Andreyich

Heroes of Might and Magic: Defying the Gravekeep

The helmet was a rather hefty thing, though much effort was put into decoration it was clearly just as functional as it was beautiful. It was of a time long past, words within the item having their Us writ as Vs. The moment the steel of the helmet touched the gorget of his plate his vision changed. When a helmet is on one usually has restricted vision, but in the case of Brandon it seemed his sight was unimpeded. That would hardly be noticeable though, with the much more bothersome fact he was now in a different place entirely. A bridge was before him, leading to a ring housing great energies.

No more fear.

No more pain.

Your father calls you.

The voice was not quite a hiss and not quite a rasp, but it was calming. Not in the sense of soothing the boy's emotions, but rather it was as if it squeezed them out before forcing him to walk along the bridge; no longer was Brandon in control of his body, his legs moving him across the bridge and through the ring.

You've stumbled through life as headless poultry.

No more.

A blinding white light, and then another change of scenery. A circle of stone surrounded by nothingness, pure dark with a nonexistent light source illuminating the stone and a very, very tall man — he could well be mistaken for a young cyclops if not for the wondrous armour upon him, along with blade and shield glowing a light blue.

The great tabard the fellow had obscured a line of sight to the legs of the man, but there was nevertheless a feeling he was floating in the air.

BRANDON UNICORN, I PRESUME?

Somehow there was a sense that after booming this question the Knight was raising an eyebrow... all despite the visor of his helm obscuring any vision. For himself Brandon would have his vision no longer given a green lens, and the helmet he had donned to come here was gone. His wounds had heal, and he felt as if he once more had energy even if aches remained.

Battle of the Nations

I will be posting Monday.

War Never Changes 2 : A Post Nuclear Nation Roleplay

Legio Aeterna Vitrix

Name: The Legion (de facto name, de jure name being “The Caesarian Empire”)

Flag (picture or description):

Territory (picture or description) and Geography: The exact territory of the Legion is hard to mark down, however they have major footholds in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico. Smaller ones however are present in Nevada and Oklahoma, along with recent incursions and outposts in Texas, Wyoming, Idaho and Mexico.

History (if using a pre-existing faction, recent history will due. The RP start date is 2290):
Not many know this, but Legate Lanius survived the battle for Hoover Dam. There he was before Vulpes Inculta, wounded but vengeful, just barely having escaped the Courier’s wrath after feigning death. Oh how full of hate he looked even without his facial expression visible and yet… down on his knees, he didn’t look so tall. Vulpes could have saved the man’s life, but as he looked upon the man, and then upon the millions of lives of America he wondered: why?

And so Legate Lanius died alone, inglorious, and by a stab to the back. Lucius - Caesar’s right hand man - would have been next in line. But Vulpes knew that wouldn’t do, oh no. Vulpes made sure to let everyone know of the death of the Legate, and that in his last dying breaths the Frumentarius had been designated his successor. It was proclaimed to all that the battle was a pyrrhic victory in fact, a blow dealt to the unity of the unholy Western Axis and the advance of the invader halted — nevertheless the work of the Legion had just begun.

His show of power went well with the dedicated Legionnaires, but to those who weren’t there to see it in person at the Fort and who had better memories of their tribal past it wasn’t enough. The inevitable rebellion and attack of opportunists was predicted by Vulpes however, who instantly started mobilizing the rallied Legionnaires who didn’t revert to their tribal pasts and sent his troops to march all across the territories the Legion had conquered. He had to act fast, for with more than three quarters of Legion controlled territory facing some sort of assault the Legion now effectively had no supply lines, no means of reinforcement, and were permanently encircled.

A blitzkrieg of sorts had to be undergone, but though the lightning strikes done by Legate Aurelius were masterful they were not fast enough. Vulpes knew it was time for his experience in the Frumentarii to shine, and that it was time for desperate measure. The ghoul locked in one of the Legion’s cages calling himself John Doyle was released. Vulpes gave him the moniker Dolos, and so a new Frumentarius was found. A great campaign of terror was started to clear the path for the Legion’s conquest and it worked very well with the Ghoul that was a former CIA Director at its head. It was a hard fought conflict, and not the entirety of Legion territory could be truly restored. But the state resembled something of its former self, and all looked to Vulpes Inculta for what to do next. He made an announcement: Caesar had ascended to his father Mars in Elysium, while the Legate was there right by his side. Now it was up to Vulpes to lead the Legion to glory and finish Caesar’s vision.

Now he was at a crossroads. He could continue upon the same path set by his predecessors which had worked to a point. Caesar was wise, but Vulpes knew the truth that the man was weak. Legate on the other hand was mighty, but he was a fool. None could see it yet, but Vulpes knew he was better than either man, and he would succeed where those lesser men had failed. He would bring order to America, he would be its salvation.

The reconquered tribes were told that with the West pacified they could now revive memories of their pasts. Orders were given for Legionnaires and Frumentarii to cease harassing the Brotherhood of Steel to the East and the Mormons to the North-West, Emissaries sent to these groups instead to establish relations such that they could be learned from; Scribes and Missionaries were invited to study and preach, and trade commenced. Intellectualism was promoted rather than vilified, and the distinction between a tribe and community was abolished while mandatory service for all able bodied men was replaced with a system of quotas for troops such that tribes might develop, while advanced troops may be levied from more advanced communities previously doing naught but a little trade to deserve the unparalleled safety the Legion offered. People were to make families rather than reproduce by means of systematic rape and there was even something resembling a distinction of personal and state property created.

The mind of Vulpes Inculta was running on overtime, hundreds of schemes and plans devised every day and indeed he did get ahead of himself; just as the Legion entered a recovery phase it once more almost collapsed.

The changes Vulpes had made were too many and too fast, and much of the old Guard of the Legion wasn't happy about it. In quiet and dimly lit tents Lucius met with Gabban who in turn met with Centurions Severus and Antony, while Marcus Licinius Crassus was met with to insure that there would be supplies and structural support for a slowly planned attempt to usurp Vulpes Inculta.

As the Legion had taken back most of its territory it looked North to take vengeance upon the 80s tribe for their raids upon the Legion while it was weak, it was discovered they were busy fighting the NCR. Seeing no real purpose in fighting the remaining dreggs Vulpes found it more prudent to demand tribute of them, which many saw as the last straw.

It was not quite a revolt and not quite a coup, but it certainly was devastating given the warring the Legion had just gone through. However Vulpes had proven himself by the reconquista to the tribes and enough officers that he had worth to hold his own. It was not enough to get a fast victory however, which was desperately needed lest vultures once more descend against the infighting Legion. Thus, a controversial move was made to free that vast majority of current slaves the condition they stand and fight for the Legion. This did make a few officers defect to the rebels, but ultimately it padded the numbers of the loyalists enough such that they could overrun all strongholds of rebellion. While much blood was shed and lost they were routed, most going North to flee the vicious Frumentarius’s wrath. It was not only the warriors that went against Vulpes that were punished of course. The few communities and tribes that joined the rebellion were razed to the ground and its folk taken for slaves, while more than half of Priestesses of Mars had their heads mounted on sticks.

Vulpes made sure that this showed that any kindness he had was not a sign of weakness. He purchased several robobrains from the Mid-Western Brotherhood of Steel such that the captured ringleaders of the foe could suffer in eternal torment for all to see that fate of those who oppose him and that such would never be tolerated.

At last, a sort of peace reigned. The Legion’s manpower was heavily depleted following all this death, and even many of the warmongers such as Aurelius were war-weary. This time was thus used for many internal projects to invest for the future be they for infrastructure, agriculture or industry.

Yet Vulpes was also aware of the fact that the Legion was built on war, and indeed he could not delay his grand vision of an America to which order was brought for too long. Very soon the Legion once more began to expand. They made sure borders remained static in the West, delaying that conflict for later doing likewise not pushing East into the territory of the Brotherhood of Steel. All other directions however, were fair game. One by one tribes were conquered and the prestige and threat of the Legion grew again. Their manpower was replenishing and even approaching the point of surpassing what it was (at least, on paper), and they even started to conquer some proper communities with some degree of technology rather than just tribes.

Still, there would always be those unhappy with the ongoing rule. Many remained loyal to Vulpes during the civil wars because they simple feared the alternative being even worse, and one such man was the Legate at the time — Aurelius of Phoenix. There were many supporters who concurred with him, and so he decided he would make changes in the most direct and bloodless way possible, that rather ironically being by challenging Vulpes Inculta to a duel knowing the Frumentarius would have no choice but to accept if he wanted his reputation to not collapse.

Ripper to gladius, weapons clashed but eventually Vulpes was disarmed and a great slash to his gut forcing him down. Aurelius rested on his laurels however, and as he basked in adoration Vulpes removed a stiletto from his boot and cut the man’s throat before lodging the weapon in his knee to immobilize him. The Frumentarius didn’t kill the man however, and instead called forth medical personnel to stabilize him.

The Legate was too popular and valuable to kill, and thus for his honourable service all of the men loyal to him were put together and told the following: they were to conquer all they came upon in Mexico until they found oil for the glory of the Legion, and they would not return until they were either successful or dead.

With a problem gone, Vulpes turned towards other frontiers of the Legion. He appointed his longtime comrade Alerio as Legate, and though this once more raised eyebrows he was ordered to conquer the region along the I93 around Caliente, culminating in taking the rich settlement itself.

Alerio more than proved himself, crushing any resistance the local tribes offered in short order before creating an artful and rather frightening siege of the settlement, which after some expert word-smithery was taken without a single death on either side.

Using the new definition of a settled community as a tribe in and of itself and with the numbers further padded by using Tributary peoples like the Utah 80s as tribes, the Empire of the Legion could count two hundred tribes to its name. Vulpes sees double that as the threshold for when he can finally be ready to once more strike upon the NCR, and now prepares to announce the same to his people when his under-construction capital of Caesarsgrad Novus. What the future holds for the Legion is uncertain to say the least. The gambit in Mexico may well not pay off with the Petro Chico oil long since sucked out over the more than two centuries since the bombs fell. While much autonomies were provided it may still eventually start feeling overstretched much like the NCR, and if all the neighbours of the Empire band together against them the Legion would collapse in less than a day. But for now Vulpes Inculta continues Caesar’s vision, correcting it where it went wrong and making all he comes upon kneel before the Bull.

