Chapter 16
Dark Prince
Helltanz's notes: Right so Euphemia's been kidnapped, we all know what that means for Nina, Suzaku and Lelouch will begin disagreeing soon enough over policy as well, of course illegal wont necessarily describe the Black Knights for long once Lelouch does his little public announcement after being revealed as a prince but that is still quite the ways off.
I'll probably through in some Ashford interaction some time within the next few chapters, maybe.
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Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass.
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Chapter begin
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Night had fallen and from surveillance, both with in and from the outside it would seem that the Z 01 Lancelot was in play, or at least at the scene.
Then again Cornelia was rather discriminating against numbers, so it might not be used, the prince watched the news, 'so they killed the first hostage, Kusakabe would be an ideal Britannian.' Lelouch thought as the man, the hostage that was, plummeted to his death, though he was quite certain the Lieutenant colonel would take offence at the remark he had just given with in his mind.
Cornelia thought they had him surrounded in fact it was the other way around, sure she had her knights but almost two squads worth of Knight Mare Frame pilots had been Geass-ed and would turn on her if she attempted to kill him any time after he issued the code word with in a twenty four hour period, ingenious really, best of all they were in the best of tactical positions, oh and backup was nice of course.
Of course he hadn't told the new black knights that they needed to have faith after all, this was good way to build his tenure amongst them, after all an imperial prince the likes of Lelouch who was of stern and proper upbringing, even if he did despise his father and the majority of the noble court as well, would never use the term street cred.
Further more he was enjoying listening in on their conversation.
'Cornelia much as I'd like to continue where we left off,' The prince thought as a trio of Gloucesters arrived in front of the news van. 'your more useful where you are, and if you do what I predict I won't need to use my Geass.'
"Well,
well we meet again Zero," She stated through gritted teeth, though
inwardly glad the terrorist hadn't brought that monstrosity her
younger brother had commissioned to have built. "Are you a member
of the Japan Liberation Front,"
Why the hell was she asking
that, Lelouch wondered,
"or
perhaps you intend to help us?" She inquired, "regardless our
concern take priority over yours for the moment you are none the less
guilty of crimes against the crown-"
Lelouch rolled his eyes,
why is this family so dramatic, He mused, "Cornelia which is more
important to you, your slighted pride or Euphemia who is alive and
within the custody of the JLF at this very moment."
That took the wind clean out of her sails, her absurd gun was lowered,
'The first task at hand is now complete' The Dark Prince smirked behind his mask 'You haven't changed dear sister, you've always doted on sweet little Euphemia that is way you have been unable to take aggressive action your emotions are getting in the way, though I suppose it would be the same if Nunnaly was in danger,'
The Witch of Britannia was shaking yet there stood Zero of the Black Knights as solid as a mighty oak.
"It is with in my power to save Euphemia," He announced voice carried across the area, he was getting to her,
She gritted her teeth, "What do you mean, I have no idea what your talking about," She leveled the gunblade on him again, centering on his chest.
"I said that I am able to rescue her," He repeated.
'Is he following Lelouch's orders?' Wondered the second princess, 'Why else would he be doing this, how could he entrust Euphie's safety to this person,' She thought as Zero passed by.
'Either the Japan Liberation Front will accept me as their ally, or they're going to treat me as nothing more than a nuisance.' The prince mused, 'in any event I can hardly doubt they will be able to resist meeting the infamous Zero, though we shall see,'
Darlton was questioning Cornelia about their course of action
'Now all of the preliminary conditions have been met,'
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'So the Lancelot was preparing to be deployed, hopefully Schneziel's general purpose seventh can handle what ever is down below' thought Lelouch, it was some kind of linear cannon, but he had no details on the exact specifications.
Apparently there was also some kind of disturbance amongst the hostages, using his superior intellect it was likely some one had called the Japanese an eleven, and generally the JLF were quite militant, and had likely taken offense at the name, so Euphie would of course probably be quite foolish and done something; likely revealing her presence and identity.
"You have no intention of joining me?" He inquired,
Kusakabe was sitting on one of the couches hands resting on the pommel of his sword, he sounded quite cocky as he spoke, "Remove that mask and reveal your real face to us its disrespectful not to," the lieutenant colonel said.
"I
understand, but before I do there is something I would like to ask
you," Zero stated, it would be amusing to see his face before he
sent them all to hell. "what exactly do you hope to accomplish by
this action?"
"To gain attention I want this country and the
world to know that the Japanese aren't dead yet," he declared,
"How
stale," this surprised him as it should, "You people are
obsolete, there can be no saving you,"
"What?" shouted one
of the soldiers, "Why you arrogant,"
"Explain what you mean by that, Zero,"
The Lancelot had begun the attack, and the Black Knights were placing the charges as he spoke with the idiots, and from the commotion outside he was probably about to meet up with Euphemia.
