Sharpe is a Captain saddled with the South Essex, a battalion run by incompetents and filled with soldiers who have never been in battle. When the South Essex loses its colours (its regimental flag), Sharpe vows to save the honor of the regiment by capturing a French Imperial standard: an eagle.

A little beetle plans to take revenge on an eagle family for killing his friends. Although the eagle family teams up with the powerful Zeus, the little beetle finds a cunning way to fight them.