Of Pride and Power - 38. Chapter 32: “Stir up waters to catch fish”

In short order, Marc gave me a condensed report of the fight at Whitehall along with the movements of enemy troops from other mecha knights in London. I found the fight with the Russian troops to be the most fascinating. Henry had discovered the invisible troops operating near the palace due to their innate physical limitation, despite their near-perfect optical refraction. Additionally, the body suits that they used had the secondary ability to prevent kinetic and explosive damage from the mecha knight’s compressed air cutters and standard bullets. This type of reaction is indicative of 21st-century reactive electric armor, which was limited to use on tanks during my lifetime, but my encyclopedic knowledge of mid-21st-century weapon systems indicated that miniaturization had improved the portability of the armor for infantry use. In principle, electric armor is composed of a high-voltage discharge and metal plates that diffuse a penetrative object or force by vaporizing or dissipating the incoming attacks. The blue aura shield that Marc and Gard observed was an electric current running through their body suits when they switched from the invisibility function to the electric armor function. The Russian forces were quite formidable, easily a match for any military force during this era, including my own. On offense, they can rely on hit-and-run attacks and quick-strike raids against opposing forces with their invisibility. On defense, their electric armor can prevent injury from incoming enemy bullets or other projectiles, while their swords can be used to strike down firearm-wielding opponents.

A major flaw in their body suit design was the inability to use firearms when the electric armor was active, creating a reliance on swords and hand-held weapons. As the ancient Chinese scholar Han Fezi noted, you cannot have a perfect shield that is invulnerable to all attacks and a perfect spear that can penetrate any defense.

Thus, the Russian military had no counter for the mecha knights secretly deployed in London. With a full sensory suite, the knights can detect invisible soldiers through air shifts due to their innate motion and strike them with pressurized air weapons. Regarding natural defenses, a mecha knight is immune to blunt damage and has their version of electric armor, so the Russian troops are at a disadvantage when using firearms in their invisible state. With built-in short swords, the mecha knights can inflict damage against the Russian soldiers even if their reactive electric armor is active. While it’s true that armor can prevent penetrative weapons or force, an eastern sword strike can be used to attack exposed areas of the body uncovered by armor such as hands, feet, and the small seams on the body suit that allows motions with human joints. Jack, in his Merlin persona, having spent time in the Far East, had passed along this sword style to the mecha knights as a counter to modern infantry from his era. Thus, Marc and Gard were able to immobilize their opponents in such a bloody fashion, along with Francis and Takechiyo to a lesser degree.

I was not the only one who received this important tactical report on the infiltration force, either. Despite the radio jammers that were in place around the London area, Gard and Marc, along with other mecha knights, had cores that allowed them to communicate with each other and other core-based vehicles and installations. The headquarters of the Royal Marine Corp at Seahawk base in Cornwall, the flagship of the Royal Navy, HMS Dreadnaught, guarding the new drydocks at Scapa Flow, the attack submarine HMS Golden Hind where Robert and Captain Francis Drake were hunting the Russian fleet off the coast of London, the temporary home of the newly formed Royal Air Force at the R&D facility at Cadbury Hill, and the distant Avalon installation where the remaining six mecha knights, industrial production facilities, and Omega conversion tools existed. Communication clarity was emphasized in our battle strategies in case of invasion. Robert had begun to organize our forces with the information from the mecha knights onboard the Golden Hind. First, Frances was marshaling reserves from the Royal Marines to arm and board armored military locomotives and riverboats. Admiral Clinton ordered all vessels to be on guard for “invisible” vessels and to sail within range of core-installed bases, which could detect such vessels if they were present. Though he wanted to bring HMS Dreadnaught to London to aid HMS Golden Hind as the original core-installed warship with firepower equal to an Imperial sky fortress, Robert had denied the request as the new naval base at Scapa Flow had no core installed yet and the advanced equipment would be vulnerable to enemy attack. The same request to come to London was also sent to Gard from his fellow knights at Avalon, but the reliance on transport ships and lack of heavy transport aircraft made it unfeasible. Three mecha knights needed to guard the Avalon installation and the Omegas in Greenland and neighboring areas of Iceland and Nova Scotia, which were colonized in the last decade, but the increase in maritime activity from the Habsburg-Roman alliance had forced us to double the defensive force just in case. Based on our intelligence network throughout Europe, it seemed the demands of their global war had reached a hectic pace. Territorial conflicts in Africa had broken out between the various powers, especially in regions with rare earth and uranium reserves.

Future generations may wonder why the battles of the 1560s occurred between these factions since a single core could power the equivalent of my entire 21st-century-level human civilization for thousands of years. That’s a fact, but like many inefficient distributions in human history, having enough resources would not satisfy demands. In my era, human beings sacrificed millions of lives over land and natural resources under false equivalencies like righteous ideology or expansionist patriotism. These foolish followers could have lived comfortably with the resources in their nation’s possession. Sadly, klepto-capitalists and egocentric nationalists inflated prices and spread disinformation regarding a need for renewal and growth. To these leaders, the ideals of profit and dominance were the goals of their existence, so they could never be satisfied with adequacy. The acquisition of natural resources in addition to the cores was an extension of these struggles.

While I cannot claim that England had purely utilized our cores to improve the quality of life for our citizens, Robert and I never had those aims in any of our lives. We had reinvested the wealth generated from industrialization back to water purification, rapid transportation by rail, and electrical projects. Military development was proportional to the needs of national defense and détente requirements with continental Europe, which was one reason why our air force was so underdeveloped compared to our rivals, except for ballistic missile technology.

