Son of Britannia
Act 8: Goals
By Lord Strife
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or Record of Agarest War.
LS: Some background info, like the Areas, was taken from Code Geass Wikia
LS: For those curious to what Agarest looks like you can also visit the Agarest Wikia
Update notice: I changed the father from Leonis to Lenion. Why? I've finally decided to include Ag0 and AG2 characters here. Also, with regards to family I've dropped down Leny's (yep same nickname) women from 6 to 3. Thereby I'm making Ladius and Thoma full brothers…not that it affects my story much.
It was nearly 6:30 pm when Lelouch and his entourage arrived at Yokohama Naval Yard. Waiting for them were Capt. Leonhardt Raglan and 1st Lt. Elaine Rubech of the 502nd RPI. The said two officers gave a salute as soon as their prince approached them.
"At ease captain, lieutenant. And welcome to Area 11." Lelouch said as he returned their salute. "How was the voyage? Uneventful I hope?"
Leo nodded as he lowered his hand, "The only problem we encountered was during our departure when we cleared the Persian Gulf, sire."
"Ah, yes I seem to recall a report from Jeremiah that stated your convoy was ambushed by locals in speedboats. Were there any casualties or damage sustained? His report was a little vague regarding that detail."
"We didn't sustain any casualty nor damage sire. Our escort ships managed to deal with them before it got messy."
Lelouch nodded in satisfaction, "That's good to hear. Since it's quite late already, why don't we talk over the remaining details over dinner? I'm guessing you and Lady Rubech have yet to dine, yes?"
Leo and Elaine both nodded, while Lelouch motioned for everyone present to return to his limo. Once everybody was onboard, he directed the driver to head to Clovis Land. "I hope you two don't mind some local cuisine. We've been trying some since Kallen insisted."
Kallen smiled, "What good is it when you're visiting a place not trying what they have to offer? You'll be missing out on a lot of things."
"It's surprisingly good." Thoma said with smile, "I had thought that raw fish would be smelly and stuff but it's quite filling."
Noah laughed at that, "Yeah, considering you threw-up the first sashimi you ate." Everyone joined in laughter as Thoma rubbed his head in embarrassment, more likely the reason was that he put too much of that thing they call wasabi.
"Well it does take some time to get used to, but there are a lot of dishes that's cooked so you don't need to worry about raw fish if that isn't your forte." Kallen said reassuringly to Elaine who sighed with relief.
"That's a relief. No offense Kallen, but I don't think I can stomach anything raw."
Leo chuckled, "That and she's tired of eating fish for the entire journey from Area 18 to here."
Elaine blushed in embarrassment before playfully hitting Leo on the shoulders. "Don't tell me you weren't getting sick of eating fish ten days in a row?"
"Well…I guess." Leo shrugged. "Although to be truthful I am looking forward to trying out…what's that called again, that noodle thingy? The one with I saw in the magazine Rex sent us?"
"Ah, you mean ramen?" Kallen confirmed. Seeing Leo nod, she smiled. "The restaurant that Lelouch had set up for reservation actually specializes in ramen so you'll be getting quite a selection."
Leo grinned, "Great I'm looking forward to it, then." As if remembering something, he asked. "Will Duran and the others be joining us?"
Lelouch shook his head in a negative, "Sorry Leo. I know you'd want to catch-up with Duran and Rex but currently I have something I needed them to attend to for now. I promise you though that we'll have a small reunion dinner once Jeremiah and Ladius arrive next week.
"In any case, I think you'll be seeing more of Rex in the coming days anyway. And also we need you to get acquainted with your new mount."
Leo nodded. "You mean a knightmare from Project Camelot, sire?"
Thoma grinned, "Yeah bro you should see that awesome new prototype that Rex's fielded. But then again, there's that other prototype that just have your colors on it."
Leo groaned. It seems that the gold-theme will be following him for the rest of his career. "Not that I'm complaining but it sure feels like painting a giant bulls-eye for the enemy to single me out."
"Sorry if you feel that way, but that goes both ways as well." Lelouch explained, "While it may paint you as priority target, it does give the enemy pause. Psychological effects can affect the outcome of any engagement after all."
"True." Leo agreed. That and he did hear that the prototypes were sporting an energy shield. That should stop anything short of a direct meteor impact.
Kallen grinned at her rival, "Well to be honest, from what we heard the color scheme was actually purely coincidental."
