Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire

Days passed as Julius and his retinue carried on their journey hom.

The forest around the camp settled into silence, save for the low crackling of the firepit and the rhythmic clatter of armor from the Praetorian sentries changing watch.

Julius sat alone beneath the canvas of his command tent, the Codex Solaris resting beside his cot, sealed in its blackwood case.

His eyes were heavy.

The miles, the weight of conquest, the pulse of expectation — all pressed on him like invisible chains. He leaned back in his field chair, closed his eyes for a breath.

Then another.

And then…

Nothing.

~

At first, Julius thought he was still dreaming of the road.

He stood once more amid the pines, mist swirling around his feet.

But the scent was wrong.

The air was too warm, too thick with perfume and distant incense.

And where the forest had once stood, there now rose palatial columns of white marble, flanked by braziers burning blue with sacred oils.

He recognized this place.

The shape of it.

The glow of it.

The capital.

But not Romanus.

Rome.

True Rome.

Or rather — the Rome from Imperator.

The ancient capital that had fallen along with the old empire.

And just like that, the static of the system sang in his mind.

A cutscene.

A milestone event.

Julius exhaled slowly as realization washed over him.

Of course.

He had crossed the first threshold he'd even begun to wonder if these scenes wouldnt happen as normally you'd get the first one after the capture of enough territory to reach the minimum to declare yourself as an empire within the game setting.

The Empire had seized enough land, broken enough kingdoms, rewritten enough maps.

And now the System had triggered its historical echo: a collapse or an awakening.

And in all his past playthroughs, that awakening came with a reenactment.

The legacy path.

A forced simulation of the old world — the true Roman Empire.

The game once let you take control of legendary emperors during these milestones.

They were flavor events.

Cosmetic, mostly.

Unless you failed.

Then they became rewriting.

And now?

Now he was inside one.

But who?

Julius looked down at his hands.

Rings.

Gold on every finger.

Heavy with gaudy jewels.

His arms — robed, not armored.

Flowing purple silk etched with suns and lyres.

Not eagles.

Not laurels.

His heart dropped.

"No…"

He rushed toward a mirrored panel inset in the chamber wall, ornate with pearls and obsidian.

His own face looked back at him.

But not his.

Thicker.

Pale.

Too youthful.

Too cruel.

The lips curled slightly even in stillness.

And behind the eyes… madness.

Julius hissed through his teeth.

"Nero."

Of all the emperors…

He stepped back, nearly knocking over a pedestal carved in the shape of a mourning muse.

Of all the historical flashbacks he could go through this one... playing as Nero would be the worst.

Julius clenched a fist.

The version of Roman power that burned the world to hear his own name sung.

He turned from the mirror, stalking through the illusory palace halls.

Every mosaic he passed shimmered.

A slave market.

A senate gathering — half the men glaring, the other half kneeling.

The burning of the Library of Aegis.

Flames licking at script.

He felt his blood quicken.

This was more than an echo.

This was a challenge.

What kind of emperor are you?

That was what the system was asking him.

Not in those words.

But in shape and symbolism.

Nero was the test.

The laurel of gold — but soaked in oil.

The crown that crushed its wearer if held for too long.

Would you become this?

Or correct it?

~

He stepped into a great rotunda, the central floor patterned with concentric marble suns.

Five figures knelt in the center — senators, likely.

But their faces were blank.

Their voices spoke in chorus.

"Command the empire."

"Save it from itself."

"Burn the new god. Build new myths."

Then silence.

And from the shadows, a lyre played.

Delicate.

Discordant.

"Do you hear it?"

Julius turned.

A youth sat on a dais, clothed in gauze, crowned in green vine.

Nero again — or the echo of him.

The boy smiled, eyes hollow.

"They love you, you know. But not for what you are."

"What am I?"

Julius's voice echoed louder than it should as the voice resounded from his mouth but not with his own voice.

But he received no response from this second nero, only the childlike snickering before the vision before him faded away like it was composed solely of mist.

Same for the five senators kneeling before him until Julius or rather Nero was left standing in the hall alone, with some servants peering into the hall only to see their emperor once more ranting and raving to ghosts within the walls.

*Sigh*

Having finally been given control over himself Julius quickly set to work.

These cutscene not only let you have a chance at 'ruling' the aincient empire they almost always gave you a chance to discover vaults, or key moments where relics or artifacts were consigned to history as a result of historical events.

The one thing these cutscene were was not boring.

They would never have him just living out a day or week of leisure in the sandels of an emperor no, he would be thrust into the greatest moments both good or bad for the empire where he would need to either survive what history had already rout, or produce even greater results than what the origionals had already performed.

And from this all if he could manage to pull it off just like in the game he would be rewarded.

Be it with favor from the gods, who remained overall so silent until towards the endgame.

Or just the consolation prize of receiving points with which to further empower himself.

In the end these scenes were always worth playing through for the rewards unless you were intentionally playing for the purpose of skipping these scenes to conquer the game wholly on your own merit consigning the past to the past and opting to not 'learn' from it but rewrite it with the future.