Turn 7.2
When I told the gang to get me a camera and lighting equipment, I wasn't expecting much.
But they outdid themselves. This is a decent setup.
I move the Sutherland closer and then hop out to connect the communication transponder to the camera.
My plan is to piggyback onto their own comms network, and then overload the Sutherland's comms array before setting the self destruct.
Overly cautious, perhaps. But better safe than sorry.
The lights go on, the stage is ready, and the camera's light says we're live. In front of me is a tv displaying the G-1's main bridge.
And on the throne in the center...
"So, you've finally showed yourself, you regicidal upstart," Cornelia says, crossing her legs.
"Princess Cornelia. It is a pleasure to finally meet you," I bow obsequiously. She hasn't changed at all aside from some maturity in her looks and demeanor.
"Spare me the theatrics. I came here to avenge my siblings on this damnable country, not amuse myself with the antics of a clown," she says, waving her arm dismissively. "I see you refused to arrive like the coward you are."
Clown, huh? Somebody is asking for a spanking.
"On the contrary, I have been here the entire time. You just have not seen me." I flare my arm to the side dramatically.
Cornelia smirks at me. "It's rare that one of you Elevens actually has the guts to not cower before me. Your troops are on the run and being butchered like dogs as we speak." She leans forward, glaring. "What kind of an officer abandons their soldiers?"
I smirk beneath my mask. Let's remove that misconception, shall we?
"If a soldier under your command refused a direct order and insulted you, your honor, and your family to your face, what would you do?"
Cornelia scoffs and mimics a sword blow with her forearm. "Execute them on the spot for insubordination, treason, and conduct unbecoming of an officer. I have no use for soldiers who cannot follow orders."
I clap slowly. "I entirely agree," I say with a nod. "Rallying the Yamato Alliance was conditional on their acknowledgement of my command. They were informed that my mission objectives were met and told to retreat."
I make a slicing motion at my throat. "The fools decided that I was a coward and that their honor demanded an all-out assault. I cut my ties with them afterwards. I have no use for dead weight."
She wasn't expecting that. Especially considering she's quietly laughing at my remark. Truth be told, I never expected the Yamatos to be useful to begin with.
"A man after my own heart. It's a pity you're an Eleven. Someone like you could have had a future in the Empire." she says with a bloodthirsty smile.
"I'd enjoy serving at YOUR feet at least," I say cheekily. It probably doesn't anything good about me that I find her bloodlust arousing.
Cornelia raises an eyebrow. "You know of my reputation and you're still bold enough to flirt with me?" She leans on one arm. "I'm not sure which I'm more surprised by: your stupidity in this death-wish, or the size of your balls to say that to my face," she says with a toothy smile.
Gods be damned, who knew my sister was so much fun to talk with? I'm actually enjoying this.
"The Witch of Britannia honors me with her compliment," I grin beneath my mask.
"If you amuse me enough when I find you, I may even forego your torture and give you an honorable death by firing squad."
"More than I gave Clovis, you mean?"
The rest of the G-1 goes dead silent in shock.
Shots fucking fired.
Cornelia stands up, cape fluttering behind her. "The revelations of Code-R aside...he was still my brother. Though he had fallen far from grace, apparently, I will avenge his loss and mount your skull as a trophy, Eleven mongrel," she says with an icy gaze.
Of course, anyone who actually knows Cornelia can tell that Code-R rattled her. Seems Orange's investigations into it bore fruit enough to recover his standing.
"As shall I avenge my prince and his despicable mutilation at your hands!"
Nice acting, Jerry. Sell that vengeance storyline.
"Ah, Orange-boy. I knew I should have put a bullet in your head. Seems shooting your leg and beating you with a pipe wasn't enough." I quip.
Jeremiah growls as he goes for his pistol. "If Suzaku Kururugi had not saved me, I'd have died by your hands. I can only pray Her Highness Princess Cornelia allows me to gun you down like you did to His Highness Prince Clovis!" he says as he aims at my image, his head bandaged and leg in a cast while he holds himself up with one arm on the wall.
He's walking around with a cast and no crutches days after being shot. Even with Britannian medicine, that has to hurt.
Sorry again for the bullet, Jerry.
Cornelia holds up an arm. "Enough, Margrave. I understand your desire for vengeance and I thank you for your work on Code-R. But I shall handle this villain myself."
