Hmmm... So I think this is the longest I've delayed between chapters. I probably have spoiled you all. I blame a couple of things for the delay on this one.
1. A two page case study takes so much longer to write than 10 pages of this...
2. I've been catching up on reading and I was about 2 weeks behind on all of the anime I'm watching this season because of writing this.
At any rate! That's all the justification I'll give for the delay on this. Aside from the fact that the beginning of this chapter just fought with me... a lot. I couldn't quite get it to feel right in my mind, so I ended up settling for the version of it that felt best and moved on.
So on with Chapter 14!
Friday, October 12, 2017 a.t.b 18:32 hrs
"Your Highness!" Cecile had fumbled with the toolkit she'd been holding while inspecting one of the Lancelot's elbow joints. Lelou allowed herself to feel the slight amusement at the captain's flustered reaction. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to be seen around here."
"I don't, but I wanted to ask you something. Lloyd wouldn't give me the answer if I were to ask him, but it's something I need to know." She paused, giving a sad smile before continuing. "How bad were the civilian casualties at Narita? I can't get a number that I don't feel is heavily inflated by the media trying to paint Zero as Cornelia wishes." I would like to know how many innocents I must atone for. I would still do the same, the stakes at the end of this are too high to risk defeat for the sake of a few. However, I cannot allow myself to forget the sacrifices that were made. The sacrifices that I will pay for when the time comes.
Cecile frowned at the question, but she saw the shadows lurking behind the princess' eyes. "From what I've seen in the reports, the majority of the dead are military or terrorist, but the landslide claimed 46 non-combatants. It seems that the losses were light due to an unplanned triggering of the evacuation alarms. As always it also helped that the rumor mill had word that being in Narita was a bad idea that morning."
The captain paused as she saw Lelou trying to hide her pain at the knowledge that her plan had killed 46 innocents. "I see that I will have to be smarter about plans like that in the future. Killing a soldier is one thing, civilians should be spared the destruction that is involved with fighting Britannia. At least to the greatest degree possible. I know that there is no way to eliminate civilian casualties, but I can keep them to a minimum, and not be the cause of them."
"You intend to continue being Zero?" Cecile looked down at the ground with Lelou's nod. She took a deep breath before giving a little sigh. "Well, Lloyd seems to be alright with it, and I do believe in your goals, and I'll agree that there is less evil in the path you're taking. It does help that you seem like you'll be able to pull it off from what I've seen." She shook her head annoyed at how long it was taking her to get the thought out. "What I mean to say, is that I've decided to join your Black Knights. Lloyd said he would as well. Not really for any ideological reason, but mostly because he wants to get his hands on Rakshata's Radiant Wave Surger. He was certain that she wouldn't be able to make it work and fit in something the size of a Knightmare."
Lelou chuckled at that. "I would welcome you in the Black Knights, Cecile, and even Lloyd, whatever his reasons. I do want Suzaku to join as well, but..." She broke off with a weak shrug.
Cecile smiled at that. "I wouldn't worry too much about him, he's too good of a person. I know that he thinks you're right, he's just taking longer than he should to resolve inner turmoil. He'll come around."
The younger girl gave a little smile. "I hope so."
She waved Cecile back to her work, while she sat back, staring up at the magnificent figure of the Lancelot. 'And you seem to love him, don't you?' She frowned at Kallen's words coming back to her yet again.
You do. And you're letting your emotions affect your judgment. Why do you love him? Because he helped keep Nunnally alive in the aftermath of the invasion. Because even though he was an arrogant pain who never ceased poking fun at you for being a useless princess, he would never fail to help when you were in trouble. Because, he knows everything about you, and even if he disapproves, he has not handed you over to the military.
She growled to herself as she drug fingers through her hair in an old habit. She'd gone through the mental debate often enough. The side of her devoted to her goal warred with the side that begged to retain her humanity. Though her ruthlessness had fallen off somewhat. She'd never been happy to throw someone away when they threatened her plans, but she'd done it. Now, potentially the biggest threat to her existed in the form of Suzaku, one that she couldn't bring herself to take care of even at the risk of the ultimate ends.
A thought hit her that worried her. Why would Lloyd and Cecile be willing to join me so easily?"Cecile, may I ask why you're so willing to join me?"
