21st of April, 2019
Imperial Jet
"And so, you had this crisis after your defeat in Japan?"
The former EU President Carlo Andreotti, in the past a very successful EU politician from the old National Liberal Party had now wanted to talk to Giulio in private about what had happened with him in the past two years and especially about his last crisis, that had almost made the Roman Empire collapse. After all, it was Andreotti who first saw Giulio entering the government and felt like the young Emperor was to some extent his pupil.
"Yes, after that battle, seeing so many of the person that I loved captured by Lelouch, I felt I had no chances and that I should have surrendered.
"Surrendered? Why did you wanted to surrender and let him rule after he had humiliated you?"
"Well, I felt it would be better for everyone to end this war, the people would have stopped suffering and all that people dear to me would have been safer."
"Safer? Giulio, for Heaven's sake! Were you truly reasoning this way?"
"I was. But I don't anymore."
"It's good that you don't! You must keep in mind that since you have devouted yourself to a mission bigger than you, you as individual no longer exist. I know it's harsh, but this is what we all have to do. When I entered politics in the European United Republic, back in 1965, I had also imposed to myself a mission, that of revitalising the European institutions in a more conservative manner and strengthening the EU. I might have failed, but until General Smilas had deposed me with a coup, I kept working at it as best as I could."
"You are right, sir. I am the Emperor, I must live for the State, as I am the State."
Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Duchy of Milan
The Emperor arrived in Milan by plane, at the Linate airport, from where he headed, with an armed convoy, to the Castello Sforzesco. At the castle, following the golpe in Rome, the loyalist forces had gathered under the leadership of Admiral Scipione Valerio Borghese di Sulmona, who had taken over the Regency and was now preparing to crush the rebels. He was however rushing against time, as having proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Europa, the rebels were already negotiating a peace with the Holy Britannian Empire.
The convoy stopped in the Piazza d'Armi, inside the castle, where waiting for the Emperor were Borghese with his staff. Around them were disposed several soldiers, all in their black uniforms.
As they saw him, Borghese and his ministers rose their right arm.
"All Hail Julius!"
Following their examples, the officers took off their swords and the soldiers their bayonets, echoing the Regent.
"Your Majesty, we welcome you back to your post. The troops that you see around you are our very new counter-insurgence troops: the Black Brigades, the Arditi and the Volunteer Militia for National Security, most of them Italians and determined to break the bones of the bloody rebels."
"They look well, and these black uniforms recall to me the times of the Fasces Lictoriae."
"Well, my brother, now the times of the Fascio Littorio are back." Said Lucrezia from behind him.
"Forgive my lack of enthusiasm." Intervened C.C. "But do these bullies also have some military experience or you had recruited them in some pub?"
"Some of them are war veterans, others are quite young, I admit. But we used them already in some operations against the Jacobines and you can still find the bodies of those who fought them impaled on the sides of some streets here in Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia."
"Experienced or not, that's what we have." Answered Giulio. "And now let's go inside and plan the March on Rome."
"Giulio!" Exclaimed a girl as soon as the Emperor was inside the castle. Immediately he could recognise Oldrin Zevon who had rushed to receive him hugging and kissing, forgetting completely about the formalities she should keep in public.
"Oldrin! Oldrin, where have you been during all this time?"
"Where have you been, Giulio? Here we needed you desperately."
"I am here now. And I won't go away again." He answered.
After they had properly greeted each other, she followed with him and the other ministers to the war room, where Borghese could update Giulio of the situation.
"The enemy has successfully taken over most of the Balkans and Ukraine advancing towards Russia in the East and besieging Vienna in the West. Furthermore they pressing our troops on the Carso, threatening to enter in Northern Italy. Making things worse, however, is that now the forces of Princess Marrybell have taken Naples and are advancing northwards. In Spain instead, the situation is more or less stagnating."
"And in Africa?" Asked Giulio.
"In Africa, General Rommel has succeeded in making the locals rise against Britannia, putting the Tommies in difficulty, as they say over there: 'Allah in the Sky, Rommel on Earth'"
"Very good... and in Russia?"