Population: Without proper censii at the moment, the population is estimated to be a little above a million. The actual population fluctuates very rapidly with the many wars and conquests the Legion has, but the extreme natalist policy ensures that it has a general trend for rapid growth.

Government/Domestic Politics:
The Caesarian Empire is ruled by an Emperor - the Caesar - Vulpes Inculta. At will he may overturn any choice or event within his domain as his right with none able to contest it. However, he is more than aware he cannot efficiently manage every single thing by himself (though he gives it his best effort) and naturally delegates much of his rule. Over the years following the death of Caesar Vulpes has created a fairly efficient if not fully developed bureaucracy. Tribes and communities (the distinction abolished a few years after the death of Caesar) across the territory of the Empire now have some measure of autonomy, their own chieftains, mayors, and other leaders allowed to rule however they want so long as they meet their quotas of tributes to the Legion, and obey all mandates of the Emperor. Furthermore, he has assigned Princeps to rule over every region in the Legion such that the communities under their rule may coordinate for mutual prosperity and defence. A great amount of domestic affairs are ultimately overseen by the Officiorum ab Famulatus, but much power is also given to people without any proper title, for example the liberated slave Siri. The most pressing question for the Emperor is who will succeed him, for though he has dealt with most fifth columns rather viciously and effectively, it is far from guaranteed a good person will come to rule. Provisionally it is Legate Alerio, followed by Mr. Doyle, followed by Cato Hostilius who will rule should Vulpes Inculta die unexpectedly, but he hopes to eventually groom someone human, and a leader rather than spymaster to continue the great legacy of the Legion.

Notable People:
Flavius Valerius Augustus Maximus Vulpes Inculta Pontificus Constantine Invictus Caesar, more simply known either as the Emperor or Vulpes Inculta - The Desert Fox, Rangers’ bane, Emperor of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, defender of Christians, Warrior of Mars, Protector of Oklahoma and Nevada, and so many more vain titles that their reader will usually have to stop for breath a few times before continuing. In a way he has shown the Legion to be far more meritocratic than the false democracy of the NCR, having risen from simple tribal nobody all the way to Emperor of one of the largest nations in post-war America. He is a well spoken person of many skills. A tactician, a strategist, a logistician, given a radio and opportunity he will micro-manage battles at the scale of even individuals, without his macro-management suffering the slightest amount. He is a speaker to put Emissaries to shame and a fighter to gut whole groups of men without even turning his ripper on, but he can not match either of his predecessors in where they are most proficient. He is conscious of this and so he doesn’t try to simply follow in their footsteps, but rather uses his own proficiencies to carve out his own glory. Though he has issues facing him daily he has nevertheless managed to become a popular Emperor with devout followers from the lowest tribals to the highest officers. Vulpes Inculta is a ruthless leader however, and his many kindnesses compared to his predecessor should not be mistaken for softness; those who have tend to end up with their heads as decorating pointy sticks. His cunning is his greatest trait, only getting better with age (this fact admittedly in part thanks to kidnapped Followers of the Apocalypse ensuring his health remains perfect).

Aurelius of Phoenix - Aurelius was once the Legate of Vulpes Inculta’s new Legion. However, he at some point challenged the man to a duel where Vulpes snatched victory from the jaw of defeat. Despite this treachery Vulpes showed the man mercy, and with all of his followers he is sent to conquer Mexico, told to return with his banner or wrapped in it. With a formidable army, he now marches for the rich oil fields, pipes, and refineries of Petro Chico.

Centurion Maximus Alexus - A valuable centurion, he heads the Oklahoma campaign.

Centurion Maximus Dead Sea - Yet another Centurion, he heads the Colorado-Nebraska Campaign

Cato Hostilius - though formerly a Frumentarius, the bulky man was trusted by Vulpes Inculta and was thus assigned to oversee the Praetorians

Centurion Maximus Otho - A Centurion loyal to Aurelius of Phoenix, he has been assigned as a sort of aide to the man.

Centurion Maximus Lucullus - Centurion in charge of the Idaho-Wyoming incursions, distinguished himself under Legate Alerio in the conquest of Caliente.

Legate Alerio of Caliente - though this brought much frustrations to the Centurions of the Legion, the Frumentarius Alerio has been the Legate of the Legion ever since Aurelius of Phoenix was forced to step down from the role. He has been instrumental in insuring the reforms Vulpes envisioned have gone through, and the conquest of the region around Caliente combined with the short lived siege and bloodless annexation of the place earned him the respect of his skeptics.

John Doyle - Known to most in the Legion outside of its upper leadership as Dolos, he is a ghoul who before the bombs dropped had the rather high up position of being a regional CIA director. Caesar had imprisoned him only a few weeks before the battle for Hoover Dam, his knowledge entertaining and impressing the sickly Emperor, while Lanius frankly was not interested in micro management as low as executing the fellow. Vulpes however saw the full value of the man upon his ascension to power. The fellow was liberated, but under a quite simply condition; he would sew the entire skins of men upon himself to look as a man. Setting a precedent for much more ghouls to join the Legion, Mr. Doyle has been an invaluable asset to Vulpes’s new Legion. He has insured that the Frumentarii are an intelligence agency the likes which none save perhaps the synth program could match. His heinous creativity cannot be understated, most recently one must note his introduction of more mutants into the Frumentarii. This comes in two main forms, one being Nightkin and the other fellow ghouls. Retrieving radioactive materiel from Camp Searchlight and Techatticup Mine, he has a great many vile plans concocting in his head; Mr. Doyle loves his new job, the work echoing to his old scheming and villainy against the Chicoms and their hippy-beatnik comrades.

Lupa - A Frumentarius that sided with Aurelius, he has likewise been exiled to the Mexican campaign to head all other Frumentarii loyal to Aurelius. Of course he is aware many Frumentarii have been imbedded in the army sent South to watch upon him and his master, but he has been able to detect far from all of them.

Centurion Atticus - Assigned to the Nevada theatre, he is there to organize raids and the likes in the territory of Nevada including New Vegas to insure neither the NCR nor their affiliates decide the Legion is weak.

Canyon Runner - The leader of the Speculatores, he is conscious of the fact that while he is a competent man he is most certainly out of his depth in running an organization of the scale and importance he does. Vulpes Inculta and other Legion leaders concurred, and they have been building the infrastructure for integrating different parts of the Speculatores all across different branches of the Legion, with Canyon to be the head of the new Speculatore Legionnaires; he is simply to hold the line until heads for the Speculatores of other Legion branches are groomed.

Karl - Disgraced following his failure in the conversion of the Great Khans to the cause the Legion, things were not looking good for Karl. However Vulpes was far more understanding than any other leader of the Legion, as well as being arguably more pragmatic; thus he gave the fellow a "second chance", and it more than paid off. Doing his best to pay off his life debt to the new Emperor he turned many tribes to the Legion with a soft word here and there and by his work many a bloodless acquisition of territory happened. However, his valuable Frumentarii experience in addition to his oration and experience with tribals lead him to being a sort of overseer of the Tributarii, if not quite its de jure leader. Officially just another Frumentarii, Karl has reserved himself a valuable place in the Legion, many frontier operations to annex or make tributaries of different tribes coordinated by him.

Picus - In spite of his disgrace during the ordeal of Camp McCarran his value was noted by Vulpes Inculta and following some successful suicide missions he was considered redeemed much like Karl. He is somewhat of both a right hand and odd-job man for Vulpes Inculta, some believing the Frumentarius will lead the Frumentarii-Speculatores in the coming second-wave reforms.

Siri - Part of the Great Slave Liberation that Vulpes had once done with the aim of creating reserves of manpower for himself during the rebellions of Legionnaires, Vulpes Inculta singled her out as a practical woman with experience of many of the Legion’s new citizens and warriors, and has been given somewhat of a role as Minister of Science; while it was far too late for her to learn to proper Doctoring she could pave the way for others to do so.

Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus - Head of the Officiorum ab Famulatus, the position has been changed from one of simply managing the slave trade to one of controlling the entire economy of the Legion including treasury, infrastructure, industry and agriculture. A man of numbers and hard results, he has been responsible for the gradual introduction of computers into the Legion much to the satisfaction of his beloved Emperor.

Goliath - A very, very large supermutant not quite the size of a behemoth carrying a chainsaw as a knife and a minigun as a pistol, it is almost two and a half metres tall. The beast is a bodyguard to Emperor Vulpes Inculta, never speaking a word to anyone save a select few of the Legion’s highest positions; it is unclear if of the intelligent or stupid strain of supermutants to most, and perhaps for his own safety the Emperor makes sure this secret is well guarded — even of the Praetorian and Tributarii Guards only Cato Hostilius speaks to the monstrosity.

Military (Be realistic for your factions population):
The military of the Legion is a rather complex structure, Emperor Vulpes Inculta gradually growing regretful of the overcomplication it has come upon and in more recent reforms is going through changing it. Every single community in the Legion has to make sure that at any time no less than a tenth of its menfolk are serving within the Legion, the finer details being left to individual communities and tribes to decide. There are many options for service of the Legion, the very largest being the Legio Auxilia. Making up slightly more than 40% of the Legion’s frontline forces (usually kept as garrisons rather than spearheads of invasions), auxilia are the formations that a community raises up with its own funds and craft proportional to the community’s capabilities. This can be troops that are little more than tribal warriors with slings and spears, to trained operators carrying combat armour and modern firearms bearing many modifications on their picatinny rails (albeit typically leaning very heavily to the former extreme). Most commonly they will be infantry, but it has not been unknown for communities to make artillery, mounted, or motorized contributions to the Legion. The man managing the auxilia is a Centurion Markus Paleologos.

