AN: Hello everyone, welcome back to another chapter here today. A bit of forewarning here, this chapter focuses more heavily on Cornelia and the Britannian side of the story (shocking i know). But all in all, I thought it would be fun to write this mostly from the perspective of Lelouch's enemies. In this chapter i am attempting to humanize the Britannian army or Cornelia's army at least, as well as show the other side of the coin depicting just how terrifying fighting Lelouch will be for the Empire and anyone else that gets in his way.
To answer one question, I refrained from giving Lelouch a melee weapon because it's not really his thing as far as Knightmare combat is concerned. Lelouch is unique, his knightmares are unique and often feature powerful ranged weaponry combined with high speed and very strong defensive capabilities. His brain is a supercomputer, he gets much more use out of complex knightmares with specialized modules and equipment. He may get a Knightmare with a melee weapon in the future, but it will likely be secondary to his ranged firepower, defenses and utility.
Cornelia stepped out of her transport with her head held high, she kept Lila close to her, keeping a hand on her little half-sister's shoulder as she briskly made her way towards Euphie.
The pinkette smiled the moment they made eye contact, and Cornelia didn't bother stopping or admonishing her when she ran over to quickly embrace Lila in a tight hug, which seemed to calm her nerves.
Cornelia couldn't help but allow her lips to twitch upwards in a small smile of her own as she let them embrace. Euphie eventually pulled away before the hug became awkward and looked bashfully up at her elder sister.
"I'm sorry sister, I just felt-" She was cut off as Cornelia raised a gloved hand.
"No need, I understand. Please try to refrain from open affection in places like this, we need to keep up a professional appearance, I'm sure you understand." She reminded Euphemia, who nodded, straightening herself out and trying to appear more proper.
Cornelia nodded in appraisal. "I have a lot of work to do, so please see to it that Lila gets adjusted to Area-11 and show her around, a tour of the settlement might be in order."
"I don't suppose we could go with a light escort?" Euphemia asked half-heartedly.
"In your dreams powderpuff." Cornelia replied humorously. "The natives here have been up in arms ever since-" She stopped just short of bringing up Clovis's murder in front of Lila. "They might try something and I won't have you risking your life, not to mention Lila's. I gave Gabrielle a promise to protect her daughter and I won't break that oath."
Euphemia sighed, but backed down without further comment.
"That reminds me." Cornelia frowned. "Security told me that you ran off, how did you get away from them and why?"
Euphemia gave a sheepish smile. "Ah- well you see um..."
"Yeeeees?" Cornelia drawled with a raised eyebrow.
"I... might have tied a bunch of bedsheets together and climbed out of a window..."
Cornelia gave Euphie a deadpan stare before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"And?" She pressed.
"Well I... may have lost my grip on the bedsheets and fell a couple stories at the end- but someone caught me!" She tried to placate her elder sister who looked like she was about to have a stroke.
"You fell multiple stories!? You could have broken so many bones, or killed yourself!" Cornelia snapped, before pulling herself back and forcing further protests back, massaging her brow. "Why?" She finally asked. "Why do you insist on doing these things?"
Euphie winced at her big sister's discomfort and worry. "Viceroy, I just... the security you have shadowing me at all times is suffocating, I have no privacy. It's all very stifling."
Cornelia crossed her arms, her eyes locked in a staring contest with Euphemia before her relaxing slightly.
"I'm sorry, Euphie." She said quietly. "Truly, I am but you must understand we've lost so much to this damn island already..." She trailed off shaking her head, and Euphemia looked downtrodden.
"I know. Le-" God she couldn't even say his name without stammering. "Lelouch and Nunnally probably don't want any more of us to... expire here."
Lila looked down at the concrete floor, tears welled up inside her ducts as she tried not to cry, and Cornelia squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.
The eldest sister and current viceroy took a moment to ponder.
"Ok, look. Here's the deal, if you want a smaller guard around you I have 2 conditions. The first is that the guards are top of their class, I won't allow anyone but the best to watch over you. The second is that you go in disguise if you leave the Viceroyal Palace, understand? If you leave for official business without a disguise you're still getting a full security detail."
Euphemia pondered for a moment before agreeing. "That will work just fine, thank you."
"Moving on." Cornelia continued. "You said someone caught you, who?"
Euphemia blushed.
"Well it was a very nice boy-"
Cornelia's eyes narrowed.
"He didn't touch me after he caught me!" Euphemia assured her. "I... well we had a very nice conversation and we visited Shinjuku-"
"You WHAT!?" Cornelia snapped, causing Euphemia to flinch. "Of all the brazen, foolish things you could have done that is at the TOP of the list!"
"M'Sorry..." Euphemia mumbled, and Cornelia once again had to take a moment to calm down.
"Ok... going to Shinjuku aside, what else happened?"
"Well, nothing really, I paid my respects, we talked, he was very sweet and gentle."
"I can't help but notice you haven't told me his name." Cornelia pointed out.
Euphemia cringed and braced herself. "Suzaku Kururugi."
Cornelia blinked. "Really now? Small world I suppose." The Goddess of Victory mused.
Euphemia relaxed. "You're... not mad?"
Cornelia waved it off. "The boy is innocent, I knew that before they gave the verdict. His record is spotless and he's critical to the Prime Minister's special engineering corps."
