Arc Three
Chapter Ten They may be ignorant but they are not stupid
Europe, France
General Smilas pov
In a spacious office with a ridiculously good view of the French Alps, a blond woman saluted her superior. "Major Leila Malcal reporting sir." announced the twenty year old as she came to a stop.
"At ease major." commanded general Smilas
Leila dropped her salute and relaxed her posture a bit, as she looked at the man who was responsible for her lightning quick ascension up the ranks.
A silence hung in the air for a moment where the general seemed to hope for some kind of response from her. But when he realized, she wasn't going to offer any small talk, he continued on to the briefing. "You must be wondering why I called you in here?"
"I assumed it was about the victory the African federation managed to obtain from the jaws of death." answered Leila stoically though he picked up on the glimmer of interest in her eyes.
He smiled "Indeed it is, but it isn't to give you orders to go support them, now that we have the advantage in the conflict."
"Why not sir?" Leila asked in confusion "As you said, they managed to repel the britannians by themselves. And once they finish their defenses, they can hold their ground with the minimum amount of resources. It would free up enough resources to push the britannians back all the way to the sea!"
"I agree that now is a good time to kick the enemy while he is down, but the defense committee of Forty hasn't decided on their course of action yet." He held up a hand to silence Major Malcal's retort
"I know, but you can't convince people with merely sound arguments. Every side can be argued convincingly most of the time. So you have to see it from their perspective, so you know which arguments you have to undermine." Lectured general Smilas to his inexperienced but talented subordinate.
"I see, and what arguments do our superiors favor then?" Leila asked with a frown though she seemed genuinely interested in picking them apart.
General Smilas sighed. There was a myriad of them, divided by short term and long term and alongside different disciplines like economics and diplomacy but it also differed country to country. "Well it's more unanswered questions really, that are bugging high command." The rest were just the conventional considerations and deliberations that were mandatory.
"Such as, general?" prompted Leila
"For instance, the fact that there was no way for the Africans to win that battle, without outside help."
Leila blinked twice, opened her mouth, and closed it again before she spoke "I read the reports; they received help from the locals armed with grenade launchers presumably delivered by our secret intelligence officers." She didn't seem to believe it completely but accepted it nonetheless as a reasonable explanation. It often took weeks to figure out what exactly happened during a battle other than the broad strokes. But such details were only of interest to historians, not military officers for whom a working explanation sufficed.
"Yes that is the cover story everyone in the military and soon the public believes, but they never recovered any wrecks belonging to the britannians." pointed out general Smilas. .
"So? Maybe they got buried in the sand, or the Berbers salvaged them to build their own knightmares." Dismissed Leila who didn't see the significance of one fluke.
"A convincing explanation, and one already gaining a lot of ground among the more skeptical officers." general Smilas leaned back in his chair and cast his eyes at his ceiling for a moment "But there is another one, a explanation only a few in the know would come up with."
He chuckled slightly as he drew out the moment. While he rummaged through his drawers.
"General?" said Leila uncertainly as she shifted on the spot.
General Smilas ignored her and threw a heavily redacted file on his desk. Leila looked down at the top page and saw the visage of Prince Lelouch VI Britannia.
The child that had single-handedly engineered the retreat out of Japan and brought low the empire within six months and all without firing a single bullet. A widely acknowledged economic genius and the most wanted man in the Britannian Empire.
"What can you tell me about this man, major?" asked general Smilas to get the conversation started.
"A royal prince that was betrayed by the imperial family and in return betrayed them back, and achieved more damage then we, Africa and Japan have done combined." explained Leila succinctly.
She didn't need to go into details, everyone knew who he was. And general Smilas already knew she had been immensely impressed by what he had done, while still a mere child. Lelouch was the measuring stick she held herself to. Because he had achieved her ideal, a bloodless victory.
General Smilas accepted her answer that demonstrated a passing familiarity at least. "True, but what you don't know is that he also bartered entrance into the EU at the same time as he engineered his attack on Britannia."
Leila gasped and stepped forward "Are you saying he is still alive, and on our side!"
"Alive?" General Smilas quirked an eyebrow at the comment. Apparently, people took Lelouch's silence as proof of his death over the years. Seeing he was confusing the Major, he continued "Yes he is definitely still alive. In fact, I had tea with him a few months ago."
