The Phantasma of Hades

[Lord Zalzabad]

Constantine's Plan is revealed

The train pulled into central station, and Constantine, and Srato leapt off the train, and hurried down platform 9, towards the bus terminal. It was rush hour, so they knew the slightest delay would get them demoted. They reached the terminal, but too late, the bus pulled off. “Now what are we going to do? We’ll be late,” yelled Srato, “You shouldn’t of finished that ham, Constantine!”
“No need to panic, boys,” said a voice from behind them, “I will give you a lift!” The two men turned, and saw an aging officer, wearing the rank of Marshal. Constantine knew exactly who he was. “Marshal Antonius! What a surprise! Shouldn’t you be in Byzantine?”
“No, Major Constantine, I was relieved of my command, as our great Consul Cicero ordered General Cracus to supress the rebellion there. Cracus has always been his favorite! And now I hear rumors that Caesar is back, and Cicero has gained dictatorial powers…”
“Wait a minute,” said Srato, impatiently, did you just say Caesar's back?”
“It’s only a rumor” replied Constantine, as the two of them got into the back of the Marshal car.
“Most rumors have some basis in fact,” replied Antonius to this remark, following the two junior officers into the Car, “Imperial Palace please!”
“How do you mean some basis in fact?” replied Constantine, anxiously.
“For example, a few years ago I overheard a conversation between Cassius and Cicero about the assassination of Caesar. It seems his body was never recovered”
“What?” replied Srato
“No, nether was the body of his loyal guard, Captain Marius. Intelligence indicated that Marius resurfaced in Germany, and was recruiting troops in the name of Caesar. He disappeared from there about a month ago”
“And you suspect that he has something to do with the uprising at Anyang?” asked Constantine
“Most properly, yes.”
“And what of the other rumor, that Cicero has claimed dictatorial powers?” said Srato, as the car pulled up to the curb. The door opened, as a voice said, “It’s not a rumor, it’s a fact”
“General Chrisius Maximus! What a surprise to see you here! Come in, come in!” said Antonius, gleefully, adding, “how do you know its not a rumor, Chrisius?”
“As I was there when he massacred the Senators”
“What!” all three said in unison, as the car continued on its journey.
“Cicero is getting out of control!” said Constantine, at the top of his voice.
“Yes, Major, but what are we going to do about it?” replied General Maximus.
“Me and Srato here were planning to assassinate him”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, especially at a time like this?” said Chrisius anxiously
“What’s wrong now?” said Antonius
“What else, this is why the meeting was called, to talk about what we can do against the Traitor, Scipio”
“Scipio turned traitor? Cassius must have rolled over in his grave!” said Antonius, in amazement, I have never met a more loyal man to Rome than Scipio”
“Even though he killed Marshal Brutus at the battle of Lyon?” said Chrisius
“Well, apart from that!” said Antonius, flustered at the rebuke.
“Look, don’t you see it? He has created this Scipio problem as an excuse to gain power! We must destroy him!” yelled Constantine at the top of his voice.
“And who is going to replace him?” said Antonius. Constantine thought about this for a minute, and replied, “I will” The car stopped at the Republican Guard HQ, and the door opened. “We will discuss this later, Constantine, but do not proceed intill we know we have the majority of commanders behind you,” said Antonius, and adding, “I am sorry about your fathers passing”

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Superb stuff The plot continues to thicken. Youre doing another first class job with this Lord Z, how on earth do you manage to keep on top of all these characters.

And thanks for using my name but if you kill off me can I go down fighting like a true warrior.

