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Belated birthday felicitations, and congratulations on your Character Writer of the Week award!

I am surprised (though I shouldn't be, given Britain's size and forces) that you were able to stomp on the Austrians so effortlessly! Also enjoyed the map of British North America and its political divisions; it is interesting that the northern border of Queensland corresponds to a potential future Mason-Dixon line (one wonders how or if any residual tensions will play out, given that slavery will become illegal across all of BNA in 1755).

I don't think Streams will go down without a fight; that he has eluded Mendenhall's clutches so far implies a certain amount of discipline and skill. And luck.
 
Congratulations on a well deserved award!
I'm sorry I missed your special day...but, Happy birthday.
 
Range: Thanks! :)
Chris Taylor: I was helped by the fact that the Austrians couldn't reach me in Europe, so once I destroyed their fleets I had open season on them. Thanks!
Morrell8/Arakhor: Thank you!
Loki: I really appreciate this. Thanks!
blsteen: Indeed.... ;)
Viking_Manstein: Thank you. It's not very fancy, but I'm glad it got the point across.
Morrell8 He sure is....

Chapter 38a – The Rule of Parliament

Summarised from Chapter 9 of ’Britannia Triumphant’ by Lady Mendenhall.


The remainder of King Edward VIII’s rule was one of progress, but also considerable friction between the parties in Parliament. Added to this was the King’s sorrow over the death of his son Henry in 1712. The young Henry had been a gifted child, but had often been sickly. Despite being saved several times before the young boy died aged 16.
Fortunately there was another heir, and soon enough there would be two. Princess Elizabeth was born to his second wife Mary Wolfe not long after Prince Henry’s death. This was followed six years later by the birth of Prince Thomas, who because of his age and his sister would never become King.

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In 1714 war flared up in India. The Kings of Vijayanagar, having never forgiven the British for their attempted invasion twenty years before, begun raiding trade routes around Ceylon and fomenting unrest. At first the British crown was hesitant to commit to such an expedition, especially Chief Minister Warwick. However as his health declined he was replaced by the Wheat Party candidate James Amherst. Amherst, whose family owned key considerations in Ceylon had a reason for war and was hopeful that breaking into the Indian spice and tea trade would be a significant gain.
For command of the expedition Amherst chose his cousin Christopher, and not merely because of family ties. Christopher Gilbert was a general of considerable talent, having cut his teeth in the Imperial wars as chief of cavalry in that victorious campaign. This time though the British made no mistake. A large, well equipped force landed in western India and provoked the larger Indian armies to engage him before fully united. The result was as stunningly one sided as the previous war had been the other way. The British crown took over direct control of these new Indian lands, and Amherst was made a Baron for his victories.
Not to be forgotten was the role the British navy played. Twenty six men-of-war destroyed over fifty Indian warships, this time using the first explosive shells used in a sea battle. These particularly destructive weapons would crash into enemy ships and then explode, making them lethal against the outdated Indian vessels.

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The remainder of the 1710s was largely uneventful. The only exception being in the areas of cultural exchange, where new performing arts. Particularly popular were the first printed novels by such authors as Maxwell Hughes and Anthony Braddock.


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In 1721 the allies of Britain, the Swedes, found themselves strong enough to create a unified Scandinavian state, making themselves unquestionably the most powerful nation in northern Europe.

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Just a year later though King Edward was sickening, and in September 1722 he died. His son Thomas was too young to rule, being only four. However his daughter Elizabeth was only eight, which was scarcely better. However, in true Wheat style, this development was treated as an excellent means to keep a lid on Royal power. And so, with two children as heirs to the throne, Amherst was happy enough to keep ruling despite this.
However, problems would soon arise that would test this resolve.

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blsteen: It's especially irritating when they are in the Ozarks, and I hadn't bothered to build forts there yet. So very, very annoying. In the end I took the magistrate requirement out of building a fort and just went crazy with that so I didn't go crazy with the rest.
Momento Mori: It's something even more sad than that! But it has a happy ending nonetheless.

