Well, that got real messy, real quick. I'll be honest here, that was one of the main reasons that I wanted to even write this story, to be able to put in such a scene where Lelouch shows both his showmanship and vengeful nature for the entire world to see. However funny enough when I drew up the first and even second plans for this story, I estimated that what would be book 1 in a series of stories based in the same universe would only be 30 chapters but with how things are going, I had to revise my plans and the chapter number came back as more along the lines of 33-which is a good thing for me really as I don't want to rush things, things need to happen at a reasonable pace after-all.
SulliMike23: You know I can't tell you that but I can say that with his fashion of doing things, it'll be grand.
Vein Bloodborne: Thanks for that, I've had that one cooking in my head so long that I was so happy when I finally got the chance to put it into words. And yes, he did pull a little birdie to both Cornelia, the nobility and V.V because in my own opinion, if there are three sins that Lelouch embodies it would be Pride; Wrath and Sloth. That last one is from the fact that unless he wants to, he won't work as Shirley points out. The middle one…well if you watch the show, then I don't need to explain that and finally-pride. His pride in his abilities does get the best of him from time to time but for the most part, he can back up his bark with a bite.
one-eyedtitanking: I wouldn't say it's the best as I can think of authors on this site that wrote some damn good stories of their own but appreciate the thought.
Blaze1992: A cult sort of formed around Zero in cannon so it's nothing new, besides once he brings Earth into the galactic community, he'll learn that although his special-he's no God that should be worshipped. Besides, I don't even think he would want to become a God as you would need ego the size of a death star to even consider it, that's Schneizel.
1 love m4gic: I based his height off two sources, the first being cannon and the second being what I observed from myself and my own group of friends, we didn't really grow from age 18 and have only recently started to gain more weight and height. His height wouldn't be an issue as no-one guessed his identify or even age in cannon as from that we see when he starts with his command staff or even other Britannians, he isn't short as he's quite tall for his age(if you don't count Gino). Don't worry in book 2, there's a time skip where he grows some more so be patient.
Dragonheart of Ireland: Well, the wait's over because this is it. The best part is that C.C. can't even feed them important information as they don't take about most things in the house or leave files unattended, there is a small child after-all that may take them.
Geer123: Well he knows it'll come out sooner or later so I thought it best to reveal it himself. Thanks for your words, no-one I know had gotten sick yet but I'm not counting my chickens before the eggs hatch.
7: Well it was meant to be shocking.
MM Browsing: I don't want to say but what the hell, I do have plans for Marrybell but not so much for Peace Mark as I didn't read the extended material for the show other than the audio books I know next to nothing about the both of them and I'm relying on a friend that did to feed me that info. As for the bodies, don't worry-he's not savage nor is he dumb enough to let the empire paint him as one, their remains will be sent back to the colonials for burial outside Japan.
JCarrasco: Thnk u.
Murraymint835: Can you repeat your review, I couldn't understand it-it seems like you made some spelling errors.
Chapter 27: The Forming Cracks
10th November 2020 a.t.b. /3 9688 BBY:
Unknown Region:
Milky Way Galaxy:
Earth/Sol-3:
Tokyo Settlement:
Viceroy Palace:
"Give me an update." Cornelia said as rubbed her forehead. Ever since Zero's little media announcement, things have gone from really bad to downright terrible. She found herself pulling more all-nighters just to keep things afloat then she would want to admit. And she wasn't the only one. At her prompt-Guilford stop up and brushed his hand through his messy hair, he too hadn't had much time for himself.
"Mam, as you know, it's been a week since Zero's media circus. In that time the situation has grown worse as three separate supple mission to Hokkaido have been stopped by rebels we believe to be the Black Knights, one of those supply ships used aircraft but they were shot down before they even made it out of the main island's airspace." He reported as all their screens flashed and changed to show video or photos of the incidents. The plane crash was the worse as the missile used to shoot it down blew off the tail section, so there were no survivors.
"Our northern units won't hold out much longer we they'll ran out of food and munitions." Jeremiah noted with a troubled brow.
