Disclaimer: I don't claim to own these characters other then Calpurnia
who is a creation loosely based on the CAW NuWa girl from DW4. (the girl does have big hips you know..)

AN: The plot pacing of this story is meant to mimic the game. In the beginning everything is more free, there are less requirements to fulfill and you are less involved in the actually drama of the three kingdoms. People are easy to beat and everything is more relaxed. As the game progresses, you build your character and the battles are won by strategy and not force. This story was planned out in this manner and was created with an 'alternative history' scenario in mind. The characters will develop and grow along with the story which is prevalent in all my writing.

This story is not kind to Zhuge Liang, so you've been warned.

I'd list pairings, but honestly that will give away alot of the story. If you're open minded, well that shouldn't bother you.

AN: 11/07/04

If you hate Ocs, well then you'll hate this fic. She was created to introduce the cultural conflict and possible historical alterations and also to allow these charcters to live a bit. As the story had progressed I have taken into consideration any reviews I have recieved so alot of what happens to her in later chapters is a direct influence of that. My readers seem to like her and want her to be happy, sorry if that makes people light the Mary-Sue torch. Flame me if you want, they only make me laugh.

Chapter I

A Lone Roman

Calpurnia Quirinuis rode alone down the well traveled trade

road east. She was clad in male attire, although her long black

braided roman hair defeated her attempt at disguise. She had little as

far as belongings: Her wool cloak, the clothes on her back, a well

sharpened short sword and the gray Arabian colt she rode.

The traders that had been irritating her for the past two

hundred miles were well behind her and she took comfort in the

solitude. It gave her ample time to think, and she certainly needed to

think. Six months ago she had been one of the Roman Empire's highly

prized assassins but now her life was in shambles, and she just turned

sixteen.

Seven months had passed since Octavian Galleus, her

commanding officer, issued her the orders from the emperor himself. She

was to kill a senator, something she didn't even think twice about.

Politicians died often, rarely due to natural causes; not much had

changed since the days of Julius Caesar. However a simple throat

slitting in a small brothel turned into something she would have never

anticipated: her own betrayal.

As soon as the deed was done, Galleus and his Centurions

rushed in to arrest her. It was a grand ploy, she had to admit, they

would blame the senator's murder on her but another man would pay the

price for allegedly ordering her to do it-General Liutius Hadrianius.

They would both die for the great injustice, a convenient way to

eliminate the people's hero and the young assassin that already had took

much blood on her hands. They underestimated her, and she eliminated

them for it. She ran, knowing that men would be sent to hunt her down,

and now she was here pondering her future. There had to be a war

somewhere that needed someone like herself.

The scenery was changing drastically. Ares, her loyal colt,

flickered his ears at the sound of voices ahead. She urged him on,

worse case scenario she would have to spill some blood. The more she

thought about it the more she hoped they would be hostile; it would be a

welcome relief from the weeks of boredom riding this dusty road.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Why are we all the way out here Ping?" The small unhappy private

yawned. "There aren't any enemies that I know of that we need to

protect Wei from, yet."

"That's why you're a private and Cao Cao is the general."

Ping answered

"Hey, someone's coming!" Chang stood up and watched the

foreigner approach.

"Does that look like a girl to you?"

"Ping, I haven't had a woman in a while, but that sure looks

like one."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Calpurnia approached slowly, surveying the situation. Two

sentries, no bows. It was all she needed to know. The small Chinese

men were shouting at her, obviously asking sentry related questions.

She made out a bit of it, thanks to the traders she had spent time with.

"What...want..." The younger man asked. He repeated his

question but she didn't make out any more of it then she did the first

time. Oh well.

Clearing her throat she tried her best to not butcher the

gibberish language she had learned. "Take to lord."

The two men were refusing her simple mangled request and she

sighed. Sliding off her steed she hit the ground and unsheathed her

sword. With a quick move she had both men on the ground writhing in

pain from multiple wounds to the abdomen.

"Well, Ares, shall we see if we can find someone else a bit

more compatible with our language?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Mmm..."

"Cousin, is this what you anticipated coming down the road?"

Xiahou Dun asked curiously as he leaned over the pommel of his saddle.

"Not quite, but nonetheless interesting." Cao Cao smiled

with a certain bit of curiosity.

"Would you like me to bring her to you?" Dun asked knowing

the answer. His cousin had a definite taste for the younger crowd and

this girl looked to be about the right age to fuel his desire.

"Yes, yes indeed."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Calpurnia was annoyed with the lack of contact with anyone.

Sentries meant someone had to be near, but where were they? She asked

Ares for a slow trot and as she turned the corner she spotted the

welcoming committee.

Xiahou Dun galloped ahead of his men and came to a sliding

halt in front of the fair skinned foreign girl. Calpurnia eyed him and

tried to make sense of the huge sentence he spit out at her. She made

out the words 'like', 'see', 'here' and 'lord' and considering the

obvious importance of this man she decided to take her chances.

"To lord?" She asked and saw Dun nod in amused recognition.

Then she pressed on. "Warrior." She pointed to her self. "Need..." She

searched for something related to employment in her new Chinese

vocabulary but came up with none. "Need lord." She watched Dun nod and

wave her on, it must have worked.