The Shores of Tripoli


Actually, this time!


The Bey was kind enough to let the Italian fleet stay near Tunis, and let Lelouch set up camp on the outskirts of the city, near Carthage. The Bey was understandably uncomfortable about the Italian soldiers staying in Tunis proper, and Lelouch had to agree- not to mention the heart attack Jeremiah would have trying to escort Lelouch through the city's cramped Medina quarter.

They ironed out the specifics of their agreement and discussed North African politics in general. Tunisia was struggling economically, to put it quite simply, and just abandoning piracy would only make it worse. Trans-Saharan trade had been suffering for a long time already, which was another stream of revenue that couldn't be properly exploited. Rather obviously, they were mostly agricultural- wheat, barley, olives, dates, cattle, and sheep. The country was also dotted with lead and lime mines, which showed potential. Wool textiles, canning, bullets, concrete… There was a lot of potential in the Tunisian economy, especially if (who was he kidding, when) war broke out again.

Politics was another finicky subject. Preferably, now that he knew it was an option, Lelouch wanted similar agreements with the other Barbary powers. Building them up into more modern states would be good for trade, in addition to giving him allies that felt indebted to him. Unfortunately, it seemed that neither of the other Beys would be as willing to agree- meaning if he wanted to draw up a similar treaty, he would need to install someone who was more open to his interests. Unifying the Barbary coast under the Bey of Tunis would be horribly impractical- controlling all that extra would be a massive drain on the Bey's already stretched resources, not to mention issues of legitimacy or revolt.

He didn't have any real insight when it came to Algiers and Tripoli- he didn't understand the politics of either country well enough to find someone he could install who was both open to treating with him and was supported by the people. He might be able to draw up a treaty that would get him what he set out to accomplish- an end to piracy and free trade- but a deal like he managed in Tunis was unlikely. Hopefully, the other Beys would realize how a treaty with Lelouch could benefit them when Tunisia began to industrialize.

From Tunis, Lelouch could either sail east, towards Tripoli, or west, towards Algiers and Morocco. Lelouch's plans were to sail east first- it would be a slightly shorter trip and he wanted to get his business done in Tripoli while the Pasha of Egypt was still busy in Anatolia. Lelouch may have been curious about the Pasha, but he certainly didn't want to meet the man while menacing Tripolitan ports.


The men were clearly relieved to spend the night on solid ground, and news of successful negotiations with Tunisia lifted their spirits. A few of the more enthusiastic or ambitious did hope for battle, but in general, news of a peaceful conclusion and potential friendship was cause for celebration, at least among Lelouch's contingents. The same could not be said for Cornelia or her guards.

"What were you thinking, just giving away Britannian secrets?" Britannia had tried to keep industrialization as close to its chest as it possibly could, but in Lelouch's opinion, trying to monopolize it was going to be impossible.

"Industry won't stay a secret forever, Cornelia. Factories are springing up in other countries, and Tunis would either industrialize or become a part of a country that did. I'd argue it's better for them to get the technology on our terms, under our oversight, then if they became an enemy."

"You'd just give technology away to a native power? All you've done is promised weapons to a perfidious savage."

Lelouch was expecting arguments like this, knowing that Cornelia's military career was built on colonialism, and her opinions on natives were shaped by people she was either in the process of subjugating or who were already brought under Britannian rule. "It's just that sort of viewpoint that causes issues, Cornelia! Treating the Bey with respect and dignity, coming to a agreement that benefits us both, is certainly going to create a relationship that is more amicable than simply conquering the place."

"And if Tunis becomes our enemy in the future?"

"If we treat them well, they shouldn't. In all honesty, there's not much of a reason to take over Tunis other than stopping pirates. What will they provide Britannia as an expensive, resentful colony that they wouldn't as an ally?"

After a few moments of silence, Cornelia continued. "And what are your plans for Tripoli and Algiers?"

"I enforce a treaty to get what I want, then I leave. You know as well as I do that not every war ends with total annexation or taking territory. If Tunisia succeeds and the Beys are smart, they'll try to make the same deal, but if things work out for Tunis and they still stick to the old ways… then they're probably just as foolish and primitive as you think, Cornelia."