Leo looked at her quizzically, "Huh? You mean that this knightmare just happens to be gold colored?"
"That's right sweetheart." Noah said also grinning. "Honestly speaking, if the color was anything but gold, Lady Kallen would have taken the machine and repainted it with her colors."
Looking at the grinning redhead caused Leo to let out an exasperated sigh, "So she basically just deferred it to me." Elaine held back her giggles even as her boyfriend gave her a mock glare.
"Yup! Well not that I didn't want a 7th gen frame but once Camelot gets them to mass production I'm getting a custom red paint for mine."
"Well think of it this way, bro." Everyone turned to face Thoma. "Just imagine what Sir Jeremiah would do once he finds out he'll be having a true orange colored knightmare." That statement earned some laughs from everyone present. And far away, inside a transport ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean, a certain blue-haired knight gave an involuntary shiver as he coordinates the maintenance crew to chip out the dried orange paint from his Gloucester that refuses to be cleaned.
It was sometime after dinner, Lelouch and his entourage had retreated back to his private room at the Governor's Palace. Lelouch was watching carefully Leo and Elaine's reactions as they read through the report they have compiled regarding geass and Code-R in general. He found it funny seeing Leo's eyebrows disappear into his hair line.
"Is…is this even real, sire?" Undying immortals was one thing but learning about power of kings…geass that is…was mind blowing in a whole new level. Besides him, Elaine nodded.
"I assure you, Leo…it's very real. And I don't begrudge you two if you find it far-fetched. Honestly, I still find it quite surreal myself." Continuing, he pushed a button that played the recorded image of Duran doing that uma dance.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Leo and Elaine couldn't help but chuckle at the bizarre sight of Duran openly smiling while swaying his hips from side to side. Even Thoma, Noah and Kallen who have seen the video several times over can't help but laugh at the video recording. Duran in fact had vowed someday, to destroy any and all evidence of such travesty, though Silvi may have something to say about that.
"While I could have ordered Duran to dance, and more likely he would have grudgingly obeyed…you can see on the video that the person under my geass performs their orders to their utmost…and that afterwards they have no recollection of what order they executed."
"That's a rather scary power, your highness." Elaine stated. She could count her lucky stars that the prince wasn't the type to abuse it…or was he? "And you say that Lady Kallen also has geass?"
Said redhead nodded, "I do. But mine is different from what Lelouch has."
"According to that green witch, geass or the power of kings, manifest differently from person to person."
Leo nodded, "That's incredible, sire! To think you would acquire such geass…what were the chances that would be the case?"
Lelouch smiled, "Who knows? But she said that geass often takes on the best or in some cases, worst, qualities in a person."
"Are there any limitations to geass sir?" Leo asked, not out of fear but more of curiosity.
Lelouch for his part knew that Leo was merely inquisitive, "There is. For mine at least. It seems my geass can only be used once per person. After that…they become immune."
"So, does that mean Duran is already immune?" Elaine asked for confirmation.
"Yeah, he's immune." Kallen replied. "When Lelouch ordered Duran to try and forget seeing the video, it was there he found out its' one time use."
Thoma grunted at that. "And I'm still curious to what I said."
Leo and Elaine looked confused so Noah answered for her. "Prince Lelouch asked a question to Thoma…and well as you know people who are geassed can't recall anything so he didn't know what he answered. Rex figured it was the suitable punishment for Thoma for recommending a highly embarrassing dance."
Thoma grunted again, as Leo and Elaine nodded and made a mental note to ask later what the question and answer was later.
"The rest of us are immune as well." Kallen added. Leo and Elaine looked surprised at that. "We asked Lelouch to use his geass on us to do inconsequential things just to ensure we were safe in case of rouge orders and the like."
Leo nodded, "That seems wise." Indeed, that at least ensures that they wouldn't be given incorrect orders accidentally. Also, the biggest factor is that, they at least know what they were doing is of their own freewill.
"As evidence, we have recorded the orders I gave to Kallen and the others…well save Thoma since it was only then I realize it was one-shot. But the others can testify to what I asked him."
Leo and Elaine looked at one another before turning towards their prince with a determined look. Elaine was first to voice out her request, "So long as what I'm to say or do is recorded for posterity, am ready to do anything you ask of me, sire."
"As do I." Leo concurred.
