New developments were usually a welcome thing, they offered new oppertunities, new chances, new insight. But this was not to be such a development. Servius had just received word of the events at Manius's villa, and..

THUD! THUD! GR! THerd! CRACK! And the marble bust broke against the wall with that final wailing of hatred and pain. "#@*! YOU! #@*! YOU!" Servius was red faced, sweating bullets in his rage, and he had dropped to his hands and knees. "WHY!?" An angry lashing outwards cast the shattered pieces of Mars's bust to scatter across the room, as dust would be blown about by the wind. "WHY DO YOU BETRAY ME THIS WAY!?" He lifted a fragment from the floor and staggered to his feet, staring at the left side of Mars's face. "WHY DO YOU BETRAY ME!?" The piece quickly found itself being hurled back to the floor in the midst of his rage. "I HAVE GIVEN YOU EVERYTHING!"

Breathing deeply he ran his hands through his hair and stared up at the ceiling. "I have given you victory, after victory, after victory...and now your lust for blood has become so great that not only do you turn Roman upon Roman, but in the most treacherous of your own vile deeds you have bid men to slay the families of those who would see this conflict out for your wretched entertainment. These people are not soldiers, they are not fit for the horrors of war, and yet you have paniced them, spread your chaos into the hearts of the innocent! You have done the unforgivable!" Servius, beginning to calm, drew his gladius from its sheathe and placed its blade towards the sky. "In the name of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, I swear it Mars, on this day I swear, when my time has come to pass, and I am to cross from this world into the realm of Hades, I will drag you to Tartarus with MY OWN BARE HANDS!"

Shaking, he dropped the gladius to the floor and exited his prayer room, heading immediately to the war room and grabbing the first messenger he saw by the shoulders. "Send word to Manius, I have heard what happened, but I am not convinced that all is lost. Tell him we will give his wife the proper burial, and she will be given all due honor she deserves, and that we will find his sons no matter what has happened to them. Tell him that no amount of words can express the guilt I feel in my heart for not having gotten their sooner. Let him know that I am dispatching my men to find the treacherous filth responsible for this vile act, and if it is with my dieing breathe I will bring him the men responsible for this, that by his hand their judgement shall be slow and painful, and every ounce of pain they have caused him shall be his to inflict upon them a hundred fold. Go..deliver this message, and dispatch my men!"

Servius then turned one last time to look towards the sky. "Mars...you are no god, you are a demon. No matter what you do, I will win this war. For the good of the Republic, for the good of mankind. Men should not bow down to gods like you...YOU, should bow down to us."

Servius shook his head, and that look was breathing out from within him again. "Mars... I will make you bow to me."