The Day of Burning Seas
As Nunnally sat in her chair on the tarmac, hearing but not really listening to the final reports from the ground commander, she felt a small flick of water dab her cheek. She glanced upward at the darkened skies, the thick clouds that seemed just a little bit too bright and puffy to be rain clouds. The forecast indeed said that it would rain, but that was supposed to be hours away. Nevertheless, her ever-prepared Angela wasted no time opening up an umbrella to cover the empress.
"Well, I won't delay you any longer, your majesty," the Lieutenant Commander said with a salute. "Please make it home to Pendragon safely."
"Thank you, Lt. Cmdr. Kauffmon. Please be safe out here as well," Nunnally said somberly. "I don't much like the idea of returning to Pendragon with so much left to do out here, but I understand that for the moment I am not needed here."
"If I may, your majesty; I don't think there many, if any at all, among my soldiers who believe you are not needed here. Only that you are more needed elsewhere. We look forward to seeing you again soon, Empress Nunnally."
Those words brought comfort and a smile to Nunnally's face, a light misty rain blowing over now. She found herself needing all the reassurance and confidence she could receive right now, as everything was telling her that it was a bad idea to be leaving for Pendragon. But with the operation in the Pacific merely an hour away, the agreement with the UFN was that she would be underway to Pendragon. It wouldn't be without something to mull over.
"Cloning?" Nunnally questioned in disbelief, as she heard Sara's accounting of her experience at the Institute a few days earlier.
"So, they're actually trying to make clones?" Kallen repeated, also struggling to make sense of it.
It wasn't so much the idea that there would be an attempt at cloning, but the question reemerging about what Euphemia Alter, Marrybell Alter, and Shirley Alter, really were. Were they really just clones of the real articles? Physically identical clones? What of C.C.'s estimation that the Euphemia she met was indeed the real thing? Was it possible to create a clone that could fool C.C's senses? Even C.C. had admitted that when it came to magic she wasn't exactly in her own element. She didn't know a lot about magic, and she probably never had occasion to come across an actual clone. A clone created or enhanced with magic? Was it possible that a Geass could be passed along via cloning without a Code bearer awakening the power in someone? Or was this evidence that another Code bearer was out there acting behind these efforts outside of everyone's view? Geass itself stayed a secret for centuries, it wasn't too hard to imagine that another Geass user or Code bearer could be hiding somewhere orchestrating this all.
And that said nothing of the idea that a mage, maybe someone from the Clock Tower C.C. spoke of, was involved. If Geass could stay hidden so long, what could be said of magic which even C.C. as a centuries-old Geass user didn't know or believe to be real until just in these last weeks?
"I-I don't think a clone is the main goal," Sara tepidly added. She was having a tough time maintaining a professional and respectful decorum while being so very thrilled to finally be in front of the object of her obsession. But she was also aware of how important what she knew could be to Nunnally, so kept her wits about her. "It seemed like cloning was just a consequence of the overall project – what they called homunculus."
"Homunculus? Are you sure that's what she said?" Kallen asked.
"Y-yes. Dr. Forrest said that it was the Homunculus Project. She explained to Euphemia Alter that they needed a control in their research, so they had to have test subjects as identical to each other as possible, that's why they were making the clones."
"Do you know anything about homunculus?" Nunnally asked Kallen.
"I'm not sure," Kallen began, trying her hardest to dig up the memories. "Homunculi showed up in some of the comics my brother would read when we were kids. They were similar to clones I think, meaning they weren't naturally born humans. But I think more than that homunculi were changed or altered in some way. They're not really human, but resemble humans – sort of like something you'd call a human, but that wasn't born in any way you'd really consider to be the way a living person would be born… it's really hard to explain…"
"I suppose we'll have to look into that more deeply then," Nunnally sighed. A thought then crossed her mind. "You said that they're meant to resemble humans but aren't humans. That the clones are being used as the base because they're all identical to each other that way. Does that mean that she's trying to make a person that can use magic better than herself?"
"That's an unsettling thought, but it would make sense," Kallen agreed. "Usually the comics would have some story about someone obsessed with something about life and the homunculus being made to exemplify that part of a person the character thought was lacking. They would basically try to make a human that was smarter than ordinary humans, or a person that was stronger than a normal human; stuff like that."
"That would seem to answer the question we had as to why she seemed to be delaying whatever her ultimate plans are, despite demonstrating our inability to stop her," Nunnally reflected.
Kallen nodded along in agreement. "It was our working conclusion, wasn't it? Whatever she really wants, she still doesn't have the power to achieve it. So, maybe she's trying to create that power. Do you have any idea how long the project was supposed to take?" she asked Sara.
"I'm very sorry, I don't," Sara replied, as glumly as if she were being accused of failure.
"No, no, it's fine. I mean, you took incredible risk and gave us absolutely invaluable information. It's amazing, really. Honestly, we're just really greedy for any little bit of extra information we can get to use against her."
"Do you know where Senator McHenry is?" Nunnally asked Kallen.
"He should still be in Pendragon. I think he was one of a handful of Senators to ask for a waiver to travel out here to the restricted zone, but you denied any waivers. The Senate's been in session every day since."