Lelouch appreciated their determination and said, "I promise I won't make you two do anything you wouldn't want to." Receiving a nod from the two, he gestured for Thoma to record the following proceedings with his camera. "Now then…" He stood in front of the two yet to be geassed, who noted their prince's left eye was shining with an eerie red glow. "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you two to…."
When Leo and Elaine came to, the first thing they saw was the Cheshire grin that Thoma and Noah was sporting. Heck, even Kallen was smiling like the cat-that-ate-the-cannery. Lelouch on the other hand was chuckling softly into his hand. "I must say you two…that was one heck of a kiss."
Said two had the decency to blush, when they saw the video footage. Well the prince didn't lie when he said he wouldn't make them do anything they were against at. But even if both of them were in a relationship, they weren't the showy type and preferred doing intimate acts in private.
"I rate this one a good 9 out of 10. Sorry bro, but Duran's dance is still top notch." Thoma said with a cheery smile. Noah nodded her head in agreement, while the rest just laughed at the good humor the said Raglan just told.
"Now then…" Lelouch began with a serious and commanding voice, "Now that's behind us, let me brief you on the operation we were planning to conduct."
May 27, 2017 a.t.b.
"I hate doing this stuff…." Ryuryu complained as she and her Yayoi hefted some boxes they were delivering to a construction site of their employer.
Yayoi sighed at her purple haired friend, "I know Ryu…you've been complaining about it since last week. I know you don't like working inside the settlement, but the pay is good and we do need the money."
Ryuryu grunted, "Yeah, yeah…I know we shouldn't leech off too much from Ougi but why the heck is Tamaki not working too?"
Yayoi sighed again, "Ryu you know asking Tamaki to find work would be akin to having him get killed don't you?"
"Pff, yeah I get your point. Tamaki wouldn't last a minute without saying something stupid…." She could just imagine it: Tamaki spouting anti-Britannian sentiments inside the concession…and then brutally gun down by the locals, forget the police and the military.
"See? And besides, this job posting is the best we could possibly hope for. Especially when our contractor doesn't mind we're not even Honorary Citizens."
Ryuryu had to agree to that. Finding an employer like Stadfedlt Holdings who doesn't begrudge you because of ethnicity was rare…make that extremely rare within former Japan. That and they even pay you fairly! It was quite a bargain. Good thing they found that advertisement in the ads.
"Um, excuse me." Yayoi called out in fairly accented Britannian as she approach to what seems to be the foreman, judging from the way he kept looking at the blueprints sprawled in front of him.
"Yes, might I help you?" The man asked. Judging from his posture, it was clear to Ryuryu that at least he wasn't put off with an Eleven, women at that, delivering supplies to his site.
"The guard at the front pointed us here and umm, we're here for the delivery for a Mr. Arbuckle?"
"Ah, finally! We've been waiting for the spares that head office would send us, hey Tom! The deliveries came!"
From out the back, someone gave a fairly good howler. "Right, sign it for me will ya Georg? Can't leave these newbies unattended."
The guy in front of them shrugged, "Sorry about that. We had several new guys starting work here for the first time and well, they still need a bit more personal supervision from Tom. So where do I sign?"
Yayoi smiled, "It's no problem sir. Please sign here, here and here." Georg nodded in confirmation as began signing the receipt.
"Oh hello, what do we have here?" A female voice from behind said, nearly making Ryuryu jump out of her skin. "Whoa, there girl sorry if I surprised you."
Ryuryu, Yayoi and the man all looked at the redhead that was sheepishly grinning.
"Lady Stadfeldt! What are you doing here ma'am?"
'Lady Stadfeldt? Wow so she's our boss huh?' Ryuryu thought to herself. Well considering that the girl is obviously a noble, she idly thought Tamaki would have a fit. Not that she was any better but at least the girl hasn't insulted her and Yayoi…yet. As if reading what's on her mind, Yayoi placed a gentle but form hand on her shoulder.
"Hello Georg…I'm just checking how's our latest recruits doing…you know, if there being treated right and stuff." She said while giving a curious glance at the two Elevens.
Georg gave a nervous laugh, "Well we had a few incidents here and there but nothing Tom and I couldn't handle. Had to relieve a few hardliners though…and well, one of our instructors was laid-off so Tom had to substitute for the time being."
Yayoi and Ryuryu gave each other a brief glance. They were quite surprised that they actually stood for some of their countrymen and even had to fire hardliners? Yayoi smiled at that, if more people were like them, then perhaps…she sighed, then again even if that was the case her people still wouldn't be free either.
