'I do not like assassinations, but knowledge of history has taught me that eliminating a possible threat before it becomes one is sometimes better for all.'

Alexander Andreas Gustavus Di Britannia.

It had happened, Marianne was dead. Her palace was destroyed, her children outcast. I was not able to intervene; it had happened the one week I was away.

I suppose some things are inevitable.

The event did fill me with sadness, Lelouch and I had bonded a bit over the past few weeks. Our games of Krieg had gotten more frequent and became more challenging to both of us. I found that the young man had evolved a sort of sibling rivalry towards me.

Meanwhile, spending time with Lulu meant spending time with the three demons. Those are of course Nunna, Milly and Euphie. The three girls seemed to hunt down Lulu on a regular basis, often spending most of their days with him. It would be amusing if they didn't drag me into their strange adventures with them.

I was sad at what happened and despaired at my inability to do anything about it. These where things I was not at all good at, emotions. I felt like I was dealing, but then again I don't really have anything to measure this to.

I was to depart to the Imperial academy soon, the institute that thought all high class people the art of war.

….

Cornelia had given over my training to my new academy instructor, one Nonette Enneagram the knight of nine and a personal friend of hers. Nonette was an interesting character, fun loving, sarcastic, easy to talk to. She was also a vindictive bitch, one with a bullying fetish.

What she put me through made my training under Nelly look like a high school gym class. At least I was not going through it alone, her other apprentices were right beside me during it. Dorothea Ernst and Marius Ernst were their names. Dorothea I had heard about, I was pretty sure she was to become one of the Rounds later in life, but Marius was completely strange to me.

We had struck up a quick friendship, bonding under the tender, hellish ministrations of our teacher. Physical training alone was something I would not wish on my worst enemy, I had to run further this past week then I have in my entire past life.

The tactical training was something I blazed through at an incredible speed, I devoured theory and crushed all practical training. This was in contrast to the Ernst siblings, who seemed to have problems in this department.

Knightmare training was a different beast all together, the tree of us started out roughly equal in skill. But that soon changed as we specialized. Dorothea specialized in long range combat, taking apart frames in a single shot or picking them apart slowly if they were too heavy.

Meanwhile Marius became a close-range brawler, often using stun tonfas or even his Knightmares fists to get in an enemy's guard. Seeing as I was often set to spar against him, I learned to keep my distance.

I myself took to a weapon I never expected too, the spear. Whilst I had primarily worked on swordplay until now and was a master of the blade, the spear was a different matter altogether.

The spear was a tool as much as a weapon, originally created for hunters to kill game. Later adapted for warfare it was next to the Axe one of the first true weapons. The spear had hundreds if not thousands of different shapes and sizes each with its own techniques and strategy. My personal frame was equipped with double headed Partisan, a cutting spear with two shorter sharpened prongs forming a sort of cross-guard.

The weapon and I just worked; it was as if a part of the old me was returned when I wielded it. By just shifting my grip I could keep an enemy at a distance or close the range to counter a strike, it gave me a sense of control that I felt I did not truly have in my old and partially lacked in this one. Plus with it I could beat both the Ernst's one on one and could win against both at the same time frequently.

I feel like it is the challenge it brought was part of it too of course, with the sword I won every spar, with the spear it was a challenge, and most importantly, fun.

….

News from the war reached us frequently, Japan's fleets had been firmly beaten just a week before. One Lord Admiral Grey taking out most of it in the battle of Midway. The first Knightmare frames had just made landfall in the Kanto region while Chinese federation troops were marshaling in Korea.

The generals knew that they had to defeat Japan before the federation could intervene. They were the main threat at this point despite their prior engagement in India, for the European-Middle Eastern Union war was still going on, they had been feuding over north and west Africa for years and territories had declared independence and joined the Middle-Eastern-Union.

That war was going to last for a while, and the EU would be unable to intervene beyond token participation. The federation however was in the process of finishing its second conquest of India and was soon to be more than ready to fight Britannia with its battle hardened already mobilized army.

I already knew how it was going to end however, the Knightmare frames would crush Japans army into the ground and would proceed to fortify the islands before the Chinese could mount an offence. Thus, forcing the Federation to back down or risk losing much of its army.

The increasingly active land combat meant that Nonette was drawn away from the homeland, leaving the three of us in the care of the officer core. Lucky us. Despite the far more boring education we still excelled. I took to the strategic command aspects with vigor whilst Doro and Ri took too more operational command.

