Walkover

by Lukina Kobe

"The right of the strong" is what the Britannian policy is based on. It has its origin in Darwin's theory of the evolution, the natural selection, but it is not entirely true. It is not the strong who will succeed, but the most versatile one who fits into the enviroment. Change your behaviour to fit in and live will be a walkover, that is what Schneizel had to learn quite early.

Walkover

Slowly, Schneizel el Britannia walked through the corridors of the military headquarter. A few years ago he found several entrances into this hidden place by accident. Now he used it as a shortcut whenever he took unauthorised trips around the city. Since all members of the royal family had access to every part of the capital, the twelve year old prince was able to enter these halls with his ID.

The blond boy smiled. Probably no one expected a child to find the hidden doors and therefore no precautions were taken.

The code on the first door was a bit of a hindrance but far away from being an insurmountable obstacle. It did not take the boy much effort to get the desired information from an elderly commander, being in such a high position in name only. Half an hour later Schneizel, ten years of age at the time, could be seen wandering around the metal corridors. Always taking care of going unnoticed, he tried to avoid large groups of soldiers. Should it be inevitable to meet some of them, he acted self-confident minimalizing thereby the risk of being uncovered. No one would ever dare to oppose a member of the royal family. The fact that he did not reach the shoulder of most of the soldiers would not even be noticed in most cases.

Today, too, the prince walked unnoticed through the base, being able to get to his next class in time despite of his secret little trip to the development unit for energy resources. He did not even have to hurry, because in addition to being shorter, the underground route was also less crowded. Only two hundred meters left and he would reach the elevator, bringing him next to the schools entrance.

"I got everything under control, Sir," Schneizel heard a voice coming out of the next room.

Schneizel could clearly hear every word, so the door must have been left open. Carefully the prince walked around it, trying not to disturb the man in whatever he was doing. But before he got out of the vicinity, the man's voice continued.

"Britannia will not conquer another country! Even if it would be my last doing, I will not let Venezuela fall into the hands of this tyrant. With my knowledge we got a chance to win. After all their mighty weapons will be of no use if you know their every movement."

Startled by what he was hearing, Schneizel stopped halfway through the corridor, even going as far as sneaking near the open door. For a short moment he forgot about his lesson, only listening to the… traitor in front of him. It was a lot more interesting and in Schneizel's opinion also more informative than studying the history of the empire. The latter he could read in books while being forced to take care of his younger siblings, while the situation in front of him at the moment was unique.

During the short monologue the prince had reached the gap, enabling him to look into the room. Although the light was dimmed, the face of the man was outlined in front of the glowing monitors, making it possible for the prince to get a first impression of the man. A long scar ran across the right side of his face, letting his grin look even nastier. His stoop and the slightly thinned hair were more than enough evidence for Schneizel that the soldier had already passed his sixties. While watching the man shouting into his telephone, the boy evaluated his possibilities.

If he followed the stupid believes of dedication towards your motherland, he should either run in there and overcome the traitor or at least call for help. While the first option would very likely end in his own death, the second would just uncover his secret trips through the military base. Both consequences were not really to his likings.

Although there was a small chance that he could use the moment of surprise to overcome his opponent, he would rather not gamble on his life just for a little acknowledgement. The weapon in his right pocket, given to him by his father a year ago, did not make such a big difference in the probabilities. He would be up against an adult – chances were not on his side against a trained soldier. There was nearly no way he as a child could ever win this. The second possibility was also not really an option, since he enjoyed these unnoticed walks through the underground system of corridors. If anyone would get to know about them, they would at least change the code or even deny his ID the access.

The only thing that would not end up in him getting killed or punished was walking away, pretending he never heard a single word. Some people might be indignant, if they ever learned about this. But Schneizel did not really get their point. Yes, by ignoring what he heard he may end up being responsible for the deaths of thousands of Britannian soldiers, in the worst case even the defeat of his homeland's army in one of the countless battles. But this was just how life went. People made choices that would eventually cause other people to die. There was no reason for being upset or regretting decisions. Every choice had a reason, in some cases maybe just insufficient creativity or self-interest. It was a reason nonetheless so why should you ever even think of reversing history? Schneizel just could not get the concept of regret.

Unfortunately the man ended his phone call earlier than expected. There was no time for the young prince to hide behind anything before the searching glance of the soldier noticed him. At first Schneizel thought he had been lucky, because the man turned to the monitor at the other side of the room. But unfortunately he had noticed the boy turning towards him as soon as he realised, what the glimpse he had seen out of the corner of his eye meant.
With that the prince's choices were reduced to only two possible ways of action. He could either run for his life or stay and act innocent. The first possibility would mean nearly certain death. Schneizel had no doubt, that the man would be faster and even the head start he would have would never be enough to reach the next corner. By running away he also would admit, that he overheard the conversation. There was no way the man would just let him go.

Playing dumb on the other hand was quite likely to be successful. On the one hand Schneizel had an amazing amount of knowledge on how to best make others belief you were not even half as smart as them. Quite early in his life he had to learn, that other people, especially of his age, were frightened by his calm, sometimes even cold attitude. Therefore he began imitating their behaviour to achieve the things he desired. Emotions like rage, love or sorrow were nothing the prince ever understood. Nonetheless after years of training he knew how to fake them and in most cases even when. There was no way the man would not fall for his act.

Looking up with his eyes wide open, faking trust and innocence, Schneizel slowly started to smile friendly. The man seemed to judge him, not making a move to fall for the act. The boy therefore went a step further, changing his expression into a shy but relieved one. Because the man still did not drop his tension, Schneizel had to use his last resort, addressing the man directly.

"Excuse me, Sir, I am searching for an exit. I somehow got in here not knowing where I would get and am now hopelessly lost. Could you please help me? I have to get to class and the teacher would be very displeased, if I missed the start."

The boy tried to mime a mixture of fright and bravery, as if the first would be covered up with false self-confidence. The plan seemed to work, because the man's poise relaxed a little. His nasty grin, which had turned into pure dismay when he saw the boy, now gave way for a friendly and encouraging smile.

"In that case you must have been walking around in here for quite some time, didn't you? And what a curious boy you have been. There is no such thing as accidently walking in here, you know. The entrances are very well hidden, as far as I know. Come on now, I will show you the way out. Just promise me to not tell anyone how you got in here. This is no place for little boys."

Schneizel still played the role of the slightly frightened but now thankful boy, starting to smile brightly as the man spoke of getting him out of the underground facility. He even started to talk, to make the innocent child seem as real as possible. The prince stepped a little bit away from the door, to let the soldier pass.

"Thank you so much, Sir. I really had no idea how to get out of here. If I hadn't heard you talking, I would still be wandering around in these scary corridors. I-"

Idiot.

The man had stopped in his movements and as the prince turned around, he noticed his mistake. How could he be so careless mentioning the conversation the man had? Now all would have been in vain. He really had to find a solution to get things right again. And he needed it fast.

"What did you hear?"

The man's voice was cold blooded. His eyes, too, spoke their own language. He would not hesitate to kill, if he thought his secret would be in danger. The fact, that Schneizel was a seemingly innocent and defenceless child would not hinder him. In the best case it might give the prince a few seconds.

The man had gone to the door during the conversation. Now he closed it loudly while dragging the helpless boy further into the room.

"What did you hear, brat?" He repeated his question vigorous.

To emphasise his power he drew out a weapon, pointing it at Schneizel's head. Although the situation was dire, Schneizel was far away from being frightened. He calmly analysed his options, searching for some sort of escape. Nonetheless he held the image of the upset boy upright, just failing in shivering from fear. The boy hoped the soldier would just take it as being frozen at the sight of the gun. With a thin voice, the boy started to talk without really thinking about it. No matter what he would say, the man would never believe him, much less let him go. Every thought he took for this pointless excuse, could be used much better to plan the next steps. These were essential for his survival and although he did not fear death, there was no way he would just give up. He had the same right to live as the soldier. Why should he just give that away? Thousands of possible actions showed up in Schneizel's mind, while he tried to keep the man occupied a little longer.