Cecile looked back at the princess. "Hm. Well, we're funded by the Prime Minister, but Lloyd doesn't need funding anymore, just operational data. He's willing because he thinks he'll be more likely to get that from you. As for me? The Prime Minister is too much of a politician for me. He's too... perfect. I just get a bit of a bad feeling about it. And I admit a personal animosity against the whole Numbers system. My mother was a two, so I had a lot of trouble getting into schools until Lloyd stumbled across me. Foolishness really. Everything should be based on achievement as far as I'm concerned."
"A woman after my own thoughts. Equal opportunity is the way of the future. Equality leads to stagnation, but trampling one based on their heritage is foolish. Give all the ability to rise to whatever station their ability makes them worthy of. Then you have what humanity was meant for."
Cecile nodded, though they were interrupted as Suzaku stepped into view. His eyes fell upon Lelou with a slight flash of discomfort, but he quickly returned the small smile she gave him. "Is that truly what you believe, Lelou?"
He still doesn't trust me completely. Even though I'll tell him the truth every time he asks because I want him at my side. "Equal opportunity to advance or fail based on one's performance? Of course."
He gazed down at the floor for a moment before he took a deep breath. "I will hold you to that then. I have thought hard on why you became Zero, and why you're doing the right thing, even if in the wrong way. I cannot judge you for that though. I have sinned in my own way, and indeed, it might even be worse than what you have done."
He walked over towards her before dropping to one knee before her. "I swear myself to your service, Your Highness. If you would have it."
He really does never do things by half. "Get up, Suzaku. I'm no more a Princess than you are some noble to need to swear yourself to me. You are welcome to join me, but I won't bind you to any oath. I would like you to follow me out of your own will, not because of some archaic declaration of your loyalty."
He rose, but nodded at her words. "I will hold you to the statements you made at Kawaguchi. About the Black Knights serving justice. "
At that Lelou nodded. "If you find me straying from a path you don't think is right, tell me Suzaku, and it will be dealt with. As I said earlier. I have no interest in political power, I'm only interested in doing what is necessary to give that power back to the people it rightfully belongs to."
He gave a little chuckle, but nodded. "Great, so now I'm a Black Knight, traitor to the Empire, as well as Honorary Britannian, traitor to Japan. How do you keep up the various personas? Student, princess, and Zero, the masked man of miracles."
She ignored the sardonic tone, and settled for giving him a hug. She heard the quiet chuckle coming from Cecile's direction. Well, I suppose I didn't think this one through too well... I really do need to control myself where Suzaku's concerned.
She pulled away, her own embarrassment showing in her flush. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I've gotten what I wandered here for, and then some. I need to go take care of some business regarding China. Cecile, I'm not sure I'd trust Lloyd around some of the members of the Black Knights... Yet. But would you be available around midnight? I'm going to get you and Suzaku introduced at least. They all know that I'm Britannian, so I'm hoping that they won't give you much trouble. Well, one will. A loudmouth by the name of Tamaki, but you have permission to treat him even more harshly than Lloyd."
Cecile groaned as she realized the amount of work she'd just added to her load with joining up. "I don't think that will be a problem, I assume you'll let me know where I need to be?"
Lelou nodded. "It'll be taken care of. Until tonight then."
Saturday, October 13, 2017 a.t.b. 0016 hrs
"Who is this, and why the hell is an honorary Britannian wearing our uniform?"
Tamaki. Typical. She snorted as she looked at the pair that had drawn the comment. Suzaku didn't seem happy about withering gazes coming his way, but he even managed to keep a straight face as he saw Kallen leaning on the armrest of the couch with an unhappy frown. Cecile, on the other hand was too busy fidgeting with the hat. At least she'd managed to break out of the fascination of staring at herself in the mirror when she'd been given the uniform.
"Bear with me a moment if you will, they're our newest recruits. Although in a sense you've already met them before." Lelou pulled up a map on the television screen as she spoke, still wearing Zero's outfit, but having discarded the mask after entering the RV. They all looked on in interest as they recognized Yokosuka. "Colonel C.C. and Major Sugiyama have reported that Cornelia's gotten word about our little operation to get General Katase and his JLF remnants over to the Federation. I've confirmed that through my own sources as well. They're going to move against the freighter I arranged tomorrow night, just before it sails. We're going to make sure that they fail."
