Hannibal the Ultimate

**Hannibal the Ultimate**, his birth name and early life lost to history, was a citizen of Earth who raised and commanded the Second Army of North Africa during the Great Punic War (**SY 204** to **SY 241).**

Throughout **SY 206-207**, Hannibal raises a volunteer army in Libya; he declares allegiance to the Carthaginian Alliance with Titus Andronicus of Carthage, Vercingetorix II of Gaul, and the Scythian Pact and joins the Carthaginian Alliance. His first campaign sweeps across the north African coast into Egypt, following Andronicus' strategy of building deep fortifications, conscripting and training both civilian locals and former Consortium forces, and appointing local regional governors from the populace. In late **SY 207**, the Battle of Alexandria occurs with Hannibal's army facing the legions of Nova Roma, which had pledged allegiance to Antharchos. Successfully sieging the city and breaking the legion's hold, he sends them fleeing east to Port Suez and the Sinai Peninsula. They blockade all trade through the port. Hannibal establishes his headquarters at Alexandria, Egypt. The expelled Nova Roman legions continue to skirmish with Andronicus' army throughout **SY 208** while Andronicus orders a great construction project to fortify the North African coast from Alexandria to Carthage and the project is completed in **SY 215**.

With the fall of Gaul to the Anthroperium and the retreat of many Alliance forces to the Alps **SY 209**, Hannibal brings much of his army to Europe. Landing at the northern coast of Catalonia, his forces dig deep into the Pyrenees mountains to form a solid line of defense of Iberia against the Anthroperium. Antharchos takes this opportunity to strike directly at Carthage, cutting Hannibal off from his source of resupply and forcing him to rely on Iberia for sustenance and arms. With limited resources, Hannibal and his army begin a campaign of guerilla warfare against the Anthroperium forces in Gaul. This lasts until **SY 214**, when an exhausted Hannibal receives news of the failure of Andronicus' siege of Moscow. Over the next five years, he is able to construct a navy and steady industry in Iberia to support his armies.

In **SY 219**, military command of British forces is ceded to Hannibal. Using the British navy, he invades Italia from the Mediterannean. In a carefully planned strategy, the Carthaginian Alliance forces Anthrarchos to choose between defending Italia, continuing the siege of Switzerland, or the war in North Africa. Hannibal the Ultimate conquers and unites all of North Africa and nationalizes most of the former territories and implements a policy of total war. All territory under Hannibal's command is converted into wartime economies. Great armies from North Africa invade Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and the Grecian Islands and by **SY 225** he enters the city of Rome itself, largely untouched by the war. A year later, Uilleam Alexandross is captured by Hannibal's intelligence agents in Egypt, taken back to Britain, and publicly tried and executed.

The war enters a stalemate until **SY 233**, when the Anthroperian research pays off and they unleash great weapons of mass destruction throughout Europe. Switzerland falls, and with the control of the full might of the former Consortium's resources, Anthrarchos puts the weight of his new empire into the North Africa campaign. Hannibal's navy is devastated and after almost two decades of consistent siege, Hannibal's defenses in North Africa finally break. He rallies his remaining forces and flees to Jerusalem where they are greeted and welcomed by both the Caliphate and Scythian Pact. Rather than directly invade Eurasia, the Anthroperium simply blockades the entirety of the Caliphate and Scythia.

Now in hiding, Hannibal the Ultimate becomes the most wanted man on Earth. He and his forces embrace asymmetrical guerilla warfare bordering on terrorist tactics, dressing as civilians and traveling freely between North Africa and Scythia both on foot and using a single ship as mobile base of operations.

After eight years, in SY 241, the Anthroperium had cemented it's control over most of Earth. Millions of Scythians had died in artificial famine conditions, and no longer able to abide it, Hannibal raises a final army and fortifies Jerusalem. Jerusalem is obliterated by orbital weapons and Hannibal, along with it's entire population, is presumed dead. His body is never recovered.