An Imperial Visit
Part One
The Stranger's Arrival
A column of fifteen cavalry rode through the forest towards the castle of Camelot. They were wearing forest green jackets with white cotton standing collars and trousers with black leather boots, black leather belts with leather boxes on the right hip and modified versions of the Roman Gladius on their saddles and variants of Roman cavalry helmets painted forest green with no plumes. Strapped to the other side of the saddles were single flintlock pistols that were kept loaded and primed at all times. The enlisted men had forty inch long, fifty-eight caliber smooth-bore flintlock carbines. At the head of the column were three officers, the first and most important was General Mamericus Accius Caecus, a middle-aged man who had a head of short, black hair and a well groomed moustache and beard. On each side of his collar he bore a single gold embroidered four-pointed star signifying his rank.
Behind him were his eldest adopted son Centurion Quintus Accius Caecus, a creature whose head and body were mostly human, but had a three inch canine muzzle with big drooping jowls that belonged on a Great Dane. His body was covered in a fine coat of short, brown hair and a head of short, black hair. His ears were mostly human with a slight point near the top. On his collars, he wore three gold embroidered vertical bars. Behind him bearing the Imperial Eagle presented by the Emperor himself, as was customary when a new emperor was elected, was Centurion Gnaeus Optimus Maro, a creature that like Quintus was mostly human, but had a three inch equine muzzle protruding from his face. His body except for his muzzle was covered in light, almost copper-tone brown hair with a head of long, thick black hair.
The three of them aside from their pistols and swords carried forty-five inch long fifty caliber flintlock rifles whose finish was the most beautiful of any in the column. Instead of a gladius, General Caecus carried a sword that he had found many years earlier that had a thirty-six inch long blade with the words, "VERUM, JUSTICA, VENERATIO, FIDES, VIRTUS" or "Truth, Justice, Honor, Faith, Courage" etched into the left side of the blade and "CALIBURNUS" on the right, and the image of dragons on the cross guard.
After several hours the column passed through the gates of Camelot riding through the streets past crowds of people, most flocking to see the strangers in town, others just going about their business as usual. After several minutes, they approached the courtyard outside the palace.
"Gnaeus, Quintus, as we enter the courtyard, have the men deploy into line directly behind us." General Caecus said as they passed under the arch, "Deploy into line from the center, MARCH!" the column passed through the arch, the soldiers slowly moving into line meeting four men standing on the steps leading into the keep. A man in graying hair and black clothing, a young man with blond hair, an older man with long gray hair and a blue tunic, and a young man with raven black hair, a blue shirt, and tan jacket with a red scarf around his neck. The first man approached General Caecus as he stopped his horse.
"General Mamericus Caecus, on behalf of our people, I bid you welcome to Camelot." he said as General Caecus dismounted, "On the behalf of our Emperor Bartholomew Maximus, we thank you Uther Pendragon for allowing us the opportunity to visit your kingdom." He said taking his helmet off and giving a slight bow, Gnaeus and Quintus approached, "Allow me to introduce my eldest adopted son, Centurion Quintus Caecus, and my good friend Centurion Gnaeus Optimus Maro." The two bowed as Uther looked the two over with a questioning look on his face, "It's a long story sire. Where might I quarter my men for the duration of our stay?"
"My son Arthur can handle the quartering of your men, we will have your horses stabled and tended to. In the meantime, you and your fellow officers may be quartered in our guest chambers for the time being. The three of you must come dine with us tonight, I am eager to hear of your exploits and the battles in which you have fought."
"I would be honored to dine with you tonight." General Caecus took his sword and scabbard off his saddle along with his pistol and put them on his belt and slung his rifle over his shoulder, muzzle down. The seven then turned and started up the steps into the keep. "I trust the journey in was uneventful." Uther said to which General Caecus replied, "Yes, quiet and peaceful. No ambushes or any trouble of any kind. The sea voyage was another story."
"Why, what happened?"
"Went through a tempest on the way over. All survived unscathed thanks be to the will of the gods."
"I am pleased to hear that, where is your ship anchored if you don't mind me asking?
"It's moored in a bay to the southwest, we had to use a special transport to get both us and our horses to the shore."
