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**cbraund** · July 27, 2002, 19:37

NEW PART - SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!

The First Prince smiled as the man entered the room.

He was known only as 007, his chosen codename in the Hoplites, and he was the First Prince's link in that organisation.

"It was hard to cover up most of the evidence, but it is done. Josh will never be able to prove that you ordered the assassination."

"Good. Now run along, I have a coronation to go to."

The Prince rose from his chair with a smile on his face.

Today was going to be a very good day.

*****************************************

The crown was placed on Nicholas's head, and he rose, no longer First Prince.

He was now the King of Greece.

He stood, only to see Josh receiving a note.

His eyes enquired what it was, but all he saw was a look of hatred.

*****************************************

"What the hell was that all about?!" Nicholas demanded as soon as they were in the limo, driving back to the Palace from Acropolis, the place where all Greek Kings since Phillip were crowned.

"What about?" Josh snapped.

"The nasty looks, and accusing stares!" Nicholas growled.

"I just don't like seeing a murderer crowned King, that's all!" Josh answered coldly, staring icily at Nicholas.

"What the hell are you on about?!"

"Listen to this." Josh turned on the tape player built into the centre of the back seat, and voices filled the car.

"It is done, my First Prince," the first voice spoke.

"Very good," said a relieved voice. "The King is dead, long live the King!"

Nicholas stared in shock at the tape.

"That's not me!" He gasped.

"Then who the hell is it?! Let's see, who can we blame this one on? Your mother? No, she's dead! Your father, no he's dead! Your cousin, no he's dead!" Josh shouted.

"It's not me!" Nicholas roared in reply.

"No one else had a motive to kill Martin, and this tape is evidence! The person on the tape sounds exactly like you, so either he's a damn good impersonator, or it's you!"

"Maybe it's someone who's supposed to be dead. Remember my father's return." Nicholas said thoughtfully.

"Great, he can't blame anyone in Greece, so he blames the dead." Josh said sarcastically.

"Wait, run that tape through the Hoplite data files. See if you can get a voice match." Nicholas ordered.

"We did, you were the first candidate."

"Did you continue through the voice patterns after that, or decide you had your suspect?" Nicholas demanded.

Josh looked sheepish, and pressed the button to voice match.

The limo's computer, linked to the Hoplite network, began scanning.

It came up with the first match: NICHOLAS REX.

"Continue." Nicholas ordered. Josh pressed the button again.

The computer continued scanning, and after three minutes it was nearing the end of the database, back to when the Hoplites were first formed under Phillip's guidance.

It was nearing Phillip's reign, just coming towards the beginning of Spartacus's.

"Any longer and the people on there will be dead ones." Josh frowned, realising a match was unlikely, and whatever he wanted to believe, Nicholas was likely to be the murderer.

Then the computer beeped.

Both of them froze as they read the name.

Alexander Rex.

******************************************

To be continued, hopefully tomorrow(sorry, not got much time at the moment!).

Comments appreciated!

Chris AKA Nemesis

**TheGuitarist** · July 29, 2002, 14:35

This is excellent! Keep it coming

**cbraund** · August 2, 2002, 11:04

"We must get you to safety. He has insiders in the Hoplites!" Josh had a haunted look in his eyes. Not only had he accused Nicholas, he had been in control of the organisation that committed the murder, and hadn't known.

Just how many of the Hoplites were under Alexander's control? How could Alexander still be alive?! So many questions, too few answers, he thought unhappily.

Nicholas was thinking the same things, but also about how he would not abandon his people - he would fight Alexander with everything he had.

"It won't work." Josh said, reading his mind.

"But..."

"No. We are getting you to safety on Crete. That's where the Black Aces and two Royal Guard regiments are, and they are completely loyal to you, along with the Spartacus and a few other ships, not to mention an air squadron."

Since the abdication, and his return, Nicholas had reformed the military, renaming many units to wipe their slate clean of shame, and merging others that were too weak alone.

But that meant that the Greek army numbered only 30 regular regiments, plus 2 Hoplite regiments that could fight when needed(and were deadly at it) but usually served as bodyguards. 10 of those regiments were named ones, which meant they were elite and therefore could have individual names, such as the Black Aces, or a royal regiment such as the Royal Guard regiments.