That managed to draw their attention away from Cecile and Suzaku. "I've managed to smuggle a few of our Knightmares into warehouses in the area, and I've... acquired a small transport ship that will be able to move a squadron. If you'll look on the map," she paused to press a button as the map zoomed in to show a specific pier. "I've marked locations that I think would be most likely be Britannian positions during the engagement. We're going to be planting some explosives along with a special... additive to help even the odds. The Colonel is handling that as we speak."
"Now then, we'll be discussing who will be located where momentarily, but first," She broke off to wave a hand in the direction of Cecile and Suzaku. "On the right, you have Captain Kururugi Suzaku, who will be joining us as of today. You all may recall the white Knightmare that derailed our first operation, and caused us problems in so many others? Here's the pilot. I expect him to remain intact, whatever animosity you may have towards him, is that clear?" She waited for the nods of assent, glaring at Tamaki until he grudgingly obliged. "And to the left I present Major Cecile Croomy. She's likely to become one of our better engineers, and I expect that we'll soon be seeing new tech out of her and her... crew. After all, she helped to build the Lancelot that beat most of us a time or two."
The looks they received again weren't the most friendly, but Lelou's narrowed stare kept even Tamaki from commenting.
"Now then, they'll be working on the other side for a portion of this operation. So friendly fire may be an issue. We're going to have one of the warehouse teams sneak in and cut them off, and 'capture' them before Cornelia gives the order for the Lancelot to launch. Kallen, you'll lead the amphibious assault after the charges detonate. Inoue, Minami, and Tamaki will go with you. I'll be on the boat as well, though I'll leave the fighting to you, I'll be busy coordinating the operation. Ohgi, there's a potential recruit that brought some additional information to my attention, I'd like you to keep an eye on him during the operation."
Even while she was speaking, she was carefully watching their reactions to her orders. All in all, she was pleased. While Tamaki was certainly uncomfortable, they didn't seem to have changed too much after learning that she was a former Princess. Of course the moment I fail to produce results will be the moment that they'll turn on me. They're using me as much as I'm using them right now. Hopefully we'll both be able to change that point of view before this all ends.
She kept updating the map as she worked through the extent of her plan. While normally she would have just put the plan in motion on scene, she knew about the resentment of not having the chance to give their input. While most of the changes that they suggested were superfluous, some that came from Ohgi were ones that she'd thought through in the course of designing the current operation. He showed a decent amount of flexibility in thought when she gave her reasoning for not taking the other option. I really do need to find some time and sit down with him and put him through a few chess matches, and maybe pass him my copy of the Art of War, he'll be a great asset if he can stay alive through these early days.
Around two in the morning, they finally broke up. The plans were set, confirmation sent to C.C. and Sugiyama. Now then, hopefully we'll be able to capture Cornelia this time around, along with the ASEEC. She paused at that thought. Should we capture her right now? I want to question her about mother's death, but... Removing another royal, and one so close to the throne so soon, would bring a heavier Britannian military presence. The Black Knights aren't ready for a full scale war, not yet.
She growled at her train of thought. A part of her wanted nothing more than to take Cornelia and interrogate her about her mother's death before giving her what she deserved for Saitama. A more rational part realized that following that urge would endanger the plans for the future.
Sunday, October 14, 2017 a.t.b. 2019 hrs
The ship rocked with each little wind-driven wave lapping against it. There was surprisingly little chatter over the radio, though that could be because Tamaki was hopelessly sea-sick from the slight motions. Lelou smiled as she scanned the shoreline for thermal signatures. All of the Black Knights were in position, and the Britannians had formed up near the locations she expected, though out of sight of the freighter for now.
Lelou, wearing the mask properly this time, smiled as she opened communications to C.C. She gave a little chuckle at the woman's bored tone. "I knew I shouldn't have mentioned that I was handy with improvising explosives on my application." The Colonel for her part was looking rather relaxed, the heeled boots propped up on a desk. The JLF guards behind her didn't seem terribly pleased to have her around.
"Yes, yes, Colonel. I understand that you take offense any time you have to do anything, but somehow I imagine you wouldn't be very happy trying to get out of this situation without outside assistance. Cornelia's come ready to fight a full-scale war after what happened at Narita. Is General Katase there?"
C.C. simply nodded, reaching out to spin the laptop around, so it's camera would show Zero the other side of the desk. The wrinkled general nodded with a grave expression. "Zero, you have my thanks for your aid, even if I'm not exactly enamored with this Colonel of yours."
