He sat behind his desk, looking over some paperwork. For some time now, everything has been going according to plan. So much so that he began to become paranoid. Speaking from experience, nothing usually goes this well without any sort of problem. Then again, maybe it's because of the Azure Dragon.
If he were to be entirely honest with himself, the dragon was a truly impressive figure. Well, it should have been expected with him heading the biggest anti-Britannian resistance group of all areas. His resourcefulness and the ability to plan on the fly were a really good match for someone in his profession.
His musings were broken by a sharp knocking on his office doors. He smiled. "Come in, Xianglin." With his permission, the officer stepped in. She was carrying some more paperwork under her right arm.
"I have brought the information you requested, my lord." Saying so, she put a thin stack of papers on his desk. His eyes went up in bafflement. "Is this really all you managed to gather?" She grimaced in frustration. "I am afraid so, yes." He sighed.
He looked down onto the few pages-thick pile. In all honesty, if you took into account just what it was about, the amount of information possessed was miniscule. The entire might of the Chinese federation couldn't find more on the currently most infamous man in the entirety of Britannia. He could most likely glean more just by walking around Tokyo for a few hours.
Alas, it wasn't an option just yet. He was needed here for now. He had some more tasks his boss gave him, and searching for Zero was unfortunately not one of them. Fortunately, there was good news too. If they were on schedule, soon enough the eunochs would be deposed and the empress would gain actual power.
And through her, he would steer this nation in a better direction. Although, if nothing is done about it soon, Xingke might just start the coup on his own. Really, how can you be one of China's best officers yet be so careless when it came to taking part in a coup d'etat? Well, no matter; for now everything was going smoothly.
If the dragon succeeded in liberating Japan within half a year, they just might, for once, be ahead of Britannia. But all of that remained to be seen.
Cornelia Li Britannia, the second princess of the Holy Britannian Empire, was officially stumped. She was standing on top of her Gloucester with a perplexed expression. There in front of her, on top of a news van, stood the greatest enemy the empire has faced since Emperor Napoleon himself. And yet...she simply couldn't find that rage, that bubbling, hot anger that was supposed to be within her.
This man before her was her brother's killer, someone whom she should hate with all her might. He was the first to ever even come close to achieving a complete victory against her. And yet...something deep within her simply refused to see this man as an enemy.
Worse still, she was catching herself more and more frequently wandering on his words. He was a terrorist, and she was an imperial princess, and yet, his words, his ideals... It all appealed to her on a fundamental level.
Furthermore, his manners and the way he healed himself, it was all so blindingly familiar... And yet, despite the answer staring her directly in the eye, she couldn't see past the blinding light to glimpse the truth. It all seemed so painfully obvious, yet she couldn't recall where she remembered those manners from.
"Zero." Her voice was soft, way more gentle than it probably should have been, considering the circumstances. "Why did you come?" There was no anger, no aggression in her tone. Mere seconds ago, she was ready to kill the first non-friendly she saw. And yet, the moment Suzaku notified her of Zero's arrival, all anger left her.
"I have come to save her." Came his soft yet gentle answer.
The moment the words registered, she slightly widened her eyes. Suddenly she was back in the imperial gardens of the Areas villa, chatting pleasantly with her siblings. They were all there, or at least the ones she was closest to. Odysseus, Nunnaly, and Euphemia were conversing somewhere nearby. Schneizel was talking with Lady Marianne in the background. Clovis and Lelouch were playing chess, exchanging good-natured banter.
All of this struck her with such a sense of emptiness and loss that she almost physically staggered back. 'I see, so that's how it is...' Suddenly, she missed her sister's embrace terribly. It was so unlike her, and yet still the same, she found herself craving for someone...anyone to hug her. Cornelia was cold...so terribly cold...and alone.
She glanced back at Zero. "I...I see." She fell silent for a while. And then suddenly she signalled Guilford and Jeremiah to let him pass.
When the van was no more than a few metres away from her machine, she spoke in a soft tone. "Bring my sister back, and...don't die." He didn't give any outward sign that he heard her. But, just the moment before he left her hearing range, he spoke. "I will do my best." It was odd, the words of this man...she felt so much better. A warmth started to burn in her heart. The cold was still there, but it was so dulled that she forgot about it, even if just for a moment.
"I shall pray that you succeed then." She mused to herself.
Lelouch was stunned. When he heard that the JLF had captured Euphemia, he was sure that heads would roll. Instead, he found his younger sister and Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe sitting at a table in the CEO's office and chatting pleasantly.
Ah, Zero, the commander was sure you would make an appearance." The colonel spoke. He stood there, not really sure what he was supposed to do. He was prepared for a great many things, but certainly not for something this confusing. Cornelia's behaviour earlier had already puzzled him, and now this. What was going on here?