"Interesting, I shall look forward to learning more about you and your people during your stay." Uther said finishing the conversation as they entered the keep. Only Arthur and the raven haired man lingered for a few seconds.
"Strange group that lot is."
He said to which Arthur replied, "You sure said it Merlin, strange they are, but they are our honored guests, and I look forward to seeing what they have in store over the next few days." With that they continued up the steps and through the gates before them.
That evening, Uther, Arthur, General Caecus, Quintus, Gnaeus, and a young woman with long, black hair sat at a large rectangular table, Uther at the head, Arthur and the woman on the left side with General Caecus, sitting immediately to Uther's right, Gnaeus and Quintus next to him. The boy Merlin stood to the back of the room awaiting the need to bring wine to any of those seated. There was a variety of meat, fish, and an assortment of vegetables to choose from to eat. Arthur looked directly at the General and said, "So General, tell us about your exploits as a soldier. Tell us of the battles you've been involved in."
"I'm afraid there is not much to tell, our empire has not seen a war of any kind in nearly half a millennium." General Caecus said taking a drink from his goblet; "A real testament to the strength of not only the Empire but our military as well. Our Army is the finest of any nation in the western world, in terms of numerical strength, training, weapons and equipment. Only Rome had the ability to match us."
"How strong of an army if you don't mind me asking?" Uther asked to which General Caecus replied, "At last reports we have a total of two and a half million men on active duty, in armies that are based around the Empire with another three million in reserve. Our navy is the largest and best in the world and our marine infantry is among the best."
"What are the function of marines?" the woman asked, "Marines Morgana, are two groups of men, one stays on board our ships to protect them from being boarded, and infantry units that are trained to go ashore, hit the target hard and fast causing as much damage as possible and then pull out. Essentially they are our military's shock troops, first into action last to get out." General Caecus said putting a piece of meat in his mouth. "What role does your cavalry play on the battlefield?" Arthur said taking a drink.
"We have multiple roles, mounted, we can act as scouts, shock troops, we can pursue retreating enemies, or we can dismount and launch assaults on positions, defend a position for a short time or we act as skirmishers." General Caecus said laying a hand on the table; "Even though my unit has not seen action in many centuries, we practice our craft regularly to keep ourselves ready for when we actually do go to war." "Can you give us a demonstration of your tactics tomorrow in the meadow outside the castle?" Uther asked slightly intrigued. "Of course sire, I will demonstrate some of our tactics for being mounted and on foot." General Caecus turned to Quintus, "When dinner is over inform the men to prepare a demonstration for the royals, blank loads only." "Yes sir." Quintus replied before taking a drink.
"What about the political structure of your empire?" Uther asked looking towards his guests, "Our political structure is different in many ways. Power is not on the shoulders of a single individual, instead it is distributed amongst three branches," Gnaeus said before gesturing with his fingers; "Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Each is to ensure that no one branch can become too powerful. We did not want a single person running everything, so when our founders wrote the founding documents, they decided that an emperor should be an official elected to terms of eight years by a vote of the people and the College of Governors." Uther was completely taken aback at this revelation, "That works? Does that not make you weak?" he asked wide-eyed
"Not as one might think, it is one of the things that makes us strong and has worked for centuries." General Caecus replied.
"The people cast their votes for the men the provincial governors select who then vote for the candidate." Gnaeus continued; "The Legislative branch is made up of an upper house that represents the governors and a lower house that represents the people. The representatives of the upper house are selected by the governors themselves for five-year terms and those of the lower house are elected by popular vote. All laws including taxes originate in either of the houses. They are introduced by a representative, debated and amended before being put to a vote. If it passes both Houses it goes on to the Emperor to sign into law or reject it. The judicial branch is there to interpret and uphold the rights given by our code of laws and ensure bad laws don't pass and solve major civil disputes."
"As of yet how many Emperors have reigned in your empire?" Uther asked to which General Caecus replied, "Our current Emperor, Bartholomew Maximus is the seventy-second person to hold the office."
