Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire

The imperial war chamber was a place of quiet pressure.

There were no windows.

No finery.

Only stone, steel, and shadow—a sanctum beneath the palace where the burdens of empire were measured, weighed, and commanded into motion.

Julius sat at the apex of the horseshoe-shaped war table, his cloak drawn over one shoulder, a single golden laurel clasped to his brow.

Around him sat twelve of his highest advisors—ministers, generals, scholars, and spymasters—all waiting for the words that would shape the next chapter of Romanus's will.

At his right stood Serena, his chancellor and de facto executor during his planned absence.

He did not begin with ceremony.

There was no need.

"We begin,"

he said, his voice calm, direct, and final.

"By decree of the throne, in my absence, Serena shall hold dominion over the imperial administrative core. All resource flows, regional approvals, and code-triggered edicts are to route through her unless explicitly overridden by a seal-bearing command from myself."

Serena bowed lightly.

"Understood, your radiance."

Julius nodded, then turned to his generals.

The eyes of the room sharpened.

"Now, to matter of Christi, i'm sure you all have been made aware of the recent changes?"

The assembled all nodded their heads in afirmation confirming that they had indeed been informed that the Principality of Christendom, once an enemy of Romanus has bent the knee becoming their latest province, next to Carthago, and securing the southeast.

"Until the Legions arrive in Jericho and Nazareth, the Papal Guard remains the only force with a mandate for control. However, they are fractured, and their doctrine... hesitant as dictated by their saviour's beliefs."

Julius turned his gaze to General Faust.

"We'll be dispatching root forces to assist the three legions headed for the region, our stay in the principality will be short, we must prepare the chrisitians to maintain their own lands, but without the threat lingering from within. The agents purpose is twofold—relay my will to sympathetic clergy, and document the spread of Neo-Crusader rhetoric. If open conflict breaks out before the Legions arrive, I want precise origin points, ideological triggers, and lists of commanders. So that should our forces be required to stand up and fight we can go in without being blind."

Faust bowed his head.

"They shall report daily."

"Good,"

Julius said.

Next, his hand drifted toward another segment of the map, expanding the Jericho-Nazareth corridor.

"Construction units will arrive with the Legions. You are to ensure they begin the construction proper roads to allow for the dispatch of missives or orders as fast as possible into either city, i dont want to risk the loss of our forces to an uprising while the other is just sitting back idling away."

The room remained silent.

Julius spoke in such a way that all in the room believed that a civil uprising was a sure thing, given how seriously Julius was handling the matter.

Then Serena stepped forward.

"And if they truly refuse to see reason and rise up?"

Julius answered without emotion.

"Then they will be given absolution... by fire. In the event a rebellion occurs, evacuate the citizens, if the scale develops to far we will pull everything back behind the wall, and once more starve them out, i wont risk sending out people into a meat grinder to deal with these fanatics to mired in the past to realize they've already lost."

A moment passed.

Then he raised his hand and pressed another scrawled map.

This time, the continent displayed to everyone, focused on the Greecian Peninsula.

"Now,"

Julius said,

"to the cradle of rebellion."

Small red pins flared into view—Athens, Sparta, and smaller flickers across Thebes, Delos, and Patrae.

"The legions have withdrawn, as promised. No direct oversight remains. However, the Root remains active in the region."

He turned to the figure in the back corner of the room—hooded, nameless, faceless.

"State your report."

The Root agent stepped forward and unfurled a single scroll.

"Agents embedded within both Athenia and Sparta report increased collaboration between dissident factions. One Athenian group—The New Demokratia—has reached out to Spartarii hardliners, offering joint command of a proposed rebellion alliance."

He continued, unblinking.

"Additionally, one of our Leaves has confirmed rumors of a foreign envoy arriving by ship. Believed to be from the fallen Celtician coast, seeking to sell mercenary companies to the cause."

Murmurs passed through the chamber.

Julius held up a hand.

"Enough."

He turned to the root member present, his minister of cultural manipulation.

"You are to draft a series of plays, poems, and philosophical essays, penned anonymously by Greecian loyalists—embedded with pride for their new identity under Romanus. Distribute them in schools, forums, and military camps."

The root arched a brow.

"Counter-rhetoric?"

"Counter-narrative,"

Julius replied.

"Let them argue rebellion from balconies while their children recite Romanus verse."

He turned again to Serena.

"You will quietly increase funding to the Root. Any city that shows more than five percent ideological drift is to receive cultural conditioning units disguised as historians. These units will host public lectures, debate forums, and invite open discussion—while recording names of every participant."

Serena nodded.

"And if violence erupts?"

"Let it,"

Julius said, flat.

"But let it be among them. I want no legion boots in Greecia until they beg for our order."

With both Christi and Greecia addressed, Julius stood.

His advisors stood with him, some uncertain, others resolute.

But all bound by his authority.

He moved, leaving the underground chamber behind and ascended back into the sacred halls of his imperial palace, walking with grace until he reached a ready room.

Inside was his armor already cleaned and setup on a manican awaiting the transfer onto his living shoulders.

Serena stepped forward to join him in the room, both staring restlessly at the royal armor before them.

"You'll leave tomorrow?"

she asked, quietly.

"At dawn,"

he replied.

"I will meet the Francian Legions at the river Pyrrhus. They're close to breaching the Gallic Ridge. I want to be there when they crest it, a few months more and we can bring Francia to heel, and if all goes well she can finally come home."

He let out a slow breath.

Serena took a deep breath hearing his words, her hand shaking a little before with courage she reached out to grasp onto his lax hand.

"Just promise me you'll be safe,"

she said softly.

"I know getting her back is important... but i wouldnt be able to take it if i was to lose you in exchange for getting her back... she is like a sister to me... but you... you i love with all my heart."

Julius smiled faintly.

"As i do you, but this is a mistake that must be righted for me to become the man you two deserve, once we're united once more as a family, we'll have a proper wedding just you wait."