, and it is Mcgregor who will pay!!" said Bryn now feeling stronger with his closest friends with him.

"Brother the men have assembled and would like to offer their tribute to your son in the form of the ancient funeral service reserved for Kings and princes. Many of the young men felt that one day Connel would have been their King Sir," said Brother Peterson.

"Then so shall it be, Brother Kyle Donavon you were my Sons closest friend in life I now want you to serve him one last time and send him to his Gods! will you do this for me?"

"I shall do it for you, for my friend Brother Connel Murdoch and for all the men of "Free Celtica", it shall be an honour Sir." replied Kyle.

The five men made their way to a platform constructed by the shore of the lake at Newbridge. Bryn assisted three Brothers to lay his Son's body apon the pire raft, and gently kissed his forehead.

"Brothers I thank you for the great honour you have bestowed upon my kin this day. Men of "Free Celtica" I now hand over my Son to the Gods of Celtica, this is a terrible sacrifice for me to make but one which make willingly as I stand shoulder to shoulder with you all my Brothers, as we all continue to make the sacrifices required to win this war. Before this time has passed a great many of our kin wil have passed from this life and I wish to honour you all as you honour my Son now!!"

With that the raft was set adrift with the wind, as the men looked on some, many with tears in their eyes, but all standing strong to Connels honour. Kyle set a light to his flaming arrow and aimed high as if to touch the Gods themselves, the arrow soared high then swooped like a falcon and ignited the pire. It was done! Brother Connel could now go to his celestial home and wait for his father. As the men dispersed to go to the funeral feast Bryn stood alone and watched till the last embers has been extinguished.

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

World Map,


Rome is the dominant power after swallowing up two of her neighbours ie Iroquois and Azteca with a few French and Egyptian cities also living as slaves to the Romans.

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Another Map showing in more detail the cities of Celtica and the region now under Free Celtica's control.

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Part 9 Back to business


Bryn opened his eyes, momentarily unsure of his wherabouts. Within seconds it all came flooding back to him. His Son, his beautiful baby boy that he had so cherished and reared to be a fine noble warrior. He was gone. For any man to lose a child is tragic, but to have sent your own Son into the arms of danger, and for your Son to perish at the enemies hands!. Bryn's mind was awash with mixed, crazed emotions, guilt, anger, fear, a lesser man would not have withstood these stresses, and been left a broken wreck. " I will avvenge you my beloved Son!" he said to himself in his mind as he dressed himself.

The Village of Newbridge was bustling with activity, many thousands of men were streaming into the the area from greater Celtica looking to join the freedom fighters of "Free Celtica", young men, nearly boys in many cases. Those who were old enough were sent back to Devils Bridge for training whilst the youngsters were sent to safer villages out of harms way.

The year was turning through its cycle, and it seemed so long ago now to Bryn since the harvests had been gathered. The Winter had been particually mild and quite dry, and even in this climate of war, the first real signs of spring, of new life, buds breaking on the trees and birds thinking of courtship could be seen. " Nothing changes but everything changes!!" Bryn thought to himself as he pondered the scene outside his hut.

He made his way to the command centre for the morning briefing planned for 07.00 with his senior staff, stoping by the cookhouse to get a bite to eat and a pot of steaming coffee.

................................................................................................................................


Another meeting was taking place this morning at Communist party headquarters, over in Entremont.

The new Cultural advisor was just being cleaned up by Svenson, yet another unfortunate soul to have uttered a sentence not to the Chairmans liking.

"Hurry up Svenson will you hes dripping blood all over my best rug!" yelled the Irate Chairman Mcgregor.

"Comrade begging your pardon but comrade Perkins did have a point, this damn populist movement is out of control!! we have no choice we must talk to them before the whole country rises up in rebellion!!"

Bang !! Bang !! two more shots rang out and comrade Davidson's body slumped to the floor lifeless.

"SVENSON!! GET THIS FILTHY TRAITOROUS BAST**D OUT OF HERE!!" yelled the Chairman phsycotically.

"Chairman Sir I beseach you, please calm youself. If we carry on like this you will have no advisors left to shoot!!" said General Thordarson in his usual unemotive way. Anybody else would have recieved the same treatment as the previous two comrades had, but the Chairman trusted Thordarson completely, and if the truth be known he admired him a great deal too.

!Yes yes Ill calm myself but you heard the ridiculous things they said to me!!"

"Yes I did and you were quite right to kill the yellow bast**ds, but there's no use you losing your top. We need cool heads if were going to formulate some sort of a plan to deal with these rebellious dogs!" replied the General. Who is a man just as insane and evil as the Chairman, but far more composed and devious in his actions.

"You know they've taken control of Alesia, dont you Thordarson, and furthermore they burnt down the prison and raided the armoury in Stockholm ?" the chairman said calmer but seething with rage. All eyes in the room turned to Thordarson, no one else dared to speak for fear of the Chairmans deadly rebuke. "Have we got any idea of their strength! numbers and who the hell is helping them ?" added Mcgregor.

"Its the stinking Japs for my money Sir, they cut off all diplomatic ties with us recently and they've kicked out all of our diplomats from Kyoto." replied Thordarson.

"I would have to agree with that Chairman Sir," added a rather nervous comrade Davis the foreign advisor.

"I thought I told you to reissue our demands Davis you damned fool!"

"We have Sir, time and time again, but Togukawa is completely ignoring our calls!"

"Can we spare any troops to go and teach that BAST**RD a lesson he'll not forget?" asked the Chairman.

"Impossible Sir, I

Bang !! Bang !! comrade Jones the military advisor did'nt finish his sentence and was still wriggling around on the floor. Unusually the Chairmans magnificent marksmanship had failed to finish the target on this occasion, so he slowly made his way around the table, and finished the job with a third bullet to the head.

"SVENSON!! remove this filth from my sight at once or you will be next!!" yelled Mcgregor. "Thordarson! I dont care what it takes I want Alesia back, do you understand!!"

"Yes Sir Ill get right on it" replied the General knowing full well in his own mind that that was just not possible, they simply did not have the troops. He was'nt going to tell the Chairman that though after what he had just witnessed, and neither were the surviving members of the communist party ruling council.

To be continued.

