Nunnally of the Insurrection
Chapter 35
In Area 11, Cornelia and Euphemia were watching events unfold.
"Those poor people," Euphemia said with a sigh, the younger sister grimly studying the early casualty figures.
Sometimes Cornelia thought that her sister was TOO kind. Mind you, the initial casualty reports that were coming in were horrific for the Chinese.
"Hopefully the Eunuchs will see reason and surrender to Britannia," Euphemia said sadly, putting the tablet down.
"It's not likely," Cornelia pointed out, "they've inflamed their citizens against us to the point they can't back down."
"Oh dear," Euphemia shook her head. She asked, "Have the other Areas requested military aide from us?" she checked.
"No, they're aware of our situation," Cornelia said dryly. "They HAVE asked if we'll loan out the Lancelot and Suzaku..."
"I assume you said 'hell no,'" Euphemia noted, amused.
"Ha. Yes," Cornelia agreed.
Her new team of Irregulars were also eager to be deployed against China. However, Cornelia wanted to hold them in reserve, in case of local trouble. And, of course, if it became needed to move against the Black Knights.
There was a knock on the door, then her aide Guilford entered, "Updates on the front. WE've lost two border outposts, but Chinese losses doing it were catastrophic."
Cornelia winced, "They had nearly four to one losses doing it?"
"That's horrible," Euphemia winced.
"They can't continue like this," Cornelia added flatly.
"No," Guilford agreed, "but they can last long enough to hurt us."
Both women looked unhappy at that thought.
"This could destabilize the whole Asia/Europe region," Cornelia mused. Quietly she wondered, 'Is SHE responsible for all this? And if so, how?'
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Li Xingke was going over his Knightmare Frame, just in case he needed to use it to protect the Empress and capital. ESPECIALLY the Empress.
They were, of course, a huge distance from the combat zones near the border. But he was determined to take no chances with her safety. If things went especially bad, he could even evacuate just the two of them...
Dorothea, the Knight that had accompanied Odysseus, was not far away, going over the transport they had used. Much like him, she was probably figuring out if she and the prince could flee. Sadly, he didn't think it was likely.
Li Xingke noticed her walking towards him, and wondered what she might want.
"That's a custom Knightmare Frame, correct?" Dorothea asked, looking up at it curiously.
"Yes, it is," Li decided it was safe to answer. "It's actually a Britannian model, the Empress arranged it for me."
It also probably cost three times what their local units did, but Li wasn't going to bring THAT up. Wasn't her business.
"I see," Dorothea said. She bowed, "I hope you will not be required to use it."
"Me too," Li agreed once she left.
He later told Tianzi about the interaction.
"Hmm," the pretty Empress nodded thoughtfully.
"Yes?" Li asked curiously.
"You realize she was scouting your unit in case she needed to steal your knightmare frame?" Tianzi pointed out.
"She couldn't...," Li blinked, feeling a little stupid.
"She's a Britannian Knight. I'd bet she can hotwire a knightmare frame," Tianzi noted.
"Damn," Li muttered. "I'll put a guard on duty."
"Heh," Tianzi smiled.
Before either could continue talking, an officer hurried in to where the Eunuchs were meeting nearby them.
"Uh oh," Li did not like the panicked look on the boy's face.
"More bad news," Tianzi murmured.
"The Britannians have broken through the first and second defensive lines in the eastern provinces!" the boy blurted out his report. He added, "Without reinforcements, they'll break through into the country's interior."
'Which is still nowhere near us,' Li mused, 'but...'
The Eunuchs, of course, were panicking. "What do we DO?" the lead yelped.
Li did his best to keep contempt off his face. "We have reserves around the capital," he said, "we can deploy those to stop the attackers."
"Yes!" the Eunuch blurted, "Use the reserves!"
"Is that wise? We need those if the capitol is threatened!" another yelped.
"If the Britannians break through, they could race here!" a third bleated.
"If we don't stop them there..." the first barked.
Tianzi watched them ultimately decide to mobilize the reserve forces. "Why did you encourage them to do that?" she asked Li quietly.
"If we need to flee, that would have been the nearest force to try to catch us." Li explained to her softly.
"Ah," Tianzi smirked.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
A few hours later, and the troops were on the move. They swiftly left the base, hurrying to the Britannian force that was advancing. Sadly, they were unaware they were being observed.
"Just as planed?" CC looked at Nemo.
"No, but not unexpected," Nemo said. "I knew the capital security forces would have to go SOMEWHERE, eventually."
"Is it time?" Todoh asked respectfully.
"It's time. Remember, there will still be guard units, we need to hit them fast and hard," Nemo reminded everyone. "You have your assigned targets?"
"Yes!" everyone chorused.
"Move out!"
The drop ships dscended on the capital, sweeping in fast. The rear hatches opened, deploying Knightmare Frames that dropped via chutes to the streets.
The aerial defences were a joke. It looked like to save money they went with the minimum, and the guns barely went operational before being taken out by teams of attackers. The Knights swept across the city, defeating almost any remaining security easily.
"Come on, then!" Kallen yelled as the Guren ripped a inferior mecha apart. "Nemo," she reported, "we're coming up to the palace."
"On my way," Nemo reported, her own modified Knightmare coming into view.
"The Eunuchs are trying to request help, but our jammers are working as planned," Ohgi calmly reported.
"There might be land lines," Nemo noted, "we need to move fast."
She, Kallen and several knights disembarked and hurried inside, even as the Knights stood watch outside. The halls were eerilly empty, oddly.
"Where are the guards?" Kallen asked.
"We saw a LOT of people fleeing the building as we landed," a pilot reported from the carriers.
"Loyal bunch," Kallen mused.
"The Eunuchs generally ARE asshiles," CC noted dryly.
They reached the main hall doors, which actually had a few loyal guards. "Stop!" one teen demanded.
"Move or die," Ohgi ordered. After a moment, the men threw down their guns and fled.
Kallen booted the doors open, then she, Ohgi and CC entered first, in case of ambush. Nemo followed them in.
The Eunuchs were clearly stunned that anyone cloud be attacking them here, in their capital. There was yelling, pointing and general indignant attitute.
"Who are you?! Those aren't Britannian uniforms!" one got the courage to demand.
"We are the Black Knights of Japan," Kallen declared.
In the back, a woman's gasp was heard.
Nemo calmly continued, "Would the Empress please step forward?"
The young lady rose, and gestured to a man to follow her. "What are you going to do?" she asked bravely.
"Please turn around," Nemo ordered. They did, looking somewhat confused, then Nemo took off her concealing sunglasses and summoned her Geass ability. "OBEY," she commanded the Eunuchs.
"..." the Eunuchs looked stunned a moment. Then, almost as one, cried out, "HAIL NEMO!"
As Nemo put her sunglasses back on she muttered, "That was the easy part..."
To be continued...
Notes: Was originally tempted to just shoot the Eunuchs (HATED them in the anime) but decided Geass made more sense.
The 'hard part' is going to be ending the war, and setting up Nemo running China. Or not...