Seventh-generation transformable Knightmare

That night, Lelouch put on his mask and draped himself in a black robe, becoming Zero.

He arrived at his secret base, an abandoned factory he had bought with his gambling winnings.

It was located in Harbor, where few people lived and no one would notice it.

Lelouch entered the factory. The members of his organization were gathered around the Knightmares. As terrorists, they had only ever seen such "high-end" Knightmares in the hands of the enemy Britannian military.

Lelouch had used Geass to purchase these Knightmares from various factions. Although they were only standard models, some even rather outdated, they were enough for his people at present.

Kallen noticed Lelouch's arrival and stepped forward.

"Zero, the Island Nation Liberation Front sent us an invitation. What should we do?"

Kallen held a phone in her hand, its screen still lit. Apparently, the call was still connected.

Lelouch glanced at her and answered without hesitation.

"Of course we're going."

"Understood."

Kallen turned away to reply over the phone. She wholeheartedly agreed with the decision; after all, they were both organizations fighting Britannia.

The next day, Ask got out of bed with Leila and Monica attending to him.

C.C had contacted him yesterday with a message: "Lelouch will take action tomorrow and contact the Island Nation Liberation Front." That meant today.

Ask summoned Jeremiah.

"How are the pawns coming along?"

Jeremiah bowed respectfully, then spoke apologetically.

"My deepest apologies, Your Highness. The Island Nation Liberation Front is extremely cautious. I attempted to trade with them, but they rejected every offer. I selected several Honorary Britannians a few years ago and had them secretly join, but even after all these years, they still haven't entered the inner circle. Most remain on the fringes."

Ask waved a hand and said:

"No matter. Has the fact that you contacted them been made public?"

"Yes. I let the information slip as though by accident. I doubt anyone will consider it deliberate."

"Good."

Ask smiled and picked up the breakfast Leila had placed before him. It was a Japanese-style breakfast, prepared at his specific request. The meal was simple: a fish, a bowl of rice, and a few accompaniments.

Ask took a bite, then said:

"I never expected to plant spies inside in the first place. The Island Nation Liberation Front could be called the Island Nation's last line of defense. Being cautious is only natural at such a tense time. All I need is the fact that we contacted them, and to make sure it reaches Zero's ears. That will be enough."

Jeremiah understood, but he remained deeply puzzled. He could not fathom Ask's purpose or intentions, nor why he cared so much about this "Zero" who had suddenly appeared.

But speculating recklessly about his sovereign was an act of grave disloyalty. Jeremiah decisively put a stop to his conjectures.

"Understood, Your Highness. There is one more matter, concerning Suzaku Kururugi."

"Oh?"

"His outstanding piloting skills caught the Special Department's attention a few days ago. He is now stationed there as the pilot of their new machine."

The Special Department referred to the Specially Dispatched Guidance Technology Department, which served under Schneizel.

Its leader was Lloyd, Earl Asprius, the current head of the Asprind Family. He had once been Schneizel's classmate, and his family was among Schneizel's supporters.

Jeremiah was asking whether Ask wanted this "threat" to be "dealt with."

Although he was not a threat yet, the Specially Dispatched Guidance Technology Department had already developed a seventh-generation Knightmare, a full generation ahead of the Empire's existing Knightmares and possessing an absolute advantage in performance.

Until now, however, the project had remained on hold because they could not find a suitable pilot capable of bringing out the Knightmare's full performance.

Now that they had found one, Schneizel's faction would gain a formidable asset who would become a threat sooner or later.

In Jeremiah's view, eliminating the threat before it could grow would better curb the development of Schneizel's faction.

Of course, the decision rested entirely with his sovereign.

Ask, however, seemed to have no such intention.

"Earl Lloyd... let him stay there. Any pilot who catches Lloyd's eye must possess talent far beyond the average person. Talent like that shouldn't go to waste."

"Understood, Your Highness. Then I shall take my leave."