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Part9 cont


A week had since past since the funeral of Connel Murdoch, son of the great chieftan Bryn Murdoch. The "Free Celtica" movement had been very busy during this time, Bryn now resided in Alesia in the new forward command centre and due to chair a most important meeting there today. Brother Kyle Donavon had gone back to Stockholm with a force of two thousand well trained and heavily armed fighters, and had managed to secure the city with very little resistance. The people were only too pleased to be liberated from the tyranny of the Communists and were helping rebuild the cities industrial capacity to serve "Free Celtica".

The English had finally managed to push through the Communist lines and had taken Oslo to the North, although the people would rather see Bryn Murdoch at the helm they were glad to see the back of Chiarman Mcgregor. Reports were coming in that English troops were also now within striking distance of Agedincum. These developments were worrying for Bryn as he was witnessing the carving up of his nation at the hands of an age old enemy the English, if the Romans see a chance to get in on the action it would spell the end for Celtica forever.

"Excuse me Brother I have a message from Brother Scratch, he says he has some good news for you and will bringing an envoy from the English to todays meeting," said brother Peterson.

"Okay thanks Brother Peterson," said Bryn intrigued by this message from his good friend.

The Japanese were on very friendly terms with the English and had been conducting a great deal of highly profitable trade with them for many generations, before the Communists had taken power from the Celtic Monarchy the continent had been the most peaceful in the world. The Celts and English had been at war many times in the past but King Brennus had maintained peaceful relations for many years before Mc gregor had siezed power.

It was time for the meeting and Bryn welcomed in his guests and Brothers to be seated around the huge granite table. Above and behind Bryn was a huge chart showing the current map of Celtica, with troop posistions and territory plans as to the latest scout reports.

"Brothers, honoured guests we have much to discuss, as you no doubt by now know the English (Bryn glanced at the envoy with Scratch) have broken through the Communist lines. There forces have occupied Oslo and are as we speak marching towards Agedincum. Now before we continue I will open up the floor to our guest who has accompanied our good friend Brother Scratch to todays meeting."

"Please brothers, give this man who has been brave enough to come here today to speak with you a fair hearing," pleaded Scratch.

"Do not fear Brother, any friend of yours is welcome here provided they mean my brothers no harm." replied Bryn.

"Thank you Bryn Murdoch, my name is Simon Peters, and I am an ambassador of her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth 1. I have been sent here to deliver a proposal from her Majestys government to your movement, "Free Celtica"." said the ambassador in a typically haughty English tone.

"Well lets hope your proposal includes for the handing over of all Celtic territory to "Free Celtica" and then maybe it will be of interest to us," returned Bryn in a distrustful voice.

"Now now then Brother Murdoch, theres no need for that tone, if you will please listen then I will continue," said Peters in the same haughty tone,

"Brother please steady yourself and listen to what the man has to say!" pleaded Scratch.

"Yes, you must forgive my distrust, our two nations have a long and torrid history, so it may take time for my people to adapt to trusting yours." stated Bryn.

"Oh thats quite alright, in fact most understandable given the current situation. Please let me explain the wider picture. As Scratch will point out to you the world in which we live is on the brink of total war. The Romans are mobilizing their forces for an attack and we suspect it will be against Celtica, they have been monitoring events and spotted that youre nation is currently divided and weak. Now as you have already stated our forces have broken through Chairman Mc gregors lines and have begun to advance into Celtic territory."

"So you have told us the situation, the only thing new is the possibility of an attack by Rome sooner rather than later. This does not really tell me why you are here! if the Romans do attack us then they will too feel the wrath of "Free Celtica"!," interupted Bryn.

"Please excuse me Ill try to get to the point,"

"Sorry to interupt again, Bryn my Brother, please stop and listen to this man! what he has to say is of great importance! do you think I would waste your time with this if it were not so?" asked Scratch.

"Alright, Im sorry, please go on, but dont take all day we have much to discuss!!"

"Thank you Brother, now then where was I. oh yes the Romans!!. We know only too well the fighting spirit of the Celts, my nation has felt the wrath of Celtica for itself many times, and where as we have no doubt that your people would defend your land against any foe, we know you would not be able to hold back a full out invasion by Rome. Please I know this is a difficult subject but hear me out. In the last few years your nation has been run into the ground by the Communists, whilst the rest of the world has made many scientific advancements your nation has regressed. Mc gregor has plundered the wealth of Celtica to continue his war against my nation and to hold down his own people. I know you know all this after all its why you took up arms against him in the first place. Now then my Government proposes to you "Free Celtica" an alliance to once and for all crush Mc gregor, in return for your assurance that you will never again take up arms against England we are willing to return all occupied territoy to you when this war is over, and furthermore if you will agree our scientists will teach your people the technologies that your nation lacks to defend itself against a Roman invasion!" finished Peters.

Bryn was momentarily speechless, "But but why would England wish to so befriend her old enemy?"

"Brother," said Scratch, " the reasons are plain to see, if we the nations of the Celtica continent do not unite and stand strong together, then Rome will gain a foothold in your lands and set about conquering the whole continent!! We must unite and put away old rivalries if we are to withstand the coming storm!. If we, any of us continue to fight each other then we will never be strong enough to hold back Rome, only together will we stand a chance!!"

"Rome is a far bigger, badder monster than Chiarman Mc gregor has ever been, a fully modernised monster with a military as large as all three of our nations put together. To add to that the French and the Egyptians will undoubtedly join forces with Rome for fear of reprisals if they do not. The Chinese would probably remain neutral but there is no way to know for sure at this time." added Peters.

"Youre offer is indeed very gracious and I on behalf of my Kin and all the Clans accept. Brothers please continue this meeting without me I have much to discuss with Brother Scratch and Simon Peters," said Bryn with a widening smile upon his face," Brothers I can smell victory and I am sure that it is near, Brothers soon we will have a "FREE CELTICA!!!". A huge cheer went up around the room and a sense of the victory to come was evident on every mans face.

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Part 10 Winds of Change.

ROME

"What is the situation, are the troops in position ?" asked the Emporer, Julius Caesar.

"Your excellency, all forces are ready to proceed with the invasion as per your instructions!" answered General Maximus, joint chief of command at the Pentagon, Rome.

"Good good you are to be congratulated, my good man!" said Caesar.

"I must inform you though of some intelligence just in from forward command, Sir!"