[Lord Zalzabad]

Adress to the Nation, Cicero's Speech

“General Scipio, our mechanized force is perusing the Rebel troops,” said Captain Flavius, as the General’s train headed in the direction of Pisae, behind the advancing column of Tanki.
“Excellent, how is Publius’ forces advancing?”
“They have just left Fort Constantine, and will be there before us.”
“Wonderful. I expect that we may face some stiff competition once we get to Pisae. Do we have in possession of any Airforce Planes?”
“Just two reconnaissance units, As you know, the fighters and bombers are kept at Veii, intill needed on the field of combat. We should not waste our meager resources on such a minor place. We must preserve our aircraft intill we really need them” replied Captain Flavius
“Very well, send the third motorized brigade ahead for reconnaissance duty.”
“Very well, General” said Flavius, and stiffly saluting, he marched off. Scipio looked out the window of his train, and once more remembered his dream. “No!” he said to him-self, “I will not fall to the tyranny and greed that my mentor died fighting!” He sat down and waited. He looked at the cabinet, “I think I’ll watch a little Television”

The meeting hall was massive. There were ten long tables, heading towards an eleventh table, situated at the head of it. The four officers walked in. Antonius and Chrisius headed towards the main table, while Constantine and Srato headed for the nearest vacant seat. Srato pointed to something only just visible from this end of the Great Hall. Four cameras pointing in the direction of the Consul’s seat. They took their seats and waited for the meeting to start. They were, luckily for them, not late. The door shut behind him, and Cicero walked into the room.

Caesar and Marius stopped into a farmer’s shack for supplies. The farmer, recognizing Caesar, gave them ample supplies and a large bottle of Rum to share. Caesar looked around the shack, and saw a strange, foreign looking box sitting in the corner. “What is that?” asked Caesar
“That is a Television, oh great Caesar!” replied the farmer.
“Oh, a television! I have been meaning to try one of these out! Show me how it works” replied Caesar, excitedly.
"Anything for you, Oh Great Caesar!” said the farmer as he turned on the television

“The show advertised to be on at the moment, the Adventures of Alex the Greek, has been canceled. Prepare for a speech from our great Consul, Cicero!” The picture changed to show Cicero’s face. It showed an evil smirk, which quickly disappeared. “My fellow countrymen! I speak to you today to inform you of a great wrong that has been done to our nation. You may be aware that recently, my Co-consul, Cassius, was murdered. After thorough investigations, we discovered none other than his most trusted confidant, General Martillus Scipio, committed the murder. Forces loyal to Scipio entered the Senate during question time, and massacred the Senators. When I sent troops to arrest Scipio and his fellow conspirators, they attacked us with their Armies, pushing back our forces. In these times of crisis, I have taken the liberty on myself to become Dictator intill the Rebel Scipio, and the Rebellion at Anyang is defeated. At the moment, the Army is marching towards Anyang to crush the rebels, and our offensive forces in the West, now lead my Marshal Antonius,” the camera changed to Antonius, who’s face showed no expression, then the Camera returned to Cicero, “will crush our opposition, by using our latest invention, the Modern Armor. We will punish the Rebels for what they have done to our nation, and their bodies will hang from the rafters of the Capitol!” with that a cheer erupted from the crowd, and the Camera switched back to the newsreader. “And now we take you back to your scheduled programming, the Adventures of Alex the Greek”

Scipio looked shacked at what he saw. “That traitor! How could he accuse me of his dirty work! I will not rest intill I have his head served to me on a platter!” Flavius entered the room. Seeing Scipio in such a mood, he asked, “what’s wrong, General?”
“Cicero is what’s wrong! Order our forces to advance at double speed!”
“Yes sir.”

“Well this is certainly a change of events!” said Marius to Caesar, who was still staring at the television, “What are you doing?”
“I want to watch this, Alex the Greek is my favorite character! I cannot believe they made a series on him!”
“There will be plenty of time to watch television once we take Byzantine, you can see it there. Now hurry along, we have to get moving!”
“Ok, ok, I’m coming.”

Constantine turned to Srato, and said, “I told you, he’s a madman, blaming Scipio for all his evil doings! He must be stopped!”

[vovan]

Well, Lord Zalzabad, I hate to repeat other people, but let me tell you: this here story, coupled with it's prequel, is one of the best I have read on these forums.

2* And trust me, if I had more than two thumbs, I'd raise them up as well.

