A.N. I intended to post this on the 4th but some personall stuff came up and kept me from posting.

Chapter 21

Excerpt from Britannian History Book, Copyright Unknown

In the week and a half that followed the closing of the battle of Paris and break out in Poland saw the fastest advance in military history. The EU army forces on both fronts routed under the intense pressure exerted by Britannia and her allies. In the east few of the EU forces succeeded in fighting out of the closing cordon and with no unified command that could relay commands from Berlin and the high command chaos reigned. In the following days thousands of EU army soldiers surrendered. In France the EU army units ran and those few that stood were overrun by the fast paced Britannian army.

Republican Guards across the entire continent started too retreated to Berlin, and it showed. With their retreat it proved that they were acting as the prod in the back of the EU army. The army itself was a sufficient and well trained force however they Macheval regime in truth disagreed with many of the lower ranked soldiers. Thus high ranking officers and their loyal forces joined the flow to the German city.

Britannian forces in France advanced up and over the German border while allied troops under Durand secured Normandy and entered Belgium and the Netherlands. Forces under Lord Jeremiah Gottwald Advanced through Poland closing the cordon while Scandinavian forces secured the Baltic Sea and Denmark. Ukrainian forces attack into Austria securing much of country, while Anya moved east. With the speed of the continuous victories many did not see the danger that was approaching from the UFN. While Imperial intelligence did in fact notice the buildup UFN troops along its borders and a massing of its sea going fleet Horai Island. They did not find the exact timing an intentions of the UFN attack until events had already started moving.

In the weeks that led up to late December large quantities of sudden radiation spikes were detected, by Britannian satellites, in Indo-China. Following these spikes communication with the rebel cells in Indo-China nearly ceased. All attempts to find information led up to dead ends. Getting into the country became nearly impossible with the hostility of the UFN increasing by the day. In the mind of the Emperor this did not bode well.

In the realms of technology new horizons were opened with the successful voyage of the Emperor's personnel ship, the Great Britannia. The life support systems tested during the voyage were shown to be a success and plans were made among small circles of the scientific and government communities to expand into space. Dreams of humans on the Moon, Mars and beyond ran through the minds of many intelligent minds. But these same minds could not fathom what was to come in the future.

Kamine Island, December 16, 2021 a.t.b.

Rakshata was not having a good day, her experiments were many, and while she found the greatest joy in working on them this was getting ridiculous, and then there was her current problem. There was a data issue somewhere in the island's computer systems, make it even worse the problem couldn't be identified. At points it resembled a data leak, but instead of data being sent from the island it was sucked in deep within the system. Every piece of software on the island had at some point in the last few weeks been subjected to fits. Programs lagged and fizzled out then the same problem would jump to another program. Which is why it was thought to be a virus, but investigations into sabotage had come up empty there was no way the Virus could have gotten on the island.

Computer terminals blinked and beeped as analysis and diagnostic were run one after the other. Technicians sat silently or scurried back and worth speaking quietly as they scrolled through line after line of data. Rakshata herself sat at a terminal that overlooked the sprawling network of the control room.

"I want a list of all subjects this thing is scanning," the Indian woman's tone showed her annoyance. Her clothes were ruffled from several days of continuous use, Rakshata was similarly tired and worn. She had only gotten small interrupted bouts of sleep, at first she thought that the technicians could handle the problem but as it escalated so did her involvement. It had gotten to the point that she even sent her beloved pipe back to her quarters as in her opinion "if I keep using that thing as I have been these last few days, I'll be dead within the month."

"Yes mam," came the reply and a list appeared on the screen she was using. As her eyes scanned across the list her eyes spotted subjects like, military, civilian, entertainment, daily life, their majesties, and even Britannian history. As she looked across the list the same technician spoke again, "mam! We've isolated the problem, the entire thing is coalescing in the central computer."

Standing up and moving across the control to stare over the shoulder of the man she watched the data on the screen change and morph. As she watched she thought, "what is this thing doing? Heck it almost looks like a living thing." As she watched the code on the screen she saw that every now and then it would appear that there were two distinct programs before they merged back into one.