Marginally less common but far more visible and emblematic of the Legion are proper Legionnaires who make up slightly less than 40% of Legion armed forces. Externally they look rather similar in many ways externally, Vulpes judging their past outfits to be practical while still creating a great deal of morale for the men in it. However, in most of the theaters of war the Legion operates in they have ceased using leather armour, sports equipment, and other improvised armour. Knowing that this equipment is not ballistic and would not stop a bullet the Legion has found no use for this outside of combat with tribes who use more primitive weapons that can actually be stopped by this. Thus, instead all Legionnaires have come to use a reinforced steel helmet based on their old ones and cuirasses created by trained blacksmiths with additional pieces of steel armour to cover face and limbs given to troops either participating in static defence or harsh assaults. While this metal armour shan’t stop a rifle at the range they’re supposed to be used at, it will stop shrapnel and ricochet bullets while maintaining extreme efficacy against primitive, tribal weapons. While obviously not all faced this standardization, the general issue weapon of a Legionnaire are the Remington rolling block for about a third of troops and the Browning Hi-Wall rifle for about a quarter. The rifles will be with bayonet, scopes occasionally making their way forward too. This was a calculated choice, Emperor Vulpes Inculta being interested in modernizing and standardizing the Legion to have a firearm for every man. The .45-70 cartridge was found to be excellent as well as the rifle that spits it for the ease of maintenance and creation of them in great quantity. Their great power makes them excellent for both war and fighting mutant beasts, while the bayonets mean the inheritance of melee prowess all old-model Legionnaires had is not lost. However, it is also important to note that while the organizational reforms have reached all of the Legion, the reforms in equipment have only reached some theatres of war. Most notably, the Mexico front under Aurelius of Phoenix has had this reform only affect about a fifth of the troops, while the Nevada front has maintained more or less the same equipment as during the era of battles for Hoover Dam largely to prevent the NCR and newly independent Vegas from learning of the great many changes to the Legion. New Legionnaires have far more enlisted men than auxilia, conscripts only padding the ranks from communities that did not meet the quota of 10% male military service with auxilia. Legionnaires now have far more leadership positions than in the past with small scale officers being more common to prevent the disaster of the first battle for Hoover Dam from repeating with Prime and Veteran Legionaries now being NCOs rather than simply advanced troops that went forth after the recruits were all cut down. The Legion also inherited motorized and mounted positions from the past, motorcycles and chariots fashioned from cars being the mainstay, most weapons of LMG and heavier class reserved for being mounted upon these vehicles. In recent times Emperor Vulpes has also come to introduce a considerable artillery segment to the Legion. Initially this was merely trebuchets and ballistae to deal with walled communities and for use of garrison defence, they have slowly started to cast civil war era artillery — namely Parrott guns for use in both direct and indirect fire. The current Legate of the Legion is Alerio; though a former Frumentarii his grand plan capability and the fact Vulpes Inculta trusts him unlike the now dishonored Aurelius of Phoenix makes him an ideal choice. Though largely he focuses on proper Legion activity, he is technically the coordinator of all Imperial military activity.

Only about 5% of the Legion’s armed forces (but undoubtedly its most valuable members) are the Frumentarii. Feared by all who have heard of the Legion, Frumentarii are responsible for far more of the recent conquests of the Legion than all Legionnaires and Auxilia combined. Though they are but a twentieth fraction of the Legion’s armed forces they receive almost half of its investments. Frontliner Frumentarii carry advanced modern equipment such as combat armour, heavily modified assault and marksman carbines, low light optics, true grenades, and much more. However only slightly more than half of Frumentarii are seen on proper battlefields doing raids and such on communities. While in their heads people visualize the Special Forces side of them, they are also an intelligence agency. Many are both covertly and openly embedded in Legionnaire and Auxilia units as well as communities and tribes to act as political officers. Likewise they go into the lands of both foe and ally to ply subterfuge surpassed by none save the synths of the Institute in the East. Assassinations, bribes, terrorist attacks, rebellions, all have been orchestrated by the Frumentarii, and there is a rather insidious explanation for their unrivalled success; John Doyle - a ghoul that in a life long ago was a Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. With this new utilitarian tolerance of mutants, there have even come to be frightening rumours of the Frumentarii using stealth-boy covered Nightkin in their campaigns of terror.

About 5% of the Legion but nevertheless noteworthy are the Speculatores. Scouts, Explorers, occasional Assassins, Vexillarii, Emissaries, road patrols, Sappers, Combat Engineers, and more. These are generally equipped far better than Legionnaires with scoped sniper rifles and the likes, though they are not at the level of Frumentarii. With that said, Vulpes Inculta has been doing the bureaucratic infrastructure to eventually merge the Speculatores into being Frumentarii and Legionnaires depending on what their particular job is.

The Praetorians are approximately 5% of the Legion’s forces, their role slightly broadened from the past as little more than a bodyguard for Caesar into a general sort of hyper-elite national guard. However, the Praetorians have in their equipment largely stayed uniform to their pre-reform self. They are still almost entirely focused upon melee combat with heavy armour super sledges being their mainstay. Much like other parts of the Legion, Vulpes has made sure many members of the Praetorians are secret Frumentarii after Mr. Doyle told him to read the bits of Roman history wherein Praetorians were the downfall of Emperors. The most important change however has been the introduction of super mutants to the Praetorians however, for where a normal human can take a bullet for their Emperor a super mutant can take a whole grenade, with most of the intelligent ones being sent to the Praetorians rather than becoming Legionnaires as their more stupid cousins. Recovered suits of power armour go to Legion Centurions first and foremost, but in the rare cases that there are spare ones they will be allocated to Praetorians.

The final and most recent introduction to the branches of Legion armed forces are the Tributarii. Modelled after the Varangian guard of old, they are a flexible force synthesizing traits of all the other branches of the Legion’s troops. Tributarii are specialized elites from different tribes united into one force that does not lose tactical individuality from each tribe’s men when they fight as a cohesive whole. Most Tributarii come from regions adjacent to those directly under the control of the Empire (part of a process into truly becoming part of the Legion), the group also taking some inspiration from the French Foreign Legion when Mr. Doyle helped form them. The Tributarii are typically equipped in a corresponding way to their preferred method of fighting, their supplies very personalized usually being somewhere between that of Praetorians and frontline Frumentarii.

A non-negligible portion of the Legion’s combat power comes from simple mercenaries. In territories it is too difficult to march a Legio or Frumentarii into (but that are nevertheless in need of destruction) will find mercenary groups (most typically raiders, but at times professionals of all sorts) arriving in short order to wreak havoc. Often mercenaries will be manipulated beforehand into doing the Legion’s bidding for a very cheap price with Frumentarii getting said groups addicted to chems produced in the Imperial heartland. These do not factor into the calculation into the Legion’s total armed forces, but they are far from rare — they often outnumber combined forces of Frumentarii and Speculatores on battlefields.

Economy:
The economy of the Legion is based on a near eternal state of war, and the spoils of war are most certainly the most important thing keeping it afloat. However, Vulpes saw where Caesar was short sighted and he has spent a good portion of his rule developing the civilian economy of his Empire. He micromanaged on a level as low as placing phosphorescent signs along traders’ routes, to ordering mass production of printing presses such that literacy might spread in the domain. Following the reversal of Caesar’s anti-intellectual policies Missionaries, Scribes of the Brotherhood, and other intellectuals have helped restore a few factories to working conditions, while codified supply routes were created so that craftsmen of various communities could ply their art on a grand scale. While certainly backwards compared to the NCR and other more advanced factions of post-war America, the Legion can now properly create its own goods rather than relying on plunder, a fact which Vulpes knew would eventually bite Caesar’s Legion in the ass eventually. Farms were constructed, and even educational centres were built in many a community that lacked them, many of these past investments already paying off. The fruit of his efforts that Vulpes is most proud of is the Legion's advanced drug trade. While any non medicinal or combat purpose chems are strictly banned in Legion controlled territory, they have become a major source of narcotics amongst all their neighbouring territories save that which is controlled by the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel. This serves a twofold purpose of a great influx of wealth to Vulpes's Empire, while also destabilizing the neighbours of the Legion such that they may eventually become easy pickings. As a byproduct of the farming and chem production the Legion created, they have also created a non negligible ethanol production system. However, with the goals Vulpes wants to reach before having another go at the NCR he knows he needs far more fuel than that, and experiments with biofuel have been made, albeit with spectacular failure thus far. Though in the short term this was expected, it has made abundantly clear to Vulpes Inculta he must go South in search of oil.

Of great importance is to note the volume of trade traffic going through Legion territory. The unparalleled safety provided by the assimilation of raiders has kept the Legion economy afloat through many crises. It is for this purpose Frumentarii purposefully ensure neighbouring locales are unsafe such that more and more traders would be motivated to take their merchantry to the Legion.

Finally, the value of slave labour cannot be understated. A great amount of people are forced to work dangerous but oh so valuable mines, ranches, and other jobs nobody would work of their own volition, while the sale of excess ones to other civilizations makes a massive profit. Vulpes has massively reformed slavery, and while not as cruel and omnipresent as in the past it is nevertheless a daily sight in Legion territory.

Culture:
When discussing the culture of the Legion it is first and foremost important to note the fair amount of variance it has come to see following the early reforms of Vulpes Inculta to the rule of tribes under the control of the Legion. Many like those in the NCR try to echo the America of distant past with their suburban homes and nuclear families Many others echo to distant, primitive tribal pasts, while a great man are somewhere in between living lives people during the American civil war would find familiar. But most important is what people call the Caesarian culture, a great many parts of it inevitably seeping or forced into the many peoples subordinate to Emperor Vulpes Inculta. The Caesarian culture is communitarian, militaristic, and autocratic. Above all else one must be loyal to the Empire and its people and failure to follow this rule is the greatest of sins, one which even martyrdom may hardly even absolve a person of. Those who do not fall in line with the Caesar’s mandate are dehumanized, and their fate as slaves is seen as naught but justice. While the old model of systematic rape for growth of the Legion has been abolished, men and women are expected to procreate without pause until past the age of fertility, with great penalties if they do not.



