The girls patiently waited for Marcus to leave the shower.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward, especially with three bodies less than 20 metres away. They didn't know if they were alive or dead.
"...Umm…what about them?" Shirley, the most concerned, pointed at the bodies.
"Leave this to the military." The recently arrived blonde explained how this works.
"Will Marcus…I mean…The prince…I mean…" The girl didn't know how to call him.
"He is an exiled Prince, who changed his name. So call him how you always call him until he drops his cover." Leila clarified to the confused girl.
"...R-Right." Shirley nodded; she was trembling a bit. This was new and terrifying! Thankfully, nothing happened. She didn't see a thing…apart from the aftermath.
"Relax. Taking deep breaths. Everything is fine."
"...H-How can you be this calm?" She asked the girl. Of them all, Leila looked like she was in her element.
"I was part of the E.U. military. That was before Marcus decided that I should come with him." Leila said the last part with a small smirk. Now that she processed that fact herself, in a way, it made her proud! Especially when she realised that he was dead serious about her being the best thing in E.U.
Well, not quite, since he does like Anna as well. Leila's nerdy friend.
"...Decided?" Shirley was confused.
"He destroyed both armies, and saw me on, swept in and took me away." She clarified what she meant.
"... K-Kidnapped you!?" The orange-haired girl squeaked.
Even Euphemia looked surprised. That was wild! Her half-brother was crazy!
"I think… it shows how much he liked me." Leila pondered it. Well, yes, it was against her will. But! It showed her how much he wants her around. In other words, his desire for her.
"...B-But…"
"I know. I WAS mad at him, at first. But my anger settled down, and then I pondered many times. Until I realised that yes… I had been wanting something like this."
Euphemia and Shirley gawked at her!
"I mean… I wanted power… to get away from my situation. I wanted… salvation? I don't have the right term for this. But I joined the military with hopes that I could get away from my adopted family.
Turns out it was the right option as I ended up being taken away." Leila recalled how Tiranis looked at her from the sky.
'Like some sort of symbol. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. A machine like that should not have existed.
It boggles my mind how advanced they are.'
The girl's mind wandered at the technology and what such power means.
She knows what they mean to Marcus; they are symbols of absolute power. To her… the reason why her Andraste has such wings and funnels it means Freedom from her past.
"I see… so it was something you desired. But not everyone wants something like that." Shirley commented that she was feeling a bit weirded out to talk about something like that.
"Then they should have the power to resist. Don't you think?" A voice said from behind the doors, the doors opened, and Marcus came out with wet hair; he was already dressed but still drying his hair with a towel.
"Ugh… not this again. You can be philosophical later!" Leila got between Marcus and the girl.
"We need to leave! The longer we are here, the higher the chance someone will make a connection between Mobile suits and us!" The blonde explained to her boyfriend.
"Indeed. Let's go, where did you park your Andraste?" He asked where her machine was.
"On the roof."
"Alright." He walked over, collected his backpack, took out several bags and then went over and collected his bloody vigilante-style clothes.
Once ready, he motioned for them to get going.
"Finally, I want to sleep!" Milly complained as she felt drained.
"Our machines have autopilots you can let Flidais control." He threw the backpack over his shoulder before taking his sword.
"No, I am fine. It was just a long day." She complained before giving him a stern eye.
"I am mentally drained because of what happened!"
"You do know that I had let this happen instead of them doing something crazy like bombing. It was convenient." He explained why he let it happen.
"I-I know! It was a simple complaint." Milly's cheeks puffed.
"I just hope Cornelia doesn't do something crazy." Euphemia sighed from the side.
"Don't worry, she already called me," Marcus replied to the princess.
"...Oh…" the disguised princess sighed in relief.
"Yes. So it's fine," the Prince smiled at her as they left the room and walked towards the stairs that led to the roof.
After a couple of flights of stairs, they walked out to the roof. The winds immediately slammed into them. The building is considerably tall, and the higher they are, the stronger the winds.
"Guys! Is everything okay?" Kallen's voice came from another mech that was on standby.
'Even Kallen!? Isn't she a sickly girl?' Shirley was once again shocked that there was another 'secret' that she was not aware of.
"Yeah, it was a great test."
"You seriously used a hostage situation for a test?" Kallen sounded gobsmacked.
"And it worked perfectly. Minus the traumas, it was, however, necessary to catch them before they do something reckless."
"We can talk later, it's freezing here!" Milly walked past them while shaking. Her machine flew over and landed on the roof in front of them.
"Come on, Shirley! I will give you a lift!" The blonde council president turned around and looked at the fellow council member.
"O-Okay!"
The orange-haired girl rushed to catch up with Milly.
As the pair got into the mech. Shirley was a bit worried that there was not that much space inside!
"You can sit on my lap if you want to." The blonde teased the girl.
"Prez!" The girl blushed. She decided to stand even if it was not comfortable.
"Anyway, we should be going!"
As she said that, the rest followed.
