Holy Britannian Empire, Area 11

September 2017.

Garma Zabi, the youngest son and youngest of the Zabi siblings, was known for being usually calm and rarely losing his temper. The undoubted talent for keeping cool is useful in many branches of life, both civilian and military. The young man had seen and heard about many cases of soldiers who, losing their composure, condemned themselves and their own comrades to ruin and death.

So he could say that he has mastered this skill, but this would be a very insidious and self-destructive form of self-deception. For this reason, he never thought of himself that way, and instead preferred to think of himself as a cold-blooded man, calm, but prone to outbursts of anger, just like everyone else.

What confirmed his belief was the sight of his friend not so long ago, just a few weeks ago. Lucius vi Britannia, one of the greatest political and military minds of the 21st A.T.B. century, one of the most peaceful people Garma had ever met. A man who, despite losing loved ones one after another, remained fully sane and was able to develop despite many adversities and thanks to the help of someone who clearly saw his potential.

Garma has watched Lucius become one of the empire's most powerful political figures over the years, despite his young age. Garma also stood by Lucius' side many times, whether during preparations for battle or during proper preparation and planning of battle tactics. He also saw him after many battles and skirmishes, tired and wanting a break from the sight of the bloody battlefield, but still able to remain calm and speak to his subordinates with the same grace and silver tongue that Garma had become accustomed to all these years.

What was even more difficult to believe was what happened after they all arrived in this cursed country, Lucius, Garma and the rest they took with them.

The purple-haired young man saw how, before his eyes, his best friend began to take on a completely different mask, towards literally everyone, even him, Char and Ciaran. It was as if arriving on these cursed islands, where the ashes of his loved ones rest, had activated some curse placed on him long ago. But Garma wasn't an idiot and didn't believe in magic, so there was only one logical explanation for him, at least for this particular issue.

Lucius did his best to appear cold, indifferent, emotionally distant from everything that was happening, even from his friends. But when that mask was significantly lowered, Garma saw - or perhaps heard - only bitterness, rage, fury, and - though Lucius himself would never admit it - the hidden pain of being there. Pain, primarily emotional, which undoubtedly caused him to be in this large cemetery of his family.

Although Garma felt sorry for him - despite the fact that he himself had never lost anyone, at least not being fully conscious and emotionally developed - he could not shake off his great anxiety about his friend revealing what could be called the dark side of Lucius' personality . Although that would be a significant stretch, given Garma's friend's certain amount of amorality.

"I understood at least part of his nature long ago, as a man with many wounds in his mind and soul, but who continues to act and move forward, no matter what adversity gets in his way." Garma said all this at some point, in his own heart and as part of his inner dialogue with himself. "However, even this powerful man, a friend of mine and my family, has many flaws and weaknesses, just like every human being. How sad and mundane it is, but how true and realistic."

Garma saw how painful it was for his friend to just be there, but he still couldn't help much. However, even more disturbing to Garma was Lucius's indifference to the current condition of the natives and to the methods of pacification, which involved a fair amount of abuse. All this led directly to unnecessary losses among the Elevens who worked to further develop the economy of the Holy Britannian Empire.

Garma knew this, and Lucius undoubtedly had similar knowledge on the subject.

"However, the resentment towards the people of ancient Japan over the loss of loved ones makes this indifference completely understandable." Garma admitted this fact in his heart, for no matter how hard he tried, he could not deny it. "At least one consolation is the prospect that if I, someone in my family, or other of Lucius's close friends and allies suffered a similar fate, we would be avenged. Those who would kill us would be met not only with indifference, but also with a harsh reaction from him. Perhaps Lucius would take his time, perhaps he would wait for some time or for a convenient moment. However, given the opportunity, he would certainly accommodate them, perhaps even brutally."

After this internal dialogue, straight from his heart, came another. "Funny, Lucius has always claimed to have left the past behind him, and maybe he's even convinced of it. However, with what is going on in Area 11, I find it very difficult to believe him on this matter. More like he wanted to believe that he was able to fully leave the past behind him long ago. Still, it was better than being consumed by the past. God knows that if Lucius went crazy and started killing people left and right, just because of his troubled past, that would be the end of him in the political scene of the Holy Britannian Empire. "I wouldn't be surprised if in such a case the Emperor ordered either his silent assassination or his secret confinement in some godforsaken mental institution."

