Chapter Twelve: Pyrrhic Victory

Suzaku Kurugugi woke up in his apartment and sighed.

Rising up, he made his way into his bathroom, showered, brushed his hair and teeth, and donned his clothes. Checking the news as he dressed, he saw footage of a skyscraper smoking and a common occurrence in flames.

"Here's video footage of yesterday's terrorist bombing in Osaka," said the newscaster. "Eight Britannians were killed as well as fifteen others. The terrorists have not made any official statements. But it is believed this was done in retribution for police brutality." The news had been a bit bolder since Deitard took over.

Suzaku turned the television off with a sigh. When he was fully prepared for the day, Suzaku made his way out into the street. He lived in one of the Honorary Britannian settlements. It was a place with running water and heating. Though that was about it, he didn't spend any real time here, except to sleep and wake up.

As usual, he found Ms. Cecile standing by a car. The beautiful, blue-haired woman was waiting in a uniform. "Good morning Suzaku."

"Good morning, Ms. Cecile," said Suzaku as they got into the car.

"Sleep well?" asked Cecile, driving.

"Not really, to be honest," admitted Suzaku. "Still, I'm ready for the Lancelot operation now."

"Um, you don't have to do that," said Cecile.

"What? Why not?" asked Suzaku, surprised. Was the program being shut down? He'd spent the last two years dealing with the tests.

"We're being called in by Prince Clovis for an operation," said Cecile.

Another one, Suzaku had been so excited last time he'd been called in here. "Will we actually be allowed to fight?"

"I think we both know the answer to that," said Cecile. "Though this one is apparently a really big one. Nearly an entire battalion of Knightmares is deployed, not to mention a lot of infantry. All to the Shinjuku Ghetto. The entire place is completely sealed off."

"Shinjuku?" asked Suzaku. "But that place has only been getting rebuilt. What could be so important that they'd need a whole battalion?"

"Something was stolen," said Cecile. "That's all we know." She turned on the radio. "And now, his Highness, the Third Prince of Britannia, will address the nation." said a female voice.

"To all my Imperial Subjects, both eleven a Britannian alike," said Clovis. "It remains a tragedy that our great nation continues to be torn apart by war. While the abuses of the corrupt have long since been addressed, there remain those who rebel. They are monsters who twist the minds of their fellows into a fruitless conflict. Such a conflict nearly brought our great nation to its knees.

"This is made only too clear by the recent tragedy.

"Now, everyone, I would like you all to join me in a moment of silence for the twenty-three who died for justice."

Suzaku would take small progress where he could get it. Recent years had seen Clovis get closer to acknowledging elevens as citizens. The language had been less harsh, and some of the police had been punished. From what he'd heard, police brutality had drastically decreased.

This had, in turn, decreased the effectiveness of the resistance. With the police remaining focused on actual criminals, they removed them faster. Meanwhile, people were less likely to be radicalized without the brutality. A lot of places had gotten a lot safer as a result. At the same time, Suzaku couldn't say he approved of Zero's methods.

There were ways to change the world.

Threatening to blow the Media Building sky high if they didn't cooperate wasn't one of them.

"...Where is Prince Clovis now?" asked Suzaku.

"At a party, I believe," said Cecile, turning off at their exit. "There was a period where the social gatherings, but they're coming back now. The nobility is starting to get bold again."

A party, right.

Before he'd been promoted, Suzaku had regarded Clovis as better than the alternatives. He'd seen the military superiority of Britannia firsthand, witnessed what happened during the war. And he'd come to the conclusion that violent resistance was wholly pointless.

The JLF talked a big game, but they had no plan for what to do if they won.

Even if they were to kill Clovis and rout his armies, it would only get a more ruthless Britannian governor. And all Kyoto cared about was making money, supporting the JLF as a corporate bargaining chip.

Of course, nothing had dispelled illusions about Clovis like working near the man. Suzaku had only met him once when he'd been handed his promotion. But he'd been close enough to see how Clovis operated, and it was...

Sloppy.

Clovis didn't seem to care about problems until they might make him look bad. His first reflex upon seeing a serious issue was to cover it up. If he'd been doing his job properly, Zero would have never made any headway. There had been a period where Suzaku had thought Clovis hadn't realized it was going on and wanted a genuine change...

Not anymore. Clovis wanted to be perceived as benevolent, true. But he didn't want to think about the people he had to be benevolent too. He wanted the news to hail him as wise and enlightened, but he didn't want to put the effort to be either. And if Lloyd's grumbling about embezzled funds meant anything, things were getting worse.

