"Are you okay…?"
"Forgive me, your highness… I have fa-"
"You did not. You fought well… We were just unlucky."
"..."
Cornelia's voice, still dignified and strong despite her current situation, resounded throughout the ravine as she comforted the fallen white knight beside her.
But her kind, gentle words only made Suzaku clenched his teeth harder in frustration. His hands were clenched into fists until they were white as he looked at the barely harmed black knight before him, who was holding a sword towards him and the Viceroy he was supposed to rescue.
Cornelia, who didn't even flinch when the black knight aimed his sword right at her cockpit, turned towards Zero, who was still standing at the top of the ravine and watching over them.
"What do you want now, Zero? You've killed a majority of my soldiers. Defeated my reinforcement. And put me in this state.
Is this your goal? To show the world that you can beat a princess of Britannia?"
"You are mistaken, Cornelia."
Cornelia's eyes widened when she saw Zero, coming out of the safety of his knightmare, and stood up to face her.
"What I have done here was to prove that the Black Knights are capable of standing up to acts of aggression. We have shown it before by saving Britannian citizens from the clutches of some radical groups of the Japan Liberation Front…"
Zero waved his left arm to indicate one side. And then his right arm to indicate the other side.
"Now, I'm showing it by neutralizing the Britannian forces who seek to wipe out the final bastion of the Japanese military."
And with both arms opened, he continued.
"I am proving that the Black Knights are capable of realizing ideals. To bring justice to those who abuse their power, and salvation to those oppressed."
Cornelia narrowed her eyes at the masked criminal.
"Is that all? Did you take the lives of my soldiers just to prove a point?!"
"No. I've brought you here to negotiate."
"Heh? Negotiate? While having a blade to my neck?"
Cornelia turned towards the black knight, who still had his swords aimed at both herself and the Lancelot.
But after a few moments, it withdrew its blades and sheathed them.
"Is that better?"
"...Tell me what you want."
Zero nodded as the armless, violet Gloucester turned back towards him.
"I want you to promise me to halt the Britannians' "colonization" of Japan and move towards an equal treaty that would benefit both nations.
Her eyes widened in shock at the words that came out of this masked terrorist's mouth.
Even after hearing it herself, she doubted if she heard correctly for a moment before looking at Zero with eyes full of disbelief.
Moreover, her nation… Britannia had hardly ever considered engaging in an equal treaty or an alliance with other nations that they have not yet conquered.
All they've done was forcefully invade other countries and force them onto their knees with their vastly advanced military might.
To halt their "conquest" and instead suggest a peace and equal treaty towards an area they've colonized… was Zero a madder man than the Morningstar Patriarch?
"Are you… serious?"
"Of course. But naturally, I am aware that such a thing could not be accomplished by you alone. Thus, I'm simply asking you to make a temporary truce."
"A truce…?"
"Yes. Simply stop the war fought by guns and knightmare frames. You've dealt a tremendous blow to the JLF. They won't be able to launch an offensive on you soon. And, you can take this time to recover from this battle. I believe this is not an unreasonable demand?"
At the surface, such a request would tell her that the Black Knights and/or the JLF were trying to conserve their strength, recover, and build up their army for a massive offensive against Britannia. She had received similar proposals from her enemies before. And she ignored them and crushed their remaining military forces with the overwhelming might of her army.
But this time… for some reason, Cornelia couldn't simply ignore it.
She tried to find falsehood or hidden agenda from the tone of Zero's voice. But, she failed to sense anything of that sort.
"So you want a promise…? Quite the trusting one you are, Zero."
"I am simply giving you a chance to earn my respect and trust."
"Respect and trust of a terrorist? Heh, you are quite the funny one."
"Well, if you wish for me to act in such a way, then I can simply capture you right now, along with the White Knight and its pilot. You will be a great bargaining chip to force the Britannian Government to acquiesce my request."
"Then why don't you do just that!"
"Because peace built by force will not last."
Silence fell and hung in the ravine as Cornelia had her words caught in her throat.
Suzaku, who had been listening to this conversation, was also shocked by Zero's words.
"What I want is to end the chain of hatred and bring peace unto this land. And if that means I need to put my "trust" in you, a Britannian Princess, to make it happen, then I'm willing to make that gamble. But know that if you don't, then the fighting will not stop."
Zero raised his hand and gestured towards the kneeling, violet Gloucester.
"It is your choice, Cornelia vi Britannia."
"..."
--------------------------------X--------------------------------
Moving towards the rendezvous point Zero had designated for the black knights, Karen and Mordred followed Zero from the back, flanking his sides to guard him.
With most of the Britannian and JLF forces retreating, they didn't meet a single soldier or knightmare frame, and since they're quite ways away from the rest of the Black Knights, they didn't encounter any of their own either.
As they rode in silence, Karen couldn't help but stare at the back of Zero's knightmare.
The conversation between her leader and the Britannian Princess replayed in her mind over and over, and she didn't understand why they would simply let them go.
