Nunnally of the Insurrection
Chapter 22: Black Rebellion Part Three
The commanders of the Chinese forces felt a surge of hope as they watched the battle ending. The JLF forces were all destroyed, but the Brittannians were also ragged and broken. They had diverted as much non-essential forces here as they could, but they had been no match for the assembled rebels.
Gāo Hài watched in awe as the battle unfolded. As the representative of the High Eunuchs who secretly led the Chinese Federation, he had been there to monitor events, and if needed kill their allies. He had been dumbfounded at the ferocity of the Japanese, who seemed to not care if they lived or died. All they wanted was to kill Britannians.
"We're winning!" the leader of the Japanese exiles declared.
Gāo Hài wondered about that. The core of the Viceroy's units were still intact, if battered, and there was that damned White Knightmare to consider. It still showed remarkable ability, even as banged up as it was. Still, they had to move eventually.
"Commander?" Gāo Hài used a private line to the purely Chinese troops. Calmly he said, "It's time to move."
"Should we attempt to capture the Viceroy?" he asked briskly.
"No, no..." Gāo Hài wave that off languidly, "I think the younger sister will be much easier for us to deal with."
"Ha," the other officer said, amused.
Gāo Hài watched with a sense of deep satisfaction as the army moved up to crush the Britannians... then suddenly everything started to go wrong. The first explosion off in the distance made him jerk, then suddenly the Chinese Federation forces were attacked from the flank!
"Report!" Gāo Hài demanded franically.
"We're under attack!" a frantic voice called, then was cut off.
Another, more powerful explosion came much closer, and Gāo Hài realized in horror that whomever was attacking was literally slicing through their forces like a knife through cheese. Who was he DEALING with here?
"What's going on?" Gāo Hài asked even as he tried to quell his panic.
"They are black painted Knightmares! Don't know who or where they are from, but...?" then the voice was cut off too.
"Do you know anything about this?" Gāo Hài rounded on the leaders of the Japanese resistance, but they just expressed confusion.
Worse, the Britannians were also rallying. Seeing their enemy thrown into confusion they were attacking, driving hard into a weakened foe. Worse, they had no Japanese troops to soften the blow or spare their men, all of them had been burned off fighting the original battle. And while the Britannians were weakened, they were VERY skilled warriors, unlike the Chinese.
Gāo Hài tried not to panic, but was failing. He wasn't a military leader! He had no idea what they needed t do! And he couldn't REACH anyone in the line of command. They couldn't all be dead... could they?
"Aaah!" one of the commanders of the Japanese screamed as a missile soared in towards their supposedly fortified position.
Gāo Hài barely had time to leap for cover before the detonation. Then things were all confusion as the mysterious Black Knightmares overran their position, gunning down their guards and crushing the expensive communications systems that connected them to the mainland.
A otherwise nondescript Knightmare used it's robot arm to pick Gāo Hài up, then the cockpit slid open to reveal a young woman. He gaped in confusion, then she smiled coldly as she said, "My name is Nemo."
Gāo Hài felt a chill, but also deep confusion. "But... you fight for the Japanese! How could you..." he stammered.
"You'll see," Nemo calmly took off her visor like glasses, her one eye glowing as a phoenix like bird shimmered for a moment, seeming to fly out towards him as she added, "and from now on, you will only be loyal to me."
"Yes, mistress," Gāo Hài answered dreamily.
"Surrender to the Britannians and confess the entire Chinese plan," she ordered, then turned away. Clearly, there was more work for her to do.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
As Cornelia's forces neared the command post, Nunnally took a steadying breath. The battle was over.. but this was possibly the most difficult part of the gambit. If she was wrong, everything they had fought for was done.
The white Knightmare, Lancelot, was first, looking around warily. Why, you might almost think the Britannian forces didn't trust her. After a moment Suzaku declared, "The area is secure."
With that Cornelia strode forward apparently having had to abandon her Knightmare. The other woman looked tired, but her eyes had a dangerous gleam as she reached where Nunnally stood. "We appear to owe you our lives," she said coolly.
Suzaku dismounted from Lancelot, probably to back up Cornelia. He looked about as tired as she was, but there was a odd sense of similarity to them, now. Apparently having gone through this together, they had bonded a bit.
"Viceroy, I am Nemo," she bowed a bit as she added, "I've wanted to meet you a long time."
Cornelia looked like she was sucking a lemon as she said, "Likewise." Grimly she continued, "Why did you save us?"
Completely honestly Nunnally answered, "Because you are better for Area 11 than these fools would have been."
That made Cornelia nod thoughtfully. She touched her earpiece as a message came in, turning slightly.
Nunnally carefully kept her own face blank as her concealed earpiece kicked in, relaying a report. As expected, the uprising of the JLF cells and others had nearly destroyed the Britannian forces on the island. Right now, there were only two functioning military forces left: Cornelia's battered force, and the Black Knights.
Cornelia turned towards Nunnally, and she felt a flash of pity for the pain in Cornelia's eyes. These troops had been comrades and friends, and now they were gone. But she shoved that pity down... those men had come to this island as invaders, not guests.
"You have done the Area a great service this day," Cornelia said grimly, "yet it seems I may need to ask for more."
Nunnally fought back a smile, 'Just as planned.' Aloud she said, "We will be glad to be of service, Viceroy."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"I still don't quite understand what you've done," Milly asked after a exhausted Nunnally returned to campus. She had retreated to her room and collapsed, only stirring herself nearly twelve hours later.
Nunnally raised a eyebrow at Milly phrasing it that way. Apparently her friend was done pretending Nemo was a separate person. She took a drink of her coffee, "Well, it's fairly simple: the Black Knights now control Area 11, with Cornelia as a figurehead."
That made poor Nina drop her cup. "What?" she yelped.
Milly helped clean her up as she asked Nunnally, "How is that possible?"
"The recent unpleasantness has, effectively, destroyed Cornelia's armed forces," Nunnally explained. Exactly as she had planned, of course, but she wouldn't tell them that. All she has left is her Glouster Knights and Lancelot. She literally cannot keep order in Area 11 without help."
"She can't ask for help from other Areas?" Nina wondered.
"Not without appearing weak in front of her relatives," Nunnally shrugged, "which would almost guarantee the Area being taken from her."
"So she HAS to depend on you, meaning you can shape policy and even make outrageous demands," Milly noted, shaking her head.
"Not QUITE that bad," Nunnally noted, "we need her to stay in power, after all. But yes, things are going to change here." Mentally she added, 'And in the rest of the world, soon enough.'
"Nunnally you JERK!" a annoyed female voice broke in and they looked up to see a clearly annoyed CC stride in.
"Ah, I think we'll be going..." Milly grabbed Nina and fled.
"Hello, CC," Nunnally tried a charming smile, "I've missed you."
"You ordered your maid-ninja to tie me up to keep me from following you," CC growled.
"You aren't all that great in a stand up fight," Nunnally defended herself, "besides, I didn't want to risk seeing you hurt."
"ME?" CC hit her on the shoulder, "I'm more worried about you dying before we finish our agreement."
"I didn't know you cared," Nunnally teased.
CC gave her a odd, unreadable look. "More than you realize," she said as she grabbed Nunnally's uniform collar, pulled her close and kissed her.
To be continued...