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

Chapter 9: The World at War

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Part 1

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18 May 2009 A.T.B.
Kururugi's residence

Japan

When their exile began, Lelouch had expected many things, all of the bad, naturally. Instead, Nunnally and he received a warm welcome, understanding, and acceptance. He most certainly didn't expect to become fast friends with their host's son, or for Suzaku's little cousin to act almost like Euphie once she got over her shyness and stopped hiding behind the taller boy's back.

Well, Kaguya's antics weren't exactly welcome, just like many of Euphie weren't, however she was one of the factors that made the exile almost feel like the good days back home. Almost but not quite. Lelouch could never forget what that man said and did. It was only Nunnally's needs and the welcome distractions provided by Suzaku that kept the Lelouch from constantly plotting vengeance.
He could hear his little sister's laughter after Kaguya whispered something in her ear. It was endearing to see Nunnally's radiant smile again, yet even this small comfort now tasted like ashes, all because that bastard of a father they had. He had to ruin this as well, just like he ruined everything else he touched, Lelouch fumed.

He was certain that this war was because of Charles zi Britannia because nothing would ever be enough until the whole world was within his grasp, twisted and ruined! Now, Japan, the country and people who welcomed him and more importantly Nunnally, when Britannia turned its back on them without a second thought, was in danger. It was at war and people were already dying. That's what the TV said, and as importantly, it was what he and Suzaku could overhear from the security detail, a pair of whom were discussing the latest developments out in the sea, where the Imperial navies clashed.

"You're supposed to be training." A very much familiar, and very much not amused voice came from behind the boys, making them jump up in surprise.

"Sorry, Sensei!" Suzaku stammered, then his eyes widened even further when he saw that Kyoshiro Tohdoh.

Not only their Sensei wore an impeccably tailored uniform, but his distinctive spiky brown hair was also gone, replaced a short buzz-cut. Tohdoh's sharp eyes focused on the boys and he frowned at them, radiating disappointment, which made them feel like it would be better if the ground swallowed them on the spot.

"Here I was, hoping to say goodbye to my students, to see them following my teaching before I go out to war." Tohdoh shook his head. "And what do I find? Instead of practicing, you're eavesdropping?"

"We're sorry, Sensei!" The two of them chorused as one. "We just wanted to learn more about the war!" Suzaku added.

Tohdoh narrowed his eyes dangerously at them.

"If the two of you are fortunate, or know what's good for you, you should hope and pray to Kami that you won't have to learn anything about war, especially this one, for a long, long time," Tohdoh stated flatly. "War is not a game, it's not something to look forward to, even if sometimes it is not only inevitable but even justified. That's doubly true for two boys who can't follow simple instructions. To the garden in the back, on the double!"

Lelouch and Suzaku hurried to bow and ran as fast as their legs could carry them, while their Sensei followed in a more sedate pace. Soon, they were at the back, with the boys gasping for air.

"Am I wasting my time with you two?" Tohdoh wondered aloud.

"No, Sensei!" Suzaku shook his head while staring at the Major wide-eyed.

"We're not wastes of space!" Lelouch managed to utter between gasps of precious air.

"You're making a good impression of such," Tohdoh grumbled. "You, Kururugi!" At that, Suzaku straightened up, standing at attention and attentively looking up at their Sensei. "You want to make your father and ancestors proud, to keep your friends safe. You aren't going to do it by slacking off and running around listening to conversations that aren't your business." Tohdoh turned his sharp eyes to Lelouch and stared down at him critically. "And you, vi Britannia, how do you expect to take care and keep your sister safe without getting into shape first? You can't always expect to have someone do it for you, I thought that your previous experiences taught you that much."

Lelouch averted his gaze at that and stared at the ground with hatred blazing from his eyes, though it wasn't aimed at his Sensei but at that bastard!

"If you want to continue to be my students, you will cease fooling around, get yourselves in hand, and get into shape as fast as possible. I've left a training regiment for you with the Chief of Security and I sincerely hope I didn't waste my time crafting it!"

"No, Sensei, you didn't!" The boys chorused again.

"I certainly hope so." Tohdoh's expression relaxed a bit. "Lelouch, considering who you are and the war, it is imperative that neither you nor your sister leave the side of the security, otherwise some fool might try to harm either of you if they recognize you."

Lelouch nodded solemnly. His bastard of a father was all but certain to piss off everyone, while he was safe and out of reach back in Pendragon. Nunnally, Lelouch, or any other Britannian in either Japan or the Chinese Federation, on the other hand, they were abandoned to their own devices.