Leila eyes widened at the candid revelation " What,.. Why didn't you tell me before?"
She was overstepping her bounds and despite thinking of her like a daughter, he had to remind her before it caused trouble. "Because there was no need to." answered general Smilas succinctly and authoritatively "This is top secret information I'm divulging here, so know that if you repeat this to anyone else. You will be executed by the military for treason and those you told it to, am I understood Major." He stressed her rank to get the point across.
"Yes general Smilas, I understand!" She answered crisply as she straightened back into a stiff posture.
General Smilas softened his expression "Sorry about that Leila, but it had to be said."
"I understand general, don't worry about it." She didn't relax her posture in the slightest though. She had been chastened and it would take time for her to loosen up again. If she ever would, that is.
"Anyways as I was saying, he is alive and bartered his entrance into the EU, by trading on his newfound reputation and the blueprints of the Glasgows. The only reason why we have technological parity with the empire right now is thanks to the actions of this man." He tapped the picture attached to the redacted file.
Leila narrowed her eyes "So he stole state secrets and sold them to his enemies to save his own life?" asked Leila, apparently feeling distinctly less impressed with her childhood hero.
"Oh, nothing as mundane as that." assured general Smilas with a chuckle" He wanted much more than that. He could have entered the EU without it or holed up somewhere else. No he wanted power when he traded that information."
Leila didn't seem reassured to know he was a power hungry genius rather than just a self-interested one. "Why would he want power? "
"There are a few theories, but most say it is to achieve revenge against Britannia. By empowering us, he screws over the empire. "Explained general Smilas "Think back to ten years ago Leila, at that point the empire had an unassailable advantage over us in technology and parity in economy."
Something that the empire was eager to regain and some rumors said they would in less than a year. Those same rumors kept him up at night and a few others who weren't too blind to see.
He didn't let his worries show though. "He reduced their economy below ours and leveled their advantage in technology. Without his interference Britannia would have conquered all of Africa by now, and we would only just now be catching up."
"I guess," admitted Leila hesitantly "But he only bought time for us. We are still going to war and are still at a disadvantage." She stared morosely out the window, no doubt considering her subordinates' fate in the coming war.
" True, but it isn't as hopeless as it was back then. Anyways that isn't what I want to talk about." seeing he now had Leila's attention again, he continued "Despite his deeds, a lot of people in high command don't really trust him on account of him being a Britannian prince or because he betrayed his country."
Leila shrugged "I'm not surprised; defectors have always been kept at arms length. There has never been a guarantee that a traitor won't betray you as well."
"Indeed." agreed general Smilas with Leila's assessment "Our covert intelligence unit has made trips to Africa, but not to supply the Berbers with grenade launchers, but rather to shadow Lelouch."
"What would he want in Africa?" wondered Leila aloud
General Smilas smiled at the question "Our thoughts exactly." He leafed through the pages to grab some Intel about spotted sightings in Africa.
He spread out a couple of pictures on the desk "Lelouch has been wandering in Africa for years, meeting with government officials and performing some kind of operation. But we have never been able to identify what exactly."
Leila looked at the pictures of him meeting with several high-ranking government officials past and current.
"And now with the sudden reversal in the African conflict, you think you finally know what he was doing?" asked Leila to be sure
General Smilas nodded and pointed to certain relevant paragraphs that were highlighted. "To an extent yes, we believe he was laying a trap for the britannians for when they would come to conquer the Sahara, before setting their sights on Europe."
"We have over a dozen recorded conversations wherein he meets with African officials responsible for their defensive works. From that, we found out that the current designs were fed piece by piece by Lelouch, to them in a way that would make them think it was their own idea." explained general Smilas neutrally
"So that's good right." asked Leila uncertainly. She had no clue what her commanding officer was angling for.
General Smilas didn't give her a hint though. He wanted to see what her own opinion was, when presented with the bare facts. "The defensive works are fine for defending the desert but they are too cost ineffective to be used on a wider scale. I know for a fact Lelouch argued for more active means to stop Britannia. But he settled for this, when he didn't get his way."
"They may not be ideal, but it will protect our southern flank, giving us the freedom to strike when we need to." offered Leila trying to sound him out.