There was a slight pause as the people around the table ate and drank in silence. Arthur soon broke the silence, "General, what of the history of your Empire and it's people?" "Our history is as rich as that of Rome was." General Caecus said setting his goblet down; "The first settlers came over from Rome in one thirty and landed on the east coast of Floridus and founded New Rome. Within ten years the entire east coast and up to one hundred fifty miles inland at its largest size."
"That was during Hadrian's reign?" Uther interrupted, "Yes, and he was the man that sanctioned the original expedition. During that time several large towns and three main ports that we used for trade, and bringing new migrants." General Caecus continued, "What allowed your empire to become independent? Was it when Rome fell, or some other reason?" Arthur asked intrigued to which General Caecus replied, "As you can imagine, because we were so far away, our people developed a strong sense of independence, and a new identity that was separate from Rome. As the years passed, the independence fervor grew stronger, and it did not take long for the Emperor to start cracking down, sending troops, using taxes to strangle the feelings, but all it accomplished was fan the flames until it reached the breaking point, allowing for a rebellion to break out, and it spread like wildfire until it was a full blown revolution with independence as the cause. Took three years of effort and about ten thousand casualties on our side and somewhere around two hundred fifty thousand Romans."
"How was that possible?" Morgana asked to which General Caecus replied, "It was a simple question of superior weapons and tactics of which you will get to see a little bit of." He then continued his story for a while illustrating the history of the Empire. As they were finishing General Caecus looked around the table and said, "I appreciate the hospitality of you here in Camelot, on the behalf of the Emperor, I extend an invitation to any of you who are interested to come visit our Empire to experience the grandeur and expanse for yourselves. We would provide transport to and from the destination, my brigade would provide security throughout the entire time you are travelling and you will be able to bring any souvenirs back with you." Stunned, Uther said, "I appreciate the offer, but I cannot leave while our enemies grow stronger." Arthur who was more intrigued than anything else, said, "You have me interested in seeing what you talked about, I will put some thought into it and let you know after your demonstration."
"I would love to see the New World," Morgana said with a grin; "it sounds amazing!"
"It is my lady, there are things you can scarcely imagine, animals never seen before on this continent. Spectacular storms and natural wonders that will leave you speechless. We even have delicacies, and goods you cannot find anywhere else." General Caecus replied looking into his now empty goblet. "Morgana you can't go, there's no telling what awaits you over there." Uther said setting his fist on the table to which General Caecus said, "Sire, if you are uncomfortable letting her go, you can always send one of your knights to accompany her."
"It's not that I doubt the abilities of your men to look after Morgana, she's my ward, and I made a promise to her father to look after her." Uther replied with a slight grin. "I completely understand your position sire," General Caecus said sitting back; "I feel the same way about my adopted sons, even though they serve under me, I would never forgive myself if anything happened to any of them. Perhaps our demonstration tomorrow will change your mind."
"We will see." Uther said with an eyebrow cocked finishing the conversation. After several moments, they stood and said their good nights, and exited the chamber.
Sometime later, Merlin entered Gaius' chambers and collapsed onto the bench at the dinner table. Gaius sat down across from him setting two bowls between them, Merlin however just stared at his soup not even picking up his spoon. Noticing this, Gaius said breaking the silence, "Is something the matter Merlin?"
"I can't get my mind off of these visitors, they are very strange." Merlin replied looking up. "Strange they may be, but they are representatives of the most powerful empire since Rome."
"How come we have not had contact with them before now?"
"After Rome fell, much knowledge was lost, including that of the New World. To my knowledge no representative of their empire has set foot in Europe since then."
"What about their trade goods?"
"Today you would be lucky to find anything from there anywhere, four, five hundred years ago their goods were as common as cattle."
"I will have to ask them about that. You think they could be a threat to Camelot?"
"I doubt that Merlin, unless Uther crosses them somehow. why on Earth do you think that?
"There is something about General Caecus and his two officers Gnaeus and Quintus that seems odd, besides their obvious physical appearance."
"Odd in what way?"
"They seem older than they look, I can see it in their eyes. It's as if the horrors of events long ago are there just beneath the surface. How is it possible?"
"Not entirely sure."
"General Caecus extended an invitation to go visit their country and Arthur and Morgana have expressed an interest in going there. "
This caught Gaius' attention, "What did Uther have to say about that?"
