~~~~~~Around Same Time in Area 11~~~~~~~
"Sister! How could you leave without me? To space no less!" Euphemia burst with complaints for leaving her alone with a pile of documents!
The younger pinkette puffed her cheeks the moment she saw Cornelia enter the office.
"You do know that someone has to be in the office." The 2nd Princess replied with a small smile. She walked over and sat down on a comfortable couch and sighed in relief.
"That place is horrible for my muscles… no wonder Lelouch wants to create artificial gravity before we move to space." The current Viceroy of Area 11 complained.
"..."
Euphemia walked over and sat down on the opposite couch.
"How was it?"
"....I would say… interesting… but very big and empty." Cornelia tried to explain how she was feeling about her experience in the great emptiness.
"I see… I felt the same way."
"I did see Mars." The older sibling grinned for a second.
"..." Euphemia puffed again! Her sister is messing with her!
"It's… Red, even orange? No, I would say Bronze? It's very barren and gets boring to look at after the first five minutes."
"Hmph."
"Anyway, some strange things happened when you were away." The moment Euphemia mentioned that, the Viceroy tensed up.
"What kind of strange things?"
"Well, we lost connection to Homeland; it was down for several days. Once it was back up, brother Schneizel contacted us and requested your presence at the California base."
"...I see…"
Cornelia pulled out her phone and immediately contacted Lelouch.
"Lelouch."
"I know, I was just finished my shower before the main AI told me that the Britannians tried to restart and separate their network from Legion." He sounded annoyed.
"I know. But Schneizel wants me back in Homeland very specifically."
"..."
"Troublesome, I saw the logs that he was snooping around Anaheim and Area 11 data."
"You left it open?" Cornelia asked.
"I have to follow Britannian Protocol as much as possible. The system would flag everything out of order. It worked perfectly until someone checked and cross-referenced with other data.
You don't expect someone like the Prime Minister to cross-reference several ministers' works to look for inconsistencies."
"Well, he did."
"It is what it is. Then we have to prepare for rebellion quicker than we expected."
The 2nd Princess sighed as she looked at Euphemia.
"I will be bringing Euphemia to Solomon base, where she will train in simulations for her KK machine."
When the younger pinkette heard that, her eyes widened before she pumped her fist.
"What about Area 11?"
"I will leave one of my trusted people to run it before I return from California. Area 11 will be our stronghold."
Cornelia mentally recalled the map of the world.
"We must spread our influence throughout the Pacific Ocean. Our machines hold complete superiority over the air.
It will become a natural barrier against Britannia forces." The Princess flipped her tactician's mode and began to explain to Marcus and Euphemia.
"I know."
"You have nothing else to say?" The older sister looked surprised that there were no snarly comments.
"I am just processing this information and adjusting my plans.
At the same time, I have this feeling of pressure."
"Oh? Is my genius little brother weary of war?" The Witch of Britannia commented with an amused tone.
"I am weary of betrayal and leaking of our technology.
It's our only advantage over Britannia and the world."
His response made the pair of princesses look worried as well.
"Such things happen, Lelouch. You need to accept it. You already placed many safeguards to keep your technology safe."Cornelia tried to reassure her little brother.
"I know, however… There is a human factor."
~~~
Marcus' worries were not unfounded. When they were in space, reinforcements arrived from the Homeland. These were Schneizel's people.
These reinforcements began to mingle with Cornelia's forces.
While her top brass are people she has known for years, there are still lower-tier soldiers who recently joined her growing forces.
Of course, Schneizel's men swiftly joined the pilot programs.
The Princess had no time to do a proper screening for these men as she had her command to return to the Homeland.
Instead of taking a small group of men, she took a bulk of her force.
It was a mistake on her part.
Cornelia took the majority of her Knightmares, but instead of going to California directly, she took the navy to Solomon's base.
Where her old Knightmares were removed and Setanta's were loaded.
"Oh, wow, so these are the machines Anaheim was making for the Princess?" One of the new guys commented.
"Hah? You are a new guy, right?"
"Yeah, I just joined the logistics from the homeland." The new guy smiled brightly as he began to explain.
"I heard all about the Goddess of Victory and want to join her forces. For now, I am assigned to maintenance."
The explanation was satisfactory to the older guys who accepted this quite friendly.
"Then let me show you how to do maintenance of these machines.
Just be careful, they are bound to their pilots; only Marcus Goldman can change the pilot.
So the only way to access is to speak with the pilot so that he could enter a code and you could run diagnostics," the man continued to explain, as he then pulled out a thin book.
"Read this as soon as you can. Once you have memorised, we will continue with your training.
Engineers and mechanics are needed around here. The Legion Bots, while very useful they are not as flexible as people."
"Legion bots?" The newbie looked confused, that was until he saw the humanoid robots that were stored at the side.
"..."
The man gawked.
'These… rebels are THAT advanced?'
After getting the book, he continued to pay attention to what was happening. It would seem that they are aware that Prince Schneizel is after them.
These rebels were arming themselves with new technology from Anaheim.
Black tactical gear and never-before-seen rifles…
But then he saw it…
A machine that took his breath away!
