Hello everyone and happy Christmas Eve. I know it's been a while since I did my last update, but here is the new chapter. I was originally going to post it last Sunday, but decided to delay to make it show off today, on Christmas Eve.
In this chapter we will look at the precarious situation in Area 11 after the Godzilla rampage. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 8: After the storm
24/12/2021
Area 11 Airspace - Area 11 - Holy Britannian Empire
The return to his ancient homeland was not as happy as he had imagined as he gazed out a window at the aerial panorama of Area 11. Suzaku Kururugi, son of the last Prime Minister of Japan, sat inside a plane looking nostalgically in his mind he was just rambling on about the last events that occurred before this started.
It had been almost a month since he left Area 11 with his superiors who were part of a corps of engineers from Knightmares known as the 'Camelot Corps of Engineering' to the Imperial Homeland to oversee the development of a new Knightmare prototype. That was a unique experience as it was the first time that the honorary soldier left his native land and crossed the Pacific to travel to the land of his conquerors. When he arrived at one of its cities, he was almost astonished by its size and the architecture whose image was very similar to the newly built Britannian settlements in Area 11, showing that all the urban centers of the empire were leading the modernity of the world, and he wondered what the Imperial City of Pendragon would be like.
Sometimes he had time to go for a walk while his superiors worked to get to know a foreign city first-hand. He had to be very careful since here the people of that city were not used to seeing a foreigner in their city, much less a Number, so he had to be well dressed to hide his facial features and have someone accompany him as an escort to go unnoticed in the crowd and be able to observe the city around you. He did a lot of fun stuff while spending the day there as if he were sightseeing, but even so he had never been rid of that feeling of discomfort in his gut, probably due to the fact of being in one of the cities of his conquerors. in addition to being surrounded by many people who despised him for his social status.
With little time for it to happen, his illusion of returning to his homeland was interrupted when he learned of the events that had occurred in recent weeks. As I had heard on television, a strange and huge sea creature had suddenly appeared in Tokyo Bay, reaching the mainland and began to attack the city and its people until a few hours later it began to mutate and became a kind of theropod. gigantic before returning to the sea leaving a devastated neighborhood.
After the first attack, the young ex-Japanese boy had been shocked and horrified by the damage the creature had caused to the Ōta district and the many affected by it. It almost bitterly reminded him of the days when Britannians forces invaded his country 6 years ago, and even if this was on a smaller scale, it was horrible to witness. He would soon know that this was only the beginning when a week later there was talk again about the creature attacking a Korean coastal city and bringing down a nuclear power plant releasing large amounts of radiation that had killed many people on the spot, forming another great tragedy.
For the next few minutes, Suzaku kept whipping his head wondering over and over again what that monster was and why it caused so much senseless destruction and thousands of unnecessary deaths. It was then that he finally received his answer, rather everyone received it when they heard Chancellor Schneizel's message about the whereabouts of the creature known as Gojira for the Elevens, or Godzilla for the Britannians.
An ancient prehistoric fish that radically mutated by consuming a large number of radioactive materials dumped on the seabed during the 50s and was feeding on them as a new sustenance for the next 60 years to acquire a great enormous body capable of adapting to any Earth's environment.
The most shocking thing was that this creature was discovered by a Japanese biologist who had spent decades studying it in detail and despite having predicted what it would become and the consequences it would bring, he kept silent and hid its existence from the world by keeping it on the sidelines. There were also theories that that man even contributed in its development to get to where it had come so far, although that had not been approved. But even so, this caused more unanswered questions to the Prime Minister's son for the actions that the man took.
Why did Gorō insist on hiding it and letting it evolve into a terrifying monster that threatened innocent lives?
For what reason would he create an abomination like that just to cause senseless death and destruction?
None of this made sense.
With the Second Pacific War and the subsequent Euro-Britannian War currently raging, the world could no longer slip further into chaos.
Suzaku was confident that the Britannian Navy and the Chinese Navy (not together) would make efforts to try to track down the creature known as Gojira and exterminate it so that it would not cause any more damage, and he believed so, only to find that they were unprepared. for what they saw coming. A few days after the attack on Korea, Gojira appeared again in Tokyo, now with a body twice as large, not to say that more terrifying and grotesque than the previous ones due to the consumption of radioactivity from the nuclear power plant.
Again, the settlement fell into chaos again with the huge superadioactive leviathan taking a destructive stroll through the city only to have the army arrive a few hours later in an attempt to stop him in Operation Black Angels, but conventional weapons couldn't do anything to it, not even force it back, and for this reason it managed to cross the defense line without problems, leaving the army humiliated. The failure of the army worried Suzaku even more as Gojira continued its implacable walk towards the center of the city until an air squad of Spritis bombers sent from the Homeland went to intercept it with anti-bunker bombs.
For the next several hours, the transmission had been lost there without saying the result of the operation, only that until later something horrible was revealed that Genbu's son did not want to hear. The superradiactive monster was said to have expelled from its mouth a great deal of radiation and fire like a dragon that had razed much of the city and killed thousands of people in the process, as well as the bomber squad. Everything was a real shock for everyone to see how the entire urban center of the settlement had turned into an inferno of flames and thousands of lives, whether civilian or military, had been lost including Prince Clovis and several of his advisers.
Without a doubt it was a great tragedy what had happened in a single night with almost the entire settlement filling with very dangerous radiation as if a powerful atomic bomb had been dropped. Suzaku himself did not want to wonder how many innocent lives, whether Britannians or his own people, died burned in that hell since not even this compared to the invasion of 6 years ago. It was much worse. The images and description of the catastrophe pursued Suzaku for the next several days and he was unable to sleep properly thinking of the hell unleashed there. However, what he had worried the most it was if his childhood friends were fine. He hoped they weren't there at the moment.
"Are you okay, Suzaku?" A soft, warm female voice caused the 16-year-old to stop gazing at the views from his window to turn to the person sitting next to him being a woman in her 20s with indigo blue hair and blue eyes. He wore the same suit that Suzaku wore, being a cream-colored engineering uniform with a beret and skirt included.
