Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What would you give? For another chance?” 

???-???

The ballroom is filled to the brim, nobles from across the Empire gathering as they are want to do whenever the Emperor is bound to show up, all to get some modicum of favour from a man who could not despise them less, ignoring the actual reason said man would be here. Typical, I suppose, Britannian nobles are not known for their intellect, at least those outside of army or naval commision, my own close family included of course, what little of it I have, my Mother first amongst them for marrying the Emperor, as so many before her had done.

She was not a bad woman of course, but she was conniving and not smart enough to back up her plots, a good mother, but a bad person, a common tale in the Empire, if one were to take a look at my attending siblings you could only agree, Odysseus and Sneizel both had little familial support, Lelouch and Nunnally’s mother was best left undiscussed, and Nelly had been taking care of Euphie for damn near the girls entire life when their mother got herself assassinated. 

Me?

Oh I am just as prone to noble stupidity, but I am at least self aware about it, which I like to think makes me better than them.

Taking a moment to comb my mane of blond hair into something more manageable before folding the ivory comb Nelly had given me for my birthday last year away, I stare into the mirror of my private bathroom, and, as always, a child's face greets me, blond locks wild and prone to tangle, bright purple eyes, my fathers inheritance, shining in the lamplight. Ten fucking years at this point, ten years with so little agency, ten years as a puppet only able to influence with words, not that I was bad at that of course, it was just annoying, incredibly so.

I left the bathroom with a sigh, patting down my extravagant white and gold suit, modelled after Odysseus's suit from the man's last speech to the country because my mother dearest was impressed with it, before heading towards the cacophonously loud ballroom, the halls lined with my families royal guards. Outside the door I met with one of the servants, Muriel, who called out to some people at the side as I approached, and I had to smile as my two true friends came running, the twins, Marius and Dorothea Ernst, had been in my families service same as their mother, and I had grown quite friendly with them, to my own mothers dismay.

Marius is large, exceptionally so, especially for his age, being nearly five foot at ten years old, with dark green hair pulled into a series of intricate dreadlocks alongside his head and then pulled into a ponytail, his onyx eyes staring out with the naivety of youth, one of the friendliest people I had met in either life. His sister, Dorothea, was different in appearance and attitude, a slim and short girl half the size of her brother, with straight black hair, bright green eyes and a cautious attitude, when we first met she was acidic in conversation, insulting even at times, which had almost gotten her beaten by the guards were it not for my own amused intervention, we had been friends since she first called me a motherfucker.

As African-Britannians their standing in the Empire was low, even more so because they were bastards of the now dead Lord Ernst, as while the Empire had ended slavery over a century ago, old ‘traditions’ were still in place, and this world lacked the figures that brought equality to mine. Mother had all but made these two my servants with her plotting, but I would not be treating them as such, instead I had made two friends for life, all by being an oddly friendly child.

Pulling on the mental muscle ingrained in me, my geass flashes into life briefly as I look the two of them over, the sheer wealth of knowledge and understanding flowing through me in two streams of data, both analyzed quickly and without issue, infinite multitasking and infinite knowledge combined as my one tool to take the world flared to life and granted me understanding.

Subject nervous of noble retribution, annoyed at wearing a dress, desires to be training like usual, feels uncomfortable but going along for the sake of her brothers.

Subject excited about future, focused on protecting his siblings in case of issues, ready to jump to verbal defence of User if User is insulted.

“Thea, Marius, how are you?” They both gave a cordial short bow before Dorothea answered me, her voice low as a whisper but hard as stone, hiding her words under the jingling sounds of servants driving carts of drinks into the ballroom. 

“Well enough, but are you sur-”

“Dorothea…” I interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eyes. “It's the best way forward for us, out of my mothers grasp.” 

“He’s right Thea.” Marius nodded in turn, smiling as he smoothed out his own suit. “We have no other option here.” 

“For your sake Marius.” I said, looking him in the eye. “Let me do the talking here, ignore the nobles, ignore my mother, nothing anyone of them say matters, all that matters is the words of the Emperor, understand?” 

“I… Alright, yes.” 

I nodded, and brushed down my horrendous suit once again, before gesturing to the servants at the side of the doors, who opened the heavy wooden things as the house Butler spoke in a loud but steady tone, coming clear over the cacophonous wave of sound from the room in front of him. 

“Presenting the Seventh Price of the Holy Britannian Empire, Scion of Emperor Charles of Britannia, Ninety Eight Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, Scion of Natalia Romonova the First, Rightful Tsarina of Russia and all its Crowns; Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia!” 

The silence that followed was glorious, the bold claim, officiated by my Mother, was one of the few decisions of hers I agreed with, giving the Emperor a solid claim on the throne of Russia, or as it was now known, the European Republic of the Rus was a good way to get in the power hungry man's good graces. Then there was the reason for this gathering, this introduction to court was not just an introduction, it was a rare Court of the Emperor, one held whenever one of his many children reached ten years of age, here the Emperor would settle disputes and conflicts and most importantly for me, grant a singular request from the child he was visiting and acknowledging.

In other words, your one birthday gift from your father if you were a prince or princess of Britannia.

My mother wanted to ask me for an estate to govern, where she would of course be my regent and could gather more power to herself, a basic if functional plan for her advancement, unfortunately, I have other plans. 

I activate my Geass with a flash, aimed at the crown peeking out from the crowd.

Subject amused, break from courtroom politics brought by introduction pleasant, not interested in being here, would rather be at home and working through documents from various agencies, subject receptive to introduction, looking for worthwhile people to induct into schemes.

The crowd parted as I approached, revealing the mountain of a man that was my Father and Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire

He was already white of hair, with purple gemstone eyes that shone with amusement, his face set into a neutral expression, one of dismissal and uncaring apathy, his form covered by a royal robe of Britannian Purple lined with fur and gemstones over his immaculate white suit. Upon seeing my approach, with the Twins at my sides drawing aghast looks from the various nobles his lips twitched in a held back smile, I approached at a steady pace, not hasty but enough to not be slow, and kneeled in front of my Royal Father. 

“Rise, Child. And let us get to the point of this evening.” The Emperor gestured to the scribe standing besides him, who stepped forwards with an ornate quill in hand to record the man's words. “I, Charles of Britannia, Ninety Eight Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, Lord of the Emblem of Blood, the Peacebringer, acknowledge you Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia as my son and seventh in line to the throne to the Holy Empire of Britannia, as becomes you with your position, you may ask me for a gift.”

“I have a single wish, Father.” I steeled myself, and spoke, voice steady. “In this era of unrest, the people of our great nation need things to rely on, figures to emulate, Knights to stand for them, I wish for your patronage to form an Order of Knights to champion the values of our people, an Order for those of common birth to rally behind in support, an Order where those of skill can distinguish themselves and make a name of themselves.”

Silence encompassed the hall, only the clatter of plates filled with wine glasses carried by the servants interrupting the silence in which I awaited the response of my father, the man was silent, his eyes shining in interest, a focus on me that was unnerving and frustrating, until the man broke out in booming laughter, to which the nobles swiftly joined in, mocking laughter joining genuine amusement.

“Silence! All you stuck up Sycophants!” The droning silence this time was pure and uninterrupted, the smile on my Fathers face genuine and dare I say proud. “Child, no, Son, you have made a grand Wish, one I cannot grant, not yet… For a man cannot lead a Knightly Order if they are not a Knight!” 

He paused for a moment, gesturing to his left, where one of the Knights of the Round, one of his own greatest knights, stood stoic and waiting, her lime green hair falling to either side of the armored chest, the woman clad in a mix of formal wear and combat ready armor, a sword hanging at her side.

“Dame Nonette Enneagram! I charge you with my Son and his… Companions as your Squires, you shall teach them what it means to be a knight, show them Chivalry and Virtue, teach them War and Conquest! Do you accept this charge?”

“Yes my lord!” Nonette bowed at the waist to the Emperor, the woman only nineteen at this point had been entered into the Knights of the Round thanks to her close relation to Empress Mariane and Bismark, granted Knighthood for her skills in single combat. “I shall teach them all I know.” 

Nonette was a slave driver of a trainer, luckily, being in an Anime World had prepared me mentally and physically, with the amount of bullshit characters like Suzaku and Kallen could get away with in terms of physical feats, I had been preparing, doing training that would be considered very or even too heavy for a child my age. Luckily, anime rules applied, and while Marius and Dorothea struggled with Nonette’s tortuous workout regime, I was breezing through for the most part, in better shape then I had ever been before.

All of that training would pay off today, because, at my continued instance, after nearly three year of doing nothing but training and learning, we were getting our first Knightmare training, with just a few months away from the eventual invasion of Japan Nonette had somehow gotten her hands on a quartet of Sutherland Mk-II’s. The Mk-II was the previous generation of Military Knightmare, the first generation to be used independent of cables with a built in powercore fueled by a simple infused gas and sakuradite reaction and equipped with a simple battle rifle and stun batons.

But Nonette had essentially robbed the Rounds Armory and gotten several Knightmare weapons that Bismark had been using to spar with Marriane before her death last month, swords, lances, shields and even a spear for us to train with.

“If you want to be a Knight, you need to fight like a Knight.” She said as she stood before the four four meter tall machines, the green haired girl pacing past our small lineup of three young teenagers. “Today, you will learn the basic controls of the Knightmare, the warhorse of modern warfare, behind me is the Sutherland two, it has a maximum speed of one hundred kilometers per hour on any paved road, manoeuvrability equal to a trained foot soldier, five to thirty centimeters of composite armor, sensors that can give a live tracking feed from inside its reinforced pilot block, which is mounted with a controllable ejection pod to allow for pilot recovery. You have all been in the simulators, so today we are sparring properly..” 

“Yes Mam.” 

“None of that please?”

“Yes Madam.” 

“Come on guys…” 

Mounting a Knightmare is a fun thing, you either get into them via a dock, or in the field like we were you used a cable with a winch that would reel you upwards to the open cockpit block at remarkable speed, before allowing you to climb into the cockpit or the pilot block as the Brittanians called it. I sat now in its cockpit block, leaning back into the comfortable seat as I gripped the controls with my hands and adjusted the pedal arrays with my feet, and with a humm the machine booted up, its screens flashing for a moment before showing the outside on rough screens. 

Something to fix when I make my own.

Reaching with my left arm to the side I grabbed the heavy Knightmare Lance, one of the most recent inventions in the front of Knightmare warfare, Personally the standard lance was a bit too bulky for my liking, and the design was probably a generation of Knightmare design away from being useful in warfare. It was still an interesting weapon, the rotating drill like head would puncture through the heaviest tank armor, which as a potential dedicated tank buster weapon, made them interesting if not for the fact that Knightmares countered the very existence of tanks.

In my right hand I grasped the hilt of a Knightmare Broadsword, a dueling weapon, made not for the battlefield but for honourable fights in peacetimes, I knew from future knowledge that this was bound to become reversed, in time. With a flourish I readied both weapons in front of me, in front of my Knightmare, Lance held low and outwards away from me, Sword held similarly, presenting a false target, a faked easy strike on my cockpit block that would result in the person attempting it falling to a tripping strike from the lance followed by a sword strike, and looked at my friends and companions, Nonette included of course.

Marius was not a simple minded man, he was thoughtful, focused and charismatic, but that friendly giant, when put in combat, was a crazed berserker, he had founds swords were too fragile and lances too long, instead he had found the heft of a giant double headed axe to do well for him. He had requested the weapon himself, and had spent nearly a month arguing with the armory master to get it ready for today, spending nearly all of the salary I paid him last year on it, damn near fifty thousand Pounds invested in that singular slab of steel on a tungsten stick.

Dorothea favoured range far more than either of us did, rifles, particularly the experimental two handed rifles, were her favorite, of course those were likely a knightmare generation away from being combat effective, and as such there were no models made for sparring. So she had with her now a sword and fuck all else, she called it practice for being ambushed, and Nonette had smiled proudly at her words

Of course Nonette herself was by far the most experienced out of all of us in Knightmare combat, originally she had come from the Duelist Guild before being recruited into the Knights of the Round as The Emperor's Primary Honor Duelist, an honourable if unneeded role, with the existence of the Knight of One. She was instead trained in Knightmare combat at the Emperors Command, and had served as one of the test pilots for the next age of warfare, and now stood on the field wielding a pair of short swords. 

“Begin!” 

Our fight was a clash of Steel on Tungsten, the screeching of metal filling the air. By the end of it, all of us were beaten to hell and back, and I had developed a hatred for the existing Knightmare cockpit design.

Ludd was a simple man, at least in his own opinion, he desired knowledge, he wanted to know all there was to know of the world, he had studied, he had gotten a scholarship and excelled, he had been inducted into the special academy programs alongside some of the smartest people Britannia had to offer. There was where he had first struggled, where he had first not been the top of his class, the Sakradite Engineering Doctorate had still become his, but he was the third in his class, behind two of the smartest people he had ever seen, the Strange Baron and the Vapid Woman.

Still, he had not expected to be where he currently was, never had young him, dreaming of his future on his family's farm, expected to stand in one of the Imperial Palaces before a Prince of the Empire. Young Prince Alexander was taking after his father, even at fourteen, he was tall and broad, just under six foot even with room to grow, he was muscular too, in the way young athletes often were, lean and wired with muscle, his long mane of golden hair pulled back into a rough ponytail, his focus was on the papers in front of him, so Ludd coughed subtly.

“Huh?” Purple eyes locked on Ludd and he could swear they shone red for the briefest of moments as the young prince started into his very soul. “Ah! Doctor Harris, correct? Good! Excellent even, we have much to discuss.” 

“Ludd if you would, your majesty.” 

“Of course Ludd, though I am in no way majestic either, call me Andre in private or my Prince in public if you would? Now, I understand you were interested in the Chief Engineer position for Pride Corp, if so, we have much to discuss.”

Ludd nodded at the Prince, sitting as the young man gestured at a chair, where Ludd quickly placed himself, watching as the Prince pulled up some documents from the drawers of his desk.

“As you might know, tensions with Japan are on the rise, War is likely to spark, and soon, a War that will show the word the power of the Britannian Knightmare, of which there is currently only a singular producer, I want in on that market, I want my Knights to be able to say they have the greatest in Steeds, please, have a look at these documents and let me know if this is feasible.” 

Later, when the sun had set and he had finally finished writing down the Ideas of the the young Pirce, Ludd left the palace as the Chief Engineer of the Pride Corporation, with a bundle of work that excited him to no end, the Prince had plans upon plans, and Ludd would be at the center of several of them.

He had not looked forward to something this much since he got to go to school for the first time.

Chapter Text

“Sometimes, it's better to do nothing at all.” 

Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia

The Pacific war passed exactly as I had expected it would, Japan’s mostly battleship navy had been crushed in the Island campaign by the Britannia Carrier group doctrine, losing a quarter of its navy in the opening week of conflict alone, the alpha strike from the Britannian pacific navy essentially ending the naval war. From there, the invasion of the Home Islands started, the Empire dedicated a large portion of its own Home armies, including every single one of the five Knightmare battalions, which also included the Emperor's personal battalion, the new war machines immediately proving their worth in the urban combat that would be so common in Japan.

In the messy establishment of Area 11, Lelouch and Nunnaly were lost, as expected and planned for, only in this timeline, in this world, they were being watched and guarded. I had not been able to recruit much for my Knights, but for Pride Corp? That was a different story, and some of the people I had recruited had skills that would be less needed in the era of Knightmares but nonetheless important, Snipers, Spies, Infiltration Specialists, Extraction Specialists, various flavours of Spec Ops that I had personally vetted with my Geass. 

My little network of Agents was not the most subtle, on the surface, I had left plenty of obvious signs that I was doing this, in this manner less people would investigate the less obvious branches, such as the slowly being established Japanese Branch. Every plan needs information, and my own National Photography Organization, or the No Particular Organization, would be the first of many organizations to give me what I would need to fight, and already transfers were being made between the two companies in an effort to separate them.

Back on topic, the success of Knightmares, just under two hundred Knightmares had turned what should have been a hellish grind of a landing into a quick route of the enemy coastal defences, which combined with the surrender and assumed Suicide of the Prime Minister of Japan led to a quick defeat of the so called ‘Masters of the Pacific’. It had sparked exactly what I had expected, with the European Union, Chinese Federation and Middle Eastern Union all launching Knightmare programs of their own in the wake of the fall of Japan, with the Empire also seeking to quintuple its Knightmare Corp within the year. 

“So much to do, so little time.” 

The week after the Invasion concluded saw me being invited to the Royal Palace, the order being signed by the Emperor himself. 

Which was why I was travelling in my personal transport through the busy streets of Pendragon, the Capital of the Empire still loud with celebration and elation above us as the underground roads led us towards the towering palace. Pendragon was a strange city, it had been planned from the ground up following the end of the Emblem of Blood decades ago, as a remarkably compact and vertical city, with three tiers to its structure, each tier serving a specific purpose, all surrounded by the Walls of Camelot.

The Walls were special, both a defense for a potential attack on the city, but also a functional prison for the nobles within the city, at any time the Emperor could lock the city down and none would be able to escape, connecting to the walls was the bottom tier, which my transport was currently cruising through. This Tier was mainly offices, warehouses, housing for the poor and the arterial roads and highways, being below the other two tiers this tier was dark and lit by street lights around the clock, it was another measure of control too, the Royal Guard could at a moments notice shut down transport to any section of the city.

My transport, the compact limousine coloured a pure black, took a ramp upwards to the second tier of the city and into the sun lit Grand Boulevard, where we slowed down as a gathered crowd cheered from the flower lined and overflowing bars and cafe’s lining the main parade street of the Capital. The Second Tier of the City was the commercial and business center of the Empire, with small shops and restaurants intermingling with gigantic corporate headquarters, none of which could ever hope to top the Palace in the distance. 

As my transport approached the Elevator upwards towards the Royal Palace, I carefully took in the center of the Empire, the Royal Palace was built atop a Mesa with the rest of the Capital built around it, and was first and foremost, an old fortress. It was the final tier of the city, a towering structure reaching near a kilometer above the rest of the city, with a footprint nearly twice the size of the Forbidden City, most of which was occupied by the Palace and its massive gardens. From the Palace Grounds the Empire was run, here was where the High Command was stationed, where the Knights of the Round were quartered, where the Parliament deliberated and of course, where the Emperor lived. 

When the elevator finally reached the top of the Plateau, my Transport had to drive another ten minutes through the underground tunnels before we finally parked and I could step outside. The tunnels here were becklad in marble and gold, and a large garden Balcony was visible behind a gigantic glass door. I patted down my suit, the white as bone three piece making me seem even broader than I normally was, to my left Dorothea, wearing a long green dress strapped her sword back to her belt, while Marius, wearing a black suit slung a cloak of gold fabric lined in white fur over my shoulders.

Nonette was already waiting for us, the uniform of the Knights of the Round having changed once more with the new move towards more Knightmares into a mix of a prototype pilot suit and a Victorian era suit, and in these new clothes Nonette cut a striking figure. 

“Andre, Marius, Thea, good to see you.” The woman had grown into a friend these past few years, and when she had been called to war three months ago we had limited contact, a few video calls here and there all our Mentor could do for us. “Come, the Emperor is expecting you.” 

We nodded, and the Knight of the Round turned on her heel as we followed, the doors to the large Garden Balcony sliding open silently, letting the scent of flowers and fresh water on dry soil waft through the air, the garden was eerily silent, only the soft wind going through the leaves heard, no calls from birds or the buzz of insects. Walking over stone paths and to the edge of the balcony, the only thing separating us from the kilometer drop a four foot high fence of marble and steel on the cliffs edge, leaning over that fence and looking down upon the city below was the Emperor, my Father, dressed not in the suit and cloak he wore on camera, but a simple T-shirt and jeans, showing scarred arms to the world, his head tufted with thin white hair, lacking its usual wig.

There was a presence to the him, one I was hoping to cultivate for myself as well, some sort of pressure as he looked over at us, perhaps it was to do with his height, standing six foot eight tall in a world where most people rarely crested six foot, or perhaps it was the fact that this man, this politician and Emperor had arms as thick as my head. It was the Senator Armstrong vibe, this man has ideals, he has fought for them, is willing to fight for them and he can crush the average man's head with his bare hands, even with that ugly ass wig on his head.

Approaching I dropped to a knee, my companions and Nonette following a moment later as the Emperor started out over the city a moment longer, before he inhaled deeply, speaking in a soft tone.

“I have come to a conclusion after the recent conflict, Marriane warned me it would happen, she was the only one at the time, so I had questioned the sense in it, the sense in the novelty, but it turns out her vision had more merit than those of others, something I believe she would hold over my head forever if she were here. The only other one who saw the coming change…” He turned towards us, I looked up from my kneeling position. “Was you, young Lion.” 

He reached his hand out to Nonette, who rose and handed him her sword, the thin longsword looking tiny in the man's hands, he held it with the flat downwards, tapping me on the shoulders in sequence before tapping the top of my head, followed by Marius and Dorothea a moment later, in the silence, witnessed by only Nonette. 

“Rise, Knight-Commander Alexander, Knight-Marshal Marius, Knight-Marshal Dorothea, you have work to do my Son.”

I stood in a pilot suit before the crowd of men and women of ranging ages, the suit had been tailored to look more like a parade uniform then a normal plain pilot suit, coloured in the grey, red and purple of the Order, a sword sheathed at my side, a pistol on the other side, my hair pulled back out of my eyes by a thin band of gold braided into it. The crowd in front of me was a mixed one, ranging from middle aged military men to well dressed heirs in both dresses and suits, to Numbers from South America, South Africa and Oceania to street children from the Britannian Homeland, all silent and looking up at the stage.

“Thank you all for being here.” My voice was, as was common recently, scratchy from puberty, it did not make it any less deep and loud, and the crowd of five hundred men, women, boys and girls had their eyes locked on me. “And welcome to the Knightly Order of the Nine Hells!” 

Murmurs left the crowd, and I hammed it up by simply staring down my nose at them, drawing my face into a frown which had the murmuring quite down, the younger ones from fear and the older men and women out of respect for their Prince. 

“You have been selected to join the newest Knightly Order, to join the ranks of the Nobility by paying the Price of Blood, Service and Death, over these next months I and my Knight Marshals will mold you, not into Knights of Honour and Courage, but into killers and warriors. You will each be granted the Rank of Squire, and go through our training for the next six months, upon graduation you will be granted the title of Knight of the Order, and will be put into active service, where you will have the opportunity to grow in the ranks to one of the Nine.” 

I turned around, presenting my back to the crowd, to the Squires of the Order, facing the banner of the wall upon which was hung the banner of the Empire alongside the Black field with nine rings of alternating red and purple that was the banner of the Order, this was mostly for dramatic effect, I was hamming it up for the cameras and the crowd.

“You will be my sword and my shield, the tip of the Spear, the Empire's first and finest, and the Nine who ascend to the Rank of Knight Marshal? Each of them will be an Ace amongst Ace’s, someone who can bring low armies on their own! We are in the dawn of a new era of warfare, where a single pilot can change the outcome of a battle, will you become that Pilot? Will you gain glory and recognition for Savagery and Murder? Will you Become Death?! A Knight-Marshal of the Nine Hells?!” 

“Succeed, become not just Knights, but Legend, and you will be granted titles and standing, you will join the Nobility not as a Fat, overgrown Leech, but a true Lord or Lady of War, A Lord of Hell!” I turned back to the group, back to see their gazes focused and locked, determination in them. “I am Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia, Lord of the Ninth Hell, Asmodeus, your Knight-Commander of the Order of the Nine Hells, Squires! Attenshun!”

“All of you have been selected because you have shown aptitude and attitude, not because of station or breeding, Squire Hexen, if I need to reiterate that again, because of you specifically, what would the consequences be according to the charter of the Order?” Marius looked down upon the far shorter boy, whose white hair was only just starting to grow back after the bootcamp he had gone through, the anger in Marius eyes drawing a cawed and resigned response from the young lad. 

“Dishonorable Discharge for disobedience of Orders during peacetime, Execution by firing squad during wartime.” Schnee Hexen, while a few years younger then me, had made it into the youngest age group of the Squires on merit of his skills in a Knightmare simulator, but he was a racist little fuck, and while I would have been more then happy to just boot him out the door, Thea and Marius wanted to see if they could, and I quote, beat the Racism out of him. “I apologise for my words Knight-Marshal, Knight-Commander.” 

“Good, then head towards the sparring grounds, three hundred laps then you may rejoin the Squires in their training.” Roughly twenty kilometers of running, a rather mild punishment in my opinion, but considering I run thirty a day for endurance training I might not be the best judge for it, still the boy looked rather frightful at the amount. “At the Double Squire Hexen!” 

“Yes, Knight-Marshal!” 

I am still, after nearly a month of training our first recruits, getting used to the system of ranks we had developed, it all had to be noble and royal, to separate us from a normal military unit, hence my title of Knight-Commander, an equivalent to a Britannian Army General, while Knight-Marshal was self explanatory, being the second highest rank in the Knights. Knight-Majors would lead battalions, with Knight Paladins leading Lances, Squads of four, the main fighting force would be the Knight, these would be combat capable Pilots, with Squires being in training Pilots. Our support crew would be stealing from the Brotherhood of Steel just a little more, with Scribes being our main support crew rank, we already have quite a few of these Scribes thanks to our recruiting standards, surprisingly enough, engineering students really like the idea of becoming Knights.

We are currently still operating Sutherlands, the newest generation of them sure, but with Britannian Mechanized Industries currently developing the Gloucester Line of Knightmares we would be forced to upgrade to those and pay for them, unless Pride Corp finished its own model first. Ludd Harris was doing his best, the man was skilled and had a great work ethic, but he was also building a new frame from the ground up, and while his progress reports were positive the PC-KF-001 and 002 had been failures after simulations, and the 003 was probably going to follow them into the grave alongside the 004, the 005 however, might actually make it into production, with armor and weapon kits to follow. 

A proper Knightmare of Pride Corp Design as the basis of our forces would do the Order of Ariel good, the modular nature of the PC-KF line would allow my Knights to customize their frames to fit their Lance and personal combat style, well to some degree, we had to set standards of course. Still, I feel that we are in a good position, it should be years before cannon starts up again, at least another six years to my recollection, with about six to seven years between the invasion of Japan and Season 1. 

Staring down at the courtyard, the sparring ground as the Squires had taken to calling it, I watched the young man and woman practice out of Knightmare combat maneuvers, as Pilots and Knights they would need to survive if their pods landed in a hot zone. The Castle, or Castle Haven, was a gift from the Emperor, located a few miles outside of Pendragon the former noble owner had fallen in the sigil of blood, and the place had been renovated for our use, complete with airfield and Knightmare hanger. 

“So, Knight-Commander…”

“I swear to all that is holy Marius, call me Andre, please?”

“Ah, come on dude! Let me have some fun!” 

“No.”

“All right, all right, I am gonna join the Squires for training in a bit, what are you up to?”

“Got another NPO meeting, then I am off towards Pride Corp HQ for another progress check and finally some sparring in the evening with Thea.” The man nodded, cracking his neck as he opened the door.

“Busy busy, you at least got time for some dragons and dice later?”

“Would not miss it for the world.” 

The National Photography Organization, or the No Particular Organization, had grown rapidly from just a front to hide informants and my personal spec ops units, with several branches falling under the Organization now, such as National Photography News Agency, National Photography Socials, National Photography Daily Paper, National Photography Live, National Photography Films and National Photography Online. Setting up an entire media company of my own in a matter of months simply because the world's media had not evolved to the point where my old world had been. 

All of these organizations and companies would manage the news of the Empire and twist it in whichever direction I wanted it to go. We were already close to becoming the largest media company in the empire with my Royal backing giving advantages the others could not even come close to competing with. As a further benefit, few people were better at finding large quantities of blackmail than the Journalists in the Empire. I was bringing in informants and contacts with every journalist publishing an article, while giving great cover to any of the more clandestine operations.

Leaving its offices with the latest status update being beyond positive I lean back into the backseat of my Limo, heading towards the Pride Corp facility at the edge of the city, browsing the built in terminal in the Limo to catch up on missed messages when the Limo shook, throwing me against the window. I blacked out for a brief moment, afterwards I quickly unbuckled and crouched down on the Limo floor, the windows were bullet proof of course, and the cars chassis was reinforced with tank level armor, but training kicked in.

My pistol was in my hand as I reached for my phone and rang the emergency number set up for rapid response by the Order, and then popped open the camera panel, looking to the front to see my Driver, who… yeah he was dead, most of your head exploding would do that, he had the window open, and was shot. 

Goddamnit. 

Assassins.

Chapter Text

“I make it a habit to recruit talent, no matter their… personal deficits.”
Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia

Ashley Ashra was many things.

A lucky bastard was the first amongst them for the most part, he had always had Fortuna in his corner, or as Johanne had said multiple times, Lady Luck looking to crawl into his bed by throwing favours his way, such as being chosen to join the newest order of Knights and getting to train in Knightmare combat instead of languishing in the Marines. Today, well today had been going great, he was on patrol practice around the Castle, piloting one of the shiny black and red Sutherlands around the mesa’s, when the distress call went off.

Knight-Major Dorothea, Lady of the Sixth Hell, Belial, who was leading his patrol ordered them all to move towards the distress signal, and Ashley took the opportunity Fortuna had presented and hit the accelerator and refused to let go. The ground, sand and dirt, blurred as he dodged around pillars of rock and petrified trees, the camera’s barely keeping up with his speed, when he hit a ramp shaped rock he used it as Fortuna clearly intended for him to, and launched himself onto the highway.

“Squire Ashra, I have no idea how you are doing this, but you are hereby sanctioned to continue, use any means necessary to reach the Knight-Commander!” Her voice blasted his eardrums, Belial, the Knight-Marshals permission in hand he moved, responding as he fired a slash harken to break through a blocking semi truck. 

“Understood!” It was not long after that message, cruising down the highway at nearly twice the speed limit, stressing his frame to its limit, that he found the bossman's car, crashed to the side of the highway, his fact sphere showing the scene in details, the door of the bosses limo launching out at mach fuck to slam two of his potential assassins against the guardrail of the highway fast enough to splatter them against the concrete. 

The boss popped out of the door for a split second to fire his pistol into the head of another assailant while they were confused, dropping three out of the four close on his vehicle before dodging back inside as the fourth unleashed a hail of gunfire into the now open door, Ashley raised his Knightmare rifle to blast the fourth man, turning him into a slushie splatter. His factsphere pinged an incoming unidentified RFID to the north, across the highway, so turning his still blindingly fast momentum into a crouched turn that damn near broke the axis of his Frames knee, he put his crosshair over the approaching Sutherland.

HIs rifle barked as it blasted through the armor of the opposing Sutherland, his own armor taking several hits as the other frame fired a counter barrage, his multiple tons of armor protecting the more fragile armor of the limo, and the bossman within, his own rifle clicked empty before the other Sutherland did so he dropped it as he once again floored it. The other Sutherland recoiled, a fear response that had not been drilled out of the pilot like the Hells had drilled it out of him, and Ashley was on his opponent a moment later, saber drawn with that slash draw style the few Elevens in the Hells were so fond of, cleaving the right arm of the opposing frame. 

“Trash.” He growled over his voice boxes, tone taunting, then he shoved with his empty hand, throwing the now off balance frame to the floor, his saber cleaving at the Sutherlands waist, the fragile section of the frame breaking at the strike, his saber shattering along with it, he lashed out on ingrained instinct, his reserve saber stabbing down into the cockpit block of the Sutherland, drawing a scream and a gush of blood even through the armored plating. Rising to the full height of his machine Ashley groaned, that had been over way too quickly, his first real fight against a Knightmare only lasting a few damned seconds. “That was anticlimactic…”

“Do we know who is responsible?” The throne room of the Castle was filled with the command staff of the Nine Hells, my trusted members of the NPO and Pride Corp staff, my voice interrupting the shouting in the room. “Who fucked up?”

“According to reports passing through OSI the Knightmare frame was purchased by Lord Manfredi, and reported stolen this very morning.” One, the chief intelligence officer of the NPO reported. “We can be relatively certain that Manfredi’s at least partially responsible, whether it was incompetence or malice we are uncertain.”

“My contacts within the Military confirm that this hit was done in a manner similar to the assassination of Empress Marianne last year, except for the fact that the ones responsible actually left a trail, they assume its a diversionary tactic.” Nonette had joined the meeting a bit late, but I was happy to have her here. “The assassins were also less professional, their attempt at clearing the limousine were interrupted by standard noble self defence tactics, it was staged to look like the Empress's assassination.” 

“The Hells can confirm this, Squire Ashra reported the opponent made multiple mistakes, including flinching in manners similar to a rookie pilot, the Knightmares used in the Empresses assassination were piloted by experienced combatants.”

“I want every noble house even minorly involved put into the book and investigated, All NPO strikes squads should be put on combat readied status, my Nine Hells, I want all of them mounted by the end of the week, Ludd, the production test types, I want to test them tonight…Nonette?”

“Yes?

“Has the Emperor said anything about this?”

“No, Andre, he has not.”

“Good, excellent even, a Prince of Britannia should fix their own issues, we shall strike this Monday.”

“Squire Ashra, Squire Rowe fall in.” The pair of redheads ceased the continuous glaring at each other and took their places, Jean Rowe at my left, Ashley Ashra at my right, I had personally recruited these two, not just for their talents but for their personalities, two opposing but synchronous ideologies I wanted in my Nine Hells. Ashra was blaise, convinced fate and luck was his destiny, his loyalty was one of easy going conviction, loyal not to the county, but to the people he worked with, not out of love for them, but out of camaraderie, he was quick to anger and quicker to forgiveness, and in battle, he was a monstrous killer, the perfect Nine Hell. 

Jean Rowe was somewhat his opposite, she was loyal to me to a fault, nothing in her worldview could replace me as her destined leader, she was a… little obsessive in all honesty, like she had been for her master in cannon, overlooking my faults and failures and descending to Hero worship. Her loyalty was one of love for her Prince and future Emperor, whatever manner of love? Well that made me a little uncomfortable. But the older girl was fiercely loyal to me, and fought like a true knight in battle, not to the level of Ashley, but still far beyond ordinary skill.

She and Ashley also despised each other, which, considering I had taken them on as my personal Squires after the events of yesterday, brought me some personal amusement, something something playing matchmaker…

The two followed me along the factory floor of the Pride Corp Knightmare facility, part of the ever growing Pride Corp Compound along the Del Coronado Bay, and I pretended not to notice their awestruck looks at the large machines around them, giant mecha’s always did that to teenagers, I did the same on my first walk through of the facility. Ludd greeted us as he always did when immersed in a project, which was not at all, the tall man was halfway bent over into the innards of a prototype drive core, legs kicking out like a child reading a book laying on their belly.

The man had his moments.

I held up my hand, stopping Jean from stomping forwards in outrage, held my other hand in a fist near my mouth and coughed once, loudly.

“Fuc-” BONK “Goddamned, motherfucking whoreson!” The man hit his head loudly, a string of curses coming from his mouth as he fell backwards out of the drive core and onto his behind, Ashley snickering loudly while Jean lets out an outraged gasp, my smile not dimming in the slightest as the man rose and rubbed his ass with both hands, before finally locking eyes with me.

“Ahhh. Sorry about that my Prince.”

“Now, now Ludd, tell me how you really feel? What was I? A Godda-” The man covered my mouth with both hands, drawing a laugh from me which in turn made the man withdraw his hands and bow at the waist, something I quickly waved him off from. “Alright, now that we are once again friends, show me what you have for me Ludd.”

“Of course my Prince! Follow me!” With his cheer returned the man drew us into a doorway, leading into the test hangar of the facility, where I once again held back my giddy enthusiasm at the sight before me, because there stood machines, Mecha’s designed in the image of my ideas, standing tall before me. Ludd presented me with the first of several machines, this one was just a frame, the base I had asked him to design, a frame that was easy to maintain, upgrade and equip. “This is the PC-KF-006, I call it Imp, both for its hunched stature and skinny limbs, compared to the Glasgow prototypes we have seen this model saves on nearly half the weight for equal engine output, far increased mobility and personalization to allow any pilot to customize their machine to their exact liking.” 

“The frame itself is as a base, far lighter and less armored then the current Knightmare models, but in exchange it can equip segmented armor and wield far more advanced weapons, and unlike the machines produced by our competitors, these are machines of War! Not made for pageantry! Well not just for pageantry!.” He waved his hand to one of his assistants, who with a strong pull released another machine from a cloth cover, this one looking far more like a proper machine of war than a skinny frame, plates of Nano Laminate Tungsten and Carbon Fiber covering the frame like a set of black armor. “This is the Standard Model Imp!”

Its armor was segmented, separated plates of armor overlaid to make the frame look like a proper knight, with a set of clawed hands on the end of each arm, and thick plates over its legs hiding the propulsion system behind extra armor, its head, set atop the torso, mimicked  a Great Helm, with sweeping horns instead of wings. Its armaments were interesting too, two swords, one on each side, with a large caliber rifle on its shoulders, again one for each side, not too special, most Knightmares used four armaments for battle, what was interesting was the barrels at the side of its chest, placed where space had been saved by the Imp Frame. 

“I expect most of the Hells to heavily customize this base frame, but making sure that the stock variant can still fight properly is important for replacing frames lost in combat, so the base Imp comes equipped with two Knightmare longswords, two knightmare assault cannons, and two chest mounted chain cannons to help with sustained fire.” 

“I imagine these can be stripped if needed?”

“Of course! It's a stock model My Prince, we expect your pilots to change it as desired. Shall we move on to the special model?” With another flourishing bow the doctor gestured to his aids and removed another cloth cover, the machine below was familiar to me, made at my request with specific innovations specifically tailored to accelerate Knightmare advancement while still being a combat capable frame. 

The Imp’s would be fifth generation frames, same as the Sutherlands and the prototype Glouchesters, which would have, in cannon, led to the missing sixth generation, a time of almost seven years of stagnation in Knightmare development, only broken by the Lancelot, Gawain and Guren, the first seventh generation frames skipped several innovations to catapult Knightmare development forwards. This machine was meant to become a Sixth generation Knightmare frame, a testbed frame that would fill in the missing generation, its frame custom made, its armor a prototype alloy to replace tungsten, its weapons experimental.

“Asmodeus.” The doctor smiled, nodding at my words, and I took in the machine fully, it was taller than the average Knightmare, standing at five meter fifty, nearly a full meter taller than the Gloucester, with its overlapping armor coloured a solid gold, shining and polished, highlights of black, purple and red in the form of tucked cables, plate linings and interior armor. The hands on the Asmodeus were clawed, similarly to the Stock Imp, only its claws were bright red, while its head was smooth and rounded, crowned with a metal horns, on its back sat two protruding winglike humps, jet engines, a temporary solution but one I quite liked, as it would allow Asmodeus to jump and soar, no flight, but that was a matter of time. “Give me the specs.”

“Of course! The SP-KF-012-A, Asmodeus, height of five point five three meters, weight of nine metric tons flat without weapons, fitted with the new Avernus Type Reactor, Landspinners, Slash Harkens and of course, three Fact Spheres, combined with its Leap Jet’s the Asmodeus at full speed and using Harkens to repel, can leap over a hundred meters without issue. Its non-integrated armaments include the Asmodeus model Two Handed Longsword, made from Carbon Nanotube meshed with Tungsten to create a rigid but flexible blade capable of cutting through even modern tungsten armor with enough force applied.” 

“Further it has the requested experimental Railcannons mounted into the jetwings! Those were a delight to workout, oh the work we did on those has accelerated our knowledge on magnets as a whole by generations! They fire a ten centimeter spike of steel once every twenty seconds each, this spike is accelerated to five times the speed of sound in a millisecond and has a piercing power of a full meter and a half of armor up to five kilometers in range, this gives the frame excellent ranged capabilities despites its mostly close quarter setup.”

“And the Claws?”

“Of course! The improved hand actuators should allow you to claw and tear at weak points in armor, oh the Asmodeus is a frame made for War and Slaughter!” The man made a grand bow at the waist, arms extended and waistcoat flipping upwards. “Shall we move to the support equipment my Prince?”

“Lets.” 

Support equipment for Knightmares had been and still partially is an afterthought to the army, the equipment for Knightmares is for the most part restricted to blades, lances and rifles, with jury rigged VTOL transports being used heavily with the invasion of Japan. I, of course, jumped on the opportunity to create my own, ranging from naval barges to ground transports to my personal favourite, the gigantic aerial transport Ludd had named the Hellwasp.

“Its capable of carrying a strike lance of four Knightmares upwards of four hundred kilometers into enemy territory with return capabilities while providing active close air support with its forty millimetre cannons and low to the ground hover abilities, combined with the Hellcat MASF’s the Nine Hells should always have aerial superiority!” The machine was a lot skinnier than most transport VTOL in production, with four bays that could be replaced with weapon pods or bomb bays as needed, it lacked wings at all, going somewhat against its name, instead of wings it had a pair of ball turreted heavy cannons, with a chain gun under the cockpit. “In terms of defence, well the Hellwasp is a monster, it's far more heavily armored than other transports, and while its base form lacks armaments, replacing its Knightmare bays with armament using its hot swap system would allow it to provide a floating weapons emplacement at will!” 

“An impressive craft of course, but our current aircraft carriers would struggle to field these Ludd, I imagine you are looking to change that?”

“Of course! With your royal patronage and effective military potion Pride Corp has managed to acquire several of the failed Mermaid class Medium Carriers! We are in the process of setting the drydocks up for them and will begin converting them to Knightmare strike bases post haste! I expect to show a prototype by the end of the year!”  During our long tour, my two Squires had seemingly grown quite bored with Ludd, with Ashley looking quite ready to play Russian roulette and Jean, despite her perfect posture, was hazy behind the eyes. Ludd seemed to notice it too, so he sent me a small smile. “Should we maybe test the deployment, my Prince?”

That had their attention.

Chapter Text

“Strike at zero hour

With overwhelming firepower

They're fueled by the fear in their enemies eyes

It's a shock troop infiltration

A fast and violent escalation

Out of the trenches the Stormtroopers rise!” 

Sabaton -Stormtroopers

The cold silence of the desert night was interrupted by booming music, the sound of shattering windows and cracking concrete joining in the breaking of the silence, the counter batteries atop Castle Manfredi fired in return, bullets bouncing off of armored hulls as the VTOL’s descended at speed towards the castle defences. Castle Manfredi, being the home of the leader of the venerated Holy Order of Michael and his family, was heavily fortified by the orders members, who, despite previous protests, had begun training in modern Knightmare warfare, so there airwards fire was not unpracticed, unfortunately for the Holy Order, the Nine Hells were simply better.

The Hellwasp Assault Transports dropped their Knightmare bays, the storage units bursting open with only their bottoms still a solid shield, falling from the air down towards the Castle surfing on shields that protected them from counter fire all throughout their drop, the thrusters on the drop shield letting them correct course as needed. The Imps atop the shields cheered and shouted over open coms, jubilations mixing with metal and rock music mixing with gunfire down towards the ground, and whenever the Imps managed a kill, the shout was heard on the ground, reverberating through the canyons and desert.

“It's the Nine Hells!” Michele Manfredi scoffed at his subordinate, that was obvious, of course, the greater question was, why were they, a nominal Holy Order and ally, attacking the Order of Michael, why attack without warning or preamble, this could very well mean civil war! “Grand Master! What do we do!?” 

“We fight! Gather the Knights! We need to form a battleline!” He leapt, grabbing the cable for his machine, the tall custom white Gloucester Preproduction Type, jabbing his authenticator and slotting it in, booting the command machine and taking in the fields of battle, where his soldiers were being slaughtered. The Nine Hells were smaller in number, shorter in training and tradition, but what they lacked in chivalrous skills they made up for in brutality and savagery, their front line of House Di Britannia Royal Guards, mainly tanks and infantry of the Seventh Prince’s personal regiment had made contact with the outer sentries, while the Hells were falling upon the Knights of Michael.

Explosions sounded out from below the castle, infiltrators and saboteurs attacking the undefended flanks, the Prince had dedicated great forces to this attack, this… slaughter. 

He powered forwards at speed, the Swordsmasters forming on his flanks as he exited the hanger out into the chaos of the battlefield, the chaos his home had become, piloting his frame over the broken cobblestones and dead servants, fact sphere turned skywards, dodging backwards as one of the Nine Hells Knights landed in front of them. His lance thrusted outwards, the spinning superheated weapon being deflected by the Imp’s sword, its gun focused on him, the machine firing as it rose from its drop down from the skies, Michele angled his chest armor, the bullets only denting and scratching instead of piercing.

His swordmasters respond quickly, their blades lashing out at the Imp, the pilots loud music, playing over the open line, emphasised by the sound of the Nine Hell parrying their blows, the Imp, the recruit of the other Order fighting three on one against his greatest swordsman, and winning. Michele had many thoughts on the Prince and his Order, but he could not deny that the man could train warriors, he thrust his lance forwards again, catching the Imp’s leg, the pilot of the Nine Hells shouting as his balance was lost, his swordsmen responding by cleaving into the machine.

“Death before Defeat!” The machine detonated its core, pilot and all, the explosion shaking the entire castle as the Imp and his swordmasters were engulfed in a ball of pink flame, the Sakuradite core going critical and killing his trusted friends and greatest fighters.

“Damned fanatics!” 

“Grand Master! It's the Prince! He has taken the field and is overwhelming the northern defences!” He looked at the popup screen, watching as the Prince, in his custom golden frame carved through Order soldiers one by one, blade cutting through cockpits and flesh, clawed metal fists ripping limbs from Knightmares while cannons blasted frames into warped scrap. He moved towards the frontline, watching as more Imp’s more warriors of the Nine Hells rained down upon his family home, if he could capture the prince, this would end, it would be over, and the prince would know that too, did know that, or he would not have set such incredible bait. “He just killed Knight Major Augustine!”  

He crested the earthen rampart on the Northern front, the most heavily fortified approach to Castle Manfredi being pierced by five Knightmares, a pair of Imps were carving through his own House Knightmares, while the three lords of Hell stood waiting for him. Belial was the first, her black and green Knightmare equipped with massive cannons, a step behind her stood Barbatos, a massive axe in the hands of the bull horned machine, in front of them all was Asmodeus, the Prince, Alexander. 

“I do apologise for my unannounced arrival, Lord Manfredi, but I could simply not wait longer.” The Prince’s tone was cordial, polite even, a contrast to the blood and bits of brainmater coating the armor of the Asmodeus. “Your adopted brother, Shin Hyuga Shaing, has committed transgressions against the Knightly Order of the Nine Hells and me personally, by attempting to have me assassinated. I am here to punish that transgression in the only way it's proper.” 

“What do you… Shin!? He is but a boy! Barely a teenager! Just a knight of the Order of Michael! You mean to say you came here… you slaughtered all of these good people! These innocent people! For a suspicion!?” 

“Arm yourself Michele Manfredi.” The Prince pointed at him with his blooded blade. “I am not here to argue and negotiate, I am here to repay Murder with Murder, fight me, kill me, or be killed in turn!” 

The Prince rushed forwards and Michele, responding in kind lowered his lance, the golden Knightmare made a sound not unlike a roar, launching over his couched lance and clipping his Gloucester's head with a swish of its blade, Michele turned trusting the lance forwards towards where the Asmodeus would land. The Prince clasped his lance with a clawed hand, halting his thrust with raw strength and pulling the lance from his hands, Michele unsheathed his sword in a fluid motion, taking only a single swipe from the Asmodeus as he backed up. 

“Weak!” He blocked the overhead leaping strike, the knees of his Gloucester groaning in protest, the Prince following his words and strike with a knee kick to his frames chest, cracking armor plates with the raw strength of the Asmodeus, Michele groaning in pain as the claw of the golden giant pierced his cockpit block, the claws tearing through his legs. “Is this all the Order of Michael has to offer!?” 