"Perhaps I've been too aloof in my dealings with the Senate. I want to have a meeting with the Senate when we get back to Pendragon, and then I want to meet with Senator McHenry separately too. I want to see what he has to say."
"That shouldn't be a problem."
"I also want to begin an investigation of the other Senators that requested the waivers. I need to know if any of them were helping McHenry, or were involved in other projects of their own the same as him."
"That won't be much of a problem either."
"Ms. Gridley, I know it may be an inconvenience to you, but would you be willing to travel with me to Pendragon when we depart? If there are other questions I have, I would hope not to be delayed in asking them."
"M-m-me, travel with you?" Sara stammered, her giddiness almost overriding her hard fought composure. Grinning from ear to ear she answered, "It would be the absolute honor of my life, your majesty."
And just like that, Sara's dreams became a reality. Not only had she managed to finally meet the empress, but she was able to be of service to her, and was set to travel with her. It was all that she could have hoped for, and for a time dispersed any thoughts on the looming crisis situation being dealt with.
So as the wind-blown shower sent a small pitter-patter of raindrops onto the umbrella Angela held, Nunnally proceeded aboard the Avalon II to begin the journey back to Pendragon. Meanwhile, the joint command center for the operation in the Pacific was brimming with tension. The ships participating in this operation symbolically hailed from as many member nations of the UFN as possible, some steaming over as quickly as possible to present as powerful a symbol as this flotilla could be. Footage of the ships arriving in theater was even being broadcast as a means of hopefully deterring the Chinese ships from carrying forward with whatever their scheme was. Some were even hopeful it would scare Euphemia Alter into surrender as well.
But as the moments ticked away with maddeningly slow cadence, it seemed less and less likely to be the outcome. Not a single sound, not a flicker of movement, was seen from the institute to even say anyone was home. And the ships from the United States of China too seemed to be a mysterious no-show. It was setting off a wave of paranoia as to whether there was some other plot afoot. Had they wasted all this time and energy on a bluff?
" I suppose the question becomes how long we wait," Suzaku thought to himself from the command room back at the base. "It's one thing for there to be no activity at the California Institute, but we haven't even spotted the Chinese ships that're supposed to be coming. This doesn't make sense. Jing Ke is brilliant, so I thought to prepare for the possibility of any number of ruses. Even so, I must have missed something. I'm not the strategist Lelouch was, so I can't say I'm confident I can match strategy with Jing Ke. Yet, I can't imagine it's possible to hide out at sea this close to the Britannia mainland with so many ships and so much surveillance. Did he aim to land someplace farther north and make his way South?"
"Lord Zero, how are things looking," Kaguya popped in on the comms channel. Her location was being kept undisclosed, several members recounting how she was targeted for kidnapping by Lelouch when he made his bid at usurping the UFN. The fear was that Euphemia would retaliate by perhaps killing her, a move more than likely to stunt any action the UFN might hope to take and hamper any coordination among the world nations. So, Kaguya was being forced to wait out this operation in an undisclosed location, monitoring and coordinating out of sight.
"It's quiet for the moment, Lady Kaguya. To be honest, it doesn't make much sense. There's no sign of the Chinese ships at all. Our observation network isn't showing anything for miles from any of the routes to this part of California from China."
"Then are you thinking they chose one of the more exotic routes from your prediction?"
"That's what troubles me. If they were to take one of those routes, it would suggest an entirely different purpose to their actions, one we've been trying very much to avoid."
"Now that you are the field commander, I leave it to you to do as you see fit. I trust you."
"Thank you, Lady Kaguya."
It was her way of reminding him he was calling the shots now. Battle operations were his and his alone at the moment. So, if things were not aligning with how he wanted them, he had the sole discretion to move this combined multinational fleet as he wanted them to move. That said nothing of the obvious matter of willful ignorance of his orders, but that carried risks most nations would do better to not invite.
But as the seconds ticked away and the deadline came closer and closer, the time also approached to make a decision. Once the ships had been sighted, the hope was to impress upon them the futility of that battle group's desire to reach California and thereafter escort the ships back to China. This moment was merely a show of force to achieve that end. If they refused such reason, a subsequent plan was in place to essentially maintain a defensive line and wait them out. The Chinese vessels would at some point have to return to China as its supplies dwindled, or China would send more vessels to support. The support option seemed unlikely for a number of reasons, not least of which was the escalation of the stalemate they would be in at that point. What would be the logic in just resupplying some ships to sit staring at other ships hundreds of miles from home?
China would all but certainly have to eye making a move to push past the line of ships in its way. That was obvious enough well before the plans were being drawn up for this operation, so what was China itself waiting for? That question kept lingering – why send just this one small group of ships to try and seize a nation of the size and might of Britannia?
"Looks like we might be stuck here waiting a while," Layla remarked. She'd been asked to come along as the sub commander of the mission as a favor of the Black Knights, though officially she was a UFN general consultant.
"It would seem so. I guess we've been stood up for our date," Suzaku joked.
"Probably better that way. I wasn't feeling much like dancing anyway," she joked back.
