Code Geass: Nunnally on the Insurrection

Chapter Fifteen: Propaganda

Nemo and her inner circle were careful to 'manage' the release of information about what happened in Narita. The information about the secret base was held back, to let the full impact of the battle play out first. While this wasn't the first defeat of Britannian Knightmares, it was the first by a rebel force inside one of their own Areas. Area 11 was supposed to be subdued, defeated, and this victory by rebel forces would send a shock wave through the Britannian military, seriously undermining their confidence.

Then about a week after the attack, the new information from the now revealed Narita labs hit Area 11 like a bombshell, sent to media outlets and pirate broadcasters all over the land. Photos, videos and eye witness testimony confirmed that innocent Elevens had been kidnapped and horribly experimented on. Worse, the experimenters were confirmed to be Britannians, and members of the nobility were involved.

The body of former Viceroy Clovis la Britannia was found by military police in the facility, a bullet hole in his forehead. The lab itself was filled with the bodies of people experimented on too much to survive on their own, while others had been apparently spirited away. The military forces detached to defending the facility had mostly been destroyed in a rebel attack, but the commander of the base survived.

In a freer society Dorothea Ernst, the Knight of Four and direct agent of the Emperor, would have faced hard questions over her presence in the facility and what it did, but this was a Area. Instead she was shipped to Tokyo for debriefing, then spirited out of the Area as fast as possible.

There was a half-hearted attempt at censorship, but it failed almost immediately. There was too much information already released, spreading virally across the surviving internet and through foreign media stations. Even if the Viceroy squashed every broadcaster in the country, the broadcasts from China and other sources would continue.

Even worse, everyone also knew that the rescuers of the captives were the Black Knights. Multiple news sources showed pirate video of their Knightmares fighting the Narita security forces, and the slant of the reports painted the Black Knights as heroes. Even more tellingly the Knights had NOT spoken out against the government of Area 11, claiming that the labs found in Narita were a rogue operation not approved of by the Viceroy.

That, of course, put Viceroy Cornelia into the humiliating position of thanking people she considered rebels and criminals. But even she had to concede they had done a heroic act, revealing the horrors going on in that lab, and she publicly acknowledged it. The Emperor was not pleased by her actions, but at that point she was angry enough she didn't care.

Making matters even more interesting, in the next few weeks the Black Knights seized on the good publicity, actively helping the people as 'champions of justice.' They busted up drug rings, routed Lords skimming money from refugees and generally acted the part of heroes. And the Viceroy couldn't do a damn thing about it without damaging her family's reputation even worse.

Hell, even Britannians who should have known better were starting to buy it. The young people in Area 11, isolated from the war, began to look up to the mysterious heroes, and even some military officers were actually cooperating with the Black Knights. Not in any confidential matters, of course, but any connection would make the Knights look more legitimate.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Nunnally Lamperouge was tired, the brown haired woman nearly falling across her bed in exhaustion. She turned over and began to strip the Black Knight uniform off, her limbs moving much slower than usual.

"You know, you look kind of cute like that," CC noted, the green haired woman leaning against the wall and watching with amusement.

Nunnally kicked her pants off tiredly. "Unlike some of us, I get tired," she noted dryly, unbuttoning the military styled jacket.

CC chuckled as she sat down beside her and helped Nunnally get her gear off. The evening sun shone in the windows as she picked up the jacket and pants, folded them and put them away. She looked at the half naked woman sprawled on the bed and walked over, sitting down beside her.

"Don't forget you have a student council meeting," CC said relentlessly.

"Oh, I hate you," Nunnally groaned.

The door to the bedroom opened and her maid, Sayoko, looked inside. She took the near naked Nunnally and CC being together entirely calmly as she said, "Do you need dinner, Mistress?"

Nunnally made herself sit up, once again grateful to have the older girl taking care of her. "Something light," she sighed, "I have to go out again."

"You should take it easier, Miss," Sayoko scolded her gently. "Would you like me to phone Milly and tell her you're sick?" she asked.

Nunnally shook her head as she said, "No, that'd be worse. After that Milly would grab anyone handy, come over and try to nurse me back to health."

"Oh dear," Sayoko paled, remembering the last time that happened.

"What happened?" CC asked curiously even as Sayoko pulled out a clean, pressed school uniform for Nunnally.

"Milly heard from somewhere that shoving a leek up someone's butt would cure a fever," Nunnally shook her head, "you have no idea how motivated to run you can get when you're about to be anally violated."

CC burst into laughter, shaking her head. "Oh, I can just imagine Milly chasing you with the leek, too," she noted, amused as Nunnally changed.

"Trust me, it was much less funny when it was happening to me," Nunnally noted wryly as she wiggled into the uniform trousers, then put on the white undershirt.