"I didn't hear anything! Just your voice. What do you want of me? I promise, I won't tell anybody I saw you. No one will ever know you were here! Trust me!"

The choice of words was far away from being good and Schneizel even forgot to stumble, but for the moment it would do. And indeed the grip on his hand loosened a little bit. The weapon, too, was taken quite a bit away from his head, but the fierce look on the man's face stayed. Therefore the danger was nowhere from being overcome.

"As if I would believe that silly excuse of yours! You must have heard at least something and even if that's not the case: Now, that you have seen me like this, there is no way I could let you go. The risk is far too great. You see, dead men tell no tales. So shooting you is the safest way for me. "

Slowly the man did a step backwards, still pointing the gun at Schneizel. But even with all the self-confidence the soldier's posture suggested, the prince did not miss the slightly higher voice. It seemed the man was not quite as sure of shooting an unarmed child, as he wanted to be. That was something the prince could start working with.

Schneizel relaxed a little to mime the brave boy again. Confidently he squared his shoulders but took care to not overact it. Although the man should know he would fight for his live, there was no point in reveal the calmness he really felt. It may be harder to shoot someone, who knew exactly what was going to happen and was willing to defend himself, but if he showed too much self-confidence, he would lose the advantage of the innocent boy. To increase the man's uncertainty Schneizel tried to increase his doubts.

"My parents will search for me, if I won't come home. That would raise even more suspicion than just letting me go. And as soon as someone found me, you would be arrested for sure. If you help me get out of here, there is still the chance, that I would keep my promise, not telling anyone about you. And if you think that no one except my parents would care for one dead child: My father is quite powerful. He could let hundreds of police officers search for you. You wouldn't be able to hide from him."

Of course the last statement was a little risky. The fact that his father had power could lead not only to the man's increasing uncertainty but also make him more impulsive. Nonetheless the chance that it would distract him, even if it was just for a moment, was worth the risk. Besides that, the soldier would need some time to evaluate his options. Time that would give Schneizel room for his own actions.

He immediately reached for his gun secured at his right hip. With that the first step was taken and he only needed one more moment of the man's unawareness to shoot first. At this distance there was no way he could miss. Even if the man would not be fatally wounded, the shock would give the boy enough time to aim his second shot properly killing the soldier with it.

Unfortunately the tactic did not work as well as it should have. The man was only distracted shortly, taking a firmer grip on his weapon directly afterwards. His look had turned just as cold as when he dragged Schneizel into the room leaving no doubt in his willingness to kill. Maybe he would hesitate a little but there was no way he would let go of the gun.

"I don't care what will happen in a few hours. I will lead the first successful blow against Britannia and save Venezuela from being subdued! Even if my life ends here, I will die as a martyr! And now die you insolent fool!"

The man's confident smile spoke volumes. It really didn't matter to him, what would happen after he had helped Venezuela. He wouldn't mind if he would be executed, arrested or run over by a car. In his opinion he would become a hero nonetheless. Schneizel now knew how it would end. Everything was over. He made a mistake at the cost of his live. No one could avert the coming.

The prince relaxed visibly. All the false emotions fell from him, freeing him from all the lies he always had to make up. No hide and seek anymore, no pretending of feelings he still couldn't comprehend, no lies. He calmly looked at the barrel of the gun still pointed at his head.

In his elation the man had left the boy far too long unobserved. Now Schneizel stood directly in front of him one hand at the loaded gun. With a blank expression he looked up at now frightened brown eyes of the soldier. He whipped the weapon out of the man's hand that had lost the grip due to his shock. Slowly he drew out his own, considerably smaller one from the hidden holster. Completely unaffected by the still present danger and especially of what was about to follow Schneizel addressed the man in front of him.

"As a soldier you should know better than losing your concentration during a fight even once. Every moment of abstraction can lead to death no matter how sure the victory might seem. Unlike you I will not hesitate to shoot. Raise your hands over your head and slowly take four steps backwards. One wrong movement and you will die, whereas I would think about speaking up for you in front of my father, his majesty Charles zi Britannia, if you follow my orders. The choice is yours."

Shivering the man obeyed prince's orders. Without losing sight of his prisoner Schneizel went to the side of the room where he expected the light switch. After a little fumbling he found it and dazzling light flared into the control centre.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Schneizel noticed a movement of the man. Due to the distance it was unnoticeable if it was only a reaction to the sudden brightness or an attempt to reach the weapon that still lay on the floor. A shot rung through the silence and the time seemed to stop. Startled the soldier looked down at the slowly increasing stain on his chest.

In privacy of his mind the prince thanked the man for closing the door. All rooms of the underground military base were soundproof. Therefore no one would notice the incident for some time. He could just walk out of the room going to his next lessons without thinking twice about the bleeding soldier on the floor. Maybe he would be a little late now but on his way he had enough time to come up with a reasonable excuse.

Indifferent, Schneizel walked up to the man that still clung to his life. Apparently he had not struck as well as it first seemed und just missed the heart. To be sure the man would not do something unexpected, he felt for some kind of weapon in the man's clothes but fortunately did not find anything. You could never know what a dying person was capable of, but the one in front of the boy even seemed to be unable to form clear thoughts. The words he vaguely tried to utter while blood was flowing out of his mouth were completely in disarray and in most cases not even recognizable. Unimpressed by the man's pain Schneizel walked past him looking at one of the monitors.

A red light had attracted the boy's attention. Shortly after his shot it went on and had stayed that way until now. Curiously he seated himself on the slightly too big chair standing in front of what looked like an operating console. The prince soon realised, that the now blinking light marked a call and put on the headset hanging on one of the armrests. After some consideration he took the call. The worst thing that could happen was that someone noticed he should not be in here. But since that would happen at least a few miles away, there was nearly no way it would affect him or his secret habits drastically.

"There you are, Sir Wickham," a voice immediately croaked through the headphones. "What did you take so long? We only have ten minutes left until the operation starts and you were hired to lower our losses as much as possible. Now live up to your name as one of the greatest tacticians! Otherwise there would have been no need for this risky conversation over hundreds of thousands of miles."

At first Schneizel was irritated by the harsh words. He never thought that high ranking military officers could be that disrespectful to each other. But after he heard of the still dying man next to him as the tactical leader of what seemed to be an important battle, he started smiling. Up until now Schneizel had only done simulations against some of the lower officers and won easily. Now he had the unique chance to test and demonstrate his abilities in a real encounter. If he would win this battle, not even his sister could chastise him about not being accustomed to the horrors of war. Of course there was no way anyone would believe what happened just moments ago. Although they might consider sir Wickham being a traitor, the officers would never consider a child of twelve years being able to kill a skilled soldier. Even if he was a prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and therefore having quite some authenticity despite his young age, the fact that he shot someone without thinking twice about it was far too unrealistic in the opinion of most people. Besides that, they would never transfer the command to him, if they knew his age. If he would be just a little older it would solve so many problems. Even his older sister, although far lower in the line of heritage, was more likely to be listened to, just because she had already reached seventeen, an age where tactical education was normal for the child of the emperor. So the way it was now, he would have to rely on a lie. A method he disliked due to its fragility. One wrong word and everything would be in vain.

To make this at least less likely, he searched for the name of the officer he was talking to finding it on the upper right side of the monitor. If he got lucky, no one would notice anything. Even if it did not go as planned, the chances of him being unmasked before the battle was over were quite low.

"Unfortunately Sir Wickham got held up. I, Guinevere de Britannia, first Princess of the empire, will be in charge, as ordered by my father. If you distrust my words, General Campbell, you may call him. But be aware that he has two important meetings today. Unfortunately I do not know when exactly they are."