"In Russia, Your Majesty, after the initial defeats, the unification of the military command under Grand Duke Mikhail Romanov is producing good results: the Grand Duke has managed to Beat the Britannians in the Caucasus and in Siberia and is now pushing back. So far, that's the only place where we are on the offensive."
"That's encouraging. Now about the rebellion, what can you tell me?"
"They are mostly concentrated in Paris, Rome and Warsaw. So far are still isolated from the Britannian forces and if we keep them isolated, we have good chances of winning."
"And the people? With who does it stands?"
"Well, many Europeans are now scared, looking for a strong leader and your long absence in a moment like this, well, it has made their loyalty shake."
"Not a problem. Today is the anniversary of Rome and today I will regain its loyalty, lead it to break the bones of the rebels and afterwards to take Lelouch's head. Just tell me one thing: how many troops to we have to reconquer Rome?"
"Mostly paramilitary troops, Sire." Replied Borghese. "Here in Italy, the Black Brigades, the Arditi and the Volunteer Militia what is left of the Iron Guard, of course your personal guard and the naval infantry of the 10th Flotilla MAS, that has already landed in Civitavecchia. As for Poland, the German Freikorps should take care of that and in France the insurgents from Vendée and the troops led by your uncle are already marching on Paris. We just need to be quick in preventing Marrybell from reaching Rome."
"If I may" Intervened Cornelia. "I would like to ask if you could task me with organising the expedition, so that by tomorrow we will be ready to march on Rome."
"Sure Princess Cornelia, you can proceed, I should soon update you about the plans." Replied Giulio.
Cornelia immediately did the Roman Salute and then left, together with Guilford.
"C.C. I assume that at some point you will have to go back to Britannia. Or you fled?"
"No, I did not." Answered C.C. "Lelouch knows about me being your slave and is seeking to exploit this to his advantage."
"Very well, in this case you will stay with us until I won't have retaken Rome. After that, you will go back to Britannia, bring a letter that I wrote to Anya and inform Lelouch about what I did here, as you are supposed to do. If possible, you could also try to make Suzaku come here to Europe, I don't know, it's just a suggestion."
"As you command, my master."
"Very well, now everybody comes here, we need to plan the March on Rome."
Palazzo Castani, San Sepolcro Square, Milan
The Roman Emperor would have spoken from a very simple podium, inside an aula magna in the historical Palazzo Castani, in the centre of Milan. In front of him, listening, instead of the usual ceremonial court, was an assembly of military and few civilians, the formers in their uniforms and the latters wearing suits. The atmosphere was much more austere than usually and expressed well the times the Roman monarchy was going through.
Giulio entered the room accompanied by Oldrin Zevon and Scipione Borghese. All the presents stood up and greeted him by raising the right arm and shouting:
"All Hail Julius!"
The Emperor took his place on the podium, with Oldrin and Borghese standing behind him and then addressed the Empire:
"Combatants of land, of sea and of air, Freikorps, Black Brigades and other para-military units, men and women of the Roman Empire, listen:
We have founded this Empire on the ashes of the decadent, corrupted and plutocratic democracy of the European United Republic on one hand and of the materialistic falsely aristocratic tyranny of Britannia. When We endeavoured in this mission, We knew it wouldn't be easy. We would have faced the enmity of the whole world, the treason of many believed to be friends and the resistance of all those who were too attached to the dying old order. But we succeeded! Soon the armies of the Jacobines, that once proudly marched throughout Europe at the sound of the Carmagnole, burning the altars and outraging the thrones were crushed and dispersed while the proud Britannian Army had seen its long tradition of victories infringed under the banner of the Eagle and the Fasces Lictoriae. Soon We made the Imperial Dream real, Rome was restored to its ancient glory and Europa freed from the yoke of the hated usurper and of the barbarian.
However, now these forces are back with strength and from inside and outside threat the very existence of Our Sacred Empire. Lelouch Lamperouge, a jacobine subversive tyrant naming himself Emperor threatens Rome from outside. Making things worse, a group of ungrateful officers from the former EU is now attempting a coup d'état, taking advantage of the war situation, in an attempt to bring back to the Blessed Land of Europa the materialism, the usury, the State atheism and the plutocracy to which they were used. Well, Romans, this is the time to say no. This is the time to remain united, resist the enemy from within and from outside.