With a blast from the Lake, a machine rushed into the sky with a spin, it transformed into humanoid form and landed on the roof.
Just like that, all four second-generation machines were in one location.
"...That's Marcus' Machine? It looks like a bird…"
"Hah, you could say that. I would say man with wings, but it pales in comparison when it comes to Leila's… she got an angel…" Milly is a bit jealous of Andraste.
"...I guess…"
The girl is more concerned about why they have such machines in the first place…
Are they planning something? Why so advanced?
All sorts of ideas began to pop into her head.
~~~
Cornelia didn't waste any more time and swiftly ended the fight and took a jet to the Tokyo Settlement.
By the time she was in the Viceroy's building, her little sister was already working… signing paperwork and arranging visits to places like the arts museum.
The Viceroy stormed into the office. She was about to give her worry talk, but she controlled herself as she saw that the office was full of people.
"Viceroy… I thought you would return in two days." The Government officials were baffled by Cornelia's return.
"Leave us alone. You can continue with this when we are done." She motioned for them to scram as she walked deeper into the office.
The officials left one by one, leaving only Euphemia and Cornelia.
The Viceroy swiftly hugged the 3rd Princess, like a mama bear who got her cub back.
"Are you okay?"
"...Yes… a bit dissapointed." Euphemia ended up sighing in disappointment.
"...Why?"
"The trip was cut short because of some delusional people." The girl frowned as she looked away.
Cornelia looked surprised for a second; she rarely saw Euphemia like that! The pinkette looked genuinely angry.
"We can organise something on a later day. This is not a one-time thing, Euphemia."
The older sister tried to pep-talk, but the younger sibling looked at the table; there was a mountain of papers waiting for her.
"One day… yes…" She said with a resigned voice. That is why she was pissed off. It made her forget the stack of papers…
But then these delusional terrorists appeared!
"Instead, we should talk about security." Cornelia walked over, sat down on a couch and crossed her legs.
"You need a knight."
The moment she said a knight, Marcus dressed in black armour and that sword with ripples appeared in her mind.
It made her blush for a second as she shook her head.
"...Not a knight…" Euphemia shook her head.
"But I want one of those." The girl had a specific thing for protection.
"...Those? Who?"
"...There is only one thing that could protect me from everything." Euphemia smiled; her smile made Cornelia stop for a second.
"I am your sister, and I am quite good when it comes to piloting."
"...You are serious… aren't you? You want one of his KK units." The Viceroy looked away. Cornelia couldn't believe she was hearing that. Euphemia wants a weapon. Her pacifist sister wants something that can end nations.
"Last night I saw them in action… When I saw it… I realised that if I have something like this… I can do something…" the younger girl didn't finish what was on her mind.
Since the very beginning, she had this feeling that she was useless, but if she had one of those… then she would have power! No longer someone who needs protection from an older sibling!
*Sigh*
"You do know that I need to ask him for that? He already is working on a million projects and is planning to rebel from our father." Midway, Cornelia realised that her brother is a chronic workaholic.
"I know. But this is something that I do myself." Euphemia smiled. She is certain that she can persuade him to make a machine for her!
"Fine. We can visit his workshop and get this sorted." The Viceroy massaged her forehead. This is getting…
Out of hand.
But it might be for the best. If Euphemia can get a mobile suit, that machine will be able to protect her in the worst case.
Fewer people for Cornelia to worry about when they begin the rebellion.
"So tell me, everything. What happened in the hotel?" She switched the themes and began to question. However, Cornelia didn't expect Euphemia's eyes to glint as soon as she told her how great Lelouch was!
Something the Viceroy didn't need to hear! She wanted to hear about the terrorists!
~~~
Meanwhile, in Marcus' workshop, the prince was inspecting mirror alignments for the telescope.
He was checking the magnifications, then the radio sequences, and the specific OS.
'Thankfully, this is a simple upgrade from the current one I use in the satellites.'
The Prince stroked his chin as he looked at the data before him.
It looked good, but he would only see if this was good once the telescope was in space.
"Marcus, I saw new data." Anna walked over with her tablet.
"You want me to start working on third-generation mobile suits?" The girl looked baffled by some of the experimental stuff he wanted to put into already absurd machines!
Gravity manipulation, bio computers, Geass interface!
"Yes. But it's not urgent, I already have a rough draft."
"Yes, I saw the new style heads we will use. But the technology in these things… sweet god." She looked spooked by the projected abilities these things will have!
"Well, for a galactic empire, somehow we need to keep peace, no? Instead of having huge armies or fleets that need a lot of resources, a single machine could reign in entire sectors." He explained how he was seeing things.
"...I see your point."
What she was hearing was a great use of resources.
"Yes. No need to rush, Anna, we still need to develop bedrock technology to make third generation possible.
Until then, check over the data, add your input, apart from that, just focus on Setanta models, and creation of more simulation spheres."
'Right… we will have an army of Marcus machines…'
Anna's lips twitched; she was terrified… for anyone who would try to oppose the Exiled Prince.
~~~
~~~
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