"Do pardon us, ma'am but we need to get back to our deliveries." Yayoi stated. Receiving a nod from young noble, she grabbed her friend and made their way out.
"Listen, Georg I'll see what I can do and get you some more people down here but don't hold your breath okay?" The man nodded, "Great, now if you'll excuse me I need to make a call." If one looked closely, you would note that the guy named Georg had red rims around his eyes.
"Can you believe all that? If I wasn't there I'd never believed a Britannian would be charitable towards us lowly Japanese." Ryuryu said in mild surprise. She and Yayoi were already inside their delivery van and began towards there next destination. Yayoi was the one driving.
"As Ougi and I said, Ryu…not everyone is cut from the same cloth." Ryuryu grunted at what Yayoi was referencing to. There had been cases in which other resistance cells have began targeting innocent civilians. Tamaki once voiced out they were hardly innocent and cause for much arguments between him and Ougi.
"Yeah…but they're still Brits."
"Sigh, sometimes I don't know why you Tamaki fight so often when you two share most of the same principles."
Ryuryu glared at her best friend. "Okay Yayoi that was just a low-blow."
"Sorry, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah, yeah. Can't help but feel it you know? Perhaps if those damn Brits didn't destroy our nation then perhaps I might have been more amiable."
Yayoi just nodded at that. Then again, even before the invasion, a lot of Japanese already didn't hold the Empire in high regard. "Well, in any case we need to get our next delivery location. I doubt the other places will be as accommodating as this one was."
"Right…let's see, the next one is…a party package for Ashford Academy?" Ryuryu groaned in annoyance. If there was something she hated more than the average Britannian it was Britannian students. "Well…it's our last stop so might as well get it over with?"
"Are you certain of that Q1?"
Kallen was currently on the phone as she watches the delivery van from her father's company leaving the site. "Yeah, there's no doubt about it. Those two were the ones I saw at Shinjuku. Never thought we'd hit pay dirt so soon and we haven't even…'interviewed' our newest recruits yet."
Lelouch had actually asked Kallen to have her father lease to them one of the Stadfeldt subsidiaries, one that would not only allow but encourage employment of non-honorary citizens. It was only a matter of time better they get lucky and snag one resistance member or to the very least, one that knows a resistance member.
To ensure cooperation and secrecy of the operation, Lelouch had geassed several of the top management of this particular site. Nothing that would impede the company's operation but he did changed several of their attitudes. Incidentally, Georg and Tom happened to be hardliners….
"Indeed. Q1, can you pull a few strings and have those two do a delivery at…" Kallen could hear her prince calling out to Thoma and asking for a map. "…right that would do. Have a delivery set to the Old Tokyo tower?"
Kallen grinned, "Sure thing but that will cost you."
Lelouch gave a chuckle, "Fine, what would the honorable Lady Stadfeldt wish of me then?"
"Well, there's a place I've been dying to go to…."
"Okay how about we go there next week? Once Jeremiah arrives I'll be able to delegate much of the BK's operations to him…great, it's a date then." Lelouch put down his phone with a satisfied smile. Both of his objectives in Area 11 were proceeding well. Code-R was now uncovered, though kept between himself, Schneizel, Clovis and Cornelia. The three initially thought that he was pulling their leg when he explained what it really was but true to form, Duran's video was really the straw that broke the camel's back.
C.C. was presented to them and explained much what she said to him before. Not even Cornelia or Schneizel could get the girl to budge. Clovis on the other hand stated he wanted nothing to do with the freaky girl, and advised Lelouch to keep her well away from the Governor's Palace. He already lost Bartley because of her and he wasn't about to dangle his head in this one.
Schneizel agreed with Clovis but more on the premise to avoid being under scrutiny of Lady Monica. Especially if what that Dyshana said was true that she was sent there by Lord Bismarck. He consented that both witches be kept at Camelot for the time being, and under heavy guard.
The silver witch was rather easy to persuade but the other, the green one, was more defiant. Thankfully, Beatrice noted that the woman had a weak spot they could exploit: pizza. Lelouch had threatened her to issue an imperial decree to ban all pizzas from the Area unless she cooperates. C.C. wasn't please but conceded defeat for now. How long that will last was everyone's guess.
