The Plot To Destroy Rokkenjiman Democracy

[Beatrice]

Pyrena Castle, Pyrettania, as viewed from the helicopter of Beatrice Anselmo.

It was a sight she wasn't expecting to ever see again and yet, here it was, right before her. Pyrena Castle in all of its glory, even if the absence of leaves would paint a depressing picture for some to her, it spoke of home. Each revolution of the helicopter blades above her head brought her several feet closer to touching down and, by the Seven Divine, when her foot touched that familiar stone her foot has always touched when her pilots landed, she instantly felt that much more like herself again. While there had not been much pomp and circumstance at the airport, indeed, her time there had been purposely limited as she transitioned from the Imperial Transport to the awaiting helicopter, here at home she was greeted with lines of familiar faces on each side of the walkway to the Castle itself from the heliport. She couldn't help but tear up as she grasped their hands as she passed them and, to be fair, their eyes were also quite watery. Before entering the Castle she turned her back to the door, bowed to them, and said "It's good to see you all again, I've missed you all so very much, thank you, thank you for these tears," she concluded with a smile before opening the door, feeling and smelling the still familiar aura of Pyrena Castle.

Almost as habit she made her way for her office, it had been her routine for so many years it acted almost upon muscle memory. She placed her coat on the rack, took precisely seventeen steps to her personal stairway, another 14 steps to the second story, and a further seven to the office itself. She smiled, noticing Asuna had taken great care in preserving it in her absence; it was almost as if nothing had been untouched yet the absence of dust indicated that was not the case. Her eyes were drawn, however, to her chair facing the window which sat directly behind her desk, gently rocking even. "Now then," she said with her characteristically playful voice, "who sits behind door number one as I enter what should be an empty room?" After a second or two the chair would turn around, revealing Tamaki Kado who smiled at the Empress before joining his hands together in front of him upon the surface of the desk. "Hello, Beatrice, it's been too long, yes?"

"Ah yes, Kado," she said as she walked to her chair despite his presence in it, "I do believe you're sitting in my seat." Without a word he rose and walked to the seat on the right side of her desk, sitting only after Beatrice herself had. Beatrice had heard much of him from Lucinda. While was a most loyal asset to the First Empire the fact that he was willing to cross lines even Lucinda had questioned made him someone Lucinda had gone lengths to insulate Beatrice from. Still, she knew she could trust that he was an ally, someone whose interests were in the service of his Empire, not in personal gain. "Your Majesty, I thought it would be fitting for me to welcome you home," he continued, "in precisely one minute and thirty seconds we will be joined by Kayleigh Pryde, Hazel Narin and Rion Ayanami. While you are in no position to act or to make any decisions I insisted upon them that the information I am to convey is of relevance to you and, for your own personal safety and that of the Anselmo Family and the First Empire itself, I would not share it with them without your presence."

"Still timing things to the second, I see," she said with a smirk, "very well. If I may ask, why is the Empress not in attendance?" Kado let out an uncharacteristic sigh; in another timeline, at least in Beatrice's mind, Kado and Lucinda were certainly a couple. Borderline sociopaths with a sense of loyalty and duty that could in some cases pave the paths to their very undoing. "You read the news of the developments in Kalasin, the revelations of the atrocities?" Beatrice would nod in response. "Well, the Empress had raw access beyond what was let out in the media," he paused, "I couldn't saddle her with more triggers for the PTSD she's suffering from that. She even surfaced three of our SSGNs to send a message to them; you know as well as I do those boats operate in secrecy, and she even made a triangle with Kalasin in the middle. Naturally the reports weren't made officially, but it was enough that they knew Rokkenjima wouldn't tolerate anything further."

"Very well then," Beatrice said as she hit the button on her smartwatch. "Your timer is up," she said with a smile as a knock came to the door, "So it has," Kado said in response before adding, "Please, do show yourselves in." He had arranged for an additional three chairs, two to the right and one to the left, for the purposes of this meeting.

"Allow me to get straight to business," he said after they had been seated, standing himself. "In the closing days of the reign of the Shizukesa Empress I was approached to start an investigation as to the activities of Grand Marshall Rowe, an investigation which certainly remains in the preliminary stages. Yet, as I looked upon past patterns compared to current patterns in his behaviour, I've been noticing irregularities. Usually, on Tuesdays, he has lunch at a cafe in Pyrettania which specializes in Dartfordian cuisine yet lately he's been declining those opportunities; instead traveling from Imperial High Command to an address in Ashinxaio. Rowe is a man of habbit, almost the very definiton of a creature of habbit; at this stage I merely find it odd that he has made such an abrubt change but know, full well, I will find out why those patterns have changed as they have. In addition and, perhaps more concerning, a supposedly dead man is making purchases and using his cell phone again which, as I'm sure we can all appreciate, are some fairly large red flags even a novice would pick up upon. Empress Beatrice, you have to be careful, these grounds must remain free of an IRAF presence until I conclude my investigation. I would ask that my friends here," he said motioning to the Achkaerinese, "reference the intelligence I am precluded from viewing under Rokkenjiman anti-surveillance laws upon our own people, to see if they notice what I am noticing, and to inform me accordingly."

He paused, sat, and with a chuckle added, "In short, welcome home."

[Achkaerin]

The silence was very obvious before Rion stood up, walked the short distance to where Kado sat and proceeded to slap him hard across the face "So let me get this straight at the exact time that your allies are screaming at you that there's an issue within the Rokkenjiman military, at the exact time that the INIS verifies that there are no problems within the Rokkenjiman military, you start an investigation into the most senior officer in the Rokkenjiman military? It'd be laughable if it weren't such a serious issue."
"And people say she has no emotion." Hazel said as Rion ran a hand through her hair
"Ok..." Rion said "Helus how I hate games where I don't know all the pieces. Kayleigh, you tell all your people, you tell them what they need to know, if there's something going on I really don't want to be blindsided."
"Do I tell Emerson?" Kayleigh asked
"Yes you do." Rion said "He'll want to instantly act, tell him not to and if he questions why you tell him I said so."
"So what do I tell him?" Kayleigh asked

"Tell him to let the game come to him." Rion said noticing the look on Kado's face "The obvious consideration is Rowe's access to the Imperial Palace he's on the Imperial Council, he's a trusted individual, normally we'd say risk outweighs reward and contain him, we don't need to here. Rokkenjima's about to have a new Constitution that will take care of that problem and after that he's a lot easier to contain in the access stakes, should give you enough cover to continue investigations. Kayleigh you keep the family safe, Hazel if any member of the IRAF comes into the grounds of Pyrena, I don't care who they are you have my full authority to do whatever you need to do short of breaking the Uppsalla Convention. I'll get things going on my end, we got blindsided a year ago that's not happening again." she looked at Kado "The slap was for lying to me." she delivered a second strike "And that's so you don't do it again."

[Beatrice]

Not missing a beat Kado continued without showing any inclinations of phase. "While I'm certain this is ground which doesn't truly need to be covered, let us review a few things. I've no concerns as to the Imperial Rokkenjiman Navy; Forrester, whilst an associate of Rowe, is someone who has maintained an untarnished record and has not demonstrated any tendencies which would draw suspicion; indeed, in the IRN we have a group of officers who, in my line of work, prove rather tedious in observing and that lot tend to take pride in the narrative built from the early days of the Empire, that the IRN is both the sword and shield of Chrysanthemum Throne. As for the IRAF as a whole, at times I am called upon to deceive; under these circumstances it is to give people, like Rowe, a false sense of confidence that he is not under suspicion, and for those such as yourself genuine reactions are required at times. I can't, at this stage, be quite certain as to what is going on with Mr. Rowe, only that there's something that isn't right, comparing current patterns to historical patterns. However, I would add that my assessment of the Rokkenjiman Military isn't entirely inaccurate; I do not believe that lower officers or the rank-and-file are involved in some sort of conspiracy and believe that, if there's anything afoot in the IRAF, at this stage it would remain something within the confines of Rowe's mind. He'll keep in mind the oath all Rokkenjiman soldiers make to the Crown, where their duties and sentiments are in that understanding, and move with the knowledge that his actions can't be obvious in serving a motive outside of that oath."

Kado couldn't help but break his otherwise stoic posture with the second slap, chuckling for a second. "You've had one Lucinda Hadley in your custody for some time now," he paused for a moment. "I'll do you a service in saying now that her and I are, in some ways, cut from similar cloths. I can see similar tendencies even in you, and while others may react as predicted to such physical displays as what you've subjected me to twice now, you've merely served to pique my interests. If the topic matter weren't of such gravitas, I'd ponder whether or not I should consider flirtatio..."

"And I shall step in and nip that in the bud right there," Beatrice interjected. "I can only trust all of you to perform your duties to the highest of calibers, we are in many ways apparently dealing with something, something that can't be entirely quantified at this point in time, yet my years of service upon the Throne tell me that something is most certainly afoot. Kado, continue your efforts in your investigation and find the answers we need to bring some sense to this all, taking into consideration any information our Achkaerinese counterparts may relay to you that you, yourself, cannot access domestically. Rion, I know he's not the easiest of people to work with, but his subterfuge isn't guided at you or us, while he could have relayed it in better manners..." she stopped herself and took a moment to reflect, "please, do forgive me for that, what with sitting in this chair, being a part of a meeting such as this, you must excuse me for falling back into character for a moment. My next words shall come not as someone inserting themselves in either Imperial or political manners, but purely in my role as a mother. Tell Asuna only that which she needs to know to keep herself, and the First Empire, safe in navigating these disturbed waters. As Vicegerent Emerson speaks with the full authority of Chrysanthemum Throne, he shall have to take point on whatever we're presently facing and make those tough decisions if need be; remember that I picked him because I trust him, if Asuna is suffering from PTSD, especially mindful of my return to Rokkenjima and the implications therein, we all have a duty to minimize the impacts upon her moving forward."

"As you wish, your Majesty," Kado said as he dipped his head. "Rion, there are certain things I am allowed to do and those which I am not allowed to do under Rokkenjiman law in the area of collecting data on Rokkenjiman citizens. There is nothing in law, however, which concerns information which crosses my desk to from foreign sources regarding Rokkenjiman nationals. I shall thus ask that if there are any details your intelligence apparatus can ascertain regarding Rowe or Groves which would be relevant to my investigation you'd kindly see that information on my desk at your earliest convenience." With that Kado stood and walked out of the room without a further word. In his absence Beatrice sighed, "Rion, I must apologize for his conduct, he was always one Lucinda went to great lengths to keep me from. In that same vein, however, she spoke to his sense of duty to the Crown and despite all else, he's someone we can all trust."