But that didn't matter much at this point. Definitely, not in the context of the dramatic shift in the winds that was unfolding right before Garma's eyes.

"What exactly is going on here?" He asked at one point while aboard an intercontinental VTOL transport that had brought two of the newest Knightmare Frames here.

Just a few dozen minutes ago, the situation in this ghetto - the name of which Garma forgot once again and not for the last time - seemed to be heading in the direction consistent with normal predictions. The forces under the direct command of Clovis and General Asprius were on a straight path to the destruction of the ghetto and the extermination of the population of this place.

Garma grimaced once again, thinking about Delta Carthage order, which was simply pointless unless the Viceroy was trying to hide something. Undoubtedly, the nature of his secret project, but that was not the most important issue for the purple-haired young man at the moment.

What was most important to him at that moment was the fact that the situation for the colonial forces had changed 180 degrees. From an easy and certain victory, the skirmish - although considering the number of machines and men involved, it was already a full-fledged battle - turned into possibly the most humiliating victory that the proud Britannian Army could imagine at that moment.

At first, everything was going smoothly, Garma was observing the course of the battle and could afford to make such an observation. However, at some undeterminable moment, the terrorists managed to stop some of the Purists in their Sutherland Swordsmans, thus gaining some respite. As if all this was not enough, they managed to receive one of the shipments with Knightmare Frames transported in freight wagons. There was little comfort in the fact that they were only Sutherlands, solid but inferior to more modern machines.

However, even so, the forces led by Clovis had a decisive advantage and the victory should have been easily achieved. How great was Garma's surprise when local terrorists, previously poorly coordinated and even less well-led, managed to set ambushes for their opponents. All with a level of coordination that was so great it seemed unreal.

Garma briefly thought that perhaps the terrorists had somehow managed to gain access to their IFF system, but a moment later he dismissed that option. The only option would be to steal one of the Knightmare Frames, already connected to this system. Otherwise, it would be impossible, given the robust security measures developed for friend or foe identification.

Regardless, the fact is that unit after unit, company after company, fell into terrorist ambushes and lost their machines. Fortunately, the vast majority of the pilots were ejected and thrown outside the fighting area, where they were safe. However, this was a small consolation compared to the constantly changing situation to the detriment of the local forces of the empire and the constantly increasing material losses.

However, what completely terrified Garma was the desperate step taken by Prince Clovis and his officers. Complete encirclement of the enemy, using all reserves and even the forces protecting Prince and his G-1, while leaving no gap in the encirclement.

Although Garma was not an outstanding field commander, he perfectly understood some battle stratagems, including an encirclement with a clear possibility of retreat, which was supposed to be a trap and a decoy for the enemy, who, tempted by the seemingly easy possibility of retreat and escape, would be massacred and would pay for such a retreat. high losses. Without this, those who led laps could face a long and exhausting fight with the opponent for a point on the map. A point of little importance.

Much to the purple-haired teenager's surprise, nothing like that happened and it would seem that either the terrorists had sunk into the ground or they were never there in the first place. As it turned out very quickly - or at least this was the conclusion Garma reached - the first option turned out to have solid grounds, because the only logical explanation turned out to be the conclusion that the terrorists used old subway lines dating back to the times of the Japanese state.

How minor was Garma's own surprise later when the ground beneath all the Knightmare Frames gathered in the middle of the battlefield simply collapsed, or rather was collapsed.

"It appears that the task force, under the command of our Viceroy and his right-hand man, has suffered a disastrous defeat, and without additional forces, fighting will be impossible, and in the meantime, the Elevens will be able to escape." Garma stated aloud and with the audio recorder running, making his voice heard on the communication channel used by himself, Lucius, Monica, and the Amethyst Guard. "However, if the terrorists prove bold, they will undoubtedly want to eliminate your brother, Your Highness."

Garma addressed Lucius formally, due to the presence of the Lieutenant commanding the men on board, who also decided to observe the battle. Both of them, exchanging comments during the clash, had similar observations.

"Any attack at this point will be doomed to failure and unnecessary losses that will not change anything in the course of the fighting."

"I don't think so and I'm going to fight immediately." Lucius stated in response, and as if sensing his friend's doubts, he decided to say something first. "It is not reckless or unnecessary risk if your opponent does not have artillery, air support or reserves at his disposal. Although the battle now has taken an unexpected turn, I have no doubt that only one factor has influenced it."