"It's nothing, Cecile." Suzaku replied with a fake humble smile to hide his unease.
Cecile Croomy, a member of the Camelot Engineering Corps and for some the 'foster mother of Suzaku' could only look at young Kururugi before speaking again. "It must have been quite a long journey to get back here, right?"
Suzaku only nodded a little while his head reeling with some memories. "The truth is that I did not expect to return after so long. I almost lost track of time."
Cecile almost giggled at the teen's mood. Despite having lost his father, having seen the horrors of war and hard training in the army, he was glad that he still behaved like a normal boy, and perhaps that was because she would always be with him as a 'figure maternal'.
"Well don't worry, we will land shortly and see the beautiful landscape of your land." Cecile smiled up trying to liven up the atmosphere more. This gave the desired effect as Suzaku was forced to widen his smile a bit, but inside he couldn't ignore what had happened and the consequences to come.
It was then that the voice of one of the pilots echoed in the communicators.
"Attention, we inform you that in a few minutes we will land at the Edward Base in Tachikawa."
With that said, they noticed how the plane turned to the left while making a maneuver to descend. As the announcer said, in less than a few minutes, the plane landed at a small military post in Tachikawa, whose runway was a bit shortened like the base compared to a commercial airport, but it was enough for the jet will land safely. Soon after, the couple went outside to smell the fresh air they had not breathed during their absence on the plane. Suzaku was invaded by a strange nostalgic atmosphere as soon as he left the plane and went down the stairs as he was able to breathe the air of his homeland, making him forget almost all his worries.
As the pair descended the last step and headed towards a transport that was going to take them to the base, they suddenly heard someone gasping dizzy. Looking back, they saw a man about Cecile's age with a tall, slim build. His hairstyle is lavender, blue-gray eyes, and unlike Suzaku and Cecile, he wears a lab coat. He was wearing black pants and shoes and very large glasses that covered most of his face.
He was Lloyd Asplund, chief engineer of the Camelot research unit and a member of the Britannian aristocracy with the title of the Earl of New Colchester, and as it turned out, unlike his 2 subordinates, the poor man had not enjoyed the long trip.
"At last, we are on land..." Said the count each count between dizziness. It hadn't been a very pleasant trip over the Pacific for a few hours. "I couldn't bear to be inside any longer."
Suzaku and Cecile had to hold back their giggles at the poor man's misfortune, although they felt compression for it. Nobody would have liked to be locked up for a few hours in midair.
"Don't worry, as soon as we get to our new residence, I'll make you some nice snacks." The blue haired woman replied with a smile on her face in an attempt to cheer him up.
However, this served to further increase Lloyd's nausea to know what she was referring to. While his assistant might be a capable scientist in her own right and a good companion and subordinate, but speaking of her as a cook, she was very bad as her recipe includes a strange combination of onigiri with blueberry jam and sandwiches made with ginger, sugar and wasabi. Needless to say, this was too horrible for his liking, and he would rather avoid them right now.
Suzaku also shuddered slightly with a nervous smile as he remembered those foods, he used to take from her, and it was not to his absolute liking either.
"Well, we better hurry to the base and talk to the people inside." Lloyd said as he hurried down the stairs and ran towards the transport being the first to go up followed by his 2 subordinates.
The transport took them to the foot of the base, and once there, the 3 went inside and went to the personal office of the military leaders where they had a conversation for a few hours until they gave them permission to temporarily establish their research zone here. Shortly after they were assigned a couple of rooms to rest for a long time.
When Suzaku entered his room, the first thing he saw was that its space was enough to house more than 5 people, but it only consisted of a single bed. Just what he needed now. Putting his things aside, the young honorary soldier walked over to the bed and lay on his back on the comfortable mattress.
The young brunette felt a warm sense of comfort at the soft touch as it was what he needed to relax his muscles and calm his mind after hours and hours thinking worriedly during the flight that he had exhausted him and all he wanted was to rest a little. The minutes passed like clockwork in Suzaku's mind as he found the comforting relief that his numb legs were comfortable, however, that did not eliminate the discomfort he felt in his mind from what happened here previously.
Once he regained some notion, he decided to get up and grab a remote control to turn on a television (also included in the room) and watch the news. He needed to know about the current situation in Area 11 and see how serious it was and could be solved. Once he clicked, the screen lit up and he heard the reporter.
"The situation here is untenable. Right now, I am on the streets of Kawaguchi, on the other side of the Ara River, where there is a commotion in the streets." The reporter reported on the streets of that city. "Just 49 hours after the curfew was established here and in surrounding cities, the streets are being assaulted by a wave of refugees who escaped hell in Tokyo and managed to survive, but who have lost their homes. Right now, they are trying to find a place to settle temporarily and find something to eat, but unfortunately the citizens of Kawaguchi deny entry to these poor people thinking that they have probably come to rob them."
The footage showed an angry crowd of people on the streets crying out and begging to be allowed into their homes or given something to eat. They were obviously very desperate and hysterical after escaping from that hell and making a long march to get here.
Suzaku's insides froze upon seeing this grim scene. He understood very well how one felt when something very precious like a home or life was taken away from them, leaving him with nothing, but he would not respond with as much hysterical violence as people were doing.
"As a result of this, many people have started a wave of terror in the streets looting several closed stores and taking several cars as a result." The reporter continued as he showed the streets in a seething of violence with many people throwing Molotov cocktails on the windows of some stores and residences starting small fires from inside to outside. Taking advantage of this, the rioters began to penetrate inside to loot and take everything they find.
"In less than an hour, the police forces are trying to contain this widespread disturbance. They have been given permission to use force if necessary."
That was the last thing Suzaku had to hear as a means of reassuring the population; make violence more general. For God's sake, these people have lost their homes and families and have nowhere to go! The only thing that drove them to do this was the simple desire to survive. They did not survive this catastrophe only to be seen as mere beggars or outcasts. They are not that different from those who suffered misfortune during the Second Pacific War 6 years ago.
