Chapter 2: The Fields of Capua, The debut of Task Force 11
"It has been a year since the Attack on my hometown of Capua. I will never forgive those greeks for what they have done. I have lost the only person that I have ever considered as my family. I will avenge her one day and bring the Greeks down on their knees."
*4 Years Later*
"One afternoon during the Year 275BC I was summoned to the Consular Palace by the Roman Dictator himself"
"You, soldier. What is your name?" The Dictator asked as I entered the Consular chambers.
"Me sir?" I replied to him. "My name is Tiberius Maxentius from the town of Capua.."
The Dictator stood up and went to the Planning table. He then said to me "One of my Generals told me that you were part of the Hastati Volunteers during the Capuan Takeover of 279BC"
I replied "Yes Sir. I was."
He then told me "I was amazed that there is still one left Alive. Do you want to avenge your hometown of Capua?"
"I replied "Of Course Sir. However it would depend on your orders sir."
He then took a scroll and began to write something. Then asked me one final question "Where do your Loyalties lie?"
I answered "To the Republic Sir."
When he has finished writing in the Paper, he answered back "No my fiend. To the EMPIRE. Do I get myself clear?"
"Yes, Emperor." was my final answer..
"Very well then" he said, "You have been promoted to General and take this to the Army Barracks. Tell General Mus "Execute War Plan Green and Blue. Congratulations. I am appointing you Commander of Task Force 11. I believe you will feel at home with them as they are all volunteers of Capua."
"After meeting with the men of Task Force 11, I was called by General Mus into his army tent. When I arrive, He asked me "What should we do here?" He then showed me 2 Towns controlled by the Rebellion"
"Croton"
"and Messana."
"Then I remembered the worthless Epirote King, Phyrrus. I took another drawing of a map from underneath the pile of papers and told the General, "We should strike here." General Mus then said to me, "No, Dear Boy. Tarentum is not our target yet. We must commence this plan according to its order. We must go by the book here. I am authorizing you to attack one of the two cities that I have shown you. Think wisely, for it may be your last."
"I then saluted him and went out of the tent. Clearly enough, he doesn't like anyone who is willing to do a revolutionary move because like any other revolutionary move, it would just scare the living **** out of the establishment."
"It was the Year 274BC. A runner was running towards me. I told him to catch his breath first. After a quick break, He told me his message. He told me he was sent by the Roman Dictator, Flavius Julius, to tell me that the town of Capua has been besieged once again. Then a flashback came unto me. I remembered "HER". I promised myself that I will not let anyone destroy of what remains of her memory. I then said to the runner, "Tell his Excellency that I will take care of it." The runner saluted me and said, "Hail Caesar!"
"I then got on my horse and ran towards the army barracks. I was thinking that we should attack the besiegers immediately. But, I also thought that if we attack them without authorization from the Emperor, it might mean trouble for me and the men. I arrived at the Barracks to see that the men were already armed. One of the soldiers told me, "General, I am not going to stay here and see my hometown be lost again. With all due respect sir, we are going there with or without you." What the man said speaks to me. He is right. Then I told him, "You. I am assigning you Captain of the Hastati Volunteers." Then I entered the Command tent and told my Captains, "Now! We march now!" Then the centurions blew the warhorns. I ordered the men to march towards Capua. 6 Months later, we arrived at the Capuan Fields and engaged the Rebellion under the command of Titus Nobilior, my cousin from my mother's side."
"The army formed up. Missile troops in front, The Hastati in the 2nd line, the Princeps on the 3rd line, the Triarii on the 4th line and the archers and cavalry on the 5th Line."
"What is this? The Blue Eagle Division is our enemy? What is going on here? They used to be my heroes."
"I figured that it doesn't matter now whoever we are facing. As long they are attacking Capua, They are our enemy. As soon as the enemy forces were in range, I ordered the fire a will command to the Skirmishers."
"I called one of my officers and told him, "Tell the men to hold the line". I then told my cavalry, Let's go men!"
"For ATHENA!"
"I am so sorry cousin, but this is what you get for trying to destroy Capua."
"It seemed that the men did quite an excellent job fending of the rebellious Blue Eagles. I didn't expect them to easily push back a veteran army. I guess this is what you call a "Volunteer's Heart"."
"Damn it men! You deserve these bottles of wine that I am going to give you! VICTORY!"
"After that battle, I thanked the goddess Minerva for guiding me and my mean in this battle. I pray that she bless the men who have died honorably."
"The Roman Emperor, Flavius Julius summoned me in the Command Tent after the successful battle. He asked me, "After 2 years of training, you believe that a ROMAN army that cost 500,000 Denarii to maintain is there for your personal use? Who gave you permission to move out of the capital?" I then answered. "No sir. I was just trying to keep my edge and protect the empire." He then asked me, "And when you engaged the Blue Eagle Division just now, what did you think that was? Honing your skills as a General? That's not a Textbook move, Tiberius. That was a stunt! Then I told him, "Sir, How can that be when you did the exact same thing when you were commanding the Red Warrior Division? He then angrily replied, "Don't get cute with me General! Then I answered, "I understand sir. But I was just doing it to protect an Imperial town and to keep the Army Morale Up Sir. He then told me, "That is Bull****, General Maxentius! But it is very good Bull****." He then smiled at me after that. I never thought in my life that I was going to hear the Emperor talk that way."
"He then told me that I execute Imperial Order 10. The Invasion of Sicilia."