"Well what is it, out with it General," responded Caesar with a hint of frustration creeping into his voice. The Emporer of all Rome was well known for his very short temper, and the General was nervous to say the least.

"We have just received intelligence from our spies in London, they report that the English have signed a miliatary alliance with the Celtic rebels Sir. It appears that Mc gregors regime is capitulating rapidly, with vast numbers of his forces simply surrendering to their countrymen without any sort of a fight Sir!!"

"WHAT!! WHY?" sputtered Caesar.

"It seems from the report Sir, that somehow Japanese spies have discovered our plans and have made these known to the English and the Rebels in Celtica!" continued Maximus, "Sir Ive already sent troops to the Japanese embassy and they should be here soon with the ambassador under close arrest!"

"Good work Maximus! we must get to the bottom of this, instruct your men to destroy the embassy and crucify all but the ambassador. Bring him to me as soon as he arrives and send the foreign minister to my chambers!" ordered the emporer has he left the war room.


LONDON

"Shshh! quiet Lucius, I think I can hear someone coming!" Lucius Vilnius and his accomplice were inside the goverment offices, the foreign secretaries office to be exact attempting to gather further useful information for the empire.

With a loud crash the door burst open and a squad of elite british counter espionage troops enteredthe darkened room, all Lucius saw was the strong light on his clothing before his chest erupted from the force of the bullet that sent him to his death!

"SEIZE THAT MAN!!" yelled a masked officer.

Claudius reached for his suicide pill but was not quick enough, he was pounced upon by four very large masked men and dragged away to be interrogated.


KYOTO

"Please forgive the intrusion your Majesty but I have dire news from Rome!"

"What is it?" asked Tokugawa the emporer of Japan.

"Sir its a telegraphic communication in the secure code, it is just in."

"HELP SEND HELP!! stop WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!! stop THE ROM"

"Thats all that came through your highness, at this time we are unsure as to the current situation," finished the junior radio operater stationed at the palace.

"Oh my god its started!!" gasped Tokugawa. "Get me the Prime Minister on the phone and allert the armed forces!" he said to his secretary.

"its the PM for you Sir!"

ROME

BANG! BANG! Caesar blew the smoke from his revolver as the Japanese ambassador lay dying on the floor in front of him "Ah foreign Secretary, its good of you to come, WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME THEIR WERE FOREIGN SPIES IN MY PALACE!!" yelled Caesar at the foreign minister.

"Please Sir Im sorry ! we had no idea, infact we only got the report from Lucius Vilnius this morning. Hes our best agent Sir so if he only just found out it must have been very difficult to uncover Sir!" pleaded the FS.

"Well maybe so but if you fail me again I'll have your skin peeled and throw you to the lions DO YOU HEAR ME!!"

"YES Si"

"Shutup you fool! now listen to me! I want you to take this rotting corpse and deliver it to Tokugawa personally," Caesar took out his pocket knife and cut the letters WAR into the dead mans forehead, "Dont dare to fail me you imbocile!!"

The foreign secretary knew this meant certain death for him, for surely the Japanese would seek to take out revenge upon him for what had been done to their ambassador. But he knew he had no choice, be butchered now by Caesar or die later at the hands of the Japanese.

The Romans were indeed the most ruthless race on the earth and their leader was a phsycopathic war monger, who lusted after total world domination , or its total destruction.

CELTICA

Some weeks after the signing of the treaty with England Bryn was atop a hill with views over the skyline of Entremont, the ancient capitol of Celtica. with him were some 20'000 troops, all men of "Free Celtica", 5'000 English Brothers, 12'000 Japanese Bothers, Kyle Donavon, Liam O'brien, Robert Jones and of course Scratch his friend and Brother from Japan.

It was nearly sunset and the men were gathered to hear their leader speak, it was a lovely evening with a light breeze blowing through the air.

"Brother!! it fills my heart with immense pride to be here with you all at this time, together we have come these last few years to this point, and together we will finally crush this evil regime. MC GREGOR CAN YOU FEEL THE WIND?" Bryn shouted with all his might in the direction of the city.
"Its the wind of change my Brothers!!"

"HOORAY!!" huge roars and cheers went up around the whole crowd of men.

"Tomorrow at first light we will attack!! I will be right with you my Brothers! I and my Brothers Kyle Donavon, Liam O'brien, Robert Jones and my greatest friend Brother Scratch will all be with you, many of us may fall my Brothers but remember you are not alone!! The gods shall be with you all as you fight down your foe!!"

"Brothers, I want Mcgregor alive if at all possible, he is to be tried and sentenced for his crimes against our Kin, Brothers go now and speak to your gods and prepare for tomorrows battle for tomorrow we will "FREE CELTICA"!!"

It was some time before the euphoria calmed down and the cheering and chanting of "Free Celtica" could be heard throughout the city. Mcgregor stood on the balcony of his office looking out towards the horizon at the masses of enemy forces outside his last bastion of defence Entremont. Mcgregor was a big strong bear of a man, a bully who for the first time in his life was scared. All he had left were 30'000 men of his crack force the CSG, undoutedly blindly loyal to the Chairman and very heavily armed. The Chairman knew though that the English main force were also approaching from the East and if he didnt strike soon then he would be totally surrounded.

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Almost caught up with poly now as they just got part 11, but I would like to know what you think of the story so far

 

[RowAndLive]

It's reading great!!! Please continue!

I like the pace that you've taken in bringing the story to speed, and the details that you've included. Very well written.

 

[Ancient Grudge]

getting better and better with each chapter

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Thanks for the feedback chaps.

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

PART11 The Battle for Entremont.


Most of the camp was quite, it was past the hour of midnight and the men needed to try and rest up as much as possible before tomorrows battle. It was a dark night with dense cloud blocking out any light from the full moon above, and it was raining heavily. A scout on horseback approached the main camp perched atop the hills overlooking the city, and made his way to the command tent.

"Brother, Sir I have a report from Brother Donavon, patrolling the forests to the south." said the Scout.

"Thank you Brother await my response outside, dismissed" said Bryn Murdoch who was still mulling over the battle plans with Scratch.

"Kyle reports heavy troop movements out of eastern districts of the city, Brother Scratch" stated Bryn.