Just seeing several riot control officers cornering a rebel group and beating them mercilessly with truncheons was more than distressing and he was inches from turning off the television, when fortunately, the scene was changed to another.
"This hotbed of violence is also spreading to the other cities surrounding Tokyo, but the police forces have succeeded in suppressing them," the reporter continued speaking. "But if that was not enough, there have also been several rebellions in the ghettos where the Elevens are taking advantage of the weak state of the domain to provoke several revolts in the main cities such as Chiba, Yokohama, Saitama and Sagamihara. Currently the army is trying to repress them as best they can and it is believed that in just a few days, the revolt will be dealt with and-
Suzaku had already heard enough and decided to turn off the TV at once. It was crystal clear that the situation continued to deteriorate as the after-effects of Gojira's attack were spreading over much of the domain that had not been affected by the monster. The whole atmosphere reminded him a lot of when Britannia invaded Japan, thousands of senseless deaths and the list of casualties continued.
At this point, Suzaku couldn't help but fear for the future of his former nation if chaos took over and turned it into a new hell worse than what he had ever seen.
Wanting to ward off such negative thoughts, Suzaku got up from his bed and left his room to have some lunch something. Luckily there was a cafeteria for those who worked here, and Suzaku was allowed to go eat. Curiously, he saw Cecile there who immediately invited him to have lunch together. There wasn't much, but he wasn't very hungry either, and he didn't want to eat Cecile's food either. To start, he had some toast and a glass of coffee, and when they finished, the young man had the urge to go outside and breathe the fresh air.
The problem was that due to the martial law imposed in the area by the military even though Tachikawa was not in danger of being hit by radiation, not many people were allowed to leave without authorization. However, surprisingly Cecile managed to ask her superiors for permission to grant them leave for about 4 hours of departure before returning to the base. That was enough time to know the state of the city.
The couple set out in a military jeep driven by Cecile, and they soon drove into Tachikawa. Not long after, they both noticed that as expected, they did not see anyone circulating on the roads except themselves, or in any other part of this city either on foot or by car, except for several patrols made up of military and police officers in collaboration who kept watch. area.
Tachikawa had become a large refugee camp for the people who had managed to escape from the hell unleashed in Tokyo whether they were Britannians and Elevens and had set up several camps for their protection to the great relief of the late Prime Minister's son. However, the number of survivors seemed to be lower than those who perished in that radioactive hell and the number of victims was said to be counted by more than 100,000, a figure that Suzaku did not expect to hear and although it did not compare with the lives that they were lost during the invasion of Japan, it was enough to haunt him to knowing the lives of so many innocents lost in a single night.
Not to mention, the number of survivors shouldn't be too happy to have survived due to the great torment of remaining terrified that the radioactive flames would consume them and die in a horrifying way, plus they had been separated from their loved ones already during the storm. be a friend, family member, etc, and they would not know if they would see them again. Young Kururugi felt a lot of pity for the fate of the survivors and understood very well what one felt as a victim of war.
He could well remember the horrors he witnessed 6 years ago during the war when he traversed a path full of military corpses strewn across the grimy and smelly ground whose stench was unbearable and too much for him. He was almost on the verge of crying when he witnessed this tragedy of not being a small hand that caressed his face tenderly making him regain his composure. He had never been alone in the first place.
Suddenly, he felt the jeep stoped abruptly, pulling Suzaku out of his train of thought and he concentrated on watching what was happening, only to see 2 soldiers in front of them cutting off their path. One of them approached the jeep and stood next to its driver.
"Please show me your ID." The soldier asked Cecile. The indigo haired woman had no problems when she took out her identification card and handed it to the soldier for him to identify her. Soon after, the woman spoke.
"They've given us permission from Edward Air Base to take a little walk. I don't think they care, don't you?"
The guard seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding and handing her the card.
"Go on." With that signal, the other soldier stepped out of the way to let the jeep pass.
"Thank you." Cecile said in thanks before starting the jeep and moving on. Suzaku was a bit surprised that that soldier let them continue to circulate without problems, and despite the fact that the Engineering Corps was a body belonging to the military, it did not have too much jurisdiction to meddle in these matters so lightly.
Inwardly he wanted to apologize to Cecile for getting her into this predicament, but he decided to do it later. His mind got hooked back to the past and only focused on 2 important people in life.
Lelouch…
Nunnally…
Refugee camp - Tachikawa District - Area 11
Life inside one of the Tachikawa camps was not as easy as one imagined. It had been 4 days since they escaped from Godzilla's radioactive hell and staying here was difficult enough that one would think they must have stayed in the underground tunnels where they had survived the firestorm.
Although at least in this area the coexistence between the 2 ethnic groups that inhabited Area 11 was respected, that is, Britannians and Elevens, each one looked at the other with bad eyes due to their conflicts before all this happened, but they knew how to keep their distance and not come into contact. However, that was not the problem. Due to the large number of refugees and the supply of food that had to be brought here and to other camps, there was not enough to feed all mouths.
Kallen was standing in the middle of a line waiting at one of the serving food stalls. She could only see that the only things they served were bread, water, cookies, chocolate, and stews. The truth is that they did not seem very nutritious and could hardly be called food, but surely the real food would be reserved only for Britannians, and as for the Elevens, only that rubbish.
'What a coexistence... ' She thought sarcastically as she realized that even here, they were not safe after having lost their home.
A few minutes later, she was already in the first line of the queue, already asking for her food. It wasn't much, but it was the only thing she could have. After that, she got out of the queue with her tray that was holding a bowl of lentils with her spoon and a small bottle of water and headed towards her group from the Shinjuku resistance who weren't too far away. Among them were her brother Naoto with his friend Ohgi, and the rest, all sitting in a circle away from the rest of the people. She joined them and began to have her stew.
