Reconquista Command Center, Londinium, 1544 hours
William Grenville, Earl of Bath and commander of the 21st Regiment of Foot, strode into Reconquista's headquarters with a grim expression on his face. He had just received disturbing news from Reconquista's spies in Tristain, and quickly grasping the gravity of the situation, he had ridden on his dragon with all possible speed from his command post in Newcastle to Reconquista's de facto capital, where the rest of Reconquista's high-ranking members have gathered to map out a battle plan against the royalist forces under James I, House of Tudor, and to take the royalist stronghold as soon as possible, putting an end to the Albionian Civil War.
Grenville knocked three times on the door of the conference room, where the meeting was being held, before letting himself inside. Bowing before the gathered nobles, he turned to the leader of the group.
"Your Highness, please forgive my intrusion, but I bring grave news from our spies in Tristain," Grenville began, before withdrawing a scroll from his tunic and presenting it to his leader.
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector and grand leader of Reconquista, took the scroll and unrolled it, taking his time to read the report. After a moment, he turned to his subordinates.
"Fouquet has been captured by soldiers of unknown origin," he began. "They possess weapons far more powerful than what anyone has witnessed so far. This is a clear sign of heresy, one that Brimir would not allow to pass."
He turned to one of the nobles in the room. "Viscount Wardes, what else have your spies been able to discover?"
Jean-Jacques Francis de Wardes, a man in his mid-thirties with long gray hair and beard, spoke up.
"These soldiers are believed to be under the command of one of the student's familiars. My fiancée, Louise Vallière, turns out to be a void mage."
Cromwell's eyes widened at this revelation. "A void mage, you say? She will be useful in our campaign against the elves. Together with the Ring of Andvari, total victory will be at hand, and we will soon reclaim the holy land from those heretics."
The Lord Protector glared at Wardes. "Viscount, I want you to retrieve Fouquet from Tristain's dungeons. I need everyone present for the fall of the Tudors."
Wardes smirked. "It shall be done, Your Highness. Long live Reconquista."
Tristanian Countryside, 1302 hours
Louise spurred her horse on towards the royal palace, the seat of the Tristanian government. Behind her, 1st Platoon, Arnhem Company, riding onboard five Challenger IIs from B Troop, glanced around them, surveying the surrounding area for threats; despite the technological supremacy that they possess, Julius had ordered them to stay alert before leaving the academy. He did not want his men and the Hussars to be caught off guard in the wake of Fouquet's attack during the familiar exhibition.
Two klicks away from the palace, Louise slowed her horse down to a stop, as did the Challengers, allowing Julius and the Lancastrians to disembark. The platoon then proceeded to the palace on foot while the Hussars pulled over to the side of the road to conceal their tanks using whatever vegetation they could find. As the platoon followed Louise, who rode on horseback, Travis took the moment to address his platoon.
"Just a reminder, lads. Don't get any funny ideas in front of her highness. I'm looking at you, Brunswick!" He glared at the man in question.
Kingsman Carl Brunswick, 1st Platoon's resident troublemaker, just winked at Travis as the rest of the platoon snickered at the aforementioned kingsman's expense.
"You won't hear a thing from me, lieutenant. I don't see how I could get in trouble right now, of all times," Carl smirked.
"Getting flat-out drunk, stripping nude in public, and engaging in a brawl at the local pub all at the same night would say otherwise, Kingsman, so I don't wanna hear it from you," Travis snapped. At this, the platoon jeered at Carl, who just took it in stride.
"Ah, yes, I remember that one. Fun times," he remarked with what could only be described as a shit-eating grin on his face, causing the platoon to chuckle yet again and his platoon sergeant to smack him upside the head.
"Shut the fuck up, Carl," the platoon sergeant hissed into Carl's ear.
Carl rubbed the back of his head. "Aye, sarge, shutting up now."
The lieutenant, for his part, just shook his head and turned his attention to the road ahead. "Fuck my life," he muttered, his palm meeting his face.
Louise couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Sir Julius, am I hearing things right?" she asked, flabbergasted.
Julius just sighed. "He's one of the few troublemakers we have in our battalion, but he knows when it's time to get serious," he said. "Lt. Knight did make sure that he'd administer correctional training to the entire platoon if one of them manages to mess up, and let me tell you, his methods are… let's just say that whoever's on the receiving end of his training will feel sore for the next two days. Isn't that right, lieutenant?"
Travis let out a long-suffering groan. "I already told the lads what would happen once someone screws up. Suffice to say that they got the message, especially Brunswick here."
Julius barely managed to stop himself from bursting out laughing at his lieutenant's expression as Louise scowled at the major and the platoon.
"Remind me again why I'm stuck with you and your men, sir Julius?" the mage huffed exasperatedly.
Julius just merely shrugged. "Maybe it's because we're the most powerful force anyone has seen in this world? You tell me," he snarked.
Louise sighed. "Brimir help me," she moaned.
Tristanian Royal Palace, 1325 hours
Upon arriving at the palace, with the Lancastrians marching in parade formation behind Louise, 1st Platoon halted and formed up, with Henrietta curiously inspecting the men. Julius guided the princess throughout the inspection, answering any questions she asked. After a few minutes, the platoon was ordered to stand by, with fraternization with their Tristanian counterparts being kept at a minimum in order to maintain a semblance of professionalism.
Inside the palace, the princess, the mage, and the officer exchanged pleasantries, with Lionel keeping watch a few feet behind Julius.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation to come to the palace, Louise Françoise, sir Julius," Henrietta stated. Louise managed to maintain an air of dignity as she kept her excitement in check, coming face to face with her friend. Julius, meanwhile, stood at attention beside the mage, his rifle slung on his shoulder.
