All hail Ch 21-0
Pearl Harbor. Imperial faction HQ.
Guinevere and Carine openly glared at the emissary that had come to parlay with them.
It was their families former bannerman and now current president of the Republic, one Andreas Dalton.
"Have you come to redeem your honor?" Guinevere said in an accusatory tone.
"Your highness, I have come to do my duty and try to prevent this madness from escalating nay further." Dalton replied.
"Madness? Of course you'd see it that way, after all you profit the most from my family being deposed of it's birthright, or am I wrong 'Mr President'?" Carine accused him.
"I ran for the seat because those still loyal to the country were desperate for someone that was not a foreign agent or a communist. And once there I took the oath that I would to my duty to serve the land. Your highness, your actions is ill advised. I advise you to seize the blockade of our trade and come to the negotiations table. I am certain that a deal that is favorable for both sides can be reached."
"Negotiate with Lelouch? Ha! The sword is the only treaty that stands! I will remove this blight called a republic and will-'""Your highnesses cannot win."
Dalton cut Guinevere off.
"You were not here after the war was over. The people were hungry and angry, jobless and hopeless and when the stock market fell the flood gates opened. At the beginning of that black the year a loaf of bread was two pounds, by the end of it the price was 10.000. Then he came, restoring the economy, lifting out laws that divided the country, reestablishing our power in the international market and now he has even turned former enemy's into allies and even reestablished relations with former conquered countries. To you he is a rival for the throne. But to the people he is the Man or Miracles that restored their country."
"The people? The people are sheep, nothing more!" Guinevere said, her voice rising.
"Not just the people!" Dalton shouts back, cowing the former 1st princess into a shocked submission
"What? What are you talking about? Carine asked hesitantly.
"Who do you think will support you? The politicians? The few you get to your side will not be enough, the politicians like this new republic and do not want to give up their power. The industrialists? Their firms prosper because of the pm's deals. The military? They will never turn against the man that freed them for Casablanca and gave them the means to restore their armed forces, the same for the air corps, knightmare core and the navy."
"The nobles will flock to our banner!" Guinevere shot back.
"I am a noble you highness, and so is Jeremiah, and the judged that could have condemned Prince Lelouch to rot in jail, so are many of those in the groups that I enumerated previously. We are the ones that stayed here and put our bloods sweat and tears into picking up the pieces and fixing this broken land. None of them will flock to your banner, because in order for you to restore the Empire, it will mean ripping apart all that we have built. And no noble will follow a queen that asks him to destroy his own creation."
"Enough! I will not here any more of this blasphemy. The strong rule the weak and the weak obey, I will restore the proper order of things-" "Cornelia-sama is stronger than you." Dalton said cutting her off one more.
That seem to finally strike a cord between the two sisters.
"And she is on the side of his majesty Lelouch, who also has me and Jeremiah, and Suzaku, and Lady Kallen, and many, many more mighty warlords and leaders. You are not strong enough to defeat even one of them." that seemed to knock the wind out of Guinevere's sails.
"You have misspoken Dalton. My unworthy half-brother's title is excellency, 'majesty' is reserved for the emperor."
"No your highness, I did not misspeak." Dalton said and turned to leave.
"This madness! I have more of a claim than that brat. You and all of your ilk are traitors to the Empire!"
Dalton then turned back to her and with a voice half filled with regret, half with hope he replied with:
"Then long live the Republic." He felt no joy at this, even if he won the argument.
xxxxxxxxxxx
The next day Clovis, Cornelia, Odysseus, Euphemia, Gino, Dalton, Guilford, the Glaston Knights, Anya and Suzaku were all standing with the war fleet opposite of Guinevere, Carine, Monica Kruszewski, Bismarck Waldstein, Nonette Enneagram and Dorothea Ernst and their mixed army of EU, Chinese and Japanese Mercenaries and Britannian exiles.
It was one last physical standoff on the beaches of Honolulu, one last parley before things got ugly.
At least that what it was supposed to be before Luciano and Nonette suddenly stepped forward and aligned themselves next to Gino, Anya and Suzaku, and then the ships, and soldiers under the two's command ( which was almost the entirety of every exiled Britannian) started moving towards the Republican army and switching their IFF to the Republican frequency.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Guinevere said in outrage.
"Why we are joining up with our army of course." Luciano replied with a sadistic smile.
"Your army!?" Carine said in shock.
"Yes your highness, we wanted for month now to return to the motherland, but fuel for that is expensive and just returning after years abroad and not bringing any gifts is bas manner. So me and Bradley decided to play along so that we can steal any equipment you give our forces and bring it as a gift. That and serve as spies for the republic while we were on your team." Nonette said and gave a nod of the head towards Cornelia, who nodded in gratitude.
"Y-you'll pay for this, you filthy traitors!" Bismarck said with menace in his voice.
"Traitors lord Bismarck? We are standing with the army that fights for the motherland, an army which is commanded by a princess, an army that fights for a country that is lead by the son of the previous emperor. You on the other hand have come here with foreign soldiers to overthrow said army, country and leader. I am afraid that out of the two of us, you are the traitor Bismarck, while I am the loyalist." Luciano bit back with a sadistic smile.
"Now you cannot claim that the army you are bringing is nothing but a foreign horde to put you as a puppet for China and the EU. Stop this madness sisters, there is no way for you to win now." Cornelia said in a firm, yet pleading tone.
"So, am I to just step down and let that brat crown himself Emperor then!?"