Euphemia smiled. "You approve then?"
Cornelia examined her little sister with a critical eye. "Not exactly. While I'm sure he's more than pleasant he is a Number, and if you openly associate yourself with him you are putting a target on your back."
"I'm not sure if you noticed yet sister but I already have more than a few targets on my back, the only reason they haven't taken a shot is because they're afraid of you." Euphemia pointed out with a small smirk, earning a grin from Cornelia.
"Quite right... nevertheless since he had to put up with a rigged investigation, saved you, and in light of his clean record, I will reward him."
Euphemia beamed. "I actually already kindof did. Suzaku never got to finish his education so I pulled a few strings and fast-tracked him into Ashford, he was in school with a fresh uniform the very next day."
Cornelia nodded in approval, a wistful smile traitorously crossing her face at the mention of Marianne's old friends. "Good work, however considering the fact that the boy is still a private I do believe a promotion is in order. I'll visit the special engineering corps later today after I finish my meeting with the joint chiefs of staff. But the meantime-" She knelt next to Lila. "Why don't you and Euphie have some fun alright? Just make sure you lay low, don't draw any attention and don't leave sight of the guards alright?" She ordered in a gentle tone, earning a nod from Lila, who remained respectfully quiet while the other siblings spoke.
"Ok." Lila agreed softly, and Cornelia lightly nudged her towards Euphie who took her hand and led her away.
Cornelia turned to face Guilford, Darlton, the Glastons, and a high ranking officer in full-kit Britannian Trooper armor. All who were all patiently waiting on the sidelines for Cornelia to finish her discussion.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." She sighed as the military garrison hustled and bustled around them. The local defense forces were busy making room for Cornelia's personal army group, planes were being taxied, trucks full of munitions, fuel, parts and rations drove across the tarmac and between Hangars, and Knightmares were being unloaded from train cars.
"Nonsense your highness, we weren't waiting long anyways." Darlton replied, and the others swiftly nodded in agreement.
Cornelia's shoulders slumped slightly as she lost some rigidness but retained her professional posture. Her eyes swept over the group before she frowned.
"Where's Bradley?"
Suzaku had to do his best not to appear frightened. The Vampire of Britannia was standing over him, leering at him with the kind of creepy smile that tells you, you really need to run away from that person. So remaining passive and standing at attention was difficult to say the least.
"So, you're the pilot of the Lancelot." Luciano mused. "Not impressed."
A small bead of sweat ran down Suzaku's cheek, but he remained silent.
"What? Not gonna talk? Think I'm too good for you, Eleven?"
"N-no sir I-" Suzaku didn't get to finish his response as the knight of 10 slammed a fist into him, landing a blow into Suzaku's solar plexus with practiced ease.
"I didn't give you permission to speak! Hahahahahahaha!" The round boasted as Suzaku fell to one knee clutching his abdomen, he couldn't breathe!
Cecile rushed over to him. "Suzaku! Are you ok!?" She asked, kneeling next to him.
"Don't help him, he's an Eleven." Luciano sneered.
"Bradley!" The voice of Cornelia cut through the ASEEC's lab as she fervently marched towards the commotion being caused. Luciano had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, turning to face the second Princess. "Yes, your highness?" He asked with false innocence.
"Don't 'yes your highness' me Bradley, get away from Kururugi unless you want me to call the prime minister and tell him you're damaging vital equipment." She threatened sternly, coming to a stop mere inches away from the knight.
His brow twitched in frustration, but he made no comment as he stepped around her and walked away. Cornelia turned to watch him leave, glaring daggers into the back of his head.
The moment he was out of the room, she fixed her posture and returned her gaze to Kururugi, and Cecile who was helping him. The Princess locked eyes with the grimacing Suzaku as he tried to bow properly, though he was struggling.
"Did Bradley hit you that hard?"
"Ah- no your highness, apologies. He struck a tender spot, I haven't fully recovered from the Purist's interrogation."
Suzaku tried to hide his anxiety over the issue. Whilst he prayed that he wouldn't be reprimanded, he didn't know how Cornelia would react to this.
Cornelia frowned. "Show me."
Suzaku paled at the implications, but complied. He anxiously reached for the zipper of his pilot suit and pulled it down before peeling the flaps away to expose his torso. A very large and very nasty bruise was clearly visible, as well as a number of other smaller ones spread across his body.
Cornelia sighed softly, shaking her head a little before turning to look at Lloyd while Cecile stayed with Suzaku.
"Asplund." She called out, and Lloyd let out a hum. He had been stoic in silence until this point. Clearly he was not happy with the state of Lancelot's pilot or the additional damage inflicted.
"Get him some painkillers, strong ones. I'm putting a limited work order on Kururugi for the next 3 weeks."
"Your highness I-" Suzaku began only for Cornelia to throw him a sharp look, which shut him up immediately.
"You're in no condition to do any soldiering." She admonished him. "I want you to serve at your best, and I clearly won't get that with you gallivanting around having a bruise like that. You need to heal or you're no good to anyone, understand?"
Suzaku nodded, relaxing slightly but still kneeling. "Yes your highness."
"Excellent, now I originally planned to do this after my meeting with the joint chiefs, but considering that I'm already here I might as well get on with it. Can you stand?" She asked.