The Emperors both past and present are venerated as Holy. Local tribes are only allowed to practice their own faith on the condition Caesar and his successors are given a place in their theology, while Christian groups must be told to canonize or at the very least venerate them as martyrs should they want permission to remain on the territory of the Legion, the Cult of Mars likewise holding a Holy role for the Caesar and his namesakes. This explains much of the behaviour of people within the Legion as in a sense their Imperialism is a sort of eternal crusade for their respective faiths. In Legionary culture military service is seen as the highest honour rather than a burden, with constant propaganda everywhere to reinforce these values everywhere. Indeed, the novel printing presses of the Empire are largely used for this purpose and even children still learning to read have their first words on paper be ones describing the glory of service to the Caesar.

Technology:
The Technology in the Legion held territory has great variance, with communities ranging from illiterate tribals living no longer than thirty years as hunter-gatherers to advanced people with running water, radio, and air conditioning. The Legion of today is still primitive in contrast to the Brotherhood to the East, and the NCR to the West. However they are far ahead of what they once were under Caesar. Literacy is more than 50% and steadily rising, while some factories have been restored and something akin to a university has been erected. They have the ability to cast civil war era artillery and ammunition for it, and they can properly maintain and replace parts for more advanced firearms (if not quite make new ones yet) rather than simply cleaning them until eventually just discarding them. Mechanists make chariots out of cars while chemists distill ethanol to fuel them. They create their own chems for both internal consumption and external sale, and have even started the use of computers for many purposes. They have a long way to go in their learning, but a great many intellectuals have been invited to the territory of the Legion from Mormon Missionaries to Brotherhood Scribes. Furthermore, Frumentarii have gone on a long campaign of kidnapping scientists from groups that would not willingly come to them, largely Followers of the Apocalypse. Vulpes is very ambitious, and with his cunning it is more than possible his desires to see the Legion arise into an advanced nation before he dies will come to fruition.

Religion:
There are three main religious groupings in the Legion, which for the moment are divided almost in perfect equal proportion. First is the Cult of Mars, the group being leftovers from the old religion that worships the now deceased Caesar. In the years following the death of Caesar Vulpes had to cull more than half of them, with the rest being forced into the Frumtarius’s new Order. By the order of the new Emperor it was, Caesar the Son of Mars was proclaimed to have ascended and joined father Mars as well as Sol Invictus - the demiurge - in Elysium. While most of the surviving Priestesses follow the new theology of the Cult of Mars, there are nevertheless some who quietly preach the old faith, a soft fifth column forming. With that said, though they preach the old faith they do not hold even a fraction of the power they once did given they no longer have the governmental responsibility of raising all children born in Legion tribes. Rather ironically the founding religion of Caesar’s Legion is now the only one facing a measure of persecution; Frumentarii will harass Priestesses stepping out of line, while troublesome ones that don’t actually break any rules but are noted troublemakers will simply disappear, their sisters forced to come up with an explanation lest they face the same fate. Nevertheless their ability to drum up some grunts for the Legion is still very much valued, as well as their joint actions with Frumentarii in getting small primitive tribes to join the Legion. The second are the religions native to the tribes under the Legion, these ranging from all sorts of animism and shamanism invented post-war, to pre-war Native American faiths, to variants on Christianity with the largest being a sort of Catholicism amongst the tribes descending from Mexican folk. The only restriction maintained upon worship in Legion territory is the fact it must not be seditious against the Legion. The third and final group of religions in Legion territory is that brought by missionaries invited by Vulpes in the years following his ascension to power. For the most part these are Mormons, though there are some Catholics and other - once more mostly Christian - groups. They face the same absence of restriction as tribal religions save for the fact they must not preach anything seditious or contrary to any values of the Legion. Some Frumentarii have placed themselves into Missionary groups or had Missionaries convinced to join them. These politicized Missionaries have come to be used by the Legion as soft power to tribes who the Priestesses of Mars fail to work their speech upon.

War Never Changes 2 : A Post Nuclear Nation Roleplay

Legio Aeterna Vitrix

Name: The Legion (de facto name, de jure name being “The Caesarian Empire”)

Flag (picture or description):

Territory (picture or description) and Geography: The exact territory of the Legion is hard to mark down, however they have major footholds in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico. Smaller ones however are present in Nevada and Oklahoma, along with recent incursions and outposts in Texas, Wyoming, Idaho and Mexico.

History (if using a pre-existing faction, recent history will due. The RP start date is 2290):
Not many know this, but Legate Lanius survived the battle for Hoover Dam. There he was before Vulpes Inculta, wounded but vengeful, just barely having escaped the Courier’s wrath after feigning death. Oh how full of hate he looked even without his facial expression visible and yet… down on his knees, he didn’t look so tall. Vulpes could have saved the man’s life, but as he looked upon the man, and then upon the millions of lives of America he wondered: why?

And so Legate Lanius died alone, inglorious, and by a stab to the back. Lucius - Caesar’s right hand man - would have been next in line. But Vulpes knew that wouldn’t do, oh no. Vulpes made sure to let everyone know of the death of the Legate, and that in his last dying breaths the Frumentarius had been designated his successor. It was proclaimed to all that the battle was a pyrrhic victory in fact, a blow dealt to the unity of the unholy Western Axis and the advance of the invader halted — nevertheless the work of the Legion had just begun.

His show of power went well with the dedicated Legionnaires, but to those who weren’t there to see it in person at the Fort and who had better memories of their tribal past it wasn’t enough. The inevitable rebellion and attack of opportunists was predicted by Vulpes however, who instantly started mobilizing the rallied Legionnaires who didn’t revert to their tribal pasts and sent his troops to march all across the territories the Legion had conquered. He had to act fast, for with more than three quarters of Legion controlled territory facing some sort of assault the Legion now effectively had no supply lines, no means of reinforcement, and were permanently encircled.

A blitzkrieg of sorts had to be undergone, but though the lightning strikes done by Legate Aurelius were masterful they were not fast enough. Vulpes knew it was time for his experience in the Frumentarii to shine, and that it was time for desperate measure. The ghoul locked in one of the Legion’s cages calling himself John Doyle was released. Vulpes gave him the moniker Dolos, and so a new Frumentarius was found. A great campaign of terror was started to clear the path for the Legion’s conquest and it worked very well with the Ghoul that was a former CIA Director at its head. It was a hard fought conflict, and not the entirety of Legion territory could be truly restored. But the state resembled something of its former self, and all looked to Vulpes Inculta for what to do next. He made an announcement: Caesar had ascended to his father Mars in Elysium, while the Legate was there right by his side. Now it was up to Vulpes to lead the Legion to glory and finish Caesar’s vision.

Now he was at a crossroads. He could continue upon the same path set by his predecessors which had worked to a point. Caesar was wise, but Vulpes knew the truth that the man was weak. Legate on the other hand was mighty, but he was a fool. None could see it yet, but Vulpes knew he was better than either man, and he would succeed where those lesser men had failed. He would bring order to America, he would be its salvation.

The reconquered tribes were told that with the West pacified they could now revive memories of their pasts. Orders were given for Legionnaires and Frumentarii to cease harassing the Brotherhood of Steel to the East and the Mormons to the North-West, Emissaries sent to these groups instead to establish relations such that they could be learned from; Scribes and Missionaries were invited to study and preach, and trade commenced. Intellectualism was promoted rather than vilified, and the distinction between a tribe and community was abolished while mandatory service for all able bodied men was replaced with a system of quotas for troops such that tribes might develop, while advanced troops may be levied from more advanced communities previously doing naught but a little trade to deserve the unparalleled safety the Legion offered. People were to make families rather than reproduce by means of systematic rape and there was even something resembling a distinction of personal and state property created.

The mind of Vulpes Inculta was running on overtime, hundreds of schemes and plans devised every day and indeed he did get ahead of himself; just as the Legion entered a recovery phase it once more almost collapsed.

The changes Vulpes had made were too many and too fast, and much of the old Guard of the Legion wasn't happy about it. In quiet and dimly lit tents Lucius met with Gabban who in turn met with Centurions Severus and Antony, while Marcus Licinius Crassus was met with to insure that there would be supplies and structural support for a slowly planned attempt to usurp Vulpes Inculta.

As the Legion had taken back most of its territory it looked North to take vengeance upon the 80s tribe for their raids upon the Legion while it was weak, it was discovered they were busy fighting the NCR. Seeing no real purpose in fighting the remaining dreggs Vulpes found it more prudent to demand tribute of them, which many saw as the last straw.

It was not quite a revolt and not quite a coup, but it certainly was devastating given the warring the Legion had just gone through. However Vulpes had proven himself by the reconquista to the tribes and enough officers that he had worth to hold his own. It was not enough to get a fast victory however, which was desperately needed lest vultures once more descend against the infighting Legion. Thus, a controversial move was made to free that vast majority of current slaves the condition they stand and fight for the Legion. This did make a few officers defect to the rebels, but ultimately it padded the numbers of the loyalists enough such that they could overrun all strongholds of rebellion. While much blood was shed and lost they were routed, most going North to flee the vicious Frumentarius’s wrath. It was not only the warriors that went against Vulpes that were punished of course. The few communities and tribes that joined the rebellion were razed to the ground and its folk taken for slaves, while more than half of Priestesses of Mars had their heads mounted on sticks.

Vulpes made sure that this showed that any kindness he had was not a sign of weakness. He purchased several robobrains from the Mid-Western Brotherhood of Steel such that the captured ringleaders of the foe could suffer in eternal torment for all to see that fate of those who oppose him and that such would never be tolerated.

At last, a sort of peace reigned. The Legion’s manpower was heavily depleted following all this death, and even many of the warmongers such as Aurelius were war-weary. This time was thus used for many internal projects to invest for the future be they for infrastructure, agriculture or industry.

