"Where are we going?" Leila asked as she saw the machine change directions and move towards a specific location.
"Inspect resources; resource independence is important." He replied as he pulled her closer.
"I am thinking support units in the future, like a carrier ship, stuff like that is important," Marcus commented as he saw Tanaris recalibrate, and it would seem it was getting better at orienting in the world.
"...That is true. How many people do you have under your leadership?" She asked, being curious, such a machine should have taken a lot of time to develop.
"Well, Anaheim front company has several hundred employees, but that's about it. Oh, I do have a childhood friend who is trying to take care of my health, but developing machines takes time." He joked while saying the last part.
"...You made this… by yourself?" She asked, as fear and disbelief washed over her.
If what he is saying is true, then this guy was a savant! She only heard of people like these, who are a bit…strange, but they are absolutely insane when it comes to their field of expertise.
"Yes. But to build something like that is not simple, first you build the infrastructure, make tools and such, it took me over five years of development to reach this point."
He said that with a serious voice.
"...Five years is nothing for one person!" She exclaimed, trying to process.
"I guess, I don't have anything to compare to." He shrugged as he kept her from floating away.
"You know that developing a machine of war, one goes through many tests, designs, and errors?" She asked, not believing what she was hearing.
"Of course. It took me a year to shrink my fusion reactor. I went through thousands of models until I found which one works.
Midway, I developed means to accelerate the process, I kept designing, developing, like sharpening a sword.
"..."
Leila thought that her friend was a genius as she was developing a new model of Knightmare, but compared to this guy… they are realities apart.
'But they could get along…'
The girl realised that having more friends could help him… be less hardcore.
"I see. I do have a friend who is developing the next generation of Knightmares for the E.U." She commented.
"That's a nice place to be in." He nodded at her.
"Those Alexanders would help the E.U. to exist longer." He dropped the 'ball'; he already knew of those machines.
Leila's eyes widened. She realised that he already knew about those!
"...They are still in the prototype stage. How do you know?" She asked him, concerned that the army was somehow compromised.
"You will understand once we return to base." He replied as the machine entered autopilot, and he could focus on the blonde in his hands.
"...fine." By this point, she could only play along and see where this goes.
"..."
"..."
"..."
After that, she simply looked at the monitors, enjoying a view that a very small number of people have ever seen.
"...What are your plans? You didn't mention the details." The blonde asked after a while of silence.
"Because there are none of them." He replied.
"..." She turned around and looked at him.
"We don't need an actual course of action, because when we are big enough, we will be like a celestial object, getting into contact with another object.
The heavier they are, the more gravity they create. The same applies to everything, even nations and organisations.
Once I have several of these machines, my interests will collide with those of other people, causing a conflict; all I need to do is simply win those collisions." He explained, leaving her speechless for several moments.
"Yes, but even then you need to be prepared." She reasoned with him. Getting the general idea of what he means. It does make sense. Either fame, wealth or even a nation's strength, one would attract attention when it becomes a major power or player.
But even so, going blindly can backfire.
"I am, my machine possesses a pseudo-perpetual motion engine. It can fight borderline forever. On top of that, the cockpit is cushioned, meaning that if the machine is under siege from conventional weapons, the pilot won't notice it and could potentially rest in prolonged fights."
"...And the fact that someone could catch up to your machine's power?" She reasoned, understanding the general idea of what he is implying.
"The way the technology is progressing, they won't catch up for many years."
"How can you be so certain?" She asked, curious.
"Because there is a difference in plateaus of power, for a machine to have access to greater power, a more powerful engine and power source is needed.
It's the same as comparing a horse to a car in a speed race. You got the idea, right?" He explained that now that autopilot is on, both of his hands are free.
"...That's the sheer difference between Knightmares and this machine?" Leila ignored the fact that he was partially hugging her; instead, her brain was trying to understand the sheer gap.
She is not an expert, but it's crazy, just how advanced is this thing? And how was he able to build it? There is something that doesn't add up.
Five years are not enough to create a machine like this.
Alone no less!
"Indeed, Knightmares are powered by energy fillers. A single filler in this machine would power Ion thrusters for a couple of seconds before it would run dry.
"...Just how much energy does it require?" She asked, part of her was terrified to learn the number!
"Well, in simple terms, you need to heat metal and make it rotate to create an electromagnetic field, and on top of that, you need to cause electricity to turn into controllable plasma that can work like thrust."
"..."
"..."
"...I see…"
She pondered for a while. Internally, she came to a conclusion.
This guy was not from around her. His tech is far too advanced for this world; it makes no sense for someone to have something leagues ahead!
'But maybe that's what is needed to end these bloody conflicts.'
"...What part do I play in all of this?" Leila asked, after a while.