These are indeed harsh times. We are all making sacrifices but these shall not be in vain. We must crush the enemy from within with the same strength with which we crush the one outside, no place for traitors and cowards. Romans, I call you to gather around the Institution of the Roman Empire, successor of Romulus, in this moment of crisis, because the Jupiter Pater had showed Us the way: let the Great War come and in its aggressive movement purify this planet from the impure, the superb that reject the Supreme Authority of Rome. After that, a new Golden Age shall come, an Age in which the proud Eagle of Jupiter shall fly again over the Palatine and be greeted by the Capitoline Wolf.
Romans, like a Legion, let us be one and together march to victory!
Roma Victrix!"
"Roma Victrix! Roma Victrix! Roma Victrix!" Echoed the presents.
The message was listened in every corner of the Empire, from Lisbon to the Russian steppes. It reached Romans of all kinds, from the nobles in their castles, to the soldiers in the frontline, to the workers in their factories and at those words, summed to the abrupt reappearance of the Emperor, very few could not feel themselves filled with a new vitality and the sense of a superior mission to be brought to the end.
The anti-insurgency force departed from Milan that same evening, after that Julius had performed the rituals to celebrate the foundation of Rome and asked for the protection of the Gods. The departure was accompanied by the acclamations of the population at every town they would pass through, where they would alway receive new volunteers wishing to join the March on Rome. To these, one must also add the several volunteers departing independently from different parts of Italy to reach the Eternal city. The Emperor was back and now the rebels would have paid for their treason.
Savignano sul Rubicone, County of Rimini
The troops having started the March on Rome in the afternoon, stopped at night at the shores of the Rubicon River. This was the river that in the past marked the border between the Roman Province of Italy and the Gallia Cisalpina and the one that Caesar with his Legions had crossed in arms, defying the Roman Senate, when returning from his campaign against the Gauls. 2000 years later, it was again a Roman Emperor that was about to cross it, this time to repress a subversive movement in Rome, ironically, after that he would still have had to beat the descendants of one of the historical enemies of Rome: the Britannians.
That night, after dinner, Giulio went outside the house in which he was staying, sitting on the shore of the river. There, he lighted a cigar and started smoking, thinking about the intense day he just had: first the strange dream, then the meeting with all the people he knew, then back to Milan, then again back in command and marching on Rome, he was feeling exhausted, but for the first time in months it was a good kind of exhaustion, not of someone who was leaving himself to die but rather of someone struggling towards his objectives and slowly progressing.
"May I join you?" Asked C.C. from behind.
"C.C.!" Exclaimed Giulio. "Of course you can, have a seat!"
C.C. came and sat next to him, looking at the dark river.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Everybody is inside."
"I wanted some time alone, you know, sometimes we all need."
"Didn't you had enough in the Alps?" Questioned again the witch.
"Yes, but that was a different kind of loneliness. There I was feeling like in a dark hole, completely alone and screaming of desperation."
"And now?"
"I feel I am back, back to finish my mission."
"You won't believe, but Lelouch feels the exact same things as you do." Commented C.C. with a smile.
"Really?"
"Yes, at some point he even abandoned everything and started taking Refrain. Can you believe it?"
"I have to say that I would not expect that, but for some reason I am not completely surprised. We are similar, aren't we?"
"I knew the ancestors of both, both of you are from Britannia, both of you come from aristocracy, both of you had lost a lot and from this you had developed a desire for revenge and to destroy a system that you regarded as unfair. To be honest I think that if your objectives did not clashed you could be excellent friends."
Giulio laughed.
"I think so. Unfortunately, the circumstances being these, we are destined to fight until one of us will destroy the world. You see, I think that our similar sentiments have brought us to embrace completely different world-views. He just wants a more just and egalitarian world, I want to create a new civilisation. Nonetheless, I respect him. I want to destroy him, but at the same time I recognise his grandness."