"Beautiful, isn't it? KK-41 slash DA01 Morrigan. Her Highness Cornelia li Britannia custom machine built by Anaheim."
'...The design… It's the same that was attacking Euro Britannia!'
"Morrigan? After the witch?"
"No, the Celtic Goddess. All of the Knightmare Killers are named after Celtic Gods."
"You know, I can tell you a secret. You didn't hear from me." The older mechanic leaned forward and whispered to the new guy.
"These Anaheim machines, the whole company is created by Marcus Goldman, who is, in truth, Lelouch vi Britannia, the Exiled Prince.
Some say he wants to conquer the whole world just to get back at his father, who ruthlessly exiled him."
The new guy's eyes widen to a huge degree.
Now that he said it, it made sense why Cornelia rebelled!
"So who maintains these KK-units?"
To his words, he soon saw that this machine had a special pedestal on which it stood. This pedestal reacted the moment Morrigan stood on it: cables and other stuff attached to it as it entered hibernation mode.
"No one. It maintains on its own."
"..."
"Everything, most of the things here are maintained by AI, we are only here to oversee or in a combat situation to react faster than Legion Bots."
"I see…" The guy looked frustrated for a second.
After the machines were loaded onto the ships, they started their journey to the California base.
It will take more than a week for the fleet to reach its destination. In the meantime, the pilots trained in the simulations, and the mechanics and engineers were kept busy as adjustments to their preferences were made around the clock.
This is where the new guy had this chance… to gather data.
To this frustration, he could not simply download data from the mass production machines… not to mention the Knightmare Killer, who not one touched, more like they worshipped the machine…
Regardless, he eventually realised that he could download the logs and collect the data bit by bit. After all, the mechanics do download the data to study.
He did the same, downloaded schematics for the joints technology, then got tech on the new batteries and the weapons technologies.
Sadly…
That was about all he could get access to the propulsion technology or the armour plating they are using.
Even then, he learned some wild information on the far, far superior machines that are these Knightmare Killers, from interstellar flight to being powered by literal suns.
It is no wonder that a single machine could destroy entire nations.
Eventually, the Homeland appeared on the horizon.
~~~
As the warships docked at the harbour, Cornelia and her knight disembarked and were greeted by Prince Schneizel and his group.
"Cornelia. It's good to see you. How was the trip?" The blonde asked her with a friendly smile. However, his smile and eyes were telling a different story.
There is a reason why the Royals are good at acting.
"Not bad, all things considered, we need to manoeuvre around a couple of storms. Apologies for being late."
"No worries, dear sister. Come, we have things to discuss.
His Majesty is getting anxious; he wants you to return to your victorious ways. He wants you to continue the war against the E.U. He wants Spain to be conquered as soon as possible."
"...Spain?" First time hearing that!
"Yes. Euro Britannia is pushing them hard from the other side. They already conquered Warsaw and are pushing hard towards Berlin."
Cornelia looked surprised for a second. That's impressive!
Didn't Lelouch take out one of the Grandmasters of a Holy Order?
After walking a bit, the Princess noticed heightened security; she didn't say a thing as she wasn't worried for her life.
'They should be worried for theirs instead.' The 2nd Princess snorted internally as she continued to follow Schneizel.
They arrived at a meeting room where the blonde prince took his seat and motioned for the Princess to take hers.
Once seated, he dropped the bombshell.
"I don't know how to say this, but Cornelia, dear sister, you are accused of… treason." The man smoothly said that.
There was no reaction from her.
She looked the same as before hearing that.
"So you knew."
"...If you knew what I knew, you would join me, brother."
"Hmm? Maybe, but I have an Empire to run, satisfy the Emperor's wild conquests. I do not have time for whatever conspiracies you learned from those people in Anaheim."
"...People? Hah… that's our little brother, Schneizel. Empress Marrianne was assassinated by Britannian Special Forces! He was nearly killed by the same people!"
"...So that's how it is…" The blonde Prime Minister stroked his chin as he pondered this information. It made sense how nothing was uncovered, but who could be running Special Forces? They only answer to the Emperor.
But Marianne was his favourite? It makes no sense to him! Is it someone that even the Emperor doesn't want to offend?
"Regardless, we can discuss this when you are behind bars, dear sister. You were supporting a terrorist who has been standing in Britannia's way." Schneizel lost his smiling face as he didn't need to pretend anymore.
"I won't be going anywhere. Come to me, Morrigan."
~~~
In Cornelia's flagship, hibernating machine's eyes glowed, as the mech used its lance to blast the ceiling off and then rushed into the air.
This was the signal that everyone aboard the ships needed. The pilots rushed into their mobile suits to launch.
One by one, Setanta's came online.
Meanwhile, from the main warship, a single individual slowly slipped away. He disembarked in the chaos and rushed away from the pier towards where the army should be stationed.
Sure enough, the skirmish started as Sutherlands and Gloucesters rushed to intercept Setantas, who had their debut.
The huge amount of these new machines came as a surprise; they didn't expect Cornelia to have an army of new machines!
But then…
From the California base side, a yellow, high-voltage-looking blast slammed into one of the Setanta's blasting right through the machine's chest, causing a huge explosion.
"..."
For a second, the fighting stopped as what had just happened took everyone's attention.