Without hesitation the boy spoke into his headset. The bad transmission quality was on his side, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between the voice of a boy or a young woman. Together with the fact that there were no cameras in the room there was no possibility for the soldier on the other end of the call to verify his identity. Of course the lie would be apparent if someone dared to call the emperor, but the prince doubted the officers would risk disturbing His Majesty. The only thing that could reveal him would be improvident statements on his part. After the accident a few minutes ago however, Schneizel would be wary of uttering even a single thoughtless word.

And indeed the officer did not even think about reassessing Schneizel's assertion. Without any further questions he transmitted the command to the young prince and began providing him information about the enemy.

"The Venezuelan forces count roughly two thousand soldiers. As far as we know they got two hundred tanks of the latest generation, fortunately without weapons for close air support. They are supported by roughly one hundred interceptor aircrafts of different generations. Their latest model should be the FT 529 equalling our Ikarus. We do not know how many of these they got but it seems there should be no more than twenty. Furthermore they have a serious number of close air support weapons like the P.D.M. 4 or the A.S.S. 12 and an unknown number of explosive devices inside their city. What would you suggest, your Highness?"

Schneizel carefully examined the monitor in front of him to get an idea of his resources. After he had looked up the abbreviations the soldier had used he now knew that P.D.M stood for Plane Destruction Missile while A.S.S. meant Air Support System.
Since Britannia fought two wars at the same time right now and Venezuela was considered to be the weaker enemy, the battle would be even in terms of the number of soldiers and the technical level of the equipment. Although there was a significant number of the latest model of air dominance fighter, the main part of the air fleet was made up of older bombers. They would have no chance against the immense amount of interceptor aircrafts. Besides that the Venezuelan forces had the advantage of a city which probably would be mined and defended by stationary close air support systems. The main objective on Britannians' side would be to get the bombers into the city without letting them being engaged in combat while the air superiority fighters would keep the interceptor aircrafts covered.

The Britannian tanks on the other hand were quite superior to the enemies. As a little symbol on the right side of the monitor showed, they were equipped with the latest weapon system. This did not only include target acquisition and tracking, but also drastically reduced time for reloading thereby giving the ground forces an immense advantage. In addition to that one fourth of the vehicles were equipped with the portable version of the Britannian close air support system, the Lightweight Air Support System, L.A.S.S. in short. In an emergency they could give the bombers covering fire helping them to reach their destination.

Altogether Schneizel was quite confident to keep the losses low. Venezuela was counting on information about the Britannian tactic, therefore maybe being confused at the beginning.

"Arrange the tanks in groups of ten. Mark each of these groups with a combination of two Latin characters and take care that at least one tank with the L.A.S.S. is in all of them. Do the same for the air fleet using one Greek letter for each but separate the bombers and fighters. The latter have to be able to operate on their own. The groups of the fighters only have five aircrafts and are labelled with nu in combination with a number between one and six. In addition to that identify every unit with a number so I can address them individually if needed."

With that Schneizel had created a structure where every unit had a unique name while still enabling him to ordering a large number of soldiers with one command. Shortly after he had finished his explanations, the picture on the monitor changed. The number of dots, representing the Britannian units, decreased and on top of the now slightly bigger marks the names of the group it represented showed up. Even the height could be seen next to the name, exactly defining the position of each unit.

While the dots arranged themselves on the monitor, getting their names as he had ordered, Schneizel took a look at the terrain and especially the streets of the city to be conquered. It was a small town to Britannian standards and must have counted up to four thousand citizens in its heyday. The blocks mostly consisted of houses with two to three floors and there were only a few streets with two lanes in each direction, the rest being only small alleys no one would like to walk in the dark. The bomber would have to turn most parts of the town into a scene of devastation in order to make it passable for the tanks. Schneizel did not want to use the big access roads since there would probably be most of the mines.

On the basis of the road network the boy planned the ideal direction for the first assault taking the possible position of mines and close air support systems into account. In order to do that he used the video material provided by the drones.

Through his headphones he could surmise an indistinct announcement about the beginning of the mission. Before he guessed when it actually started, a clock appeared at the top of the monitor counting down from five minutes. That was more than enough time for him to plan his first move.

"Hold back the tanks and divide them into three flanks," the prince started to explain. "Nu one to four advance two thousand feet, rise to battle height and spread out. Alpha to Mu, keep yourselves six hundred feet above and three hundred feet behind Nu one to four and be ready to attack. Nu five and six hold yourselves six miles over the base and wait for following orders."

With that Schneizel had made his opening move, now waiting for his opponent to react. Slowly red dots appeared on the map, representing the enemy forces. Here too the exact position was displayed, since the height stood next to every unit. On the basis of the topographic map and the number of dots Schneizel new that the enemy must had his whole air force deployed while the tanks were still waiting out of the reach of the Britannian radar.

Let's see, how they will deal with that.

Slowly the air fleet of Venezuela spread out, assuming a long but closed formation. In the end they build a continuous, trifarious line surrounding one third of the city. It seemed as if they were waiting for something to happen. But Schneizel knew that this event would never happen.

How boring. They could have at least tried to hide their strategy.

Mere seconds later, the prince heard the muffled ringing of a telephone from the direction of the dead soldier. He ignored it, concentrating on the task at hand and continued with the attack. Schneizel choose an aggressive approach to eliminate as many enemy aircrafts as possible before they could launch a counterattack.

That they still did not know their informant was dead would harm their tactic twice. On the one hand because they will have no information about the Britannian army but on the other hand because they desperately built on this knowledge relying everything on it and not having an alternative at hand.

"Nu one to four, keep going and rise to three thousand feet. Open fire on sight. Alpha to Mu, hold your position. A-A to A-J, advance to north-east, A-U to B-D, move south-west and hold your position after three thousand feet. A-K to A-T, hold your position."

Just as expected the enemy did not envisage the attack. Therefore the Britannian forces cut the Venezuelan into pieces. Schneizel immediately used the upcoming disarray preparing a swath for the bomber.

"Nu one, rise one thousand feet and attack the enemy from behind. Nu three, drop six hundred feet and attack the forces east of your current position from below. Nu two and four, retreat, regroup and attack the southern troops from the west."

The red dots kept disappearing and as soon as there were three openings in the enemy's ranks, the prince continued with his next move.

This worked out even better than I expected.

"Nu five, advance to aid Nu one. Nu six close up to Nu three and four towards the south east."

Schneizel thrived in in his position and got more confidence with every order he gave. While he had some doubts about being equal to this task at the beginning, he now found it not much different from a game of chess. Of course there were no real rules anyone would stick to but on the other hand it also allowed him to have more freedom in his own actions. He did not have to wait for the other one to make his move. He did not have any regulation on where his pieces could go. As long as it was physically possible, he could order it. Nonetheless Schneizel was aware of the consequences in jumping to conclusions. After all: How often had this been his downfall when he first started with his chess games against some of the lower ranking officers? Now, too, one wrong move could lead to defeat. And this time it would not only offend his ego but cost hundreds or even thousands of lives.

Slowly the Venezuelan forces recovered from their initial shock starting to form an organized formation again. Now the Britannian side suffered their first casualties, but it was all kept within reasonable limits.

Finally they start fighting. I already feared real battle would be just as easy to win as those simulations.

"Alpha, Gamma, Eta, Theta, Lambda and Mu, advance. Beta, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Iota and Kappa, advance through Nu one and five and Nu three and six. All tanks get ready to move out."

As soon as the bomber had passed the enemy fleet, Schneizel divided them into three groups. Each of them should smooth a swath for the tanks. He did not want them to drive though the possible mined highways where the enemy would probably wait with their own tanks. Meanwhile he let the fighters fall back and regroup to eliminate the remaining Venezuelan air forces.

