Chapter 12

Tokyo- June, 2021 a.t.b

Tokyo after nearly two years of construction had turned into a city that made its previous incarnations look small and bland by comparison. The skyline was dotted with skyscrapers and the streets bustled with activity, trains connected the city with the other population centers that used to be the ghettos. Meanwhile the old government bureau was dominated by the new imperial palace and other government buildings.

Tourists from all over flocked to the city to gaze upon the new architecture and the newly made, or remade, sites. One of these sites was the entrance to the government bureau known as "Euphemia Square," where a large statue of the deceased princess stood. Her figure was clad in a flowing dress, in her left hand a dove rested with an olive branch in its mouth. While in her right hand she held aloft a torch which constantly burned, all the while her trade mark smile dominated her pristine face. A plaque rested at the bottom her statue and it read, "In loving memory of the one who gave her life for peace. A beacon of hope that will forever guide us through our darkest days."

The monument had been unveiled during a heart wrenching ceremony on the 11th of October, Euphie's birthday. Her nickname of Massacre Princess had been cleared with the revelation of the incident being the meddling V.V. using a thought elevator to force the mutation of Lelouch's Geass. Tears were shed that day, none more so than the Emperor himself, it was also declared that every October 11th would be a holiday known as Euphemia Day.

Inside the palace the emperor of the Britannian Empire sat relaxed in a chair, in one of the many lounges. In his hands he held a book, by his side on the table was a tall glass of, surprisingly orange juice. Looking up Lelouch gazed upon the large portrait hanging above the fireplace in the lounge. It was a painting of both him and C.C., eh was dressed in his emperor clothes while she was wearing a beautiful white, black and gold dress.

However this was not the only picture within the room, there were several digital picture frames. Similar frames dotted the palace, al of different sizes, and the pictures presented could be adjusted to the residents will. The pictures currently rolling across the screens were very similar, what they all had in common was the fact that Lelouch was dressed a black tuxedo while C.C. was dressed in a flowing white wedding gown.

Closing his book Lelouch gazed watch the pictures of his wedding day scroll by, absentmindedly he touched the gold wedding band on his finger.

Flashback- Tokyo, 2019 a.t.b.

Lelouch stood looking at himself in a full length mirror, he wore an expensive black tuxedo with a white cravat. He then said, "I've fought against the largest and most powerful empire in the world. Destroyed an ideology, I've faced down the barrels of hundreds of guns, and now no longer need to fear death."

"That's right buddy," said Rivalz nodding in confirmation. The blue haired best man stood in a similar tux as his best friend although instead of a cravat he wore a black bow tie.

Lelouch then said, "so why does this scare the hell out of me?"

Laughing at his friends out of character attitude, then realizing that Lelouch was completely nervous Rivalz could only respond with, "grooms always say that."

"Sure," responded Lelouch. The last few weeks had been hectic, with his wedding coming up, and Milly not helping things by trying to make the event completely over the top. Throw in the fact that C.C. had her own ideas to add to the mixture just made things more stressful. Then to top it all off Lelouch still had to run an empire that covered over a third of the planet.

It was still slightly surprised Lelouch that Jeremiah had managed to keep most of the conquered Britannian territories in the empire after Lelouch entered his comma. However some treaties with both the UFN and EU had made some slight adjustments to territories. Such as most pf France was back with the EU, Russia and Spain however remained within the Empire. As was the part of France from the mouth of the Charenteto where the Rhone and Isere Rivers meet and everything south. Cambodia was also left for the empire and even Australia entered the empire; the UFN gained what was left of the Middle East. Also surprisingly, several of the still neutral nations such as Ukraine, the Scandinavian district, and the British Ilse, managed to hold onto their neutrality. However due to political upheaval in both the UFN and EU, Ukraine and Scandinavia signed several other treaties with Britannia ensuring cooperation between them; such as military alliances and trade.

Two bright sides in the last few weeks were that, Lelouch's code had finally managed to fix the damage in his vocal cords. His voice was no longer sounded as metallic as it used to, but was still lower than before his coma. The second was that the nightmare of his wedding was almost over.

The door to the room opened and in stepped Jeremiah wearing his best dress uniform. "My Lord, it's time," he said.

"Right," acknowledged Lelouch.

"Sweep her of her feet buddy," encouraged Rivalz, patting Lelouch's back. The three men left the room, and before Lelouch knew it he standing in front of large group of people with a white collared man I front of him. Rivalz stood at his side as did Jeremiah, taking in his surroundings one last time he heard music begin to play. Then at the end of the aisle C.C. appeared, dressed in a flowing white wedding gown with a bouquet of red and white roses in her hands she began walking up the aisle. The crowd rose as she did, Milly walked behind her also dressed in white she followed the immortal up the aisle.