"While he got caught up on you slapping him, which thank you, we have the matter of my sister which escaped his attention. How does that tie into all of this, if you have any insights there?" Under the influence of muscle memory she pressed the button upon her desk which, without fail, ensured one of her staff would bring to her a cup of tea at the perfect temperature. "Thank you," she said as they placed it on the desk, "My apologies," she added, "may I offer any of you a beverage?"

[Achkaerin]

Rion looked at Kayleigh and Hazel and nodded meaning both left the room, Kayleigh undoubtedly heading straight for the Imperial Palace to get Emerson in the loop. Rion sighed and perched herself on Beatrice's desk "Trusting someone who gives you no reason to trust them is difficult, made even more so when they lie to you." Rion said "If we have to put a question mark against Rowe then that means we have to put an asterisk against the Rokkenjiman military whether it be army, navy or air force. What earned him the slap was that his agency said in the wake of the debacle between Rokkenjima and Daito that there were no collaborators or concerns within the Rokkenjiman military and now he tells me that at that time he was running an investigation into Rowe. He can't vouch for every solider, sailor and airperson in the military anymore than any general can of any fighting force. You're familiar with the phrase 'see the whole board' because your father tried to get it into you, well Kado's not seeing the whole board. When we start being forced to put question marks against people who are essentially professionally trained killers we're acknowledging things have the potential to get messy. He's worried enough to recommend that we not allow any Rokkenjiman military on Pyrena grounds, which is why Hazel's here because if a move is made then I want the best I've got protecting the key pieces." she looked Beatrice straight in the eye "Trust and you have never gone hand in hand you're pretty much renowned for not trusting anyone. It's my job and Kado's job to put the pieces together here, I will be telling your other sister and your father because if somethings up things need to be ready, it's your job to trust us to do our jobs, Gemma will keep Asuna safe, Kayleigh will take a look at stuff around Kyoko and if something is going on we'll figure it out. But I do need you to do one thing." she took a moment "Be prepared to throw your previous preconceptions of various things away, it's Hazel's job to look after you she can't do that if you're at odds." she slid off the desk and headed for the door.

[Beatrice]

As she listened to Rion she would sip her tea from time to time finding the beverage had emptied by the time she had concluded. "I think you'll find that you, too, shall find it necessary to toss aside preconceived notions and, perhaps, to update your files. I trust things are done differently in Valtheim, just as we'd find they're done differently in Northfort, Hematite, Tsargrad and, given our cultural similarities, I would be remiss not to mention Shinkyō. There come times when we saw Lucinda not inform me of details; she completed the task at hand, yes, but not everything was relayed to me. As a protege of Lucinda it seems to me that he's taken it upon himself to fulfill her empty station. Speaking of Lucinda, when he rose to the top of the INIS she gave me quite the briefing on him; prior to his intelligence service he fought in the Second Patriotic War, Navy, Loyalist. A Republican shell detonated above the bridge, he managed to save two other officers by knocking them down. You couldn't see it obviously, but his back bears the scars of that encounter to this day."

"Thus I reiterate that he is someone who can be trusted his actions, and Lucinda's assessment of him adds only further credence in my eyes. She would, after all, not allow someone who is a threat to the Anselmos to have the opportunity to harm them. We can also look back to the attack on Daitō and look at the facts. I spoke of an Oath earlier, one to Empire and Crown, if we're to assume that there is some nasty business which Rowe has found himself in he's vulnerable on that front. If there were a widespread issue therein don't you think they'd have mustered two squadrons of fighters for their opening act against the Empire instead of a mere two pilots? No," Beatrice paused as she stood and looked out of her window, "they had what I believe in some English cultures they call a "Hail Mary" and it wasn't enough to secure the full set of objectives they had there. Certainly they improvised in the aftermath, and I would wager that's the point when Rowe saw fit to intervene, to "live another day" as I believe they also say. Though I recognize that my return will only accelerate plans that are afoot; the People still look to me in trust, in many ways in love, my reputation upon the IRAF is second only to that of Empress Meishō I'd imagine. Trust that if push came to shove it would take only me speaking nationally to weed out those who are true to their oath and those who aren't, and I can only imagine that their own units would take care of them at that point."

"Though speaking on the matter of trust," she continued, "and why your files are in need of updating, I trust many people; my family both immediate and extended, Thatcher, King Michael, the Rhodes, the Ironsides, even you and your associates. I am sorry that you, and so many, came to know me best when I wasn't capable of fighting these threats. Charles made a mistake in whatever he's hatched in not killing me though, so long as I live so too does the mother of modern Rokkenjima, the woman who saw our victory over the Federal Republic that sought to kill our culture and that goes a long way in the hearts of a People. I know that precautions must be taken, however, with my innate knowledge of my People, the near voracity which many make in their Oath to serve Empire and Crown, I might have been gone for some time but there's things that don't just change overnight. I trust you'll find, absent the influence of whatever cocktail Ofdensen had coursing through my veins, I'm not who you think I am."

Before she had fully closed the door Beatrice would add, "If I may offer a suggestion, get Cole in on this too. He may be "retired" but I know him, he still receives intelligence briefings, still attends graduations and other ceremonies within the IRAF and while I may be out of touch so to say, he has his ear closer to the ground. I understand some across the various Branches have taken to calling him "Grandpa Cole", affectionately of course; he's been known to personally sign thousands of holiday cards to those in service who are estranged from their families or orphaned. If you want an ear into the mindset of the rank and file, he'd be an invaluable source."
RBC Livestream, Rishiri Imperial Overseas Dependency

"It is for those reasons that I, Princess Kyōko hereby renounce my place in the Line of Succession to Chrysanthemum Throne," Princess Kyōko said as she stood before her previous residence as First Minister of Rishiri. She claimed she had done her duty in Rokkenjima, that duties to Rishiri called upon her, and that her "faith in the future of the Empress is unshaken" precluded her from even needing her position there. Cecelia had joined her for this meeting, her mother, who proclaimed she could "never again serve as Empress" due to advanced age and a myriad of physical conditions. As they departed and returned to their car a face was there to close the door, but not before speaking to them both. "I'm pleased you made the right decision and allowed me to not stain my hands with blood in this case," Groves said with a sigh. "I know, it's difficult, but you did make the right choice. So long as you keep to your word you'll never see me again." After closing the door he hit the roof twice, and the two were taken to their housing upon the grounds of the mannor.
While he wasn't expecting to call upon Rion again so soon Rowe had made arrangements to meet her at his office. He opened the door, turned on the light and, much to his surprise, was greeted with a familiar scene. "Chair turned to the window as I enter my office, hmm, I did this earlier to another today," Kado said with a smirk. Unlike the previous instance, however, the chair whipped around as Lucinda rose, approached Kado, and had his neck pinned to the wall with her forearm. "Hello to you too," he said with laboured breaths and, after a moment had passed, she released him to catch his breath. "To what do I owe this pleasure to?" Kado asked. "We keep what we do away from her," Lucinda said in a monotone voice, "I can almost understand you wanting her to know certain things but you can't directly interact with her, we bloody our hands so that hers remain pure, understand?" Kado would nod, reaching for his back. "Don't be dramatic," Lucinda said without empathy, "I avoided placing any pressure upon points which would irritate your back. I know how to send a message without cruelty."

"I suggest you make your leave," Kado simply said, "I've a meeting with Rion. I can't imagine she'd be happy to see you in my office." "Can't imagine she would be," Lucinda replied in brevity, "you want Beatrice to know something you relay it through me and I will determine what is, and what isn't, beneficial for her to know. I've a responsibility to keep her safe and that is in all manners." She left the room as swiftly as she had pinned him, making sure that she retraced her steps to her suite with her husband who, thankfully, was still napping.

Kado resumed his posture swiftly before Rion's arrival, going straight to business as he pointed to a whiteboard. "Three figures," he began, pointing to the lower right corner which featured a picture of Groves. We call him the Chauffeur, he does the legwork and considers himself a strategist in this plot, but all he's here to do is open doors and guide people to their destinations. Following the elimination of Charles, honey allergy, mead, nicely done to yours by the way," he segued as he pointed to the next box, this time with a question mark. "We have the seagull that swims in the sky; I see the way you're looking and I didn't pick these names, these are codewords and phrases we've intercepted in communications. Anyway, we'll shorten that one to "Seagull", not much is known about them. If my instincts are correct, and they typically are, Seagull is their mole in the INIS; they relay things they hear and at times act on behalf of," he paused as he pointed to the top box, "Blue Silver. This is the most elusive one in all this," he paused, "is it Rowe, I have my suspicions there but everything I've gleaned from what I am legally able to glean from domestic surveillance, it's all circumstantial and wouldn't stand in court. That's where I hope you come in," he continued, "help me find out who Seagull is, to confirm who Blue Silver is, and help me get rid of that damned annoying Chauffeur. I promise, I'll allow my instincts to drop for some time if you promise me that nothing I say is relayed to the Empress or any in her family; there's certain things I cannot share with them, it's for their protection and plausible deniability in case things go sideways which, in such a case, should be my failing and not something which should impact them. In any case, the stage is yours, Rion," he said as he motioned with his hand to the board.

[Achkaerin]

Rion took one look at the whiteboard "Pieces not players." she said "Maybe it's better to say pieces of the jigsaw but with no idea of the final picture? That's what I see when I look at this. A lot of inconsistencies, a lot of things that don't add up." she pointed at 'Blue Silver' "Assuming that's Rowe then what purpose does Groves serve? Certainly Groves is no gatekeeper to the Imperial Diet for an Imperial Councillor, which Rowe still technically is for a few more days at least while the constitutional transition works itself through, chances are Rowe could walk into the Diet building and get information that Groves can't, so he's something else that's for sure. Seagull makes sense and I'm going to say it." she looked at Kado "We told you so." she took a breath "Seagull is required regardless, and should be the easiest to trap when we get there, but for now they're not too troublesome." Rion took a couple of steps back from the whiteboard "Groves is in the legislative, the mole is in your intelligence and if that is Rowe then that's the military, all of them critical areas of state and all of them to some extent capable of posing a threat, at least in theory. Groves doesn't belong in the majority at the Diet so his role is something aware from there. When Charles was making his moves, Groves was the messenger boy he could easily be the same here. But there's still something missing here" her eyes darted all over the whiteboard before she picked up a pen and drew a box in which she put a question mark before drawing arrows from each of Kado's box's to the one she'd drawn "Who's the guiding mind? this smacks of someone picking up the ruins of Charles plot, breathing new life into it and running with it. But this time there's no advantage on our side, Charles failed because we knew what he didn't. This time there are no secrets, everything's on the board and..."