This really is a world of ham.
Seriously, people literally cannot NOT act like giant hams.
Gottwald re-holsters his pistol reluctantly, "Forgive my outburst, Your Highness. I was overcome with emotion."
She gives him a curt nod, "Your loyalty is beyond question, Margrave. Be at ease."
Indeed it is, sister. Just not to Britannia.
"In truth, I have not been in command since the destruction of the bridge. The Yamatos turned insubordinate after that point, at which time I left them to be butchered by your guard. My true objective is already accomplished." I pace back and forth.
Cornelia raises an eyebrow in question. "Which was?"
"Evacuation of the civilian population. Who, truth be told, will shed few tears for the rapacious predators of the Yamato Alliance."
Cornelia shrugs, "They chose to aid enemies of the crown, their lives are forfeit."
I pull out an ornate chess piece shaped detonator.
"As are the lives of your royal guard, for the butchery you had planned here today."
I hold the switch to eye level. "BY FIRE BE PURGED!" I roar as I mash the button.
My cape is blown back by the wind from an explosive shockwave, as several metric tons of explosives and napalm go off, turning Saitama into an inferno.
My sister's eyes go wide. "Status!" she yells at the bridge bunnies.
"Your Highness, over 75% of the royal guard and 82% of the regulars in Saitama were killed instantly! The remaining forces were damaged, but still able to retreat!"
She turns towards me, her eyes lit up with fury. "So you knew the entire time and turned my trap back on itself?"
I make a show of checking my nails, "Really, Cornelia, if you're going to set a trap, do try and make it less obvious."
I lean forward. "Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to try the exact same thing I used on your idiot brother?" I seethe at her.
I'm playing it up, but Lelouch did fall for it in the original timeline, so credit where credit is due.
Cornelia snarls as she draws her bayonet pistol. "Don't you dare disgrace his name, worthless scum!"
"The man was fool enough to break his encirclement and launch a mass attack without any scouting or confirmation of the enemy's position. I think my characterization is accurate," I say with a deadpan emotionless tone.
"How dare you! My brother would never be so stupid enough as to-!"
Someone coughs from behind her.
She whirls around. "What?!"
Jeremiah Gottwald winces as he kneels, but maintains a straight face despite being on his bad leg.
"Your Highness...as much as it galls me to admit, the terrorist scum is correct. Your brother, His Highness Prince Clovis, did order such an attack."
Cornelia's face shifts between disbelief, outrage, and sheer disgust. "God dammit, Clovis, did you learn nothing from all the times you lost to Lelouch and Schneizel...?" she whispers, barely audible, lowering her bayonet.
"If it's any consolation, Clovis was going to be thrown under the bus and disowned or executed if Code-R got out. No doubt his sheer panic at the thought overrode any better judgment he may have had," I remark, arms crossed under my cloak. I'm kinda throwing her a bone here, but he was still my brother too.
Cornelia sighs and shakes her head slowly, "Be that as it may..."
She looks up at the screen, bayonet extended and trigger cocked, her eyes remorseful and angry.
"He may have been an idiot and a foppish artist, but he was still my brother. And I will avenge him as family, if nothing else. All Hail Britannia."
The screen goes fuzzy and static filled as a gunshot rings out.
I look down. ...Nailed it!
"hehehehe...HAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laugh maniacally. I had just stared down Cornelia and turned Saitama into a win. Best of all, she's now going to dig deeper into Code-R and will find herself questioning the Empire and her own beliefs.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
I am so fucking hard right now. God, this feels incredible.
Nothing can stop me! I am invinci-OOF!
Ow. I clutch my solar plexis and fall to my knees, as my laughter is cut off by a punch from Kallen.
"Are you sure that's the right thing to do?" she looks askance at CC.
CC nods and crosses her arms. "Trust me, he won't stop otherwise. My contractor is a bit of a megalomaniac."
Kallen gives her a flat stare in response. "No, really? I hadn't noticed."
"Yeah, really," I murmur as I stand up fully.
I straighten my suit out. "Thank you Kallen. I tend to get carried away."
She blinks incredulously. "You're...welcome?"
CC giggles as she starts leaving. "Lulu isn't the first would be conqueror I've had to corral, I've had some practice at this, dear."