Suzaku nodded, clutching his bruise slightly as Cecile slowly helped him to his feet. He didn't show that he was in pain very much, but considering the size of his injury he no doubt felt plenty of it. He was pretty tough all things considered.
Once he was standing in attention, Cornelia cleared her throat.
"Private Kururugi, I am promoting you to Warrant Officer effective immediately. Documentation will be delivered within the next 24 hours to confirm your raise in pay as well as benefits, chevron and identification card with updated clearance, as well as all the trimming that comes with it, congratulations."
Suzaku smiled brightly, proud of his accomplishment. He had wanted this for years and now finally he was getting somewhere! He saluted the Princess with a wince, and she saluted him back as a sign of mutual respect.
"At ease." She then ordered as she crossed her arms, and he entered the appropriate stance.
"I have one last thing to say." There's was an edge to her voice, a tone that wasn't there before that made Suzaku's smile vanish, and he worried a little.
"I understand you met my sister." Cornelia began, letting her knowledge of the event seep in, and he lost some color. He visibly flinched with fear.
She nodded. "Good, you understand then, based on your reaction just now."
Oh yes, Suzaku did. Dread built up inside him. He knew Lelouch was wildly overprotective of Nunnally to the point of enacting violence, so if Cornelia was anything like him... he didn't want to know what she had planned.
"I'm going to keep things short. She very clearly likes you. I can't control what she does or who she likes. If she decides to pursue a relationship of some sort with you then that's her decision, and yours if you return those feelings. Officially? I don't approve. Unofficially however I want only my sister's continued safety and happiness. If you provide both of those things then, quite frankly, we don't have a problem." She explained and Suzaku felt some relief.
"However." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, making him freeze up again. "If you dare to harm my little sister in any way, there is no place you cannot hide, and when I do find you I will personally remove that which makes you a man. Do you understand?"
Suzaku gulped, not fully trusting his voice, but he replied regardless knowing he had to with: "Yes, your highness." And he didn't know how he managed to not stutter.
"We have an understanding then." Cornelia declared, the dangerous aura she presented vanished and she returned to a neutral posture. Her eyes flicked between Lloyd and Cecile. "That final part of my conversation with Warrant Officer Kururugi is off record and will not be mentioned in the company of anyone else. Am I clear?"
"Crystal, your highness." And "Yes, your highness." Were Lloyd and Cecile's responses.
"Very well, as you were." She declared before pivoting and leaving, returning to the direction she came through.
Kururugi was a good kid, she saw it in his eyes, but she wouldn't be a proper big, overprotective sister if he didn't give the boy 'The talk'. Originally she came here thinking that she should order him to ignore Euphie's advances, but upon meeting him in person, she changed her mind. She only hoped now that Euphie would be discreet. Area-11's nobility would be up in arms if they found out a Princess of the Empire was giving affection to a Number, even if they were an Honorary in the Military. It was simply unheard of, it was Taboo, and she knew she would eventually have to do damage control once people started talking.
But, for now, she would leave them be. Soon she would have the local nobility and media in her pocket and she could hopefully lessen the social and political upheval caused by their relationship if there was one. Even a friendship of some sort could cause trouble.
'I'll just have to deal with it, cross that bridge when I come to it.' She mused, mulling over her plan of action. 'In the meantime, I need to get this under control. Sakuradite production is critical. I'll make sure it keeps getting shipped to the mainland. We can't afford to let the locals damage our infrastructure. The chaos that could come from a broken supply chain would be catastrophic.'
She always tried to refer to non-britannians as "The locals" or "Natives". It felt better to her than using the number system. It left a bad taste in her mouth. After everything she had been though, after everything she had seen, she couldn't shake it. Britannia called them numbers. But they still laughed, they still cried, they still sought happiness and expressed love, they still felt pain and wept with sorrow.
They were people, and no amount of propaganda was changing her mind on that subject.
It didn't help that Cornelia felt no closer to her goal of putting Euphemia on the Throne than she did years ago. Marrybel seemed to be doing alright in her current subjugation of Spain, but it was slow progress, even with her newly formed Glynda Knights taking the field.
She was taken out of her internal debate upon entering the conference room. While she went to go find Bradley, her officers gathered here, ready and waiting for their briefing.
"Alright then ladies and gentlemen, let's get to work." Her eyes drifted to Darlton as Guilford automatically went to her side. "You've had a few minutes to go over the data, what's your take general?"
He had quite the frown on his face. "Permission to speak freely, your highness?"
"Always."
"It's FUBAR, your highness." He spoke frankly. "I do not mean to or wish to speak ill of the Dead, but Prince Clovis' administration was not... up to par."
Cornelia sighed. "I feared as much, how bad?"
"For starters, there's countless hundreds, probably well over a thousand kilometers of underground railway tunnels from Area-11's former position as an independent state. They have yet to be collapsed or filled in, and as far as we can tell the Terrorists are using it as a massive subterranean supply network. They can go basically anywhere they want in Area-11 unimpeded."
Cornelia was damn near ready to face-palm, but managed to restrain herself. "Continue."
"Furthermore, the previous administration took minimal action against the terrorists. They have been allowed to grow in strength with minimal opposition. That isn't to say that there haven't been raids, but they were few and far between in comparison to the kind of quota that should be expected to actually quell insurrection, and most of those raids proved to be middling in success at the best of times, and complete failures at worst."
