Semper Ad Meliora (Code Geass/Britannian Royalty Quest)

silentorphan · Oct 2, 2024

[x] No. Charles Becomes Immortal Instead.
[x] Regroup and strike them from a position of strength. (+50)

Ekzentric Lohner · Oct 2, 2024

I'm torn on the immortality - on the one hand, I want to complete the mantle Lelouch started taking up so long ago. On the other hand, Charles is in more immediate danger of dying before life extension tech becomes available, and his death would be bad for Britannian stability.

I do agree with the consensus on combat:
[x] Regroup and strike them from a position of strength. (+50)

EternitynChaos · Oct 2, 2024

[X] Yes. Lelouch Becomes Immortal.
[X] Regroup and strike them from a position of strength. (+50)

Resonant · Oct 2, 2024

Hm, just to note - it would be an undeniable advantage to get Immortality for the New Heaven duel, basically guaranteeing that win. Still don't think it's comparable to Charles stabilizing the world over the next century. We likely can manage to win without Immortality regardless through our Psi-Tech Breakthroughs, but just wanted to bring that up.

We've definitely earned the Mantle given it was our discovery and hard-work to get this far, so I wouldn't mind going for it. I just think it would be a striking juxtaposition/divergence compared to canon if we saved Charles instead of him dying. It's the epilogue so we're not going to see much of Lelouch's abilities being used, whereas Immortal Emperor Charles has massive long-term ripple effects that's perfect for epilogue write-ups.

Slayer Anderson said:
The terms of the duel would need to be agreed on beforehand and would be heavily subject to the context of whatever the situation is where the challenge is issued.

Traditionally, it's the challenged party that sets terms, so you'd want to provoke the other party into throwing down a gauntlet.

So based on the requirements for the New Heaven duel, I think our best bet is to capture/disable their Vimana raiding force, then send them an insulting message demanding reparations on behalf of the Europeans as an excuse to goad them into challenging us. Thoughts?

Randino Treviani · Oct 2, 2024

Resonant said:
So based on the requirements for the New Heaven duel, I think our best bet is to capture/disable their Vimana raiding force, then send them an insulting message demanding reparations on behalf of the Europeans as an excuse to goad them into challenging us. Thoughts?

Seems somewhat plausible though I'm pretty sure just bypassing their defenses in our Vimana and landing in front of their government building works just as well. do to their culture the leader can't exactly refuse to duel Lelouch as long as he delivers the challenge in the proper manner intended. either way, we can definitely go for a duel next epilogue four and make conquering Australia our number 1 priority.

Resonant · Oct 2, 2024

Randino Treviani said:
Seems somewhat plausible though I'm pretty sure just bypassing their defenses in our Vimana and landing in front of their government building works just as well. do to their culture the leader can't exactly refuse to duel Lelouch as long as he delivers the challenge in the proper manner intended. either way, we can definitely go for a duel next epilogue four and make conquering Australia our number 1 priority.

The challenged party gets to set the terms of the duel - hence trying to goad them into coming after us instead of vice versa. Capture their Vimana, offer to return it in exchange for them doing something humiliating, thus goading them into challenging us to restore honor, etc.

Randino Treviani · Oct 2, 2024

Resonant said:
The challenged party gets to set the terms of the duel - hence trying to goad them into coming after us instead of vice versa. Capture their Vimana, offer to return it in exchange for them doing something humiliating, thus goading them into challenging us to restore honor, etc.

I don't believe that's particularly necessary as this is more a ritualistic leadership challenge than a run of the mill duel. the stakes are pre established, the means undeniably a contest of Psionic power and skill by cultural necessity. I'm not really seeing much wiggle room for either party to give themselves an advantage through being the challenged.

Slayer Anderson · Oct 2, 2024

Resonant said:
For the votes, waiting for Coalition is definitely a no for me, and I'd prefer to avoid rushing in blind on our first test flight with no preparations against New Heaven, so I agree that regrouping for a proper strike is the best route.

I'm also slightly in favor of letting Charles take up the Mantle for the greater good and stability, we'll be able to achieve universal life extension soon enough anyways so it's less a matter of lifespan.

So I gathered a bunch of the most relevant questions I had that wasn't covered in the update if you would consider giving us some insight @Slayer Anderson:

1) Given our unprecedented 550+ crit roll on Tech Development, did we basically finish off Jaeger/Hashima's tech trees? What about the various side-projects like the Psionic Equipment (OSI/New Heaven), the sentient trees, the Psionic Medical Corps (Jember)?
2) Have we shared our tech breakthroughs with China/Britannia? Hopefully in exchange for benefits.
3) Did Lelouch's powered armor (Epilogue Part 2) take inspiration/insights from the Praetorians' looted suits from the Pendragon attack?
4) How deeply did Lelouch's retinue delve into their psionic abilities after testing? Particularly Euphie whose natural Piety is just barely below Lelouch after all his traits.
5) Just to clarify, in Phase 1 it was said Victor was near-equal to Lelouch's psionic presence - does that mean Lelouch without the Mantle is stronger than a full Holder/Immortal? Probably due to inheriting from an Ancient with more pedigree?

1) More or less, yes. Jaeger's at the point (as stated) that he's looking for the source of all psionic ability and that's a pretty endgame thing. You will see more of those specific troops during the combat next update.
2) That's one of the big reasons Lelouch is calling himself 'Emperor' rather than 'King.' Other benefits include actually jump-starting a real industrial base in Australia.
3) Thematically, yes. Technologically, no.
4) See #1, will be displayed in combat.
5) Strength =/= Endurance =/= Experience. Lelouch is one of these things, but not the other two.