"They will." agreed general Smilas "When they are finished building them and everyone knows this. The fast approaching finish line of the construction was what pre-empted Britannia into launching their attack ahead of their schedule. From intelligence reports, we know they were intending to steal the Middle Eastern hover panel design to equip their knightmares with. But they kept postponing it to prevent escalation with the EU until they were ready for it. But with the defensive works suddenly corruption free and nearly complete, Britannia had no choice but to strike now before they became impregnable."
Leila thought she finally understood what her commander was hinting at "So you're saying Lelouch engineered a war with Britannia to take place now, to get his way still. But why would he want us to buy more knightmares to fight a war with Britannia?"
General Smilas wondered how she would respond to this little tidbit. "Perhaps because of the deal he struck for the Glasgow blueprints. I read it myself, so I know that he gets a royalty for every sold frame. He also owns a large amount of stocks indirectly in knightmare manufacturing companies and other defense contractors."
"So he is manipulating us into a war to get rich?" asked Leila appalled. She took a few steps back as she struggled to come to grips with her fallen hero.
General Smilas however couldn't let that happen. She needed to get over her childhood admiration but she couldn't hate the boy, never hate. "That hasn't been confirmed yet, but it would have happened sooner or later, now that Britannia has recovered from their economic crisis." said general Smilas casually as if they were mere facts. Leila would be more receptive to that than some plea that Lelouch wasn't that bad. "This way at least we fight before we are at a disadvantage again." seeing the disgust still on Leila's face, he underlined his point
"Don't forget that we sat back and did nothing when Britannia invaded Japan again four years ago. Britannia barely had the strength to fight us off then, with all their emergency measures still in place. But we let them take back Japan. Thanks to tax hikes in their areas and severe exploitation of the Sakuradite mines, they have bounced back faster than expected."
The unsaid statement was that they let Britannia become the strongest again, without a fight. Mostly because it was profitable to those in charge at the time, to let them.
"Their economic recovery is mostly cosmetic; they are still weaker than they would have us believe!" Argued Leila back, though he knew she loathed those who let them keep up the mirage and helped make it a reality.
"I agree, we are still economically the strongest of the three, which is why they attacked our trade routes in the Mediterranean. If they managed to push their way to the Suez channel and cut off our trade with the Far East. We would lose that advantage."
"So what is it you want me to do general? " asked Leila to finally get to the point
General Smilas sighed as he could dance around the issue no longer. He braced himself for some harsh words and spoke bluntly and plainly "I want you to ingratiate yourself with Lelouch, to find out what he is up to. We know he is responsible for the victory in Africa through unknown means. We thought his actions were just the defensive works there, but apparently there was more to it than that. These plans within plans of his are making high command nervous. So they want an insider in Lelouch's inner circle."
He hadn't laid it on thick, but Leila saw right through it nonetheless. "Are you suggesting I seduce him sir?" She asked incredulously
General Smilas cringed slightly at the accusation but soldiered on "I won't lie to you Major. That was the primary reason why you were chosen by the defense committee for this mission. You have shown intelligence comparable to Lelouch's and are the same age. This will hopefully intrigue Lelouch, because so far any attempt to get a spy close to him has failed. It was like they were talking on two different wavelengths. And they simply didn't have the capacity to hear him, like bats and humans. He was a perfect gentleman off course, but he barely remembered their names despite charming their pants off."
Leila huffed in anger "I'm a commanding officer who belongs on the battlefield not some… "
Whatever she was about to say got cut off by general Smilas "I know Leila, but he showed interest when he read your proposal about your W-O unit a while back." general Smilas tried redirecting her attention "Which isn't surprising since he is practically the only other employer for refugees in the EU."
"So he is behind the Aegis Corporation." Realized Leila with a start. She unintentionally let her frown slip as she pondered the implications.
"You've heard of them?" Deflected general Smilas with amusement lacing his tone.
"Of course, many of my recruits failed to get into their recruitment program and only signed up as a last resort." admitted a distracted Leila freely.
General Smilas chuckled "Ah yes the age old problem of convincing people to join the civil service, when you can't pay more than the private sector. Or in our case when you have extremely hazardous working conditions."
Leila shook her head slightly "I don't mind them living a better life if they can. My proposal was intended to help them and solve our manpower shortage at the same time."