Chapter 39 – Echoes of the Past: Hartford Burning

4/2/1814


It was the screams that haunted Henry York the most. He could handle most things, even the blood, but the sight and sound of the wounded and dying made him choke.
What made it worse was that the battle had been over almost before it started. The rag-tag rebel force of rebels had hurried along the road, not knowing that their plan had been betrayed. At that moment a tremendous volley had erupted, and a quick advance drove the rebels back in rout.
Now Henry had the unpleasant duty of looking over the prisoners and wounded to find some specific people. He pulled his coat closer about himself as he trekked through the snow to question some sullen prisoners.
“Now, which one of you knows where Masters is?” he asked them. “First one to talk gets a pardon,” he enticed. He’d started by playing hardball, but he wanted to get away from this battlefield as soon as he could.
One of the rebels spat. He was a big, bearded man, blood streaming from his arm. “You’re banked, English. He ain’t here,” he said.
“Quiet!” one of his fellows insisted.
“You quiet, pup!” he snarled. “Our glorious leader is gone. Promised us there’d be no Government troops, and that he’d get us our loot. Now he’s gone, and good riddance.”
“Gone?” Henry asked suspiciously.
“He went on ahead.” The man chuckled. “Didn’t know that, did ya? Guess you’re gonna have a real bad day.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Henry asked.
The man pointed with his good hand. “That smoke ain’t from a chimney!” he said.
Henry turned, his eyes widened, and then he took off.

Near the command post he found Lady Mendenhall. She was deep in thought, and hadn’t seen the smoke because of a patch of trees. In concession to the fact that this was a battle she was wearing trousers and a men’s coat, with a cloak over her shoulders.
“Harry! Any luck?” she asked eagerly.
Henry slid to a halt, and would have fallen if she hadn’t held out his hand. It was all a flashback for Henry to that time twenty five years ago. He had changed, gotten older, she had not. That same small smile, those same brown eyes.
He shook himself free of his memories. “He’s not there. Hartford is on fire! He went on ahead!”
Instantly Lady Mendenhall turned and ran up the hill so she could get a better view. Henry laboured after her, feeling his fifty years with every step.
“Blast!” her Ladyship exclaimed. “Horses,” she said, turning. “You, get me two horses!” she shouted at an aide. He looked bemused for a moment, but then obeyed.

Horses were obtained, and her Ladyship rode over to where one of the dragoon companies were quartered.
“Captain, gather your men and follow me into the city! The Rebels have gotten there ahead of us!”
The man made the mistake of making a patronising smile. “My Lady, I’m sure it’s under control.”
For a moment Henry was sure she would strike the man. Instead she turned to him.
“Sir Henry York, would you please advise the Captain this his career will be much longer and more fulfilling if he does as he’s told!”
The man, faced with a male authority figure, complied and started to follow them.
“Men!” her Ladyship fumed. “Sexist, egotistical pigs the lot of them!”
Henry had never seen her so upset, and didn’t know how to answer. After all, he was most definitely a man.
“We’re not all like that, Angel,” he said softly.
Her Ladyship seemed to pull herself from her temper. “No, not all. Thank you, Harry,” she said, giving him a rueful smile.

Their pace was rapid, but hindered occasionally by people leaving the city. They called out that there was fighting in the streets, but gave no further details. The pall of smoke over the centre of the city showed that it was something major.
As they approached they could hear gunfire, but not a huge amount. When they finally reached a side street near the centre of the city they dismounted. Henry was tired by the rapid ride and his exertions before. Her Ladyship though seemed quite as urgent as before, if not more so!
Trying to find someone with a clue of what was happening though was difficult. They finally established that a small band of rebels had stormed the tariff office, and then attacked the Governor’s residence.
“This is terrible. We need to get in there,” Lady Mendenhall said, seemingly overwrought for the first time in Henry’s experience.
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s…someone very dear to me in there. I’m a fool, I told her to go there because I thought she’d be safe. How was I to know that these stupid incompetents couldn’t do anything right?” she demanded angrily.
“Angel, please, calm down,” Henry said, unsettled by this show of emotion.
Again she took a deep breath. “Yes, I’m sorry. Now let’s get inside there and deal with this!”

