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The Plot To Destroy Rokkenjiman Democracy

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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.

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