The other factor that brightened his day was that his Operation Benjamin Franklin was also moving forward. Those resistance members that helped Kallen back in Shinjuku would now, again lend their aid to their task.
"So we really meeting with those resistance members, sire?" Silvi asked.
"Of course. With this, we can finally find out who exactly is funding all these resistance groups. I find hard to imagine that they're just scrounging up discarded Britannian hardware."
Duran nodded, "So we'll use those two to rat out others who in turn would rat others?"
Lelouch nodded, "And by day's end, we will have most if not all the resistance forces and their supplier accounted for and dealt with accordingly. And then perhaps we can finally promote Area 11 from Developing into Satellite State once everything stabilizes."
It was true too. The rebel problem in this area has gone far longer than most other areas did. True, that the GDP of Area 11 is above the rest, but that is mostly due to Sakuradite. If you remove that from the equation, then it would be the rock bottom one. Perhaps the death of Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi was more troublesome than a boon…. Lelouch sat up straighter when a thought occurred to him. 'Kururugi? Wasn't that the name of that Honorary Citizen I promoted?'
Returning to his computer he began a search query to the Britannian Military personnel in Area 11's databanks.
"Is there something amiss, sire?" Duran asked noting the sudden serious look the prince was wearing as oppose to the almost gleeful one just moments ago.
"I just recalled something important…something…" He got what he was looking for when Suzaku Kururugi's file was brought up on his screen. "Something tells me we just hit the jackpot." He grinned evilly as he read the part on family particularly the father, one named Genbu Kururugi.
Lloyd knew that his chosen career path was always fraught with peril, that he knew the moment he met both Cecile and Rashtaka. The former for obvious reasons…the latter…well Lloyd knew when to not disturb sleeping lions, wherever they maybe.
But there were time that he could honestly say that life was grand as well…take for instance pudding! He was fairly certain, and all he need is concrete proof, that pudding was…IS ambrosia, food of the gods! Nothing comes closer to it than marvelous pudding! Oh, well that and his great masterpieces. And speaking of masterpieces, the Vincent was finally being acquainted with its intended pilot.
"Sir Leo, you may begin startup cycle, now." Cecile stated as they began to pour power into the Vincent since the Yggdrasil drive was yet to be installed. Instead, they were using a regular power cable attached to the knightmare as if an umbilical cord. Lloyd got the idea from watching one those Eleven anime.
"Understood. Initiating standing ME boost." Came Leo's voice over the speakers.
Lloyd peered down at his console and nodded. Leo was every bit as talented as his younger brother, Rex is. It was extremely gratifying that Prince Lelouch was generous enough to lend his knights for this. He was fairly certain that regular pilots wouldn't even make his Lancelot move an inch. "Feel free to move the upper torso about, Leo." He instructed.
Leo complied and began moving the upper body of Vincent and did what was similar to a stretching exercise.
Lenard, standing besides Lloyd, nodded in satisfaction. "Good, good. It seems that the mechanism we built is performing as expected."
Lloyd grinned, "Naturally, Labie. I doubt anyone can come close to our genius in the field. Save of course for your daughter and someone who should not be named."
Lenard chuckled at that. "It seems the fallout between you and Rashtaka is still not yet resolved huh?"
"Yeah, well…what can I say?" Lloyd stated as he shrugged. "We did have different view points on that matter after all."
"Excuse me Mr. Labie?" A technician called out as he approached the two scientists. "You have call from the Chancellor."
From across the room, Rex and Elaine were watching the tests besides were the Lancelot was being prepped for transportation. Now that Leo has arrived, the Lancelot and its' pilot will now be officially transferred to the Black Knights. Mariel was also being transferred along with him to act as both liaison and be the main engineer to maintain the Lancelot. Her father will be leaving Area 11 soon for Area 9 to retrieve the Gawain to have it transferred at Camelot proper, now that they have finally completed construction of the annex building.
"It's looks something like a sleeker Sutherland so I'm having difficulty imagining Lancelot or Vincent as a sudden leap in knightmare generation." Elaine stated honestly.
Rex shrugged, "Well you can liken it to cell phone technology. The 2nd generation had what? Text and phone only…but when you look at the more modern 4th generation you'd see applications you never thought possible."
Elaine nodded, when put it that way she can understand that logic. An almost same outer appearance but totally different components within. "Say, why wasn't Beatrice chosen for Vincent?"
