Aeries Villa, Pendragon, Holy Empire of Britannia
Summer of 2008
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The Capital of the Holy Empire of Britannia lay in the northeastern reaches of the Sonoran desert near the Salt and Gila rivers, and despite the subtropical environment mankind's stubbornness prevailed irrigating the area to create a lush oasis in the wastes. A culmination of the fruits gained through decades of conquest, a virtual mecca of high technology, culture, cuisine, military might, and all of it wrapped in the unrepentantly lavish decadence of the aristocracy. The city was clean, modern, vibrant, a never sleeping giant, and it had a shockingly low crime rate to boot. It was a place where those who were important and those who wished to be so congregated to make the might of the Empire inch ever forward towards future glories.

So you know, the direct opposite of Washington, D.C. and all it took was for the nobility to literally make it illegal to be poor and be allowed to live in the city proper unless you were a servant or part of the Imperial War Machine.

I try not to think about what the Empire would have done to Brockton Bay back on Bet, I have a feeling 'scorched earth' would have been one of the first and likely less extreme reactions. If the officer in charge were being polite he'd frame it as 'humane euthanasia' which is really about as humane as Britannia gets with undesirables, I wouldn't be surprised.

What cheery thoughts Taylor, is it truly such a wonder that you've made the grand total of four friends outside of your family since entering the military? Glancing out the window of the VTOL transport currently carrying me towards my first assignment I couldn't help letting out a depreciatingly amused scoff at that self reflection, earning my brother's attention from the crash seat next to mine.

Reaching to his headset he clicked the comm on to be heard over the roar of the engines while gently patting my knee, "Is everything all right sister?"

Something different about Britannia from America that took me a bit to get used to was with nobility, at least close nit nobility, they had a tendency to call their siblings brother or sister rather than their names as a term of endearment and respect. On the other hand getting hit with full names including middle and last by said sibling or your parents still meant the same thing as back on Bet, i.e. you fucked up and just got caught, which in the end was a comfortable mix of new and old I decided to just roll with.

Regardless I replied with a laconic, "Yeah, tired. Stayed up too late."

It was true too, I'd been up all night reviewing our assignment, locking myself in my room and pooling my rather impressive swarm in to help me read through stacks of documents, blueprints, emergency procedures and what we'd have access to that was not considered Royal only access. Why one might ask? Well that's simple, our first assignment was at the request of her Highness Princess Cornelia li Britannia, freshly graduated like us from the Academy and preening like a queen over her new command.

Cornelia had landed her dream assignment for a freshly graduated officer, the head of security for the woman, the myth, the legend, Marianne the Flash, or known to the plebians and unwashed masses her Royal Majesty, consort to the Emperor, the Empress Marianne vi Britannia.

So of course Cornelia decided to drag her friends who were not Nonette with her to detail the Aeries Villa, namely myself and poor forever besotted Gilbert Guilford, and as an added bonus she got my scarily intense and competent big brother as part of the deal. Suffice it to say, I wanted to do everything in my power to make a lasting good impression to the Empress for not only both Jeremiah's and my sake, but also on Princess Cornelia's behalf.

Why one may ask? Well that's once again simple pragmatism, I got this position because I made it a point to befriend Cornelia years ago when I was introduced to court. We'd bonded over our tendency to use brutal pragmatism along with shock and horror tactics in our strategies, as well as enjoying high fantasy novels as a guilty pleasure we told no one about, thus earning myself a place in the Princess's future retinue.

To this many would say that's not fair, and I would have to agree that yes, it was incredibly unfair, and if nepotism works in your favor don't bitch about it. What you do is cautiously abuse it to the hilt and give nothing back, doing everything in your power to make your patron's life easier because your star is following theirs.

That, and she really is my friend and on a personal level I appreciate her looking out for me despite my minor noble status.

She also scares the ever loving shit out of Jeremiah which is just hilarious because I can't even blame him, bro's got some serious survival instincts there.

Leaving my wandering thoughts Jeremiah responded with a sheepish yawn and a nod, after shaking that off he quickly continued, "Always the perfectionist Tay, you should really get your proper rest."

He got an eyeroll and a, "Yes mom," for his troubles, I got an amused shoulder bump in return and after that we remained silent until the aircraft began its descent. The moment we touched down all of the gathered personnel unbuckled their harnesses, rose from their seats, and stood to file out the now opening egress hatch allowing the midday Arizona sun and dry air into our air conditioned haven.

Standing in the shade was none other than our former classmates, who seeing the air crew doing final shut down procedures approached us and much to my amusement, Guilford opened a parasol for the Princess without question.

Cornelia for her part shot the stoic man a mixed look of irritated endearment but other than that didn't say anything until they reached us. Without hesitation we dropped our rucksacks and immediately snapped off crisp salutes.

Introductory fact to know when dealing with Cornelia li Britannia for the first time if you are a noble, you are military, and you bow to her rather than salute? Well I hope you like latrine duties, she is a woman who held the very firm belief that glory and honor are earned not inherited. To quote her best friend, that utterly reprehensible menace of a pervert Nonette, "Nel believes If you accomplished nothing with your life other than being born to someone whose great great great great grandfather sucked the dick of a noble to get himself a shitty little keep, some goats to fuck, and peasants to yell at, then by all means feel free to bow since that is all you are worthy of. Once you put on that uniform though, you've accomplished something for yourself and now you better act like it."

