Turn Nine: Schemes within Schemes
“How far Schneizel thought out his plan of world domination is anyone’s guess, but what was clear was that he had thoroughly considered every avenue and possibility of what his opponents could and could not do well in advance of his meeting Sthenno. He played the UFN off of Britannia like a master puppeteer uses his marionettes to reveal the inner meaning of his work as he pulls upon their strings. Such was Schneizel’s ability to manipulate and capitalize on the various hatreds, prejudices, and ambitions of the member states of the UFN against Britannia and vice versa. Schneizel’s scheming knew no bounds, and more often than not, he would employ schemes within a scheme to achieve his final goal.” —Excerpt from Kannon Maldini’s interview with the International Political Forecaster, dated December 18th, 2025 a.t.b.
“I hear that you put on quite a show for the council,” Xingke said as he looked at Tohdoh through the viewscreen of his personal quarters on the Yamato.
“I had to after we received our spy plane reconnaissance reports that the North Britannian Command’s aerial fleet was heading for you in Peruvian space.” Tohdoh sighed. “I can’t say I’m much of an actor, but Cornelia helped by playing right into the mood of my verbal assault. If Nunnally had been allowed to parley with her sister, you would have had to wait for an authorization vote from the UFN council to strike back, and by that time, the combined Britannian and principality fleets would have already been upon you and, in all likelihood, crushed you.”
“I see. Thank you for that, General. We escaped with only moderate losses due to the fact that we were able to beat down Cornelia’s fleet considerably before the North Com flotilla arrived.” Xingke gave Tohdoh a perplexed look. “Still…I can’t understand why the Britannian North Com fleet got involved in the first place.”
“I suspect Schneizel is watching our every move via satellite and thus saw our aerial fleet moving towards South America,” Tohdoh said. His brow furled. “It would seem Schneizel still has considerable influence within the now reinstated royalty of Britannia.”
“That would certainly make sense. However, if Prince Schneizel can see our movements, then why didn’t he attack my fleet with their new weapon?” Xingke asked.
Tohdoh put his hand on his chin. “The only logical answer is that they have only one or two of these new submarines, thus they can only cover a few areas of the ocean at a time.”
“So we should be able to outmaneuver their forces by launching several small squadrons at once, say three to six vessels, which could regroup over dry land,” Xingke suggested.
“Precisely,” Kyoshiro smiled, “which is why I’ve already informed the various UFN commands around the globe to divide their fleets up into smaller squadrons which will regroup over Northern Britannia.”
"I take it that since the Britannians have chosen to ally with Cornelia and Schneizel, we will be going to war with Britannia as well?" Li Xingke gave Tohdoh a look of concern. "With the loss of the Australian and South African sectors, will we be able to mount an effect counteroffensive?"
"If we can move fast enough...yes," Kyoshiro said with conviction. "Even though they control nearly all of the southern hemisphere, we should still be able to drive them back using our Chinese and Indian forces." Tohdoh brought up a map of the world then enlarged the South China Sea region. "Our forces in Borneo, Indonesia, and the Philippines have already been mobilized into action. They're moving towards Papua New Guinea as we speak in order to stop Schneizel's forces, which our spy planes have informed us are moving up from Australia...the reports are disturbing, however."
Li Xingke raised an eyebrow. "Disturbing? How?"
Tohdoh leaned back in his chair. "Our advanced scouts claim that the enemy has either found a way to man all of the ships and KMFs of the Australian forces with Schneizel's followers, or the Australian government is now allied with Schneizel."
Xingke folded his arms. "Geass?"
"It's a distinct possibility," Tohdoh said with a frown. "But with so many of the Australian-built Type-21O Outbackers in the Indonesian region, it is highly unlikely that Schneizel will be able to continue the momentum of his invasions even with Geass and thus be forced to consolidate what he has already in order to acquire more followers."
"Thus buying us the time we need to build up our forces and solidify a strong defense, is that it?" Li asked.
Tohdoh smiled, "Precisely. We'll use our older seventh- and eighth-generation KMFs to deal with both the principality and the Britannian forces since we are unlikely to meet with any newer models produced by either of those powers for at least the time being. Should Britannia or the Brazilian Principality manage to introduce tenth- or even eleventh-generation KMFs before we do, we could find ourselves in real trouble. Therefore, we need to keep the pressure on them with emphasis on Cornelia's forces considering she has both Lloyd Asplund and Nina Einstein under her command."