Capturing Cornelia, who was one of the strongest knights of Britannia as well as a royal princess, would give them incredible leverage and advantage against them in the future! And they won't only lose their princess, but also their Viceroy, the leader of the Britannian Government that currently ruled the colonized parts of Japan.
This would've created chaos in their government and they could use this chance to further push back Britannia's influence in Japan.
We didn't even capture that white knight, which has been the largest thorn in our side and let him escape with the princess… Why?
Karen couldn't wrap her mind around it… Although Mordred was capable of defeating the white knight hands down, it didn't mean that it'd stop being a threat to the rest of the black knights.
They should've captured it, and Silver, with his incredible engineering skills, might've been able to fix the knightmare and give them a brand new, powerful knightmare to add to their ranks. Then, they could also interrogate the pilot for some information and then use them as a bargaining chip for yet another advantage against the Britannians.
There's a lot of benefits they'd get from capturing Cornelia and the Lancelot! But Zero simply let them go, just like that…
I really can't understand masked people…
Karen sighed as the figure of another masked person in a figure-fitting armor suit appeared in her mind.
Suddenly, a window appeared on her screen, showing the same figure she had in her mind.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Ah-! Ah, w-what's up?!"
Mordred tilted his head slightly to the side when he saw the crimson-haired girl looked like she had just been caught sleeping by a teacher.
"...Were you daydreaming? You know we're still on the battlefield, right? Things could still happen here, even if the battle had ended."
Karen blushed at her carelessness and nodded.
"I-I know! What do you want?"
Mordred, or Yuuji, looked at her with doubt, which Karen could clearly feel even though she couldn't see his eyes or facial expression.
But Yuuji decided not to pursue the matter.
"I'm just asking if you're alright. Are you tired?"
"No, I'm fine. Just… a little confused."
"Confused? About what?"
"Well…"
Karen glanced towards the direction of Zero's knightmare, which Yuuji noticed.
"Ah, I see. You're wondering why we didn't capture Cornelia and the Lancelot, right?"
"Yes…"
Karen nodded with a look of confusion and doubt.
"I see. Well, I have my own conjecture, but it might be different from Zero."
"Huh? You know why we let them go?"
"I just said this is my own theory, which might not be the same as Zero. Do you still want to hear it?"
"Sure."
Karen nodded, and Yuuji began explaining his theories.
Although Lelouch had shared his plan with Yuuji, he didn't really elaborate that much on the reason why he decided to do this. Satoru completely believed in him, so he didn't ask any questions. While Tatsuya and Yuuji were able to more or less guess why Lelouch decided to go with this plan.
"I think the reason why Zero decided to let go of Cornelia and the Lancelot, was so we wouldn't gain the full attention of the Britannian government."
"Huh?"
Karen tilted his head in confusion.
"Cornelia is much more beloved and regarded highly by the Britannians than Clovis. Her capture would turn every single military power they have in this land towards us. And although we managed to get victory now, the Black Knights was still in its infancy as an organization. We won't be able to handle it if Britannia decides to send an even larger force to take Cornelia back from us if we capture her."
Karen's eyes widened in realization as things began to make sense in her head.
Mordred was right… If they were to capture Cornelia right now, her powerful and loyal soldiers would never stop until they could rescue their princess. The Black Knights won't be able to handle it if Cornelia's knights and their army were to target them specifically and go ballistic.
"Moreover, if we capture her now, the Japan Liberation Front would either want her dead or use her as a bargaining chip to demand ridiculous concessions in the name of reparations, which would plunge the nations deeper into war."
"I see… But we only got a verbal promise from her. What if she doesn't keep her word?"
"Zero did this not only to get her words, but to tell her his intentions. Sometimes, wars can be avoided easily if the leaders from the two warring sides could understand each other.
Zero is trying to let her know what he wanted so they could understand each other. And if Cornelia also wants an end to this conflict, she'll come to understand Zero."
Yuuji paused for a moment as Karen tried to process his words, before continuing.
"Also, the previous Viceroy and now sub-Viceroy, Euphemia li Britannia, seemed to be pro peace with the Japanese. She might be able to convince her sister to go through with the promise she made with us."
"I see… That makes sense…"
Silence fell once again as the three continued their trek through the trees and mountains of Narita towards their rendezvous point.
"Well, I hope it'll go as well as Zero planned."
"Mm. I hope so too."
Before long, Zero and the two aces of the Black Knights reached their meeting point. And after the rest of the black knights arrived, they made their retreat from the mountains of Narita together, marking the end of their first major operation.
--------------------------------X--------------------------------
The command for retreat and end of the operation came from the recently found and rescued Viceroy and quickly spread across the Britannian Army. Preparations for the retreat, helping the injured, and extraction process for units still trapped within the mountains due to the landslide immediately began and all hands within the army went to work.
