Suzaku p.o.v.
After making our way to the ruins of what was the Shinjuku ghetto we came upon a makeshift memorial.
There were offerings, pictures of loved ones, and toys for children.
It made my heart clench knowing that so many died all because of that girl in the capsule was stolen by terrorists and was being hunted down prompting Prince Clovis to wipe out the inhabitants of the ghetto to hide the project's existence.
The truth about the girl and the massacre were revealed to me by Claudius after he picked me up and told me about his brother's illegal experimentations on the girl.
Still she was nowhere to be found, and after all was said and done, Shinjuku was a mass grave filled with the unfortunate inhabitants who just happened to live there all because of Clovis.
I couldn't say I was glad he was dead, but at least, he can't hurt anyone else anymore.
We both remained silent honoring the dead.
"Hey get a picture over there where they used the Hummer rounds, say cheese." Others weren't so courteous.
Some Britannian teenagers who would never see an actual battlefield in their lives were acting like this place was a tourist attraction rather than a mass grave with the bodies of the dead scattered throughout the place.
I clenched my fist and ignored them knowing that acting out in anger would solve nothing.
Lucky for me my sunglasses blocked my scowl from Euphie so she wouldn't have to see me like this.
"Hey, get out of here you damn Britannian bastards!" Yelled a loud red haired man.
Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought they were disrespectful as a group of Japanese men with headbands probably apart gang or group came to release their frustrations on the unsuspecting students.
"Stay here," I told Euphie as I went to intervene before those students could disappear into the ghetto never to be found.
"How dare a lowly eleven speak to me like that," the fat one was trying to act superior to scare them off.
"Don't call me an eleven, I'm Japanese dammit!" It had the opposite effect.
"Wrong, you people seem to forget that you lost, your nothing but a beaten dog." The other one said in a quivering voice, only making it worse for them.
"You racist pig!" the situation was about to boil over so I had to intervene.
"Stop, please no violence!" I shouted pleading for both parties to just walk away and for no one else to die a meaningless death here.
"Stay out of this!" the leader shouted at me trying to backhand me but he only caught my sunglasses and knocked them off.
"You, are you Suzaku Kururugi the guy who killed Clovis?" The redhead asked
"No, you idiot it was zero who killed him." A friend of the loudmouth spoke up.
"Tch, this guy's nothing but a slave, big deal you're an honorary Britannian, nobody cares, you sold your pride, your people, your soul, yet you call yourself Japanese!"
I was ready to take his verbal abuse, but I was drawn in by his taunt.
"No, your wrong." I tried to argue against the man.
"I'm not wrong, you stinking Britannian lapdog!" He had charged me before he finished.
I merely used my experience in Judo to counter and throw the man through the air using his own momentum and onto his back.
"Stop please I've been trained for military combat don't make me fight against my own people." I was still on guard if the man was armed and pulled a weapon I had to be ready.
"Like hell we're your people," he was going to say more, but his friend decided to get out of here.
"Come on just let it go." They made to leave, but the loud mouth decided to say one last thing.
"Fine, lousy traitor."
Traitor huh.
I guess I might be one in some people's eyes.
But the Japan of the past can never come back; the cost would be too high.
I was angry not at them but at myself, even after all these years, I have nothing to show for it.
I'm still just a soldier fighting against my own people especially with the Lancelot now.
But can I do something more, the prince who I owed my life to thinks so, even if he thinks my ideals are misguided?
But what am I going to fight for if it really is impossible to change Britannia from within?
"Suzaku are you ok?" Came the caring voice of Euphie.
"Hey, why didn't you kill them you useless eleven!" Of course, the two students, I just saved had different words for their hero.
They went on to complain about their camera and why I didn't do anything sooner, some gratitude for someone who just saved their lives.
Smack, the sound of hand meeting cheek silenced the two students, "I won't let you belittle this man anymore you oaf."
I was about to respond to them, but Euphie hits them across the cheek and scolds them causing them to run away to the safety of the settlement.
Then an explosion rang out not to far away in an old ruined stadium.
Mary Taylors was a pragmatic woman who saw reason in things and used logic to determine her actions.
A life guided by logic and utility was a focused path.
Now as Mary Taylors watched over the stadium where the purebloods were trying to get rid of their former leader she had her knightmare's custom long-range sniper rifle trained on the action.
Mary was considered one of the Britannian army's best sharpshooters both inside and outside of a Knightmare. So the distance between her elevated position a few blocks away and the stadium made no difference as the conditions were perfect to provide sniper support.
The Margrave was doing well considering the odds when the Lancelot and his subordinate came to assist this should have signaled the end of the conflict, but experience told her to keep on watch until they had powered down their machines.
Thanks to her foresight she saw the foolish one Smith she remembered the incident a few days prior, as he tries to use a chaos mine as a last ditch effort to kill his former boss.
As he primed the device and was about to throw the mine, a civilian rushed out into the field trying to stop them from fighting when the mine was about to be thrown Mary locked onto the mine and fired.