Suzaku would never say this; it could lose him his job. But he suspected that Clovis had regarded the reforms put in place as a stalling action. A means to quiet public discontent so he could go back to his old abuses when the heat died down.

Why else would he have handed Suzaku a promotion piloting the Lancelot and then never used it?

They arrived, and that last thought stuck with him. More than usual, actually. Around them were knightmares, dozens upon dozens of knightmares. Infantry were checking their guns while tanks rolled into view. And this was only a small part of one line of the encirclement.

Clovis had brought an entire army to fight terrorists who would be lucky to have a grenade launcher. Suzaku glanced at the Lancelot, covered in a huge tarp at the edge of the warehouse.

"Ms. Cecile, can I ask you a serious question?" asked Suzaku as they entered the warehouse.

"Of course," said Cecile.

"Why does Clovis even bring us into these operations?" asked Suzaku. "Every time we use fuel and get all set up, and we never get deployed."

"It's politics, I'm afraid," said Lloyd, not looking up from his console.

"Lloyd?" said Suzaku.

"The one and only," said Lloyd. "We've got ourselves the most advanced Knightmare in the world, and a devicer to use it. And with the backing of Prince Schneizel, Clovis can hardly refuse to use us. But giving us the opportunity to fight would risk discrediting the Pureblood ideology.

So we have a compromise.

"We're always on hand, and he never calls on us."

And as a result, the most powerful Knightmare in history went unused. It would be one thing in a time of peace, but Britannia was fighting multiple defensive wars. Suzaku wished they could have transferred out to York Town. Princess Cornelia had been fighting off a French invasion for some time. There Suzaku could have demonstrated his loyalty and value to Britannia there.

But Clovis didn't want to lose control of the Lancelot. So here they are.

Instead, Suzaku, Lloyd, Cecile, and everyone else was in limbo. They'd been loaned to Clovis as a favor from Prince Schneizel and couldn't be taken back without an insult. Clovis wouldn't use them at all because of racism. But neither would he hand the Lancelot over someone who might get some use out of it. A year's billions of dollars were put into this project, and it could not be either a success or a failure until it was used.

Ironically, Suzaku was the only person who benefitted by getting higher wages. That and the latte.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Suzaku, putting on a confused face.

"Not much to do, but make ourselves available," admitted Lloyd. before taking up a plastic cup of coffee and offering it. "Have a latte."

"Thank you," said Suzaku, taking it. Lloyd was a far preferable boss to Milner any day. "So why all this hardware?"

"That's what we don't know," said Cecile. "Terrorists stole something Bartley was working on and fled into the ghettos. But Prince Clovis decided to mobilize the royal guard and the military to set up.

"I um...

"I realize this isn't my area of expertise, but they might want to sweep up all of the terrorists' compatriots."

"Almost certainly," said Lloyd, doing more calculations.

"So why are we sitting here?" asked Suzaku. "Isn't this a little extreme for some terrorists?"

"Well, one of them had a Glasgow, but you are still correct," said Cecile. "It might be that Clovis is trying to give the garrison some exercise."

"Bartley really screwed this one up," said Lloyd. "Whatever it was they stole is likely very important to Clovis. Oh, what if it were to be made public? I'd love to spend some time dissecting a new mystery."

"I thought your Ph.D. was in robotics?" asked Suzaku, sipping his latte.

"Ph.D.'s are such meaningless formalities," said Lloyd, waving a hand dismissively. "I have an interest in everything, Suzaku. And I've got more Ph.D.'s than just in robotics, you know."

And so they waited.

Lloyd ended up setting up an IFF system that they could use to observe the battle events. Suzaku thought this a very careless use of resources, but he'd long ago learned not to question orders. Not unless it was something significant.

Using it, Suzaku could see the various units all arrayed. First, a group of offensive teams a little ahead of the formation. And then the encirclement, while several dots were placed around the battlefield.

"Any news?" asked Suzaku after a long wait.

"Bad news," said Lloyd. "Apparently the Royal Guard have located the stolen device. Which means we may have a clean success. And here I was hoping we'd have a real opportunity for testing the Lancelot."

"Well, at least nobody got killed-" began Cecile.

And then an explosion rocked from outside. Suzaku ran outside and saw smoke rising from an explosion. Running back to Lloyd, he saw him speaking with Cecile. "What was that?" asked Cecile.