"Lord Zero," a frantic CIC operator called out. "We have three ships breaking the formation and moving towards the Britannia coastline."
"Order those ships to stop immediately! Identify them!" he demanded. This was a possibility he thought of too. What if some nation were secretly in concert with China? Or else China had managed to infiltrate several ships? If they didn't have to take their own ships across the sea, but used someone else's to get there, it made their stated intention of taking territory more feasible.
But still, this wasn't seeming to align with that. Something was off still. It would be too simple for him right now to order the nearest ships to fire and disable the ships that left the formation. And even if fleeing for the coast, what hope would just a trio of runners have of not being done in by a flotilla that was planning to have a standoff against three times as many ships? Those deserting ships would have first fired and disabled the ships nearest them, making it much more of a certainty they'd make it to the coast, delaying the ability of pursuers to catch up.
"The ships that have broken formation belong to the Ulyanovsk fleet from the Federation of Soviet States," the CIC operator responded. "They are not answering our hails. We are showing no signs of interference with our equipment, so it does not appear to be any known form of jamming."
"Keep hailing them. The Richeliu and Lintz are nearest to them, correct? Order them to line up a volley of warning shots for the FSS ships to cut their engines. Relay an order to all other ships to maintain formation; do not make any moves," Layla commanded.
"Richeliu and Lintz have confirmed orders. Main turrets will be aligned in 45 seconds, prepared to fire on orders," another operator relayed.
"Receiving confirmation of orders to maintain formation from all ships. Confirming receipt from all ships. Still no response from the FSS ships. They are maintaining heading towards the Britannia coast and are increasing speed."
"Order the Richlieu and Lintz to pursue, fire warning shots when ready," Suzaku ordered.
"Richlieu and Lintz have confirmed orders. They are opening fire," the operator confirmed.
The main gun turrets on the two warships roared a booming belch and sent a trio of live rounds splashing into the ocean off the bow of the Soviet States ships – close enough to send an extra shower of seawater washing over their decks. The precise shots, meant to scare the ships back in line, failed in their purpose, as the ships continued onward. But their speed did slow. The main ship of the FSS trio, the Ulyanovsk, maintained heading despite the reduced speed, but the two escorts slowed a bit more and altered their course as if to turn about.
"Let the Richlieu and Lintz know they are authorized to defend their vessels if need be, but avoid combat if at all possible," Suzaku said.
"Relaying orders, Lord Zero."
There was then the crackle of the comms radio, an all-channels broadcast. "Attention, Euphemia li Britannia, and all those who choose to follow the words of this demon spawn who has cheated the justice of the reaper's scythe! Your days of tyranny over the people of this world are at an end! The comfort you find in the cowardice of your sister to mobilize the force necessary to untether you from this world has come to an end! We will not tolerate your holding this world hostage any longer! By our will, and the will of billions who your actions have left in an unyielding state of terror, we shall deliver heaven's judgment and wrath upon you! May the heavenly father have mercy on your wretched soul and absolve you of your many sins in the afterlife!"
A jet of fire and smoke escaped the deck of the Ulyanovsk and trailed high into the air, into the deep rain-laden clouds that had been slowly advancing on the Britannia coast since early morning. And then, about thirty seconds later, a second warhead departed along the same trajectory. And then a third thirty seconds after that. The cloud cover obscured the trail of the warheads, but the numerous observational craft both at sea and in the air were able to track them well enough. Even so, without that, the briefly broadcast speech made it clear enough what the target was.
As the first pierced the clouds again on its descent, some two to three minutes later, 1500 or so kilometers further east than where it went up, the warhead had made a direct vertical descent.
And then there was a flash; a beautiful, horrible, flash.
And then there was a roar, of heat and wind, rushing outwards and then back inwards to a singular point.
And then there was a second flash, and a second roar.
And then there was a third flash, and a third roar.
And in the moments following this majestic and beguiling and nauseating triumvirate of explosions there was great stillness and silence.
What lay beneath the airburst was desolation. A chasm rest in the earth, a pit so deep and perfectly round it was as though a cosmic ice cream scoop was taken to the planet itself. The swirl of air currents caused in the blast had twisted the skies themselves, crackling lightning shooting off in furiously rapid succession as rain poured out of the sky like tears from on high.
But for all this, there was ephemeral silence. That flash was unmistakable, but the destruction seemed different. No less complete and horrific in its potency, but the breadth didn't seem to match. But the flight path and trajectory also said this was a weapon designed to strike at long range, which was a terrifying enough thought. This was not the same FLEIJA that Nina developed near a decade ago. The scale of devastation was greater than the terrible children born of Nina's efforts.
But for all that could be said of the horror that these weapons were on a battlefield at all, the same thought had to have crossed every mind that saw this display – could anything survive that? Not one, but three consecutive strikes by this redesigned FLEIJA-type warhead? Unexpected and terrifying as it was to see the weapon used here, did it manage to do the task requested of it? Had it killed Euphemia Alter?
