Titus

Titus, known as The Avenging Son following the events of the Palamedes Insurrection, is the General of the War-born. An accomplished warlord and diplomat who ruled his settlements, Titus was unique among his sibling generals in that he saw himself as not only a warrior but also a builder of civilizations.

## History

### Youth

Like the other Generals, Titus was one of twelve genetically engineered “children” of the Director. Like his "siblings", Titus was taken as an infant by the leaders of the free. The infant Titus's was placed in Cape Town, he was raised by Konor, one of the two Consuls who helped govern Cape Town, who adopted the infant as his son and named him Titus. The name Konor gave the child, Titus, means "Great One". Titus would also be raised by Konor's Seneschal, Tarasha Euten, a strong-willed and capable woman.

Titus was a prodigy, growing fast in both body and intellect. By age ten, he had mastered every subject the wisest men of Cape Town could teach him, and his insights into matters of history, philosophy, and science often stunned his elders. However, his greatest talents were as a military leader. These talents led his father to give him command of an expeditionary force to Mt Kilimanjaro, a mountainous region in the northeast, whose wild inhabitants had terrorized the civilized regions for years and successfully resisted every previous military campaign. Not only did Titus fought a brilliant campaign but he also earned the respect of the wildmen who never again threatened Cape Town.

Returning to Cape Town, Titus and his soldiers saw the city in chaos, being sacked by mobs of men, while the Consul House was under siege. Titus left his men to restore order to the city, while he rushed to the Consul House and lifted the siege, only to find his father close to death, surrounded by his loyal bodyguards. He had been mortally wounded by an assassin and with his dying breath, told Titus who was responsible. Titus swiftly crushed the rebellion and, amid a wave of popular relief, assumed the title of sole Consul of Cape Town. He set about punishing the treachery and carrying out his father's vision. The traitors were executed, and their lands and wealth were redistributed to the people. With superhuman energy, Titus reorganized Cape Towns entire social structure, creating a meritocracy where office and honours were given to the hard-working, rather than the wealthy and influential. Under his leadership, Cape Town prospered as it never had before.

### The Arrival of the Director

While Titus was prosecuting his war against the rebels, the Director and his armies come to Mérida. It was there that the Director heard stories of the extraordinary son of Consul Konor, and realized that he had found one of the lost generals. However, due to an unexpected storm, his transport was thrown far off course and by the time it reached Capetown, Titus had been ruling for almost three months. When the Director reached Capetown, he found a city that was self-sufficient, prosperous, with a strong and well-equipped military, and engaging in trade with nearby settlements. Impressed, the Director assigned command of the War-born company of super soldiers to Titus and relocated the Companies forward base to the east coast of America.

### The Great Reclamation

Except for the Imperial Heralds, no company conquered as many settlements, or conquered settlements as fast, or left conquered settlements in such good state during the Great Reclamation, as the War-born. Whenever Titus liberated a settlement, he would not move on until he had set up a self-sufficient defence system, and left advisors behind to create industry, set up trade routes with the rest of the free cities, and form a government whose first concern would always be the well-being of the people.

At the same time, with the help of his new advisors, Titus created a supremely efficient military machine on the east coast and its surrounding settlements, that provided the War-born with a steady flow of recruits. This area will later be known as the five settlements and then the 7th city. This factor, combined with the minimal casualties suffered thanks to Titus's tactical skill, allowed the War-born to become the largest of all the super-soldier companies. When Palamedes was appointed Warmaster by the Director, the reaction among the other generals was mixed. Some supported the appointment out of affection for Palamedes, some opposed it, and some were cynically accepting. However, Titus and Areus supported the appointment, believing in their cool, rational judgment, that Palamedes was the most worthy of them. For this reason, and because of their military genius, Palamedes valued Titus and Aureus as his closest advisors.

Privately, Titus held two of his siblings in the greatest esteem: Areus and Serra. He referred to them as "the dauntless few", and pronounced that he could win any war, outright, if he had any one of those two and his Legion at the War-born’s' side.

### The Palamedes Insurrection

At the outbreak of the Palamedes Insurrection, Titus and the War-born were overseeing the construction of the 7th city. When the news came in from Serra of Palamedes betrayal, Titus and the War-born were poorly placed to react to it.

Titus gathered whatever forces he could and made haste for Seoul. In his path lay a large defensive chain of hundreds of ships manned by the Steel Brethren. In a series of bitter engagements, both sides took heavy losses but the war-born were able to maintain a steady advance.

Ultimately, Titus was able to set course for Seoul. Travelling at maximum speed, his company was only hours away. This ultimately decided Seouls when Palamedes was forced to charge directly into the Director’s office.

### Post-Insurrection

In the aftermath of the Great Betrayal, the super soldiers' numbers had been decimated by defections to the Nomads and battle losses. The War-born was left as the largest loyal company, and Titus assumed the title of Lord Commander. For months thereafter, Titus deployed and led the War-born throughout the world, reclaiming settlements lost to the Nomads and preventing the loss of still others to rebellion. At the same time, Titus reorganized the remaining super soldier's companies and composed the Rock Initiative, a tome that the police force was to follow strictly.

Titus led the assault against the Faithless in New Delhi in the aftermath of the Insurrection, and due to the vanity of Azrael, he utilised a surprise attack at the heart of the traitors and killed Azrael in a duel. However, he and the War-born were greatly mistaken in their belief that the snake would die without the head, as indeed, the Faithless's symbol is a hydra, a multi-headed serpent. The War-born were soundly pushed back time and again by the traitor soldiers, undaunted at the loss of their general. Titus eventually pulled his forces back.

Later, in the Battle of Toulouse against the Exquisite Hosts. Titus and Aureus would fight heroically against Ishtar and his forces. Titus would be grievously wounded. Ishtar stabbed Titus in the neck; Titus was interred in the Stasis field by the Doctors and remains frozen in the instant of death. While Ishtar retreated into Hell's Point with Aureus and his company following him, Areus has not been seen since this conflict.

   Titus’s mortal body remains in stasis, in the Shrine of Titus deep underneath Seoul. Some scientists claimed that the general's wounds were slowly recovering. Others deny the phenomenon and point out the sheer impossibility of change within the stasis field.

## Equipment

It is known that at the height of his power during the Insurrection, Titus was armed with the Hand of Dominion a mighty gauntlet, the Gladius Incandor  a blade of exceptional craftsmanship and a symbol of his company and also with an Arbitrator, a customised combi-bolter. For protection, Titus wore a suit of Armour known as the Armour of Reason.