A few months after the Khione incident, Zeus called me into his temple to discuss another mission. He said that it would do well in improving my overall image, and in preparing me for "strategic maneuvers in the fight against Gaea and her allies." I did not care much for my image, considering I had more intense threats to concern myself with. But I was unable to deny a mission that Zeus himself gave to me, and the chance to learn how to strategize was something that Athena and Chiron had been hoping I would receive for a while. 

    "One of Germany's army divisions recently lost a general in an ongoing dispute. The camp is set up outside of the western border, hoping to protect it from invasion by Gaea's forces. There are many of the monster's camps set up outside the border, attempting to find a weakness in the blockade or to negotiate with the soldiers. Without a strategist, they may take their chance to attack. Thus you will be sent to replace the fallen general, if only for appearances and morale. If you are attacked by enemy forces, you will be required to demonstrate what Athena has taught you." Zeus sat back in his throne, his right hand beneath his chin and his shoulder on the arm of his throne.

    "Herr Zeus, I have a few questions that may help me in this mission you have given me. Might I ask them?" I stood in front of his throne, Chiron to my left. I had gotten tired of kneeling about 12 minutes after the briefing began and decided against it. 

    "If you please. I have given you more than enough information, but I suppose mortals don't get far without asking for more."

    "You said the western border of Deutschland, but that's rather... well, broad. Am I the general for an entire side of the border? Does it border a specific country? If it is the border between Deutschland and a specific country, do I act as general for that entire part of the border?"

    Zeus thought for a bit, possibly trying to remember the details of what he was told. "I forgot, you're from Germany yourself. This mission will be quite the story if you do well. Chosen demigod's identity revealed as he protects his homeland from monsters! You will be famous for sure."

    "The questions, Herr Zeus."

    He looked at me with a tinge of anger in his eyes, but decided to answer instead of punishing me. "You will be acting as the general for part of the Germany-Netherlands border. You are stationed at the Rhine River. The opposing forces have your country at a stalemate, leaving both sides unable to use the river to transport goods or soldiers. You're meant to either hold out until they are able to find a replacement for you, or come up with a strategy that allows your division to capture the Rhine."

    "How am I meant to get there?"

    "Athena will accompany you there with her chariot. I suggest that you begin preparing ideas, Sakule. You are dismissed."

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    The Rhine River division was covered with camps, spear barriers, supply crates, and armouries. Our part of the river had been blockaded by a group of Aquatic demigods, who were being forced to hold off the Rhine naiad. I walked into the General's tent and observed the map that was laid out on the table. The soldiers that were already surrounding the table went silent as I walked in, accompanied by Athena who shrunk herself to fit through the doorway, then expanded again to reach the ceiling. I could tell that they were greatly confused over why a young teenager was in the tent. I myself was concerned over having this role. 

    One of the soldiers spoke up after a long silence. "Kid, this is a meeting for the higher ranking soldiers. You can fight if you are able but please leave the tent."

    Athena finally explained what was happening to them. "This is no mere child. He is Cicero Patroclus Sakule, son of Primordial Chronos. He will be your acting general for the foreseeable future, and any of you who are of a lower rank than general will answer to him. Any of you who are of equal or higher rank are not required to, but it is suggested by myself, the Goddess Athena, that you hear him out and consider his suggestions and strategies. He is Chiron's student, Olympus' successor, and my protégé. From here on out, he is General Sakule." And with that, she vanished. Her chariot remained where she left it, presumably so that I could get back when my mission was complete, but it seemed that she did not truly need it.

    The oldest soldier, about 47 years old, looked at me. "General Sakule. Your mother was a captain in the second Gigantomachy 24 years ago. I was a soldier under her command. I hope you have better tricks than she did, we do not have as many soldiers now as we did then."

    I looked at the map and stayed silent for a while. Most of the present soldiers looked at each other with concern, likely thinking Did King Zeus really put a child in charge of our lives? I saw the map of the Rhine, and the area that we encompassed. I compared our area to that of our enemy's. We had much more soldiers, but they had more land. I was also aware that they were more powerful than humans, as all non-human sentient and animalistic beings were related to Deities. They were so resilient, the only thing that could kill them was god-blessed weaponry or metal, or other monsters. Even then, that only allowed you to harm them. Actually having the skill to defeat or kill them was another thing entirely. 

    I was aware that we would be unable to use the river in any plans against Gaia's army due to Rhine being on her side. We were going to have to attack from the ground alone, which they were likely expecting. Because we had less land, we were more tightly packed. It seemed as if we were easy to monitor. I checked the statistics again. We were running low on supplies, and the enemies had enough to outlast us. I scanned the sheets and map for a long moment, then asked "This is all up to date?"

    "For the most part, yes. Both sides have recently lost a few soldiers. The only reason it has not been updated on that part yet is that we still need to count the recent casualties."