"There was some kind of explosion," said Suzaku. "A suicide bombing, perhaps?" The JLF trained people in those, and it had spread to resistance groups.

"As Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia, I command you!" said a voice over the loudspeaker. "Destroy Shinjuku Ghetto! Leave no one alive!"

Suzaku froze and looked up. "What!"

"...Oh, this isn't going to end well," said Lloyd, putting his head in his hands.

"He can't..." Suzaku had known Clovis was ruthless, but this was beyond the pale.

"The enemy is garbage who can never hope to become even Honorary Britannians!" said Bartley. "Wipeout every last one of them!"

"He can't do that!" said Suzaku. "There are a lot of innocent people in Shinjuku! They don't have a choice but to tolerate the terrorists! There isn't any order in these places!"

"It's out of our hands," said Lloyd without obvious concern. "Hmm, whatever it is they are trying to retrieve, it must be something truly serious. Clovis must be more afraid of the homeland learning of it than the PR backlash for this getting out."

"We..." Suzaku stared. "There has to be something we can do about this."

Even now, a glance out the window revealed that helicopters were launching. With them were knightmares that rushed out.

"As a matter of fact there is," said Lloyd. "We can all try minding our own business."

Suzaku turned to Cecile as the sound of screams and gunfire resounded. It was just like when he and Lelouch had been fleeing his government during the invasion. Except now, it was a time of peace. "Cecile... the people out there are dying. They're killing them all."

"Suzaku, there isn't anything we can do," said Cecile, looking upset herself.

"Couldn't we talk to Prince Clovis?" asked Suzaku.

"I'm afraid not," said Lloyd. "Half a massacre is worse for PR than a full one. It has witnessed, you see."

"But he might have just done this on impulse, maybe if we talk to him..." Suzaku realized how naive he sounded. Then again, he often tried to sound naive. Honorary Britannians kept their jobs through an appearance of wide-eyed idealism.

"Actually, I think this was plan B, Suzaku," said Cecile in a small tone.

Plan B? Suzaku felt sick. "What do you mean?"

"Clovis has completely sealed off the Shinjuku Ghetto on all sides," said Cecile. "And the news says they are planning a planned urban renewal. It was announced hours ago.

"I think he'd already considered doing this as a last resort.

"He won't change his mind now."

"The terrorists are waging a small resistance. But those pose little threat to our vastly superior army," said Bartley over the broadcast. Evidently, he was trying to reassure people.

"...Well, that's odd," said Lloyd, looking at the screen.

"What is?" asked Suzaku, looking as the Britannian offensive units surged into the ghetto.

"Two Sthuerlands just winked out at once near the train tracks," said Lloyd. "Near the west entrance here. Someone must have gotten the better of them. And there's another Sutherland right here."

"Friendly fire, maybe?" surmised Cecile, noting a single Southerland. "That's Lady Villetta."

"Maybe, but she just put up her distress call," said Lloyd. "From the looks of things Bartley is sending men to evac her-" Even as he spoke, a squad of Southerlands were lost. It was near the West Entrance.

"An entire squad just disappeared," said Suzaku, wondering how terrorists managed that.

"An ambush?" guessed Cecile.

"Bartley is redeploying a large force and sending it their way," mused Lloyd. "See there?"

Except there was no real formation. The knightmares were just heading in that direction in a general clump. "Hold on; they're just rushing in. I'm not a tactical genius, but shouldn't he be doing more than throwing larger numbers of men at the problem?"

"Bartley probably assumed that it was a fluke the first few times," mused Lloyd. "Rushing in with a lot of Sutherlands should be enough. Terrorists aren't known for winning wars of attrition."

And then, suddenly, they began to wink out. Some of the Sutherlands moved away and were wiped out. Others charged ahead and suffered the same fate.

More Sutherlands had just been lost in a few minutes than in the last three battles Gottwald had fought. This was bad. Though at least they couldn't shoot civilians.

"Attention all units!" said Bartley, panicking. "The terrorists have somehow gotten their hands on multiple Sutherlands! They aren't showing up on IFFs and are mounting a resistance. Redeploy to the west entrance!"

"Bartley catches on quick, doesn't he?" scoffed Lloyd. "From the looks of things, he's finally getting serious about all this." A red dot appeared on the screen. "That red dot is the estimated location of the enemy."

"What are they doing? Did they find them?