"Interestingly, he has the same feelings towards you."
"Really?"
"Yes, he followed your trajectory and he always found you a very impressive kind of leader, at some point I even suggested him to seek an armistice with you, but just like you, he thinks that the complete destruction of one of you is necessary for the success of the other."
"How interesting, similar mindsets but very different values make such a lethal combination."
In that moment they were reached by Ayano.
"Giulio, C.C., are you not coming inside? You should take some rest before we depart."
"Thank you, Ayano. We are coming soon." Replied Giulio, without moving from his seat. Ayano then came and sat next to them.
"What were you doing here?"
"Contemplating the Rubicon... and the Moon." Replied C.C. with nonchalance.
"And thinking that it's a delicious irony that now I am like Julius Caesar, crossing the Rubicon in arms to bring back the order in Rome."
"Yes... I just hope you won't end like Caesar." Replied Ayano disturbed by the words of her friend.
"Very well." Said Giulio standing up. "Time to go back inside. This conversation is getting way too morbid and tomorrow we will fight. Goodnight, ladies."
The Emperor walked back towards the house. Ayano and C.C. followed without saying a word.
Press Updates
From LVX, 22nd of April, 2019
03:00 a.m.
BREAKING NEWS: The Imperial Army Crosses the Rubicon! The March on Rome proceeds. His Majesty the Emperor: "The ungrateful rebels shall have their lesson."
04:00 a.m.
An unspecified number of troops has been sent from Rome to Northern Latium. Former EU General Philippe d'Estaing declared at republican medias: "All the Europeans are called to rise against the reactionary monarchy and its parasitic aristocracy. Victory or Death!"
07:00 a.m.
Imperial troops have engaged the rebel forces in Orvieto, north of Rome.
07:30 a.m.
Breaking: the 10th Flotilla MAS has started attacking the besieging forces in Civitavecchia.
08:30 a.m.
The Imperial Army keeps advancing towards the Capital. The 10th MAS is in Fiumicino and has taken the airport under control.
10:15 a.m.
After repeatedly attempting an attack in Nepi, the Imperial forces seem to be falling back. No information is coming from the commanders of the operation.
10:40 a.m.
The 10th MAS is under attack by rebel forces in Fiumicino.
11:00 a.m.
Imperial Forces are attacking the rebels in Mentana. Information concerning the begninning of riots are arriving from Rome.
12:00 p.m.
Rebels retreat from Fiumicino towards Rome.
12:30 p.m.
Imperial forces just broke through the rebel lines in Mentana and are advancing towards Rome.
1:00 p.m.
Fights seem to be occurring in the outskirts of Rome.
2:45 p.m.
The bodies of apparently rebel leader Honecker, General d'Estaing and other leaders seem to have been hanged by the population in Piazza di Monte Citorio. The Imperial Forces are now marching into the city.
Palace of the Quirinale, around 15:00
"Magnificent! A military operation almost sabotaged by the media coverage... Borghese, I want you to find that incompetent of the Minister of Propaganda and fire him right now!"
Giulio was infuriated by the fact that, despite having won the operation against the rebels, the excessive media coverage had allowed the rebels to anticipate the imperial forces several times, causing considerable losses.
"Yet we won, Giulio." Intervened Cornelia. "And we should be happy for that. Now, after that General Mannerheim was defeated in Monte Cassino, I would suggest that we start already mobilising to reinforce his second and third lines and prepare the defence of Central Italy, or your rule over Rome won't last much longer."
"I agree." Intervened Amedeo. "I would suggest to leave the Black Brigades taking care of public order here, while we reorganise all the other troops and we go on to reinforce the Finns in Southern Italy."
"Be it then." Said Giulio. "Let's organise a new division, under my direct command and go chase Marrybell in the South. Ah and Borghese, forget about firing the Minister, I need him now to organise my speech reassuring the Romans."
"If I may, when should I return to Britannia?" Asked C.C., who felt that it was now time to resume her activity in New York.
"This evening." Replied the Emperor. "When it will be easier to send you across the lines."
"In this case." Said C.C. sitting on an armchair. "I will take a nap."
