Roman Butcher-Birds and the 2nd Aztec War.

[nev]

Romulus stood up at the front of the ready room, took a deep breath, and started his briefing. 

"Men of Legio V, as you have probably guessed by now, we are steaming towards the war against the Aztecs.  No doubt there has been much speculation amongst you as to our role and destination in the war that is raging – well I can now reveal that we are not going to Nova Eboracum as many of you have speculated, but we are to take part in landings on the coast of Tochpan, right at the heart of the Aztec Empire."  By the looks of dismay or delight on the faces of his men, Romulus knew that large sums had been wagered on their final destination.  Though he kept his rock-hard external demeanour, inside he was smiling – soldiers will always be soldiers.  He threw a micro-glance at Lucius Clodius, their assigned (and much loathed) Praetorian Officer.  He hoped that soldiers discussing their destination amongst themselves wouldn't be classed as treasonous behaviour – so much was these days.

"Before the 3rd hour tomorrow morn, the IInd Marine Legion will be in their landing craft heading for the shore.  Legio V will be in the 2nd wave later in the day once the shoreline is secure.  You may have noticed small Lysander transport aircraft in the hangar, and those quiet men with the death-in-their-eyes look.  As you have probably discussed amongst yourselves they are indeed Speculatores.  They shall be going in before the Ist wave and one of their jobs is to secure sites that have been identified as potential airstrips.  The plan is that once these are secured we shall be taking off, hopefully before dark tomorrow and preferably in the afternoon, to land upon one of these sites.  We shall be taking off with bombs and a full load of ammo which we will be using upon enemy positions as identified by our troops before we land.  That gives us the night to get ourselves set-up, and the planes turned around ready for ground support ops at first light.

Now, you shouldn't need me to tell you, but I'm going to anyway. Always, always ALWAYS make sure you are carrying your sidearm and that it is loaded.  The only time it should be empty of bullets is when you take it apart to clean it.  Remember, if Fortuna deserts you and you are shot down DO NOT let yourself be taken prisoner.  Your gun carries VI bullets, use V on any Aztecs that try to capture you, use the last on yourself.  Do not be under any illusion what will happen to you if they take you alive.  They are bloodthirsty barbarians, and they will drag you kicking and screaming to the nearest high place and there, whilst you are still alive, and concious they will rip out your heart as they sacrifice you to their god Huitzilopochtli.  This is not propaganda put about to stiffen your resolve, the Aztecs have sacrificed prisoners and slaves for centuries."

He paused and looked them all squarely in the eye.

"I fought in the defence of Nova Eboracum and I can assure you, this is not propaganda.  Do NOT let yourself be taken alive.

And do not think that you are safe when you are on the ground.  You can be sure that the Aztecs will try and infiltrate our camp at night and that we pilots shall be their goal.  They won't try and drag you away to be sacrificed, they will merely stab you in the heart and try to dig it out before anyone stops them.  I Aztec warrior for I Roman pilot is a very good deal as far as these barbarians are concerned.


But whilst the fight will be hard, do not doubt in our ultimate success.  The Vestal Virgins, The Pontifex Maximus, and all the auspices taken on this voyage all agree on one thing – the sacrifice, nay massacre, of those Roman merchants III years ago was such an affront, such an insult to Rome, to Jupiter, and to every concept of civilisation that there can only be one satisfactory conclusion to this war.  Emperor Terencius I has decreed that the Aztec Empire and its people shall be wiped out.  Once the war is over – in fact whilst it is ongoing for the process has already begun in the north– the entire Aztec race is to be sold in to slavery.  Emperor Terencius, as is his right, will take XXV% of the proceeds. Consul Metrobius, as is his right as commanding officer, will take another XXV%.  The remaining L% will be equally divided up between the troops of the expeditionary army army"  Grins broke out all over the faces of the men in the room – they knew that there were millions of people in the Aztec Empire, the sale of slaves coupled with the loot they would invariably come across promised to make them all a lot of money

"I'll leave you to discuss amongst yourselves how you want the money divided up – whether only the survivors receive a portion, which naturally means more money for them, or if you want the relatives of the dead to receive their share as well.  Signifer Constanite, will you let me know the decision of the men before sundown?

And that is that men.  Neptune has brought us safe across the ocean, now we rely on Mars and Fortuna to see us through to victory.  I shall see you all again at the VIth hour tomorrow for the final briefing."

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

I've added several washes with MiG filters and added chipping to the decals, unfortunatley the washes don't show up as well under artificial light - if the sun ever breaks through the grey I might get some better pics.

[cthulhu77]

   Don't know what else to say !   Kudos!

[sotoolslinger]

Excellent build and awesome backstory. I would be pleased to steal it for some future build

[Spey_Phantom]

a Roman FW190 
i really like the idea behind it, and the history.

maybe i should build something to counter the romans.
Beware the power of the Gallic Air Corps 

[BlackOps]

Nev, you already know I'm diggin' the Roman FW, but the backstory is excellent as well!     

[NARSES2]

With that speach Romulus will be standing for the Senate before long 

Love the way you've built in the little details like the gambling and sharing out of the spoils. Only problem is with that many captives the price of slaves on the open market could fall drastically as it did after the Gaulic Wars 

Your Legio V may well get some land back up soon, although it's probably destined for the Persian Front.

Great stuff Nev

[Draken35]

...And keep in mind that actually Sparta remains neutral, because tehre are very busy with the Egyptians of Cleopatra XIV...

