Where do I begin? The start seems as good a place as any. I suppose the question should be phrased differently, shouldn't it? How to start? No, that's even more cliche than 'where do I begin?'. Perhaps there isn't any question that I can use to preface this story; my story. Maybe all I need to do is tell it from the beginning. But you already know the beginning, don't you?
I was born a prince. Eleventh born prince of the Ninety-eighth Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, and Seventeenth in line to the throne. Logically it stands that I have sixteen elder siblings, and even more younger siblings. Most of us were borne of different mothers, however, and the only blood tie we have is our father. The man that sired us is more accurate… probably. I don't think that man has ever thought of us as his children. It's more likely that he just saw us as pieces to be used, discarded whenever it was more convenient than to keep us.
That's what happened to me. My name? Lelouch vi Britannia. At the age of seven my mother fell victim to the machinations of the Nobility; Marianne vi Britannia, Empress-consort to Charles zi Britannia. Ruthlessly executed in her own home with her daughter, and my younger sister (full blood), Nunnally vi Britannia caught in the crossfire. She, my sister that is, wasn't killed (thank what ever lord in the heavens there may be) but she didn't walk away from the incident without some scars. Blinded by the trauma and crippled for life by the rounds that had pierced through my mother and into her.
Now she spends her days locked away, hidden from the rest of the world. Survival of the fittest is the core doctrine that governs Britannia; and a crippled little girl, even royalty, is not immune from that harsh truth. Stripped of her titles and inheritance, and without the protection that Imperial Family name can grant… a pawn discarded by her King.
I wasn't so lucky.
I was sent away, to some far-a-way nation that we were barely friendly with. Japan. I was to be used as a pawn, placed in enemy hands. The official story was that I was there to facilitate a trade agreement with the Isolationist island nation, to gain favour with their government and negotiate an increased supply of Sakuradite - a miraculous superconductive mineral - for my home nation.
Suffice it to say that, that was never the real purpose of my exile. I was to be silenced. Discarded from the court so that I could never press the matter of my mother's murder again. I payed the price for my outburst, and the Emperor saw fit to get rid of me.
Than came the coup de grâce for my supposed crimes. Britannia declared war on Japan, and I was left to burn in the flames. None came for me; and within a weeks time of the war I was officially declared dead. My own nation, my own family, abandoned me. Condemned me to die, along with the Japanese people.
My hatred only grew stronger. And I vowed, then and there, as the once glorious city of Nagasaki burned to ash behind me, that I would dedicate all of my self to the eradication of the Britannian Empire and all for that she stood.
I suppose… that is how my story began. There's much more to it than that, when you get the very bottom of my cause. So much more. But for now, I think that is all that is relevant if you wish to know the origins of my hate.
.: Transcript from H.E.M Lelouch vi Britannia's memoirs :.
.: September 19th, 2023 A.T.B :.
.: Copyright of Ashfordshire Publications, 2023 :.
-December 16th, 2008 A.T.B-
-15 months after the Britannian Occupation began-
Area Eleven. The official re-classification of the island nation was just made final. Though the war had officially ended mid-summer, after only nine months of open hostilities, the last vestige of Japanese resistance had only just fallen. From this point on, any and all resistance towards Britannian imposed rule would be classified as terrorism.
It was a small price to pay, ultimately. Britannia's new weapon, the Knightmare Frame [KMF] had proved to be more effective in urban warfare than it's developers wildest dreams. Faced with such a radical leap in military technology the Japanese military stood little chance once the nation's beaches had fallen to the superior might of the Britannian armed forces. Numbers aside, the technological difference between the Empirical superpower and the Isolationist island nation was simply too vast for any real hope of a Japanese victory.
And so the conquest of Japan was relatively short, the shortest ever in Britannian History, and the Japanese people would now have to live under the thumb of the World's greatest empire.
Stripped of their rights, freedoms, and even their national identity, the Japanese people would be forever more be known as Elevens - native born citizens of the conquered Area Eleven. The humility of a lost identity would keep them in line, such was the reasoning behind the Empire's reclassification of all conquered areas.
But now, just thirteen months after the conflict began, the former nation was considered settled enough that Britannia could begin the arduous process of setting up their infrastructure. Their government, their media, their academia; their rules, their justice, their sense of natural dominance. The process would require great efforts of manual labour, and it would be completed by the very people that were just beaten into submission. The blood, sweat, and tears that would be spilled building up a new regime would come from the conquered; forced labour that would serve as a reminded of their place in life, beneath the heels of a mighty empire. The cities that they would be [re]building would not be for them, but for their new Lords and Ladies. For the gentile Nobility that would soon be flocking to the island to flaunt their newfound power over the Elevens, and further drive in the despair that was already thick in the [former] Japanese culture.