Again there were occasional casualties as soon as the bomber reached the city, but he had already expected them. There was no way he could render the close air support systems ineffective before any of his aircrafts would have been hit. The latest models could be integrated into the streets making it impossible to guess their location. Although Venezuela used an older version, it was still not always evitable that the first aircrafts would get hit while the later would fire specifically on the artillery on the ground. Now he used the numbering of the individual units to guide them towards places where he suspected mines, additional artillery or reinforcements. In most cases he was right with his assumptions therefore only having five unexpected explosions throughout the city. Two bombers were caught in them but all of that was still inside reasonable limits. The only thing that startled him was that he never found any reinforcements. Either they really did not have more soldiers or they were hidden too deep underground so surface bombardments could not reveal them.

The net around the Venezuelan forces got tighter with every second. The interceptors were nearly completely eliminated and according to the video material of the cameras of the bombers there were no houses standing at the places where Schneizel wanted to attack. Even most of the radio transmission towers were destroyed making it nearly impossible for the enemy to coordinate their moves. The radar system, too, was eliminated by Gamma giving Britannia an immense advantage. Therefore Schneizel was able to plan his last step calmly.
Slowly he let the air fleet retreat to give the ground forces rear cover. By this time there was no realistic chance for the Venezuelan rebels to win this battle if there would be no gross negligence on Britannian side.

"A-A to B-D, advance further and open fire at sight", the young prince uttered his next order while the opponent was still trying to get into a formation. "Spread inside the city but keep an open formation. Alpha to Mu, follow them and fire at will. Nu one to six, retreat and regroup."

His instructions were implemented immediately. The blue dots on the monitor representing the tanks drew closer to the city's outer rim while the bomber followed slowly and the fighters fell back. Inside of the former constructed area the vehicles started to spread out little by little the remnants of the Venezuelan tanks that had avoided the bombardment appeared. In the city good reactions and the skill of the soldiers would be much more important than great tactics especially since the Britannian tanks had the advantage of number after the attack of the bombers. In addition to that the enemy forces were decimated so much that orderly resistance was next to impossible. Therefore Schneizel turned his attention towards the slightly battered fighter units for now rearranging them. Out of the six groups from the beginning of the battle he formed five new ones. Each of them had five fighters except one that only had four due to the losses. He called them Nu two to five and took care to not force too many soldiers to memorize a new name. Although the officers in Venezuela ensured him the pilots would see their name in front of them, Schneizel wanted to avoid human failure as good as possible playing this part save.

The next task at hand was coordinating his ground forces in the south. It seemed the enemy still had some tanks left focusing them on one of the smaller Britannian groups. It was quite obvious they tried to break through in at least one place. In opposition to the information Schneizel had they were not from the latest model, making eliminating them much easier. Calmly the prince operated every tank on its own minimizing the casualties. He expertly surrounded the enemy while preparing some of the bombers for his next move.

I've never before seen such a miserably executed attack. They could have at least sacrificed some of their tanks as baits.

A loud sound tore the prince from his tactical thoughts. Puzzled, he looked towards the door of the operation room, but the red lamp that would light up in an emergency was dark. The warning light at the ceiling, too, did not turn on therefore it could not be a fire alarm.

"We have lost units A-A to A-D and had heavy casualties at units A-E to A-J, your Highness!" An unknown voice rang through the Headphones of the prince.

With that the source of the keen sound was clarified. Schneizel had known that there would be an acoustic signal as soon as many units were extinguished in a short time since he had tried to accustom himself with the technology at hand during the battle. The sudden sound was still quite unexpected for him, because he could not think of a way the Venezuelan forces could have possibly accomplished that. They were outnumbered at least three times and after what was left of the buildings there was no advantage of knowing the streets anymore. The mines too had already been taken out and the place where the four units had been ambushed looked like there could not be any hidden mine left to be activated by the vibration of the tanks. Four Units in lost in less than a minute was definitely far away from collateral damage. There had to be a reason for this.

Schneizel had given the soldiers free rein with the choice of their targets and with the automatic identification of friend or foe a mistake by the shooter was highly unlikely. But before he would search for his mistake, he first needed to keep the losses at a minimum. After that he would finish of the Venezuelan forces and then he would analyse the battle, finding out what had caused that many casualties so he could avoid it the next time. Whenever this would be.

"All units in question retreat to the West! Nu two and five cover them, while Delta, Epsilon, Iota and Kappa rise nine hundred feet, locate the enemy and attack it from the east."

With that the boy gave them valuable seconds but was still not able to get them out of the dangerous zone. It seemed they got ambushed by some of the latest tank models of the Venezuelan army standing no chance against the surprise attack by equally equipped vehicles. More and more Britannian tanks were destroyed. Only sending in four units from the middle of the town could stop the advance. A brief survey showed that the short moment of Schneizels inattention had cost fifty four tanks and ten bombers.

A short glance on the watch at the top of the monitor revealed the princes mistake. It was almost high noon and the sun must have been coming nearly directly from the south. With the buildings destroyed his soldiers had no chance to see the enemy against the light and the latest model of the Venezuelan tanks seemed to have some way to hide from radar. His enemy had used the weather merciless against him. So a real fight was different from the simulations after all. There was not only the enemy and its tactics to consider but weather and terrain too. In addition to that the battlefield was much bigger making losing the track over the area much more likely, especially if you concentrated on one point. Today Schneizels inexperience had nearly cost the victory. In the next battle though, he would know how use this to his advantage.

I'm impressed. Their leader isn't that bad after all. After how he had fought until now I really didn't expect him to sacrifice that many of his soldiers. I should stop underestimating others just because they made irrational decisions in the past. And I really have to pay more attention to time and terrain.

Although the boy did realise that he was responsible for the death of two hundred and thirty six Britannian soldiers he did not feel anything except a slight frustration over his own failure. There may be some minor doubts about the further course of the battle but he was far away from being anxious or even regretful about what happened. If he had not come into this room by accident Britannia would have lost disgracefully. And even if the officers in Venezuela may have been better equipped to deal with such a situation, no one could change what had happened. When he had seen the incoming call and heard about the unique opportunity to demonstrate his abilities there was no way Schneizel could have just let it pass. He had known back than that there was the possibility he would end up killing hundreds of thousands of people and he had accepted this price. Human lives were just another form of currency. If you had enough, you could afford many things. Britannia, with all the conquered territories, had more than enough citizens to spare some hundred soldiers for the education of the second prince. Of course he tried to preserve human lives, but he would never regret the choices he made, even if they led to the death of others.

The remaining forces of the enemy had retreated to one point, presumably their command centre. Satisfied Schneizel saw that big parts of the building had already been destroyed by the carpet bombing. He collected his tanks in front of the partly crumbled bunker and even let the aircrafts hover over it.

"Cease fire!" Schneizel gave what was perhaps his last order in this battle.

Many indignant voices raised on the other side of the headset. Most of the officers seemed more than uncomfortable with this decision. The prince still insisted on his order rejecting any suggestion of an ambush calm but strict. The enemy forces were nearly completely wiped out, leaving only a few functional tanks on the Venezuelan side. If they would not accept their defeat now, Schneizel would not hesitate to order his soldiers to annihilate them. Human lives were nothing he was not prepared to sacrifice if needed, but alive these people would be of more use. Some of the soldiers may defect and those who did not could be easily used as worker. Besides that Britannia would show its generous side by offering a peace treaty. If Venezuela rejected this, the victor would not be a ferocious oppressor but only someone defending himself. Just as with the traitor lying stiffly next to him, the prince would only do everything in his power to protect his people. Britannia would seem like the victim, not the offender. Negotiations to come would have a much better starting point with that.

"I want to talk to the leader of the rebels," Schneizel formulated his next instruction towards the officers. "Please arrange for an interpreter to be present as well."

In his head he already formed his next sentences, choosing every word with great caution.
The noises in the background temporary rose immensely making it impossible to understand a single word. At some point Schneizel took of his headset because it hurt too much. He only put them back on when a small sign at the rim of the monitor showed him, that normal conversation again was possible.

"You can now start the negotiation, your Highness." Campbell confirmed Schneizels assumption. "Admiral Correia of the united Defence of southern America had already been informed about your position and the concomitant rights."

