Raiders on the Shore

[Trot]

Gaius arrived at Regulbium after a few days ride. He was there to assume command of the forts and deal with the saxon invasions. He had 9 legions and 9 forts to protect from raids. Here he was on the frontier of the empire trying to prove his worth. Upon entering the hall he requests the commanders of the Legion,

"Men I am Gaius Pinarius Rusca," The young Roman began, "I have fought in Persia, and for my efforts I was assigned to this out post to take Command of the legions and work to repel the Saxon raids, what is our manpower, and equipment situation, and where have sightings of the raiders been reported?" He needed a plan before he could figure out a way to handle the attackers. Information was a commanders best friend often it was the side with the most information that won the day in war.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Numerias Fulvianus was among them. For now he maintained a detached observation on Rusca. This was the man he would be serving under, the man that would dictate his future prospects by his reports. It helped that his father was Comes de Militarum. He wouldn't be left behind in anything, but he might be overlooked due to convenience. The new men hardly appreciated the presence of one who had some sort of connection to the establishment, it was just another rival to power...

"Hail, Dux." Numerias intoned, making eye contact with the man his father had appointed.

[Barry Goldwater]

"Ave, Comes." A tall man in lorica squamata scale armor steps forward, his ridge helm tucked away under one arm and the scar running atop his nose exposed for all to see. "I am Caratacus, the primus pilus of the Cohors Baetasiorum, the limitanei legion assigned to this fortress." He gestures at the men amassed around and below them, in the fort's main courtyard: more a permanent militia than a real army, these seem to be mostly local spear- or bow-wielding youths whose armor at best consisted of simple and undecorated ridge helmets, most going with only the military-issue pillbox caps on their heads instead. Their dark or honey-blond hair and fair complexions betrayed their heritage as true Romano-Britons, the descendants of Roman colonists and local Briton women.

"We've not much to report here, sir. The last raiders to land near enough that we could be the ones to throw them back into the sea came by about nine months ago. But I've heard the Saxones and Iuti have been hitting Anderitum to the south and Dubris to the east half a dozen times each over the past six months. Seems they think Regulbium here's too tough a nut to crack..." The soldiers laugh heartily. The absence of the Saxon foe, and the ease with which they were apparently repelled nine months ago, seems to have filled the Regulbium garrison with confidence - maybe too much of it, coupled with complacency. "...so they've taken to needling the forts further away instead, even if it means taking the risk of sailing closer to Gaul. I haven't heard much news from north of Londinium, but I'd imagine the forts there have been doing a decent job of stopping the Anglii reavers so far - no news of yet more raiders is good news, as far as I'm concerned."

[Pontifex Maximus]

Numerias stood, disgust rising in his complexion. He had spent the majority of his training - the last four years - in Comital legions. The state of affairs here was so lax as to cause him great distress. He would do his utmost to whip them into shape, to mold them. It didn't even cross his youthful, ignorant mind that they might rather kill him than acquiesce to his whims. "This isn't the Comes." He replied tersely. "This is the Dux. Best get it right."

[Trot]

Gaius nods at the mans words considering, "Send a rider to each out post and get a report." If the North was secure he might need to move some troops to the south to help deal with the raiders. "Tell me how long does it take to respond if raiders are spotted? How are the coastal towns protected?"

[Barry Goldwater]

"Each castrum has a great signal fire in its highest tower, which we light as soon as we spot raiders on the horizon." Caratacus explained. "In case that doesn't send the message it should've, we also make sure to dispatch messengers on our swiftest horses to the nearest Saxon Shore castra as well. We here at Regulbium are able to reinforce the nearest castra at Rutupiae, Dubris and Portis Lemanis within a two to six hours' march on the old roads leading from our gates to theirs, depending on the weather and of course which of those forts we're reinforcing, with Rutupiae being the closest and Portis Lemanis the furthest; it takes about half a day for us to reach Anderitum, and a day or more to reach any castrum further than these four."

"The coastal towns are protected by their walls and local guards - vigiles, that is, militiamen - until we can reach them, Comes." Caratacus continued on the topic of the other towns. "The Saxones prefer to attack unwalled villages ahead of the better-fortified towns if they can, driving those they do not kill towards said towns so as to overwhelm them with refugees and descending upon the town while its gates are still open to accommodate the exiled villagers." His tone made it quite clear what he thought of such a dishonorable foe.