"Hmm I wonder what the Chairman is up to, has he noticed what forces and their exact numbers?" enquired Scratch.

"No unfortuanately he reports that it is difficult to make out numbers and types from his posistion, just that movement can be seen!" continued Bryn.

"Well send the scout back and tell Kyle to bring his party back Bryn, Ill take a few men out and cut through the outskirts of the city to see if we can discover what hes up to," said Scratch.

"Very well my Brother, " said Bryn has he scribbled down Brother Kyle Donavons orders, "Brother what is your name young scout," shouted Bryn beckonong the young man back into the tent, "Here I have new orders for Brother Donavon!"

"O'brien Sir, my uncle is General Liam O'brien!"

"Excellent my Brother then I know my message is in good hands, now godspeed my young Brother," said Bryn.

"Try to get some sleep Bryn, I'll report back to you in two hours," said Scratch as he left his friend behind.

Scratch and his men had managed to get through the suburbs unoticed by enemy patrols and had finally discovered what was afoot.

"Quiet men, keep your heads down!" Scratch ordered has he and his party took cover in an old stable block just two hundred yards from where the Chairman had had the local population rounded up.

"Brother you must get back to camp and give this message directly to Bryn Murdoch, I have no dry paper so listen carefully! The Chairman has gathered several hundred civilians and chained them too a new Artillery emplacement, at least 100 pieces. I can see that they are on elevated ground, so I assume that the camp might be in range. He must mobilize and move the whole camp before this storm ends or it will spell disaster for our men. I will remain here and try to sabotage as much as possible with my scouting party. Do you nuderstand all this, dont stop for anything and godspeed my Brother!" Scratch hoped the young man did fully understand the responsbility that had just been placed upon him.

"It is an honour Brother! I will not fail!" said the rider and took his leave.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!

"My god its started, listen men we must attack! at least whilst this rain is still falling and with all the smoke from the guns we'll have some chance of cover!!" said Scratch.

As the rider sent from Scratch made his way out of the city and back across the fields to the main camp, he heard a loud noise from the right. He stopped his horse briefly and managed to make out the figures of hundreds of cavalry and many more infantry troops marching towards the camp. He realised what was afoot "My god they are attacking in full force!" a thought only confirmed has he heard the first shells fly overhead, luckily going widly astray of their target.

As he galloped away desperate to deliver his message, a unit of enemy cavalry spotted him and gave chase. "Arghh!" he cried out as a lucky bullet pierced through his right shoulder!. He managed to stay on his mount heading a full gallop to the cover of the trees, as he approached another group of men on horseback emerged from the trees! luckily it was Brother Kyle Donavon and his scouting party returning to the main camp, but another bullet hit the messenger this time riipping through his back and erupting from his chest. His arms flailed helplessly into the air and he fell violently from his mount! Kyles men engaged the enemy and managed to fight them off giving chase! Kyle dismounted and went to the young mans aid.

"Brother are you alright? hold on my Brother I will get you back to the medics!" said kyle as he tried to pick the man up.

"ARGHH!!" the young lad screamed in agony. Kyle knew he would not be able to move him. "Please, Brother, cough cough!" he was vomitting blood as he tried to speak, "Artillery over their, Cough tell Bryn cough, Scratch says must move camp, cough, Scratch stayed to sabo" and his life was gone as he died in Kyles arms.

Kyle gathered his men back together and ordered them to head to Scratch's last known posistion to reinforce if possible, he jumped to his horse and galloped back to raise the alarm.

By now the camp was aware of the incoming fire and had begun to organise, still unaware of the impending attack from the the north flank.

Kyle burst into the command tent, "Brother I intercepted a messenger from Brother Scatch, it seems the enemy has moved up its artillery into the southern suburbs!! Scratch has stayed back to attempt to sabotage and Ive sent my party to help if possible! I believe we are likely to be attacked very soon Bryn we should muster our forces!" finished Kyle.

"I think you're right Brother Kyle, that bast**d has bought the fight to us in the hope of catching us off guard, but I suppose I would have done the same in his shoes!" replied Bryn "Dont worry though Brother the camp is already being stirred, we started as soon as we heard the first shells exploding in the forest!!" said Bryn. " trouble is, its stopped raining and the skies are clearing now ! it will not be long before those guns find their range!!"

Just a shell exploded just outside the tent blowing it away and knocking bryn and Kyle flying to the ground! "Are you alright Bryn?"

"Yes! Thank the Gods! that was close, get your men assembled Kyle and send for all comanders to meet me at the secondary command tent!"

As kyle carried out his new orders he heard firing commence on the North perimeter, it had started the enemy was attacking with an infantry charge up the slope of the main hill. All the while the Artillery explosions intensified in and around the southern section of the main camp.

"Bryn it seems Mcgregor has committed all his forces to this attack, at least 20'00 men are attempting to assault our posistion and our scouts have spotted a force of cavalry circling around to the western flank. Possibly around ten thousand!" stated Liam O'brien.

"weve no choice we must make our stand here, concentrate all artillery on the Northern attack, send the Samurai out to flank them and reinforce the western perimeter with as many spare infantry as possible! send all available cavalry to take out those artillery before they blow this encampment to kingdom come!!" Bryn shouted out his orders over the constant explosions around him.

Like a well greased machine the entire allied resistance force set about their tasks, to regain the initiative in this the penultimate battle to "Free Celtica". Bryn knew things had started badly but he also knew that his Brothers would fight with all their hearts to overcome the evil Mcgregor once and for all!

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Part 11 continued.


The entire allied cavalry force had arrived to area where scratch and his men together with Kyles party earlier sent to reinforce him had been trying to quiet the guns. Liam was in command of this force and went to discuss the current situation with Scratch.

"Its no use Brother they've chained women and children to their guns, and since the rain has stopped reinforcements of infantry have kept us pinned down here!" said Scratch himself sporting a bullet wound to his right arm.

"If we attack they will undoutedly kill their prisoners but if we do not their guns will destroy our camp!! We have no choice Scratch we must charge now for the camp is under heavy attack as we speak!" answered Liam.

With a tear in his eye Scratch looked at Liam "Youre right my Brother we have no choice we must attack and avvenge those poor victims about to die, I will lay down as much covering fire as possible for you with these men, and hopefully some of the women and children may survive. Godspeed my friend, my Brother!"

