Code Geass Reacts: The Blame Game

Stage 05: The Princess and the Witch

The camera pans upwards to the sand dunes of the middle east, an array of MEF knightmares traveling in a V formation.

"Hey, isn't that...?" Rivalz points at the screen to which Cornelia nods.

"Yes. It's the Middle East Federation."

Xingke scratches his stubble. "Oh yeah. I almost forgot that Britannia was at war with them, too. How long did it take for you to conquer them?"

"Three months too long, from May 6th to August 5th of 2017. By this time in which Area 18 was established, Clovis was already dead for more than a month, Zero had already made his appearance, and Kururugi had been vindicated."

She exchanges a sour look with Guilford, both knowing how much she hated the Area 18 conflict due to how she longed to relocate to Area 11 to find Zero but couldn't due to her preoccupation.

"Ya make it sound like you didn't have a choice or somethin'. Got your freedom taken away?" Tamaki wiggles his eyebrows condescendingly.

"Of course I did, you baboon! The Emperor was the one that ordered me to be the one in charge of invading and conquering Area 18, and I've seen firsthand what he does to those who disobey him."

"What's a baboon?"

Arabian Commander: "Open fire!"

The knightmares are fixed with howitzer canons that light up, taking the first shot of this battle as the lead destroys a Britannian tank.

The Britannian tanks, which are in a formation made up of two different lines, immediately return fire. However, seeing that all their shells glanced off without leaving so much as a dent, the Britannian commander, whose identity remains unknown at the moment, orders the tanks to halt their advance and sends in a group of different vehicles.

The familiar screeching of landspinners alerts the MEF of incoming Britannian knightmares. It's the Gloucester generation KMF. They make a beeline for the three massive Arabian knightmares that their intel tells them contains the last MEF military leaders.

The one leading the charge is General Andreas Darlton.

Andreas Darlton: "Shoddy oversized imitation knightmares!"

Guilford frowns at the sight of his late best friend. If there was ever any soldier that was respected and missed by Britannian forces under Charles' reign, it was Andreas Darlton.

Similarly, Cornelia can't help the forlorn look on her face upon seeing her other knight that held equal amounts of loyalty towards her as the one sitting beside her.

If only he were still alive...

Guilford: "They would've been wise to surrender from the start."

"Let me clarify that I meant that they should've surrendered when the war against Area 18 started. Their empire was vast, yes, but the size of a nation matters not. However, they never learned that and let themselves become arrogant and historically uneducated."

Nunnally points out, "But Guilford, they saw what Britannia was doing to the people residing in the lands they invaded. All of them were horribly mistreated, even the few that did surrender. They had no reason to give in to the demands of an aggressor."

"I know, your majesty. It's just that sometimes, surrendering could mean playing the long game by saving the lives of as many of your soldiers as possible in preparation for resistance. I think that's what Genbu Kururugi did when he killed himself."

Zero audibly gulps.

Darlton and Guilford's squadron don't take any incoming enemy fire, already too close and hidden by sand dunes for the MEF tanks to get a bead on them.