How would they even confirm it? Euphemia Alter was last known to be there at the California Institute, that's more or less why they were all there to begin with. But if she was vaporized in a FLEIJA blast, how would you confirm as much? Would they all wait with bated breath to see if she showed up again? How long would that breath have to be held? It took eight years for her to show up after she died the first time, and there was supposedly a body that time as far as the world knew. Eight years was a long time to be looking over your shoulder for a retaliation that might never come.
A broadcast started to crackle across the public channel.
"Greetings to everyone. As the Empress of the New Empire of Britannia, I would like to thank the Federation of Soviet States for their initiative in ending my sister Euphemia's fruitless campaign. Unfortunately, they have to be reprimanded for creating and using such a thing in the first place. I would ask that my sister Nunnally learn from these experiences and surrender Britannia to me now so I won't have to take it from her. So, I'll give you some time, dear sister. Reserve some dignity and abdicate the throne you should have already surrendered long ago. How does this evening sound to you? I'll even stop by your house to save you the trouble of coming to see me. Hopefully I don't get too bored waiting. I might have to burn a city or two for fun."
In a well-polished production, the public broadcast screen cut to three ships in the Pacific, flying the Spanish flag. The other ships of the combined UFN fleet were visible a ways back, as if framed just so to confirm that this was a live feed. There, sitting upon a chair on the deck of one of those ships as though it were her personal yacht, was Marrybell mel Britannia. There was then a burst of flame and smoke as a warhead lifted off from an aft compartment on that ship.
The broadcast ended, quiet gripping everyone once more. "Where did that broadcast come from?" Leila ordered.
"It originated from the Reina Victoria, ma'am," an operator somberly replied.
The command center became noisy with operations staff from the various ships trying to figure out what was going on and orders being relayed. "Lord Zero," one comms operator bellowed. "The Spanish fleet has broken away and opened fire on the FSS fleet. There are reports of fire in the aft section of the FSS flagship."
" Damnit! What's going on now!?" Suzaku thought to himself. " Did Marrybell order it worried about the threat of the FSS weapon?"
"What should we do, Zero," Leila interrupted his thoughts. "We cannot rescue the Ulyanovsk without engaging the Spanish ships to clear them away from the area, even though I doubt they're interested in staying there either. Should we offer cover fire for the Ulyanovsk and its companion ships to prevent them from taking on more damage? Or should we let them fight it out between themselves for the time being?"
"Have the combined fleet move back to the west, away from the FSS and Spanish ships. We don't know if the FSS have more of those weapons aboard their ships or if they might try to use one to defend themselves. We will refrain from any action until we can be sure of the intentions of either group," Suzaku ordered.
" That is reasonable," Leilathought before relaying the order. " Spain's ships, however, must have been convinced that no more of those weapons are here on the battlefield, or else they wouldn't have attacked as they did. And the FSS ships seemed to have been caught off guard. They must have been assuming no one would attack them. There's too many possible reasons for that though, so it's hard to figure out with only the information we have. But the most likely reason would be that Marrybell…"
"We have thermal imaging coming from the east!" an operations officer called out. "Observation drones over the mainland are confirming that several large dragons are inbound."
"That's not good. We should have the fleet move back faster, and deploy the Knightmares to help defend the eastern flank," Layla suggested.
"No. Have the fleet withdraw, full speed. Deploy the Knightmares to the west to provide cover."
"The west, for cover?"
"I don't know how she snuck out here, but Marrybell is definitely on one of those Spanish ships. Send word to the Britannian forces on the mainland to prepare to expand the evacuation area! Also advise them to deploy air defenses to any major cities within 5000 km of the California Institute! Where's Empress Nunnally's transport!?"
"We will work to contact the Avalon as soon as possible to confirm its location," a comms operator answered.
Suddenly it was as if the earth erupted in fury, as though an artery that had just barely missed being severed before had finally burst. A torrent of energy shot skyward in an abrupt fury, piercing the clouds so forcefully it seemed to have blown the storm itself apart and gave way to a growing spotlight of midday sunlight. The pillar of light then came crashing down into the ocean in the direction of the UFN fleet. It came so very close to the ships bearing Spain's and Albion's flags, missing them enough to spare them the devastation that was wrought on a trio of ships further back of them.
The wake of the impact seemed set to capsize the ships as the sea sloshed violently, not helped by the dueling impact of the stormy seas, though the apparent attack seemed to be inadvertently blowing that storm apart much as the FSS weapon had started. There wasn't time for the ships out there to contend with the thoughts of the horror of a force that could dissipate a large storm. Two more vessels that were spared being struck by the energy pillar that fell couldn't right themselves in the churn quickly enough and overturned into the sea. Several more were frantically trying to save themselves from the waterfall that seemed to have developed, the Pacific quite literally seeming to have been cleaved in two at least part way from the California coast to some large number of kilometers off – another terrifying thought that the urgency of the moment both clearly telegraphed and plainly warned not to focus on.
"Have the Mercant and the Londo Bell deploy all Knightmares! They're to disengage all weapons and redirect all Yggdrasil Drive power not needed for the float system and general operation to their shields. They will focus on the rescue of any sailors in the water. Order all other ships to retreat from the coast area as quickly as possible!" Zero bellowed. "Be on the lookout for incoming dragons!"
