When Schneizel came to pick up the Emperor in the Bering Strait in his new Avalon airship, he didn't expect that the Emperor had another destination in mind.
"Take me to the Taklamakan Desert."
"Isn't that location under Anaheim control?" The Prince, confused, asked why the Emperor wanted them to go there.
"I know. That territory is recently taken, there shouldn't be any specific defences, yet." Charles explained as he went over and sat down in the provided throne.
"Understood. Set course for the Taklamakan desert." The Prime Minister instructed the ship's crew to change the flying course.
It will take a good several hours.
As they were flying, there was another airship with them as support.
"Glinda Knights are here for protection. Their Airship Grandberry has experimental knightmares/mobile suit frames." The Prime Minister explained as he saw where the Britannian ruler was looking.
"Oh? We already have Mobile Suit prototypes?" Charles looked intrigued.
"Well, they are not at the size of Mobile Suits, but they do have weaponry capable of anti-mobile suit combat," Schneizel said with a somewhat frustrated expression.
"I can sense 'but'. Schneizel. What does concern us?" The Emperor asked while leaning his head on his fist.
"The mobile suits we have utilise Sutherland as a working frame. At the same time, this backbone frame has a selection of shortcomings. We haven't cracked anything apart from the weapons used by Lelouch's faction.
Even the weapons we developed from their weapons utilised extra battery filler.
Sutherland's new hands were re-developed from Lancelot's schematics."
The Emperor hummed at the information he just learned.
It was a weapon development race all over again. But this time, they are chasing someone who has advanced further than they have by a mile and a half.
"I see. Then we are about to learn another of their new weapons."
The Prince looked curious at what Charles meant.
After waiting for a bit more, their airships arrived at a specific location where the Emperor pointed.
~~~
Meanwhile, on another airship, there is protection for the Emperor and the Prime Minister.
They saw the same thing… a Crater.
"...!"
"What the…"
"Holy!"
"Is that a crater made by an asteroid?"
The crew commented, but two girls knew better.
"This is a crater made by a weapon."
"...Anaheim's space weapon." A pink-haired girl said with a frown.
"From the photos we saw?" Blonde replied.
"Most likely, this was a test shot."
"Princess…could they truly have such weapons? If they will use them against Britannia…" her blonde knight asked, worried.
"Maybe, Oldrin. Who knows? I haven't seen or spoken to Lelouch in years. I have no idea how my brother thinks." Princess Marrybell replied with a sigh as she had no idea how her brother behaved. It has been close to ten years now.
'And we are supposed to fight such a might?'
Oldrin was a bit nervous because she had heard about Anaheim growing in size nearly daily, and now she knows they have support from space!
"...I-I see…"
"That is why we have to give our best. The world is becoming even more unstable as we speak."
'The Princess is right. There are countless uprisings throughout Britannia!'
The blonde clenched her fist as she was ready to fight as her knight!
Though Oldrin didn't notice how Marrybell was looking, her gaze was a bit off. After all, she learned why Lelouch declared independence.
Britannian Special Forces went rogue and killed his mother…
Such a thing!
It made sense.
'It made sense why my mother and sister died too.'
Marrybell has suffered similar losses. Because, for some reason, her Palace was attacked by 'terrorists'.
Fury has clouded her reason for years. But when her brother Lelouch rebelled, she knew the reason. Something inside of her snapped, and she began to think. Why specifically her palace?
Well, now she knows because there is someone in special forces who hates the Emperor's consorts!
Some jealous individuals!
That is why Marrybell's hatred was directed back at the Emperor and his inability.
As she was pondering, the comms monitor came online.
"Marrybell. Once we return, the Emperor has instructed Glinda Knights to proceed with testing of the new Mobile suits.
Your order will be stationed in West Point until further notice."
Schneizel's face appeared on one of the screens as he instructed them.
"Understood, brother."
The Prime Minister smiled a bit as he continued to speak.
"You will be spearheading new machines for Britannia. It's a great honour."
With that said, he finished the call.
"Already? Didn't the new Sutherland Kai just get released?" Lionhardt, one of the Knights under the Princess, exclaimed with disbelief.
"The new Kais are not even a new model. It was a simple armament upgrade to keep with the new Anaheim machines.
They have an array of weaknesses that make them unstable for front lines." The only old man on the whole ship replied to the Knight. It was a tactical adviser who worked for the Princess.
"...Is that so? I do love the new rail gun the new Sutherland can use."
"An Impressive technology, but it leaves you on the field like a sitting duck." The old man replied with a frown.
"That is why we will be testing out the new machines," Marrybell commented.
"Anaheim has a considerable advantage, not to mention we don't even have the means to hit them in space." She said with a small frown.
The more she thinks about it, the more she is speechless at Britannia's disadvantages in this war.
Lelouch has them pretty much cornered with their absurd air advantage.
They can drop from space at any time, and with that weapon… they are at the mercy of Anaheim.
'They can hold us hostage… yet… they are not utilising it.'
After seeing that crater, Marrybell is worried that Anaheim would begin to threaten them with annihilation.
But she doesn't know that these weapons were built at the request of Cornelia, who wanted to strike at Thought Elevators simultaneously across the globe.