Yoshitaka was making efforts to make the small radio that he was holding in his hands work with blows since only static sounds could be heard, surely due to the interference that there was. After a short moment, the audio started to clear, and everyone started paying attention to hear the presenter.
"At this time, due to the danger of radioactivity in Tokyo, several riots have been detected in the cities of Chiba, Saitama and other cities near Tokyo. The rest of the colonial government has established martial law in those places while they look for some way to reestablish government after the tragic death of our Viceroy Clovis.
Apart from that, several rebellions have also broken out being led by Elevens in different areas of Area 11, and currently, the army is doing everything possible to suppress them."
"Hmph, we should have joined them." Tamaki snorted upon hearing that.
"I don't think that's an option." Naomi replied not expressing the same opinion as her partner as she took a spoonful of her stew.
"Yeah, now we have nowhere to go, and I don't think they'll let us get out of here." Kento agreed with Naomi.
They all agreed that settling here was the right thing to do despite the shit they found as they didn't know where to go and they didn't have any food supplies either. They also did not intend to stay here permanently, as when they saw the occasion, they would leave this dunghill and go elsewhere, but where?
Since they have lost their home and base of operations in Shinjuku along with their belongings, there was nowhere specific to go. So his situation was just as screwed up.
"And what will we do when we starve?" Tamaki protested again.
"The best thing would be to stay calm and pray that they don't kick us out." Yoshitaka chided looking directly at Tamaki.
Tamaki snorted again but didn't say anything else as he didn't want to argue about it any further and just continued to finish his stew.
Despite having ended the discussion, they were each secretly considering what they would do once things got out of hand here. It was quite clear that they would no longer be able to return to their former homes as it was now nothing more than a wasteland awash in lethal radiation, and as glad they were that Gojira had turned the control of their tyrannical occupants upside down, the price was too big to celebrate as there would always be the threat that even the Japanese people will not make it out alive with that loose thing.
Kallen was one of those who cared enormously about the future of the resistance and of Japan. Everything that she and her brother had been fighting for was completely stalled by the appearance of that superadiactive creature and she could not say what they were going to do next and what will happen to them from now on. Despite having survived, their future was totally uncertain and their dreams of a free Japan for which they were fighting with such dedication were further away than he thought.
She just hoped things didn't get worse...
In another sector
"Man, few are left today." Rivalz commented as he inspected a box with 4 bottles of water, not enough to fill the gap.
"It is clear that we are not the only ones who want water so urgently." Milly said next to Rivalz with a solemn expression.
"Yeah, I just hope this is enough to last for a few days." Rivalz added as he picked up the box and then walked away with the blonde girl from the stall where they were standing earlier in the direction of one of the many refugee tents there.
Most of the occupants of this sector were students, teachers and those who worked at Ashford Academy, who, thanks to Ruben Ashford's requests to the military, gave them permission for all residents to occupy this area exclusively for themselves. Of course, they didn't have it too easy either due to the stress they had to endure while evacuating the city just in time and at the same time losing their homes and being separated from their relatives without even knowing if they would see them again or not.
The whole atmosphere was pitiful with many sad and bitter faces and were barely heard chatting among themselves in low voices, but nothing more. Milly and Rivalz ignored all this as they entered one of the tents whose interior was spacious enough for a few with a long carpet covering the floor. There, the occupants were Nunnally sitting in her wheelchair and Lelouch squatting next to her, holding out his hand in a consoling way.
Noticing of their presence, the former prince stood up and his guests walked towards them.
"It's all we could get." Rivalz said as Lelouch took a bottle from the box. "The rest is exhausted."
"I see." Lelouch nodded a little disappointed, although deep down he knew this was to be expected. "Thanks a lot."
"What are friends for?" Milly replied with a smile.
Lelouch opened the bottle and gently handed it into his sister's hands. "Here, Nunnally."
"Thanks." Lelouch's sister replied gently before she moved the bottle with Lelouch's help to her mouth and gulped down some of the liquid.
An instant later, Milly spoke.
"By the way, do you know where Shirley is?"
Lelouch's expression turned a bit taciturn upon hearing that. He hadn't seen her since he come here with Rivalz, and she hadn't come into contact with anyone since. From what she knew, she had tried to get in touch with her parents whom she hadn't seen since before Godzilla's new arrival. She tried to ask each soldier or officer if they knew everyone who was related to the Fenette, without success. He still remembered how desperate the poor girl's face was at the thought of never seeing her loving parents again.
"I still haven't talked to her..."
Milly and Rivalz's faces were filled with grief upon hearing that, although somehow, they already knew he was going to say that.
"Well, it wasn't surprising either." Rivalz said with a small sigh. "He still doesn't know anything about her parents."
They all nodded in agreement. They knew that the sweet gentle girl from the academy had a very strong relationship with her family, especially her father. He was the center of the Fenette family, and they didn't even want to know what reaction the poor girl would have if she found out that they won't escape the firestorm.
"Still, I think we should try talking to her ..." Milly suggested at the two.
"Yes, but I don't know where to find her." Rivalz replied feeling helpless for doing nothing.
"I think I know where." Lelouch said catching the attention of the first 2. "Sometimes I see her alone talking to a soldier, probably to report her if they found her parents."
"Oh." Milly nodded at that. He had no idea that Shirley was talking to one of the soldiers guarding the refugee camp, and he wondered if he had succeeded in finding the location of her parents.
"You better go see her." Nunnally said suddenly. Even with her eyelids closed, there was concern in her expression. "She must be feeling very sad and lonely, and she needs someone to comfort her."
"You're right. Let's go see her." Milly said and the boys nodded in response before going.
"No."
"But..."
"For the last time, we have a long list of the people who entered here, and we have not found anything about your father and mother. We cannot help her." The soldier chided as patiently as he could.
Shirley tried to hold back the tears as best she could. This was the fourth time he had been told her that they had found no trace of her parents, and she could already tell that this he could no longer bear. Even after escaping the horror of the destruction of Tokyo and reuniting with Lulu, she still hadn't gotten over her anguish after past events and couldn't say how she would rebuild her life after this without her parents or with the nuclear threat to a present.
