His Britannia

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/42147762.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: Major Character Death
Category: F/M
Fandom: Code Geass
Relationship: C.C./Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia, Kouzuki
Kallen/Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia, Lelouch
Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia/Leila Malcal, OC/Lelouch
Lamperouge, Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia/Sumeragi
Kaguya, Marrybell mel Britannia/Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi
Britannia
Character: Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia, Nunnally vi Britannia,
Schneizel el Britannia, Kururugi Suzaku, OC - Character, Leila Malcal,
Kouzuki Kallen, C.C, Orpheus Zevon, Oldrin Zevon, Wizard - Character,
Shinozaki Sayoko
Additional Tags: Harems, AU, alternative ending, Action/Adventure, Romance, Implied
Sexual Content, Yandere, Demon Emperor Lelouch, Originally Posted
on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-10-04 Completed: 2023-04-21 Words: 604,860
Chapters: 46/46

His Britannia
by Imperator0slave

Summary

The perfect world. People call it an impossible and foolish dream, but they are wrong. For
the Man of Miracles, this is nothing more than another challenge. But first, I will need to
conquer this world...

Notes

Originally posted on Fanfiction.net. for the sake of making sure I saved everything. The rest
of chapters will be posted in the future.
 New Age

Kamine Island.

Lelouch was in somewhat of a daze as he, Suzaku and C.C. exited the Thought Elevator. All that he
could think about was that he had done it, after nearly nine years since his exile he'd finally done
it! He'd killed his father, Charles zi Britannia, the Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, at long
last.

And yet, so much that he hadn't foreseen had also been revealed...his mother - no, she didn't
deserve that title - Marianne had been just as involved in everything that had happened to him and
Nunnally as the emperor. Her culpability was part of the reason why he was so out of sorts right
now; even though he'd heard and seen the proof in C's World, it was still a blow to everything he
thought he understood. How? How could she have done that? Were he and Nunnally so
unimportant that she could so easily throw them both aside?

In the end it didn't matter, she was now truly dead along with her husband, adding to the list of the
dead Lelouch was responsible for. And what a list it was: Rolo, Shirley, Euphie...even Nunnally.
They were all gone now just so he could obtain victory. And that wasn't all he'd lost recently, the
Black Knights had betrayed him to his brother Schneizal after being told of his Geass, and now he
didn't even have Kallen anymore (never mind that he'd done it to save her life).

So many dead...so many betrayals...had it all been worth it?

"Lelouch." Speaking of betrayal, the voice of his childhood friend pulled him out of his morose
thoughts and he turned to face Suzaku Kururugi, traitor to Japan and the memory of their
friendship. The man who swore to kill him, but instead dragged him before the emperor and
assisted in violating him in the worst possible way. The one who pulled the trigger on that
monstrous weapon that killed Nunnally.

"What will you do now?" He asked presently, though there was an undercurrent of tension in his
voice as if he was preparing to pounce.

The question also brought the third member of their group to a halt, the green haired immortal
witch C.C., and who also noticed Suzaku's stiff posture and immediately tensed as well.

Don't die looking like that! You should come to death smiling! I promise you the smile you never
had!

This boy had taken Lelouch from her once already, that wasn't going to happen again.

As for Lelouch himself, he initially remained quiet. But then he turned to look his old friend dead
in the eye, his own amethyst orbs flaming alight with the red crane symbol of Geass. The inhuman
appearance was enough to send a shiver down Suzaku's spine, it was as if Satan himself was
staring down into his very soul. Expression wise Lelouch was completely blank, however that was
simply to keep the vast sea of emotions within him from running wild.

What he truly wanted was Jeremiah's presence. His Geass Canceller would be very useful right
now, Suzaku's irritating 'live' command was getting in the way of another one that he so
desperately wanted to give. As it stood however, his faithful knight didn't even know if he was
alive right now meaning that particular brand of vengeance was out of his hands.
Therefore, all Lelouch could really do was shrug before turning on his heel. "What I do with
myself now is of no concern to you, Sir Kururugi." He threw over his shoulder as he made his way
to the exit of the cave, C.C. immediately falling in line beside him.

They didn't get too far though before the fallen knight rushed ahead of them and barred the exit
with his sword. "You murdered Euphie!"

And you killed Nunnally.

"And?" Lelouch as simply, not betraying anything, though his casual response threw Suzaku for a
loop. "If that's all you have to say to me, then I'll be on my way."

"NO!" The traitorous knight yelled angrily, his face overcome with pure fury and hatred. "I thought
you realised the consequences of your actions, but you're still the same!" He raised his sword up,
taking it in both hands and directing its sharp tip straight at Lelouch. "I'm going to do what I
should've done the last time we were here!"

Without another word he lunged forward, his focus directed solely on the man in front of him who
had taken away so much for something so petty. However, because he was focussed only on
Lelouch, he completely forgot about C.C. who had up to this point remained silent. No more
though as suddenly she was in between the two of them, looking to take the blow herself.

"C.C.!" Lelouch's distressed cry caught them both by surprise, but it turned out to be unnecessary
as moments before the blade could pierce her, C.C. grabbed it between her palms. Using his
momentum against him, she redirected the sword off to the side forcing Suzaku along with it,
tripping him with a well placed leg just as he came passed her.

The end result was the Knight of Seven falling end over end, his sword clattering out of his grasp
and far from Lelouch. For a moment, both knight and revolutionary stared at her before C.C.
focussed a cold glare on the former. "You heard him, boy. We are leaving. Do not stand in our way
again."

Her threat snapped Lelouch out of his stupor, though whether it was because of his partner's voice
or the fact that she was calling someone else 'boy' for a change even he wasn't quite sure, and he let
out a little chuckle as his witch returned to his side. He spared Suzaku one final glance, regrets of
the past - where he was concerned at least - finally washed away, and then exited the cave, C.C.'s
hand in his own.

The world they returned to was considerably much quieter than when Lelouch had gone inside.
Bismarck and his reinforcements must have finished sweeping away the Britannian 'rebels' he had
acquired upon his arrival on Kamine Island. What he hadn't expected to see was the other airship
flying alongside the Great Britannia. The Black Knights' Ikaruga battleship was flying in formation
with the Britannian airships, their Akatsuki Knightmares returning to their berths.

If I needed any further proof that my soldiers are now the puppets of my brother. Lelouch thought
to himself as he led C.C. towards where he'd hidden the Shinkiro. He let out a heavy sigh which
caught his partner's attention.

"You're not thinking of stopping now are you?" She asked him, leaning in against him. "You've
killed Charles and Marianne, so what of our contract? Are you simply going to forget what you
owe me?"

Her question brought a small smile to his lips and Lelouch decided to surprise her by letting go of
her hand, only to wrap his arm around her and pull her close to him. C.C.'s little shocked squeak
was music to his ears and he couldn't resist placing a small kiss on her brow, right over her Code.
"I haven't forgotten, my witch." He murmured into her hair "Did I not promise you the smile
you've always deserved? But I must know: Will you stay with me?"

He pulled away so they could look each other in the eye, both of them needing complete honesty
on what each of them were asking. A moment later, C.C. gave him her classic smirk and asked him,
"How's this for an answer?" Before he knew it she'd leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips. Unlike
the last two times she'd done this, however, Lelouch returned the chaste gesture giving her his
answer in as intimate a way he could.

The kiss only lasted a moment, but it was more than enough for them to reinforce their contract
with each other. When it ended Lelouch kept his arm around her, whilst C.C. wrapped hers around
his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, and announced his intentions. "Very well then. In
that case, we should make all speed to Pendragon."

"The capital?" C.C. blinked at him, curious. "Why would you want to go there?"

A very familiar grin suddenly streaked across Lelouch's face as they resumed their leisurely walk.
"Well as far as I know, it's bad form for the new emperor to miss his coronation."

A month later. Pendragon.

The great throne room of the emperor was filled to capacity. Almost every prince, princess and
noble in the empire had been called into attendance by command of His Royal Majesty the
Emperor after over a month of silence. Why he'd been quiet for so long, no one was quite sure, but
today he was to give a statement to the whole empire at once. What this statement involved
however was just as secret as where he'd been all this time and so understandably many of the
attending parties were rather concerned.

Looking around the vast hall, it was clear to some of the more astute nobles that key members of
court were missing. For starters, Bismarck Waldstein, the Knight of One and the emperor's
personal bodyguard, was missing. The only thing anyone had heard from him was over a month
ago when he'd announced the emperor had gone missing. But if he'd been found then why was
Bismarck still not present?

Possibly even more important and therefore worrying was the lack of attendance of Prince
Schneizal. As Heir Presumptive, not to mention as Prime Minister of Britannia, it didn't look good
if he was missing. More worryingly was the fact that he'd been missing almost as long as the
emperor, leading many in the nobility to suspect his involvement in his father's sudden
disappearance.

Princesses Cornelia and Marrybell were also absent, though this was far less concerning for those
in attendance. Both of them were soldiers and therefore much more easily explained. After all,
Cornelia had thrown away her claim to the throne when she went off on a fool's errand to prove her
sister Euphemia's innocence for the Massacre of the Special Administrated Zone of Japan.

All speculation fell silent however when a royal guard stepped forward and announced, "Presenting
His Royal Majesty, the Emperor of Britannia!"

Everyone froze to attention, awaiting the ominous arrival of the most powerful man in the world.
They were in for quite a shock when that man revealed himself.
Ashford Academy.

"Wah!" Rivalz almost fainted when he saw who it was taking his seat in the emperor's throne. "It
can't be!"

Bridge of Ikaruga.

The entire command group of the Black Knights stared at the large screen before them, shock and
terror running through their systems as the emperor sat himself down.

"How..." Kallen was the only one able to manage a coherent phrase, and even then it was an effort,
"how did he manage...?"

Pendragon, Throne Room.

The man who took his seat in the emperor's throne was not the large imposing figure of Charles zi
Britannia, nor was it the charming silver tongued Schneizal el Britannia. Instead a ghost sat before
them, dressed in the black uniform of Ashford Academy, the long believed dead Prince Lelouch vi
Britannia, eldest child of Empress Marianne.

"It's impossible." Carine voiced the thoughts of many who were staring at this unexpected return.

"Lelouch?" Guinevere asked, "Is that really you?"-asked first princess Guinevere de Britannia.

The Black Prince glanced over at her, allowing an imposing smirk to carry over his face, "Yes,
indeed it is me, sister. I have returned from the depths of hell intact, and now prepared to begin my
duties as 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire."

His announcement was met with the beginnings of low muttering that threatened to turn into
outcries of incredulity, however the mediocre Odysseus quickly stepped forward. "Lelouch, it
gladdens me to see you alive and well. When Nunnally was found, we did begin to hope that you
would be discovered to. But now, don't you think this little joke's gone on far enough? That's the
seat of the emperor, our fath-"

"Charles Zi Britannia, 98th Emperor, is dead." Lelouch cut in, silencing the entire hall - and indeed
the rest of the world as well - at once. "And I am the one who took his life. Therefore, by the rites
of conquest, that makes me the new Emperor of Britannia!"

The mood of the assembled aristocracy suddenly changed again, going from shock and disbelief to
outright fury. How dare this little upstart try to worm his way into power?!

"Guards!" Guinevere called, "Seize this murderer at once!"

A detachment immediately rushed to carry out her commands, their loyalty to Emperor Charles
even now burning with a righteous fire. However they never got anywhere near Lelouch. Before
they could even set foot on the first step leading up to the throne, something descended from
above, striking down on the halberds that the palace guards were holding, sending their blades
flying off and embedding themselves in between them and this new assailant.

"HOW DARE YOU RAISE YOUR HANDS IN DEFIANCE TO HIS MAJESTY?!" Barked the
madly loyal cyborg where he landed, standing straight and glaring down on all of them. However,
if one looked closely they would notice he was glaring directly into the lens of the camera that was
broadcasting this drama worldwide. "I advise you all to hide yourselves away and pray for mercy,
for none are safe from the might and loyalty of Jeremiah Gottwald!"

Such a display had the nobility freeze up again as the man himself took up a defensive position on
Lelouch's right. The prince himself just chuckled before waving his hand at his servant. "I suppose
introductions are unnecessary now, but for the sake of principles allow me to introduce you all to
Jeremiah Gottwald, captain of my royal guard."

His words seemed to have some unspoken command as suddenly behind him ten more figures
descended. Dressed in scarlet robes and wearing pointed helmets they were a foreboding image to
behold, made even more so by the fact that their faces were completely mask by black visors. They
too moved in front of their master to defend him, now outnumbering the guards who had tried to
assault his person.

For even the slowest of individuals now it was clear what was going on; this was a usurpation of
the throne, and Lelouch had done it without even trying.

"Lelouch, please," Odysseus tried again, hoping to end this foolish action before it got out of hand.
"This simply won't do. Pulling a stunt like this on an international broadcast-"

"Is that so?" Lelouch asked, once again cutting his brother off, before standing up and walking
forward so that he was in front of his faceless guards. "Then let me make this simple enough for
you all to understand." And then he reached up and pulled away the purple contact lenses that kept
his Geass at bay. "Now, acknowledge me as emperor!"

"Lelouch," the Crown Prince tried one last time to reason with his little brother, "I must insist that
you stop joking around and-" but it was too late. Lelouch had set his gaze upon the entire hall,
taking the minds of every one of the nobility. A moment later, Odysseus snapped to attention with
a frantically loyal grin. "We hear and obey, Your Majesty!"

"All hail Emperor Lelouch!" His sisters uttered, hands on hearts.

"All hail Lelouch!" The rows behind them chanted.

"All Hail Lelouch!" The 99th Emperor grinned evilly at his new subjects' unquestioning loyalty to
him and his vision.

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!" It was time to get to work.

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

Cambodia.

The gathered court in exile stared silently at the transmission, reactions varying from surprise to
confusion to outrage. The Knights of One and Seven fell considerably into the third category. So
this is it, Lelouch? Suzaku seethed at what he saw the usurper doing on screen. This is your
response to everything that's happened?! Will you not be satisfied until everyone does exactly what
you say?!

At his side, Gino was particularly more shocked than anything else. "Lelouch is royalty? Our
Lelouch? The guy who Milly ordered around like a slave is one of our princes?!"

At the head of the table, two of the three missing royals watched the broadcast with considerably
differing expressions. Cornelia was fuming at the sight of Euphie's killer now controlling the
empire he'd sworn to destroy. As for Schneizal however, he held an amused smirk on his hand
whilst twirling a white king piece through his fingers. "My, Lelouch, you truly know how to put on
a spectacle. But now that you've returned the game can truly begin. I wonder, what will the world
choose?"

Throne Room.

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

I could get used to hearing that. The man in question thought to himself with amusement as he
overlooked the entire hall. Many of these faces he didn't recognise...but the ones he did were faces
he'd burned into his mind nearly a decade ago. Those who had called him 'Commoner Prince' now
bent the knee before him. Oh how beautifully ironic!

How long he had wanted this, this position of absolute authority! The whole empire was now his to
do as he pleased with it, which was exactly what was needed for the next step of his plan. Raising
his hand, he was further gratified to see the entire hall go absolutely silent. But this next statement
was not for them, it was for those watching him at home in the supposed safety of their living
rooms or their beds. It was for those who were currently drinking their sorrows away in dank
hovels that dared to call themselves inns. It was for all those who the strong had stood upon, now
to rise at last.

"As we all know, my late father, Charles zi Britannia, believed that all men are not created equal,
that the strong were destined to rule over the weak and thus maintain the world order. He was only
partially mistaken. No single man is equal to another in any sense of the word. There are the strong
and there are the weak, there is no denying this truth. Yet does this mean the strong have the right
to trample over the weak without a care in the world? I say it is not so!

"Emperor Charles cared only for power, and see where that path brought him: death at the hands of
one whom he stood on. He cared nothing for his people, or even his own family! And yet I, who
had no power all throughout my life, was able to stand before this tyrant and bring him to his
knees! Let this be a lesson to all those with power who abuse their stations or betray their vows!
The strong exist to aid the weak! If they do not, then we weaklings shall rise and destroy them and
march on to create a gentle world! The world my late sisters Euphemia li Britannia and Nunnally vi
Britannia wished for: a world where we are all united in peace. I say now is the time that we must
make that world a reality!

"I call upon all weaklings in the world, rise! And together, we shall take the future for ourselves!"

And then, raising his fist to the heavens, Lelouch uttered a phrase that he thought would never pass
through his lips.

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

Somewhere in Europe.

Deep in one of the more hidden regions of what was once the EU, the command team of W-0 unit
watched the global transmission in varying degrees of awe. None of them had anticipated returning
to military service after their campaign against Euro Britannia ended, but certain changes in the
world had necessitated their return - namely the unexpected return of Area 11's menace Zero.
However, after Britannia completely annexed the European territories or the leaders broke away to
join the UFN, the elite unit had found themselves and a quandary over what to do now.
Even their commanding officer, the blonde major Leila Malcal, was at a loss now and while she
was grateful for their continued support she just didn't have any clue over what use she was to
anyone anymore...until now. The news that Emperor Charles was dead set of cheers of joy all
throughout their base, only to be hushed when the bearer of this news declared himself the new
emperor. Many couldn't believe what they were hearing, that spindly little kid killed the giant of a
man Charles zi Britannia? Ridiculous.

Yet somehow Leila found herself believing it the more Lelouch vi Britannia spoke. And as his
speech continued on into his declaration that the weak held true power, she noted others were
becoming transfixed by his speech, enough to ignore the fact that this was technically a usurpation.
But it was more than that, there was something about this young man, something familiar.

It was his eyes. Something about them struck a chord with Leila, something she'd seen long ago
when she was just a little girl, barely surviving on her own...but what was it?

Prison Alcatraz

In Britannia's worst kept secret prison for political opponents, even here the broadcast reached the
ears of its inmates. Emperor Lelouch's words stirred up a powder keg and now any number of
prisoners were cheering his name, finally a royal who stood against Charles zi Britannia's
madness! It didn't matter when the guards came in to beat them silent, their plight had been
realised at last! The guards kept hitting them, and they kept chanting the same thing over and over
again: All hail Lelouch!

But in one cell was a special prisoner. He was a particularly large man, well into his forties,
sporting violet hair. When he heard Lelouch declare the emperor dead, his strong silver eyes went
wide with awe before descending into tears as he realised the meaning behind all of this.

"Young prince," he whispered to himself, barely containing his sobs "You've done it. You avenged
your mother!" Tears still streaming down his face, the man suddenly broke into insane laughter and
he rushed over to the bars, pressing his face as hard as he could against them, yelling for all his
worth, hoping the warden himself heard him. "YOU HEAR THAT YOU FOOLS?! MY PRINCE
HAS AVENGED LADY MARIANNE!"

Boston Military Academy.

The trainees had gathered in the main hall at the behest of headmaster Ozpin to see what their
glorious leader had to say. By the end of it, each and every one of them were talking amongst
themselves about what this could all mean. A pair of girls in particular, a dark skinned girl with
silver hair and a pale ravenette, were discussing the new man in charge.

"What are you think about the new emperor, Cinder?" The former asked the latter.

The girl in question glanced at her, though her amber eyes immediately flicked back to the screen
where Emperor Lelouch had raised his fist in determination, chanting the nation's motto. "I think,"
she began softly, "that the world just became a lot more interesting."

Very interesting indeed, she considered to herself privately, sending him her unspoken gratitude
through a small smile. After all, it's not every day you find out that the man you've hated all your
life was murdered by his own son.
Area 24

In her office in the government building of Area 24, the 88th Princess of Britannia, Marrybell mel
Britannia followed the broadcast with an open mouth. It was one completely unbelievable piece of
news after the other. By the time it ended with the new emperor declaring a new stance for the
empire, she was completely dazed - which probably summed up how the rest of the world felt right
about now.

She probably would have stayed in that shell shocked position had it not been for her childhood
friend and knight of honor, Oldrin Zevon, snapping her back to reality. "Your Highness, are you
alright?"

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Marrybell got up from the chair she'd been sitting in behind her
desk and gave her old friend a shaky smile. "Oh yes Oz, I'm perfectly alright. After all, my half
brother only just returned from the dead, announced he killed our father probably a month ago, and
has taken the throne with next to no effort. Nothing strange there."

And then her words caught up to her...and Oldrin had to move quickly to catch her as she fainted.

Throne Room

Lelouch now sat alone, having dismissed his small armour of aristocratic pawns shortly after the
broadcast ended, save for his royal guard and C.C. who had been watching everything from the
shadows and was now curled up in his lap, his left hand absently playing with her long hair.

The new emperor regarded his small detachment for a moment, it hadn't been easy to find these
guys; after the Knights of the Round these were some of the most elite soldiers the empire had to
offer. Tracking them down without drawing attention to himself had been quite the challenge,
made even more difficult because they had been spread out all over the world.

However, his labours had borne fruit and now he had not only Jeremiah but an entire team of lethal
killers at his command ready to die for him without a moment's pause. Of course, unlike Jeremiah,
they had to be 'persuaded' first. He made a mental note to make sure they weren't in his Guard
Captain's range should he need to use his Geass Canceller...that would just be awkward.

"Lelouch," his witch's voice cut him out of his contingency planning and he returned his focus to
her. "Are you sure about doing this?"

It was an empty question, they both knew it. The path before him was the only one he could take if
anything was to be achieved. Nevertheless, Lelouch also knew he had to say it so she knew just
how serious about this he was.

"C.C," he whispered so only she could hear him "if I am to create the world I just described: a
world of peace and unity - a gentle world that Nunnally wanted - then.." closing his eyes, he rested
his brow against hers before completing his answer "this world must answer only to me."
 Plans for the future

It was only ten days after assuming the throne that his Majesty, Emperor Lelouch, began making
major reforms to the empire. The most notable was the dismantling of the Area system,
transforming all former Areas into special zones. The population native to these zones received
rights on par with that of their former masters, and could now serve in businesses or even the
military with the chance of rising to Officer status. Emperor Lelouch also immediately disbanded
all groups within the military with ideologies similar to that of the so-called 'Purebloods,' of which
the captain of his royal guard, Jeremiah Gottwald, was once the leader.

"His Majesty was most forgiving." Sir Gottwald stated when interviewed on his master's
unexpected generosity. "We who have stained the reputation of the empire's armed forces deserve
nothing short of death. Yet His Majesty saw fit to give us all another chance by inducting us into
his most prominent legions, who serve the emperor directly."

Such generosity however was not shown to the former ruling class of the empire. Overnight the old
aristocracy was almost completely dismantled, the nobility suffering the worst with many of their
monopolies on trade goods being revoked and placed in the hands of corporations headed by
rising businessmen. Even the royal family itself was not safe from Emperor Lelouch's changes:
Prince Schneizel's title as second prince was revoked and, along with the former second princess
Cornelia, was named one of the empire's most wanted criminals.

After news reached the people of the F.L.E.I.J.A. weapon that destroyed the Tokyo Settlement in
the former Area 11, the Knights of the Round also joined this list, with Suzaku Kururugi the
Knight of Seven getting special mention as the one who fired the weapon on his own homeland.
The Britannian people were outraged and demanded justice.

That is not to say Emperor Lelouch's relationship with the royal family was entirely negative;
beginning with First Prince Odysseus, the rest of the family supported his Majesty in his reforms to
society. It was a sentiment that was felt throughout the empire, particularly in the lower rungs of
society who, until this point in history, had no voice of their own.

Emperor Lelouch had become the hero and defender of the common folk, an attitude that
eventually granted him the title 'White Emperor.'

BBC history documentary special recounting the miraculous 'Ten Day Transformation.'

May 29 , 2018, Pendragon, Throne Room.

If Lelouch was perfectly honest, these soldiers disgusted him. They were sycophants who had
taken the former emperor's words of might makes right to heart and had trod on the rights of
everyone they viewed as weaker than them. But that also made them the perfect disposable tools
for his plans: the people hated them, therefore no one would miss them if he sent them to die, but
he still looked good for trying to give them another chance like he had Jeremiah. And so here they
stood before him, his newest legion, dressed in their new grey uniforms, white cloaks and black
helmets. They knew who he was, he suspected some of them even despised him for the new path
he was leading Britannia down.

But none of that would matter in a moment as he removed his contact lenses and stared into their
eyes. "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you! Be my slaves!"
The red crane took flight from each of his eyes, and in an instant the entire legion stood straight.
"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!" They bellowed zealously, as one saluting him and slipping down their
purple visors over their faces.

With that out of the way he immediately dismissed them, to which they feverishly obeyed leaving
him with just his aide Alfred and two of his Scarlet Guard.

Feeling a little bit stiff, Lelouch stood from his throne and straightened out his now iconic
ensemble. People didn't just call him 'White Emperor' for his deeds, he now wore a set of intricate
white robes with golden lining, with a white shawl over them that bore a feathered wing motif
branching out from a black and red eye. When he'd first modeled it though, all C.C. had done was
giggle at him before conceding that it did live up to the Holy part of the Holy Britannian Empire.

He still didn't know what she was talking about, but then Lelouch had long ago stopped trying to
figure his demented companion out. Regardless, he still had work to do and thus returned his
attention to matters of state. "Alfred, what else is scheduled for today?"

The man in question glanced at his tablet before answering. "Sir, Lord Jeremiah wishes report a
successful reformation of the remaining nobles." Which meant he'd killed them all. Well at least
that was something, with the last of the rebelling nobles now firmly stamped out all that was left
were the ones under his Geass command...but damn if it wasn't tiring getting rid of the rest. He'd
hardly slept this past week.

"Then an audience with Earl Lloyd Asplund and his assistant, Colonel Cecile Croomy." Ah yes,
the engineers who designed and built the Lancelot, that had been a boon Lelouch honestly hadn't
been expecting. Even better, he hadn't even needed his Geass to get them, Asplund just literally
knocked on his door last week and said they would be working for him now. It was a gift horse
whose mouth the emperor was in no hurry to look in and so he graciously, if a bit bemusedly,
accepted Lloyd's 'offer.' Besides, he'd be needing new machines very soon.

"After that you have an audience with your sister, Marrybell mel Britannia." Little Marry - whilst
they had spent little time together as children, Lelouch did have fond memories of the times they
did see each other. It was strange to think she was in charge of a counter-rebellion division in the
military now. I wonder if that girl who always followed her around is still with her? What did
Marry call her again? Oz?

"And finally you have an audience with a former Knight of the Round who spent the last decade in
Alcatraz." An unusual place to find one, but when he'd seen the name Lelouch knew this man
would be loyal if nothing else because he was a political enemy of the former emperor. As it stood
though he had no room to be picky. Whilst he had his Scarlet Guard, Lelouch was not about to risk
his chances against the rest of the world - or even just Schneizel himself - without taking every
precaution. So far he knew that the Knights of Two and Eleven were killed just before he took the
throne, and his own legionaries had killed Five and Eight. That still left eight to be dealt with
however, with Suzaku and Bismarck being the most concerning. If he was going to stand a chance,
Lelouch needed Rounds level knights of his own.

Personally, if he could have chosen he would've had...but no, as far as she knew, he'd used his
Geass to make her loyal to him. There was no hope there.

"Thinking deep thoughts, Lelouch?" His partner in crime purred at his side. C.C. had taken to her
new position as the emperor's private advisor as seamlessly as all her past roles and was dressed the
part perfectly. Her outfit was reminiscent of the black dress she'd worn with the Black Knights,
although now it reached down longer, with matching eye-and-wing emblems to those on his shawl,
and cut off at the shoulders, dipping down to reveal an ample amount of cleavage. On her head she
wore a simple golden diadem that contrasted nicely with the white hat he now wore.

She'd also made a couple of public appearances, not enough to get any sort of information out of
her but enough that the tabloids were asking who was this strange girl who was always in the
emperor's company. The explanations of some reporters were...exotic to say the least. It didn't help
matters that her seat in court was right beside Lelouch's own, rather than a respectful distance away
from the emperor.

Glancing her way, Lelouch asked the inevitable, "Is there something you wanted, C.C.?"

"It's about the elevator." Now she had his undivided attention as Lelouch turned to face her,
nodding for her to continue. There was only one elevator she could be talking about. "It seems your
showdown with Charles changed it somehow."

Changed? That didn't sound good. "How exactly?" He asked anxiously. He'd wanted to use the
Thought Elevators for his plans, Pendragon having one underneath its foundations would have
been the perfect place to start too.

The news was as bad as he figured when C.C. told him. "It no longer teleports. But we can still use
them."

"Oh?" He asked, not showing his anxiety. "How?"

"While it's true they have lost a considerable amount of power, my connection to C's World seems
to have improved. I can feel the contract between us much more clearly than I used to. You should
be able to feel it somewhat as well."

That...actually made sense. Ever since that night, Lelouch had thought he could feel C.C.'s
presence but had merely put it down to her always being around. But if that was the case then that
opened a whole new case of possibilities.

"That's not all." C.C. went on to say, "I think I can also feel others who have contracts around the
world."

That piece of news really threw Lelouch for a loop, as well as increasing his worries. "You're sure
of this?" He asked, this time unable to hide his concern. "I was certain we killed anyone who had
Geass when we destroyed the Directorate." That was the last thing he needed, a surviving
contractor of V.V.'s coming after him for revenge would throw his plans into chaos.

But C.C. shook her head at him, somewhat exasperated. "Not all those who have Geass are a part
of that little troll's torture chamber. Remember Mao?" That one hurt. Of course he remembered the
Chinese mind reader, how could he forget? Poor Shirley. But it also had to hurt for her to bring
him up and so Lelouch remained respectfully quiet, waiting for her to continue.

"There still people who have Geass in the world," C.C finally went on "although I can't be sure
how many. It might only be one and even then it's weak." She paused for a moment, a frown on her
face as if she was trying to remember something important. "I think...I think it might be one of my
old contractors."

"Just how many have you had?"

"My, is someone jealous?" She let out a small laugh at the sudden red flush that dominated the
emperor's face, before going on more seriously. "There have been a few in the last fifty years, but
to have even survived that long would be a miracle. And usually when I make a new contract the
old one ends, though I still retain some awareness of their locations for a while. But this one is
unknown to me. Give me some time though and I'm sure I can find them."

That was probably as good as it was going to get, so Lelouch just sighed and nodded. "Very well,
once you've located them inform me and I'll send Jeremiah after them. I'm not taking the risk of
someone else with Geass interfering with my plan. Speaking of whom, Alfred," he turned his
attention back to his assistant who nodded at him, "call in Jeremiah, let's get today's business over
with."

Alfred nodded once more and tapped a couple of times on his tablet whilst Lelouch returned to his
throne, C.C taking her seat next to him which her Cheese-kun had been occupying. A minute later,
his cyborg Guard Captain entered the throne room, bending the knee at the steps to the throne
before his master.

"Hail, Your Majesty!" He greeted fervently, "Jeremiah Gottwald returns with glad tidings. The
remains of the rebel nobility and those unwilling to seek your forgiveness have been successfully
eliminated."

"Good news indeed, Sir Gottwald." Lelouch nodded, before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Though
you'd think by now they'd realise their opposition is futile."

"When you try to take something from others, naturally they'll fight to keep it." C.C cautioned,
hugging Cheese-kun a little tighter. "Opposition always rises in the face of change."

"Maybe so," Lelouch conceded, "but they had better understand now that they have no choice but
to accept my rule." That minor matter out of the way he once again addressed Alfred. "Call in Earl
Asplund and his assistant please." And again Alfred nodded.

A moment later, the 'Earl of Pudding,' as Rakshata liked to call him, and his assistant stood in his
presence. The earl himself seemed rather uncomfortable in his formal suit, it looked like he was
trying to squirm out of it every step he took, and the indigo haired Cecile Croomy seemed to think
this was date night with that revealing blue dress. Once they reached the steps, Cecile immediately
bent the knee to the emperor, however Lloyd just stood there smiling.

"Aha! Hello, your Majesty!" The eccentric engineer greeted him, going so far as to wave, "Thank
you so very much for taking time out of your busy schedule of turning the empire on its head to
speak with us today!"

"Lloyd!" The female engineer hissed at his side, trying desperately to stay respectful to her
emperor and hide the embarrassed flush that was heating up her cheeks.

For the emperor in question, however, he just quirked an eyebrow at the eccentric bespectacled
scientist's complete lack of decorum which he was quickly learning was the man's standard mode
of interaction. Well, at least C.C. seemed to like him. "Earl Asplund, I'll be perfectly blunt: You are
a prodigy when it comes to developing weapons of war, and your assistant Cecile Croomy is as
intelligent as she is beautiful."

His flattery got him exactly what he wanted as Cecile's already red face flushed an even darker
shade. "I-it's our pleasure to serve you, Y-your Majesty." She stammered, not looking up for fear of
completely humiliating herself somehow. Unfortunately, her shy temperance was having the side
effect of reminding Lelouch of Shirley.

Fortunately, Lloyd also noticed her red shade and immediately turned on his assistant. "Aya aya,
does my dear Cecile have a little crush on our new benefactor? Naughty, naughty."
"Lloyd!" She all but shrieked at him, finally breaking her staring match with the floor to glare at
her boss, revealing her face had gone as red as the scarlet guard's robes. "We're in the presence of
His Majesty! Please show some restraint!"

"Indeed Lloyd," Jeremiah spoke up dangerously, glaring at the engineer from his position on
Lelouch's left. "You would be wise to practise caution when speaking to your emperor."

"Oh hello, Jeremiah!" Lloyd greeted just as carelessly as he had Lelouch, "How have you been? I
think the last time we saw you was...oof!" He was cut off by Cecile nudging him in the ribs and
nodding pointedly in the emperor's direction. While C.C. seemed to be holding back her
amusement and failing, Lelouch on the other hand was running short on patience, the look on his
face saying 'You are this close to not working with me.' And miracle of miracles, Lloyd Asplund
actually chose to back down for the time being, though his easy smile didn't let up for a moment.
"Yes well, I'm sure we'll have time to talk. So, my assistant seducing emperor, how can I serve
you?"

Despite his annoyance, Lelouch had to smile at the engineer's gall. There weren't that many people
who could talk so cheerfully with a man who could ruin you if they overstepped their bounds. But
that could wait for later, right now there was business to attend to. "Indeed, so returning to the
subject of why I summoned you today. You worked for my brother Schneizel's Camelot division
up to the F.L.E.I.J.A. incident one month ago in Japan, correct?"

The pair nodded, even Lloyd had his limits when it came to the mass destruction that warhead was
capable of. They'd arrived in Pendragon with the Avalon just after his coronation, which worked
out quite well for all involved. But that wasn't what Lelouch was interested in. "I need to know.
What does Schneizel have in his arsenal?"

For a moment, the engineers looked at each other, before Cecile answered. "Well besides the
Knights of the Round and their machines, which Your Majesty is already aware of, the former
Second Prince also has the blueprints of the Lancelot Albion."

That was news to Lelouch, he hadn't known anything about Suzaku having a new Lancelot model.
"What exactly is this machine?" He asked, though he dreaded he already knew the answer.

Lloyd filled him in on this one. "Z-01Z Lancelot Albion, my finest work." He sighed miserably, "It
was intended to be the first ever ninth generation Knightmare Frame, but setbacks in the form of a
certain masked vigilante," he fixed the emperor with a knowing smirk, "kept me from ever getting
around to it."

"We were able to test out some of the technology though when we captured the Black Knights' ace
machine." Cecile added, the subject of engineering helping her get past her timidity for the time
being. "It was intended to use the Energy Wing system to help it reach new heights and speeds that
the previous Float systems simply weren't capable of. It would also be armed with a new 'Super
V.A.R.I.S.' rifle as well as the standard MVS's, and for defence we'd improved the Blaze
Luminous shielding for even greater protection." Here she sighed sadly, "Unfortunately, because it
was intended for Suzaku's use he insisted on holding on to the designs himself."

"Which means Suzaku will have given the designs to Schneizel." Lelouch finished, frowning in
annoyance and anxiety. He'd suspected Suzaku would return to the battlefield, but with the old
Lancelot all but destroyed he'd figured his old friend would be flying a Vincent. But if what he was
hearing was accurate then he'd be seeing the return of that cursed white machine only now it would
be on par with Kallen's Guren S.E.I.T.E.N.

All the more reason why he was lucky that Lloyd and Cecile decided to switch sides. "In that case,
I'll need the two of you to get to work immediately." It was almost funny to see Lloyd's morose
face jump back up to sparkling delight. "I have three tasks that must be completed as soon as
possible. First, you will design a personal machine for my guard and C.C. Second, Lloyd, you will
be building me a new personal unit that can go toe to toe with the Knightmares used by the
Knights of the Round. And third," he clicked his fingers and Alfred stepped forward, handing the
two engineers a stack of papers, "you will make this a reality."

The pair regarded him curiously for a second before immediately going through the sketches and
designs they'd been handed. The more they read, the more Cecile's astonishment rose and Lloyd's
happy smile stretched.

"Nemesis eh?" The latter spoke, before whooping for joy. "Cecile it's wonderful! It'll be my
greatest creation yet!" And suddenly he went down on his knees, close to tears of joy, regarding
Lelouch as if he was some kind of god of destruction made flesh. "My lord, thank you for this
wondrous opportunity! I'll have it ready in one month!"

Behind him, Cecile sighed. This was going to be one hell of a hard month to get through. Still that
was enough for Lelouch and he nodded his approval. "Very well, you'll receive funding, materials
and labour immediately. I expect you to live up to your reputation, Earl Asplund. You may go."

But Lloyd was already skipping away, stripping out of his formal jacket, singing any number of
happy tunes revolving around building giant murder machines. Poor Cecile hurriedly apologised,
saluting Lelouch and then hurrying after her insane boss, accompanied by two of the Scarlet Guard.

Well...that happened. Lelouch thought to himself, bemusedly. At his side, C.C. giggled at the
display of their new heads of experimental military technology. "I like them." She told him happily,
"Please try not to get them killed."

In response, he just sighed. Well, at the very least his workload was now a bit lighter...but now it
was time for a family reunion.

To say Marrybell mel Britannia was anxious was an understatement, she was in the presence of the
man who had killed her father. Never mind that he was also her brother, the fact that he had
succeeded where thousands of assassins had failed put him on status near to godhood in the eyes of
the people and more than a few of her own Glinda Knights.

And now here she stood before him, not seeing him on a screen, and Marry was not afraid to admit
the sweet little boy she remembered had grown into quite the handsome young man. Beside him
sat the green-haired woman that was sometimes seen in his presence; who was she exactly, his
fiancee? Or was she already the new empress? Whatever the case, she would be sure to find out
soon enough and so she stopped at the steps to the throne and bent the knee.

For a moment silence held between them. And then Lelouch stood from his throne and made his
way down the steps. "Marry! It's been too long!" And too the surprise of everyone present, herself
included, the emperor engulfed his sister in an affectionate hug.

She took a deep breath and tried to keep herself from blushing, before replying "It has bro- I mean
Your Majesty."

At her use of formal titles, Lelouch sighed and pulled away so he could look her in the eye, giving
her a warm smile. "Marry, do you see any cameras in here? Please call me by name. We are family
after all."
"Are we?" Such an admission gave her the opening she'd been hoping for and she quickly latched
on to it. "If we're family, then could you explain your reasons for killing our father?"

That got an immediate reaction from her brother as Lelouch's grip on her shoulders suddenly
tightened and the warmth in his eyes suddenly snuffed out. It was rather terrifying to behold such a
swift transformation from kindness to absolute loathing, and Marry was getting an up front view of
it. "Marrybell." Even his voice had changed to a sharp, biting, tone, "That man was a despicable,
unfeeling dictator, quite possibly the worst our empire has ever seen."

Well that wasn't anything she'd never heard before, and if Marry was honest she didn't exactly
harbor a high opinion of her father either. But still she had always hoped that it was a result of his
hard work making him distant. It wasn't exactly easy to run an empire after all, so he had to
sacrifice his family life for the betterment of his country. To hear it voiced from a brother whom
she'd always remembered being kind and considerate of everyone though...

But Lelouch was far from done as he continued. "I promise you Marrybell, if that man cared
anything for Britannia, he would have placed more attention on the betterment of his subjects over
his constant warmongering which has turned out nation into the image of evil for the rest of the
world!"

"But he was still family..."

The hold on her shoulders suddenly turned painful as his fingers dug straight into her flesh and his
harsh glare suddenly turned furious. "If he cared about his family, THEN WHY DID HE LEAVE
ME AND NUNNALLY TO DIE IN JAPAN?!"

His demand echoed against the throne room's walls and in her head. Nunnally. Of course it always
came back to Nunnally with him. And now that she was dead...of course he held their father
responsible for what had happened to her. Marry herself had been horrified to learn what had
happened to her, who knew what Lelouch was going through.

It seemed that Lelouch also seemed to realise he'd slipped up as he sighed and let go of her, "I'm
sorry, Marry, I just-"

"It's alright Lelouch," she cut him off this time, not meeting his eyes either. "It's sometimes hard to
remember you've had a rather bad relationship with him whilst the rest of us barely ever saw him.
This is just all really recent for me, I guess I'm still adjusting."

An awkward silence held between them for a moment until Marry cleared her throat and moved
them along to another topic she'd wanted to discuss with him. "On the topic of family, Schneizel
and Cornelia. You've labelled them as enemies of the empire," she raised her head to look him in
the eye, right at the moment his own gaze began to sharpen again. "Lelouch I'm counter-terrorism,
I need to know these things if I'm going to do my job."

Lelouch regarded her firm stance for a moment longer before sighing and nodded. "Schneizel was
the one who signed the go ahead for the development of the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead. He turned a
research project for alternative power sources into a weapon of mass destruction, I've seen the
documents on this." This was nothing new to Marry, it was all over the news only a couple of days
ago, but that wasn't what she was here for. There had to be more to it than that, which Lelouch now
added. "Twenty five million people, Marry. Both Britannian and Japanese, civilian and soldier
alike. I was there, I saw the weapon go off and wipe everything off the map."

"He did it, Marry. Schneizel has effectively made war obsolete...in the worst way possible." And
now Marry could detect an undercurrent of fear in his tone. "But where does it stop? How many
more cities will he destroy under the pretext of peace? How many millions will he kill to save
billions? Can we really view people like that?"

And now the image was becoming clear to Marry for why Lelouch wanted Schneizel's head: he
was absolutely terrified. Not for his own life, he would have revealed himself long ago if that was
the case, but for what would happen if another F.L.E.I.J.A. was used. She hadn't heard the statistics
yet, but to hear Lelouch tell them...it put the whole thing in perspective. How many were killed in
the Tokyo Settlement who had nothing to do with the Black Knights? Was wholesale slaughter
really the answer to ending war?

A further moment passed between the siblings...and then Marry stepped away from her emperor
and went down on one knee before him. "Your Majesty, Princess Marrybell mel Britannia does
swear her life and soul to the service of her empire, and her emperor."

Above her, Lelouch blinked. He had to know the significance of that vow because a moment later
he was on his knees before her. "Marry...why?"

She just shook her head before raising it to smile at her brother. "I'm sorry for asking all these
questions, but I had to know. I needed to know the kind boy I met so long ago was still here. And
he is!" That was all the warning he got before she launched herself into Lelouch's arms, hugging
him tightly. He was stunned for a moment before hesitantly returning the embrace. "I'm so sorry,"
she whispered, her voice cracking, "for what we've done to you, for Father, for Nunnally...I'm so
sorry about everything."

"Easy now," Lelouch hushed, finally easing her grip on him somewhat before pulling themselves
both up. "Any slights against me are in the past, none of which you are responsible for." She tried
to argue that, as a member of the royal family it was her fault, but he quickly cut her off.
"However, if you truly believe you owe me something, sister, I have need of competent
commanders."

His offer surprised her, but not nearly as much as her own sudden eagerness to be right at his side.
"What would your Majesty ask of me?" She asked promptly.

"Nothing, for the time being." Lelouch told her, "However, the time will come when I will have
need of the Glinda Knights. Can I count on you, sister?"

And now for the first time since entering the throne room, it was Marry's turn to smile and she
nodded with certainty. "Of course, brother. When you call for us, we shall be there."

Their time was coming to an end, she was aware. As a princess she understood that, Lelouch had
other things that required his attention today that as emperor he simply couldn't ignore, however as
a young woman who'd just found her brother again the last thing she wanted to do was let him out
of her sight. Sighing at the inevitability of it, she extracted herself from her brother's grip and was
about to take her leave when her gaze drifted back over to the green haired girl who had been
silently watching them.

Her presence more than anything forced her final question. "Um, Lelouch, I was meaning to ask -
who exactly is that?" She pointed at the girl in question. "She...she's not your fiancée, is she?"

"What?" He glanced back at the girl, then back to her. "No, not at all." (They both missed C.C.
whispering to herself 'Not yet.' Though Jeremiah did catch it, and he couldn't help a small smirk.)

"Oh..." Curses, Marry could feel her cheeks heating up and she ducked her head. "That's good."
"Why's that?" The oblivious emperor asked.

"Noreasonohwouldyoulookatthetimegottago!" She fled the throne room almost as quickly as she

spoke. Staying there any longer would have ensured she'd make a fool of herself. As it was, her
face red as a tomato, Oz wasn't going to leave her alone for a second.

"Why is it," Lelouch asked C.C. as he watched his sister dash out of the throne room as if the
hounds of hell were on her heels "that everyone thinks you're my mistress or something along those
lines?"

The witch in question just smirked at him as he returned to his seat. "Because that's the truth. The
only one denying it is you."

"Whatever." He muttered rolling his eyes at her. "Moving on, Alfred, send in the next one."

"Of course sir." Alfred nodded dutifully before announcing their latest guest. "Sir William Bishop,
Former Knight of Two, recently released from Alcatraz."

Ah yes, the disgraced Knight of the Round. Lelouch couldn't help a smirk, this one already had a
place on his board. The man himself entered on Alfred's announcement, he was a giant of a man,
maybe the same height as Bismarck Waldstein, with violet hair that clearly hadn't been taken care
of and silver eyes that spoke of a long life of hardship. As a security measure, two of the Scarlet
Guard flanked him on either side in case this released prisoner tried something, though this was
more Jeremiah's idea than his master's. Lelouch had a suspicion that the last thing this man was
going to do was try to kill him.

A sentiment that was reinforced when, the moment William stood before him, the tall man dropped
to his knees. "Your Majesty, I come to you in disgrace and beg your forgiveness!"

That...had not been what anyone expected. Lelouch sent C.C. a curious glance but she just shook
her head, just as in the dark as he was. Deciding to play it by ear, the emperor spoke. "Raise your
head, Sir Bishop." He commanded, waiting until William hesitantly looked at him before
continuing. "Now, what is it you could have done that you desire my forgiveness? As I understand,
it was the former emperor who imprisoned you. An enemy of Charles zi Britannia has nothing to
fear from me."

If anything his words seemed to further sadden the man before him, he looked close to tears. "If
your Majesty knew my crimes, you would not be so willing to overlook them." He insisted. "For
you see, the reason I was imprisoned in Alcatraz was for my failure to protect you."

That peaked Lelouch's interest, "Go on."

"Majesty, as you know before your mother the right honorable Marianne became empress she was
the Knight of Two. I was the one to replace her...yet I fell short of that grand title at every turn.
How could I ever measure up to so admirable a woman?" Ah, now Lelouch could see where this
was going and he turned to glance at Jeremiah. Another Marianne fanboy.

But William's story wasn't done yet. "When she was murdered and I learned too late that you had
sought justice on her behalf only to be exiled, I confess my lord that I fell into despair. Yet that
despair only turned to rage when I learned your father refused to look into the matter, it was all too
obvious what had happened: Emperor Charles had murdered his own wife, the greatest woman I'd
ever had the fortune to know!"

He was seething with rage, clearly the memory still strong enough to make him want blood. "I
decided to stand against him then, even challenged Bismarck for his title as Knight of One. I was
certain that it would be the fastest way to get close enough to the emperor to kill him. And yet..."
The distraught knight's anger turned into sorrow and he dropped his gaze back to the floor. "I was
defeated, my plot uncovered, and instead of mercifully killing me they left me to rot in that hell
hole! For nearly ten years I was left with my memories of failure whilst that monster covered
everything up...and then..." he pulled his gaze up, tears spilling down his cheeks and a smile on his
face. "Who should return from the dead but you, my lord? The boy who I had failed now a man,
taking vengeance into his own hands and succeeding where I failed."

"And so I beg of you again, you Majesty, please forgive me!" He dropped his head to the ground
again, his tears falling from his cheeks and dripping onto the red carpet. "Or refuse forgiveness and
simply kill me. Either way, I can now die without regrets."

That was quite the story, and not at all what Lelouch had anticipated when he'd ordered the release
of Knight of Two who'd been branded a political enemy. However this opened a window for
manipulation that he'd never considered. A few moments passed before he stood from his throne
and drew the sword of the nearest Scarlet Guard. The entire audience tensed up as they observed
him walk down the steps to stand right before William, the tip of the blade doubtless visible to the
tall man's gaze.

For a moment, Lelouch remained silent, stiffly regarding the man before him and then he spoke.
"Yes, Sir Bishop. You have indeed failed me." The sharp, silent gasp from the tall figure was
enough to know he'd just shattered the man's heart. Well, he might as well get it over with then.
Raising the borrowed sword, he rested the tip on his neck before raising it high. "Therefore you are
sentenced to death..."

Beneath him, William let out a breath, prepared for his end. Good. Without hesitation the blade
came down...and tapped him on one shoulder and then the other. "I dub thee Sir William Bishop,
First Knight of the Round Table." His statement got exactly what he desired as the newly dubbed
Knight of One's head shot up, eyes wide in lack of understanding. "In the end, Sir Bishop, the
terms of your execution are up to me. You wish to die? Then do so in service to your emperor and
the empire you swore to protect."

"Majesty...?" The tall man was completely blown away, instead of punishment the emperor had
accorded him the highest honor.

However, Lelouch wasn't done yet as he fixed a hard stare on William refusing to let him look
away. And thus the emperor began to recite the words of the knight's code.

"William Bishop. You are called unto service to me." Lelouch intoned, "Wilst thou swear absolute
allegiance to me, your sovereign lord?"

Bishop was silent a moment longer before daring for a moment to break his emperor's gaze and
take note of their audience. One in particular caught his gaze: the former guardsman of Empress
Marianne that now serve her son with honor and pride. Both of them had failed their idol,
redemption now could only be found in service to her offspring.

And thus, Sir William Bishop returned his gaze to his emperor and placed his hand on his heart "I
swear."

"Wilst thou swear to raise thy sword in defence of the poor and outcast?"

"I swear."
"Whilst thou swear to lay down thy very life for the world and its future?"

"I swear."

"Then," once more, Lelouch tapped the tip of his sword on both of William's broad shoulders, "I,
Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, do grant Sir William
Bishop the rank and prestige of First Knight of The Round Table! By my will it is spoken, by my
will it is done!" He took the sword in both his hands, holding it out in front of him. "Now rise, my
Knight of One."

Shakily rising to his feet, William accepted the blade from his liege. "Your Majesty, I swear on my
life, you will not regret this action!"

"See that I don't," Lelouch responded, before nodding over his shoulder at Jeremiah. "I have a
mission for you that my Guard Captain will be joining you on, he will inform you on the details.
I've already given orders for a new machine to be built for you as well. For now, though, you may
leave me."

The newly christened Knight of One bowed again, Jeremiah joining him on his left and doing the
same, before both former disgraced knights left the hall, eager to prove their lord's faith in them.
The moment they did and the doors were shut behind them, Lelouch slouched into his throne,
heaving a deep sigh of utter exhaustion.

"Thank god that's over." He muttered to himself, before allowing a weak smile. "But at least that
means today's work is finished now."

Sadly, however, Alfred had to rain on his parade. "Not so, sir." He corrected, "Now that the court
proceedings are completed, you have your mandatory Knightmare training. And after that, your
self defence and martial arts class."

All that did was cause the young emperor to groan in annoyance, for once acting like the teenage
boy he should have been. I know there was a perfectly good reason for using my Geass on him to
be the perfect aide...but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

At his side, C.C. just giggled at his plight before leaning over to whisper in his ear. "Train now, my
warlock." She purred enticingly. "And tonight, if you're still alive, I have my own brand of special
education waiting for you."

Secret base in Brazil. May 29 , 2018.

Night had fallen over the current small condo that served as the housing for Schneizel, Cornelia
and the other members of the court who Lelouch had branded traitors. For the moment, Bismarck
and Suzaku were on watch whilst the other former Knights of the Round got some sleep. As for the
two former royals, along with Schneizel's loyal assistant Kanon, sleep was proving elusive. Not so
much that Schneizel was feeling the strain but more for the reason that he couldn't shake the idea
that Lelouch's actions represented a deep breath before the plunge.

For Cornelia however, there were other matters on her mind. "How is she?" She presently asked.

"Sleeping for the time being," Schneizel answered, sighing sadly to himself as he observed the
television report: Lelouch had freed Sir William Bishop and dubbed him Knight of One. How
transparent of him. And how troubling it was to their guest. "It's still hard for her."

"It was hard on all of us brother." His sister snapped, glaring in turns at him and the T.V. "He's
using his Geass on everyone!" It wasn't hard to guess, there was no way all these reforms would be
going through unless Lelouch was using underhanded tactics. How sad that he would use them to
strive for an impossible ideal.

To Cornelia's left, unexpected yet not unwelcome addition to their group spoke up. "While we
know that, your Highness, it would be suicide to declare it in the press." Diethard Ried cautioned,
"Aside from the fact that it sounds crazy, Emperor Lelouch has the support of the masses.
Everything he does simply makes him more the ideal ruler. A smear campaign is unwise at this
juncture."

"Then what we can do?!" She demanded.

"Damocles" That one word uttered by Schneizel pulled all attention to him.

"Highness, are you sure that's wise?" Kanon asked him, his doubts clear on his face. "Our stocks
are low, and our manpower and transportation is minimal at best. And after Earl Asplund and
Colonel Croomy defected we no longer have the Avalon either. Wouldn't it be a safer investment to
build the Lancelot Albion?"

Ah yes, Sir Kururugi's olive branch. The designs for Britannia's first ever 9th Generation
Knightmare. However... "Knightmares are an obsolete notion." Diethard voiced the second prince's
thoughts on the matter. "Once the Damocles is completed, the entire concept of armies as a form of
service will be completely wiped out."

"Maybe so," Kanon allowed, though he couldn't help glaring at the turncoat in their midst, "but the
building of Damocles will take months, more than enough time for Lelouch to do irreparable
damage to the world order."

The journalist shrugged. "We could always ask the Black knights for help. They have just as much
reason to hate Lelouch as anyone here."

"We will not scurry to their side just because a task is hard!" Cornelia all but hissed, staring
daggers at Diethard.

"Yes, we will not." Schneizel agreed, still as calm as ever. "Kanon, Mr Reid we will direct
resources to the construction of Damocles. After that, we will wait."

That was most certainly not what his sister wanted to hear. "Wait for what?!" She demanded,
"Every second we waste here is another second Lelouch has to utterly ruin Britannia!"

"Which means all the more support for our cause when we return with a weapon that can defeat
him." He calmly explained to her, his eyes never once leaving the screen where it was repeating the
story that Lelouch had ordered the destruction of Emperor Charles' statue in Saint Darwin's Street.
"People have a tendency to back the underdog in any conflict because they hope to see miracles.
And that is what we shall accomplish with Damocles."

"For now though, we will wait for his victory against the remaining European powers." Schneizel
continued, his eyes finally dropping to the world map resting on the table before them all. "It's only
a matter of time before they try to use this upheaval to their advantage."

Berlin. May 29 , 2018.

The Ten Day Transformation was also felt in Europia United...or at least what was left of it. The
war between Britannia and the EU had gone terribly for the European powers. For starters they
were unable to prevent Britannian forces from taking their African territories but that had just been
the opening salvo. The worst possible nightmare for the member state of France was when their
age old enemy invaded the EU's biggest problem state, the island nation of Great Britain; after
centuries of exile, the British had returned home and they were quick to pay the French forces back
for the Humiliation of Edinburgh.

It only got worse from there as Britain quickly became a staging ground for Britannian invasion
fleets. Right now the coasts of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Spain and
Portugal were all in enemy hands; the EU was effectively landlocked. Matters weren't helped by
the formation of the UFN, which immediately sucked up many of the eastern European nations.

Even more damaging was the public reaction to the war. Even now as the remaining politicians
and generals debated over this new emperor, people were taking to the streets, starting riots, looting
shops, and in the worst case scenario actually collaborating with Britannian forces. About the only
good thing that had come out of all the warfare was Schneizel el Britannia and Suzaku Kururugi
being labelled as traitors in the eyes of the new Britannian emperor. However it didn't help that
many of the common folk actually liked the new emperor, his speeches definitely worked to his
advantage, removing even more support for the war effort.

Which led up to the current discussion in the Berlin Reichstag where the furious former Minister of
France declared once again. "I am telling you this is the time to attack!

"And we'll tell you again." The German Chancellor replied tiredly "That we will not support such a
foolish act."

"What are you so afraid of?! He's a boy!" His words garnered a number of agreeing mutters around
him. "Are we really supposed to believe that this child was able to kill Charles zi Britannia?!"

"Whether it's true or not is immaterial." The Spanish representative retorted. "Britannia is still
better equipped than us, has a superior technological gap, and most importantly they aren't
attacking us right now!" His impassioned argument got a series of agreeing grunts on his side this
time.

It was true as well, one of the first things Emperor Lelouch had done was order a ceasefire on all
Britannian fronts which only helped his credibility in the eyes of the people. However, he hadn't
given back any of the land Britannia had taken either.

"Maybe we consider an alliance with the UFN?" One spoke up.

"With those elevens? Never!"

"We must fight!"

"Yes, we must return our homes!"

"SILENCE!"The German Chancellor's loud bellow brought the discourse to an end. Once he was
sure everyone had shut up, he let out a hard sigh."I understand that many of you are frustrated with
our losses, but the facts remain. We have no plan, nor sufficient technological edge to give us a
chance against Britannia."

The dismal picture he painted left the gathered representatives in silence for a moment before a
new voice spoke up. "Actually, I think I have a solution to our problem." All eyes turned to the
newcomer, a gentleman in military uniform with greyish green hair and green eyes. "It would
require that everyone cooperates of course, but I'm confident I can reclaim that which is ours."
"What you have in mind, General Smilas?" One of the representatives asked.

The general in question merely smiled, glancing around at the sea of eyes now focussed on him, on
pair in particular that lit up unnaturally with red rings round the irises.
 White Queen

Boston Military Academy. May 31 2018

When it came to the training of elite knights in the art of Knightmare combat, there was no better
academy in all the Holy Britannian Empire than the Boston Military Academy. In the last two
decades, it had produced graduates that had since gone on into infamy. Just a few of names were
Knights of the Round Gino Weinberg and Nonnette Enneagram, Princess Cornelia the 'Witch of
Britannia' and, maybe the most significantly, Empress Marianne 'the Flash' herself. The academy
building itself was huge, divided into four sections for specific use. First, there was the dormitory,
then the main building, followed by the arena in the centre and the hangar for personal or group
training.

Today marked the end of the academic year, as such it was time for the traditional event that had
been held every year since the academy's founding: The Day of Knights Tournament. Their
training was complete, and students got to compete against each other in their Knightmare Frames
to determine who was truly the strongest amongst them, an event that clearly reflected the former
Emperor Charles zi Britannia's policy of survival of the fittest. Even though he had now passed on,
however, Britannia had never been a nation that discarded tradition so easily.

The first round of the tournament was about to begin and, within the women's changing room, one
of its combatants was readying herself for battle. Slender in figure with amber eyes with raven
black hair, part of which fell over her left eye, she hardly appeared the kind of sort to be a fighter.
Something she had made a point of disproving to her sceptical classmates during the first day of
basic training. She had just finished changing into her crimson pilot uniform when a loud shout
snapped up her attention.

"Come on Cinder! The fight will start in five minutes, hurry up!" The loud mouth was soon
followed by a girl the same age as her with black skin and red eyes.

"Emerald." Cinder Fall replied to her 'friend' with a soft voice, "I told you I will be there before it
starts."

"Yes, but everyone is already there!"

Cinder tried not to sigh before turning around to face her excited classmate, closing her locker
behind her. "Fine, let's go."

Honestly, it wasn't that far a walk from the Arena.

When the academy had built the Arena, many had equated it to the ancient Roman Colosseum with
a more modern design. It was oval in shape, and large enough to easily accommodate a thousand
people and still have room for more. For the safety of the audience a protective dome had also
been added so there was no concern for injury, duels could therefore be fought to their full
potential allowing everyone to know who the stronger fighter really was as well as providing a
spectacular show for the non-combatants.

And a show was exactly what the people wanted to see today. The Day of Knights was an open
event to the public as well as the academy students, as such the Arena stands were completely
filled, and not just with the ordinary citizens who were hoping to see a spectacle. Just a little glance
in both directions told Cinder and Emerald that there were also many Knightmare pilots watching
as well.

"Well, I'd better go take my Amber." Cinder said and made her way towards the hangar where her
machine waited for her.

Once inside she immediately came face to face with a number of war machines; the tired old
Glasgows that had been all but phased out of the military, the all round decent Sutherlands, and
even the Gloucesters that specialised in one-on-one combat. They weren't the only Knightmares
there though, a number of personal frames were also present, boasting hi-tech weapons and armour
thicker than the average machine.

These were mostly owned by students who came from rich families, Cinder knew for a fact that
she couldn't afford to buy something like this...anymore.

The world is in the middle of a war right now and they make us play games here! She could feel
her hatred for the noble and rich snobs rising in her just as she stood there thinking about it. She
had always hated their lifestyle, while she had climbed her way up from the bottom, they looked
down from their castles on the poor whom they trod on.

But this was the only way Cinder had if she hoped to survive long enough to become really
powerful.

Finally her gaze moved away from the personal Knightmares to land on a lonely Gloucester which
sported the same crimson paint scheme as her pilot suit, just the way she liked it. Walking closer,
her eyes caught the inscription engraved onto its right arm: 'Belongs to the Black Queen.'

The Black Queen, Cinder couldn't help but chuckle at the nickname she'd attained while being here
at the academy. She had quickly become one of the most popular girls early on in training, if not
the most. Any number of boys had tried to ask her out - going from polite invitations to prostrating
themselves before her, declaring their undying love for her - but she'd turned all of them down flat.
Not a single one of them had a hope of attaining her attention, let alone her affections.

The ideal man she had always thought of had to be at least a genius, one with whom she could
debate philosophy if the mood struck her, as well as cool and fearless, a leader who knew no equal
and bent before no one. Much like herself. Maybe that was a high self-opinion but that was what
Cinder Fall wanted and so far, all she had been met with were disappointments.

Then again, it wasn't easy to search through knights to find a devil.

Somewhere in the Arena, a certain Emperor suddenly sneezed.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The voice of one of the commentators boomed out across the Arena
"Today we bring you the Day of Knights Tournament of Boston Academy! Are you ready?!"

The massive applause and excited cheers from the audience told him they were.

"And it's a beautiful day for it too, wouldn't you say Oobleck?"

"Indeed Peter. Today sees the Arena full to record capacity." His colleague, a man with green hair
and glasses replied, before muttering to himself "Despite Emperor Charles' death and the transfer
of power to his son in the bloody way along with a complete change in modern society,
everything's fine."
He muttered this all into his microphone, however, causing many of his students to immediately
introduce their faces to their palms.

Sensing the tone, Oobleck's fellow commentator Peter - a man with grey hair and moustache -
quickly changed the subject "I think we can forget about politics today, let's just focus on what
everyone wants to see here!" His enthusiastic words got the crowd going again, and they only got
louder when he loudly declared, "Let's get this tournament going!"

"Now, before we start, let's quickly go over the rules." said Oobleck, his earlier faux pass
forgotten. "The tournament roster is made up of the academy's top six pilots. They are permitted to
use any weapon they wish with the exception of guns. This is a brawl, not a bar!" His little joke got
a few people laughing politely, while others just sighed at the terrible joke. "Of course they're not
allowed to kill each other, their aim is to immobilise their opponent's machine. Also one round only
lasts five minutes so they'll be going at each other right out of the gate! No dancing around this
arena! The fights will be just today, and so enjoy it!"He finished rather weirdly, but the audience
certainly didn't care as Oobleck's description was met with even more loud applause.

All this and more was observed by the empire's young ruler as he sat in his private room, treating
himself to a bag of popcorn. He'd heard tales of these bouts from Marianne and Cornelia when he
was little, and now he was about to witness them for himself. Lelouch was not ashamed to say he
was feeling a little bit giddy.

"Your Majesty," Alfred spoke up, drawing his attention away from the screen on which he'd been
watching the opening of the tournament, "it may be beneficial if you stepped up to the podium. If
your subjects knew that you were here, I'm sure they would fight all the harder. Especially that
young lady that you've taken an interest in."

"No Alfred," Lelouch answered, "I specifically want them not to know I'm here. That way they'll
be completely focussed on the battle." Even as he said this his attention was returning to the
screen, his eyes focussing on the two pilots...or more particularly one who had caught his eye.
"Now then, let's see to what you can do, Lady Fall."

"And now, let's get onto the first match!" Peter shouted to the audience's delight, "And we're
starting right at the top today, folks, with one of the best this academy has seen in a while!
Dangerous and beautiful, a rosebush with all the thorns to go with it, a perfect winning record this
whole year-!"

"And every year she's been here." Oobleck added on.

"Our black queen...Cinder Fall, piloting her Knightmare Frame, Amber!" On Peter's word, Cinder
blazed onto the field in her customised machine, carrying two MVS's. When she appeared, the
whole Arena exploded with applause, as far as they were concerned this young fighter was already
on the way to becoming a knight.

"And her opponent." Peter continued. "Fastest of her class and heiress of one of the biggest
sakuradite mining companies...Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the Snow Angel herself,
Weiss Schnee!"And again there was grandstand applause, though the heiress in question gave a
hard glare at the commentators' booth. But Peter either didn't see it or paid it no mind as he carried
right on, "Piloting her Myrtenaster!"

Despite the fancy name, the Myrtenaster was just an ordinary Vincent that was coloured in white.
For a weapon, however, Weiss had only brought one MVS that had been designed as a rapier - a
perfect weapon for swift, one-one-one combat.
"Right then," Peter began "are you ready?!" Greens flashed on both sides signifying the pilots were
set to go. "ARE YOU READY?!" This time it was the audience who gave their loud response.
"Right then, let's go! Knights! Battle!"

His words had barely left his lips before both machines rushed each other.

The Amber's custom armour was quite a bit lighter than what was normally used on a Gloucester,
meaning it could move quite a bit faster than the basic model. But the Myrtenaster wasn't without
its own benefits; whilst it hadn't been given any specific upgrades, Weiss's striking power was top
of the class in terms of speed and accuracy. Additionally, her rapier was light, giving her an extra
speed advantage.

Know Weiss she would try to hit me with a series of fast strikes. Cinder thought to herself. She was
immediately proved right as Weiss let off a flurry of quick attacks aimed at the connections
between her limbs. Because she knew it was coming though, Cinder was able to dodge them all
easily, the Amber not taking a bit of damage. Now, my turn!

And now she went on the offensive, pushing the Amber forward and swinging both her swords at
the Myrtenaster. Weiss's rapier was able to block some of the strikes, but it quickly became evident
that a weapon for fencing was not the correct weapon to deflect two swords at once. As a result,
Cinder scored a hit on the Myrtenaster's right shoulder. Weiss had the keen sense to retreat, but the
Amber was already in pursuit.

Too late to run now, lady heiress! Cinder began to apply precise strikes to the arms and legs of the
Myrtenaster, a savage glee taking her over as she inflicted more and more damage to Weiss's
machine.

In a desperate bid, the Myrtenaster slowed down and tried to strike a final hit targeting the Amber's
chest where the core luminous resided, if Weiss could land a successful hit there Cinder's machine
would be completely immobilised. Unfortunately for Weiss though, it was destined to fail.

Cinder saw the attack coming long before Weiss made the move and avoided the blow by having
the Amber jump into the air. From there she immediately counterattacked, bringing her two swords
down from above. With one swing the Myrtenaster's hands were cut off, driving Weiss to her
knees.

Around her the crowd roared in delight though others bayed their displeasure at the fight being
over so quickly. And then suddenly Cinder felt something come over her. All her life, Cinder Fall
had believed in her feelings and also in destiny, and right now she had a strange sense that there
was someone important watching over her, someone that she felt she had always been destined to
meet. It was only for a moment, but that moment seemed to drag on for eternity...And then she was
back in the Arena, Weiss Schnee's ruined machine at her mercy...and then Cinder had a truly
wicked idea.

Well, they came for a show. Let's give them one. Without giving herself a chance to rethink her
actions, Cinder brought one of her swords to the Myrtenaster's head and, with one swift strike,
decapitated the white Vincent. But that was far from the end of it, the head rolled on the arena
floor for only a moment before the Amber's large foot landed on top of it, crushing it beneath an
iron heel. And then Cinder herself came out of her cockpit, a victorious warrior standing over her
vanquished foe. That same feeling struck her again, the sense that someone was watching, and
instinctively she turned to face it, staring right down at the camera that had been recording and
broadcasting that very short duel.

Do you see me, whoever you are? This is who I am. This is what I do. What will you do now?
For a brief spell absolute silence reigned throughout the Arena, the crowd struck numb by Cinder's
final act. "Oh my god..." Even Peter sounded shocked at the display he'd just played witness to...for
all of five seconds. "THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!"

His yell set off the rest of the audience who roared their mad delight at the carnage.

"Absolutely brutal!" Peter carried on, "But a win's a win. Cinder takes the first victory of the Day
of Knights Tournament!"

"Indeed Peter," Oobleck agreed, "but did you notice that they didn't use their slash harkens? What's
that about?"

"Well everyone has their own strategy," his colleague replied, not really sounding all that
interested, "but right now it's time for a short break, ten minutes before the next match! The others
are going to have to step up their game if they want to survive the Black Queen!"

His pronouncement set off the crowd again as the Amber began to head back to the hangar, its pilot
completely unconcerned with their praise. Cinder was just happy she got to kick that rich girl's ass.

She'd looked right at him. Such a brutal display of power and poise, and then beheading her
enemy! Oh Lelouch was getting tingles just replaying it in his mind. But those tingles had turned to
chills when she'd exited her Knightmare and stared down the camera lens, stared into the eyes of
the world...stared into him.

"Majesty." Jeremiah's voice broke him out of his trance, much to his loyal captain's amusement.
"You're thinking about something. To do with Lady Cinder, I gather?"

"Is it so obvious?" The emperor chuckled, shaking his head ruefully, "I just..don't know. I thought I
felt something."

His vague reply caused Jeremiah to frown, even now he was working. "Your Majesty, you've
worked very hard. Please, just enjoy the show. You've earned a rest."

He was glad then when he saw that his emperor's eyes were already closing. But behind his eyelids
Lelouch was far from resting, because now all he could see were her eyes looking back at him
radiating a familiar emotion. It was something he'd felt everyday he looked upon Tokyo before he
became Zero, something he'd endured every time he saw Nunnally in her wheel chair.

That familiar stabbing feeling was pain.

"Cinder, you were amazing!" Emerald cheered the moment she managed to corner her classmate in
the changing room. "And the way you took off her head at the end was absolutely awesome!"

The Black Queen sighed before turning tired eyes on her, "Emerald, it was just the first round, I
still have three other fights if I want to win today."

"Well yeah, but you already beat Schnee!" Emerald retorted, not at all phased by Cinder's attempt
to calm her, "And now you just have to-"

"FALL!" Another girl's enraged yell cut off their conversation, however, preceding the furious
arrival of Weiss Schnee herself. She was the same as the other two, her white hair and icy blue
eyes, along with her white pilot suit, being the basis of her moniker. Right now however she didn't
look like much of an angel of anything with an ugly bandage wrapped around her head. That didn't
stop her eyes from spitting fire as they focussed on the one responsible for her current state. "What
the hell do you think you were doing?!"

"I thought it was obvious." Cinder replied, smirking. "We fought. I won."

Her casual dismissal of Weiss's state however just made the Sakuradite heiress even angrier.
"YOU-! YOU UTTER BITCH! You completely destroyed my Myrtenaster! And what the hell was
with that...that Knightmare execution?!"

Oh for goodness sake, it was as if Weiss had expected not to take any damage in this tournament.

"Look," Cinder said bluntly, "you know that this tournament pits the very best pilots of the
academy against each other right?" At Weiss's slow nod she continued. "Then you must have
known that your machine could be damaged during a fight." At that, it looked like Weiss wanted to
say something but Cinder quickly cut her off, "And this tournament isn't just a test for us graduates,
it's also a show for the common folk..." here she was unable to repress another smirk, "so I gave
them one."

All the while Weiss's face had been getting redder and redder, it looked like she was about to burst
by the time Cinder was done. However, both were spared that when the PA system called out.
"Cinder Fall, your next match begins in five minutes, please report to the Arena. Repeat, Cinder
Fall to the Arena."

That was Cinder's break and she immediately took it, striding past Weiss, "Sorry Snow Angel, but I
have a match to win." She was almost passed her when Weiss suddenly reached out and grabbed
her wrist. Clearly, she wasn't done yet. But she would be when Cinder turned back, smiling at her.
"Is there something you needed Miss Schnee?"

Her tone was polite, but everything else about her screamed just how ready she was to burn this
bitch alive. Particularly in her eyes that were now burning into the heiress's own. On seeing that
murderous intent, Weiss, fearing for her life, immediately let go.

Cinder just kept on smiling. "Good."

She departed the changing room, just in time to dodge of the way of little red-haired girl who
immediately charged into the room.

"WEISS!"

"Alright then, onto our next match!" Peter announced. "Please welcome back to the Arena Cinder
Fall!" The crowd suitably went wild at the Black Queen's return, "And now, one of my best
students. Self-entitled Queen of the Castle...Nora Valkyrie in her custom Glasgow frame, the
Magnhild!"

His introduction gave way to a pink and white coloured Glasgow armed with a huge warhammer.
Despite it being a somewhat obsolete machine, Nora had made excellent use of it throughout her
time at the academy, what she lacked in speed she more than made up for in sheer destructive
capability.

And Cinder was sure to feel that in the match itself as the Magnhild beat hard on the Amber with
all the force the hammer had. Cinder was capable of blocking her opponent's attacks for the most
part, but every deflection shook her machine to the core. Nora capitalised on her advantage and
finally got a hit in under the Amber's guard sending the machine off to the side. It didn't go down,
but the pilot had been suitably rattled.
Clenching her teeth, Cinder put the Amber in reverse as quickly as possible. Nora was quick to
follow her, launching another swing that the Amber just managed to dodge in time. But that was all
Cinder needed. As she was aware the Magnhild's strength lay in its hammer, but that strength was a
two-edged sword as the sheer weight of its weapon meant it was incredibly slow. This made the
Amber's speed advantage the perfect counter-weapon.

The tactic was a simple hit-and-run. Moving swiftly, Cinder brought the Amber around the back of
the Magnhild and struck hard on its arm, not enough h to do damage, but it would certainly annoy
Nora. And she was right as the huge hammer came whirling around to hit her, but Cinder was
already out of reach again, coming back to the front and striking at the chest.

This went on for some time until eventually Nora was forced to pull back. However, the
Magnhild's speed weakness showed itself again and she wasn't anywhere near out of harm's way
when Cinder decided to launch the Amber's slash harkens. Nora was able to block the first one
with her Knightmare's free hand, but the second harken knocked the hammer out of her grasp.

Inside the Amber, Cinder felt an evil smirk come over her. Her opponent was completely
defenceless now. It would be a simple matter to claim victory here and now...but that simply
wouldn't do. Without any warning, she launched the Amber forwards jabbing its elbow right into
the chest of the pretty looking Glasgow. The sheer force behind the attack sent her opponent
falling backwards.

A moment later the Magnhild was lying on the ground, the Amber's foot grinding into its chest.

And once again, Cinder received the wild praise of the crowd.

"She is indeed an excellent pilot," Alfred commented once the break started.

"In this training facility perhaps," Jeremiah cautioned, his arms crossed "she hasn't experienced
real battle yet."

"True," Alfred conceded. "But she is still very capable."

"Let's wait and see then." Their emperor spoke up, before glancing at his aide, "You put what I
asked in her changing room?"

"Yes, your Majesty."Alfred nodded, trying hard not to blush.

"Good." Lelouch nodded, noting that the break was coming to an end. "Now then, my Queen,
show me what you're really capable of."

Cinder was already back in the Amber, waiting in the hangar for Peter to announce her back into
the Arena. This was the last round of the tournament and, naturally, she'd made it to the top two.
All that she needed to do now was win this match to prove her superiority. However, even though
she was more than ready to get started, her thoughts were distracted by something...odd.

When she'd returned to her locker in the changing room, she'd found quite the unusual gift waiting
for her inside. A chess piece, a white queen to be exact, had been standing there as if it had been
awaiting her return. It certainly wasn't hers, even though Cinder was more than a bit good at the
game itself, and when she asked around no one else knew where it had come from either.

Even more unusual was her decision to take it with her when she returned to the Amber, the small
chess piece flicking in between her fingers as she observed it. She couldn't truly explain her reason
for doing so, something had just felt...right about it.

"Well it's the final bout, ladies and gents!" Peter's voice came out over the PA system, "And what
about it's gonna be! For the final time today, please welcome to the Arena our Black Queen, Cinder
Fall!" Hearing her cue, Cinder accelerated the Amber forwards into the Arena to the jubilant cries
of the public. "And for as good a fighter we have here we need an equally dangerous opponent!
And here she is!"

On the far side of the Arena another Gloucester model appeared sporting a red and gold colour
scheme, in its right hand, it held a javelin and in its left a shield that matched the Knightmare's
colour scheme. And for the first time today, Cinder felt a chill go down her spine. She'd known
this was coming, but that didn't mean she wasn't anxious.

"Ladies and gentlemen please welcome the Invincible Girl!" Peter announced, "Champion of four
National Tournaments, Pyrrha Nikos in her title claiming machine, Xiphos!"

For the first time today, Cinder thought the cheers and cries for her opponent outclassed what
they'd shown her. Not a good sign. She didn't have time to ponder her chances though as Peter
suddenly shouted into his microphone again. "Alright everyone, let's get the final match going!
Knights! BATTLE!"

The Amber and the Xiphos charged right at each other as fast as their pilots could make them.
They met dead centre in the middle of the oval arena, swords and spear clashing against each other.
Cinder felt the impact but ignored the rattling it caused, she came here to win, and with a perfect
win history, she wasn't about to stop now. With that in mind, she pulled away and immediately
went on the attack with everything she had, directing the Amber's MVS's with deadly grace and
accuracy.

However, her opponent wasn't some hotshot who thought she was big this time, Pyrrha proved her
right to be champion four times over by effortlessly countering every one of Cinder's attacks.
Sometimes she used her shield to block, others she redirected with her spear sending them
harmlessly away from their intended target...and other times she simply dodged them altogether.

And now the Xiphos was on the attack with her javelin, jabbing forward at the Amber's torso.
Cinder managed to deflect the assault but only barely, however that only left her open to Pyrrha's
next move when she rammed the Amber with her knightmare's shield. The move caught Cinder so
completely by surprise that her defences were momentarily lowered, which was all the time Pyrrha
needed to get in a connecting blow with her spear on the Amber's torso.

Damn, Cinder cursed in her head, this isn't good. I'm lucky the Core Luminous wasn't hit.

She didn't have time to come up with a new strategy, though, as the Xiphos continued its attack on
her, forcing Cinder onto the defensive. Any time she tried to get back on the attack, Pyrrha shut her
down with her spear and then moved to break her defence with the shield. If this dragged on it
would go to the judges, and so far Cinder hadn't landed a single hit. Come on! I've got to think of
something!

Fortune smiled on her at last (or maybe Pyrrha just got impatient) when the Xiphos's assault halted
and Pyrrha instead launched her slash harkens. Seeing the opening, Cinder moved the Amber to
successfully dodge them. Yes! She now had a small window to retaliate before Pyrrha began her
assault again and Cinder went for it. Her MVS's swung forward, aiming to take off the Xiphos's
head...but at the last second the spear came up to block both blades and force them away from
her. No!
Now Cinder was the one who was wide open and Pyrrha immediately pounced on it. Realising her
situation, Cinder pulled the Amber into reverse just in time to avoid another assault. However, the
Xiphos's spear scored another hit just before the Amber was out of its range.

Dammit, dammit, dammit! Cinder was shouting over and over in her head. This was all going
wrong! Nothing she did was working and now she was in full retreat, Pyrrha chasing right after her
no doubt looking to deal further damage to her machine. What the hell to I do now?

Her answer came in the form of a voice over her radio. "When she launches her slash harkens don't
run." It instructed, "Let them come at you. When they're in range cut them off with your swords."

"What? Who is this?" Cinder automatically demanded. "How'd you get my frequency?"

"That's not important." The voice replied, "If you want to win this fight, then follow my orders."

"Oh?" Despite her situation, Cinder raised an eyebrow at her unsought assistant, "And why should
I? That's against the rules." In truth, she didn't much care whether it was or not, if cheating meant
she won that was fine by her. But why would this unknown voice help her win?

"Because," the voice told her, something of a laugh in his(?) tone, "sometimes you can't change the
world without getting your hands dirty."

Change the world huh? And now she felt the beginnings of a smirk growing, this guy sounds crazy
enough to be genuine. Her smirk was nearly wiped off her face though when the Xiphos suddenly
appeared right in front of her. Cursing silently, she moved the Amber back out of range. Well, in
for a penny...

"Fine," she relented at last "what do I do?"

"Like I said," the voice repeated, "don't run from her slash harkens. They're not aiming to hit you,
but to keep you boxed in. If you destroy them however..."

He left the sentence hanging, but it was enough for her to grasp what he was getting at.
"Understood."

"Good luck Q-2."

"Q-2?" An odd choice of codename, enough that it peaked her curiosity. "As in 'queen?' Wait, was
it you who left that queen piece in my locker?"

Now there were definitely the undertones of a laugh in the voice as he replied, "Win the battle, and
maybe I'll answer your questions."

Is that so? Cinder thought to herself, her own smirk still in place. So this is a test, is it? Well if that
was the case then this guy really didn't know who he was dealing with. If he did he'd know that she
always passed her tests - written and practical. And now this battle was something she would
simply win as well. It was just that simple.

Bringing her attention back to said battle, she was in time to see the Xiphos come at her again with
its slash harkens. It took everything she had not to move the Amber away from the incoming
volley, something she vaguely heard Peter and Oobleck comment on, but only now did she finally
notice the harkens' trajectory. The voice had been right; they both sailed harmlessly past her.

A psychological attack. Cinder couldn't help it, she was impressed. Scare your opponent into
thinking they'll be hit and they'll do anything you want. Very good Nikos, very good indeed. But
now it was Pyrrha's turn to be afraid. Now that the slash harkens were fired, their cables that
attached them to the Xiphos were exposed and Cinder could finally use that weakness. Moving
quickly before Pyrrha could work out what she was doing, Cinder swung the Amber's MVS's down
on the cables. Finally the battlefield was open to her again.

Pyrrha must have known this too because now the Xiphos was rushing in, its spear poised to strike
the Amber's core her harkens it really was the only method she had open to her, but that also
worked in Cinder's favor. She quickly blocked the attack, this time only using one sword. It was a
difficult effort considering all the force Pyrrha was putting into this attack but for Cinder's plan to
work she had to have an arm free.

Now to return the favor. Before Pyrrha could ram her with her shield, Cinder launched her
machine's right slash harken right into the Xiphos's left arm which knocked the shield out of its
hand. But Cinder had no time to celebrate as Pyrrha quickly changed tactics, the Xiphos now
launching a punch at the Amber forcing her to disengage and back up. Damn, she just doesn't give
up, does she? Still, considering the state of the Xiphos - no slash harkens and now no shield - this
was the best chance she was ever going to get to take Pyrrha down.

With that in mind Cinder quickly went back on the attack, not giving her opponent time to regroup.
But Pyrrha was nothing if not adaptable and she let out a volley of quick punches to try and keep
Cinder off balance. But she had now lost her advantage, and besides Cinder was no longer set on
thinking tactically; she only knew two things: 1 - she had to win, and 2 - Pyrrha was stopping her
from doing that...which was unacceptable.

The Amber rushed forwards, barely missing the Xiphos's spear as it tried to take her out, and then
Cinder brought up both her machine's deadly swords and swept down...right through the Xiphos's
right arm. Her opponent could still stand however and Cinder immediately brought one of her
swords to the Xiphos's 'neck.' With no weapons left and now only one working hand, it looked like
it was all over...however, Pyrrha Nikos wasn't one to be taken lightly and so Cinder kept the
Amber's weapons ready in case she tried anything.

At last though, the Xiphos's cockpit hatch opened and a red haired young woman with green eyes
stepped out, waving her hands in the sign of surrender. It was over.

Once again silence reigned...and once again it was only a short while before the crowd screamed
their praise for them both.

Peter in particular sounded insanely happy "WHAT A MATCH!" He bellowed into his
microphone, "Cinder's done it! She has beaten the unbeatable! We have our champion, ladies and
gentlemen. The winner of the Day of Knights tournament is our Black Queen, Cinder Fall!"

Once again the crowd went wild as Cinder herself came out of the Amber and looked out at the
mass praise.

"And now the tournament's over." Oobleck carried on roughly, "So go home."

"Oy." Peter sighed.

Despite the commentators' words, the crowd showed no sign of going anywhere, their cries for joy
and awe continuing on for some time. Meanwhile, Cinder remained standing in the Arena, her
mind not really present at the moment. Of course she was glad she had won, it was what she'd
worked towards all this time. But right now she had a question on her mind: who was that on the
radio? Who was it that had risked her expulsion from the tournament to ensure that she won?
"Jeremiah."

The loyal cyborg turned to his master, whose eyes were once again focussed on the screen "Yes
your Majesty?"

"Call her here." Lelouch instructed. "I'd like to speak with Lady Fall."

Jeremiah nodded and signaled to the guards, one of which nodded and headed off to collect the
lady in question. Lelouch however never let his gaze leave the image of the young woman, a smirk
rising up on his face.

"Well, you aren't Kallen," he admitted, ignoring the hurt just thinking of her brought him, before
his smirk became a truly devilish grin. "But I suppose you'll suffice for my plans."

Cinder had returned to the changing room and was now doing away with her pilot suit. She had no
answer to her earlier question but that wasn't going to stop her from looking into it. But not today,
she was exhausted after that last match. Once she'd had a chance to rest then she would start
looking for her nameless benefactor.

Chances of rest were put on hold however when the changing room door opened admitting one of
her teachers, a blonde professor who had her hair tied up in a strict bun and green eyes that were
layered over by glasses. She took a moment to correct them before greeting her student. "Miss
Fall."

"Yes, Professor Goodwitch?"Cinder asked politely, doing her best not to show how tired she really
was."How can I help you?"

"The headmaster Ozpin wants to speak with you."Goodwitch simply told her.

"I see." This wasn't unexpected, Cinder had just won the tournament so it was natural that the
headmaster would want a word with her. Recognising that she wouldn't be getting any sleep soon,
she quickly finished getting changed and then, in Goodwitch's company, made her way to the
academy's main building.

The building itself was a massive tower that overlooked the whole academy, with the Headmaster's
office right at the top. It was at this room that Cinder and her professor were met by two soldiers in
scarlet robes who flanked a third man; dressed in all black save for the dark green scarf around his
neck, tousled grey hair and wearing black shaded spectacles in front of sharp yellow eyes, there
was no mistaking Boston Military Academy's Headmaster Ozpin.

Upon seeing them, the man gave Cinder a quirky grin and stepped aside. "Miss Fall! Right on
time! Please, take the elevator. A very special someone is waiting to meet you."

The only outward showing of Cinder's confusion was a slightly raised eyebrow before nodding and
making her way to Ozpin's private elevator that the soldiers obediently gave her access to. She
made the trip up alone, giving her time to think over this strange predicament. She had assumed
that Ozpin wanted to congratulate her success, only now to find that the headmaster had been little
more than a messenger boy, so whoever it was that really wanted to see her wanted to keep this
private if even Goodwitch didn't know what was going on.

There aren't that many people who could arrange a meeting like this... Someone who even Ozpin
viewed as 'special' wasn't one to be dismissed lightly. That sort of thought should have worried
her...and yet, Cinder couldn't help but feel excited. Once again she was feeling that unexplainable
rightness of a situation that she'd felt in the Arena right before she cut the head off Weiss's
knightmare. Something important was about to happen, and her life would be forever changed by
it.

At last the elevator came to a halt and Cinder exited into the headmaster's office. It was a rather
unusual room, typically large and spacious like most Britannian offices but for some strange reason
the ceiling represented a clock face and the far wall directly behind the headmaster's desk was
completely made of glass. Not exactly the most secure of places, considering how many people
had tried to kill Ozpin over the years just so they could take his place as headmaster. But he'd
survived this long so maybe there was another reason for it.

Whatever Cinder thought about the room, her attention was soon caught by something that was
resting on the desk itself: a chess board, with all its pieces in their beginning positions save for one.
The white queen was missing from the board and unless this was some very strange coincidence,
Cinder knew exactly where it had gotten to.

Then and there she realised exactly what was expected of her to pass this test. She retrieved the
queen from where it had been resting in her pocket and placed it on the board beside the white
king, right where it was supposed to be.

"Impressive." A somewhat familiar voice behind her stated, causing Cinder to immediately spin
round out of shock. And then her eyes went wide when they came face to face with the intrigued
expression of Emperor Lelouch himself. "You worked out my task rather quickly."

"Your Majesty!" Cinder immediately bent the knee to him, "It's my honor to meet you." It really
was, this was the man who killed the former emperor whom she reviled. If not for him and his
reforms she likely wouldn't be anywhere near as strong as she was today. "How may I serve you?"

The emperor regarded her for a moment before walking passed her and around the headmaster's
desk, seating himself in the waiting chair. "I was wondering if you would humor me by playing a
game of chess, Miss Cinder Fall."

Chess? Quite the long way round to get someone to play a simple board game with him. But such
intricate detail only served to intrigue Cinder further as she rose from her kneeling position and
turned to face him. What was he playing at?

The best she could guess was that this was another test...and besides, she was quite good at the
game. In all her time at the academy she'd never lost a game, it would be quite something if she
could add the emperor himself as a beaten opponent. And just like that Cinder felt her fatigue wash
away, replaced by determination to meet this latest test.

"It would be my pleasure, you Majesty." Cinder replied politely, sitting herself down in the visitor's
chair facing Lelouch.

The emperor himself smiled lightly, "Wonderful. Now, which do you prefer?"

That gave her a moment of pause as she regarded the situation, both her opponent and the board
itself. Much like what he was wearing now, many had taken to calling Emperor Lelouch the 'White
Emperor' in terms of both his clothing choices and his policies...so why not play black and
challenge white's supremacy?

Feeling a small grin beginning, Cinder said "If you'll allow me, I'll be black."

For his part, Lelouch slowly nodded before letting out a small chuckle "You know something,
Miss Fall? This is the first time ever playing white."
His admission caught her attention. Never played white? Then does that mean he's almost never
played chess in his life? It took all of her willpower not to let out a disappointed sigh. And here I
was thinking I'd have a challenge today...

About half an hour later she found herself eating her words as Lelouch quickly proved himself a
masterfully skilled player of the game. So good in fact that, while neither player had lost or taken
another's piece, it was very clear to Cinder that her opponent was in full control of what was
happening in the match, possibly thinking several steps ahead of his current move. If she wasn't as
good as she was, Cinder would have fallen for several of the traps he'd set up for her...and even
then it was only at the last minute.

If she needed any further proof that this was the same man as the one on the radio, it was fair to say
she had it now...which begged the question: "Majesty, may I ask you something?"

"If it's in regards to my intervention during the tournament, don't worry about it." Lelouch told her
without looking up from the board. "I saw something that interested me, that's all there really is to
it."

"Interesting? Me?" Understandably she was rather surprised; what could possibly interest the
Emperor of Britannia in a barely graduated academy student? More out of habit than mistrust,
Cinder slapped on a fake smile. "But I'm just a normal girl who was lucky enough to win."

Her evasion was for naught though as Lelouch took his eyes off the game for the first time since
they started, "Please, Lady Fall, do you really believe in such a thing?" He asked, before moving
one of his pawns to threaten her rook. "Because I don't. All my life has been a constant fight for
survival...but then," the little smile he'd been wearing now shifted into a smirk which sent a chill up
Cinder's spine, "I could say the same of you."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked him, trying her best to hold her smile without letting out
the tremor that was growing in her tone. "I mean yes, it was hard work to be the best, but I was still
able to achieve it. I'm even talking to my country's emperor. What could that be other than luck?"

He couldn't know...could he?

"For Cinder Fall, maybe." Lelouch agreed, his gaze turning sharp for a moment before continuing,
"But for Cinder Blackwood, life has been a living hell."

This time she wasn't able to hide her reaction, her eyes going wide at the utterance of that
name, her heartbeat shot up for a moment and Cinder did everything in her power not to jump out
of her chair. But the emperor didn't budge at all, as if he'd been expecting this exact reaction.

Taking a deep breath, Cinder calmed her heart back down, her smile dropping away at last. "Let
me guess: OSI?" His short nod was all the answer she needed and she let out a defeated sigh. "So I
was hiding all this time for nothing then."

Her admission at last got a reaction out of the emperor as he raised an eyebrow out of curiosity.
"And why would you say that?"

For a moment she considered not saying a thing, but then common sense reminded Cinder that this
was the Emperor she was dealing with. If she didn't tell him, he would just go to OSI and get it
from them. She might as well come out and say it now and save them both time.

"I failed the last wish of my mother." She began slowly, "She...she told me to hide, change my
identity, my name, heck even my looks if I had to." The more she said, the more she remembered.
The day it happened, the things she'd seen, and it was a hard struggle not to clutch her head in her
hands. "All so they wouldn't look for me, so they couldn't hunt me down and..."

"Because?" Lelouch prodded, clearly wanting her to say it.

"My mother, Salem Blackwood. When I was still a child, she was accused of the murder of Olivia
Zevon and was killed by a bunch of mad nobles." She scowled at the memory of what came later.
"But even when they did find the real killer, no one cared about my mother, how she'd been
accused and destroyed. Not one single empty apology. It was as if the whole thing never
happened." Her angered tone turned into a snarl as she went on, "They just went back to their nice
little game of thrones, bleating at their emperor's feet for whatever scraps he'd throw their way.
They're disgusting!"

She was surprised by her own emotional response, it wasn't something she usually indulged in. But
Lelouch just regarded her silently, letting her get it all out, before responding.

"I'm no stranger to loss. As you might know my mother was also murdered and my claim to the
throne revoked." Yes, Cinder had been aware of that. Some of the more conservative groups loved
to point it out any chance they got in newspapers and TV interviews, to say nothing of the internet.
Technically, Emperor Lelouch was a usurper who'd challenged Emperor Charles when he was just
a boy and was exiled for his trouble. However, instead of turning people against him, his story only
added to his fame especially among the younger generations.

"Unlike you, however, I didn't simply give up and hide from my problems." Lelouch continued on,
his voice suddenly taking on a sharp steely edge. "And that's why I don't believe in luck, or destiny
or whatever you wish to call it. If I did, then it should have been my destiny to die in Japan when
Britannia invaded. Instead I challenged destiny and the world that believes in it, time and time
again leading me back to my homeland with vengeance in hand and the royal crown on my head."
His expression was fixed in a determined glare, hold Cinder spellbound as he spoke. "Though my
greatest strike against destiny was last year, on the day I killed my brother, Clovis."

For someone as clever as Cinder, it wasn't difficult to put together what he was talking about from
that single sentence alone though she found it hard to accept. Everyone knew of Prince Clovis's end
in Area 11 last year - not that she was shedding any tears over it of course - but it was what came
with him that kept Cinder and many others captive afterwards that was shaking her to the core.
Suddenly she found herself shaking, because if she was correct, the emperor had just admitted to
being Britannia's greatest enemy since Napoleon Bonaparte himself.

"You're...you're really...?" She couldn't finish the sentence, it was just too unbelievable.

Lelouch however just nodded. "Yes, Miss Cinder. I am Zero." Then he frowned a moment before
saying, "Or rather, I was."

Hearing him admit it did little to lower the shock of what she was hearing. In the end, all Cinder
could utter was a simple "Why?"

Her question was enough to sharpen his focus again however as whatever thoughts were on
Lelouch's mind suddenly vanished and his full attention returned to her. "Because I wanted it." He
answered truthfully, "And because someone had to do it. It just so happened to be me. But enough
about me, there's something I would like to ask you."

Before Cinder knew what was going on, Lelouch had placed his fingers over his eyes and plucked
out a pair of contact lenses. She didn't have time to wonder about that though as she was soon
entranced by the words. "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you!"
"Answer all my questions!" Lelouch commanded with his Geass.

A second passed, and then the red circles appeared around Cinder's irises. "What does your
Majesty wish to know?" She asked him, devoid of all emotion.

Smiling at the successful use, he didn't waste time asking her his questions. "What is it you want in
life?"

"To be strong." She answered, "I want to be powerful. So powerful that the nobles who murdered
my mother and then forgot about her will tremble in fear when they hear my name."

A rather basic answer, but one that he could easily use. Now onto the second question. "What are
you prepared to do to achieve what you desire?" Lelouch asked her, though he suspected he already
knew the answer.

"Everything."

Perfect, just the kind of person he could use. Satisfied with her answers, Lelouch broke eye contact,
ending his Geass's power over Cinder. For a moment she just stared directly ahead, but then she
blinked and the red rings vanished. "Did I say something?" She asked him.

"Yes, actually you told me something interesting." He replied whilst replacing his lenses.
"Jeremiah, would you refresh our guest's memory please?"

His loyal knight, who had remained hidden throughout their game and subsequent conversation
didn't hesitate to carry out his master's wishes. The eye around his orange face mask opened,
activating his Geass Cancellor and once again leaving Cinder dazed for a couple of seconds.

Then her eyes widened as the missing memories returned to her and she stared at him in
astonishment. "My apologies, Miss Cinder, but I had to be sure of your motivations."

"What was that?" He could clearly hear the fear in her question...and yet interestingly there was
also curiosity in her tone. Intriguing.

Still she had asked, and Lelouch would answer, "That was my power; Geass. The Power of the
King. In me it takes the form of absolute obedience."

"Geass? Absolute obedience?" Impressive, rather than running for the hills Cinder only sounded all
the more interested. Then a moment passed and she frowned at him. "Wait. Why have you told me
about all of this. You've admitted to being Zero, as well as helping me cheat my way to victory,
and now you show me this secret power of yours. If the people found out about this..."

But Lelouch just snorted, "Do you really think anyone would believe such a far fetched tale?" He
asked her point blank, and he could see immediately that she agreed with him on that. "Besides I
doubt you'd tell anyone anyway..." and now his smile turned perfectly evil, "not when I'm offering
you to join me."

"And why would I do that?" She asked back, though her desire was clearly there. Well then, time to
sell it to her.

"Because in my services I can give you what you've always craved: Power! Enough power to send
every high born noble scurrying from the mere sight of you." Oh she was definitely interested, now
for the true selling point. "And if that's not enough, I offer you the chance to use your power to take
vengeance against them all. Think of it: all those who ignored your pain, those who abandoned you
- as they abandoned me - brought to your heel."

He knew the moment he had her only a second before she did. That very second later, Cinder Fall
stood from her chair and once again went down on her knees, uttering the words he'd sought to get
from her. "Your Majesty! I am yours to command. Use me as you see fit."

Lelouch stared down at her for a moment before rising from the headmaster's chair and walking
back around the desk to stand before her. "Then rise, my vengeful Q-2. There are many things that
we must discuss."

Off to the side, Jeremiah Gottwald watched in silence. Yet as Cinder stood back up, bearing an
almost identical devil's grin on her face to that of his master's, the cyborg could help the feeling
that something truly terrible was about to descend upon the world.

Because now the White Emperor had a White Queen.

 The situation in the world

June 1, 2018: Special Administrated Zone of Japan, Tokyo Crater, Ikaruga bridge.

Kallen had been staring out the window for the last hour now, staring at the gaping crater that had
once been the Tokyo Settlement. It was filling with water now thanks to the heavy downpour that
was still coming down even now. It was a dismal sight, which summed up her own feelings about
everything she and her friends had done in the last month or so. Right now involved one of those
very actions, the entire command staff of the Order of the Black Knights, including General
Commander Li Xingke, had gathered on the bridge, awaiting the return of Kaguya Sumeragi from
her talks with the Britannian ambassador.

In the aftermath of the Second Battle of the Tokyo Settlement, things had been all over the place,
so much so that the free Japan Oghi had ensured everyone Prince Schneizel had promised them all
had been put on the back burner. First that flash rebellion of the emperor's personal guard (Kallen
had a sneaking suspicion of how that got started), the Schneizel disappeared taking Diethard with
him, not to mention the huge damage done to the Settlement itself after the F.L.E.I.J.A. was used.

And then the real blow came when, only two weeks ago, Lelouch reappeared on the scene but now
as the emperor of the nation he'd created the Black Knights to fight! Amidst all that confusion, it
was a miracle that anyone had found time to think about Schneizel's promise. And now with him
declared a traitor, that promise was starting to look like a far off dream.

In which case, we betrayed Lelouch for nothing. She thought to herself spitefully, glaring at her
own reflection. Why the hell didn't she do something?!

"Ah! Why the hell are we even talking to them?!" Tamaki, ever the eloquent gentleman, barked at
last, "I mean, Japan's ours now. Schneizel said so!"

"Relax, Tamaki." Oghi tried to calm him, his new girlfriend Viletta - whom Kallen had disliked
from the moment she found out about them - coming up behind him. "We just have to wait. We
gave them Lelouch, this is just a formality now. I'm sure of it."

Yeah, we gave Schneizel the man who gave the Black Knights a fighting chance on the pretext of
pretty words. Kallen so desperately wanted to snipe at her old friend, however, it would break her
policy of not talking to him ever again that she currently had going on.

However, it appeared that her opinion was in the minority as everyone else nodded at Oghi's
words, each of them assured that what they'd done would give them what they wanted. So it was a
sea of expectant faces that greeted Kaguya when she finally stepped on to the bridge, all of them
waiting to hear the good news. Kallen however saw the tired look in her eyes, as well as the ashen
faced stare and guessed the answer that was coming before she said it.

"So?" General Tohdoh prompted.

Lady Sumeragi closed her eyes for a moment which she let drag on for a few seconds and then
finally spoke. "Japan...is still a Britannian territory."

The lightning strike outside could not have been better timed to capture the horrified and betrayed
looks on each and every one of the command staff's faces. All save for Li Xingke whose sovereign
nation was still well and truly safe under the banner of the UFN.
"HOW?!" Nagisa Chiba demanded angrily. "We had a deal! We give them Zero, they give us
Japan!"

From her spot, Kallen snorted at the brunette bitch. She'd wanted to get rid of Lelouch almost from
the very moment the Four Holy Swords had become part of the Black Knights, she didn't even
notice the slip into calling him that name that no one present dared to call him anymore.

"How dare they?!" Oghi shouted furiously, "Prince Schneizel promised us!"

"I brought up everything you're all probably thinking to the ambassador." Kaguya told them, still
sounding as tired as she looked. "But then you never actually gave them Lelouch, did you now
General Secretary?" Her pointed look caused him, as well as the other conspirators, to wince and
look away, though Chiba just continued to fume. "And as for Prince Schneizel, well their response
was two-fold: First, as he's been declared a traitor, any and all dealings with Schneizel el Britannia
have been declared suspect. Second, it's doubtful he ever had the power to grant our wish in the
first place."

"WHAT?!"

The young politician just nodded, disappointment in the situation radiant on her still childish
features. "The only one who could have declared an Area independent, I'm told, is the emperor."
Absolute silence reigned as that fact sank in for everyone. "And we all know who that is now, don't
we?"

Oh god...kami-sama...Kallen almost felt like laughing. But not a happy laugh, not an 'I told you so,
look how stupid you've all been' laugh. No, it was something more akin to the one she'd heard
Lelouch let out when they'd first discovered Suzaku - someone they both considered a friend at the
time - was the pilot of the Lancelot. Laughing because she had to, because of the insanity of the
situation...because if she didn't laugh she'd burst into tears at the realisation of what she'd helped
these bastards do.

But in the end she did nothing and just bottled it all up, much like she'd been doing of everything
else lately. The last thing anyone needed was an unstable ace.

"That bastard!" Chiba snarled, "This is him messing with us isn't it?! He makes all the Areas
'Special Zones' and everyone jumps into his lap!"

"But hey, hang on!" Tamaki spoke up, confused as ever. "That's good isn't it? Everyone's Japanese
again now, right? We've gotten what we wanted!"

"No. We haven't." Todoh stated. "All that's happened is they changed the name of our prison.
We're still under the power of Britannia, they're just going about it in a far more foul way than they
were before."

"Lelouch, that bastard." Oghi muttered angrily, "He's made a mockery of our hopes and dreams
again!"

None of them noticed the glare Kallen sent their ways. The fact of the matter was this was the end
result of them being played by Schneizel, not Lelouch, and if the victim of their own stupidity now
saw fit to chain them down far be it for her to stop him. As far as she saw it, this was nothing more
than they deserved; at least he wasn't imposing any sorts of segregation on the Japanese.

"Silence!" The fierce voice of Li Xingke brought all the bickering and finger pointing to an end,
and all attention fell to him. "I understand this response isn't what you hoped for, but Lady Kaguya
has yet to finish her report." He fixed them all with a sharp glare that refused to tolerate anymore
outbursts, "So please, calm yourselves and listen to what she has to say." While no one appeared
pleased with his words, no one spoke up to question them either, so he turned his attention back to
their UFN representative. "Please continue."

Kaguya forced herself to smile at his attempts to ease her situation, appreciating he attempt he was
making despite this really not being his problem. Taking a breath she returned her attention to the
command staff. "Japan is still a Britannian territory...but their situation is currently no better than
our own."

"What exactly do you mean?" asked Todoh, voicing the interested and confused thoughts of the
rest of the listeners, even Kallen perked up in curiosity at this new piece of information.

The young politician wasn't long in explaining. "After the...conclusion of the battle," she shied
away from mentioning that monstrous weapon, everyone sharing a grim look at the reminder,
"most of the city was wiped out, including many of the hospitals. Those that were left were
overcrowded within hours of the event, to the extent that relief efforts are still struggling to help
everyone."

"Meaning," Kallen spoke up for the first time today, her new silent attitude resulting in everyone
almost jumping having forgotten she was even there, "that right now, the last thing they're
interested in is fighting." She may not be a tactical genius like Lelouch and Xingke, but that didn't
mean she couldn't read the current moods of people. The Black Knights weren't any different after
seeing the destruction a single F.L.E.I.J.A. could cause, add on Diethard's final broadcast that Zero
had died in the blast and no one wanted to go anywhere near even a Britannian footsoldier right
now.

The silent pondering came to an end with Tamaki asking the question they all wanted the answer
to. "So what do we do now?"

"Well," Minami suggested, "if we had enough troops, we could try another attack. They're not
exactly in any shape to retaliate."

"Unfortunately, we don't have enough for such an undertaking." Todoh replied coolly, his insulted
glare saying exactly what he thought of such a strategy.

A similar glare was found on Kaguya as she sharply continued on from the general, "We will most
certainly not be attacking." Her angered tone brought everyone's attention - some surprised, others
absolutely disbelieving - back to her. "Right now those hospitals are treating both Japanese and
Britannian civilians equally, whilst the army is occupied with excavation work. Launching an
attack will only serve to harm our goal."

"But it's our best chance!" Oghi insisted. "If we move now we'll be able to take Britannia
completely by surprise!"

"And in doing so we would lose all honour." Todoh snapped angrily. "There is no justice to be
found attacking a wounded enemy, especially when they're working to save many of our own
people!"

"But still-!"

"It's not all bad." Kaguya went on as if no one had spoken, "As part of our current agreement,
we've been given permission to aide in the search and rescue operations." Once more everyone was
struck silent by the latest surprise handed out by the UFN's chairwoman. "As it stands, Tokyo has
been divided in half; one half to remain under Britannian governance, the other under the
Federation."

"Why?" Tamaki asked yet again, not that Kallen was any better. As far as Britannia went this was
down right charitable, what did they get out of letting the UFN have any say in the recovery
operations?

"Because they're feeling the pressure," Xingke explained for them all. "They don't have enough
people out there, and with us on their territory they would be able to cut down the time on their
own recovery work. Correct?" He glanced down at Kaguya, who nodded at his summary. "But
that still doesn't explain why Britannian would even consider giving us that much."

"As I understand it," she started, glancing around at everyone present as if she knew this next bit
was going to set them all off, "the orders came directly from Emperor Lelouch himself." And as
predicted almost everyone started shouting and demanding again.

Only Rakshata, Kallen and Xingke remained silent though for differing reasons. The Indian
engineer just continued to lounge in her sofa, virtually unmoved by the drama, whilst Kallen was
shocked to her core - Lelouch gave them Tokyo, not all of it but enough to get started with - why?
After what they did...

As for Xingke his silence conveyed his disapproval on how the command staff was conducting
itself through his scowl. A moment more and then he shouted once more for silence. Once they
had all shut up, he nodded to Kaguya. She returned his nod and continued. "The Britannian
ambassador said it was the emperor's wish that as much of the city be saved, civilians - Britannian
and Japanese alike - taking priority. This has already been taken up with the rest of the Federation
so right now we're under an official ceasefire with Britannia."

"In short, his majesty went over all our heads and talked to the real people in charge." Rakshata
summed up, chuckling a little.

"Regardless of how he did it." Kaguya went on, "It means the UFN can safely begin the
construction of an embassy without worry of attack."

That was all well and good, but it had brought up something Kallen hadn't had any real time to
think about...and that just made her all the more ashamed it too this to make her think about it.
"What part of the city does the UFN control?"

"Well there hasn't been an official draw up yet," Kaguya admitted, "but we would probably be
given the western half while Britannia holds the east."

"I see." She dropped quiet for a moment as she thought it over. They'd admitted her into one of the
smaller hospitals that looked the other way, but that had been on the eastern side of town. Which
meant if she...no she had survived, Kallen wasn't about to give up until every last ward had been
searched. Which led to her next question. "What would we have have to do to get into the
Britannian occupied half?"

"We would need to get permission from their foreign office." Kaguya explained, "The side effect of
splitting the city between us is that the western half is now technically Federation soil bordering on
Britannian territory. You wouldn't be able to enter their half without a special permit."

"Bullshit!" Tamaki yelled angrily, "You mean if I wanna see my girlfriend I gotta get the O.K.
from the Brits?!"
His petulance was cut off by a mocking laugh from Rakshata, "As if you have a girl to see."
However, her smile drifted away as the implications of his statement became clear. "But he does
raise a point."

"Maybe so." Kaguya allowed, however the stern tone in her young voice brooked no further
argument. "However, for the time being the Federation has agreed to comply with Emperor
Lelouch's compromise."

"Then..." Kallen began, knowing that the more she said the more unwelcome looks she was getting
from the people around her, "I need to get a pass to at least visit the hospitals." Recognition
immediately flared up on Oghi and Minami's faces but she just continued to ignore them and
focussed directly on the young chairwoman.

The girl remained silent for a moment, before giving her a small smiling and nodding. "I'll speak to
the ambassador about it. No promises, but if you're doing what I think you're doing I doubt we'll
have too much trouble."

Allowing the small possibility over no chance at all, Kallen allowed herself to smile back at
Kaguya before moving away from the window and taking her leave. She may not be allowed to go
yet, but it was only a matter of time. It was hard to believe but for once she was actually looking
forward to becoming Kallen Statfeldt again.

Aside from a few more minor issues that didn't effect all that much, the meeting didn't last long
after that and everyone filed out of the bridge in varying degrees of disappointment and exhaustion.
As they were all leaving, Tohdoh made a point to catch Xingke's eye and indicate that there was
still a matter he wished to discuss with the Chinese tactician. The chairwoman probably wouldn't
approve of this conversation, but someone needed to bring it up and he had a feeling the
Commander General was of a similar mind on the subject. He'd know soon enough once everyone
else had left, leaving the two military leaders together.

It was Xingke who began in a hard tone. "This situation couldn't be worse." He stated, scowling.
"The man who united us is now the leader of our enemy, and instead of launching an assault he
halts all aggressive acts on all theatres of war. From a political standpoint he's made himself appear
the opposite of Charles zi Britannia."

"But tactically speaking, it's concerning at least." Tohdoh continued on, grimly relieved that his
colleague was of the same mind as himself. "He has time to overlook his forces and reorder them in
a way that satisfies him. So if he wanted to launch an assault..."

"Then Japan is easily the weak link." Xingke agreed, "The Black Knights are weak right now, and
after what happened here the UFN won't back a fight against a nation that can destroy cities with
the push of a button."

"It's the worst possible situation." The general growled, slamming a fist against one of the large
windows. "Zero...no, Lelouch knows all about our security systems as well as our limitations. He
wouldn't even need F.L.E.I.J.A. to defeat us." He stopped a moment, taking a deep breath before
stating what they were both thinking. "We need allies. People he doesn't know."

"I agree," Xingke nodded, though his uncertain frown let the general know his worries about that
prospect. "The problem is where would we find them? The EU have rejected all our attempts to
approach them." He snorted in disdain, the hand on his sword tightening. "I'm sure that they think
the new emperor is a weakling who can be easily defeated."
"Which will be their undoing." Tohdoh followed up. "They don't know what he's capable of. Never
mind that they don't stand a chance against Britannia as it is, with Lelouch in command the EU will
be reduced to nothing but a word on paper!"

His superior nodded at the grim summation, "Exactly. The EU is in its last days, which means we
need to use them as best we can. We need to train new soldiers and rebuild our arsenal."

"We'll need more than that." Tohdoh cautioned him, "We need minds that can think on his level,
people who can manipulate the battlefield to their whims if we hope to have a chance."

"Hmm..." Xingke nodded, glancing out the window himself at the rain that had yet to let up, a
considerate thought on his face. A moment later he turned back. "Have you heard of the group
called 'Piece Mark?'" Tohdoh shook his head, "They're a small group that has connections with
numerous resistance movements all over the world. It was through them that your Six Houses of
Kyoto were able to acquire Rakshata Chawla and her Guren."

"I see." Tohdoh responded, though inside he was somewhat shocked. He'd thought that Kyoto
House had been their sole backer, to learn that even they had been receiving outside help put in
perspective just how many enemies Britannia had made over the years. What a force they might
have been if they all united. "You wish to contact them?"

"Yes."

"And Schneizel? What's our stance on him?" He hadn't wanted to bring up that particular individual
but as it stood 'the enemy of my enemy' could be their only option, regardless of how distasteful it
might be.

It was a feeling Xingke shared with him as he responded. "Well right now we don't even know
where he is, let alone how to contact him. And even if we could," his face twisted into a scowl as
his gaze fell back to the giant crater "I doubt it would be a choice our people would ever forgive us
for."

"Let them be alive at the very least to hate us then." Tohdoh stated, his own gaze finding its way to
the heavy storm still raging outside, thunder rumbling in the distance to the east. "Because make no
mistake, Li, war is coming. And this time, it's us who face the wrath of Zero."

Britannian Occupied Tokyo

Even now over a month after the fact, the sector of the Tokyo Settlement that had once been the
business district was in complete disarray. Whilst the F.L.E.I.J.A. crater was the most obvious sign
of destruction it was far from the only site of recovery teams, the heavy bombing and wide shots
from knightmares on both sides had left huge pot holes in the ground where buildings had once
stood. And then there was the fact that the transport systems were still out of commission
following Zero's initial attack on the Settlement, making certain crucial areas inaccessible which
added on to the difficulties people were already facing thanks to the crater itself cutting off
potential supply routes.

However it wasn't all bad news, in fact Britannian rescue teams had already finished the clearing
away of wreckage in just a few days and now the place was swarming with medical personnel.
What hospitals had survived the devastation were of high class and competence and so more
patients survived than not, however the number of incoming patients itself served to stifle what
progress could be made. Even now the corridors of every medical facility were swamped with
injured civilians.
Suggestions had been made by the management of some hospitals to institute a triage but the
doctors themselves refused to go through with it, even at the risk of losing their licence to practise
medicine. The reasoning was clear: if triage was instituted the certain patients would get preference
over those who should get it now - in other words, Britannians over the once again Japanese. After
seeing what their military had done, no one who called themselves a doctor was in a mood to talk
about Britannian superiority right now.

One hospital in particular that didn't get the recommendation for triage was a small institution
lucky enough to not be caught in the F.L.E.I.J.A. though it had certainly been a close call. Here the
staff worked around the clock to help every patient they could, regardless of backgrounds, though
the small scale meant that they felt the limitations of treating so many people much earlier than the
larger hospitals. In one ward, it could be expected to find maybe twenty people either lying on the
beds or resting as best they could on the floor, futons having been provided where they could be.

Within one such setting, a patient who was lucky enough to get a bed suddenly shot up in alarm.
She immediately regretted it as every nerve in her body suddenly blazed causing her immense pain
and forcing her back down. When the stinging died down she opened her eyes again, taking a
moment to observe her surroundings. The room was small, though packed full of people on the
floor doing their best to sleep through their own pain, the overhead lights turned off adding to the
gloomy backdrop of the heavy storm outside. Only one other occupant was awake directly across
from her, reading to pass the time.

When she heard her roommate awaken, however, she placed her book down and granted her a
weak smile. "You've finally woken up." She said simply, "I'm sure you have many questions. The
doctors are busy right now, but if I can be of any help...?"

The patient didn't waste any time asking. "Where am I?"

"Tokyo." Her neighbour replied immediately. "Or what's left of it anyway. You were found just
outside the huge crater that horrific weapon made, amazingly you didn't break any bones but all the
same you've been in a coma for the last month and a half."

A month and a half? That was how long she was out for?! Fear now gripped her, enough that this
time she didn't even feel the pain as she pulled herself back up. "What about the battle?!" She
urgently asked. "Who won?"

But the woman shook her head. "No one really. They called a ceasefire after that weapon was used.
Although," an uncertain frown now clouded over her features as she went on, "it was announced
that Zero was injured and later succumbed to his wounds."

Zero was...her master was dead? No. Not him too! I've already lost one of them, how could he have
also...? She slouched forward as an overcoming wave of failure threatened to force her into
submission, the pain once again being secondary to what she was now feeling in her heart. The
idea that she would never see them again, no more days standing in pleasant vigil over her young
mistress, never again to watch her brilliant master work his magic on the battlefield...tears soon
began to drop down her cheeks, the thought to dreadful to behold.

The bearer of these sad tidings remained respectfully silent for a time before continuing. "I'm sorry.
Were you one of Zero's supporters?" She received no answer but then it was unlikely she expected
one and so she continued. "Well if I was him, I would hopefully be happy with the direction
Britannia's new emperor is taking."

That brought the distraught woman up short and she returned eye contact to the other. "What new
emperor?"
"A fine young man," the other patient explained before laughing lightly "a bit over-dramatic but
children that age do like to show off. Lelouch vi Britannia."

The woman's tear-streaked eyes went wide at the mention of that name. He's the emperor now? But
they announced that Zero had died. Why would the Black Knights announce such a thing
unless...? And then suddenly her sadness was overcome by anger that fought to break through her
now impassive face. Those ungrateful traitors! How dare they?!

And yet he'd still managed to become emperor all on his own, and she had a funny feeling she
knew how. "Let me guess," she asked her new friend, "he killed Charles zi Britannia and installed
himself as emperor with the full backing of the royal family, yes?"

She allowed herself a small smile as the woman in front of her blinked. "Y-yes. That's exactly right.
How did you know that?"

"Like I said, just a guess." She smiled, before blinking herself and realising her rudeness up to this
point. "Oh, please forgive me. I haven't even asked your name."

The woman smiled back at her, waving it off. "It's no trouble," she assured, "you were concerned
for your people, I can understand that. And it's Ayano. Ayano Kozuki."

Kozuki? It would be one big coincidence but she had to ask. "You wouldn't know a Kallen Kozuki,
would you?"

Ayano nodded, though looking a bit troubled at the name being mentioned. "My daughter. How do
you know of her?"

"It's pretty hard not to know the name of the Black Knights' famed ace pilot." She immediately
responded, the lie coming easy to her lips.

To that Ayano just nodded, though the little 'hmm' she added made the woman feel as if she didn't
quite believe the answer. "And what is your name?"

For a moment the woman hesitated, considering for a moment the dangers of revealing her identity
to someone even slightly connected to those traitors even if it was only through family. But then
she recalled right now her master was probably far safer now than at any time during his life in
Japan. And if the Black Knights did come for her she would make sure they regretted it.

"My name is Sayoko Shinozaki."

Ayano smiled at the introduction and gave her a polite bow, "Pleased to meet you Sayoko."

"And you, Ayano." She returned the gesture. "I'm sure there's a lot more that's happened than just
what you've already told me. Would you please fill in the rest of the blanks?" The more she knew,
the faster she could become of use to Master Lelouch. She would not make the same mistake she
did at the government building. Damn Schneizel to hell!

Her internal preparations went unnoticed by Ayano as she simply nodded and told her. "I'll do my
best, though I'm sure there's a lot I don't know."

"Just what you do know for now will be enough." Sayoko replied, before a small pained groan to
her side made her glance over at the bed immediately to her left. In it lay an admittedly handsome
looking man of Britannian heritage with long black hair that would usually be tied back in a pony
tail. On the table beside him lay a pair of glass spectacles that Sayoko was sure looked familiar but
for the life of her couldn't place. "Who is he?"
"I don't know." Ayano replied, shrugging lightly. "He was brought in the same time you were."

That served to close that topic and the two women immediately sparked up a conversation, mostly
Sayoko grilling Ayano for everything she knew and Ayano filling her in on all the amazing
reforms that her master had managed to enact and enforce in Britannia over the last month. The
more she heard, the prouder Sayoko became; even now, Master Lelouch was striving to create
Mistress Nunnally's gentle world.

Both of them were so caught up in their own conversation that they didn't notice the third
individual briefly regain consciousness, only to utter two words that made up a name and his
devotion.

"Princess...Cornelia."

Europia United, Praha.

For the last month the remaining nations of the EU had made their preparations for war. Despite
their dismal situation hopes were unusually high, though this was a typical attitude of many
European peoples, especially in hard times such as these. Many called their area of the world the
'Old Country' where history had moved on from, but to Europeans this just meant that they'd lasted
the longest, had proved their ability to weather any challenge and would do so again this time when
the tyrannical Britannia once again came to take what wasn't theirs.

It was definitely a sentiment that many of the soldiers shared at the very least, all their hopes
pinned on this new strategy that their commanders had thought up. Numerically speaking they had
the upper hand, although those numbers paled in comparison to the old Chinese Federation their
statistics put them at three Europeans for every one Britannian. However Britannia's technology
made up for the lacking man power and so the EU had learned that to win they had to fight smart.

This reliance on smart thinking was what put one General Gene Smilas in command of the new
campaign to drive Britannia off of European soil. This night, he could be found in Praha's military
base which he had set up as his base of operations.

Oh what a glorious eve, he couldn't help thinking to himself, a smile of anticipation on his lips as
he looked over his notes. Unlike many of his colleagues who feared a renewed war with Britannia,
the general saw it as a perfect opening for him to achieve his own goals. Those old fossils who'd
forgotten how to fight and the suits who'd never fought for a single thing in their lives would stand
no chance against him when he made his bid for power. And by looking the hero who had thrown
out the aggressive Britannian invaders he would have the backing of the people as well.

But before that he had work to do, one task in particular being the seeking and acquiring allies
outside of the EU. Which was what he was doing right now with the individual whose face was
displayed on the screen directly in front of him. "So we have a deal?" He asked.

"But of course." His new ally replied, a genial smile on his lips that every politician knew not to
trust. "I'm certain the coordinates I've provided you match the locations of several of Britannia's
more precious military bases."

"It surprises me that Emperor Lelouch didn't move them." The general noted.

"Even Lelouch can't move an entire military base on a whim." The caller replied easily, "Besides he
has other concerns. I know from experience that running that empire is a difficult and delicate
affair. Not to mention he is still far too young for the role he's cast himself."
Smilas snorted, "Heh, you're right about that. The EU isn't anywhere near as big and yet we have at
least six representatives for one member state and that boy thinks he can run an empire over six
times our size?" He laughed heartily at such a preposterous notion. As far as he was concerned
Lelouch was a sideshow, the boy may have somehow tricked his father into being stupid enough to
get killed by him but there was no way the boy knew the first thing about true warfare. "It doesn't
matter in the end. With this new plan and the reinforcements, that kid will soon learn not to butt in
on adult affairs!"

"You should not hurry this along, General." A third voice spoke up amongst his allies who'd joined
him for this conference. "Emperor Lelouch has more secrets than he lets on." The voice belonged
to a figure dressed in a mismatched black and white suit and cape of Britannian design, his white
hair was the only thing visible of his head as he hid the rest of it behind an imposing black and red
mask. The figure then turned his head so the blue 'eyes' of the mask faced their faraway
conspirator. "And I believe you know some of them."

"Wizard!" Smilas snapped at him. "This man is now our ally! In the wars he brought untold havoc
to the EU, so you will show him the respect he is due!"

"Indeed you'd better." Another figure spoke up threateningly from the darkness. "In the old days,
showing disrespect to the rightful heir to the throne resulted in certain death." His piece said he
stepped forward so he was directly before the screen and went down on his knee. "General Johann
Schwarzer is ready to do whatever you wish, please wield me as your sword," his head lifted up to
look the man in the eye, "Prince Schneizel, true Emperor of Britannia."

The so named former prince smiled lightly at him before waving slightly at him to rise. "It
gladdens me to see that not all of Britannia's military minds have been lost, General Schwarzer."
He stated. "I hesitate to ask, but the rest of the Glinda Knights?"

"Traitors, every last one of them." The former Britannian general spat, scowling at the mention of
his former comrades as he rose back to his feet. "Unlike those simpering fools however I am a true
Britannian and I will not stand for this boy playing at king and ruining everything we are!"

"And your former commander?" Schneizel asked calmly, "My sister Marrybell?"

"Lost to us." Schwarzer growled. "One meeting with the boy and suddenly she's his number one
fan when before she couldn't be sure if she even liked him!" He sniffed at the memory in
annoyance before moving on. "But that can be saved for a later date, your Highness. For now, I
have the new Knightmares you asked me to deliver. With these new weapons and the plan you
devised we will utterly crush Lelouch and this weak Britannia he's created!"

"Your enthusiasm humbles me, General." The prince replied, "However, I believe it would be safe
to send you two of my Knights of the Round."

"I would be happy for the assistance-" To everyone it appeared as if he'd simply tripped on his
words. What they didn't know was that Schneizel had just triggered a latent command that forced
him now to ask, "Your Highness, I would also like to know where you are currently residing.
Surely it would be safer and more productive for all if we knew where to send resources should
you need them."

Schneizel smiled smoothly before lowering his head. "I apologise, General, but for the time being
that information must remain confidential." He explained before his eyes darted amongst the
gathered conspirators in Smilas's office. "After all, what if some here still held resentment towards
me?" He asked, his eyes finally resting on Wizard who crossed his arms and glared right back at
him.
"Gentlemen please," Smilas stepped in, attempting to smooth out the situation, "we are here in
common purpose: the enemy that none of us can defeat alone. For now let us focus on Emperor
Lelouch as we should be." It was the 'for now' of that sentence that he knew everyone in this room,
himself included, was focussing on. But that could wait...for now.

"So, General Schwarzer." He turned back to the former Glinda Knight. "Those machines you
brought with you, they are all new generation models?"

The traitor general nodded. "Yes, Vincents, most of them have float systems installed but we do
have some land only variants in case of unforeseen incidents. They should more than suffice for
our attacks."

"Blitzkriegs." Wizard corrected, to which the general just rolled his eyes, "But I'm still uncertain as
to whether this will work. Surely we can spare some time to mass produce a few more float
systems to ensure extraction for all units?"

"That should not be a concern." Schneizel spoke up "I'm sure the resources General Schwarzer
delivered to you will be enough.

Heh, Smilas kept himself from snorting. He just doesn't want us to get our hands on one of their
fancy flying machines.

"Anyway." The former prince continued, switching his attention to Smilas himself, "Doesn't the
EU have their own advanced Knightmare models? I hear from one of my knights that they're quite
formidable."

"Yes, the Alexander series." The European general answered, "We'll have them brought in as well."

"I see," Schneizel replied simply before nodding and granting them all a blank smile. "Well then
gentlemen, I believe it is time for us to say goodbye for now." And without further ado his
connection ended and the screen went blank.

A moment later, Schwarzer pushed himself off the wall he'd been leaning on and made for the
door, "I must prepare as well." He said simply before leaving.

That left just Wizard and Smilas together. Once he was sure they were alone, the masked man
turned to face the general. "Do you really think we can trust them?"

Smilas's look in response to that question was if he'd been asked if the moon was made of cheese
before he let out a disdainful snort. "Oh heavens no! This is Schneizel we're talking about." And
then he sighed. "However, what I said before was true as well. None of us on our own, not even
him, can defeat Britannia. So for now we're saddled with him and that idiot he sent us."

For a moment silence reigned again before he broke it, the concern now clear on his face. "Has she
said anything?"

"The Dimensional Supervisor," Wizard stated more than asked. "No, she's been silent ever since
she detected the change with our Thought Elevator. All she says is that she'll find something soon."

It wasn't the news the general had wanted to hear but to be fair he hadn't been expecting much; he'd
been asking the same question every day since DS had informed them of the weakening of her
Geass, and every time it was the same answer. Why should today be any different? Sighing, he
nodded before waving Wizard off. "You had best be getting ready too."

"Yes." The odd man said, standing from his chair and heading for the door. "Our first Blitzkrieg
begins in a few hours after all."

June 2, 2018, Paris.

It was a beautiful sunrise that greeted the skyline of Paris, city of love and former capital of France.
It had been the first country Britannia had invaded after retaking the British Isles and had reaped
the most damage. However, when they got to Paris, even the hardiest commander had been
unwilling to destroy such a city. So instead they camped outside for a few days until the French did
what they were best at and surrendered.

As such, the Parisians who were willing to work with the Britannian invaders were immediately
granted Honorary Britannian status. That didn't really mean much under Charles zi Britannia's rule,
but when Lelouch came to power it was these same Honorary Britannians who shouted down the
naysayers when the Area was reorganised into the Special Administrated Zone of France, making
the transition one of the smoothest in the former European territories.

Honestly, not a lot had changed. The buildings still stood, the birds still sang and the baker man
still baked to the bells of Notre Dame. The only difference was the addition of military outposts
throughout the city, made easier due to the rebuilding of Paris after the French Revolution. This
came in handy during Charles zi Britannia's occupation which fueled anti-Britannian sentiment in
those former French who could no longer call themselves their own nationality; whoever said the
French couldn't fight were dead wrong - it was just the soldiers - constant guerilla strikes on the
military from disenfranchised civilians necessitated the need for the creation of numerous punitive
divisions due to the damage the city received from these attacks.

This in turn paved the way for Lelouch's reforms of the military, he used the existing setup to place
in special squads of settlement units tasked with helping the new Britannian subjects, once again
French, adapt to their new society.

In one such squad was a very promising young soldier, not much older than the emperor himself.
He was a well built young man, with short blond hair and blue eyes. Despite his fair appearance he
was far from squeamish at the sight of blood, having spilt quite a bit before the new regime came
into being and ready to spill more should the time come. For King and Country.

Arthur Calhoun was his name, a private of the Britannian Settlement Corps. And right now he was
traversing the perimeter of the danger zone in his Gloucester, hunting down a group of rebels that
had been stupid enough to wander near it.

"Private Calhoun." His captain's voice came over the radio, sounding mildly cautious. "The boys
are reporting movement over here. Looks like a knightmare. Pull on back son, I think we've got
something here."

Young man that he was, Arthur obeyed the order and immediately headed towards his captain's
IFF signal. A moment later he and the rest of his squad were out on the streets of Paris again. The
odd reading had been sent to him by the captain and now the squad was closing in on it. However,
just as they were right on top of it the signal shimmered and then completely fell off the grid.

"Weird..." Arthur muttered, "it's just gone."

"Spread out." The captain ordered, "Energy readings don't just vanish, they could be cloaked."

"Y'sure, cap?" One pilot asked, even as he moved to follow the order. "Could just be a busted
generator or something?"
"Generators don't just vanish, Perez." The captain snapped back. "Now keep your eyes peeled."

"Aw this is bogus, cap!" Another spoke up, "Whatta we really doin' here? If I didn't know better I'd
say this was a bug h-"

"You shut that mouth'a yours, Hudson!" The captain snapped again, "You got so much time to talk,
maybe you can spend some of it actually looking fo-"

"Cap!" Perez called out, "Above!"

That was all the warning they got before a machine they'd never seen before descended upon his
Gloucester, the machine torn apart before he could even fire off a round. It looked humanoid
enough and was painted navy blue, but nothing about it spoke of Britannian craftmanship. Seconds
after tearing up Perez, it pointed its gun at the remaining Gloucesters.

"Yukiya," a woman's voice spoke over an open communication. "Come here. I found the brat."

"Light 'em up!" Cap yelled, firing his Gloucester's rifle but it was all for naught, the strange
machine dodged it like it was the freaking Lancelot! Things got even worse when Cap's weapon
was shot out of his machine's hands. But the attack didn't come from the one in front but from
behind

"Ah man, this is crazy man!" Hudson was yelling on his radio, firing wildly at the new machine
that just dodged and weaved around his firing pattern. "Game over, man! Game ove-!" That was as
far as he got before a second shot rang out and destroyed his Gloucester's cockpit. A third shot rang
out, this one taking out the captain's Gloucester's leg and bringing it down.

"Captain!" Arthur moved quickly, his Gloucester catching Cap's before it could rattle his superior
officer up too badly. "Sir, are you okay?"

The situation was anything but okay as yet another of the strange unknown machines rolled up
behind them, no doubt the sniper.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Cap demanded, his voice not betraying an ounce of fear which
even now Arthur was in awe of.

He was choosing to focus on that rather than the numerous other humanoid machines, following
the same design of the two navy ones except painted orange, suddenly began to fill the sky. And
with them came explosions and alarms as the Knightmares began to bomb Paris. On his radio,
Arthur was already getting calls for help from his fellow soldiers, or sometimes just the final
scream for their lives as these new monsters murdered his countrymen without warning.

And then the open line was back, this time a man's voice, probably the pilot of that other blue
machine. "It is what it looks like, my dear Britannians." He told them mockingly. "This is an
invasion!"
 Invasion, but whose?

June 2, 2018, Netherlands, Britannian Air Base.

The sun rose on a grim sight today. Using information provided by General Smilas, the military
forces of the EU had been able to pinpoint numerous strategically significant Britannian outposts
all throughout occupied Europe. This one, in particular, provided air support for landing parties
from the fleet that was hovering just on the edge of the North Sea, though more importantly, the
base was home to bombers that had been causing untold havoc on Germany's forces. Taking it out
would deal a blow to Britannia's air superiority and as such, it was a priority EU target. Thus on
this summer morning, dozens of war machines followed the morning call to surround the base,
mostly made up of Panzer-Hummels though the more humanoid Alexander series model could also
be found in the ranks.

Their commanding officer didn't waste any time and immediately opened up radio communication
with his troops. "Soldiers of Europia!" He shouted with all his lungs' might. "Today marks our first
great victory since the collapse of Euro Britannia! Do not fear death!" He encouraged, his eyes all
but bulging from his eyes with anticipation for the day's work ahead. "You who fall this day will be
remembered as heroes to the cause! We who survive however will become legends! For today
marks the day our army brought our people home!"

His impassioned speech was met with the hearty yells and screams of joy and readiness ringing
from virtually all the machines present. Now was the time! No more would Britannia have their
way!

One pilot who did not whoop at the bloody day that awaited him was a bit of an oddity considering
his nationality and the custom Gloucester he and the rest of his team piloted. When the general had
started barking, René Lauren had turned down the volume as much as he could. "Such a
loudmouth." He muttered to himself derogatorily.

"Agreed," his wingman Franz Vallo replied on their squad channel, "our old commanders were
much better at these sorts of speeches. Where's the drama, I ask you? No sharp twisty hand
motions or anything!"

"Well, that's what we get I suppose," Alan Necker, another member, commented, "I mean, we
should have expected things to be different after we went turncoat."

A fourth voice joined the conversation with a heavy sigh. "Yep, which means listening to these
lacklustre speeches is part of the package."

The pilot, Kuzan Montoban, was of course referring to how the Euro Britannian autonomous
mobile unit 'Asura Team' had defected to the EU just prior to the fall of their sovereign nation. This
had been at the behest of the team's commander Ashley Ashra who had already switched sides, an
act that initially didn't go down well with some of his team. However, when he explained to them
that their old commander Shin Hyuga had used and discarded him like so much trash, the team
quickly came around and willingly joined him in abandoning Euro Britannia to serve with their
one-time enemy.

"Well it doesn't matter that much to me." Simon Mericourt put in his opinion to the discussion, "So
long as we're all together I don't care where we are or who we serve."

"Well said," Jan Manes, the last member of their group barring their commander, agreed
wholeheartedly. "Speaking of which, where is Ashley?"

His question was quickly answered in the form of a red blur that shot right past the entire division
and took its place right where it should be: at the very front of the show. A parting gift from Unit
W-0, the Alexander unit Red Ogre, had become the new leading image of the Asura Team, a clear
sign of the changing times... a good thing its pilot wasn't all that different.

"AAAWWW YEAH!" The thrilled voice of their one and only leader Ashley Ashra shouted into
the team's radios, though the Ogre itself didn't look to be stopping any time soon. "Some action at
last! Hanging around in command rooms is just wrong!"

"Ashley!" Franz called out to him, "Don't rush on ahead!"

"Ah don't worry," their commander called back, not sounding at all concerned. "I'll make sure to
save a few for you. Now then!" Even if it was just his voice on a radio, every member of his team
could see the crazy glee on his face as he finished. "Let's show our fellow countrymen what we're
all about!"

And despite the reckless charge, his team couldn't help replying with a loud, "Yes sir!" And
charging down after him towards the unsuspecting air base.

Except for the base was far from unprepared, in fact their defences had been up long before their
lookouts reported that EU troops had started to cross into their range of fire. They had had more
than enough time to remove supplies and equipment along with all the non-essential personnel to
the safest Britannian held city long before dawn broke. Right now there were only soldiers in the
base, not a single chance of innocent blood being spilled existed. All is according to plan.

Presently, the base's commander was approached by his second in command who readily saluted.
"Status?" He asked him gruffly.

"Sir!" The soldier nodded sharply and retrieved a notebook from his pocket which he promptly
opened at the relevant page. "All relevant materials have been successfully evacuated along with
non-combatants. All remaining personnel are prepared to engage the enemy." He ran off crisply,
snapping the book shut as he finished.

It was exactly as he'd instructed, right down to the last word, yet the commander remained silent,
his gaze focussed on the line of EU machinery that was coming their way. At the head was an
unusual sight: a team of Gloucesters being led by what he could only assume was Europe's latest
model. It was exactly as he'd predicted.

His silence eventually got to his subordinate who asked the question no doubt the rest of his troops
were thinking. "Sir, if I may ask, why are we simply handing this base to them without a fight?"

"Because soldier," the commander replied, his eyes finally leaving the screen in front of him to
look the younger officer dead in the eye. "These are the commands of his majesty. His order is
absolute."

What neither knew was these were the exact words their emperor had instructed him to say.

Paris

In one moment the calm serenity of Paris had been broken by chaos and now the sky was filled
with orange and navy blue machines descending on an unsuspecting target. The orange
outnumbered the blue, giving the defending forces some idea of their command structure, but right
now the Britannian troops were busy with a much more pressing matter: Defending the city they
had managed to take without bloodshed.

It was a task that was being made harder every second they fought. Many of the troops were used
to fighting Panzers, not these agile things that seemed to defy physics. Their sheer speed was
terrifying, even to those who'd served with the former Knight of Seven and his Lancelot. There was
simply no strategy that the defenders had that could repel this new menace. And then there were
the guerillas who decided to pop up and make their lives even more difficult as if they'd been
waiting for just this opportunity.

Worst of all, Command Headquarters was gone. The explosion had rung over the ears of every
soldier wearing an earpiece or close to a radio: they were effectively on their own.

It was a particularly distressing situation for the Britannians on one street where a single unit of
this new terror - the Alexander series - was decimating everything that came at it. Unlike the other
machines of its series, this model was painted pure white, signifying it to those who were unaware
as more than just another soldier. The pilot they faced today was none other than the 'Ghost of
Hannibal.'

"Akito!" His commander, Leila Malcal, called over his machine's radio. "Data suggests that there's
another enemy unit is coming towards you. Ayano and Yukiya have already cleared the landing
zone so head to them. Ryo will join you in a few minutes."

Akito Hyuga allowed himself the smallest smile of admiration for his commander, she was
overseeing everything from W-0's CIC with the rest of the unit and that gave him more than a little
peace of mind. So long as she was looking out for them all there was no way they could lose this
battle. "Roger." He answered, "I'll deal with the enemy here and make my way to the others."

Without another word said he got his Alexander Liberte's landspinners going and launched his
machine right at the enemy Sutherland squad that had just come around the corner, just as Leila
had said there'd be. The Britannian machines didn't waste time and immediately opened fire on him
but this was hardly a concern for a pilot whose machine could transform.

Reflexively, Akito shifted the Liberte into its 'Insect Mode' and rushed them. The additional agility
it now had gave it more than enough of an edge that the older machines just couldn't land a single
bullet on his machine. To their credit, the Britannians did try to change up tactics, aiming for his
sides instead of a direct on the attack. They probably hoped that they could get him in the split
second it took the Liberte to come about and make the next jump towards them, unfortunately for
them this proved less than useless as the reaction time between the machines just didn't compare
and Akito was free to zig-zag all the way up to his enemy.

When the Liberte was close enough to do some damage, Akito quickly shifted it back into its
humanoid form and drew its katana. Before the lead Sutherland knew what was happening it had a
blade rammed right through the machine's chest and into the cockpit. The shock value of the attack
worked beautifully and Akito used it to his advantage to begin cutting up the remaining machines
before their pilots had time to recover. None escaped the slaughter.