Rion took another breath "In any case Blue Silver potentially being Rowe is the most concerning factor here, because we have to plan worst case scenario's. So tell me who asked you to look into Rowe? And what's the address in Ashinaxo that he's been going to?"

[Beatrice]

"We'll call that box Rio," he said, noticing Rion's odd look. "What, if they've adopted a Duran Duran inspired naming convention, we may as well continue it," he paused before continuing. "I've been maintaining surveillance on a number of Rokkenjiman officials, considering none of the above the potential for betrayal; you'll be happy to know that my efforts have cleared your Count Emerson of conduct early on, he's quite the choir boy and quickly became most boring so I saved our taxpayers a few Ducats and ceased our observations there. Members of the Imperial Council are likewise somewhat boring but," he said as he pulled a photograph from a drawer in his desk, handing her a photograph of Lucius Stanley. "This one is keeping interesting patterns lately, and interesting company to boot. Out of the individuals we're observing his patterns have changed the most as of late; things as simple as not getting his morning apple fritter on his way to work, instead making a phone call around 7:45 AM just prior to walking into the office to begin his duties. I know, husband of the best friend of Beatrice, successfully returned home those who were unjustly tried by Transvaal, all around recognized as one of the "good guys" so to say. But, I would propose, what if that is his armour here? What secrets is he keeping from Lucinda in the bedroom?" he continued, "as I have here a late checkout from the Abruscato International Hotel in Ashinxao which places one Rika Miyano at the same hotel with a likewise delayed departure."

"As for who asked me to look into Rowe you need only to look as far as Princess Kyōko," he continued without missing a beat. "As for that particular address it's an interesting choice, multiple units contained within mind you, who's to say the stated unit is that which he ultimately ends up in? I can't access the records myself but via triangulation and wifi routers, I do believe if I heard your intelligence sources discovered something there, I could put a few puzzle pieces together, that is if you've been watching him. I just need that piece; it's there, everything points to it but it's at the moment the unreachable piece that just dangles beyond my immediate field of vision," he struck the desk aside him. "So close, yet so unattainable at the same time that is," he said using a finger to lower his glasses, "you have some information or sources you may call upon?"
Meanwhile, Asuna broke open a bottle of Pyrenan Mead, poured herself a glass, and drank it in quick succession, prompting a raised eyebrow from Serenity. "Look, there is much to unpackage here so forgive me and plus, I'm legal so don't judge me," she continued. "Sophia has found herself in a most difficult situation, she's found herself in love with a Toshikawan and my Gods, to some here still, that's still quite the sin. It's gotten to the point I've advised her that if things get too bad she declares Josai independent of Rokkenjima; I'll do what I can to protect her there but it's all so messed up, just because some people hold onto their prejudices so strongly, and that's someting I'm fighting to change. Sophia's been guided to the fight for Orion's Empress because of the type of Rokkenjima I hope to render wholly obsolete," she paused, "beyond doing what I can to ensure the IRAF does not seek to reclaim Josai if it goes independent, I don't quite know what I can do for her, even as Empress. Please," she stepped forward and took Serenity's hands into her own, "what the hell do I do here?"

[Achkaerin]

"With what you've just said I don't really need sources." Rion said "And for the record I don't believe in the unattainable, there are times to be subtle and times not to be so subtle, this for the moment has become the latter. This conversation never happened and it goes without saying that under no circumstances does Lucinda find out about her husband, at least not until this is all over." she looked at the whiteboard again "Meanwhile I suggest you take that and get it somewhere out of sight, if Seagull finds out you've got anything like this then you know what the consequences of that are, whatever is coming and there's always something coming when dealing with plots like this, will happen before we're ready for it. First we need to be certain about Rowe, we need what we're missing, leave that with me. Groves's job is to deliver something that much is obvious but what, what is he positioning? Give him a loose leash and see where he goes, his movements will betray his intent and his part in this." she did another visual pass of the board "As much as I don't like leaving a mole embedded, Seagull's job is most likely to keep the other parties to this abreast of INIS activity and highlight any threat against any of them, Seagull can't report that which they don't know, so business as usual keep the circle small and when the time's right we'll catch them."

Serenity had stayed quiet, her ears were listening to Asuna but her eyes for large parts of what her niece had to say never left the bottle of mead, and that wasn't the worst of it, she could smell it in the air. As someone who was teetotal, and for good reason, the aroma of the alcohol in this concentration was offensive to her senses. Serenity closed her eyes and took a deep breath, channeling her maternal nature, the tough love that she knew she sometimes had to show her girls, picking up the bottle of mead she fixed Asuna with that honed piercing look of her green eyes, the one that gave the impression of seeing right through who she was looking at "What number glass is that today? What number bottle is this? Just because you're legally allowed to drink doesn't mean you get to drink as much as you like, that's how people lose themselves, that's how people get hurt and that's how the darkness seeps in. I've seen that abyss and walked away after the worst thing that ever happened to me happened." she stood up and pulled Asuna to her feet before essentially marching the Rokkenjiman Empress into her bathroom and shoving her into the shower, she turned on the cold water spray and blocked the exit "You can either be the Empress of Rokkenjima or you can be someone who copes by looking for answers at the bottom of a bottle. Your choice."

Half an hour later a drenched Asuna, now in a bath robe was sat down, Serenity put a cup of hot chocolate in front of her "Get that down you." Serenity said before sighing as she sat down next to her niece "I can't keep flying down here every time someone raises a concern about your behaviour, I came this time because it was certainly more serious than you galivanting around with Thomas on the Austrana again." she put an arm around Asuna "It strikes me what you need is a deterrent and what Sophia needs is a smoking gun. I'll make sure she gets what she needs and if she does declare Josai independent then I will play the part of protector, I'll stare the IRAF down, I'll give you reasons to think twice should be enough to keep your people on a leash and get a negotiated settlement out of it and hopefully no shots fired. Let me worry about Sophia, you start worrying about your wedding dress." she gave Asuna a kiss on the forehead "And if you can give you one other bit of advice, I don't care who you replace her with, find some random noble, make someone a noble if you must but for love of all that is holy get Evanthe back here because right now you decidedly lack when it comes to experience and judgement and she brings both in spades."

[Beatrice]

Kado chuckled, "We wouldn't want her smothering in his sleep, would we? No," he paused, "I don't quite imagine that would be her preferred method; she'd want him to know, to see it coming, and suffer with the knowledge of his impending doom. We both know that while she may love Lucius, her love for Beatrice is yet greater than that, do what you can and I'll do what I can in the meantime. My circle remains naturally small, I could likely count upon one hand those I trust with the full knowledge of what is transpiring divided by half. Until our next non-meeting," he said as she left.
It was only after she was in a bathrobe and with cocoa before her that Asuna would respond, "Thank you, and I've got that picked out already, just thinking what Thomas will think is just, wow," she continued. "But on Evanthe, she's made clear she's advocating for Rishiri these days, I'd love to hand things off to her for a few while I work my life out, I could declare her my Regent," she paused, "I mean Emerson is already here so I don't have too much prodding there to do. And what will Auntie Eva do when she's back?" she continued, enjoying her cocoa.

[Achkaerin]

Serenity looked at Asuna "When people look at Rokkenjima, at least since the second Patriotic War, what they see is a nation of great promise, a nation that ten years ago was arguably the most prominent nation on the planet in international affairs and then they see how it all went wrong. I'm the biggest critic of your mother in my opinion she's foolish and stubborn, yet for all that criticism we can say that between her ascension to the throne in 2004 and the Andean Genocide she was the undisputed titan of domestic politics in Rokkenjima, an effective ruler at home but abroad? No. However what she did have was Evanthe who without question was the other side of the coin, what Beatrice had domestically Evanthe had when it came to international affairs, like it or not she has all the experience in that arena when it comes to any Rokkenjiman, which these days isn't saying much. But there's only so many times you get to play the inexperienced girl card and not do anything about it, you want to know what Evanthe can do? She can advise you, which frankly is something you need especially in the international arena." she said

Rion meanwhile was making multiple phone calls as she sat in her car, she didn't like making moves without knowing the players and there were a lot of questions involved in this. Still she did have options "Paul." she said over the phone "I need you to send Robyn's team down here with Michelle and Misty."
"Will do." came the voice of Paul Kessel "What's happening?"
"We've got to get in somewhere, put a bully in his place and uproot a snitch." Rion said
"Busy schedule then." Paul said
"I know." Rion said "Just get them down here."

[Beatrice]

"We'll see Evanthe brought back on as my Kōshaku; she'll have responsibilities in overseeing the Imperial Household Ministry as well as in foreign affairs officially. In effect, I'll be using the time which she is back to reflect, recuperate, and figure out where things move forward from here. She's someone I can trust to have both my best interests and those of the First Empire at heart, something I need in this moment. I'm sure Emerson will be happy to see her walking the halls of the Imperial Palace, too," she said with a knowing grin.
It wasn't in Lucinda's nature to sit by idly, so she had a chat with her friend known throughout the Rokkenjiman intelligence apparatus simply as <0 (less than zero). "I'm not acting in an official capacity," Lucinda paused, "but I get the impression that something is going on with certain figures. Kado's working his angles but, if I may offer a suggestion, I would like to encourage you to look a bit into the communications of the Grand Marshal and high-ranking staff, former Councilor Groves, maybe set ICON to look for keywords in broader INIS communications as well. "You're not supposed to be engaging in political or royal duties," <0 would respond, to which Lucinda chuckled. "I'm merely sharing ideas with a former colleague, plus, nothing we're discussing is of political or royal interests; we're discussing intelligence and military matters, a field we've both worked in for quite some time. Even then we're speaking on a secured channel, the records of which are purged upon completion; I am risking nothing in speaking with you in this manner. If you should be asked where you got your inspiration from, should the question be posed to you, Kado said to you "my envied lady holds you fast in her gaze." This group of conspirators seem to have a theme based upon the Chauffeur," which would see <0 interject, "...an interesting choice, one of their more dynamic songs if you ask me, but to..." "I know," Lucinda would continue, "musical tastes aside we're dealing with traitors. I'm in no position to be of assistance directly, but I think pointing pieces in the direction they need to be is something at least. You're perhaps the only person in the Empire that can tap and navigate ICON without detection, put that to its best use. Report findings to Kado and myself, I'll be staying at Pyrena with the Empress so if there's something I need to know which would be of benefit to her I trust you'll relay it to me. Hadley out."