"He said 'No.'" Merlin replied taking a sip of his soup; "General Caecus will be giving a demonstration of their weapons and tactics on the meadow and he thinks it may change his mind." "We shall see." Gaius said finishing the conversation.
The next afternoon saw King Uther, Prince Arthur, Lady Morgana, Gaius, Merlin, Gwen, a couple knights and a detachment of twelve soldiers walking to a platform specially constructed just for this occasion. It was five feet off the ground with a wall in front of eight chairs that was painted red with the Pendragon crest in the center. The meadow was devoid of any movement whatsoever, not even a sound. "Where could they be?" Arthur said looking around almost disappointed; "General Caecus said he would be here with his cavalry detachment." Sitting down in the center, Uther replied, "He's probably on his way." The others sat while Merlin and Gwen stood behind them and the soldiers stood in front of the platform.
From the wood line on the right, a trumpet blared and General Caecus' cavalry detail charged out in a line across the meadow swords drawn and pointed towards the front with the Imperial Eagle in the center. As they got to a certain point, the men on the far side of the meadow begin to move into line in front of the platform coming to a stop facing the royals, swords pointing towards the sky. "He certainly knows how to make an entrance." Gaius said with an eyebrow cocked, "Indeed." Uther replied clapping his hands slightly audibly. General Caecus sheathed his sword and rode forward, "Good afternoon sire," he said adjusting his helmet; "How'd you like our entrance?"
"Splendid General!" Uther replied standing and moving to the edge of the platform; "What do you have planned for us today?" "We will give you an up close demonstration of our weapons, demonstrate for you some of the maneuvers that are standard for our cavalry and those that are unique to my brigade, both mounted and on foot. If Your Lordship wishes, we will demonstrate how our tactics work against an enemy unit in combat borrowing some of your men." General Caecus said resting a hand on the butt of his rifle. "Very well. You may begin." Uther replied with a nod.
General Caecus dismounted tied his horse to a tree and took his rifle out of its holster, "First, the up close demonstration, Sire, Prince Arthur, Gaius, if you want, you can step down and see for yourself." he said reaching into his saddlebag and pulling out what looked like a cow horn, a leather container and a bronze pan as Uther, Arthur, Gaius and Merlin walked up. The General set the pan, horn and container on a table in front of them, then held his rifle up across his body, "This weapon here is one of grace, and elegance as well as being good for intimidating your enemies." He said running a hand down the slender stock of the weapon. "It is indeed a fine weapon. How does it work?" Uther asked studying the weapon intently, "If I may direct your attention to the pan on the table in front of you." General Caecus said slinging his rifle over his shoulder then picking up the horn, taking the plug out of the narrower end and poured a small amount of a black powder into the center of the pan.
"What is that?" Gaius asked with his eyebrow cocked. "This is a substance that we use as a propellant for our weapons, it is a mixture of charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter." General Caecus said picking up a stick with a piece of rope that was smoldering on one end and slowly blowing on it; "Generally, they are flammable on their own, but once you mix them together, you get a reaction that is quite different. " As he said this, he lowered the rope into the powder, which rapidly went up with a woosh and a puff of white smoke surprising the four standing in front of it. He then took a cork out of the container and shook two lead balls out of it that were a half inch in diameter, he held them out to Arthur and Uther, "These are the projectiles that we use," the king and the prince each picked one up; "half-inch diameter lead balls."
"These are tiny, how can these kill someone?" Arthur said skeptically, "Don't let the size fool you sire, when combined with our propellant it can go clean through plate armor." General Caecus replied as Arthur and Uther put the rifle balls down on the pan, he then unslung his rifle and set the container down; "This is the technology that allowed us to humiliate Rome. Twice!" the General then brought his rifle up "I will now demonstrate how this works," he said reaching into his cartridge box; "for the purposes of this demonstration, I will be doing the full load and using a melon as a target."