With that Liam mounted his warhorse and led the charge "YAGGHH!!!" they screamed their warcries while Scratches men laid down a spread of rifle fire to cover their Brothers. Fortunately Mcgregor had comitted most of his infantry and all of his cavalry to the assault on the main camp, with only a thousand or so troops tp protect his artillery. Most likely never expecting the rebels to risk the lives of innocents to achieve victory, a big mistake on his part. He of all people should know the horrors of warfare, having devoted most of his life to causing it. He had presented the rebels with hard choice, but one that they had to take to win the battle, one he thought their stomachs would never be able to stand.

With ferocious rage the cavalry smashed into the Celtic infantry lines attacking with sword and rifles, as this battle erupted Scratch flanked their posistion with his men, and started to attack the Artillery crews who were desperately trying to murder their prisoners, Scratch took out his ceromonial sword and slashed his first assailant almost in half, another man shot a revolver at Scratch who only narrowly managed to dodge the shot by falling to the ground. Scratch turned expecting to see the man fire a second bullet at him and witnessed Liam dive from his mount knocking the infantryman to the floor just before he could finish off Scratch.

"Brother are you alright!!" yelled Liam as got back to his feet, his knife still dripping with his victims blood.

"Yes my Brother, you have just saved my life, thank you my friend!"

"As you saved my life at Two Hills my Brother!"

Liam and Scratcn continued to fight side by side, most of the cavalry was now dismounted and pressing home the attack, sadly many of the prisoners had perished in the initial phase but the guns were at last silent.

"Broither Scratch! I will head back to camp to report to Bryn, and reinforce him, I'll leave half my men to help you chase down the remainder of the forces here!" said liam as he called over his horse.

"Yes very well and thank you again for saving my life, Brother!" said Scratch.

"You can thank me when this battle is won my friend! in fact you can buy me a drink in town tomorrow!" Liam salluted his friend and galloped back towards the besieged camp with half his men.

He arrived back to a scene of terrible carnage, many fires were burning and the ground was pitted with shell craters, he could hear that the fighting was still taking place and sounded to be more ferocious than anything he had heard before, he made his way to find Bryn and collect new orders.

"Ah Brother Liam thank the gods you silenced their guns, they have caused us great casualties, we have been essentially pinned here by their main force whilst their artillery rained down on our rear. What is your troops status Brother ?" asked Bryn Murdoch.

"Sir I have about 40% of my original force with me, I left the other half of my men with Brother Scratch to help him root out the remaining forces back in the town. I have about two thousand cavalry with me Sir waiting for your orders."

"Good! Good work my friend, now go get your men resupplied and head out to reinforce the Samurai here!" said Bryn pointing to a map on the table. "They set out an hour or so ago to flank the main attack but are heavily outnumbered down there so we need you to get there as soon as possible!" ordered Bryn.

"It will be an honour my Brother" said Liam and saluted his Chieftan.

"Godspeed my friend," said Bryn as Liam left his company.

As dawn broke the fighting subsided, many of the enemy forces retreated into the city leaving behind only small isolated pockets of men who were being decimated by Liams remaining cavalry, by now down to around a thousand men. As the new day began Bryn took stock of the nights events. It had been a terrible battle, the most intense fighting of the whole struggle. Bryn had always known this would be a hard won fight, the CSG were the most elite troops and most loyal that mcgregor had had at his disposal.

The casualties were appalling on both sides, some 10'000 CSG troops lay dead or dying on the slopes of those hills that morning but equqlly a third of Bryns combined force had been wiped out in the surprise attack. Most killed by the unscrupulous artillery bombardment. This was a major setback for the allies who did not want to fire artillery into the city as they knew the population was being used as human shields.

New plans would have to be drawn up after the devastating strike by the CSG.

In the city Mcgregor was gloating over his success at the Communist party HQ. A huge tower building clad with glass in the centre of Entremont, built above the ruins of the former Royal Palace. "Tell me Thordarson what is our estimated kill of the rebels!" said Mcgregor with a sick grin on his face.

"At least 30% of their forces Comrade, however we have suffered severe casualties too Chairman!" said Thordarson.

"WHAT!! I thought you said our casualties would be minimal you FOOL!" screamed the Chairman.

"I told you to send more troops to protect the artillery Sir, but you would not listen!! as it is the rebels chose to attack the guns despite the prisoners you had rounded up!" Thordarson was well and truly sick of the Chairman and considered him to be a tactical fool. "Furthemore They completely routed the Artillery and destroyed our cover for the main attack, when they managed to regroup we were hit from all sides, the fighting was intense! we lost many men!!"

"How dare you speak to me this way you coward! if the battle is not won why are you back here and not finishing what you started ? YOU FOOL!!" screamed the Chairman.

"So help me you blithering idiot, if you call me a fool again I'll kill you with my bare hands! it is your fault the attack failed! as it is now our men are totally demoralised, I would not be surprised if they start to desert!" returned Thordarson now red with rage and shouting himself.

BANG!! BANG!! " YOU YELLOW COWARD!! DIE AND GO TO HELL!!" Mcgregor screamed as he gunned down the general, his only friend left! He'd already murdered the rest of the commitee and army staff previously, and now he had killed his one true ally and friend general Thordarson. "SVENSON!!"

BANG!! BANG!!" two more shots rang out.


Some time later back at the allied camp, things were now getting under control and Bryn was chairing an emergency meeting with his most trusted brothers. "Sir ! come quickly there is a rider approaching from the city under a white flag!" stated a young soldier a Brother from England.

Bryn, Scratch, Liam and Kyle all rushed out with the other officers to see this new development for themselves.

"I know that man! its comrade Svenson the Chairmans aide!" said Brother Mcfee to his commanding officer Brother Liam O'brien.

"Bryn this man says he knows who this man approaching is, he says its the chairmans aide, comrade Svenson!"

"I wonder what on earth the Chairman is up to now, bring him to the command tent as soon as he arrives!" said Bryn turning to go back to his meeting.

"What is the nature of your business comrade Svenson!" said Bryn to the lone rider before him.

"Unconditional surrender! Sir" stated the communist pig.

Bryn rose from his seat and struck the man a blow across his face and spat at him" You go back to that worm Mcgregor and tell him that I will see him soon and I will kill him! got that?" Bryn said in a calm but menacing voice.