Time seemed to have no meaning at all when the immortal, green haired, stopped beside Lelouch. Said emperor barely listened as the Chaplin talked, but what he did hear was C.C. say, "I do." Coming back to reality at the sound of those words, he felt his heart skip a beat and not a minute later he found himself repeating the same two words, "I do."

Promptly after speaking those words he heard the white collared man say, "then by the power invested in me, I pronounce you man and wife."

Flashback End

A pair of pale arms wrapped around Lelouch's neck while the scent of vanilla assaulted his nostrils. Strands of green fell into his peripheral vision, the owner of the voice then spoke, "reminiscing on the past warlock?"

"Indeed," said Lelouch. "In fact I just got to the part where Milly caught your bouquet."

Snickering herself C.C. said, "Rivalz was certainly embarrassed when she kissed him. How long do you think it'll be before they finally tie the knot?"

"At this rate not long my dear," replied Lelouch placing kiss on her right hand.

The door to the lounge opened and in walked another woman with blond hair. Leila Malcal entered the room and stopped in surprise at the site of the royal couple. Still in surprise she said, "I'm sorry your majesty's I did not realize were I was."

Smiling Lelouch stood and said, "don't worry Leila, it took me a while to figure everything in this place out myself."

The arrival of Leila and her W-0 Unit had caused a bit of a stir, since man-made objects falling from orbit with such accuracy is not something that happens every day. As such as soon as they crashed Jeremiah and other Britannian military units swarmed the area. Their detention didn't last long, there story about the massacre at Wolf Castle and their vow to take down the people responsible ensured their defection.

Following this the designs for the Alexander frames were modded and went into production enlarging the W-0 Unit. Following this the new branch of the military became the new elite special deep strike troops, they could deployed either aircraft or the newly produced Apollo's Chariots. Also under Lelouch's secret orders the rockets were also modified to include different functions.

"Thank you your majesty," said Leila. A "meow," emitted from behind her and Eliza appeared in the room, the feline moved towards the couch were the furry form of Arthur laid. The two curled up together on the couch forming one large ball of fur. "Eliza really likes him," noted Leila.

"There not the only pair that's been made since you arrived," said Lelouch. In the time since the defectors arrived, Tamaki and Ayano had grown close, much to the astonishment of everyone.

C.C. took this moment to add her two cents, "who knew that the former goof ball could actually get anyone."

Smirking Lelouch said, "a goof ball he was and sometimes he still is. But the events of the previous war have changed him, plus a new geass does help." True Lelouch had given Tamaki a geass, the power manifested itself in Absolute Protection. His power allowed him to dodge incoming attacks, and allowed him to form a type of shield that could absorb a fair amount of blows before dissipating. In tests his power also could spread to troops in the area, protecting morale and allowing them to out maneuver opponents both individually and as a unit.

"Ryo seems to have also calmed down," said Leila. "He's become more concentrated on finding our enemies and destroying them. Though Akito and the others have kept it from becoming an overwhelming obsession that could destroy him."

"Very good," said Lelouch motioning for her to sit.

"Thank you," replied Leila as she sat down. "I also wish to thank you again your majesty for taking us in."

Waving his hand Lelouch said, "it's of no consequence. Your story was very compelling and somewhat similar to my own. As well with your technology added to our own I can guarantee that the people responsible for your tragedy will be found and punished. And by the way no need for honorifics."

"I believe you," replied Leila. "Your purges of former nobles and other people who were guilty of crimes but were never punished." In the time after the uniting of Japan and Britannia, former nobles and other businessmen who committed crimes against commoners and numbers but were never punished; this also included former members of the royal family.

Also in the time since the unification, technology formerly kept classified was made public and civilian agencies were brought in. Medical and military tech horded by Code-R and the Geass Directorate had allowed the different fields to make leaps and bounds, wounds that would normally kill a soldier were now treatable. Even the lifespan of the normal person could be elongated thanks to some of the tech in development. Radiant Wave Hadron Cannon technology was being miniaturized to be included in infantry units and version were being installed in the existing knightmare weapon systems; as were other protective shielding tech.

"My only regret is that we couldn't have a funeral for Claus," said Leila in a sad tone.

"In time Leila," comforted Lelouch. "You will have the chance to have a funeral."

Confused Leila asked, "how?"

Smiling once more Lelouch explained, "you should know that the governments of the other powers have no intention of allowing Britannia's existence to continue."

"You mean war," stated Leila.

"Indeed," sonfirmed the raven haired emperor.

Military R&D Testing Field

25mm magnetically accelerated bullets struck a Vincent-Mizuchi, however the shells bounced of the large frame. Normally such an attack on a stationary target would have turned it into scrap metal.