'Curious,' she thought. Furrowing her eyebrows she then ordered, "monitor it, if it tries anything cut all servers leading off the island."

"Yes mam," the technician turned to the woman as she herself turned to leave. "Where will you be madam?"

"I'm going to bed," replied the woman too tired to say anything else as the door closed behind her. As the two slabs of metal collided she muttered, "for all the good it'll do for the next few hours."

Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Birds chirped in the air above the gardens in the palace, flowers of all kinds stood out filling the area with color. Sunlight shown down forming a picturesque scene amongst the plants of the serene garden. Laughter, the kind only shared amongst the closest of friends, echoed amongst blooms, and pedals. Lelouch smiled as he sat amongst his closest friends, his wife on his right, and across the table Milly and Rivalz. They had found that with the world in its current state that meeting and trying to keep their friendship alive was paramount. So they started meeting regularly and having just about as much fun as they had during the old days. And in Lelouch's own mind he was glad that the two had accepted his wife into their midst even though they had not known of her before at Ashford; even though she had been in the background all the time. Oh the stories that were told.

"So when the happy occasion?" asked the raven haired emperor as he gazed at the diamond that graced Milly's finger.

Milly blushed a slight pink, mostly out of happiness, which contrasted with her yellow dress. "Oh we've figured sometime after the war," the blond giggled. "Besides I need time to plan everything out."

Even C.C. smirked at this while Lelouch laughed, his purple eyes also sent a look to Rivalz that said, "I'm so sorry."

C.C. took the embarrassing moment to speak up saying, "bout time you popped the question."

Rivalz laughed while scratching the back of his head, "hehe yeah, I was always worried she would say no."

Leaning onto his shoulder Milly smirked giving him a peck on the cheek making him blush, "now why would I say no to a face like that?"

"Truthfully," said C.C. snuggling her Cheese-kun. "If I could say yes to Lelouch, then she would say yes to you."

Said raven head turned to the greened hair immortal, "was that supposed to be an insult witch?"

Smiling his wife replied, "take it how you will warlock, we still wind up in the same bedroom."

Milly burst out laughing and Rivalz followed suit, soon enough followed by the two immortals. As the laughter died away Milly sighed, "I wish everyone else was here with us."

The present company bowed their heads with Rivalz speaking, "yeah, Nunnally and Shirley really knew how to brighten up a room. Even Kallen and Nina gave something to the mood."

"Meow." Arthur jumped up onto the table, the cat purred as Milly reached out and stroked her hand across his fur, "at least your still here Arthur."

"Meow," responded the cat.

Looking up Lelouch smiled, "who knows we may all see each other again. I have hope that Nunnally is still alive."

"You really believe that Lelouch?" asked Rivalz looking up at his friend.

Lelouch responded with a nod and a gleam of brotherly love in his eye at the thought of his little sister. "I do Rival, some things only siblings can feel. I know she's alive, I just have to find her."

"I hope you do, you certainly got the time to do it Mr. Immortal Emperor," teased Milly.

"Yeah," added her fiancée. "And when you find her we can have that night of fireworks we promised."

Lelouch smiled and nodded, "yeah, we'll do that."

"Anyhow!" cried Milly her mood changing in an instant. "Let's get off this depressing subject shall we." She looked over at her Royal friend and asked, "so Lelouch got any new fun abilities."

Milly and Rivalz had found out about Lelouch's abilities from the man himself. Lelouch had realized that much of his own instability as Zero had stemmed from his own secrecy; with a few exceptions. Thus he had taken his two oldest friends, that were still around and not his wife, as confidants. The two former students had taken his explanations calmly, thought they had expressed their own views afterward. Along with no small amount of tears when they heard about Shirley's demise. But they had nonetheless agreed to be part of Lelouch's inner circle of friends, and for an emperor this was truly special. Though they held no power in the government the two were influential where it counted, with the emperor himself. Thus when Lelouch had gained his new powers from C's World they had been some of the first to know.

Smiling at his blond friend Lelouch nodded his head, "yes I've been doing some experimenting and research, and found a special ability that my Code allows me."