"I cant do that! you see he is dead! I killed him myself! it is our unconditional surrender I have come to negotiate with you Sir." said Svenson quaking with fear.

Bryn fell back into his chair flabergasted.

"I killed him just before I came here to talk with you Sir! he had just shot comrade general Thordarson and I simply could not take any more of his shouting, so I shot him twice in the back!!" Svenson stated. "Before I left I spoke to the remaining officers in control of the CSG and they told me to advise you that if you will show mercy they will lay down their arms and surrender!"

"I thought you said uncondittional surrender Svenson! I tell you this any man found guilty of atrocities by the people will be put to death!!"

"Sir I understand and agree with your sentiment, I was threatened many times to obey the chairman or my family would be murdered! Sir I will gladly assist in any way I can to see that justice is done!"

Incredible as it was this development was real, the "Fight for Freedom" was won, now Bryn needed to rebuild his shattered nation and be ready to fight an even tougher fight, a much more important "Fight for Freedom" from a much tougher aggressor ROME!

Bryn new the road ahead was dangerous and that more hardship would surely yet befall his nation, yes his nation. "Free Celtica" had suceeded, and were now no longer a rebel army, they were now the army of Celtica! a nation reborn through struggle against oppression. There was much to be done!

 

[Ancient Grudge]

what a lovely thing to read the morning after the night before , it gets better and better

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Thanks again Ancient Grudge

Anybody else reading this ?

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Heres part 12 just written today so you are getting it fresh same as poly now.


Part 12 Danger in the air!!


Bryn had led his victorious army into the streets of Entremont,( the ancient seat of the Celtic Royal line) to a heroes welcome from the liberated masses that day. Throughout the continent of Celtica, in every Japanese, English and Celtic home and city their was rejoicing. For more than a generation the evil Communist regime at the hands of Mcgregor, had wreaked havoc and cauaed bloodshed, cruelty and despair upon the Celtic peoples.

Bryn knew that although there was much still to be done, his Brothers needed time to rejoice and then time to grieve for their fallen kin. He too perhaps, could now find some time, if only a moment, to grieve for his beloved Son Connel.


ROME.

"Your Imperial Highness, grave news I'm afraid!" said General Maximus.

"Well out with it General! what is it!" said Caesar angrily.

"The English have just sent us this message Sir!"

"Youre spy Lucius Vilnius is dead!! his accomplice Claudius was captured in the act of trying to steal secret documents from HM Goverments Foreign office. He has been thoroughly interogated, and has seen fit to discuss with us youre imminent invasion plan. This is a clear incitement to our nation, one which could very well see our two nations at war!! We must warn you Caesar no further trespasses by your spies will be tolerated!!! If you attempt to spy on us again we will declare WAR!!! Further Caesar we must inform you of our new Four Nations MPP pact with Celtica, Japan and China!!! if any of your forces attack one of our allies then we will declare WAR!! on Rome!!!"

" Thats all Sir!" finished the General.

Caesar was speechless, how could all his hard work, his many months of scheming and plotting and planning, all of which now looked to be thwarted by the faliure of one of his own agents. How could it all be going so wrong ?

"Who the hell is this Claudius!! how did he know about the invasion plans ? I cannot see how this is possible! tell me Maximus do you think the English are bluffing ?"

ENTREMONT,

In the newly built Celtic Central Goverment buildings, this was a fantastic achievement by the new power in Celtica. In less than four months and with much help from the Japnese providing skilled labour, and the English providing most of the finance. An international summit was taking place. It was to last for two weeks and its aims were to try and find solutions to current world tensions. The first week only delegates from the four nations pact were in attendance, but invitations had been sent out to the other three remaining nations of the Roma continent.

A great many topics were on the various agendas for the various meetings and sub meetings taking place during this summit, covering aspects such as trade, technological disparity and financial poverty etc etc. Bryn was chairing a meeting with the leaders of the other three nations of the new alliance, " Thank you all for coming here today, it is a great honour for me to finally meet you all, please be seated." He said motioning to the plush leather chairs around the smooth granite table.

"Bryn my Brother may I introduce my Emporer, his Emminence Tokugawa!" said his trusted friend Scratch.

"Yes and may I please introduce Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth 1 of England!" said a smiling Simon Peters, the diplomat who had first come to meet bryn with an offer of alliance all those months ago now.

"Allow me to introduce our leader Chairman Mao, his wisdom is as deep as the ocean!" said a Chinese diplomat.

"Great! thank you all, this is my most trusted Brother Kyle Donavon, I wanted him to attend this meeting as he will definitely play a very important role in our new government when we have held elections." said Bryn, sure in his own mind that his new political party "Free Celtica" would win.

"Bryn I have wanted to meet you for so long, it is an honour to do so now!" said Tokugawa.

"For me too Tokugawa, your envoy has been a most trusted friend and a Brother to us all in our struggle. My people owe much to your nation I only hope we can one day repay you!"

"It is of no matter!" said the Emporer as he waved his hand to dismiss Bryn's thoughts. " Our nation is just glad to see the back of that evil dictator!"

"I agree!" said Queen Elizabeth, "It could'nt have come soon enough for me to see Mcgregor defeated!! That animal has the blood of thousands of our young men on his hands!" she continued. "In fact it would have been worth any price to be rid of him!"

A sentiment that was shared by all in the room.

"Please! if I may. I do not wish to offend you my allies but I must insist that you refrain from describing Chairman Mcgregor as an evil communist. Indeed he was an evil man, a man who abused his posistion of power." said Mao of the Chinese.

"Agreed!" said Bryn, "A dictator is a dictator whether he be a king, Emporer or a Chairman. The form of government he chooses to hide behind is irrelevant!"

"As you are no doubt aware we have secured information detailing Rome's plans to invade Little Celtica. As we speak a massive fleet of Roman transport vessels is anchored off the coast of Rome awaiting Caesar's orders. From there he would progress to the mainland using the island as a staging post." said Simon Peters.

"Has there been any response from Rome ?" asked Bryn.

"Not as yet, but youve all got a draft of the message that was delivered to the Roman embassy in London last week. As you can see it reads very clearly! Caesar would be mad to ignore our threats!" continued Peters.