Laughing at that, Lelou commented, "Yes, well, I'm afraid she's always like that General, why do you think I'm sending her off to China with you?"
The serious expression cracked a little as the General gave a smile at that. "I can't pretend that I've never done the same thing to a capable if annoying subordinate. And your Colonel has proven herself incredibly capable. But then again, I expect that's why you sent her to us even though she isn't Japanese and refuses to give up a name other than that ridiculous code name."
Zero nodded. "General, I'm sure that Kyoto has given you some information on me since my meeting with them. They know what my goals are. My plans include a free Japan, but they don't stop there."
Katase nodded at that. "I know, they also told me that you aren't Japanese. When I questioned them on that, they said that they would trust you, a foreigner over a vast majority of even Japanese. I don't know who you are, but to have earned such praise from them means that I will be happy to work with you as long as our aims coincide."
"And they do for a while yet at the very least. Just promise me that when you get to the Chinese Federation, you won't let the JLF turn into a Chinese puppet. I expect I'll be trying to work you all into joining the Black Knights soon."
The General gave another little smile at that. "We'll see about that, I'm not fully convinced, and I know some of my officers are still displeased about what happened with Kusakabe, fool that he was. I'm a little displeased with your showing at Narita as well, several of our people were caught up in that landslide of yours."
Zero nodded, "I understand, General. I imagine we'll be able to work things through over time-" She broke off as a messenger came into view, whispering in Katase's ear.
"Apologies for the interruption, Zero. It seems Cornelia's forces are moving into position."
"Quite alright, General. May I suggest you pull away from the pier, you're going to have to repel them until you're far enough to blow the charges. That's our go signal."
He nodded before cutting the link. Lelou watched as the freighter began to pull away from the pier, slowly, but accelerating quickly. Not quite fast enough though. She watched as some of the JLF sentries fell from their positions on the ship as Cornelia's Knightmares slid into position, firing anti-personnel weapons rather than the usual armor piercing. At least she's taking the liquid sakuradite threat seriously. I'd rather not have that thing go up nearby.
She pulled a radio, switching to the channel that she'd given to Lloyd, Cecile, and Suzaku. "I gather you haven't been ordered to move yet?"
Lloyd's tone forced her to see a mental vision of him pouting. "Of course... Cornelia's trying to salvage the reputation of her forces. Why would she call upon a special unit that is piloted by a Number?"
"Don't worry, Uncle. Once I 'capture' you and the Lancelot, I'll bend a little and keep you 'prisoner' while I use your precious Lancelot to get you as much data as you could want."
She heard the chuckle coming from Cecile as Lloyd went on dramatically, "Woe is me! An Earl slaving away for Zero, forced to arm those terrorists, the evil Black Knights. The media will have a field day! Though some that know me will wonder about it."
"Don't worry about that, Lloyd. I know Schneizel will wonder, but he's the Prime Minister, and currently occupied with trying to resolve the crisis with the EU. Besides, he won't meddle with Cornelia. Not over a single Knightmare."
"As you say, Your Highness." She sighed, having long since given up trying to break Lloyd and Cecile of their habitual deference.
She turned her focus back to the freighter's progress. It was just about to cross the line that C.C. indicated. Switching her radio to transmit to all Black Knight units, she called out reminders. "Third squad, remember, do not damage your target. You're to capture them and detach two Burais to escort them down the subway to the rendezvous point. After that, you're going to push down the north end of the pier and deal with any resistance. There's no need to destroy them, just keep them busy. Second Squad, blitz the south end and mop up any that escape the charges and push towards our landing point. First Squad, we're landing in the thick of it, be ready."
She smiled at the eager affirmatives. They seemed much more willing to fight hearing Zero's voice rather than her own. "Alright, we go on the Colonel's signal."
Mere seconds later, the evening sky was lit by a massive series of explosions. Even Lelou was shocked by the sheer scale of the pink-tinged fireballs that engulfed the pier. The Colonel's familiar voice called out over the radio even as practically every Britannian unit froze at the sight of half of their assault force being vaporized in an instant. "With explosions, big enough just isn't big enough."
