Roman Squad

Smoke rolls low across the killing ground as Titus reaches the broken line. Gaius Fabius and Gaius Valerius stand among splintered shields, driving the last Punic survivors backward.

Beyond the wavering shield line, several Punic soldiers raise their weapons and gesture through the smoke. Farther back, a larger formation advances, its footsteps beating like distant rain.

Fabius plants his feet beside Titus, shield angled toward the approaching mass. Valerius shifts forward, eager but exposed, while the Roman line struggles to reform around them.

The smoke thins for one breath, revealing a dark Punic mass descending toward the fractured Roman position. Spears lower across the field, and the next clash gathers its force.

Valerius hears the command and twists around, but his raised voice carries farther than Titus intends. Several Roman soldiers glance aside as the Punic formation closes.

Valerius retreats hurriedly, striking the edge of the reforming Roman line instead of slipping cleanly between shields. The formation buckles, opening a ragged lane before him.

The nearest Punic soldiers lower their spears toward the opening. Roman shields jerk together too late, and Valerius stands exposed just ahead of the fractured line.

The advancing Punic formation bears down on the exposed space. The Romans can no longer simply wait for the clash; the broken interval must be closed under pressure.

Titus braces beside Valerius, planting his feet in the churned earth. He drives the rim of his oval shield into the opening while his hasta thrusts forward beneath its cover.

The pressure turns the ragged lane into a wall again. Roman shields lock shoulder to shoulder as the advancing Punic formation meets their angled faces and checked spears.

Valerius settles behind Titus's shield edge, no longer isolated. The Punic spearheads scrape against the Roman front, their momentum broken by the restored line.

Fabius steps into alignment, shield firm beside Titus. Around them, the Roman line bears the pressure together, and the hasta points through a single disciplined row.