As more and more honorary Britannian soldiers, that is, Area 11 people loyal to the Britannian Empire, equivalent to imperial collaboration troops, as well as Britannian local soldiers, and even severely damaged Knightmare Frames retreated in defeat.
Everyone within the Tokyo Settlement felt restless and uneasy. The entire city was permeated with agitation, as well as fear of the impending slaughter.
BOOM—!
Within the Tokyo Settlement district, a skyscraper was directly hit by an artillery shell. The massive fluorescent screen on it came crashing down, triggering intense chaos among the fleeing crowd below.
Immediately after—crash crash—the building let out the metallic twisting sounds of structural overload as its framework rapidly collapsed and the entire structure began to tilt.
Steel-reinforced concrete chunks weighing from hundreds to thousands of pounds fell straight down. Countless civilians who failed to evade in time, together with their private vehicles, were smashed into bloody pulp.
On the highways jammed to the brim, shrill screams exploded from within the crowd. Panicked people abandoned their cars and fled in all directions like headless flies.
Immediately afterward, even before the building finished collapsing, as if by some signal, the whistling of artillery shells, clustered beams, and plasma cannons tearing through the air continued without pause.
Brilliant radiance of death filled the skies. Firelight, accompanied by muffled thunder-like booms, rose one after another throughout the city.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The shockwaves produced by the explosions were like invisible giant hands. Groups of buildings swayed precariously under their might, letting out bursts of feeble groans.
Destruction was always easier than creation.
Massive reinforced concrete structures that had once consumed immense time and effort to build only endured briefly under the fires of war before collapsing by the block into ash and smoke.
Buildings collapsed one after another. Shattered steel and concrete fragments flew outward like bomb shrapnel, mercilessly smashing into the panicked fleeing crowds.
THUD!THUD!
And this was only the beginning. Looking toward the outer defensive line of the settlement, faintly visible through the burning breaches in the damaged defensive walls, accompanied by ominous, seeping purple-red light, massive shadows that blotted out the sky were slowly emerging.
They were gigantic machines never seen before, semi-humanoid in form. Their overall iron-gray paint and uneven metal armor mixed with a gothic-punk style, filled with violence and cold mechanical beauty.
They were nine enormous steel mobile behemoths. Every single one of them was larger than the largest Knightmare Frame mobile command platforms of the Britannian Empire.
Their most striking feature was the ornate, castle-like solid structure occupying their entire upper half. Upon it stood tower-like massive gun mounts and plasma cannons filled with purple-red Honkai energy reactions.
Like moving mountains straddling the horizon of the Tokyo Settlement, their massive forms, heavy with the texture of steel, completely blocked the entire field of vision at eye level.
Clink~
The firearm in someone's hand slipped and fell onto the asphalt, producing a crisp sound.
"This is... this has to be a joke..."
"How the hell are we supposed to fight this!"
"Against enemies like this, how could we ever win..."
At the settlement's traffic chokepoints, hundreds of Britannian military police responsible for sealing roads and supervising the rear felt despair creeping in. Even the officer leading the supervision knew at this moment that victory was becoming increasingly distant.
The next instant, clack clack clack!
The largest of the steel behemoths, towering over one hundred meters tall, raised its super-giant plasma cannon suffused with purple-red light.
Humm humm humm—!
High-density Honkai energy instantly began to fluctuate violently. The dazzling purple-red radiance overwhelmed the sunlight, filling heaven and earth.
Only then did those who had stopped to watch awaken as if from a dream. Everyone revealed expressions of terror, letting out despairing cries, no longer daring to linger.
"AAAAAH—!"
"Run, run now!"
"Help!"
BOOOOM—!!!
The light streaked across the sky and descended upon the Governor's Office within the Tokyo Settlement. An unprecedented roar shot straight into the clouds, as if shattering the firmament, echoing across the entire Tokyo Settlement.
...
Ashford Academy, a noble school founded by the former great noble family of the Britannian Empire, the Ashford family.
Seven years ago, after suffering defeat in the internal power struggle of the Britannian royal family, the Ashford family paid an enormous price. Ultimately, relying on the extensive social connections they had built within Britannia, they barely managed to preserve their noble status.