"That is the situation there. The commanding officers have been ordered to acquire food from local businesses but there isn't much of a weapons marker for them. As it stands, they've been ordered to halt all patrols and operations outside Sapporo and Hakodate." Guilford went on as they had tried to get them to continue patrols but if they did, they'll burn through their supplies by the next week.
"Which leaves the county side without an imperial presence." David muttered to himself. "Perfect for zero and his minions to run amok unchecked." He spat out as he wanted nothing more than to kill that monster after he saw his so called revelation, more out of fear then anger. No man had the right to have that kind of power
"As much as it pains me, there is not much we can do. Most of our space naval assets are in play keeping an eye of the federation. If you were to try and bring in ships from other areas-we'll be risking the entire area." Claudio calmed his brother as although he shared his feelings, they couldn't afford to not have cool heads, now more than ever.
"That's not the only issue here. There have been four new riots all over Area 11, they may have been suppressed for now but they are growing in numbers. The last on in Nagoya Settlement had over 4,000 people." Euphemia reminded them as the main screen at the head of the table turned on to the news from the previous night. It was disheartening to see fellow Britannians citizens in the mob.
"That's not counting that several commoner worker groups have been asking question about how policies and management. As it stands now, we have to put a temporary ban on numbers in the settlements to prevent the unrest reaching them." Villetta said from her place next to Jeremiah. Kewell would have joined them but they needed someone to keep the investigation into Zero supervised.
"Which in turn, just adds fuel to the long term issue as thousands of honourees can no longer work, which rises tensions even higher." Nonette summarised as she could see where things were going. They were being outplayed and it was starting to show.
"The usual methods would only lead to more violence from the elevens so we've been keeping the peace with as little bloodshed as possible, however that requires more men that we have on the ground. At this point, even off duty law enforcement have been called in." The minister of police informed them as he had to call in over half the off officers just to keep things as they were. They simply didn't have the man power for this.
"Things aren't just shaken up here, in areas 15 through 18-riots and protests against the crown have also broken out. Some handled them like we did while others…." The minister of internal affairs started they were getting flak from the leadership of other areas, asking why they couldn't stamp this rebellion out as it was now emboldening others to rise up.
"Just cut them down." Euphemia finished his sentence as she had no delusions about the nobility and her siblings. She may care for family with all her heart but she wasn't blind to their flaws. Flaws that dictated they shoot numbers first and listen to their pleas and demands never.
"Which only made things worse. As it stands now, Area 18 is still under martial law and Areas 15 and 17 may be soon to follow." The minister reported as the situation was growing critical. It was clear that if things don't clear soon, the empire as a whole will have to deal with a multi-front rebellion era. And with the EU and federation baying for their blood, it would be a bloody affair.
"I finished a video meeting with my brother the other day and according to him, the nobility are incensed. They want Zero and his Black Knights destroyed." Cornelia spoke up for the first time so far and like her people, she was tired and irritated as she never liked most nobles but now she downright wanted to kick their collective asses. While they cry and demand that Zero be eliminated, they don't even have the slightest clue as to how hard that desk is proving to be. If it was easy, she would have done it already!
"Easier said than done. It bad enough that he killed a high ranking noble on television, it's even worse that he had the gall to send the remains with note reading 'Please don't bother burying them in Japan.'" Edgar stated as they did receive the remains. They had been found in what was a fake BK storage warehouse. Each person was in a simple wooden coffin with their names written on top with a damn black marker along with a note all but demanding they are removed from Area 11.
"There has also been whispers amongst the lower ranks, questions of competence against us." Bart brought up even worse news as he had overheard some low level troop asking if they were really as good as they were rumoured to be and he agreed. It was downright disgraceful that the 'Goddess of Victory', a Knight of Round 'The Spearhead of the Empire' and the goddamn Glaston Knights have found nothing but traps and defeats.
"We need a win and soon, lest we have to worry about insurrection from your own troops." Alfred said as he was itching to gain such a thing. He and his brothers had been hard at work training in their new knightmares. He was confident that with their Vincent Commander Models-they were sure to push these rebels back.