"Really what?" the blue haired male asked excitedly, he especially liked hearing about his friend's powers.

Lelouch turned his head so that his Rivalz's eyes could look square into his purple/crimson orbs. As the two looked at one another Rivalz heard /this/.

Struck dumb by this he looked at his friend who had uttered no vocal word yet he had heard Lelouch's voice. Finding his voice Rivalz excitedly responded, "wow, Telepathy!"

"Haha, in a sense," responded Lelouch. "I can also do this."

Both Milly and Rivalz felt a sharp pain in their heads like they had pierced by a sharp knife. As the migraine pain faded they looked at Lelouch as he gave his explanation, "telepathy is but one part of it all as I can use it as a weapon. Incapacitate enemies, dominate their minds, or kill them by tearing their minds and souls apart with my Soul Power. In all I'm a walking weapon, and master political artist."

Milly whistled, "impressive, but I take it that like your old Geass there are some limitations to this."

Lelouch nodded, "my range is limited, so I can't reach across a continent to kill a single person. I know this but the full range of my abilities is more or less dependent on my concentration."

Rivalz leaned forward, "so like knowing you, you can be doing one thing and read the minds of a person in the next room over. But at the same time if you were sitting still with no distractions you could reach even farther and do more."

"Very impressive Rivalz," spoke up C.C. "You really found a keeper here Milly."

"Hehe yep," replied the blond.

Later that night

Milly and Rivalz sat in their living room on a couch while the T.V. played casting a glow on their smiling faces. They had enjoyed their day with Lelouch and C.C. such days were far and few between. Thus it made enjoying them paramount, now however the two friends of the emperor decide that relaxing by themselves was a good idea. Milly leaned against Raval's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her.

As they shared their embrace Rivalz's asked, "what Lelouch said about finding Nunnally and the others, do you think he'll be able to do it?"

Milly shrugged, "I don't know, but if there's anyone who could do it in the face of utter hopelessness its Lelouch."

Rivalz nodded and hugged his love closer, "I love you babe."

"And I love you to Rival."

December 21, 2021 a.t.b. News Broadcast

The reporter spoke as images of the war in Europe flashed over the screen, "the campaign continues to go well for Allied forces. Elements of the Air Fleets have begun attacks on the capital Berlin. These attacks remain "hit and run" attacks destroying important targets before withdrawing. Meanwhile ground forces make rapid gains across the European continent. Enemy EU forces have been routed on all fronts, resistance is all but nonexistent before the advancing forces."

Images of Guilford and Durand standing next Krachenko as they overlooked a battlefield map. "Lord Guilford and General Durand have already made great gains within Germany while Lord Jeremiah has crossed the Polish state linking up with the Winged Hussars and Ukrainian army."

Changing subjects the reporter's face returned to the screen, "relations with the UFN have broken down in the last several weeks. The UFN broke off all talks of with Britannia under multiple excuses, meanwhile a bill was passed through the UFN Council cutting all trade between the nations. What this means for the nation's future remains uncertain, the Emperor however has addressed the situation with calm. Thus far his highness has assured the public that the situation will be resolved and that he will do his utmost to avoid conflict. However he has ordered forces here in Japan to be brought up to standby in case of open conflict, as well in response to the gathering of UFN military forces on Horai Island. Meanwhile in other news-"

China

Sawasaki sat robed in front of a group of screens, showing images of the Vermillion Forbidden City and the rest of the capital city Luoyang and in the corner Beijing. Slightly turning his head he asked, "is everything in order?"

"Yes my lord," replied one of his guards. "The Eunuchs are in place and the weapons are primed and ready."

Smiling Sawasaki ordered, "very good, begin the count down."

"Very well, it shall be done sire." Up in the corner of one of the screens a countdown began.

On a second screen Machavell watched and gazed upon similar screens from his own bunker. "Are you sure it is wise to do this, we don't even have a long range delivery system for the other warheads. We won't be able to strike the Americas from even our closest bases. On top of all of that you intend to use so much of our supply to destroy one target?"

Sawasaki's eyebrow rose, "we?"

