Chapter 17: Alone in the dark.
Harushima Island, 2:00 am
Suzaku lay asleep near his Lancelot, lying on the ground near the left leg of the frame. Suddenly he woke up, opening his eyes wide. After the initial bewilderment, he slowly stood up, carefully observing the wood where he had taken refuge. Around him it was pitch dark, and there was a ghostly silence, interrupted only by the blowing of the wind that shook the trees. The only visible light was the moonlight, which gave the landscape a pale and ghostly appearance. At that moment the events of the last few hours came to mind: the Avalon destroyed by the Chinese air force, Miss Cecile and Professor Loyd dead, he who was running away ...
The Chinese Federation has launched a large-scale assault ... This means that Japan will again be a theater of war. Where will Governor Cornelia be? What about Euphy? And Nunnally? What about Lelouch? What about the guys on the student council?
He asked himself anxiously.
As far as he knew at that time they could all already be dead…. And he was alone, on an unknown island, and could not move from it, in fear of being attacked by enemy forces. If he had suffered another attack like the one he had survived, he would surely have been overwhelmed, also because the energy fillers were not unlimited. He felt helpless in that situation: he could not help his loved ones, much less repel the invaders.
I have to join the British army ... But moving around in the skies at night would be suicide. I have to wait for dawn.
He said to himself.
Earth orbit
The supreme commander of the invasion fleet kept his eyes fixed on planet Earth.
It's so different from my home planet ...
He think.
His species had been visiting that planet since time immemorial, and some of them had even settled on Earth, merging with humans or creating isolated communities in the most remote places in the world. Now this world had become the next target of the expansionist aims of Emperor Risson, who wanted to expand the domains of the Baishin empire as much as possible.
"Commander Atvar?" A voice called it.
"What do you want, Straha?"
"We intercepted some communications from the Efuʻefu."
"Them, huh? I hope you have discovered something interesting."
"It seems that a few hours before the invasion they tried to warn the Earthlings of the danger."
"Typical of them ... Hinder us in any way possible."
"What if they send a fleet to support the Earthlings?"
"Let them try ... We will sweep them away, as we have done before!"
But they did the same with us, as many times.
Straha thought, being careful not to say it.
The Efuʻefu were a species originally from the Zeta Reticuli system, humanoid beings with gray skin and black eyes, bitter enemies of its people and rulers of an empire which they called the empire of Rakau. The Earthlings knew them as Grays. The two alien races had been at war with each other for a very long time, even before Atvar was born. It was an endless conflict, marked by various ups and downs: the battlefield was the universe, with bloody battles taking place on various planets, which passed from one master to another. The clashes involved both regular and auxiliary troops, made up of aliens from various parts of the cosmos, such as the Batarians or the Axanar. Sometimes other alien species took to the field, such as the Draconians with the Gürvels (i.e. them) or the Syrians with the Efuʻefu. The latter were divided into two classes: the low (scientists, politicians, technicians, strategists, etc.) and the high (warriors and workers). He did not know how they had discovered their plans for Earth, perhaps they had infiltrated spies in the imperial ranks (and in fact some auxiliaries were gray prisoners). He snorted.
"Speaking of serious things, how are the war operations going?"
"In some areas there has been a stalemate between our armies and those on Earth, in others the latter have been overwhelmed."
"Well, the invasion has just started, it will take time to bend the resistance of the natives. But we will succeed, as in the past. Every planet we invaded has capitulated within a few months, and Earth will be no exception." Atvar said seriously.