"But how?" Jeremiah was forced to the naysayer. It felt like acid on his tongue but it has to be said. "Zero seems to be a step ahead of us at all times. What would we even do?"
.
.
.
"Use that against him." Cornelia said as she had an idea.
"Pardon?" Nonette asked her.
"If Zero has us where he wants us, then why don't we go with the flow and use that to our advantage?" Cornelia asked them as she thought of a plan that may work.
"How so?" One of the ministers asked.
"We know that he has been targeting supply train. So why don't we have a train head north under the pretence that's it supplies. We supply it with an even larger guard then the rest so it seems like it's a desperate bid to get supplies up north." The viceroy started to explain her plan till Nonette picked up where she was going with it.
"But rather than supplies, it'll be us in there, right?" The Knight of round finished the plan and when the princess nodded her head, she pull back her own and laughed. "Ha! A tracked version of a Trojan horse. That's not a bad idea."
"Add in the fact he doesn't know we'll using new models, his forces will be caught on the back foot." Guilford added as he started to see how this plan wasn't just their best option but it also gave them the element of surprise. Something they had been lacking since they started this fight.
"It's not a bad idea. Definitely a plan we haven't used in the past, so he most likely wouldn't see it coming." Claudio thought aloud as he felt a smirk work its way onto his face. Finally a chance to actually do something.
"I'm glad you think so because that's what we're going to do. With any luck we can kill that masked bastard in the attack. Make ready because we'll begin the operation in 4 days. Dismissed." Cornelia ordered them as she turned her seat to face away from them and rather faces the window.
"Yes, you highness!" They all replied, except Nonette and Euphemia who just got up and nodded their heads at her before walking out with the rest of the group.
(The next day – Pendragon)
"Kannon, do you think Zero studies history?" Schneizel asked his faithful aide-to-camp as they both stood in his office.
"What do you mean, sir?" Kanon asked his master. As stated earlier, the room was the office for the prime minister which showed as not only was it quite large and grand designed, but it also contained the busts of past PMs on one side. Schneizel would have one of his own but there are only commissioned after that individual leaves office. It did offer a great view of St. Darwin's Street and the many other grand homes of the high nobility.
"The French revolution was something all the major powers of Europe saw coming but were still unprepared for when it hit. Within a couple years-a strong monarchy was toppled and in its place – a wave of chaos till Napoléon came about." Schneizel elaborated as he picked up a small book that describe those very same effects. The book wasn't too big as the empire liked to forget that period in its history but Schneizel already had a large collection of French literature about it. He liked to be in the know. "He was as great a politician as he was a general as he focused all the people's hatred from their own leadership to the other nations of Europe, still ruled by kings and queens."
"And with him at the head. We were forced to flee out true homeland. Which paved the way for the EU to form." Kanon finished the thought before he dawned on him where his liege was going with this. "But you don't think that-"
"That Zero is using his playbook? No, but he most likely take pages from it. As things are now, we are in a similar spot to what France was all those years ago. So it also stands to reason that Zero has long term goals in the works." Schneizel shot that idea down. He didn't know a lot about Zero but he didn't seem like the type to copy someone else. Thought that didn't mean he was against learning from both the failures and successes of others.
"Does he perhaps wish to join the EU? The Black Knights have been reported to use European arms." Kanon suggested.
"Possible but not likely. From the way he's been moving. It's more likely that he's moving to be a leader, not join a leader's group." Schneizel replied with a frown. The mention of the EU dampening his mood as they had been just wasting time in negotiations. It seemed that they all found their spines now that Zero was running amok in area 11. Unlike his father and most of the general staff, he didn't think war was necessary but if things don't improve, it'll better to throw the first punch or hold off the entire operation entirely.
"So how to we proceed?" Kannon asked him as he walked over the side of the office and started to prepare some tea for his master.