The prince thanked the officer politely turning towards the interpreter directly afterwards. Before he could start with the negotiation, there was one thing that had to be clarified first.

"I expect you to translate what I will say as literally as possible. Of course I am aware of the fact that this will prolong the conversation but that is a price I am willing to pay. Mediation will not be sufficient since that may lead to fatal misunderstandings. Important connotations may get obscured if only the meaning is translated. Please inform Admiral Correia about this, so we can start with the main part."

The interpreter's voice started to speak after a short moment of silence. The words just sounded like a random concatenation of syllables but the time the man needed to sort his thoughts seemed realistic for him to translate it literally. Otherwise he may even have started to speak while Schneizel was still in the middle of his explanations.

After that a female voice ushered other unintelligible words in presumably the same language. Again a short pause followed before the interpreter translated the Admiral's words into English.

"Admiral Correia welcomes this regulation and is thankful for your honesty and willingness to resolve this conflict in a nonviolent manner. Furthermore she is afflicted to not have met you a little earlier maybe saving hundreds of lives."

Just as expected Correia was polite but far away from submissive. She had dealt massive casualties to Schneizel's forces although the odds were not on her side. Of course she was not one of the people that would back down in front of someone superior or even try to flatter him. A positive aspect was that she seemed to be very amenable towards the negotiation. That she obviously cared for her subordinates could also be used to Britannia's advantage. In the end this would increase the possibility of her not risking fighting, facing such overwhelming superior forces. As long as Schneizel offered her humane conditions and maybe include some special wishes from her side there should not be any problems.

"Please tell the Admiral I appreciate her responsiveness. I am also awfully sorry that so many lives had been taken without anyone even considering a way without violence to resolve this conflict. I will endeavour to make the terms of the peace treaty for both sides as beneficial as possible. Most certainly I would suggest a truce lasting at least until the contracts have been singed on both sides."

Again the interpreter started to speak Venezuelan and the answer was not long in the coming. Schneizel really regrets not being able to get some information out of the modulation of Correia's voice, but there was no way to change that. Calmly the boy waited for the English translation. His lessons had already been over. One minute more or less was nothing that mattered to him.

While he listened to the unintelligible sounds coming from his headphones, he prepared his next words carefully including some points that would be to Correia's disapproval. As soon as he would be responsive to some of the points he had insisted on at first, his country would appear in a much more favourable light. It would seem as if they were much more generous, making following negotiations a little bit easier. Of course he could not include something as obvious as killing all soldiers that had fought against Britannia just to abandon it moments later, no one would believe he really would have done it anyway. It was much more promising to claim high reparation payments that he could easily transfer into higher taxes without anyone noticing it.

"Admiral Correia agrees with your terms so far. She suggests establishing a concept of the peace treaty that will be specified by the heads of the state. After all she does not know if a Britannian princess is allowed to negotiate any agreements with other countries. She does not want to get your Highness in any kind of trouble since she honestly appreciates your proposal of peace. Furthermore she leaves the first wording of the treaty to you, still reserving the right to discuss some points she does not agree with."

Nothing of this was unexpected for Schneizel. It was logical that Venezuela did not want to make the first step since it was one of the most dangerous ones. After all it revealed a lot about someone's intentions without knowing those of your opponent. The prince thought about forcing Correia to do this herself by offering her the same but decided not to do so. He had a rough concept of his opponent and thoroughly believed he could create a decent first draft. There was no point in circling around each other like two predators. Besides that Correia may see his willingness to accept her offer as a sign of his goodwill.

For a moment he played with the idea of wrapping up his demands in nice sounding transliterations but disregarded it immediately. No matter how pleasant he would make the treaty sound, Correia would easily see through the scheme. She would not be irritated by beautiful sounding words. So instead of talking about soldiers for the protection of Venezuela he called them what they would be: Soldiers to control of the area. Of course he also mentioned that the deployed troops would defend Venezuela in the case of an attack and would have the latest technology at hand. But still he left no doubts it was a repressive measure based on Britannia's victory in this last battle.

The reparation payment too was called by its right name and he refrained to go into detail for the reasons. With this he clarified that he saw Correia as equal not looking down upon her. He showed that in his eyes she was someone to not be fooled by simple wording issues and created, as far as it was possible with that kind of negotiation, an honest foundation. Correia had done the first step towards this forthright conversation by going without the polite but in that situation futile phrases. Schneizel was thankful for this and followed her lead. After all this made it much easier since there was no need to think about nice words for unpleasant facts.

The only point the prince would fiercely avoid was the name of the country. All conquered areas were given numbers instead of names and Schneizel doubted his father would make an exception for Venezuela in this. It was a way of supressing the people and marking them as inferior to born Britannians. With their name you took their identity making them exchangeable. Of course this was something Correia would want to change for her people and in opposition to his father he saw no reason for such a way of humiliation. But he was in no position to propose such a suggestion. Therefore he tried to avoid this issue as good as possible. In case of doubt he could offer to suggest his father a compromise pointing out that he was not authorized to make such a decision. Since he should have never been able, let alone allowed, to enter this room he had already left his authorities a long time ago. Now trying to get a special status of Venezuela would even be dangerous for him as a prince of the empire.

At the beginning, the negotiation went much to Schneizels satisfaction. Correia accepted his offer of straightforwardness immediately and directly came to the facts that were not to her liking. Based on the officers reaction Schneizel could tell that his approach was not approved by them. But since they still thought he was a seventeen year old princess they did not dare to speak against him. From time to time he heard their murmur in the background trying to not let this irritate him. He focused at the task at hand, ignoring the unrest on the other side as best as he could. To his surprise the conversation was even more challenging than the actual combat. While there were at least some regulations on the battlefield like the laws of nature, there was no such thing in a negotiation. Words were much more versatile than tanks or soldiers and far from less dangerous. One wrong sentence could ruin everything leading to the death of hundreds of people. Although they would most likely be not Britannian, Schneizel still wanted to avoid them. Even if only to prove himself he was capable of it.

The conversation prolonged. Over and over the interpreter had to translate while Correia as well as Schneizel tried to obtain the best possible situation for their county. Some aspects were quickly settled, others took a lot of tactfulness therefore dragging on for quite some time. The fact that the prince desperately avoided the name of the area did not make his task any easier and Correia not only once tried to approach this point. The longer the negotiation went on, the more difficult it got for the boy to turn the course of the conversation away from this vulnerable point. But when everything else was settled, he could no longer avoid it.

"Admiral Correia thanks for your exceptional complaisance, your Highness. The only thing left to discuss is in her opinion the name of her country. She would like to have some sort of statement from you about that point too."

Some of the officers gasped. Of course they must have known this question would come but they probably did not expect Correia to be so direct. Schneizel too was startled at first but regained his confidence much faster than the soldiers. Although the prince had gotten to know the admiral during the last two hours as a person that would not back down easily, it was still surprising she would be so straightforward with this matter. After all she knew exactly that her position was dire. One wrong demand could end all she had worked for and besides that she was aware of him being just a child of the emperor and not the head of the state himself. That she would try to settle this matter with him was odd, especially because she did it in such a direct way. This showed quite clearly that Schneizel's assumptions were right. "Venezuela" was not only a word for these people. It did not only name the country they were living in, it was the symbol of their freedom. They would not give it up without a fight.

To keep up the honest way of the negotiation, Schneizel decided not to use any half-truths or even lies. Feints would not work, not after such an intense conversation. He knew more about this woman than he did about some of his classmates and Schneizel did not doubt that she too knew him better than most of the people he met on a daily basis. One lie could ruin everything he had accomplished by now and he was not willing to risk that.

"Please inform the Admiral that I do not have the authority to give her any concessions in this point. I will however talk about this matter to my father and suggest that "Venezuela" will be written next to "Area 7". Nevertheless I cannot guarantee for that. It is something my father has to negotiate directly with Venezuela's head of the state. Until then you can keep it. But this is all I can grant you."