Machavell waved his hand, "whatever, please enlighten me."

Sawasaki sighed as he continued watching the screens of the city, "it doesn't matter if there is no long range system for warhead delivery or how many weapons we use. The feat alone will cow the Britannian people, all people, the war will quickly end once my troops invade Japan and destroy the Tokyo and take the Emperor."

"The rest of the empire will then fall," smiled Machavell. "And with all of that combined with my attack plan here."

"It matters not what your plan is," Sawasaki said cutting of Machavell's interruption. "Within the month the war will be over and the world will be on its knees."

As they spoke the countdown in the corner of the screen clicked to "0" and several cameras switched to an aerial view and one miles away from the city. The people in the city moved about continuing their mundane tasks oblivious to their fate till it was shoved in the faces. It appeared as miniature suns that blinded those that looked upon them, blossoming into life from several spots directly above the city where VTOLS had once been. The roar of the great explosions and expanding shockwave blotted out the terrified screams of the people who realized this was their end. But many did not have time to scream as their bodies turned to ash and imprinted their shapes on the structures behind them. Only for those structures to fall seconds later by the shock wave.

Buildings fell and glass shattered killing more and more people as the destruction expanded in an ever-growing ring. The seconds of time slowed to an agonizing speed as the city fell. Lights in the city died out and many of the screens before the two nation leaders died out as well. As the lights of the explosions died away dust, smoke, and debris still lingered in the devastated streets of the capital. Smoke and clouds covered the sky and the skyline itself was dominated by the rising of great columns of smoke forming into mushroom shapes.

Below the clouds fires began to spread across the areas the blasts did not destroy, the screams of the people could also be heard. Men, women, and children stumbled into the streets, many with skin dropping from their emaciated limbs the organic material turning to liquid on their bones. As they stumbled like monsters in a horror film black snow began to fall from the cloud sky.

In their separate bunkers Sawasaki and Machavell smiled at the destruction, air born cameras moved over the city the electromagnetic pulse that had been unleashed knocking out most of their previous cameras. Their smiles grew even more as soldiers in unmarked uniforms, but which held a very striking resemblance to Britannian battle armor, appeared. As the men appeared they opened cases that were protected from the EMP that had knocked out power throughout the city. From the cases they pulled their weapons and unleashed a withering fire, civilians screamed out once more as they were cut down.

Even a few knightmares, Akatsukis and Gun Rus appeared, their weapons took an even bigger toll upon the unarmed civilians. They fired into the masses of civilians killing scores with single attacks. The frames and soldiers moved street to street killing all who they came across, secondary explosions leveled important buildings that still stood. Precincts and army barracks fell the disoriented and order less soldiers within dying with little resistance.

As the cameras panned away from the murder and slaughter to show that the Vermillion Forbidden City had turned to a field of scorched ground Sawsaki cackled, "it's almost beautiful! These pitiful fools do not realize that their sacrifice shall elevate the rest of humanity to a state of unity. They shall elevate me to the heights of glory!" Machavell sat silent captivated by the site before him not hearing the words of his compatriot.

Meanwhile on another screen the city of Beijing also had smoke rising into the air, massive craters from Sakuridite bombs were surrounded by flames. Soldiers and kngihtmares repeated similar acts as those in the ruins of Luoyang. Civilians cried out as they were cut down by weapons fire, police and local military units fight back as best they could but the enemy held the element of surprise. As each minute ticked by thousands died in the two cities, fires destroyed anything in their paths adding to the destruction and death. The minutes turned into hours and the two mad men sat in relative silence as they watched the self-imposed slaughter.

Imperial Palace, Tokyo/December 23, 2021 a.t.b

"They blame us," muttered Lelouch as he gazed out the armor glass window in his office. "Admittedly I did not expect them to do anything like this, to have weapons like this."

Jeremiah's pixilated face showed his concern on the holographic view screen as he stared at the back of his liege lord. "Truthfully sire," he said, "no one knew they had these weapons nor how low Sawasaki would sink. Destroying his own capital city killing his own people and then blaming his own Eunuchs and us for the attack is a strategy few us believed the man could think up. Many didn't believe he had the nerve to try something like this."