6) Did Euphie ever get her own personal Knight of Honor like Nunnally?
7) Has Kaguya's relationship plotline been resolved? We tried to consistently focus on our Relationships for these Epilogues.
8) Is Victor Stadtfeld being groomed to inherit Isaac's position?
9) ~~Was Clovis able to attend Lelouch's wedding to Lihua by any chance?~~ Did Guinevere attend our (Britannian) wedding to Euphie?
10) Did we end up making a deal with Carine for her discovered psionic relics? Or were they too minor/insignificant for us?
11) If Charles were to die and Ody/Guin came to power, are they both allowed to take multiple (official) consorts? Not sure how that'd work as nominally Co-Equal Sovereigns.
~~12. Were the Stadtfelds simultaneously Charles' main supporters (almost got Charles into Pacific War) but also spies for the EU since the Great War (The Purge)? Quite a mixed history.~~

6) Yes, will appear next update. Along with Euphemia.
7) 'Resolved' for the most part, yes. She's in a better place emotionally, but still has a lot negative feelings towards her country/family at the moment. Her father is probably going with someone else as his 'heir.'
8) Yes.
9) N/A
10) Carine's discoveries aren't insignificant so much as not relevant to Kenshin/Lelouch's progression. But they are undeniably lesser, even if groundbreaking in their own way.
11) Uncharted waters, largely. It depends on if/how they can make it work or there's a palace coup/civil war as a result of it not working.

13) The big question is ofc how Cornelia's Rus campaign turned out? How much did we help? How did the EU react to it? Is Russia still a sub-Empire or now independent? etc..
14) Given the inevitability of Indian independence, is it a foregone conclusion that it'll join the EU political bloc? Wouldn't it be simple for us to keep them aligned with concessions, trade links, tech deals, etc?
15) Did Lihua rehaul the local/regional Eunuchs like the ones in CF member states? i.e. restructure the entire CF to get rid of the Eunuch administration.
16) What would Lelouch visiting Tibet have entailed? It was a dangling mini-arc plot thread - was the Dalai Lama going to teach us stuff, unlock a new psionic tradition/tree, etc?
17) In terms of geopolitics, which bloc did Ethiopia and Neo-Persia align with?
18) Does the Chinese-Britannian defensive alliance cover the now reborn Russian Empire? Does it cover the recently conquered Areas (Laila)?
19) Given the Sumeragi's close ties with us, is Japan eventually going to align with our bloc?
20) Was the MEF war's end result + Cornelia's Rus campaign rolled for btw?
21) Was the Praetorians attack on Pendragon considered a strategic failure overall, when viewed objectively? It caused Britannia to look inwards and consolidate, but created the opportunity for major realignment in the Britannian-Chinese alliance.

13) I will be covering this in brief during some dialogue next update, but it turns out the victory conditions were fulfilled for a pirate faction. Lelouch more or less snuck a small fleet into the Black Sea after Kenshin figured out how to amp up psionic illusions.
14) It depends. India's in a good position to ignite a bidding war for their loyalty if/when they become independent. That said, it would be politically dicey to align with their former colonial masters, even with Lihua taking over and trying to make nice.
15) It's an ongoing process. They're dug in pretty deeply and it would create a lot (more) chaos to just remove them, so it's a phasing out deal.
16) Lelouch made a few overtures to Tibet, but didn't create deep enough relationships to go further into matters there. Specifically, it would have put him more at peace with his adopted 'past life' and given Lelouch more access to some things he doesn't know he could remember.
17) Ethiopia is mostly on Britannia's side. Neo-Persia is Europa United.
18) It doesn't cover the Russian Empire because they want to be their own separate thing instead of a sub-empire. It does (at least nominally) cover the recent Areas.
19) ...possibly? Very difficult to say. What the Sumeragi Clan wants is not necessarily what the Japanese people want or what's best for Japan. It's up in the air.
20) I made a few rolls and spitballed some numbers. Cornelia made a surprise crossing over the Black Sea with the fleet Lelouch sent and she bottled up most of their armies on the far side of the Caucasus Mountains, where they were expecting her to invade from. When Euro-Britannia tried to invade from the East to beat her to St. Petersburg, that occupied the rest of their forces. Which left Cornelia in a nearly-undefended heartland with a straight path to the capital.
21) Given that was looking like it was going to happen anyway... the only thing they did was make it happen faster, so... kind of?

Dark0 said:
I kinda wonder if we now are completely independent, or a sub-emperor. And if we are independent, is Australia included in the defence treaty between Britannia and China?

Independent-ish. The younger sibling of the 'Big' Empires. Kind of on-part with Ethiopia, but better integrated politically into the block.

Voting continues. I'm occupied for the night with something else, so behave and don't burn down the thread, please.

Resonant · Oct 2, 2024

Randino Treviani said:
I don't believe that's particularly necessary as this is more a ritualistic leadership challenge than a run of the mill duel. the stakes are pre established, the means undeniably a contest of Psionic power and skill by cultural necessity. I'm not really seeing much wiggle room for either party to give themselves an advantage through being the challenged.

They can set the terms of the duel to accrue advantages, no equipment for Lelouch, etc. It's why I quoted Slayer about setting up the duel since we need to agree on the conditions for them to follow through.

Shapeless Phobos · Oct 2, 2024

[X] Yes. Lelouch Becomes Immortal.
[X] Regroup and strike them from a position of strength. (+50)

Temes1066 · Oct 2, 2024