They were barely spared a second thought once the white machine was done with them as it
immediately set off to link up with its comrades.

After a short and uneventful journey, Akito arrived at the location where his friends should have
finished securing the landing zone. What he found however was something much more amusing.
In his time with the Wyvern squad, Akito had come to recognise his friends as some of the
deadliest people he'd ever known. They'd fought against impossible odds on a daily basis, their
tasks literally being labelled as suicide missions, and had always come up on top. Hell, they'd even
tried to kill him once before. And yet...

He had to laugh at the sight of Yukiya and Ayano struggling in their Alexander units to beat one
single Gloucester - what was basically a prettied up Sutherland - armed with only a standard assault
rifle in one hand and a jousting lance in the other.

"Trouble?" He asked over a secured line, unable to hide the chuckle in his voice.

"Hey fuck you!" Ayano snapped back at him, dodging out of the way of a hail of bullets quickly
enough to glare at him. "How about you help us out here?"

She was distracted again though the Gloucester fired off another volley whilst simultaneously
evading Yukiya's covering fire and then charging forward with its lance. The result was that even
if he couldn't score a hit, the Britannian had effectively pinned down two of Wyvern squad's most
lethal killers.

"This guy really is good if he can make us hide like this," Yukiya muttered to himself on their line,
which just set off Akito again. "Hey! Don't you judge us. We're not the commander's favourite."

"Yeah, not everyone can have as kickass a machine as you, Akito!" Ayano chimed in, her
annoyance telling as it sounded like she was just shy of gnashing her teeth. "Dammit, where the
hell is Ryo?!"

No sooner had she voiced her annoyance at their missing member that a third Alexander unit burst
onto the scene. "Did someone call my name?" The boisterous voice of their friend, Ryo Sayama,
joined the conversation. Then he went silent for a moment, also regarding the situation he'd found
his comrades in, and suddenly burst out laughing. "Seriously?! You guys can't beat this ancient
piece of junk?"

He let out another laugh before also opening fire on the Gloucester, and this time the Britannian
machine wasn't quick enough to counter the attack. It managed to dodge, but it lost its assault rifle
in the process. But that didn't stop it as the pilot took the machine's lance in both hands and rushed
its new attacker head on. For his part, Ryo just stood where he was in the middle of the street until
the tip of the Gloucester's weapon was less than an inch away. Then suddenly he sprang his own
machine's arms forward and caught the lance in its hands.

"A-ha!" Ryo laughed out loud again, this time on an open channel even as the enemy pilot
continued to push all it had into his machine's attack. "Well, gotta hand it to ya, you've got balls."
He then shoved the Gloucester back a spin, almost knocking the weapon out of its hand though the
pilot quickly got it back in a firm grasp. "But balls ain't enough to beat us, brat!"

"Shut up you damn euro!" The pilot finally yelled back, and Akito felt for a moment that he could
actually feel the furious glare he must be shooting at them. "Our emperor ends the war and this is
how you ungrateful bastards repay us?! All the dead you're responsible for..." before he even
finished, the pilot had suddenly launched his Gloucester forwards again, "I GOING TO MAKE
YOU PAY!"

The outright fury of the attack caught Ryo completely by surprise and the Britannian machine
actually managed to get a hit in, striking his Alexander's shoulder and forcing him backwards. No
real damage but enough to rattle a pilot. Ryo however was far from an ordinary pilot, if anything it
just made him more insufferable. "Oi, oi! Dammit, kid calm down!"
But that all changed once he righted his machine and transformed it to Insect Mode. "Alright then
kid, you wanna play big boy games..." Ryo started, lethally pleasant, before launching his machine
into the air at the offending Gloucester, "then have a taste of this!"

His intention had been to land on the Gloucester and force it to the ground where he could then
happily take his time pulling it apart piece by piece. This plan wasn't to be though as the Britannian
pilot brought his machine's free hand up in front just in time to shove the Alexander back and away
from him. Ryo's machine fell back unscathed however it was forced to transform back before the
Gloucester could get an attack in. The Gloucester itself wasn't so lucky, while it had managed to
negate the attack, Ryo had still managed to tear the right arm off; if he tried that tactic again, the
Britannian was finished.

"Alright." Ryo muttered, "Now you're starting to get annoying, brat." His Alexander moved to rush
the Gloucester again, who stood firm in the face of certain defeat, the lance still held in its left
hand.

The next attack never came however as Akito's Liberte suddenly stepped in between them. "That's
enough Ryo, we've got work to do." He told his teammate firmly before setting his sights on the
Gloucester. "You did really good against my team, Britannian. I'm sorry it has to end like this for
you but we have a mission to complete." He then drew his machine's katana and pointed it at the
faceless aberration before him. "Nothing personal, it's just duty."

For a moment the Gloucester's pilot was silent, but then he shouted loud and true so that all of the
Wyvern squad could hear him. "And my duty as a soldier of Britannia is to protect the innocent!
Now enough talk!" The lance came forward, pointed directly at the Liberte, "Have at you,
European! All Hail Britannia! All Hail Lelouch!"

Honestly, Akito hadn't expected any other answer than that. As such he just closed his eyes and
transformed his machine into Insect Mode before rushing the enemy. The Gloucester, likely
knowing this was the end, didn't move an inch - neither to attack nor retreat - it held its post to the
very last second. But that wouldn't change its pilot's fate. The Liberte came up close, transformed
back into its humanoid mode and, like with the Sutherlands before it, Akito launched an attack
right at the machine's chest. The pilot deserved that much at least.

And at that moment everything changed.

As if it had been timed for this very event a new machine suddenly dropped out of the sky landing
in between the Gloucester and the Liberte. Akito was so taken aback by this sudden appearance
that he didn't have time to stop his attack, the blade heading straight for its chest now. However
just before the tip could meet its mark, a red protective shield suddenly burst into life around the
Knightmare's torso, stopping the Liberte in its tracks.

What the hell?! Akito didn't have time to voice it as the red shield suddenly dropped down and
immediately the newcomer's arms rose up so that they were pointed directly at him. A second later,
the armour on the bottom of the arms slid down revealing to muzzles that were already charging up
a high energy blast. Realising the danger he was suddenly in, Akito pulled the Liberte back just in
time to dodge two orbs of dark red destructive energy that soared past him and his teammates and
immediately vaporised the street behind them.

"Akito, you okay?" Ayano called out to him, her Alexander coming up on his side with Yukiya's
and Ryo's on the other.

Akito shook himself out of his shock and quickly responded to his teammate. "Yeah, I'm fine. It
just caught me off guard."
"Yeah, speaking of, what is that thing?" Ryo asked, his machine coming up to stand in front of
Akito's. "It doesn't look like any Brit weapon I've seen before."

He was right on that, the Knightmare that had come to the Gloucester's aide was completely
unknown to the team and clearly deviated from typical Britannian design. It stood at about the
same height as their machines, sporting a black and gold paint job on the main body whilst the
cockpit block on the back was painted a dark red, with four antenna spreading outwards - likely the
machine's float system. But the head was really where it was different; unlike most Britannian
machines there was no sign of a fact-sphere present, instead, there was a white mask that formed
the 'face' of the Knightmare, with four bloody red cameras glaring out of the 'eyeholes' in the mask
- two for each. And atop the machine's head was something of an ornate golden crown that
encircled it entirely with a purple orb in the centre.

"Well whatever it is," Ryo carried on after taking the whole thing in, "it's fucking awesome!"

"You got that right." Yukiya agreed, though his voice was filled with uncertain caution. "Maybe
he's a Knight of the Round?"

"Can't be," Ayano replied, her own tone equally cautious as she raised her machine's weapon to
point at the new arrival, "they were all declared traitors, remember."

"So maybe it's a new one." He suggested. "They had to be replaced sooner or later."

The black Knightmare itself had remained still all throughout this exchange, but now it turned
slightly so that it could look at the Gloucester it had protected. "Are you alright, soldier?" The
newcomer asked, on an open channel no less.

Such a blatant disregard for security had Akito raising an eyebrow, who was this guy? And why
had that voice just sent a shiver down his spine?

The Gloucester appeared just as confused as the others at this unexpected interruption because he
too had forgotten to switch frequency. "Yeah...yeah I'm okay." He replied, sounding just as
uncertain as his enemies right now.

"Huh," Ayano muttered to herself, sounding a bit more relaxed at the exchange, "maybe we're
worried over nothing. What amateur forgets to switch their comms?"

"Stow it," Akito ordered sharply before giving the black machine his full attention, raising the
Liberte's katana up in an aggressive posture. Using the open frequency he immediately demanded
everyone's - friend and foe - question. "Who are you?"

For a couple of tense seconds, there was no reply, but then their radios were filled with a cold
laugh that put the entire team on edge. That laugh was soon followed by that agonisingly familiar
voice. "Yes, that would be the first question you would ask." He stated, a level of amusement clear
in his voice. "Very well, I suppose I can grant you the courtesy."

To everyone's collective shock, the black machine knelt down on one knee, bending forward so
that the backpack was visible to the Wyvern squad. The backpack then opened at the top rather
than the back, which was the usual Britannian design, so that the pilot could stand from his
cockpit. From his position, Akito was able to make out what looked like a fully panoramic
viewscreen within that likely gave the pilot a full image of his surroundings rather than the three
monitors most standard Knightmares used.

However, all of that paled in the face of who it was that stood up from that cockpit. It was an
appearance no one had been expecting, not even the Gloucester pilot who stuttered out his shock.
"Y...Your Majesty?"

"But of course, my brave knight." Replied Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, the man himself clad in a
white and gold pilot suit resembling the ones worn by the Knights of the Round. It differed
however, as, on the black chest section where the golden sword hilt symbol of the Britannian
military would be, there was instead the red eye with golden feathered wings that had quickly
become the logo of Lelouch's regime. There was also a black belt that hung loosely around his hip
that also sported the symbol but in grey. For all that though, the Britannian Emperor simply smiled,
as if this was another day on the job for him.

It certainly wasn't normal for the Britannian he'd saved as he tried again to form a coherent
sentence. "But...but...sire, what are you doing here?!"

The emperor's smile turned to a look of surprise, almost as if he was offended at the idea that he
shouldn't be present. "Soldier, I am here to do what any real leader should." He told him firmly,
"After all, if the King does not lead how can he expect his subjects to follow? By the way," he
continued, returning to something of a nonchalant tone, "what's your name?"

"Arthur Calhoun, sire." The up till now unknown pilot answered immediately. "At your service in
any way you see fit, my emperor."

Once more, the emperor offered him a smile and then lifted an arm up, though the way he did it
made everyone watch him - something about the way he waved his arms with such dramatic poise
simply drew anyone and everyone (friend and foe) to follow them - until a single long finger
pointed into the air. "Then look skyward, Arthur. Salvation has come."

Regardless if his words had been for the Britannian pilot alone, Akito and the rest of his team also
looked up into the sky and what they saw sent a stab of fear into their hearts. From above the
clouds had appeared the shadow of a Britannian airship, and not just any one at that. Wyvern squad
immediately made it out to be the former flagship of Schneizal el Britannia, Avalon, and suddenly
Akito felt true dread.

Has the emperor made peace with him? Is the White King on board?

He didn't have any answers, nor would he receive them as, the moment the Avalon broke the cloud
barrier, dozens of white painted Vincent Wards, and for every two of them in between descended
the grey titans known as the Gareths, came pouring down upon the battle ridden streets of Paris -
right on top of what was supposed to be their landing zone. They didn't waste any time either as the
Vincents flew ahead to help out their exhausted comrades whilst the Gareths' arm-mounted hadron
cannons began spraying red death on the EU's forces.

In just one minute, the battle that had been supposed to be an easy win had just been flipped in
Britannia's favour. The Alexanders may have had the Sutherlands and Gloucesters beaten, but the
Vincents were the descendants of the dreaded Lancelot whilst the Gareths' predecessor Gawain had
proven its destructive supremacy when it had been used to nearly topple Britannia's control of
Japan only a year ago.

There was now a sense of urgency in the air and for the life of them, the pilots of Wyvern squad
didn't have a clue what to do now.

"Akito. Akito!" He was snapped out of his terror-induced awe by the nervous shout of his
commander over the radio. "What's going on out there?! We're getting reports of an airship directly
above our LZ."
"It...it's him." Akito heard Yukiya whisper, almost too quietly for the radio to catch, "The White
Emperor is in Paris."

For a moment the radio was silent, no doubt Leila and the rest of the control operators were
absorbing what they'd just been told, hell Akito himself barely believed what he was seeing before
him so he had a feeling he knew exactly what was going through their minds. The moment passed
and then Leila's voice came back through the radio, though it was clear she was trying to hide the
shake in her voice. "Say again? Akito can you confirm?"

"Confirmed." He managed, doing his best to mask his own worries at this newest revelation.
"Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia has engaged us at the LZ in a new model. It's like nothing we've
ever seen before."

"It's got this tough shield that stopped Akito right in his tracks!" Ayano supplied, "And it's got
those red Britannian death beams the Gareths use."

"And it looks awesome!" Ryo chimed in, immediately going into detail about just what it looked
like and how awesome it would be if they could capture it. Somehow though, Akito suspected that
the operators had muted him the moment he got started. It's what he'd done, after all.

"Commander." He spoke up, though not taking his eyes off the emperor who was still standing
outside of the safety of his cockpit. "What's our next move?"

He gave her a moment to think it over, as he knew she would need it. This was big. If they could
beat Lelouch here, Britannia would fall for sure. Her reply all but vindicated this summary, "If we
could take the emperor hostage, we could use him as a bargaining chip to force them to surrender."

"So we just have to capture him?" Ayano asked, her concerned tone now giving way to something
approaching eagerness. "Piece of cake."

A moment later, her Alexander's arm raised to aim its 'Judgement' LAR at the legs of the emperor's
machine. The man himself paid them no heed, simply continuing to speak into his earpiece about
something, for all intents and purposes completely vulnerable to an enemy attack. Whether it was
confidence or arrogance that led him to leave himself open, Akito didn't know but regardless,
Ayano was about to make him pay for such a blase attitude. With that, she fired her rifle with
perfect accuracy.

"R-Group 1, move up the streets and engage their frontal forces." Lelouch commanded with
pristine efficiency before glancing down again at the tactical information being sent to him from
the Shinkiro's Druid System. "P-Groups" he addressed the surviving Parisian forces, "B-Groups 1
and 2 are about to commence aerial bombardment of areas G3 to G9, take cover immediately."

"Q-2, you're straying too far out!" He quickly snapped after spotting Cinder's IFF moving up ahead
of the others, into the open. "Come back around to the Arc de Triumph, N-Group 2 be ready to
give her covering fire."

All of his commands were met with short but determined acknowledgements, and then they went to
work exactly as he'd ordered. Maybe it was bit morbid, but Lelouch had missed this, the feeling of
absolute control of the battlefield. He hadn't truly felt this exhilarated since the Black Knights had
abducted the Chinese Federation's Tianzi and ran for it, Xingke and Britannia hot on their heels.
Oh how the times had changed.

That didn't, however, take away from his anger at what the European forces had done to Paris, the
city that no one wished to harm was now on fire thanks to their sneak attack. When the Avalon had
descended it had been to an image of Hell. And Lelouch knew just who to blame. While officially
it was believed that the EU's General Gene Smilas was behind this attack, his own preparations
and informants had uncovered the true mastermind of this barbarism.

Schneizal. You gave them our weak points and sent them all in, and then just to spice it up you tried
to distract us with this. This furthers my goals towards the endgame, but I have to sacrifice my
search for you to do so...a beautifully planned strategy, nothing short of artful. However... His
calm posture was short of cracking as he once again read the data coming in from the Druid
system. Your weaponised form of empathy is absolutely intolerable.

He was distracted from his thoughts though by the Shinkiro shaking beneath him, backed up by his
pre-programmed configuration into the Absolute Defence Field suddenly going live. Huh, took
them long enough. Glancing down he noticed that the shield wall had sprung up around the
Shinkiro's left leg, the fifth location he'd calculated they'd likely target if they wanted to take him
alive. But for them to take this long still annoyed him and he let out a heavy sigh before speaking
into his earpiece one final time. "I'll be engaging the enemy myself now. Once you have completed
your assigned objectives, proceed forward at your own discretion. Force these bastards out
of our city! All Hail Britannia!"

"All Hail Lelouch!" Every soldier - Geassed and non-Geassed - immediately replied, giving him
tingles like it always did.

That taken care of, he turned to address the four machines in front of him - the Alexander series, if
his memories of that bastard Julius Kingsley were accurate - in a deceptively bored manner. "Do
you people mind? I'm in the middle of evicting your allies."

He received no response even though he'd resumed the open channel with them, probably surprised
that he was taking them so lightly after what they'd managed to achieve so far. Continuing his
nonchalant act, Lelouch shrugged and returned to his cockpit, the hatch sealing shut above him and
reactivating the panoramic screen. "Well, whatever." He continued over the radio. "This is a
battlefield after all, might as well enjoy myself whilst my people do all the real work."

"Well look at this," one of the pilots finally spoke up, sounding more than a little condescending,
"the Brit Emperor tells jokes. Hope you're that funny when you're in a cell."

"I have been told I have a strange sense of humour." He admitted to the nameless loudmouth who
was starting to remind him of Tamaki - taking him out first - still maintaining his pleasant tone.
Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the damaged Gloucester moving up to cover his left flank;
that wouldn't do at all. "Calhoun, stand down." He commanded with authority. "I'll deal with these
four myself."

"Sire, I can't do that." Calhoun replied, anger dripping from his voice. "Two of these bastards killed
my entire squad. I'm not letting them get away with that."

"All the more reason for me to avenge them, pilot." He replied, still firm in his decision. "They
were my soldiers after all."

"But Sire-!"

"Take a look at your machine!" Lelouch snapped at him, once again taking note of all the dings,
scratches and broken armour. The missing right arm was the most visible loss but it was far from
the worst the Gloucester had sustained. "If you engage them again you will die. How does that
avenge your colleagues?" He was being incredibly harsh, but experience (and C.C.'s unique brand
of a pep talk) had taught him that this was the best way to snap noble morons out of their
delusions...too bad it never seemed to work on Suzaku.

It had worked this time though, as Calhoun grudgingly replied "Yes, Your Majesty" and pulled his
Gloucester back and out of the way.

Lelouch followed his progress until the machine stopped maybe fifteen meters away. Far enough
that Calhoun wouldn't be a hindrance yet close enough that he could jump in if it looked like things
were going bad. Satisfied with that compromise, Lelouch focussed his attention on the four
Alexanders. "Well, my dance card's free. Who wants to go first?"

He half expected the loudmouth to rush him first, but instead the white one clad in purple armour
made the first move with its katana drawn. At one time, Lelouch would have been curious to know
why a Japanese man would side with the EU, leading to a lengthy conversation of his choice in
partnerships - he was well aware of how the Europeans treated the Asian groups - but after so much
wasted time on Suzaku, he found that he really didn't care. Only one thought went through his
mind as the customised Alexander came at him and it was this: Let's see how Lloyd's
improvements fare.

That thought in mind, he activated the Shinkiro's new feature, based on the Blaze Luminous but
designed with offence in mind. On the sleeves of his Knightmare's arms two new emitters had been
installed that now went active, projecting MSV particles in the form of a green blade. Using the
data provided by the Druid system, as well as his own recent Knightmare training, Lelouch
predicted the katana's path and immediately moved to intercept with his new 'Blaze Gladius.'

For a moment both machines stood locked together, both pilots pushing against each other's
weapons. But then the moment passed and the three navy blue machine suddenly rushed in to back
their leader. Seeing them come at him, Lelouch pulled back and immediately went to his keyboard
interface - now a fixed console instead of something that folded out - and brought up the ADF in
time to intercept their rifle fire.

"Dammit!" Ah, it was the loudmouth again and he was firing for all his worth in utter frustration.
"That freaking shield again! Hey, quit hiding behind that thing and fight like a man!"

Lelouch 'hmm'd' it over for a moment over the open channel, which just got the emotional one even
more annoyed at him as the increased rate of fire suggested, and then shrugged. "Okay."

The Shinkiro suddenly shot forward, the ADF vanishing just as he came in range of the unit whom
he determined belonged to Tamaki the Second, and swiped forward at him with his Blaze Gladius.
Annoyingly though, this man didn't resemble his former subordinate in Knightmare competence as
he managed to evade his attack at the last second, giving his teammates a chance to open fire on
him again.

This went on for some time, becoming almost routine: He'd charge one, they'd dodge and fire, at
which point he put up his shield. Sometimes the custom model tried to get a swipe in but that just
brought everything to a short standstill before the routine restarted itself.

"Hah!" Not-Tamaki, barked at him during one of these momentary lulls, "Is this all the great and
powerful emperor can do?! What were we ever scared of?"

"Ryo, shut it!" A woman's voice came over the comm. "We don't know what else he's holding
back."

She was right of course, and wouldn't you know it Lelouch had just decided he'd run out of
patience with these people. Pushing off of the custom unit, he again turned to face the hot headed
one. "Ryo was it?" He asked casually, deactivating his left Blaze Gladius. "You should really do
something about that mouth. It's going to get you into trouble one day."

He then demonstrated his point and activated the Shinkiro's left Hadron Blaster, firing on him
immediately. His sudden attack caught the pilot off guard, not enough that he was able to evade it
but still enough that the blast hit his machine's left arm, causing it to explode. The force of the
impact also took its toll, knocking the Alexander off-balance and tipping it over.

"Ryo!" The woman's voice called over the channel again, her machine coming up to cover her
fallen comrade along with the other Alexander and the custom unit. However the damage had
already been done; he'd wounded one of them thus splitting their focus, and the rest would move
like clockwork.

The as-yet-to-be-identified third Alexander turned to fire its rifle at him whilst the woman's unit
helped their companion up, for all the good it did them. Lelouch had already input the needed data
into the ADF before the enemy pilot ever pulled the trigger. Then he simply waited for the
Alexander's rifle to run out of ammo, forcing him to switch out magazines, after which he dropped
the shield and launched the new chest-mounted slash harkens - what Rakshata was thinking of,
sticking them in the knees, I'll never know - straight into the distracted enemy's hands, knocking
the rifle away.

Having stunned his enemy, Lelouch charged forward. The custom unit came forward to back up
his comrade but with only one of them wielding a close range weapon at the moment, Lelouch felt
he had little to be concerned about. As such he headed straight for his dazed prey first and grabbed
it by the head, immediately applying pressure to it. He noticed the custom unit come at him from
the side - fortunately for him it was from the right, his left hand was the one currently occupied -
and reactivated his Blaze Gladius, blocking the intending strike to the Shinkiro's torso.

It was at this moment though that something clicked for Lelouch that he hadn't realised he'd been
thinking about. He had the vaguest memory of a minor nuisance from his brief stint as that damned
military advisor, some minor addendum in a report that Kingsley hadn't been all that interested in;
a Knightmare team of four, all of whom were Japanese, who piloted the new Alexander series
models and had given Euro Britannia so much trouble. The infamous Wyvern squad, known to the
Britannian soldiers as...

"Hannibal's Ghost!" He said out loud, before descending into a fit of laughter, all the while his grip
on the machine in the Shinkiro's hand becoming that much tighter. "Well this is certainly a
surprise. I never thought I'd encounter you this early, I believed Leila Breisgau above this sort of
atrocity." As he spoke, the Shinkiro's fingers suddenly broke the armour of the captured unit's head
and now began to cause damage to its Brain Raid System.

"Nor did I believe," the emperor continued, his voice suddenly cold as ice "that you could be
destroyed so easily."

He barely noticed the custom unit - which he could now only conclude belonged to Akito Hyuga -
switch to long range, firing at him with its rifle. A single stroke of the keyboard interface and the
ADF once again went up. As he did so, the captured Alexander's head started to smoke, its BRS
clearly about to succumb from the pressure he was putting on it.

"Yukiya, eject!" Hyuga suddenly called out over the open channel. "We can't win this."

"What?!" Lo and behold the return of the loudmouth, who Lelouch could now identify as Ryo
Sayama. "Are you nuts, Akito?! This is a goldmine, we can't just-!"
"We're retreating!" Hyuga snapped at him, "Yukiya, eject now!"

He didn't have to wait long for his teammate - Yukiya Saruse, Lelouch mentally noted - to comply
as the oval section of the pod suddenly detached and blasted off, where it was caught by Hyuga's
unit just in time to see the Shinkiro's hand finally cut through his Alexander's head. The now
headless and lifeless machine then collapsed at its conqueror's feet at which point the Shinkiro
turned its glare on the surviving units.

"Damn..." Sayama muttered to himself as the final machine - which by the progress of elimination
made her Ayano Kosaka - pulled his up to its feet again.

"Everyone pull back," Hyuga ordered, not taking his focus off Lelouch for a second as he moved
away as quickly as possible to his teammates, his machine now also out of the fight being loaded
down with Saruse's escape pod. As one, the defeated team pulled back as quickly as possible, their
hold on what would have been a strategically critical landing zone completely lost.

As for Lelouch, he watched until they had vanished from his sight, after which he finally switched
over to a secure line and put his earpiece back on. "This is K-1 calling Avalon, LZ secured. Do you
hear me, Lloyd?"

"Loud and clear, Your Majesty~!" Came Earl Asplund's sing-song reply. "And how is my
dear Imperium treating you?"

"It's magnificent Lloyd." He told his chief engineer truthfully, before turning around to focus on
the lone spectator to his very first battle. "On a related note, I think I've found a devicer for
the Reaper."

He had to pull off his earpiece again to avoid the back-feed caused by Lloyd's happy squeal.

Private Arthur Calhoun was in shock, what he'd just played witness to was something one would
think existed only in fantasy novels; the Emperor himself had taken to field of battle and had
single-handedly fought off a squad of elite EU forces, two of which had killed his own team. To
learn that it was the feared Hannibal's Ghost he'd been fighting all this time had also been a shock,
he hadn't cared to think about who was trying to kill him but to know it was some of the EU's
best...and that His Majesty actually managed to destroy one of them...

"Sire." He spoke up once the battle was over, his Gloucester rolling up so it stood just a step
behind the Emperor's black Knightmare. "Why did you let them go? It would be safer to just
destroy them, wouldn't it?"

"Maybe so," the Emperor conceded, his machine turning to regard Arthur's own, "but truthfully
there's nowhere that they can run. This battle's already over."

Before Arthur could ask what he meant by that, his scanner suddenly picked up the arrival of ten
new IFFs designated as friendly dropping directly on their location. Looking up, his jaw almost
dropped as another new Knightmare design he didn't recognise filled his front screen.

They looked to be about the same height as His Majesty's, painted in royal purple. Their torso was
reminiscent of the former Knight of Six's Knightmare Frame, yet the backpack and float system
followed the same style as the Emperor's. Also like His Majesty's their heads stood out the most,
designed in the style of the helmets worn by the ancient Roman Centurions. A bit of a questionable
choice, considering their people's history with the Roman Empire, but maybe His Majesty thought
it ironically fitting. Flowing down their backs was a red cape, bearing the same mark as he'd seen
on the Emperor's pilot suit: a red eye with feathered wings.

Armed with red tipped spears and a V.A.R.I.S. rifle stored on the back of their hip armour, the ten
machines came to a halt just above them waiting on their Liege's orders. And His Majesty didn't
waste time with giving them.

"Centurions 6 and 7, head to the city centre and take command of our forces there, wipe out
everything that isn't one of ours. Centurions 8 through 10, head to the south of the city, ensure that
the EU understands their attack will not be tolerated. 5, link up with Sir Gottwald in the east, I
doubt he needs the help but give it anyway."

He gave his orders swiftly and without a hint of nerves, Arthur could almost feel the confidence
coming off of the man in front of him as he instructed his soldiers on their next moves. So much so
that he almost missed the Emperor identify them. "Now go, my Scarlet Guard, and mark my
enemies in your colour!"

"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!" The six he'd given orders to bellowed with all the loyalty they
possessed and immediately dispersed.

That left Arthur with the Emperor and four of his most loyal soldiers hovering around them. If the
Private was honest with himself, he was starting to feel a bit small inside of his beat up Gloucester.
He was in the presence of his nation's leader and it was in this messed up piece of junk! Honestly
he wouldn't have been surprised if His Majesty just decided then and there to disembark.

Instead though, the Emperor returned his attention to him, which put him on even more edge before
he even spoke. "Arthur Calhoun," he began, causing the pilot to let out a very unmanly 'eep' "you
have shown great courage this day, to face off against the Ghost of Hannibal and survive is no
small feat."

At that moment Arthur was really glad they were talking over the radio and not via video link, his
face reddening at His Majesty's praise was the last thing he wanted anyone to see. Still, he felt he
needed to reply. "I-I simply did what was expected of me," he replied after clearing his throat,
trying not to stutter, "to protect the innocent and aide the weak, just as Your Majesty would have
done."

"Regardless," Emperor Lelouch continued, a proud tone in his voice, "it is one thing to say and
another to do. Come, Sir Calhoun," his machine lifted off the ground to hover with his guard, "I've
ordered a transport to pick you up and take you to the Avalon."

The Avalon? Away from the battle before it had ended? "Please, Sire, I can still fight!" Arthur
protested. "To my last breath I will fight for Britannia!"

"I don't doubt that." The Emperor replied, "Which is why you must go to the Avalon. Your new
steed is waiting for you there."

"Sire?" It was only then that it clicked in Arthur's mind, that His Majesty had called
him Sir Calhoun. But that couldn't mean...could it?

Seeing that he'd well and truly confused his new knight, Lelouch immediately set off into the skies
to get a bird's eye view of the battle. Data from the Druid system as well as reports from
the Avalon suggested everything was going precisely as planned. It was enough to bring a little
smirk to his face, the EU hadn't expected his sudden arrival with more than enough back up to
defend and hold Paris. Even if it meant playing directly into Schneizal's hands this was one battle
he was willing to give his brother.

I'll wipe them all out. The EU, Schneizal, even the UFN and the Black Knights if I must. The gentle
world is coming and I will do whatever I must to bring it about!

So declaring in his mind, Lelouch turned his thoughts into action as the Druid system suddenly
picked up the arrival of new EU forces coming in from the sky; more Alexanders coming in via
parachute, numbers large enough to potentially turn the battle for Paris into a long and dirty
struggle. Unfortunately for them, the Shinkiro Imperium still had its most devastating weapon at its
disposal which Lelouch now deployed.

Hovering in an optimal firing position, arms spread out wide at chest level, the Shinkiro's chest
opened up and fired out its reflective prism. After which, a single rectangular missile was fired out
of the machine's back into the air, where it burst open and scattered hundreds of small reflective
chaff shards. And then finally, when Lelouch had calculated everything to be absolutely perfect, he
fired the Diffusion Structure Phase Transition Cannon straight into the prism. The radiant purple
beam was immediately refracted outwards in virtually every conceivable direction, the beams then
hit the chaff, being reflected back inwards and straight onto the intended target.

In a blinding ray of light, every incoming Alexander either exploded, was set ablaze, or lost their
parachutes thus carrying their pilots to a very violent end.

With one swift stroke of a keyboard, the battle had come to an end with a decisive victory for
Britannia.

Lelouch didn't stick around to admire his handiwork however, his troops still needed to do their bit
though the morale boost of such an attack would definitely help them along with the added benefit
of terrifying the EU's soldiers. Therefore there was no more need for him on this battlefield and so
he shifted the Shinkiro in Fortress Mode and set off back to the Avalon.

There was still one more task at hand to clear: His speech.

Netherlands.

The battle, if anyone could even call it that, had ended in a decisive victory for the EU. Whilst the
Britannian put up a fight, it was clear that they were doomed from the outset. Nevertheless they
hadn't gone down easy and whilst the EU's losses had been minimal it would not be said amongst
any of the troops that Britannia gave up easy. Still, it was the EU's win and they were quick to
begin disassembling the destroyed hangars whilst medics ran to and fro to tend to the injured, both
their own and POWs, and other soldiers began setting up holding cells for their defeated foes.

As for Asura Team, they were resting a little further away from the rest of their comrades. Having
been the first squad to engage the enemy, their kill count was the highest of all their side's units.
However, that also meant that they were the most wiped out from their hard day's work and now
they were just trying to get a nap in. Unfortunately, they couldn't do this because of concern for
their leader. Ashley had racked up more kills than anyone else even in their team, commenting
more than once that it was all too easy.

A comment that was now bothering him to no ends and affecting the mood of his friends and
teammates.

"Ashley?" Franz started, "Is something wrong?"

The redhead glanced at him and then sighed, his disappointment clear though in his expression
there was also a touch of anxiety. "It's the fact that these brats went down so easy, even if they did
put up a fight. Those EU guys think this was hard work, but we of all people know what Britannia
is like when it works hard, this," he waved at the air base, "wasn't even a rookie's effort."

"So what are you getting at?" Simon pushed from his perch.

"I think we've been had." Ashley stated, more than a little miffed, "the real battle's somewhere else.
This was just a decoy."

"A decoy?" Jan replied, before shaking his head. "Doubt it, what would Britannia get out of it?
There's no logic to it." The others nodded at his assessment, all in agreement.

But Ashley's expression remained troubled as he overlooked the prisoner transfer. "I don't know
why they did it." He stated, his gaze falling on the enemy commander as he was led to his cell.
"But something isn't right here."

Paris .

The battle was declared officially over by about mid-afternoon, though a couple of Vincent
squadrons were still searching the city for any remaining holdouts on the ground whilst a squad of
Gareths watched the sky. Their victory had not come cheap, however: Paris was utterly ruined,
going from a bright city of romance to something akin of a bomb field. Astonishingly, the
Alexanders themselves had contributed little to the destruction, that responsibility belonged to the
bombs that were dropped before they were sent in. Going from what the aftermath data showed, it
was likely their intended target had been the numerous outposts dotted around the streets in order to
lessen reinforcements and sew confusion. However, the posts were surrounded on all sides by the
magnificent buildings of Paris and so when the EU dropped their bombs, the larger buildings took
the hit instead. The offset of this lucky break though was that many of Paris' beautiful structures
were now piles of rubble.

And the count of civilian losses was still being tallied.

That, more than anything else, was what was gnawing in the back of Lelouch's mind as his make-
up crews flitted about him, preparing him for his speech to the world from Paris's government
building; it too had taken a hit but had mostly survived. Somewhat fittingly, the Press Briefing
room had been destroyed which gave Lelouch the perfect backdrop for his speech.

Finally declared ready, he made his way to the ruined section of the building, not heeding his
staff's concerned warnings, and took his place at the charred podium that they had salvaged from
the wreckage. Before him stared cameras from every news team in Britannia and a few they'd
collected over their campaigns in Europe, ensuring this message would get out to everyone he
wanted it to reach.

"Ten seconds, Your Majesty." One operator waved, to which he nodded and unconsciously
straightened out his pilot suit one more time. His costume designers had asked him to change out of
it multiple times into his royal ensemble but he'd turned them down; this was the man they needed
to see right now, not a ruler who watched from afar but a soldier who'd seen it first hand.

And that was the image he intended to sell the very second his operators waved again to signal they
were live.

"I speak to every citizen of Britannia today, and also the entire world." He began, placing a hand
over his heart and adding just the right inflection of sorrow in his tone to be believable. "This
morning I journeyed to the Special Zone of France to meet with diplomats from the former power
known as Europia United in hopes of discussing a fair and reasonable agreement on the return of
their lands to them. What I found upon my arrival however," and here he let his hand tighten ever
so slightly around the fabric of the pilot suit, giving the impression of the pain he felt within, "was
a city under siege, in which many unknowing citizens lost their lives. An attack orchestrated by the
very people I had intended to treat with!"

A fist clenched to show his anger, a brief pause to let the news teams begin playing the footage of
the bombs dropping on an unsuspecting city. Just as he and his PR Department had designed it.
"This morning, the city of Paris, who my people came to love so dearly they would never dream of
harming her, was savagely assaulted by bloodthirsty tyrants who dare to call themselves a
democracy!"

Another pause to let the scene snap to Paris in the aftermath, "Where was the people's voice in this,
I ask you? What democratic vote allowed for the wholesale slaughter of men, women and
children?! And not only did Paris suffer this fate," a half-second pause to let the screen flip through
to other scenes of destruction and death, "all the European Special Zones have received this
treatment: In Spain, the beautiful city of Madrid lies in ruins; Belgium's capital of Brussels now
faces a dictatorship the likes of the former emperor Charles's regime; the varied multicultural
Luxembourg threatens to lose all her colours, and Portugal may now lose its artful identity."

"The EU has made their decision perfectly clear!" Lelouch barked, swiping his right arm to the side
in a wide arc. "They want their lands back and are willing to sink to any depth low enough to get
them, even if it means killing their own countrymen!" There was no need to act out rage here, now
he truly was speaking from the heart. "I accept that the wars instigated by my late father have left
many people with fear and distrust in Britannia, it is a legacy that I wade through every day!"

His voice then dimmed and his arms dropped to his side as he closed his eyes and continued. "I had
wanted to bring us all together in peace, however..." His eyes suddenly shot wide open again, no
more an angered leader but a cold and ruthless soldier staring into each and every camera lens
causing several crews to shudder at that amethyst glare. "If the EU so desires a war over the peace
that I would grant them, so be it."

"Therefore, at this hour, half-past two in the afternoon, on this day, June the second, in this year
2018 Ascensio Thronum Britannia, I hereby declare war on the remnant faction of Europia
United!" With that, he had frozen the world again. The White Emperor who so far only defended
was finally about to go on the attack, just as he'd designed. "I will sweep away this final shadow of
a degraded and obsolete yesterday and open the path to our shining greater tomorrow!"

"All Hail Britannia!"

Special Administrated Zone of Japan, Tokyo Crater, Ikaruga bridge.

The core group of the Black Knights, as well as the bridge crew, all sat in stunned silence as they
took in the words of their former leader. Ironically, the bridge operators who knew nothing of the
deceit that ran through their ranks at the moment were gossiping to one another about how the
emperor reminded them of Zero with his dramatic speeches and hand actions. It would be quite the
scene if they ever learned the two were one and the same.

For the rest, however, they just didn't know what to say. Lelouch had declared war on the EU, and
unlike every other war Britannia had fought against them in the last decade he'd made a point to
show how justified he was in this action. After showing what they'd done to Paris, never mind
other cities in Europe, there was nothing anyone would dare to say to stop him.

It was Tamaki who summed it up best in his unique brand of eloquence: "The EU is officially
fucked." A crude way of putting it maybe, but it was still a very precise summary of the situation.
No one wanted to admit it (except maybe one or two), everyone present knew how this was going
to end: Lelouch would win this war, and he would do so in such a way that Europia United would
never rise again. Even if he was shaping up to be their enemy, there was no questioning his skills
as a strategist.

As for Kallen, she hadn't intended to stick around to see whatever it was her comrades were
looking at this time, she'd only come up to the bridge to collect her pass from Kaguya so she could
go looking for her mother. She looked a bit out of place in her civilian attire but the moment she'd
heard Lelouch's voice she had been spellbound as she was whenever he gave a speech. A short
glance over at the chairwoman told her that the young politician was the same, though probably for
different reasons. Not that she could blame her, because that pilot suit hid nothing and damn if
Lelouch hadn't filled out over the last month!

The two commanding officers however wore equally grim expressions as they turned to glance at
one another and nodded: It was just as they'd expected, the last days of the EU had come.

His speech even got a reaction out of the unflappable Rakshata, though for quite different reasons
to the others. Partway through the speech, the footage cut to recordings of the battle in Paris itself
and focussed on one machine in particular doing battle with spindly framed machines that had to be
the EU's Knightmare equivalent. And it sent equal feelings of shock, awe, and terror into the hearts
of everyone present - bridge crew included - when after it single-handedly defeated a team of those
machines, it lifted up into the air and utterly decimated the European reinforcements with just one
shot.

No one wanted to believe what they were seeing, but at the same time they had no choice but to see
it. After all, it was pretty hard not to recognise the Absolute Defence Field and the 'Zero' Beam.

"Shinkiro!" Rakshata cried out, falling from her couch and dropping to her knees at the sight of one
of her 'children' being used in this fight. But her shock turned to fury when the footage cut to the
black Knightmare suddenly activating a pair of green particle blades for close range combat.
"Lloyd...damn you Pudding Earl!" She screamed for all her worth, forcing everyone to cover their
ears. "It wasn't enough for you to rape my Guren! No! You just had to go and violate my dear
Shinkiro as well! Damn you! When I get my hands on you I swear they will be wringing around
your neck!"

Secret base in Brazil.

From their secluded location, Schneizal watched the broadcast of his brother's declaration
alongside Cornelia and their Knights of the Round. Just a little glance around the room told him all
he needed to know about his supporters' reactions to Lelouch's speech: they were either anxious,
angered, or short of saying 'do your worst' to the screen. He however couldn't help a small smile as
he observed his little brother's typical response to such a pointless and, in the long run, harmless
strike on just a few cities.

I wonder Lelouch, can you see the big picture? Do you know what I have planned for you and your
Britannia? Or is this the same little brother who always lets his pride get in the way of
reason? Either way it didn't matter, because even if Lelouch realised what it was he was doing, the
youngster now had no choice but to march forward into war. Such was the weakness of being
viewed as a warrior for the people.
Stage one of his plan was officially complete.

"Well place your bets." He allowed himself to joke when the broadcast ended, "How long does
everyone think the EU will hold out before they are utterly decimated?"

His blase comment took everyone off guard, to the extent that Monica Kruszewski actually fainted
whilst Gino and Suzaku stared at him in utter bewilderment. Even Cornelia and Diethard hadn't
expected him to say something so utterly off kilter. About the only one who hadn't been shaken
from his question, besides Anya, was Kanon who just rolled his eyes at his Prince in fond
exasperation.

"What?" Was he not allowed to make a joke every now and again?

Brussels

The occupation of Brussels went almost without a hitch, though Wizard attributed that mostly to
his command than Britannia actually having anything that could threaten them. He'd taken up
residence in the government bureau which he'd all but threatened the soldiers under his command
not to destroy lest they wanted their lives cut short and had been hoping to get some rest in when
one of his subordinates barged in and told him to turn on the T.V.

What he was treated to was the sight of Paris in ruins, Madrid not much better, and Luxembourg,
Portugal and Brussels lumped in there as well. All the while the voice of that twice damned kid
carrying over it all, and then returning to him where he stood decked out in a Knightmare pilot suit
that had clearly seen recent use. In that moment it was made clear to Wizard that they had
grievously underestimated Lelouch as he showed the footage of a monster of a machine that
destroyed the Paris occupation force with just one shot.

Dammit, Smilas! He was seething inside, so much that he almost missed the emperor declare war
on the EU. We weren't prepared for this! He's completely turned our attack around in his favour
and painted us as the villains! Worst of all they couldn't even retaliate with their own speech
saying that they'd been trying to take out the military outposts, who would believe that with all the
'proof' that the attack had been nothing short of terrorism?

Damn that Schneizal! This was all his doing, Wizard was sure of it! He was the one who gave them
the locations, he was the one who made everyone think Lelouch was weak, he was the one who
suggested the whole damn operation! Was this what he wanted? For Lelouch to declare war
against us?

If so, then through Smilas and his desire for victory over Britannia and domination in Europe,
Schneizal had just sounded the death knell for Europia United.

Munich, Thought Elevator

From her post in the Thought Elevator, a black-through-pink haired individual who had the form of
a young woman could not help but smile with her pink eyes at what she saw happening in the
world. The young man who she had chosen so long ago had moved forward onto the next stage. He
was finally ready.

"Well then," the Dimensional Supervisor murmured to herself. "I do believe it's time we met."
Paris, Avalon

Arthur would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit ticked off at how the battle ended. Not that he
wasn't glad that it was over so quickly but couldn't His Majesty have at least hinted at what he was
going to do before giving him and half of the Paris detachment a heart attack? Well in the end he
supposed it didn't matter as he'd been picked up by the transport the Emperor had sent him and was
brought straight to the Avalon just as the battle was concluded.

In many ways that made up for him not being allowed to do his duty, it was more than an honour
to be standing on this ship - not only the first airship ever in the world, but His Majesty's own
personal flagship! - to be honest Arthur was amazed he hadn't started squealing with glee. He'd
managed to hold it together though as he was guided through to the ship's technical wing where
many an engineer was currently staring up at a screen with pride and intrigue. On it were three
machines riding forth, one that Arthur immediately recognised as His Majesty's personal
Knightmare, though the other two eluded him. They weren't the Centurion models that answered
directly to the Emperor, both of them were unique, and that in itself led Arthur to suspect that these
machines were the first new Knights of the Round.

Well about time. He thought to himself. His Majesty deserves swords that are loyal to him and the
empire, not that traitorous Schneizal. It still irked him that the former Rounds had just abandoned
their duty like that, who did they think they were, shirking Britannia like that?!

"A-ha~!" A sing song voice spoke up behind him, "Do I detect a lust for deadly machinery?"

Turning around Arthur felt himself go immediately ramrod straight as the famous Earl Lloyd
Asplund and his immediate second, Colonel Cecile Croomy, both pioneers in the development of
military science and technology, stood right behind him. Without thinking about it, he immediately
saluted them.

Seeing this response, however, Earl Asplund sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh no,"
he muttered, "not another one."

Another one? Did the man have something against regulations? Colonel Croomy came to his
rescue with an apologetic smile, "Please, there's no need for ceremony. Lloyd's never been a fan of
it."

"Er...okay?" He replied uncertainly, slowly dropping his hand to his side.

"Now, Mr Calhoun," she continued, "Do you know why His Majesty sent you here?"

To be perfectly honest, he didn't have a clue. His Majesty had told him there was a new machine
waiting for him but he could easily get a new Gloucester from the barracks. It wasn't like they were
under attack anymore. But that wouldn't do as a response to His Majesty's leading scientists so he
gave them as good an answer as he could. "I think I'm here to collect a new machine?" He couldn't
help shrugging.

His response got a little laugh out of the Earl who winked at him behind his glasses. "Well, yes and
no." He allowed, his smile stretching wider, which only served to confuse Arthur further.

"You see," Croomy explained, "His Majesty was observing your battle with the EU's Wyvern
squad and decided you were the best candidate for our newest Knightmare Frame design. It's still
in the test phase so we needed an adequate pilot to break it in."

Her explanation made Arthur blink, as well as hold back the indignant feeling that was building up
in his chest. The Emperor pulled him away from the battlefield just so he could run some tests on a
new toy? Surely there was something else he could be doing. However, if it was the command of
His Majesty then far be it for a lowly Private to try to change his mind.

Mentally sighing at his lot in life, Arthur asked, "What machine did you want me to try?"

He barely finished the sentence before Earl Asplund pushed passed the Colonel, "Right this way."
He 'offered' before grabbing the poor boy by the arm and dragging him along passed the rows of
Vincents and Gareths to a special berth. There was a Knightmare docked there, but that was all
Arthur could make of it as it was covered with a brown tarpaulin with the designation 'IFX-Z03'
printed on it - the only thing he could make of it was that the thing was big. Stopping in front of it,
Lloyd waved his hand towards the berth. "Here it is!"

"A...giant tarp?" The Private asked, mildly beginning to fear for his life. Why wouldn't this guy
stop smiling?

But the Earl just nodded excitedly. "That's right, Arthur Calhoun! A giant tarp!"

"Lloyd!" Croomy snapped at him, exasperated, before turning her focus to Arthur, "That is our
newest machine, it only just arrived along with Sir Bishop a couple of hours ago."

At that name drop, Arthur's whole world stopped. He knew of William Bishop, hell everyone knew
of the man who Emperor Lelouch had praised as a true Knight of the Rounds and double knighted
him as the new Knight of One. But if he was the one who delivered this then... "Does that mean...is
this thing a...?" He didn't dare say it.

"Correctamundo!" Asplund finished for him though, joyfully unaware of his baffled state, "Our
latest Ninth Generation Knightmare Frame! A machine fit for the new Knights of the Round!"

A weapon of the Knights of the Round...this had to be a dream. There was no way that Arthur
Calhoun, of all people, was being offered what he was almost certain he was. "But those machines
are piloted by Knights of the Round only." Even for testing, so only they would know how best to
utilize their own individual machines. "Are you saying that...that I would be...?"

Earl Asplund nodded happily, his hand going into his lab coat and pulling out an activation key.
"Congratulations! You, my friend, have just been made the fourth new Knight of the Round!"

And with that, Arthur's legs gave out and he dropped to the floor on his bottom. His mind had gone
blank save for those last words. A Knight of the Round? Him? His Majesty had seen fit to grant
him that honour? It just didn't compute.

"Oh my," he just made out Asplund's voice somewhere above him, "I think we broke him. I haven't
seen a reaction like that since Monica's fainting spell when she made Twelve, remember Cecile?"

He vaguely made out a reprimand but his mind was still on Cloud Nine. It was a miracle he could
make out anything at all when Colonel Croomy knelt down beside him, smiling at him. "I realise
this is a lot to take in." She told him gently, "If you want to take some time to think it over I'm sure
His Majesty will-"

"I'll do it." And apparently now his own mouth was out of his control, though frankly he was sure
if his brain wasn't currently scrambled he'd give the same answer. All his life, Arthur had wanted
to serve and protect the empire and when he entered the military he did so with that goal in mind.
First, it was in service to Emperor Charles who deemed the bloody wars in Europe to be correct,
and then it was in service to Emperor Lelouch where he guarded their empire's newest subjects
with all of his being (if asked, Arthur knew exactly which service he would say he preferred). And
now, his loyalty to the crown was being rewarded in a way that he had never even dared to dream
of reaching! How could he ever say no?

His simple answer seemed to do it for Asplund who grinned happily at him and dropped the
activation key in his lap. "Excellent!" He crowed happily, "Now we can get some real science
done!"

The dull tinkle of the key landing in his lap served to finally reboot Arthur's mind as he pushed
himself back off the ground and onto his feet. "You said I was the fourth." He recalled the mad
Earl's earlier statement. "I know about Sir Bishop, but who're the other two?"

The Earl and the Colonel glanced at each other for a second before the former shrugged and the
latter nodded. Colonel Croomy fielded the answer for them both, "We only really know one of
them, Lady Cinder Fall, the new Knight of Two." She explained, "She's not here right now though,
His Majesty sent her to the Netherlands to retake one of our airbases. There's honestly not a lot to
say about the other one, he arrived here with Sir Bishop before heading out as well a little while
later." She shrugged at her own lacking information, "That's all I can say really."

Arthur nodded at that, grateful that he at least knew a little bit of his new comrades. Inside though,
he was holding back the little boy who played knights and dragons with his friends from bursting
out of him. Three other Rounds! Oh, Bismarck and those pretenders had better watch themselves
now! One true knight was worth five fakes, Round or no, and there were now four of them, ready
to do and die for King and Country!

Speaking of whom. "I saw His Majesty's Knightmare." He told them, "What's it called?"

"Ah, Shinkiro Imperium."Asplund recalled, doing so with a sly smirk on his face. "A little
improvement of mine on a severely lacking machine. But enough about that, how about I introduce
you to your new friend?" And he waved his hands up at a couple of technicians who were stood on
the service walkway of this particular berth. Seeing his signal, they pulled at the ropes holding the
tarpaulin in place and the whole thing came tumbling down, revealing the new Knightmare Frame
beneath it.

And Arthur's legs threatened to give out on him again.

"Sir Arthur Calhoun." Earl Asplund introduced him. "Meet the Reaper. Don't scratch the paint."
 True Knights of the Round

June 3, 2018, Netherlands, Britannian Air Base.

Ashley was not a happy man right now, in the last twenty-four hours his concerns regarding the
ease of taking the Britannian base had proved to be more than just paranoia or boredom: there was
nothing of value to be taken for the EU, technicians and other experts had scoured what was there
and concluded none of it worth their efforts, what was left was only really worthwhile with
airplanes which had become obsolete once Britannia had taught their Knightmares how to fly. It
had thus been concluded that everything of value - if there had been any, to begin with - had been
shipped out well in advance before the EU had been anywhere near the base.

In short, our 'historic' victory ended up giving us nothing but this stupid spit of land! Ashley
thought to himself, scowling in barely concealed rage.

The bad news only kept coming when their commanders learned that the retaking of the capital,
Paris, had ended in absolute failure. Rumours had even been running about that the White Emperor
himself had been there and destroyed their forces with only one shot (no one had seen the news on
T.V. yet). What was known to be a fact, however, was that Emperor Lelouch had declared war on
the EU and all of Britannia was gearing up to finish what they started under Emperor Charles.

And now everyone's running around like chicken-shits, checking their nearest shadow. The leader
of the Asura Team thought to himself spitefully as he and his comrades continued to watch the sea
from a small pocket of trees to the north of the base, command was terrified that an amphibious
assault would be coming their way soon. But the ocean before them was calm, the horizon filled
with nothing but sky and clouds whilst the sun shone up above.

"Its quiet out there." Ashley hissed, mostly to himself, out of boredom. If the empire had declared
war then the very least they could do was hurry it up and get here so he could kill them!

On his right, sitting outside his Knightmare with the rest of the team (Ashley was the only one in
his machine), Rene replied to his statement in a low voice. "Almost...too quiet."

His unusual tone caught more than just one member of their team's attention, Ashley himself
guffawing at the obvious line whilst Simon asked, "What's with the cliche there, Rene?"

Their shy member shrugged, colouring a little at being caught. "Just trying to be cool, y'know like
those guys in the movies."

His response just set the others off, mostly scoffing, whilst Kuzan who was lying on the grass in
the open sun said lazily "You realise we're just extras in this story right?" He asked, glancing their
way, "We're just here to give the important people someone to talk to slash shoot at."

"What was that?" Rene asked, but the others just waved off the comment.

"Don't mind him," Alan told his friend, "Baldy's just spent a little too much time out in the sun."
Now that he mentioned it, Kuzan's head was starting to turn an interesting shade of red.

After the chuckles generated from his statement died down, Alan returned to the more serious
matter. "Maybe we should head back," he suggested, noting the silent scenery surrounding them,
"we've been here, what, about five hours? If Britannia were going to come from the sea they would
be here by now."
His statement got a series of agreeing grunts, prompting Franz to get up from his seat on the ground
and walk over to Red Ogre so he was in the range of its BRS. "Hey, Ashley! The guys're right,
nothings coming this way." He called up to him. "C'mon, boss, everyone's getting tired. Let's call it
a day and head home."

Ashley didn't immediately respond, his bad feeling about everything related to this mission still
very strong in him. It didn't make sense, why make a base utterly worthless and let it be taken if
the reason was not to immediately rush back in and retake it? It wasn't like Britannia lacked
resources or weapons and, though chicken shits, the command was right in assuming this would be
the right direction to head in to avoid European fire. So why was it taking so long?!

They must be out there! His mind nagged to him, and he absolutely agreed with it. But another look
at the horizon and those still waters where not even a fishing boat was present said different.
Something was very wrong here, but unfortunately, he couldn't just go off on feelings alone.

So, against his better judgement, Ashley sighed and turned his Alexander around. "Alright guys,
we'll get someone else to keep an eye out."

His answer was met with his whole team letting out happy cheers which were followed by them all
leaping for their Gloucesters before he could change his mind. Lazy bastards. He rolled his eyes at
them, knowing he wouldn't have his guys any other way. "Come on then, you slackers! Let's go
home!"

With many a 'yes sir,' a couple of 'amens' and one line from Rene that was so horrendously cheesy
that this author refuses to type it, Asura Team's machines came to life and all then proceeded to
leave their post.

Though maybe if they'd looked out one more time towards the sky, they would have caught sight
of one single unit headed straight for them.

Agitation was the order of the day for all the EU forces camped out in their revealed-to-be-useless
base, after Emperor Lelouch's declaration of war the day before everyone was simply waiting for
the hammer to fall. They were just a stone's throw away from France, it was more than an obvious
decision to attack them. And so ever since Lelouch's broadcast, everyone had been doing
everything they could to turn their worthless little scrap of land into the most defensive worthless
scrap of land in the history of warfare.

The commander of this ill fated occupation was now scanning through a map of the surrounding
geography, hoping to find any sort of advantage they could give their Panzers, they had too few
Alexanders to hope that they could win the day this time. Especially if Britannia sent their new
Knight of One to mop them up.

His frantic searching disguised as tactical perusing was put on indefinite hold when a
communications officer spoke up from his seat. "Sir! Asura Team is requesting a return to base
from the northern watch."

For a second the commander felt like denying them purely out of spite. He had little love for
Britannians and even less for Euro Britannians, as for Euro Britannians who betrayed their own
people...well that was just asking for trouble down the line. But at the same time he also
recognised quality when he saw it, in both machines and soldiers, and as much as it irked him to
admit it Asura Team easily outclassed everyone else on the field except for maybe Wyvern Squad.

So if they wanted a rest, the bastards knew they could get one. Gritting his teeth, the commander
nodded shortly. "Fine. Tell them to come in."

"Sir?" His immediate second in command spoke up, "But what if Britannia chooses to attack us
from the north? We'll have no early warning."

Which was why I stuck that damn kid and his fellow turncoats out there! The commander snarled in
his head without letting it show outwardly. Instead he shook his head and zoomed the map out of
their location the countries surrounding the Netherlands were visible. "We have a full battalion
massing in the west, and reports that Belgium is ours have been confirmed so we have that as a
buffer for the time being." He said this all with confidence he didn't truly feel. "If Britannia wants
to get at us, they have to go through that first and I'm told that one of our brightest is commanding
there. We'll be fine."

Of course we'd be better if we had an eye on our exposed northern flank! But yelling that out
would do him little good. Nor would he have time to think about how little a difference it would
have made either.

As the commander finished his latest scathing monologue about Asura Team, the whole building
suddenly shook violently in response to a heavy impact outside. The command team were thrown
about in their seats whilst those unfortunate to be standing up were almost thrown off their feet.
Bracing himself against the tactical board, the commander threw his gaze around to the
communications team. "What the hell was that?!"

"A-a Knightmare, sir!" One of the operators replied, teeth still rattling from the shock wave as he
worked. "It just came out of nowhere, we didn't even see it on the radar!"

Shit! A new model. Or just really fast. Either way it was a himself out, the commander turned his
attention to the large front screen in front of him. "Get a visual," he ordered, "where is it?"

"It landed on the runway, sir. We'll have an image in a moment."

Anxiety waged with fear as the commander waited for the screen to light up with a picture of what
was going to be the first opponent of what was sure to be a long line of additional forces coming
their way. If they've sent just one machine ahead it must be unique with an ace at the helm. Which
means Bishop.

When the screen finally did turn on with the outside world, the Knight of One suddenly became a
much more welcome prospect as the command staff of the EU, as well as the soldiers on the
ground, came face to face with an old menace. The hearts of the collective command staff leapt up
into their throats as the dust cleared to reveal the machine in front of them, the commander himself
almost falling to his knees at the sight of it.

"Not that..." he whispered hoarsely, "anything but that..."

"It can't be..." one of the officers whimpered, terror beginning to fill the ranks. "...Lancelot."

There was no mistaking that design, many of the soldiers here had come across the so-called
'White Reaper' during the war and to this day were still amazed that they lived through the
encounter. Evidently their time hadn't come yet, as once more the machine of their nightmares had
returned. They were all so caught in their fear that they missed the differences in this Knightmare
to the one they knew: this one had a more slender build with thinner legs and more stylised
forearms; the colouring was also different, the torso was painted in a pure white whilst the arms
were in blood red and the legs a solid black; even the head of this model was different, with a more
stylised helmet than the original Lancelot's and a longer rear stalk, coloured in the same red of the
arms with two bright amber eyes. About the only thing that wasn't changed was the float system on
its back which was the same model as the normal Britannian units.

With the command staff petrified by this new arrival, the captain of a team of Panzers took it upon
himself to act as security and immediately surrounded it with all nine of his squad. The machine
didn't react to their movements, which some of the European pilots took to be a good sign the
unspoken hope running through them that this machine was Suzaku Kururugi come to help them
fight against Britannia. There was no love lost for him amongst the soldiers of Europe but, with
him branded a traitor and their own territories falling away, people couldn't be picky.

The silence stretched on for a few seconds until the captain folded first and established an open
channel with the Knightmare. "Attention pilot of the unknown Britannian Knightmare Frame, this
is territory of Europia United. State your name, affiliation, and your reasons for coming here." He
did his best to hide his fears but the tremor in his voice still came through.

His demands finally got a reaction from the Lancelot lookalike as it turned to stare directly at his
exact unit, prompting the other Panzers to edge back cautiously - he could imagine his
subordinates double-checking their locks on the potential enemy in front of them - and the captain
himself felt a shiver run down his spine.

And at last, the pilot spoke. "My name?"

Those two words sank any hopes the Europeans had. Not because the voice on the open
communication was as cold as ice, but because it was clearly a woman talking and not the very
male voice of the former Knight of Seven. Which could mean only one thing...

"Open fire!" The captain yelled out, firing his own Panzer's weapons first, terror clouding
everything else. The other eight immediately followed suit, emptying their weapons' ammunition
into the enemy machine, kicking up a cloud of dust the more they fired.

"Don't let it get those damned shields up!" The captain yelled to his soldiers, "If we can do that,
this monster will go down quick!"

The cloud got larger and larger as round after round slammed into the Knightmare until it was
impossible to make out the figure on their screens. Quite frankly though that just scared the
soldiers more, causing them to increase their rate of fire rather than slow down; more than a few
times before the real Lancelot had used that to its advantage to destroy entire European battalions
with ease. No one in the little team of nine wanted to see if this new model was even half that
good.

They didn't let up until their weapons ran dry, not a single pilot heeding the calls coming in from
command to demand what the hell they thought they were doing. Nothing was more important to
them than making sure this beast died before it could cut them down, however they'd done all they
could. Now all they could do was wait.

One second passed. Then five. And finally, the dust began to settle again...

Revealing, to the team's horror, a silhouette of a Knightmare standing perfectly still, an orange
glow finally cutting through the clouds to reveal a system of energy shields similar to the real
Lancelot's, however they overlapped each other to create one impenetrable wall. Not even one
single Panzer round had struck it.

Oh God in Heaven... The captain had that much time to pray before the tri-coloured machine went
on the offensive, raising one of its arms and firing a slash harken right through one of his troops.
All he made out on the comm was a strangled cry for help before the connection went silent, his
IFF replaced with the dreaded [LOST] icon. His one death set off the others, who fired with
refilled weapons at the new terror, anger holding back fear for the moment.

But it was only for a moment. The machine finally started moving, weaving in and out of the shots
as if its pilot could see them ahead of schedule and plan accordingly, all the while coming closer to
its pray. As it advanced, the Knightmare's arms reached back and drew its MVS's - somewhat
longer than the standard, omitting a dark purple blade once powered up rather than red. And the
moment it got in range the machine began a familiar deadly dance, cutting through the first Panzer
as if it were butter.

The remaining Panzers backed off, still firing, though that shield wall just rose up in defence as
they did. From behind the safety of that wall, the pilot was able to answer the captain's previous
question. "My name," she declared, icily soft, "is Cinder Fall, Second Knight of the Round Table of
the Holy Britannian Empire!"

Any sort of hope suddenly drained away to be replaced with desperate terror - Britannia had
another new Knight of the Round?!

But the identified knight was far from finished as she dropped the shield and started weaving
towards them again. "My affiliation? Well," she laughed coldly at them all, "I suppose you've
already guessed. And my mission?" Her machine suddenly put on a burst of speed, bringing her up
close to the nearest Panzer which she immediately sliced through.

"My mission is to wipe you Euro trash from the face of the Earth."

Metz. The border between France and Germany

Across the map, similar reports soon reached EU command that Britannia had launched their
counterattack and now every line in the sand that led into Germany had soon found itself under
attack. They didn't immediately fold though, what forces still existed from the initial attack on
Paris had been redirected to reinforce the attacking forces of the outlying French cities which only
had Sutherlands and Gloucesters garrisoned. However, Emperor Lelouch's declaration had fired up
the anger of the soldiers so when the European forces did engage them it was not with the element
of surprise.

Britannia had time to set up the welcome mat for the EU in the form of hellfire and fury.

The aging Panzers went down with little trouble, these were the types of machines the Sutherland
model and its close range counterpart had been made for after all. It was the Alexanders that posed
a potential worry, their speed and transformable capability making them deadly at close range.
That said, though, they lacked in Metz what they'd had in Paris: tight quarters.

As the EU had anticipated, the Britannian garrison was able to cut them off outside of the town in
the countryside, where it was wide open with little cover. By forcing them into a two-dimensional
battle, the Alexanders' speed lost out to the lines of Sutherlands, whilst the Gloucesters got up close
and did away with the Panzers.

On its own, the battle was clearly tipping towards victory for Britannia, but anyone who knew that
empire knew that they didn't leave things to chance. A tradition even its newest emperor had
chosen to follow as one ill-fated Panzer squad was about to find out when their scanners picked up
the signal of a new unit quickly approaching from the sky. The poor men and women didn't even
have time to call out a warning before the new addition landed right in front of them.

It was no small stretch to say that the new Knightmare Frame was huge, possibly bigger than even
the Gareths, featuring a gold and grey colour scheme with features that hearkened back to
Bismarck Waldstein's Galahad and even its brother unit, the infamous Gawain. This distinction
came through on its black head where it sported the same two 'dog-ear' antennas of its ancestor,
while the face itself was painted a pure white with two purple eyes. On its back, it sported a float
system from the Gareth's design, coloured black.

For armaments, it utilized the traditional and romanticized 'sword-and-shield' style, with a golden
double-bladed sword in its right hand and a massive purple shield in its left. Weapons that it now
put into use on the European machines it had landed in front of, bashing the front one with its
shield which sent it crashing into the two behind it, and then immediately charging forward and
stabbing through all three of them at once with its sword.

Horrified, the enemy troops immediately pulled away from it, while the Britannian forces regarded
the newcomer with surprise and concern. Any suspicion of the new Knightmare's allegiance was
washed away however when one Sutherland pilot noticed the sword-hilt emblem on the machine's
left shoulder. "That mark...it's Lord Bishop!" He shouted jubilantly, recognising the mark of the
Knights of the Round, "The Knight of One has come!"

If the Europeans weren't scared before, now they were certifiably terrified as Emperor Lelouch's
most powerful warrior turned on an open channel, not bothering to hide his identity from his
enemies. "Soldiers of Britannia!" He barked out loud. "I am taking command of this garrison! Our
objective is simple: the total destruction of the European invaders who dare to bring a war to our
citizens!"

As the Britannian soldiers let out an agreeing yell, William switched to a private channel, "Now,
split into two divisions. First division spread out and hammer them with everything you have! The
second division circle around and cut off their retreat! Do not suffer a single one of them to live!"

When he saw that his troops were already doing as ordered he switched the channel back to an
open line. "Now destroy them! All Hail Britannia!"

"All Hail Lelouch!" The Britannians finished before launching at their enemy with all the power
they had.

A little basic maybe. William thought to himself as he watched the first team go to work as he'd
instructed, disguising their flanking manoeuvre as the second group came around. But for these
poorly prepared Europeans, nothing I can't handle. Nice to see war hasn't changed that much
during my incarceration.

"Well then." He said out loud, activating his machine's float system and once again allowing
himself to be amazed at how far technology had come, before focusing his efforts once again on
the battle ahead. "Show this old war dog your tricks, Uther!"

Saint Dié des Vosges forest.

Reports from command soon came in that the Knights of the Round had engaged the European
forces on the edges of France and so far all appeared to be going well. As for the newest Round, he
sat anxiously in his new machine surrounded on all sides by Vincent Wards who had been put
under his direct command.
Arthur was nervous, there was no escaping it. His Majesty had placed him in charge of a recovery
operation almost immediately after giving his declaration to the world; the recapture of Saint Dié
des Vosgues as soon as possible. For the new Knight of Four, it was a daunting task, he'd been a
private only the day before, what did he know about leading people into battle? He'd wanted to
point this out, but the firm commands of His Majesty stayed his tongue.

So here he sat, in his ninth generation Knightmare, Reaper, waiting alongside soldiers who would
live and die by his order. That's going to take some getting used to.

Another thing he'd have to get used to was the new title he'd gotten along with that of Knight of
Four as a lone Vincent - a scout who'd gone up ahead - contacted him on his radio. "Lord
Calhoun."

It still felt weird being called that but Arthur just shook it off and did his best not to sound
unnerved. "Yes? What is it?"

"Sensors show the enemy has entered the forest," The scout reported, "they'll pass by our location
in a few minutes. Your orders?"

Orders? Now there was something he certainly wasn't ready to dish out. Giving orders belonged to
commanders and generals, not privates who were simply going on the fly. However, Arthur was
now here and he had no choice. His Majesty had entrusted him with power and this new machine
to use properly in the defense of the innocent, even if the one he'd chosen still didn't quite feel if all
of this was real. There was nothing to do now but to try not to screw it up.

So, once again he tried - and in his honest opinion, Arthur believed he failed - to sound
authoritative and started to give his suggestions. "I guess we ought to head over there then. Cut
them off before they can escape."

His uncertainty clearly came through in the wording, but you wouldn't know it from the soldiers
around him as they immediately replied with a crisp 'Yes, My Lord!' and moved to intercept the
Europeans. Arthur could only watch them go and sigh before silently accepting his new lot in life
and activated his Knightmare's special feature.

As a machine, the Reaper was amongst the rarer models saved only for the truly exceptional, one
of its predecessors being the personal unit of Euro Britannia's Shinn Hyuga Shaing - Vercingetorix.
However, where that machine had exuded majesty and grace, its successor was a chilling opposite.
The Reaper lived up to its namesake, the main body painted purple and its head styled in the form
of a black hood that draped over a silver face, only showing the left eye that glowed an ominous
red. On its back was holstered the only weapon the machine carried: a huge MVS that had been
built in the form of a scythe.

The special feature that Arthur had activated also descended from Lord Shaing's machine: a high-
speed mode similar to that of the EU's Alexanders. However, where they turned into ravaging
insects, the legs of the Reaper pulled back to make way for a secondary pair of legs that had up till
now been stored away and acting as rear skirt armor. The Reaper's cockpit also shifted location,
moving down to lock into place in the negative space created by the four legs at hip level.

On the Vercingetorix, the image would have been that of a mythical centaur...but on the Reaper,
whose main weapon had to be moved into its arms to enact the transformation, it looked like one of
the riders of the apocalypse had come early.

Frankly, though, Arthur didn't care what sort of image his Knightmare gave off as he used that
form to quickly catch up with, and then overtake his Vincent subordinates. And here, in the
comfort of moving forward into battle, did he finally start to relax - this was where he belonged,
this was what he was good at - and with that calm, he found his confidence return to him.

Those damn Europeans will pay for their disgraceful actions! His face melted into a fierce scowl
as the Reaper pulled further and further ahead of his allies, his attention focussed entirely on the
red enemy IFFs on his screen. And if I find those Wyvern bastards, all the better for me.

It soon became obvious that the EU group had spotted his approach as he was soon under fire from
directly ahead, but that didn't deter him in the least. Rather it pushed him forward, his rage until
now more or less held in check but with the ones responsible for the sacking of Paris right in front
of him those emotions slipped free and he gnashed his teeth together as his eyes caught sight of the
Alexanders in front of him - all of them orange.

Cannon fodder then. Fine by me! Putting on yet another burst of speed, Arthur brought the
Reaper's scythe about and then cut a wide arch in front of him, slicing away the trees in his path
and giving him a clear view of the enemy in front of him. Without giving them a moment's respite,
he let out a loud roar and forced the Reaper forward into the air where it switched back to its
normal mode and dropped down onto the Alexanders.

The scythe's silver blade found its target in the orange machine that he landed on, slicing the whole
thing in half from head to hip, and before its comrades could do anything, Arthur brought the
Reaper around and cleaved through another three. All the while, the new Knight of Four barely
noticed anything had happened, his furious gaze seeking out any speck of navy blue. When he
didn't see any he let out a vicious snarl - virtually unaware that the EU machines had surrounded
him.

A moment later it didn't matter as the Vincents chose that moment to arrive and began peppering
the enemy with rifle rounds, splitting the Alexander pilots' concentration. Forcing them back, one
of the leaders of the two divisions called him. "Lord Calhoun, are you alright sir?"

But Arthur barely heard the question, his eyes focussed entirely on the Europeans as they tried to
reorganize. The cowards who killed Hudson, "Kill them," who killed Perez and Cap, "kill them
all." They weren't here today...but these bastards, the ones who dared to lay a hand on Paris, they
were here.

"Wipe them out! For Paris!" He followed up his order by renewing his charge, the Reaper's scythe
embedding into another Alexander's torso where he twisted the blade and then pulled up, ripping
the pilot of the machine into pieces.

Once again, the Britannian soldiers showed no opinion or disgust in his actions, merely shouting
'Yes, My Lord!' and doing exactly as he ordered.

The battle, if it could even be called that, to begin with, soon turned into a full out slaughter as the
Reaper sailed through the ranks of the enemy and tore them to pieces showing not a shred of
mercy. All retreats were cut off, all attempts to surrender ignored. At this moment, Arthur had truly
become an angel of death.

And then finally, the color he'd been looking for emerged; a navy blue Alexander, hidden away at
the back of the orange machines' ranks, tried to turn tail and run from the fight in its high-speed
mode. If it had been a regular grunt Arthur wouldn't have bothered, but that blue made all the
difference. Switching to his own high-speed mode, he ran the blue Alexander down - the horselike
figure more suited for the forest than the splayed out insect form - and ran his scythe through the
back legs, rendering the commander immobile.
"Now where do you think you're going?" He asked the commander, though he was far from
interested with any reply the European had. As it stood, he already had an answer. "I'll tell you
exactly where you're going: Straight to Hell!"

There may have been some begging and screaming on an open channel as he slowly ran the tip of
the Reaper's scythe through the cockpit of the enemy machine, but for the life of him, Arthur didn't
care. One moment there was babbling, a moment later there was static.

A glance over at the 'battle' behind him showed that the Alexanders were now doing all they could
to get out of here. Unfortunately, as their commander had just proved their transformed bodies
offered very little in the way of escape. Not that Arthur was going to let them go anyway. Sending
a message to his soldiers to get out of the way, he rammed the scythe's blade into the ground and
rested the length of the pole on the Reaper's right arm while the left came up to stabilize it.

Finally, Arthur allowed himself to smirk as he remembered that insane Earl's explanation of the
Reaper's main weapon and its little...surprise. I have to hand it to Lloyd, he knows how to build
mechanical monsters. A new targeting computer descended over his eye, much in the same way as
the sites on a sniper rifle and he lined up the target. And monsters don't leave survivors.

With that thought, he pressed down on the control yokes which made the Reaper pull the hidden
trigger on the scythe. Out from the head of the pole, now the muzzle of a giant gun, the vicious red
stream of a Hadron Cannon erupted outward, decimating everything it came into contact with:
Trees, stones, grass...and every single Alexander stupid enough to have their backs to him.

Netherlands. Britannian Air Base

This was heaven. There was no other word Cinder could describe the feeling of her new
Knightmare Frame zooming seamlessly from one enemy machine to the next, leaving wreckage
and rubble - along with the odd blood spatter here and there - and she was hardly even using it to
its full effect yet. It almost made her want to head back to Boston so she could tear up some more
nobles in the Arena. Almost.

With the Panzer unit utterly destroyed, she turned her attention to the command centre where she
could clearly imagine the command staff falling over each other trying to figure out how to stop
her, after they'd soiled themselves of course. It brought a truly wicked smile to her face, she knew
full well the reputation of this machine's traitorous ancestor, and now it was her turn to start
making a name for herself with blood and fire.

Her mind made up, Cinder stored her MVS away and pulled out her machine's primary weapon,
the Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle - seriously? 'Super VARIS?' Are we a military or a cartoon? - and took
aim at the tower. Now she could just blast it at the center and watch it crumble away to nothing,
crushing every man and woman in there as it went, but after that welcome committee, she was now
short on time. So Cinder had to opt for mass destruction as she activated the weapon's 'burst' mode
if it could even be called that.

The rifle's barrel split open, revealing a secondary emitter which sent chills down her spine; she'd
seen these things in action, to have one at her command made her feel...truly powerful. Without
wasting another second, she fired her rifle's Hadron Cannon and watched with glee as the
command tower disappeared in the deadly red wave.

Damn...Cinder giggled to herself, barely noticing what surviving Panzers there were converging on
her position. "Well that took a little longer than intended," she muttered though not at all annoyed
as she glanced at her screen where her new favorite person was smirking back at her in a small
box, "but I would say your plan went off without a hitch, Your Majesty."

"Did you ever doubt me?" Lelouch asked back, dressed in his usual imperial garb, and raising an
eyebrow at her, "My queen (it took everything Cinder had not to blush at the title he'd taken to
calling her), I conceived this splendid little war of ours long before we met." He reminded her, an
evil smile of his own replacing his smirk. "And now with the groundwork completed, all I needed
was something to set them off."

She nodded, remembering the plan as he'd laid it out to her before she and Bishop - along with that
new guy - headed out. "Give them a little bit of hope, like say a diplomatic summit," she recounted,
smirking at him knowingly - as if he'd ever intended to give a single speck of dirt back to the EU,
"where they can launch an attack and capture you."

"Use their duplicity to demonize them in the eyes of society." He carried on.

"And then the White Emperor, the people's savior, has just grounds to finish the EU once and for
all." She finished for him, truly impressed with this charade Lelouch had pulled on the world.
However, her grin slipped a little as she remembered the one thing that hadn't gone to plan. "But,
Majesty, you didn't count on them going for Paris right off the bat."

At her reminder, the emperor visibly drooped, his smile falling away. "Yes, I miscalculated there. I
hadn't thought the EU had had enough time to mass produce the Alexander series. And as a result,
Paris suffered." His somber image, bordering almost on morose, suddenly vanished then to be
replaced by a sharp glare. "But that is the last time I let that happen!"

His declaration made, his visage calmed somewhat and he let out a small breath. "But we're getting
off topic. The base should be completely empty now, all that's left will be our soldiers who stayed
to fight the Europeans when they first attacked. We'll send in troops to collect them later. Once
you're done there, link up with the Third Fleet and take command."

Cinder gave him a little smirk, knowing where this was going. "And then head to Amsterdam
which we will proceed to take for ourselves," she recited at him, "after which we'll follow suit with
Hamburg. Remind me, Majesty, who exactly came up with this plan?"

The young emperor suddenly showed his age with what she could only assume was his version of a
pout. "Well it's not easy being emperor you know," He defended, almost sounding petulant, "and
besides, I was busy in Paris. Anyway, by the time you've taken Hamburg, our forces should have
taken Hanover..."

And with that, he started going over more of their strategy which Cinder already knew having
worked with him on this. She considered reminding him, again, that she knew all this but he could
be pretty adorable when he turned on his thinking face. So she let him ramble on a bit longer until
hearing him say, "...right now, finish up with the air base. Oh, by the way, Lloyd was asking, how
do you like it?"

Even if she hadn't seen the sly look he sent her way Cinder wouldn't have been able to hide her joy
at that mad scientist's work. "It. Is. GLORIOUS!" She abandoned all propriety to squeal her love
for her new machine. "You said this thing was based on a new Lancelot model?"

"That's correct," he answered, chuckling a little at her previous statement, "Lloyd's been wanting to
build that one for a while. I'll send him your regards."

"Please do." She would have said more but the Panzers had finally regrouped and were finally
doing something other than cowering behind cover. A quick typing session on the keyboard sent
up her Absolute Defence Field, stopping their weapons fire in its tracks. "Majesty, I'll have to call
you later. Seems I've got a date."

"Just be back before midnight then," he replied, not missing a beat, "and don't do anything I
wouldn't."

Giggling a little at their silly conversation, she nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty." And with that, she
cut their connection, finally focussing all her attention on the Europeans. Silly fools should have
run when she wasn't bothered with them.

"C'mon then boys," she murmured, taking hold of her Knightmare's second Super VARIS and
aiming both at the poor sods, "take a girl for a ride."

"That's odd." Ashley murmured, somewhat concerned. "Command isn't responding. I know those
pricks don't like us but..." And then it struck him, the reason why communications would suddenly
go dark could only mean one thing. Without another moment wasted, he hit Red Ogre's accelerator
and sped ahead of Asura Team. "Everyone back to base, on the double!"

"Ashley!" Franz and the others called out to him, worried over his sudden shift, "What's wrong?"

"Something's happened at the air base!" He called back to them, noticing on the off hand that the
rest of the team had sped up to match his pace. Allowing a moment of approval, he readied his
machine for combat. "Be ready for the worst guys, I have a very bad feeling about this!"

His team responded to his warning seriously and immediately set about readying their Gloucesters'
primary weapons. Ashley just hoped it would be enough, this whole thing stank of a trap. There
was no way to know how many Britannians would be waiting for them or what sort of machines
they'd be facing - the last thing he wanted was to come up against a Round right now, he'd been
avidly praying to avoid those gods of battle.

All his worries would find themselves confirmed though when Asura Team came over the final rise
and got a glimpse of the base below...or what was left of it.

"My God." Simon worded what everyone was thinking at the scene before them.

The command tower was gone - not destroyed, there would be wreckage for that, it seemed to have
just blipped out of existence - and everything else was burning. Scattered around the rubble lay the
remains of what was left of at least three Panzer-Hummel squads, carved up or melted in such a
way that every one of Ashley's team felt a chill go down their spines. It looked like an entire
Britannian squadron had blitzed through here and then retreated.

However, they would soon learn that was not the case as, somewhere in the distance within the
confines of the base, the sound of gunfire began to ripple through their radios. And to be perfectly
honest, Ashley wasn't sure if he was glad to know the enemy was still here. Still, it was a sign that
things hadn't ended yet and so they had no choice but to press on.

He led his team through the base cautiously, keeping an eye out for anything and all the while
getting more and more worried. Though they could clearly hear battle, the fact was they still hadn't
had a run in with any Britannian forces which told him the attacking force was small...and
deadly. Please not a Round, please not a Round!

His wish would go unanswered though as they came around the next bend and laid their eyes on
the horrific sight before them. Well over a dozen Panzers lay destroyed before them and at least
that number again further away near a roaring inferno where only one machine still stood firing
frantically into the smoke in front of him. Ashley tried to call out to him to get back, but the pilot
was so taken by his fear and screaming his head off ("STAY AWAY YOU FUCKING
MONSTER! YOU'RE NOT TAKING ME! NOT TAKING ME!") that it was unlikely he even
heard the order. The screams of fear soon turned into static though as, through the fire and smoke
in front of the poor fool, an ominous bloody red glow suddenly flickered into life.

It only took Asura Team a moment to realize what it was and Ashley yelled to immediately get
back, and not a moment too soon. Just as they got out of the way the deadly stream of a Hadron
Cannon pierced the black veil and consumed the lone Panzer.

"Shit," Rene muttered over the line. "If it's Hadrons then that's gotta be a Gawain variant."

Oh, that's just what we need to end this shitty day. Ashley thought to himself irately, but then again
it wasn't all bad. The Gawain had been notoriously slow, something that had carried over to its
mass-produced descendant, the Gareth. All they needed to do then was surround it and shower it
with bullets.

Yeah, the Euros probably thought the same thing, a sceptical voice spoke up, and look what
happened there.

His pondering was all for nothing though as the machine in the flames finally showed itself, first
only as a silhouette but that was still enough for all of Asura Team to realize that this was no new
Gawain design. It was smaller for one thing, probably taller than their own machines by only half a
meter or so, and was a lot thinner than anything they had seen before with wide-spanning shoulder
armor. Everything about the Knightmare before them was sending off alarm bells in Ashley's mind
as if he knew he should recognize this thing...and then he remembered that there was one
Knightmare Frame that had used a Hadron Cannon that wasn't based on the Gawain. Oh shit.

He was proved right when the machine finally stepped out of the smoke, eliciting a terrified
response from the whole team. "No way!" Alan was unable to hold back his scared statement. "The
Lancelot?!"

Not quite, Ashley thought, noting the refined look this model had, but it is definitely based on that
monster.

And then to everyone's shock, a voice that was certainly not one of their own suddenly spoke up
over an open channel to them. "Okay, seriously, that's enough. Why is everyone calling my dear
Amber the name of that traitor?"

That shut up everyone, though whether it was because the voice was that of a woman or that she
sounded more concerned over what they called her machine than what was in front of her was
anyone's guess.

It was Kuzan who broke the silence. "Have you taken a good look at that thing? Maybe if you
actually had a different machine and not one that looks like the Lancelot with a different paint
scheme, you'd be called it less." Ashley had to hand it to his friend, he'd managed to actually sound
a bit snarky despite his misgivings.

The enemy pilot gave the impression she was shrugging with a small 'meh,' completely
unconcerned with their opinions, which only served to get Ashley's blood boiling and he raised Red
Ogre's heat swords to point threateningly at the enemy machine. "It doesn't matter what
Knightmare you knocked off! You wanna know what I see? A dead little girl!"

With that, he launched straight at her, but instead of standing her ground like a good little corpse
she instead launched her machine over his head and landed a spot on where he'd been, staring
down his team. To their credit, Asura Team had their rifles pointed at her but Ashley still suddenly
felt a stab of fear go through his heart - if this thing really was a Lancelot variant then it might have
those damn shields, making standard guns useless. He breathed a sigh of relief though when the
machine turned to face him instead, storing away what had to be its version of the VARIS rifle and
drawing its MVS swords instead.

Prefers close quarters, huh?

However, Simon called out to her on the open channel before he could engage her. "You should
put your weapons down and surrender." He told her, whilst at the same time switching to a secure
line with the rest of the team. "We can't fight this one. She wiped out the entire base on her own
and I bet it wasn't even a warm-up for her. We need to get out of here."

"Say what?!" Jan snapped at him angrily, "You want us to run away like a bunch of wimps?!"

For a second Ashley almost considered backing him up on that...but then he recalled the speed of
this thing and how quickly it had put his team at its mercy. They would be dead if this girl hadn't
possessed whatever sick sense of humour was keeping them alive right now. In that instant, her
machine had been overcast with that of another monster: Akito Hyuga's Alexander. No way in hell
am I letting that happen again.

With that he took a deep breath, "He's right, this place is too hot. We need to retreat."

"But!"

"I won't lose you guys the way we lost Johanne!" He suddenly yelled out, silencing them all. Even
now the subject of their lost friend was a tender subject for themselves and even worse for their
leader.

Taking their silence for agreement with his order, Ashley brought the Red Ogre's heat swords
forward, at the ready. "So then," he asked, switching back to the open channel, all evidence of his
previous blow up gone from his tone, "what's the name of the bitch I'll be burying tonight?"

His question was met with a chilling laugh that sent a shiver up his spine. "Oh, where are my
manners?" The girl asked herself, before replying. "I am Cinder Fall, Second Knight of the Round
Table."

Crap. I knew it. However, Ashley didn't let that shake him up and he carried on with his facade.
"Yeah? Well, I'm the invincible Ashley Ashra, leader of the absolute best Knightmare team,
Asura!"

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" The newly named Cinder asked, and he could just imagine her
raising an eyebrow at him in annoyance.

Still, annoyance was attention, which meant he had hers. Perfect! Now for stage two. "You should
be," he snapped at her, "'cos I challenge you to a duel!"

"What?!" That was the general response to his insane challenge from everyone who heard it, friend
and foe alike. "Ashley, are you insane?!" Franz screamed at him, "What do you think you're doing
?!"

"Shut up!" He shouted at him, not daring to switch over to the private channel now, "I'm taking this
little girl down! Who cares if she's a Round?!"
C'mon Franz, he was thinking in his head, figure it out.

Well, even if his team hadn't gotten the message, it seemed that he'd peeved the Knight of Two a
little as she responded tightly. "Nice try, but I've heard worse from kids. Besides, why should I
even comply?"

Crap! Need to get her mad, keep her attention on me and not the guys. And then Ashley hit upon
what he would call his best idea ever, though the rest of the team would call him a moron. He
started laughing at her.

"Of course, the little girl doesn't want to fight! Why am I not surprised?" He was getting to her, the
Lancelot knock off was twitching ever so slightly, a sign that the pilot was doing all she could not
lash out. "I should've known that dumb brat of an emperor didn't know what proper warriors
looked like! What'd you do to get that thing anyway? How far did you spread your legs before he-
shit!"

He was cut off as the machine suddenly launched forward at him, the Knightmare's MVS's
swinging straight down at him. Ashley barely had enough time to dodge away, the blades
slamming hard into the ground where Red Ogre had been only a second before, and quickly put
some distance between them taking the girl's attention further away from Asura Team.

Evidence that his plan had gone without a hitch came a moment later as Cinder Fall spoke on the
open channel again, only now she lacked any of the cool vitriol she'd had before. "You...you
insect!" She all but snarled at him, Amber's swords coming back up in an aggressive stance, "How
dare you insinuate such a thing of Emperor Lelouch?! I swear I'll wipe you and your pathetic band
of turncoats from the memory of the world!" That was all the warning she gave before her
Knightmare launched straight at Red Ogre with all the fury of its pilot behind it.

Shit might have made her a bit too angry there. Ashley thought to himself, before shrugging and
bringing up his machine's own swords and calling out to her, "Come on then, girly! Let's see
whatcha got!"

The Amber slammed right into Red Ogre, nearly causing him to lose control from the shock of the
impact, but he was able to pull it together at the last second and push back against the MVS's. Just
from the current lock though he could tell that this wasn't going to be easy, this thing was more
than just a Lancelot copy - it could very well be a more powerful version - which meant there was
no way he could win, especially if the pilot was as good as he'd been suggesting she wasn't.

But I don't have to win. He thought to himself, briefly taking his eyes off the machine to look over
to where Asura Team had been. Please let them have figured it- Yes! They had worked out his
crazy plan and were heading for the ruins of the base. It was nearly impossible that anyone had
been left alive in this she-devil's wake, but if they could even find one survivor Ashley would tally
that as a win.

Suddenly the lock broke and he was thrown back into their duel as Cinder rammed her Amber right
into Red Ogre's chest, sending him bouncing back. He was able to stay on his feet but it was a near
thing. As for the Knight of Two, she just regarded him for a moment before asking him, still in that
seething tone that promised a fate worse than death "Do you really think you can save yourselves?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped back, not daring to take his eyes off of her machine a
second time.

"It means you have nowhere to run!" She declared hotly before launching forward again with
another swipe that he only just managed to deflect away before they came back to a lock. "Even if
you run away from me now, sooner or later all your hiding places will be taken away! Even now,
Britannia looms over your cities, ready to do to you what you did to Paris!" Her machine suddenly
upped the pressure on him and it was all Ashley could do to keep them level...and he had a
sneaking suspicion he hadn't seen even the beginning of this monster's strength.

All the while, Cinder Fall went on talking. "We'll drag your EU into the future whether you want it
or not! And you and your friends will not be spared that glorious coming either!"

Luneville.

By midday what hopefulness there had been of a new successful campaign had dwindled to speedy
retreats back across the German border. The confirmed report of Lord Bishop in Metz was bad
enough, but the unconfirmed rumours that there were at least two more Knights of the Round out
there did not do anything to improve morale.

Those rumours would soon be changed from two to three though as Luneville suddenly came under
attack by one machine piloted by a man who just seemed to get off on making the EU squirm.

"YEEEEEEEHHAAAAAAHHHH!" That was the one thing that kept blazing over the radio of the
oddly designed Knightmare Frame that was causing untold devastation to the European forces. It
was a bulky thing that looked to have two layers of armour - a dark red thick outer layer, with an
inner grey layer that appeared through the cracks of the first layer - and a head shaped like a closed
helmet that made it look like a miniaturized Bamides.

As for its arsenal (which it was currently spraying all over an unfortunate group of Panzers) it was
fixed with shoulder-mounted Hadron Cannons identical to those of the former Knight of Six's
Mordred and on its back were two VARIS cannons, both of which were currently set to burst
mode. As for hand use, it was currently duel wielding a mini-gun, of all things, that was also based
on the VARIS and a grenade launcher.

All of this combined together equalled a lot of destroyed machines...as well as everything else in
the general vicinity.

"Lord Thomson!" One brave Sutherland pilot finally called out to him after seeing the last poor EU
bastard get riddled with holes. "Lord Thomson! It's over! There's nothing left, My Lord, the EU has
been completely routed. You can stop now, Lord Thomson!"

For a moment it didn't look like his lord had heard him, the mini-gun still blazing away, but then
the raging rapport of the massive weapon came to an end and the machine turned around to face
the Sutherland, the smoking barrel of the weapon now pointed at his own troops.

"You sure of that, Jenny?" The so-named Lord Thomson asked, sounding more than a bit
disappointed. "Because I'm sure I saw a few more just over that rise the-"

"NO!" 'Jenny' replied, doing his best not to sweat buckets in the face of that monstrous thing now
aimed directly at his machine. "No, my lord, that wasn't a Panzer. It was...a badger! Just a badger,
sir, nothing to shoot at over there...I'm afraid."

For a moment the terrified Britannian was certain his lie hadn't held, why was he even trying to
protect a Euro-trash anyway? What if Lord Thomson picked up on that? Please don't kill me,
please don't kill me, please don't kill me.

And then finally, the Knightmare before him lowered its weapon away from the Sutherland and its
pilot let out a sigh of relief. Lord Thomson, however, was not so happy. "Godammit! And I didn't
even get to use the grenade launcher! Never mind the Starks!" He trailed off for a moment then
sighed over the radio before continuing, "Ah well, whatever. Today was a good day, god has
smiled on us, yadda yadda yadda - I'll tell the kid we've got this place secured, you guys establish a
perimeter. And if the Euros come back..." Thomson let out a giddy laugh before he rolled passed
the Sutherland, "you make sure to tell me first, Jenny."

"Yes, My Lord!" The Sutherland pilot replied...before going on to say, "And, My Lord? My name's
not Jenny."

"That's nice to hear, Jenny!" Thomson called back over his shoulder as he turned his Knightmare in
the direction of the G-1, forcing the poor man to hold back the urge to beat his head against the
walls of his cockpit. The man was absolutely deranged! And who the hell got away with calling
His Majesty the Emperor 'the kid?'

Unfortunately, there must have been some redeeming feature to having a gun-crazy mad man in
charge of a battalion. The emperor certainly seemed to think so anyway, since he named the man
the new Knight of Three.

Lord Peter Thomson, Third Knight of the Round Table, was a big man with a big appetite.
However, where other's hunger could be sated with food, he lusted after bigger and better weapons
to be used on the battlefield. Such an attitude had gotten him a bit of a reputation as a mad dog in
the past and his appearance didn't help to dissuade that impression.

Aside from his size, which was considerable, he only had one visible eye of ocean blue. His right
eye was covered by an eye patch that had spawned off any number of rumors and theories about
what happened to it - his personal favorite was the one where he destroyed an entire army single-
handed only to get his eye shot up when he came back and accidentally set off the ejection
sequence - and he had short brown hair that spiked up in all the right places to make him look just a
little bit unstable.

Not to say that he wasn't, even Peter could admit he was a bit touched in the head, but then that's
what time in prison could do to a person. It had left him a little bit...weird. But he was a Knight of
the Round now so in his opinion it all balanced out.

Of course one of the downsides of being an all-important Round was that people wanted him to do
things that didn't involve blowing shit up. Take this little pipsqueak communications officer right
now, he'd run up and saluted him the very moment he'd arrived on the command bridge of the G-1.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he didn't even bother to hide the annoyance in his voice as he
asked. "What?"

"My Lord," the comms officer reported stiffly, "the Knight of One wants to speak with you at your
earliest convenience."

"Willy?" Well, that changed everything. Peter smiled at the lad before continuing, "Yeah, makes
sense he'd want to tell me how cool his day was when I was the one who had all the real fun." On
his part, the officer did the smart thing and just remained silent as the Knight of Three continued to
talk to himself. "Well, I shouldn't keep his Onesie-ness waiting. Put him on."

He chose to ignore the look of relief on the soldier's face (seriously, had people forgotten good
battle humour in his time away?) and just slouched into the ridiculously uncomfortable throne
whilst the operator's got to work establishing a connection between them and William's G-1. A
moment later, the screen at the front of the bridge blared on, showing the face of the Knight of One
staring back at them. The command staff, at the sight of Lelouch's Strongest, immediately saluted.
As for Peter, he just gave his old friend a merry little wave.

"Hi, Willy!" He began, not at all minding the offended gasps or the shocked guffaws around him,
gods these people were too uptight! "How're things in Metz?" He went on to ask, smiling brilliantly
whilst Bishop just sighed at his attitude.

"I see you've learned nothing from our stay in Alcatraz." He commented.

"Not true, Willy!" Peter retorted, still smiling "I learned not to drop the soap."

"Hmm." The Knight of One frowned, "I'm starting to think I shouldn't have asked His Majesty to
make you a Round."

"Oh, Willy, you hurt me!" The Knight of Three replied, falling from his seat onto his knees in a
melodramatic act of pain and anguish, "Were all those years nothing then? Do you not love me as
a brother, dearest William. Are we not best friends?"

Around him, the command staff was doing their level best to keep from chuckling at their
commander's insane humour, whilst others were sweating buckets as if Lord Bishop was about to
come through the screen and execute them all. As for Bishop himself, he just let out another put
upon sigh and nodded at his friend. "Yes, Peter, we are friends but that does not excuse such
frivolous behaviour. His Majesty has granted us both a second chance at life, you would do well
not to make him regret it."

The threat in that little nugget of advice did not go over Peter's head, but instead of being offended
by it, he simply waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, look I already said I was on the kid's boat, didn't I?" He
ignored the more uptight operator's hissing at him calling Emperor Lelouch a kid, but come on! He
looked like he could barely shave! "Besides, he killed that bastard Charles before either of us could
so I'm not gonna be the one who tries to kill him. And most important of all," His lazy smile turned
starstruck, "have you seen my new Knightmare? All those guns, and cannons, and lasers and a
grenade launcher! A freaking grenade launcher, Willy! It's so...shiny."

Now it was Bishop's turn to roll his eyes at his old friend's predictable nature. "Of course, the
deciding factor for you would be the number of guns he's allowed you to carry." He muttered
exasperatedly, though there was a touch of fond memories in there as well. "What's it called
again?"

"Uncle Teddy."

Bishop stared at Peter's calm face for a moment before raising a single sceptic eyebrow, "You
named it that, didn't you?"

"Well duh, Willy." He replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That Lloyd guy
had some big silly name for it that just made me want to shoot him. Uncle Teddy's easy to
remember."

That did it, the stoic image of William Bishop broke. It was only for a moment, and it was little
more than a snort, but as far as Peter was concerned that was a win. Bishop seemed to realize it too
as he quickly readopted his calm facade, covering his almost-laugh as a cough. "Right, I'll speak to
you once Metz is fully back in our control."

"You're not done?" Peter joked. "And here I am, already finished. You're getting old, Willy." His
smirk dropped a little though as he went on. "Hey, Will. Don't go and die on me. You still have that
score with Bismarck to settle, remember?"

"Oh, I remember, Peter," Bishop replied, his calm visage once again giving way to emotion at the
reminder, only this time it was the coldest hatred. "That's one thing I will never forget until the day
I have that bastard on the end of my sword." And with that, he disconnected.

For a few moments, the G-1 was silent as the command crew took in the knowledge that Sir
Bishop actually was capable of emotions beyond simple stoicism. Not surprisingly it was Peter
who broke the silence.

"That guy seriously needs to get laid."

Netherlands, Britannian Air Base.

The duel had been going on now for a good ten minutes...though really calling it a duel probably
ended around the end of the fourth. At this point it was more of a game called 'How Many Times
Can Cinder Knock Over This Annoying Bug Before He Stays Down?' Honestly, if she was feeling
even the slightest bit less angry at the moment, Cinder might have thought about giving the poor
thing a breather.

As it stood, however, she was still furious enough to melt diamonds with her eyes. Therefore she
just kept pounding away on the vulgar red loudmouth in front of her with everything she had. A
strike here, a party there...and a dirty kick to the legs sent the double crosser's machine onto his
back, eliciting a furious shout from the pilot.

For her, however, that was just music to Cinder's ears as she taunted him. "Aw...did the 'invincible'
pilot trip over his legs...again?" She smirked to herself as that got another loud grunt from her
opponent. "I have to say, I'm disappointed. All that bluster and this is all you can manage, insect?"

She didn't bother hearing another angry animal noise and instead launched in for the kill, but as she
did the pesky machine suddenly proved why the name of her game was so ridiculously long when
it managed to bring up a sword and block the Amber's MVS. The insect is right. He's a goddamn
cockroach!

Said cockroach now began pushing back against her for the umpteenth time, its pilot declaring
loudly "I am not done yet!"

Brave words, but she clearly heard the gurgle in his voice. He was either sick or he'd just coughed
up blood, either way, this insolent idiot would soon be dead. That didn't stop him from attacking
though as he swung his sword at her in a wide arc, an attack Cinder didn't even bother to dodge in
preference for the Absolute Defence Field. The sword hit the shield wall just where she calculated
it would, snapping in two.

Now it's just sad. She thought to herself privately, the damn fool had left himself wide open with
that stupid move. An opening she took full advantage of and had the Amber kick the red machine
square in the chest sending it onto its back again.

Before the pilot had a chance to self right his machine, she brought the foot of the Amber down
hard on its chest and pressed down hard pinning it to the floor. And just for a little extra flair, she
pointed the tip of her MVS at the red machine's face. "Be honest," she asked him nonchalantly,
"are you bored of this? Because I certainly am."

Her comment was met with silence, to which she just shrugged and pulled the sword back
preparing to thrust it through the head into the cockpit. "Well, whatever. Maybe the rest of your
team will be less of a disappointment."

That comment, as expected, got a response from the team leader. However, it wasn't the response
she was hoping for: He'd started laughing again. "Oh wow, I was right!" The insect declared, still
laughing despite it coming through that he was in a serious amount of pain. "You really are a
terrible knight!"

Was this a guy thing? Laughing in the face of their superiors after being beaten into submission?
Whatever the reason, it was doing nothing for Cinder's temper in the slightest. Did this idiot take
anything seriously? "Well, it doesn't matter now, does it?" She asked out loud, her MVS ready to
strike down. "In the end, we fought. I won. And now, it ends."

She had intended those to be the last words the moron ever heard before she skewered him,
however once again the little mite was saved, this time by an intervention of the rest of the bug
colony. The 'invincible' leader's 'best' Knightmare team had returned and were now firing on her
with their rifles.

"Insects everywhere!" Cinder snarled, backing away from the downed machine, unable to bring up
the ADF in time to deflect the attacks. Finally, she got it up, but damn it if this infestation problem
was getting annoying!

It didn't help matters when the loudest of the bugs started laughing at her again as he finally got his
machine back on to its feet. "You're right there, this is the end!"

He can't seriously want to keep going. She thought to herself, secretly feeling a little
unnerved. Even if he does have a team at his back again, there's no way he could...wait. Something
in the hands of the turncoat Gloucesters caught her eye and she zoomed in on her screen, to her
complete surprise she could make out a number of EU uniformed soldiers riding them. Hang
on...is that what's been going on? He was buying time for them to find survivors...but then, does
that mean?

The answer came from her opponent himself who crowed triumphantly over the radio. "And now
guys...LEG IT!" He gave the order so quickly, Cinder didn't realize what was happening until it
was halfway over. The moment he'd given the order, his machine had launched in the direction of
the Gloucesters, who had started to deploy smoke.

Dammit! Quickly, Cinder switched to her Super VARIS and took aim at the smoke, but it was too
little too late. The European team had already used the cover to disappear from sight and without a
proper solution, there was no way she was guaranteed to hit anything. Growling in annoyance she
activated the float system and took to the sky, hoping to spot them as they fled. But the smoke was
already widely dispersed and heading in all directions. By the time she'd found a trace, they'd likely
have already changed course.

That petulant, time wasting, arrogant cockroach! Cinder felt like screaming, he'd wasted her time
for such a poultry gain as a few injured troops? What was wrong with him?! She'd almost totaled
his machine doing that!

Still... "Ashley Ashra and Asura Team, huh?" She spoke the names out loud for the first time
today. "I'll make a point to find you all one day, where I'll put you all under my heel where you
belong."

Avalon.
"Lloyd!" Cecile called out to her boss from her workstation. They'd been monitoring the
performance of their newest machines throughout the day and so far all things had been working
out nicely. It helped that they didn't have to worry about an air attack, the EU was way behind the
tech race on that front to an almost laughable extent, meaning they could cruise through French air
space at their leisure.

A leisurely pace was anything but on the minds of the scientists and engineers aboard the Avalon
as the finest minds, Britannia had continued to hypothesize, theorize, and improve upon their ideas
for their next Knightmare Frame, which required data. The brilliant thing about war - or so Lloyd
always said - was that battles happened all the time, which meant more than enough chances to
collect data. Needless to say, the Earl of Pudding was over the moon right now.

It was during this data collection that Cecile had switched over to observing Lady Fall's new
machine and the readouts had triggered her call out to her boss. Hearing his name, Lloyd casually
strolled over to have a look at what his assistant had seen. One look at the results though and he
almost looked like he would cry tears of joy.

"It's beautiful!" He crowed happily, "My wonderful machine has proved itself again!"

Well, at least he's happy. Cecile allowed herself the positive thought, considering how he'd gotten
when they'd had to leave Suzaku behind it was nice to see him exude a level of...not normalcy per
say, but back to what she was used to: insanely happy with pudding coating his mouth. "Lady Fall's
performance is remarkable, these readings are beyond expectations."

Lloyd just nodded happily again, although his smile did droop a little bit as he stated, "Well of
course they are, this is Lancelot's twin after all."

The change in her boss's attitude didn't go unnoticed by Cecile, he got like this whenever they went
over the Amber: Tertiary. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. "You still miss him too?"

He just nodded, his morose persona increasing as he picked up a tablet off the desk and started
going over the numbers coming in from the Amber. "I'm afraid I'll never stop, my dear." He
informed her bleakly. "He had it in him to be the best."

She nodded in agreement, some of her own sadness coming through as she stopped working on her
current project to face him properly. "Yes. If he had stayed with us he could have finally been a
part of something so much more than just another war."

"He would have been legendary." Lloyd stated without a shred of doubt, "But now he'll just be a
traitor."

"Not if we can get to him first Lloyd!" She insisted firmly, "There's still time to save him. Suzaku
isn't-"

"Suzaku?" He cut her off, a look of confusion marring his face which she was certain she was
reflecting right back at him. Hadn't that been who they were talking about? Evidently not as Lloyd
snorted at her suggestion before carrying on. "Who cares about Suzaku? I want my Lancelot back!
He would have been my ultimate creation!"

Confusion turned to mass twitching on Cecile's face...and a strong desire to punch the sociopath
right in his face. That was what he was missing?! The ruddy Albion?! They could get started on
that any time they wanted, especially now that they'd tested out the frame and the weapons. What
about the boy they took in? Still, chucking him out the gantry into the open air where anyone
could 'accidentally' shoot him wouldn't get anything done so she just sighed.
"You're absolutely incorrigible." She muttered, whilst in her head, she began counting down from
ten...thousand.

As for Lloyd he just shrugged, still looking somewhat miffed at the reminder that he didn't have
his dream machine with him, and went back to looking over the incoming information on the
tablet. "Still, it's a shame the emperor wouldn't let us install the Energy Wings on the Reaper and
Amber. Stupid squishy humans."

Yes, she thought to herself mutinously, how dare humans be made out of organic flesh and bone
and not solid steel.

"I've told you before, Lloyd," she reminded him, "Lady Fall isn't ready for such a leap and Lord
Calhoun only just became a Round. They have a long way to go before they're ready for that." That
was one argument she was happy Emperor Lelouch had been present for to cut Lloyd off at the
pass; one threat to cut their budget and he fell in line.

But that had rubbed off of him quickly enough once he found something new to tinker with. "Well,
at least I got to play with Rakshata's Absolute Defense System." He pointed out, grinning smugly.
"And people say I overdo things, how was she expecting anyone without a genius intellect like my
own to work it?"

"But it does provide a chance to improve on the Blaze Luminous," Cecile noted, desperate not to
set him off on another superiority rant. "We could use it in the designs for His Majesty's new ship."

"Ah yes," he remembered, nodding carelessly, "Nemesis should get my best treatment. Ooooh!" He
looked about ready to start dancing like he had the first time they'd seen the blueprints which were
now being put to use in Nevada. "I can't wait to see it completed! Do you think he'll let us build
something even better after that?"

Such a child. She rolled her eyes at him before replying, "Let's just get that one finished first, I'm
sure His Majesty already has something in mind. Do you really think it'll be ready by the end of
the month?"

"But of course!" He stated, almost looking like he'd taken offence to her question, "If I say it will
be done in a month, it will be done in a month! Wouldn't want our handsome, charming patron to
be disappointed," he added on, smirking slyly at her, "isn't that right, deary?"

This time she really did punch him, cheeks flaring redder than Rakshata's own experimental
machine. It wasn't like His Majesty was even interested anyway!

London, underground

It was raining outside, something Lelouch had been warned was a bit of the norm for British
weather, English in particular where the forecast either promised sunny skies or drizzly days.
Coming here it made him wonder what the big deal was if the former capital of his people always
looked so dreary, though C.C. had told him that the best time to be in England was apparently in
May rather than June...which served to annoy him to no end.

However, bad weather was not the cause for his travelling to London today but rather what was
hidden beneath the long-lasting city that drew his attention. One of the benefits of being emperor
of now roughly three quarters of the world was that he got access to all the information and plans
the former emperor had left behind - in this case Charles and V.V.'s extensive research on Geass,
C's World and, rather, more importantly, the Thought Elevators and their locations. Honestly, he'd
been unsurprised to find one hiding beneath Pendragon, but what had really shocked him was to
find another one deep beneath the British capital.

It led him to wonder just how much influence Geass had had on his country's history.

But that was another study for another time, for now, Lelouch had other affairs to attend to whilst
also running the war in the EU. Although at this point, running the war translated into giving short
clipped statements to Alfred who had accompanied him. "Once Bishop and Thomson break the
lines at Metz and Luneville they are to wait at the border for Arthur and General Abramson."

"Of course sir." His aide replied dutifully.

"Together they are to break the enemy's blockade on Mannheim and then push on into Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, I and my legionnaires will take Belgium."

"Very good sir." Alfred replied again, writing it all down on a notepad before transferring that to
his jacket pocket.

The reason he'd stopped was that they'd finally arrived at their destination. It had taken quite a bit
of walking, scouring, and lying to the stationed troops to get here but now Lelouch found himself
standing before a familiar sight. The large door looked virtually identical to the one in Kamine
island, right down to the steps leading up to it and the etchings of an ancient Geass sigil in the
stone by a civilization that had long disappeared.

"Wait here." Not wasting any time, Lelouch stepped forward onto the stone patio and placed his
hand on the door. Unlike before where the gateway to C's World had already been open for him,
this time he had to make a connection himself. Fortunately, C.C. had taught him how to do so
before she went looking for her former contractors and so it only took him a few seconds - more
than he would have liked - before he felt his consciousness move to another plain.

When he opened his eyes again, he noted with a small level of surprise that the place hadn't
changed since he'd made his wish to God. He stood on a rock outcropping in the middle of a giant
almost mechanical looking device, around him were pillars that could have been the remains of
some ancient ruin and above him loomed the massive Jovian planet that represented the Collective
Subconscious of mankind, the massive Geass sigil still spread across it.

That's odd. Lelouch thought to himself, looking around at the familiar setting. I thought it might
look different this time, it's not like I want to use the Sword of Akasha.

"It's only an interface." Said a voice behind him, taking him completely by surprise, "It changes
depending on what you want it to look like."

Immediately, Lelouch whirled around to face the voice. It belonged to what appeared to be an
attractive looking young woman with black-through-pink hair and unusual pink eyes. Also, she was
dressed in a low-cut, long-sleeved black shirt that seemed to reflect the light that was hitting it with
a thin sash that trailed down to her high heeled feet. Her legs were wrapped in tight black pants that
showed no sign as to where they ended and her heeled boots began.

If she noticed his roaming eye she didn't mention it, she just kept her easy smile on him even when
he pulled out his handgun and pointed it level with her pale skinned head. "Oh really, there's no
need for that, Lelouch."

Her statement did little to dissuade his concerns and his left hand started creeping up to his lenses
should he need to use his Geass. However, his initial analysis of her had picked up something that
sparked his fear that it would be for naught: the pink lining of the girl's shirt, it was designed in the
shape of a familiar crane symbol.

All the more reason for the tightening of his grip on his pistol, for all the good it would do him as
he demanded, "What are you?"

"'What?'" The girl repeated, her head lolling to the side. "Not 'who?'"

"I would've felt it if another presence had entered the Thought Elevator," he explained, not taking
his eyes off her for a second, "there are so few people who enter and exit that it would be
impossible to miss. But you to arrive and not leave a trace? Not even C.C. is that good." It was
dangerous to drop names but at this point, it was unlikely this thing, whatever it was, didn't know
who he was talking about.

It looked like he was right too as she perked up in familiarity to the mention of his Witch. "Oh?
You think she knows all the secrets of this place?" She giggled at his presumption. "Lelouch,
compared to me your dear Cera is just a little girl."

"Which leads us back to my question," he countered, trying not to flinch at the mention of C.C.'s
true name being spoken by anyone but him. "What are you?"

For a moment it appeared she wouldn't answer, swaying here and there with an infuriatingly
familiar careless smile on her face - he'd seen it on C.C's many times before - but then she
shrugged and sighed before slowly walking towards him. "What I am, Lelouch, is nothing. I am no
one." He was about to snap how very useful that answer wasn't before she went on, now with a bit
more presence in her tone. "But at the same time, I suppose you could say I am everyone."

"I am the manifestation of the thoughts and feelings of those in this world, both living and dead.
Where there is a conscious thought, there you will find me; where there is a dream, there I will
dwell; where there is a wish, I do my part in seeing it granted." As she spoke, the world around
them vanished, replaced with an endless ocean of stars but neither really noticed the change. Her
tone was light, but the inflection was strong, and all the while she kept that silly grin on her face as
comprehension dawned on Lelouch's. "Figured it out yet?"

For Lelouch, it was a shattering of more than a few of the concepts surrounding Geass that he'd
thought he understood. Tearing his gaze away from the apparition before him, he turned to stare
again at the giant planet overhead, then back to her, still with a touch of disbelief in his eyes as he
stated. "You're the Collective Unconscious."

"A part of it anyway." She confirmed with a light nod, "I am what the people of this era call the
Dimensional Supervisor, or D.S. for short. My main purpose is to intervene in events that threaten
the stability of 'C's World,' as you call it."

"Is that so?" He asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow, "Strange, I don't recall seeing you when
Charles and Marianne tried to kill you."

"Who do you think was holding back that damned sword?" 'D.S.' retorted to his surprise, folding
her arms and pouting of all things. "If I hadn't been working on my end to keep the Ragnarok
Connection from being completed, you would never have had time to make the wish that stopped
it. Why do you think they needed two Codes?"

That...would actually make some sense. Lelouch was forced to admit after all Marianne had said
that they didn't have a one-hundred-percent chance of success with just one. Was this entity really
that powerful?
"That wasn't even the first time I stepped in on your affairs," said entity continued, giggling a little
at the flummoxed look on his face "though that last one was definitely more me doing my job
rather than anything of more personal interest."

Now he really was sceptical. "I think I would have remembered a beautiful young woman with
those eyes." Yes, he could admit it, he was dedicated not blind.

Clearly, though, D.S. didn't believe him as she gave out a little snort, "Oh yes, just like how you
noticed your subordinate all but throwing herself at you through your first rebellion. Tell me, does
that thing between your legs actually work, or is the rumour at your old school that you and Suzaku
Kururugi are star-crossed lovers actually true?"

The sputtering that set off in Lelouch was enough to make him finally lower his pistol, though he
was silently cursing his luck. Just great. Another C.C.!

After another giggle at his antics, D.S. continued where she left off, "Anyway, just because you
didn't see me doesn't mean I wasn't acting through agents. Tell me, how do you think C.C. knew
about Nunnally's kidnapping?"

That caught his attention, "That was you?" He asked her, not sure he believed what he was being
told. "I thought C.C. felt it through our contract. Nunnally was my reason to live after all."

"To an extent, yes." She agreed, nodding at his assessment, "But by that time your contract had
changed remember? After a certain debacle with a former contractor of hers?"

Mao? What's he got to do with this? For a moment he was stumped as to how that mad man could
be a part of this...and then he recalled what he and C.C. had talked about after he'd had Mao shot
by the police. He'd assured her that he would attain her wish along with his own desires, regardless
of what it had been...they'd renegotiated the contract.

Seeing that he was beginning to understand, D.S. continued, "Neither of you may realize this but
it's very easy to change the grounds of a contract if both the Code and the Geass desire it. After
that, though you didn't know it, C.C. had become a part of your reason to live right alongside
Nunnally and your rebellion. Do you realize how rare that is? For the Code to be a part of the
Geass's contract?" She snorted before putting her hands on her hips. "It certainly screwed up her
warning detection, that's why I had to step in."

"I see," Lelouch replied, though his expression was a frown. Why did this entity do that for him?
What did she gain out of alerting him to V.V.'s meddling? There was too little data to form an
answer. "Any other times I should know of?"

This time, D.S. actually looked uncomfortable about the subject as she folded her arms loosened so
one hand could clutch the opposite forearm, "Just one other time." She admitted quietly, "Though
you were hardly in any state to remember it."

There were a few times in his life that Lelouch could recall when he'd been too traumatized to think
straight, but that didn't help if he didn't know which time he was supposedly in her debt for. "When
was it?" He pressed.

Seeing his firm stance, D.S. sighed and uttered just one word that summed up everything that he
hoped hadn't been the time she was referring to: "Kingsley."

Just hearing that dratted name again threatened to bring bile to his throat, the identity Charles had
crafted for him to be a loyal pawn of the empire, his intelligence, command, and power all in that
bastard's hand without a choice! Lelouch could still remember the indignity of it, which was why
he so actively repressed those memories most of the time; it was one mask that he was absolutely
disgusted to have worn.

And so it was a tight voice that he spoke with when he prodded her, "Continue. In just what way
were you involved with that...phase?"

"Very little actually." She admitted freely, shrugging at first. "Using Geass on enemies to make
them your most useful allies is hardly anything new. You yourself have done it once or twice. But
then..." she trailed off for a moment, regarding him with an intrigue that Lelouch had seen on
Rakshata's face more than once: the desire to break him down and see what made him tick.
"Almost immediately you started fighting back. Barely for a couple of seconds at first, but little by
little you pulled yourself back from your father's control. That turned more than a few heads up
here."

"So I became interested because I refused to bow to Charles's whims?" He asked her, not buying it
for a second, "Surely there have been others if that's the case."

"Of course there were, but they are few and far between." D.S. explained, "It takes incredible
willpower to stand against the command of Geass, and even more to overpower it. But that's not
what caught my attention." She stopped again, once more fixing him with that curious stare before
continuing. "Every time you resurfaced, Julius Kingsley forced you down or Suzaku Kururugi
tortured you until you retreated, and yet you absolutely refused to accept defeat. You fought for
every second of freedom you could afford before you were stopped again. A lesser man would
have given up after a few tries but you...you never did.

"It was amazing to see, and whilst others here would have just watched I actually found myself
hoping you would succeed...and so I decided to stack the deck in your favor." Seeing his lack of
understanding, she continued to explain. "Remember the final time you pushed through? When you
just so happened to coincide with Kingsley stating his loyalty to Charles?"

"That was you?!" He demanded, furious at the idea that he could have freed himself if she'd just
pushed a little sooner.

But she shook her head, "No, little emperor, that was all you. Though it did work out nicely for me
that Shinn Hyuga Shaing chose that moment to try and murder you, it got Suzaku away from you
so you and Kingsley could fight it out without distraction." Another smile found her lips as she
continued to retell that awful moment in his life when nothing had made sense to him and two
voices in his head demanded that they were the real identity. "It actually hurt to watch that one,
you two were so close to succeeding over each other that at times I didn't think you'd need me. But
then Shaing pointed a gun at you..." did she actually growl at that? "and that was unacceptable. So
I sent you one single word that I knew would bring you out on top..."

And what a word it had been, one that now hurt him as much as it had helped him then:
"Nunnally."

"Right." She nodded.

Well, that was certainly something. Lelouch really didn't know what to say to that, apparently, he'd
caught the attention of C's World's version of pest control because he was even more stubborn as a
mule. Enough that it had tried to help him. "Well..." he started slowly, "I suppose the right thing to
say is to thank you. For Julius Kingsley and the time before. But," his gaze suddenly turned as
sharp as his tone, "that doesn't tell me why you're showing yourself to me now."
"No, I suppose it doesn't." D.S. allowed with a small nod and what he hoped was a genuine smile
on her face. After a moment she began to speak again, this time far more distant than before: "The
student, Lelouch Lamperouge; the revolutionary, Zero; the military advisor, Julius Kingsley; and
now the White Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia. You know a thing or two about wearing masks."

She broke her gaze on him to look down at her own body, with something resembling self-
consciousness. "For me, masks come in the form of my very physical presence. I have no face to
call my own, just the one that takes my fancy at the time. This one that I'm wearing now belonged
to a girl that was spirited away by your father's Geass Order; it felt appropriate considering what he
and his brother were planning to do to us. I did try to approach them, to stop their mad quest for
their world of living death, but I was turned away or ignored at every approach.

"It was strange, for the first time in aeons I felt fear in the Collective Unconscious, we were certain
we were going to die." Her frown then vanished as she returned her gaze to match his. "And then,
who should be the one to save us, but you? The son of one of the brothers who was trying to kill us.
The irony was not lost on us."

The way this conversation was going, Lelouch quickly picked up what was going unsaid and he
frowned. "So you think you owe me something now?" He didn't like owing people favours for the
smallest things, he couldn't imagine the combined ego of every human on the planet would be
happy owing someone like him for saving their lives.

But D.S. shook her head. "C's World owes you a debt, we recognize that and are already repaying
you. Its why your little war in Europe has been met with such minimal opposition so far. Besides
we have a mess we need to clean up there as well and you're on hand. As for me." She stressed the
word, taking measured steps towards him now, "I've already told you that the Collective
Unconscious is curious about you, but I personally am far more interested than just that."

Oh dear. Those pink eyes of hers were now looking at him in a way that Lelouch recognized on
many a human girl, it didn't help that she was now right up in his face, almost rubbing against him.
How was it even possible a supposedly genderless entity even had desires like that? Preying that
this was just leftover paranoia from years of dealing with Milly he cleared his throat and asked.
"And what might you be interested in?"

The sly smile she shot him was pure C.C. there was nothing else to name it. "Well, as you hold the
power of Geass, what would you say to a contract?"

"What...sort of contract?" He asked slowly, though in his soul it felt like he was making a deal with
the devil...again.

He was proven right when, for reasons that flew right over his head, D.S. leaned in and whispered
her desire into his ear, making sure to keep just out of contact with his skin, causing all measure of
bad thoughts to start running a muck in his head. He almost missed the request thanks to that, but
thankfully seeing as he'd suspected something, he'd already started to blush before she began this
little game.

"I...see." He said once she pulled away, though barely an inch away from his lips. "And why am I
being volunteered for this?"

His question caused her to pout, "Aww, isn't what I suggested reason enough?" Lelouch liked to
think his blank face did the trick of answering that question for him because she sighed and pulled
back a little bit, though still in arms reach. "Fine, if you want to play it that way, I can be of use to
you. I'm aware you're hunting down those who have Geass. I can help you find them."
Now wasn't that interesting? "I'm listening."

"One of the advantages of being part of everything is the omniscience that comes with it." She
explained, "I could literally point out anyone in a crowd who has Geass, even if the Code who gave
it to them has long since forgotten about them."

That...really could be useful. Lelouch admitted, not allowing the other...benefits to weigh in on his
decision making."Any proof to back up this claim?" He asked.

D.S. raised an eyebrow at him before shaking her head in mild exasperation and complying. "Well,
the one you call Leila Breisgau should probably at the top of your list." She revealed, not
commenting on how his eyes had widened just a fraction at this news, "It's actually one of the most
unique we've ever seen, a genuine anti-Geass. It's similar to your Jeremiah Gottwald's Geass
Canceller, however where he simply nullifies the effects of a Geass, her ability completely destroys
the power itself."

A Geass that destroyed other people's Geass? Now that was cause for concern. Leila Breisgau had
already been on Lelouch's shortlist of people he needed to deal with, her reputation as a commander
on the battlefield preceded her, but to discover that she had a Geass all this time as well and one so
deadly? The commander of the EU's W-0 Unit had just jumped all the way up his list of priorities,
such an individual was too dangerous to leave in play.

"What's more," D.S. continued, "I know where she is."

"Then tell me." He all but ordered, however to his growing aggravation she shook her head.

"It's not that simple. Right now I'm being carefully watched by people in the EU." She explained,
and suddenly alarm bells began ringing in Lelouch's head. If she was in Europe with people who
knew about her then... "Relax, they barely have an idea of what I really am, they just think I'm an
odd girl with a weird Geass power. But if Leila suddenly disappeared, suspicion would fall on me
almost immediately."

"And I would lose a crucial informant." He finished her trail of thought, grudgingly admitting that
was a good reason not to tell him just now, as well as being a little annoyed that she'd known
exactly why he wanted the information.

D.S. just shrugged, "That's the price I'm afraid. I can be your eyes in the EU but you must be
patient or wait for C.C. to find Leila by herself. However," she continued on a more positive note,
"I can tell you a little about the people running this war."

"Other than Smilas, you mean?"

"Correct," she nodded and continued, "there is a man who goes by the title 'Wizard' who works
closely with Gene Smilas. Have you heard of him?"

"The name is familiar to me," Lelouch confirmed, frowning at the mention. There was actually
very little known about this man even in the Britannian records which he had perused thoroughly
before setting up the war, all he could find out was that he appeared shortly after the Black
Rebellion was quelled and had ties with a terrorist group in the EU. Such an unknown
was...troubling. "I had no idea they'd joined forces."

D.S. simply nodded again at his comment, as if she'd expected the answer. "Well before the EU
launched its blitzkriegs, he was in charge of communing with me in Munich." Her naming the city
in such an offhand way almost through Lelouch off too, as it was no doubt intended...clever. "But
now he's in command of the occupying forces in Brussels."

Brussels. Check. "Anything else I should know?" He asked her, glancing around carefully. If there
was a connection to C's World in Munich then he'd have to make a speedy getaway soon.

"Only that you should hurry and finish conquering Europe." She warned him, backing away and
losing quite a bit of her playful personality, her shirt reflecting off the celestial ocean around them
making her appear all the more ethereal. "We owe you a debt, Lelouch vi Britannia, but we can not
hold back the march of time for much longer. Soon others will emerge with convictions as strong
as your own. You will have to decide what to do with them once the time comes."

Even her voice had changed, as if multiple persons were now using her lips as a proxy, leading
Lelouch to suspect that it was now the Collective Unconscious itself talking through her. While
unnerving, he couldn't deny their words held weight; he was going to have his hands full dealing
with all of Schneizal's puppets, the last thing he needed was those puppets suddenly starting to
think for themselves.

Frowning, Lelouch gave the mysterious girl one last nod, "Very well then, Dimensional
Supervisor, you shall be my agent within Europe. I expect your complicity in this. And in return,"
he bowed low, as he had long ago been taught in his gentility classes, "I shall abide by our
contract."

The world around them suddenly flashed to a halt, the stars holding in place and the endless black
void paying witness to his agreement. And then, gradually, the stellar sea slowly began to vanish,
replaced with a golden sunset hanging over a rich green field, the door back to the outside world
appearing behind D.S.

The occupants barely noted the change, however, as D.S. let out another giggle at her new
contractor's antics, a hand raising to cover her mouth. "Oh wow, you really do take the royalty
thing seriously, don't you?" She couldn't help with a little ribbing, before calming down and
straightening out, though still smiling. "Very well, my emperor, I'll be waiting for you. Please don't
take too long."

And with that, she vanished right before his eyes.

Oy. Lelouch thought to himself as he headed back to the doorway. I've definitely saddled myself
with another C.C. Oh well, at least she isn't calling me 'boy' or stealing my clothes...yet. A horrid
image suddenly assaulted his mind of the Witch and D.S. lounging together, dressed in his clothes
and stacking up Pizza boxes. If that was his future...Is it too late to call up Suzaku and ask him to
kill me?

Allowing himself one more teenage groan, Lelouch stepped out of the Thought Elevator and
signalled to Alfred to return to his side. He'd achieved his objective coming here, though in a way
that was certainly opposite from what he'd intended, and now there was a new potential ally that he
needed to collect.

"Inform the legions to prepare for my arrival." He told his aide the moment the man stood before
him, "And summon Marrybell."

Alfred nodded without question and took out his phone, immediately making calls whilst the White
Emperor started to rearrange his strategy for Europe. It would appear I'm going to Munich.

And then another thought hit him, one that he should have realized was going to cause issues but
had calmly ignored due to the people it involved being an immortal witch, a former noblewoman
with a grudge, and now a pan-dimensional entity that might or might not actually have a bit of
himself in her make up.

"Alfred? How would the public react to their emperor taking multiple wives?"

Uther: piloted by a knight of one William Bishop

General Characteristics

Crew: One

Height: 7.30

Weight: 15.05 metric tonnes

Power Source: Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features: Absolute Defense System, Cockpit Ejection System, Factsphere Sensor,
Landspinner Propulsion System, Integrated Float System(also serve as the sheath for a weapon)

Armament: 10x Finger-mounted Slash Harkens, 1x double-bladed MVS, Left Handheld 6-tube
Missile Launching Shield, Hadron Cannon mounted on the right arm, 14-tube Missile Launchers
(6x Chest-mounted and 8x Leg-mounted (4x per leg)

Amber:Tertiary: piloted by a knight of two Cinder Fall

General Characteristics

Crew: One

Height: 5.20

Weight: 9.15 metric tonnes

Power Source: Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features: Absolute Defense System, Cockpit Ejection System, Factsphere Sensor,
Landspinner Propulsion System, Integrated Float System

Armament: 4x Slash Harkens (2x Arm-mounted and 2x Hip-mounted), 2x Maser Vibration

Swords, 2x Super V.A.R.I.S rifle

Uncle Teddy: piloted by a knight of three Peter Thomson

General Characteristics

Crew: One

Height: 5.20

Weight: 13.05 metric tonnes

Power Source: Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features: Landspinner Propulsion, System Integrated, Float System, Blaze Luminous
System, Cockpit Ejection System

Armament: 2x x Shoulder-mounted Hadron Cannons, 1x Head-mounted rocket launcher (inside

the head), 1x Blaze Luminous minigun, 1x Diffusion Structure Phase Transition launcher, 2x
V.A.R.I.S (back mounted)

Reaper: piloted by a knight of four Arthur Calhoun.

General Characteristics

Crew: One

Height: 5.70

Weight: 10.05 metric tonnes

Power Source: Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features: High-Speed Mobile Form, Flight Unit(optional), Factsphere Sensor, Cockpit
Ejection System, Landspinner Propulsion System

Armament: 1x scythe/ V.A.R.I.S, 1x MVS, 3x Slash Harkens

 The issue of loyalty

June 4, 2018: Britannian Occupied Tokyo

"Now you just rest here for a moment, Ms Kozuki." The doctor told his patient, helping her to sit
down on a bench in the shade just outside of the main building, before moving off to attend to
another issue that had come up. That was fine by Ayano who was just happy to finally be allowed
outside after nearly a year of bed pans and lying down all day.

The downside of course was that, after so long a time of not using her legs, her muscles had
atrophied quite a bit leaving her unable to walk for long spells without taking constant breaks. It
was an annoyance but one that she was willing to pay if it meant she was finally getting
better...though it also served as a reminder of her foolish actions and what it had meant for Kallen
to find her like that.

Kallen, her worried eyes turned skyward towards the airships still hovering over the Tokyo
Crater, my brave little girl.

Things had started to improve over the last couple of days, the additional help provided by the
UFN and the Black Knights after Tokyo was split in half meant that a lot of the Britannian rescue
teams could now come back and start helping more people. The result was a much more seamless
operation and a quick reduction of patients. Of course there was still a lot to do which was why
she'd been left on her own like this, but as far as Ayano could see it was a wonderful improvement.

Still, there were downsides to this new arrangement to go with the advantages. Most noticeably the
division of Tokyo meant that people on either side of the new border were unable to communicate
with each other which had caused any number of loud complaints. However, short of another war
breaking out, Britannia and the UFN were doing their best to stay as far away from each other as
possible so any chance of a renegotiation was unlikely.

This proved concerning for Ayano because it meant that she couldn't get in touch with the Black
Knights. She'd followed them as best she could once she came out of her Refrain-induced coma
and all it had done had made her worry for her Kallen's life. It was bad enough that she hadn't been
there as much as she should have been, but to know that Kallen was out there fighting Britannia
with her life on the line just made Ayano feel even worse.

She was so focussed on the airships that she didn't hear the approach of two figures behind her
until one of them spoke. "Excuse me, Ms Kozuki?" She recognised the voice of one of the nurses -
one of the advantages of being admitted to a small institution for so long - though she didn't glance
around. "You have a visitor."

A visitor? Someone had come to see her? But that couldn't be right. Everyone Ayano knew, quite
shamefully, were either former patients who had left before Tokyo was destroyed or worked at the
hospital. There was no one outside of this place, apart from that awful woman her beloved was
forced to marry, that she was even remotely in contact with. Except for...

Eyes going wide, she spun around to see who it was who had accompanied the nurse and
immediately she felt tears rising in her eyes. Stood there staring back at her, also with tears
beginning to grow in her father's eyes, was her beautiful baby girl. Her hair was combed down and
she was dressed in high class Britannian clothing, but she would know her daughter anywhere.

For a moment the two just looked at each other, neither wanting to make the first move lest this all
turn out to be a dream...and then Kallen said, in a very quiet voice, one word that Ayano had
desperately been wanting to hear from her for so long: "...Okāsan?"

That did it. For both of them.

A moment later, Ayano was trying to get up to rush her girl but Kallen was faster and she ploughed
right into her mother, hugging her as tightly as she possibly dared which Ayano joyfully
reciprocated. For the first time in nearly a decade, everything felt as it should again.

The family reunion was everything Kallen could have hoped for and they spent nearly an hour just
talking together about anything they could, although she did have to divert their conversation when
it leaned towards the Black Knights. She knew her mother cared - something she'd never let herself
forget again - but that was one subject she really didn't know where she stood on at the moment.
Aside from that one slip up though there was no way she could possibly be happier.

I'll get it right this time. She silently vowed to herself as she helped Ayano back to her room. I
swear I won't abandon her again.

It would be a difficult thing to manage, her pass wasn't unlimited and she'd eventually have to
return to the Black Knights whilst her mother was still recovering from her Refrain addiction, but
this time she wasn't just going to brush off the problem and hope it would go away. This time she
would stick it out for as long as it took. She would make sure her mother came home safe and
sound.

Speaking of safe. "So who are your neighbours?" She asked casually as they came up on their
destination.

"Oh a couple of very interesting people, though I only really know one of them." Ayano replied,
"The first is gentleman who was brought in after the battle ended, he's still unconscious but I'm
pretty sure he's a Britannian soldier. Now Kallen," her tone turned reproachful and Kallen had to
curse her body for flinching at the idea of an enemy soldier so close to her mother. Ayano clearly
didn't care for it though as she went on, "there's no need for that. He's hurt and in need of help.
Besides I think everyone's tired of all this fighting."

You're not the only one. She thought to herself, considering how everything had gotten so mixed
up, Kallen was pretty sure everyone just wanted to go home. But she couldn't help being wary,
even with the ceasefire there was no knowing how long it wold be before someone sparked
something off. Britannian pride and Japanese honour, she was starting to realise, were best kept far
apart from each other.

Desperate to move on from that subject, she quickly asked, "So who's the other person? The one
you know?"

To her relief, Ayano smiled at the mention, clearly she'd made a friend whilst being here. "Oh she's
a nice person, very polite and dedicated to the people she cares for." Her smile wilted a little as she
glanced around before carrying on in a slightly more subdued voice, "I haven't told anyone, but I
think she might be one of your friends."

My friends? But she didn't know anyone here. The only people she knew were either on Ashford
Academy's student council - please don't let them have been caught in that - members of the Black
Knights...but if the person her mother was talking of fell into the latter group...Kallen did her best
not to tense up again, if there was one of their own here then she needed to get them out of here as
soon as possible!
It shouldn't be too hard, this is a hospital, it's not like this place is crawling with security or
anything. I could probably sneak them out in a doctor's uniform and get them back over the border
before anyone knows what's happened. It would mean cutting her reunion short but this was a
security matter that needed to be plugged and quickly before this person was identified and sent to
interrogation.

Any plans though went out the window though when she and Ayano slid open the door to her room
and Kallen got a good look at who it was who her mother had befriended. She was suddenly certain
that there was no way this person would talk...in fact she felt more than a little afraid for herself
now.

The woman who had caught her eye looked up at them as the door opened, her own eyes slightly
widening in recognition before calming right back down, so quickly that anyone who wasn't
looking for it would have missed it. With that same calm image in place, she turned a pleasant
smile her mother's way in greeting. "Ayano, I see you've brought back a guest."

"More than a guest, Sayoko." Her mother replied, smiling happily before presenting Kallen to her,
"This is my daughter, Kallen. Kallen this is Sayoko Shinozaki, my fellow inmate in this dreadfully
dull place."

Saying anything in reply was about the furthest thing from her mind right now. With that
introduction the Britannian soldier in the room just took a sudden back burner in the face of this
deadly woman. She'd only seen her in action once, during her jailbreak, but it was enough to know
not to get on her bad side...and the person she was deathly loyal to was the same one she'd helped
the Black Knights run out of the Ikaruga.

Her bad feeling only got worse when Sayoko turned to her and shot that same smile she'd shown
her mother. "Ah, so you're the Kallen that Ayano loves to talk about. It's a pleasure to meet you at
last."

The cover up of their knowing each other seemed to confuse Ayano for a moment before she
suddenly seemed to realise the need for secrecy and sent an understanding look her way. As for
Kallen though it was further proof that things were going to get very bad very fast as she glanced
over to her mother. I need to get her out of here. For now though, she'd have to play the part of
concerned daughter and sent a shaky smile back at the assassin, "Y-yeah, pleasure's all mine,
Sayoko-san."

She almost started when Sayoko gave her a brief 'hmm,' not losing her smile, before continuing.
"Forgive me for the assumption, but would you be the same Kallen Kozuki who is the ace pilot of
the Black Knights?"

This time it really was impossible for Kallen hide her flinch; what did she think she was doing?! If
people found out who she was what would if they made the connection to her mother? Was Sayoko
mad?! However the easy smile on Ayano's face told her that this was something that was bound to
turn up so she had no choice but to reply.

"Well, I guess that's true." She said carefully, the less she gave away the better, her mother may
think this was a safe place to talk but something was just nagging at her. Still she had to go on.
"Though I wouldn't say I'm the absolute best."

"Really?" Ayano asked, her concern coming through clear as day at the idea that she could be hurt.
Kallen hadn't told her how she'd been held prisoner by Britannia and had no intention of doing so if
she could help it. That didn't keep her mother from worrying though as she went on to ask, "Does
that mean there's someone who can beat you?"
Not anymore. She allowed herself the momentary smug thought at finally having totalled Suzaku's
Lancelot. Regardless of how that fiasco ended, that was the one bit of solace she could take from
that day.

"There was one guy," she admitted, "though there was a lot of confusion about that battle. He's
actually now one of our top generals." There, she'd told her about Xingke and hadn't had to lie
about any of it because, to all extents and purposes, it was the truth. I've definitely been hanging
around Lelouch too long. And with that one thought, her good mood was replaced with a sombre
look that didn't go amiss by either of the women in the room.

But that didn't deter Sayoko from continuing this game of 'who are you.' "I seem to remember the
reports that you were Zero's personal bodyguard." She said it with that same pleasant tone but,
when Kallen looked into her eyes she could clearly see that smile only went as far as her mouth
was concerned. The temperature in the room dipped an extra ten degrees as she went on. "That it
was your sworn duty to protect him from all threats, no matter where they came from."

The way she said it...it took everything Kallen had not to back away. That look, a disguised glare of
absolute hate and fury, it could only mean one thing. She knows. She didn't know how but
somehow Sayoko had found out what she and the others had done. But against that stare, not to
mention her mother's lack of knowledge about what had truly happened that day, all she could do
was quietly admit, "Yes. I was."

Again she just let out another 'hmm,' before turning to her mother. "Ayano, the doctors came by a
little while ago," she told her, "they wanted to speak to you. Probably a routine check up on your
progress."

Ayano blinked at her couple of times before smiling and nodded. "I see. Well that shouldn't take a
few minutes." She said easily, completely missing how her daughter had completely stilled at the
idea of being left alone with this dangerous woman. "Kallen, stay here while I take care of this
would you? I'm sure Sayoko is tired of talking to the same people over and over again."

That idea terrified her more than anything, "Mum, I'm sure I can spare a few min-" She froze up
again though as deceptively gentle fingers suddenly gripped her shoulder. When had she...?

"That would be wonderful, Kallen." Sayoko said, now standing directly behind her, the happy tone
in her voice causing any number of shivers to go down Kallen's spine. "I'm sure there are many
things that you and I can talk about. Right?"

Kallen would have answered, but the terror in her heart kept her tongue from forming words.
Ayano mistook her silence for reluctant compliance and nodded approvingly. "Alright then, I'll be
back in a little while, these talks never take more than five minutes or so. You two enjoy
yourselves." And with that she left the ward, Kallen unable to stop her for fear that Sayoko would
do to her mother what she was almost certainly about to do to her.

For a moment nothing happened between them, silence held between the two as if the first one to
speak would break some unspoken contest.

Inevitably, Kallen broke first and tried to speak but a cold pricking sensation on her neck silenced
her again. Sayoko, however, was in a much more talkative mood.

"You know the wonderful thing about hospitals?" She asked casually, though the pleasant tone was
giving way to ice with every syllable. "They're virtually an armoury for anyone with basic training
with a blade. This one isn't the sharpest, or the toughest. In fact if I used this on you it'd probably
take you a full ten minutes to bleed out, I can tell you that's not a pleasant way to die. But then..."
And now it really did sound as if she was being held by a block of ice as the grip on her shoulder
went taut and Sayoko uttered the words Kallen had been dreading. "A clean death is the last thing a
traitor deserves."