"Zero," Kusakabe yelled leaping over the table, drawing his sword, "There's no point talking any more." He shouted
The dark prince neatly side stepped, 'I need to get me a sword,' He mused as the lieutenant colonel prepared to attack again, if only for show, after all Todoh attempted to teach Suzaku and I but that went about as well for me as Rugby. The teen remembered of the days as a political hostage.
His mask opened over his geass eye, "Die" He commanded, meanwhile the Lancelot evaded the first shot of the Raikou, the banging on the door followed the short but brutal Geass induced suicide.
"Colonel" Shouted one of the soldiers,
Lelouch shot him in the arm, causing him to drop his weapon, "Calm yourselves." He commanded to the group.
"Zero," Euphemia murmured,
"The colonel and the others committed suicide." He stated, "after they realized how meaningless this operation was." The prince stated, "Euphemia you were willing to sacrifice yourself for the commoners, you haven't changed." Lelouch remarked smiling behind his mask.
The black knights seized control of the place at his command.
"I hear you're the sub viceroy now, congratulation your highness," He commented, smugly.
"Its not an appointment I'm happy with," She responded.
"I understand you and Cornelia were sent by that man because of Clovis's gaffe because he couldn't handle the Japanese who did not stand by oppression," He stated in a lecturing tone, 'the white knight mare' The prince realized seeing the Lancelot, as he detonated the bombs.
After which he began his broadcast,
"My dear Britannians have no fear all of the hostages from the hotel are safe and sound, I zero return them to you unharmed,"
"Of
all the brazen audacity," Cornelia hissed, "If we attack you
those people will become your hostages, wont they" She sounded
positively furious, of course Lelouch had expected her to assume
something along those lines.
Lelouch had expected that, hence why
lights came illuminating a number of Edinburghs painted with Istavan
colors, along with Cornelia receiving a text message; not quite Witch
of Britannia my master would not like that,
She didn't need to know it was three who was sending the message, and not 'Zero'.
On the ship Zero and Kallen's group were illuminated, "People fear us or rally behind us, as you see fit, we are the Black Knights," He stated "We of the Black Knights stand with all those who have no weapons of their own regardless of whether they be Elevens or Britannians, the Japan Liberation Front cowardly took innocent Britannians hostage and mercilessly executed them it was a wanton and meaningless act," The prince stated "Just as massacres of the Ghettos have resulted in the total humiliation of the Britannian army and the likewise elimination of their troops, we have punished them," He announced, "we could not standby and allow such cruelty to be carried out I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed." Lelouch decreed. "Where ever oppressors abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless we shall appear again,"
'This sounds like something that may have originated from you Lelouch,' Cornelia thought,
"No
matter how might, how formidable our foe maybe," He continued
before flaring his cape, "Those of you in power fear us,"
The
second princess frowned, now this clown was twisting her brother's
likely good intentioned message, after all Lelouch wouldn't
deliberately attempt to oppose Father's reign ala as Mordred had
with Arthur.
"Those of you without it rally behind us," The prince declared, "We the Black Knights shall be the ones to stand in judgment of this world."
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The black knights message was out, and it was causing quite the stir.
"It went wonderfully, my prince," Three remarked smugly.
"Indeed it did," Lelouch agreed equally as cocky.
"Your highness," Roland began to look shiftily nervous, "Exactly how are you going to explain this to Cornelia?" He inquired,
He was correct and the eleventh prince paled, Euphemia's rescue was certainly, by the fact it had been carried out by the Black Knights was going to infuriate the Second Princess.
This was going to cause a headache, and I'll probably be exhausted by another marathon running session, thought Lelouch depressed, why did she think chasing him and Clovis would fix the problem, or that yelling at Clovis would get him to change his ways, he rolled his eyes and slumped into his chair.
He looked up from rubbing his temples, "I believe we shall deal with that matter as it comes along, for now what of the research projects?"
"Well
battery technology is of course proceeding smoothly, as is the use of
nuclear energy in combination with Sakuradite, we expect to have a
working prototype in six months," He remarked, "Of course the
weapons projects have all proceeded smoothly we believe the new
scientist can fix the Hadron cannons, as for the Rhongomyniad
well it should be ready in knight mare hand carried weapon
shortly enough," The executive announced, "Out of curiosity my
prince exactly what do we intend to do? As far as Japan goes, I mean
if you intended to claim the area for your own I could understand
however to merely have the Black Knights rise to such a prominent
status,"
"We will do what Britannia's mighty army could
never do, we will bring the Japanese truly into the fold under the
crown," The eleventh prince commented smugly, "Well my crown
anyway besides Hokaido has proved our ideal work, but afterwards
we'll move to branch out and seize the Chinese Federation, Russia
and Australia, apparently my geass has no limit to the number of
people I can command with one order."
Yes Australia was a continent, officially most people left it alone, albeit as such it was free of most non business interests making it a prime target for the Black Knights, but Lelouch intended to claim it in his name, it was a hefty piece of developed industrial land.
