Disclaimer: I don't own either of the Code Geass, Gundam Seed or Star wars franchises. This story is not written with commercial purpose in mind. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.

Chapter 8: The plans of mice and men

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Part 1

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14 May 2009 A.T.B.

Paris

France

A motorcade drove through largely empty streets. Most of the traffic was diverted to minimise the odds of accidents, deliberate or not. In its heart, within an armoured Ford SUV, Prince Schneizel el Britannia sat along with his only confidante, Kanon. They were headed towards the colloquially called Palace of Victory, built on orders of Napoleon himself. That was the place where the latest meeting between Schneizel and the European leaders would happen and the location didn't bode well. Best case scenario – it was a very unsubtle and undiplomatic message, a slap in the face for a Britannian prince too. At worst, it meant that the time for diplomacy was over and his best efforts were for naught.

As they raced through the heart of Paris, Schneizel could see the face of many pedestrians. Some looked with wonder at the motorcade, others with indifference. However, too many showed their disdain or outright hatred. While, this was anecdotal evidence at best, various polls made by both the French government and as neutral organizations as you could get in this world agreed on one thing – a great deal of Europeans all over the continent were uncomfortable, scared even by the Empire and its policies. A different man would have seen that as an opportunity to extract concession. For his father, it was a weakness to exploit.

Schneizel saw it as something that made his life more difficult and dangerous. The greatest boon the Empire had against the Europeans was that compared to them, it was highly united and centralized. It could act when they were busy debating. For years, nay, decades, the Britannian Diplomatic Corps had been playing the various European governments one against the other, actually encouraged democratic movements and anti-colonialism... so the Empire could then snap many of the newly liberated colonies.

It was a game Britannia had been an expert at until Charles ascended to the throne. The Emperor and his policies did more to unite Europe than all other Emperors and Empresses since the dawn of the century combined.

"Thoughts, Kanon?" Schneizel asked his confidante.

"We have issues, my Prince." They both had seen the latest intelligence updates, including those from the Pacific. "The Chinese naval victory against elements of Third fleet galvanized the Federation and emboldened the Europeans. It came on the wings of multiple amazing successes engineered by your brother that scared both the Chinese and Europeans. If until then the situation had been more or else in balance, it might be different." Kanon paused to gather his thoughts. "I'm afraid that they see us as uniquely vulnerable and are ready to grab the opportunity."

Schneizel sighed. If it was just Burma as a flash point, things might be different. Delkatar's initial naval victories were the issue. They highlighted to everyone that Japan could be in fact vulnerable and that radically changed the calculations in Europe. The various governments here might gleefully watch the Empire and Chinese Federation slug it out. Even a total naval victory for Britannia would have been in their interest, especially if the Emperor persisted in fighting a land war against the largest ground army in the world – one at the end of a long and vulnerable supply chain at that.

"Japan is the key." Kanon added.

Of course it was! With that much Sakuradite and now in a war with the Empire, one must be a fool not to know that Charles would seize the opportunity to invade and capture the supply of that precious commodity. It didn't help that this year the Empire was perceived as internally unstable. Schneizel didn't need to read all intelligence summaries about the European government to know that they hoped that if pushed hard enough the Empire might suffer a revolution that removed Charles from power and hopefully put someone more reasonable in power. At the very least, that chaos and internal fighting was going to weaken Britannia and buy them more time. If it happened in the middle of a badly going war, well, that would be a great opportunity to curtail he Empire's power and ambitions.

The only thing stopping the Europeans so far had been the fear that mass casualties would cause governments to fall during the next election.

The motorcade arrived at its destination, the main entrance to the palace. The cars stopped on a paved road surrounded by gardens on three sides where statues of Napoleon and his best generals rested among their own small glades. While the palace was smaller than many in Pendragon, it was still a grand structure, rivalling the Louvre in grandeur. It was one of the most famous structures on the face of the Earth and possibly the most hated by the Britannians at large.

The small group of guards and low level functionaries who met Schneizel when he exited the car were telling. Customary, at least a Deputy Minister should have been the one to extend him a greeting as befitting his rank, both as a Prince of the Blood and more importantly, the newly minted Prime Minister of the Empire. The diplomatic snub didn't bode well for the rest of the meeting.