"And this is?" Lieutenant Tormod, who was standing next to Garma, decided to join the conversation, obviously curious about the opinion of one of the best commanders Britannia had to offer and send to the battlefield.

"A change in the position of commander of this group of terrorists, which - at least in my opinion - has a maximum of 200 people as an organization." Lucius replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but he decided to clarify it anyway. "Until now, terrorists have fought in a careless and chaotic manner. The various smaller groups of this organization, as you may have noticed, Lieutenant, fought sloppily, wasting much of the ammunition and anti-tank weapons available to ordinary infantrymen. However, practically in the heat of battle, the leadership style of the terrorists changed dramatically, to such an extent that the task force intended to destroy the ghetto was - in terms of materials, of course - decimated and it is doubtful that it will even be regrouped in the near future."

After a short pause, clearly a moment of reflection, Lucius continued. "I don't believe it would be a trap and a deliberate move on their part. What's more, if they really intended to sacrifice dozens of their militants and hundreds of their accomplices - whom they undoubtedly call civilians - without any greater purpose and just to deceive them - it would be the height of stupidity on their part, which would exclude the possibility of the existence of an outstanding individual among them, capable of doing so. type of command quality. Hence my conclusion, considering the fact that our enemies triumph and we do not."

"I understand, Your Highness." The lieutenant replied, somewhat shyly.

"Does this mean that our new weapon will see its first real test?" The question came from Garma, interested in testing the new weapon and seeing its results on a real battlefield.

"Out of my politeness and our friendship, I won't deny it." Lucius's answer was quite clear, laced with light mockery and friendly banter, inappropriate for the battlefield, but allowing you to relax from the pressure of the battlefield, even if you are just a passive observer of the fight. "Monica, I will give you two of my Amethyst Guards. Your weapon, a foldable cannon, means massive firepower and therefore the ability to provide me with artillery support if needed. Stay at the back."

In response, the Knight of Twelve sneered. "Although I would prefer to accompany you, I am a guest here, and a guest - according to good customs - should show respect to the host."

"Then both of us don't show even the slightest respect for my brother." Lucius allowed himself a sneer as well, on this closed communication network. "Garma, you continue to monitor the condition of the battlefield and - if possible - bring in some reinforcements, at least to secure the area. If there are no further questions, me and the guards will advance, All Haill Britannia!"

"All Hail Britannia!" Garma and Lieutenant Tormod also shouted the state greeting.

Garma, was actually much more enthusiastic and happy than usual. Lucius, for the first time in days, seemed somehow happy and even a little playful.

The purple-haired young man didn't know whether it was a matter of the opportunity to test a new weapon, or maybe it was Monica's presence that influenced him so much that - at least for a while - he managed to open up and abandon the mask of cold indifference? Garma didn't know, but he had no doubt about one thing.

"It certainly won't hurt him." He said to himself in his heart and without saying a word. "Neither to him nor to us, or at least that's what I sincerely hope."

XXX

Lucius sat comfortably in his seat, in the cockpit of his machine, which was lit from almost all sides, giving everything an aura as if it did not come from modern times, from this post-industrial era, and was instead a creation of humanity from the distant future.

"What a fool I was to allow such development to be stopped by taking petty revenge on an extremely talented and ambitious man and his protégé." Lucius scolded himself in his heart with all possible severity for the way he had once treated Doctor Zimmad and Albert. "How much more these people could have offered me if they had worked with Carl, or if I had not at least hampered and maliciously sabotaged their careers and engineering efforts. Where would Britannia be now if it weren't for me?"

After this wordless dialogue, straight from the heart, his cheeks turned slightly red with shame, and he felt simply stupid, as if someone had just revealed to him the truth that he himself - as an extremely intelligent, cunning and resourceful person - should have understood. a long time ago.

On the other hand, he remembered the exact reason why he had acted the way he had. "It was necessary to show everyone how he ends up leaving me in my hour of need. It was necessary - at least from a political point of view - for everyone to know and be fully aware of how de facto betrayal could end. All this in stark contrast to the gracious treatment and rewards of people loyal to me, like the Zabi family and the Krushevskys. A rule as old as the world and humanity: be loyal, gracious and generous towards those who obey you, but vindictive, merciless and cruel towards traitors. Old, but universal, and it always works whenever you have a reason or opportunity to be gracious and generous to those who obey you."