"Vincent is still a pre-production model…it still have much the same kinks as Lancelot…namely the unusually difficult interface. Though she scores a bit higher than average test pilots, she can't fully operate Lancelot or Vincent as efficient as I do. So Lenard made her as a control if you will to determine if the latest OS is already dumb-down enough for our pilots to use."
"Which I'm guessing is still too high?"
"Yeah…Lloyd is great and all but he tends to forget the human factor…or he has a very high ceiling expectation of pilots."
Elaine giggled, "Well I guess we were lucky you were here then. So, how do you think Leo's doing?"
"Impressive actually. Even if the Vincent is easier to use than Lancelot it is still harder to operate than your Gloucester. And as you can see, he's adapted quite well." True to form, they heard Lloyd call for the disengaging of the leg locks to allow the Vincent to move about.
"Lenard has already encoded the latest OS which Miss Cecile said will finish compilation sometime tomorrow. Then they'll upload it to Vincent and have both Leo and Beatrice test it."
"Where is Beatrice?" Elaine asked as she noted she hasn't seen her friend since breakfast.
"She's over at the OS simulators with Mariel."
"Ah, you guys really are quite busy here aren't you."
Rex scratches his cheek, "It is rather boring at times…we did manage to get some action at Shinjuku but I was hoping for a bit more thrill."
"Trust me Rex, war is never thrilling." She often remembers those close calls at the Battle of Bisha….
"It's not that I think war is fun and games. Far from it actually. And I know what Beatrice and I are doing here is of great help to the prince I just find myself often times bored."
Elaine nodded, "Well if what his highness said is true…then I'd expect a great deal of action in the days ahead."
Rex couldn't agree more to that. And regardless, he was really looking forward to it.
Lenard nodded to the techie as he sat down on his desk and opened the waiting call. Immediately, the face of Empire's 2nd Prince appears on his monitor. "Hello Lenard. I hope I wasn't disturbing anything important?"
"Not at all your highness. I was just helping Lloyd with today's tests. Since I already completed the OS re-code. And I've already booked a flight to Area 9."
"That's good to hear. Actually I have a request that happens to coincide with your trip." The white prince stated. "Actually this was brought to my attention when I came about a request from one of my many siblings. Are you familiar with the 88th Princess Maribelle mel Britannia?"
Lenard shook his head, "Do forgive me your highness, but it's hard to recall when you have around two hundred or so princes and princesses, unless they stand out. I'm only knowledgeable up to Princess Nunnaly."
Schneizel chuckled, "No doubt because of my brother Lelouch. I won't bore you with too many details but Maribelle, like Lelouch, lost her mother to a terrorist attack a few years back. It wasn't in the news as it was censored so I doubt you'd heard of it. But like Lelouch she wants to get her vengeance so she requested permission to raise her own anti-terror group. Mainly because she doesn't want others to lose their love ones to terrorist attacks as she did." He shrugged noncommittally, "I think she found inspiration with Lelouch's exploits though not much during the campaign in Area 18, but still enough to motivate her."
"So…you're saying she'll want knightmares then sire?" He asked, frowning as he did so. He highly doubts he'd have time to help in that, since he'd be busy with Lloyd for other upcoming developments for Camelot.
"Well she'll be needing knightmares that much is certain. But it seems she already has someone in mind to develop frames for her. Her only problem is to appropriate a budget for it." Schneizel said as if interpreting correctly Lenard's unvoiced concern. "Her allowance from the Privy Purse will not be able to afford the cost of development."
Lenard nodded. While an actual knightmare, like the Gloucester or Sutherland would cost roughly 12 and 10 million pounds respectively, the actual cost of actually getting it at that price was usually at least ten times that amount. The Lancelot's development itself was already 15 times more expensive than the original estimate. Not to mention the Vincent and Gawain prototypes and all those other test components like the Float. Suffice to say, Camelot was well into the billion pound markup. "I'm guessing you suggested to her to procure current issue frames instead of custom building one, sire?"
Schneizel chuckled, "I did indeed. While she stated that she'll do indeed be procuring standard models, of out her own pocket if need be…she still emphasize the need for custom units that can be fielded in specialized situations."
"Hmm…if I'm not mistaken milord, such request will also be subjected to the Chief General's review isn't it?" Seeing the prince nod he asked, "What did Princess Cornelia say?"