More bad news, wonderful.
"Additionally, we have reason to suspect that law enforcement is corrupt. While we don't have any direct evidence, financial reports on the Knightpolice indicate that many of them are getting additional funding from an outside source."
'This just keeps getting better.' She groaned internally.
"On top of that, much of Clovis' spending was rather... well... he had a lot of expenses in the form of lavish parties, and building amusement parks named after himself."
Cornelia just stared at him.
"Beg your pardon?"
Darlton cleared his throat. "Clovisland."
"... Right then." She decided not to comment any further.
"There is one more item on the dossier that I'm not quite sure about. A very large portion of funds went into something labeled as Code-R. However I have no information as to what Code-R actually is, there's no records of it other than a brief budgetary report that was delivered to his office while he was away at Shinjuku."
"So, we have an area chock-full of terrorists, a masked figurehead, a corrupt to the core local administration and, I'm assuming no data on Zero other than what we already know."
"That about sums it up yes." He confirmed gruffly. "It's not all bad, he did do quite a bit of good for the funding of education, infrastructure and the fine arts, including a charity organization. Sakuradite production has also never fallen below minimal quota while he was in office."
Cornelia sighed, relieved that her brother at least did a few things right.
"How about domestic knightmare production? How are we looking in that regard?" She asked, not expecting a good answer.
"That's actually the least of our concerns, surprisingly, domestic knightmare production is more than sufficient."
Cornelia raised a brow. "Really now?"
"Quite, it would seem that the Ashford Foundation has found their footing, they've been supplying replacement knightmares for Clovis' Garrison when they took losses."
'The Ashfords? Well... I'll be damned.' Cornelia smirked, thinking to herself. 'Ruben you crazy bastard, I don't know how you managed to recover but you must have the devils luck to rebuild after everything that's happened.'
She nodded. "Alright then. I say we kick off my arrival with a bang. We'll hunt Zero down even if we have to go through each terrorist cell until there's nothing left."
"Of course, I have a roster of a few valid targets we can go after."
"Lay them out."
"Right, the first on the list is a group called the Iron Shoguns. They have a base of operations located somewhere in the Shibuya Ghetto, next is the blood of the Samurai. They're a larger group spread across multiple sectors, but Intel points to their main headquarters being inside of a mountain fortress located in the Kita district. There's also the Yamato Alliance based in Saitama, and the Japan Liberation Front in Narita. Finally, there's one group that's a bit more... elusive."
"Elusive?"
"The Kozuki Resistance. According to what limited information we have, they're one of the best connected and better equipped groups operating close to the settlement. They have customized and upgraded Glasgow frames at their disposal, no Intel on how they got em, but word is that they're responsible for the Destruction of the Purist mobile Battalion as well as the supporting assets and the death of Prince Clovis. Unfortunately they've gone to ground. There's been no sighting of them since the battle of Shinjuku."
"Hmm..." Cornelia mulled over the information provided before coming to a decision. "I suppose we might as well work our way down the list of available targets. In the meantime I want military intelligence working on tracking down the Kozuki resistance. If they're truly the ones responsible for killing my brother, I want them sound immediately."
"Understood."
"If there's nothing else to discuss-" She turned to look at the infantry officer. "Major."
"Your highness." A feminine voice spoke from beneath the helmet as they snapped a crisp salute.
"Whats the status of the 8th army?"
"Most of our forces are still en-route from pearl. The main force should be arriving within a week. In the meantime we have first and second Battalion on standby thanks to the air lift. 1,200 troops are ready to go along with the provided armor, air and knightmare assets."
"That should be more than enough to take out these terror cells. What's the status of the Area-11 defense fleet?"
"Currently stationed in Tokyo harbor. The Flag Carrier HMS Albion is undergoing refueling but should be able to launch in case of an emergency. 3 Edinburgh Class missile Cruisers, 7 Brunswick Class Destroyers, 9 Longbow Class Frigates, 4 Sealion Class Attack Subs... oh, and the HMS Indomitable."
"Right, forgot about the Indomitable." Cornelia admitted as she considered the availability of forces. The HMS Indomitable was a relic from the pacific wars. It was a modernized Battleship. Fat, slow, a gas guzzler, but it hit like a truck and could eat lead like nothing else. Most Britannians saw it as a symbol of national pride so it was kept around. Everything still worked and it was well maintained, but it didn't leave port often.
"Alright, here's how it's gonna work. Major, I want you to rally up second Battalion. I want first Battalion to remain here and keep tabs on the colony. For now I'll keep them in reserve. Considering that these Terrorists can show up literally anywhere at any time I don't want to play my entire hand and be caught with my trousers down. I'm sounding general quarters, we're heading out to Shibuya in 2 hours, understood?"
"Yes, your highness!"
"Get to it Major." The officer snapped a salute and briskly left the room. "Guilford on me, Darlton, bring your sons, let's get this party rolling."
Outside of the government office, Major Emilia Cornwall approached the staging area, activating her helmet's integrated comm. "Alright boys and girls listen up! Second Battalion on me! Able company to the M-RAPS! Baker company, get in the APC's! Charlie Company to the Humvees! Dog Company gets to ride the tanks today! Easy Company you're riding in style, get to the Choppers! Pack your shit let's move! Everybody get ready to mount up!"