Everything they knew was now at an end; and they'd no choice but to make as much peace with that sobering thought as quickly as they could.
It was during all the clamour of construction, and high tension of possible rebellion that a young man was seated comfortably in the atrium of Tokyo's International Airport - left untouched by the combat - patiently waiting for the VIPs that had just arrived to disembark from their plane. His dark brown hair covered by a toque, and most of his face hidden, wrapped up in a vibrantly coloured scarf. Winters in Area Eleven were harsher than his old home near Pendragon, Britannia - much harsher.
Sitting by his side was his, at the time, aide; a soldier dressed as a civilian. To an observer, they looked more like a mother/son pair than an exiled prince and a member of a royal guard.
"You're sure that your contact is reliable?" The young man said in barely a whisper. "This doesn't seem like the kind of jet a member of the Royal Family would even deign arrive in."
"I'm sure." The woman replied, her voice had a calming quality to it. "He was very specific that the appointed Viceroy for this Area would be arrived on flight 883, December Sixteenth. The staff was most accomodating when Jenkins was in here earlier enquiring on flight plans."
"Oh, Private Jenkins was here earlier, was he?" The young boy said, his tone laced with annoyance. "I believe I gave express orders that not a single one of you was to appear in public unless you were in civies."
"You did, my Lord." The woman replied nervously. "However… Jenkins had decided that it was of utmost importance that we verify this information. It wouldn't do to have you needlessly flaunt yourself in public like this. You're supposed to be dead, remember?"
"As if I could ever forget, Wood."
"Right. Well, you know that our unit was sent here to retrieve your body…"
"Cut to the chace, Captain."
"All but a few of us cut contact with the homeland after finding that you were very much alive. Jenkins and a few others however, understood the importance that a few of us maintain relations with our Command. It wouldn't do to have us labeled as deserters.
"We have standing orders from the OSI that take priority over our other obligations. We're not to return home until we have recovered your remains. Strictly speaking, until you die, we haven't completed our mission."
"I fail to see how this is all relevant at the moment."
"I'm getting to that ser. As far as the homeland is concerned, we've split up. Half the unit searching the northern reaches of the Area, the other, south. Only three or four of us send infrequent reports back to the OSI, and so long as your body is never found, we can serve you as need be. We are, after all, members of the Royal Guard - no matter the Royal, any order we get is priority one."
"Even if it comes from a ghost."
"Yesser. As an added bonus, so long as it involves a Royal, in any capacity whatsoever, we are to be informed of it by law. That includes, but is not limited to, their travel arrangements."
"So your 'informant' is from the OSI, then?"
"Correct again, my Lord."
"So Clovis truly is aboard that thoroughly underwhelming jet, interesting. Clovis was never one for subtleties. Perhaps he's matured some in my time away?"
"If I may be frank?"
"You may."
"Not fuckin' likely. This was all Prince Schneizel's idea."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Genetic predisposition?"
"Cute. Remind me to both congratulate and punish Private Jenkins when we get back to the safehouse. I think it is passed time I have some… words with you all. I'm not a child that needs to be kept out of the loop for my own protection."
"No. No you aren't my Lord."
As their conversation died down to idle chatter, the disembarking process for the aircraft had begun. The former prince turned his attention towards the passengers as they cleared the arrivals gate. At the lead were the various servants, no doubt sent ahead of their Lords to procure transportation and see to the security of the facility. After that were the minor nobles, the few that wouldn't be of any relevance to his plans - discardable, trash, beneath his notice. Then came the big names, people he recognized as having the potential to influence the developing Area in more profound manners. Stadtfeld, Calares, Leo, Nathdrake, and Gottwald to name a few.
The Stadtfeld family was at the head of several major companies, out of all the major nobility that arrived along with the new Viceroy, they would be the biggest decider on the Area's economic stability and policies. They would need to be made to see his way, as soon as possible.
The Calares family, while relatively new, ascended to the nobility three generations ago, and is notable for their military prowess. Along with the Gottwald's, they'd need to be kept under heavy observation to make sure the military matters would stay within favourable conditions.
It was interesting to see both the Leo and Nathdrake families present here. Of the five founding families of the Britannian Empire, only three survived to this day and age; Britannia, Leo, and Nathdrake. Likely there were here to wriggle their way into a position of power. They could be used.
Behind these nobles and their immediate families came the one that Lelouch was here for. Clovis la Britannia, the Third Prince, and newly appointed Viceroy of Area Eleven. Seven years his senior, Lelouch would have to be careful to remain below his elder brother's attention as long as possible while doing as much as he could to undermine Clovis' authority in Area Eleven. No easy task.