General Smilas nodded in recognition "Your solution killed two flies with one stone, but it won't be enough." He said with a sigh "I'm pretty sure that before long we will be forced to conscript our civilians to manufacture enough equipment for the war, even if we aren't forced to send them to the frontlines."
"The populace won't take kindly to that." commented Leila unnecessarily
"Indeed when the time comes for that, the politicians responsible will be forced out of office most likely, unless the public understands the direness of the situation."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
General Smilas nodded in agreement as he looked out the window. After taking a moment he continued "Now as for your approach, Lelouch has no permanent base of operations. He continuously moves around all over the globe. This is primarily to shake off any possible assassins after him."
General Smilas flipped a few pages towards the recent sightings "During the siege of Sfax he was spotted in six different countries in Asia. But we believe that one to be a fake; either that or he didn't need to interfere personally and left it up to his second in command Jeremiah Gottwald."
"Gottwald sir? " asked Leila while burning the green haired man's face into her memory.
"He is a former margrave who served on the royal guard of Empress Marianne. Apparently Gottwald's loyalty to her goes beyond the grave and has transferred to her children. The man is almost fanatical in his devotion to the prince, never give him reason to believe you are a threat to him or he will kill you without blinking."
Leila nodded in acknowledgement "Suggested course of action to bypass him."
"Don't hide your military background, he knows or will know you are a trained soldier. If you lie to him about that, he will suspect you every step of the way or just kill you to be sure." warned general Smilas grimly, even he had trouble getting the Margrave to not rest his hand on something that could be used as a weapon.
"Friendly guy." said Leila sarcastically
"He is," chuckled general Smilas "Once you get to know him. He just gets overly sensitive when you threaten the prince or insult him in any way."
"I see." said Leila taking his word for it "And what is the best way to ingratiate myself with the prince."
"It's to insult him." deadpanned general Smilas
"Wait! Can you repeat that again general, I must have misheard."
"You need to insult him Major." said the general with a chuckle " Don't give me that look I'm being serious here. Research shows he only trusts people who have the nerve to tell him he is wrong. You don't have to be right when you say he is wrong but it does have to make a lot of sense or else he will think you are a random idiot. "
"I still don't see, how that will make him trust me?"
"By itself it won't, but it will establish your credibility. Once you have that, you can start to talk to him as an equal. This was admittedly our biggest obstacle until now. Because of that, we never made it passed phase one."
"Phase one? Is there a phase two as well then?" asked Leila curiously as she continued skimming through the redacted file. He knew there wasn't any mention of phases in there, simply because it was too sensitive. If Lelouch ever found out about it then he would be furious to say the least.
"Naturally, phase one is establishing contact and credibility which will open the door to friendship. I've managed this myself but I haven't made any more progress since then. So we are going to rely on you for phase two."
"And that is?" Prompted Leila
"To understand phase two you need to understand Lelouch. That man cares about one person more than anything else in the world, namely his sister Nunally. If we just put a gun to her head, we could make him do anything we wanted. But it would only be a matter of time before he turned the tables around. But there are other ways to exploit his singular focus on her."
Leila jumped to the natural conclusion. "Are you saying I need to befriend his sister, to get close to Lelouch?"
"I wish it were that simple, by all reports his sister was a very trusting and friendly individual but sadly she is in a coma. The doctors don't expect her to ever wake up, but Lelouch still visits her bedside regularly despite whatever ploys he has going on."
General Smilas took a deep breath to steel his nerves before uttering the despicable words "Phase two is getting through his stoic façade by using his sister. When he is in the hospital and only then, does he drop his defenses. You will have to somehow use that opportunity to bond with him."
"You want me to use a crippled comatose girl to manipulate her brother?" asked Leila incredulously
"It sounds bad, but yes that is the gist of it." admitted general Smilas
Leila seemed uncomfortable with that admission and wanted to leave the room judging from her glances towards it "Was there anything else general?"
"No major, just find out what Lelouch is planning and whether or not it is beneficial to the EU. But don't antagonize him, if you don't have to, we got this far thanks to him. I'd hate to see what would happen if he turned against us." general Smilas told her to keep the redacted file, so she could study it for her mission prep.
Major Malcal saluted "Understood sir, I will proceed with caution."