The blonde is not stupid; she wants to figure out her boundaries. Since he didn't kill her like the rest, and he confirmed that she is 'the best' thing Europia United has produced, it makes her assume that he has some form of affection towards her.
"No idea. I saved you without any sort of ulterior motive; I wasn't expecting you on the front lines around Belarus." He honestly replied, beginning to stroke her hair that was over the whole place, thanks to the lack of gravity.
"...Is that so?" Her blue eyes gleamed.
'If we truly have so much power…'
"How about I invite my close friend?" Leila suggested.
"Are you sure? You do realise that it's treason for your friend if she leaves for Anaheim?" He replied.
"...True, but she could leave the military." The blonde reasoned.
"Possible, but you need to ask her first."
Internally, she was wondering if this was a good idea. Leila recalled that her friend had a crush on this guy, the guy who helped people with his inventions.
But it turns out that it was a front. How would she feel when she would learn this?
The blonde ended up looking down, all of a sudden, she had doubts if she should even contact her.
'I need to think more about this.'
[Sir, we are entering orbit in 3 minutes.]
"...Already? Where are we even going?" Leila snapped out and looked at Marcus, who was pondering something.
"South Africa."
He replied as a map popped before them.
"I will do a flyby to check if mines are in use or not. I can't buy resources from Britannia all the time; they could question me about where they are going."
He explained to her as he pulled her closer.
"Now, come here. Re-entry into the atmosphere can be a bit bumpy."
The blonde ex-E.U. Officer slowly nodded as he hugged her with one hand.
Sure enough, the surroundings turned red as Taranis began to shake.
Leila gulped nervously, re-entering a planet is something one shouldn't do so recklessly, but this only shows how absurd the technology of this machine is.
After a few moments, the shaking stopped as the mobile suit had successfully entered Earth's atmosphere, and they were ready to continue with the trip.
As the mobile suit descended closer to the ground, the blonde could finally see the sights.
This was the first time she was on the Old Continent.
"Never did I imagine that when I woke up this morning, I would be in Africa." She casually commented when she saw how different the trees and the mountains were.
She is used to darker colours for mountains and dirt, but here it was a lighter colour. It was a completely different climate from what she learned in the academy.
As someone who was in a military academy, she learned about the dangers of fighting in different climates, especially warm ones like this one.
Diseases are the leading cause of death in the military.
Regardless, she watched what Marcus was doing here.
Sure enough, she saw his machine take pictures of the place before flying to a different site.
In a mere couple of hours, with the speed of the machine, they flew around the whole of southern Africa, except for the Kongo Basin and the Sahara.
Then they went to space…
Such a mode of travelling is a bit…
Something she will need to get used to.
~~~
Robotics hands took Taranis and took it away behind a glass wall. Inside a glass container, small drones were cleaning the machine that had just returned from circling the planet.
The blonde girl who was finally out of the cockpit looked around the underground base.
Her hunch just got confirmed; the technology she was looking at was way beyond what she was imagining.
"After seeing this place, I was wondering just what you are?" She asked, her gaze on him.
"And what would I get from revealing that?" Marcus asked her. He was smiling at her.
"...well… I will be following you, no? There should be fewer barriers between us. Besides, it's not fair that you know everything about me, but I don't." Leila sighed, almost pouting at him. The girl crossed her arms in annoyance.
"Hmm, true. I can reveal something to you." He motioned for her to follow him.
The pair walked away from the armoury corner, and Marcus took a seat in his chair and pulled out a small box and opened it.
He then brought his fingers to his eyes, removed his contact lenses and looked at her.
One of Leila's eyebrows went up; she realised that he was not blue-eyed but purple-eyed, but what does this mean?
"Let me formally introduce myself, Leila Von Bresnau." Her whole body shivered when she heard her old family name.
"My name is Lelouch Vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince." He smirked while saying that.
"... That was something I wasn't expecting to hear today." Her lips twitched. Here she was, her parents had escaped from Britannians but now she was serving a literal Prince.
This day is crazy! From going to space twice, then visiting Africa, to leaving the E.U. army for a Britannia Prince.
The girl massaged her forehead; she had heard enough for one day.
"Yes." He chuckled seeing her like that. She should take it easy with all those questions.
For a second, she pondered about this prince.
"...Wait! Weren't you exiled to Japan?" Her eyes widened as she realised what this meant!
The Emperor attacked Japan when the country had two of his children! That means not only was this Prince a hostage, but he most likely ended up as a War Refugee.
That one crazy experience!
'Is this the reason why he became like this? Revenge can be one serious motivator!'
"So… you want to get revenge on your old Family?" She asked, worried for a bit. Revenge is like fire, it can burn brightly and can consume everything, but after it burns its course, there is nothing left.