Now that's interesting. CC is the Cloudcuckoolander's Minder?
...Oh god, she really does have me by the balls, doesn't she?
Kallen freezes in place. "...How MANY of these lunatics have you dealt with over time?" she asks incredulously.
CC closes her eyes to consider. "Not every conqueror and major historical figure obviously. I'm only 600 plus years old, after all. And there were other Code Bearers before VV."
CC gives a cat smile as she turns to me. "There is one you do remind me of, though. Little Nobu was always something of a maverick"
'Little Nobu'? I can't tell if I'm being insulted or complimented. Wait a minute...
Kallen's eyes widen. "大六天魔王?!" (The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven?!)
The man who ended the Sengoku Jidai? The most villified of all the great warlords of Japan? Holy shit, she knew HIM?!
"You knew the Fool of Owari?" I ask eagerly, my voice equal parts eager and incredulous. The man was one of my heroes, this is amazing!
CC smirks. "He always thought that name was hilarious. He couldn't believe anyone was actually stupid enough to buy that out-of-control act of his."
She turns to Kallen next, "In answer to your question, the thing with megalomaniacs is that you have to keep them from being overwhelmed by their own ego and mania."
She walks over and grabs me around the waist. "Sometimes it's a smack on the head, sometimes sex, sometimes it's just telling them they're wrong."
She sighs, "It's when they stop listening to the honest advisors and start believing their own hype that they start fucking up."
Ah, this is clearly an object reminder for me not to get too cocky.
She gives me a fierce glare. "And the worst ones are kings, emperors, and other tyrants who think they have a divine right to rule. They don't."
She pokes me in the chest. "So if I see you doing something stupid that your ego thinks cannot possibly go wrong, I WILL smack you, and so will the rest of your harem/friends."
"Harem?! I'm not joining this asshole pervert's harem!" Kallen screeches.
CC pats Kallen on the head, "That's nice, dear. Just keep thinking that."
Kallen roars in outrage as she tackles CC and starts trying to hit her.
I step back. If I try to intervene, I lose, whether by Kallen hitting me for disrespecting her, or CC kicking me out of bed. Plus, I don't want to play favorites.
Not to mention CC just put Kallen into a guillotine hold, anyway.
"Now, do I have to drag your unconscious body back with us, or are you going to stop?" my witch says with a sugary sweet tone.
I sigh. "CC, stop it." It's like herding fucking cats, I swear.
I start walking into the tunnels leading out. "Should add 'god damn cat herder' to my resume, right under 'revolutionary'," I mutter.
Kallen smiles, then starts laughing. "That's way more accurate than I thought," she snickers as we walk into the tunnel.
I turn around to see her holding out a hand to CC. "Where did you learn how to fight?"
CC takes the hand and smiles. "I've been a combat instructor among other things. The Mongols for example, were surprisingly open minded about women having combat roles, though this was obviously centuries after Temujin and his grandson Kublai.
Kallen whistles in appreciation. "You're still an obnoxious bitch, though," she says with a smirk as she squeezes CC's hand.
CC squeezes back with an identical expression. "And you're still a repressed tsundere."
I think they're friends now. I hope.
I detonate the Sutherlands behind us as we vanish into the sewer system.
"Anyone up for a few beers?"
Kallen turns to me with a surprised expression. "You drink?"
I nod. "I have a taste for craft beer. It's unfortunately not very popular here in Japan, even before the war. And no offense, Kallen, but you guys suck at brewing beer."
Kallen looks like she's going to get mad, before sighing and shrugging. "You're not wrong. My father used to say Japanese beer was terrible, that's why he preferred sake."
"Isn't he Britannian nobility?"
She gives me a sharp glare. "I'm not in the mood to get into the dynamics of my screwed up home life. So you're buying, Zero, sir."
I think I just dodged a landmine.
CC is busy ordering pizza. I'm not stopping her. That actually sounds pretty good right now.
"CC, send a few pizzas and a keg to the rest of the gang. My compliments for saving the people of Saitama. And tell Ohgi we're going to be laying low for the next while because I hit on Cornelia."
CC's eye light up in glee. "Tamaki is going to think you're a god." She cackles as she starts dialing.
I doff my helmet and fold it up as I smirk. "No, just a miracle worker."
End of turn.
