The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 16

Ky came out of his quarters the next morning to find two of the men  from Carus’s detail flanking his door. He still found the concept of men  guarding him around the clock to be strange. Leaders in his time had  guards, of course, but everything was more hands-off. With the kinetic  shielding enhanced clothing, satellite tracking, camera networks, and  AIs monitoring signals traffic, facial recognition, and pattern  recognition, assassinations tended to involve large scale suicide  attacks. The last one that he had ever heard of, one of the early  Emperors, had been killed by Lunar separatists using a small nuclear  device.

They had wiped out a third of a major city to get one man.

“With  the Emperor’s compliments, Consul. The procession for the tests will  get underway in an hour. He would like you to accompany him into the  Colosseum.”

“I’m ready now. Let’s go.”

The entire procession  was similar to the first procession several days before, except for  smaller crowds. Apparently, the first day was a public holiday, which  explained the crowds. There were still a lot of people in the streets  watching the Emperor and his party make the walk to the Colosseum, but  it was not the overwhelming mass of people.

The other major  difference was that there were fewer government officials with the  Emperor, making his box feel smaller once they arrived and sat down. The  emperor once again had Ky sit on his right-hand side, indicating that  Ky should lean in to talk with him once they were seated.

“I think  you will find today much more to your liking than the gladiatorial  combat. The first exhibition will be feats of strength. Contestants will  challenge each other to feats of strength, with anyone unable to  complete the next challenge eliminated until there is one winner left.  Winning the feats of strength is considered an accomplishment, with the  winner receiving a bounty and often paid to attend parties and other  events. After the feats of strength, there will be a series of boxing  matches and then a series of wrestling matches. While those are  contested fiercely, they do not hold the same place of pride as the  matches that will take place on the final day of the celebrations.  Finally, you will go on to perform.”

“I am still unclear; what type of performance are you expecting of me?”

“That  is a good question. Normally the tests end with the wrestling contest.  Your participation is unique. While this is intended to boost the  spirits of the Roman people, your performance has an additional means.  We need to reinforce your unique abilities, give the people a reason to  have faith in you. The more you reinforce your exceptional abilities  with the people, the more they will accept changes to their way of  life.”

“Does this performance need to be just me, or should I do something that involves other people?”

“Whichever you think is most appropriate, as long as it’s impressive.”

Ky  nodded and leaned back, thinking the situation over. He knew for sure  he would not do anything that would bring harm to anyone else. The  Emperor continued to make the point that he needed to keep the people on  his side. He, so far at least, had not shown the same concern over what  the upper classes of Roman society thought. They were the ones who  would be most affected by Ky’s changes. Many of them had their wealth  wrapped up in the landed estates worked by slaves. The very sections of  the Roman economy that would feel the most seismic changes from what Ky  was doing.

Ky assumed the Emperor knew what he was doing.  Considering the amount the average Roman citizens outnumbered the elite,  it made sense that the Emperor would be focused on them.

The  feats of strength went about as the Emperor had described. Strong men  performed in singles, in pairs, even one set of four. They lifted,  pulled, pushed, and threw all manner of implements, usually items made  of stone or steel. While some were performing true deeds of strength,  others were faking it. One man who seemed to be lifting a giant stone  boulder had hollowed it out. His performance was convincing and the  patchwork to cover the entry point where it was hollowed out from was  well concealed. Without the AI, Ky would have probably never noticed the  discrepancy.

The boxing match was more brutal that Ky had assumed  it would be. Boxing was not something from his time, but records the AI  had on the sport had included images of men with padded gloves. The  boxers here had only linen wrapping their fists. The actual fights were  violent and bloody, with many broken noses and teeth. While Ky was not a  fan but, since all the contestants managed to walk away, it was a step  up from the previous combat he had seen in this arena.

Ky watched  the wrestling with interest since it was something he would be expected  to participate in. The AI had dredged up some information on wrestling  and how the art was actually performed, but ancient sources were unclear  on specifics. The sport was no longer practiced in Ky’s time. While the  AI did find references in its databases to versions of wrestling  stretching back for several thousand years after the Roman and Greek  sources, any actual information was part of the many areas not covered  in the AI’s hastily assembled databases.