She just couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm sorry I bothered you..." Shirley replied quietly with a small nod of her head before turning and walking away the way she had come alone with her thoughts.
All of this was like a nightmare that she would never be rid of, and would continue to haunt her for the rest of her life. Sometimes he would have wanted to go and look for his parents instead of getting on the bus with his companions, but it would not have been an option either, since with the huge traffic there was, it was impossible for her to get home, in addition to that, if she did get it, she definitely couldn't have escaped Godzilla's attack that had taken many lives. They would all have died on the spot.
And sometimes she wish it had been like that ...
She felt so alone, and empty.
"Shirley!"
The young orange haired girl looked to forward to see Milly, Lelouch and Rivalz rushing towards her.
"What's the matter?" Shirley asked hiding her anguish in front of her friends with a confused expression.
Milly was the first to stop in front of her and looked directly at her. "We'd like to know that. Are you okay?"
Shirley just blinked in mock confusion. "Of course I'm okay."
"No, you are not!" Milly replied as her expression turned stern. "Lulu told me that you've been talking to the military lately to find out the whereabouts of your parents. Have they found anything?"
Shirley decided to put down her 'confused' facade and tried to look away, but the almost stern gaze of the other girl stopped her.
"Shirley, I really understand how you feel, but you'd better leave immediately. Staying so isolated won't make your parents come back."
"And what do you want me to do!?" Shirley exploded suddenly, letting go of all her anguish. "Just sit here doing nothing?"
"Shirley Fenette!" The blonde girl's bellow was enough to counter the other girl who had now frozen in place at the sight of Milly's anger. Even Lelouch and Rivalz almost jumped behind.
"Stop carrying those thoughts since the only thing you will do is hurt yourself more than you have." Milly's tone was like a mother scolding her daughter for doing something wrong. This had the desired effect when Shirley only looked at the other girl as such. "And not only that. Think of the damage that you will be causing to people close to you like Lulu and Rivalz."
Shirley was stunned to hear that both Lulu and Rivalz were worried about her.
"Really?" He asked looking at the 2 boys behind Milly. "Were you worried?"
Before anyone could respond, the blonde gave them a head start. "Of course, silly. They are your friends, why shouldn't they worry about you?"
The orange haired felt a hole in her heart. Actually, she didn't want to worry anyone, especially Lulu. The latter was a good boy despite his disinterested and antisocial expression. Not so long ago, before the new arrival of Godzilla, they had had something like a date, and it was one of the best moments of their life. It was a unique experience even though they were only there to buy a birthday present for Milly's father, but it was unforgettable. Now after Godzilla's rampage and the loss of her parents and home, she couldn't help but feel so hysterical with all the shit that had happened and nothing would ever be the same again.
However, she still had her cherished friends who also shared the same anguish as her, except that they were optimistic, but not that she had anything against it. She admired that, and yet she didn't help but get so paranoid about them.
She felt really sick.
"I'm so sorry, I..."
A hand grasped the girl's shoulder and he saw that it was Milly, who no longer had that severe expression of a few moments ago, and instead only gave an affectionate look.
"Shirley, you don't have to blame yourself. We are your friend, and you know that you will always have us for whatever."
"She right." Rivalz exclaimed approaching Shirley with a friendly smile. "You can always count on us for anything, right, Lelouch?"
"Yeah." Lelouch said with a smile as he approached as well. "You are not alone, Shirley."
The orange haired girl could not help holding back the tears for longer and she paid more attention to Lulu than for the first time in her life, he showed an authentic genuine smile that would only be reserved for his sister.
"Do you see it, silly?" Milly asked with her usual humorous smile. "That's how friends are."
Shirley couldn't hold back anymore and without thinking, she gave the blonde a big hug.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He repeated that over and over as he sobbed with his face almost above the blonde's shoulders.
Following the act, Milly patted the orange haired girl softly on the back. "It's okay, Shirley. It's okay ..."
After a minute with this drama, Milly decided to break away from her and watch her.
"Well, if you're done crying already, we better get back together now, okay?"
She nods, and so the 4 friends walk together towards one of the stores.
Unknowingly, they were being watched by a hooded person whose golden eyes were fixed on Lelouch.
Chancellor's personal office - Pendragon City - Holy Britannian Empire
Schneizel was not in the best mood right now.
Locked up in his office with 2 assistants on each side, one was Kanon, and the other was a man a little stout and a little older than Kanon, the Chancellor of the empire observed a series of reports on a clipboard that he had on his table. The last meeting, he had with the Senate had left him a bit drained by the whole Godzilla thing having caused chaos around the Tokyo Settlement and ultimately having wiped out much of it with a major radioactive firestorm, turning it all into a living image of the apocalypse. The human casualties were very great, counting up to more than 100,000 whether they were civilians or military, including his half-brother Clovis.
Schneizel had to say a little prayer for the sudden death of one of her stepbrothers, but she had to keep reading the reports about the collateral damage that occurred in central Tokyo and it could be said that it was irreparable if it was not bathed in radiation.
Schneizel had to make a mental note. Godzilla may have been nicknamed after a god, but from his and everyone's point of view, he seemed more like the 'Beast of Revelation'.
Apart from that, the destruction of a good part of the settlement including the death of the Viceroy and his officials caused a power vacuum in the control of Area 11 that would end in its imminent collapse, but that was resolved when the leader of the Purist faction Jeremiah Gottwald temporarily assumed control of the provisional government and did his best to maintain order. However, that did not seem to be enough when the panic spread to the other cities around Tokyo and also caused several Elevens communities to provoke numerous riots by taking advantage of everything.
"Chiba, Yokohama, Saitama, Sagamihara and other cities are in complete chaos after these horrible events." Kanon said to his lord.