The Prince pulled, and Michele’s Gloucester fell sideways, control's broken frame destabilised, the Asmodeus standing atop his broken form, blade raised, and Michele closed his eyes as death fell upon him.

The throne room of the Britannian Empire was loud and echoing, thousands of nobles, scions, reporters and military personnel immersed in rambling conversation, the Thirteen Knights of the Round standing in a half circle around the throne, where the Emperor sat in quiet contemplation. The crowd parting as the doors opened and the Knightly Order of the Nine Hells marched into the halls, a dozen of their Knights at the head, led by the Knight-Marshals Belail and Barbatos clad in black and purple armor each adored with a thick red cape, followed by the man of the hour, the Prince and Knight-Commander, who wore a strange mix of a pilot suit and formal wear. 

Atop his head sat a horned diadem, something all children of the Emperor were allowed to wear because of their royal standing, but few did for fear of upsetting the Emperor in question, the young Knight-Commander managed the look quite well, at least in Marrybell’s opinion. Her brother was a hot topic within the family meetings she attended, Cornelia had been ready to bequeath father after the attempt on his life, only the reminder from sister Guinevere about how that went for Lelouch had stopped her, but personally, Marrybell found the whole affair frustrating.

Assassinations in the Royal Family have been rampant, most blamed on terrorist attacks, like her own family had been, and no one had done anything about it except investigate, it was always investigate, investigate and investigate, no action, no punishment to traitors and terrorists. 

Until now, at least.

And of course, when one of his progeny dared strike back at the traitors within the realm the cowardly parliament called for a royal court to punish the one who did so! This was a farce, a pageantry of offended nobles, all to strike at her family once again!

The line of Order Knights reached the throne, separated from the Emperor only by his ever ready Knights of the Round, and the Order Knights spread out, forming a column on either side of their Knight-Commander, who stood flanked by his Knight-Marshals, the contentious African-Britannian Knights, with his Squires a step behind him, the pair of Orphans. The Knight-Commander snapped a finger, the surprisingly loud sound ending the remaining conversation in the throne room, the only sound rapid footsteps as a Squire of the Nine Hells carrying a silver tray with a cloth cover approached them.

“Your Majesty, we have come as summoned, but for we discuss business, might I present you a gift?” The Emperor tilted his head slightly, the familiar bored expression sliding away, Marrybell would swear that she saw the slightest uptilt of his lips, something that seemed to make the nobles close enough to see sweat.

“Go ahead.” With a small hand gesture the Emperor gave his permission, at which point Alexander snapped his fingers once again, the servant removing the cloth off the silver dish to… oh christ, those were heads, how… brutish, the heads of Michele Manfredi, his adopted brother and the Lady Manfredi, their jaw slack and eyes wide in horror, stuck and covered in blood.

“I present to you, Your Majesty, the price of weakness.” With that her older brother tipped the silver dish forwards, letting the head fall off and roll past the stunned Knights of the Round. “If I may speak freely in this Royal Court?”

“You may.” She could see the amusement, the dark and tainted love of the spectacle of blood in the man's eyes, as well as the disgust and frustration in her brother’s gaze. “Speak freely young Lion.”

“My thanks your Majesty, Know that I speak not in insult but in observation, you, my Emperor and Father, grew in a time of slaughter and deceit, where families being put to the sword was not just common but expected, this fact, the fact that you have survived the Emblem of Blood, is something the modern nobility ignores.” The Prince gestured and genuflected, his massive golden cloak flowing with his movements, the throne room silent except for her brother's footsteps. “My Father, they do not understand, they do not know why you say nothing as your children die to assassins because they cannot grasp that this is normal to your Majesty. I humbly ask that you do not punish the Parliament too severely for their lack of understanding, for panicking when one of your Children did what the others lacked the understanding to and took the sword to those who betrayed him.” 

“Ha…hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The throne room’s silence was oppressive, interrupted only by the loud, undisguised mad laughter of the Emperor, the man clutched at his stomach as he laughed, wig shaking on his head, suit wrinkling as his hands clutched at the thrones armrests, the man rose slowly as his laughter faded, standing tall and proud.

“Oh my Son , you are correct, and your request is granted, return to your duties, I shall have more work for you and your Knights soon.” 

“Yes Father.” 

The world turned, and time passed, the tension following the eradication of the Knights of Michael passed after its peak in the throne room, and Marrybell could finally talk with her older brother, she had met the man a few times before of course, when he had not yet been taken as Squire to Dame Nonette, but that was when she was a child. The man had grown same as she had, and being a few years older than her, seventeen now to her fourteen, was very much shaping up to look like their father, in truth Marrybell struggled to not think of him as her parent, as the two of them sat atop the tower of the Castle the Nine Hells used as their base. 

“Now that we are settled, dearest little sister, tell me, why did you come to me today?” In private the man's tone was softer, far more personable then the tone he spoke to the crowd with, and she was momentarily distracted by the sight to his side, where Ashley Ashra and Jean Rowe looked to be a moment away from descending into a physical fight. “Please do ignore them, they are a… special pair.” 

She nodded, noting that he looked quite happy as the two redheads looked at him with truly affronted looks, before their eyes flicked back to each other and they looked away with a blush and humph sound, and she understood what he meant, they were kind of cute together. 

“Do you remember your speech to the Royal Court last year? After the Knightfall?” The total destruction of the Knights of Michael, followed by the disbandment of the remaining holy orders at the Emperor's command had of course been given a fancy name by the media, with the Nine Hells being simultaneously cast as heroes and murderers. “It sparked something in me, that power you had, that you took into your own hands, and I wanted to do the same, still do for that matter.”

“Hmm.” He rose, hand rubbing at his blond stubbled chin as he walked to the edge of the tower, leaning against the wall and looking over the land outside, he gestured so she rose too, standing against the other crenulation. “This won't be an easy thing Bell, you know that?”

“I do, the Nine Hells are not considered the highest pedigree amongst the nobility, despite your skill at arms in tournaments and exercises, the people, the nobility more like, they don't see where the world is going, towards war, they think Knights and Warriors are obsolete, my caretakers are among those.” She paused, keeping calm. “I had to argue and struggle to even meet with you, struggle to meet with my own brother all because of a bunch of weak minded Pacifists! Alexander… I need to fight, to…”

“To win.” he finished for her, the man rolling his head as he considered her words. “I understand sister, but… this is a commitment, what you are asking is more than the Nine Hells have done before, the Hells are an order of butchers, you will not be trained in noble combat, not trained in honourable duels, you will be trained for warfare, are you ready for that? Ready to commit to that life?” 

“Yes.” 

She was in fact, not ready.

It took all of a single week for her to feel like she could literally fall over dead, Andre, as he insisted on being called, was a slave driver of a trainer, and her physical fitness was nowhere near where it should have been in the first place, so she struggled with even the most basic fitness exercises he put her through. The Knight-Commander was teaching her however, taking her along the same as his squires, the two redheads who had quickly adopted her as an almost sibling, teaching her tricks in Knightmare combat and strategy.

It took her an embarrassingly long time to realize the reason they were getting strategy lessons when the others were not. Alexander was preparing them, his three Squires, to become Knight-Marshals, Lords and Ladies of Hell, and that thought was both thrilling and intimidating, to become a leader…

She was not sure she was ready for that either.

“That's enough of a break Bell, back to it!” The shout, emphasised by the man's voice being right fucking next to her ear, made Marrybell jump a full foot into the air, dashing down the track once again to finish her mandatory laps around the castle, only the first part of her daily exercise. She felt exhausted, broken down, but still, she would persevere, she had to, she chose this and she would not go back on her words, on her claims, she might not be ready yet, but she would become ready.

Chapter Text

“Act 1, Start.” 

Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia

“So, promoted? Finally?” He smiled at his younger brother's words, Alexander had always been direct, in both conversation and outside it, not because he could not be subtle, quite the opposite, but because he treated his family like actual family, something strange amongst their siblings. “Prince Schneizel el Britannia, Prime Minister of the Britannian Empire, not a bad title.” 

“Quite the title indeed.” Cornelia piped in, the tall woman seated as her brothers were in a tall backed chair on the balcony in the Parelemantairy tower within the Royal Palace, looking over their younger and older but less competent siblings lounging in the gardens. ”The Emperor has placed a great deal of trust in you brother.”

“That he has…” To be honest, Schneizel was not quite sure how to feel about his appointment, the Emperor had been withdrawing more and more from the public stage, focusing on his research projects and archeology, and while the empire was more then stable enough to handle itself for a time, it had been worrying. Now, instead of returning and taking command, he had essentially given rule of the Empire over to three of his children, all sitting on this very balcony.

Schneizel would lead the diplomatic parts of the empire as its Prime Minister, Cornelia its military, and Alexander what equated to its special forces in the form of the Nine Hells, this centralization of power was common in the empire, of course, but to give so much power over the state to three people without interpersonal conflicts? That was historically the height of folly, the Emperor must have had some form of plan, and that made Schneizel nervous, for the Emperor's plans never ended well for any but the Emperor.

“So, what has the Emperor instructed us to do?” Alexander was on point as always, his words drawing a frown from Cornelia, before realization flashed on her face. “Is it the Federation? Europia? Africa?”

“All of the above dear brother.” A frown spread from Cornelia to Alexander, and he could see his siblings run through calculations and scenarios, the two of them were similar to himself, at least in their intelligence, yet shackled by emotions and attachments. “The Emperor wants the entire world, and we shall be the ones to give it to him. Take a look.” 

The world, Circa early 2015 (credit to mapchart for helping me make the map and squidge for hosting)

“The stalemate between the Empire and the EU has been ongoing since the exile to our new Homeland. Currently, the EU is on the rise while we are stagnant, with new players in the form of the Chinese Federation, Middle Eastern Federation and African Union rising even faster.”

“We know this brother, what are we going to do to break the stalemate then?” Alexander was once again on point. “I assume it's to do with the decolonization vote in the EU?”

“Correct.” He paused, sipping his tea. “The African Union has already sought closer ties to the soon to be African nations, and seeks to integrate them, after which they will be looking to prey upon Area Two, which, with its still active resistance, will fall to them. My plan is to prevent or delay the EU’s decolonization of Africa by means of an invasion, while we seek to fully stabilise our African holdings, afterwards, depending on our success in that matter, we shall either negotiate peace for Europia’s african holdings and turn upon the African Union, or negotiate a status quo treaty to allow us to stabilize the pacific.” 

There were two problem areas within the Empire right now, Area Eleven and its insurgencies and Area Two and its native tribes, out of the two, Area Eleven was the more stable but also the more vital, with it containing nearly fifty percent of the worlds Sakuradite production, it was a keystone for the Empire and would have to be held. That meant war with the Federation, which could not be fought unless the EU was also on the backfoot, since intervention was disastrous, last time the EU had almost intervened it had resulted in the loss of Siberia in exchange for Area Eleven, a deal that had seemed to massively favour the EU at the time, before the discovery of the importance of Sakuradite.

“Cornelia, I want you to head the stabilization efforts of Area two, the Emperor has given me limited command over the Knights of the Round, so requisition two of them as you deem needed, root out native tribes and local resistance.” He rose, hands clasped behind his back, the severity of his orders weighing on him, but cold calculating logic taking over. “What further forces do you expect to need to secure the Area against terrorists and the African Union?”

“Local forces are… less than stellar, the local army is understaffed thanks to the apartheid policies, and even the new honorary system cannot fix that in time… I will need forces from the homeland and Area three. I estimate something along the lines of a permanent deployment of eight hundred thousand soldiers, with a temporary deployment of a million and a half.” A considerable chunk of the Empire's manpower, a full two thirds of the standing army in fact, but he could understand why she needed it, Area two was nearly as large as the eastern coast of the Homeland, that was a large area to cover. “We will need to use trustworthy Numbers to supplement our forces too, if we are to be prepared for an invasion against the African Union.” 

“Consider it done. We shall be announcing limited mobilisation later this week.” He breathed in, and turned to his other sibling. “Alexander… You have, in the Emperor's eyes, proved yourself to be a trustworthy and competent man.” 

Something that could not often be said about one of the man's children. 

“He has tasked you, personally, with the conquest of Iceland, you are to take command of the Atlantic Fleet, and as soon as forces have arrived in Area two deliver a killing blow to the European puppet state.” 

A smile came across is brothers face as the man leaned back, stroking his stubbled chin as he looked down at the map projected on the table, and Schneizel could swear that the man was already thinking through how he was going to complete the Emperor's orders. Schneizel could admit he was not the greatest military leader, he knew how to command and strategize, but he was a manipulator not a general, he had trouble inspiring others like Alexander and Cornelia did, which was why he would be working on the diplomatic side while they fought. 

“I will need to hold until the reinforcements for Area two to get into position, but that is workable… I need priority access to the Panama Canal to get my Hell Carriers to the Atlantic, and I have some other investments I need to collect during the wait. I promise it will not result in war, but it will look risky.” 

“Granted, the entire Atlantic fleet is at your disposal Alexander, but what ground forces do you need for this… Operation?”

“None beyond my Hells, I will need a Garrison force prepared for after the Invasion, half a million should be enough, do not worry Schneizel, this will be the opening act, we are prepared for this.” 

“As you say, then we have much to do, good luck and godspeed to you both, my dear Siblings.”

“You will, in five hours, commence with the eradication of the kingdom of Zilkhstan, regardless of my own status, use Sakuradite ammunition to target population centers and take no prisoners, poison the wells and launch gas attacks on attempted defences, I want a slaughter not seen since the Emblem of Blood is that understood?” 

“Yes, Knight-Commander!” The shout was clear over the communicator, the entire bridge crew of the Nessus, my command carrier responding. 

“Excellent, only my direct order shall halt this operation, is this clear?”

“Yes Knight-Commander!” 

“Excellent.” Looking out from the opened cockpit of the Asmodeus as it stood parked, hidden in a canyon not far from the city of Gralbahd, with Marius, Dorothea, Ashley and Jean in column behind me and Ludd adjusting the latest addition to the armaments of my mount, a prototype dedicated anti-knightmare weapon. Ludd had been experimenting with Plasma based weaponry, something that had been mostly unexplored by other scientists, and this was the first combat prototype that came from his research, the Ascalon, a superheated plasma spear. “Is it functional Ludd?”

“Of course my Prince, everything is ready, good luck and godspeed!” I nodded at the man, closing the cockpit of the Asmodeus, activating its sight panels to grant me a near three sixty degree vision around me, then I kicked the golden frame into motion, the rough road blasting up dust as my small strike squad made its way towards the Capital of Zilkhstan. If my hypothesis is correct, something that is extremely likely according to my analysis by Geass, then there will be little blood to be shed today, even with all my time behind the mask of a callous murderer I don't actually want to order the slaughter to commence, but it's an unfortunate necessity to set the stage, so if I need to I will at least make it quick.

The downwards path quickly became flanked by sandstone houses whose windows were filled with suspicious people, staring down at our small unit of Knightmares with narrowed eyes, hands reaching for phones, and finally, finally we came up against opposition, one of Zilkhstan knightmares on the road. It raced towards us using its four land spinners, firing its shoulder mounted cannons and machine guns, I lowered my lance, Ascalon whirling as it clicked open separating into four spikes with a central barrel, then those spikes began to spin around the barrel and the whirl turned to a screech.

“Die Britannian invaders!” I hit the trigger, and the screeched increased in pitch as the barrel of the Ascalon spat a bolt of superheated gas down the road, going so fast it was more a line then a shot in my vision, the plasma burned through the armor on the Knightmare’s chest, and then through its cockpit and out the other end. It left a hole the size of a basketball dripping on all sides with molten slag, static electricity running through the frame as it collapsed in on itself, with luck, this would be the only casualty of the day. 

Our lance pushed on into the city, trading sandstone buildings for marble as we entered the bay section of the city, no other Knightmares blocked our path, instead, people lined the side of the street in throngs, all turned towards the temple of the city, which we made our way towards over the course of ten minutes. The doors to the temple were open, and we entered without opposition, the female guards around the temple saluting us as we dismounted our frames, after which they led us to the audience chambers, the inside of which were lavishly decorated with silken curtains and plush carpets over gold and marble..

“You have come.” Shamna, high priestess of Zilkhstan, Diarch of the Kingdom, possessor of Geass and antagonist of the Resurrection movie, lounged on a large couch like throne at the end of the room, calm in tone yet frazzled in appearance. “As prophesied.”

“Hmm, still going to stick to that old bit?” I looked back at my companions. “Leave us, I have negotiations to do.” 

They obeyed reluctantly, my friends were fiercely loyal, it was part of why I had chosen them, why I trusted them, but this was not a discussion for them to observe, these would not be words for them to hear, prophecy was after all, best left unheard.

“So, why have you come here, why will you bring destruction and death to my people?” 

“Have you not used your Geass?” I flashed my own power, the invisible power latching onto the woman, taking in her form and all the information around her, all the knowledge I had collected on the kingdom, and giving me understanding .

Subject fearful, has witnessed the destruction the Nine Hells can bring, power not regressed to post Requiem state, current Geass, future sight, visions of her surrounding up until six hours into the future, cutting off with subjects expiration. Subject desires survival for herself and her sibling, subject acknowledges Nine Hells cannot be beaten by limited forces available. 

“Ah I see, you're still limited, you cannot see it all, live through it all.” I paused, mostly for dramatic effect. “That is fortuitous, you might still see reason, I had hoped to prevent disaster, perhaps even save the boy.”

Subject hopeful yet concerned, knows the user has Geass, does not know what that Geass is, subject desperate for cure for brother's illness, subject not fallen to callousness seen in previous life, easily manipulated.

“I have seen the future, Shamna dear, and it holds nothing for you but death and destruction, I came here to prevent that destruction, to make sure you do not unmake the world on accide-”

“I would never!” She rose, arms at her sides with hands balled into fists eyes alight in fury as she marched up to me, anger and fear clouding her as she undoubtedly used her own Geass, looking into the future, and by her sheer hysterical emotions, I am going to guess she just reached second stage. “You are wrong! Bastard! You have to be wrong…” 

Subject using secondary Geass function, looking into the Users future, subject panicking.

“Am I? I might very well become wrong, if my own actions cause changes, but you see it now don't you? The way you are heading, it can only lead to destruction through C’s World, retaliation by the collective subconscious, and you would gladly throw yourself that way, all to save him.” She was hyperventilating, hand clutching at my armoured suit, nails scratching against plates, before she started beating her fists against my chest as she collapsed to her knees, I crouched down, sitting beside the woman. “But there is another way.”

“You… You bastard. You fucking monster… Fine!” She locked eyes with me. “If you can save him, if you can fix him with the knowledge that Geass grants you, I swear to all that is in Heaven and Hell that we will serve you, Lionspawn.” 

“It's a contract then.” 

Shamna and young Shalio were quick to settle into the Hells as my Wards and personal guests, with the elder sister taking place in my personal command staff to make use of her Geass as needed while Shalio was being investigated by the many, many doctors within Pride Corp. The boy was only thirteen at this point, and still quite unsure about his new situation, and very much still dying, from what I was able to gleam it was not a disease, but instead the result of multiple dozens of generations of inbreeding, something that I cannot fix and made Shamna quite frustrated.

Still, his outlook was positive.

Britannia had made leaps and bounds in genetic research, especially in terms of reversing the effects of inbreeding, something that is unfortunately still common amongst the nobility, and while his recovery would be difficult if not impossible with current technology, I am not planning to work with current technology. Healing him would likely take a few years, but it would be a benefit not just for making my Oracle even more loyal, but also in creating another top of the rounds level pilot, Shalio was able to keep up with Suzaku under his live command while sick and half paralysed, I can only imagine what he can do when healthy and loyal to me.

“So she can see the future? Like magic?” Nonette asked, the Knight of the round hanging around the Nessus as one of the two I was able to requisition for the invasion of Iceland, along with the newly appointed Monica Krushevsky, both of them were competent knightmare pilots and while Monica was untested, she had potential. “You really expect me to believe that blondie?”

“Of course not, she does predict the future, but it's not through magic, Shamna is intelligent and analytic to the point that she can analyse probabilities in real time, she uses this to make logical assumptions that are more often than not correct, showing at least a possible future.” Conveniently, the woman in question nods, lounging in one of the couches on the bridge, speaking up in her own defence.

“It's a talent my family has developed over generations, intelligence is only a small part of it, my talents will be quite useful to the Lion here.”

“But what I simply cannot grasp is why? Why join up with Britannia, you are royals of your own state, poor as it may be, why supplicate yourself to Britannia? Your brother could have surely found help within the Federation your nation is a part of?” Monica was an inquisitive woman, the kind that was often not… liked in Britannia, but it had seemingly entertained my father. “Why join the Nine Hells?”

“It's simple really…” The blonde leaned back, and I had to revert my eyes as the shameless high priestess damn near exposed herself to the entire room by stretching. “He is keeping his word to me, and so I shall keep mine, as both High Priestess and Geryon, Lady of the Nine Hells.” 

Chapter Text

“A new era of warfare, cemented in my image.” 

Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia

A storm across the Atlantic was the best possible opening for my first act, with the winds and rains sweeping across Europe to stress water defences across the entire coastline, and thanks to Shamna we were perfectly positioned to strike as soon as the storm crashed upon the coast. The six fleet carrier groups of the Holy Britannian Empire followed in the wake of the storm and surrounded Iceland in the night, aircraft striking out at military targets as soon as the winds calmed and the Knightmares deploying not long behind them, which was where we found ourselves now, waiting for drop over the capital. 

“Iceland’s military, as an EU puppet state, is lacking. They have a total of just over eight hundred Panzer-two Knightmares, relics in comparison to even a Sutherland, their Panzer-three and fours are more threatening, the threes are guns on legs, but can be imposing if they manage to get a firing solution on you, Iceland has just over three hundred of them. The Fours though? Those are nasty business, they have a more modern Knightmare design, a departure for the gun arms, the Panzer-Four is a Sutherland equivalent, with a variant of the standard issue Knightmare rifle mounted on each of its hands.” 

“Even now the Europians dismiss the potential of honourable melee.” Marius responded to my analysis with a scoff, and I somewhat agreed with him, Melee was a great ability for a Knightmare frame to have in modern warfare, especially when other frames were able to engage them in melee too. My other Lords of the Nine Hells, well Marius and Dorothea at least, were deploying separately in their own Hellwasps with their own chosen Hells to other sectors of Reykjavik, while Shamna would remain on the Nessus, her own custom frame still being constructed and she was not exactly a good combatant without a custom machine. 

The Rounds were set on other necessary missions, with Nonette leading a lance towards an inland airbase and Monica moving with a NPO Spec Ops team to capture Iceland’s President, it was hard to secure a national surrender with the woman in charge after all. My own team, consisting of my Marybell, Ashley, Jean and myself, were dropping straight into the capitals garrison along with another two lances to destroy the local forces.

“It is simply their mindset brother, they focus on firepower… Ludd, how's the loadout handling transport?” My Asmodeus was a testbed for a reason, and over the past year we have been using it as such, cycling between sets of equipment, but now? It was war, and I needed things I knew would work, hence Ludd composing what we called the Plasma loadout. With the success of the Ascalon in ‘combat’, he had put several other plasma based weapons into production, most of the finished products were currently mounted on either my Asmodeus or Dorothea’s Belial. “I am a bit worried about the generator to be honest with you.” 

“Don't be worried, my Prince! The Plasma Generator has been integrated into the new Avernus Core, any excess plasma will be vented harmlessly through the new plasma jet wings.” Good to hear, the newer wings were another step closer to Flight capable Knightmares, with the float system currently only a theoretical the propulsion from the plasma jets was only capable of propelling me over the ground or in leaps at speeds that most Knightmares could only dream off, still a massive advantage. Wings was perhaps not the best name for the more hussar style backpack that was the Plasma Artillery Jet Wings, but when the jets roared to life it did in fact look like the Asmodeus had glowing blue wings of flame. 

The cannons built into them were nothing short of stunning too, firing the same beam of plasma as the Ascalon prototype had but with an increased range of nearly a five hundred meters, and that was only a single part of the plasma loadout, it's not even mentioning the new Glaive-Cannon and Plasma Caster Sword. All in all, I can confidently say that, currently, the Asmodeus is the most powerful Knightmare in the world, and not likely to be surpassed until the Shen-hu, Lancelot and Guren are made, and if we keep advancing it might even be able to surpass them.  

“Drop in three. Two. One. Drop!” The pod detached from the Hellwasp, busting open a moment later and allowing the Asmodeus to stand tall on the blast shield that was its bottom, surfing through the air on the shield's jet engines and giving me a view of the surrounding battlefield. The other Knightmares surrounding me in our drop started firing downwards towards the garrison forces, the five hundred opposing Knightmares of the capital garrison turning their guns skywards even under the fire of our Hellwasp’s and Imps, and with grim resolve, I fired the Plasma Wings and leapt from atop the shield and into slaughter.

Metal music filled my ears and blasted from my external speakers as I literally fell upon my first target with the blade of my Glaive-Cannon, the polearm cleaving through the center of the Panzer-three, where the Europeans had placed the cockpit block in their ignorance of Melee, and instantly killed the man within. Rising from the wreck and pulsing the Jet Wings again I leapt over the burning heap of scrap, charged the cannons in those same wings, and unleashed a pair of bright white tinted to blue lances that melted the pilots of another two panzers at the top of my leap, before descending down to cleave another in half with the glaive. 

The rest of my lance landed around me, taking out their own targets as I straightened and braced the Glaive-Cannon, firing another blue white beam through another panzer from it, slashing it wide to cut through the barrels of yet another panzer-three’s cannons, the excess plasma creating an line of blue white in an arch over its swing. My clawed arm punched into the panzers chest, a scream and blood flowing from within the battletech style Knightmare, I ripped my claws free and looked over the battlefield with my factspheres, the air raid was more than just successful by the look of it, it was devastating.

Of the five hundred Knightmares the Icelandic military maintained at their capital, only the hundred panzer-fours managed to rally a defence against the fifteen lances the Nine Hells dropped atop them, with the fifty nine Imps and my Asmodeus punching through what remained of the less organized panzers. The hundred panzer fours, bulkier looking Sutherlands in essence, the blueprints having been stolen from Britannia some years ago and altered by the EU for their own needs, were setting up firing positions atop a fortified hill, already firing missiles down upon the hells and their own allies. 

“Squires, fall in. We are breaking their formation.” Four Knightmares versus a hundred was too much for us to win, by far, but we did not need to win, just keep the enemy busy long enough for Marius to take arrive after his destruction of the parliament building, and this would buy the rest of my lances time to mop up the panzer-two’s and threes. “Get into their formation! They can't fire on us if we put their own between us!” 

I leapt once again, drawing Knightmare rifle fire skywards to bounce off of my alloy armor and away from my more fragile squires, fire trailing me as I descended in an arch upon the knockoff Sutherlands, their shots sparking off of me while I cleaved into the unfortunate machine I landed upon. I removed the Glaive-Cannon with a tug, firing it into another machine and then slicing yet another across the chest, cutting open its cockpit and killing the pilot, my cannons screamed again as they punched a line through several more knightmares, my squires joining me upon the hill, threshing the wheat beside me.

This was… both incredible and terrifying. And so easy… I have to realise my plans, if this is what I can do… I need to make sure the show does not end too soon. 

The naval battle was still on going even three days after the surrender of Iceland, happening a mere ten hours after the first of the Nine Hells landed upon the island, the EU’s constantly mobilized military scrambling to respond to the surprise invasion, already the Baltic and Mediterranean fleets were scrambling towards the Atlantic, where the Atlantic fleet was losing to the Britannian Carrier Groups. The Lion, as the media had taken to calling young Prince Alexander, was using these Carrier Groups to strike deep into several EU member nations, targeting valuable Sakuradite and fuel supplies while the EU struggled to amass forces to take a favourable engagement.

Every time the Navy gathered a strike fleet large enough to tackle one of the Carrier Groups, said group would pull into the deep Atlantic just hours before the strike fleet could engage them, seemingly out of nowhere, no matter the stealth and subterfuge taken, unless of course, the force was ready to draw them into an ambush. General Smilas of Europia United would have found the whole situation suspicious if not for the fact that this was the child of Charles Zi Britannia, the man who had during the Emblem of Blood won the second battle at Trafalgar to prevent further EU intervention in his own ascension, that kind of skill must run in the family.

Yet another sign that Napoleon had been mistaken two hundred years ago.

He inhaled the cold air, Shetland had been the gathering place for their counter attack, after the Falklands fell to the Lion too, and the island chain was home to the entire Scandinavian Corp, mostly made up of Swedish soldiers and their Panther Knightmares, ready for the counter invasion of Iceland, once the Britannian Atlantic fleet was neutered. If the Fleet was beaten at all, which Smilas was beginning to doubt would happen with every passing engagement, casualties and damage to the European Fleet was already beginning to pile up, and a full quarter of the fleet had already been rendered mission killed, doomed to be in repairs for months. 

So the Scandinavian Knightmare Corp languished on the islands, eating through supplies and, according to high command, poised to strike back or defend the off shore power plants in the north sea in case the Britannian fleet ranged into the north sea, all in all Smilas was rather convinced that this was not a winning situation, and the EU needed to reorganize for this new era of warfare. They had ignored so many of the Britannian advancement these past two decades, ranging from the missile supremacy in air combat, to Carrier doctrine to Britannian Knightmare design concepts, things that the EU did not get to test because of its negotiation focused leadership, and it had put them on the back foot for the first time since the Exile following Napoleon's victory. 

“General?” he turned to young Leila, the girl was a bit your to be in the military in his own opinion, but she had shown competence during the last few days that was sorely lacking within the older members of his command staff, and he had taken to grooming her for her own command when she reached her majority. “We have some strange sensor readings sir, but they cannot be right, could you have a look?”

“Of course Colonel.” He took the small touch screen equipped pad from her, noting that yes, those were rather strange long range radar pings… They looked somewhat like large aircraft, but the nearest Britannian Carrier Group was last seen two hundred kilometers off the coast of Ireland, with the Nine Hell’s Carriers amongst them… “Signal ghosts perhaps?”

“I… I have a theory General, if you would be willing to hear it?”

“Go ahead.” 

“The Nine Hells were reported with the Ireland Carrier group, or at least their carriers were, but we have yet to see any of their Knightmare Transports sir, what if they left those behind o-”

“On the Falklands… What would be the bearing? And how far are they out?”

“Three minutes sir.”

“Fuck, wake the troops Colonel. Now!” Which was of course, when all hell broke loose, as the datapad in his hands got return sonar pings in addition to radar pings, but as opposed to the radar pings, the sonar pings were close range anti infiltration only… and that was well over a hundred potential submarine transports. “This is General Smilas to all EU personnel! We have multiple submarine landing craft just off shore! Scramble to your Knightmares! Ready yourself for battle!” 

He ran to the command center as fast as his feet could carry him, Leila a step behind him as the base sirens came alive with an unholy wail, spotlights turning onto the water around the island base, and when they reached the base the transports were moments away from breaching the waters, Smilas focused on the screens, watching as the small dark spots under the water rushed upwards. Those were not transports… Those were subnautical Knightmares…

“Damn it all…” 

“With the capture of Shetland the waters to the EU Atlantic power plants are wide open, I imagine you will seek to strike at them your Highness?” Leila was the very picture of politeness, cutting into her meal as she spoke, Smilas was mildly impressed by how calm the girl was considering who they were dining with. The Lion, young prince Alexander, dressed in an immaculate mix of a pilot suit and a traditional business suit, joined by the scandalously dressed Diarch of Zilkhstan, his three Squires, the other two leaders of his Nine Hells, and two Knights of the Round, a selection of some of the most intimidating and hated enemies of Europia. “Or will you perhaps invade the British Isle and reclaim your peoples old homeland?” 

“Seeking to glean knowledge, young lady Breisgau?”

“Malcal if it would please your Highness, I have renounced my heritage and the titles it would come with.” 

“Unrepentant treachery? How bold!” The green haired knight of the round spoke up, her tone teasing, and Smilas had to withhold a frown. “I like that, you could have a safe sanctuary, a chance to reclaim your families titles, and you put it all aside for a name? Shows dedication.” 

“I thank you, Dame Nonette. But I would still like to glean knowledge, as you so eloquently put it, your Highness.” The girl sat straight, taking a bite from the braised beef, chewing and swallowing before continuing, all the while the Britannian’s stared at her, some with smiles, some with annoyance. “It is not as if I will be able to do much with said knowledge, and indulging my curiosity is the least you can do for your earlier misnomer.” 

“You are most certainly more interesting than I expected…” The Prince muttered his first words of the night, having been content to observe the merriment amongst his companions in silence, simply enjoying his meal and occasionally sipping from a glass of rum, not often enough to get drunk but clearly indulging in a building habit that would have been strange on any other seventeen year old. “Perhaps I shall indulge you, Colonel Malcal, but let's make it more interesting than me simply telling you. A challenge of some sort, if you would. If you can tell me why we, all of us here today, are dining together, then I shall indulge you.” 

“A challenge you say? Fair enough, I shall play.” The girl smiled, pushing her plate away from herself, folding her hands on the table, and Smilas once again applauded her bravery, for he found himself simply sitting in sullen silence, eating his meal and drinking his wine as she challenged the young Lion in his own den. “It's rather simple, with the information that there is even a reason for us being here, implied by your challenge, I can see one of only three possibilities, the first, and least likely I can eliminate immediately, recruitment.” 

“You are intelligent, your highness, that much is obvious, you would not bring the General and myself here just to recruit us, you have far better methods then a dinner if that were the objective, the second option is more likely, but still eliminated easily, information. You have nothing to gain in regards to information from us, because of the separation of information within the European Military, something you are aware of, that leaves the third option, the actual reason, bait.” 

The Prince’s smile had grown throughout the Colonel's analysis, his posture shifting from perfect to a more relaxed one as he sunk into his chair, his glass of rum in hand, slowly sipping as Leila explained her reasoning, and when she finished he chuckled.

“Correct. This dinner was leaked to Union Intelligence in an effort to lure out their remaining operatives within Iceland, and has been a remarkable success, my operatives have captured fifteen agents including four infiltrators that had been embedded for over a decade each.” Smilas sat in stunned silence, despite his earlier words he had not expected the Prince to actually answer. “And to, as you said, sate your curiosity, my further plans are rather simple, the goal has never been to win a total victory against Europia, it was to prevent the decolonization and destabilisation of Africa while we secure Area 2, and, if possible, to deal the European Navy a crushing blow.”

“This was never about Iceland, was it, your Highness?”

“Exactly, Iceland's Sakuradite mines are less then a tenth as effective as the former Haywain or former Japanese mines, and while Area 4 and 11 have potential for expansion, Iceland lacks the easy access to Ocean transport that they have, bottlenecking its potential output. No this war is to kneecap the United Republic of Europia, to allow the Empire the breathing room it needs to secure Africa and punch down at the Chinese Federation, after this dinner is over, we shall launch another raid, we shall burn your fleet in port, and force a favourable peace.” 

Chapter Text

“Suzaku… I promise, one day, I will Obliterate Britannia!”

Lelouch Lamperouge

“And that… is checkmate.” The noble in front of him shook in a mix of embarrassment and anger, and before the man could lash out in anger, potentially ruining some good blackmail material, Lelouch grabbed the case full of cash, closing it and rising from his seat, Rivalz, his transport for the day following behind him, chattering at him about his victory. When they had left the manor, Lelouch pulled one of the stacks of fifty pound bills and handed it to his friend, Rivalz placing the thousand pounds into his coat pocket before starting his motorcycle. 

The stockpile was growing, with today's winnings he had saved up some fifteen million pounds, combined with another fifty million in non liquid assets, more than enough to live off of, perhaps even get his sister the necessary gene treatment if he was able to find a way around the registration process. But for his actual desires? To fulfil his promise? Not even close to enough. He could barely afford a single Sutherland with his current liquidity, let alone a force to fight the Empire with, of course, money alone was never going to be enough, but it was the start.

People were the second greatest resource needed to fight the Empire, of those there would be plenty, the Elevens were still angry and still fighting, something only achieved by their countries early surrender, resistance groups were plentiful, and even those few who accepted Honorary status would be turned when they witnessed the Empire cracking down on their own. No, people would not be an issue when the time came, it would be resources, money and supplies, while he was confident in his ability to command, he had no innate skill in logistics, sure he could balance a budget, but that was a far cry from supplying an army. 

“Yo Lelouch? Are you doing okay?” Raising his head from his little booklet, the one he used to note down illicit funds and blackmail material he looked over at Rivalz, the blue haired boy driving down the Settlements familiar highway, the large buildings racing by as they made their way back to the academy, to face the wrath of Shirley no doubt, if the girl had not already made her way back to her dorm when they arrived. “You have been quiet today…”

“I am fine, Rivalz, just… thinking.”

“Bout what?”

“Just the President's next hair brained scheme.” He paused for a moment, a plan popping into existence. “How about we head for that bar you mentioned? I feel we can use more gambling contacts in the northern Settlement.”

“Oh hell yeah! Let's go!” 

Arriving home he stored the case of cash away, it would be joining his physical cash reserves for the time being, an extra emergency case for if the bank accounts become compromised, something he had started doing since the first time one of his accounts was seized, the loss of a million pounds hurting far more at that time. After that he had a nice dinner with Nunnaly, cooking a nice lasagna for her which they enjoyed together with small talk about their days, after which they talked some more before his sister had to go to bed, after that, it was finally time to take stock of his efforts of the day.

First he made his way to the basement below the clubhouse ballroom, the small command center there had complete control over Ashford Academy, given to him by Lord Ashford years ago at his request, and he spent a few minutes scrolling through the various camera tapes, seeing no abnormalities he then moved to his laptop. The various businesses he had investments and interests in had few things to report, the bars and cafes frequented by the military command staff had reported that they were showing up fewer, which could possibly indicate some sort of operation, but nothing too concerning. 

He did finally get a ping of Suzaku, the dumbass had become an honorary and been taken to a military academy for training, still out of reach, as he was doing all he could to avoid interacting directly with the military for as long as he could manage, simply to manage the potential risk of being recognized. He looked up from his laptop as the door opened, a trolley cart with various snacks and drinks stacked upon it, and thanks to his familiarity with the cart in question Lelouch spotted the various knives and three pistols hidden in the selection.

“Sayoko, report?”

“Of course Master Lelouch.” His ever dutiful maid responded, the literal ninja his ever loyal companion ever since he discovered what she really was, his left hand towards his goals as she herself put it. “Lord Ashford has sent through the usual report about the foundations manufacturing status, the stockpiling of spare Glasgow parts is continuing as you requested, and the purchase of modern simulators from the Britannian Homeland has been confirmed, one new development has been noted however, a local resistance group has sought contact with one of the storefronts sir.”

“Which front? Akihabara? Shinjuku? The Saitama group?”

“Shinjuku, Master Lelouch, their leader has approached the Shinjuku front looking for contacts within the settlement.” Curious, his fronts had become somewhat common knowledge amongst the Eleven resistance groups as a direct competitor to the local information brokers and the foreign informants within the settlement like the Illusive Man, sure his information network was… less than professional. In fact it was mostly various students bragging about their parents and playing through interesting rumours to him, but that was more than most Elevens could glean within the settlement without facing Britannian investigation. “They have given us some interesting information about the disappearance of Japanese people within the Shinjuku Ghetto, multiple dozens of them in fact.”

Now that was quite interesting, sure Elevens disappeared all the time, whether into some Britannian nobles dungeon or just simply killed, but people disappearing in large enough numbers for the local resistance to take notice was strange and concerning. 

“How many? And when did it start?”

“I do not know Master, their leader has requested a meeting in person.” He nodded at that, it made sense, the local leader probably wanted to investigate it themselves, and if he simply gave all the details Lelouch would be easily able to cut them out. “Shall I accept it or reject it my lord?” 

“Accept it, then find me all you can on the local leader.” 

“I have already taken the liberty to pull up records and gather information, if you would?” Reliable as always, he nodded at her, and she sat on another of the seats near the monitoring wall, pulling up several files as he watched, eventually she pulled up a picture of a red haired Japanese man, the coloration a little strange, especially combined with his blue eyes. “Naoto Kozuki, formerly Naoto Stadfelt, brother of your classmate Kallen Stadfeld, leads the Kozuki Resistance, also known as the Shinjuku Group, a collection some fifty members strong spread throughout the Ghetto, acting mainly as a relief group up until now, resisting in mostly non violent manners, with minor exceptions.”

“Exceptions? Colour me surprised, usually it's one of the other with Tokyo resistance groups.” 

“My thoughts exactly, there seems to be somewhat of a split within the group, mostly along ideological lines, a full third of the group seeks more active resistance, while the other portion wants to focus on relief efforts in the ghetto, the group is seemingly only kept together by its leader.” An unfortunately common thing amongst the Eleven resistance groups, factionalism was common, and opinions were often divided on exactly how to resist the Empire. “Until the disappearances started the group seemed doomed to fall apart, now they are firm in support of their leader, and have even managed to scavenge together your fee.”

“Tell Mr Kozuki that I am willing to meet… not face to face but through a trusted advisor, and that I am willing to waive the fee if he agrees to this.” 

“Yes, Master.” 

The restaurant was one frequented by Honorary-Britannian’s and poorer Britannian immigrants, situated in the docks section of Tokyo in one of the smaller towers over the layered settlement with an actual view over the bay that made it popular along with its traditional Eleven menu. The food here was actually authentic, something that he appreciated, most places that served Eleven food were full tourist traps that adjusted the meals for the more… placid Homeland pallet, the food here actually had spice to it, and it was also affordable. 

Not that important to Lelouch, of course, but if the other side of the meeting insisted on paying for their own meal it would not put undue stress on them.

Looking from his vantage point on the restaurants second level at the door, Lelouch did find himself somewhat surprised at how easily Naoto could pass for a young Britannian Noble, he looked every bit the part of one in his disguise, all except for his bearing, he did not move like a noble even if he looked the part. His eyes held none of the disgust that was expected of a noble at being in a place like this, surrounded by honorary citizens, Elevens as they should be in the mind of a noble, barely above animals, it was a sign in his favour really, even if Lelouch felt some second hand embarrassment at his acting. 

The redhead was shown to his table by one of the staff, and the rebel leader sat uncomfortably on the couch like seats at the restaurant table, looking around nervously before steeling himself and locking eyes with Lelouch, a frown crossing his face as he took in the boy opposite him. Lelouch for his part, folded his menu and looked at the waiter, the Honorary woman clearly waiting for his order.

“A portion of Katsu Curry for me if you would?”

“Of course, what about the young Master here?” The woman looked at Naoto, eyes downcast, the trained submissive responses that were so common in Numbers within the Empire showing through strong, a sign that she had given up.

“I will have the same, thank you.” Lelouch barely stopped himself from making a tch sound at the man's lacking acting, the waiter meanwhile smiled widely and left with a nod, when the woman had fully left, the rebel leader leaned forwards, eyes focused. “You’re the contact?”

“I am, does my youth confuse you perhaps?” At the man's nod Lelouch responded as he had prepared. “The Frontman hires several students to pass along information to him, you would be surprised by the amount of information young noble heirs and military children divulge to brag to their less fortune classmates, I have been entrusted with our meeting because of my competence and my, admittedly limited, contact with your sister.” 

“You know about her then? I guess the Frontman does his research… How is she doing in school?”

“We are in the same class, yet I rarely see her. I imagine that is because of her less than legal activities?” The girl had a less than stellar attendance record, being present less then a third of the time she should be, somehow without her grades suffering, the reason for that becoming clear with Sayoko’s research. “She is quite young to be in a resistance group.” 

“Like you are a little young to be an information broker?” The man had a point, even if it annoyed him greatly. “She is quite insistent, and stubborn, and headstrong, and generally frustrating… Anyway, she is mostly just hanging out with the group, helping to distribute food and medicine in the ghetto, which brings us to the point of this meeting I suppose.” 

“Yes, I suppose it does. You mentioned the disappearances in the ghettos?” 

“Story time then.” The man sighed, leaning back and tugging at his tie. “It started about three months ago with an old man, he disappeared in the middle of the night, nothing that strange, unfortunately, people move to other ghetto’s or into the settlement quite often, but when we checked our, admittedly limited, settlement contact we came up with nothing, same as with the nearby ghettos.” 

“Again, that kind of thing happens from time to time, but then it happened again, and again, and again, at that point, the fourth disappearance without any sign, we thought it was some noble picking people off the street, thats happened before, so we investigated again, this time we even contacted the larger resistance groups to see if they experienced something similar.”

“And, nothing I assume?” So far the story was nothing out of the usual for the ghettos, people disappeared often and sometimes in great numbers, out into the countryside or into the settlement to look for a better life, Elevens had little to find within the ghettos, most only stuck around because they knew nothing else. “No signs, no packed belongings, no notes left behind?” 

“Exactly, which made it even stranger, because you would guess that someone would have noticed something at least? But again, nothing, even with a night watch we found nothing, so this is when we began to suspect foul play, so we splurged on cameras and monitoring equipment to place throughout the ghetto, which was when we caught our first sign, Britannian special forces.” That was strange indeed, nobles making Elevens disappear was nothing out of the ordinary, but they usually did not have access to special forces, those were restricted to high ranking officials, the kind who were usually at least a little more competent and less likely to seek Elevens for their… Entertainment. “A squad of eight that made their way into the ghetto, they disabled the obvious cameras, but the hidden ones picked them up anyway, they went through several households and sedated the inhabitants, before loading them into a transport.” 

“And I imagine that is when you approached the Frontman? Tracking a military transport into the Settlement would be… difficult for a resistance group.” He leaned back as the food arrived, the waitress departing with a silent bow as Lelouch thought through the risks and benefits of this, as well as potential reasons the military could be kidnapping Elevens for, none of which were positive. “I propose a joint operation, the Frontman has many informants throughout the city, and tracking a military vehicle in the Settlement is child's play but we lack manpower.” 

“In other words, you can find where they went, but you need my people to actually do something about it.” 

“Yes, I will not deny that it's risky, but this has gotten me concerned, I will advise the Frontman to waive the fee and focus resources on this.” He wiped his face clean with a napkin. “We will investigate this and meet with you as soon as we have a lead.” 

“One last thing though?”

“Go ahead.” 

“What do I call you? I assume you can't keep using your actual name for this.” 

“You can call me… Zero.” 

Naoto’s information was remarkably interesting, and led Lelouch down a rabbit hole which resulted in him calling in several favours to investigate the disappearances, leading to him getting access to several thousand camera recordings from across the Settlement, and, over the course of three days, he and Sayoko scanned through the recordings until they finally found what they was looking for. Regular transports through the Settlements underground sections to a facility near the government bureau that was not just well hidden, but almost entirely untraceable without following these transports, and Lelouch realized what he had found then.

A blacksite, hidden from the public and bringing in supplies and test subjects in the middle of the night, hidden from even the Homeland… Clovis was up to something. Something concerning. 

“Lelouch, focus!” He blinked, closing his laptop as Milly came up behind him, the tall blonde President of the student council had been harassing said student council about the most recent of her many, many, many hairbrained schemes, the crossdressers ball as she called it. “I need that budget yesterday!” 

“Come on Prez, cut the guy a break.” Lelouch blinked at the unexpected savior of his freetime, Shirley, the newest member of the council and a rather excitable girl. “We are all a little exhausted with the exams! And all of the work you're piling on us on top of that…”

“Ah, but Shirley, is it really work if I know you guys will enjoy it? But you do have a point, we do need someone to do our math's…” The blond tapped a finger against her jaw as she leaned against the wall, mining thinking, a rather convincing act, but Lelouch had known Milly long enough to see through that, and with a sigh, he responded.

“Nina Einstein is a good potential candidate.” He stretched, rising from his seat and stowing away his laptop. “But she is rather… anti-social, you would traumatize her Prez, so I suppose it's up to me to have a talk with her about joining the student council.” 

“A grand Idea my humble servant! Go forth and recruit more supple and willing victims for me!” 