Henry had seen that the rebels were tightly surrounded in Government House, but also that there weren’t that many of them. They’d failed to get away quickly enough, and that meant a concerted effort might just break in.
A brief conference later they were set to go. Three groups would attack from three different sides, break in and trap the rebels.
“You don’t have to come with us, Harry,” Lady Mendenhall said. She professionally loaded a revolver. “If you think it’s a bit much for a man of your age,” she said jokingly.
Henry huffed a bit. “Are you sure you wouldn’t stay here and let the men handle it?” he asked, knowing that such questions usually annoyed her no end!
“Very good, Harry. Ready? Then let’s move.”

The attack was a nightmare for Henry York. As he ran over the cobbles he was sure that he’d be shot down, but their wing of the attack seemed to be unnoticed, while the other two sounded like it was being resisted.
A heavy blacksmith’s hammer and a hand cart were the only battering rams they possessed, yet they were enough, as the door collapsed inwards. British soldiers spilled into the house.
To Henry the whole thing was a long whirling nightmare. Several times their party was ambushed, and in the plush rooms they caught the rebels one by one. Few of this inner circle surrendered and they had to be killed. Rare art and expensive fittings were soon smashed and smeared with blood as they pressed through Government House, heading for the roof.
It was then that Lady Mendenhall, who had been beside Henry the whole time but not fired, saw something.
“There!” she said, pointing to a side passage. Two men were climbing a set of stairs up to the roof. “You men, follow me!” she ordered.

As they burst onto the roof they immediately had to take cover as the two men they hunted were well armed.
Henry recognised them even at ten yards; it was the Masters brothers. “Surrender! We’ve got this place surrounded!” he called.
“Not a chance!” one of the brothers called back, firing his revolver, forcing Henry to duck for cover behind a statue.
To Henry’s utter amazement he saw Lady Mendenhall stand up and walk into the line of fire. The Masters brothers, perhaps astonished fired early, and their bullets missed barely. Her Ladyship though aimed and fired, taking one of the men in the forehead as he knelt up to fire.
“Isaac! No!” Kyran shouted, but couldn’t go to his brother’s aid.
“Surrender or you will die,” Lady Mendenhall stated.
“Never!” Kyran shouted. He fired at her, ran and jumped. An abandoned wagon stood below, filled fortunately with hay. It seemed that Kyran was surprised because when he landed he did nothing for a couple of seconds before he was up and darting out of sight. Bullets clipped around his feet and on the walls, but apart from a graze to the arm he threw himself into cover and then ran.
In moments he was gone, leaving his brother dead.

It was later once things became more settled that Henry York foundLady Mendenhall in one of the bedrooms by the fallen figure of a woman. The woman was dead, shot through the chest. Her Ladyship knelt by the body, silently crying and holding the cold hand in hers.
“Angel?” he asked awkwardly.
“Come in, Harry. This…has not been a good day,” she said sadly, wiping away her tears. Her eyes were not red though, despite having been crying.
“This was your friend?”
“Yes. She never stood a chance. When they broke in they killed her and the Governor and the others. They reckon it was one of the brothers who killed her. I failed her, Harry.”
“You can’t be everywhere at once, Angel. You can’t save everyone.”
“But I should be able to! After all this time and all I can do and I can’t even save the people I love.”
“What was her name?” Henry asked.
“Catherine Adams…her poor family. Poor girl…come on, Harry. This is making me lose my faith in humanity. Maybe they could do with a bit of a shaking up.”
He put a hand on her arm. “No, remember what you told me? You can’t let that happen.”
“You’re right. Come on, Harry, let’s go find somewhere to rest.”
 