It was 2:45 AM AST, Lucinda inched Beatrice's door open as she passed it in the residential wing of the Castle, a habitual occurrence as she returned to her own quarters. A note adorned her pillow, another late night in Ashinxao for Lucius as he navigated another difficult case. "Interesting," she said to herself aloud as she placed the note on the nightstand beside their bed. "You always found a way home before, couldn't suffer a night apart from me, you would say, what makes that same effort not worth it now? What has changed?" she said as she summoned <0 yet again. "What is it now?" she asked, "I was about to turn in for the night." "Add the Attorney for the Crown to your digital trespasses, nothing concrete, but his patterns have changed in my absence and I would like to know why." "You take snooping through a partner's phone to a new level, you know that?" <0 sighed. "It might be nothing, it might be something at the same time and you know, I don't take risks. Please do execute my request," she said as she hit the "end" button, before throwing the phone against the wall.
Kado welcomed Rion with her preferred morning beverage as he laid out a series of documents upon his desk. "<0 has been brought on the case," he said with a smirk, "they've never operated under the authority of the INIS, but through the Office of the Crown itself, even after Hadley's outfit was dismantled most unceremoniously. If I'm to understand her purview is digital surveillance of members of Imperial High Command, INIS, and one Lucius Stanley. I can promise you I said nothing to Lucinda of the activities of her husband, though I've heard through the grapevine that she's been left one too many letters on her pillow as to why her husband can't board a fast train back home whereas before he'd spare no expense to do so, but I do not believe she is treading on grounds she has no place in treading upon. I imagine <0 is acting at the behest of the Empress herself in this case, and we should move forward in treating these developments as such. Still, in less than a day, <0 has shown Stanley and Groves in the same vicinity through triangulation and Bluetooth pings between the phones of...one Lucius Stanley and one Randolph Groves. We've filled in our first line I'd say, would you concur?" he asked with a motion of his right hand toward where the whiteboard once stood.

"It exists only in our minds now," he continued, "but it is our duty to fill in the lines, identify the players, and eliminate them if ultimately necessary. Why would the Attorney for the Crown prefer the company of Groves over that of his wife? I must admit, if I were in Lucius' position, I know which one I would choose to keep company with, but that's a topic of discussion we won't tread today. How does he figure into this, which player is he, and who is the mole aiding this plot? I trust you understand that I will require that the mole face INIS procedures before handing them over for any crimes they may have violated on an international level, I do promise they'll be transferred alive though. On the same topic, <0 reports multiple efforts to mask activities related to the INIS in this plot; they've left them many folds to unfold, but with enough time they'll come through for us. Things are starting to get interesting," he said as he sipped his matcha, "strap in, so to say."

[Achkaerin]

"You've got absolutely nothing." Rion said "Beyond mere coincidence, you've got nothing solid, Groves is a former member of the Imperial Diet, Lucius Stanley is Attorney for the Crown, there's a very long list of legitimate reasons why those two could be meeting." she paused for a second to make a quick phone call "Hazel kindly remind Lucinda that putting her stiletto's in a sensitive investigation is not helpful, if the threat is against either the state or the Anselmo's then she has to stay out of it." Rion put her phone away "Now where was I? Ah yes, there are multiple reasons both current and historic as why to Groves, Stanley and even Rowe would all be within close proximity so that's ridiculously thin, it's not really suspect and it wouldn't stand up to scrutiny so you don't have anything incriminating. Rowe and Stanley are new figures in this, if this goes back years and it likely does then they've stayed undetected so their not going to be using ICON or anything like that to communicate, also remember who Rowe is, he'll be more than aware of what you can do. He's also an experienced soldier if anyone's going to have picked up on the signs that Asuna's suffering from PTSD it'll be him."

Taking a moment to look at the whiteboard she ran her eyes from left to right "To be able to take down a plot you must first be able to see the shape of the game then you can plan an effective counter." she continued "This is a variation on Charles's plot you can see his fingerprints on it. But where we might have assumed a bridge to far with Charles I don't think we can in this case. Charles wanted to create a Constitutional crisis, essentially remove the monarchy for his own gain, he failed because he didn't know the big IVF secret. Now here we are almost a year later everyone in this knows that secret, this plot will have adapted to deal with that. So they'll have a plan to clear everyone out of the path but that won't help them because the Royal Family is beloved of the public, there's an endgame we're not seeing yet." she took a breath "Get me Groves's travel records, he's known to be an Ofdensen ally so that at least would look routine. Tell <0 they need to answer to you on this, if Lucinda pries around too much this could get a whole lot messier than either us would like and I doubt the Empress would be happy with having to say goodbye to her mother again having just had to negotiate bringing her home." she put what looked like a business card on Kado's desk except it had the contact details of a Justicar front on it. "Flip it over and hold under a uv light." she said "That's how you get hold of me while I'm out there shaking trees to see what falls out ok?"

[Beatrice]

"Very well," Kado answered, I'll step back for a moment and allow an outsiders perspective. I'll allow you to make our next contact," he concluded simply. Kado would see Rion off with the travel records before begining the tasks he'd set before him for the day, and a long one it would prove to be. After a discussion with Evanthe while he didn't know quite who her equivalent would be in East Moreland, he directed that she should utilize new tools allowed for under the Guardtower Provisions in deploying Full Spectrum's data collection capabilities upon Rokkenjiman citizens, issuing a rare exception for her to share intelligence collected upon Rokkenjiman nationals with them. "Two, perhaps three in this case, set of eyes are better than one's own," he sighed as he place his phone on the desk.
Upon his return home Lucius could feel Lucinda's eye on him, "is everything alright, honey?" he asked, which prompted Lucinda to pin him to the nearest wall. "You lying sonofabitch," she said as she held her forearm to his neck, "I don't know how you thought deception would play with me, but I can tell when things change between two people. You send me to voicemail, you try to let the rings finish as if you didn't but you're always a few seconds too quick before the tone stops signaling a ring on my end," she continued pinning him even more tightly to the wall. "So, who is she, a Rokkenjiman courtesan perhaps, or some foreign cocotte? I promise I'll figure it out either way. The only thing holding me back right now is Beatrice encouraging me to act "rationally" so my rational act is this; we'll live in separate suites from here on out and until you prove yourself to me again, that arrangement will continue." Though he offered protests she saw his attempts swiftly dismissed, "For now, you stay away from me, you understand? Clear yourself, there is no other option for you in regards to me, no future to look forward to; until then go back off to Ashinxao; know, however, if you go back there that you've betrayed me. Also," she paused as she walked to the door.

"Also? What more do you have to say that could only serve to break my heart further?" he asked. "Also," she repeated without emotion, "I'll think I'll just leave it upon you to ruminate upon just what that means. Good night, Lucius, and if you should decide to disclose anything, our interaction, what we upon, how you got a bruise or two on your neck to anyone, Rokkenjiman or Achkaerinese, you know I've always maintained insurance in any actions I take. Sleep tight, my love," she said in a rare occurrence of sarcasm, "I won't be seeing you in the morning, not unless you decide to be honest with me.

[Achkaerin]

The term Deja vu could easily be applied to this meeting, a sunny day in Rokkenjima was the backdrop as Serenity perched on her desk at Commonwealth House - her property in Rokkenjima, she was looking at the large screen on the wall of the study, it wasn't the USS Enterprise by any means but the screen was pretty decent in size, on it she could see the Round Table room in the Marble Palace and had video feeds to other advisors and heads of agencies as required. "Hit me with it what do we think?" Serenity asked
"I agree with Rion's assessment." Sally Barkley, the head of Achkaerinese Intelligence, said "This reads like a variation on the Ofdensen plot, but probably far more refined. If so then whatever Charles knew we have to assume these conspirators know and of course they will stuff that Charles didn't. I don't however think the destination is the same."
"Neither did I." Rion said
"Why?" Richard Chambers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, asked
"Because Charles's plot a year ago was to take a wrecking ball through the Anselmo's and create a Constitutional crisis. If Alex Rowe and Lucius Stanley are involved then we're talking about people who know very well that the Rokkenjiman public is loyal to the Crown these days, they know there's no appetite to remove that. Charles wanted a Presidency I think Stanley and Rowe know that a lame duck monarch is better." Rion said
"The journey is the same, take the Anselmo's out of the line of succession, but this isn't to create a crisis it's to clear a path." Sally said
"For?" Serenity asked
"I don't know yet." Rion said "But I will."
"How serious of a threat is this?" Mark Sharpe, the national security advisor, asked
"Rowe and Stanley can't move uninhibited, which is why Groves is involved," Rion said "He's there to clear the path. Stanley's there to be the voice in the ear and Rowe's the military man, it's a shadow government play."
"Rowe's an experienced soldier." Peter, Serenity's father, said "If anyone knows how to spot PTSD it's him."
"Which may be the play." Rion said "Groves clears the path and meanwhile Rowe keeps an eye on Asuna, pile on the stress and eventually she'll crack, she takes herself out."
"What's the endgame?" Peter asked
"I don't know yet but I'll find out." Rion said "Meanwhile I'm going to start operations to try and start getting to the bottom of this."
"What do we think their timescale is?" Serenity asked
"Your Majesty." Major Kirby of the MDI said "Based on everything said this reads like a long game, there's no value in moving quickly because everything changes in a week and we all know what happens if the Rokkenjiman Empress isn't in post tomorrow."
"Taking Asuna off the board now so soon after Kyoko would be very suspicious." Rion said "And very much a needless risk considering the PTSD, if you're Rowe you let her destroy herself and if she doesn't you take her out when it's safe."
"They don't have a quick run to the line so they're going to make it a marathon."  Serenity said "Ok then. Nettie tell me about this Sophia business."

"Considering what the implications are and how Mundus usually reacts to what Asuna is attempting to set up, Sophia's going to need something to base this whole thing on." Nettie said "It won't go down well in the Diet. I think the best bet is for someone to go looking in the archives of the Diet, somewhere in there there will be an Act that recognises the independence of Josai, it'll be from the Federal Republic days, so find it and then look at how Josai came back under Rokkenjiman control. If that's suspect and considering who Beatrice's advisors were at the time it's quite possible it is then Sophia has her smoking gun and you have the means to step into the staring contest."
"What exactly are we talking about in that regard?" Adam Sheppard, the Minister of Defence, asked
"If Sophia declares Josai independent then there's going to be pressure in Rokkenjima for Asuna to retake it." Serenity said "So if that declaration comes then we're going to get diplomacy going right out of the gate, we're going to guarantee the security of Josai think of it like what Rokkenjima used to do with the JPS."
"Counting on the fact that Rokkenjima isn't going to want to risk a fight." Peter said nodding "Rowe may just go looking for one then."
"If he does he exposes himself." Serenity said "We'll make sure Rokkenjima has reasons to think twice, giving Asuna enough to not order military action and hopefully this goes off without a shot being fired. And then when the dust settles Asuna and Sophia agree a treaty that establishes the relationship between the two."