Yet Vulpes was also aware of the fact that the Legion was built on war, and indeed he could not delay his grand vision of an America to which order was brought for too long. Very soon the Legion once more began to expand. They made sure borders remained static in the West, delaying that conflict for later doing likewise not pushing East into the territory of the Brotherhood of Steel. All other directions however, were fair game. One by one tribes were conquered and the prestige and threat of the Legion grew again. Their manpower was replenishing and even approaching the point of surpassing what it was (at least, on paper), and they even started to conquer some proper communities with some degree of technology rather than just tribes.

Still, there would always be those unhappy with the ongoing rule. Many remained loyal to Vulpes during the civil wars because they simple feared the alternative being even worse, and one such man was the Legate at the time — Aurelius of Phoenix. There were many supporters who concurred with him, and so he decided he would make changes in the most direct and bloodless way possible, that rather ironically being by challenging Vulpes Inculta to a duel knowing the Frumentarius would have no choice but to accept if he wanted his reputation to not collapse.

Ripper to gladius, weapons clashed but eventually Vulpes was disarmed and a great slash to his gut forcing him down. Aurelius rested on his laurels however, and as he basked in adoration Vulpes removed a stiletto from his boot and cut the man’s throat before lodging the weapon in his knee to immobilize him. The Frumentarius didn’t kill the man however, and instead called forth medical personnel to stabilize him.

The Legate was too popular and valuable to kill, and thus for his honourable service all of the men loyal to him were put together and told the following: they were to conquer all they came upon in Mexico until they found oil for the glory of the Legion, and they would not return until they were either successful or dead.

With a problem gone, Vulpes turned towards other frontiers of the Legion. He appointed his longtime comrade Alerio as Legate, and though this once more raised eyebrows he was ordered to conquer the region along the I93 around Caliente, culminating in taking the rich settlement itself.

Alerio more than proved himself, crushing any resistance the local tribes offered in short order before creating an artful and rather frightening siege of the settlement, which after some expert word-smithery was taken without a single death on either side.

Using the new definition of a settled community as a tribe in and of itself and with the numbers further padded by using Tributary peoples like the Utah 80s as tribes, the Empire of the Legion could count two hundred tribes to its name. Vulpes sees double that as the threshold for when he can finally be ready to once more strike upon the NCR, and now prepares to announce the same to his people when his under-construction capital of Caesarsgrad Novus. What the future holds for the Legion is uncertain to say the least. The gambit in Mexico may well not pay off with the Petro Chico oil long since sucked out over the more than two centuries since the bombs fell. While much autonomies were provided it may still eventually start feeling overstretched much like the NCR, and if all the neighbours of the Empire band together against them the Legion would collapse in less than a day. But for now Vulpes Inculta continues Caesar’s vision, correcting it where it went wrong and making all he comes upon kneel before the Bull.

Population: Without proper censii at the moment, the population is estimated to be a little above a million. The actual population fluctuates very rapidly with the many wars and conquests the Legion has, but the extreme natalist policy ensures that it has a general trend for rapid growth.

Government/Domestic Politics:
The Caesarian Empire is ruled by an Emperor - the Caesar - Vulpes Inculta. At will he may overturn any choice or event within his domain as his right with none able to contest it. However, he is more than aware he cannot efficiently manage every single thing by himself (though he gives it his best effort) and naturally delegates much of his rule. Over the years following the death of Caesar Vulpes has created a fairly efficient if not fully developed bureaucracy. Tribes and communities (the distinction abolished a few years after the death of Caesar) across the territory of the Empire now have some measure of autonomy, their own chieftains, mayors, and other leaders allowed to rule however they want so long as they meet their quotas of tributes to the Legion, and obey all mandates of the Emperor. Furthermore, he has assigned Princeps to rule over every region in the Legion such that the communities under their rule may coordinate for mutual prosperity and defence. A great amount of domestic affairs are ultimately overseen by the Officiorum ab Famulatus, but much power is also given to people without any proper title, for example the liberated slave Siri. The most pressing question for the Emperor is who will succeed him, for though he has dealt with most fifth columns rather viciously and effectively, it is far from guaranteed a good person will come to rule. Provisionally it is Legate Alerio, followed by Mr. Doyle, followed by Cato Hostilius who will rule should Vulpes Inculta die unexpectedly, but he hopes to eventually groom someone human, and a leader rather than spymaster to continue the great legacy of the Legion.

Notable People:
Flavius Valerius Augustus Maximus Vulpes Inculta Pontificus Constantine Invictus Caesar, more simply known either as the Emperor or Vulpes Inculta - The Desert Fox, Rangers’ bane, Emperor of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, defender of Christians, Warrior of Mars, Protector of Oklahoma and Nevada, and so many more vain titles that their reader will usually have to stop for breath a few times before continuing. In a way he has shown the Legion to be far more meritocratic than the false democracy of the NCR, having risen from simple tribal nobody all the way to Emperor of one of the largest nations in post-war America. He is a well spoken person of many skills. A tactician, a strategist, a logistician, given a radio and opportunity he will micro-manage battles at the scale of even individuals, without his macro-management suffering the slightest amount. He is a speaker to put Emissaries to shame and a fighter to gut whole groups of men without even turning his ripper on, but he can not match either of his predecessors in where they are most proficient. He is conscious of this and so he doesn’t try to simply follow in their footsteps, but rather uses his own proficiencies to carve out his own glory. Though he has issues facing him daily he has nevertheless managed to become a popular Emperor with devout followers from the lowest tribals to the highest officers. Vulpes Inculta is a ruthless leader however, and his many kindnesses compared to his predecessor should not be mistaken for softness; those who have tend to end up with their heads as decorating pointy sticks. His cunning is his greatest trait, only getting better with age (this fact admittedly in part thanks to kidnapped Followers of the Apocalypse ensuring his health remains perfect).

Aurelius of Phoenix - Aurelius was once the Legate of Vulpes Inculta’s new Legion. However, he at some point challenged the man to a duel where Vulpes snatched victory from the jaw of defeat. Despite this treachery Vulpes showed the man mercy, and with all of his followers he is sent to conquer Mexico, told to return with his banner or wrapped in it. With a formidable army, he now marches for the rich oil fields, pipes, and refineries of Petro Chico.

Centurion Maximus Alexus - A valuable centurion, he heads the Oklahoma campaign.

Centurion Maximus Dead Sea - Yet another Centurion, he heads the Colorado-Nebraska Campaign

Cato Hostilius - though formerly a Frumentarius, the bulky man was trusted by Vulpes Inculta and was thus assigned to oversee the Praetorians

Centurion Maximus Otho - A Centurion loyal to Aurelius of Phoenix, he has been assigned as a sort of aide to the man.

Centurion Maximus Lucullus - Centurion in charge of the Idaho-Wyoming incursions, distinguished himself under Legate Alerio in the conquest of Caliente.

Legate Alerio of Caliente - though this brought much frustrations to the Centurions of the Legion, the Frumentarius Alerio has been the Legate of the Legion ever since Aurelius of Phoenix was forced to step down from the role. He has been instrumental in insuring the reforms Vulpes envisioned have gone through, and the conquest of the region around Caliente combined with the short lived siege and bloodless annexation of the place earned him the respect of his skeptics.

John Doyle - Known to most in the Legion outside of its upper leadership as Dolos, he is a ghoul who before the bombs dropped had the rather high up position of being a regional CIA director. Caesar had imprisoned him only a few weeks before the battle for Hoover Dam, his knowledge entertaining and impressing the sickly Emperor, while Lanius frankly was not interested in micro management as low as executing the fellow. Vulpes however saw the full value of the man upon his ascension to power. The fellow was liberated, but under a quite simply condition; he would sew the entire skins of men upon himself to look as a man. Setting a precedent for much more ghouls to join the Legion, Mr. Doyle has been an invaluable asset to Vulpes’s new Legion. He has insured that the Frumentarii are an intelligence agency the likes which none save perhaps the synth program could match. His heinous creativity cannot be understated, most recently one must note his introduction of more mutants into the Frumentarii. This comes in two main forms, one being Nightkin and the other fellow ghouls. Retrieving radioactive materiel from Camp Searchlight and Techatticup Mine, he has a great many vile plans concocting in his head; Mr. Doyle loves his new job, the work echoing to his old scheming and villainy against the Chicoms and their hippy-beatnik comrades.

Lupa - A Frumentarius that sided with Aurelius, he has likewise been exiled to the Mexican campaign to head all other Frumentarii loyal to Aurelius. Of course he is aware many Frumentarii have been imbedded in the army sent South to watch upon him and his master, but he has been able to detect far from all of them.

Centurion Atticus - Assigned to the Nevada theatre, he is there to organize raids and the likes in the territory of Nevada including New Vegas to insure neither the NCR nor their affiliates decide the Legion is weak.

Canyon Runner - The leader of the Speculatores, he is conscious of the fact that while he is a competent man he is most certainly out of his depth in running an organization of the scale and importance he does. Vulpes Inculta and other Legion leaders concurred, and they have been building the infrastructure for integrating different parts of the Speculatores all across different branches of the Legion, with Canyon to be the head of the new Speculatore Legionnaires; he is simply to hold the line until heads for the Speculatores of other Legion branches are groomed.

Karl - Disgraced following his failure in the conversion of the Great Khans to the cause the Legion, things were not looking good for Karl. However Vulpes was far more understanding than any other leader of the Legion, as well as being arguably more pragmatic; thus he gave the fellow a "second chance", and it more than paid off. Doing his best to pay off his life debt to the new Emperor he turned many tribes to the Legion with a soft word here and there and by his work many a bloodless acquisition of territory happened. However, his valuable Frumentarii experience in addition to his oration and experience with tribals lead him to being a sort of overseer of the Tributarii, if not quite its de jure leader. Officially just another Frumentarii, Karl has reserved himself a valuable place in the Legion, many frontier operations to annex or make tributaries of different tribes coordinated by him.

Picus - In spite of his disgrace during the ordeal of Camp McCarran his value was noted by Vulpes Inculta and following some successful suicide missions he was considered redeemed much like Karl. He is somewhat of both a right hand and odd-job man for Vulpes Inculta, some believing the Frumentarius will lead the Frumentarii-Speculatores in the coming second-wave reforms.