Schneizel paid no attention to the decour of the corridors his hosts led his party; his mind was busy calculating moves and counter-moves for the meeting. He had plans crafted with the help of the best people the Diplomatic Corps had on its payroll, he had his instructions from the Emperor and most importantly, Schneizel was keenly aware what the Empire needed – time and to avoid a two front war.

The minor functionary acting as a guide led the prince to a small, richly decorated room that wouldn't have been out-of-place couple of century ago. The furniture consisted of carefully preserved antiques that Schneizel had no trouble believing might have been the same that Napoleon used when he called this place home. That was another message – this room was that bastard's famous study. A third one was the presence of just the French Foreign Minister, there was no trace of his other colleagues who collectively represented Europa United.

Schneizel allowed himself a brief moment to mentally curse his luck before he smiled pleasantly.

"Minister Tulloun, its good to see you again." The Prince greeted warmly as if he was seeing a long lost friend instead of a dangerous opponent.

"Prince Schneizel, welcome to the Nike! I hope you'll have the time to enjoy a tour and feel all the history permeating this place!" The career diplomat greeted in a charismatic voice that could easily convince you to thank him for the dagger he was about to plant in your back.

"I'll appreciate the opportunity." Schneizel's smile didn't waver nor did it betray even a trace of his real feelings. "It seems that I'll have such an opportunity while we wait for the rest of the EU Council to arrive." He jabbed at his host.

"That won't be necessary." Tulloun removed a folder covered with red leather from the desk beside him. "The Council already decided. I'm afraid that the United Nations of Europe must level an ultimatum towards the Holly Britannian Empire." The Minister smiled apologetically. "It's simply terrible that we are forced into such a position."

"You are correct, Minister, this is a regrettable turn of events. I would like to address the Council once you've explained the details of this... ultimatum."

If worded right, such a document might not give the Empire much of a choice but appear to be the aggressor to the bulk of European citizens. Schneizel could already imagine how his father and those buying into his rhetoric would react to an ultimatum, much less one made by professionals meant to produce an explosive reaction.

"The details are inside, Prince Schneizel." The Minister offered the folder he held. "I'll summarize the most important points. The United European nations could no longer stand aside and thus tactically support the unprovoked aggression of the Holly Britannian Empire. Unless your forces retreat from any and all positions threatening Japan, Europa United would have no choice but to act."

Minister Tulloun was an experienced diplomat. For him to use such a language here and now... Unless this was one big bluff, then Europe was all but ready to declare a war. Schneizel nodded gravely, took the folder and opened it. It took him just a few moments to scan the relevant parts of the contents once he saw and dismissed the expected long winded diplo-speak. Once the Emperor and his cronies saw the documents inside, it would be the Empire declaring war.

Schneizel made a show of carefully examining the ultimatum, thus playing for time while his mind tried to come with a strategy that somehow avoided disaster. Even if he met the rest of the Ministers now, the mere fact that he already had been handed this document... He didn't doubt for a moment that sooner rather than later the Europeans would make the contents public and then all Hel would break loose.

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Part 2

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14 May 2009 A.T.B.

The Octagon

Pendragon

The people in charge of the Britannian military gathered again in one of the secure rooms and their mood left something to be desired.

"OSI and Mil Int are in agreement for once." Chief General Barney didn't waste time in greetings or other pleasantries. "The Europeans are mobilizing."

"This is our worst case scenario – we aren't ready for a two front war against the other major powers, especially now, when were in the middle of upgrading our military." Air Marshal Lear grimaced. "Nimitz, can you people hold the line until we finish upgrading?"

"Against either the Europeans or Chinese, even with Japanese backing? That's a fight we can win despite the nasty surprise the bastards have for us." The admiral explained. "Fighting them all? We simply lack the numbers to guarantee a victory. All projections, especially after they were now updated with real combat data show up to fifty percent casualties at least in any battle… Even that is contingent on us actually being victorious and have more or less equal numbers – neither of which we can guarantee unless we can concentrate the bulk of our fleets against a single enemy. Ships take a damn long to build and a whole fleets can be lost in an afternoon of heavy fighting." The old sea wolf sighed. He loathed the very idea of showing weakness in front of his rivals, much less the Emperor who would hear about this sooner rather than later. Still, lying about the reality that his men and women were facing would be sheer madness. "Further, while the bulk of our modern units are in the Atlantic, we all know that the most critical fleet action will happen in the Pacific – losing access to Japan's Sacuradite is going to hurt. We need to secure their mines and a supply route between them and the mainland. For that to happen we need to defeat the Japanese Navy, crush or contain the Chinese one and then, land and supply a sufficient number of troops on at least one of the Japanese islands." He didn't point out that they would need to win first a contested landing and then the ground war against the Empire of Japan's mobile forces… and if the enemy got desperate enough, either Chinese, European reinforcements or if worst came to worse – both. "We need to deploy whatever weapon li Britannia used against the Chinese and en masse too." The Admiral concluded. He hated to admit that his contacts still consistently failed to learn anything about the new weapon, that made him look less competent and with the naval situation what it was, that was another potential nail in his coffin.

