Chapter 28

Beijing-March 14, 2022 a.t.b

The city was barren, the streets were empty and void of life, fires burned in parts of the city unrestrained as there was none to fight the flames. The inhabitants of the city had been evacuated, though this was by far an understatement, the refugees of the former city were left with nothing. Few could claim they even escaped with their lives as radiation had contaminated every corner of the city even into the bunkers and shelters that had been believed to be safe.

Lelouch sat in his chair dressed in smooth white silken clothes, his uniform had been taken from him and destroyed. His skin still boor red patches from the radiation, though his code had removed the threat of him spreading the radiation the damage done to his cells was still being repaired. The only possible upside that Lelouch could feel from this was that his code was getting quicker with repairing him and his tolerance for physical movement and pain was also increasing.

Jeremiah stood across the Yamato's conference table his somber look was deep, Lelouch sighed and looked up at the knight, "the reports are true old friend."

The knight's head lowered, "that means the sites have been active for this long."

Lelouch nodded in return stealing another glance at the intelligence reports, wishing and praying that they did not truly exist. The reports listed a half dozen sites where UFN fusion reactor had gone critical like in Beijing. However, these sites were reported to have been active for nearly a year and took make matters worse at least four of the reactors listed were sent into critical on purpose. This information was corroborated when drones had been sent into the palace to drain all the information, they could from the computer servers. Sawasaki's regime had apparently been testing how fusion meltdowns in their plants would affect the land and if the plants could be used in scorched earth tactics or some sort of offensive weapon.

The end result massive amounts of land in India and South East Asia was barren and/or radioactively contaminated. Rivers were polluted to the extreme turning the banks and estuaries into bleak hellscapes. Animals and people that lived in the affected areas were apparently suffering agonizing famine, starvation, radiation poisoning, and far worse. Millions were affected, and it was true that Black Knight intelligence and OSI had heard of the deplorable conditions and rising death toll the nature of it had eluded all probes. Until now.

"What are your orders my lord?"

"Double check every site with a reactor make sure all civilians are evacuated. We will then expunge the sites."

Jeremiah bowed, "Yes sire."

The knight turned and left the room making his way to the bridge to relay the orders. Lelouch let his face fall into his hands, and his thoughts run, 'why did it come to this? Why will it take me wiping cities from earth to end this cursed fight?'

Southern China

Tamaki sighed as he watched the city of tents and small prefabricated buildings shoot up inside fenced off areas. Prisoners dug holes and put up poles and lines, building their own barracks. He knew that this was not the only place this was happening, with the destruction of the UFN high command the entire nation split apart. Cities "rose up" on their own, though really just to surrender to the Black Knights, entire sections of land did the same. Units of the UFN army surrendered on mass, however it also became clear as more and more soldiers surrendered the number of officers did not match.

This was found to more often en-masse fragging incidents. The soldiers mutinied against their officers who tried to encourage them to fight on. In any other country at a different time this would have worked, insurgency would have been a given, but now? No such things were far from the minds of the majority of the UFN armed forces. There were plenty of enemy units that kept up resistance, but hard-hitting strikes from airships caring knightmares, and infantry ended such things quickly.

Tamaki sighed again, "perhaps it's a good thing war is so bad, otherwise we'd probably start to enjoy it."

"The old Britannia seemed to enjoy it," came the unwanted response from Ayano.

Turning to the woman Tamaki nodded, "true. But look at want Lelouch has done in creating the new Britannia. Knightmares are what they were supposed to be originally, one person tanks, instead of the gawdy personal steeds of pompas a**holes saying they're knights."

"The Emperor hasn't abolished knights," replied Ayano. "I mean aren't you one?"

Tamaki rolled his eyes, "I have a knighthood on paper, there was no ceremony to make it official, the war kind of got in the way that. Besides have you noticed that Lelouch has only kept those knights that are actually of quality, Jeremiah and Gilford are the best examples."

"Well," conceded Ayano, "I guess he did dissolve what was left of the knightly orders." The act of abolishing said orders had been done almost immediately after Lelouch's ascension to the throne while he was dismantling the nobility. Rebellion had taken place but unlike Lelouch's rebellion there was no unified leadership during that time. Ultimately there were a number of small rebellions during Lelouch's dismantling of the old government, and each had been put down swiftly by an army which when looked at was made up of peasants.

Tamaki laughed, "exactly. Hehe haha I still remember watching those pompus jerks try to overthrow Lelouch. I'm amazed that they thought the armies of the empire would actually rise with them. I mean come on, Lelouch destroys the nobility and makes every peasant equal with a noble and a group of entitled nobles think that the peasants in their army will still fight for them?"