Siri - Part of the Great Slave Liberation that Vulpes had once done with the aim of creating reserves of manpower for himself during the rebellions of Legionnaires, Vulpes Inculta singled her out as a practical woman with experience of many of the Legion’s new citizens and warriors, and has been given somewhat of a role as Minister of Science; while it was far too late for her to learn to proper Doctoring she could pave the way for others to do so.

Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus - Head of the Officiorum ab Famulatus, the position has been changed from one of simply managing the slave trade to one of controlling the entire economy of the Legion including treasury, infrastructure, industry and agriculture. A man of numbers and hard results, he has been responsible for the gradual introduction of computers into the Legion much to the satisfaction of his beloved Emperor.

Goliath - A very, very large supermutant not quite the size of a behemoth carrying a chainsaw as a knife and a minigun as a pistol, it is almost two and a half metres tall. The beast is a bodyguard to Emperor Vulpes Inculta, never speaking a word to anyone save a select few of the Legion’s highest positions; it is unclear if of the intelligent or stupid strain of supermutants to most, and perhaps for his own safety the Emperor makes sure this secret is well guarded — even of the Praetorian and Tributarii Guards only Cato Hostilius speaks to the monstrosity.

Military (Be realistic for your factions population):
The military of the Legion is a rather complex structure, Emperor Vulpes Inculta gradually growing regretful of the overcomplication it has come upon and in more recent reforms is going through changing it. Every single community in the Legion has to make sure that at any time no less than a tenth of its menfolk are serving within the Legion, the finer details being left to individual communities and tribes to decide. There are many options for service of the Legion, the very largest being the Legio Auxilia. Making up slightly more than 40% of the Legion’s frontline forces (usually kept as garrisons rather than spearheads of invasions), auxilia are the formations that a community raises up with its own funds and craft proportional to the community’s capabilities. This can be troops that are little more than tribal warriors with slings and spears, to trained operators carrying combat armour and modern firearms bearing many modifications on their picatinny rails (albeit typically leaning very heavily to the former extreme). Most commonly they will be infantry, but it has not been unknown for communities to make artillery, mounted, or motorized contributions to the Legion. The man managing the auxilia is a Centurion Markus Paleologos.

Marginally less common but far more visible and emblematic of the Legion are proper Legionnaires who make up slightly less than 40% of Legion armed forces. Externally they look rather similar in many ways externally, Vulpes judging their past outfits to be practical while still creating a great deal of morale for the men in it. However, in most of the theaters of war the Legion operates in they have ceased using leather armour, sports equipment, and other improvised armour. Knowing that this equipment is not ballistic and would not stop a bullet the Legion has found no use for this outside of combat with tribes who use more primitive weapons that can actually be stopped by this. Thus, instead all Legionnaires have come to use a reinforced steel helmet based on their old ones and cuirasses created by trained blacksmiths with additional pieces of steel armour to cover face and limbs given to troops either participating in static defence or harsh assaults. While this metal armour shan’t stop a rifle at the range they’re supposed to be used at, it will stop shrapnel and ricochet bullets while maintaining extreme efficacy against primitive, tribal weapons. While obviously not all faced this standardization, the general issue weapon of a Legionnaire are the Remington rolling block for about a third of troops and the Browning Hi-Wall rifle for about a quarter. The rifles will be with bayonet, scopes occasionally making their way forward too. This was a calculated choice, Emperor Vulpes Inculta being interested in modernizing and standardizing the Legion to have a firearm for every man. The .45-70 cartridge was found to be excellent as well as the rifle that spits it for the ease of maintenance and creation of them in great quantity. Their great power makes them excellent for both war and fighting mutant beasts, while the bayonets mean the inheritance of melee prowess all old-model Legionnaires had is not lost. However, it is also important to note that while the organizational reforms have reached all of the Legion, the reforms in equipment have only reached some theatres of war. Most notably, the Mexico front under Aurelius of Phoenix has had this reform only affect about a fifth of the troops, while the Nevada front has maintained more or less the same equipment as during the era of battles for Hoover Dam largely to prevent the NCR and newly independent Vegas from learning of the great many changes to the Legion. New Legionnaires have far more enlisted men than auxilia, conscripts only padding the ranks from communities that did not meet the quota of 10% male military service with auxilia. Legionnaires now have far more leadership positions than in the past with small scale officers being more common to prevent the disaster of the first battle for Hoover Dam from repeating with Prime and Veteran Legionaries now being NCOs rather than simply advanced troops that went forth after the recruits were all cut down. The Legion also inherited motorized and mounted positions from the past, motorcycles and chariots fashioned from cars being the mainstay, most weapons of LMG and heavier class reserved for being mounted upon these vehicles. In recent times Emperor Vulpes has also come to introduce a considerable artillery segment to the Legion. Initially this was merely trebuchets and ballistae to deal with walled communities and for use of garrison defence, they have slowly started to cast civil war era artillery — namely Parrott guns for use in both direct and indirect fire. The current Legate of the Legion is Alerio; though a former Frumentarii his grand plan capability and the fact Vulpes Inculta trusts him unlike the now dishonored Aurelius of Phoenix makes him an ideal choice. Though largely he focuses on proper Legion activity, he is technically the coordinator of all Imperial military activity.

Only about 5% of the Legion’s armed forces (but undoubtedly its most valuable members) are the Frumentarii. Feared by all who have heard of the Legion, Frumentarii are responsible for far more of the recent conquests of the Legion than all Legionnaires and Auxilia combined. Though they are but a twentieth fraction of the Legion’s armed forces they receive almost half of its investments. Frontliner Frumentarii carry advanced modern equipment such as combat armour, heavily modified assault and marksman carbines, low light optics, true grenades, and much more. However only slightly more than half of Frumentarii are seen on proper battlefields doing raids and such on communities. While in their heads people visualize the Special Forces side of them, they are also an intelligence agency. Many are both covertly and openly embedded in Legionnaire and Auxilia units as well as communities and tribes to act as political officers. Likewise they go into the lands of both foe and ally to ply subterfuge surpassed by none save the synths of the Institute in the East. Assassinations, bribes, terrorist attacks, rebellions, all have been orchestrated by the Frumentarii, and there is a rather insidious explanation for their unrivalled success; John Doyle - a ghoul that in a life long ago was a Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. With this new utilitarian tolerance of mutants, there have even come to be frightening rumours of the Frumentarii using stealth-boy covered Nightkin in their campaigns of terror.

About 5% of the Legion but nevertheless noteworthy are the Speculatores. Scouts, Explorers, occasional Assassins, Vexillarii, Emissaries, road patrols, Sappers, Combat Engineers, and more. These are generally equipped far better than Legionnaires with scoped sniper rifles and the likes, though they are not at the level of Frumentarii. With that said, Vulpes Inculta has been doing the bureaucratic infrastructure to eventually merge the Speculatores into being Frumentarii and Legionnaires depending on what their particular job is.

The Praetorians are approximately 5% of the Legion’s forces, their role slightly broadened from the past as little more than a bodyguard for Caesar into a general sort of hyper-elite national guard. However, the Praetorians have in their equipment largely stayed uniform to their pre-reform self. They are still almost entirely focused upon melee combat with heavy armour super sledges being their mainstay. Much like other parts of the Legion, Vulpes has made sure many members of the Praetorians are secret Frumentarii after Mr. Doyle told him to read the bits of Roman history wherein Praetorians were the downfall of Emperors. The most important change however has been the introduction of super mutants to the Praetorians however, for where a normal human can take a bullet for their Emperor a super mutant can take a whole grenade, with most of the intelligent ones being sent to the Praetorians rather than becoming Legionnaires as their more stupid cousins. Recovered suits of power armour go to Legion Centurions first and foremost, but in the rare cases that there are spare ones they will be allocated to Praetorians.

The final and most recent introduction to the branches of Legion armed forces are the Tributarii. Modelled after the Varangian guard of old, they are a flexible force synthesizing traits of all the other branches of the Legion’s troops. Tributarii are specialized elites from different tribes united into one force that does not lose tactical individuality from each tribe’s men when they fight as a cohesive whole. Most Tributarii come from regions adjacent to those directly under the control of the Empire (part of a process into truly becoming part of the Legion), the group also taking some inspiration from the French Foreign Legion when Mr. Doyle helped form them. The Tributarii are typically equipped in a corresponding way to their preferred method of fighting, their supplies very personalized usually being somewhere between that of Praetorians and frontline Frumentarii.

A non-negligible portion of the Legion’s combat power comes from simple mercenaries. In territories it is too difficult to march a Legio or Frumentarii into (but that are nevertheless in need of destruction) will find mercenary groups (most typically raiders, but at times professionals of all sorts) arriving in short order to wreak havoc. Often mercenaries will be manipulated beforehand into doing the Legion’s bidding for a very cheap price with Frumentarii getting said groups addicted to chems produced in the Imperial heartland. These do not factor into the calculation into the Legion’s total armed forces, but they are far from rare — they often outnumber combined forces of Frumentarii and Speculatores on battlefields.

Economy:
The economy of the Legion is based on a near eternal state of war, and the spoils of war are most certainly the most important thing keeping it afloat. However, Vulpes saw where Caesar was short sighted and he has spent a good portion of his rule developing the civilian economy of his Empire. He micromanaged on a level as low as placing phosphorescent signs along traders’ routes, to ordering mass production of printing presses such that literacy might spread in the domain. Following the reversal of Caesar’s anti-intellectual policies Missionaries, Scribes of the Brotherhood, and other intellectuals have helped restore a few factories to working conditions, while codified supply routes were created so that craftsmen of various communities could ply their art on a grand scale. While certainly backwards compared to the NCR and other more advanced factions of post-war America, the Legion can now properly create its own goods rather than relying on plunder, a fact which Vulpes knew would eventually bite Caesar’s Legion in the ass eventually. Farms were constructed, and even educational centres were built in many a community that lacked them, many of these past investments already paying off. The fruit of his efforts that Vulpes is most proud of is the Legion's advanced drug trade. While any non medicinal or combat purpose chems are strictly banned in Legion controlled territory, they have become a major source of narcotics amongst all their neighbouring territories save that which is controlled by the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel. This serves a twofold purpose of a great influx of wealth to Vulpes's Empire, while also destabilizing the neighbours of the Legion such that they may eventually become easy pickings. As a byproduct of the farming and chem production the Legion created, they have also created a non negligible ethanol production system. However, with the goals Vulpes wants to reach before having another go at the NCR he knows he needs far more fuel than that, and experiments with biofuel have been made, albeit with spectacular failure thus far. Though in the short term this was expected, it has made abundantly clear to Vulpes Inculta he must go South in search of oil.

