Nunnally of the Insurrection
Chapter 21: Black Rebellion Part Two
Euphemia paced in the command center, watching the monitors as data flowed in. Well, not flowed, annoyingly. They were getting information in fits and starts, as soldiers or commanders managed to send in updates. The visuals she was looking at were anything from hours off in accuracy, to a day or two. Either way, the news wasn't good.
The map of Japan was distressingly dotted with red, as invasion forces from China attacked from the south and Japan Liberation Front cells attacked across the country. Euphemia wasn't a military type, but she had enough tactical knowledge to know the situation looked grim. Worse, they couldn't even appeal to the other Areas for help.
"What's the situation?" she asked.
The lead officer in charge sighed as he tried to sum up the situation as positively as possible. Deciding it was a waste of time he said, "Bad, co-viceroy. Viceroy Cornelia will be engaging the attackers in Kyushu Island, but we don't know if she has sufficient forces to prevail. JLF forces across Area 11 are attacking, so local forces are all tied up trying to stop them."
"And Kyushu is heavily occupied by Chinese, former Japanese forces and JLF allies, correct?" Euphemia nodded grimly.
"It is," he agreed, "our estimates, based on earlier data and projections of troop allocations, is that the Viceroy Cornelia will be facing a three to one deficit in forces. At least."
Euphemia paled visibly. "It's that bad?" she asked.
"Yes and no," he said reassuringly. "The Chinese Knightmare frames are inferior in design to ours, giving our side an edge. As well, our troops are more experienced, due..." he trailed off, trying to think of a diplomatic phrase.
"Due to our getting into battles so often," Euphemia noted dryly.
"Well, yes," he admitted. "There's also a limited time they can push this attack," he added, "Areas around China will move if they see the defenses weakened."
In this Euphemia rather suspected he was wrong. The royals ruling other areas would gain if Area 11 fell, they wouldn't move to threaten China until after they had been defeated. Even Euphemia, who was rather innocent in politics, could see that.
"Can I radio the Viceroy?" Euphemia asked hopefully.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," he shook his head, "communications are incredibly spotty in the combat zone. Would you like us to keep trying?"
"Please," Euphemia nodded as he moved away to harass the communications officer, leaving her to study the tactical map.
Looking at the churning chaos in and around Kyushu, Euphemia found her thoughts turning to troubling questions. Where was Cornelia, and was she all right? Was Suzaku fighting along side her? And more worryingly, where was Nunnally?
Because there was no way that she would not be caught up in this somehow.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Milly Ashford was wondering much the same, even as she hurried down the brightly lit hall of Ashford Academy. Nunnally had awoken her from a sound sleep late last night, just before leaving the school to who knew where.
"Nunnally, how did you get in here?" Nina Einstein yelped as the taller girl ignored her to roughly shake Milly awake.
"Long story," Nunnally told her as she shook Milly. "Wake up, damn it!"
"I'm up, I'm up," Milly complained, rubbing her eyes. "Why are you bothering me at..." she looked at the clock, "TWO IN THE MORNING?"
"Sorry," Nunnally said, her school uniform slightly messy. She took a steadying breath, "There's trouble. BIG trouble."
Milly stiffened. "What's happening?" she demanded.
Nunnally grimly filled her in on the Chinese attack on Kyushu, which had been kept off the news so far. "There are a lot of angry Japanese looking for payback, and they're starting to join in," she said seriously.
"But... how does that effect us here?" Nina had to ask.
"The news is going to break in Tokyo soon, the government can't keep a lid on this," Nunnally said with a sigh, "and when it does, there will be rioting in Tokyo."
"And you think they'll hit Ashford," Milly said flatly.
Nunnally nodded. "The Academy is a symbol of privilege and it's almost exclusively Britannian, so yes I think they'll try to hit it. And with the army tied up putting out fires, you'll need to take steps," she told her.
Milly realized something as she asked, "You sound like you won't be here."
"I won't," Nunnally admitted, "I've already filed paperwork for a leave of absence. I will be skipping class tomorrow, too."
"But," Nina started.
Milly put a hand on her girlfriend's arm as she met Nunnally's eyes. "Is it important?" she asked her as calmly as she could.
"Vitally," Nunnally answered.
Milly puffed out a breath. "Kallen too, I suppose," she said, not really making it a question. "Be careful, I expect you back for classes. Eventually."
Nunnally nodded, "I'll do my best."
Which left Milly hurrying along, Nina and Rivalz following. "The news officially broke an hour ago," Rivalz said grimly, "and there have already been riots in several areas were Elevens and Britannians mingle."
"Lovely," Milly sighed, "have they hit Tokyo?"