He left the room while shaking his head, Milly was a somewhat welcome distraction, he needed a moment to think about his next move here and she provided that with his chance for a walk under the guise of searching for ms Einstein. To be honest, he was sorely tempted to simply cut the rebels out of this, to investigate further without being obliged to inform them, but the more he found out about the Blacksite the more concerned he became. 

It might be time to start making inroads with the resistance movements anyway, his network in the settlement was stifled by the other information brokers and military, and if he wanted to fight the Empire he needed more than just the settlement, he would need people willing to fight, people he could arm, and he had a decent starting point already in contact with him. The only concern being that he knew that Lelouch was a Britannian school boy, but that was not much of a worry, he was an Eleven, none would believe him, and Lelouch had more than enough counter blackmail against Naoto.

“Master Lelouch?”

“Hmm, yes Sayoko?” The Maid had snuck up on him in the middle of the school hallways, something she would normally never do. “Has something happened?” 

“We have received a request to meet from the Illusive man, my lord, he voiced concerns and has stated he is willing to come to terms after your last meeting.” The Illusive Man was an annoyance at the best of times, a man who hid his face and did business as another information broker with many contacts in the Homeland that made him favoured by the nobles and their scions for use in their plots. “He has asked me to confirm that he is willing to cede It to you, stating you would know what that would mean.” 

“Oh… That I do, relay that I want to meet with him please?” Yes, it might be time to start, to plot and plan his revolution. “Thank you, Sayoko.” 

Chapter Text

“Victory is Subjective, I want a show, not a stomp.”

Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia

The port around me was burning, battleships and carriers set aflame with plasma and munitions alike, my opponent, the base commander piloting a custom Panzer-Panther, a frame equivalent to a slightly upgraded Sutherland, clashed against my Plasma Contained Sword with a large, custom made Knightmare Officers saber. The man slashed against my guard without any sign of faltering at the sheer heat coming from the surrounding scrapped frames, I deflected his upwards cut with my swords guard, and stabbed it outwards against his chest once again, carving away armor from the chest based Cockpitblock of the Europian Knightmare. 

“Die Britannian!” The man slashed again, only this time I caught his blow, my claws digging into his machines hands, metal cracking and bending as the opposing commander struggled, so, with a heaving motion, I pulled the machine off balance and braced my sword against his chest and plunged my plasma blade into his cockpit. I dropped the slagged frame at Asmodeus feet, and pinged the area through my factspheres, the Europian Grand Fleet burned in the port, my machine along reaping a toll upon their defences, while my Hells, all of our lances combined into a single strike of just over a thousand Knightmares, finished the job. 

This would be the third raid of its kind, the EU thrown into chaos by destruction of their power generators in the North Sea, its people, used to peace, thrown into the chaos of war with power outages across the continent, all the while Shamna divined military targets for us to take out. The EU was in shambles, falling apart at the seams as its member states began to construct their own militaries, I know this won't last of course, the EU, while prone to internal issues, would pull together again when their leaders met and ironed out the issues, but for now, we were winning, and that was exactly what Schneizel needed for his negotiations. 

With the war only two weeks going, we had destroyed over half the Europian navy, and bloodied their army where we could, drawing them out of their garrisons of ports on the Atlantic and ambushing them with either the Hells or simply bombing them on the roads. On the African Front, Nelly was making leaps as well, pushing steadily north through the continent in a manner that made my own territorial advancements pale in comparison, of course, she was fighting mainly militias and shattered Europian armies, but it sure looked more impressive then what we were doing, even if it had far less effect.

“Call the retreat, we need to leave before the Parisian Army brings its SAM trucks forwards.” 

“They arrived?” Thea was cheerful, as she often was, and judging by Ludd’s smile I assume she has good reason to be, my Lords of the Nine Hells have been waiting on their own custom machines for a while now, for almost a year even, and Ludd had been working on several for quite a while. “Ah Ludd!? Please?” 

“Yes they are here Lady Belial, fresh off the transport from Pride-Corp HQ, Belial, Barbatos and Geryon, loaded and combat ready for the Final Operation!” 

The custom machines for my Lord and Ladies of the Hells were special, based off of the Asmodeus frame, with upgrades of course, as Asmodeus is due for an upgrade as soon as we have some peace, the Belial for instance, had been built into a proper ranged Knightmare Frame. Dorothea had given it solid silver armor and a pair of massive plasma cannons that would let her snipe at enemies from ranges beyond other plasma based weaponry, while preserving its mobility thanks to advancements in Slash Harken technology and a pair of jets built into its legs. 

Meanwhile, Marius being the rather simple minded combatant, had customized the Barbatos quite a bit, layering additional armor over even more armor to make by far the heaviest Knightmare frame in the world, with white, blue and gold colours across its armor and a massive Axe-Cannon, based on my Glaive Cannon, as its main weapon, along with several dozen machine guns. 

Now the Geryon was the special one, Shamna was no great pilot, she had learned the basics under me of course, and she scored a decent eighty three percent, but that was nowhere near an ace pilot, yet, a custom Knightmare could change that to make her an incredible combatant. Cannon had shown that even Lelouch, someone with only basic skills as a pilot, could contest Knights of the Round level pilots in his custom built Shinkiro, as long as you had a frame suited to your skillset you could surpass your normal limits. 

So Ludd took the knowledge of her… special abilities, and made the Command and Control Knightmare Frame Geryon, it stood a solid seven meters tall and was made in the style of a Persian Cataphract, taking the technology from our most recent purchase, the Gracchus and Equus, to create a shifting Knightmare frame that could move . It was a prototype version of the version of the Vercingetorix in essence, with four legs that could carry it at well over eighty miles an hour through the battlefield, something that would allow Shamna to respond to her visions as needed. While its armaments were lacking compared to even the Barbatos, it still wielded a Plasma Cannon like the one mounted on my Asmodeus and Plasma Contained Sword, enough to swing the tide of battle with her knowledge of it all. 

“Oh Ludd the guns are Beautiful, it's going to be so nice to make this baby run…” 

“You can gush over it later Thea, we need to mount up ASAP, we are barely on schedule.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, gotta go back to war…” 

“Our target is the Palace of Versailles.” The Nessus commander center was filled with my command staff and the high ranking members of the military needed for this operation, some twenty people all sitting around an oval table, the center of which projected the map of Versaille and its rather extensive defences. “ Or as its known today, the Parliament of the United Republic of Europia, where the Chairmen of the Union State meet, where the Generals and Admirals of the Union scramble like headless chickens, and we shall strike it to deliver the final blow needed to knock the EU out of the war for the foreseeable future.” 

“The Prime-Minister is in negotiations with the national leadership of the member states I assume?” Admiral Gray was an old man, coming from the Emblem of blood same as my Father and had been one of the few to make it through the entire thing, he had also been the second in command at the second battle of Trafalgar, and one of the men to introduce Carrier Group Doctrine into the Empire. “So we castrate their leadership and take what we want?”

“Exactly. The Prime-Minister has the EU ready to surrender already, but the Chairmen are keeping them in the war out of stubborn pride and nationalism, refusing to cede the EU’s African puppets to us, something that we cannot afford to not take, hence, Operation Falcon Down.” I zoomed the map out to show our fleet, the full gathering of all Britannian Atlantic Carrier groups and my Nine Hell’s Fleet, cruising towards the English Channel. “At exactly nine AM this following morning NPO strike teams will detonate Sakuradite munitions along the Channel shores detection systems and powerplants, enough to shut down the entire north eastern EU for several hours. Our fleet will then enter into the Channel and launch a combined air and Knightmare raid, we shall bomb airfields, fuel storage and Sakuradite reserves inland of France and the Low Countries, while the Hells raze Versaille to the ground.” 

“The Parliament's defences are no joke… It's on a separate power grid, and has enough Anti-Air to strike down our Hellwasp’s before the Imps can even hit the ground, we will have to land out of range, at least a few dozen miles away, and come in on the ground against the walls.” Shamna’s input was soft, but the woman did point out the greatest issue with our plan. “Our preparations will go through successfully, I see that, but the landing…” 

“You bring up an excellent point, I have a plan for this of course, but the EU is renowned for its ground to ground defences…” It's the one thing they have up on us, an entrenched EU position is vulnerable from the air and sea, but assaulting it from the ground, even with Knightmares will guarantee casualties. “I need suggestions.” 

“We can just punch through the air defences, we have the numbers, casualties will be great but our pilots can get it done, after we hit the reactor we can land Knightmares via VTOL easily.” Gray proposed the obvious plan, the one that would result in hundreds of deaths on our side. 

“Sabotage, it's obvious really, your NPO has people within Versaille right? Of course they do, I can see it. All they need to do is sabotage the emergency reactor, cut a few fuel lines, they might lose their lives but we will land unopposed.” Shamna gave the second answer, spending the lives of the few for the many, a classic trolly problem.

“There is the radical option My Prince.” Ludd caught my eyes, and I knew exactly what the man was planning to ask of me. “The Sakuradite munitions stockpile is more than large enough to simply blow the place skyhigh, we would lack hostages and a military victory, but it would still… remove Versailles.” 

I leaned back for a moment, the original plan also still had merit, simply punching through the ground defences with my Nine Hells and all of the VTOL capable Knightmares simply hitting them and punching through, well over fifteen hundred Knightmares was far more than the EU was prepared to handle, the casualties amongst my friends though, would be great.

“Boss.” It was Ashley of all people that drew my gaze with his words. “We are ready for this, we are trained for this, Death before Dishonour.” 

“Yes… Death before Dishonour, the Hells shall land directly upon Versaille from as high as the Hellwasps can carry us, using the drop shields to defend us against the AA fire, embedded NPO operatives will sabotage the sensors within Versailles to make our descent easier.” 

Versailles burned, same as the ports, same as Iceland, same as the Falklands and Shetland, Belail’s cannons tore through the former royal palace, Barbatos cleaved through its defenders, bisecting Knightmares and taking the turrets off of tanks and the Geryon moved throughout the battlefield to trample its opponents. All the while, despite my Lords and Ladies of the Hells killing disproportionately more people, the Europian forces came upon me and Asmodeus in the dozens. 

I tore my Glaive-Cannon free, swiping wide with only a single hand to cut apart a Panzer-three, my sword in my other hand cleaved into two other frames, ridding them of their weapons, their comrades fired upon me, and with a burst of my jet engines I put their friends between me and their bullets. This was not what I was here for… this slaughter of chaff was not what I wanted, it was not satisfying, not a victory, even here, in the center of my nation's greatest current rival, I have found none who can stand against me… there is but chaff, cattle to the slaughterhouse.

Plasma Cannons cut a line through the enemy frames, five men dying in screams as they melted in their cockpits, their comrades charging me from all directions, predictable and bland, easy mode, with a spin on my axis the Glaive in my hands cleaved three through, killing them instantly, my sword deflected a cannon shell and my armor bounced rifle rounds. They backed away, firing rounds that simply bounced off my armor as I pulsed the jet wings, launching into the air and landing on top of the closest frame, its friend charging in a shoulder charge, I kicked out cracking the Panzer Fours knee and making it stumble, and with a downswing of my sword I cut the cockpit block in half. 

“Status report.” 

“Chairmen in custody and heading towards Exfil!” 

“AA Towers destroyed! Hellwasps moving in to support the destruction of the Paris Garrison!” 

“The EU Mediterranean Navy has launched bombers from Toulon!” 

“We have another three hours Andre.”

“Focus on breaking military hardware, head to Exfil when your Frame is out of Energy or ammo.” My words were acknowledged with a crisp reply from my commanders, this operation was functionally over, it was time to finish up. “Gray, launch an additional wave of interceptors, shoot down the Toulon aircraft.”

“Yes, Knight-Commander.” 

Returning to the Homeland for the first time in three months was a strange experience, the parade through Pendragon for the Nine Hells was a grand thing, our Knightmares rolling down the road at a languid pace while people cheered for us murderers and despoilers, cheering for our victory. One secured not just by my men and woman, but by Schneizel in negotiations with the EU, going through the backroom deals and subterfuge needed to secure a surrender, and by the efforts of Cornelia in Africa, who held against the African Union’s Blitz and was even now steadily pushing north through the continent. 

But it was me they cheered on, because that is what my NPO broadcasted on the news and over our social media platforms, all planned to make me the greatest prince of the Empire, the one that got results, the one who forced the EU to surrender. The peace deal was heavily in our favour, with Iceland becoming Area 12 and the Europian African colonies were officially ceded to Britannia too, even if that held little water with the African Union taking them into their own hegemony, still, the EU was not capable of naval warfare for years to come.. 

I waved to the crowds, adoring citizens cheering as I passed, seated in the opened cockpit of the Asmodeus while the rest of my Hells rolled down the parade street, all overlooked by my NPO operatives on the surrounding rooftops to make sure this event was not disturbed. We reached the end of the parade street, and the entirety of the Hells rolled into the Pendragon Plaza, where they dismounted to cheers from the crowd and gathered around the central platform, where my Knights raised our banners aside those of the Empire, and I slowly made my way to the dias.

“The United Republic of Europia is beaten!” Cheers followed my shout, my Hell crying out in unison while the crowd whooped and hollered wildly. “Versailles has been razed to the ground! Their proud and grand Atlantic Navy shattered! Their Knightmares put to the test and beaten! Area 12 has been established! My Knightly Order of the Nine Hells has seen to the destruction of our most vile historic enemy lies in ruins and Britannia Rules the Waves once more! All Hail Britannia!” 

“All Hail Britannia! All Hail The Lion! All Hail Britannia! All Hail The Lion! All Hail Britannia!”

“My Lords and Ladies of the Nine Hells have shown their competence and power! My ever Loyal Squires have shown themselves to be amongst the greatest warriors our glorious country has produced! My Friends and Countrymen! I ask of you, does that not deserve a reward!” My words drew agreeing cries, while my Hells wordlessly stomped their feet in a sign of agreement. “Ashley Ashra! Jean Rowe! Kneel!”

Before the eyes of the crowd and the court from above within the Palace I drew my sword, the ornate blade shining within the light of the setting sun as two of my Squires kneeled before me, Ashley Ashra and Jean Rowe, having been under my personal tutelage for several years at this point, were ready to become more then just my Squires. It was time the Nine Hells gained another Lord and Lady, I tapped Ashley on the shoulder, then the head, then the other shoulder, before speaking.

“Sir Ashley Ashra, I name you Knight of Honour of Britannia, Rise now as Moloch, Lord of the Nine Hells!” The young man did as asked, a massive smirk gracing his face as he bowed at the waist towards the crowd with his arms thrown back in an extravagant gesture that drew cheers and laughter, while I turned to Jean, and tapped her shoulders and head with my blade, same as her companion. “And you, Dame Jean Rowe, I name you Knight of Honour of Britannia, Rise now as Mammon, Lady of the Nine Hells!” 

“Yes, Your Majesty!” 

The woman rose, bowing at the crowd same as Ashley, though with far less extravagance to it, it still drew cheers and shouts from my Knights and the crowds both, I let them revel in the cheers for a little while, waiting until the crowd quieted down a little I raised my hand, drawing the crowd's attention to me once more. I sheath my sword at my side once more, genuflecting in a manner that made my red and gold cloak billow around me as I gestured at the Palace above us. 

“While one war ends, another will begin soon, and I ask you, citizens of The Holy Britannian Empire, will you join me!? Join my Nine Hells!? Join in another victory!? Will you choose to stand for your Empire by my side!?” Recruitment speeches like this were a simple requirement, a thousand pilots and three thousand support personnel is not enough to conquer the world, and these are the prime targets, no, most of the people in the crowds would not join the Hells. But those watching the NPO broadcast? Those Numbers and disenfranchised warriors in the making? Those would be joining in great numbers. “My Friends, join me! Become a Knight! A Warrior! A Helldiver!” 

Is it really stealing if it does not exist in this world?

Chapter Text

“ I'm going to the ONE place that isn't Corrupted by Capitalism...SPACE!”

 Tim Curry as Premier Cheridenko, Red Alert

Being back at the Castle was quite nice actually, a bit of a return to normality where I could pick up some of my old hobbies, such as writing stories from my old world into existence, trolling people online on Pride Corps Twitter variant known as Roar and of course, extensive exercise. I shouldered the ridiculously over the top four hundred KG weights that I could only lift due to the anime logic this world functioned on, before raising it once more back onto the rack, before rising from the bench still covered in sweat that I quickly toweled off. 

The private Gym within the castle was filled with the Lords and Ladies of the Hells, each of them doing their own exercises and training, some with reluctance, like Marrybell, and some with gusto like Marius and Ashley, who were having a deadlift contest between the two of them. Something that Marius would easily win, the man is a giant, still half a foot taller than my impressive six four and broad to match, I have watched the man deadlift seven hundred kilos, something that was beyond ridiculous in my old world and still incredible here. 

“It's nice to be able to properly train again.” Dorothea's voice was soft as usual, the woman's eyes glued onto Shamna’s… rear as the other woman ran on the treadmill. “We have game night later?”

“Of course, I got the newest version of Knightmare Smash Brawl.” A rough equivalent to smash bros from my world, a method of bonding between our highest command staff, and some simple fun at the same time, I quite like these game nights and having hobbies to enjoy with your friends is important.

The displays in the launch center were lesser compared to what was aboard the Nessus, but that was mainly because the things they were observing needed far more redundancies, uninterrupted access to their connections with orbit, while the Nessus ran off of the advanced ground and sea based communications that could drop without issue. It was a novelty to watch my single most expensive investment make its way off the planet and into orbit, the last section of the orbital manufactory along with its crew on the way to meet up with the other sections already in orbit.

“Second Segment has detached and is dropping over the pacific. Last stage is boosting the satellite fabricator into orbit now, synchronous LEO with the other sections should be achieved in four hours.” 

I smiled at the Pride Corp Ground Control officers with a nod, before returning my eyes to the screen, on which the PCSS-Neumann was making its way into low earth orbit, the mobile satellite fabricator would allow us to construct satellites in orbit by sending materials up, which with the Sakuradite boosters thrust output was actually marginally cheaper then sending constructed satellites. 

The thrust the Sakuradite boosters produced was simply insane for their cost, but they were hard to control and hell on delicate equipment, hence why we had launched the Neumann sections with conventional fuel boosters, while the materials it would use would be shot up with Sakuradite boosters in a reusable chassis.

“Material Rocket One will launch from pad three in fifteen minutes, its ETA is six hours to meet up with PCSS-Neumann, the crew is already readying the equipment for fabrication, the first six satellites will take approximately sixteen days.” The young ensign of Ground Control was cheerful, as I would be in her position, as the fifteen hour shift she had to run for this launch got her a full week of paid leave and triple pay. “The satellites will move from the PCSS-Neumann and begin to construct an orbital network.”

“How long until we have the communications web established?” 

“Without complications? Eight months for total planetary communications coverage, not too slow as we are dedicating production to those observation satellites you insisted on.” Ludd rolled his head along his shoulders. “When the PCSS-Orichalcum and PCSS-Adamantium launch that time frame becomes far more palatable, we should have a complete satellite coverage of Earth by the end of the year.”

“There is still the risk of ground based munitions targeting the satellites…” And float system equipped Knightmares, when the other nations or my rivals inevitably invented those things putting small craft into orbit was not just a possibility but actually quite easy, as the gravity negation would allow them to reach orbit with extremely limited thrusters. Something would have to be done about that of course, a Knightmare constructed for orbital combat was very much on the to do list, as well as training pilots able to actually use the things, but to make those viable, I also would need a float system, lest the Knightmares become unable to renter orbit and burn up. 

“Of course, but when the PCS-Ebony launches with the upgraded fabricators we can begin to set the Anti-ICBM web which when operational should take care of the other powers launching combat capable space vessels of their own to counter them, Britannia shall rule Space as it rules the Waves.” 

“As it should be, Ludd, I need you to work on one more PCSS… A combination bombardment and carrier model, mobile and loaded with Sakuradite tipped tungsten rods.” 

“The situation in the Philippines is becoming untenable, the Chinese Federation is looking for war, thinking we are not ready for another conflict with the EU war only just ended and our ongoing hostilities in Africa.” Schneizal’s voice came from the nearby screen, the man himself was still in the EU dealing with the ongoing negotiations. “They are partially correct, we are heavily committed to the African conflict, but our combined Atlantic and Pacific Fleets are free to move, while our newly mobilised forces have finished basic training.” 

“Not like they will be much help, most only volunteered for the benefits, it's a million soldiers sure, but…” 

“Mostly infantry and tanks, with a heavily limited Knightmare Corp, only your Order of the Nine Hells are uncommitted in terms of Knightmare forces within the Empire, even brother Clovis is working with old Glasgow's and Sutherlands for his personal guard.” My Hells had also grown a lot over the past two months, our active pilots growing to well over two thousand, while our support complement grew to compensate, with Pride Corp finishing the last Hell-Carriers to bring us to a full Nine. “I must ask a difficult question of you, Alexander.” 

He paused, eyes closed and for the first time the mask that was so meticulously maintained, cracked in a manner that only the facade of a young man could, my older brother, still only twenty five and barely tested, was filled with fear, one of the only emotions I knew for a fact he could feel. He was a sociopath, a man of cold logic and calculation who would be willing to destroy the world to see it under his control, but now he was still my brother, the one who supported me in forming my Hells, who helped where he could and was kind to me, an act but one I still struggled to see through. 

“Can you conquer the Chinese Federation?”

“A difficult question indeed.” In short, no, a permanent occupation of China, let alone the Chinese Federation, was impossible, the forces needed for such an occupation were beyond what the Empire could gather, I could shatter the Federation, that would still be difficult but possible. Of course, breaking the Federation was not what the Emperor nor the Empire wanted, the EU, while broken at sea, still had its entire eastern force, if the Federation broke, they would eat away at the east, annexing what they could an forming puppet regimes, while India would rise in the south as another issue, a far more stable issue. “In short? I feel we do not want to, not yet. In the case of the Chinese Federation we either take it all or we take a small chunk while keeping them stable.”

“We are of the same mind then.” My brother nodded, his mask slipping back into place, an easy smile on his face once more. “The Eunuchs do need to be disciplined, we have tolerated their usurpation of power from their Empress because of their claims, claims of being a friend of the Empire, claims that are now proving to be lies with their press ganging of the Philippines into their federation.” 

“A strike into the pacific and then into China, we will need to make sure that they are unable to challenge us again without alienating them fully, make it seem that the Empire could offer more than the Federation can.” My brother nodded, the Eunuchs are true leeches, wanting for nothing more than even more luxury in their own lives, more power for themselves. “The Combined Fleets of the Empire are some of the greatest in the world, but still outnumbered in Capital Ships, Carriers and Escort Vessels by the Federation in terms of raw numbers, their early adoption of the missile doctrine means that those vessels have teeth too, unlike the EU navy…” 

“Quantity is a Quality of its own.” 

“Exactly, we are still more than capable of winning, the Federation is militarily inexperienced, our Atlantic fleet is recently battle hardened, and our Pacific Fleet still has veteran command staff from the Invasion of Area Eleven, their doctrine is untested, ours is established and combat ready.” I paused to take a breath. “With my Hells to even the odds we can crack the Federations armor and rebuke the Eunuchs, seize the Philippines and the Indonesian Archipelago, secure Area Eleven by decimating Korea and the Chinese Mainland, I need some time to prepare the Hells, a week at most, while the Atlantic Fleet needs to move immediately.” 

“It will still be a month before the entire fleet can make their way to the Pacific, the South Atlantic forces can pass through the Antarctic corridor, but the North Atlantic fleet needs to pass through the Canal.” 

“I can manage with the Pacific fleet at the start, half the Chinese Fleet is moored around India to assist in the suppression of the local resistance, I will still be outnumbered three to one, a manageable situation. I can seize the Philippines by the end of the year.” 

Something about my statement made my brother flinch, another slight crack in the mask of perfection, of cold calculation, another sign of that the fear I had for the man was a mutual one, and something about that made me smile. Now, it was time for war, once more.

Surprisingly the Federation moved before I did, its Indian Corp was dispatched with new Knightmares based upon a ‘unknown prototype’, otherwise known as the Shen-Hu, made by Rakshata Chawla, the Indian Genius that has studied together with Lloyd Asplud and Ludd Harris. That made the machines the Militarized Zone of India were bringing into combat the Chuyen, a machine that was a full fledged seventh gen Knightmare, a sign that my sixth gen Asmodeus had done its job in advancing Knightmare construction.

There were only around a hundred Chuyen models in the strike force that landed in the Philippines, reinforced by four thousand Gun-Ru’s, China’s homemade Knightmare that was more a tank with legs, similar to the Panzer-Two’s from the EU, if far greater in number, winning battles by volume of fire and decent mobility. The Gun-Ru’s could be slaughtered at will if the Chuyen’s were not in play, a single Imp could three versus one them with ease, with their specs combined with the far better pilots my Hells had, the Chuyens outclass all but my Knight-Marshals personal machines. 

Sure our Imps outnumbered them several times over, and could bring them down one by one if given the chance, I estimate a single Lance could take on a single Chuyen if the machine was isolated, if the seventh gen Knightmare has Gun-Ru support than that was a different matter. This is an actual challenge, something that I have been lacking if I am honest, even Versailles had been a pushover in the end, no this was an actual fight, an actual honest to god battle for the history books.

I am almost giddy.

“The Federation Sea of Japan Fleet has been pushed into the East China Sea by the Area Eleven Defence Force.” The deck officer spoke loudly without it being a real shout, and I nodded, her news was expected, the small fleet in the sea of Japan was more defensive and offensive, they would be joining up with the East China Grand Fleet currently on the way to Kyushu. “The Grand Fleet strike force is estimated to hit ground at Kyushu in ten hours.” 

“We are set to intercept in seven hours with the Pacific Fleet and Hell Carriers, are Area Eleven's airfields ready?” 

“Yes Knight-Commander. Prince Clovis has given you full military control on the orders of the Emperor, Kyushu island is being evacuated and the shoreline defences are being reinforced with the Homeland Battalions.” I nodded, Kyushu’s fortifications were decent, literally made to deal with Chinese Invasion, and with Sawasaki nowhere to be found his collaborators would not be able to render those defences useless, combine with the fifty thousand soldiers from the Homeland the Island would be able to deal with any stragglers, well, if the Chuyen’s were only in the Philippines. 

“Their ground forces are purely Gun-Ru’s right? None of the special Knightmares?”

“As far as we are aware Knight-Commander, Lady Geryon and the Satellite Section have not spotted any of the new gen Knightmares yet.” Shamna was probably the best person in the world to use satellite monitoring, she would check the feed every six hours on the dot, all the while using her Geass to see the future, giving me effectively six hours of warning no matter what. Honestly, it was almost a form of invincibility, a control over time itself that was unequaled in the world, foresight and oversight, Geass and technology combined to make the ultimate weapon of war, even six hours of warning could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

“The South Atlantic Fleet has made it to Area three, they are currently refueling and will begin the assault on Indonesia in three days.” “Report from NPO observers, Chinese Indian Ocean fleet has passed Singapore, just confirmed by satellite feed.” “Submarine interdiction in the Indian ocean reports eighteen ships sunk in the past eight hours.” “Bombing Campaign in Korea has readied the Area for strike, shall I send the go ahead to Lord Moloch for Operation Raid?” “Lord Bradley, Knight of Ten, has requested permission to deploy on Kyushu, oddly courteous for the man, your orders Knight-Commander?”

“Give green light to Ashley, request that sir Bradley joins him instead of sitting in Kyushu, they are to minimise civilian targets, we need the Chinese Federation to be submissive, not broken. Are we able to intercept the Sea of Japan Fleet if we tether slower ships to the Hell-Carriers? How long would it take to intercept them?” Defeat in detail was a strategy I am not quite fond of, it's efficient, sure, but the fighter in me loves climactic battles as much as the media does, it makes for something nice to put in the history books. Still, this might be the first time I am put on the backfoot, and a loss is not on the menu for me, a rival that gets beaten so easily would not be a rival at all, after all. “And what about our Portman Detachment?”

“It's possible to drag the slower battlecruisers and frigates, yes, but it would leave us extremely vulnerable to Submarines, interception course would put us in combat with the Sea of Japan Fleet in… three hours. Portmans are still rearming on Okinawa for the battle against the Grand Fleet sir, we could scramble them as potential reinforcements, but-”

“Then they would be unavailable for the bigger battle, let them get ready.” The deck officer nodded at me, and I took a moment to remember her name, Taylor Hebert, someone with this level of competence was good to keep happy, so I made a note to get her promoted to tactical command. My eyes turned to the map, the predicted courses would put the clash of the fleets around Jeju island, with my Fleet on its eastern shores and the Chinese on the western shores… “After we intercept the Sea of Japan Fleet, have the Kyushu Garrison airlift over their heaviest artillery to Jeju, we can establish a few firing bases.” 

“My lord, if I may?” 

“Go ahead, Scribe-Major.” 

“I am sorry to interject with your tactical planning, but Doctor Ludd has discussed the installation of a particular weapons platform on the Nessus with us several times, but was turned down because of the time it would take to integrate, by you if I recall Knight-Commander, the parts for the weapon are however stored within the cargo…”

“Hmm.” I dialed Ludd on the speeddial, the man's tired face appearing on the wall screen, face painted with grease and dirt, halfway within one of his projects. ‘Ludd, you brought the Fusion Lance along?”

“Of course! There is still so much to do with it, and if the Nessus took any damage in battle I am sure I can take some time to install it on deck!” 

“Excellent, I need it to be ready for battle, we are setting up a firing base on Jeju. It will be a trial by fire.” 

“Oh I do love those… I will get it ready, my Prince!” 

Chapter Text

“All I am surrounded by is Fear. And Dead men.”

Darth Vader

“The air battle is in our favour, our anti missile systems have yet to falter.” The Britannian CIWS was rather advanced, and the continued blaring of the turrets from the fleet and our firing bases on Jeju, stalled out the Chinese barrage coming from their Grand Fleet. The stalemate had been ongoing for over three hours, missile after missile fired towards us, each shot down by either a missile interceptor or a stream of bullets from the CIWS system. It was not in their favour, this test of ammo on both sides, because Ashley, Jean, Sir Bradley and fifty lances were making their way through Korea as this was ongoing, weakening the Federations grip on the Kingdom, while the Atlantic Fleet was inbound against both Indonesia and the Philippines. “Ludd, progress?” 

“The Fusion Lance is in place my Prince, we are simply waiting for the Chinese to actually engage us, it's a direct line of sight weapon after all.” 

“Mind handing me the schematics while we wait? I am a bit interested in what that actually means.” He does so, handing me a datapad as I go over his newest and likely most insane invention, the Fusion Lance does actually work as Ludd said a while back, a direct energy beam that forced a fusion reaction on its target, highly radioactive, highly fucking dangerous, the calculations he made are good to show its power, but… Flashing my Geass on it tells me instantly what the man got wrong, what could be improved, and I get to work on correcting his calculations and rudimentary code, before handing it back to him. “Check it over now Ludd, will this work?”

“Oh… Oh how interesting, yes, that would work… The barrel wont burn out with that either, at least not as fast, oh… thank you for this My Prince, I had not realized you were so capable at these calculations, it's not exactly my strong suit.”

“It's no problem Ludd, now, I should be off, it's time to draw the Chinese in, this standoff is lasting too long.” 

Let's see if the good old feigned retreat would work.

It did, in fact, work quite well.

Jeju burned, like every one of my battlefields, the Chinese fell into the trap oh so easily, when the fleet backed off even the slightest bit towards Kyushu they fell upon the Island and its firing bases, which was when the Fusion Lance Prototype showed why Ludd was quickly becoming one of the most feared scientist in the world. A Lance of pure white cut across the Sea, striking a missile cruiser dead on its front, and, in a ball of pure white the Fusion Lance shot forced a fusion reaction on the ships bow, and a dozen ships disappeared in a ball of flame and plasma. 

The Lance proved to still need a lot more work, as the reactor for it burned out, but the damage it had done was more than enough, the Chinese leader, either enraged or knowing the only thing he could do to stop an eventual second shot was to assault the island, and as such threw his landing forces onto it. Hundreds of Gun-Ru’s burned on the beach as my Hells and I slaughtered them, Asmodeus roared as I moved, his new frame moving smoother and with more power than any before it, I moved fast enough to literally dodge bullets, something most frames and pilots could only dream of doing.

“Main landing force is routed, and the Grand Fleet is retreating!” 

“Have the Fleet give chase, where are the Portmans?”

“Engaging right now Knight-Commander, the Chinese are in disarray, the Marine Variants are boarding as and causing unexpectedly high damage.” The Marine variant Portmans were nothing too special, simply Portmans with slash harkens made to allow them to board vessels by reeling themselves up from below the waterline, but that alone made them incredibly strong in naval warfare. “Orders Knight-Commander?”

“Deal as much damage as possible to the Grand Fleet, send out the Hellwasps with gunship loadouts, focus on mission kills instead of sunken ships.” 

I sighed, this had been entirely unsatisfying, not a good show as much as a slaughter, perhaps my earlier positivity about the world reacting to me had been too positive, if this was the best the Chinese had to offer, it would not be long before the Eunuchs fold. They were self serving cowards at heart, if their own hold was being challenged? That would be all Schneizel would need to bring them to the table.

“Lord Moloch, Lady Mammon and Sir Bradley have fallen back from Korea Knight-Commander, a second compliment of the new Knightmares have driven them off, casualties are substantial amongst none Hell forces, while the Hells have lost thirteen Knights to the Raid.” Not unexpected, the Korean peninsula was too close to the Forbidden city for anything other than a full commitment from the Chinese army, the losses were substantial however, in the EU war we only lost fifteen Knights total from the Hells, to see that number almost matched? Concerning. “The Philippines have been encircled, and targets for the Hells have been selected by lady Geryon as you requested, your green to drop in four minutes.” 

“Thank you Scribe-Major Hebert, keep monitoring the situation and take administration of our air forces.” 

“Yes Knight-Commander.” 

My Lance was dropping directly into Manila, where Shamna assured me the heaviest fighting would be, though a Lance might be a strong term, as it was just Marrybell and I dropping into the Chinese occupied city's city hall, supported by several lances dropping into other sections of the city. Of the two thousand Knightmares being dropped in the country, well over eight hundred would be dropped over Manila, with the other lords and ladies taking smaller complements of Lances to capture the other Chinese occupied areas, and when the Chinese on the islands were broken, the Philippines would officially join the Empire as Area Fourteen. 

The pod popped around me as the Hellwasp released us above the city, and the Asmodeus Malebranche straightened, the upgraded form of my personal steed clad in shining gold armor and its thrusters burning with blue white flames, the wings slimmed down from a backpack to two backwards pointing spikes, thanks to the thrusters now built into its limbs. Combined with the upgraded Avernus Drive Core it made the Asmodeus move I could leap, dash and boost my way around the battlefield in ways that other frames would struggle to keep up with, and my new weapons gave me all I would need to use that speed to devastating effect. 

I pulsed all my thrusters for a short moment, blue hot flames pouring over gold coloured alloy armor, bleeding into, white, red and orange flames as the Asmodeus purple eyes pulsed, taking in the battlefield below me, noting the sensors all taking in my new steed, as the rest of the world would when NPO broadcasted this footage to the Homeland. Flak fire flew towards me and my drop shield the shots shrapnelling and the loose metal bouncing off of the Alloy armor with hollow sounding dings that reminded me of the sound of popcorn in the microwave, I smiled slightly as I realized that, for once, I did not have to just take it. 

I shifted the controls, taking a step forwards on the drop shield, almost leaning over it, I hit the triggers, and the sound of screeching bird five times as loud as a commercial airliner deafened the city below me, I adjusted my aim, holding my arms bent to my sides as the shoulder cannons fired. Two, second long, beams of pure blue energy launched out from the shoulder ports of the Asmodeus, burning the air around them with the sheer heat of the produced plasma, each of the beams raking flak turrets and melting through them in milliseconds.

The temperature in the Cockpit rose noticeably during the shot, to the point that I had to zip down my pilot suit a good bit as sweat began to drip, something that will need to be fixed, the heatsinks have some issues, but the Blueshift Extended Range Plasma Cannons clearly work as well as Ludd had hoped. The silence in the city below me was almost deafening, anti air fire took a full three seconds to start up again, the deafened operators likely needing a moment to shake the stunning sound off. 

By the time they opened up again the Asmodeus had hit the ground, and I was already charging towards a line of Gun-Ru’s, Alloy armor bouncing shells as my Blueshift Plasma Halberd extended as I thrust it forwards, impaling a Gun-Ru and in the same motion using it pole vault over their roadblock. Releasing the Halberd I drew my sword, to cleave through another Gun-Ru as the slaughter started, with their lighter weapons unable to pierce my armor I began to cut and cleave through the Chinese frames one by one, Marrybell struggling to keep up with my speed. 

“Andre?! I see an issue!” Strange, Shamna’s precognition was already used before this operation, everything was set to go smoothly, for something to have changed within those six hours because of our preparations, something big enough to make her panic, that was… interesting. “The situation is changing, I see ruins! Nothing but ruins and ash raining from Skies! I have just steered Marius out of an ambush and had to redirect Dorothea from her goal lest she run into a reinforced position, something has happened to the Chinese, they have changed doctrine within my last look and now.” 

“I see. Check the Satellite feed again, what is heading my way Shamna?” 

“It's… all of them Andre, all of the new units in Manila, they already have you. They are surrounding you right now!” She sounded genuinely shocked, the woman normally so secure in herself and her skills at command thanks to her Geass granted foresight, and despite myself I smiled at that. “I was… too late, I am sorry Andre.” 

“Oh don't you worry for a moment Shamna…” I leapt backwards, dodging a barrage of high caliber rounds from atop one of the taller apartment buildings, sensors detecting the Chuyen as it fired at me, forced to dash sidewards to dodge more shots, the ambush sprung as the fifty Chuyens within Manila converged onto me and Marrybell, I looked over to her, struggling to dodge the fire sent her way, silently communicating that she need to bail ASAP. The Chuyens rounded us like cattle towards a squire whose market stalls had been abandoned and left to rot, the Federation machines standing atop the surrounding buildings, weapons aimed at us, ready to cut us down, and while I knew I should feel fear, dread even…

All I felt was sheer, complete joy and excitement.

In this world there were a few commanders that stood at the top, who stood above the others and could only be beaten by one another, Lelouch, Schneizel, Leila, my Father, myself, and of course, Li Xingke, I had feared that the advantages I had collected for myself, Shamna, Shalio, the Satellites, Ludd and Pride Corp, NPO, my Hells, all of them combined had put me above them all, and I am so happy to be wrong. Xingke had led me into a trap, used my overconfidence in the prophecies of Shamna and my own skills to lead me by the nose into an obvious trap, he left me surrounded and outgunned, dead to rights for anyone, anyone that was not me at least.

“So, you are the Shíshī I was sent to slay.” His voice came from one of the Chuyen’s, one with a layer of blue paint over its helmet, his English a little rough but good enough for me to make out his words, a glowing red sword in the hand of his machine and gazing down upon me. “I must thank you, you have walked straight into the trap without concern, we have you surrounded, surrender, and you will not be harmed.” 

“Hahahahahaha.” I could not help myself, a laugh slipped out from my chest, the coiled tension in my body ready to snap, giddy excitement and adrenaline pumping through me, this was what I had been wanting, what I was dreaming about, a real, honest to god fucking fight. “Oh…”

My eye glowed as my Geass came alive, taking in all of the men surrounding me, showing me their secrets, showing me that they were ready, showing me that they were ready to kill me now, for their precious India, not for the Federation but for their own country, and most importantly….

“All I am surrounded by is Fear. And Dead men.” I leapt and fire trailed me, and as I knew it would happen all their weapons followed me, Marrybell disappearing into an alley, waiting to ambush when she could while the Chuyen’s focused their fire on me so to break my easily trackable arc I dashed forwards, the speed punching me into my seat. I functionally appear before the closest Chuyen, Halberd raised high and already descending towards it, its pilot, panic jumped backwards but was not fast enough and got his chest cleaved into by my polearm, he continued backoff, my Geass guided me hand as I cut the downward arc and turned it into a thrust, running the first machine through. 

I ripped the halberd out through the side of the Chuyen, pushing off of the wall of the nearby building as the one below me began to cave from the fire raking down on it, leaping skywards over another roof towards a side street, boosting down it and away from their encirclement. Xingke did not let me leave of course, three Chuyens blocked my way and fired sprays of fire from high caliber rifles down the street, I chose the head on approach, boosting forwards and going low to the ground my Landspinners screaming as they struggled with the added imbalance in weight, dodging the fire from the high caliber rifles, zagging back in to dodge more as they exhausted their ammo, which was when I went for it, Halberd lowered and ready, blitzing forwards.

I impaled the first Chuyen straight on, letting the Halberd go and grabbing the shoulder of the machine to my kills right, pulling it down and killing my momentum with its added weight as it dropped down, my slash harkens knocking the arm of the third, leaving it without a ranged option. The street was filled with a dozen more Knightmares all charging me, so I leapt backwards as the air was filled once more with the screech of a bird, the air splitting with the sound as the cockpit of the Asmodeus heated up enough to make my already sweating body turn drenched.

I toggled Wide Range Mode…

“Die.” Blue beams diffused wide enough to cover the entire street as plasma screamed, the street just below me burned in a single second, the street of asphalt and stone walls melted to liquid, the Chuyens not faring much better, the now super heated machines struggled forwards, armor slagging off in droplets, their weapons destroyed. My blood sang as I boosted forwards before I even fully landed, the molten asphalt clinging to my landspinners for a brief moment, testing the heat proofing as I pulled my Halberd from the destroyed Chuyen on the way, other arm drawing my sword. 

I cut a swatch through the slagged machines, letting the burning men die as I broke through back to the square, my blood singing through my body, my heartbeat heard in my ears my fingers turned white around the controls, my eyes turned onto the remaining opponents, fifteen Chuyen frames, and I charged. This here, this was what I was looking for, even as I cut apart a Chuyen another filling the gap left by his comrades ejection, they were not perfect no, they lacked skill, lacked practice, but they had the specs to keep up, thy could fight me and i could fight back with my all. 

My Halberd broke as three Chuyen struck it with their Rope Harkens and tore it from my hands, they tried the same with my sword only for their harkens to melt from the blade, ash rained down as I dashed and cut the legs out of another enemy, parrying another sword strike in turn. For the first time in years I had to use the Asmodeus claws, tearing through the chest of a Knightmare and ripping away armor to get at the core luminous, the machine detonating close enough to shake me in the cockpit.

“Come on now Xingke! Face me yourself!” I tossed the broken Chuyen down, bellowing over the speakers loud enough to cancel out the music playing in the background. “You can end the slaughter now, a duel, one on one.” 

“Acceptable!” I dodged the ambushing blow by a hair, Xingke’s sword cleaving into my shoulder armor, I slashed at him in turn, taking his follow up hit to cut along his machines chest, Xingke dodged to the side from my second swipe using his rope harkens to pull himself towards an apartment building, kicking off of it and leaping towards me. I found myself smiling wide as I leapt towards him in return, our blades clashed, cancelling out our momentum mid air as the two machines screamed, I kicked the thrusters alive to push my opponent downwards while Xingke kicked me downwards. 

We both crashed into the road, and took only a second to rise to our feet, a laugh slipping from me as we clashed again, because despite it all, despite all of my practice, despite all of the advantages I had stacked my deck with, I had been outmanoeuvred, I had to fight for my life… I could die here, and I have never felt more alive, more entertained or more focused. 

My fighting style has always been one of pure overwhelming offence, making up for the openings I left behind with pure speed and aggression, but Xingke was just as aggressive and fast, if not even faster than me, so fast that I had trouble reading him even with my Geass. Our fight was a series of slashes, kicks, claw swipes, harkens and punches, fast as lighting exchanges that always resulted in us both taking some damage, both taking what hits we could while we avoided the others victory condition, if he ever stood still long enough for my cannons he was a dead man, and if I let him get behind me for even a moment he could take my cockpit out with that special sword of his. 

“Your reputation is not unearned, Shíshī .” Xingke’s voice was strained, tired and wet with blood. “But this is over.” 

“Is it now? I was just getting warmed up!” My heart pounded as we crossed swords once again, my claw tearing a chunk off of his chest armor while Xingke rolled backwards, letting my sword cut over his shoulder once again, armor melting under the heat of my plasma blade. “You can’t win this!”

“It was never about a tactical victory, but about a strategic one.” Chills crept up my spine as he spoke, this was not about killing me, not totally at least, that must be a secondary benefit, the main operation was to distract me, to get my measure in a fight, they knew they could not win here, even if they kill me the Hells would win… This was a death squad, a suicide mission, meant to lure me out, to get me alone… “Firing solution is confirmed, goodbye, Shíshī. ”

Xingke ejected, his pod flying out of the city and towards the bay, while the skies burned with a hundred red lights from the Chinese missile barrage, and before I could help myself, I laughed, loudly, clearly, happily, leaping into the air kicking off of the closest missile and letting the Sakuradite payload destroy the buildings beneath me, a birds screech filled the air, and I hit the wide range cannons.

The sky burned in a mix of pink and blue as the hundred Sakuradite warheads detonated in the air, the air pressure of the explosion hit Manila, and the city was leveled and buried.

“Ludd!?” The blonde haired Indian woman, Rakshata Chawla, was somewhat surprised upon seeing her former classmate instead of a torturer, when she had been captured by the Britannian army after the burning of Manila, torture was the least she could expect considering that the Brits were still digging their warriors out of the rubble two days later. Instead she had been led to a massive hanger aboard one of the Carriers, and was met with the familiar red haired doctor of scottish descent standing next to the man she had helped the Chinese oppose and almost kill, the simply massive man dressed in a sleeveless pilot suit with a v slit on the chest, covered by a convincing replica of a Lion pelt cape.

“Doctor Chawla I presume?” She nodded as the man approached her, and she shook his hand with some concern, considering she had been captured once again and last time had been less than pleasant. “Truly a pleasure to meet you, your work has been truly… stunning.”

“I… Apologize that my children were deployed against you, your highness.” 

“None of that doctor, I know of your plight, and I can sympathise, besides that Ludd has requested I enlist your aid as well.” The man smiled, something that unnerved her greatly. “Afterall, India is an enemy of the Chinese, same as we are, and if you are willing I would like you to assist in one of our projects, after that? You will be, as far as the Chinese are concerned, still in Brittanian custody.” 

“As far as they are concerned huh?” She could easily read between those lines, she would be free to go back to India and rejoin her team with the Chinese none the wiser. “What would this project entail?”

“Let me enlighten you.” He gestured to a file on the table, labeled simply; Mephistopheles. And as she flipped through the document she became more and more interested, snapping the folder closed she looked at the prince with a frown. “He is young, yes, but with luck new information will become available to me soon that should help greatly. And does he not deserve a chance? Do others like him not deserve the same chance?” 

“I think we have a deal.” 

Chapter Text

“Salvation comes with a cost. Judge us not by our means, but what we seek to accomplish.”

The Illusive Man

With the dawn of twenty sixteen, the security around the Tokyo Settlement was simultaneously better and worse with the ongoing war, military forces had largely been put on alert and moved from the city to Kyushu, while the local guards were reinforced with new soldiers from the Homeland, ones who lacked experience in actually being guards. It made the whole place feel tense, like a taut rope ready to snap was the only thing stopping the city from falling into chaos on the lower levels, most importantly, it made Lelouch’s life a lot easier. 

Operating in the underground of the settlement became a lot smoother when you could manipulate one side's fear of the other into your favour, and with all the extra equipment shipping in? Well it's a lot easier to blame Jeff the country farmer that just became a garrison guard for stolen equipment then it was to make soldiers think that the comrades they had worked with for years were responsible. Already the stockpile under Ashford had nearly doubled thanks to Lord Ashford and Sayoko’s efforts, all without Lelouch needing to do anything himself, instead Lelouch focused on planning out the operation against the Britannian Blacksite. 