He shook his head after that. "It doesn't matter, just as my past shouldn't matter compared to the opportunities the future offers me and my vassals, friends and allies. A future that, as always in every century, must be paid for with piles of dead or exhausted bodies."

At these last words, his heart, his previously quite good mood, deteriorated slightly. "How unfortunate, but at the same time so human, because it fits into the human world."

Without thinking much more about it and not wanting to think back to the ugly reality of this world, he decided to focus on reality. At the same time, he brought the tactical map before his eyes, analyzing the current situation once again. He didn't know where the opponents were, but based on strong guesses, after a while he gave the order to switch to a completely separate IFF channel so that no one could track them.

Only when this process was completed did he and 4 of the 6 Amethyst Guards move forward and search for the enemy.

As they delved deeper into the ruins, a shiver ran down Lucius's spine. He had never yet decided to leave the mobile base when such operations were being carried out and preferred to remain a passive observer. He coldly assessed situations from his throne, like God who, in many religious concepts, observes and supervises humanity. In this case, however, Lucius observed the pacified ghettos and the resistance suppressed by force, from the perspective of an indifferent man who had no sympathy for the people being killed. Whether it was an actual terrorist, a civilian caught in the crossfire, or so-called temporary terrorists.

If Lucius were ever to point to one of his greatest strengths, it would be his rather rare ability to be indifferent to suffering. The ability to remain calm even in a situation where he saw many of his comrades fighting on the African front torn to pieces or with half of their bodies missing. Memories that even now came back to him from time to time in rare and quick flashes, though he didn't even flinch then. He did not flinch even when he saw villages of African natives abandoned and left alone by European colonizers, while the local population either died of starvation, dehydration or disease, or were essentially reduced to living corpses, that to some a quick execution may have seemed quick execution as a salvation for these people.

Now, however, for some reason that was difficult to explain, Lucius began to feel distinct chills when he saw crushed or charred bodies, or simply corpses with one or more bullet holes.

He forced these thoughts aside to focus on his potential enemies, and he didn't have to wait long for his first target. Group of 6 Sutherlands emerged from around the next bend, and the purple and blue color of these machines amidst the ruins and gray ruins immediately brought them to the attention of Lucius and his guards.

For his part, it only took the Purple Prince a moment to raise his machine's massive assault rifle and his guardsmen followed suit.

"Fire!" He gave the order in the blink of an eye, and then a massive but precise fire began.

There was a significant difference between the large machine guns used by the Sutherlands, at least in terms of the precision of sustained fire. The effect was very easy to see, because 4 of the 6 machines taken over by the terrorists were shot almost immediately and catapulted their cockpits with their pilots, far from the combat zone.

However, as Lucius found out, the machine gun his machine operated was more than it seemed. It was no longer a weapon, using standard bullets and a magnetic pulse for magnetic guidance, but something that until recently could only have been considered the domain of better or worse science fiction, but nevertheless became flesh here. Before his eyes, in this earthly vale of tears.

Shining and as if pulsing with energy, the beams left the barrel of his metallic dark gray machine gun, piercing the armor of the stolen Sutherlands, embedding themselves in individual parts for several centimeters before exploding and tearing the individual parts apart from the inside.

"Hold your fire!" Lucius didn't even wait for his guards to actually stop, and instead charged forward, meanwhile sheathing his weapon and drawing the Deathtrooper heat saber from behind his back.

The pilots of the two remaining machines tried to fire, but it was only a few ineffective shots before the Purple Prince reached them, using the much greater mobility of his Knightmare Frame, despite having much stronger and thicker armor than any Knightmare Frame previously built.

The first of the 2 remaining pilots did not even have the opportunity to fire another shot, Lucius cut off the 'hands' of his machine and later, he moved his heat saber, which cut the enemy Sutherlands in the waist, which resulted in the pilot ejection.

Meanwhile, the second one, seeing what had happened to his combat companion's machine, did not even try to fire another shot, and instead, and undoubtedly in a fit of panic, he catapulted his cockpit, leaving the machine basically untouched.

"We're moving ahead and fire to automatically activate their Cockpit Ejection systems!" Lucius gave the order. "We cannot rule out the possibility that we may encounter stragglers who are trying to retreat or join up with some other units. "It's better than killing pilots already experienced in combat."

The guards didn't answer and Lucius didn't even wait for their response, because he was well aware that none of them would dare to oppose him, no matter what.