General Smilas returned the salute with a smile. "Good, you are dismissed Major."
Leila left the room, no doubt pondering what she had just gotten herself into.
She couldn't inform commander Anou about her mission, or else they would both be shot. So she had to make up an excuse to go socializing with Lelouch.
General Smilas would back any excuse she gave or even pardon her if she went AWOL for a few weeks. It was the least he could do for her. Especially since she hadn't brought up the fact that she was technically still engaged to her older brother.
Ruben Ashford's house in Paris
Once Lelouch had raised an eyebrow at Ruben's new assistant, and they exchanged the mandatory digs about cradle robbing and gold-diggers. They moved on to business.
"I saw the news Lelouch, it seems operation QUICKSAND went off without a hitch." said Ruben once they were comfortably sequestered away into his private office.
Lelouch smiled but he remained pragmatic. He didn't need compliments, he wanted results and for that he needed Ruben's help. "There were a few minor problems Sayako informed me about." He started off but tempered it with "But nothing to worry about."
"Minor problems?" Ruben questioned gently, while his arm was already reaching for his bottle. Lelouch stifled a sigh, the man really needed to get his alcoholism under control. Perhaps he should ask Milly to try to….Nah that might just cause his heart to give out from all the stress.
Lelouch politely declined the offered drink and waited for Ruben to wet his whistle before he continued. "It seems not everyone has bought our Berber cover story, which will complicate our letter of Marquee plan. But we should be able to adjust, though it will decelerate our timeline more than I'm comfortable with."
Ruben swirled the golden liquid in his glass as he mused "Hmm if high command suspects your involvement in Africa, they will be hesitant to comply with anything you or our proxies suggest." analyzed Ruben
"Indeed, which is why it is necessary to buy ourselves more time than I had initially expected" grumbled Lelouch slightly. It was annoying, but it was a mere speed bump in the grand scheme of things.
Ruben arched an eyebrow and leaned back into his chair "Oh, We can hold them in the African desert quite comfortably for months, possibly years. So if we merely need to buy ourselves some time then QUICKSAND will be more than enough."
"Exactly! "exclaimed Lelouch as he leaned forward and pointed his finger at Ruben "That kind of mentality will soon spread through Europe, ruining the momentum I tried to create." Ruben looked sufficiently chastised for his lazy approach so Lelouch subsided and leaned back into his chair. "I can't stop operation QUICKSAND or Europe will be overrun before I have time to right the ship. But with high command suspicious of me, my hands are tied. So I will have no choice but to goad them into action another way."
"I see." said Ruben tentatively, his drink temporarily forgotten "But how will you inspire them into action?"
Lelouch smirked as he was about to reveal his latest scheme. The setting even reminded him of the last time, when he was but a ten-year-old boy. Even the alcoholic beverage in Ruben's hand was the same. The setting however also involuntarily reminded him on what happened just outside that office.
The feeling of helplessness pervaded his entire being again and he gripped his armrests fiercely in an attempt to regain himself. The self accusatory thoughts ran amuck inside his head again daring him to contradict them, that he could have saved his sister if he had only tried.
But he put on a brave face despite the slight sheen of sweat suddenly clinging to him "Simple, I will inspire the Japanese in area Eleven to stand up and fight. If I make a large campaign for justice to fight Britannia's oppression, it will reach Europe as well." He couldn't stop having the thoughts. But luckily he had already predicted Ruben's answers, making it slightly easier to keep up his part of the conversation.
Ruben pretended not to notice as he was already used to it and didn't push him on it when he didn't feel like sharing. Instead he mulled it over for a few minutes while sipping his drink to give him an excuse not to answer right away.
"I see, an occupied area rebelling and possibly escaping the collar Britannia has on them would be good propaganda for the politicians to show. It would demonstrate that Britannia isn't invincible and increases the trust the people have in the government. That they too can defeat Britannia!"
Lelouch smiled wickedly, but it was marred slightly, by his pale face and the bags under his eyes "Indeed, despite news broadcasts saying there won't be a war with Britannia, people still fear it from the bottom of their hearts. If the politicians can allay those fears, they will. And the news broadcasts will be skewed against Britannia and in my favor."
