"You want to join?" Marcus expected a bit more loyalty from Lloyd towards his older brother.
"I think my expertise will serve you better, my Prince." The Lancelot's creator smiled at the exiled Prince.
"...Lloyd…" Suzaku looked surprised for a second.
"I think the Prince's goals are something this world, humanity needs. The constant conflicts set us back from exploring the space." The nerdy guy clarified.
"...I understand, but can't we unite without conquest?"
"No, we can't." Marcus interrupted.
"I have my mobile suits, and what do the rest have? I am conquering it, not because I need it. While it's sure something like a middle finger to my father, it's mostly because I don't want to look behind my back all the time.
And be worried for foreign elements popping up in the heart of my Empire."
The nerd nodded several times to Marcus' words.
"...I see… it does make sense." Suzaku slowly nodded as well.
"You did want to change the Empire from within. Now you will have a chance to do that with a hundred times bigger one." The Prince joked, making the brown-haired teen look at him hard for a bit.
"...I see your point." He sighed in the end. His boss is joining, so might as well join the bandwagon.
"I will join." Lancelot's pilot caved in.
Marcus smirked for a second. It would seem this time around, he got two aces in his deck.
"Good to hear, Suzaku."
"What about us? Me?" Lloyd asked.
"That depends, what about the silent Miss over there?" the Inventor Prince asked the quiet, blue-haired, mature lady behind the pair.
"...Oh? You are asking me?" She looked surprised that Marcus asked her at all.
"Of course."
*Snort*
"You are asking a girl's opinion?" Kallen snorted next to Marcus, causing him to look at her for a second. He then poked her side.
"Shh. Don't speak of my side activities like that." He whispered.
The red-haired girl moved to the side for a second; those fingers poking her waist are a bit too much!
"What are you two talking about?" Suzaku looked confused. Are these a couple or something? He thought it was the blonde girl he saw on TV who was his girl.
"The couple stuff, Suzaku, Kallen is a bit jealous." Marcus tried to clarify, making the pilot girl scramble to defend herself.
"I-I am not!" The girl tried to explain herself!
"Oh, please, that's what they all say." The Prince shook his head.
"Ugh!!!" Kallen could barely control herself.
"Regardless, what do you think, miss?"
"It's Cecile Croomy, my Prince, and I don't have much choice when a Prince is asking." She sighed in resignation.
"Hmph." Kallen huffed when she heard that. She was about to say something about the Britannians and their ass kissing.
But Marcus pulled her closer, snuggling, which made her try to run away.
After a bit, she did run away. The public affection was a bit too much.
"Regardless, my Kallen is a bit biased against Britannians, so give her some space. On the note that you want to join Lloyd and Cecile, you can, but do remember that my technology is nothing like the current ones.
And I intend to keep them like that, if anyone tries to leak it… Well, you don't want to know about the consequences."
"We already worked with experimental technology, your highness; no need to remind us what happens when a leak happens." Lloyd smiled with a knowing look.
"Good, then we are on the same page." With that said, Marcus released the trio from their cage.
After they got free, the Prince personally introduced them to the fellow scientists, Nina and Anna, who were working on 3rd generation Mobile Suits.
Even though Marcus said there was no need to rush, they became enthusiastic and were trying to fit a condensed 3rd-generation Fusion Reactor inside the frame of a mobile suit.
"These two are the new developers, Lloyd Asplund and Cecile Croomy."
"...Earl of Pudding?" Anna commented without even realising.
"...Ugh…" The man's easy-going smile was gone as he, for a second, looked a bit annoyed.
"O-Oh, sorry… It's just that I heard a lot about you." Anna immediately got a bit nervous; she had just met a famous developer.
"Hmph, that's the nickname SHE is using all the time," Lloyd complained. Meanwhile, his assistant chuckled as she got nervous at her boss' outbursts.
"Well, I saw it online when I was researching Britannian knightmares." Anna sheepishly smiled. This nickname was something that stuck in her mind, easy to remember.
"I SEE… at least something came out from this." He fixed his glasses, then looked at Marcus.
"Your Highness, we can continue."
"Of course." The Exiled Prince smirked for a second before looking at his two female scientists.
"These two gorgeous ladies, help me with my mobile suit and technology in general development.
Nina Einstein is responsible for technology related to atom engineering."
"...Atom…Engineering?" This was something the pair had never heard before!
"Indeed. The core technology I use is constructed at the atomic level. How else could a Fusion Reactor's power be contained—"
"I-I KNEW IT!!!" Lloyd interrupted the Prince.
"You are imitating the very sun itself to power such machines! That is why they have so much thrust force and their weaponry is so destructive!" Now everything makes sense in Lloyd's mind!
"Not bad. Though only the latest 3rd generation, with Nina's help, does the fusion reactor's core become a legitimate sun, generating true gravity, something that I am aiming to utilise in space development.
What is the point in developing in space if we can utilise artificial gravity? Such things would be counterproductive to organic lifeforms."
"...Fascinating… the very fundamental forces. This is very interesting."