[Lord Zalzabad]

Cracus is fooled, Retreat to Bundistrum

Thanks for the positive feedback, but here is the next part
------------------------------------------------------------------------“General Cracus, we are approaching Anyang, and forward scouts report no opposition to our advance”
“Very good, Major,” replied General Cracus, “but warn the men to stay on their guard. This General Marius is said to be a wise commander. I expect a ruse somewhere”
“Very well, General,” said the Major, returning to the Radio. This is very strange, thought Cracus, looking out from his command train over the city. He would have expected some resistance to his advance. The Major was talking hurriedly into his microphone. Getting up from his seat, he walked to the General, “Sir, there is something you need to see” Cracus looked surprised, as he left the train, and boarded a jeep.

“Colonel, we have reached the Pisae city limits. Shall we advance further?” Publius took out his spyglass, and looked around the city. There seemed to be a motorized brigade based in the city. He turned to his officer, and told him, “Send two battalions armed with Anti-Tanki weapons to the western side of the city to cut off their retreat”
“Yes, Colonel, it shall be done.”

Constantine left the Great Hall shortly after the speech, and spied Antonius and Chrisius talking secretively to a group of Generals. Constantine turned to Srato, and told him, “I have a feeling I may be able to complete my mission!” Srato smiled as they continued down the hallway. How would they commit the murder? What would the reaction be? Would they ever live to see peace? Only the Gods (and the author!) knew that.

“So,” said Cracus, “why did you take me to downtown Anyang?” The jeep drove passed the storefronts, along a deserted street. “Because I think you need to speak with someone we found in the city,” replied the Major. The Jeep stopped outside a seedy looking bar. The Major jumped out, and opened the door to the bar, “after you, sir.” The General entered the bar to find it deserted, with the exception of two soldiers, who were guarding a trembling old man. Cracus sat down opposite to him, and asked him, “Where is the Caesarites?”
“They… they left”
“When?”
“This morning”
“Where were they going?”
“Cea..ceas” but the man was too groggy to answer him. A soldier picked up a bucket of water, and poured it over him, “Now tell me where were they going?”
“Caesura”
The general burst out of the bar, yelling to his driver, “Issue a full scale retreat to Caesura! We must get there before they do!”

Back on the train, General Cracus was calmer. He turned to his signal officer, and asked him, “If they left this morning, how long will it take intill they get there?”
“They will be there this morning,” said the major, looking up at the night sky.
“When will we be there?”
“Midday”
“Cancel my precious commands, withdraw the army to Brundistrum. There, we will make our stand. Get me Cicero on the phone right now”
“Yes sir”

General Chrisius knocked gently on Cicero’s bedroom door.
“What?” came the voice from within.
“General Cracus is on the phone for you, line two”
“Good, he must be reporting victory,” said Cicero as he picked up the phone. Calpurnia next to him hardly moved.

“Dictator Cicero?”
“Yes Cracus, I hope you have good news to deliver?”
“Actually, the news I must deliver is rather bad.”
“What!”
“Caesar's men left Anyang this morning, and…”
“And what!”
“They are marching on Caesura, they will be there by daybreak.”
“Well then get back there and defend the city!”
“I’m afraid that he will already have the city by the time we get there. He will use the arms stores there to help improve his army, and I doubt we have the mechanized forces to deal with him. I am ordering my men to Brundistrum, his next most likely target, due to the Iron Works located there. I ask you to send an army to Byzantium to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.”
“Very well, Cracus, this time only. But if you fail me again, I will kill you myself!” Cicero slammed down the phone, waking Calpurnia. “Who was that, darling?”
“No one, no one at all”
“Oh, ok then, said Calpurnia, drifting back to sleep, not knowing the dangers that awaited them, but Cicero knew. That night, he had a strange dream. Rome was burning, like the depths of hell. A ghost appeared to him, saying to him, “You will pay for your evils Cicero. All you love will be taken away from you, your wife, your daughter, even your life.” Cicero woke with a start, looking around saw that it was 5:30 in the morning.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Absolutely fandabtabulous or words to that effect

[Lord Zalzabad]

Thanks for the praise! But nothing is perfect. I have just completed several edits to the story (and there are likely to be more!) Now, General Scipio is in the WEST not the EAST, to make the story more realistic to the map I played on. Also, I have removed some minor parts of the story, including Romatizing Marshal Antony's name to Marshal Antonius.

