Indomitable

And here's a new story I've been thinking up for a long time now. It's odd that it feels too soon to start another one, even though it's been a year and a half since my last. If anything, it just feels like I have too many that need to be worked on. But honestly, I only have two (three, if we count that one I can't seem to find the motivation for.) I want to work on.

Call this the spiritual successor to The Black Prince. I was too afraid and inexperienced to mess with canon enough, and this is a lot closer to what I had envisioned that to be. That being said, I'm sorry to say I probably will never finish the Black Prince. But on the bright side, I guarantee this one to be a whole lot better.

Chapter 1: Angels and Demons

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In 2009 ATB, fifth imperial consort Marianne vi Britannia was assassinated in her home, the Aries Villa. Despite this tragic event, very little consequences followed. In only a few short months, the empress was all but forgotten, her killer never discovered. This included her two children, who miraculously escaped the attack unscathed. However, without their mother, there was little left to protect them from cold reality that was the imperial family. The empress was a commoner by birth, thus her children were too considered merely half bloods. This fact alone saw that there was nothing for the young royals to turn to.

Despite facing a dark and dead end future, eleventh prince Lelouch, and twelfth princess Nunnally lived on to become far more than what was expected of them. Thanks to what could only be seen as a mercy, disguised as a bane to the children. For the emperor demanded of his motherless children to become strong enough to survive on their own, or fall to the wayside, forgotten like their mother.

They chose the better of the two.

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Saudi Arabia, Britannian campaign center; 2018 ATB

Cornelia was getting rather sick of sand. She was sure the feeling would be infinitely worse had she been spending the last few months directly on the ground like most her soldiers. Even still, the desert was a loathsome place to fight in. The mobility of knightmares was significantly reduced to that of rural battlefields, or even plains or dirt. Without their incredible maneuverability, they weren't nearly as formidable in combat. Needless to say, progress had been considerably slower than her usual blitzkrieg strategy.

"Ma'am, a group of Bamides were spotted approaching our left flank!"

And of course that as well. The MEF's replica knightmare the Bamide. It could hardly really be called such, but the hulking frame was clearly designed for fighting in native terrain. "Send Alex to fend them off." She ordered with a wave of her hand. They were hardly the most pressing threat, with the fortress they were assaulting raining artillery on her exposed forces. But they were still attempting to flank her after all; left unchecked they posed a threat all the same.

"All other units continue the advance, I want this damned fortress under a Britannian flag by nightfall."

She was answered by a chorus of affirmatives, the various IFFs displayed in front of her carrying out her commands. From beside her,Guilford leaned in toward her. "Milady, are forces are thinning out too quickly. We may not be capable of taking the fortress once we reach it."

"And our other option is retreating under the same fire that's tearing apart our frames now. We'd be better off seizing it without having to approach twice." Cornelia replied, watching her main body slowly make its way upward. A painful amount of 'lost' messages replacing unit numbers.

"Of course, Milady."

It was certainly not a favorable method of victory, but the better option nonetheless. This entire campaign had been nothing but irritating battle after costly victories. The rest of the MEF would pay dearly for making get put up with this for so long.

"Another squad of Bamides coming at us from the right!"

"Damn it, more of them?!" The princess cursed. They were certainly tenacious this time.

"We can't afford to split up the forces anymore! They'll be targeted by more artillery of we try to head them off!"

She grit her teeth. These Arabs seemed to be smarter than she first gave them credit for. They'd be Eighteens soon enough. "We have no choice. Prepare to face them directly! Don't stop to engage, just plow through them. You'll be hit by the artillery if you stop!"

She continued to watch with masked anxiety. The Bamides would likely be used as nothing more than a wall her troops would have to break down, all the while being battered by the weapons on the fortress wall. Alex was already far behind the main group, meaning he would be targeted exclusively once the rest made it to the wall. This was going to end unfavorably.

"Ma'am, the Bamides are being attacked by another group of knightmares!"

Cornelia frowned in confusion. "What group is it? There's no other deployed squadrons." She stated what was clearly untrue. At least, none of her units were free to just flank them. Besides, they had to be in range of the artillery just to get to the Bamides. Those guns were only firing at her forces.

"The knightmares appear to be Equis frames your highness!

Well that at least explained one thing. Equis' were highly advanced knightmares, and didn't actually use the common landspinners. They would be able to cross the desert far more comfortably than Glasgows or Sutherlands with those gravitational modifications. They made poor targets for artillery compared to her forces.