He pulled out a cartridge and held it up for all to see, "This is a standard issue cartridge with the propellant and projectile contained within." He then began demonstrating the loading procedures as he talked, "First, pull the striker back until it clicks once, after withdrawing a cartridge from the cartridge box, bite the top and tear it off. Then, pour a small amount into the pan and shut the cover. Next, bring it down on the left side muzzle away from the face and pour the remaining charge down the barrel. Then, draw the push rod and ram the ball and cartridge down the barrel until it stops, tap it a few times to make sure it's seated properly. Now it's ready to fire." He stepped back a few paces and pulled the hammer back to full cock, "Brace yourselves, this is going to make some noise and more smoke." General Caecus then put his rifle to his shoulder, took aim at a melon and fired, the ball going clean through the target.
After a few moments a rider brought the melon to the General who looked at it and smiled before turning it around showing the entry wound, "Dead center, if that had been the head of a man, he would not be getting back up." He said turning it around to the other side revealing a much larger exit hole. "May I have a closer look at your weapon?" Uther asked to which General Caecus passed his rifle over, "Father, I think I can see how they work," Arthur said pointing to the hammer and frizzen, "practically the same as using flint and iron to start a fire. There's probably a spring of some sort on the inside and a notch that holds that striker in place. When the trigger is pulled, the striker falls forward, the flint scrapes against here, causing sparks to fall into the pan igniting the propellant."
"Very observant Prince Arthur." General Caecus said impressed, as Uther passed the rifle to Arthur who began looking over every inch of it. "Arthur, you sure that thing is safe to handle?" Merlin asked somewhat nervously, "Of course it is Merlin, it's empty." Arthur scoffed handing the weapon back to its owner. "How fast can a man load and loose a round with this?" General Caecus then answered, "A well trained infantryman can get off three rounds in a minute. The men of my brigade can do four. Normally, we fire in massed volleys which is immensely effective against a massed infantry or cavalry charge, especially if the enemy we are facing have never encountered it before." He then started picking up his things "If you will return to your seats, I will get these put away and we will commence with the tactics demonstration."
The four paused for a moment before turning and walking back to the platform. Sitting down Arthur said, "Father, what do you think so far?"
"I have to say I am impressed," Uther replied looking out towards the line of horsemen in front of them; "an ally like them would make any of our enemies tremble." "That may be so, but I for one would never want to face them in a war." Arthur said also impressed; "Last night he said their active duty forces numbered two and a half million, if their infantry has the same type of arms we saw here that can fire three rounds a minute and can pierce plate armor, a kingdom as small as ours would never stand a chance. All they would need to do is send a couple hundred thousand men and they would squash us like a bug." Gaius nodded, "Which is why we must stay on their good side."
"I find their weapons fascinating," Morgana said with a slight grin on her face; "just the way they work is incredible!" Merlin however was understandably nervous about these weapons, the thought of how much more dangerous a tyrant Uther would be if he had them made him cringe. After a few moments, General Caecus walked onto the platform and sat down in a chair next to Uther. "What are you to show us first?" Uther asked to which the General replied, "First sire, we will demonstrate a variation of the Cantabrian circle that only we use. It is very complex to do and takes months of training to get it right. If you wish we can borrow some of your men for the demonstration."
Uther gave a slight look of apprehension, "Not to worry sire, we will only be using the propellant and no projectiles. All they have to do is act like they naturally would in a defensive battle." Uther nodded slightly, "Very well then, you may borrow the soldiers guarding this platform and one of our knights." He said before dismissing the soldiers and a knight. General Caecus stood and yelled out, "CENTURION CAECUS, CENTURION MARO, GIVE THEM THE CANTABRIAN CIRCLE!"
"YES SIR!" Gnaeus yelled back then motioned for the men to move to the left side of the field while Uther's loaned troops went to the right and assumed a defensive posture. General Caecus sat back down while his cavalry detachment prepared to begin their maneuvers, "As they go along, I will explain what's going on as best I can sire." He said as the cavalry readied their pistols. After a moment, they started forward at a gallop in single file towards the center of the meadow. As the riders reached the line, they aimed their pistols in the direction of the enemy.