"Keep close tabs on Area 11 for now. If any more surprises arise, we'll be forced to send in another knight of round." Schneizel answered as he could see that sending in more troops would do little good. Though a Knight of round was the best option seeing how Marrybell and her Glinda Knights were occupied in area 18 at right, they would need to be equipped with a seventh gen machine as Nonette learnt the hard way, that Zero's fraction had them beat if they continue to use sunderlands and gloucesters.
"But sir, the only available one is…" Kanon started as he brought over the cup of tea which Schneizel took out of his hands and thanked him for.
"Sir Bradley. I know cannon but sometimes you have to let the animal out to do his thing. I just hope he doesn't kill off too many people again." Even Schneizel couldn't find much to like about the Vampire. Sure he didn't really shred tears for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands, he never wanted death when there were other options but it seemed all that mad-man wanted to do as kill people. If he could pull the man records, he wouldn't be surprised if he also loved torturing animals in his youth but alas, he was Knight of round and therefore out of his control.
"Let's hope it doesn't came to that. With Bradley, he only stops if there's nothing left to kill." Kanon stated as they both knew that was no joke.
"How a lunatic like that become a knight of round is beyond me. If my father wished for them as a group to inspire fear, there were far better solutions but lately, no for years now he's been preoccupied with something." Schneizel muttered to himself as he took a sip of his tea.
"But we have yet to identity what has been taking up so much of his attention." Kanon reminded him as they had spent the last three years looking into whatever the emperor was doing. Seeing how they needed to be quiet about it, they couldn't move as fast as they wished and had yet to find anything.
"Yes, that has proven to be a challenge for us. But sooner or later, we'll find something. Secrets do have the habit of coming out at." Schneizel replied as he looked out the window. If nothing else, he could always out-last his father as the man although, powerful was still a man in his 60s. At best he had another 20-25 years of life in him as there would be no way for him to hold onto power if he was too frail with age. Thought Schneizel didn't particularly like that option as anything could happened in that 20 year plus window to derail his plans.
"Then we shall keep up the search." Kanon assured him.
(On the other side of the Imperial palace.)
"Those two are really causing trouble for us." Charles rubbed his head to help with the headache as he and Anya(Marianne) rode in a carriage down one of the many private gardens of the imperial palace. He would have preferred to stay inside and work but she was insistent that he get out more.
"It seems that I stand to be corrected. He really does intend to destroy the empire." Marianne said as she looked through the news feed on Anya's phone and saw that the level of unrest was rising. It wasn't too much of a problem as the crown prince had been doing more than his part to keep things calm.
"At least that fool, Odysseus has made himself useful. He has been traveling around the empire to placate the masses and local lords." Charles noted as he was slightly surprised when the man approached him and proposed his own trip around the empire to deal with this, normally he wouldn't have said anything or he would have waited till he was told.
"He may not be the best of your children but he does have some talent." Marianne told him as she never really had a problem with the crown prince. Sure he was lacklustre but he was still a decent human being.
"But not enough to be a true heir." Charles reminded her as the boy was only still the first in line by virtue of his birth. "But the fact of the matter is, he's isn't just playing the game, he's setting the board so they we would either fall to him or buckle under our own weight." He finished as he could imagine how much his errant children are enjoying this.
"As things are now, I've already discussed it with the high command. The January offensive into the EU will have to be postponed till this mess is sorted out." Marianne said with a chuckle as it was more Anya doing the talking and but talking, it was just her sitting there and giving one or two word answers. Gino was still a star to be around, always smiling, always cheerful-even in the field of combat. "And we were set to take back the British Isles too."
"Can't be helped. We can't go starting fires when one brews in our backyard." Charles finished as they went back to the comfortable silence as they carried on with their ride.
(On the other side of the world)
"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Lockon noted as their boss sat on his seat, mask off with a steaming cup of coffee and an air of smugness to him.
"How could I not? Everything is going far better than I could have hoped!" Lelouch laughed as they had all went through just a brief summary of how things were swinging in their favour. At present, they were back in their underground headquarters discussing their next move. The only key differences being that Nunnally wasn't present and in her stead, sat Rakshata who had already been sworn to secrecy about their identity.
