"Hey... Zero... you..."
Kaname Ohgi, another longtime member, was so stunned by this turn of events that he could not speak.
To be honest, although Zero had led them to one miracle after another, none of those had really involved a head-on clash with Britannia's military.
This time, however, they faced Cornelia, the Witch of Britannia. They were outnumbered and completely surrounded, and even the trust he had built in Zero began to waver.
Panic churned inside him.
Once Kallen's enormous Mecha filled his vision and forced him to calm down, he realized that they had no choice now but to trust Zero.
Everyone else looked toward him.
Compared with Zero, an outsider, Ohgi held far more sway over them.
Zero quietly took note of this as well.
Left with no other choice, Ohgi reassured everyone:
"Everyone, I'm willing to trust Zero."
Their former leader had taken a stand.
His declaration at this moment was also meant to earn Zero's trust, but there was no denying the vast gap in cunning between a common-born terrorist and a prince born into royalty.
Lelouch saw through these little schemes perfectly, but exposing them on the spot would not have been wise.
"Thank you."
Once everyone slowly lowered their weapons, Zero nodded, put away his gun, and gave his orders:
"Then proceed according to our original plan. Britannia's forces should already be halfway up the mountain. This is the perfect moment."
"Kallen!"
"Yes!"
Piloting the Guren, Kallen pressed its enormous steel right claw against an electrode driven deep into the ground.
Then rings of red energy radiated from the steel claw.
This was the Guren's unique weapon, the "radiant wave."
It was the signature creation of Rakshata Chawla, chief technician of the Indian military district. She had once published theories on radiant waves in Britannia and worked alongside Lloyd for a time.
Now, commissioned by the Kyoto Six Houses, she had developed and built the Guren Type-2.
Since Taizo Fujiwara, the true power behind the Kyoto Six Houses, secretly funded resistance organizations, this Guren Type-2 had naturally ended up in Zero's hands.
Beep-
As the radiant wave released enough heat to melt steel, powerful tremors surged through the mountain's rock strata within seconds.
Boom!
Suddenly, one side of the mountain began to collapse. Countless rocks rolled down the slope like a debris flow, effortlessly sweeping away the Knightmares advancing toward them.
A landslide.
And a massive one at that.
In an instant, it tore a gap straight through the tightly sealed encirclement.
Lelouch immediately gave the order:
"All units, attack! Advance to the third rally point! Our objective is to capture Cornelia, the Third Princess!"
Then he piloted his own Knightmare forward and opened communications:
"Kallen, you lead the way."
"...Yes!"
After a second's hesitation, Kallen quickly answered.
I'm leading the way? Then I'd better put on a good show...
Britannia's mobile command vehicle was like a small villa on wheels. It was the command post Clovis had once used.
Ask sat to one side, watching the tactical display.
Its electronic model marked the location of every Britannian unit, allowing those in the rear to direct the battle.
The display showed that the sudden landslide had wiped out General Alex's assault force.
The only commanders left on the front lines were Imperial Princess Cornelia, General Dalton, and the reinstated Commander Jeremiah.
However...
Ask glanced at the command vehicle's main seat. Clovis had once sat there, and Cornelia "should have" occupied it now, but instead, Euphemia sat in his place.
Cornelia's younger sister was deeply doted on by her elder sister. Despite having no talents of her own, merely saying, "I'd like to learn, too," had earned her the position of supreme commander in her capacity as Area 11's Vice Governor.
The generals standing before her around the tactical display had become her assistants.
Of course, affection was one thing; Cornelia would not treat war as a game.
Officially, Ask had come to help Euphemia make the right decisions. In reality, everyone present understood that unless Ask approved, nobody would take any of Euphemia's orders seriously, much less carry them out.
This was Cornelia's "fallback strategy": squeeze every last bit of usefulness out of her talented younger brother.
Euphemia understood her own limitations in this matter.
She had come to learn anyway. If she were actually entrusted with making decisions, she would only lose her nerve.
Watching swaths of Knightmare signals disappear from the tactical display, Ask considered Lelouch's plan.
The landslide had struck precisely where General Alex's forces were, forming a barrier that broke Britannia's encirclement and isolated Cornelia's troops.
Retreating would pose no great difficulty, but it would mean yielding to the Black Knights.
If she attacked, there was only one route that would let her catch up with Zero.
It was a trap, but Cornelia had to step into it.
Letting Zero escape would also mean defeat for Britannia, tarnishing her honor.
"He's really seen right through you, Cornelia."
Ask sighed.
Without waiting for anyone else to decide, Cornelia's signal had already begun moving toward the summit of the Narita Mountains. Only a handful of her personal guards followed her.
Several staff officers in the middle of a discussion suddenly turned to look at Ask in unison:
"Your Highness, I recommend that Governor Cornelia's forces withdraw for the moment and leave the pursuit of Zero to General Dalton and Commander Jeremiah. Their respective units can circle around both sides of the Narita Mountains..."
"Do you think Zero is stupid enough to stand there and wait for you?"
"Well..."
Of course he would not. By the time Dalton and Jeremiah's forces arrived, the Black Knights would already be home.
But... capturing Zero?
They could do that anytime. What mattered more now was finding an excuse to ensure Imperial Princess Cornelia's safety.
They had not expected Ask to reject their proposal.
"But, Your Highness, the landslide is far too severe. Governor Cornelia's position could be affected..."
That was bullshit.
With a Knightmare's high mobility, it would be fine as long as it had not been caught in the initial landslide.
What the staff officer was really hinting at was that the enemy had already laid an inescapable trap, making pursuit inadvisable.
But Ask naturally understood all of that.
Before he could speak, a communication window suddenly opened on the large screen.
"Good morning, Your Highness."
The lively, rather comical voice belonged to Earl Lloyd of the Special Dispatch.
After his greeting, Earl Lloyd went straight to the point:
"Would you like my help? The Lancelot is ready to deploy."
Help?
At those words, every staff officer present broke out in a cold sweat.
Earl Lloyd! You serve Prince Schneizel!
The leader of the Radical Faction and the leader of the moderates-those two princes were hardly friends who walked hand in hand!
Nobody dared so much as breathe loudly.
Even Ask froze for a moment.
Had he not known that Earl Lloyd was utterly devoted to his research and cared nothing about anything else, least of all politics, even he might have thought the man had come to provoke him!
Though he knew Lloyd merely wanted to collect data, Ask had no intention of agreeing to the request.
As a faction leader, he had to weigh every decision carefully, especially those involving other factions.
"No, put your toy away. My loyal knight Monica has already deployed. As it happens, this will let her get used to her newly upgraded machine."
Before you continue