Timeskip

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome to the stage a man who needs little introduction. For months, he has laboured right under our noses to bring drastic change to the Areas within Britannia, starting from scratch after being exiled at the age of ten. For all his divisive opinions, I would ask you all to give a warm welcome to the man who mainstreamed the radical labour movement and former Prince of the Empire, Lelouch Lamperouge!"

The crowd exploded into noise right on cue. To say it was applause would not be accurate, given the not-insignificant boos, but there was a significant amount of good natured cheers from Diethard Reid's live show crowd, about as liberal a Britannian crowd as the guest could hope for. Lelouch settled on calling the reception 'passionate'.

He stepped onto the stage with a bold step, waving an open palm up as he stepped across to shake Diethard's hand, gripping it intensely. They both wore wide grins, playing up the idea that the whole interview was a little cheeky and taboo, which the audience loved. They enjoyed feeling like they were breaking the rules by associating with Lelouch, and Diethard, a true media man, knew how to capitalise on that.

After that interesting moment, he sat down opposite Reid on a lovely leather couch, as Diethard began the interview, watched by many millions of Britannians clamouring for a glimpse of the elusive Prince.

"Welcome to the show Lelouch. Now, first of all I'd like to congratulate you on your victory in the first General Election of the RPJ, you and most of your affiliates won dominantly, for those who haven't heard."

"Thank you very much, though I think name recognition may have helped there."

This earned a healthy chuckle, as Diethard responded after a moment "I wasn't sure that running as a former Prince would do you well, especially among a community that just tried to chuck us out."

Lelouch cringed slightly at the 'us', but he let it go, folding it into his answer of "Look, I like to think I've earned my stripes in Japanese circles at this point, and I'd also like to think that the people who voted did so on matters ranging beyond my skin colour."

The interview continued in this fashion, with Diethard asking fair, yet perspectived, questions and Lelouch offered brief answers that made excellent soundbites, doing his best to canvas on behalf of republicanism with his spotlight.

The one exception to this was the final question, which Diethard gave definite weight with his tone, selecting his words very carefully.

"This has been a fascinating interview, but if you'll permit me one more question-"

"I do."

Another laugh, as Diethard pressed on with "Over the past week or so you've been going around the press, and there's a phrase you've used that I'm not entirely sure as to its meaning. The Long War, to be specific, it's almost your catchphrase at this point."

Lelouch moved about in his chair and found the words, albeit slowly, to explain his closely guarded concept.

"The Long War was a model of sorts. I began to conceptualise it before I left for Japan, but it was only after the invasion and I saw how the country was being run that it took… form, if you will. It's about the battle to win over a country's population following a conquest and make it your rightful clay, in the local's eyes."

Diethard nodded his understanding, and Lelouch continued.

"Naturally enough, it follows after a Short War of Conquest, there is a Long War to secure your gains by winning over the local population. In any modern war, it's almost certain you'll have to contend with some manner of insurgency, and how you respond, how you conduct yourself in the eyes of the local population is key. They have to want to support you over these insurgents if you're to win, and in this instance Britannia has lost."

Diethard nodded, before producing a paper and pen for what Lelouch expected to be a comedic bit, which came promptly.

"So…" Diethard began, adopting a playful tone, "for next time, what should we do differently?"

Lelouch and the audience laughed, as he pointed his index finger out and said "Point one, maybe don't try again.", which similarly elicited a laugh, before he waved it off.

"If you'll permit me a needless analogy-" Lelouch began, before Diethard invited the proposal with "Oh, please do!", allowing him to resume.

"Imagine you're running a restaurant chain. The Long War can be put down as a question of marketing. The people whose land you… own, occupy, or whatever, they are your market. If you alienate them, you're not going to be able to build any market share. When you act against local concerns violently, you hurt your brand, that's just bad marketing. It's like the golden rule in business of 'Don't attack your customer base.' Punitive punishment is one thing, but when you discriminate… indiscriminately, if I can butcher my grammar, you can't then expect the population to not support a rebel element. If I were to summarise my advice, don't be a *head when you invade other countries."

The world would never hear the full version of Lelouch's sage advice, as the broadcaster censored his last sentence, which sent everyone present into a fit of raucous laughter.

"I think…" Diethard attempted, before laughing again, "-I think your message may have been lost on some of the Royal Family."

"Nothing out of the ordinary there, they've been missing it for the better part of a decade."

"Yes, indeed." Diethard smiled, as they shook hands again and stood up, grinning at each other. It was genuine enough; Lelouch found Diethard to be a reasonably sharp man, and Diethard was generally amiable to his guests.

However, Lelouch could only be cynical about the audience. They enjoyed the feeling of the sanitised rebel who they could watch and feel connected to, but they were only for the twenty or so minutes he was in their spheres. They were part time subversives who enjoyed how seeming outside the norm felt, like wearing a Che Guevara tee shirt, while not giving a damn.

He smiled at them anyway.

"Lelouch Lamperouge everyone!"

Thank you to MORTheDivineBeing, SuperApplePie, Titanfire999, Patjeeson, MMBrowsing and GTHC for reviewing this arc!