Within the recesses of his mind, where no one could find a hint of it, Nimitz found himself resenting the Emperor for the reckless, pointless and counter-productive adventure in Indochina that started this whole mess. Couldn't he wait until the navy was in a position to accomplish it's mandate – win a war against the EU, Chinese and protect one of the overseas areas or secure the taking on a new one at the same time? A few more years and he would have been in a position to win a fight like this, but today? The admiral grit his teeth in frustration.

"One way or another we need that weapon, mass deployed if at all feasible, yesterday. Have you found something about what he used? Anyone?" Commandant Fontaine asked. The sullen looks the highest ranked officers in the Britannian military shared was an answer enough. "Then we need to send someone to have a heart to heart conversation with the Prince unless one of you prefers to push this line of questioning with the Emperor himself?"

A round of firm head-shakes was his answer. Fontaine swallowed a snort. That much he expected. "Let's talk contingencies then. War Plan Red or Black?"

Nimitz closed his eyes at that, never mind he expected it the moment it became clear the Euros were about to join the fun. Red was bad enough – it meant that the navy would act aggressively and spend itself to achieve various tactical and strategic objectives, which in their current predicament meant facilitating the conquest of Japan or at least its Sacuradite mines at any and all costs. At least with it in effect, all measures would be taken for the navy to be rebuilt during and after the war. Black? It was similar enough, though it meant ceasing naval supremacy to the Europeans in the Atlantic after blooding them as much as possible and leaving it to the Air-force to keep any raiders and invasion attempts away from the shores of the homeland. It would be very expensive in men and material considering how many planes was expected to take to crack a modern ship with many of them dying in the attempt. However, the simple truth was that producing fighters and bombers, even modern ones, was much, much faster than building warships. It was very important that planes could be build deep within the homeland where they would be safe from any and all naval based weapon systems, something that won't be true for the naval yards if Britannia had to cease naval supremacy in the Atlantic to the Europeans.

It was a small comfort that the Air Marshal didn't look pleased at the prospect of his service getting gutted to the bone if it came down to War Plan Black, which would be inevitable in case the Euros pushed with raids on the east coast.

"General Barney, you know our available amphibious assets and lift capacity. If my marines can secure a beachhead and the navy is able to keep the supply lines open, can the army take, secure and hold Japan's Sacuradite mines? At worst raid and neutralize them for at least a few years?" Fontaine asked.

"Against he Japs? Give us a beachhead and we'll crush them. I've seen the AARs of the Knightmares, once we push through the enemy lines they will cause havoc in the enemy rear areas and they will be ideal for the rough terrain in Japan, which most certainly isn't a tank friendly country. If they're desperate or crazy enough to request reinforcements from their allies? Unless the navy can isolate the Japanese islands, we'll be fighting against the largest land army on the Earth at the end of a long supply line. My boys are the best, but quantity has a quality of its own and it's a much easier to supply Chinese forces in Japan than ours. We've got plans to invade that need minimal dusting and few minor updates to incorporate Knightmare units in our order of battle. All of them hinge upon the navy managing to keep enemy ships, subs and planes off us."

And there it was – even if a disaster struck during the invasion, unless both the Chinese and Japanese navies were already on the bottom of the ocean by the time it began, it would be easy to blame everything on the Navy and it would be Nimitz's head in that case. The admiral felt even older than he actually was and cursed the treacherous situation he and his service found themselves into. The only silver lining was that secret weapon li Britannia got his hands on. The Navy needed it at all costs!

"I'll personally lead the Philippines relief force and once I arrive there, I'll have heart to heart conversation with our theatre commander." Nimitz declared.

That certainly got everyone's attention.