They moved without major obstacles through the streets of the ruined residential area for several minutes, encountering weaker groups of enemies from time to time, at least weaker than what they encountered the first time. Typically, these were 2 machines that either Lucius cut down with his heat saber, or his Amethyst Guards, in their custom Unitroopers, simply shot them down. All in accordance with the order that the Purple Prince gave to his guards to try to minimize the number of potentially killed allies and avoid death as a result of friendly fire.

All this until the group of 5 machines reached a quite large square, surrounded on all sides by ruined buildings. However, opposite the 5th Knightmare Frames, there was a ruined theater, from which shots began to be fired moments later.

Lucius and his guards quickly dispersed and rushed to the nearest cover available to them, the closest available being large craters in the asphalt, undoubtedly caused by heavy artillery fire. In the case of the Purple Prince, his Knightmare Frame attracted particular attention from his opponents, who considered it the most dangerous. Or rather, a certain rebellious teenager leading them became so concerned about the presence of these machines that he ordered the destruction of the Knightmare Frame leading these formations.

As a result, the KPR-02 Deathtrooper received several hits on the armor of its legs, but the inclined plates deflected the shots more powerful than in other Knightmare Frames. Only one, quite lucky bullet got stuck in the left leg, but that was all, because the damage was superficial and the Knightmare Frames required something much more to render them inoperable, or at least weaken their ability to function properly.

However, this was not the end of their problems, because from two other collapsed ruins of buildings located opposite each other and located perpendicular to the devastated theater building, enemy machines hidden there also started firing.

At the same time, the Factsphere sensor of the Purple Prince's machine began to scan the area, including a total of 13 Knightmare Frames, which were firing ineffectively. However, the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the fire did not matter here, because the only thing that mattered was massing, which made it impossible to even lean out of these covers.

"Whoever commands this poorly trained militia is a truly great commander." Lucius will praise the enemy commander in his heart, without realizing, much less suspecting, his identity. "Coordination that terrorists could not achieve, at least with their normal leadership. However, that doesn't mean they can beat me."

Then, he aimed the barrel of his machine gun towards the street from which he and the Amethyst Guards had come.

"Concentrate fire towards the northeast, they're coming from there." Lucius gave his guards an order with a calmness worthy of a living room and the discussion taking place there, but which seemed completely inappropriate to the situation taking place here. "You may fire when ready."

There was no need to repeat this twice, especially since from that direction and straight towards them was heading a small unit of 3 Knightmare Frames, whose pilots clearly did not expect to be detected and wanted to get close to the position of Lucius and his subordinates as quickly as possible to be able to defeat them. firing them as effectively as possible.

The Purple Dragon of the Empire and its guardsmen shot down the enemy machines, and the fact that Lucius' machine had energy ammunition meant that in this case the Knightmare Frame he was shooting at was blown up before the cockpit was thrown out. The other two were catapulted without any major problems.

However, Lucius no longer paid much attention to it, and instead, focused on communicating with his fiancée, whose machine and, indirectly, she, played the role of mobile artillery in this clash. "Monica, I'm sending you the coordinates of the buildings where our enemies are. Their fire makes it impossible for us to move forward."

"As you wish, Lucius." There was a quick reply, followed by the sound of muffled thunder from Lucius' position.

It was a sign of impending destruction, because the destroyed theater building was hit first and the shiny pink explosion first penetrated the entire interior, only to change color to ordinary fire, the whole thing began to degenerate into nothing more and nothing less than only mixtures of ruins and burns. A similar fate, a few moments later, befell the remaining two buildings and the pilots, not to mention the machines.

Thanks to this, the way to move forward was open.

5 machines moved around the streets for a while, eliminating individual Knightmare Frames they encountered. Despite everything, there was a surprise in the form of one terrorist who showed so much patience and accuracy that he suddenly attacked the unit, as a result of which one of the guards was catapulted, and his Knightmare Frame exploded a few moments later, leaving only a burning wreck and debris.

Lucius did not wait and shot the enemy machine, accidentally hitting the core of this Sutherland, after which the Knightmare Frame exploded, not giving the fighter even the slightest chance to escape and sealing his fate.

Knowing that his guardsman would handle it, Lucius moved forward, continuing to break through the enemies of the empire, who this time, however, were much less organized and were an easy target.