Of great importance is to note the volume of trade traffic going through Legion territory. The unparalleled safety provided by the assimilation of raiders has kept the Legion economy afloat through many crises. It is for this purpose Frumentarii purposefully ensure neighbouring locales are unsafe such that more and more traders would be motivated to take their merchantry to the Legion.

Finally, the value of slave labour cannot be understated. A great amount of people are forced to work dangerous but oh so valuable mines, ranches, and other jobs nobody would work of their own volition, while the sale of excess ones to other civilizations makes a massive profit. Vulpes has massively reformed slavery, and while not as cruel and omnipresent as in the past it is nevertheless a daily sight in Legion territory.

Culture:
When discussing the culture of the Legion it is first and foremost important to note the fair amount of variance it has come to see following the early reforms of Vulpes Inculta to the rule of tribes under the control of the Legion. Many like those in the NCR try to echo the America of distant past with their suburban homes and nuclear families Many others echo to distant, primitive tribal pasts, while a great man are somewhere in between living lives people during the American civil war would find familiar. But most important is what people call the Caesarian culture, a great many parts of it inevitably seeping or forced into the many peoples subordinate to Emperor Vulpes Inculta. The Caesarian culture is communitarian, militaristic, and autocratic. Above all else one must be loyal to the Empire and its people and failure to follow this rule is the greatest of sins, one which even martyrdom may hardly even absolve a person of. Those who do not fall in line with the Caesar’s mandate are dehumanized, and their fate as slaves is seen as naught but justice. While the old model of systematic rape for growth of the Legion has been abolished, men and women are expected to procreate without pause until past the age of fertility, with great penalties if they do not.



The Emperors both past and present are venerated as Holy. Local tribes are only allowed to practice their own faith on the condition Caesar and his successors are given a place in their theology, while Christian groups must be told to canonize or at the very least venerate them as martyrs should they want permission to remain on the territory of the Legion, the Cult of Mars likewise holding a Holy role for the Caesar and his namesakes. This explains much of the behaviour of people within the Legion as in a sense their Imperialism is a sort of eternal crusade for their respective faiths. In Legionary culture military service is seen as the highest honour rather than a burden, with constant propaganda everywhere to reinforce these values everywhere. Indeed, the novel printing presses of the Empire are largely used for this purpose and even children still learning to read have their first words on paper be ones describing the glory of service to the Caesar.

Technology:
The Technology in the Legion held territory has great variance, with communities ranging from illiterate tribals living no longer than thirty years as hunter-gatherers to advanced people with running water, radio, and air conditioning. The Legion of today is still primitive in contrast to the Brotherhood to the East, and the NCR to the West. However they are far ahead of what they once were under Caesar. Literacy is more than 50% and steadily rising, while some factories have been restored and something akin to a university has been erected. They have the ability to cast civil war era artillery and ammunition for it, and they can properly maintain and replace parts for more advanced firearms (if not quite make new ones yet) rather than simply cleaning them until eventually just discarding them. Mechanists make chariots out of cars while chemists distill ethanol to fuel them. They create their own chems for both internal consumption and external sale, and have even started the use of computers for many purposes. They have a long way to go in their learning, but a great many intellectuals have been invited to the territory of the Legion from Mormon Missionaries to Brotherhood Scribes. Furthermore, Frumentarii have gone on a long campaign of kidnapping scientists from groups that would not willingly come to them, largely Followers of the Apocalypse. Vulpes is very ambitious, and with his cunning it is more than possible his desires to see the Legion arise into an advanced nation before he dies will come to fruition.

Religion:
There are three main religious groupings in the Legion, which for the moment are divided almost in perfect equal proportion. First is the Cult of Mars, the group being leftovers from the old religion that worships the now deceased Caesar. In the years following the death of Caesar Vulpes had to cull more than half of them, with the rest being forced into the Frumtarius’s new Order. By the order of the new Emperor it was, Caesar the Son of Mars was proclaimed to have ascended and joined father Mars as well as Sol Invictus - the demiurge - in Elysium. While most of the surviving Priestesses follow the new theology of the Cult of Mars, there are nevertheless some who quietly preach the old faith, a soft fifth column forming. With that said, though they preach the old faith they do not hold even a fraction of the power they once did given they no longer have the governmental responsibility of raising all children born in Legion tribes. Rather ironically the founding religion of Caesar’s Legion is now the only one facing a measure of persecution; Frumentarii will harass Priestesses stepping out of line, while troublesome ones that don’t actually break any rules but are noted troublemakers will simply disappear, their sisters forced to come up with an explanation lest they face the same fate. Nevertheless their ability to drum up some grunts for the Legion is still very much valued, as well as their joint actions with Frumentarii in getting small primitive tribes to join the Legion. The second are the religions native to the tribes under the Legion, these ranging from all sorts of animism and shamanism invented post-war, to pre-war Native American faiths, to variants on Christianity with the largest being a sort of Catholicism amongst the tribes descending from Mexican folk. The only restriction maintained upon worship in Legion territory is the fact it must not be seditious against the Legion. The third and final group of religions in Legion territory is that brought by missionaries invited by Vulpes in the years following his ascension to power. For the most part these are Mormons, though there are some Catholics and other - once more mostly Christian - groups. They face the same absence of restriction as tribal religions save for the fact they must not preach anything seditious or contrary to any values of the Legion. Some Frumentarii have placed themselves into Missionary groups or had Missionaries convinced to join them. These politicized Missionaries have come to be used by the Legion as soft power to tribes who the Priestesses of Mars fail to work their speech upon.

Accentuate The Positive: A Fallout Roleplay

Shortly before arrival the march to Prescott

---

They looked like they belonged in a battlefield of two centuries ago fighting the Chinese for Anchorage rather than killing poor sods in the wasteland for pay. But here they were on the job.

Except not quite. Today they weren't shooting as part of a gig, but rather to protect future gigs. Fucking Casetti triplets, how could they ignore so many years of a good relationship for a few quick caps? Perhaps they were upset that they were now losing a valuable partner and wanted recompense, but they'd learn today that you have to let go and they would learn this a very, very hard way.

"Do the knock. Then answer."

The terrified lad did as told, the firearm keeping him in line just out of sight for the hatch in the door. Said hatch slid open, and a grumbling was heard from the other side. "You're late. Again. You got the shit?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Alright. Come in." A sound of chains and locks being operated came, and as the door started to open it was kicked in, the man on the other end sprawling to the ground. Three operators rushed in, the one at the rear putting a single bullet into forehead of the door man and another into the the poor kid that got them in. The room was clear, and a signal was given for several more operators to stream in.

They each had memorized the layout of the building and they were armed to match with pistols, shotguns, PDWs, carbines and two machine guns to lock down corridors with suppression. They fanned out across the different paths of the rat's nest with the simple mission of no survivors save the Casettis.

Drug cooking scum, Nathaniel was absolutely furious with them! To be so petty as to threaten to tell the whole Mojave of their joint exploits, even for them sinking so low was… despicable! The Major for the last ten years could not remember a time he had cried, raised his voice, or even given much more than a chuckle to a joke. Naturally it was hard to be this cold of a bastard, and truth was even a corrupt soul as he had to force much of this but he saw it as a necessity for survival in this vile land. But the Casettis had infuriated him such that he was willing to make an exception to his usual calm. They had threatened to tell all the Mojave of their joint ventures if Nathan didn’t pay a hefty sum, one that the Major could not afford if he wanted his long-term plans to succeed. But though he could not pay the bastards off, he could not let them babble about what exactly the Blackjacks had done for all to know; if that happened there wouldn’t be a community left that would welcome them, and even the people looking for a new beginning in the East would not tolerate them. Thus they had to die, and there could not be a man left to tell of what happened; the narrative would be controlled by the Blackjacks who had already paid a few hundred caps to the Garretts and other rumour mills to say the Casettis were targeting caravans to get chemicals for their drug cooking, who in turn had paid the mercenaries to clear up their den. None of this was true of course, but that didn’t really matter did it? Though many who knew better would scoff, the narrative would be that the Blackjacks were heroes.

Moments passed, and already the sounds of automatic gunfire rattled the structure. It was an impressive work of architecture, Nathan had to admit. A warehouse built by a cave, with many cargo containers brought over to connect the two and create new rooms. Many rammed into the sandy hills and into the ground with scaffolds here and there to help hold up soil. If this place was out East in the new land of opportunity he'd have taken it for himself as a hideout.

With the sounds of combat getting more distant Nathaniel slowly started to venture into the structure given his men cleared a path of safety for him. He didn't even bother unslinging his slick FAL, instead cracking open a sunset sarsparilla to refresh him. He walked by a room where one of his operators had just finished interrogating two jet cooks with their hands raised in surrender, and nodded to the Blackjack as signal to execute the surrendered bastards; he used a knife to save on bullets. Nathaniel ran a high end corps but you didn't stay running one if you wasted caps willy-nilly oh no!

The Major motioned for the man to move on, taking a look around the room himself, sitting down on one of the chairs in it. It was a rather large enclosure, something of a rec room for the drug cooks he supposed. The comfy leather chair certainly seemed to concur! Just as he was about to doze off, a closet opened revealing two of the druggie bastards. They locked eyes monetarily, before each party ran for cover. The locals had the advantage, firing their pipe pistols first. There were two of them and they had wood tables as cover as opposed to a leather couch for Nathaniel; not a good situation indeed.