"Two ships alone sir?" an officer asked to confirm.
"Every ship out there is a target. And every attack aimed their direction is capable of taking out several all at once. Their best chance at survival is without us drawing fire we can't even defend against their way. This folly is over."
"What do you mean it's over! It can't be…" a voice blared over the radio abruptly, comms quickly muting the radio.
"Lord Zero, the commander of the Adalbrecht is radioing in," the comms reported.
"Commander Reiss, what is it?" Zero asked once they were reconnected.
"Lord Zero, I wanted to hear it from you directly. We have the Spanish and Soviet factions shooting at each other after the Soviets used what we can only assume to be a FLEIJA warhead. We have an unknown energy weapon discharge from the area of the FSS weapon detonation. Why is it we are retreating in the face of this threat? That the Spanish fleet leveled the first blow is a benefit for us. This is madness! If we're truly to believe that Marrybell mel Britannia is aboard that Spanish ship, then what better moment than now, with the might of this combined fleet, to attack her!? She sits aboard a single ship, with no means of escape. We should not waste this opportunity! You're the man who creates miracles, and we have a miracle fortune sitting in our laps this moment! Let us seize it! We should sink all three ships of the FSS, and then move to secure…"
"Listen!" Zero boomed. "Marrybell somehow got here despite all surveillance saying she hadn't left Albion. The Soviets got their hands on a more deadly version of the FLEIJA and just dropped three on top of Euphemia. That blast tore out a huge piece of the planet itself. And Euphemia apparently not only survived that, but just shot some kind of blast that blew apart a storm and split the ocean for at least 100 km! What the hell do you think we're supposed to do out there right now?"
"The dragons from the east – you don't think they're Marrybell's," Leila confirmed.
"No. I think they're Euphemia's. They were probably nesting somewhere in the region while she was at the Institute," Suzaku stated.
"It does seem unlikely that Britannia's air defense network wouldn't have noticed them crossing all the way from Albion. But is it any likelier that we would face dragons coming from the west?"
"It's not likely, but we've no choice but to ready the defense before it's too late. Escaping is our priority, so we have to keep the path forward clear, and hope that there isn't any greater range to that attack that was just fired from California.
"Euphemia is likely not dead, which makes the attack on the Institute a provocation we were expressly trying to avoid. We've not seen any sign of the Chinese ships that were the purpose of our deployment here. And the FSS have deployed a new weapon to the battlefield that we have no clear understanding of at this point. We also have reason to believe that Marrybell is here, most likely with her dragons not far behind. At this point our mission is over. We remain ill-equipped to deal with the Alters, so staying when two are likely about to begin a battle with one another is reckless."
"We've heard nothing from our observers to suggest Marrybell has left Londonium. And on what are you basing the assumption that Euphemia Alter survived that attack? Three FLEIJA-type warheads have eaten away a massive section of the planet. Thermal detection and seismic sensors indicate lava flows at the base of the crater. We don't know that was an attack at all. It could have been a discharge from whatever weapons project…"
"I won't throw lives away for reckless glory. The seas out there are a complete mess – it'd take an eternity to even get our ships back in any formation to fight. To ask that while having to defend from potential attacks from dragons, not knowing if more of those FSS weapons might be deployed, if another energy beam might be fired, is suicidal."
"But… but you're Zero. You're the man that creates miracles!"
That word "miracle" burnt in Suzaku's chest. Suzaku was momentarily paralyzed by that assertion. He wasn't sure how to take that, how to respond to that. The serendipity was numbing. Right now this man was speaking aloud what so many must have been feeling all this time. Yet he didn't have an answer for them, a way to respond or assure them. He knew no way of creating the miracle they were praying to see. He felt every bit a fraud as the day Lelouch cursed him to don this disguise. He was reminded anew the cruelty of similar words he once threw at a distressed Lelouch, a deliberate sting he delivered to repudiate Lelouch for his actions as Zero.
"Miracles are not so convenient a thing that they just appear whenever you ask for them. They certainly don't fall into your lap by carelessly throwing away your life despite all the clear indications not to. Miracles are the result of tireless work beforehand; rewards for putting forward the effort needed to complete the task yourself. One shouldn't think of divine providence as something owed to you for work you've undertaken, but benediction to grant you ease in completing what you would otherwise have completed all your own."
"C.C.," Suzaku said, not entirely sure if he was happy she was there or not, but certainly surprised to see her.
"Who the hell're you?" Commander Reiss griped.
"She's one of Empress Nunnally's chief advisors. She has been observing our activities on Britannia's behalf, given the mandated minimalization of Britannia's role in this operation."
"Then perhaps the advisor should refrain from inter…"
"We are discussing a matter expressly relevant to Britannia. It is simple logic that Britannia's representative should have leave to offer a view on the deliberations," Leila argued.
"In any case," Suzaku interjected before a larger argument could form. "Our leave to act was only in response to the potential encroachment of Chinese Federation ships into Britannian territory. We ourselves do not have leave to freely chase Spain's ships into Britannian waters. Nor do we have the authority to declare war on any potential enemy, or official authorization to launch any attacks on the sovereign of any UFN member nations, even provisional or probationary members, without the vote of the full body.