The Italian Senate was a very recent phenomena, despite the ancient institution they styled themselves after. It had only been organized after Prince Lelouch's conquests and the Peace at Versailles, making it a couple of years old, and it had been composed of an actual, elected body of representatives for an even shorter period of time.

Rather obviously, few of them had experience running a state of several million people, but they were all very aware of what was a stake here. There was a certain symbolic importance to the Italian republic, even if it was under Britannian suzerainty, and there was a certain pressure to succeed: a failure of the Italian state would be seen as more proof of the failures of republicanism. Despite this, there was a certain optimism in the senate, born from a new beginning, a resurgence or "Risorgimento" of Italian identity. Exciting stuff like that was what got them running for the position of senator, so sitting down to discuss something like currency reform tended to be a little bit of a disappointment, even if it was extremely important.

As it turned out, Italian currency was in a bit of a confusing state: while the French did mint coins when they established their own Kingdom of Italy, discomfort with French rule in general meant that didn't pan out too well, and the general economic disarray was bad for business- and taxes. Sicily had adopted the pound sterling after enough time under Britannian rule, but the Italian government couldn't just start minting their own pound sterling coins, considering how jealously the Crown defended its minting rights after restoring absolutism.

They eventually decided on calling their currency the lira, after the currency used in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, and even decided to start printing bills as legal tender and not as emergency measure. Paper currency, or banknotes, weren't an alien concept to Italy- the great merchant princes of Italy used promissory notes to avoid the obvious dangers of moving large amounts of gold around- but a central bank was not. The majority of parliament came from the upper crust of Italian society, merchants and other figures who wanted to stay modern when it came to currency, although the money would still be tacked to gold and silver- none of them were ambitious enough to let the lira float. Before the French conquest, Italy was a great medley of currencies: Papal scudo and Parmese lira, Neapolitan piastra and Tuscan pound, and creating a unified currency was another step in creating a unified Italy.

Lelouch played a tremendous part in unifying Italy, but being ruled by a single person didn't mean that the disparate Italian states were all brought together into a federation with no problems. Lelouch's common code of law helped, but his focus on military matters meant that things like currency and the specifics of tax law were under his notice. There was definitely a bit of grumbling in the Senate about that, and discussions about their Viceroy got rather heated while he was out on campaign in Barbary.

Some argued that it was a gross violation of the Republican process, that Lelouch could just go off and attack other states as he pleased, without regard to the Senate- and it was true, considering how Lelouch started planning his expedition months in advance without asking for permission from the Senate- while others argued he was in some ways necessary. In times of great urgency, the Roman Republic assigned a dictator, when the state could not afford to be bogged down by Senate politics. The opposition argued that it wasn't urgent, and he was just attacking preemptively, in fear of a threat that may never come.

Lelouch was a popular figurehead, sure, but the more die hard republicans felt he was still abusing his position as Viceroy- but that was the rub, wasn't it? Viceroy, not King. Compared to the rest of Britannia, they were a liberal utopia, and the immigrants that came from other portions of the Empire seemed to agree. Checking Lelouch's power too severely might evoke the wrath of the Emperor, and while portions of the Senate disliked the war with the Barbary Corsairs, none of them liked the idea of Britannia coming in to "restore order".

Britannia itself was always a touchy subject. It wasn't the sort of thing the Senators brought up and spoke of openly, but many of them disliked Britannian rule. Not necessarily Lelouch himself, but Britannia as a whole- they knew it was only due to negotiation with the Emperor on Lelouch's part that they managed to avoid the absolute rule so frequent in the Empire's other territories. There were rumors among the Senate that Lelouch shared their sentiments, that he disliked the Emperor as much as they did, but that wasn't the sort of question you could just ask, obviously.


Schneizel's diplomatic station in St. Petersburg meant that news from Europe could take a while to arrive, although it certainly taught him the value of patience- and a good horse. He read newspapers and letters knowing full well that by the time he started forming opinions and theories about the events within, the action might already be over or it may have evolved in a way he could not have possibly expected.

