The Requim of the Shadow

[Lord Zalzabad]

Below is the parts of the story that I have been writing in my spare time, only one chapter, but the next one will really be a plot twister!

[Lord Zalzabad]

7. Shadow Raid

"High Commander, we have just been informed that the Chancellors plan is working. As we speak, our enemies move their forces to the border, preparing to wipe Scipio off the face of the earth," Antonius said to his hooded commander.
"Wonderful. Is there any news on oil convoys?" replied the Commander, as he paced back and forth across the small cavern that was his office.
"Yes, our spies in Hispalis tells us an oil convoy is heading to Veii"
"Very well, prepare a raiding party. You will leave this evening."
"Yes, High Commander, sir"

The room was fit for a king, Chrisius noted as he sat in the study. A window overlooked the bay, lined with white cliffs, with the exception of a small, sandy bay, where there were several yachts moored. While Chrisius was admiring the view, his host walked in.
"Ah, Marshal Chrisius, welcome to my home!" said King Marius as he walked through the oaken doors that lead into his regal study.
"Marius, it has been a long time, my friend," replied Chrisius, as the guards closed the doors behind Marius, leaving the two men alone.
"Ha, I have never regarded you as a friend, Chrisius, more like a respected rival," replied Marius, a slight grin on his face.
"Well, I must be blunt, Roma is in trouble"
"And what do you mean by "Trouble?" sad Marius as he sat down on a chair opposite Chrisius
"You see the troop movements within Imperial Territory, does this not interest you?"
"Not one bit. I have given up all of my Military Responsibilities"
"Well perhaps you would be more interested in you own survival?" said Chrisius, pulling out a dossier and placing it on the coffee table before them. Marius picked the dossier off the table, and started to flick through it.
"So what does this show? All I see are Tanki, thousands and thousands of Tanki."
"And do the Imperialists possess this number of weapons?"
"As far as we can tell, no… wait, what is this?" said Scipio, suddenly shocked as he noticed the ruined battlements of a city he recognised, "Tours… How do those French dogs have so many Tanki?"
"Probably because we get all of our oil from them, so they have the gold"
"And what do they plan to do with these Tanki?"
"What would two thousand Tanki be doing sitting idle at Tours? Where would they go, where would they attack?"
"Its too far for an attack on Egypt, no, they cannot be. Where is the Egyptian Army located?"
"Avris" replied Chrisius
"That’s near Ravenna… they are going to attack Scipio?"
"That seems to be the case"
"Those dogs… they will pay for spitting on the ground of Holy Rome!"
"Do not hasten to conclusions, Marius, there is still more evidence."
"So you mean that they are not attacking Scipio?"
"No, they still are attacking, but with the aid of a Russian Army at Elephantine, and a combined navy of Japan, Germany and China in the Gulf of Veii"
Marius stood up in shock, and looked towards the sun setting over the horizon, "and what is their objective?" he said in a strangely hushed voice
"To destroy us all."

"You all know what our objective is, do you not?" said Antonius
"Yes sir!" bellowed the soldiers, their voices echoing throughout the cavern
"Remember our goal, to unite Rome under our High Commander, the true heir to the Roman Empire!"
"Our emperor is our life!" the troops bellowed their war cry as they bordered their trucks. The High Commander watched as they sped off into the night, and left to call his patron.