"Shinjuku is rioting, though I don't think anyone is surprised," Nina sighed. The infamous military attack on the area was commonly known, now, in part because of the Knight;s publicizing it.
Milly puffed out a breath, "I'm going to make a general announcement asking for calm, and that students stay on campus. I think it will be safer."
"Makes sense," Rivalz agreed.
"Nina, we need to get the campus security forces reinforced, if things go bad here," Milly added. "I'm thinking we could appeal to the various sports teams for help, maybe?"
"I'll contact the martial arts clubs and sports teams," Nina nodded, "I think we can get some volunteers."
As Milly went into the office to use the public address system, she hoped things wouldn't get as bad as she expected it to be...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Meanwhile, a group of Knightmare frames rolled down a deserted country road, the badly maintained road making the ride very rough. Nunnally winced in her cockpit as her mecha rattled dangerously, but they couldn't stop or change course. They had to reach their target in time, the whole plan depended on it.
"You all right, Nemo?" Kallen radioed from the red coloured Gurren.
"This thing could use a cushion or two," Nunnally admitted, getting a laugh from Kallen.
Sometimes Nemo really wished she had pulled rank and gotten the Gurren for herself. It was a advanced model created by the Kyoto resistance, with improved speed, agility and weapons to a standard Knightmare frame. It could even go toe to toe with that damn Lancelot mech!
But after a certain amount of debate she decided to stick with a standard, if upgraded, Knightmare. Both she and Kallen knew Nunnally was a better pilot. If Kallen was going to keep up with her, she HAD to have a better machine, It was that simple.
"Ohgi, Todo!" Nunnally switched to the general frequency, "Update me!"
"All forces are on the move as planned," Todo said seriously. "It looks like things are playing out as expected."
"Or worse," Ohgi sighed. He did NOT like this plan, in a lot of ways, as was evident in his voice. On the other hand, it was the best hand they had to play.
"How's the data tap our agent put in?" Nunnally asked.
THAT cheered Ohgi up quite a bit. "We're getting a steady stream of combat data on the battle at Kyushu. The Britannians are taking a pounding, too," he noted. "Who got that data tap put in?" he asked, though he suspected it was classified.
"Need to know," Nunnally answered. In fact it had been Jeremiah Gottwald who had done it, but she wanted to keep her connection to him as secret as possible. You never knew when having a loyal inside man might come in handy.
"We are on schedule," Todo noted, "but only if Cornelia holds out as long as you expect. How sure are you of this estimate, Nemo?"
"Very," Nunnally answered him firmly, "the Chinese will do their best to use the JLF forces to attack Cornelia first. They'll hold back their own forces until they are certain they can win with minimal losses."
"I hope you're right," someone muttered, but it was on the general communications band and Nunnally couldn't tell who.
'Me too,' Nunnally thought. Because if she guessed wrong, plan A was up in smoke, and plan B was much less appetizing.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Later that day Cornelia was fighting back exhaustion as the Knightmare Frame crashed through a attacking line, shattering the formation. Using her lance she cut one enemy down, then another as the rebels fought to regroup. She wheeled around to face another attacker, but realized she wouldn't be fast enough.
Before she could react the white Knightmare attacked, driving her attacker back before launching slash harkens and dropping it. They stood back to back even as Suzaku asked, "Are you all right, ma'am?"
"Just tired, Suzaku," Cornelia answered. For several hours their forces had engaged the superior numbers of the attackers, and in that grinding battle the reserve between her and this young man had finally worn away. She had decided he was a good man, and she was morbidly certain she was going to get him killed.
Things had gotten steadily harder as the battle continued. The numbers of attackers had been greater than Cornelia had considered in her worst estimates, and the Chinese were driving the JLF rabble against them first. It was a masterful strategy, she had to admit, saving their fresh forces and ruthlessly using up their allies.
"We aren't going to win this, are we?" Suzaku asked tiredly as the massive Chinese forces advanced on them.
"No, we're not," Cornelia agreed over a private line. "The Glaston Knights are mostly still intact, but we're low on power. The Chinese forces outnumber us substantially, and are fresh. No, we're not winning today."
"Understood," Suzaku nodded. He took a breath, "Then you're leaving, Viceroy. I and the Knights will buy you time."
"No," Cornelia yelped.
"You have to survive," Suzaku said firmly. "Or are you going to leave Euphemia alone to try to lead a Area at war?"
Cornelia growled, "You fight dirty, damn it."
Before either could continue, a loud explosion went off, to the flank of the Chinese forces, then another. "They're distracted, go," Suzaku ordered.
"Wait, what," Cornelia started, then trailed off in shock.
To be continued...