He had instructed the AI  to analyze all moves by the performers, cross-reference those moves  against modern forms of physical combat in the AI’s system, and start to  build a motion assist profile. Because of the games compressed nature,  starting late as the city held its breath at the approaching  Carthaginian army, the final day of the games was only three days away.  The shortened timeline did not give him a lot of time to practice with  the new settings.

For the first time since he had been forced to  watch the various contests performed in the arena, Ky was disappointed  when the event ended, and its winner was declared. He was not bothered  by the end of the event because of the loss of entertainment, but  because he still felt he had not gathered enough data on wrestling to  perform to the level he knew he would need to in three days. If the  Emperor thought it was important that today’s performance be spectacular  to keep the populace on his side, it seemed almost certain that he  would also be required to not lose during the wrestling competition.

While  he made his point that he would not actively support the ludicrous  notion that he was somehow divinely imbued, he had promised to not  actively sabotage the Emperor’s propaganda either. While he could  probably make the argument that these performances were a form of active  support, it seemed best to follow the Emperor’s lead, no matter how  distasteful it was. Ky thought it almost certain that he would destroy  the notion entirely if he managed to lose the contest.

Once the  victor of today’s match received his rewards and accolades and all the  contestants marched out of the arena, the Emperor held up his hands,  commanding silence from the crowd.

“The Tests of Jupiter are a  special time for every Roman,” the Emperor said, his voice echoing  across the stadium. “Each of you has the chance to step forward and  prove yourself before the gods and your fellow countrymen. Today,  however, is unique across the history of the games. We have been blessed  by the presence of one of Jupiter’s own, sent to walk among us. As a  special tribute to the games in Jupiter’s honor, the Sword has agreed to  a display for your enjoyment.”

The crowd clapped, not in  thunderous applause but in uncertainty. Ky looked at the Emperor who  turned to him, one arm still raised towards the crowd. He could not help  but think the Emperor had been right. The crowds’ response showed they  were still unsure of Ky and what his presence meant. He was not crazy  about the way the Emperor manipulated everyone around him, but he could  not fault the old man’s feelings for his countrymen. Which also meant  there was a good chance he was right about the way to win them over.

Ky  gave the Emperor a slight head bow in acknowledgment, both that it was  time for him to perform and of his overall mastery of the situation. The  Emperor returned the gesture with a knowing smile. Ky turned to Sellic, who had accompanied him into the box while the rest of his detachment waited outside the door to the box.

“Sword,” he said, holding out his hand.

Sellic seemed surprised, his eyes darting to the Emperor. Ky knew that Sellic trusted him, but the idea of drawing a weapon in the Emperor’s presence was not something Romans did without very good cause.

“Go ahead,” the Emperor said, watching the byplay.

Ky  took the extended weapon, turned towards the arena, and, planting one  hand on the stone edge of the box, vaulted over, dropping nimbly to the  sand floor twenty feet below.

“I am not one for tricks or  meaningless displays,” Ky said, letting his voice carry. “My performance  will be simple. The Emperor has offered to give fifty thousand  sesterces to the man who can touch me with a weapon of their choice.”

He  looked back at the Emperor, who grinned at him, his shoulders shaking  slightly as he laughed. Ky had just offered what was half again the  yearly wage of a middle-class Roman. While not outside of the Emperor’s  ability to pay, it was not a paltry amount. The Emperor read the offer,  correctly, as a dig by Ky to pay back all the little surprises the  Emperor had put in Ky’s lap so far.

“Any are welcome to challenge  me. Just notify one of the guards, and they will bring you to me and arm  you as you request. I promise you will not be injured and I will not  touch you with my own weapon.”

A low murmur traveled across the  crowd as they looked around, trying to see who would be brave enough to  take Ky up on his challenge. Ky set his feet shoulder-width apart and  held his hands behind his back in a relaxed parade rest.

‘Deactivate the kinetic shield,’ he said internally to the AI.