Oh, but he’d show them. Standing up he flicked the select-fire of his FAL and let the weapon rip. He repeatedly switched which of the little shits he fired upon, until eventually there was a deafeningly quiet click from the FAL. Hearing the noise of reprieve, one of the Casetti goons stood up to shoot, but the Major kept count of his ammunition and just as he was running out he kept firing with one hand to draw his sidearm; the foe did not get to aim before the Major’s 12.7mm pistol made a mess of his skull. Having stolen the initiative Nathaniel ran over to the table and gave it a heavy kick before jumping over to shoot the second goon. Wiping sweat off of his forehead Nathan looked up to see one of his mercenaries having arrived in the doorway. “Is it done?”

“Yes, we have them. Tied up like you said, Sir.”

“Excellent.”

They were there, the ugly trio. Tied up and with naught left to do but await their deaths. Nathaniel squatted in front of them, cutting off the rope around their mouths. Looking to the eldest of them he smiled. “You know I didn’t want to do this. But you made me, Michael. We were always partners and you betrayed me. So now you’re going to be slaves. See, I’m not a cruel man! You’re going to stay together, isn’t that nice?” With that he stood up and walked off, only for one of the triplets to call out after looking at all their dead friends beside them: “God will fuck you up for this you sick bastard!”

The Major stopped, his eye twitching faintly at the words. Sliding on a knee to the fellow with his knife once more out he stared for just a second. “I am not the bad guy in this story. I only exist because you do, all of this, all of this death? Its on you. God? If anything I’m the dude’s hand, given I cleaned up this den of evil. Evil. You will speak no evil, your sister hear none, and your brother see none of it. Freddy, you’re creative, I take it you knew what I meant?”

“Yessir.”

“Good, take my blade, do it.” The Major laughed. This would be his little vacation from professional, collected operation. He had gotten away with it yet again, and though this was his closest time yet he knew he’d keep getting away with it.

---

Now the Blackjacks marched at the very end of the column of settlers, their firearms in full display. They were more “tagging along” than part of the expedition of settlers, acting like vultures waiting for some violence to happen surrounding the settlers that would call for them to be hired. For now they took it easy, knowing once they arrived they’d have to take a few little odd jobs around the settlement first to make ends meet. But they were cheery for a new life awaited them, and thus they went along with a marching song on their lips.

Two recruiting Sergeants came through the black watch,
To markets and fairs some recruits for to catch.
All that enlisted were forty and two,
Enlist my fine boy, I’ll make a man of you!
It’s over the mountains, and over the main,
Through deserts and a whole lot of pain,
Get a feather in your cap, the world you’ll see,
Enlist my good boy, and come away with me!
Oh sonny you don’t know the danger that you’re in,
If your horses would bolt and your caps run thin,
This greedy old farmer wouldn’t pay your fee,
So enlist my fine boy, and come away with me!

Ares Solutions Inc. - A modern day PMC Roleplay

"Just fucking kill them!" Bakker roared from his crawl under the Nimr, the heavy calibre bullets creating somewhat of a localized sandstorm for the operators which rather unfortunately sent many grains into his mouth as he spoke. Spitting them out in anger he crawled on. While at his angle he was fairly confident he was safe from the heavy fire of the HMG, he nevertheless waited for it to be directed somewhere specific so that he could do his little dirty deed. Thankfully, he was provided a distraction by the Russian operator who seemed much braver than the rest who at most offered a few moments of blind fire. The fire of both the sniper and the AK hit their targets, but the only report they'd have of what happened on the other end would be from great sparks leaping off of the locals' bodies; they hit plate carriers which were rifle rated, likely class 6 by Russian standard or 4 per NATO given how they barely even flinched at the hits. Nevertheless the rather accurate return fire that they returned gave them pause, which combined with their now largely exhausted magazines left Hypatia with much needed breathing space.

At the same time, Bakker was finally able to poke out with his SKS and unload his entire stripper clip. Two shots into either tire, along with two into either headlight with the rest were aimed as high as possible to the point he couldn't see the weapon with the hope of by chance getting some crucial hit on the engine; hope of course, was something people tended to have in vain as the situation proved. At least he succeeded in removing the lighting for the flatbed, along with its lighting that was serving a double purpose of blinding the Ares operators and having the gunner not be entirely blind in between the many second bursts he would let out from his gun. The vehicle was now immobile and would be far slower to react to any shooting and it would do so far less accurately, but that didn't magically make the 12.7 HMG into a .22 plinker. Brick wondered if he'd have to give the order for the South African to use his grenade launcher; he would really rather not, but if this encounter dragged on it may well end up being unnecessary for no doubt the sounds of this little warzone along with the accompanying lightshow would eventually catch somebody's attention.

War Never Changes 2 : A Post Nuclear Nation Roleplay

What exactly happened to the Legion following its defeat, and is Caesar alive or dead? Also how did Honest Hearts end? New Canaanites with tribal allies might be a fun small faction to play

Battle of the Nations

So "tomorrow" was a lie, but my post is here.

Battle of the Nations

The Dusmane were strangers in a strange land. They were objects of curiosity, everything from their dress to their physical appearance to their language being alien to the rest of the allied army, and they more or less felt the same. Until this war, the vast majority of the nomads had never left their native steppe and likewise nobody visited it. Though the outside world was alien to him, the Khan of the Dusmane answered the call to arms of the parent Empire he was bound to and sent a formidable if outdated force under the command of one of his cousins.

For most of the war they were almost entirely dedicated to harassing logistics of the foe as well as destroying both reinforcements and running down retreats with no mercy given. They knew the enemy saw them as savages so they capitalized upon this. Helmeted heads of cuirassiers dangled from their horses, while the well-hatted faces of officers were pierced with hunting spears so that many an enemy’s last sight would be the death mask of their comrade. But as ever they reached into the enemy’s heartland their assignments morphed from those of a guerilla campaign into those of this century’s uniformed cavalry. It was hard for them to adapt, but they did and they became stronger for it.

Personally, Iouldouz found himself to slowly morph into one of the pale people. So much time with them gave him a taste for their spirits rather than the kumis he spent his life drinking, and he could not deny their dress wasn’t as uncomfortable as many of his kinsmen claimed. But he was still in his heart a Dusmane and he’d lead his people to glory today under their stretched hide banner. He ordered his men to make merry, to drink and laugh and sing and dance for today may well be the last day they could do so. The Khan had heard of the Emperor’s unparalleled tactical acumen and Iouldouz would be a liar if he said he wasn’t frightened of that day to come. This day would be perhaps the first where the Emperor was truly beaten in open battle; all prior victories against him were pyrrhic and often strategic defeats, or were not done in open battle and rather in guerilla campaigns as the Dusmane had mastered.

After uttering a prayer to Father Sky and taking a sip of the foreign firewater, Iouldouz entered the command tent. He was dressed in traditional furs of his folk, though as a courtesy to the foreigners he wrapped them in a way reminiscent to that which they wore them, along with a neckerchief, perfume, and a few other accessories common to them. His right hand man Tyrgutai made no such concessions, in fact making himself as wild as possible in sight, sound and smell (partially out of spite for the poncey bastards). Still more used to sitting upon rugs on the ground, Iouldouz nevertheless took a seat rather graciously after bowing, waiting for the other members of the alliance to arrive. The warrior had some general ideas for strategy, though they all were grounded in the assumption that his comrades were bold and risk taking fellows which - as far as he saw - they had to be if they had any hope of beating the enemy. After all, everyone who had tried beating the Emperor conventionally had failed. Thus it came upon the men assembled to beat them in an unorthodox manner, and the presence of the Chieftain was a posteriori proof.

The Division | Mao Mao & Andreyich

PENNSYLVANIA PLAZA // JAMES FARLEY POST OFFICE

In the tunnel Badger was fairly relaxed, for with a flashlight on him the threat of ambushes was minimal and it was simply a relaxing walk. But the moment the light of day struck the man he became tense, alert. This was the modern day Vietnam or Afghanistan; you were surrounded by civilians but just because they didn't wear uniforms that didn't mean they were non-combatants. To make it worse, the power tripping fucks of the police were now just another gang. Except this gang had experience shooting, and they carried high end weapons rather than zip-guns of all sorts. The people enjoying some fresh air entertainment? Those could easily have been snipers ready to end either agent's life from afar.

The caution about his surroundings seemed to prove itself to be well founded only moments later when the sounds of gunfire broke out. From the sheer amount of it, he decided it was wise to flick the select-fire of his rifle to full auto. The enemy came into view quickly and by God there were a lot of them. They had helmets, vests and automatic carbines. But they had the misfortune in context of being law enforcement, which would mean that while their helmets and vests would be rated for pistols, they weren't rated for rifle rounds and thus both 5,56 and 5,7 would easily chew through the false sense of security their soldier-boy outfits might give them.

Running for cover Badger didn't make a noise. But Firefly said that they had to get their attention, which made the man groan faintly. He would have preferred to use the fact they were in a good position to crossfire to wipe out these traitors in one go, but he supposed this time a more humanitarian approach was technically more important.

Thus, he stood up with his ballistic shield and assault rifle, spraying his entire magazine towards the cops to suppress them and catch their attention. With that he dropped the weapon, getting his entire body behind the shield. He knew some less experienced or simply more gung-ho agents tried to shoot with a pistol while holding one but Badger considered them stupid. What was the point of a shield if you were going to nevertheless expose a chunk of yourself so visibly to overwhelming firepower? Thus instead he approached the foe calmly, making sure his entire body was always behind the shield, ready to throw a sticky bomb come the moment he was close enough to do so accurately.

The enemy was of course moving in to outflank him, they weren't stupid enough to just waste ammo trying to break the shield with volume of fire. But the Agent hoped his action would be enough to catch the attention of the renegades just long enough for Firefly and the other JTF warriors to either reposition and mount a counterattack or to at the very least evacuate.