"Unless it is your intent to violate the charter of our body, you shall begin the redeployment. Get our people away from there so they aren't targets for the rogue sovereign. I'll go confer with Lady Kaguya on our situation. I leave Lady Leila Malcal in command."
"As Lord Zero has assessed then, we must withdraw from this area. I am repeating the orders from the commander of this operation – all ships of the UFN combined fleet are to retreat from this area at full speed. All carriers are to deploy Knightmares for air defense operations for the fleet during this time."
Suzaku grabbed C.C.'s arm and pulled her away as he left the room. "I would rather that you didn't grab me like that," C.C. sternly remarked as they made it partway down the hall, pulling away.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed be in Texas with Kallen?" he asked, removing his helmet.
"That's not important right now. You need to get to Nunnally."
"What's happened to Nunnally?"
"Nothing's happened yet. But it's dangerous for her to be without you right now. You should get to her immediately. Now that Marrybell's acted as she has, I doubt Euphemia will leave her alone to cause more trouble for her. Marrybell is likely going to die here soon. That will only leave Nunnally as Euphemia's biggest concern. If you're going to stop Euphemia, Nunnally has to be protected at all costs."
"So you also think Euphemia managed to survive? But how are you so sure she'd defeat Marrybell? And you say it as if we haven't been trying to protect Nunnally anyway. Why aren't you going to her?"
"I'm not in a position to protect Nunnally right now."
"I don't understand why you're doing this right now. I can't…" Suzaku turned away in frustration. He didn't really need her pressuring him about Nunnally's safety right now. Wasn't Nunnally on a flight away from this mess in the first place, heading back to Pendragon? Why would this be a threat to her right this moment? What of the report they asked for earlier? Are the dragons going to attack her transport?
"Just listen to me right now Kururugi!" she said very sternly, a flare of anger rarely seen from the world-weary immortal. "Do you honestly think I would be here right now if I was in a position to help her myself? I don't care what excuse you have to make, just protect Nunnally!"
Something felt off. Suzaku couldn't put the feeling into words, but it was a worrying, foreboding feeling that something wasn't quite right. It was unusual for C.C to be so expressive, so fiery. And to be certain she had made a valid point – it was in her nature that if she thought Nunnally was in imminent danger she would have gone directly to Nunnally herself, perhaps asking for help on the way there, but not being so… removed. She shouldn't have even been here at the Chandler Base, yet here she was and practically begging him to run to Nunnally. It felt like there was something she wasn't saying about why he had to leave that moment.
As Zero, he wasn't sure he should, or even could. They were, after all, in the midst of a rather dire emergency. The woman who torched two cities with an army of dragons, just snuck to the battlefield and declared her intent to sweep in and conquer all of Britannia if it wasn't handed to her by that evening. But now he was supposed to just order a retreat and run off to chase down Nunnally? As Suzaku he likely never would have left her side to begin with, but he wasn't "just" Suzaku, so thoughts of what he would have done didn't seem all that fruitful.
"Come in, Leila," Suzaku radioed back. There was a great deal of static and feedback.
"Lord Zero. It seems there's a lot of electromagnetic interference emanating from ground zero and spreading. Communications appear to be quite difficult in the area and deteriorating," she replied.
"Leila, I'm leaving C.C here to help you. You're in full command now, and I'll take any responsibility for any actions you deem necessary. I will be going out in the Lancelot to meet up with Nunnally."
"I understand," Leila accepted. Her being posted as the sub-commander had specifically been in the event he had to depart the command post for something like rushing to Nunnally's defense. That was meant to be in the case of a firm issue, but if C.C was the one insisting, as Leila assumed had to be the case, it probably didn't make sense to argue.
"Attention all UFN forces, this is Zero!" Suzaku said, switching over to the total operations channel. "Following the Federated Soviet States' seemingly failed attack against Euphemia Alter, the apparent opportunistic strike by Marrybell Alter, and the retaliatory attack by Euphemia Alter, the expectation is that Euphemia Alter and Marrybell Alter will soon commence a battle between one another. Regardless of which of them is victorious, it is unlikely that we have the means of defeating either at the moment. It is more important for now that we focus on the next steps to deal with whoever emerges from their fight victorious. It is likely that Nunnally vi Britannia will become their primary focus after this battle. To prevent them from fulfilling their plans, we must ensure they are unable to take Nunnally vi Britannia's life.
"I am designating Leila Malcal as the commander of the rescue operation for the sailors from the capsized ships, as well as the redeployment of all allied forces away from the expected combat area between Euphemia and Marrybell. In the meantime, I will lead a unit to reinforce the security for Empress Nunnally vi Britannia."
"Thank you, Suzaku Kururugi," C.C said with uncommon courtesy.
"What are you going to do now?"
"I will be finishing other work."
"I hope it won't take too long," he said as he proceeded down the hall.
"I'm counting on it," she answered back as she watched him leave.