If there was any time to strike, it would be soon, with the entire garrison in disarray and Clovis giving military control over to his brother. 

Before that, he had a meeting to get over with, The Illusive Man had invited him to an face to face meeting, but Lelouch knew better then to just walk in unprepared, it was why Sayoko had already cleared the small office building at the edge of the Settlement, confirming that it was in fact empty save for a single chair in front of a screen. A chair he found himself seated in, legs crossed as his cape was draped over the back of the chair, his mask comfortably resting over his face, the blank screen flashing on, the other side of the connection showing a man seated similarly to himself, only covered in shadow broken only by the light of a cigar. 

“Frontman.” The man's voice was oddly familiar, the autotune over it made it hard to place, but it was at the very least Britannian, likely a noble of some kind, which considering the influence the man had was already likely. “Or is it Zero now?” 

“Zero is fine,  shall we get down to business?” 

“Of course, I assume you are investigating the disappearances in the ghettos?” At his nod the man continued. “Then it seems we have stumbled across the same issue, the facility is ramping up the amount of people it is consuming, and my hands are tied with the ongoing hostilities, hence why I asked you to… assist me.” 

“I was under the impression that working together was something you avoid.” 

“Normally I prefer to have people working for me, rather than with me, yes, but I know when to compromise to get what I want.” The man paused, a puff of smoke coming from him as he puffed on the cigar in his hand. “Answer me one question, Zero, why have you been going after this so adamantly?”

“Why would I not be? Whatever this facility, this Blacksite, is, it's… vile, disgusting, eating away at the Ghetto’s and making life harder for the people that are just trying to get by, I can't let that stand, let an atrocity like this stand and live with myself after it.” The Blacksite was exactly the sort of rot that proved that the Empire needed to burn, human experimentation, especially on this scale, was not just disgusting but counter to everything Lelouch wanted to stand for, a culmination of all that was wrong with the world. “Let me return the question in turn, why would you, Illusive Man, want to see this Blacksite gone?”

“Oh, I couldn't care less about the existence of the site and its consumption of Elevens, I care about what it has discovered, and who I can rake over the coals with that information.” Lelouch suppressed a frown at the self serving bastard, but that was expected, maybe he had grown too used to working with selfless people, with Sayoko and Ruben and more recently Naoto, and was judging too quickly. “I propose an Alliance, your pet terrorists, could you convince them to strike the Blacksite?” 

“I would like you to refrain from referring to them as such.” Judging by the pearly whites shown in the light of the cigar something about his reply amused the bastard. “But yes, the Shinjuku resistance is divided on many, many things, but I do believe they are more than ready to put an end to this. For all the good it would do them, while I have been trying to fix the issues, they lack training, equipment, both small arms and vehicles, which I assume is where you come in.” 

“Of course, I do believe you provided them with a simulator, a group of their size should have a few competent pilots…” the man put out his cigar, and Lelouch watched as with a wave of the man's hand the screen was taken up with security footage of a warehouse, filled with things that made Lelouch involuntarily smile. “In exchange for a full copy of all data within the Blacksite I give you these, are we in agreement?”

“Yes, I do believe we are.” 

“Kallen.” 

She turned, her Knightmare's screens blaring warnings as she used the Sutherlands arm to pivot, racing down the street going past the Sutherlands speed limit, her opponent came into factsphere range a second later, and Kallen knew exactly what she had to do, she had seen all the recordings, all the tape from the world's greatest pilots, the knowledge was there, time to put it into practice. She went low to the ground, her Landspinners screaming as they struggled with the added imbalance in weight, dodging the Knightmare Rifle fire from the Panzer four model, zagging back in to dodge more as the Panzer exhausted his ammo, which was when she went for it, lance lowered and ready, blitzing forwards.

“Kallen…” 

Ignoring the voice coming from her communicator she angled her lance to bounce rounds from the Panzers light machine gun, before she was finally in position, pushing off from the ground, ignoring the warnings screaming from the Sutherlands systems as she did so, her Machine grabbed onto the Panzers arm and dragging it along as she killed her momentum with the Panzers weight. Planting a foot atop its chest she braced her lance against her opponents cockpit, licking a bead of sweat from her lips as she pushed down, metal screaming as the Panzers cockpit, braced against the ground below it, gave in, its pilot impaled. Popping the fact sphere open Kallen took in the rest of the field, the other Panzers turning their guns in her direction, she pulled the lance from its corpse sheath and charg-

The simulator shut down around her, her brother hitting the emergency open button and Kallen sighed loudly as the man looked down at her with an all too familiar deadpan expression, she innocently smiled up at him, and he rolled his eyes at that, something she counted as a win. 

“Come on little firebrand, we have a meeting.”

“For the kidnappings?” 

“Yep.”  He chirped, as Kallen pulled herself out of the Simulator with his offered hand, the surprisingly heavy piece of equipment sitting silent within the hideout the Shinjuku resistance used for equipment storage, the machine responsible for almost five hundred hours of practice since Naoto got it from their contact in the settlement. “Frontman has made some discoveries that he wants to share, and has some things he needs our help with, and since you have been wanting to be let in on the investigation…” 

“You are bringing me along, I get it, do I have to doll up?” While she much preferred the more casual clothes and free hairstyle she got to wear in the Ghetto, dressing up in her school uniform or some of the dresses used for noble functions was an unfortunate necessity for operating in the Settlement. “Who are we meeting anyways?”

“No need for a wardrobe change, though you could use a shower…” She elbowed him for that comment, yet he continued undaunted. “We are meeting with the Frontman’s contact, same one as last time, he is reliable, if a bit eccentric, the two of you should get along just fine.” 

She nodded, taking a moment to register the slight insult and shaking her head. Naoto was getting her back for ignoring his messages in the Sim earlier, and her skin was thick enough to deal with the little barbs he would send her way. She was interested in meeting their illustrious contact too, the man who had procured them so much equipment over the past months, she knew he was a Brit, that much was obvious, but what kind of Brit would give this much support to what their own government would label as a terrorist organisation?

The two siblings left the hideout after locking up, making their way on foot to the New Station where Naoto parked his car, the people in the Ghetto looking at them with surprising looks of hope as they passed, the entire place had been a fear filled mess for months now, and it was starting to wear on them. Kallen and Naoto walked through the rubble-filled Shinjuku station towards the New Station, passing the Disel twins who were becoming a common sight in the Ghetto, before finally coming to Naoto’s car. Climbing into the red PC-Humvee they began to cruise down the restored highway away from the Tokyo for a good ten minutes, then taking the off ramp into one of the tunnels, the siblings discussing their days, and Naoto once again asking her to return to school more once the kidnappings were resolved. 

They exited the tunnels near the Settlement, by the old Tokyo docks, then quickly made their way into one of the old warehouses, and Kallen took a moment to recover from the bluescreen that the sight within gave her, blinking, then rubbing her eyes, before finally accepting the sight before her was real. In the center of the warehouse, in a sunbeam coming down from the half rotten roof stood a single man, tall and twig like in a purple suit, covered by a black and gold cloak with an inner red lining, a neckerchief and strange black mask covering him fully. In the shadows to the masked man's right stood a literal, honest to god, Kunoichi, complete with black outfit and enough Kunai to double her body weight, the woman's face covered by a bone white, featureless save for the eyes mask, what threw Kallen off most was how motionless she was, standing still like a statue. 

“Naoto.” The masked man spoke, and Kallen frowned slightly at the tone, it was a clear Britannia accent, even if his Japanese was good, other than that the voice sounded young, clear and lacking in bass. “I asked you to bring your best pilot, did I not?”

“And I did, Kallen has by far the most hours in the Simulator and has the highest percentage rating we have in the resistance.” She folded her arms at her brother's words, a little uncomfortable with the praise, the masked man in turn tilted his head, before nodding in acceptance. 

“Kallen, correct?” Kallen blinked at being addressed, in the few negotiations she had been to she had been mostly ignored in favour of her brother, while the Shinjuku group acknowledged her word, the other resistance groups occasionally had… issues with women and especially younger women. “What was your rating?”

“Ninety-nine point seven percent.” Silence followed her answer, and Kallen was not sure if it was a good silence or not, because it was a rather uncomfortable one, until the masked man laughed, a clean ringing sound that tickled her ears and made her stomach twist in knots, it was not a pleasant laugh. “I am not joking!” 

“I know.” The masked man got out between his laughs, his form stilling again. “I am simply quite pleased to find a one in a million ace, someone who could apply to the Knights of the Round and expect to join them.” 

She frowned at that, sure the rating was high, but it was only a number, Brits loved to assign things numbers, a high rating was nothing more than a nice big number to show she was worth more as a pilot, the Rounds were not just pilots with decent numbers of their own, they were monsters, she was not. Her eyes flashed to her brother, seeing that the man’s look mirrored hers, confusion mixed with frustration. 

“Naoto, Kallen, come, we have some things to discuss.” 

They followed the masked man and Kunoichi deeper into the warehouse, and Kallen took note of the tarp covered machinery within it, those were Knightmares, that much was clear, but if the masked man was able to acquire Knightmares in the middle of a multi continental war where all sides were using machines generation behind… That was a rather impressive sign that their new sponsor, as Naoto called him before, was more capable than he had let on at first.

“The time has come for us to strike the Britannian Blacksite.” The masked man’s tone was heavy, and Kallen felt a mix of excitement and nerves coil in her at the words. “Our three biggest concerns about attacking the Empire have been resolved.” 

“Have they?” Her brother's tone was as harsh as his frown. “You might have gotten us some Knightmares, but we still don't know the layout of the Blacksite or what its purpose even is, that's not even considering the retributions that will come from this Zero! The Vampire of Britannia is still in Kyushu!” 

Like a bucket of ice water poured over her head Kallen stiffened up and panic filled her, the Vampire was a seasoned Knight of the Round, known for slaughtering resistance groups across the Empire, having been deployed to South Africa earlier in the year, where he wiped out a hundred local tribes with… disgusting levels of violence. 

“And he is kept on a leash tight enough to strangle him.” Zero, the masked man, responded, his tone amused. “The war against the Chinese Federation has been put into the hands of the Nine Hells, along with all Britannian forces in the Pacific, after the incidents in Africa, the Emperor has made it clear that Bradley is in fact, part of the Britannian forces. He shall be of no concern to us, even if he were to respond, as unlikely as that is… if you are as skilled as Naoto claims.” 

“You think I can beat him?” Some of her earlier excitement returned, still mostly buried under nerves. “Beat a Knight of the Fucking Round!?”

“Are you afraid you would be outmatched? Outspeced? I assure you, that will not be the case.” The man snapped his fingers, and the Kunoichi pulled a rope from the wall, letting the tarps fall from the four Knightmares, and Kallen found her hands itching as she looked the large machines over. There were two Glouchesters, complete with Golden lances and black capes, the Premier machines of the Britannian Military Knightmare Corps standing tall and strong, the specs on them were nothing too special, not compared to the seventh generation frames being rolled out, but they were still far better than she expected.

The other two were more… unique, and to her surprise Kallen recognized them, one of them was an Imp, another fifth generation Knightmare but one that was far less common, and pushing on sixth gen, used only by the Nine Hells, a highly customizable frame renowned for no two being the same. This one was equipped with a pair of Knightmare rifles and a single standard issue sword, nothing too outstanding, but she was sure she could make it dance. 

The last Knightmare was special, almost unique even, she knew about it because of her recent… obsession with Knightmares, it was a Gracchus, a prototype model that had been rejected for its costs compared to the Gloucester, a sixth gen Knightmare frame made for commando operations, one of four total ever made. It's strange landspinners were able to run silent and over rough terrain unlike normal landspinners, while its arms were able to extend to provide improved piercing power to its rapier like swords, and its built in folding cannon could fire Sakuradite tipped shells that would obliterate any unprepared Knightmare.

She caught a keyfob on pure reflex, the ivory and golden thing tossed her way laying in her hand, matching the horrendous ivory and gold paint job on the Gracchus, her eyes snapping to Zero as the man stood silent, mask pointed in her direction.

“Would you be able to beat a few Sutherlands? With this?” 

“...Yes I can.” She paused, taking in the machine again with a frown. “I am going to need a lot of red spray paint…” 

Chapter Text

“The bells were ringing in the dale

And men looked up with faces pale;

Then dragon’s ire more fierce than fire

Laid low their towers and houses frail.”

Part of: Far over the Misty Mountains Cold,

J.R.R Tolkien, An Unexpected Party, The Hobbit

A light rain fell over the Tokyo area, something that had been an issue for Shinjuku Ghetto, with the water filling the tunnels the Ghetto used to get the supplies it needed to survive, that was until Lelouch took issue to having to take the long way around and used a few favours to get the subway tunnels cleared by a local construction company under the presence of a potential Settlement expansion. Now he stood in said underground, within a hanger carved out of the stone together with the gathered fighters of the Shinjuku Resistance, eighteen people ready to fight for their country out of the seventy odd official members of the group, a frustrating lack of will to fight. 

“We are keyed into the government Bureaus communications channels, meaning we can hear what they are talking about but can't speak to them.” At least, the rebels couldn't speak to them, Lelouch very much could, thanks to Sayoko’s impressive infiltration of the Settlement and Bureaus systems. “We will use this to monitor the Brittannian response to the raid, remember, follow the plan, keep your helmets on and most importantly… Do not Speak Japanese! We cannot risk retaliation, and with our disguises we can pass for Brittannian special forces.” 

The rebels nodded, faces set in stone behind the slightly opaque grey masks of the Britannian body armor, with the expectation of the three best pilots in their group who wore their own clothes with only a kevlar vest, as they would be inside the cockpits of the Knightmares, those three would be playing the biggest part of the operation, the extraction. Those Pilots were familiar to Lelouch, Naoto and his sister, the ace in the making, along with a man by the name of Toru Yoshida, who would be acting as Lelouch’s, Zero’s bodyguard in the other Gloucester, while the Kozuki siblings would pilot the Imp and Gracchus.

“We will strike during a communications blackout arranged by my contact within the settlement, it will temporarily power cycle the entire settlement, this will incite a response, but by the time the military arrives from Kyushu we should be gone in the wind.” Lelouch paused, letting the resistance nod and respond. “The Knightmares will be on standby in our trucks, in case we need an emergency distraction, the Pilots with the exception of myself will be staying outside the blacksite unless there are Knightmares on site, in which case they shall roll out. I would prefer to keep them hidden if possible, I am sure you understand? Good, we move out.” 

Climbing into one of the three transports for the operation Lelouch kept his posture straight, hidden in the back of the vehicle next to his own Gloucester, sinking into thought as the small convoy split off, the other two transports taking separate routes that would leave them nearby but making it harder to intercept the entire operation. This operation had been months in the making, his first strike against the Empire, Sayoko had spent nearly a month infiltrating the Settlements power grid to make sure the power would be shut down for this, he had spent millions of pounds equipping his forces, and had met the resistance members several times to build some manner of trust. 

As they approached the underground entrance for the blacksite Zero sent the signal to Sayoko, and within five seconds the Tokyo settlements internet, phone and detection network fell silent, the transports accelerating, driving straight through the expected roadblock. The confused police officers screaming into their comm units without effect, the transport reached the doors of the blacksite, and Zero followed the ten resistance fighters dressed as Britannian special forces into the Britannian blacksite, the Japanese men and women in question were angry, driven by the loss of well over a hundred people from the Ghetto and opened fire on the first security guards, killing them instantly. 

“Keep it moving, we have six more minutes.” 

“Yes Zero!” The blacksite was surprisingly small, the resistance fighters cutting through unprepared cut off security guards, making their way through several empty holding cells, past a massive pile of discarded clothes that made more than one of them cry and rage, before they finally entered what Zero knew to be a research facility. The few labcoat wearing men and women were gunned down in a surprising act of brutality by his rebels, the armoured men and woman emptying their magazines into the bodies, before planting the C4 through the lab, while they were doing so, Zero attached his prepared drive into one of the computers. 

It downloaded the local data and left behind enough malware that it was bound to spread onto the network when it came back online, the data itself though? Was terrifying. Human experimentation was expected but the sheer scale, the sheer lack of humanity, Zero could barely stop himself from vomiting in his helmet, and throughout it all, a single woman suffering every single torture, and living through it all… Before he could stop himself, as a feeling of familiarity and pity came over him, he hit the button labeled as release, and looked at the pod that hissed open, drawing the attention of the room, as the green haired woman was released from her… storage unit as Zero ignored the others to walk to her. She started at him with impassive golden eyes, blinking away tears as her head tilted, recognition on her expression for some reason as he used a small knife to remove her gag, followed soon by undoing the bindings on her arms and legs, all the while she silently stared at him with her head tilted. 

“Are you alright?” His question seemed to amuse her, the corners of her mouth getting the slightest of upturns, before she frowned, pulling him to the side as gunfire raked her body, Lelouch watched her die in his arms as the rebels gunned down the security guard responsible. With a shaky breath, Zero rose, the girl that had saved his life still in his arms, a frown on his face, thoughts running through his head, as he walked with the woman still in his arms back out of the Blacksite, the rebels following along with him as they returned to the transport exactly five minutes after the blackout started, their transport racing off into the settlement once again. Communications coming online a moment later, Zero addressed his troops.

“Objective is complete, detonation in three… two… one.” The settlement shook as they moved out from the underground section into one of the connecting highways, the Britannian comms already abuzz with panicked orders. “Q-1, B-1, R-1, link up with us, it seems that the beehive has been well and truly kicked.” 

“My Royal Guard! Destroy those traitors!” The expected response, Clovis had always been predictable, VTOL’s aircraft were already on the horizon coming from the government bureau, cutting across the settlement to keep a track of their transport while the Royal Guard mobilized. Zero rose from his seat, climbing up into the cockpit of his Gloucester, looking down at the rebels, and the corpse of the green haired girl, giving his final orders to them.

“Continue to the hideout, I will run distraction and wait for the others to reinforce.” 

“But Zero, there will be dozens of them!” He nodded, that was expected of course, but he had not spent half an hour a day in the simulator the past month for no reason, he could run away for a few minutes before the other Knightmares came to reinforce him. 

“Not your concern, get yourselves to safety, I will be fine.” The back of the transport popped open and Zero closed the cockpit on his Gloucester, targeting the air and firing the slash harkens to hit two VTOL’s hovering in the sky as he hit the pavement with his landspinners, reversing his momentum and charging at the first Knightmare he saw, Knight Police unit. The non military pilot had little time to respond to the higher specced Knightmare charging at them, the Gloucester's lance piercing its cockpit a moment later as Lelouch claimed his fifth life ever. 

“ A Gloucester…” The Britannian coms were confused as an oddly familiar but not immediately recognizable voice spoke, before the descending Royal Guard Sutherland switched to open comms. “Identify yourself!” 

Zero found himself frowning, silent to the Royal Guard member, firing his machine gun at the decorated Sutherland, drawing his gaze away from the transport Zero was escorting and towards the man himself, and with the bait set he pulled off from the highway and down into a construction yard. The Sutherland gave chase, followed quickly by two more of its Royal Guard brethren, Lelouch, focused yet getting more and more frustrated with the need to wait, dodging between their attacks, scraping by as best as he could, cutting through more of the construction site. 

The Gracchus moved like a dream, Kallen literally leapt over the highway barriers to the opposite lane, weaving between oncoming cars at well over a hundred kilometers an hour, the aircraft above her giving chase as she made her way to Zero. The masked man was engaged in a running battle through a construction site, hoping to head into the tunnels from there when the Royal Guard was routed, a statement that still made her head spin, because she would be one of the people doing said routing.

Zero had said he had planned an escape, but they would need to all gather and let the Royal Guard crack their heads against them, thrashing a few of their machines along the way, and thinking about that made the knot of nerves and excitement in her twist. She leapt, using her Gracchus’s harkens to pull herself over the highway and into the air above the construction site, where Zero, Naoto and Yoshida were fighting three versus fifteen against the Royal Guards Sutherlands. 

The Gracchus hit the dirt, its compensators making it so Kallen could barely feel it as she sped to intercept a charging Sutherland, rapiers in hand she ducked below a hail of gunfire from one of the other Royal Guards, before finally striking her target, one rapier piercing its arm and ruining its joints, the other going straight into the machines chest, piercing through to the hilt and destroying all of the important machinery within, including its drive core, which forced the machine to trigger its auto eject feature. She ripped the rapiers free as she reversed using her spinners away from the frame which collapsed in on itself, rapiers kept in a wide stance as she presented the heavily armored chest of the Gracchus to the stunned Royal Guard, getting between Zero and the other units.

“Q-1, good, just in time.” Zero’s voice was sharp and tired, the man must not be in the best shape under that suit if fifteen minutes of fighting got him that winded. “Fighting retreat, take out the enemy when possible, but get to the coordinates I just sent you, don't make it obvious!” 

“Roger.” She dashed forwards to dodge fire while Zero swung to the right, Rapiers ready at her sides as the Gracchus shrugged off light machine gun fire to its chest, Kallen swung to the right, the opposing Sutherland dodging and falling for the faint as she twisted the Gracchus into a spin, only possible thanks to its small landspinners, and thrust her left arm forwards triggering the arm extensions. Her rapier punched into the Sutherlands shoulder, she twisted her rapier so the flat of the blade pushed the arm away from the torso, the joint of the machine screaming as the rapier ripped its arm off, Kallen using the remaining momentum from her spin to hit the machine with a spinning axe kick that toppled it over, effectively taking it out of the fight. 

Swerving backwards from three charging Sutherlands she fired her slash harkens to intercept theirs, weaving between volleys of Knightmare rifle fire on pure instinct, that ball of nerves in her stomach untangling as she fought and won against the far more numerous foes, and with a small smirk she blitzed forwards into the guard of another Sutherland. As she drove both rapiers into the machine's chest and its cockpit flew into the distance it exploded on her blades, fire briefly blinding her before she kicked the burning wreck away, taking a quick look around the battlefield. 

Zero and Yoshida were holding their own, fighting two on two against the Royal Guard, steadily retreating to the coordinates Zero had sent, cutting the construction site apart as they went, the rest of the Royal Guard was instead busy with her, of the remaining Sutherlands, seven were focused on her, and three were on Naoto. Her brother was a decent pilot, she noted, as his Imp expertly dodged between his opponents, but unlike her, he had to hyperfocus, and he could barely get any attacks in between his opponents. 

Kallen meanwhile, had spent the last ten seconds looking around the fight while still dodging bullets and slash harkens alike, that alone made her confidence soar, and seeing that the others were holding up fine she blitzed forwards again, slashing a cross into the chest of a Sutherland. Its companion frames charged, rifles firing at her as she swerved between the shots, the few stray shots bouncing off the Gracchus improved chest armor as Kallen fired her slash harkens, taking the legs out under another Sutherland while swerving back in, cutting another down the middle with her rapiers.

“Q-1! Link up!” Throwing the Gracchus into reverse Kallen joined the other rebel Knightmares, the four frames rolling down the construction site, chased by the Royal Guard and reinforcing Knight police and military units, and as they began to corner them, Zero spoke once again. “Now we disappear.” 

Smoke fired from the ground, hidden containers of chaffsmoke filling the air as the sand below them fell away, Kallen braced as they hit the floor a moment later, barely shaking in the cockpit as they landed in the old tunnels, seeing that Yoshida’s fall had been less graceful she pulled him out of the sand. They followed after Zero as he began to rush through the tunnels, the nerves were still there but different, more excited now then fearful, that had been…  amazing, fighting the Britannians, beating them even, it felt fucking great, and for once, Kallen felt like she was where she belonged.

“What do you mean they escaped!? Chase them!” The nasally voice over the Britannian Comms, one she recognized as The Viceroy, Prince Clovis, and Kallen breathed a deep sigh, they were essentially already gone, chasing them in the tunnels was worthless, they branched and winded, ended seemingly randomly, were fully covered because of the settlement built atop them and were poorly mapped, a maze in all but name. “I want them caught! Find those transports! Destroy those Knightmares!” 

“No, that is quite enough I think.” The interrupting voice was sharp, it was the only way to describe it, cutting through the chaotic Britannian communications and silencing them. “I am taking command here, my Percival still needs to be blooded.” 

“Ser Bradley!? Excellent! I leave this in your hands.” Icy panic flowed through her as Kallen clenched her hands on the controls of the Gracchus, The Vampire was in the settlement, Zero had said it was unlikely, but the masked man had been wrong, or more likely, the Knight of Ten was more eager for blood then expected. “Please use all resources available, the terrorists have stolen chemical weapons!” 

Had they? Kallen had heard nothing of the sort, but it was possible, so many Japanese people had died in that facility, if it was for chemical weapons testing that would make sense… Fuck. This was bad, her nerves a knot, an anvil pushing on her lungs, Kallen followed the other Knightmares as a rearguard for their lance, listening to the communication as the Knight of the Round barked orders.

“Enact contingency Gamma.” The smirk in the mans tone was obvious, Kallen frowned, as a second passed without anything happening, then two, following three and four, then… the ground shook, their lance stopping as the earthquake shook the settlement, which began to fold away. Fuck. Not an earthquake. “Open the platform locks and let there be light.” 

“They are opening the settlement!?” Zero, the man who had been so calm and focused, shouted in panic and astonishment. “Madness! Bradley is killing hundreds just to open the way to us!” 

“What do we do!?” Naoto sounded so panicked too, her normally sure and steady brother, her anchor if she were honest, the man who had guided their group for so long, sounding like he was begging Zero for a solution. “If we keep moving he will tear more of it down!” 

Sunlight streamed in as the settlements layers folded, complex locks and gyros screaming into the air as dust fell into the tunnel, now exposed to the sun once more skies filled with VTOL’s carrying Knightmares, most prominent among them a Lilac and Gold Gloucester carrying a blood red lance and a shield. The VTOL’s descended into the opened Settlement, and Kallen blinked, adrenaline pumping through her she moved before she could even think, activating the Foldable Cannon, the barrel coming from under her right arm, she took control, and as soon as it was fully activated, fired a Sakuradite tipped cell at the lead VTOL. 

“Q-1 is right! We fight!” Zero’s voice came over the comms, but Kallen was too focused to fully acknowledge him, firing a second and third shell that lit the sky in pink fireballs and hurricane winds, the Knightmares hit the bottom of the tunnel, and Kallen folded the rifle again, out of ammo, and charged forwards with a scream over the microphones, letting the Britannians hear her rage and fear. “We kill Bradley and they run!” 

Her factsphere pinged fifteen Knightmares to their four, ten of the Royal Guard Sutherlands, four blood red Glouchesters and the Glouchester Percival, a sixth gen Gloucester upgrade package and the Knight of Ten’s personal steed, which landed all the way at the back of his forces. Kallen led the charge against them, the Gracchus at half battery as she swerved around bullets, the stunned exclamations the only sign that her movements were unexpected, she put herself between two Sutherlands, rapiers at her side, each cutting a knee joint as she passed them leaving the older machines to the others to handle. 

Three Sutherlands fired their rifles in her direction as she pulled a maneuver she had practised in the Gracchus’s simulator, using her forwards momentum to roll up the wall and along it, leaving the three Sutherlands to Naoto, Zero and Yoshida who had already dispatched the two she downed earlier. Her wall ride ended when she leapt off it, landing atop another Sutherland to stop her momentum, crushing the Knightmare below her as Kallen pushed forwards further, breathing heavy with a red haze over her vision as she parried a blow from one of the red Glouchesters with her left rapier, locking the blade on her guard then punching the other rapier into its chest, forcing the auto eject which launched the pilot into the wall of the Settlement. 

Putting the Gracchus hip joints to use she pivoted the machines stuck on her rapiers, tossing the wrecked Gloucester at one of its companions to halt their charge, then using the momentum to spin out of the way of a pair of slash harkens, firing her own to behead a second of the crimson Gloucesters pulling the machine to her and using it as a shield against bullets from the Sutherlands, kicking it towards them as she turned to her last opponent. She panted, blood screaming through her body, heart beating in her throat and feeling her eyes water from the lack of blinking, as she finally, after a forty second blood filled rush, stood before the Knight of the Round, the man who had killed hundreds of his own people just to get to them, who had slaughtered countless rebels to his vile Empire. 

Kallen breathed in a deep, uneven breath, the Gracchus crouching low as it accelerated, its opponent lowering its golden lance in turn, the two machines charging at each other head first.

“Who are you! Who do you serve!” The monstrous man shouted over the open channel, the distance between them closing rapidly, Kallen clenched her teeth, bracing as she lowered her rapiers, and, at the very last moment, right before the lance would pierce her cockpit, she raise her swords upwards intercepting the lance then pivoting she pushed the lance aside. As she essentially flew past the Knight of the Round Kallen fired her slash harkens into the wall, reeling them in and reversing her movement, feeling her blood stop moving for a moment from the sheer g-forces of the manoeuvre, and while the Round was still turning Kallen drove a rapier straight into the side of his cockpit block. “My eye!” 

“Nihon banzai…”

The auto eject tore the cockpit block open as her rapier cut through it further, the blood flowing along her blade as the block flew further down the tunnel, the fighting around her going silent for a moment, as the Britannian greatest military flaw showed, their reliance on aces in combat, and fear to fight when one was defeated. They routed, retreating and dragging their damage machines away, grabbing ejected cockpits as they ran, leaving the four rebel Knightmares to retreat themselves, the silence from her companions all Kallen wanted as she breathed, panted even, exhausted and entire body in pain, feeling lactic acid burn through her muscles down to her fucking toes.

“Filthy Eleven Bitch! I heard their disgusting language!” She was too tired to be panicked at the sound of Bradleys voice, until he opened his vile mouth again, when dread flowed through her. “All forces! Purge the Tokyo Ghettos! Find that Knightmare and its Eleven Whore of a Pilot! I want her brought to me alive! I will beat her like the dog she is before I make her my Bitch! Kill all the rest!” 

“Belay that order!” That was a voice she did not recognize, a steel steady baritone that cut through the replies to Bradleys order and cut all the chatter, complete silence following his words. “Stand down, everyone who wishes to live shall heed my orders, stand down.” 

“Lion! You have no right here! I wil-”

“You will do nothing you overgrown leech! Except keep your mouth shut and get your eye scooped out! Your services are no longer wanted nor needed Parasite of Britannia, return to the Homeland at once before I have you flogged as well!” A breath rang over the further silent Comms. “Clovis?” 

“...Yes Andre” 

“I will be sending Jean to you, she will be appointed as temporary Sub-Viceroy and reassess the security of the Tokyo Settlement, we will be having words about this… situation when the war is over.” 

“I- Yes Andre…” 

The Britannian Comms went fully silent, finally giving her the peace and quiet she needed as she gently steered the Gracchus down the tunnels behind the others, emotions going through her too fast to process, adrenaline slowly leaving her body as she realized that she needed a long while to process… everything  They eventually reached the hideout where she dismounted her Knightmare, wiping tears from her eyes that she had not even noticed were there, not sure if they were from fear, sadness or happiness, the other rebels rushed over to pull her into hugs and give her congratulations. 

She sat at one of the tables when it finally hit her, she won, she won and it almost killed them all, almost killed millions because she fucked up, because she couldnt keep her mouth shut, could not have struck twice, could not have pushed hard enough to actually kill the one person she should have, she should have stabbed twice, gutted the Round like he des-

“Kallen.” She blinked, looking up at Zero as he stood by her side. “I need to thank you, sincerely, you are the only reason we got out as well as we did.” 

She nodded wordlessly at the masked man, at his side stood the familiar Kunochi and an unfamiliar green haired woman, wearing a prison straight jacket like a mix of a dress and bodysuit, she had seen the woman before, when she had been a corpse on one of the cots, but she was apparently not dead. 

“Join me, if you would? I want to address you all, to thank you for your help today.” 

“Alright Zero, sure.” She rose slowly, knowing already that she was going to be sore as hell tomorrow, following him as he climbed atop a chair, looking down on the gathered group, hands clasped behind his back. 

“Thank you all, truly, you all executed your parts perfectly, everything worked exactly as it was planned until it all went wrong, and even then, we worked through it, we won today, but it will be a solitary victory if we dont lie low for a long time, I need all of you to keep quiet about this, for the sake of your friends, family and the Ghetto.” 

“We understand Zero.” Ohgi was the first to reply, the man had been the driver for the infantry transport, and had seen it all happen, heard all the communications. “But what do we do about her?” 

“C.C shall be joining me, I will make sure she is well out of the reach of Clovis, and it keeps you all out of it.” The Masked man nodded at the greenette. “If she were even seen in the Ghetto it would mean retaliations. I shall keep in contact with you once normal communications can be restored, take this time to rest, to relax, and to bask in your first victory since Itsukushima.” 

Kallen blinked at that, but he was right, this was the first actual fight against the occupiers since the end of the war, at least one involving the only weapon that seemed to matter in the modern world, the Knightmare, they had taken four Knightmares into the center of the Britannian occupation and trashed those occupiers. She had damn near killed a Knight of the fucking Round…

“For now, I must leave, I have to make sure the odd ends are cleaned up.”

Zero left a few minutes later, after talking to Naoto and Ohgi for a little more, and Kallen laid down on one of the cots, passing out a second later.

Chapter Text

"You needed worthy opponents."

Worm, Wildbow

“Uhh, bossman, are you doing okay?” 

I gestured to the screen as Ashley plopped down on the couch opposite mine, my own eyes locked on it as the footage from the Tokyo incident played on repeat with its star player, the red painted Gracchus, tearing through the Royal Guard Sutherlands on the sandy construction site. Its pilot moved like she was playing with them, weaving in between bullets in a manner that I would be hard pressed to imitate, each move lending momentum to her strikes, each attack meant to instantly disable, no feints or fancy tricks just raw and unfiltered aggression.

When the chaff smoke launched the footage shifted to after the tunnels were opened by Bradley's disastrous maneuver, the outnumbered Gracchus leading the charge, and its pilot made it Dance , its movements so smooth that it was almost like watching a ballerina twirl on the stage. I found myself stunned and amazed, I had hoped that someone like her would appear, someone with the level of skill to truly be a rival to me, but I had not expected it to be so soon, and not someone with that level of pure unfiltered talent, someone who could dance between a dozen opponents all seeking to kill her and still make it through, someone who could nearly end a Round in under a minute.

Kallen, because it was not hard to infer who the pilot actually was, had turned out to be more intriguing than I expected, native skill being tempered by what must have been a lot of practice on a Simulator, as she was now and with a machine of equal specs to mine she would beat me, and that, more than anything put a massive smile on my face.  I needed to step up my training.

“I am doing more than fine Ashley, simply… intrigued.” My tone had a slight tilt to it, my smile changing my voice to my own ears. “How are you doing? With Jean away in Tokyo?”

“Not this again…” The other man tugged at his collar slightly as he blushed and I am somewhat delighted in that response, my matchmaking having somewhat paid off. “I will admit Jean and I have been getting a little closer, and not having her with us when we have been fighting side by side for so long will be weird… I am not quite sure what to make of the woman.”

“So you're asking me for advice? I am not exactly the best at this myself you know?” My question seemed to surprise the redhead. “I have not had any relations myself, I have been far too busy and pressured.” 

“I thought you and Shamna had something going…” 

“Ashley, my dear friend, let me put this as simply as I can.” I leaned in, hands on my knees as the redhead drew in as well. “I would rather fuck an active blender then Shamna, the woman terrifies me, yes I consider her a friend, despite that I do believe she is but one step away from a mental break. We are working on that, but her brother was her only anchor, the only thing she truly cared about, why do you think we make her socialize with us all so often?”

“So she is a sociopath? Kinda?”

“I am no therapist Ashley, Ludd is though, and he has been talking with her regularly, it's a work in progress.” I paused, leaning back on the couch, nabbing the bottle of water on the table next to me, and popping the cap open. “I can give you one bit of advice though, Jean likes you, if you like her, act on it, don't wait.” 

“So Ludd, what's the damage?”

“Quite extensive Andre, the Chinese advancements in Knightmares have actually given them a slight technological lead, they still lag in potential production but these Chuyens are being made at a rate of one a day on average.” The scientist smiled grimly as I frowned, the Chinese Federation would ramp up production over time, as it increased its advanced industries to accommodate the new era of warfare. “Britannian’s own Seventh Generation Knightmare number exactly two, the Asmodeus-Malebranche and Camelot's special project, it's safe to say the Chinese stole a march on us.”

“A mass production model this early is unexpected, our own Hesperian model is still in testing and Lloyd's Vincent has only just entered prototyping with the madman focusing on his Eighth gen design.” The man gave a satisfied smile. “Though I am happy to beat the man to the first seventh gen I can deny that we need our own mainline seventh gen machines soon.”

“Which is why you and Rakshata have been collaborating?”

“Exactly! It's been nice to work with her again, however brief it was the woman is truly brilliant, and her contributions towards the Malebranche upgrades for the Lords and Ladies of the Nine cannot be understated.”

“It is well within Britannian doctrine to rely on ace machines that can best thrice their own number…” A doctrine not to my liking, I wanted my Hells to be a match for any force on the planet, but now? They were functionally reliant on their Knight-Marshals and myself to deal with the opposing seventh gens, a tactical situation that put me in a far rougher spot with deployments, as our standard air dominance was rendered moot with the Imps being cut off and out specced. “Ludd, if I can get Lloyd’s cooperation, how fast could the Hesperian be put into production? How soon could we have them in operation?”

“Hmm? If we get access to Camelot's mobile production we could begin rolling out Hesperian frames relatively quickly, perhaps in a few weeks, not in large numbers mind you, only for the most elite of our pilots, but enough to form a few lances worth in time for operation Phoenix down.” I rose with a nod, feeling my back pop as I took one more look around the tent hangers still standing in the ruins of Manila, a precursor of what was to come with our war against the federation, a showcase of their willingness to destroy and my own ability to withstand that. “I assume you are going to convince your brother for this Andre? Will we be in his debt?”

“No need to worry, I have just the thing to get Lloyd to come to me instead, something he cannot resist.” The scientist tilted his head, confusion apparent, for someone who had studied in the same class as Lloyd his confusion was understandable, Lloyd was one of, if not the greatest genius of his generation, what could I offer someone like that directly without having to go through my brother? “I will take care of it, you just focus on finding us production in Area Eleven and Area Fourteen.”

“As you say, my Prince.” 

Leaving the tent and making my way through the mustering grounds that had been built atop the ruined city I pull up records and prepared information on the particular individual I had been planning to recruit as my last Lord of the Nine Hells, before dialing one of the NPO agents that had joined up with Camelot. Who promptly approached the rather eccentric scientist and handed him the phone.

“Your Highness? While it is always pleasant to be called by my hated and vile competitor, why are you contacting little old me?” The all too familiar voice was jovial as he so often was. “I must admit I am rather busy at the moment.” 

“I have an offer for you, Lloyd, something to make up for… stealing the spotlight with the first seventh gen frame.” 

“Ohh? You have my interest.” 

“If you can work together with Ludd, and of course, convince my dear brother, I have something you are dearly missing, a pilot for your little project.” 

“You do? Hmmm, my Lancelot is indeed missing a devicer, it's been rather troubling to acquire one of adequate talent…”

“Oh you can be sure he is good, I would have recruited him as one of the Knight-Marshals, if not for the current issues with the Federation.” I sent the files directly to his email, the ninety nine point seven Sim rating, the physical exams, and of course, his name. “Suzaku Kururugi, highest rated Knightmare compatibility since the inception of the system, all yours if you help.” 

“You have a deal, your Highness! Oh the data I will gather from this… It's going to be so much fun!” 

The Siege of Taipei started with a forty hour bombing campaign, warheads ranging from Napalm to Sakuradite to conventional were dropped from bomb bays by the hundreds, while long range cannons fired shells into defenses and missiles launched from the more modern Britannian vessels. The sheer weight of ammunition expended quickly rising to be the largest bombing campaign in the history of this world as fortifications crumbled, food stores were set alight and power plants were wiped from the map, and still, the Great Gate defences were still online, still a meat grinder. 

The Great Gate was a series of bunkers and fortified towers constructed to make sure the island of Taipei could continue functioning as the massive, unsinkable aircraft carrier that would protect the coasts of China proper, the guns on it entirely capable of shredding any landing operation, from sea or air. Most of the Great Gate was automated, at least the firing, reloading and targeting was, with soldiers mainly there to repair and maintain the system which did in fact make it the greatest automatic defensive system on the planet, which also, apparently, ran on a separate powergrid. 

It was increasingly more likely that we would have to storm the beaches and just take the casualties, as every day we waited gave the federation more and more seventh gen frames, and once those reached a critical mass we would not be able to mount any more successful attacks. Yes, I had beaten several of the machines, ones piloted by men and women who would rather not be fighting for the Federation and who lacked proper training, now that Xingke had been fully commissioned and put in charge of the defence of China, that would not last. 

All it would have taken to ruin this entire defence would be a singular float system, but that was still not combat viable, even with Rakshata donating her own data from her work on the Shen-Hu we are still four months at minimum before we can deploy the first floater. I stared out of the bridge of the Nessus, over the calm waters of the East China Sea, Geass providing me no answers to the siege, none that were acceptable at least, I once again decided on drastic measures. 

“Prepare the Hells for aerial assault.” 

We fell upon the defensive lines in the hundreds while missiles and flak shot skywards, all escort vessels in the entire Britannian fleet sat just off shore providing counter fire with CIWS, Missile and Naval cannon alike, alleviating the damage our drop took, even still, we were losing dozens of Imps in this move. The fact that this was still the plan with the least potential fatalities, as we bypassed the anti Knightmare weapons that covered the beaches, and our drop shields were able to withstand significant anti air fire. 

My Hells rained fire down at the defenders, both plasma and conventional ammunition being blasted towards the Great Gate to surprisingly devastating effect with plasma being incredibly effective against the turrets, melting through them and causing them to detonate when their automatic fire kicked in. An avian screech overtook the sounds of war around the battlefield as my Cannons sent a second long beam of blue hot plasma at the bottom of one of the fortified AA towers at exactly where my Geass told me the ammo storage was, cutting through the concrete and into the stored ammunition.

A deafening explosion shook the beach and sent a shockwave into the air that briefly rocked my dropshield, my magnetically attached feet and over a hundred hours of drop training kept me atop the rapidly descending thruster controlled slab while still shrugging off flak. More intense plasma fire shot down as the upgraded Malabranch versions of my Knight-Marshals machines fired their own integrated weapons, joined by the few Hesperians and their Plasma Lances, the Great Gate shuddering as it was lit aflame. When the Asmodeus hit the concrete a moment later with a burst of my thrusters I sent it along the defensive line at speed, raising my newest weapon, a gift from Lloyd and Ludd both, and activated the greatsword in my hand, Radiance coming alight with Blue hot fire as its blade hardened with prototype Masser vibration techniques and in a burst of speed boosted by the swords jets I lashed out and cleaved the base of another AA tower in twain.

The momentum generated by the swing saw me nearly spinning the entire sword around me as the blade sent out a wave of blue hot plasma, the jets within it guiding the slash around to another turret, and then another, another, another and another still, as easy as carving through a roast, each movement almost instinctual, natural. Before I even fully noticed, I was cleaving into Gun-Ru’s instead of gun emplacements, Radiance cutting through two to three of them in every single swing as I fell into the trancelike slaughter, all the practice of the past week paying off as my body auto piloted and dodged bullets, missiles and shells alike with practiced ease. 

While this was not challenging, it was enlightening, ever since Manila I had been itching for another fight, another true test in combat, and now I could safely say that need would not be sated by mere chaff, no, I needed a proper opponent, someone who could challenge me and actually fucking fight. I need a rival, multiple rivals even, people who I could test myself against, who could play part in the show the world wanted, and while they were appearing, slowly and steadily, with Xingke and the first showing of the Red Dragon, that would not do… 

Is it a proper show without conflict? Without struggle?

“Burn.” Sweat cascaded down my body, even my new airy pilot suit doing little to stop the heat of the Cannons flooding into the cockpit, though the effect said cannons had made them more than worth it as an entire hill was melted by the wide range blast of plasma. No resistance remained around me after that, men throwing rifles down and raising their hands, tanks emptying out, command staff being dragged bodily towards the Asmodeus as gifts, my hands twitched, frustration rising before I forced myself to breathe, the lack of challenge was not the fault of these men.

My desires for combat should not overwhelm goodwill, nor interfere with the rules of war, but…

If you want something, you should make sure you get it yourself. 

“You have been imprisoned for quite a while, have you not?” 

The boy was quite young still, but his face was one more commonly found on an old soldier, eyes of light blue that were unfocused, staring ahead over his unwanted and uneaten meal at me, blond hair falling to both sides of his head and his body taunt and ready to pounce. He had been one of the many, many assassins sent after me over the years, which had been ever increasing in number even after the show I had put on about the first attempt on my life, few ever got close, but this one had.

“Come now, Orpheus Zevon, relax a little.” I took a sip from my rum as the boy frowned harder, head tilting to the side. “You were defeated, so answer me this; did the Order send you or did you come for Peace Mark?” 

He blinked and emotion finally flashed over his face as he looked me over, I flashed my own Geass for a brief moment causing his confusion to turn to pure panic, closing his eyes and looking away from me, refusing to meet my gaze and leaning back in his chair clutching his butter knife as hard as he could. 

“Do not worry, I am not one of them, though V.V might be due for discipline if he did send you after me.” 

“You're not?” His voice was high, a clear ringing sound as he blinked, eyes still refusing to lock onto mine but fear lessening, or at the very lest being repressed. “There are still independent masters?” 

“Quite a few actually.” C.C was the obvious one, with a few others floating around the world that the NPO was tracking as necessary, mainly because Shamna was well on her way to mastering her Geass and a Code would be a nice reward for her to keep her with me in case her loyalty came into question and of course for me, in case my own Geass became… inconvenient. “But we are not going to discuss those today, no today's subject is far more important.” 

“And what would that be?”

“Your release, of course.” 

“You would just let me go?”

“Yes.”

“I will try to kill you, I might get away from the order, but you're still one of them, part of the problem, part of the Empire.”

“Oh, I hope you do try Oz, make it a challenge even, throw everything you can at me, fight me with all you have, I want you to, more than anything...” 

Chapter Text

"The power of the king will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?"

C.C

Jean Rowe was proving to be problematic.

The biggest issue with her temporary appointment as Sub-Viceroy of Area Eleven was that she was actually competent, taking charge upon her arrival and taking the limited forces left behind in Tokyo to turn the lingering unrest on its head and placate the Japanese with food deliveries and urban renewal. Under her watchful eyes the Settlement became home to competent checkpoints, secured supply lines and mapped tunnels and expansions, while the corrupt members of law enforcement and garrison were systematically eliminated, making his life considerably harder. 

“You know… You could just use your Geass.” His… roommate’s voice was soft and low coming from the bed where she was reclining and devouring yet another pizza, her green hair cascading and wearing a set of black pajamas that she had somehow acquired, with her golden eyes locked on him. “A few orders to some soldiers and you would have an opening.” 

“Taking easy openings is what nearly ruined your own rescue, further I am still testing the limits of my newest weapon.” His gift from the self identified Witch, his reward for saving her as she put it, had been a Geass, a mental power to control others with a mere glance and a few words, so far he had found several restrictions with its application and no free will against the order. This power was… incredible, he could instill any individual he locked eyes with a single, unbreakable command which they would do their all to follow, but it was also dangerous, already he had made several mistakes while figuring out the restrictions leaving several confused teachers and students and a single girl that would, possibly, for the rest of her life leave marks on a wall. “I will be using it, but right now the wise thing is to wait, Jean Rowe will be recalled for the invasion of China, soon if I have guessed Andre’s plans correctly.” 

Lelouch spun a familiar dagger in his palm, his mothers dagger, the last thing he had from her and Andre’s last gift to him before Lelouch and Nunnally had been sent to Japan, he still remembered how his older brother had snuck the package into their luggage on the way to Japan, along with a letter that he had been forced to burn. Andre was not exactly his favourite person, but he was his favorite brother as little as that mattered, he would be faced with Andre eventually of course, it was an inevitability if Lelouch managed to drive the Empire out of Japan that the Lion would be sent to bring them down.