As she barked the orders, Second Battalion kicked into gear and prepared to move, the infantry grabbed their rucksacks, guns, loaded up on ammunition and did weapons checks and began to get their platoons organized while Sutherlands began to get loaded onto train cars and the G-1 rumbled out of its hangar.
Dodge, thrust, block, parry, swing, side-step...
Kallen was breathing heavily as she raised her Bokken to deflect another strike, she sucked in much needed oxygen with quick gasps as her muscles strained to keep up with her sensei. Sayoko was a slavedriver. The moment Kallen agreed to learn what the master had to teach, she was dragged into hellish training.
She was a bit miffed. She had finally gotten comfortable with her capabilities in a knightmare only to find her physical attributes lacking... ok she was more than a bit miffed. She was pissed, but she felt better knowing that the skills being more or less beaten into her may one day save Lelouch's life, not to mention her own. So she grit her teeth, she would bare it even as Sayoko seemed to completely dismantle her bit by bit.
She was caught off-guard by her phone ringing, making her hesitate just slightly, and it was enough of an opening for Sayoko to finish the job, dropping and performing a leg-sweep that knocked the redhead to the floor.
Kallen grumbled, accepting Sayoko's helping hand to get up before pulling off the protective face covering she was wearing and answering her phone.
"Kallen here."
"We have a problem." Lelouch's voice came through, and that was enough to put her into soldier mode, her eyes narrowing.
"Sitrep?"
"Cornelia hime is on the move, Intel reports she's mobilizing a Battalion as we speak."
"Do we know her target?"
"Comms traffic indicates they're heading to Shibuya."
"That's Iron Shoguns territory... what's our time frame looking like?"
"Not good. I've messaged them that there's an impending attack but there's too many civilians to move in such a short period of time."
"Whats the plan?" He always has a plan.
"RTB, I'm about to hold a conference with highcom."
"Roger." The line went dead and Kallen closed the phone before looking at Sayoko. "Sorry to cut the lesson short but duty calls."
Sayoko bowed. "You have been making excellent progress young mistress, I look forward to seeing you grow in our future lessons."
"Thank you Sensei." Kallen replied with a bow of her own before quickly making her way to the Ashford underground and jogging into the conference room. Lelouch had a map set up with markers placed in specific areas while the rest of the Kozuki resistance gathered around it, Milly was also in attendance.
Everyone gave Kallen a nod in recognition as she took a moment to breathe and listened in on the conversation, chugging a bottle of water while she did so.
"The plan is simple, we have spare transports, old trucks and cars that can be swiftly mobilized and driven into Shibuya. We prioritize the young, old and sick, then the women and finally men if they opt not to stay and assist us. We have knightmares but we lack air power. Cornelia's forces are more numerous, better equipped, and have years of experience. We will be relying on 2 key details to even the playing field. The first is that we're on defense, that gives us an advantage, the second is that our forces know the land. Cornelia and her troops have only just arrived in Japan. They don't know it like we do so we have home-field advantage. These 2 benefits will lessen Cornelia's raw power, but they won't completely swing things in our favor. We will need to be cautious."
"Is Cornelia really that bad?" Tamaki asked.
"She's the witch of Britannia for a reason, their Goddess of Victory. Cornelia Li Britannia has never lost a battle over the course of her entire military career, which is extensive. She and her personal army are almost entirely, single-handedly responsible for the fall of several nations. The most recent of which being Area-18, and the subsequent collapse of the middle-eastern Federation." Lelouch explained candidly.
The room was rather quiet after that, with the resistance members exchanging nervous glances.
"So... we're going up against a seasoned veteran with a perfect record." Ohgi muttered. "This will be nothing like Clovis."
Yoshida exchanged a nervous glance with Minami and Nagata while Inoue and Sugiyama murmured to each other.
Kallen stared down at the map. "So, we get our wheels in and have them start driving out as many people as we can, first seats to the young, old and sick. In the meantime we skirmish and stall for time so we can evacuate as many as possible." Kallen surmised.
Milly stepped forward, using an erasable marker to quickly draw a series of uneven lines from Ashford into Shibuya. "The Ashford Foundation has tunnel networks here, here, and here. These are most likely still intact. The entrances they have at the end lead into the old subway system. It should be clear to move vehicles at high speed, knightmares included."
"We have our plan then. Kallen, get all available pilots mobilized. If we're fighting Cornelia we'll need as many frames in the field as we can muster. Ohgi, I trust you to lead the evacuation effort, you're good at organization and speaking to others."
"Got it." Ohgi gave a thumbs up for good measure.
"Everyone else to your usual stations, the clock is running down, double-time it!" That was all he needed to say for the rest of the resistance members to kick into gear, and Kallen pulled out her phone to call Maya while she dashed out of the conference room and into the locker room to change into her resistance fighter outfit.
The Resistance base in the Ashford underground sprang to life as an alarm for general quarters sounded off. Pilots ran down the catwalks and chambered into their Burai frames while the regular troops gathered up small arms and ran to the trucks and cars they had at their disposal.
Lelouch met Kallen outside on the catwalk where their 2 Knightmare Frames stood side by side, and they shared a kiss. They needed no words to express what they felt. The desire for one to see the other return safely. And with that they broke apart and climbed into their frames. While they did, Maya sprinted down the catwalk and hopped into her own custom.