"Sayoko, please just listen." She was begging, Kallen was aware, but right now that was all she
could do. "I just came to see my mother, I didn't even know you were-"

"Do you know the first thing my Sensei taught me?" The Thirty-Seventh Master of the Shinozaki
School of Martial Arts cut in, her borrowed blade nicking just a little bit of her skin. "It wasn't how
to kill my enemy, or to disable them. It wasn't even how to properly defend myself."

If Kallen could have turned around she would have seen the complete contempt on the older
woman's face as she went on. "The first thing I was ever taught was to follow my lord, for he is my
master. There is nothing more important than seeing his dreams brought to fruition, not even my
own life."

She does know. Oh Kami-sama, please not like this! Sweat was now starting to form on her brow as
Kallen tried to think of a way out of this, not that she could see one. Sayoko had killed an entire
regiment of footsoldiers single-handed in the government bureau, one unarmed teenage girl was
nothing in comparison. "Look, Sayoko, you don't understand what happe-"

"The only reason I haven't slit your throat," Sayoko cut in again, her voice now just inches away
from a snarl, "is out of respect for the woman who clearly isn't aware of the dishonourable coward
her daughter has become."

Okay that really was going too far! "Look!" Kallen finally snapped, tugging forward for what good
it did her as the assassin at her back simply gripped her tighter. "You don't know what happened
that day! We finally learned the kind of person he really is! He betrayed us!"

"Oh?" Sayoko asked back, not sounding like she had taken offence though it was hard to tell,
though the unmoving blade would suggest she was still pissed off. "And what exactly did you learn
about my master that day? How did he betray you?"

Right, he probably never told her about it. She realised, silently hoping that that was her chance to
turn this around. After all, he never told anyone else.

Taking a deep breath, realising that she was about to destroy Sayoko's world by doing this, Kallen
began her explanation. "Look, Lelouch has a supernatural power that can make anyone do what he
wants. He used it on all of us, we can't even be sure if he didn't use it on his own friends. I know it
sounds crazy but it's the truth. It's probably how he..."

The reason she trailed off was because of the effect her explanation was having on Sayoko...but it
wasn't the one she had been hoping for. Instead of reeling back in disgust and shock, she had started
laughing. It was cold and humourless, which was transferred to her tone as she spoke. "That's your
defence? That he used his Geass on you?"

That wasn't what she'd been hoping for. Shouldn't Sayoko have been furious at her loyalty being
bought like that? Kallen certainly had been when C.C. had told her about it, how could anyone be
alright with such a power? Wait...it suddenly hit Kallen what she hadn't said and what Sayoko had.I
never called it Geass.

Which meant... "You already knew about it?"

"But of course."
But that was impossible, Lelouch would have never told anyone such a thing. Not the Lelouch she
knew anyway. "...How...?"

"Quite simple, you silly girl." Sayoko snapped at her. "I asked him."

"And he just told you?" She asked back, hardly believing what she was hearing, this didn't match
up with the Lelouch who kept everything to himself at all. But if he had told Sayoko what he could
do then that meant she knew all the things he'd done with it. "Then why?" She demanded. "Why
would you follow him when you know what his Geass does to people? What he might have done to
you?"

Her question was met with a snort of derision. "You think something so trivial would stop me from
serving my master?"

"Trivial?!" What was wrong with this woman? Didn't she see anything a little bit wrong with this
whole thing? "He used his Geass to make us all his pawns!" Kallen was short of shouting now, her
feelings about everything Lelouch had said that day coming to the forefront, what he'd claimed,
how he'd called their whole war a game, how he'd referred to her as his 'best piece.' "How can you
be okay with being used like that?!"

But once again Sayoko had just started laughing in her ear. "How am I alright with it?" She
parroted. "Stupid girl. I already know he used it on me."

What? That single statement derailed everything again, bringing Kallen up short. Lelouch had
actually admitted to someone that he'd used his Geass on them? "When?" She had to know, what
was so unimportant that Sayoko could forgive such an act?

The words Sayoko used in reply were the last she'd expected, yet she still remembered them to this
day: "Glad you're still alive, Q-1. Sixteen-hundred hours the day after tomorrow, the observation
deck at Tokyo Tower. Come alone."

The message that began it all, the directive that put her and her friends in contact with Zero. But
that had to have been a recording...which meant that...but Sayoko sniffed again. "I assume his
reasons for using his Geass on me in such a way was to ensure the trail never led back to him or
me. Though if I had known the people he was joining were such opportunistic thugs..."

The threat lingered between them for a moment, though Kallen was still reeling from that
discovery. But even so... "How can you be alright being used like a tool?"

"It's not being used," Sayoko stated, unmoved by such an assertion, "it's simply a matter of
loyalty."*

Although following that declaration she sniffed. "But then what do you people know of such a
thing? I had thought you, of all people, might have understood it." Such an accusal hurt, especially
considering just how hard Kallen had fought for Zero, and then Lelouch. "Am I wrong? The first
chance you had to get rid of him you took, and for what? A paltry land grab? Maybe a promise to
be Japanese again from Schneizal? What was the bargain? What was so important that you
ungrateful kasu* turned your backs on everything my master gave you?!"

"That's easy for you to say!" Kallen finally snapped, that last insult finally going too far for her to
hold anything back anymore and she craned her head back as much as she could so her furious left
eye could glare right back into Sayoko's own. "You always knew what you were to him! You were
never worried that he might be using you! Never had to question if what he was doing was for our
sake or his own desires! You never had to worry if your loyalty was nothing but a dream concocted
by some sick bastard!"

Her eruption silenced both of them although, whilst Sayoko remained unmoved, her expression
shifted to shock at what she'd just let out. All the worries and fears she'd been holding in ever since
that day had just come running out, unable to hold themselves back anymore. Startled and ashamed
at her outburst, Kallen turned away, the yelling bringing up feelings she had yet to deal with
accompanied by tears.

As for Sayoko though it seemed that was what she'd been waiting for as the hold on her shoulder
lessened a bit more. "So it finally comes out." She murmured, though whether that was meant to be
heard wasn't clear. "You really are a foolish girl Kallen." She stated again, though this time lacking
the calm spite from before and now just sounding downright disappointed. "You're so concerned
over the possibility that he used you that you've missed a rather obvious clue that this isn't the
case."

Confused, Kallen turned her head round again, the edge of the blade on her neck having backed off
somewhat, so she could see the older woman's face. What was she talking about?

Sayoko didn't beat around the bush in her response. "Ask yourself this, Kallen: If Master Lelouch
used his Geass on you all to be unquestionably loyal to him, how is it that you were able to betray
him?"

That one single question was her entire undoing. She didn't even have to think about it too hard to
understand exactly what sort of implications that meant: If Lelouch had commanded the Black
Knights to be loyal to him and only him, how could Schneizal have turned them against him? If she
was under his power, how did she hold up a gun to his chest and demand if he had or hadn't used
his power on her? If she really was under his control...then why did she walk away from him?

There was only one answer to give: She wasn't under his power, had never been under his power,
and that meant that...No...no we didn't...we couldn't really have been... But they had. They'd been
sucked in by Schneizal hook, line, and sinker, and betrayed their leader. She'd betrayed her leader.

"B-but he s-said..." she stammered out, the last bit of denial and Sayoko's grip the only thing
holding her up at this point. "H-he said we were n-nothing but..."

"He lied." Sayoko told her firmly without a trace of doubt in her voice. "If there's one thing my
master is good at it's lying. But only ever to protect, never to harm." Finally the blade that had been
at Kallen's neck left it completely, though her other hand remained where it was. "Think it over,
Kallen. Was there any way out?"

...No. There really hadn't been. Oghi and the others had already been there waiting for them when
they arrived. They hadn't told her anything when they told her to get Lelouch, just that they needed
to see him...they'd already made up their minds about him before hearing his side of things. No one
had stood up for him, no one wanted to hear it...except...Me.

She'd stood between them at first, ready to protect Lelouch from her own friends. Oghi and
Minami had been up there, Sugiyama and Tamaki too. The moment she did that, they'd accused her
of being under his control, not even waiting for an explanation. I would have gone with him...and
they would have killed me. Her own friends would have shot her, people she'd known since she
was a little girl. And then...Lelouch.

He had crushed her with his words, smiling and laughing all the way...and in doing so he'd saved
her life. Then all the things he said, everything about being nothing but a piece in his game...that
was all a lie?
"I see you're finally beginning to understand..." Sayoko's voice was the trigger and without
warning the grip on her shoulder vanished. Like a puppet that had lost its strings, Kallen collapsed
to her knees on the floor the full weight of everything she'd realised hitting her like a Sutherland's
tonfa. The older of the two just regarded her silently before sighing to herself and telling her,
"Kallen, you serve yourself no purpose asking yourself what you mean to my master. Instead,
maybe you should be asking yourself what my master means to you and why your betrayal of him
offends you so much."

It seemed that was her way of declaring the conversation over as a moment later Kallen heard the
rustle of bedsheets behind her. Getting up on shaky legs she turned around to see that Sayoko had
returned to her bed, sitting up with a pleasant smile on her face and flipping through a small
magazine. It was as if the last ten minutes had never happened.

She was unable to ask what the hell she was playing at as at that moment the door the ward slid
open and Ayano returned with an intern on her arm, the same pleasant smile on her face as when
she left. When she saw the other two by the bed she once again mistook their silence for a lull in
conversation and chuckled. "Run out of things to gossip about already, have we?"

Still mute over everything, Kallen was saved by Sayoko who just offered her a nice little grin.
"What can I say, Ayano? Your daughter has a lot of things on her mind that I think she was just
glad to get off her chest."

"Oh really?" That sly tone did not belong on her mother's voice. "Boy trouble, is it?"

"Something along those lines." Sayoko replied, equally sly, sending a knowing smirk Kallen's way.

"I see." Ayano simply said in response to that, not relenting her own merciless little grin.

How the hell did this happen?! Kallen's face was going redder than her hair. Hadn't Sayoko just
been threatening to kill her a moment ago? How the hell had it turned into interrogating her on her
love life? And what the hell was her mother doing playing along with her?! She's corrupted her!
My own mother!

"Okay!" She said, a bit too loudly, which just made the older women chuckle, "Well it's nice to see
you're doing okay, Mum. I'll be by soon to check on you!" And maybe to get her out of here, away
from the clearly evil Sayoko Shinozaki. Giving her mother a quick kiss and a last farewell to
Sayoko she raced out of there as quickly as possible.

It was probably a good thing she didn't stick around though, that would've made for an awkward
conversation when the silent male patient who'd been unconscious all the way through her and
Sayoko's little showdown finally chose that moment to wake up and cast crazed eyes around,
immediately demanding. "Where am I?!"

Rome, Ita ly

It was amazing how ironic history could be. Once upon a time this city had been the heart of the
greatest empire the world had ever known, at its peak stretching from Portugal all the way to North
Africa and parts of the Middle East. A few years before it reached that point its current leader,
Julius Caesar, had laid eyes on a distant little island country that the maps of the era had labelled
Britannia. And naturally being an emperor who came, saw, and conquered, he decided he wanted
this little nation for himself. After all, what could one island, populated by backwards barbarians,
do against the mighty Roman Empire?
The answer, as it turned out, was 'quite a bit.' Instead of simply rolling over like all the other
nations that had come before it, all those warring little tribes had come together and forged
themselves into a powerful fighting force strong enough to push back against, and eventually force
out, the legions of Rome. The best trained military of its era was defeated by a bunch of fire
worshippers! It was the greatest humiliation of Caesar's life.

Fast forward the clock two thousand years later and the roles had been completely reversed. Now it
was Rome that faced invasion from a mighty outside force. What had once been a barbaric horde
now held the record as the largest empire the world had ever seen, outdoing the Roman Empire
many times over. And that was before the new emperor came to power.

The city today served a number of roles: it was a refugee camp for many European citizens whose
homes had been lost during the last war, though the promise from Emperor Lelouch that those who
wished to live in peace would be left alone had thinned those numbers as of late and those who
were left were either extremists or really pissed off with their government; as a member nation of
the EU it was also a military hub where soldiers and officers ran to and fro in anticipation of
Britannia's attack. And additionally, it had lately become the home base for the insurgent force that
its fingers in many pies around the world, Peace Mark.

"Dian!" One such member of this organisation suddenly called out to his Chinese comrade, "Hurry
up! We need to get these crates moved onto the ships or Spain'll never stay in EU hands." The
young man who was talking was little more than a teenager with blonde hair and striking green
eyes, holding one of the aforementioned crates of supplies in his hands. When the person he was
shouting at didn't respond he gave the person a sharp kick.

"Ow!" Zi Dian, as he was called, rubbed his arm and straightened the glasses on his face that had
gone crooked thanks to that unwarranted assault on his person. "Hey c'mon Oz, that hurt! Besides,"
he snorted in aggravation as he sat himself back down, "it's hardly like it matters any more."

"What?!" The aforementioned 'Oz' snapped at his lazy comrade, "Are you kidding? Have you
forgotten that we're going to Spain to help the insurgents there?" As a long standing member of
Peace Mark, Orpheus Zevon - former Britannian noble - had been part of any number of resistance
groups against the empire and he took his job seriously. So when one of his people said something
wasn't worth it he took exception. "What are you even on about?"

Dian observed his friend for a moment before sighing again and telling him the bad news. "We just
got word from command. The Britannians blockaded every entrance to Spain by sea last night and
the border with France is now being watched." His news had the exact effect he feared it would on
Orpheus as he observed the colour drain from the youth's face. "As far as Command is concerned,
Spain is a lost cause. We're now to focus on the home front."

And just as he'd expected, Orpheus's top blew off at their new orders. "What?! They just want us to
abandon the people in Spain to those elitist bastards?! Those sons-of-!"

"OZ!" Dian shouted, again adjusting his glasses from his sharp head movement, waiting for silence
before he went on in a calmer tone. "I understand your feelings, but Britannia's fleets are far
beyond anything our ships can match. If it was just seafaring vessels we'd have a chance but ever
since those airships came into the game it's become a whole new style of warfare that we just can't
repel." And the bad news kept on coming as he laid out the next bit he'd heard from the top ranks.
"Even worse, reports are coming in that our people in France are either retreating or have been
completely obliterated."

"What?" Oz asked, confused at this newest bit of intel. "I thought we had that in the bag. I know
we lost out at Paris but with all our forces elsewhere...?"
"They were destroyed." Dian said, again gravely. "By new model Knightmare Frames. After we
lost Paris, Emperor Lelouch sent his forces out into France to reinforce the Britannian positions.
And virtually all the soldiers who survived report the same thing: they were fighting pilots who
claim to be the new Knights of the Round."

"What?!" Oz asked yet again, "I thought they only had one! How many are there now?"

"At least four." Dian replied tersely, his mind rapidly going over the reports he'd gotten. "The
forces at Metz were destroyed by Lord Bishop; the battalion sent to take the Netherlands was
completely wiped out, only one team survived and even then it looks like they were allowed to
escape; Luneville's survivors can only talk about either the fires of hell raining down on them or
some mad man laughing in their ears; and as for the Alexander unit that was retreating through the
forest at Saint Dié des Vosges," here he actually shuddered at what he remembered reading "all the
single pilot that survived could babble about was Death itself hunting them all down."

"In comparison," he went on to say, "all we have is the Alexanders that the EU gave us and some
of the machines Rakshata made for us before she went to Japan." Here he shook his head. "If this
was only four months ago I'd say that would be all we'd need but now..." He just sighed again in
defeat.

"Well..." Oz started in that tone that told Dian whatever he was about to say was something he was
going to hate. "I can't do much on my own with just the Byakuen...but if we launched a strike on-"

"NO Oz!" The older of the two immediately snapped, knowing exactly where this was going. "We
have spoken about this a thousand and one times! On no account will we attack Great Britain!"
How many times did he have to force it down this kid's throat that such a move was clearly
suicide? It didn't matter the numbers they sent, big or small, Britain - and island nations in general -
had the advantage in that they were cut off from the continent. To keep any battle going there they
would need supply routes established to keep the soldiers going. Without those all the defenders
had to do was outlast them. Add on the fact that as soon as it had been retaken the Britannians had
reinforced the defences along the shore in such a way that they would never lose it again and
Britain was now the ultimate natural floating fortress.

Sighing at having this argument again, Dian laid tired eyes on his young comrade. "Look, Oz,
you're a good tactician, no one's denying that. But even if, by some miracle, you took Britain, that
wouldn't get rid of the fleet."

"I know, I know!" Oz growled, clearly not done trying to convince him. "But with that thing the
EU has! If we launched our machines from the stratosphere we'd be able to make it!"

As if Britannia isn't just waiting for them to try that. Dian thought privately, there was no way that
they hadn't been looking for a way to neutralise the rocket re-entry tactic. Out loud he just said,
"Can or can't, it's not up to us to decide what to do." It was disappointing to say it like that but it
was the truth, even if it was a sad truth.

Sighing again at the mulish look on the kid's face he decided the best thing to do would be to
redirect his focus. "Look, you should check on our new recruits. At the very least they're potential
members for your team."

His distraction worked going by the way Oz suddenly perked up in remembrance at those two new
kids they'd picked up a little while ago. Sighing at that he nodded, "Yeah, I probably should. It's
about the only thing I can do these days." And with that the lad stalked off towards the barracks.

Dian watched him go for a bit before shaking his head ruefully and sitting back down. He's a good
kid but dang if he needs to cool down.

Still it was pretty hard to imagine that the Brits had come all this way over the last two
millenniums, ready to conquer the nation that had failed to conquer them so long ago. Maybe we'll
get lucky...but he just snorted. Yeah, like we'll get that after Paris. Bonaparte must be rolling in his
grave right about now.

Yep, history was a really ironic thing.

Orpheus Zevon was still in a bad mood when he found the people he was looking for in the
barracks, the two newcomers who had been hoping for a crack at Britannia as much as he had: a
boy with a slender figure, messy silver hair and blue eyes, and a young girl probably only about
sixteen years old with long blonde hair and red eyes.

"Hey guys!" He called out to his new friends who looked up at him eagerly, no doubt hoping to
hear the order to move out. They were not going to like what he had to say. "You might as well put
all your gear down. The mission in Spain's cancelled."

"What?" The girl asked, disbelieving, "Why? I thought we were going to help the people in
Madrid."

"Yeah," the boy complained, "and we were dragging all this stuff for an hour. You're saying that
was all for nothing?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying Rai." Oz muttered, not liking that he had to tell them this any more
than he had been receiving it. "High Command has decided it's pointless. Apparently the fact that
Britannia is breathing down their own necks is more important than the people they're supposed to
protect!"

His words were enough for all three of them as the other two merely scowled at his summary.
After a moment the girl spoke up again. "You know Oz, if they're coming this way we'd better be
prepared. No way that brat's going to just ignore us."

"I know Alice." He replied, mildly amused at the idea of her calling a boy at least two years older
than her 'brat.' "He's made it pretty clear that underestimating him is a bad idea. Maybe..." he
almost hated bringing up his next suggestion to this particular pair as he had delivering the news of
their pointless preparations, "maybe we should ask the Black Knights for help."

He immediately winced at the dark looks Rai and Alice both sent his way at that. "Sorry guys, but
we don't have a lot of options."

The two just continued to glare at him for a moment before Rai shook his head, "I just can't Oz...it
still hurts too much." He claimed, placing a hand over his heart. "When I hear that name, all I think
about is the Directorate."

And there was the rub. Both Rai and Alice were former members of the Geass Directorate headed
by the mysterious being known as V.V. They were lucky to be out on assignment when the Black
Knights came calling and completely destroyed it. Everything had been ruined and every member
of the Directorate, many who had been their friends, had been slaughtered. Even Rolo was gone.

For Rai it had been a complete tragedy...for Alice it had been something far worse as she virtually
snarled her objection. "Monsters! Every last one of them! Them and their Zero! Good riddance to
him!" The Directorate had been more than just her home, it had been her life. Without it she had
nothing...except a burning hatred that couldn't be quelled.
To some level Oz could relate, having been raised by the Directorate as well, although unlike the
other two he had fled it with his childhood love Euliya. He couldn't say he liked the place or any of
his memories of it, but it was the lifeline these two had been searching for and it had served him
well to foster that connection so far.

Even if it meant having to accept some things about the Directorate he absolutely loathed. "Well
then why not use your Geass, Rai?" He asked him, "Your power of Absolute Obedience could get
Command to do whatever we want."

But Rai just shook his head. "Oz, you know my Geass only works on people near me and we have
no idea where High Command is right now." He reminded him, "And besides, you know the health
problems that thing causes me."

Wasn't that the truth? Whilst Rai's Geass could reach anyone who heard him he couldn't widen the
range through radios or speakers, people had to hear his voice from his mouth. It was a really
limited power...if only it worked by sight. As for Alice, her Geass was only really useful in combat
so that was out too.

Dammit, setbacks at every turn and the longer we waste the more time Britannia has to conquer
Spain! Oz was about to make another suggestion when he was cut off by his phone vibrating in his
pocket. As it was only meant to be used for the most serious of conversations he immediately
accepted the call, unsurprised to hear Dian on the other end. "What is it?"

"She's here."

That was the extent of the message, but it was enough for Oz to understand the importance of the
call. "Roger that." He replied and immediately hung up, turning his attention back to the pair. "I
have to take care of some things. You two go relax for a while. We'll figure this out."

The two glanced at each other before shrugging and nodded at him, dropping their gear and
heading back to their bunks.

This had better be worth it. Oz thought to himself as he left the barracks...before immediately
chastising himself for thinking such a thing. If the information was so important that She had to
come in person then it was more than worth it: it was downright crucial.

When he arrived at the room that Peace Mark had taken as their main conference centre, Oz was
greeted by nothing but stale air. Still, having had to deal with this person on more than a couple of
occasions he was sure she'd show up in the most aggravating way possible. He was proven right
when a pair of hands slipped over his face, covering up his eyes.

"Count to one, Ozzy." A playfully alluring female voice whispered in his ear. "Guess who I am."

Instead of doing any of that, he just shoved her hands off his face and turned around to face the
voluptuous young woman with long white hair and grey eyes, who pouted at him. "You're no fun."

"It's not supposed to be fun." Oz replied tersely. "Now what are you doing here, X? We haven't
heard a word from you for a month."

"Business before everything, nothing after, as usual." Miss X muttered, playfully rolling her eyes at
him, before dropping the flirtatious attitude and becoming serious. "Tell me, Oz, do you know
anything about something called a 'Thought Elevator?'"

The name didn't ring a bell, "Never heard of it." Oz told her bluntly. "What is it, some kind of
weapon?"
"Maybe," she shrugged. "It's all very vague. I came across mention of it from one of my EU
contacts."

The EU? So they had some kind of secret device? If that's the case, why haven't they used it
yet?! He wanted to demand, but knew better than to think Miss X would simply tell him that. So
instead he asked a more worthwhile question. "Where did you hear this?"

"In Brussels." She readily told him, "One of the soldiers there heard that Wizard guy talking with
Smilas about it."

Wizard? She didn't know it but she'd said the magic word, now Oz was not only interested in this
thing but also suspicious. He had never liked Wizard, the masked bastard always showed up at the
worst possible times to screw up his work. And even if he had saved his life in the past that didn't
change the bad feeling Oz got whenever he was around. Huh, seems I have another thing in
common with those two. He thought to himself wryly. There's a man in a mask who likes to make
my life hell as well. Only difference is mine is still alive.

Aside from that though, if this thing was of interest to Wizard then it was of interest to Oz. But that
couldn't be all that Miss X was here to tell him. "Anything else?" He probed.

"Yes, I don't know what it is exactly, but it might be even more important than that elevator." And
now he saw something truly rare when it came to dealing with this woman: Miss X appeared
unnerved. "There's information suggesting that Britannia is secretly building some new kind of
weapon of mass destruction."

That was enough to get alarm bells ringing in Oz's mind. He'd heard of the kind of destruction of
Britannia's newest weapon in Japan, over twenty five million dead, friend and foe alike. And now
they were making something else? Guess even the 'White Emperor' has a black side. Oz thought
spitefully, before urgently pressing on. "What do you know?"

But to his ever growing concern, Miss X sighed. "Far less that I'd like. The damn project is under
all kinds of security programs a firewalls. Whatever it is they don't want it getting out. The only
thing I got was it's name, and it's not a cuddly little thing like 'Project Freyja.' This one's titled
Project Nemesis."

Ominous. He couldn't help thinking to himself, clearly Emperor Lelouch liked his theatrics. Then
again he piloted a Knightmare that could destroy entire armies at a time so maybe that shouldn't
surprise him. But if Miss X couldn't get in then there was no point pursuing it right now.

"All right, then for now focus your efforts of this thought elevator thing." He decided after a
moment, there was no way that thing was unimportant and it was also unlikely that Wizard would
ever share the knowledge of why it was so. Therefore they'd have to use espionage.

His orders delivered, Oz moved to take his leave but was halted when Miss X embraced him from
behind. "Oh come on Ozzy!" She whined petulantly, hugging him tightly and rubbing against his
back. "I've been gone all this time, finding all these juicy secrets for you, and I don't even get a
reward?"

Stifling a long suffering groan, Oz quietly accepted his fate. He'd learned long ago that trying to
argue with this woman was like getting a rock to bleed. "Fine, fine." He muttered and took out his
wallet, chucking some euro bills at her which she snatched out of the air. "Now go buy yourself
your ice cream. I have actual work to do."

And without further ado he fled the room before Miss X could grab him again. Sometimes he
wondered if he'd be better off without that insane woman and her odd cravings.

Maybe that was why Lelouch had taken so much of the world already: he didn't have a damn
succubus breathing down his neck!

France, Arras airspace, Grandberry

Anticipation was rife in the minds of the Glinda Knights as their Caerleon-class airship headed out
for Brussels. According to Princess Marrybell, Emperor Lelouch had finally called upon them with
a special mission that only they could hope to accomplish. There was some concern over the
absence of General Schwarzer, but the consensus was that so long as they had their princess there
was nothing to worry about. Heck she didn't even seem very concerned with the situation at hand if
her lazy smile was anything to go by.

Still, the crew knew that any battle could be their last so many of them were tying up loose ends.
One in particular, Leonhardt Steiner, was currently using the vid-phone in his commanding
officer's quarters to call a friend of his fiancée, both of whom were former members of the late
Luciano Bradley's Wild Valkyrie squad that had been utterly destroyed during the second Battle of
Tokyo.

"How is she?" He asked for the umpteenth time.

On the screen, the blonde haired girl just rolled her eyes, "As I said the last time you asked, Leo,
still out cold." She told him in a tired voice, though she was unable to keep her own concern out of
her voice. "She was hit the hardest by that red monster."

"Hmm." Was all the response he gave her, his own feelings about the situation saying enough.
He'd begged Marika not to join up with Bradley, if she wanted to be in the military fine, he could
respect that - hell he admired her for it - but not with that damned vampire who killed as many
allies as he did enemies! But ever since the death of her brother she'd been insistent in doing more
for the empire. Not that he was complaining, Leonhardt had never liked Kewell Soresi all that
much - for him to be killed by an 'Eleven' of all things was poetic justice as far as he was concerned
- but for Marika it just sparked off some ridiculous idea that she had to atone for her brother's
idiocy.

It had been the source of many an argument between them, but right now the only thing he cared
about was that she was okay. Although the never ending phone calls to the other side of the world
was starting to grate on the rest of the crew, no matter how sweet it was.

Finally sighing, Leonhardt nodded at Liliana, "Okay, I'll phone back later."

"And I'll say the exact same thing." She replied wryly. "She'll wake up Leo, give her some credit."

He just nodded again and ended the call, hanging up the phone and slumping back on the chair he
was sitting in, his friends watching him with mixed levels of sympathy, pity and annoyance. His
best friend - and now the only other guy on their team with Johann's disappearance - Tink Lockhart
broke the silence with an understanding line. "You know, Leo, it's good of you to worry about you
future wife, but Lili's right about this."

"I'm with Tink on that." Sokkia Sherpa readily agreed, "Leo, she was fighting against the Red Lotus
and survived. Give her time to recuperate and she'll be back on her feet in no time."

"I know, I know," Leonhardt replied testily, his own feelings on the situation bubbling underneath
the surface, "it's just that...argh!"

He let out a frustrated growl and slouched forward, uncaring that Princess Marrybell was sat
directly across from him, her Knight of Honour giving him quite the stink eye. He just felt so
powerless! Marika was a world away fighting for her life and now he was headed into battle
himself when he should be at her side!

Still, knowing her, she would probably be more angry with him than understanding if he told her
he'd abandoned his post to look after her rather than doing his duty to Britannia. Stubborn girl
wouldn't accept help from anyone - that's why I love her, though. Letting out one final sigh he
pushed himself up, shook off his melancholy face (Marika would've kicked his ass for that as well)
and stood from his chair.

"Never mind." He stated forcefully, he'd made the call and gotten the same news, that's all there
was to it. "Right now we have a mission from our Emperor. That's where my head should be at."

Across from him, Princess Marrybell smiled in approval, "A fine idea indeed." She stated before
turning to her maid at her left hand. "Toto, what's our status?"

"En route to the border with Belgium where an air fleet is waiting for us." Her loyal helpmate
answered dutifully, "Once we link up with them we'll have the numbers to push into their capital
whilst His Majesty cuts through the Netherlands with his sky fleet straight to Germany."

"So in other words we're right on schedule," the Princess summed up before standing from her
desk, causing all her knights to stand to attention. "Listen well now, my knights: Our primary
mission is two-fold; One, the ousting of the European occupying forces in Brussels, thus
reclaiming Belgium as a Britannian territory; Two, the capture or elimination of this man."

She tapped her fingers on a few buttons on her desk and a screen lit up behind her, showing the
image of their target: A man in a mask, dressed even more extravagantly than their old enemy
Zero; this was the man Emperor Lelouch was so worried about?

"This individual goes by the name 'Wizard." Marrybell told them all. "He is the commanding
officer of all EU forces in Belgium and if intel is to be believed a close confidant of Gene Smilas.
If he is removed from the war, the EU will lose a powerful commander and Smilas may be forced
to face us himself instead of hiding away, wherever he is. But more immediately, his removal will
cripple the EU forces in Brussels allowing the first half of our mission to go much more smoothly."
Another tap on the desk deactivated the screen and the Princess returned her attention to her
knights, "Are there any questions?"

Actually there was one on Leonhardt's mind and he took this chance to raise it. "Just one, Your
Highness. Forgive me but, why are we being given this mission?" He asked her, letting his
confusion out. "Not to paint them in a bad light but isn't assassination OSI's job? Why send us?"

His question raised a small murmur of agreement from the others, though it was silenced by a
raising of the Princess's hand. "I asked the same thing of His Majesty when I was given this
assignment." She revealed, "You're right, usually OSI would be the ones to deal with this, however
if you would look again at the information on Wizard..."

They did so, this time from their small portable tablets, and quickly scanned through the data. To
Leonhardt it didn't look like anything was missing: a name, some idea of his height, and a few
mugshots from satellites in orbit - bit of a clown from the looks of him. When they looked up at her
in askance, she explained. "That dossier was put together just last night with all that we know of
him."
Wait seriously? He looked at it again and this time the gaps in the knowledge came through.
'Wizard' was an alias, not a name; the height was ranged, so likely based on guesswork; the
mugshots themselves spoke for how little coverage they had on him; and for a dossier there was
little in the way of listing what this man was capable of, just 'suspected terrorist in collusion with
European forces.' That wasn't nearly a satisfactory description of their target, near shameful work
on the part of their intelligence network.

Seeing that he and the others realised her point, Princess Marrybell continued. "This was all that
CIA and OSI were able to gather together between them, which has His Majesty seriously
concerned. Such avoidance shouldn't be possible...unless..."

She let the statement linger for a moment before the gathered knights suddenly let out disbelieving
gasps. "Highness, you can't be serious!" Sokkia exclaimed.

"I am dead serious." She rebutted, her sharp frown saying it all. "It's very possible that this man
was born a Britannian of high status. High enough to know the workings of our intelligence
bureaus and how to avoid them." Her gaze fixed back on Leonhardt who had gone slightly pale.
"Do you understand now why it is us who must do this, Sir Steiner?"

The question almost sailed over his head as he tried to come to grips with what he had been told.
One of their own had turned traitor. This wasn't like the Breisgaus whose daughter was now their
enemy, she had grown up not knowing different. This man, if what His Majesty and clearly Her
Highness believed was true, had been a member of their society for years. What could possibly
have caused such a reversal of loyalty?

It doesn't matter the reason. A voice spoke up in his head, angered at the notion of a sworn sword
turning his back on his duty. He abandoned his people. He's a traitor. And if there's one thing His
Majesty has kept the same from the old regime, it's how we deal with traitors.

That cold thought crystallised his resolve and he gave his Princess a sharp salute. "Yes, Your
Highness." He stated crisply, "I have no objection to seeing this despicable man brought to justice."

The Princess regarded him for a second, her hard stare remaining for a moment longer, before it
softened and she gave him a smile. "Very good then. Now I'd better let the rest of the crew know
what's going on." So saying, she flicked on the on board speaker system and spoke into a mike on
her desk. "Now hear this, crewmen, we are now underway to fulfil a mission of dire need to His
Majesty. That mission is the retaking of Belgium through Brussels."

As expected she didn't mention the other part of their mission, instead going straight on to the
bolstering part of the speech. "It is expected to be a harsh fight, the EU's presence in the east is
already failing so they won't give up easy, however I rate each and everyone of you good soldiers
worth ten of their own bogged down amateurs! You are amongst the finest our empire has ever
produced and a credit to His Majesty!"

"So we shall carry out this mission, we shall succeed, and we shall bring peace back to this world!"
She declared, her voice full of determination and forcing the Glinda Knights to stand even
straighter, pride filling their chests to be in service to such a grand woman. "Now let us begin! For
Britannia and Emperor Lelouch!"

Her final declaration was echoed throughout the ship with resounding cheers of "All Hail
Britannia! All Hail Lelouch!" Which just made her knights smile all the more.

"And All Hail his bride to be! Marrybell vi Brit-!" That was as far as she got though before Oldrin
Zevon at her side suddenly whapped her on the head with a rolled up magazine. "Ow! Oz! What
was that for?!"

But Zevon just glared at her before whacking her again, "Bad Marry! What did I tell you?! Incest is
wrong!"

The rest of the Glinda Knights just stared at the pair of them, their ramrod stances giving way to
amused snorts as time went by. Yes, their Princess was tough but damn if she wasn't a perverted
little thing. It made them glad they had Oldrin as her morality pet or Leonhardt suspected their
ranks would be filled with far more women than was already present.

That didn't stop the Princess from trying however as she dodged another attack from her Knight of
Honour. "But Oz! We're only half-siblings! It's not like that would be anything new for- ow!"

Oz got in another hit, this one landing front and centre on her forehead. "No! Bad Marry! Bad! No
incest!"

"But-" She tried one last time but Oldrin just sent her a glare, holding a lifetime and friendship of
having to deal with this, that immediately had her rethinking her words if she wanted to live long
enough to reach Belgium.

Special Administrated Zone of Japan, Tokyo Crater, Ikaruga

After having some time to cool down after the absolutely unfair tag teaming from her mother and
Sayoko, Kallen found herself feeling more than a little bit antsy about returning to the Ikaruga, a
place where people shot first and refused to ask questions later. She made an immediate point of
ignoring Oghi and Minami when they tried to ask her how her mother had been. If they wanted to
know then they could get a damn pass of their own and visit her themselves...of course that would
mean coming face-to-face with a pissed off assassin, but oh well.

No, that's too cruel, she reconsidered after a moment of soul searching, what's the point of revenge
if I can't stomp on them in my Guren first?

But alas, some part of her - a small, insignificant, never-going-to-come-to-the-forefront-ever-again

part - still regarded them as friends so at the very least she ought to not kill them where they stood.
She was still a Black Knight, even if she really didn't feel it anymore, so at the very least she ought
to strive for the aims of justice and fairness that Lelouch had taught her to strive for.

So she got in the lift, still ignoring the two Benedicts, and rode it all the way back up to the bridge
where Xingke and, a bit more surprisingly, Kaguya were discussing a matter between them. When
they saw the lift doors open however, they paused in their talk and the young chairwoman turned
to address her.

"Captain Kozuki." She greeted happily, "I trust everything went alright in the Britannian
settlement?"

As it was coming from someone who actually had no part in the Black Knights' coup, Kallen
allowed herself to smile and replied politely in kind. "Better than alright." She told her gratefully,
"I found my mother. She's still recovering but she's alive and well, and that's all I could've hoped
for."

The young lady smiled, genuinely glad for her friend before continuing. "That is wonderful news
indeed, Captain. Some good news for once, regardless of the scope, is a welcome change."

"Hmm..." For a moment, Kallen debated about telling her and Xingke that she'd also found Sayoko
alive as well but at the last moment she decided against it, she never actually told her which of the
core group had betrayed Lelouch. If Kaguya went, even as a diplomat, Sayoko was likely to hold
her hostage...and maybe not with something blunt this time but an actual scalpel. As for Xingke, he
was a soldier; Sayoko would have no misgivings about killing him the first chance she got. And
considering the fact that Kallen had only just survived her encounter...it was probably best to keep
that to herself.

For now though she had to focus on the present, namely the unspoken bad news that Kaguya had
hinted at. "Is something wrong?" She asked them both.

"Potentially." Xingke admitted grimly, probably the subject they had been talking about before her
arrival interrupted them. "There seems to be some upheaval in Russia that could spill out into the
UFN if left unchecked. We want you to go to Kazakhstan to check it out."

Kazakhstan? Talk about a far away mission...but quite frankly anything would be worth it to get
away from these backstabbers - no offence intended to Kaguya and Xingke - still she had to ask.
"Am I going alone?"

"Of course not!" Kaguya stated, sounded offended at the idea of leaving her without backup...not
that she needed it really with her new Guren but it was the thought that counted. "We'll be sending
Tamaki with you." Then again...

Still it wasn't as if the idiot was a threat, at the very worst he'd trip over an invisible pebble and
cause the auto-eject on his Akatsuki to go off. And besides, of the lot, he'd seemed the most torn
up about Lelouch even if he had gone through with it in the end. Still she'd be keeping an eye on
him.

Nodding she saluted and left the bridge without a word.

If she was honest with herself, the solitude this mission provided would also help her with another
issue that had popped up thanks to Sayoko. Her last words to her...

What does Lelouch mean to me?

Once upon a time that answer had been obvious: He was a conspicuous jerk that held himself
above everybody and had no dreams of his own except to live a comfy life under Britannia's boot;
in short, everything Zero wasn't. But then Suzaku had to go and make it complicated by unmasking
him to reveal Lelouch and Zero were one and the same. For months she'd tried to reconcile the two,
how could Lelouch be the man in the mask who she idolized? It just hadn't made sense.

When she and C.C. had recovered him and set off the second rebellion she thought she'd got it
figured out: Lelouch was a cold, secretive man who didn't let anyone close, either because he
trusted nobody or because they weren't supposed to be close. And yet there had been moments, just
short moments, when something else had peeked through; a kind, sensitive young man who
genuinely seemed to care about the people around him.

But then Schneizal came and had to ruin it all, forcing him to state that they were all a bunch of
idiots for letting him get away with his 'game' for so long. At that moment she'd felt her heart
break, that all she had been was just his tool for his pleasure was the worst possible conclusion she
could have come to. But now Sayoko said he did it to save her?

Lelouch, I can't figure you out. Kallen thought to herself as she made her way to the hangar. I want
to believe in you, I really do. But I also want to believe that what we're doing, even if you're not at
the helm anymore, is the right thing. But if it's not... She felt a shiver at the idea that the Black
Knights were going down the wrong path, and that she might have played a hand in guiding them
down it truly turned her stomach.

If we're not what we're supposed to be Lelouch. She thought to herself as she finished changing
into her pilot suit and headed out to the bay where her Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. was waiting for her. If
we're no longer knights for justice, then please come back.

"Kallen Kozuki, Guren S.E.I.T.E.N., now launching!"

Please Lelouch, come back and save me one last time.

 The Empire Strikes Again

June 6, 2018, Flanders airspace, Belgium, Grandberry

Belgium, Marrybell had decided from her observations, was a beautiful country, so it was hard to
believe that just under half a century ago these lush fields had been the scene for the bloodiest war
in European history. When she was younger, she had been shocked to learn of the death toll of that
horrific half decade, Knightmares hadn't even been an inkling of an idea and tanks were barely
what they had been by the time they were replaced. It had just been guns, knives and grenades. A
far more gory affair than the warfare she had been taught.

I wonder what would have happened if Britannia had intervened. She briefly wondered to herself;
maybe Germany would have been forced to surrender unconditionally, making way for any number
of concessions and reparations demands from France and their puppet state Britain, which would
have fanned the fires of anger in the German people and likely have set off another war a few years
later. On second thought, probably for the best that we stayed out of it.

And now here they were, a fleet of ten Caerleon-class floating battleships with
the Grandberry serving as the flagship, passing over the old scars that proved the EU's failure to
live up to its own ideals. They wanted a democracy and equal standing with each other, but the
problem with that is that eventually everyone wants to be a little more equal than others. If they'd
just established a hierarchy then maybe they'd be a more powerful force to be reckoned with. As
they are, here Marrybell scoffed as she turned her gaze to the empty skies ahead of them, they're
barely keeping up with us in terms of land warfare technology, never mind the air.

It was true, the EU's avian technological research was non-existent. All they had were fighter jets
that they continued to use as much as possible in the field, primarily for their speed. However, their
numbers were limited to the number of airbases that could respond to a given threat at any time.
Without a carrier, like say an airship, they were simply impractical in the current era. And as such,
the Britannian fleet had been met with no resistance whatsoever as it continued on its way towards
Brussels.

That didn't mean Marrybell was going to get sloppy however, Lelouch had trusted her with this and
she wasn't about to fail him, and so she turned her attention away from the view to her bridge staff.
"Status."

"We've received reports that our troops on the border have already taken Kortrijk." Elicia Markor,
the ship's tactical officer, reported without looking up from her screen. "Additionally, Belgium
occupational divisions one and two have engaged enemy forces in Mons who are putting up heavy
resistance whilst divisions three and four are making their way towards Ghent."

Makes sense, she thought to herself. If she were the commanders of the EU forces, she would have
put her defenders at Mons and Kortrijk as well in order to slow down enemy progress. However,
the Europeans sounded like they'd already started to buckle if Ghent was now a viable target. Still,
there was no sense in leaving things to chance.

"Send the Drake and the Cooke to back up our people in Mons, and the Raleigh to Ghent."
Marrybell ordered. That ought to be more than enough to hammer them into submission.

"Your Highness," Elicia cautioned, "you realise that will diminish our own strength by-"

"I'm aware of the statistics." She cut her officer off, not missing a beat. "But His Majesty wants
this war over as soon as possible. And besides," Marrybell now gave her a confident smile, "we'll
be more than enough with just seven ships."

It was true as well, in the past the Britannian military never had enough power to finish off the EU.
Oh, the emperor had allowed for enough strength to push in and take a considerable amount of
land away, the acquisition of the African territories was proof of that, but when it came to the
home countries and their forces, Emperor Charles had been incredibly stingey. But under Lelouch
resources were a concern of the past, helped along by the establishing of the Special Zones making
the native populace much more cooperative. Add in the influx of new soldiers from those same
populations and the Britannian military had never been larger or more diverse.

After giving Elicia enough time to rally her orders, Marrybell then urged her to carry on with her
report which she immediately gave. "We've received confirmation that the Channel Fleet has
docked at Terneuzen and soldiers have already disembarked, heading for Antwerp."

"Perfect." It couldn't be better for them, Marrybell seeing clearly what Lelouch was up too: by
taking the Netherlands first they prevented the EU from simply running north, and with the
Knights of the Round harassing Germany they cut off any hopes of retreat east. The European
forces in Brussels were effectively on their own, giving her and her knights the chance at a
reckoning they'd long been waiting for.

If Marrybell was honest with herself, she was grateful to her brother for his last minute change in
his strategy. Taking down Wizard was more than just a professional duty for her, this one was
personal. That masked vigilante had crossed their paths one too many times in the past, putting her
knights in any amount of danger - true he had once saved her Oz's life but in the grand scheme of
things such an act was pointless. He was a thorn in the empire's side in a way the more well known
Zero could have only dreamed of being, and now she finally had the all-clear to bring that man to
face justice.

No one gets away with hurting my knights. She declared to herself, turning to glance over at her
throne where two of the Glinda Knights, Sokkia and Tink, stood on either side. Not even a former
Britannian.

She could have gone on monologuing, but the urgent call from her ship's interior operator, Eris
Kschessinskaya. "Highness! Our ground troops are reporting incoming enemy fire directly ahead!"

"What?!" Spinning around to face the bow again, Marrybell quickly ordered them to bring up an
image of what was going on down there. A moment later, the main screen came on showing their
Sutherlands and Gloucesters exchanging fire with a fast moving target. At first she thought it was a
division of Alexanders, that would certainly explain the speed problem, but as they got a better
view of the machines their forces were being attacked by the crew could only stare in disbelief.

"Those are Vincents!" Tink shouted angrily, "Where the hell did the Euros get those?!"

"More traitors?" Sokkia demanded, glaring at the image as the Knightmares in question, painted
dark purple, took off from the ground with the use of their float systems and peppered the older
machines from above. At first Marrybell was inclined to agree, there was no way the EU could
have caught up to them that quickly, but the longer she observed the image a more clear picture of
the situation became clear.

"I doubt those are our own troops." She finally voiced, indicating with her hand the things she'd
noticed about these enemy units, primarily the crescent-shaped antenna on their heads and the
accentuated shoulder armour. "Those are the old command types. The Europeans probably stole
them or got them off the black market."
Still, it was a bit worrying to see those machines in EU hands. The number of people who could
have gotten their hands on just one Vincent Commander type was small, never mind an entire
squad. Worryingly that number had once included a certain Second Prince who they were trying to
hunt down; if he had thrown in his lot with the Europeans...

Marrybell shook it off, "Doesn't matter. You," she pointed at Tink, "get down to the hangar and
launch as soon as you're ready." She didn't wait for his salute and immediately turned back to Eris.
"Where are Oldrin and Leonhardt?"

"Already in the hangar, Your Highness." Her officer told her. "Lancelot Grail and Bradford are
reporting ready for launch."

And despite the situation they'd found themselves in, Marrybell had to smile at her dear friend's
initiative. Ready for anything, right Oz?

True to her princess's expectations, Oldrin had launched in the Lancelot-Grail the moment she was
given the green light. Now, due to the sword-harkens her Knightmare carried on its back, there
wasn't sufficient room to install a float system and as such the Grail couldn't fly. Therefore
launching out of an airship that was flying quite high up in the sky was not what most people
would call...healthy. Fortunately, Oz could get around such a short coming with the help of
Leonhardt's machine which quickly docked with hers just before she entered free fall.

"Everything looks good on my end." He told her, his voice coming in over a private channel. "You
good there, Oz?"

"All systems nominal." She replied, her focus entirely on the battle before them. As such, the
moment she confirmed their clean docking, she throttled the Lancelot-Grail Cavalry's new engines
and took them both streaming towards the enemy.

Up ahead, the Sutherland forces were doing their level best to keep the enemy Vincents off of them
long enough for the Gloucesters - who had suffered the worst from this sneak attack - to switch to
ranged weaponry. However, it was soon shown that once again Britannian ingenuity led the way
on any stage, including outdoing their own past endeavours, as the seventh generation machines
dodged and weaved around the field of fire without taking a scratch of damage. Once a group got
into formation they immediately returned fire with their own rifles, destroying the Sutherland
defenders, whilst another group who had armed their MVS lances rushed down quickly to strike at
the Gloucesters.

It was a scene of carnage, one that Oz was more than prepared to repay them. As they came in
range she targeted a lone machine that had gotten ahead of himself and flown too high, without
saying a word she activated her left outermost sword-harken and sent it flying straight into the
unsuspecting pilot's cockpit. Not satisfied, she reeled it back towards her and armed one of her
Schrötter-steel swords in the Grail's right hand. As soon as the Vincent was close enough she cut
the machine in half, causing it to explode.

"Well that got their attention." She muttered to herself as the Europeans turned at the sight of their
downed comrade and immediately opened fire on her. In retaliation she launched all of her harkens,
sword and slash, back at them, taking out a few float systems and one unlucky leg.

However it hardly did anything to tip the scale in their favour and the Europeans knew it too as
they didn't let up on their attack, some actually diving in close to take a swipe at her. Luckily she
was able to pull away in time but this was already getting frustrating, there were just too many of
them for her Grail on its own to make any difference, even with fourteen harkens.
Bested by sheer numbers, Oz was forced to pull back up and away from the Euro Vincents to come
up with another strategy.

"Well that didn't work." Leonhardt spoke up, sounding as annoyed as she felt. "Look we're getting
nowhere with you just fighting them, and too be honest I'm a bit bored back here watching you do
all the work."

"So what?" She asked back, "You want us to separate?"

"It'd give them something else to worry about." He pointed out, and a moment later a message
appeared on her left screen indicating a confirmation to dissolve the Direct Link. "I'll deal with
them in the air whilst you help our guys on the ground."

Even if she had thought it was a bad idea, Oz could see the advantages of having an air unit of their
own in the skies that wasn't as huge a target as the Grail Cavalry was as advertised when another
rifle round hit the Bradford rocking them both off balance for a moment before she self righted.
Not to mention if she was on the ground they gave the Euros nowhere to run. It was logical and
pretty much the obvious thing to do.

"Okay," she agreed, putting on a burst of speed to get the Grail closer to the ground, "as soon as we
split get back up there."

"Hey, whose idea is this?" Scoffing she just hit the confirmation icon on her screen and the two
Knightmares separated, immediately the Bradford launched into the air where it zipped in and out
of the line of enemy fire in fortress mode. As he evaded the Euro Vincents' aim, Leonhardt brought
his machine in close and launched his megiddo harkens into the closest two. Even before they had
exploded though he had moved on, arming both his Dual Arms in their blade configuration, and
started slicing up the idiots who thought it was a good idea to steal from them.

Whilst that was happening the Lancelot Grail plummeted to the ground, Oz launching her sword
harkens at the Vincents on the ground. As intended, they scattered and she landed without a
problem, immediately arming a second sword in the Grail's free hand. Her surprise arrival only
lasted a second or so but it was more than enough for her to get to work, charging forward into the
nearest batch of Vincents and cutting them up. Some tried to switch to close range but, as that left
them open, Oz was able to use their distraction to their advantage and started to carve them to
pieces as well.

Quickly the battle turned back in their favour, with the Vincents in the air falling prey to the
Bradford whilst the ones on the ground didn't dare take off to escape the Grail for fear of running
into the other ace pilot. It was an advantage Oz wasn't about to let slip by and she skirted around
another rain of fire before slotting her right sword into her machine's forearm and activated the
Sword Blazer.

Looks like they're just grunts after all, she thought to herself as she blocked an incoming attack
with her left sword and fired her harkens into its chest, I'd thought may they'd given the machines
to a bunch of capable pilots but as it is...about the only thing these people had on their side was
numbers and surprise, both of which they were quickly losing now that she and Leonhardt had
arrived, even the Sutherlands had managed to regroup and were starting to score successful hits.

"OZ!" Marrybell's voice suddenly yelled through her radio, "Move!"

Her warning hadn't come a second too late as a Vincent she'd failed to notice came speeding at her
from behind with its lance. Its aim would have struck true if Oz hadn't been warned and she just
managed to get out of the way in time, striking back instinctively with the Sword Blazer right
through the enemy machine's head and into the cockpit.

Dammit! She hadn't wanted to waste that on a single machine and had been hoping to use it on a
group. As it was though she had to eject the spent Schrötter-steel sword, the blade having snapped
off inside the enemy Knightmare's cockpit. Her distraction cost her time which the Vincents on the
ground used to their advantage, regrouping and coming about towards her. Oz was quick to arm
another sword, but a moment later it would be for nothing.

Her scanner suddenly blared a loud warning, a huge energy signal appearing on her left. Not
waiting to find out what it was she immediately put the Grail's landspinners in reverse and floored
it. The Vincents didn't seem to realise the danger though and they rushed right into the energy
signal's intended path...and that was the end of them as a huge red ray suddenly engulfed them.

"Shit!" Leonhardt cursed from above her where she saw the Bradford also just narrowly dodging
the same massive deadly stream. "That blast came from the Grandberry!"

Which quickly told Oz who it was who had just fired on them all as she turned to face their mother
ship. A brief zoom in confirmed her suspicions and she let out a mildly annoyed sigh at the sight of
the Zetland standing just outside the launch bay, its Mega Hadron Launcher deployed. "You
couldn't have given us a little bit of a warning, Tink?"

"Heh, sorry." Their fellow Glinda Knight apologised, "I had intended to just give you guys a little
fire support but well..." He trailed off at the massive gash his machine had carved in the ground
before him where there had once been an entire squadron of stolen Vincents. "I guess wiping them
all out at once works too."

A little excessive. Marrybell thought to herself, though her relief at Oz's safety trumped everything
else. But I think I can forgive Tink for that heart-attack.

The Zetland's intervention had more or less won it for them, if nothing else than because if they
were shocked then the Europeans had to have soiled their pants at that little display of power. Now
it was just a matter of cleaning up the rest which the Lancelot-Grail and Bradford could manage on
their own.

So thinking, she turned her attention back to her bridge staff, "Tell Tink to head back inside." She
told Eris before switching to Elicia, "Connect us with my Emperor, he needs to know of this little
delay." Not that this detour had slowed them down terribly but far be it for her part in his overall
plan to be ruined because she didn't give him a forewarning.

Normally Marrybell would have stayed stood up from her seat to continue the image of a confident
commander, but seeing as it was Lelouch they were calling she wanted to appear as calm as
possible and sitting down would tell him that much. Also, sitting down had the advantage of
pushing up her dress a little which in turn lifted her breasts up; Oz would never let her get away
with that...but then Oz wasn't here right now was she?

Successfully hiding her little smirk, she turned to address the only Glinda Knight who she hadn't
sent into battle and noticed the annoyed scowl on her face. "Something the matter Sokkia?"

The green haired girl just huffed, "I hate being sidelined like this." She told her, "Everyone else
gets to go out and have fun while I, and my stupid Sutherland Eye, get left to gather dust!"

Sighing at her knight's complaint, Marrybell decided not to mention that it was the point of the
Sutherland Eye to act as an in-battle data gatherer and not a combat unit at all (that would just
serve to further infuriate Sokkia) and just patted her on the shoulder with a smile before sitting
down in her throne. "We'll be in Brussels soon enough," she assured her, "I'm sure there'll be more
than enough opportunities for you to fight there."

Assuming I don't need the Eye for intel gathering of course, she didn't say, but put that out of her
mind as the main screen at last connected with Lelouch's ship, the face of her husb-brother smiling
back at her. His smile alone was enough to get her heart pumping a beat faster, as if the man knew
what he did to her just by looking her way, but Marrybell did her best not to show it as she greeted
him. "Your Majesty."

At her side, Sokkia gave their leader a sharp salute along with the rest of the bridge crew. Lelouch
however barely seemed to notice them as he focussed his attention directly on her. "Is there
something the matter, Marrybell?"

Doing her best not to flush at the sound of concern in his tone she quickly, if a little bit timidly,
reported, "I need to inform you we'll be arriving a little bit short of the established time, brother
(curse their shared genetic heritage!). No serious problems to report."

Her statement however just caused him to raise an eyebrow. "No serious problems and yet you've
hit a delay?" He asked her, his smile slightly slipping from his face. "I doubt something mediocre
would keep you at bay so long Marry."

"Y-yes of course," she did her best not to stammer at his high expectations of her, "but you see,
Your Majesty, we're just finishing off a European squadron that ambushed my ground troops."

"Go on." He urged.

"Well...you see..." how was she supposed to say that their brother had done this to them? Yes he
was a traitor but for him to go so far...In the end, under the emperor's curious stare, Marrybell just
sucked it up and told him point blank. "They were using Vincents, Lelouch, the Command model
to be exact."

For a moment the image on the screen went unchanged, Lelouch not budging an inch as he no
doubt pondered the significance of such news. "I see." He said at last, no inflection in his voice to
tell her what he thought of the information. He didn't dwell on it too much though as he asked a
moment later, "What are your casualties?"

"We're still counting." She told him, unable to hide a cringe at her own words. "But earlier
numbers suggest we lost fifteen Sutherlands and maybe double that number of Gloucesters. But
rest assured," she quickly moved ahead like he had done, her voice filling with determination, "we
will make it to Brussels and we will succeed there."

Her words seemed to ring a chord with Lelouch as he sent her another pleasant smile, "I never
doubted you would, sister." He told her in that same praising tone that did nothing for her
complexion. "What time do you estimate you'll arrive?"

With the losses still unconfirmed - though she could speculate - and with her having diverted three
of her own ships elsewhere, Marrybell quickly took a moment to go over it in her head. "Allowing
for time to regroup our forces and repair those machines that can still be used..." she started
carefully, before her countenance changed to one of absolute certainty. "We will engage the
European's first line of defence shortly after sundown."

"Excellent!" He praised her, clearly happy with his decision to leave Belgium to her. "You've done
very well, Marry. I will await your next report when I hope to hear that Brussels is once more a
Britannian territory."

She couldn't help beaming at his confidence in her. "Of course, Your Majesty. By the way, how
goes the invasion of Germany?"

"Quite well." He told her proudly. "There were some minor scuffles in Essen but we crushed them
easily enough. I'm actually just a little ways north of Augsburg."

That was shocking news to Marrybell, far be it for her to question her brother's competence as a
leader but even she hadn't expected him to be so near his goal so soon. At the rate he was going he
was likely to arrive in Munich in a couple of hours, barring any unforeseen setbacks. Whatever it
was that the EU had there had to be very important for him to push in so deep so fast, and it perked
her curiosity all the more considering that city had been her target before he switched their roles.

"If I may ask brother?," she began tentatively, continuing when he gave her an allowing nod,
"you're interest in Munich is a mystery to me. Not that I'm not grateful to be dealing with Wizard
myself," she quickly back-pedalled, "but as a capital city of an enemy nation, shouldn't you be the
one to take Brussels?"

For a moment she was sure he wouldn't give her an answer, that she had overstepped her bounds in
questioning his strategy. But then the moment passed and Lelouch smiled in understanding. "I can
see why such an abrupt change would confuse you." He admitted gently before going on. "The
truth is whilst I was in London I came into the possession of certain knowledge that something of
value to me could be found in Munich. That was why I had you reassigned."

Knowledge? Something of value? What could he have learned in Britain that was so important that
it required a shift of their forces? However, it then occurred to Marrybell that Britain had been a
problem state for the EU long before Britannia had returned to its native home. There could have
been any number of resistance groups there over the years that might have discovered something of
great importance and now that Lelouch was in charge they'd passed it on to him. He was certainly
more approachable than their father had ever been.

"So you've got intelligence on some sort of new weapon they've been developing and are on your
way to stop them?" She guessed.

Evidently she was absolutely wrong in her assumption because Lelouch immediately scoffed and
shook his head. "No, no. No weapon of any kind." He assured her before telling her, completely
straight faced. "I'm off to pick up my fiancée."

He said it like it was nothing but as the words passed through the speakers, the entire bridge staff
went silent. Elicia and Eris stared directly ahead, as if not acknowledging such words would keep
them from becoming real; Toto glanced over at her mistress with concerned eyes, not saying a
word but clearly fearing the worst. As for Sokkia, she was much more verbal in her summation of
the bomb that'd just been dropped, though it was still a quiet, "Oh shit."

As for Marrybell...she carried a smile on her face and a twitch under her left eye. "Oh..." she said
stiffly, her teeth not moving from their closed state, "So Britannia has a new empress...isn't
that nice?"

"Well Britannia has one new empress." Lelouch corrected her, apparently not noticing the change
in his sister as he carried on. "I'm pretty sure there'll be a few others before long."

"Really?" The twitch was growing with each second that passed as her sweet,
handsome brother continued to talk. "Well, I suppose it is tradition for the emperor to take
multiple wives." Inside though, Marrybell was screaming at such a tradition, hunting down
whatever constitution allowed for such a thing and setting it alight.

On the screen though, Lelouch didn't see any of this as he went on, further terrifying her crew with
every word he spoke. "I was at first a bit disconcerted at having more than one wife," he admitted,
shuffling a bit uncomfortably, "but then Alfred sat me down for a two hour lecture on the stresses
of being an emperor and how having several lovers was not just a past time but encouraged in our
former monarchs because it actually helped him perform his duties."

"You don't say." She replied, her fingers digging into the arms of her throne, a vein popping on her
brow. "How interesting."

"It is, isn't it." He agreed, once again missing the rather obvious tell that she was near critical
pressure. "Well I should let you get back to work, Marry, wouldn't want you to fall behind your
schedule. I'll talk to you later, bye now."

And with that he terminated his end of the connection...leaving a very terrified Grandberry bridge
crew to deal with their CO. Some time passed, maybe a few minutes, and no one dared say a word
to her. They just watched her as she continued to face forward with her scarily pleasant smile on
her face, her left eye twitching every couple of seconds.

At last it was Toto who gathered the courage to speak up. "Your Highness...is everything...alright?"

That seemed to be the trigger as suddenly Marrybell turned to face her, still smiling widely with
equally wide eyes as she stood from her throne. "Perfectly well, Toto." She told her in just the
wrong amount of calm. "Could you prepare my Knightmare, Toto, there's a good girl."

She didn't wait for a response and simply stalked off the bridge, creepy smile and all as she made
her way to the hangar. No one dared approach her or stop her in her tracks, although they secretly
prayed that the Glinda Knights had already destroyed the last remaining Vincents before the
princess got out there.

Forget Euphemia. There was a reason Marrybell mel Britannia was called the Massacre Princess
first.

Augsburg, Avalon

Frowning, Lelouch turned to Alfred at his side. "Do you think Marrybell was alright?" He asked
him, mildly concerned. "She seemed to be struggling with something."

"I didn't notice anything unusual, Sir." His aide replied dutifully, though his tone hinted
at...something, but the young emperor quickly purged it from his mind. There were far more
imminent challenges than that of trying to understand the mind of a teenage girl.

They'd just entered the airspace of Augsburg, well on their way to Munich. Scouts up ahead had
reported a heavy EU presence up ahead but he felt there was little to be worried about. Though his
ground forces were the older fifth generation machines, he'd made up for it with his own personal
legions of Vincent Wards and Gareths who covered the air. As such, Lelouch had yet to lose ten
per cent of his overall troops, though he had left behind a considerable number of units at certain
locations in Germany as he pushed his way down south.

As he'd told Marrybell he'd faced resistance at Essen that was quickly dealt with and left behind a
couple of divisions to restore order to the town, as well as to ensure that the garrisons in Dortmund
and Cologne didn't get any ideas. After that his sky fleet had moved on, not coming across any
substantial European forces all the way to Frankfurt, meeting up with a triumphant General
Abramson, where he once again shed some of his troops to help the occupying forces pacify any
remaining resistance.

And now he was only one city away from his goal, though if Lelouch was being honest with
himself he wasn't too fond of spreading out his legions like this - D.S.'s warning about Leila
Breisgau's anti-Geass had left him feeling somewhat concerned - but it was the only way to keep up
the secret of his true intentions. So long as Britannia kept winning they wouldn't look too carefully
into why their emperor had chosen to change tactics so suddenly.

So let's keep that winning streak going. Lelouch thought to himself as he stood up from his throne
and walked towards the tactical map. "Update on events." He snapped sharply at his bridge crew.

On his left, one of the communications operators stood from his chair and saluted the emperor.
"Sire, Lord Jeremiah reports all is well and on schedule. He has successfully taken Konstanz."

Perfect, ahead of schedule even, just as he had come to expect of his Guard Captain. Nodding his
approval, he ordered, "Tell him to head on to Switzerland then, and that I expect the same level of
success."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The officer saluted again before sitting back down to carry out his orders.

Lelouch could say he was coming to enjoy this disciplined military he'd found himself head of.
Though the Black Knights had been far from an unruly mob, they'd always lacked a certain sense
of professionalism that he hadn't noticed until comparing them with the forces he now commanded.
There had been exceptions, like Tohdoh, but for the most part even the Four Holy Swords had been
less disciplined from what these soldiers were proving themselves to be.

Hmm...maybe I really was going about it all wrong. He thought to himself wryly as he took a look
at the map that was currently displaying the forward movements of all Britannian forces
throughout Europe. Narrowing his eyes at one particular group that didn't show up on the screen he
turned back to whisper to Alfred, "What's C.C.'s status?"

"The Lady C.C. is currently in Marseille." The old man reported, equally hushed in tone "Her
search for contractors is ongoing."

"I see." Though internally, Lelouch couldn't help a small sliver of worry to pass through his heart
at his Witch's absence. She'd been gone too long in her search, this was the third time in as many
days that he'd heard she was still in that area of France. Had something gone wrong?

No, I mustn't think like that. He chastised himself. C.C. could take care of herself, if she needed
help surely she would have called by now...or so he hoped.

Still, worrying himself about it wouldn't do a thing and so Lelouch moved on to something he
could actually influence, returning his attention to the tactical map and zooming it in on Augsburg.
His frontal forces were about to engage the EU blockade around the city and it had to be said they
were armed to defend themselves. The number of Panzer-Hummels alone were at least twice the
number of his own ground troops.

However, Lelouch considered as he let out an annoyed sigh as the reports began flooding in that
they'd engaged the enemy, Britannia had long since valued quality over quantity. "They never
learn." He muttered.
"Sir, their numbers are considerable." Alfred cautioned him, noting as a few IFFs turned to red
[LOST] icons. "Should we change our strategy?"

Though he recognised the sound counsel for what it was, Lelouch simply waved his concern aside.
"There will be no need for that." He assured his loyal manservant, "There is nothing the EU has
that my loyal soldiers can't weather."

His words were proven correct as the number of [LOST] icons soon came to correspond primarily
with the Europeans' first line of defence.

On the ground Alfred's assessment of the situation was shared by the Europeans. Confident in their
numbers, they let loose with everything they had the moment the Britannians came in range. At
first it appeared to go well; a few Sutherlands went down, their legs blown off or their core ejection
systems tripped by the rate of fire. It seemed to all intents and purposes that the empire had
attacked with a force that couldn't possibly defeat them, their numbers being less than half of what
the EU had brought to bare.

However that all changed when the Panzers switched to rocket launchers and opened fire on them.
The rockets sailed forward and met their marks, the force of the impact kicking up a huge amount
of dust that temporarily obscured the Britannian forces from view. For a moment they dared to
dream that they had done it, that they had stopped the White Emperor in his tracks in his arrogant
assumption that he could take the whole world into his grasp alone.

And then the dust cleared, revealing the Britannian ground forces to be completely unharmed
thanks to an ominously familiar green energy shield emitting from the mobile command bases.

The Europeans weren't given a moment to realise what had happened though as the Britannians
immediately went on the attack, using the lull in enemy fire to their advantage. The Sutherlands
took potshots at the Panzers, keeping them off balance, long enough for the Gloucesters to streak
forward and run them through with their lances.

Within seconds, the first line of the EU's defence around Augsburg had buckled.

"Marvellous, sir." Alfred commented, admiring the way their forces' IFFs swept over the EU's with
next to no resistance. "Another flawless strategy on your part."

"Hardly." Lelouch replied with a snort of barely hidden disdain at the Europeans' stupidity for
letting up on their defence in the face of something as harmless as dust. "They just weren't
expecting the new G-1's."

He was referring to the three brown G-1 mobile command centres that had been refitted with a
massive Blaze Luminous generator, the perfect tool to create an impenetrable perimeter. Clovis
would certainly have had a better chance at living if he'd had this on his G-1 all that time ago. The
trade off though was that the G-1's couldn't move forward whilst under fire and thus new forms of
combat had to be thought up.

Fortunately, Lelouch had made a point of thinking up how to overcome these shortcomings and
had decided to take a leaf out of the Spartans at Thermopylae.

Therefore, he was more than ready to issue his orders to his soldiers. "Divide the ground troops
into three divisions, one for each G-1, standard Shield-and-Sword tactics. G-1's will provide
layered defence of our troops, then the Gloucesters are to be sent in once a lull in enemy fire is
detected." He paused for a moment to make sure everyone was listening - more bad habits from his
Zero days - and then went on.

"They will establish a new frontal location under mid range cover from the Sutherlands. Once that
is done, the G-1's are to move up and then re-establish the perimeter with cover from the Gareths
and the Vincents will mop up whatever forces the Gloucesters missed. Repeat as needed." So not
quite the phalanx of old but it ought to do the job.

His strategy declared, Lelouch cast a cursory gaze on all of his officers, "Is that understood?"

As one, the bridge crew gave a sharp 'yes, Your Majesty!' and at once got work carrying out their
duties, the communications officers relaying his orders to the G-1 commanders on the ground.

It didn't take long for the emperor's orders to be put in effect, the orders streaming down from
the Avalon to the G-1's on the ground which quickly moved to enact his strategy. As Lelouch
ordered, the Gloucesters and Sutherlands fell back behind the large shield wall of the command
centres where they were swiftly broken up into three evenly distributed divisions and from there
they waited as the Panzers unleashed everything they had on the G-1's to little avail.

Maybe a minute or so passed before they got the green light to charge forward, the Gloucesters
leading the pack, out of the protection of the Blaze Luminous and straight for the enemy lines. It
probably helped that this kind of attack hadn't been used in centuries that the Europeans were
caught completely off guard in the first rush, the Gloucesters ramming straight into the Panzer
lines with nearly no help required at all from the Sutherlands.

That didn't stop their ranged counterparts from shooting anything that moved as the large G-1's
came up behind them, their Gareth guard taking potshots here and there leaving nothing in their
wake. Once the area was more or less cleared the Gloucesters fell back behind the large command
post, leaving the final pickings to the Vincent Wards that now dropped from the sky to pick at
what was left of the enemy. It was a horrific sight, and the Europeans only got more scared when
they were once again faced with the impregnable wall of the Blaze Luminous, the sequence set to
start all over again.

And that's exactly what happened once the next line of defence was forced to pause to reload their
weapons.

From above it all, Lelouch watched the battle with a tense critical eye. This was the first outing of
his new command posts and he wanted to be sure what did and didn't work with them, already
having found problems with his current strategy. It's working well for the moment, but this is
assuming the enemy we're facing comes straight at us, he considered as he watched Division 1 roll
over another line of enemy IFFs. If they came at us from the flanks, this manoeuvre would fail and
the command structure would collapse. Never mind he had the Gareths there to fire on anyone who
got too close but any machine could be destroyed with the right tools, and that wasn't even getting
into if they were facing an enemy that had flight capable Knightmares like the Black Knights.

His pondering was interrupted by Alfred who drew his attention to the tactical map. "Sir, they
seem to be gathering for their final stand." He informed him, indicating a rather sizeable group of
Panzers that had gathered together and were aiming in all directions for maximum spread of fire. A
bold move, if incredibly desperate.

It would be better if they just surrendered. Lelouch silently thought to himself, not for the first time
amazed at the arrogance of the EU. Still those numbers could be problematic for his ground forces
- the Panzers had arranged themselves in three lines, with only one firing at a time it seemed. First
one line fired and then when it ran out of ammo the second line fired and so on.

Admittedly that was rather clever, and in the end probably the smart thing to do if they were up
against anyone else...but they seemed to have forgotten he had air power as well as ground
superiority right now. Therefore he turned to his communications operators and sent them his
newest instructions.

"Tell Divisions One and Three to focus their efforts on the flanks. Second Division is to hold back
until we've sewed some proper chaos and discord from behind their ranks." And for that he turned
on a special communications line to his Vincent teams piloted by his legions. "Soldiers, you are to
bring utter ruin to the Panzers before you, give no quarter!"

He was met by a zealous 'Yes, Your Majesty!' and then the white Vincent Wards descended upon
the European machines even as the Sutherlands from Divisions One and Three tore at them from
the sides. It was a grotesque way of putting it, but the Vincents were starting to feel more and more
like scavengers pecking at leftover carcasses the more he used them.

Vultures...Lelouch turned the word over in his head before nodding in consideration...Apropos.

He didn't have to wait long until the reports started coming in from all posts that the Europeans
were surrendering as quickly as they possibly could after that. They had seen what he'd done to
them when they had more than twice the numerical advantage against Britannia, and if this was
what he could do with just that then Lelouch could imagine the terror they were conjuring up when
they considered what he could have brought with him.

As for the mood of the Britannians, they couldn't be happier with their successful battle/field test,
the crew of the Avalon letting out a few happy cheers when it was confirmed the Augsburg was
now theirs. Alfred himself gave Lelouch a happy grin. "Congratulations, Sir. Another grand
victory."

He would have rolled his eyes at his aide if he thought it would do anything, but knowing that
would get nothing out of Alfred, Lelouch just nodded and returned to his throne.

"We'll leave a detachment here to clean things up and keep the Europeans from hitting us in the
back." He told the bridge crew, before returning his focus to their main target. "How long should it
take to arrive in Munich?"

"Roughly three hours, just after sunset, Your Majesty." An officer replied.

Nodding at the estimation, Lelouch stood back from the throne he'd just sat back down in and
vacated the bridge, leaving Alfred to call for him if anything changed. If they were so close to the
target he might as well get some rest.

And who knew? Perhaps she'd visit him in his dream.

Brussels, Palace of the Nation

The sun was dipping down on what could only be described as an absolutely wasted day. At least
that was the opinion of Wizard as he stalked through the corridors of the Belgian seat of
government. It was one bit of bad news after the next! First they lost Paris then the attempt to take
the Netherlands failed spectacularly, as well as at least three more Knights of the Round joining
Bishop for Britannia, and that had been barely within the first twenty four hours! Now Spain was
more or less back in Britannian control, Switzerland was under attack, and they had virtually lost
half of Germany when Lelouch appeared there when everyone had been sure he would invade
Belgium first!

And on that note, damn those Glinda Knights! As if it wasn't bad enough that they were losing this
stupid war Smilas had let that damn snake Schneizal talk him into, Lelouch had had to give
Belgium to that old headache! They'd wiped out the entire Vincent division he'd sent out after them
with barely a scratch, the Princess Marrybell herself taking to the field close to the end of it.

Now they were baring down on Brussels, not even at full strength if the reports were accurate, and
there was nothing Wizard could do to stop the Thought Elevator in Munich from falling into
Lelouch's hands! If they find out about D.S...

That didn't bear thinking of, so instead he let out a furious snarl cursing everything and everyone
under the sun that he could think of. How dare they place him in this position?! The last thing he'd
ever wanted was to face the Glinda Knights, and specifically their lead knight Oldrin Zevon, in
combat again. She was so much like her twin Orpheus, so wrapped up in her foolish beliefs that she
didn't see the truth right before her eyes!

In the end there was only one thing he could do in this situation, as such he'd sent out virtually all
his forces to engage the Glinda Knights and their accompanying fleet to buy him as much time as
possible whilst he hopped into his Knightmare and made a hasty getaway. In other words, a great
big explosive way of saying 'Fuck this! I'm out!'

That had been his intention as he made his way to where his machine stood in the gardens of the
Palace, when suddenly the entire building shook. For a moment he considered living in denial -
they couldn't possibly be here already! - when a soldier of some middling to high rank came around
the corner where he was steadying himself and came to a stop, saluting him. "Sir! Britannian troops
have arrived in the city from the north!"

The north? Wizard blinked behind his mask, that couldn't be right. "What are you talking about
soldier?!" He snapped at him, barely containing his growing agitation. "They couldn't have
possibly already flanked us!"

The poor man under his command shuffled a bit before clearing his throat and continuing
nervously. "Well...sir...these aren't Princess Marrybell's troops..." he gulped down a bit, as if
knowing these were going to be his last words. "They're from Antwerp sir."

Antwerp...Antwerp?! The north capital's already fallen?! How did they...? And then it hit him,
how they could have done it: Terneuzen. That was why Lelouch wanted the Netherlands locked
down first! He'd wanted to keep control of that damn port! Now all those soldiers who'd had
virtually nothing to do after the Knight of Two destroyed the EU's occupation force had been
redirected here. That slimy bastard!

After screaming in out-and-out rage at Lelouch's outplaying them by days at a time - and making a
concerted effort not to throttle the messenger - Wizard took a deep breath and tried to reforge the
image of a calm commander that he was supposed to be in these times.

"The city won't hold." He told the soldier who hadn't dared run for his life, "Order all our forces to
begin a systematic retreat out of Brussels. Make sure not to leave any equipment behind for the
Britannians; if it can't be carried away destroy it. Also, take out the bridges and the roads leading
out to the west." It wouldn't stop them, but at least it would slow that damnable Marrybell down
somewhat.
"But sir!" The bearer of yet more bad news protested. "The Britannian air ships are already bearing
down on the west!"

YOU TELL ME THIS NOW?! Calmly...ever so calmly, Wizard pulled his twitching arm away from
his side arm and took a very deep, very long, calming breath. "Then we have even less time than I
feared." He hissed, so glad he had his mask to hide the spitting fury and fear in his eyes. Noting
that the soldier hadn't moved from his spot though, he lost all self control and yelled at him. "I
GAVE YOU YOUR ORDERS, NOW GET OUT OF HERE!"

The poor soul's legs finally became operable again and he skedaddled as quickly as he could,
though Wizard barely paid attention to him as he resumed his trek to his personal machine, now
even more angry and scared than before. Even with his Knightmare he didn't like his chances if it
came to a fight with her.

Nevertheless, the die had been rolled and now all that was left was to play the game.

"So," he murmured to himself once he was safe in the third machine of a line of brothers, named
for the most malicious of a different four, "it seems I have no choice but to face you, Oz."

Brussels, streets of

Battle proper commenced shortly before sun set, about half an hour ahead of what Marrybell had
predicted their arrival time. Not that anyone really wanted to bring that up - she was still in an icy
mood after her last conversation with the emperor. It had taken everything Oz and her Knightmare
had to bring back the Lancelot Trial to the Grandberry, as it stood the Princess was currently
barred from going anywhere near the hangar though that didn't stop her from directing all out
carnage on the Europeans the first moment their fleet got in range of the city.

To their credit though the EU threw up everything they had to keep them out, even - to Leonhardt
and Tink's amusement - the old artillery cannons from half a century ago. It certainly served to
cause havoc on their ground units who were forced to weave in and out of the incoming shells with
all the experience the pilots had, though the APCs for infantry were not nearly so lucky, but for the
airships and their Blaze Luminous shielding it was akin to tossing pebbles at a stone wall.

And that didn't even account for the Glinda Knights themselves who had placed themselves as the
spear tip of the advancing Gloucesters and Sutherlands, with the Lancelot-Grail right at the front.
Once they got into the belly of the European forces, they tore their lines open and then the real hell
began for the defenders of Brussels.

Whilst Oz started to carve up the Europeans in close range, another line of Panzers further back
had set up a barricade and were laying down as much flak on the incoming Britannians as possible,
catching some of their own in the crossfire due to their panicked state. Still, friendly fire was the
least of their concerns as the Zetland moved ahead and locked itself down right in their path.

At first the pilots probably thought Tink was acting like an arrogant moron, no one machine could
take them down (ignoring the Lancelot model that was tearing their comrades apart), but then the
power pack and cannon on his shoulders rotated forwards and locked into place in front of it. Now
staring down the barrel of the Mega Hadron Launcher, only three of the Panzers had enough sense
to pull to the sides - probably remembering the Mordred could do something similar - just in time
to avoid the massive red ray of destruction that came a second later disintegrating their comrades.

Those three remaining saw that the Zetland hadn't moved after firing and concluded that it was a
slow unit that specialised in mass destruction over agility and speed (too bad they didn't know of its
Blaze Luminous shielding) so they changed their tactics accordingly, weaving in and out the
surrounding buildings. The hope likely was that, by manoeuvring between the buildings, they
could move around and get close enough to Tink to deal out a final penetrating blow before he
could move away to defend himself. Too bad for them then that there was another specialised unit
keeping an eye on him.

As the Panzers tried to implement the final step of their strategy, the Bradford suddenly dropped
out of the sky and sliced through two of them with its Dual Arms.

"You need to be more careful, Tink!" Leonhardt told his friend, combining his arms together as he
came around and swept the last remaining Panzer of its legs. "I won't always be around to help
you."

"That's alright!" Tink called back, "I'll always have Oz and the others to back me up."

Oy. Leonhardt sighed at the man's attitude. You'd think him being mostly machine would have
taught him caution. Still the front line had been broken by their rush-and-ruin approach so it wasn't
like he could argue Tink wasn't effective. "Well anyway things seem okay here," he murmured
after his moment of reflection, "I'm heading back up to our air forces. It makes little sense for you
to stay down here, so scale a building and lay down a barrage."

"Fine by me!" Tink replied enthusiastically. "But I'll need a bit of cov-"

"WAHOOOO!" Their conversation was cut off by a loud scream for joy, accompanied by a dark
pink Sutherland. It differentiated from the standard model though by the giant dome on its head, an
external Yggdrasil drive on its right shoulder and a Schrötter-steel knife fixed to the arm of the
same side. The Sutherland Eye's pilot's jubilation turned to annoyance however when she looked
around and saw the mess Tink and Leonhardt had left behind. "The hell?! You guys killed them all
already?! First those Vincents and now this! Do you guys just not like me?"

"There are days, Sokkia." Leonhardt muttered, wishing they weren't in a combat situation so he
could just mute her.

Fortunately though, the Lancelot-Grail joined them a second later and Oz's no-nonsense tone
joined theirs on their private channel. "Sokkia, you'll be going with Tink, provide cover whilst he
gets into position. Leonhardt, you're with me." She told him firmly. "Her Highness has located a
large enemy number massing in the west, likely trying to retreat."

"Which is probably where Wizard is." He finished off for her, disdain dripping from his voice. The
bastard didn't even bother to stick it out whilst the rest of his troops died for him. "Understood Oz."

"Don't get ahead of yourself." She warned him, though there was an equal level of desire to see this
man found. "There's been no sign of him or a his Knightmare."

"Well it looks like a Gareth." Sokkia noted, her and Tink already atop a near building, her
machine's advanced scanning systems activated. "Something that big shouldn't be that hard to
miss...wait a minute." Her blasé tone suddenly gave way to concern. "A new IFF just went active,
its patterns match those of Britannian models."

"Any idea what it is?" Tink asked, though it was virtually a pointless question. There could only be
one machine broadcasting a Britannian IFF as an enemy.

"Gimme a second." A moment passed as the Sutherland Eye turned to face the north,
unconsciously telling them all which way to look for their target. "I have something," Sokkia
suddenly spoke up, a small grin in her tone as she went on, "one big Gareth prototype located
thattaway!"

"In the north?" Leonhardt asked, before holding back a snarl. "That bastard. He's using the
retreating soldiers in the west as a diversion while he heads the other way!"

"Well it won't do him any good." Oz cut in, calm and determined. "This changes things. Princess
Marrybell has to oversee the battle...right then." The Grail's landspinners suddenly slammed down
onto the road and the machine itself turned north. "Leonhardt, Sokkia, you're with me. Tink, head
west and cut off the enemy retreat. We'll leave the rest here to the ground commanders. Got it?"

"Got it!" Sokkia spoke for all of them gleefully, the Sutherland Eye jumping off its perch and
landing down besides the Bradford. "Finally I get to have some fun!"

The rest of them just rolled their eyes in their cockpits before they all set off to do their part in
bringing Brussels to heel.

The three Knightmares moved quickly north, following Sokkia's findings, the sooner they got their
hands on Wizard the sooner this battle would come to an end. Even so, Oz was more than a bit
worried. This very battle was the perfect tool for their target to slip away from yet again, he'd
already set up two distractions to keep his location hidden - first in the main group itself and then a
retreating group in the west - and he could easily do it again if he had to. Some part of her even
suspected she'd made a mistake sending Tink after the second group, even if they'd found him there
was no way to know what they were up against. Wizard could have any number of tricks waiting
for them.

Still, she had Leonhardt in the sky keeping an eye on them so at the very least he could intervene if
things got rough. Regardless of her other companion's enthusiasm, the Sutherland Eye was not a
combat machine which meant in truth she was the only power on the ground if it came to a fight.

"We're nearly there." Sokkia spoke up on the radio, still sounding eager. "Just a little bit further."

That's what scares me. Oz thought to herself as they crossed a bridge over the Senne into Laeken
and the grassy fielded park behind the suburb. This was the last place she would have wanted to
fight, so close to civilian homes but from the looks of it they had evacuated long before they had
arrived. Besides she had a much more pressing matter at hand. According to Sokkia's information,
their target should be right in front of them. Her confusion was suddenly alleviated when her
scanners lit up, alerting her to a new power surge all around her. What the-?!

Suddenly a ring of small lights lit up around the Grail and the Eye, heralding the activation of
thirty or so small green orbs. The lights intensified, their paths converging with each other, which
Oz's scanners were telling her were the source of the power surge. Before she could shout a
warning, the energy readings spiked again and expanding out into the ring, crossing over the two
Knightmares before either had a chance to react.

The moment the energy filled passed, Oz braced herself for whatever was coming...and then a
moment later she was engulfed in darkness. The hell?! Flicking at the activation switches for the
screens did nothing and she couldn't even tell if the Grail's arms were moving. A tentative push on
the throttle resulted in no acceleration and she had to conclude that her machine had been shorted
out.

However, her radio still seemed to be working when Sokkia's voice filled her ears in the dark
cockpit. "Oz! What the hell just happened? My Sutherland's not working!"
"Mine neither." She said back, her emergency lights flipping on after a bit of testing. So I still have
my back up systems. A lot of good that did her right now with her Knightmare frozen in place.
"Any idea what that was?"

"It's called a Gefjun Disturber." A new voice, male this time, suddenly sounded through the radio.
"Although, I have to admit I was worried it wouldn't work."

There was no mistaking it, Oz felt the blood in her veins beat harder as she snarled out the name.
"Wizard! That's you isn't it?!"

"Miss Zevon." The oily voice greeted and she could just hear the smirk on the man's face, "I
should have known your Princess was at the heart of this chaos. Step out of your Knightmare
please, your cockpit's hatch release should still be active. That goes for your friend as well."

Sokkia made her stance on that idea perfectly clear. "Like hell, you masked bastard!" She yelled,
though considering her screens probably were as blank as Oz's then there was very little to yell at.
"As if you're not going to kill us the moment we step out!"

"I am offering you people a chance to live." Wizard replied, unmoved by her words. "If not, then I
certainly will kill you. I would rather it didn't come to that."

This was a bad spot, with the Grail out and her back up either also out of commission or too far
away to do anything, there was nothing Oz could think of but complying with the man's demands.
That in itself was enough to make her angry, both at him and at herself for getting caught in this
trap. If she could just call Tink over or...wait, had Leonhardt been taken out? He'd been in the air,
maybe out of reach of the field's effect.

Being stuck in here though wouldn't tell her anything and she'd be dead anyway if she didn't
comply. Therefore she let out a sigh and hit the hatch release. "Fine."

"Good girl." Oh what she'd give to take a swing at that smug bastard right in his masked face.

That wouldn't help her though so she just stepped out of her cockpit and dropped out of her
machine, coming out from around it so Wizard could see her and she got a good look at his own
Knightmare. It certainly resembled the Gareth, painted in a black and white pattern and arm with
the same Hadron Cannons where the hands would be on a typical Knightmare Frame, which were
now pointed at the two disabled machines. Where it differentiated though was the thick black
metal shawl that rested over its shoulders and stretched down to above its knees, with a cape
fluttering out the back, and where on the head there would have been a fact sphere was instead a
black and gold visor with purple eye guards.

The last of a series of prototypes, named for the brother of the pure knight Sir Gawain, the
Agravain. A fitting machine for a turncoat trickster. Oz snorted at the sight of it. But that wasn't
what she was looking for as she glanced just over its head at the skies above it, and what she saw,
even as the mammoth machine in front of her reached down to pick her up in its hand, made her
smile.

Just as the Agravain's fingers were about to close around her, that was when she made her move.
"Leonhardt, now!"

That was all the warning she would allow Wizard as a moment later the Bradford, in Fortress
Mode, opened fire on him with the Dual Arms knocking him back. A blue Blaze Luminous system
burst into life around the machine but Leonhardt had done his job and Oz turned back around for
the Grail. "Target the orbs!" She yelled into her headset, hoping he heard her.
Evidently he had as the Bradford came around and fired another volley at one of the glowing
Gefjun generators. Taking out one proved to be all that was needed as, out of the corner of her eye
as Oz ascended back into her Knightmare, she spotted the Sutherland Eye suddenly jerk back into
life and start firing on the Agravain with its rifle. It was a good sign and Leonhardt took his chance
and swooped down into the former dead zone, opening fire on Wizard as close as he dared before
soaring back up into the air.

Using the distraction to her advantage, Oz jumped back into the cockpit, sealed the hatch and
restarted the Lancelot-Grail. The screen snapped back on, showing her the fight going on outside
and it looked to all intents and purposes that Leonhardt had this one in the bag.

There was no denying the power of the Agravain, if it got those Hadrons open and managed even a
partially good aim it would be all over for her and her team. However, like its mass produced
cousin the giant machine was a slow beast, the same thing that gave it its deadly power making the
simple raising of its arms a sluggish affair. On the flip side, the Bradford was a fast, nimble little
thing designed for dogfights as much as it was for Knightmare combat which it proved as
Leonhardt came down to give Wizard another taste of its Dual Arms. If it wasn't for that blasted
shield that went up every time he fired, Wizard would have been down already.

It was honestly a bit embarrassing watching the big thing get kicked around by a machine almost
half its size, but then this was the exact same mistake Zero had made against Cornelia in the former
Area 11: size does not equal victory.

However, Wizard was not without extra options as he proved by firing the Agravain's chest
mounted missile launchers and at last he scored a hit as the Bradford came around. Leonhardt
managed to dodge most of them but one lucky missile hit the left wing, utterly ruining his air
mobility and forcing him to come down, transforming his Knightmare back into its humanoid
form. It was hardly an ending blow though, Leonhardt was far from done yet as he switched the
Dual Arms into blade mode.

His machine's damage had given Wizard ample time to aim the Agravain's right arm, though so
when he was ready to attack it was down the muzzle of an angry red Hadron Cannon. "Well," the
masked man murmured, "I suppose this is where it ends for you."

Not on your life, you bastard! Before the cannon could fire Oz launched a sword harken into the
raised arm, sending the shot wide, the Blaze Luminous this time doing nothing to protect him from
damage. With him off balance she quickly pressed the attack, Sokkia giving her cover fire from
behind as she armed one of her swords.

She struck fast and hard, swinging at the chest or going low for the legs both of which the
Agravain defeated itself in being so slow. Sure Wizard was able to block a few of them, but now he
was fully on the retreat as Oz pushed against him harder and harder with her swords and her
harkens.

Suddenly though the tempo changed as, when she went for another swing with her sword, the
Agravain reached out and grabbed the weapon with a hand that hadn't been there before.
Momentarily stunned, Oz had a moment to notice that the other arm was also changing, the Hadron
Cannon rotating around for a white arm, with a thin extension at the end over the sleeve, to take its
place.

"That is enough!" Wizard snapped at her, his voice tinged with more than just a little bit of
annoyance. "You've had your fun, girl, but now it's time for you to stop playing these games!" And
with that the Agravain's free hand balled into a fist and punched the Grail in the torso, jogging its
pilot around so that her grip on the right control yolk went wild and her machine let go of the
sword.

Shaken, but hardly done, Oz temporarily backed away in time to see the Agravain's shawl detach
and drop off, revealing white and gold shoulders, and the visor slide up revealing a white face
mask with grey trim, the same purple eyes still glaring at her though. The thin extensions on the
sleeves revealed themselves now to be hilts for MVS's that when activated, glowed the same
purple of the machine's eyes.

While admittedly this came as bit of a surprise, Oz slowly felt her concerns slip away. Even if he
could now fight her at close range, she still had a certain advantage.

"Impressive." She taunted him, arming another sword. "So you have a pair of swords. Did you not
notice I have another ten to spare?"

"How like a child." Wizard scoffed at her boast, "Thinking that numbers will save you. It takes
more than that to decide a battle!"

And now the turncoat was lecturing her on combat tactics?! That was all Oz could tolerate and she
launched the Grail straight at the Agravain, her sword swiping forward in an upward arc to be met
by the giant machine's own blades parrying them away from its torso and then charging forth itself.
She met the attack head on and the two machines were brought to a lock.

It didn't last long though and soon the two broke to trade out blow for blow with one another, more
or less keeping pace despite the Agravain's weight issue. Whilst slow, Wizard clearly knew how to
work it to his optimum advantage, his knowledge of it coming off as almost precognitive - as if he
saw her next move before she made it - and was able to move the giant arms just in time to meet
the next attack. Still, even he couldn't predict ten swords coming at him at once when Oz launched
the sword harkens at him, forcing him to disengage and pull back a little, helped along by his float
system which he temporarily activated to give the Agravain a little extra push.

For a moment of blind confidence, Oz thought she had him and accelerated again before her
harkens had time to return to their homes. It was a mistake that Wizard immediately saw fit to
make her pay as he launched his own harkens at her, along with the eight missiles stored in his
machine's legs. Eyes going wide at the sudden barrage headed her way, Oz put on the breaks and
immediately pulled back, barely dodging the harkens but unable to get away from all of the
missiles, one hitting the Grail square on the shoulder whilst another one exploded when it came
into contact with her equipped sword.

Dammit! She seethed in barely contained rage at her own stupidity as well as his attack. Bloody
charlatan! Tricks within tricks! A quick test of the right arm - the one that had been hit - showed it
was okay to keep going and she pulled out another sword, this one she attached to the Sword
Blazer. Play time had just ended.

Evidently Wizard agreed with her as, when she at last got her bearings again, she saw that he'd
discarded one of his MVS's and reverted his left arm to its Hadron Cannon mode, already charging
up a blast. It was a chance she wasn't going to give him and Oz again sent the Grail forwards, its
right arm (the one with the activated Sword Blazer) pulled back ready to strike. Wizard had to have
seen the danger but, with his Hadron Cannon so close to firing, he didn't dare take off lest trigger
an overload in its power and destroy his Knightmare. As such he was stuck where he was as the
Grail came charging towards the Agravain and, when they were in range of each other, thrusting its
right arm forwards, the Sword Blazer going right into the cannon's muzzle destroying it.

With an arm lost, Wizard made the wise choice to try and escape, the Agravain's float system
activating being proof of it, however that was something Oz just wasn't going to allow. Before the
enemy machine could get too high she fired her slash harkens at him, the weapons becoming
harpoons as they sank into the legs of the giant, which she then used to pull the Grail up to the
Agravain, no doubt terrifying its pilot at her audacity. Drawing another two swords from the Grail's
rack, she immediately inserted them into both Sword Blazers and slashed them both down the
Agravain's chest, throwing Wizard about and sending them both careening back down to earth.

The Lancelot-Grail rose from its perch on top of its fallen foe, ejecting the two spent swords and
drawing yet another one which it then brought point directly at the Agravain's torso. Just on its
own, the Schrötter-steel sword would be enough to pierce through the white machine's armour and
frame, all the way to the cockpit, and Oz had a sneaking suspicion Wizard knew that too. That in
mind, she decided to give him the same courtesy he gave her, graciousness in victory after all was
the mark of a true knight.

"It's over Wizard. Surrender."

For a moment there was silence from the enemy commander, no doubt going through his options
the same way she had when she'd been in his position. However, unlike her, he had none to choose
from which he appeared to have recognised when the hatch at the back of the large Knightmare
opened up and the masked figure himself stepped out, hands in the air.

At the sight of him, Oz took a moment to look him over and silently admitted to herself that this
man looked ridiculous. Bisecting black and white clothes and some weird looking mask with fake
silver hair and a little black hat on top? Was this man a general or a clown? At least Zero, terrorist
that he was, had appeared to have some sort of taste in the way he dressed.

And to further the madness, the man now had the gall to laugh at her despite his situation. "So tell
me, knight," he asked in that same oily voice from before, the one that suggested he was the one in
control of things here, "now that I've surrendered, does that mean you won't just kill me?"

"That depends." She replied coldly, whatever game he thought he could play she wasn't about to
fall for it. "Her Highness gave us orders to take you dead or alive. Which do you prefer?" In
response however, the madman just continued giggling "What's so funny?"

"Forgive me," he replied apologetically, although his chuckling didn't entirely let up. "It just
amuses me how little you've changed, Oz."

What was that he'd just called her? She was pretty certain she'd just heard him call her Oz...but that
couldn't be possible. The only ones who called her that were Marrybell, her friends, and... "Who
are you?!" Oz demanded sharply, "How the hell do you know that name?!"

From his perch atop the Agravain, Wizard continued to chuckle, his arms drooping slightly, "Why
Oz, I'm hurt." He said with faux sadness, his fingers brushing the edges of his mask while his
thumps dropped underneath. "After all this time, you've forgotten the man who gave you that
nickname?"

All the questions she had on that statement were blown away before she could ask them when his
hands took a firm hold of his mask and pulled it away. In the place of blue lenses there was a pair
of green eyes and where once there had been red and black, now there was a pale complexion
identical to her own. Even the silver hair and black hat gave way to blonde hair in a very familiar
style.

The face from her past, who Oz was sure she'd never see again after that day so long ago, now
smiled up at her. "Hello Oldrin."
"...Uncle?"

Munich

Word quickly reached Lelouch that the battle for Brussels was under way and going quite well for
their side. Not that he was too surprised, he'd sent them one of Britannia's best Princesses after all.
Still he just hoped they were able to capture Wizard before he had a chance to escape again,
although that was about all he could do.

Right now though he had other matters to attend to such as the breaking of the European line,
something that was proving to be a bit more difficult than Augsburg had been. His earlier guess
that they'd realised they were headed for Munich had panned out to be correct, well that or Smilas
was dead serious about protecting his Thought Elevator, as for the first time today his forces had
come into contact with Alexanders, probably all the units in Germany, along with the usual
Panzers. The addition of those speedy transforming units was slowing him down considerably, not
to mention the fact that the EU had pulled out the old stuff in the form of the old artillery
mortars. Chancellor Bismark would be proud. Lelouch thought to himself slyly.

But by far the most aggravating presence in Munich was the appearance of the Vincent
Commander Types in European hands, something he'd hoped would have only been present in
Belgium. Seems Schneizel got his hands on more than I would have liked. He considered as yet
another group tried to take a pot shot at the Avalon, only to be blown away by his own white
Vultures.

Nevertheless, despite all his griping, they were making good time as the tactical map showed.
They'd already pushed their way forward to take a good half of the city with the Scarlet Guard
already making their way on to the next batch of ground troops. Still he needed to get to the
Thought Elevator before Smilas decided to pull a Clovis and stick his target in a portable prison,
labelling it like something along the lines of a bio-weapon.

At the rate they were going that was becoming more of a likelihood than not. He needed a location
and he needed it now!

And then, good fortune smiled on him as Alfred leaned over his shoulder to whisper in his ear.
"Sir, word from our search teams." Perking up he shifted his head a little to the side though his
eyes remained fixed on the map before him, just enough to let his aide know he was listening. He'd
sent teams in with the first wave to get as far in as possible and start looking for any underground
passageways, under the cover story that they were looking for a hidden weapons testing
facility...or at least, that's what he'd used his Geass on them to make them think that was what they
were looking for.

If they were reporting though it could mean only one thing, which Alfred didn't waste time in
confirming by pointing on a specific location a bit further up the map within the EU-held area.
"They've reported the presence of tunnels going deep below the surface, much further than a metro
line. They even sent back pictures of a rather...curious object they found."

He passed a couple of photos to him which Lelouch accepted almost too greedily. After a moment
of looking at them, a dark grin stretched over his face and he let out a small snicker. The task at
hand had been completed.

"Well then," the emperor muttered to himself, reaching to flick on a channel to all his troops "I
think we've played with them for long enough. Attention soldiers!" He called out to his forces,
around him, in the air, and on the ground. "Our victory stands within our grasp! We have granted
the Europeans their due course of attention but now it ends! Force them out of the city centre and
then squeeze every last trace of them out of Munich! For our tomorrow!"

His declaration was immediately met with jubilant cheers but he barely paid it any notice as he
turned to Alfred. "Remain here and keep an eye on things. Once they've been forced out, the
Medical Corps is to move right in, followed by Relief. Priority is to be given to the injured civilians
and those made homeless."

"As you say, Sir." Alfred nodded dutifully.

His final instructions for the day given, Lelouch addressed his CIC operators even as he turned to
leave the bridge. "Tell the Scarlet Guard to meet me outside the Avalon, and tell Lloyd to have the
Shinkiro ready to go."

It was time for a meeting that, he'd just realised, was long overdue.

Whilst the battle raged on the surface, a small contingent of Alexanders had been redirected to an
underground site on specific orders from General Smilas himself. This would sound like an
honour, except the pilots had been kept completely in the dark of what they were actually supposed
to be doing except babysitting! The whole extent of his orders had been 'See this girl? Keep her
alive,' which was made additionally more difficult to do when the girl in question had decided to do
some tomb raiding.

She'd slipped inside an ancient looking door, all but ordering them not to come in before wandering
off inside and that had been the last they'd seen of her for over an hour. And all the while upstairs
the Britannians furthered their goal in taking control of Munich, a point that was exemplified when
a heavy rumble above ground trembled all the way down to them in the form of some of the loose
rocks of the giant cave's ceiling falling.

"Seriously, what the hell are we doing?!" Once soldier finally snapped, voicing everyone's
thoughts, "We've been ready to go since before they showed up! Let's just go!"

"We can't do that, moron!" Another shouted back at him, "If Smilas sees us without the girl we're
dead!"

But the first just scoffed at that, "Who cares about his little thing on the side?! If we don't go now,
the Brits are gonna find us and then we really will be dead!"

Seriously what was it the dumb kid was even looking for?! If she kept it up she was going to get
them all killed!

Finally the first pilot couldn't take it any longer and he hit the accelerator on his Alexander's
landspinners, rushing off in the direction of the exit and completely disregarding his comrades
cries for him to come back. If they wanted to die down there that was fine by him, he would just
get out now and say they were all killed by the Brits, the girl as well although he did fight his best
to save her. Yes that would work out nicely, it wasn't like a silly girl and some old rocks were all
that important anyway.

Evidently though, others would disagree as the unfortunate soul soon found out when he came
upon the mouth of the cave, the light outside calling him towards it, only for his hopes to be dashed
in the form of a scarlet red Knightmare Frame landing in front of him along with its brethren and a
forebodingly familiar black and gold machine hovering over him. It was all over for the deserter
before he could even utter his first terrified scream.
The defences around the Thought Elevator were, in Lelouch's professional opinion, abysmal. If
Smilas was really going to protect it he should have put Wizard here instead of sending him to
Brussels. The Agravain, if his knowledge of the machine was correct, would have at least been
more suited for these conditions - its Hadron Cannons would certainly have been hard to get
around in such close quarters.

But the situation was what it was: he had the Thought Elevator and the EU didn't any more, as well
as the prize waiting within. Therefore he disembarked from the Shinkiro, giving orders for the
Scarlet Guard to secure the opening whilst he was away, and made his way up to the colossal stone
doors. Placing his hands upon them, he was about to initiate contact when a sudden rumbling
began and he felt the rock under his palms begin to shift. Warily he stepped back, his hand drifting
to his handgun in case he needed it, as the large doors opened.

His concerns melted away though as he got a glimpse of who was waiting on the other side and he
sent a wry grin at the form of his goal, who was sending back a small smile of her own. Her eyes
drifted down some and immediately her smile turned into a little chuckle as she saw where his
hand was.

"Seriously, Lelouch?" D.S. asked him as she stepped out of C's World into the realm of man, her
arms folding as she came to stand before him. "Is that going to be the way you always greet me?"

Rather than respond in words, Lelouch simply rolled his eyes at her in an amused manner before
placing his hand on his heart and bowing to her much the same way he had in London. The flair
was lost a bit in his pilot suit but he managed with what he had. Evidently it was enough as it got
another laugh out of her. "My, my, the Emperor himself is bowing to me. That must mean
something, mustn't it?"

Though her question held the same teasing lilt as always, Lelouch thought he detected an
undercurrent of apprehension. Raising his head he saw that whilst she was smiling, it was more shy
than sly...something that didn't look right on this face at all. Well, we'll have to do something about
that.

"But of course," he chose to say after a split second, "after all the only person an Emperor may bow
to is his Empress."

His actions bore fruit as, after a small squeak of 'Oh,' D.S. descended back into a giggle fit. It only
lasted a short moment though as, when he'd stood back straight again she was in his face and
decided to exercise one of the Empress's many prerogatives, covering her lips with his own. The
moment she did, Lelouch immediately froze up which seriously annoyed him - one would have
thought that having C.C. as a teacher would have cured him of this by now! - but nevertheless he
had been taken completely by surprise. He didn't know why, he'd assumed this would be the bare
minimum of their interaction with each other considering the wish she'd asked of him. All this
thinking wasn't translating into kissing though, to the extent that, by the time his brain was back in
gear she had pulled back.

At the very least she was smiling, though her cheeks were flushed, the pale skin bringing out the
red even more. "Well," she stated, just managing to hide a stutter, "as first kisses go, that was a
little underwhelming. Why do humans like to do this again?"

Oh, now that was just unacceptable! Before she could go on in a way that his Witch would be
proud, Lelouch grabbed her by the waist and pulled her right up against him so they were eye-to-
eye. Fixing her with a smile that oozed trouble, he told her in a silky tone, "Probably because
sometimes it can feel like this."
So saying he recaptured her lips again, his left hand going up to the back of her head and pressing
her even closer to him. The act shocked the eternal entity to be sure and it was a moment before he
felt her respond to him, her stunned arms wrapping their way up and around his neck to play with
his hair. The actions spurred him forwards and, feeling a little bold, Lelouch decided to try
something he had been saving for when he saw C.C. again but figured he might as well get some
practise in now. An excited squeal was swallowed from D.S. as he got a firm grip on her waist and
turned his own to the left, effectively sweeping her off her feet, without once breaking the kiss.

He kept at it until he felt his lungs crying for relief and finally he placed her back on her feet,
ending the moment and leaving her suitably much redder than before. Strange, for a being that
probably didn't need air to live, she was certainly breathing hard.

Her heady look lasted a moment longer before returning to something much more foxy and she
pulled herself back up to his ear, her arms still around his neck. "My emperor," she whispered
eagerly, "this is shaping to be a beautiful arrangement."

"I agree, my dear." He replied, his cheeks developing his own little blush. It would seem that the
battlefield wouldn't be the only thing he would have to conquer from now on. "But before we
move this to the bedroom, we should pay our gratitudes to your old caretaker for looking after
you."

Laeken park, Brussels

In any of the ways this reunion with his family could have played out, Wizard, or rather Oiaguro
Zevon, had not imagined this would be the way he and Oldrin would see each other again. It
seemed the girl herself was having trouble believing it too as, after her startled statement of
recognition, she'd been absolutely silent. Although all things considered at least her Lancelot based
machine wasn't moving to kill him right now.

How many years had it been now since that day? Ten? Twelve? However long it mattered, the act
he undertook to become head of the Pluton group was still as fresh as the day it happened. So many
things had changed since then: he'd abandoned his empire, his actions uncovered, a new emperor
and more. Yet through it all, the same comedy of bloodshed stayed the same and, to his horror,
Oldrin and Orpheus both had wrapped themselves up in that same play of death and destruction on
opposing sides.

However, right now, all Oiaguro could find himself thinking was the state of his niece. "You've
grown up quite a bit since we last saw each other, Oldrin." He told her, smiling up at her machine.
"You look so much like your mother."

"Uncle Oiaguro?" The girl's voice came over the outward speakers, the disbelief coming through
loud and clear. "You're Wizard?"

"Is that so hard to believe, child?" He asked. "I who have seen what the so-called Holy Britannian
Empire really is?"

"What?"

"You know what I speak of." He insisted, taking a step further out of the Agravain in the very face
of the enemy machine's sword. "The empire has become a cesspit for those who pray on the
unsuspecting. Where lies and deceits rule the day in the face of honest people! Family members
kill each other off at a whim and-!"
"Silence!" Oldrin suddenly yelled, the red Knightmare's sword lifting to follow him where he'd
moved, bringing him to a halt. "Lies? Deceits?" She repeated, "That may have been true with
Emperor Charles, under him we've done horrible things to the rest of the world, but that's not the
way it is any more! Lelouch vi Britannia rules us now, and under him we will change everything
for the better!"

Such childish words, how could she truly believe that?! "You sound like that Kururugi kid!" He
snapped at her, his frustration at the girl's blindness coming out. "Change? You think because the
name of the emperor changes that Britannia will suddenly become something else?! There have
been dozens of rulers like him who promised world peace and look at them all! Monsters! Despots!
Zealots!" With each word his voice rose and he took a step towards the sword tip, his eyes going
beyond it to glare up at the machine's eyes. "That boy is no different! Already he's restarted the war
with Europe under such a flimsy cause! How long before he attacks the UFN? Then what? Will you
defend him then?"

"Flimsy?!" Oldrin repeated, the disgust in her voice rising at his words. "You attacked us! You
bombed Paris, and I can only imagine what you were planning to do to Belgium!"

I wasn't going to do anything to the people here! How could she think that of him? Didn't she
realise everything he did was for his family? Why couldn't she see that? Had that damned boy
really won her over? "Make no mistake, Oldrin!" Oiaguro warned her "Lelouch will turn on you!
He'll use you up until he has no further use for you and then throw you aside! Maybe even kill
you!"

"Like you did with Mother?!" Her one demand brought him up short - Olivia, the sister he'd
murdered to take her place as Emperor Charles's wetworks man - but she was far from done as she
went on. "What? Nothing to say?! You threw us aside the moment she was gone! We never meant
a thing to you! Not me, and definitely not Oz!"

The pain in her voice as she brought up her brother, it made him all the more desperate to tell her
Orpheus was alive and well but in her state there was no way she would believe it as she carried on.
"You didn't even show up for his funeral! You could have at least pretended you cared!"

"I do care, Oldrin!" He called back to her, his own voice filling with desperation. This couldn't be
how it went, not like this, not to that damned spawn of Charles! "Everything I do as Wizard is for
you! I'm not an enemy of the people, I'm their protector! Like you!"

"So hiding behind a mask and a fake name is to protect me, is it?" She demanded back at him, her
Knightmare's sword twitching giving away how hard she was holding herself back inside her
cockpit, though the crack in her voice would say that it was a losing battle. "And becoming a
terrorist is in the name of the people?! That's the same bullshit line Zero used and threw the
Japanese into a frenzy!"

Zero? She was acquainting him to that charlatan?! How were they anything alike? It had been
obvious, at least to him, from the get go that Zero was just using the Japanese to fight Britannia for
his own gains, he had no interest in their well being! But Oiaguro was different, there was a final
destination at the end of his path, he didn't seek mere destruction for its own sake. Because he
knew, ever since his time as head of Pluton, the dark truth that hid at the heart of Britannia. "Oz,
please listen to me! You need to-"

"Don't call me that!" She yelled at him, the sword pointed at him finally pulling back but, to his
horror, not to its dock but instead above the Knightmare's head in preparation to strike. "Only
friends and family call me that. You're neither, Wizard!" The throwing back of his alias with such
spite hit him even worse as she recited off the empire's new chant 'All Hail Britannia! All Hail
Lelouch!' and brought the weapon down on him.

In his shock he would have surely let her kill him, had it not been for what could only be described
as divine intervention. As the sword came towards him, a Panzer-Hummel suddenly burst onto the
scene apparently having got past Oldrin's comrades and started launching everything it had at her.
The surprise explosion rocked Oiaguro out of his stupor and yet even then he could only watch as
the red machine pulled away from him to deal with the new arrival.

She called me 'Wizard'...not Oiaguro...not Uncle...not even Oz... Oldrin was completely lost to him.
His own niece was now nothing but a tool of Lelouch's to use as he saw fit. He'd hoped to reach her
before the boy had finished turning all of Britannia into his pawns but apparently he was a lot faster
than anyone gave him credit for. That damned monster! I'll kill him for this!

His anger renewed his purpose and at last Oiaguro moved, returning to the Agravain's cockpit and
reactivating it. The machine's panoramic screen showed Oldrin's machine running in close towards
the already heavily damaged Panzer. Without a moment's pause she skewered it on the end of her
blade. Her distraction was all he needed though as he activated the Agravain's float system and
pulled it into the sky, though his glare never left the back of the walking red coffin of death that
Lelouch had turned his niece into.

He still had one Hadron Cannon working...it would be so easy...

But no. There was still work to do. If he killed her here he would most certainly be killed by her
comrades who were coming back this way with a third bulky one that seemed to be armed with the
same weapon as the Mordred. Still, there was one more thing to take care of which he now saw to,
flicking on his radio to an open channel. "Miss Zevon." He spoke calmly and with clarity, all
emotion purged from his voice. "You have chosen to be a pawn in a mad man's game...so be it. I
therefore warn you to be prepared for the worst, because I will not rest until Britannia lies in
ashes."

He turned the Agravain about and made for his exit route in the north, from there he'd decide his
own path. "Just remember this, Miss Zevon: The history of your empire is like glass."

And with that cryptic clue, in the face of distant Britannian fire, he put his Knightmare's float
system on full speed and fled from his family yet again.

Once he was sure he was a good distance away from Brussels, when the horizon no longer burned
orange with the fires of Britannia's tyranny, Oiaguro finally pulled down on the throttle. And now
he finally let his grief out. His final gamble had failed and now his niece wanted him good and
dead.

But in his grief he found the name of the one to blame for all these failings. Once upon a time, the
monster in his eyes beyond all others had been the giant overshadowing Charles zi Britannia who
crushed all in his path. Now though he'd found someone so much worse, a person who twisted his
underlings into whatever tool he needed them to be, undoubtedly to throw them away once that
need was fulfilled; something that had been done to his very own niece!

With that realisation he felt his sadness turn to anger, and he swore one more time that before he
passed from this world, Oiaguro would kill Lelouch vi Britannia. After all, he still had a trump card
to play.

Speaking of whom, he was now receiving a video call from Munich. If he'd been thinking straight
he would have questioned who it was calling him, considering by now the city had to have come
under attack as well, but as it was he just hit the answer button after putting his mask back on. A
second later a small rectangle box appeared on his front screen, showing the face of D.S. smiling at
him in that knowing way that he'd never approved of.

"Is there something I can do for you?" He asked her tersely.

Instead of her replying though, a male voice off screen just began laughing at him before stating
mockingly. "I believe what you meant to say was 'Is there something I can do for you, Your
Highness, Empress of Britannia?'"

That voice...Oiaguro felt his blood freeze, it couldn't be. How could he have found out about her?
Then he looked at the smile on her face again and an even worse idea took hold. Don't tell me
she...!

He wouldn't have to be kept in the dark for long as the image zoomed out to show that she was
resting her head on the raven hair of the absolute last person in the world he wanted to see right
now. The Britannian Emperor just smiled back at him cruelly, seated on the stone steps before the
giant stone doors of the Munich Thought Elevator. "I have to say this is quite the treasure trove
you've been hiding here, Wizard. She's just a fountain of knowledge!"

"You bastard!" Oiaguro was unable to hold himself back at the sight of Lelouch acting so cavalier.
"You knew it was there, didn't you?! And you!" He turned his furious gaze to the girl who was still
using the boy's head as a pillow. "How long have you been his spy?! Since Paris? His coronation?
Even before that?!"

To his ever growing rage, she didn't answer him in favour of snuggling further down into Lelouch's
hair. The emperor in question wasn't as quiet as he shot him a look of surprise. "You sound hurt,
good sir." He stated, sounding borderline concerned, "And after all the trouble I went to set up your
little family reunion. How did that go, by the way?"

The fire in his veins once again turned to ice at that mention. He knows...but how? I made sure to
erase everything before... Oiaguro's eyes trailed back up to D.S. What if she had found out
somehow, maybe not his backstory but his name. It was a long shot but it could have happened, her
Geass had seemed geared towards certain psychic abilities. And the bitch gave him everything!

Once again angry, he glared daggers at the pair of them, "I swear if you go anywhere near her I'll-
!"

"Do what?" Lelouch cut him off, still smirking. "She is a loyal soldier for Britannia whilst you are
a terrorist. I highly doubt I'd need to give her orders to kill you, she'd probably do it for free."

"Honestly, Lelouch, stop playing with him." D.S. finally spoke chidingly, flicking his head before
facing the screen. "As for you, Oiaguro, I don't ever recall swearing any allegiance to you and
Smilas. It's not betrayal if the people you're selling out were never your people to begin with. And
besides," her hands dropped down to rake up and down Lelouch's pilot suit, "have you seen this
boy? Because I intend to...very soon."

That's the reason?! Oiaguro was beyond outraged and insulted at her brazen attitude before but
now she'd taken it to a whole new level, she'd switched sides, revealed his identity and who knows
what else to Lelouch, all for a bit of titillation?!

It seemed so as the boy himself made a noise somewhere between approval and protest before
shaking her arms off and leaning forward. "Anyway, Lord Oiaguro - or maybe you prefer Oz - the
longer we chat, the longer it'll be before she can repay the favour to me so, as they say here in
Germany..." he had the audacity to wink at him "Auf Wiedersehen!"
And then the screen went blank, leaving Oiaguro Zevon in absolute seething rage, an emotion he
finally let out by stopping the Agravain and pointing its Hadron Cannon towards a poor
defenceless tree miles below him. Wide eyed and roaring with all he had in his lungs to give, he
opened fire on it and then everything else in his general area, screaming and cursing anything and
everything he could think of starting with Satan (Lelouch came a close second) to God himself.

When the cannon finally ran dry even then he kept screaming, though gradually those furious yells
eventually turned into a mad sort of laughter before he outright cried to the heavens "BURN IN
HELL, LELOUCH VI BRITANNIA!"

Omake (be gentle, it's my first one (Tahkaullus01, not Imperator))

As the battle for Munich raged, two German footsoldiers stationed by the Thought Elevator felt the
shudders above them. Feeling the pressure, one turned to the other and sparked off a conversation.

"Kumpel!"

"Ja, Kumpel?" The other one asked.

"Was zur Hölle ist los?"

"Der Teufel soll ich das wissen?!" He asked his friend in frustration. "Du bist derjenige, der Defekt
gesucht!"

At his outburst the first raised his hands in the universal calming manner. "Whoa, whoa Mann, du
hättest mit mir nicht kommen, wenn alles, was Sie Gonna waren zu tun war Hündin an mich!"

"Jemand hatte ein Auge auf dich zu halten!" The second fired back, citing perfectly good reason.
"Denken Sie daran, den Käse?"

"Fick dich, Mann!" The first shouted at him "Das war einmal!" Besides that party had been insane!
Two helicopters destroying the house: Best. House party. EVAH!

But the second wasn't buying it. "Und die Pizza?" He probed, that hold up was not his idea.

"Hey," the first retaliated "wollte man auch! Und eine Meile bis zum nächstgelegenen Pizzeria?!"
He twitched just remembering how long it had taken to get there. "Diese Leute wurden gewarnt!

"Und was ist dieser Zeit haben wir uns von diesem Erdrutsch begraben?!"

Okay now he just wasn't playing fair! Besides they'd had fun at the end. "Ich schoss, dass ein Mann
in den Kopf danach! Das irgendwie wieder gut gemacht!"

"Wir waren buchstäblich tot für drei ganze Episoden!" His friend pointed out the hole in his logic.
"Und verstehen Sie mich nicht auf dem U.V.A.R.D begonnen!"

"Dafuq ist ein Uvard?!" Seriously, why hadn't anyone explained that to him?!

The second soldier shrugged, still as mystified as him. "Ich weiß immer noch nicht, aber du besser
mich auf sie nicht gestartet!"

"Was auch immer ein Mann," the first waved him off, his belly rumbling a little "ich nur ein paar
Pizza Bagels wollte aber offenbar Teil einer diskriminierenden Militär bedeutet, dass wir Scheiße
Lohn erhalten!"
"Wie funktioniert verbinden, dass auch auf das, was wir eigentlich reden?!" His friend demanded,
exasperation rising.

"Wir sprachen über etwas?"

The soldier stared at his friend in sheer amazement for a moment before sighing and throwing up
his hands. "Ernsthaft Mann, warum habe ich mit dir?"

But the first just scoffed and waved him off again "Weil du mich liebst, Mann."

The second just looked at him again for a second and then just nodded, laughing a little. "Ja. Ja, ich
tun." And the two of them shared a bro fist. Another second later he spoke up again. "Hey, was
sagen, wenn das alles vorbei wir ein paar Idioten gehen schlagen ein bisschen herum?"

Now that was something the first soldier could get behind as he offered another bro-fist to his best
dude. "Auf jedenfall!"

And the other soldier was happy to reply to his buddy. "Auf jedenfall!"

And that was all they got to do before a Centurion swooped through the cave and melted them with
its VARIS, the Shinkiro zooming past a second later. In his cockpit, Lelouch felt a small shiver run
down his spine, as if many fans had suddenly raised their voices in anger and were suddenly
silenced. A moment later it passed and he got back to business.
 Battle of Lupobianco

June 8, 2018, Tignes. Border between France and Italy.

The opening week of the war was coming to a close with more than a clear advantage given to the
Britannian side. In a mere handful of days the empire, under Lelouch's command, had taken more
European territory than any other commander in history. They now had command of half of their
current capital, whilst the other major country, Italy, stood isolated to the south. If their momentum
kept up, this would become the shortest war between the EU and Britannia in their long shared
history.

Of course, there was an alternative motive for throwing so many lives on conflict's pyre which was
currently being seen to by a relatively small fleet of five airships currently moored over the forests
of Tignes. It was mid-afternoon that the emperor got in contact with the ships' overall commander,
initially with concern but as he came to ascertain why there had been a communications black out
between him and the particular individual his attitude became considerably more...irate.

"So...you mean to tell me." He said slowly, a twitching under his original Geass eye beginning to
grow with each word. "That the reason you've been quiet all this time, despite my multiple calls..."
his teeth were gritted and the woman he was calling suspected he was grateful he'd cleared the
bridge of the Avalon much as she had done on her own ship once she'd decided her Warlock had
been left to stew long enough. "Was because you were sampling Pizza?!"

"So what if I did?" C.C. asked him blandly, not moving from her slouched position in her throne,
and took another bite out of her Pissaladière, savouring the taste of anchovies and caramelised
onions. "It's not like anything happened, and this isn't pizza, boy, it's a poor French imitation."

"That's not the point!" He snapped at her, bordering on angry with his fists slamming onto his
throne's arms. "In case you haven't noticed we're in the middle of a war!"

"A war that's half over if the papers are anything to go by." Honestly, the poor thing worried about
too much. Maybe he should get himself a nice girl and...oh wait, he already did and now had gone
and gotten another one. "Stop making an issue out of nothing, weren't you the one who said the EU
was a minor sideshow?"

"Dammit Cera!" His use of her name brought her up short, enough to actually turn to look at him
with mild shock at such a slip. He however didn't seem to have noticed if his glare was anything to
go by. "This isn't the time to be playing coy! I was afraid something had happened to you!"

As touched as she wasn't ever going to tell him she was by his admission, C.C. quickly recovered
from her surprise and went back to a near lazy state. "You sent me to find the contractors didn't
you? Do you want them found or not?"

"What sort of question is that?" Lelouch demanded of her, "Of course I want them found, now
more than ever!"

"Then stop this whining and get back to your own business." She told him firmly, not quite keeping
herself from letting out a small 'hmph!' at the end. "Anyway, why don't you just ask your new
mistress? Surely a liaison from C's World would be of more use than an immortal witch."

She must have said too much there, or maybe the fact that she'd picked up Cheese-kun from the
floor and given him a little extra tight hug that gave her away, because suddenly Lelouch's scowl
had changed into a frown and then a look of amazement. "C.C..." He asked slowly, his lips
twitching up in that infuriatingly arrogant way of his when he thought he'd worked out something
about her... "is that jealousy I hear?"

Oh no. As she feared when she looked up from Cheese-kun's head, she saw that the boy was
wearing that silly smirk of his along with an almost amused look in his eyes. Not intent on letting
him know how close he was to hitting the mark, she just huffed again and glanced away. "Of
course not! That would suggest you were desirable. I just can't fathom why the new girl...what was
her name again?"

"D.S." Damn boy was even letting his humour slip into his tone, he was almost chuckling damn
him! If she was less annoyed, she'd be amazed that the Dimensional Supervisor of the Thought
Elevators had shown itself to a mortal - let alone her mortal. But still, for it to take the form of a
girl was one thing, what she had been doing with Lelouch was another, but likening her to a
child...well, there were some lines people weren't supposed to cross.

Not that she was about to let him know that as she waved the name off with faked nonchalance.
"Yes, yes. Why not use 'D.S.' as your Geass detector now?"

"Because I need you." He said simply, his smirk still in place though it had softened a touch. "D.S.
is still an unknown in all of this. You however, I do know, and am aware of your abilities."

Oh such a stellar wooing. She thought, rolling her eyes at him in response before slouching back
on to Cheese-kun's tiny hat. Honestly, why did he have to inherit Charles's hopelessness with
women?

"So I'm your hit man?" She asked him emptily, wondering to herself not for the first time what it
was about this boy that continued to endear him to her.

The reminder was soon in coming as Lelouch rested his arms on his legs and leaned forward, smirk
changing completely into a gentle smile. "No, Cera," he said her name again, the damn cheater, in
that tender way he'd been learning to say it with over the last month, "I need you because you're my
Witch as I am your Warlock."

Giving him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to her was not on her priority list though,
and so C.C. just snorted before returning to the cheap French not-a-pizza (seriously, when were
they going to invade Italy?). "And I suppose that should mean something?" She asked him, not
meeting his gaze.

"It should..." Oh no, now he was using the guilt technique. When did he learn to do that? More
importantly, when was it that she became susceptible to that? She was a seven-hundred year old
immortal witch for goodness sake, not some high-emotional teenager! That's what they'd had
Kallen for! And yet, the undercurrent of sadness in Lelouch's voice pulled at her in a completely
foreign way, all but commanding her to stop avoiding his gaze and look up at him.

This is just a ploy! Her older side told her, Just a cruel trick to get you to pay attention to him! You
know how he works: everything for victory.

But he sounds sad. A much younger voice that had been more present than ever piped up, concern
in every syllable. We shouldn't make him sad.

In ages past she would have told that silly girl to pipe down so she could focus on what was
important, but damn it all if that month without her memories had set her back on that particular
skill by a wider margin than she'd thought. As such, C.C. found herself turning to look up at him,
her desire to say something so unlike herself that it surprised her she was even thinking of it...

And then she immediately crushed that thought as she saw Lelouch's victorious smirk looking back
at her. "That's cruel, Lelouch." She chided him, squeezing Cheese-kun again.

"But you're listening now." He pointed out, his damnable grin not shaking for a moment as he
leaned back in his seat. "If anything, you should be proud. D.S. is currently slumbering in my
chambers, exhausted, after being sent to the peaks of bliss thanks to your tutelage."

Huh. Never let it be said Lelouch vi Britannia was incapable of the impossible, it had never even
occurred to her that a sexless entity of the Collective Unconscious even had needs like that. Yes,
she'd felt Lelouch's response to their coupling through the bond but C.C. hadn't thought D.S. would
get anything out of it. The subject matter though did bring a smirk to her own face as she replied.
"Well then, does that make it a notch on my bedpost or yours? After all, you're
using my techniques."

"Ah," he countered with a raised finger "but you weren't there to claim it, thus the conquest is
mine."

"Well then, maybe I ought to introduce myself to her." She immediately giggled as Lelouch
suddenly sat erectile at her suggestion, a tinge of red in his cheeks as his thoughts no doubt went
any which way. Going by the aroused feelings she was receiving from their bond, it would also
seem he wasn't opposed to the idea. Seeing the ball was back in her court, C.C. pressed her
advantage.

"Would you like that, my Warlock? Your Witch and your Mistress, greeting each other properly,
sharing all our experiences and...pleasures?" Oh yes, he definitely liked the idea of that, such a
perverted little demon she'd created. "Would you like me to come over, and demonstrate why I'm
always on top?"

If the tight grip his fingers hand on his throne's arms were anything to go by then he definitely
wanted to see it, their connection relaying as much to her, and she was about to press further when
Lelouch blurted out, "Anyway! Back to more important matters!"

And point goes to the Witch. She thought to herself contently before letting out a little sigh as
business replaced her daily pleasure. "Yes, yes, the details your friend sent me before you made her
numb to the world has been quite useful." She allowed herself one more dig before letting herself
return to the actual goal on hand. Ignoring the documents flashed up on the screen - honestly, did
Lelouch think she was some lazy slob or something? - she recited the names that she'd committed
to memory. "We now know of at least three contractors: Orpheus Zevon, Toto Thompson and Leila
Breisgau."

"Of the three though we only know the details of one Geass," Lelouch picked up from there,
"apparently D.S. can't tell us everything about them or it upsets the balance in C's World or
something like that. We only learned about Leila's because her own power actually is a threat to
Geass itself: No more Geass..."

"No more Codes." C.C. finished his thought with a blankness she didn't feel. If she were honest
such a power was unheard of and, up till now, thought to be impossible. That Geass could actually
destroy itself...it led her to wonder what sort of effect it would have on her Code if they came into
contact. It was easy to see why he was prioritising this girl, but still. "What about the Toto girl? Her
power's unknown as well as whoever it was who gave it to her, although all things considered it
was probably V.V. Can we really trust her when she's so close to your sister?"
"For the time being, I'm adopting a wait-and-see approach." He told her, which surprised C.C. a
little bit. Lelouch wasn't usually one to let an unknown run rampant. "At least on
the Grandberry her influence is limited. Besides, Marry is surrounded by any number of capable
knights, I doubt Oldrin Zevon would let any harm come to her princess."

"That's still a big risk." She pointed out. "We don't know what her power is or its range. What if
she's like Rolo?"

Lelouch visibly winced at her reminder before carrying on. "Even if she is, Thompson's
background speaks of nothing but loyalty to the Zevon family. Even if she betrayed Marry, I doubt
she'd do it in a way that betrayed Oldrin."

"Assumptions lead to mistakes." She reminded him none too harshly, his assumption that the EU
wouldn't attack Paris right off the bat was what had lead them to starting the war early after all.
Besides there was another concern regarding the Zevons. "If she is loyal to that family, what's to
stop her from changing sides and working with Oiaguro?"

"Not a lot." He admitted, before giving her an uncaring shrug. "But so long as the identity of
Wizard doesn't become common knowledge, I doubt we have too much to worry about."

That's assuming the girl doesn't already know Wizard's identity. She thought to bring it up, but the
look of certainty on Lelouch's face told C.C. that she wasn't going to get through that stubborn self
assurance. Sighing, just knowing that this would come back to bite them, she just nodded and
moved on to the next one before snorting. "It seems this family has quite the history with Geass."

"Hmm." Lelouch agreed with a nod. "Orpheus Zevon, Oldrin's twin brother. Separated over
fourteen years ago after the assassination of Olivia Zevon, he disappears from all records after that
along with his uncle Oiaguro Zevon, who later became Wizard..." He trailed off for a moment as a
look of contemplation crossed his visage for a few seconds which was then replaced with a familiar
scowl that C.C. had come to link with one certain topic. "It's likely then that he was raised by the
Geass Directorate, therefore his Geass also probably came from V.V."

"And yet," she pointed out, "there's never been any sighting of a man with descriptions similar to
Oldrin's in any of the world's documented assassinations. He may have escaped at a young age and
went into hiding." It was far fetched, she was aware of just how close to impossible it was to
escape the Directorate after V.V. took control, but it was better to explore all avenues of thought.

"That could be his power though." Lelouch countered. "A Geass that makes him invisible to the
naked eye, or unrecognisable...could it be done?"

"In theory yes." She allowed a non-committal shrug, the infinite number of forms Geass could take
had never interested her, that had been V.V.'s domain. "I've never seen it manifest in such a way,
but I suppose it's possible." Still, supposition wouldn't be enough for him, knowing Lelouch he
would probably want to hunt down this boy to find out exactly what they were up against,
regardless of what else might be out there. Which brought C.C. to her other note of concern.
"Despite all that, I really doubt that there are only three people in the world with Geass."

"And I agree." Lelouch stated with a short nod and narrowed eyes. "However, these players are in
position to be a thorn in our side if they're allowed to roam free. D.S. did say there were others in
the world with the power to change it in their desired way. Such a dangerous potential must be
stamped out before they realise it."

"My, my." She commented, a small smirk of her own now wrapping itself around the Pissaladière
she was about to bite into. "How Machiavellian. Isn't your goal to create a gentle world where
everyone lives freely?"

"A gentle world based on my design." He corrected, a cruel smile of his own appearing as his
fingers interlocked with each other before him. "Anything who threatens that future must be
stamped out, regardless of their backgrounds, allegiances, or their loyalty to me."

My word, Niccolo would have loved him. C.C. remembered the Florentine philosopher, though he
wasn't one of her contractors it had been his works that helped create the woman she would be for
most of her immortal life. And now here was a man who encapsulated the philosophies of El
Principe. I've come full circle. She thought to herself wryly. Still, better a conqueror than a love-
sick exile. Ah, Dante, why couldn't he have left well enough alone?

"On that note." Lelouch's voice cut into her brief stroll down memory lane, his visage one of
complete focus as he returned to the first contractor they'd spoken of. "Leila Breisgau should be
eliminated as soon as possible." The girl in question appeared on the screen and C.C. took a good
look at her...blond hair, light purple eyes and skin that was just a touch too pale to be of European
Caucasian, marking her out as a child of Britannian descent. "Somehow her power manifested as a
contractor's worst nightmare. I have no idea how she obtained it or who she formed a contract with,
although my suspicions point towards..."

"Me." She cut him off, and by the look on his face that hadn't been what he'd been about to say.
"The contractor I told you I felt. That weak presence? She's the one."

For a moment silence reigned and C.C. unconsciously ducked her head back into Cheese-kun's soft
top, waiting for Lelouch to speak. A few more seconds stretched between them before he finally
replied with a tight, "I see. And when, exactly, did you give her this power?"

Oh he's not going to like this. Both because of her part in this and because of certain events
regarding another of her contractors that wouldn't have happened if she'd done her job right. Still, it
would have come out sooner or later so she steeled herself and faced his carefully blank stare.
"Fifteen years ago, on a cold winter night, I came across a little girl in the woods. She was barely
alive and so I took pity on her, and granted her Geass. However..."

The way Lelouch's eyebrow raised just added to her discomfort in what she was about to reveal
about Geass. "We didn't enter a contract. A child of her age wouldn't have been able to comprehend
what I was offering her, so instead I placed a set of requirements on her power. If she reached
adulthood without using it once, the power would disappear."

"Evidently," his voice had only become more strained as her revelation went on and C.C. could see
Lelouch was beginning to develop a short tick in his jawline, "the requirements to keep it have been
met." He wasn't liking this at all.

Still he would need to know if he hoped to combat this new threat, and so she simply nodded
before continuing. "Yes. If she found herself in need of power to save someone dear to her from a
cruel fate, her Geass would activate. I can only assume that has come to pass. And before you ask
about Mao," she cut him off the moment he opened his mouth, likely to demand just that "he was a
mistake in every form of the word. I was frustrated with Marianne for refusing to complete our
contract and so I just...lashed out at the first thing I could find, without thinking about the damage I
could do."

"Which is why you stayed with him." Lelouch finished for her, his tone thankfully having turned to
one of understanding "And even why you eventually left him: Guilt. You couldn't stand the idea
that you'd ruined a boy's life when you knew you had the power to save him from that...Even so."
The understanding was suddenly replaced with cold sharpness. "He was still your mess to clean up,
and because you shirked him off on others, Shirley paid the price."

Yes, yes, she was more than aware that what happened to his innocent little friend was her fault.
He'd shouted it at her enough times after that mess at Narita for it to sink in. "I suppose you're
going to tell me that the girl is also my mess?" She asked knowingly.

"You know it is." He told her firmly, amethyst eyes now sharply focussed on her above his still
interlocked fingers. "The power Leila Breisgau holds is currently the most dangerous piece on the
board, a power you gave her. Maybe you saw it as charity, but if our time together has taught me
anything it's that everything we do has consequences that eventually catch up to us. This threat we
face is the end result of your charity."

He could have said it more diplomatically than that, but then he wouldn't be Lelouch if he did and
she wouldn't be C.C. if she couldn't take it. Therefore she shrugged...before a very lewd idea struck
her and she decided to play with him a bit.

"If that's what you really want," she accepted before offering him a teasing smirk, "but what if we
brought her to our side? She could be a great...asset."

She let the last word hang to give him an idea of what sort of 'asset' she was suggesting and after a
moment she saw his face shift into consideration. "Hmm...that's a point. Her experience as a
commander would be useful, not to mention the respect and loyalty she's earned with her soldiers.
If she joined us, we'd probably get all of the infamous W-0 Unit along with her."

"Also," here it came, the perverse side to her suggestion that she'd been leaning towards, "honestly
speaking she is a beautiful young woman. Curved in just the right places, and I bet I can find
something to do with all that hair. Hmm...she might even make it on top."

Wait what? C.C. was snapped out of her brief daydream that Lelouch had concocted for her and
stared back at the screen where her Warlock was clearly toying with the idea. The idea of that little
girl on top of her mortal? Only one person got to be on top and that person just so happened to be a
Witch.

"Yes." Lelouch went on, his grin growing as he turned teasing eyes her way. "What need would I
have of multiple wives if I had just the one woman who was perfect for me?"

"On second thought!" She cut in before he could go any further, shoving her fake pizza away,
"You're right, someone like her would only be trouble for us both somewhere down the line, so I'll
just go take care of her."

"Oh will you?" He asked her, smile still in place as she went about making herself somewhat
presentable (she'd called him in nothing more than her white tank-top and boy shorts). "That would
be much appreciated, C.C. I'll tell Jeremiah to bring his flotilla to back you up, he should be
finished in Switzerland by now."

"That would be perfect." She agreed, pulling back on her Britannian garments that she'd tossed this
way and that across the bridge. "I'll have her dealt with soon, my Warlock."

"I would expect nothing less of you, my Witch." He replied, looking to be on the verge of
laughing, and then cut the transmission.

And I will give nothing less. She assured herself as she picked up her tiara and sounded for all
crews to return to their ships. In less than an hour they would be on their way to meet up with
Jeremiah to storm the enemy front of Italy. Because no one, Britannian, European, Asian or
Australian, took her seat on top of Lelouch.

W-0 Castle Lupobianco, border between France and Italy

The new headquarters set up for W-0 Unit was not all that different from the old
Castle Weisswolf. Once again they had situated themselves in a strategically critical location within
a castle that stood on the edge of the Graian Alps, Levanna rising in the distance. With the main
building itself having been built on one of the smaller rises with slopes on all sides and a series of
walls, it was the perfect fit for a military force that was on the defence. And even if the enemy did
get all the way up, there was still the huge array of traps beyond the walls just waiting to be
deployed and a small army made up of elite pilots.

At the command of this formidable shield was the young Lieutenant Colonel Leila Malcal, who
had proven her effective strategies and leadership in the face of battle during the last war with Euro
Britannia and now once again had become an image of hope in the EU. Though there had been
whispers of a court martial after she ordered a full retreat of all forces under her command during
the failed attack on Paris, High Command had been forced to accept that her actions had saved
countless resources - and lives - that would surely have been lost once Emperor Lelouch had
unleashed his Knightmare's monster weapon. Such an act had made her a hero in the eyes of the
soldiers she'd saved and thus all talks of disciplinary action had been dropped.

Instead Leila and her unit had been charged with guarding Italy's border with France, Command
suspecting that if Lelouch wanted to get at them he would come over the Alps to do it. In the wake
of the recent setbacks the EU had suffered on multiple fronts, that position had ballooned in
significance with as many soldiers as could be spared being sent to the castle in anticipation of an
aggressive push.

I just hope they can actually help us. It was a sad thing to say, but the soldier in her was telling her
that when it came to Knightmare experience, Britannia had them beat. On a positive note though,
the W-0 Unit wasn't being hamstrung and was only being sent Alexanders for their pilots, the
model having proven itself superior to the Panzers, to the point that over 85% of European factories
were now producing them exclusively. With any luck they'll make up for the experience
disadvantage, especially if the BRS works right. She considered to herself, but even so she had her
doubts about it especially after seeing what it had done to Akito.

Still, doubts and uncertainties would get them nowhere and so she moved them to one side and
returned her attention to the discussion going on around her in the meeting room. The old core
group of W-0, as well as some new additions, had come together to discuss their situation and how
best to plan for the future.

Their two elite squads, Wyvern and Asura (who had been sent from the Netherlands), had just
joined them and both looked to be on their last breaths. The worst of them all though was definitely
Yukiya whose head was wrapped up in bandages and he needed Ryo and Ayano's help to sit down
without agitating his wounds. As for the two team leaders, Akito and Ashley sat themselves down
next to each other and shared a glance at the state of the other's team.

"Bad day for Brit hunting, huh?" Ashley asked as boisterously as he could but Leila still caught the
fatigue in his voice whilst Akito simply nodded. The other leader grimaced before looking over at
Yukiya. "What happened to him?"

"Emperor Lelouch happened." He simply stated, silencing the whole of Ashley's team who turned
to look at him in disbelief. "He came at us in a black Knightmare and forced us out of our landing
zone by himself."
"Seriously?" Asked Simon. "He didn't have any back up?"

"Just a beat up Gloucester that he told not to butt in." Ryo replied through gnashing teeth, as had
become his standard mode of speech any time someone brought up that fight. Not that Leila could
blame him, everyone was aware of the opportunity that had slipped by them that day. "He even
came out of his cockpit so we knew it was him. Bastard."

"Shit." Ashley muttered, leaning back in his seat. "So all that footage wasn't staged eh? He really
fought." He let out a heavy sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I thought our mission
sucked."

"What happened?" Ayano asked him, looking up from Yukiya and seeing his grim look. "Were you
unable to take the base?"

