Conquering Emperors and Empires: Part 1

"Company…halt!"

Immediately, the ninety-nine other bodies surrounding Ichigo took one final step and froze where they stood, perfectly at attention. After a four hour march over rough terrain in the blazing sun, Ichigo's entire body yearned for the next order that he knew was coming, but his mind overpowered his body's desire and forced himself to remain stock-still until that order was given. However, the optio in charge of carrying out their centurion's orders never missed an opportunity to assert his authority over the lower ranking miles [foot soldiers] at times such as this. In his mind, Ichigo dropped his spear and shield, left the ranks, stalked over to the pompous oaf and proceeded to pound the idiot's face into a bloody pulp. In reality, Ichigo stayed exactly where he was and stared straight ahead at the helmet of the man in front of him.

Finally, Ichigo's ears heard the optio take a deep breath of satisfaction and then say in his grating, nasally voice, "Company dismissed to set up camp!"

Again, there was an immediate reaction from the troops as they dispersed to take care of their assigned duties. There was no talking and the only sound to be heard was the slight creaking of leather and clank of metal, which was kept to an absolute minimum.

As Ichigo was about to go and take up his assigned post as sentry, the optio, a boy a little younger than Ichigo who had only gotten the position because his father had ordered the centurion to do so, stepped in his way and said, "Not you. You are to report to the Hastiliarius (weapons master) right away," a grin spread across his pinched face as he added, "Now, I wonder what he could possibly want with you?"

Too well trained to do otherwise, Ichigo merely replied, "Yes sir," and turned smartly around and marched in the direction he assumed the weapons master to be.

He had to make his way through a few centuries who were also busy setting up camp before he finally was able to track down the weapons master. As Ichigo approached, he saw that his own centurion, the Decurion [head of cavalry], the Medicus [physician], the Praefectus [third-in-command of the legion], the Princeps Prior [head of the legion] and the Princeps Posterior [second-in-command of the legion] were gathered with him. Halting a good fifteen paces away from the group, Ichigo stood to attention and waited.

Having noticed Ichigo's approach, the Hastiliarius grinned and gestured for Ichigo to approach as he said in a teasing tone, "Always the immaculate soldier. Aren't you, Ichigo?"

Stepping forward and saluting, Ichigo only replied with, "Reporting for duty, sir!"

Rolling his eyes, the Hastiliarius addressed the other officers, saying, "Would you look at that? So well trained he can't even greet his own cousin like a normal person."

Smiling like a proud parent, the Posterior told Ichigo affectionately, "At ease, Ichigo. We may be your commanding officers in rank, but we are also primarily your friends and family."

Adjusting his stance slightly, Ichigo replied, "Very well," then looked at his cousin and asked, "Why'd you summon me, Kaien?"

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Kaien replied, "I guess that is fractionally better than before. At least you sound more like yourself," then he said rather bluntly, "I asked you to come because we are trying to figure out what to do about you."

The only sign of surprise Ichigo gave was to blink once and pause before saying, "I don't understand. Have I done something I shouldn't have?"

"Not a bit of it," answered Kaien matter-of-factly, "You're just too good that we can't figure out where to promote you."

"Oh," was all Ichigo could think of to say.

"Always the stoic," muttered Kaien while rubbing the back of his neck, "Nothing ever fazes you, does it?"

After a moment or two of silence, Kaien said, "I guess I'll take that as a 'yes'," then turned to the Prior and said, "You take over, Kyoraku. He's going to give me a headache with his apathy."

Scratching his beard and looking lazily up at the clouds, Shunsui said slowly, "I don't know that I would do a good job explaining the situation...you tell him, Jyuushiro."

Jyuushiro looked thoughtful for a moment or two before he explained, "Primus Pilas Aizen [commander of the entire cohort/legion] received a new set of orders during our march here. It seems the emperor desires the first century, Prior Kyoraku, myself and two other centuries to break off from the main force and travel due east to conquer a number of smaller villages and then bring a good number of captives back to Rome either to be sold as slaves, trained as gladiators or conscribed into the Roman army."

Ichigo absorbed the information momentarily before he scowled and asked, "With all due respect, isn't that exactly what we are doing already?"

"You are correct," replied Jyuushiro, "and the main force will continue into the country as planned. However, it seems as though our government is in need of immediate funds, soldiers and a means to distract the people from upcoming…ah, changes in their taxes."

"I see," said Ichigo before he asked, "So what does that have to do with me?"

Looking Ichigo straight in the eye, Jyuushiro said, "With the number of high ranking officials leaving to go on this campaign, Primus Pilas Aizen has tasked his officers with promoting good soldiers to centurions in order to maintain balance and order."

Laying a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, Jyuushiro said, "As soon as we heard the news, the first person who came to mind was you. We're all in agreement on this."

"I see," replied Ichigo automatically, even though he really didn't.

Speaking up for the first time, Praefectus Ichimaru said with a grin, "Why, if I didn't know any better I'd say that Ichigo wasn't very pleased with our little plan here."

"That's partially true, Gin," said Kaien, "However, if I know my cousin, he's probably wondering why in the world we're picking him out of all the other men."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Kaien looked Ichigo dead in the eye as he said, "And in answer to that question, we're picking you because we think you're the kind of guy to fit the bill right now. Not because we all know you personally."

Scratching the back of his head, Shunsui yawned as he said, "Well, let's be honest and say that it might be part of it as well as the fact that we've always intended to move you up through the ranks at some point. I just didn't think it would come this soon, but we all agree that we think you're ready for the added responsibility."

Grinning broader than before, Gin said, "Yeah. Plus, the bump in pay and prestige is nothing to sniff at either."