"It also kind of helped that Lelouch gin control of Britannia's wealth, and froze all the nobles bank accounts. Soldiers peasant or otherwise still need to be paid." Ayano then adopted a rather solemn face, "so what now."

Tamaki's face morphed into stony seriousness, "first we disarm what's left of the UFN army as a whole, we'll probably leave a few choice units with small weapons to help police certain areas. Hehe let the people have a few familiar faces and so forth, but no big guns or knightmares."

Ayano nodded, "reasonable so far."

"Next the Emperor will call a council that will be attended by representatives from a around the world. They will then decide what will happen next, the Emperor however will not attend himself."

"Why?"

"A show of good faith to the people, as you know the Emperor can easily "persuade" people to go with his ideas one way or the other."

"Hehe are you speaking of his oratory skills or his army," Ayano joked.

Tamaki however kept a stern face, "both. And neither. He will not attend the meeting instead Britannia will send another representative, from there the gathered will converse upon what the future will hold for us. How exactly this will happen is still being developed but nonetheless the meeting will take place."

"When will that be?"

"Maybe a few months? Not entirely sure, the Emperor is pushing to have it soon however," Tamaki replied.

Ayano wrapped her arms around Tamaki's neck and pressed her lips to his cheek. "Whatever happens I'm sure that the outcome will be good."

"Hehe," a smile returned to Tamaki's face. "For us, I will make sure it happens."

Beijing; March 16, 2022

With stone cold glare Lelouch depressed the firing button and the from the Yamato's bow a flash signaled the launch of a FLEIJA. The WMD sailed through the air with a grim grace, it passed over the dead city. As it flew over the palace the weapon detonated and the sphere of light grew swallowing the city in its maw. Corpses of the fallen vanished from existence regardless of uniform or clothing they wore. Buildings which had seen years of history both good and bad disappeared in pained blink. As the sphere shrank back into itself the city that had been Beijing was no more than a memory and a marker on old maps.

Lelouch blinked slowly, "bring the ship about, take us back to Tokyo."

The crew silently obeyed the order, and the massive flagship turned in the air and ascended into the clouds. Lelouch sat back in his throne knowing that Imperial Guard units were taking similar FLEIJAs to the other locations of the Fusion Reactors, in a matter of hours those locations to would be destroyed. Save for the memory. Lelouch reached out and began typing upon an opened blank document, as the words filled the page the miles between him and home diminished.

Later

Walking through the halls a smile spread across Lelouch's face as he looked at what awaited him. Running up the hall towards arms outstretched was a small girl smiling and giggling. On instinct Lelouch knelt down caught the form of Euphemia as she ran into his arms. Hugging her close Lelouch stood and spun the two around lauging, "so how's my little girl been doing huh?"

"Hehe," Euphemia giggled and hugged Lelouch's neck. "Been doing great daddy, me and mommy have been having so much fun together."

"Oh ho have you now? You'll have to tell me about it then," smiled Lelouch.

Before Euphie could say anything else C.C.'s voice was heard, "later Ephie I think daddy would like to sit down for a bit and have a bite to eat of some real food."

Lelouch grinned, "oh yes I would love something that wasn't reheated in the Yamato's Mess."

C.C. smiled she then leaned in and stole a small kiss from Lelouch, "I bet you would."

Together the odd family made their way through the palace to their private chambers. It didn't take long for Lelouch to buckle and flop onto the sofa Euphie giggling as she bounced on the cushions. Despite the weariness Lelouch felt, he couldn't resist the happiness that seemed to spread to him when his daughter was there. Which did for a split second seem odd to him since he had not known her for long, but he simply shrugged that off. The night then passed in happy blur of pizza, soda, and movies, and before Lelouch knew it he was reclined on the couch with his arms full with his wife and daughter.

The little AI's eyes were closed, though physically she could not be tired so easily, mentally she was still practically a newborn and required time to recharge. C.C. reclined her head on Lelouch's shoulder, "so my warlock what next."

Lelouch sighed, "hopefully the summit will lead to a unified conclusion for the world, and a speedy trial for Machavel."

C.C. hummed, "you do know that not matter what decision is made you will be at the forefront of it right?"

Lelouch nodded, "yes, which is why I am enjoying tonight with you two."