"We figured that you needed us for something important, your highness, so we couldn't simply refuse your summons," Louise replied.
Henrietta nodded, standing up from her throne. "As a matter of fact, yes, this is important. Louise, sir Julius, I would like to thank you both."
Confused, Louise and Julius glanced at each other before turning towards Henrietta, who closed the distance between them.
"Louise Françoise, in recognition for your efforts in stopping Fouquet after several months at large, it is my honor to bestow upon you the title of Chevalier. Congratulations, and well done," the princess said, surprising both the mage and the officer.
Louise stared open-mouthed at the princess, utterly dumbstruck by what she had just heard.
"Louise, you'll catch flies in your mouth," Julius hissed. The pink-haired mage quickly recovered as she addressed the princess.
"Thank you, your highness, but I don't deserve the honor of such a prestigious title. After all, I didn't do anything to help in capturing her, it was sir Julius and his men who had done it," Louise blurted out.
The princess merely smiled. "Please remember that your familiar is an extension of you. And as such, I can say that your familiar's actions have made you worthy of the title," she said, causing Louise to blush.
Henrietta then turned her attention to Julius. "I would like to thank you as well, sir Julius. You and your men have done an excellent job of neutralizing Fouquet," she beamed at him.
The major bowed, tightly gripping his sling to keep his rifle in place. "I just did what I had to do in order to ensure the safety of everyone during the attack on the academy. We wouldn't know what would have happened if we had allowed her to escape with the M72, or the Staff of Destruction, as you call it," Julius replied.
Henrietta nodded in agreement and held out her hand. "I do hope that you will continue to protect my dearest friend in the days to come. Can I count on you on that one?"
Julius took the princess's hand, leaning down to kiss it.
"Your highness, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment and the King's Royal Hussars are always ready to protect her. If anyone wants to cause her any harm, they'll have to get through us."
He turned to Louise. "You've seen what we're capable of. Our army is one of the best in our world, we've seen many battles. Trust me when I say this, we're professionals at what we do."
"Seven hundred and fifty men, plus eighteen tanks. I can't see how anyone could take on an entire battalion with armored support and come out alive, let alone unscathed," Lionel added.
Julius chuckled. "British firepower at its finest."
Henrietta then cleared her throat. "There is one other reason why I called you here, Louise Françoise. I want you to head to Charleroi in the southeast. I have heard rumors about nobles abusing their power there. I made an inquiry regarding this, but the local populace there said that the nobles there were treating them fairly and would never mistreat them, going so far as to say that the nobles there were good role models. But after the incident with Count Mott, I highly doubt that what they say is true."
Julius frowned at this piece of information as Henrietta took out a scroll from her coat, passing it to Louise.
"This is an official sanction from the palace. I want you to observe around the town for any signs of abuse. Remember, this is to be done in total secrecy," she ordered.
Louise looked at the scroll, then back to Henrietta.
"You want us to do some espionage in Charleroi for you?" she asked.
Henrietta nodded. "You're the only one I can trust on this, Louise Françoise. This task will be an arduous one," she stated.
Louise looked at her friend and princess straight in the eye, determination written on her face.
"I'll do everything I can to accomplish this, your highness, even if this costs my life," she said with and air of confidence.
Lionel keyed his comms. "Dagger 1 to Broadsword 1-1, come in, over,"
Julius turned to his company commander. "Bristol?" he inquired.
"Reconnaissance, sir," Lionel mouthed.
Julius nodded. "Carry on."
"Broadsword 1-1 to Dagger 1, reading you five by five, over," Travis responded.
"Dagger 1, you are to prep for infiltration to Charleroi to the southeast once we return to the academy, break. Your task is to root out the nobles who may have been abusing their authority, break. Broadsword 2-1 will set up two klicks northwest of the objective and will provide assistance if things go south, over," Lionel relayed the information.
"Broadsword 1-1 to Dagger 1, interrogative: what is the duration of this op, and how far is it from the capital, over?" Travis inquired.
"Broadsword 1-1, wait one, over." Lionel turned to the trio in front of him. Henrietta and Louise were looking on in confusion as he communicated with his platoon commander.
"This device attached to my helmet allows me to stay in touch with everyone in our unit, thus eliminating the need for runners," he tapped his mic, answering their unspoken question.
Henrietta blinked. "That's… rather convenient, I must say," she said.
Lionel then steered them back to the matter at hand. "Your highness, how many days will this take? And what's the distance from here to Charleroi?"
Henrietta leaned on her scepter. "Charleroi is three hours away from the capital. This task should hopefully take no more than three days."
She turned to Julius. "You will have two days to prepare. I'll provide as many horses as you need for the journey to Charleroi. For your funding, I will entrust you with 400 new gold for this task." She beckoned a servant, who stepped forward and gave her a pouch containing the mentioned amount of money.
Lionel keyed his comms again.
"Dagger 1 to Broadsword 1-1, Charleroi is three hours away on horseback. According to the princess, the op should last for three days. We'll have two days to get everything sorted out, how copy?"
"Broadsword 1-1 to Dagger 1, interrogative: we all know how to ride horses, but how do we get there?" Travis asked, clearly puzzled.
"Broadsword 1-1, the princess will be providing us the transport. Relay the intel to Broadsword 2-1. Broadsword Actual out."
Henrietta took the coin pouch and gave it to Louise.
"I wish you luck on your task, Louise Françoise. Please, stay safe," she requested.
The pink-haired mage nodded with conviction. "I won't let you down, your highness," she declared.