But he just snorted, "Oh no, we took it just fine. Turns out though it had been stripped before we
arrived." He managed a short laugh when he saw their stunned faces, though it was hollow and
bitter. "That's not even the worst of it. Apparently the emperor liked that base enough to send his
new Knight of Two to clear us out. Completely devastated our ranks...well, save for us."

He gave out another laugh though it was once again a shallow thing, something Leila had come to
realise was his way of coping with things. 'Laugh so you don't cry' or something along those lines
and she couldn't say it was unwarranted. The fact that Lelouch was replacing the Rounds so
quickly boded ill for Europe; the Knights of the Round were more than just warriors, they
represented the top degree of warfare in the world. If even one was present on a battlefield it was
likely that battle would go to Britannia.

And I thought we just had those red Knightmares to worry about. Leila thought to herself grimly as
the remaining body of W-0's core group entered the room. Military doctrine would have them
salute, but given their tired expressions from all the preparation work over the last week she
waived such formalities, indicating for Akito to dim the lights, standing from her own seat behind
her desk and coming round to speak to everyone up front.

As she made her way around she caught the tail end of Takeru Randle - Sophie's husband and
inventor of the Brain Raid System, who had been in a coma until recently - enquire after Yukiya's
health. The boy in question smiled, weakly but grateful all the same, and told him he was fine. It
brought some warmth to Leila's heart to see him so readily accepted by her people, especially the
pilots of Wyvern, giving her hope that there was still a chance for them.

For now though, she had grim news to report and so, as the lights went down and she came to the
centre before the room's main screen, she set herself up to add to her two squadron leaders' own
reports.

"As we're all assembled, I believe a short recap is required." She started, her words bringing
attentive silence to everyone collected. "As a starting point, how much damage are you aware our
forces have suffered in the last week?" She raised a hand at Akito and Ashley, not wishing to add
their content just yet, her focus mainly on the new arrivals - officers and scientists - who gave her
honest but light shrugs.

Seeing their response, Leila saw no more need to hold back and switched on the screen. To the
shock and horror of many of her people it was a photo of eradicated Alexanders numbering in the
dozens just outside of Madrid. "What you are seeing is the tip of our losses." She told them all
grimly, flicking to a more personal battle in Paris, the records of Wyvern squad serving as the
source, where Emperor Lelouch's personal Knightmare did battle with her best soldiers and
defeated them. "Over the last seven days, the EU has lost over 45% of its overall fighting strength."
The bad news didn't stop there as she motioned to one of her officers, Oscar Hammel, who grimly
filled them in on the larger picture of how such losses had occurred. "Since Lelouch's declaration
all of France has been retaken, the Netherlands were shut out before we even gained a foothold,
Spain has been reconquered and already half of Germany is in their hands." If that wasn't enough
for the silent group whose eyes had burst wide at the bad picture he was drawing, he added on at
the end "And we received word twelve hours ago that Bern and Lausanne have fallen too, we have
to assume by now that all of Switzerland is waving the Britannian flag."

"Are you shitting me?!" Ryo snapped, glaring at him, "How's the bastard beating us so quickly?!"

"I have to agree." Anna Clément spoke up quietly, a troubled look on her fair features. "Britannia
never pushed this far inland under Emperor Charles and he was a master of war."

"Well then Lelouch is obviously our worst nightmare." Claus Warwick suggested, scowling at
even voicing what everyone in this room had dreaded: "He's better than his old man. We saw a kid
when we should've seen a general and now we're paying for it."

It was a harsh way of putting it, but Leila was inclined to agree. It was the same mistake she'd
made when she ordered Akito to bring the emperor in, thinking he was just a melodramatic boy
playing hero. The heavy handed defeat he'd granted them - and by extension, her - accompanied by
the swift regrouping of the Britannians in Paris had served to relieve her of that notion.

However it seemed there were still some naysayers in the ranks, namely Oscar who shook a
disbelieving head at his fellow officer. "I'm sorry, Claus, but I just can't see it." He stated mulishly,
"A mere child doesn't have the experience to beat the EU's Generals by himself. It's just his
commanders' own abilities that he's taking credit for, and that we're giving to him."

In an ideal world Leila would have agreed with him, this unknown royal who'd suddenly appeared
over a month ago and swiftly taken the crown for himself simply shouldn't be possible. Yet from
the information she'd recently become privy to, there was at least now some sort of explanation for
how he could have become who he was today.

Speaking of, a light chuckle from the door had everyone turning in surprise as her guest made
herself known. "Oh my, how typically male. Even now when Britannia's set to stick their swords
up your proverbial ass, you still deny your enemy's competence."

"Who are you?!" Oscar demanded, going for his gun.

"Stand down!" Leila immediately yelled, freezing him in his tracks and bringing all attention back
to her and off the silver haired young woman who was scanning the group with an air of apathy.
"Oscar, this woman is here at my request. She has information that I think is vital to understanding
our enemy."

Rather than explaining further she backed off as soon as it looked like Oscar wouldn't kill their new
addition and the woman threw her a saucy wink before sauntering into the room and propping
herself up on the desk. "Thanks Leila." She said whimsically before turning her attention to the
group at large. "Now, before anyone asks for a name, it's X. Or Miss X. Or 'Mistress,' for you
lucky ones."

She leaned forward on her hands, just enough to show off a little cleavage, which got most of
Asura Team staring just a little bit more intently than before. Wyvern were a bit more varied, with
Ryo following Asura's lead whilst Yukiya looked at her with some level of interest, and Ayano just
scowled at them and Miss X in intervals. As for Akito, he remained where he was revealing
nothing in reaction to her actions.
If the officers weren't annoyed with her before they were now, and Leila was about to ask her to
get back on topic before Oscar really did shoot her but X turned to flash a mocking smirk at him.
"As for why I'm here, well quite frankly Britannia's beating you so easily it's embarrassing. All
because of 'that boy.'" In the face of the glare that raised on his face she just giggled before going
on. "If you keep up the way you have been, thinking him just a kid, then what happened to your
forces in the Netherlands will look like a gentle spanking by comparison.

Her mention got a reaction out of Asura Team, namely Ashley who went straight as a pole, and
Leila had to wonder if there was more to their story that she hadn't heard yet. She would soon find
out too as Joe Wise pulled out the lollipop in his mouth, asking, "What're you talking about, lady?"

Instead of answering herself, she just turned knowing eyes to Asura Team, which had everyone else
looking at them too wondering what it was they were hiding. After a moment at glancing at each
other, the former Euro-Britannians nodded at each other and Ashley stepped up to speak. It had to
be said though, the memory seemed to have him shaken.

"Well, you guys probably know we were with the guys in the Netherlands, yeah?" Everyone
nodded, not needing to be told that they'd lost that area a second time. "Well, the thing is, our
company was wiped out by the Knight of Two. Just the Knight of Two. No ships or support
whatsoever." He paused to let that sink in for everyone, and Leila was glad he did. She hadn't heard
that part yet! What the hell kind of monster had the emperor found that could wipe out an entire
company all by themselves?

Again, the wait to find out wasn't long as Ashley went on to say, shortly and grimly. "She piloted a
machine she called 'Amber,' a Knightmare based on an advanced Lancelot model."

That brought everyone up short yet again, this time out of sheer unmasked terror. The White
Reaper had spawned a successor?! The original Lancelot alone had been a horrifying prospect, but
to think that there was now something even more dangerous... Leila, and a few others she noted,
stared at Ashley with new found awe. How did he get out of there alive?

With that shocking delivery it was understandable that they missed something of import that Hilda
Fagan, one of Anna's subordinates, brought up after recovering. "'She?' The new Knight of Two is
a woman?"

Her question snapped them out of it and Ashley was about to respond but Miss X, who had also
remained unmoved, beat him to it. "A girl by the name of Cinder Fall." She revealed to them all
before shrugging. "That's about all I know about her, she's basically been a no show until now. The
really interesting thing is her machine."

So saying, she pulled out a USB stick and inserted it into the built in drive on the desk. A moment
later, the images of ruin were replaced by that of a white red and black monster of a machine that
clearly resembled the dreaded Lancelot. Leila took a good look at it and immediately felt a shiver
running down her spine, this thing wasn't a variation like the Gareths were of the Gawain; if she
had to put a word to what she was looking at it would be the perfected version of the Lancelot,
what it had always been intended to be.

"Ginger's right that this thing is based off Europe's favourite reaper." X stated, her focus solely on
the new machine. "From what I've heard it's called Amber:Tertiary, and we can assume it has all
the same systems as its predecessor only far more advanced. Also," she carried on carelessly, not
once acknowledging the growing images of horror on everyone's faces, flicking on to another
image, "I figured you'd want to know about the other new players the emperor has employed."

This time it was the face of the new Knight of One, William Bishop, staring back at them, along
with that of a man they didn't recognise who wore an eye-patch over his right eye and had a manic
grin on his face. "You're all familiar with the Knight of One by now." X didn't give them a chance
to answer, powering right on "The one next to him is his long time friend and former cell mate,
Peter Thomson, who Lelouch has named the Knight of Three."

"Cell mate?" Franz repeated "They were in prison? What for?"

"Oh nothing much." X stated blandly, "Just an attempted assassination nine years ago."

Her offhand mention of such an act had everyone staring at her again, now though as if she was
absolutely dotty. Even Leila couldn't hide her incredulity, these men were placed in prison for high
treason and Miss X treated it like it was nothing? Maybe I should revise my former opinion of this
woman being an 'able mind.' She considered to herself as X finally took note of the looks she was
getting and merely cocked her head at them.

"What? It's not like such a thing is new for Britannia, anyone remember the Emblem of Blood
Wars from fifty years ago? You guys're lucky they were busy killing each other at the time or they
might have wanted in on your own little spat." It was winces all around at that statement, the Great
European War of 1979-83 was a grim chapter in the history of Europa United but the idea that if
Britannia's royals hadn't been killing each other they would instead be having fun rolling up the
map sat even worse on their shoulders.

Regardless it had nothing to do with the current discussion which was why Miss X immediately
moved on, "Anyway, point is, these guys plotted to kill Emperor Charles back in '09. Obviously
they failed and were chucked into Alcatraz." Here she paused as a small grin rose up her lips, "The
interesting bit is that before all that went down, Bishop here was the Knight of Two whilst his
buddy Thomson was one of the test pilots for the Glasgow prototype."

She was stopped from continuing when she spotted something that made her snort. "You're kidding
with the hand up right?"

Her comment was made toward the raised arm of one of Sophie's subordinates, Kate Novak, who
immediately dropped it back down blushing with embarrassment on being called on it. Still though
she went ahead and asked her question. "Um...why would they betray the emperor? Aren't knights
sworn to their king or something? Shouldn't they not want to do something like that?"

Her words elicited more than a couple of condescending eyerolls, whilst more than one member of
Asura Team facepalmed at the girl's naivety, and even Leila couldn't help a small level of
annoyance at the girl's quite ignorant question. Just because they were Britannian didn't
immediately equal blind obedience to their emperor, her birth parents were proof of that.

Miss X, however, just took it in stride as if she was a teacher in class. "You'd be right, sweetie,
except even if he did say the words of loyalty to the emperor, William Bishop's true allegiance was
only ever to one person."

Her answer followed another change of the image on the screen, going from two men's faces to a
snapshot of a beautiful young woman with raven hair, dressed in the formal attire of a Knight of
Honour, standing upon the hand of a giant blue Knightmare Frame. Even as the catcalling and
murmuring from some of the younger male members of their group began, Leila was already
studying the woman now before her and had noticed some things that rang a bell. There was
something familiar about her.

"Who's that then?" Ayano asked, a peeved note in her tone likely brought on by the attitude of her
comrades at an old photo.
Miss X smirked before going on, "This, darlings, is Her Royal Highness, Fifth Consort of Former
Emperor Charles zi Britannia and Empress of the Holy Britannian Empire: Marianne vi Britannia."

"Vi Britannia?" The up-till-now silent Claus repeated, an eyebrow raising as the others caught on to
his stressing the name. "You mean she's...?"

"And golden medal for the handsome man with the stubble." X praised, winking flirtatiously at
him before returning her attention to the group in full. "Everyone, allow me to introduce you to
Lelouch vi Britannia's mother."

Another moment was allowed to pass as they all took that in, though for some it was a missing
piece that answered some questions with regards to Lelouch. As far as Leila was concerned, this
now started to explain his good pilot skills. This Marianne could only be Marianne 'the Flash,' at
one time the most skilled human being with a Knightmare Frame, if Lelouch was really her son
then perhaps some of her talent had rubbed off.

For others, it was a more...upfront feature of hers that the viewers noted first, which Ryo initially
brought up. "Damn...y'know, for a Britannian, she's hot."

"That's a given." Simon agreed readily, a rather telling grin spreading over his face as he continued.
"Heh, I'd like to stick my sword in her sheath if you know what I me-ow! Franz, what the hell?!"

"Aside from the fact that you're slobbering over a married woman." The gentleman of Asura Team
muttered, giving Ayano an approving nod as she followed his example and slapped Ryo upside the
head. "That's the mother of the man who's cut our territory in half!"

"Not to mention, before she was Empress, she was the Knight of Two." Miss X added on, grinning
icily as the two boys immediately shot ramrod again, as if the picture of the woman would
suddenly come to life and strike them down with that same pleasant smile she had on her face. And
now they were getting to the bit Leila had been told, the reason behind the arrival of this strange
woman and the tale she had woven. As such, she was the only one who didn't react when the
storyteller went on to say "She is also dead. Assassinated in her own home nine years ago."

"Huh?" This collective response of disbelief led them all to looking at the picture of the woman
again and then at the thick red bar at the bottom of it where in white capitals was printed the word
'DECEASED.' Save for Leila who had already been aware of this bit, so it was her who answered
when Ayano asked. "Wait, the Knight of Two was killed in her own home and no one knows about
it? How the hell does that happen?"

"It was kept very quiet." She explained, a small frown forming as she remembered what Miss X
had told her. "Anyone who had a connection to Marianne was disavowed or, if they were nobility,
financially ruined; the Ashford family is the prime example, virtually all their assets were seized
and they were forced to leave Britannia out of fear for their lives. But," and now her frown turned
into a scowl as the final bit came forth, "that doesn't match what the emperor did to his own son."

"His son?" Yukiya spoke up quietly, wincing a bit from his head wound. "You mean Lelouch?"

"Hmm." She nodded at him tightly. "Apparently, when Emperor Charles called off the
investigation into his own wife's murder" she allowed a brief moment to allow the disbelieving
exclamations to get out and then went on, "Prince Lelouch called an audience to demand an
explanation."

"Hang on," Ryo interrupted, "the future emperor, who had to be a kid at the
time, demanded something from Charles zi Britannia?!" After she gave him a simple nod, he let
out a small whistle. "Damn, the bastard has balls of steel."

Admittedly some part of Leila agreed with him. Despite the fact that he was an enemy, it was still
incredible that there was anyone who could stand up to that giant of a man directly to his face. But
still... "Those balls didn't save him from exile." Miss X cut in, pulling the number of admiring
murmurs back to her. "As a result for speaking out, Lelouch lost his position as Eleventh Prince
and was given to Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi as a hostage."

"G-Genbu?!" Ayano exclaimed, in fact her statement spoke for all the Japanese members of W-0
who were now staring at her wide-eyed. "Then he was...?"

"That's right, deary." X nodded with a light smile, "Britannia's current Emperor was in your
homeland when everything went to hell for you and yours."

"But the emperor got him out of there," Kate continued for her with quite a bit more hope in her
tone, considering who they were talking about, "right?"

But X just shook her head at her, "Nope. From what I've found no such order was ever given. I'm
only speculating here, but it's pretty obvious that Lelouch was left to die in the invasion."

Such a callous act voiced so dispassionately had many of the group muttering amongst themselves,
once again in disbelief at what they were being told. It was Akito's words though, his first
contribution to the discussion, that encapsulated their thoughts: "His family abandoned him."

His words were agreed upon by the others and there were even a couple of looks of pity for their
enemy, something Leila noticed most prominently on Akito's face. It wasn't hard to work out why:
Akito's older brother, Shinn Hyuga Shaing, had used and then abandoned him at a young age too.
To hear this story again had to have him identifying with the emperor more than maybe should be
good for a soldier.

The only one not affected was Miss X herself who went on as if she were discussing nail polish,
her legs swaying as they did. "The trail goes cold after that until a month and a half ago when he
returns with a royal guard of his own, captained by another admirer of his mother, and announces
himself emperor after killing the previous one." She shrugged and offered a lazy smile. "As stories
go, it's pretty fantastic, don't you agree?"

Fantastic or not, it was more than they'd known about the emperor before, which was why Leila
had wanted X to tell her story to the others as well. It had given her some idea as to where Lelouch
had become so competent a strategist. Even if X's story was inaccurate, he still would have had to
learn to plan ahead by several steps in order to stay out of the empire's hands as long as he had and
that didn't even account as to how he somehow managed to kill his father. Such ability to plan
ahead, taking almost everything into account, could easily be applied to warfare if he was good
enough...and as the state of the EU would suggest, he was more than good enough.

"So the guy didn't like his family." Ryo summed up the last five minutes pretty bluntly before
snorting. "So what? What does that have to do with the Rounds?"

"It has everything to do with them, Ryo." Leila told him firmly, glancing at X who just nodded at
her. "William Bishop was loyal only to Marianne vi Britannia. To learn that her son is now emperor
would be a dream come true for him, making him the obvious choice for a new Knight of One.
Peter Thomson is a violent man but he respects strength; Lelouch killing Charles would make him
the most powerful person he'd ever known." Here she shrugged. "I can't say a lot for the Knight of
Two, but there's probably a story of dislike for the former emperor there as well."
"What about the Knight of Four?" Chloe Winkel, another of Anna's assistants, asked. "There're
four of them now, right? We've only talked about three of them."

"Ah the new boy." Miss X nodded in recognition before sighing and shrugging her shoulders with
a little half smile. "Sorry, but when it comes to him there's even less than on Cinder Fall. A
complete unknown who came out of nowhere after Lelouch declared war. We don't even know
what sort of Knightmare he uses. All we have is a name: Arthur Calhoun."

That name didn't mean much to Leila, but it sparked something in the members of Wyvern squad
who were now glancing at each other questioningly. She was about to ask what it was they thought
they knew, but when she tried to open her mouth the whole room shook as something exploded
outside.

The hell?! Even as the others pulled themselves up, Yukiya needing help from Ayano, Leila rushed
back around her desk and tapped another button for the main screen. The image of Marianne vi
Britannia vanished, replaced with an external shot of the base. What was there caused several of
the girls to gasp with shock, whilst the officers stood staring wide-eyed at the image and Leila
herself felt something chill run through her soul. On the outskirts of their castle, just beyond the
range of their defences, hovered an entire Britannian air-flotilla.

She could just barely hear her officers starting to bark into their headpieces, demanding why they
hadn't been alerted to the enemy presence sooner. For her though such thoughts didn't matter -
Britannia was here at last, and W-0 was the only thing that stood in their way to conquering Italy.
Thus she turned around and immediately assumed command. "To your stations!" She ordered them
all firmly, "Command staff to the CIC, pilots to their machines - not you Yukiya." She pointed to
the boy's head injury, stopping him in his tracks. "You're going back to med bay."

"But commander!" He protested, but that was all he managed as he suddenly winced again just
from the sharp movement.

He wasn't allowed to get a second wind either as Sophie got a hold of him and started leading him
away. "You can barely walk right now, let alone fight an army." She told him sharply before
sending the rest of Wyvern squad a reassuring look. "I'll get him to med bay and make sure he
stays there."

The rest of the team nodded and said their farewells to their comrade before he could protest any
further. Sighing in relief that that potential problem had been started before it began, Leila turned
to the only remaining person in the room. "We'll have to finish this discussion later," she told Miss
X.

"Of course." She agreed with a light wave of her hand, hardly having moved from her spot on the
desk. "Believe me, you'll want to hear the rest."

Undoubtedly sure that she would, Leila nodded to her guest and then made her own way out of the
meeting room. However, even as she made her way to the CIC, she couldn't help the feeling that
someone, somewhere, was watching her.

Battle was joined not long after the fleet had fired the first volley and the Britannian forces quickly
got to work dishing out hell upon their enemy. While true the EU's base had been heavily fortified
with any number of traps and tricks and other means of killing a lot of people very quickly, they
were all designed to deal with ground forces and infantry. It was a weakness that the white Vincent
Wards, renamed 'Vultures' by His Majesty, used to their advantage, strafing the skies and bombing
the European positions before diving in and slicing up anything they found.
This weakness wasn't present on the castle itself however, as its ground-to-air cannons immediately
got to work targeting and blasting any number of Knightmares out of the sky. However, quantity
was a quality all in itself in this battle and as such the losses were far from crippling, not to mention
that the cannons did nothing to the ships themselves.

For Jeremiah Gottwald, it was further proof of his master's brilliance as he carried out Emperor
Lelouch's strategy to the letter. Such thinking had never been his strong point, he was better with
group tactics than anything on this scale, but with His Majesty's great mind at work, victory was
sure to be their's once again.

"Do not falter!" He cried over his radio on an open channel for all to hear. "We are the instrument
of His Majesty, we shall not shame him with bringing him anything less than total victory!" So
saying, he and the two Centurions and the Sutherland Sieg's back dived down straight for the outer
wall where a squad of navy blue Alexanders had just taken up position to defend. "Now then..."
Jeremiah intoned, "TASTE THE STORM OF MY LOYALTY!"

On his last syllable, every missile pod on the massive Knight Giga Fortress opened up, launching
every single one of its explosives out onto the wall and the poor squad of European machines that
were in its path.

"The wall is breached!" Jeremiah called out, "All forces advance!"

At his command, the Sutherlands and Gloucesters that had been waiting at the walls began to move
for the opening and were soon streaming up the mountain towards the enemy's second line of
defence. There were likely to be Alexanders waiting for them but a little help from the Vultures
would keep things nice and even whilst he and the Scarlet Guard carried out the true objective of
this battle.

"Our primary goal," Jeremiah stated on a private channel to the two Centurions, "is the destruction
of their stratospheric launcher. If we knock that out, they'll be unable to land their forces behind
our lines. Whilst we carry out that mission, Lady C.C. will find and eliminate the special target."

The target in question was Leila Malcal - or Breisgau, or whatever name she was calling herself
these days - who had been harbouring a dreaded secret all this time. His Majesty had confided in
him that the girl had a power similar to his own except it could destroy Geass as well. Such
knowledge was infuriating. How dare that girl use such power to cause strife to His Majesty's
goals?! If Lady C.C. fails then I will personally hunt this woman down and kill her myself! So says
Jeremiah Got-!

His thoughts were cut off though by fire from below and he was force to pull the Sieg away from
the ground. Who dares?! Coming about Jeremiah spotted a group of three Alexanders, two of
which were painted white whilst the lead seemed to have been heavily modified and was wielding
a Japanese katana. "Who are you to fire upon me, Jeremiah Gottwald?!"

As he was on an open frequency he was able to catch the conversation between his new opponents
who were still taking careful aim at him. "Gottwald?" The first asked, a woman by the sounds of it.
"Isn't that the captain of Lelouch's Royal Guard?"

Ah, so it would seem his reputation preceded him. He allowed himself a satisfied smirk as the
second pilot, considerable male and loud uncouth by his tone agreed with the first one's guess.
"Yeah, he's the guy who dropped from the ceiling and broke all those guards halberds with just a
kick!" Oh yes, what a splendid day that had been, bringing his master home to his rightful place in
society had been the greatest honour he had yet to receive.
The loud one wasn't done yet though as he pondered something. "Hang on, wasn't he the guy Zero
absolutely ruined too? What was the name everyone called him?" he paused for a moment before
an audible click was heard through the speaker. "Yeah that was it! Orange-kun!"

The laughter that followed only lasted a second as, the moment after, the Sutherland Sieg's Hyper-
Velocity Cannon fired right at him causing the man to curse loudly and the whole team to pull
back some. As for Jeremiah himself, he was positively fuming. "Orange?" He demanded
silently...before repeating loudly, "ORANGE?! HOW DARE YOU BASE DREGS SPEAK THE
NAME OF MY LOYALTY?!"

The word 'Orange' had been a source of strife for him in the past, yes, but now with the knowledge
that it was Lelouch himself that had named him such, for Jeremiah that word had been the
beginning of his redemption. Coming through pain, humiliation and suffering at the hands of that
obese oaf Bartley, he had been reborn as a better man, a greater man, one who could stand beside
his master with pride. All because of the word 'Orange.'

And he would be damned if the word of his renewal would be sullied by these worthless rags of a
dead era!

Therefore he sent the Sieg straight down towards the three machines, launching the front lance
harkens at them which scattered them, giving him the perfect opening to fire a second volley of
rockets their way. The Alexanders were forced backwards until they were forced to hide behind a
wall that the Sieg's large size couldn't get around, but that was all right because Jeremiah could
always just blow it away with his cannon.

As he charged up a shot, the conversation of the team continued with the girl chastising her team
mate. "Honestly Ryo, what's your problem? First off you piss off the Emperor enough that he put
Yukiya in the hospital and now you're getting the captain of his guard mad? Do you have a death
wish or something?"

"Hey!" The one identified as Ryo snapped back defensively. "It's not my fault he has such a dumb
title!"

They suddenly went quiet again, likely because they were getting orders from their commander,
but they already said enough for Jeremiah to realise who it was he was fighting. His Majesty had
mentioned a group of Japanese pilots fighting for the EU. The Ghost of Hannibal. Suddenly his
scowl diminished some to be replaced with an excited grin, how fortuitous for me!

Suddenly they were on the move again, coming out from their shoddy cover and made for the
second wall. How foolish, even if they could get there they'd never be able to scale it before
someone blew them away. And just coincidentally, the cannon was ready to fire. Even so,
Jeremiah hesitated for little more than a millisecond to acknowledge his disappointment that the
dreaded Wyvern squad wasn't more of a challenge to him...oh well, and then he hit the firing
mechanism. However, his brief pause would cost him as, just as the cannon discharged, the Sieg
was suddenly struck from the side by new enemy fire that sent the shot wide and away from the
white machines.

What the devil?! Looking around, he caught sight of a red Alexander that had been heavily
modified like the purple one leading the Wyverns coming at him from the left. Behind it was a
team of red Gloucesters that had their rifles aimed at him and fired off another volley, forcing him
further away from the white team.

Traitors? If so then there was no reason to show them any mercy. "Centurions!"
At his word, the two machines of the Scarlet Guard rushed to his side to cover him, the one on the
left charging the red custom Alexander whilst the one on the right opened fire on the team itself
with his VARIS. The blast succeeded in scattering the red team but only for a moment as they
quickly reformed their line after each successive shot, making it clear these weren't some underpaid
grunts that thought switching sides would provide greater luxury. Professional turncoats
then? Jeremiah wondered to himself as the red custom unit launched for one of the Centurions with
a sword, which clashed against the Scarlet Guard's spear.

In that case... Snarling a growl of true hatred for the betrayers of His Majesty's confidence,
Jeremiah brought the Sieg's cannon to bear yet again and was yet again dissuaded from using it by
the return of the white team. Their own custom Alexander came straight at him and was ballsy
enough to jump onto the Sieg.

So he hopes to pierce my shell, does he? Jeremiah allowed himself a smirk as his cybernetic
systems began to activate some of the new features on the Sutherland Sieg. I think not.

After Lloyd and Cecile had been brought into the fold, Emperor Lelouch had ordered
improvements on more than just the Shinkiro. With the Sieg as big as it was, a lack of defence was
simply out of the question and so Lloyd had installed a Blaze Luminous system that could be
activated through Jeremiah's Direct Link functions should he need it. That was exactly what he did
now just before the custom unit landed, a green barrier shooting up around the entire Knight Giga
Fortress, which the Alexander crashed into instead and was forced to jump away from when the
lance harkens were brought to bear.

Landing on the wall beneath the Sieg, the purple unit armed its rifle and began firing at the giant
machine's underbelly, for all the good it did the pilot. Confident smile still in place, the Hyper-
Velocity Cannon again was armed, but to Jeremiah's increasing frustration with these little pests, a
projectile from a rocket launcher slammed into the Sieg again pushing him away from his intended
target.

Growling in annoyance, he pulled the Sieg back and glared up at where the shot had fired. On the
second defensive wall behind the custom unit, there was a whole squadron of navy blue
Alexanders armed with bazookas, along with seven orange versions of the model.

"So." Jeremiah started over an open channel as the custom unit came about and joined up with his
newly arrived comrades. "Even more have come to meet their fates."

"Keep talking, Orange boy!" A new, equally obnoxious voice to the last one who mocked his title
shot back as the red custom unit as his team pulled up on the wall, followed by the white
Alexander team. "Me and my boys aren't dying today!"

"No indeed." He could agree to that as he glared at the Gloucesters in the red unit's ranks. "You
and your followers will be brought alive to His Majesty's court where you will beg forgiveness for
your abandoned loyalty!"

Numerically speaking, the Europeans had the advantage and the new arrivals were fresh unlike the
two teams he had engaged. Also he and the Centurions had already been fighting for some time, his
cybernetics gave him a bit of an advantage but the Scarlet Guard were only human. Nevertheless
they had something these fools didn't: full committed loyalty to their leader and cause!

Thus it was with confidence that Jeremiah readied his lance harkens for the second bout, his
actions causing the Centurions to follow suit by arming their rifles, which triggered the enemy
group to prepare their own weapons for renewed combat. "Before that though," he began, "I would
have the name of the leader of these rebels as well as that of the foolish Europeans who you've
thrown your lot in with."

"Yeah?" The red custom unit's pilot snarked back at him. "Well I'm the one and only badass of
badasses, Ashley Ashra!" It wasn't a name Jeremiah was familiar with, but he cared little as the red
machine pointed to the purple unit, "And this here's my buddy Akito!"

The purple unit's pilot - Akito - when he spoke, was much calmer than his vitriolic friend. "You
should retreat now, Britannian." He told him. "This day will not be one of defeat for us. I promise
you that." So saying, his machine drew its katana and brought it into a ready stance.

"Yeah come at us!" Ashra yelled at him in agreement. "Me and my boys're gonna kick your ass,
Jerry!"

"Is that so?" Jeremiah asked, a small dark laugh escaping his lungs, before he bellowed aloud.
"Very well then! Show me your power!" Without further warning he launched the Sutherland Sieg
forwards, the Centurions quick to follow in after him. "And I shall show you fools the strength and
loyalty of Emperor Lelouch's Orange Knight!"

Inside the base's CIC, statistics and reports flooded every screen and were voiced through every
headpiece as Leila did all in her power to keep the Britannian's at bay. So far she seemed to have
managed that. Even if the numbers of their own losses were grim (estimates were that they were
down to 65% full strength already) the fact remained that, for the moment, the line was holding at
the second defensive wall. Even the enemy commander, from what she'd heard, was engaged in
battle so that was something to be relieved about.

Nevertheless, she wasn't about to take her eyes off of what had to be the enemy's target. "What's
the status of the launcher?" She demanded for the fifth time since the battle began.

"Still intact and being defended with everything we have." Claus reported from his seat. "But damn
if those guys aren't making it hard, they seem to have divided up their force into teams to get the
drop on us."

That made sense, send the main body to draw off as many as they could and strike with smaller
groups that had a better chance of reaching the objective. They weren't leaving this to chance, they
knew just as well as Leila did how important it was that the stratospheric launcher remained active,
especially now. It had been how so many of the EU's forces had been able to get passed Britannia's
defences in countries like France and Spain during the first day of the war. Now though it was
doubly important if they ever hoped to launch a counter attack.

From his own monitor, Joe let out a whistle that brought Leila's attention to him. "Damn, they're
not kidding around either. Just got word from Captain Hammel. He, Wyvern and Asura have
engaged Jeremiah Gottwald and two of those Scarlet Guard Knightmares."

That brought her up short for a moment as she processed what she'd just been told; the Emperor's
Guard Captain was here? Even so she didn't have long to question it as the main screen switched
from the tactical overlay of the castle to live video footage of a vicious battle just meters away
from the second defensive perimeter. Ashley's team were engaging the two red Knightmares with
all their worth whilst Akito led Wyvern squad and all of Hammel's squadron against a massive
orange machine that had been reported being seen in Switzerland.

Undoubtedly that large unit had to be Sir Gottwald's, though Leila was more concerned with the
fact that despite their numerical advantage the Britannian side was gradually pushing their line
back. Despite its bulk the huge thing was still fast enough to stave off any attack sent its way by
Akito and the others and then go on the offensive to devastating levels of destruction as a firing of
that large cannon mounted on its belly quickly proved.

After a moment of thinking, Leila addressed Joe, "Tell Hammel to disengage and return to the main
battle. Asura and Wyvern are to draw the enemy north."

The scientist gave her a grim look but nodded and did as he was told. She knew what he was
thinking and, to a point, she felt the same: It was a harsh thing to leave this battle up to just two
teams but it was the right call to make, at the very least bringing Gottwald and his backup north
would keep him out of the way of the launcher.

Still there was something about all of this that bothered her. Why had Lelouch sent his royal guard
of all people to this battle? Reports still placed him in Germany so logically speaking he would
want them close to him. Then there was where said guard had focussed their attack, that location
did put them in the direction of the launcher but the way they had been going about their tactics
suggested they were barely interested in it. Other teams had already made assaults on it by now
without making themselves so visible. It all smelt of a deception...but to what ends.

"Leila!" The call from Olivia Reuel would provide her with an answer as she turned to her. "We've
got a problem with the surveillance on the first floor."

"What kind of a problem?" She asked, frowning.

"They've gone dark." The blonde officer informed her.

Her report brought reactions of shock from the command staff, which was compounded as they
quickly swapped visuals to what should have been footage of the first floor corridors of the castle,
only to be met with static. The same was shown on the frontal defences and, most worrying of all,
the main gate had also gone dark.

"Is it the enemy already?" Chloe whimpered, trembling in ill-disguised fear.

It must be. Leila concluded to herself, though she was at a loss as to how they could have
penetrated the second and third defensive layers without being detected. A group of commandos
was the most likely explanation but even so they didn't usually take out the cameras, that was a
spec-ops move but it couldn't be them because they usually attacked before the battle started. Who
the hell is this?

Ruminating on what branch it was could wait though and she quickly sent orders to dispatch what
guards they had to the lower levels. The enemy objective was most likely to cause chaos in their
ranks by wiping out the command structure, in other words everyone in this room. It was what they
did when Weisswolf fell so Leila had little doubt that they'd try it again. As such her soldiers were
to intercept the enemy as soon as they could and keep them at bay for as long as possible. I just
wish we knew what we were fighting!

Her wish was soon to be granted by Olivia as she suddenly called up to her, "I've got visual on the
enemy intruders!"

The main screen then switched to a hallway where European soldiers were firing down a corridor
at what looked to be Britannian infantrymen, hardly what had been expected. Suddenly, the enemy
soldiers ceased fire and ducked back behind cover. For a moment it appeared that their people had
won this little skirmish, however the glad tidings were cut short when a new individual from the
Britannian end of the corridor suddenly sprinted forwards. Whoever or whatever it was, they never
got a clear view as the unknown arrival quickly got in close despite the renewed fire from their
people, looking for all intents and purposes like a white blur.

What happened next, they could only guess at as one moment the two heavily armed frontline
troops were standing with the new enemy in between them and the next they had collapsed
backwards, hands going to their throats as blood spilled from unseen slits to their throats. Before
Leila could order her staff to get a closer look at the newcomer, the image vanished under renewed
fire from the Britannian infantry. The only thing they caught before the image died was a glint of
gold that trimmed the white.

"That was the second floor." Olivia reported, her tone unnerved at what they'd just seen. "You can
bet they're moving up."

Leila could only nod, herself still shaken by the quick and clinical way that white streak had
dispatched their toughened defences. Gulping down, she asked "Where are they now?"

"Still on the second...no wait, they've already made it to level three!" Kate reported fearfully.

And there really was an air of fear in the CIC as everyone started glancing at each other, memories
of the fall of Weisswolf likely going through their minds as they did in Leila's. The Britannians
were coming, with some sort of super soldier leading the charge, and they had only Sarah and
Pierre - aside from herself and Claus - who had any real military training. This didn't stop the two
girls from immediately arming themselves should the worst case scenario played out, but it did
trigger a panicked reaction from Joe who started quaking uncontrollably.

"Easy Joe!" Takeru admonished as lightly as he could, he and Sophie coming over to try their best
at keeping him, "They won't get us. We're not dying here. Everything's going to be all right."

"All right?!" The patented candy lover repeated incredulously, his red lollipop flying out of his
mouth and spittle coating his friend's face as he anxiously exclaimed. "No! It won't be all right!
You weren't there when Euro Britannia hit us! They didn't stop at anything and we almost died!
And these guys?" He pointed at his screen that was still showing data from the battle outside,
"These're the real deal, led by some assassin and commanded by an emperor even better at
conquering nations than the last one!"

"Mister Wise!" Leila snapped through his increasingly loud nay saying, gathering the attention of
several others as well as she fixed him with a harsh stare "Calm yourself this instant! Your attitude
is discouraging the staff!" Her words were true, the more he talked the greater fear she'd caught in
the other members of the command staff, even Claus was throwing the odd anxious glance at the
doorway as if expecting the Britannians to burst in any second. Still, her short reprimand seemed to
be getting through to the others whilst Sophie did her bit to calm Joe down. Once it seemed they
were back to an acceptable level of control she carried on.

"Getting scared now is pointless, all we can do now is continue to do our duty." It was short and
not nearly reassuring, but right now she couldn't afford to be. She was a soldier, dying in battle was
always possible. The least she could do now was hold out as long as possible, maybe get as many
people out of here as she could and maybe even survive herself. But to do that she needed
information that she could only get through the others. As such she turned to Kate and asked
firmly, "Where are the intruders now?"

The anxious girl turned to look back at her screen and immediately her eyes went wide as she all
but shrieked, "They're right outside the door!"

Her alarming declaration had everyone near the large steel door spinning around to face it, Sarah
and Pierre aiming their rifles at it whilst Claus made sure the locks were in place. Even though they
were, through the silence that now permeated the command centre, they could hear the sound of
the enemy infantry just beyond the reinforced thick metal as they no doubt planned to blast it open.

Leila bit her lip, thinking for a moment before addressing Kate again. "Put me on speaker." The
quivering girl barely managed a nod as she turned on the audio system, which Leila then took
command of through her own podium, speaking into the inbuilt microphone. "Attention Britannian
soldiers, this is the commander of Castle Lupobianco. Your intrusion into this facility has gone far
enough, leave this place at once or my people will be ordered to open fire on you."

There was nothing but silence on the other end, and Leila held her breath. And then the moment
passed.

A muffled explosion on the other side of the door was the only warning they got before the large
steel slab was slammed open, followed by dust. Leila turned around to face the door, Claus coming
to stand at her side with his pistol at the ready. Sarah and Pierre immediately moved either side of
the door, their weapons aimed at the large dust cloud. For a while though, no enemies appeared,
there was no commencing of rifle fire or the heavy thud of military boots...or anything really.

Then there came the slow 'clink' of equally slow footsteps, followed by the silhouette of a small
slim figure walking towards them through the dust. Claus raised his pistol just a little bit, his finger
twitching on the trigger, but Leila waved for him to lower it just a little bit. If they were only
sending one in then they could work with that, turn the Britannian arrogance against them and
force their way out of this, but only if they didn't look like an immediate threat.

It seemed that arrogance was alive and well when a young woman who couldn't be older than
herself stepped out of the dust cloud and stopped before her. Instead of military gear she was
dressed in what looked like a cross between a pilot suit and a female version of formal opera wear.
She had lime green hair that hung loose in no particular style, and piercing gold eyes that stared
into Leila's own.

"O-ho..." Claus's casual tone didn't end the girl's staring at her, but it did alert Leila to the fact that
he had raised his pistol again to aim it at her head, "and what smiling fortune brought this vision of
loveliness to us?"

The green-haired girl finally broke her gaze with Leila, turning to look now at him and for a
moment she wondered if there really was anything to be concerned of...and then she moved. In a
flash of white and gold that suddenly had everyone recalling the unidentified individual from the
second floor, the girl had rushed Claus, knocked his weapon out of his hand where it landed firmly
in her own and was pressed now against his brow.

Shocked as she was, Leila still spotted Sarah and Pierre move to shoot the intruder but she quickly
ordered them to stand down. They were too close together, if she let them fire Claus was dead
either way. As it was the girl hadn't pulled the trigger of her newly acquired weapon, though Claus
was wearing a face of extreme apprehension as he didn't dare shift his position.

Seeing his uncomfortable state, the girl said in a monotone voice "Relax, I'm not here to kill you
little man." So saying, she removed the pistol from his head and took a single step back. "No one
else here has to die today. All I want here..." she turned back around, her gold eyes once more
fixing on Leila, "is you."

Me? She blinked, on a strategic level it made sense - capture the commander, end the battle - yet
from the stare being sent her way she had a dark feeling that this girl's aims went further than that.
It was Sophie though, her husband standing just head of her, that asked everyone's question. "What
does Britannia want with the Lieutenant Colonel?"
Her question however was met with a derisive snort from the girl, her visage twisting for the
briefest moment into a sneer before flattening out again into impassiveness. "Britannia wants Leila
Malcal to surrender her castle and herself to Lelouch. That is not what I want."

Dread suddenly filled Leila's breast as a possible end to this conversation crystallised itself in her
mind and she fought the command in her mind to run. But where would she go? Now she
understood why this girl - this assassin - had come in alone: the way out was still shut, there was
nowhere to run. Still, she wouldn't let herself succumb to fear and so swallowed those feelings
down to ask a question. "And...what is it that you want...Miss...?"

"Call me whatever you want." The girl replied with a minuscule shrug. "As for what I want..."

The click of her acquired pistol echoed through the silent command centre as if it were a cave. It
was the only warning they got before she span around and whipped Claus hard in the face, sending
him falling to the ground, before coming back around and shooting at Sarah and Pierre before they
could react. Her speed was such that the two didn't know they'd lost their hold on their rifles until
the girl had returned her attention to Leila, the muzzle of the pistol now aimed directly between her
eyes.

"What I want is you," the girl continued, calm as ever yet now with a tiny smile gracing her lips
"...dead."

Her finger pulled the trigger, and everything slowed down. Leila heard the shot, saw the muzzle
flash, and instinctively flinched...and yet there was no pain. She then saw that the shot had gone
wide on account of a tablet having been thrown at the girl, hitting her arm and sending the bullet
flying into the wall behind her. The girl was caught off balance, and with that Leila seized her
chance.

Rushing forward, she grabbing the girl's outstretched arm and twisted it to the point that she was
forced to let the pistol go. She then moved to twist the arm around further, intent on forcing her
onto the ground where she could pin her, but the girl anticipated the move and launched an elbow
into her face, the shock of which alone breaking Leila's hold on her, followed up by a palm strike
directly to her chest. As Leila's twist had brought them both around to the point they'd traded
locations, she was forced onto her podium, the hard and sharp corners digging into her back. The
girl advanced on her, but Leila used her position to her advantage and pushed herself up off the
ground, delivering a double push kick that now forced her back.

Military training kicked in and Leila moved forward with strikes and punches, all of which the girl
blocked but that didn't matter because every strike she attempted forced her further back. Just a
little more...and then Sarah and Pierre came forward from either side to grab the girl's arms. With
her distracted it should now be an easy job for the girls to incapacitate her.

Not so however as, when they made to grab her, the girl suddenly changed tactics. As Leila
launched another final blow, instead of blocking it she took hold of the advancing wrist and twisted
it in a rotating wristlock. Her whole body seizing up, Leila was about to instinctively turn into the
lock before the girl, like water, flowed around her without letting go of the wrist and sent her
sailing into Pierre before dropping down and sweeping Sarah off of her feet with a low roundhouse
kick.

That wasn't the end of it though as Leila quickly got back up, arms coming back up in defence as
the girl, true to her word, immediately abandoned Sarah and turned back to her. Still smirking she
launched another assault, a flurry of strikes and kicks that Leila just managed deflect and dodge,
but her opponent was so fast that she was unable to mounter a counter-attack, until she almost
tripped over Pierre who was doing her best to stay out of the way of them both. At last though, an
opening came when the girl made a sharp knife chop to Leila's neck. Acting quickly, she grabbed
the offending arm at the wrist and then punched forward at the girl's stomach.

However, the girl managed to catch her fist before it made contact and for a moment the two were
locked together, staring each other in the eye - one determined, the other barely moved - before the
smirking assassin hummed to herself then spoke. "So the little girl can fight now, can she?"

The familiarity with which she spoke caught Leila off guard; what did she mean by 'now?' Had
they met somewhere before? The outfit rang a bell but she couldn't remember where, though that
couldn't possibly be related to anything. However, her hesitance would prove almost fatal as the
girl took the open opportunity and kneed her in the gut, hard. The air forced out of her lungs, Leila
went down to her knees whilst the girl stepped back. "It's nice to see you've grown up." She
admitted to her quietly, "But you're not nearly ready for this stage."

"Doesn't matter if there's a gun at your head." A firm voice suddenly threatened behind her. Both
looked up, the girl turning around, to see Claus standing behind her, his stolen pistol back in his
hands and now aimed at her head. A trickle of blood from his head wound ran down the side of his
face, but it didn't impede his aim or his stern glare that spoke of just how serious he was. "I'd rather
not have to shoot a woman, so just surrender."

The girl, in response, merely cocked her head and Leila could just imagine the sly smirk on her
face as she rhetorically asked "Is that so?" In a tone that clearly promised trouble no matter what
they did, and then clapped her hands twice in quick succession.

Her clap had to be a pre-set command as a moment later, the infantry soldiers that Leila admitted to
herself she'd forgotten about in the face of this deadly girl streamed into the command centre,
assault rifles aimed at the staff. They numbered twice as many as the officers in the room, some of
which were already incapacitated as it was. "You let yourselves get careless," the girl chided them
all, "focussing on one life when there were others you could have saved."

The words were followed with her turning to her soldiers, the order to execute them all doubtless
on her lips, and Leila's head dropped to her chest. It was her nightmare all over again, her friends
were about to be killed right in front of her and this time there wasn't going to be any magical
intervention that would help her save them. She had failed!

At the very least though she could look them in the eye when they killed her, and so slowly she
lifted her head back up off her chest. In doing so, she caught sight of a small cylindrical object
rolling along across the floor to rest just between her and the girl. A moment later her eyes widened
as she realised what it was and she immediately shut them, calling out to the others, "Flash
grenade!"

She didn't dare look around to see if the others had shielded their eyes, though she did hear a
curious 'hmm?' from the girl before the grenade went off, blinding those soldiers who hadn't
covered up their assault visors. Confused shouting filled the room and Leila hugged the ground,
still not risking her sight by opening her eyes, and a moment later there was a series of single
rapport shots, typical of a handgun, that silenced the Britannian voices.

A loud 'thump!' beside her finally pushed Leila to the edge of her patience and she opened her eyes,
only to almost shut them again at her first sight. The strange girl who'd had her at her mercy now
lay flat on the floor, a look of undisguised surprise clear on her wide open eyes, as blood trickled
out of a newly added hole in her head. Further along, she saw that there was still one person
standing who hadn't been here before, dressed in black, the last person she expected to see here of
all places.
"Well, are you going to lie there all day?" Miss X asked playfully, returning her gun to its holster
and looking around the CIC. "Honestly, don't you people believe in security? This is possibly the
most important room in the entire complex!"

I'll make a note of that if we survive this. Leila thought to herself wryly as she picked herself up
from the floor and straightened out her uniform. A quick scan around revealed that the others were
recovering from the flash grenade as well, Claus jumping immediately to the point and asking
"How did you know that we needed help?"

"You can thank your commander for that." X told them, smiling approvingly at her before
sauntering around the centre, "There I was, lazing around in that big empty meeting room, when
suddenly the voice of our lovely Leila here comes out over the speakers saying that the Brit boys
are knocking on her door." Shrugging carelessly, she leaned on the rail of the stairs down to the
pit, grinning at the rest of the command staff. "I was bored, so I figured 'eh, why not?'"

The staff looked at each other, then at either Leila or X in alternating expressions of stupor and
amazement. As for the young CO, she just blushed a little at the praising looks. Yes, she'd sent the
warning out to the Britannians over the widespread speaker array rather than the private line that
held just to the top levels in hopes that someone would realise what had happened but she hadn't
actually held out hope anyone would arrive before they were captured. And that Miss X of all
people was the one to respond was equally surprising.

Nevertheless, her gamble had paid off, better than expected and so she simply cleared her throat
and addressed them all. "Yes, well anyway, is everyone all right?" When she got affirmative
responses from everyone she nodded self consciously and turned to Anna - whom she sent another
wave of gratefulness for giving her a chance to defend herself - and set about getting back on track.
"What's the situation outside?"

Anna, still slightly shaking, turned back to her post and got the latest data from the field. When she
received it, the shaking increased exponentially and she turned back to Leila with renewed fear.
"We've lost the launcher."

"Dammit!" Ashley's voice came over the private channel on Akito's radio as they again evaded
another attack from the giant orange machine. His cursing, however, wasn't a result of the difficult
fight they'd been engaged in for quite some time now; even though Captain Hammel had been
ordered to disengage, leaving Asura and Wyvern to deal with the Royal Guard alone, they'd still
been able to hold their own against Gottwald. What Ashley was yelling about had to do with the
large plume of smoke directly to the east.

Somewhere in the last five minutes communications from the castle had gone dark, leading many
to assume the worst had happened to Leila and the command staff. Shortly after, the Britannians
had broken the Alexander lines and forced their way past the second line of defence. Akito and
Ashley's teams had both tried to help push them back but every time they tried, Jeremiah Gottwald
and the two Scarlet Guard Knightmares had cut them off, forcing them away from the main battle.

With W-0's lines broken, it had been more than easy for a team of Vincent Wards to fly ahead and
destroy the stratospheric launcher without any significant resistance save for the Alexanders
guarding it. Now though those same units were retreating as fast as they could to more secure
ground, their mission to defend the key resource of Castle Lupobianco a complete failure.

Akito though didn't have time to lament their failure as the source of their own frustration made
another attack on them, launching its giant lance harkens at him and Ashley again, forcing the two
to move further away from the wall they'd been stuck on ever since they engaged him.
"I must admit," the emperor's Guard Captain declared from above them, his machine's large
weapons returning to their docks as it held its position above the Liberte and Red Ogre "the two of
you are exceptional warriors. Worthy of recognition, were one of you not a traitor and the other a
fool. However," and now the large machine's belly mounted cannon began to charge up again,
"skill alone is nothing in the face of my loyalty!"

The cannon fired and the two of them swerved to the side, after which Ashley launched forward
with a furious yell, the Red Ogre jumping forward with its sword drawn. However the action was a
futile one as the machine's damned shield came alive just as the blade struck home. Frustration
mounting, Akito opened fire with the Liberte's rifle but, much like the sword, the rounds just
couldn't penetrate Gottwald's defences.

Dammit! If we could call the others over we might have a shot. The problem of course was that
they couldn't, not with those two scarlet red Knightmares occupying the rest of both teams. With
Yukiya out of commission, all that was left of Wyvern to take on the Guard were Ayano and Ryo
so Rene and Kuzan had split off to help them out with one machine whilst the rest fought the other
one. Yet, even with a four-to-one ratio in their favour, the Britannians were still winning, at times
fighting them at close range before switching, faster than they could follow, to their VARIS rifles
which forced all eight of them back to find cover.

"We're getting nowhere fast!" Ayano called out over their channel. "We need a plan or we're not
gonna survive this one, Akito!"

"Dammit!" Ryo cursed loudly as he pulled his Alexander away from another incoming burst from
his enemy's VARIS. "If we had Yukiya this would be so much easier!"

Somehow Akito doubted that, but he had to concede that Ayano was right: they'd been at this now
for some time and, while he didn't know about the others, the Liberte's power readings suggested
he had about thirty minutes left before it was out of energy. If they kept this up, they were going to
end up captured or dead. They needed a plan and they needed it now.

Their salvation couldn't have been better timed then when the Liberte's radio was suddenly filled
with what could only be called the sweetest surprise of the day. "Attention all forces!" Leila's voice
called out, momentarily stunning everyone before the shock was replaced with relief and joy: their
commander was still alive! However, their jubilation would turn to disbelief after her following
orders. "Disengage and retreat! We are abandoning Castle Lupobianco!"

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Franz protested, his Gloucester going on the offensive against his scarlet
machine. "What about the defences? We can still fight!"

"The stratospheric launcher has been destroyed." She replied grimly and forcefully, the reminder of
their primary defensive objective's failure landing heavily on Akito's shoulders and no doubt on the
others' as well. With their silence, Leila continued. "With its loss this base is just another building,
and as such I see no such reason to continue this losing battle. Escape through the west tunnel! The
drone units will cover you. I repeat, to all W-0 Unit forces, we are leaving the base! You have ten
minutes!"

Ten minutes? Akito wanted to ask her the significance of such a time limit, but the sudden looming
shadow from above of a Britannian airship made him think otherwise and so he repeated his
commander's orders. "You heard her! Retreat! To the west tunnel!"

He heard an audible snarl of agitation from Ashley but he soon saw the Red Ogre pulling away.
Smiling grimly at his fellow team leader's decision, Akito brought the Liberte's rifle up to bear and
started firing on Gottwald's giant orange machine. Even as he did so, dozens of new enemy
Knightmares began to descend from the overhead airship and so after only firing a handful of
shots, he put the Liberte's landspinners in reverse and moved to get out of dodge, the rest of
Wyvern and Asura Team already ahead of him.

He was mildly aware of Gottwald's voice echoing throughout his cockpit's radio but he put it out of
his mind. Right now his only goal was survival, a possibility that appeared to be growing every
second as he spotted the orange drone Alexanders rushing towards him, parting like the waves to
let him through before engaging the new enemy contacts.

Despite them being nothing more than lifeless hulls, Akito still through up a small salute to the
machines as Jeremiah Gottwald descended upon them, blasting them away by the dozens with his
cannon. Their destruction bought him and his friends time to escape, and for that they had his
thanks.

Well...C.C. thought to herself irritably as she pulled herself back to her feet, still a little bit groggy
from the blood loss, that was not in the plan.

Of all the possible ways for this assassination to have gone wrong, this was not one that she had
predicted. If it had been the girl who had shot her that would have been all right, even the stubbly
idiot would have been acceptable because they were all people she had been expecting to resist her.
But for someone outside the command centre to get the drop on her? It was almost embarrassing.

Now the girl was gone along with her little friends, and all C.C. had to show for it was a hole in her
head as well as three or four in her chest that the girl's friends had put in her on their way out. Talk
about paranoid. And I just got this damn suit fixed too! Now Lelouch was sure to complain as he
was wont to when things went even a little bit wrong. Sighing at her lot in life, C.C. stretched her
stiff joints before thinking about how best to pacify her sure to be irate Warlock upon her return
before a small beeping caught her attention.

Curious she turned around to look at the main screen where a timer was counting down. It only
took a moment for her to realise what sort of timer it could possibly be and for a moment she ran
through what was the quickest and least inconvenient way out of the coming explosion, but then
she actually noticed how much time was left.

00:00:10

"Seriously?"

Oh that girl was officially dead. Geass-destroying Geass or no, that naive little slip of a soldier was
going to pay for this. Death by collapsing building was in her top fifteen worst ways to die.
Fuming, C.C. grabbed hold of the railing of the girl's podium and waited.

One second later, Castle Lupobianco exploded.

In one of the underground tunnels beneath the castle, the survivors of W-0 had stored their
Alexanders on transport trucks and were now driving as fast as they could for the exit before the
secondary self-destruct system kicked in and destroyed the passage.

Ashley's team, along with Ryo, were laughing in undisguised glee at this final 'fuck you' to
Britannia, whilst Ayano busied herself with tending to Yukiya who Sophie had helped down to the
tunnels even before Leila gave the evacuation order. As for Akito, he sat silently beside Leila, an
exhausted but relieved smile on his face at the sight of everyone still alive and whole.
Nevertheless the fact that destroying their base had just made them all homeless, inevitably
someone would have to ask the question. It just so happened this time that it was Anna. "Where do
we go now?"

At a loss, Leila only shook her head before turning to Miss X. The woman in question simply
smiled before patting their driver Claus on the shoulder. "We're going to Rome, handsome man.
But don't stop there, our final destination is in Prague."

"Prague?" Leila repeated, curious. "What's there?"

The older woman just gave her a flirtatious wink. "Many things, pretty girl. Many amazing,
wonderful things."
 Modern Gladiators

June 11, 2018, Rome

It took three days of non-stop driving to reach Rome, at which point the surviving members of W-0
Unit were running on mere fumes. As such they were more than glad to be greeted by the
reassuring appearance of the EU flag on the horizon as the third sunset, followed an hour later by
the helping hands of fellow soldiers and mechanics who helped them to unload their machines
from the trucks. For the first time in days, many finally allowed themselves to breathe easily in the
safety of Italy's capital.

For Leila, however, any thoughts of relaxation were far from her mind as she watched the
European soldiers help her people from a distance. From where she stood the fact that they needed
so much help from their allies just hammered home how catastrophic the battle at Lupobianco had
been for them. Of the near battalion level of numbers that W-0 had been expanded into, less than
half of that new composition had survived, many of their pilots were dead meaning the Alexanders,
while plentiful, were now little more than fancy poseable statues. Those that they had saved
weren't much better off, many technicians were either dead or badly injured so maintenance
wouldn't be up to par, so really their numbers were closer to quarter strength than half.

Even if their main goal was to kill me, Leila thought to herself with a grimace, the fact remains that
our unit was completely crippled.

How many more times was she going to have to see this? How many friends was she going to lose
before it was all over? At one time she thought she'd known the answers to these questions, when
Shinn Hyuga Shaing had been defeated and she and her people had left the EU. Now though, called
back into service to a war that threatened to be their end, all Leila could think about was how many
more castles filled with corpses she'd be forced to abandon until she was cornered.

These ruminations were put on hold though as two young men - both curiously not in uniform -
approached her. Though informally dressed there was still an aura of power about them, namely
the younger of the two, that her military instincts were insisting she give attention to.

Once the pair were before them the older of the two made the point of introductions. "So you're
Leila Malcal, huh? Funny, the screen makes you look taller." When she didn't respond to his
statement he just shrugged before carrying on. "I'm Zi Dian and this grumpy kid here," he gestured
to the blond at his side, "is Oz. We heard your base came under attack, the one with the
stratospheric launcher?"

Glancing at him blankly she nodded shortly before confirming allowed, "Yes, that's correct. We
were hit by the Emperor's imperial guard, their captain included, and had to evacuate.
Unfortunately the Launcher was lost in the battle before we could-"

"You lost it?!" The boy, Oz, suddenly blurted out, shocking her with the glare he was suddenly
sending her way, as if she'd committed some great crime against him. "Do you have any idea what
that means?! Now we can't-!"

"Ozzy!" His angry tirade was cut short as Miss X suddenly appeared as if from nowhere and
wrapped him in a tight embrace, squeezing his head into he breasts. "I knew I recognised that
lovely voice! Oh I missed you sooo much!"

Such a blatant display of affection had Leila's eyes widening. She'd known X was a bit unusual,
her flirtatious manner of speaking with virtually every male on the face of the Earth something
she'd realised she'd have to accept if they were to continue working together, but such a public
display left her a bit flummoxed. A couple of snickers and grumbles behind her told her that her
men had started listening in on their conversation and glancing round she caught the eyes of several
of her more...laid back troops, Ashley and Ryo amongst them. Her attention wasn't missed, nor was
the short glare she sent their ways, after which the boys immediately got back to work.

As for the current show, Oz put it too an end by forcibly prying the older woman off of him. "Get
off of me, for god's sake woman! Why couldn't you have stayed in France?!" He groused furiously,
though not nearly enough to hide the blush on his cheeks as he straightened his clothes out before
returning his focus to Leila. "How in all the hells conceived by man did you manage to work with
this woman?!"

"Aww Ozzy!" X whimpered, a pout taking over her features, before trying to grab him again which
he deftly dodged as if he'd been practising it for some time...something Leila didn't find difficult to
believe with the way the buxom woman behaved. The woman in question however just put on a
more miserable air. "Why are you so mean to me, my sweet Oz?"

"I'm not your sweet anything!" The boy snapped at her.

Taking pity on him, Leila decided she should at least try for some amiability and so told them of
how Miss X had brought them information on the Emperor and beyond, giving them a better
understanding of their enemy and also of the changing landscape of the war. "In fact I owe my life
to her," she rounded off, remembering what happened at the control centre. "An assassin was sent
for me, getting all the way through our defences and even had me at her mercy. If Miss X hadn't
come when she did, I wouldn't be alive right now."

"Oh, Leila," X crooned at the praise she was receiving, "you sweet thing. How are you a soldier?"

Dian as well seemed rather impressed with the woman, giving her a small nod of
acknowledgement. Oz however was a different matter, though he wasn't scowling anymore, his
expression was still one of dissatisfaction. "And yet even through all this, you still failed to
maintain the stratospheric launcher?" He demanded of her, "Are you really as good as the
propaganda says you are?"

His blunt statement of his view of her caused Leila to flinch, voicing more than a few of her own
self-deprecating thoughts over the last three days, however she refused to let herself be further
ruffled by an outsider. She was about to retort about his own lacking in mentioned aid when Dian
stood between them, easy smile still in place. "Whoa, there, easy now, Oz. No need to get worked
up over nothing here."

It hardly seems like nothing. Leila thought to herself, going by her assessment of Oz it seemed he
was more upset over the loss of the launcher than the top brass were sure to be. That was one
conversation she most certainly wasn't looking forward to. And even Dian, the seemingly nicer of
the two, was soon to voice his own misgivings about that as soon as he was sure his young partner
wasn't going to blow up any further. "He does bring up a point though, with the launcher destroyed,
our side can't deploy behind their lines. We'll be forced to fight them head-on only until a new one
is built and that could take months."

"Closer to a year." She corrected him bleakly, arms folded and finding herself less impressed with
the duo by the second. She'd thought the elder would have more to say than just stating the
painfully obvious. "I'm well aware of the losses, both strategic and financial, but it was either that
or sacrifice my entire unit in a pointless holding action."
With that she turned her back on the pair, not even bothering to hear the two's response. The
younger's tightened breath of barely suppressed rage was enough for her, and quite frankly she
didn't have time to be nice to them. "Now if you'll excuse me, what's left of my people need rest
and I need to speak to command. If you have any further insults to throw my way, please get on
with it."

As far as she was concerned that was the end of the conversation as she immediately got back to
work, taking stock of all they had left and what needed replenishing. Thus she was relieved when
Miss X spoke up in her sweet persona. "Come on, Ozzy. No need to aggravate the poor lady. Let's
go get ice cream, that always makes people better."

"Get off me!" The boy's dwindling snarl told Leila everything she needed to know that the pair of
them were finally leaving. And though she felt some pity for him (X had proved herself quite
irresistible, for good and ill purposes), she couldn't help thinking that those two, and whoever
worked with them, were going to be trouble later on.

Getting paranoid again. She chided herself as Anna and her girls came running over with their own
statistics, We're in friendly territory again, they wouldn't try something so brash here of all places
with the whole command staff watching them.

If she's got an in with command, maybe there is some use for her after all. Oz thought to himself
after he finally managed to shake X off with the luring powers of a five decker sundae with cream
(where the hell did she put it all?!). It was about the only thing that could possibly be salvaged now
that that idiot girl had gone and ruined his plans by letting Britannia destroy the launcher. How did
someone so incompetent get the right to an entire regiment?

Nevertheless if she really could speak with high command then he could hold off on getting rid of
her for now. As such he made his way back to the barracks where his two secret weapons were
waiting for him. He found them in the cargo area where more of W-0 Unit were unloading and
reloading supplies, though it seemed only Rai was truly interested in their work...and not for the
purposes of espionage as he followed the boy's eyes to a tall blonde in a lab coat. As for Alice, she
was perched on top of a nearby Panzer, her attention held by the book she was reading.

If there were any misgivings about her awareness of her surroundings, they were quickly lost when
Rai let out a low whistle in regards to the blonde W-0 woman. "Damn, rumours don't lie: W-0 gets
all the finest stuff." His crass comment resulted in Alice tossing her book at him which landed
quite satisfyingly on his head.

Ignoring her teammate's complaining moans about her inability to take a joke, she turned her
attention to Oz. "They're not staying long."

"I gathered that." He replied, noting the bustle of the people around them. So much work
restocking supplies they'd run low on or had lost in their pitiable defence of Lupobianco might have
fooled the usual rank-and-file as to what they were up to, but Oz was no fool. If W-0 were sticking
around they would have unloaded the Alexanders at least, but instead they were still on the trucks
they'd arrived in. This told him they intended to leave as soon as they could, which left only one
question to be answered: Where were they going?

More importantly, why would the EU command trust a girl who continually blunders her
missions? There was something going on here and Oz was tired of being kept in the dark.
Fortunately for him though, all this tied in with why he had sought the two of them out.

"So." Alice carried on over his interior monologue, "What's the plan with them?"
Oz replied with a smirk, "We're going to make them our puppets." Turning to the one whom he
really needed for this, he told Rai. "Tomorrow morning, Leila Malcal is meeting with the military
command staff."

He needn't have said anymore as the silver haired boy quickly caught on with a nod and a small
smile. "So I'll conveniently meet up with her just before she goes and 'ask' her if we could tag
along."

His expression not lessening for a moment, Oz simply nodded. This was their chance, when Rai
took control of the Malcal girl she would lead them all into the heart of the EU's war machine.
From there Peace Mark could finally do its job right again, directing the forces of justice against
that mad man who thought himself a god. He would stop Britannia once and for all and Lelouch vi
Britannia would rue the day he dared call himself the voice of justice.

Corsica

Throughout the long centuries that she had lived, C.C. had become dead to emotion. Such
annoyances, she had long ago concluded, only got in the way of rational thought and procedure and
so she had willingly let go of any sentiments and desires save for her wish to die, transforming her
into the woman she had been for so long. Yet now she found herself feeling again, not just the odd
spark of intrigue or amusement or the more common pity but warmth and contentment...and
jealousy as of late. She knew who to blame for these changes of course, however that blasted boy
had just been proved not to be as unique in this ability to break her mask as she had believed.

It had taken half a day to dig her out of the ruins of the EU's castle and another half to move the
fleet to Corsica per Lelouch's instructions once they informed him of their failure to eliminate the
girl. He had been...less than pleased with their report, though all he did was simply remind her that
this was her problem to deal with and left it at that.

Reflecting on that in the privacy of her quarters on her ship, C.C. had to admit it was somewhat
unnerving to see the usually passionate young man act so cold. Aggravating him and on the odd
occasion angering him were things she knew how to deal with, but disappointing him? That was
uncharted territory.

Although, she considered to herself as she took a bite out of her third pizza of the hour,if he heard
that he'd just brag it was proof that he got me to care about something. Ha! As if I'll ever let him
know.

It wasn't the confusion of her inability to deal with something, though, that had her locked up in her
room. No, what had her on edge was where they were going next. Determining where W-0 Unit
had retreated to hadn't been difficult, everywhere north was hostile to them whilst travelling east
would have taken too long thus making Rome the obvious destination. Sure enough their agents
confirmed this two days later when an exhausted convoy arrived in Rome, led by a blonde female
commander. And that served to enrage the immortal witch.

Of all the cities in Italy that bitch had just had to go to her beloved Roma. It wasn't that C.C.
wouldn't pursue her there, far from it; she'd had plans on taking the city with Lelouch in the works
ever since he told her his plans for the world. Rather it was the fact that her hand had been forced
to take it, and by extension Italy, in such a brutal way. Even now Jeremiah was running back and
forth, ensuring that their new weapons of destruction were ready for deployment in such a way as
to crush the military strongholds in Rome. To do that meant likely having to destroy some of her
most cherished landmarks and that was simply unforgivable.
She didn't blame Jeremiah though, he was simply doing as his emperor commanded and nothing
more, he had no desire to see these buildings reduced to rubble. The EU on the other hand...if they
thought they could simply hide behind such works of art and that she wouldn't tear them apart to
get at them they were dead wrong...she'd just be less merciful about it once she got her hands on
them.

And that girl...whatever fleeting notion of showing her mercy had evaporated from C.C.'s mind.
She was the one who brought them here, she was the one hiding in her dearest city, she was the
one forcing them to do this. And for that, she promised herself as she finished off her current pizza
slice, I'll show her all nine circles of Hell before delivering her to the Devil in person.

Visions of Leila Breisgau boiling in a sea of blood were cut short though by the insistent ringing of
her phone that Lelouch had threatened on pain of no pizza (or the other thing) to always keep on
her. Such extreme threats might have compelled her to take her leave of him, had he not been
so...convincing about it. Still she was more than a little bit annoyed to have her daydreams
interrupted so when she answered it was with a short, bored "What?"

"Lady C.C.," Jeremiah's voice on the other end replied, "preparations for the fleet are almost
complete. If we keep up our pace we'll be ready to begin the assault come the dawn."

Now wasn't that something? Her ire evaporated at the good news, replaced with a predatory smirk.
"Good. And the Morrigan?"

"Assembled and awaiting you in the hangar, my Lady."

"And Lloyd's new toys?"

"The Gefjun rockets." Jeremiah clarified for her, unable to see the eye-roll his response triggered
from her, before continuing, "They have been fitted and are ready for deployment."

Perfect, there would be no running for her this time. And if by some miracle the girl got to a
machine that hadn't been affected then C.C. would cut her up in person. "She dies, Jeremiah, right
here and now. I don't care if Lelouch likes her...no," she quickly corrected herself, her scowl
returning, "that's a reason why she has to die. I will not have a pizza-killing harlot share my bed!"

June 12, Rome

EU Military Officer's Quarters

Leila was up before first light making preparations to leave. If she was honest with herself she was
glad to be leaving Rome behind, it was too big a city with too many non-combatants living in it for
her to feel at all comfortable with engaging Britannia here. Whilst she would like to believe that
Emperor Lelouch would hold true to his word of not harming those who couldn't fight she was far
from willing to put his word to the test. One attempt had already been made on her life and an
entire castle had been destroyed. If she was being hunted, she wasn't going to give Britannia a
reason to level Rome.

It was a sentiment the rest of W-0 shared and as such they were also getting ready to leave as soon
as possible. Currently Akito was working with the pilots and technicians to get the Alexanders
loaded back up whilst everyone else did their bit elsewhere, leaving her and Anna to clear out her
things from her room. She was aware that she'd gotten more than an odd or spiteful glance from
soldiers from different regiments, thinking her actions cowardly when Britannia was practically on
their doorstep anyway but she couldn't help it, if they wanted to have a city left by the end of it
they would let her go.

"Everything will be fine, Leila." Anna was telling her as they placed the last of their documents
into a case and locked it tight, "You'll see, we'll be away from here soon and on our way to Prague.
No one else will be hurt."

I wish I could agree with you. Leila admitted wordlessly to her childhood friend, her worried
expression saying enough for her as she moved on to the next task.

They continued to work in silence for another few minutes when suddenly outside there was a loud
racket. Leila immediately went tense, only her head moving to look up as she expected the wall in
front of her to suddenly blow out in front of her. "What was that?"

Anna however was much calmer about the situation and she rested a reassuring hand on her
shoulder, "Keep working on this, I'll go have a look. Ryo probably got too rowdy with the
equipment."

That would be nice if it was the truth but Leila was still on edge, and Anna leaving to check it out
didn't make anything better. She was alone now with her imagination and it was conjuring up any
number of possible reasons for that clamor: Sabotage, subterfuge, suppression of armed
forces...lots of words beginning with 'S' that described Britannia's many ways of getting the upper
hand in a battle before it even started.

Get a hold of yourself girl! Her rational side chided her, One massive battle and a close
engagement with an assassin and you expect the worst everywhere! You've been closer to death
than that! But that didn't stop the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, that ominous foreboding
that warned her to get out of here or face far worse than what they experienced at the castle.

Eventually that itch became too much to ignore and she slammed the equipment in her arms onto
her desk before dashing for the door. However that was as far as she got before someone blocked
her way. A young man with silvery gray hair wearing a smirk that sent warning shivers down her
spine.

"So sorry, miss." He apologized lightly, though his expression didn't change a bit, "I was passing
by and couldn't help asking, you wouldn't happen to be the famous Leila Malcal would you? The
commander of W-0?"

Not now! This was hardly the time for another fan - or critic - to be getting in her way. "Yes, that's
me." She said hurriedly, moving to step passed him and be on her way. "Sorry, but could we speak
later? There's something really important I have to take care of."

However the boy immediately moved to intercept her exit, his gaze never leaving her face. "Oh but
of course," he said amiably, "I don't wish to take up too much of your time. I was just hoping that
you might take Peace Mark with you to your base of operations."

He said it flippantly enough, but the expectant look in his eyes betrayed that this wasn't a request.
As for Leila, she was caught between surprised and incredulity that anyone would voice something
so ludicrous in front of an officer. "I'm afraid that's impossible sir," she told him flatly, not missing
the short burst of shock that covered his features which only heightened her misgivings about him,
"the W-0 Unit is a highly restricted branch. Now if you'll excuse me..."

She moved to slipped passed the boy again, but again he blocked her path though his mildly
surprised look hadn't left his face. However Leila was running out of what little patience she had
and she snapped at him, "Move aside, soldier. Now."
"No, wait a minute," the boy was just as insistent as she was, "that's not right, you should take
Peace Mark to your base!"

"And why would I do that?" She retorted, no longer hiding the glare that had been threatening to
breech her professional mask. "What could a group of mercenaries possibly need to discuss with
us?" The boy almost responded to that but quickly caught himself, proving her misgivings correct.
However there were other things on her mind and Leila moved passed the boy to only be stopped
again, this time forcefully when he grabbed her arm. "Let go of me right now!" She ordered him
furiously, "Unless you want to take this up with command!"

But the boy hardly seemed to realise how bad this looked as he continued to stare at her with
uncomprehending eyes. "But this doesn't make any sense!" He said aloud, though it seemed to be
more to himself than at her. "You shouldn't be able to-"

His near treacherous statement died on his lips though as at that moment a heavy rumble shook the
compound followed by the muffled roar of an explosion outside. Their attention was further pulled
away from their own confrontation when, a moment later, all the lights in the building suddenly
went dead, leaving them in near pitch darkness.

No, no, no! Flinging the boy's hand off of her, Leila shot out of the room and rushed down equally
dark corridors that she'd memorised long ago and burst out of the barracks to a land on fire. To her
horror she spotted numerous Britannian Knightmares swooping down upon the command center,
launching shells into it from all angles. Leading them was a familiar face from Lupobianco: the
gigantic orange machine that had singlehandedly stood his ground against her best soldiers.

It didn't take a genius to work out what Jeremiah Gottwald was doing here, and so immediately
Leila went to her phone intent on calling Anna and telling them to get the hell out of here.
However things just kept getting worse as, when she retrieved the device that she usually kept on
in sleep mode, she saw that it had turned off and no amount of trying to turn it on would do any
good? The battery's dead? That can't be, I charged it up through the night!

The solution to why this was happening hit her a moment later as she recalled the sudden black
out... "An electromagnetic pulse."

"Must be." A familiar voice agreed with her and she spun around to face the silver haired boy who
had just joined her and was also looking up at the Britannian assault. "There's only Knightmares
out here. They can't have cut the power and hit us at the same time."

Unnerved by his sudden switching in gears when before it was clear this boy and his group, Peace
Mark, had wanted to use her as their puppet, Leila remained silent on his statement. He was
unaffected by her silence though and just went on "We need to join up with our people. If we want
to push them back we have to do it now."

'We?' Leila couldn't help thinking as she finally turned around, watching the boy leave in the
direction of the barracks. How very quick he is to assume we're on the same side. If he was
working with who she suspected he was working with then that just gave further credence to her
bad feeling regarding the people she'd been introduced to. Still, her other bad feeling needed seeing
to first and thus she put the distrustful notions aside and quickly headed towards the barracks
herself. There were people there that she could trust and they needed her help more than her
conspiracy theories right now.

"Of course the damn Brits have to hit us now!" Ashley muttered furiously as he hurriedly put on
his pilot outfit, "They couldn't wait another day couldn't they? Just had to get us when our stuff
was all packed up."

Beside him, Akito wondered if he should point out that that had probably been the Britannians'
plan the whole time but eventually thought better of it. It would've just infuriated the former Euro-
Britannian further and they were on edge enough as it was. Therefore he just silently finished
putting on his own pilot suit and hurried out to the barracks where he prayed that the Liberte was
still working.

Being the two most advanced - and therefore difficult to manage - machines that W-0 had in its
arsenal, he and Ashley had insisted that Red Ogre and the Alexander Liberte be kept in active
service to provide cover once they departed (though Akito expected Ashley just wanted a crack at
any Brit stupid enough to come their way) and thus the two were among the few machines that
hadn't yet been packaged back up on the convoy. Of course it was possible that such a choice had
just bitten them in the foot if this sudden black out was anything to go by: they still had emergency
power, hence the red lighting everywhere, but that was hardly a guarantee that anything else
worked, heck even his phone was dead so he could only hope that Leila hadn't been meeting with
High Command when the Britannians destroyed it.

Therefore he could have kissed whatever God was being kind to him today when he raced into the
hangar and saw his commander rushing towards him too. Straight to business she asked him,
"Where are the others?"

"Setting up." He replied promptly, "Ashley and I were the first down here."

"Let's just hope it wasn't a waste of time getting changed." The aforementioned ginger spoke up,
coming to lean on his shoulder with that same shit-eating grin of his. "That'd sure be a sucky way
to die."

Leila's frown was enough to convey what she thought of his wording their situation like that,
however she also nodded showing she agreed with his summation, which Akito couldn't deny he
too felt was accurate. They'd already heard the reports that the Panzer-Hummels on guard duty had
been destroyed without a fight due to the power blackout. Anna and the girls were all checking
over the Alexanders, hoping that they at least would still work but it was a slim hope.

"I'd say the best thing to do would be to throw in the towel and run," Ashley admitted, before
laughing at the affronted look on their commander's face at such a suggestion, "but you're
obviously not gonna go for that. Ah well, guess we'll have to pick up a gun an- Franz!" He
suddenly yelled at his friend, causing Akito to look over as well and notice the man in question
loitering around in the hangar with a confounded look about him. Ashley however was not so
mixed up as he shoved off of Akito and went over to his teammate and whacked him about the
head. "What're you still doing here?! I told you to go kill some Brits five minutes ago!"

"Ashley my Gloucester died with all the others." Was Franz's response, even as he dodged his team
leader's dogged attempts to keep hitting him. "What d'you want me to do? Stick it in a funny pose
and then laugh at them when they shoot it?!"

"Then grab a gun and shoot back at them!" The passionate leader of Asura team snapped back,
finally scoring another hit to his friend's head. "I don't care what you do, find yourself something to
shoot, go make some funny remark at the Brits' expense and kill those sonsabitches!"

It would very likely come to that, Akito feared, if the news they received from their techies proved
sour. Fighting Britannia with nothing but rifles and pistols would end in a bloodbath on their
side...but considering things even the earlier option of retreating was probably out too. Fight or
die? He snorted to himself as another rumble outside reported the landing of another Britannian
shell, More like fight and die. Still, if that's what had to be done he would do it; if it gave Leila time
to get away so be it. So long as she lived nothing else mattered.

Those gods that seemed to at both times love and hate him were soon to respond then, as Anna
finally descended from the Liberte and hurried over to where he and Leila were waiting. Grim
faced, he almost expected her to give them the awful news that their machines were broken too,
however her response was thankfully the opposite.

"They're good to go."

So simple a statement, but it had the power to silence even Ashley as the four present turned to
stare at their chief engineer...though the main in question almost looked like he was going to go
down on his knees in worship of her. Akito just allowed his silent pride in her to be his response, as
he noted was the decision Leila went with.

"The BRS seems to have protected the primary systems," Anna explained, though she too seemed a
bit amazed at her own words, "in any case the Alexanders should be good to go."

"Sweet!" Ashley crowed happily, "That means I can still fight!" And without further ado, he
bounded away from the group and off towards Red Ogre's berth.

"Hey!" The no-as-enthusiastic Franz called after him, "What about the rest of us? Our knightmares
are still just giant museum decorations!"

"I already told you!" Ashley called over his shoulder, only bothering to wave his hand at his still
inconvenienced teammate, "Find a gun, find a Brit, and introduce the gun to the Brit!"

"Oy..." The poor man introduced a palm to his face before sighing and nodding in resignation,
"Well, might as well do something useful. You better get to work too, Akito." He added on,
nodding at the boy and then hurrying off to do as his team leader had suggested.

That just left a pilot, an engineer, and their commander, all following their comrade's retreating
forms with a look of bemusement before Anna shook it off and also rushed off to check on
whatever else she could. Shaking himself out of his stupor as well, Akito was about to head off to
the Liberte when Leila reached out and grabbed his arm.

Suspecting he knew what she was about to say, he turned to tell her that he would be fine and
would return when this was all over...no matter how little he believed in those words himself.
However, when he opened his mouth to give voice to the lie, she cut him off with words he hadn't
heard since his reunion with his brother over a year previous:

"I'm going with you."

It was barely ten minutes in since their initial attack and already the battle...no, C.C. quickly
decided that such a word wasn't the correct term for how easily this was going for their side.
'Massacre' didn't really fit either because technically they hadn't really killed all that many people,
the Gefjun Rockets had knocked out all machines below sixth generation, the Panzers being left
completely untouched as the Britannian assault group pushed further in to Rome. They had been
surprised to discover that the Alexanders weren't effected by the rockets but that issue was easily
dealt with by bringing in the Vincents - the seventh generation machines' ability to fly giving them
an advantage their European foes simply couldn't match.

One day they'll figure it out. She thought to herself monotonously from within her own
Knightmare's cockpit before shrugging and blandly accepting another bunch of EU soldiers'
surrender. But by the time that happens Lelouch will probably own them all anyway.

Speaking of whom, she could only assume the modifications made to her Morrigan were on his
insistence. Her machine was an Akatsuki Command Model that had somehow conveniently found
its way into Britannia's hands - Lloyd and Lelouch had both refused to tell either her or Cecile
where it came from, they'd just grinned those dangerous grins of theirs and gone on their way - that
had then been heavily tinkered with. For starters, the shoulder mounted machine gun turrets had
been replaced with miniaturized Hadron Blasters and for additional combat options it had been
fitted with double barreled guns on both arms as well as a Blaze Luminous based close range
option fitted to its wrists.

These were all very nice, but then C.C. had to come to the downsides of her new toy: first off it
wasn't pink - the Morrigan's original colour scheme had been pure black - something she had
immediately rectified...though she had liked the red mono-eye camera lens so that had stayed. But
what both amused and aggravated her was the machine's defensive system. Instead of the Radiant
Wave Shielding, the Morrigan also carried an Absolute Defense Field that had been designed to
work independently of the pilot.

It's sweet that Lelouch doesn't want me to get hurt, C.C. allowed as she maneuvered her machine
out of the line of fire of a new group of Alexanders, something the Vincents quickly took care
of. But honestly, sometimes it's like he forgets none of this is necessary. Does 'immortal' translate
differently in that boy's mind or something?

Even as much as his clear overprotective actions annoyed her though, C.C. still couldn't help but
chastise herself for getting worked up about it because she knew where all this concern was
coming from. In a short amount of time Lelouch had lost many of the people he cared for in a
number of different ways - first he lost his friend Shirley, initially to Mao and then Rolo, which
followed shortly with her own amnesiac episode; all his friends in the Student Council at Ashford
were beyond his contact and even if he did they were still under Charles' Geass; Suzaku was an
obvious one, the best friend becoming a self-declared enemy to everything they were working
for...and finally Nunnally. With that track record it was hard for C.C. to fault Lelouch for his
insistence that she get the best defenses possible, so for now she would tolerate it.

Although if he goes any further, like locking me up in my room, with no pizza or Cheese-kun, we
will have words.

She was cut from her thoughts by a sudden tug from her Code, forcing her to bring the Morrigan to
a halt so she could concentrate. That didn't take too long. She noted, mildly surprised. Whilst she
still had a connection to Leila the bond wasn't anywhere near as strong as the one she shared with
Lelouch, she hadn't been expecting to sense anything until she was right on top of her. But then she
felt her Code flare up again, except this time there was no accompanying sense to seek out the
presence. And that, C.C. thought to herself with a smirk, can only mean one thing.

Without wasting another thought, she connected to Jeremiah who received her immediately. "My
Lady, what news?"

"It would appear that our host has found some like-minded friends." She told him cryptically,
though clear enough in its meaning that the Orange Knight would understand.

And understand he did as his face on the screen twisted into a rabid glare. "More meddlers who
would interfere with His Majesty's grand design?!" He yelled furiously and ahead of her the
Sutherland Sieg started to press forward just a little bit faster. "Where are they?! Tell me their
location so I might remove them from this plain my Lady!"
Chuckling in dark amusement, C.C. closed her eyes for a moment to focus on the three entities her
Code had detected. Almost immediately she was awash with her Warlock's contract, as strong as
ever, which threatened to break her concentration and have her turning the Morrigan towards
Berlin. However, the reminder of him also brought forth the memory of his disappointed face
which set her mind straight on the task at hand. After a brief pause, the weak tug returned, along
with the other three and she felt herself turning around to face them like a compass finding its true
north.

Once she stopped and opened her eyes she couldn't help a second little laugh at where she was
looking. "The Colosseum." She announced at last, "How fitting."

Jeremiah's reaction to the news was far less restrained, on the screen his eyes widened and he let
out a mighty roar. "Excellent! An arena for warriors and servants of greatness! A perfect stage for
me to prove my loyalty! Centurions, to me!" At his command the red machines formed up on the
Sieg and followed it down as the huge Giga Fortress launched towards the ancient building.

C.C. followed him in a more leisurely pace, giggling at the pure zealotry of Lelouch's favourite
knight. The smile left her face though as she linked up with him and the guard as they began their
final descent into the Colosseum, their machines' factspheres and other visual systems displaying
an image they hadn't been expecting to see yet so early into their campaign.

Though painted grey instead of the usual light blue, it was impossible not to recognise the
hunchbacked design of the Akatsuki model, and down below stood two of such a model. Beside
them was a regular blue machine that C.C. almost mistook to be the command variant, but on
further inspection she realised it was the Akatsuki's predecessor, the Gekka, however that paled in
comparison to the unexpected armament on its left arm - though it had only three claw like
appendages rather than a full four fingers and thumb, the Radiant Wave Surger was still
unmistakable. The final member of this little party was a machine she'd never seen before, although
there were several features about it that had her drawing close comparisons to the Guren. Painted
predominantly white with a light grey secondary shade, the only true differences to the Red Lotus
was the the beetle-horn styled head ornament that sprouted up and outwards and the strange
switchblade-looking armament on its right arm.

"Japanese Knightmares?" Jeremiah asked, his confusion likely mirroring those of their men as they
approached, "What are they doing here? I thought the EU rejected all aid from the UFN."

"They did." C.C. confirmed needlessly, though she heavily doubted these people were from the
Federation. This was where the Geass presence was strongest and considering Lelouch's less than
amicable departure from them it was unlikely the Black Knights would turn to such methods just to
defeat them. They hadn't gotten that desperate...yet. Shaking her head, she carried on. "It's
immaterial. Leila Breisgau and those two others are here, I'm sure of it. Let's do what we came
here to do and leave the rest to people who care about such things."

So saying, she took the lead and divebombed onto the four machines. Her sudden charge caught
their attention and they immediately set up a barrage to bring her down. Interestingly, the Gekka
didn't use its Radiant weaponry cluing her in to the fact that it was the older model that could only
use its deadly left arm if it got a hold of her.

In that case... she smirked to herself as she activated the Morrigan's MSV option, nicknamed Blaze
Claws, that now coated the machine's hands with red particles in the form of two large bladed
claws. Weaving in and out of the incoming hellfire she pushed her Knightmare right into the thick
of the enemy's ranks and slashed at the blue Gekka viciously.

On her side, one of the Akatsukis made to rush her but was forced back by a stream of incoming
VARIS fire from above as the Centurions descended into the fray, engaging the two mass
produced machines. The fourth machine now came at C.C. with its unusual armament flipping
open in the form of a blade which it brought to bear, slashing forwards at her. She moved to
intercept the blade with her machine's MSV coated hands, catching it much the same way as she'd
caught Suzaku's sword back in Kamine Island.

Her distraction however opened an opportunity for the Gekka unit to attack at close range with its
RWS and the pilot didn't pass it up, accelerating towards her at full throttle no doubt intending to
grab her machine's head and roasting her alive. But C.C. was prepared for this; grabbing hold of the
white machines blade with one hand, she turned the Morrigan around to block the Gekka's assault
with the other hand. It came around in time to block the radiant attack and for a moment the three
machines were stuck in a deadly frozen statue.

Then a wave of fire from above heralded the arrival of a squadron of Vincents, which the Gekka
and the white unit used to break away from her and regroup with the two Akatsukis that weren't
having much luck with the Centurions.

Above them all, the Sutherland Sieg hovered amongst the throng of Vincents, its cannon trained on
the four irregular machines. "Your skills are impressive." Jeremiah stated over an open line,
"Though I must wonder where you acquired four Japanese Knightmare frames."

For C.C.'s part she just rolled her eyes at this little standoff. There was no way the enemy would so
easily give up their secrets and she was proven correct when the four machines' pilots remained
silent. Apparently it was a sentiment Jeremiah shared as he let out a little sigh before continuing.
"So be it then. Soldiers, destroy them all! All Hail Britannia!"

"All Hail Lelouch!" Every pilot responded before launching forward at the four machines.

It was as if fate itself had determined that it wouldn't allow Oz to have what he wanted lately: first
he discovered that the Launcher had been destroyed thanks to Malcal's incompetence as a
commander, then Rai came back to him telling him that his attempt to control said incompetent
commander had failed and now Britannia had decided to attack, but not before knocking out over
half their ground forces before doing so. Things only got worse when Dian dragged him out to the
Colosseum to help the stragglers get away only to be intercepted by the cursed Imperial Guard of
all things, as well as a pink knightmare (seriously? Pink?) with particle knives for fingers that
forced him back with just a single hand. Rai had tried to help but he too had been forced back with
minimal effort.

And then things got worse when a squadron of Vincents joined the fight, being led by the gigantic
machine that had been reported seen at Lupobianco and other regions of Europe. Only one man
used that monstrosity and he further cursed his luck today. "Dian!" He called out to his partner,
"That's Jeremiah Gottwald!"

"No shit!" The Asian man called back as they fended off the incoming enemy machines. "How
'bout we focus on the less obvious stuff Oz! Like that pink Akatsuki. What's it doing here?"

"They must have stolen one from the Black Knights." Rai theorised as he blasted a Vincent apart
with his Gekka's left arm and then dodged a shot from one of the Centurions.

"What does it matter?!" Alice shot back, launching her machine's single slash hearken into another
Vincent and moving on to target another one. "So long as it stays still it's as useless as a Glasgow!"

She had a point, since Gottwald had arrived and launched his assault on them, the pink machine
had stayed absolutely still, the pilot seemingly content to let them all fight it out themselves. Such
arrogance would only serve to get it killed as Alice broke off from the main group and launched
her Akatsuki right at it, firing its slash hearken straight at the machine's cockpit.

However the attack would never meet its mark as just before the hearken collided with its intended
target, the pink machine reached up and grabbed the cable with a single green claw, snapping it
immediately. The thick bladed metal then careened harmlessly over the machine's head and
embedded itself in the ancient rocks of the Colosseum with a sickening crunch.

That alone seemed to be enough to get a reaction out of the enemy pilot as she - as revealed by her
voice - suddenly spoke up coldly. "That's enough of that." She told them all, her Akatsuki's
hunched torso opening up to present its machine guns. "This is where the games end."

Without further warning the weapons opened fire, but instead of bullets being spewed out two
deadly orbs of red energy that had become more and more common on the battle field of late shot
out at them all. Shit! Oz pulled the Byakuen away from the blast. Alice and Rai would also surely
have been caught in the blast had it not been for the former's Geass, the Speed, which she now
activated. Moving faster than the blink of an eye, she moved her Akatsuki out of the field of fire,
grabbing Rai's Gekka as she did so and tossing it out the way as well. However, the Vincents
behind them weren't so lucky, four of which were decimated by the unforgiving rays of Hadron-
based weaponry.

"Damn." Rai panted over their private channel as he stood his machine back up, "That's no ordinary
machine. It's been heavily customised."

"What was your first fucking clue?!" Alice snapped at him before turning back to face the pink
Knightmare. "And what's with you? Those were your comrades!"

In response the pilot stated, without any sort of inflection, "It's hardly a loss." Oz could almost
imagine her shrugging at those words, completely unmoved by her bout of friendly fire. "Not now
that I know the power your Geass gave you."

Those words stopped Oz cold in his tracks as he processed exactly what she'd just said. She knows
about Geass? But that was impossible! The only ones who should have known about it were in the
Directorate and all of them were dead! His frozen state almost cost him his life, but fortunately
Dian, the only one who didn't know what was going on asked "What's geese got anything to do
with this?"

The ignorant question of his partner snapped Oz out of his stupor and he was just about to snap the
correction at him when a Vincent suddenly lunged at him with its lance. A moment later and it
would have skewered him, but the timely question bought him enough time to see and react,
parrying the strike before countering with the Byakuen's blade, cutting through the torso and
cockpit both.

But the return of combat didn't stop his mind working and, even as two more enemy machines
pressed in on him, Oz's ruminations were starting to turn more and more grim. And then a pit of
true horror found its way into his system as the true implications of this girl, one of the Emperor's
Guard, knowing about Geass.

Without a second thought, he shoved the two Vincents away from him before pulling back and
away from the fighting, hurriedly calling out to his team, "Retreat! We have to get out of here!"

"What?!" Alice demanded, herself engaged in battle with the pink unit, "Oz, what are you talking
about? We have th-!" She was cut off as the pink Akatsuki's clawed hands raked at her machine's
left arm, getting under her guard and cleaving it off.

"Alice!" Rai's alarmed cry heralded his joining the fight, rushing in between the two machines and
using his Gekka's Radiant Wave Surger as a shield as the MSV claws came down again. "Damn!
She's too good. We have to get out of here!"

"But we can't!"

"We must!" Oz yelled at her, moving back and forth as the Vincents switched to their assault rifles
and the Centurions raised their VARIS's. "Alice, this girl knows about Geass! How do you think
she learned about it? Who told her?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" The blonde asked, her anger at the situation growing
and clouding her judgement.

Not so for Rai as the realisation hit him like a ton of bricks, even as the pink machine's assault on
his shield began to intensify. "Oh my god, he knows..."

"Exactly." Oz stated, "The only person she answers to is the Emperor...which means the Emperor
knows about Geass too."

There was no response from Alice, other than her machine freezing in its tracks at his words. For a
moment she just remained stationary as the enemy Akatsuki kept pushing against Rai's shield,
gaining more ground by the second as their teammate began to give out. Oz could almost imagine
the gears in her head turning as she weighed in what he was telling her and what she really wanted
to do.

Any time she had for thinking however came to an end when Rai's Gekka finally succumbed and
the pink machine pushed past the Radiant shield. With a muted curse, Alice's Geass activated again
and she grabbed the Gekka before coming around and heading for the Byakuen, also grabbing its
shoulder and making a break for it. And for a moment Oz believed them safe. Knowledge of Geass
or no knowledge, now that the Speed had been activated there was no possible way the Britannians
could catch them.

He would soon come to curse such optimistic thinking however, as when Alice came about to grab
Dian and get him away from the battle, a cultivated voice that was certainly not one of their own
suddenly echoed over his radio.

"I think not, meddlers." The rich and strong voice of Jeremiah Gottwald intoned. "You have
interfered with our Emperor's work one too many times. No more."

The next thing he knew, their group had been bathed in a radiant blue light that filled the stadium
and then to his terror Alice's Akatsuki's speed decreased back to normal. He didn't even have time
to utter any form of shocked demands as to how that had happened as right afterwards, Gottwald's
giant monstrosity of a machine fired its cannon on them sending them all flying into the dirt.

Shaken and rattled, his head bleeding, it took Oz a moment to get his bearings. When he did he saw
that his Byakuen had landed on its back, the monitor showing the large orange machine of the
Orange Knight bearing down on him, the Scarlet Guard on either side and the remaining Vincents
hovering nearby.

"And now," Gottwald intoned, his cannon powering up for a second volley, "it ends."

The cannon fired once more, targeting Alice. She would have been done for had it not been for Rai
once again coming to her aid, the Radiant Wave taking most of the hit. However, this cannon was
far more powerful than the average VARIS shot or an MSV claw, resulting in the blast finally
getting through and blowing off the Gekka's left arm.

"Rai!" Alice's distressed cry was met only with a pain filled grunt, betraying the further injuries
their ally had suffered from the first cannon shot. That served to increase her frustration and anger
at the situation as she brought her Akatsuki about as best she could and launched a volley of
cannon fire at the giant machine. "You bastard!"

Her renewed attack did nothing though, the giant machine revealing its own Blaze Luminous
shielding that barely shimmered from Alice's shots.

Shit, this is bad! Oz's brain was firing as many possible escape plans as it could think up, but every
second saw things get worse for them as the Centurions renewed their assault on them, firing on
them from above with their VARIS rifles. "Dian, cover us!"

His partner moved to carry out his orders but it was a delaying action at best. The Vincents,
sensing their weakened state, also began to re-engage, starting with rifle fire whilst a few others
moved in for close quarters. As Rai's Gekka was the wounded one of the four, the mass produced
machines immediately favoured him for destruction. Such a thing was unacceptable to Oz, he still
needed that boy and the power he held, he couldn't let Britannia have him now!

Desperately he launched the Byakuen forward, intent on reaching Rai before a lucky shot finished
off the work that Jeremiah had begun. Rifle fire of all kinds hailed down on him but he paid it no
mind, until he got to the Gekka nothing mattered and so he pushed on. Fate still seemed to have
him on its bad side though, as just as he was about to reach him, the pink Akatsuki model suddenly
dropped back to the ground right in front of him.

No, not now! Roaring in frustration, he brought the Byakuen's blade to bear and struck at the
damned machine that was ruining everything for him, but the cursed thing just brought up its claws
and countered his strikes.Why?! He demanded to any god that gave a damn enough to listen to
him. Why the hell is everything going wrong?!

The only answer he received was a mocking giggle from the girl in the pink machine as it grabbed
his blade in it's deadly fingers. For Oz it was the last straw as he yelled at her for everyone to hear,
"What's so fucking funny?!"

"You really need to get a hold of your emotions." The girl responded lightly, barely noting his
question nor her machine shaking the slightest bit as he tried to free his machine's weapon from her
own's hold. "You've left your friend unguarded."

Her words rang true as, enraged as he was, Oz still looked around to see what it was she was
talking about. What he saw had him kicking and cursing himself as Dian's Akatsuki was attacked
from all sides by the Vincents as well as Gottwald's huge machine opening up its missile ports,
showing more projectiles upon him. Dian was putting up a hell of a fight, but his machine had
already lost a leg and there were sparks coming out of its joints where the armour had been blasted
away, revealing wiring that was starting to fail.

"You left him to come after me." The girl told him with all the softness of an ice pick. "And now
he'll die because of you. But first..." The claws holding the Byakuen's blade suddenly tightened,
shattering it and leaving Oz temporarily defenceless. A moment later the pink unit had kicked him
to the ground, its cannons pointed squarely at his cockpit.

This is it... No matter what he thought of, Oz couldn't see a way out of it...he'd failed. In the end
everything he had done had blown up in his face, and now he was at the mercy of Britannia. And
there was only one way this could end. Therefore, ignoring the panicked cries of his teammates, he
glared up defiantly at the twin barrels, ready to meet his end.

It was a pity really, this boy somewhat reminded her of Lelouch when he first started out: cocksure,
arrogant, prone to flights of rage. Given enough time he could have been something amazing...but
that was why C.C. knew this boy had to die. Someone that good would be a threat to Lelouch...and
she was done with people trying to take away what was hers. Therefore she felt no remorse when
she pointed the Morrigan's cannons at the white Guren lookalike with the funny arm and pulled the
trigger.

Her shot however went wide as a sword, of all things, suddenly slammed into her arm and
triggered the ADF. C.C. almost sighed in annoyance as she turned away from the defeated boy to
face whoever it was who decided they wanted to be a hero. But that sigh turned to dark glee as she
recognised the customised red Alexander model - what had they named it, Red Ogre? - coming
straight at her, alongside another lilac painted custom unit and a standard Alexander that was
painted white with lines of blue. Her smile was only for the last one though: That tugging sensation
had returned.

Suddenly all interest in her downed foe left her and she turned all her attention to the
newcomers...but those other two hardly interested her and so she contacted Jeremiah. "It seems the
girl can pilot a Knightmare Frame." She told him lightly before continuing. "I'll take care of her,
you can play with the other two."

Without bothering to hear his acknowledgment, she launched the Morrigan into the sky and rained
fire down on the three machines. They dodged her attack as she'd hoped they would do, their
formation going wide, and then she dived down on her target. Her Blaze Claws came online and
she made to slice the machine, and Leila, in half, however it was not to be as the lilac custom unit -
the Alexander Liberte, she at last remembered - intercepted her with its sword.

Not bad. She was forced to admit. I'd thought he was too far away to get to her in time. Not that it's
a problem.

Quickly, she pulled the Morrigan away from the Liberte and then struck forward again, if he
wanted to play the White Knight for this girl that was fine by her. Slicing and clawing, she started
to push against the custom unit, however she was mildly impressed to see that the boy wasn't one to
back down easily as he parried every one of her attacks and even got in a few of his own with his
machine's katana. Their little stalemate was broken however when Leila herself joined in, using her
machine's rifle to fire at the Morrigan and forcing C.C. to disengage, backing away from
the Liberte when it tried to kick her machine off its legs.

She didn't get long to reassess her situation though as both machines switched to their Insect Modes
and launched themselves at her, once again forcing her to retreat away from the battle. In that
moment she realised what they had done and couldn't help the feeling of approval at her
adversaries' actions: they'd recognised her as the superior threat, even though the Sutherland Sieg
was dealing out far greater damage than she had.

But any brute can kill. She correctly guessed their intentions. It's the brain behind the brawn that is
truly dangerous. At that she couldn't help a giggle even as the Morrigan hit the arena walls of the
Colosseum, the two EU machines bearing down on her. They have no idea how right they are.

"YEEEEHOOOO!"
Ashley's trademark exuberance gave him away before he even smashed into the Vincent Wards,
Red Ogre's second sword drawn, and immediately set to work in taking them down. The machines
backed away, trying to put some distance between them and him, but he gave chase and took the
fight to them. Before they could switch out their weapons to their rifles, he was already upon them
and they fell in piles of broken metal.

"Now this is more like it!" He crowed happily as another batch tried to escape him. "No more
running about with our tails between our legs!"

And he meant it. All they'd been doing was running away since the Netherlands, it was about damn
time they got the drop on Britannia for a change and he was going to enjoy every damn second of
it! Therefore, when Jeremiah's gigantic compensation device opened fire on him with his cannon,
Ashley just whooped for joy again and weaved around it, dancing away from the hail of missiles
that came after.

Good, they're shooting me now. He noted as even the Centurions turned away from the other
group, namely the downed hunched machine - what did they call it? Akatsuki? - Whatever, that
dumbass oughta just get outta here while he still can.

Maybe he was a bit telepathic because suddenly one of the Centurions returned its attention to the
damaged Knightmare and to aim with its VARIS. Shit! He tried to get around his new playmates to
stop the machine from firing but the remaining Vincents kept him where he was, helped along by
Orange boy spouting as much as he could about honour and pride and that godawful word he loved
to screech: loyalty. It all spurred them on to keep him where he was until he could only accept what
was going to happen to his ally.

He's going to die... and then he shrugged. Oh well.

Apparently not though, as a moment later that strange white machine of theirs, the Byakuen,
appeared in front of the Akatsuki, it's right arm now seemingly fitted with a large sniper rifle which
it used to fire at the Centurion. While none of the shots hit, it served to put off the enemy
Knightmare and it flew up and away from them though it still returned fire which also missed its
target. However that was fine, the down machine was out of danger for now.

"Not bad" Ashley called out to the Byakuen's pilot, "how many gadgets does that thing have?"

The pilot however replied with a demand of his own, establishing a video connection to reveal the
face of that blond shit they'd been told to save "What the hell are you people doing here?! You're
supposed to be leaving!"

"Oh that's the thanks we get is it?" He retorted, snorting before bring Red Ogre around to cut down
another Vincent whose pilot was too stupid for his own good. "Well then the next time you get
yourself into a perfect little jam, we'll leave you behind no matter what Miss Tits has to say about
it."

"Miss Tits?"

"You know, silver hair, big boobs, big laugh..." he grinned as he remembered how the woman had
glomped the little guy when they'd arrived. "For some reason likes you more than the rest of us
manly men."

"X?" The boy didn't seem to believe what he was hearing. "What the hell is she playing at?"

"Do I care?" Ashley asked back, his eyes turning skyward again to face the giant machine above.
"I'm here cos I heard Orange Boy was around." He declared, his grin turning feral as he revved up
Red Ogre's landspinners. "I've got a score to settle with that loudmouth!"

So saying, he launched his machine forwards, racing right through the enemy lines even as they
opened fire on him or tried to stop him with their lances. The Centurions couldn't do anything to
stop him either, being in the air and out of grabbing reach, and so Ashley moved forward
unimpeded until Red Ogre reached the side of the arena walls and then started racing up the
ancient seating levels until he came right to the very top of the Colosseum. Then he sent his
machine flying back inwards, right in Gottwald's path.

I've got you this time, Orange! There's only room enough for one badass on the battlefield, and
that badass is me! These were the words he intended to yell when he got Ogre's sword through that
thick armour to the loudmouth underneath. He was going to shout them through the man's ears and
make sure every Britannian heard it when he killed him. The Emperor liked this man, so Ashley
would take him away.

Or that was the plan at least until, when he brought his sword forward to pierce the giant orange
machine's armour from above, that damned blue shield appeared again, repelling the attack. That
would have been alright had it not been for the fact that, a moment later, Gottwald used one of his
machine's giant lance hearkens to flick him off and send him spiralling back down to earth.

Motherfucking cheap-shotting non-engaging big-gun-having fun-ruining bastard! Were the words

that resonated through Ashley's head as he quickly transformed Red Ogre to its insect mode to
spread out the landing. The impact shook him but he was too pissed off to even think about
stopping this fight just yet. "Get down here you fucking cheat!"

Gottwald responded by firing his cannon again straight at him, forcing him to evade and move
away from the giant machine. A rumble behind him caught his attention and he glanced round to
see Akito and Leila having their own hands full with their opponent. The pink machine apparently
had a decent pilot as it had moved itself out of its boxed in position and was now firing on them
with its arm mounted cannons. That would have been enough of a problem, but once it had created
some distance between them, the machine opened fire with its shoulder mounted cannons sending
orbs of familiar red death their way.

Shit, I need to get over there. Having fought another knightmare with that kind of weaponry Ashley
knew just how much of a risk they were taking, even if it was two on one. Thoughts of helping
them were cut off though when one of the huge spear harkens from Gottwald slammed into the dirt
beside him, a clear reminder that there was more than one threat to them on this battlefield.

Thus he was forced to watch as the pink machine rushed the Liberte with its green laser claws,
slashing at Akito and removing his machine's right arm. It could have taken more, but the Japanese
boy knew better than to risk it and quickly pulled back. However, it wasn't all bad; the pink
machine had separated Akito and Leila, true enough, but now Leila's Alexander was coming at the
enemy machine from behind. When Akito jumped away, she launched forward, her machine in
insect mode, and made to latch itself around their opponent and hold it still.

That was the plan, at least, until Ashley saw a familiar shield wall erupt into existence on the pink
machine's back. Not the single blaze luminous but something similar to what he'd seen on the
Knight of Two's knightmare in the Netherlands. Regardless of the type, the end result was the
same; Leila was pushed back and suddenly found herself at the mercy of the Britannian pilot.

It didn't have time to turn and engage her, however, as Akito was suddenly on the offensive, though
with only one arm left and his katana lost he could only fight with his rifle. This did little but
distract the pink enemy as the same shield wall rose up again taking every shot Akito made.
Damn, Ashley could only think to himself, an ironic grin stretching his face, we could really go
down this time.

But if that was on the cards, then what the hell, he might as well enjoy his last few moments. As
such he turned his attention away from his friends and back on to Jeremiah Gottwald. I'll skewer
that damn orange if it's the last thing I do! And with that, he charged back into the fray with
another zealous whoop.

"Remind me again why we're not helping them?" Franz muttered, more to himself than to Anna
who Leila had ordered him to stay with, as he paced impatiently around the hangar (just about the
only secure area left if the last reports were true). They had been caught completely with their asses
in the air when Britannia had hit them, virtually all their machines ready to leave as soon as Leila
gave the O.K., meaning it took them longer to get into the fighting than the rest of the EU regiment
in Rome and the result spoke for it. No one was really sure why they had stuck around, save for the
fact that they were doing Miss X a favour.

That was when Anna had hit on the mad scheme they were putting into play now, redirecting
Asura Team to some of the more heavy fighting with grunts and leaving Ashley, Leila and Akito to
fend for themselves. Understandably, Franz was a bit put out by this. But Anna saw it differently as
she explained, again, her reasoning. "This is an opportunity we can't afford to miss! They knocked
out over half our forces and our equipment before they even engaged."

"Yeah, I noticed." He groused. "What of it?"

"Well, have you noticed that the Britannians aren't suffering the same effects?" She pointed out,
"Electromagnetic pulses aren't people, they can't pick and choose what machinery they kill off.
Therefore there must be something about the Britannian Knightmares that protects them from the
effects."

"And you think you can figure it out in the middle of a battle?" He asked her not just a little bit
skeptically with a touch of agitation. This was hardly the time for a science experiment, there were
people out there fighting and dying whilst he remained in here. Ashley had gone off to fight
Gottwald alone, a fool's errand in itself with that damned shield the Orange Knight used, whilst
Leila had gone to offer herself up as bait, both actions likely to result in their deaths if they kept at
it for too long. They needed to get out of Rome, if Leila was right on her assumption that they were
after her then that was the best way to save what little military strength the EU had left in Italy
instead of this holding action that may get them all killed!

However, Anna never responded to his remark as she was distracted by the delivery of a downed
Vincent Ward, the machines legs and right arm blown off and its cockpit section gone - likely
ejected. She didn't even hesitate to acknowledge the arrival and simply waved over Hilda and Kate
who brought with them several bundles of wires that were connected to a set of computers that
were miraculously still working. Even as they made their way over to her she'd already dived into
the knightmare, removing the armour from the torso and, from what Franz could see, hacking away
into the underlying machinery.

She didn't even look up as her two helpers connected the leads of their wires to the Vincent's head
and knelt down next to her with their computers, merely asking, "Have you got it?"

"We've got it." Hilda confirmed, looking at something on her screen that to Franz just looked like a
bunch of squiggles.

"Right." Tearing away at the final layers of inner framing, Anna came to a halt and reached behind
her for something. Seeing her cue, Kate placed another lead in her open palm and then the soft
spoken scientist went right back to it with a zeal Franz had never seen in her before. Hooking up
the lead to what he could only guess was the thing she was looking for, she backed away at last
and stood up, taking Kate's laptop out of her hands and began typing away on the keyboard,
muttering. "I hope this works."

"Hope what works?" Franz demanded at last, completely perplexed at to what the three of them
were doing. What the hell did a bunch of rewiring and a funny Richter reading have to do with
saving their asses?

Anna once again didn't pause from her work, but this time she did answer. "You're right Franz, I
can't work out how the Britannians are immune to the effects of their weapons," she admitted,
before the tiny beginnings of a smile began to emerge, "but I can trip their defences just for a little
while to give Leila and the others a chance."

"You've figured out how to switch them off?!" He exclaimed, disbelief warring with hope at the
possibility.

"Unfortunately no," Kate replied, apparently without anything to do now that her computer was out
of her hands, "that would require us to completely strip the machine down and connect it
completely to a Brain Raid System. That's the only reason the Alexander units are still working,
and we just don't have the time to do that."

"But I can hook it up to a more basic version of the system right now." Anna continued, still not
looking up from her work. "Whatever defences are in place are controlled by a system of firewalls
too immense to bring down right now. However, theoretically, I can send a command along the
Britannians' radio waves to shut down at least some of their defences. It won't be enough to cripple
them like they did to us but-"

"But it'll be enough to slow them down and give our guys time to escape." Franz finished off for
her, finally seeing where she was coming from, that bubble of hope now rising high up his throat.
They had a chance! Not much of one but damn if it wasn't better than how it had been before.
Beaming at the three geniuses before them, he fought the urge to kiss them all at once and happily
ordered, "Do it!"

Sweat was beading down Leila's brow as the pink Akatsuki model launched another attack at her
which she barely evaded. As time had wore on it had become clear that this pilot was more than
just a grunt in a fancy machine, whoever was piloting it was a deserving ace on the same levels as
the Scarlet Guard who were giving Ashley and the Peace Mark pilots a very tough time. Frankly
the only reason she was alive was thanks to Akito's ranged support, but even that was limited to
when he himself wasn't under fire from the Britannian troops.

As it stood they were beginning to be boxed in, the seven allied machines becoming slowly
surrounded as new reinforcements spilled in from above whilst Jeremiah Gottwald kept them
pinned from the air. The final surrounding action was complete when the Liberte was distracted by
the new Vincents, a chance the pink knightmare took and immediately rushed Leila. The particle
claws now came slashing at her even faster than before and she found herself had pressed to evade
them all - she dared not block, lest the claws rip right through her Alexander's arm and leave her
that much less defended. In a last ditch effort she made to arm one of her Uruna Edge Knives in her
machine's arm, barely a pause in the battle itself but all the break in the action that her opponent
needed.

Even as her Alexander raised its arm to engage with the knives, the pink machine slashed
diagonally, ripping through both arms. She barely had time to gasp in shock as the Akatsuki
suddenly shunted forwards, smacking her Alexander backwards and onto its back. Defenceless, she
could only look up as the machine bared down on her.

I can't win. She realised bleakly, and it wasn't just her. Around her she could see that Akito had
been forced back and was now also completely armless and Ashley, for all his efforts to bring
Gottwald down, was now firmly flat on his back...though she took some small pride that it took
both of the Centurions present to hold him down. As for the four they'd come to help, both mass
produced Akatsuki models were heavily damaged along with their Gekka model, the unregistered
white model was the only one still firmly active but Leila highly doubted Oz could keep it up for
much longer.

Well, I wanted to know how long it would be. She admitted, cursing herself for tempting fate so
brazenly. But at least we bought enough time for the others to get away.

Her thoughts and hopes would soon be dashed though when her radio blared to life and a voice she
hadn't been expecting called out to her. "Leila! Are you there? Can you read me?"

"Anna?!" She called out, what the hell was she doing calling her now...for that matter how was it
she was still in range? "What's the meaning of this? You were supposed to escape!"

"Well then," a new voice called out, "you're really gonna be pissed off with us." The flippant
statement heralded the arrival of two Alexander Valiants, practically out of nowhere, leaping onto
the back of the pink Akatsuki and dragging it back from Leila's downed unit.

"Ryo! Ayano!" Akito called out, recognising the custom jobs of the two machines, in disbelief.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be getting everyone out!"

"The better question, Akito," Ayano easily replied, a grunt coming through on the radio as the pink
machine threw her and Ryo off of it and came about to face them, "is why did we jump on that
thing instead of - I don't know - sticking a knife in it?"

"Hey, it made sense at the time!" Was Ryo's defence as he pulled his Valiant out of range of the
deadly claws and armed its arm mounted battle axe to defend as the Akatsuki charged straight at
him. Particle claws met steel blade in a short lock before the two pushed off and Ayano fired on
the enemy machine with her Judgment rifle. Her shot was on the mark, but the infernal shield wall
went up, protecting the target from any damage. "Are you kidding me?!" Ryo shouted at the sight
of it, "This one has it too?!"

"We can complain about that later." Ayano told him before addressing Leila, "Listen to Anna,
we've got a plan but you need to do exactly as she says."

A plan? It was hard for her to believe that even Anna could have come up with something so
quickly, and even if she had their machines were more crippled than intact and the Britannian
numbers kept swelling. Numbers were a quality of their own after all, and Jeremiah Gottwald and
the Centurions more than matched their own machines when they were at full strength. Whatever it
was Anna had in mind had to be either brilliant or insane...

Seeing though as she was out of ideas herself, Leila mentally shrugged and switched her frequency
over to Anna. "Alright, what do we do?"

"Just be ready to run." She told her shortly, "The signal will be a noise coming from one of the
Vincents, when you hear it run with all the power your machines have left."
"Wait a minute," Ashley cut in, "a noise from a Vincent? How's that work?"

"We don't have time!" Anna cut in harshly, "Just be ready to receive coordinates." That was all she
said and the radio went silent.

Not so much for the others as Ashley immediately made his opinion known. "This is crazy! How're
we supposed to know which sound to listen for?"

"We don't exactly have a choice." Akito pointed out as he brought the Liberte back on to its feet
(the Britannians were currently distracted with the arrival of the two Valiants to worry about a pair
of crippled Alexanders) before coming around to help Leila's Alexander back up. He was right too,
they were out of options, and the longer this dragged on the more likely it was that Ayano and Ryo
would end up in the same wrecked state as their machines or worse like what happened to Yukiya.

But Anna didn't say what to listen for. Leila also admitted Ashley had a point as well, they knew
next to nothing about what Anna was planning except what she'd told them. How were they
supposed to know when the signal was given, especially with so much going on around
them? Either way, it's a risk. We wait for a signal that we don't know, during which time the
Britannians surround and kill us, or we leap at the first sound we hear only for it not to be correct
after which the Britannians surround and kills...or we get it right, make a break for it and hope for
the best...and pray to the gods that the Britannians don't surround and kill us. Not the best of
options...but it was all they had.

Therefore, despite her misgivings - both in regards to the plan and who she was contacting - she
opened a channel with the Peace Mark pilots. "Listen up, we have an escape plan. Wait till you
hear a noise and then run for it."

"What kind of noise?" The familiar voice of the silver haired boy from before asked back, his blue
Gekka barely holding together with the loss of its left arm.

"I don't know," she admitted, "that's all I was told. Wait for a noise coming from one of their
Vincents and then run for it."

"That's it?!" Ah, the dulcet tones of the voice she recognised as Oz cut in. And shock of shocks he
was less than impressed with Anna's plan to get them out of this mess he and his friends had landed
them in. "That's your grand scheme to save us? Wait for a sound and then run away, hoping they
don't shoot us?"

"If you've got a better plan, let's hear it." Ayano snapped back, her Valiant coming around to flank
Leila's other side whilst still providing cover fire for Ryo as he held off the pink machine. Her
statement was met with an annoyed growl, probably a result more of his own teammates pointing
out that there was little they could do than anything she had said, but Oz made no further comment.
Further confirmation of their complicity came as the crippled grey Akatsuki's cockpit hatch opened
and the figure of Zi Dian hastily made his way over to Oz's Knightmare which bent down to collect
him.

Leila didn't have time to thank anyone for their trust - grudging though it may be - though, as her
secondary hub suddenly pinged in announcement of the arrival of Anna's plotted escape route.
Quickly she brought them up on her screen...and blanched at what they depicted; they pointed to
an exit alright, one of the old tunnels in the Colosseum itself, but standing between them and
freedom was the full bulk of the remaining Vincents. Is Anna mad? Charging them head on would
be suicidal! She would likely be hearing the same from Oz if she hadn't already muted him.

Still...what choice did they have?

"Alright." She spoke up, steeling herself for this mad dash. "Everyone get ready. The moment I
give the word, we all hit our accelerators and we don't stop until there's nothing shooting at us."

There was another round of grumbling, though none of which came from her own soldiers, but no
one made a move to countermand her. Together they grouped up as the enemy machines fully
encircled them, with the exception of Ryo and Ashley - one of whom remained locked in battle
with the pink Akatsuki, the other still trying to land a hit on Gottwald (though that particular
engagement had degenerated into basically yelling insults at the giant floating machine) - the
Vincents didn't take their chance lying down and quickly started laying down suppressing fire
pushing them closer and closer together until all of their machines' backs were touching each other.
Ryo's brief fight with the pink unit came to an end when the pilot apparently grew weary of it and
simply launched itself into him, sending his Valiant reeling back and into the rest of them, whilst
Gottwald tired of Ashley's yelling and merely launched his lance-hearkens at Red Ogre forcing it
too into the central group.

The push went until it was truly impossible for their machines to move without hitting each other,
their mobility well and truly compromised. Only then did the machines suddenly halt their assault,
which Leila could only assume came from the orders of one of the custom units. Her suspicions
were proved correct when the voice of Jeremiah Gottwald came through her radio. "A valiant
effort, soldiers of Europe United, coming to the aid of others," he complemented, though the tone
quickly became chiding - almost chastising - as he went on, "and yet also foolhardy. Had you not
come to help these soldiers the W-0 Unit could have escaped long before we turned our eyes to
you."

W-0, or just me? Either way it was a confirmation of her suspicions...but that wasn't going to make
her feel guilty over her choices. She'd had a call to make and she wouldn't be cowed into believing
she'd made the wrong one, even if it was her just repaying her debt to Miss X by saving people she
really had no reason to trust.

Gottwald, however. knew none of this as he finished his short lecture. "And now, in the name of
Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, 99th Monarch of the Realm, we shall remove you from the board."
His speech was followed with his machine's cannon powering back up whilst the Centurions took
aim with their VARIS's.

Tensing up, Leila prepared herself for the worst as she knew the others were doing likewise - she
could imagine the number of curses Oz was yelling right about now - and let out one final prayer.

Anna!

And then, to her immense relief, a miracle happened: Directly ahead of her, the immediate Vincent
in her Alexander's vicinity began twitching before letting out a horrid loud whining. The whining
grew in strength and after a moment Leila realised it wasn't just one of the Knightmares making
this noise but all of them, even the Centurions were shaking awfully compared to their near
seamless mobility from before and the same loud screech coming out of their external speakers.

It took a moment for the surprised European group to realise what was happening - even Ryo and
Ayano seemed somewhat nonplussed as to what was going on - but that only lasted a couple of
seconds before Leila put it together. A noise from one of the Vincents - the one directly in front of
her that happened to overlay the planned escaped route - was the signal Anna had been telling her
about. Their chance had come!

"NOW!" She yelled at the top of her lungs before slamming her foot down on the accelerator and
sending her Alexander forward for all it was worth. She could vaguely hear Akito calling for her to
stop in her near suicidal charge but she blocked it out, this had to be it! Anna had to have done
more than just cause some communications trouble with the enemy machines.

Her faith in her friend proved true when she forced her way passed the shuddering Vincent right in
front of her; it fell back without any sort of fight, toppling into the knightmare behind it and setting
off a domino effect where all the Britannian machines in their immediate vicinity were knocked to
the ground. Not bothering to question their good luck or how the hell Anna had found a way to use
their enemy's trick against them, Leila and the rest kept up their pace and raced for the exit.

They were nearing the exit tunnel when an incoming warning blared on her screen and she quickly
pulled to the left, just in time to dodge a VARIS blast from behind them. Gulping she turned on her
rear screen to see what was happening; sure enough the Centurions had righted themselves and
were now opening fire on their retreating forms.

"What the hell?!" The girl from the Peace Mark team demanded, "I thought they were fried!"

"Not fried, just confused." Ayano piped up, "Anna found a way to hack their systems with the BRS
but could only do so much with the little time we had."

Still a better chance than we had before. Leila considered, even as Gottwald's machine - which
never seemed to have been effected by whatever it was Anna had done in the first place - leveled
its main cannon at them. "We can discuss this later!" She cut in before a discussion of what had
happened just now could erupt, "For now let's just get out of here!"

Her recommendation was met with a hearty 'Yes Ma'am!' from all her pilots and thus they
continued their race for the tunnels. They only just made it before Gottwald's cannon fired,
smashing into the walls of the Colosseum and burying the precious exit. They didn't stop though,
not until they came out of the Colosseum and had their eyes on the W-0 convoy that was waiting
for them just a little way off. Only then did Leila let out a sigh of relief...

"Cowards!" Jeremiah's cry of rage echoed through his cockpit, down his radio, and out into the
open stadium that their enemies had just vacated. The absolute nerve of those cretins! "You dare
face me in battle and then have the gall to turn your tail and leave after such a cheap trick?!"

What had they done to the machines of his men? One moment victory had been all but assured, the
next every last knightmare - Lady C.C.'s included in that number - had started to behave erratically.
Such a sight had been unprecedented in the Vincent Wards throughout their time in service, as such
the sight of them behaving like a second-hand Glasgow had caught him completely by surprise. It
was enough of a distraction for the cowardly fools to run away, even as he and the Centurions tried
to give chase.

And now they'd lost them! The prize that Master Lelouch had tasked him with obtaining had
slipped through his fingers for a second time! Such a thing was disgraceful and, were it not for the
fact it would inconvenience His Majesty, Jeremiah ought do what any decent soldier should do and
throw himself on his sword in penance for his blunder. How dare these European cretins make a
fool out of him?!

Such thoughts merely spiked his temper again and he sent the Sutherland Sieg into the air so that
the craven dogs could see as well as hear him as he gave them his declaration. "Run where you
can, you honourless curs! But know wherever you go I shall give chase! Not another day will
follow that you do not check your shadow, never again will you break bread in the comfort that
you have eluded me, no more shall you sing songs of victory for Europe! Hear these words and
know that Jeremiah Gottwald shall never rest, until he brings your heads to the throne of His
Majesty's court - a solid proof and reminder of my loyalty!"
"Oh calm down, Jeremiah." C.C.'s much more composed tone carried over his words at the end,
much to his own disbelief. "Yelling at the top of your lungs isn't going to find them any quicker.
Save it for when we've located them again."

"But my Lady!" He turned to face her machine as the Sieg descended back into the Colosseum,
still finding it difficult to swallow that she was taking this all in stride. "They have insulted us twice
now! Such a precedent cannot stand lest His Majesty appear weak! We must crush them before-"

"And we will, good knight." She assured him, still as cool as ever even as she tested out her
machine to make sure everything was still working properly after the EU did...whatever it was they
did to them. "Just not now. For now let's focus on taking Rome. At the very least that's the last of
the large EU member nations under our control."

Her last statement was enough to perplex him enough to put the current topic of vengeance aside,
"Beg pardon, my Lady, but the last?" He asked her, "Surely there's still-"

He was cut off again by C.C., though this time in the form of a small amused laugh before she
actually told him what was so funny. "Turn on your broadcast frequency and switch to channel
twenty-three." She instructed him, still with the touch of a smile in her tone as she did so.

Curious as to what it could possibly be that had C.C. laughing, Jeremiah did as he was told and
flipped on the Sieg's broadcasting frequency. The main screen immediately cut out to background
noise and he quickly changed the channel to the one specified. When he saw what it was that C.C.
had seen, his initial reaction was one of disbelief...then as the implications of what he was seeing
hit him he saw exactly what C.C. had found so amusing. A moment later he too was laughing,
though rather than in scant amusement, his chuckles were tinged with pride.

It would appear his master had not been content with remaining idle after all.

Outskirts of Rome

There had been no time to load up the Alexanders upon their reunion and as such the battered and
beaten Wyvern Squad (plus Ashley) became an impromptu bodyguard for the convoy as they
raced out of the capital. Despite linking back up with their friends, tensions remained high until
they finally loaded all their equipment and machines onto a train and escaped along one of the
older rail lines. Longer, but less known, it was their best bet of slipping by any Britannian patrols.

When the final slab of concrete passed them by, and all that remained was a field of green, the
whole of W-0 let out a deep sigh of relief. They had made it.

That didn't stop Oscar from getting everyone back on task and working, though, and soon after it
was business as usual as the train carried them out and away from Italy. Leila however allowed
herself a brief moment of silence, her eyes not focused on the green fields but on the city they'd left
behind. Even as the morning sun rose higher the smoke from the fires in Rome were still visible,
fires started because she had been there.

They won't stop. She knew this, had known this for quite some time, the outside was just a visual
reminder. But even if that was true, they now had something to give them an edge the next time
the Britannians knocked out their older models. If that developed into something useful, maybe the
loss of another country would be worth it. Speaking of which...

"Leila!" She needn't have gone looking for the woman of the hour as Anna's called heralded her
arrival and a moment later the two girls in a tight hug. "You're safe! You're all safe!"
Smiling gently at her friend's near tearful statement, Leila just stroked her hair lightly and didn't let
up in their embrace at all. "It was thanks to you that we made it Anna," she reminded her, before
glancing up and seeing Kate and Hilda stood a little way back and nodded to them as well, "and
you two as well. Had it not been for you three we wouldn't have escaped with our lives."

"Oh there's no need to praise us," Hilda told her, though she did return the smile, "Anna's the hero.
She was amazing today."

"Hey!" Ryo's loud voice called out, his own goofy expression twisted in a look of mock offence,
"What about me and Ayano? We had to out there and carry the damn Vincent back for her to work
that magic of hers!"

Maybe he shouldn't advertise himself the way these three have. Leila thought to herself, barely
rolling her eyes as she hugged Anna a little tighter, conveniently putting her at ear level so she
could whisper to her. "Don't think you're off the hook for violating orders."

Either her friend didn't hear her, or she didn't care, because she barely reacted to the light
reprimand. And if Leila was being honest, it was likely the punishment she'd later devise wouldn't
fit the crime even if it had been brazenly stupid to risk more lives on such a gamble.

"All right, everyone, enough with the love-in!" Claus's voice called them all unwillingly back to
reality and the girls broke away from each other, Anna leading her helpers back to the Alexanders
so she could get to work on fixing them whilst Ryo snorted and went back to whatever it was he'd
been doing. As for Claus, he smilingly came to a rest at her side and gave the whole group a good
look over. "That had to be the closest shave we've had so far, and yet here we are in one piece. Are
we that good, or is the Emperor getting sloppy?"

But she just shook her head, her frown returning. "We got lucky, that's all there is to it." She told
him grimly, arms folding as she took in the damage of her Alexander. "If Anna hadn't come
through we'd all be dead."

"Well she did, and you're not." Claus replied, shrugging lightly. "I'd call that a win."

"Hmm...speaking of which," she glanced his way briefly, "what exactly was it she did? It was as if
the Britannian knightmares were drones with a poor handler."

But again he just shrugged, shaking his head in bewilderment. "You got me. I don't know what
goes through that cute little brain of hers. I just know it had to do with hacking into a Vincent we
captured. The rest is voodoo as far as I'm concerned."

"It probably had to do with the BRS." The warm male voice preceded the arrival of Takeru, who
was unsurprisingly sporting just as warm as smile as he joined them, "As that system was
uncompromised by the EMP, I can only assume Anna found a way to use it to our advantage,
though you'd have to ask her to find out the truth." He just shook his head though. "Personally, I'm
just glad everyone's alright."

Accepting his word for what it was, Leila nodded before putting the subject to one side. "Is there
something you wanted, Takeru?"

"Not me, particularly, but you're wanted at the front." He told her, his smile dropping somewhat.
"We need to plan our next move now that Miss X has left us."

A valid point, to which Leila nodded and told him to lead the way. Miss X had gone with Oz and
the Peace Mark group when they split off, she hadn't said where they were going or what they were
going to do now that virtually all of Western Europe had fallen to Britannia. All she had said was
that 'Ozzy' wouldn't let this be the end for them and that he'd be back in the fight soon enough.
With her gone they were in the dark more than ever, especially considering the fact that they had
gone to Rome on her recommendation and were now basing their next destination also on her
word...and that wasn't much, just that 'many things' awaited them there.

Hardly actionable data. Leila thought to herself grimly as she Takeru and Claus entered the front-
most train carriage which had been more or less converted into a central command station. It wasn't
much with the little time they'd had, but they still had a big screen and they still had computers that
flowed data and listened to the airwaves. As such they could still operate until they arrived at their
destination.

Upon noting her arrival, Oscar straightened and gave her a quick salute before stepping away from
what looked like a makeshift podium, obviously what they'd been using as the CO's stand, which
Leila now took over. Not wasting any time she immediately asked him, "Have we had any
trouble?"

"Nothing substantial," the bespectacled officer reported, "we had a brief scare when we first set out
but the patrols are now either too far away or too focused on the mainlines to worry about us."

Good, then we might just be able to pull this off. Still it was best to let what was left of command
know what they were doing. Who's left now? Most were killed right at the start of the
attack. Shaking off that concerning thought for a moment, she turned to Chloe. "Get Berlin on the
line, let them know what's happened here and where we're headed."

"No need." She unexpectedly replied, "They're calling us on the priority frequency..." but then she
frowned, as if the data didn't match up with what she'd just said, "no, wait a minute...it's a live
stream. Something's going down in Berlin that they want us to see."

This grabbed not only Leila's attention, but that of everyone else in the carriage. Despite the heavy
losses of territory in Germany, Berlin was still considered the capital of the EU. For them to send a
broadcast live from the city itself, as well as sending it through the secret channels to ensure
arrival, it could only be of the utmost importance. Of course, whether it was good news or not still
remained to be seen as Joe reminded them with his short comment. "Maybe they're saying they've
surrendered."

That got him the stink eye from most of the other occupants in the room, no more so than Claus
who snorted before responding, "As if! Us surrender? That's like saying the Chinese Eunuchs
didn't like to play with little boys. Those guys're too stubborn to quit, sad to say."

A crass way of putting it but Leila couldn't disagree, she only had to look at the vicious demands
the EU had them pay in the last war to know that their commanders simply wouldn't give up until
they had won...or they were dead. Thus she prayed that they were sending good news her way, and
the way of every other regiment in the field that this message had to be reaching, and nodded at
Chloe.

Nodding back, the ginger girl returned to her monitor and hit in a few commands, transferring the
incoming feed to Leila's small terminal and then faced the screen with hopeful eyes. Begging to
any god that the news Berlin was sending them wasn't going to destroy that hope, Leila took a deep
breath and hit the accept command.

Immediately the white noise that had been dominating the screen faded away to be replaced by
inky blackness, and everyone waited with baited breath to see what would come next. No one was
particularly amazed at the void, they'd been audience to more than a few propaganda pieces to
know a dramatic beginning when they saw one. Then a spotlight flickered on...and all their hopes
were dashed.

It wasn't an EU representative or the President of the Union or even a military command...in fact it
was no one to do with the EU at all who stood before the burning steps of the Reichstag, nor was it
a European machine standing above him, the imposing black and gold machine shining in the light.
The one who had contacted them, and every other regiment in the field, was none other than
Lelouch vi Britannia himself.

"It can't be..." Oscar's whispered denial spoke for them all.

"How the hell did he...?!" But Claus just trailed off on his question, realising for the first time just
how much time had passed since X had told them of the campaign in Germany. They'd needed less
time to secure Spain, taking the rest of a country that had already been systematically carved up by
the Emperor and his new Knights of the Round, occupying Berlin would be child's play.

As for Leila, she just stared in horrified awe at the sight of their nation's enemy standing
triumphant in their capitol as he began to speak. "Greetings to the people of Europia United. If you
are watching this then you now realise that yet another vestige of the tyrannical government that
has ruled you for centuries has fallen. Yet when we entered the Reichstag to bring these beasts of
injustice to heel we found naught but empty chairs and dusty tables."

"They escaped!" Oscar exclaimed quietly, a touch of hope entering his voice and for a moment
Leila felt the tension in the room relax somewhat. General Smilas was still in the game, they had a
chance! But then it dawned on her that telling their enemy that their leader would live to fight
another day was...unwise at the best of times, downright suicidal at the worst.

So why would he tell us that, unless he had a... And then it hit her exactly what was about to
happen as the White Emperor continued, "As the brave men and women of Germany sacrificed
their lives for a cause they believed in, their vaunted leaders chose to abandon them rather than
stand with them. Instead of sending aid to their wounded, which I have gladly given," the image of
Lelouch was replaced with the blasted streets of Berlin where dozens of injured soldiers in
European uniform were currently being carried gently by those who were clearly Britannian, "they
determined their own lives were more important than those of their people and the constitution of
equality they supposedly live by!"

"Oh gods..." Leila heard Sophie's voice nearby, at some point she'd moved to stand at her
husband's side and was now gripping his sleeve as she too cottoned on to what was happening.
"He's doing it again."

"Therefore," Lelouch continued, "I once again ask that the remaining European nations lay down
their arms and surrender. If you truly value your belief in equal rights, I ask you to look to your
common man, to the women who hold your children, to your husbands whom you may never see
again...to a mother who may die for you tomorrow." An offer and a plea disguising a threat, she
almost missed it herself as he talked, the sadness in his tone nearly glossed over what he was
saying: stop resisting or watch your whole world burn.

"Shit..." Claus breathed, slumping against the back wall of the carriage. "This can't possibly get
any worse."

Wrong, as it turned out, as the Emperor then delivered a bombshell no one had been expecting. "I
would have you know that, as of yesterday evening, Norway and Sweden signed a treaty of peace
and gave me their declaration of fealty. A first of what I hope to be many peaceful endings to this
unhappy state of affairs."
The cumulative 'WHAT!' from everyone summed up the feelings on that little surprise. Their
northernmost allies had betrayed them?! That only left the eastern nations, countries which Leila
knew weren't nearly as strong as they had been before the Euro-Britannian invasion. If they got
wind of this, how long before they decided assimilation was better than resistance?

Not long. She was aware that the east held the central and western Europeans in scant regard,
mostly due to old grudges from before the union but most recently how the central powers had left
them to fend for themselves when Euro-Britannia came knocking. Why should they fight if
Britannia was offering peace? He's driving us into the dirt with every word he utters.

"Therefore, I say again, disarm yourselves and meet me at the negotiation table." Lelouch
concluded, placing a hand over his heart "And I promise no more of your people need die. For you
would then be my people," and then his eyes focused straight ahead, right into the camera lens,
which had the effect of him appearing to stare right at everyone watching the broadcast. For Leila
it was if those deep amethyst eyes were staring right into her soul as he told them in no uncertain
terms, "and I protect that which is mine."

His declaration complete, the image of Lelouch vi Britannia cut out and let the chaos of his words
take hold.

For a while...for a long while, the command staff of W-0 just remained frozen where they stood, so
quiet that the sounds of the train wheels rattling along the railway line amplified just how hard the
White Emperor's words had hit them. They had hoped for good tidings only to be met with their
worst nightmare and were now heading into a theatre of uncertain allegiance.

How? Leila asked herself, her head hanging low to hide her wide eyed, despair filled, terror. How
can we possibly win?

Beneath the Tyrrhenian Sea

If someone had told him that today would be the day he lost all sense of sanity, Oz would have
ignored them and continued scheming up a plot to take down Britannia once and for all. Now
though, in just under the span of a couple of hours, he'd learned that Geass could actually be
ignored by the fact that Leila Malcal hadn't taken them to High Command, then that very same
High Command got blown up by a Britannian sneak attack that knocked out anything that wasn't
theirs, Japanese, or cleverly built like those Alexanders, and then he and his friends had been
thrown about like a bunch of rag dolls by a pink knightmare.

After that he thought it had been enough, couldn't that be enough? Dian was injured, Rai's Gekka
had lost its main offensive weapon, Alice was even more furious than she usually was, and X was
still playing her games. At the very least though, she'd provided the submarine he and the rest of
Peace Mark - or what was left of it after that debacle - could use to escape. He'd thought about
asking her where the hell she'd acquired it but then realised he really didn't care so long as it gave
him time to think.

Time that apparently Lelouch vi Britannia didn't want to give him though when they intercepted
the high priority message from Berlin. Thinking that it would be something of use he'd had the
communications officer put it through...

One long winded speech about tyranny, freedom, and betrayal, later found Oz standing perfectly
still, a blank expression on his face as he took it all in, whilst X stood to the side digging into a full
bucket of ice cream. Inside though, he was screaming every last possible curse he knew.
Unsurprisingly, then, his first cognitive thought after he ran out of languages to swear in
was, THAT FUCKING BASTARD! He dares preach about oppression and fairness whilst he takes
and takes and takes!? Those damned traitorous northerners had better enjoy their new servitude
because when I'm done with him I'm coming for them next! All of them!

He was done. No more of acting behind the scenes or slipping his way in with magic powers.
Lelouch had crossed the last fucking line. If he wanted to take the whole world, then he would
have to drag Oz in kicking, screaming and toothless as that was the only way he would join that
bastard's domain.

But not just yet. For now they needed to regroup and repair their machines. Therefore, as calmly as
he could, he told the navigator, "Set a course for the Black Sea, we need to go dark." The man
didn't question the order (or say anything really, still coming to terms with Berlin's fall) and jerkily
carried it out.

Enjoy your empire while you can, Lelouch. Oz prayed his thoughts found their way to the bastard
whose image he'd kept frozen on the main screen before him. We'll be back. And when we return,
I'll show you that you're not the only one who can take things for himself.
 Rivals

June 12, 2018 Berlin.

Despite the seeming ease that the rest of the world (even those parts that were already under
Britannian occupation) perceived the taking of Berlin as, the reality of it was something else. While
it wouldn't be told for several years, the siege of the German capital actually began three days
earlier when the three sky fleets all converged on the city together - Lady Cinder Fall's from the
north, His Majesty's from the south, and the remaining Knights of the Rounds' from the west.
Numerically speaking they'd had the advantage, technology-wise as well.

Yet this time the Euros had fought with a fervor never seen before, undoubtedly they'd always
fought ferociously to keep every last scrap of land they could but in Berlin it had been as if to give
even a speck of dirt to the enemy would be up there with high treason. Their Alexander units were
used much more skillfully than before, making use of the tall buildings to give them an advantage
against the older models and hiding away when the Vincents and Gareths came in to join the fray,
resorting to hit and run tactics.

For two days this went on, with the Britannian side for once losing more than the Europeans thanks
to their clever tactics. On the third day though, it appeared that His Majesty had had enough as he
then commanded the Knights of the Round to join him on the battlefield. Their arrival spoke the
end of the EU's hold out, with the Emperor himself and his guard leading the charge and the
Rounds shadowing them it was the perfect morale boost that their side had needed. And then when
His Majesty had opened the battle with his machine's monstrous beam weapon even building didn't
stand in their way to finish the occupation.