"Uncle Tohdoh, you're back!" Kaguya ran into the backyard with a squeak, followed by Nunally, and the vi Britannia's maid, who drove the girl's invalid chair.

"Lady Sumeragi, you're as spirited as ever, I see." Tohdoh offered a proper bow to the little girl, who looked up at him with a serious expression on her face.

"You look different!" She pointed an accusing finger at his face. "What did you do with your hair?" She demanded imperiously.

"It wasn't compliant with military regulations and I've been recalled to active service," Tohdoh explained.

"That's stupid! Suzaku, get your father to change those regulations, I'll speak with dad about it too!" Sumeragi decided.

"I'll see what I can do…" Suzaku nervously agreed. He knew better than to be contrary with his cousin because the hell she could raise when she put her mind to it was something to behold…

"See that you do!" Kaguya nodded happily, then her face fell. "You're going to war?" She asked Tohdoh with insight surprising for someone so young.

"I am, Princess. Kami willing, I'll come back intact."

"You'll come back, I command it!"

"And I am eager to obey, My Lady. Could you do me a favor, Princes?"

Kaguya nodded imperiously.

"Please see to it, that my two young charges don't slack in their training."

It was then and there when Lelouch decided that Kyoshiro Tohdoh, was an evil, evil man. Not as bad as his bastard of a father, but still an evil man indeed!

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Part 2

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Ningbo-Zhoushan naval base

Chinese Federation

The twin cities of Ningbo and Zhoushan grew into a single huge megapolis in the early twenties, an event which led to organic growth and merger of both their civilian port facilities and their military infrastructure, giving birth to one of the largest naval bases on the planet. The place carried the uninspired name of the cities it was a part of, cities that the Britannians damaged by accident when they struck the base with their infernal weapons.

It was a testament of Chinese engineering, the sheer size, and scope of the Ningbo-Zhoushan's facilities, that they were more or less operational after suffering explosions equivalent of kilotons of old fashioned TNT. It did help in some regards that the cruise missile strikes were concentrated on the port facilities and dry-docks, along with nearby warehouses, which were very much dispersed due to geography and thus avoided destruction. As a bonus, the buried command facilities were almost entirely intact and now offered a meeting place for some of the highest-ranking naval officers in the Federation navy.

The man of the hour, Admiral Lu Bei, had a place of honor at one end of the long table. The hero of the Federation proudly wore his new medals, including the Jade Dragon, the highest military honor the Chinese Federation could bestow to her daughters.

Fleet Admiral Lian, the newly promoted man in charge of the whole navy sat on the other end, surrounded by his staff, and the bases' Commandant, with various Flag officers, spread around the long table. Everyone had a folder opened in front of them containing Admiral Lu Bei's After Action Report, a hasty dissection of it, observed Britannian capabilities. A different folder contained all that was known about the enemy's super-weapon, which was primary conjecture and theories at this point.

When everyone had time to go over the reports and digest them, Admiral Lian began the important part of the meeting.

"Right now we have two primary strategic options. The first is centered around a conservative, primary defensive approach. We won't be directly assaulting the Philippines and instead harass the place with air and missile strikes while venturing forth to engage any reinforcement convoys headed for the islands. This option has the benefit of giving out co-belligerents more time to mobilize. As you should be aware, we expect for the Europa United to declare war on the Britannian Empire within the day. Delaying the pursuit of decisive engagement would mean we would have the Russian Pacific Fleet on our side, once it's fully mobilized and what elements the Europeans can spare and send our way through the Suez Channel. The obvious downside is that if we wait, we give more time for the Britannians to build additional weapons of the type we already suffered, here in Ningbo-Zhoushan, our bases near the Burmese border and at sea."

"Waiting will also give the Britannians more time to mobilize for this kind of war and concentrate their forces against us." Admiral Lu Bei added.

"Which is going to be a potential problem, if we have to face their main fleets indecisive battle after they have built more of their advanced weapons." Lian nodded. "The second option is more aggressive and on the face of it, more prudent too. It requires a decisive naval action sooner rather than later, however, in that case, it will be our navy and that of our Japanese allies taking the brunt of the casualties, something which will put us at a tactical and strategic disadvantage against the Europeans if they decide to turn on us. On the other hand, it is clear that the enemy's special weapons aren't in full production and deployment yet, otherwise, we would have suffered even more in the opening clashes. This option is centered on assaulting and taking the Philippines as soon as practical, ideally before they could be heavily reinforced. Doing so should allow us to defeat multiple Britannian task forces in detail – what remains of their Third and Seventh Fleets in the area along with the first reinforcing units racing towards the Philippines. This option has the benefit of creating a large defensive perimeter and pushing the enemy away from easily accessed staging grounds for strikes either against our mainland or Japan."