….

"Duke Ashford, it is good to see you again."

"You as well Your highness, though I wish it were on better terms."

"Yes I is quite sad what is happening." And it was, with Marianne gone, the rivals of the Ashford's had fallen upon the Ashford's with a vengeance. Short of their Ganymede research and their title they had lost everything. "Let us get to the matter at hand, my father has seen fit to grant me a chunk of land in Japan, or Area Eleven as its about to be called."

"I don't quite understand where you are going with this..."

"I would like to offer you this land to do wish as you please, far away from the machinations of court and under my nominal protection."

The man's face shifted to a serious expression, analyzing me. Searching my face for reason, for what I wanted. He was renowned for his intelligence and observational skill, something he was bringing to bear in full.

"Why."

"My company has interest in the future of Knightmare development. I want the designs to the Ganymede to work from, the Ganymede will still belong to you, of course. I just want a to give my top researchers a look, so they have a better base to work of off then just the Glasgow."

The man gave me a sceptical look, before nodding to me. I knew I had him. What wonderful things I could do with those blueprints!

Well I don't know really, Harris just said that it would be beneficial and I trust his judgement on this kind of thing.

….

"This is a bad idea Andre!" the growling whisper of Marius cut through the airshaft. "Explain why we are doing this again."

"To take revenge against the guys badgering your sister."

"Yeah Ri, where's the familial loyalty!" Dora's voice responded; the secretly lesbian woman had been harassed by some of the noble sons in the academy. The men did not respect the word no and we were going to teach them a lesson.

"Yeah, yeah, I just wish we could have gone through the front door."

"I know you like the direct approach Ri, but it isn't always a good idea."

"And I would like to see another one of Andre's crazy plans work out, always gives me the chuckles."

We finished our crawl soon, dropping into the armory locker room. We soon found our targets dress uniforms and began our work.

….

Listening to the general berate the five morons was music to my ears, despite the fact that he was covered in permanent red paint the man struck quite the intimidating figure. My plan had worked our perfectly, the second the boys had made the standard military salute the balls of paint in their berets had gone off as did the charges hidden into their standard briefs, bruising their jewels. As one can understand hell had broken loose as the guards had assumed the boys shot their rifles without permission.

Honestly while these little thing were entertaining I had found myself bored more and more often than not.

….

It was nearly a year before we the end of our time at the academy, Nonnette had returned to us a few months after the official creation of area 11. We had a year filled with fun and friendship and a few flings that joined us for a few weeks. Yet the four of us remained a tight group of friends, we faced our challenges together.

I was promoted to Major after our graduation and to be given a posting in the east of the homeland, a fairly standard thing for a prince of princess entering the military. Meanwhile Doro became a lieutenant and apprentice to Nonnette, the promise of a place on the Rounds was a greater thing than I could offer at this point. Marius however would become my knight of honour in a grand ceremony; promoted to Captain along with it the two us would face life together as brothers.

This past year has meant so much to me. So much I cant even begin to express it really, the four of us were more than my friends, we are brothers and sisters, not by blood but by bond, and I knew that despite the fact that we would most likely not see much of our sisters we would meet again and nothing would have changed. I had come to terms with the fact that I could now feel, you know, feelings, and felt I have become greater for it.

All was as expected in my life, being given command of a base in California was a common thing for royalty, perfectly normal. Of course that was such until I was given notice that my father wished an audience with me. I was to head for Pendragon immediately.

…

Pendragon was a city build just over hundred years ago, the Imperial palace dominated the skyline, a shining white marble building taller than all but the greatest skyscrapers.

I had not been back here in years, the city and I clashed on some primal level. Being in it just made me uncomfortable, never mind the people that lived here, backstabbers were not just common here, they were the general populace. Does anyone remember the description of Kingslanding in GGRM's game of thrones? Pendragon did not smell like that but it was still a pile of shit pretending to be glorious.

"Are you doing okay Andre?" Marius asked beside me, he seemed moderately less annoyed than I was. Yet I knew he did not like being here, a black person did not exactly have it easy in Britannia, it seemed racism had not changed even when I changed earths, despite being born true Britannian's Marius and Dorothea did not have it easy. I would not either, my mother being descendant from a Greek noble family, but my father being the emperor made it easier, and unlike the Vi Britannia's we were still descendant from nobility.