“So FLEIJA is still a possibility in all of this,” Xingke mused.
“It is.” Tohdoh was clearly concerned by the prospect. “Which is precisely why I had to move quickly.”
“Was unmasking Zero necessary?” Li Xingke ventured to ask the rather touchy question.
“You were told of that, huh,” Kyoshiro chuckled. “I needed to end the foolish charade of such a symbol…at least with the UFN council. It will serve us in two capacities. First, it ends any actual manipulation Suzaku could impart on the UFN congress that his charge, Nunnally Britannia, might pass along to him. Secondly, it removes any form of hero worship or god-emperor figure from the political arena. That’s not to say Zero doesn’t have his place with the people, he does, but it must be in a capacity that will help shape the new republic we intend on creating. The new role of Zero will be that of an iconic figure that people seek to aspire to rather than an actual guardian of so-called justice.”
“And Suzaku was okay with this?” Li Xingke had read a bit about the strong-willed Devicer pilot and former Knight of the Round in the intelligence reports that had been hastily generated after Zero was unmasked.
“No,” Kyoshiro snickered. “He’s probably livid with me right now, but he’ll come around after I’ve given him a day or two. I’ll go to meet with him after he’s cooled off and then start working on him. I’m using a boot camp training technique on him. First, I break him, and then I rebuild him. It’s a simple but effective method.”
Xingke let out a laugh. “You think that’ll work, General?”
“Suzaku is strong-willed, no doubt, but he’s also impulsive and easily swayed if you cater to his interests. His interest is in honoring the promise he made to Lelouch vi Britannia. That promise being the protection of Nunnally and his continuing to play the part of Zero for the peace of the world.”
“If he’s as strong-willed as you say, won’t he see through this?” Li wasn’t convinced of Tohdoh’s plan.
Kyoshiro frowned. “I doubt it. Suzaku knows that nothing will change the fact we are at war with Britannia now except his playing the part of Zero and honestly defending Nunnally’s imperial title in the name of peace. It’s too much for him to deny me. I’ll give him the opportunity to be the Zero that Lelouch wanted him to be.”
Xingke was stunned. “You’re going to use him to bring down the UFN?”
Tohdoh only smiled.
* * *
“It’s so good to see you again Medea,” Sthenno grinned at the gorgeous raven-haired beauty that looked at her over the large viewscreen in the central tower of the City of Tartarus.
“And you also, goddess Sthenno, but what of the Tartarus? Is it ready for departure?” the jade-green-eyed woman asked in a soft melodic voice.
“Not yet,” Sthenno said. “Hephaestus tells me we still need more of the Golden Apple in order to complete our plans.”
“Is that why you haven’t awakened Athena or the others yet?” Medea frowned.
“More or less,” Sthenno avoided the question. “I’ve yet to secure the remaining quantities of the Golden Apple that we need due to unexpected circumstances.”
“Those being?” Medea inquired.
“We’ve overslept and the world has changed considerably.” Sthenno put on a disturbed expression. “The planet is now populated by adversaries worthy of us, and they outnumber us en masse.”
Medea raised her chin. “Is this why you’ve assigned Odysseus and Achilles to me with their legions of Spartans?”
Sthenno smirked, “It is. We still hold the element of surprise in our favor thus I need the three of you to take control of the large Golden Apple deposits that are within Mt. Emi Koussi in the Tibesti Mountains of the Sahara Desert region.”
“The Sahara Desert mountains, eh?” Medea brushed back her long locks of curly black hair with her arm and smiled. “Well, at least I can work on my tan.”
Sthenno frowned. “I’m not giving you three Colossi class Automatos to go frolicking about in the African desert, Medea. The Gigas, Ajax, and Circe are very valuable warmachines. I do not want them falling into enemy hands or destroyed.”
“I know, Sthenno.” Medea rolled her eyes. “I was just making a joke. By the way, where are my colossi's brothers, the Talos and Helios? I noticed that only the Selene is left here by herself in the colossi barracks. Where are the other two?”
“They’re on the far side of the world,” Sthenno said cautiously.
“With Jason and his Argonauts?” Medea inquired with a scowl.
“Now is not the time for petty squabbles sorceress, Medea.” Sthenno glared at her. “Jason has already sealed his own fate; of that you can be rest assured.”
Placated by Sthenno’s words, Medea grinned, “Very well then. If I don’t have use of the Argos, what skyship will I have?”