Now however, after his unexpected intervention in Tokyo, the Lion was preoccupied with the war with the federation, one that was increasingly less in his favour with the Chinese deploying newer generation Knightmares, a commitment by the Empire would mean more freedom to move within Japan. 

“What about your little resistance fighters?” The woman rose with a catlike stretch as she slid off the bed, coming to stand over his desk and staring over his shoulders, her hair falling over his back and tickling his neck. “They are getting antsy if I overheard correctly.” 

“They are not mine, not really…” 

“But they could be.” 

“I am not planning force them to serve with Geass, C.C.” 

“Good, but not what I meant.” Her light giggle just by his ear sent a shiver down his spine. “Is now not the ideal time to secure their service, to start building your own army, now that Tokyo’s rebels are so pressed?” 

“Maybe you are right, Witch, Naoto’s group in particular has potential and would make a good starting point.” The few willing to fight would be at least, they had conducted their part in the operation perfectly, with Naoto, Ohgi and Kallen as particular standouts from their number, Naoto as a natural leader and decent pilot, Ohgi as a good infantry commander and organizer and Kallen of course as an Ace Pilot. “The Tokyo resistance has been notoriously disunited thanks to its closeness to the Area’s capital, with the JLF claiming dominion as the main resistance group in Kanto, other groups get far less support from the locals and the ever mysterious Kyoto, maybe it is time to change that.” 

“I have been a contractor to quite a few revolutionaries in my time, Lulu, the ones who succeed know when to strike when the iron is hot, and when to quench their conquests and solidify their gains.” The girl leaned down, arms folding atop his shoulders, as she rested her chin on the top of his head. “You won a victory over the Britannians, one they cannot retaliate for directly, take the time this offers you and secure a permanent advantage.” 

“You're being oddly helpful.”

“Am I? We have a contract, Lelouch.” Her breath tickled his ear as she spoke. “And all this waiting is getting to me, I am bored.” 

“Hmm, are you?” He felt a sort of vicious satisfaction in the small exhale of concern at his tone. “You could always become a student here C.C, a little hairstyle change and a new name, and people would be hard pressed to recognize you.” 

“Oh.” Genuine interest was the only way he could describe her tone. “It's been a while since I was a student, I think this would be quite fun, at least for a while.” 

“And what name should I have Milly write you in as?”

“Oh Lulu, you're not getting my name that easily Boya, but you can write me in as Cecile Arc.” 

For the first time since the end of the invasion Japan’s Ghetto’s were facing urbanization, under the orders of the Sub-Viceroy construction projects that had been withheld by Clovis had finally been given the green light, with Japanese people being given food and supplies all the while rubble was cleared and condemned buildings demolished. All of this by Japanese people with Honorary Britannian oversight, and Kallen was not sure what to think about it all, she had done some research, and most Area’s had this sort of reconstruction happen within months of conquest by the Empire, but for Japan it had been withheld until now.

Jean Rowe was not a bad woman, Kallen had to admit.

She arrived in Japan and immediately started fixing issues Clovis caused by apathy and inattention, the downside of this was that many of the members of the Resistance were starting to back down, to say that their goal had been accomplished, as if the most basic of reconstruction efforts would be enough to erase the slaughters and kidnappings. From what she heard, the other Tokyo Ghetto’s had similar things happening, with the Saitama Alliance losing a quarter of their members and the smaller groups far more, only Tekkadan, a resistance group made of orphaned Japanese kids was retaining its full headcount.

The increased contact with the other resistance groups also came with some other, more embarrassing realisations, the Shinjuku Resistance had been recognized as the most effective group near the Settlement, and Kallen, as the one to bloody a Knight of the Round, had been given a full title by the people.

The Red Dragoness of Tokyo.

Of course, when the senior members of the Shinjuku group heard about that… Well Kallen had been teased relentlessly by them, but through the joking tone, she also knew that the title was one that gave the other groups some form of hope, while her own group knew she was just… Kallen, the other groups were a different matter. When Naoto took her with him to a negotiation with the Saitama Alliance they had fucking bowed to her! Like she was some military officer! 

She sighed, slipping her hairband from her head to let the locks fall loose around her head, patting down the Ashford Academy uniform, it's far too short skirt still making her uncomfortable, once again cursing the Britannians and their backwards standards for modesty. Steeling herself she stepped out of the car and onto Ashford's grounds for the first time in months, returning at her brothers request, now that the kidnappings had stopped she had no excuses to not be at school on occasion at least, so with great annoyance Kallen greeted her friends .

The expected outcome of doing so naturally happened, with them dragging Kallen along to talk about the expected frustratingly annoying subjects, running from what she missed while gone, who was popular now, the mythical festivals held by the student councils and of course what boys they liked. It was mind numbing to the point that Kallen actually welcomed classes, where all she had to do was sit and listen, free to let her mind wander as she doodled in her notebook, sketching out some of the newer graffiti she had spotted near the hideout.

“With the defeat at Trafalgar, the Royal family went into exile with Lord Britannia to the American Colonies.” The voice made her eyebrows furrow, that… that was Zero, no… but it was, Zero was talking right now, talking like a student in a bored tone, Kallen’s eyes flicked up from her drawing to lock onto the speaking student, a black haired boy with purple eyes. Kallen’s frown intensified, she had known that Zero was a Brit, her brother had revealed that much after their first meeting, but a schoolboy? That was hard to believe, the masked man was competent, smart and by all accounts seasoned in the operation he had led, could he really be a schoolboy? 

During lunch break Kallen did something she had thought she would never do, she investigated a boy by way of her Friends . 

Having filtered through a shit ton of rumours and conjecture from them she learned at least some useful information about the boy in question, his name first and foremost, Lelouch Lamperouge, a teacher acknowledged Genius and Vice-President of the Student Council, and he was apparently a very aloof boy. Until recently at least, apparently a new girl had recently joined the school and student council, and she was often spotted leaving his room together with him. A green haired girl.

It lined up a little too well.

So Kallen, ever logical, ever determined and direct, ambushed the boy after school, slipping into literal mansion that was the Student Council Clubhouse, her hidden knife in one hand and her Luger in the other, following the boy up the stairs and as he looked out of the widow she pressed her luger to the small of his back and held her knife at his throat. The boy, surprisingly, did not tense up like she expected him to do, instead he sighed deeply, and Kallen had the distinct idea that he had just rolled his eyes, something that made her frown and twitch in frustration. 

“Hello Kallen.” Now she was entirely sure, the tone he put on now was Zero, easy to recognize, clear to her. “Would you kindly release me?”

“You are Zero.” He chuckled, amusement clear and annoyed she pressed the blade of her knife more tightly to his throat, the smallest trickle of blood running down the edge and onto her hand, uncomfortably warm between her fingers. “Why? You're a Schoolboy, a Britannian? Why help us?” 

“So suspicious…” He pulled his head to the side slightly as Kallen released the pressure on her knife slightly, letting him look back at her out of the corner of his eye. “Tell me Q1, what do you see, down there?” 

He gestured at the window, and the gardens outside where students were walking alone in pairs and in groups, gossiping and simply having fun together, but she found her eyes drawn to one particular person, a young girl, likely from the middle school division being rolled around in a wheelchair by a blonde girl. At this distance, it was hard to spot exact features, but Kallen’s vision had always been above average so she could spot that the girl never blinked, because her eyes were fully shut, entirely blind to the world and crippled. 

“You see her don't you? The girl in the wheelchair? That is my sister, Nunnally. Who do you think put her in that wheelchair Q-1?” Ice flooded her veins as she realized what he meant with that, realized why he had done it, why he had helped them, what Naoto would have done if she was injured like that, what she would have done if he had been injured… “You ask why Kallen? The simplest reason of all, the greatest motivation Humanity knows. Revenge. No, not even that… Justice.” 

“Justice ha?” She released him, knife leaving his skin and Luger slipped neatly up her sleeve, the boy turning around and looking down at her with those cold purple eyes now filled with rage and determination. “You're oddly calm about the whole… knife thing.” 

“Oh Kallen, if you were going to kill me Sayoko would have already taken you out.” 

“Who?” Cold steel touched the back of her neck, a sharp edge pressing against the base of her skull as a woman in traditional maid clothing stepped out from behind her, holding a Kunai to Kallen’s skin as she stepped by, the Maid had not been there before, Kallen was sure of that, there was no sound from behind her, no breathing nor rustling of clothing. “Oh. Ninja. Great.” 

“Quite.” The woman smiled a kind smile, removing the blade from her neck and making it disappear in hands in a twirl, a trick showing once more that this maid was far, far more dangerous then she seemed at first glance, before the maid bowed slightly at the waist. “I am Sayoko Shinozaki, Master Lelouch’s sworn protector.” 

“Uhh, pleasure to meet you?” The woman nodded with another smile, and Kallen got the sense that the Kunouchi was amused. “Shall I make some tea Master?” 

“Yes please, thank you Sayoko, Kallen, would you join me and C.C?” She nodded in reply as the boy led her to a combination dining room and kitchen, where Kallen spotted the familiar greenette reclining on one of the dining chairs, leaning it back on its rearmost legs and balancing there. The golden-eyed girl looked her over quickly with a small smile, before returning to her balancing act as Kallen and Lelouch sat down opposite each other, Sayoko placing a cup of tea, Japanese Tea, in front of each of them. “You figured it out rather quickly, in a single day even.” 

“Your voice is easy to recognize.” 

“You might think that, but that is just for you isn't it? Your senses must be something else if you could not only recognize my voice but realize I was Zero immediately.” She kept her expression even at the praise, having gotten more and more used to it following the blacksite raid. “Very impressive Kallen, truly.” 

“So… what happened?” 

“With my sister? My motivation? It's simple, in truth, I swore once to destroy this Empire, swore on the name of my dead mother and crippled sister to end it. Palace politics caused my mothers death and my sister's medical issues. I had more than enough reason to hate the Empire, and then we were exiled here, before the war.” Kallen blinked at that, eyes locked on the boy as he spoke. “I walked with Nunnally on my back through fields of corpses, I saw the horrors the Empire caused, I lost my one and only friend while we fled from death squads and rogue Knights, and ever since I have been preparing to fight against the Britannians. But allow me to ask a question in turn, why do you fight Kallen?” 

“Huh?” She paused, blinking at the question. “I… fight because… because… I fight for me, for my Brother and my friends.” 

“A good answer Kallen, friends and family are an excellent driving force.” C.C butted in, the greenettes chair clicking down as she dropped her balancing act, the woman resting her chin in her arms, braced on the table. “A little basic but I suppose that is to be expected…” 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean!” 

“C.C, could you please refrain from being obnoxious for even a single moment?”

“Never.” 

Kallen watched the strange byplay between the two of them, mind snapping to the several problems with the girl being out and about on campus within the settlement, if she were discovered Ashford would be in trouble, Zero would likely be found and with him the Shinjuku Resistance would be exposed. That would mean retributions, mass killings and slaughter of Japanese people…

“Lelouch, is keeping her here a good idea?”

“Hmm?” The boy’s eyes snapped back to her, locking purple and blue as he stared at her in a somewhat disconcerting fashion, a reflection of something red entering the boy's eye as he continued. “There is no safer place for her than with me, Kallen, Trust me .” 

Kallen blinked briefly, she considered it for a moment, he was right, the chance of someone who knew who C.C was finding her was unlikely in the extreme, what Lelouch said there was true, she trusted that much at least. 

“Yes Zero.” 

Zero formally took over leadership over the Shinjuku resistance the day Jean Rowe was recalled for a raid into China, Naoto ceding direct leadership to the masked man, this change came with some backlash of course, the resistance lost several dozen members when it became clear that they would be fighting back against the Britannians more. Kallen found no sympathy for those that left, opportunists that were only there because it was convenient, the new group would be a better one without them, especially when Zero finished the reorganization. 

The fifty or so members of the resistance were being kept as a single cell for now, while they were trained for the differing operations they would be doing in the future, with Ohgi, Tamaki and Naoto being selected as command staff, Ohgi as the logistics officer, in charge of gathering supplies and equipment, Tamaki as the chief engineer in charge of their Knightmare repair, something the former mechanic and bartender was more then happy about, and Naoto as the deputy commander, in charge of day to day operations. 

All of the resistance members were getting evaluated for Knightmare piloting skills, something that made it clear to her that Zero was planning something, something big, while Kallen was put in charge of their nascent Knightmare Corp, training those who showed potential into an elite strike squad. That was something she was rather proud about, her pilots would be the spearhead of the resistance, a force that would bring down the Empire one day…

“The Saitama Alliance is late.” Zero’s voice was different now, modulated by a newly built in voice changer to prevent someone else from simply finding out his identity by hearing his voice. “Does this happen often?”

“On occasion.” Naoto responded as she and Ohgi nodded, it was a rather typical thing from the other resistance group, they were unprofessional and ragtag rebels rather than proper resistance fighters, the only advantage the group had was their charismatic leader, who got them an in with Kyoto. “The Alliance considers itself the main resistance group in Tokyo, they lord it over the smaller groups with stunts like this.” 

“Hmm, how… unfortunate. Perhaps your group's professionalism has clouded my expectations.” The three resistance members smiled at that, Kallen knew those words were deliberately chosen, Zero was charming as always. “Ah, there they are, Greetings.” 

“The Saitama Alliance welcomes you, Masked Man, why do you beseech Tokyo’s main resistance group?” Kallen rolled her eyes, mentally picturing the way Zero’s brows furrowed under his mask, this was typical alliance behavior, high and mighty fucks as always. “We shall ignore the disrespect shown by your mask, simply because the Red Dragoness has vouched for you.” 

“Yes, I do believe I have something to ask of you, or, more honestly, something to tell you, Ken Hyudou…” Zero stepped forwards, as the Alliance envoy took a step back. “The Saitama Alliance will bend the knee and follow me. Or it will die.”

Chapter Text

“I will either find a way, or make one.” 

Hannibal Barca 

Marius sat me down in my office.

Literally. 

He had carried me here from the gym on his shoulder, ignoring my protests and the strange looks from the staff on the Nessus that, if he were anyone else would have instead been gunshots, Dorothea trailed behind him alongside an amused Shamna and Ashley while Marrybell hurriedly and worriedly ran along with them. I leaned back in my chair with a scowl as my Knights, my friends and family in all but name, sat themselves on the other seats within my office, their eyes locked onto me as Marius paced back and forth in front of me.

“Andre, Brother.” He stopped his pacing, placing his hands on my desk and leaning on it. “Are you mental? Insane mayhaps? Because I know you are not stupid, so… are you perchance victim to some level of Lobotomization?” 

“I assure you, despite how it may seem, insanity does not run my family.” 

“Not on Fathers side at least.” Marrybells muttered interruption did get a wince out of me. Mother had not been doing well these past years, not since I got my freedom from her, and had been going through a series of mental breaks. “Sorry.” 

“Forgiven Bell.” With a breath I looked around the now uncomfortable people in the room. “May I ask what this is about?” 

“Orpheas Zevon, Zi Dien, Leila Malcal, Zhou Xianglin, Clara Lanfranc and Romero Barclay. You have released and supported all of these people Brother, what we are concerned about is why?” Dorothea's voice was soft as always, but a cutting edge hid under the velvet tone of my chosen sister by bond. “You have always been pragmatic, always in service to the Empire and your own claim, it's why you gathered us all to your side, why we support you Brother. So… why are you supporting literal terrorists?” 

“Well when you put it like that it makes me sound bad…” I sighed, looking at my concerned friends, my family, over. “I may have a problem, this conflict has shown me how tiresome war can be, and how… fun… fighting can be, when I fought Xingke I felt alive, for the first time in years I was not just going through the motions, making the logical decisions and working to my goals but in that fight? All of that fell away when I was challenged like that, I felt alive.” 

“So you are looking for challengers? How bold.” Shamna of all people spoke up, the tall woman sitting cross legged as she started me down. “And stupid, Project Mephistopheles is nearing completion, you will have plenty of challenges in training him. It's clear to me, you are not just looking for challenges, you're looking for people to put you in actual danger Andre.” 

“Am I?” Maybe I am, but… is that a bad thing? Challengers like that… well they make for the best showings, it's why gladiators were so loved back in ancient times. “Maybe I am, but… that is why I have you guys right? To remind me what matters and to make sure I win.” 

“Bit manipulative, I like it.” Ashley smirked. “We are there for you Bossman, if you need us to keep you in line, keep you focused and keep you challenged, I am in.” 

“Brother.” I nod at Schneizel as the Prime Minister appears on screen, the ever calm blonde smiling slightly despite his more disheveled appearance, the Prime Minister was being run ragged with continued negotiations with the Eunuchs, the fallen African Union nations, the belligerent Middle-Eastern Federation and the EU. “How are the negotiations?” 

“If I may be frank?” At my nod the older man continued, sagging in his seat as his Knight, Kanon placed a large mug of tea by his prince.. “Going like Shit.” 

“That bad?” 

“The EU has recovered its will to fight far faster than we expected. The surrender of the African Union after Cornelia’s victory at the battle of Somalia was supposed to be our turning point in Africa, but the EU launched a surprise attack and re-captured the North African colonies. They are set to push southwards to contest the capture of the rest of the continent, which will tie our forces up for far longer than we anticipated, Cornelia will also be contending with the Middle Eastern Federation, as they are mobilising.” The man sounded tired, taking a long sip from his likely still extremely hot tea, sighing into the mug before he pulled up a map on the side screen. “Your efforts in Asia have given us breathing room, but the fleets will need to be repositioned, lest the EU get ideas, and we lack occupation forces for a full scale campaign into China to truly chastise the Eunuchs.” 

“A true World War.” 

“World War… Yes, Yes I suppose that is as good a name for it as any…” Schneizel sighed, and I once again saw the cracks in the man who would one day be known as the Cold Blooded Strategist. ”The entire world is united against us Alexander, I doubt we are able to overcome it, to do as the Emperor has commanded us and conquer it, I need your help, the Federation needs to be knocked out of the war.” 

“There is the conundrum isn't it brother? We need to beat the Federation but if we commit the forces needed for that we lose to the EU instead, it would be a grinding war in Africa and Asia, one that they would inevitably win, one you would be forced to join the fight in. That is what you are scared of, is it not Schneizel? To lose that last bit of emotion to the horrors of war?” The man blinked, not interrupting me so I pressed on. “You have grown comfortable as Prime Minister dear Brother, you fear that with Cornelia in Africa and myself in Asia you would inevitably be called to take command of the European invasion.” 

“Maybe you are right Alexander…” He breathed a deep, uneven breath. “What if I lose myself…” 

“Then we will bring you back, Brother, back down with us.” I allowed myself a small smile. “You will thrive in war, Schneizel, you will do what is needed to win, allow Cornelia and I to do the same.” 

“Yes, alright.” He sighed, rolling his head on his shoulders. “You have convinced me. I will take command of the European front, what are your plans for the Federation? Can you stall them in perpetuity?” 

“I don't need to, I plan to knock the Federation out of the war within the next four months.” 

“May I ask how?” The mask of the politician was back in place once more, now more solid, like iron, Schneizel's knight at his side smiling slightly in a disconcerting manner. “We lack the forces for an occupation at even limited scale, our armies are overstretched with holding the new Pacific Area’s and our newest African conquests, and all newly mobilised forces will be deployed towards the EU and the Reclamation of the British Islands.”

“Simple Brother, I am going to emulate Hannibal and bring Rome to its knees in its own homeland.” My smile stretched as I evaluated the forces needed for such an operation, with the capture of Taipei China lost its greatest defence, leaving me free to resupply a force in China away from ports and supply lines. “I will reave and raid throughout Asia and bring the Eunuchs to their knees.” 

“Hannibal lost, Alexander.” 

“Because he was alone, Schneizel, he did not have you to rely on, he did not have Cornelia to fall back on, he failed because he did not have equals, and because most importantly, Hannibal was not Me.” I paused to take a breath. “I will need some minor support, and Camelot's temporary aid, then China shall fall.” 

“This… Alexander, Brother, Hannibal's attack through the Alps worked because of the surprise, he fought a lightning war from a front the Romans did not expect to need to defend, he fought where they were sure they were safe, China is alert on all fronts, you would never be able to get ashore without a battle that is in their favour, one that would see you beaten.” 

“That is where you are wrong Brother, there is a single front the Federation is not watching, one that we had no access to until most recently.” I rose, gesturing with my arm to the map which had seen surprisingly little change in the past few years, even with Cornelia and I conquering swathes of the world, the EU was still whole, the Federation had only lost its Pacific Holdings and Indonesia. “We go through the EU’s Siberian holdings.”

“Yes… I see. If we are to be at war with the EU again anyway we might as well strike first, we can divide their forces and push through Manchuria, isolate Korea and pressure the Forbidden city, merely laying siege to it might bring the Chinese to negotiations.” Schneizel smiled a familiar confident smirk, the man leaning back in his chair as his Knight behind him massaged his shoulders.. “What do you need to accomplish this Alexander?” 

“I need the Rounds, Schneizel, all of them, as many as I can get.” 

“You had a Round.” Schneizel frowned as I rolled my eyes. Bradley was no true Round, a rabid dog that the Emperor kept because he liked the blood he spilled, a murderer with a leash. No, the real Rounds, those warriors who could actually make the claim to be best warriors on the planet, those were what I wanted. I did not need them of course, but their cooperation, them being placed under my command? I set the precedent for my inevitable claim to the throne. “Bradley was wounded in the Tokyo incident and, as I recall, you sent him back to the Homeland regardless of his own claims at combat readiness.” 

“I need warriors Schneizel, not parasites unwilling to follow orders, I need the greatest pilots in the Empire to actually serve the fucking Empire instead of sitting in Pendragon or slaughtering African Tribes for fun! If this maneuver is to succeed I need elites to contest the Chinese Chuyens, and while my own Hells are improving, they will still be outnumbered and outspecced! I refuse to let my men be slaughtered without at least a chance at victory, and for victory, for the Empire to stand dominant over the world, the Rounds must fight.” 

 “I… will see what I can do. If the Emperor likes this plan then you will likely see some manner of support from the Royal forces.” 

The Knights of the Round was one of two Knightly Orders remaining on the planet after I destroyed the various orders during the Knightfall nearly five years ago, with my own Knightly Order of the Nine Hells being the other, unlike my Hells, the Rounds had only thirteen members at a time. Before the invasion of Japan, the Rounds were a mix of assassins, bodyguards, strategist and duelists, after the Knightmare became the primary means of warfare following the establishment of my Hell’s those Rounds who could not pilots a Knightmare at the Ace level where steadily replaced with those who could.

Currently the Rounds stood at ten strong, with the seat of Thirteen, Seven and Two being open to contenders, of those Knights, many were of questionable loyalty and competence, still, at the Emperor's word, they came to me, and put themselves under my command. Bismarck Waldstein, Knight of One and the Empire's greatest Knight arrived with six others of the ten Knights of the Round, his second in command was of course with him, Norland von Luneberg was the Knight of Five, only an adequate pilot but a good strategist and the Rounds main tactician.

They brought with them the Knight of Three, the recently appointed Gino Weinberg, this would be the boys first campaign, and his trial by fire, the Knight of Four, McGillis Fareed a commoner risen to the station who was a renowned strategic scale commander, the Knight of Five, young Anya Alstreim, who had seen a surprising amount of combat in Africa. The Knight of Nine, dear Nonnette was there of course, my mentor smiling at the lot of us as she and the Knight of Twelve, Monica, held up the rear of the Rounds formation, leaving the Knights of Eight, Ten and Eleven in the homeland.

The Knight of Ten, Bradley, I had not expected nor wanted to join in our operation, but I was somewhat annoyed to not be able to make inroads with the Knight of Eight, Julieta Juris and The Knight of Eleven, Gaelio Bauduin, both of whom were unknowns to me. Still, seven out of thirteen was not bad, a majority in fact, and now they stood in parade formation in front of me, upon concrete of the in construction Manila Settlements Government district the broadcast live on all channels making this event a national one, one that would drive fear into the Federation.

“Prince Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia, Knight-Commander of the Nine Hells, your father and Emperor Charles Zi Britannia has placed us, the Knights of the Round in your service, please, guide our blades well in service of the Empire.” The Knight of One bowed at the waist, followed quickly by his subordinates, they did not kneel, because they only did so for the Emperor, but the gesture was more than enough so I bowed in turn, a slightly extravagant gesture as I threw my Lion pelt out behind me, the mane of it tickling my neck. 

“I welcome you, Knights of the Round, we have much to discuss.” 

Personally, I found the Britannian Mobile Command Center known commonly as the G-1… distasteful. 

Everything a G-1 could do, a moored Aircraft Carrier could do better, with the singular exception being when you were further inland, which is where we were going, hence the need for the ugly giant purple trailers to follow us in Operation Hannibal, mainly to act as our supply carriers, repair bays and AA platforms. The average G-1 had capacity for ten Lances of Knightmares with four repair bays that could act as storage as well if needed, so a total of Eleven Lances at full combat strength, the G-1 could then also carry enough spare parts, ammunition and supplies for three full resupplies for its entire complement of Knightmares, not much to be honest.

Yes, the G-1 had its uses, primarily for line and field battles, but those were things of the past. 

Hence why Ludd and the Camelot team had been working on an upgrade package that replaced the internal Knightmare bays with more repair bays and extra storage, a rather cheap and quick conversion that gave the G-1 a total of twelve repair bays and enough storage to triple its base. On top of that it added a series of CIWS guns to add to its AA capabilities and a large 200mm artillery emplacement atop it, the whole package would make the G-1 a proper combat vehicle and extremely useful for Operation Hannibal, and at this point we had twelve of them to start with.

The G-1’s had then been loaded onto specialized heavy transports within Area Eleven, from where they began their journey towards Vladivostok, a slow process as my Hellcarriers and the East China Sea Fleet passed the transport fleet with them still three days out from the Siberian Republic capital city. All of this looked like an invasion of Korea to anyone not informed, and we let the Federation think it was as they flooded troops and Knightmares into the peninsula, the Chuyens were kept back, but the sheer number of Gun-Ru’s would have made a landing punishing but not impossible, exactly enough to draw a daring commander in to get crushed.

I am sure Xingke has some sort of contingency plan for my operation here, but that is going to be the most fun part of it, a battle between skilled commanders on the greatest of stages, a duel at large, a grand showing. 

Already the satellite feeds showed the Chinese moving in response to the launching of the Hellwasps, Xingke figuring out our intentions within minutes of aircraft taking off and sending forces to the overextended northern border, all too late, because we were already in position, dropping on Vladivostok. Unprepared EU defenses sent fire skywards as the dropshields did as designed and shielded our drop, all the while the falling Knightmares rained Hell back in return and the city burned at their retribution, thousands, if not tens of thousands would die because of this, many of them innocent, all because of me, and I could not find it in me to care…

I may need to speak to Ludd about that, it's troublesome, concerning even.

At the press of a button heat flooded the Cockpit of the Asmodeus as the now familiar sound of a screeching bird filled the air, blue hot beams of Plasma carving through unprepared defenders, leaving nothing but molten slag behind were people once were, I breathed deep, and the carnage began.

Vladivostok was not leveled, not like Manila, but the Hells and Rounds combined left no defenders standing, by the end of the week we will have seized control of a large portion of the Siberian Railway and be well on our way into China, leaving only a token garrison behind in Siberia, because the Chinese could not risk attacking it without antagonizing the EU. All would be as planned.

Chapter Text

"To defeat an enemy you must either break their body, or their spirit. You must decide which is weaker."

Regill, Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous

“How do you feel?” The G-1’s interior was rather grand, the shock absorbers keeping it quiet and steady as the massive machine moved southwards further into China. I sat in one of the massive chairs opposite the culmination of two years worth of genetic treatments and Code.R’s cybernetic upgrades. “King Shialio?” 

“Project Mephistopheles has worked wonders on me Prince Alexander, I feel… incredible really.” He looked far better too, his legs crossed by his own power, his arms wiry but growing muscle with exercise, his previously pale and clammy skin a healthy pale instead while his washed out blonde hair now matched his sisters, and his eyes, cybernetic blue balls sat where his failing, rotting eyes previously were. “Your efforts have borne fruit, and I am glad to be here as I am now.” 

“Good to hear.” 

“I imagine it is, I do really appreciate what you have done for my family, Prince Alexander, my sisters promised her own loyalty, something I agree with her doing, but… I feel I must offer something of my own.” The young lad was strange really, completely unlike his resurrection self, he was a sheltered child being introduced to the world, and he had latched onto the Knight-Marshals and myself as something of a family, despite his constant hospital time. “If you would have me, I would stand beside you as the Lord Mephistopheles, made by your hand and bound by a pact, I would see you rise as Emperor of your own right, and as my adopted Brother, as a member of Zhilkstani Royalty.”

“You are certain of this? The practice of Royal adoption is one that has been historically abused by rulers.”

“It has been abused in the past of Zilkhstan as well, but our current laws prevent your from turning the Diarchy into a Triarchy or usurping the throne through diplomacy, and the throne of Britannia is greater than the Diarchy, as much as I love my country I can acknowledge that, it will be mostly ceremonial, if you are my Brother I would be able to stay with you until my promise is fulfilled.” 

“Then I accept this adoption, Brother Shialio, and in turn I promise that when the time comes, Zhilkstan will prosper because of our alliance.” I rose, the boy following behind me. “Now, let's go see Ludd, the Mephistopheles-Malebranche is ready for you.”

The first land battle in China happened two weeks after the battle for Vladivostok, three thousand Knightmares from the Chinese federation clashed with two thousand Britannian ones in a chaotic melee, while aircraft launched from Area Eleven and surrounding Chinese air bases screamed overhead. I watched from atop a hill as our forces clashes, the Chuyens of the Chinese leading a charge against our Imps and Hesperians, all the while the slower Gun-Ru’s made their way up the hills to gain firing positions on us, in response I directed the Knight-Marshals to punch through the Chinese center. 

The first of my friends to engage was Ashley and his Moloch, who steadied his frame and opened fire with its plasma chain guns, firing a barrage of blue hot death towards the Chuyens’, their pilots flinching backwards and swerving to get out of the line of fire, which was when Marius and the Barbatos charged. The Barbatos had its axehead low to its left side, which caused the Chuyen it was facing to ready itself to block and deflect the axe strike, only for Marius to smack its head with the end of the axe shaft, throwing it off balance, then cleaving the axehead into its body, and levering the Chuyen over the top of the Barbatos and onto the ground, where he fired the Plasma Cannon in his axe to finish the Chinese machine off. 

Dorothea kept her brothers back safe with a three shot burst, her specialized Belial frame spitting rays of Blue death in chain at a far longer range then Ashley, but unlike the fire rate focused frame, Belial hit hard and accurately from a long distance away, sniping the cockpit off of three Chuyens. When a unit of Chuyens reformed to charge the Belial between two hills, Jean made her move as she sent the Mammon through the air in a leap, her own jet wings burning as she danced between Chuyens, lashing out with precise disabling strikes to cripple them. 

The Chinese Gun-Ru’s were finally in position and began to fire down at us, in response the Geryon and Shamna charged up the hill and raked a group of Gun-Ru’s with a blast from her plasma cannon, slashing as she went to take out more frames, Marrybell hot on her heels with her squad of Hesperians. The bulkier seventh Gen versions of the Imp moved with surprising grace, firing their ‘hellfire rays’ from their shoulders as they went, melting Gun-Ru’s while their new plasma swords cut through them like a very hot knife through butter. 

As the clash continued the Chinese Gun-Ru’s began to rout, as I had expected the fourth gen machines were too far behind, too far from a proper combat frame to hold when being actively flanked and overrun, once again showing that Melee was, for Knightmares, the best option. Xingke, noticing his falling flanks, began to retreat his Chuyens and backline Gun-Ru’s away from our front, the Logdan land fortresses in his far rear triangulating targets on our own frontlines as the Chinese frontline beat a hasty retreat, of course, the threat of a barrage by those massive cannons was one we had prepared for. 

That was why the Knights of the Round had been kept hidden in the hills, and when the Chinese were ready to turn my Hells into red smears on the dirt, they charged into the backlines of their formation, their customized machines made by Camelot allowing them to tear through the landships with relative ease. I hoped they liked their new mounts, because Lloyd had already left the army behind to go to Area Eleven to claim its new pilot and restock its Sakuradite supplies.

“This is Bismarck, we have destroyed two of the landships, the southmost still has firing capabilities.” 

“Roger that Sir Bismarck.” Sloppy sloppy, I had expected more of the so-called greatest knights in the Empire, but I suppose I can cut them some slack, most of them are piloting a seventh gen into combat for the first time, that was an exhilarating and disorienting experience. “Shialio, engage.” 

“Understood.” The high, childlike voice of Shialio brought me an equal mix of trepidation and shame, a boy of his age should not have to fight, but that was the world we lived in, the cut of it for all, fight or die, and Shialio was eager to fight.With an echoing boom a blue blur launching from our own back line as the G-1 catapulted the Mephistopheles over our formation where Shialio engaged the plasma jets in his frame to steer the machine towards the Longdan class Landship. The Mephistopheles was undoubtedly the most advanced machine on the planet at this point, a product of collaboration between Ludd, Rakshata, Lloyd and Cecile Croomy, integrating the current peak of what those brilliant minds knew of Knightmare design, and it showed.

The blue and gold Knightmare was shielded from Chinese attacks by a Blaze Luminous, all but flew on plasma jets, and the prototype man-machine interface linked Shalio’s eyes directly to all cameras and sensors within the Mephistopheles, allowing the boy to dodge to the side of the Longdan’s first shell, cleaving it apart with its sword. The detonation would have sent any other frame out of the air on collision course with the ground, but the Mephistopheles’s blaze luminous blocked the shockwave wholesale, before with a kick of its thrusters it righted its course, blaze luminous bright as the Mephistopheles pierced through the Longdans unfired barrel, and began to carve it out from the inside. 

“Enemy, eliminated.” 

“Well done, battery status?”

“Twenty nine percent left, returning to base using land spinners.” A concerningly little amount, the Mephistopheles was a very advanced seventh gen frame, but that clearly came at a cost, a true trump card to be deployed as a last resort and battle ender, it also meant that the Mephistopheles was not eligible for a Float system when those were finally brought into military operation, the power drain was simply too much.

Making a note to have Ludd look at power plants small enough to fit into a Knightmare, I allowed myself to smile, the Chinese were routing, Xingke leading them back towards the cities in the south, this was not the total victory I wanted, but it was a good test of cohesion.

Febuari turned into March when we hit our first great obstacle in Operation Hannibal, we had placed ourselves between Korea and its garrisoned forces and the rest of the Chinese army, our nineteen hundred Knightmares facing off against well over ten times their number in Gun-Ru’s alone, with enough artillery and Chuyens in support to be a real problem if engaged directly. Xingke had been smart too, bringing several AA emplacements forwards to make it harder to resupply us, thus making a defensive position untenable and Britannian air powers effects limited, it was a good maneuver, not a winning one but one meant to either force us a step back or to tire us out further. 

This was Xingke at his best I feel, with his nation behind him, fighting not just for tactical victory but a strategic one. 

But I was never one to just defend, I am a general best on the attack.

So, naturally, I attacked, pushing against the Chinese army of the North and leaving the Korean garrison forces to chase us slowly with their older Gun-Ru’s, unable to catch up with my Hell’s in our charge. Xingke seemed surprised at the move, that or the man was overruled by the Eunuchs because the Chinese armies scrambled in an attempt to encircle us as we pushed forwards in a narrow formation sweeping around us and hoping to fully surround us before engaging.

A mistake like that was out of character for Xingke, as my forces punched through the now reduced center once again, putting us within range of Beijing with Chinese armies left behind us and the city with a reduced garrison, combined with a daring maneuver by the Pacific Fleet to put them in support range, we overran Beijing in days. Standing in the old Forbidden City that the Federation had abandoned for Louyang during its formation under the Counter Revolutionist Movement following the Moaist era I moved through the old palaces, taking in the surrounding culture, this place had been made home of one of the High-Eunuchs, who currently hung from its gate by a noose around the neck, and he had decorated it opulently.

“Killing the Eunuch was a mistake.” I looked at Marius with a raised eyebrow. “They will demand recompense for the loss of a comrade.” 

“You don't know the Eunuchs well enough brother, they will fall upon the holdings of their former comrade like jackals, tearing his remaining dynasty apart until it's nothing but bone.” It was the way of them, courts where the nobles held power instead of the ruler, they would consolidate power through any means to make themselves the ruler instead, something few would succeed in doing. “And this is to our benefit, Xingke knows we are bold enough to strike at Luoyang, but not stupid enough to brave the defenses, but the Eunuchs? Panicked at the death of one of their own? They will guide more and more forces from the borderlands, from India and Pakistan all towards defending the Capital, it will leave their shores less defended.”

“You mean to take Shanghai and the major ports?” He nodded at me, misunderstanding my plans. “That would be good for morale, with Beijing we have gotten a good amount of reinforcements and resupply, with our new fighting strength we can easily best the garrisons, even with Vietnamese and Thai reinforcements being sent north.” 

“Not quite, Brother, while Beijing was a grand strategic victory, and allows us to practice the age old Britannia tradition of filling our museums with other peoples relics, it's not the shore I am after.” Picking up some gaudy jade figuring in the shape of the dead Eunuch and pocketing the thing for the fun of it, I turned back to Marius, the man staring at me confused. “We are going to break the Yellow River defenses and sail up it to siege Louyang from the land and sea.” 

“Mad is what you are, Brother.” He laughed, the loud sound pleasant. “But this is the kind of Mad I follow you for, can we pull it off?”

“Of course, with the River under our control we can sail the Hell Carriers and escorts up river as needed, break the defences around Louyang as we did Versaille.” Combined with the Nessus and Ludds Fusion Lance that had been installed atop it during the downtime the Hellcarriers had following the start of Operation Hannibal we would have the firepower advantage, speed advantage and the greatest advantage of all, close air support. “Only this time we capture an Empress instead of fat capitalists.” 

The Yellow River was one of the cradles of civilization, one of those places where humanity first began to form actual societies as we know them, with its flooding providing farmland to feed great numbers, that had changed considerably in recent years, with the Federation using the Yellow river as one of its main industrial dumps. The Yellow river was now fully the same colour as its name, an almost piss yellow colour, flowing through the Chinese countryside, as one its aorta of industry it was well guarded, ships patrolling it and bridges protected by garrison forces, with a large fortress at its mouth. 

The place dated back to the late Qing period, being constructed during the century of humiliation the Chinese claimed to suffer at European and Japanese hands, and had been kept in service as a naval base and controlling presence over the river, and now, it burned around its panicked defenders. Xingke had clearly been relieved of command, because he would have seen what my plan was the moment we didn't just cross the Yellow river and sent forces from the Louyang defences to intercept us and push us further south, instead we fell upon a lightly defended fortress with a stripped down garrison. 

At least they had a few Chuyens to entertain me.

Radiance cleaved through the chest of one of the Chinese Seventh gens, sending its cockpit block into auto eject to fly off into the distance, I pulled the burning sword free from its mechanical sheath, Asmodeus lit only in fire as the other Chinese frames started at me, and to my disappointment, they dropped their weapons and powered down their frames. With a huff I left them for my Hells to capture, blurring past them to engage another squad of Chuyens, these ones did put up a little more fight, as I kneecapped one of them with Radiance and blasted another with the Plasma cannons.

“Incoming Missile barrage!” 

“CIWS on the G-1’s will clear it…” I muttered in reply as I punched through the chest of a Chuyen with my claw targeting then firing the second plasma cannon in wide range mode to melt a trio of helicopters out of the air. “Triangulate the location they were fired from, then send it to the Hellcarriers for a bombing run.” 

“Bismarck here, the Rounds have seized the anchored escort vessels, orders?” 

“Move to the prototype railgun emplacement, capture it and take its operators and maintenance staff as prisoners.” The Chinese had been experimenting with electromagnetically fired projectiles for ages now, the shores of China proper were littered with various prototypes and experiments of this kind, all pointed out at the sea to discourage landing operations, and personally, I am very interested in the applications of these weapons on ship scale. Momentarily distracted by my musings I react just in time to stop a fleeing Chuyen with a slash harken to the legs, finding myself once again disappointed by the lack of fight the Chinese put up without a proper general to back them up, I barely had to fight at all, they just folded. 

“Roger, Prince Alexander.” 

“Jean, status report?” 

“Reinforcements intercepted and destroyed, they ran right into the minefield as you predicted, further orders?” 

“Pincer the retreating forces, Ashley is driving them towards you, accept surrenders but destroy equipment and set prisoners free ASAP.” 

“Yes, Knight-Commander.” 

Leaping atop one of the walls I stared out over the fire lit night, watching as the fleeing Chinese forces were attacked from all sides, broken in moments, and I found myself once again quite bored.

‘Come on now Xingke, you're better than this, what do I have to do to scare the Eunuchs enough to get you on the field again…’ 

Chapter Text

“The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been."

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Finally being on the Nessus again was a great relief, while the G-1 was not uncomfortable, it lacked in many of the amenities I had to admit I had grown used to over the years, primarily in the form of my own bed and shower along with my mini library, which I had been missing with the surprisingly large amount of downtime during Operation Hannibal. The best part though, was the barber, oh how I had missed the barber aboard the Nessus, old man Arctorus knew what he was doing, and finally being back in the chair again to get my fast growing hair cut was beyond pleasant.

“What of the beard Andre?” The old man's voice was creaky, as he focused on cutting the mane of blonde atop my head. “You have always insisted on a shave, but…” 

“The beard looks good.” I agreed with him, a rather surprising thing, as it was a rare blonde man that looked even decent with a beard, but the thick thing on my face was, if unkempt, pleasant, it framed my face nicely. “It needs a trim, a few millimeters off, and remove the mustache in its entirety, shave the neck too.”

“Of course.” Relaxing in the chair as the old man continued to trim my hair I felt, briefly, content.

Sailing nine escort Carriers sized ships up the Yellow river was unsurprisingly a struggle, our escorts were managing just fine, but often we needed them to tow us to get us further up river, not even speaking about the surrounding garrisons, who threw men and munitions at us. The Hells and the Rounds were more than capable of driving this spike further into the heart of the Federation, especially when the Nessus showed off its newly installed Fusion Lance and detonated an approaching line of Longdan Landships from out of their massive range. 

After that they mostly let us pass, though their panic was clear, as according to the satellites, damn near half of China was heading our way, intent on once again surrounding us on all sides, yet every time they should have attacked, every opportunity that would have given them benefit in the future, they faltered. The Eunuch generals were truly some of the worst I could have faced, entirely too stupid, too indecisive and unwilling to fight, not wanting to risk the embarrassment of losing to me like their colleagues had, cowards and weaklings. 

After only four days on the river we were in position to siege Louyang from the North, the forbidden city defences being rallied, well over twelve thousand Gun-Ru’s, four hundred Chuyens, eighteen Longdan Landships and an unidentified model of Knightmare, enough AA to halt an areal raid, and a flying blue and red machine.

Shen Hu. 

This gathering army faced off against us, putting themselves between the Forbidden City, outnumbering us a few times over, even with our reinforcements and the Hellcarriers present we stood only four thousand Knightmares strong, which was more than enough to allow me to force a win. If not for the Shen-hu then this battle was entirely in our favour, but a single flight capable seventh gen was enough to turn the tides on greater odds, with the Shen Hu being more powerful than the average seventh gen frame it became a battlefield controlling threat. 

In theory, this was an unwinnable battle, but that was a lie, there was a clear condition for victory, I just have to capture Xingke and the Shen Hu.

“Focus Fusion Lance fire on the landships, fire Napalm shells in lines towards the Forbidden City, carve paths the Gun-Ru’s cant pass through!” Asmodeus booted and was launched from the mag lock of the Nessus onto the shores of the Yellow River, the newly installed sand panels letting me glide over the desertified land around the Forbidden city, spearheading the Hesparians while my Knight-Marshals took command of the flanks. The Rounds would take up the rear of the formation as emergency reserves, to be deployed as needed to combat clusters of Chuyens, something that would doubtlessly happen. “Fire Hellcarrier plasma armaments! Clear the minefields in front of us with rolling Chaos Mines!” 

Cylinders firing thousands of rounds rolled out in front of our formation, clearing the minefields XIngke had likely ordered to be placed, as fire screamed through the skies from both sides, the deafening, screen whitening blast of the Fusion Lance detonating a trio of Landships in the distance set the backdrop for the explosion of Napalm warheads that tore the Chinese formations apart, the Gun-Ru’s unable to withstand the flesh melting liquid fire. At the spearhead I swung the Asmodeus into a spinning strike with Radiance, the plasma heated blade cutting through a Chuyen at the waist, followed by two Gun-Ru’s that fell by its side, heat flooding the cockpit as the Plasma Cannons fired, two lines of blue death cutting through the chinese front line.

This was sloppy for Xingke, too sloppy for him even, this reeks of Eunuchs panicking at the last moment, effectively shooting themselves in the foot.

Our front lines clashes further as I tore through more Chuyens standing in my way, and the Chinese front line began to fold, to falter as their dead began to stack while our charge was barely blunted as the Hesperian’s and Imps cut into them, while Chuyens would quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the Malabrance frames of my friends. We did finally begin to slow when the Forbidden Cities' own defences began to fire upon our formation, and the battle turned into a proper melee as our forces became tangled up, we were still inflicting casualties by the hundred but the Chinese were getting their own licks in.

Then finally the Shen Hu joined the fray, the flying monster machine barely dodging around the plasma sent its way, before clashing its masser blade with me and Radiance, the sheer strength behind the blow surprisingly, as it nearly unbalanced the Asmodeus, the frame then glided over me, kicking at my shoulder and damn near toppling me again. I barely dodged a spinning slash Harken being shot towards me, finally able to counter attack with a shot from the Plasma Cannons, at which the Shen Hu popped its chest open, and fired a beam of Baryon energy directly at me, the clasing beams of energy refracting off each other and causing an earth shaking boom. 

Blood rushed through me as we clashed again not a second later, my heartbeat ringing through my skull as the battlefield faded into the background of our clash, the Shun Hu’s sheer performance and power facing against the firepower and experience behind the Asmodeus. In comparison to the Indian made machine the Asmodeus felt slow, cumbersome but not weak, even if the Shen Hu struk with more force, struck faster, struck with more control, Asmodeus kept up, but Shen Hu was truly a monstrous machine, that had to come at a cost, and as I knew its power supply was not an issue, that meant hat the Man-Machine interface used must be truly devastating on the body to run it like this. 

Exactly as I had hoped, it was a cornerstone part of the plan after all.

We did not waste time with words, instead we clashed, over and over, sword strike into parry, into riposte into parry into block, each exchange lightning fast yet oh so slow, my Geass burning in my eye to allow me to even keep up with the advanced machine and its pilot as I kicked it during a leap, before my follow up strike was deflected. The Shen Hu wrapped its Harken around my leg as it swerved around me on its float system, trying to pull me off balance, so I jettisoned the sand panel to free myself, getting a grazing hit in from my plasma cannons as I did so. 

The Shen Hu’s armor had been somewhat hardened against the heat from plasma, because it barely glowed with heat instead of being melted straight through, and he instantly countered by carving through one of the plasma cannons built into my shoulders, halfing my firepower instantly. He was going to win this, but that did not mean I would give up, so I cut an arc with Radiance, cutting off part of his leg armor as he threw the Shen Hu into a g force defying dodge to the side, letting him cut across the side of my cockpit with his own sword, the thick edge cutting a line into my head, going from just to the side of my right eye, all the way back to take off the top of my ear. But in exchange for that hit I fed him a wide range shot from my remaining plasma cannon, heating the Shen Hu up to the point that its heat sinks were visibly distorting the air.