For Arthur Calhoun that had been the proudest moment of his life, to fight alongside his Emperor
had been the highest honour he could have asked for whereas before all he had done was stand by
and watch. It was glorious.

Now in the aftermath of their latest conquest, he watched from their newly acquired Reichstag
building as their medical teams rushed from one patient to another, working to save as many lives
regardless of their alignment. This was what he'd fought for, what his friends had bled for...what
Cap and the others had died for. Slowly, but surely, their world was becoming united.

There were only two downsides to the whole thing: First, the leaders of the EU hadn't been present
when they arrived, something that just turned him the wrong way on principle; Second, there had
been no sign of those blue Alexanders, meaning Wyvern Squad hadn't played a part in the battle
either. Such issues left him feeling unfinished and thus he spent even more time on the battlefield
than Lord Thomson (who was fucking terrifying), cutting down every last Panzer and Alexander
he could get his hands on until the Reaper's energy filler ran dry.

He even protested that he should still be out there with the soldiers in case anything underhanded
went down...but then Lord William Bishop had told him firmly and sharply that he was a Knight of
the Round now, he didn't act without His Majesty's approval and His Majesty had ordered him to
remain here. Such a statement had silenced any further arguments on the matter, which led him to
where he was now, pacing around the entrance hall of the Reichstag impatiently whilst the other
Rounds sat down in chairs, looking far more relaxed.

That in itself opened up a new issue: How the hell was he supposed to talk to these people?! He
was just a grunt who the Emperor liked and decided he would make a good pilot for the Reaper.
Compared to Lord Bishop, the personification of a warrior and knighthood, he was nothing. He'd
fought in more campaigns, done his duty at the expense of his freedom, and given more in service
to His Majesty than Arthur could ever hope to achieve. Just standing in his presence made him feel
small and inadequate.

Then there was the Knight of Two, Lady Cinder Fall. With her he'd actually managed to exchange
a few words every now and then and oft times she did so with a small and a teasing lilt that had
him blushing. However her behaviour when His Majesty was present upped it to eleven: When he
walked into a room, Lady Fall's expression became almost carnal, her eyes never once leaving him,
one could almost feel her lust rolling off of her. He'd thought to ask about it, but His Majesty's
personal aid Alfred had warned against it, saying that the last person to do so was almost stomped
to death by the Amber.

And if that wasn't scary enough there was the final Round who was currently picking at his
fingernails with a knife. As earlier stated, Peter Thomson outright terrified Arthur - partially
because of his appearance, but mostly because of the sheer insanity he'd played witness to
yesterday; they had been charged with pacifying the eastern sector of Berlin together. Apparently
'pacify' in Thomson's mind translated as 'murder everything that isn't flying Britannian colours and
leave nothing to bury.' By the time they were finished, there was hardly an eastern sector left.
Unfortunately, because the other Rounds were currently busy with other matters, the two of them
were stuck together.

His roaming eyes stopped as Thomson let out a snarled curse, followed by him tossing the knife
away carelessly. The blade had caught the sensitive skin beneath his thumbnail and now the large
digit was bleeding red. His snarky mutterings about the Germans and how they couldn't do
anything small scale brought Arthur to a stop in his pacing as he saw the bloodlust in his fellow
Round's eye start to rise, and suddenly all manner of carnage assaulted his mind. If such a small
thing could set him off, it was probably best to head him off at the curve now.

"Soooo..." He drew out the word for as long as he could, partially to get the man's attention but
also so he could think of something remotely interesting. That didn't help though and so he blurted
out the first thing that came to mind. "I heard you and Lord Bishop were in prison together."

His barely legible statement succeeded in attracting Thomson's attention alright, but now that
single blue eye was staring at him, and suddenly Arthur wondered if that really was a good subject
to bring up. Shit, what if that's touchy with him? What if he thinks that I think he's an up-jumped
criminal? What if he's like Bradley? Wonderful considerations that had come too bloody late.

For another moment the Knight of Three remained quiet, before grunting. "Yeah, what of it?"

Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me.

"Well..." Arthur started, his survival instinct seemingly having gone on holiday as he pressed on,
choosing his words as carefully as he dared. "I just wondered what it was like. How did you
survive in a place like that?"

The eyebrow of Thomson's remaining eye rose slightly before the man uncrossed his legs and
pulled out of his slouched position before standing up, all of this without a word...and suddenly
Arthur realised just how big this man was. No quite as tall as Lord Bishop but pretty damn close, it
made for a terrifying sight especially when the giant leaned down to look him in the eye.

"And what does a little soldier like you wanna know about hellholes like that?" He asked slowly,
enunciated every syllable with a touch of ice in each word, his teeth on display for every sound.

I'm dead. Was the only thought Arthur had left as he tried to stutter out a reply that wouldn't result
in his only remains being a smear on the wall.

But then the scowl on Thomson's face vanished and he beamed madly at him. "Yeah, me and
Willy got ourselves chucked in old Chuck's hell hole!" He said laughingly, before swinging a large
arm over Arthur's shoulder and yelling in his ear, "Ten fucking years we were in there before the
kid got us out!"

If it weren't for the fact that he was a bit disgusted with having another man's spittle down his
earhole - and a little bit deaf after that drunken roar - Arthur might have been angry at the man's
continual naming of His Majesty as 'the kid.' But then he'd recalled earlier today when he'd tried to
get on Thomson's case about it only for the Knight of Three to wave him off and Lord Bishop to
advise against trying it again.

No problems there. He thought to himself as Thomson let out another hearty laugh and began to
tug him along, a bottle of beer having suddenly appeared in his hand which he then took a long
swig out of. A moment later the giant let out a loud happy gasp before grinning down at his
captive. "Ah! Those were good days! 'Specially when a new guy came in! It was like Shawshank!
You've seen Shawshank right?"

"Er… no." What else could he say? But the look of disbelief Thomson gave him had Arthur's
already anxious nerves another kick.

"You've never seen The Shawshank Redemption?!" His large captor demanded, before shaking his
head and dragging him off towards one of the waiting rooms. "Honestly, kids these days! No
appreciation for the classics!"

With that the two very different men sat down (more like 'forced' in Arthur's case) and thus began
a rather… unique friendship. For all that he was sure he'd made a terrible mistake opening his
mouth, by the halfway point of watching the famous movie Arthur had to admit one thing: if the
beginning of it and what happened to Tim Robbins' character was anything like what happened to
Peter Thomson he still willingly fought for Britannia, then he would never doubt the man's loyalty
again.

Today, Cinder decided as she made her leisurely way through the Reichstag, was a very good day.
They'd taken the city, which meant that their campaign in Germany had also come to and end, and
if the reports were correct Italy had also fallen taking a good portion of the leading officers in the
EU's army with them. Half of their goal had been met in just under two weeks and for that alone
she was happy. Even better was the list of civilian casualties on the EU's part when Lelouch had
finally gotten bored and joined the battle himself, by some miracle the number of dead civvies was
comparatively small when compared to the devastation of their military.

But what really topped off her day was the Emperor's speech which had once again been done in a
way to destroy the Europeans' credibility. Add on the little tidbit that the northern countries had
joined Britannia willingly and, well, you didn't have to be a genius to see which way the wind was
blowing.

Therefore Cinder was making her way to the Chancellor's Office that Lelouch had claimed for
himself so they might speak further on what to do with the eastern nations that had yet to surrender.

It shouldn't take too much. She expected. They've never liked the central powers that much anyway
and won't appreciate taking orders from someone who wasn't born on their soil. A simple divide
and conquer oughta do it. Not that those two'll ever admit it.
Honestly the amount of thinking she was sure Lelouch and Bishop were putting into this was more
than what was required in her opinion, but the man liked to be prepared for anything and Bishop
had an almost unhealthy obsession in seeing that he kept breathing.

Those were the exact words she intended to tell them both once she joined them, all on the tip of
her tongue when she spied the telltale garb of the Scarlet Guard ahead, and she was just about to
kick the door open without announcement when the double doors opened themselves and
Lelouch's aid, Alfred, stepped out and closed them behind him.

"Ah! Lady Fall!" He greeted her amiably, a pleasant smile in place. "I was hoping I'd run into you."

"Hi Al." She returned, smiling back. Honestly, Cinder liked the aging man. He held a look of
experience about himself that betrayed a life of bloody service. Even in attire that made him look
more of a butler she could still feel the presence before her: Once upon a time this man had been a
killer.

No wonder Lelouch keeps him around, she considered to herself, he seems to enjoy surrounding
himself with people who could kill him if we all weren't so loyal.

Speaking of whom, she still needed to calm down that overthinking mind of his and so she made to
excuse herself. "I'm sorry, I can't stay to chat. Lelouch wanted to see me."

The aging man nodded, arms folded behind his back, as if he'd expected as much for her to say.
"Of course, my Lady, I wouldn't dream to delay you. However, I believe this discussion cannot
wait, it is of paramount importance that we talk now."

Though he said it gently enough, there was an underlying level of severity that caused her to frown.
Surely if it were so important the issue ought to be brought up with Lelouch himself, why was he
coming to her? Now slightly worried, Cinder allowed him to lead her aside, out of the way of the
ears of the Scarlet Guard.

Only when they were sufficient distance away did she shake Alfred's hand off her back. "All right,
what's this about?" She asked, keeping her suspicious tone level. "Is there something wrong with
Lelouch?"

"Potentially." The old man allowed before fixing her with a steely gaze. "Tell me, young lady; what
do you feel for our Emperor?"

That...was a very curious question, one that had her own eyes narrowing just the slightest bit
at. What does he want me to say? Does he want me to say anything? The warning of a test before
her was rising in Cinder's veins, yet she couldn't help feeling somewhat upset that such a thing was
happening. I thought we were passed this...but if Lelouch wants to play this game, then I'll win
it. So deciding, she gave him the stock answer all 'loyal' soldiers gave when asked. "Lelouch is our
leader and guide. It is my honour to serve him."

"And I am sure he appreciates that," Alfred agreed, nodding lightly, though his expression didn't
lighten by any means. "But you didn't answer my question, young lady. What do you feel for our
Emperor?"

So not looking for the usual B.S. then. Knowing that actually put some of her worries to rest, it told
her this line of questioning didn't come from Lelouch himself...which just led her to wonder what
sort of answer Alfred was looking for. Deciding to test the waters a bit, she went for her next form
of answer which was peppered at least with a little bit of truth.
"I admit, I am very grateful to him." Cinder told him, which she honestly could say she was. "If it
wasn't for him, I would still be in the academy struggling to gain the attention of a patron. But now
here I stand in the presence of the most powerful warriors our empire commands...all thanks to our
Emperor."

She left out, of course, the fact that she was now beyond the power of those so-called 'nobles' who
had ruined her family and murdered her mother. As the Knight of Two there was only one who she
answered to, a position that, had the aristocracy been left intact, they'd be scrambling to take away
from her.

And yet that still didn't seem to be enough for Alfred who, even though he had somewhat lightened
up, still peered intently into her eyes, "Is that truly all, my Lady?"

Now she was getting frustrated, though she hid it behind as calm a mask as she answered yet again.
"I will admit it has been a great honour to be trusted with so many of his secrets. It feels… good to
know he has such faith in me."

And still that didn't seem to be what Alfred was driving at as, even though he nodded, he stated yet
again, "I'm sure that is part of the answer, my Lady, but is that all there is?" This time however,
before she could respond that yes, that was all there was (regardless of how much she wished for
more), he continued. "Because I don't believe that is the case: I believe you feel something deeper
than mere friendship or affection for our Emperor, and that you are giving me all these roundabout
answers to prevent yourself from admitting it in some ill-conceived belief that I would disapprove."

His hitting the nail on the head like that almost tripped her, though Cinder did just manage to hold
on save for a twitching eye muscle. But it was his continued onslaught of his accurate theory that
finally pushed her to the brink.

"So what if I am?!" She shouted, unconcerned with the looks she got from the distant Scarlet
Guard. "So what if I love him?! So what if I lie awake at night begging for his touch?! So what if
when I sleep I dream of him being with me, holding me, loving me…" her cheeks blushed red as
her voice dropped to a whisper "making love to me."

But then the blush was gone and she glared up at the impassive butler before her. "What does it
matter at all? He already has C.C.!"

And damn if that admittance was bringing tears to her eyes, forcing her to duck her face down
angrily. I will not cry, dammit! I haven't cried since Mom died and I sure as hell won't now! What
good would tears do her now anyway? They wouldn't get her Lelouch. He'd been taken before
they'd ever met - hell she'd seen his mistress on TV a number of times before the Day of Knights -
and, short of an assassination attempt (something she would never try after what it did to her and
again what it had done to him), that wasn't going to change. So what was the point of crying over
it?!

All I can do is fight for him. Cinder had determined that when she'd first realized what she was
feeling. I'll fight for his dream, kill for his dream, I'll do whatever he wants of me… shit. She cut
off as a single stubborn tear fought its way free and trickled down her cheek. So why isn't that
enough anymore?!

Damn this old man for asking her these things. The only thing she could do was look up and glare
at him now waiting for his order to continue her silence in that goddamn neutral-pleasant tone of
his. But instead of a blank slate on his face, Cinder saw that Alfred was smiling widely.

"It is as I suspected then." He said pleasantly, "But you are aware that His Majesty has claimed a
second bride, yes?"

He has? That admission sent her heart soaring, maybe there really was hope for her after all! But
then practicality came stomping in a crushed it under a thick heel. That doesn't mean he'll just take
anyone. He probably doesn't even need another hanger on.

Her changing facial expressions were observed by Alfred for a few seconds before he hummed to
himself and continued. "I see that it is news to you then." He stated… sounding actually somewhat
annoyed at that, before shrugging and carrying on. "Well, as you are now aware, the Emperor has
enacted the Royal Prerogative of Continuation. The Empire must have an heir. As such he will
need to marry."

And he already has his choices settled. Cinder thought to herself bitterly. One to ensure an heir
and another to produce a spare, is that what you wanted to tell me Alfred, 'cos I could've figured
that out myself!

If he noticed her miserable expression Alfred didn't comment as he went on to say. "I have
therefore been working with him to find a suitable number of brides - enough to ensure a new
generation but not so many that parallels can be drawn with Charles zi Britannia. I thought you
might like to know, my Lady, that of the names we have compiled together, one stands in high
priority." And now his pleasant smile switched to one of slight mirth. "One that goes by the name
of 'Blackwood.' Are you familiar with anyone by that handle?"

All thoughts ground to a halt at that name save for shock as Cinder's gaze shot up to stare at him
again. She couldn't have heard that correctly, could she? Because if she had then…

Before she could question further, Alfred let out a little chuckle and started walking back the way
they came towards Lelouch's office. Although as he did, he threw over his shoulder "If you
remember who that name belongs to do tell me, my Lady. The Empire is a big place and, what with
the recent reshuffle of power, noble names just don't stand out the way they used to."

She couldn't have responded to his glib exit if she'd tried, her mind abuzz at what she'd just been
told. And then when she finally did accept that this hadn't been some truly cruel dream, Cinder
started to wonder other things, namely why was it Alfred telling her this and not Lel… Oooohhh. It
suddenly clicked why Lelouch hadn't said anything.

That son of a bitch. He was going to keep it quiet and make her figure out his plans for them herself
wasn't he? As this realisation settled in, a small laugh escaped her lips as Cinder's trademark smirk
settled itself back into place. So he wants to play, does he? Too bad he didn't count on his butler
double-crossing him.

Now she knew. And now, Cinder Fall could play too.

"With the fall of Germany, along with Lady C.C. and Sir Gottwald's push into Italy, the entirety of
western and central Europe are now ours." Bishop concluded the summary of their most recent
successes, tapping on the digital map before him and Lelouch, turning the whole of Germany and
most of Italy blue.

"It's a fine start, William." Lelouch agreed, stopping momentarily when the doors of the
Chancellor's office were kicked open, allowing Cinder to join them… and quite frankly he
admitted to being somewhat unnerved by that smile she was wearing along with the way she
strutted up to him, swaying her hips at him even more than she usually did. It was her little bow
that did it, just deep enough that he got an idea of what was hiding underneath that formal Rounds
uniform before straightening back up again and winking at him flirtatiously.

She knows. Which meant she must have been told. Dammit Alfred!

Mentally sighing he just openly rolled his eyes before smiling back at her before returning his
attention to the map, Cinder slinking right up to his side as he did so.

"We mustn't allow victory to get to us though." He continued where he'd left off, scrolling the map
up north to the Scandinavian territories. "Norway and Sweden may have joined us but Finland is
still resisting. We should expect any number of brush fires up there in the coming days."

"Then please allow me to extinguish such fires, Sire." Bishop, rather predictably, spoke up, "Even
with the willing assimilation of Sweden I doubt they would take up arms against their neighbour
and longtime ally simply at our say so. We may be facing opposition on both sides of the line this
time."

"A possibility." Lelouch conceded with a frown. "But bear in mind, Wiliam, they had their own
reasons for leaving the EU beyond just our involvement." The truth was Sweden's economy had
taken a devastating hit from the war, their factories supplying only Panzer-Hummels to the
European cause. The more they fought, the more machines they lost, especially in the face of the
newer Alexanders. As such the factories simply weren't turning over a profit anymore and people
were tiring of the wasted resources. "Many people blame the EU government for this war and how
it has driven them away from the normalcy of everyday life."

"And then in comes Britannia, promising a return to normal service whilst everyone else promotes
war." Cinder chimed in, "Three guesses who the people are gonna side with in that situation. I'd
worry more about Finland." She scrolled the map a bit to the right and then expanded it so that
only the neighbouring country inhabited the screen.

"If they attack first, they'll roll over Sweden and perhaps even Norway, establishing a cushy little
empire for themselves in Scandinavia." She snorted a little at the prospect. "Not sure why anyone
would want that, but then I've never understood those vikings anyway." Shrugging, she shook her
head and addressed Lelouch again, "Anyway, point is if these guys want to be a part of us they're
going to have to be ready to fight, regardless if the guys they're shooting used to be old friends."

"Agreed." Lelouch stated before reaching out and zooming the screen back out somewhat.
"Therefore we will strike first. Bishop." He turned to his Knight of One. "You and Thomson are to
take the Third and Fourth Fleet and strike Poland."

Dragging the map down again he then began to draw several arrows on the map, a somewhat crude
method of visualising troop deployments but it served his purpose. "Once that is done you two are
to split up and hit these four." He drew a circle around Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and
then divided that circle in two. "Thomson will assault Belarus while you, Bishop, push north and
conquer the other three."

"Meanwhile, Arthur will simultaneously head south into Austria after which he and Jeremiah will
meet up here, at the Slovenian border." he drew a circle around the small country squashed
between Austria, Italy and Croatia. "They will then proceed onward south-east until there is no
more land to take."

"A bold plan, Your Majesty." Bishop allowed before giving him a courteous bow. "I will set off at
once and collect Peter. He'll be getting agitated by now."

"I think he dragged Arthur into the waiting lounge." Cinder told him, a level of amusement in her
tone as she did so. "Better go rescue the poor kid before your friend convinces him our Emperor
hired a psychopath."

Not to far off the mark really. Lelouch admitted to himself, snorting in amusement in time with
Bishop's own before he gave his fellow Round a nod of thanks and then departed from the office…
maybe walking a bit faster than usual. Once he was gone Lelouch returned his attention to the map,
a small cruel grin forming as he slowly turned each country he'd set up for conquest from red to
blue. "I wouldn't want to be Finland in a couple of days' time."

"Hmm." Cinder purred her agreement, leaning beside him with a small smile of her own. "And
what about me, Lelouch?" She whispered in his ear, breathing on it as she did so "What poor
unfortunate land would you have me lay waste to? Do I get Denmark, or maybe the Ukraine?
Russia or Turkey? Kazahkstan maybe? Give me a name, and watch as I set it on fire in yours."

Hel's name, it shouldn't be possible for the talk of war to be so arousing! And yet Lelouch could
feel himself hardening at the sultry voice of his latest fiancee as she wrapped an arm around him
and pawed lightly at his chest. If we didn't have work to do and time was not so much of the
essence…

Unfortunately they did have work to do, and so reluctantly he called upon his self control and
gingerly removed her tempting limbs from his person. "You, my sadistic seductress, have the
pleasure of striking the hammer blow to Finland itself."

The mild pout that had adorned his Knight of Two's face suddenly evaporated, giving way to
sadistic glee that quite frankly if he wasn't immune to such looks would have had Lelouch
concerned. As it was though all it did was remind him of the other bit of news he had to give
her. She's either going to accept this grudgingly or strangle me with my own shawl. Ah well,
damned either way.

Deciding he ought to just get it over with he went on to tell her. "You will be accompanied by my
sister, Marybell and her Glinda Knights."

And like that the smile dropped away and the flames of bloody excitement went out in Cinder's
eyes, only to be relit a second later by a far more worrying emotion that had Lelouch questioning
his sanity in putting them together: the fire of hatred. Not for Marry, but for one knight in particular
who had risen to prominence in the Glinda Knights.

Well I'm not dead so I might as well try to smooth this over.

"Cinder, I know you have… reservations about the Zevon family-"

"If by 'reservations'" She interrupted him coldly, glaring at him, "you mean I want to beat every
member of that despicable family to death and then string up their corpses with their own
intestines, then yes I do."

"But" he pressed on, ignoring her sharp look "please bear in mind that Oldrin Zevon is an ally and
close friend of my sister's."

"So I should forget?" Cinder snapped, pushing away from him, her gaze not once leaving his own
as she spoke. "I should just let bygones be bygones, let the family that destroyed mine go
unpunished? I thought the opposite was the basis of our agreement."

Lelouch didn't want to think about how lessening their growing relationship to a mere agreement
upset him but there it was. Nevertheless he needed her to see things his way if this was going to
work and so he pushed on. "Cinder, we both know that Oiaguro Zevon is the man whose blood you
want spilled-"

"And what better way of getting his attention than killing his niece?" She shot right back
unflinching.

"Considering he killed his own sister to get his position in Pluton," He fired back, making a point
to keep his tone level, "I doubt that'd work."

"So what will?" She demanded, her frustration coming out in full. Not that Lelouch could blame
her, they'd had this argument more than once since D.S. revealed Wizard's true identity. "How long
do I have to wait before my mother is given justice?! What hoops do I have to jump through to get
him?! Why can't you just let me have him?!"

All good questions that he had to answer. Lelouch could say that it was because they didn't know
where he was, or that he was so far behind enemy lines it'd be suicide even for a Round to go in
after him. He could even point out she was of greater value here than getting justice, but the truth
circled back to the fact that her life was too familiar to him. How many years had he wasted away
plotting vengeance for Marianne? How much time had he lost on that? Too much was the answer,
it would be the same with Cinder if he couldn't convince her to wait. If she didn't she'd waste her
life away on it and eventually come to hate herself and the world at large for her perceived failure.

But he said none of this. Instead he simply repeated, "Attacking Oldrin will not bring Oiaguro out."

That just set her off again "For god's sake, Lelouch!" Cinder yelled at him. "I was a child!"

"And so was she." It was a gamble to point out the age similarity, but for a moment Lelouch
spotted a crack in his knight's furious armour. Seeing his chance he latched on to that one basic fact
and pushed on it. "She was the same age we were when Oiaguro killed his sister - her mother - and
her twin brother disappeared. She has as much reason to hate him as you do." There it was, he
could suddenly see it, the small sliver of consideration behind the anger, even if she was
completely taut Cinder was thinking about it and that was all he needed. "You want to get
Oiaguro? Oldrin might be your best bet, but you have to work with her first."

That was it, he had her. Cinder was silent, even if she was still glaring furiously at him for such a
suggestion, that strategist's mind of hers was going over the possibilities of using Oldrin in another
method than a bloody corpse to draw out Wizard. Not quite the angle he was going for but if he
could convince Cinder that Oldrin Zevon was at least an asset to use in her revenge then maybe he
wouldn't get more than two angry calls from Marry once she was dispatched. Seeing the doubt start
to creep in again, Lelouch went for the final trick in his arsenal.

"Tell me Cinder, is it truly right for us to blame the actions of another on their kin? Should I be
held accountable for Charles zi Britannia?"

And there it was, his question had Cinder's glare finally break into a sharp denial, the words there
on her lips waiting to be spoken even as another part of her still warred with the decision not to
string Oldrin up. But, then she screwed up her face as if saying what she was about to say truly
disgusted her and let out a defeated sigh.

"No." It was one word but it held all that Lelouch needed to hear to know that he'd convinced her.
As such she let out another deep breath and folded her arms before nodding at him resignedly.
"Fine, I'll work with Oldrin…" and then finally she gave him a small dry smile, "do I have to like
her?"
Such a… Cinder response had him chuckling at last and like that, the tension that had started to
engulf the office vanished. Further discussion about the Zevons was dropped after that and the two
strategists got on with refining the next offensive with their normal level of companionable banter
and dry wit. And if Cinder just so happened to slip in front of Lelouch and rub herself against his
chest he certainly didn't make any mention of it. Nor did she make any note of whether or not he
took to resting his hands on her hips, stroking them with his thumbs suggestively.

After some time they were at last interrupted by the return of Bishop looking both parts distressed
and amused. When they enquired over it he simply replied, "I stumbled across Peter
watching Shawshank with Arthur. That's the first time in eight years I've walked in on him and he's
been watching something other than Adventure Time or Two Girls One Cup."

"Aww," Cinder cooed, giggling at the perplexed giant, "sounds like Pete found himself a new little
playmate."

"I hope not." Bishop replied, "The last one tried to insert a sink in him after the end of the first
week. It… didn't end well." He finished with a grimace.

"For Thomson, the friend, or the sink?" Lelouch asked, curious despite himself.

Bishop himself looked surprised at the Emperor's interest but got over it quickly enough and
replied with a concise, deadbeat "Yes."

Huh. That almost sounded interesting enough to take it to the source, it'd make a funny story to tell
the grandkids one day at any rate… Wait a minute, what am I thinking?

Shaking off his off moment, Lelouch cleared his throat before (much to their mutual displeasure)
he pulled away from Cinder and put a couple of feet between them. "Anyway, I presume you
informed him of the new offensive?"

At his question, Bishop also wiped away all thoughts of mirth and stood straight. "Yes, Sire, Lord
Thomson is ready to depart on your order. I have also sent a runner to gather the crews of the Third
and the Fourth, we shall be ready to depart at daybreak."

A disappointed sigh at his side announced Cinder's own departure. "I suppose that means I'll have
to get going too. I know how punctual you like things to be."

On her way out though she paused and then beckoned to Bishop, causing him to lean down so she
could ask him something. It was whispered however and so Lelouch could only guess what it was
she was saying to him… but if that teasing smirk she sent his way was anything to go by he could
easily narrow it down to something that was going to be downright humiliating for him.

He was proved right when Cinder patted Bishop on the shoulder and went on her way. For a
moment the large man just held his frozen position, a look of utter wonder on his face, before
slowly turning to face Lelouch with that same look. And then suddenly he burst into tears.

"William!" Lelouch uttered, completely caught off guard by his First Knight's sudden mood swing.
"Are you alright? What's wrong?" What the hell had Cinder said to him that would cause this sort
of reaction from Bishop?

"Majesty!" The man in question, quite literally, cried, turning watery eyes on his liege again. "Is
this a falsehood? Are you truly engaged?"

Wait, that was it? She'd just told him that? Put on the spot, Lelouch found himself unable of saying
anything other than stumbling over his words. "Well, um… not quite - that is to say there are plans
for-"

"And to two young women?" Bishop pressed, breaking off a sob.

"...Yes?" Gods Lelouch hated it when he couldn't talk properly but who could blame him? A giant,
deadly knight who killed people for a living was not expected to cry quite this much. "Is there
something wrong with that, William? Do you disapprove or-?"

He didn't finish however as the next second he found himself in a massive bear hug that threatened
to squeeze the breath out of him as Bishop lifted him off of his feet, still crying all the way as he
did so.

"Wrong with it?!" The Knight of One proclaimed it as if such a thought was blasphemy. "Majesty I
am overjoyed! To think I would live to see the day the Lady Marianne's son would marry not one
but two lucky young women!"

"Well…" Lelouch managed to squeak out as his lungs fought for air, "I think Cinder's in there now
too…"

Not the correct thing to say it would seem as Bishop's tears just increased along with the tightness
of his embrace on his young master. "Three?! Oh even more joy to spread! How much happier can
you make me Sire?"

Not much if you don't put me down! Seriously, if he could see himself in a mirror Lelouch
suspected he'd see that his face had gone purple. Whether or not Bishop got the message though,
the hug finally ended and the young emperor took a moment to get his breath back, not that the
large man seemed to realise as he continued to cry loudly with the office doors for anyone to see.

And once he was finally capable of normal respiratory functions, Lelouch looked up at the open
doors and spied a very mischievously grinning young woman of whom he'd just outed his plans to
marry somewhere down the line. Before he could call out to her or yell anything between
humiliation or obscenity, she merely gave him a wink and blew him a kiss before sauntering off
down the corridors of the Reichstag. And yes, he did see her put that sway in her hips whilst she
was at it.

It was at that point that a horrifying thought crossed his mind before Lelouch slouched down into
the office armchair, doing his best to drown out Bishop's continuing wails. Three of them. How is
that possible?

What was it with him and women who loved to tease, distract, humiliate and otherwise emasculate
the male gender?

A ray of hope unveiled itself though as they were then interrupted by Alfred entering the office,
completely undeterred by Bishop's loud joyful sobs. Part of Lelouch felt like running him the riot
act about giving Cinder this sort of ammunition on him but Lelouch desperately wanted to get out
of this position and so he quickly asked, raising his voice slightly, "Yes, is there something you
needed, Alfred?"

The aging man bowed politely before telling him, "Forgive the intrusion, sir, but the dignitaries
from Norway and Sweden have just arrived."

Already? That was rather quick, but if it got him out of this situation Lelouch wasn't going to look a
gift horse in the mouth. Hopping out of his chair, he made his way around the Chancellor's desk
and grabbed his shawl and hat, narrowly evading Bishop's attempt to embrace him again. "That's
good news indeed, how about I go and meet them in person?"

"Very good sir." His butler replied easily enough and proceeded to escort him out of the
Chancellor's office which Lelouch immediately ordered shut by his guard until such a time as Lord
Bishop got a hold of himself. Bad enough that his attitude had gotten odd looks from his own
troops, it would be that much worse if the foreign politicians saw the state of the supposedly
unshakable Knight of One.

In his hurry, though, Lelouch almost missed Alfred's additional information. "It might interest you
to know, sir, they brought along a gift as a token of good faith."

"No trouble at all, Alfred." He replied hurriedly, not entirely paying attention to his words, "I'll be
sure to accept whatever it is they've brought with them with all the grace and humility expected of
the nation's leader."

After all, it couldn't be that bad could it? Couldn't be more embarrassing than the scene he'd just
left after all.

Brazil.

If Schneizal could have said it, he would have expressed his pride in just how well Lelouch was
doing. In less than a month he'd wiped out the main powers of the EU remnant, countries that had
dogged their nation over centuries. It would seem all those chess games they'd played together
years ago had borne greater fruit than even he could have dreamed. At the very least Lelouch had
proved himself a masterful leader, on the battlefield and off, manipulating the masses with the
media and propaganda.

He'd certainly learned from the sound defeat he'd been handed all that time ago on the Ikaruga, that
was for sure. But for all that Lelouch, I still hold one advantage. Schneizal considered with a small
smile as he twirled his favoured white king piece in his fingers, I've been in this game much longer
than you. You have to adapt as you go along while I can remain hidden thanks to years of
preparation for this exact scenario. Granted he'd been expecting to be hiding from his father rather
than his brother but these small things could be worked around.

Anyway, that was enough daydreaming and as such he tuned back in just as General Schwarzer
finished his report on the situation in the EU. Frankly nothing that he'd been told was anything he
hadn't been expecting, this was all his design after all. Still, it looked bad if a perceived leader
appeared ignorant before his peers and as such he donned the familiar mask of charisma and
opened his eyes to the screen that Schwarzer was speaking on.

"I see." He replied smoothly, "Is there anything else general?"

"Not much to go on other than that masked bastard Wizard has given the specs of the Agravain's
Hadron weaponry over to the Euros." Schwarzer stated with an angry bristle. It was hardly a secret
that he and Wizard didn't get on but this latest setback for the EU had pushed it right over the edge.
"Give them long enough and they'll be spraying red death at everything as well."

As was predicted. Was all that went through Schneizal's mind at that bit of news. With them on the
defensive, the Europeans would turn to any and every trick they could think of to delay their final
defeat. It might buy them some time, a day or two maybe, but the fact remained they'd been
doomed from the very outset. A regrettable sacrifice, but worth it so long as Damocles was
completed.
"Very well then." He said at present. "That will be all for now."

"Of course, but Your Highness." Schwarzer called out to him before they could cut the
transmission, "Is it not too reckless for the last true prince and princess of Britannia to side with the
enemy?" This again? Every time they talked it seemed the general came back to this topic. And any
moment he would say it, "Maybe it would be safer if I joined you at your location. At the very least
I could provide logistical aid, the very most my most loyal soldiers will stand as your personal
guard. Just tell me where you are and I can-"

"Thank you, general," Schneizal cut in firmly but calmly, "but your concerns are unwarranted. I
assure you my location is safe enough. Besides I'd feel rather guilty if I forced Britannia's last true
general to hide back here with me."

That was one reason, though the others were the ones that were truly keeping him from giving the
general admittance. For now though his suspicions could wait until a later date, after all he had a
present of his own to give him. "In the meantime, it has become clear to me that the frontlines of
the EU need further bolstering -" he paused as Schwarzer muttered that that was the least the
Europeans needed before continuing, "therefore I've given orders to my Knights to join you."

The amazement on the general's face at such an offer almost made him feel guilty of suspecting
foul play from the man. However, he'd also once believed his gentle brother Lelouch couldn't
possibly have murdered Clovis or Euphie and look how that ended up. Relieved, the general
nodded on the screen, "Their presence would be more than welcome, Highness. With their aid
we'll finally bring down this usurper."

Doubtful. Schneizal privately thought to himself, especially after he'd heard what Lelouch's own
Rounds had achieved in such a short amount of time. At the very least his Knights would add to the
aforementioned delaying action, though their chances of re-usability were considerably higher than
the other soldiers currently in Europe. Naturally, he said none of this and simply nodded at Kanon
to cut the connection.

That done he called out to the corridor where the three Knights he'd selected were waiting. As one
they filed in and went down on one knee before him. "No doubt you heard all of that so I won't
waste our time by rehashing it." The three before him merely nodded. Satisfied, Schneizal
continued, "Very well then, the transports will be ready to take you to Europe in a few days. Your
mission is simple: Defeat Lelouch vi Britannia and bring his madness to an end."

"Yes, Your Highness." His three Knights intoned.

One of them, Gino Weinburg, asked, "Highness, if I might ask, where exactly are we being
stationed?"

"St Petersburg." He answered easily enough, "General Schwarzer has his base of operations there."
For a moment he allowed his face to lose some of its charm, adopting a saddened visage… which
held a charm all of its own. "I don't think I have to tell you that this must remain quiet. The last
thing we need is Lelouch learning of our plans."

At the utterance of his brother's name he observed the faces of the three before him shift in very
different ways. Nonette Enneagram, formerly the Knight of Nine, let out a deep sigh that spoke
volumes of her lack of commitment. Much like Cornelia she too had been a grand admirer of
Marianne the Flash; unlike his sister however, she had been kept in the dark of the other identity of
her idol's son. The result was clear doubt over the possibility that Lelouch could truly be an enemy.

Gino just frowned at his words, neither a commitment nor a refusal to be read from it. Quite
frankly his presence was a surprise to Schneizal after he had quite openly declared that he would
have his father, then the current Emperor of Britannia, assassinated to make way for himself. For a
man who was clearly more loyal to Britannia than the people who ran it, Schneizal had to wonder
what it was that had brought Gino to his side and not his brother's.

The third one (and in his opinion the one most likely to succeed in this endeavour) reacted in a way
that was almost too obvious by now. But then, he'd spent quite some time in the presence of
Suzaku Kururugi over the last year since his ascension to Knight of Seven. The dark scowl, the
barely restrained rage, mixed in with the deep sense of betrayal he felt any time Lelouch was
mentioned, it was almost laughable how easy it was to read him… and how to manipulate him. But
then, Schneizal considered, I suppose you knew that too, didn't you Lelouch?

Speaking of Suzaku, the young man raised his head from his knelt position in askance, "Highness,
what about my Knightmare?"

"I'm sorry, Sir Kururugi, but the truth is we simply don't have the expertise required to construct
this kind of machine." That wasn't necessarily true, many of Lloyd's upgrades had become standard
practise these days and Cecile Croomy's Energy Wing system could be grasped, but in reality
Schneizal was loath to give the Japanese boy such a powerful weapon after his repeated record
of… questionable decisions. As such he'd made a point to hold onto the designs and had his
scientists modify them to something a little more… controllable.

As such he told the slightly crestfallen knight, "Have no fear though, R&D have put together
something I'm quite sure will live up to your skills. They should be putting the finishing touches to
it as we speak. Now, unless there's anything else?" He was met with firm silence by the three
Knights. "Very good, then be sure to get some rest, for now we enter the game."

As one the Knights bowed again and then stood, leaving him to his deliberations.

Now then, Lelouch, in this chaotic world you've created what will your response be to these new
players?

The three former Rounds chosen for Prince Schneizal's mission stepped out into the corridor and
for a moment they just looked at each other in silence. All of them were aware of what they would
be heading into soon and just what sort of odds they were facing. Of the three of them only Suzaku
really had an idea of what they'd be walking into, Gino too but the Prince had ordered that the truth
about Zero be kept quiet for now. And with the way he'd quickly rolled up the map of Western
Europe, Suzaku had to admit that it looked like his old friend had only gotten better at spreading
his unique brand of chaos throughout the world.

He still doesn't get it, does he? He thought to himself bitterly as another scowl found its way to his
face. Conquering nations, destroying cities, annexing the unresistant… And even worse the
majority of the empire loved him for it, unable to see through the fact that he'd taken greater
liberties over the people than Emperor Charles ever had. How can they not see what he's doing?

"Oooh, that's a scary look you got there Suzu." His ruminations were broken by the former Knight
of Nine as she leaned down to peer at him with that trademark leer of hers. "It almost looks like an
emotion just bloomed on that pretty little mug of yours."

Her words told him all he needed to know and Suzaku quickly flattened out his expression again
before anyone could ask questions, resulting in the buxom woman pouting at him. "Aw c'mon,
Suzu, you need to smile at least once a day. I mean look at you, you're a complete grouch."
"We'll smile again when there's something to smile about." Came the uncharacteristically cold
response from Gino which had both knights turning to look at him in surprise. Something had been
off about him ever since Britannia assaulted Belgium, though no one had thought to ask him about
it at the time.

The weirdness of such serious attitude from the blonde wore off quickly for Nonnette though as
she turned her focus back to Suzaku with a mock glare. "See what you've done now!" She scolded
him playfully. "It's spreading! You've infected Gino with your moodiness."

Her words however were met with an eyeroll from both of them and she let out another annoyed
sigh. "Geesh, tough crowd. You boys had better relax by the time we're in Russia or else I can't be
held accountable for my actions." And with that terrifying notion placed in their minds she turned
on her heel and headed off towards Princess Cornelia's chambers, no doubt looking to give the
woman another bout of her special kind of grief.

For a moment the remaining two Knights watched her go in that same perplexed manner that they
always did after more than five minutes in her presence before deciding to head off themselves,
Suzaku wanting to have a look at this Knightmare Prince Schneizal's people had put together for
him. That was the plan at least until Gino spoke up.

"Aren't you going to check in with her?" He asked him calmly, still something Suzaku was trying
to get used to from the young man who usually bore a smile through anything.

"I hadn't planned on it." He admitted all the same, knowing which 'her' his fellow Knight was
referring to. Quite frankly he didn't know what he could say to her about all of this. Something that
Gino seemed to have picked up on.

"You should, you know." The former Knight of Three told him solemnly, "Once we get going,
we'll probably be gone for a while. If there's anything you two need to say to each other it might as
well be now."

More sage advice from the last person who ought to give it. Suzaku thought to himself as he finally
turned to regard the taller man. "Where's all this coming from Gino? You've been acting odd for
days now and no one's really sure why. I thought about asking Anya about it but…" He trailed off,
knowing why he couldn't have asked her.

Ever since Marianne vi Britannia had been exorcised from her the small Knight of Six had been
different, still laconic and monosyllabic at times but now there was something about her that felt
off to Suzaku. It was as if he didn't really know who it was he was talking to anymore and going by
the odd looks she gave him any time he had tried to engage her in conversation, he'd say the feeling
was mutual.

Gino however didn't pick up on this though as he let out a little half-hearted chuckle while
scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I have become a bit of a blond you these days, haven't I?"

The small smile dropped away though, settling back into a frown as the taller man took a breath, as
if whatever it was he was about to tell him was a deep secret. "It's just that, a while ago, I heard
that Princess Marrybell looks to be moving close to the Russian border and, well…"

Ah. Now Suzaku thought he got it. He'd long known that Gino was an idealist when it came to his
duties, carefree he might have been but he'd always been serious about his loyalty, if not to the
Royal family then to Britannia itself. For him to now be forced to fight soldiers that might once
have been friends of his had to be weighing hard on him. The same way it hurt me to fight the
Japanese.
But that was only part of it as Gino pushed himself onward. "Her personal force, the Glinda
Knights will be with her, one of whom is a family friend. We grew up together as kids, entered the
academy together, hell our knightmares are a bit similar too." A sad smile spread over his lips for a
moment before turning sympathetic eyes to the shorter man. "I guess I know a bit of what you're
going through now, having to fight your old friend too."

The bitter chuckle that he finished on cut Suzaku to the bone and he found he couldn't keep himself
from balling up a fist as he realised what Lelouch's latest ploy had cost them. It wasn't enough for
them to fight each other, he now had to tear other friendships down too? Did he care nothing for
the people he commanded?

Damn him! He barely held back a snarl as he turned to glare down the corridor furiously. How dare
he do this?! Him and that cursed Geass!

His expression however was caught by Gino who, somehow, managed a more familiar light
chuckle at the sight of it. "Wow, Nonny wasn't lying, you do look scary Suzaku." His lighthearted
comment only lasted a moment before he reverted to his grim expression. "We need to finish this
quickly. Friends being forced to fight each other wasn't something I signed up for when I became a
Round."

That was all he had to say, it seemed, as he then started off down the corridor and turned right
heading for the lounge, leaving Suzaku to think over what he'd been told. To be frank he agreed
with everything Gino had said, but the situation they found themselves in probably meant that
friends crossing swords with each other would be the least of the painful acts that would be seen in
this war. As for finishing things swiftly, there was no way Lelouch was going to let that happen not
when he'd done so much so quickly. He would demand victory whatever the cost.

And if they can't deliver, he'll use his Geass on them to make them deliver. He concluded bitterly,
his own command to live a constant reminder of just how far his former friend would go to get
what he wanted regardless of anyone else's opinion. Which is why he must be stopped, no matter
how long it takes, no matter what needs to be done. A hand went into his pocket and pulled out the
winged badge that had once signified him as a Knight of Honour to a Royal Family member, his
other reminder of what levels Lelouch would sink to. Euphie's world will be realised, even if I have
to kill you to do it, old friend.

His conviction once again affirmed, he once more set off for the hangar that was serving as the
Research and Development center for Prince Schneizal where all manner of scientist and
technician that refused to bow to Lelouch had gathered. Lloyd might not be among them but all the
same they still had some truly unique minds working for them, loyal to the true heir and ready to
do whatever it took to restore the rightful monarchy to the throne.

There were some problems however, namely resources and funds. As it was they only had a dozen
or so complete knightmares available to them, all of which were Vincents, with bits and pieces of
Sutherlands and Gloucesters that had been scavenged by loyalists before they fled the capital
strewn about here and there. Add in that they only had a couple of small airships and at first glance
one wouldn't think they had a chance against the Britannian war machine.

Still… And Suzaku couldn't believe he was drawing this sort of comparison, if the Black Knights
could start from nothing to challenge Britannia with only Lelouch to egg them on, we certainly can
with Prince Schneizal's leadership. And that wasn't even counting the fact that soon enough they
would have a weapon that would render any advantage Lelouch had in numbers useless.

Still, he wanted to do his bit to end this war and so he made his way towards a cordoned off section
of the hangar where Gino's Tristan and Anya's Mordred were docked alongside which was a third
machine that was covered by a large tarpaulin.

This must be it. Suzaku thought to himself as he made his way over to it. It wouldn't be the
Lancelot Albion but so long as the knightmares he came up against didn't have Cecile's Energy-
Wing system it would be enough for him to get by. He was about to look for the ropes holding the
tarp up so he could have a look at what had been prepared for him, but as he made his way around
the back a shrill cry from behind froze his actions.

"Hey! Hands off!" Pulling back as if scathed, Suzaku looked around to see who had caught him and
came face to face with a pair of large almost innocent looking eyes glaring at him. The glare
belonged to a young woman with brown hair who didn't look that much older than himself as she
went on scolding him. "You can't just touch this thing all willy nilly! This is the Knight of Seven's
personal Knightmare Frame! Who do you think you-?!"

And then she caught herself as she suddenly realised who it was she was chewing out. Her angry
stare broke away and she immediately stood straight, a look of mild mortification now on her face
as she hastily apologised. "Lord Kururugi! I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you! Please forgive
me, if I knew you were coming I-!"

"I-it's alright!" Suzaku quickly cut her off, raising his hands for her to stop whilst throwing her a
weak smile "It's my own fault, I should've known there were other people around."

His assurances trailed off then and for a moment the two of them just stood there staring at each
other, allowing for a rather awkward silence to fall between them. After another moment of the
weirdness passed, he cleared his throat and began again. "Sorry about just roaming around but I
heard you had a knightmare ready for me, Miss…?"

"Oh!" The girl perked up at his getting onto business and quickly nodded before relaxing a little
and smiling eagerly. "Yes, we're just putting on the finishing touches to it now. Though we were
hoping to make it a surprise before you were all shipped out. And it's Mariel," she added on, as if
her name was an afterthought "Mariel Lubie."

Lubie, huh? Why did that name sound familiar? A moment passed before the light flickered on in
Suzaku's head. "Wait a sec, weren't you part of the A.S.E.E.C.?"

"Right in one." She nodded, grinning at him happily, "In fact I worked on the Lancelot project with
Lloyd Asplund and Cecile Croomy for quite a while. Well," she grimaced a little bit before going
on, "I say I worked on it, but I really wasn't all that involved in its construction. I just helped keep
the designs manageable and, y'know, actually doable. Lloyd finally caught on though after
Shinjuku and that was it for me."

Yeah now I remember. It was with wide eyes that Suzaku finally clicked where he'd seen this girl
before, she was the one who gave him the manual and his first pilot suit right before his first
piloting experience in the Lancelot at Shinjuku.

"I remember." Was all he said, though with no small level of surprise.

It was enough for Mariel though, who looked at him in surprise for a moment before recovering
and sending him a happy smile and wink. "Nice to know I left an impression."

And then she clapped her hands twice, signalling for the technicians to pull the ropes holding up
the tarp slack and drop the whole thing to the floor, revealing the machine beneath. What then
greeted Suzaku's eyes was a very familiar looking face.
Mariel however was frowning a little bit as she came to stand next to him. "It's not quite the Albion
in terms of performance, and we don't have the resources to build a Conquista Armament package
so you'll have to be careful about Gefjun Disturbers for now."

Every take away she added was accompanied with a wince and it wasn't hard to see why,
essentially what she was saying was that his new knightmare was a step back rather than forwards.
She covered for that though with a confident smile as she turned back to address him again. "Still,
you're familiar with it so it shouldn't be that hard to pilot at least."

"I'll just have to be more careful with it than I was with the Conquista." Suzaku said confidently,
feeling truly grateful for the chance to be of use once again and additionally glad that he would be
doing so in a machine he knew so well. In terms of aesthetics it looked almost identical to his first
machine, save for a swapping of golden highlights for blue and a float system that looked to be
fixed onto its back rather than just fitted.

There was one question about it though that he couldn't resist asking as he pried his eyes away
from it to look at Mariel. "Why does it have a horn on its head?"

The woman tipped her head to the side before giggling out loud. After a moment she gathered
herself and replied with mirth. "Well we didn't call it Lancelot Club for nothing!"

Berlin

Well the meeting with the dignitaries was finally over and, as Lelouch retreated back to the
Chancellor's office (where Bishop had finally gotten a hold of himself) with his two top Rounds
and Alfred, the young emperor made a note to never, under any circumstances, accept gifts from
leaders of conquered nations ever again. Of all the things they could have given him, they decided
to go with that?! Was he not getting his message out properly?

I'll have to have a word with the media guys, something clearly got lost in translation. What other
reason could there be for the knightmare-sized solid gold statue of himself the two Scandinavian
countries had made for him that was now filling up the Reichstag's driveway? It wasn't even the
making of such a thing that irked him so much as the stance they'd chosen to pose him in. They'd
had him in his full White Emperor regalia standing with his arms wide in the 'call for peace' stance,
all of which made him look like some sort of strange rich-looking Jesus Christ. Honestly it made
the one in Rio of the actual Jesus appear mediocre in comparison. And that wasn't even counting
the amethysts they'd used for his eyes.

"Ugh." He moaned to himself as he dropped back into the Chancellor's seat, pinching the bridge of
his nose, "Now I remember why I didn't come back to Britannia sooner. All the bloody asskissing."

"Oh really, Your Majesty?" Cinder asked him innocently, though the effort was slightly ruined by
the fact that her expression suggesting she was fighting back the desire to cackle madly at the
wonderful little prank Alfred had just played on their boss. "I thought it was because you hated
your father with a burning passion. What will the people think if they hear such talk?"

"Not helping, Cinder." He muttered back at her through mildly clenched teeth as he pulled himself
forward to rest his chin on his hands. Though maybe he should be counting his blessings that she
was restraining herself to mere teasing, Thomson hadn't been quite so silent in his mirth and even
the Scarlet Guard had been fighting down snickers at the sight of that gaudy monstrosity. At least
Bishop (when he'd pulled himself together enough to join them) and Arthur had been fittingly
silent… although Arthur was probably due to the fact that he was too embarrassed on Lelouch's
behalf to say anything anyway.
Letting out another sigh he turned to the instigator of his misery in one last desperate ploy, "And
you're absolutely sure it's not rigged or wired up to anything?" Surely there was some way he could
get rid of it without looking like a petulant child?

But Alfred just shook his head, still smiling at him mischievously. "I'm afraid not, Sir. We did
extensive checks before it was presented to you and when you requested a second one, it's
completely benign."

"Maybe this is their ploy." Cinder suggested, though this time she was unable to hold back a giggle,
"Get in close, give you that statue and then watch you die of embarrassment. What genius! Others
must learn from these masters of subterfuge!"

"Still. Not. Helping." Lelouch snapped at her tiredly.

"Not trying to!" She sang back.

Sighing one last time, he resigned himself to at least a week's worth of ribbing over this and let his
head go so it was now hidden behind his still steepled hands. "Is there anything anyone wants to
talk about that is not going to result in me feeling foolish?"

"Aww," Cinder moaned, "but Luluuu it's our day off!"

How in the hell she'd found out about that nickname of all things was trumped by that fact that she
was calling him by that at all and thus Lelouch just buried his head further into his chest. Was that
moniker going to be stuck to him for all eternity? Definitely should've just let Suzaku kill me.

Finally, however, he was saved as Alfred, still chuckling a little, stepped forward before clearing
his throat and assuming his normal professional stance. "Actually Sir, a call came in for you a few
moments ago on your private number, asking if they could speak to you in person."

"Oh?" Now that was interesting enough for him to look up. The private number his aide was
referring to was the phone he'd brought with him from Japan that he'd left in the Shinkiro. Same
number, same contacts, same everything. Honestly Lelouch had never expected anyone to call that
number ever again but something had compelled him to hold onto it anyway, an act that was now
proving wise. There were only a few people who could be calling him from that and, considering
he hadn't heard anything from Rivalz and, thanks to Charles' Geass command still being active on
them all, Milly didn't remember that he was royalty, the number dropped even further. Intrigued
with something that didn't involve pranking him he went on to ask "Did they say anything else?
Name? Return address?"

"None at all, I'm afraid, Sir." Alfred replied, though he too seemed somewhat curious. "Though I
suspect that was because it was me she spoke to rather than yourself."

She. Well that would've narrowed it down somewhat if someone, not naming any names, hadn't
decided whilst masquerading as him to get the number of every eligible young woman at
Ashford. I swear on the temples of C's World, if this turns out to be one of those rabid fangirls I'll
post that damn statue to them. Not a bad idea now that he thought about it, they'd certainly get
more use out of it than he would.

"She did say though that if you were on hand that I should give her a chance to speak to you."
Alfred continued, producing the phone in question and presenting it to Lelouch.

For a moment the young emperor paused as he looked at the small device before him. A mere
consumer's product but with it came a slew of memories of rather happy times; pranks and classes,
paperwork and laughter… a promise of fireworks that he couldn't keep. A quick glance at his
knights didn't help him, Bishop had regained his calm repose (even if his eyes still looked a bit
watery) and Cinder still had that amused smirk that told him whatever 'advice' she offered would
result in him redfaced and stuttery. Therefore, he just sighed and took the phone from Alfred's
hands.

Hitting the redial button, it didn't take long for the other end to connect and with resigned
trepidation Lelouch brought the phone to his ear and began, "Hello, this is Emperor Lelouch vi
Britannia (he pointedly ignored Cinder's snickers). I understand you've been trying to-"

"Master Lelouch?" The caller's very familiar voice cut him short and he froze, eyes going wide. A
moment passed in his silence and he only came back to himself when the caller spoke again, a
touch of joy in her tone. "Master Lelouch, that is you isn't it?"

"Sayoko?!" Just the name of his faithful servant was enough to force him to his feet, no doubt
shocking his gathered subordinates but he didn't care, elation overcoming him as he quickly
returned her questions with his own. "Is that really you, Sayoko? Are you alright?"

"I'm well enough, my lord." She replied, sounding just as elated as he felt at this reunion, "I'm in
one of the hospitals in Britannian Tokyo. I don't know how, but I must've gotten lucky when the
F.L.E.I.J.A went off."

"And Nunnally?" It was a longshot, hope getting in the way of common sense, but Lelouch had to
ask. He had to know one way or the other. But the silence that came after he asked it told him the
answer before Sayoko spoke it and his heart went crashing back down.

The same could be said as she replied, sorrow evident in her tone, "My lord, I don't have the right
to say it but I am so very sorry. I did try, my lord. I even located her but I… I just… I couldn't…"
She trailed off as her grief took her over and Lelouch easily heard her try to choke back a sob, a
failing tactic that he'd known all too well in that month before he returned to the public stage.

At this point, he could've gotten angry at her, spite her for her failure to save his sister and lay all
the blame he'd heaped on himself for that tragedy on Sayoko's door. He'd charged her with
recovering Nunnally and she'd failed completely. But the fact remained that none of them had
expected Schneizal to have made that awful weapon, nobody could have prepared for it nor
escaped it. All these things that C.C. had hammered into his thick skull which he now passed on to
a woman who had done more for him than his own mother ever had.

"Sayoko," Lelouch spoke, making sure that she was listening before he continued. "What happened
wasn't your fault. We were all caught off guard. It won't happen again."

"But, master, I-!"

"If you want to blame someone then point it at my brother and Suzaku." He cut her off firmly, all
that he'd come to terms with coming forth as he did so "Their actions have forced this latest change
in affairs, something that we will pay them back for. If we do so, maybe then Nunnally can rest in
peace."

For another moment there was silence on Sayoko's end as she took in what he was saying. Finally
she spoke again, sounding much more level headed. "I understand my lord. Then you plan to
continue your quest for Lady Nunnally's world?"

That's more like it. He thought to himself with a small smile as he replied, "To the very end."
"Then I will do all in my power to help you reach it." She told him, her voice full of conviction and
readiness to serve.

An unexpected boon, but definitely something and someone that Lelouch was glad to welcome
back into his service. As such he decided to get right to the point. "Let's get started then, what's the
situation over in Tokyo? How have the people responded to my little social experiment?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much, my lord." Sayoko replied regretfully, "I only woke up from a
coma a few days ago so I can't say one way or the other what everyone thinks."

Well, that's a shame. Lelouch had been hoping to get some idea of how well the new system was
working, at least until he returned to force the UFN out once and for all. Oh well, it's not integral
just yet. Still he'd been expecting by now. Fortunately the call would turn out to be more than an
unrealised long-desired reconnection as Sayoko then went on to say, "But I have befriended a
fellow patient who's been here for quite some time and she seems rather impressed with how you're
handling things."

"Oh?" Well one was better than none, so at least they had a start. "Does she have a name?"

"Oh yes." She replied, sounding a bit amused at it now than he thought about it. "You might know
her actually. A woman by the name of Ayano Kozuki."

For the second time today Lelouch froze up as a name from the past found its way to him. The face
of a woman who'd been trodden on for years assaulted his memory, pushed to her final breaking
point by the old Britannia's system that she turned to Refrain to take it all away and send her into a
blissful dreamworld. A fate he almost took upon himself had it not been for a young woman that
the two of them knew very well.

"You're with Kallen's mother?" He asked as calmly as possible, even though his voice had dropped
to a hoarse whisper and his free hand had balled into a fist on the desk. Another thought passed his
mind as he did so and, desperately pushing away at the pain it filled him with to consider it, he
followed up by asking, "Did she come by? To check up on her?"

"Yes, she did." Sayoko replied promptly before her tone turned icy. "She seemed to be in good
shape considering what she and the rest of those kasu did to you."

Ah, so she pieced that together as well. And suddenly the idea of two of his most loyal followers
together in the same room, now considerably on opposite sides, had Lelouch considering
something else which filled him with dread and he quickly asked. "Sayoko you didn't do anything
to her did you?"

"No, not at all." She replied, still as relaxed as ever considering the way she was talking only a
moment ago. "We simply had a nice conversation, clearing up some misconceptions. Was that
wrong? Should I eliminate her and any other Black Knights that visit Ayano whilst I'm here?"

"NO!" Shit, that was a bit loud. A glance around told him his audience were just as shocked as he
was by his outburst, Alfred the least with a mere eyebrow raise and Cinder the most with wide eyes
and a slight jump back. Clearing his throat, he started again. "No. Sayoko, they are to be left alone
for the time being. Especially Kallen. Understood?"

She definitely wouldn't like that he was essentially leashing her but you wouldn't think it to hear her
obedient response. "Understood my lord. Is there anything else you need of me then?"

Smiling involuntarily at her eagerness to serve, Lelouch merely responded, "For now get some
rest, Sayoko. I'll have someone set out to collect you in due course… and Sayoko," he called out
before she could obey his order, "it's good to hear from you again."

A second passed between them and then she replied softly, "Thank you, my lord. I've missed you
too." And then she hung up.

As she did so Lelouch also disconnected his phone, and for a moment he found himself feeling so
very lonely. For weeks now he'd been focussing solely on the establishment of a new gentle world
to the point that, only now he realised, that he'd pushed almost everything that happened before
that to the recesses of his mind to be touched on only when he was alone. But now, with one phone
call, it hit him just how much he had left behind when he returned to Britannia; Sayoko had been
more than a servant or a bodyguard. She was family… and he'd just left her there.

With that thought screaming in his head, Lelouch pocketed the phone and marched around the
desk. "Alright, Alfred I want a small group of agents sent to Tokyo immediately to make contact
with Sayoko Shinozaki. I want her brought to me alive, unharmed and unrestrained. Once she's
here we can…" He trailed off as he noted the still forms of his audience. "What?"

"Forgive me, Sire," Bishop was the first to speak, "but who was that on the phone? Someone you
knew from your time in Japan?"

Ah, right, he'd never told them about his home life in the former Area 11 had he? Fortunately he
was in too good a mood to let that bother him and so Lelouch merely smiled warmly before
answering. "She's a bit more than that, William. Sayoko basically raised me and my sister whilst
we lived there." A little chuckle escaped him as he went on to say, "It probably helped that she was
a master kunoichi to go with it."

"A what?" Bishop asked, frowning at the term.

"Kunoichi." He repeated, "A female practitioner of ninjutsu."

"Wait a minute," Cinder cut in, looking hilariously bewildered, "are you saying you were raised by
a master ninja?"

"Well," Lelouch shrugged a little, "she was more of a master ninja assassin… but she was also a
former maid of Ruben Ashford's."

To their credit that last addition didn't send any of them off on any sort of long-winded ramble
about how that just didn't make any level of sense, so they were already a step up from what he
was like when Milly first introduced the two of them. Bishop actually seemed impressed by the
duplicity whilst Alfred, unshakeable as ever, merely nodded as if he expected exactly that kind of
answer. Cinder's response however left him a bit confused as she merely let out a small snort
before muttering to herself, "Yup, definitely fell into a cartoon somewhere."

An… unusual way of summing things up, there was probably a story behind it but Lelouch
considered himself very fond of having a head to wonder about these things and so refrained from
asking about it. Although it seemed she noticed him giving her a curious look as her own
bewildered expression suddenly washed itself away to be replaced with a carefully guarded frown,
with which she asked him, "By the way, who's this Kallen girl?"

Now, it was asked nicely enough, no inflections or tone suggesting any sort of mood regarding
what she thought about there being another girl to go with the previous two she was aware of that
he was close to. And that was exactly the reason Lelouch knew she was pissed off about learning
about her now.
Crap, I really did say too much in that conversation didn't I? A very nervous lump found its way
up his throat which he quickly gulped back down in the face of Cinder's quickly-growing-icy stare,
it wasn't like he wasn't going to tell her about Kallen but this had not been the way he'd intended on
doing it.

Still her question had raised the curiosity of Bishop and Alfred and he just knew he wouldn't be
getting out of it without some sort of explanation. And so with a sigh over how this was all coming
out way too soon, Lelouch answered their question.

"Kallen is… a friend I suppose is the best way to sum it up." Not quite accurate but then there had
never been time to find out what they were too each other. Surprise, surprise, but rebellions tended
to get in the way like that. Not that he could say that with Bishop in the room and so he moved on
to heavily edit their relationship. "She was someone I depended on greatly whilst I was in Japan.
It's safe to say I wouldn't be here today without her support."

There, not a lie and if the look on Cinder's face was anything to go by he'd conveyed that this was a
Zero related topic that shouldn't be spoken of in the presence of those not in the know. She didn't
look like she liked that but still gave him a short imperceptible nod that she would drop it for now,
but Lelouch wasn't foolish enough to believe that that was the end of it. Still, he seemed to have
satisfied the other two who just nodded their understanding and not moving to dig any deeper.

Still, bringing up Kallen had reminded Lelouch of something he'd almost forgotten in the midst of
all this and as such he turned to his aide. "Moving on to more important matters, Alfred, after
you've sent the group to find Sayoko I want you to locate another individual."

So saying he slipped back around the desk and grabbed a touch pad that he'd left lying about when
the day's earlier fiascos had distracted him and passed it to Alfred. The elderly man took it and
switched the screen back on, taking a look at the man Lelouch had been researching. Raising a
calm eyebrow he glanced down at his young master. "Another reunion, Sir?"

He asked it in jest but frankly this one could help him with that angle, something Lelouch hadn't
considered but if Sayoko's message that she'd 'cleared up a few misinterpretations' was what he
thought it meant then maybe a reunion with Kallen without the need of half an army to stop her
from killing him might actually be possible. Still business came first, and so he merely shook his
head along with a good natured eyeroll.

"Not quite. I need you to locate this man and bring him to me, I suspect he'll be useful in helping us
balance the extra half-a-continent's worth of an economy that we just added to the Empire's
holdings."

And then, once that was taken care of, he could have a word with James Stadfelt about how best to
approach his volatile daughter about all of this.

Avalon

It may have been a restful time for most of the occupying forces in Germany, but on the Emperor's
personal flagship, Cecile found herself worked to the bone by her boss who had been working flat
out ever since the reports came in from Lord Jeremiah about the offensive in Rome. To hear that
their own Gefjun defence system had somehow been used against them to give their enemies the
slip had left her worried. What if others worked it out too? It had actually surprised her that
Rakshata still hadn't managed it yet.

Lloyd however…
"Those upstart-ill-mannered-nonsensical-foul-playing-underskilled cretins!" The Earl of Pudding
screamed for the fifteenth time today as he had the techs rip out yet another core of one of His
Majesty's Vulture Squadron Vincents to get at the systems within. "How dare a bunch of backward
Europeans take my work, my pride, and violate it in such a way?! If it was Rakshata I'd understand,
that woman at least has an acceptable intelligence, but this lot?!"

And then he turned mad wide eyes to the recording Jeremiah had sent them showing the battle in
the Colosseum which they should have won, except for the Vincents, the Centurions, and even
Lady C.C.'s Morrigan to suddenly freeze up and be knocked aside by the EU's machines, giving
them a chance to escape. "And how in the world did those subpar Alexanders survive the Gefjun
rockets in the first place?! Why are they still moving?! Who dares mock my beautiful creations?!"

"Lloyd!" Cecile tried, again, to calm him down by pointing towards the facts of the matter. "First
of all, if you'll remember, we stole the Gefjun technology ourselves, there were bound to be things
we missed. Second, the Alexanders run on a system that we're not familiar with so there was no
way to predict their surviving the rockets in the first place. And third," she indicated towards the
knightmare rack to their left which Lloyd had forbidden all but the most foolish of technician to
approach, "we've captured more than enough of them to learn what gave them the edge, if you'd
just crack one open I'm sure we can-"

"No!" Lloyd snapped, stamping his foot several times and punctuating them with a 'No, no no!'
before folding his arms and turning away from the Alexanders with a huff. "I don't care what the
little Emperor says, I will not have any part in making those monstrosities of science a part of our
military!"

This coming from the man who invented beam cannons and wingless flight. Honestly, her boss
could certainly be picky couldn't he? Still he had to know that if they didn't open up at least one of
those European machines and work out what made them tick, like His Majesty had ordered, then
the next time they went out there they were going to end up in the same predicament as before with
possibly worse results. Cecile had argued this front with Lloyd for hours now but he still
stubbornly refused to work on it, insisting he could figure it out himself without 'dirtying' himself
with the workings of the Alexander.

"What exactly is your problem with the Brain Raid System?" She asked him, mostly out of
exasperation, although she would admit to being curious as to why Lloyd, of all people, would
refuse to work on it so vehemently.

Her question ceased her boss's ranting to be replaced with a look of sheer perplexity. "Cecile, I'm
shocked. I would have thought working with me all these years would have told you all you need to
know." Seeing that his response had just confused her more, Lloyd sighed and adopted as neutral
an expression as he was capable of before continuing. "Scientific study of the brain has a long
history full of high risk and low reward, any time someone approaches it usually ends in a large pile
of dead bodies."

Since when has that ever bothered Lloyd though? Cecile wondered, still not understanding how
any of that could raise any sort of doubts in him. Usually the greater the problem or more difficult
the task, the harder it was to pry him away from it. Could it be that somewhere in there he actually
did have something resembling a conscience?

He continued to amaze by going on to say, "The Brain Raid System is the same as all other
endeavours to turn the brain into a piece of the machine, taxing the pilot to his very limit with just
his mind alone. Worse still the hive nature of the BRS means that all the exertions of nearby pilots
hooked up to the system is compounded." He paused for a moment before at last turning to shoot
scornful eyes at their captured machines. "I wouldn't be surprised if many of the test pilots were
driven mad."

"But if it's that bad," and Cecile was sure it was, Lloyd may be a sociopath but when it came to
science he knew what he was talking about, forcing her to look at the Alexanders with a wider
sense of trepidation, "why would the EU use them at all?"

Lloyd merely shrugged, "Desperation perhaps? Maybe they simply don't see a way out so why not
use everything and hope for a miracle? Or maybe they really have deluded themselves into
thinking that turning their pilots brains to scrambled egg really is the best way forward." He
stopped and shook his head in bemusement, a complete lack of understanding why their enemies
would do such a thing clear on his face before turning away from them again. "You won't find me
ever working on such technology that could bring harm to our pilots, Cecile. Of that I can assure
you, the brain is simply to delicate for us to play with."

Now Cecile truly was stunned, in all her time working with him she never would have figured
Lloyd to be an introspective type. And he had raised some very valuable points that she was
shocked the EU hadn't considered, why was such a dangerous system in place? Certainly the higher
ups could have stopped it and yet here they were. Did the Europeans really care that little for their
soldiers?

"Wow." She murmured, still amazed that Lloyd was showing more empathy about people than…
anyone else, "I have to admit, I didn't think you thought that much about our pilots."

Her words brought an affronted look to Lloyd's face as he replied sharply, "But of course I care!
Devicers are no good to us if their brains go pop!"

Wait what?

But he'd turned away and was back to typing on his work station as the data from their latest
Vincent harvest came up on the screen. "Honestly, it's a complete waste of resources! Devicers
don't just grow on trees you know! How do they expect to progress if they insist on killing all the
test subjects? Did they never leave the Dark Ages? I swear, once we've conquered them, I'll be
having words with their top researcher and educating them in the proper pursuit of sci-!"

THWACK!

"And to think," Cecile growled through set teeth as she laid down her bent clipboard that she'd used
to smack her now unconscious boss around the head with, "I actually believed you cared for a
moment."

Sighing, she glanced around at the gathered personnel who'd all frozen at the loud smack, though
she noticed most of them didn't look all that surprised that their boss had once again put his foot in
his mouth. Shaking her head, Cecile just signalled a group over and gave them their new
instructions. "He'll be out for at least a couple of hours. In that time I want all these Alexanders
taken apart and their secret to surviving the Gefjun effect located."

Yes she'd get hell from him when he woke up, but a quick apple crumble along with some
raspberry jelly would shut him right up. His Majesty had given them a task, and Lloyd ought to
know by now that if he wasn't going to follow orders (which was always) then she would take
matters into her own hands.

Chancellor's Office
After the rather awkward ending to their last discussion, Lelouch dallied here and there throughout
the Reichstag taking care of every little thing he hadn't done yet, and a few of the things that he
already head, for another few hours. At least that was what Alfred always told Cinder what he was
doing every time she asked to the point that she gave up on just cornering him (suspecting that was
exactly the reason why her Emperor had gone walkabout) and returned to the Office, perusing over
the map of Europe they'd drawn up. She had hoped that going over the plans for the Eastern
Offensive would calm her down some, yet all she could think about was just how spread out the
Rounds were. Arthur was headed South whilst Peter and Bishop pushed East and she was poised to
go North.

And Lelouch? Well she could only guess what he'd be doing - oh she knew exactly what his part of
the battleplan was, it was everything else that was getting to her. What would he be getting up to
when he wasn't fighting? Would he call up C.C. for a bit of fun, or maybe the new girl she hadn't
met yet? And what about this Sayoko chick? Was she really just an absentee mother figure to him?
She just didn't know enough to make a conclusion and that aggravated her to no extent.

Oh come on! A sharp voice in her head snapped at her. That's not what's bothering you and you
know it! You were more than happy to share before. Damn that stupid thing called common sense,
it was right. Cinder knew exactly what, or rather who, it was that was worrying her and that person
was half a world away. It hadn't taken her long to remember who Kallen Kozuki was; the
bodyguard and unofficial right hand of Zero, pilot of the red nightmare that was the Guren Mk II
that had defeated Princess Cornelia and her Royal Guard before the Black Rebellion and then had
gone toe to toe with the Knights of the Round after it. After Zero and Kyoshiro Todoh she had
been at the top of Britannia's most wanted list.

Apparently though, she was more than just that. What other explanation was there for Lelouch's
unusual instructions to leave a woman who went by that name alone? In the time she'd known him,
Cinder could count the number of times he'd lost his cool on one hand but this was the first time
he'd done so off the battlefield. Just what had their relationship been before the Black Knights
suddenly announced Zero's death only for the man behind the mask to take over Britannia?

The lack of answers just served to frustrate her even further, to the point that she wasn't even aware
she wasn't alone until Lelouch's hands rested themselves on her shoulders, causing her to almost
jump out of her skin, letting out a little squeak. Seeing who it was had gotten the drop on her only
made her lack of awareness worse and she felt her face heating up. "Le-Lelouch, hey. I didn't see
you back there."

"Evidently." He noted with a small amused smile before glancing down at the map. "Making a few
changes?"

"Hmm?" Admitting that she'd completely forgotten it was there wouldn't look good, it certainly
wasn't helping her complexion as she tried to stutter out an answer. "W-well I just wanted to have
another look over, see if there's anything I missed."

"I see…" Yeah he hadn't bought that at all, she could see it from his concerned frown, but at the
very least he didn't call her out on it so that was something. Instead he just shrugged and chucked
off his hat and shawl, tossing them onto the desk, and turned around so he was leaning against the
fine crafted wooden structure. They remained like that for a few seconds, Cinder unwilling to
broach the subject that she really wanted to discuss and the one she wanted to discuss it with
watching her with a patient expression.

At last though he took pity on her and said, "I believe I still owe you an explanation."

The way he said it, an admittance verging on misery, almost had her reconsidering her stance on all
of this; she was his fiancee for crying out loud! What did it matter that there might be someone else
he cared for? He was already sleeping with two women as it was so it wasn't as if he was
monogamous. But it was just that reason too that pushed her on: She was his fiancee, didn't she
deserve to at least know this much about the man she would be marrying one day?

Yes, she did, and so steeling herself Cinder replied, "I've pieced some of it together. She's Kallen
Kozuki, the Red Dragon, right?"

A mildly surprised look crossed her Emperor's face for a moment before it was replaced with a
small smile of pride mixed with sadness and he nodded. "Yes, I suppose I should've known you'd
figured it out." He admitted, almost whispering as if to himself than to her and looking away as if
he was in his own little world for a moment. It almost looked like he wouldn't go on and Cinder
was about to prod him when he came back to himself and carried on. "Then you also know that I
went almost nowhere without her."

"It might have caught my attention." She confirmed, trying her hardest to keep her tone neutral. But
something else had been weighing on her for so long that it strained every nerve she had just
thinking about it. Now faced with the chance to discuss it with Lelouch, she found herself now
longer able to hold it back. "She was Q-1, wasn't she?"

It hadn't been that difficult to conclude, Cinder knew how her Emperor liked to use chess pieces as
codenames for his soldiers. P for Pawn which was often used for infantry, N for Knightmare
groups, and so on; it only made sense that he'd been using the abbreviations during his time as Zero
as well. And seeing as the Queen was the most powerful piece on the board, it was obvious
Lelouch would have given that codename to one who corroborated that. And no one was a more
clear representation of that than the pilot of the Guren Mk II.

And yet she still held that moniker whilst Cinder was labelled Q-2. How Lelouch expected her to
miss that she wasn't sure. To his credit though, he didn't appear surprised that she'd worked that out
as well and merely nodded again. "She had such a temper and you always knew where you stood
with her… and yet…"

Yet what? This was the frustrating bit, the part that he'd skated over when she asked him earlier
about Kallen. What had she been to him? A friend? Confidant? Challenger? Lover? Which one was
it?! But once again it looked like Lelouch wasn't going to answer as he gave out a small sigh and
shook his head and Cinder was forced to hold back an aggravated scream. How long did he think
he could hold out on this? Didn't he realise that the more he withheld the less she could do for him?
The reason she wanted to know where this girl stood with him was so she could figure out how to
help him get over her, if it was just a friend then it was easy enough, but if it was the other thing…
He'll keep thinking about her, his Q-1, even when he's with me.

Lelouch however might not have been deaf to her thoughts though as he shoved himself off of the
desk and took hold of her by her shoulders, turning her so they were facing each other. "I know
that's not the answer you were searching for, but at this time I just don't have anything else to say.
But please, my Queen, don't think for a moment this has any effect on you."

Another low blow there, using the damn Q-word on her, forcing Cinder to duck her head down to
hide her blush. Still though she had enough strength in her to ask him, "Are you sure about that?
What about the other two who're already sharing your bed? Where do I stand there?"

Did that come out as bitter as she thought it had, because she was sure she could've sounded
moreso. She couldn't help it, all this talk about the Queen-who-came-first was making her think
about C.C. and that other one who she had yet to meet. Knowing that this man who was quickly
stealing away more of her heart by the day had already lain with others just made her feel… cheap.
Did he really want her or was she just an additional fuckbuddy when the other two didn't feel like
it? Wasn't she more than that… because Cinder wasn't sure she could walk away from him even if
that was all he'd designated her as. It was with that reasoning she justified her bringing a recorder
with her which she'd hidden on the desk when she came in and was using it to tape this entire
conversation.

Presently the unaware Emperor just let out another heavy breath before chuckling ruefully, "I
figured you'd ask me that." He admitted, before going on, "The truth is, in part, working as an
emperor is tiring business so it's nice to have some pleasure to go along with the job."

"Is that all?" Cinder pressed him, ignoring the fact that it felt like something inside her just broke.

But Lelouch shook his head vehemently at the suggestion, "Not at all! The truth is they've both had
hard, miserable lives up to this point, not unlike yourself. If I can help them in any way, even with a
mere act of carnal pleasure, I'm happy to do so."

So it's pity? That was even worse to her, she could handle him being with multiple women if it was
because he just liked having sex - even if it killed her - but the idea that he was doing it because he
was inadvertently looking down on their lives and all their struggles up to this point almost made
her sick. How could this be the same person who offered her his friendship and aid in getting
justice for her mother back at the Academy? There had to be more to it than that!

It would seem there was as he let out a snort before relaxing his stance somewhat, folding his arms
and looking somewhat reminiscent. "I suppose it also helps that they both mesh with my ideal
woman."

"Oh?" Now that was an interesting tidbit and, despite the dread in her stomach, Cinder felt a sly
smirk start to work its way out. "And what exactly is your ideal woman?"

"Well, after spending seven years surrounded by every type of woman, I can honestly say they all
appeal. But if we're talking about the ideal girlfriend or partner?" Oh crap, why did he have to use
that word? It made it seem so juvenile… and her face was starting to burn again. Not wanting him
to notice, Cinder nodded for him to go on and mercifully he did so. "She would have to be strong,
unafraid of going against the grain if that's what she wanted to do, challenging the perceived status
quo. She'd have to be ready to challenge me too, if she thought I was going down the wrong path.
For that she'd have to be clever, enough so that when I get going she could rein me back in." A
small amused smile passed over his face for a moment as a thought struck him. "It'd also be nice to
have a talk about subjects other than warfare and imperial management."

"Above all though, she'd have to be a leader." He went on to say, this statement seeming to be the
most important of them all. "Someone who isn't afraid to take the reins when necessary, firm in
command and ruthless in execution… but also merciful in victory. That's the kind of woman who
appeals to me."

That said he went silent and observed her, waiting for whatever response she had to his
declaration… but the Knight of Two couldn't have responded if she tried because everything he'd
said had sent her heart racing into overdrive. Every word he'd said, every example… it all pointed
towards one possibility even though part of her screamed that this was a falsehood: Ruthless in
battle, she'd like to think she'd rewritten the definition of that; going against the grain, knightmare
piloting - and in fact military service itself - was still a male predominant career choice and she'd
had to fight every step of the way to be the best; Clever, she'd helped him work out at least three of
the last seven theatres of war, along with the upcoming offensives, and they'd chatted more than
once about things outside of military and imperial interests on more than one occasion, usually
over a game of chess.
He can't really be saying that I'm…? And yet the kind smile he sent her way suggested it was.

She was just about to go on to ensure what she was hearing was the truth, that she really was that
desired by her Emperor, but they were interrupted by an insistent beeping that had him digging into
his pocket and pulling out his phone. The smile was suddenly banished from his face and the
militant mask suddenly slipped back into place as he hit the accept button and brought the phone to
his ear.

"Yes?" He asked before pausing a moment, a look of confusion washing over his features. "Cecile?
I thought Lloyd was… I see…" Now he looked both annoyed and amused. "Go on… how long
then?"

Another long pause lasted as he received a report, now clearly from the Avalon if it was Cecile
Croomy calling him. Not that Cinder was surprised it was the Colonel calling and not Earl
Asplund, she'd had the distinct pleasure of meeting the scientific sociopath and had quickly
deduced that he cared not a jot for proper protocol. She rather liked him for that. Then Lelouch let
out another sigh and nodded unconsciously. "Right, I see. I'll be right there."

"Problem?" She asked him as he disconnected the phone, looking significantly put out.

He just shook his head in bemusement. "It turns out Lloyd doesn't like the Alexanders so he's been
refusing to work on them, even though I specifically ordered him to have them all completely
dismantled by…" He looked at his phone's screen which read the time as 21:00 "Three hours ago."

Well wasn't that an annoyance, she knew just how cranky Lelouch could be when things didn't go
as he specified. Even now she could see the annoyed tick start to form underneath his left eye and
like that she just knew he was going to dash off. And just as predicted, Lelouch shoved his phone
back into his pocket before looking back to her apologetically. "Forgive me, it seems I'll be
working late tonight."

If he was as disappointed as he sounded, and Cinder was beginning to really believe that he was,
then the feeling was mutual. Still he wouldn't concentrate on this again until everything was
pristine and so she wasn't surprised when he took both her hands in his and pressed a kiss to her
knuckles, along with a whispered promise to continue this when he got back. With that he collected
his hat and shawl and was on his way out when Cinder suddenly snapped herself out of her idiotic
stupor.

Wait a minute girl, are you just going to let him go like that?! She sure as hell was not. Lelouch had
just said in as many words that he wasn't just marrying her for the sex… which they hadn't even
gotten to yet… and she was just going to stand by as he headed out without getting at least
something out of it beside some reassurance? Nope.

As such as Lelouch reached the door, Cinder called him back. When he turned back to see what it
was she wanted, he was shocked to find that she'd made her way across the office and was now
right in front of him. Before he could ask her what she wanted, Cinder had him shoved against the
door and without giving herself a chance to think this over mashed her lips against his. There was
nothing chaste or innocent about this kiss, something Lelouch quickly cottoned onto as he returned
the aggressive action, wrapping an arm around her to pull her as close to him as he possibly could.
This wasn't some loving courtship, it was a claimant, a mark on this man's skin that he belonged to
her and damn any other woman, be they old school friend, the two other fiancees or Kallen Kozuki
herself. If they had a problem with that they could bring it up with her.

When they finally pulled apart, Cinder was satisfied to see that Lelouch's face had gone beet red
and he was gasping for breath after her assault. Just the right look for a man who was spending
time with the woman he was engaged to. "There," she told him, doing her best to hide her own loss
of breath, "now you can go."

"I… you…" Oh that was sweet, he was completely lost. After a few more seconds of sputtering,
the Emperor of Britannia let out a frustrated groan, rearranged his trousers, and sent her an
aggravated glare. "I'll get you back for that."

"Counting on it, sweetie." She replied, even managing a giggle as he beat a hasty retreat out of the
office. Once he was gone though, Cinder let go of the confident facade and let the red flush that
was waiting take over her face and collapsed onto the sofa by the door. Damn, whatever he'd been
doing with C.C. and that other girl, they'd certainly taught him how to kiss. If it wasn't for the fact
that her legs were turning to jelly, Cinder would be seriously considering going with him to teach
Asplund a lesson in following orders. Now she knew she wouldn't be satisfied until she'd gotten her
Emperor alone in a room (bedroom optional), stripped him of his royal garments, and ridden him
like a stallion until they both popped.

And if any old girlfriends pop up, well… Amber could always benefit from a good fight.
 Night of action and choices

June 14, Outskirts of Prague, Avalon

For those who believed the taking of Berlin signified the end of Britannia's push into Europe, the
next few days proved to be their undoing. After a brief pause in the former capital of the EU
remnant, the assault began anew, pushing into the poorer eastern nations in a four-pronged attack
designed to take them all in one swift stroke. As for the surviving European forces, they pulled
back to Prague turning Czechoslovakia into their unofficial new capital.

Unfortunately for them, that country and city in particular had been marked by The White Emperor
as his next personal hunting ground.

And now ten miles out from the city a single Britannian airship hovered patiently, its crew waiting
with bated breath. Everyone knew why they were here and why they had come alone: the
occupation of Prague would serve as both another step towards global unification and as a massive
weapons test, with the European defenders playing the role of control group. It may be a callous
way of looking at it, but a majority had been in Japan when the Avalon had still been Prince
Schneizel's flagship and as such had had experience in the form of one Lloyd Asplund when it
came to using a battlefield to further the march of science. They were therefore properly immune to
that pesky thing called morality.

All eyes were on their liege as he observed their distant target carefully, his face a blank mask.
Every now and again he'd shift his posture or give slight orders to manoeuvre the Avalon just a tad,
intent on getting the next step of their test that little bit closer to perfection, and then he'd just
resume his silent vigil as if waiting for a sign. What it could be no one knew, but then it wasn't
theirs to reason why.

And then, finally, Emperor Lelouch raised his left arm, his hand open. This had to be the signal
they were waiting for and the internal communications officers started sending last minute orders
to the hangar crews to get into position, the commencing of operations was about to begin.

Slowly, one by one, His Majesty's fingers closed back up, starting from his little finger and ending
with his thumb, his hand turning into a tightened fist. Then his whole arm thrust downwards, the
final signal, and the whole crew sprang into action, beginning the testing of their newest weapon
against the EU.

On the underside of the Avalon, five large capsules were suddenly released and sent falling to the
earth.

"Reading a clean connection, Sire." One of the operator's reported, "The Hounds are on the prowl."

The young Emperor said nothing in response. He merely treated his bridge staff to a chilling smirk
and took his seat on the Avalon's throne, his eyes not once leaving the distant city that had no idea
what he'd just unleashed upon them.

As the old saying goes: "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war."

Prague

Within the city itself, a dark hush had fallen upon the empty streets and buildings as the defending
forces waited for the storm they all knew was coming. For all that though they were in better spirits
than others might have thought they'd be. This was due to a number of reasons, starting primarily
with the unexpected arrival of W-0 Unit and Leila Malcal, her first order of business to issue a city
wide evacuation of Prague due to her expectancy that they'd be attacked any day now. And a day
later she was proven correct when three Britannian airships popped up over the horizon and laid
siege to the city. For much of the following battle it seemed that Prague would certainly fall, even
with everything the defenders threw at them and the additional help of W-0's Wyvern and Asura
squad it seemed an inevitability that they would have to keep running.

But then something happened that, in all honesty, nobody had been expecting: They started to win.

In some miracle or divine intervention, the EU had somehow gotten their hands on the schematics
for Britannia's Hadron technology and built a working prototype. Granted it was only a giant gaudy
thing that couldn't turn worth a piss but it had done what all the other advances the EU had made
had failed to do: It sank a Britannian airship. And then a second, then the third.

The mood of the soldiers at such an astounding win spoke for itself, they had been jubilant, as if
the war itself was already over and they could all go home. Now that they had the monster weapon
of Britannia the tables would soon be turning. That was the consensus that General Smilas had
arrived at as he looked over the glowing reports of their first victory in the last fortnight from his
nice cushy seat in the Cabinet Room of Straka Academy that he'd set up as his new seat of
governance.

Apparently though, one of his allies, the masked bastard who gave them that technology in fact,
saw things a little bit differently as he sputtered on the wide viewscreen before him. "Are you
serious?! One victory and you think that's it?!" Wizard snapped at him in disbelief.

As for Smilas, he remained calm in the face of such anger. Quite frankly he could understand the
man's temper, things hadn't been going well for a very long time, setback after setback had run
morale into the ground and having been completely ousted from the central and western territories
was natural to build some hostility towards him. Nevertheless, good fortune wouldn't smile on
them if they continued to look at things so negatively and he said as much.

"My friend," he began with a relaxed smile, "you simply must calm yourself and take a closer look
at reality. Yes, for much of the opening salvo Britannia has rained destruction upon us, but now
their technology is in our hands and with it we can now begin our retaliation."

Not a bad line if he did say so himself, to which he rewarded himself with a sip from the whiskey
he'd 'liberated' from one of the cupboards in the Cabinet. Ah, no better time to drink the good stuff
than right after a wonderful reversal.

"Are you mad?!" Wizard's dulcet tones drowned out his calm buzz however and he was forced
back into this conversation. The man in question's eyes were still hidden behind the mask he wore,
but it still felt as if the glare he was shooting at him could melt a person's skin if it wasn't for the
fact that they were conversing from two very different, very distant, locations. "Yes, the Hadron
Cannons are finally being massed produced - which I told you to get onto months ago! - but in case
you've forgotten, Lelouch has taken control of one of our most important assets!"

"I assume you're referring to D.S." Smilas surmised lazily, already beginning to tire of his
Britannian 'friend's' hysterical attitude and took another sip. Yes, admittedly he was dismayed by
the girl's sudden defection to the other side, taking away what knowledge could be gleaned from
the mysterious Thought Elevators, but what were the odds that a mere boy would care for such
things anyway? It's not like she had been kept privy to their battle strategies or anything. Quite
frankly, if he didn't know Wizard any better, Smilas might have thought the man missed the
insufferable little bitch. "I believe you are overestimating her usefulness to the boy… well," he
corrected himself with a lewd smile, "besides the obvious uses I suppose. She knows nothing that
can be of use to him… apart from your identity I suppose," and then his lazy smile dropped away
to focus an icy look of displeasure on the masked man "but you took care of that problem all by
yourself didn't you, Oiaguro?"

"For the last time," Wizard snapped at him angrily, "I was set up! And what are you talking about
'nothing to offer?' Have you forgotten Geass? What if he becomes interested in hunting down a
Code Bearer?"

A credible threat, that was, if Lelouch had shown himself to be in any way concerned with
immortality. Gotta give the kid credit, he's not like most of those Britannian blowhards determined
to live forever. And besides, "If the information you sent me was correct, the only known Code
Bearer was this V.V. that Charles zi Britannia received his Geass from." He pointed out to his
hyperventilating ally. "And seeing as reports suggest the Geass Directorate was destroyed by the
Black Knights and Lelouch himself killed Charles, I very much doubt we have much to worry
about."

"But what if-?!"

"Do you know of any other Codes?" Smilas cut off Wizard, now thoroughly fed up with this topic.

It would seem he'd hit the nail on the head too as the Britannian paused for a moment, as if
weighing what he did know, and then sighed in exasperation before shaking his head. "I know of
one other, but she disappeared nearly a decade ago."

"Precisely." The general concluded, leaning back and taking another sip; the glass was getting low
now, how fortunate then that he had extra. "A ghost from ten years ago isn't going to miraculously
appear now, the real world doesn't work like that."

And lo and behold, that actually looked like it had calmed Wizard down some as he took a deep
breath and, for the first time during this conversation, sat down in his chair that didn't look nearly
as comfortable as the one Smilas was resting in. "Alright," he admitted, without any sort of strain
in his tone for once. "maybe you're right about that, but bear in mind Lelouch still outguns us by a
wide margin, not to mention what happens when his Rounds get involved."

True, true, but as usual Smilas had an answer for this too. "They are devastating opponents to be
sure, but then" he added, a cunning smile worming its way across his face "we'll soon have just as
destructive a counter."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that I recently got in touch with Prince Schneizel." He pointedly ignored the contemptuous
snarl that Wizard made no point of covering up at the utterance of their other ally. "He has
graciously agreed to lend us three of his own Knights of the Round to counter Lelouch's little band
of fanatics."

"That's… not an entirely terrible idea, actually." The masked one admitted, though it sounded like
someone was threatening to crush his balls with every syllable and Smilas could just imagine the
sour look Wizard was wearing as he gave Schneizel even the littlest bit of credit. Still though he
knew how to rain on a man's parade as he pointed out, "They don't have the first clue about these
new Rounds though, the best chance they have is Bishop and that's purely because Bismarck was
his superior once. We'll see, I suppose."
"Yes well even if we are getting some Britannian help it's not like we're short of capable
commanders on our side." Smilas pointed out, though the truth was of that bunch of silver-spooned,
'privileged' officers knew about as much about warfare as a caterpillar knew how to fly. In all
honesty there was only one officer he believed worthy of the title, who just so happened to be in
town at the moment. "Leila Malcal has proved herself more than adequate in her position as W-0's
commander, not to mention she actually arrived with information regarding those new Rounds and-
what?"

He cut off as he spotted Wizard's barely there smirk. "You ought to be careful around her General,"
he advised lightly. "That girl is becoming more and more popular as time goes by. Give it enough
time and she'll be the one running things around here."

If he'd been hoping to get underneath Smilas' skin, the masked bastard was in for a disappointment
as the General instead let out a loud guffaw before replying. "I'm tempted to do just that, the EU's
running low on decent generals at the moment. I myself have my eye on a much higher post." He
could see that had caught Wizard's interest but far be it for him to reveal all his secrets and so he
merely continued on. "As it stands the military high command is at… less than capacity."

"Better interpreted as 'vaporised by a surprise attack on Rome' I'm sure." Wizard cut in
sarcastically.

"Yes, well, these things happen." Smilas waved it off before continuing. "And the politicians
backing us are dropping away like flies, either because they're dead, in hiding, or have switched
sides." Rather annoying that, seeing as they were the ones who wanted to fight in the first place…
not that their absence was a problem for his own personal plans, but it was the principle of the
thing.

Before he could digress he got back on point. "I'm a man who admits when he's reached his limits
and this war has at least taught me that when it comes to tactics, Lelouch vi Britannia has me beat."

Oh the look on what he could see of Wizard's face, was it really so out of character for him to
admit to someone being better at something than he was? The mark of a good leader was knowing
when to delegate responsibilities to those underlings better suited for them, was it not? And
besides, Smilas was ready to move his focus elsewhere. And wouldn't you know it, he had just the
underling for the job. Speaking of, their conversation was cut into at the sound of someone
knocking on the doors of the Cabinet Room.

Right on schedule, Smilas thought with a small smirk as he absently told her to come in, despite
Wizard's questions as to what he was up to now. Just as predicted, the door opened to admit the
new guardian angel of the EU, Leila Malcal, who stopped behind his chair and threw up a sharp
salute.

"Apologies for the interruption, sir." She began, glancing at the screen with a look of caution at the
masked man staring back at her. "I wasn't aware you were in conference, but you said to report to
you immediately once your latest orders had been executed."Something he'd gleaned the moment
she knocked, this particular soldier had a habit of doing exactly as she was told by her superiors
without fail. It was what made her so very useful and predictable. The perfect combination for a
successor to his position. That was put on the backburner though as Wizard cut in, confused at the
new arrival.

"Wait, what orders are these?" He turned to look at Smilas, what was visible of his face conveying
a suspicious look. "What are you up to now, Gene?"

"Always the tone of foreboding with you, Wizard." The general remarked before Malcal could
explain their newest strategy. "I merely had the new Hadron Cannons installed on top of our mobile
commerce centres."

"You-!" Clearly, for some unfathomable reason, Wizard thought he was about to hear some sort of
ridiculous plan that an orangutan in a shirt would call foolish, but then he caught himself and
actually thought about it before continuing. "Huh… that actually could work."

He'd clearly reached the same conclusion that Smilas had then. As it stood they'd won at Prague
for the moment, but that didn't mean other EU held cities were going to stand and so he had taken
to having mobile centres prepared for the eventuality that the war turned into a-run-and-gun affair.
And with their newest addition to the arsenal, that idea was starting to show its worth. The Hadron
Cannons had already proved their worth so why wouldn't they be used like this now?

Still with that look of befuddlement, Wizard turned his attention to their new addition. "Right…
anyway, Lieutenant-Colonel, your presence here is actually quite fortuitous." At her questioning
look, he carried on, "The General and I were just discussing Britannia's new Rounds and that you
recently came into possession of some rather useful information regarding them."

There was a slight widening of the girl's eyes, clearly she hadn't thought she'd been called up for
this. However, what she'd shared with him had been all too interesting for him to pass up and
Smilas was curious to see what his masked ally made of this. As such, when she glanced at him for
permission he gave her a short smile and nod. Seeing this the girl returned her attention to the
screen and answered. "Yes, it was given to me by an outside source, claiming there was more to
the Rounds, and the Emperor himself, than we were seeing."

"I see." Wizard responded shortly, clearly not thinking much of this beginning, "And who, exactly,
is this outside intelligence source you've made contact with?"

Another glance, another nod, and Malcal replied, "We don't know her real name, only the code
name she goes by: Miss X." At the utterance of the name, something very interesting happened:
Wizard's head, which had been lazily lolling about when she began her explanation, suddenly went
straight up. Even more interesting was what happened when the girl went on to say, "She came to
us on loan from an organisation that goes by the name Peace Mark."

If he could go any stiffer, Smilas wouldn't be surprised if Wizard suddenly unconsciously stood
up. How very strange. He wasn't unaware that the masked man had had run ins with that particular
terrorist group before, however he'd never brought it up so he had something to use if Wizard ever
got too uppity. But this wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting by revealing they were in contact
with that group, he'd been expecting an icy tone suggesting betrayal or one of his amusing blow ups
at working with people like them. Instead, what he got was closer to a desperate attempt to hide a
fit of near panic.

"I see." It even came out in his tone, strained and taut, as he tried to hide the effects of this new
information. "And where are the representatives of this group now? I would have thought," and
here Smilas knew Wizard was glaring at him as he went on to say, "that command would have
spoken with them by now."

Very strange. He panics at their mention, yet clearly wants to be kept in the loop of their
whereabouts. The paradoxical way Wizard was approaching this conversation had the general
more and more convinced there was more to this man's past with Peace Mark than just a few
knightmare battles. There was a secret there, something that he didn't want getting out or he
wouldn't have reacted as if they'd just skinned his favourite puppy and were selling the remains to a
museum.
All of this though, Malcal missed as she regretfully informed him, "I'm afraid we lost contact with
Miss X after we fled Rome. She hasn't called us since."

Regrettable, especially as Smilas was sure there was so much more that this X woman could have
told them, but what they had learned would do for now. With that then, he took over the
conversation again. "Thank you all the same, Lieutenant-Colonel, I think we all understand the
significance of what you've brought to our attention. Right Wizard?"

"...Hmm? Oh, yes. Thank you, Malcal." Wizard repeated, though clearly now his mind was
elsewhere. Though what it could be considering, that was the bit Smilas wanted to know.

Therefore, as he cut the connection and dismissed Malcal, he in turn began making preparations.
With the Agravain's specifications sent to them, the Hadron technology cracked and the science
teams beginning to look over the Float system, it was possible that their Britannian friend had
outstayed his welcome. If he was going to now use the EU to further his own goals rather than that
of his own, well, everyone was familiar with the term 'trimming the fat.'

With her dismissal without further orders, Leila found herself somewhat at a loose end; she'd taken
care of everything that General Smilas had tasked her with since their miraculous victory the other
day, mainly supervising the transferal of the new Hadron Cannons to the mobile command blocks,
then had been running back and forth doing odd jobs for the numerous other units who hadn't come
out nearly as well as W-0 had yesterday...although most times that just turned out to be younger
pilots wanting to get her autograph but you never knew when one of the requests might be genuine.
Now, with nothing else to do, and for a moment of brief soul searching, she decided to say 'to hell
with it' and got a ride back to base.

As W-0 had established itself as some sort of miraculous survivor unit that seemed to always make
it out of a battle with Britannia, they had been lodged in a front most position so that when the
fighting started their teams would be the first to engage. It certainly worked from a morale point of
view, seeing the infamous Wyvern squad and the quickly-gaining-a-reputation Asura squad leading
the charge worked to inspire the other units, but damn if it wasn't taxing on her pilots. It also didn't
help that, because of this, their base was actually further outside the city of Prague than the others,
just a few meters outside the established killzone of the city's fixed defences.

It made one think if the higher ups - what was left of them - loved them or hated them. Hell, she
snorted as she rested her head on the uncomfortable head rest of the military jeep she'd flagged
down, maybe they alternate.

Whatever the case, she found she didn't really care. Dusk was on them and she just wanted a few
seconds of sleep, and she was about to rest her eyes when something in the distance caught her eye.
It was only for a moment, but for a second she thought it looked like one of their Alexanders. Have
they changed the patrol route? She wasn't aware of any such change but maybe she'd missed
something during all the jumping about she'd been doing today. Shrugging it off as nothing, Leila
lay her head back down and gave herself a few minutes of relaxing quiet, gods know the last week
ought to have earned her at least that much.

Her short nap ended at the arrival at the new W-0 base, where she immediately spotted Claus
lounging outside and nursing a cup of coffee; looked like he'd pulled the short straw for evening
guard duty. But he was taking it with good grace as he merely gave her a lazy salute before waving
her on. She just smiled in return and headed towards the science department.

Upon arrival, the first thing she noted wasn't the new set of red Alexanders that Hilda and Chloe
were working on - the fact that they'd been up for nearly thirty-six hours now apparently not
registering with them - but the image of their boss, the innocently brilliant Anna, lying on the sofa
by the wall, fast asleep. For a moment Leila felt a stab of envy that her childhood friend could nod
off so easily, but then it had been her genius that had gotten them out of Rome and she'd been up
since then refining her little trick that had allowed their escape so if she wanted to rest now Leila
supposed she couldn't really begrudge her a moment to herself.

Upon seeing her arrival, Hilda tapped Chloe on the shoulder and jumped down from her seat on
her Alexander's shoulder. "Commander." She greeted after landing, "Something you need?"

"Not at all, I just felt like checking in." Leila replied, making way as Chloe followed her
colleague's lead and hopped down to land next to Hilda. Rolling her eyes at their antics, she then
glanced up to observe the new machines. "These are for Asura Team I suppose?"

"Yup." Chloe nodded, turning back to regard the one she'd been working on. "It was about time
they got an upgrade from those old Gloucesters anyway."

"Valiants as well," Leila noted, "the same as Wyvern?"

"Eh," Hilda shrugged "we had the parts lying around, not doing anything, figured we might as well
use them. We can't very well have W-0's other ace team knocked out of the fight if we come up
against another one of those EMP rockets."

Now that was something that caught her attention. "That reminds me, did you ever figure out what
it was in those rockets that froze the Panzers?"

Her question, she noted, immediately brought conflicting expressions to the two technicians as
they glanced at each other. Well that was no good, not that they hadn't come to a conclusion but the
fact that they were in various levels of disagreement over their conclusion told Leila that this wasn't
going to be something she was going to like. Still she needed to know and so steeling herself for
whatever it was, she asked them plainly, "What's wrong?"

"Well…" Hilda started, wincing a little at her own hesitation, "there's good news and bad news."

And there goes my lovely fifty minutes of sleep. Taking a deep breath, she folded her arms and
waved for them to go on. "Lay it on me."

"Right," Hilda started, clapping her hands together, "bad news first: We have absolutely no idea
what the hell kind of tech the Brits have in those rockets."

"And the good news?" Leila asked, wincing at the finality of the technician's delivery. If they
didn't know then there was no way to properly counter Britannia the next time they decided to
knock out their Panzer units.

Chloe winced before sending her colleague a look "Well, I wouldn't call it 'good' exactly, more like
'less bad than the other bad news." Leila liked to think the glower she sent her way at that remark
corrected the ginger girl of her glibness, the wince on her face suggested as much as she quickly
carried on. "Anyway, the point is we might not know what it is but we think we know someone
who does."

"We do?" That was news to Leila, she'd rattled her brain for all the scientific technobabble she'd
been audience to in her long relationship with Anna but she couldn't ever recall a time when her
friend had mentioned the development of a system that knocked out some machinery but left others
alone.

And here, it was clear, was where the difference of opinion came when Hilda piped up. "Well we
don't really know, per say, more like a very, very, very," she looked in Chloe's direction as she
stressed that last 'very' "dangerous guess."

"But it makes sense, Hilda!" Chloe insisted, "They were still running after the rockets were fired.
And don't tell me you've already forgotten the second Battle of Tokyo already?"

Tokyo? What does a former Area of the Britannian Empire have to do with any-? And then Leila's
brain froze. She remembered all too well the news reports of that day, she, Akito, and the others
were all enjoying the freedom of being civilians again going day by day with the gypsy clan that
had basically adopted them. After Zero had returned, Akito and the other Japanese pilots had been
following the Britannian news, hooked on the possibility that they were going to see the Miracle
Worker do what he'd sworn to: the complete ousting of Britannian power. Leila would admit she'd
been drawn in too, amazed over the fact that the masked man had managed to return seemingly
from the dead and then recover his power so swiftly, only then to increase it with what everyone
was now calling The Millionth Miracle, and then turn an enemy in the Chinese Federation and the
fearsome Li Xingke into an ally. The United Federation of Nations itself was created by this
mysterious man, a power block large enough to challenge Britannia itself.

For a time Leila really did believe that Zero could do it, he really could win against Britannia. And
then came the Second Battle of the Tokyo Settlement. Zero was killed and Japan remained an
Imperial region. The Wyvern team had been devastated, as if all their hopes had been dashed then
and there.

But all that was now superseded by a very important fact that for quite a while, she hadn't really
thought about due to the fact that, even if it officially ended in a ceasefire, Britannia won that day.
At the very opening of the battle for Tokyo, all broadcasting had suddenly gone dark. I thought
that was just the Black Knights cutting their communications, but if what Chloe is theorising is
correct...

"But wait, hold on a sec." Leila spoke up, cutting off the arguing technicians and returning their
attention to her. "Are you saying the Black Knights invented this technology? But then how does
Britannia - their sworn enemy - have the knowledge to make it? And to what end? What good is a
weapon that freezes every kind of knightmare?"

"Not every kind." A tired voice behind them corrected, bringing them all around to face the still
somewhat sleepy-eyed face of Anna who was sitting up from her nap.

Mentally, Leila kicked herself. We must've been talking too loud. Aloud she apologised, "Sorry,
Anna, we got a little bit excited. Go on back to sleep."

But Anna just shook her head at that and got up, straightening up her ruffled uniform as best she
could. "No point now, I'm up and about and you of all people know how hard it is for me to drop
off again." She teased with a small smile. But the happy look dropped away as she got onto the
point she'd been making before. "On that matter about knightmares freezing up, not all of them do,
our Alexanders are one kind for a start."

Then she nodded over at her two helpers, "But Chloe does have a point about the Black Knights,
their machines have no record of falling victim to these effects."

"That we know of, Anna." Hilda pointed out, still clearly not convinced. "Would Zero really let it
be known that his machines are susceptible to something like an EMP?"

"No he wouldn't." The chief technician of W-0 admitted, before pointing out very clearly, "But
then he doesn't need to. We've seen with our own eyes that those kinds of machines have a defence
against such an attack."
And then it clicked for Leila, where Anna was going with this. She almost felt a fool for not
figuring it out sooner herself, the answer had been right in front of them and they hadn't even
noticed: "Peace Mark." She all but whispered the name. "They use the same knightmare design as
the Black Knights."

"Exactly," Anna nodded "what's more if we go by what we know of the Black Knights' arsenal, at
least one of Peace Mark's machines is an older model. That blue one with the Radiant Wave
Surger."

"Wait," Hilda jumped in, "are you saying the Japanese had at least one generation of knightmares
that're EMP proof?" She asked, incredulity rife in her tone. "But that's impossible! That implies the
Black Knights have been sitting on this tech for over a year! Why didn't they use it the first time
they attacked Tokyo? Just one of those rockets would've won it for them!"

"They couldn't though." Leila pointed out, remembering the broadcast of that battle as well. "They
weren't nearly as organised or well funded back then, their forces made up mostly of Sutherlands
and Glasgows. If they'd used it there, they would've been just as immobilised as the Britannians."

"Which is also why we didn't see any Sutherlands when they sacked Rome." Anna added, walking
past them all and stopping at the work station, where she then brought up the recording of the
battle from Ayano's Valiant. "See? Only Vincents. Nothing below anything considered Seventh
Generation, which means Britannia was actually behind on this technology until after the Black
Rebellion. After."

"And we'd never even considered the possibility." Leila murmured. A concentrated strike designed
to take out the enemy's forces before they could even be powered on had been theorised, but the
leading brains had simply laughed it off as impractical and unfeasible. Well someone managed
it, she thought to herself bitterly, and unlike us, Britannia immediately worked out both how to
protect themselves from it and how to use it to their advantage. That must have been what the
Britannians were banking on that day: their unpreparedness for an apparently unmanageable
assault. Well it worked, brilliantly too.

"That still leaves out one last detail though." She pointed out, glancing back up at their saving
grace. "Why did the Alexanders not suffer the same fate? We didn't have any kind of defences for
that kind of warfare."

It looked like Anna knew the answer, but before she could respond a male voice behind Leila
spoke up first. "It's because of the BRS."

Spinning around, the girls found that they'd been joined by the Randle couple. Takeru, the one who
answered, was standing in the doorway with Sophie at his side, both of them smiling up at the red
machines. The husband then continued, wistfully, "It was our brainchild, designed for mental
control as much as physical and the Alexanders were built with that in mind."

"Huh, I didn't know that." Chloe murmured, turning back to look at the Alexander she'd been
working on. "So are you saying this thing can just be moved with the pilot's mind?"

"Not quite." Sophie spoke up, shaking her head, "Cognitive input is still required, but the
Alexanders were designed to draw power from the natural electric charges that happen in the brain.
Even if you didn't equip them with an energy filler, so long as there's a pilot in there, the Alexander
unit will keep moving."

A machine that uses the pilot's mind to operate? Frankly Leila didn't know what to make of that, it
almost sounded like the Alexander leeched the life out of its pilots to keep itself alive. And after
one or two times of seeing what the BRS had done to Akito she wasn't sure it was a good idea.
Thus she was compelled to ask "How dangerous is it?"

The couple paused a moment and glanced at each other before shaking their heads lightly. "We've
never heard any complaints." Sophie stated, "The possibility does exist that the BRS will act on its
own if it detects a significant threat to its survival, but that's what the pilot's there for. So far there
hasn't been a single casualty that can be attributed to the system interfering with orders."

So far. Leila considered that particularly diplomatic term for a moment even if outwardly she
nodded her head at Sophie's words. That doesn't mean it's not possible though. It made all of their
engagements over the last year suddenly look considerably more concerning. How many times then
have we been unconsciously forced to do things by the BRS that we normally wouldn't do?

Gah! Thinking like this wasn't going to do her any good, she ought to focus on the positive. At the
very least they now had a lead on to what the tech was, granted it was very unlikely the Black
Knights were just going to give them the secret to turning off knightmare frames remotely but at
least they now knew where to start. If Miss X hadn't gone with Peace Mark, we might have been
able to strike a bargain with them.

But it didn't do to wonder about the 'what ifs' and so for the time being Leila put the subject away
and focused her thoughts on the people around her. Her attention fell on the Doctor in their
presence who, even after his recovery, they hadn't seen much of. Time to correct that. "Dr Takeru,
it feels as if we don't see you as much as we should. What exactly have you been getting up to
since you returned to service?"

"Ah!" Takeru cheerfully smiled, seemingly glad to move on from the subject of knightmares mind
controlling their pilots, "Nothing quite as glamorous as the BRS, but just as important. Sophie and I
have been looking into new forms of medicine." Saying so, he placed an affectionate arm around
his wife, who smiled at the contact. "The war will end one way or the other, and whoever wins will
need good doctors, I figure we can do some good if we push our research as far as we can in that
time."

His statement did the trick of getting her to think about something else and Leila couldn't help but
smile at the couple as they started to go into detail on what their research entailed. It was good to
know that, even with all these losses, the Randles were still putting their positions as doctors ahead
of their military positions. When the war did reach an end she truly hoped that they were still
around to see it, such good people shouldn't be lost just for the greed of a few squabbling political
leaders.

The couple's talk had sparked Anna's curiosity too and Leila's smile turned pained as she observed
yet another of those who shouldn't be here talk far more animatedly with them than she had been
before. This is what she should've been, a helper, a carer, not a designer of weapons of death. She
never should have followed me into the military. One day she'd make it up to her friend, she more
than deserved it.

Takeru and Sophie didn't mind her questions one bit either as the husband generously
responded."Well, if you want to learn more about it, we can get together some time and disc-"

That was as far as he got though before the whole complex was suddenly filled with the loud
urgent klaxon of the red alert siren and the stamping of feet outside followed by the repeated order
to assume battle stations. Their conversation halted, Leila span round in alarm to the girls. "What's
happening out there?"

Anna reacted first, hurrying back to the work station and booting up the computer, a few
keystrokes later and she had hacked her way into the CCTV network. Everyone gathered around
the indigo-haired girl and gazed down at the screen to see what was happening. To their collective
horror, they were treated to the sight of one of their new Hadron Cannon mounted command
centres burning a fierce orange.

There was no sign of the aggressor, but then they didn't have to see it to know that Britannia had
gotten tired of waiting around and decided to press in on them again. And they had done so by
taking away the one thing that had given them victory yesterday. They've already adapted their
tactics. Leila realised grimly, and they had done so in a way that meant they didn't know the
enemy had been there until after they'd attacked. And if they could do it to one, then the other
cannons weren't going to fare much better.

With that terrible analysis completed, Leila clenched her fists and turned to the Randles, "Get
everyone back on station." She ordered crisply before turning to her friend, "Anna, girls, prepare
for evacuation."

Less than ten minutes after the recall had gone out, Wyvern and Asura team had deployed and
were now making their way towards the very edge of their ranged support radius. At the head of
both groups was Leila's own Alexander which she had insisted be there to help them all as much as
she could. Akito would like to think he argued as hard as he could that she needn't have to do that
but the stubborn girl had won out and so he merely resigned himself to the fact that he'd just have
to look out for her as best he could. All the same though, as they drove further along the night-
covered roads away from Prague, Akito couldn't help feeling more and more uneasy.

"Hey, buddy," Ashley called out to him from his right "you okay?"

Glancing over at the Red Ogre, which was now accompanied by a squad of red Alexander Valiants
that had replaced Asura Team's Gloucesters, he shrugged and did his best to respond. "I don't like
this. We've come under attack but we don't know where from and now we've lost our trump card."

"Yeah, know what you mean." His fellow team leader agreed, sounding just as worried... as well as
more than a bit tired as he let out a yawn. "Bloody Brits though, they could've at least waited until
sun up before they hit us couldn't they? I was having such a nice dream..."

"I'd keep that dream to yourself, Ashley." Kuzan cut in, "We all know what you fantasise about
and, frankly, I don't think your Ayano's type."

"Oh I dunno." Rene interrupted, "Suicidal, rants a lot, hothead, and likes to kill things with sharp
pointy things. He may have a chance after all."

"Ha ha," their leader cut back in, "comedians, the lotta you. But just remember who signs your
paychecks."

"We do." Rene told him, completely unfazed. "And I doubt Leila would approve if we told her
about your other fantasy. You know, the one where its just you two and then Ayano joins in and
then you step out and it all gets-"

"You swore never to mention that again!" Ashley yelled, backing Red Ogre up a bit so he could
slap Rene's and Kuzan's Valiants upside the head, all of which resulted in the remainder of Asura
team laughing out loud at their teammates' antics.

Well, at least someone's enjoying themselves. Akito thought to himself as he observed his team's
counterpart, and now he knew way to much about Ashley's private thoughts than might be healthy
for him. Still, none of that had dissuaded the fact that he had a very bad feeling about all of this.
They'd driven as far as they dared now, well beyond ranged support which meant if they got into
trouble help wasn't going to come very quickly. Still Leila seemed convinced that the enemy would
appear here, but for the life of him, Akito couldn't figure out why; it was just an old abandoned
factory district, hardly the sort of place an enemy with Britannia's ego would hide themselves. And
even then, it was now twenty minutes after red alert had been sounded and yet not one shot had
been fired besides the loss of one of their mobile Hadron Cannons.

This has 'trap' written all over it. He concluded, looking around worriedly as Leila's Alexander
signalled for them to halt and spread out. And we're walking right into it.

For a moment the two teams scanned the derelict area for any signs of activity, but all too soon
everyone was reporting back that the entire area was clear of hostiles. Not that Akito had expected
anything of the kind, they would've seen something by now if that had been the case, and yet Leila
was convinced that the enemy would come this way. Why?

His thoughts would soon be voiced as Ryo let out a frustrated groan. "Argh! What're we even doing
here?" He demanded, also with a touch of drowsiness in his tone, "It's the middle of the night and
there's nothing going on! I wasn't even close to finishing!" His Valiant's foot lifted up and kicked in
one of the walls of an industrial complex, "Well?! Ya hear me, ya damn Brits?! Where the fuck are
you?!"

"Ryo!" Ayano yelled at him before Akito got a chance to, "Will you pipe down?! You're gonna
bring the whole Britannian military down on us!"

That did little to deter their vocal teammate as he just scoffed loudly, although he did put his
machine's foot back down before replying, "As if that'd be any different from our usual thing: We
fight, we run, they chase, we fight again and the whole thing loops back around. Just once I'd like
to be the one attacking them."

A sentiment Akito, and he knew the rest of them, shared; they'd been on the run ever since Paris,
being shoved out of every location they set up as a headquarters because Britannia just wouldn't be
satisfied until they had everything. Always running, always just narrowly escaping, for weeks now.
Yesterday he'd thought that was all about to change when they sank three airships and successfully
defended their territory for once, the power of the Hadron Cannons was unmatched by anything
their technicians had come up with, and yet now even that was being taken away from them. But
still, they couldn't just lose their cool now, especially if there were enemy troops nearby.

"Guys," Yukiya cut into the sniping pair, which caught the attention of the others as well who
turned slightly to regard him, "not to sound weird or anything but does anyone else hear that?"

At his question everyone went silent, even Ryo, and started looking around at their empty
surroundings, all of them listening for whatever it was that he'd picked up. But for the life of him
Akito couldn't hear anything out there besides the low hum of their machines, so what was it that
Yukiya had heard that had him so spooked?

"I don't hear anything." Leila spoke for them all after a moment.

"Exactly." Yukiya stated, his Alexander being the only one that hadn't relaxed slightly at their
commander's words. "This time of night not much would be moving around, but there should still
be a few nocturnal scavengers around. So where are they?"

Now that he mentioned it, that was a bit odd. Surely there ought to be the odd animal here and
there, right? Suddenly Akito didn't feel so safe anymore and he immediately brought
the Liberte's Judgement rifle back up to bear, pointing into the inky blackness ahead of him.
Something really wasn't right here.

"I don't get it." Ryo spoke up over the comms. "Didn't we just spook them when we arrived?"

"Some of them, maybe." Leila allowed though she sounded just as tense as Akito felt, her
Alexander reflecting that as its own rifle raised back up to point dead ahead as well. "But one or
two should still be around, hiding in the buildings... and yet infra red shows nothing."

She was right, Akito had just switched his own scanners over to heat seeking mode and been given
the same result, aside from the heat being generated by himself and the rest of the team, there was
nothing out here. And yet such a conclusion ought to make him feel safer. No heat meant no one
else was around, which meant it really was just them... so why did it feel like someone was
watching him?

"Shit." Ashley muttered, Red Ogre's aim going from left to right every so often, "Does anyone else
feel like someone dropped an ice cube down their backs?"

He did actually, and he wasn't liking it mostly because he couldn't figure out why he should be
feeling worried aside from the absence of a few squirrels. Every visual scan told him that they were
alone here at yet his gut was telling him otherwise: Somewhere, very close by, someone was
watching them and patiently waiting for their next move. And if that was the case then they really
could be screwed this time because a factory district was a knightmare pilot's worst nightmare; so
many places to hide and spring a trap, even an Alexander would be in trouble if someone was
clever enough here.

The more he waited though, the more a single though began to take him over as nothing appeared
to challenge them which served to agitate and infuriate him all the more. They're playing with us.
Watching us scramble around trying to work out where they are and are meanwhile laughing it up
from their vantage... wait a second...

UP! Snapping the Liberte's head upward he switched back to thermal and scanned again... and
there it was: One single heat source.

"Above us!" He yelled to the others, turning to point his rifle at the lone figure starring down at
them. The rest followed his lead, probably switching to thermal too and confirming what he'd seen,
a second later raising their weapons to bear on it.

"We gotcha now, ya Brit bastard!" Ryo declared, all four of his missile pods opening up and the
chaingun revving up and Akito could just see his finger throbbing to hit the trigger. His chance was
lost however when Leila's Alexander moved ahead of him and shoved his Valiant's lock out of
alignment. "Oi! Commander what the hell?!"

"Everyone hold fire." She ordered them all sharply, much to their collected disbelief, before
turning to regard the figure. "If he wanted to fight us, he would have already engaged. He hasn't,
which means this might not have to end in violence."

A wishful thought, even if Akito could sympathise. At heart, Leila was a very gentle person, she
would fight if she had to and had shown she was willing to do so time and again but she would
always be looking for a more peaceful solution to a problem than sticking it with a sword.
However that nature had gotten her into trouble in the past, like when she'd met with Shinn to
negotiate a surrender which allowed her people to go only to be turned on and would have been
killed if he and the rest of Wyvern hadn't gotten back to Weisswolfe in time. As such, even if she
wanted to do this the peaceful way, he'd be keeping his sights fixed on that orange blob. A blob
that was now moving.

It was still too high up to see with the naked eye, but the thermal vision showed that it was now
right above them confirming that whoever their observer was he was definitely in a flight-capable
knightmare. That bad feeling Akito had still wasn't going away, the machine was now in their blind
spot, if it wanted to attack now was the best time to do it.

Leila didn't seem to be considering this though as she lowered her Alexander's rifle and switched to
an open channel. "Attention, Britannian pilot, this is territory of Europia United. Disarm yourself
and surrender or retreat back to base and I promise you will be shown the appropriate mercy of the
international accords of wartime."

Not a bad line that, she was giving the stranger an out but was silent also telling him that she would
fight back if he stayed. At least she did seem to have learned from the past, but still Akito didn't get
the feeling that a simple warning was going to deter this pilot. He'd gone to a great amount of
trouble to attract their attention, at great cost to their defences too, so why would he leave now that
he'd gotten what he wanted?

"Leila." He called her over their squad channel, his eyes never leaving the heat source that was
now beginning to descend. "This doesn't feel right, we should go."

But his commander remained resolutely firm where she stood, "If there is even a small chance of
resolving an issue without force, Akito, I will take it." She stated firmly, her machine not moving
an inch as it continued to follow the unknown knightmare's descent.

The reaffirmation of her nature did little to console him however, and Akito could see that the
others were getting antsy as well. There was something going on here, he couldn't put his finger on
what but that single Britannian was going to do something any moment now, he just knew it.

Not that he was happy when he was proven right. Just as the knightmare above them was about to
come into range of the Alexanders' lights, the thermal scanners suddenly went wild as numerous
heat signatures suddenly lit up. Alarmed, his gaze dropped back down to the ground around him to
take stock of what had happened; there were at least twenty sources of heat suddenly surrounding
them, some hidden within factory buildings whilst others looked as if they could have ran right
into them if they'd moved an inch further. The trap had been sprung.

But how?! Akito stared at them all, noting that the others were now prioritising the surrounding
enemy force. We should've seen them on the scanner! Even if they turned them off the pilot's body
heat would still show! Flicking off the thermal settings for live feed didn't give him any answers, in
fact it just made him feel worse: the new arrivals were hidden in shadow, the only thing visible
being a pair of ruby red lights for each machine glaring at them. And then the situation went from
bad to worse as an open channel suddenly established itself and he was treated to the sound of a
chilling, familiar laugh. No... not him, not here.

His prayer went unanswered as the laugh was then replaced with an amused voice addressing
Leila. "I apologise, but I couldn't help listening to your declaration." All eyes then snapped back up
to the machine above them, now illuminated by their machines' searchlights… and Akito sucked in
a fearful breath. Above them hung the black and gold knightmare that had turned their entire
invasion force into scrap metal with only one attack.

"No way..." Yukiya's whisper was almost missed on the radio, a tremor in his tone.

"Hello Wyvern Squad." Lelouch vi Britannia greeted them, "Did you miss me?"
 Whom to choose? Ally selection

Prague.

"Hello, Wyvern Squad. Did you miss me?"

Both Wyvern Squad and Asura Team were shocked and terrified to see the enemy leader – Lelouch
vi Britannia himself! - here. Especially Yukiya, who was staring at Knightmare that had almost
killed him back in Paris.

Their team leader was prepared for the fight of his life. Akito wasn't the type to underestimate his
opponents twice, and the Emperor of Britannia was the most daunting enemy Wyvern Squad could
come up against.

But despite his fear, Akito was nowhere near ready to surrender. He wouldn't let anyone hurt his
friends, even if it cost him his life.

Leila was ready to start a fight against the skewed odds, but she was still unsure why the Emperor
was here in the middle of nowhere, and she wanted to know why. Both for the sake of curiosity and
for the dim hope that the situation could be diffused without more death.

"Lelouch vi Britannia, what are you after?"

The black Knightmare turned to Leila's Alexander, its red Factspheres glowing ominously.

Motioning one of her Alexander's hands about at their surroundings, the blonde girl. "This is not
what anyone would call an important strategic asset and hardly merits the personal attention of the
Emperor of Britannia."

"Or are you just here to taunt us?" That sort of arrogance would fit right in with what she knew
about Britannian royals. If that was all he wanted, then he was a fool. Even outnumbered, Wyvern
Squad was full of Knightmare pilots ready to fight and die for Europe. Maybe they'd be crushed,
but Leila would make sure they took Lelouch down with them. "We won't go down so easily."

Lelouch just laughed, prompting Leila to narrow her eyes in irritation.

"Well, I expect nothing else from famous Leila Malcal." Lelouch murmured with light amusement
over the open channel. "Your subordinates may be skilled, but what about numerical advantage?
The superiority of armaments? In these I can easily compete with you with you."

Before anyone could demand clarification the faint light of Factspheres that flickered in the
darkness blazed, revealing twenty black Knightmares with red orbs in their heads.

"These are..." whispered Franz while the rest of his companions were dazed again in horror.

"Alexanders." finished Akito, sweat beginning to bead on his temples.

And indeed, the black machines before them were ebony versions of Europe's famed Knightmares.
They were all equipped with standard micro bullet rifles and rocket launchers. The only difference
between their own units and the newcomers beyond the paint job was that all of their cockpits
seemed to be unfit for human pilots. It was queer adaption that puzzled more than one of Europe's
finest.
"So you stole them!" Leila accused, her jaw tensing. The superiority of the Alexander over the
standard Sutherland and Gloucester was one of Europe's few remaining advantages, but here before
them the Emperor was showing how weak that security blanket really was.

All black Alexanders assembled beside their Emperor, lurking like dread knights out of some
forgotten legend from a thousand years ago.

"They were Alexanders once. I don't call them that anymore. And we confiscated them as the
lawful authority in the area. So we haven't stolen anything." Lelouch parried, a smirk pulling at his
mouth. "Perhaps it would feel better if you think we just picked up a few toys that were abandoned
by the EU. You can call them Hounds."

Leila stared at the enemy machines few seconds before shaking her head. "Fun. And what does
Your Majesty want?" Her voice was even more sarcastic than the first time, and despite the
feigned civility none of her subordinates lowered their weapons.

"Well, as I would hope you know, the EU right now is not in what anyone could call an ideal
position."

The assertion by an enemy commander prompted an instinctive quite bristling by Wyvern Squad,
but no one protested. As much as it rankled their pride, they all without a doubt agreed with him.
Losing all of their western territories was an enormous blow to Europe's war effort.

"And that's why I want to offer you, an alliance between us."

"What?" she asked weakly, purple eyes wide with disbelief.

Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia - the ruler of the most powerful country in the world who had won
almost every battle in this war - was asking her to make an alliance with him. During a random
meeting. It boggled the mind.

"You heard me, Ms Leila. An alliance between the two of us would be enough to put an end to this
war and save Europe from further bloodshed and destruction."

It was an absurd idea; an impossible suggestion for a loyal soldier of the European Union. And yet
a small part of her couldn't help but start thinking about it. Something – and she didn't know what -
was on the tip of her tongue when Ryo spoke up on Wyvern Squad's private channel.

"Maybe he's trying to make friends with us because he's afraid of the last battle? Maybe he's afraid
that we've got some new technology we can use to beat him? None of his troops in Rome were able
to come after us once we froze them."

The commander in Leila doubted her friend's idea, but to be fair to Ryo it made some sense. If he
was truly afraid of their new technology then it might explain Lelouch vi Britannia's sudden
appearance.

As she turned that thought over in her head, Leila felt like it wasn't quite right. The man that killed
his own father and laid waste to half a continent wouldn't be scared so easily. But if he wasn't
scared of them, did that mean he was afraid of something else? Or was Emperor Lelouch the kind
of madman that had no fears at all?

If she decided to accept the Emperor's proposal, they'd form an alliance to 'stop the war'. But why
does any country that starts a war just suddenly want to stop it?

Because there was a new and bigger threat on the horizon.

If the war dragged on for a long time it was possible that other nations would decide to attack
Britannia. The UFN was the most likely to declare war on Britannia, but other large neutral
countries like Australia might take the risk of getting involved. Or there could be rebellions in the
Britannian Empire's Areas or even the homeland itself. Britannia had always been a tyrannical
empire, and Lelouch was technically by law a usurper. Revolutions or a succession crisis were
certainly possibilities.

"If I decided to ask something, Emperor Lelouch, would you answer my question honestly?" Leila
glanced at Asura Team and then again at the black Knightmares surrounding them. "Are you afraid
of an uprising from one of your remaining siblings?"

if Leila could see Lelouch's face she would have known that the Emperor's eyes glittered with
anticipation.

"Interesting question." Replied the young ruler, deciding to bait the hook a little bit more.
"However, what siblings are you talking about?"

Leila smirked, she could practically smell the blood in the water. "Your brother, Prince Schneizel"

"Well, I think that my brother is quite able and ruthless. It's certainly better not to underestimate
him." Lelouch remembered his childhood, and how he never once won against his older brother in
their chess matches. "I'm sure some of you have heard what happened in Tokyo."

"Freyja," Ayano sighed, eyes closed with despair. It was a terrible weapon that took so many lives,
and every time anyone of them thought about that they couldn't help but flinch. "But isn't Britannia
the one who made it?"

"You might be surprised, but even if it was my country who opened that Pandora's Box we don't
have any of those bombs. Or even the blueprints, for that matter." Lelouch's voice as cold as ice,
and the sudden shift from his previously jovial tone made the European pilots tense up again. "I'm
basically spilling national secrets to foreigners to tell you about it, but even if I had one I would
destroy it. Freyja shouldn't be used by anyone!"

That surprised both teams. None of them had expected him to be so emotional about the
superweapon.

"Wow, The White Emperor actually has emotions." Ryo was surprised by the idea that even a
Britannian Emperor might find Freyja atrocious, but for Leila, something else had become clear.

"You were there, weren't you? You were in Japan when Freyja exploded." Possibly even in Tokyo
itself. That sort of trauma would explain exactly why The Emperor hated it.

"Excellent deduction, Ms Leila." Confirmed Lelouch, the chill bleeding away from his voice until
it was soft enough not to draw blood with every syllable. "You're right. I was there and saw it.
Believe me when I say that weapon like that shouldn't exist."

Placing his left hand over his eyes, Lelouch frowned at the thought of another demonic power that
normally shouldn't exist either. "Schneizel has it. And even without the official support of any
nation he still has enough resources to create a new one."

"Yes, and if we want to prevent the tragedy in Japan from repeating then we must stop him." Leila
sighed quietly, but the admission was loud enough to be heard and everyone under her command
was shocked.

"Leila, what are you talking about?" Ayano demanded, not quite willing to accept the obvious.
"Indeed, Lady Leila, what are you talking about?" Lelouch quoted Ayano with a slight smirk,
rather hoping that turning Europe's greatest commander would be so easy. "Could it be that you are
agreeing to form an alliance with me?"

"No, I don't." The denial was sharp, but Leila had to swallow back the urge to clarify that it was
only 'for now'. "Emperor Lelouch, you must understand why I can't join you. We at war and on
opposite sides. If you want to form an alliance with us then you must first stop the war!"

"Miss Leila, tell me, do you know why are you doing it all? Why are you fighting for Europe in
the first place?" Lelouch asked rhetorically, summoning his own convictions. "I fight this war
because I believe – no - I know I will make this world a better place for everyone!"

"A perfect world in other words, huh." chuckled Akito as he pointed his katana at the Shinkiro
Imperium. "As much I as wish it was true, it is impossible. Your perfect world is nothing but a
dream, Lelouch vi Britannia!" declared the Japanese soldier.

Lelouch just laughed back. "Nothing is impossible, my friend. When you have a goal and the right
plan you can achieve anything. Schneizel knows this too, and that is why my brother will not afraid
to use anything to achieve his own vision of the perfect world. He wouldn't be afraid to use
something like the Freyja on his own homeland...or on his allies."

Those last words made Leila blink several times, trepidation tingling over her nerves. "What do
you mean?"

"Did you ever ask yourself how the EU high command was able to find the coordinates of all of
Britannia's bases? What do you think? Who gave it to them? And before you suggest that
Schneizel is supporting the EU out of the goodness of his heart, let me remind that there always
will be a crafty little rat who wants to take the biggest piece of cheese no matter the cost to anyone
else. Schneizel simply wants to rule the world, and he's willing to bleed it white to do so."

Leila was silent for some time, digesting Lelouch's spiel.

"And what are you offering?" She didn't pay attention to her soldiers when they started asking her
what she thought she was doing. All of Leila's attention was focused on the emperor in front of her.

"An alliance." Lelouch reiterated. "Your leaders senselessly only want fight against Britannia, but
this is an alliance that many people in EU would want to have, if simply because of the many
people that are dying because of this war."

The White Emperor's voice turned softer and more cajoling. "And that's why I want you to help.
The people of the EU love you and think about you as their new messiah, so if you ask them to
unite and work with Britannia then many people would follow you."

"In other words, you want me to take power from my lawful commanders - just like you did - and
became the new ruler – again, just like you did. And then you want me to work for you." Leila
snorted, giving Lelouch a slight glare through their com screens

Lelouch just smirked, mouth twisting with aristocratic arrogance. "Well, you can look at reality.
Once upon a time Britannia was the evil empire that wanted nothing beyond more and more power.
But the Britannia of yesterday is very different from the Britannia of today, and you know why?' he
asked her even though both of them already knew the answer.

"Because of their new ruler." Lelouch nodded emphatically at her answer, but Leila just frowned.
"But even if I help you there always would be people that don't want to work with Britannia, and
they would raise a revolution to stop me."

Then the smirk on Lelouch's face changed into a cruel smile. "Yes, I had some problems like that
with the former nobility. But you know when good words don't work-"

"You must use brute force." Leila finished his words with a sigh. "Yes, I heard about how your
loyal followers deal with those kinds of problems... But that is not my method." The blonde
woman's voice turned to steel.

"I see." Lelouch's expression shifted into neutrality, concealing all traces of disappointment. "In
that case, I won't ask you help me...all I ask you now is to remember regardless of what happens
with the EU this offer still stands. I will leave a position open for you in Britannia in case you
change your mind."

Leila's eyes went wide. Was he really suggesting that he wanted to be allies even if he totally
destroyed the EU? Why?

"Now, I would appreciate it if you and your little friends stay out of my way. I would be…
displeased if you were harmed." With those parting words Lelouch intended to fly away and leave
behind a confused Leila.

Instead, suddenly someone tried to shoot at him. "What the-" The Shinkiro's blazing red shields
protected the monarch while his Hounds wheeled about to open fire on the Alexanders.

"We've caught sight of Emperor Lelouch! I repeat, Emperor Lelouch is within range!" shouted a
new voice as the pilot of a new Alexander lead a surge of European knightmares into the
abandoned factory district.

In a handful of seconds, the horizon had been filled by EU Alexanders that immediately proceeded
to open fire on the Shinkiro Imperium.

The Alexanders assaulting the Britannian Emperor were made up of independent squads that
weren't under Leila's command. She had no power over them and couldn't stop them.

Not that she was sure she wanted to in the first place.

An hour before she would have been happy to strangle Lelouch vi Britannia to death with her bare
hands, but after his sudden appearance and queer offer she didn't know what to think.

The black Hounds switched their targets, volleying back at the newcomers while Wyvern Squad
and Asura Team didn't know what to do.

Then one Hound tried to shoot at Franz, prompting Ashley to defend his comrade with one of his
Alexander's swords.

"Well, it seems that time for negotiations has ended," Ayano growled; her Alexander sighting
down one of the Hounds and blasting micro bullets.

The Hound just dodged all her shots, transforming into its Insect Mode and rocketing towards
Ayano.

Ryo intercepted the Britannian Knightmare, kicking it from the side and smashing one of its
factspheres into dull red shards.

"We should have just got rid of these guys from the start." The former Japanese terrorist snarled,
bringing his rifle to bear on three Hounds. Once again, the Hounds managed to dodge a member of
Wyvern Squad's bullets. "Damn, this guy really good!"

"Last time you said something like that the guy we were fighting almost beat me and Ayano, and
then he became a new Knight of the Round!" yelled Yukiya who tried to shoot at one Hound,
glaring as it deftly leapt out of the way of his bullets.

They all silently took a second to bitterly reminisce about Arthur Calhoun bloodying them during
the Battle of Paris and then going on to become the new Knight of Four.

"Wait, where's Akito and Ashley?" demanded Franz as he and the other members of the Asura
Team moved to engage another pair of Lelouch's Hounds.

Leila started at the scene of the fight erupting before her. For once the famous commander didn't
know what to do on the battlefield.

"Leila Malcal!" barked Lelouch over their private channel as his Shinkiro Imperium moved into
battle position. "I think we have a serious problem right now."

"You're not serious." Leila snarked, and tapped her finger against the side of her Alexander's
control column. "What do you suggest I do then? I can't just command them to stop, I don't have-"

"Oh, don't worry; I already have an idea about what to do." Lelouch smirked roguishly, making his
Shinkiro twitch and sprout green blades from its wrists. "I'm sure you will understand it soon
enough." and then Shinkiro Emporium launched itself at her Alexander.

"No! Wait, Lelouch!" Leila's Knightmare scrambled back in an effort to put some distance between
itself and the black titan bearing down on her. She was still trying to figure out what to say to calm
the Emperor's sudden thirst for violence, but before she could come up with something two
machines leapt up from behind to stand before her.

Alexander Liberte and Red Ogre loomed protectively for a heartbeat before they rushed at
Shinkiro with their katana and swords, going right for the kill.

The Shinkiro Imperium blocked their attack with its blades, straining against the Liberte on the left
side and the Red Ogre on the right.

"Damn! Unless I use my Absolute Defense System they can easily kill me." Lelouch clenched his
jaw as the Red Ogre tried to stab through his Shinkiro with another sword from the side. Unless he
turned off his weapons entirely he couldn't use the Shinkiro's defense system, but if he turned his
weapons off he had no chance of overwhelming the pair of aces.

At the same time, Leila was realized what the White Emperor was doing. He was trying to make a
cover story for Wyvern Squad and Asura Team. If Europe's soldiers saw her and the emperor of an
enemy nation casually conversing with each other rather than fighting they would label her and her
subordinates as traitors. Emperor Lelouch was trying to save her image. The only question why,
considering she'd turned down his offer of alliance.

While Lelouch struggled against Akito and Ashley, the other European Alexanders were
desperately fighting against the Hounds. It was like the Britannian machines were birthed in the
depths of hell; such was their skill.

One Hound leapt on an EU Alexander, a steel blade erupting from its left wrist and stabbing
through the Alexander's cockpit in a split second.
Other European machines were brought down by just three rounds, the Hounds triggering the
cockpit ejection mechanism and sending the European pilots out of commission.

Even the famed pilots of Wyvern Squad struggled to match up, as when Ryo tried to shoot one of
the Hounds and simply prompted it to transform into Insect Mode and rush at him.

The Hound attempted to tackle Ryo's Alexander, but Yukiya managed to bring it down at the last
moment with a crack of his sniper rifle. The destroyed Hound hit the pavement, offering Roy and
Yukiya a clear view inside its cockpit.

"Guys! There's no pilots in these things!"

'What?" asked Ashley demanded as he and Akito continued to pressure the Britannian Emperor.

"Maybe distance control or Artificial Intelligence." Theorized Akito on an open channel, glancing
at the Shinkiro.

"I don't like distance control because the management centre must be somewhere near and it can
become a weak point. The right answer is AI."

Inside her Alexander Leila nodded in silent agreement, a bit baffled that the Emperor of Britannia
was just offering up valuable intel on his nation's technological weapons development.

And the Britannians were using good AI, the blonde woman had to admit. The Hounds were busy
with annihilating the EU's Alexanders while her two teams were only able to destroy a single
enemy machine. Europe's High Command would wet themselves once she made her report. "It's
still hard to believe that you figured out something scientists all across Europe have been trying to
create for decades."

"But it's true." Lelouch laughed at the grudging compliment.

"Well, I think I've had enough Knightmare training for one day." Then Lelouch launched his chest-
mounted slash harkens at Leila's Alexander, sinking the hook deep into her machine and pulling
her right up against his black and gold-plated machine. Once her Alexander stood right before him,
the Shinkiro's hands settled over her Alexander's hands in an unyielding grip.

From the side, it looked almost like their Knightmares were like hugging each other. "Today I may
be disappointed in your answer, Lady Leila. But you still an exceptional leader; not to mention how
gorgeous you are."

At this comment Leila reluctantly blushed.

"The people will need you, and that's why you must act before it's too late."

Leila wanted to ask Lelouch exactly what he meant with that cryptic comment, but inside Shinkiro
Lelouch pressed the detonator that was strapped to his chest.

In the next handful of seconds, dozens of explosions lit up the skyline all around Prague. The sight
was enough to draw Wyvern Squad's horrified eyes – The emperor had detonated bombs at the
sites of the EU's Hadron Cannons!

Lelouch seized the moment while Leila and her troops were still distracted. Metal squealed as the
Shinkiro Imperium leapt into the air and transformed into Fortress Mode.

Once the Hounds witnessed their Emperor leave the field they didn't waste any more time, shifting
into Insect Mode and retreating back to the Britannian lines.

"I know I already said it, but...that Knightmare was just awesome!" Ryo shouted while others in
their machines just facepalmed, save for Yukiya.

"I know! That nightmare almost killed me in our first battle, but, yeah! It looked so cool!" The
brunette lieutenant squealed enthusiastically, making the rest of Wyvern Squad groan.

