30th of April, 2025
Rome, Imperial Duchy of Latium, HRE
The rain had been falling heavily on the Eternal City for the last four days, causing several floods, as demonstration that in spite of the extensive urbanistic works ordered by Giulio, there was still a lot to be done. In spite of that terrible weather, Nina Berija had to get on a taxi and leave her place in Garbatella to reach the Emperor at Quirinale, in the centre of Rome.
As she entered the palace, she was welcomed by a butler, who took her upstairs to a sitting room decorated in Napoleonic style. There was Giulio sitting in front of the fireplace, with his loyal hound Anubis next to him. He was reading a book, while drinking some Porto.
"Your Majesty." Said Nina bowing. Immediately the dog rushed in her direction and sniffed her, who remained completely paralysed, terrified by the animal. Then the dog returned to its place, next to its owner.
"He just recognised you as a friend." Said Giulio. "Hounds, especially Hungarian Hounds are very loyal to their owners and brave hunters, but rather inoffensive with other humans, so you should not fear."
At those words, Nina smiled shyly and went forwards.
"Please, make yourself comfortable, may I offer you some Porto or anything else?"
"Some Porto will be fine." She replied while gazing at the book Giulio had left on the table.
"The Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides, are you familiar with it?" Asked Giulio.
"Of course, it was one of my first readings when I went to college."
"An amazing treatise on the human nature and on the dynamics that shape international politics. Isn't impressive to think that in such a long time, so little changed?"
"Well, maybe the answer lies in your first sentence: the human nature."
"So you think it is in human nature to oppress and fight each other?" Questioned Giulio.
"Well, I think these are components of human existence, with which we have to deal."
"So there is no point in you carrying on a battle for the dispossessed, if it's in human nature, the Brits had understood it well."
"Britannia's social darwinism is not inaccurate. But you cannot say I am wrong by carrying on class struggle, once that I belong to the working class and by extension I have to defend the interest of my own class and make sure they prevail, just like you did for the nobility."
"Makes sense, so in your view the historical subject, to rely on Hegel is not the Polis or the nation, but the social class?"
"Exactly."
"So for you history is just a constant fight between different classes to prevail over each other?"
"Yes..." Replied Nina, now less sure.
"But what about Athens vs Sparta, Rome vs. Carthage, the Papacy vs the Empire etc. Normally, in history, the social classes of a same political unity unite against a common enemy."
"Just to a certain extent, after all, didn't the Hilots revolted against the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War? That may be a very exceptional case, but then the whole Roman history is marked by conflict between the plebeians and the nobility, in the Middle Ages you have the Jacqueries and the Bauernkriegs, finally in 1789 the French Revolution."
"Well, you are citing to me some very distinct episodes, some of them that indeed do favour your argument, others less. For example, take the Bauernkrieg: it was a revolt of free peasant and lesser nobility, in response to the attempt, by the higher nobility to reduce them into serfdom for the former or reduce their power for the latter. So I don't deny that this is a kind of conflict that appears, from time to time, when you have the rupture with an established order, because the human nature is instinctively conservative and does not revolts, if the accepted order is maintained. There is more, usually wars make those below more willing to accept the oppression from those above, in order to defeat the common enemy. Anyway, summing up, my point is that you cannot understand all the complexities of history from this perspective."
"You may still have a point on this dynamic of history, but still I am not convinced of the benefits that your authoritarian system should bring. As you just admitted, war benefits the elites, which means that you would be more willing to go to war and indeed you never thought twice before waging a war. In second place, I believe that a democracy, by allowing all the classes to have voice and allowing the rule of the majority, reduces the class struggle, and creates a better environment for everyone.
After saying so, Nina took some of her Porto.