"Zero Squad on me, let's move!"
The knightmares, cars, and trucks began to move, speeding down the underground tunnel system towards Shibuya.
When they arrived Lelouch quickly radio'd the Iron Shoguns.
"Attention resistance forces, this is Zero, I bring friends, we are here to help!"
"Zero!?" A voice answered over the Radio almost instantly while he sat in his cockpit. "This is Shima Uratachi, leader of the Iron Shoguns, we'll gladly take whatever help we can get!"
"My forces have brought vehicles to help assist in the civilian evacuation efforts. I have also come with 51 Knightmares in total."
"Amazing! We have 13 Frames, mostly Glasgows and a couple Burais, the rest of us are rocking machine guns and RPG's."
"I see. If I can make a proposition I would like to do so?"
"Go ahead, by all means."
Lelouch smirked, so far the guy on the other end sounded like a huge fan of Zero, so he felt confident in making his request. "My offer is this, allow me to lead you for the duration of this battle. If you are satisfied with my command, join under my banner. I believe my ability as a leader has been portrayed quite well in my battles against the former Viceroy." It still stung to think about Clovis, but he held those feelings down.
"Fuck man if you can get us out of this I'll kiss you." The man on the other end declared.
Kallen who was listening in, snickered.
"That won't be necessary." Lelouch answered with a humorous tone. "Now, here's what we'll do-"
Inside of the rumbling G-1 base, Cornelia sat inside of her private office, fingers intertwined and one leg resting over the other as she stared at the current target of her curiosity.
The margrave that ran as temporary viceroy looked worse for ware, bags under his eyes, anxious, restless, something was eating away at him.
He was put in a cell, but not interrogated, not yet, she wanted to debrief him first, and use his experience before she came to her verdict on weather she wanted to lock him up for not.
She regarded him with sharp eyes, examining him thoroughly, the only sound being the feint, distant rumbling of the G-1's engines in the lower deck.
She finally decided to break the tension. "It's been quite a while, Jeramiah."
"Yes, your highness."
"8 long years."
Jeramiah remained silent, his eyes betrayed his shame and sorrow. Cornelia took that as her que to speak again. "Tell me what happened, leave nothing out."
He nodded quietly. "I was running the procession, everything seemed normal, no hiccups... but, then that car showed up. It looked like Clovis' transport as you are well aware-"
Indeed she was aware, but the moment anyone took a good look at it's interior and beneath the hood, it was clear as day that it had been a convincing rushed-job to copy the exterior onto a pile of junk.
"Go on."
"I... ordered them to exit the vehicle, and you know about the conversation that took place but... he said something else to me."
Cornelia frowned, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "And?"
Jeramiah gulped, his eyes flicking around the room nervously before speaking again. "Are you certain this room is clear of bugs?"
Cornelia nodded, she was certain of that.
"I... after he spoke of project orange, he... he said if I killed him, I would never learn the truth of who murdered Empress Marianne-"
The moment Marianne's name dropped, Cornelia's aura darkened. She leaned forward with one hand harshly digging into the top of her desk.
"What did you just say?"
There was an edge to her voice so sharp that Jeramiah felt a cold chill run up his spine.
"Are you fucking with me, Jeramiah?" She questioned in a low tone that promised pain.
"I swear it your highness! I would never lie or joke about such things!"
Cornelia kept up her glare, a visible indent had been made in her desk with how hard she gripped it before slowly pulling back, anger turned into denial as she shook her head.
Marianne, a woman she loved like a mom more than her own mother at times. Her idol, the Empress who inspired Cornelia to be who she was today.
Zero had information, but how? And why would he reveal that? Was it a lie? A trick? But if it was a mere perfidious statement then why would he make sure only Jeramiah could hear it? These questions racked her mind. Why after all these years did a random masked terrorist have information about the Flash? Who the hell is Zero!?
Before she could voice he outrage, the G-1 came to a sudden stop, and the alarm sounded off, and the intercom blared to life.
"Enemy forces sighted!"
Cornelia wasted no time shooting up out of her chair and running towards the bridge with Jeramiah following close behind.
When they arrived at the command deck, the G-1 was stopped on the outskirts of Shibuya, and the rattle of gunfire was prevalent, echoing in the distance. She approached the Tactical readout on the table and analyzed it.
"What's the situation Darlton?"
"Multiple contacts spread around the perimeter to Shibuya, your highness." He began. "Squadrons of modified Glasgow frames are keeping our forces pinned down and unable to advance."
"Casualties?"
"None of our troops have been reported KIA, but we have numerous wounded and many of our vehicles have been rendered mission-kills mostly due to damage to the treads, engines, wheels and transmission."
"We must be in luck then-" One of the staff officers suggested. "Either that or these Terrorists or poor shots."
"No." Cornelia shut that down. "Look at the way they're doing it. This isn't an accident, it's deliberate, they're targeting the lead vehicles with disabling shots to block the convoys from entering. They're not trying to kill our men, they're trying to stall us for time." She guessed, it was her best theory.
She walked past Bradley and towards the comm. "Major Cornwall what's the status of your flight?"
