While Marcellus had returned home to reunite with his family, Stilicho led his forces towards the Bagaudae encampment where the young Roman General was previously held prisoner. Capturing a Roman General alive, and holding him for ransom was an enormous slap in the face to Rome’s prestige, and Stilicho would not let such an insult go unpunished.

Had the Bagaudae simply demanded a toll for the safe passage of the Roman forces into the heartland of their Empire, Stilicho would not have bothered with this act of vengeance. Perhaps in another timeline where Marcellus and Sigefrida did not exist, the Roman army would have encountered such a simple demand.

Yet in this world, where Marcellus and his slave lived, the Bagaudae had heightened the price of safe passage to an unreasonable degree. It was because of this fact that the Supreme Commander of the Western Roman Army, and his soldiers now stood outside the Bagaudae encampment, hellbent on a slaughter. For only the shedding of blood could satisfy the Romans’ demand for retribution.

Among Stilicho’s men were mostly armored infantry, but there were also archers, and even a battering ram that had been constructed for the purpose of this siege. Stilicho had gone all out when he gathered his forces to hunt down the Bagaudae and avenge Marcellus. A matter he did not take lightly.

While the Romans had gathered outside the gates of the Bagaudae encampment, their leader gazed upon the scene with a terrified expression. It was one thing to surround and extort a broken and battered Roman Army who desired more than anything to return home. However, to fight an army of roughly 5,000 veteran soldiers was simply asking for death. It was because of this fear that the man tried to negotiate with Stilicho.

“I have already allowed your General to walk free. There is no reason for further bloodshed. Leave us be, and I promise you I will make it worth your while!”_.

Stilicho spat on the ground as he heard such shameless words from the brigand leader before thoroughly rebuking the man and his claims.

“Funny, because I came across Marcellus on the way here, and he was being pursued by your horsemen. You have made a grave mistake in taking a Roman General captive and now you are going to pay for it with your lives! Men of Rome! Break down the gate and kill every one of these bastards. Let us show these rebels the true might of our Empire!”

When the Bagaudae commander heard this, he felt as if his brain was lit ablaze. Were the Romans serious? They had emptied their soldiers from protecting the heartland just to deal with a few rebellious peasants? What if the Goths invaded? Nevertheless, since the Romans had dared to order his death, he would not go without a fight.

“Archers, fire at will!”

With that said, the Bagaudae who stood behind the wooden palisade drew their arrows from their quivers and prepared to fire on the enemy. They quickly unleashed a volley of arrows over the fortifications on onto the Roman Army below. However, Stilicho reacted too quickly for the insurgents to harm his soldiers. A single order echoed in the air as the Romans formed ranks around their commander.

“Testudo Formation!”

With this said, the Roman soldiers quickly moved into formation like a well-oiled machine and raised their shields above their heads, creating a tortoise shell of oval scutum as they pressed forward and waited for the battering ram to knock down the thick wooden gates of the encampment.

The enemy rained their missile fire down upon the thick wooden shields of the Roman army, who laughed at the meagre attempt to claim their lives. While this was occurring, the Battering ram lined up with the gate and pounded on it, rapidly breaking the poorly constructed gate apart.

Once a gap was made, the Roman soldiers stormed through it and bared their blades against the peasant insurgents, cutting their way through the enemy as if they were butchering children. The Bagaudae lacked any official training and were more accustomed to skirmishing tactics. When faced against the heavily armored roman legions that belonged to Stilicho, they were no match.

In reality, the only reason this peasant rabble could force Marcellus into submission was due to their overwhelming numbers against his broken army. However, such an advantage did not exist against their current foe, and it did not take long for the frontline of the brigands to collapse against the blood crazed Romans.

Stilicho smiled as he watched his soldiers thrust their blades into the hearts of the brigands, spilling their blood and bile onto the floor as they moved onto their next target. Bodies piled onto the floor in massive numbers as the Bagaudae tried their best to halt the Roman tide, but it was to no avail.

As the Bagaudae leader watched his force scut down like wheat to the scythe, it became increasingly clear that he would not win this battle. Thus, while his men fought against the Roman legions at the front, he rushed into his encampment, seeking to take with him whatever riches and prisoners he could find as he left his own men to die.

The Bagaudae leader instantly charged into a structure that his men had used to store their plundered goods, grabbing hold of gold, silver, and jewelry and stashing it into a large sack. He did not spend long ransacking his hoard, and only retrieved what little wealth he could carry with him. After doing so, he broke into once of the houses used to store prisoners, where he gazed upon the many women and girls who had suffered at the hands of the brigands.

After scanning the cages for some time, his eyes fell upon his personal plaything. He quickly unlocked the cage and let the beautiful young girl out. This girl was no older than fourteen and had a soulless look in her eyes. God only knew what kind of sick torment she had endured since her captivity. The short and fat man immediately issued his commands to the girl in a vicious tone.

“You’re coming with me!”

The girl lifelessly obeyed the orders she was given, having neither the will nor strength of mind to resist any longer. Thus, she was quickly dragged away by the Bagaudae leader as he desperately tried to escape the situation.

Screams echoed in the air as the Bagaudae were cut to ribbons by the veteran roman legions who made their way through the camp and cut down any man they came across. Time was running out, and the leader of the Bagaudae had little time to escape his fate. Just as he was about to enter the stables, an arrow protruded through his heart from his back, shocking the man as he fell to his knees in disbelief.

On horseback, Stilicho sat with a bow in one hand and a smirk on his face as he gazed upon his kill. A single phrase escaped his lips as he witnessed the Bagaudae leader collapse to the floor in death and despair.

“Fucking bastard. Do you really believe I would let you escape?”

With the leader of the peasant insurgents dead, the rest of his forces quickly followed him into the afterlife. It did not take long for the romans to secure the camp along with the riches the Bagaudae had gathered from their years of raiding. As for the many female captives, those who were roman would be brought back to their families, and those who weren’t would be sold as slaves in the markets of the Empire.

After hours had passed, and every scrap of wealth had been gathered in the courtyard, along with the many captives, the officer in charge of the looting came up to Stilicho and asked the question on his mind.

“What should we do with the encampment?”

Stilicho gazed upon the gruesome scene of his slaughter and took in the sight. In an era where the Romans lost more battles than they won, it was nice to see such a massacre unfold that was not at the cost of roman lives. Having reflected on this overwhelming victory for some time, Stilicho finally smirked before giving his commands.

“Burn it!”

With that said, the Roman Army quickly got to task lighting the encampment ablaze. The scent of smoke and charred flesh filled the air as the Roman army carried off its gains back to the heart of their Empire.

With this battle, Rome proved that it still had the strength to avenge humiliation. This was something that had not occurred for some time. Even if it was against a mere band of peasant rabble, the fact that an insult to Rome had been so thoroughly rebuked with force was a cause for celebration. Thus, when Stilicho and his men returned to their posts, they would spend a considerable time in celebration, as it was rare for them to achieve such an overwhelming victory.