“The twin ship of the Argos, the Ithaca, is fully powered and supplied,” Sthenno told her. “Its cargo hold is large enough to carry all of the Golden Apple you’ll be able to mine from Emi Koussi within our timetable. Prince Schneizel expects it to take a week or more before our adversaries figure out what is really happening.”
"Prince who?" Medea inquired.
Sthenno tittered, "Prince Schneizel, my new champion."
"Oh? Why didn't you mention him earlier?" Medea was intrigued.
"Because I didn't think it was necessary," Sthenno snickered. "He's quite handsome and very interesting."
"I see," Medea chortled. "You'll have to introduce me when I return."
"I would but he's off to South America as we speak," Sthenno told her.
* * *
Suzaku walked along the finely manicured grass edge of a large lake. The bright overhead sun caused the calm waves of the water to shimmer like gold as they reflected the sunlight. The warmth of the rays felt pleasant on Suzaku’s face as he looked down into the liquid.
He could see sailboats and catamarans in the distance on the lake. A large patch of trees flanked the large body of water on either side, and enormous villas ringed the private lake in the distance of the hazy morning.
“What are you doing here, Suzaku?” Lelouch asked him from behind. “Did something happen? Has your time come so soon?”
Kururugi turned to see Lelouch Lamperouge sitting at a fine picnic table of marble under the shadow of a large oak tree that stood within a purposefully landscaped oasis of trees within the vast expanse of grass that led up to a large estate some distance away. Lelouch was dressed in khaki shorts and a white golf shirt and wearing only sandals upon his feet. Before him was a tall glass of pink lemonade and a chessboard with a game in play.
“He looks a bit confused, Lelouch,” Clovis said from the other side of the table. “Perhaps his departure was a violent one?” Prince Clovis wore similar attire to that of his brother.
“That would make sense, since I ordered him to live,” Lelouch smirked. “So, I guess you must of have been doing something crazy like skydiving or spelunking,” Lelouch laughed.
“No,” Suzaku said somberly. “I was in a meeting with the UFN council, and I was exposed as Zero by Tohdoh. Then Kaguya put me under house arrest.”
“Sounds like she sent you to your room for pretending to be Zero,” Clovis laughed.
Lelouch wasn’t laughing. “You were exposed? Why would Tohdoh do such a thing? Did you tell him who you were?”
“No, Lelouch,” Suzaku defended himself. “There’s a war on with Britannia and Cornelia.”
“WHAT!” Lelouch yelled at his friend. “You were supposed to keep that from happening, Suzaku.”
“I did, but you didn’t count on Schneizel breaking the Geass command you put on him!” Suzaku shot back.
Lelouch looked at him in disbelief. “Impossible, only Jeremiah could break Schneizel’s Geass, and I ordered Jeremiah Gottwald to never free Schneizel.”
“Maybe he overcame your Geass, brother,” Clovis snickered. “Nunnally overcame Charles' power of Geass, so why not Schneizel? Our brother is certainly strong-willed.”
“NO!” Lelouch said. “Someone else must have removed his Geass.”
“But who, Lelouch?” Clovis asked with a grin.
“The elder gods,” a voice said from under one of the trees.
Clovis turned to the figure of a young boy under the shade of the oaks. “Oh, hello uncle. Have you been sitting here the whole time?”
“Marianne was wondering where the two of you were off to, so I volunteered to come and babysit while she and Charles enjoy the day together,” the boy said as he stood up and walked over into the sunlight.
“V2!” Suzaku exclaimed in surprise. “What did you mean by the elder gods?”
“The first Geass users of mankind,” V2 said with a smile. “They existed before the great flood that destroyed much of the Earth. This flood was caused by the Great Geass War and was due to one side drawing down a large comet with their machines in a final effort of desperation to destroy their enemies. However, their adversaries managed to shatter the comet before it impacted our planet. The resulting shower of small particles melted in the upper atmosphere harmlessly, or so they thought. The volume of water which came from the comet caused a deluge upon the whole face of the world.”
“That really doesn’t answer his question, uncle,” Lelouch said. “How could these gods help Schneizel if they all drowned in a flood?”
“Some of them must have survived the deluge,” V2 smirked. “I told your father, Charles, that the possibility was high that some of them survived, but he always dismissed it as a clear impossibility. Apparently, he was wrong.”