"We made quite the splash the other day, these are just the ripples." Liu Mei said as she threw the papers she was reading back onto the table.
"If that's the case, what would things be like when we make waves?" Alleujah asked as they had already how uneasy the people were becoming. It was clear that those in the settlements were on edge as when he went for a walk his lover, Marie in Nagoya settlement, it felt like most of the Britannians they came across wanted to pack up and leave or buckle down and fight.
"Let's not discuss that right now, we have other things to talk about." Lelouch stated to the get the meeting back on topic. "What is the situation?" At his question, Tierra stood up and started to read how things had been going for us.
"Right, so as you ordered, all members have been ranked into 16 tiers, with each tier having a higher security clearance then the last which combined with the already strict 'need to know' basic established, have made it next to impossible for sensitive information to leak." He reported as their new policies had made it that not even members could access info that wasn't important to their station and tasks. They had caught some guards gossiping about their duties and swiftly punished them with lavatory clean-up duty for the next 2 months.
"We've also been able to infiltrate all Britannian warehouses in Hosu. That combined with our record high recruitment numbers, means that soon the number we'll need for operation Island Getaway would be achieved." He said to them, which really rose the mood of the room as everyone besides Rakshata knew what Island Getaway meant. "38 of our positions have been uncovered by the authorities, 31 of them are dummies, 21 members have been arrested or otherwise gone dark. However as far as we can tell, the imperials haven't been able to get anything from them." He finished his report as he sat back down.
"How much new recruits are we talking about?" Suzaku asked, to which Warwick answered.
"More than four thousand in the last week alone. By month's end, we'll have taken in at least nine thousand." The dirty blonde reported as he had personally overseen that report being written up just to make sure the numbers weren't false. As it stood now, there were the largest insurgency in Japan by quite a margin. "The added public support from the Japanese has also made it much easier to operate in the ghettos undetected." That was also a nice touch. To be able to move about the ghettos and not have to worry about some-one calling the imperials. So long as they didn't make much noise and kept fighting off the streets, the people were content with them running around.
"Things are really coming along. If we're lucky, maybe we'll finish the phase 1 early." Leila said as she leaned back into her chair. If they completed phase 1 sooner, they'll be that much closer to helping the people of Europe and giving them the liberty and freedom they had been promised decades ago. As she did so, Akito laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, she didn't need to turn her head for him to know she appreciated the gesture.
"Don't get your hopes up. Production of new tanks and knightmares is already at full capacity and yet, we're struggling to meet demands." Hammel reminded them as their R&D had reported that they simply didn't have the factories or man-power to meet their demands for new tanks and knightmares. At beast, they'll have another 115 knightmares and 54 tanks by months end.
"It seems we're the victims of our own success. But don't you think the MDZ zone couldn't pick up the slack?" Rakshata asked them as she took a puff of her pipe.
"And yet unknown parties have access to our machine and facilities? Never. We will just have to make do with what we have right now." Lelouch shot that down just as quick. He had his concerns about the current Indian leadership and worried that they'll either lose the plans or sell them to the federation to increase their standing. He'll just have to order the increase of production capabilities on their end, or perhaps request Kyoto supply them with some of the units they had been building
"Oh poo, I was looking forward to meeting the brains behind such creative machines." Rakshata replied as she breathed out a puff of smoke, and she was so looking forward to seeing how their wonderful creation were put together.
"Don't worry, she will meet her soon enough. She has also taken an interest in your work." Suzaku stated, revealing that their own genius was female to Rakshata but she held her tongue, best to find out all you can before your first meeting.
"And with our next operation?" Hammel brought up.
"I will not be present. Nakamura here has arranged for me to have a little chat with the Russian foreign minister." Lelouch announced as his ever present aid-Nakamura shot them all smiles as she waved at them her place behind Lelouch's seat.
"And how did you pull that off?" Kallen asked.