Nonette... reminds me way too much of what I heard Mouse Protector had been like before she ran into the S9 sans the puns, and she's likely the only person Cornelia and I both genuinely fear ever crossing swords with so it's much easier to just be her friend or in my case resigned acquaintance.

I digress, Cornelia returned our salutes and quickly motioned for us to be at ease then to follow her back into the building, "Good you're both here, so much to do so little time. Taylor these are the dossiers of all the retainers and waiting staff for the villa, I'd like you to do random examinations of them and have Jeremiah interview them."

I accepted the offered folders with a raised brow while exchanging a glance with my brother, "Very well your Highness, may I ask why? While I'm sure they've been vetted and I'd likely have done it on my own on principle alone, I admit curiosity."

That earned me a very un-princess like groan of exasperation, "Because we're the newbies on this detail and we need to shake things up around here to keep any potential threats second guessing themselves. Make it clear that we're being thorough, paying attention to seemingly random things, and making sure everyone knows that no one is above suspicion."

All right, make some noise out of the gate, I get it, but the other bit, "Ok, and why have Jerry do the interviews?"

At that Cornelia laughed and shot me an amused smirk, "Taylor you are tall for a woman yes, your brother is six foot three and built like a linebacker. If I have an intimidation factor I can utilize without actually expanding any resources than it behooves me to use it."

Intimidating the staff into ongoing compliance...Cornelia I may be your friend and you are just a product of your environment but sometimes I just want to dope smack you. Ah well.

"Ah, well I suppose I'll get started on this after we're settled in."

Jeremiah quickly picked up where I left off, "Your Highness when are we to meet our principles?"

At that Cornelia remained silent for a time until she stopped at a large door smirking, she gestured to Gil who opened it revealing a massive inner garden ushering in a cacophony of noise. Stepping into the garden we took in a group of rowdy children playing in the water being watched over by alert guards and a few ladies in waiting, overseeing this was a tall woman leaning against a pavilion atop a small hill.

Noticing us she turned away from the kids and my first impression of her was that she was quite possibly the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, a quick glance towards my brother let me know I didn't have to worry about being the only one blushing at the moment thankfully. Approaching us I took in her brilliant smile, violet eyes brimming with calculating intelligence, long raven hair billowing behind her as she sauntered forward adding an unneeded emphasis to her perfect curves.

Okay, the Emperor may be is a horny bastard with over a hundred wives which Marianne was one of their number, but knowing what I do about this woman's mind, politics, military record, and kill count on top of being drop dead gorgeous, I'd have happily annulled all of those other marriages to keep this one in his place.

Stopping before us the Empress glanced between my brother and I for a moment before bashing us in the face with a radiant smile, "Well I must say Sebastian and Georgia certainly made beautiful children, and smart ones to boot going by your records. Cornelia has told me quite a bit about you two personally while also highly recommending you for my families protective detail so it is a pleasure to finally meet you both. Oh and I don't stand on ceremony, I did work for a living before I became a noble after all."

Oh shit that's where Cornelia got it from! HA! Oh I am so ribbing her for fangirling her personal policies like this later.

With that both Jeremiah and I snapped quick salutes that Marianne smiled at and waved away as we introduced ourselves.

"Sir Jeremiah Gottwald reporting for duty your Majesty."

"Sir Taylor Gottwald reporting for duty your Majesty."

Marianne blinked at that, turned her head slightly and asked, "Not Dame?"

I shook my head, "No ma'am, I prefer for my underlings to call me sir, it makes it clear what the chain of command is during tense situations."

That and it sounded cooler but I wasn't going to say that thank you very much, I have my pride.

Smiling with a nod she shot me a wink that I know made me blush brightly, god this is going to end up being as embarassing as that night I got drunk with Kewell and I admitted that I thought he was hot...

"Well, good to know that all the ladies under my direct command feel the same as myself now-"

Then a childish scream of "-MOM MOM MOM!" interrupted her.

Blinking owlishly she along with the rest of us turned to the kids to see a small boy that was completely soaked through charging toward Marianne, and after a brief moment wrapped her in a hug while yelling, "Keep those crazy girls away from me!"

Glancing over to the collection of giggling little girls by the water, obviously scheming whatever they were to get the boy back in their clutches, I couldn't help but meeting the flustered and befuddled boy's eyes while nodding to him in respect.

"Fair warning young man, evil little girls only grow up to be ladies who are better at hiding their evil side from boys. You're a smart kid for strategically retreating but you're going to have to face them again at some point."

The boy frowned, looked around his mother's back at the girls who began giggling again upon seeing him, then looked back at me, "Some point is not right now. I shall take my victories where I can get them!"

Ok, cute kid, "Fair enough."

Marianne looked between her son and myself, then smiled a smile I've only ever seen one person perfect and it was never a good thing when it was aimed at you, "Lelouch I'd like you to meet your new guards. These are the Sirs Gottwald, Jeremiah and Taylor, Sirs this is my son, the seventeenth Prince Lelouch vi Britannia."

Huh, so that's how they pluralize 'Sir', neat.

Both Jeremiah and I gave the young prince slight bows and a polite, "Your Highness."

Lelouch stared at me for a moment, got very red in the face, then buried said face into his mother's side while muttering incoherently.

Uh...k...cute kid...

Marianne though busted out laughing, ruffled the boys hair, then looked me right in the eye cheerfully stating, "Don't mind Lelouch, he just thinks you're very pretty."

Lelouch's betrayed screech of, "MOM!" was met with the surprised chuckles of Jerry, Gil, and Cornelia, and all I could think was that I would have my revenge on those traitors later...