Xingke was slowing down, I should have been dead there, would have been if he wasn't slowing, he was getting tired and hurt, it was time.

“I can acknowledge when I am going to lose, Xingke.” 

“So you surrender?”

“Never. Mephistophiles, Kill him but keep the machine mostly intact.” 

“Yes, Andre!”  

The expected blur of blue clashed against the Shen Hu, and Shialio quickly began to overwhelm his opponent, moving in manners that a Knightmare should not be able to, landing complicated spinning slashes and kicks at speeds that were hard for the naked eye to track. Retreating from their clash I lock the Asmodeus’s eyes on the Forbidden City, zooming in to spot the form of a tiny white haired girl staring over the battlefield with horrified expression on her face, watching her protector and champion die.

“Empress of China, this does not have to be his end.” My voice broadcasted on the open channel, my voice backed with the chorus battle behind me, it took quite a bit of effort to keep my tone with the pain of my injury, but I persevered. “You can end this now, this slaughter, this War, all you have to do is Surrender, Surrender China, Surrender the Federation, and we can discuss terms.”

Silence was all that followed over the open line as Shalio shattered the Shen Hu’s sword with his own, leaping after it as the Blue and Red machine took to the air, separating the float system from the rest of the machine with a clean cut to let the Shen Hu plummet down to the ground again. He had Xingke’s machine stuck under his foot, shoving the Shen Hu to roll it over so the cockpit pointed skywards, bracing his sword against the cockpit to turn ejection into suicide, by all rights the General was captured and should surrender, but the man was unlikely to ever consider that option. 

“Kill hi-”

“I… I surrender… China Surrenders… throw down your weapons, disarm!” The young voice of the Empress shoves a spike of regret into me, that was sad to hear, to see a woman that sheltered take power only to save the life of the man she loves, all for naught in a few years, when the Eunuchs inevitably kill her off. “We humbly invite the Shishi to discuss terms in the Forbidden City.” 

The Louyang forbidden city was a grand structure, constructed in the image of the one in Beijing but bigger and with many more auditions, a very large portion of the federations wealth over the years had been pumped into it over the course of the past decades, making it a truly beautiful place. 

It was very gold, which was nice, I like gold, it's my favourite colour in fact, but even I have a limit, and this is pushing it.

The City gates had been opened to the Hells, and we had taken up occupation of the place over the course of the last three hours, we had not looted it of course, this was the enemies capital that had surrendered peacefully, we needed it intact for the signing of treaties, but we had moved in in force. Which was why the young Empress sat on her throne with a heavily bandaged and slightly singed Xingke next to her on one side, and the Eunuchs on the other, with a trio of Hesperians behind them, powered down but with pilots ready to turn them on the Empress at the first sign of betrayal. 

Opposite the Chinese I sat on a chair with my Lion Pelt draped over it, the bandages around my ear and the wonders of Britannian medicine meaning I had no further issues beyond the risk of tearing stitches. My Knight-Marshals on my right and the Rounds on my left, the royal knights looking a bit ragged from the long campaign, with the exception of Bismarck who was as prim and proper as ever, used to campaigns. 

“I thank you for the welcome, your Majesty.” My voice was steady, my eyes locked with the young Empress, her blood red eyes narrowed at me in a surprising angered glare. “It is a pleasure to negotiate with you in person, and to discuss the conditional surrender of the Chinese Federation.” 

“I regret to inform you that the Empress will not speak to you, her words are reserved for her trusted advisors alone.” The Eunuch that spoke was fat, morbidly so, every word sending unpleasant looking shakes through his body. “She has surrendered China, yes, but the Child of Heaven is still the supreme authority of the land, and we as her honorable advisors speak for her.” 

“Jean, gut that one.” 

“With pleasure Knight-Commander.” 

Before the fat one could so much as utter a word of shock or warning, Jean had slashed her sword over his belly, spilling the man's guts free from his flesh sack as the Eunuch screeched in pain, she silenced that with her second slash, carving his throat down to the bone and letting the man bleed out over the tiles.

“You killed Chen!” One of his companions shrieked in response, standing on the tops of his feet as he leaned away from the fallen and bleeding body of his compatriot. “You cannot simply kill the rulers of this land! We are your prisoners, that is a Warcrime!” 

“You are no rulers, Eunuch, now be quiet. Marius, if any of them open their mouths again, you are to rip their jaws from their skulls, I wish to discuss the terms of her surrender with the Empress.”

“Gladly, my Prince.” 

Ignoring the disturbed looks from the Rounds and the surprisingly proud one from the Knight of One I looked back at the Empress, who flinched but still met my gaze with iron behind her nerves, Xingke leaned in to whisper something in the ear of his empress, the Eunuchs seemingly affronted that I allowed this but not allowed them to speak. The Empress frowned at whatever Xingke said, barking a few words of courtly Manchurian, a language I myself did not understand before she looked at me once more.

“W-What are you demand’s?” She blinked, as Xingke whispered again, before pressing on. “Is this negotiation for an Armistice or a full peace deal?” 

“I have been authorized to negotiate with the full weight of the Holy Britannian Empire behind my words, so this negotiation shall be for the end of the First-Empire-Federation war.” Letting the weight of calling it the first war settle for a brief moment I pressed on. “Territorial concessions in the Pacific first, the Federation will acknowledge the lawful Britannian occupation of Area Fourteen, formerly known as the Philippines. Further the Indonesian Archipelago, and its various states, including the city state of Singapore will be ceded to the Empire as Area Fifteen and Sixteen, split along the southern and northern Islands. Lastly, Taipei will be ceded to the Empire as Area Seventeen, along with the Island of Jeju, which shall be integrated into Area Eleven.” 

“Agreed.” The Empress leaned heavily into Xingke as he whispered in her ear, the sheer fury coming from the Eunuchs was pleasing, with only the threat of Marius looming over them keeping them silent. “The territorial integrity of Mainland Asia is not up for negotiations, the Federation will collapse if we surrender mainland territories.” 

“I understand and agree completely, but you understand that further compromises must be made to ensure that the Federation does not become belligerent following our leaving of China.” 

“We are agreeable to military restrictions and trades of resources and war material.” 

“That will unfortunately not be enough, the only war material the Federation owns that the Empire is interested in are the Chuyens and the new model, of which we have already captured enough to study as spoils of war.” Oh Ludd really wanted to talk to me about the Shen Hu, but he would have to wait until this was over. “Military restrictions will have to be… devastating on the naval side, China shall be restricted to a navy at most a third the size of Britannians Pacific Navy, the army restrictions will set a cap on the amount of seventh generation Knightmares the Federation may operate, to be precise the federations shall maintain no more then two hundred Seventh Generation frames per member state to act as a police force and Garrison.” 

“We can agree to these concessions.” 

“Lastly, to ensure the good and profitable relationship between the Chinese Federation and Britannia, the Emperor, His Majesty Charles Zi Britannia, has invited the Tianzi Jiang Lihua, Child of Heaven and Empress of the Chinese Federation to foster under his Daughter, Second Princess Cornelia Li Britannia.” 

“As a hostage.” Xingke spoke before he could think, and with a smirk I let him dig his own grave, responding in turn.

“It could be seen as such, yes, but a safe one, away from China.” 

“The Empress cannot leave the Federation, its people rely on her guidance.” 

“What Guidance Xingke? The Federation follows, well, followed, the Eunuchs.” I felt my eyebrows raise as one of the Eunuchs in question raised his hand, as if he were a student in class, and held back a laugh as I ignored the man. “No, the Empress is young and sheltered, without proper experience, something my Father and Sister can offer her, the Empress will learn to rule and, while doing so, she will be safe from the many plotters and factions of the Federation.” 

“Plot-” He calmed himself. “Will she be allowed guards?” 

“Of course.” I smiled, Xingke had realized that this invitation was far from optional. “She will be allowed a royal guard regiment as if she was Princess of the Empire, up to a hundred guards and five lances of Knightmares may accompany her. Naturally, you will be remaining behind to prevent pretenders rising, as, if that were to happen, the Empire would be more than happy to return the Rightful Empress to the throne.” 

“I see.” The man knew what I was doing here, but to be fair I was not really hiding it at all either, this was giving Xingke and the Eunuchs free reign against each other all the while allowing Britannia to manipulate and support both sides to gain as much benefit as possible. While Schneizel and the Emperor both supported this plan for different reasons, Schneizel because he would be able to dance circles around the two factions with the Empress a ward under Cornelia, and the Emperor cause it fed directly into his ideology of social Darwinism, I liked it because it gave Xingke the chance to turn China into a true rival. “My Empress, I would request Zhou Xianling take command of your retinue, she is dependable and loyal.” 

“I-I agree, Supreme General Xingke, you are hereby ordered to maintain order in my absence, to let the Federation stand tall and to assure no rivals to the throne may rise.” She flicked her eyes to me. “Prince Alexander, China accepts these terms.” 

The wreckage of the mostly totaled Shen Hu rested in the Hanger of the Nessus as the Hell Carrier and its escorts made their way south though the East China Sea, starting on the long journey to Area Fourteen where Cornelia was expecting her new Ward, the Tianzi, whose guard had been given a single deck they had quickly turned into a private quarters worthy of the Empress of China. Ludd stood over the heavily damaged Shen Hu’s Float Unit, hooked into it with a variety of equipment to analyse its systems, deeply engrossed in his work as he muttered through calculations and made near constant notes on a datapad.

“I am surprised that the Shen Hu has not been stripped down yet. And that is not being upgraded.” 

“Ha!” The man barked his laugh as he kept his eyes on the data coming onto his datapad. “You could not force me at gunpoint my Prince, unlike Lloyd I still have a chance with Rakshata, one I would not be able to take if she were to feel the need to cut off my testicles with a spoon, No, I will be taking her data, studying her work, something she would not mind, and then I will be making it better in my own creations!” 

“How long do you think it would take to get us Float packs for the Hesparians? And larger scale Float Units for Airships?” 

“Oh, a few months to a year for those, depending on how much you are willing to invest.” 

“I am investing a fucking lot Ludd, more then we have in any other project, one more question, how feasible is it to miniaturise these… Float panels.” 

“Difficult, they need to have a certain surface area to be stable and steady, anything too small and they will be ineffective.”

“But small enough to fit on an individual Knightmare limb?” 

“Hmm…” the man's face lit with a smile, and I could tell he was once again truly excited. “Built in Floats, instead of an attachable unit, combined with the prototype for the Phlegethon Reactor to make sure it doesn't drain Energy Fillers… Yes, that would work. I know for a fact that Lloyd will be working his Lancelot into an Eighth gen frame, and if I know Rakshita, which I think I do, she will be building an Eighth gen from scratch, meaning that I would be behind… This will be my own Eight gen! Oh I can hardly wait.” 

“Before that I will need the Asmodeus combat capable again.”

“Oh that is long done, unlike my contemporaries I acknowledge that Knightmares are inherently made to be destroyed, it's why the cockpit ejection blocks exist after all, to allow the pilot to take another frame and go straight back to battle, hence why I had the second Asmodeus in storage.” 

“You had a second Asmodeus just sitting there? Waiting for me to break the first?” 

“Well yes, you are remarkably good at not getting shot, so you have never needed it.” 

Huh, cool.

Chapter Text

"Diplomacy has its place, but if you don't go into every situation prepared for the absolute worst case scenario, you might as well turn up wearing nothing but a smile."  

Commander Fiona Ayoade, Terra Invicta

Japan's resistance was frustrating. 

Tokyo had eventually bent the knee to the newly formed Tokyo Centralized Resistance he had been setting up, with Lelouch, Zero, as its head the Shinjuku group acting as largely command staff, but said command staff failed to grasp how precarious the current situation within Japan actually was. Sure, the war with the Federation was over and the Area was beginning to restabilize, with aircrew, ground forces and engineering corps leaving for the ongoing Siberian Campaign, something that was turning into a grinding slog of a war even the Lion seemed to struggle to break, simply because of the lack of important targets close to them, but the Hells were still nearby, and Japan was still being considered for a visit by the Peacekeepers.

The current administration of the Area was heavily in the favour of the resistance, that was likely to change should Clovis find himself deposed as Viceroy, as shown by the brief stint of Sub-Viceroy Jean Rowe and her remarkable efficiency in reducing violent resistance, if Clovis was exposed the Empire would be forced to send someone who could stop the local populaces rage. That would mean either a competent leader in the same vein as Jean Rowe, who could turn the Area into a proper Satellite state instead of an economical drain, which would result in Japan integrating further into the Empires structure, or a radical militarist who would see dissenters in the area destroyed before handing the area over to another more peaceful Viceroy. 

And Lelouch knew enough of imperial politics to guess that Luciano Bradley was barking mad for revenge.

The man was also mad in general, a true psychopath who got pleasure out of killing and… dominating the local populace, his stint in South Africa had seen close to three million dead, with many times that number fleeing from the Empire into the unsettled lands to escape, a cascading effect that would see many, many times more casualties throughout the African continent over the coming years. If he came to Japan, an Area that had cost him one of his eyes? It might not end in the Final Solution for the Japanese, but the man would bleed the population until he was satisfied, something that would likely only happen once he had caught Kallen. 

The woman did not realise how much danger she was really in, sure her given name made people look up to her, it gave hope to the oppressed of the Area, but it put a target on her back, a massive one in fact, one that could see her either lose her life or make her wish she had. And the Japanese Resistance was nowhere near ready to fight for their hero, not even with all the aid he had been giving them, and the training they were putting themselves through, Lelouch estimated it would take three years to get them ready to fight against Britannia, and that was before the victory over the Federation.

Now, with China divided by the Lion, its Empress a Ward under the Witch of Africa, and Europe under siege by Snake and Lion both, the Empire would be forced to crush any resistance in Japan if it threatened their control of the Islands.

Which was why Zero found himself very upset at the members of the Akibahara branch of the Tokyo resistance, who had gone against orders and had been openly contesting Britannian supply trains filled with Imps meant for the Siberian front, even if they had managed to capture several of the machines in question. The Colonial government under Clovis was not smart, or efficient, but they were also not fucking stupid and had traced the Resistance group back to their head quarters, before exterminating them, essentially taking out the Tokyo Resistance's hold on Akibahara in a single day, all without informing him. 

Worst of all, the existence of Zero had been leaked to the Colonial Government because of their incompetent information security. 

“We are extremely lucky we keep our departments separated, or else this incident could have meant the end of the Tokyo Resistance as a whole, it would have taken us months to build back up from that, now we are still down an entire Resistance group, but the Ghetto itself is untouched.” He paused, letting the command staff absorb his words. “As much as I hate to admit it, this fuckup is also an opportunity, we have been heavily limited in our expansion because of inter group discourse, it might be time to force the other groups to fully submit to a joint command, instead of acting as the head of an alliance.” 

“Form an equivalent to the JLF in Tokyo you mean? Isn't that, like, super fucking risky?” Tamaki was many things, prone to calling out the obvious was one of them, but such a thing had its uses. If a dullard could make a sensible point about something being over complicated or a bad idea, then it was likely the masses would be of the same mind. 

“They stick to the countryside for a reason.” Ohgi agreed, the man was the moderate voice in the Command Council, and was the one most often responsible for both sides being heard in a disagreement. “The Resistance group structure worked because we could help each other, move material through the tunnels using dead drops and keep the Colonials confused as to which group was responsible. If we unite, we risk breaking if they get a few cells worth of information.” 

“Hence why we need a complete redesign of our structure, both command and resistance fighters.” Naoto was the one that had originally posed this plan to Lelouch, a cell based structure was important, and so early in the rebellion it should allow Cells to embed themselves deeply where needed, while newer recruits could be divided amongst Cells or made into new Cells intrely, under the guidance of a single more veteran member of the resistance. “Doing this while our numbers are small as they are means we can easily pull it off, and it would allow us to properly organize fighting strength for another raid.” 

“Something to consider for the future, if the information about the Hakodate blacksite is accurate we should hit it now, before the Cell structure reformation, so we can muster as much force as we can.” Kallen had the right idea, in his mind at least, Hakodate had its own resistance, but they had been massively diminished recently by Britannian forces, likely by design. Whatever research the Colonial government was doing this time, it needed just as many bodies as the Tokyo blacksite. “If we levy the other Tokyo groups, we can assemble about four hundred infantry, combined with Zero Squad, and Tekkadens Pilots we could deploy seven Lances worth of Knightmares as well. Should be enough even without the communications blackout we had for the Tokyo Raid.” 

“I will consider it, a raid such as that is risky however, and as loath I am to wait long when people are dying, this feels like a trap set for us.” The command staff frowned at the thought, something that he had emulated when the idea had first crossed his mind, so many people being killed just to draw them out, that was not something the Resistance wanted. “I have dispatched several assets to the Hakodate Settlement and am in contact with the Illusive Man through the Frontman for additional investigation. At the latest, we will strike them this weekend. Is that agreeable?” 

“Good, to the idea of a Cell based structure, draw up plans, we will need to set up several larger than normal Cells for our own command here in Shinjuku and one for the Tekkadan boys, these shall act as our primary Knightmare fighting forces as well.” Getting nods from the staff, he rose, cloak billowing around him as he did so. “Excellent work, all of you, special credit to you Naomi for the expert damage control regarding the Akibahara situation. I will be off, the Saitama Alliance has once again collapsed, and I need to make sure the new group understands the situation in Tokyo.” 

C.C was a wilful girl, that was something that Lelouch had been growing used to, it was something he actually quite liked about her, but it did occasionally come with downsides, such as her insistence to follow him around dressed in varying and strange outfits, risking her being detected by the military. But finding her missing was rather concerning, as such, Lelouch called Sayoko to have the ninja track her down, and when she did not respond, that was when he got concerned and headed to the hidden base, his worry growing when Nunnally’s number made his phone play its specific tune as he was going through the security footage. 

“Hello Lelouch.” The voice on the other side had a Chinese tint to it, as Lelouch checked over the security cameras, finding the footage he was looking for, Nunnally and Sayoko being gassed unconscious suddenly by a drone carrying the canister, before a team of Brittannian black ops captured them. C.C received a phone call not long after, and the true fear and concern on her face made Lelouch’s heart ache through the anger, the greenette departing after a heated argument on the phone. “It took me quite a while to track you and C.C down, quite a while indeed, the war made it sooooo much harder! But I made it to my C.C, I hope you don't mind, but I had to trade some of your things away to get her back! You should not mind, you stole her and I am returning the favour!”

“Who are you!? Where did they take Nunnally!?” 

“Who I am does not matter Lelouch, cause I am already long gone! As to that little girl, well I had to strike some deals, and dear Clovis was quite interested in getting his loved siblings back! Of course, you were a lot harder to pin down, but that is what thi-” He tossed the phone down and stomped on it, breaking the device, before pulling one of the several reserve ones and dialing Ruben Ashford.

“Error 1, I need you to shut down the Settlement, consequences be damned.” 

“I-Yes, your Majesty.” Ruben's tendency to revert to his old title was dismissed as he hung the call, the man would do as asked, his loyalty had been unquestionable for years now, he was sworn to Lelouch, as he had been to his mother, the one true ally he had among the Britanninas. With a deep breath he dialed Naoto, the man answering after a few rings, far less professional than Ruben, but that was to be expected, Naoto was not military, he was a Resistance leader, a former mechanic that now led a group against the empire, but that was something he would change.

“Zero? Wh-”

“My personal life has been targeted, they have my sister, I need you to mobilise.” He heard the sound of the man scrambling and sheets being thrown to the floor, as well as a panicked woman's voice rapidly speaking Japanese in the background as the man rose from what had now clearly been a fling, the understanding between brothers seemingly driving him to move at speed. “Gather at the locations I am sending you via text.” 

“Roger, Zero, who do you need?” 

“Everyone.” 

Finding C.C proved to be easiest, whoever her kidnapper was had been sloppy, and had driven her straight to the Settlement Airport, as such, Lelouch used the simplest solution to solve the problem at hand, and had his in Settlement contacts, mainly ones the Illusive Man had made available to him in exchange for a to be determined favour, run through the Airport. The issue was finding where they had taken Nunnally and Sayoko, out of the two, Sayoko was likely to have already escaped and would be looking to contact him and rescue Nunnally, in whichever order proved most beneficial to him.

But he was not one for simply waiting if he could do more, C.C would be back with him soon, The Illusive Man was a bastard but he kept his word, so for Nunnally he made sure to track the truck as the Settlement shut down around him, ceasing all operations as he tracked its paths from the cockpit of the Gloucester. 

“N-2, now.” 

The Lance of Sutherlands punched through the wall, quickly destroying the two Sutherlands with their slash harkens and then halting in front of the transport, then surrounding it and forcing its crew to leave at gunpoint, and Lelouch smiled as he saw Sayoko emerge from it in her full ninja gear, that woman was truly ready for anything, she then slipped behind the wheel and followed the Lance through the settlement and into the tunnels. 

“K-1, this is B-1.” He clicked the button on his radio twice to signal he heard Ruben, so the man continued. “Settlement control is being overwritten, stalling them now but this is burning the last agents I have in the Government for seconds of gain.” 

“Let them turn it back on, will the Academy be affected?”

“Of course not your Majesty, this will all be blamed on my dearest in law.” Something the man was naturally all too happy with, considering the woman's power plays within the Ashford family. “Settlement control systems will come online in thirteen seconds.”

“Understood.” He switched to the Resistance Line. “Transport is incoming to the Shinjuku hideout, evacuation status?” 

“Progressing, but I don't think we can get everyone out in time.” Ohgi's voice answered him, the man sounding out of breath, having likely been running up and down stairs for a while now. “How long do we have?” 

“Fifteen minutes before they locate us, Honorary battalions are already being scrambled to search the tunnels, then between five and eight minutes for the Ghetto to be encircled.” He stared down at the map of the Ghetto projected on his Knightmares display, a map he had made sure the Resistance kept up to date with ongoing renovations and restorations. “Focus on the people in the outer portion of the Ghetto first, we can bring the ones in the inner Ghetto into the tunnels and if needed we can defend them. Keep in mind that the goal today is to bloody the Empire again, with as little life lost as possible, not to win a complete victory.” 

If the Empire would allow them to retreat that was, otherwise, Lelouch would be forced to move accordingly.

“Q-1, status report on our Knightmare forces.” 

“Got Zero Squad ready, no idea how you got those Suths so quickly, but with them we have forty three frames total, mostly Suths and a few Gloucester's, the Tekkadan branch has confirmed its on their way too, so that brings our Knightmare forces to forty seven.” 

“Organize them into Lances, but keep yourself and the Gracchus separate, you will be running ace operations.” 

“Yes Zero.” The purr coming from her made him blink, Kallen had been itching for a fight yes, but that was not quite the reaction he had been expecting from her. 

The bridge of the G-1 was crowded, and Mao’s ever present headache was made worse by the crew aboard it, well that and the bullet hole through his ear that made his head swim with pain as he stood before the Prince Clovis, the man Mao had spent the better part of a month bringing to his side. The blonde Prince looked disheveled, eyes flickering to and fro as the staff relayed information around the bridge, Mao caught some of what was happening and pressed the rage under his skin down, blinking away tears of pain and anger, C.C would be back with him soon, she would be with Lelouch again now, and Clovis still wanted his brother. 

“Mao.” The Prince in question spoke. “Terrorists have interrupted the recovery, I assume the raid at the Airport was of similar circumstance?”

“I believe so, My Prince.” The words were bitter in his mouth, the Prince loved it when he said that, it stroked his ego and made him want to order Mao to stroke other parts of himself too. “It seems that whoever was holding your brother and sister was holding mine as well.” 

Thoughts ran through the Prince head at a rapid pace, almost too fast to follow, panic for his siblings mixed with worry for Mao and genuine love for his family, all with a sickening undertone of torture, torture that made Mao want to kill the Prince on the spot for what he had done to C.C, only Mao should be able to hurt her like that!

“They fled into the Ghetto?’ He read from Clovis' mind before the man could respond. “There is a simple solution to this My Prince, both our targets here have clear European heritage…” 

“Yes… Yes I suppose there is a simple solution to this… Tell the Homeland we are conducting Urban renewal” The Prince approached the command console, repressing fear, nerves and morality, and Mao smiled as he gave the order. “This is Clovis La Britannia, Third Prince of the Empire, Purge Shinjuku Ghetto of Elevens! Leave none of them alive!”

Mao smiled, wide, as men, women and children began to die.

Chapter Text

“Slow, slow, quick-quick, slow.”

“Honest” Brute, Armored Core 6

Something had gone wrong in the Ghetto, Maya Disel had been quick to realise that as she and Mario made their way from the station into said Ghetto, watching resistance members escort people away as fast as possible while VTOL began to cloud the skies. The twins only needed a single look between them before they dashed for Hina’s family's house in the Ghetto, which was when the Knightmares began to roll into said Ghetto en masse, gunfire and screams beginning to echo. 

Their panicked dash saw them to the apartment building that was their goal, finding it still occupied, with a group of Britannian soldiers battering ramming the door while shooting at any movement from the windows, while a pair of Sutherlands in Royal Guard livery oversaw the operation, their cockpits open as the men inside overlooked the coming butchery. Maya locked eyes with Mario for a few seconds, and at his nod, the two of them moved up the fire escape of the building, coming above the Knightmares and then dropped onto the very surprised Royal Guards, shoving them to the side and out of their Knightmares, the ten foot drop likely breaking several bones.

Closing the cockpit before the soldiers could get their acts together, Maya fumbled for half a  second to find the controls, before the screens powered on and she swung the stick on the right wide, hitting the button to fire the frames held Knightmare rifle turning a pair of soldiers to paste. Swinging the Sutherland around she locked on to the transport the soldiers used to get here, and unloaded another barrage into it, catching the vehicle on fire as the now panicked soldiers fled, Mario intercepted them, her brother's own Knightmare rifle blasting holes into them. 

That was… strange, killing them was easy, natural, she had known her brother and her were mostly likely to start throwing hands during a riot, but were unlikely to start one themselves, but this was a different thing altogether, this was murder, true and real, killing of men not just in defence of others but even as they ran… The fact that she had no real emotions to those faceless soldiers' deaths, Hina was safe, well safer, with them dead, and those soldiers could not snitch to the authorities about her and her brother being students when dead…

It was better this way.

“This is Zero to the two Sutherlands just captured from the Guard.” Something about that voice was familiar to Maya, it held an edge of steel below its velvet tones, one that drew her interest. “You are the Disel siblings correct? I would like you to help evacuate the people of the Ghetto, but you have a squad of Royal Guard Sutherlands heading your way.” 

Fuck, she was no Ace, neither was Mario, there was no way they could actually fight against trained pilots in their stolen machines, and the Royal Guard would see their own death and kill the entire building…

“If you want them to live, follow my command.” The voice whispered, a devil offering a deal, a bargain. “Can you do that?” 

“Yes, Zero.” Her brother responded, and she followed it up. “What do you need us to do?”

“They seek to encircle you and cut you off, break straight through them, head east and engage, I am sending reinforcements to help you and evacuate the apartments, but they are a few minutes out, try to stay alive. Oh, and rip the IFF out, it's under the chair on the left side, the entire box.” With a curse she reached under the seat, finding the boxy device and pulling it out from its socket, opening the cockpit to throw it out onto the ground, then closing back up and moving after her brother into the Ghetto. “Good, here is what you will do…” 

“Unlike the Royal Guard, the Purebloods hold to the standard four Knightmare lance, this formation gives them far more firepower than a loose individual formation, and allows for easier tactical command…” Zero’s voice was a low sound in her ears as Maya laid in wait where he had pointed them to, rifle ready in her Sutherlands arms, staring out of the fact spheres sensors at the approaching four Sutherlands. “It's a formation and strategy pioneered by the Britannians greatest General, meant to give Knights others to cover their backs and allow for commando tactics on Knightmare scale, but it does have weaknesses, as all strategies do. Despite its flexibility, especially in urban combat, the Lance puts the pilot in command under great strain to manage their squadmates, sever that lead pilot, and the formation cracks for a moment, long enough to see them shattered.”

“That is the way you two win this fight, crack the formation, use the chaos to turn being outnumbered into an equal fight, then survive until the reinforcements I sent arrive.” Something about his tone drew a smirk on her face, that confidence, it was… strangely intoxicating. “The horned unit, that's their leader, line up your slash harkens, fire on my command. Save rifle ammunition for the following exchange.” 

“Roger Zero.” Maya felt her blood rush as the machines blitzed down the street, the radar in her Sutherland pinging off the horned unit, marking him on her tacmap, thumbs rubbing the foam buttons for the slash harkens, the sound of her own breath steadying her, calming, rhythmic, in and out, slow, slow… “Quick-quick, slow…”

“Fire.” Her thumbs shoved the buttons for her slash harkens down, the pneumatic hissing sound of the harkens firing rumbling in the cockpit as the cabled weapons shot out, one cracking into the arm of the marked unit, ripping it off, the second hit the side of its cockpit, while Mario’s both slammed into the units arm, but they did enough, and the machines auto eject triggered, sending its cockpit across the Ghetto. “Excellent, engage the units, ETA for reinforcements is two minutes.” 

Kicking off with her landspinners Maya came around the corner while shooting, blasting an already retreating Sutherland, hitting its legs and toppling it, her brother coming up beside it and firing a three round burst into its cockpit, seeing that the remaining two members of the lance were still panicked, still figuring out what was wrong, she struck. A three round burst tore the arm off of the closest Sutherland, its instability clear, she targeted its opposite leg, when her rifle clicked, empty, blinking she formulated another plan, her forward momentum grabbing the lance from a downed Sutherland, then barking it, piercing through the cockpit of her target.

Beside her Mario did something similar, his rifle was still full, he was far more careful with his shots then her, and more accurate to boot, so he overtook the somehow slower Sutherland, and blasted the weak side armor of the cockpit with a pair of three round bursts killing the pilot within. 

“Incoming!” Zero’s voice shocked her, throwing her Sutherland out of the way of a strike from above, the opponent, a Gloucester, was quickly followed by a trio of Sutherlands standing atop the surrounding buildings, firing down at them, Mario focused on dodging, weaving between volleys and returning fire where possible, while Maya led the Gloucester to be between her and the Sutherlands. She thrust her lance forwards, the Gloucester's own lance coming up under her arm as she shifted her Sutherland to the side, her own strike glancing off the shoulder of the Gloucester. “Five seconds!” 

Maya ignored Zero’s shout, using her slash harkens to break the opposing frames lance, then grasping her own lance with both hands, and fainting a strike that her opponent fell for, before coming up from low, spearing her opponent through. Using the now destroyed Gloucester as a shield she turned to the other Sutherlands, ready to fall back before a red blur entered her vision, within a single motion it had killed two Sutherlands, as the last one turned to flee the red frame, a spray painted Gracchus leapt, literally leaping through the air and repelling with its slash harkens, to land in front of the Sutherland.

“ Shine! ” The barked word of Japanese was the only warning the Sutherland had before the Gracchus rapiers speared it through the chest from both sides, its pilot broadcasting a bone chilling scream as she died, the frame detonating, one of the rapiers likely having penetrated the energy filler. The Gracchus ripped its rapiers free, holding the blades to the side as the Sutherland collapsed in front of it, and Maya could not tear her eyes away from the frame as it gracefully stepped over its kill, watching as it moved like a human instead of a machine, a warrior true and real. “You're the Disel’s right?”

“Huh, you… You’re?!” Mario’s shocked shout knocked her out of the stunned stare at the red machine. “You're the red Dragoness?!”

“That's me, yes, from now on, you're Q-2 and Q-3, follow me, we have more Britannians to kill.”

“Yes ma’am!” She barely realized it was her voice that snapped to reply, following the Gracchus as it sped further into the Ghetto, ready to fight for the Ghetto, for their chosen family.

“The enemy outnumbers us twenty to one, the Viceroy has pulled forces from the Tokyo Garrison to supplement his royal guard and the vile Pureblood regiment, we are facing over a hundred Sutherlands and dozen Gloucester's, they outnumber us three to one, but I promise you all, victory is within our grasp.” Guiding the resistance forces had been… interesting, it was so much like chess, to move and ambush as needed, but the strength of the pieces varied, it wavered with moral dropping and for some reason, whenever Q-1 showed up, their combat potential surged. “The first assault has been repelled, and the Viceroy is assembling his second wave, make way to your assigned positions, Q-1 and her strays will run bait, Clovis commanders seem obsessed with breaking her Gracchus, Tekkaden, your in reserves, callsign will be B-4, I have an operation planned for your Lances.” 

“Understood Zero, awaiting orders.” Mikazuki Augus was a strange boy, almost entirely emotionless, perhaps a bit autistic even, because his communicative skills were nonexistent, but his boss and brother Orga Itsuka assured him of the boys skills, it was why he was behind the controls of Tekkadens only Gloucester. The Tekkaden forces were the only ones he had been seriously considering keeping as a full sized single Cell, mainly because they were competent and had even managed to get their own two lances worth of Knightmares, mostly through a combination of theft and robbery. 

“Sir?” He turned from the command screen of the Gloucester's open cockpit and to the heavily body plated special forces squad that had entered the base through the tunnels, they had no discernible markings, just grey and black tactical armor and rifles, but their bearing was professional, steady.  He stepped out of the sitting Gloucester into the HQ, rerouting the tacmap to a wall mounted screen so he could keep an eye on it, with his communicator in hand he waved the spec ops in. “We have the package as requested.” 

“Excellent, please, hand her over.” 

“Are you sure sir? She is rather… Wild, she bit three of my men and we had to fully restrain her.”

He blinked, that was rather strange, C.C was willful yes, but… biting? Violence enough to make a spec ops squad restrain her? Something was wrong here, something concerning.

“Yes, release her.” With a nod the soldier gestured to the men behind him, who put a large rucksack on the ground gently, opening it to let C.C spill out, the woman kicking and wiggling on the floor, before her eyes locked onto Lelouch and she calmed, tilting her head with eyes full of confusion, before she blinked and scowled at him. He quickly realized why C.C had been fighting, she thought she was being taken back to a Code R facility, and he quickly buried the sympathetic feelings that welled up inside him, this was not the time, they had a bastard to kill. “Our boss sends his regards, and wishes you a pleasant day.”

“One final thing?” The soldier locked eyes with him, and a small panel in his mask slid aside, clearing the dark film over his left eye. “ Who do you work for? ” 

“We are part of No Particular Organization, operating under the Local Director, L…” 

Lelouch blinked, that was something to consider for later, his Geass either failed or something else was going on, but with a shake of the head he turned to C.C, removing her bindings once more, along with her gag, the woman stood beside him, something about her empty gaze sent a shiver down his spine.

“C.C, what happened?” 

“It's… a complicated series of issues, and my fault, for that I apologize.” He held up a hand to silence her, leaning over to the table and clicking the button on his communicator twice, sending the signal to R-1 to fire upon the units chasing Q-1, four Lost markers popping into existence in place of the IFF from the enemy Knightmares. “Thank you, Lelouch, for… getting me away from him, but I fear I must beg a favour, Mao, he… is not well, and that is my fault to bear, I would ask for mercy, to let him live at least, no matter what else you might do…” 

“Mao? That bast-” He inhaled, interrupting himself, C.C had stood by him, had helped him greatly, she did not deserve his wroth, and he could think of a few punishments worse than death, should his desire for vengeance not fade upon her explanation. “What is he?”

“A contractor, like you once were, who I raised from a child, a mistake I know, one made in fear and desire, he is a mindreader, and it has driven him to insanity, but… he also my son, as much of one as I can have.” 

“He shall live, for now.” Turning back to the table C.C slid up to his slide, her hand on his shoulder both a comfort and frustration as he focused instead on the tacmap instead of his anger and frustration, the battle was going well, Clovis was maneuvering individual lances around the Ghetto, and they were being picked up one by one. Clovis would have to deploy more units, soon if he wanted to maintain efficient encirclement, already the lances within the Ghetto were falling back as Kallen and her strays carved apart a lance in five seconds flat. “When this is all over, you will explain your history to me, all of it. Anything that could be of harm to me.” 

“I… Yes, a Contract then, Mao’s life for my loyalty, truly and forever more.” 

“Another contract, we must not make a habit of it, C.C.” 

Her giggle rang in his ears like the grandest music he had ever heard.

“N-1, angle up fifty degrees, then fire harkens.” The ground fell beneath a lance of Sutherlands, the machine buried in rubble, their pilots likely to die before help could dig them out, N-1 Lance continued to the next coordinates, where they would provide fire support for Q-1 and her merry go round chase, as the redhead and her new companions were leading a Lance of Gloucester's on by the nose. “P-1, status?” 

“Got the charges placed buddy! Detonated is wired for the HQ”

“Excellent, continue towards the next point. B-2, report.” 

“Full information on the Brit frontlines, those drones are amazing! Broadcasting video to your screen… now!” The side screen in the HQ lit up, showing the mustering Knightmare lances of the encirclement, including a concerning sight, a lance of Vincent's, the mass production seventh generation frames the empire had in limited production, Clovis must have splurged from the area budget for them. “Those are Vincent's boss, what's the plan if the Brits deploy them?” 

“I have something planned, do not worry B-2.” A nice little white lie to cover his internal panic, he had exactly one frame that could potentially compete with the Vincent's on a one on one basis, and that was only because Kallen was an incredible pilot with many, many hours in the simulator, the Vincent’s out-specced her greatly. So he would need a plan, a strategy to handle them… “Q-1, I need you to trust me.” 

“I…” Kallen’s voice paused, before it returned, slightly hollow, and concerningly emotionless. “I trust you Zero.” 

Kallen sat within the Gracchus as it stood atop the old school building, Knightmare sized flagpole in hand as the Japanese flag swayed in the wind, raised above a part of Tokyo for the first time in the six years since the invasion, a sign, a signal, a threat, and most importantly to Zero and the Resistance, Bait. She could already see the signals on her tacmap moving, ten lances of Sutherlands, Gloucester's and the dreaded lance of Vincent's all heading towards her in a full frontal assault, the strategy the Viceroy was using was clear even to her, Knightmare Breakthrough tactics, pioneered in the invasion of Asia to shatter frontlines and punch a Knightmare formation into the enemy supply lines and command staff.

It was a lot less effective when the quality of pilots was lower than those of the Nine Hells.

The flanks of their assault were already being peeled off from the front runners as the Resistance lances engaged them at range with slash harkens and Knightmare-rifles, the center now reaching the school Kallen focused, the Gracchus leaping from its rooftop hold onto the Vincent's while Zero’s voice came over the comms.

“Now B-4! Q-Lance, engage Chaos mines!” 

The Vincent was surprised, overwhelmed even, by her leap, as Kallen fired her slash harkens to either side of it to reel herself in even faster, the sharped bottom of the flagpole braced under her arm as she struck the Vincent at terminal velocity, the flagpole punching through its armor because of the sheer momentum behind it, and into its cockpit through the chest. She raised the Gracchus from its position standing atop the now compressed Vincent and its dead pilot, the flag of Japan waving proud on the pole, its base now the corpse of one who oppressed its people. 

Drawing her rapier’s Kallen faced the remains of the Vincent lance, the stunned seventh generation Knightmares staring down her sixth gen Gracchus, behind them her new squad mates engaged the Gloucester lances with Chaos Mines, pinning them down and keeping them away from the fight. That was when Zero finally triggered the trap, finally delivered punishment on the Brits for their attack against the people of the Ghetto, as B-4, Tekkaden, burst through the ground beside her, rappelling up from the underground tunnels, the Sutherlands they were piloting and the lead Gloucester each carrying a Pride Corp Knightmare Plasma Rifle. 

“Burn.” She spoke over open comms in British, letting the Vincents know what was about to happen to them, before charging in.

Chapter Text

“And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider 's name was Death.”

Revelation 6-8

The Man-Machine interface was an idea that had always interested Suzaku, well, always was a bit of an overstatement, but ever since he started his new life with the Special Core, Since he first heard of it from Miss Cecile, who had explained it to him with such enthusiasm and vitriol a few months back. And while testing the Vincent he had been disappointed at the lack of a proper Man-Machine interface, just a few subvocalized commands for automating maneuvers, nothing at all like the Shen Hu or Mephistopheles, who scanned literal intentions out of the brain.

Of course, those machines put abhorrent stress on the brain and body, with the Shen Hu currently only operating at twelve percent of its ability with an Ace as its pilot, even then Princess Marrybell needed regular checkups from doctors to monitor the stress. The Mephistopheles was a different and far more lethal machine, its pilot could only move the overtuned monster because of intricate cranial and eye implants, and with those the Mephistopheles was an unstoppable monster that pushed the limits of the seventh generation to the edge. 

The Vincent's had none of that, being just the most cost effective Seventh Generation frame Lloyd could make, and when he had complained about that, Miss Cecile explained to him that those systems came with a cost, even beyond the human one, which she assured him Lloyd was working around, most importantly they were expensive . In the Billions expensive. The Shen Hu had been built with the budget of the entire federation behind it and had still been a one off, and the Mephistopheles cost more then two billion Pounds . While ASEEC was well funded, it did not have close to the budget to perfect a low end MM Interface, not for the seventh generation without harming the pilots, hence why Lloyd had instead invested all of it in the Lancelot's. 

“Lancelot’s, Man-Machine interface engaged.” He felt as the Lancelot became part of himself a limb he never knew yet could control perfectly, it seemed eager to move with his thoughts, ready for his commands, his thoughts moving the head and the cameras within to look around the ASEEC transport, taking in Cecile as the woman ran through his readings and Lloyd as the man argued with the Viceroy. With a mental command the Lancelot rose to a ready stance, its hind legs falling from its back, hitting the ground with a metallic thud as he made a quick circular trot with its small in hoof landspinners, getting used to the equine movements again after nearly a week away from the controls, before locking its legs into the blocks and stabilizing the Lancelot. “Reactor operating within expected parameters.”

“Yes, it seems Ludds prototype is working as intended… Commander Kururugi, please proceed through the boot cycle from scratch and activate combat mode, but keep weapons locked!” 

“Yes, Earl Asplund.” Powering down and shuddering at the strange feeling at the back of his mind as the Man-Machine link snapped away, the Lancelot folded itself back into its storage configuration, before he reinserting the key fob, and initiated its full boot sequence from null.

“Reactor Online.” The bass filled voice of the Lancelot's system drummed into his ears as the rudimentary fusion reactor came to life, the generator providing power directly into the Lancelot’s Sakuradite infused body, the screens once again springing on, the world flashing briefly as they colour adjusted.

“Systems Online.” The fact sphere popped open briefly, their complex sensors taking in the Ghetto ahead, the slaughter ongoing at the hands of the Terrorist that had brought such slaughter on the people they claimed to protect, breathing deep to calm himself and steel his nerves. Lloyd was already arguing the case to the Viceroy, the Lancelot would Ride soon, this would be over and peace would return.

“Thrusters Online.” The Lancelot had been fitted with several Jets based on the Asmodeus Plasma Wing system, embedded in its four legs and on its back, letting it leap like a creature from myth instead of a mere Centaur, and they briefly kicked in the hanger, sending several of Lloyds stray papers into the air as the man laughed.

“Man-Machine interface linked at twenty four percent output.” The maximum he could handle right now, something that would increase as he gained familiarity with the Lancelot's Man-Machine Interface, even at twenty four percent it put him leagues above the average Seventh Generation frame.

“Shields Online.” The Lancelot flashed green briefly as a corona of shields came into existence, the Aura Luminous system encased the machine in a low power green barrier that quickly turned translucent, it would provide protection from lesser damage instead of armor, a more lightweight solution compared to conventional tungsten alloy armor. Combined with Blaze Luminous emitters embedded throughout the Lancelot's body that could take concentrated fire it made the Lancelot almost invincible to anything except dedicated anti Knightmare weaponry. 

“Weapons Online.” Two hip mounted Slash Harkens with Harken Boosters, six turret mounted Slash Harkens on the equine back, also with Harken Boosters, two built in VARIS cannons within its shoulders, currently non functional awaiting specialized ammunition delivery from the Homeland, two MVS swords mounted on the shoulder sheaths, two emergency use Blaze Luminous blades built into the hands. All ready for combat.

“Main System, Activating Combat Mode, Weapons, Locked.” 

“Excellent! It's now or never my lord! The Vincent's are nothing to scoff at, and those Terrorists just blew them away!” Lloyd cheered and Suzaku calmed himself, his boss was eccentric, but Lloyd was working the Viceroy over with words, all at Suzaku’s request to deploy, to gather combat data and end the Terrorists.

To end the slaughter they brought on themselves.

“Can it do it then Lloyd? You little Eight Gen Toy?” 

“Oh please your Highness, It's no mere toy! It's the world's first Eight Generation Knightmare Frame, the future of armored Cavalry! My Magnum Opus! Please do call it… The Lancelot Du Lac!” The Eccentric gestured wildly behind himself towards the Knightmare inquisition, hands waving in what Suzaku could only describe as jazz hands towards his prized mecha. “And it cannot just win, it will.” 

“Excellent, patch me through to the pilot.” Suzaku blinked at the request, before steeling himself and keeping his mind clear, this was his superior, the Area’s direct commander; he had to be professional and obedient. “You are Commander Kururugi correct?” 

“Yes, Viceroy.” Curt, simple, quick, obedient. As the Royals and officers liked. 

“I questioned the Prime Minister's judgement in promoting a barbaric Eleven to a command rank, let alone letting you pilot his toy, but so far Schneizel's judgement has not failed him or myself…” The Ponce Prince paused as his Chinese advisor whispered words into his ear. “But if there is anything the Numbers that choose to become Honorary Britannians have shown during this World War it's surprising loyalty and competence, your mission is simple; Deploy to Shinjuku Ghetto and destroy the Terrorist Knightmares, end this fighting.” 

“Yes, Viceroy.” He lowered the Du Lac into a ready stance as the doors of the ASEEC transport lowered. “CZ-01-Lancelot Du Lac, ready to launch.” 

“Go, White Knight, show them the glory of Britannia!” 

“Lancelot, now launching!” Like a horse in a race the Du Lac accelerated out of the gates, using a combination of its landspinners, thruster assisted leaps and actual equine galloping to easily clear two hundred kilometers an hour in under three seconds, blitzing into the Ghetto. He slowed as he threw the De Lac into a turn, the lighting quick on a dime motion only possible with its four legs, he then launched his slash harkens, all eight of them, at the surround buildings, pulling them in simultaneously and giving the jets in the legs a kick to send him high above the Ghetto.

The fact sphere opened at the height of the jump, taking in the battlefield the Ghetto had turned into, the Terrorists had overwhelmed the Britannian units almost completely, with only the remnants of lances still in operation fighting desperately against the Terrorist own Knightmare forces. Suzaku tagged the closest enemy lance, one made up of Sutherlands that was making its way to harass the encirclement line, and as the Harkens reeled themselves fully back, he kicked the air behind the Du Lac with its hind legs, jetting the mech in their direction, firing the other thrusters to land on a roof still going at speed, galloping over the top of the apartment buildings. 

“Weapons, Free.” 

Leaping down upon the lance of Sutherlands Suzaku trampled the lead frame under hoof, stomping the machine into the concrete with the sounds of bending and twisting metal and sending its cockpit screaming into the sky, while, with a practiced mental command, the Lancelot drew its MVS, setting the blades alight with red energy. The Terrorists were somewhat trained, as they opened fire upon the Eight gen Knightmare, but they were hopelessly out-specced, and the few shots that hit the lighting fast machine deflecting off the Aura Luminous like spit balls hitting the wall. 

Suzaku swung low with his left sword as he passed a Terrorist Sutherland, cleaving its legs off before planting a jet bearing rear hoof against the cockpit, melting it and killing the pilot inside as he used the boost of speed to cross the distance to another Terrorist frame, cleaving through it as he went, the broken parts and bits of a person pinging off the Aura Luminous as he went. The last Sutherland continued to retreat, firing its rifle as Suzaku went to give chase, trotting after it faster than a car while the panicked pilot hit a dead end, Suzaku decided that mercy was fine for this one, and fired the hip harkens, ripping the frames legs out from under it and sending the ejection block straight into the wall behind it. 