The chain of events that started with the death of Emperor Napoleon and ended with the Regency for Alexander II were completely unpredictable, but that didn't mean his job of managing relations with Russia was any less critical, even if he had to manage using guesswork. Being informed of Cornelia's march into Persia at the same time as the Tsar was a particularly… interesting surprise. He really had to scramble just to keep the Tsar from taking it as an attempt by the Britannians to gain an edge in Asia.

The Pasha of Egypt's revolt against the Ottoman Sultan was the only outbreak of war yet since the Peace at Versailles, although if Schneizel was a betting man he knew he'd have money on things in the Netherlands getting dicey. Of course, there was also the chance of Russia or the Danubians attempting to exploit Ottoman weakness- not necessarily starting a war, as most of Europe was focused on their balance of power, but concessions and treaties.

Demands could be made of the Sultan, but for now the Regent was content to wait, to see how Pasha acted. If he was too brash and pushed too hard, he would probably face the threat of European intervention, but even that intervention could go several ways. It was fairly obvious that the Ottoman Empire was suffering. Even with its reconquest of Greece, the sick man of Europe was failing, and a potential way to help fix that problem would be to put someone more capable in charge… like the Pasha.

Schneizel would not cry any tears over the end of the House of Osman, but a man as driven and competent as Muhammad Ali at the head of the Ottoman Empire… he had a dangerous amount of potential.

Of course, Schneizel had to think about all of this in the context of what was best for Britannia and the world, and what was best for Britannia, in regards to the Turks, was mainly focused on the Suez. Napoleon himself went to Egypt in hopes of cutting off Britannian access to India, and now that they had Italy, their Mediterranean interests seemed even more important, which meant making sure that the controller of the Suez remained on good terms with Britannia. Preferably, this could be done without provoking war, but Schneizel couldn't predict the future and what might become of it.

Britannian Italy really had thrown a wrench in a lot of the intricate politics of Europe, and even if he could barely remember an Italy that wasn't ruled by a foreign power, Italy was a large power on the continent, worth a lot more than the sum of the states the French swept up. For now, Britannia managed to stay mostly aloof and disconnected despite of their interests in the Mediterranean, but there was a disturbing amount of power in the hands of his younger brother, Lelouch.

Lelouch parleyed with kings and diplomats at Versailles while the Emperor stayed in London, and while it was certainly strange to think that a Viceroy was more engaged in European diplomacy than the Emperor he ruled for, it was true. Schneizel had heard rumors of a deal with Metternich surrounding Habsburg claims in Italy, and the concerning fact was simply that Lelouch managed the entire deal without ever having to refer to the Emperor. Britannia's deal with Sicily meant the reins had to be a little looser, but Lelouch had a disturbing amount of agency in Europe.

He had also heard rumors of one of the men who had been attracted to Lelouch's court, Earl Asplund. The man's eccentricities had not won him favor among the nobility, but if Schneizel wasn't stationed in St. Petersburg he might have tried to hire him- he was clearly brilliant, and anyone who thought his personality wasn't a price worth paying for his inventions wouldn't have grasped their true value. News was slow, but Schneizel was sure if anyone could do something newsworthy with Lloyd's inventions, it was Lelouch.


The Italian fleet departed from Tunisia on October 2nd, with plans to sail around Sfax and the island of Djerba before sailing straight to Tripoli. Depending on what happened there, the Italian fleet might have to start… chastising Barbary ports until the Bey agreed to his demands.

Curiously, Tripoli had a commonality with Malta, in that both used to be owned by the Knights Hospitaller, who themselves paid tribute to the Spanish. Lelouch wished he could get away with only giving the Emperor a falcon instead of taxes, but the Knights were a special case and vassals by the loosest definition. Funnily enough, the Knights also fought Barbary piracy before the French kicked them off of Malta and Britannia moved in. The Ottomans took Tripoli centuries before the French took Malta, of course, and the city was now ruled by the descendants of a Janissary officer who killed the previous governor and took over, and his descendants still ruled.

Parts of Tunis, especially in the north, were surprisingly verdant- he could see farmers working away in the fields, beginning to sow their winter crops, and mountains thick with trees- but as they sailed south, desert swallowed up the land, occasionally broken up by small cities surrounded by careful irrigation systems.