"Rion how do you intend to start chipping away at this?" Peter asked
"I'm going to start trying to get under Rowe and Stanley's skin, there's a storage lock up that Rowe's got a unit in though we don't know which unit, so we're going to do a little B&E on that." Rion said "Stanley's apparently been meeting with a woman called Rika Miyano, not sure whether it's business or pleasure but that's irrelevant. We're going to do a deep dive on her and see how they run when the heat is turned up. The INIS mole isn't an issue because none of what we're doing runs through the INIS office, this is going to be a blindside. We start chipping at them and see what they do."
"Do it." Serenity said "Same time tomorrow."

The meeting over Serenity looked at Rion, who'd been in the study the whole time, "If Alex Rowe and Lucius Stanley were involved in Charles's plot then is it possible they were involved years ago?" Serenity asked
"Yes." Rion said "And I'd like to start assuming that to be the case."
"So if we want to confirm this we're not going to find anything electronically?" Serenity asked
"It'd be suspicious if we did, all of Charles's communications, ICON, phone records, emails they were all evidence weren't they?" Rion said
"They were." Serenity said
"I do need to ask this." Rion said "If Rowe or Stanley start to pose too much of a danger..."
"I know and I'll tell you when we get there if we get there." Serenity said "What do you think the endgame is?"
"I think they want a puppet, isolate Asuna and maybe you manage that but she's not isolated, Thomas, Evanthe, Emerson, McKenna, Gemma..." Rion said "They need someone else."
"Find out if you're right." Serenity said

[Beatrice]

Content warning – this post discusses suicidal feelings.

It was late, far too late for many to be walking the grounds of Pyrena Castle, a fact which Asuna had counted upon. It was easy enough for her to walk away from the grounds of the Imperial Palace and, with Lucinda's unwitting assistance, even easier for her to get inside of Pyrena Castle. She recalled memories as she walked through the halls, smiled at the spot her and Lucius had shared a tender and treasured moment many years ago by this point in time, she elected to linger there for a moment to take it in before proceeding. The steps up the tower, the highest of the Castle, were numerous but she found some joy in travelling them. In a way, they represented both the start, and end, of a journey. An open window, the cold winds which were natural owing to Pyrena sitting atop a hill, hit her face and almost assaulted it with each push they offered but, to her, they were inviting, even as the courtyard sat quite a ways beneath her.

She took in a breath, held it, and let out a long, hard sigh. Another moment like this would not present itself, she told herself, if anything was to be done to bring an end to this insurmountable challenge it had to be here, now, and in this moment. She looked back to the room behind her, in her younger days she'd have toys and story books strewn across the floor, and to be honest she found it fitting for the purpose of the evening. Gently she raised her legs from the floor and sat upon the window sill, her legs dangling precariously above that very court yard. If nothing else the stone below would still do its job, even with the bit of snow that had fallen the night before, and then the pain would cease, the nightmares, the faces of those who suffered she could not scrub from her mind. She'd left notes for all the important people in her life, including an apology to Gemma assuring her that she couldn't protect her from the demons within and that she appreciated all she had done and yet, just as her body lunged forth from the ledge she felt a strong force pull her back from the window, landing on her back upon the floor behind her.

"You, why?" she said as she raised herself and began punching their chest, "you were supposed to be asleep, and how dare you deny me?" "Deny you what," they sighed, "This," they continued as they pointed to the window, "is not the answer, it solves nothing, it leaves a concert of broken hearts and given your position quite possibly a broken world behind. I know your heart," they said as they pointed to the centre of her chest, "I know both the joys and pains contained in there, I also know the strength in there too. Please," they said as they offered their hand, "we'll say you missed your mum, you came to see her and she was asleep so you decided to take in some memories while you were here, where you grew up. No one has to know except for me, just the next time you feel you have no other choice but this?" they paused as they brought her in and held her close, "I don't care the hour or the circumstances; I could be on my death bed and I would get up to make sure you don't seek a solution that solves nothing, not for you or anyone else. It's going to be a long and hard road but we'll face it together. You took on a name that translates as "starlight" please," the hug grew tighter, "don't let that light die, alright?"

"Oh, you," she said as she fought back tears and gripped back yet tighter, "I'm so sorry, it's just so hard to see an out here, even harder to see how to turn all of this around, it seemed just, if I wasn't here maybe there wouldn't be so many problems. And here you are, saving me not from an uneven floor, but something more dangerous. Did you follow me here?" she asked, to which he silently nodded. "I can't even be angry," she sighed, "I really need to talk to someone, professional even, I can't keep doing this on my own or trying to. Can you forgive me for being so..."

He held his finger to her lips and made a "shhh" sound, "Don't finish that sentence, and as you wish," he said as he pulled her back in and cradled her head against his shoulder. "When you're ready to go back to the Palace I'll see it done discreetly." After seeing that she had calmed he sent word to Gemma, making sure she would make it clear he had no involvement in her discovery of the events of the evening while adding "We keep this between us, if there are those counting on her falling apart they can't have any indication of it, just help her please."

[Achkaerin]

Ashinaxo

The pitter patter of rain on the windscreen of the van was the soundtrack as Robyn Mears and Joe Ochre sat in the front of the vehicle looking at the storage facility, if intel was right then something important to Rowe was in there, they had no idea what it was and honestly they didn't really care at the moment no that would come later. The facility itself was home to multiple storage units, each presumably rented by different people. As jobs went this was towards the easier end of the difficulty scale break into the facility, create a mess, get out and then wait to see who turned up in the morning. "Ok then." Robyn said "Joe you do the door, I'll take the security, Ash you back me up and then you've got the computer, Anthony you help Joe break into the units and mess the place up."
"Balaclava's, gloves and all that on." Joe said.
"How long does the sedative last?" Anthony asked
"A few hours." Robyn said "More than enough to get this done." she took a breath "Let's do it."

The group of four made their way up to the door of the building, gloves on and faces covered, it was easy for Joe to take the small ram, the type usually issued to law enforcement, and put the door in then it was all go. Robyn and the final member of the team Ashley had the one security guard at gunpoint and then with a cloth over his mouth he was out. Ashley was into the computer shortly thereafter using the guards access card "We're on the clock." she said
"Get a copy of the list and then wipe the security." Robyn said as the sound of ransacking courtesy of Joe and Anthony could be heard, secured containers were being opened, their contents turned out onto the floor.
"Unit sixteen." Ashley said
"On it." Joe said opening that unit up and beginning to turn it over
"Five minutes." Robyn said "What have you got?"
"A laptop, a tablet, military medals, some what I guess are family heirlooms." Joe said
"Good work." Robyn said "Time to go."

Getting out was easier than getting in, straight out of the door they'd come in through and then to the van, which they'd drive out into the countryside and well away from the scene of their would be crime, the van's false plates would be removed and the colour changed once they were away from prying eyes. In theory that was the fire lit now they just needed to wait and see who turned up to check their belongings in the morning.

Commonwealth House

"Asuna did what?!" Serenity asked over the phone, she was sat in bed having been disturbed in the night by the phone call from Kayleigh, next to her Euphy was looking just as concerned as she could hear everything Kayleigh was saying
"She got onto Pyrena's grounds, as did Thomas, and then according to what Gemma's been told nearly threw herself out of the window." Kayleigh said "Hazel's got them now and Gemma's on her way to pick them up, thank heaven's she tripped the motion sensors in the tunnels." she took a breath "Thomas asked Gemma for help, but I can't advertise this domestically anymore than I can ignore that Asuna's got one hell of a mental health issue right now. Keeping her in place is one thing but she's got to be capable and right now she's not, any help has to come from outside."

Serenity looked at Euphy, 'help her' Euphy mouthed at Serenity who nodded "Kayleigh, clear Asuna's diary." Serenity said "It's winter she can go on holiday officially speaking right?"
"Well yes but if something happens..." Kayleigh said
"If something happens Rokkenjima needs an Empress who knows what she's doing." Serenity said "Clear her diary, have Gemma bring her down here I'll make the arrangements for professional help... If Thomas wants to come along that's fine as well."
"I'll tell Emerson and Evanthe then." Kayleigh said "If anyone asks the Empress is spending time with family."
"Don't tell Beatrice under any circumstances." Serenity said
"I won't." Kayleigh said

When the morning came around at Commonwealth House it was a somewhat different one to the norm. When Gemma parked the car up around the front and proceeded to help Asuna out of it Serenity opened the front door of the house and showed Asuna inside "I've made some arrangements but this is my house so my rules." Serenity said taking Asuna down the hall to one of the spare bedrooms that she and Euphy had spent the early morning getting ready, it was very spartan, a simple bed, a table, a washing basket and an en suite bathroom. The whole point had been to make sure there was no prospect of Asuna being able to harm herself in there. As much as Serenity didn't want to be harsh she did know she needed to be firm, Asuna making errors based on political or diplomatic inexperience was one thing but this was something else entirely.

Waiting in the readied room for Asuna was Michelle Frost, Rion had brought Michelle down to Rokkenjima for other reasons but this now took precedence, she was a qualified psychologist. "Asuna this is Michelle she's a psychologist." Serenity said "She's going to help you."

Michelle waited patiently "Please give your aunt your phone, tablet and any other electronic devices." Michelle said "And then you should wash and change." she indicated the white hospital scrubs that were folded on the bed "This isn't a prison but we are taking precautions for everyone's safety including yours. I'll explain the rest after you've washed. Ok?"