Looking back up Lelouch asked, "how many were killed?"

Shaking his head the knight replied, "best we can estimate from OSI reports and the claims made by the UFN are somewhere in the range of 20 million. Possibly almost as much as the Second Black Rebellion."

Lelouch sagged in his chair, C.C. who had silently sat beside him placed a comforting had on her husband's. In his mind Lelouch thought, 'damn Sawasaki now has an excuse for war and a rallying point for his people. Even if they don't believe it, those under his power will fight all the harder now.'

Looking back up Lelouch spoke, "it will take another day or so for Sawasaki to declare war and make it look legitimate."

"I'd surprised at that," interrupted Jeremiah. "He's using this excuse to dissolve what remains of the UFN Council under the pretense of Marshal Law. And, he's killing his Eunuchs as traitors, never mind they were brainwashed puppets beforehand.

C.C. nodded, "that explains why he reformed their number in the first place. He needed scapegoats and believable traitors."

"And in the future the people would belive it all," continued Lelouch. "We destroyed the cities and helped the Eunuchs stage a coup, Sawasaki defeats them. He then destroys thme and the UFN Council bringing control of the nation to himself. Then using the "newly" created super weapons and overwhelming strength he defeats Britannia." The Emperor sighed as he looked at the globe on his desk, "in Europe he negotiates peace with his puppet Machavel in control. Likely he would later get rid of him, ultimately the world would be his to control."

"And millions would die under his rule," muttered Jeremiah in horror.

"All of this," added the limette empress. "Matches the strategies and tactics of Jeanne D'Arc to a T."

"So we are certain it's her?" asked Jeremiah. He had been skeptical that their true enemy was a legendary warrior from European history, and to a lesser extent Britannian History. But when C.C. had explained her own involvement with the woman that skepticism went away.

Lelouch answered with a nod, "yes, some of the retrieved archives from Code-R included a painting of Joan of Arc and upon close inspection the ring can be found shown in her finger. It also appears that Code-R was ordered to destroy the painting with only the digital copy remaining." Lelouch paused as he looked at his knight's face, "you look puzzled on something Jeremiah, speak you mind."

Jeremiah, not one to show weakness to any but those he trusted, asked, "forgive my ignorance on this matter sire but why have we not finished decoding all of the files captured from the Geass Directorate and Code-R. I was under the assumption that all of the files were decoded already."

Nodding the black haired emperor replied, "you are forgiven Jeremiah. The answer to your question is that the war has taken priority over most other activities. As well the coding used by the Directorate was compounded, upgraded, and expanded across its existence. Even C.C.'s old access codes no longer work. It is only with the revelation of Sawasaki's involvement with Geass have I ordered the resumption of the decoding operation."

Jeremiah bowed his head at his master, "thank you for enlightening me your majesty. I shall now take my leave. I must prepare my troops for the opening of the new front."

"Yes by all means my friend," smiled Lelouch as the screen went black. As the holographic screen disappeared the smile vanished and he sighed, "things are degenerating faster than I anticipated."

"Then all timetables are going to be moved up?" C.C. said though it felt more like a statement than a true question.

Her answer came with a nod from Lelouch, "yes, if Sawasaki thinks that he's the only one with powerful weapons than he is sadly mistaken." He then began typing commands into a small keyboard, "I won't be out done and defeated by this upstart with a ghost parrot looking over his shoulder and whispering in his ear."

C.C. snorted at that before the holographic screen reappeared only with a different face. A grinning visage appeared and cried out, "buddy! I was waiting for when you'd finally call, that sh** in China is starting get real."

Lelouch waved off the comment, "it is Tamaki, I'm therefore moving up all time tables."

If it were possible Tamaki's grin widened as he giddily asked, "does that mean we get to launch your new flagship.

Lelouch himself couldn't help but smile himself at the thought of the new Ark class Air Battleship. The class had been revived from the development blackhole it had fallen into since the Julius Kingsley incident. This time however instead of a large unmanned, and unarmed husk it was now armed to the teeth. State of the art weapons and sensors, as well as even more dangerous and interesting toys. Looking into the Grand Marshal's eyes the Emperor replied, "yes Tamaki, launch the Yamato."