Silence rang through the ranks of the Britannian officers. Some even stopped breathing. As soon as the first shock was over, all of them started to talk at ones, making it impossible to understand what any of them said. Although it was only a temporary solution, no one wanted to believe the "princess" really suggested that. To let a conquered country keep its name was unacceptable in the soldier's eyes. In their opinion it was close to admitting being equal, something they did not want to happen.

But during the last hours Schneizel had learned how to use the controls in front of him to its full extend. By pressing a few buttons he silenced most of the officers, only leaving the interpreter, Correia and General Campbell.

"You can't do that, Princess Guinevere!" the latter rose up, nearly screaming into his microphone.

At the top of his voice he desperately tried to underline his statement with absurd arguments mostly consisting of pointless rambling about the right of the strong and meaningless talk about an impairment of the state. Nevertheless he failed because Schneizel interrupted him after a few sentences.

"I do not recall giving you the permission to speak up, General. Restrain yourself and don't dare criticizing me, a member of the royal family, again. Without my aid this battle would have cost hundreds of lives and even the Britannian victory wouldn't have been certain."

To the surprise of everyone in the conversation Admiral Correia intervened before the General could reply anything. In opposition to Schneizels assumption she could not only hear him and the interpreter but also the officers from Venezuela. The fact that she understood them surprised the soldiers even more. Apparently they thought it was impossible for someone from Venezuela to learn the language of one of the biggest countries in this world.

"I can understand your indignation, General, but you maybe should know that the child is right with what he said. I would even go as far as assuming you would have had no chance without him. Did you for example know about the spy we had in your ranks? He knew about it and I imagine he dealt with the threat by eliminating Sir Wickham. So stop arguing with him and rather follow his lead. He has shown much more foresight than you. And to you, your Highness, I can only look up to. Being such a brilliant tactician at that age in combination with your rationality is rare, if not unique. I honestly wish we had not encountered as enemies."

Frozen in shock the young prince sat in the chair unable to respond anything at first. More than the broken English the fact that fact that she had called him a boy surprised him. A stranger, someone he had never met in person, had been able to see through his lies unmasking him in front of the officers. No one would believe him if he tried to impersonate his brother Odysseus. Not only that there would have been no reason for the eighteen year old prince to pose as Guinevere. His voice was far too high to belong to the first prince. Revealing his identity, too, was no option. The general would never follow the orders of a twelve year old, prince of Britannia or not. With that Schneizel had to face the problem he already struggled with for his whole live. Every time he was compared with other children of his age leading to him being patronized irrespectively of his abilities. For his mother and nursemaid he had already found some behaviors that were expedient. With the time he had learned how they would react to most of the behavior patterns enabling him to anticipate their actions and directing them as he wished. But in the situation he was now this would not work. The person he knew best was an enemy and except for the general he did not even know the names of the others. The only thing he could hope for was Campbell's inattentiveness. Maybe he had just missed it or thought it happened due to Correia's lack of proper knowledge about the language.

This time he really got lucky and the officer in charge just started jelling into his microphone insulting the Venezuelan Admiral while trying to defend Schneizel.

"You dare insulting me and calling Her Highness, Princess Guinevere de Britannia, a child? Who do you think you are? You are in no position to call anyone from Britannia incompetent! Aren't your people the ones that got nearly wiped out? You are only alive because of her Highnesses kindness and now you are thanking this by insulting her? You should be called a child! A child that cannot loose and-"

Schneizel stopped the general before he could continue to hate on Admiral Correia when he recollected.

"Restrain yourself, General Campbell! You are in no position to defame anyone. As Admiral Correia already explained, you weren't even able to detect the great security flaw in your own ranks. And before you start excusing your failure by stating someone from the capital got Sir Wickham into his position, be aware that one of your soldiers had to propose the use of an outside tactician. Never before in the history of Britannia there was the need of something like this. Do you have such a low opinion of your abilities and that of your fellow officers that you rather risk a cross-country conversation than rely on your own decisions? Or do you rather fear the responsibility coming along with your position? In both cases you would be not fit to lead an army let alone a battle. I hereby deprive you of your authority! You will immediately return to Britannia and demoted by four ranks. I will give the lead to a soldier I see suitable for that. His current position does not matter. For that reason arrange a private conversation with your adjutant for me!"

Schneizel had no other choice than to question every officer until he found one, who was loyal enough and had enough intelligence and assertiveness to lead the army back to Britannia. Although it may be faster to ask the general for appropriate candidates, the young prince doubted he would cooperate well enough after his demotion. The adjutant had the advantage to know about most of the soldiers. Even if he himself was not suitable for the temporary leading position it would make it much faster to find someone who was.

Reluctant, Campbell followed the order opening a private line. Immediately the voice of a young female soldier rang anxious through Schneizels headphones.

Because of the low number of participants the quality of the transmission rose noticeably. While the prince had difficulties to determine who was speaking during the group call he could now even hear background noises. It seemed the young woman had been sent to a separate room to really keep the conversation private as he had asked for.

"Your Highness? My name is Dorothea Ernst, adjutant of General Campbell. I am honoured to be at your service but what could I possibly do for you? Of course I will do my best to meet your expectations but I doubt there is anything I can do better than any other soldier. Most of them will even be superior in more than just one task. I am afraid I may not be of any help for you."

She really sounded utterly insecure and deprived of any self-confidence. Schneizel did not want to know how she had been treated by her superior. It still impressed him that she did not stammer although she had to be speaking to someone from the royal family for the first time. Therefore he did not lose hope that maybe she had to be the only one he had to question.

"I need a list of all the soldiers that are capable of leading the army safely back to the motherland in your opinion", Schneizel immediately came to the point. "Furthermore I need an evaluation of yours whom I can trust and who would most likely may be a traitor. You do not need to worry that your statements will have any negative effect on the persons you name. No one except me will ever hear what you said and I will not use it to anything else than to decide who will be in charge until you arrive in Britannia. As soon as you arrive here the lead will be immediately transferred to a general stationed here who will search for the security flaws. I assure you that none of what you will say during this conversation will ever lead to the disadvantage of anyone. Everything will be treated confidentially by me."

The most important thing for Schneizel was to give the Adjutant security. She should not be under any pressure because that may lead to her being too polite and not of any use. Since she already was insecure and lacked a great amount of self-confidence it would be fatal if she assumed that every word she said may ruin the career of a maybe innocent soldier. She seemed to be loyal to her comrades not wanting to blame any of them.

Indeed Dorothea had been audibly swallowing after the first two sentences. Therefore Schneizel had pointed out her consulting role more clearly than planned. He only finished when he heard her relaxing giving her time to answer.

"Out of the 105 surviving soldiers only the sixteen officers and four of the pilots would be qualified. The pilots should have been promoted depending on their performance during the battle therefore maybe being suitable for what you want them to do. Although there may be some of the other soldiers that would fit into the role I do not know them well enough to decide who would be capable of leading the army least determining who is loyal enough. Since the general had been discharged by you, there are nineteen soldiers left. Four of the officers do not talk so often, therefore I cannot give you any advice concerning their loyalty. Two of the officers were quite appealed by the thought of an outside tactician from Pendragon. I would suggest to not taking them due to the security risk it may pose. With the pilots I am completely sure they are devoted to Britannia and would never think of causing their homeland any trouble. I was present when they were questioned for their possible promotion. I only doubt anyone would follow them. No one knows their real potential or intelligence and even with your order there may be some who will doubt their capability. Out of the nine remaining officers I would not consider anyone to be a traitor but only three of them did not want to have the outside tactician. In my opinion it would be best to reduce your choice to these three. All of them have been with the Britannian military for years and they are greatly respected for their experience. In addition to that none of them is likely to be a traitor. It would be Sir Courtenay, Sir Wellington and Sir Ferrers."