June 6, 2022 a.t.b Rock of Gibraltar

The island was intended to be a fortress, and it was, the Rock was built to last and its ability to project power through the Straits of Gibraltar was felt well into the previous EU war. It had even been strong enough to resist Schneizel's attempts to take it and had only been truly silenced when said Prime Minister had negotiated a peace with the EU. After which a large portion of it had been changed to accommodate a more relaxed occupant. The parts that had been converted were made to house vacation high nobles and guests while catering to the much-reduced garrison (very reduced after Spain fell to Britannian control). Manmade sections increased the mass of the island and allowed for more space for buildings and docking ports for ships.

In truth by this point the Rock was still strong enough to hold the Summit. A gathering of representatives from around the world, their one goal, the future organization of the shattered world. With the relative exception of Tamaki, all representatives present had been decided upon by the vote. There were representatives from the Scandinavian district, Ukraine, Durand's reformed European government, China, what was left of India and Southeast Asia, as well as some from the Middle East.

The room was spacious, and the tables arranged in a U with space in the middle for any presenter who needed to speak. Cameras were present in the room, but only a few were currently running and even then, these were recording the proceedings therein, the others sat offline and dormant. Back and forth statements passed from table to table while others whispered amongst themselves.

For the past week the Summit had not been actively debating anything pertaining to any border but were in fact hearing and debating evidence for the case of Napoleon Machavel. The former leader of the EU himself was held in a high security prison block on the island. Black Knights heavily armed with new Radiant Hadron weapons guarded and monitored every access point to the dictator. This was more of a means to keep others from killing the man rather than to let him escape. Of course, other guards were also present on the island, security forces from Durand's army and a few select troops from UFN territory were present. Though the latter were not as heavily armed as the formers.

The hammering of a gavel drew the attention of the room, Durand stood at the center table as presider of the Summit. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have heard many testimonies, pages and pages of written evidence, and just as much in video and audio records. We have debated for days; the world waits for us to deliver judgement. To this I believe it is time that we vote upon the sentencing of Napoleon Machavel. Are we in agreement?"

Hands rose from all tables; a unanimous seven votes passed the motion to begin the sentencing. Durand nodded continued, "it is decided then." The man turned his attention to the papers in front of him, as crimes were listed each table answered with a "guilty" or "not guilty." The list went on, and passed over things as mass murder, use of chemical and biological weapons, embezzlement, and many other crimes, and the talk went on and on.

Tokyo

Lelouch sat back in his chair a fire blazed in the fireplace nearby, the flames were more present as a form of relaxation than warmth. The wood the burned released a pleasant aroma into the air that Lelouch gently inhaled with each breath. The emperor sat nearly motionless as he waited, he had been waiting for hours since he had been awoken with the news that the Summit was reaching its decision on Machavel.

A hand rested itself on his shoulder and he looked up at the form of Jeremiah. The cyborg knight smiled, "my lord it is time."

Lelouch gently thumbed a button on his arm rest and the monitor in front of him came to life. It was already set and the chamber of the Summit was set out before him, the world over watched as well as every camera within broadcast the video. Machavel himself stood in shackles before the Summit council. His clothes were dark white and brown, and his eyes were sunken into his skull, though not due to any dietary problem but from the sheer strain upon his psyche.

Durand stood, "Napoleon Machavel, you stand accused of crimes against humanity, this council has heard not only your own defense, in that you were controlled by the monster Sawasaki. You have thusly plead insanity, however upon testing of this theory and the deliberation of this council we have deemed such a plea to be null and void. Thusly you are not exempt from the verdict we hand down."

Machavel seemed to glisten as perspiration poured down his face, the man started to open and close his mouth, but no words would come out. Durand ignored this and continued, "as such this Summit finds that you knowingly and willfully complied with Sawasaki and committed the crimes you are charged with or you own free will. To that end this Summit hands down a verdict of guilty on all counts."

"NO!" cried Machavel.

Durand's faced hardened as did his voice as he passed sentence, "you are hereby sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead."

"No! No! no!" Machavel cried. His guards approached and grasped the flailing man, at a motion from Durand they dragged the whimpering crying mess of Machavel from the room.

The camera angle changed to that of Durand, "ladies and gentlemen of the world. Today we have sentenced a man for his crimes, there are others who were complacent in these crimes. They likewise shall be tried and sentenced appropriately. But from here on this council shall deliberate upon the question of the future of this world. You the people have given the delegates here the power to speak for you. It is my hope that we shall reach a decision swiftly. Thank you."

The monitor turned off and Lelouch sat staring at the vacant screen, Jeremiah took the opportunity to speak, "my lord, what do you believe they will come to decide?"

Lelouch folded his hands, "there are a number of theories I have regarding that. The Summit could go any number of ways now, the end result however will likely be much the same for each of my theories. The real question I am asking myself is, how much power will they give me?"