The other 20 were Greek Guard regiments, denoted only by a number. Those were the regular regiments, the backbone of the Greek Army.

Nicholas thought about the set up. Which regiments would be loyal to him? He guessed that the three on Crete would definitely be, and their families were on the island too so they couldn't be blackmailed.

But the other three Royal Guard regiments had sided against him during the abdication. He suspected they would turn against him, as would the Greek Guard regiments who had not responded well to his "you must be elite to be individually named" technique. It was supposed to encourage them to perform at their best to gain themselves a name, but they had been angry for losing their individual names for the region they came from, such as Sparta, which had been rebuilt.

The militia, which numbered 25 regiments would probably remain neutral he decided. They were a fickle bunch, always siding with whoever was in power, or their local lords. So that left just 4 more regiments, the Greek Dragoons, the Tirana Tigers, the Spartan Guard and the Athenian Avengers.

He guessed that they would support him, but remain neutral if someone threatened to hurt their family, as Alexander probably would with however much of the Hoplites supported him.

The Hoplites. How many of them supported him? Did the two combat regiments support him?

"Change heading to Crete." Josh's order to the driver woke Nicholas from his deep thought.

"I am afraid that is not possible." Jonathan Brown, the Hoplite driver and second only to Josh, replied.

"What?" Josh looked confused.

"It seems you have discovered my little surprise, just as I planned you would." Alexander's voice came through the radio into the rear of the car.

"What, is he on the phone to us or something?!" Josh demanded.

"I am afraid not." Jonathan smiled as he removed the wig and mask, turning to look at his passengers.

Nicholas's mouth hung open as he looked at the man he had only seen in history documentaries.

First Prince Alexander.

******************************************

Josh grabbed the door handle, to find it locked.

"Where are you taking us?" Nicholas demanded.

"To the Palace. You see, I have spent many years since your father removed me from power building up my contacts once more. The Hoplites remained loyal to me always, if it hadn't been for your father's meddling, even the leaders would have been loyal to me."

"So I'm the only loyal one..." Josh looked stricken, realising he had never been fully in control of the monster that was the Hoplites.

"Yes, you and that father of yours. He had been loyal to Spartacus too. They didn't know I was alive, but good God did both of your fathers cause me hassle trying to regain my throne! Especially Spartacus, he just refused to die!" Alexander grinned at their discomfort. He was 50 now, but as athletic and youthful as ever due to his strict Hoplite training and exercise regime.

"So how... How did you survive the duel with my father?" Nicholas asked, struggling to remember what he knew about the Civil War.

"I knew I was going to lose the battle, and I knew due to his training your father would head straight for my headquarters to try and kill me. So I placed a double there, and hid myself in the ranks of the Hoplites."

"What makes you think all the army loyal to me won't rise up against you taking power from me?"

"Your death will stop there being anyone else to take the throne from me. And all of the Greek Guard regiments will support me, all of the Hoplites, and the militia and other elite regiments will remain neutral simply due to my Hoplites threatening their families. The only ones who may rebel are those on Crete, and a nuclear weapon will soon destroy all of them.

"And now, it is time to die." Alexander smiled as they pulled up alongside the Palace.

For there waited both Hoplite regiments, armed and ready to serve.

Nicholas looked in horror at the sight, while Josh felt angry and disgusted at the betrayal.

*******************************************

More to come tomorrow I hope!

Comments appreciated!

Chris AKA Nemesis

**Kramerman** · August 5, 2002, 21:15

very good, very-well written.

**ChrisiusMaximus** · August 6, 2002, 13:15

Brilliant!!cant wait for next installment.

**civman2000** · August 11, 2002, 19:32

**cbraund** · September 6, 2002, 10:59

Alexander opened the door for them, the victory glowing on his face.

"After you, Highness," he mocked Nicholas.

"The people will never support you!" Nicholas snapped.

"They will. You've been a terrible ruler, your father nearly destroyed Greece in the German war, and all they remember about me are good things, except for the fact that I supposedly murdered my father. Well, give them an excuse like the video was made up to give Spartacus an excuse to rebel, and in their desperation for a good ruler, the Greek people will support me." Alexander smiled as the truth hit Nicholas hard.

"So why did you kill Martin? And if it was your Hoplites that attacked Sofia Castle, why?" Josh was trying to piece together how he had been fooled.

