A cylindrical thruster emitted blue plasma, releasing pulses of power in a systematic succession in a controlled environment.
Legion Bots observed the new thrusters and continued testing the latest piece of technology.
"Is this the thruster you drew a week ago when you brought me here?" Leila asked as she gazed at the creation behind a glass wall.
"I did promise that I would get you means for transportation and manpower," Marcus replied with crossed arms. His gaze went to the side where miniature models of the plane were also being tested.
The design phase has been finished; all that is left is assembly and testing to ensure it functions properly.
Once the bedrock model is finished, they can begin working on improving it.
"That's absurd… I never imagined technology could be completed at such speed!"
"I did spend years developing infrastructure. I would be dissapointed if it took years to build something." He shrugged at her.
"Hmph! You still haven't told me what I will be doing for Anaheim!" Milly, who was sticking around this time, asked Marcus.
She is now at her tsundere phase…
"You never gave me a chance, you silly girl." Marcus looked at her with an eye roll.
"..."
"Well, I am here now." She crossed her arms.
"Yeah, somehow. I suppose I can give you a job in front of the Anaheim. PR? Or maybe the face of the company you are pretty enough." The Inventor Prince pondered out loud.
"And will I get a Knightmare?" She looked at Taranis and Lugh behind the glass wall on the other side of the workshop.
"Knightmare? You want to fight?" He asked, surprised.
"Well, I want to help." She puffed her impressive chest.
"Same, I want to pull my weight. Besides, these things are so powerful that I could be anywhere in the world." Leila chipped in. She wants to help and, at the same time, make something out of Anaheim, like getting more people into the company and turning it into a superpower that could stop all the wars.
She had time to think, and the best way to use these godly machines is to crush all the opposition, make people incapable of wanting war.
Something Marcus said himself, he will crush his enemies, and she concluded that it was the best solution.
Bring peace through might.
"Hm? You want to run away from me, Leila?" The Prince questioned her.
"Umm… Don't misunderstand me, what I am saying is that this power can allow me to interfere in any conflict around the globe." She tried to explain herself with a growing blush.
"Hmm, is that right? Well, these machines are powered by my AI. They will bring you back to me either way." He shrugged, making the pair look at him.
"You won't give girls some freedom?" Milly complained.
"Depends on the definition of freedom." He shrugged.
"If I miss my cuddles, then it's not debatable." The Prince replied with a dead serious tone.
Milly looked at Leila. She can't believe she is hearing that. This European blonde turned the Prince into a hugs-obsessed idiot.
Well, that's the thing, hugging girls is great, especially for a guy who was obsessed with metals most of his life.
It's like walking through a desert the whole time and then finding an oasis for the first time in life. After he hugged Leila properly, he ended up liking it a lot.
"Well, that means that if I return by evening for those cuddles, I am free to do whatever I want for the rest of the day." The modern version of Joan of Arc reasoned, understanding the parameters of this 'mission'.
"...Yeah, I guess." Marcus slowly nodded. She got it right.
"Then I want one." In the end, Leila wanted one. She was never one to be a pilot. Her aptitude test was not the highest, but in one of these machines? She doubts she needs great reaction time when it's that powerful.
"Me too!" Milly joined!
He looked at them; both looked eager. He stared for a bit before sighing in resignation.
"Fine. Both of you will be spending time in simulations. I will be using that data to develop machines for you two."
"Understood." Leila nodded as she looked at a spherical piece of equipment not far from the machines stored behind a glass wall.
This should be the cockpit simulator.
"Great! Then we should start!" Milly got excited, something new for her to do!
"Do that, the more you practise, the faster these machines can be developed for you." He nodded at their enthusiasm.
~~~
As the pair were learning to pilot Marcus' mobile suits, the Inventor Prince returned to his work.
Designing new weapons, he already had beam rifles and beam sabers; the other weapons he needed to add to the arsenal were a large beam.
At first, he was thinking of a particle cannon, but then on the other side, a positron cannon was an option too.
Both can be very destructive, so in the end, he did a coin toss, and the positron cannon won, and soon enough, Marcus began to develop the weapon.
It was not hard; he already had all the fundamentals. The energy, the technology to accelerate through electricity, and emissions of all these technologies were already in use.
[Sir, we have a development.]
A view from one of the cameras appeared before him; it was one of his Junkyards.
He can see Japanese rebels trying to steal some of his refined metal.
"..."
'I can't move out with one of my KK units…'
If Marcus appears in Teranis, he would not doubt attract the Empire's attention.
With a groan, he rubbed his head, flipping like that in Eastern Europe was a stupid thing to do. But then again, he got Leila out of it.
'Right, I need a knight.'
A smirk appeared on his lips. It was time to use his status as Prince to get some people!
~~~~~~Next Day~~~~~~
In the Government's building in Tokyo Settlement, the soldiers were relaxing. With Prince Clovis as their Viceroy, most of them are relaxed as their superior is quite lax, but there are a few who are quite serious about their jobs.