"Democracy presents the advantage of allowing every voice within the State to be heard. But the State is like an organism and cannot be ruled from below. Just like in your body your legs and arms could not decide for your brain. That's why you need a qualified ruling elite, capable of administering without letting the impulses of the people prevail and a monarch above them, to ensure that each component of the Organism-State complies properly with its own function. A monarch ruling alone, on the other hand, would degenerate in a tyrant, an aristocracy overly powerful would quickly turn into an oligarchy and a pure democracy in an oclocracy, ruled by demagogues, that's why I think you need an equilibrium."
"Similar to Polibius..." Said Nina looking at her glass. "Well, in this case, I will gladly be de democratic element in your monarchical-aristocratic government." Concluded the girl.
Giulio drank some more of his Porto. He was now feeling reassured by the person his sister and Oldrin had decided to put at the head of the Syndicalist Movement.
'Very well.' He thought by himself. 'She is definitely not as mediocre as I thought.'
1st of May, 2025
Aberdeen, Constituent Country of Scotland, Holy Empire of Britannia
Half past midnight, while most of the Romans and the Britannians were peacefully sleeping, the Operation Jacobite was about to begin. Commanding the operation was Prince Schneizel of Wales, Crown Prince of Britannia, who was monitoring the whole operation from the deck of the SMS Wotan, a modern missile cruiser of the Roman Imperial Navy, send by Admiral Borghese to give support to the operation.
At 00:12 the first unit of the HM Loyalist Army, the 1st Loyalist Gurkhas Regiment, led by the Cornelia li Britannia, landed in Aberdeen, on the Eastern Scottish coast, slaughtering the local Britannian garrison.
"Tyrconnell to Wotan, the Highlands rise." Announced Cornelia.
"To all the units, the Highlands are rising, repeat, the Highlands are rising." Announced Schneizel at the radio.
The second unit to land in Scotland was the Loyalist Airborne Brigade, who landed in Aberdeen with the support of the Imperial Roman Air Force. In the meantime, at 00:40 the Knights of Camelot, led by Gino Weinberg and Nonnette Enneagram, landed with the 3rd Loyalist Highland Regiment in Dundee, where they were joined by the Black Watch and the Imperial Scots. Soon after, with the naval and air support of Rome, more units of the Her Majesty's Loyalist Army landed in Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness, taking by surprise the regular forces of Britannia.
Balmoral Castle, 02:00 a.m.
Nunnally was woke up abruptly by the sound of fire and combat all around her castle. She tried to ring the bells to call the servants, yet nobody came. She then tried to yell them twice, still nothing. She decided to remain at bed, waiting for someone to come.
The combat became closer and closer to her apartment. There was people crying, others firing, then some melee fights, then silence. The door of her room was then taken down and in front of her appeared a Scottish officer, that she recognised from his kilt as being member of the Empress' Own Cameron Highlanders. The man saluted her.
"Your Majesty, I am colonel Adam Douglas-Stuart, Earl of Moray and commander the Empress' Own Cameron Highlanders, at your service."
"At ease, Lord Moray." Replied Nunnally. "Would you like to update me on the situation?"
"Naturally, Your Majesty. Your brother, the Prince of Wales has landed with a loyalist army in Aberdeen and with the support of your local supporters, is seeking to liberate Britannia from the Londoner usurpers. As this happened me and the other members of the Scottish Army found ourselves to choose between the side of the Regent or that of Your Majesty. Once that our oath goes to Your Majesty in first place, we had no doubt about where to stand."
Suddenly, Nunnally felt happy and hopeful.
"That's amazing, so, what are the orders now? Should we leave for Aberdeen?"
"If you wish so, Your Majesty. Yet your brother has recommended that you stay here in Balmoral until the area won't be under full control of the Loyalist Army. He is also sending here Lady Nonnette Enneagram to ensure your personal safety and a Roman medical team, which should help with your health issue and with your transportation to a safer place when will be the time."
"Thank God! I knew my prayers would be heard! In this case I won't move from here, but I will give my contribution by launching an appeal to the Britannian people, I know I cannot do much to help, but the little I can do I will."