"I did use to work as a foreign diplomat. It may have been a short career but I made many friends and earned a whole lot of favours." Nakamura replied as she was quite the social butterfly, even if she only worked for a couple years-that proved to be more than enough time.
"Favours we intend to make full use of. If we are to succeed, then we will need some powerful trump cards to keep the federation at bay and the empire from counter-attacking." Lelouch reminded them as he didn't want to play their real card till the time was right. They would have gone on if not for an interruption in the form of a knock going off on the door, which gave the trio enough time to put their helmets back on before a low level trooper came rushing into the room.
"Excuse me sir!" The trooper reported as she saluted them all, slightly out of breathe from what must have been a run all the way here.
"What is it?" S.K. asked.
"An urgent message came in from our surveillance and communications division." She stated as she held out the closed report in question.
"Is that so? Hand it over." S.K. ordered as to which she marched forward, saluted him again and handed the report to him.
"Yes sir. Once more, apologies for interrupting the meeting." The trooper said before they saluted the group as a whole and quickly made their way out of the room. In the meantime, S.K. opened up the report and started to reading through it, soon after starting he started to chuckle.
"Well look at that." He said as he turned the page and kept reading.
"What does it say?" L.M. asked him to which he paused, before closing the report and handing it to her.
"It seems we intercepted an encrypted satellite message from Pendragon. The empire will be holding off any aggressive actions towards the EU and its holdings." He said to the group as L.M. read through the report and saw it was true.
"So that means they're taking us seriously now. That can't be good." Alleujah noted as this would mean the empire was willing to invest more into seeing them crushed.
"Quite the opposite really, this will accelerate our plans even further. Chances are that a portion of those very same troops who would have invaded the Eu will be sent here to squash our rebellion." Zero put in his assessment, showing that he saw this as an opportunity and not an obstacle.
"Only you would be happy at such news. As good as we are, we can't hope to match their numbers, not unless we pull out all the stops." Lockon joked as he took a swing of the chilled water from one of the glasses on the table.
"We won't need to. All we need is the date those troops would be scheduled to arrive. Once we have that," Zero replied to them as he sent them all, bar Rakshata a mental picture of what those transports would and where they'll head up. "We'll seal their fates."
"…Actually, you're on to something. If they pass through the point we hope they do, then it'll be turkey shoot." Liu Mei concluded as a smile broke out across her face. Oh the carnage would be glorious.
"But that would add quite the number to the expected death toll. Need I remind everyone that we don't have the capacity for more than 8,000 prisoners of war? What would we do with the rest?" Tieria asked they simply couldn't hold that many, even if they stuffed 10 into a cell built for 4, they'll still wouldn't have the space.
"Of course we won't kill them, that'll be a war crime. We'll leave them where they stand. If they starve, it's not our fault." Zero brushed it off as it was nothing though they knew he had seen his fair share of this war raging between the Sith and Jedi so by comparison, a couple thousand dead wouldn't mean all that much.
"That's cold." Kallen noted to their leader as sure, she would happily kill their enemy but such numbers did leave a pit in her stomach.
"That's war. If we try and supply them with provisions, we'll burn through our reserves too quickly." Hammel responded with a cold but logical response.
"Now, onto other affairs…" Zero said as he turned attention towards the other matter of their training camps needing additional personnel and resources.
14th November 2020 a.t.b. /3 9688 BBY:
Unknown Region:
Milky Way Galaxy:
Earth/Sol-3:
Tokyo Settlement:
Viceroy Palace:
"Sister." Euphemia said as she walked into her sister's office. It was rather late as the barely seen Sun was soon to set, the snow and frost outside the window made her glad she had chosen to wear winter clothing rather than her usual dress whenever she went out.
"What have I said, sub-viceroy?" Cornelia didn't even look up from the load of paperwork she was working through.
"I think that this situation calls for it." Euphemia counted as she approached the desk and took a seat right in front of it. "Since I'm approaching you as your sister, not your underling." That got a response the elder li Britannia paused what she was doing and placed the pen down.