One of them is a frustrated Margrave, Jeremiah Gottwald, a knight, who, before the death of the Empress Marianne, was part of her Royal Guard. Someone who had high standards, these soldiers were pathetic!
Regardless, before he started his day, his phone rang with a message.
Without releasing a sound, he checked the content of this message.
'What you are looking for is not far, are you interested in meeting your Empress son?'
His eyes widened as he reread this message a bunch of times!
'Lady Marianne's son!? Prince Lelouch!?'
He gawked at this, but then he swiftly composed and responded to the text.
The Margrave needs to be sure!
After a few moments, another message popped up.
'There are enemies among Britannian ranks, in high positions, who desire the Empress and her children's deaths.
Among them are the Special Forces; thus, discrete actions are needed.'
Jeremiah gulped down when he read the text. It made sense why he heard nothing about the Prince or the Princess. It was as if they were gone from the face of the Earth!
Soon after coordinates were sent over, the knight couldn't hide his excitement! Finally! A purpose!
The man discreetly left the Government building and went to the outskirts of the settlement, in the old Tokyo ghettos.
The Margrave made sure he was armed, as he needed to be cautious; this could be some sort of setup. At the same time, he understood the situation; if the Empire tries to kill the Prince and the Princess, they need to hide among the Eleven population.
After a while, he arrived at a Junkyard, a processing place for materials that the Britannian Empire could reuse.
He walked around, seeing a bunch of Honorary Britannians that are working here.
Mountains of junk, from metal to plastic, even occasional Glasgow can be seen among this junk.
But what got his attention is the drive among these people.
'They do look motivated, I wonder what is going on in this place?'
The man looked around; he looked quite out of place even with his coat.
Regardless, he walked further back in a derelict building where smelters were.
He pulled out his phone and checked the directions. He walked further, eventually coming out in a…
'This looks like…'
His eyes widened as he realised that this was the underground subway system. It runs through the whole of Japan!
'Genius, as expected from the Prince!'
In his biased view, this was a genius move by the prince who used to play chess and beat most of the nobility and the royals!
After walking for a bit, he found the door he was looking for.
He slowly opened. This was some sort of maintenance room back when the railway was in use.
But now, it was a derelict room, full of abandoned control consoles, cables and all other stuff that the knight had no idea what it did.
Not that he paid much attention there, as his eyes were on the person sitting at the prepared table.
"It has been a while." The person at the table spoke.
"You must be the one who messaged me. Tell me where Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunally are!" He demanded, but then his eyes adjusted to the surroundings. He noticed the face of the person sitting at the table.
"...You are that prosthetics and body armour inventor…"
He was confused. Why would he be here?
But then, he looked closer…
The chin, the face, that gaze, he would never forget!
"O-Of course! How could I forget! My Prince!" The man dropped to one knee.
"Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald is at your service, my Prince! It has been years! This one has been looking for you!"
The knight was ecstatic to find one of the Empress's children!
"Good that you remember." Marcus stood up and walked over to the kneeling knight.
"There is a reason that we are meeting like this." He began to explain.
"In your message, you said that you are in danger." The knight replied.
"I was, not anymore. However, secrecy is needed as the special forces are the ones responsible for this."
Jeremiah gasped in disbelief.
"The one who is responsible for my mother's death is someone very high in the chain of command. Most likely jealous that the Emperor had such a close relationship with my mother."
The look of realisation dawned on the knight.
"Regardless, the question is if you are ready to follow me."
"Yes! Jeremiah Gottwald is at your service." The man replied with an honest tone.
"Good. In that case, follow me, I will reveal to you what I have been doing and what my ultimate goal is."
Marcus motioned for him to follow.
The pair left the maintenance room and walked deeper into the subway system.
The inventor has been using this to travel around Tokyo; it's the most secure way, and no one can follow him.
"I have been delving into technology for the majority of my time since my exile.
Anaheim Robotics is a cover for my research into Knightmare Killers."
"...Knightmare Killers?" The knight looked at him, confused.
"You will understand once you see them."
The knight nodded as they walked through the tunnel, arriving at another door. These doors led to stairs to higher levels.
"My Prince, I assume Marcus Goldman is your cover name?"
"Yes, in public, call me by this name." Marcus nodded as they arrived at another section.
Jeremiah was surprised by how well the Prince knew these tunnels.
After a while, they arrived at recently built foundations. This should be where Tokyo Settlement is built upon!
Sure enough, to the knight's surprise, they took another set of stairs, which should not exist. As this could be a backdoor to the Tokyo Settlement, Britannians would never allow it!
Once they arrived at the newly built foundations of the Settlement, they were in front of wide double metal doors.
Big enough for Knightmares, if not bigger machines to pass.
Jeremiah noticed that, while they took stairs and walked through the tunnels, they were all connected, meaning that the entire route is connected and big enough for big machines to move through it.
'Genius! The Prince is using the old city like his tunnels, no one would ever know about this!'