"So many questions young one. Martin was a threat simply because he was popular. With him gone, and Martin's murder pinned on Nicholas, I can easily resume control of the nation. As for the Sofia thing, well, it will be used as yet more evidence how bloodthirsty Nicholas is.

"Oh yes, I have been planning this for many many years." Alexander grinned.

Nicholas and Josh were led away to cells in the Palace, charged with treason and murder.

******************************************

"Will they rebel?" Nicholas asked Josh. Alexander had thrown them in the same cell, to make them easier to guard, and to waste less "valuable space".

"Not if we can't get word to them." Josh said grimly. "And even if they do, your supporters are on Crete, which is uninhabited by all but your supporters and their families. Alexander won't think twice before pressing the button to destroy them."

******************************************

The Black Hawk landed silently, its new stealth capabilities given by excellent funding proving their worth. Two stealth Comanches, bought from America, hovered above, standing guard against air or land threats.

The Hoplites disembarked, and scrambled for the rooftop entrances. The men who guarded those had been killed by snipers while the helicopters had still been a long way away.

The Hoplites continued to the next floor, silently taking out guards, and continuing right down to the basement. There were a lot more guards there, so each Hoplite chose a target, and fired with silent precision.

Finally they moved forward, disabling security systems with ease, as they had been doing for the entire mission.

Then they reached the cell.

******************************************

"I knew some were still loyal!" Josh whispered happily as he saw the Hoplite guards die, and these new intruders opening the cell doors.

The leader of the Hoplite force motioned to Nicholas and Josh to follow him.

For they were going to Crete.

******************************************

"Now we must return to our posts, before Alexander discovers us gone," the Hoplite leader waved as he climbed back into the Black Hawk.

Nicholas smiled as he met his Colonels. He may be outnumbered more than five to one, but at least now he had a chance, and could go down fighting.

******************************************

Just another bit lol, I'm trying to continue this one. More to come later I hope.

Comments appreciated!

Chris AKA Nemesis

**civman2000** · September 6, 2002, 16:39

Thanks for continuing this! I look forward to more!

**cbraund** · October 31, 2002, 22:39

"What?!" Alexander raged. "How the hell can they be gone?! Have the commander of the guard shot!"

"I'm afraid he already has been Highness, and not by us..."

"Who did this? They can't have escaped alone!" The First Prince demanded.

"It looks like a job by special forces, but all of the Hoplites are accounted for, unless a whole unit is disloyal, which is highly unlikely." The Minister of Defence was now shaking slightly, terrified by the tyrant he had helped restore to the throne.

"Another country?" Alexander asked more calmly. A war on another nation was an exciting prospect after so long in the shadows.

"Not likely, my Prince, the Germans bear a grudge, but have no forces capable of doing this, and no other nation had units close enough. I suspect rebels."

"Crete. Don't tell me, Nicholas has gone there?"

"Yes sir, we have evidence that points to someone arriving in Crete last night, but the worrying thing is that we have nothing for anyone leaving before then, just this one drop off. So Nicholas is likely to be there, but he was taken there by forces on the Greek mainland."

"Why does this worry you? A few rebels are easily dealt with!"

"Sir, remember twenty years ago, you said the same thing."

"You insolent dog..." Alexander slowly growled. His temper hadn't been calmed by his years of waiting.

The Defence Minister never saw the Prince's foot kick him in the groin, and he sank slowly to the floor in agony. Then Alexander stamped once on the man's head, then finally kicked him in the stomach before motioning to the Hoplites by the door.

"Have fun." Alexander smiled, which was the codephrase meaning "torture him".

The Defence Minister was dragged off to a slow and painful death.

The Deputy Minister of Defence entered two minutes later, looking pale.

"You are my new Minister of Defence." Alexander smiled warmly.

"Sir, I have reports of a tactical nuclear weapon going missing. The Hoplites suspect supporters of Nicholas are behind it." The new minister blurted out, desperate to get it out of the way.

"And what are you planning to do about it?"

"Well since we can no longer nuke Crete, which is why I suspect they would take this weapon, to nuke Athens if we nuked Crete, we will have to destroy Nicholas by conventional arms, as his code of honour will stop him killing innocent civilians with such a weapon if we fought him honourably."