"Colonel Kusakabe...I have to be honest with you; this is not something I expected when I heard you took hostages." He smiled actually smiled.
"This is not an act of terror Zero, this is a warning. Princess Cornelia slaughtered Japanese men, women, and children in the Saitama ghetto. She must realise that every action has an equal, if not more violent, reaction. "
... And what on God's green earth was he supposed to answer to that? This was an act of terror, not a terrible one, but an act of terror all the same. On the other hand, he didn't want to alienate the JLF. This seemed like something Seriyus would order if he felt outraged enough.
"He said you'd come." Silence proceeded the proclamation. His mask shielded his agape face. 'Who?! What? How!?'
As I walked through the Narita Mountain fortress, I pondered all that had happened since the invasion seven years ago. All this around me was built by my and my sword's hands. After our military officially surrendered, I was angry; some may have called me pissed.
It was the time my father committed seppuku to quell the rising hatred in the Japanese populace. It was thanks to him that we were able to rebuild and rearm. Without that last stand, the likes of General Tatewaki wanted most of our strength to remain to be used another day.
Speaking about the failure of a general. At the beginning of the occupation, he was the one seemingly in charge. To be frank, seeing what a disgrace he was, I had to...remove...him from his position. He most likely would have run us into the ground.
Each and every soldier I passed in the hallway took their time to stop and salute me. This feeling of respect from my underlings was a truly welcome sensation.
I had been thinking lately. As it was now we were fighting to free Japan. Taking into consideration our current pace, the empire should be out of here within a few months. Our soon-to-be victory was occupied with mountains upon mountains of corpses, but it will be worth it.
...But, what happens after that? When we shake off the Britannian collar from our necks, the Chinese will most likely swoop in and try to take their place. Or it would have been so if I didn't have a well-developed connection with a few...rebellious...generals. The moment the eunuchs tried anything, a cold knife in their back would derail that.
The Europeans are way too far away to try attacking us, and even if they tried to throw something at us from the Siberian border, we would make short work of that. How? Well, I'd like to see them try to destroy our soon-to-be commandeered Britannian navy. It would rip them to bloody shreds.
And even if we failed to take the Britannian ships, the moment the Europeans landed, we would destroy them in seconds. With the old metro tunnels winding through the entire country, we would chip away at their units from the safety of underground. Besides, the European knightmares were truly pathetic, and if they tried tanks...well it would be 2007 once again, but with us having the knightmares.
Naturally, Britannia will send a recolonial fleet from Pearl Harbour. For them, I have a separate fun surprise, a gift from China in exchange for a better Sakuradite price when we free ourselves.
Speaking about our soon-to-be fleet. There were two major military ports in the occupied Japanese territory. One was, of course, in Tokyo, and the second one being in Toyama. There were multiple more, but those were holding the coast guard and not the blue water fleet.
I had a respectable amount of hidden resistance cells in place to take over the navy bases the moment I gave the order.
Another place to take into consideration was Mount Fuji. Being the source of 70% of the world's most popular liquid superconductor, it was armoured and protected to hell and back. But, there was a significant loophole in the defences. Most of the defences are AI-run. Cut the base off from the central imperial hub, throw a little hacking into the mix, and the gun emplacements were completely useless. Not only useless but also up for taking after killing off the rest of the defenders.
If that loophole didn't exist, then we would have to go through gunfire...from naval grade guns. I saw what those 305 mm guns could do to a knightmare, even without a direct hit.
Ah, speaking of mountain Fuji, those dinosaurs in the kyoto houses are starting to be a bother to deal with. In absolute reality, I only need Taizo; the rest are useless to me. Kaguya and her ties to the Japanese royal family would be more useful if my own weren't even closer. If they get any more bothersome, I might just as well dispose of them.
The only ones to keep around would be Taizo and Kaguya. Kirihara for his expertise in government related work. Sumeragi could be used as a bargaining chip; you never knew when an arranged marriage would come in handy.
Some might argue that democracy would be the most prudent to establish. To those I say, How stupid can you be? Democracy is always a bother to deal with; it's slow when you need it to be fast and fast when you need it slow. It isn't even what the Japanese populace wants or needs. They need a leader, a guiding hand that will show them the way. They need an emperor.
A role I would be honoured to uphold.
In the end, Emperor Charles was right. Inequality isn't bad, equality is. I was born smarter, more agile, and way better with both a knightmare and the blade.
God, I sound like some bad anime plot villain. But, in the end, it's not like I'm not. I even kidnapped a princess. Well, more like my men did it, but still.
I suppose there's no such thing as entirely white or entirely black, only shades of grey.