After that, in order to protect themselves, the Ashford family left the Britannian American homeland and redeveloped in Britannia Empire's new colony, Area 11, establishing a noble academy in Tokyo.
That was Ashford Academy.
Located in the city center of the Tokyo Settlement, the surrounding districts were all prosperous areas of the settlement. With strong security forces, excellent faculty, and a beautiful teaching environment surrounded by elegant European-style gardens.
In addition, although the Ashford family had declined, they still endured. A starved camel was still bigger than a horse. The former great noble status itself was a golden signboard, attracting the vast majority of Britannian nobles in Area 11 to send their children to the academy.
But that was only in the past. With the arrival of war, the campus that should have been filled with laughter and youthful vitality had already fallen into deathly silence under the iron hooves of war.
BOOM!BOOM BOOM!
Although it was not the primary bombardment direction of the Holy Selene Empire's forces, quite a few stray shells still fell into the campus, defiling this sacred hall of education and staining it with blood, fire, and smoke.
At this moment, inside the basement beneath the central office building of Ashford Academy, countless young men and women wearing student uniforms were curled up together, all staring blankly at the television screen hanging on the wall.
Suddenly, RUMBLE—!!!
Along with the earth-shaking roar, the hanging lights on the basement ceiling swayed violently.
The next moment—crackle crackle—electric sparks flew everywhere. The basement's power supply was cut off, plunging everything into darkness, and the students immediately let out frightened screams.
"Don't worry. This basement was built according to wartime air-raid shelter standards. It won't collapse that easily."
Phone lights lit up. Milly Ashford, with blond hair and blue eyes, her face pale, comforted everyone from the Ashford Academy Student Council.
As she spoke, the Ashford family's eldest daughter Milly tilted her phone light toward a boy beside her with blue, curved, center-parted hair that looked like two separated melon rinds.
"Rivalz, in the small room to your left there's a backup generator. Go start it. The shelling probably damaged the academy's power supply."
"Huh? Oh, oh, okay." The delicate-looking boy named Rivalz froze for a moment upon hearing the president's words, then hurriedly moved.
Creak— After a short while, accompanied by the clang clang clang sound of the engine starting, the basement regained its light.
However, as the power came back on, no matter how the channels were switched, the television still showed only gray-white static. All channel signals were completely disconnected.
Recalling the several super-giant mobile steel behemoths that had flashed across the television screen at the very end, an extremely ominous premonition surged in Milly's heart.
Had Britannia been defeated?!
No one who could enter Ashford Academy was stupid. At this moment, Milly could no longer bring herself to comfort everyone, because that would be nothing more than self-deception.
"President, Pauline didn't come in. She..." As she spoke, a student's voice gradually grew smaller. Even she herself realized that her close friend was probably in grave danger.
In response, Milly remained silent. The basement was so small. It was impossible to hide all the students.
"..."
Soon, within the quiet and cramped basement space, some students began to sob softly.
"What... what should we do? Lulu, has the Britannia Empire been defeated? I... are we going to die?"
On the tables and chairs in the center of the basement, a girl with long reddish-brown hair and a well-developed figure huddled there, her face filled with fear of war.
Opposite her, the boy called Lulu had shoulder-length, jet-black, flowing medium-short hair. His deep violet eyes were as beautiful as gemstones. Tall and slender, dressed in a neat black school uniform, combined with his handsome features.
Truly a beautiful young man.
"Yeah, Lelouch, what should we do?"
Pulling out a chair, Rivalz, who had just finished starting the generator, came over and sat beside Lelouch. His eyes were unfocused as he spoke, his words trembling slightly. Even someone as optimistic as him felt despair in the face of such a situation.
"...It'll be fine." Hearing this, Lelouch replied weakly and pale-faced, tightly gripping his younger sister's hands in his arms.
At this point, even if he possessed the highest intellect and heaven-defying military command ability, it would be useless. He was merely an ordinary Britannian student, without power, status, or troops.
If he went outside and encountered rogue soldiers or invaders, even if he had reason, there would be no way to explain it. After all, who would care, when you were a prince who was nominally already dead?
With Lelouch's physically weak, sports-idiot build, a random stray round would probably be enough to end him. (PS: Lelouch has not yet obtained the Geass of Absolute Obedience.)
