"Chiron, they say my name is a bad omen. I don't understand."

"That is a long story, Percy. It is not kind, and it is painful for me to tell. Are you certain you want to hear it?"

-Conversation between Percy Jackson and Chiron, 2005

Prologus

The preparations began before dawn. Soldiers woke and began to prepare food and provide for their horses. Small unit commanders checked with their soldiers to ensure their readiness. Weapons were sharpened on whetstones. Armor was repaired by smiths. Archers checked and waxed their bows and strings. Shields were inspected and cavalrymen checked their tack. Near the various shrines erected by both the mortal and demigod soldiers, huddles of them gathered about to pray for victory and protection. Annabeth had already prayed to both her mother and Nike in her command tent. A part of her still questioned why she had been elected leader, she might have the ability to plan, but she doubted there was not a better qualified battle commander. Another part of whispered, Who better than the daughter of Athena to lead a Greek rebellion?

Yet, it was her commands that the soldiers answered. In battle, they answered to their chain of command, as any good soldier would, but she instructed that chain of command. When Lukas had abandoned them, it was she who had stepped into his role. She had expected Clarisse to fight her, but it had not happened. Instead, the daughter of Ares had integrated her Spartans into Annabeth's planned order of battle and now stood beside her. Two months earlier, Malcolm upset her when he announced he would not make the push north, but she understood. Athens had to be governed, though she had not appreciated his insinuation that part of the governance included the preparation of defenses. Had he not seen what she had done to the two legions sent against them thus far? Athena always has a plan, and nothing can defeat a well-developed plan. Malcolm had warned her of her hubris, but she was an unbeaten commander on the field, and she knew the Roman battle tactics better than they did. Who can blame me for being confident? She knew overconfidence could be an army's undoing, but this was not the case. This was merely an understanding of her army's capabilities and the Romans' limitations.

Her principal subordinates approached, and Annabeth waited until they were all assembled to issue orders. Once complete, the six individuals nodded deeply and returned to their respective commands. Clarisse and Stavros of Boeotia commanded her two main forces of infantry, totaling nearly eighteen thousand soldiers. Clarisse of Sparta hated the fact that her name was Latin in origin, but she commanded the heavy infantry with ruthless efficiency. Stravros of Boeotia had not an ounce of godly blood in his family tree, but he possessed a burning desire for the independence of Greece. He led her lighter forces, the scouts and lighter forces. He had transformed them from skirmishers who cut and run into a lethal force of men willing to slit throats in the dark. Leandros, son of Hephaestus, known to all by Leo, commanded her engineers. The man's ability to develop devilishly effective war machines was unequalled. Repeating ballista, heavy catapults, devices to bring down walls, should that ever become a requirement of their rebellion, easily resided in his repertoire. Personally, Annabeth hoped that was not the case; sieges tended to be nasty and brutish things they were as dangerous for the besieger as the besieged. Michael of Thessaly, a son of Apollo, commanded the archers. Of the nearly three thousand, six hundred claimed descent from the gods. Another child of Ares, Mark of Philippi, commanded the four thousand cavalry recruited from across Thessaly, Boeotia, and Thrace. The commanders returned to their formations.

The army was moving now. Twenty-five thousand Greeks opposing fifteen thousand Roman legionaries. Annabeth knew the Roman tactics, she knew Romans, she knew how to win. She had defeated Legio II while outnumbered. She had shattered Legio X outside of Megara with fewer than two hundred casualties and less than fifty deaths. Two of the legions facing her would already be afraid to face her again, she had yet to recognize the third.

The three legions were not arrayed in a way that Annabeth had expected. Instead of utilizing their ability to spread the line, the line was compact and bent into a shallow U, with the arms angled away from her forces. The Roman cavalry covered the flanks. She saw their general at the center of the formation. He held a small number of cavalry at his position. Behind him what looked like three cohorts waited, that was his reserve she assumed. From her position, she could see the three legion banners. Two of them were legions she had already defeated, Legios II and X. The third, the one holding the center, she did not recognize. The legion enumerated XXI she had never heard of, but if it held the center that was a sign of its quality, which was clearly lesser than Legio II.

With a wave of her sword, her battle line began to advance. A Spartan phalanx formed her right center, Achaeans and Boeotians flanked them to their left. The wings of the army were manned with swordsmen and lesser spearmen. Annabeth put faith in her phalanx. Clarisse's Spartans were tasked with severing Legio XXI from Legio X on the Roman left. Hundreds of years before the phalanx had fallen to the legion, but Annabeth had fused the anvil of spears with the hammers of iron swords and Greek cavalry. Auxiliary archers were forming within the Roman ranks. Annabeth issued an order to one of her mounted adjutants and they galloped forward. She watched as they reached the gathered archers. The leadership of the archer units were all children of Apollo. As a group they rushed forward.

Soon the opposing archers were dueling each other, as each armies' cavalry cantered forward to meet each other. Her attention turned to the Roman general. He appeared calm. He was seated on his horse, but his right leg was crossed over the saddle, and he seemed to be easily conversing with his deputies. The lines of infantry were only a few hundred meters apart. Arrows flew, cavalry skirmished. But the clash of Spartans with the unknown legion's left flank was her highest concern at the moment. She knew Clarisse had trained her Spartans to more easily give up the spear in favor of the sword. But the dory was the best piece of leverage owned by the Greek army. Nineteen thousand soldiers had moved forward with her front line. She was holding one thousand cavalry and five thousand infantry in reserve, most of those lightly armed volunteers from the countryside that had relied upon Hephaestus demigods and their smithies for weaponry. They were raw, but there were enough of them they could turn the tide of a battle.

Annabeth looked back to the center; the Spartans were only fifty meters from the Roman lines. The Romans had held fast and refused to move even a single step further. It looked as if the Romans had formed their legions into two rows of twelve cohorts, a reserve cohort per legion, then the three cohorts near the general. The Spartans were twenty meters from the Roman lines when she saw them step forward and hundreds of pila arced toward her soldiers. She had expected the move. Many of her rear ranks of Spartans had foregone spears and held replacement shields for the ones damaged by pila. She looked at the Roman general, he still had his leg crossed over his saddle. But it appeared as if the Spartan formation had drawn his attention as well. Spare shields were being passed up the line. Some of her men were dead, but more than enough were moving forward. The Spartans were five meters away. They were her bid for success, they were necessary for victory. She saw movement on the Roman line near their position. Suddenly several plumes of smoke appeared along the front of the Roman lines. Suddenly her bid for success was hidden from view.

A/N: And thus we have the beginning of my Roman AU. Up front, I want to thank CombatTombat, who's input has been a great boon upon the reader. For those of you who read Banners from the East, I am not leaving that story to wither on the vine. I will return from it, but I have burned myself out on it and need a break. If you want to ask me about any of my stories, feel free to find me on Discord's Emerald Library or reach out via this site.