Disclaimer: I don't claim to own these characters other then Calpurnia
who is a creation loosely based on the Create a Warrior NuWa girl from DW4.

AN: This is a DW4/5 fanfiction. The plot pacing of this story is meant to mimic the game. In the beginning everything is more free, there are less requirements to fulfill and you are less involved in the actually drama of the three kingdoms. People are easy to beat and everything is more relaxed. As the game progresses, you build your character and the battles are won by strategy and not force. This story was planned out in this manner and was created with an 'alternative history' scenario in mind. The characters will develop and grow along with the story which is prevalent in all my writing. Aspects of the novel, history as well as the other KOEI games that revolve around the Three Kingdoms era are what drive my writing.

If you hate original characters, well then you'll hate this fic. She was created to introduce the cultural conflict and possible historical alterations. As the story had progressed I have taken into consideration any reviews I have received so a lot of what happens to her in later chapters is a direct influence of that. My readers seem to like her and want her to be happy, sorry if that makes people light the Mary-Sue torch. When this story is over I will post the alternative ending, which was how the course of the story was intended to run. This story truly did take it's own course thanks to it's fans.

~HarborRat

Chapter 1

A Lone Roman

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Calpurnia Quirinuis rode alone down the well traveled trade road east. She was clad in male attire, although her long black braided roman hair defeated her attempt at disguise. She had little as far as belongings: Her wool cloak, the clothes on her back, a well sharpened short sword and the gray Arabian colt she rode.

The traders that had been irritating her for the past two hundred miles were well behind her and she took comfort in the solitude. It gave her ample time to think, and she certainly needed to

think. Six months ago she had been one of the Roman Empire's highly prized assassins but now her life was in shambles, and she just turned sixteen.

Seven months had passed since Octavian Galleus, her commanding officer, issued her the orders from the emperor himself. She was to kill a senator, something she didn't even think twice about. Politicians died often, rarely due to natural causes; not much had changed since the days of Julius Caesar. However a simple throat slitting in a small brothel turned into something she would have never anticipated: her own betrayal.

As soon as the deed was done, Galleus and his Centurions rushed in to arrest her. It was a grand ploy, she had to admit, they would blame the senator's murder on her but another man would pay the price for allegedly ordering her to do it-General Liutius Hadrianius. They would both die for the great injustice, a convenient way to eliminate the people's hero and the young assassin that already had took much blood on her hands. They underestimated her, and she eliminated them for it. She ran, knowing that men would be sent to hunt her down, and now she was here pondering her future. There had to be a war somewhere that needed someone like herself.

The scenery was changing drastically. Ares, her loyal colt, flickered his ears at the sound of voices ahead. She urged him on, worse case scenario she would have to spill some blood. The more she thought about it the more she hoped they would be hostile; it would be a welcome relief from the weeks of boredom riding this dusty road.

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"Why are we all the way out here Ping?" The small unhappy private yawned. "There aren't any enemies that I know of that we need to protect Wei from, yet."

"That's why you're a private and Cao Cao is the General." Ping answered

"Hey, someone's coming!" Chang stood up and watched the foreigner approach.

"Does that look like a girl to you?"

"Ping, I haven't had a woman in a while, but that sure looks like one."

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Calpurnia approached slowly, surveying the situation. Two sentries, no bows. It was all she needed to know. The small Chinese men were shouting at her, obviously asking sentry related questions. She made out a bit of it, thanks to the traders she had spent time with.

"What….want…" The younger man asked. He repeated his question but she didn't make out any more of it then she did the first time. Oh well.

Clearing her throat she tried her best to not butcher the gibberish language she had learned. "Take to lord."

The two men were refusing her simple mangled request and she sighed. Sliding off her steed she hit the ground and unsheathed her sword. With a quick move she had both men on the ground writhing in pain from multiple wounds to the abdomen.

"Well, Ares, shall we see if we can find someone else a bit more compatible with our language?"

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"Mmm…"

"Cousin, is this what you anticipated coming down the road?" Xiahou Dun asked curiously as he leaned over the pommel of his saddle.

"Not quite, but nonetheless interesting." Cao Cao smiled with a certain bit of curiosity.

"Would you like me to bring her to you?" Dun asked knowing the answer. His cousin had a definite taste for the younger crowd and this girl looked to be about the right age to fuel his desire.

"Yes, yes indeed."

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Calpurnia was annoyed with the lack of contact with anyone. Sentries meant someone had to be near, but where were they? She asked Ares for a slow trot and as she turned the corner she spotted the welcoming committee.

Xiahou Dun galloped ahead of his men and came to a sliding halt in front of the fair skinned foreign girl. Calpurnia eyed him and tried to make sense of the huge sentence he spit out at her. She made out the words 'like', 'see', 'here' and 'lord' and considering the obvious importance of this man she decided to take her chances.

"To lord?" She asked and saw Dun nod in amused recognition. Then she pressed on. "Warrior." She pointed to her self. "Need…." She searched for something related to employment in her new Chinese vocabulary but came up with none. "Need lord." She watched Dun nod and wave her on, it must have worked.