"It's like some transformer from the old cartoons," admitted Jan.

"You wanted to say it's like a Decepticon." laughed Alan and everyone here agreed with him.

Leila remained untouched by her friends' humour and relief. "We need to leave the city right now."

Six hours after their midnight fight Wyvern Squad was already far away from Prague with the
retreating EU forces. It wasn't even necessary to speak with General Smilas about leaving the city.
Once the general heard that all their new Hadron Cannons were destroyed he ordered to all soldiers
to abandon the city.

"Well, that's not good." Claus sighed, when he and the rest of Wyvern Squad saw the last updated
video on the internet.

Apparently four hours ago Prague was invaded by Britannian forces; who entered the city without
any fight. The former citizens who still in the area met them as liberators who rescued them from
the so-called tyranny of the EU. It was par for the course as far as the Emperor's other media
broadcasts went.

But what there was something the video showed that had Wyvern Squad a bit frightened and a
little confused.

In the video the building that the EU had used as the main base was shown, the black and gold-
plated Knightmare Shinkiro Imperium looming in front of it. The Emperor's personal Knightmare
cut the flag of Europe into pieces with its talons, all the while the crimson eyes of the monster
machine stared into the lens of the camera. Then stark letters appeared, spelling out a short
message. 'This can end differently.'

It made Wyvern Squad and Asura Team wonder what the message meant. Was it just a general
demand to surrender for the EU? Or was it a subtle, personal reference to Lelouch's offer to Leila?

"Jeez, that kid knows how to make things dramatic." Claus chuckled nervously. "Makes you
wonder why he didn't try to play at the theatre.' The joke was enough to prompt small giggles from
some of people around him.

Many of the others remained quiet before Anna decided to break the silence with a question.
"Where is Leila?"

It was Hilda that answered.

"She said that she has to have a conversation with General Smilas."

In the next room, Leila sat ramrod straight at a desk and stared boldly into the screen. Europe's
highest ranked general stared back.

"So, Emperor Lelouch did not tell you anything?" Smilas prodded, and Leila nodded with her face
carefully blank, She had ordered her subordinates to keep their conversation a secret, even though
most of them clearly wondered why.

Wivern Squad was even more suspicious than Asura Team. Roy had outright asked if she wanted
to do as Lelouch said to her...and Leila herself didn't know.

"Well." started the general. "In that case, we will head to Russia."

Leila was openly surprised. "Why Russia? There left many nations before Russia."

Smilas just nodded, his mouth pinched with displeasure. "Yes, many little nations that we will use
as cover for our main force. Leila, those countries will not have a chance against Britannia. That's
why we must go to Russia. There we will prepare and then the EU will strike back!" As he
finished Smilas raised his fist in the air, visibly excited with the thought.

"But what about people there?" Leila did everything in her power to not scream at him. If they just
abandoned all the innocent citizens, what were they even fighting for?

"Well, we are at war, and you know that in every war we have to make sacrifices. Especially now
that many or leaders were arrested, killed, or fled like the cowards they are." Smilas grinned
wolfishly. "Because of this, I'm the new Minister of Military Affairs for the EU. And with my new
authority, I'm ordering you, Commander Malcal, to oversee the Third Battalion, Eighth
Knightmares."

Leila's eyes narrowed. Now she had to be responsible not only for the lives of her friends, but the
lives of everyone in the battalion that Smilas would give her command over.

Lelouch's words about rats came to her mind, and she couldn't help but imagine a Smilas as one of
those rats. He was arrogant, callous, and cared nothing for the lives of the people depending on
him. It forced a treacherous little thought to bubble up in the back of her head. Maybe she should
agree with Emperor Lelouch? Maybe under Britannian rule the people would live better than they
did under the EU…

But she couldn't afford to think like that, especially with even more lives depending on her.

"I understand sir." What else could she say? Smilas was the Minister of Military Affairs. What
could she even change when he was controlling Europe from his office while she was off fighting
battles.

The general smiled one last time before cutting the video feed.

Again, Leila found herself reflecting on her discussion with Lelouch vi Britannia. Especially what
he told her about his brother the way the White Prince treated his allies. It didn't too long to draw
comparisons between Smilas and Schneizel.

"Well," smirked Leila. "If our new minister thinks that he is the only one who can play dirty, then
he seriously mistaken." Purple eyes flashed as she looked back at the screen, but rather than
contacting her superior, she was searching for contact numbers for diplomatic consulates in
Moscow.

Searching out the right number took only a minute, and Leila hesitated. Then she pressed down.

"This is the Embassy of the Military District of India, how can I help you?" asked the operator, her
voice formal and polite.
"This is Leila Malcal, an EU military commander, and I want to speak to the Ambassador as fast as
possible."

The operator stared at the blonde for a few seconds, dark eyes sharp before she asked. "And what
exactly would you like to speak with him about? The Ambassador's time is valuable."

"About matters of national importance regarding all left nations in the EU." Leila shot back coolly,
her tone commanding and powerful enough to make the operator twitch from surprise.

"One moment."

If Leila really wants to save the people in those nations Smilas was so willing to abandon from both
Britannia and the EU itself, then she needed to think outside the box.

There were really only two options that Leila could see at the moment. Either she sided with a
person that she doesn't know and doesn't really want to work with. Or she had to turn to another
party she wasn't against cooperation with.

As they had been saying for hundreds of years, the enemy of her enemy was her friend. And
simply because she was a Britannian by blood didn't mean she had to go bowing down to Lelouch
vi Britannia.

"I hope the UFN will be better than the EU."

 Unofficial agreement

June 15, Outskirts of Helsinki.

The Britannian invasion of Finland was proceeding according to plan.

While the Swedish forces only had outdated Panzers to pit against Finland's bevvy of new
Alexanders, Sweden had gained a powerful new ally to lead the conflict with their neighbour.
Though perhaps 'master' was a more accurate descriptor than 'ally'…

Floating above the smoking desolation of what was supposed to be a battlefield, the Caerleon-class
airship Grandberry rained down hellfire and murder. Its Gefjun rockets were leagues beyond what
the Finns had been prepared for, easily frying the older generations of knightmares that the
Europeans still had left in service.

The only serviceable frames the Finns had left were their brand new Alexanders, which were easily
overwhelmed by the numerically superior Swedish Panzers and Britannian Vincent Wards.

"Wow, this thing really useful." commented Tink as he and the other members of the Glinda
Knights watched the 'battle' from the airship. "It just knocks out their machines in one go."

"And leaving us without work." Leonhardt huffed, folding his arms. "I mean, look! Their Panzers
are all just frozen in place waiting to be smashed to a bit, and they don't have enough Alexanders to
fight back."

"Ha!" laughed Sokkia, pointing at the redhead. "Now you know how I felt when you guys going
off to fight without me."

"Oh, shut up."

Prince Marrybell smiled as she observed the bickering pair. They were her knight, her friends; she
was glad to have them.

Then her gaze shifted to her Knight. Since the battle in Brussels against Wizard, Oz had been
acting a bit odd. But Marrybell could understand her friend's behavior. The knowledge that her
uncle an enemy of the state wasn't exactly comforting.

"Hey, Oz." Green eyes shifted towards the Princess. "What do you think we should do with the
enemy knightmares that we capture?" Marrybell decided to try and distract Oldrin, hopefully
preventing her from spiraling down into a fugue of negative thoughts. "Maybe we should give one
of the Alexanders to Sokkia? At least she'll be out of that old Sutherland."

"Hey, your highness! My baby is not that old!" squealed the pilot in question. "My Sutherland Eye
can beat these Alexanders with one eye...Get it? With one eye." she tried to joke but other members
just shook their heads and sighed with disgust.

Then Oldrin giggled. "Actually, I think the image of that dense Sutherland chasing down one of
those Alexanders would look funny. One mistake of knigtmare technology trying to kill another."

"See? Oz gets it...wait, no, that's not right."

Marrybell grinned. Oldrin would definitely overcome the incident with her uncle. She was strong
enough.
Suddenly Toto entered the bridge, striding over to the princess and bending at the waist. "Your
Highness, the Knight of Two will be here in a few seconds."

Marrybell nodded and waved away the Zevron family's loyal maid, her mind already drifting as she
recalled reports of a young but promising Knight of the Round who had supposedly destroyed
dozens of enemy troops in the Netherlands. Cinder Fall had been personally chosen by her dear
brother as one of Britannia's most talented knightmare pilots.

Air hissed as the door slid open, revealing a black-haired girl with amber eyes clad in the white
uniform of the Knights of the Round.

All of Glinda Knights goggled at the sight - some more subtly than others. The male knights were
particularly stunned. The rumours spoke about the Knight of Two's beauty, but they had all thought
such talk was just the usual brownnosing the rank and file gave their commanding officers.

"Lady Fall, I'm glad to finally meet one of my brother's knights in person." Marrybell greeted the
newcomer cheerily, with only a slight narrowing of her eyes betraying her true feelings.

Looking at the Knight of Two, Marrybell couldn't help but admit how beautiful she was. And the
idea of such loveliness near her brother made Marrybell feel jealous. Just being in the same room
as Cinder Fall irritated the princess.

But regardless of Marrybell's personal opinion, her brother was the Emperor. If Lelouch said that
he would send one of his knights to accompany her, then Marrybell had no choice but to welcome.
It didn't matter that Lelouch hadn't clarified which Knight of the Round he was sending or what her
purpose was to be. An imperial command was an imperial command, and she had to obey.

Cinder smirked with casual arrogance, bowing to the princess. The curtsy was just barely low
enough for formal courtesy. "Forgive me for lateness, your highness. Cinder Fall, the Knight of
Two is at your service."

"You may rise, Lady Fall." Marrybell smiled tightly. "We've been expecting you. Still, your
mission is a mystery to me. My dear brother did not tell me the reason you've been deployed here."

"Well, since the number of traitors increased..." Cinder eyed Oldrin with a sharp amber glare,
prompting the blonde girl to swallow thickly. "His Majesty decided to reveal certain facts only to
his most trustworthy circle of advisors."

Marrybell didn't miss what the Knight of Two was implying about Oldrin, and She didn't care for
Lady Fall's opinion.

"Hmm, I see." Marry mused, running her thumb across her lower lip and grimaced ever so slightly.
"So, my brother decided that he could spare his most trustworthy knight to help me. I suppose I
can't blame him. There's no reason for strategic assets to be lying around collecting dust."

The smirk on Lady Fall's face twitched, and Marrybell inwardly gloated. No one was missing with
her knights...except herself, of course.

"His Majesty was worried about the war front here and ordered me to take Finland and help you.
Unlike some, my skills and experience are unquestionable. In fact, I'll even admit that they're worth
enough to be acknowledged by our Emperor himself." A sly light glittered in Cinder's eyes.
"Personally."

This time it was the smile on the princess' face that twitched.
"I see, haha, Lelouch is probably too busy ruling the empire to come here and take command
himself, but one of his trusty Knights of the Round is the next best thing. We're so lucky he was
able to quickly find warriors to take the positions of those traitors that were loyal to Schneizel."
Marrybell shrugged nonchalantly. "Let's just hope that the old saying 'haste makes waste' doesn't
come true on this campaign."

"Well, such things might be said about the Knights of Three and Four, taking into account that one
is a crazy maniac and the other is a greenhorn." Cinder didn't really care that her deflection was
insulting Peter and Arthur. Their only purpose was to shoot and kill, while hers was to help her
emperor to plan a war. Cinder knew that she was more important than the others. Not even
Lelouch's only remaining sister held a position of such trust.

Or so Cinder hoped at least.

"Regardless, my emperor wants to finish the war as fast as possible. That is the main reason
Emperor Lelouch himself commanding the war theatre in Central Europe. My job as a Knight of
the Round is to help him in any capacity he requires. ...while less needed generals can deal with the
drudgery." The White Queen met her opponent's sweet smile with a sugary grin of her own.

Both of the ladies had similar malicious thoughts in their heads.

Marrybell mused that it might be easy enough to sabotage Cinder's knightmare before she went to
battle. Surely Lelouch would understand that sometimes accidents happened.

Conversely, Cinder was bitterly remembering the fact that Lelouch had said she wasn't to touch
Oldrin Zevron. Breaking the girl would be so simple, and the cherry on top would be the effect it
would have on the uppity princess. Something happening to her knight would devastate the bitch.

Still, there were other ways to get what she wanted. Perhaps she could find some dirt and give
Lelouch reason not to trust his last sister. The rejection might even reduce the incest-loving
princess to tears.

While the two of them were busy thinking of how to kill and blackmail each other the other Glinda
Knights stood in uncomfortable silence.

Oldrin especially was still distressed by the way Lady Fall had implied she was a traitor.

Just like Wizard was.

Eventually, it was Tink that decided to try to shift the uncomfortable atmosphere by bringing up a
forbidden topic – the latest juicy gossip.

"So, I heard that His Majesty now has two lovers." And once again, like that time in Belgium, Tink
found his life flashing before his eyes. Both Cinder and Marrybell turned to him, the murderous
expressions on their faces seeping bloodlust.

"I'm sorry, Tink. Did you say something?" Marrybell hissed through her teeth, a muscle twitching
along the line of her jaw.

A bead of sweat trickled down Tink's forehead. "Well, there were some rumours among the fleet
that emperor Lelouch has two lovers. One with green hai-"

Lady Fall placed a hand on his shoulder leering down at the young man. "You must be Tink
Lockhart... A loyal and brave member of Glinda Knights, correct?"
It was at that moment Tink realized he should probably fall to his knees and beg for mercy.

"Hmm, I think I need to test your abilities in a real fight. What about a little match between the two
of us? Just me and my Amber against you and your Zetland. You don't need anyone to save – sorry,
I mean assist - you. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, Tink." Marrybell cut in, grinning in the same disturbing way as the Knight of Two. "It seems
that you have interesting information that I would like to hear from you. Maybe you can tell me
about it if – sorry, I mean when - you survive your battle against Lady Fall."

Whose side was she supposed to be on?! Tink wiped a hand across his sweaty brow. It was going to
be a long flight.

As Tink turned grey and stumbled away, Cinder and Marrybell looked at each other and gave their
first genuine smiles. They were no less full of hidden meaning.

Maybe Cinder would be work with princess Marrybell for time being. Maybe Marrybell had rushed
to her conclusion that Lady Fall was a total bitch. In another world, perhaps they could even have
been friends.

But in this one, they could only ever be allies of convenience. After all, they both had no intention
of sharing Lelouch with the other.

June 17, United States of Japan, UFN Occupied West Tokyo.

Once the ceasefire agreement with Britannia was signed the Black Knights immediately started
building an embassy for the UFN. Some in the media had accused them of jumping the gun
considering no final treaty had been signed with the Britannian Empire, but the Order of the Black
Knights was making a statement. Even if Freyja had destroyed Tokyo, and even if Zero had 'died',
they had no intentions of going anywhere.

One day, Japan would be a unified and free country under the auspices of the United Federation of
Nations.

There was still a lot of work to be done in rebuilding Tokyo, but at least for the time being the
Black Knights didn't need to be afraid of an attack by the Britannians, The Emperor himself had
ratified the agreement, and there were enough Akatsuki knightmare frames in case some 'rogue'
Britannian soldiers decided to interrupt them.

Not to mention the Ikaruga floating in the bay.

But on this day construction was temporarily paused as a different issue demanded the personal
attention of Sumeragi Kaguya, the Chairwoman of the Supreme Council of the United Federation
of Nations.

Sitting alone in her office aboard the Ikaruga, Kaguya stared boldly into the screen at the youngest
general in the world. "Hello, Commander Malcal. What exactly is it that you wanted to discuss
with me? You've gone through quite a bit of trouble to speak to me." she questioned, lips pulled up
in her usual politely welcoming smile. Such was the life of a politician.

On the other side of the screen, the blond general frowned seriously, betraying her lack of expertise
in the purely political arena. "Forgive me for the unexpected call, Miss Sumeragi. But what I want
to say to you is classified, and if my superiors in the EU knew what I'm going to tell you I would
likely be executed for treason."
Kaguya narrowed her eyes. It was really something serious then if the EU High Command would
crucify their own messiah over it. "I understand, however, are you sure you want to have this
discussion? The next words that you say may put your life in danger, something that requires a lot
of courage to risk."

While Kaguya didn't want to be responsible for Leila's death, she was perfectly willing to bait the
woman to get whatever classified information she had. It was the first time that someone from the
EU had contacted the UFN for anything beyond bold demands they invade Britannia. She couldn't
miss this opportunity.

"Yes, I'm serious and ready no matter what happens." Leila declared with steely determination. She
was no coward, and she intended to give the Chairwoman nothing less than the shocking truth.

"The EU is losing the war."

Silence hung between them for a long moment.

"And?" Kaguya asked with a confused face.

Leila, on the other hand, was shocked and appalled. "What do you mean 'and''? We're losing the
war! It's not something that you can take lightly!" Leila was more than a little irritated at the
Japanese girl.

"I'm sorry, but I honestly don't see here any reason to make this information a secret." Kaguya
shrugged. "I mean everyone in U.F.N already knows that it will end in a Britannian victory. In fact,
I'd even suggest the entire world at large knows that Britannia will win."

"What? But how?"

"Forgive me if I offend your union of countries, but the EU never had a real chance against
Britannia. Not even in the time of Emperor Charles. In fact, some of us have even made bets about
when you will surrender to Emperor Lelouch."

An overwhelming sense of shame filled Leila. Is that really what the whole world thought of the
EU? She herself had asserted that they were a proud and strong union that was only experiencing a
temporary setback. With enough time and the right supplies, Leila had always had faith that Europe
could turn back the tide.

"I put my money in the pot on the chance that it will happen in August," Kaguya said with an
insolent smile, looking more like the young girl she actually was rather than the regal stateswoman
she almost always tried to be.

"L-Let's move on to the main topic of conversation." Leila stuttered, shaking off the mocking
comment. "Sadly, for people in the EU..." Or at least Leila hoped it was sad for them. She didn't
want to admit that Lelouch vi Britannia really might be a liberator. Not when she'd devoted her own
life to fighting for the EU. "We're losing the war and that's why I have decided that it's time to find
a new ally for our remaining free countries."

A warm bubble of satisfaction curled in Kaguya's belly. That was what she was waiting for.

"And I wanted to talk about the entry of those countries into your federation."

"I see. Well, there's no problem going ahead with that proposal. Of course, we need officially
arrange everything, have our votes and so on, but that's only on paper. The only thing we really
need now is to arrange a meeting between the EU and UFN leaders to discuss the details."
An uncertain expression flit across Leila's face and Kaguya zeroed in on it. "Is there something
wrong, Commander Malcal?"

"Well, we have a problem. You see, not everyone in the EU decided to join the UFN yet." Leila
muttered, and Kaguya's eyes widened. "The problem itself is not so-"

"How many." Kaguya's voice sharpened to frightening intensity, making Leila jerk back in
surprise. "How many countries decided to join?"

Leila hesitated before sighing in defeat. "I have spoken with some of the EU leaders in Ukraine and
they said that they will try to persuade the others. Everything is being discussed secretly, of
course."

"Well, at least you managed to contact us. But if you really want to save Europe then you need to
move faster." Especially when their opponent was Zero-sama.

Kaguya bit her lip until she tasted the copper tang of blood. No, that part of their revolution was
over. They'd been used and betrayed. He wasn't 'Zero' anymore. "And against the Demon Emperor,
that's something that we will hardly have."

Leila nodded in agreement, a momentary furrow pulling at her brow when Kaguya used Lelouch's
grim moniker. "Yes, Emperor Lelouch's main goal right now is to fully conquer the EU as fast as
possible. From the last meeting between us, I think I understand some problems he's facing at the
moment."

Kaguya cocked an eyebrow. "Would you mind sharing that conversation?"

Leila shook her head in denial. "Sorry, but I still think it is just my guess. Without serious evidence,
I shouldn't go around spouting theories."

"I understand. Well then, Commander Malcal, let's work together and try to save your country."

Leila winced at the word 'try'.

"In the end, you and I should stick together. We're the youngest European general and the youngest
member of the Supreme Council at the moment." Kaguya smiled winningly, and Leila couldn't
help but smile too.

"Yeah, you're right...now when I think about this, we're the youngest general and the youngest
councilwoman facing the youngest Britannian Emperor in history right now." both laughed.

"Yes. Heavens, it seems that only teenagers are doing serious work that is supposed to be done by
'adults' these days. Those adults are so incompetent it's absurd. How did our generation come from
theirs'?"

Leila chuckled. "Tell me about it, I think if not for me then no one in EU would dare to fight
against Britannia."

What a strange world they lived in.

June 18, 2018. Lublin, Poland.

After taking the city Lelouch decided to check the progress of his invasion plan again. He knew
that C.C, Cinder, and even D.S would call him paranoid for doing it but that was just the way he
was. He liked to micromanage, which was a nightmare when he had armies stomping all across
Europe.

And in this case, paranoia aside, Lelouch know that he couldn't relax yet. The EU had started to
fight for every inch of land with sweat and blood. Now battles were becoming more expensive then
Lelouch had planned from the start. Manpower was starting to draw tight and ammunition was
running low.

"I know that sometimes things like this happen, but I was hoping economizing use and output
would take me further… Nevermind, I can still produce all the knightmares and train all the new
soldiers I want. Such is the benefit of being an Emperor with mind control powers." Lelouch
complained cynically as he scanned over the latest report regarding the conquest of Lublin.

The White Emperor was lounging in his office on the Avalon, reading report after report while a
certain woman was curled on the nearest sofa buried in historical texts.

Pink eyes glanced towards her chosen one, and a lazy smile curled on D.S.'s face. "Lelouch, tell
me, did you ever visit Russia?".

"You know that I was there." Lelouch scowled, not taking his eyes from the papers. "And I don't
want to talk about that time." The emperor despised his alter ego Julius Kingsley with all his hatred
he had.

"No, no, I'm not talking about 'that' time. I mean before that, or after that, I suppose. I heard many
times that the Eastern European countries are beautiful and have some kind of special atmosphere."

Finally, Lelouch abandoned his work to study his pink-haired lover. He knew that she 'heard' such
things directly from the minds of humans.

"I've always wanted to go there, in fact, I want to see the entire world. But this time in person, not
from the memories of people in the Thought Elevator."

"And you will, D.S. I promise I will take you around the world...right after I conquer it." Lelouch
joked, making the immortal woman giggle.

"Oh, you're the man every woman dreams about" D.S teased, closing her eyes and laying back. "It
almost makes me want to jump on you… but right now you have work to do...and a meeting to
attend.".

Lelouch tilted his head. "Meeting? What do you mean by that?" before he could get an answer a
fist rapped against the door.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. But your guest is on the communications screen."

Lelouch knew that this moment would come sooner or later, so he was quite content right now.
Finally, he was speaking to a European who had enough brains to be useful and enough sense to
contact him.

"So, Mister?"

"Alexey Komarov, Your Majesty." Greeted the man who at the first glance looked to be about
fifty. He had brown eyes set in a wrinkled face that was marked by time and stress. The grey hair
crowning his scalp shone dimly beneath the electric lights. "Also, I'm sorry for the unexpected call,
Your Majesty."
"No problem, Mister Komarov." Lelouch nodded regally. "Still, let's get right to the business… I
think we both know what you to want to discuss."

The old man on another side of the screen simply looked down. "If your majesty means the fall of
the EU, then you are right. That is why I want to make an agreement between us."

Lelouch smirked. First Norway and Sweden, and now someone from Russia was ready to fall
under his command, it was too good to be true.

"Mister Komarov, I understand you and I am absolutely ready to come to terms, but let's be honest
here." Lelouch's face hardened. "You don't have enough political power to persuade the Russian
government to join my empire, do you?"

"No, I fear not, Your Majesty." Komarov demurred the wrinkles across his face tightening. "In
truth, I'm just the leader of the Worker's Party. Yes, we have some influence on the Russian
people, but not enough in the Duma. Also with the war today and the military rule our opinion is
even less important to the EU."

"I see that you're not happy with how the EU is doing things right now." Lelouch pointed out.

"You can say that. In two words, I'm furious. I'm mad with how these pigs in suits that we're must
call our leaders are doing their so-called work." Komarov clenched his teeth with old rage before
recalling who he was speaking with. "I'm sorry for this outburst, Your Majesty. Sometimes I find it
difficult to deal with everything that is happening lately."

Lelouch just smiled winningly, bestowing forgiveness like a benevolent deity. "Think nothing of it.
I'm just surprised that you aren't angry at me for war."

The old man burst into laughter. "No, no, make no mistake, I'm upset about that too. But in the
end, it's not you who started the war. It was the government of the EU."

"That said, not all the people in Russia feel the same way I do." Alexey admitted, threading his
fingers together. "Not everyone is ready to join your side. Honestly, I think only my party
comrades decide to try our luck and contact you."

"Well, let's make it clean between us then, Mister Komarov. I think it's time to discuss how to
convince Russia to join the Britannian Empire."

"Yes. I live here and I might know a way to make it work. However, if that fails you won't have
any other choice but to force the Russian people, which might be the best choice anyway."

An incredulous look must have filled Lelouch's face, best Alexey hurried to clarify. "Your majesty,
you must understand that the Russian people are a proud nation. The only way to make us really do
something is through force. Pretty words not enough, we need a great display of power. Like what
you did back in Britannia when you took the throne and changed everything over the next ten
days."

Lelouch rolled his eyes. Those were his worst ten days ever.

"Those days made many people here respect you, Your Majesty. They don't care about how young
you are. In fact, it's become a plus since many young adults set you as an example. That's the only
reason you have the chance to gain Russia's allegiance without taking it through outright war."

"Well, I'm flattered to hear that. Mister Komarov. Contrary to what some may think, I prefer to win
through words than bloodshed. If you say that I can take Russia without war, then I see no problem
with it. I'm glad to do what you want."

Komarov shook his head. "No, what I want is for Your Majesty to conquer my country."

After these words, there was absolute silence, until:

"Can you repeat that, please."

"I'm asking you to conquer my country."

"What."

"Your Majesty, I can understand why you're so surprised, especially when there's a possibility that
you might take Russia without force, but let me make things clearer." Komarov closed his eyes and
deeply sighed. "The most peaceful way right now would be of course convincing the people to join
your side...but in the long run would lead to future rebellions. Russia is big enough to survive on its
own resources, and even against superpowers like the UFN or Britannia, we might stand a chance.
You've shown enough strength to be a possible ruler for this country, but not enough to be an
unquestioned one."

"I see, so you're saying that if I want to hold Russia, I must first prove to the people that I can
conquer it. Conquest proves resistance is futile. Not going to war suggests I'm too weak to win an
actual war."

"Quite right."

"And I suppose you want to help me with the invasion?" Lelouch smiled bitingly. Information had
its price after all, and an insider with Komarov's contacts would be very valuable. The only thing
left to determine was the price. In the end, Alexey Komarov just another man who is ready to sell
his country. Lelouch would just use him for now and after everything is done get rid of him if he
proves to be a nuisance.

"Indeed, there is something I want to achieve." Alexey grinned with relief, either not noticing or not
being bothered by the way Lelouch just rolled his eyes. "I want you to swear to all the Russian
people that they won't be expected to fight wars on your behalf."

"Eh?" Lelouch blinked. He hadn't expected this.

"Let me explain then, Your Majesty. I don't want the Russian people to fight in the next pointless
war between superpowers, like the conflict that will happen between the Britannian Empire and the
UFN."

Lelouch was just confused. Was Komarov really that much of a pacifist? Was that really what the
old man wanted?

"But why? Hasn't history proven dozens of times over how strong and fearless your people can
be?"

"Yes, that true of course. I would even say having an ally like Russia would be a huge advantage in
any war. But…" Komarov sighed. "I'm tired of this. Every day I go home to empty streets. Shops
are closing. Children are not allowed to go outside because adults fear that bombing can begin at
any time. Every day more young men go to the front...and they aren't returning. I've had enough of
it. We already lost so many lives during the war with Euro Britannia."

Lelouch carefully studied Komarov's face, looking for a lie in the aged lines and leathered skin. "I
know how terrible war can become, but then I have to ask. Why come to me?

"Because I believe that you will be different. Or maybe I just want to believe that. I hope that you
will not use power and fear to rule people; that you will not become like your father."

Instinctively, Lelouch wanted to agree. He hated his father and didn't want to be like him. But
Lelouch couldn't lie to himself. He knew that he would use power and fear if he needed to. If it was
the only way to achieve his goals, then he would use power and fear. Even if it meant being like
his father.

But that sort of reflection had no place in negotiations with a potential turncoat.

"Then..." Lelouch made his choice. "Let's make Russia great again! Alexey Komarov, I'm ready to
give you any help you need. Simply ask for it. In return, I want you to pass me everything that you
find that might possibly be important. Locations, the mood of the people, rumours about the
government. All of it."

Lelouch had D.S and the OSI, but there was no harm in getting info from a third source. "Also, I
need you to find other people who are like you. People that are ready to join my side. And the last
thing would be propaganda. Spread the news about EU losses everywhere you can."

"As you command… Your Majesty. But the government will eventually become suspicious of me,
any allies I make might end up in prison or simply shot for treason."

Lelouch considered that for a moment. "After Euro Britannia fell some former groups of soldiers
who are still loyal to the empire remained in Russia. I will contact them and organize them as your
support."

Komarov hesitated, realizing that he was essentially being assigned a subversive militia, but
eventually, he nodded. He'd gone too far to turn back now.

"Perfect! In that case, I think we can end things here for now." Once the call ended the young
emperor turned to his aid."Alfred, do you know what the three things that I wanted to achieve all
my life are?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid not, sir."

Lelouch smiled devilishly. "The first was my desire to kill that man who was supposed to be my
father. The second was to beat my brother in a chess game. And the third was to conquer Russia,
the nation that no one could take!"

Alfred blinked. "What about Napoleon?"

Lelouch pouted like a child that had been interrupted. "Besides him!"

"And Euro Britannia did too"

"That doesn't count either!"

 Operation Orange 2

June 25, 2018. St. Petersburg

In just ten days emperor Lelouch vi Britannia made another miracle. Over short time, Britannia had
managed to take over Poland, Lithuania and was fighting in Belarus and Ukraine. And now
Britannia was knocking on the door of Russia from Finland borders, ready to take a city and move
even further.

It's not as easy as it sounds though. Majority of the empire officer stuff expected for the eastern
countries to surrender without a fight after everything that has happened and taking into account
their current state.

Turns out we were wrong. Terribly wrong.

From empire's side, they had a powerful fleet under the command of Princess Marrybell mel
Britannia and Second Knight of the Round Lady Cinder Fall. Over a short time, two ladies with
their abilities won numerous battles in Scandinavian countries. Today, however, their forces tried
to storm a Russia's cultural capital city of St Petersburg. Key-word tried. Russian defense didn't let
them come closer than to the firing distance of Hadron cannons. The weapon in short time proved
itself to be deadly against airships on all fronts. Lady Fall and Princess Marrybell planned, as
everyone worth their salt does, but they decided on a rather risky plan.

"Left!" Oldrin shouted inside Lancelot-Grail Cavalry when she and Leonhardt dodged one of
Hadron cannons shots. Even with their machines combined, avoiding giant ray of red death was not
simple at all. At the moment they were above the ground battle, fighting off enemies and doing
their best to survive. Both tasks were not easy.

"Damn! That was close!" The male pilot cursed. "And why are we even in an air?! There's no way
we will be able to pass this!" Oldrin didn't want to but she had to agree. The two of them had a hard
role; get rid of air units that were stolen Command type Vincents while their ground forces go to
the city. It was left unsaid that they better do their damn best to not be shot. They were flying over
a battlefield while both the empire and union forces were fighting below them; the Lancelot-Grail
Cavalry was destroying knightmares in the air.

"Just focus on air! We must take them out before they manage to break any of our G-1 centers!"
The only thing that was protecting the soldiers on earth was a massive mobile commands center.
Its shield provided a huge help, but since it couldn't move around very fluidly, this attack was
painfully slow. It didn't help that those orange Alexanders were trying to break inside them.

"Yeah, yeah, Sokkia and Tink are there too as well," Leonhardt murmured. Unlike her and Leo
their friends had an easy job. "But where is Lady Fall?" Oldrin remembered the face of a second
knight and couldn't help but twitch.

Their first meeting did not start well. And things between them didn't improve an iota during their
time in Finland. She neither knew nor understood why a black-haired knight did not like her.
Maybe she did something to anger Lady Fall. Nevertheless, it was not time to think about it.
"Marry said that she went by another way. If I remember correctly, Lady Fall went through the
sewer system." She didn't know why but Oldrin was happy with the task the second knight had
chosen. "So don't complain about our job!" She barked while Lancelot-Grail Cavalry cut down
another Vincent with its swords.
She had to admit that EU pilots learned pretty quickly on how to use stolen knightmares, even
better than some of their own soldiers.

Then a squad of enemy Vincent was flying after them, trying to shot them down.

"I can complain about this! We are the only flying unit here, while the second knight is somewhere
under an earth, where a problem could be an obstacle in the form of EU soldiers!" He barked and
launched two of it Megiddo harkens at another enemy unit that tried to attack from the side. "A
problem I feel she's not going to have to be the one to deal with it!" Leonhardt said with anger
lacing his tone when they dodged another Hadron shot. "Shit, I don't know why but I feel like Lady
Fall especially sent us on a suicide mission."

"Why would you think so?" Oldrin said sarcastically and quickly turned her knightmare aside in
order to avoid a Vincent's attack with a lance. After that she used the MVS sword in her hands to
cut the unlucky man inside it in half. "I mean I know that she and I didn't have the best start, but
there's no way she would send us on a suicide run!" Oldrin hoped so. In the end there no way that
honorable knight like Cinder Fall would really send two of them to death. Right?

Right?!

In the sewer system under St. Petersburg

Cinder sneezed inside her Amber as she and her troops made their way.

Someone speaking about me, Hmm maybe it's Lelouch. Cinder smiled as she entertained that silly
myth, but then she remembered where she was and her smile disappeared. She was in the sewers
and behind her were a squad of white colored Vincent Wards or Vultures which she took. It was a
dark tunnel that surprisingly had enough place for them. She looked at sides and the old half
destroyed brick walls gave her the impression that it was built at least a century ago.

When she glanced at their machines Cinder saw that they weren't clean and shiny anymore. Damn
this place and EU with their stupid Hadron cannons! What they have done to my Amber! Just
like Vultures, her dear Knightmare was covered with—I don't even want to think about it! Still, it
was my plan to use sewers in the first place. The look of disgust didn't leave her face since they
came here. Cinder wasn't some naive soldier, she saw a lot of terrible things in her short life, but
even by her standards, it was unbearable to be here.

Cinder was surprised when she and Princess Marrybell found an old map of the city just at the
right moment, thanks to their friends in Russia who gave them access to some old documents. The
bigger surprise was that EU didn't know or simply didn't care about this tunnel. Of course, there
might be reasons as to why. Maybe they didn't know about its existence or simply forgot. It didn't
matter in the end.

The price of their mistake will be death... I wonder if can clean my Amber with their blood... Why
didn't I send that Zevon girl here? Ah, yes, because the probability that she will die in the air is
higher than here, and also I just cannot trust her with such an important job. When Cinder learned
about this operation she thought that it was the usual plan: go behind enemy lines and neutralize
their artillery. However, it was not as simple as it seems. The White Queen remembered the words,
or rather, orders that her Emperor gave her when they spoke last time.

'Remember, Q-2. General Schwarzer is your main target, perhaps an even more important task than
taking over the city,' were words of her fiancé but Cinder could not fully understand them. The
name was unknown to her, at least until she checked the files. She learned that Schwarzer was a
traitor as well as a former noble, which means, more reason for her to kill him.

And from Glynda Knights, what a surprise. Just how many unloyal people around Zevon girl?
Maybe there something else about her? The third fiancé of the Emperor thought to herself. Her
Emperor ordered her not to kill a girl, but enough evidence might change Lelouch's mind. She will
need to think about it later after she finished this damn mission. But another part of his order
confused Cinder.

'When you find him, don't kill him, not immediately at least.' She remembered how Lelouch
malevolently smirked, she loved when he did so. 'I will give you something special, a voice
message. I want you to play it before the good general. He must hear it and after that, you can do
with him anything you want, my Queen.' Cinder didn't know why Lelouch gave her such a strange
task.

But it's not like she could argue.

The monitors in her Knightmare flashed meaning that she was in the right position. Finally.

One of the soldiers behind her, a captain if she remembered correctly started, "My Lady, we're
under target." Cinder just rolled her eyes. She would thank for telling obvious if it wasn't her idea
to come here in first place, she just needed to let out anger. Don't blame her, a young lady like
herself in the sewer wasn't a pleasant thing, and so she was not in a good mood. "Remember your
orders! After we take out cannon I will go after the main target while you will join our ground
forces. Am I clear?"

Cinder didn't bother to hear their answer as she pointed her super V.R.I.S rifle at the ceiling above
her and shot. Her shield activated when the debris started to fall, the absolute defense system
protected men behind her as well. Seconds later when her monitor showed bright sun knight of the
round closed her eyes and breathed. No more tunnels full of shit. Her day didn't start well, but it
can still change for the better.

When Cinder opened her amber eyes, on her face appeared a devilish smile, similar to her emperor.
Whatever Schwarzer forces had with him, didn't matter. They are going to be obliterated.

On the streets of St. Petersburg

The front line was extremely close to streets of the city. Some enemy units even managed to break
through the line of defense and tried to make their way inside the city. This, however, never ended
well for Britannians because the 'White Reaper' itself was protecting this city today.

When another small group of three Gloucesters entered the Russian city, they were surprised to
find nobody here. A hopeful thought that EU made a critical loophole in their defense appeared
among them. They even decide to call base and share this incredible discovery, these soldiers could
almost feel the taste of another victory for their empire!

But the streets weren't empty.

When one of three Gloucesters was about to move a quick shot rang in the air, at next second the
Knightmare exploded. His companions immediately jumped back, raising their rifles and aiming at
different directions, trying to find whoever shot one of them. When two of their cockpits were near
each another shot was made. This time unknown enemy took two of them – with one bullet. When
the smoke that appeared after them vanished, the sniper showed itself.
A Knightmare similar in appearance to old famous Lancelot that was piloted by an also famously
traitorous knight. The interesting thing was that this model was piloted by that knight, Suzaku
Kururgi, the former Knight of Seven.

It wasn't best day in the life of Suzaku, in fact for a long time he couldn't even remember a day that
was not bad. First was an attack from Britannia, which they didn't know about until the very end
thanks to EU intelligence that failed to inform them at the right moment. Second, the reinforcement
was late, even with Hadron Cannons protecting the sky above them, their army's number was
slowly going down. Third, Suzaku was able to recognize the main enemy ship to be
the Grandberry, which meant that the Glinda Knights were here. Suzaku had met them in the past.
They were strong opponents and might have given him a good fight together if he was in his
old Lancelot.

Now, Lancelot Club wasn't the worst Knightmare he piloted, but Suzaku could not compare this to
his old machine of war. In a sense, it is Lancelot's lesser sister unit or so Mariel told him. She told
him that this model was supposed to be used by Black-ops missions but, it didn't mean that Suzaku
couldn't use it in open battle.

While he was thinking about how to use his new war machine in a real fight, Suzaku remembered
the brown haired girl and how Mariel told him to be careful.

The Japanese knight didn't know why, but it was… nice to know that somebody cared about him
again. Perhaps I've never had a nice day as of late, but something nice did happen.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden explosion.

"Sitrep," Suzaku ordered in a private channel. A second later, a knight on other end answered.

"They destroyed one of the canons! They're coming from behind!" The Third Knight of the Round
shouted. Just like Suzaku, Gino was in the city helping their 'allies', he was in another part of city
protecting hadrons canons, his Tristan gave him an advantage in the air to spot enemy units but
now it didn't seem so effective.

Suzaku glared at the smoke that rose in distance. "Too early. General Schwarzer said that we at
least must hold out until the night. Gino, I'm going there." Suzaku pointed his Lancelot Club at a
direction of explosion when he received a video call from the command center. Just when I thought
about him. "Sir, we heard an explosion and I'm already hiding there," Suzaku immediately said
when the face of the old purist appeared on the monitor.

General Schwarzer was an intolerable racist and believed with wholeheartedly in absolute
Darwinism. Even someone like Suzaku who have gotten used to people insulting him for the
simple fact he was a Number, the former member of Glinda Knights was unbearable. Since their
first meeting, Suzaku did everything to avoid an old man.

"I know that you would be first to go there, Lord Kururugi," he said with faked respect as usual.
Both of them aren't fooling each other. Suzaku knew exactly how the man felt about him. "But
unfortunately, I need you here." Suzaku narrowed his eyes.

"General, I don't want to sound rude, but I must go and fight. That's an only thing I'm good for. If
you need more protection then Nonette will be more than enough." Suzaku was named Angel of
Death for a reason.

He's too, too good at fighting and killing his enemies.

"Kururugi, I order you to stand down and let my forces handle this!" Cornelia barked. Then the
hotel exploded.

Not hiding behind.

Schwarzer nodded and said, "I can understand you wish to kill all of these traitors, but we have
another problem." Schwarzer focused his look on Suzaku, completely ignoring the hypocrisy of
calling other people a traitor, and continued. "It seems that one of the false Knights of the Round
here as well." Suzaku's eyes hardened. New Knights of the Round in St. Peterburg of all places?
News that Glinda Knights was there was bad enough but this was something even worse. He heard
from battle reports that Lelouch found some psychopaths just like himself, to fill in the roles of his
new knights.

"She or he is heading to a government building, they know that I'm here." Suzaku could give him
credit, the general didn't sound scared or didn't look so.

He thought about another knight of the round who must be there as well. "What about Lady
Nonette? Is she here?"

Schwarzer shook his head, "She went to help to EU force on the south-western front, it seems that
one who commands this siege learned about our reinforcement. Let's hope that these Europeans can
do at least anything right. And Lord Gino," he addressed the blond knight. "I want you to head to
the destroyed Hadron cannon. There are still enemy soldiers." Ending the call, Suzaku in
his Lancelot Club looked at the monitor on his right where he saw Gino's smiling face.

"Why are you smiling?" He asked his friend. Just how are you able to keep smiling?

"You heard him, Suzaku," he said with huge smile."You are going to finally meet the New Knights
of the Round, something I myself wanted to do," he said happily, on which Suzaku just rolled his
eyes. Sometimes Suzaku wished that Gino wasn't… so Gino. Even with the old Knights all twelve
of them were professional at best. The new ones? Enemies. "So after the battle, I want you to tell
me everything about this new girl knight."

"Why do you think it is a female knight?" Suzaku asked but Gino just waved a hand dismissively.

"I just know, Suzu."

"Lulu? REALLY?"

"That's it, I'm calling you Suzu."

Suzaku banished the memory away.

Gino continued, "Anyway, I'll take care of them. Good luck," Gino called out and went to the
battle.

"You too, Gino," and with that Suzaku flew in the opposite direction. He prayed – though he had
half a mind that someone like him doesn't deserve to pray or even will be listened to - inside
his Lancelot Club.

Let's hope that it will not end today.

Inside government building

During the rule of Euro-Britannia instead of making Moscow their capital, surprisingly, it was St.
Petersburg that became one. The city had a long and rich history, something that former Archduke
liked a lot. Sadly, neither he nor the other nobles were able to protect the city or their lives... But
the small changes in architecture that they did were rather beautiful.

The government building, a former residence of Archduke Augusta Henry Velaines himself, was a
luxurious palace that was just as good as Pendragon, if not better. A giant fortress-like building
made based on the classics of this country's style. It was heavily fortified due to being built as EU's
last line of defense as well.

Right now, everybody in the building were working as hard as possible, an enemy was in the city
and no one wanted to return under the control of Britannia. Even a former general Schwarzer, but
right now he was busy speaking with one of the true knights.

"General, is the enemy already in the city?" Nonette Enneagram asked. The former the Knight of
Nine was not in the city, at least not yet. The general in question just nodded.

"Yes, seems that one of the Hadron cannons that EU managed to create was destroyed, my lady."
Even in hard times like these, Schwarzer never forgot his obligation as part of the nobility to
address people higher than him with the title that is their right. It didn't matter what their
nationality was, the Number Lord Kururugi was a fine example of that, no matter how much he
wanted to strip the Eleven out of his position. But since he was chosen by their late Emperor
Charles he couldn't do anything about it.

"Well, it will take some time before we will enter the city." The Empire was attacking furiously on
all fronts and so Nonette was forced to leave the city and join battles on the west front, and now
she was heading back with new soldiers to help. "All I could say right now to you is to hold on."
Nonette said with a deep sigh.

"I can understand, but if the situation gets worse I will be forced to retreat and we might lose
contact with each other." Schwarzer had plans to escape already prepared and men ready to leave.
But there was one thing he needed to take care of. "So it will better if you told me where our real
prince and princess are hiding." Schwarzer said with a serious tone, he needed to know that for
sake of Royal Family.

Nonette didn't suspect him.

She told him the location and Schwarzer smiled, he was sure that Prince Schneizel will be happy.

"Time to finish our little chat, General."

"Very well, see you next time, my lady," he said with an arrogant smile before their connection
ended. He left his office and headed to the operative room. On his way there Schwarzer saw a lot
of EU soldiers, some avoided his gaze but others surprisingly saluted him. Odd.

"Reports!" Schwarzer shouted when he entered the operative room. At the moment, the entire place
was a huge mess with papers seemingly everywhere. These people were trying best to be of any
kind of help for their brothers on the front. One of the officers turned to him. "Sir, we have lost one
canon but others are still holding the enemy." Schwarzer wasn't ashamed to admit to himself that it
was nice to be respected by people, who in normal conditions would have been his enemies. Just
months ago he was a proud pure-blooded noble general of Holy Britannian Empire but everything
changed because of the other guy. Lelouch vi Britannia is the son of commoner harlot, neither he
nor his dead sister deserves to be part of Royal family!
The officer wasn't finished yet. "Also, we were able to recognize one of the ships. It seems that
Princess Marrybell is here as well." Schwarzer frowned when he heard that his former commander
was in a battle as well. She's an enemy now, how troublesome for me.

Did he missed his old teammates?

No. As far as the traitor was concerned, they were traitors, fighting for a false Empire.

His thoughts were interrupted when one of the officers shouted with horror on his face

"Enemy unit approaching the building!" The old Britannian General immediately looked at a map
with narrowed eyes. A single unit, most likely one of these new Knights of the Round. The enemy
with absurdly high speed was approaching the building.

It was bad. Neither Lady Nonette nor Lord Kururugi was here yet. The logical thing to do would be
to retreat. But the thought was… distasteful. "How much time do we have before Lord Kururugi
will be here?" Schwarzer asked one of them.

"About twenty minutes, sir!" The man said with raising fear in his voice, something Schwarzer
wasn't surprised to see in EU soldiers. No matter how much respect they show him, they were still
nothing but scared swine waiting to be butchered. I don't want to see them die like that.

Schwarzer blinked.

"And how long before this enemy unit will be here?" Schwarzer asked again.

"About eight minutes," an officer said fearfully and Schwarzer was silent for a few seconds before
turning to all of them and loudly announced, "Gentlemen, I will be honest I did not expect you,
Europeans, to be so useful and helpful." Many of them tried to ignore this clear insult. General
Schwarzer never hid his racism. "But even you don't deserve death under the ruins of this building,
so we're starting an evacuation." Their eyes went wide but the general just turned to one of the
officers. "Arrange cover for the staff and order the remaining Alexanders pilots to organize
protection barrier. If I'm right then it must be one of these new Knights of the Round which that
fake Emperor had assigned."

"But what about you, sir?" An officer inquired. Schwarzer smirked and made his way towards the
exit.

"I will fulfill my duty as a real Britannian soldier, boy. I want engineers to prepare my
Knightmare," he said as he approached the exit door, but before he left he turned to these soldiers.

"Today I show to everyone what it means to be Britannian!"

"Wait, ple—" before the unfortunate soldier could ask for mercy, a blade of M.V.S cut through
his Alexander's armor and silenced the poor pilot forever. The Britannian pilot responsible then
looked around the former battlefield. Smoking remains of her now dead opponents were lying
everywhere, but the woman inside the Knightmare felt nothing.

She had her job, these men had theirs, she just did her work better.

And so Cinder Fall turned her Amber around and started to fly towards the main enemy base.

On the way to another government building, Cinder managed to destroy several groups
of Alexanders. Like annoying bugs, they were everywhere. That was good. That means she was on
the right way. That was also bad news because she could easily go on a rampage and wipe out
everyone but her main target might as well run away while she was doing this. No, General
Schwarzer was a more important prize than the city. Lelouch wanted him for some reason.

And I can't say no.

Cinder cleared her thoughts at that, and when she was near the main building, Cinder was not
surprised to see a new line of enemies before her Amber.

"Just look at this!" Cinder mocked in the open channel. "People who think that they could take me
down? You're semi-dead pandas at best!" Amber Tertiary landed before them. "What was my Kill
Streak? Oh, yeah, 35!" She cackled as Alexanders opened fire at her. Two of them rushed at her
and tried to attack from both sides. Cinder pulled out two Maser Vibration Swords and cut them in
half. "Now 37! Come on, boys! Maybe today I will beat my own record!" A group of
remain Alexanders spread out in a different direction on an area in front of a government building.
"Someone wants to play a hide and seek?" Cinder chuckled. "I always hated this game."

Amber Tertiary put away its swords and pulled out its Super V.A.R.I.S rifles. Cinder got up in the
air and without aiming she simply began firing at all that was in front of her, spreading the red light
of death to everything and everyone. She heard explosions of Alexanders and even screams of pain
while doing so.

It was a good sign.

When a cloud of dust dissolved she saw that only remaining things were stones of what supposed
to be the main hole of the government palace. Amber Tertiary silently went inside. There was no
one else anymore to stop her. Even if some of Alexanders survived they wouldn't dare to come
after her, not after this power demonstration.

Cinder used her land spinners to enter a particular building. The building's interior style was similar
to Pendragon. Oh, now I remember! There used to live a noble who was Archduke of Verance if I'm
not mistaken. She heard that old noble had decided to stay in the city until the very end when EU
army started their attack, and after his death, Euro-Britannia completely collapsed.

Because of honor and pride, some people doomed to fail. Lelouch told her about his time in Japan
and about their honor. Because of it, the Japanese Liberation Front was too stubborn to surrender
and was only creating more problems for their own nation. The innocent Japanese people paid
dearly for their mistakes. Knights of the Round must have honor – Cinder had. She had the honor
of Blackwood family, as the Second Knight of the Round and as her Emperor's future wife. But
honor's sooo troublesome. Actually, speaking of this crap.

"And I thought that Russians would fight for every street and yard of their city," Cinder provoked
on an open channel in hopes that someone would respond to her. And she wasn't wrong.

Seconds later a hadron blast flew at her. Cinder immediately dodged the blast and jumped to the
side. When she looked at the screen she saw who opened fire at her. On stairs in front of her was
a Sutherland Sniper. Her first thought was that EU had also stolen other types of Knightmares
beside Vincents, but then Cinder recognized a color scheme. It was Glinda Sutherland. Which
means—

"General Schwarzer, former noble but now just another traitor," Cinder declared as Amber
Tertiary shifted into a battle position. "Well, at least today there will be one less traitor," Cinder
said in her cold as ice voice, but inside his Knightmare, Schwarzer just laughed.
"And who is traitor here? A nobleman like myself who is still serving a real royal family or some
little knight who thinks of herself as a hero?" Cinder narrowed her eyes. She couldn't allow her
feelings took over her, like that time with redhead insect and his 'best team ever' in the Netherlands.
Lelouch said that she should restrain her emotions. She won't fail Lelouch! "Who's here serving
some little bastard who was born from a commoner of an empress?!"

Insulting his blood? That's it, I'll murder you!

Without any second thoughts, Amber Tertiary rushed at the Sutherland. But the General wasn't a
complete fool and knew how dangerous a pilot Cinder Fall was. His Sutherland Sniper went back
in the depths of the building with Cinder behind him. While running the Sutherland Sniper opened
fire at her Knightmare, but Amber's shields protected Cinder from every shot. She tried to shoot
him back, but Schwarzer knew what to do and was able to dodge as well. When she was close
enough the Second Knight launched her Knightmare's two Hip-mounted Slash Harkens at him.
One of them was able to disarm his Sutherland. Schwarzer didn't start to panic. Instead, he took out
a second rifle and fired at a machine in front of him. To what? Futility. Amber's Absolute Defense
System protected her Knightmare against mere bullets.

Cinder chased him until they entered a large room. Suddenly from her sides,
two Alexanders jumped on her Knightmare. One of them made itself a leech above her, with her
Absolute Defense System acting as a barrier between the two of them. Amber reached
the Alexander's head and gripped it as hard as the Knightmare's fingers were able to. Cinder threw
it at her right side where the other Alexander was, causing the both of them to crash into the wall,
the first Alexander's head half destroyed under her grip. Cinder, who was still holding that enemy
unit's other half of the head pulled out one of her swords and was about to stab the poor bastard, but
his friend threw himself at her and used his Knightmare's blades-attached hands to hit Amber's
cockpit. He failed. Neither he nor his friend failed at making her thoroughly annoyed.

Cinder had enough of these two. With an M.V.S sword in one hand, she decided to finish them for
good. She kicked the annoying Alexander on her left with Amber's foot. Her Knightmare's strength
was greater than these EU machines and so the Alexander went flying in the opposite direction.
She then turned her glare to the enemy on her right side that was still struggling. Without a second
thought, she stabbed the blue Alexander and turned the sword 90 degrees to the right. After it
exploded from the excessive damage to its internal structure her gaze fell on the first unit that was
trying to stand but was failing, most likely something had broken inside it. Well, Cinder going to
send the poor soul to hell. Her Amber jumped at the Alexander and stabbed it as well. After she
pulled out her sword Cinder decided that it was enough and it was time to finish the fight.

However, before she could do anything another group of Alexanders entered their fight. This time
all of them were orange. All of them were standing near each other, firing at Amber. Nothing she
needed to fear but such a huge annoyance. She raised her swords and made her attack. In exactly
1.2 second Amber Tertiary rushed forward towards them, cutting every one of them for being on
her way. One after another the orange Alexanders exploded.

She threw one of her swords at Sutherland, who started to retreat again. The sword hit the area
under a cockpit and the Sutherland exploded. He had luck apparently, considering its cockpit
separated before it. After the cockpit hit the ground, General Schwarzer got out of it. Blood was
seen on his face but old General pulled out a personal handgun and started shooting at the she-devil
before him. Amber didn't even need Absolute Defense System, small bullets could do nothing to
her superior Knightmare.

"You're in such despair now. It is an even pity to see a general who used to be a proud noble to be
like this," Cinder mocked him. That was the way she liked to see the former high class of
Britannia, lying powerless in his own blood waiting for someone to end his miserable life. And like
Lelouch had promised to her, she can do with them anything she wishes. "Well, it is a fate of
everyone who decides that they are greater than his majesty Emperor Lelouch," she said proudly
but Schwarzer decided that he couldn't take it anymore.

"Shut up! I don't care how pitiful I might look! All that matters to me is a Britannian future! And I
will make sure that this bastard who you calling an Emperor would not live in it!" Now Cinder was
feeling an iota of concern for him. This fool really thought that he had a chance against her
Lelouch?

Still, she has a mission to complete. Cinder activated the audio recording that Lelouch had given
her. The both of them heard a familiar voice.

"General Schwarzer, please tell me my location." Cinder blinked in confusion. It wasn't Lelouch's
voice who said these words, but his older brother Schneizel. Did he found this recording
somewhere or made it? While Cinder wondered why Lelouch did it, she did not notice how
Schwarzer's eyes went slack. He raised himself from the ground and kneeled before Amber. If this
didn't confuse her even more then the next words did.

"Right now, your Highness and other members of Royal family are in a Brazil, more precisely in
Belem," Schwarzer then said to her the exact coordinates like he was really answering to Schneizel
in person. Cinder didn't know what was happening but still, she recorded his words. Seconds later
Schwarzer's eyes became normal. Narrowed, idiotic. "What the hell? What happened?" he said in
fear and Cinder was curious to learn too. It was strange for the enemy to start telling the location of
his leader out of nowhere.

Wait, it's not out of the blue. Cinder's eyes widened, but before she could say anything the audio
recording continued to play, and they both heard the voice of the 99th Emperor.

"My queen." Lelouch addressed her with a warm voice. "If you hear this, then Schwarzer most
likely told you where is Schneizel." The General in question started to tremble, He did what? "If
it's so then my special order worked." Both Cinder and Schwarzer were silent, until the oldest one
there started to speak.

"What?" he asked weakly. "What order?! I never told anyone where his highness!" He shouted in
denial. For him, this whole situation was some kind of sick joke.

Cinder, who was silent, started to laugh maniacally.

"Why are you laughing? What's so funny? What is going on here?!" Schwarzer yelled at her, fear
never leaving his tone.

Cinder on other hand continued to laugh. "What's so funny? My Emperor! Oh, my Emperor just
made another miracle! Now I understand!" Cinder couldn't help but laugh again. In a normal
situation, it would be impossible but he did it, Lelouch did it. She looked at the man before her like
as if he was a used-up doll and said, "He used his power on you." Schwarzer didn't understand her
word but it didn't matter. "You poor thing. His majesty programmed you to convey information
about Schneizel's location."

Schwarzer's face became pale. "How... Programmed?! That's impossible!" Schwarzer shouted
again, and with each moment his injuries took its toll and he was losing his sanity. Cinder noticed it
gleefully and laughed again.

Lelouch ordered you to be absolutely loyal to Schneizel and when you heard his voice you're a
fucking slave! Cinder then said to herself."Lelouch, my love, you are a bloody genius! Only your
awfully risky plans can work like this!" Cinder didn't know anyone but her Emperor who could
come with such a weird and insane plane. And yet it always worked. "Oh! Oh! I suddenly
remembered that 'Orange accident' in Japan." Her Emperor most likely decided to do something
like that time. "Speaking of oranges," a devilish smile appeared on her face along with a sly look in
her eyes. "I don't think we can afford a second Jeremiah, beside you no longer useful to us. So..."
The White Queen pulled out Super V.A.R.I.S rifle and pointed at him.

Schwarzer stated at the monster in front of him in fear. He knows very well what will happen soon
but he is not going to beg for the mercy from the enemy. His pride won't allow him. "Come on,
whore!" he yelled with venom. "Finish your job! But know that you are about to execute the last
true General of Britannia!" inside her Amber Cinder just rolled her eyes.

For her, people like him were nothing but old trash long overdue for burning. Always screaming,
calling themselves as some true shit. They didn't want to be a part of the NEW Britannia –
Lelouch's Britannia. It was the start of a new age and she will help to make it, but people like this
old crap couldn't see it. Cinder understood that it was their choice to live in the past, and so they
will pay for it with their lives.

"If it so than Lelouch's vision of ideal world is almost achieved," The White Queen opened fire and
in next second, the last 'true' General of Britannia became nothing but a memory… and dust on the
ground.

His stomach pummeled, and Suzaku could tell that something had gone wrong.

His instincts were screaming about it while he made his way towards a government building. His
fears were confirmed when the Japanese Knight saw what was left of the guards.
Destroyed Alexanders and ruins were everywhere. Not wasting another moment, Suzaku flew his
Knightmare into the building through a giant hole made by their self-invited guest.

The building was a familiar one. How nostalgic. I… protected Lelouch here. When he was Julius.

Now he's just Lelouch. Lelouch was responsible for everything that had happened. All these deaths,
all the suffering, all because he is too stubborn to see that his way of doing things cause only more
problems in the world. And as the new Emperor, he was waging another fucking war in Europe. If
it is the way he wants to change the world than I won't allow it. One day, one day I will end it,
Lelouch but not today. You're just too damn impatient.

A shot was heard.

Suzaku recognized that the sound. V.A.R.I.S. rifle.

The Lancelot Club flew there as fast as possible. On his way there he saw some destroyed units –
Europeans. When Lancelot Club entered what he remembered to be the largest room of the
building, the first thing Suzaku saw was a Knightmare that was too similar to his old one.

"Lancelot?" he whispered to himself. The unknown unit looked exactly like Lancelot, with the
only difference being were a different color scheme and slightly bulkier modification. Most likely
it was one of those New Knights of the Round that Schwarzer had mentioned. But Suzaku noticed
something else; a machine right in front of Lancelot that was almost an exact replica of Lancelot
Albion.

So Lloyd and Cecile made another Lancelot Albion. He didn't know why he felt hurt because of
this thought. He knew that two scientists left them right after the second battle in Tokyo, yet it still
hurt. He will no longer hear Cecile complaining about the other scientist's complete lack of
tact. Ha, seems that I actually missed Lloyd after all, Suzaku thought with a bitter smile.

For some reason, the enemy unit hadn't noticed his presence yet. Great. Lancelot Club pulled out a
rifle and aimed at the enemy's cockpit – the tiny area where he knew was Lancelot Albion's only
vulnerable point.

Suzaku was about to press the trigger when enemy Lancelot turned to him, not moving or trying to
raise its weapon, just stood there silently while its pilot said with a cold voice.

"Are you going to shoot or what?"

Suzaku narrowed his eyes. Gino was correct. It was a female pilot who was not afraid of him and
he could guess. For her, a mere Lancelot Club was just another Knightmare that was stolen
among Vincent generation. She didn't think of him as a dangerous enemy.

Yet.

It was pure arrogance, something that all Knights of the Round no matter old or new shared in
common. Suzaku was the only non-Britannian member and so did not possess such a trait. He knew
all too well that brilliant people, sadly on the enemy's side, could create newer and more powerful
generation of Knightmare given enough time.

As far as he's concerned, his junior needs a lesson of humility. "I was just admiring your machine.
It is strange to see another Lancelot, never thought Lloyd will actually make a copy of his dearest
baby."

"A copy?" The female pilot exhaled loudly – dragging. "You know, I'm TIRED of people
mistaking my dear Amber Tertiary for that Traitor's Knightmare." Her voice betrayed her
frustration, but then it changed, though the sudden happiness didn't throw Suzaku off a loop. "Oh, I
know! From this moment on I will just kill everyone who will call my baby by that name again!"

GREAT. Another psycho.

Suzaku shot at her but she dodged – and when he saw she could dodge fast he knew he wouldn't be
underestimating her. His enemy pulled out its weapon and shot at Lancelot Club with its Super
V.A.R.I.S rifle, but Suzaku had enough experience himself on how to dodge a blast.

"Starting with you!" She yelled happily and shot again. "Good reflex, who are you by the way?"

She doesn't know? She clearly knew of my reputation. Funny, Suzaku haven't met anyone who
hasn't recognized him from his voice alone. His reputation as the White Knight was highly
distasteful and blown out of proportion for months by the media and the late Charles zi Britannia
had exploited the White Reaper thoroughly – Schneizel didn't have compunctions on that either.
"Who do you think I am?" The Lancelot Club pulled out its Custom Type Assault Rifle and fired
back while taking cover behind one of the supporting columns. The enemy didn't try to do
anything when he shot it; his bullets never touched its armor. Tch, "Absolute Defense System? Just
like Lelouch's."

"That," the enemy pilot hissed, "Is Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia to you."

Suzaku rolled his eyes, his respect dropping. Just another mindless follower of that demon. "About
your question, weeeell at first I thought you are someone from Princess Marrybell's platoon and
betrayed her as well." Suzaku frowned. Why? He had met the Glinda Knights in the past. They
were weird as any other Britannian but from what he gathered, nothing slimy as the rotten part.
"Strange Knightmare, lack of discipline. But even they know who I am," she said and rushed
to Lancelot Club with its two MVS in hands ready to slash. Suzaku easily dodged the rushed attack
and jumped to the side, predicting she was going to propel herself forward and continue forward
slashes. Registering his reaction she took up a battle stance and spoke again. "I am Cinder Fall,
Second Knight of the Round Table."

"Ah, I gathered from your ripoff Knightmare. Just another blind sad excuse of a person who
follows Lelouch." Suzaku didn't bother dodging, his Knightmare more than capable enough to
dodge her hasty attack. "You are a fool for following that madman!" Suzaku felt how Lancelot
Albion—no—Amber pressed its swords with full strength and forced Lancelot Club to hold back.
His machine jumped back, with a rifle at his left hand he started to shoot again, aiming at her
Knightmare's face in hopes to hit the precious sensors but her red shield protected it. Lloyd
improved on that. Crap.

"Fool? Oh please, the only one who is a fool here is you," Fall laughed." You and the rest of EU.
You guys actually think that you have any chance against His majesty? General Schwarzer was just
as ambitious as you and paid with his life for such mistake." Suzaku tightened his grip on his
controls. Another setback. "You seem to be experienced enough to understand that you must run
away, then why are you here?"

In next second, Lancelot Club rushed at Amber Tertiary at high speed, his MVS pointed at the
machine. But Amber easily blocked a strike, and immediately after Amber used its slash harkens to
disarm him. But she failed - Suzaku jumped back.

"That's right. Run away~!"

Judging from the demolished state outside, she's been fighting all day. Amber's been in operation
for at least more than four hours now, Suzaku thought. Just like me, but Absolute Defense System's
a nightmare on energy life. Suzaku had Lancelot Club which was a mass-produced version
of Lancelot Albion, used less energy, but more than made up its less sophisticated system thanks to
his talent in KMF combat. Suzaku was on friendly territory and could refill his machine, while she
could not. I got an idea.

Suzaku stopped his Knightmare from running. When Amber got close, he shot her at point blank.
A waste of energy and predictably, her shield protected her, but Suzaku used the close-up distorted
vision to swing Lancelot Club's sword down at her. When Fall successfully blocked it, Lancelot
Club and Amber Tertiary were blocked in a KMF swords duel.

When Lancelot Club tried to create a distance by jumping back, Amber Tertiary closed the distance
between them and pressed his Knightmare against a wall. Her two swords were pressed against his
one.

"I gotta admit, you are a good fighter," Fall admitted in open channel. "Even in a subpar model,
you are able to fight against me. Pity that you are on an enemy side," Fall let out a chuckle.

"The same can be said about you. If not for my experience then you might have killed me already,"
Suzaku said. He fought with powerful enemies before. However, in that time he had his Lancelot.
Now? I understand how my enemies feel whenever they have to fight against me. "But you are just
a pawn in tyrant's game."

A pawn. A pawn we will ever be in Lelouch's board. I thought Nunna would be the last straw but
apparently she was never his King. No, he clearly had discarded her from memory, continuing to
wage war, Suzaku's eyes hardened. When will you maniacs realize that?!
To his surprise, Fall only laughed.

"Pawn? A pawn! Please, I'm greater than that. I'm a queen piece, his Queen," Fall said in a strange
tone, a tone he barely recognized to be pride and happiness. His rising disgust distracted him to
stop her next move - Multi-colored copy of Lancelot aimed at Lancelot Club. When he prepared to
block, instead of shooting Amber launched its two Arm-mounted Slash Harkens at his Knightmare.
Suzaku blocked them with his single sword, but apparently Lloyd had upgraded the KMF again
considering it hid another couple of shots. The first one aimed at Lancelot Club's chest and the
second at its left leg. Suzaku avoided the first but was unable to avoid the second one.

"Live!"

Suzaku registered the echo of his voice. Before, he was a slave of this command. Over time,
though, Suzaku had learned to make it his own prerogative.

Eyes red, Suzaku dodged a hadron blast by a centimeter.

Inside her Amber, Cinder Fall blinked.

"What was that?" She asked weakly, mostly out of surprise, but quickly shook her head and aimed
at him again. "Doesn't matter," she concluded and was about to attack him again when her shields
activated and protected her from an attack.

From behind.

Something big and green crashed onto her Absolute Defense System and forced Amber to back up
by sheer brute force. "Look what we have here!" A female's voice was heard from the open
channel, and Suzaku recognized it. "Nonette is here~" Her Knightmare shifted a bit to indicate that
she was facing him. "Suzu, it seems that you have trouble here but do not worry. What do you
Japanese call it? Oh yeah! Onee-chan Nonette is here to save the day!"

Suzaku cringed. Never mind her incorrect usage of the Japanese suffix, she was addressing him
with that stupid nickname to his enemy.

Nonette Enneagram was using a… personally customized Lancelot Club as her personal
Knightmare Frame. For one, her KMF's head had… horns that Suzaku wasn't sure it had any
practical use other than to announce her propensity for such appendage. And second, what was
supposed to be a deadly white machine was green with golden lines.

"We came here to kick some ass!" When Nonette happily shouted that Suzaku looked behind her;
dozens of Alexanders. Reinforcements. Better late than never.

"So," Nonette's tone betrayed her seriousness, "Who dares to fight against two Knights of the
Round?"

"Wait!" The pilot behind Amber Tertiary's eyes widened. "Two?!"

"Of course two!" Nonette said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She put the hand
of her Knightmare on its front cockpit."I am Nonette Enneagram, the Knight of Nine. And he," she
pointed at the only white KMF in the field next to her. "Is Kururugi Suzaku, Knight of Seven, both
ready to kick your ass," Nonette said and pointed her MVS at Amber, and all the soldiers behind
her did the same. "Little girl."

For next few seconds, the enemy unit was silent.

Are you still as psychotic as you had been or have you gained some sense? Suzaku wondered.

Then, Amber pointed its Super V.A.R.I.S rifles at the ceiling and shot a freaking full Burst,
collapsing the structure. They avoided the falling debris – some were slow enough to be unlucky –
while Amber flew away.

"You little bitch!" Nonette shouted and pointed at Amber to shoot but their enemy already left their
vision.

"It's useless, Nonette. She has an Absolute Defense System. You can't take her down by anti-KMF
bullets." Suzaku said to her. Then he promptly gave them the sitrep. "Best use it to disrupt her
vision because the shield glows red around her. Cinder Fall. The cloned version of Lancelot
Albion and calls it Amber Tertiary. Responsible for the massacre I have no doubt you've seen when
you were on your way."

"General Schwarzer's location?" Nonette absently asked.

Another statistic. "Dead," Suzaku finished.

On the board of Grandberry

In the sky above the city, the air fleet was flying away from their target. Some of the flying
fortresses were damaged but none of them were destroyed. They didn't achieve victory today and
so Princess Marrybell decided to retreat and regroup. The city will become theirs. Perhaps not
today but it will fall in the end.

Princess didn't know about the other goal Lelouch had, Cinder thought vindictively, clamoring for
her pride. On one hand, she had completed the mission her Emperor gave her but on the other
hand, the black haired woman couldn't help but feel anger and disappointment. She did not face
some random foe but that Traitor of all people in the world.

I didn't even recognize that Traitor's voice! If only I knew, I would have fought seriously! And now
I'm the one who ran! I DON'T FUCKING FLEE! She was fighting against Suzaku fucking
Kururugi. The same Kururugi who 'killed' Zero during a black rebellion and went on to kill so.
Many. People. He was called the White Reaper. One of the youngest former Knights of the Round
was right in front of her. He was here in Russia, an old junk that she could easily destroy! Cinder
was furious at herself.

From the logical side, she had little chance against both former Knights of the Round. The Traitor
was able to stand against her in a LESSER Knightmare model, for fuck's sake. With the help of
Nonette Enneagram? They would have likely been able to take her down. Her Amber had been
fighting for too long was running out of energy. Cinder only had enough fuel to return to the main
fleet before her systems will be rendered completely dead.

That fucking pilot! Because of him, I had to run away! You—ARGGGHH! Cinder screamed inside
her while thinking about what just happened when she entered her chamber. The room wasn't very
luxurious; all it had was large bed and though it was a nice desk, it was like any other in an
officer's room. When she had come here for the first time, Cinder had requested to install a TV.
Some members of Glinda Knights thought that the Knight of Two wanted it so she could kill some
time but Cinder had more important matters than watching the pile of trash that is modern media
industry.

Now Lelouch is going to be disappointed at me, Cinder thought as she accepted a call from the
White it was normal situation then she would be happy to speak with him but right now it wasn't.
The black haired Knight quickly collected her composure before one second later, the face of the
most powerful Emperor in the world appeared on the screen. Before him, the White Knight of the
Round kneeled. When she saw the smiling face of her beloved devil Cinder couldn't help but smile
as well, glad to see him again despite her sour mood.

His Majesty was sitting on his throne on Avalon, a smile was on his face when he saw his knight.
Cinder smothered a giggle when she noted his voice was warm. "I'm glad to see you, my Q-2."

A little shade of red appeared on her cheeks whenever she heard this title. That's right. I'm the
MUCH better version of the Queen piece. "I want to know about your mission." Straight to the
point, just how she liked. Question is, good news or bad news first?

Good news first.

"General Schwarzer has been dealt with. He is no longer among the living," she reported with a
formal tone, before raising her head with a sly smirk and giggling. "May I inform your majesty that
your plan with Geass worked perfectly," Cinder winked at him and Lelouch smirked.

"You're quick on the uptake for a first-time witness," Lelouch nodded proudly. "Is St. Petersburg
ours already?"

Darn. "Well, Lelouch, you see it seems EU soldiers here in the east don't want their asses kicked
first. I'm afraid that it will take more time to conquer this city. I had a small… quandary during my
mission," Cinder weakly smiled.

The smirk on Lelouch's face disappeared. "I'm rather familiar with that particular defeated
expression. Suzaku was there, wasn't he?"

Cinder shifted nervously. "You already knew?"

"I predicted if he was quick with his route there's a chance he'd catch up to you while you were
massacring Schwarzer's pawns."

And you still trusted me to carry it out, Cinder smothered another giggle. You believed I could
match him! Oh, I knew I should have taken that Traitor seriously! "I would have dealt with
Kururugi too had Nonette Enneagram didn't come with reinforcements and my Amber was running
out of energy," Cinder finished and waited for a reprimand. Perhaps, a punishment.

Lelouch didn't berate her. Instead, he asked, "What Knightmare did he use?"

"Um," Shit. I lost to a lesser KMF model. "Some old version of Vincent. It was similar to
original Lancelot. Lelouch, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to take him down."

Lelouch waved his hand. "No need for remorse. Suzaku's dangerous even in an old Knightmare –
the Lancelot Club. I believe the original version had been mass produced. At least, with the finest
KMF manufacturers and engineers at my side, he won't be able to retrace what he did during the
Black Rebellion."

All she knew about it is the chunk of a fabricated tale the media churned out. I have to know
Lelouch's version of the Black Rebellion.

"I'm not angry at you, my Q-2. You will have your chance to fight them again with full energy. Tell
Marry to withdraw the troops. St. Petersburg will remain under EU rule for now. Send these
coordinates to Bishop," Cinder nodded but she still had questions.
"But what about these two Knights? And who knows how many there? Not to mention, they have
brought new forces there as well," she said with a worried tone. If this carries out a momentum for
their enemy then they're a threat to Lelouch's plans for the new world. "Lelouch, If I'm going to
fight them all I would need something that will give me the needed edge over them."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes, having an inkling of what she wanted. "We've discussed that. You are
still not ready for energy wings, it is too dangerous for you." Cinder wanted to protest but before
she could say anything Lelouch added, "I don't want to lose someone I love again." When she
heard the last part Cinder's eyes went wide and a warm feeling appeared inside her stomach.

He… loves me. It's the first time he openly says this.

Lelouch continued, "If that is all you wanted to discuss—"

"It is, my Emperor," she said with a small smile on her face, completely forgetting that it was
Lelouch who had called her.

"Very well, see you next time, my Queen."

The moment the call ended, Cinder was left with a bitter taste. What a waste of time I've made.
Completing the secondary mission while failing the main priority.

Kururugi Suzaku, Cinder thought. Don't worry, Lelouch. I won't let you down ever again. Cinder
placed her fist on her chest. Today she showed her arrogance in a duel against the Traitor, and she
won't repeat her mistake again. She lost control over herself again and she needed to do something
about it. Cinder sat on her bed, thinking about what she learned today and what she will do in the
future. If I want to fight on the same level as Red Lotus then I need to get rid of my weaknesses. In
the end, the future Empress must be perfect. A wicked smile appeared on her face while she
thought about it.

"Kururugi Suzaku," she said his name aloud. "If I killed you, then that means I'm better than Q-1.
Doesn't it?
 Storm before the end

July 3rd, Moscow.

Moscow, the capital of Russia and temporary capital of the EU. After the fall of Prague, very few
cities used the title of temporary capital as, unfortunately, every time a city used that title it would
become the next target of the Empire. The EU leaders, the ones who were still alive at least, hoped
that making Moscow their city would help boost morale among the eastern countries of the Union
who had been extremely skeptical about their chances in a war from the start. It seemed as if their
idea worked, as their soldiers started to fight even more determined than before. Unfortunately, this
had also brought a new problem with doing so. Political groups who were against the current EU
government had begun inciting people against their leaders. It wasn't something new for the
government to handle, as they had such attempts at rebellion before, but this time the rebel's
propaganda seemed to be working. For many members of the EU's High Council, it was obvious as
to who was helping the rebels grow. There was only one man who currently benefited from
causing even more internal strife within the EU as the war rapidly advanced further into EU
territory. The EU's problem, however, was that it couldn't afford to divide its forces between
fighting Britannia and stopping the potential rebellion.

The last chance that EU had was their messiah and savior - Leila Malcal. With her new promotion
to General due to the diminishing number of them in the EU due to losing so many during the war,
and currently being considered as second only to the Minister of Military Affairs, she had more
soldiers to work with and was able to stop the nation from descending into complete rebellion, at
least for now. Her popularity was rising faster than ever before, and every soldier given to work
under her command was placed into the W-0 unit, which she held overall command of. With the
support of the nation, she obtained great military and political power as she rose to be a military
advisor for the EU High Council, mainly due to the fact that she now commanded one of the
largest and most skilled units of EU's army. Some in the nation had even come to start fearing Leila
Malcal...

At the current moment, the individual considered to be the hero of the nation was sitting in the
council room of the central government building. She had been called here to discuss the matter of
her investigation of the reason the EU failed to hold St. Petersburg and what they were to do going
onward.

She scoffed slightly when she thought about this. While that may have been the intention of the
other members of the council, and her own to some extent, it paled in comparison to the other
reason she had come. That reason was her superior, the new Minister of Affairs Gene Smilas.

She scowled when she thought of that man. In the past, she respected him. By all appearances, he
was a good and loyal soldier, firmly devoted to the EU and its people. But after seeing some of his
actions and doing some investigation on her own, that appearance had changed greatly in her eyes.

Ever since her conversation with the White Emperor, she had been unable to get what he had said
out of her mind. About the leaders of the EU and also that of his brother Schneizel. She hadn't
wanted to believe what he had said, as she couldn't see the EU as doing any better at the time and
also that Schneizel had been in contact with the EU. The man, after all, was a wanted traitor of
Britannia and any association with him would cause Britannia to descend upon them even harder
than before, not to mention how difficult it would make attempting to join the UFN.

But her instincts had told her there was at least some truth to what the Emperor had said. So, she
had done some investigating of her own without gathering too much attention from the EU's
leaders. Every investigation she conducted on the individual leaders, she found them to be clean,
genuinely doing their best to help the EU, even if they weren't doing a good job. Everyone except
Smilas.

The conversation she had with him after the loss of Prague had frustrated her to no end and had
been the first moment she had entertained the thought of the Emperor's words being true. After the
recent battle at St. Petersburg, she had started to believe of the incompetence of the EU leaders. But
Smilas was different. He was too confident, too sure of victory, and it rose some suspicion within
her. Confidence and certainty of victory wasn't a bad thing. In fact, more people needed it in this
nation. But even then, no one should let such confidence cloud their vision. Smilas had done so,
being so certain that so-called 'special' pilots deployed to St. Petersburg would be able to hold the
city without issue that he held back reinforcements for the city in order to mobilize extra which
wouldn't have even mattered compared to reinforcing the city then and there. As such, she had
originally been investigating Smilas in particular for incompetence. Not only had that been an
issue, but she could find no traces of the identities of these 'special' pilots within the Army, making
her wonder who they were and how Smilas had gotten them.

That all changed a few days ago.

She had been ordered by the rest of the Council to investigate the conditions that resulted in the
loss of St. Petersburg. While she didn't like that her own investigation of Smilas had been put on
hold, she was at least glad that the leaders of the EU had some sense and wasn't just putting this off
or delegating it to an officer who would simply ask a couple of questions and leave it at that. So,
she followed orders like any good soldier would and began investigating. While she found the
same usual reasons for the fall of the city, better tech on the part of Britannia and greater numbers
at this point, she had also discovered something else. She had never expected that this investigation
would tie into her own.

She had been in her office reading over secondhand reports when Claus had brought a woman in.
When she had seen the emblem on the woman's shoulder, she knew it was important. An officer
from the EU's Intelligence division, and one who was a field agent at that, wishing to speak to her
was no laughing matter. She was greatly surprised, however, in what came after their introductions.

The woman had been assigned to a unit in the battle for St. Petersburg, already making Leila's job
easier as it meant she now had a firsthand account of the battle. She and her unit had just managed
to get back, and she had found out that Leila was investigating the battle. As such, she believed it
best to report directly to her. As Leila would soon realize, it was the best decision the officer had
made in her life.

She had told her everything about the battle, from its beginning to when their General ordered
them to escape the city to live another day. Leila stopped her when she mentioned the General's
name. General Schwarzer. Leila had no knowledge of a General with such a name enlisted in the
Army. The woman told her that he was given command of the unit she was assigned to by the
Minister of Military Affairs. The Minister had told them that he was a former Britannian General
who had escaped nearly being executed by the Emperor and had defected to the EU shortly before.
The Minister told them that he was to be in command because he would know more about the
Britannians tech and tactics than anyone else they had.

While that seemed logical enough, what the officer had said next raised alarms in her mind. The
officer reported that she had brief glances and verbal reports by the other soldiers in her unit of a
non-EU Knightmare fighting against Britannian forces. While she had originally thought nothing of
it, as it was possible that it was another group that had interest in seeing the EU succeed against
Britannia, there were two key details which concerned her. The first is that the General seemed to
know whoever was in the Knightmare, reporting to whoever was in the Knightmare as if the person
was his superior. That was already cause for concern for the officer, as there had been nobody in
the battle who would have been his superior and in a Knightmare. The second key detail was that
the Knightmare, according to her unit, appeared to be the infamous Lancelot.

When Leila heard that, she had nearly froze. She allowed the officer to finish her report and
ordered her to get her and her unit checked out at one of the W-0 held medical stations. After
learning what she had, she wasn't about to let Smilas learn of the unit's survival. Things had started
clicking into place. After doing some digging of her own after the officer had left, she had found
what she had been looking for. What she found made her enraged at Smilas.

The General was a defector alright. But not a defector to the EU. General Schwarzer was one of the
individuals on a Britannian wanted list. Not just any list, mind you, but a list that composed each
and every individual who had separated from Britannia alongside the former prince Schneizel el
Britannia. When she learned this, everything fell into place. Smilas confidence, the identities of the
'special' pilots, the reason it appeared as if the Lancelot was helping the EU, and so much more.
Schneizel and Smilas were allies. That was the only thing that made sense in all of this. Smilas
most likely thought that Schneizel would be able to help them come out victorious against
Britannia. He thought it would make the EU be able to reign supreme.

But unlike Smilas, Leila knew better. Even without taking Lelouch's words into consideration, she
remembered the type of man Schneizel was while he aided Britannia under the 98th Emperor. She
had no doubt Schneizel was using Smilas for his own ends. He no doubt knew that he could never
rule Britannia, even if he got Lelouch off of the throne as the people had been convinced –
rightfully so – that Schneizel was a traitor. So what better way to gain rulership of the world than to
use the only nation which could currently fight Britannia for world dominance?

She knew Schneizel was just using the EU to win against Britannia so he could rule. That was
obvious to anyone who had half a brain. Smilas was a fool for allying with Schneizel. Not only
that, but he had inadvertently created much more difficult problems to deal with.

The High Council was currently against entering talks in secret with Schneizel, mainly because of
the fact that if it was ever found out, they would not only be giving Britannia a reason to come
down even harder and more brutally than before, but they could risk open riots from their own
people as there were many that agreed that Schneizel couldn't be trusted. Even though it could
benefit them, the people still held control and many would never ally themselves with a man who
was known to be manipulative and doing everything for his own goals. As she had said before,
anyone with half a brain would be able to see that Schneizel would just be using them for his own
ends.

Smilas, in being allies with Schneizel, had already committed a crime by going behind the backs of
the rest of the Council and going against their wishes. Given that Lelouch seemed to have been
hinting that he knew about this alliance, he had given the Emperor a reason to come down even
harder against them. Smilas keeping reinforcements away to mobilize extra because he arrogantly
believed that the former Knights of the Round – as they were tho only ones the 'special' pilots
could be – allowed one of the key fortifications in this war to fall, giving Britannia a straight shot
at some of their more valuable cities. The fact that even Schneizel's forces were unable to keep the
city would most likely cause panic within anyone who heard of it. But worst of all, this could
derail her attempts to get the EU to join the UFN. Right now, that was their only chance. If it came
out that Schneizel was helping the EU in any manner, the UFN would most likely be unwilling to
let them join as they would then gain the responsibility of aiding and sheltering a traitor to
Britannia. Lelouch would be completely justified by going to extreme lengths to get a hold of
Schneizel for his treason, and the UFN wouldn't be willing to risk giving Lelouch a reason to go to
war with them. Unless they had absolutely no other choice, they would never ally with Schneizel if
they had other options. To her knowledge, they were not ready to start a war with Lelouch.

As such, the only way she could succeed in her own plan to help the people of the EU was to get
rid of Smilas. If she could have him arrested and portrayed as acting independently, there would
still be a chance for them. Which brought her to her current situation.

She was brought out of her thoughts as she heard a door open. It was time to begin. As the
members of the High Council filed into the room, the blonde woman narrowed her eyes as she
glanced around the table as the leaders sat down. Looking at what was left of the EU's leaders,
what she saw wasn't promising in her eyes.

One of the leaders to her left, the new Prime Minister if Leila remembered correctly, stood and
started with a bitter smile on his face: "Before we start, I must say that it is good to see everyone
who was able to come tonight, and for all of you to be in good health considering our current
circumstances." he looked around the table with a grave expression while retaining that bitter
smile.

When the war started, many members of EU council supported it. Over time, the war had caused
drastic changes. Many of the EU's leaders, both those who supported the war and those who didn't,
had been captured, killed or just decided to ditch their responsibilities and flee somewhere where
the war wouldn't be able to touch them. In doing so, they abandoned their people for the sake of
temporary calm before another conflict arose. Leila had lost count of how many times she read
headlines in the paper about yet another politician's 'disappearance' from the nation. In her eyes, the
fact that they believed they could come out of this alive was the definition of stupidity on their
part.

If people in the government were unable to control a situation, then they must give their positions
to those who can bring the actual difference. The main members didn't even do anything serious, as
they usually only dealt with policies during peacetime! None of them even knew how the military
worked half the time! Not only were they unable to deal with the situation, showing their
incompetence, they were also so determined to keep their reputation intact in the eyes of the people
that they made stupid decisions to try and bolster it so they'd be reelected later. Honestly, it
reminded her too much of the attitude of the nobility of Britannia during Emperor Charles' reign.

Now, Smilas is the only one who has enough military knowledge on the Council to call the shots in
this war. Leila thought as she glared at the EU's new Minister of Military Affairs. Ever since he
took his position as the head of the military, nothing had really changed in the war effort. Sure, one
could argue that the EU had gained some small victories here and there. But nothing had been won
on a large enough scale to actively change the course of the war in their favour. Considering what
she knew, however, it would appear that Smilas had simply made thing s much worse for them.

Leila, occupied by her thoughts, took a moment to notice that the Prime Minister continued to
speak, "Well then, let's start with the good news. Thanks to the efforts of the newly promoted
General Malcal, we've currently been able to avoid a potential rebellion." This news brought some
smiles to the faces of the old men around the table. Oh, yes. The rebellion she and rest of the W-0
unit temporarily put down before they caused the EU to descend into civil war. She'd been so
captured by her plans that she had forgotten about that.

The rebels called themselves the 'White Movement.' She doubted anyone would be able to mistake
who they supported given the current situation in the EU. Intent on forcing Russia to become part
of Britannia under the control of Emperor Lelouch, these traitors to the country were willing to do
nearly anything to destabilize the EU. From attempted attacks on military bases, to attempts to
assassinate the High Council, these rebels had been getting surprisingly close to actually causing
damage to the EU. So far, only the quick response by both herself and the military commanders
under her have been able to prevent mass chaos.

She remembered her history lessons of how, nearly a century ago, another rebellion had begun in
Europe. In that time, however, people had been against the monarchy system. The very same
system which created the nation which they now fought. Seeing the level of corruption,
backstabbing, and treachery that system created, it was no wonder the people of the time had
rebelled. As the centuries passed, that will to rebel against the monarchy has shown to have
changed. Now there were people rebelling against a democratic system to return to the very ways
their ancestors fought so vehemently against. Not that I can blame them though. With the current
EU leaders, I'm surprised they didn't rebel earlier. Nor am I surprised that they may see Britannia
and Emperor Lelouch as a better option compared to some of these fools, as much as I'm loathed to
admit it...

"However..." There was the bad news coming up. Looking at the people sitting around the table,
Leila saw that leaders already knew exactly what was about to be said. "We lost St. Petersburg to
the Britannians..."

"That's not bad news, that's fucking terrible news." commented Claus. He was standing behind her
when he said this. All the men in the room had turned to glare at him, the looks on their faces
showing that they didn't appreciate such a rude interruption. Leila could only sigh at the comment.
Her lieutenant had said before the meeting that he would accompany her, and she wouldn't just
refuse him. The man had good intentions, he just didn't care to speak politically and deal with what
it all entailed. Luckily, she'd not only become used to his way of speaking to authority, but she
believed that he might be needed as some backup should something go wrong in her plan.

"Young man, please watch your language!" one of the men harshly said, but Claus just rolled his
eyes in response. He didn't have much respect for the people in the room, and he didn't care to
show any unless they managed to gain it. So far, that didn't seem as if that would be happening
anytime soon.

"Sorry, but I'm just saying it as I see it." Claus said with a cocky smile on his face. She had to
slightly kick his leg to silently indicate that provoking them right now was a bad idea.

"Regardless of my subordinate's language, he is right in saying this is worse than we'd like to
believe." the new General said. At this, all attention in the room shifted to her. "St. Petersburg was
our best chance to start fighting back, and now we've lost that opportunity. The city's design and
defenses would have allowed us to reinforce it to the point where we would at least delay the
attack for a while as new plans would have to be drawn up. The losses sustained by Britannia
showed that this was not a victory without costs for them. If we could have broadcasted the fact
that we had reinforced the city, we could have caused a delay as Britannia planned around it. We
then could have used the extra time needed to plan an effective response to reinforce our units on
other fronts in Europe and could have taken back land or at least cause enough issues in those areas
to force Britannia to respond, delaying the attack even further. We would have at least been able to
buy ourselves some extra time and, over time, could have even caused Britannia to be unable to
attack the city without it being more than a phyrric victory. Now, we have to come up with a new
plan." she said, a serious look on her face.

The battle of St. Petersburg had been the longest battle in the war so far. Both sides lost many
soldiers and machines in the battle, as she had said. Luckily, despite the damage caused by
Britannia, they lost just as much as the EU. At least, on paper, it seemed to be that way. Knowing
the current Emperor, she wouldn't be surprised if their losses were nothing more than a drop in the
bucket to be reversed the next day. Just as she was about to continue, she was interrupted by a
sudden noise from the side. Leila glared at the former General of the W-0 unit. He was just sitting
there with a shit-eating grin on his face as he coughed.

"General Malcal is right." he nodded as he said with his eyes closed. "We thought we could afford
waiting to send reinforcements for a few days. We were wrong, and we need to change our strategy
because of it." said the new Minister. "We thought that sending our 'special' pilots would be
enough to hold the enemy back and give us enough time to gather extra reinforcements to send on
top of what we were originally going to send, but we were wrong... I am fully confident, however,
that we will be able to get them next time." Smilas arrogantly smirked as he said this. Leila
narrowed her eyes at the behavior of the Minister.

It's now or never. she thought. Leila looked at Claus who nodded, most likely thinking the same
thing she was. She had told Claus of her plan, and he had agreed immediately. He saw the exact
same problem as she did, and was fully willing to help her if things went sour. She decided there
was no better time to start then now.

It was time to deal with Smilas.

She raised from her chair and slammed against the table with her fist. She had to school her
features as the men in the room jumped slightly, turning to her with confusion on their faces. The
blonde General glared at these parodies of leaders and finally said:

"We were wrong, or was it just you who was wrong Smilas? I'm sorry, but I fail to see how we
were collectively at fault when this fell under your jurisdiction as Minister of Military Affairs, sir."
Leila said in a mocking tone. Everyone, minus Claus and Smilas, looked at her with shock. Her
superior simply glared at her. "The EU soldiers in St. Petersburg did everything in their power to
bring us victory, trying to hold out for reinforcements which they believed were going to arrive
soon. But since our Minister of Military Affairs was too busy to send them any aid, they couldn't do
shit." she cursed and surprised them again. They never expected her of all people to curse when
speaking of a superior. "Oh, wait a second. I forgot. You were the one to advise this council to wait
on sending reinforcements, which were completely ready to deploy I might add, to gain extra
reinforcements which wouldn't have even mattered in the long run. So as a result, you are directly
at fault for the fall of the city! At least, if that story is true…" God, she had never spoken to her
superiors like this before! It felt so good and refreshing to be able to call them out for their actions!

"What do you mean by that, General Malcal?" Smilas hissed, his face still a mask of calm. The
pure venom heard in his voice, however, gave away his anger. Leila smiled at his response. He
could try as much as he wanted to avoid it, but it didn't matter. While he tried to keep a face of
calm, she knew that he would slowly but surely lose his calm. "If you forgot, I had nothing to do
with the battle there. While I see now that it would have been better to send the reinforcements
earlier instead of waiting, I was unsure at the time if that amount alone would be enough. Besides,
the actions on the ground in the city was by the orders of the General in charge of the defense. If
anything, he's the one at fault for how it turned out." Smilas waved dismissively. She noticed,
however, that his face had become slightly gloomy when he said this.

A smirk appeared on her face at Smilas' response. "Is that so? Because I think you played a key
role in the fall of the city." Leila was playing with him right now, waiting for Smilas to slip up and
give her an opening she could use. She was happy to see that Smiles was starting to become angry.

"General Malcal, I recommend that you don't throw accusations like that around! Despite
everything that has happened, I'm still your superior." Smilas declared as Leila just glared at him
yet again.

Yes, he had been her superior for a long time. During his time as her superior, Euro Britannia had
taken half of their eastern countries while he and the other high ranking officers of the time were
too useless to do anything to stop them. Thousands were starving and dying, not only in Europe but
all around the world. Their so-called democracy did nothing to save these people from their death
at the hands of politicians due to their incessant squabbling without taking action, even if it was
inadvertently. She was done being part of this corrupted system. If Smilas wanted to play the
superior game, she was more than willing to. After all, she knew everything she needed to about
Smilas' superior.

"Yes, you are my superior. But from what I can see, that's in name only. After all, I can hardly call
a man whose loyalty belongs with someone other than the people you swore to protect!" At the
puzzled looks the other leaders gave her, she continued, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about
the fact that it was the former prince Schneizel who was using you to rule Europe from the start of
this bloody war!" Leila exclaimed with a small smirk. After she mentioned the name of a banished
prince, everyone in the room froze. Most were frozen in surprise or shock, but she could tell that
Smilas was frozen out of fear. It only came over his face for a moment before he hid it, but she had
no doubt he was wondering what she knew. "Oh, wait! Was it supposed to be a secret that you were
working with him?" she asked, adding a sense of fake worry in her voice. "I'm truly sorry about
saying that then. I thought that you would be proudly admitting that you are his lap dog." the
blonde General laughed. She had never done something like this, always being serious but damn!
She knew that everything was going according to her plan at the moment, and she liked this feeling
of absolute control of the situation.

Maybe Lelouch wasn't wrong. Maybe I might have no other choice than to take control of the EU
myself, if these fools are the only other option. Suddenly, a new thought appeared in Leila's head.
Was this the White Emperor's plan all along? For her to rebel and cause chaos while he moved in
for the kill? Or was it her own plan? She quickly dismissed those thoughts. Whether it was her
own plans or not, it didn't matter now. She was going through with it anyway.

While Leila was thinking about her brief inner conflict, some of the leaders started whispering
among themselves. Others looked at their Minister of Military Affairs with suspicion.

"What does she mean, Gene?" asked one of the leaders. The man in question just cleared his throat.

"Some terrible nonsense. Completely baseless accusations with nothing to back her up. I believe
that General Malcal may be losing her mind because of this terrible war and the stress it's leaving
upon her. She's still young after all, and this war has been stressful for everyone. It's no surprise
that she may be coming up with such delusions and conspiracy's." he said with sadness in his tone,
a sound she could tell was fake before he glanced around the table. "I believe she needs some time
to rest, possibly even examined medically. Guards, escort the good General to the infirmary."
Smilas said to soldiers behind him as he faked a look of concern. The guards behind him started
moving towards Leila. She wasn't concerned about them or what Smilas was attempting to do. In
fact, she had the biggest smile she'd ever had on her face. Probably didn't help her case much, she
was sure, but she knew that Smilas was sweating under the pressure.

"Is that so, Minister? Because I'm curious about one thing. I know none of us spoke to anyone in
Britannia for aid, whether they are current or former. Yet you claim what I say is nothing more
than a 'baseless accusation' against you. But if that's the case, who decided to ask for the 'special'
pilots?" she asked.

"I never asked any Britannian for aid! As I told you before, we sent 'special' pilots from the EU to-
" Smilas said before Leila cut him off.

"Before you try to spread the idea that the pilots were ours, I'll advise that you don't bother. I know
the truth behind all of this. Could you please explain to this Council why these 'special' pilots were
found to be former Knights of the Round from your dear friend the exiled prince?" Leila smirked
when Smilas gritted his teeth. Yet again, everyone in the room froze.

"Wait! You asked for Knights of the Round Gene?!" one of them suddenly asked. The tone and the
glares being given towards Smilas were enough to show the suspicion building against the man.

Smilas shook his head and said, "I'll say this again: I didn't ask anything from anyone. Leila, you
don't have any proof of this other than your wild fantasies and belief that you know everything I do,
which I know for a fact this Council wouldn't accept as anything as the delusions of a mentally
disturbed individual. If you want to lose your position so badly then go ahead." Smilas said,
maintaining a calm look on his face. She had to admit, the former soldier could keep a mask on his
emotions quite well. But even though he tried to brush everything off, she knew this was a futile
attempt to get her off his case as he threatened her rank and position. If he thought she was going to
stop, however, he was sadly mistaken.

"You'd be surprised Smilas, but I do have evidence to back up my claims. All it required was a
little bit of investigation." Leila said as she glanced to Claus. At the unspoken signal, he pulled out
a folder of files and tossed it onto the table.

One of the politicians took it and asked while opening it, "And what evidence could that be, if I
may ask?"

"Combat reports." started Leila. She had to hold back the laugh she felt coming when she saw
Smilas freeze. With a small smile on her face, she continued, "Officially, all possible sources of
firsthand reports from the battle were lost. But after investigation, it turns out that some soldiers
managed to escape."

Droplets of sweat began to appear on the old man's head as he asked, "What do you mean, Leila?
Everyone knows that all troops in the city were captured or killed." Smilas wanted to stop her
before she said something dangerous. She knew as well as he did that if she managed to support
her claim well enough, then all of his plans would end up crumbling into dust.

"But not this one." Leila smirked as Smilas visibly tensed. "This group of soldiers managed to
escape the city during the battle. They said that when the Britannians managed to break through
their defense, their commanding officer, a General to be exact, ordered them to escape. I found out
about this due to a field agent from the Intelligence division assigned covertly to the unit having
reported directly to me." At this, she saw Smilas' eyes go wide. She couldn't help the smirk which
came onto her face. Given how certain Smilas was of the deaths of everyone in the city, he would
have never expected anyone to find out about his orders. Now he knew there was someone who
knew of the orders, and he'd likely be nervous about how much she may have learned.

"I don't see anything strange there, General." one of the ministers said. "Whoever this general was,
I'm sure he had no choice but to escape." Others nodded at this, and Leila could see signs of hope
appearing on Smilas' face. He probably thought that the Council would support him in the end,
though she knew they wouldn't once she was done.

"He ordered them to escape while he himself stayed there to fight the enemy until his last breath."
Leila said. When she read the reports herself, she was surprised to find that it was one of the
Emperor's new Knights who killed the General. She genuinely thought he would have been able to
escape back to Schneizel thanks to the help of the former Knights. If what the troops said was true
and it was the Knight of Two who caused so much destruction...

Smilas decide to distract everyone, latching on to Leila's words and attempting to use them to get
out of any explanations. "What a hero! Letting his soldiers escape while he himself continued to
fight in order to let them get away! If this is the type of soldier we lost, it is a great loss for our
Union." the Military Minister said patriotically. Many agreed with him, and she didn't doubt that in
Smilas' eyes, he'd just taken the advantage in refuting her claims.

That was, however, until one of the ministers asked out of curiosity and lingering suspicion about
Smilas, "What was the name of this General?" When she heard the question, Leila answered:

"The name of the General was Johann Schwarzer." Leila said and, as she expected, all the
ministers outside of Smilas had a look of confusion on their faces, most likely trying and failing to
put a face to the name. "Don't worry, you wouldn't know him. You couldn't have known about
him, as the man isn't a General of the EU's forces or even a citizen of the EU. In reality, the man is
a former Britannian general who defected from the Empire when Schneizel did and joined his
forces." Yet again, everyone expect her, Claus and Smilas froze at the information. She would
easily admit, she had been lucky to have that officer find Claus. To the military's knowledge, all
forces had been declared KIA. If they had known they were still alive, she had no doubt Smilas
would have been informed. If he had, she knew he would have tried to have those soldiers silenced
in order to keep his little secret. At the same time, she was rightfully upset while reading the
reports as she had to learn how a Britannian general was a better leader for the EU soldiers on the
field than their own people were during the battle. Just how far had their Union fallen for that to be
the case?

She then turned to Smilas and continued, "Thanks to the report of the field agent and the other
soldiers in her unit, I know it was you, Smilas, who placed him in charge of the defense. You also
asked the former prince Schneizel to send the Knights of the Round who defected with him to the
defense of the city."

Her Lieutenant behind her decided to add his own thoughts to hers, "Your arrogance in believing
that the Knights of the Round would be able to hold the city caused you to keep reinforcements
from them and cost us the city. Or am I wrong? Besides, even if you don't believe the 'special'
pilots were former Knights of the Round, where do you think the EU found the old Vincent models
we've been able to use? If you don't believe either of us, ask him yourself." Everyone looked the
Minister, some with horror being able to be seen in their eyes, others with rage in them.

"Is this true?" That was the only question they asked. Smilas, who was tired of pretending and had
been slowly losing control of the situation and his temper, finally lost it. He jumped from his seat
and hit the table.

"And what if it is?!" His face was red with anger, veins being able to be seen on his face. He knew
that it was pointless to hide his actions now. Months of hard work and sleepless nights on his part
were going down the drain in one simple meeting. While he knew he'd lost against Leila thanks to
what she'd presented, he still grasped on to the small sliver of hope that he might be able to
convince them it was for the better. "The EU needed to return to its former glory and come out on
top, so I made a deal with Schneizel. Regardless of you may think, at the end of the day, the enemy
of my enemy is my friend."

There was dead silence at the admission. None of the other ministers could believe this was true,
that the man who they believed to be giving everything he had to save the EU was being aided by
Schneizel. No one said anything until Leila said, "That may be true, but Schneizel has never been
helping you save the EU and never will be. He was just using us and you for his own agenda. In
fact, I doubt he ever considered you an ally." Leila glared at him as she said this. The former Prime
Minister of Britannia was a snake, using those he needed and waiting for the right moment to
pounce. In the end, she understood why Lelouch didn't want Schneizel to gain a foothold
anywhere. He was no better than Charles zi Britannia, and the world had already had enough of
him in the past to last for eternity.

"What makes you think so?" barked an already furious Minister of Military Affairs.

"Because if he did think of you as his ally, he would have told you to not start a war with Lelouch."
Leila said in an angry tone. "Schneizel wants the EU to win because he would never gain the
support of Britannia now. But if the EU wins, he'd be able to control it from within. The EU would
take over Britannia's place in the world under the leadership of Schneizel, and we'd become just as
bad as the last Emperor was."

She wanted to laugh, not from happiness but from the absurdness of the situation she was in. "He
never cared about the EU and its people. He only wanted to use us as tools for his own dominance
of the world. You may have genuinely thought you were doing the best for the EU, Smilas. I don't
doubt you think that. But you fail to realize that all you've done is give Britannia more and more
reasons to continue this war, even risking complete destruction as he could eradicate every city if
the Emperor believed we were sheltering such an enemy. Schneizel is a dangerous enemy for
Britannia, and they wouldn't hesitate to send everything to ensure he was taken down. I, for one,
know that would be what I would do if I was in his position."

"But we could win! We could win and show the world that the EU isn't dead!" Smilas yelled.
Every person in the room glanced at each other before Leila closed her eyes. After a moment, she
opened her eyes again and looked at Smilas with a look of sadness and pity.

"As much as I hate to admit it, the EU was dead the moment you started this war. I know about the
initial attack on Paris that started all of this. I know that you convinced the leaders that it was the
best time to strike. Ever since you convinced them to attack and Britannia declared war in response,
the EU was dead. We just didn't realize it at the time." She finally admitted it. She had no doubt
the world had already realized this simple fact, but Leila hadn't wanted to believe them. She was a
patriot to her country and always wanted the best for the EU and its people. She would be the first
one to join the fight against an enemy to her nation, but she could see the writing on the wall now.

The EU was dead, its citizens either dead or now part of the Empire and all because they refused
to change, instead of listening to the voices of the old world. Everything had changed, old
superpowers collapsed and new ones rose. Britannia was now in better hands compared to the
previous Emperor. Every other nation in the world had adapted to the change in the world's
politics. They all understood that, while they may not like Britannia, they couldn't simply deal with
Britannia like they used to and stayed cautious while trying to determine how the new Emperor
would act.

The EU was the only nation that didn't, instead believing that because someone they saw as a boy
had taken the throne that they could take back what they lost. Because of people like Smilas who
still thought in the ways of the old world, they had refused to change. Now, they were paying the
price for their actions, and Leila had to admit that they deserved what was happening because of
their arrogance.

When she looked at the man before her, Leila remembered the once prideful soldier who was
ready to die for his country. Now? All she could see was a man so full of his pride and ready to
sacrifice countless lives if it meant that his own goals and beliefs were fulfilled. "You lost, Smilas.
We all lost."
"How dare you!" Smilas tried to pull out his handgun and aim it at her, but the guards were faster.
Before he could do anything, one of the guards grabbed his arm and yanked the gun out of his
hand. The other grabbed his arms seconds later and pulled them behind his back while pushing
him against the desk.

"What are you doing!?" Smilas yelled, sounding like a rabid dog. "You should be going against
these traitors, not me!" The two guards just scowled at Smilas, their position on the matter clear for
all in the room to see.

"Gene Smilas, I hereby place you under arrest!" shouted Leila. In Smilas' shock and rage, he didn't
notice the other ministers nodding their heads at Leila's declaration.

"What?! You don't have the power to do so!" As he said this, Smilas looked around the room for
support. To his shock, all he saw was looks of disappointment and disgust. "Wait! You can't do
this to me! If it wasn't for me, none of you would be here!"

"Yes, we wouldn't." The Prime Minister said, having been quiet for most of this ordeal. Leila
looked at him, curious as to what he was going to say. "If it wasn't for you, we'd be sitting in a
session of parliament while talking about politics and the decisions needed to be made, not sitting
here and talking about the war we are losing." After he said this, everyone else at the table started
to say what they had in mind:

"Our lands wouldn't be occupied by the enemy!"

"We wouldn't have a war at all!"

"Our main problem would only be immigrants and fucking social justice groups!"

"You went behind our backs and against our vote on the matter of Schneizel!"

After Smilas heard all of this, he shouted again. "If you wanted that so badly then you shouldn't
have given me permission to start the war in the first place! You just needed to join the UFN if you
were worried about Britannia going to war with you! But no! You didn't!" He glanced around the
table and continued, "Don't pretend that this wasn't your fault as well. You're just as bad as me if
not worse! Those elevens tried to contact us, but you all refused to work with them. If you thought I
was so wrong, then you should have just accepted their offer!"

"And we will." Leila said. Everyone other than Claus and, surprisingly, the Prime Minister looked
at her in surprise.

One of them coughed before he said, "General Malcal, we're extremely glad that you helped us
find the main cause of our problems, but joining the UFN? I think that's too much." Leila glared at
the minister who spoke, but before she could say anything, the Prime Minister decided to speak.

"No, General Malcal is right." Everyone, even Leila, looked at the man in surprise. "While Smilas
is the one who has caused many problems for the EU, even if he didn't realize it, and caused us to
lose St. Petersburg, we're all partially at fault. If we had simply refused to go to war, we'd be in a
better position than we are now. Now, however, I don't think we have much another choice than to
join the UFN. They are currently at peace with Britannia. If we disband the EU and join the UFN
under a new banner, the Emperor won't be able to attack us."

Leila was surprised that the Prime Minister had supported her. She had honestly thought that all the
leaders were spineless fools. That was how her investigations had painted them at least. Perhaps
she had been too quick to judge some of them…
Smilas, however, was devastated to hear this. His face was completely covered with sweat as the
guards pulled him off of the table and moved him to the side of the room, still facing the table.
While the guards did this, the other ministers in the room started to whisper amongst themselves.
Leila looked at them with some concern. She just hoped that they would make the right decision.

It took them several minutes before the one who spoke before said, "General Malcal, we have
come to the conclusion that you are correct. We need the help of UFN right now." The blonde
woman smiled and let out a sigh when she head those words. It was finally over. Since she had
already started the process of getting the other members countries still part of the EU to agree on
joining the UFN, she just needed to get the High Council to agree to her plan. Before this meeting,
Chairwoman Kaguya said that she had prepared everything on her end as well. She was just
waiting on Leila's confirmation. By the end of the day, the remaining counties of the EU would be
able to join the UFN. Now, this war would finally end…

"I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you." a voice said from the door. Suddenly, Leila had a
sinking feeling in her gut that something was about to go terribly wrong.

Everyone turned to the source of the voice, only to see an old man with a cane standing just inside
the room. He smiled at them and made his way towards the table. "Good day, gentlemen and good
lady Malcal." He bowed as far as he could in front of Leila. Currently, however, she was trying to
rationalize the situation and identify who the man was. She didn't know who the man was, but it
was obvious the Prime Minister recognized the man.

"What are you doing here, Komarov?" the Prime Minister asked. He indicated to the guard not
holding Smilas to put down his weapon.

The old man, whom she now knew was named Komarov, said, "I've come to join your
conversation about disbanding the EU. I must say, it was about time you did so." The old Russian
laughed as he said this. Claus narrowed his eyes at the attitude of the man. Both he and Leila knew
that something was wrong with this situation, but they just couldn't figure out what.

The Prime Minister blinked before asking, "And how did you know about it? We only just decided
upon it. Did you hear everything we just said?"

"As a matter of fact, the answer is both yes and no." Komarov gave a short laugh. "While I did just
hear the end of your little discussion, I already knew the good lady Malcal would convince you of
such." he said. He then looked at the said individual who blinked in surprise.

"Wait." she said, trying to process what the man just said. "You knew I would convince them? You
knew I was coming to this meeting to do so along with outing Smilas? Have you been spying on
me?"

Komarov laughed as he said, "It was pretty hard to find out exactly when you'd be coming here, I
must say. I got news about your plan this morning." the old Russian smiled, but Leila knew he was
hiding something else.

"And?" asked one of the ministers. "What do you want, Komarov?" After he said this, the old
man's smile disappeared.

"To all of you to disband the EU..."

"We were about to do so-"

"And join Britannia." the old Russian said as he watched their reaction. For him, it was amusing to
say the least. To watch as horror and disbelief appeared on their faces. Now Leila understood who
was behind this man. She clenched her hands, trying to control herself and her anger. Why? Why is
he always one step ahead of me...

At that moment, Smilas started laughing like a madman. The two guards looked at him in concern,
wondering what he might try. After he calmed down slightly, he said, "I can't believe it! That brat
is just like his older brother at times! If only I had seen this coming!"

He wasn't even mad at the realization of what the Emperor was doing, he was just amazed. He
looked at the blonde commander and said, "Now, Leila. I think this is your time to panic." Smilas
smirked. She didn't want to admit it but Leila already started to do so. "You say Schneizel was
using us as tools? Well, I just realized what you don't want to. Lelouch was playing us like a fiddle
this entire time."

"So, Emperor Lelouch managed to find someone like you to help him in whatever his plans are."
Leila glared at him. "Someone who was completely ready to sell out his own country."

She hoped to provoke and anger the man to make him slip up in his mask of calm. Unfortunately,
he gave no indications of reacting to the comment. "If it means that I'm saving my country from
utter destruction, I'd gladly help the Emperor. I'm the type of person who is ready to forget about
personal honor if I must." the old man replied with a smile.

"But you're too late for that. I've already contacted the UFN before this meeting. They agreed to
invite us should the EU leaders agree." Leila smirked. She hoped that, even with this minor
surprise, everything would still go according to her plan. "Today we will have an official live
broadcast by the leaders of the EU about the dissolution of the Union and our intent to join the
UFN. We already prepared everything. You lost." she said as she smiled in victory. Even if the
others may not have liked that she had contacted the UFN beforehand, she was willing to deal with
the consequences. Besides, they would understand the need to accelerate the process considering
the way the war was going. Even if they did call her out on it, she would simply explain that she
had told the other countries that it was a possibility to be prepared for, nothing else.

What surprised her, however, was that Komarov simply smiled at her as he said, "Is that so? If I
may ask, how would you manage to broadcast this declaration if something happened with your
connection to the rest of the EU?" After he said this, Leila's eyes went wide as she and everyone
else in the room stared at him with shock.

"Don't joke, old man." Claus said as he glared at the old man. "It's impossible to disrupt every
connection in the city. The backups alone make it impossible to identify every possible connection,
not even counting the ones only certain members are privy to. Disrupting them isn't even
conceivable!" Leila scowled slightly as she lightly kicked him again. The man in front of her didn't
need to know about those connections!

"Oh, you'd be surprised how easy it can be with the right instruments and knowledge." Komarov
laughed. "All I needed to do was ask some people to help me. I know nothing about these modern
technologies, but thanks to the younger people working in this government, many of which agree
with my opinion I must add, we were able to do everything needed. They told me they'd gotten into
every connection. Apparently, they even reprogrammed that new prototype communication
satellite you launched a while back. I don't know how they managed to do that, but I suppose it
might be better that I don't. The minister or parliament member-only channels on the other hand?
Let's just say that I know some people high up in the military who agree with my views and told
me how to block them." Komarov was speaking to them as if this was an everyday occurrence.

"But you couldn't have cut us off so fast! You said it yourself, you only heard about my plans this
morning." Leila said, hoping that he was bluffing in order to make them act irrationally. For all she
knew, he could have been trying to make them panic and force them to act, all the while letting
them fall into Lelouch's trap.

"You're completely right. There's no conceivable way my people would be able to do this so fast.
Even for the best minds in the EU, it would be impossible. But then again, they didn't need to."
Komarov mockingly smirked. "Why would we need to work so fast when we could have all of this
in place before anything happened where we needed to cut communications?"

Leila was about to ask how he would have been able to do so. But then her eyes widened as she
came to a terrible realization. "It... It was you who spread the rumors and started the rebellion
against the EU government. But you didn't care if they succeeded or not. While we were all busy
trying to put it down..."

"It worked as the perfect smokescreen for my allies to act without being discovered. They took
control of everything while making it appear as if everything was fine. All they were waiting for
was for my signal." Komarov clapped his hands, most likely mocking her to get a rise out of her.
"You're absolutely right, lady Malcal. I must say, naming it the 'White Movement' was a good idea.
After all, being so certain that Emperor Lelouch was backing them took quite a lot of attention
away, don't you agree?" He laughed at what he just said before he continued, "Now, what was I
talking about before this? Oh! Yes, the communication network. Now no one in Moscow has any
connection with the outside world. But don't worry. You should be preparing your welcome
committee! Before we cut communications off, I invited our good friend the Emperor to Moscow
so that he could join our little party to celebrate the dissolution of the EU. Besides, he knows that
you won't go down without a fight, and would hope you'd at least make a challenging for him." the
old Russian said happily.

Claus looked nearly ready to shoot the man after hearing what he did. Leila simply looked into his
eyes. His eyes. There was no fear or hesitation to be seen, only contentment and genuine joy over
what he had done. Whatever Lelouch had done or said to this man, he truly believed that he was
doing the right thing. And that made her next question all the more difficult to ask. "Why? Why did
you betray your country and ally with Lelouch?"

This time smile left Komarov's face. His face morphed into a neutral mask of serenity as he stared
at them. After a moment, he said, "I did so because I believe that he will be the force we need to
change this old and corrupt world. Even the complete and utter destruction of the EU would be
better than dealing with such a world in my opinion."

Her Lieutenant moved closer to her and whispered into her ear, "Leila, he's not giving us any real
reason to take him for his word. He could just be bluffing." commented Claus, giving voice to her
previous thoughts. It was possible. But given the fact that it was one of Lelouch's agents, she
couldn't be sure.

"...perhaps. But at the same time, we can't take any risks." Leila whispered back. In a louder voice,
she said, "Place him under arrest as well, charges of treason."The two soldiers who initially
subdued Smilas began escorting him out as a second pair of guards came and began escorting
Komarov out. Both prisoners were smiling when they left the room, both for different reasons.
After they left the room, Leila turned to face the others. The grim look in their eyes no doubt
reflected her own.

The Prime Minister was the first to speak. "We need to get out of Moscow and to the nearest EU
held base or city. That's the only place we'll be able to make a broadcast with any certainty. If
Emperor Lelouch is on his way here, it's only a matter of time before the city falls, as upsetting it
may be to admit it."

The other Ministers nodded at this. After a brief glance between them, almost appearing as if a
silent conversation was occurring, they all nodded to the Prime Minister. He then continued,
"General Malcal. Before you say anything, listen to what I'm about to say. I want you to organize
the defense of Moscow. Try to hold the city if you can, but if it seems as if its impossible, then
don't hesitate to order your people to fall back. Once you've organized the defense and all assets,
get to the vehicle bay and get out of here."

The Ministers all shared a grim smile at this, while Leila simply stared at them with shock. He
couldn't be suggesting for her to save her own skin and leave them to their fate? "Sir, I-" Leila
began.

The Prime Minister interrupted her before she could continue. "General Malcal, don't disobey these
orders. Right now, you're the only one who has been in contact with the UFN and has the military
know-how to continue leading the EU. As much as I hate to admit it, none of us have been the
leaders we should have been. But it doesn't really matter now, does it? You must get out of the city
if the EU is to join the UFN. There's no one else. Anyone of us would be more bogged down trying
to catch up to your position."

He then turned to look at the other men in the room. "As for us, we'll remain here. Most likely,
we'll try to get some information out of Komarov and Smilas to pass on to you. We'll keep
ourselves as a target and make it seem as if you're with us. That'll act as enough of a smokescreen
for you to escape the city."

Leila nearly felt tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. It seemed as if these leaders were not
nearly as bad as she had once thought. Sure, they didn't make the right decisions for the country.
But this? This was arguably the most honorable act she had witnessed in her time in the EU on the
part of its leaders. The implication that they knew they were likely to die giving her this chance
went unsaid. She would make sure not to waste it.

So, with a heavy heart in her chest, she saluted the men in the room and said, "Yes sir. I'll see to it
immediately."

At that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, already making plans for the defense of
the city.

You were right, Lelouch. Perhaps I should have done things differently. We may not have been in
this situation if I had. But now, it doesn't matter. Now, the EU will fight its final battle. We may
lose it. You may be able to say you've won this war. But whatever happens, the spirit of the nation
will never be able to be destroyed! Even if we have to join the UFN, or even if we are forced down
by your hand, our spirit will remain indestructible! Leila thought, attempting to motivate herself
for the upcoming events.

Little did she know that within the next 24 hours, nothing would go according to her plans.

St. Petersburg.

The Battle of St. Peterburg would be remembered in the history books as one of the most difficult
battles for the Britannian side in the last EU-Britannia war. Not only had they spent far too much
time trying to take down the city's defenses, but they also lost a significant number of soldiers and
Knightmares there. The only saving grace of this battle was that the enemy had lost far more than
they had. Or at least, that was the opinion of Lelouch. At the current moment, he was sitting in
what was formerly known as the Winter Palace.

As the EU High Council was meeting in Moscow, Lelouch was in St. Petersburg in order to view
his newly acquired territory. He had seen much of the city and the state it was in after the battle
and was now deciding to see if the Winter Palace lived up to the claims people made of it.

Touring it, he found that the claims were absolutely correct. It was a gorgeous place that was as
beautiful as Pendragon. The young Emperor was surprised to see that this place hadn't sustained
serious damage during the battle and was still in good shape. He decided that this would most
likely be the new meeting point for his government in this part of the world, as the current
government building in the city was not in such a good state. Especially not after the fight between
one of his fiancé's and his old 'friend.' Lelouch cringed when he remembered the Japanese boy, the
scar given to him by the boy still fresh in his mind. As they were currently strengthening their
forces after the assault on the city, the Emperor of Britannia decided that the Winter Palace would
be the best place for him to stay during his time in the city, even if it was a time which was coming
to an end.

"You know, Lelouch." The young monarch turned to his lover. "It's very beautiful outside. What
do you think about changing the capital of Britannia to this city? Of course, it would have to be
after the city's damage has been repaired." D.S asked as she walked around the room, viewing all
the items on display. Lelouch considered it for a moment.

"I'll consider this an option for the future, but for now Pendragon will remain the capital." said
Lelouch. Inside his head, however, he had an idea.

When I make this world mine, I might need a new capital to act as a symbol to show that Britannia
is a new Empire. After all, with the amount of negative history surrounding Pendragon, a new
capital would act as a fresh start. Hmm, I'll need to think about this in the future. Pendragon had
been capital of Britannia for centuries. Yet the history it came with could be more harmful to him
than it would be helpful. If Lelouch wanted to make the world a gentle place under his command,
then the changing location of the capital might be a good idea. It might even be beneficial in the
long run. It would be good to move the capital somewhere closer to where he would have to be
since he knew that ruling the entire planet would be a hard task. It would mean he would have to be
forced to fly around the globe constantly. A centralized location in the world would make it much
easier. It could be this city, or perhaps somewhere in central Asia? Or maybe make London the
capital again?

His thoughts were interrupted when one of the servants knocked on the door.

"Your Majesty. As you requested, Princess Marry-" Before the servant was able to finish his
sentence, the door was thrown completely open. The only sister who was on Lelouch's side entered
the room and immediately launched herself into her beloved brother's arms.

"Lelouch!" Marrybel cried happily as she hugged her brother, not noticing anyone else in the room.
Right now, all she cared about was the man in her arms. Lelouch was taken back by this sudden
act, but he quickly regained his senses and gently hugged Marry back. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Marry." smiled Lelouch, as he was genuinely glad to see his sibling in person
again. After a few seconds of close contact with her, Lelouch noticed that his sister didn't want to
let go of him. "Marry, don't you think you're being a little bit too emotional? If I remember
correctly, I spoke with you just three days ago."

"But it's been a month since we last saw each other in person." Marrybel said with a cute
expression appearing on her face. A moment later, she put her head down on his shoulder so he
couldn't see her face. "Besides, I needed to see you after I heard that you had started your own little
harem." This time, she said it with less than lovely emotions clouding her voice and emitting a
small amount of the killing intent she was trying to hide. Lelouch, oblivious to her feelings at the
moment, saw nothing strange. He simply thought of it as a normal greeting between the two of
them.

Suddenly, the sound of someone coughing caught both of their attention. "Sorry if I'm interrupting
your intimate moment." The two turned to the third person in the room who continued, "Hello, my
name is Diana. I would prefer if you called me D.S" The Caretaker of Spacetime smiled, as she
pretended not to notice the aura of emotion coming from the princess in front of her. 'Diana' was a
name that she and Lelouch had decided for her to use when speaking to anyone outside of his inner
circle. Lelouch thought that she needed the name for when she eventually had to go public. He
gave her many options for a name, and for some reason, D.S chose that one over some of the more
Britannian sounding names.

"...Lelouch, who is this girl?" His sister's voice suddenly became cold as ice as she said this.
Lelouch, who didn't assume anything was wrong, released Marrybell and moved to D.S as he held
her by the waist. This was something that made Marrybel even more irritated.

Not noticing his sister's reaction, he said, "Marry, let me introduce to you, my fiancé." Lelouch
smiled. Marrybel greeted her teeth when he said the f-word, but she quickly smiled to cover her
reaction. D.S, who had noticed her reaction, decided to mess with the jealous princess.

She hugged Lelouch back, after which she gave him a quick kiss. "Your second fiancé, dear." D.S
said in a seductive tone. "You still need to introduce her to C.C. Oh, and don't forget about Cinder.
That would technically make it three." Marrybel's eyes went wide when she heard the last name.

"Wait! That bit- I mean, Lady Fall's your fiancé too?!" asked Marrybel, who was shocked and
furious at the same time. All this time, she had been working with one of the women her beloved
brother had mistakenly, as she kept telling herself, proposed to?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I had decided to keep that a secret for the time being." Lelouch apologized, sending
a glare to his fiancé in his arms. Marrybel quickly shook her head.

"No! No! There's nothing you need to be sorry for, dear brother." Marrybel said with a sweet, fake
smile. "I'm the one who didn't know about it." Because if I did, I would have surely killed that
black haired bitch at the first opportunity I had. Marrybel thought to herself as she kept a sweet
smile on her face. D.S noticed how she was faking the smile, but decided to remain silent. "But
brother, I have to mention something to you. I've noticed that your Knight of Two has some
problems with my Knight of Honour." During their campaign in Finland, she had seen the tensions
increasing between the two. Knowing that it would be bad if this kept up, she thought it best to
bring it to Lelouch.

"Oh, this." Lelouch sighed. He had ordered Cinder to leave Oldrin Zevon alone and do nothing to
harm her, but it seemed that his White Queen had found some loophole in his order. "I thought I
already ordered her to not harm Oldrin or provoke her in any way. What did she do?" asked
Lelouch, who was now slightly disappointed in her.

"Whenever there's a chance, she keeps trying to offend Oz by using her uncle, who we know is
Wizard, and taunting her about how her family is full of traitors." Now that was just mean. Lelouch
thought. "Dear brother, you said that you gave her an order, but it seems that she disobeyed. What's
the point of keeping a Knight by your side who won't obey such a simple order? You may have to
rethink your decision about her." Marrybel said in an innocent tone. Deep inside, she wanted to
teach Cinder a lesson for messing with her best friend and hoped Lelouch would agree with her.
To her disappointment, Lelouch shook his head. "I can understand what you mean, Marry.
However, I made a contract with Cinder and I have feelings for her. She is also a capable tactic and
fighter. I can't just turn my back on her after all she's done. Just give her a chance, for my sake if
nothing else. I promise you I will speak with her." Lelouch said. Marrybell wanted to protest, but
D.S decided that it would be a good idea to change the subject.

"How about we talk about the work we have to do for the next part of the war?" she asked.
Lelouch nodded and moved to the nearest wall clock.

After staring at the clock for a few seconds, he asked, "Marry, do you think it is possible to take
down a city such as Moscow in under 24 hours?" Marrybell's eyes went wide as she wanted to ask
if her Emperor was joking. But she knew Lelouch well enough that she knew he wasn't, so instead,
she thought about it for a few moments. After thinking of every tactic and strategy she could come
up with, she came to a simple conclusion.

"No, it is impossible." declared Marrybel. Lelouch smiled, having expected this answer.

"And why is that?"

She went closer to him and said, "Because it is the capital of Russia. It means that the EU forces
will protect it with all the strength that they still have. Moscow is one of the cities that has hardly
fallen to an attacking force before. Even under Emperor Charles' reign, the military leaders were
hesitant to attack it due to the sheer losses assaulting the city would cause. They're willing to die to
keep this city's reputation intact. If they don't, it would be one of the largest moral blows they
could ever receive. I would even go so far as to say that the battle for St. Petersburg would be
nothing compared to assaulting Moscow."

She looked Lelouch directly in the eyes as she continued, "While St. Petersburg is arguably the
more important city to hold and would have defenses capable of doing it, due to its ability to be
used as a staging ground against the territory we already hold, Moscow will be more heavily
defended simply due to its nature as the capital of Russia. It's only natural. No matter how well
defended your external cities are, the capital of a nation, the core city, will always have more
defenses. They will have a much larger volume of soldiers, Alexanders, and other vehicles, even if
they are outdated. And we can't forget about their Hadron cannons and the problems they can
cause. Our enemy knows how we attack now and has had time to alter their defenses in whatever
cities they could. We saw the beginnings of it happening in the eastern territories we've taken. By
now, Moscow would have adapted to defend against our attacks far more than any other city.
Lelouch, if you are going to do this, then I would recommend bringing as many airships and
ground forces as possible." she said in a matter of fact tone of voice. Lelouch was glad to hear her
opinion, even if he disagreed with it. His lover understood it too.

"So basically, your plan is to use as much manpower and firepower as possible? I'm not a military
genius, but even I can see that this idea unconvincing and risky." commented D.S.

Marrybel narrowed her eyes and said, "I agree that this sounds like a bad idea. But there's just no
other way to do it The military has run several simulations and guessed how they would fare well
before Lelouch came to power. Even taking into account our new technology, the fact that Moscow
is now equipped to defend against us brings us right back to the position we were before. We will
lose a large number of our forces here, no matter how we attack. The only thing we can do to
ensure we succeed is having enough troops to outnumber the enemy and eventually break
through." Marrybel then turned to Lelouch and continued, "Brother, you will need all of the
Knights of the Round with you, as well me and my forces, if you're going to win the city."

Lelouch thought about what she said for few seconds before said, "I wouldn't need all that."
"What?!" Marrybel shouted before calming herself. Remembering who she was talking to, she
asked, "And why is that? Brother, I'm not questioning your skills as a leader but I still worry about
you. Given how hard it will be to take the city, going to the most heavily defended city in the EU
doesn't sound safe to me. There's just so many things that could go wrong." she said in a worried
tone. "Lelouch, you are the only brother I truly care about and I'm worried about what may happen
if something occurs that you didn't or couldn't predict. I don't doubt that you have a plan. But if
something occurs where you need the extra forces and you don't happen to have them…" She was
about to start crying, the implication in what she said not needing to be given voice. She was then
surprised to find herself in the arms of her dear brother again.

Lelouch pressed her closer to himself and, with warmth in his voice, said, "I'm happy to hear that
you care about me so much. But I can assure you that everything will be fine." He smiled as he
said this, but it didn't lessen his sisters worry for him. Understanding that Marrybel wouldn't calm
down without proof he added, "Look, I know how dangerous this will be. But I have prepared
something special for this. I already gave the order to Cinder and Arthur to move to the outskirts of
Moscow, just outside patrol range. They will attack from the flanks while I enter the city with our
main forces. As it is, I'll be heavily defended, if that's what you're worried about." D.S then
decided to join in to support Lelouch's position.

"You're worrying too much, Princess. Lelouch has everything under control." she said in a
comforting tone. Marrybel turned to her as she continued, "Besides, right now every last leader of
the EU is in the city and they don't have any way of contacting their allies to send them aid." D.S
smirked at this, but Marrybel only looked at her with a questioning gaze.

"And how do you know that?" she asked.

"Oh, didn't I mention that I'm also the new head of the OSI? Sorry, must have forgotten." D.S said
with a sly smirk while the incest loving sister glared at her.

Lelouch decided to return their attention to him and said, "D.S is right. We have a man inside the
EU government and he contacted us several hours ago. He informed me that the recently promoted
General Leila Malcal is planning to overthrow the Minister of Military Affairs Gene Smilas."
declared Lelouch. "As it is, I gave them the go-ahead to cut off all communications in and out from
the city. If I want to finish this war, then this is our perfect chance. The EU will fall with one of
their greatest ground leaders as she will be forced to coordinate all forces in the city rather than
being on the ground with her team. As such, it will cause a decrease in overall effectiveness, giving
me the opening I need. Do you understand me, Marrybel?"

The princess in question nodded and said, "I will trust you brother, but I still don't understand my
role. Are you going to take me with you?" she asked, with a little bit of hope.

The Emperor shook his head. "No, I have another job for you. Marry, I want you to take the Glinda
Knights and assist our agents who are currently trying to raise another rebellion in the city."

"You mean that failed rebellion was your doing?" Marrybel asked. She was impressed that he had
managed to get agents into Moscow considering how tight their security was, but she wasn't
expecting anything less from him.

"Yes, I was. It failed, but this time it will work because you are going to be there. Marry, I know
you can do it." Lelouch smiled and took her hand in his. "Marry, I'm sorry for making you worry.
But once we win this war, I will make up for you. Anything you want." When Marry heard the last
part of his sentence, her brain stopped working. "What do you think?" If only Lelouch had known
what his sister was thinking at the moment…
The princess in question was busy in her mind, already imaging everything they would do together.
First, they must liven up that scene from her diary in all positions… Marry blushed, unable to wait
for the moment when she and her brother could finally do it. D.S, still standing beside her, knew
exactly what she was thinking of and decided to have some fun at her expense.

"Oh Lelouch, you surely know how to make a woman embarrassed. She can't seem to finish
processing what you just said. Just like that time after Munich when we had our fun." D.S giggled
as she remembered the kind of 'fun' they had. "My ass still hurts from that time... or was it after
what we did last night?" When she said this, both Lelouch and Marrybel's faces started to turn red
but for different reasons. The Emperor was blushing out of embarrassment while the princess
turned red because of her rising anger.

"You!" Marrybel shouted and was about to jump at her, practically ready to throttle her. D.S
quickly hid behind Lelouch.

"Marry, you need to be friendly with me. After all, I'm eventually going to be your sister in law."
D.S winked as she said it in a sing-song voice. This only made Marrybel more furious. Lelouch
thought that Marrybel was angry because he chose his wives so fast without telling anything about
it to his family. Well, pretty much just her at this point due to everything that had happened. He
thought that this was why she was angry at D.S. It was ironic that Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia,
the man of miracles and a genius on the battlefield, was completely oblivious to his sister's
forbidden love for him while everyone around him could see it.

"Hmm. Marry, I think you need to start preparing for the attack." Lelouch decided to change the
topic before this went out of hand. He was glad to see that his sister had become serious again
when he said this.

"Very well, but what about the air fleet?" Regardless of what he may say, she was still worried
about his safety.

"You don't worry yourself. I have already prepared a special ship just for the occasion." Lelouch
smiled. Moments later, everyone in the room heard a loud metallic sound. "Speaking of the ship,
come with me." Lelouch said and made his way towards the nearby balcony with the two women
behind him, both of them looking at each other with curiosity clear on their faces. Clearly, neither
of them knew what was going on.

When Lelouch opened the doors which lead them outside, they saw dozens of white colored
Vincent Wards or Vultures as Lelouch liked to call them, and Gareth units that belonged to the
Emperor's legions. Each and every machine of war was simply standing there, waiting for their
Emperor's order to move. Marrybel and D.S saw nothing unusual... until a giant shadow covered all
of them at once. The three of them raised their heads to look at what was causing the shadow,
expecting a normal airship to pass over them. What they saw made their eyes widen at the sight.

"This is-!" Marrybel and even D.S, who was nearly impossible to be surprised due to everything
she had seen being connected to C's World, were shocked to see what now floated over them.

"This is the weapon that will help me finish this war tonight." Lelouch proudly said. A devilish
smile appeared on his face. "Ladies, let me introduce to you to the new flagship of the Britannian
air fleet and first of it's kind... the Nemesis."

The Emperor turned to face them, and both of them saw the fire of determination burning in his
eyes as he said, "Tonight, I guarantee you that Moscow will burn. And there is nothing anyone can
do to stop us."
The border between Russia and Kazakhstan.

For a long time, central Asia was a neutral place on the world stage. The nations that existed there
were not part of any superpower. While they felt political pressure from their not so friendly
neighbors, these people were able to stay free and untied to any overarching superpower. After the
destruction of Euro-Britannia and the fall of the Eunuch's rule on China, however, the local
government decided that it was time to unify under a single banner. Not surprising to anyone, the
nations simply decided to form their own federation instead of joining the EU or the Chinese
Federation.

While the EU was still at war with Britannia, the UFN was preparing for future. The leaders of the
Federation knew, just like the rest of the world, that when the Union collapses, the Empire would
no doubt turn its gaze to its last rival. Unfortunately, the death of their leader greatly weakened the
morale of their army and people. The beautiful words and promises of the White Emperor
reminded them of the masked revolutionary that once led them. People could see similarities
between them, some believing that the Emperor was Britannia's version of Zero, not knowing how
close to the truth they were. The truth, however, was unknown to them. It could only be speculated.
It was impossible to imagine how the nations would react if they learned the true identity of Zero.
But that was not the worry at the moment. Right now, the Black Knights decided to reinforce their
western territories in preparation for Britannia's turn to face them.

The border base was full of Akatsuki's as engineers checked over them for the last time. The Black
Knight soldiers were preparing for this night and what would happen when the EU dissolved and
joined the UFN. All of them had an idea of what was supposed to occur. None of them, however,
had heard news from the capital of the EU. Right now, three members of the Black Knights were
having a conversation about recently received information.

"In short, we have lost contact with the EU leaders and Leila Malcal in Moscow." said the General
Chief of the Black Knights, Li Xingke, on the other side of the screen in a private room of the base.
"We believe that Britannia has begun to move, and that this is the prelude to an attack on the city."
The Chinese general closed his eyes and gave a sigh. "We were prepared for the broadcast they
were about to give. All we were waiting on was General Malcal's word that she had convinced the
EU leaders of her plan. Now, everything has changed. We must act now. We can't afford to have
Britannia absorb the EU. If they do, then the UFN will be put in an extremely unfavourable
position." He then looked at the faces before him and continued, "I hope both of you understand
the importance of this operation."

The different looks that they gave him made Xingke think that only one of them had any idea
about what was going on. Inside his head, the Chinese warrior was beginning to wonder if it had
been a good idea to send him there.

"Nothing to worry about!" the redheaded man said loudly. He had a fire in his eyes and couldn't
wait for a fight. His confidence was justified in his mind, or at least he thought so. "We have our
best pilot with us." He then looked at the girl with red short hair and pointed at himself. "Me!"

Blue eyes glared at the man beside her."Tamaki, you are-"

"Take this seriously. The fate of the EU and its people rest in your hands now." Li Xingke said. He
noticed how Tamaki wanted to say something else. Before the Japanese man could open his
mouth, the General continued, "And... I must tell you that our intelligence department reported that
there is a high possibility for 'him' to be leading the battle personally." At this comment, both of
them froze as their eyes went wide. Both of them knew who he was referring to, but both of them
were thinking different things than the General was.
"Wait, you mean Zer-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the girl next to him interrupted. "We understand, sir. We'll be
ready." The General nodded, and the screen went blank as the connection was terminated. Tamaki
looked at his companion. He had a lot of questions but decided to ask one.

"Hey, Kallen. Do you think he really will be there?" The redhead ace of the Black Knights said
nothing. She turned away from her idiot of a companion and was about to leave when he
continued, "You don't need to be so closed about your emotions around me. I mean, you haven't
said a word to me since we left Japan." In truth, the ace of the Black Knight had been doing
everything she could to avoid him and the other core members whenever she could. "I know a lot
of shit happened, but I'm not like Ohgi. I miss the man as much as you do. I mean, as it is, I still
can't believe what Ohgi told us. I would like to have Zero still leading us as much as you do."
Kallen, who had been glaring at him, was taken back by his words. She hadn't been expecting to
hear something like this from him.

"...Sorry, Tamaki. I just need some time alone." Kallen didn't remember the last time she
apologized to him. In fact, she wondered if she had ever apologized to him before. She turned away
and made her way out of the room, intent on heading towards her Guren. The redheaded man
simply looked at where she had left with a worried look on his face.

While making her way towards the hangar, a single thought was inside Kallen's head. A thought
that made her heart beat faster. A thought that terrified her, but she was still keeping it close to her
heart. The thought that Lelouch would be there...

Tonight, I might see him... it might be my chance. Kallen needed to see him again. When she
entered the vehicle bay, the red lotus saw that sun had begun to set past the now open vehicle bay
doors. It was time to move out.

The last battle of the EU was about to start

 Dust of the past

July 3rd, Moscow.

The same night the EU leaders agreed to disband its Union and join the UFN was the same night
everything went terribly wrong. No one could have predicted betrayal among themselves, not like
this anyway. What old man Alexey Komarov have done was unexpected and even worse, it was
successful. Right now soldiers of the EU were preparing for a battle, a battle to be called the 'last'
for EU. If they survive this night, the last counties of the Union might have a chance to join the
UFN. Otherwise, they would become part of an empire.

The protection of Moscow was quickly organized with everything they could use. Soldiers hoped
to be able to repeat the successful defense they pulled off in St. Petersburg. They just needed to
hold for one night. Even so, dozens of soldiers and pilots were preparing for the worst, all of them
understanding how high the stakes were. At the moment, there was nothing but silence outside the
city. Everyone in the western command block was waiting for an attack.

Officers and other high-ranking soldiers were checking the map yet again. Generals thought that
the Britannians would try to attack from several directions in order to divide their forces and would
use ground forces instead of their airships, as they now knew their Hadron cannons could stand
against the Empire's ships.

A giant cannon, the same type that saved the EU in many situations during the second part of the
war, was standing outside the building and aiming to the west. It wasn't the only one of them, as
there were others protecting the city as well. Two of them were several kilometers away, aiming in
the same direction. Suddenly, one of the monitors started to display an enemy signal. An
Intelligence officer who was sitting behind the monitor called his commanding officer.

"What is it?" asked the Major as he looked at the screen. Not believing what he saw, he asked,
"Just one enemy unit?"