"Not good exactly Ri, but I will make do." I answered him in my normal calm tone. "I am curious about why my father wishes to speak to me however."

"Can't say I have any idea about that, do you even remember the last time you spoke with the Emperor?"

"When I was ten and first introduced to him, I nearly shit myself back then."

He smiled; I turned my mind back to the rapidly approaching palace. We had taken a mag train line that led straight into the palace to avoid both traffic and reporters. For that I was glad, if there was one creature on this world in truly despised it was the reporter.

The train came to a stop and we got off, a pair of royal guards guided us through the palace towards a pair of giant doors. I knew this room, I realized, heaving read about the great war-room of the empire. If we were meeting here, I could guess what was likely to happen. The guards opened the door for us and inside I found a small gathering of people.

Foremost among them was my father, my mother, my sister Guinevere, Nelly, Schneizel, A General by the name of Mac-Arthur, the man who had organized the invasion of Japan and Lord Admiral Grey the man who orchestrated the defeat of the Japanese Imperial Navy, truly a gathering of some of the most powerful people in the empire.

I kneeled quickly, showing the respect required, internally chaffing at the idea of it.

"I am at your command your Majesty."

"Major Alexander," My father began, his voice booming out above everything around, "I have a challenge for you."

He stepped towards a table where a set was placed out. One I instantly recognized, Kriegsspiel. Napoleons war for Europe. This was not the Napoleonic invasion of my old world, where Napoleon was forced back. This was the world where he had won against all odds, and forged his grand republic of Europe.

"Will you play?"

"Of course, you highness."

The game started as all did, determining the sides, the others here I discovered, were not all observers but players as well. This was a game that would take a while, I realized, maybe even a few days.

Snitzal would be playing Britannia. Cornelia was Russia, Mac-Arthur was playing as Prussia, Lord Gray as the Spanish, Guinevere was Portugal and I was left to Austria.

Lastly my father was playing France, outnumbered and pressed into a corner.

What happened was not at all what I expected, normally in this scenario France gets dog piled and the other players went into a free for all afterwards. Yet the Emperor managed to beat the Prussians, British and Spanish in three separate battles where he was outnumbered every time.

In the course two hour my father capitulated Spain, Portugal and Prussia and forced them to join his side. As well as effectively taking Britain out of the war when he destroyed their navy at the Canaries. I was not doing great exactly, but it could be worse. Whilst I had lost a great number of troops to battle in both Germany and Italy I had managed to keep hold on my lands and even managed to take control of Silesia and Napoli.

The situation had been tenable until the Emperor beat Prussia into submission, a confrontation was near, France had massed its armies on the border of the German states and was gathering more troops every month. Meanwhile Russia was still recovering from their last defeat and would not be able to spare more than a trinket force.

Britannia was worse off, without most of its navy they were nearly useless. No matter how good Schneizel was at politics it mattered not when he had no ships to provide assistance.

So it would seem to be up to me, I have an army of 175.000 soldiers around Vienna, with 50.000 troops in Silesia on the way south. Nelly had sent me some 20.000 Russians conscripts, unreliable as conscripts were, it was not a big aid.

Against me were the bulks of the French and Prussian armies as well as Bavarian, Spanish and Portuguese troops. The French alone numbered 200.000, the Prussians added 50.000 the minor contingents another 60.000. I was outnumbered but still held a single advantage, the forests and mountains of southern Germany.

It could not be left to a single confrontation; I would lose any battle where the Emperor could bring even equal numbers right now, not while he is calm and focused. As much as I hate to admit it I am outmatched at this point, my father was a true master of the game and I was not even close to his level on the field.

…..

He observed his brother closely, Schneizel knew a strategist when he saw him and Alexander had potential to be as good if not better then him. Maybe with enough practice he could equal their father.

Despite being outnumbered and facing a superior commander Alexander managed to inflict causalities far beyond his own upon the enemy army. His victory at the black forest was stunning, shattering his fathers Cavalry and cutting his supply for an in game month.

The Emperor was annoyed he could tell, fighting a guerrilla war in Spain was a stressful thing, the Russians rushing to get another army ready was putting pressure on the fight against Austria. He winced internally as Alexander took out another small force before retreating, French numbers were beginning to dwindle and the Russians had cornered the Prussians, again.