"I'm partial to the second option." Lu Bei voiced his support. "We know we have rough conventional parity with the Britannians, we know we can win as long as they don't have their new weapons to ruin our plans. We should strike now, while we have a decisive advantage."

Several officers hurried to voice their support, while others backed up a caution, seeing their potential European allies as a threat to be watched closely. Debating the merits of each option continued until late in the night without reaching a decisive consensus on which one would be better. This predictably left the decision to the Emperor and Eunuchs or practically speaking, to the faction which could influence them better…

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18 May 2009 A.T.B.
Subic Bay
Philippines

There were a lot of things I expected when I awoke this morning, from another Chinese or Japanese air-raid, a long-range missile strike, perhaps a saboteur or one of my people trying to off me on general principle. Cornelia of all people barging in, hugging the air out of me, then slapping me on to of the head, wasn't it.

"Damn it, Nelly, what in Hella's name…" I trailed off when my mind finally rebooted and awoke enough to notice her emotional state. My sister was worried like no one's business, pissed off as well.

"It's good to see you're still in one piece, Your Highness." That was Guilford, Nelly's Knight of Honor, who darkened my doorstep as well, followed by a very grumpy looking Viletta.

"I'm afraid I was unable to keep them away, or at least warn you, sire." My aide announced morosely.

"Well, my dear sister happens to be a General in her own right, and very pushy too, I know from experience." Those words earned me another fond hug, followed by yet another attempted slap on the top of the head, which I halted in its tracks with a gentle telekinetic grip. "That's quite enough, Nelly," I stated calmly. "Now can someone explain to me what are you doing here?"

"My Lady decided that the best thing to do was to hitch a ride on a passenger plane bringing reinforcements, without telling anyone outside our army," Guilford announced, in what would have been a long-suffered tone if he was any less composed, or fond of my sister.

"Reinforcements?" I perked up at that.

"Air-lift, courtesy of Lady Cornelia. Darlton's contacts assure us that we'll get some more infantry flown in here soon from the mainland, however for any substantial amount of heavy equipment we'll have to wait for the first convoys to arrive. Barring complications, our army should have left Area Six late last night. They're scheduled to arrive here on the thirty first." Guilford provided some useful context.

"And you decided to come here and potentially get yourself killed with the rest of us." I looked at Nelly, who glared at me.

"I intend no such thing, neither should you!"

"The Chinese trying to neutralize the Philippines for good before we can be reinforced is a likely possibility and even with a constant low-level flow of aerial reinforcements, I'm not confident that we'll be able to hold, especially if our first reinforcement convoys don't arrive," I explained.

While I was pretty sure I might be able to make it out more or less intact if the Philippines fell, the same wasn't true for our troops here and the consequences for mother and Euphie weren't something that I wanted to think about. Unless I was willing to risk losing them both, I had to make a stand here, no matter the odds. Needless to say, that fact didn't make me particularly happy, in fact, it made keeping the Dark Side at bay that much harder. It chaffed at the chains of a family I had willingly bound myself in, especially when I knew that the Dark Side could perfectly ensure that I could easily survive to lose my family, which would in turn make me free, as sick as it sounded. A bloody monster, likely unhinged too, but that was another matter.

"If you weren't reasonably sure we can hold the islands, you shouldn't be here preparing to make a stand." Cornelia reasonably pointed out. Unfortunately, something that sane and reasonable wasn't an option, was it? Father was playing things 'reasonably' so far but I wasn't willing to risk my family on what he might do if we set back his plans any more than they were because we were unwilling to risk our lives.

Sooner or later I would have to do something about him, as long as doing so didn't put my family, and preferably the Empire in any more danger than it already was.

I gave Nelly a meaningful look, while she stared me down with her hands on her hips and stubborn expression on her face. She got my silent meaning, I think because she huffed and dropped that particular line of inquiry.

"You're going to tell me all about the adventures you've been having as of late, then we're going to figure out how we'll hold this island, comes Hel or high water," Nelly promised.

"We might get breakfast while talking." And I needed to get a lot of coffee and food in me to handle my sister looking over my shoulder.

It was then that I remembered that I was supposed to be the Theatre Commander for the Pacific, which meant that until the war was over, I got myself killed or I fucked up by the numbers, I actually outranked Nelly. At that point, I couldn't help it and nearly fell laughing.

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