“Well struck!” The Viceroys compliment went ignored as Suzaku leapt onto the rooftops once more, searching for his next fight, this had to end quickly, violently, better to kill the terrorists then let them be tortured and killed slowly, better for the civilians too. “Move on to the next sector!” 

“Yes Viceroy.” 

“Suzaku!? How is it operating? Any comments?” Lloyd came over the secondary connection, a scoff coming from the Viceroy, of course the ever positive and excitable man did not care and pressed on. “Any suggestions while you are at it?” 

“Lacking reach sir, the swords work but I cannot reach behind the rear legs with them, it's a vulnerability.” 

“Ohh! You have just given me an idea, I will get back to you about it.”

Refocusing on his movement Suzaku noted he was moments away from another lance of Sutherlands, and for this one, he would have to be quicker, lest the surrounding infantry get anti Knightmare weapons aimed for a shot on the Lancelot… so quick he would be, dashing into the street. The lance was prepared for him, showing that the terrorists at least had a competent commander, but their infantry was still getting ready, so all the Knightmare rifle fire from the lance did was ping off his Aura Luminous as the Lancelot cut through two Sutherlands in a second each. 

This was too easy, much too easy.

That thought lasted all of two seconds, as the next lance he engaged pulled him into a flanking maneuver by another lance with infantry reinforcements, forcing the shield systems to trigger the Blaze Luminous panels to reinforce the Aura Luminous as he was hammered with Chaos Mines from ambushing Sutherlands. The reactor heated his cockpit as it increased its cycles to power the Blaze Luminous through the barrage while the Lancelot continued to thunder down the street with its weapons raised, the reactor was far superior to the previous Energy Filler based version he had been piloting. 

Still the amount of resistance was concerning.

He leapt up to the roof tops, knocking the next four chaos mines of course and into the ground as he went, and as he landed he spun the De Lac on its small land spinners on the front legs, and lashed out with the back legs in a thruster boosted kick, knocking the mech off the building and down to the street below, and with his back now secured, he fired the Harken Boosters. They were one off things, as they could not refuel during combat because the fuel lines for that had been, in Lloyds words, too explosive, meaning he had to return to base before he could fire them a second time, still, once was enough, as eight Harkens nearly broke the sound barrier and carved the heads and bodies of six Sutherlands in. 

“Reactor output diminished, heat critical.” There was the issue with the Du Lac’s new reactor, heat management was a whole different beast from fuel management, and the Du Lac, while insane on performance, needed breaks of multiple seconds between engagements to cool if its shields were used. This was mainly because of the Sakuradite infusions throughout the frame, Sakuradite was a wonder material both as fuel and as a room temperature superconductor, but if the material became to heated its power throughput diminished heavily, meaning the Lancelot’s performance plummeted if it got too hot. “Heat management in progress, venting heat...” 

Steam bellowed out from the De Lac as Suzaku used the lull in combat to engage the factspheres once more, the Terrorist forces had been hit hard by both the Lancelot and the remaining Pureblood lances, anywhere between a fourth to a third of their Knightmares already destroyed, but their commander was wisening up, pulling his forces back and assuming defensive positions better suited for combating the Lancelots larger than average profile. His factspheres locked onto what he assumed to be the largest threat, a red painted Gracchus model, its rapiers bloodied and its pilot notorious as much as his former mentor was, the Red Dragoness, the woman who bloodied a Knight of the Round in an inferior machine. 

“My Prince?” The voice of General Bartley, the prime arselicker himself came softly into the comm line from Prince Clovis. “That unit- Your brother Prince Alexander has a bounty placed on its pilot, alive, capturing the pilot and the unit may do much to return you to his favour.” 

“Little Andre? Interested in a woman? I would have thought hell would freeze over first.” The prince laughed, a clear ringing sound, and Suzaku did his best to ignore the implications of a Prince desiring an Eleven Terrorist, fingers cracking around the controls as he held them even tighter. “I suppose it would be an Ace, Commander Kururugi, your priority shifts, capture that unit, with it gone the Elevens will surely break and allow us to sweep the ghetto clean of hostiles.

“Yes, Viceroy.” His voice was still curt, still professional, still bitter and filled with anger, this whole situation was terrible, reprehensible, but it further showed the need for his ideology to spread, change from within was possible, he was already changing Camelot by his being here. But change, peaceful change, can only happen when there is peace, and while the Empire was not the only nation on the planet, peace would not exist, so he would fight, to make peace, until he stood at the top of the Empire and could force change, he steeled himself, breathing out and then moved, moved to capture a Japanese woman fighting for what she believed in, to deliver her to their shared occupiers for whatever nefarious things they would do to her.

Another sacrificed life, for the cause. 

All Hail Britannia.

“Please, stand down.” He spoke in perfect Pendragon accent British over the open line as he stood opposite the Gracchus and its defensive position, ignoring the many, many weapons aimed his way and the Viceroys eyes over his shoulder as he moved the Lancelot in a trot side to side. “This could end right now, if you just surrender.” 

“Shinjimae.” He blinked and held his reflexive laugh, he had known that traditional polite Japanese was dying, only practiced amongst the high level collaborators and remaining elite in hiding, but to hear such curses spoken plainly? To him? It was honestly a little amusing. 

“Commander Kururugi, a duel would also be acceptable! Show the Eleven scum that their idol in the making is nothing but trash.” 

“We can settle this with a Duel if we must, your men do not have to die here, the Viceroy just wants to end this.” And you, he held back. “All of you can get out of this alive.” 

“Zakenna.” The Red Knightmares pilot barked at him with a melodical laugh following it as she charged, her Gracchus surprisingly agile and far faster than the frame should have reasonably been, he was forced to block her rapiers with his MVS, turning their vibration off lest he accidentally kill her. The Gracchus then spun on its heels to avoid his counter strike in a pirouette that would have given the average pilot a headache, and then raked her rapiers against his Aura Luminous, which was when her Terrorist friends opened fire on him as well. “Tsk.” 

Leaping back and taking another raking strike with the rapiers because of it Suzaku ran the Du Lac into an alley to dodge the barrage of gunfire and infantry sized anti-Knightmare weaponry coming from the other Terrorists while the Gracchus gave chase, its pilot harrying him the entire way. She was good, damn good, with natural talent and many, many hours of simulator training all in the same machine, counter to him and the Lancelot, who had been forced to work with what was functionally a different machine almost every time he got behind the controls because of Lloyds work. The woman was better than him currently and mainly because of experience, but the specs of the Lancelot's Du Lac were far, far above a Gracchus, and it showed as the machine chasing him quickly fell behind, he turned on his heels in equine trot, slashing a cross that the Gracchus barely dodged. 

They locked blades several more times, the Gracchus’ footwork far better than his own four legs and he found himself slowly pushed back, even his hip slash harkens being deflected by her own, and Suzaku frowned deeply, this would have been over a thousand times now if he could kill her, instead she was pushing him back. He reared up on the Lancelot's hind legs as he slashed upwards. The Gracchus spun between his slices, thrusting its rapiers against the Aura Luminous on the lower portion of the hind leg section, the portion that lacked a Blaze Luminous projector, and the Aura Luminous faltered for a half second, the blades carving a five inch deep gash in the light armor and the Gracchus fell back before he could counter with a swipe or front leg kick. 

He expected the Gracchus to dash inwards again, as the pilot seemed fond of cycle charges like that from her previous attacks, but she instead continued to back off, and then Chaos Mines rolled down the sides of the alley, and Suzaku groaned as the Lancelot was pinned down again. He was more then content to wait out the mines while advancing slowly on the Gracchus, but the red mecha stabbed its rapiers into the concrete and unfolded a large weapon from its back, aiming at him and making Lloyd-

“That's a Sakuradite tipped shell! Admin override! All power to shields!” Scream through the comms into his fucking ears owwww. A flick of his eyes showed that in the vid connection Miss Cecile shoved the Earl aside and followed the man's orders with another of her own. 

“Brace yourself Commander!” 

The panic in her voice made sure that he did, in fact, brace, holding tight to the controls of the Lancelot as the Gracchus fired its cannon, the pink tipped shell hitting the full power Blaze Luminous, and Suzaku found himself thrown around in the cockpit as the physical force of the shell as the Lancelot was blow clean through the building. When he had blinked the stars away the Lancelot was half buried in rubble, and the cockpit was hot, sweltering even, the emergency heat vents blasting steam around the frame as he directed it to slowly pull itself free from the rubble. His factspheres popped open and Suzaku took in the surroundings again, the Gracchus was raising its cannon ready for another shot, but this time he could dodge, yet he would only have a few minutes at most at this level of heat to deal with her before he would be forced into open cycle venting the reactor, which would be his death. 

He engaged the MVS, the red coating over the blades returning, if it was his life or hers…

“This is Third Prince Clovis La Britannia to all Britannian forces, stand down and break the encirclement, this fighting has gone on for long enough! All soldiers are hereby ordered to cease combat and return to their stations! Cease fire at once!” 

What the-

“Commander Kururugi, fallback.” Cecile’s tone left no room for argument, so with a sigh he turned on a dime and sped towards the ASEEC truck. 

“Is that satisfactory?” Mao, restrained by the Geass controlled Royal Guard could only watch and hear in horror as the man, as Lelouch Vi Britannia, considered his brother's death, considered what he should do, what he would do to Mao. “Or would you like me to bring the Terrorists tea and crumpets as well?”

“Sarcasm does you no service, Brother.” In the man's credit it took Clovis only two blinks to figure out who the man threatening his life was, at which the man had a brief moment of what Mao called loud bluescreening, broadcasting nothing but garbled confusion from his mind. “We both know you are not fond of tea as much as coffee, but we are not here to discuss such things, it's been a while Clovis, and I have some questions for you.” 

“Lelouch… So it was you, you're this Zero… Because of Fath-”

“No. That man is not my Father Clovis, he made that clear, as clear as you all did, when you stopped searching for me, when you stopped caring.” The monster, Lelouch, paused. “Close the eyes on that one.” 

Mao struggled again as the guards covered his eyes with their hands, fighting in vain against the stronger men as they kept him restrained, knowing what the monster was planning to do with him, what he wanted to do with him, if not for C.C holding… something over his head.

“Answer me.”  

“Yes, your majesty…” 

“Who killed my Mother?”

“I do not know, Prince Schneizel, Prince Alexander and Princess Cornelia investigated but they did not share the results with me. Father forbade it.” 

“Hmp.” The monster made into man exhaled, and Mao saw his thoughts as he raised the pistol and fired the entire clip into his own brother's head, each shot taking chunks out of the man until nothing was left of the top of his head except for a damaged spine and a dangling jaw. “Open his eyes.”

Sight returned to Mao as he tried to keep his eyes closed, tried to resist as the guards held his eyes open, forced to look into the eyes of the monster.

“You will forget all about your life up to and including today, you will believe you are Maurice Lamperouge, a long lost cousin, who only seeks to use his Geass to help his remaining family.” 

He resisted, screamed internally, begged for dead as much as he could, but in milliseconds, Mao ceased to exist.

Chapter Text

“My eyes are among the stars, my ears are everywhere and there is nowhere on this little marble of a planet that my hands cannot reach. So, I ask you once again, why do you think I would ever fear you?” 

Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia, speaking to his sister Guinevere De Britannia.

“Clovis is dead.” In Twenty Sixteen, far earlier than he should have been, far earlier than I had expected, I must have changed something about Lelouch or the events in Japan more than I expected to, because this goes wildly outside the expected parameters. Marrybell seemed to take the news with a mix of shock and confusion, she was not close to Clovis, had not been part of Empress Marianne's little circle of children and had not known him much when growing up, but she was still a princess of Britannia, and showed the expected sadness. Dismounting from the Shen Hu, which she had claimed as her personal mount while Ludd was working on his eighth gen projects, she followed behind me as I led her to the center of the Siberian base, where the rest of the order commanders were standing in formation. “There was a disaster in Shinjuku, a Ghetto neighboring Tokyo. Clovis hid much from the homeland since Jean departed her post as Sub-Viceroy, and it seems that some of that came back to end him, he was found dead in his command G-1 after ordering the Ghetto exterminated. ”

“The information has not been sent to the homeland?” She asked and shook my head, OSI had already known too.. “So OSI agents picked it up then, the nobles must be hiding it, it might be days before he is announced dead, days where they can hide their own involvement…” 

“Exactly, before then, we have something I have delayed for a while now, I imagine you wonder why I held you at my side for so much longer than Ashley and Jean.” I paused, looking over my friends and sister, mind still reeling with the news of my brother's death. “This is not because I did not think you ready, quite the opposite, it is because I need someone to lead in my stead, and for that…”

“You needed me to learn, learn to act as you do in leadership, so the troops do not fear lacking you, even for a little while.” 

“Exactly. Marrybell Mel Britinnia, Kneel.” I drew the sword at my hip as my sister fell onto a knee, then tapped her shoulders and head in sequence, the standard knighting ceremony was one the Hells had adopted, but we held far less… ostentatious ceremonies. “Rise now as Baalzebul, Lady of the Nine Hells, I charge you with command of the continued operations within Siberia.”

“You will go to Area Eleven then? Will you take the Viceroyalty?” 

“No, at least, I do not plan too, Cornelia is already packing for that on the orders of the Emperor, I am taking over the NPO office and investigate where Cornelia cannot, I will be taking Marius and Shamna with me, for security and to augment the investigation, as  well as three lances of Hesperian's for emergency wetworks, can you manage the front without them?” 

“Of course Brother, I will need some reinforcements from the homeland then, however, Oz and her Glinda Knights perhaps?” I smirked at the tone she took, so hopeful, so possessive… “They are recently formed, but their seventh generation frames are a match for a Hesparian and their tactics are well suited for Siberian warfare.” 

“And, I am sure, this has nothing to do with your crush on their Commander?” Her scarlet blush made my smile rise from normal and pleasant into teasing. “Oldrin and you were childhood friends, maybe you were even slated to be more…” 

“Wha-” Marrybell blinked as I threw myself into her for a hug, my little sister yelping as I lifted her up. “Andre!” 

“Oh I am so proud little sis, most of our siblings are way too stuck up about this kind of thing, good for you going for what you want! As your brother it is my obligation to support your relationship.” Putting her down the small girl sighed as I patted her head. “God, if you could show this level of initiative to Nelly she and Guilford may finally take the leap.” 

“Heh.” Despite her, naturally fake, sulking, Marrybell could not stop the laugh going through her. “I don't think father would like that.” 

“Oh, he would hate it, but if he wanted to marry Nelly off in a political match he should not have had Marianne raise the girl.” I took a moment to breathe. “Now, I must be off, it's a six hour flight to Sevastopol and another twelve hours on the Nessus before I get to Tokyo, keep me updated on the situation here.” 

“Yes, Knight-Commander.” 

“This whole thing reeks of the OSI…” Jeremiah Gottwald frowned as he read through the bridge logs of the Viceroys G-1 prior to the point where they were erased, the audio was concerning to say the least, this Mao figure had no registered identity within the Area, no time of arrival, no known purpose, they did not know he existed before this, he was a true ghost. He could possibly be an NPO operative, but NPO’s covert forces were more wetworks oriented then infiltration, and they lacked the authority needed to so subtly order around a Viceroy, then again it was also possible the Viceroy had a lover none of the Purists knew about… 

His phone rang, shaking him from his speculation and drawing his attention back to the present, it did not really matter, all the purists needed was a good scapegoat, the Prince’s death was inconsequential. 

“Villetta? Have you secured Bartley?” 

“Had him tied like a roast pig and headed for the airport until NPO officers intercepted us, pulled rank with orders from Prince Alexander, so we folded and handed him over, hope that it's not an issue.” Unfortunate, but not unexpected, the Knight-Command was known to have a vested interest in the Area, beyond even the interest made by the islands being his main supply line in Siberia and he would likely want to interrogate the general himself, it meant they had to push up their operations a little bit. “What about the bid for the Viceroyalty?”

“Already done, I have been raised to interim Viceroy, pending the arrival of Princess Cornelia next week, do we have a perpetrator to tug in front of the courts?”

“One, the Honorary Battalions were too far back to make a believable cover story, even for a Judge we own, but I have a potential target, with a believable motive too, sending you the files now.” Opening his email Jeremiah scanned through the files, Suzaku Kururugi, son of the former Prime Minister now Commander Kururugi of the Special Core, pilot of the experimental unit, an Eleven, piloting a Knightmare, it was enough to make him scoff, that filth had no right to call themselves anything other then worthless after what they had done to his former charges. “He was reported to be engaging terrorist forces, but we can easily push that as a lie, Lloyd Asplund is a no name in terms of political power, he won't be able to fight the charges, and if he were to speak to his patron? It would already be too late, and the Second Prince is notably pragmatic.” 

“The trial will have to be two days hence, the arrest tomorrow evening at the latest, talk to Diethard Reed, the HTV guy, he is in my pocket, should be able to doctor footage as needed..” 

“Yes, Viceroy.” 

He could find himself getting used to that title.

“You cannot do this!” Major Cecile Croomy was a rather stunning woman, and quite a loud one, Jeremiah noted. She was however, willing to put herself between him and the Eleven, the Kururugi, one of the people guilty for the death of the Vi Britannia’s, willing to fight for him, and that instantly dragged her down to the lowest dregs of society, the reasons why a Britannian woman might do so dragging her even lower. “Commander Kururugi is commissioned in the Special Operations Unit of the Special Core, answerable only to the Second Prince and The Emperor, thus outside of the civil and noble law structure, you do not have the authority to arrest him.” 

“I don't?” He held himself steady, focused, exhaling he spoke again. “I assure you, Major Croomy, that the death of a Prince of the Empire gives me, the current Viceroy and arbiter of the Civilian Government, more than enough authority to arrest a suspected regicide! You are hereby ordered to stand down, failing to follow this order will be met with subsequent court marshal following the arrival of a two star or above general, attempting to further obstruct our investigation will be seen as treason to the Empire.” 

“That would be true if you had such authority, Margrave Jeremiah, but as Earl Asplunds Guardian ad litem I am both outside of the standard military command structure and part of the Noble commissioned command, and as such entitled to Noble arbitration. As part of the Earls personal retinue, and part of the Second Princes Royal regiment, Commander Kururugi is entitled to the same arbitration by law. You as part of the Civilian Government, Interim Viceroy, have no authority over us, we answer only to the Royal Family.” The woman was laying down law terms for a reason, she must know that Kururugi was getting arrested no matter what, but with her words she had fallen into an unfortunate pitfall of Britannian law, and its separation of Commoner, Nobles and Royalty. Royal law was king, ordered directly by the Emperor and above the others, but Noble law had long since adopted to use that power for their own if the situation called for it, and if they could get away with it.

“As Interim Viceroy of the Civilian government in Area Eleven, I am suing Honorary Britannian Commander Kururugi for Regicide, a crime not covered by the Noble or Civilian charter, but instead under the Royal charter, prosecuted in absentia of our Glorious Emperor by the Civilian government.” Attempting to push the woman aside Jeremiah found himself with a now broken nose as she sucker punched him, blinking away the stars at the edge of his vision he held up his hand to stop Villetta and Kewell as they reached for their swords. “Major Croomy, you will receive ten lashes for obstruction of a Civil Government arrest, as dictated by the Bismarck compromise of Eighteen Ninety, step aside. Now.”

“As you wish.” The woman had steel at her core, and despite her seeming proclivities, he could respect that. “Expect recordings and statements about this conversation to be forwarded to the Second Prince and the House of Lords.” 

“Very well.” 

Making Kururugi watch as as his commanding officer and possible lover received ten lashes just for standing up for his kind was perhaps cruel, no, it most definitely was, and he felt no satisfaction as the woman bit down on leather for every strike, but showing the Eleven that people sympathising with him would not be tolerated was a good final lesson before his trial and probable execution. 

Having his back to the bars gave Suzaku the pleasant illusion he was not currently in prison, and instead simply meditating, which, to be fair, was a fragile illusion as he did not meditate often, or at all, still it was more pleasant then reality. He had failed, both as the Pilot of the Lancelot, failing to follow the Viceroy's orders to capture the Gracchus, he had failed to protect the Viceroy, he had failed to protect Miss Cecile…

“Cecile is fine Suzaku, though I have never seen her more enraged than she is now…” Lloyd’s words did little for his troubled mind, this whole situation was beyond the pale, more terrible then he had ever expected, and it showed that while the Empire could change, some part of it did not want to. For every Schneizel El Britannia there would be a Jeremiah Gottwald, with a dozen people who did not care in between them, he inhaled, calming himself, change was necessary, the world had to be shown that. “As for your situation? Well I called in a personal favour.” 

“My case won't be thrown out will it? Justice must be served Lloyd.” 

“Oh, but this is not justice, Suzaku Kururugi.” The voice was not Lloyds, far more firm, and baritone in ways that made his chest rumble slightly, he looked over his shoulder, and Suzaku recognized the man that spoke, for he had studied every single battle the man had fought, studied every single move the man had ever made in combat. Prince Alexander was one of the eighteen Prince Alexanders in the Royal family, but he was the only one that mattered in the grand scheme of things, and now the Knight-Commander of the Nine Hells stood in front of his cell, the tall blonde standing flanked by a shamelessly dressed woman that could only be Shamna, the pilot of the only other equine Knightmare, and another subject of his studies. “The Purebloods have seen fit to weaponize the Justice System, and that must be punished severely.”

“Your Highness?!” With a startled blink Suzaku rose and bowed in a courtly Britannian manner, as he had trained so many times. “But… if I may?” 

“Of course, speak freely.” 

“The Justice system is where the truth will come to light sir.” He made sure to speak plainly, firmly, as Prince Schneizel had told him his siblings would expect. “It's meant to serve as a balance between the Nobility and Commoners, overreach is punished.” 

“It would be, in an ideal world, but, as we both know, that is not the kind of world we live in.” The man sighed, shaking his head which made the thick blonde bob of hair on his head shake. “What Gottwald did here is an overreach. Yes, he is a Noble, influencing the civilian government with Royal law, but… The protections the Nobles have written into the system over the centuries grants them increased power in the absence of someone with an Emperor appointed position, I assume you are familiar with Britannian law?”

“Britannian separates its judicial system into three intermingling blocks.” He recited the textbook on Britannian law from memory. “The Civilian law deals with matters for all, unless overwritten by Noble or Royal law, the Noble Law charter poses a complex set of exemptions and duties, while the Royal law is dictated by the will of the current Emperor, which under our Glorious Emperor Charles zi Britannia holds limited rules, meant to allow further social Darwinism.”

“A shit system, yes.” Shamna spoke, the woman's tone tinted with clear amusement, and Suzaku resisted the urge to glare at her, she was a raised noble, royalty in her own nation, it was not his place. “Were you not working on that Andre?”

“It's quite difficult to rewrite two Thousand years of legal code filled with purposeful loopholes, exemptions and things I can only imagine are there to offend me personally, it has proven to be extremely time consuming. The legal codex is a work in progress, and so we are stuck with our current laws, a set of archaic and backwards systems that are tailor made for abuse, of course, that is why political factions are usually smart enough to stay away from abusing them, because if you rub the lamp…”

“Cant put the Genie back in the bottle, so…” Lloyd leaned forwards, smiling at the prince as he waved his arms in extravagant ADHD fueled movements that Suzaku had long since grown used to. “What's the plan?” 

“I am going to turn the court case into a court martial, using the Royal law to dismiss the case with prejudice and charges of Slander levied towards the Pureblood faction, take the wind out of their sails by cutting down the damned mast, a clean solution, but one that keeps you in prison for a while longer Suzaku.” The man looked a little upset at that, something that Suzaku found strange, the Prince had no reason to feel for his situation, he was even going to be helping him, even if the whole situation was yet another sign that the empire needed change. “They will make a show of it all, they are going to announce the death of the Prince and their accusations today, tomorrow they will move you to the court, expect a parade and all the bells and whistles, the trail would have been the days following, but won't take more than a day.” 

“I… is this truly the best way forward? The Purebloods are in the wrong, I cannot, will not, deny that but to use the courts like this? Is it not a grave miscarriage of justice?” 

“It is, I cannot deny that.” The prince reached between the bars, something that would see any other visitor beaten and placed a hand on Suzaku’s shoulder, the firm grip a strange comfort. “Understand this Suzaku, Justice is a strange and caged beast in the Empire, its weak, its dying, rotting, and that rot must be trimmed, lest it fall fully, the current system is transient, with luck, we will replace it with a better one. Can I count on you to help with that?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Come now Suzaku, you cannot let this opportunity lie, with your acquittal you will be in the public eye, with backlash and support in equal measure, but any kind of attention can be turned to your advantage, turned to your cause, take the time to cultivate that attention and you can become an important influencer.” The Prince paused, whipping a smart phone from his suit pocket, tapping over the screen at such speeds that Suzaku questioned exactly what he was doing. “Do you have a Metube channel? What's your Roar att? Your Twatter handle? Your Mybook Mi? Picgramm username?”

“My what nows?” 

“Oh, Suzaku, I have so much to teach you…” 

Chapter Text

“Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea... and ideas are bulletproof.”

Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

Waking up the day after the Shinjuku disaster had been chaotic, Kallen had barely slept that night because of the sheer workload suddenly on them, having to rally the Knightmares, inventory damages and captured equipment as well as task repairs to the maintenance groups and reorganise lances based on injuries. The following day had been filled with meetings and damage control, making sure the Resistance maintained its existing operations following Shinjuku, and communication with other resistance groups to make sure they knew about the shit storm about to head their way.

The day after, waking up in her bed back in the villa, Kallen found that she quickly returned to normal habits, waking at six thirty in the morning and checking her daily For You page on Roar for Knightmare news, then watching Metube video about whatever tickled her for the day, today being a video from Pridecorp official regarding the development of Float panels. Rising at seven she showered, dressed and ate breakfast in her room as to not mingle with her stepmom or the maid, then dolling up her hair and applying her makeup before heading out the door at eight, arriving to school a solid half an hour early and hanging around the student council clubhouse with Shirley and Nina.

The routine was hard to kick.

Ever since she had first gotten behind the controls of the Sutherland Simulator she had a mild obsession with Knightmares, and they had taken over much of her free time, to the point she now found learning and working with them relaxing, a part of her routine, and her main hobby. Some might find Knightmares a weird hobby, and it kind of was, but Kallen had not felt as fulfilled, as entertained, and as happy as she had while working on or piloting the Gracchus, or when she was immersing herself in some new advancement for the mechas.

At school tough? She had little time to indulge in her hobby, mainly keeping away from anything that could get her blood pumping or her excitement to further separate her Kallen Stadfelt identity from her Kozuki one. The only reason she even went to school at all these days was because Naoto insisted she get her education done with, and to keep their father in the dark on the support she had started sending the resistance by routing it through Lelouch and the school. 

She was still ‘out sick’ often of course, she had things to do with the resistance, things that were both more enjoyable and important then sitting in class, but today they were lying low and Lelouch needed her for something after school as well, so she languished through the day as best she could. She followed behind Zero, behind Lelouch, as he approached the two strays she had picked up during the Shinjuku disaster, while C.C followed at his other side, flanking their leader and drawing looks from the student body as they went.

“Mario, Maya, please come with me.” Kallen stood behind Lelouch, behind Zero as he approached the Disel twins after the day's classes had ended, falling into habits she had been picking up ever since Zero had joined up with the resistance and changed their fortunes, standing by his left like his personal Samurai. As the best fighter in the Tokyo resistance she commanded respect, Zero meanwhile was an unknown, a strange man in a strange mask with strange ideas, but, with her by his side, he gained the respect she had. Though, being in school that respect among the Japanese was much less needed, considering there were none of them around other than Kallen herself, still, it had become a habit and not one she had reason to break. “We have some things to talk about.” 

“Uh, sure Lelouch, lead the way.” Maya answered, the older twin, now that she had looked at the records to realize her heritage, had some Japanese traits, her eyes for one, complemented by a style the Britannians did not use but the Japanese did, Mario meanwhile, looked like Lelouch lite, lacking those features. “What do you need us for anyways?” 

“It's regarding your extracurricular activities.” The way they stiffened up did not excite confidence, nor did Mario’s reaching into his pockets for what was likely some kind of weapon, so Kallen showed the inside of her sleeve, letting the glint of her Luger stiffen the two of them further. “Please, there is nothing to be worried about, just follow me.” 

With the twins following behind them they headed into the student council building, where Sayoko had prepared them tea and snacks, the nervous twins seated themselves opposite Lelouch while she stood at his back, hiding her amusement as Lelouch sipped from his tea before addressing the twins. 

“I hope you are well, Q-2, Q-3.” The tone he took was a stark change from his regular one, Zero’s tone being calmer, more steady and more intimidating, and while he lacked the voice modulator without his mask he was still clearly Zero to anyone who had heard him. “You had a trying week, I imagine, your friends from the apartments are okay.” 

“Hina’s…?”

“Completely fine.” Lelouch paused, the clatter of his teacup being placed down filling the momentary silence. “All Shinjuku refugees were evacuated to Saitama, and will stay there for the next few days before moving back to rebuild. Hina’s survival however was mostly due to your own intervention, my question to you today is; Why? Why fight?” 

“For Hina.” Maya answered first, her brother nodding. “She… Our family is dead. Britannia killed them during the invasion. Afterwards we were adopted by the Garfield family, and while they try… we were raised Japanese, we are Japanese, and watching what the Empire does to our people… It never sat well with us, we helped where we could but…” 

“Neither of you look Japanese at first glance, so the people in the Ghetto tend to not like having you around.” Kallen interjected, she found a lot of common ground with the twins, neither she nor Naoto looked Japanese at first glance, especially when they did not dye their hair a less… Britannia colour, if not for Naoto being so ingrained in the community and later on the Resistance neither of them would have been able to get close to the people in Shinjuku. “But the orphans don't care where the food comes from, they are always hungry, so you bonded with them, helped them. It's noble enough.” 

“Yes.” Mario nodded at her, the boy had seemed to recognize who she was now if his wide eyes and cute-ish stunned expression were anything to go by. “We wanted to help, and the orphans needed help, and slowly we were becoming part of the community, part of their family, and then…”

“Then Britannia tried to take your family once again.” Zero nodded, fingers intertwined in front of him. “But, now that they are safe, what will you do? Will you go back to what you were doing, living a lie?”

“A lie?” Maya frowned. “Not a lie, but I can see what you mean, Britannia… it's evil, vile, disgusting. We want to fight.” 

“Then welcome to the Black Knights.” 

Black Knights huh? She could get behind the name.

Not much later the rest of the Council arrived, so the Disels were promptly inducted into the ranks of the club, and Kallen got some vindictive glee out of someone else suffering Milly’s initiation shenanigans, the twins seemingly blending well with the council, even if Nina was as antisocial as always. The group had finished their celebratory dinner when Nina called for everyone, and Kallen’s heart thumped in her throat as the news broadcast boomed over the speakers, Clovis was dead, she knew that, Zero had told the resistance that he had killed them, but of course the fucking Britannians would find someone to pin it on. 

Commander Suzaku Kururugi, captured for the murder of Prince Clovis la Britannia, a traitor blamed for the death of a prince, it was almost poetic… Her eyes drifted over to Lelouch, she half expected to find him smirking, to see some measure of pride or happiness, but instead she found concern, confusion and… rage? 

The early morning convoy rolled through the streets of the settlement, the cold morning air biting at the exposed skin of his neck and head as Jerramiah stoically sat in the open cockpit of his customize Glasgow, the Pride of the Pureblood regiments Knightmare core subtly coloured in the livery of house Gottwald with its orange headpiece. It surprised him somewhat how many spectators Diethard Reed had managed to procure for the six in the morning transport, as throngs of Birtannians cheered at the Purebloods and jowled insults at the Eleven they were transporting, the patriotism doing much to lighten his heart about the whole event. 

Thousands of voice shouting as the media’s helicopters buzzed overhead to broadcast the story across the Empire, telling the tale of the Purebloods finding out the cowardly Bartleys plot and the revolting tale of the murderer of the Prince he tried to cover up, the whole thing could even cement his Viceroyalty. He would likely not become Viceroy of Area Eleven, the place was far too high profile at the moment for a Margrave to be granted command, but a transfer to one of the South American Areas or perhaps a vaunted Oceanian Viceroyalty was a possibility. 

“Viceroy, we have a situation.” Kewel came over the comms, the man having taken up tactical command while he and Villete were out being figureheads and showing the colours of the purebloods. “Prince Clovis transport sir, its coming up the ramp in front of you.” 

“What?” This… was a situation so good he almost believed that HTV had set it up for him, a chance to give a show of force during a broadcasted event? It was excellent material for his career, a chance to showcase his capabilities in front of the entire nation. Maybe the Viceroyalty for Area Eleven was not as off the table as he had thought. “Let them through, it's an opportunity…”

“Yes, Viceroy.” 

When the transport came in front of the convoy Jerramiah could comfortably tell it was a fake, but that still took little away from the change presented, so with decorum and the passion the crowds expected he sent his Gloucester around the rest of his lance and past Villetta’s lance to block the transports approach. His MVS sword drawn in a fluid motion and set alight as he held a ready stance from the still open cockpit, channelling righteous fury as he stood out of the seat to stare down at the transport, calling out to its driver. 

“Who dares approach in his Highness's transport!?” 

With a flash of flame that almost made him flinch out of his adopted stance the Britannian flag that he knew was an embossing on the actual transport burned away, clearly made from cloth or maybe even paper on the fake as it lit in mere seconds, revealing a figure that made his frown deepen. It was tall, crowned with horns and black all around with barely noticeable accents of purple and red that almost made him think the figure was one of the Nine Hells, until it threw its arms wide, opening the black cloak to show the purple and gold suit below, immaculately tailored, then the figure raised its head, the black and purple mask making his heart skip a beat. 

This was someone threatening, it seemed to whisper, the entire ensemble made to draw attention but keep mystery, a masterful application of Prince Schneizel's tactics of attention redirection in clothing. 

A shame that the suit would soon be nothing but red with blood. 

“I am-” The Voice was oppressive, coming from all around him, speakers in the crowd broadcasting it wide over the highway, the silence at the masked man's pause almost oppressive. “Zero!” 

“Ha! Like nothing? How amusing.” He drawled, keeping his own act perfectly in place to hide his tremulous thoughts, participating in the masked man's show and ready to outplay him in it. “Take off your mask Zero, show us what kind of fool we are dealing with.” 

“Oh, I will be doing no such thing, Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald. Instead, I will be taking Commander Kururugi from your surely incapable hands.” He scoffed at the words, barely holding back a bark of laughter. “Please, hand him over to me.” 

“Never, a traitor like him must be punished, now remove your mask or we will open fire.” 

“Tsk.” The man made a sound as he shook his head, and waved his left hand around, clutching in it a detonator that made his own heart leap into his throat. “I am afraid that I must insist, this detonator is linked to sixty kilograms of explosive planted on the supports of this road, enough to send us all to Hell under the weight of concrete and rebar. Of course, I am willing to trade. This, for Kururugi.” 

“No, Kururugi killed our Prince! He must be punished!” Letting some now real anger seep into his voice Jeremiah gestured at the bound Eleven. “I will not see him go free!” 

“Oh, but Jerramiah, Kururugi did not kill Clovis-” He inhaled sharply, this was possibly the worst case scenario, no matter in the end, all news in the Empire was propaganda, a few edits and this would all flow over without issue, all he had to do was deal with this Zero calmly. “I did!”

He sighed, predictab-

“As I killed the Vi Britannians so long ago...” 

He froze.

Slamming the closing handle he practically vibrated in the now closed cockpit of the Gloucester. He blinked once, then twice, then thrice before the true weight of the words hit him. He blinked one last time as red tinted his vision, clutching at the controls as he raised its arms and charged forwards, screaming his rage to the world as he charged his gloucester forwards towards the transport, towards the murderer and monster he had to kill, bellowing his words out to the world.

“You! You-! You killed them!? Die Zero!” The masked man pressed the button on the detonator as he rushed him, smoke filled with refractive glitter filled the air, messing with the readings from his factsphere, comms and limiting his own vision, but he was already more then close enough, as his MVS was thrust forwards to impale Zero, to end him. “Die!”

The panels of the transport fell away as a red machine blitzed over to him, faster then he could react the Gracchus had caught his Glouchesters arm with its own hands, and with a wrench had pulled the sword from his grip and into its own, he pulled back, ejecting the arm to block the strike with his own blade. Villetta saved him from the second strike, her Sutherlands lance forcing the Gracchus to back away, and it freed him up to look for Zero, the masked man was running, making his way towards the edge of the platform, and with another roar Jerramiah gave chase, locking the machinegun onto him. 

As he pulled the trigger that would make the man into mincemeat he was slammed to the side, the Gracchus having bested Villetta and use a kick to launch her frame at his, triggering his Subviceroys ejection system and sending her into the settlement, while his Gloucester landed on the ground, its legs destroyed and arm unable to right itself. He opened the cockpit and pulled his pistol shooting at the masked man as he ran, missing as the man leapt over the edge of the highway, followed by the Gracchus that had cut down his entire lance.

He threw his pistol on the ground, looking over the highway, seeing his own men dead or defeated, civilians running in fear, Kururugi missing and likely taken, and, worst of all, HTV joined by NPO film crews that broadcasted the entire affair. 

Chapter Text

"Information is our greatest weapon, bar none. If we know enough about what we're fighting and where, we can win wars before even a single shot has been fired." 

Commander Fiona Ayoade, Terra Invicta

Being kidnapped was oddly novel, Suzaku mused, the sack over his head was padded but breathable, which was a pleasant surprise, and while his restraints were kept in place they were loosened from painful to merely uncomfortable, with his arms now in front of him instead of behind. The Terrorists were taking him to their base, that much was obvious from the low chatter in Japanese, which sounded… pleasant after months of only hearing and speaking British, even if it was somewhat ruined by the fact that these people were Terrorists.

He was gently led out of the transport and into a building, the surrounding sounds of water meaning it was likely somewhere on the docks, he was led through several hallways and into a room, where he was sat down in a surprisingly comfortable chair, where his restraints were fully removed and the bag was pulled from his head. Light briefly blinded him before he adjusted and took the room in, a holding cell, not a good start, but at least they had dragged in a pair of plush chairs, and a bento sat on a table in front of him, with the Terrorists having left him in the holding cell he dug in. 

A few minutes after he finished his food the masked man, Zero, entered the room, and Suzaku held himself steady, not letting his emotions cloud his judgement as the man who claimed to have killed his friends stood before him. 

“So, Kururugi, how are you doing?” His voice was run through some sort of modifier, and he lacked an accent and spoke with perfect Japanese, no identifiable signs of his identity. “How bad did they mistreat you?”

“I am fine.” His words came out with more bite than he intended, so he inhaled deeply. “I am more worried about the civilians you put in danger.”

“They were in no more danger then the Purebloods put them in, there were no bombs, only coloured chaff smoke to aid our escape.” 

“But you baited them, goaded them into attacking, toed the line and they almost paid the price.” Inhaling Suzaku forced himself to remain calm, to keep gathering as much information as he could. “Despite his… faults, Jeremiah Gottwald is a loyal man and you enraged him, drove him to attack you.”

“Gottwald is a man of little worth, someone who can lose his temper in such a manner does not deserve the position he is in, just like you did not. You have witnessed first hand the wrongs of the Empire, seen what they do to your people, I want you to join me, to help me change the world.”

“Never.” He inhaled deeply again, hands clenched into fists as he kept calm, killing Zero had no benefit, he would get himself killed if he tried, with no benefit for the people, no, Zero had to be brought in alive, and tried in a proper court so justice could be served. “You killed the only friends I had left, I would rather die than join you.” 

The masked man had the gall to chuckle at his words, and Suzaku physically restrained himself from jumping from his seat and beating him for it, then the man reached for his mask and Suzaku blinked as he briefly bluescreened mentally, as Lelouch set the mask down and pulled the cloth over his mouth down. 

“I assure you Suzaku, I am very much alive, as is Nunnally.” He spoke with a calm tone, the smile on his face pleasant. “The only reason I claimed to be my own killer is because Clovis had found us, it's the reason for the Shinjuku disaster.” 

“You led the Terrorists there…” Suzaku sighed, sagging in the chair as the tension and anger left his body. “You fought in Shinjuku, caused the slaughter.”

“I prefer Resistance fighters.” Lelouch nodded. “And yes, I led them then. Clovis had found out we were alive, he had Nunnally taken from safety, and I had to rescue her, when I broke her free Clovis ordered the death of the entire ghetto just to get to us, and claim the honour of returning us to the fold, as if it could wipe away what he had done. I claimed to have killed us to throw off any further investigations, Clovis should not have told anyone we were alive, but I could not be sure he had not spread the information by means I could not check.” 

“You did kill him then.” 

“I did, I killed my own brother for the sake of my sister-” Lelouch was solemn, a familiar sight that filled him with melancholic nostalgia of the days at the Shrine, those summer days spent together before the war, and the long journey that followed. “And for the Japanese, he will not commit another genocide, he wont continue his vile human experimentation.” 

“I… can't say I agree with killing him, but I understand why you did so.” He truly did, he still felt the blood on his hands, put there for an all too similar reason by the knife he still kept with him to this day. “...What will you do now?” 

“Now? I will continue fighting, fighting to destroy the empire, to defeat my father and see justice for my mother, and to help the Japanese and all the other people suppressed under my fathers regime, I promised you once Suzaku, I will Obliterate Britannia, and I have not stopped working towards that goal.” His friend had become an orator easily on par with Prince Schneizel and Prince Alexander, his added gestures drawing attention to him in ways others could not. “I want you to join me, to stand by my side and help me lead the Japanese to victory, together, we can defeat Britannia, we can end this cycle of suffering.” 

“I…” The offer was tempting, more so than any other he had ever heard, it was like being offered water when your throat was so dry it almost bled, like being offered food after a month of starvation, but, deep down, he knew he could not. “I cannot, I won't try to change your mind of this Lelouch, but the Empire needs to change, it simply must, or it will come back again even if you succeed and defeat the Emperor, it's the nature of Britannia, to strife and fight, that's not even to speak of the people the Homeland oppresses.” 

“And what do you plan to do about that? Your Japanese Suzaku, an Eleven, a number, you're not a person to them, you're an animal.” 

“I know that. I am not saying it won't be difficult, hell, it might even break me, but I have already seen that the change is possible, ASEEC’s staff was nervous around me at first and avoided me for a while, but after only a few days the younger staff began to warm up to me, a week in we were sharing childhood stories, a month in they started watching some old anime with me on NPO five, and now? My Major, she took lashes trying to keep me safe. Britannians aren't naturally racist or xenophobic, and those that might be are capable of change.” He smiled as he remembered Major Cecile's rage at his incarceration, and her words of support when she had come to visit him. “Britannia needs to change from the inside, and it can, all it needs are examples to follow. Now… if you were to come back, I would stand by your side, I would help you kill your father then crown you myself and help you drag your Empire kicking and screaming into a new age, but until you do come back to the Empire, I will stay my course.”

“A surprisingly mature explanation…” Lelouch smiled, a proud smile that made Suzaku smile in return. “I had expected to find you as naive as I left you.” 

“Nothing wrong with being naive, it's honest and peaceful being naive.” he paused, thinking of the right words. “But time has made me more of an idealist. So no, I won't be joining you, I hope you don't hold it against me.”

“I will not, I cannot. Will you keep my secret?” Suzaku nodded, he wanted to change the empire, but his friends came first, no matter what, always. “Then there will always be a place with us for you, should your ideals ever bring you to a low you cannot come back from, please, be safe.”

“I will be, do me a favour in return? You will fight the Empire, I cannot stop you just like I can't stop those Japanese who choose to fight, choose to resist and die, but… do your best to keep my people safe, to keep them alive.”

“Always, then… I suppose this is goodbye again, Suzaku.” 

“Not a goodbye this time, please? We will see eachother again, hopefully without six years in between this time. I think it's more of a "see you later.”” 

His trial the following midday had been short, Prince Alexander did as he had promised and dismissed the case with prejudice, freeing Suzaku of all accusations, and invited him back to the ASEEC facility, the Prince was rather busy with his calls, so while he rode in the same limo as the man they spoke little. Arriving at the ASEEC facility the Price left at an earlier exit, letting Suzaku approach the main building, the path to which was lined with the staff of Camelot, engineers, ensigns, techies, guards and mechanics all dressed in parade uniforms, saluting as he walked past them.

At the doors stood Major Cecile, who Suzaku saluted, the woman finishing the salute and then immediately pulling him into a hug that made his back crack and forced a short and ignored shout from him, with that the rest of the staff lost their professionalism and laughed as his commanding officer cracked his spine. When he was finally placed back on the ground Cecile led him into the building, he followed behind the woman as she opened the door for him, stepping into the hanger bay, for once filled with guards instead of engineers, where Prince Alexander, Ser Marius and Lady Shamna waited for them alongside Lloyd.

“Excellent, we can start, sorry Suzaku. I wanted to give you a few days off to recuperate but this has to be done.” Lloyd’s words got him to blink, the man never gave him time off, not that Suzaku had much to do with any time off, then he noticed the bruise under his cheek, and the smug smile from Cecile and everything began to make sense. “We can start right?”

“Yes, yes.” Prince Alexander chuckled, gesturing to one his personal guards, who ushered in three tired looking purebloods, they had clearly not had much rest since the incident this morning, as all of them looked dead on their feet, Jeremiah himself looked both despondent and exhausted. “Jeremiah Gottwald, Villetta Nu, Kewell Soresi, what do you have to say for yourselves?” 

“...” Jeremiah looked like he wanted to speak, before silencing himself, recollecting his thoughts. “My rage consumed me, I accept all consequences for the actions of my Purebloods, your Highness.” 

“Honourable, if a bit stupid, your Purebloods have no place in the modern Empire. Marianne would have spat on their graves if she had lived.” Those words seemed to hit the man in the soul, as his head somehow fell even lower and he looked ready to implode. “Consider the Purebloods disbanded, all members will be demoted to Privates and will have all rank and title stripped from them. You three, as their commanders… The only reason your skulls are currently unventilated is because I like ironic punishments more than killing people. So, from today onwards you will serve under Commander Kururugi and ASEEC special corp as privates, think of it as mercy.” 

“Yes yo-” ‘Thank yo-” No! I refuse to accept that! I am a nobl-” Jeremiah and Villetta accepted the Prince’s orders without issue, but Kewell Soresi seemed less content, shouting loudly until the barrel of Ser Marius pistol was placed against the back of his head, the man quickly became deathly still, and not much later deathly dead too, as the Knight-Marshal of the Nine Hells pulled the trigger and splattered his skull across the ceiling.

“Glad to see this fixed, good luck ladies and gentlemen. Oh, Suzaku, try to get some rest, okay? We will talk about Zero when you get back from your mandatory break.” He nodded at the Prince's words as he walked out of the hanger, stepping over the corpse as he went, uncaring. The entire Royal family was stark raving mad, he should have believed Lelouch when he talked about his siblings as a kid. “Bye bye!” 

Following the chaotic events of my first two days in Area Eleven I sat in my office atop the NPO tower in Tokyo, our headquarters for the Asia branch of the NPO that looked over every other building in Tokyo, save for the in construction Babel Tower. Every NPO headquarters had this same office built just in case I needed to conduct business on site, a bit of a waste of space, but Britannian vertical construction meant space was not as much of a premium as it would be in most cities. 

“With Float technology we expect to increase Satellite output by over a hundred percent, using them to launch things in to orbit is incredibly easy, further advancements using them in space based applications include the new Wing segments attached to the PCSS’s to increase their mobility, new Orbital cleaners, which will be taking older satellites out of commission for salvage so we don't build a debris cloud in orbit.” Ludd rattled off the various applications for the larger float panels we had been employing in our low earth orbit operations as I filtered through some paperwork. “Construction of Space Fighters is ongoing, using float systems out of atmosphere has interesting effects of gravity and orbital trajectories, space combat Knightmares will have to wait while the team tinkers using simpler designs.”