Now the remaining offensive forces all got serious. They moved in three disciplined formations toward the dot. As they did, Suzaku reflected that the jig was probably up at this point. Except, once again, the terrorists surprised him.

Suddenly one of the formations started taking losses from behind. Those within scrambled and turned on one another. More and more were killed off, and the other formations had to turn to face a new threat. Yet even as they arrived, the rebels struck a different one from behind.

"How are they doing this?" asked Cecile.

"They know the city," realized Suzaku. "They live here. My guess is that they used the subway tunnels to outmaneuver the main column." Even now, Clovis' forces were melting, breaking into an undiscipline clump. Bartley barked orders that were increasingly devoid of content. Even if someone could have obeyed them, there was little good they could do.

"They're winning," said Suzaku. "Lloyd, you should get the Lancelot ready, we might have to fight."

"Well, yes, at the moment," said Cecile, as Lloyd gave his own orders. "But we're dug in here Suzaku, and they are contained. If they tried to mount any kind of offensive, they'd be shredded."

"Ah, finally!" said Lloyd. "Clovis has finally gathered his forces together into a cohesive whole. And he's found the enemy. Now we'll have ourselves a direct confrontation!"

It was correct. A dot had been placed where the enemy was, and from Bartley's chatter, Suzaku guessed they had a line of sight. Now was where the game was up.

Except the terrorists won again.

A roar of battle cries was broadcast over an open channel. The remaining soldiers of Prince Clovis were swept away. Some fled, others took cover, and all of them died.

"Wait a minute," said Suzaku. "We should have won. We've got better training, and they can't have that many knightmares."

"Oh certainly, our pilots are better trained, but morale is important when it comes to a devicer," said Lloyd. "The rebels are fanatics who have had their first major taste of victory and are pushing it for all its worth. And if they fail, they'll all die. I expect they are more than a little motivated.

"Our own pilots came in expecting some big game hunting and found themselves the hunted. Many of them were probably considering making a run for it, and all of them are confused and panicked. Bartley is also a less than inspiring figure, to say the least."

There were no more blue marks within the encirclement zone. Nearly two hundred Knightmares wiped out. Suzaku remembered what he'd read of the cost of a single Southerland. Every one of them is around the same price as a tank, if not more. And he realized this was a really bad defeat.

Terrible.

Knightmares were well-documented as a mobile enemy whose only counter was another Knightmare. Traditionally, if they lost, the knightmares could retreat. If they won, they could push their advantage. Their introduction into the field had revolutionized warfare.

Now two hundred of them had just been lost in battle.

Clovis was going to have a hard time covering this up. "So...

"They won?"

This didn't seem real to Suzaku.

"Yes, and from the looks of things they've started massacring our infantry, see here," said Lloyd. He changed the viewscreen to show infantry divisions. "Though someone is calling them all together."

"Maybe they expect another attack," said Cecile.

"No such luck," said Lloyd. "I expect Clovis will call it quits today. The enemy has our IFF signals, which means they can read our every move. Or, better yet, Clovis could call in us."

Quickly, Lloyd opened a viewscreen to show Prince Clovis' war room. It looked like the inside of a palace, complete with a throne. A lot of men in fine uniforms were sitting around, staring at consoles instead of doing anything. Bartley was sweating a great deal in his uniform. Clovis himself, looking very angelic for a man who ordered a genocide, also looked furious.

"So are we having a bad day?" called Lloyd.

"What is it?!" said Bartley. "We're in the middle of an operation!"

"I merely wish to offer my assistance," said Lloyd. "My devicer is more than ready to take care of this little mess you've gotten into."

"Get off this channel!" snapped Barley before cutting the connection.

"No such luck," said Lloyd, leaning back in his chair. "I suppose we'll be able to finish our lattes in peace, then."

Suzaku had already finished his and felt like he'd throw up. How many people had died out there? And all so Britannia could suffer a minor disaster.

"Um, Lloyd..." said Cecile. "The containment force is breaking formation."

"Which part of it?" asked Lloyd, checking the computer.

"All of it," said Cecile.

Suzaku stared as the entire encirclement, eight hundred Knightmares, charged. It was converging on a single red dot at the center of the screen.

"What?! What are they doing!" said Lloyd.

"Well, the containment force is more than four times the size of the force we sent here," said Cecile. "They might be able to run them down."