“Deactivation  of protective shielding is not recommended, Commander. Current scenario  allows for no forward preparation for hostilities.”

‘I might  get hurt, but I don’t think they will be able to kill me in one shot,  and the nanobots should heal anything short of decapitation, even if  they should get lucky.’

“Possibility of damage to protective  flight suit also exists. Any damage beyond minor cuts and abrasions are  un-repairable under current level of technology. The loss of your flight  suit will remove the ability to generate kinetic shielding, increasing  long term possibility of permanent injury or death.”

‘Recommendation noted. I still want to take my chances. Deactivate the shield.’

There  was a long pause. Long enough that Ky thought he might have to re-issue  the order, which would be a serious problem in its own right.

“Understood, Commander. Kinetic shielding has been disabled.”

Ky  watched as the first contestant came forward. He was a younger man clad  in the standard belted, a knee-length tunic that average Romans wore,  in contrast to the elaborate togas worn by the upper echelons of Roman  society. He had chosen a gladius as his weapon of choice.

The man stopped several feet away and glanced around him, unsure of what to do next.

“Proceed when you are ready,” Ky said, standing stock still, his sword at his side, pointing towards the ground.

The  man was clearly not an experienced fighter. He did not so much attack  as wildly charge first. Even if Ky had not been augmented, he would have  been able to avoid contact. The man flew past Ky, his forward momentum  carrying him past his own feet, sending him sprawling into the dirt.  Luckily the sword had been held out in front of him, leaving him  uninjured, at least physically.

Ky stepped towards the man and put  a hand down to the man to help him up, only to have it batted away. His  opponent’s face was flush with anger. Ky stepped back as, from his  prone position, he swung up with his sword.

The attack was a  better attempt than his last, but Ky was able to dodge it with ease as  well. As the man’s sword arm sailed by, Ky reached out and grabbed him  by the wrist, lifting the man one-armed and setting him on his feet.

The man’s eyes went wide as Ky lifted him with ease, much like an adult would pick up a small child.

“There’s  nothing to be ashamed of. No one will touch me today, putting you in  good company,” Ky said quietly to the man before looking out into the  crowd. “Let’s have a hand for my determined friend. Do any others of you  have the courage he displayed?”

Ky released his arm and gave him a  firm pat on the back, pushing him back towards the gates that led up to  the seating areas. The man gave one glimpse back before walking out of  the arena, even managing a wave to the crowd as he left.

The next  several were like the first. Unskilled Romans of the middle and lower  classes without much in the way of military training. While most managed  to stay on their feet, none performed any better than the first  challenger.

The crowd, which had cheered Ky’s first opponent, had  started to let their attention wander as the excitement waned. Ky was  starting to think having people challenging him, rather than plan this  out further ahead and picking his challengers, was a mistake.  Admittedly, he had not settled on this performance until shortly before  it actually started, leaving no time to line up potential challengers.

Ky  was thinking about what his next course of action could be when  something caught his attention, or rather the lack of something did. Up  to this point, people were just being ushered onto the field, where they  would take their shot. This time no one was ushered out. Instead, what  Ky assumed was the normal announcer, since the man had announced the  earlier competition and the previous gladiatorial games, began speaking  to the audience.

“Now that the preliminaries are out of the way,  the Emperor has arranged a special treat. Following his stunning  twenty-seventh victory in the gladiatorial games, I give you Veremund.”

Ky  turned from the announcer back towards the entrance ramp to see what  could only be described as a giant. Ky was fairly average for his time,  standing at an even six-feet. The beast of a man coming towards him was  six inches taller and significantly wider.

More surprising than  the man’s sheer size was the way he moved. While Ky would not call his  movement graceful, it was both faster and more fluid than would be  expected from someone his size. The giant strode confidently towards Ky  until he was about seven feet away, and then broke into a run, the giant  ax he carried in his right hand coming up diagonally over his left  shoulder.