Except that only brought more confusion. Equis frames were only used by one unit. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"She's as eager as ever it seems. Sorry about that."

The whole command room turned to see the newcomer enter. Flanked by two knights dressed in the midnight colored uniforms of the Black Knights Special Operations division, was it's commander: Colonel Lelouch vi Britannia.

"I suppose it's pointless to ask this now, but might I be of some assistance, Cornelia?"

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She was actually beginning to find this somewhat boring. Having been all too eager to test the limits of a few new enhancements to the Angelus, she rushed off the moment her brother left to meet with Cordelia. Unfortunately, these hulking Bamide knockoffs were hardly enough to match with Ashford's crown accomplishment. And so she wove between to the advancing imitation knightmares, slicing through them with Angelus' blazing twin blades. Reducing their hopes of cutting off Cornelia's advance to piles of smoking wreckage. Sure, it was always enjoyable to practically fly in her knightmare, doing so made her feel closest to her mother. But there simply wasn't any challenge in it. Like her brother, she relished in something that pushed her capabilities.

They wanted to get stronger, after all.

"Nunnally, wait up a minute will you?!"

The young princess spared a moment to look back at the machines struggling to keep up with her. An Equis was by far the most advanced fifth generation frame, but even that paled in comparison to the unrivaled power of a seventh generation prototype.

"I'm sorry Alice, I guess I got a little carried away." Nunnally apologized with a sheepish grin on her face. She paused enough to allow her squad the chance to catch up, clearing the stragglers left in her wake.

Eventually though, the rest of the Black Knight's first squadron met up with their captain. They were relatively few in number, but they were the best the division had to offer. Her brother had made certain of that.

"You hardly left any of them for us, your highness." Her lieutenant, Gino, laughed. He was only a couple years older than her, but his skill was nothing to laugh at. Lelouch often joked that he stole him from the knights of the round, when the two met at the academy.

"I think they're pretty much taken care of." Alice commented from her place beside her. A bit of a harsher girl to anyone else, but Nunnally knew well she cared more than enough for her and her team. She couldn't have asked for a better knight.

"Well it seems you've been having fun." Nunnally heard the voice of her brother through the comms in her cockpit.

"Sorry, sir. The captain's a bit hard to say no to." Leon replied to the prince in an apologetic tone. Leonhardt Steiner was partly responsible for the development of the Angelus. Or rather, his family's engineering conglomerate; as a show of good faith when Lelouch recruited him as well as Gino, as the Weinberg family was the Steiner family's initial master.

Lelouch did have his way of getting what he wanted when he asked for it. No one denied the Demon of Britannia.

"I'm well aware of that, Steiner." Her brother replied flatly. "But I did go through all the trouble of asking the general here for permission to assist in taking the fortress. You'll be doing just that."

The princess turned her attention back toward the massive citadel situated in the sandy desert. The guns placed all across it's massive walls had been mercilessly pounding at Cornelia's snail crawl push for quite some time now. Though They had given half hearted attempts to attack the Equis's positioned among the remains of their own forces, they quickly found it a pointless endeavor.

"You'll probably only have more Bamides to deal with inside the fortress, but regardless we're here to help Cornelia. Focus on removing the defenses and allow her to move in and finish the job." Lelouch explained to her team as the moved into a position to scale the wall. "I'll leave the rest up to you. I have some things to discuss with the general, and I'm sure there won't be any problems you can't deal with. "

"Well now, finally putting some trust in us are you?" Gino commented with no doubt a cheeky grin she could practically hear.

"Not in you; but I trust the rest to keep a leash on you, so that's enough for me." And another grin she could imagine on her brother's face.

"You hurt me, Lelouch." The blonde pouted.

The group crested over the wall, scattering clusters of foot soldiers manning the guns. They spread out across the top, destroying the placements all along it's width, and avoiding what little resistance was offered with relative ease. "That's sir to you Weinberg."

"I'll keep an eye on him, sir." she heard the quiet voice of their last member, Anya. She was odd, to say the least, and had an even more odd obsession with her brother. But she was just as talented as the rest.

Shaking her head at their antics, Nunnally simply continued along her path. "Well, let's get to it then!"

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"She's as skilled as you say, Lelouch. It's a shame you can't really pilot to save your life."

Lelouch replied to her comment with a slight chuckle. "I think to think I inherited other important gifts. Though Nunnally certainly got that from our mother."