"No, they won't!" said Lloyd. "This isn't a flat, barren plain where you can see everything. They're going to have to navigate the city streets; they'll be stretched out! Without any idea where their enemy is and with their enemy knowing the terrain, it'll be a massacre!"

"What do you think the rebels will do?" asked Cecile.

"Well, they'll eventually be overrun if they fight, and they likely know that," mused Lloyd. "If I were them, I'd engage one of the lines, break out, and make a run for it.

"Fight another day and all-"

And then there was an explosion. Out one of the windows, Suzaku saw clouds of dust rise skyward, and on the screen, he could hardly believe his eyes. The army, the entire army, was being destroyed. A ripple of destruction eradicated the Knightmares they came, and Suzaku opened his mouth in shock.

"...I think the enemy leader is much better at his job than you would be," said Cecile.

Suzaku realized what it was. "He collapsed the subway tunnels?! He broke all the supports beneath them! Doesn't he realize how many people that could kill?!"

"Given our intentions, it might be something of a moot point," mused Cecile.

Lloyd just looked boarded. "...They've gone back to killing our infantry. Most of them are making a run for it, by now, but they'll be overtaken soon."

And then Prince Clovis appeared on the screen. "Lloyd Asplund, can you do it? Can your toy beat them?"

Lloyd smiled. "Milord, please be so kind as to call it Lancelot."

"Suzaku Kururugi, your mission is to destroy the terrorist resistance," said Clovis. "Infantry and tank units are en route now to solidify the defenses. Once you have cleared the area, new units will continue the operation."

He cut the channel.

Lloyd sprang up. "Perfect! This is our opportunity to show what the Lancelot is capable of!"

"Hang on, you want me to participate in a massacre?" asked Suzaku.

"Suzaku, most of the people out there are already dead," said Cecile. "And those terrorists aren't going to go home if they win. They'll kill Prince Clovis, and you and me and Lloyd and then move on to ordinary Britannians.

"If you refuse, we'll all be back to square one, and a lot of innocent people will die anyway.

Acting now might limit the damage, and let us improve things later.

"Besides, while we're fighting, any survivors can escape. The encirclement has been annihilated after all."

Suzaku nodded. "...Right."

A few minutes later, clad in a pilot suit, Suzaku Kururugi scaled up Lancelot's shoulders. It was made to appear human, almost like a white and gold knight. It's green eyes lit up as Suzaku turned it on. For a moment, he watched as all his systems went online.

Then he sighed. "Lancelot...

"Launching!"

The Lancelot surged out across the cityscape, and as Suzaku moved through it, he saw the corpses. Children gunned down in the street, bodies riddled with bullets—all done by order of Prince Clovis. Right then and there, Suzaku decided he wasn't killing any of the terrorists if he could help it.

Whatever they had stolen, Suzaku didn't think it was worth this.

He wasn't going to become a murderer like the men responsible for this.

With practiced ease, he surged toward the enemy. Seeing them firing at him, Suzaku maneuvered his craft easily. Dodging this way and that, he smashed through two of his enemies, letting them eject. Then he moved on.

His slash harkens cut through one after another. This was all like cutting through butter with a hot knife. Soon, Suzaku had run out of knightmares to destroy.

There couldn't have been more than a dozen.

This might just have been the worst military catastrophe in the history of Britannia.

Suzaku scanned the buildings and found one more Knightmare. Using his slash harkens, he scaled upward and attacked. However, before he could reach him, a Red Glasgow barred his path. It stalled him, using only one arm, and he nearly fell off the skyscraper.

It was enough for the leader, or who Suzaku believed was the leader, to escape. Then the Glasgow made a run for it. Suzaku scanned for his enemy again, pursuing him. Even as he did, however, his enemy fired at the nearby buildings. A wall of rubble fell toward Suzaku, and he spotted a woman and her child falling.

Leaping upward, he saved her, then let her down.

Naturally, she screamed in horror and ran.

Only then did it set in for Suzaku what had happened here today.

Prince Clovis had just ordered a genocide of the entire Shinjuku Ghetto and lost. An entire battalion of experienced pilots lost. All in exchange for less than a dozen Sutherlands. Sutherlands that had been paid for by the Britannian government. Culminating in an honorary Britannian defeating them.

This wasn't just a defeat. It wasn't even a catastrophe.

It was the single worst defeat in Britannian history. And with the encirclement broken, someone might have gotten footage of it.

Except they had won.

A few more victories like this and Britannia would collapse into the sea.