After answering respectfully, Jeremiah departed.

Ask turned to Leila.

"Put me through to General Bartley."

Bartley was a member of the Pureblood Faction born to Britannian commoners, something that was no longer unusual within the faction.

The term "Pureblood Faction loyalists" had originally referred to those "loyal to Britannia's imperial bloodline." Most members were nobles or came from knightly backgrounds, while commoners were scarce.

Later, after Imperial Consort Marianne's death, Ask and Duke Belia had reached an agreement to admit commoners, greatly expanding the Pureblood Faction.

The advantage was that they had more people, and more talent.

The disadvantage was that they also had more spies in their midst.

As a result, the selection of commoners was particularly stringent.

"Stringent" here referred not to the difficulty of joining the Pureblood Faction, but to the difficulty of entering its inner circle-in other words, joining the ranks of Ask's trusted confidants.

So far, only a handful had reached that level. Even commoners who had risen to positions of some importance in the upper ranks were exceedingly rare.

Bartley was one of them.

Through his own efforts, he had become a general. Ask had then taken notice of him and sent him to the Geass Factory in the EU.

After a single beep, the call was immediately answered.

"Your Highness."

They were using Leila's dedicated phone. This was also the only means most important members of Ask's faction had of contacting him. Monica's and Ask's phones, meanwhile, were private numbers known only to a few core members and trusted confidants.

Seeing Leila's number on the display, Bartley naturally knew whose orders were behind the call.

"Bartley, how is the seventh-generation transformable Knightmare progressing?"

The seventh-generation transformable Knightmare was an improvement on the seventh-generation frame. Its performance did not differ much, but it was more versatile.

"Lady Monica's personal machine has been completed. Repeated external tests have revealed no problems. I have already arranged for it to be shipped secretly to a military factory in Britannia, after which it will be forwarded to Your Highness."

Every Knight of the Round had a personal transformable machine. This was common knowledge, and Britannia had institutions dedicated to developing machines for the Knights of the Round. At present, however, they only had Sixth Generation transformable models and had yet to develop Seventh Generation technology.

Monica's machine had been developed by Ask's own factory. For the Knights of the Round, most of whom came from noble families, this was commonplace. Thus, Ask had established a dedicated machine research team in Britannia.

Its sole purpose was to provide cover for the military factory in the EU.

Monica's Seventh Generation transformable machine had actually been developed at the military factory in the EU. Publicly, however, it was claimed to have been "successfully developed at the factory established by His Highness Ask in Britannia." Aside from the staff there, only a very few trusted confidants knew about the military factory in the EU and the Geass Factory.

The machine therefore had to pass through Britannia before it could be shipped to Ask's location in the Island Nation.

Ask continued:

"What about the others?"

"The second machine is under development. Thanks to the materials Your Highness provided, a fixed-form model should pose no problem, although we lack the capacity to build a second transformable Knightmare."

"Mm, very good. There's no rush for the second machine. Prioritize developing the Energy Wing. Use the second Seventh Generation machine as a test unit and have it provide enough data to transition to the eighth generation. Then prioritize upgrading Monica's machine."

"Understood, Your Highness."

The cost of building seventh-generation Knightmares was too high. Although Ask could afford the money, he could not afford the time. His research staff could not compare in scale to those of the entire Empire.

Even sixth-generation machines were already difficult to mass-produce, let alone Seventh Generation ones.

Transformable models cost twice as much as fixed-form ones. Those machines were built specifically for the Knights of the Round.

In this technological race, time was the most precious resource. Even if someone possessed new machine technology, once development succeeded and a prototype appeared, other institutions would quickly catch up.

Thus, there was no need to put the second Seventh Generation machine into production. It only needed to serve as a prototype that supplied data, while all resources were invested in developing Monica's machine. That was Ask's objective.

As a king, Monica was his sword. The stronger that sword became, the more easily his plans would succeed.