Wilhelmshaven, Kingdom of Prussia, 04:30
Emperor Giulio, together with Anya, his military staff and King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia had all reached the port of Wilhelmshaven, in Western Germany, early in the morning, in order to be able to monitor the Operation Jacobite.
"No, no, no, they have taken way too long." Said Giulio looking at the situation on the digital maps.
"By this point they should have occupied the whole of Scotland, instead they are still stuck in the Eastern part." Observed Lord Scipione Borghese.
"May I intervene with my new frame?" Asked Anya.
"No way! You are staying here. This is not an operation of our regular forces. We can only give some air and naval support." Replied Giulio.
"If they fail, do we have at least a plan to rescue Nunnally and the leaders of the operation?" Asked the King of Prussia.
The Chief of the Army, Count Otto von Moltke his head: "As His Majesty has said, we cannot intervene, they will have to get out of there by themselves."
"Excuse me." Called a female operator with a Eastern European accent. "Looks like the Britannians have ordered a full scale counter-offensive. They have mobilised all the forces of the Home Islands Command and also all the air squadrons."
Giulio shook his head. "Shit, we will have to recall our air forces. We cannot engage Britannia's forces in this moment."
The young emperor then called Schneizel, who was still on board of the SMS Wotan.
"Schneizel, order the rescuing of Nunnally and get your men out of here." Ordered Giulio as soon as the Prince of Wales appeared on the screen.
"Can't you give us some further support? We will try another offensive..."
"Schneizel, you should have done it three hours ago! Now the whole Home Islands Command is mobilised and in less than one hour they will be on you with ground, air and naval forces. Get the Hell out of there!"
Schneizel nodded.
"Right, I will do my best, for how long will you be able to give us support?"
"Thirty minutes in an optimistic estimate." Replied Baron Herbert von Richthofen, Commander of the Imperial Roman Air Force.
"The Navy will still be able to stay there for one hour, after that, in order to remain, we will be forced to engage the Britannian forces." Informed Duke Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, commander of the Imperial Roman Navy.
"Well, you got it, Schneizel, now you figure out what you will do."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Replied the Britannian Prince, turning off the communication.
The Britannian Forces however advanced much faster than they expected and soon they began to attack the Loyalist Army in several key positions, including the city of Dundee, where the Knights of Camelot, led by Gino Weinberg, did their best to resist. Up North, the 1st Airborne Division of the Britannian Army landed at the Balmoral Castle, surrounding it and engaging the Cameron Highlanders and Nonnette Enneagram.
"The Britannian air forces are shooting down our planes!" Informed an operator. "Our ships are withdrawing."
"Who gave that stupid order?" Shouted Giulio. "Tell Admiral De Suffren that the ships shall stay where they are, unless he wants to go to the court martial!"
"Should we mobilise our air wings located in Norway and Denmark?" Asked Richthofen.
"Yes, definitely! We have been attacked first, so let's strike back." Replied Giulio.
"In this case, I will order them to establish air superiority over Scotland, Your Majesty."
Giulio nodded without saying a word.
"As a matter of facts, you don't want our fleet to withdraw, but you haven't sent them any help and probably the Brits are about to send their submarines on them." Observed Anya referring to Giulio. "Let's send a detachment of destroyers from Norway."
"We could send the 15 destoyers docked in Oslo." Suggested the Duke of Aosta.
"I am also in favour of that." Said Borghese.
"Well, you may proceed."
Another hour passed and by this point the Sun had risen and Scotland had become a battlefield. The Loyalist Army was now chased back to the coastal cities, with the Balmoral Castle completely cut off. At sea, the submarines of the Britannian Navy had attempted to strike at the Roman fleet, but were intercepted by the destroyers sent from the Kingdom of Norway. Furthermore, the Romans had sent 4 air wings, two of them equipped with the P-50, the most recent generation of fighter produced by the Panavia.