It took them a few days to reach Tripoli, in large part because their bomb ships were slowing them down, and while they sailed, Lelouch wrote. He wrote to Lloyd, carefully explaining his idea about screw propellers and their deal with Tunis, but he also wrote to Nunnally, with hopes of sending the letter to Venice when they came back to Sicily to resupply and fill up their coal bunkers. He didn't finish the letter, for fairly obvious reasons, but if he couldn't do anything else, then he figured he could write to his sister.

Dear Nunnally,

I hope that this letter reaches you and Euphemia in good health. Our campaign in Barbary was has gone well- we defeated a pirate fleet recently, and we came to an amicable arrangement with the Bey of Tunis. In exchange for industrial assistance, the Bey has promised an end to piracy, although I cannot say how the other lords of the Maghreb will feel about it-

"Who are you writing to, Lelouch?" Cornelia was sitting nearby, and she seemed to be handling all the sailing well- she had done a lot more of it than Lelouch.

"Nunnally. I plan on sending this letter when we resupply at Sicily, and I figure I should try to reassure her more. I can't imagine only hearing about Nunnally's health through newspapers and rumors- it would drive me mad. She's as safe as she can be back in Italy, and she can manage things on her own… but I want her to worry a little less."

After a few moments of silence, Cornelia sighed. "Do you have some spare stationery?"

Lelouch smiled. "Of course."

He gave her a dip pen with a steel nib, which she looked at quizzically for a few seconds before beginning to write. "Do you have something against quill pens, little brother?"

"I do a lot of writing, and I have no interest in running a goose farm for the sole purpose of providing feathers." For a few minutes, there was no sound except the creaking of the ship's wooden planks and the scratching of quill on parchment.

"Do you write Nunnally often?"

"Not usually. When in Sicily, my trips around the island were fairly short, and I wouldn't be separated from her for more than few days- when I conquered Italy, there was so much to do that writing Nunnally just slipped my mind. Did you write Euphemia?"

"No. Sometimes we wouldn't see each other for months, with me on campaign and Euphemia in a palace somewhere."

"Did you just leave her there, with nothing to do?"

Cornelia stopped writing for a few moments, thinking. "Well, there were libraries and gardens…"

"I can't say for sure, but she'd probably be happier doing something. Anything. I can't imagine how she or Nunnally are feeling right now, knowing that they can't really impact what's going on down here, but when I left to take Italy Nunnally filled in for me as Viceroy as best she could." Lelouch looked down at his paper, where the warm greeting seemed to ring hollow. "We shouldn't treat them so gently, I think. Charles XII of Sweden took the crown at 15, the Leper King of Jerusalem ruled at the age of 15 as well. If those kings could run states, the least we could do is give our siblings a few more responsibilities."

"I suppose. I just don't want her getting hurt."

"That's why you took her with you, isn't it? Keeping her as close as you could manage and as far from London as possible?" Cornelia nodded, and Lelouch continued. "I'll admit, that was part of the reason behind why I exploited the Italian situation."

"Really?"

"It seemed like the perfect way to keep Nunnally safe. Part of the reason I converted was to get as far away from court politics as possible. I'd be hard to replace as Viceroy of Italy, further securing my position- and through me, Nunnally."

"So all the posturing, the speeches and gesturing…"

"I didn't disagree with the concept of an Italian state or anything like that, it was just… convenient. A happy side effect of keeping my sister safe."

"Dragging Euphemia along was the best way I could think of to keep her out of the court- I was deathly afraid that father would marry her off, but at least that fear seems unfounded."

Lelouch nodded. "Isn't that strange? Dozens of siblings, and none of them married."

"One betrothal, actually." Lelouch stopped writing at that.

"Wait, who? Certainly not you or Euphemia, and I'd hope the Emperor would at least inform me of my own marriage…"

"Odysseus is set to marry into the Braganza family, to solidify our claims on Portuguese colonial regions. Britannia had been pushing closer ties to Portugal for a while, and with Britannian power in the new world, the Portuguese couldn't refuse."

