Mount a full-scale frontal .

You purse your lips and shake your head. Maybe it's your pride, but you just don't want to do this with any sense of underhandedness or trickery. "I think we've got the men - and, more importantly, the guts - to do this, Adolphus. We go straight in."

His mouth purses, but he nods. "As you say."

Gathering the men, you proceed around the edge of the hill, crouching low. Peering through the grass, you can see that it's just as you suspected: there are about half a dozen men lounging around a small fire at the entrance to the cave system. They're not looking your way, but they are wearing rough leather armor and carrying weapons.

You turn to the men and grin. "Ready?" There are a couple of tentative nods, and one man whispers hoarsely, "Let's get those fuckers!" You chuckle.

"All right then...charge!"

You leap forward from the grass, {if Gladius Held = True}sword{else}spear{endif} held high, as you run toward the bandits, letting out a wild yell. The men you've gathered come behind you, yelling equally loudly, as the bandits start and scramble to their feet. As they grab for their weapons, your group crashes into them, and the battle is joined.

Time seems to slow down. Everything is chaos - screams, the sound of blade hitting flesh, flying dirt and mud. You manage to wound one of the bandits and grin to yourself. But then you see something that stops you cold: there are more bandits coming out of the cave. A lot more. Damn. You didn't think about that.

Just as you're starting to worry about that, the bandit you wounded lunges at you, grabbing your weapon. He headbutts you in the face and you lose your grip, reeling backwards. He tosses your weapon aside and lunges for you with the ax he's holding, but your armor deflects the blow. You don't have a weapon, though, and when he swings again you lose your footing and go down in the dirt, stunned. Around you you can see the men you gathered falling or fleeing - the tide of the battle has turned against you.

In minutes, it's over. You and a small handful of other men are captured and bound. Most of the others seem to be dead, including - you realize to your horror - Adolphus. A few managed to escape, at least. Maybe they'll get the Legion to come and rescue you?

All hopes of that are dashed as another figure emerges from the cave. This can only be the She-Wolf herself. She's a tall, imperious blonde woman - a Germani, you'd guess. She's clad in leather armor decorated with with painted wolf's heads, and she gazes down at you coldly as you kneel, bloodied and bruised, in the dirt.

"Who is the leader of this attack?" she asks, her Latin thickly accented. The living men glance nervously at you, and she squats before you. "What are you?"

You meet her gaze, breathing raggedly, trying not to let her see how afraid you are. "I...am Gaius Lentillus. A local landowner. You've been terrorizing this countryside for too long. We had to do something."

The She-Wolf snorts. "Roman swine. As if you - a coddled pet of the empire - could understand what hardship is." She nods to the burly man next to him. "Kill this fool, then the others."

As he raises his ax, you realize that this is it. You didn't think your ambitions would end here, in the dirt. But it will.