Giulio gazed at the landscape that he could see from one of the windows. From the top of the Quirinale Hill, he could see most of the Eternal City, with the St. Peter's Cupola, the Pantheon, the Altar of the Fatherland, Piazza Venezia, the Palatine and several other monuments. Distant, there could still be heard the shots of few desperate soldiers still trying to resist and the screams of the collaborationists, now begging for mercy in front of an infuriated mob seeking to do domestic justice. Needless to say that the Armed Forces would not do anything to prevent it, just as they didn't do anything to prevent violences against the Japanese or the Republicans in the past.
There was a sense of pride and satisfaction in Giulio's manners, who triumphantly lighted a cigar. In that moment, two officers entered the room and after saluting the presents, the most senior of the two, a young sergeant spoke.
"Your Majesty, I am Sergeant Weiss, from the 5th Tiroler Jaeger. We have been ordered to bring to you this prisoner."
Saying so, they pushed forwards a young girl, around 16, with her eyes blindfolded, but whose pink hairs and features Giulio could recognise immediately. The Emperor was first struck by a sense of surprise, that soon left space to hatred and wish to revenge: it was Clara Lanfranc.
Gaeta, Kingdom of Naples, around 19:00
Sitting on one of the towers of the Castle of Gaeta, Her Imperial Majesty Princess Marrybell mel Britannia was consuming her dinner with the other Britannian Generals, among those, her trusted subordinate General Orpheus Zevon, twin brother of Oldrin.
"It was a while since the last time I have visited Italy." Commented the Princess looking at the landscape.
"This is a fascinating region, Your Highness." Observed Orpheus. "And now Italy will be part of the greatest Empire that ever existed."
"Yes, General Zevon, well said." Replied Marrybell.
"I think it was just unfortunate that in the operation today the Abbey of Montecassino was destroyed. I just hope they at least managed to save some of the artistic patrimony that was inside." Observed Orpheus.
"Whatever was the price, it was necessary to the established of the new order under our Emperor Lelouch." Added another General.
'All my officers besides Orpheus are brainwashed puppets' thought Marrybell with some melancolia. 'Giulio is luckier than me. At least he has got people thinking independently and that follow him because such is their will, instead of being slaves.'
These thoughts started penetrating Marrybell's mind, while an empty conversation kept going on among those poor souls enslaved by Lelouch, Orpheus instead, kept eating, ignoring his colleagues. For a moment she found herself thinking about her former subordinates and friends: Oldrin Zevon, Marika Soresi, Leonhardt Steiner, Sokkia Sherpa and many others. She knew that some of them were dead, others still alive and fighting alongside her enemy: Giulio. They were happy about their choice though, they had joined the side of that rebellious noble because they found it more just that Lelouch's and now they were coping with the consequences. She had also joined Lelouch because she found that her brother stood for justice, despite his questionable methods.
The reflections were interrupted by the arrival of an officer who informed her and the Generals that the Roman Army had begun reorganising under the command of the Emperor in person. Marrybell received the information, dismissed the officer and returned to her thoughts. Giulio... what an impressive character: a dispossessed Britannian noble who wanted to take his revenge and due to this made all his way until becoming Emperor of Rome and was now daring where every other leader had failed: defeating Lelouch. They were friends, once upon a time, before he would turn into a traitor. Marrybell always found that accusation unfair. Yet this mattered little. Giulio is the enemy. Giulio must be defeated, traitor or not and she would have complied with her mission.
She looked once again at the sky and hoped that the Gods would favour Britannia. In her heart, she also hoped that her former friend would not be overly punished by the fate. But this way by no means in her hands. Tomorrow, their destiny would have been defined on the battlefield.
Author's Note
Dear readers,
Apologies if I have take longer to post this chapter. Unfortunately, as the end of the academic semester approaches, I start having other things to work at and my time to write decreases. Nonetheless, I hope this was a good chapter. As you see, with the Emperor back, the war with Britannia is prolonged, while Lelouch still has the initiative. Moreover, finally Giulio has captured Clara Lanfranc, which path should he choose? Should him show mercy towards her or just consume a brutal revenge?