Suzaku broke into a sprint and made his way down to the hangar to board his Lancelot Zero and make his way to the Avalon. Leila assumed command of the base and of the operation. It was a strange feeling for her, suddenly thrust into the role of a military commander once again. It was some small measure of comfort knowing that it was in "only" organizing and managing a battlefield retreat. But it left little room for relaxation. She had no idea when the seemingly inevitable showdown between Euphemia and Marrybell would begin. And when it did start, there was no telling how large that battlefield would be. Even if the two had no interest in the UFN fleet trying to scurry away, if Euphemia's retaliatory strike was any indication, the two could wipe out an entire region just fighting one another. The idea of being able to rescue those sailors in the water itself seemed almost hopeless.
All Suzaku heard back on the radio from the hangar was a garbled few words and static – the deteriorating communications Leila had mentioned he thought at first. But, that hadn't made much sense this far out from the actual operations area.
What Leila had attempted to offer was a vote of confidence; "We'll be fine here. Go and protect Nunnally." What she said to the command room was, "Attention everyone! As of now, Zero has placed me in command of the remainder of this operation. We have reason to believe that this has all been an elaborate plot by Marrybell Alter or Euphemia Alter to lure us here and isolate the Empress of Britannia, Nunnally vi Britannia.
"Sadly, we are not in a position to do anything at the moment. Dragons are approaching from the East, and the effects of the unknown weapon used by the FSS and the energy released from the blast zone of that weapon has created a very large amount of electronic interference, such that, as you know, even here communications are being severely impacted. Our only recourse now is to regroup away from here and plan the next strategy. Lingering here would only invite a distraction that would benefit Marrybell, given the unpredictability of her actions and the potential that more of our forces have been compromised. Let us be vigilant.
"Now then, how's our radar? Any problems with our eyes?"
"Commander Malcal," one operator spoke up. "Radar imagery is very noisy right now. It will be difficult to make quick analysis of unfamiliar objects should they appear on our radar right now. We have, however, confirmed the departure of the Lancelot. We've also just confirmed the position of the Avalon via laser communications handshake. It is already past the dragons, with no signs of interaction."
"That's some relief," Leila sighed. "How long will it take Lord Zero to reach the Avalon?"
"A little over an hour, ma'am. Shall we attempt to make contact and ask them to slow down?"
"No," Leila answered, thinking it over a moment or two. "It'll be hard for the Lancelot to cover that distance without running out of power, but in the worst case it's better that Nunnally and the Avalon be as far away from California as possible. How are our laser communications holding up?"
"The worsening precipitation is degrading signals transmission, but it isn't as severe as the electromagnetic interference of our radio signals."
"And the analysis on the cause of this interference?"
"We are attempting to reposition our surveillance drones to get better data, but a team aboard one of the observations ships believes preliminary data indicates the FSS weapons themselves generated a powerful electromagnetic response, amplified by the weather conditions."
"What a terrifying weapon…" Leila grimaced. Her mind was quickly in the mold of a military strategist, thinking of the deleterious ways in which this frightful weapon could pose a danger, and how to go about preventing that. Should she feel grateful that this weapon, its fearsome effects notwithstanding, existed at all? It seemed the surest way to be rid of the menace they were otherwise facing. Otherwise conventional military power didn't seem to be getting in Euphemia's way, and magic was too ephemeral for her liking – which was saying something for her being a Geass user.
But there was a nagging, almost nauseating feeling, in the pit of her stomach that said, "Euphemia was right." For all the horror wrought and witnessed of the FLEIJA, despite humanity's assertion of "never again" and all the finger pointing and hand wringing about what happened, not even a decade later and some other nation now created an even worse weapon. She wasn't naïve enough to claim it only a response to Euphemia and Marrybell. You don't secretly build a weapon like that under the nose of the international community in only a few weeks. They'd been working on this weapon for some time, possibly since before the detonation of the first FLEIJA.
C.C. had warned her about it before too; how Euphemia had a way of saying things that sounded right. Her personality had an infectious quality to it that lured you in and held you tightly. Charisma didn't seem to be the entirely right word, but it didn't seem to be terribly off either. Regardless, in this case, it did seem too much like she may have been right. What were the last several years for if some nation now had another weapon of mass destruction of terrifying proportions they could bandy about to force the world to their will? But did that mean they were better off without? Were they to remain at the mercy of a power like Marrybell's and only pray she didn't bore and decide "your" home, your community, your life, was worth only the macabre and demented laughs she would get in seeing it incinerated?
Leila ruminated on the matter to herself as she oversaw the continued retreat from the Britannia coast. As the minutes slipped by with no sign of these naval forces being under threat, her mind shifted to contemplating the fate of Britannia now.
Marrybell had no interest in the UFN ships. The UFN served its purpose. They gave her cover for making the plans and preparations she wanted to make. Outside of that, they were insignificant.
She was angry, but also a little impressed. Her plan was perfectly executed. She managed to coerce the UFN into this attack, knowing they would be hard pressed to allow a threat like the one Euphemia posed to sit on a potential weapons cache without doing something. The Chinese Federation's actions were unexpected, and initially gave her cause for concern that her overall plan would be thrown off, but she was able to sell the idea that their less than a dozen ships were a portent of a much greater threat.
