New type of gunship transporters carrying 4th and 5th battalion foot soldiers soon arrived at the outskirts of the largest city on the East Side globe.
This was Beijing, a city inside a city. The Chinese turned the Forbidden City into a literal castle capable of protecting even from Knightmares in a siege situation.
However, they never considered that there would be a time when Knightmares or Knightmare-like machines would be able to fly…
And they most definitely never imagined that there would be machines that can…solo supernations.
"So this is your ace in the hole?" A machine floating in the sky with a lance and a cape made from pure energy looked at the blue Knightmare that can FLY!
This has severely surprised the always confident Cornelia.
"This will be a perfect chance to see what this Shen Hu can do," a man said from the blue knightmare that is made to look like a Chinese general.
The mech had strange, chain-like weapons that it was launching at Morrigan. Not that they do anything to the mobile suit.
"You need more power to even scratch my Morrigan!" Cornelia got closer and tried to swing her lance. But the flying Knightmare dodged and then used its chest-mounted particle cannon to blast at point-blank range.
Cornelia didn't expect that kind of firepower at all!
Thankfully, she had several defences designed to protect her from these kinds of attacks.
The deflectors and energy absorption were her mech's best points.
"W-What the!? Even at point-blank range!?"
For a second, the blue machine stopped moving; the shock was too severe, something that the Princess used and immediately attacked with her lance.
Slamming into the knightmare and sending it flying with a fierce swing.
After sending the enemy flying, Cornelia glanced at the power reading her machine was currently carrying.
"Well, look at that. Charged at 320%. I guess I use this."
The lance opened like a mouth, and blue lightning began to crackle between the metal teeth.
The Morrigan pointed at the downed blue knightmare.
"You are decent, you have my respect, fellow warrior." She said that while releasing an electromagnetic particle cannon.
"Damn…"
The blast nailed right into Shen Hu, who was moving to the side to dodge.
The particle beam caused a chain of explosions as it not only took out Shen Hu but also whatever defence forces were left behind at the Forbidden City's guard.
'This place is considerably defended; we needed two KK units and my entire force to reach this place.'
The amount of cannon fodder and other traps felt like they were fighting in sand.
The moment they felt that they had finally got rid of all of Gun-Ru, more of them appeared!
It shows that they were not dealing with a city in a simple province, but rather the capital of a Federation, one of the world's superpowers.
"Hoh. You survived that blast? You are good." Cornelia's machine picked up a signal after the dust cloud got less dense.
The Princess saw that the blue Chinese machine was missing its left hand and leg, and the flight unit was damaged.
'One thing we lack is that Knightmares are still better at discarding their frame parts.' Morrigan's pilot sarcastically thought to herself as she was ready to end this.
Once this machine is down, their victory will be assured. Beijing will be theirs. This is something that she, as a Britannian Princess, wouldn't have achieved easily.
The Holy Britannian Empire didn't wage many wars with the Chinese Federation.
Now she knew why, Thought Elevators.
But even then, the Chinese had numbers, and their Gun-Ru machines are not that bad.
It would have been a difficult fight.
But now… her two KK-units made short work of this huge city and its garrison.
Cornelia's two Mobile Suit battalions would only need to secure the city and its perimeter.
"I am sorry… Tianzi…"
The Princess landed on the ground and was ready to end the blue machine, but then a small girl dressed in imperial robes dashed forward and got in front of the Knightmare and before Cornelia's Morrigan.
"...What…the…"
The Princess stopped in her tracks. She was shocked to see this small girl stand before her like that!
"Tianzi! What are you doing here!?" The guy inside the Knightmare panicked, thinking that Cornelia would do something to the small girl.
"I will protect you, Xingke!" The small girl said with a tone of fearlessness. Although her expression was telling a different story, she was terrified of the machine before her.
She saw how these machines blasted through everything and all of the armies and Knightmares, it terrified the very daylight out of her.
"Get behind me, Tianzi!" The blue machine tried to move, but with missing limbs, it was not an easy thing to do.
"No need." Cornelia lowered her weapon.
"We have won, and you have lost. That's all there is to it." The Princess said with an assured tone.
Moments later, the skies were full of Anaheim machines. The Setantas and Scathach units arrived.
The newly built officer units were prototype models, and the pilots were told to take it easy, since… they are literally sitting on a literal nuclear bomb.
"...You…" The guy was surprised to hear that the Witch of Britannia is taking it easy.
"We have a proposal, pilot of blue one." The Princess got an idea.
This guy is a great pilot; his reaction speed could keep up with hers… even in an inferior Knightmare.
"...Let me guess? You want me to fight for you?" The guy replied. He already knew what she would ask.
"Indeed. We are bringing a new World Order. In which you could protect this little girl." Cornelia said with a small smirk.
The small girl looked at the Knightmare.
~~~
Black tactical gear-wearing soldiers were guiding the surrendered soldiers to a single area, among them were Knightmare pilots who survived the invasion.
A considerable number of Anaheim soldiers were outside the palace trying to calm down the eager people who wanted to join Anaheim.
"That little girl is the current Empress," Leila said to Cornelia as they were relaxing after a considerable amount of time they spent trying to take over the goddam city.