"Sire?" asked Jeremiah, a slight twinge in the back of his mind clicked as he though of the plan he and the others had implemented.

"I have no doubt that I will be in the foreground of whatever comes out that meeting. How much power I will have is up for great debate at this point."

"Hmm," Jeremiah hummed. Reaching into his coat Jeremiah pulled out a folder, "my lord these are lists of former and current officials in the UFN occupied zones. It also lists their activities during the Sawasaki regime, and as you can tell from me even bringing this to you, they were most certainly criminal."

Lelouch took the folder and opened it and grazed across the lists, his brows furrowed, and he looked up at Jeremiah. "Some of these names are those that helped surrender the rest of the UFN's military."

After the fall of Sawasaki and Beijing the few specks of the regime that were not present in the city were arrested in a number of small coups. From there the UFN had surrendered in a unified/piecemeal fashion. Lelouch continued, "these men helped to end the war and hand over their territory to us. And now you've put them on a list of criminals that you want me to sanction the arrest for?"

"I now I could not hide such a thing from you my lord," Jeremiah nodded and smiled.

"Very well," Lelouch nodded and reached out for his pen. Skipping several pages Lelouch signed his name and handed the folder back to Jeremiah. "Carry out the empire's justice Jeremiah. Arrest them and charge them."

"It is my duty my lord, and I live to serve," the cyborg bowed and left.

Rock of Gibraltar, June 7, 2022 a.t.b.

Durand began the meeting, "we shall begin with reports of the economical status of the nations."

Monitors in front of the delegates came to life and lists and graphs showed the status of the various economies. A Scandinavian delegate took the moment to speak, "if I may summarize this. In short, the only viable and prosperous economy that remains is that of Britannia. Followed closely behind by my District and that of Ukraine, while no real unified economy exists in the rest of Europe and the UFN territories."

"That is indeed correct sir," replied Durand.

"For the sake of the record," continued the delegate. "I will say that the Scandinavian District's economy has enough strength left to manage for a minimum of three years before full collapse."

"Ukraine is that same," spoke a delegate of said nation. "Unless we find a solution here our two nations will be forced into bankruptcy."

The truth was that while the two small nations had been independent of either the EU or UFN, they were still bound by economical ties. Bank loans and trade had kept the two-nation alive but had been draining the independence from both. The EU and UFN had driven both countries into the war and while the loans of the two small nations were erased with the defeat of the two superpowers the economic damage done was catastrophic.

"The UFN has no economy anymore either," added an Indian delegate. "India's economy was slaved to that of the UFN's and Sawasaki ensured as much, every bank was subject to the government. With the collapse of his regime any cohesion for the already unsteady economy was shattered."

Tamaki leaned forward, "on that note I would like to add that for the UFN territories, Britannia is providing goods and work projects to stimulate local economies. We are also helping by offering small loans and services to Durand's government. These are stop gap measures that we hope will at the least last long enough for this Summit to come to a decision."

The meeting went on and on, talks about loans of money, food, supplies flowed back and forth. Proposals for work projects to help struggling infrastructure and medical care for civilians and soldiers. As well the refugee crisis was talk about extensively, the war had displaced millions. Many were flocking to various occupied zones or Europe, Russia, and the Americas. The populations of the different nations were drastically shifting upwards and down by the day.

June 14, 2022

Gray clouds dotted the clear blue sky, their greyness flickered and flexed to white while the sun's rays kept them separate. The light bathed the Rock in it warm glow as the sea of the strait lapped at the edges of the island. Despite the beauty of the day the sun cast a deceptive shadow on the tall grim allow gallows erected on a cleared wharf. The area had been a loading dock that held vast quantities of shipping containers. But these were cleared, and no ships were moored, and gallows of steal and allow were erected in the center with black clad guards surrounding the base. Several large blank screens were also positioned around the wharf, their purpose unclear to those present.

Around the grim scaffold a crowd of people stood, and cameras swiveled back and forth from the gallows to the crowd. A chime sounded over loudspeakers and several knightmares and armored vehicles pulled up. Guards dressed in black exited the vehicles escorted the shackled form of Machavel. The man was disheveled, his hair a mess and his face was streaked in dried tears. Only his orange prison clothes were in clean condition. More guards opened a corridor to the gallows.

