05

An explosion suddenly erupted not far from their position, one that was large enough to engulf an entire section of the city. Tohdoh regained the initiative upon seeing the reality with his own eyes. "All forces scatter! Find a clearing from any buildings and debris and stay there! It's your only chance at survival!"

The Burais did as they were told, breaking from their encirclement around the Britannian units and speeding away, while the Britannians themselves also broke from their last ditch defensive line, now concentrating on survival rather than fighting. The Four Holy Swords naturally remained with Tohdoh, as he led them down the way they had come before.

"I don't understand… How is this happening!? Why now!?" Asahina bellowed out of confusion.

"The Britannians…" Tohdoh said, with a deathly solemn tone. "They knew they wouldn't be able to hold Japan forever, whether they lost it to China or to us. So they set up an emergency measure."

Through the quaking, the Colonel's teeth ground with wrath. "That if they were to lose Japan, the country and its resources would not fall to another..."

Urabe was the first to realize. "The sakuradite!" he proclaimed in growing despair. "They're detonating the sakuradite veins!"

"Kami...!" Chiba let out, her own voice now hollow with equal despair. "There will be nothing left…!"

"Our country… Japan…!" Asahina barely murmured.

"As long as we live, then so will Japan!" Tohdoh bellowed, forcibly retaining his commanding presence. If they were going to survive, he needed to remain their leader. "I therefore refuse to lose myself or any of you in this manner! We will find a safe zone, and we will ride this out, even if it means having to fight the shinigami himself for our right to live on!"

The sounds of explosions and crumbling buildings was not far off now, symbolizing the loss of precious time to the five combat veterans. As his Gekka continued to move, Tohdoh allowed himself to look back toward the government bureau, which still stood and proudly displayed the Britannian flag upon its side. He sneered at that image.

"It will be a painful existence," he continued to speak to the Swords. "And we may just end up becoming the last of a once proud country and race, but we will all live beyond this. We will all live to fight again."

And then he refused look back any further. All while the world fell apart around him. And we will remember this day…

The simultaneous detonation of Area 11's entire supply of sakuradite did not fail to register with the world. In only a short amount of time, the entirety of the Japanese isles was laid to waste with a series of massive earthquakes, explosions and volcanic eruptions, all but destroying the last semblances of life upon the surface, before one last great explosion of power encompassed the whole. To the rest of the world, it appeared as though a great ball of light had emerged over an area of above three hundred and thirty-seven thousand kilometers, engulfing cities, mountains and forests alike. And then, as that very light died down, everything became deathly silent.

On the thirteenth day of September in the year 2017, Area 11, once known as the proud nation of Japan, ceased to exist.

Imperial Palace

Pendragon, Grand Duchy of Pennsylvania, Area 1 (North America), Britannian Empire

September 27th, 2017

With a hard slam, Lelouch vi Britannia, former Prince of the Britannian Empire, former student at Ashford Academy, and formerly the revolutionary Zero, was against the ground. He was not very comfortable, to say the least, with his situation, but not because his face was forcibly planted against the hard floor. Above him stood his one time friend, now Imperial Army Major and pilot of the advanced knightmare frame Lancelot, Suzaku Kururugi. And before both of them, sitting upon Britannia's very center of power, was the man that Lelouch had long ago grown to hate with his entire being.

"The former seventeenth heir to the Imperial throne, Lelouch vi Britannia," Charles zi Britannia, 98th Emperor of the Britannian Empire, grandly announced. Even though he wasn't able to look up, Lelouch could feel his father's dominating sneer over him. "It's been a long time, hasn't it my errant son?"

With as much strength as his frail body could muster, Lelouch struggled against Suzaku's grip so that he could glare back. "How dare you…!"

And with another slam, he was against the floor yet again.

"You will not use your Geass," Suzaku stated, not bothering to hide his own distaste for his former childhood friend. Lelouch sneered back up at him, but from his position he doubted Suzaku even bothered to notice. Like it or not, Lelouch was beneath him now, literally.

The former prince's mind raced to find a way to escape Suzaku's hold, at least for enough time that he could actually use Geass against his father. However, even with his high intelligence and cunning, he knew he could do very little in the current situation. Even as a boy, Suzaku always had abnormal strength, and with his own body bound in a straight jacket, Lelouch knew it would be impossible for him to force his way up and out.

It helped even less that Suzaku was already immune to Geass, thanks to the events of Shikinejima. Lelouch was starting to regret giving him that "live" command, but what was done was done there. With that in mind, there really was nothing he could do against Suzaku himself now. His only hope was if he could somehow make eye contact with the Emperor, then perhaps he could turn the situation around. All he needed to do was somehow turn his head against Suzaku's iron hold...