Attached is relevant debriefing excerpts following B.'s foray into Elizabethan England. You know B.'s always tried to play it neutral, D., but B's a Brit through and through, and this combined with the shift trauma has understandably sent him a little off-kilter. Remember, when he was sent we still weren't certain of the extent of the timeline changes, and B. went back to see if he could determine anything while we scoured the native history books. Anybody would've been traumatized. Take it easy on him-- C.
C: [...]Calm Down! C-calm down, man! Roaring about Spaniards won't help anything. [sighs] Look, let's just start all over again. You were at Plymouth...?
B: [deep breath] That's right. Plymouth, June 5th, 1583 anno domine according to the local Julian calendar. Julian calendar! The Gregorian calendar was invented by a Spanish puppet, why the hell do we use it anyways?! I'd rather-- [slamming noise]
C: SIT DOWN. [pause] Good. Plymouth, June 5th. And?
B: Plymouth docks. The Armada had been spotted, and the ships had been sent off. I was in civilian garb, and I cheered on along with the rest of the crowd as our ships cast away from the docks--
C: Our ships?
B: You're a froggie, you wouldn't understand. This is possibly the biggest moment in English history, and now I was there to see it firsthand. Except, I realized, it wasn't our biggest moment in English history. [slamming noise, sigh] Fucking Drake!
C: Drake? You mean Francis Drake? What does he have to do with it?
B: He was supposed to be with the fleet, our fleet at least-- the Armada was five years' early in this timeline. But here, he was apparently off with- oh, damn it all! Damn all the Portuguese, damn them all!
C: [gently] B., where was he? Where was Francis Drake during this Armada?
B: Off in the Azores, damn him! Later on I found out he got wind of the invasion, but he showed up two days too late to do us any good. The fleet had been wiped clean off by then! This invasion was different. Fucking hidalgos--
C: B., I'll give you martini after this, but you've got to calm down. How was this invasion different?
[pause]
B: Couple of things... since it was five years' early, that meant that Sir John Hawkins' reforms weren't done yet, and much of the English navy this time around was in a wretched state compared to what was supposed to happen. Recalde-- probably the best commander the Spaniards had available-- led the Armada this time, on the recommendation of the Marquis of Santa Cruz himself. The Duke of Medina-Sidonia was nowhere to be found this time around, so none of his dithering. Also from what I can tell, the Spanish attempted to use Brittany as a springboard for the invasion, not Flanders. Less Dutchies this way, but from what I gathered the Armada couldn't rely solely on the Army of Flanders for manpower on the ground.
C: Mmh. Anything else?
B: [sigh] ...and Drake. No Drake to save us.
[pause]
C: I see. So what happened after the, ah...?
B: Defeat. Loss. Oh, the remnants of the Navy certainly harried what Spanish ships they could as the Armada went on to Margate, but it wasn't nearly enough. When the tercios landed, set foot on English soil, we were doomed. The trained bands-- militias, whatever-- weren't expecting to actually stand against Spanish pike and shot! They folded up like so much origami paper. London was captured in a matter of weeks. Weeks! Gloriana, ol' Queen Elizabeth herself, was captured as the court fled to Oxford. I can't believe they-- oh, damn it all! Damn Spaniards! Damn Drake! I hope that whenever they catch whoever changed the timeline, the perp gets shot.
C: We'll go by the book, B., you know that. No capital punishment, no de--
B: TO HELL WITH THAT! Those Spanish bastards executed Elizabeth! I saw it, damn you! I jumped ahead, went to London, saw it myself! I was there! Those bastards offed Queen Elizabeth! Winter of '83, look it up in any of those new texts your lads managed to get! Whoever changed the timeline caused Queen Elizabeth's death. That's regicide! Murder! Kill him! Kill the bastard!
C: No blood, B.! We will not threaten our integrity and reputation with needless bloodshed. Need I remind you, we are first and foremost a research institute, with our policing duties only being a recent development. I don't how you and M. worked together, but I will not sanction any murder. We'll go by the book.
[pause, evident cut in the audio files]
C: [...]'s just that simple? New government, all that?
B: I think they kept Parliament, but it was all bollocks. It was less of a governing body than our own Rump Parliament during Cromwell's time.
C: So they installed an Inquisition, although it sounds like no one used it, cut out Parliament, and the throne was given to... a Hapsburg?
B: Yes, Isabella, the King of Spain's daughter. The Pope warned off King Philip from giving himself the throne of England, so he put in Isabella in his stead.
C: “Queen Isabel”, then? Mmh, interesting. We'll look into that later, but this is enough for now. Get some rest, B.
B: I doubt I'll be getting sound sleep anytime soon. Oh, damn that Drake!