[Lord Zalzabad]

Map of Rome

Below is a map of the Roman Republic, at 1496 AD

Cities
1 Rome
2 Veii
3 Athens
4 Spata
5 Thermopilie
6 Caesuria
7 Anyang
8 Caeseraugustus
9 Byzantine/Byzantium
10 Brundistrum
11 Hispalis
12
13 Actum
14 Pompeii
15 Ravenna
16 Pisae
17 Giza
18

For 12, and 18 I cannot remember the names.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Thanks for the map it really helps to picture the story.

[Lord Zalzabad]

Cicero's Blunder, Caesuria falls

“General Marius, there seems to be no resistance in the city. Shall we move forward?” said Major Graccis, eyeing out the city through a spyglass.
“Yes, Graccis, advance towards the Armory,” replied Marius
“General, where is the Garrison?” asked Caesar
“I believe they advanced to Anyang to stop us” replied General Marius.
“Then we should fortify our Armor here, and wait for their advance”
“No, Caesar, I believe General Cracus would sense that the situation is lost, and would have retreated to a more fortified position”
“Like where?”
“Perhaps Brundistrum, or maybe Byzantine”
“Very well, then, we should advance on Ceaseraugustus and advance on Byzantine,” said Caesar
“Why advance to Byzantium? I thought we would advance to Brundistrum?” asked a puzzled General Marius
“Because, I believe that Cracus would think that is where we would be heading, so he would fortify there. We will sweep around them, taking Athens and Spata, and cut off from reinforcements, and supplies, they will be forced to surrender” replied Caesar, “but we need to expand our Army. Do you have any ideas about this, Marius?”
“We will recruit from the local populous, and recruit soldiers that surrender to us. That should boost our Army.”
“Do you have any idea about Scipio’s forces?”
“Well, Lepidus is dead, and Scipio’s forces are advancing towards Pisae. In addition to this, I have reports that Cicero’s forces are in disarray. The majority of their army is split between Brundistrum and the Via Pass. They can do very little attacking, only defending. Once we take Byzantium, Cicero’s forces would have been broken. In order to stop our advance into Rome, they would have to withdraw troops from the Via Pass, or Pompeii. With these positions weakened, Scipio’s forces will break through and capture Rome. We will then ask them to give the city to Rome’s rightful ruler, you, Caesar, and if they don’t, we will have to take it,” finished Marius.

“Dictator Cicero, shouldn’t we send a division to Byzantium?” said General Chrisius anxiously.
“No, General, we do not have the Troops. We must first take out Scipio before dealing with Caesar,” replied Cicero.
“But if they take Byzantine, Cracus will be threatened with being surrounded. We cannot allow that to happen,” replied Chrisius
“Very well, then, take troops from the Greek Garrisons, and fortify in Hispalis. If Caesar wants to surround us, he must go through there. If he does do this, I will order the retreat of the Brundistrum Army”
“But why not send troops to Byzantium?”
“Because if they were advancing to the City after they capture Caesura, they will get there before us. The garrison at Caesaraugustus will most properly surrender without a fight, so it is no use moving them, ether.”
“I believe that your mission will be completed, Dictator,” replied Chrisius, thinking to himself, that all was doomed. He left the room, and wandered towards Marshal Antonius’ chambers, to report this news to him.

“Emperor, sir, we have discovered no traces of troops in the city, it is ours. The Armory is packed with Tanki and Artillery, which we will arm the army with at once,” said Major Graccis, through his radio.
“Wonderful, Caesura is ours by default,” said Caesar gleefully, and adding, “Marius, I wish to visit the Governor to discuss the terms of surrender.”
“Yes, oh Immortal Caesar”

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Keep it coming.