Out of pure curiosity, Lucius decided to scan the area and only then, after using the Factsphere sensor, was he able to detect another machine whose movement speed seemed to match the Deathtrooper he was piloting, and even exceed it in some respects. Scanning the machine to learn as much as he could, but to his surprise, the machine was unusual to say the least, and contained at least a few features that Lucius had never seen or heard of before.

The first thing that caught Lucius' eye and attracted his attention was the presence of quite a large amount of Sakuradite in the machine's limbs, which gave the machine such efficiency. In addition, two retractable Factspheres affixed on its 'chest', which has never been attempted before. Purple Prince, however, had theories that if it had happened at least once, it would happen at least several more times and in several different machines.

However, something else fell into the background and soon caught the attention of the Purple Prince, and these were some form of deflectors, mounted on the 'forearms' and blades, with great heating power, which were easily identified by Lucius as Maser Vibration Swords with great power and the ability to cut inorganic matter.

The design of the machine itself also seemed a bit strange, at least compared to what Lucius had seen so far, and if he had to compare it to anything, it would be the European Alexander series machines, in terms of slimness and streamlined shapes, as well as the shape of the head , although the latter to a minimal extent. Only after a while did the Purple Prince realize that the resemblance was only very superficial, not to say minimal.

"Garma, I'm sending you data regarding some unidentified and unknown Knightmare Frame." Lucius did exactly as he said. "Could you shed a little more light on this?"

"Yes." Garma responded after a short while, and after a few more seconds, he was ready to report. "According to the data recovered, you have now located the Z-01 Lancelot, a prototype Framy Knightmare designed and built by Camelot."

"So Lloyd is here, loyal to his job as always?" Lucius asked rhetorically, because he had - at least in his own opinion - had the dubious pleasure of meeting this man several times and was in no rush to talk again, but at least he was ready to respect his dedication to his work. "Well, since the pilot of this machine is helping us, I can safely assume that the Camelot team is nearby, supervising the fight. Garma, if possible, establish contact with a certain antisocial Count."

"At once, Your Highness." Garma responded and immediately got to work. "Here you go."

A few moments later, a video call screen appeared in front of Lucius's head, and on the other side was the self-satisfied face of an eccentric scientist with glasses.

"What can I do for you, Purple Beast?" He asked with a mocking tone and a way of speaking that made Lucius practically lose all energy for any conversation, but he had to have it anyway.

"Lloyd, good to see you in a good mood." Lucius said it so half-heartedly, without bothering to be polite, that even a deaf person would have said the opposite. "I noticed that you decided to send your prototype into action…"

"It's Lancelot, the Purple Beast" The eccentric engineer and designer of the Knightmare Frames replied, clearly very proud of his work and more than willing to tease the Prince of Britannia. "My greatest creation, which will surpass any obsolete machine that Carl Tallgeese designed…"

Before he could say anything more, he was grabbed by the collar by a woman's hand, which forcibly dragged him away from the screen, threw him somewhere far away with a thud, and took his place as the interviewer.

"I apologize for his behavior, Your Highness." Cecile Croomy, his young assistant, said nervously, clearly aware of the potential consequences that could befall anyone who insulted the Prince of Britannia.

"Miss Croomy." Lucius started out so chilly that the temperature on both sides of the screen seemed to drop, and the day was warm and quite sunny, although the latter was more so before noon. "While I accept your apology and sympathize with working with... an eccentric and clearly lacking social skills boss, I would like to remind you that Count Asplund walked a very fine line. Just so you know, an angry person becomes erratic and irrational. Such a man is more dangerous the more power he has, so I advise Count Asplund to be warned to curb his language in the future. The Prime Minister may be the patron saint of Camelot, but anger can override all rationality."

Lucius had a hard time restraining himself from giving the woman a cold smile, giving it up only after a long moment of silence. Ultimately, in his opinion, it wasn't necessary and would just be a waste of time.

"Yes, Your Highness." The woman swallowed nervously, then tried to put on a metaphorical mask that would give her as much calm as possible.

Before she could add anything, Lucius just raised his hand with a sigh, telling her to remain silent. "Please forgive me, Miss Croomy, I did not plan or intend to make threats against you. Nevertheless, please monitor your boss more in the future, because you both may have to deal with someone who is much less understanding in the future."