No doubt that Clovis would be in power by name only, and that the others would be the ones actively running the Area through puppeteering and manipulation. It was an interesting concept, to send a Prince barely of age to rule over a newly conquered Area. Perhaps it was Clovis' turn to be cast away, in more decidedly friendly manner than his own, of course.
"Wood. Whatever else may happen in the next few years, the only thing that we must accomplish with absolute certainty is the demoralization and utter decimation of Clovis' rule over this Area. I have plans for Japan, and Clovis' interference would only slow me down.
Once we begin moving in earnest, I need him taken out of the picture. If you, or any of the men under your command take issue with regicide, you may take your leave of me now. I have no use for anyone that may present a problem in the future."
"You know where we stand, my prince." Wood replied with a whispered tongue. "My men and I would follow you to Hades and back if need be. We swore ourselves to your service above all else, Lelouch. We'd never abandon you so simply."
"Excellent. Then I believe our business here is complete. We've confirmed the identity and presence of the new Viceroy, and managed to ascertain key nobles in the Area's immediate development at the same time. This trip couldn't not have possibly gone any better."
"Yesser. If I may, what are our plans for the immediate future?"
"For now, we do nothing. Let my brother lord over the Japanese for a while longer yet. A ruined nation serves as little purpose to me as the breath in Clovis' lungs, long term. Let Britannia raise their buildings, and rear up another generation of complacent citizens. The better off this Area's economy and military might, the less I have to do to get ready, and the quicker my plans can be put into practice."
"My Lord?"
"I intend to usurp more than just the hearts of the natives, Captain. Once we accomplish my goals in this Area, everything the Britannian's have built up here will be used to tear all of them down."
"Where should we start, with the nobles I mean?"
"Stadtfeld. Above everything else, the flow of money needs to be monopolized. If we can control how the government spends its' money, we can dominate the field. Money makes the world go 'round, after all. Isn't that the saying?"
"It is, my Lord."
"Good. Then those are your orders, Captain." The young boy paused as the pair began to make their way to the terminal exit. "Find out everything you can about the Stadtfeld family that may be of use, whatever dirty secrets they have I'll need as leverage to wrest control of them out from under Clovis' thumb."
As the pair hit the cold night air, Lelouch struggled to repress a cold shudder. The winters hear really were harsher than back in the homeland. He could use that to his advantage as well, how many Britannians would fall to him before the spring dawned over the bloodsoaked nation.
"Should we return to the safehouse, my Lord. Or was there other business that needed attending to before the night's end?"
Without so much as an answer, Lelouch reached into his coat pocket and produced a gold coin. Feigning interest in its' design for a moment, the young prince seemingly ignored the world around him for a moment, before flipping the coin into air. As the coin flipped around its' axis several times before landing back in Lelouch's hand, Captain Marissa Wood watched in curiosity. The young prince was fond of playing with that same coin from time to time, usually when he seemed to have difficulty making up his mind. Opening his hand, Lelouch gazed down at the coin to see the results of the coin toss.
Heads.
"Come on then Captain, we've got an appointment to keep tonight. And I wouldn't want to keep our host waiting for us."
"I'm going to regret asking this, I just know it. But does our host even know that we're coming?"
"He hasn't the foggiest. An old friend of mine departed that jet. We're going to follow him. Then we're going to see what it is that he can do for our little rag-tag group."
"Yes, my Lord."
AN: So this happened.
I've been debating with myself on which version of the opening chapter I was actually going to post. I wrote four versions of this, and all of them had different events happening. I eventually settled on this one, as I felt it was the best way to introduce my version of Lelouch, as well as lay out the groundwork for the systems that will be governing the background of my little AU.
I originally was going to post this around New Years, as a late Christmas present to you all, but hadn't actually written this version of the opening out until 'round the end of January. It's still un-beta'd, as you can probably tell from any grammar and/or spelling mistakes that I may have missed in my [very] brief proof-read of it.
I make no excuses for the delay, it was entirely the fault of my laziness, as well as my current addiction to FFXIV:ARR…
Still, I intend to start moving forward with QSS and SoLE more rapidly in the near future. Though my writing time was effectively cut in half as my roommate was laid off from his job. I've taken to working more hours to make ends meet… *sigh* the joys of life, eh?
Still…
Look forward to the next chapter sometime at the end of February, or early March. It all depends on my schedule in the coming weeks. From here, all I need to do is make minor revisions to the initial chapters to accommodate for the altered start from what I had originally planned and written. That should be easier than writing an entirely new chapter.
Syncidence.