[Beatrice]

Joining investigators in response to the fire in Ashinxao would be investigators from the 5th Directorate General, a subdivision within Imperial High Command. While on paper it was known to offer assistance to localities in the region in investigating certain matters, it largely operated as the intelligence arm of the Grand Marshall; a fact which would be familiar to few outside of Imperial High Command beyond Kado, Lucinda, and those they'd chosen to share their knowledge on the 5th Directorate General with. While the fire had certainly caught his attention, Kado took little action on his part, he was certain he would hear about it either from operatives from Achkaerin or the INIS.
Asuna took in the full joy of a shower, perhaps the longest she had ever taken in her life, taking in the full warmth of the water as it hit her skin, taking extra time to massage shampoo through her hair as she washed it, before rinsing, drying and dressing herself. Sat again before Frost she sighed, "I'm not sure how I should begin. Do I begin as so many stories often do; I was born, I grew up, or do we begin at the moment I saw the bodies, the ultimate perversions of what humanity is capable of; the moment where a part of me died perhaps? I was prepared," she paused, "I was determined, even,  that if they didn't stop I would unleash a hell unknown to any upon Mundus upon those who did that and I'd see that their capacity to hurt further lives was cut short by wholly obliterating them. I considered obliterating countless people to save countless people and I have to wonder, am I any better than them in that regard? How many lives do you have to prevent an end to, by killing others, before you become a monster yourself?" she paused as she let the question linger. "Dozens, hundreds, thousands, maybe? They're lucky in that aspect," she again paused, "that the Daitōjinese were leading the charge, not me, because what I had in mind for them was much, much worse. So much so that I question whether I am still worthy of the graces of Islyna in the afterlife, I mean, respect your adversaries? Where does that line end? Where does the line move from "respect" to "removing a ready threat to human decency" I have to ask? Upon which line do we, you and I, as good spirited people, become evil in excising evil from our world?"

"Thomas made me remember something though," she continued, "I chose my reginal name for a reason, to be light to those without light, and to snuff that out would be against all I believe in. At the same time, I can't hold my hand while people are committing such evils, I can't hold myself back and it was only advice from those with more experience than myself that stood between those dickheads and 300+ Rokkenjiman missiles. And even in that, I'm talking about hundreds of deaths as if it's nothing," she took a moment, "and I, myself, am alright with that, they deserve no compassion from my heart, and at the same time that isn't who I am. There is so much to reconcile here, and I don't even know where to begin. What's the prognosis in that?"
Meanwhile, at the Imperial Palace, Evanthe made a decision. "We keep this quiet, anyone speaking to the press on the status of the Empress will be treated as conspirators to treason," she sighed. "I will stand in for the Empress in these times, as someone with the experience in the position, the least I can do is give her the cover she needs to navigate this part of her course, I know our contacts and I know our weaknesses, thus I am best positioned to navigate these troubled waters. Everything runs by me, but we ensure that the Empress may defer once she is back on the Throne. She entrusted me with her appointment and I will see that her vision is protected, guarded and executed even in her absence. It's the least I owe to her, after all."

[Achkaerin]

Emerson looked at Evanthe and sighed "If anyone asks and they will at some point because the longer this goes the harder covering it gets." he said "We say Asuna is visiting family in the run up to her wedding, we'll get Kayleigh to work with Nick Craig and create a narrative that adds up if anyone asks for details. The Imperial Council isn't due to meet for the foreseeable future for a variety of reasons so that keeps certain people at distance. Everything that comes in comes across my desk I'm the Viceregent, with Asuna on 'holiday' that attracts the least attention because it's routine. Anything comes up we deal with it as it happens, we don't tell anyone we don't trust. Decision making goes through you but all mechanisms must appear to be consistent with the norm and let's not get create the Constitutional mess that certain people would like to see."

Michelle took a breath, looking at Asuna clad in those white hospital scrubs, "It sounds like your grappling with things that every world leader does." she said "Now before we go further I need to explain a few things." she took a breath "In these sessions you do benefit from doctor patient confidentiality however that has it's limits you can tell me whatever you like but not everything is privileged, that's the standard disclaimer so to speak. Considering last nights antics I am going to be electronically tagging you as a precautionary measure. You aren't a prisoner but it's important to know where you are while you're here and we'll save Gemma a load of stress. I don't want to have to lock that door but I will if you think I should or give me reason to. Put your leg up please." she waited for Asuna to raise her leg before putting the electronic tag around her ankle  "For a place to start, tell me what prompted last night."

[Beatrice]

"We'll do what we have to do" she said with a sigh, "I have faith in her though," she smiled, "Anselmo women aren't typical."
"I didn't care what came next," Asuna would respond, "I care what comes next now. I was pressured by the Imperial Rokkenjiman Military to say things I'd never want to say, I wanted to tell them to fuck off if we're to be speaking on an honest basis, but I couldn't in that moment in time so I faltered, I took the blame on myself and I thought it was my fault but it isn't, truly. This is my show, I am who the People trust and I won't let them down, I admit I had a moment of weakness but now," she paused as she looked out to the window, "now my only desire is seeing that they fail, and I am in a position to laugh as they fall down the slope of disgrace, to meet them at the bottom with a grin. The difference is," she paused, "that night I thought I had nothing to live for but today, I have everything to live for. I can only hope we can wrap this up soon," she paused, "I have my sights set on people who are truly horrible, they wanted to win here but I'm here to stand and say "no, you thought," and deliver failure to them personally. I promise you," she said motioning to Michelle, "my desire to take these assholes down is much, much, greater than seeing my demise. And I have to know normal people don't do what I saw, I have to believe that people are greater than that level of utmost barbarity, and I'll have that faith and carry it forward. At the same time, I won't ever allow anyone to experience what they did, I'll do all I can as Empress to destroy their ability if I even suspect them of devising such a path."

Asuna would pause, "I had a moment, I accept you can help me but I am needed there," she said, pointing in the direction of the Imperial Palace. "I appreciate you, Serenity, everyone but I have a job to do. As I don't see my life ending before Thomas and I have seen our great-grandchildren enjoying their Christmas gifts I think any indications I might end my life before then have been excluded from consideration. I have bad people to fight," she sighed, "I'll let you do your job here. Please," she asked in an almost pleading manner, "don't keep me from protecting my people for long, they need my fire right now."

[Achkaerin]

Michelle took a deep breath, Asuna was mentally speaking all over the place that wasn't surprising considering the events of the last twenty four hours it also didn't surprise her that Asuna had gone from grappling to deflecting to attempted bargaining, it was textbook. "You're not the first person I've said this to and I doubt you'll be the last." Michelle said "The first step is always admitting there's a problem. As an initial and probably provisional assessment just off the few minutes we've been talking I'd say you have a couple of problems, you clearly have a stress issue but I think there's more to it, those moral quandaries aren't born of stress they're born from something else." she smiled "Stress is a natural trigger, not just for you but for everyone on Mundus and everyone has a different threshold for when they snap. Consider your grandfathers relapsing-remitting MS, he has to avoid high stress situations or he risks an MS episode. The question isn't what creates the stressful situation, it's what controls the stress to begin with."  she took another breath "That's the journey here, we figure out what's got a hold of you, we confront it and then we overcome it.  You're no good to anyone if you can't control your own demons and fears." she glanced at the window it was a nice bright day now "How about we sort you out some lunch and then we'll continue this out in the garden?"


It was Rion's turn to play the role of 'chair occupier' she was waiting for Kado when he got back to his office "Interesting isn't it?" she said after he walked in "That someone would use a crime to cover up a different persons crime." she saw Kado's eyebrows raise behind his glasses and almost giggled at what that did for his facial expression "We shook the tree, we didn't burn it down." she put a photograph and a copy of the facilities client list on the desk before finally yielding the chair "We found a laptop, tablet, medals and assorted other things in Rowe's unit. We cloned the laptop hard drive and tablet. Now you tell me given that nothing is actually physically missing why would anyone set a fire? Did someone panic or did someone carry out a contingency plan? Have we inadvertently found something that is that much of a threat? If we have then we may have the means to ground Seagull."

[Beatrice]

Asuna would nod, "that seems like a good idea." She would think of the words shared with her, "If it were a few years earlier I'd have one of the boxes with me now, either mum or dad would make them, mum's were always better though, surrounded by friends for lunch, taking in the current gossip; life was easier then. I'm sure whatever is in store will be good though."
Kado grinned, "There's always been a bit of rivalry between the IRN and the IRGF (Imperial Rokkenjiman Ground Forces) and it seems someone has forgotten their IRN lineage. We would hold friendly competitions between the two services, IRN would apply a methodical approach to the situation whilst IRGF would find whatever manner they could to destroy the problem. Different philosophies," he paused, "but also the root as to why IRN won those friendly competitions for so many years, to the point where IRGF simply stopped showing up. Someone's saw a problem and they've attempted to destroy it, inadvertently showing more they sought to reveal in the process. If my intuition is correct, in the coming hours we should see some interesting activity from Imperial High Command. I suggest we all stay tuned as to what that might be."
Alex chuckled for a moment as his car moved beyond the gate to the Imperial Palace. "It's no Pyrena," he said to the driver, "I bet the place doesn't even have a functional TARDIS in the basement. But," he paused, pointing to some of the trees and gardens on his way to the main building, "my daughter has an impeccable sense of taste. It's been so long, well, since I've properly been there for here, all the difficulties of the trial and such, but I had to take that step, brave the difficulties of coming back, and reuniting with Beatrice to restore our family after all we've been through, the moment was right." When they were welcomed into the Imperial Palace it was not Asuna who awaited them but Evanthe and Emerson. "Welcome back to Rokkenjima, 'lex," she said, using the nickname she knew crawled under his skin. "Thanks, 'vanthe," he returned, not skipping a beat, "Sad to see you all ditched Pyrena, but proud of my daughter for making her own mark on things. Where is she, by the way? I know I haven't lived up to my promise to be there always, but I'm here now; while I'll officially be residing at Pyrena I'll be spending more of my time here. Eva..." he paused, "please drop with the silence," he continued, registering that something was amiss.

With tears forming in the corners of her eyes Evanthe looked to her side, "Emerson, I can't," she said with a gasp. "Alex, forgive me," she continued as she walked into a side room and wept as silently as she could. Many things weighed upon her heart and her mind, foremost her failure to properly ensure Asuna's ascension would be seamless and easy for her. "No, don't you dare," she said as she looked to a mirror above the fireplace, "You got yourself a second chance, you do what you need to make the most of it. Failure," she said as she turned away briefly, before looking upon her reflection again, "is not an option here. I got this." She hoped Emerson would forgive her emotions failing her and that he would use his best judgement moving forward. Alex wasn't a concern in funneling information anywhere, she wagered; if he had to keep things from Beatrice, as he did during the Andean affair, she was confident he would do so now. She did her best to compose herself and rejoined them.

"I'll leave it to your discretion, but I feel that involving Alex in this process would be of great benefit to the Empress. If you disagree I trust you'll let me know, but I'm asking that you'll trust my instincts here." A confused Alex locked eyes with Evanthe, then Emerson. "Just what in the hell is going on here? Is my daughter alright?" He left his eyes trained on Emerson awaiting a response.