Ky began to move to his left, to put his momentum away  from the swing he expected to come, and then paused. While the giant’s  arms telegraphed the swing, something in the way he tensed his lower  arms and ran with his weight to one side suggested the telegraphed swing  was a faint. Had the AI not analyzed Veremund’s motion and highlighted the small tell, Ky would have missed the small indications.

Thankfully  at this point, he and the AI functioned smoothly as one unit, allowing  Ky to take the last-minute adjustment and redirect his own movement.  Just as Ky cut back, turning in towards the swing, the giant’s arm  dropped and the telegraphed overhand chop changed into a swing traveling  from below back up to his right shoulder.

Had Ky missed the  change and continued on his previous path, he would have been caught  flat-footed by the blade. Instead, Ky pushed up with his legs, leaping  over the swinging blade and falling into a roll that brought him back up  on his feet.

To his credit, the giant did not roar or stumble or  allow the miss to otherwise affect him. He just turned and gave Ky a  smirk, a silent acknowledgment to Ky for recognizing the faint that it  was. He then lunged at Ky again, the ax swinging in rapid moves that  allowed it’s momentum to carry over in a series of repeating motions.

Ky  took a step back with each of the giant’s steps, dodging the swings. On  the fourth swing, Ky brought up his sword, catching the ax just under  the blade against the wooden handle. While Veremund  was remarkably strong, his strength was still natural, a combination of  genetics and training. Ky’s strength, on the other hand, was the result  of thousands of years of human knowledge.

He must have expected  to sweep Ky’s block aside, because the giant’s face registered shock  when Ky’s weapon stayed in place, not moving an inch. The combination of  the giant’s force and Ky’s sword cut clean through the hardwood handle  of the ax, sending the blade tumbling past Ky on his right, digging  itself into the sand floor while the remains of the handle continued on  its swing, passing in front of Ky.

Deciding he was ready to end  this, Ky swept his sword arm back and brought up his foot. The giant’s  chest was still exposed, his arms open as a result of the swing. Ky’s  foot caught him square in the chest. The look of surprise on the giant’s  face when Ky’s hand sliced through his ax was nothing compared to the  expression he had when his body bent in half at the blow, and his feet  left the ground.

The giant sailed across the arena floor,  traveling just short of twenty feet before smashing back into the ground  and skidding across the dirt for another several feet, where he lay  motionless. Ky was almost certain the man was not permanently injured.  With the AI’s assistance, Ky made sure to kick right in the center of  the man’s breastplate and use just enough force to propel him, but not  so much that it would crush the metal into the man’s chest.

The  crowd, who had been yelling with excitement at the giant’s attacks, had  gone quiet as Ky sent the man flying. Their silence lasted only a  second, but the drop in volume made the cheering that followed  thunderous. Ky ignored them and kept an eye on the fallen man until he  started moving again. After a few moments, the man stirred and pushed  himself up.

He still looked stunned at the unexpected turn the  combat had taken. He pushed himself up and looked to be considering  another run at Ky, weaponless this time, until one of the guards by the  gate, which he was now fairly close to, called him to stop. Thankfully,  he was more level headed than the citizen Ky had first fought and did  not seem inclined to lose control. Instead, he gave a half bow to Ky,  acknowledging him as the victor and left, head held high.

Ky could  help but grimace inside as he considered how Rome was squandering  someone like that as a slave, battling for their enjoyment. True, he had  probably been an opponent and would not easily work with Rome, but even  the attempt had to be better than wasting someone like him.

Ky  thought that might have concluded the day’s activities, but apparently,  the Emperor had one more surprise in him as the announcer again stood to  talk.

“Now a true test of the Consul’s abilities, as he faces three of his lictores. Each highly skilled soldier has decades of experience in war.”

Ky looked as Sellic and two of the men on Sellic’s detail named Gallio and Archarius.  Their swords were sheathed, and they carried their helmets under their  arms as they approached, reminding Ky strongly of pilots walking towards  their launch craft. Sellic was actually smiling as he walked towards  Ky, although his two subordinates balanced between concentrated and  concerned.

“You seem happy about this,” Ky said as he grasped Sellic’s forearm in greeting, stepping close enough for the men to have a quiet word before they began.