"It seems that Cornelia was already planning on raising another knight's brigade within her personal forces. It seems that my sisters Euphie and Nunnaly wanted to join Lelouch in his campaigns. Cornelia only agreed they could join if they could raise their own forces and join her 3rd Army."
Lenard laughed a little, "I'm surprise she even allowed that, sire." 'If that is true, then Princess Cornelia's army would be sporting the most number of royals in a single group.' He grinned a bit at thinking what Prince Lelouch's reaction would be.
Schneizel shared in his laughter, "Well she couldn't hope to fight against her two most favorite sisters after all." He grinned, "Euphie already had two knights serving her and it seems that Nunnaly managed to find good pilots as well from her class in the Academy. She even got a recommendation from one of them for other personnel."
"So will Princess Maribelle be joining them?"
"Cornelia basically gave her no other options. But at least she'll be able to pool her resources with the others. I'll leave up to the three of them to determine the command structure of their group. This leads us back to why I called.
"Maribelle's contact is actually a friend of her friend…and she's not Britannian. Rather she's European. And I think you're quite well aware of our current diplomatic relations with the EU?"
Lenard nodded. Recently the EU had mobilized 2 army groups from Italy and Greece and stationed it at Turkey that borders the newly acquired Area 18. Border skirmishes have already occurred and Princess Cornelia was doing her best to keep it from escalating too far. "I'm curious as to why this friend of a friend…did not offer his services to the EU?"
"It's a her not a him, actually. And to answer that, you'd seen the EU's latest frame?"
"The Panzer-Hummel, successor to the Panzer VI variant. I saw a few of the footages forwarded by 3rd Army in those engagements that took place. It clearly surpasses our Sutherland in terms of fighting capabilities."
"Indeed. If it wasn't for the Glaston Knights, I think we would have lost all of those engagements as even the newer Gloucester is outclassed. For now I'm trying to coordinate with my counterpart at Vienna to de-escalate the situation. Anyways, that was the reason she was offering her services to us. It seems that the Europeans are quite confident in their latest knightmare that they practically ignored her in favor of mass producing more of the Hummel."
A scorned scientist can indeed be scary thing indeed. "I see. So who will I be meeting with again, sire?"
"Her name is Anna Clement. She'll be with Lady Reila Malkal, Maribelle's friend. I'll forward the necessary data to you later."
"They'll be joining Camelot then sir? Are you sure that it's wise to place them together with us here?"
Schneizel nodded. "Yes. Actually I've yet to call Lelouch and inform him of this but I'm certain he'll be up for the task. And besides, Camelot IS the only project within the Empire that has the budget to necessitate R&D. And I'm certain that Miss Clement is…professional enough not to let her nationality be an issue."
"If you say so then, sire." Lenard acquiesced
Euphemia took a sip of her tea as she patiently waits for her guests to arrive. Standing in attention behind her was Liliana one of her two knights.
A soft knock came from the door, "Euphie? Your guests are here." Marika Soresi said, calling her princess by name as she requested of them.
"Show them in please Marika." She then signaled Liliana to fill-up two more cups of tea she was having.
The door opened and Marika led the way for her guests to enter. 88th Princess Maribelle mel Britannia and her friend and personal knight Oldrin Zevon. Euphie smiled as she stood, "Hello Maribelle it's good to see you again." She approached the other princess and gave her a welcome hug which was reciprocated. "And it's good to see you again, Lady Zevon."
"Thanks Euphie." "Thank you your highness." Came the replies from the two.
"Please, have a sit. I've already have tea prepared. And I hope you don't mind cheese cake."
Maribelle accepted the offer and gestured for Oldrin to have sit as well but the girl shook her head and stated she'll just stay standing. It would be a poor example seeing Princess Euphemia's knights were dutifully standing guard, she'd rather not set a bad precedent.
"So how you've been? You didn't come to our family's Christmas reunion last year." Euphie said frowning slightly.
Maribelle took a sip of her tea before answering, "Well you know how the rest of our family is really. Ever since my mother died well…." She pauses as she remembers those stupid hyenas that surrounded their father tend to be whenever a potential weakness was ever found within the royal family. Especially to those who were very far from the line of succession. "I've been never really close to anyone in our family…except maybe for Sofia, and maybe even Victoria."
Euphie nodded. She really loves her family members but she had to agree that there were those who you'd classify as total jerks. Like Carline and her brother. "Well, I hope you don't find me too forward but I'd be happy to get close to you as well."
