Marcus immediately wanted to deploy his G-Force in Western China for test operations, but satellite photos were telling a different story.
There was movement in Siberia. Britannian and Euro Britannian forces were gathering for an attack.
"This is too little to make a difference." Cornelia looked at the size of the troops.
"True. This could be a raid." Darlton said with crossed arms as they looked at pictures.
"Considering Sutherland's operational range, they could target our military outpost close to the Amur River.
We placed that outpost at a strategic location. Entering into our territories is quite difficult; there are not that many bridges."
Gilford showed where the attack could happen. The natural border they have with Euro Britannia is the River Amur. A considerably wide river, and a natural border, something the Chinese Federation and Euro Britannian enjoyed since its creation less than two years ago.
That's right… Euro Britannia is a new political body with shaky foundations, unlike Anaheim, which has the support of the people.
Unlike nobles of Euro Britannia, Marcus' goals are different. He wants space; he looks towards the future, while Euro Britannia looks at the past.
'Who in their right mind uses chains in their flag…'
The Inventor Prince casually pondered the Euro Britannian flag before looking at his Military heads.
"They are looking for ways to steal our technology. There is nothing else to take.
They want to learn the means to recharge our batteries. We do use more advanced means.
In other words. These are disposable pawns.
We need to look for means for them to steal data and make a gateway." Marcus reminded them of what is at stake.
'Knowing Schneizel, he personally will be overseeing this.'
The Prince stroked his chin as he looked at the map.
He began to zoom around the location of his outposts.
While his battery technology is considered a C-tier technology, something he doesn't care that much about, like his KK-unit or Gundam tech, it's still his and Anna's creation. Giving it away would be considered a loss that would make him feel a sting in his pride.
"In that case, they would use a river to escape, a small motor boat?" Gilford commented as he understood the angle of this attack.
"Since they want to steal batteries, we need to deploy one of our KK-units for protection." Cornelia chipped in as she looked at the map.
"We are busy with our expansion in the middle of China, so we can't send any of our battalion troops. The troops over there will need to rely on the garrison over there." She reminded him that they had been stretched thin for a while.
While they are training over 20 additional battalions for now, they currently only have their original five battalions.
"I know." The inventor Prince nodded.
"I will go there." Kallen chipped in. "I will observe it from the sky for a while before crashing the party."
'Yet, I feel that we are playing into his hand.'
The Prince massaged his forehead.
'Schneizel and his ruthless tactics… that man destroyed his whole Britannian network just so that we would be blind. But, unlike him, I have my Legion.'
Marcus looked at his holograms. His AI predicted the same thing as he did. They want infrastructure schematics.
It's one of several protections he has created alongside his technology—the infrastructure.
From Setanta to KK-units, they need special maintenance, from batteries to AI. Those machines need several things to function.
'I will make you work like a horse, Schneizel, if you want my stuff.'
"Kallen, take Milly with you on this. I want Milly to observe from a distance.
I have this feeling Schneizel is sending all those troops to their death so that he could have a chance to steal my technology."
Marcus instructed while looking at the map.
"While I don't want to admit it. It is true that Schneizel could do something like this." Cornelia frowned while saying that.
"But there could be more." She frowned even more as her gaze was on the map of northern China.
These lands were new to her, and the same could be said about Schneizel.
'Could he be using this as a diversion?' The Princess thought to herself as she looked at the map.
Not all of their outposts have recharge posts. Even then, they have chosen specific and defendable locations to place their battery storage.
"All we can do is prepare. I will be watching from the command post what is happening in Northern China. In the meantime, Cornelia, you can focus on your conquest."
"Very well. Tell me later how this goes." With that said, the Princess left with her officers.
Leaving Kallen behind, who ended up in this meeting quite randomly, turns out she found out about an interesting mission she can participate in.
"Do you think he will be able to steal some sort of info?" She asked him, her arms crossed, while leaning against his computer table.
"He can't brute force it, as our force is better, but he could use some sort of underhanded methods." He said with a frown.
"There is a reason why I branded this technology at C-tier. It's something that I expect to leak to the public one way or another.
With how many bases there are, with how many Setantas we are releasing, the chance of leaking is getting higher and higher." Marcus explained to her.
"So that is why our KK-units only get automated machines for maintenance." The girl realised that! She recalled that no human mechanics are allowed close to their customised machines.
"Indeed. KK machines have technology that can change the world, not to mention help win wars."
While it was bragging, she knew that it was true.
"That is why, when you are piloting your machine, remember that it can't fall into enemy hands." He said to her in a very serious tone.
"I know. That much I knew from the very beginning. I would rather make it self-destruct instead of allowing it to fall into the enemy's hands." Kallen said with a dead serious tone.
"Good." He smiled at her for a second. That smile made her blush.
"Don't look at me like that! Damn it!" The girl stormed out of his workshop.
"I AM GOING TO PREPARE FOR THE OPERATION! I WILL CONTACT MILLY WITH THE MISSION'S SPECIFICS!"
The girl shouted as she was running away.
"Redheads."