Japan/December 25, 2021 a.t.b

A dark shadow moved across the waves of the coast of Japan, around smaller shadows followed. In the sky above a massive floating ship moved, painted the colors of the Emperor, black, gold, purple, and crimson. The glow of its Float System could not be truly seen as the devise were kept behind armored barriers and the glow was reduced using special forging technics. The great Ark Class Battleship bristled with weapons ranging from dual purpose heavy Radiant Wave Hadron/VARIS Cannons, and RWH Beam Cannons, to smaller point defense hard points and missile batteries.

The ship far out classed its smaller escorts of Logress and Caerleon air battleships. From the ship a jet of cloud jumped out and a rocket shot out and up into the sky. As it climbed its target entered its computer mind. Back in Tokyo Lelouch watched the live feeds from the missile's electric eye. As well as small drones that floated by the target there cameras zoomed in to show Horai Island.

In the time since its use by the Black Knights the island had been turned into a staging ground for the UFN. Ships of every class and tonnage floated in the waters or sat in the great airfield in the center. Converted tankers and other ships acted as barracks for soldiers, while the buildings on the actual island served not only as more barracks and storage areas but as well as training grounds. Soldiers and technicians moved about the ships and vehicles making repairs and general maintenance. Other made merry on the holiday drinking and celebrating early their victory as the invasion of Japan was upcoming. War had been declared just as Lelouch had predicted, but the first blow would be struck by Britannia not the UFN. And it would be a heavy blow.

As people across the world celebrated Christmas and the New Year their radios and T.V.s went blank. Then a voice came through the speakers, "we interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring this message from the Emperor of the Britannian Empire."

As the voice passed the image of the Lelouch appeared clothed in his full regalia. He stared at the camera with grim determination and spoke with power. "My people, citizens of Britannia and those under her protection, for the past several days accusations have been made against us. The UFN and E.U. have charged us with the mass murder of over twenty million people in the catastrophe in China. The UFN has thusly declared war upon us, they intend to march their armies through our lands and obliterate our cities with the very weapons they accused us of using on them. It should therefore be of no surprise that this is a lie put forth to be an excuse for war and conquest." The people listened, many with sick stomachs, others gasped at the thought of surrender. But Lelouch continued spreading his hands, "but we shall not surrender, or give in, theirs's is no just cause and we shall not bow to the whim of such men! These people seek to divide us with fear! But we shall not let them, Britannia is not the weak corrupt and soulless being it was. NO! Britannia is strong once more in heart, mind, and soul. And with this strength we shall fight back, starting now!"

The camera shifted to that of Horai Island, those soldiers actually on the island were shocked and their officers started to panic. The alarm went up on the island and scans of every type began searching the area for incoming threats. But above them the projectile fired from the Yamato began falling, fast. As this continued the emperor continued, "they intend to use fear to goad us like they goad their own people. We shall not fear, but we shall inspire fear in our enemies. Just as they possess a weapon of great destruction, so do we. Just as we use the weapon that destroyed Tokyo to make power so to can we use it for its first purpose."

A flash of light was followed by purple/pink sphere that expanded and enveloped the anything in its path. Those people on the island who happened to be looking up when the warhead detonated had the chance to see their own death. As quickly as it came the sphere collapsed nothing remaining where it had been, not a molecule and no island. What ships had been outside the sphere found themselves capsizing into the maelstrom that formed from the ocean filling into the hole where the island had been. As the vessels sank they added to the death count raising it well over five hundred thousand.

The camera's went blank and returned to the image of the emperor, "this is the first blow we shall give to the enemy and it shall not be the last. Those of you who tremble under the oppression of our enemies rally behind us! Our enemies fear us! For we are coming and we shall be Victorious! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

A.N. In know some people are gonna ask why am i making Lelouch so powerful, well look at this way. Against normal humans he would massively OP, but look at where I intend to take this story (MASS EFFECT) and think about it then. Besides this is my fanfiction and I'll write how I wish.