As the mine was about to be released into the air, it looked to those present that it exploded prematurely releasing the shrapnel the opposite way, directly into Smith's Knightmare killing him instantly as the mine shredded the armor of his knightmare from the point-blank explosion.
The eerie silence was pierced by the young girls proclamation to cease the fighting under her orders as a princess of the empire while her commander and his escort were arriving and surrounding the stadium.
Suzaku p.o.v.
After seeing the Knightmare about to throw a chaos mine, I moved to protect both the margrave's immobile Sutherland and Euphie, who had come running onto the field.
Only to see the mine explode and kill the one who threw it instead of its target.
Then Euphie shocked everyone declaring herself to be Euphemia li Britannia 3rd princess of Britannia and ordering those present to cease fighting.
Before the other knights and I could bow to the princess, the walls of the stadium had a dozen Knightmares lining the walls guns pointed down at us.
Leading them was the Prince Claudius' personal Knightmare the Merlin in all of its glory standing above us all looking down at the fight that had just occurred, ready to pass judgment down upon us.
"So this is where you ran off to, My beloved little sister though I thought you had more common sense than to rush out onto an active battlefield." Came Claudius' voice as it echoed from his loudspeaker.
Euphie looked sheepish as she moved behind the Lancelot to escape her brother's gaze.
That explains why the prince's men were following her.
"No matter, I'll talk to you later when we return to the viceroy's palace."
Claudius then shifted his attention to myself and the other pilots in the arena.
"Suzaku you have my thanks for your intervention once again, the aggressors will be apprehended, Lady Villetta Nu, Lord Gottwald I'll be expecting a report on the lack of control over your forces and this incident as well."
After giving his order, the prince departed along with his sister in tow as they made their way back to the settlement while his forces enforced his orders and cleaned up the mess.
I had just met two members of the Britannian royal family in just as many days, it may be this Knightmare, but I felt that I was moving up in the world and that my hard work was finally being noticed.
However, the prince's words still hung over me as I debated what should I do now as I was in a position to make a difference but still was nowhere near changing anything.
Claudius p.o.v
After we made our way back, I scolded my sister of slipping her detail and told her not to run off again after that I patted her head feeling satisfied.
I sent Naoto back to base after his first deployment in a Knightmare which he seemed excited about and content with working with me if it meant helping his people to redeem himself.
And I heard Mary's report on what happened and thanked her for her actions.
I was now standing on a runway waiting for my older sister Cornelia to arrive to become the temporary Viceroy and relieve me of my post.
Looking at my kind younger sister to my left, now in a pink dress while I was in my royal attire now a blue version of my royal outfit when I first met Jeremiah.
The transport carrying my older sister had arrived, and my sister and I were walking down the red carpet to greet her.
Stepping out from the aircraft was my older sister clad in her typical attire stepping graciously and had a stern look on her face probably about what Euphie did in the ghetto and running off.
"It's nice to see you sister, did you have fun playing in the sand?" I asked drawing her attention and poking fun at her campaign in the Middle East.
She scowled at my attempt to poke fun at her duties, as I became an independent faction with the Ouroboros Corps, so I had free reign where I deployed my forces while she was a high ranking general in the army who went where our father pointed while I had actually to been ordered to do so.
"Claudius, it's good to see you. Euphemia although I heard that you did you shouldn't be so reckless." She ignored my insolent remark in favor for scolding her younger sister because she knew she couldn't win an argument with me.
Not when I know so much about her and every character here.
"I know sister forgive me but-"
"You'll address me as Viceroy here, sub-viceroy Euphemia." Cornelia cut off her sister trying to establish a strong first impression among the rabble.
"You are relieved of your command of Area 11. However, the prime minister has granted you the authority to act as an observer and to act should I require you and your irregulars."
She was grinding her teeth as she said the last part.
Thanks to having the prime minister as my older brother I'm able to call in a favor or two from him, letting me stay in Area 11 was just a small one that my older brother had arranged.
Also, she disagreed with most of my decisions nowadays because they seemed to against the policies of the military but being an independent arm of the military I was able to write my own rules.
"As you command my beloved viceroy." As I bowed mockingly towards my control freak of an older sister.
She was not amused but merely looked at the noble sent to report to her on what had been done for her arrival.
When he said that there was going to be a ball she leveled her gun sword at the man for his stupidity of arranging a party for my sister who loathed them growing up.
"Sloppy, senile, corrupt, where is zero I want the enemy of the empire caught, get me Zero!" she yelled at the poor man whose life seemed to flash before his eyes.
While I just watched with a neutral expression at my sister's righteous fury as she was eager to begin her hunt for our brother's murderer.
While she was playing around hunting down terrorists, I would be preparing myself building up my own faction to rival both Britannia and the Black Knights when the time comes.
Yes, things were starting to get interesting as I walked in step behind my furious sister with Euphemia as the body of the poor man who was stupid enough to arrange a party to welcome my sister was dragged off after he fainted.