Alexander nodded his approval for the plan.

"Or we could make peace with them," the Minister suggested.

"Have fun with him." Alexander sighed as he spoke to the Hoplites by the door.

"And bring in the Assistant Deputy Minister of Defence." He walked back around his desk and sat down heavily.

"They're dropping like flies," he groaned.

*******************************************

More to come tomorrow!

Chris

**ChrisiusMaximus** · November 1, 2002, 11:37

Thanks for continuing this story, just off now to check your other one.

**cbraund** · November 1, 2002, 13:33

The first battle of yet another Greek civil war was fought at sea, and in the air above it, predictably, as Alexander's fleet tried to break through the supporters of Nicholas to invade Crete.

Captain Alexander Smith was the godfather of First Prince Alexander, and his namesake, due to his loyalty to King Phillip.

He had grown up alongside the King, had invaded Greece alongside him, and been almost a brother to him. He had known Prince Alexander's faults, and had been one of the ones that Phillip had hoped would help advise the Prince after Phillip's death, should the King die before his friend.

But the new "First Prince" had ignored his advice, sidelined him by putting him in charge of the navy, which during an invasion of Russia was a useless position. Then had come the video which had started the revolution. From then on, the Captain had people call him Alex rather than Alexander to distance himself from the manical ruler.

Ever since knowing that First Prince Alexander had killed Phillip, Captain Alexander had been devoutly loyal to Spartacus, recognising him as Phillip's true heir.

And what a likeness there was between those two, he thought sadly. Spartacus had been the great but kind general like Phillip, while Alexander, for all his military skills was a tyrant.

He had been Admiral of the Fleet under Spartacus and Nicholas, and it was he who had started a vote amongst his crew to change the name of the ship from HMS Sparta to HMS Spartacus, as a tribute to the dead King.

He had stood by Nicholas - he could see no evil inside him, just a lonely young man wanting to live up to the reputation of his father.

Spartacus was great, Alex thought, and that made him one hell of a hard act to follow, especially for a boy.

But the people of Greece, and most of the armed forces had turned out to not be so loyal after First Prince Alexander's televised speech. After the "tyrant" Nicholas, they were glad to have someone back they couldn't remember many bad things about, and the excuses he gave them were enough to silence any fears they had.

Those and his Hoplites, Alex thought bitterly.

Alex shook his head clear of thoughts. He was old now, nearly seventy, and he found his mind drifting more and more often.

But the battle was going exactly to plan. Alexander, thinking he was a great Admiral as well as General was giving the orders to the enemy fleet, and he was screwing up badly.

"Time to show him that this old dog has learnt some new tricks," Alex said to the crew on the bridge with a grin.

"It's going to be close sir. Two carrier battlegroups against our one, well, it's gonna be one helluva battle."

"I'm counting on it." Alex winked.

******************************************

The three squadrons loyal to Alexander, the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Greek Eagles had taken off from Sparta Air Base about ten minutes before, and already were over the area that the rebels had chosen to give battle.

They were quickly joined by the two squadrons(the 2nd and 3rd Greek Hawks) from HMS Athens, and HMS Greece, recently renamed to HMS King Martin to remember the boy supposedly assassinated by Nicholas.

The 1st Greek Eagles, the squadron fanatically loyal to Nicholas rose from Crete, to be supported by the 1st Greek Hawks from HMS Spartacus.

The two squadrons were amongst the best in the world, but they were outnumbered five to two. Only one air squadron, the elite 4th Greek Eagles had remained neutral, and were refusing to take orders from Alexander or Nicholas.

They clashed in the space between the two fleets, as neither had the desire to go too close to the enemy's fleet, knowing that anti-aircraft guns, while not the most accurate things around could still be deadly. AA guns were the most advanced anti-aircraft weapons in the Greek navy so far, to everyone's embarrassment. The most modern anti-aircraft ships were relics, over fifty years old.

The missiles were launched, in a deadly game of chicken, as at this range all were radar guided. But the command wings of both squadrons loyal to Nicholas had fire-and-forget missiles, bought from America and Britain, and so were quickly able to turn around and flee from the approaching missiles. The other planes all had to keep their heading until their missiles hit, or were guaranteed to hit, and then scramble away as quickly as possible.