"I'll go get you some dinner, ma'am," Sayoko said with a smile as she hurried off.

"Do I have to come along?" CC asked curiously as Nunnally pulled on the uniform jacket and buttoned it up.

"No, it should be fine," Nunnally decided after a minute. "Could you call Ohgi and see how he's doing?" she asked, referring indirectly to the Black Knight's activities. She could probably say it directly with Sayoko gone, but better not take chances.

CC looked amused but drawled, "Of course."

Sayoko called from the other room, "CC, do you want some re-heated pizza?"

"Oh yeah," CC bounded out of the room eagerly even as Nunnally sighed and followed her out.

Sometime later at the student council meeting, Shirley Fenette was frowning at their student president again. "Milly, it's too much," she said fiercely, the brown haired girl continuing, "the discrimination on campus has to stop."

"Agreed," Milly Ashford answered promptly, then the attractive light brown haired woman noted, "would you mind telling me how?"

"She has a point," Nunnally noted a bit tiredly, "you can't change minds by force."

"You really don't need to do this on my account," Suzaku Kururugi, the subject of a certain amount of bullying at Ashford, said mildly. The brown haired young man took the obvious and not so obvious shunning in stride, more or less.

"It's not just for you," Shirley protested, but a faint blush colored her cheeks.

'Well, well,' Nunnally hid a smile. Ever since she had heard about Suzaku's actions in preventing civilian casualties at Narita, the young woman had warmed to him a lot. It was kind of cute to watch, really.

Then Nunnally thought about how the attack at Narita had nearly backfired, and that squelched her smile. The defense of the last Japan Liberation Front base had been too hastily organized, and her people hadn't kept the various factions under control well enough. If Suzaku hadn't done what he did, the battle could have spilled over the city and killed countless innocents.

"Nunnally?" Kallen poked her arm, and Nunnally realized she had drifted off in her thoughts.

"Sorry," Nunnally said sheepishly, "what did I miss?"

"Milly was proposing a Suzaku Appreciation Day," Kallen lied.

"No!" Suzaku yelped.

"Why not?" Rivalz asked, the blue haired boy grinning slyly.

"Yeah, it'd be fun," Milly pouted as she added, "We could have traditional foods and dress up as Area 11 residents."

"I think that'd be in poor taste, president," Nunnally said, seeing the slightly pinched look on Suzaku's face. She leaned forward slightly as she suggested, "Why not put out a blanket statement from the student council that discrimination is against academy policy, and anyone caught at it will be punished severely?"

Shirley didn't look happy, but she nodded slightly as she said, "That's reasonable, I suppose."

"Uhm, what sort of punishment would be reasonable?" Nina asked curiously.

"Eating Cecile's cooking?" Suzaku offered mildly and everyone groaned. The whole group had been exposed to her cooking when she gaze Suzaku a boxed lunch, and everyone had to try a bit. It was as horrid as Suzaku had said, and even Nunnally was stunned that someone could spoil food so badly.

"That would be cruel and unusual punishment," Milly noted wryly.

They ran through the budget issues, nearly putting Nunnally to sleep, then Rivalz smiled slyly, "So Suzaku, what do you think of Nemo and the Black Knights?"

"Don't be mean," Shirley said quickly, "you know as a soldier he can't answer that."

"I'm kind of surprised at how popular they're getting," Milly noted cheerfully, "I saw kids running around in improvised costumes, and there's shops in town selling t-shirts." She smirked, "Nina came home in one."

Everyone looked at Nina, who blushed furiously. "Well, they did save us when the hotel was taken over," she said sheepishly.

"I'm sure you look very cute in it," Nunnally offered, which made Nina blush harder.

"But really, it's kind of amazing how the Knights are becoming this great phenomenon," Rivalz said cheerfully, "they're being accepted by Britannians and Elevens."

"Yeah, it's a hell of a thing," Kallen agreed, smiling slightly at Nunnally.

Nunnally did her best not to react, but it was a effort. 'Remind me to have a talk with Kallen later,' she thought, keeping her usual mild expression on her face. "Maybe having this common interest will help Britannians and Elevens get along," she suggested calmly.

"That's it!" Milly declared, standing up suddenly.

"What's it?" Suzaku blinked.

"We;ll hold a special day!" Milly clenched her hand into a fist dramatically, "A Black Knight and Nemo appreciation day!"

"WHAT?" Nunnally yelped.

To be continued...

Notes: I realized after I wrote the Narita bits from Cornelia's perspective that I had skipped over a possibly important set of plot points. So I'm backing up and filling in some blanks, so to speak. I may even shift a chapter or two around, later.