"Sir, this might just be a scout. What are your orders?" suggested another officer. The Major
thought about something for a few seconds before ordering:

"Prepare the cannon! And inform all allied forces that Britannia has started their attack." Scout or
not, the enemy was here and that meant that the battle was about to start.

Radio operators began to relay orders and the last soldiers of Europe ran to their Alexanders, ready
to fight. Tonight, they wouldn't allow Brittania to win easily. They were ready to fight until the
end! What they didn't know was that the enemy airship wasn't the usual Britannian Caerleon-class
battleship that they learned how to deal with. No, it was something different and something far
more dangerous. Nobody knew it yet, but the latest weapon of Emperor Lelouch was already there.

The Nemesis.

"So, why have you named it Nemesis?" asked D.S as she looked at the White Emperor's face. She
and Lelouch were on the ship's bridge, her chosen one sitting on his throne and looking at the
screen in front of him. The bridge had a lot of space and half of it was filled with Intelligence
officers who were checking everything over and over again. The wall in front of them was a giant
screen which showed what was outside the ship. The Emperor's personal assistant, Alfred, was
among the people checking them, making sure that everything was according to his master's plan.
While all of them were working, their master was sitting on his throne as he enjoyed the view. D.S
noticed that sometimes Lelouch would just give orders and watch his servants to execute them
without a second thought. It's probably got something to do with his past in Japan. If I remember
correctly, the Black Knights would often question his orders.

"D.S, do you know about the Greek goddess Nemesis?" asked Lelouch. For some reason, the
Emperor was naming things with names used by ancient nations like the Roman Empire or ancient
Greece.

"Goddess of retribution, punishing people for violation of the social and moral order." said D.S
while rolling her eyes. "Lelouch dear, don't forget who you are asking." said the real goddess. The
Demon Emperor just smiled, as in a technical way she was a goddess as well. "Still, you're not
answering my question."

"Retribution and God's punishment or in other words, Nemesis," he said and waved to the bridge."I
want people to fear whenever they hear this name. For them, it means that their sentence has been
made and the only thing they can do it to wait for the end." Lelouch said with an overdramatic
tone, which caused a soft laugh from his fiancee. "D.S, I don't want Nemesis to be like any other
ship. No. I want it to be the most terrifying ship under my command. This is why I decide to make
it the flagship of the entire Britannian air fleet." D.S understood what he meant, but she still had
questions.

"God's punishment sounds nice, especially for me." she said with a small smile. "But I thought
your image was of a saint Emperor and protector of the weak. Forgive me Lelouch, but I fail to see
how this 'goddess of retribution' will help your image. It might even cause some misunderstanding
among people." To her surprise, her Emperor just nodded and continued.

"You might be right, but it doesn't matter. As you said, I'm the White Emperor, protector of the
weak and the innocent. People must follow me without seconds thoughts if they want to be part of
my perfect world." As he said this, the Emperor dramatically raised his fist and placed on his chest.
"Like I said before, I will protect what is mine. However, if they would dare to stand against me
and resist me, well." His usual devilish smile appeared on his face. D.S always found this smile
amusing and cute. "In that case, they leave me no choice other than using monstrous weapons like
this on them. In the end, it's all for a better future." Lelouch finished with an honest smile.

"You know, you sound like some mad villain but also someone who is confident in himself and in
what he is doing." laughed the young woman as she heard a giggle from her lover.

"What a perfect description of my character." agreed Lelouch, as he was completely alright with
her words. "You also forgot to mention some important parts, like a military genius and god-like
lover." D.S slightly bent over the throne so only Lelouch could hear her and have a good view of
the well-developed part of her upper body.

"Don't forget about being a lover of God." D.S whispered to his ear and both of them laughed.
However, their sweet moment was ruined by a captain who kneeled before the throne and spoke.

"Your majesty! The Nemesis has entered the combat zone. Sir Calhoun and Lady Fall reported that
they have reached their targets without any complications arising. We are only waiting for your
command, my Emperor." Lelouch smirked and stood from his throne while D.S remained at her
place, her gaze never leaving his back.

Well then, the most interesting part is about to start. One of the Dimensional Supervisor's favorite
things was to watch her chosen one perform his duties as a ruler. There was something adorable
about seeing Lelouch do things in an overdramatic way with his own style.
The White Emperor made his way towards the middle of the room as he gave the signal to start
broadcasting to all of his soldiers. Lelouch closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he started.

With a powerful voice, the young monarch declared: "Knights of Britannia! Our moment has
come! The remains of our enemy are hiding in the city of Moscow. Once we will deal with them,
the EU will fall like dominos and peace will be established." He paused for a moment. Right now,
his image was on every monitor of the Empire's forces. "History has proved that the Russians
would prefer to burn their cities rather than surrender. That is why we will do it first!" Lelouch
then pointed his right arm at the direction of enemy capital and commanded, "I, the 99th Emperor
of the Holy Britannian Empire commands you: capture Moscow and end this war! Burn the city if
you need but no matter what, bring Britannia victory!"

As the White Emperor finished his short speech, dozens of white war machines flew towards the
heart of the EU. Their master had given them their orders and they would do anything to
accomplish it.

From the south forest came a purple Knightmare with a head styled in the form of a black hood
which was draped over a silver face, only showing the left eye that glowed an ominous red. The
pilot of the machine glared at the city, knowing that the murderers of his team were there. The
Knightmare known as Reaper transformed to it's the second mode: the legs of the Reaper pulled
back to make way for a secondary pair of legs. The horseman of the apocalypse abruptly ran
towards its destination.

On the north, a Knightmare resembling the machine of a traitorous Knight of Seven was flying
towards the city as well. A female pilot was smirking when she glanced back to see her army
behind her. Tonight, the White Queen would finish what she started in the Netherlands. She won't
fail her beloved master again.

Western Command Block.

"Yes, only one ship, sir." said the Major, reporting to High Command through his radio. "No sir,
we have no other contacts. I've already given the orders to bring our forces to combat ready status."
Everyone was nervous at the moment. They noticed an enemy contact and presumed it was a scout,
but something felt wrong with the situation. The EU Major didn't know why he felt this way.
While he was busy with his thoughts, he did not notice a giant figure in the sky until one of the
soldiers pointed at it.

Floodlights were immediately pointed at the silhouette in the sky. The first thing that came to the
minds of everyone was how large it was! An enemy battleship was illuminated from the darkness
and every EU troop in the area could see it.

"Mother of God..." weakly whispered one of the soldiers who was standing outside the building.

The new Britannian battleship was a literal monster in the sky that made everyone who saw it
tremble in fear. At first glance, the ship was at least two times bigger than any average Britannian
airship. Some soldiers who had already seen the Black Knights' infamous flagship called Ikaruga
on TV started to think that this one was even bigger than the Japanese one. The monster in the sky
was darker than night, both sides of the ship having giant thorn-like wings. In the front of the ship
were two large red cameras that made this ship more terrifying.

Soldiers who were frozen in shock and fear came to their senses and started to dig in their defenses.
On the ground, the Hadron cannons were activated and started to aim at the enemy in the sky. The
enemy ship did not move or do anything in that matter. This confused some people, but then the
Hadron cannon made its first shot. A giant clot of red energy flew to its target. For a few seconds,
there was silence. Soldiers waited for the ship to start cracking and finally explode like all the
other airships they'd seen affected by the forces of the cannon, but to their horror, it didn't. A dark
green colored shield appeared around the ship and protected it from the shot.

"...Impossible." Absolute fear, that's what everyone felt in the moment. The only weapon that
helped them to survive in this war was now rendered useless against this new opponent. Their last
hope was shattered.

However, it did not end there. Suddenly, on the bottom of the ship, a hatch opened. When they saw
it, everyone waited for enemy Knightmares to start appearing but that didn't happen. No, what
came from the hatch was a strange looking device which looked similar to some kind of artificial
satellite, at least at first glance. A red aura started to appear around it. After a few moments, it fired
what could only be described as a red ray of death. Unlike the usual Hadron cannon, this one was
far more deadly. As the ship started to move towards the city, the red ray continuing its work as it
destroyed everything and everyone in its way as if they weren't even there in the first place until it
came close to command block. The Major, who at this point had already lost all hope, said his last
word.

"...Blyat." In the next few seconds, the command building and the area around it exploded.

Moscow.

The news traveled fast in the city, but the new enemy ship wasn't High Command's only problem
at the moment. Inside the capital, soldiers began reporting about strange units that had already
started engaging their forces all around Moscow. These attackers weren't, however, part of the
Empire yet, as army Intelligence explained they were from a group identified as the 'White
Movement'. The sounds of shooting and explosions could be heard everywhere. High Command
didn't know how this happened at all. They thought that everything in the city was under they
control. Many came to the conclusion that it was the doing of traitors who joined Britannia.

"Come on, guys!" shouted the leader of Asura Team. Red Ogre was moving at its full speed
towards the nearest enemy location. It was hard to know where the actual enemies were and where
the enemies were rebels, at least for now. His team followed behind their leader as their brother
team, Wyvern Squad, followed next to them.

Both teams were prepared for the battle even before it started. The reason for that was simple: they
expected to fight Smilas' forces if Leila failed to overthrow him peacefully. Thankfully, it didn't
come to that. Instead of celebrating their victory, however, they had to fight Britannians again.

"Ashley, Anna just reported that W-0 mobilized all our forces!" shouted another team leader. Akito
didn't like the way the war went after their last meeting with Emperor Lelouch. What's worse, the
way his words affected Leila after that night concerned him. He noticed lately how Leila had
become more paranoid about the EU leaders, about the war and how things were going. He didn't
like her idea of getting rid of Smilas. Akito didn't like the man, but doing that right now might have
a bad idea. Nevertheless, he agreed to it.

Now they had another major battle to fight in. Forget about having a bad feeling, right now the
Japanese boy had an absolutely terrible feeling. "Right now, we need to spread throughout our
territory to assist our ground forces."

"I got you buddy!" commented the redhead. Before they could move, the EU forces heard the
voice of the only commander currently able to be reached. The face of Leila Malcal appeared on
every screen in every knightmare.

"Soldiers of the EU! Tonight out last battle with Britannia has started! We must survive this night
and hold the city until the reinforcements arrive from the surrounding area! There's no need for
needless words, but I want you all to know that the lives of civilians and your own come first. If
you don't want to fight this fight and are ready to run, no one will blame you." These words caused
shock among the troops, not understanding what their commander meant until she continued, "I'm
not going to order you to die in a war that you did not want. You don't need to give your lives for a
cause which is already dead." The blonde woman shook her head and looked into the eyes of every
man and woman under her command and on the battlefield. "Soldiers, I'm asking you to protect the
people, to fight for a better future. We were wrong to start this pointless war, but what was done
cannot be changed." On the face of the new W-0 General, a small smile appeared, "I know that the
situation seems bad, but I also know that we will make out of it alive like we always do."

Someone might think that it wasn't best battle speech, but for every Knightmare pilot and every
soldier in Moscow, it was enough to raise their morale. Many of them understood the meaning of
her words. No matter who will win this battle, the EU won't be the same anymore. Their Union
might die, but its people won't give up. They will continue to live on and keep its spirit alive.

What they didn't know, however, was the fact that tonight would decide the fate of the world. The
battle between the remains of the old world against the forces of a new age.

"Well," started Ryo, "you've heard the lady, guys. Let's kick the Brits ass at least this time. I'm sure
we can do it!"

"Great! Now you jinxed it!' shouted Ayano.

"What? Did I say something wrong?

"Oh, it first time I hear you calling someone lady." smiled Yukiya. "If we really want to win, then
you better not open your mouth when we meet another Britannian Knight of the Round or someone
worse."

"Let's get moving. I would hate would be like caught standing still like this." commented Akito
while his Alexander Liberte continued to move through the street. Red Ogre was next to him.

"Yeah, right we need to split and-FUCKING ROCKET!" shouted Ashley when he saw enemy
missiles that were launched at them. All W-0 Alexanders managed to dodge it, and the rocket hit
building behind them instead of its intended target. "For fu-who was it?!" At the end of the street,
they saw what they initially believed to be Britannian Knightmares. Or more precisely, Sutherlands
with rocket launchers. Their attacker began to shoot at them again.

"Wait, what's this old shit doing here?" asked Rene. All units of W-0 took cover behind empty
buildings as one of them started to shoot back.

"Yeah, why would the Brits use outdated Knightmares?" asked Simon as Akito pulled out his
katana, pointing it at the enemy.

"Look closer. It's painted differently." remarked the Wyvern Squad leader and he was right. The
Sutherland in front of them was painted in a white color scheme. "This is a traitors Knightmare."
Only Vincents from the Emperor's legion had such a color scheme. It could only be the 'White
movement.' This group was not an actual part of a Britannian army. They had their machines
painted in the same color scheme, however, in order to profess their new loyalties. It was anyone's
guess if it would please the White Emperor or not.
"Wait, you mean the Russians who switched sides?" asked Yukiya. "What did they call
themselves? White Army or something like that?'"

Anyano, who was taking them out one by one said, "An irony, isn't it? Russians, people who
normally hate Britannia more than anyone else in the EU, probably found some old Britannian
Knightmares and decided to use them instead of one of the EU's frames." In the next moment, two
other Sutherlands exploded. "They are pretty bad, though."

"Yes." Akito said with a calm voice. A moment later, their enemy opened fire at them, determined
to destroy them. The W-0 ace teams, however, were better. Akito's Alexander Liberte transformed
into its 'insect mode' and ran towards the Sutherlands. One of them tried to shoot him with a rocket
launcher, but before the pilot could fire, Yukiya used his sniper rifle to aim at the rocket. The
smoke that came after the explosion covered the other two White Sutherlands, giving Akito cover
to get close to them. When his Alexander within melee range, he cut them down in a single strike.
The problem at the moment was solved.

Dozens of explosions were heard around the city, but it wasn't the only problem they had to face.
They turned towards the sounds to see the giant black airship that was flying over the west of
Moscow. In the next few seconds, several red rays flew towards it, most likely coming from their
Hadron cannons. A dark green colored shield kept any of the beams from touching the ship.

"Well, shit." cursed Ryo as he saw how enemy units started to appear from what had to be hangers
in the ship. All of them were either white Vincent Wards, Gareths or Hounds. "In moments like
this, I hate my job."

"Akito." The Japanese boy turned to his European friend. " We need to split up and protect these
cannons. While we have them operational, Britannian forces can't go further into the city with their
Knightmares." Before anyone could say anything Ashley continued. "I know it sounds like a stupid
idea to split up, but right now we're running out of time." Akito looked at the enemy ship again.
Britannian forces had already begun to cover the sky and rebels were a threat on the ground
already.

The leader of the team sighed but agreed. "Very well. In that case, we will move towards the south
Hadron cannon while Asura Team will continue heading north." Without any other words, both
groups moved towards their designated locations.

Wyvern Squad had met some White Sutherlands but had no problems dealing with them on their
way towards the South Command block. When they arrived at their location, they saw that the EU
forces had already encountered enemies. A Hadron cannon was firing at the enemy battleship
behind them, while a small group of Hounds tried to rush towards it to try and destroy it. Wyvern
Squad immediately joined their allies in a fight. Yukiya in his Alexander climbed to the roof of the
nearest house and started to shoot at enemy Knightmares with his rifle. While he did so, Akito
went towards the enemy group in front of him with Ayano and Ryo covering his flanks. The EU
Alexanders had problems pushing them back due to the sheer volume of enemies. Until
reinforcements or the second ace team arrived, the best they could do was hold them off. After a
few minutes, the continuous wave of enemy Knightmares suddenly stopped. The cannon never
stopped shooting ship in the sky.

"They're planning something." Yukiya said. "These rebels are trying to distract our forces from
something." Britannian Knightmares could be seen pulling back as the White Movement and some
Hounds continued their unceasing assault. They had been lucky so far in regards to the cannon.
Due to it's proximity to other vital targets the Britannians needed to take without causing much
damage, the monster of a ship currently above the city couldn't risk firing that weapon it had.
"Yeah, but from what?" asked Ayano. In the next second, she got her answer. A red ray hit a group
of Alexanders that were standing in front of the Hadron cannon, which caused all of them to
explode. When the others turned with their weapons aimed at the direction the shot came from,
they saw no one. The only sound was that of someone walking towards them.

"It sounds like at least two Knightmares…" said Ryo, but Akito felt like he heard something
similar to this noise before. He couldn't recall where he heard it, but he knew that it was familiar to
him.

Suddenly, a second ray fired, this time at Wyvern Squad. Thanks to their experience and reflexes,
all of them managed to dodge. When Akito raised his head and saw exactly what had shot them, his
eyes went wide. The purple Knightmare in front of him was familiar to Akito, not because of its
color scheme, but the design. It had four legs, just like his older brother's Knightmare. Akito closed
his eyes for one second and took a deep breath.

It's not him. Shinn is dead. It was in the past, his brother was no longer among the living. When he
opened his eyes, he saw that the enemy Knightmare's weapon had turned into a scythe. The enemy
took it in two hands and began a full-speed charge towards his Alexander Liberte. Akito had only a
second to react before the edge of scythe hit the ground on which he stood just a moment ago.

"Who the hell are you?!" shouted Ryo as he opened fire at the monster Knightmare, Ayano doing
the same. Their enemy said nothing but moved.

The unknown enemy Knightmare started to run circles around them, dodging their bullets and
trying to close the distance between them. Yukiya's Alexander shot several times at him, but he
would either miss the shot completely or this 'horsemen' would just block the bullets with its
weapon. When it was near Ayano and was ready to strike her with its scythe, Akito maneuvered
his Alexander Liberte to block it with his katana.

"I will repeat my friend's question," Akito said with a cold voice. This machine brought back bad
memories of his past to his mind. "Who are you?" This time enemy decided to break the silence.

"I'm the one you failed to kill in Paris." whispered a male voice with venom. All Wyvern Squad's
pilots eyes went wide, as they now had an idea who was inside this 'horsemen of death.'

"You...you're that boy, Arthur Colhoun?" Wyvern Squad's leader asked. The enemy machine
pressed down even harder, giving strength to its scythe as it forced the Alexander Liberte back.

"So, you do remember me, Akito Hyuuga." He sounded clearly surprised. "After our last meeting
in Paris, I was promoted. Thanks to you, I'm in a position to serve my Emperor in the way I've
always wished to." Anger could be clearly heard in his voice. "No longer am I simply a private
who survived a fight against Wyvern Squad. Now I am a Knight of the Round, and I will be the
one to defeat you." Suddenly, the purple Knightmare stepped back. "Please meet my new
Knightmare, Reaper." The Knightmare now known as Reaper raised it's weapon and pointed at the
Hadron cannon behind Alexanders. "I was ordered by my Emperor to destroy what you now guard,
but first, I will get rid of you. And this time you will not escape." Reaper rushed at Akito's
Alexander, poised to strike.

Akito had the experience of fighting a Knightmare variant like this, so he knew what to do.
Alexander Liberte rushed at its enemy as well. Katana and scythe met again, sparks flying from it.
Ryo and Ayano moved around them, firing at the Knight of the Round. But even without shields
like the Emperor's, its armor was strong enough to block their bullets. Yukiya continued to fire at
him with his sniper rifle, but Colhoun was moving too fast and near his friends. He realized he
wasn't going to be very useful in this fight. They really needed a more powerful weapon, like
Hadron cannons. Reaper had more mass than Alexander Liberte and managed to push him away.
Following that, Arthur tried to use his front two legs to crush the Alexander before him but
suddenly, Ryo's Alexander crashed into Reaper from the side.

"Hey! Remember me?" Akito could imagine the smirk on his friend's face.

"Aghh! I've had enough of you Euro-trash." said the fourth Knight of Round as he turned his
machine into its normal mode. Its weapon transformed as well, transforming into a V.A.R.I.S super
rifle. Before Ryo could do anything, Reaper pulled out an extra MVS sword with his other hand
and swung at him. The Alexander managed to dodge, but it lost its left arm doing so. Reaper aimed
its rifle at the Alexander behind Ryo which was coming to help him and fired. The shot managed
to connect with the Alexander, but it was not enough to kill. It only caused the unit to fall on the
ground, heavily damaged.

Ayano's Alexander stood up, sparks flying from her machine. Her Alexander's chest was heavily
damaged, and she saw warnings on her monitors. She didn't pay them attention at the moment.
There were more important things to worry about at the moment, as she needed to help her friends.

Her Alexander started to shoot at Reaper to provide cover to Ryo, but because of system damage
her machine's aim became worse. Bullets were hardly touching the horseman in front of her. Akito,
who saw the problem, immediately jumped at him. Arthur blocked him with his MVS sword,
forcing his blade to the side and attempting to strike him again. Alexander Liberte managed to
continue dodging every strike while attempting to get in some of his own. Reaper tried to aim at
him with his V.A.R.I.S rifle but was interrupted by a shot from a member of the Wyvern Squad
who was on the roof. Thanks to Yukiya, Akito had a brief moment of opportunity open to him. He
swung at Reaper from the left side, wanting to cut his Knightmare in two, but the blade of his
katana was stopped by Reaper's palm. The MVS that he was holding now fallen on the ground.
Arthur's machine right palm was heavily damaged by the strike.

Reaper's other arm aimed at Akito with its V.A.R.I.S super rifle and shot several red orbs.
Alexander Liberte jumped back, having barely disengaged in time. At this point, Akito was already
tired of this thing.

"God, I hate this thing," commented the Japanese boy.

"Don't worry Hyuuga, it will be your last time you see it." Inside his Reaper, Arthur glared at
Alexander Liberte. "This fight will be our last, you European rats!" In the next second, both
warriors rushed at each other.

Government Building.

Well, I should have expected them to strike this place first. Thought the old man as he stood up off
the ground. He didn't know what happened exactly, as the last thing he remembered was the sound
of an explosion, after which he lost consciousness. When he looked around, he saw several corpses,
all of them in an EU soldier's uniform. Guards who were supposed to watch after them were now
dead. What unlucky bastards...Wait what about that moron?

The man in military uniform started to wonder where the second person ended up. The old man
was looking around until he saw another corpse. This one was unlike others, as he had different
clothes and was much older than the other dead EU soldiers. When he saw the body, a wicked
smile appeared on his face.

"Look at this. I'm sure you did not expect to end like this. Did you, Komarov?" The body of Alexey
Komarov, a traitor who thought of himself as a savior of his people, was now lying before him.
"You thought that brat and his Empire would save you, didn't you?" he laughed. "Poor bastard,
even I'm sad that you died like this." He stared at lifeless body before him, not knowing what to
say next.

Ok, now it's time to escape this damn place. The old man turned around and was about to start
moving, but then he heard something he didn't like. Shots. Not good. I need to leave now! But
before he moved, his gaze fell on the armed corpse of an EU soldier.

In another part of the building, a group of soldiers were searching the building. All of them were
wearing grey uniforms and had purple visors. These soldiers wore this uniform with pride, as it was
gifted to them by their master after all. The loyal soldiers of Emperor Lelouch were nothing else
but obedient slaves who wouldn't dare disappoint his Majesty. They were his subjects, ready to die
and kill for him without hesitation. That was their role.

Right now, they had a special mission. To find Alexey Kamorov and evacuate him to a safe
location. Additionally, if they found any EU leaders who managed to survive, they were tasked to
arrest them and bring them to his Majesty. There was also an optional choice to kill them if they
dared try to resist.

When the Nemesis entered Moscow, they were among the first wave of soldiers to enter the city.
They knew that their VIP target must have been here, as their Intelligence officers assured them of
his location. White Movement soldiers were fighting with EU troops outside the building in order
to give them time to locate the VIP. Soon enough, the entire city would be overrun with the main
forces of the Emperor's legion.

These legion's soldiers had some encounters with some guards attempting to stop them, but with
their training as former Purebloods, it was not hard to deal with already wounded soldiers. When
they found the main conference room, they saw that no one was there. There was absolute silence.
There was a possibility that VIP has already left and they missed him.

That was bad. Their Emperor would not be happy with this news.

The Captain of the group noticed that there was some blood on the floor next to the door leading
into a nearby hallway. He decided to enter and ordered soldiers to prepare for possible hostiles. In
the next five seconds, one of them broke the door and all legionnaires immediately entered the
room. They took tactical positions and were ready to shoot any enemy that dared attack them. But
what they found wasn't the VIP, a current EU leader or another enemy group.

No, the correct thing to say was that it was an ex-EU leader. More precisely, the now former
minister of military affairs General Genes Smilas. At this moment, he was standing in the middle
of the hallway. When the Captain looked at him, he saw that the former minister had blood on
hands. Something told the Captain that this was not the former minister's blood. Maybe it belonged
to the body next to him on the floor. When he glanced at the corpse, anger began to rise. They had
no difficulty recognizing the body of Alexey Kamorov, and they knew their mission had failed.

"So." Smilas started, his voice weak and hoarse. His usual arrogant smirk appeared on his face.
"You're finally here. I was expecting more from Lelouch's toy soldiers." The old man laughed.
"People like you and me, we all deserve to be in hell after death. Don't worry though, that brat will
be there as well." joked Smiles. Under their purple visors, eyes with red circles glared at the fool
before them. Their Captain pointed his handgun at Smilas, ready to shoot.

"You will address his Imperial Majesty by his proper title, Smilas." Said the Captain. The man in
front of him just giggled. "Alexey Kamorov. Did you kill him? Answer me!"
"And what if I did? Maybe I killed them all by myself." laughed Smilas. During all this, he didn't
raise his hands which were behind his back. When the geassed Captain wanted to say something,
Smilas used his head to gesture to the bodies next to the Captain and said, "He and others were
already dead when I woke up."

"Well, they had it coming. First, they betray me. Then they try to move me somewhere else. The
last thing I remember was a huge explosion. Then I came to my senses and saw their dead bodies.
Including his." he pointed at bodies next to the Captain. "They wanted both of us to be kept
together and question us later, a useless idea if you ask me." When one soldier come closer to the
body of the VIP, he picked him up. His Majesty will most likely want to see the body to be sure.
While he did so, their Captain, still aiming at Smilas, approached him.

"Gene Smilas! By the authority of Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, you are under arrest! Raise your
hands!" Smilas didn't move. He just smiled.

A smile full of desperation, madness, and exhaustion. Despite that and all his bravado, Gene
Smilas was afraid at the moment. He was a liar, a backstabber and some might even call him a
traitor. But Gene Smilas was not a coward in the face of harm or death. He was not afraid of the
Captain or Lelouch himself. No. He was afraid to give up. An old soldier of the EU who wanted
this Union to be a world superpower. To ascend above Britannia in power. He wanted to become a
second Napoleon, an Emperor of Europe. All his life Gene lived believing that a skilled dictator
would be better for any country rather than the democracy of ignorant people like in the EU. For
Christ's sake, Lelouch was a perfect example of that!

And now Lelouch would become Emperor of Europe as well. Ha, my dream will be fulfilled by that
boy. Smilas thought with a bitter smile. Gotta give him some credit, he deserves it, as much as I
hate him... would have been interesting if there was a universe where we were on the same side.
We would be an unstoppable force.

The Captain of Lelouch's strike team shouted again. "Smilas, I repeat raise your hands! You lost!"
Did he really lose? Well, yes he lost a war.

But if I surrender, it means I admit to my loss. That I gave up on my dream...No, all the pain that I
endured, I did not work so hard for it all to end at the hands of that brat! The brat has taken my
dream from me, I won't allow him to dictate my fate as well! It is a good thing that I took these
from those corpses...What was the Brits old saying? Oh, I remember!

Gene murmured something, but no one he heard him. The Captain came closer to him and asked,
"What did you say?"

"I said-" Smilas suddenly fell forward, shocking the Captain who managed to catch him. However,
something was wrong. The Captain felt something cold and metal against his chest. Then there
was a click sound, after which two ball-shaped objects fell on the ground. Under his visor, the
Captain's eyes went wide. Smilas, on another hand, had a huge smile, his last one.

"Long live the King."

In the blink of an eye, an explosion vaporized them. The two grenades caused a chain reaction as
the grenades triggered others on the corpses of the EU soldiers. They went off, going on
throughout the building. The sound of the explosion could be heard all around Moscow.

Wyvern Squad.
The fight was still going, and the European team did not like the way it was going. They couldn't
get a single hit on the Knight without putting themselves in danger. If they couldn't change the
situation in their favor soon, other Britannians would join Knight of the Round and be able to
overwhelm them.

Sparks were flying in the air as Reaper was fighting against the European ace team. Among
Wyvern Squad, only Alexander Liberte had a close combat weapon capable of matching Reaper,
and so he was fighting against Arthur while his teammates were firing at the enemy Knightmare or
at least tried to. Unfortunately, their bullets did little to him and the Knight knew it too. Reaper
would always move, not giving them chance to properly aim and would try to stand between one of
their Alexanders to try and get them to damage their allies.

"Goddamnit!" shouted Ryo while trying to get the right moment to shoot. Reaper was making it
impossible to shoot him if he didn't want to catch Akito as well. "He's too fucking fast!"

"I have a plan." commented their team leader as his machine dodged another strike. "Ryo, Ayano.
While he's focused on me, you two need to surround him. Cause a distraction. When I give the
signal, shoot at its Landspinner. Yukiya." The head of Akito's machine slightly turned to the
Alexander on the nearest building. "When I give you the signal, shoot Reaper in its eye!" Akito
wasn't a tactical genius, he was just a good soldier. However, after all the time he spent under
Leila's command, he was able to learn a thing or two.

For a few moments, his friends didn't understand until one of them said, "Oh, I get it!" Yukiya was
first to catch on and went to a position where his Alexander could get a better view of the Knight.
Unlike his other friend who wasn't as fast in catching on.

"Wait, what-"

"Don't worry, Akito. We'll do it!" said Ayano and went after Reaper.

"Wait, can some- Ah, forget it!" shouted Ryo. He followed Ayano, doing the same thing as she
did. Akito smiled at the conversation. His team was strange, but they were his family and he
wouldn't let them die. He won't lose this family as well, Akito swore to himself as he started his
plan.

Reaper was still failing to destroy Alexander Liberte with both his super V.A.R.I.S rifle in right
hand and MVS sword in the other. The ace team got the idea that even the Knight of the Round
was getting tired, as his aim was getting worse. Soon, he would start to make mistakes. That would
be the moment they could finish this.

When Arthur saw how Alexander Liberte rushed at him, the blonde Knight prepared to shoot at
him but was interrupted by bullets flying at him from both sides, throwing off his aim. When he
glanced over, he saw two other Wyvern Squad members coming at him from the sides. Inside his
Reaper, the blonde Knight understood that the situation was becoming worse. If he turned to
counter them, then he would be opening his back to Akito. His Knightmare was able to endure
bullets for some time, but was unable to take a direct hit from an enemy and come away from it
unscathed. While Reaper's palm had stayed operational, the katana had cut the thinner metal
enough that he couldn't afford to take another hit. His arms could due to the heavier armor, but he
wouldn't be able to raise either of them far enough in time to block the katana if he turned to take
on the other two. His scythe was also out of the question as he was currently trying to hit the
others. Arthur clenched his teeth and glared at the Alexander with a katana in its hands. As the rest
of his Knightmare would have a harder time defending against the blade, he'd have to just tank the
shots of the other two as he raised his arm to defend against the katana. But before he could even
block Akito's attack, Alexander Liberte suddenly jumped to the side and Akito Hyuuga shouted:
"Now!" At the command, Yukiya's Alexander on the roof behind took his shot, this time much
more accurate due to having some extra distance to be able to aim in. The single bullet impacted
the only eye of Reaper. The red-eye shattered, leaving the Knight inside without his machine's
main receptor. Luckily, he had other ways to observe everything outside.

What the Knight of the Round did not know at the moment, however, was that his receptor wasn't
the only target of Wyvern Squad. It was so fast that Arthur wasn't able to understand what
happened at first. Only seconds later he saw a warning. Arthur's eyes went wide when he saw that
his right Landspinner was destroyed. The ace squad had used the brief moment it took for the
secondary sensors to come online to destroy it, knowing they couldn't have gotten any other hits in.
As such, he had been unable to keep it from being a target.

"You son of a bitch!" cursed the Knight of the Round. Now he had lost one of his advantages, his
speed. Arthur was about to explode from anger at this, only to calm down after a moment. Right
now it would only make things worse. If he wanted to continue to fight on his terms, Arthur needed
to turn into 'horse' mode.

He glanced back at his opponent and saw that Hyuuga had stepped back, probably waiting for his
next move before making another attack. "Well, in that case, I may as well just shoot you down."
As he said this, he launched his MVS sword at Alexander Liberte. Akito dodged the attack,
slightly surprised as he was expecting Reaper to shoot at him. The Britannian Knightmare,
however, had simply used it as a distraction, as he aimed his rifle at Ayano, his frame already
shifting to 'horse' mode. She was at his right side, her rifle rising to fire again at him. A perfect shot
to take. Her Alexander didn't manage to dodge. At this range, she couldn't. The Hadron ray emitted
from his scythe struck her Alexander. The only female member of the team managed to catapult
from her Alexander, having recognized what was about to occur just a moment before and
knowing she couldn't dodge. As her capsule flew away, the rest of her frame was destroyed, being
completely disintegrated by the Hadron ray.

Her capsule flew several meters behind the rest of the team. Yukiya immediately rushed to her aid.
Arthur started to go after them, but the other members of the team stopped him.

"You bastard!" Ryo shouted at Arthur after what happened with the huge Knightmare before him.
However, Reaper turned and charged towards the annoying Japanese pilot. Ryo never stopping
shooting at him with his rifle.

"He's still fighting..." whispered Akito, who was attempting to think of another way to finish the
enemy Knight. Their little plan did not work as well as they wanted. Even with its only eye
destroyed, Reaper was managing to fight them off. Yukiya was the first to come with a new plan.

Yukiya's Alexander stood in front of Ayano, his rifle still shooting at the 'Angel of Death' in front
of him. "Guys, transform into 'insect' mode and try to surround him!" shouted their team sniper as
he attempted to get to another position.

Akito narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure about this, Yukiya?" There only three of them now, and if
they fail the Knight of the Round would be able to cut them all at once.

"Yes! Just trust me!" As Wyvern Squad didn't have any other plan, they decided to follow their
friend's crazy idea. The three Alexanders transformed into their 'insect' mode and started to make
circles around Reaper at high speed. Arthur tried to hit them but they were too fast, his Hadron ray
never halting its fire, destroying anything it came in contact with.

"Do you think I don't know what are you doing?!" shouted the Knight.
Reaper made a sharp turn back and fired at Ryo's Alexander. He managed to dodge, but the ray hit
the car behind him causing it to explode and distract the pilot for a moment. His Alexander slowed
down for a moment, breaking the circle around the knight. Arthur smirked and was about to fire a
final shot at him. Time to finish you.

However, before he could press a button, Alexander Liberte jumped at him. Akito stabbed the head
of the scythe in his right arm with his katana. It fell on the ground, leaving the Knight without his
main weapon. His MVS was somewhere behind him at this point, and Arthur was now disarmed.

"Damn you!" shouted Arthur. He tried to use his two front legs to crush the Alexander in front of
him. This time it worked. One of Reaper's front legs crushed Alexander's legs, forcing it down and
unable to move. When its second leg was about to step on Alexander's pilot block, its capsule
catapulted as well. The Alexander under Reaper's legs exploded, not harming the monster of a
Knightmare whatsoever.

Akito silently cursed. Ryo and Ayano lost their Alexander, and now it was only him and Yukiya.
Things were going really bad for them. When Yukiya shot at him again, Arthur decided to go after
him this time. Even without his primary weapons, he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Reaper launched one of its arm Slash Harken units at him and the second one only a moment later.
Yukiya saw only one of them due to their proximity and managed to aim at the first one. However,
the second Harken hit Alexander's rifle, forcing him to lose it. When that obstacle was dealt with,
Arthur rushed at him. While Alexander Liberte ran at him, Arthur lunged at Yukiya's Alexander.
Akito was not fast enough this time, as Knight of the Round caught Alexander's head with Reaper's
left hand. Pressing into it, the head began to be crushed under its metal finger.

"Not this again!" shouted Yukiya with widening eyes. Memories about the first meeting with the
Emperor began to cause him mental pain and distress.

Inside his Knightmare, Arthur also remembered that day. A small smile appeared on his face as he
recalled how his Majesty did the same thing he was doing right now. I will finish what his Majesty
started!

While the Alexander in his hand was being crushed for the second time, Arthur noticed something
on the right. He quickly raised his right arm to block a strike from the only enemy still able to
fight. Inside his Alexander Liberte, Akito was furious. All the members of his team were defeated,
leaving only him against this psycho.

"Your team defeated again. Do you have a feeling of deja vu, Hyuuga?" Arthur mocked him. He
did not even pay attention to the Alexander in his hand as it exploded, its capsule catapulted away
like the others. It did not matter to Knight right now. His full attention was focused on the enemy
before him. Alexander Liberte's katana was still fixated on Reaper's right palm, leaving his other
arm free. Arthur was lucky, as it wasn't the palm which had already been attacked. If it had been,
his enemy may have actually been able to do some damage to his arm. But it didn't matter now.
Even without a weapon, Arthur was determined to defeat the Ghost of Hannibal by his bare hands
if necessary!

Akito's katana kept trying to cut right palm. His focus on attempting to cut the enemy Knightmare
for once meant that he didn't see the second arm coming. His Alexander jumped back, the blow not
being fatal. A quick check showed that his machine was still in good shape. He had his katana,
while Arthur only had his Knightmare's hands and legs to use as weapons. Reaper's scythe was
behind him, meaning that the Knight would have some difficulties fighting him unless he could get
his hands on it. That would be unlikely as long as Akito kept him from being able to get it. Akiro
glanced back to see the status of the other members of his team. They took cover behind one of the
broken walls. They were okay, that's all that mattered.

Reaper started to move at him. Alexander Liberte was striking the Knightmare with its katana but
every strike was blocked by Reaper's arms. With every new strike, the katana was leaving a deeper
cut on each arm, but Arthur did not pay it any attention. He kept moving his Knightmare, stepping
forward and forcing the European ace to step as he advanced, trying to keep his frame out of reach.
He continued his assault, finally managing to hit Alexander's chest. The European machine jumped
back, as inside the cockpit Akito felt this hit. Blood began to appear from a cut on his forehead.

Alexander Liberte fell on its knees after a powerful strike hit him. Akito tried to use his katana to
help him stand but failed in his attempt. He needed to stand up. He must protect his team, his
family. On his monitors, the Japanese pilot saw how the four-legged monster was coming over to
finish him. Now he was slowly walking to him since the Alexander in front of him clearly couldn't
fight back. However, the Knightmare stopped as Arthur looked at three members of Akito's team
who ran in front of him, firing their pistols at him to obviously try to divert his attention. Akito's
eyes went wide.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked with a cold voice. Akito wanted to know as well, but he
shouted at them.

His voice was full pain from injuries. "Get out! Don't risk yourselves!" His hands were shaking, a
small tear falling from his face. I can let them die! I don't want to lose them too!

"Don't be idiots!" he yelled out.

"We won't leave you, Akito!"

"We not leaving family behind!" they all shouted at him. Akito wanted to scream at them but
couldn't. Fools. Though Akito with a smile. They are his team of fools after all, and he wouldn't
want anyone else but them.

At that moment, the fourth Knight of the Round stopped. Inside his Reaper, Arthur froze as he saw
this. It reminded him of his old team. They were his friends and brothers in arms. It was good and
simple times when they were alive, and he couldn't help but allow himself to smile for a moment.
He missed seeing the faces of Cup, Perez or even Hudson with his references that he didn't always
understand. What wonderful nostalgia. However, then he remembered how they were dead, and
their murderers were in front of him. It doesn't matter how loyal they are to each other. He would
not allow them to go unpunished.

"I must admit." he started with a neutral tone. His Reaper made a step forward, but none of them
moved even an inch. "You have my respect for not abandoning your teammate, Wyvern
Squad...but that's won't stop me from avenging my own team!" He moved forwards, wanting to
end it all, but then something unexpected happened.

The Hadron cannon that they all forgot about exploded. All of them froze. Wyvern Squad did not
know how to react, while the Knight of Four remembered why he had come here in the first place.
His mission had been to eliminate the cannon, but he had been distracted by his lust for revenge
when he saw Wyvern Squad. Oh...yeah, I must have damaged it at some point...Wait. I never got
the chance to fire at it, and any shots which could have gone that way would have hit the ground
before it hit the cannon. So who destroyed it?

Suddenly, they were surrounded by Britannian forces. Vincent Wards and Hounds were all around
them. Arthur allowed himself to relax. It was most likely one of the Hounds who destroyed the
Hadron cannon. Now, he can finish what he wanted to do for a long time-
"Who dares to stand against Emperor Lelouch's Knight of the Round?!" Both Arthur and Wyvern
Squad's eyes went wide. They all recognized the voice. When Akito raised his head he saw a
familiar orange colored Knightmare that belonged to the Emperor's Royal Guard Captain.

"Lord Jeremiah!" Arthur shouted in surprise. He saluted inside his knightmare but then
remembered that the man couldn't see the action in his cockpit without a visual comm feed. He
was about to make the Reaper salute but was stopped by the older man.

"Lord Colhoun." the Orange Knight greeted him. Inside his Sieg Battle Fortress, the one-eyed man
smiled. "I'm glad to see you and that you have achieved victory over this Euro-trash! My
congratulations, Lord Colhoun!" He then turned to the defeated squad which was surrounded by
Hounds from all sides. He opened his mouth to start his speech.

"Warriors of Europe! I'm Jeremiah Gottwa-"

"Oh, just shut up already!" yelled Ryo and surprised everyone else. "We've already gotten tired of
your self-presentation, for God's sake! We've heard it so many times already!" Jeremiah glared at
him and wanted nothing more than to teach him some manners, but he was there for another
matter. He wanted to announce the reason for his visit to them but was interrupted by another
female voice.

"You better watch your language if you want to see you and your teammates alive, or even be able
to see anything." said a cold female voice. This time an object fell from the sky. When the dust
from the impact disappeared, Akito and his team were able to see another enemy, and this one was
even scarier then Gottwald if that was possible.

From the dust, a Knightmare with a different color scheme appeared. Despite that, all of them
recognized this infamous model. "So, this is the Wyvern Squad that everybody is talking about? I
expected more from you." the new person said with sarcasm.

"And who are you, miss?" Akito carefully asked, already having an idea of the identity of the
Knight inside the familiar machine. Ashley had already warned him about this pilot and what she
can do.

"Yeah, and why are you piloting the Lance-" Before Ryo could finish his sentence, a Hadron shot
hit the ground next to him. Making all of them freeze again, this time from fear.

"Say that name again and the next thing that will blow up will be your head." said the second
Knight of the Round with a voice sounding cold as ice. "As for you." Amber: Tertiary turned to
face the Alexander Liberte. "I think you already know who I am, but let me introduce myself to
you anyways." This time she said it in a polite tone.

"I'm Cinder Fall, Second Knight of the Round and Emperor Lelouch's White Queen." The last part
she said with pleasure that nobody truly heard or understood. "I'm glad to finally meet you,
Wyvern Squad. I'm happy to inform you that from this moment on, you are our prisoners." she said
with a smirk and both Arthur and Wyvern Squad froze on the spot.

"Oh, and by the way, you just lost the war."

The Nemesis.

The shadow of the new flagship of the Holy Britannia Empire covered the battlefield. The image
of the monstrous ship and its untouchable nature was able to demoralize the soldiers of the Union.
Once the EU's only working weapon against any Britannian ship was destroyed, there was no
question who the winners would be that day. There was no opposition for the Nemesis in the sky
and the ship was flying without any problem as it maintained air superiority for the Empire. Its
arsenal was providing support for the forces on the ground. Flying units would return to the
fortress in the sky to recharge and return to the fight.

At this moment inside the monstrous ship, the future Emperor of the world had just received grave
news.

"So, that is how it ended." sighed Lelouch, who was informed about the latest news. Alfred was
standing on his left side, while on the Emperor's other side stood D.S. The White Emperor was
slightly saddened and disappointed by what he heard.

"Yes, I'm afraid that Alexey Kamorov is dead." After the first team that was sent after him didn't
check in at the designated time and couldn't be raised, they sent a second team to find out what had
happened. Once the second team reached the site, they informed their Emperor of what they found.
Kamorov, as well as other members of EU High Council, were presumed to be dead, including the
former military minister Genes Smilas. From what his legionaries found, it seems that the former
military minister had killed every one of the first team and himself with grenades. The few remains
that weren't disintegrated were positively identified as belonging to their men and Smilas. "A sad
end for our ally." Alfred said with sadness. He personally didn't care about the Russian pacifist
much, but he still acknowledged the Russian's service to his Emperor's great plan. Even someone
like him still deserved to go out in a better way than he did for serving the Emperor.

"Indeed, a sad end for a good man." sighed Lelouch again. He stared at one point in the room for a
few seconds before giving a second sigh. "Now I need to find someone else to replace him." His
original plan was to make Kamorov the new leader of a Russian Special Zone under the control of
the Britannian Empire, but it seemed as if that was no longer an option. When everything was
going according to plan, of course one small thing had to go wrong. "Damn it."

"Look on this from the positive side, Lelouch." D.S said, trying to raise his spirit. Her fiancé just
glanced at her with a questioning look. "At least now you don't need to worry about Smilas." she
smiled, but Lelouch did not. Instead, he took her palm in his.

"My Goddess." A scarlet shade slightly covered her face because of this nickname. Lelouch would
call her like that only when they were alone and were doing a… lewd thing, to say at least. "He
never was a threat to worry about in the first place. Even if he managed to run away, without the
EU's or my brother's support, he'd be nothing else but a bug. At the same time, without his
command over the EU, Gene has nothing to offer for my older brother."

"Well, at least the number of people who knew about geass decreased as well." D.S pointed out a
good thing about all of this, and this time Lelouch actually smiled.

"Well, I can't argue with that logic. You're right, at least one good thing come from this mess." said
Lelouch. He then turned to Alfred. "What about our primary target?" Some else who didn't know
about geass, but had it all the same.

"Oh yes. Leila Malcal." smiled his assistant. It was some time since their last meeting. From what
Alexey informed him about before his death, Lelouch's words in their last meeting had some effect
on her. That was a good thing, or so he hoped. He did want to see her again, though. "We were able
to locate her, currently she's near the-"

"She's at Red Square right now." D.S interrupted him. Lelouch turned to her while Alfred smiled.
The look was a pleasant one, but everyone in the room knew the assistant had just glared at the
future Empress for interrupting him. The Caretaker of C's World didn't pay him any mind,
however.

The White Emperor stood from his throne and addressed everyone on the bridge. "In that case,
what are you waiting for?" Lelouch asked while looking around the ship's bridge. "If I want to rule
Europe without any problems, we need Leila Malcal alive." He glanced to one of the officers and
commanded him, "Contact all our search teams. Inform them that Alexey Kamorov is dead and no
longer their target. I want all of them to focus on searching for commander Malcal in Red Square
and the other members of the W-0 unit." The man before him saluted, while Lelouch turned to
Alfred and asked, "Have my Knights of the Round found anyone from Wyvern Squad or Asura
Team?"

His assistant shook his head. "Not yet, your Majesty, but I'm sure they will inform us as soon as
they have. It has probably been difficult to locate them due to the amount of combat ground side."

"Very well." nodded Lelouch. "What about the status of the battle?" he asked D.S, who was
monitoring the combat in the city. She had found it kind of interesting, much to Lelouch's surprise.
Maybe he could teach her about military affairs in the future.

"All of their Hadron cannons have been destroyed, and our forces are currently surrounding the city
from all sides." Lelouch was a little disappointed to hear the report if he was honest with himself.
Conquering Moscow had been the dream of every western dictator, yet Berlin had given them a
better fight than this. Well, after thinking about it, even Euro-Britannia managed to take almost all
their lands before his war ever started. Perhaps the lack of the usual resources they had in the past
had contributed to the ease of this operation. Maybe it was because the city and its people had lost
the prestige it once had, no longer being seen as that important compared to other places in the EU.
Lelouch did not know the reason for this, nor would he even begin to question why the EU hadn't
yet named a new city its capital and moved its leaders knowing how dangerous Moscow would be
with the war. "If battle continue's like this, our side will come out victorious."

Lelouch nodded. "Agreed, but I want to finish it as fast as possible. The sooner we will find Leila
Malcal, the sooner we can force the remnants of the EU army to surrender. After all, since her
recent 'promotion,' she's the highest ranking military commander in the city. That, and we have a
lot of things to talk about." At this, a knowing smile appeared on D.S's face.

"And a lot of things to do," she said with a smirk. The White Emperor just brushed it off, knowing
exactly what was going through her mind. What did she think of him? That he sleeps with every
beautiful woman he meets? That's not true...is it?

Wyvern Squad and the Empire's Knights.

Inside his machine, Akito was glaring at the Knightmares before him. His team was in a bad state,
a terrible one in fact. They were surrounded, had only his Alexander and even that was in bad
condition. Certainly not in good enough condition to go up against yet another two of the best
pilots the Empire had. The leader of the Wyvern Squad was injured while other members of the
team were standing in front of his machine, unable to move without getting shot. But what they
could do? The war was lost, or so they had been told.

"What do you mean?" Inside her Amber, Cinder just rolled her eyes. God, sometimes people were
idiots.

Amber Tertiary flew closer to the EU team. "What is so hard to understand? Moscow is almost
ours. Your forces can do nothing. Don't lie to yourself, the European Union is already dead. You
think that Moscow is the only city under attack? Please, half of this country is on fire. Some of it
wasn't even caused by the Empire." Seriously, some people decided that it was a perfect moment to
revolt and declare their independence. Cinder couldn't help but laugh at the idea, as she knew the
Empire would deal with those fools later. Even better, they hadn't even bothered attempting to join
with the UFN yet! It just seemed all too perfect.

"The war is over, Wyvern Squad." declared Jeremiah, happy that one part of his master's great plan
had almost been achieved. "Sadly, to my displeasure, I must inform you that his Majesty ordered
us to bring you to him unharmed." Silently, he wished that they were killed before his Emperor had
given such an order. Such trash didn't deserve to serve his Emperor! Regardless of his personal
feelings, however, he wouldn't dare to disobey his master's order.

Suddenly, one member of Wyvern Squad asked, "Wait a second. If Lelouch gave orders not to
harm us, then why was that crazy bastard trying to murder us?!" Ayano wondered while pointing at
Reaper.

Inside his Knightmare, the Knight of Four was silent. Truth be told, Arthur completely forgot
about that order. In his defense, he was enraged at the moment and did not pay attention to the
more logical part of his mind. He had just been too focused on avenging his team. When the
Knight of Two pointed out his orders, Arthur felt kind of embarrassed.

Thankfully for Knight of the Round, Lord Jeremiah decide to speak before he could say anything.
"I recommend you to watch your language, girl. The fact that Emperor Lelouch wants your alive
doesn't give you or anyone else the right to speak in such a tone with the enforcers of the Emperor's
will." The cyborg declared. "I'm sure Lord Colhoun was simply trying to distract you while we
dealt with your cannons."

Arthur had also forgotten about that particular order as well as the battle had continued. He really
needed to take some lessons about self-control. From everything he had seen and heard while
working with his fellow Knights, he had a feeling that Peter and Cinder needed them too. Speaking
about Lady Fall…

"Now, you will surrender. It's not like you have much of a choice." Before anyone could ask what
she meant, dozens of enemy Knightmares appeared. All of them were white colored Vincent
Wards and only two Gareths. What caught Akito's attention, however, were the heavily damaged
Alexanders being escorted by Hounds. When they saw this their eyes went wide.

"Ashley!" shouted Ryo. The redhead and other members of Asura Team were seen outside their
Alexanders and injured, all held in the hands of the enemy machines.

"What did you-!" Ayano wanted to scream but was stopped by Orange Knight's voice.

"They are alive." Jeremiah said as one of the prisoners coughed with his blood. "Well, they're not
dead at least. Not sure if they are present in the best condition, though." he said with no concern in
his voice. This only served to anger the members of Wyvern Squad. "We all know none of us can
disobey his Majesty's orders." Cinder saw the disbelief in their eyes and started.

"Please, we're not going to kill them, as much as I wish we could." She whispered the last part of it
to herself. Unlike Jeremiah, she wasn't about to declare that sort of thing easily. She had an image
to maintain of herself for Lelouch after all! Yukiya looked around. Gareths were above them,
Vincent Wards right in front of them, Hounds with Asura Team being held captive next to them,
and these three in the middle of it all. There was no way of escape for Wyvern Squad, not unless
they wanted to die here.
Might as well ask something that's on my mind. These guys can't kill us anyway. Ryo thought.
"Hey, a guy from Paris." he said. At his words, Reaper's head turned to him. "Tell me, are you okay
with this? We killed your friends for fuck sake! Are you gonna let us be taken by that robot fruit
and Bradley with a vagina instead of taking us out?" His female friend hit him whilst calling him
an idiot. That didn't matter, however. In Ryo's mind, the Knight of Four was the most likely to slip
up when being provoked. If he could get the man to attack them after being enraged, the other
Knights would be too busy trying to prevent him from killing them. They wouldn't want to go
against the Emperor's orders due to how it would cause him to lose trust in them, Ryo reasoned. In
the resulting chaos, they could make their escape. It was only a small chance, but it was better than
nothing. Despite his hopes, however, that would not be the case. Inside his, Knightmare Arthur
glared at the image of the man.

"Personally, I disagree with this." admitted the Knight of Four. He could feel the glares the other
Britannians sent him, but Arthur did not twitch. "I would love nothing more than to be given the
chance to avenge my team. With that said, however," Reaper turned its torso to his allies as he said
this, "As a Knight of the Round and enforcer of the Emperor's will, I must put my personal feelings
aside and focus on my duty." It was hard for Arthur. Right now, he wanted nothing more than
crush every single one of the murderers in front of him into a bloody pulp. But as Lord Bishop said
when he was first given his new title, he was one of the greatest and most respected Knight's in the
Empire now. As such, he must ensure that he acted like one. Arthur wasn't fine with this, not at all,
but he could do nothing. An order was order after all, and he could only follow those orders.
Despite that, both Jeremiah and Cinder were able to tell that he wasn't happy with it at all.

Inside his Knightmare, Jeremiah smiled. Over a private channel between the Knights, he said,
"Wise words, Lord Colhoun. These words describe every Knight perfectly. As loyal-"

Cinder interrupted him before Orange Boy could start another one of his speeches. "Our Emperor
ordered us to capture both Wyvern Squad and Asura Team alive. Any members of the W-0 who
hadn't been taken out by other elements were also to be taken alive. We can't harm any of you, but
if something happened to you, say perhaps a building were to fall on you or you accidentally
burned in the fire...I'm sure his Majesty would understand it." Cinder slowly said, the implied
threat easily understood by the EU teams. She ignored Jeremiah's warnings, as she couldn't care
less. If they tried to fight and had to be put down, she had no doubt that Lelouch would understand
her reasons. Still, she would play along with Orange for now. "Still, I would recommend for you to
not try anything. It will save us time and no one will die due to your actions."

"And it is our duty to do as his Majesty orders. Wyvern Squad!" Jeremiah changed to an open
channel and declared, "By the order of Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, you are now prisoners of the
Empire. I suggest you be glad that our Emperor has shown you his mercy." Unknown to everyone
else present, Jeremiah was glad to have been able to finish at least one speech today, even if it was
only a small one.

Akito wasn't glad at all, and he knew for a fact that the others weren't either. How could the be
happy at the knowledge they only lived because someone else wanted them to? This situation was
worse than terrible. Ashley with his team was captured and injured. The crazy Knight of Two
doesn't mind burning them alive if she felt the need to, and Orange was doing a bad job of trying to
dissuade her from doing this. Finally, the guy who beat the shit out of them. Arthur wanted their
blood more than anyone here and probably wouldn't care if Lady Fall did what she was thinking of.
In fact, he'd probably help her by being the one to bring a building down on them 'accidentally' if
given the chance. Still, his duty as Lelouch's Knight was more important to him, so the Knight of
Four wouldn't touch them. At least, Akito hoped so.

Just like the time when he found his brother Shin, Akito didn't know what to do. He felt absolutely
useless. He tried to think of something they could do, but he couldn't come up with anything.
Communications with the Main Command Center was lost even before the fight, any possible
reinforcements were being bogged down, they were surrounded and some of the group were
wounded badly enough they couldn't do anything. It was a dead end.

"Hey, Akito." The team leader glanced at Yukiya. At least he was not wounded. "I don't think we
have much of a choice. At a minimum, we know that the Emperor sticks by his word. If we
surrender, we'll at least be able to live to fight another day." he said. The other two members of
Wyvern Squad looked at him as their eyes went wide, but both remained silent, thinking about it.

None of them really wanted to say it aloud, but someone had to do it. "So, this means we will
surrender? I don't like it at all, but I don't see any other way out of this." asked Ayano.

"Sooo, it is our first official surrender...Shit, I thought I would rather die than do this." laughed
Ryo as he covered his face with palm. They couldn't blame him, none of them thought that there
would be a day when they would surrender to Britannians. Heck, they thought that they would get
themselves killed in combat before this ever happens. With someone like Ryo on the team, they
thought it was just a matter of time.

Ayano and Yukiya looked at each other. Both could tell the other was upset, but they understood
that it was their only choice. Akito was glad that he had them, they were crazy but they were his
team. He gave a deep sigh and said declared the last thing he ever wanted to say on an open
channel.

"You win, Britannians. We surrender."

After he said this, he placed his katana on the ground. Akito left his Alexander Liberte and raised
his hands in defeat, the others followed his example. Two Vincent Wards approached them. Inside
his Knightmare, Jeremiah victoriously smirked.

"Wise choice, not that you have any real choice in the matter." Master Lelouch would be pleased to
hear this. If his master wanted to turn Leila Malcal to their side without complications, this would
be good news. He noticed that Amber: Tertiary turned in the direction of the city center.
"Something wrong?" Jeremiah asked the Knight of Two on a private channel.

"Nothing at all. In fact, everything's going according to plan. It seems that the Emperor's
legionaries have found a certain blonde general." smirked Cinder. Jeremiah gave a relaxed smile.
This time she wouldn't run from the Empire. He was also glad that Lady C.C was not here. The
Knight wouldn't dare imagine what the mistress of his master would want to do to her. "I'm going
to capture her personally while you and Arthur escort our new prisoners."

"But what about the battle?" asked Arthur, who was also connected to them. He didn't know what
was going outside this area, but the giant ship in the sky was still flying and taking down enemies.
The shots in the distance gave him some idea of what was going on.

Cinder looked at the weaponless Reaper and titled her head. "What about the battle? You actually
think the Europeans can do something to us now? Only a miracle could save them, but the man of
miracles is currently leading us to victory." She heard Jeremiah laugh, while Arthur couldn't
understand why he did so. She didn't blame him as only certain people would be able to understand
the reason behind his laughter. "Our forces don't have any serious problems to deal with. The EU's
Hadron cannons have already been destroyed or deactivated, taking care of the threat to our
Knightmares in the air. Once we will have Leila Malcal captured, it will officially be our victory."
she informed him. "Anyway, I'm heading out." After that, her Knightmare flew away leaving the
others behind her.
It was time to capture the enemy queen, and nothing would stop her from completing her task.

Sometimes, Leila Malcal hated her life. Tonight, it was exactly this moment which reinforced that
thought.

Before the battle even started, she had ordered Claus to inform the others in the W-0 Command
Center of her new orders. She wanted to leave Moscow and try to have an escort with her, but
communications were dead yet again. Because of that, Leila tried to get out of the city as fast as
possible by driving. If she got out, she'd at least be able to persuade the other countries in the EU to
separate from the EU, sue for peace with Britannia and join the UFN. The keyword to all of this,
however, was tried.

Apparently, the White Movement had prepared traps everywhere throughout the city. For example,
she had already found forces who had been blown up by landmines. She didn't even know how
they did it. How had no one noticed and reported back about landmines of all things being set in
the Union capital during a state of war?! Leila hated the EU army sometimes, and this was one of
them.

When their car was passing through Red Square, a nearby landmine was triggered and exploded.
Their car was thrown around several times before landing on its roof. She didn't know how they
survived it, but she just put it down to luck. Unfortunately, something hit the back of her head and
she blacked out.

When she came to, she didn't know how much time had passed. Currently, the car that Leila and
Claus were using was stuck. She was glad that it didn't explode at least. However, their problems
did not end there. Claus was in the front seat, his leg stuck. She was sitting behind him on the rear
seats when the landmine exploded. Now trying to break the window, she found it to be too
difficult. Not only was the glass not giving, but she couldn't see much due to how dark it was.
There was little light at the moment, the only flickers of light coming from a fire outside the
vehicle. Leila doubted that anyone from the EU would be able to save them. The sounds of the
battle still raging on could be heard from every direction. Any second now, a random shot could
finish them off.

Never thought it would end like this... Leila thought, not knowing how to feel. Should she be
scared, angry, disappointed or even surprised that she had survived this long? She didn't even know
if the others were okay! That was what made her desperate to get out, to reunite with her team and
know if they were alright.

"Don't worry, ma'am. Others will find us. Hell, the W-0 unit is probably looking for us right now!
They wouldn't leave anyone behind!" Claus shouted, ignoring the pain in his leg. Leila gave him a
weak smile, as she knew that wouldn't happen. With how the battle appeared to be going, she
doubted anyone would be able to spare resources to come and find her. Perhaps Lady Luck had
finally left her. Before she could entertain that thought, however, several footsteps could be heard
approaching the car. Leila's eyes went wide. Could someone from an EU unit have heard the
explosion and had come to investigate?

Because of the dirt kicked up in the explosion which now plastered itself on the window, she
couldn't see anything. Suddenly, a sound could be heard on the other side of the door. Leila
recognized it as the sound of a saw. She quickly backed away from the door and, moments after
she vacated her spot, sparks started to fly. Their rescuers started to cut through the car door, cutting
through the warped metal. Moments later, the saw stopped. The door separating her from her
freedom was removed, and she allowed herself to take a deep breath. Leila started to crawl towards
the light, pulling herself to where the door had been and finally getting out. After a few coughs,
Leila glanced at her saviors and realized one very important detail. It just wasn't her night.

Tonight, she realized that if there was such thing as destiny, then tonight Leila was its bitch.

"Leila Malcal, by the order of His Majesty, you are to come with us." the soldier said in a
monotone voice. In front of her, three soldiers stood wearing the grey uniform of Lelouch's
legionaries. Leila couldn't see anything under their purple visors. One thing she did note was that
none of them were pointing their weapons at her.

As she looked at the soldiers before her, Leila remembered what Oscar had told her. These soldiers
were Lelouch's legionaries, some kind of elite soldiers. It was obvious to her why the Emperor had
ordered them to find her. She still remembered his words and, after recalling the event, a strange
thought crossed her mind. Before she was able to respond, however, a pained groan from the other
person who had been with her in the car reminded Leila about Claus.

"I won't go anywhere until you help my friend." she said as she pointed at the car. Purple visors
glanced at the inverted car, and after a few seconds, the three responded.

"Very well then."

Without a second word, the lead soldier turned to the legionary who was holding an electric saw
and pointed at the car. A moment later, the driver's side door was cut open as well. When they
removed the door, they saw Claus lying on his back while aiming a handgun at them. Before Leila
could say anything, the legionary with the saw spoke.

"Can you please drop the weapon?" he asked in a monotone voice as well. "It makes me
uncomfortable to know we went through all this trouble to aid you while you attempt to kill us."
Leila didn't know how to react to the soldier's lack of emotion. The EU officer was holding one of
the Emperor's legionaries at gunpoint and he didn't even sound nervous. In fact, the other two
legionaries hadn't done anything either, simply staring at the vehicle while this was occurring. If
she remembered correctly, these guys used to be Purebloods. She remembered how it was common
to hear people say that if you looked at them the wrong way they would shoot you. That in itself
showed how volatile they could be. Now, however, they didn't seem to care that a gun was pointed
at their face. Knowing that raised an important question in her mind.

What had Lelouch done to them to make them like this?

"How about fuck off!" yelled Claus, who was prepared to fire his gun.

"That's rude of you." said another soldier with a strong Britannian accent. She didn't know what to
think when she heard him speak. Did he actually sound offended, even with that monotone voice?
"We were ordered to be as polite as possible to Lady Leila and her allies when we found them. His
Majesty ordered all forces not to harm anyone from W-0, simply to keep them from being able to
partake in combat." When she heard this, Leila's eyes went wide. Did that mean everyone was
okay? If the Pureblood didn't shoot Claus yet, it must mean her suspicions were correct. The
Emperor wanted something from her.

I still need to find Anna and others... she thought.

Suddenly, a Knightmare could be seen flying to them, obviously coming from combat somewhere
nearby. "Soldiers! What are you doing?" shouted a female voice. Leila's eyes went wide when she
recognized the Knightmare. Flying above them was the same Knightmare that X showed to the W-
0 unit at their first meeting. The same machine that defeated Asura Team. Now, this monster was
before her.
"Lady Fall." saluted one of them. "As His Majesty ordered, we have found and rescued Lady Leila.
At the moment, we're waiting until her friend lowers his weapon before we retrieve him. It seems
that his leg is stuck underneath a piece of the vehicle." he said casually as if it was perfectly
normal to help an enemy combatant who had his gun aimed at you. It seemed that Leila and Claus
were not the only ones who found this to be ridiculous. Lady Fall snorted.

"What nonsense." she sighed. "Just take Commander Malcal and leave."

The soldiers in front of her just shook their head. "But we can't. His Majesty ordered us to bring
Lady Malcal and her friends to him, no exceptions."

Inside her Amber, Cinder's left eye twitched. She took a deep breath and asked, "Is there only two
of them?" As she asked this, her machine stood up next to them giving Leila a chance to take a
proper look at this Knightmare. It was really similar to the infamous Lancelot, but she kept from
making that observation known. She didn't know why, but her instincts were telling her that saying
that observation out loud was a bad idea.

When the legionaries nodded, Amber pulled out one of its swords. Before Leila or Claus could
react, the enemy Knightmare swung at the vehicle. Passing through the metal as if it were paper,
the bottom of the car was removed. "Here. This way it will be easier and retrieving him will be
completed faster."

The soldiers said nothing while they started to help Claus, who did not know how to react. After he
was freed, he looked at legionaries. There were still traces of suspicion left on his face, but now it
was heavily mingled with confusion. "Umm… thank you, I guess?"

"You're welcome. Just make sure that you don't point a gun at people who are helping you from
here on out."

Once this brief exchange was over, Leila sighed. She knew how this would end but, for some
reason, she wasn't afraid or angry. Claus noticed this and wanted to say something, but didn't know
what would be the right thing to say. It was a hopeless situation for them. Unless an allied
Knightmare which could somehow stand up against this Lancelot copy and save them appeared, it
seemed as if they had no other choice but to follow them.

"It is an honor to finally meet you, Leila Malcal. I've heard about how much trouble you made for
Jeremiah and C.C." Leila knew the first name when she heard it. But the second name was
unknown to her. C.C? Could she be talking about the girl that piloted the pink Akatsuki Asura
Team told her about? "I must say, you're famous even in Britannia. Not an easy feat, all things
considered." praised Lady Fall. "Still, it doesn't change the fact that you and both of your teams are
now our prisoners." Leila's eyes went wide. Akito and Ashley were captured as well? Before she
could ask anything, a noise could be heard throughout the area. Looking around in confusion, they
didn't realize something was about to happen.

Something that no one could have predicted happening.

What appeared to be a red Hadron ray came out of nowhere and hit Amber: Tertiary head-on. Its
red shield protected the Knight of Two from damage, but she instinctively swerved out of the path
of the cannon when she registered that she was under attack. She turned around, aiming its weapon
at the direction the blast had come from, searching for its source. While she did so, Leila couldn't
understand who fired it. The EU only had Hadron cannon against airships, and those were large
and bulky cannons rooted to the ground due to the amount of power required. This shot had come
from above, and she knew the Britannian airships wouldn't have fired against their own soldier. So
who…?
Seconds later, Leila's eyes went wide as a new figure descended from the sky, the glow
surrounding it making the Knightmare instantly recognizable as it lit up the figure like a vengeful
spirit. What is she doing here?

When Cinder Fall saw what Knightmare had attacked her, she froze on the spot for a second before
beginning to laugh maniacally. Ha, so we meet at last.

The Nemesis.

On the Nemesis, every member of the ship's personnel froze. No one could believe it. Some rubbed
their eyes thinking it had to be an illusion. Others simply couldn't process what they saw. The
Knightmare in the sky shouldn't be hovering above them, and yet there it was. A usually calm
Alfred was shocked, and the Scarlet Guard couldn't move either. None of them had seen anything
on the sensors before this frame showed up. Even D.S stopped what she was doing and watched the
screen, eyes wide in surprise. This machine and its pilot shouldn't be here. By all accounts, it
couldn't be here! D.S hadn't sensed anything from C's World regarding any approaching
Knightmare, and since C's World wad limited connections to everyone in the world, it should have
been impossible for her not to sense the Knightmare. Yet here it was!

This was bad. Their entire operation was in danger now. And it would only get worse if the
Knightmare was not alone.

As for the White Emperor, he stood from his throne with his eyes wide. A mix of different
emotions rose to the forefront of his mind: fear, surprise, anger, and some happiness to see this red
Knightmare and its pilot again. Still, he was just as shocked as everyone else on the ship. There
was only question on his mind now. One that, in some ways, he was genuinely afraid of having
answered.

Wh-What are you doing here?!

Kallen Kozuki, the pilot of Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. The Scarlet Dragon, the Red Lotus and Zero's right
hand.

Thought Leila as she saw the famous red Knightmare above her, bathed in an almost ethereal red
glow from her energy wings. She had so many questions.

Why had it come when the battle was almost over? Did the UFN declare war on Britannia and join
them at the last moment? No. It couldn't be. As much as she knew the young councilwoman she
had spoken to was trying to help her, the UFN couldn't get involved in the fight unless the nations
of the EU had officially joined them. Otherwise, all it would succeed in doing is to paint the UFN
in a negative light, as they would be helping a nation which, in the eyes of the masses worldwide,
committed many atrocities against the Britannian Empire and innocent people in the destruction of
Paris. As the masses would be the ones to support a war or persuade other countries to aid them,
they couldn't afford the negative publicity that would follow as it could prove disastrous in the long
run. This had to be something different, but Leila could not understand what it was for the life of
her.

While she had her questions, the female knight inside the Knightmare next to her responded with
only two words.

"Q-1" Cinder said with pure venom in her voice. Yet as she said this, a smile came upon her face as
she saw the infamous red machine. The Red Dragon, the killer of Britannians in Japan, the Red
Lotus herself was here in Moscow and right in front of her. Her amber eyes were filled with
fire. Oh, what luck! Q-1, you can't imagine how long I was waiting for this. Finally, the one
opponent I've been waiting to defeat!

While these two were absorbed in their own thoughts, even if only briefly, the pilot of the Guren
was busy with her own.

Kallen was not looking at the Knightmare she attacked under the Guren or her target. No, her eyes
were focused on one thing in the sky and one thing only. The giant black ship above Moscow was
the only thing she could think about. She knew exactly who was on the ship as if it was natural for
her to feel his presence whenever she was near him. She had no doubt he was shocked at seeing her
here. With different emotions inside her heart, she whispered his name.

"...Lelouch."
 Q-1 vs Q-2

July 3rd, Moscow. Nemesis Bridge.

This can't be happening. The Black Knights shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be here!

On the command bridge of the Nemesis, the Emperor of Britannia was staring at the screen before
him with a shocked expression and shaking hands. Lelouch couldn't say anything. Seeing her here
was the last thing he was expecting! While he attempted to process what he was seeing, the other
members of the crew were beginning to worry about their master. Like him, they were not
expecting this turn of events. But for them, their only true concern was about the Knightmare itself
and the havoc it would cause to their master's plan. Unlike the White Emperor, who had a personal
connection with the newcomer, they had only heard about her in the news and after action reports.
Still...

The Scarlet Dragon, Kallen Kozuki, the most skilled pilot of the Black Knights. One of the few
pilots in the world to be considered an active threat even while operating on her own.

Pink eyes narrowed at the sight of the Knightmare. Now, after the shock from the sudden
appearance of the UFN's best pilot subsided, D.S started to think. Kozuki was the best fighter in
the Black Knight's arsenal, hands down. The knowledge that C's World hadn't predicted her arrival
was concerning, to say the least. The redhead girl's role was predicted and known to her to an
extent, but nothing regarding this role was meant to happen yet. Certainly not here or so soon. Was
this happening because she decided to change the paths of fate? Or was it because of something
else? Knowing she didn't have the answers and with worry apparent in her eyes, D.S looked at her
chosen one.

"Lelouch."

One word returned the black haired boy to reality. Violet eyes turned to the Caretaker of
Spacetime. Despite his inner state, once Lelouch looked at D.S he noticed something he rarely saw.
His lover's face had turned from her usual carefree expression to a much more serious one, worry
filling her eyes as she looked at him. If D.S was acting like this, then this situation or the
conditions surrounding it were much worse than he perceived it as. They stared at each other for
some time, not paying attention to anything surrounding them for what felt like an eternity. Neither
wished to bring up a topic which would bring back painful memories for the Emperor.

Finally, D.S decided to break the silence, as much as she would prefer to not cause Lelouch any
further distress. "Your hands are shaking. Lelouch, are you scared?"

The White Emperor froze. He looked at his hands that were shaking. Was it from fear? Lelouch
didn't really know. It was possible, as seeing Kallen in the city was something he hadn't even
considered until now. Despite how he felt, however, Lelouch couldn't allow her to stop him. The
Demon Emperor closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He took a deep breath before starting to run
through possible scenarios.

"No, I'm not. I'm just surprised that one of the Black Knights is here in Moscow." he said in a cold
tone of voice. D.S noticed this, and she didn't quite know how to feel about it. The conflict no
doubt inside his mind at the moment could either result in strengthening him or tearing him apart.
"Still, the fact that Kallen was sent here means that the UFN is up to something." Lelouch thought
about the situation for a few seconds. He then turned to the Captain who was standing a few feet
away, waiting for orders. "Get ahold of the UFN representative in Tokyo. Tell them the Emperor
of Britannia wants to speak with Chairwoman Sumeragi immediately. If they refuse or attempt to
stall, inform them that information has come to my attention which gives me complete justification
to declare war on them." This caught both D.S and Alfred off guard.

As the Caption hurried to obey his orders, Alfred decided to voice his question. "Sir, don't you
think this could be a little extreme?" Lelouch just shook his head at the question.

"Alfred, the UFN and the Black Knights may have already declared war on Britannia." His master
pointed toward the red monster outside the ship. "If Kallen is here, it means that whatever
operation is going on is sanctioned by the Black Knights at a bare minimum. However, before
making any moves I would like to be sure."

Neither his aid nor mistress said a word. Instead, they followed the example of their Emperor and
waited. After a minute or so, the captain kneeled before Lelouch and announced, "Your Majesty,
Chairwoman Sumeragi is now ready to speak with you." Lelouch nodded, letting his face settle
into its usual stoic expression and steeling his mind. He needed to be ready for whatever Kaguya
would throw at him. After all, there was a reason she was able to take the position of Chairwoman
at such a young age when dozens of others would have attempted to take the position. After a
moment, said politician appeared on the main screen. Lelouch's eyes went wide.

"Oh my," D.S said as she covered her mouth with her right hand.

When dealing with someone like Kaguya you must be ready for unexpected. In a sense, it was like
dealing with Milly, but worse since he didn't know the young woman's habits very well. To put it
simply, Kaguya is and always will be a box full of surprises.

At the current moment, the White Emperor and the rest of the bridge crew were staring at the
Chairwoman of the organization that has dared to challenge Britannia. Nothing very surprising in
and of itself. What shocked them, however, was the articles of clothing she had on. A transparent
dress with a slight pink shade that allowed anyone observing to see everything under it, namely a
white bra and panties. The girl herself looked tired, clearly having been sleeping when he called
her. Still, even with bags under her eyes, she was able to give off the aura of a professional
politician.

Lelouch was staring at her, mind unable to process what he was seeing at the moment. While he
had prepared himself for many things, this had managed to catch him by surprise. If it wasn't for
Alfred pulling his sleeve, Lelouch would have continued to remain like that for another few
minutes. He stepped forward and began addressing the woman on the other end.

"Chairwoman Sumeragi. As much as I would like to say it is good to see you or tell you that this is
a social call, I'm afraid I cannot. I will skip the formalities and pleasantries. I demand to know why
the Black Knights are present and actively fighting against my forces. Last I remember, we weren't
at war with you." While saying this, Lelouch gave her the same look of disappointment he gave to
C.C when she failed to capture Malcal for the first time. He knew that C.C was greatly affected by
it. Jeremiah reported on her strange behavior and, if it worked on an immortal witch like her, then
it should be able to affect the woman in front of him. Or so he hoped.

"A pleasure to see you too, your Majesty. You have such wonderful timing. It's only 7 AM at
Tokyo, after all. I wanted to wake up early anyway." she said with a sarcastic tone and a fake
smile. Lelouch just narrowed his eyes. "But I don't know what you are talking about. As far as I
remember, Moscow is still part of the EU." She said this with an innocent smile, not unlike a child
being caught stealing a cookie from the jar. "Don't worry, your Majesty. Everyone makes mistakes
sometimes." she said with a smirk.
"Please Chairwoman, don't try to play the innocent card while my people are staring at your forces
as we speak. Right now the EU is in a war, yes. A war that they are currently unable to win, which
they instigated I might add. Any intervention from your side will lead to a new conflict between us,
one that I doubt your people will be supportive of given the EU's past actions." Lelouch said. A
frown came over Kaguya's face before she schooled her features once more. She knew as well as
he did that the public from nearly all nations had condemned the EU's attack in France, even if they
realized that this was in Britannia's benefit.

After a moment of silence and no retort from Kaguya, Lelouch snapped his fingers. A moment
later, the image of a famous red Knightmare appeared on screen next to his own image so that the
Chairwoman could see it. It was a live image, and the Knightmare couldn't be mistaken for any
other. Sadly, Kaguya didn't give him a reaction to seeing the Knightmare. While he would have
liked one, this was expected.

Kaguya appeared to study the image for a moment, before she said, "While that does appear
similar to the Guren, it's impossible for that to be the real one. The only UFN forces in the area is
our embassy which evacuated before your battle. They were waiting not far from Moscow for the
arrival of Leila Malcal and from there, save the people."

Lelouch clenched his fist. He was afraid that she would say something like this. "What are you
talking about?" he said, anger barely being contained within his voice.

Kaguya smiled, most likely proud about making him angry. "Leila Malcal and her supporters
contacted us and negotiated an agreement with us. They agreed to join the UFN as long as we
assured that we would provide protection for the remnants of the old EU."

Alfred, who had been silent until this point, spoke up with a scoff. "Impossible. Neither the UFN
nor any remnants of the EU made any statement about it. Without any documents or an
announcement by the leaders of the EU, there is no agreement. What you are saying is nothing but
a bluff." While Kaguya glanced at him for the first time with an irritated look, Lelouch smirked,
glad that his assistant had managed to surprise her.

"This is true. However, we were waiting for her to contact our people at an appointed time. As of
the last I checked, she still hadn't." she said. Looking at Lelouch with a knowing smile, she added,
"I have an idea as to why that is."

Lelouch knew what Kaguya was saying behind her words, but dismissed it. There was no point to
playing these games right now, not with the Guren on the field. "I'm afraid I can't say anything
regarding that, Chairwoman. What I want to know is how many other Knightmares are currently in
the city."

"I don't know. Even though I'm Chairwoman of the UFN, I can't know every detail of their
operations. Besides, a deliberate move like you suggest we're making would have been run past us
first. For all I know, the Black Knights could have been conducting a training exercise and
responded to a distress call." That was a lie, and both of them knew it. As Zero, Lelouch made sure
that Kaguya was informed about practically every detail of a possible engagement so that she could
deal with the political end of things. While the Black Knights might hate him now, he doubted that
they would change a structure that worked so well just because he designed it. The fact that she
wasn't showing any signs of being tense meant that she knew exactly what was going on. "Besides,
even if I did know, why would I tell you? If they truly are the Black Knights, I have no idea what
you'd do to them." she said.

A silence came over the two for a moment, both of them trying to stare the other down as they
figured out how to work the situation to their own favour. Kaguya was the one to break the silence
first. "You know, I have to remind you once again that it's entirely possible that the Knightmare
you see isn't the real Guren. It could be a cheap knockoff, one sold through the black market. After
all, I've already seen many duplicates of other Knightmares, even the one you use appears to be
one."

Lelouch smiled. "Normally, I would have considered the possibility. But you know as well as I do
that it is common knowledge of how Rakshata Chawla would never be willing to give away her
technology to utter strangers." At Kaguya's questioning look, Lelouch continued, "The presence of
a working Radiant Wave Surger and an Energy Wing system tell me that it is the real Guren. No
one other than Britannia, the Black Knights, or Schneizel's group has the technology, and since the
Radiant Wave Surger is Rakshata's work…" he trailed off, knowing that Kaguya could fill in the
rest.

As Kaguya processed the information, no doubt planning what she was to say next, one thought ran
through Lelouch's mind.

I can't afford a war with the Black Knights right now!

Despite Britannia's manpower and increasing war production, the Black Knights were still a
serious threat that could destroy everything he has worked for since taking the throne. With each
new piece of land and country that Lelouch conquered, it spread out his forces further and further.
He had no other choice, as he needed to protect strategic locations for rooting out the rest of the
EU's forces and maintain control over the populace. Until he could produce more forces to hold
down the new areas of the Empire, he couldn't afford to reinforce his attack force with battle
groups currently occupying the land. If the Black Knights decided to attack now, it could be
extremely detrimental to his plans.

Their pilots were specifically trained to fight an enemy with superior numbers and had become
very good at doing just that. Given the Black Knights' tech level, it put them on a relatively equal
playing field with his forces. While Britannia's technology was superior in many ways that the
Black Knights had not yet caught up with, he didn't have the numbers anywhere to hold out in a
sustained assault, not until he could secure the continent at a bare minimum. Gefjun Rockets were
not effective against Akatsuki or any of the other Knightmare models Rakshata created as, in the
end, it was her idea in the first place. The Ikagura would likely be able to take on an airship and at
least do serious damage to them. Against the Nemesis, it seemed less likely, but they could manage
to even bring it down if given enough support. He'd proven that Knightmares could cripple an
airship if the right circumstances presented themselves.

Holding back a bitter laugh, he couldn't help but appreciate the irony that he had been the one to
make everything the Black Knights did possible. He had given it all to them. And now they were
using it against him.

I did everything in my power to make the Black Knights powerful enough to destroy Britannia. Now
that the Empire is mine, however, it gave them another reason to see it burn to the ground with me
along with it.

Lelouch wanted to stop holding back his laugh, but he knew that this was not the best moment to
do so. While Britannia was in a complicated position right now, the UFN couldn't start the war
without making them look like the aggressors. Given the fact that they still had yet to recover from
the Second Battle of Tokyo, he doubted that they wanted the all out war to erupt until they
themselves were ready for it and had a good reason for it. Or at least, he hoped they realized how
detrimental it would be. His eyes focused on the girl on screen. He quietly waited for her response.

Kaguya was silent for a moment until a smirk appeared on her young face. "Well, if what you say
is true, then the only choice is to go to war, your Majesty." Lelouch froze, not having expected this
answer. "If the UFN really attacked Britannia without warning, then your Majesty has every right
to declare war on us as well. The world will see it as you defending against an unprovoked attack,
and no one will question it. We, on the other hand, will suffer a backlash from our people. It will
no doubt lead to civil war and create many casualties." He was speechless. Why was she saying
this? While he knew that everything she said was possible, likely even, he couldn't understand why
Kaguya was able to talk about it so was about to respond when the Chairwoman completed her
thoughts.

"At the moment, I doubt that anyone in the UFN would be able to provide you with a firm record
about Leila Malcal's agreement with the UFN. There's nothing stopping you from destroying
whatever forces are opposing you. If this Knightmare really is our Guren, then you have no other
choice but to destroy it." Hearing this, it felt to Lelouch as if time had frozen. His violet eyes went
wide as he looked at her with a shocked gaze.

W-what?!

"As I said before, I don't know anything about any Black Knights military operations occurring in
the area. But if Major Kozuki really is there, then it means she has been given a reason to be there.
And I think we both know that she is unlikely to surrender or give up on her objective. In fact, I
know she won't." As Kaguya was saying this, Lelouch could see her eyes light up in a presumed
victory. The young politician sitting on the opposite side of the screen looked at the man before her
and said, "Your Majesty must know it as well. Kallen has always tried her best to be a perfect
soldier after all."

Lelouch vi Britannia, the Emperor of Britannia, former leader of Black Knights, was standing in the
middle of his ship's bridge, not knowing what to do. The situation was slowly slipping out of his
hands, something he hated more than anything. A memory flashed in his mind. He was on the
rooftop of Ashford Academy, fireworks going off all around and Suzaku was beside him, holding a
phone. When Lelouch took it in his hand, he heard Nu- her voice. At that moment he felt defeated,
even if only for a moment, and he felt powerless to do anything about it. About getting out of the
situation. About what could happen to her while in his father's clutches. After that night, Lelouch
swore that he wouldn't be powerless ever again. Yet it still kept happening. Numerous times it
happened again. With Euphie, as he was powerless to reverse his horrible order to her. With
Shirley when he couldn't protect her. With the Black Knights when he knew nothing he said would
be listened to or accepted by them. With Rolo as he couldn't do anything to help get away. With
her, as Lelouch failed to save her twice.

But somehow, this felt even worse. Kallen was staring down his Knight. He knew that she wouldn't
go away, not without Leila beside her. She was the only one she could be after. If he allowed her to
take Leila, then people of the EU would see it as a sign. Their blonde messiah left to fight another
day, and they could be able to as well. The people of the EU will never submit to his rule without
Leila to calm them. She was the key to ruling them, to prevent future rebellions as they respected
her enough to know when they could fight no more, and enough that they would accept her being
in charge of them. Kaguya knew it as well. If he wanted to achieve a perfect world, he needed to
have full control over Europe.

But killing Kallen? Lelouch knew he couldn't and wouldn't do such thing. He knew he still had to
sort through his emotions about her and everything that happened between them, but the young
Emperor knew he sure as hell he didn't want to see her suffer or die. Yet again, Kaguya knew this
too and played on it. She believed that he wouldn't be willing to fight and risk killing Kallen. It was
a gamble and a risky one at that. This was the first time Lelouch felt as if the stakes were too high.
He was certain that this had been Kaguya's idea. In fact, it was possible that only she and some of
the core members of the Black Knights knew about this. He doubted that the other members of the
UFN would have agreed to a risky operation, possibly losing their best pilot and giving him a
reason to declare war. But Kaguya knew him well enough to take the risk.

Lelouch tried to think up anyway that he could resolve this in a way that would favour him. Until
he did, however, he needed to say goodbye to the young girl which he made wait for his response.

Then it hit him. An idea to win this gamble, without starting a war with UFN and without allowing
Leila to be taken away. It was risky, as he didn't know what Kallen might think about him now, but
if she still cared for him as he did for her…

"How... interesting, Lady Sumeragi. While I'm surprised that you don't seem to have good control
over your military as you believe, this truly is an interesting development." Lelouch started as
Kaguya smiled at him again. He could see her bristling somewhat as she received the message,
most likely realizing that she had accidentally given ammunition for Lelouch to use against her.
"Truly a mind game only a few could come up with. The only other person who could do
something like this is probably my older brother. You are truly wise despite your young age." The
Japanese girl's smile widened, and this time it felt like an honest smile.

"Well, I would put you on that list as well your Majesty." she softly giggled. "As I said to
somebody else, these are times when people like us have no other choice but to take the jobs which
should belong to someone our senior. Still, your Majesty, what are you going to do now? I'm
curious, to say the least."

Of course, she is. She never could resist knowing a good plan, even when I was Zero. Lelouch
thought.

He was silent for a moment until he stated, "It truly is a difficult choice. What should I do? Listen
to my heart or my head?" He said this in a dramatic tone and turned away from the screen. Even
without looking at her, Lelouch could tell that he had caught Kaguya by surprise. She was most
likely not expecting this response, and he knew that she liked how he acted as Zero, so he would
play on it. Even if all it would do is make him feel better. He waited for a few seconds before
turning back to her.

"My lady. I think I have come up with a solution to my problem. Both my heart and my head have
agreed to this course. So, my kind Lady Sumeragi." he said in a warm and affectionate voice as he
looked right into her eyes. This time, he got the desired result, as Kaguya froze from the sudden
change of tone. "Do you want to hear what I think?" She opened her mouth to respond but was
unable to make any sound for a second. This cemented it. She had expected a completely different
response. It was likely that she had no idea about the plan he had come up with to give him a third
option. Well then, the only thing left was to have a small bit of fun with her before he got to work.
Behind him, D.S smirked, having already gained an idea about what her chosen one was trying to
do here.

"I-I would like to." Lelouch smiled. He had her.

"I think that I was a fool for not noticing your real talents when I was in Japan. If I did, then maybe
both of our histories would have gone very differently." Lelouch saw how Kaguya froze yet again.
What he didn't, and couldn't, know was that the Japanese girl felt something warm emanating from
within her as he said it. Nevertheless, he whispered, "My dear." This time, Kaguya's eyes went
wide, a slight shade of red appearing on her face which matched her clothes. She said something
that only she could hear.
"My answer is... oh? My apologies, Lady Sumeragi, it seems that one of my fiancees is currently
calling me. I'm afraid I won't be able to give you my answer right now."

Kaguya stared at him. If he wasn't in his current situation, he would have started laughing at the
look of horror on her face. Keeping the connection open for a moment longer, he said, "Until next
time, Lady Sumeragi."

Just before he cut the connection, it seemed as if his comment had snapped her out of her thoughts
as she shouted, "WAIT, WHAT!?"

Before Kaguya could do anything else, Lelouch used his hand to signal to the communication
officers to cut the broadcast. Everyone on the bridge was shocked by what had just happened. Even
Alfred was surprised by what he just witnessed. While they shook themselves out of their shock,
Lelouch had a large smirk on his face, feeling satisfied with what just happened. Only D.S seemed
to not be in a state of shock as she had a somewhat condemning, yet amused, look on her face.

"You know what, Lelouch? Sometimes, you are an asshole."

"I know, I know. That witch's talent to tease and annoy people has been rubbing off on me if you
can't tell already."

"Playing with a young maiden's feelings, how demonic of you." D.S said it with a small smirk on
her own. As she said this, Lelouch just laughed. He came close to her and took her in his embrace.

"That, my dear, is one of the reasons you love me. And don't tell me that Kaguya didn't deserve
this after what she did." he whispered in her ear after he heard her giggle.

D.S turned to look at his face and asked, "Anyway, what are you going to do now?" This made
Lelouch pause for few seconds, recalling his new plan. He then turned to one of the intelligence
officers after a moment.

"Is there any other Black Knight units in the city?" he asked. The man nodded in response. "I see."
He returned to his throne and glanced at one of the small monitors attached to it. One of the
monitors was showing that Cinder was attempting to reach him. A moment later, the beautiful face
of the second Knight of the Round was on it. "Q-2, what is your current status?"

Amber eyes met with violet as a pleasant smile appeared on her face. "Found Malcal and one of her
friends. Was about to evacuate her when I was shot at. Was just about to engage the Red Lotus
when I decided to contact you. As she doesn't seem to want to engage yet, I thought I should
inform you." she said, with some venom in her voice. Lelouch didn't like it. The situation was
already bad and if Cinder blindly engaged without him giving her specific orders, she could ruin
any chance he had of making this work.

"My queen, don't engage yet. I need to-

"You're still thinking about her? Lelouch, you need to stop." Cinder interrupted. This shocked
Lelouch, as he never expected that she of all people would be interrupting him. Alfred, who usually
hated it when his master was rudely interrupted, remained silent for the moment. He had realized
what she was about to say and decide to let her speak. D.S did the same, as she felt that her chosen
one needed to listen to what she had to say. "I've noticed how you react every time her name is
mentioned, Lelouch. I know you two had a past, but right now that past is holding you back. You
said you want to create a perfect future for everyone around you, correct? You can't do that if you
live in past." She took a deep sigh and said, "Lelouch, get over Kallen."
Her Emperor was silent. He didn't say a word. D.S and Alfred looked at him in concern. Cinder,
just having spoken in anger, suddenly adopted the same concerned look. She expected him to retort
to what she said, argue it. His silence was unnerving for her. At the moment, unknown to the
others, Lelouch was in deep thought while he thought about what to say. Cinder didn't know about
their history and she didn't need to. All she knew was that it still haunted Lelouch, made him
vulnerable to the redhead and quite possibly others from Japan. It was certainly enough to count it
as a threat to him, and he knew that Cinder wouldn't allow something like that to exist. The former
leader of the Black Knights closed his eyes.

Is it true? Does Kallen really have such an effect on me? That's... possible. Cinder is right in that I
can't create my version of a perfect future while living in the past... But I've already abandoned so
much. I've sacrificed so much. I refuse to allow Kallen to become yet another person I care about
that I couldn't save. She is not just another person in my past. She is someone in my present and my
future. Lelouch opened his eyes and glanced around him. D.S and Alfred were waiting for him to
say something, while Cinder just stared at him, most likely expecting him to say why she was
wrong. Well, she was only partially correct.

Lelouch glared at her, and he could see that Cinder instinctively gulped. It wasn't often that he
showed any form of annoyance or anger towards his subordinates. "Q-2, you may be a Knight of
the Round, but that does not give you the ability to interrupt my instructions on the battlefield, not
in a situation as critical as this. If you have questions or objections, you may let me know after and
I will consider it." Lelouch hadn't realized it, but he had let a hint of anger into his voice. Cinder
immediately blushed in embarrassment and gained a nervous look. No doubt she hadn't expected
this response.

"As I was about to say, you can't engage yet, not until I give you your orders. You can't kill her
because I have plans for her. Regardless of my personal feelings or my past with her and what you
think about it, she will be of more use alive and either as a willing or unwilling ally. Better to take a
risk of her fighting against us for the possibility of eventually gaining an ally of some form rather
than have her die a martyr for the UFN's cause and embolden more people to fight. As much as I
hate to admit it, we cannot afford a war with the UFN, at least until we have finished the war with
the EU and have secured the land. Killing the UFN's best pilot, a symbol and hero of the people,
will enrage them and embolden them to act rashly."

Lelouch stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts. As he did this, Cinder simply stared at
Lelouch in surprise. She didn't want to admit but he was right. The pilot of the Guren had fought in
more battles with more powerful enemies than she had, so it would already be a hard fought battle.
Not only that, but she hadn't even considered the possible consequences or that her Emperor may
have had other reasons for keeping her alive. She gripped the controls of her Knightmare tighter, as
she realized that she had quite possibly been insulting her Emperor in her mind this entire time
without even understanding the real reasons behind his decisions. Not understanding him.

"Q-2." Lelouch started in a commanding voice. "The Red Lotus is a dangerous opponent. The
Guren's energy wings were designed in a way which makes it much faster compared to your
Amber. Not to mention the experience difference you and Major Kozuki. In fight one on one I
afraid to say that she will victories. Be careful fighting with her."

This made Cinder's amber eyes go wide in surprise. Did she hear him right? "As I said before Q-2,
we cannot afford to kill her due to the possible consequences, nor can we allow her to retrieve Leila
Malchal. But that doesn't mean that we can't defeat her without killing her. After all, it would do
much better to have her frame out of commission for a while simultaneously strengthen our image
and reputation as a fair and honorable nation. That's not even mentioning how badly it will weaken
the UFN's position and lower the confidence of their own people. Combine that with some of the
other plans I have been coming up with, I will be extremely displeased if you don't obey me."

Cinder simply nodded as she began to understand her Emperor. He was right. She was acting too
rashly, not considering the possibilities and letting her own personal thoughts and emotions rule
her judgment. If she was to serve her Emperor, she had to stop acting this way, even if she didn't
agree with it.

"I don't want you to lose, my queen." Lelouch continued, oblivious to Cinder's inner thoughts.
"Your opponent is extremely dangerous, easily on par with your own skill. But even with all of her
advantages and skills, she still has the one same weakness as any other Knightmare." A small
smirk appeared on his face. It took a moment for Cinder to catch on, and when she did, a wicked
smile appeared on her face. Seeing her face light up in understanding, Lelouch continued, "The
Guren's energy reserve isn't as big as one might think. It's still comparable to most specialized
frames, such as yours for example. The only reason it's so effective is because of how long its pilot
has used it, learning how to maximize its effectiveness."

"So if I can't beat her in a fair fight-" Cinder started.

"Use every dirty trick you have." Lelouch finished with a devilish smile. "It appears that there are
other Knightmares belonging to the Black Knights currently spread out throughout the city. There
is no need to attack them, so focus on fighting the Guren. In fact, I want them to see it. They will
carry away a powerless, broken machine with a defeated pilot inside. Let the UFN learn that
Britannia has more than one new Knight of the Round to worry about. Let them learn that their
aces will not be enough to defeat us. Let them witness how the Scarlet Dragon lost to the White
Queen of Britannia." he said, the dramatic tone he always used as Zero coming through once more,
something that made Cinder unable to resist letting out a laugh.

"I see! This way, they will spread information about it. That the Black Knights too weak to defeat
us without their Zero. Without you on their side anymore!" This time, Cinder's laugh seemed
borderline insane. "What a beautiful display of power." A pleasant smile appeared on Lelouch's
face as he knew that Cinder would obey him now.

"I knew that you of all people would appreciate this better than anyone else. After this, no one in
the world will dare underestimate you or believe that you are weak. Just remember, do not kill
her." Lelouch declared. He then said with next words with conviction. "Go, my Queen! Prove that
you are worthy of your title as a Knight of the Round! If you succeed, then I will reward you with
anything your heart desires!"

Stars appeared in Cinder's eyes. This was her chance to prove herself to her Emperor, beyond
anything she had ever done before! As for the reward? A lustful desire enveloped her whole body.
She stared at Lelouch with a hungry look. Oh, she knew that they would both enjoy her wish. But
before she could even think of what she would do, she needed to finish the job he gave her. "As you
wish, your Majesty! Your loyal servant won't dare to disappoint you!" she practically screamed
with excitement. The connection ended and Lelouch let out a tired sigh.

"Well, that was exhausting." murmured Lelouch. Still, it was needed. This way he could keep
Cinder from doing anything she, or even he would regret. He didn't agree with his Queen about her
thoughts on Kallen, but he readily admitted that something needed to be done. Despite what he
thought about Kallen on a personal level, he could not allow her to escape with Leila. It was
simply not an option. It may hurt her pride slightly, but he hoped that it would achieve a result that
was satisfying both on a personal and a strategic level.

But something gives me an uneasy feeling about what Cinder wants as a reward. I'm not sure if I
should be worried or not…
The White Emperor broke away from his thoughts and looked at his assistant. Alfred stood silently
with a small smile on his face, happy that his master had made up his mind. Or at least, he thought
that was the case. "There are other soldiers from the Black Knights in the city. I want to know
which ones and how many." The last thing he needed now was another ace pilot from the Black
Knights in Moscow.

Alfred nodded and happily stated, "We've already taken the liberty of locating them and learning
who they are, your Majesty. While you and Lady Fall were busy speaking, we managed to locate
them and identify them based on the rankings placed on the Knightmares."

"Good work, Alfred. So who are they?" Lelouch asked, slightly surprised that they had managed to
get the information so fast. His assistant pointed at one of the monitors beside Lelouch. Next, to the
two of them, D.S covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to refrain from laughing.

"You're gonna love it, Lelouch."

When the young Emperor turned to look at the monitor, he froze. Lelouch's eyes went wide, his
mouth making an O as he tried to come up with a response to what he was seeing in front of him.
Unable to come up with a more dignified response, he let known his surprise in a shout.

"Why is he of all people her backup?!"

I'm not surprised that the city is in ruins. In the end, it is Lelouch we are talking about.

Kallen thought as she looked around, thoughts and observations filled her head. It was her first
time setting foot on the EU's land, and of course, it had to be when everything around her looks
like hell. Destroyed buildings, burning streets from where explosions caught vehicles and ignited
them, and leftovers of the EU's Knightmares all over the area. The place reminded her of Tokyo
during the Black Rebellion. A similar enough picture, the same man behind it all. The redhead
didn't know if it was an innate talent or a curse upon him which let him breed chaos everywhere he
wished. Probably both.

Then again, I came here for different reasons...

The Guren's S.E.I.T.E.N.'s head glanced at the ground before her, at the VIP she was tasked with
retrieving. Leila Malcal, from what Kallen knew, was a hero to the people. People called her a
messiah because of the things she had managed to do for the EU. Ironic to see that the woman was
the one who needed saving this time. She noticed that the blonde hero was surrounded by
Britannian soldiers, all wearing the same clothes she saw Lelouch's personal soldiers wearing on
TV. The redhead girl let out a deep sigh. Lelouch seemed to have some sort of fascination about
the appearance of his soldiers before anything else.

But that doesn't matter. Right now I need to evacuate Malcal. Kaguya was right. Lelouch really is
trying to keep her from getting to any UFN grounds.

The plan was a simple smash and grab, or at least, that's how Xing Ke described it. Still, Kallen
didn't really like what she had been ordered to do. Just bypass whatever forces were keeping her
from her objective and grab the VIP. The UFN had made an agreement with her, even if it had not
become official yet, so if Lelouch wanted to take her back then the only way he could was by
force. If that happened, she was allowed to go all out in order to get Malchal to safety. This way,
Lelouch would be forced to fight against her, and Kallen knew that neither of them wanted to do so
if they could avoid it. She had many reservations and problems with this plan, as it all depended on
the belief that Lelouch would be hesitant to attack her and she couldn't guarantee how Lelouch
might react, but even she knew that they couldn't allow Britannia to take Malcal. Lelouch had
already made Britannia far too powerful. Blue eyes closed as the Japanese pilot recalled the last
meeting she had with a certain maid.

What does my master mean to you?

Kallen still didn't have an answer to that question, but she knew that, disregarding her own
feelings, allowing Lelouch to continue gaining power without knowing what his end goals were
couldn't be a good idea. And while she wanted to stay out of it, to not have to fight Lelouch and
have time to mentally sort out everything that had happened between them, she needed to make
sure that he wouldn't cross yet another line. No matter how many times he had already done so.

She stopped thinking about her reasons and focused on her mission. The soldiers surrounding
Malcal hadn't moved in response to her arrival. Instead, they decided to raise their rifles, aiming at
her Guren for all the good it would do. Kallen didn't know what to think about them. Were they
brave, or just plain old idiotic? Actually, the answer was most likely both. Then again, they were
Lelouch's personal battalion. No wonder their first action was to disregard their chances of
survival. She began to think of a way to eliminate them while not harming her target.

While she was planning her course of action, another Knightmare approached her position. She
immediately began observing the enemy Knightmare for any indications of what model it might be.
When it was close enough, she began noticing some details which were of concern to her.

At first glance, Kallen had thought that the Knightmare was another Lancelot based model. As it
approached, she could see she was correct in that assumption. But unlike the other mass production
models, she could tell that this was clearly a custom one, most likely using more advanced
technology than the other models. Kallen also had to admit that the colour scheme was an
interesting one, and personally, she thought it was in good taste. It was most likely from a special
unit outside of the regular forces. Still, she was slightly concerned as the Knightmare had simply
approached her, not firing a shot. It almost appeared as if the Knightmare was studying her. The
most likely reason whoever this was hadn't yet fired was that the pilot wanted to know what she
was doing here. Regardless of the permission given to her by her superiors, she really hoped that
the pilot would be smart enough to simply back away. It would cause more problems for her, and
this rescue mission was already going to be complicated in attempting to transport the target
without anything nearby for her to drive or pilot.

When the Lancelot lookalike froze in the air before her, she was expecting a pilot to start speaking,
possibly giving some form of self-righteous speech. But that did not occur. The Britannian war
machine simply remained stationary, not moving an inch.

Great! Whoever is inside this thing is probably scared as all hell seeing me here . Thought Kallen,
not realizing who it was that stood before her. Not until the enemy pilot started to laugh, the tone
giving away the gender of the pilot inside. The woman's laugh sounded insane, nowhere near the
level Lelouch could manage or enough to frighten Kallen, but still disturbing enough. She laughed
for a minute until she suddenly stopped.

With excitement clear in her voice, practically trembling with it in fact, the woman shouted,
"Kallen Kozuki! I can't believe my luck! Of all places in the world, I thought we would meet, I
never believed that it would be here in Moscow!" The woman began to laugh again as she
continued, "And I thought my night couldn't get any better!"

The Knightmare's head turned, locking its 'eyes' onto the Guren's green ones, as everything seemed
to suddenly become quiet down around her. She was aware of the explosions and sounds of war
around her, but they sounded muted now. She tensed slightly, as she knew the sensation all too
well. Whoever this pilot was, she instinctively knew that she was going to be a major threat. Kallen
narrowed her eyes. She didn't know who this woman was, but she sounded way too enthusiastic to
meet with the infamous Britannian killer. Even the previous Knights of the Round had treated her
with their own varied forms of caution, something she had always managed to pick up on as they
spoke. They were arrogant, but not suicidal. But this woman? She sounded as if she couldn't care
less about who was in front of her. The enemy pilot took advantage of the silence and decide to
speak first. "Oh my! Where are my manners?" the woman sarcastically asked.

The enemy Knightmare moved slightly. It tilted its head slightly in a bow, placing its right arm
over its chest while the left arm moved behind its body. Inside her Knightmare, the face of a young
woman appeared on the comm screen, a devilish smile on her face which would not look out of
place on Lelouch. "Servant of his Majesty, and Knight of the Round. Cinder Fall, the Knight of
Two."

Kallen's eyes went wide. Another new Knight of the Round? Kallen had thought that Lelouch only
had Gottwald and one Knight of the Round at the current moment. She certainly hadn't heard nor
been informed about this development. This made things more complicated. She needed to be
careful around this woman. As she had not been briefed on any new Knights of the Round, she had
no idea of what she was capable of...

While Kallen was busy with her thoughts inside her Knightmare, Cinder decided to continue
speaking. "You've probably assumed that my dear Amber Tertiary looks similar to another
Knightmare, particularly that of a certain former Knight." As she said this, she braced herself
mentally for what was about to be said. She had said it before and she'd say it again: she hates it
when people relate her dear Amber to the Lancelot!

"Not really." Kallen responded, breaking her silence and surprising Cinder. "I've fought against
that bastard Suzaku too many times, more than anyone else. No one knows that self-righteous
traitor when it comes to battle better than I do." She briefly remembered the times that the green-
eyed fool tried to face her. No one deserved to be equated in any way to that traitor and monster,
not even if it was simply comparing another machine to his. She shivered slightly, remembering
the lengths that Suzaku was willing to go to, something she knew personally. Being considered
similar in any way to him was something she refused to do to anyone. "Your model might be based
on the same design, but I know that your Knightmare isn't the same as his. More advanced with
minor design alterations, to say the least." Inside her Amber, the Knight's eyes widened slightly,
appreciation able to be seen on her face.

"Well, thank you! You're the first person who hasn't called my baby the Lancelot or a Lancelot
copy." Cinder said, ecstatic that someone finally understood how different her machine was to the
Lancelot. To believe that Kallen Kozuki of all people, her enemy, would be the one to understand
that! Even her own people made the mistake of calling her Amber like the Lancelot. Still, it was to
be expected as the pilot of the Guren had fought against practically every major Knightmare to
exist today. Of course, she would know the difference. But it still didn't take away from the joy
that someone understood the difference. "Still, I must ask what you're doing in Britannian territory,
Red Lotus. Last I heard, combat Knightmares weren't allowed to enter our territory without express
permission from the Emperor"

"Last time I checked, Moscow and the rest of Russia were part of the EU." Kallen retorted.

"When you say 'last time,' do you mean before or after the European fools decided to declare war
on Britannia?" Cinder joked, giggling slightly. "Because if you meant after, then I'm afraid your
information is slightly out of date. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if the EU managed to
convince your people to help them after their little 'mistake,' even if it was to be their last one." she
said in a sadistic tone of voice. Kallen didn't like the way she was talking at the moment. The last
time she heard anyone talk in such a way was back when she met that bastard, Bradley.

After a moment's pause, Cinder asked, "Sooo, what are you doing here?" Kallen blinked after
hearing the carefree way she spoke. How in the world was this woman able to change her attitude
so drastically in such a short period of time?

Shaking her head slightly, she responded, "That none of your business, Britannian."

Cinder chuckled at her response. "Oh? Why so serious? I was just asking. I wanted to hear your
answer and have a little conversation, that's all. In fact, I already know why you're here." The
Amber's head turned slightly, glancing at the blonde girl watching them. She was still surrounded
by Lelouch's legionaries, her friend standing beside her. "You've come here to take Malcal, haven't
you?" When no reply answered her, she continued, "Do you really think we will allow you to take
her? She is too valuable to simply let you walk away with her."

"Who said that I need your permission?" Kallen asked. "Leila Malcal made an agreement with the
UFN and, as a representative of the Black Knights, I have come to pick her up. I don't care what
you think, she comes with me." As she said this, she began to fly towards the ground but was
stopped in her tracks. Amber Tertiary pulled out one of its MVS swords and aimed it in such a way
that she could slash at the Guren at any moment. "I will give you my first and only warning. Get
out of my way." Kallen said, anger seeping from her voice with a hint of venom.

Inside her machine, the black-haired beauty could be seen reacting to her threat. But it wasn't one
of uncertainty like Kallen was hoping for, of a new pilot who wasn't sure if she could actually
defeat her. No, when the woman heard Kallen's warning, a look of glee and excitement came over
her face. Kallen realized that this would be troublesome, as it meant that the woman had fought in
her Knightmare enough that she was confident about her chances. Either that, or she was insane. Or
even both. Regardless of the reason, it meant that she was going to be in for a dangerous fight.

"We both know that I can't do that." Cinder said slowly. Both Knightmares stood facing each
other, almost as if they were staring at each other, as Kallen waited for the other pilot to make the
first move. However, the Knight's subsequent question caught her off guard. "How about a duel?"
Cinder asked.

Kallen blinked at the question. "A duel?"

"Yes. A duel between the two of us, and no one else. I haven't had a fight I could enjoy for quite
some time, and I don't want my Amber to get rusty. We don't even need to kill each other. It's the
least I can do for you. After all, you were able to distinguish my baby from that piece of scrap
metal everyone likes to compare it to." Cinder said, excitement in her voice. "We can fight until
one of us is heavily damaged. Winner take's the girl. How about that?" she said.

"...What's the catch?" Kallen asked carefully. Something like this was too good to be true.

"What? There nothing like that!" Cinder said, laughing for a moment before calming down.
"Honestly, this is just more of a gesture of appreciation on my part. Besides, even if you hadn't
done anything, I have orders from his Majesty to ensure that I don't kill you." Kallen froze after she
heard those words, not paying attention to the rest of what the Knight had said.

Lelouch doesn't want me to get hurt? Kallen thought as she slightly changed the meaning behind
the words in her head. A blush appeared on her face as a warm feeling welled up within her.

Inside the Amber Tertiary, Cinder asked, "So, what do you think? Just you and me, one on one. No
one to interrupt us." As Kallen remained silent, pondering whether or not this was a good idea,
Cinder continued, "Upon my name as the Knight of Two, and upon my loyalty to my Emperor, I
swear that I will not break my word."

Seeing that the Guren's pilot still wasn't committing to a fight, Cinder decided to approach this
from another angle. "After all," she continued, "I wouldn't be Lelouch's Q-2 if I didn't uphold his
values."

Kallen froze in her Guren, dragged out of her contemplations at what the enemy had said. Her eyes
went wide as she looked at the machine before her. She felt a feeling rise up within her, the same
one she had whenever C.C was alone with Lelouch. The feeling of jealousy, one she had always
struggled to keep down. Anger appeared in her eyes as she watched the enemy machine fly before
her. Through clenched teeth, she asked, "What did you just say?"

Cinder, who knew what the woman before her was feeling, smiled as she always did when she
managed to get under someone's skin. With an innocent voice, she asked, "What? Is there
something wrong with my code name? Q-2?" It's just a code name his Majesty gave to me, nothing
more." The redheaded pilot could practically hear the smirk on the other woman's face as she said
it.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. It wouldn't do to let her get her angry. It would just make
the upcoming fight more difficult. "If you think you can have an effect on me with mere words,
then you are sorely mistaken." she said, venom slowly creeping into her voice. Cinder just giggled.

"Have an effect on you? Please! I would be disappointed if the famous Red Lotus could be hurt by
such a statement. But, if you would humour me for a moment, I would like to ask you a question.
One I've had for a long time. One thing I wanted to know, but both C.C and Lelouch have avoided
a real answer."

Kallen waited for her to speak up again. What she couldn't have known was how this next question
would affect her, her judgement, and the way the rest of the night would go. There was a long
pause before Cinder continued.

"Why did Lelouch stop being Zero?"

Time froze for Kallen in an instant. Her heart began to beat faster. Her hands started to shake, as
wide blue eyes stared onwards. She felt as if she was suffocating. In an instant, she was back on the
Ikagura, watching as the Black Knights took aim at Lelouch. She remembered her own uncertainty
of why Lelouch was willing to let this happen. Her question of whether or not she truly had been
geassed. Wondering what Lelouch meant when he told her to live. She remembered her own anger
towards her allies about not letting him explain his point of view. Her unwillingness to believe that
Lelouch meant the insults that had been said. But most of all, she remembered the look of betrayal
that Lelouch had tried to hide, yet had been too exhausted to be successful in doing so. Something
that still managed to haunt her, no matter how much she tried to push everything down.

All of these were things that she had pushed down and repressed ever since the incident, her own
fears of what she would find out, her pain, and the constant action she had been forced into making
it easier to bury it and never look back. But the words of the Knight in front of her made it explode
back into the forefront of her mind. She wanted to say something, do something, to help push it
back down. But right now, her voice simply refused to work. A minute later, Kallen managed to
calm herself down a bit.

With a weak voice, she asked. "H-how do you know about his past?" She knew how pathetic she
sounded, but Kallen couldn't do anything about it, as hiding her emotions had never been a strong
suit. Cinder knew it, and this was the reason why she had brought it up. This was obviously a
sensitive topic and would provoke her into attacking. What she could have never known was the
reason why it was so sensitive, as she assumed it was because of the previous relationship between
them.

Inside her Amber, Cinder put a finger on her chin and hummed. "How? That's an easy question to
answer. Lelouch told me. He told me many things. His past in Japan... and about his power."
Kallen clenched her hands. Inside her head, dozens of thought appeared.

WHY?! Why did Lelouch tell this bitch about his past? Why was he so open about it? Why did he
tell her everything sooner than he told me?! Does he think that she is better than me?

Her last thought filled Kallen's heart with pain. She shook her head, trying to reign in her emotions.
She could not let them rule her right now. Besides, everything she said could still have a sense of
Lelouch's logic, even if it could be twisted sometimes. Lessons learned from giving so little
information to the Black Knights. The need to have people completely loyal to him and
sympathizing with him. Kallen kept trying to rationalize everything in her head to prevent her
emotions from overwhelming her.

"You know what though? While I didn't realize it at the time, that was probably one of my
favourite moments in my life." Cinder said happily, remembering the moment. Sure, she was
scared when Lelouch had ordered her to appear before him, but then everything turned out alright.
In fact, it had been better than alright.

Kallen, on other hand, felt another feeling rise up within her. Fury, and the desire to kill anyone
who stood before her. She kept trying to rationalize things, hoping against hope that she could keep
herself calm enough. She knew what Cinder was trying to do, and she refused to give in. That was,
of course, before Cinder continued, "The only thing that could compare to that was the time when I
learned that Lelouch loves me."

It was at this moment, all of Kallen's efforts proved to be futile. At that moment, something broke
inside Kallen. She knew that part of her was still begging her to listen to rationalizations about
what the Knight just said, about how the woman was saying this to provoke her. Of how, as the
Emperor, he could love multiple people and be devoted to each. How it was completely likely that
he could love her and want to be with her. Of how everything the knight of two had said before
pointing to Lelouch still caring about her.

But to be honest? She didn't care. She didn't care about the rationalizations any more. She didn't
care about Lelouch's orders to not have her killed, nor did she care about what the Knight had
continued to say. She didn't even care about her mission anymore. All that she cared about was the
feeling that had come over her. She knew it only once before. The day she learned her brother had
died.

Hatred. Pure, unadulterated hatred spreading throughout her mind. Every avenue of logic was
blocked, every rational thought leaving her. All that was left was one thought, the instinct she had
always relied on, and any thoughts which were involved in aiding her in battle. All she wanted was
to kill the person who caused her this pain. To make the person learn their mistake. To make them
suffer. But there was a difference from when she had learned of the death of her brother. Back
then, there was nothing she could do to anyone. Now? She was in one of the most advanced
weapons in the world.

What Cinder Fall, the Knight of Two, couldn't have realized, was that she had inadvertently done
what many people called 'hammering the berserk button.'
"I wish we could have se-" Before the Knight of Two could finish, her enemy. The Guren
S.E.I.T.E.N. rushed at her with incredible speed and launched its claw at Amber Tertiary. The
Britannian Knightmare was fast enough to raise its right sword to block the attack. Both 'heads' of
the machines stared at each other. "Oh, my. You're quite the fast one, aren't you?" Cinder laughed,
excitement rising in her voice.

"I will kill you." That was the only thing the Japanese pilot said. Her voice wasn't full of venom or
anger. In fact, there were no emotions in it whatsoever. If the video connection was still open, as
Cinder had turned it into an audio one for the sake of minimizing visual distractions, she would
have been able to see how Kallen's eyes appeared empty, almost lifeless. All Kallen had now was
the desire to kill. To kill the Britannian bitch in front of her.

Inside her machine, Cinder smirked. Her plan had worked perfectly. Saying anything that could
possibly hurt her while waiting for the Red Lotus to lose it. Now, she would have lost her rational
way of thinking, making her easier to predict. Her words had worked, and now it was time for
action. The smile left Cinder's face, as a serious expression came over her. She was now
completely focused on the red machine attempting to kill her.

"Try me, bitch." the White Queen replied with a voice as cold as ice.

The Guren pulled out its blade and tried to stab the Amber in the cockpit. Cinder pulled back,
barely managing to do so due to how fast she was now moving. Cinder pulled out the Amber's
Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle and shot at her. The Guren dodged and began a new charge, avoiding the red
shots that were flying at her. Kallen flew circles around Cinder who was firing at her without
stopping. When she came in close enough, the Guren launched its right-hand claw again, but she
didn't try to grab the enemy Knightmare this time. Instead, a burst of red energy was emitted from
it, engulfing everything in its path. The blast was powerful enough to destroy any enemy
Knightmare in its path most of the time. But not in this instance.

Upon nearing contact with the Amber, the red energy impacted a shield which sprung into
existence, stopping the Guren's attack. Inside her machine, Kallen narrowed her eyes as she
recognized what was happening. So, she has the same type of shield he does?

When the red energy burst scattered, Amber's shield disappeared. The Amber grabbed its MVS
sword and aimed a swing at the red Knightmare's head. The Guren's energy wings sparked as it
immediately went down, avoiding the blade while trying to grab Amber's leg. When that didn't
work, she rose to meet the Amber and kicked at it. The Britannian machine blocked the hit with its
left arm. Before it could counterattack, the Amber was forced to push the Knightmare back and
doge a follow-up attack from the Guren's MVS. Cinder raised her sword just before the Guren's
attack could hit her Knightmare, stopping the incoming blade from piercing anything vital.

Cinder grit her teeth as the Guren began to push the blade down closer to her frame. She had
expected to be outmatched in this fight, as that was the entire reason she agreed with Lelouch's idea
to make the Guren waste its energy in the first place. But all the preparation in the world couldn't
have prepared her for just how outclassed she was! While she knew that most of it came from the
technological gap as well as the amount of experience Kozuki had compared to her, she couldn't
believe that this was all there was to it. She had seen how powerful this pilot was. She was fighting
at a level much higher than she should be. So what was it? At this point, Cinder knew that she had
to rethink her method of draining the Guren.

The Amber flew back, aiming its rifle at the Guren as it fired a constant red beam of energy. The
Guren raised its claw as another less focused burst of energy came from it, acting as a shield and
constantly advancing. Once the energy dissipated, the Guren launched its claw at the frame.
Cinder had anticipated this and decided to use her sword. In a fraction of a second, the claw closed
in. As the Knight of Two attempted to stab it in the palm in an attempt to damage the emitters,
another red burst began. Amber was forced to activate its shield to survive the strike. The Guren
had been too fast for her to get the strike in. When the blast stopped and her shields dropped,
Cinder only had a moment to register the proximity alert before the Guren kicked the head unit of
the Amber. The damage left a gash as one of Amber's eyes stopped glowing.

The Guren, after backing off slightly, came in for another kick, this time attempting to hit the arm
which held the MVS. This time, however, the Amber was able to block the attack properly,
managing to keep a hold of her weapon and minimizing the damage. Still, the sheer power behind
the Guren's kick launched the Amber back. It landed in a nearby chapel, destroying the clock on its
tower and the roof as it crashed through. Old boards and bricks fell around Amber as it rose from
the resulting dust. But the Britannian Knightmare couldn't catch a break. It only had a brief
moment to activate its shields before another burst of energy engulfed it. While the Guren fired,
Cinder was beginning to sweat.

She licked her lips and could taste blood. The Guren's kicks were powerful enough to damage her
Amber and hurt Cinder, even if the damage was minor compared to what could be done. But even
then, that amount of damage was more than anyone had ever been able to do. Unlike what most
people would think, she wasn't angry about the damage or anything like that. She had expected
something like this to happen eventually. In the end, Lelouch was right when he said that Kallen
was a strong opponent. But she was beginning to get worried. While her plan to make Kallen angry
had worked, she was beginning to realize that it didn't have the effect she had been certain it had.

Cinder had come to realize that she may have pushed Kallen too far. Angry enough, and the
emotions would cloud her judgement. But this? The way she moved, her reactions, all were far
faster than they should have been. She'd seen recordings of what the Guren and its pilot were
capable of, and knew what Lelouch had told her, but what was currently happening? This was on
another level entirely. As her making Kallen angry was the only difference between what she had
seen before and now, it was a safe assumption that her success in making Kallen angry had been
the cause. Why it had enabled her to become so much more deadly was a mystery, but it didn't
matter right now. The only saving grace she had from all this was that it appeared as if her enemy
was relying on instinct, as that was all she could think it could be and wasn't paying as much
attention to the amount of weapon blasts she put out. While she was conserving the power in her
shots, she was firing much more than she should.

Cinder allowed herself a short laugh. This battle with Kozuki was turning out to be better than any
she had ever participated in before. Not even Kururugi was able to compare! While it wasn't a true
fight, as all she was attempting to do was drain the energy of the Knightmare, the sheer
exhilaration of what was going on was more than enough to excite her!

When the Guren's blast ended, the Amber flew back before the Guren could fire and keep her
pinned on the ground. As she made a hole in the chapel trying to escape another attack, a devilish
smile appeared on her face.

If she continues to fight like this, I will win. Cinder thought to herself.

She didn't know how much energy Guren had, but Cinder knew she couldn't have enough to keep
going for too much longer. Her enemy had been moving nearly constantly, as well as firing many
bursts from her weapon. Kallen had to have wasted a good amount by this point, at least if she was
right about her approximations on how much energy her claw and energy wings were using. The
fact that her enemy would have had to fly in rapidly without time to refill before she engaged in
battle only added to the amount used.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden attack from above. Cinder was quick enough this time
to block with her sword. The Guren kept pushing the blade down for a few seconds, until suddenly
flying to the side, trying to aim its claw at Amber's side again. The Amber fired before she could
raise the arm and the Guren was forced to dodge again. After this, the Britannian machine landed
on the ground behind Kremlin walls. Her own energy was being drained heavily from the air
fighting, so, unfortunately, she had to land to conserve energy. Luckily for her, the Guren seemed
to be in the same predicament, as it came down to the ground and shut off its energy wings. The
Guren aimed it claw at Amber and fired again. The Amber jumped to the side, this time closing the
range before she fired a shot off. The Guren raised its claw and activated its radiant wave
shielding, stopping the shot just before it could hit.

So, this most likely won't work. Cinder thought. Before she could react, the Guren managed to grab
onto her rifle. She immediately tossed away her rifle as it started bubbling, knowing that it would
be useless now. She pulled out a second MVS sword and rushed at the Guren, hoping that she
could get a strike or two in. Her plan didn't work. The Guren was able to avoid every strike she
made. When the Amber tried to stab the red knightmare in the chest, Kallen used her blade to block
it again. Immediately after, she aimed the Guren's claw at the frame once more. Luckily, Cinder
was fast enough to raise her arm and let her sword meet the claw, holding it off for now. The edge
of the MVS was between the fingers of the Guren's claw, as the Amber tried to push the MVS
deeper into the metal.

Kallen activated the Guren's claw. Red energy started to appear around the sword, beginning to
bubble after a few moments from the energy being forced into it. Before it could explode, the
Amber tossed it away. Then it used its slash harkens to hit the chest of Guren. One of slash harkens
managed to hit and pierce the green chest plate, leaving a gash of damage as spark flew out of it.

When the Guren pulled back to analyze the situation, Cinder used this moment to catch her breath.
This was wonderful! No opponent had ever managed to make her feel like this! With a grin on her
face, she said, "That's for kicking my Amber."

So she scratched the Guren. After all this time, that's all she's able to do? Thought Kallen, as she
stood prepared for a new volley of attacks.

She was not disappointed.

The Amber rushed at her, leaping into the air and aiming a downwards slash at the Guren. It, of
course, never hit its target. The red machine turned its torso and used its Landspinners to fall back
at max speed. When the distance between the two was far enough that the sword would miss, the
Guren raised its claw and tried to fry the Amber yet again. The Absolute Defence Field appeared
around the area where the blast hit, meaning that she wasn't close enough to bypass it. The Amber
then swung its MVS at her, but Kallen just leaned the Guren back enough to avoid the strike. The
Amber then tried to smash its fist into the Guren's headpiece, but the Japanese machine jumped
back.

Inside her Knightmare, Kallen let out a tired sigh. The hatred that had been driving her had drained
her mentally, and she simply wanted this fight to end. She had to admit, this Knight of the Round
was good. To be able to keep up with her was no small feat, especially since previous Knights had
difficulty doing so. But it was obvious that the Knight wouldn't be able to defeat her. Her
Knightmare wasn't on the same tech level, and it was obvious that she didn't have a high level of
experience with battling an equal or superior foe. She had potential, yes. But merely having
potential was not enough to win her this fight.

A swing of the Amber's MVS interrupted her thoughts, as she raised the Guren's claw to block it.
The Amber kept pushing, its pilot obviously determined to do at least something damaging to her
Knightmare beyond a simple gash of damage did. The two machines, locked close together in a
power struggle as they both tried to push their respective weapons closer to the other.

Outside of the screech of metal, there was silence. This, of course, didn't last long.

As always Cinder was first to start talking. With a mad smile on her face, she started, "I'm
surprised! I thought I knew everything I could about the infamous Red Lotus. But I didn't realize
that the right words could drive you to fight fiercer than I bet anyone has seen before! If I didn't
know the pathetic reason you got so angry, I'd be praising you right now!"

"Shut up!" Kallen yelled as she tried to push the Amber back. The anger began to rise once more as
she slowly took a step forward.

"Why? You can't stand the idea that Lelouch could love anyone other than you? What is it?
Jealousy?" The White Queen started to laugh. "Don't tell me that the former bodyguard of Zero,
one of the closest people to him, can't understand that?"

"I said shut up!" Kallen roared in fury. The Guren suddenly dragged her MVS to the side,
disengaging it from her claw. She raised it, aiming it at the Amber and fired. The blast, set to wide
range, was melting everything in its path: walls, buildings, the road, everything it could touch
began to bubble and melt. However, Kallen didn't care about the damage. All that matter to her
right now was that she was going to kill this bitch!

The blast continued its wave of destruction. As the energy wave was going, it blocked her vision
from the sheer intensity of the blast. As such, she could not have known that the Amber had fallen
back slightly before she fired, throwing its MVS at the claw before retreating and activating its
shields. While everything in the blast's path was nearly instantly melted, the MVS lasted slightly
longer. It was covered in bubbles and about to explode when it managed to hit its target. The
sudden strike sent the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N.'s claw arm off to the side, altering the path of the blast
and destroying the nearest building that was in its way. The moment the blast was no longer
touching her, the Amber renewed its attack. The Amber charged in and, before the Guren could
bring its claw back up, it threw a punch to the side. The Guren moved to dodge, but the Amber
kicked the torso, destabilizing it long enough to kick the Guren once more and away from her.

The Guren crashed into the wall of a building behind it, creating a cracked spiderweb of damage
on the wall. Its blade fell away some distance from the Knightmare it belonged to. Inside her
machine, Kallen spat out a goblet of blood which landed on her main monitor. Before she could
wipe it off with her hand, she saw through the blood that something was accelerating towards her.
The Guren immediately raised its right arm and activated its Radiant Wave Shielding. A piece of a
building fallen in the battle impacted, which was melted in mere moments. The Amber was close
behind, fists raised and ready to start dealing some damage. It was obvious that her enemy thought
that she was too low on energy to do anything now. In her cockpit, Kallen clenched her teeth and
snarled. Oh, how wrong she was!

Cinder hadn't expected a punch from the Guren. The punch hit the Amber and knocked it back
slightly. With a slash, the Guren managed to cause some damage over the chest of the Amber,
streaks of ruined metal now able to be seen. Another punch, this time one that the Amber blocked,
gave the moment needed for the Guren to slash at one of its legs. As warnings flared around her,
Cinder's eyes were wide with shock. That shock quickly turned to anger and frustration. How was
the Guren not out of energy yet?!

The Guren quickly pushed forwards, attempting to push its advantage. The Amber was forced to
dodge to the side as the Guren rushed at her, trying to land another hit. The Amber was forced to
defend itself, dodging back and forth while attempting to find a weakness she could exploit. Then,
Cinder noticed something on the ground behind her. A bloody smirk appeared on her face. She
dodged to the left and suddenly sent her two slash-harkens forward. Kallen, thinking that she was
attempting to grab hold of her, jumped back to avoid the harkens and commit to another charge.
Unfortunately for her, Cinder wasn't aiming for the Guren. The slash-harkens hooked into the wall
behind her, which had somehow managed to escape destruction until this point. The Amber
retracted the harkens, forcing the wall behind the Guren to fall. It hit the Guren from the back and
slightly on the side, knocking the Guren onto its back.

The sudden hit from the wall had also managed to jostle Kallen around in the cockpit. Kallen's
head smashed into the main monitor, still covered with her own blood. The Japanese pilot, now
covered in cuts and bruises, wiped away the blood forming on her eyes and glared at the image of
the Britannian machine.

"You fucking bitch!" the redhead roared.

"Look who's talking, bitch!" Cinder yelled back.

The Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. raised its claw to shoot again. Suddenly, alarms started blaring at its pilot.
Kallen's eyes went wide. She saw a yellow warning on the monitor, still covered with her blood. A
warning which said the last thing she wanted to see. She had nearly drained her energy filler. 98%
of it, in fact. Emergency systems had kicked in, preventing her from firing another shot in order to
give time to refill or escape. Unless she decided to engage a manual override, she couldn't fire. If
she did so, she would be at the mercy of the Amber if it managed to survive the blast. No. No, no,
no, NO, NO! This couldn't be happening! Not now, not here!

"So... after all of this time, you've finally run out of energy?" the Knight of Two asked. Satisfaction
could be heard, yet an undertone of weariness could be heard as well. When Cinder had realized
that the Guren couldn't fire another shot, she had realized that the victory was hers. She had taken a
quick glance at her Knightmare's diagnostics, however, and realized how close it had been.

Her Knightmare was on the verge of a complete breakdown. While she had managed to evade most
of the physical damage given, she hadn't realized the amount of damage caused by the strain of the
fight. Her shields had drained much power, and their consistent use had heated up areas to extreme
levels due to the power consumption. The device itself seemed as if it was close to breaking down
from the stress. Her Yggdrasil core had been working practically nonstop and was beginning to
flash warnings. Multiple servos had varied states of damage, and half her factspheres were
completely destroyed. That wasn't even including the outright destroyed parts of her frame from the
Guren's attacks. Cinder hated admitting it, but if she hadn't dodged one more attack, or the fight
had gone on for any longer, she would be the one in the Red Lotus' position or dead already. She
had to keep reminding herself about her current objective, as the thought of how close she was to
complete failure was a terrifying one for her.

Not knowing what was going on in the mind of the Knight, Kallen simply stared at the other
Knightmare, a look of worry on her face. A single thought was in the Black Knight's mind.

No...

"If that's true…" Cinder whispered, in a voice as cold as ice. The Amber rushed at her, attempting
to do as much damage as it could to the Guren. While Cinder didn't agree with Lelouch's order not
to kill her, she would follow it through to the end. Otherwise, it was likely that she would never get
what she wanted. But like Lelouch said, just because he ordered her not to kill Kallen didn't mean
that she was forbidden from doing as much damage to her Knightmare as she could.
Still feeling the fleeting rage that had driven her in this battle, Kallen didn't remember what Cinder
said about Lelouch's orders. She didn't even consider the fact that all the Knight was doing was
damaging her Knightmare instead of ending her right there and then. All she could think about was
how her hate driven instincts were screaming at her, telling her that the Knight was about to kill
her.

No, not like this!

With a roar of rage, Kallen did the one thing she could. She overrode the safeties preventing her
from firing the Surger. Ignoring the warnings coming from the monitor in front of her, she pressed
hard on the button as she brought the claw up to bear. Even if it would take all of her energy, so be
it! She wouldn't let some Britannian bitch kill her! A red aura started to appear around the Guren's
claw. If this was to be her last shot in this fight, she'd ensure that this one would hit its target!

Inside the Amber, Cinder froze. Her eyes were wide as she started trembling slightly. She had
thought that the frame was out of power. Drained completely, defenceless before her. But she had
made a mistake, one that was going to cost her. She was too close to the claw. Her shield device
was overheating and would most likely break before being able to block the blast. Even if it would
work, she wouldn't be able to raise it in time. The blast had charged in mere moments and was
already beginning to fire. Cinder realized one simple fact: she was going to die.

In the Guren, as the claw reached the point where it could fire, Kallen, after hammering the firing
button, realized one crucial fact. The Amber's fist was currently embedded within the Guren's
frame. While the Radiant Wave Surger wouldn't normally affect her Knightmare, even at close
range, it was never intended to be fired on a Knightmare physically attached to her own. No sane
pilot would ever try to rip apart a Knightmare with only a pair of fists, after all. But Amber's action
had created a problem Kallen couldn't do anything about. As soon as the Radiation traveled
through the Amber, the point of contact meant that it would also travel to her own Knightmare,
destroying both of them in the process. At that moment, Kallen came to the same realization that
Cinder had just come to: she was also about to die.

In a fraction of an instant, Cinder saw memories from her past. Her childhood as heiress to a noble
family. A loving mother, holding her in an embrace. The fights she'd been in. But most of all, her
demon in white clothes. The demon she fell in love with, the demon she wanted to spend life with.
Tears formed in her eyes in an instant.

For Kallen, the memories were of her brother and mother. Of the better times, they once had. Of
the things, she'd gone through as a member of the Black Knights. But, ironically enough, her last
thoughts were the same as Cinder's, albeit in a different context. A boy with black hair and violet
eyes, wearing an Ashford academy uniform while smiling at her. It was enough to overwhelm her,
as she realized that she'd never get to find out the truth behind her questions.

It was at that moment, both Queen's eyes opened wide. A single thought was on both of their minds
right now.

I don't want to die!

In an instant, as if something had heard their cries, their wish to live was granted.

A moment before the Surger fired, the Amber has suddenly pulled away from the Guren, the
embedded arm being dislodged from its position. The eyes of both pilots widened at the sudden
movement, neither able to process what just happened. The surprise didn't last long, as a
Knightmare came into both pilots vision. A Knightmare both women knew all too well.
The telltale red coloured shield of the Emperor's personal Knightmare sprung into existence, far
enough away to provide ample time to envelop the Knightmare. It stood before the Amber,
protecting it from the energy blast. The red ray washed over the shield for a few moments as it was
diverted away, before disappearing completely. After a moment, the Emperor's shield dropped. The
four red eyes of the Knightmare in front of them glanced back and forth between the two.

"I don't know whether I should be impressed or disappointed by you girls." the man chuckled.
Lelouch vi Britannia sighed as he turned his Knightmare to face the Amber. "Why must I be the
one that comes to the rescue nowadays?" Amusement was laced into his voice as both of the girls
blushed inside their machines. "Cinder." Lelouch said, making his Knight focus on him. "You did a
great job in disabling the Guren." he said with warmth in his voice.

That was enough to make her tear up. Tears of happiness and relief fell from her face as she tried to
wipe them away. Even after all the destruction and the fact that she had nearly been killed, she'd
still managed to complete her mission. To hear Lelouch talk to her with such appreciation was
enough to start sending a mentally exhausted Cinder over the edge. The Knightmare then turned to
view the Guren.

Inside it, Kallen didn't move. Her eyes were focused only his Knightmare. She didn't know what he
would say. For some reason, though, it didn't matter. Right now, her only wish was to see Lelouch
in person one more time.

"Kallen." he said quietly. Despite how quietly he said her name, she could hear the same warmth
he used when he was speaking to that bitch behind him. She waited for him to continue speaking,
unable to bring herself to speak and unsure of what she should say. The Emperor was silent for a
few moments, until he said, "I've met with the other Black Knights that were deployed behind you
into the city. I'm sure that they will be able to carry you back to your base of operations, or at least
to a point where you can refill your power and fly back." As he said this, she could hear the
underlying uncertainty in his voice, as if this was something he knew he needed to do yet didn't
want to. It was something she had heard before when he gave a particularly difficult order when he
was Zero.

That wasn't what I wanted to hear...

She swallowed, as dozens of questions ran through her head. Questions she had waited a long time
to have answered. Questions she hadn't realized she even had before now. But more prevalent to
the current moment, questions about everything that was happening right now. What was he talking
about? What about my target? Why did his voice make it seem as if the last thing he wanted to do
was to confront her right now?

As the questions ran through her mind, a hatch on the cockpit of the Shinkiro Imperium suddenly
opened. Both women looked at it, waiting for Lelouch to come out of it. What they hadn't been
expecting was to see the very European that was the cause of all this to come out instead of the
Emperor. Leila looked at the Guren, a somber yet serious look on her face.

"I have changed my mind, Major Kozuki. I will not be going with you." the woman said.

Ten minutes ago…

The Shinkiro Imperium began to fly towards the place where the two Queens were fighting. He
was flanked by his Scarlet Guard and several Gareths. Lelouch didn't know what was going on
over there. Cinder hasn't responded to any of his calls for some time now. That was already
worrying, as she never ignored his calls, even in a fight. Combine that with the fact that reports had
seen that the Guren was fighting much more wildly and aggressive than ever heard of, and it was
enough knowledge to concern him.

While Cinder was a good pilot, Kallen had a better machine technology wise, more experience, and
a much greater level of natural talent. In a one on one fight, Kallen was the one who was likely to
come out on top, which was the entire reason he told Cinder to drain her energy reserves. But from
the way the Guren was fighting, he was worried that either Cinder would be killed before she
could complete her mission, or Kallen would do something which would anger Cinder enough so
that, once the Guren was drained of energy, she'd kill her instead of following his orders. Neither
outcome was one he wanted to occur, so he had decided to fly near the location of the fight so he
could intervene if necessary.

But as he flew closer to where the two were fighting, he realized that there was something else he
had to do. Something which he would have to make quick, but could be done on the way.

The Emperor's Knightmare and his retinue stopped over the area known as the Red Square.
Looking at the area, he could see a small team of his legionaries standing next to two EU officers.
He knew exactly who these legionaries were guarding, and headed to meet them. When the
Shinkiro Imperium landed before them, his soldiers immediately turned and saluted him. Leila
Malcal and another man stood silently, looks of unease and uncertainty on their faces. Inside his
Knightmare, Lelouch glanced at Leila and the man beside her. While Leila appeared unharmed, her
friend was receiving medical aid from one of his medics.

"Leila Malcal." the White Emperor said in greeting.

"Lelouch vi Britannia." the blond woman responded.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" Lelouch asked as the head of his Shinkiro turned to take in the city from
the ground. Certain parts of the city were still on fire, and it seemed like it wasn't going to stop any
time soon. Leila narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, the night truly is beautiful." the woman said, hints of sarcasm in her voice. "Such a shame
that the city is not looking as beautiful tonight." The bitterness in her voice couldn't be missed, and
Lelouch just chuckled at the response.

"Well, I'm absolutely certain that we can both fix it and make it better than before if we work
together. My offer is still open, after all. Just as I said it would be."

Leila looked at the Shinkiro Imperium with a mixed expression. It was clear that she still felt
conflicted about the whole idea. Moments later, she said, "I guess you were right when you said
that you would win the war. I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" He could hear the sadness in her
voice as she said this. Sighing, Lelouch lowered his Shinkiro Imperium to one knee and opened the
cockpit. Leila's eyes went wide when she saw him, both surprised that he would do so and because
of it being their first meeting face to face. The violet eyes of the Emperor were entrancing, a force
of will and determination shining behind them. As she looked at him, she realized that he appeared
much more handsome in person than on a screen. Her face started to turn a darker shade as she
tried to control a blush without much success.

Lelouch was also surprised but in a different aspect. While he would not deny that the European
General was a beautiful woman, it was how she maintained herself in front of him that interested
him. Despite being on the battlefield, surrounded by her enemies and staring at one of the most
powerful people in the world, Leila still held an aura of authority. Her mere presence seemed to
demand respect, not in the fashion the former nobles would demand it as they wanted it, but
because of what seemed to be an instinctual knowledge that she deserved it. No wonder such a
strong individual was looked up to by the EU's people.