Something tells me that Lady Mendenhall has 'scored' considerably in the last few centuries. :)
 
Arakhor: Hey, she's got to do something with herself...right? :p But yes, she has indeed scored more than a few points over the years.
Momento Mori: Hmm, the Civil War is a good example of a time when she deliberately engineered events to cause violence.
Loki: Thanks! Yes, it is a very personal feud between them, and also it shows some interesting things about her Ladyship's relation with John too.


Chapter 39a – The Unfortunate Queen Elizabeth II

Summarised from Chapter 10of ’Britannia Triumphant’ by Lady Mendenhall.


Queen Elizabeth II was only eight years old when her father died. Parliament was naturally quite willing to step in and rule in her place. Even once she became fully grown she would find increasingly that Parliament and the Chief Minister would handle policy decisions for her.
Unfortunately this was not much to Elizabeth’s liking. The Queen, even when a child, was out of her time. She was a monarch for a different age, and would have fitted in well with the Greys or the early de Veres. The problem was that it was far too late for the clock to be turned back to before the Civil War. The Queen would have to follow the restrictions and codes imposed on her, and there was no way around that.

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The Queen herself never fully accepted this reality. And for her entire reign chose to be obstinate and prickly. She had no love for the Wheats who she accused of being republicans and potentially disloyal.

However, Chief Minister Amherst survived two attempts by the Queen to remove him from power, and she was forced into sulky acceptance.
Amherst meanwhile had won his battle, but it took several years to repair the damage.

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As soon as he was confident that he could implement his program of reform, Amherst set about a major military reorganisation. The modern Regimental System dates from this time, as did the official adoption of the famous redcoats and a great period of military expansion.
Also of note was the formalisation of the commission purchasing system, by which an officer could buy his way up the ranks to that of Colonel. However, for artillery, engineers or naval officers the policy remained through seniority. The sale of the commissions in the world’s largest army was a major boon for the British Government and provided a great deal of income.

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With all this income coming in a war was needed. Though generally against Wheat policy, Amherst chose Utrecht as his first target. The resulting conflict was swift and led to the integration of that bishopric into the British crown. It also saw the emergence of Benjamin Baffin, one of Britain’s greatest military leaders ever.

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For centuries western contact with China had been limited. However, in the late 17th century the British occupied and colonised Taiwan, and established trading stations on the mainland. The Chinese were annoyed by these upstarts, but did not impede British or other European trade. However in 1730 the dynasty fell and the Cao family took possession of the crown. China had many debts and costs due to the instability and moved in to seize the valuable trading areas.
When Parliament heard of this outrage they were determined on war, and a large army under Baffin was sent to China and there he utterly defeated repeated forces sent by the Emperor to trap him. This battle marked the first time that specialist British rifle regiments had been included. The rifle itself had been perfected just a few years before by Jeremiah Hopkins, and these units proved lethal to the outmatched Chinese troops.

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Despite the victory though Amherst had become unpopular among his own party for his extravagant lifestyle. In a party coup he was ousted by Geoffrey Wolfe, who became Chief Minister on the back of good economic news. British dominance of trade in the Americas had led to new theories of economics, put forward by Allen Smith. Under these new ideas the colonial organisation became all the greater.

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In 1735 though, the same year as the Chinese had been defeated, a new crisis arose. The Spanish crown had been suffering from considerable internal problems as the de Vere monarch fought to maintain control over the Catalan and Andalusian portions of the realm. This, combined with significant colonial possessions in Central America made war certain.
However, Geoffrey Wolfe was little better than Amherst, and the Wheats very nearly lost the election. Only his removal and a deal with several independent MPs allowed the Wheats to hang on. Their new leader, William Strathfield immediately demanded and got war with Spain with a view towards seizing those American territories.

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The war that followed was rather one sided. Wracked by rebellion, the Spanish fleets and armies crumbled away. The Spanish King himself charged to his death near Pamplona, and straight into an emplaced British army which killed or scattered the whole Spanish force for the loss of 132 men.

