Llyod showed Princess Cornelia an almost perfect 3d model of the Winged Alien Machine. In the core of the machine, there was a small sun generating some sort of field around the machine.
"The theory we have is that this machine has a miniature sun as its power source.
It explains the heat of the beams and the blue plasma it uses for propulsion. It somehow uses the magnetic field as a method to hide from radar, and all the images we have come out blurry because of it.
I believe this is the same thing that allows it to move so agilely, even keep up with my Lancelot, who has pure saturadite joints and is smaller by half!"
'Not bad. He is quite close.' Cornelia was impressed; she already knew the specs of the KK-units, and this guy theorised quite close to what a Knightmare Killer can do.
"These, of course, are speculations. But I do believe that the material it's built with can't be found on Earth, so we have no idea about its durability."
'You have no idea.' The pair of Princess and Knight thought to themselves.
"If it has a sun for a power source, then the durability should be as powerful as that." She commented.
"Indeed. So to fight them. I need those Anaheim Joints." Lloyd concluded, making Cornelia realise his angle.
"Hmph. I will think about it. Most of this data was already shared by Schneizel. Only now I know who figured it out." The Princess smirked as he turned around and left the scientist and his assistant.
"Umm, why do I feel we just put a target on our back?" Lloyd exclaimed in a worried tone. He felt that someone had just painted his back with a red marker.
"I felt similarly."
The pair didn't even consider that their Viceroy was in a different camp entirely.
~~~
"Princess, don't they know a bit too much?" Guilford asked as the pair were getting back into their black car.
"I will inform Lelouch, but I do not worry about this even if they have a theory. It doesn't mean they have the means to oppose." She explained to him.
"It would be different if he were talking weaponry to oppose the KK units." She crossed her arms and pondered on something else.
Like visiting the simulator again, she needs to put in those hours for her machine to develop.
'On top of that, I need to show father that I am doing something… '
Cornelia pulled out her phone and sent a simple message to Marcus.
'I will begin to clean the area. Do what you can to collect assets.'
That means she will be cleaning rebels, that's what she would do. Not doing this would confuse the Emperor, in her opinion.
"Did Anaheim modify our machines?" She asked her Knight.
"Yes. Most of them already have the new Anaheim joints. On top of that, we will be using Purists, which the Prince has been protecting." The knight replied.
"Hmph, he shouldn't cuddle them that much." She snorted.
By this point, it was looking strange that a group of 80 Sutherlands was pristine, while the rest of the garrison was a ragtag of disabled units that hadn't recovered yet.
"Once we are back, begin preparations, and we shall begin with rebel cleaning. I need reputation to keep."
"Understood."
~~~
*Sigh*
"What is it?" Leila asked Marcus. She looked at him. The pair were at the beach enjoying their dinner.
"My sister is being her. She is planning to attack rebel cells. I kept Japan in status quo for months, and now she wants to start a purge."
He commented that the only asset that he cares about is JLF—remnants of true military. The rest are true terrorists.
"What are you going to do?" She asked him.
"Contact Kaguya and ask her to arrange a meeting with JLF." He replied before taking a sip of his ice-cold drink.
"I doubt they would easily join…" She had this feeling that it won't be that easy.
"They had no choice. JFL had no funding, and Kyoto houses are mine." He replied.
"In other words, you will strong-arm them into following you." She concluded. It was so him!
He shrugged at her before pulling her into his arms.
"Maybe we should enjoy this moment since you took me here." Marcus grinned as he pocketed his phone midway and focused on the blonde who invited him to the base, but it was fake urgency; instead, she wanted a date at the beach.
"Well, you've been delving into so many things at once that I needed to distract you." She pouted. The guy was building communications infrastructure, finalising Blackbird for space mining, working on new technology to improve KK units, then his Anaheim cover that needs to be maintained, and assisting Cornelia with her cover.
So much stuff. Most of them can only do one thing, but this guy juggles several projects simultaneously!
"Good, I like these distractions." He hugged her more before closing his eyes.
Before Leila realised he had fallen asleep, it had surprised her!
He didn't mention her, but he has been working on something even scarier… Bio interface, computer upgrade for the next generation of KK units.
An interface that would boost the pilot and the machine's response time. Theoretically, it would allow the KK unit to use Geass of the pilot and get exposed to the Fusion Reactor's field.
Again, in theory, this could boost pilots' spatial awareness.
Then again, all of these are theories that he needs to test when the prototype is finished.
~~~~~~A Couple Short Days Later~~~~~~
Marcus took his mobile suit and Kallen with her mobile suit to Mt Fuji, at the classic Japanese-looking compound.
The only girl of the six houses rushed over to the Prince.
"I am so happy that you contacted me like that." Kaguya excitedly clapped her hands.
'Even Sumeragi is all over him…' Kallen, who was with Marcus, was having a hard time watching how this girl was fawning over the Inventor Prince.
"Well, I do have my reasons."
"Please, Prince, come inside, we can discuss such things over a cup of tea~." Kaguya took his hand as she guided him to the main house.