"What makes you so sure he will care? after all he has an army six million strong! more than all of us put together!" stated Kyle.

"Brother Kyle have you forgotten already how a huge obstacle can be surpassed ? have not you and your Brothers just accomplished the impossible ?" added Scratch. "Yes Caesar stands before us like a mighty Oak, unbending to the wind, we must be sure our blades are keen to fell such a foe!"

"As a gesture of goodwill my government has decreed to share our latest technologies with you all, all the details are in the prospectus youve been given. Yes it will take time to rebuild Celtica and to enable you all to fully modernise your military forces, but I am confident we can achieve peace!" said HRH Queen Elizabeth.

"What if Caesar strikes before we have managed to train our forces, in these new techniques ?" asked the aide to Chairman Mao, Lung Yoo.

"The problem Caesar has is very similar to that of the former Chairman Mcgregor! an obsession with size! Although the Romans have not had to finance fighting an all out war lately, their military budget is massive. They spend so much on supporting their army that research is almost at a complete standstill." said Tokugawa.

"Yes indeed our military forces though fewer in number surpass the Romans technologically! there fleet is large but still comprised of Frigates, Galleons and Ironclads. They dont even know that the Royal Navy is watching them from below the waves in our newest vessels, Submarines!" said Peters.

"YES!! YES!! those stupid Romans cant see our boys only a few hundred yards from their ships! HAW!! HAW!! HAW!!" laughed the Queen quite hysterically.

"They have absolutely no knowledge of our flighted aircraft, brand new I admit but with our new Bombers we could almost destroy any invasion force before it gets near our shores, and finish them off with torpedoes!" said Peters.

"Tor what ?" asked Bryn rather perplexed by it all, "Machines that can fly and drop bombs ? what in the Gods!"

"Progress Brother!" said Scratch, "Its called progress!"

"Bryn on behalf of my Queen and our nation I ask for your permission for us to establish a permanent base on Little Celtica! from there we could easily keep an eye on any agressive Roman troop movements on both land and sea!"

The meeting went on into the night.

ROME,

another meeting had just finished in Rome and Caesar was just deliberating his decisions.

"Although it pains me greatly to postpone operation Celtica I see no alternative. Gentlemen we must reassess the situation! if we attack now we risk a war on many fronts and against an alliance of four. As things are we cannot guarentee that France and Egypt would not sieze an opportunity to attack us while we were otherwise engaged. We must double our espionage efforts and find out the strengths and weaknesses of this new alliance! Getlemen we may have to annex the remainder of both France and Egypt before we can attempt to invade Celtica!"

Caesar was not really a dictator in the same sense as Mcgregor had been. The Romans loved him, and would follow him to hell itself! they were warlike people and were hell bent on total world domination, seeing all others as inferior beings to be used as slaves and entertainment in the arenas of Romana!

For now the Roman war machine, massive beast that it was would stand down. At least until a target was definitely selected for its attention. The Celtic people would have time to breath the new fresh air of their nation reborn but there was still DANGER IN THE AIR!!

 

[Ancient Grudge]

if no-one else is reading this, then they are just missing outon a great story

 

[ckmets13]

Yeah i agree its great. cant wait for the next part.

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Part 13 May The Gods Have Mercy,


Bryn was aboard HMS Invincible, a new Drestroyer class vessel, pride of the English Navy. The electoral business of choosing the first ever Democratic government of Celtica was being overseen by Kyle Donavon.

War crimes trials were in full swing with the suspected being sent to Devils Bridge for trial and sentencing.

Bryn had decided some time ago that Devils Bridge would become the Miliatary HQ for his reborn nation, partly for its secure isolated position, but also to give the people a sense of freedom from the armed forces. For years the Celtic people had been bullied and abused by men in uniforms, and Bryn wanted to let the people feel free.

It had been agreed that the UK would be leased a part of the island of Little Celtica to build a naval base. Bryn and a regiment of the newly formed Celtic defense force were enroute to reclaim the island. In all the goings on since the fall of Mcgregor at Entremont, Little Celtica had been overlooked somewhat, and intelligence suggested there may still be Communist forces at large on the island.

On the horizon the smoke stacks of several vessels carrying troops came into view, "Right on time Brother, we should rendezvous with the main fleet at 07.00 hours, Sir why dont you get some sleep!" said Liam Obrien to Bryn on the bridge of the Invincible.

"Yes Brother I think I will try to get an hour, wake me at 06.30 will you?" said Bryn, and headed of to his quarters. "Goodnight Captain Bennett!"

"Good night Sir!" said the Captain, "Engine room full speed ahead!" ordered the Captain to the First mate who relayed the orders. A claxon sounded twice "Now hear this !! Now hear this!! this is your captain speaking! all men to their stations! be alert we are entering hostile waters! Captain out!".

Bryn tossed and turned in his bunk, no matter how, he could not get to sleep. A deep burning sensation, deep in his gut was filling him with a severe sense of foreboding. He did not know what or why he just knew something terrible was about to happen, he could feel it right through his very being. Sweating profusely he drifted into a semi concious state, "Father be careful!" he heard a faint voice drifting through his mind.

"Huh!!" Bryn called out sitting up bolt upright covered in sweat, "Connel is that you?" he asked, but there was no answer. He was alone now in the darkness of his quarters, sobbing quietly to himself he placed his head back down onto the pillow of his bunk. "I will be careful my Son!" the words going round and round in his head as he fell off to sleep.


Knock! Knock! "Bryn its 06.30, time to wake up!" shouted Liam outside Bryn's quarters.

The door opened and Bryn stepped through fully dressed, "Ive been awake some time Brother! in fact I found it difficult to sleep!" he said as the two of them made there way up to the upper deck.

"Lets take a stroll around the deck before we go on up to the bridge, stretch our legs!" said Liam.

"Why not, fresh is'nt it!" stated Bryn.

"Yes indeed, it feels good to let the fresh air fill your lungs Brother!" replied Liam.

"Lets hope that the air remains as sweet when we reach the island!" said Bryn.

"Ship ahoy!!" called a lookout from the conning tower.

Bryn and Liam rushed up from the quarter deck to the bridge, "What is it?" asked Bryn.

"It looks like a Roman vessel Sir, but its not flying any colours." said Captain Bennett.