After getting the quick update from Marc, I sent him to intercept and capture Sir Thomas Radclyffe, who should be heading to Parliament. Gard had finished escorting the children and innocent members of the royal court at Whitehall to a bunker, so he would be arriving shortly alongside Francis Walsingham. Charles, the lieutenant commander of the Royal Guards was badly injured, though he was alive. As such, he and Takechiyo were left behind at the bunker to protect everyone. In the meantime, I had the members of Parliament debating on a punishment for the traitors within the noble ranks. William Cecil, who was uncharacteristically animated after the betrayal of several friends and old allies, was instructed to be aggressive with a push to strip all the traitor households of their titles, wealth, and lands. The crown would take their lands and wealth to compensate for the issues. As William Paulet chose to support the rebels, very few members of the old moderate faction remained in Parliament. If they chose to side with the rebels, they would have been dead at that moment. It was not a matter of whether the rebelling nobles would be punished for their actions, but the legal precedent created by my judgment was problematic. A key issue was the established protections of noble land rights, no English monarch in history has ever succeeded in such a land grab. In past discussions, William Cecil and I had discussed converting the English nobility into a meritocratic institution over time. At some point, I would assign government administrators to take on the duties of managing the noble lands. The nobles in the original scenario would have been compensated with something akin to “compulsory purchases”, the English equivalent to the “Eminent Domain” doctrine of the United States.

After the rebellion, what I proposed would be akin to kin punishment. While such actions would be common in the courts of China and Japan as their cultures focused on familial contribution and retribution systems, European and English kings ruled based on individual support. Also, extending punishments to an entire family line would cause upheaval, especially with larger families like the Howards, who have been and will be important leaders in English history. I knew that precedent, but I also had key supporters to my view from the Welsh and Irish members of Parliament. Native Irish law, known as Eraic, was used to level fines against clansmen of offenders. Medieval Welsh law, known as Galanes, was used to level compensatory punishment against family members of murderers. These were commonly practiced native laws, so my proposal of stripping English noble families had precedent in their legal systems. The Cornish had similar practices in their view of kinship and responsibility as I discovered over time. In the end, the majority of Parliament, representing 38% in the original count and 76% after the purge, supported my proposal to strip rebel noble families.

After the vote, Marc dragged several prisoners into Saint Stephen’s Chapel. Thomas Radclyffe along with several Russian soldiers including a well-dressed man, who identified himself in a haughty tone as Dmitry Ivanovich, son of the Russian Czar Ivan.

The prisoners, shackled and bruised, were dragged in one by one and thrown to their knees before me.

Among them, Thomas Radclyffe, the infamous leader of the failed insurrection, knelt with a combative expression in his eyes. His once-proud features were marred by the evidence of recent battles and torture rendered by Marc, he held his head high, unbroken in spirit. Next to him, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia stood in stark contrast. The prince's unblemished features, relaxed demeanor, and arrogant smirk seemed almost out of place in the dire situation, his rich clothing a stark reminder of his royal lineage.

I rose from my seat, my voice echoed through the chapel with a cold, calculated fury. "Thomas Radclyffe," I began, each of my words dripping with contempt, "you have dared to rise against your sovereign, to spill the blood of my beloved son, Henry Tudor. For your treachery, you will face the full measure of my wrath."

I was not just going to kill this bastard; he was the reason Henry died. As a parent, I was owed a pound of flesh. He needed to suffer.

Thomas Radclyffe lifted his head and spat at me in contempt, “Your reign of tyranny will not last, Elias Tudor. The people will rise, with or without me."

My eyes narrow at his words, “Oh, they will rise, but they will learn the price of rebellion through your suffering. Look around you," I pointed to the headless bodies of those who followed him in Parliament, “That’s the fate of those who follow you.”

I turned my attention toward the calm Dmitry Ivanovich, “And you, Prince Dmitry. You threatened my kingdom with your invisible troops. You believe yourself untouchable, but I assure you, no one is beyond my reach.”

Dmitry's smirk widened, his arrogance undiminished. "Release me now, Aelfric Elias Tudor, before my phantom legion finds their mark or my invisible fleet turns London to ashes. You are playing a dangerous game; one you cannot hope to win."

He confirmed what we had assumed that the Russian fleet also possessed invisibility abilities. It was a troublesome issue to deal with. As Captain Francis Drake and Robert could not find the invisible fleet in the open seas, I had to find another way to eliminate this threat to London. Having Prince Dmitry Ivanovich as a prisoner presented an interesting opportunity. While it is a counterintuitive strategy to kill prisoners in a dangerous conflict, I needed my foes to reveal their locations. My displacement and analysis ability will allow me to intercept incoming weapon fire from a high enough elevation.

I laughed at his threat, “You claim to have an invisible fleet, ready to lay waste to my city if I don’t release you. I propose a different conclusion based on your words. Your death will be the beacon that brings this fleet out of hiding.”

Dmitry Ivanovich's eyes narrowed, a flicker of uncertainty breaking through his facade of arrogance. "You dare to think killing me will save you?" he spat, his voice rising. "London will burn, Aelfric Elias Tudor! I will be avenged!"

My smile grew colder as his expression changed into horror. "Perhaps. But first, I will see this invisible fleet exposed. Your death will be a message, one that will draw them out into the open. Thank you for your service to England, Prince Dmitry."

Ivanovich struggled against his bindings, his voice echoing through the hall. "You are a fool! My fleet will lay waste to your city, and your reign will end in flames!"

"Take him away," I commanded Marc. "Prepare him for execution."

Jamie was clinging to me throughout the exchange, shivering in fear. I whispered to my son, “It will be alright, Jamie. We’re going to take a balloon ride soon and then we’ll head to Bristol after the Russians are gone to finish your birthday.”