“And you thought to tell us this only now?” Lelouch asked in horror of the implications of ancient Geass users returning to the world.
“It wasn’t an issue, nephew…at least not until now,” V2 answered him with indifference.
“These gods may have freed Schneizel and could in fact be helping him to rekindle his dreams of world domination, and you act like it means nothing?” Lelouch was mortified.
“Calm down, Lelouch; there is nothing you can do about it now,” Clovis tittered. “It’s not like you can undo what has been done.”
“There must be a way.” Lelouch looked at V2. “Nunnally...the world needs me.”
“There are ways, Lelouch, but no one in the world of the living possesses the means as far as I know, so you are in fact stuck here in the afterlife.” V2 gave him a stern look. “We must accept the destiny of the world; we must have faith, nephew, that the future will unfold as it should.”
“Faith?” Lelouch shot back at him. “What kind of philosophy is that? I destroyed the old world order by my own hand. I created a new order to help mankind, which is now threatened, and all you can say to me is that it was all predestined?”
“Yes,” V2 said flatly. “Destiny is the ultimate law of metaphysics. It is the reason that things that should not be able to happen in fact do.”
“Then is it Schneizel’s destiny to become dictator of the world?” Suzaku interjected. “Was it destiny or fate that took Euphemia?”
“Took Euphemia?” V2 laughed. “Suzaku, are you so naïve to think that Euphemia would be here in this world and yet not come to your presence as soon as she sensed it?”
“What do you mean?” Suzaku asked taken aback by V2’s insinuation.
“He means she’s not here,” Clovis grinned.
“That is irrelevant!” Lelouch shouted. “We don’t know what became of Euphie, and it doesn’t matter right now anyway. I need to know how to get back to the world I left behind to stop Schneizel!”
“What about your girlfriend, Shirley?” Clovis asked him with a snobbish grin. “Are you just going to leave her here while you rush off to save people who will end up here eventually anyway?”
“That’s not the point!” Lelouch yelled at him.
Suzaku felt faint. “Euphie is not here?” he said to himself as the scene before him faded into a blur.
Lelouch turned to him. “Suzaku! Where the hell are you going? I have more ques…”
Suzaku sat up in his bed. It was still dark outside in the city of Kyoto as he slowly got out of the sheets and walked to the window and cracked it open for some air. He looked down towards the lights of the city streets below which cast a gentle illumination into his room and caused his reflection to be cast in the window.
“Don’t worry, Suzaku,” Lelouch’s voice said from behind him. “I will find a way back.”
Suzaku looked up and saw the image of Lelouch standing behind him in the window. He spun around to face him but the visage was gone.
* * *
“We should have your ship refueled and resupplied within the hour, Captain Chiba,” the bearded base commander said to her with a smile over the bridge viewscreen of the Ikaruga.
“Thank you, Colonel Masters, it is much appreciated,” Nagisa told him. “Any chance we could get a few Type-21s from you for our Devicers?”
“I’m very sorry, Captain Chiba, but our forces are on high alert right now. General Kyoshiro Tohdoh’s orders were for us to mobilize the New Guinea militia, so we need every KMF we have.”
“I understand, Colonel.” Nagisa didn’t show her disappointment. “We’ll manage with what we have, sir,” she smiled. “Thank you again for repairing our machines.”
“No problem, Captain Chiba; sorry we couldn’t be more help,” he said as his image disappeared off the screen.
“Well, looks like we’re now officially at war if Tohdoh has put this out-of-the-way base on full alert,” Nagisa said to Jeremiah Gottwald who stood next to her.
“It can’t be helped,” he told her with a blank expression. “Now that we have limited communications back up and running, the news of the fall of Australia has reached the ears of the UFN council. No doubt we will be ordered back to Japan ASAP to provide defense of Kyoto.”
“You think this new enemy is going for the UFN council?” Chiba inquired.
“No,” he said in a dull tone, “but machines of the caliber of this new enemy must use a large amount of sakuradite, so it stands to reason they would require the largest deposits in the world to conduct their military operations.”
“So, sakuradite will turn Japan into a battlefield yet again,” Nagisa lamented.
“Indeed,” he told her with a frown. “And if First Lieutenant Akira Nobunaga is correct, this time we’ll be facing an enemy determined to achieve their goal as a matter of honor as well as need.”
“Akira’s friendliness towards this new enemy bothers me, Jeremiah,” Chiba said. “I don’t think he understands that even if those enemy Devicers see him as a friend, they won’t hold back in battle.”