Leila volunteered; her Andraste was designed to take out the garbage. But she never ever considered how many troops would be protecting the city and its palace.
"I know. The girl can be used to pacify the population." The Princess said while taking a sip of water from a container.
"Not needed by this point. They have a new… a new figurehead." Leila looked to the side, where many people gathered with Anaheim insignia and even Marcus posters. Specifically, where Earth was behind him, that shot was made into a poster.
It is already symbolic to many people, even though it's a new thing.
"Maybe. But, having an actual Empress with us would make it foolproof." The Princess wasn't naive enough to put all eggs into one basket.
Having this Tianzi would make it harder for the Chinese to rebel or think of rebelling.
"True. Regardless, my part is done here. A cold shower is calling me." The blonde got up from a boulder she was sitting on. It was time for her to return to Solomon Islands and relax.
"Hmph. Then go. Tell Lelouch to come here. He needs to deal with this." Cornelia was jealous; unlike Leila, she had actual military duties, while this blonde could join anytime she wanted and then just leave.
"I will."
With that said, Adraste picked up Leila and soon enough they left, leaving Cornelia, who finished her water and then went to figure out the situation she was in.
This was the first time in her life that she didn't have specific directions when it came to the conquest of land.
If this were a Britannian conquest, then she knows what to do. But this was Anaheim.
Then, less than an hour later, a meteorite-like object was entering the atmosphere right above the palace before ceasing with flames, revealing itself to be Tiranis.
However, this Tiranis was different. The wings were far more advanced; while they could spread out like before, now sections between wings emit blue energy.
Not only that, but there are smaller thrusters on its legs and back, making this machine, once again, part of the KK-01 series, the fastest in the world.
The mech swiftly flew over and landed next to Morrigan.
Moments later, the mech lowered Marcus, as he jumped down and walked over to his sister, who was waiting for her.
"You deal with this; I have no idea how to deal with this occupation." With that said, Cornelia cleaned herself away from this.
She is good at fighting and leading soldiers, but not doing this. This part is always annoying for her.
"Fair enough."
Marcus smiled at his older sister, who walked away to see how her pilots were doing.
"Well, well, time to see Shen Hu."
The Inventor Prince wasn't that interested in Xingke; the guy is a great pilot, but what he is more interested in is Shen Hu.
A machine built by another top Knightmare creator and rival to Lloyd, Rakshata Chawla.
Sadly, Marcus is not like Lelouch, who can't make his own machines. Meeting the Indian Knightmare creator is a bit more challenging.
But now he has his hands on this machine.
'First Lancelot, then Vercingetorix, and now Shen Hu.' Marcus recalled his growing collection of Knightmares.
Regardless, he still needed to address his new catch.
He walked to the captured soldiers, among them, at the very front was a man with long hair and dressed in quite basic robes.
Next to him was a small girl with white hair and red eyes, dressed in quite the regal clothes… what a contrast between those two.
"You must be Li Xingke, the ace of the Chinese Federation."
"That's quite an honour you give me, Prince Lelouch." The man replied with a smile. The smile was neither nice nor bad; it shows that he is not afraid of the Prince.
"Heh. Well, you are the only one that my sister mentioned, and she rarely mentions enemies in not a derogatory way." Marcus chuckled while saying that.
"Regardless, I am here to offer you a deal." The Prince extended his hand, almost like in a grandiose way; he felt like it, genetics most likely.
"My goal is beyond this world. To touch the very stars, to do that, I need to secure the world, before I can focus on the great void.
You and your little Empress can help me secure China and its provinces."
"...You want to use Tianzi like those eunuchs?"
"I have no idea about your court politics; what I need is for my back to be secured. You can do that however you want. I would even pat your shoulder and give you a big gun to blow them up if this is what you want." Marcus casually told him that he could do whatever he wanted.
Li Xingke pondered for a second. He didn't expect to hear that from a Britannian Prince; he expected more control… more refined control.
"...What do you want from me? Be specific."
"You and your group join Anaheim. I give you China to rule. You can make that little girl Empress if you want, or some sort of figurehead, or I don't know. It's your choice.
What I need is manpower to pilot my machines and help me reach the stars."
The man pondered for a bit. His followers didn't say a thing. They realised that Prince Lelouch didn't even bother with them.
And they were true, Marcus only cared about Li Xingke as he was the best and the best representative for the Chinese Federation.
"... I doubt Tianzi being the Empress would mean a thing. Your movement broke this federation…forever."
The Shen Hu pilot was not wrong. Even now, there are people outside waiting for Marcus to appear before them.
The demonstration of his machines even cemented his existence.
"...True… I was the spark that ignited the gunpowder barrels that were the world." Marcus agreed to that.
"Regardless, Xingke, welcome to Anaheim." The exiled Prince offered his hand to the warrior. Who took it after thinking for a bit…
Though when he touched his hand, he felt something.
'His hand… he is a swordsman, as well?'
The Chinese warrior realised that after feeling how rugged his hand was.
This realisation immediately made Xingke respect Marcus a bit more. He immediately realised that this guy works for his goals, physically if needed too!