Flying at low altitude, squadrons of Britannian military helicopters were advancing on Shibuya from an alternative direction, swinging in from the south while the main force approached from the southeast. These helicopters were multi-role gunships with transport capabilities, each chopper held 11 fully equipped Britannian troops, and had door gunners on either side manning machineguns.
Major Cornwall was standing up, looking outside of the left-side door with the loud noise of the spinning rotary blade drowning out most noise. She put her hand to her helmet's comm. "On approach your highness, we'll be entering the Ghetto perimeter in T-minus 33 seconds en-counting."
Back in the G-1, Cornelia nodded. "Get ready to deploy, it's gonna get hot down there."
"Your highness! Condor-1 has spotted movement deep inside the Ghetto."
"On screen!" She ordered.
The camera feed of a Britannian Gunship zoomed in on the sight of several cars and trucks moving away from the combat area, the quality was high enough that Cornelia could see the faces of the people on board. Women, children, and the elderly, unarmed civilians.
"Open Fire Condor-1."
Cornelia bristled. "Belay that!" She snapped before turning to glare at Bradley. "Are you out of your mind!?"
"They are enemies of the crown, they deserve to die."
"They're non-combatants!"
"They're Elevens." Luciano corrected her with a sneer. "Pilot, destroy those vehicles with prejudice."
"Ignore that order!"
"Do it or I'll personally see you executed."
"You filthy little ingrate!" Cornelia spat, her body tensing up, she looked ready to kill Luciano before she turned to look at the camera feed again, and her heart sank seeing a little girl holding a stuffed animal. She almost felt like the child was looking up at her, staring into her soul, her face contorted in fear as her mother held her tight.
"I'm... i'm sorry your highness."
'What?' Cornelia's eyes went wide. "NO WAIT-"
"Fox-2."
Cornelia watched in horror, her face stricken with it, twisted in disbelief and abject terror as she watched an AGM split the air.
For just a moment, Cornelia hallucinated, her trauma and guilt from 7 years ago resurfaced and for a split second saw Nunnally's face on the little girl before there was a bright flash, and then there was nothing but a cloud of debris.
"Target splashed... kill confirmed."
Luciano began to laugh, only to immediately be knocked onto the floor, his face was wracked with pain as before anybody could even react, Cornelia threw a right hook into Bradley's face, breaking his nose and getting blood on her pristine white gloves. She looked like she was about to jump on top of him, only for Guilford and Darlton to rush forward and restrain her. Each of them held one of her arms back as she pushed herself forward. They held her back, but barely.
"YOU SICK FUCK! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT OR I'LL KILL YOU HERE AND NOW! CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A PIKE YOU PSYCHOTIC PISSANT! YOU HEAR ME?!" She bellowed with unmatched fury.
He glared at her and picked himself up off the floor as blood dripped from his nose and a cut across his cheek. He left without a word.
Ohgi was laying face-first on the broken asphalt. There was a gash in the side of his head, he woke with a start, his hands slowly dragging against the old road as he came to. He was knocked out, but only for a second. His mind slowly righted itself as he pushed himself up off of the ground with a puddle of his own blood beneath him, and a few drops continuing to drip onto the small pool as his eyes adjusted, and his hearing slowly returned.
What was going on? Why was he here? The last thing he remembered was...
His eyes dilated as the echo of a scream and an explosion rocked his mind, and he scrambled to turn around, only to see the wreckage of the evacuation convoy he just sent away up in flames.
Ohgi began to cry.
Lelouch stared at the burning Remnants of the people he tried to save while sitting inside his cockpit. Kallen's Burai was standing next to his. The prince's hands gripping the joysticks so hard they turned red. Outrage, hate, disgust and disbelief swirled inside him as his face contorted to express these emotions, his teeth visibly as he clenched them and his mouth was set in a grimace.
"Cornelia..." He snarled in a low tone. A mad look sparked in his eyes as they sharpened. "I thought... I hoped you were better than this..." He hissed as his face continued to morph into that of someone who was completely enraged.
His fist slammed into the comm, activating it. "ATTENTION ALL FORCES! THIS IS ZERO! CORNELIA HAS BEGUN TO ORDER THE DEATH OF CIVILIANS, OUR OPERATIONAL STATUS HAS NOW CHANGED!"
Almost a decade ago, the seed of hatred was planted. For 7 years it festered beneath it's surface.
Now the flower has blossomed, drinking in the cries of anguish, the blood, and the torment, and is about to bare fruit.
A demon has been born, and now he was playing for keeps.
The flight of Britannian military Helicopters closed in on their drop location, the pilots moving to their assigned deployment zones and getting ready to have their passengers exit.
They weren't prepared for what came next. From the city streets and buildings below, a fusillade of missiles streaked up towards the choppers.
"RPG's!"
"Brace!"
Major Cornwall and her squad of 10 other Troopers barely had a moment to react as their chopper suddenly lurched. The whole group tried to grab on to anything they could to stay seated and they caught a feint glimpse of a missile flying past the open door and strike the tail end. The rocket exploded and ripped off the back portion, sending the tail rotor falling away as the craft began to spin out of control.
"Hold on! Everybody hold on!"
The chopper continued to spin and went careening into a city block. One of the men lost their grip and went flying out of the hold with a terrified scream that was suddenly silenced. The helicopter's hull dragged across the wall of a dilapidated building before hitting the ground hard in an alleyway, landing on an angle.