Jeremiah gave her a reassuring look. “I think he understands more than you give him credit for, Captain. It would seem he’s already dealt with someone who is both a friend and a rival.”
* * *
Lena walked up to one of the juice vending machines in the commissary of the Ikaruga and leaned down to insert a coin when a hand beat her to the slot and popped in three thirty-yen rounds. She looked up to see Li Jiang Fong smiling down at her.
"Hi," he said as he leaned in close to her. "It's been a long time since we've been alone together, Lena."
"Not long enough," she said as she recoiled from him.
"Oh, don't be like that, Lena. You know I still have feelings for you, don't you?" he said with a sly smile.
"I don't care, Li Jiang," Lena moved away from him. "You had your chance with me, and you blew it when you tried to have your way with me. The only feelings you've ever had for me are between your legs."
"You wanted it and you know it." Li Jiang moved in closer to her.
Lena suddenly realized they were alone in the cafeteria. "Get away from me, Li Jiang Fong."
"Why?" He grabbed her by the wrists. "Are you afraid you might like it?"
"Let me go!" Lena screamed at him as she tried to kick him.
Fong blocked her kick with his leg and flipped her onto a nearby table.
"If you do this, I'll tell Akira and everyone else," Lena threatened.
Jiang pulled her arms behind her back and forced her down. "If you do, I'll kill Akira for sure the fist chance I get." He pulled down her pants. "Now I'll show you what I've got that Akira doesn't."
"I assume you're talking about class," Sayoko said as she walked up to them. "I was wondering what all this commotion was in here. It would appear I arrived just in time."
"I think you'd better leave, woman." Fong gave her a dark look. "And forget what you've seen here."
"Really? And what if I don't?" she said glaring back at Li Jiang Fong.
Fong shoved Lena to the floor. "Don't move," he told the girl as he took a step towards Sayoko. "Then you'll be sorry."
Sayoko eyed him like a cobra watching its prey. "I promise you, Li Jiang Fong, when I'm through with you, you'll never forget this."
* * *
Lena entered the Devicer lounge with a smile on her face and a bottle of juice in her hand. Within the small room sat Akira, Gregor, Mika, Tetsuo, and Villetta discussing battle tactics and strategy with regard to combating the Greeks.
"What took you so long, Lena?" Mika asked with a befuddled look.
"Nothing," she said maintaining her grin as Sayoko entered the room behind her holding a cup of tea.
"Where's Li Jiang Fong?" Villetta asked Sayoko with concern.
"The infirmary," she answered as she sipped the hot liquid.
"The INFIRMARY!" Tetsuo gasped.
"What happened?" Villetta inquired a bit surprised.
"We had a slight misunderstanding about proper etiquette with women," Sayoko said with a smirk. "So I had to correct his problem."
"Will he live?" Villetta inquired a bit concerned for the Devicer.
Sayoko smirked, "He will...but his voice might be a few octaves higher."
"You fought Li Jiang in hand-to-hand combat before, right, Akira?" Gregor inquired.
"Yep," was all Akira said in reply.
"Fong was the kung fu champion of his class, right?" Gregor pressed Akira.
"Yep," Akira replied with a shocked look on his face.
"And Sayoko put Li Jiang in the hospital," Gregor said in disbelief.
"Apparently," Akira snickered.
"Remind me never to piss her off," Gregor said to Akira who only nodded in response.
* * *
"Ordering the execution of Kannon Maldini seems rather unlike Schneizel," Cornelia said to Guilford as the Avenger flew towards Buenos Ares. "Kannon has been his trusted companion longer than anyone else. Why would he suddenly want him killed?"
"Lovers quarrel," Guilford joked.
Cornelia sniggered, "I highly doubt it, Guilford. My instincts tell me that Kannon possesses information that Schneizel doesn't want us to know about."
"Wouldn't Schneizel have already guessed that you'd think this?" Guilford asked.
Cornelia sighed, "Yes, I believe he would, which means he wants us to know the information Kannon has but doesn't want us to trust it."
"So we find ourselves in a dilemma," Guilford said.
Cornelia shifted in her command chair. "Correct, which is what Schneizel would want; we can't kill Kannon because he may have information that really is vital. On the other hand, we can't trust his information because it may be part of a deeper scheme by Schneizel. Thus Schneizel demands we kill Kannon for his help with the idea that it will confuse us and set us in a direction that my brother wants us to take."