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Spain’s defeat was quick, and in less than a year Spain lost all their American lands except for Alaska. Humiliated, the Spanish nation soon broke, and their monarch was overthrown.

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In 1737 the Queen, marginalised, unpopular with government and people, became ill. Her brother Thomas and only heir also became ill, the two of them possibly suffering from pneumonia. When he died the Queen felt she had lost the only one who she cared for, and she died not long after.
Queen Elizabeth had perhaps the most unhappy reign of any English or British monarch. Out of sync with the times, she was hemmed in on all sides by men who neither respected nor listened to her. When at last she died Queen Elizabeth left no viable heir, and it was up to Parliament to sort out the mess left behind.

Just who it was that would inherit the throne and the government was yet to be seen!
 
So Great Britain is in personal union with Hungary, Ming is on the retreat and Spain has broken? Is there anyone who can challenge the Sceptred Isle?
 
Arakhor: There is only one enemy left to fight...I've saved the biggest war to last....
Derahan: Thanks! I'm a big fan of your AAR too!
Loki100: You know, I'm not entirely sure what she did here, if anything. I don't think she killed either of them, but she certainly didn't mourn them.
Sethanon: Correct, they break into Spain, Catalonia and Granada.

Also of note, in that update I colonised the last part of North America, meaning I controlled the entire continent apart from a few Alaskan provinces I couldn't be bothered taking.


Chapter 40 – The Raid

4/2/1820


“What time is it?” John asked softly.
“Five past midnight,” her Ladyship replied in a whisper. “That means it’s the 4th today,” she added meaningfully.
John took a few seconds to figure it out, and then nodded sombrely. “Six years today.”
“And this time, John, I will get him,” her Ladyship promised.
John only nodded, and touched the reassuring bulk of the pistol at his side. “Do we know he’s in?”
“He was seen going in by our agents, and he hasn’t left. The houses to either side have been emptied and we have our troops surrounding it. Orders are to hold fire until they shoot.”

The seconds ticked on until John felt as though he would explode from the tension. Then, Colonel Wyndham stood and pointed with his sabre. It was the signal to advance.
The Colonel of course was too senior and important to lead such an attack himself. Rather, two junior Ensigns would lead columns from front and back of the large house and work their way up and hopefully catch the rebels unawares.
John and Lady Mendenhall followed the street side party across the road to the door. The soldiers each carried hooded lanterns, and their front men carried heavy hammers to beat the doors in.
At a signal the British soldiers smashed the front doors and drove them inwards. In a rush they were inside, the lanterns unshielded to pour light into the dark room.

The people on the ground floor never stood a chance. Four beefy men were sleeping on the floor while one was barely awake. He had completely missed the progress of the soldiers across the street, and when they burst in he didn’t even have a chance to reach for his weapon before a half dozen rifles were aimed at him. With the other men similarly taken by surprise it wasn’t long before the situation was under control on the ground floor.
By the time John and Lady Mendenhall entered the men were being escorted out. Her Ladyship examined each in turn, but none of them were Kyran Masters.
“Ensign, let’s head up the stairs. Remember, keep an eye out for ambush. We’ve lost the element of surprise now, I fear,” she told the group.

Slowly, cautiously, they headed up the stairs and fanned out to attack every room. At one stage a suspect had obviously reached for a weapon because a shot was fired. It was not Masters though.
Finally, John and her Ladyship came to the final bedroom and pushed it open. The soldiers crowded in, but it was empty, with only an open window disturbing the air in there.
As the soldiers left John was alone in the room with her Ladyship. It was then that John heard a squeak, like metal under pressure. It happened again, and John went to the window.
There, scaling up a fire ladder on the wall, was a man. John gestured her Ladyship over and pointed up.
Lady Mendenhall nodded and pushed past him, and out onto the ladder. John followed her out onto the small platform. Now two stories above the street level, his stomach turned as he looked straight down.
Her Ladyship jumped onto the ladder and started to scale it. As she did Masters appeared on the roof above, looking down. Lady Mendenhall reached for her gun. He fired first though, and the bullet struck her Ladyship in the chest, and with a puzzled look she toppled from the ladder and fell to the ground.
John, on the little landing let out a cry of disbelief and anger. As Masters looked towards him, John brought up his own pistol and fired. It was the first time he had fired it in anger, and the noise and recoil shocked him.
Through the smoke he could see he had missed, instead hitting a tile near the edge. The impact though tore the bullet and part of the tile into razor sharp fragments, and these now scored across Masters’ face. The man let go of his gun so it fell uselessly to the ground below, and he withdrew.

