Marathon

[rez]

“His Excellency, General Datis! Returning in glory from the punitive expedition against the treacherous Greeks.”

“Please, don’t… I, I … I can’t have this in front of the great King!”

“DATIS!”

“Ah yes, Great King, light of the Aryans, King of twenty five coun…”

“I know how many people I rule Datis, what I do not know is where my expeditionary force has gone! Vanished into thin air it seems! Every courtier tells me of your success in Greece, even my captains tell me you accomplished every mission assigned you. So where is MY regiment?!”

“Of course you are curious lord I would…”

“CURIOUS?! I was curious when King Idomantheus sent me 5 arrows, a bird, a mouse and a frog. Unfortunately for you Datis I am far more than curious. There better be a worthy explanation for this, or by Ahuramazda you will live the rest of your days as an ambassador in Athens!”

“NO please my lord, Give me death not barbarians! We fought like lions for you sire! We would never betray you not for all the barbarian lands in Europe.”

“Unless I am satisfied you will spend your days holding your nose around the unwashed Greeks and watching their naked youths grope each other for the amusement of the elders. You will listen to their insults and be degraded by fools and peasants until you die. So please, by all means plead for your life”

“ My lord I would never be shamed in such a way, despite my recent failings I am still a Persian and Ahuramazda preserved me again to tell you this tale, a tale you must hear and avenge my lord…”

“I must?”

“If the great King so wishes of course!”

“Begin”

“As ordered by you sire, I took a contingent of Anusyia and archers along with a detachment of our fleet along the coast of Greece. The same route Mardonius took before he was turned back by storms. However before embarking on the voyage I was instructed to leave behind four regiments of Anusyia and replace them with non-Persian troops. It seems I am still not trusted since my battles in India… I took these fools from Syria along with us very reluctantly as Persians are the only trustworthy troops in the east.” (Scowling at a Babylonian Eunuch)

“Our first objective was the island of Naxos, we stormed the city on the wings of justice and brought them to their knees, after this easy conquest Euboa and Etruria were next. They were duly punished for their role in the Ionian revolt.”

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“All that was left was to punish Athens and return Hippias to his tyranny. We were buoyed up by our success, but we were also strained by losses and the poor warriors of Syria had lost a position on the walls of Etruria that cost us the lives of many Persians… But I cannot make more excuses, the blame was mine for trusting them. We sailed to a bay the Greeks call Marathon, a marshy vile place - like most of Greece. The stench of salt was in the air as a dense fog descended on us. The morning sun could only barely seen, and it was both in spirit and in reality that the light of Ahuramazda was failing with us.

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The fog soon turned to a dust cloud as we realised the Athenians had come to meet us in the field, hastily I gave some words of encouragement to the Syrians, the Persians were eager as always to serve you my lord no speech was needed to strengthen their hearts.

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Before a full battle plan could be ordered they were on us and I ordered a hail of arrows on the Athenians

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But our arrows were useless! They were too well armoured and the speed of their charge meant they had escaped a prolonged missile barrage.

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Then it was up to the spear and the shield to decide the battle, all that can be said is that the Persians fought like Kings, but the Syrians… well, they didn’t fight like Persians.

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Whilst our men roared with skill and bravery, the Athenians seemed to have the strength of iron in their arms. Our shields were splintered and broken by their longer spears, we barely had armour to stop their blows.

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We were being destroyed, but we held fast and killed many of their troops. However it was now that the Syrians proved their worth… They fled like dogs from the master’s whip.

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Before we knew it we were being surrounded… I can still see the havoc the hoplites caused behind our lines…

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The Persians gave battle until their hearts gave out…. I seem to be cursed with the loss of my brothers in battle. But this is the second time I have had my men fight to the death for honour and glory my lord. Do not let my failure soil their names and reputations, their families should be proud.

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It was plain by this time the only course of action was off this field. I took the remains of the contingent, not to flee, but to attack at the heart of the problem, Athens. However we were too exhausted from four battles, and by the time we had sailed round to Athens it was occupied again by the victorious Athenians. My lord I offer my nose and ears for mutilation at this failing, I do not deserve life lord, please give me…”

“Stop whining Datis it doesn’t suit your rank, this is an annoyance. Perhaps you should have been trusted with real soldiers, or maybe then we would be mourning the loss of more Persians! … hmmmm …. There would be no justice in killing you, yet again it seems you have fought as you should have but Ahuramazda has denied you victory. Well, for capturing Naxos and punishing the other Greeks your life shall be spared. But for the defeat at…

“Marathon sire” (The Babylonian smirked)

“Yes Marathon by the…”

“Athenians my lord” (Positively amused at Datis’s impending doom)

“Right, for losing the battle and our valued soldiers, you will be sent to the northern frontier to keep the Scythians back. There you shall stay until you redeem your actions. Unfortunately our conquest of the east will now have to be postponed, the Greeks must be fully punished for this insult.”

“I will not fail you my lord, I vow to return to court in splendour with the head of Idomantheus”

[Goscinio]

It's simply brilliant Excellent story, good pictures and the blood looks nice too Keep 'em coming!

[rez]

thanks, sorry about the mass of links, it seems thats the only way i can get the pics up there, i tried a word document.

By the way, how do i get the movie cam? then i can do some real pictures

[Goscinio]

just right clik on your RTW destkop icon, and type -movie_cam behind it (see pic)


As for the mass of links, use Imageshack and when you upload a pic, use the "hotlink to forums" link

[rez]

thanks a lot man, but i tried imageshack and it said the file is too big. Thanks for all the help though.

[Goscinio]

you'll have to use paint ore some other program to convert the .bmp screenshots to jpg's so there small enough for imageshack to upload them