“Only  because you’ve promised not to hurt us. We don’t usually get to go full  out on someone when my life isn’t also on the line. This will be fun.”

“I guess you approve of the Emperor’s spicing up the show then?”

“This wasn’t the Emperor’s idea, it was Carus’s.”

“Really? Even the giant I just faced off with?”

“Yes.”

“I think I need to have a little talk with my lictor then.”

Sellic  smiled again. Ky had gotten to know him a little on their journey to  Devnum, but the situation had been serious at the time, leaving little  room for idle conversation. Over the last day of having Sellic follow him around as one of his guards slash assistants, Ky had found the man to be quite jovial and upbeat.

“Until  then, are you ready to see how good you really are? I told the boys to  not hold back and that there’d be a price to pay if I thought they  weren’t giving it their all.”

Ky stepped back, giving a nod. He  did not pull up into a guard stance but stood still as the three  soldiers donned their helmets and spread out to encircle him.

Ky  let his senses extend out, the AI unleashing the real potential of his  upgrades. The AI found and blocked out the sounds of the crowds while  amplifying the closer sounds around him. His skin began registering  changes in air pressure as the people around him moved. The scent of  human odors filled his nostrils, taking into account degrees of strength  as the men got closer or further away. While he was looking at Sellic, who remained in front of him, the intake from the unfocused areas of his vision were streamed into the AI’s processor core.

All  the data was pulled together, updating continuously as the AI analyzed  the data, building a picture of what was around him, even behind him. Ky  could not actually see anything beyond what he focused on at the very  moment. Still, the motion assist would work in necessary actions to  counter unseen attacks based on the available data.

Assisted  situational awareness was not foolproof, as Ky had learned repeatedly in  training sessions. One of the tricks trainers used to integrate new  implants with their AIs involved letting the trainee get used to the  edge their implants gave them, become overconfident, and then show how  fallible it really was. Training command had always made sure their  charges understood what they could do with their newfound abilities, and  what they could not do.

Had Ky faced people who knew how to deal  with the various benefits he had been given, the odds of him winning  would have been very low. In this time and place, however, his opponents  not only did not know how to deal with his advantages, but they would  also have had trouble understanding his implants very existence.

Sellic  moved first, but only a fraction of an inch, feigning an attack to his  left. Even before the motion assist began pulling him, Ky knew the  attack would be coming from Gallio to his right. The feint was a well  well-timed but obvious attempt to move Ky into the almost simultaneous  lunge.

Ky’s arm swept back over his left shoulder to block a chop by Archarius  as he moved forward towards a surprised Sellic. The Centurion’s feint  had left his sword arm out of position and Ky moved too fast for him to  react. Ky’s arm flashed down, the blade passing inches from Sellic’s  face, the metal whistling as it cut through the air. Sellic’s hand was  just coming up in a belated attempt to block the attack that would have  already landed when Ky stopped his arm in place, denying the built-up  momentum, and flicked his wrist to the side, banging the flat edge of  his gladius against the man’s breastplate, as a message.

As soon  as the metal clanged together, Ky pulled his elbow back and turned his  wrist inward, half-clockwise, to bring the blade perpendicular to his  forearm. He got his sword in place just in time to block Gallio’s blade,  when he had turned his stab into a charge once Ky moved away from him.

Had  someone else tried that move, or had Ky tried it against someone  augmented like himself, he would have lost the weapon. His position did  not allow for much leverage and his grip on the handle was lighter than  it would otherwise be.

Against his current opponent, his block was  enough. Gallio did manage to move Ky’s blade, pushing it out of line  with his body and awkward enough he would have to reposition before  continuing his attack. Putting Ky’s blade out of action, even  momentarily, was somewhat of an achievement, but one that Ky had  accepted as acceptable when he made his move. He had not planned on  cutting at the legionary. Instead, he turned his body and hip towards  Sellic and shot his foot out in a back kick. The combination of force Ky  was able to put into the kick through his half turn and Gallio’s own  charge sent him airborne when Ky’s foot connected on his chest.