Lelouch nodded. Brazil, while not technically Britannian, was deep within their sphere of influence, considering how close Portugal and Britannia had always been- theirs was one of the longest alliances in history, and when Napoleon marched against Portugal, it was because they refused to join the continental system and embargo Britannia. Britannian seizure of Portuguese land was justified as making sure the land didn't fall into another country's hands. "Odysseus as King of Portugal and Brazil… isn't that a concept."

"Well, the marriage was set into place before Portugal was restored. I would imagine things would get more complicated when the Portuguese royal family comes back to take their country."


Of the two siblings, Lelouch was the most famous, for rather obvious reasons, but people did know Nunnally existed as well. She was popular in Italy: she ruled Sicily in Lelouch's stead well, she was charitable and kind. Notably, she was blind, and was quite possibly the most famous blind person in all of Europe, with the possible exception of Homer or Milton.

Vague rumors of the blind princess of Italy spread all the way to Paris, and more specifically, the National Institute for Blind Children, which was the first school for the blind in the world. Rather obviously, Nunnally did not attend said school, both due to the animosity between Britannia and France and Britannia's less generous view on the blind, which typically saw the blind as… unsalvageable, to put it one way.

The school was host to a number of students, one of whom was known as Louis Braille, who had a bit of a side project: a tactile alphabet, where reading and writing was accomplished by making marks in the paper that could be felt by the reader. The system actually bore descent from an attempt by Napoleon to establish a code of writing that could be read at night, and Braille believed his system was better than quite literally embossing letters onto the pages like the teachers of the school did.

With a bit of help from a teacher who could speak English, the eighteen year old wrote a letter (not in Braille, obviously) describing his system of writing, with materials attached. Of course, he wasn't really expecting a response, but hey, he probably didn't have good chances of getting his teachers to adopt the system, so why not?


Tripoli was a sprawling city that curved around a natural harbor, (well, as sprawling as a city in a desert could really be), great jetties and piers leading to the city's walls. Like in Tunisia, they loitered outside the city, although the bombships had to anchor themselves to keep the dry sirocco wind from blowing them off course. The hot wind seemed to hint at the vast expanse of the Sahara which Lelouch could see hints of, even if there was some farming on the outskirts of Tripoli.

Lelouch could see a castle on the bay and coastal defenses ringing the harbor, and knew that if the Bey of Tripoli refused to negotiate, things could easily turn violent. As they waited for some sort of response, they let their observation balloon fly and took measure of enemy positions, which became more and more difficult as the sun set and dusk approached, wrapping the city and fleet in gentle twilight.

After a fairly concerning amount of waiting, a ship finally left the harbor and started approaching them, although Lelouch could barely tell- only the gentle swaying of lamps gave away the ship's position. It was odd to sail out on such a big ship… they weren't planning to negotiate now, were they? Not to mention how risky it would be to try to hold a discussion in the middle of the enemy fleet. There was a serious danger of the negotiator being taken hostage, so why….

Then the smell hit him, carried by the wind. Between the normal smell of the salty sea air and hints of old wood and creosote, he thought he caught a whiff of smoke and the characteristic smell of gunpowder. All the strange characteristics of the ship, the way it seemed to drift towards them more than it sailed…

"A fire ship!" The moment those words left his mouth, the men broke into a furor of motion. The ship was following the wind, sailing up towards them without human navigation, which hopefully meant it could be dodged easily- if given time, but it was approaching at speed, so fast that moving out of the way was almost impossible.

If Lelouch was a little brasher, he might have just fired a shell at the ship, but turning the hulk about to crash into them into a burning hulk probably wouldn't improve their chances. Their ship's engine began moving, driving the ship forward and hard to the right, in a desperate attempt to get out of the way. They nearly did, with the other ship's front narrowly missing their ship's side- it was the ship catching against the paddlewheel which sent the crew tumbling. They veered to the side, pulling away from the craft, but the damage to The Ligurian's paddlewheel was obvious.

However, the danger had not passed just because the fireship had, as it was now drifting towards the back of their fleet- and the sluggish bomb ships at the back of their fleet. They managed to turn their gun around and fire into the ship's stern, punching a whole through its back before the ship exploded.