Although there still had been a slight uncertainty in her voice, she had been much more steadfast. It seemed as if she knew what she was talking about and had gained confidence by that. That meant as long as she thought she was capable of something she would execute the task exemplary enabling her to lead the army herself. The only thing Schneizel would have to do was give her the confidence she was lacking since her loyalty did not seem to be in question. She never even thought to be considered herself although her position as the adjutant of the former general would make the explanation quite easy. He could just say that she had the needed knowledge due to her work for Sir Campbell and no one would question it. If she would now pass the last test, getting her to trust herself was all that was left for the young prince.

"Tell me, Adjutant Ernst, do you know who I am? Despite what the general told you, I'd like to hear your opinion."

Of course it was risky to point out his lie directly to Dorothea Ernst, but that way he could test two things at once. On the one hand he would know whether or not she had been more observant than her superior noticing Correia's comment. On the other hand he would also know if she was loyal enough to even follow a twelve year old prince. Since she could not be much older than Guinevere it was more likely she would accept his orders than it was for the officers. If she really did not question his authority, he could be sure of her loyalty.
Of course she lost most of the self-confidence she showed moments ago, but Schneizel had already guessed this would happen. He just wanted to encourage her a little more since she hesitated to answer, when she finally started to talk again.

"You introduced yourself as Princess Guinevere de Britannia, Your Highness. But since I already had the honour to hear her speak twice during public appearances, I have to admit I doubt that this is true. Besides that Admiral Correia had called you a boy and although this could just be due to her being unacquainted with our language I think it is more likely she did it on purpose. I do not know how she came to think of it, but she seemed quite sure about it and from what I noticed during your negotiation she seems capable of detecting such things during a conversation. However I do not know who you really are."

With that the adjutant fulfilled the basic requirements. Now Schneizel only needed to know if she was able to make decisions on her own and adhere to them. She would have to stand in for her opinion in front of high ranking officers without getting intimidated by them. Until now she had only followed orders never being forced to give them herself. She had only advised. The fact that although she doubted his identity she was so respectful towards him gave rise to doubts for the prince.

"If you are so sure that I am not the princess, why do you still call my Your Highness? You already know I lied so wouldn't it be much more likely that I am a spy? I could have just tried to get your trust by winning this battle. So why are you so sure you can trust me?"

If she passed this final test, the only thing that would have been left for Schneizel was to give her the confidence she was lacking. There would be no need for further questionings. She would be perfect for the job.

"On one hand, only members of the royal family and Britannian officers have access to the underground military base. Since Sir Campbell had called you there is no way you could be outside of it. If you had tried to redirect it, the quality would be far worse. Therefore the only possibility would be a traitor. I doubt that because, this may sound strange, your charisma is just like that of Princess Guinevere and Prince Odysseus. Just how confident you had guided the troops, although you could not be much older than me, was amazing. Even Sir Campbell has never had such authority in his voice. Only in combination with his grim look it is impressive. But when you started to give the orders no one even thought about doubting them. I have never experienced something like this before. It was a great honour for me to fight under your command, your Highness."

Her last words were filled with so much admiration, Schneizel was startled at first. How could anyone adore someone he had never met in person and only spoken to for a few minutes?
The adjutant only now seemed to realise what she just said and especially how, remaining silent in embarrassment. Even when the prince had composed himself addressing her, she was not able to shape a normal sentence at first.

This really wasn't how Schneizel wanted things to happen. Now it may take him up to an hour to give her enough self-confidence. He shortly thought about just taking someone else but dismissed that idea. If they happened to be unlucky the first would not be suitable and therefore he would have to question another one. That would be much more time consuming than just reassuring the young soldier. Besides that he was now completely sure that Dorothea Ernst would never go against her country. Depending on how the conversation would go on, she may even help him getting an excuse for coming too late to his lessons. With the devotion she had just displayed, it should not be hard to get her to lie for him. To make her feel a little more comfortable he chose a more personal advance to lower her expectations.

"You don't have to be embarrassed that people doing things you couldn't even imagine doing in your dreams impress you," he improvised. "In my opinion this is much better than denying yourself to keep your countenance. It's alright to be human. I'm just the same."

Of course most of that was not true. Schneizel could not really comprehend how anyone could nearly burst into tears just because they met someone being better in something then they were. No one in this world was perfect. In the end all strength could be a weakness and the other way round. His own indifference for example was quite useful in some situations. He was able to kill without regretting. On the other hand it was hard for him to behave normal in daily live. He had to learn how other people acted in certain situations copying their behaviour to not attract attention and still did not understand what empathy was. Things that others did without thinking kept him busy for hours and some common actions still startled him. Why does the butcher next to the school give that one blonde woman everything for the half of the price? He still did not understand it and his mother's explanation that he loved her was not really enlightening either.

All Schneizel could do was watch, compare and try. He had done this for his whole live. By now he had already gather plenty of information. Therefore group dynamics and moments in which people tried to make rational decisions were no problem anymore. Emotional situations like the one he had to deal with right now were completely new to him. Until now he had only used those, in his opinion weak, attributes of people against them. That his task was now to make these fade into the background for the Adjutant to fulfil her task was challenging.
To start with he had to encourage her. She should believe in herself and that what she was capable of was not as usual as she thought. Maybe it would work better if he understated his own actions since she probably compared them with hers.

"Your ability to judge others and stand up for your opinion even in front of people you admire are amazing. Although you seem to not have too much experience with it, you were able to determine three people that would be able to lead the army home. Believe me, not everyone could have done that. Your perception too is far above the average although you may not have realized it jet. The general for example did not notice that I lied to him. He probably still thinks I am a princess. What I have done on the other hand was not more than watching dots on a monitor move and ordering them around. You soldiers are the ones we owe that victory. I only talked a little bit while you risked your live. As soon as you sit in front of a giant monitor giving orders that will not really affect you, you will know what I mean. My part was a walkover in comparison to what all of you have done."

Schneizel shortly stopped in his praise, trying to determine whether or not he had already given her enough confidence. She really did seem a little more comfortable. His flatteries obviously had the desired effect. Her breath had gotten calmer and steadier and even the nervous rattling had stopped. The only thing that was left for him to do was to convince her of her being the only possible choice for this task. He had to show her that he trusted her more than anyone in Venezuela and therefore needed her to lead the soldiers temporary. Of course he would have to give her solid proof why only she was on question for him. Maybe the best way was to make her see some similarities giving her the feeling of being equal to him. By doing that it would be easy to convince her that she was capable what he had been doing the last hours: Leading soldiers. Schneizel just had to prove to her that she had been underestimated the whole time, only giving her the approval she deserved.

"Especially your devotion towards the Britannian people and your ability to recognize my heritage by just listening to me are exceptional. You were right. I am part of the royal family. The only reason I lied was because General Campbell would have never executed any orders if he knew I was only twelve years of age. That may seem young to you, but in fact I have been educated in warfare what feels to be for my whole live. Therefore it really is no surprise that I am skilled in inventing strategies. And just like no one believes in your abilities, mine are also not appreciated. Until a year ago everyone just saw me as a little child and would not bother to listen to anything I said. But fortunately I met someone who gave me a chance to prove myself. He believed me, challenged me and with that developed my talents further. He showed me that I was the only one that should decide what I did and even taught me how to get around conventional concepts. Yes, I have to lie to do so. But I find it way more reprehensible to hide ones true capabilities just to fit in than to lie for the good of my people. I think you too would agree with me, that it should always be the result that is judged and not the way of doing it. The strong will win but it is also the other way round. Those who win are strong, no matter how they achieve their goal. I want to give you the opportunity to show what you are capable of and finally be appreciated for who you are. You got an amazing talent. Use it to lead your comrades' home. With you in this position, especially after this most pleasant conversation, I am sure they will reach their families safely. Don't be afraid of the responsibility. I know you can do it."