"The primary thing we do on the outset of an offensive battle is to use the Cantabrian circle to skirmish with our enemies to harass them on while limiting the exposure of each man to missile fire." General Caecus said while the cavalrymen continued to fire and the infantry died randomly. "How hard is it to master this maneuver?" Arthur asked leaning out slightly looking towards General Caecus who replied, "Like I said Arthur, it takes months of training to get it right, and all the while as a rider is going 'round, he has to steer the horse, and reload his side arm before he comes back to the front. Believe me, it's not easy to do, and being able to hit a target in a two second window is a challenge in itself."
"I think it's ingenious, most impressive." Uther said to which General Caecus said with a smirk, "If you think this is impressive with fifteen men, you haven't seen anything until you see five thousand men riding in this fashion!"
"I bet it would be." Uther said with a grin. The Cavalrymen then started to peel off to the rear and reform their original line, then proceeded to dismount with every fifth man holding the horses and forming a skirmish line with three pace intervals and the infantry resetting. "Eventually, during a battle we will dismount with every fifth man holding a horse and assemble in a skirmish line." the dismounted cavalrymen knelt down with their carbines. "Doesn't matter if we are attacking or defending we always start with a few volleys. The main difference between the weapon I demonstrated earlier was that it has spiral grooves cut inside the barrel which like an arrow, makes the projectile spin giving it more stability, range and accuracy and good out to three hundred yards. The weapons my cavalry detail have are while visibly shorter have no grooves and are only good to about sixty yards and the projectile goes whichever direction it bounces last as it leaves the barrel."
"Why such a difference?" Morgana asked to which he replied, "It is much more expensive to make one that has the grooves than it is to leave it smooth. Those that have them are either officers like myself, hunters or sharpshooters. Sharpshooters are our top marksmen whose job is to harass the enemy picking off targets from long distance."
The ten dismounted cavalrymen knelt down and prepared to fire, after a few seconds, they fired a volley and three of the enemy infantry died". The General then continued, "Our own infantrymen use longer versions of those carbines, about forty-eight inches long. However, the length of their weapons only allows them to stand while fighting. Our units will fire in volleys as long as they are in their position or until ordered otherwise." The cavalrymen fired two more volleys.
There was a pause as the cavalrymen reloaded, then, every fifth man fired, and those who had not stood and moved forward five paces, and fired while the first group reloaded. "This is a standard way we make assaults on fixed positions and advance on an enemy unit while keeping a constant volume of fire on them. We tend to call it 'Rolling Thunder'." After a pause Arthur said, "It's very aptly named General."
The two group of soldiers continued to "battle" while the General continued to narrate what was going on. The dismounted troopers stopped ten yards from Uther's soldiers and went through the "Rolling Thunder" maneuver in reverse back to their horses as their "enemies" pressed forward after resetting again. The cavalrymen holstered their carbines and remounted their horses as a trumpet sounded the cease-fire.
General Caecus then stood and moved to the front of the royals, "This concludes the demonstration of our weapons and tactics. I hope you all enjoyed it." He said as the six applauded, Merlin was nervous and skeptical, but he still applauded politely. "Very impressive," Said Arthur; "I can say now that you have me wanting to visit your homeland even more than ever. I will let you know of my final decision in a few hours."
With a smile, the General said, "What about you Morgana? Are you still interested in coming over to see our Empire?" Morgana smiled and said, "Of course, I'm even more interested after your demonstration. When do we leave?"
"We will be departing the day after tomorrow," the General replied gesturing to both her and Arthur; "if you do come, I would recommend packing light, bring cooler clothes because the place you would be travelling to will be very humid in the summer, however, we may travel up north so you can see some more things. The voyage to our home can take up to a month, not including a resupply stop on the way. What about you Uther?"
"I will have to sleep on it, I'm still a little unsure about it." Uther replied; "Although I would be interested in a military alliance, I'm sure the SMF Empire would be a powerful ally or an equally dangerous enemy." General Caecus nodded and said, "That we are, I'm sure our Emperor would be interested in forming an alliance, and we could open a new trade route between us seeing as this is the first time since the fall of Rome that any of my people have set foot here or vice versa."
With that, all of them left the meadow and went back towards the castle.