[nev]

Sparta? Pah!  The Romans took care of those effiminate Greeks centuries ago!

Only problem is with that many captives the price of slaves on the open market could fall drastically as it did after the Gaulic Wars 

Very true, but the Empire has been short of a good supply of slaves for many a year - from the tin mines of Brittania to the Emperors Holiday Harem at Capua a good infusion of fit, strong slaves is just what Rome needs

[John Howling Mouse]

Fantastic, Nev!   

[nev]

"Imperator!!"

Romulus Cassianum snapped to attention and saluted as Emperor Terencius approached.  It was known that he had crossed the ocean as the war was winding down, but this impromptu visit was most unexpected.

"Romulus you old dog, its good to see you alive"

"Thankyou Sir, we are honoured by your presence"

"Great, now how about you give me a tour of this base of yours?"

"Of course Sir, but I'm afraid there isn't much to see – as you can see, it's rather austere, but then that is the lot of the close-support cohort, is it not?"



Terencius chuckled "Yes.  Tell me, how do you think it's worked out?  Be honest now Romulus, we go back a long way and there are no over-zealous Praetorians in earshot to accuse you of treasonous remarks"

"Very well Sir. Truth be told, the Air Force will always want to chase enemy fighters round the sky at XXV Stadia, they never had much stomach for getting down and dirty amongst the trees and weeds.  Having a cohort of fighter-bombers for each Legio meant that they could always count on getting support when they needed it, although sadly with the supply situation we weren't always able to provide what they wanted"



"You mean the shortage of bombs and rockets?"

"Yes sir.  I understand that is the nature of expeditionary warfare, and that supply would always be an issue, but it was an awful feeling to be sat there listening to the men of your own Legio on the radio begging for help and being unable to provide it because we had to save our bombs for real emergencies."

"That's the responsibility of command I'm afraid Romulus – and the higher up the Cursus Honorum you climb, the greater that becomes.  But that is what separates Romans from the rest of the world – we do not shirk from our duty, we embrace it!  What about the Carnifex, how did it perform?  I've flown one back in Roma, but obviously combat is the true determinant"



"Very well sir – we couldn't have a better platform in all the Roman aerial inventory if you ask me.  She's fast, rugged, can take a lot of damage, able to hold her own in a dogfight unlike some of the Air Force's attack planes, packs a punch.  She certainly brought me back a few times when I thought Fortuna had deserted me.  As you can see, we've put our planes through a lot the last 7 months and they've still kept going – although I have to be honest Sir, our spanner-monkeys have been heroic in their efforts to keep them going.  Every one of those I lost to Aztec night-time raids I felt almost as keenly as every pilot lost"

Terencius surveyed the line-up of tattered and weather-beaten aircraft "Just VI planes left?  Out of XXX?"

"Yes sir, and a couple of them we were only able to keep going when a damaged Navy Carnifex put down on our airfield – the pilot was wounded, so as soon as he was carted off to the Chirugeon we stripped his plane to pieces and told the Navy the plane was damaged beyond repair"



Terencius tilted his head back and let out a long, loud wolf-howl.  All around there were nervous glances but Romulus just carried on walking - he was used to these eccentric behaviours in his Emperor.  "Yes, good one Romulus, that's the kind of inventivness I like in my commanders.  Which brings me to the reason for my visit.  I want you to come back to Rome with me."

"Sir?  But the fighting is still ongoing?  I can't leave my men now"

"Oh, you won't be leaving them – the war is over for Legio V.  Its fought hard, taken heavy casualties but won no end of glory for themselves and for Rome.  You were the first into Tenochtitlanl, you captured Emperor Axayaca – Legio V deserves its place of honour in my Triumph.  And let me say how much I am looking forward to having Axayaca  take his place in the parade of captives, and I look forward even more to his strangulation at the end of the festivities   By Jove, strangling is too good for that barbarian, I'd much rather crucify him, but that's not how Triumphs work, mores the pity.  No, don't worry about the mopping up, I've brought a fresh legion of Praetorians over with me for that. Its an unglorious task which will incur many tiresome casualties – just the job for them if you ask me."

Romulus tried hard to hide his surprise at these words but was clearly unsuccessful
"Oh come on Romulus, we all know how they go far beyond their remit.  Quite frankly I think they'd arrest me for treason given half a chance!  No, they need their pride wounding, the wings clipped and their ranks thinning.  Then I can start replacing them with a better class of Roman.  Men like you Romulus."

"Me???" Romulus spluttered  "A praetorian??"

"Yes.  I want more military men in there, more men I can count on.  There's a job going as Legate of the Ist Praetorian Air Legion if you want it."

"Do I have a choice?"  He paused then stood stiffly to attention.  "I am happy to serve Rome in whatever capacity you command Imperator"

"Good man Romulus, I knew I could count on you.  Now, I hear that your legion has an incredible brothel populated by enslaved Aztec beauties, I'd love to see it...."

[BlackOps]

Finished up quite nicely, and once again the story is quite entertaining!   

[Draken35]

Sparta? Pah!  The Romans took care of those effiminate Greeks centuries ago!

Hmmm... Casus belli. 
Spartans will have to react. I envisage to build a Spartan fighter... 

[NARSES2]

Tremendous Nev - I can see Rad turning up at Bolton in a Toga now 

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Tremendous Nev - I can see Rad turning up at Bolton in a Toga now 

On behalf of the rest of humanity may I just say....

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!Duncan

What they said..... I agree..... a lot 

Ian

[Joe C-P]

Sooo...

Where are the models of the ships involved?