"Chaos is spreading throughout Area 11." The other assistant muttered irritably. "If the army had managed to finish off that monster at once, we would not be in this situation."
"That was inevitable, Sir Cornwall." Schneizel assured calmly without being affected by the ambience. "We are faced with something that not even man has faced before."
"We still have to do something to stop that thing from moving again." Suggested Kanon.
"It is true, and if that is not enough, the Chinese have managed to occupy the Fukuoka Base and will soon do the same with the rest of the cities." Cornwall added grimly.
Schneizel managed to keep a cool head as he reflected on what Cornwall said. While it seemed like there was a chance to quell the pro-Elevens rebellions in a matter of weeks, unfortunately one of their enemies didn't bother to wait for control to be restored and decided to take chips on the matter. It was not the EU that at the moment its forces were involved in 2 fronts: the Atlantic and the Bering Strait. There was no chance that the Europeans could launch an expeditionary operation so far from their homeland without the risk of being intercepted by one of their forces.
Then there was only the CF that had remained neutral due to the secret treaty made by the ambassadors sent by the emperor to negotiate with the CF government so that the latter would not attack Britannia and support Japan while the former invaded the Japanese islands with the promise that the CF would gain more access to the sakuradita mines.
It should have been so, but one element that was not anticipated was that after the invasion of Japan, several remnants
of the defunct Japanese government escaped into exile, including a certain Atsushi Sawazaki, former chief cabinet secretary of the Kururugi administration, who was he moved to China and had formed a provisional government in exile.
It was only after Godzilla's attack on Tokyo, the death of Viceroy Clovis, and the ensuing civil unrest that made Atsuchi announced the resurrection of Japan and had launched a Chinese-backed invasion of the southern island of Kyūshū. Within days of landing, they managed to occupy Fukuoka with the help of various groups of rebel Elevens, and are expected to also try to occupy Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Ooita to continue their expansion.
"In what state are our forces to defend Kyūshū?" Kanon asked his partner for more details.
Cornwall gave a expressionless look him before replying gravely. "Our stationed forces are isolated from the rest of the islands, and with the unrest that is occurring, it would be impossible for us to send reinforcements there."
Schneizel didn't say anything as the information entered his head, and he couldn't help but worry a little. He debated whether to send reinforcements from the Homeland, but most of his forces are fighting in Europe on both fronts, and he was unable to withdraw any equipment from there. With all the troubles and difficulties happening at once, it left Area 11 in check and Britannia as well.
"How long will our forces be able to hold out there after we have solved the problem with the riots?" He finally spoke keeping a cool head.
It may be nothing, but if by some miracle the forces stationed in Kyūshū managed to contain the invading forces long enough for them to finally receive reinforcements, they may be able to balance the balance in their favor.
"I'm afraid that with the current state of our forces dwindling and with the backing of the Eleven communities in the area, they may not be able to hold out in a matter of days or weeks, my prince." Cornwall replied.
The prince suppressed a weary sigh upon hearing this reverse. Then he took a moment to reflect on the future of this new problem and the subsequent consequences. If Kyūshū fell to the Sino-Japanese coalition, they would most likely use it as a springboard to invade the rest of the Japanese islands, and it would also encourage more anti-Britannians factions to rebel against Britannian rule and who knows. Perhaps in a matter of weeks, all of Area 11 would be completely free and the insurrection of Japan would be a reality.
Britannia could not afford to lose one of its newer Areas as it would be a devastating blow to its morale. Throughout its existence, the mighty empire had enjoyed a feeling of superiority and invincibility in the face of its adversaries, but what concerned the blond prince was not seeing one of its Areas released, but its side effects. Internal strife had always been the Achilles' Heel of empires of past, and Britannia was no exception. The moment the world caught news of Japan challenging and winning against Britannia, other rebellions would rise up in the other Areas, and the worst part would be that this chain reaction would give a boost to the morale of Europeans seeing this sign of weakness for which it was certain that they had won and expelled the Britannians from European lands, which would be an even more devastating blow.
Fearing greatly the imminent loss of Area 11, Schneizel decided to use diplomacy and tried to contact the CF government and have them negotiate a Ceasefire until things had settled down with the pro-Elevens riots. At the moment, he was unable to contact the FC government, but did not give up in the hope of stopping the wave of violence in Area 11.
However, the other concern would be in the architect of all this chaos. According to his current reports, Godzilla was still standing motionless like a statue in the same place where he had unleashed its radioactive storm. The report said that Godzilla is probably in a state of torpor due to having spent almost all of its energy unleashing its beams and flames so it is now resting so it can recharge its body. If that's so, then this could be used as an opportunity to be able to do something like come up with a plan or something, but unfortunately, this out of the question as they still didn't know how to deal with something like that.
All he had to do is quell the riots in Area 11.
JLF Headquarters - Narita - Area 11
"This is our chance! Our time has come!" Exclaimed Lieutenant Colonel Josui Kusakabe with glee towards his companions upon seeing the current situation in Area 11. "The Britannians are losing their dominance, and many of our compatriots are taking advantage of it right now. We must act too. "
The other members heard what the enthusiastic Lieutenant Colonel was saying and none of them said anything as they did not share his enthusiasm. They were all in a large room sitting in a circle in the seiza samurai style.
"Now we can finally take a big hit on those pigs and drive them off our land at once." Josui exclaimed raising his fist with a big smirk. "We must seize this moment to get moving and invade Narita as soon as possible."
"You better not get so excited, Kusakabe." Ryōga Senba retorted, a large man being the oldest of the members of the Japanese Liberation Front. "Even if the Britannians forces are starting to crumble, I don't think it's wise to act now."
Right now, after Godzilla's attack on Tokyo and its subsequent events, JLF leaders and officers attended a meeting at their secret headquarters to discuss what to do next. Between the 2 sides were Kyōshirou Tōdō and his followers, and on the other were Josui and his. The latter advocated taking action at once and taking the City of Narita that was down the mountain with the same name where the headquarters was located. However, not many were on board with the plan
"Also, not the entire army has suffered significant damage, it is still too early to act."
