Chapter 638: Death Squad
Nesha laughed when she heard this threat and stood up.
"Well I guess that’s our que to exit. Take care of yourself big boy. The offer will be there whenever you want it," Nesha said before her and the rest of her girls gathered up and walked out the front, not even bothering to stop for the gathered guards who tried to stop them at first, but let them go as soon as they saw who they were.
Laz sighed and rose from his seat, waving to the twenty something men still left in the room. With one final group drink, they set their cups down and walked out of the tent, only to find over one hundred heavily armed guards lined up along with crowds of people who had circled the area to get a look at what was going on.
"We did what we were told to do and now we just want to drink in peace. What’s your problem?" Laz said, eyeing the guard at the head of the group.
"You slaves were never given permission to leave the entrance area much less to come here and drink. And what’s more, you injured those who previously came to arrest you. For all of these crimes, you are to be executed at once. Men, prepare yourselves," the lead guard said while raising his hands.
"Go ahead. Kill us. After that... all of you will die for your crime. Maybe quite a few of your families as well. So have at it cocksuckers. I’d love to see your reaction as each of you is drawn out and hung to death along with your loved ones for just following orders without understanding what you’re being ordered to do or by who.." Laz said, shrugging his shoulders as thought not understanding their reason for being here.
"SHUT UP!" The lead guard said before someone else stepped forward.
"What do you mean?" The man asked. He was grizzled but strong, buff. One could tell by the blood on his armor that he had seen combat recently, not like the lead guard at all.
"Davis, back in line. Who gave you permission to speak to the condemned?," The head guard bellowed, but the man named Davis didn’t retreat.
"I’m not your subordinate, Sir. We were assigned to help you carry out a task you said was of express importance. But now that we are here and they aren’t resisting, we are in no hurry, especially if what he says is true. So shut up and let him speak before we all decide to walk away. There are more important things we could be doing. You. Boy. What are you talking about?" Davis asked.
"It’s simple. We were ordered to break through the line and ensure the legions behind us could get through. We did that. All of our senior leadership died in the process and by senior leadership, that means the guards who were suppose to be watching us. So after we got inside, we weren’t told anything other than where to get treated and where to get a drink. So that’s what we did. End of story. As for why you’d be risking your own necks with this, it’s because we are all slave gladiators, which means the only one who gets to order us to our deaths is the Emperor himself. If someone else so and the orders are carried out, the ones doing so would be considered as going over the head of the emperor... and you could see how that would be a problem," Laz finished explaining. Even while surrounded by the hordes of armed troops, he didn’t panic and neither did the men with them. As it was, they weren’t armed, having left their weapons in the tent. As they were slaves, they were responsible for their weapons as they didn’t own them and if something happened to them outside of their normal duties, the men would be punished for it which was why they didn’t leave them at the gate in the first place.
As for why they stepped outside unarmed, it was because Laz had taken his weapons off first and the rest just did as he did. The other gladiators were all either too tired or too dead inside to bother thinking straight and would just follow Laz’s lead no matter what.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Davis said, turning back to the lead guard, not caring that he was yelling at a captain who was technically his superior.
"If we had killed even one of them it would have been considered stealing from the Emperor himself. We would be lucky if it just ended with our own deaths. MEN! Form ranks. We are leaving," Davis said, not wanting to bother with the captain any longer.
"WAIT! I still... have my mission to complete, the one you were ordered to escort me for," the captain said with sigh.
"THIS WASN’T THE MISSION?" Davis yelled back, even more enraged. He could ignore an order that would get him and his men killed for no reason, but he could not ignore a direct mission request.
"Uh... no.." The captain said, embarrassed. When he was first given this directive, he had read it but didn’t understand. After coming this way, the captain had heard that a bunch of slave warriors had taken up residence in an officers tent and decided to take care of two birds with one stone. Little did he know that the mission also involved Laz and the other gladiator warriors whom the mission was intended for.
"Then you’d best get on with it," Davis spat through his teeth. If looks could kill, the captain would be burning in hell already.
"Err right... Survivors of the gladiator legion, you are hereby ordered to take up the posts of legionnaires in command of a new unit from the prisoner block of the fortress. You have two days to train the new combatants before the tide arrives in which you will be assigned for battle duty. As assigned by the proxy of the Emperor and lord of Palamidi," the captain said, reading from the scroll.
"So the mission involved the very people you wanted to kill huh? I’m curious to see just how you explain your way out of this one," Davis said with a chuckle.
"Heh... so a death squad this time, is it? Whatever. Take us to meet our newest team members," Laz said, retreating inside to grab his weapons while the others did the same.
After returning outside, he turned to the captain.
"Lead the way."
"Where are the rest of your men? I count no more than two dozen but I know the surviving number was originally in the sixties."
"Oh them? The decided they would rather die pressed between a woman’s legs than under the charge of a beast. So... I doubt you will ever se them again," Laz explained, much to the men’s confusion.
It wasn’t until Davis said something to the captain that he understood.
"Such cowards. I didn’t know solders could be such..."
"Let me stop you right there flappy. We slaves, not solders. So how about you lead us to our next job, yeah?" Laz said before the man could go off on whatever rant he planned.
"Fine. Davis, show them to their ’legions’ training ground," the captain said before disappearing, leaving Davis with the escorting job.
He and his men then lead Laz and the remaining gladiators to an old stable right next to the gate they had risk their lives to get through.
"Well... isn’t this nice," Laz said, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"The rest of your men will be coming soon. They will be provided with cots and tents that can be set up next to the stable. The top floor has a small room that’s both private and contains running water. Use it as you wish. In two days, you will be summoned again. Dismissed." And with that, their escort left them here in an old stable and told them to take care of themselves.
Looking around, Laz suddenly felt like dying during sex wasn’t such a bad way to go.