Lucius lowered his hand, changed his facial expression to slightly relaxed and sat back in his chair, maintaining all his dignity and seriousness. "But now, I want to get to the point…"

This was what happened, and Lucius asked for clarification on the presence of a machine piloted - at least Prince believed - by a pilot assigned to Camelot, by the Prime Minister, or one of his men.

Meanwhile, Cecile Croomy tried to answer the questions as best as she could. It was she who explained to him that Prince Clovis, in an act of desperation and facing a losing battle, had decided to send their prototype into battle, after Lloyd's proposal, which Count himself was happy to present, with similar disrespect. For obvious reasons, no technical details were revealed, but Lucius didn't need it.

"Thank you very much, that's enough for me and I hope to meet the pilot of this machine in the future. Although he appears to be somewhat inexperienced, as evidenced by his somewhat sloppy fighting style, he has enormous potential." Before the surprised and obviously concerned woman could say anything, Lucius ended the call and then addressed everyone on the communication channel he was using. "It looks like the battle is won, so far we haven't encountered any more…"

What interrupted him mid-sentence was the arrival of the white Knightmare Framy, who, when viewed live, seemed almost like a masterpiece that would belong in an art museum rather than an actual fighting field.

The pilot apparently thought they were terrorists, so he charged in and clearly wanted to stab Lucius' machine with the vibroblade, but he was called one of the best Knightmare Frames pilots for a reason.

Prince easily raised his machine's heat saber and blocked the attack, and in the place where both blades crossed, there was a slight accumulation of emitted energy, but both pilots withdrew a moment later and Lucius wasted no time and immediately established communication.

"Attention! To the pilot of the Z-01 prototype, this is Prince Lucius vi Britannia, we are in operation!" Lucius began with his voice raised imperiously, but the longer he spoke, the more he lowered his voice. "I order you to search the rest of the city, I have a feeling it's still not everyone and I'd rather not risk it…"

Once again that day, he could not finish the sentence because his brother survived, broadcasting on all frequencies to all formations present in the ghetto. "All forces ceasefire at once!"

"What the...?" Lucius was surprised by his brother's sudden decision, so much so that he turned his Knightmare Frame in the direction where the G-1 Mobile Command Base was presumably located.

Then came a more detailed call to stop fighting, full of empty words, and Lucius in his cockpit expressed surprise, bordering on confusion. However, he was quickly snapped out of this state by the announcement of the Knight of Twelve.

"Luc, what do we do in the face of this?" She asked him, and only then did he muster up any sensible answer.

"It's suspicious to say the least, and I'd prefer we check it out immediately, meet outside Medb and see what's going on." Lucius said before turning to the pilot of the prototype machine. "Considering that the fight is over, I advise you to withdraw and I sincerely sympathize with your cooperation with Lloyd Asplund. But I hope we will meet in the future."

"Yes, Your Highness." The answer came, but with a Britannian accent that Lucius would have found strange and forced, had he even noticed the answer.

Instead, the Purple Prince focused on reaching the G-1 mobile base, named Medb, as quickly as possible. His guards did not leave him even several dozen meters away, and they kept a rigid wedge formation, with Deathtrooper Lucius at the very center and tip.

Driving to their destination, the edge of the ghetto, Lucius decided to make sure there were no surprises waiting for them and kept his Factsphere sensor turned on and the 'eye' of his machine took on the characteristic yellow color of this Knightmare Frames component with green rings that regularly provided him information. To his surprise, he no longer found any opponent, or at least there was no indication of that.

Instead, the Factsphere sensor detected hundreds of survivors of the order to destroy the ghetto, who were trying, more or less desperately, and in a more or less orderly way, to leave the battlefield and get out of this destroyed place. However, all this was under the supervision of soldiers watching them or armored personnel carriers passing by, whose task was to secure the area.

After about 7 minutes of short driving through a sea of ruins, Lucius and his entourage arrived near the G-1 mobile base, where quite a large number of personnel and soldiers had gathered, heading towards the command center, searching for answers, as did Lucius himself.

It stopped right in front of the mobile base, and a few moments later Monica arrived with her guards. They both left their machines almost at the same time and of the 3 guards accompanying Lucius, two came out to accompany and protect him. The rest remained in their custom Unitroopers, awaiting further orders or developments.

Lucius walked up to the closest of the masked soldiers and asked with obvious tension. "What happened, why are the lights in Medb turned off and where is the standard security for the mobile command center?"