And most importantly, Lelouch could not abandon his younger sister, Nunnally.
"..."
Just like that, the basement once again fell into deathly silence. Time ticked away second by second. In such an atmosphere, no one had the mind to pay attention to the passage of time.
No one knew how long had passed...
...
THUD THUD, BANG!BANG!BANG!
Heavy footsteps sounded, accompanied by the thunderous roar of some kind of large-caliber firearm drawing ever closer. Even though most of the noise was blocked by the basement's soundproof panels, it was still clearly audible.
When those heavy footsteps reached the basement entrance, the students of Ashford Academy instantly went pale, their hearts almost leaping into their throats.
Then, in the next second, HUMM HUMM—!
The screech of a chainsaw cutting into the metal door instantly filled the cramped basement—CLANG!
The metal door was visibly cut open at rapid speed, and with a tremendous impact, it shattered apart with a loud crash.
A gray-armored giant walked in. His power armor's orichalcum composite outer shell was riddled with countless tiny bullet holes, his entire body stained with blood, a chainsword held in his hand.
A ferocious, blood-soaked aura rushed forward. Screams instantly erupted.
"AAAAAH—!"
"Civilians? Students?" Using the electronic eye provided by his power armor helmet to quickly scan the area, the Second Astartes Legion warrior said with some regret.
Without any intention of wasting words, he raised his boltgun and fired a shot into the ground, his deep, metallic voice resounding.
"Now, immediately, come out."
Then he waved his hand and turned around, leaving directly. Several Imperial Auxilia rushed in and drove the students out.
"..."
Placing Nunnally onto a transport cart, Lelouch remained silent the entire way.
At this moment, his mindset was extremely conflicted. He wanted to destroy the cold and inhumane Britannian Empire. Now someone had helped him do exactly that. But as a prisoner of war, how was he supposed to protect his sister, Nunnally?
After all, Nunnally was a disabled person with paralyzed legs and blindness in both eyes.
Soon, they were escorted out of the building and brought to the garden-style sports field of Ashford Academy.
"Stay inside the line! Don't try anything!"
After roughly drawing a circle on the ground and roughly shoving the last student inside, an Imperial Auxilia soldier wearing dark-colored light armor, a wide-brimmed hat, with a muscular build and a face marked by terrifying scars, barked harshly.
"Orders from above. These buildings are still relatively intact. Hurry up and clear them out. Her Majesty will be arriving soon for inspection..."
After saying that, they no longer spoke harshly to the students. Leaving two soldiers behind to guard them, the remaining Imperial Auxilia immediately departed, rushing off in a great clamor to sweep through the other buildings.
There was not the slightest attempt at concealment, no fear at all that important information might be overheard by the students.
BOOM!
Suddenly, a thunderous explosion sounded in the distance. The guarding Imperial Auxilia soldiers remained expressionless, but these students, who had never truly experienced such a scene, were immediately startled into trembling.
Looking up, they saw the direction of the academy's D District teaching building engulfed in flames. An exploding orange-yellow fireball had nearly blown off half the roof, and waves of heat seemed to roll toward them.
Rat-tat-tat and bang bang bang gunfire echoed back and forth, but very quickly fell silent again.
Not long after, the towering gray-armored giants walked out. One of them was even holding a Britannian soldier in uniform.
That casual posture was like carrying a chick. The massive power-armored hand clenched the soldier's entire head, dragging him along the ground and leaving behind a blood-seeping trail.
"Hm? What did you find?"
Another Astartes warrior, also clad in iron-gray power armor, walked over. His armor was more ornate, with a gray-white short cape tied to his right shoulder plate, already soaked in blood.
"Captain, take a look..."
As he spoke, the Astartes casually tossed the half-dead Britannian soldier aside.
He took out a banner with a background of blue field and red cross. At its center was an emblem surrounded by green leaves and ribbons. The emblem depicted a griffin and a green serpent, both submitting to and protecting a crown. Golden tassels hung from its edges.
"A military standard?" The Astartes officer took it, saying somewhat uncertainly.
"Probably. Since Her Majesty is coming to inspect, it'll be just right as a captive offering from our squad..."