The  AI pinged a warning as soon as Ky’s foot came down, alerting him to a  new danger. Ky followed the momentum of his kick into a roll, falling  underneath Archarius’s second attack. The soldier’s stabbing blade  whistled by overhead, where Ky had been a moment before.

Ky popped  up and twisted around in time to see Sellic now coming for him again.  Instead of blocking him, Ky twisted his body, letting the thrust sail  just past his chest, putting him inside the legionaries’ arm. He grabbed  the Centurions wrist and twisted around the outstretched arm, locking  the elbow joint, forcing the man to follow Ky as he continued to twist  around, or risk having his elbow break. Ky pushed his shoulder down hard  as he twisted, flipping the man over, sending him crashing onto his  back.

His grip loosened enough that with the impact Ky was able to  slide up his wrist and pull the sword out of Sellic’s grasp. Turning  around, he now took a ready combat stance, the blades separate but  extended, looking at Gallio and Archarius.

“Hold,” Sellic said from his position on the ground. “Let’s stop this before he hurts one of us. He isn’t even breathing hard.”

Gallio  and Archarius both skidded to a halt, their weapons dropping. While  none of the men were particularly labored in their breathing, it was  clear they were slightly winded by the exertion. Ky thought the  centurion probably made a good call. The action had only lasted for a  few moments, but it had been fast, and Ky had not pulled his contact  very much. He knew they would be feeling the hits in the morning,  especially Gallio.

Ky looked up to the Emperor’s box and saw the  elder statesman was not paying attention. Instead, he was obviously  arguing with his son, both men gesturing at the arena floor. After a  moment of Ky and the three Legionaries watching the interchange between  father and son, Caesius threw up his hands and stormed out of the box.

The Emperor controlled his features as he turned back to the crowd, but it seemed fairly obvious to Ky that he was agitated.

“Our  new Consul has bested his challengers, the strongest gladiator in Rome,  and three seasoned veteran legionaries. I believe now we all see the  abilities Jupiter has gifted to him. To Ky, the Sword of Jupiter!”

The  emperor lifted his arms up, sending the crowd into a frenzy of yells.  The Emperor put his arms down and, after a few moments, the crowd  settled down.

“Go now and enjoy the feasts.”

The Emperor  turned to exit his box as Ky followed Sellic and the Legionaries out  through the gates. Instead of taking the ramp down like the gladiators  he had seen previously, they turned and took a side passage that led  back up to the pathways around the outside of the Arena.

Ky could  not help but wonder what life was like for those held below the floor of  the Colosseum, waiting for their chance to fight to the death.

He  was just considering that when he noticed Caesius making a straight  line towards them. Seeing the murderous expression on the young man’s  face, Sellic started to move to intercept him until Ky held out his arm,  stopping the Centurion.

“I know you think you’re clever,” the  younger man said, his finger stabbing into Ky’s chest. “The rubes out  there may have fallen for your little show, but it doesn’t keep you from  being a fraud. You should thank Father for forbidding me from going out  and exposing your little charade.”

“I think he wanted to prevent  his heir from being made to look like a fool in front of his future  subjects. However, if you’d like for me to convince him to give you a  public shot at me, I’d be happy to help you.”

Caesius’s face went  beet red, and for a moment, Ky thought Caesius would attack him until  the Emperor’s voice called from down the walkway, where he and his  guards were starting to emerge from his viewing box.

“Caesius!”

While  he only said the younger man’s name, the tone made it clear it was a  reprimand. Ky did not, for an instant, believe Caesius would allow his  father’s disapproval to slow his ambitions down in the least, but the  warning did allow Caesius to pull himself back from the brink.

Instead of attacking Ky, he settled on one last, squinty glare before turning abruptly and walking away.

“You  should be cautious, Consul. As you said, he will be Emperor someday,  and when that happens, you will find yourself quickly out of favor.”

“Hopefully, he’ll outgrow his anger by then,” Ky said.

“I don’t think it’s possible to outgrow ambition.”

“Probably not, but I can hope.”