Cecile was a bit concerned when she saw her boss like that. The Earl of Pudding was barely containing himself and not dashing to study.
The only reason it's like that is that he had no idea where to go.
"Indeed. To rule space, we need to wield the fundamental forces, don't you think? The gaps between planets and solar systems are simply too vast for basic means of transportation.
Even my Ion Technology, which is superior to anything produced so far, is primitive in front of the scale of the cosmos."
Just saying that has hurt Marcus; he loves his Ion Technology. Just remembering making the first ever operating thrusters made him realise that he had entered into the concept of fantasy.
"...Ion? You have that… oh, so that is your propulsion system." Lloyd stroked his chin. All these new technologies are giving him all sorts of ideas.
"But it's not that impressive, as it only allows around 1 million kilometres per hour. In space, this is nothing." Marcus casually mentioned the average propulsion power of Ion thrusters.
"...That's a lot…" Suzaku replied, as this was the only thing he understood.
"We can't use that in the atmosphere, as it could combust the air from friction.
That's why actual gravity manipulation is far better if we can apply it to the mobile suits." He explained to his childhood friend.
"...So how would that work?"
"It would generate a field around the machine that negates the planet's gravity.
This would make the machine borderline indestructible, as beams and any other weapon need to generate more power than the field to hit the machine's frame."
"...That's absurd… if you make something like that…" Suzaku was in disbelief; what he was hearing was science fiction!
"We can dominate space and make people forget about opposing us, ending conflicts completely.
This is the power of the gods, not something one can easily oppose."
"Indeed, but we first need to harness gravity to such a level.
So far, Marcus only has a working theory of gravity redirection." Anna blew Marcus' hype with a simple fact.
"But this confirms that we can manipulate gravity to some extent and possibly even use it as a source of energy," Nina added her two bits, regenerating hype.
Midway through the pinkette, the scientist realised what she had done and decided to hype up again.
"Yes, and we could potentially use other forms of energy alongside gravity as it's a fundamental force."
"Indeed. There are many uses for such a technology." Lloyd pushed his glasses up and looked at Marcus.
"My Prince, shall we get to the main part. You already know what my specialities are, so what will I be doing?" He asked, almost trembling with excitement.
"Catch up with technologies, and then you can help me with space development."
"Alright, we can do that." He then rubbed his hands." You will allow me to make my own machines?"
"I suppose you can make experimental machines for Suzaku." Marcus looked at his friend." I want to see how well Lancelot will look with my technology."
"That's great!"
Just like that, Marcus got another head scientist who defined modern technology in this world.
One could say that Marcus drained the world of its top-class scientists.
~~~
"Are you sure? He will use your technology to make a machine of his own?" Kallen asked Marcus as they left the new scientists with Anna and Nina.
While Suzaku went to familiarise himself with the simulation sphere, leaving only Kallen and Marcus.
"It's fine. Because the mech will not work, such complex technologies require active AI to maintain the balance.
"He would need to develop a separate platform that could take decades to work, unless he adds my AI platform, which by default is loyal to me.
Simply put, he is playing inside my sandbox with my sand.
Something that I can strip from him anytime I want." He explained with a wicked smile, his reply made her smile a bit as well. She then hugged his hand.
"You always have a plan, don't you?" The girl said that with a satisfied tone.
"Well, someone has to plan ahead." He smiled back at her as she bumped her elbow against his side.
"Smart ass." For a second, he complained before returning to holding his hand.
The pair continued to explore and walk around the base. Less than two months ago, there was nothing here. Now they have a literal military base, with hangars, underground holding facilities, assembly lines, and a second-generation fusion reactor that powers this whole place.
Not only do they have actual soldiers, Britannians and Japanese. While there are a number of compatibility issues, they can work together.
Mostly because of the awe factor his faction brings. These guys believe in the so-called conquest of the Wild West.
Manifest Destiny.
Only this time it's not going westwards but upwards, at the very front are the Mobile Suits, machines so powerful that they can cross space effortlessly.
They were a symbol of power to the simple soldier following either Marcus or Cornelia; they wanted something out of this.
The ambition of a simple man was to have a plot of land and wealth.
And if the limits are the cosmos itself… all of them are certain that at the end of this journey they will have something grand.
This was nothing new; throughout history, this was a common thing. Lesser men follow greater men; the end result can be from cities in their names to riches.
One of the best examples was Alexander the Great; his empire was divided among his generals, while the army he led gained riches and retired through the conquered lands.
Either way. They follow without question to gain something.
But that's their hidden desires, because at the very front is their loyalty to the Prince or the Princess.
Apart from the Japanese, who desire a land to call their own. The cosmic ambition has warped their minds…
Regaining Japan is one thing, but having a planet of their own? Now that's an attractive deal! It's starting over again.
For men, it was a wonderful opportunity to build something for themselves, especially for these guys who were beaten down and looked down upon for years by the conquering Britannians.
"Leila said that the house is coming along quite well. We should go see it." Kallen all of a sudden said to Marcus, who was thinking about why they followed him to this crazily attractive future in a very dangerous cosmos.