"Perhaps that is why he wants three of the Black Knights we captured eliminated as well?" Guilford suggested. "They might have information that corroborates whatever intelligence Kannon is carrying."
"I'm not so sure a group of UFN dogs can be trusted, Guilford, at least not any of them except for Gino," Cornelia said.
"Evita Ernst's desire to have Gino Weinberg handed over to her led me to do some digging through our special intelligence service's files on members of the Black Knights," Guilford said with a sly smile.
"Oh, and I take it you found something interesting?" Cornelia inquired.
"I did." His smile widened. "I found that Gino was a member of the Yamato no Orochi. This Special Forces unit of the Black Knights was led by none other than Kallen Kozuki."
"The Black Knight ace?" Cornelia laughed. "No wonder Schneizel wants her and her teammates dead; he's afraid they'd give us some leverage with the UFN. She would make a valuable hostage and bargaining chip with them if they knew she was still alive."
"For Nunnally?" Guilford asked.
"And Zero," Cornelia said. "He's no friend of Tohdoh, and I imagine he'd be very useful to us in solidifying our own positions within a New Britannia under Empress Nunnally."
"You intend on continuing with Nunnally as empress?" Guilford was taken aback.
Cornelia raised an eyebrow. "That a problem?"
He fumbled for the right words. "No, Princess, it's just unexpected."
"Don't misunderstand, Guilford. As much as I love my sister, I know she's not capable of dealing with the harsh decisions that could cost people their lives. She's too good natured." Cornelia grinned. "I intend on being the steel fist under her velvet glove that will help her with the tough choices when she must do what is against her nature to do."
"And Zero?" Guilford asked.
"Zero will be my vanguard against insurrection. I don't know who he is, but I do know that Lelouch would not have chosen just any fool to replace him. It would have to be someone who would continue the whole Knight of Justice nonsense that Lelouch started." Cornelia stood up and walked to the front of the bridge and looked out over the expanse of the Peruvian mountains below. "The people buy into what he stands for, so we'll let them have their hero and use him to placate the masses in order to keep the peace."
"And Gino Weinberg? Do you intend to hand him over to the duchess?" Guilford was intrigued with where Cornelia's plans were going.
"I do." She turned to face him. "But only after I've told Gino what I expect of him in return for the safety of his comrades."
Guilford smirked, "You're gong to defy Schneizel?"
Cornelia tittered, "Of course, you know me better than that, Guilford, as does Schneizel. He knows I won't obey him, and I suspect he intends on using that to his advantage at some point."
"So we'll have to be ready then," Guilford said.
"Yes, and I intend on using Kallen Kozuki to be sure we are," she said with a devilish smile.
* * *
"We can't just hand them over, Lloyd," Cecile said.
"Well, what do you expect me to do?" he asked. "I've already let them have free reign of most of the Avalon. It's not like I can let them go."
"But Cecile is right, Lloyd, we can't let Duchess Evita Ernst have Gino and give the others to Cornelia to execute," Nina told him.
Lloyd became flustered. "What would you have me do? We're going to rendezvous with the Avenger in less than an hour."
"The UFN has to know what is going on here, Professor Asplund," Nina said sternly. "If what Kannon says is true, then the whole world is in danger."
“Cornelia might have them imprisoned or worse,” Cecile tried to reason with him. “I couldn’t live with myself if poor Anya or Kallen were executed, could you?”
“Well, I’m not sure.” Lloyd put his hand on his chin. “I really don’t know Captain Kozuki that well, and…” Lloyd stopped himself short as he took notice of Cecile’s clenched fists and Nina’s scowl as she adjusted her glasses.
He cleared his throat. “Let me start over. What I meant to say was that while I may not be very close to Captain Kozuki and that other fellow…oh, what was his name…never mind…I suppose I am friends of Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim, so I guess I should consider their well-being in all of this.”
“AND?” Cecile demanded.
“We should take action on their behalf?” Lloyd inquired with a meek grin.
“Exactly,” Nina said tilting her head to regard him. “And that means we need to make a run for it to Japan.”
“Um, what?” Professor Asplund asked in horror.
“Nina’s right, Lloyd, we don’t have any other choice,” Cecile said with a smirk. “We didn’t exactly sign on with Cornelia as regulars in her military forces, and in fact we’re really nothing more than techno-mercenaries. This ship is ours not the principality’s, so we don’t have any obligation to do what Cornelia says.”