Under the hardened gaze of the guards and many in the crowd the procession moved up to the gallows. The shackles made it difficult to climb the stairs and the site added another layer of humiliation to the man. As Machavel reached the top of the stairs he was greeted by the site of the coiled noose. Fresh tears slipped down his face, but no sound came from his trembling lips as he had run dry of pitiable words to speak. The night before he had watched as this platform had been lit by flood lights and Hans Maximillian had been dragged to the top of the same gallows. The man who had commanded the Republican Guard had been propped up and hung just like he was about to be.

The guard behind him pushed him and Machavel stumbled forward and he barely managed to gain his balance before he toppled over. Several men wearing faceless masks appeared on the scaffold and strong hands maneuvered him into position and held firm as the rope was pulled over his head and tightened around his neck. The hands released him, and the men stepped back. The massive screens came to life and a cold pair of violet eyes stared from them.

As per the agreement Lelouch could not be present on the island but he would have his say this day. "Machavel, you have caused no small amount of suffering to the people of this world. Your cohort Maximillian died last night unable to even stand properly, though you may be able to it will gain you no honor nor respect. I shed tears for the many lives lost in this war, but I will shed not one for you. Those who kill should be prepared to be killed. You took the most sacred of things, life, now you will pay the price."

Lelouch's image left the screens, and in its place a drumbeat began to play, a masked man stepped forward. With practiced ease the man slipped a black cloth over Machavel's head leaving the man with only sound as his companion. The drumbeat sped up into a roll, every second of the beat Machavel's heart sped up. Then with a sadness that made every person present jump the beat stopped and the floor beneath Machavel disappeared. With a loud bang the man fell, and the rope became taught.

The silence lasted for a total of three seconds, three seconds every human watched the life of a man end. Then the shouts began, the life of a man ended, a horrible monster of a man had ended. The shouts became a roar then in the back of the crowd a chant that crept to the front, "Zero! Zero! Lelocuh! Lelouch! Zero! Lelouch! Zero! Lelouch!"

June 20, 2022 a.t.b

"There are pro Zero/Lelouch demonstrations happening all over the world," commented Durand. "Britannian/Black Knight investigations into the former governments have yielded a staggering list of criminals that have since been arrested. And the people are overjoyed."

"What's the point your driving at Durand," replied Tamaki, other delegates nodded.

"That your emperor has more support than the temporary governments in the occupied areas. Even in Europe lists of criminals that have since went unpunished in the former regime are appearing. With adequate proof for convictions I might add. More and more of the people are throwing their support behind the Emperor every day."

"Is that really a surprise?" asked Tamaki gaining the attention of the Summit. "The man was Zero before he was emperor, he gained the support of the majority of common people in the UFN, Europe and Japan. Then when he became emperor, he gained much of the support from the former peasantry by destroying the noble and number systems. He gave them their own voices in government. Then when the UFN betrays its ideals the man who essentially created it returns and destroys it and gives the people their voice back again."

"That may be true," added a delegate from Scandinavia. "But it almost seems that every decision he has made thus far is making the idea of an absolute monarchy under him more and more appealing for the masses. I might add this is how Sawasaki and Machavel gained power in the first place. With an immortal man at the head of a worldwide empire, it cannot be hard for us to have some doubts as to his intentions."

Mumbles of agreement came from around the room, Tamaki himself nodded as well, "indeed that is true. But my friends, I will once again say that my emperor will abide by whatever decision this council arrives at. It is for this very reason he has not appeared here once outside of a video call. He will not allow himself to be near enough for his power to influence this Summit. As well I must point again out that Lelouch has set up his own government so that the people of the nation have a say in how they are governed."

Tamkai stood and looked around the room, "though he has not said so I believe whole heartedly in what I am about to say. Should this council deem it that Emperor Lelouch should be given power he will govern how he governs Britannia. Every nation will have there say, the people will have their say, no person will be without some voice in their government. No nobles will be held above the people."

An Indian delegate then spoke, "It is true that thus far Britannia is the only stable government and economy at the moment. Its emperor is probably the most supported person in the world at this time as well. Any decision that we make must also be weighed against this. If we make a decision that will ultimately hurt Britannia, or more accurately its emperor, we will likely incur the wrath of our populations."

More mumbles of agreement came, "so, the only true choice as it stands right now is this. Do we or do we not, give power to Emperor Lelouch?"

Durand looked back and forth at the delegates, "I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that the answer to that question has been answered already. However, I believe that a final vote should be given to the people as a whole. Let them have the final say in our decision."

The Summit members nodded, Durand then spoke, "I put forth the motion that give the final vote to the people of the world. Is the motion passed?"

Hands were raised and the motion passed. A delegate from Ukraine stood, "I believe that we now must discern a final form for such a government before we give it to the people to say yay or nay." The meeting then began to delve back into planning.