Marcus shook his head as his gaze went back to the map.
'In that case, I shall prepare for everything, my dear brother.'
The Prince moved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a black king chess piece. He swirled it around his fingers before placing it on the table.
'Hmmm, I can bet my Tiranis that you have China crawling with your spies.
That I have included in my strategy.'
~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~
"My Prince."
Schneizel got pictures placed on his table by his secretary.
"These came from the observatory in Hawaii."
"..."
The blonde man looked at the pictures; they were space pictures.
More precisely, pictures of Earth's orbit and what is happening there.
"...You keep on surprising me, Lelouch." The man stroked his chin.
"Sent these to the Emperor. He is taking a direct role in many of these things.
He is the one who is observing the operation in China's northern borders."
Schneizel knew that he could be ruthless; he would do the same, but the Emperor was offering hundreds of men to shuttle the deck with infiltrated men.
"Understood."
As his secretary left, the blonde man leaned into his seat and closed his eyes for a second.
'Turns out Lelouch is truly a major threat. In a matter of weeks, he turned Earth's orbit into his factories and even a staging area.'
This is something he never considered. Utilising space as an extra like that.
'But it makes sense. He is obsessed with the void.'
"This does, however, make it hard for us." Schneizel frowned. He would prefer a diplomatic solution.
But, he doubts there would be any compromises between Lelouch and the Emperor.
Around twenty minutes later, he got a call.
"My Prince, the Operation Trojan Horse is underway."
"Understood."
The blonde man turned on his TV as he began to watch it.
~~~
A combination of Britannian Sutherlands, Gloucesters and Euro Britannians counterparts began their advance towards Anaheim-controlled territories.
There was a considerable-sized river separating them, but there is something called low and high tide.
There are times when the river is not deep and good enough to cross.
The machines with their slash harkens were able to cross into Anaheim territory.
Then they began to rush towards the outpost.
However, soon enough, the leading Gloucester had a red dot on its frame as the next second a blue beam slammed into it and caused an explosion!
"Shit, a sniper! Scatter! Use smokescreens!"
The mechs began evasive manoeuvres and shot grenades that created smoke clouds.
It helped for a bit as the mechs got closer while losing another five machines.
As the Britannians got close, they realised that the outpost was pitch dark, the mobile suits were nowhere to he seen.
But then the mobile suit's eyes began to glow throughout the whole place.
They were waiting for them!
"What the hell!? The Emperor said that this place is lightly guarded!?"
The pilots began to panic, causing chaos.
"Surprise! You Bastards" The Infamous 'Beast' Mobile Suit crushed one Sutherland as it appeared from a hangar and began to slaughter.
"If we can't take anything, then blow it up!!!"
The attackers swiftly realised that they were 'outnumbered'. More like two KK-units are protecting this simply looking border post!
The remaining pilots used their ejection function while causing the Sutherlands to explode.
"Damn these bastards!" Kallen roared with anger as she saw hangars explode. There was a chain reaction as the stored batteries lit up like Christmas trees.
The heat was intense as her Mobile Suit's danger sensors lit up, warning her that it was dangerous to be here.
So she immediately retreated; however, many of the Setantas using the base as cover melted away or exploded as their batteries lit up from the heat.
'Shit! This is bad!' The crimson-haired pilot began to sweat as she realised that the garrison here was lost!
~~~~~~At the Same Time~~~~~~
"Your Majesty, was it worth it? To use so many soldiers for an operation that is doomed to fail?" A blonde girl dressed in a white uniform and green cape asked the Emperor, who was sitting on his Throne and watching the operation on a screen.
He was not in Pendragon but in Euro Britannia with a huge escort.
"The operation was to cause destruction. Not to steal anything." The man replied while his fist was holding his chin. He watched the whole thing from start to finish.
"It was to test my son. I wanted to see how he would respond.
And so far, he did what I expected him to do."
The Emperor smiled while saying that.
'...A test? He sacrificed over 20 pilots, including Euro Britannia.' The blonde girl frowned internally. She didn't expect the Emperor to be so ruthless. This was her first time at his side like this.
Anaheim forced him to come out of his 'hobby' and become active again.
But she never thought he would actively do this.
"Come now, Monica. It should be obvious what I am doing." The man smirked for a second.
"Anaheim's initial forces were made from elevens and Britannians, but now their size has ballooned to what it is.
They added thousands of Indonesians and Chinese to their ranks. While many of them believe in Lelouch's ridiculous idea for space, many of them still desire the same thing as everyone else."
Charles explained to her.
"Even now, there are hundreds of spies in Anaheim ranks.
Sure, they will find them out, but by the time they do… we will have their technology." The Emperor bragged.
She understood what this meant, but this plan?
"Then this plan?"
"It was a reshuffle, next time this place will be guarded by Chinese, not Britannians."
Her eyes widened as she realised that this was to kill the guards so that it could be replaced by the next batch, who would most likely have their spies in.
But the Emperor didn't reveal one thing.
This was only one of many operations that are happening around Anaheim.
'My dear son… You are still green when it comes to this game.'