The rebel missiles hit first, and gladly, the Harriers of the 1st Greek Hawks did a tight loop and rushed back towards the Spartacus, dodging with their VTOL engines and firing off chaff to try and confuse the missiles.

The 1st Greek Eagles did almost exactly the same, but their F15s escaping as fast as they could, and using all the counter measures they had.

Alexander's forces shrugged off the losses, which were bad, but not disastrous, and raced on, trying to guide their missiles home, confident of victory now.

But rebel F15s reached their own fleet first, and suddenly smaller missiles filled the air, taking out most of the radar-guided missiles.

Only a few F15s didn't make it, and most of those were hit, and then the Harriers raced through, half already having shaken off their tails using their excellent maneuverability, and then to have the rest of the missiles shot down by these unknown SAMs.

But no SAMs were that accurate, the squadron commander of the 2nd Greek Eagles realised.

Those were AEGIS missiles, and the Greek Eagle squadrons were racing straight into them.

Oh sh*t, was the thought that went through his mind as he shouted a warning to the entire air force.

But it was too late.

*****************************************

Captain Alex laughed as the Greek Eagles entered the range of the AEGIS systems installed on two old anti-aircraft cruisers.

When Nicholas had been banished, he had secured all the upgrades that were going to the Greek Armed Forces that he had got for them from other nations, such as the AEGIS systems, the fire and forget missiles, and some Sidewinders for his forces.

Most of the F15s that entered the range of the AEGIS cruisers were annihilated, with only a few escaping. Now the enemy was down to one and a half Harrier squadrons and the same number of F15s, the 5th Greek Eagles having been able to steer away.

Damage had been done to the rebels as well though. They had lost a half-squadron's worth of planes.

But the air battle had been won - Alexander's air force would not venture near the fleet again. Nicholas's aerial assets couldn't really leave its protection again, due to being outnumbered by so many, and no longer having a surprise, but at least the battle would now be decided by the fleets, not by the huge air power that Alexander had.

Now Captain Smith planned his strategy carefully. This battle could be a rout for his fleet.

Or his greatest ever victory.

**ChrisiusMaximus** · November 1, 2002, 16:50

That guy who sailed the Titanic was called Smith wasnt he ? keep writing this is great!

**cbraund** · November 2, 2002, 22:03

HMS Spartacus listed to one side, the torpedo having done a serious amount of damage.

"No more Harrier landings for us, and the battlegroup is in tatters," Alex groaned.

The AEGIS cruisers had been sunk, after a fierce battle between two destroyers, them and the five submarines that made up Alexander's submarine fleet.

Three submarines had sunk, but the remaining two had fired on Spartacus before anti-submarine warfare(ASW) helicopters took them out.

But then good news - the three submarines that supported Nicholas, led by the great submariner Captain Jones had waited for the loyalist fleet to move overhead, slowly but surely chasing the enemy, then surfacing and launching Harpoons anti-ship missiles and torpedoes.

The torpedoes had been aimed at the propellors of the King Martin, and it worked. They hit the weakest part of the carrier, stopping it in mid-ocean and causing a catastrophic gash that made the Captain give the order to abandon ship.

The Harpoons had hit the deck of the Athens, ripping most of it to shreds, and preventing all but a couple of Harriers landing on it until it was repaired, which was a few week's work. One penetrated into the engine room, causing enough damage to slow the ship to a crawl.

Then the submarines began a deadly game of cat and mouse with the loyalist destroyers, outnumbered two to one. They still managed to sink three destroyers and a frigate before finally being sunk themselves, a great victory for the rebels.

Now three destroyers, four frigates and six corvettes, plus the battered Athens faced off against the damaged Spartacus, one destroyer, three frigates and five corvettes.

The loyalist corvettes hung back to defend the Athens, while the destroyers and frigates raced ahead to try and defeat the enemy.

The battle was short and swift, the outcome decided by the weight of numbers. The Spartacus was scuttled by Smith, who stayed on board to check it worked himself.

They had fought to the death, and inflicted huge damage upon Alexander's fleet.

But they had not stopped his invasion.

******************************************

**ChrisiusMaximus** · November 3, 2002, 05:17

Most excellent, keep it coming.

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Illusions of Victory(Dangerous Games 5)

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