Lelou laughed at that before she ordered the operation to begin. Black Burais poured forth out of several warehouses. Those on the south end pushed forward, well ahead of schedule, the most that was left of the Sutherlands that had been located there was a legless wreck that had been on the very edge of the blast. At this rate, Second Squad is going to make it to the landing point before we do.
Third squad reported in that they had the ASEEC in custody, and Lelou watched as they slashed down the narrow alleys between the warehouses before flinging themselves into the fray at the north end. Several Sutherlands and a Gloucester fell to them before even being able to turn to address the new threat.
Ohgi, from his position atop one of the loading gantries along with the new recruit that had provided Zero with the information for this operation were laying down on a maintenance deck, the winds from the opening blast having nearly knocked them off their feet. He reported that Cornelia's reserves were coming out in the center, near their landing point in an effort to halt second squad's advance. Somehow Lelou thought she heard a rather maniacal laugh coming from the background, but she decided that should be a concern for another time.
Indeed, her main concern at this point was trying to rout Cornelia's reserves. While the numbers had been evened by the explosions, the Viceroy still had the edge there, as well as in the experience level of her troops and even equipment quality. Their morale was at a low though, and so far First Squad's boat seemed to be unnoticed, despite only being a minute from the landing point. I suppose I can't fault them for failing to notice us so far though, Second Squad is hitting them pretty hard despite being forced back.
She opened the channel to Kallen as the vessel's roof retracted. "Alright, Kallen. We need to hit them hard and break them, we still can't fight these guys head on, I'm leaving the shock factor to you."
Kallen gave a predatory grin before leaping out of the ship as it scraped along the dock. The Guren was half way to the Second Squad by the time the rest of First Squad was disembarked, with the wreckage of a Sutherland and two Gloucester's burning in her wake as hydraulic fluid dripped from the Guren's dagger.
I'm just glad she's on our side... Lelou desperately wished that she had some wood available to knock on. The plan was going well, Cornelia herself was trapped between Second Squad and First Squad along with her Knights. The northern flank had abandoned their attack on the freighter to deal with Third Squad, but they were falling back trying to link up with the Viceroy.
She nodded as Britannian Portmans emerged from the water behind them. She expected that Cornelia would deploy them since she didn't have a single ship in sight. They could prove to be a little bit of a problem, but Lelou looked at the freighter's progress into Tokyo Bay, steadily pushing towards the Uraga Channel as they made for the Pacific.
"Keep it up, Black Knights. Kallen, keep the pressure on Cornelia, the rest of First Squad, we've got company coming in on our six." Lelou spun her Burai around, firing towards the aquatic units. She was joined by the rest of first squad, and one of the awkward machines went down, smoke bursting from a leg as it shattered and toppled down. It was soon followed by a second and third, both exploding as the sakuradite in their drives touched off.
The remainder were quickly pinning them down though, Cornelia managing to avoid Kallen, sending Guilford to hold the Guren off as she tore through Second Squad's Burais. Holding her frustration in check, Lelou watched the scene unfolding. The freighter had reached the limit of Knightmare's reach. As much as she still wanted to capture Cornelia, it would be more trouble than it was worth. Both in the lives and equipment it would take to accomplish here, as well as in the retribution of whatever new viceroy and forces would be sent to take care of the resistance in Area 11.
We've accomplished our goal at least, there aren't any naval forces that would be able to intercept the freighter before it reached the Federation, and we've struck yet another heavy blow against Cornelia's best. We won't be able to force her to retreat like last time, but she won't be able to pursue effectively either. "Alright! Second Squad, fall back! We'll cover your retreat, Third Squad, make for the tunnels. Kallen, get back here and quit playing around with Guilford. We're going to have to make a run for it shortly."
The Guren disengaged from the battered Gloucester, though Kallen made her annoyance with herself at not being able to have destroyed it obvious in her treatment of the remaining Portmans, not one of them escaped the bubbling fury of the Guren's Radiant Wave Surger. "Alright, First Squad! Our route is open, head for the tunnels, then on to the rendezvous, good work everyone. Ohgi, be sure you and Diethard get out of there soon, I'd rather not have you two captured in the aftermath of a victory.""
She heard the chuckles coming back along with the affirmatives. I imagine my sister is quite angry with herself over yet another defeat. We'll have to tread carefully. She was just overconfident at Narita, and here again. It won't be so easy to deal with her next time. She won't underestimate Zero again.