[Achkaerin]

The problem Emerson had was that it was somewhat suspicious that Alex didn't know there was something going on after all one, very much ill advised, press release in the previous seventy two hours had called all of Mundus's attention to the fact that not all was well at the heart of Rokkenjima. That said the odds of Alex being in any way involved in whatever they were up against was slim wasn't it? Well logically at least. "She's safe." Emerson said "But you know there are things that government officials can't say and this is one of those times. It's also the case that neither myself or Evanthe have the full picture, to get that I suggest you talk to Charlotte's favourite 'aunty' she can probably tell you what we can't and if she can't then she certainly has the means to point you to who can."

Rion raised an eyebrow at Kado "I'll let you know what we get off the laptop. The last thing I expect the IHC to do is anything to attract attention especially now that they've been alerted and we've been put on the defensive." she said "Getting the upper hand back isn't so easy when you lose the stealth advantage. We'll watch and wait and with a bit of luck we'll get something to go off. The stakes just got raised and we're going to have to call or raise soon. But best not to do that without all the cards and players. However it's not like we're completely out of options, how do you feel about ruses?"

The reason Rion was good at her job was that she had a true understanding of the maxim 'see the whole board' she'd known that to remove Kyoko from the line of succession in Rokkenjima was a bold move, a risky one and yet clearly one that had a reason it did do many things - it was a step towards isolating the Empress, it removed an experienced figure from the equation. But the question that hung over it was why? What leverage did these conspirators have over Kyoko to force her to take such a step? Well this was where Mei came in, fresh off the heels of the annual Ambassadors forum in Valtheim, she was the newly appointed ambassador to Rokkenjima - a move that had been expected based on her having grown up as Kyoko's sister. Now though Mei found herself walking into what was politely put 'Kyoko's house' - Rishiri. As an ambassador the cloak and dagger shenanigans of Achkaerinese intelligence were not matters she usually found herself involved in, however her relationship with Kyoko was thought a suitable enough cover to ask the question and while people in the intelligence community may have been pulling their metaphorical hair out over the press release it did help, even if it helped far less than it hindered.

Knocking on the door she waited to be shown in, when she was she smiled "You don't call, you don't write, what did you go off into space and not tell anyone or hibernate or something?" Mei said cracking the joke before sighing as they sat down "Ok serious question and then we can do whatever. What does Groves have on you that forced you out?"

"And who do you think taught your mother how to make those lunches?" Serenity's voice carried into the room from the kitchen, Michelle had opened the door just before Asuna had spoken so the sound had carried "In case you're wondering that would be your grandfather."
"That'll mean she's making lunch then." Michelle said heading out of the room and straight down to the kitchen, a few moments later Gemma walked in carrying a tray laid with food and drink, putting it on the table she closed the door and sat down to eat with Asuna. In the kitchen Michelle was splashing some water on her face, trying to think about everything she'd heard.
"That bad?" Serenity asked
"Somewhat." Michelle said "I think I know what the problem is but the root cause is a whole other ball game."
"Think you can help?" Serenity asked
"Yeah." Michelle said quietly as Gemma came back with an empty tray "Just got to figure out who I'm talking to, a girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders worrying about moral quandaries or this almost frightening persona spoiling for a fight."
"That's her Freya mask." Gemma whispered prompting an eyeroll from both Serenity and Michelle. "The moral quandaries girl is Asuna, the rest is her rather poor poker face."

After lunch it was time for a stroll in the garden, it wasn't a huge patch of greenery like in various palace grounds but it was decent, there was a small bit of decking, stone steps down to a swimming pool, a well kept amount of grass where Serenity's daughters were kicking a soccer ball around and then a very small orchard which was self contained within the grounds and from where you could look out at the lake and the small island, the latter was also part of the property. It was the orchard where Michelle and Asuna found themselves.
"We normally don't show this." Michelle said taking what looked like a leather wallet out of her pocket and opening it inside Asuna could see Michelle's ID but also behind where the badge was there was a picture "It's called a heaven and hell picture, they're used to show the contrast between good and evil, light and dark etc." she took a breath "They mean different things to different people, to some they can be about redemption, to others the consequences of sin. But to the Justicar, and we all have one, they remind us of why we're called the Angels and Demons of Achkaerin, most of the time we're the angels we're the protectors, the shield but we also know there are times we need to step into the shadows time's we must do that which we cannot speak of and what we will likely never be forgiven for. We don't go eagerly into the dark, but we go willingly because we know it must be done, you wondered earlier about when we become evil, if you want to be arbitrary about it there are people right now on your side who have done that which would be considered evil, the key difference between them and you is their preparation, their training and that's true in the most basic of tasks you find yourself dealing with all those moral quandaries are largely created by the pressure and stress you feel because you've never been there you've not been prepared for it."

Taking a moment to look out at the lake Michelle smiled a little "I'll tell you a story from history to see if it makes more sense, the Achkaerinese civil war in the late 1600's early 1700's is known for a great many things most famously it's remembered for how it ended, sword on sword single combat between Djana Azurewind the future Empress and Caleb Elsif, eldest son of the traitor house but also consider this Caleb was the father of Djana's son, he was the man she loved, inside the great arena in Valtheim she cut him down and ended the war, she robbed her own son of a father and herself of a likely husband but that death saved thousands that would have died in pitched battle. Now the thing that sometimes gets forgotten is that Djana is the one who threw the gauntlet at the feet of Caleb's father and that he refused to pick it up so Caleb did. You see the catch twenty two? It's what's called the bad call situation, or to use the popular culture reference it's the Kobayashi Maru, there was no victory for Djana but she made her choice. I appreciate you're not in school anymore but a little homework for you, think about what that means." taking a breath she thought for a moment, which also gave Asuna the opportunity to absorb what she'd said

Putting her warrant card away Michelle looked at Asuna "There's a bit of folklore in Achkaerin, it goes like this 'The Empire will not fall while the brave raven watches over the Fox.' it's about the ravens that live in the Temple of the Brave but the funny thing about folklore is that it can take on new meaning as Justicars we all have callsigns mine's 'Shuffle' and my boss's is 'Raven' can you probably guess why she chose it." she said putting her hands on Asuna's shoulders and pivoting the Empress so she was looking at where Gemma was doing juggling tricks with a soccer ball, much to the amusement of Astrid and Lisa, "Gemma's is Karasu I think you know what that translates to, wonder why she chose that? What if we change the story? 'The Empire will not fall while the brave raven flies in the starry sky.'  The old saying is a problem shared is a problem halved, Gemma's not just charged with your physical safety, she's charged with the protection of your immortal soul that's your mental and spiritual sides, that's what your Grand Maester says, she's your companion soul so perhaps it's time you let her in and stop treating her with contempt."

Michelle still had her hands on Asuna's shoulders as he nodded to Serenity who walked over "Now as for your moral quandaries, you spoke about obliterating a lot of people because they'd done harm but..."
"Much like your mother you couldn't see the whole board." Serenity said "I can't tell you no one would have died if you'd fired those missiles but I can tell you the death count wouldn't have been anywhere near what you're imagining, because I know that the moment those missiles were seen they'd have been intercepted why do you think I had a Specula class and the Northwind there? Could it be because I knew my niece was a first time commander in chief with no prior experience of anything like it?" she glanced at Michelle "No win scenario's?"
"We've talked about them." Michelle said
"Good." Serenity said giggling slightly before handing Asuna what looked like a diary "My great grandfather's diary from the late great war years of his reign... in short more homework." she sighed "I'm the world's biggest critic of your mother but I had her back when push came to shove and I'll have yours the same, but don't expect me to pull punches I'll tell you straight up what I think whether it be good or bad. "

"Now normally I'd say homework time and there's a lovely table over there in the fresh air for it." Michelle said she gently pushed Asuna past Serenity toward Gemma "But first I think there's someone you need to talk to."

[Beatrice]

"Very well," Alex said as he produced his phone, "let's see where this leads then."
"Thank you, and I'm quite fond of ruses," Kado replied, "Hadley was quite fond of the art of the ruse after all, her tendencies therein are something I perhaps inherited from her. What is it you have in mind?"
Kyōko sighed, "Oh what an interesting story that is. I'm sure you remember the period of time I had to navigate voices within Rishiri that wished for a dramatic change to the status-quo between the Imperial Overseas Dependency and Rishiri, yes? One would not be entirely false if they believed I did not have some sympathies with those behind that cause, and the writings of a, to this date, "unidentified blogger" who put forward some ideas which would cause quite a stir between Rokkenjima, Seaforth and most likely East Moreland if they were found to be penned by an Anselmo are likely what he has in his arsenal. It was, quite simply, more prudent to preserve peace and tranquility over spending great time and energy in disproving him that led to my decision to comply. Plus, after my time in Pyrettania, I'm not entirely cut out for that scene and, with elections for the First Minister coming in the approaching months, I kind of miss my old office and thought a return there might be nice."
"Of course she did," Asuna said before pivoting from happy recollections to self reflection. "I imagine he'd be quite disappointed in me to date, and I'd argue I've given him few reasons not to be, well," she said as she ate, "I don't quite know where to go from there."

"So you're all like Lucinda?" she would ask, "I can understand that," she continued. "Rosari teachings say an Empress is born with two souls attached to her: her love and her companion. While I understand some cultures might combine the two the Rosari recognize that the love of the Empress might be unable or incapable of doing all that is required to keep her, and the Empire, safe; so she has her companion to do those things that her love is unable/incapable of doing and where certain actions would soil her own hands her companion may undertake them and be forgiven when her soul is weighed in the afterlife. There's things unforgivable on this plane that are forgivable solely by Ma'lia for that soul."

"I'll try," Asuna said, "Perhaps I expected it as it was for my mother, one of my best friends perhaps, someone there from an early age, I had ideas in mind as to who it would be so this is unexpected for me maybe?"

"It was never my intention to fire missiles, just to show the capacity was there," Asuna replied. "I felt that if they knew certain death was awaiting them if they continued to do such unspeakable things, they would stop, and shortly thereafter they surrendered; it's like if Thomas and I broke up and he refused to remove his belongings from the Imperial Palace. I threaten to burn them, adding a sense of urgency to the equation which prompts him to act accordingly; I would not, of course, burn his possessions but he doesn't know that, so I influenced his actions in this hypothetical without any actual harm to anyone, yes? I think the same applies to my surfacing of those submarines; I had the capacity, but would I have pulled the trigger, ultimately? I knew the answer, they nor anyone else did, thus it introduced a wild card to things."