Decurion Hisagi snorted as he said, "If nothing else, I'd say he'd better take the promotion for those reasons alone. Foot soldiering only gets you so far in the world."

Nodding sagely, Medicus Hachi intoned, "You are young and eager to prove your worth in battle, but the day will come when the desire to settle down with a family will be a priority for you."

"And your point is?" asked Ichigo, even though he could pretty much guess where this conversation was going.

Snorting with derision, Kaien retorted, "You know full well what Hachi's trying to tell you. Move up in the ranks, improve your monetary status and a nice young woman from a good family is all but waiting for you upon your return from the wars."

Quirking an eyebrow at his cousin, Ichigo asked, "And you know this from experience?"

All Kaien could do initially was stare blankly at Ichigo before a snorting sound was heard. Scowling ferociously, Kaien turned on Gin and asked in a dangerous tone, "Was that you, Shifty Eyes?"

Tilting his head to the side and spreading his arms wide in a plaintive manner, Gin asked in a wounded tone, "Now why do you always assume it was me? It could have been Ukitake for all you know. Or Hachi."

"Yeah right," drawled out Kaien in a highly sarcastic tone, "because that would totally fit with their personalities."

"What is going on here?"

At the sound of that particular voice, everyone immediately turned in the direction from which it had come and stood strictly to attention. It was quite typical of their Primus Pilas to show up unexpectedly from time to time, however, no one quite knew the reason for it. Some thought that it was because Aizen was subtly training his troops to always be on the alert. Others theorized that the Primus liked being able to show his troops that he could appear and disappear almost at will. Still others believed it was not intentional and Aizen didn't realize just how quiet he was when he tried to enter a conversation. Personally, Ichigo didn't really care, but he was most inclined to believe the showing off theory.

Shunsui answered Aizen, saying respectfully, "We were just informing Ichigo Kurosaki of his promotion and new duties, sir."

"Excellent," replied Aizen as he turned his attention to Ichigo, "I trust the position will be to your satisfaction."

While the phrase was normally said as a question, Ichigo knew that since Aizen had stated it as fact, the entire matter was settled and closed. A year or so ago, Ichigo might have given Aizen his most ferocious scowl and refused to take the position simply out of irritated spite. However, he was a well-trained soldier and knew this was not the time to challenge his superior's decision. Besides, he was getting a promotion. What idiot would turn down something like that when another opportunity likely wouldn't arise again any time soon?

Inclining his head, Ichigo said, "I am grateful to be given this opportunity to prove myself in the Emperor's service."

Nodding once to Ichigo, Aizen looked at the rest of the group and said simply, "I expect my troops to be ready to leave at first light. See to it."

After Aizen had left, Kaien turned to Ichigo with a grin and said, "Well, we all have our duties to get back to now. I'm sure there are a few people you need to inform about the slight shift in authority, correct?"

While Ichigo was not a vengeful person or someone who liked to have fun at someone else's expense, the idea of seeing the odious optio's face when he discovered that Ichigo had walked away from him a common foot soldier and now returned as a centurion made Ichigo's mouth quirk upwards in a half grin. He wondered if the boy's face would turn more red or white or possibly even green.

"Make sure to keep the cut clean at all times. Change the bandages about twice a day and wrap them tightly, but not too tightly since it might irritate the cut even more. Any questions?"

The mother of the child Orihime had just tended to clasped her hands and said, "Thank you, Lady Orihime. I will follow your instructions to the letter."

Giving the woman a modest smile, Orihime reached out to stroke the young boy's hair as she said, "I'm sorry you had to learn your lesson this way, but maybe now you'll know not to bother the baby goats."

"I won't ever do it again," the boy said earnestly, if slightly sheepishly, "I promise."

"Good boy," Orihime said with another smile before she stood and said, "Well, I'm off."

Stepping outside the door, Orihime turned to look up at her tall companion who was waiting for her and said, "You know Chad, you are more than welcome to come inside while I'm working."

"I know," replied Chad in a low tone before he uncrossed his arms and asked, "Where next?"

"Home," said Orihime with a knowing smile, "but first I'm going to check on the garden."

Nodding once in understanding, Chad waited until Orihime started walking before he followed her. Internally, Orihime let out a sigh of resignation that her life-long friend was just hopeless sometimes.

Despite his relative youth, Orihime's older brother, Sora, was the only leader and judge for their village as well as for several others. Even though he was young, Sora was wise beyond his years and people respected his honest and fair judgments in any dispute that came before him as a judge. He was also a respected religious leader who had gone out in his youth to learn from Jesus' own disciples like Peter, John and Matthew as well as Paul and Nicodemus. So, because her brother was such an important man (even though he himself was quite humble and insisted on living a simple life), after an attack on their village a year previously where the raiding party specifically targeted Sora and Orihime's home, Sora had insisted that Orihime find someone to stay with her during the day as she went out to help people and protect her. And thus, Orihime's childhood friend, Chad, had seamlessly stepped into the role of her protector since he had always walked with Orihime as she made her rounds about the village anyways.

Orihime's garden of vegetables and herbs was planted a ways up on a rocky hillside where a small stream also flowed. Happily humming to herself, Orihime went about filling a small clay jug one of the villagers had made for her and carefully watering her garden. As she went, her sharp eyes quickly caught sight of any unwanted vegetation trying to steal nutrients from the soil and just as quickly yanked them from the ground and tossed them onto a rock where she would let them dry and then add them to the feed for the goats.

Content and absorbed in her work, Orihime failed to notice a group of soldiers drawing near to her partially hidden garden. As hard as he tried to stay alert to any trouble that might be coming, Chad was not a trained professional and so was also caught off guard when the soldiers arrived.