At the time of the Roman Empire a Nubian slave rises up against his captors and leads a rebellion. However his bravery is recognised by a Roman General and he is commissioned as a Roman Centurion. Blackhawk took his name from a Hawk that he adopted and assembled a crack platoon from hardened prisoners and other slaves. As with other Finley-Day war stories the basic plot was borrowed from The Dirty Dozen with Blackhawk's squad being singled out for the hardest missions.