"I agree. I don't think the Britannians are not going to give up so easily." Argued Kōsetsu Urabe who has a slightly broad face and blue hair. "Not to mention that we still don't have enough resources to launch a counteroffensive.
The others from Tōdō's faction agreed on that.
For quite some time, the Japanese Liberation Front was the largest resistance cell in Area 11 because that Japan had surrendered before the military resigned, leaving most of the army intact and later these were reunited to form this clandestine organization made up mostly of military veterans of the war, and they had also saved several of their resources and military armaments while the rest were handed over to the Britannians at the end of the war.
By establishing their base of operations in the Narita Mountains, the JLF had attempted to undermine Britannian rule several times with limited success during these 6 years since it was formed. Many of its members died during the fighting, were captured or deserted over the years as more members joined their ranks, but nothing to change the balance of power, and it was so during these 6 years. However, this had not lowered the morale of its members at all since as long as they continued to live and fight like the rest of their compatriots who were mounting their own resistance cells, that one day there will be a future for Japan no matter how difficult and far as it may seem.
And it was then, as if Kami had been impressed by the will of his people to want to continue fighting for a reborn Japan, he sent that mysterious super radioactive creature known as Gojira and had caused numerous calamities on their hated enemies as divine punishment.
Many Japanese were impressed by the devastating damage that the incarnate God caused on their abominable oppressors, who could already feel hopeful how their prayers were answered, and the kamis decided to help them in their fight. However, not everyone was so superstitious.
Although Tohdoh was shocked at how things got out of hand for his enemies, giving anyone the opportunity to take advantage of it and cause more damage, he was also horrified by the amount of damage that monster did in Tokyo. In his long professional career as an officer in the Japanese Army, the man behind Itsukushima's miracles had never seen such destruction, and even the devastations of the Second Pacific War could not compare to what happened in Tokyo.
Many may say that Gojira was an avenging divine being, but for the former colonel he is only a herald of chaos and destruction, one who does not recognize friends or enemies whether they are Britannians and Japanese, and the deaths of thousands of such people proved it.
"What do you say, Tohdoh?" The ex-colonel's expression came out of his meditation to see his compatriot's face. "Do you also think it will be worth preparing a counterattack?"
The veteran's eyes narrowed slightly at the idea.
"Listen, what Senba said is true." He replied in a monotonous tone. "It is still too early, and it is unwise to act now."
After those words, Colonel Josui's expression faded in disappointment when he saw that one of his close companions did not want to cooperate in this. A silence formed in the room as each of the members debated with their own thoughts who was right.
"However, if we let this opportunity slip, the Britannians will recover and we will be back to our old ways." A member exclaimed, breaking the silence in the environment. They all noticed the owner of the voice belonging to Josui's faction.
"Colonel Kusakabe is right." The member kept talking. "At the moment, many of our brothers are taking advantage of the weak state of the Britannians by causing numerous mobs that make things more difficult, and we are just sitting here like nothing."
They all got the message the man had just recited, and some were examining their consciences on this. Well, not all.
"Bah, but they are just amateurs." Shōgo Asahina mocked sarcastically. Shōgo is a young man with dark green hair, wears glasses and has a distinctive scar on the right side of his face. He was in the Tohdoh faction. "Do you really think with a bunch of inexperienced rabble are they going to change something? Or do you think you're smarter than them?"
That served to offend the man from the other faction, but he said nothing when another member spoke.
"It's true, this would be a war of attrition." Added Chiba Nagisa, the only female member of the JLF and a member of the Tohdoh faction, as well as the closest one. "We can't just jump in like this all of a sudden without planning things."
"And what are you going to know?" Another member asked mockingly. "I see you women don't have that much guts to be a soldier."
That touched a nerve in the female soldier and her expression twisted with anger.
"What have you said!?" She roared as she was about to pounce on the asshole who insulted her and make him pay.
"Knock it off!" Urabe barked causing either of the 2 to stop at their respective posts and prevent them from doing something reckless. When they both calmed down, Urabe turned to his companion. "Sit down."
Paying attention to what her older partner told her, Chiba returned to her sitting position, although she was still looking with daggers at the one who insulted her.
Once the whole room had returned to its usual environment, Josui spoke again.
"I know we are not yet ready to launch an offensive, as we still have to wait for Kyoto to send us the new weapons."
"Yeah, and even if we can drive the Britannians out in the end, what do we do with that thing next?" Shōgo asked with his arms crossed. Everything went silent as each one registered in their minds the term 'thing', knowing very well what he was referring to.
"It's true, none of you have thought about what to do with that monster on the loose out there?" Chiba replied.
None seemed to want to answer the woman's question as they all reflected on the other problem they had to deal with apart from the Britannians. Although, the unexpected presence of that super radioactive monster had caused great collateral damage to the Britannians that seemed to be irreparable, and anyone who was preparing a tough clandestine resistance for years, would wait for their opportunity to take advantage of the enemy's vulnerability to attack and then expel them forever from Japan. It would be that simple if they weren't also having to deal with Gojira who could also be seen as a bigger threat for what it did.
That destructive god had caused more deaths than a Britannians or anything on Earth would ever have done before, including many innocent Japanese.
"I think the same." Senba added grimly. "Remember that right now we have an even greater threat than the Britannians and we are not entirely sure if we will be able to deal with it after what has happened."
They all seemed to share the same thought with the oldest member on the Gojira matter. It was certainly a great nightmare to have that abomination spewing radiation, polluting the environment around it and bringing more death in a terrifying way worse than the Britannians had ever done.
"I agree."
They all cringed at the new voice and a good part of the 2 factions rose to give a small bow to the newcomer in the room, Major General Tatewaki Katase, who was a middle-aged man a little stout and professional air.
"At the moment we will not move chips on the matter." The general said looking at all his subordinates. Some of them looked at him puzzled. "We are not yet equipped enough to launch our attack on Narita no matter how overwhelmed the Britannians are."