Cornelia nodded in agreement, watching along with him the progress Nunnally and her squadron had already made. "I often wish I could see Marianne in a more modern frame. To make something as archaic as the Ganymede move like lightning is simply unbelievable even now." She gave a small smile. "I like to think she'd look something like that." She gestured to the majestic white knightmare. The justly named Angelus.

"So tell me, just what did you come all this way for? Surely you have better things to do." She turned to face him with a quizzical look.

"Well, the insurrection in Area Eight was hardly all it was cracked up to be. The Viceroy probably just exaggerated for some kind of publicity. I really should be on my way back to the homeland. Though I'm not exactly in any hurry." He explained.

"So you stopped by just to visit?" Cornelia asked with a raised eyebrow. Cbc

"Not exactly. There is one thing I wanted to discuss." The prince told her. "I have a lead."

She sharply turned to look at him. "You know you didn't have to bribe me for my help. I'm here any time."

To that he only smiled. "Still, this is an extremely delicate thing, you know that. And unfortunately this is something I'm going to have to ask you to do for me."

"And what exactly is it you need?"

"We finally managed to track down one of the guards that went missing that night. And he showed up in Area Eleven." Lelouch revealed.

"I see." Cornelia replied. "You'd like me to find him when I go there."

Area Eleven had always been problematic. The people there refused to ever give up. More rebellions showed up in the island nation than half the other provinces combined. Cornelia actually made regular visits.

"I know you probably won't find him. But I honestly haven't had the slightest hope in a while." He added with a sigh.

"You still think that some of the guards might have been involved?" She asked him.

"I'd much rather believe my mother's closest guards were the most loyal to her- I know I can trust Jeremiah with practically anything- but… there's just too much there's that suggests it. Three guards went missing right after the guard was dismissed, they would have known that. And not a single house guard was killed. There wasn't any evidence of a forced break in. Someone had to have let them in."

"I understand just how you feel. I was the captain of her guard after all, I would be ashamed to know some of my men were responsible." She offered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll do everything I can to find him."

"Thank you Cornelia, I'm glad that I can count on you." He gave her a more sincere smile, nodding as well.

"Have you spoken to Nunnally about this?" She questioned, frowning at already having predicted his response.

"No, I haven't." He admitted. "She thinks it's time we moved on from this. Start looking toward the future rather than the past, is how she put it."

"I'm not going to dictate for you one way or the other, you two should be in agreement no matter what you choose." She almost sounded like she was reprimanding him.

"Maybe she's right, that we should finally let it go. But honestly...I don't really know what else to do." The prince shook his head, sighing once more. "Sixth in line for the throne."

It was still unbelievable to the princess that her brother had unintentionally clawed his way to just two spots beneath her. At the rate he was going he would be competing with her at the year's end. He wasn't exactly on the best terms with the rest of their family because of it, but the common masses almost idolized him. For the same reason they did his mother.

"Well you seem to be well off enough already, you have plenty of options ahead of you." Cornelia offered her brother. "Didn't you win some 'most eligible bachelor' or something?"

Lelouch snorted, rolling his eyes. "Like I said earlier: I'm in no hurry to return home. All that is is more pointless distractions."

"Well sooner or later you'll have to find something. Even when you do finally solve this what then? You're certainly talented enough. You just need to find the ambition to accomplish something. Whatever you set your mind to I know you could achieve." Cornelia encouraged him. Throughout the years she fell into a sort of motherly role for him, replacing as best as she could what he had lost.

Her brother nodded in agreement. "I suppose you may be right. But for now this will have to be enough."

"Ma'am, the main force has reached the wall of the fortress Princess Nunnally opened for us."

She looked up at the display that confirmed as much. Dozens of dots flooded into the hold, reaching the paved roadways inside the enemy base. The rest would be simple from there.

"Looks like that about wraps things up." Lelouch added. "They won't offer much resistance from here "

"It's about time too. I've attempted to take this fort multiple times now." She said with an irritated tone.

"How goes the rest of the campaign though? How much longer do you think you'll be here?" Lelouch asked her.

Cornelia gave a frustrated sigh at that. "This whole war has been more or less the same as this battle, albeit that godforsaken fortress was far worse. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later."

Lelouch laughed lightly at her irritation. "I wish I could stay and help a little longer, but I doubt our father would appreciate me wasting my time here."

"It's not you I need, just those knightmares." She corrected with a laugh of her own.