"Galleon class transport vessel Sir, definitely Roman Sir, take a look through my binoculars!" said first mate Harris.

"Curious! why are'nt they flying any colours! set course 225 degrees to intercept, Battle stations!" ordered the Captain.

"Aye aye Sir!" said the first mate as he rang out the battle stations alert.

"Signal the fleet let them know were investigating this situation, they are to continue on their current course. We will rendezvous with them at these coordinates" the Captain continued issuing orders to his crew.

"Youve got to hand it to these English Liam, they certainly know how to run an efficient ship," said Bryn. In the back of his mind the words he had heard during the night.

"Indeed Brother!" Liams reply jolted Bryn back to the situation at hand.

The destroyer class vessel glided with ease through the waters, quickly making the distance between the two vessels smaller. As the Invincible came along side the Roman vessel the Captain addressed their crew over the loud hailer. "Heave to and prepare to be boarded, lay down your arms or we will open fire!"

The captain of the Roman vessel responded by shouting back at the invincible, "You have no jurisdiction here, this a vessel of the imperial Roman fleet and you will not board us!" he yelled angrily. "These are Celtic waters! England has no rights here!"

"Give me that!" Bryn said to the Captain, "I am Bryn Murdoch! Leader of the free people of Celtica! You sir are trespassing in Celtic waters, now do as the captain says or I shall let him sink you!"


KABOOM!!!!


The Roman vessels portside cannons erupted with a huge roar and powder smoke, at this close range causing much damage to the British ship. A stray shot collided into the bridge of the invincible, smashing glass and causing an explosion! Bryn was hurled backwards from the force of the blast and slumped against the steel wall.

"Fire!!" yelled the Captain as he got back to his feet.




KABOOM!!!! BOOM!!!! BOOM!!! KABOOM!!!


The invincible fired a volley of shots at point blank range, the Roman ship seemed to lift several feet out of the sea! exploding in an inferno! its hull splitting in two at the midships. Burning forms of screaming men desperately leaping into the water, flames billowing like sails in the wind. Then she sank like a stone into the depths.

"Put out those fires!! sweep for survivors, but quickly man I want to be underway in a jiffy!!" Captain Bennett barked to one of his officers.

The first mate Harris was dead, he had taken the brunt of the explosion and his twisted form lay on the floor at Bryns feet. "My god Bryn are you alright?" said Liam.

"Yes yes I think so!" he said though clearly shaken. As he tried to get to his feet he stumbled in agony, "ARGHH, damn I think Ive been hit!"

"Medic!!" shouted Captain Bennett, "Looks like a shrapnel wound old boy! just take it easy and well get you patched up."

Luckily it was just a flesh wound in his right thigh, if first mate Harris had not been standing beside Bryn when the shell hit he would have been killed, no doubt.

"Sir we've not found any survivors," said a young sailor to the Captain.

"Whats our casualties Jacobs! and by the way you'll have to take over as first mate!"

"Aye aye Sir, 12 dead 37 injured Sir!" said Jacobs "Including First mate Harris Sir!"

"Thank you Mr Jacobs, now see to it that the injured get treated, and clear the decks for action stations! Engine room full speed ahead, Heading 355 degrees steady as she goes!"

The invincible got underway well the crew were still dousing the fires on deck, and clearing the debris of the futile Roman attack. Bryn was all patched up and was able to get back on his feet though in a little pain. His mind drifted back to the voice he had heard in his sleep, sending a cold shiver down his spine.

Several hours later than originally planned the landing force headed for the beaches of Little Celtica. The landing was unopposed but as expected their was resistance, and the fighting went on well into the afternoon. At approximately 15.30 hrs local time Bryn Murdoch stepped ashore at the quayside in the small Celtic Fishing village of Newquay. The village was deserted, and it looked as if it had been for some time.

"Brother you must come with me, Im afraid we have uncovered a terrible truth!" said Brother Kelly, a young officer in the Celtic defense force.

Bryn felt the same cold gut feeling suddenly wash over him that he had experienced the night before, he looked at Liam with an expression of worry. Both men followed the young soldier without a word, wondering what he meant, a terrible truth!

After a few minutes Bryn spoke"Soldier where are you taking us?" he asked.

"Please Sir follow me this way!" he replied looking straight at Bryn with eyes wide, haunted by something terrible.

The three of them rounded the corner of a street along both sides of which was high barbed wire fencing running the full length to a guard house and set of gates. Bryns sense of fear grew stronger, the air was filled with an awful stench.

"Sir put this on!" said another soldier who came out of the guard house at the gates, as he hande the three of them a dampened rag to use as a facemask.

"Whats going on here? what is this place?" asked Bryn, looking around him now he could see more of his Brothers all wearing makeshift masks. Some of the men were doubled over vomitting, some standing looking to the skies as if in some strange trance, many of the men were crying, tears falling uncontrollably down their cheeks.

"Please this way Sir!" said Kelly as he led them through the gates and into the compound.

It was only then that Bryn realised what was all around him! corpses, putrid stinking imaciated corpses. Other half dead skeletal figures staggering around nearly naked, nearly dead!!

"Sir there are two other camps similar to this on the island, it appears that this facility was for the extermination of the sick and elderly. The other camps were trading healthier prisoners to the Romans! Slavery Sir!!" said Kelly, himself crying.

Bryn stomach gave way and he vomitted, "Oohar, what in hells name has been going on here?" he said.

"It seems that since the fall of the regime the troops here have mostly deserted and left for Rome, leaving these poor wretches to starve to death. From what information we have gathered from some of the prisoners that were left, this island has been used as a penal colony by the communist regime for years. All political opponents, Prisoners of war and criminals were sent here to be forgotten about." Said Kelly.

"Tell me this is'nt hapening, Oh my god!" Bryn cried out.

"They were selling the able bodied men to be trained as Gladiators for the Roman Circus's, and the women were sold as slaves to be whored. any one who did not fit the bill came here for disposal by cremation. Sir!" finished Kelly.

Bryn cried out in anguish "NO!! NO!! say it is'nt true please!! it cant be true!! May the gods have mercy on our souls!!"...............

 

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Sorry for the delay in continueing, hope you like the update

 

[RowAndLive]

Glad to see you back, Chrisus! It continues to be a great story!