In case of Ragnarok Connection, but now… after what Marcus did. The Emperor's dream is slowly becoming a pipe dream.
"So we are making new machines?"
"We are making mobile suits. What I saw will be based on what we recovered from Setanta. They call it Zaku.
A machine supposedly as powerful as the Anaheim machines." Marrybell said as she recalled what the Prime Minister said to her.
"...Is that even possible? We haven't figured out many of their technologies… otherwise we wouldn't be using those clunky rail guns with energy fillers." Leonhardt commented that he was a bit confused about the current situation.
Just imagining a rifle that has a battery fixed on it… It's like holding a bomb that can shoot!
Energy fillers were not designed to be used as ammo cartridges!
"Not all of their technologies are so advanced that we struggle to keep up." Oldrin rolled her eyes. Sure, she is awed by their tech, but not all of it is 'alien'.
"Anaheim's flagship technology before they went world-conquering was prosthetics and robotics.
We have seized many of their prosthetic catches, and with how many we had, we were able to figure out how to make a mobile suit-sized one.
Then we were able to confirm it with Setantas, we recovered." Oldrin explained what she learned from Schneizel.
"Yes. According to the spy's reports, Anaheim has categorised its technologies into a tier system.
The most common technology is prosthetics, which is available worldwide. This technology is branded as D-teir, also known as disposable.
Then it goes to C tier. This technology is a bit more safeguarded but is widely spread by now, as we have seen with Setanta's models, which are piloted by hundreds of pilots in Anaheim.
Then it goes to B tier. We have no idea what is in this tier, but analytics in Britannia think it's technology utilised in space and in the command models we have seen glimpses of." Marrybell recalled what her older brother said in a meeting before their leave for Asia.
"...Command models… aren't they quite powerful? I see them use much stronger and deadlier beam rifles."
While he hasn't seen the command models in person, they have watched videos from China and Indonesia, especially those used by Cornelias Knights.
The spies have reported that these machines use a completely different technology from that used by Lelouch and his close circle.
"They are. Some sources from the capital said that they use a different form of power source, and that it is different from the KK-units piloted by Prince Lelouch."
"...Ugh… the more I hear, the more despair I feel." Leonhardt and the fellow knights grimaced from all they were hearing.
This Anaheim faction just has a trick after a trick under their belt!
"Don't worry, I am sure everything will be fine." A girl with darker skin and white hair reassured Leonhardt.
"T-Thanks, Toto, you are the best!"
~~~~~~Around the Same Time in Solomon's Base~~~~~~
'The guards should be changing now.' Shin Hyuga Sheng has been in prison for over a month and a half or so.
To his knowledge, the world has changed considerably.
The Prince Lelouch faction rose into prominence and declared war on the entire world.
Not only are they winning, but they are also developing space colonies at the same time.
He has heard from many of the guards who take shifts that they want a piece of land in space.
As wild as it gets, everyone is excited to be part of this new empire.
Shin thought of using this to get into the good graces of the Prince, but all he wanted was his Geass, as Lelouch doesn't trust him at all.
So all that was left was to get the hell out of here.
To Shin's surprise, the lock on the cell was not that advanced. All he needed was a thin metal to crack the lock.
After a short wait, the guard changed, and the Grand Master of Michael's order moved. He swiftly unlocked the cell and rushed out.
The guards and the Prince were quite considerate as they allowed him to enjoy even a bit of the sun. They used to take him out.
At that time, he was learning about the layout of the base's underground complex.
He knew where the regular mass-produced machines were and where the special keys were.
So swiftly rushed there, taking turns in the corridors, he arrived at the room and got in.
Over there, he saw pilots changing.
'Yes!'
Shin grinned as one of his pupils morphed into a red bird; his Geass had been activated.
"Die!"
He ordered the guards. These pilots should not have anti-Geass protective lenses!
But nothing happened.
The pilots pointed their side arms at Shin.
The prisoner clicked his tongue as he was about to turn around, but behind him were not guards but heavily armoured Anaheim Soldiers.
Leading at the front was smug-looking Prince Lelouch.
"..."
At that moment, Shin's eyes widened as he realised something.
It was a setup! The whole thing!
"I told you, didn't I? I will get my Geass, and I just witnessed the whole thing." The Inventor Prince closed his eyes for a second before opening them.
Showing his Geass to him.
"Do you know the true power of my eyes? Shin Hyuuga Sheng?"
"What…are they?" The nervous-looking prisoner asked.
"The Absolute Order of Sequences."
"..."
"It might not sound impressive. But let me explain in order of sequence.
Your Geass uses energy generated by your brain to send a pulse of information into the eyes of your enemy.
What my Geass does… is take the sequences of that.
So all I need to do is repeat all those sequences done by your Geass…
To use the same power as you do."
Shin's eyes widened as he turned pale!
"So, I, Lelouch Vi Britannia, command you, Shin Hyuuga Sheng, to kill yourself."
Red birds left Marcus' eyes as they flew into Shin's eyes, as red rings appeared around his pupils.
"...Understood, Your Highness."
Shin motioned for Prince to give a weapon, and Marcus didn't hesitate and gave him a handgun.
The next moment, Shin pointed the gun at his head and then pressed the trigger.
*Bang*