"That is our brother Carine! And the Empire and the throne is gone!" Odysseus said, his voice uncharacteristically full of power and authority. This made the two rebelling sister's eye go wide as saucer plates.
"The past is that past and it's not coming back and guess what, while you two were off cutting deals with the ones that destroyed the Empire, we went on with our lives, we all adapted to the present and we like it! I like my job sisters. I love not having to wake up each day and not have to worry if a word I say will cause an international incident, I don't have to dread a day in which I'll have to decide the fate of billions! I like talking with people and them not bowing and scrapping at me! This new life, this new world. I like it." Odysseus said, in that moment he truly shinned as the first prince that he was, for the first and last time Odysseus lived up the heavy expectations on his shoulders.
"I like my life too! No more been hounded and used for games of power, no more not been able to do what I want or go where I want, or have to bite my tongue because of some stupid law, made by fools that are long dead, so that the living may suffer under their hate and greed from beyond the grave! I like it and I want this new world, and it can be yours too!" Euphy said to her.
"In the old days we would have fought each other. Not because I was a threat to you, but because a day would come when the throne would be vacant and you could not afford me becoming a potential rival down the road. We don't have to do that! Guinevere, Carine, we don't have to die for the past, we can live for the present and build a future together! We can be a family once more!" Cornelia said pleadingly.
"You've all gone mad!" Guinevere said, her mind loosing it's grip on reality.
"We've moved on with our lives. We've grown up." Clovis said and took a step forward. "And we don't want things to go back to the ways from before. Back to the dark times. Back to the empire. And we won't let you drag us and the country down that path." The former third prince Clovis said, and with that the time for talks was over.
Both sides now prepared for a clash of blades.
"STOP!"
When a booming voice was heard over the whole battlefield. A voice that could make whole armies bow down to it's commands.
And this one made two armies do so.
Lelouch, riding on the arms of the Gawain , escorted by the Guren and a squad of several Vincents, all flew between the two armies.
"I see you decided to lead from the front. Brave of you brother. Foolish but brave." Guinevere said to Lelouch as he disembarked from the Gawain's arm.
Lelouch said nothing to them, he merely turned towards the Guren and gave a nod of the head.
At that the red frame and the Vincents all pulled out projector and screen and immediately two images appeared, one was the House of Commons and the other the House of Lords.
"Ladies and gentleman, esteemed colleagues. Considering current circumstances, I think it is time to put the rest an issue. Namely the issue of legitimacy ." Lelouch paused and turned to glare at Guinevere and Carine.
"As such, I call upon a special motion. In which a nation wide referendum will be held. The subject will be if either the Republic of Pendragon will remain the Republic or will return to the Empire. The final ballot will be decided by a 51% majority. All in favor?"
Lelouch asked, and immediately, very single mp in both houses raised their hands in approval.
"Have you gone mad? What manner of insanity is this? Elections, referendum. The strong order and the weak obey and the royal family has always been the strongest!" Guinevere and Carine shouted back.
Lelouch turned his head to look back at the two and replied with:
"That is for the people to decide."
"The people's place is to obey their betters!" Carine exclaimed.
"Prove it."
"What?" Guinevere asked in confusion.
"If what you are saying is true then you'll get enough votes to restore the monarchy. So if what you are saying is true then why don't you follow on the referendum, Unless of course your lying? OR is that you two are not strong enough to win it?"
Lelouch said in challenge as the two sisters glared at their half-brother.
The Black King smirked in triumph at having outmaneuvered them, when his ear piece rang, indicating that someone was contacting them.
"What is it Rivalz?"
"Lelouch, me and Millie just got word from the GOP and GDP that they are planning to announce that they are breaking the coalition!"
"What!? Why!?"
"I don't know, but Millie is talking to Deithard right now, trying to get an answer. All we can dig up is that they received several phone calls that can't be traced, they were contacted right after the vote for the Referendum passed!"
At that Lelouch pulled felt his pocket phone vibrating.
He pulled it out, it was messages from his agents in foreign lands.
Japanese diet disbanded. New elections imminent.
China and the EU relations head up.
Chinese Eunuch factions in disunity.
Signs of Indian secession.
Mainland European nations are planning to pose sanctions on Russia, the Baltic states, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Kazakhstan and Georgia for forming Euro-Britannian. Vote seams to be ready to pas.
Troops mobilized on Ukrainian border.
Report of skirmishes in Mongolia and Tibet.
English fleet leaves Gibraltar.
Troops spotted near Suez.
Russian troops refuse to leave Crimea.
Riots reported in every major city in Japan, China and the EU.
Chaos, pure chaos everywhere, the whole world seem to have gone mad in the span of a day and was ready for war.
Ironically it seemed only Britannia seemed to be the only country not going guns blazing at the moment.
It was madness, that seemingly sprouted out of nowhere.
But one soul knew where all this came from.
"This situation will either go to the provocateurs favor and they will seize power. Or will force the ones that are currently in charge to cut a deal with their leader, giving him a stepping stone to control….well played brother…well played."
Lelouch muttered to himself.
While, far away, in his secret location.
A certain blonde prince of the former empire, despite now hearing it. Smiled in satisfaction.
The game was on.
xxxxxx
-Like the book? Then have a look:
-Riddle of Ruin by RMSolea
Spread the word about my free book: -Riddle of Ruin by RMSolea—it's free on amazon.
The more hits I get on that book, the closer I am to becoming a full time author and focus even more of my time on stories like this!