"Although this is a welcome respite from homework," she said as she was nudged toward Gemma. "Hopefully I didn't disappoint you too much," she paused, "I guess in the moment I didn't quite know what to do and acted on impulses, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. Do you think you could forgive me?" she asked as she extended her hand toward her.

[Achkaerin]

The Achkaerinese embassy was where the cloned drive of data from Rowe's unit had been taken, it was here that Amy Taylor a poacher turned gamekeeper in the cyber world so to speak was in the process of attempting to decrypt what data they had. "Someone's not messing around." she said as she typed command after command "Multiple layers of encryption, some of this is more secure than others. I don't even know the file names."
"So we have no idea what's on here which means we have to take it as it comes?" Joe asked
"Pretty much." Amy said "And so far I've only got two things, take a look." she brought the first up on her computer screen.
"That looks like a medical consent form for a surgical procedure in January 2007." Robyn said "Look at the patient name."
"Beatrice Anselmo." Joe said "Must have been a routine thing, but why's it here?"
"I don't know yet." Amy said "This is like doing a jigsaw without knowing the final image or shape of the pieces."
"Where did she have it done?" Joe asked
"2007 it's probably the medical wing of Pyrena." Robyn said "Still needs the consent form for obvious reasons though."
"So what's the other thing?" Joe said
"This." Amy said bringing up what looked like a photograph of a young Evanthe "It's off a Gowu newspaper website, it's got the date 10th January 2001 on it."
"Well that's no mystery, that's the Constellation Ball date." Robyn said "But again why's that important?"
"There may be more pieces of the puzzle I can get at with time but I think we need to ask people questions." Amy said

At the Imperial Palace the task of asking those questions had fallen to Kayleigh, well via a phone call anyway, stepping out of the Palace while Alex was still on the phone she approached Evanthe first and handed her a copy of the photograph "This just got pulled off of something we think's associated with this whole mess." she said "I don't know what the heck it means but if you do then it's quite likely important." she left that with Evanthe before approaching Alex as he finished the phone call "Your Highness can I ask you about this?" she handed Alex a copy of the consent form "It's a medical consent form for surgery you signed as your wife's next of kin. Can you tell me who did it and what the procedure was?"

Rion half smiled "Your Empress's press release may have been strongly ill advised because it puts everyone involved in this conspiracy on notice and gives up the element of surprise but it does mean there is now an expectation of action. She didn't name names but she's made it clear what's going on, we don't have any evidence against Rowe, we don't have any evidence against Stanley and we've not really got anything on Groves, ignore Stanley and Rowe" she was writing down a list of names including Groves, Rika Miyano, Ito Tomatsu and Yuriko Faust as well as several other names of other people. "Arrest them on suspicion, bring them in for questioning whatever works for you. They're mostly high profile enough that it may put our conspirators at ease, they may think they've got cover." she tapped the paper "Once they're detained split them up, put them in different places, make sure you have the only list of who is where. If this Rika Mayano is two's company three's a crowd in terms of Stanley then he may enlist Seagull to find out where she is. If there's one thing to remember about criminal enterprises's it's that you should never let emotion cloud your judgement, she may be his weak point and that may be what we need to flush Seagull out. Meanwhile having Groves on the list as well as other Centre Party figures such as Faust makes it look like we're looking at this as a remnant of Ofdensen and not what it actually is. The ones you trust, can be informed and will hopefully play along, when all's said and done those not involved can be released without charge while those party to anything criminal can face justice and the whole thing just looks like the criminal justice process."

Gemma didn't take Asuna's hand, she grabbed her wrist and pulled the Rokkenjiman Empress into a hug "Shut up." Gemma whispered "Doesn't do me any good to hold grudges, my job is to know you and as my soul is bound to yours I believe that logically I know what you mean. Apology accepted." she gave Asuna a kiss on the forehead, just as she'd done almost a year earlier after rescuing her, looking at Serenity she smiled "Any objection if I take miss Starlight here and spend the night on that island?" she continued giving Asuna a slight tickle.
"You'll need to take food with you over there, plus the sleeping bags and stuff for a fire but yeah feel free." Serenity said "She does however do her homework first."
"Michelle?" Gemma asked
"I agree." Michelle said, it would undoubtedly help Asuna to have a little fun and it would give Michelle herself time to compile her thoughts so far before tackling the next steps with Asuna.

"Give me a couple of hours to get things together while you do your homework." Gemma said

[Beatrice]

"Beatrice has had some complications, so there were some procedures that had to be done to investigate and mitigate them," Alex sighed. "What does that have to do with things though?"
"Gowu, 2001," Evanthe said with a smile, "I have to wonder why these memories are being brought back to my attention. They were good days," she paused, "though I may be missing out on the relevance to the current set of circumstances. If nothing more, thank you for the fond memories you've provoked."
"I suspect," Kado said with a sigh, "you must understand, Lucinda and Asuna share an almost aunt-niece relationship, so it's likely she's talked with her and let slip things she wouldn't talking to someone such as you or I. I have nothing to prove that, so please don't punish her on the grounds of my words here, but I suspect Asuna wouldn't of made that release without information neither you or I would share with her and, given <0's allegiance to Lucinda, the dots aren't hard to connect. And before I'm berated, <0 operates with her own sanction from the Crown, she's beyond even my reach. I can work within the confines of INIS to achieve our goals, from there who knows what world we're giving birth to."
It was perhaps the quickest Asuna had studied and finished anything and here she was, presenting even her scrap notes with her finished work. "Here you go," she said with a smile, "how do I grade?"

[Achkaerin]

"I have no idea yet." Kayleigh said looking at Alex "But someone had it, so it's important, why? That's the unknown but we'll get there." she knew where she'd be going next in this regard if it was at Pyrena then a call to Hazel was in order.

It was actually hard to tell who was more caught off guard by the photograph - Evanthe or Emerson "You've got to be kidding me." Emerson whispered looking at the picture, "That's the constellation ball in 2001 right? That's that night... But is that really leverage? Talk about confusion."

Rion sighed "We can't have things outside of our control." she said "I'll deal with that, meanwhile you just focus on those arrests and set our trap. We get two pieces off the board and we get control of this situation back, and that is what we need if we're going to tackle Rowe at the end of this." she headed for the door "And for goodness sake let's keep in mind where this is likely to end up." walking out of the door Rion took out her phone she needed to make a call.

Michelle half smiled "I'll tell you tomorrow after I've read it." Michelle said as Gemma came over having spent the last couple of hours packing up the rowboat.

"Shall we?" Gemma asked putting an arm around Asuna and taking her down to the boat, once they were both in Gemma started to row the wooden craft across the lake toward the small island "Peaceful isn't it? A little bit noisier than the last place I went to for the calmness, but a fair bit warmer as well." she glanced over her shoulder to check their position "And let's hope we don't ruin your aunts rowboat."

The island itself was small but it was what Astrid and Lisa liked to call their hideout, there was a treehouse, a campfire and a few other things scattered around. "So sleeping bags up in the treehouse and I'll start the fire?" Gemma asked tossing the sleeping bags at Asuna "Hey you got to work if you want to eat kid."

[Beatrice]

"I trust you lot shall," Alex said.

"Confusion indeed," Evanthe would add. "Looking back though I knew so little of what would come after and, looking back, it's nice to reflect on that moment in time."
"Tranquil, apart from the waves from the bow of the boat, the water is unbroken," Asuna would reply, enjoying the opportunity for some time away from the issues of the world weighing down so pressingly upon her. Taking the sleeping bags up would prove little issue for her, though that might be in part due to her lugging weight around with the Morelanders. Perhaps earlier than expected she popped in from above, simply saying "done" before taking a seat to relax for a moment.
OOC: Associated post: Imperial Rokkenjiman Office of the Press

[Achkaerin]

Kayleigh looked from Evanthe to Emerson "Ok what don't I know?" she asked
"My office." Emerson said "Better to do this privately." he led the way back inside the Imperial Palace and once the trio were inside he looked at Kayleigh "That's a picture from the 2001 Constellation Ball in Gowu. In the days of the Federal Republic, the Constellation Ball became how the Anselmo's were introduced to wider society, like a debutante thing."
"Evanthe's being in 2001?" Kayleigh asked
"Yes." Emerson said "We... shall we say had intimate relations that night, the type with consequences."
"I assume based on you not having a daughter that you lost the child?" Kayleigh said, Evanthe nodded "A then sixteen year old having a fling is hardly leverage, but it's a piece of this."

On the island Gemma smiled as she finished lighting the campfire "Ok then." she said before tossing Asuna a wooden training sword "Michelle likely thinks you have a Freya obsession, there's a right way and a wrong way to channel her." she picked up her own wooden training sword "The wrong way is to ask 'what would Freya do?' when you're sat making command decisions, end of the day she's broadly speaking a frontline soldier, she's got experience and training that you don't - she's a soldier not a politician and you don't have the experience to see the domino's falling. The right way is to look at her work ethic. And you might even learn a little about to defend yourself."

[Beatrice]

"To think they'd be 22 by now," Evanthe said holding back a tear, "I mean my math might be a little rusty but imagine, what now, a 21-23 year old mini-me running around out there," she nudged Emerson almost as an attempt to break the tension of the moment, "the terror she or he would be causing. I bet they'd be remarkable though, I'd have dote upon them so much...I always envied what Beatrice had with Asuna, but it's not too late there. I'd be an amazing mom, at least I hope I would be," she sighed. "All that could have been, you know, it's hard when you think of it like that.
Asuna almost froze, "but, I haven't been trained here yet. Sure mum had a katana she knew how to wield but I wasn't old enough to learn from her. I...I don't know what do do with this," she said unknowing of what would come next.

[Achkaerin]

"Your mother learned from your grandfather." Gemma said smiling "You're going to learn from me." she walked up next to Asuna "The katana is one of the most lethal blades on Mundus, it's light, flexible, a little short compared to other swords but also what we call a one and a half handed blade meaning it can be wielded with two hands but also handled with one. So do as I do." she held her wooden sword out in front of her "Dominant hand here, that allows either your arm or your wrist to control it. When you go with two hands your other hand goes lower down the handle, if you've ever handled a sledgehammer it's a little like that but this is lighter." she waited a moment "Now treat the blade as an extension of your arm and swing from one o'clock down to seven." she showed the swing and was copied by Asuna "Now do it again but step into it. Footwork makes it a whole lot easier, it adds more force it also moves the impact point of the opponent." she moved around behind Asuna "Again." she watched as Asuna continued to swing "Now vary the direction and see what it means for your footwork. You might learn something if you keep this up."