The explosion tore the front of the ship apart, letting water pour into its front and slowing it down as fires raced through it insides, Igniting caches of gunpowder on the ship's insides and tearing up the ship's wood, which were covered in flammable naval stores- pitch and varnish- letting the fire spread rapidly.

Of course, as effective as fire ships were at sowing chaos, a good tactician wouldn't use them alone, and Lelouch turned to see ships slipping out of the harbor, barely visible in the vanishing light. At the very least, they were out of the range of the coastal defenses, but the fleet was in disarray, their signal flags hard to see in the faint light.

If they were using normal ships, this could have been the end: in modern naval battle, ships formed into great lines and launched broadsides at each other, maximizing firepower and minimizing the exposure of their ship's weak fronts and rears. Breaking apart enemy formations was incredibly decisive- and if each gunship of theirs wasn't armed with a steam engine and turret, they would still be stuck in that static form of naval warfare.

Signaling by the light of the burning fire ship, the gunships of the fleet split up, moving in two groups- one of five, one of six- towards the foe, mindful of the enemy's positions on the coasts. Looking back the at the fleet, Lelouch gave one last command before diving into the fray, which was communicated by flag to the bomb ships.

Lelouch turned back to the battle and the approaching ships, organizing the response of his ships and beginning to fire at the lead ships, trying his best to slow the advance of the entire enemy fleet as he waited.

Then he heard it, partially covered by the roaring of the exploding shell guns and the shouting of men- two booms in quick succession from behind them. Turning, he smiled.

Lelouch had heard of the effects of carcass shot, but there was something unreal about it, the shells trailing burning liquid like shooting stars, rising high above them in a beautiful parabola before they crashed down onto the docks of Tripoli, the hollow shells bursting and letting the flaming liquid inside fly freely- onto wooden docks stocked with naval stores and rope, perfect tinder. Great portions of Tripoli were made of stone or stucco, so hopefully the resulting fire wouldn't be too brutal, but Lelouch had other concerns and the carcass shot served as a distraction.

As the two fleets clashed, exploding shells crashing into hulls and tearing the sides of ships apart, the docks of Tripoli burned, smoke drifting up to the sky as the shells flew.


Never thought writing fanfiction would lead to me researching the history of the Canadian dollar… but here I am.

I enjoyed writing the Lelouch-Cornelia dialogue scene. They're such interesting characters. Rather obviously, Britannia trying to enforce a personal union on China wasn't going to work out for a number of reasons, and I was bouncing around the idea of having a similar marriage between Portugal and Britannia- and look at that, there's Maria II of Portugal. It even has the squicky arranged marriage age-gap from the original, but there's some timeline fiddling that could be done to lower the creepiness (although it removing entirely is impossible without some real time warping shenanigans).

Also, what do you guys think about Cornelia? In the original, there were a variety of reasons she wouldn't align with Zero (except for Euphemia reasons) but in this universe things are different, and her main struggle/issue is love of family vs duty to country. Tell me what you think.

Braille was only adopted at Braille's school 2 years after his death and struggled to spread outside of France in the short term… in our timeline.

Also, marriage: unless I missed it, it seems like most of Charle's kids are bachelors/bachelorettes, but if there's a neofeudalism thing going on there should be intermarriage with the nobility and stuff, right, other than 37 year old Odysseus marrying Tianzi. If I had to give a Geass-verse explanation, Charles just thought it was pointless- he was so close to the end goal by that point, after all. Instrumentality Ragnarok was so close that caring about his succession was a non issue.

In my universe, I could think of a few reasons: making sure that any heir who succeeded him was the best and not just riding a spouse's coattails, and assuring that no noble families have a potential claim to press to muck up the succession. If succession got bloody, it would leave a bunch of noble families either pissed at the crown or dead for supporting the wrong heir. Better to just go for the harem route once you've reached the throne.

As for romance, I don't think it's too likely in this story. Do I think a lover could probably do Lelouch good, help him as a person and in some cases help him pursue his ambitions? Yeah. I like Lelouch x Kaguya, for example, but I'm not going to warp my story around shipping. Sure, could I create circumstances where a half Japanese noblewoman or scion of a proud Japanese line ends up in Italy to hook up with Lelouch? Sure. But it's not the story I want to tell, you know?