“Acceptable, what of the Orbital Artillery platforms?” 

“PCSS-Gram, PCSS-Durendal, PCSS-Joyeuse, PCSS-Dáinsleif and PCSS-Crocea Mors are being put into orbit within the expected period of four months, the redesign for use of float panels and Fusion Lances added some additional time, should I order work to begin on the next five once they are in operation?”

“Start on them now, delay the launch. This is the kind of thing best launched all in one go, if we don't have a critical mass the Chinese or Euro’s might get daring and try to take one of them down.” Pausing my writing I go through my memories about our orbital operations. “What of the colony efforts?”

“PCSS-Luna has been fully established and is fabricating satellites suited for prospecting in high Lunar Interface orbit, the first colony should be established in about two months, population five hundred people, further colonies will follow as we find more resources.”

“What of the PCSS-Ares and its sister ships?”

“Waiting for the launching window in twenty eighteen, the journey should take about three months, and then we can start colonizing the red planet, plans for the space elevator are currently in the works, permission to draft an additional Pride Corp SpaceShip suited for its manufacture?”

“Done deal.” Stretching after signing my name off on several wetworks operations in Nagasaki to counter European infiltrators I pushed the stack of paperwork to the side and pulled up my laptop, tabbing over to the Pride Corp budget. “Status on the deficit?”

“Manageable, we are only ten billion in debt to various Homeland banks, none of them are threatening foreclosure and the contracts they signed prevent the sale of the debt to other institutions. For fixing the deficit I recommend releasing the new commercial float line, let the nobles play with the fancy floating chairs and cars, and should deal with about half of it.” 

“Dot it, release the new line of smart devices as well, get us a nice cash injection to cover the interest and get us another line of credit from the National Bank, we are going to need to invest a lot more in the eighth and ninth gen programs.” The Lancelot Du Lac was a fucking monster machine, Lloyd was a madman for making an equine machine as well, I learned from Ludd that those were more trouble then they were really worth in terms of cost and engineering. “Fourteen Billion should cover it, could we pull from the NPO budget while we are at it?”

“NPO has a surplus of thirteen billion five hundred million ish pounds in liquidity, and you have one hundred percent ownership, people will cry market manipulation but none of them will actually sue you.” The benefits of Royal law I suppose. “I assume I will be dedicating my time to the Asmodeus Pentagram?”

“Yes, it's become a priority. As soon as it's combat capable I want you to shift work to a flight system for the Hesparians, an Aircavalry conversion kit similar to the pack Shen Hu carries, is that kind of thing feasible?”

“Of course.” He scoffed at that, not insulted but amused. “Though, I may need to consult with Rakshata and Lloyd, so it will be expensive.”

“Money is not an issue, just get it done. Once you have that completed, work with the Knight-Marshals on their Eighth gen steeds, again, money wont be an issue.” 

“Good and fast on the triangle? I do love working with your Andre.” 

Chapter Text

“I pray for the safety of all good people who come to Zion, even Gentiles, but we can't expect God to do all the work.”

Joshua Graham, Fallout New Vegas

“So, where should I start?” C.C lay on the bed, having stretched like a cat before settling in a curled up position around a large yellow plush from PizzaHut, she wore her Ashford uniform and he made sure that his eyes did not drift to her legs, which laid bare and pulled up to her side. “You wanted to know it all right?” 

“I do., but it might be best to start at the beginning, where did Geass come from?” 

“That is a question that is hard to answer, Geass has been around as long as living memory, along with the codebearers to grant it, but we can estimate some things based on the ruins the creators of Geass left us.” Her voice was calm, like a teacher narrating from a book. “The ruins have been dated back to five thousand before ABT, some seven thousand years age, and appear all over the world, personally I believe they were part of a global empire, one powered by Geass and ruling when Humanity was young and small.” 

“So Geass was more common in ancient times?” That would explain some of the more… mythological happenings record throughout the world, talks of gods and monsters could very easily be reinterpreted to be manifestations of Geass, and the proportionally reduced amount of these legends later could be the weakening of its hold on humanity. “What of these ruins, what are they?” 

“The ruins are links to a spiritual realm, a realm of the soul, and the ancients drew power from this realm, drew power from the soul of humanity, just like we do. Your Geass? My Immortality? Both powered by this world of pure energy. The ancients discovered they could manipulate it, steer this energy to do their bidding, and constructed doors into this realm where they drew this power to themselves, ruling as immortal god kings, this is how I imagine Code’s were created.” 

“And what of Geass?” 

“A Geass is a contract, that binds souls, when you accepted my contract we became linked, Geass is a symptom of this link, the power of the realm of souls flows into my like a an ocean, and trough this link it trickles into you, you can draw on this link, like sipping through a straw to gain some of the power, this manifest as your Geass, Absolute Obedience.” 

“All of this sounds like metaphysical nonsense… but I can't deny the things I have seen, the things I am able to do. When did you come into the picture?” 

“I was born a serf in Orleans about six hundred years ago, during those times serfs were… not well liked, France was at war, it was losing to Britannia, and as I had some Britannian heritage… Well, let's say my life was not pleasant.” Her fond smile almost made her melancholic tone bearable to hear, the sheer sadness in her voice making him frown. “I was eventually taken in by a charitable nun, and a contract was forged…” 

He listened as she told her lives tale, as she described the horrors she went through as Joan d’Arc, her time as the Witch of Britannia during the Papal wars, the betrayal at Rome, her time beside the great rulers of Europe ranging from Catherine the Great to Gustavos Adolfus to William of Orange Nassau till her time by the side of George Washington and later at the side of the greatest enemy of the empire, Napoleon.  Following the victory of the Revolution she worked her way east, fighting with the Raja’s against the Britannian occupation of India following the exile to the new homelands, to her standing by the side of Emperor Meiji, fighting during the battle of Shiroyama, then she departed to China, she told him of her desire for life slowly fading after fighting the empire so long, the heat of their betrayal of her as their Witch of Britannia fading, finally leaving China for Britannia at the start of the Emblem of Blood, hoping the death of her oldest enemy would give her some joy. 

Then she had met his mother, at her lowest the greatest enemy of Britannia joined it once more.

Just to die.

He decided then and there that he would not let her die without a smile, one of happiness not melancholy, if he could not convince her to live…

Making this decision had not been easy, it risked much, but it was the only maintainable option, the only option that kept the eyes in the skies off them, with Andre in Japan he would surely focus many of his observation satellites on the area, restricting them to tunnels for military movements, which left few places suitable for a permanent hideout. The only option then, was the facility under Ashford. It had Knightmare bays, from the days of Ashford Manufacturing, it had equipment from the same era, old but functional, it was well hidden with access to the tunnel system below the settlement and access to the old tunnels.

Best of all, it was perfectly located, deep within the settlement, away from prying eyes and satellites, the issue was that it exposed Ashford, exposed Nunnally, that had been the main issue, the reason why he never offered the base, until now. With the… acquisition of Mao he had the perfect monitoring equipment, the Chinese man could simply be told to ignore the resistance fighters and pick out anyone who was approaching the base, either through the tunnels or the schools, in short, it made the base near untouchable. 

Hence why he was currently leading the command staff of the resistance into one of the old briefing rooms, the leadership of the resistance was still shaken from the Shinjuku Disaster and the following reveal of Zero, but he had some faith in their nerves. He sat at the head of the table, the rest of the staff following, still chattering among themselves, so he let them, their awe at his acquiring the base somewhat amusing him, before he finally gently knocked on the table to draw their attention.

“I take it you like our new base?” 

“It's… Zero this place is a damned miracle.” Ohgi spoke up. “The facilities here should allow us to keep a massive fighting force at the ready in the heart of the occupation, all hidden from them… it's incredible.” 

“It will be home to the Black Knights First Knightmare Corp as well as the Zero Squadron.” He took in the questioning words and sounds with sheer pleasure, this was the best part of such showings, the pageantry of it all was incredibly amusing. “Other cells will mostly lack Knightmare units, they are simply too material and manpower hungry to be hidden at Lance scale.”

“Zero, what are the Black Knights?” Kallen asked, the redhead looked dead on her feet, he knew why too of course, she had been working with the engineering group to bring the Gracchus back to operation without spare parts, as they had finally ran out of the ones the Illusive Man had given them and purchasing new ones would be easily traced, an ambush as they went to retrieve said parts was inevitable, so for now the red machine was out of commission.

“We are the Black Knights Kallen, Knights counter to the tyranny of Britannia, Knights for justice.” He paused, taking a breath as they chattered excitedly again, relishing in the feeling. “With the Frontman leaving the area I am taking full control of his operation, from which this base comes, and it comes with the opportunity to expand further, and rebrand without his influence, hence, The Black Knights. Not a resistance group but an army, a nation, we will be throwing off not just the shackles of Britannia, but also the trappings of old Japan, a restoration of the ideals of the Land of the Rising Sun, not the old order. I have a vision, a dream, of the first Nation of a new era, one where blood does not matter, where racism is exterminated and people judge each other not by their descent but by their achievements.” 

They hung from his every word, he had risen in the middle of his speech and started gesturing, genuflecting, talking with his hands and posture as much as his words drawing them in, and by their looks he could tell that his words landed with their intended effect.

“I ask you, my friends, to help me make this dream a reality. Would you join me as the Champions of a Just and Fair world? Would you fight for that world? Die for that world? Are you not then worthy of honour? Of knighthood? Will you stand with me, as my Knights?” 

“Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero!” 

They chanted his name, and he could not stop the smile on his face.

The newly minted Black Knights moved into the newly named Alpha Base the following day, over a hundred members of the Knightmare Corp moving their thirty odd machines into the underground hangers, and Zero was requested to join Naoto, Kallen and Tamaki about a special project of theirs, arriving in the hanger bay he found them gathered around a peculiar frame. It had vague traits from the Vincents, but it had been heavily modified, and looked like it desperately needed a fresh coat of paint. He knew that the engineers had scavenged several Vincent wrecks following Shinjuku, and they had since then cobbled them together into a working seventh gen machine, even if the thing was likely inferior to most seventh gen machines it would still be a massive boon to their combat power.

“Zero! Good, I have some news from Kyoto.” Naoto nodded at him as he approached the group, Kallen and Tamaki immersed in the simulator unit set next to the Vincent, the woman training like she always did when she wasn't tinkering with her machine. “Let me explain how we got here first though, otherwise it won't make much sense.”

“Go ahead Naoto.”

“Well, when we got the Vincent's into storage after the wreckage we sent a copy of their data to Kyoto, standard procedure for any captured enemy tech, then we worked on this beauty here, The Vincent Scrap.” He thumped the machine's legs with a closed fist. “Or the Vincent-S for short, it's the Vincent Chassis and legs, with the Gracchus landspinners, Gloucester arms fitted with the Gracchus extension mechanism and the Sakuradite cannon ripped from the Gracchus too. Japan's first seventh gen machine.”

“Impressive, but about Kyoto?”

“Oh, yeah… We got word back today about a request from them, regarding the centaur Knightmare from Shinjuku.” He nodded at that, the machine had tore through his defences with ease, inflicting casualties rarely in the modern battlefield, and had almost killed Kallen if not for the surrender order he forced out of Clovis. “They pointed out a series of Sakuradite requisitions from a facility near Tokyo, and matched them with new requisitions put in following Shinjuku, suspicions right? So on their request we scouted with drones, and well.”

“Let me see.” His gaze followed Naoto’s gesturing hand to the laptop nearby, which showed eight Vincents, three lances worth, sitting in an open hanger, and a closed hanger nearby had its door cracked open slightly, showing three tarp covered Knightmares, one having the distinct Centaur profile. “And I assume they made the obvious assumption on receiving these pictures, that the Britannians are making more of the Centaur frame here.”

“Exactly, now following Shinjuku and your reveal… Well we can nearly outnumber the quick response force from the garrison if we bring all our Knightmares, if we can assault the base in a night raid, destroy the frames and equipment? It would be a master stroke against the occupation.” 

“Or…” He paused, considering, as a smirk crept up his face. “We take an advantage, instead of just punishing this blunder with a raid, we can capture the Centaur, an eighth gen frame on our side…”

“Sounds like the start of a Gundam story.” Kallen spoke up from the simulator, having emerged from her training, wiping sweat from her brow with her arm, he voice low as she caught her breath . “We should be able to use the Vincent's immediately, we have a Vincent with the OS so cracking into theirs is possible, but the Centaur and whatever else is in there we will need to drag off, unless we can get the code and fob.”

“Leave that to me, I have access to some resources that will be very useful for this operation.” He would have to speak with his settlement contacts, probably even pay some older contacts a visit, but he could get them some more Knightmares, enough to make it an equal fight against any reinforcements, more than enough to allow a fighting retreat with their captured equipment. 

The airfield was a hive of activity when Cornelia finally arrived in Japan, my dearest sister coming out of one of the three jets she, Darlton and Guilford took to get here as soon as they could, and all of them looked rather ragged, which was fair because I knew that Cornelia took Clovis death hard. Out of the family members I was close to Cornelia was by far the most familial of them, she loved her siblings, even the more distant ones, and the ones close to her? She would die for them, it was that important to her.

So when she saw me I knew to steady myself as my sister pulled me in for a hug and damn near crushed my ribcage holding back her tears and sobs, I patted her back softly until she released me and with a blink snapped into her normal military posture, giving me a snap salute, clicking her heels together in a picture perfect movement. The fact that I was her superior in military ranking was still somewhat amusing considering she taught me a lot during training back under Nonette, but now I am a Knight-Commander a rank equal to full fledged Field Marshal and she was a Three Star General.

Following that we made our way to our limo, getting into the now standard PrideCorp armoured luxury transport which comfortably housed Cornelia and her Knights along with Marius, Shamna and myself. Cruising through the settlement Cornelia eventually stopped the small talk and got into the issues ongoing, her stern tone cutting the air.

“What's the situation Andre?”

“A hot fucking mess.” I sighed, already tired of dealing with an administration that had spent the past half decade doing nothing but entrenching themselves, digging into the area like leeches and draining it of its prosperity. “The area is four to five years behind schedule for an occupied area, practically no reconstruction has been done outside the Settlements, only ten percent of what you would expect, mostly built during Jeans' stayover as Subviceroy. Furthermore the percentage of Honorary Britannians compared to natives is the lowest of any area, and it's not even because of the natives' obstinance, we are simply unable to give what we are promising to those who would sign up.”

“That's…”

“Yeah, fucking terrible. Clovis seemed to be trying to break the population's will, or enacting some kind of punishment for our siblings he assumed died at the hands of the natives, it's… bad. All that hate from the occupying forces drove people to the resistance movements in droves. And its actual fucking resistance movements, not small terrorist bands. Organized, military style units. And when those fought back? Exterminations, you know how those go for peace and prosperity.” She had been working with Bradley in South Africa until he had left for the Asian front and then back to the homeland sans an eye, and the man had truly fucked an already bad situation into a worse one, populations would rarely break, that was the thought of a fool. “It's all facilitated by Clovis too, the lack of infrastructure outside the settlements and the lines between them means that the resistances can at any time retreat into the countryside, find some abandoned Japanese Army base and become an issue there. Cornelia, I need you to understand this. We have fucking warlords living inland, uncontested warlords ruling over what should be our people.”

“Those will be exterminated when my forces arrive, no doubt about that. The infrastructure though is the root of the issue… no matter what we do we come off terrible , if we start fixing it now people will think Zero was right, and that his killing of our siblings forced our hand, if we don't, the rebels continue to use the situation to their advantage.” I nodded at her words, exactly my thoughts too, crushing the warlords and putting the resistance back into hiding following Zero’s show of strength would put us back in the driver's seat, but for now though… “My troops are four days out, what's the readiness status on the defenses?”

“Not doing well either, Clovis let the garrison fall into disrepair, only the Pureblood battalion  and his royal guard received modern machines and they lost most of them following the disaster in Shinjuku and Zero’s reveal, we are at a quarter of standard strength, the terrorist might even have enough forces to contest us conventionally.” 

“That's… disastrous.” 

“I have had to deploy the Hesperian's I have brought with me just to maintain efficient rapid deployments, they will last the four days till reinforcements, but will need a week off after, it delays my counter terrorism operations massively.” I paused, looking at her two knights. “It's so bad I may need your knights to lead lances on a temporary basis, we are down to so few officers that I can't accurately promote talent, because I can't be told who has talent.” 

I could conduct interviews in person, but that was time I did not have, the efficient operation of the Hells, Pride Corp and NPO had spoiled me, with how inefficient most things were organized I spent nearly three times longer than expected. While Guilford was a bit of an idealist, Darlton at least could be trusted to give out promotions to those competent under him, we need to rebuild the officer Corp otherwise we would never recover the Area. 

“Goddamnit. Alright boys, no warm welcome for us then.” She sighed, straightening her elaborate coat as the Limo arrived at the Bureau and she stepped out, followed by her solemn but ready Knights, looking around in some confusion the woman turned to me. “Now where is Euphie?”

“Huh? She was supposed to arrive after you.” I blinked, as Cornelia blinked in return, we locked eyes and I voiced our shared thoughts. “She lied to us both and is exploring right now.”

“I can only assume so, can you track her?”

“Shamna, would you?”

“Only because I find this highly amusing.”

Finding Euphie was not difficult, she was not exactly an expert at subterfuge and had been spotted a dozen times throughout the settlement already, my people just assumed that I knew she was there, and was keeping it on the low to not draw attention to her. Finding her with Sazaku was even less surprising, my dearest pink sister had seemingly attached herself to the Commander and was having him guide her through the settlement on the way to Shinjuku Ghetto, before they were finally intercepted by the NPO wetwork's squad. Now standing before me my sister was pouting as I stared her and Suzaku down, the Commander meanwhile looked downright frozen in fear, yet military motions drilled into him took over, so he saluted me as I entered the room while still half behind Euphie as she attempted to shield him from me. Not necessary, but I know a few of my siblings would happily kill Suzaku for even standing as close as he was to a Princess of the Empire, some would even make the death rather unpleasant for Euphie out of principle, luckily I am not one of them. 

So I approached them with a steady gait, and with every step Suzaku seemed to shrink in on himself and Euphie spread her arms to shield him further until I swooped the pink princess into a hug that had her gasp before she descended into laughter and hugged me back.

“It's been a while, Euphie.” She smiled at me as I put her down. “Now, what am I to do with you Kururugi…”

“Andre, he did nothi-”

“Shush. Now I did tell you to relax, but I did not expect you to relax by flirting with my sister.” The nuclear level blush from both of them brought me a great deal of satisfaction. “So, as punishment, you will be assigned to escort her whenever she desires.” 

“Huh?” My wink at my sister got her to slap my arm several times while Suzaku nodded, accepting his new duty with far more grace, this all was a bit of a tactical move, Suzaku was loyal, but he only truly committed himself to the Empire after he became Euphie’s knight, and I would need Suzaku to be willing to fight for Euphie's ideals, for my ideals. “Yes, Knight-Commander!”

“Excellent!” I left the room and gestured to them to follow me, which they did, falling in behind me. “Now. The entire Area is a fucking mess, and we are going to fix it, that means both of you will be stepping up, Euphie, you are taking the position as Subviceroy, please confer with Jean over video call about the task expected of you, she has experience in the position. Suzaku, how are your new social media accounts?”

“Uh, I have about three hundred thousand followers on average per app, and it keeps going up by a few thousand an hour, I only made a single post on each platform so far but they got a lot of likes each, and the amount of comments is… intimidating.” He really was becoming something of an influencer, and the whole thing was remarkably amusing, with a bit of luck I would have the next big political influencer on my side, and if not, well getting more young men and women from the colonies into the military was only in my benefit. 

Chapter Text

"Move… LOCKSMITH…! Not yet…! Things were getting even more interesting!"

V.I Freud, Armored Core 6.

Tokyo was cold at three in the morning, Kallen noted, even within the cockpit of the Vincent-S she was shivering in her sweater and jogging pants, so she once again made a note to find a source for pilot suits, if they wanted to be Knights, they should be properly armored at least. Exhaling a visible breath she booted the Knightmare, the now familiar screens lightning up and giving her a view the Gracchus could only dream of giving, perfect three sixty vision around her frame, the standard for seventh gen frames. 

A subvocalized command had the Vincent-S rise from its folded up position just as the speeding transport swung around to face its back at the Britannian base, sending her out of the back and into the guardian Sutherland Lance with more momentum then she had intended. Nothing that she could not handle, shifting on her landspinners she grabbed the leg a Sutherland as she shot past it, toppling the machine as she straight up ripped the limb off, bleeding her momentum with a swing of her new leg club she threw it at another Sutherland, caving it the side of the cockpit block, forcing the pod to eject even if the pilot was probably dead.

The last two members only now started to react, raising their rifles as Kallen sped towards them, reaching to her side she drew her MVS, the longsword was not a weapon she had previously trained with, but just winging the thing seemed to work just fine, as the now red glowing blade cleaved a Sutherland in half at the waist. Following her first strike she swerved out of the way of retaliatory fire of the last Sutherland, moving far faster than any other Knightmare she had previously used the Vincent-S came up behind the Sutherland before it could turn, and an overhead slash cleaved the machine in twain. 

The ten second engagement was over, and Kallen caught her breath following the exertion of the lightning quick fight, taking in the rest of the operation as she sped the Vincent-S further into the base, the three lances followed behind her, all Sutherlands and piloted by competent men and women. Everything seemed to be going to plan, the Knightmares were overwhelming the defences as the engineers followed on their own transports, already one of the vans had stopped by the Vincent's parked in the open air hanger to begin capturing them. 

Kallen pulled the Vincent into a spin as she approached the main hanger, bleeding momentum with the friction to come to a stop at the entrance, which opened just as she stopped, showing Zero, C.C and a Kunoichi she assumed was Sayoko, the infiltration had gone perfectly then. 

“Q-1, excellent, guard us, and bring Q-2 and 3 up here!” She clicked her radio to acknowledge his command, unslinging her sakuradite rifle to keep a shot on any approaching Britannian reinforcements. “We have six minutes now! Get those tarps off and roll them to the transports!” 

When the tarps came off the Knightmares Kallen blinked in shock, the expected frame was there, the White Centaur, slumped over with its hind legs folded up, but the other three were very interesting. The first unveiled was a biped version of the White Centaur, blue accents replacing the golden ones and with a large horn atop its head, the second was entirely her style, painted a glorious crimson red with golden accents, two MVS and a large rifle assembly on its back. She wanted it. 

Then the tarp dropped on the last machine and Kallen felt her heart skip a beat.

“Barbatos…” The tall, white blue and red machine with its golden horns towered over the others even while kneeling in its powered down state, as the custom machine of one of the Lords of the Nine Hells the Barbatos was a high performance seventh generation frame bordering on eight gen, she had studied this machine closely, as it was one of her favourites. The Barbatos was made for pure strength and speed, hitting hard, fast and without fanciful tricks, powered by Four energy fillers it could fight for hours without a resupply, its massive arm servos provided nearly five times the average strength of a Knightmare, allowing it to lift the gigantic Axe Cannon it used as a primary weapon. “What the hell is that doing here?!’ 

“According to the captured Ensigns it's a spare and was sent here last evening, its pilot was meant to spar with the Lancelot pilot in the simulators to collect more advanced combat data.” C.C answered her, the green haired woman directing a group of Black Knight engineers to load the four machines onto the prepared transports, tying the Knightmares down with thick harness chains. “Why it's here does not matter much to be honest, we only have a few more minutes before the Garrison arrives.” 

“Woooh!” The shout got the entire hanger to look over to the once machine that had not yet been tied down, the blue horned machine, which was now powering on as Mario had somehow opened its cockpit and cracked the security, the Knightmare rising and standing upright. “They left the key fob in the ignition! And the password was on a damned note! Lancelot Club, operational and ready for combat.” 

“Hahahahaha!” Zero’s laugh sent a shiver of fear and nerves down her spine, the sound was so unnatural coming from him, and the voice filter made it downright sinister, the man quickly ceased his laughter and responded in an amused tone. “Excellent Q-3, join the defe-” 

The wall to the hanger crumbled with a crash loud enough that she felt it in the cockpit, Kallen recognized the effect, plasma flash boiling the water in concrete, exploding the wall, and in the now blown open hole she found a sight that clutched her chest in bony ice cold fingers. Geryon, the golden centaur frame running to the side to make way for another Barbatos frame, this one likely piloted by the Lord Barbatos and carrying its giant axe above its head, the weapon slashing down at the Lancelot Club which Mario backed away with.

In the chaos Zero retreated as she covered him, hoping Mario could at least keep the Knight Marshal busy while the others retreated, Geryon was still around and a single shot from her plasma rifle could destroy a transport, something she could not allow. 

That was when bad turned to terrible. 

A whine filled the air, turning into a familiar birdlike screech, a sound that she had listened to a thousand times, one she still dreamed about, along with the words he had spoken that day in Manila, when the machine that produced that sound had been surrounded and outnumbered forty to one, surrounded by nothing other then fear and dead men. A burst of pure blue lit the skies, turning night into day for a single second as the transport carrying the White Centaur had its cabin melted while the second beam cut a circle around it, crashing the machine through the ground and into the underground of the settlement, where they would never be able to exact it, and then… then it landed. 

Asmodeus.

The Devil King of the Nine Hells, Britannia’s Lion.

The progenitor machine of all Knightmares past the fifth generation, the Knightmare that to this day defines modern warfare, the first to use jets, the first to forgo Slash Harkens, the first to deploy plasma weapons, the first to wield MVS, The Knightmare everyone pictured when they thought of the mecha's. It stood tall, nearly a full head over her Vincent-S even without its now iconic Gundam rip-off head V, its overlapping armor giving the mecha the appearance of an armored Knight more then a machine, a red cloak hung over its shoulders, clipped on and made to release when stuck or pulled, the symbol of the nine hells in purple atop it, completed by the massive Radiance, the first MVS, which was heading towards her now, moving faster than anything the simulations could have showed.

She was barely able to bring her MVS up to the strike, and on instinct she deflected the attack to the side, letting the massive sword cut into the ground to her side with a slam, swerving to the side as the Asmodeus swerved to the opposite side, using torque to swing the massive sword around its body and at her, so she used her momentum to counter the slash with her MVS. A clear ringing sound echoed through the air as their two swords connected and then bounced off each other, following the tied strike, she went for another swing, a quick follow up thrust that would have raked across the Asmodeus chest, when the larger Knightmare swung its own sword again, even faster than before, she barely managed to turn her thrust into a deflect, rolling away from him with the momentum the exchange to get some distance. 

“You're good.” The words rattled in her head as she used a swerving slash to bounce another strike from the Asmodeus, only registering when her next attack was blocked with a casual side swipe from her opponent, the heavy baritone continued after that. “Damn good.” 

Another lighting quick exchange between her and the larger frame finally got her an actual hit in, scratching a thin line into the golden arm armor of the Asmodeus, even as the Vincent groaned around her from stress the exchanges were taking on it, every swipe of that massive sword vibrating her machine to the core. She rolled back as he wound for an overhead swing, and as the massive blade came down she dashed into his own forwards dash, releasing her left hand from the MVS to place it on the side of Radiance, shoving it aside with all her strength while thrusting her MVS forwards with her other hand in familiar rapier thrust. 

Instead she got shoulder checked as the Asmodeus’ greater weight shifted in a twist at the hips, planting its armored shoulder against the Vincent's chest and sending the lighter machine into a fall she barely recovered from, just managing to convert her momentum into a spin that allowed her to again bounce his greatsword with her MVS. She would not be able to recover for the next swing, he had pushed her back to the wall of the compound, leaving her no room to generate momentum enough to bounce, and another deflection was a risky bet, and right as she went to eject someone did something stupid, a purple Gloucester, Maya’s Gloucester, came up behind the Asmodeus with its lance ready to turn the Prince into a skewer. 

Yet at the last moment, as if by some divine reflex, the Asmodeus turned the momentum and in progress swing at her into a pivot, pulling the greatsword close as he pirouetted in place to perfectly place the sword between himself and the lance, the mass produced metal shattering against the MVS. Kallen watched on in muted horror as the Asmodeus stepped into the Gloucester's guard, an avian whine filling the air while the golden giant pushed the Gloucester lower.

“You're a rude one…” The baritone voice rumbled over the open line. “A little advice, don't interrupt a duel between Warriors!” 

Kallen's relief at seeing the Gloucester's cockpit eject was incomprehensible, as the Knightmare itself melted from a single blast of the Blue Shift Plasma Cannons, its entire chest slagged and molten, the sacrifice had given her exactly what she needed. Space. Space to run… Her hands clenched around the controls, as she blinked away a wave of anger at the thought. She could not run, she had to keep him busy, so that the others could run. The red haze was settling over her gaze again. Not since her first mission had she felt that blanket of focus and calculated power come over her.

The feeling was oddly comfortable, a feeling she had not known she had missed. 

The next time their blades met Kallen barely felt the rattling force that had broken her focus, instead she dashed into his guard, punching her empty hand upwards in an uppercut that caught the Lion completely by surprise, sending him stumbling backward before jumping in a jet assisted leap. Her empty hand reached behind her back, readying the sakuradite canon, a subvocalized command turned the safety off, and a single smooth pull of the trigger fired the sakuradite tipped shell directly at the Lion, she threw her hand to the side, the cannon slamming back and folding across her back, then she dashed forwards.

Instead of the shell connecting with the Asmodeus and turning the machine into scrap, the Lion cut the shell in half with Radiance, the twin explosion at its sides damaging the armor but leaving the Lord of the Hells standing steady, and with a tremor of breaking concrete they clashed blades again, and a hellish avian screech signaled her imminent death. A wide range blast of blue hot plasma washed over the Vincent Scrap, its armor had been treated to counter plasma, but the heat in the cockpit was unbearable, and the Gracchus parts that made the Scrap hers were melted off… but she was still standing, panting as sweat burned in her eyes and blood filled her mouth. 

The Vincent responded with screeching sounds as she moved, and she roared with it, a wordless shout of anger and fear and determination as she bounced another sweeping strike, ramming a red hot fist against the armored giant that saw it stumbling back half a step in a shower of sparks. 

“The Red Dragon Empress...” The baritone voice echoed in her ears, now speaking Japanese, the words bouncing in her skull as she pushed forward, her MVS set to pierce the chest of the Asmodeus as her Vincent struggled to move forward, its lanspinners leaving a trail of molten metal as she shifted from a skate into a run, the golden giant stopped her by cleaving the sword arm off her Vincent, and with a roar Kallen caught the MVS before it could hit the ground with her other hand, her slash cutting off the part of the Asmodeus’ head V as the opposing mecha dodged back. “A title well earned. Surrender, and I promise you mercy.” 

“Never.” She growled out between panting breaths, her chest felt tight, her muscles burning like they were on fire, and sweat and blood mixed in her eyes, a cut on her forehead leaking red, the pain she should have felt from the injury a distant background pang. “Would rather die.” 

The Asmodeus nodded its head, she blinked at that, but thoughts about the mechanism to make the mecha nod were throw aside as the fading red haze slammed back in place with renewed vigor when the opposing mecha closed the distance in a jet assisted leap, forcing her to step back to not get crushed under its weight. Without her landspinners she had no way of countering as she had been doing and with only one arm she could not deflect either, that left a single thing she could do, a single way she could possibly survive this, leaping to the side she dropped her MVS and unslung the sakuradite rifle, aiming it at the Asmodeus.

At this range, he had no way to dodge and neither would she be able to, they were both going to take the brunt of the hit here, she pulled the trigger, and the world went pink, and then black. 

Blinking awake she wiped her eyes, her arm coming back red as she cleared them of blood and grime so she could take in the scene before her, the section of the settlement they had been fighting on had crumbled when she had fired the sakuradite shell, and it had made the two fighting Knightmares fall through the floor to the underground route below the base. The Asmodeus looked… terrible, it was standing, moving even, but it's armor had warped and torn across pretty much the entire Knightmare, showing the chassis underneath the plate, one of its purple eyes was cracked and dim, while the Vincent-S…

It was gone, done for, kaput. Her other arm had been torn off, her legs were shot to hell and back so badly that she had to manually step with the leg controllers and she could see through the screens, as the entire front of the cockpit was turned into swiss cheese. The shrapnel having mostly missed her, she could feel some cuts across her neck and arms, but nothing that seemed life threatening, still, she was completely fucked now, as the Asmodeus rose and then just stared at her, before the cockpit opened and Kallen’s opponent showed himself. 

“What a fight!” His shout was ecstatic, the sound of someone filled with nothing but glee and adrenaline and it was dangerously close to drawing a laugh from her chest before she crushed the reaction down. “Truly, I have not had a fight like that since Luoyang, Dragoness, I would love to see what you can do with a real machine…” 

“It's over then… you caught me.” 

“Did I?” She glared at him through one of the holes in her cockpit, the Prince was smiling widely, a true smile and not an act, because no one could fake the sheer joy on his face. “Let me set the record straight, Dragoness, I am sympathetic towards your cause, it's noble to fight for your people, it's your right. And I respect you, personally. It's not often I see someone with your potential, your sheer innate skill… Sure, I could capture you now, and eventually you would be fighting on my side, as my charms are hard to resist, but… You don't fight like that without conviction, without a reason. So…” 

He paused, making a dramatic showing off bowing at the waist, a sign of respect she would have never expected to receive and then he powered his Knightmare down, the golden giant going slack as it sat motionless. 

“I caught no one, when I woke up, you were already gone… Come at me again stronger, Dragoness, show me what you can do, what you are capable of, show me your motivation.” 

“You're insane!” 

“Am I really?” He laughed in that infuriating way again, the sound echoing. “Maybe I am! Ha! But then again, I could be recognizing a kindred spirit, someone else who has felt that focus, that wonderful clarity, and wants more of it. You're just like me Red, a Warrior, a Killer of men, someone who found what they are good at and wants that challenge. Tell me, have you ever felt more alive then just now?” 

“I…” Was he… he had an awkward and frustrating point, that fight, every moment of it was so clear in her mind, every movement, every twitch of muscle, every thought and idea, it was all still so clear, so real, in ways few moments in her life were, she had nothing to hide, no need to act, all she had to do was move, to fight, and to win. “Fuck… thank you, Lion.” 

He nodded worlessly, letting her stew in her own thoughts as she slowly, clumsy walked the Vincent-S into the tunnels, his words echoing in her head like bells. He was dangerous, in and off the battlefield, because with words alone he had made her doubt herself more than anything else ever had. 

Damned Lion. 

Chapter Text

"It's the fatal flaw of mortalkind. Take away their free will, and they call you a tyrant. Allow them to indulge it, and they become tyrants."

Raphael, Baldurs Gate 3

“Casualties?” 

“Fifteen dead from the garrison response force before the stolen Vincents retreated.” Shamna’s voice was calm as ever, her drawling tone hiding her accent and drawing eyes to her. “Material’s are the more pressing issue, the Terrorist made off with two lances worth of Vincent's, the two Lancelot downspecs and the spare Barbatos, the material losses turn this from a draw to a crushing defeat.” 

“I will make sure Schneizel compensates us generously for the loss of the spare.” It was the entire reason I had the machine moved here when learning of the attack through my Shamna after all, I could always use some more favours from the Prime Minister and a single spare was a small price to pay. Best of all, I get to see what Lelouch does with a proper seventh gen frame, to see what Kallen can do behind the controls of a machine that rivals the Asmodeus, that thought alone made my blood sing.

That Fight had been everything I had hoped for and I want More…

Ever since she had cut through Bradley and his little squad I had been hoping to fight her, and she lived up to the hype, in a Knightmare held together with duct tape, hope and prayers she had pushed me further then any fight other then Xingke and the Shen Hu had done, sure I had been in control the entire fight, leading our little dance, but she fought like a true dragon. 

“Do we know where they disappeared to?” 

“No, I have looked ahead and we have seen no sign of them on satellite imaging or ground based detection methods, they appear to have vanished into the tunnels.” As expected, those tunnels were the greatest assets the resistance had. “We don't have the forces to give chase either, they got out scot free.” 

“Nothing to be done about it.” I nodded at Marius as he approached the two of us, the man looked a little worked up, but that was understandable. “How did the enemy fair?”

“We trashed their Knightmare forces, estimated enemy materials have been reduced by eighty percent, even with the stolen frames they come of rather badly. We forced ejections instead of just killing as ordered, but can I ask why?” He asked with a frown. “That thief in the Club was annoying as hell already, but if I could have just cleaved him I could have won easily.” 

“The empire has not faced a rebellion of this scale since the tribal uprising in South Africa.” The wince from Marius was telling, that whole affair continued to throw shit into the stew for us to this day. “This is our opportunity to show how unrest and uprisings should be dealt with, to set policy and make more righteous rebellions fought in an honourable manner that leaves civilian casualties rare, if the resistance can retreat or eject, it means they won't be cornered when we are not ready to finish them off fully, thus…” 

“Less hostage events, less suicide bombings, less casualties. I understand.”

“I think it's time we move Pride Corp HQ to a new, more local venue as well, centralize our influence in the Pacific and Asia, and get our holdings away from the nobles in the homeland.” I paused, this would be a big commitment, almost a declaration of war to the nobility of the homeland, who had been attempting to muscle in on the operation for years at this point. “NPO command and control will be moving to the Citadel soon enough, but Pride Corp is a bit too large to put into orbit, Babel tower should be a good place to take over…” 

“It's owned by a local noble, the Baron of some northern city and a criminal who bought his way to power from exploiting the Elevens.” Marius voiced. “Clovis had contracts with the man, calls himself the black king, bit of a pratish name to be honest.” 

“Remove him.” I think I remember this guy, he was a complete rat bastard from what I recall, almost killed Lelouch too… “Wait. Bring him in for execution instead, make an example out of him, I do believe the local NPO interrogators are a bit rusty.” 

“Of course.” We all knew they were not in fact rusty at all, they had seen a lot of recent action, but Shamna went along with me anyway. “This will mean war right? Not immediately, but… it's bound to draw the full wrath of the nobles and your noble aligned siblings.” 

“I am well aware, but my dream of peace has waited too long, Humanity is leaving its cradle, and they can either join us in the future or perish in its present. If I must set my throne atop a mountain of noble skulls then I will gladly rule from its peak.” 

“Is everything secure?” 

“Of course Zero, but the resistance… They are panicking.” He nodded at Naoto’s words, that was unsurprising, this was the first operation that had the potential to be a total disaster, and if not for Kallen and Mario it would have been, they had held off two of the Nine Hells and allowed the rest of the Black Knights to drive off the last, escaping with their prize. “We came out of the whole ordinal rather well, we have the prototypes and the Barbatos, but…” 

“The Nine Hells are in Japan.” His words got the expected reaction, the fear response, the nerves, the… excitement? From Kallen at least, that girl was a strange one. “Our opponents are greater than expected, we face not just the Second Princess but also the Fifth Prince.” 

“What… What's the plan Zero?” 

“For now, I will brief you all about our opponents, so you may understand them and the fear their very names make you feel.” They blinked, and he knew he had now their complete attention, fear broken by interest. “Our first and foremost opponent will be Cornelia Li Britannia, the modern Witch of Britannia, Conqueror of Africa. She has spent the last three years fighting her way up from the Cape of Good Hope to the banks of the Nile, establishing several Britannian areas on the way and is a renowned battlefield commander.” 

“Cornelia is a warrior at heart, she fights not like the memories of the Knights of old, but in the style of the modern Knight. No more frills of honour, no duels of champions, but butchery and slaughter, victory at all costs. She will be taking the seat of Viceroy, we can expect several changes to the civilian and military administration leading to difficulty in our operations, ranging from the replacement of dilapidated infrastructure we use for transportation to the death of the inland Daimio.” 

“Then, there is the greater threat…” He continued, pulling up a picture of Andre in his pilot suit and lion pelt standing beside a banner with the sigil of the Nine Hells. “The Knightly order of the Nine Hells, led by Alexander Andreas Carolus Di Britannia, the now Fifth Prince of the Empire, Heir presumptive of the Holy Britannian Empire as decreed by the Emperor’s favour following the Knightfall.”

He was glad there was no confusing following that statement, the whole Knightfall debacle had been something that got him rather heated, it had been so simple, so devilishly, disgustingly simple to gain his fathers favour, but… he showed weakness for a second, a brief moment of faltered courage and he was thrown out. Andre meanwhile, showed strength and was granted power, favour, and was all but acknowledged as the future emperor, to this day the only child the Emperor acknowledged as his Son, instead of just my child .

“Every modern Knightmare related innovation, from Lance based tactics to Jet Boosters to Ace Operations, all comes from the Hells or directly from the Lion. The Hells are the progenitors of damn near every Knightmare related thing since they were created, you could say they are the ones who created warfare as we know it.” It was unfortunately not an exaggeration, he had studied Andre extensively following the war in Europe. It had been a tough wakeup call, but he took to the lessons Andre indirectly thought with rapt attention.. “We are facing at least three of their most elite, Geryon, a strategist and tactician on par with any of the great names in history, Barbatos, a close range combatant that can take on many times his own number, and most concerningly, Asmodeus.” 

“The Knight-Commander himself is widely considered the greatest pilot on the planet, on par with the Knight of One and the Empire's greatest commander, he has brought nations to their knees… ‘All I am surrounded by is Fear. And Dead men.’ If those words mean anything to you, then you know the threat he poses.” He paused, inhaling and looking around the room. The reactions were varied, but the most interesting was Kallen, who seemed more… excited than nervous. “The Asmodeus Knightmare frame is a monster, it was introduced as the first Sixth Generation frame, and has since received upgrades that bring it to the pinnacle of the Seventh Generation, its known as the Progenitor frame and the Prince has been piloting it since its first deployment.” 

“Go ahead Kallen.” He gestured at the woman, who had subtly raised her hand as a request to speak, the redhead was quite knowledgeable about Knightmares, and might have some good input. “I suppose you have something of interest?” 

“Something of a perspective to give some image of the issue we are dealing with, regarding the Lion.” Her voice was tinted with exhaustion, she had barely recovered from her fight the previous morning, having come back to the base in a trashed Vincent. “How much does a Sutherland cost? Does anyone know?” 

“One point five three million pounds factory new, surprisingly cheap for a vehicle of its acumen.” He responded with barely a second, he had bought enough Knightmares over the black market this past year to know the price by heart. “A Gloucester goes for three point six million, still rather cheap for what you are getting but the supply is more limited.” 

By their looks the resistance had not quite grasped till now that they were working with full on military standard hardware, and while it was standardized and made like most military standard things as cheap as was possible, it was still expensive and did its job. The amount of money spent on a single Knightmare was more than any Eleven would ever see under Britannia and he had given them dozens of the machines. 

“Exactly, its a lot of money, but… what does an Imp go for?” She waited for an answer, but he found himself without one, so with a smirk she continued. “Exactly, they are not sold for commercial use, but… cost of manufacture puts them at fifteen million each, only a million cheaper than the Vincent, now, what does a Hesperian go for, on cost I mean? Seventy Million each.” 

“Now the big machines, the personalized Knightmare frames that the Knight Marshals and the Lion use. The cheapest of them is Mammon, at four hundred and eighteen million pounds.” He blinked under his mask, that was… ludicrous, the amount of money pumped into such a thing was almost a tenth of the military budget of Japan before its fall, all of it into a single machine. “The Barbatos, Seven hundred and forty eight million pounds, the Asmodeus, eight hundred and thirty nine million pounds, and most expensive of all, the Mephistopheles, One billion three hundred million pounds. And this is only the equipment they use, what they need to supplement their skill and bring them to the top, which yes, means we stole just under a billion pounds worth of hardware today.” 

“Thank you Kallen, your perspective on this was… insightful.” Did this… Did this make him one of the greatest thieves of all time? At least in terms of value stolen? No that did not quite apply as he was stealing for a nation, not for his own gain, but it was still rather amusing he cost his brothers that much money. “It also brings us to the next point of concern, Cornelia is smart but she lacks resources outside of the military, we could have danced around her for months, if not years, but Alexander? He is one of the richest men on the planet, with a network of spies more extensive than some state owned covert operations networks, the NPO and Pride Corp, as I am sure most of you know, are not just normal companies.” 

“Pride Corp is the largest of the two, the more physical, its primary purpose was originally to supply the Nine Hells as a private contractors, the original company has been around since the days of the Emblem of blood, but when the Prince took over he turned it from a small time R and D department into the largest non nationalized manufacturing conglomerate on the planet. Every single one of you likely owns a product made by Pride Corp, more likely you own multiple, the corporation grosses over eight hundred billion a year, most of that is reinvested into the company and its many sub companies, and of course, into the Nine Hells, its how they are functionally an independent fighting force, separate from the normal supply lines.” 

“Then there is the NPO, Pride Corps sister company and their greatest buyer. The National Photography Organization, or as some of you may know it, No Particular Organization, is the monopoly holder over all social media platforms, while simultaneously being the largest black ops organization on the planet.” NPO was a group that he feared, at least a little, their attention was dispersed, at least usually as their information gathering wavered in areas with greater unrest, but with Andre in the region, the Providence Network, the hundreds of spy satellites in orbit of the planet, would be over the region, while its strike squads would be swarming. “The NPO has a stranglehold on the media and will use it to weed out those they see as problematic, with professional special forces rolling out to deal with terrorist threats, as you might guess, this is problematic for us, especially with the increased surveillance from Orbit.” 

“Hence, I am ordering us all into hiding within Alpha base, for the next two weeks no one may leave without clearance and permission, after that, we will be setting up new cells for the people who cannot handle isolation, as we will be operating as a full on blacksite to hide our location.” To his surprise he got no protests from the gathered command staff. “I understand that this will be difficult, but it will give us time to reorganize, and we will come out of it stronger. Dismissed. Kallen, Naoto, join me in the hangar?” 

“Of the recovered Vincent's, we have all but three of them cracked, the techies are still going through those to get them working, we have the Club already working thanks to Mario’s impromptu hacking, the red one is called the Trial, it's a step between the Club and the Vincent's, little lower spec then the club.” He nodded along with Naoto as they walked through the busy and noisy hangar of Alpha base, where the engineers were frantically working through the load they had acquired. “The Barbatos spare is proving difficult, but Kallen is helping with the hardware portion, we are going to have to build our own OS for it, as the built in one is DRM’d to a point I never expected to see.” 

“Good work, I assume you want to pilot the Barbatos then Kallen?” 

“Of course, that beast… Its a fucking monster.” 

“I would not get too attached to it.” Her sharp look made him chuckle, so he held up a silencing hand. “I am in contact with someone that you should know, she goes by Rakshata Chawla.” 

“Rakshata? Shen Hu Rakshata? Man Machine Interface Rakshata? Rival of Ludd goddamned Harris Rakshata?” She seemed to barely restrain herself from squealing. “We got her rival's machines, so she wants to see them, to work with them…” 

“Exactly, she was not that interested in the Barbatos, apparently she worked with this Ludd on several occasions before, but the Lancelots were very much to her liking, and here is the best part.” He paused, mostly for dramatic effect. “She is bringing her work in progress Eighth gen frame, and she is looking for a pilot to tune it too. I brought up your reputation and skill so she agreed to make you the main test and combat pilot for her newest children.” 

“Our own Eighth gen… Zero, are… Yes I will do it.” He nodded at her, and she released a deep breath. “I won't let you all down.”

“I know you won't.” 

“Zero… do you know what she is calling her machine? What does it look like”

“Hmmm? Oh, have a look…” He opened his laptop, showing the folder Rakshata had shared with him, and delighted in the way the redheaded siblings both locked onto the screen like dogs looking at a treat, it was a little endearing. The Mech on screen was rather impressive looking to be fair, so he granted them their nerd moment. “I take it you like it?”

“Guren Mk.III, Ghidorah… It's beautiful.”