Her Will Be Done

[Victor Steiner]

The feeling of unfamiliarity never ended in this place, so infrequently was he here that he never had time to adjust. Perhaps that was the point don't get too comfortable. He did as instructed and glided into the chair that awaited him, he was now center stage, behind the quiet calm and the patience of that whom he served lay another altogether more frightening element. Her time was not to be wasted.

Ma'm, as you are no doubt aware I gave my report to the Government last week on the situation currently facing Bretonia. While it was truthful in its assessments it did not contain everything. He struggled in his mind to determined whether or not he had lied by omission or if he had simply deemed the government as 'not needing to know'. It mattered little in the end, he wouldn't apologise for it. The missing details of the report concern not only the internal workings of the Government itself but also that of the Armed Forces and external diplomacy. He paused, catching his breath for a moment before he continued at a more controlled pace wanting to ensure that was he was saying was not opened for interpretation.

The problems are interconnected ma'm, a few months ago I attended a meeting with Fleet Admiral Sommerville where we discussed the problem of Auxesia with our allies the Crayterian Republic. A plan was devised that involved removing them from our borders, however it not only involved the deployment of Bretonian Forces away from the House but also utilizing those of the Craytarians. I have recently met with the members of the Crayterian Intelligence service who have conducted patrols of the Inverness system and what they reveal is somewhat alarming. Putting it simply our lads will be walking into an ambush the likes of which will make Vespucci look like a pillow fight. In addition, the Auxesian influence within the house and outside of it runs far deeper than expected, Rheinland and Kusari have both refused outright to even consider the possibility of investigating Auxesia. Furthermore, the recent treaties ongoing with Kusari present a greater problem, one in which we completely concede the Taus to the Empire, in practice if nothing else. Admiral Sommerville acknowledges the weakened position he finds himself in but has also requested the SIS move more agents and officers into the Dublin and Edinburgh systems to reinforce the dwindling defences. Ma'm, the Service doesn't have the men to do that, even if we did we cannot station them there permanently, they are intelligence officers, not fighters.

Again he was quiet, keeping calm as much as he could, the situation wasn't going to get much better from here. A letter was also recieved from the Minister of Defence regarding our operations within Kusari and the Tau regions. In short we have begun the process of withdrawing. We cannot maintain our positions there mainly due to possible political fallout. However, if Bretonia pulls it's forces back to Leeds and proceeds with an attack of any kind in Inverness and it fails the kingdom will be wide open to attack from the North. We predict they would penetrate as far as Cambridge before we would be able to stop them and without the Service operating within the Taus and our list of allies wearing thin, we would have no warning of such an attack. While the possibility of an attack weighed heavy on his mind for quite some time it was not his primary concern, not by a long shot. He had been confused by the lax attitude taken by not only the Government but the Armed Forces as well, surely they knew that the risk of an invasion was real? Surely they were not so complacent as to have forgotten to prepare. Yet he could find no evidence of preparation for the defence, only letters telling the Service to fundamentally back off. Ma'm I worry that this is....politically motivated. What if someone wanted this to happen, Kusari on our border with no means to stop them from entering would lead to political, economic and military dominance for years. We would be forced into the Omegas which would bring us into direct conflict with Rheinland. To me ma'm this looks more and more like a conspiracy. Although I must be honest, I have no evidence of such. Yet the signs present as one that isn't preparing for an economic boost but rather...submission. The Government refuses to allow us to act and the smallest possible overstep would lead to disaster within the region.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the worst part of the whole affair, a subject he despised and avoided unless it was absolutely critical. There are also developments within Newcastle, ma'm...we may have found a way to remove the city.