"Please forgive me, Your Highness, but I haven't the slightest idea." The soldier just shrugged, seeming quite calm despite the situation. "None of us know what's going on, especially since we can't contact anyone higher up in the hierarchy."

Lucius looked at Monica for a brief moment, then his eyes fell on the soldier once more. "Tell the others to secure the ghetto and begin an immediate search for survivors of the battle, ours and those of our enemies. Meanwhile, I'm going to find out what's actually going on."

The Purple Prince turned back again, looking at his Knightmare Frame and the machines of his guards. In the case of the Deathtrooper, only a bullet in the plate covering the lower limb, and dust and dirt clearly visible on the lighter colored parts of the machine.

However, in the case of 3 Unitroopers, it was not so rosy. Their white armor and parts of their limbs looked as if they had been through hell. The fight in the city caused a lot of dirt on both machines, and this was only the tip of the iceberg.

Lucius saw all this and stared for a brief moment before heading inside the metal beast, with Monica and the 2 guards following right behind him.

None of them were aware of the presence, among the nearby ruined or collapsed apartment blocks, of a quite tall young man with raven hair and purple eyes. A young man who, upon seeing his twin brother after many years of separation, was more than willing to confront him. In particular, because of some of the Viceroy's last words.

"Schneizel, Cornelia and Lucius, they will know. Although the latter was always convinced that the Emperor dealt with your mother's killers secretly and behind the scenes."

For the raven-haired teenager, this was a big revelation that he was going to confront his brother with. However, the sight of all these soldiers, Knightmare Frames and the constantly arriving armored vehicles made him decide to retreat.

Meanwhile, the Purple Prince tried to contact anyone on Clovis' task force from his communicator, but was unable to do so. "It appears that almost all communications except ours have been cut off."

"Well, the G-1 is great and an extremely desirable vehicle." Monica answered him, her voice echoing throughout the complex. "One of the reasons for this is that these machines have a special wave transmitter that allows them to create an extremely secure communication channel. The only way to learn the content of conversations or information provided is to be part of this channel. However, when the mobile base's systems are deactivated, the communication channel also collapses and the troops are left blind and disorganized until a new one is established, and this takes some time."

"How unfortunate." Lucius stated wryly in response as they approached the bridge. "Still, someone must have turned it off and I doubt it would…"

At that moment, he stood in front of the metal gates, which opened a few moments later and Lucius just stepped inside, with Monica and the guards behind him. After taking a few steps, his eyes fell on the throne where he found his brother, covered in blood.

"Clovis?" Lucius flinched at this, as his natural instincts dictated.

Meanwhile, Monica sighed loudly when she saw a blond man in an elegant uniform whose head had been pierced by a bullet several millimeters wide. There could not even be the slightest doubt that his skull had been pierced and shattered, while blood flowed freely down the back of the wooden throne, through the seat and down to the floor, where a pool of blood had already formed.

Monica watched in shock only for a few moments, because on the battlefield or when pacifying terrorists in individual Areas, such a sight was not surprising or unique. Despite everything, she didn't even think about approaching the corpse.

At the same time, both guardsmen drew their firearms in addition to their melee weapons and carefully looked around the command center before declaring it clear. Lucius himself decided to take a look around the darkened command center and, to his surprise, he didn't find even a single body here, apart from his half-brother, of course.

Lucius simply didn't understand it, but he decided to put aside speculation about the cause of the event and instead focused on the present. He approached the throne and, seeing that his deceased brother was still wide-eyed, allowed himself to give him this last and posthumous favor.

"I was planning to depose you as Viceroy, brother, but the bullet fired by the magnetic launch system did it for me faster, but not necessarily in the way I intended." Lucius was practically whispering to his dead brother, as if sharing his own thoughts with him before his final end in this world. "You, Schneizel or Cornelia, have shown me and my siblings a kindness and familial love that we could not expect from the rest of the family, including your bitchy but still your powerful mother. Don't be afraid that you have left some things in this world unfinished, you can rest brother, I will take care of everything, you have my word on that."

After these words, he closed his eyes with a gentle but sufficient movement of his hand. "Rest, for nothing worse can happen to you here than the final end."

Lucius then straightened up and turned directly towards Monica, who seemed to hear some of his whispers but didn't seem willing to share her own thoughts on the matter.

With that in mind, Lucius decided to speak up first. "It looks like we have a problem at the moment, a gigantic problem."