"That's going a bit overboard Lelouch." chided Ruben "They will be neutral at best, so as to preserve their neutrality. They won't openly back a terrorist organization no matter what kind of pretty words you spout."
"Of course, but neutrality is all I need. Sometimes all you need to do to say yes, is to say nothing at all. Their silence will be all the compliance I will need, for now at least."
"Will you be traveling to Japan as soon as possible then?" asked Ruben after his eyes momentarily flickered towards the framed photographs on his desk.
Lelouch knew those photographs were all of Milly. Ruben didn't hold that much affection for his only son, who was a greedy fool. No, only Milly was worthy of cluttering up his work space.
He had to remember to give her a proper goodbye before he left. This little trip was going to take months and he couldn't go back for a quick visit. "No not just yet, I received reports from my engineers tasked with salvaging the captured knightmares, now that the Africans have pushed the britannians back. Apparently it was the new Sutherland model rather than just ordinary glasgows. We haven't been able to get our hands on their blueprints yet, only whispers about their specs." Sorting through the data would give him more than enough time to break the news gently to Milly. This wasn't like Sfax or any other trip. He would actually have to resign from the student council for this.
"So do you intend to destroy them and leave them for the Africans to find and sell to the EU; or do you want to sell it to them yourself to earn more money for our plans?" Asked Ruben carelessly despite owning a large share in knightmare production.
Hmm propping up the African federation to buy time or hoard it himself to make it easier to topple the EU and then the empire. Time versus means, which was the better advantage?
"Either option sounds tempting but I think I will let the Africans find it. I doubt I can wrestle another royalty out of them for the Sutherland. So I will just argue that my royalty states any knightmare not just the Glasgow when I brokered my deal."
Ruben snorted at that "They will refuse of course, despite clearly stated terms, but they might give you a consolation prize." added Ruben with a wicked smirk. He was already daydreaming about the political maneuvering he could do, to force them to comply or to hold it over their heads.
Lelouch however already knew which option he wanted. "Indeed, my compliance with their terms will make them feel they owe me something which will be useful when I propose the letter of Marquee!"
"Hmm the rules of reciprocity." mused Ruben "I never quite expected a sales technique to work on such a global level."
Lelouch scoffed "The leaders of the world are still human, and thus have the same weaknesses like the rest."
Ruben conceded the point while giving a meaningful look at Lelouch at the same time. "True, but expect them to have the same training and will be more disinclined to let it work on them."
"They may realize what is going on, but the public won't." countered Lelouch heatedly somewhat angered by that look. "If I make my presence and compliance public then it will force their hand."
"I think your public declaration of working with the EU will do more harm than good for now. "Tempered Ruben "It will paint a bulls-eye on the EU and then they can blame the coming war with Britannia on you!"
That brought him up short and he subsided quickly "Hmm good point." He conceded and then added wryly "I didn't want to be a martyr for Britannia, so why should I become a scapegoat for the EU." in a mutter
"You certainly do end up in a lot of situations, where you could be used as a political tool." commented Ruben good naturedly
Lelouch shrugged "The price of being royalty I guess." The memory of his mother's assassination flashed before his eyes but he ruthlessly squashed it down again.
Ruben winced a bit at that word "Speaking of royalty, I received a call from the hospital that there was a spike in your sister's brain activity " He segued awkwardly
Lelouch didn't outwardly react, but inside he ran a dozen scenarios where his sister might awaken "I…see…" He answered neutrally. Though he could practically feel his heartbeat pounding in his ear.
"We shouldn't get our hopes up, but we should go visit her." advised Ruben gently and somewhat restrained. Like he thought he was now something fragile that had to be handled with the utmost care.
Lelouch shakily stood up "Yes…We should leave for the hospital as soon as possible." He confirmed in a soft-spoken voice but the underlying tone of hope was undeniable.
Nunnally
Author notes
The last arc is the only arc with OC pov and from this arc onward it will be told by cannon characters. I had to write the last arc from a OC perspective simply because there wasn't a rational reason for a cannon character to be there
Lelouch launched into longwinded monologues in the first chapter for the same reason. I prefer a tedious monologue over a dialogue partner that doesn't make sense.
Delay
I felt like reading other fandoms rather than editing.
Ps inspiration came from the siege on Stalingrad where enough time was bought with people's lives to turn the war around.