Maribelle smiled. "I'd like that." And she was certain that her half-sister meant it. "But we can family bond later, right now I hope you don't mind if we talk business?" Seeing her sister nod she continued, "I think you've already heard, but for simplicity sakes: I asked our siblings, the Chancellor and Chief General for permission to raise my own knight group…and well, while I wanted to have my own independent group I had to agree to the compromise and form with it yours and Nunnaly."
Euphie nodded, "That's the gist of it. Nunna and I decided we wanted to go help sister and Lelouch but Cornelia wouldn't allow us near them without our own form of protection so…."
"You two decided to form your own group." Maribelle said then smiled, "Well at least we can use this to get to know each other better."
Euphie also smiled at that and nodded, "The first members are my two knights here, Marika and Liliana." She motioned at the two who nodded in acknowledgement.
Maribelle nodded, "Well I have so far only two members, my personal knight and childhood friend Oldrin. The other is Reila who is currently at Area 9." Noting her sister's curious look she explained, "She's to meet with an old friend of hers…a scientist that can help us with knightmares."
"I thought we'd be getting support from that group Lelouch is leading at Area 11?" Euphie asked.
Maribelle gave a delicate shrug, "Well I wanted some custom frames to identify us. And Reila said that her friend was willing to work for us provided we give her a chance to build her dream knightmare."
"I see."
Maribelle then took note, "Where is sister Nunnaly? I thought she'd be here with you."
"Ah, yes you're not actually in the know but Nunnaly is with the Imperial Academy. She's in her second year of officer training." She explained, "She can't get out for the next two years or she request military activation should a war occur before that.
"Oh…." She never actually thought of doing military training. She'd jumped into forming a knight group without even considering officer course. Looking at her sister, she was certain that while not having formal training, Euphemia must know a thing or two with what, being close to soldiers like Cornelia and Lelouch.
"So then we have your friends that make a total of four between us. Then if we count Nunna's we have what eight pilots…well nine if we count Nunna."
Maribelle felt her eyebrows rise, "Nunnaly has four knights already?" That was fast.
"Well…three of them are her classmates and the fourth one was actually the same class as Marika and Liliana were."
"Well I guess we're to a good start but I think we'll still need a few more pilots."
Euphie nodded as she picked her cup, "Well we have time to kill anyway. We don't have a definitive deadline."
"That's true. Okay then, how will we divide command hierarchy for…say have you and Nunnaly decided on a name yet?"
Euphemia blushed, "Well Nunnaly and I wanted something akin to Lelouch's Black Knights…and when we proposed the name Cornelia flat-out rejected it." 'Before rolling on the ground laughing.' Euphie recalled. It was also the first time she saw Lord Darlton's and Lord Guilford nearly passed out from laughing.
Maribelle focused her attention on her blushing sister. "Let me guess…you called it Pink Knights?" Behind her Oldrin nearly face faulted at the name, whilst Euphie's two knights turned their heads away trying hard not to be embarrassed of their princess' naming sense. Seeing Euphie blush deepened only confirmed it. "To be blunt Euphie…I think that name would scare most of our enemies in more ways than one."
Euphie pouted, "Hey! You're making fun of me!"
Maribelle gave her best, nonplused looked. "Whatever do you mean sister?" She then grinned later and laughed and was joined by everyone saved the pouting princess.
"I still think it's a great name."
Lelouch sighed as he read Schneizel's report. It seems that another group would be joining them at Camelot. Hopefully the new facilities can accommodate both Gawain and this one.
"Excuse me sire. But Sergeant Kururugi is here at your request." Duran said as he slightly opened the door.
Lelouch pushed the report away for now. Right now, he has something more important to do. "Send him in." Right now, if he was right, he may finally get the info he needed to determine the source of Area 11's terrorism.
The Honorary Britannian entered and gave a sharp salute which he returned. "Sergeant Suzaku Kururugi reporting as instructed, milord."
Lelouch nodded and pointed to a chair from across his desk, "Please be seated sergeant. I think we'll be here for some time."
To be continued…
LS: Too many dialogues argh..oh well I'm not exactly sure what the in character behavior for Maribelle and Reila as they're just upcoming by this point but I wanted to add them here. Major harem warning in the future.
LS: I'm also writing a fic that crosses CG with Nanoha…I think I've been influenced too much by Harouki's fic…not that saying it's a bad thing. I'll see if and when I do decide to write it down.