    "And the monsters have all of this land?" I gestured at the map.

    "Yes general."

    "What are the largest and longest monster on the enemy's side respectively?"

    "A South American Hydra, seventeen heads last we saw, and a cyclops that stands at about 15 feet."

    "Where did they even get a South American Hydra?"

    "They had it imported, sir."    

    "That could be a problem, if they have access to such things."

    "Are you having an idea, general?"

    "The beginnings of one..." I spaced out, and colored dots filled my sight. Red, black, blue, green... green. I checked the supply list again. "Where do we keep the greek fire?"

    "General, that's a last resort. We were ordered to only use that if forced to retreat, so that they can't take our supplies."

    "I am overriding that order. If you want to survive you will do as I say. First, I need somebody to scout the schedule of the hydra. Once we know when it sleeps, somebody will slip a vial of greek fire into whatever barrel it drinks or eats from. When it consumes the vial, the snake will combust. As for the cyclops, we can use the Odyssian method. However, it will be too obvious if we actually blind it. That means we should use magic. I know a spell that causes the victim to see things the way you want them to, instead of the way that they are. I can cast the spell on the Cyclops the same night we poison the hydra's barrel, and allow us to sneak right into the enemy's territory unseen. We can use some extra greek fire to burn down the enemy camp, or as a bargain chip to force their commander to retreat. After that, the only concern we have is getting Rhine on our side."

    The soldiers looked at one another, running the plan through in their heads. The oldest, the one who served under my mother, turned to me and said "who do you want to be the scout?"

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    We managed to get into the camp with no trouble. The hydra had combusted several hours earlier, sending pieces of it flying into the river and our camp. Several soldiers collected parts of it to make souvenirs, weapons, or armor out of. I had placed my spell on the cyclops while my partner saboteur poisoned the hydra's barrel. We only had to sneak past monsters that were, for the most part, our own size. Rhine would have been a concern, but she was still occupied by the Aquatic demigods. We only had to find our way to the commander's tent. We did some searching, and eventually found our way to one marked with a green gamma and which had a gorgon inside. She was looking away, and standing behind a desk. We each tore off a piece of our sleeves and wrapped them around our eyes, protecting us from the gorgon's eyes. We walked in, and I announced our presence.

    "Commander of Gaia's Deutschland-Netherlands division, surrender. We each have a vial of greek fire in our hands, and if you and your soldiers do not retreat then we will burn your camp to the ground. You will leave all of your supplies here for us to use, and this land will be the property of Olympus once again. You have only two choices: live or die."

    I could hear the gorgon hissing. Her wings flapped once, and I heard her slither over to me. I held my dagger close in case she attempted to attack or bring down my makeshift blindfold. Her voice sounded unnaturally human as she spoke, "You are just a fourteen year old child accompanied by four soldiers. I could easily have you all killed. My life is able to be spared in the name of Gaia's vision."

    "I am Cicero Sakule, son of Primordial Chronos. I could kill you faster than your brain can realize you are even dead, and have time to kill many more of your soldiers."

    "You bluff. If you were really the Typhon's Fated, you would have used your power to defeat us already."

    "I was sent here to prove I could strategize as a general. That means I get to do a puzzle. And it seems I am about to place the last piece."

    The gorgon and I stood against one another in silence, her presumably hoping I would leave and say I was not in fact the son of Primordial Chronos, and me waiting for her to surrender. Suddenly, I heard her leap. I stabbed my dagger forward, hoping to kill her, and hit only air. I heard an ear-piercing scream, and realized that she must have removed one of the soldier's blindfolds and forced his eyes open. I heard his body crumple to the floor, and ran over there, shoving her through the tent. Loads of monsters now saw me with their commander in my grasp, and as I heard them race towards me I held my vial of greek fire out for them to see. They stopped, and my allies surrounded me. "I ask you again, gorgon. Do you surrender, or do you wish to suffer a larger loss than you could?"

    I could feel her trying to fly away, and cut her wings off. She screamed, and shouted "No loss is true! Gaia's vision will come to pass! Try all you like, Typhon will smite you!"

    "Toss them." I cut off the gorgon's head, and threw my vial down right next to her corpse. I stood up as I heard other vials shattering, and took off my blindfold. My allies and I fought against the horde of Gaia's forces, surrounded by greek fire, and slowly backed away to our own camp throughout the fight. As we reached the border of the fire, we walked through the only part that the fire had not yet reached, like a gateway, and I threw another vial of greek fire to finish the ring. The enemy camp was encased in fire, with themselves and their supplies slowly burning. The green fire danced in my eyes, and the screams sung in my ears. The sound of the fallen soldier would never escape my mind for as long as I would live, and the method of burning enemy camps would become a habit of mine in warfare.