"So what can we do about this situation?" asked Marius, as he unfolded a map of the World out on the coffee table. There were already crosses and arrows all over the Western Regions of Roma,
As Marius pulled out a bunch and blue and red pins, Chrisius replied, "Alone we cannot stand up to them. However, a united Rome would be able to defeat the Forces of Cycenne"
'Yes," said Marius, as he placed the pins into the map, the Red representing the Cycenne Alliance, and the blue representing Scipio's, Marius' and the Eastern Republics armies, "But the Imperialists would never agree to such a compromise."
"We suspect they will sooner or later."
"Oh," said Marius, as he placed purple pins where the Imperial Armies were located, "But even if we unite all of our standing armies, we will still be outnumbered, as the majority of your troops are on Nova Roma."
"That is the second reason why I came. We want to move an Armoured Division into your territory so we can use it in the offensive against the aggressors. That will add more fire power to our cause. Finally, the Second Fleet is moving into the Gulf of Veii to counter the enemy incursion."
"Yes, but you have more forces than that, my intelligence indicates that you can field at least triple what your offering."
"Do we now? Those forces in question are involved in another operation at this moment in time, one that I cannot disclose. But you will find out eventually,"
"I cannot accept this loss of sovereignty of my Kingdom, I will be hounded from the throne!"
"Don't be selfish, Marius, the fate of every Roman rests on your decision… now will you or wont you?"
Marius sighed, as his head fell, looking at the coffee that was on the table before him, "I will give my response shortly, there are many things to consider. An alliance would be good, but I cannot just simply throw away my authority and sovereignty so easily, to those who want my nation eventually destroyed, or at least integrated into theirs. I have come a long way for this, and I will not give it up so easily. I believe our discussion," said Marius, standing, "Is over"
Chrisius nodded his head and stood, giving the king a short, stiff bow, "Please give us your response soon, as I fear that an answer given too late may be fatal for both of our causes. I know my way out, thankyou for your hospitality, King Marius."

"Be wary, men, there are said to be ghosts within this desert," the captain said to his troops that were escorting a convoy of oil.
"Ah, you and your superstitions, Captain, there are no such things as ghosts"
"Well rumours between the various troops say that there is a shadow that descends upon convoys that pass through this desert and leaves nothing of the convoy left."
"You are supposed to be the responsible one, sir, why do you believe such idiotic rumours?"
"Then what happened to all those convoys that disappeared in the desert?"
"Well, maybe rebels got hold of them"
"There are no rebels in this area. It’s the ghosts of General Constantine's men whom he lead into the desert all those years ago…" but the captain was interrupted by a gun shot, ringing through the cool desert air, "It’s the ghosts! Prepare for battle!"
"Seriously, captain, if they were ghosts would they use guns?" said the Private as he readied his gun and jumped out the back of the jeep, only to be struck by a stray bullet. The captain stayed still in the back of the transport truck as several of his troops jumped out and began to fire aimlessly into the desert. The captain rushed to his radio, and asked for air support before a soldier appeared from the shadows and riddled his bodies with bullets.

"Sir, convoy 332 has been ambushed by Shadow Forces!"
"I was hoping for this… send out the attack helicopters to take out the Shadow Army forces"
"Yes, Grand Marshal sir!"
"Also, order the strike force to readiness"
"What?"
"Just follow your orders, Captain!"
"Yes, sir!"

"Who… who are you?"
"Why, mighty Caesar, you do not know who I am?" The commander chuckled to himself and continued to pace up and down the room. Weakly, Caesar stood up, holding on to the bars for support and looked at the hooded commander. The hood obscured his face, but Caesar felt like he had met this person before… but who was he, he thought…
"Ah, you still haven't guessed?"
"So you are finally going to tell me?" said Caesar feebly
"Ha, do you even know how the plot goes? The final bad guy is not revealed to the end. I am the Cliché Evil Bad Guy, the chief protagonist of this entire mess, whose final plan is to wipe out both Cycenne and Rome!"
"You… you're mad! You have been watching too much television" said Caesar frustratingly
"Ha, even if I wanted to tell you my name, I wouldn't."
"And why not?" there was an long pause,
"Because" said the Commander, silently, "The author has not even decided who I am!" The commander left the room laughing while Caesar sat there, frustratedly wondering what had just been said. Who was this 'Author'?

________________________

who is this mysterious commander, and what is he planning? Who is this great (and obviously wonderful) Author he refered to? Will I post the next part of the story within the next week? Find out in the next chapter, "Darkness Revealed"

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Cant wait

[Paddy]

This is great....

thank you for the effort... yeah...