[Lord Zalzabad]

Antonius' Plan, Constantine is Promoted

To my loyal readers, sorry about the lack of updates, but I have been on holiday, so here is the next segment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
“So, Chrisius, what’s on your mind?” asked Marshal Antonius, as the General sulked into his office.
“That Cicero will be the doom of us all!” replied Chrisius, angrily, “he has ordered us to advance to Hispalis to cover the retreat of Cracus’ forces.”
“Yes, that is foolish, we should meet them at the field of battle, most properly south of Byzantine. I will lead my own force of the Roman Garrison to face Caesar. You head for Hispalis to protect the retreat, and tell Cracus about my plan.”
“What about Cicero?”
“We will not tell him. I will put Major Constantine in command of Rome. He will then be in a perfect position to accomplish his plan. Do you agree about him leading the plot?”
“Yes, but it would not be very credible for a Major to take command of the Government.”
“Yes, you’re right, Chrisius, we will promote him to General. You better get going.”
“Yes, Marshal”

Constantine was sitting looking out over the city of Rome, wondering if he should complete his plan. What if the pubic did not accept him as their leader? Well he would jump that hurdle when he got to it. Constantine heard a jeep pull up behind him, and a captain of the Republican Guard jumped out and approached him. He saluted his superior and started talking, gesturing Constantine towards the Jeep. Constantine shrugged, and followed the Captain into the Jeep. They drove off towards a bunker that was not too far away.

“What is this all about?” asked Constantine to the Captain as he walked into the bunker.
“Message from Marshal Antonius, you have been promoted to commander of the garrison. Congratulations, General Constantine” said the Captain handing over the insignia, and adding, “Dictator Cicero wishes to see you, sir”
“And what about?” said Constantine, still surprised about his promotion.
“About the defense of the city.”
“What do you mean?”
“Antonius has taken the city garrison to defeat General Marius at Byzantium. Cicero is angry, and wants heads to fall. I would be cautious about your actions, General”
“Very well, Captain,” said Constantine, as he turned to leave. He paused for a moment, and turned to the captain, and asked, “Tell me, Captain, how do you feel about Cicero’s rule?” Constantine could see a nervous twitch go through the Captains hand. After hesitating for a moment, the Captain opened his mouth and said nervously, “I, err, think he is doing a, umm, wonderful job” Constantine smiled at this reaction and slowly walked out of the bunker. He had got all the information he needed. He climbed into the jeep, and without further hesitation, sped away to the Consuls Palace.

“That darn Antonius!” yelled Cicero angrily, pacing back and forth on the floor of the office. The Air Marshal looked nervous at this, and asked Cicero if he could do anything to help.
“Help? No, I do not want anymore of my officers running off to war, for Jupiter’s sake, I have a Major in charge of the Garrison of our Capital! And to add to my misfortune, the Capital is practically undefended! If Marius or Scipio break through, they will face little opposition. How is Project Z going, Air Marshal?”
“I am afraid that Project Z will not be completed for another 15 years. We are in the process of removing all the scientists from Lugium, but I doubt we could move all the equipment before the enemy gets there.”
“Very well, use heavy transport Aircraft to move all you can to Veii. There, we will ship the equipment off to New Rome. Also, gather all the scientists you can, and withdraw them to New Rome, and Jerusalem also. Not just the ones involved in Project Z, but all of them, the Modern Armor project, the Radar Artillery Project, for Jupiter’ sake, even our stealth project. It is a shame we could not rescue the team from Giza developing Rockets.”
“Yes, it is a shame, Dictator. I will get to what you requested immediately,” said the Air Marshal, saluting, and turning to leave the office. But before he had the chance, Cicero’s secretary ran into the room, “Dictator, sir, a General Constantine is here to see you, sir.”
“Very well, send him in, Marshal, you may leave”

[vovan]

Very nice. It's nice to see the great story continued after a long break. Hope you won't leave us waiting for the next installment for another two weeks. Keep the goods coming

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Are'nt these christmas smilies nice, Oh jingle bells Jingle bells, Arghhh enough of this slop please continue Zalza !!

[Lord Zalzabad]

There will be another chapter tomorrow. I seem to have a lot of spare time on my hands with no more school!