Lloyd gave her a distraught look as his shoulders sagged. “I highly doubt she’d see it that way.”
“C’mon, Professor Asplund, where’s your sense of adventure?” Nina asked.
“I think I left it on the Damocles.” Lloyd looked ill.
Cecile smiled at him. “Look at it this way, Lloyd, you can test out the new FORGE system on the Type-21s we have on board against actual KnightMare Frames in real combat conditions. It’ll be just like the Lancelot project all over again.”
“Yes, I recall we nearly got killed during that project, and Lancelot was destroyed,” he whined. “I’m sorry, Cecile. I can’t authorize this.”
Cecile looked over at Nina who nodded in reply.
“Sorry, Lloyd, but we have no choice,” Cecile said as she pulled out one of the cords from a nearly control station’s monitor.
“What you are doing?” he asked in confusion.
Nina followed her lead. “Taking over this ship,” she said with a devilish grin.
* * *
“Hey, Kallen, why d’ya think old four eyes wants to see us on the bridge?” Tamaki asked as they rode the turbolift to the command deck.
“I don’t know,” Kallen sighed.
“Mr. Shinichiro, you might not want to call Nina four eyes,” Kannon told him. “She doesn’t like it.”
“So?” he said defiantly.
“So, she atomized Tokyo to get revenge on Zero. What do you think she’d do to you?” Gino said with a wink.
Tamaki thought about it for a moment. “Yah, well…I can handle that crazy bi—“ The door of the elevator opened up to the bridge. “What the hell?”
Lloyd Asplund was tied to the command chair of the ship with tape over his mouth while Nina and Cecile manned the control consoles of the vessel.
“Did we miss something?” Kallen asked as they entered.
“Looks like a mutiny,” Anya told her companions as she walked onto the bridge nonchalantly.
“Wow,” Gino laughed. “You okay, Lloyd?” he asked as they came up on Professor Asplund.
He nodded in reply.
“Hey, you guys,” Cecile called out to them, “don’t just stand there, we could use some help over here.”
“Where’s the bridge crew?” Kallen asked as they came over to where Nina and Cecile were trying to navigate the airship.
“We dismissed them until further notice,” Nina said.
“Why?” Tamaki asked.
“Because we’re making a break for Japan,” Cecile giggled.
“JAPAN!” Kallen exclaimed. “But that’s treason against the principality.”
“We know,” Nina said.
“I told you these people were all nuts,” Tamaki griped.
“Tamaki, shut it!” Kallen ordered him before turning to Nina. “Won’t Cornelia send a force to try and stop you?”
“I highly doubt it, Kallen,” Nina said. “With the UFN breathing down their necks, they are not likely to waste more than a vessel or two to come and chase after us.”
Cecile smiled at Kallen. “And there’s not an airship in the world that can catch up to the new Avalon. We refit her with improved graviton-impeller engines that are faster than anything else on Earth.”
“What about your crew? They’re not just going to let you make them all into pirates are they?” Anya asked.
Nina snickered, “Our crew is made up of mostly the old Britannian scientific core that were working under Lloyd before Nunnally became empress. The rest of the crew are paid mercenaries not a part of Cornelia’s forces, so we have nothing to worry about from them.”
“Cool,” Tamaki blurted out, “so we’re sky pirates now!”
“Sure looks like it,” Kallen grumbled.
* * *
“Prince Schneizel, our sensors have detected a small Avalon class frigate departing the South American continent along the Chilean coastline on an eastward course.
“Really?” the prince said as he stood on the bridge of the Thor. I hadn’t anticipated they would act so soon, but no matter. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”
His female communications officer turned and asked, “Should we inform Tartarus of this, sir?”
“No, it is not necessary to bother them with such a trivial matter,” he said with a thin smile. “Navigator, what heading are they following?”
The woman worked the controls of her console briefly before answering. “Their current heading will take them over the Society Islands and Bora Bora.”
“That’s Tahiti,” Schneizel said as he put his hands together in the manner of prayer. They’re heading for Japan, he thought as he gave his next order. “Helm, set course for Tahiti.”
“But, sir, what about our mission to South America?” the first lieutenant inquired with a look of concern.
“It can wait,” he told her softly.
“But what of our plans, Prince Schneizel?” she protested.
“They’re moving along better than I expected,” he said with a smile.
