As the 37th was pitching camp, General Aurelius formed his battle plans for when they crossed the river. Soon the Republican forces would march on the governor’s capital in Ardea. As he was discussing their moves with his advisors, one of the guards outside of his tent entered. “General, a legionnaire named Liam Gue says he must see you.” “Liam Gue?” The General asked. “Yes, General.” Aurelius hesitated, “Send him in.” The guard saluted and left briefly. He re-entered, escorting the Legionnaire, whose helm was removed to reveal his blond hair. “Liam Gue,” Aurelius said, “I seem to recall hearing that you were the Senate’s bounty hunter.” “You’d be correct, General.” Liam replied as he observed the man’s clear wariness of him. “I also recall hearing that you fought beside the so-called Emperor Tarquin. This being the case, why should I trust a man who has demonstrated his loyalty to the usurper?” “Truth be told,” Liam said, taking note of his surroundings, “I wouldn’t blame you for not trusting me.” He paused, looking briefly at his helm, and back at the General. The man was analytical, his quarters reflected that. Only a few personal items stood out from the otherwise sagacious setting. Books and papers with notes and battle analysis littered Aurelius’ tent. “Even so, Gaius Maridius ordered his men to attack me for treason... you wouldn’t happen to know why he might accuse me, would you?” Aurelius chuckled, “you truly haven’t heard?” The General noted the Legionnaire’s facial expression and already knew the answer. “Emperor Gracchus ordered the Republic to be reinstated upon his death. Although, he wanted many reforms to the previous Republican structure. Such reforms would not only grant the plebs the same rights as patricians, but it would also reduce the authority of the government. The patricians are not fond of this, as you are probably aware. Gaius Maridius sent the Praetorian to kill him, and Maridius altered the late Emperor’s will to establish his son, your friend, as Emperor. Quirinius and the bishop of Cordis were on the Emperor’s council, they reported these things to us. Their propositions give us no reason to distrust them, they have nothing to gain and all to lose. You learned some semblance of the truth, that was enough to convince Gaius that you had to die.” He looked again at Liam, “Have I convinced you?” The Legionnaire was pondering these things, he had to know if his friend was involved. “Does Tarquin know of all this?” “As far as we are aware, no. It’s all a plot by his father.” Liam paused a moment, considering his options. He had sworn to uphold the will of the Emperor, and his friend’s father, who in actuality was the most powerful man in the Empire, wanted him dead. He needed allies, and right now he had none. There was only one choice for him, join the Republicans. “I’ll fight with you,” he said, “only if you promise me you’ll keep Tarquin’s brother alive.” “Tarquin’s brother?” Aurelius said, confusion in his voice. “Crassus leads the 9th and 10th legions against you and your men. They want to prevent you from joining Quirinius and to join the forces already attacking them. They’re not more than a day’s march away.” Aurelius stood up from his seat, “And you find it fit to tell us this now?” “I was... evaluating my options. Besides, a couple minutes would only delay the enemy’s defeat.” Aurelius eyed the Legionnaire again, “You speak as if they’re on the brink of defeat! Only a fool would think that Crassus Maridius, with the tactical and strategic knowledge inherited from his father, and double the men on top of that, would be beaten by an army with little to no time to prepare!” The man leaned against the table, a map detailing their surroundings laid on top of it. When facing the river, a forest began on their right. The forest reached onto one of a pair of mountains with its trees, not far from the river. In between these mountains was a pass just beyond which the 37th had pitched camp. Aurelius ran his fore-finger and thumb across the bridge of his nose. “We can’t dig any trenches to make a difference and-“ “You won’t need trenches. Not to counter his cavalry.” Liam paused, the advisors looked at him with a sense of disgust, how could a legionnaire know how to command an army? “I know what Crassus will do. He can’t flank our left, the river cuts through the mountains there. He’ll send the bulk of the 10th on our right, through the forest, and he’ll try to break our lines with the entirety of his cavalry. We can use this to our advantage. He knows that to counter him, we would normally set archers up on each mountain to rain arrows down on his men. Knowing this, he’d send a few centuries up the slopes not only to distract our archers, but also to wipe them out when they reached the top. If we station our cavalry there, when we wipe out their cavalry, ours will descend, crushing their centuries and surrounding most our the 9th in the pass.” “And how will we destroy their cavalry if our own are at the tops of the mountains?” “We bring our archers within our lines. Before they can see anything your men will lock shields overhead, it will protect our men from their archers and hide our own. When the cavalry get close enough, the lines will break temporarily and the archers will fire on the cavalry. While we fight the 9th in the pass, a thousand of your men will have to hold the rear.” Aurelius looked over to his advisors, they seemed hesitant, but ultimately they had no choice. They didn’t understand Crassus and this was the best way to beat him. He looked over to the Legionnaire. Despite his position as a general, Aurelius was not too proud to acknowledge another’s tactics or strategies. “We’ll do so, but I will need you on the front lines. The men will need a morale boost from the man who broke his blade defending the self proclaimed Emperor.” “I would expect nothing less, General.”Liam saluted and left the quarters. He had men to ready for a battle that could encourage the demoralized Republican forces. As Liam left, one of Aurelius’ advisors addresses his general. “Do you really think we can trust him?” “We can’t know until the battle is won. And if it’s lost, it won’t have mattered whether or not he was for us.” Aurelius replied. The sun set on the 37th, and on it’s rising the glint of spear shafts and the plate armor of the legionnaires littered the field just beyond the mountain pass. As Crassus’ army approached, envoys from each side were sent ahead. A mere courtesy that very rarely resulted in the parties leaving in peace. Aurelius’ party and Crassus’ own met in the pass, the Republicans yellow and blue armor contrasting to the Imperial red and gold. The former carried the banners of the Lion, and the latter the banners of the Eagle. “I was unaware the Empire had changed its banners, Crassus.” Aurelius addressed his opponent. “Well, after you traitors took off with the former Imperial colors, my father thought it might be symbolic that we adorn ourselves with the color of our enemy’s blood and the retrieved coin.” The Senator’s son had dark hair like his brother and a short beard. “Your father is the only traitor here.” Aurelius answered, as he did this, Liam rode forward between the two parties his horse but a few feet away from Crassus’ own. He was strutting in front of him, psychological warfare as it were. “Really? I notice you have my brother’s former friend in your ranks. If I recall he was found guilty of conspiring against the will of Emperor Gracchus.” Crassus shot back. “Only accused, General.” Liam retorted, “I don’t believe I was brought before a court of law. Your father saw to that.” Crassus eyed him. “Are we going to discuss terms?” Aurelius began, “Yes, our-“ Liam cut him off, “We will let your men live if you surrender.” The Imperial General was taken aback, “Surrender? You have half the men, you’re trapped between my armies and a river, you have no chance! If you surrender, I might be merciful and send you to my father alive instead of just your heads!” “We won’t be surrendering to you, or to anyone for that matter.” Liam answered. “So be it. When the battles over, put this one’s head on a spike for betraying my brother.” “If your brother were here, Liam said, “he’d do me the courtesy of doing so himself.” With that, both parties departed to their battle lines, soon to be covered red in each other’s blood.