As the Scottish Highlands were turning red with the blood of Loyalists and Regular Forces, from Balmoral, Nunnally decided to launch an appeal to her people. She had decided to wait until the morning, assuming that there would be a greater chance to be heard by her countrymen, rather than at night, while most of the country was still sleeping.
"Sons of Britannia,
During the night an army of people Loyal to the Crown has landed in Scotland, where helped by the Scotsmen has began a struggle to liberate our beloved Britannia from the usurpers that sit in London and claim to act on my behalf. They claimed I was incapable of ruling, but this was false, I am here and leading this uprising against the usurpers. That's what they are, the Government sitting in London has no legitimacy whatsoever, the sovereignty comes from the Crown, not from the Parliament. I therefore call upon you, as your Sovereign, to revolt against the usurper and join the only legitimate Britannian forces."
London, Holy Empire of Britannia
Duke Henry of Mercia was sitting in his office, in his palace in Piccadilly Avenue, triumphantly smoking a cigar and drinking whisky, when David Ablett entered in a rush.
"In Wales you don't follow the tradition of knocking at the door?" Asked Lord Mercia with indifference.
"Apologies, Milord..."
"No worries, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be in Westminster?"
"I have delayed the gathering of the Workers' Council of one hour, as I wanted to discuss this document first, Sir." He replied showing to the Duke a folder.
"The Republic Act? What's to be discussed about it?"
"Well, it's something without any precedent in Britannia's history."
"We are making history, my friend! Times are mature: Edward VIII van Britannia, Charles zi Britannia, Lelouch zi Britannia and Nunnally zi Britannia, all of them have proved disastrous rulers, capable only of imposing tyranny, killing their close kin and betraying their people. We will now proclaim a republic under the banners of nationalism and syndicalism, disband that medieval legacy called House of Lords, call for a Constituent Assembly and create something completely new, a Revolutionary State."
"Sir, but will this pass through the House of Lords?"
Lord Mercia laughed.
"The only Lords left, by this point, are those who are committed with the Revolution, not many, I will admit, but enough to pass this act."
"One last thing, what will then do with Empress Nunnally? She is not mentioned anywhere here?"
"She will cease to be a problem by the evening, now go! You have to be in Parliament!"
Balmoral Castle, Constituent Country of Scotland, Holy Britannian Empire
The castle had fallen. After a fierce resistance, the men of the Cameron Highlanders were overrun by the Regular Forces. The last dozen of soldiers, with Nonnette Enneagram and Nunnally, had now retreated to the Craigowan Lodge, at around one mile from the main castle, seeking to oppose a last desperate resistance, in the hope that some rescue could come.
Nunnally was waiting in the main hall, on her wheelchair and covered with a blanket. Outside she could heard the last soldiers giving their best to defend her.
'Am I really worthy so much sacrifice?' She wondered. Indeed, she started thinking all her trajectory, at least since Lelouch had started the Black Rebellion. During all that time, she had little to no influence over the events that developed around her. Most of the time she served as an instrument for the ambitions of others. Maybe she should have never accepted becoming the Empress, Schneizel or Cornelia would have done a much better job. Ironically, they were both fighting for her now, while the only thing she could do was a pointless and desperate appeal to her own people. She then thought that at least she could count on good friends who always sought to help her: the students from the Ashford Academy (Milly, Rivalz and Shirley, who faced a tragic fate), Suzaku, during part of her life, Giulio and Anya. At least, she thought, if her life was to finish on that morning, she could say she had a good life, even without having been a particularly good ruler.
The fight outside the Craigowan Lodge continued for some more time. Nonnette Enneagram was then the last to fall to the overwhelming regular forces, then the silence fell upon the Lodge. It remained so for few instants, until the door was shot down and a group of soldiers entered the place, with their guns pointed. They were then followed by an officer, a Brigadier General, Nunnally could tell, who held in his hands a syringe. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Wel, well, well." Said the officer. "Time to end your pain."