"Sorry, I'm a little attached to them I'm afraid."

"I know. Believe me." No matter how much she or even Camelot demanded it, the prince refused to allow Ashford to build frames outside of his own unit. The Equis, and before that the now retired Ganymede mark two were exclusive to his Black Knights. Though the Ganymede was turned over to the military, for a price. It was a shame, considering no one built knightmares like Ashford.

"Still, I wish you the best of luck sister. I can only imagine how this campaign has been." Lelouch said. "And I pray you find something, when you do get to Area Eleven."

"I should hope so as well. I want to see this through as well, you know." She reminded him. That was why she was so willing to help.

"I'll give you the details when you're done with this place. I'll probably be off somewhere else by then."

The prince stepped away from the main deck, his guards quick to fall in behind him. "Till next time Cornelia. Sooner, rather than later."

"Thank you for the help, Lelouch." She said to her brother as he left command center. "I'll be sure to return the favor some time. I'm not counting your search just so you know."

With a wordless nod, he was gone; leaving Guilford to return to his place beside her.

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Britannian Supply Port, Saudi Arabia; 2018 ATB

Nunnally gently guided the Angelus to the loading dock in front of her, along with the rest of her squad. The frame was then brought into the main hangar of the Black Knights' carrier: The Marianne. The carrier housed every one of their Equis knightmares, some six hundred in total were stored tightly together on the massive ship. The Marianne was one of the largest vessels in the Britannian navy, save the HBN Britannia and a select few others. There were also two smaller ships that acted as bodyguards for the Marianne. Though the carrier was not in the slightest defenseless, any sort of naval attack that destroyed the Marianne would completely wipe out the entire division. Those twin battleships were called Victoria and Invicta. Lelouch liked Latin terms for some reason. All that the Black Knights possessed however, was privately owned by the vi Britannia family. A great majority was funded through what inheritance their mother was able to leave them, the rest by selling the Ganymede mark II following the development of the Equis. Lelouch would likely so the same thing again to fund it, should a mass seventh generation frame become practical.

Nunnally was met-like always-by Jeremiah after disembarking her knightmare. "My lady, I trust you are unharmed from your mission?"

Always one to worry, even over nothing. "Of course, Jeremiah. Thank you for your concern." She smiled at the man, earning a satisfied nod.

"It's what I'm here for, Lady Nunnally." He replied. Jeremiah was the vice commander, right hand to her brother. And he was very dedicated to his position.

"Is my brother here yet?" She asked, making her way toward the elevator that would carry her up to the living areas above.

"Yes, your highness. I believe he left shortly after you breached the fortress." He told her. "We'll be departing for the homeland shortly now, we aren't able to spend much longer here."

"That's fine, I miss the Areis Villa. It's been awhile since we've been home." She said with a wistful sigh.

"Indeed. His highness left almost instantly the last time we were in the homeland."

Nunnally frowned at the memory. Something about a contest? He didn't really seem excited about it though. "Well hopefully he won't leave again. I wanted to visit Euphy at least once this time."

"Hey Nunnally, wait up will you?! Geez that's twice now!"

The two stopped to see Alice running through the hangar to catch up. It had likely taken her much longer to get her knightmare stored, leaving her behind her princess.

"Lady Meyford. So good of you to join us." Jeremiah eyed her with a look of disapproval. He would have gladly been Nunnally's knight, to protect her at all times. It was only by Lelouch not wanting to force him to choose between both of them that he didn't at all. But that didn't stop him from wanting the best for his princess.

"It's not like it's my fault Gottwald." She defended herself sharply, crossing her arms.

"Hardly a reasonable excuse to allow her highness to remain without her knight."

"It's fine Jeremiah." Nunnally cut in before Alice got too worked up. She thought Alice did a perfectly fine job. She chose her own knight after all.

"You must take your own safety seriously, your highness." The bluenette told Nunnally, almost as if he was scolding her.

"I'm quite sure it's safe enough in here, Jeremiah." She laughed. "Nowhere safer."

Though he did not say it aloud, Jeremiah's neutral face hid a dark thought. I'm sure your mother thought the same thing. "You can never be too careful, Milady. You are a princess of Britannia, and this is still an enemy country." He chose to give a more tactful reason. Even for him, bringing it up was painful, he couldn't think to speak it to the young girl, even if it was the truth.

"Thank you for your concern, Jeremiah." the young princess repeated.