Of course the main part of his little speech had been a lie. There never was anyone who had really taught him warfare or ever appreciated his intelligence to its full extend. Most people were just afraid of it and those who were not ignored him because he was a child. Schneizel regretted that he had to use this sometimes so unreliable method so often since he entered this room, but there had been no other way. He really would have liked to use at least some parts that were true but he knew he would have never convinced Dorothea Ernst by telling her she should just stop whining and do what he says because he did not have the time to go through the next two or three soldiers.

Just as expected the adjutant was shocked at first. She had never expected something like this even trying to change Schneizel's opinion. The only thing she achieved by that was that the young prince got even more determined to use her as the temporary leader. No spy would oppose his proposal with such vengeance. Therefore she maybe was the safest choice he could make.

Quietly Schneizel talked to her until she had calmed herself. When the meaning of his words finally reached her, she stopped arguing. Although the boy just wanted to end this conversation he waited not wanting to interrupt her. If he would be too eager he may ruin everything he had achieved so far. Only after she had breathed noisily one last time, Schneizel dared to start speaking again.

"Don't worry about the general. I will take care of him. Just don't take the reasons I will use in front of him too serious. He just wouldn't understand the truth. I have chosen you because I know I can fully trust. Maybe there are others with similar qualities, I don't know. But I don't have the time to question all of them and I am sure I won't make a mistake by giving the position to you."

Shortly before Schneizel switch back to the group call, the young adjutant started to speak again.

"May I ask a question, Your Highness?"

Schneizel had already eagerly anticipated that sentence. He knew what she was about to ask, after all there was not much she could possibly want to know of him. Pleased he smiled to himself over how well all of this had turned out.
His assumption was confirmed when she took his silence as approval taking her courage in both of her hands.

"Who are you? I've never before heard your voice and although you said you are twelve years, I can't really believe that. Don't you have to attend school during this time of the day?"

"You are right. A twelve year old boy should be in school right now. But by accident I got involved in this treason and as a proud prince of the Britannian Empire I cannot allow such a scandalous action towards my homeland. The lives of hundreds of honest soldiers were at the stake. I had to intervene to prevent the worst. I, Schneizel el Britannia, will always fight with all I got for my country, my home, no matter if I have to break all the rules that exist. The safety of the people should stand above everything else. For that I will gladly accept any punishment my teacher will impose to me. I do not regret anything I have done."

If Schneizel's assumptions were right, Dorothea would now try to help him of her own accord. Without him proposing it she would lie for him justifying his little trip in front of his teacher. Maybe the access code would still be changed, but this test had been worth the small additional effort that would be needed.

"You are so selfless, Highness. I will gladly do anything I can to convince your teacher to not punish you for saving lives. Don't worry. I won't mention what you really did. It should be enough to tell her your attendance at a military operation had been necessary."

Schneizel smiled happily while he thanked her politely and as if this proposal was completely unexpected for him. Quickly he switched back to the group conference to inform the officers of the conversations outcome.

Of course none of them was delighted by it but thinking it was the decision of a seventeen year old princess they accepted it. The resistance was swiftly overcome Dorothea Ernst's confidant demeanour being one of the most important factors. No one defied her orders and if Schneizel would not know better, he would think of the conversation minutes ago as a dream.
With that his job in the control room was done and after he had taken the former adjutants phone number he dismissed them politely but firmly to at least attend the last two lessons. That would give him the possibility to explain his absence immediately lowering the risk of his father noticing his forbidden trip. Hence the affect should be kept as low as possible.

Shortly before he left the call he heard Correia addressing him. It seemed no one had thought it necessary to close her line so she must have been able to listen to the last part of the conversation too. Now that all soldiers and even the interpreter had hang up they could talk privately for the first time.

"I just wanted to thank for making this peace treaty able. After all I heard about the last wars of Britannia this should be unique and I admit honestly I have never think this possibility. Thank you for sparing at least some of my soldiers and me and not insisting on your right of the strong. I'd really like to somehow show my gratitude towards you but I highly doubt a prince of the Britannian Empire would want anything a defeated general is able to give."

Interested Schneizel had followed her broken English. It was always useful to either write down mandatory that someone owed you a favour or redeem it immediately. Because the first was not possible, the prince started to think frantically what he could claim on the spot that may be useful later on. There was one thing that came to his mind and since nothing else seemed good enough to him, he decided to make this small but useful request.
To do so, he only had to make sure Correia was really capable of that.

"How did you know I am not Princess Guinevere?"

It had bothered him all this time that she noticed it although he had spoken fast and through a line with many background noises in a language that was not her mother tongue. Schneizel had already gone through the conversation over and over again but just could not find anything that would have revealed himself. Just how did she know he was a boy?

"So you did notice it?" Her amusement was quite obvious when she answered. "First of all your manner was way too rational. Most women are far more emotional and although there are some dif-deviations I thought it may be a reasonable try. Until now I just assumed that I was incorrect, you just revealed yourself, prince of Britannia."

Although he was a little annoyed about himself, she had encouraged him with her answer. Correia was capable of something he already tried for years without getting better in it. He could do with some help.

"In that case there is something you could do me a favour with. I am not really good at judging people in emotional situations. I just don't understand why they are acting the way they do and am therefore bad to handle this. Could you help me with learning how to –for example– guess peoples' gender just by a conversation?"

Correias laughing was quite unexpected for the prince. Of course he had just revealed a massive amount about himself that only very few people knew. But Correia was miles away and did not even know his name. It was highly unlikely telling her would be dangerous in any way. The use that could come from it was far greater than the threat.

"You say you can't judge people? I think you are greatly underestimating your abilities. Maybe don't understand their actions but you are quite capable of making them do what you want. Otherwise the contract would look a little bit differ. You are also able to predict their actions, so I don't really see what I should teach you. But if it is that important to you, I will aid you in this. Got –pardon me– you got talent and since Venezuela will soon be part of your Empire, wouldn't it be a shame to not teach you, a prince that had saved soldiers of mine, in humane behaviour?"

Schneizel still could not really follow Correia's thoughts. In his eyes it was completely different whether to control people through well-known flaws or to determine these through a simple conversation instead of long-time studies. Despite that he thanked her politely not letting her notice his doubts. He exchanged numbers with her again taking a risk with that. But it was one he was willing to take, since the use would be immense.

With a short look though the room he assured himself that nothing would lead to the fact that he had ever been here killing the man. He even took the bullet that had disrupted him. After he had typed a short explanation onto the monitor he wiped over the keyboard. Potential investigators should at least have some hint and as soon as they found out this man had been a traitor the investigation should stop. No one was interested who killed a spy if that person did not want to show himself.

A few minutes later Schneizel stood in the small elevator that would bring him next to the school. Shortly before he stepped into the room he sent a message to Dorothea Ernst giving her his teacher's phone number.

After he had entered the room but before Mrs Lankford could start scolding him, her suitcase started to ring. Just as expected she only gave him a venomous look searching for her phone agitated. She quickly took the call and seconds later her expression switched from enraged to confused finally turning blank when she realized what she had been told. Without further reacting to Schneizel's enormous delay she sent him to his seat the small movement of her hand lacking the normal strictness.

Pleased the prince seated himself. While his desk neighbour surveyed him interested he took out his things telling him with a short look that it was none of his business. Devoted but disappointed the boy went back to listening to Mrs Lankford. After the lesson the others too would try to bother him but his desk neighbour would know how to deal with them. Kanon's family had always been loyal to the crown and the boy took his task as possible knight quite serious. That was only one of the many qualities he liked in him but also knew how to use. He had been the first person Schneizel had tried to manipulate although it had not gone the way it should. Kanon noticed it after some weeks but still followed the prince despite that. Maybe he should use him for further practical exercises. In his first lesson with Correia he could suggest this. There could be no harm in training the learned immediately and he doubted Kanon would mind. But unfortunately he first had to get over with this lesson in Britannian literature before he could go to more pleasant things.