"Very impressive," said an intrigued Ryo.

"Very," said Jeremiah. The two men stood in an observation booth watching the test of the new electromagnetic shielding.

"So this new shield thingy is going to be put in all the knightmares?" asked Ryo.

"Eventually," confirmed Jeremiah. "Only recently has this tech gone into mass production, so we're going to prioritize the more important units to get the new shields."

"If I heard right," said Ryo. "The idea for these shields came from the shields of your kightmare..thing."

Roling his eye Jeremiah said, "your mean the shields that the original Siegfried fortress could generate."

"Yeah that."

"You did listen to the explanation before the test right?"

"Sure…but why not explain it again."

"Basically," explained Jeremiah. "the core generates an electric charge, and emitters placed on the frame, emit the field around the knigtmare. This field the helps repel most damage, except for damage of extreme power."

"I sense a "but" in there," said Ryo.

"Indeed, the shield is worn down through continued use," said Jeremiah. "Therefore it is only activated during battle, but unlike a Blaze Luminous, or a Radiant Wave Shield, weapons can still be used will the shield is active."

"But it's not as powerful as a Blaze Luminous," said Ryo.

"True, however Blaze Luminous shields will still be used, mostly it'll be used on larger targets like our capital ships," said Jeremiah. "However, it'll inevitably still be used on our knightmare frames."

"So basically these new shields will be used when the Blaze Luminous can't be brought up."

"Exactly," said Jeremiah. "I've also heard of reports of the Electromagnetic shields and Float systems being combined to form more powerful shields. Ones that will active at all times and not cause a strain on the power core of the knightmare."

"Now that is something I would like to see."

"But there is something about this scene even I don't understand," said Jeremiah.

"Don't expect me to explain it," snickered Ryo.

"I think you can explain," pressed Jeremiah.

Confused Ryo asked, "what is it?"

"It was my understanding that it was Tamaki who was supposed to be here," said Jeremiah. "Not you."

"Uhuh…hehe… well the thing is I think he's out with Ayano," replied Ryo rubbing his neck shamefully. Narrowing his eyes Jeremiah said, "what?"

Downtown Tokyo

Tamaki sneezed, Ayano then asked, "are you alright?"

Waving of the concern Tamaki responded, "yeah nothing's wrong." The two then continued on their date, Tamaki also resumed his story of his experiences during the Rebellion. After he finished Ayano told her tales of her time in the EU, and the W-0 units fight agains Euro Britannia.

Imperial Palace-June, 2021 a.t.b.

Lelouch gazed at the papers containing the reports of the incident that took place in Warsaw. Just a week prior a massive demonstration had took place in the capital of Poland. Led by anti-government groups, such as the Winged Hussars, the people cried out for a change in government policies. Conditions had been horrible in the eastern states of the EU, only comparable to the Japanese ghettos in Amsterdam, and other major cities.

This of course did not sit well with the higher government and Machavel, therefore the demonstration had been deemed a riot and Marshal Law had been implemented. But this was also a mistake, the number of the demonstrators and the presence of anti-government groups, had warranted in their minds to call in large numbers of troops. So they ordered troops from the army of Pierre Anou to "put down the rebellion by any means necessary," which was a fancy way of saying, "kill as many as you need to shut them up."

Which was exactly what the little worm did, casualty estimates were in the hundreds of thousands. But this was not in just civilian deaths, as it turned out some of the groups in Warsaw were armed. Anou's army also suffered large numbers of loses from ambushes and improvised weapons designed to destroy knightmares, this caused both surprise and anger in the EU high command. The total casualty lists were not made public nor the full extent of the crackdown of the government. The only reason that Lelouch knew the extent of the incident was because of spies in the area and reports given to him by emissaries of the Winged Hussars.

"Jeremiah," said Lelouch. "Where exactly is the main body of the Winged Hussars?"

The green haird knight put down his own papers and looked at his master and said, "they've taken refuge in the Ukraine."

"What's there strength?"

"They're a small army really sire," said Jeremiah. "Including cells throughout Poland, the whole group numbers around fifty thousand men."

"Can we trust them to act, should we and the EU go to war?" asked Lelouch.

"They've given us some the best information on the EUs army on our border," said Jeremiah. "Our own spies have confirmed much of it."

"So what's the latest estimate of enemy numbers?"

"To put it in laymen's terms "a lot," or would you preger a number?" Jeremiah joked.

"A number would be nice," replied Lelouch rolling his eyes at his knight's attempt at a joke.

Inhaling Jeremiah gaze the estimates, "four million men on the Russian border. Another one million in the remaining Africa states, and five hundred thousand against southern France."