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"LELOUCH!" Cornelia roared, it would seem the second princess of the holy Britannian empire was quite displeased over the incident.
'Oh dear' thought the prince as his elder sister advanced, Clovis was also rapidly paling at the sight of the furious witch of Britannia.
"How could you send that maniac to rescue Euphemia?" She demanded irately.
The
eleventh prince blinked, "I distinctly remember you telling me to
stay in the settlement to make sure it wasn't attacked, and I
couldn't well send one of the other factions to negotiate," He
replied, it should take some wind out of her sails, hopefully she
would not start on the swim wear issue for a few days while this mess
cooled down it would not be good for Lelouch's ears, or his legs,
the prince mused, remembering the ache from having to run so much,
"Why it isn't like you were beaten in a military engagement,"
She
scowled, his response was true, she had told him to stay in the
settlement, and Zero hadn't defeated the Army again.
"Sorry that was the wrong thing to say," He remarked shaking his head, convincing her was going to be difficult but he was sure his combined tactics would in the end ensure he hadn't need to do any unnecessary physical activity or listen any more of her yelling than was absolutely required.
Yes his brilliance would de fang the Witch of Britannia, she would feel a little guilty and he'd of course also capitalize on the fact she hadn't been able to do anything safely so he had had little choice but to take the initiative.
Of course his plan worked to well, Cornelia hugged him, which was a tad strange. "Thank you Lelouch," She said, "For rescuing Euphie, but next time you intend to use you weird ideological faction to save Euphemia tell me you idiot," The princess declared shaking him thoroughly.
"Does Euphemia get kidnapped a lot?" He muttered, regaining his bearings,
"Of course not," the Viceroy snapped, "I'm just saying if it were to ever happen again, you're to tell me immediately," She decreed imperiously.
Clovis blinked amazed his brother had evaded yet another thrashing, he really needed to start taking notes on these situations it would make his life more comfortable.
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"I'm glad you all made it safely," Lelouch stated, to the trio of girls, none of them appeared to be any worse for the wear,
"Yes were wonderful Lelouch," Millie commented smirking at him
Shirley was of course blushing
Nina seemed normal, strange the eleventh prince was sure she'd have been the most shell shocked by the whole ordeal, he found out, and it would seem the Euphemia had indeed did something foolish.
On Millie noticed his momentary change in facial expression, and only because she had known him for so long,
"Lelouch why don't you take us to dinner," Millie declared, the prince blinked, why hadn't he seen that coming, good thing his bank account was quite thick, he still didn't have to like the drain this was going to put on it, well not so much as a drain as that the purchase may, his paranoia flaring, get shown up, after all Cornelia and Clovis knew he was alive, as did certain people in the military know his true identity.
However if Charles was to learn he might be able to act before the Dark Prince was ready, sure he was quite certain he could evade possibly any action if the Emperor issued a direct summons however his father did have a vastly, numerically at least, superior military at his command... for now.
The teen sighed and acquiesced, he'd need to speak to Cao and Err Shi soon to check on the progress in the Chinese Federation, they could hopefully get an island base set up for him with out to much attention, still he needed to deal with Eunuch generals as well it would be easy enough to justify his attack anyway, as a royal he was restoring the power of the crown from the hands of the Usurpers, besides the whole Mandate of Heaven thing played nicely into his conquest plans on the Chinese side of things, besides he was already taking control of the Military through Cao, the general however had reported a potential problem members of the Kururugi administration taking refuge there, and there were the rumors of a Chinese led effort to restore Japanese Sovereignty, it smelled of a puppet government being set up.
Lelouch shook his head to clear it as he left the school grounds with Millie, Shirley, and Nina, if the Chinese tried something well the Black Knights would need to dispel such an effort quickly, he couldn't risk tapping into Cao's forces for the moment, oh well if they did try something his Siege Mass Production Knight Mares base partially on the Bamides of Area eighteen would be entering production soon, since Naval operations were the only choice for an attack they'd be useful and the Chinese seemed to favor human wave attacks, in other words prime targets for such heavy weapons.
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Chapter conclusion
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Helltanz's notes: Well the Black Knights have entered the public eye, and Cornelia is suitably deceived, Lelouch will probably have a harder time with Schneziel and the Emperor, assuming the prior isn't to busy dealing with the EU, the Emperor who knows for the later parts.
Anyway I'll avoid dropping any more royals into the fray until the Kyushuu mess, which will more than likely, much to Lulu's, displeasure cause him to have to reveal his survival to the world along with the fact there is a horde of loyal knights ready to kill on command, with VV laughing and comparing Lelouch to Charles for shits and giggles to the Dark Prince's displeasure.
As for Australia I don't know why it hasn't been brought up yet, especially why it hasn't been claimed.
Err Shi is a Eunuch that Lelouch mind controlled.
Unlike canon Jeremiah won't be getting cybernized… something strange will happen.
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