His father was moving to force a battle however, one that could not be ignored, the threat of losing Vienna could not be ignored. 190.000 Frenchmen being on their way there, facing a force of some 180.000 Austrian and Russian troops, a close fight by any means. Thought the numbers would favour the Emperor, the terrain would favour Alexander.

Reinforcements were on the way for both sides, but it was unsure whom would win the first stages of the battle Alexander had setup with his right to the Danube, having set some of his Cannon up on a river island. A good strategy for defending against a static army, however it made moving the batteries nearly impossible and would commit him to a defence.

….

Cornelia smirked, this was what she enjoyed about the Kriegspiel, a clash between two commanders of great skill. Andre was holding his own, fighting in a way he did not prefer with a solid line and continues barrages. She knew his style, quick manoeuvres, exploiting any and all weaknesses, then settling the matter in a single battle on grounds of his choosing.

She would freely admit that she was not good at handling the lightning strikes of her brother. But her father did well against them, taking the losses while continuing on to his goals, forcing Alexandre into a battle not to his advantage.

She chuckled internally, having been handed control over the Russian contingent and following Andre's plan to the letter. Marching slowly along the northern bank of the Danube, if this worked she would own Andre a favour.

Beating her father in a battle like this was a thing she had wanted to do for a long time.

…

This was going better than I expected but worse than I hoped, the line was holding but the Emperor was bringing in reinforcements far faster then I was. Cornelia was doing what I had asked and soon we could pincer, using the forces I had gathered in Silisia and her Russians I could break them, but the line has to hold.

I noticed my father pushing harder, he must know that he has to break me quickly. He was committing the Republican guard, aiming to shatter the centre. I could not let that happen, time to commit my tiebreaker.

….

His eyebrows rose up quickly, he had to commend his brothers thinking on this one, he had forgotten completely about the Austrian fleet, too small to make any difference against the French. But sailing the ships up the Danube? A brilliant move, the French Republican guards were shattered, and the Austrians held the advantage once more.

Sneizel openly smiled at the sight, his father had a blank expression hiding his emotions perfectly. But he knew the man was frustrated by the turn of events, even though the battle was far from lost for the French, victory was not sure anymore.

…..

He had won the battle but it cost him the war, destroying the French army of Germany was the only thing he was focused on. That had cost him the war, he had forgotten about the Italian front.

Despite his hard fought victory at the Danube the war was over, yet he had given it his all and could not be disappointed to much.

"You did well Alexander." The Emperors voice boomed out, quieting the after game conversation in an instant, "Kneel."

My eyes widened as I took a knee in front of him, lowering my head I felt the blade of a sword softly tap my shoulder.

"I hereby promote you Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia to General of the Empires 16th combined task force. Rise young Lion." My eyes were still wide as I rose to my feet, the Emperor motioned for me to follow so I did. Nelly and Schneizel close behind we entered a separate room, lined with screens.

With the push of a button the screens popped on to reveal a series of maps.

"The 16th task forces job will be simple." The Emperor gestured to a map beside him, "Iceland must be secured while the Europeans are still fighting the Arabs, you three will each have a part in this." He nodded to Cornelia before continuing. "My daughter, you will take command of the 5th army again, to be deployed to the border Area 8's northern territory prepare a position where you could strike either the Euros or the Arabs"

"Yes, father."

"Schneizel you will be in constant communication with Paris, make sure that the Euros stay out of this." He sent Schneizel a stern look, "Make sure of it."

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Now young Lion, you will lead the assault." He put a hand on my shoulder and I noticed that despite my impressive height he still towered over me by far. "The 16th is a force cobbled together from all we could spare from our Atlantic forces. You will have the carrier Douglas and its escorts, along with older vessels stripped from the rest of the Atlantic fleet."

"When will we attack father?"

"You will have three weeks to plan, then you must strike."

"I have a single request then father." I spoke in apprehension. My fathers gaze hardened then and his words were measured.

"Speak it."

"I wish your permission to gather a Special Forces group under my direct command. I feel I will be able to do a lot with such a force."

It was not obvious but the corner of my father's mouth turned up slightly and his eyes shined in strange warmth.

"Granted young Lion, now my children, get to work."

….

'No Clovis I will not let you design uniforms for my Special forces division, I don't want them to have rainbow colored uniforms just because it's in the name.'

Alexander Andreas Gustavus Di Britannia.