John now faced a dilemma of what to do; pursue his mother’s murderer or tend to Lady Mendenhall. At first he wanted to pursue, but he couldn’t let another person die below while he charged off. Besides, it seemed somewhat anti-climactic if after four centuries her Ladyship had died in an alley shootout.
Descending as quick as he could he dropped the last six feet, hurting his leg, and hurrying over to Lady Mendenhall.
She lay on the cobbles face down, quite still. Blood covered her dark outfit from a hole in the left side of her chest. There was no breathing or pulse.
Kneeling down he shook the woman who had been his mentor. Shouts could be heard above, and in the street some of the soldiers had come over.
“No, it can’t end like this!” John said, shaking her again, and finally banging his hand down onto her chest in anger.
“Sir…she’s gone,” a soldier said softly.

At that moment Lady Mendenhall let out a gasp as she breathed. Her eyes shot open and focussed on John Adams. She blinked.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” she admitted. She looked at the stunned faces. “Just winded! Help me up please, John,” she asked.
Bemused, and not sure if he should be awed or annoyed, John obeyed. The soldiers wandered off, and John could set her Ladyship down on a set of stairs leading to a cooper’s shop.
“I don’t understand…you were dead!” John stated.
Her Ladyship was examining her outfit critically. “And a nice set of clothes ruined too. Do you know how hard it is to clean blood?” she added with a pout.
John was not going to be deflected. “You wouldn’t be cleaning it anyway. But you got shot through the chest!” He noticed, though it wasn’t especially tactful, that he was looking at the bullet hole. No more blood was appearing. In fact, no wound at all could be seen.
“Through the heart actually, John,” her Ladyship said. “I can regenerate almost any wound very quickly, but the heart causes me to go…well…dormant. I thank you for helping me there. I suppose Henry told you?”
John was utterly bewildered. “So, you don’t age, and you can’t get hurt?”
“Oh, I can be hurt, that wound will hurt for a half hour more, but it heals almost at once.”
“Masters got away. If you’d told me I could have caught him!” John said irritably. “I came back because I thought I could help you!”
“And you did. John…thank you. It means a lot to me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but it’s not something I like discussing. What you have to understand is that when I came back in time my appearance became frozen. I look exactly the same as I did…where I came from. Give me your pen knife.”
John did so, eyeing her suspiciously.
Taking the sharp little knife she made a small cut in her skin. Within seconds it had recovered, growing over again.
“That’s fantastic!” he exclaimed.
“Is it? My opinion varies between it being a blessing or a curse.” She sighed a bit sadly. “Please don’t be angry with me,” she said meekly. “I wanted you to look at me, well, differently. That look you’re giving me now. I’ve seen it before. It’s why I didn’t want to tell you anything. I wanted…I don’t know what I wanted. I wanted you to look at me and not see something strange or frightening. I’m sorry.”
John knew he should be angry with her. After all, his mother’s murderer had just escaped because Lady Mendenhall hadn’t told him something.
“Angel…it’s alright,” he said, deliberately using her name.
She looked up, smiled briefly. “We’ll get him yet, John, I promise! Even if it takes me thirty more years.”
“Thank you. Look…let’s go. Say no more about it.”
“Thank you, John.”
 
So it would appear. It seems that her love of mystery and intrigue has also cost her their quarry.