Although no gunshots were fired anymore, things were still tense between the two sides. They were still vigilant for any sort of attacks and offenses that the other side would do while taking advantage of their retreat. Thus, the front lines were still heavily guarded by the rear guards while the bulk of the army hectically and swiftly made their preparations for retreat.
However, while everything around them clamoring with sounds and shouting voices of officers yelling orders, silence fell within the trailer of the Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corpse.
Cecile covered her lips with her hands as she watched footage replaying within her monitor. A look of disbelief, shock, and slight fear showed in her eyes.
And by her side, the lavender-haired genius made a solemn frown that belied his usual carefree, loud, and "cheery" persona as he watched the same footage on his own monitor.
The footage was one they had just recently recovered from the Lancelot, which was still being transported here from the battlefield. At least, what remained of it.
It was footage of Lancelot's fight against the "mysterious" black knight. And although the footage ended when Lancelot's head was cut off, they were still able to confirm their greatest fears.
"S-Sir Lloyd… I-Is that really…"
"Yes… I believe so. It has to be that."
Although it was a different color, Lloyd could immediately recognize the knightmare he had overseen its development for a while and the one he had based his greatest masterpiece, Lanccelot, on. It was unmistakable…
"This is definitely Excalibur… the nigh-impossible to pilot the Knightmare Frame created by the madman of Britannia…"
"B-But how…? How could it appear here…? Didn't it disappear after that "tragedy"?"
Lloyd nodded at Cecile's words while still keeping his eyes locked on the figure of the Excalibur displayed in his monitor.
After the "tragedy" that befell Arthur von Morningstar, his family, and all of his fanatic subordinates, the Excalibur and its location disappeared along with those who caused the tragedy.
The Empire searched high and low for the Excalibur and the culprit that caused the death of their lead Knightmare Development researchers, but they've only managed to find the latter.
No matter how much the Empire had tried to locate it, they failed to find even a trace of the Excalibur. It was as if the Excalibur had been erased from existence.
It was a tremendous blow to their knightmare development progress. After all, it was considered to be a Seventh Generation Knightmare Frame in a time when even a fifth and sixth generation were still in its infancy.
Although the Excalibur was known to be extremely difficult to pilot to its full capabilities, losing it still reverted their technological progress back to their fifth and sixth generation.
The only silver lining to be had was that it managed to inspire promising knightmare researchers to create another one just like the Excalibur. And the one who came closest was Lloyd with his Lancelot.
Even then, the Lancelot was still far from what the Excalibur was capable of at the time, and Lloyd was aware of it. He had compared the Lancelot to the Excalibur's specifications, which he could faintly recall from the time he worked under Arthur, and he knew, theoretically, that the Excalibur was far superior.
And now, he had his theory confirmed…
"Cecile, can you use this footage to collect data on the Excalibur and put it into our simulator? I want to calculate the estimated Efficiency Rating of Excalibur and its pilot"
"A-Ah, yes! Right away!."
Cecile quickly got to work. They were still in the middle of their retreat and they'd need to move very soon. But with the time they had left, Cecile would be able to get a very rough estimate of the Excalibur and its pilot's Efficiency Rating.
Half an hour passed. And the moment she finished, a shocked gasp escaped her lips.
"T-This is… Am I mistaken…? N-No… Please wait for a moment Sir Lloyd. I will recalculate it!"
"What is it?"
Lloyd leaned in towards Cecile to try and see her result. The highest efficiency rate he had ever seen was Suzaku's, with a 94% efficiency rating. He expected a high number as well, judging by Cecile's reaction. Perhaps 85% to 90%, from what he had seen from the footage.
But immediately, his eyes widened in pure shock when he saw the number 99.5% on her screen.
"This is…"
Impossible. That was what Lloyd wanted to say. But the results were right before him, and as a scientist, he should've believed the numbers before him instead of his own feelings.
But right now… he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"...What a disaster. I never thought I'd see the lost knightmare once again. And in the hands of such a terrifying enemy at that."
He slumped back down to his chair and removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yes…"
Cecile nodded and began going through the footage once more.
"He also… fights strangely."
Cecile muttered under her breath.
"Sir Lloyd, do you notice it as well? The Excalibur never aimed his swords nor his weapons at Lancelot's chest, where the pilot was."
"That's true…"
Lloyd held his chin and began watching the fight back through the recording.
"He had many chances to destroy the Lancelot completely, but all he did was cut its limbs and head. He simply… rendered it unable to continue combat."
A heavy sigh escaped his mouth as his shoulders slumped down even more.
"To think the one who pilots that monstrosity was someone skilled enough to limit himself so as to not harm the enemy pilot in a life or death battle… I've never seen anything like this."
"...What should we do…?"
Cecile looked towards her direct superior with concern apparent in the tone of her voice and her face.
But Lloyd simply covered his eyes with his arm as he tilted his head up to the ceiling of the trailer.
"...What else can we do? We'll continue to innovate, improve, and enhance Lancelot. Just like always. And hopefully, that would be enough to defeat this… monster."
"..."