Merlin unsure of what to do decided he should go see Kilgarrah, the dragon chained beneath the Camelot castle. He stopped atop the stairwell above the guards guarding the entrance to the dragon's cave. "Cwsg nawr." He said under his breath and the two guards were asleep in a matter of seconds. He then continued down into the gigantic cavern and stopped on the all too familiar ledge, "Hello?" He shouted into the enormous space; "Where are you?"
The sound of flapping wings echoed as the mighty dragon came to a stop on a rock pile in front of him, "Greetings young warlock, do you come to me about the visitors to Camelot?" said the dragon, "You know about them?"
"That I do, Merlin, I was but a young dragon when their empire was born. I watched as they left Rome for their new home. I even visited their land once or twice after they had established themselves."
"Is their land as awe inspiring as they say?"
"It is more spectacular than you can imagine. But that is not what you came to ask me is it young warlock?"
"They have invited Arthur and Morgana to travel to their homeland. I do not know whether or not these visitors can be trusted, or if they should go."
The dragon chuckled, "If you're worried about them crossing Uther, I would be more concerned with Uther trying to cross them, which would not end well for either party. As for Arthur and Morgana, I would think it would be a good idea for them to go over there. That powerful of an ally would hasten the coming of our dream of a unified Albion." With that, the dragon leapt into the air and flew out of view. Merlin pondered what the dragon had said for a few seconds before he turned and left the caverns.
General Caecus was standing on a balcony that evening overlooking the city with his friend Gnaeus leaning against a wall, "A beautiful night here, I've completely forgotten what this place was like. Although, much has changed since I was here last." Said the General as he watched the stars. "It is every bit as wonderful as you have told me over the years." Gnaeus replied as a knock came at the door. He turned and answered it, opening the door to reveal the young prince. "Sire, what brings you about?" Gnaeus asked with a bow. "I have made my decision," Arthur replied stepping into the General's chamber; "I felt it was best if I came to inform you myself. I will travel with you to see your Empire for myself, but I can only spare three months to travel."
"Very well sire, I am glad you chose to come along, you will not be disappointed." The General replied as Arthur took notice of the sword in the corner of the chamber, "I hope you are right. May I have a look at your sword?" Arthur said to which the General replied with an eyebrow cocked, "Go ahead sire." Arthur picked up the sword and unsheathed it and marveled at the sword's beauty. "This is a magnificent sword, I wish I had one like it. Perfect balance, no physical imperfections, straight blade." He then turned the blade so he could read the inscription; "'Truth, Justice, Honor, Strength, Courage'." Then, he flipped it over; "'Caliburnus.' What of the dragons on the cross guard?"
"That was something no one knows why they are there," General Caecus said unbuttoning his jacket; "our Empire's founder discovered it on the way to the coast from Hadrian's Wall, he carried it throughout his military career using it to lead his people to victory and had it during his eight year reign as Emperor. It has since been passed down through the generations of the commanders of my unit, and now, it is in my possession. There is an old legend that whoever wields it cannot be defeated in battle. I believe it is true because my unit has never known defeat in all it's history."
"Quite a record by any means." Arthur said putting the sword back in the corner; "Where would we be visiting while we are visiting your Empire?"
"If I may direct your attention to the map on the table." General Caecus said gesturing to a map on the table in the middle of the room. It had the full extent of the Empire covering the entirety of the North American Continent, Central America and to the western boundary of the Columbian Andes and south to the coastal boarder of Equador, nearly ten million square miles and over one hundred fifty million citizens. Once around the table, the General pointed to the various locations around the map; "This is the full extent of our Empire, we would arrive in the harbor here at New Rome, we will then go to the spot the first settlers came ashore, and where the first battles of our war of independence were fought. Then, we will travel to our capital and make additional plans from there."
"Right, then if I may take my leave of you, I will start preparing for our departure. I will likely bring my manservant with me, and I suspect if Morgana does come as well, she will bring her maidservant with her." Arthur said to which General Caecus replied, "Very well, good night sire." The General and Gnaeus bowed slightly before the Prince left the chamber. "I am probably going to get some sleep myself, I shall see you on the morrow." Gnaeus said as the two exchanged a Roman handshake, "Good night old friend." Said General Caecus before Gneaus exited the chamber.