"They must've pulled everyman they could spare from everywhere in the EU," said Lelouch.

"Yes sire," said Jeremiah. "Our info says that they've been assembling this army for the last several years. But the bright side is that despite this time much of the army is poorly trained."

Smiling Lelouch said, "I take it that much of the money needed to train and pay the army went to other places."

Smiling like his master Jeremiah confirmed the previous statement, "yes sir. Some money went to private interests of high ranking officials, while other pieces of the budget simply disappeared."

"I'm not surprised," said Lelouch his eyes moving to look out his window. "Our army will wipe the floor with such a force." With reforms enacted by Lelouch the army of Britannia swelled with recruits from across the empire. Even volunteers came from countries not in the empire, defectors from the UFN and EU armies, or volunteers from the neutral nations. Of course with the combined armies of both the EU and UFN still outnumbered them, if not make them even. (Numbers against quality) But according to Lelouch's strategy he would not take them both on at once.

"Has Guilford taken his position of our forces in Southern France?"

"Yes sire," replied Jeremiah noting dropping pace at his masters surprise question. "And Anya has taken command in Africa."

"Good," said Lelouch. "You will take command in Russia, you know the plan or course.

"Yes my lord," said Jeremiah. "Allow the enemy to enter our territory, giving way in the center finally swing around on their sides and cut them off at the rear, surrounding them."

"You will then provide fire coordinates for air strikes and ultra-range bombardment," finished Lelouch. His gaze turned to a safe mounted in the wall, on the other side of the bomb proof metal walls a silver brief case sat.

East Prussia State-EU, 2021 a.t.b.

The Free People's Army, was by far the most radical of all anti-government groups in the EU. They had in fact been responsible for bombings that had been taking place throughout the European continent. There actions had been censored and downsized by the government and the group's actions had also earned them the ire of the other resistance groups.

Currently the group was present in East Prussia to raid a large armory that was being used to store special weapons and heavy ordinance for the Eastern Army. What exactly the special weapons were was unknown, they were in fact acting on a tip given to them from informants in the Winged Hussars. The information had likely had its origin from Britannia, none the less the temptation of powerful weapons was too great for the People's Army. The fact that it was deep in enemy territory also made it unlikely that the enemy would expect a surprise attack.

And truthfully the EU army units were taken by surprise, the People's Army actually manage to gain control of armory before they were surrounded. Stolen Panzer Hummels fired into the buildings surrounding the armory, the explosions sending massive sized shrapnel around the battlefield. Blood watered the ground as dismembered soldiers cried out in pain, machine gun fire peppered the cover of both sides.

Meanwhile inside the armory, a squad of P.A. soldiers moved through the halls toward a locked storage room. Upon arriving at the storage room the soldiers used a stolen key card and code to open the door. However the soldiers were not prepared for what was on the other side, the eyes of all present widened.

"My god," muttered one of the soldiers. Barrels and containers littered the room each of them had similar markings, each of them had the warning "Hazardous Material."

"Chemical and Bioweapons," said a soldier in disbelief. The EU high command was low but none believed they were this low and ruthless. "Who designed this place, they have all of this and explosives in the same building? What the hell?"

"It's likely the bombs are intended to be used to spread the poison," said the captain. "Spread out find any enemy soldiers, just watch what you shoot."

In another room another P.A. soldier was screening for enemy soldiers, the room was filled with the explosives needed for the chemical weapons next door. As the soldier rounded a corner his gun was knocked out of his hand and an EU soldier lunged at him with a knife. The P.A. soldier succeeded in knocking him away and drew his own knife, the two circled each other before lunging at each other. The two grappled with each other trying to land blows but not succeeding. Finally the P.A. soldier lunged to tackle his enemy, only however succeeding in knocking him back. As the EU soldier kicked his enemy away, the P.A. soldier tried to grab hold of his enemy's belt.

Instead he grabbed something round, a ping was then heard, looking down the P.A. soldier saw he had accidently grabbed a grenade. Instinctively he threw the grenade, five seconds later the armory blue sky high in a flower of fire and smoke. When the men outside who survived the blast gained their senses they turned to the source of the blast. However instead of seeing only a burning building, they saw an expanding cloud of strange colored smoke. As the cloud expanded soldiers started to feel dizzy and began vomiting and falling over. The soldiers farther away who were witnessing this turned and began running as the poison gas cloud continued to expand.

A.N. Note that I have not abonded any of my stories, I have just had a hard time with some plot order in The Fourth Faction. In regards to this story the silver brief case will play a part in later chapters. Also I will being killing characters in this story and it likely sequel. Most of those characters are aboard the Damocles. Next chapter war begins!