She had quietly leaked to some nations the idea that the ships China sent to California were to receive FLEIJAs with which to arm the Chinese Federation. Euphemia didn't need the FLEIJA, but as great as her threat seemed to be she couldn't be in two places at once. The FLEIJA was for her Dragon Empire to arm itself with and fight with when she herself was away to other battlefields. Or so Marrybell's little birds sung to the skittish diplomats trying to hash out what if any response to offer to Euphemia's actions.
Her own efforts at attaining and modifying the FLEIJA were also quite something. Euphemia and Shirley had often lamented among each other the fact that the world hadn't known the realities of Geass. But Marrybell thought differently. They had no need to know. And their ignorance had proved useful. Like when a secret operation is underway to potentially use a banned weapon and you happen to have the ability to order someone to give you a few of said weapons, cover up that they gave you said weapons, and forget that they ever saw you to begin with.
Modifying the FLEIJAs she stole was the easy part. Spain and Londonium weren't technological slouches. She had little trouble getting the necessary minds together to complete the modifications. And she had long ago acquired the technical data for the modifications from the mother of the FLEIJA anyway. At that point it was little different than having an expert assemble new furniture in your home – just follow the instructions.
The goal of the modifications was simpler than the work itself. Remove the limiter and concentrate the blast. A larger blast in a more confined area would ensure more complete destruction of everything in the blast area even against the most hardened structures and shielding.
As Euphemia often reminded when they were together, they were immortal, but not invulnerable and not impervious. They could be hurt. They could feel pain. It was simply that they could heal from all of that in short order. It was frankly exhausting to hear it again and again. She knew all that after meeting C.C while allied with Lelouch.
Still, Marrybell questioned what the limits of immortality really were. Sure, they could survive a bullet to the brain, being crushed, being decapitated or dismembered. But to what extent could they recover from damage to their bodies? If, for example, they were incinerated to the point that no distinguishable bits of them could be found, would they come back from that? What if those microscopic bits were enough, but they too were further blasted into oblivion? Or a third time?
It was her belief that there fundamentally couldn't be a means of surviving something like three FLEIJA blasts in quick succession. There would be nothing left to grow back from. And since there was no real way Euphemia could have known that was what she was intending to do, there would be no way to evade the attack. She delayed her own departure from Londonium, made a phony broadcast to pretend she was simply watching the operation from her throne in anticipation of how it would end, only to turn up and unleash her new weapon. Even on the off chance that the Spain and Albion fleets were being scrutinized, she had the idea to use her Geass on the FSS and have them load and fire the weapons for her. Worst case, they would be the ones caught transporting a banned weapon and she could claim ignorance of the whole affair.
So Marrybell was angry that her plan seemed to have failed. She wasn't sure the precise mechanism of that failure. Had Euphemia actually endured the blast and somehow lived? Had she really regenerated so rapidly from a state of vaporization? Had she somehow managed to shield against it? There was even, technically speaking, that the blast had nothing to do with Euphemia at all, but was some other phenomena or something triggered by the consecutive FLEIJA blasts, though she felt fairly certain that wasn't the case.
It made her smile just a little bit. She was thinking Euphemia something an embarrassment. She gave princesses a bad name, echoing the stereotype of their aloof, ditzy, dainty, all flowers and rainbows, mentality. But she was proving tenacious, determined. That alone was encouraging. Not redeeming, in Marrybell's eyes, but a step in the right direction. It would make ultimately triumphing over her more satisfying.
"I shouldn't be long," she remarked to her crew that was within earshot. "Try not to sink before I return, if you please."
Like the embodiment of a rocket, Marrybell took a couple steps forward towards the bow of her warship and launched herself into the air. From some unseen footing she bounded towards the California mainland, a percussive force seeming to be expelled from her right foot, then her left, in alternating movement as though she were landing on solid air and pushing off again.
The storm had seemed to be trying to reform, torn apart by the blasts earlier but the effects localized enough to fail at dispersing the whole of the storm. She soon made it to the coast and then further on inland, arriving and descending on the mouth of the gaping chasm her FLEIJA attack left of what was once the California Institute of Research and Technology. At the base of the chasm steadily walking up the sides as it filled from below and the blasted wedge-shaped hole in its side with water, Euphemia carried a broad sword. She appeared thoroughly indifferent. It was as though someone attempted to tell her a joke and it fell horribly flat, beyond the point of being so bad it makes you laugh, but not even enough to outright make you angry. It was a look of disappointment, and that only aggravated Marrybell more. That Euphemia would be so obstinate, put out such an air of superiority, felt entirely mocking, and drove Marrybell's blood to boil.
"It truly is incredible, you know?" Marrybell called down to Euphemia over the whistling swirl of the winds. "I'm willing to admit that I was wrong about you, sister. Your determination, your focus, your stubbornness, are all much greater than I would have given you credit for not long ago. It's a shame you chose to direct it all in the wrong place."
"I'm broken hearted, dear sister," Euphemia called out. "I very sincerely did not want to arrive at this point, even though I was warned it may happen. When I brought you back, it wasn't just to see you die again."
"Then let's rejoice, Euphie. Because once I cut off your head and bury it in a box, you won't have to."