Cornwall was dazed, but still awake as they rolled over. They where inside the chopper, their back in the floor. She slowly managed to sit up partially, and saw 3 of her comrades had died, crushed as they fell out and had the chopper land on top of them. She then looked around and saw several others still waking up. Her hearing returned and she heard gunfire and explosions all around her not very far away.
She struggled to turn around, her left ankle sprained, if not broken in impact. She crawled up the side of the floor plating and peered over the side of it to see the rest of her men gathered around in a defensive formation around the wreckage. They were engaged in a firefight with the terrorists, bullets zipping, whizzing and snapping as gunfire was exchanged between her troops and the resistance fighters hiding in the old ruins of the ghetto.
Shit...
She must have said that out loud as the Medic's head snapped around to see her struggling to get out, and he ran over to her.
"Major!" He shouted. "We thought you were dead! The terrorists-"
"Gah!" She choked out. "M-my leg!"
He got the message, clamoring up to assist the officer and drag her out of the craft before setting her down.
"Which leg?"
"Right."
The Medic reached into his satchel, grabbing a morphine Injector and jabbing it into her thigh, earning a small hiss from the pinch she felt.
"That should make it bearable, what are your orders ma'am?"
Before she could answer properly, one of her men yelled. "Knightmare!"
It was enough to get the squad to start to scramble. The Medic took her and the other men began to run as they limped.
A custom Burai appeared around the corner following the screech of its own landspinners and it raised its rifle before opening fire and beginning to gun them all down.
The Medic, thinking quickly dove through an open doorway with Cornwall, followed by several others.
The rest didn't make it, she turned her head just in time to see 3 more of her men get torn to bloody chunks by the knightmare rifle, viscera exploding and splattering across them and splashing through the doorway, leaving them all partially covered in blood.
"Jesus christ!"
"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-"
"Snap out of it! We have to keep moving!"
And so they moved, the squad ran through the building and into the adjacent street only to see a massacre taking place, an entire squadron of sutherlands was being ripped to shreds as they dove behind the wreckage of a tank, just in time to see a grenade cannon blast a hole clean through an APC that was trying to retreat. Several Troopers ran screaming out of the back door, their bodies on fire, with one man stumbling out, missing half of his left arm. The bone had snapped half way down the limb with blood gushing out of the arteries before they fell to their knees and then dropped dead.
A Burai ONI pulled up next to the stranded squad, unaware of the survivors as it unloaded its chain-cannon into a retreating formation of Sutherlands, ripping them apart before unleashing a Salvo of missiles at the Convoy they were protecting. Explosions erupted in the distance moments later, and the mech sped away.
Major Cornwall was left shell-shocked as she stared through her helmet's visor at the carnage, she didn't register one of her squadmates shaking her repeatedly until finally her senses came rushing back, and the ringing that overtook her ears suddenly vanished.
"-our Orders!? Major!"
She turned her head to look at them before the words she needed to say finally reached her lips.
"B-broken arrow..."
The long-range radio operator stared her for a moment, before tuning in to high-comm's frequency and trying to hail the G-1.
"Hawk-1 to Hawk-actual do you read!?"
"Hawk-1 to Hawk-actual do you read!?" Cornelia heard the desperate plea even as she watched her battle lines begin to completely disintegrate. The collapse was almost instantaneous. LOST markers streaked across the Tactical readout as her initial knightmare forces got torn to shreds and the armor columns bogged down. Tanks were being wrecked, the APC's, Humvees and M-RAPS were being blown to pieces and her choppers were being blown out of the sky.
It was a mass-cas.
She wasn't prepared for this, none of them were.
The comms officer replied. "This is Hawk-actual we read you Hawk-1 send message!"
"Broken arrow! I say again, BROKEN ARROW!"
Broken arrow, a universal code phrase that meant only one thing. The enemy had completely stopped the army and had them surrounded, and they needed all available air assets to commence bombing runs.
Cornelia didn't hesitate. "Contact HMS Albion! I want strike fighters scrambled now! Give the fallback order to all remaining forces!" She barked before turning to look at Guilford, Darlton, and the Glastons. "On me!" She ordered, and they rushed down to the G-1's Knightmare hangar.
Alfred, Bart, Claudio, David, and Edgar all got into their machines alongside their father while Cornelia and Guilford did the same. In total they were only 8 Frames. But they were some or the best of the best.
"We're getting our men out and then we're getting our troops back to base, no heroics."
"Yes, your highness!"
"Launch!"
The 8 Gloucesters shot out of the launch bays of the G-1, and the elite units blitzed straight into the combat zone while Britannian fighters soared overhead, dropping bombs and launching missiles into the Ghetto.
Shirley watched from the high-rise shopping center. Her heart breaking. Her eyes stared out of the window, one of her hands pressed up against the glass.
She wasn't the only onlooker. Britannian citizens gathered to watch the distant conflict. Whispering amongst themselves and taking pictures or recording. Shockwaves from sonic booms shuddered the windows as fighters flew by, breaking the sound barrier as they raced towards the battle. Tracer fire visibly lit up the sky as distant explosions rocked the Shibuya Ghetto.
Tears began to fall from Shirley's eyes as her other hand reached up to clutch at her chest.
'Lulu...'
AN: Reviews please!