Continuation of the briefing for the benefit of those agents of the Sable Intelligence Service  (and others) who were on the Outside on 11th April SY 159.

Please be patient while I get it all in order, as there’s a lot to cover.

Robert de Lacy, King of Sable

Changes Resulting from the Events of 11th April SY159/11th April SY099, continued

Inevitably, with the change in the timeline, there have been knock on effects on both Sable’s allies, and her enemies. In terms of allies, let’s start with the allies.

The Commonwealth Veils

In the early days after the Lighthouse Data was received, and relations between myself and Rupert Delatz were less than amicable, the Reich launched a Blitzkrieg on a number Veil Four, Five and Six worlds. Thankfully, they weren’t foolish enough to attack into the the Commonwealth Veils, but it did cause concern within them, and the Royal Commonwealth Army has been strengthened in the region, with additional military resources made available to all Commonwealth worlds. Since then, the Commonwealth has expanded slightly, with Carrick and Alba now accorded full membership. Carrick’s admission was fast-tracked after the assassination of Duke Travis Heinemann and it became a full Commonwealth State on 1 April SY159.

Weston became a full member about ten years ago – which I believe is roughly in the same timeframe as it did in the original timeline. The major difference, however, is that it also agreed to house a somewhat stronger resident Sable military force than many, as it is rather exposed in Veil Three of the Shigare Quadrant. It’s nervousness stems from the fact that it shares a Shadow Boundary with Jensen. As a result, it has made a more formal military agreement with Duchess Rowena Shaw of Shigare than is usual among Commonwealth worlds. Since then, several other Commonwealth worlds have made similar arrangements with their respective Defence Shadows.

Which brings me to Jensen and Garrowby. During the time of the Reich expansion, both worlds actively offered assistance to the Waffen-SS, and at the point of peak Reich expansion, Jensen was adjacent to Reich-controlled territory. With the Outer Ring Treaty, the Reich pulled back from its gains in Veil Four, so there is no longer a direct connection between Jensen, Garrowby and the Outer Reich. At the present time, agents of Jensen (primarily) and Garrowby (secondarily) continue to attempt to destabilise their Commonwealth neighbours, including a concerted effort on Anghelt recently (I believe that some of you know quite a lot about that). Both worlds have been served notice that Sable is not willing to tolerate this for much longer. Garioch, the other non-Commonwealth world in Veil Three of the Shigare Quadrant, also remains under observation, although it no longer appears to be working in lockstep with Jensen and Garrowby.

In addition, Sable has gained control of five Shadows in Veil Six West: Khachuran, its neighbours Teruel and Annency, and two further adjoining worlds. These are administered as a military protectorate under Duke Callum Fitz-Calen, and have signed Commonwealth trade treaties to help with supplies.

Finally, I suspect that some of you remember that after Travis Heinemann’s assassination, my grandson Francis was sent to take command in Lowell. For reasons that I’ve explained elsewhere, in this timeline it is James who was posted to Lowell, and the winding down of operations around Weimar is being conducted by David Marne, son of the Duke of Caulder.

The Silver Shadows

In the old timeline, in January RY154, the Brotherhood of the Martyr relocated the Maniran Broken Pattern to Veil 50, to establish New Oceania. This ended up being an all-round cock-up on their part, not least because they were trying to use incompatible Family blood in the relocation ritual. As a result, the world they moved it to acted like a bulldozer in the area, breaking up a number of worlds and assimilating others. Against this background, the Silver Shadows, along with a block of Technocracy worlds, and the Reich Westphalia Group (plus a manifested Valhalla), were built to both try to stabilise the mess, and to act as a security buffer.

Things went very differently this time around (see Adversaries), and I’m sorry to say that as a result, those worlds were never built. I know that some of you had deep connections to those worlds, and for that, I can only apologise. That said, it is not impossible that, given the extension of Shadow on the Inside, some version of those worlds may still exist, possibly in the general area of the Technocracy/New Oceania, in Veil 100 North. If you wish to seek for such worlds, then I will find a way to assist you.

As a side note, following the death of his wife, Odessa, my grandson Thomas – formerly the Viceroy of the Silver Shadows – is now living primarily on the Outside. He has quarters on Murray, although he is often travelling.

Elementis

I believe I’ve covered the Creation of Elementis pretty well in the section on Changes to the Inside. Since its Creation, it has become a major ally of both Sable and Aurellis, and is no friend to either the Federation or New Oceania/the Machine. I probably should also mention that it has a very uncomfortable relationship with the Technocracy, for what are probably obvious reasons.

The Four Sisters are young, but none of them are fools. They’re doing well, and they know that they always have people to turn to if they need advice.

The Technocracy

Yes. Well. What can I say about the Technocracy? That’s probably summed up best by Rabbie Burns: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley.

Despite the building of Elementis in the Centre, the Technocracy exists. Rallissa, the previously-mentioned Aurellian Goddess of the Years, decided that denying Andrew the chance to Create was an injustice that needed rectifying. Perhaps Roland, Rupert and I should have explained better to her about the reasons why we took the course of action we did. Or perhaps she was right, and we were wrong. The upshot, however, is that she told him that he should have built the Centre Power, and arranged for him to bring the Technocracy into being elsewhere, instead, which he did on 7 February SY120.

The elsewhere ended up being the 90° Rock in Veil 100 North, aka Technocracy Prime: one of the worlds which we’ve since discovered has Godstone. Unfortunately, as we learned later, the 270° Rock was already occupied at that point by New Oceania, which had moved there from its original location in Veil 50 with the extension of the Inside in SY118. New Oceania also has Godstone. As a result, when Andrew built the Technocracy, the two formed an arcane link and New Oceania, being somewhat messed up anyway, manifested a version of the Machine, complete with Andreas Delatz. About the only positive thing about this, is that not having been welcomed into Rupert’s bosom when he first appeared, he hasn’t had access to the genetic material of the majority of SS High Command.

With respect to relations between Sable and the Technocracy, these are more cordial than frosty most of the time. Our nations are certainly more Allies than Adversaries, especially against the Machine and New Oceania. We’ve also co-operated in certain higher-tech theatres, of which there are more in this new version of the Inside, such as the struggle against the Weimar Republik. Andrew even helped Will and General O’Connor develop the Sable High-Tech forces. He has never rejoined the Sable military hierarchy and is much more involved in his own world this time.

Since Andrew’s enforced vacation in SY153-154, he has spent the majority of his time on the Outside, on the world of Seconde, which is the location of the External Nexus. His daughter, Helena-Maria Latz, is running things for him here on the Inside. The irony of the fact that the Nexus world Inside is called Prime, has not escaped me, given that Prime was also the name of the Machine homeworld in the previous timeline. My brother Michael, with his God of Communications hat on, has worked with both Andrew and Helena-Maria to make communications between the two Nexus points much better than they ever were in the old timeline. The jury is still out on whether this is a good thing or a bad one.

To be continued in Adversaries and the Royal Family.