"You will always be my sister first, Euphie. You know that, don't you?" She asked her sister as she looked up to her.
"I do but things have been…." Euphemia struggled to find the right words before she just gave up. "Hectic."
"That's an understatement." Cornelia huffed as she looked to the side where she had placed a picture which had her and all the Glaston knights standing proud outside an enemy fortress they had laid siege to and successfully taken. Oh how she missed Andreas.
"Sister…" And after seeing the picture, it seemed like Euphemia was about to buckle to tears but she slowly breathed out before coming herself down and just ripped the band-aid off. "About our approach on the Black Knights."
"Please don't tell me you're against our plan?" Cornelia asked with narrowed eyes. She knew her sister's views didn't align with hers but had hoped she had grown past this phase.
"…No…Even though I hate the fact that people will die, I can't think of another way around it in the short term." Euphemia replied, showcasing how much she had grown which Cornelia was booth proud of and vexed by as it now meant she didn't just act on impulse but rather thought about her actions first.
"But in the long term?" Cornelia asked her.
"We need a peace deal." Euphemia replied and if she were anybody, Cornelia would have flown the rails in fury at such a statement but she held back her rage, through barely.
"What? Did you just say what I think you said?" Cornelia asked her, wanting Euphemia to just take that back but she did not, rather she pressed.
"Sister, I'm serious. Zero isn't being back by neither the Chinese nor the Europeans as far as we can tell yet he has done this much damage. Even if we don't see eye to eye, Area 11 cannot stay this unstable for long." Euphemia reasoned as they both knew that if things grew worse, the federation may step in which would lead to a proxy war.
"Then we'll just stamp him out as quickly as we can." Cornelia brushed her concerns aside. As if she would make peace, with the numbers?
"And how fast would that be? Would it take another week? A mouth? Six? Sister, we lost Andreas to them, we lost Alex to them. They aren't just everyday soldiers. Everything about the Black Knights was built and trained to battle larger threats." Euphemia shot back, showing that she had clearly planned this whole thing.
"So you have been listening to military reports." Cornelia stated as she sister always seemed like she hated those meetings.
"It's hard not to when you attend every meeting." Euphemia answered with a bland face as she had been attending such things with her sister for around two years now. "And yes, I miss them too. Andreas was a great man and even greater father but if we think with the mentality of an eye for an eye, we won't just find ourselves blind." He said to try and convince her sister she what good would continued aggression do for them?
"So you want me to make peace with them? When they have cost us blood and machine?" Cornelia asked her, her fury starting to show but her sister would not be daunted.
"The alternative would be a slow fight which would only cost us more, and leave us vulnerable to our other enemies. I don't I need to remind you that our nation isn't the most popular." She reminded them as neither of the super-powers were friendly to the others. It what wars between them rare as if two fought, what was stopping the third from either siding with one.
"You…make a point. As painful as it is to admit." Cornelia growled out as she fell back into her seat, clearly Euphemia came with a plan of attack, one she couldn't really defend against. "But how do you intend to get a message out. You and I both know that if we ask for parley, it'll be seen as weakness." She asked as they both knew their government and nobility would never hear such a suggestion. Hell that wasn't even considering what their father would do to them.
"That, I do not know. Perhaps using one of the captured prisoners as a messenger?" Euphemia suggested to which her sister shot that down.
"Not likely to work. Most don't trust known prisoners. For all we know, he won't contact his allies for fear of being watched." Cornelia said as from their rather small amount of BK prisoners, they all didn't seem stupid as there was little chance any of them would do what they want.
"Then tell them. Inform him of what we want. That way he can contact them but not leak anything." Euphemia gave her opinion.
"Good luck finding one that would agree. Black Knights don't seem to like us all that much and have impressive wills. Not one has broken during interrogation not matter what we do." Cornelia said as she gave her plan her approval before she gestured for her to leave so that she can get back to her work.
Nothing much to say other than this chapter was merely written to show how the people are reacting to the events of the previous chapter. Chapter 29 will have some more good old fashion fighting but for now….thank you for reading.