The Brutii had completely obliterated the Macedonian front line before Gaius had made it to Asia to destroy Egypt. Numerius' decision had saved the Scipii from an embarrassment in front of all the other Romans and secured the Republic from a civil war...for now (a phrase that can be applied often for the next few years of Roman history).
The Spanish campaign armies were resupplying in Carthage before the two legions would sail back to Gaul (or perhaps further afield).
The Macedonians had been reduced in an extremely hasty fashion from a grand empire to their holdings in Southern Greece, the city of Byzantium and their five northern-most territories. The Scipii had demolished their fleets, the Brutii had destroyed their armies and the heirs to Alexander were staring defeat in the face. This time though, there was no way the Brutii were taking a peace treaty with them. Their only hope of keeping up with the Scipii was to conquer the Macedonians and the Scythians, and even then, if the Julii decided to stay neutral, they would lose a civil war, an outcome that was looking increasingly more likely as the Scipii returned their attention to Europe.
Numerius, now in effective command over the expansive Scipii holdings whilst Gaius was away, foresaw the eventuality and took steps to counterbalance it. With his father approaching 61 and riding into battle once more, it was quietly assumed by both himself and everyone else that this would be the beginnings of his tenure as family and faction leader. Fortunately for the Scipii, the Scipio line was secure once more, as both Numerius and his distant cousin Decimus [yes, really] had heirs to carry on the family name.
The Egyptian's last stand beckoned to the ageing Gaius like a flame to a moth. Here at last was the Pharaoh, the god-king that once ruled the desert. Here was the slayer of his long dead brother Tiberius. Mazaka would be his grave, along with his civilisation's tomb. Their pyramids had been viewed with awe by the First and Second legions, their walls were thick and mighty, their ports rich with gold and trade. But the people were weak. The nobles were cowardly. The Egyptians were not fit to rule, and thus the Scipii had removed them by the grace of their gods.
The heroic Second legion marched with their commander and father towards their final battle against the Egyptians with a song in their hearts, whilst the First legion vigilantly watched the Armenian border for any sign of trickery from the near-mythical king and his invincible army.
Instead of the cowardly Pharaoh hiding inside of his last refuge, he suprised all by riding out with his entire army to meet with the Romans in a pitch battle one last time. His army outnumbered the Romans twice over, and his onagers commanded a huge hill defended by spear troops. Gaius saw that this was going to be the greatest and hardest battle of the entire war, fittingly enough, for it was also the last.
Gaius charged his five companion sections of horsemen along and up the flanks, tricking the Egyptians into losing their onagers and then killing 30% of their troops before his main army was even in position at a hill of their own.
Then it became closer to 40%.
Inevitably, they were surrounded by archers and the Egyptian heavy cavalry, but Gaius was not dismayed and fought out of the ring encircling him before routing even more troops.
Suddenly, the Egytpian army broke and made to run back to the city in surrender, having slain a mere ninety men to the Roman's tally of over five hundred in the first few minutes of battle. They never made it, as they ran straight into the waiting archers and were cut down to a man by both arrow and mounted attacks.
If there was ever an example of why their empire had fallen it was here. Five horse units of thirty men each had obliterated over half of a combined two army coalition led by royalty. Led no longer, it seemed, for in the centre of the pile of bodies, the cause of the rout was clear. The pharaoh and all fifty of his elite house guards lay dead, surrounding the body of Gaius, his face in a delighted yet peaceful expression in death, satisfied that vengeance and justice had been done.
The collapse of Macedon's relief force in the north, the fall of the last Egyptian city with not one voice amongst the populace raised in protest and more importantly, the loss of the great Gaius Scipio the Second, who had truly been the empire building man the histories speak of, had shown to the surviving powers of the world that they were at the beginning of the end for their Age and that soon, a new one would have to begin.