Kallen quickly realised that this was a legitimate Japanese manor in the middle of Britannian-controlled lands. It was… impressive how they were able to have it with how ruthlessly the Britannians were stomping out other cultures.
"Very well, show me how great a hostess you can be." He chuckled, since she wanted to do that, he encouraged her to go the whole way.
The rest just played along.
Not long after Marcus got his porcelain cup with a drink, the bald man started the conversation.
"I can assume you are here because of your sibling taking over as the Viceroy?" Taizo Kirihara asked him.
"Yes. Well, my dearest older sister is in a tight spot. I was able to pull her to my side, and now, in a way, I control the whole of Japan.
The issue is my father." Marcus explained.
"The Emperor is watching, and you two need to make sure she is doing her job as Viceroy." The bald man realised that this was the case.
"Indeed. My sister notified me that she will begin her campaign of cleaning the house.
That means she is aiming for resistance groups."
"...Even if there were no activities from resistance groups for weeks."
"There were small skirmishes, but they are far away from Tokyo Settlement."
The Kyoto heads began to speak as they got worried.
"She will erase anything that could pose even the smallest of risks. She needs to play her character." He commented while swirling his tea.
"That is why I want to meet JLF. The remnants of the army, I want them to join me." He revealed his intentions.
This caused them to look at him with a bit of surprise.
"You want to recruit the Japanese army?" Taizo looked surprised.
"...You do know you are a Britannian Prince. While we are…flexible, they have their pride." Taizo wasn't sure.
It's one thing if he were rebelling; then they could join hands. But this kid wants to rule the world… from one overlord to another.
The JFL won't accept it.
"They don't have many choices, Kirihara-san." The Prince replied as he closed his eyes for a second.
"I have upgraded my sister's forces. Their Sutherlands have Anaheim joints, making them even more deadly.
You know what this will mean to them. I am here to offer an alternative and survive. Allow them to continue to spread their culture of bushido." He shrugged. If they don't want, then it's their choice.
"I see… then I will contact them and schedule a meeting."
"Great! Then let me cook some of the traditional dishes for you to taste!" Kaguya clapped her hands as she found a great opportunity to spend time with Marcus.
When he heard that, he perked up for a second.
That does sound great. It has been ages since he ate anything remotely Japanese.
"C-Can I join?" Kallen asked from the side as her whole body trembled. Just like Marcus, she hasn't eaten anything Japanese since the invasion. Sure, she might have had some chance to eat some basic stuff from Oghi's group, but that's the scraps they can put their hands on.
"Hmm? I guess?" She looked at the Prince, asking him.
"Sure, Kallen's mother is Japanese; she didn't have the chance to enjoy her homeland's food for a while."
"Oh? You are half Japanese?" The group perked up; all the attention she was getting caused the girl to get self-conscious.
"She was with the resistance in Shinjuku. I picked her up before her Glasgow blew up." He smiled while looking at Kallen.
"I am not some toy that you can pick up!" The girl exclaimed in embarrassed anger.
"Depends on the definition, Kallen." He winked at him.
"...Ugh! Don't embarrass me in front of other people!" She puffed her cheeks, complaining to him.
"Cute." He replied with another tease before looking at the hostess.
"Well, Kaguya, show me where to go."
The girl nodded a couple of times before motioning to walk towards a specific destination.
The trio left the main compound and went to another house built in a similar style. The whole place is meticulously upkept. Kallen gawked around. The poor girl had never seen such a traditional Japanese manor before.
"From your expression, I can tell that you have never seen such a garden before." Kaguya noticed how Kallen was looking.
"No, I was raised in a Britannian manor. This is the first time I've seen such a garden." The pilot girl's eyes ended up on the fish in the pond. They were multicoloured ones.
Her eyes sparkled for a second. The girl's strong fighting spirit was like that of a little girl.
"These are the Koi fish, they are part of any Japanese manor. Sadly, the Britannian castle-like style doesn't suit them that much." Kaguya explained while shaking her head.
Kallen scoffed the moment Britannia was mentioned.
"Don't mind her, she gets angry when Britannia get mentioned." Marcus casually commented, making Kallen roll her eyes at him.
"Oh, and yet she follows a Britannian Prince," Kaguya replied, a bit confused.
"Ugh…"
"We humans are strange beings." The Prince shook his head, making Kallen groan. Now he wants to be philosophical!?
"Can we just drop these details?" The girl complained, not liking the idea that they were talking about her problems.
"Sure, I want to see how Kaguya cooks."
When Marcus said that, the black-haired girl blushed a bit.
"...Umm…who said that I will cook?" She replied with an embarrassed blush.
"..." Marcus looked at her, a dissapointed look was evident in his eyes.
"I thought I found someone with great talent, but…" She shook his head. His acting prowess was on full display.
"...Umm…Umm… I can think of something… Surely…"
Kaguya wasn't able to mention that she was a very good chef! But his expression is making her not able to explain herself!