Neither would respond to his opinion on this, as the old general continued. "Also, I agree that even though we have expelled them all and got our independence, I don't think Japan has any future with that monster existing."
No one wanted to answer the opposite since the last thing he said was totally true. Almost everyone bitterly felt that Japan's future was still too far even if they regained independence, and doubted that both the European Union and the Federation of China would intervene in the matter due to each other's political agendas they were having at the moment.
In other words, Japan was totally cut off from the world and would now become the domain of Gojira with its inhabitants like cattle.
Tachikawa Refugee Camps - Area 11
Lelouch was in conflict.
Being alone in one of the shelters, The former prince dedicated himself to typing his laptop to search social networks for any information from the outside world. All he wanted to know was the decaying situation that was going on in Area 11 since Godzilla's attack and Clovis's death. From what he could see, despite having established a provisional government headed by the margrave Jeremiah Gottwald and the Purist Faction to maintain order, he knew he needed more than that to keep the dominance now on the brink of collapse under control.
Unsurprisingly, the native Japanese communities had already started their insurrection driven by panic and fear in the nearby cities, and it soon spread to the rest of the cities of Area 11 taking advantage of its weakness.
Poor fools.
Although the army suffered heavy casualties when Godzilla unleashed its radioactive storm in Tokyo, the rest who were not there were lucky to be saved and they are currently prepared to deploy and quell a rebellion when they see it necessary. According to a statement by the provisional government, it will crush the insurrections and they will regain control in a matter of weeks.
If Lelouch had to choose to be satisfied or concerned about the situation, he would not know which of the 2 was the most viable.
The disowned prince had planned since Japan had been occupied by his native nation that he would destroy it and thus had spent the next 6 years planning his initial rebellion against his father's empire while leading a normal life as a student without revealing anyone his intentions, not even to Nunnally, who is the main reason he decided to fight the Britannian Empire in order to create a peaceful world for her.
It was thus that he had been raising funds in the numerous chess bets that he had been doing since he was 14 years old and having contacts, whether internal or external, that would help him to start his rebellion. In fact, he had been very patient for so long maintaining his normal boy facade while planning a rebellion that would make history since the Washington Rebellion, but unlike the nefarious 13 Colonies revolution, Lelouch would make sure that this was resoundingly successful and that would be his first step in overthrowing the greater empire by provoking other rebellions in other areas of the empire and by backing Britannia's enemies like Europe.
Everything was going quite well until the arrival of an unexpected element that seemed to hinder his plans, but in the end this made him advance it in a way that he did not expect. With the death of one of his enemies and the mobs that had been erupting in various parts of Area 11, it seemed impossible to start his own rebellion, but he knew this would be short-lived, as the Britannians would not be willing to abandon one of their areas so easily, and he didn't believe the rebels would have the power and resources to face the unstoppable Britannian war machine.
Therefore, the young prince's rebellion would still go on until he was ready to begin. However, despite this, both Britannia and Lelouch had to deal with an even bigger problem than both of them himself, being the responsible for the death of many people and turning the control of Area 11 upside down.
Despite the unexpected appearance of this destructive god having unleashed chaos in Area 11, as well as an opportunity to at least show vulnerability to Britannians, Lelouch did not intend to take advantage of at the moment. Godzilla still represented a major obstacle to his future plans. Anyone in their right mind, including Lelouch, would have agreed that Godzilla was not only a threat to both the Britannians and the Japanese, but to all of mankind and the entire world, including his beloved sister Nunnally, that since they had escaped from that hell, she had been anguished and fearful of her life.
It hurt Lelouch to see her that way, as well as Shirley who was also hysterical about everything that had happened, and therefore, concluded that it was also a great obstacle to the desired world of Nunnally.
It was for this very reason that at this time he has been looking for a way to eliminate this threat that until now he had not found. He was snooping on social networks what the government of the country was doing at the moment, but at the moment there was no immediate response to his frustration.
Just when he thought he would not find something worthwhile, his eyes suddenly fell on a text that caught his attention. It stated that an investigation team in NBC radiation suits had now been dispatched to the ruins of central Tokyo. Reaching Minato, the place where they had contact with Godzilla, the team found the charred leviathan standing immobile like a statue, and apparently it had not moved during these 4 days for some reason.
'So Godzilla is still motionless in its place? For what reason?' Lelouch pondered curiously, deciding to dig deeper into the matter to find out more.
"I see you are interested in all this."
Lelouch was almost startled to hear a mysterious female voice that seemed to come from nowhere in the room. Instinctively he turned back to the entrance of his tent, and saw to his surprise a young woman contemporaneously of his age.
She wore a white wool cape that covered her body with an included hood that covered her head. She only showed a strange smile and striking golden eyes before a puzzled Lelouch who just froze in place looking at the excessively beautiful girl as well.
"Nice to meet you, Lelouch Vi Britannia." The mysterious girl spoke. "I have come here to make a contract with you."
This is all for today, buddy. Now let's review the events that occurred here.
As you have seen, the situation is not very good after the attack of Godzilla since things are being uncontrolled everywhere above all in the Elevens communities that began to provoke revolts. There is also the fact that Atsushi Sawasaki has already begun with the invasion of Japan (long before the Canon) and he will possibly achieve conquest all Kyushu.
Suzaku Kururugi enters the scene after returning from Britannia to Area 11 not very happy with its situation.
As for the scene with Shirley. Well, I will say that it is one of the most complicated things I have done so far. Forgive me if it does not have enough rhythm, but I took the opportunity to emphasize the situation of the survivors, especially her after losing her parents (I still did not say that they have died, and I simply list them as missing). I originally planned for Lelouch to come to comfort her, but in the end I settled on Milly as she has more strength. I hope I did well.
Last but not least, Lelouch's encounter with the person who will help him in his future rebellion in a way he never expected.
Now, when is the next chapter going to come? I haven't planned it yet.
Ja ne!