He sighed, allowing her knight to accompany her as he left to finish preparations for their departure. "It's what I'm here for."

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The Marianne; Mediterranean Sea; 2018 ATB

Lelouch watched the land slowly fade past the horizon as the Marianne began it's trip back home. He sat comfortably in his private office aboard the ship, thinking to himself. His conversation with Cornelia irritated him considerably, though logically he knew it shouldn't. If anything it proved he was successful in his activities the last few years.

She had told him he lacked ambition, a goal for his future other than simple vengeance for his mother. A worthy mission nonetheless, but unfulfilling he knew that.

Sixth in line for the throne, more than likely fifth by the end of the year. Oh, he had ambition. He had a vision, and five people stood in his way.

Clovis, Lelouch's rival from childhood. Soon enough, he would finally decide once and for all who won in the end. He was Viceroy of Area Eleven, and deserved some credit for (mostly) holding together that volatile nation. Unfortunately that was probably the furthest he would ever get.

They all knew Odysseus was crown Prince in name alone. His eldest brother actually did lack the ambition Cornelia thought him missing. He had no desire to accomplish anything, and the people would see that when it mattered.

Guinevere was only slightly harder to surpass. She liked to collect nobles, gathering around her a click of the finest men and women of the Empire. Though she may hold a great number of favors and secrets, she had absolutely no military prowess whatsoever. Lelouch felt that she too might fail in the people's eyes as well. More importantly, their father's.

Cornelia was by all means the opposite of her older sister. She hated nobility and their cowardice. They hated her in turn. But she was in fact chief of the military and that alone meant leagues more to the emperor. Strength is everything in Britannia, and the Goddess of victory did not earn her title by conquering sandcastles. Though Lelouch wished he sway his sister to his own side, he was unsure if he would be able to do that. She was as Britannian as they came, and he had to accept that she too stood in his way.

Then there was Schniezel.

Anyone who owed Guinevere anything would betray her in a heartbeat by Schneizel's command. Half the military was torn between the chief general and the prime minister. Even more so it's weapons development. Schneizel owned Camelot, no questions asked. And though he was third in line, Lelouch saw him as the final obstacle to overcome. Ironically, it was Schneizel that Lelouch was politically closest to. Rarely were the demon and witch placed in the same campaign together, it was simply unnecessary. But it the was prime minister who called upon Lelouch when he was needed. Though he answered only to the emperor, it was Schniezel who called in his place. The two worked in a deadly harmony: the prime minister would continue 'negotiations' until Lelouch could properly invade on orders of the emperor. Schniezel liked to remain clean of conflict, and Lelouch developed a reputation for ruthlessness. And in the end, everyone thought he acted only because he was told to. The demon of Britannia was the emperor's most lethal attack dog. No one thought he had goals of his own. Not even Cornelia could see it.

He did have ambition. Born of his love for his family that once was. His mother died because Britannia itself betrayed her. His beloved little sister was forced to fight for her own survival because Britannia would not allow otherwise. Eight years ago she was a hair's breadth from being denied even that. The strong devour the weak, and the weak exist to feed the strong. And you cannot escape your fate no matter how much you try.

And that was wrong. He would change that.

As emperor of Britannia.

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Area Eleven; 2018 ATB

He stared intently upward at the towering building that embodied oppression itself. He strongly desired to tear the whole thing down; of it was within his power, he would have.

However, he would have to be content with something else instead.

"We're almost ready, everything is going well so far."

He had waited years for this day. His people waited along with him for the promise made eight years ago to be fulfilled.

"Though we may fall today, though I may fall to Britannia this night, our honor has not died. One day, we will reclaim what is ours. One day, you will remind our people what it means to be Japanese. It is a heavy burden I leave to you, but you are strong. Your people are strong. The years that will come will shape you into what you must become."

He never forgot those words. The final message of a man who died for Japan.

"Suzaku, my son. You will be the one who reclaims Japan."

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So a few things to cover real quick. Most of the character's positions will be explained in the next chapter, but a couple I wanted to bring up. Alice is there only in name and character. She is the character from nightmare of Nunnally, though not Alice the speed. Rather a better alternative to an OC. Simply because a majority of the cast is Japanese, where Lelouch is aligned soley with Britannia. I had to pull a bunch of characters from there like Gino and Anya. Also Leonhardt is from Oz. More on that later. Now if you will excuse me, I have a final to prepare for. God help me.