He smiled lightly as he said, "Leila, I know that you might not like the idea of joining my Empire
but believe me, this is the only way things can work. Once you understand the bigger picture I have
in mind, everything will make sense to you. "

"And what is this bigger picture? What is the end goal of all of this destruction and death?" As
Leila said this, she gestured towards the destroyed city around them.

The White Emperor was silent for a moment, until he said, "A perfect world. A world of peace. A
world where wars such as this one and the ones fought prior will be a thing of the past."

"I heard that speech when we met for the first time, Lelouch. This dream of yours is impossible."
When she said this, Lelouch just let out a small laugh. He then lowered himself down and off the
cockpit, meeting them on ground level to look them in the eye.

"Believe me, Leila. There's no such thing as an impossibility in this world. I've seen things that
shouldn't be possible, things which defy everything known about the world, yet they I could see
them right in front of me." Geass, C's world, Cera's code. He had seen a lot. All things that
somehow existed on a foundation nobody could understand, seemingly operating on a completely
separate set of laws to the world. Seeing such a thing had motivated him, as he knew that if
someone was able to make something as impossible as that, he could also make the impossible
possible. "You've seen the impossible as well, haven't you? Back at Castle Weisswolf. Do you
remember the girl that spoke with you?"

Leila's eyes went wide, and lelouch had to hold back a smirk. D.S had told him about her meeting
with Leila, and he knew that he could use it to convince her if used correctly. As for Leila, her
entire body went numb after she heard him speak. "How do you know-"

"I know many things, Leila." Before he could continue, however, he was interrupted by a sudden
noise. Suddenly coming around from behind a set of buildings, a large group of Black Knight
Akatsuki's began to approach them. Lelouch's Scarlet Guard and the Gareth's that accompanied
him moved to protect their Emperor. Readying their weapons, they prepared themselves to fire at
their Emperor's command. The Akatsuki's raised their weapons as well, coming to a stop after they
entered accurate firing range. One of the Knightmares, holding a missile launcher instead of the
rifles the others held, moved in front of the others. After a moment, a loud voice could be heard.
One that Lelouch was very familiar with.

"I give you Brits ten seconds to fly away before we kick your ass!" Tamaki shouted as he aimed
his launcher at the units before him. When none of them moved, he continued, "Did you hear me?
I said-" Tamaki froze when he took notice of a familiar Knightmare among the Britannians.
"Shinkiro?!" he said as his eyes went wide. He then noticed the people in front of the machine and
took note of the man in white. "B-boss." Tamaki whispered inside his Akatsuki.

Lelouch wasn't surprised that they had come to this location. He was still surprised that Tamaki of
all people was the one to be leading this team, however. He personally knew how well Tamaki was
able to do his job and couldn't understand why on earth they decided to send him to Moscow.
Granted, he'd seen more incompetent people before, and it was Tamaki's hotheadedness that got
him into trouble most of the time rather than an inability to do things right, but still. It was not a
good idea to put someone prone to rash decisions in charge of 'rescuing' the most important person
in the EU right now.

Staring at the Knightmares with a serious expression on his face, Lelouch said, "Black Knights,
you are currently on Britannian soil and in the middle of a war zone. Leave immediately and head
back to wherever you came from, as I currently have no quarrel with you."

Tamaki, not knowing what to do, said: "A-ah, we have orders to evacuate Leia-"

"Leila." the blonde general corrected them, irritation in her voice.

"Yeah, her." Tamaki nodded inside of his Knightmare. "We were ordered to evacuate her by any
means necessary due to the agreement between her and the UFN."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes, though internally, he was surprised. Not only did Tamaki seem to
accept the fact that the lands of the EU were now Britannian lands, but he was actually keeping
himself from acting rash. It was a pleasant surprise, and something he never would have expected.
Maybe he had been judging him too harshly before?

He couldn't dwell on these thoughts at the moment, however, and instead responded to Tamaki. "I
don't care about your orders. Leave now or I'm afraid that I will have no other choice but to let you
return to Japan in pieces."

Tamaki didn't know what to do. He knew what his orders were, and he knew how badly it was
stressed that they retrieved Leila Malcal. But on the other hand, Tamaki knew all too well what
Lelouch was capable of with the Shinkiro. Against the other units, he at least stood a chance as he
had made sure to practice, becoming a better pilot than he used to be. But with the confusion, a
battle would cause and the abilities of Lelouch's Knightmare to take advantage of it? He might be
hotheaded, but he wasn't suicidal.

Time was running out for him to decide. Tamaki glanced at the General near his former leader and
asked, "What about you? You were the one who contacted us and asked for help. What do you
have to say about this?"

Leila didn't respond immediately. Just like Tamaki, she didn't know what she should do. What did
she want? Lelouch's words to her kept her from speaking. Was it truly possible to create the world
he envisioned? What of the things he had seen? Could he answer the questions she's had for so
long?

"Leila." The sound of his voice interrupted her contemplations. Looking at him, she saw a
concerned look on his face as he said, "Only I can achieve a perfect world. The UFN might be able
to make the world better, but many of the old world's problems will continue to exist even there.
That's something I've come to grips with a while ago. But even then, I still believe that it is possible
to get rid of those things. But that will not be possible in a group like the UFN. I need people like
you to help me with that goal. I'd much rather have people like you on my side instead of
opposition. Not only that but if you leave with the Black Knights, the people of the EU will see it
as a message to keep on fighting. They will attack not only my soldiers but also anyone who
supports me. Without you, their hero, to act as a guiding force for accepting the change, I will be
forced to stop them. Even if it turns violent. I'd like to believe that neither of us wants that. But if
you join me, they will accept it much easier. Most of the citizens didn't want a war in the first
place, after all. They only fought because they were dragged into it. You wouldn't be giving in to
Britannia. You'd just be doing what should have been done from the start, and that was by making
peace instead of war."

It doesn't make things easier for me, Lelouch. Leila thought as she looked at both the Black
Knights and Britannia's machines. He had a point. If she sided with Britannians, the people would
be more willing to accept it. He wasn't wrong either about how they should have worked for peace,
as she had been saying that from the start of all this. If she agreed, however, it would mean that her
life was tied to Lelouch. She would be forced to go down the same paths he takes whether she liked
it or not. She knew that if she accepted, then she would be making a choice she could never back
away from.

Leila thought about it for some time before she decided. She wasn't sure if she was making the
right choice, but she realized that with the majority of the EU under him now, it was better for her
to keep the peace with all the EU's people and not just a splintered fraction of it.

"The W-0 unit will go with the Black Knights." she said, making sure that her voice was clear of
any sense of doubt. Before anyone could respond, she continued, "I, however, will go with
Emperor Lelouch." These words shocked everyone present. The only one who wasn't was Lelouch,
who happened to have a smile on his face.

Behind her, Claus stood from the ground and asked, "B-but Leila, why?" She looked at him and
could see the look on Claus' face.

"This way we can minimize casualties in Europe. Lelouch is right. I need to be here with him to
rebuild our lands. It's the only way to stop the bloodshed that would occur if we left and the people
continued fighting. It will better for you and the W-0 unit to go with the UFN. For their own sake,
it will better if they leave. In the end, I'm the only one whom Britannia needs." she sighed, not
really wanting to leave her unit but knowing the necessity behind it. She looked at Lelouch and
asked, "Are you okay with those conditions, your Majesty?"

Lelouch simply nodded. "As long as you are on my side, I will agree to this. But are you sure you
want the W-0 unit to go with them?" he asked as he waved at the group of Akatsuki. She nodded.

"This way we don't need to worry about our people fighting each other internally. Many of the
people in my unit have had… let us just say histories with Britannia. It's unlikely that they would
be able to really cooperate with Britannia militarily, and the same goes for if they tried to enter
civilian life. Maybe in the future, something will work out, but they aren't ready to join. Not until
they truly believe that what you're doing is the best for them and that your Empire is not the same
as it was under your father."

She then looked at her subordinate and said, "Claus, you need to inform everyone about this."
Before he could say anything, Leila continued, "If I try to explain this to them, I know that they
will try to stop me. For the sake of the people now under Britannia's banner, I can't let that happen.
So please, do this for me."

Claus let out a defeated sigh. "Alright. So, this is goodbye then?" he asked with a bitter smile. Leila
nodded, sadness welling up within her as well. She truly hoped she was doing the right thing. Then
her eyes widened, as she realized that she didn't know what had happened to the unit. Seeing Claus'
eyes widen as well, they both turned to Lelouch.

"They are alive. Injured with their Knightmares destroyed, but alive," he said, answering them
before they could broach the question. Leila let out a sigh, clearly not happy to hear that her people
were wounded, but glad that they were alive. "My soldiers will bring them to the location of the
W-0 base if you want."

Claus thought about it for a moment and, after he saw Leila nod, he said, "Yeah, that will work."
When he informed them about the W-0 base's location, Claus went close to Lelouch and put a hand
on his shoulder. Such an unexpected move caught the Emperor off guard, while the soldiers
around them raised their weapons. Leila's eyes went wide, but before she could say anything, Claus
chuckled. "Chill out, guys. I just need to say something private to your boss." He gave them a smile
as he said this, but the legionaries didn't lower their guns. It wasn't until their master gave them the
signal to lower their weapons did they comply. He chuckled before turning to the Emperor. "Look,
boy. I know you mean business and I'm not in any position to stop you. Maybe you can make the
world you envision, and maybe you can't. But Leila's not just our superior officer. She is like a
sister to each and every member of the W-0 unit. I know that nothing will change her mind right
now, but if anything happens to her, there's one thing I can promise you. Every single member of
the W-0 unit will make you pay." While he said it with a smile, he let his voice carry the emotion
behind it.

He ignored the stuttering complaints from his 'sister' figure as he waited for a response. Lelouch
was silent for a moment before he answered. "Leila will be safe, I can promise you that. After all,
what kind of a person would I be if I allowed such a beautiful woman come to harm?" He gave a
woman in question a warm smile that made Leila blush while she tried to let out a response, unable
to due to her stuttering.

She quickly turned away in embarrassment as Claus laughed. "Boy, you're good. Really good. I
haven't seen her react like this for a long time. I'm just going to keep my mouth shut on this for
now. Who knows how the unit would react if they learned about this."

With a laugh, Claus extended his hand. "No hard feelings between us?"

Lelouch smiled as he responded, "Of course not. The only hard feelings I have is for the people in
the EU who decided to start this war in the first place. People like you have only done what you
needed to do. Who knows? Perhaps one day we'll meet again on friendlier terms."

A smile came over Claus' face. "Perhaps. No promises, though. I will be having to keep track of
much more than I used to now, and that won't give much free time."

With a nod to Lelouch and Leila, Claus began to move to the Black Knights. As he'd likely be able
to hitch a ride with one of them, Lelouch turned to address the next problem. Addressing the Black
Knights in front of him, Lelouch said, "Now, I'm willing to let this trespass onto Britannian land go
this one time. While I don't condone it, I'm willing to let it slide this once since you haven't actually
engaged with any of my forces. But next time, I will not be so generous. Am I understood?"

Within his Knightmare, Tamaki gulped. "Crystal." he responded. He knew that he was going to be
reprimanded for not attempting to do anything to stop Lelouch. There was nothing he could do, as
anything he'd try would be stopped. He really didn't have much choice but to go along with it.

"Now that we've finished with that," Lelouch continued, a frown coming over his face, "I believe
that its prudent to stop those two before they completely destroy the city."

"What do you mean by that?" Tamaki asked, concern creeping into his voice. If he was talking
about who he thought he was...

Without turning around, Lelouch pointed behind him. In the distance, several rays which could
have only come from the Guren flew into the air. Impacting several buildings in their path, the
group watched as they began to crumble, highlighting Lelouch's point about the two destroying the
city. "I'm going to head over there to stop them. The Guren is over there, and as my Knight, no
doubt began a duel with her, I won't hold this against you. But I think you can agree with me when
I say that the two of them need to be stopped?"

"Y-yeah, sure."

Lelouch then turned to the blonde general and asked her, "What about you, Leila?"

The woman in question nodded. "They are fighting because of me, so it's logical for me to go with
you in order to get them to stop."

I highly doubt that you are the reason for that fight by this point, but whatever. thought Lelouch as
he climbed back into the Shinkiro Imperium. He turned to Leila and gave her a hand. "Come on."

She looked at him with surprise. "You want me to climb into this thing?" Lelouch nodded, and a
shade of red appeared on her face. Reaching out and grabbing his hand, she climbed into the
cockpit of the Knightmare. Inside there was enough space for the two of them. Leila sat down next
to Lelouch as he prepared to move the Knightmare.

"Well then. I don't doubt that after you see those two fighting, you'll understand exactly why I
consider those two women the most dangerous ones in the world."

Present.

"It's for those reasons that I won't be going with the Black Knights, Miss Kozuki. I'm sorry." Leila
apologized. But the pilot of the Guren wasn't concerned about that. The moment she saw Leila with
Lelouch, she knew that she wouldn't be able to accomplish her mission. Right now, this was a
chance to speak to Lelouch. To talk about her questions.

But which question? There's not enough time to answer all of them, but I need to get an answer to
something! Kallen let out a sigh.

Lelouch had also appeared from the cockpit as Leila had been speaking. Standing next to her, he
said, "The Black Knights have agreed to this. At least, the ones who came with you have." He
glanced at the group of Japanese machines behind him. "I'm sure that your leadership won't argue
with this, however. Especially considering how gracious I'm being, letting you go without
repercussions and all of that." He knew that neither Kaguya nor Xing Ke would risk another
operation to try and get Leila, not after she officially joins him. The backlash if this botched
operation became public was already a risk to them. They wouldn't risk attempting another one and
have him reveal what happened today.

While Lelouch was speaking, a pair of blue eyes focused on him. He hadn't changed much from
when she had last seen him in person. The same arrogant composure, the same sense of authority,
everything seemed to be the same. The man had the same features about him at this moment as he
had back in Japan when his presence made her feel confident and reassured of victory. Now,
however, things were different.

I need to ask him a question, one that will answer as many as possible. But what would that
be? Kallen asked herself. After a moment, her eyes widened as she realized the question which
could work. She quickly shut off her external speakers and attempted to open up a private channel.
Lelouch, hearing the Shinkiro Imperium's control panel, quickly seated himself in the Knightmare
and allowed the channel to be opened.

Staring at Kallen for a moment, he couldn't help but notice how so very little had changed. Even
with the wounds she had for being jostled around the cockpit, she still held the same composure he
had always known. The same fiery determination he had always seen in her eyes now stared at him
intently.

"Lelouch." the Japanese pilot said. The man in question continued to look at her, slight confusion
and nervousness marring his face as he tried to keep his composure. There was a moment of silence
until she continued. "Can I ask you something?"
The White Emperor was slightly surprised. He had expected demands, yelling and anger being
directed towards him. Not a question of all things. "Of course."

Before Kallen continued, Lelouch keyed in command on the console in front of him. Cinder
responded promptly, allowing the connection to her own Knightmare. He wanted, no, needed,
Cinder to see him at work. She needed to see that there was a possibility that Kallen could be
turned to work with them. While his orders may normally be enough, it wouldn't permanently keep
her from killing Kallen, whether out of necessity or a lapse in judgement. Seeing this in person
would at least keep her more restrained.

Not knowing of the new connection, the redhead took a deep breath before asking, "What do you
think about the Black Knights?" Lelouch didn't answer, not knowing exactly what she meant.
Kallen realized this, and quickly added, "I mean, what do you think about what they're doing now
and where they stand? Do you think they are still following the path that Zero told us he set out
on?" she asked.

I need to know this. To know that we're still the Knights who fight for justice. And if not...

Lelouch was silent for some time as he thought about her question. Cinder and Leila, the latter of
which listening into the conversation from where she stood as she continued speaking to the Black
Knights, were silent as well. They were curious about what he thought about it. Cinder because of
this being a part of him he didn't reveal much of, and Leila because of sheer curiosity.

After a moment, he answered, "If they followed the path Zero had led them on, then Japan would
have been liberated. The system which they thought against would have been torn down. A new,
proper system would have been implemented. A system of true freedom. Zero would have most
likely stepped back once the new system was in place, allowing the world to continue on its new
path and guiding it back to the correct path when it strayed. But they refused that. They chose a
different path, and we both know the moment they did so." For the first time in a long time, venom
was painfully obvious within his voice at the end of it. Only Kallen knew what he was talking
about when he spoke of a different path. She lowered her head, not wanting to remember that day.

"They chose to believe the lies of a snake in the grass, an enemy to them. I have no doubt about the
identity of the one who influenced them, as it was in his best interests to do so. They abandoned
Zero's path for an empty promise, one he would have most likely granted but in the most twisted
fashion, being nothing like what they truly wanted. Whatever that promise was, it doesn't matter.
Even now, this is not the path Zero set out for them. The current form of the Black Knights and the
UFN are as corrupt as the old system. They claim they want peace, yet are willing to fight those
they take issue with even when they also offer the hand of peace. They've betrayed for false
promises, not allowing the accused to defend against the accusations. But worst of all, they have
not been acting in the will of the people or as Knights of Justice as Zero created them to be."

Both Kallen and Leila's eyes widened at that. Leila was paying much more attention right now.
Was there something Lelouch saw in the UFN that she hadn't paid attention to? While she knew
that she couldn't completely trust Lelouch, it would be good to actually look at the UFN more
objectively…

Lelouch continued, "The people's best interest is in cooperation and peace. That is the desire of the
people, from the many situations I've seen. Yet your leaders manipulate situations from the
shadows, bringing more tension and risks for conflict. They reduce chances for peace and
cooperation, going so far as to actively manipulate their own people. They give an illusion of
freedom, while they are the ones who call the shots and make the people do what they think is
right. When was the last time the concerns of the people were brought up? When were their
discussions not about how to combat what they see as an enemy? Don't bother answering that, as I
believe we both know the answer. As for being the Knights of Justice Zero created them to be?
Why do they seek conflict against Britannia when we have offered them peace? Why do they
manipulate the people into being ready for war? Why are they willing to cooperate with Schneizel,
a man who would see the world brought to heel under him through fear and an iron fist? Why do
they aid the EU, demonstrated by your presence here, when the EU was the one to cause wanton
destruction by an unprovoked attack in the first place? I could go on, but I believe you get the idea.
Knights of Justice would not do such things, and so I don't believe they have followed his path.
They have become as corrupt as the system they replace. Right now, only my way appears to be
the correct one."

Inside their respective Knightmares, three women had extremely varied feelings. Cinder had a
smile on her face, understanding and agreeing with everything her Emperor said, yet sadness
threatened to engulf her as she heard the genuine anger and sorrow behind her Emperor's words.
Leila felt conflicted, as she had never considered any of that when she went to the UFN for help.
While she couldn't know if everything was true, the emotion behind what he said made it seem as
if everything he said was personal. That at least gave some credibility to his words. So now, she
didn't know if she had even been right in the first place about Lelouch or the UFN. As for Kallen…

"...I see." Kallen said. The emptiness in her tone was hard for anyone listening to stomach, even
Cinder, as it sounded wrong coming from someone like her. What no one could have known was
the emotions raging inside of the woman, threatening to overwhelm her and drown her. She wanted
to scream. She wanted to simply let loose and destroy everything she could just to vent. She was
right in the question she asked, as it did answer many of her questions about Lelouch. It devastated
her. She had never looked at what was being done in the light Lelouch now saw. The few things
she did notice, she simply refused to accept. But thinking about it and her own experiences lately?
He was completely correct.

So, my theory was correct. I don't even know if I should be upset or not. Kallen thought as she
laughed. Now though? Now things must be changed. The Black Knights must be changed to do
what they were meant to do in the first place...

"Is that all you wanted to know, Major Kozuki?" Lelouch asked.

"Yes, at least for now." Kallen said.

Silence engulfed the area for a moment, both sides unsure of what to say next. Eventually, Lelouch
was the one to break the silence. "In that case, I will be waiting for our next meeting. I look
forward to it." As he said this, Kallen could hear the warmth and affection within his voice,
something she hadn't really expected after she had asked her question. But what really struck her
was how she picked up on a sense of underlying hope and… was it longing that she heard? She
froze for a moment before a warm and genuine smile came over her. While she could never be
sure, her own sense of hope began to rise. Perhaps Lelouch did still want to be with her. Perhaps,
sometime in the future, there was a chance of them being together, a desire she had come to realize
she held for some time now.

"Of course. I'll be holding you to that. Until next time, Lelouch." As she said this three Akatsuki's
flew to her. They raised her Guren into the air and began to move it.

Inside his own Knightmare, Tamaki opened a private line to Kallen and said, "Don't worry. Once
we reach the base of that W-whatever unit, we'll recharge your Knightmare and we can get out of
here before the higher ups start asking questions. It'd be better if you were the one to answer them
instead of Lelouch in a broadcast." She nodded absentmindedly, not paying much attention. Right
now, Kallen was busy as thoughts rolled through her head.

If the Black Knights have veered off the path we started on, then I will have to be the one to guide
them back onto it. No matter what the costs may be.

The Guren and the other Black Knight machines flew off, slowly becoming smaller and smaller
until they disappeared into the night sky.

Lelouch was staring at them for some time as they flew off, lost in his own thoughts. He could
practically feel Cinder's eyes boring into him, and could practically taste the uncertainty Leila was
giving off. While he hoped that Cinder believed that Kallen could be a useful ally, he hadn't
expected himself to get so passionate about everything that had occurred. Perhaps he hadn't been
able to deal with things as well as he thought he had…

But what happened in the past no longer matters. I can't turn back time and change that day, as
much as I wish I could. The only option is to complete what I started out to do when I took the
throne. A perfect world will be achieved. This I promise. Lelouch thought with a sigh.

Leila, who had remained silent since Lelouch's discussion with Kallen, asked, "So, Lelouch. What
now?" He turned to her. Violet eyes met light purple as she stared at him. She waited for him to
respond, as did everyone else. It was a strange feeling, to have people hang upon what he said next.
He never knew how he should feel.

Well, I suppose that's only natural. Even the most prepared people in the world, the ones who love
this feeling, would have moments of uncertainty under the pressure. Except for C.C. That witch can
withstand practically anything and is always the exception to the rule... Lelouch thought.

After a moment, the Demon Emperor laughed. The devilish smile that people had grown
accustomed to seeing appeared on his face once more.

"Now? We have a war to finish."

 The end of the war

July 3rd. Moscow, several hours after the battle.

The battle for Moscow was finished. The war between the EU and Britannia ended with said battle,
though an official announcement had not yet been broadcasted. Vincent Wards were patrolling the
streets as Gareth's aided ground troops in gathering up Alexanders and other war machines left over
from the battle. Meanwhile, with the help of the Hounds currently on the ground, soldiers of the
Empire were trying to locate and capture any remaining combatants in the city. Medics were
spreading out, aiding the wounded wherever they could be found, European or Britannian. As of
this battle, the European Union was to join the Holy Britannian Empire in a new age.

Britannia's new monster of war was proudly flying in the air above the city. Nothing could
challenge it right now, and its crew no doubt basked in the feeling. The Nemesis levitated in the air,
waiting for its master to choose its next target. Knightmares were flying back and forth from the
vessel, units from the battle recharging their frames and then returning to the city to aid in the
recovery operations underway. Logistics officers were planning where the Empire's temporary
base would be located as reconstruction efforts began. The engineers on board the Nemesis were
already hard at work repairing damaged frames. While there were many frames to repair, most of
their efforts were focused on the machines of the Knight of Two and the Knight of Four. While the
Reaper wasn't damaged in any major way, it still needed repair. The Amber, on the other hand...
Every engineer on board the Nemesis agreed that they wouldn't let Lloyd know about the damage
to the Knightmare. For everyone's sake and sanity.

Members of the Command Staff were still on the bridge, directing soldiers and relief units
throughout the city. The throne once occupied by the Emperor was now vacant, as he had left some
time ago. There had been no need for him to be there, after all. His commanders were more than
capable of dealing with any problems that may arise, and the Emperor was always prepared to
return to the bridge should something major occur. But for now, the Emperor had more important
things to deal with. After all, he had to prepare an announcement to the world. The announcement
they had all knew was coming when this war started. Britannia was victorious!

As they were in command for the time being, they could make any choice needed in the current
situation. As long as it fell within the boundaries set out by the Emperor, of course. So, when a
Knightmare approached the flagship with an identification code that every one of the staff knew by
memory being broadcast, the staff decided not to inform the Emperor. It would no doubt be a
pleasant surprise for him after such a stressful battle to see its pilot again.

The inside of the ship looked different than one might expect when compared to the outer hull. The
inside didn't have the same color scheme the outer hull had. Instead, a pure white covered the halls.
Specific portions of the wall were a distinct shade of violet. As operations continued, these halls
were abuzz with activity. Engineers talking with pilots about repairs, medics conversed with
commanding officers about injuries sustained by their men and many other interactions.

As these conversations occurred, a common sight amongst the halls were the Emperor's Royal
Guard. Usually, the Emperor's personal bodyguards would see to their own machine's maintenance
or do whatever their master required them to do. Right now, they were doing something different
than their normal duties. They were escorting a prisoner. Though she wasn't technically a prisoner,
if the rumours were to be believed. While most believed that she was a prisoner, none would say
that out loud if they wanted to keep their heads. They knew their Emperor would not appreciate any
false assumptions. No one would say anything until their Emperor gave an announcement.

Leila had never been on an airship before. The closest she had gotten to them was in reading
intelligence reports on both the Britannian and the few Federation vessels that existed. Until now,
Leila thought that the Avalon was best Britannia had. Obviously, that was no longer the case. The
size of this ship put every airship she knew of to shame. As she had been transported to the vessel,
Leila had overheard a couple of engineers talking about how this was all created from the mind of
the Emperor himself with the help of his top engineers. How he was able to come up with such
monstrous creations was beyond her.

Then again, this is the man who managed to outsmart the brightest strategic minds Europe had
multiple times over. Looks like he was the one to have all the good luck in this war... Two of
Lelouch's guards stood next to her, and she saw two identical guards stationed at the door she was
rapidly approaching. The guard to her left moved his arm in a gesture towards the other guards.
The soldiers in front of the door nodded in response, opening the door and stepping aside. When
the guards turned to look at her, she took it as her cue to enter the room.

As Leila entered, she took in the sight around her. The room was large, to say the least. Leila didn't
know its exact size, but she was sure that it could fit the entirety of Wyvern squad's barracks and
still have room to spare. The walls were a pristine white in colour, while the floor appeared to be a
type of grey marble. A giant TV screen which nearly covered the entire wall in front of her drew
her attention before she shifted her gaze to the rest of the room. Taking several steps forward, she
noticed a broad white sofa with black edge highlighting sitting in front of an intricate wooden table.
On her left, she could see a large wooden door out of the corner of her vision.

Leila slowly walked in circles around the room. Other than the few things she took note of, it was
surprisingly empty. The only real thing that stood out to her were the bookshelves sitting against
the wall opposite of the screen. As she walked past, she took note of all the different books sitting
on the shelves. Leila noted that some of them were written in different languages. She managed to
recognize a few of the books, some Japanese in origin that she remembered Akito reading, while
others she could recognize as being from countries part of the former EU. But others were
completely unknown to her. Out of the ones she recognized, a few topics stood out to her.
Medicine, history, economy, even gardening. The last one made Leila smirk. Was the White
Emperor taking care of a garden on top of everything else he did?

She found this idea interesting. It made him seem a bit more human than he appeared to be on the
battlefield and to the public. Soon her eyes moved back to the center of the room where the table
was. A chessboard sat on it, something she hadn't really paid attention to before. She assumed that
the Emperor had been playing a game with someone recently. A guard, perhaps? One of the
Knights of the Round? She doubted that she'd ever know.

After looking at the board for a moment, she noticed something amiss. Neither the black nor white
king were where they were supposed to be. In fact, she couldn't see them anywhere on the table.
Leila looked around it, as perhaps it fell somewhere. Many people didn't know this, but she was a
perfectionist and couldn't stand the thought of something like missing chess pieces. She got down
to her knees and started to look for the pieces. Perhaps they had fallen under the couch or
something else in the room. As she was searching for the missing pieces, she didn't notice the
doors open and that someone entered the room.

She was so engrossed in searching for the missing pieces, she didn't notice how the person who
entered the room had moved in front of her until she bumped into them. She looked up, and as
purple eyes met rich violet ones, Leila let out a squeak of surprise. The smiling face of Emperor
Lelouch looked at her as he knelt down on one knee, amusement lacing his features.
"Searching for something, Leila?" the Emperor of Britannia asked. There was silence for a moment
before Leila jumped back. She took a slightly defensive stance, though her hands and legs were
shaking slightly. Her face quickly reddened in embarrassment as she heard a light laugh coming
from the man who stood before her. After a moment to calm herself down, she lowered her hands
and relaxed slightly.

"Emperor Lelouch! I was just searching for- for the two missing chess pieces." Her eyes fell back
onto the chessboard. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed him look at the board as well, the
amused smile never leaving his face. She said nothing, waiting for his response. Lelouch suddenly
pulled out the two missing kings from his chest pocket.

"You mean these two pieces? I apologize for making you look for them. Sometimes I take them
with me." the Emperor said as he placed the king pieces back to their proper places. After this,
Lelouch looked at her and said, "Forgive me for making you wait, Leila. I was busy giving some
final orders to my people."

Leila shook her head. "No, no it's okay, I understand. There must be a lot you and your soldiers
have to get done." as she said it, Leila tried to keep as much of her feelings out of her tone as
possible, but she had no doubt that some of her bitterness still came through. Leila didn't know how
to feel. Several hours ago, she was one of the last remaining Generals of Europe. Now she was
waiting at the mercy of the very enemy that had taken her nation from her, waiting to know what
he really wanted her for.

Lelouch didn't speak for a moment, simply observing her. After a moment, he said, "I will admit
that I am surprised. When I planned to speak with you, I was certain you would be angrier than
anything else. It would only be logical, given what had happened. What changed, Leila?"

Leila shook her head. "I will admit, for a long time I was angry at you in regards to this conflict. I
was angry because I thought you deliberately took steps to start this war, with the EU Council
merely being a scapegoat. I was mad at you when my entire unit was forced to try and avoid your
assassins in Italy." Leila said.

After a moment's pause, she continued, "But after that night in Prague, I started to think about your
words. I don't know why, but I could never get them out of my head. Nor could I understand why I
had the feeling that there was something I was missing. Then I learned about Smilas and your
brother's alliance." A hurt look came over her face as she continued. "I learned that the man who
was called a hero by the people of the EU was a traitor willing to sell out everyone. That he helped
orchestrate the war, even being the one to convince the Council to begin the initial attack. Once I
found this out, my anger became more directed at him than you. While I may still be angry at you
for some of the things you did, I am at least willing to understand that not all blame in this conflict
belongs to you as I once thought it did."

Leila sighed after she finished speaking. Gene was her father's best friend. She had always thought
of him as a man of principals. Someone, she could look up to. It had hurt her to find out what he
was doing behind everyone's backs. With another sigh, she continued, "To believe that the EU lost
everything because Smilas was willing to do what he did. And for what? Just so Schneizel could
rule Europe through him?"

A look of pity came over Lelouch's face. He sat down on the couch in front of the chess set, hands
folded in front of him. "Leila, Schneizel never wanted to rule Europe through Smilas."

"What?!" Leila nearly shouted as she looked at Lelouch with wide eyes. The man in question
simply began to use the chess set in front of him. He was making moves for both sides, starting
with a white pawn.
Before Leila could say anything else, Lelouch continued, "My brother is preparing for something. I
do not know what it is, but it is large enough in scale that he needs to buy time to have it
completed. In order to ensure that I do not discover whatever it is he's up to until it is too late, he
needs to distract to me." As he said this, Lelouch moved a black pawn forward. "And what could
be a better distraction than a war, one with the very Union that has been desiring to put Britannia
down for decades?" He took the white king and brought it up to his face, observing it. "Schneizel
knew the EU couldn't win against me. But he didn't need the Union to win the war, now did he?"
At this, he looked at Leila, waiting for her to respond. He could already see her eyes going wide.

"He just needed us to occupy you and your forces. When you started pushing further into Europe, it
threatened to speed up the war. He sent the former Knights of the Round that were with him to
make sure that the war would be extended." As Leila was saying this, anger began filling her
voice. "In his eyes, Europe wasn't even a potential opponent for you! We were just cannon fodder!"
she shouted with clenched fists.

So many in Europe dead! Soldiers who lost their lives fighting. Destroyed cities and murdered
civilians, and I was a part of this... Leila thought as the realization hit her hard. With a defeated
look on her face, she sat down near Lelouch on the sofa, unable to look at anything but her feet.
With a deep sigh and a hand against her face, she said:

"That viper probably even knew what I would do if I found out about Smilas. Even when I thought
I was returning the Union back to the people's control, that viper knew I would fall right into
place." The second Prince probably knew that she would fight until the end for Europe. She
couldn't just leave, not with so much at stake. In the end, she did exactly what the Prince wanted.

Lelouch, who had been silent as Leila talked, spoke. "His plans, whether intentional or not, have
played nicely with mine." Leila turned to him, a questioning look on her face.

"What?"

"My plans for a perfect world." Lelouch answered. Suddenly, Leila remembered how the Emperor
had mentioned it when they first met. "Schneizel managed to convince the Union to attack
Britannia. While I would have preferred to conduct it differently and without as much destruction,
it was an event which I needed to achieve my goal." Leila looked at him with a shocked gaze.

She didn't know what to say. Only one question was on her mind. "Why?" she managed to get out.
Why would Lelouch need a war against the EU? Certainly, there were other ways to achieve his
goals!

Lelouch simply looked at her and smiled. "The war between Britannia and the European Union
was more than just a conflict between two superpowers." Leila wanted to laugh when he called the
EU a superpower, he was probably trying to be respectful to her. "This war was between the old
order and the new one. The EU, while noble in its original intentions, had become an embodiment
of everything that was wrong with the old system. The so-called democracy that was supposed to
protect the interests of its people became corrupted. Its leaders were worried only about their own
profit, their power and how to save and extend it. They forgot about their nation, about the very
people they swore to serve and protect. Leila, answer me this: how many times have disliked or
hated Presidents somehow been chosen in 'fair elections'? How many times have they come to
power because of support from those already in high ranking positions instead of the people's
decisions? How fair is your democracy, Leila? Does it work for the nation or the nation for it?"

Leila was silent. She didn't want to admit it, but Lelouch was right. Europe was corrupt in almost
every avenue by the end. Its leaders were nothing but power-hungry backstabbers. Democracy
almost never worked how it was meant to. She had lost count of how many times one EU leader
was replaced with his or her relative, or by someone in line to replace them if anything occurred
before another election. Not to mention that their actual capability to be leaders were… lacking, to
be polite about it. The military was only slightly better, though it could be much worse depending
on who you served under. She had been lucky to serve under a decent general, even though Smilas
ruined everything at the end. Leila was able to rise through the ranks due to her skills.

There were good people as well, of course. Those who did their job while understanding how
important it was. They knew that people's lives depend on them, and they wanted to do what was in
the interest of the people. Unfortunately, these people were overshadowed by those who cared
little about those they were elected to serve. Leila thought back to the last president of the EU. He
had been a good man. It was such a shame that he had not been in power before. Perhaps this entire
war could have been avoided with men and women like him at the helm. But it didn't matter now.
The Union was already dead; no amount of wishing different people had been in control would
change that.

She turned to the Emperor before her with a frown on her face and said, "What about Britannia?
Your Empire was just as bad as our Union if we go by what you are saying. The only difference
between our two nations was that Britannia was successful in the colonizations and forced
expansions which allowed it to grow far further than the EU could in a similar amount of time.
Britannia's nobles were no better than the politicians you speak of in Europe. In fact, at least our
politicians were kept in some form of check and balance. Britannia's nobles could practically get
away with anything! Your system enabled things far worse than our system ever could."

She was surprised when Lelouch nodded. The Emperor agreed with her, and with a smile stated,
"You are right, Leila. In fact, I can easily say that Britannia deserved complete and absolute
destruction more than any other country on this planet." Suddenly, the smile left Lelouch's face.
With venom in his voice, he continued, "I wanted that destruction more than anyone else, Leila. I
dreamed about the day when my homeland would be annihilated. I hated everything my people
believed in. Their belief in Britannian superiority above all else. Their arrogance, the
discrimination, the whole philosophy of the strong versus the weak... I wanted nothing more than
to watch the entirety of that Britannia burn. Let nothing exist of that philosophy and system but
dust. I wanted revenge for everything that happened to me and my sister because of that system."
Lelouch's fists were clenched, hard enough that she could see the whites of his knuckles. Leila
watched on with wide eyes.

He hates Britannia so much... yet he is its Emperor. I don't understand. Why would he be the
Emperor of the nation he hates with such passion?

"...If you hate Britannia so much, then why you haven't you destroyed it already? Why did you
become the ruler of an Empire that you hate so much?" Leila asked quietly, not knowing what she
expected to hear.

"What are you talking about, Leila?" Lelouch asked with a surprised tone in his voice. His violet
eyes focused on the woman before him. "I destroyed the Britannia that I hated. I destroyed the old
system and watched it burn. I replaced everything that had caused Britannia to become so corrupt. I
destroyed the nobility and their corrupt practices, watching them drown in the hatred they had
garnered from the common folk. I annihilated the beliefs of the Purebloods and made those who
refused to turn from that belief into more… useful individuals. I gave those once called Numbers
the rights to be equal with their masters. I changed the Empire's history. When future generations
read history books, they will learn just how terrible Britannia was under the rule of my ancestors.
Under my father's rule..." Lelouch whispered those last few words with venom.

"And following their rule, you come forward and changed everything like a white knight rescuing
the nation from evil. They will see you as the best Emperor that ever ruled Britannia." Leila said,
having come to the conclusion Lelouch no doubt had known she would come to. Lelouch gave a
short laugh.

"I am flattered by your analogy, even if I don't see myself as a white knight personally. But still, is
it not true?" he asked her. Leila was unsure how to respond. Lelouch, seeing that, decided to
continue. "Everything I've done so far, everything I'm doing now and everything I plan to do is for
the sake of the future. A perfect future where no one will suffer like me. Like you, Leila." At this,
he looked straight into her eyes. "I know what you went through. What happened to you was
unfair. It was a mistake." he said with warmth in his voice.

Leila turned away. She didn't want to speak about her childhood. She was about to say that he
didn't know what it was like to lose parents, but then she remembered exactly who she was talking
to. Miss X's words come to the front of her mind. She remembered how she and W-0 learned about
the White Emperor's past. Or at least a part of it. Leila didn't know what was worse. Losing a
father, or having Charles zi Britannia as a father. A man who was a literal tyrant to his own
children.

No wonder there are members of Royal Family who hated the former Emperor behind his back .
Leila thought as she turned back to Lelouch. She knew that being angry at him for what Empire did
in the past was pointless. Lelouch hated the old Britannia even more than Leila herself, and he was
right about the EU. But she had no idea how he was going to continue to achieve his goals. He was
unpredictable at the best of times from what she had seen, and she knew that the man in front of
her would most likely not tell her about everything he planned to do. That little fact terrified her.
But she had no choice at this point. The best she could hope for was to find a way to ensure she
stayed in the loop and try to retain some say of what happened to the people of Europe.

"If I may ask. What are you going to do now, and how does it involve me?" Leila asked.

Lelouch didn't say anything for a few seconds, staring at her before a smile graced his features.
"First and foremost, I need to aid the countries damaged in this war with their reconstruction
efforts. I tried to minimize damage wherever I could, but unfortunately, there will always be
damage. As you no doubt know, there are cities that suffered major damage to the point where we
practically have to rebuild some of them." Leila nodded in agreement. Cities like Berlin where the
fighting had been most intense needed reconstruction badly before they could let civilians back in
safely. "The next thing I'll have to do, with your help, is to convince the people of Europe to join
the Empire as peacefully as possible. Britannia won the war. We were justified in pursuing it as
well. From what I've been able to gather, there are many people who at a bare minimum
understand it, even if they don't like the results. However, there are still people who don't see it
that way and see Britannia as the warmongers of old. I fear that they will resort to extremes that
will end up doing more harm than good. Leila, if something like that happens, I will have no other
choice but to put down such insurrectionists with force."

Leila clenched her fists. She understood what he meant. She could even agree, but she refused to
allow more people to die because of this war. "I understand, even though I refuse to allow you to
do that. The best way to solve that problem is to win their hearts and convince them that this is for
the best. I might have some ideas about what to do."

Lelouch raised his eyebrow as she continued. "The best way to go forward is to prioritize civilian
needs, obviously. Hospitals, shelter, the usual needs. But the people aiding rebuilding should be
both open-minded Britannians as well as the local populace. Convince the people that the Britannia
of today is different from the Britannia of the past. While there will most likely have to be
programs put in place to help integrate the people in a more peaceful manner than under the
previous Emperor's rule, this will at least help get the ball rolling.

Lelouch nodded. "I had similar ideas. I plan to give orders similar to what you just described to the
more recently occupied lands. Western Europe, namely France and Spain, have been receptive of
the efforts given so far. Hopefully, the rest of Europe will be as receptive.

Leila nodded, glad to hear that the Emperor had already been thinking along the same lines as she
had. "We will have a lot of paperwork to get through. While the countries of the Union are now
part of the Empire, many things will need to be changed to make it all work with minimal issues.
New divisions for the Special Administrative Zones and their boundaries. Local garrisons for
military forces. Training of new forces to meet Britannia's standards. Re-armament and upgrades of
the remaining army to meet new standards. Integrating Europe's forces and Britannia's without
major complications arising due to hostilities." Leila sighed deeply and sunk back further into the
couch. "This is going to be hard. Not to mention the costs involved." Lelouch just waved away.

"Don't worry about money. I've already arranged everything. The money has already been
budgeted, people across Britannia have already signed up to aid in reconstruction, and I have
access to enough resources to complete this. All of that has already been dealt with. I have enough
money and supplies to rebuild Europe at least three times over. As for integrating forces? I have the
means to ensure that there will be no such problems on that front. You forget, Leila, I like to plan
far in advance. All of this was accounted for at the start of the war." Lelouch said with a smile.
Leila stared at him, a dumbfounded look on her face.

"How? Just… how? Leila asked. She was shocked, to say the least.

A devilish smile appeared on the face of the White Emperor. "I'm a man who many people claim
to be able to create miracles, Leila. Did you think I wouldn't have thought about the future of the
people subjected to this war?" Leila simply stared at him, unable to speak.

Our army had issues in even attempting to gather the funds and resources to build a new
stratospheric launcher. We even had difficulty convincing those in government that it was
necessary. Yet he managed to prepare everything before he even won. When the war had barely
even started, he planned to rule Europe. No, he knew he was going to rule Europe. She thought to
herself.

Leila looked at Lelouch with a bitter smile as she decided to get the one question that had been
gnawing at her during the entire war off of her chest. "Lelouch, was the Union a weak opponent to
you?" Lelouch pondered the question for a moment.

"Yes, it was. Your Union was breathing its last well before I became ruler of Britannia. Even if I
had not ascended to the throne, the previous Emperor would have seen to your fall. In fact, part of
the reason this war even went on for as long as it did was due to one reason. I wanted to avoid
civilian casualties wherever I could. My father would have simply razed everything to the ground
and ordered everyone to be slaughtered. So yes, the Union was weak." Lelouch noticed how Leila
lowered her head, most likely out of the feeling of worthlessness. He knew how bad it felt to not
even be considered a worthy opponent. His father had played that card all too well throughout his
life. "But even when I knew that my victory was the only possibility, I couldn't allow myself to be
caught off guard. In fact, the EU did manage to surprise me. Those hadron cannons honestly caught
me off guard, even if it was only because I hadn't thought you'd be able to get anything Schneizel
gave you online that fast. While I had planned for it, it did impress me."

Leila didn't respond. After a moment, Lelouch continued. "Don't feel as if you were worthless
Leila. You did more than anyone else in this war."
"All I did was run away from your servants. When I tried to take a stand against you, all of the W-0
unit and rest of the army was defeated with apparent ease." she bit out. She shook her head and
asked. "What is there that I should be proud of?"

"Be proud that you gave the people of Europe hope." Lelouch answered with a small smile. Leila
thought about it as he continued to speak. "When everything was going downhill, you did
everything you could to protect the citizens of the Union. You were running from my people to
fight another day. You managed to keep my forces occupied, giving valuable time to save your
fellow soldiers. It is not your fault that the EU lost this war. You are a hero, one your people
deserve and need right now. I give you my word that you will be allowed to continue fighting for
them even under the banner of Britannia."

Leila was silent for a few moments before a smirk appeared on her face. "If I heard those words
from anyone I knew, I would dismiss it as misplaced hero worship. You, on the other hand, I'm not
so sure about. But isn't it odd for the leader of my enemy to be saying such things?"

"I'm just telling you the truth of what I see. I will need you to make things right in Europe, Leila."
As he said this, he extended his hand and looked her dead in the eye. "Leila Malchal, will you join
Britannia to help guide your people into a better age of the world?"

This was it. Before this moment, everything said before had just been simple talk. Words without
consequences. But now, the moment she knew had been coming ever since she surrendered Europe
had arrived. Leila thought she would be feeling guilt, despair, or distrust towards the Emperor. But
she didn't. For some reason, she just knew that Lelouch was speaking the truth. But not only that,
she somehow knew that there was something more to the Emperor than he let on. Something
beneath the mask he wore. It made her curious, and she wanted to know more.

Leila reached out and shook his hand. With a confident smile, she said, "Lelouch vi Britannia, I
promise to help you in leading people of Europe to a better future."

"Well then, I guess we are now partners in crime." Lelouch joked as Leila smiled.

If somebody had told me a year ago that I would willingly work with the Emperor of Britannia, I
would have sent them for psychiatric evaluation for even thinking about something so
ridiculous. Leila thought to herself.

The two leaders said nothing as they let their arms fall to their sides, simply enjoying the
satisfaction of the moment as they thought about the future they needed to work for. Things were
about to turn great for both-

"Oh my. Now, what do I see here?"

The two individuals turned to the source of the voice. Leila's eyes went wide from surprise while
Lelouch's from fear, already knowing the conversation he was going to have with her. The woman's
gold eyes focused on the White Emperor. A forced smile appeared on her face as she asked a
simple question.

"Could you explain to me what is going on here, my warlock?"

Unknown location.

*Click*

Schneizel smiled, his violet eyes focused on the barrel of the gun that was pointed at him. He
wasn't surprised at the action. In fact, the second Prince had been expecting something like this
from the man before him. It was a good thing that I ordered Kanon to leave. I don't even want to
imagine what he would have done right now...

Sometimes his loyal assistant could be overprotective about his master's life. While that was one of
the reasons the former prince preferred him to other assistants, as his concerns were useful to point
out potential problems arising with his plans, in moments like these it would have most likely lost
him an ally.

Giving no signs of concern, Schneizel simply nodded in greeting. A smile graced his features, one
he had given many others in hostile situations. "Lord Zevon, it is a pleasure to see you as well.
Now, I would be grateful if you lowered your gun, Oiaguro. We have much more important things
to discuss."

The identity of the masked man was something unknown to the majority of his forces. Or at least,
it was until Schneizel decided to do some digging. He was a little disappointed with how easy it
was to find out his identity. Though he supposed not everyone could be like his little brother when
it came to concealing the facts. Regardless of the ease, he appropriated the information, it was
interesting to learn that the former patriarch of the Zevon family was working with his late father.

"Don't call me by that name." the man hissed with anger in his voice, furious that the Prince in
front of him knew his name. He was glad that the multi-colored mask hid his expression right now.
It would not do well to give the man any more advantages than he already had. He was tempted to
simply pull the trigger of the pistol he had and end the second Prince right here and now. It didn't
even matter that he was on board Schneizel's airship and would most likely be dead in mere
moments. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed the former prime minister to go forward, Wizard
most likely would have done the deed without hesitation.

"Very well, Wizard. Now, can we please get back to the reason we're having this meeting?" as he
said this, he pointed at a seat on the other side of the table. After a few seconds, the masked man
lowered his pistol and sat down.

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Oiaguro was the first to break the silence. "What
do you want, Schneizel?" The venom was obvious in his voice, but Schneizel merely smiled.

"I can understand why my father trusted you with important work. Quick and to the point once
your temper has been raised." The masked man simply placed his pistol on the table, and Schneizel
cleared his throat. "Very well then. We have bad news. Lelouch has just successfully taken over
Moscow. Europe is now lost to us." Under the table, Oiaguro clenched his fists.

"Don't pretend like you ever cared about the EU in the first place." Wizard stated. "We both know
that is not true. The EU would still be fighting Britannia if you didn't lie to us from the start."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Schneizel said, attempting to wave away the accusation.
Suddenly, Oiaguro hit the desk in front of him. The smile left Schneizel's face as a more serious
expression came over it.

"Don't play games with me, Schneizel!" the former noble shouted. "I know that you didn't even
think of the EU as a potential threat to that demon! You have been lying to me and Gene from the
start of this damned war! If you didn't fool that idiot into thinking that we can stop Lelouch, we
would still have the Union on our side! At the very least we'd still have more forces available to us.
Because of you, now we have nothing!" As the man vocalized his fury, Schneizel had to hold back
an undignified snort.
How sad. I thought Oiaguro Zevon was calmer than this. He was able to hide from the Empire as
he aided my father, but I'm not surprised that he couldn't overshadow Zero. It appears there was
no supposed revolutionary who could challenge Lelouch during his time in Area 11. The former
Prime Minister thought as a feeling of pride came over him regarding his little brother. Then an
interesting thought came to the front of his mind. Schneizel shook his head. It isn't time to think
about that.

"Wizard, you may think that it was my fault that the European Union fell, and it may be solely my
fault as you claim. But I remind you that we are dealing with Lelouch. Believe me, my little brother
is more dangerous than you think. He has more secrets than you can imagine."

Wizard snorted. "That whore's son managed to defeat everyone else there. You tell me if you know
something about him that I don't."

"Not so fast, Lord Zevon. I won't give out information for free. Also, don't forget that Lelouch
almost killed you." Schneizel warned. He hid the venom in his voice masterfully, Wizard
completely unaware of the sore spot he had hit. While Lelouch may be in the wrong and was being
incredibly foolish going against him, Schneizel still cared about him. Even though he knew he
would most likely have to kill him in the end, he refused to let someone like the man in front of
him vocalize such disrespect. He owed Lelouch that much, at the very least.

"What do you want then?"

"An alliance between us."

Oiaguro scowled. "We had an alliance and look where it got us. The EU is lost to us, Smilas and
that fanatic of yours are dead." And now Oldrin knows about me. He added in his head

"While you may have believed that agreement was made to stop Lelouch, its real purpose was to
slow him down in Europe. It is not my fault that you misinterpreted my intentions." He kept his
gaze locked with the mask of the man on the other side of the table and continued. "I was surprised
when you gave the Union hadron technology so late into the war. If you wanted the EU to continue
fighting, then why didn't you do this in the first place? Certainly, that would have helped them
fight."

Oiaguro's blood boiled in anger as he watched the second Prince smirk. "Anyway, with Europe in
Lelouch's hands, he will be busy for some time changing the Union. This will prove to be a much
larger delay than what you would be capable of. My little brother is well acquainted with how to
deal with small units. The method you would no doubt use would have simply wasted resources
that could be used to delay him for a longer amount of time. An amount of time already used by
extending the final confrontation at Moscow. We will this new lull as a chance to prepare."

"And what you want to do? We don't have an army that can oppose Britannia. How are you
planning to fight him without one?" Oiaguro growled out.

"Lord Zevon, you are mistaken if you think we need an army to defeat Lelouch. Of course, having
an army is important. But that can be obtained later from other sources. We do not lack people who
hate or distrust the intentions of my little brother, after all. No, what we need is something
different. Something more powerful than anything my little brother has. Something my forces are
already hard at work building."

Wizard stared at him for a second before asking, "And that is?" A smile appeared on Schneizel's
face, one that wasn't the fake one he used to deal with nobles or negotiators. A smile he only
showed when he was confident he would be victorious. He said one word:
"Damocles."

Oiaguro, who didn't understand what Damocles was, asked. "What is it?"

"My friend, do you remember what happened during the second battle of Tokyo?" After a few
moments, Oiaguro carefully nodded. Every nation of the world was aware of what happened and
the monstrous weapon that caused it. "Now imagine if we had more of that weapon. Imagine what
would happen if we had a fully operational battle station that could fire this kind of weapon to any
place on the planet." Oiaguro's eyes widened in shock and fear. New anger came over him, but this
one not out of hatred. This was anger out of disgust.

"Schneizel, this is madness!" he declared. He stood from the table as he grabbed his pistol. "If that
is what you plan, then..." He raised his pistol and took aim at Schneizel. He could stomach the war.
He could stomach the deaths of civilians if there was the need. But he refused to be a part of such
pointless destruction and slaughter like Schneizel appeared to be suggesting just to combat one
man.

Schneizel didn't react as he stared down the barrel, simply musing how this was beginning to
become a familiar sight. He stood from his seat and placed hands on the table. "Oiaguro, I
understand your anger. But this madness as you call it is the only way we can stop Lelouch. The
only way we can outmaneuver him and his geass."

Oiaguro was about to pull the trigger when he froze completely. Schneizel held back a smirk as he
knew what was running through the man's head. Fear laced Oiaguro's voice as he said in a hushed
voice, "Geass? You mean to tell me that Lelouch has had a geass this entire time?" The man's gun
arm slowly lowered, trembling as he did so. "How?" he asked. He didn't even have the motivation
to be angry that Schneizel hadn't told him about the boy having a geass. At this point, it didn't
matter.

Schneizel slowly sat down. "I will be happy to tell you a fascinating story. I will only tell you,
however, on the condition that you join my alliance." he said, knowing that Oiaguro couldn't say
no.

The man in question didn't respond. He moved his hand to the mask that covered his face. He
slowly took it off, revealing the green-blue eyes of Oiaguro Zevon. With a nod, the man sealed his
fate. He hated that he had to agree with this madness. But if the boy had a geass, there was no
telling what could arise. Schneizel's solution may be an option he didn't agree with. But when
geass was involved with an enemy, only a method of madness could compete with another method
of madness.

Schneizel smiled in victory. Lelouch, you might have won the war and obtained Europe. But at the
end of the game, you will find that it has done you more harm than good to focus on that, my dear
brother.

Moscow.

Inside the Emperor's chambers, hostility filled the air. Lelouch was frozen in place as the green-
haired witch stared at him. She was standing just inside the doorframe wearing the same black
dress that he gave to her at Pendragon. Behind her, Lelouch noticed the appearance of his Scarlet
Guard. He couldn't see their faces, but for some reason, he could tell that they were apologizing.
He waved them away and they left.

He hadn't been expecting her to be back on board the ship for a couple of hours at least. While C.C
might have been smiling, he knew that it wasn't her real smile but a forced one.

"Partners, huh?" she said in a neutral voice. Lelouch knew that she was anything but neutral at the
moment, however. Crap. She's angry.

Lelouch raised his hand in defence. "C.C, I know what you're thinking, but it's not-"

"Not what, Lelouch?" she interrupted. Gold eyes met violet as she continued. "I'm sorry Lelouch,
but I'm pretty sure that I heard you ask this girl to become your partner. Am I wrong?" she said,
placing emphasis on a certain p-word. Lelouch could hear the venom in her voice as she said it.
Leila simply looked on in confusion, temporarily forgotten as the couple spoke to each other.
"After what she did in that castle, I'm surprised you haven't shot her yet. You do remember what
she did, don't you?" she asked.

"Wait! You were in Lupobianco?" Leila asked. When the green-haired girl didn't answer, Leila's
eyes widened as she recognized where she remembered the girl from. "You're that assassin that
almost killed me! But-but how did you survive?" Leila could swear she heard her voice somewhere
else as well as from being the assassin, but she couldn't place it.

C.C looked at her with a bored look. "Took you long enough, girl." she muttered in disappointment.

"But how-?" Leila began to stutter from there, unable to comprehend how the woman who had
tried to kill her was standing in front of her. Lelouch waited, curious as to how his witch would
answer.

"It seems you can't even destroy your castle properly if I'm still alive. Then again, knowing how
the war went I'm not surprised you failed there as well." Lelouch would have laughed if he knew
he wouldn't be angering his witch further. "Maybe I should finish what I started there? You don't
have the toys you had in Rome to save you again." she said. She began to make her way towards
Leila with something in her hand. Lelouch gulped as he realized that C.C was serious.

I need to stop this before it gets out of hand.

Lelouch thought and quickly stood between two girls. He raised his hands before C.C in an attempt
to stop her. "My witch, why don't we slow down and take a moment to speak about this like
adults?" C.C raised her head. Her face was just inches away from his. After a moment, she said two
words.

"Her. Out."

"Understood." Lelouch immediately replied and turned to Leila. He began to quickly move Leila
towards the door as confusion became evident on her features. "Leila, we will finish our
conversation later. Forgive me but there things that I need to take care of. I'm really sorry about
this." he said as he opened the door.

"Wait, Lelouch. What is going on? I don't under-" Before she could finish, one of the Scarlet
Guards appeared.

"Lady Malcal is tired, take her to one of the guest rooms." Lelouch turned his head to look in the
direction of his witch. Knowing what she was capable of, especially in the mood she was in, he
added, "Don't let anyone entire her room." The Scarlet Guard placed his right hand on his chest and
nodded. He glanced at the blonde girl next to him.

Leila didn't understand what was happing but decided to do what the White Emperor was telling
her to do. Besides, she really didn't like how she felt around that other woman, it was like her life
was in danger again. The guard began to walk, and Leila followed him. Lelouch closed the door
and pressed his back against it. He let out a sigh as he looked at the scene before him.

C.C was sitting in the same place where Leila had sat mere minutes ago. She was staring at the
chess set before her, curled up with her legs against her chest. As Lelouch walked up to her, she
looked at him with an empty gaze.

"Lelouch, are you tired of me?" she said. Betrayal laced her voice as she said this.

His eyes went wide from the question. He couldn't fathom how she could ever have come to that
conclusion. "Where did you get that ridiculous idea, C.C?" She looked at him with conflicting
emotions dancing across her eyes as he asked the question.

"Maybe because I saw you making a partnership with that Malcal girl? I failed to kill her twice
already, and now she is here with you calling her your partner." she quietly said. Lelouch's eyes
went wide as he realized what she meant.

"C.C... did you think I was going to replace you with Leila?" he asked slowly. The girl in question
immediately turned away from his gaze. Lelouch didn't see it, but a shade of pink appeared on her
face.

"Don't think too much of yourself, Lelouch." she said, trying not to let any emotion into her voice.
"I was afraid that you might forget about your part of our deal. That's all." When she didn't hear
anything from him, C.C turned her head to look at him."Lelou-?!"

Suddenly, Lelouch closed the distance between them. His hands wrapped around her body. His face
pressed up against her neck. C.C didn't know how to react. Physical affection wasn't something out
of the ordinary for the two of them, but she didn't expect Lelouch to do something like this on
impulse. They sat like this for what felt like an eternity. Slowly, the black-haired boy raised his
face to her right ear and whispered into it.

"Cera." he said, warmth colouring his voice. She shivered as he said her name, the way it was said
setting off emotions she long kept under control within her being. "I will never forget about my
promise to you, my dear witch. Don't ever think that I would replace you for someone else." he
whispered. C.C didn't respond. All she did was allow her eyes to close as she melted into her
lover's arms. It just felt right to her, more right than anything she had experienced before in her
long life.

After staying like that for a few minutes, Lelouch moved his head. C.C opened her eyes to find her
warlock looking directly into her eyes. "Don't ever think like that again. It pains me to hear such
things coming from you of all people. Although, if you had been feeling like this, you could have
handled it much better." Golden eyes blinked in confusion.

"...What?"

Lelouch narrowed his eyes at her. "You heard me. We haven't seen each other for a long period of
time, and instead of asking me what was going on and letting me explain, you act like an over-
imaginative schoolgirl worried her crush may plan to replace her with every girl he speaks to. Not
to mention that you make me talk like a schoolboy admitting his love to a crush."

She blushed slightly at his words. While Lelouch may not always realize it, that statement was
closer to the truth than many realized. While she may have lived a long life, she had little
experience dealing with love firsthand. With everything that happened to her, actual love was as
new as it was to a child first experiencing it. So his statement wasn't actually that far off…
"Well, first of all, you didn't graduate from Ashford. So technically, you are still a student." C.C
stated. Many people in the Empire tended to forget that their great and powerful White Emperor
hadn't even finished high school, something Cera was surprised no one had mentioned to him yet.
Then again, that was probably something that wasn't even on the mind of most citizens in the
Empire. "Second, how can you still have shame after everything you've done? Never mind you
being so outrageously flamboyant as both Zero and the Emperor. You've flirted with many other
girls and even slept with the physical manifestation of the Collective Unconscious itself. There
shouldn't be anything that embarrasses you, boy." C.C stated.

Her warlock rolled his eyes. "Those may seem to be more embarrassing to you. Saying something
like this to you is another thing entirely to me. I didn't think we needed to say anything like this to
each other to understand how we feel, Cera." Lelouch threw his arms in the air. "Do I need to say
this to you every time something like this happens so you won't forget it?" he sighed. He turned
away and pressed his back against the sofa. C.C didn't stop staring at him as he did so.

"You just need to say three words."

Lelouch slowly turned to look at her. There was no hint of emotion on her face. Her golden eyes
were staring at him, waiting for him to say the words she wanted to hear. The warlock turned to his
witch and took her right palm at his hand. It was small and warm. He didn't break eye contact with
her. His heart started to beat a bit faster, and he could feel her pulse speed up slightly as well at the
action. Finally, Lelouch said it.

"I love you, Cera."

Lelouch waited for her to respond. To his growing concern, C.C simply kept staring at him. He
didn't want to admit it, but he was waiting for C.C to say the same thing back to him. Instead of
saying those three words, however, a Cheshire smirk appeared on her face.

"I know."

"..."

"..."

"You damn witch." he said with a frown on his face. C.C couldn't help but giggle at the look her
warlock was giving her. Lelouch facepalmed and let out a tired sigh, leaning back into the couch.

"You should have expected it, boy." C.C said with a satisfied smile on her face. Unbeknownst to
Lelouch, she was having a hard time holding down the feeling of butterflies in her stomach.
Regardless of her teasing, his words did mean a lot to her. Lelouch just let out a groan. He glared at
her.

"I hate you."

"We both know that is a lie," she said with a proud smile. C.C stood up from her place on the
couch and started to walk around the room, most likely searching for pizza. The raven-haired teen
threw his head back, letting himself sink back into the couch as silence filled the room.

After a few minutes like this, Lelouch decided to break the silence "Hey, C.C." When she didn't
turn to face him, Lelouch continued. "Do you know the one reason why I wanted Leila on my side?
Other than her help in controlling Europe?"

"Because you want to sleep with that little girl." she said, still searching for the pizza which she
knew was being kept somewhere. Lelouch cringed.
"Terrible phrasing aside, that's not the reason. The reason is you, C.C." he said. The pizza lover
quickly turned to face him a spark of curiosity in her golden eyes.

"Explain." she commanded.

"As you know, her geass can destroy the geass of other people, my own included." He was glad
that this power didn't appear to work through lenses. Either that or Leila didn't know how to. He
hoped it was the former in his case. C.C said nothing, waiting for him to continue. "Some time ago,
I started to think about the future. You know, things like world domination and the usual stuff like
that. And one thought crossed my mind that I hadn't really thought about before. About you and
me, Cera. About our future. How we will live together after all of this." he said, sadness colouring
his voice for a moment. C.C lowered her head. She didn't want to think about it. Not now, not ever.
"But then a question crossed my mind... hypothetically, could Leila's geass manage to destroy your
code?"

C.C froze as he said this, her breath catching within her throat.

"I know that might sound rid-Ahh!" Lelouch wasn't able to finish as C.C's hands grabbed him by
the collar of his royal robe, yanking him upright. Sometimes he could forget just how strong and
how fast his witch truly was. Her face was just centimeters away. Violet eyes met gold ones as
something he only could call hope lit the golden pair up.

"Please tell me this isn't a joke to get back at me. Are you being completely serious?" she asked.
She couldn't believe that there was a way to get rid of her curse without her warlock taking it. She
had tried everything in the past and had long since abandoned any hope to get rid of her curse
without passing it onto some unfortunate soul. But now a new hope sparked inside her heart.

"Yes. D.S said that when Charles was erased from our world, his code disappeared as well." He
didn't tell her, but Lelouch had always thought that there was the possibility his father's code had
been passed onto him. The possibility scared him. While being immortal had its benefits, he found
that there were more negatives than positives.

While I might be able to spend eternity with Cera and rule world as I please, I will be forced to see
everyone around me slowly die. I don't want to see the people I care about die as I live on. Lelouch
thought. He had considered the implications before, and he didn't like them. Perhaps at one time,
living an eternity with C.C would have been perfect for him. But now? After going over his list of
people he still cared about, he was surprised that there were many more than the four people he
initially thought it consisted of. That list proved to him that he couldn't bear watching them grow
old and die.

Returning to his witch he added, "D.S also said that if the first code could be destroyed, then it's
possible we could also destroy a second one. When I mentioned Leila's power, she said it could be
possible. Cera, there's a chance for you to become mortal again! We will be able to grow old
together!" he declared happily. He waited for her to say something, but she had a shocked
expression on her face. Starting to get worried, he asked, "C.C? Are you oka-!"

Before Lelouch could finish, his green-haired partner closed the distance between them and
covered his lips with her own. They stayed like this for what felt like hours. A simple kiss, but
more meaning than what could ever be put into words. He was amused by the taste of pizza on her
lips but focused on the warmth he felt instead. As for his witch, C.C was trying not to cry out of
happiness. She had a chance to live happily with her partner. Not as an immortal, but human again.
Moments later, the two of them started to feel the need for air. They let each other go, their eyes
never looking away.
"Aren't you going to say something like 'I love you'?" Lelouch asked with a grin, expecting to hear
those words. To his dismay, C.C just shook her head.

"Don't think too much of yourself, boy." she said in a neutral voice. Before he could say anything,
she leaned in and whispered, "I don't need to say such an obvious thing to you now, do I?" The
raven-haired teen simply looked on with a smile gracing his features.

C.C turned and made her way towards the huge doors that were on the left side of the sofa.
Peeking inside the room behind them, she asked, "Lelouch, have you slept here?" She didn't want
to ask the question that came to her mind after it. Knowing about the other girls, she didn't want to
spoil her own mood.

"No, tonight will be my first time here." Lelouch said. After a moment, understanding has come to
him about what C.C wanted. With a small smirk, he asked her, "Why are you asking, C.C?"

The immortal beauty turned to him; her hands were behind her back. A Cheshire smirk appeared
on her face again, but this time it was different. This time, not only did Lelouch want to see it, but a
hungry look accompanied it. "It's been quite some time since our last session of 'night training' in
Pendragon, Lelouch." she said in a seductive tone of voice. Lelouch could feel the arousal start to
build within him. With a slight kick of her leg, she opened the door leading to his personal
bedroom. "I think I need to make sure you didn't forget anything while you were in Europe without
me. Who knows? Maybe you learned a thing or two from that D.S." she said, the sly smile never
leaving her face.

Part of Lelouch's brain tried to remain rational, reminding him that he needed to finish his
conversation with Leila and hash out the details of their agreement regarding Europe. But when
C.C sat down on the bed and beckoned him to come inside, moving so that the smooth skin of her
legs were on display in front of his eyes, Lelouch decided to ignore that part of his mind. Just this
once.

I think Leila needs some sleep after everything that happened today. Besides, it would likely be
better to declare the news in the morning. He thought, deciding then and there to go have sex with
his beloved witch. Lelouch walked into the bedroom and closed the door. His partner wanted him
and Lelouch refused to make her wait any longer.

The Empire could run itself for the night, after all. And besides, he deserved some time alone with
his witch.

Kazakhstan.

It was sunrise when they arrived at the nearest UFN forward operating base. The ground units of
W-0 were accompanied by the flying Knightmares of the Black Knights. The Japanese pilots hadn't
suffered any loses during the battle. Only the Guren was heavily damaged, out of energy and
desperately needed repairs. After a quick ID check and confirmation from their border patrol, the
two military units were let into the base.

During the trip, no one had been in the mood to talk. After Claus informed everyone about what
happened between Leila and Lelouch, everyone was shocked. To say that the morale of the W-0
unit fell would be an understatement. For them, it felt worse than running away from Britannia.
While many were upset, some were furious. Angry at the Emperor, at Britannia or in some cases
even at Leila for leaving without saying anything to them. But that wasn't the entire source of their
anger.
Their best units had been defeated. Wyvern Team had been forced to surrender while Asura Team
had been heavily wounded and needed medical aid. If their best couldn't deal with Britannia, then
what could they really do? Even meeting with the Black Knights didn't raise their morale.

At the moment, everyone was busy. Engineers were repairing Alexanders, or at least what was left
of them. European soldiers were either sleeping, exhausted from the battle they had come from, or
in the medical department to have wounds treated. As for everyone who wasn't working, they were
busy trying to come to terms with what had happened. That they had just lost everything they had
been fighting for.

One of W-0's top engineers was hiding from her friends. Tears were falling from her face; her
bright green eyes were red from crying. The genius scientist Anna Clément didn't want anyone
from W-0 to see her like this. The girl didn't know what to think, what to do. Her best friend left
them without saying a word to them, to her.

"Leila, why did you leave me?" she whispered the question as she closed her eyes. She didn't know
what happened in the city, but whatever the White Emperor had said convinced Leila to leave with
him, to leave them. With another defeated sigh, she sat on the cold earth, wrapping her hands
around her knees. Anna didn't what to do now. "Leila..."

"What are you doing here?" a new voice asked. Green eyes went wide in surprise. Anna raised her
head and looked at the newcomer, but the purple-haired girl didn't recognize her immediately.
Anna knew she had seen her face before, but the name eluded her. Suddenly, her eyes widened in
surprise as she finally remembered where she had seen the face.

"You're the pilot of that Japanese Knightmare, the Guren." Anna was never a sociable person and
paid little attention to people, but Knightmares were something she could never forget. Feeling
embarrassment, she said, "Sorry, I don't know your name. Miss.."

"Kallen. Kallen Kozuki." the redhead girl said. She was wearing her pilot uniform and a Black
Knights jacket. Even though she had a deadly duel back in Moscow, she didn't look tired or badly
wounded, minus a few stitches where she had been cut in her machine. "So what are you doing
here?"

Anna lowered her head. "After everything that happened, I needed some time alone..." she said.
Kallen stared at her with a neutral gaze. With everything that had happened, she probably wouldn't
care about someone crying. But Kallen knew if she just left her, the decision would come back to
gnaw at her conscious. With a heavy sigh, she knelt down to Anna's level.

"Come on, you need to get some rest." she said as she took the other girl's hand. Raising her up
without saying anything further, Kallen started to lead her to where her teammates were resting.
Anna wasn't expecting this and blushed in embarrassment. She tried to stop the redhead soldier, but
Kallen wouldn't listen to her. A few moments later and Anna gave up. She started walking on her
own, as being like led this made her feel like a little child.

The two were silent as they walked. Kallen didn't need to ask where to go. She knew where W-0's
members were bunked. There were a lot of people wandering around, most from the W-0 unit. The
unit was being kept here temporarily until Kallen and Tamaki were ready to head back to the
UFN's main base. As the two women passed by a security post, they heard a familiar voice come
from within.

"People of the world! The war between Britannia and the European Union is finally over!"

The two stopped when they heard the familiar voice. Moving towards the station, two soldiers
were watching the news. The two soldiers looked at her in surprise, not expecting to see her there.
She paid them little mind as she focused on the TV before her. Anna stood behind her; the genius
engineer wanted to see what the Emperor was about to say.

Moscow was in ruins, still burning as both Britannian and whatever remaining European forces
attempted to put out the blaze. Knightmares could be seen around, attempting to help control the
blaze. Even after how long it had been since the battle concluded, the blaze only now looked as if
it was coming under control. The monster of an airship hovered over the city, its crew no doubt
prepared to follow whatever their Emperor commanded of them. Those who had seen what the
monstrous airship was capable of tensed as their memories replayed before them.

Below the ship, surrounded by his Scarlet Guard was Lelouch. But what drew the attention of
many people around the world was the woman who stood next to him.

"Lelouch/Leila." Anna and Kallen said in unison. The Emperor of Britannia looked into the camera
for a few moments. His gaze hardened as he began his speech.

"A month ago, I went to Europe with the intentions of ending the hostility between our two nations.
However, when my ship entered the Special Administrative Zone of France, I was forced to watch
as the European Union began an attack that would cause untold destruction to both the county and
its people." he said. Anger was evident in his voice, and anyone perceptive enough would be able
to notice the look of shame that crossed Leila's face for a split second. "The EU's leaders thought of
me as an incompetent child who wasn't ready to lead Britannia. They decided that this was their
chance to establish hold over lands taken by my father, Charles zi Britannia. They attacked their
own people in the hope of destroying Britannian presence in the area. They didn't hesitate to kill
their own citizens, not in the collateral damage they caused, nor when my soldiers attempted to
protect them. They did not care what happened, as long as their desires were fulfilled. They
believed they could take on Britannia. The corrupted regime of the EU wanted war. I ensured that
they reaped what they sowed. But I do not intend to focus on the past. Today I look towards the
future as I am more than happy to announce that this war comes to an end." the Emperor of
Britannia declared as he placed right hand on his heart.

"There are many that don't believe this, but I cared about the lives of everyone in Europe. I regret
that this war ever had to occur. I regret that people have lost their homes. I regret that so many
people had to lose their lives. It is my intention to help Europe rebuild and help it recover under my
rule. The EU of the past was corrupt. Its leaders wanting nothing more than to extend their power
and assert dominance. In that way, the old Britannia under my father's rule and the EU were the
same. The old regime didn't care about the people who had put them in power. In fact, they were
willing to betray the trust of the people to further their own goals. Even in its last moments, the old
regime betrayed you. But I'm sure Lady Malcal will tell you more." Lelouch stated. Leila, who had
been silent until now, began to speak.

"Citizens of Europe, you all know who I am. I fought for the people of the EU, and have always
held the people's safety as my primary concern. You only need to talk to anyone who has worked
with me to know that fact. When this war started, I was working under the command of General
Gene Smilas. During the opening days of that war, I thought that we were doing the right thing. I
believed what my superiors told me. I believed that were freeing the nations that had once been a
part of our Union and allowing them to choose their future once more."

A bitter smile appeared on the face of the former general. "I always thought of Britannia as our
enemy. I am sorry to say that I was just as arrogant and blind as many others in the EU. Our real
enemy was hiding behind our backs entire time! Gene Smilas was our true enemy. Emperor
Lelouch's words speak true. He originally attempted to come and solve the long-lasting hostility
between our two nations. But General Smilas managed to use the greed and arrogance the former
EU council had to convince them to attack and start this war. He was responsible for starting
everything. Unfortunately, his intentions were not noble. Before the end of the war, before the final
battle of Moscow, I met with the new council due to recent discoveries I had made. When Gene
Smilas convinced the old council, it was not out of a desire to free the people from supposed
tyranny. It was not to prevent another war. No. It was because he had been promised that, if
Britannia could be pushed back, he would become the undisputed leader of Europe."

At this, confused voices began whispering amongst the soldiers behind Kallen, and she had no
doubt that sentiment was mirrored by many others in the world. Kallen knew what was coming
next, as she had suspected it ever since her conversation with Lelouch.

"You may be asking how he planned to achieve this. It is quite simple. I discovered that Gene
Smilas was acting behind the backs of both the people of the Union and the very council he made
promises to on a daily routine. In exchange for starting this war and for pushing Britannia out, he
was being promised this leadership by the former Prime Minister of Britannia, Schneizel el
Britannia."

As Leila said this, Kallen could hear the cries of outrage behind her, most likely coming from the
bunks of the W-0 unit if the noise was anything to go by. It was likely that the people of Europe
were having a similar reaction.

"What Gene Smilas did was unforgivable. He began a war that we could not win. He convinced
the leaders of the council to continue to fight. But while he may be responsible for the majority of
the problem, he is not the only one at fault. The EU's leadership, it's military leaders, and everyone
whose arrogance lead to supporting these acts are at fault. That includes myself." she said with
sadness in her voice. Anna, who had been silent until now, silently mumbled that Leila wasn't at
fault. "It was because of people like us that the people suffered. No matter what I do, I know that I
will never be able to forgive myself for contributing to such a pointless war. But now we must look
forward instead of backward to what is already done. Homes need to be rebuilt. The wounded must
be healed. But in order to do that, there is currently only one group which has the resources in place
to do so. I know this will be difficult for many people to accept. It was difficult for me to do so,
and anyone who looks at my history would be able to figure out why. But it is for the best, and I
ask that you give me the chance to help atone for my mistakes. Therefore…" as she spoke, Leila
turned towards Lelouch and kneeled before him.

Everyone who saw the scene on the TV couldn't believe their eyes. Those who knew the real
power of Demon Emperor believed that he had used his geass on her. Two people, however, did
not. Kallen, due to her conversations with Lelouch and Sayoko, and another person, due to what
Leila and Claus had talked about before he was forced to leave.

"I, General Leila Malcal, pledged myself to serve the Holy Britannian Empire and its Emperor,
Lelouch vi Britannia. I swear to obey your orders and to do whatever it takes to protect the people
of the Empire." she said with confidence in her voice. Determination could be seen on her face as
she said these words. Anna froze, not able to believe what her best friend just said.

Meanwhile, sitting in his bunk, Claus smirked at the words his friend had just said. Chuckling, he
couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Surprised you managed that, kid. Didn't think I'd ever see
Leila bow to anyone." As a serious expression came over his face, he couldn't help but worry as he
muttered, "Don't forget the promise you made, kid. I'm going to be holding you to it."

Lelouch, who had been silent, pulled out his sword. It was an elegant red sword with an emblem of
geass plated in gold seated at the hilt. He slowly placed it on Leila's shoulder.
"I, Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia accepting your pledge, Lady Malcal. In return, I swear to do
everything in my power to help the people of Europe integrate with the Empire. To provide aid, to
protect them, and to guide them into a new age of mankind. An age where such destruction will
have no reason to exist." As he said this, Lelouch turned towards the camera. His violet eyes gazed
through it as if he were looking into the eyes of every individual who was watching the broadcast.
With the sword in his hand, he shouted. "Hear me world! I have destroyed the system of corruption
that had subjugated an entire people! The old order, an order shaped by men and women like Gene
Smilas and my father Charles is coming to an end! It is my hope that you take today's words to
heart. I do not wish to pursue war. I am not afraid to fight, as these last few months have shown.
But it is my desire that such wars shall be unnecessary. That nothing like this shall ever happen
again. It is my hope that we will be able to work together towards a better future." he finished as a
smile appeared on his face. One that promised he would hold to his words.

Kallen let out a sigh. Lelouch was hopelessly overdramatic. The worst part about it was that she
didn't know if she liked it or not. Suddenly Kallen coughed, trying to think of something else. She
also wanted to speak with her mother right now, so...

Anna looked down to the ground. W-0 was already tired both physically and mentally. This was
likely to only harm them more.

Unknown location.

Schneizel couldn't help the smile that came over his face. He was proud to see his little brother
triumph. Even if it didn't matter, as Lelouch would lose this game in the end, he was proud to see
how far he had come from the boy who had never quite been able to beat him in chess. Schneizel
turned around to see his Knights. He wished Wizard had remained here so he could see the man's
face right now.

One of his Knights clenched his fists in anger. His green eyes glared at the image of the raven-
haired Emperor. He wished it had never gone this far. Suzaku wanted nothing more but return to
the time when Lelouch was still in Japan so he could finish him there, forever preventing any of
this from happening...

The other Knights were silent, unable or unwilling to say anything. At least, that was the case until
Kanon coughed.

Schneizel smirked at his assistant. "Ah yes. Thank you for reminding me, Kanon. It seems I won
our bet." Once again, everyone was shocked. Most of them had forgotten about that silly bet
Schneizel made at the start of the war. The only ones who didn't were Gino and Nonette who
snorted and gave him the money. Violet eyes glanced at the others now looking at him. With a
confident smile on his face, he asked, "Does anyone wants to make another bet?"

Japan. Ikaruga.

Back in Japan, the Black Knights knew that they were running out of time. They needed to be
prepared for Zero's wrath. But while the leaders of the Black Knights debated about what their next
actions should be, the Chairwoman of the UFN was still thinking about what the White Emperor
had said to her. Kaguya was still unable to sleep properly due to her frustrations after that.

Fiancees. I couldn't make him fall for me while he was here, and yet some group of vixens
managed to do so in two months... This is so unfair. the Japanese girl pouted in her mind with bags
under her eyes.
Moscow.

Lelouch smiled. The entire world had heard his words and reacted. The majority was cheering,
welcoming their new ruler. A welcome thought to the people of Europe after hearing of the
betrayals their old government had conducted. A vengeance fulfilled for the people of France who
had lost so much due to the attacks of the EU. Others who he knew would most likely oppose him
were no doubt beginning to feel the beginnings of fear course through them. But there was one
thing everyone knew. Lelouch had proven himself victorious. And everyone would wait with bated
breath to see what he would do next.

Now, it is time to start the real game. Lelouch thought with a smirk.

Unknown Location

"So, you're saying that the war is over?" Nunnally vi Britannia asked as her sister finished updating
her on the current situation.

She was sitting inside the room she had been assigned, a simple one with few luxuries. Even
though it was small, it was enough. Her sister, Cornelia, was standing next to the door. She had
entered her room and had been telling her of everything occurring regarding her brother. She and
Suzaku had done this before, giving her news about what was happening in the world. According
to them, the war between the EU and Britannia was over. While she was glad that it had ended, she
didn't know what to feel about Lelouch having come out the victor. While she wanted to believe in
him, she couldn't just ignore what Cornelia, Schneizel and Suzaku were saying about him as well
as the evidence they presented her with.

"Yes. We lost Europe to him. Now the Demon Emperor is even stronger than before." her older
sister hissed. She was frustrated, but not just because of Lelouch's victories. For some reason,
Schneizel refused to inform either of them of his plans to stop Lelouch. While Nunnally didn't have
much of a problem with it, Cornelia was starting to become increasingly angry with his secrecy.

"It's alright, big sister. As long as we don't give up, we'll find a way to make it through this."
Nunnally didn't want to admit it to Cornelia, but it was tearing her heart apart knowing that they
were having to fight her big brother. She never wanted to have to fight her brother in any way, not
after what they went through. But now, there was no other choice. It was the only way to stop the
Demon Emperor, and maybe make her world sane again.

With a heavy heart, one thought ran through her mind. Big brother… I hope you'll understand one
day. Understand why I'm doing this. Lelouch… we are enemies now.

And this arc finally finished! Hooray! How long it was? 3 years? Anyway, I'm happy it is
finally over but don't worry 'His Britannia' isn't over yet.
Okay, I'm sure that some of you have questions about the chapter. First of all, I want to
apologize to the people whom I said that this chapter will be released sooner. Sorry. Now,
about geass and code.

I know about the movie but I won't be adding the movie plot or charters in fanfic. Forcing
movie plot now will complicate everything. I never liked the idea of Lelouch becoming
immortal. While it does have an interesting concept, I always thought that it makes things
way to easier for him and makes the story less interesting. Also, I don't think Lelouch really
wants immortality in the first place., I like to think that after being with C.C he had
understood that it's not worth it. And so Leila's geass can destroy codes as well, why not? It is
the Code Geass universe, a weird place that we love.

Also, Nunnally is alive...Nothing new, but seriously don't be surprised, I was giving you hints
throughout the entire fanfic.

And now, you will wait for another 7 months for a new update...I don't know if I'm actually
joking or not.

But until then I present to you this! (Actually canon).

The Nemesis.

Lelouch was in a good mood as he walked towards his chamber. His speech had gone perfectly,
and Leila played her part to perfection. Now he needed to solidify the Empire's position in Europe
and begin building an army to protect his newly acquired lands.

When the White Emperor entered his chamber and opened the door, however, he felt as if
something was wrong. First of all, the lights were off. Secondly, after he turned on the lights, he
noticed that C.C wasn't there to greet him. Glancing over to his guard, he decided that it was
nothing serious. It was most likely the fact that C.C wasn't there that was bothering him. He had
been worried that she might try something against Leila, after all. But given that his guard hadn't
said anything, he assumed that everything was fine. He entered the room and, after dismissing the
guard, closed the door. It was then a voice spoke out.

"Finally. I was worried that I may have to come and drag you here, your Majesty." a female voice
said. He turned to face the source of the voice. Cinder Fall was lying on his sofa with a pleasant
smile on her face. She was in her full Knight of the Round uniform.

"Cinder? I thought you were still resting." As he said this, the black-haired girl rose from her place
and walked towards him.

"A couple of scratches won't stop me... Not from receiving my reward, at least." she said, the last
part spoken with a seductive tone to it. Cinder's face was now close enough for Lelouch to feel her
breathing. He gulped as she said this, remembering what he promised to her.

Yeah, almost forgot about that. Lelouch thought to himself.

With a small smile, he asked, "And what that would be my white queen?" he asked, expecting to
see her usual reaction. However, instead of the usual shade of red on her face, Cinder gave him a
sly look as excitement danced across her eyes. For some reason, it put him on alert.

"I have something in mind." she said as she closed the distance between them. Their lips met as
Cinder wrapped her hands around his neck. Lelouch was slightly surprised. It was their second kiss
but unlike the first one, this one wasn't rushed. This one was slow and calm. Slowly, she pulled
away with a smile, her gaze falling on the door leading to his bedroom. "How about we continue
it?" Lelouch quickly nodded.

After the two of them were inside, Cinder's eyes sparkled as she saw it. Lelouch, on the other hand,
was glad he had professional cleaners on board who didn't question anything. After his and C.C's
late-night 'training,' he made sure that everything was clean. "Oh, I'm already liking it." she stated.
Looking at Lelouch, she asked, "Lelouch... can I ask you a question?" When he nodded, she
continued, "Have you done it with her? With Kallen?"

Lelouch froze. Back when he was in Japan, he hadn't thought about Kallen in that way. He had
been either too emotionally blind or emotionally compromised most of the time to even consider
anything more. Forget sex, they didn't even kiss. He looked away and answered, "No, we haven't
done that."

"Is that so." Cinder replied. Unbeknownst to Lelouch, Cinder was ecstatic that she was about to do
something the Red Queen couldn't. Lelouch felt two hands on his chest as she pushed him back. He
fell on the bed and looked at her with surprise and interest in his eyes. With a single motion, Cinder
took off her white cloak and climbed onto the bed, slowly leaning forward and granting Lelouch a
peek at her cleavage.

A smirk appeared on the Emperor's face as she closed the distance. With a chuckle, he said, "My
dear, I'm beginning to think I should have stayed with you back in Berlin." Cinder gave him a
small giggle at the response.

"Maybe you should have." she admitted as she went for another kiss. This one was much, much
more passionate. He felt Cinder slide her tongue past his lips, squirming around his own. Deciding
to play along Lelouch started to do the same, making the Knight of Two moan in his mouth. He
felt how her hands slowly wrapped around his. Everything was going well-

*Click*

Lelouch's eyes went wide as Cinder broke from their kiss, a sly smirk never leaving her face. He
felt something on his wrists and saw that they were handcuffed to the posts of the bed. He looked
at her with a confused expression. "Cinder, what are you doing?" he asked. Cinder simply tilted her
head in response.

"You know something, Lelouch? As children, every girl dreams of a prince that will make them
their princess. Yet it never happens in real life. Oh, people like to say it does, certainly. But it
doesn't really happen. I certainly never thought I'd be one such person. Yet, here I am, and I have
an Emperor instead of a prince. But there's only one problem. I'm not the only one my Emperor
has." she said. Lelouch nervously laughed.

"Cinder, if you want to talk abo-" he wasn't allowed to finish as the black-haired beauty placed a
finger on his lips.

"It's okay, Lelouch. While I don't like it, I can accept that I'm not your first or only one... it is
normal for Britannian Emperors, after all. But even if I can't be your only one, it doesn't mean that I
can't be your favourite one now, does it? I'll just make you forget about the others and think only
about me." she purred.

"Cinder, I don't-"
"Not now Lelouch. Let's not ruin this beautiful moment. I accept the fact that it won't be your first
time as well as mine, but it doesn't mean that we can't have a great time." Before he could say
anything, Cinder unbuttoned her tunic and took it off, revealing the red bra that nicely covered her
C cup breasts. Lelouch was frozen for a moment, as she asked, "Like what you see?" She smirked
as Lelouch gave her a slow nod. "Good boy. Anything you want to say before we start?"

After a moment of contemplation, and knowing how unpredictable Cinder could be, Lelouch
asked, "Please be gentle?"

A devilish smile that usually could be seen on Lelouch's face now appeared on Cinder's as she
went for another kiss. The White Queen had her reward. And the best part about it? She got it
before the Red Dragon could.
 Worries and hopes

July 28th. 130 km outside of St. Petersburg.

The sounds of breaking branches were heard as the military convoy made its way towards its
destination; the vehicles were surrounded by green trees from all directions. The day had only
started, but many of them were already tired, the route to the port city not being a pleasant one.
While terrible roads slowed them down, the soldiers nevertheless continued on their journey.

The column consisted of five military trucks carrying materials for the reconstruction of St.
Petersburg. It wasn't supposed to be their job, as such things were usually done by airships that
could easily transport the necessary materials in large numbers. Though surprised at their orders,
they carried them out without complaint. To command, that is.

Four of the trucks they guarded were packed with essential building materials while the fifth one
was completely dedicated to Sakuradite batteries for the Knightmares. All are necessary for the
rebuilding of the city.

While the trucks were not built for the rough roads, their escorts made up of six Alexanders,
four Vincent Wards and two Gareths had no such issue. With the exception of the Gareths, being
the only flying units in the group, the other frames lifted their land spinners to walk on their legs to
move across the terrain.

Though Vincent Wards and Gareths had been the standard for the empire's army, European
humanoid machines had recently entered the service with European technology becoming the
property of the Britannian Empire at the end of the war. And, while some old types
like Panzers were immediately sent for scrap, Alexanders were still used, seeing a decrease in their
production.

Two soldiers idly chatted at the front of the truck carrying Sakuradite, both attempting to make the
journey less grating by passing the time with conversation. Surely, only the most introspective of
discussions were being had.

"I'll say it again. Bamides are the worst Knightmares in the world."

The man in standard military armour told his friend, the driver of the truck, in a definitive manner.

"And I will repeat. Bamides aren't even Knightmares." The driver said in an exasperated tone, idly
brushing his helmet off the dashboard to get a better view of the road. "It's just a tank on three
legs!"

"Of course they're Knightmares! They're just shitty ones, that's all. Those Arabs don't know a thing
about making war machines, and that just makes them even worst."

"They're not as bad as Liverpools, though. I'm sure someone in the empire just made those for shits
and giggles!" he laughed heartily at that. "Like we'd seriously consider using those abominations
on the battlefield!"

They both laughed, neither worried about the road ahead. All they had to do was follow the rest of
the convoy, so they only need to pay enough attention to keep track of them.

"What are you two idiots yelling about?" a voice suddenly boomed through the radio laying on the
seat between them.
"Sir!" the driver lifted the radio to his lips. "We were just discussing an important matter."

His friend stole the radio from his hands, ignoring insults sent at his direction.

"Sir, which knightmare frame is the worst in your opinion?" he asked, smiling brightly to his
friend. "I said it was the Bamides, but Dick says that it's Liverpool."

As he said it, two of them heard a sigh from the radio. They could only imagine how hard the
lieutenant facepalmed.

"...It's the Burai."

The men were surprised he actually answered.

"Japs couldn't even come up with something original and just copied Glasgows. It's lazy. Besides,
Bamides aren't even Knightmares. Just giant tanks."

The driver looked at his friend with a self-assured grin on his face.

"Told ya."

"Oh, shut up." his friend whispered back before returning his attention to the radio. "Thanks, sir.
We'll stop distracting you."

With another sigh, the lieutenant spoke again.

"Yeah, yeah. Just do-"

But, before he could finish, the leading truck holding the lieutenant exploded, stopping the entire
convoy. The guards instantly responded, their drivers still in shock.

One of Alexanders went forward to investigate the explosion only to be shot in the cockpit, causing
a second explosion. Shots hailed from the right side of the convoy as one of the Vincent
Wards moved between the trucks and opened fire in the same direction. Soon, one of Gareths
joined it and fired with its hadron ray into the forest. Other Knightmares formed a defensive circle
around the convoy, several soldiers joining them with rifles in their hands.

In the last truck, the soldier pulled out his weapon and told the driver to stay inside before exiting
the vehicle. The unknown enemy didn't fire at them again, giving Britannians time to form a
defensive position. One of Gareth's pilots ordered them to contact base and inform them of the
attack. However, before anyone of them could act, a new figure jumped out of the forest.

It was a white Knightmare, but on its head were a form of blue horns. The soldiers quickly realized
that it was one of the Lancelot types. The new machine flew in the air as two Vincent Wards raised
their rifles and began shooting at their target. However, a green shield appeared around the enemy,
protecting it from their bullets. The white Knightmare landed one of them, crushing it under its
weight with the other Vincent immediately aiming his weapon at the white unit.

A red claw wrapped itself around the head of Vincent, and a dreaded burst of hadron energy pulsed
into the Britannian Knightmare, bursting the metal form. A blue Gekka appeared, its left hand
bearing a tool similar to the infamous Guren's right claw. The Britannians immediately understood
how grave the danger they faced was when confronted with a Knightmare so similar to the Guren.

One of the Gareth opened fire on blue Gekka, but the blue copy of the famous monster dodged
them with incredible speed. The Gekka avoided every shot fired while the Lancelot raised into the
air beside the Gareths. It withdrew an MVS and slashed at one of the giant Knightmares' chest, but
the Gareth blocked the strike with its left arm.

Sparks flew as the red sword stuck inside the arm. The titanic Knightmare's pilot didn't pay
attention to the injury, instead, he sent his machine's second arm at the blue-headed Lancelot. The
Lancelot jumped back as the wounded Gareth fired at the flying enemy.

While those two fought, the Gekka continued evading every attack fired from the other Gareth.
When it closed in on one of the Vincent Wards, Gareth didn't hesitate to take the shot. The Gekka
pilot smirked, wrapping its claw around the Britannian machine's head. The Knightmare of the
empire moved to pull out its spear, but it was too late. The violet frame quickly blistered and
exploded.

The empire's ground soldiers fired at the two enemy units, but their rifles did little to damage the
copies of the legendary Knightmares. Suddenly, one of the men's helmets exploded, blood spurting
out the exit wound. The other soldiers quickly searched for the sniper, but more were picked off
before they retreated to the minimal shelter of the trucks.

The last Vincent Ward flew towards the damaged Gareth, pulling the sword from its arm and
wielding it. The violet nightmare, MVS in hand, targeted the flying enemy unit. The Lancelot
bisected an Alexander before confronting the Vincent, blocking a string of bullets with its green
shield. With another slash, the Lancelot disarmed its opponent, letting the rifle halves fall to the
ground. However, the empire's pilot didn't panic. Instead, he pulled Vincent's spear into his now
freed hand.

This foolish action likely surprised the enemy pilot, as it didn't react immediately, allowing
Vincent Ward to cover the distance between them. Britannian Knightmare tried to hit the white
machine, but every time, the spear was always deflected away, a small green shield appearing
around the targeted area and pushing it away. The same could not be said for strikes from the
sword, nimbly avoiding them whenever they came.

The Vincent Ward dropped the spear, preparing to focus solely on using the sword without noticing
a warning of incoming enemy missiles until it was too late. Four rockets blasted its frame and
forced it to the ground, its left side partially destroyed. Having dropped the blade, the Knightmare
tried to reclaim it but wasn't fast enough. Suddenly, the red sword rose up and stabbed it through
the chest to the cockpit, Lancelot quickly withdrawing it.

After that, the battle rapidly escalated. All the Vincent Wards were destroyed, and the
last Alexanders were crushed in the claw of the blue Gekko, leaving only the two Gareths. The
soldiers were scattered across the ground, small pools of blood soaking into the dirt. The two titan
Knightmares stood back to back and fired everything they had at the monstrous frames that had
killed their companions.

Blue Gekka rushed at them, dodging and weaving with the Blue-headed Lancelot following its
example. The damaged Gareth aimed its remaining arm at the flying enemy. However, Lancelot
sent its MVSs at him. At least, that's what he thought. Inside the injured Gareth, the pilot, prepared
for death, found it odd that he was unharmed.

The MVSs were aimed at a different target. The other Gareth's cockpit was penetrated by the
swords, forming an X that held the frame up while killing the pilot. Before the last Britannian pilot
could act on this unexpected occurrence, the Blue Gekka jumped atop the defeated titan
Knightmare and aimed at his cockpit. A wave of rippling red was the last thing the pilot saw.

It was over.
The two remaining war machines glanced at nodded. However, to their surprise, they both picked a
life signal coming from one of the trucks. As it approached, the Lancelot Club sliced off the roof
with a MVS to reveal a terrified Britannian within. It was the same driver that was joking with his
friend before the carnage started. There was a long silence before they spoke.

"Well, this is the first time we've had a survivor," said a surprised, young, male voice from
the Lancelot Club.

"Just finish him off and let's move on. Their reinforcements will soon arrive," said another young
voice, this one female. "We need to take this Sakuradite and leave as fast as possible."

"No. I have a better idea." answered the first voice.

His machine lowered itself and kneeled before the truck. Its driver shook with dread as the giant
red sword hovered over him.

"You will return to your base and will report what happened."

The scared man could only nod.

"Good boy. And also, you will say the next words."

The Lancelot Club lowered its head till it was slightly above the driver, the driver's blood running
cold from the icy voice.

"The Ghosts of the Geass Directorate are still alive."

Berlin, The Special Administrated Zone of Germany.

The first capital of the EU saw some of the hardest battles during the war. Both sides fought
desperately, but, in the end, Britannia had won. Sadly, victory wasn't cheap, as a huge part of the
city was in ruins. Now, however, things were changing. While it would take time to restore the pre-
war beauty of the German capital, people, both Britannian and European, were working together to
make it a reality.

After the war, Britannia needed to choose a city that would act as its new capital for the time being.
Many suggestions were made but, in the end, the White Emperor chose Berlin as proposed by Leila
Malcal. She was convinced that the city had a great location, being both far away from borders,
excepting the Russian territories, and in the centre of Europe.

And so, Berlin has become a capital once again. After the collapse of the union, a new one was
made, with all countries becoming specially administrated zones, forging the new Commonwealth
of Imperial States, or CIS.

Aside from the fancy name, it brought on mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy. While
Lelouch would have been more than happy to just add all these countries to the Britannian Empire
right away, he knew would be impossible right now. Britannia and the European Union were like
night and day, bearing different economies, currencies, languages, cultures, and types of pizza
(C.C made sure Lelouch noted that) that wouldn't work together very well as they stood.

While the Britannia of the past would have discarded its new colony's culture and history Lelouch's
Britannia did not have that luxury. At least, not at this stage of his plan.

Before Europe could be fully integrated into Britannia, changes needed to be made. If Lelouch
didn't want for his empire to collapse, he would need to transform Europe slowly, the process
taking several years, 3 at best and 6 at worst. However, Lelouch was nothing if not patient.

Currently, the Reichstag was filled with the leaders of special administrated zones. Governors and
high ranking military officers from all sides of the commonwealth were ordered to come to Berlin,
and they would have been fools to refuse.

On a podium above his subjects, his majesty Lelouch vi Britannia sat on his throne. His Scarlet
guards and their cyborg captain stood to either side of him, protecting their master. The young
emperor couldn't help but smirk when he remembered how someone suggested that he place
thrones in every government building.

It was wholly unnecessary, but I can't help finding it humorous.

"-and with that, I can finish my report." said a new viceroy of Germany. He turned and bowed to
the emperor before making his way back to his seat. Lelouch just nodded, acknowledging the man
as he moved away.

It wasn't like he didn't care what they were saying. In fact, the young monarch cared very much. It
was just that the raven-haired boy didn't need to hear how everything was going according to his
plan, as he could read the information in one of the reports faster than they could convey it with
words. No. What Lelouch wanted to hear right now was bad news.

A voice announced the arrival of the next speaker. The name immediately drew Lelouch's attention
to the newcomer approaching the podium. She wore a red military uniform over her slim figure,
black military boots covering her thin legs up to directly below the knees, stockings covering the
rest of their length. With a nervous look in her eyes, the blonde girl glanced at his majesty. Lelouch
smiled down at the woman.

The former EU general, Leila Malcal, now a personal advisor of his majesty, stood at attention
before the podium. Having already shown the wisdom of Lelouch's choice, she had played an
integral part in choosing new leaders for the specially administrated zones, making contact with
some former high-ranking members of the EU and inviting them to the government. However, her
greatest contribution was taking the biggest part of the paperwork, something Lelouch appreciated.
He needed to reward her for her hard work.

I will need to discover a worthy award, though the discovery will likely take more time than the
acquisition.

The blonde woman took a deep breath. It wasn't hard for her to speak before her old commanders
or government during the Union's time. Hell, she'd even shouted at them! But now, Leila needed to
report before over one hundred different people. Unlike in the EU, these men knew how to do their
job, as she helped to pick some of them. Not to mention a certain emperor was staring at her,
waiting for her to start.

Quite stressful.

"As many of you know, the rebuilding of Europe, in general, is going according to schedule. In a
short time, we managed to repair factories and Sakuradite mines that suffered during the war. Soon,
Europe will be able to produce Sakuradite on the same level as it did before the war."

She gauged the audience's reaction before continuing.

"However, not everything is so perfect," Leila glanced at the emperor.

"Since the end of the war, issues have continued rising. Former military units that didn't surrender
are still fighting in parts of the Commonwealth, attacking our convoys and military posts, with
some even bold enough to start fights in cities. Because many of them work separately without
coordinating with each other, the attacks are rather sporadic and unpredictable, occurring either
days apart or one after the other."

Lelouch contemplated her words. The White Emperor had already expected this, preparations
already in place. However, Leila wasn't finished.

"However, while many of them are made up of former soldiers with little equipment, I'm certain
that several rebel cells have support outside of Europe."

This caused a murmur to sweep through the hall. If the rebels were being backed by another group,
it's possible another power was behind it. Lelouch was sure that many people immediately thought
the UFN was behind it, but he knew that wasn't the case this time. The Black Knights wouldn't
attempt something like that after Kaguya and Kallen failed to capture Leila. If news of the UFN
supporting rebels got out, Lelouch's propaganda would be hit with the backlash, something the
Federation didn't have the time to deal with.

The Federation couldn't waste its resources on something as insignificant as supporting a group of
rebels anyway. If the news from OSI was correct, then the UFN was currently busy with its own
problems. After the end of the war and the creation of the CIS, many in the UFN started to notice
how bad things were getting and were in a state of unrest. Without him as Zero, the Black Knights
were struggling to calm them down.

They brought it upon themselves.

Leila finished her speech, and everyone gave a round of applause. Leila gave them a shy smile
before turning to face a smiling emperor, making her blush. Lelouch moved to say something when
powerful noise swept across the building.

The plenary hall and everyone in it shook from the force of the explosion. Many fell from their
seats while others took cover on the ground, expecting an attack after the explosion that didn't
come. The scarlet guard moved immediately, Jeremiah personally standing before his lord, his
gold blade already drawn. Leila couldn't even blink when two of Lelouch's guards surrounded her
as well. Lelouch remained calm, giving something his undivided attention for the second time that
day.

Lelouch and Leila were quickly evacuated, he and his blonde advisor were taken to Nemesis where
they awaited news about the attack. They didn't need to wait long.

"A timed-bomb?" asked Lelouch curiously.

The kneeling Jeremiah nodded.

"Indeed, my lord. From what we have learned, the killer was planning to detonate the bomb when
you left the main hall, but the timer went off too soon."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes in thought.

"So they deduced when Lelouch was likely to leave the hall and prepared it in advance," she said in
an equally thoughtful voice.

The cyborg bodyguard nodded.

"However, they didn't know that lady Leila would be giving a speech as well."

Lelouch didn't believe that for a second. It was too convenient.

"It is much more likely they were totally aware of her speech, which should have been impossible,
as it was not public information."

Leila raised an eyebrow at him.

"Lelouch, do you think that somebody leaked information about the meeting?"

The White Emperor considered it for several seconds.

"It's entirely possible, but they just as well may not have needed it. Too many people were
preparing for it, giving the terrorists ample time to gather information and prepare."

He turned to his royal guard captain

"Did you learn how the bomb was placed there?"

His cyborg knight shook his head.

"Forgive me, my lord. We are still questioning people, but we haven't found anything yet. But I
swear I will find whoever dared to attempt such an act against your royal majesty. They signed
their death sentence."

"Very well, but I'm not worried about that. Whoever attacked today is not our main issue right
now."

Leila blinked, mildly confused.

"Sorry, Lelouch, I don't understand."

Before the young ruler could answer, a new voice did for him.

"Lelouch is not worried about some small pawns. He is afraid of what signal it will send."

Leila narrowed her eyes at the newcomer.

"Signal? Lady C.C., what are you talking about?" Leila asked carefully.

The green-haired girl smirked, her usual black clothes gliding like a black wave as she moved
between the emperor and his advisor.

"Oh? Do you really need me to explain everything to you?" C.C asked it with her usual tone,
garnering a glare from the advisor "Leila, I won't always be here to do this."

"I wish."

"Oh, my. How cute."

Lelouch frowned. Ever since he told the witch about the possibility of using Leila's geass, C.C.'s
treatment of her had changed. No longer attempting to kill her, she would now take every moment
near her to belittle Leila in any possible way. Lelouch needed both near him, and the green-haired
girl used it. In private, C.C. said it was to make sure that nothing would happen to their blonde
saviour, but Lelouch knew better. C.C. simply wanted childish revenge for the defeats she suffered.
"I don't care that somebody tried to kill me," he interjected before it could escalate to an argument.
"What matters is the signal they sent. Until now, previous assassination attempts were outside the
public eye. I'm not sure if they wanted the bomb to kill me or just to show that my life was in
danger even after the end of the war."

He gave a tired sigh.

"It will likely cause a minor panic. Those who hate me will see it as a sign that the White Emperor
can be vulnerable and act on it, even if it's obvious they will fail."

"As if there was another outcome." his orange bodyguard added proudly.

"But it doesn't mean they will stop," finished C.C and looked at Leila with a serious gaze. "They
will keep trying until his blood is spilt."

"Madness…" the blonde girl's brows furrowed.

Lelouch nodded.

"That's the life of an emperor for you."

Assassination attempts were something Leila had never given much thought in the past. Being
called a hero of Europe, she had gained a lot of enemies, but, while she and her friends were living
among gipsies, that hadn't been an issue. Leila sighed, drawing a smirk from the witch.

"Leila. Don't tell me you're afraid of these things."

Leila rolled her eyes and turned to her emperor.

"I don't like it. Though you might survive, continued public attacks might cause fatalities among
the civilian population. Their deaths would cause an even greater panic."

Lelouch had realized this as well. It would only cause more problems if civilians died because of
another assassination attempt. This wouldn't do at all.

"You're right, Leila. While OSI is working on finding conspirators, their results are not enough
anymore."

As the leader of his secret service, D.S. always notified him of new information. However, for the
last two weeks, the information had been less forthcoming. With so many angry Europeans
wanting Lelouch dead, OSI simply couldn't chase every lead. It was simply taking too much time.

"They've done an admirable job, but it's time to change our tactics."

Those in the room gave him their full attention.

"What are you suggesting, my lord?" Leila asked the question on everyone's minds.

"If we want to end these attacks, we need to first cut off the source of these failed assassinations."

The White Emperor suspected he knew who was helping a fraction of them.

Peace Mark.

Despite their peaceful name, they were a violent group of radicals. The largest organization
opposing Britannia right after Black Knights, one his father Charles couldn't or didn't bother to
eliminate, allowing them to become the huge parasite spanning the world.

Just another issue that man left me.

"Peace Mark, eh?"

Leila, who met some of their members, had no love for them. While Miss X was someone she
owed and considered a friend, Leila knew that the others weren't the same. That Oz boy and the
white-haired guy were proof of that. X might not like it, but, if Leila wanted Europe to be peaceful,
these assassinations had to stop.

"How are you going to do it?"

"All these attempts on my life have failed due to my personal security and the fact I'm never alone.
Because of this, I doubt they will try to attack me while I'm under such protection. No, I need to
give the illusion that I'm vulnerable."

"And they will strike while there is an opportunity." finished C.C. before Jeremiah coughed
purposefully.

"My lord, while I understand why such an idea might work, I suggest we find less dangerous
options that won't put your life in unnecessary danger."

The royal captain didn't like the idea of his master being defenceless, as any good bodyguard
would. Lelouch's familiar gratitude toward his knight.

"Jeremiah, I know it isn't easy for you, but our options are limited. At least this way, we will be the
ones to set the terms without the constant need to glance over our shoulders. While I don't revel at
the idea of risking my life..."

He looked curiously at his subordinates.

"What?"

"Boy, please. Your life has been in danger so many times I've lost count," his witch said wearily.
"And a worse part? Almost all of them happened because you wanted them to."

Leila nodded, agreeing with the witch in a rare occurrence.

"While I've been here for a relatively short time, I also noticed that you would often put yourself at
risk, Lelouch."

Jeremiah added his own thoughts to the conversation with a shake of his head.

"My lord, they're right. You often play into the enemies' hands with the purpose of defeating them
at their own game, placing yourself in danger to do so, such as when I was sent after you."

Lelouch scowled at his unanimous underlings.

"You say that as though it will stop me," Lelouch rose and moved toward the exit, stopping at the
door. "Leila, organize another meeting with the representatives of CIS, but this time in a public
setting."

Leila suspected what Lelouch was planning, but she could do little more than nod.

"Where do you want to hold it?"

Lelouch placed a palm on his chin and thought about it for a few seconds.

"I see no reason to leave Berlin. News about the explosion will have already spread around the
city, so why not give them some good news as well? Jeremiah, this time I will prepare everything
myself."

His royal captain nodded, bowing to the two ladies before following his exiting master. Leila and
C.C. remained in the room for several seconds, an awkward silence building between them until
the blonde girl spoke.

"So? What are you going to do? Lelouch didn't give you any instructions."

Leila expected some usual irritating answer from her but was surprised when she heard none. C.C
bit her lower lip and looked like she was thinking about something important. Finally, the witch
answered.

"I need to arrange some things."

And, just like that, she left.

Special Administrated Zone of Estonia. Hiiumaa.

It was sunset on the island of Hiiumaa when something rose out of the waters near it. A submarine
surfaced close to shore, and the people inside the nearby lighthouse sent it a signal. Once certain it
was clear, a small hatch opened and a young man with blond hair peeked outside. For Orpheus
Zevon, this is day was only getting harder.

A half-hour later, Orpheus found himself inside the lighthouse sitting behind a table. Its old
caretaker poured tea, preparing it for the guests who were forthcoming. Oz looked at him and
didn't know what to think. He was happy that many people started to join Peace Mark, but it was
both a good and a bad sign.

They had more people which meant more soldiers and agents. Despite many not being soldiers,
even jobless people were welcome in their organization. However, they also brought a lot of work
with them. Peace Mark was a giant organization, but, more importantly, it had a very diverse
structure. Defectors, former KMF pilots, medics, and even school teachers, filled the organization,
and organizing them was no simple task, let alone giving them all background checks.

I'm glad that so many people want to see Britannia gone, but many of them are normal civilians.
They're risking their lives for such a small hope.

Thinking about this always brought bad thoughts to the young revolutionary. Thankfully, his
brooding was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Both he and the caretaker glanced at the door, with Oz placing his right hand on his gun. Two
seconds later, the second knock followed, and, after another three seconds, the third knock. Oz let
out a sigh and nodded to the old man who immediately went to the door. Two familiar faces
greeted him through the doorway, drawing a smile from the boy.

"Welcome."

"Oz," greeted the silver-haired boy.

Rai sat himself opposite of Oz. He wore a badly crumpled pilot suit and a tired expression. His
female companion sat next to him and immediately leaned on the table, closing her eyes.

"Hard day?" Orpheus asked the obvious question, his smile slightly twitching from the exhausted
response.

"Fuck off, Oz," Alice hissed, not able to raise her head and glare at him.

She was too god-damned tired to do anything right now. Her partner looked at her with half-closed
eyes.

"Alice, be nice to Oz."

"Fuck off, Rai."

The boy looked at his leader and just shook his head. Orpheus decided to not antagonize the little
snapper and let the two of them rest at least for a few moments. Later, the caretaker brought them
food, and the duo of Geass users started to eat while reporting about their activities to Orpheus. Rai
told him about their ambush of the military convoy that was on its way to St. Petersburg.

"And then I said to him, 'The Ghosts of the Geass Directorate are still alive,' and left the poor
bastard on the road."

Rai was beaming with pride by his last line while his blonde partner rolled her eyes.

"I was next to him, and I did consider kicking him for such a cheesy comment," added Alice. "But
damaging his Knightmare wasn't worth it. Besides, now that guy will report it to the high
command."

"Don't matter." Oz waved his hand. "Emperor Lelouch knew that we have Geass. He probably
suspected that we are from the Directorate, so what's the point of hiding it?"

It was still a mystery to Orpheus how Lelouch vi Britannia learned about Geass. He didn't know if
the Directorate was part of Britannia or just some sort of scientific cult inside the empire. When he
was a child, Oz remembered that the majority of adults were from his homeland.

Maybe he found information or someone from the Directorate. Alice and Rai said that they are
only survivors, so maybe it was someone who left the Directorate before the massacre.

There were too many possibilities and too little information about how Lelouch could've learned
about Geass, but one thing was clear.

The White Emperor knows about it. Or worse. He has one.

"Hey, Oz."

Oz blinked before glancing to Alice. She had just finished her dinner and was wiping her face with
a napkin.

"Why are we ambushing convoys anyway? And why near the city? Isn't St. Petersburg full of
Britannians? I think it's a little dangerous to be near the city right now?"

Oz understood what she meant while Rai just smirked.

"Alice, don't tell me you are afraid?" Rai teased his partner. "And I thought that you were the best
pilot in Peace Mark."
Alice threw her fork at him but missed, her face burning red.

"Idiot! I was worried something might happen to you! I can easily escape while you would be shot
on the spot! You and Oz are the only people I have left."

Rai quieted for a moment, allowing Orpheus to fill the gap.

"About your question. Peace Mark learned that the empire wants to rebuild St. Petersburg's seaport.
They started a week ago, seemingly eager to put it to use."

"Wait, seaport?" Alice blinked before asking. "But why? They have an air fleet now. What's the
point of using regular ships when their air fleet can do it faster?"

"Because the main purpose of the air fleet is for military use, not civilian," answered Rai, gaining a
nod from Oz. "They already were a huge help in the rebuilding by transporting needed materials
and people."

Oz looked at the ceiling above him and narrowed his eyes.

"I hate to say it, but Britannia is at very least trying to do something good... though they destroyed
it in the first place. Our eyes on the border have already reported that they saw how the empire's
ships going there."

"Preparing for invasion?" the idea of Britannia and the Black Knight killing each other wasn't
something Alice was against.

"I doubt that." Oz crushed the thought. "Most likely, it's just for show. On the other hand, the
Black Knights have started to mobilize their local forces. They didn't bring any ships, but, from
what I understand, the UFN has its own ways to destroy the Brit's air fleet."

"Really?" curiosity appeared in Rai's eyes. "What it is?"

Oz pulled out a folder full of photos and tossed it on the table for Rai and Alice to see. There were
Knightmares, all painted yellow and were similar to the one the Black Knight's general was using.
They gave him a questioning look. Oz coughed awkwardly.

"It's the Chuyen, the Black Knight's new mass-produced KMF."

"It looks like that Chinese Shen Hu," Rai mused, Oz nodding ascent.

"This model is based on it but was downgraded overall. Still, from what I was told, it is more than
a match for most Knightmares in Britannia, excepting those piloted by the Knights of the Round."

He sighed before continuing.

"Also, there are rumours about the UFN reorganizing their forces. That's everything."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"That not a lot, Oz."

"I know, I know, but the Black Knights were always fighting against Britannia with even less
technology, and they were able to kick their asses."
Orpheus was hardly a fan of the Black Knights, but he appreciated the work they did in their war
against Britannia. However, Oz knew better than to say that in front of these two. Rai might not
mind it, but Alice would be furious.

"At least tell me that somebody with brains made them," said Alice.

"Name Rakshata Chawla ring a bell?"

Rai thought about something before speaking.

"She was the one who made the Black Knights machines."

Oz nodded.

"After the Black Rebellion, she was working with us, providing us with Knightmares. But, once
Zero returned, she rejoined the Black Knights."

"Whore," Alice hissed out.

"Alice, please." Rai sighed, already tired of her rude vocabulary.

The next hour was spent discussing the new Knightmares they got. Someone was generous enough
to provide them with dozens of war machines. Alexanders, Gekkas, and even Vincent Vards, were
all lightly damaged, but nothing their engineers couldn't repair. Oz was grateful to whoever sent
them. The Sutherlands, Glousters, and Glawsgovs they had been using were heavily outdated,
which the battle in Rome proved. Now, at least, they could put up a decent fight against Britannia,
though not in open conflict.

Hit and run. That's how we win.

Oz wasn't a fool like many liked to think. Britannia was a monster, and Peace Mark couldn't win it
in an open fight. He thought the war with the EU would be his chance to destroy the empire, but it
didn't work. After the war ended, Oz was left with two choices: help the Black Knights or do it
himself. While the UFN could actually fight against Britannia, Oz didn't know if they had the balls
to do it. Even since the death of Zero, they become cautious and afraid to do anything bold. Even
the famous Red Dragon failed in Moscow. No, he had to do it on his own.

And so, it was now Peace Mark's crusade. Or, at least until the Black Knights decided to do what
they were created for.

His strategy was simple. Strike small blows in the empire's most vulnerable parts, being the reason
he wanted Rai and Alice to ambush those convoys. They probably didn't stop building even for a
day, but now Britannia would be stressed by the two special pilots attacking their soldiers outside
the huge cities. Peace Mark would drown their manpower and resources as much as they could.
Soon, morale would fall, and the soldiers would start seeking revenge, suspecting civilians of
treason. If Oz knew anything about Emperor Lelouch, the monarch cared about his public image.
He wouldn't allow something like this to happen.

Lelouch would have to choose between his angry soldiers and scared citizens. Sadly, it wasn't a
perfect plan. Many things could go wrong, but Oz still hoped to achieve a minor victory from it.

The higher the tension in Europe, the higher the tension in the world. UFN can't waste such an
opportunity. They will have to attack Britannia. But, then again, they failed to take the same city
two times.
Oz's phone buzzed and he checked it, feeling both annoyance and relaxation as he saw who sent a
message. While and rest of his cell of Peace Mark's travelled by submarine, X travelled to the
centre of the new Commonwealth. Even since that Malcal girl betrayed the EU and joined Lelouch,
X was looking for an excuse to go after her. He suspected X either wanted to kill or rescue the
former military officer, but Oz hoped it was the former.

His eyes focused on the text. As usual, that damn succubus wrote something inappropriate to
irritate him. However, she had quickly moved to the actual info.

So, the bomb didn't work...Not that I expected it to kill him anyway.

The moment Oz learned that some Germans wanted to assassinate Emperor Lelouch, he knew it
wouldn't work. Some of the best assassins in Peace Mark had tried and failed, other cells were
doing it from time to time. At this point, attempts on the White Emperor's life had become a
routine. From time to time, he thought about how he would finally kill Lelouch.

Then Oz stopped. Thinking about it more carefully, the former noble started to see the benefits it
would bring to Peace Mark. Without Emperor Lelouch, their war against Britannia would be easier.

"What the matter, Oz?" Rai asked, glancing at him. "You look like you're thinking about
something. Care to say?"

"What if we assassinate Emperor Lelouch."

Alice looked at him with confusion.

"I thought some guys from PM were doing it, like, every week."

Rai nodded. Many anti-empire groups started doing it more often after the war ended. Hell, even
some civilians who lost everything because of Lelouch would go after his head. Orpheus
remembered how some guy tried to shoot him with a sniper rifle. Lelouch and Malcal were in a
limousine, but the poor fool didn't know that car had shields.

"Today, a small group of former German officers planted a bomb in Reichstag. Sadly, it didn't kill
Lelouch. X said that Britannia would be holding another official meeting, but this time for the
public."

Rai and Alice blinked.

"What is that idiot thinking?"

"Lelouch probably expects the other rebels or us to act." Rai guessed. "So, what are you planning,
Oz?"

Oz thought a moment.

"We have three choices right now," he raised three fingers. "First, we can ignore it and continue
attacking the empire's convoys. Second, we can send some help in the form of explosives and
weapons. Maybe even spare knightmares. Third, we can go after Lelouch ourselves."

he looked at them, Rai thinking it over while the blonde lolita snorted.

"Well, you know which one I choose."

"Not surprised. Rai, what about you?"

"While I don't really want to risk our lives like this," the boy smiled. "I agree with Alice. I mean,
his security is going to be a nightmare, but, if it means that we can deal with Lelouch once and for
all, then I'm in."

Oz nodded. It wasn't the smartest idea, but it would fit nicely with his plans. Even if they failed to
kill him, it would benefit them. All other assassins might have failed, but they wouldn't.

"Very well. Our next destination is Berlin."

Special Administrated Zone of Germany. Berlin. Nemesis.

C.C walked through the halls of Britannia's most powerful ship, not paying attention to the ship's
passing personnel. No one dared to stand in her way, her reputation as the second most terrifying
person in the empire enough to silence anyone's words. The fact there were rumours that Lady C.C
was the only survivor from Castle Lupobianco's explosion helped further with intimidation.

I think I can agree with Lelouch. I can see a noticeable difference between the Black Knights and
Britannia.

While she was in Japan, the Black Knights would always speak behind her back. In the military,
behaviour like that always made its way up the information chain, being a better deterrent than a
glare.

Then again, me being the Mistress of Zero turned out to be true in the end. These soldiers, geassed
or not, are afraid to say anything in my presence, and the rumours are nothing but horror stories of
the super-soldier who can survive the destruction of a castle. Not that they're wrong. All-in-all, a
welcome change from the generally loud and annoying Black Knights. So long as Lelouch doesn't
argue about my reputation, I don't mind.

The witch made her way towards the huge, closed, metallic doors, not bothering to knock before
entering. There were about twenty people all looking at some monitors or working on computers
within the intelligence department. Despite being night, they continued working with enthusiasm,
some not even noticing her entry.

Near the biggest screen showing, Berlin stood a similar girl, though her hair was a different colour.

"Beautiful night, isn't it, C.C.?"

D.S. didn't need to turn back to see her. Both of them could sense each other's presence, thanks to
their connection to C's World. C.C. watched the screen in agreement.

"I've been here many times, but it is my first time watching it from a battleship."

A long pause passed before she continued.

"We need to talk. Alone."

"As you wish," nodded D.S., moving to a side room with C.C. close behind.

Once the door had shut behind them, D.S. began speaking.

"So, is there anything you need me for, Cera." amusement appeared in her pink eyes when C.C.
rolled hers.
"I don't remember giving your permission to call me by name," she said with her usual emotionless
tone, but D.S. could feel the irritation in it. It was always interesting to see a witch who lived for
centuries show some emotions, even if negative ones.

"Sorry. I'm just used to calling people by name. Anyway, what do you want to speak about?"

"The bomb."

"Oh." D.S. blinked before continuing. "Well, not that I really surprised, but I just thought you
wanted to have a friendly chat. You know. What normal friends do."

"We're hardly friends. I would just call us forced allies."

D.S. couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on! We have so many things in common," D.S. argued while C.C. raised an eyebrow

"Like what?"

"We both connected to C's World. We both know about the code. Oh, and we both sleep with the
same man. So, in a sense, we're even closer than you think!"

The witch's eye twitched and D.S. smiled broadly. Even if for a second, she had won.

"Back on topic. Do you know who did it?" she asked.

"Some former EU soldiers. A small group of former specialists."

"Do you know where they are?"

D.S. thought for a second before nodding.

"There are several locations where they could be hiding. I sent the maid after them."

C.C. nodded.

"Good."

That's the fate of those who seek the Emperor's death. D.S. knew that Cera didn't really care about
it. That something else was on her mind. Something troubling.

"C.C.," concern slipped into her voice." Is there something else that's troubling you?"

C.C. was silent for a long time before answering.

"It's about the first time we met. Back in Moscow."

Confusion appeared in the woman's pink eyes.

"I know that this is not likely to happen, but I still think that Lelouch might do it."

She closed her eyes as she recalled their first meeting and what D.S. told her. C.C. couldn't shake
the feeling, no matter how hard she tried.

"I think the Zero Requiem could still happen."

 Revelations

July 3rd. Moscow. Nemesis.

C.C. strolled through the quiet halls of the Nemesis, its personnel currently celebrating their victory
in the more public or private areas. C.C. couldn't remember the last time she was part of such a
large conflict that ended so quickly. Lelouch had achieved whatever his goal was, taking another
step toward his plan.

However, C.C. had to admit that some good things had come out of this war for her too. Since
Europe now belonged to Lelouch, the green-haired witch could do some things she had wanted for
a long time. Things like rebuilding Rome or creating the biggest pizza in the world.

And another thing that was even more significant was the Malcal girl. If her Geass was powerful
enough, then maybe it would be able to destroy her code. She never thought something like that
was possible. Then again, every Geass was unique to the user, so it was very possible, though their
study was what that goblin V.V. was for. Cera had to admit it warmed her heart that Lelouch came
up with such an idea.

But the fact that he asked the Dimensional Supervisor is not something I like.

Even since that new girl appeared out of nowhere, C.C. had started to feel uneasy. Not only did D.S
dare call her name without her permission, but she also acted as if she knew more about Geass than
C.C. did. With her around, did Lelouch really need C.C.?

Stop thinking about it! You know it won't happen. He won't leave me alone.

At some point, she wandered outside and felt a breath of fresh air flow over her. It was still early in
the morning, and even if Moscow was destroyed, it somehow looked pretty. Her eyes roamed until
she noticed a familiar figure nearby, finding the coincidence somewhat fortuitous.

A girl similar to her stood close by, her hair was a mix of pink and black. C.C. stared at the
Dimensional Supervisor as they gazed over the edge of the railings at the city beneath them. An
interesting idea appeared in her head.

Just a slight push and this little annoyance will disappear. Still, she has her uses, and my warlock
won't be happy with it...

As she thought was this, C.C. approached the girl.

"It's nice to meet you, C.C." D.S. turned and looked at her, pink staring into gold.

D.S. had an amused smirk on her face, as though she knew what C.C. was thinking just seconds
ago.

"I was waiting for this moment, as I'm sure you were too, Cera."

C.C. narrowed her eyes, her usual emotionless face bearing a scowl.

"I don't remember giving you the right to call me by that name," she said with a stern voice.

The grin on D.S.'s face didn't disappear.

"Really? Then you better get used to it, 'cause friends call each other by name."

Her enthusiastic words did nothing to alleviate C.C.'s confusion.

"Friends?"

"Of course! We could braid each other's hair, talk about girly stuff or cute boys," D.S giggled as
she said the last part. "Well, I think we have only one boy to talk about."

As she said it, an unusual look appeared on her face. The same look C.C. had when she was hiding
things from Lelouch before the Black Rebellion. She didn't like seeing it on somebody else who
was close to Lelouch.

"What are you hiding, Dimensional Supervisor?"

It sounded more like a demand than a question. The girl in question tilted her head.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can see you're hiding something," her voice turned cold. She didn't care if she acted childish.
This girl clearly knew how to play more foolish than she was.

"Is that how the witch thanks her saviour? Acting as though she's a fox in a henhouse? It's obvious
what I want."

Her tone didn't change, as carefree as ever. C.C. didn't know why, but that girlish voice irritated
her.

Is this how Lelouch and Kallen felt whenever I did it to them?

"I want to save Lelouch and everyone else."

C.C. was at first taken aback by the childish statement, only to be more confused by the follow-up.

"Tell me, Cera. Did Lelouch ever tell you about the Zero Requiem?"

C.C didn't know why this name sent shivers down her spine, as though it was something she
should know, but somehow didn't. D.S. sighed.

"Well, it's a good thing he hasn't thought about it yet," D.S smiled before her face changed to a
worried look. "Though he might in the future."

"What is that even supposed to mean?" C.C. was getting more frustrated with the girl by the
second.

"I'll show it to you!"

She suddenly took the witch's right hand in her own. Before Cera could say anything, she froze.

A giant white ship that reminded her of chess figure, far larger than the Nemesis. Black Knights
against Britannians under Lelouch's rule. Suzaku was there as well... fighting for Britannia.
Suzaku was fighting Kallen, but he lost. Nunnally lay on the floor of a large room as Lelouch
walked away. A F.L.E.I.J.A. exploded.

"Attention entire world! Hear my proclamation! I am Lelouch vi Britannia, Emperor of the Holy
Britannian Empire, and your only ruler! Schneizel has surrendered to me. As a result of this, I am
now controlling both Damocles and the F.L.E.I.J.A. weapons, and even the Black Knights no
longer possess the strength to oppose me now. If anyone dares to resist my supreme authority, they
will know the power of the F.L.E.I.J.A.s. Those who could challenge my military rule no longer
exist. Yes, from this day, from this moment on, the world belongs to me! Lelouch vi Britannia
commands you! Obey me, subjects! Obey me, world!"

A parade. Almost all the Black Knights in chains. Nunnally was before the Emperor on his throne.
Shackled and nearly bare, she would not raise her eyes.

C.C. prayed silently in a church. She hadn't prayed in centuries.

"What is…!" C.C. barely pushed the words out from the shock before being pulled back into the
vision.

Zero.

He charged Lelouch, overcoming anything in his path with incredible skill to reach the emperor.
Sword in hand, he drew back before piercing Lelouch, the emperor pulling his killer close to
whisper something inaudible. Zero withdrew the blade and let his body fall, covering everything in
his blood as he slid down the slope to his sister.

"Big Brother?"

As Nunnally touched his hand, more images appeared.

The Zero Requiem. His ultimate plan. The only fate awaiting the final evil in the world

"NO!"

C.C fell back, her body shaking in fear and anger. He died! He killed himself and left her. How
could she have just accepted that in some quiet church, praying to a God who had refused to
answer her? How could he betray her as everyone else did?

"Cera."

C.C. barely heard D.S.'s words.

"You're crying."

C.C. touched the corners of her eyes.

"Was...was that the future?" Cera asked, fervently hoping that she was wrong.

"Only a potential one." C.C. took a deep breath.

"How do you know all this?" D.S hesitated before saying.

"I saw it...in other realities."

C.C. looked as though she was about to break from confusion.

"It's part of the job. I can see other possible worlds and learn from them, like how to prevent some
things from happening while encouraging others." There was a long pause before C.C. spoke.

"Then why did all of this happen?" there was small venom in her tone. "You could have prevented
everything. Lelouch. Charles. They should be completely different!"
"Don't ask me. The collective unconscious works to benefit humanity and make sure it will survive
no matter what...even if it comes with a price. I began seeing things only after Lelouch stopped
Charles and Marianne. At that point, things were already in motion, but I'm glad that it didn't
follow the possibility you saw."

The Zero Requiem.

"You did all of this to stop this plan?"

The girl nodded.

"The Zero Requiem wouldn't help humanity in the long run. Even after the death of the Demon
Emperor, people would start fighting again like it never happened. His sacrifice would become
worthless in the end..."

She whispered last words with venom which surprised C.C...

"Humans are truly pitiful creatures."

C.C didn't expect to see Dimensional Supervisor so bitter about it. Cera had been alive far longer
than any person had a right to be. She'd seen firsthand the stupidity of humanity. However, she
could never truly hate them. In the end, she was jealous of them. They could form bonds
impossible for one like her and find meaning in a way she had lost long ago. More than that, they
had an ending. Whether fulfilled or not, sudden or slow, their lives ended. They always did.

Lelouch's life would end. In one world, she had lost him and prayed it would mean something. That
was how she had accepted it. Because she believed in him. If it was Lelouch, she knew he had to be
right. Still…

"How do you know," she asked the girl. "That it would be worthless in the end? How much did you
see?"

"Enough."

Gold stared into pink, and she saw that was all D.S. was willing to say. Whether or not Lelouch was
right in that world was irrelevant. D.S. believed he was wrong. So, she changed it. C.C. realized,
not for the first time in her long life, that dwelling on what could have been was pointless. Things
were different. That future, dark or bright as it could have been, was no more. She could only look
forward now, and see this through for herself.

"To stop the Zero Requiem," D.S. began again. "I need to make sure he doesn't want it. To do so, I
need to anchor him to life, a difficult task for one as closed off as him. Because of that, I've decided
to become one of them. This way, it'll harder for him to begin the Zero Requiem."

"And what about me?"

"In the future where the Zero Requiem happened, you didn't stop Lelouch. You tried to make him
rethink all of this, but Suzaku would remind him to continue to the end."

Suzaku. Luckily, that obstacle was already out of the way.

"So, you plan to make Lelouch too attached to this world to consider leaving it."

"Yes. This Lelouch is not too different from Lelouch who finished the Zero Requiem. While
troublesome, it should not be as difficult as the other world."
"What about Nunnally?"

This time D.S actually looked troubled. She hesitated before saying.

"To be honest...I don't know what to do with his little sister. She's with Suzaku and Schneizel."

Nunnally was the world to Lelouch. If he knew that she was alive, then the Zero Requiem wouldn't
happen. Zero. The Black Knights. All of it was made because he wanted to create a perfect world
for her. Her warlock wouldn't do something like that if she was here.

Unless...

C.C suddenly understood why D.S didn't know what to do with his sister.

"She was against him."

D.S nodded.

Right now, she was alive and with Schneizel. That snake most likely turned her against Lelouch.
C.C clenched her fist with anger. Schneizel was only using Nunnally to hurt Lelouch. She
remembered how the little girl who was unable to see waited for her big brother to return home, not
knowing that he was fighting for her future. No, Nunnally wouldn't ever turn against Lelouch. She
might feel hurt and maybe even betrayed by all the secrets he hid from her, but she wouldn't ever
think about fighting him. Not if Schneizel and Suzaku didn't say anything to her.

"Isn't it an ultimate irony?" C.C. looked like the words soured her mouth. "It's because of the
people close to him that he was always pushed from his goal. Suzaku piloting the Lancelot.
Euphemia attempting to create the first Administrated Zone of Japan. Nunally being kidnapped.
Losing the Black Knights. My memories. Shirley. The Second Battle of Tokyo. F.L.E.I.J.A... No
matter what he did, he would always lose something to make that goal just a little closer."

No matter how much he tried, Lelouch could never seem to protect those closest to him, and it
always placed another obstacle in his path. It might be why there were so few of them back then,
and why they were precious enough to throw a wrench in his careful plans. All for the sake of a
better world. All for his sister.

"Well, in that case, it is our job to make sure that he won't lose anymore from now on," D.S
laughed softly. "Don't tell Lelouch, but he is too similar to his father. The only difference is that
Lelouch didn't lose everything he had as Charles did. He still has people he cares about...even if
one of them is against him."

Kallen.

"Also, Lelouch doesn't have a little goblin with a brother complex." C.C. shook her head before
making her way towards the entrance of the ship.

"Where are you going?" called D.S.

"To Lelouch's side. Also, to look after the Malcal girl." Before entering a hangar, she turned back.
"Thank you for showing me all of that."

A smile appeared on girl's face as her pink eyes filled with happiness.

"You're welcome, and don't worry. We won't allow it to happen. That's what I'm here for!"
Cera wouldn't admit, but she was grateful to Dimensional Supervisor for what she showed her
today. At least now, she had a clear goal in mind.

Keep the Zero Requiem as just another bad dream.

July 29th Special Administrated Zone of Germany. Berlin.

It was early morning, but the sunrise was seen on the horizon of the half-destroyed street of Berlin.
Sadly the destruction during the war didn't leave this part of the city. While construction works
were going slowly getting there, some people were already coming back to live in houses that
didn't suffer as badly as others. One such house was an old two-story building, that somehow
managed to live through the recent war without a scratch. Because of that, this house didn't need
repairing and therefore was overlooked by workers who were already busy with work.

The such fortunate coincidence was now being used by its latest occupants.

There were four men inside the house, all of them wearing casual clothes with nothing special. Two
of them were sitting on the sofa, while the other two were busy with work. Despite looking like are
normal civilians all of them were proud military officers of Germany or were in the past.

Ever since Britannia took control of their fatherland everything changed and not in a good way. All
those who didn't obey the new regime didn't have the best time in the army. Britannia and its
emperor were demanding loyalty to them as well.

Now, if you didn't kneel before the emperor you might forget about rising up the ranks in the army.
According to their new superiors from Britannia 'Soldier who isn't loyal to his majesty, cannot be
trusted with a high position.' Such extreme ideology should have scared off most people, but it
never happened. Emperor Lelouch knew how to control the masses. The Empire raised the salary
of regular soldiers, now it was almost two times bigger than during the EU. Not to mention the
new privileges that they received. Early retirement and free healthcare are something everyone
wanted since the old days of the EU before hard times of war against Euro Britannia took it away.
No wonder the majority of former Union soldiers forgot about their oaths to serve Germany and
swore new ones to this Special Administrated Zone.

The door opened and a new man entered while holding their drinks. Coffee, tea, water, and even
juice but no alcohol. They were still on the mission and couldn't allow themselves to get drunk.
With a coffee mug in his hand, one of them started:

"Gentlemen, my congratulations to all of you. Yesterday we managed to strike Britannia. Even if a

demon emperor is still alive, everyone in Berlin has heard it. Even if the war ended true patriots
won't stop fighting until Germany is free again!" he finished and raised a fist in the air, his friends
repeat after him.

"Good words, Claus."

"Thank you, Werner." Continued the man who came in. "Now, OSI will try to hunt us down. We
need to leave the city and hide. I contacted that woman. She is waiting in Paris. We wi-Albrecht
are you okay?"

The man gave a cry of alarm towards his friend, who looked like he was choking indicated with his
hands on his throat. He could not make a response and suddenly he fell to the floor. All of them
rushed to him but then another two have fallen.
"Heinrich, Ludwig! What is going on?!" Shouted one of them.

"It's the drinks! They're poisoned!" shouted Werner as he looked at his drink.

Only he or Claus didn't drink from them yet. However, before he could say anything he felt
something deathly cold from behind stab into his flesh.

His own body fell to the ground with some sort of knife in his back. Claus recognized it as a
Japanese kunai. He quickly drew out his handgun and began shooting at the direction from where
the blade came from. After two shots another kunai flew at him and pierced his hand. He dropped
his handgun in pain, the hand once holding it now covered in blood. Suddenly something rushed at
a man with great speed. The former military colonel found himself lying on the floor with a
Japanese blade near his neck, now he could look at his attacker.

It was a woman in her mid-twenties. She was wearing some sort of mix of the white-black robe and
light armour with red-coloured shoulder and hand plates resembling Japanese make. Her legs from
the knees to the bottom were covered in white bandages. On top of her head was a small white hat,
similar to the wear of a nurse's uniform. However, what caught his attention was a tattoo on her
chest.

The symbol of the Demon Emperor!

With a cold voice, Claus shouted. "What are you waiting for? Kill me!"

The man was enraged with venom and for good reason. His only comrades and friends were dead
and they will no longer be fighting anymore for the Fatherland. However, he was content to die
here knowing others will continue their movement.

"My death won't change anything. Germany will be liberated!" The man proclaimed.

The Light Brown eyes of this assassin didn't blink. Only staring down at the man with a cold gaze.

"Your little movement ends today." The woman said. "I'm sure lord Jeremiah will be happy to
chat with you."

Once Claus heard that name, his eyes went wide as his heart started to beat faster from fear. In the
past, the name of Jeremiah Gottwald made others laugh because of the 'Orange' accident. Now,
however, it caused only untold terror and dread upon people hearing the name of the White
Emperor's favourite executioner. The cyborg man was known for being brutal to his opponents, be
it on an open battlefield or behind bars. Like hell, Claus will allow this to happen!

"Once lord Jeremiah questions you, I will take care of-"

However, before Sayoko could finish Claus tried the last thing he could. He bit the capsule and let
potassium cyanide finish the work. Sayoko's eyes went wide as the bubbles appeared in his mouth.
She tried to stop him but it was too late.

"I would rather die than let some megalomaniac tyrant that led Germany in the war against the
world! Es lebe unser heiliges Deutschland!" He exclaimed his last words before death took him
away. Sayoko stood up and looked at a corpse. At least she heard about a woman who was
working with them and said the suspect is currently waiting in Paris. OSI can handle it from there
and finish the work.

Now she needs to take care of the bodies and report back to lord Jeremiah.
July 29th. Special Administrated Zone of Russia. Volgograd.

Although the war ended, remnants of former union forces in Russia were still fighting. Even
without Knightmares some of them were able to continue the opposition against Britannia. Guerilla
soldiers were setting traps and attacking some of their units. Although not a serious threat on a
global scale for Britannia, dealing with the rebels' empire was wasting resources and time,
something that might be needed in the future.

However, another more serious threat was on the border. Even if the UFN and Britannia have
signed a ceasefire, the tension was ever present since the end of the war. Black Knights were
moving their soldiers while the empire brought the majority of its air fleet there. And while
emperor Lelouch said the possibility that Federation would strike first was small, he sent some of
his best knights there anyway.

Currently, three knights were resting in a new government building. One of these knights was
about to start his usual morning training when he heard a knock on his door. The first knight of the
round William Bishop dressed in his old white shirt and pants went to go open the door and greet
his sudden guest.

"Good morning, Lord Calhoun," he said kindly to the young knight.

Well, at least tried to say it kindly. When you are a huge man who spent the major part of your life
fighting on the battlefield and in prisons, it has become a common occurrence for people to get
scared by your looks. Such as the scars littering on his burly arms. Nor did that little tattoo that
Peter managed to put on him while William was unconscious from alcohol that one time.
Thankfully he was able to wake up on time before Peter finished.

Arthur stood there in his knight of the rounds uniform, looking troubled by something. He had an
uncertain look in his eyes. The blonde boy was opening and closing his mouth trying to say
anything. When William was about to ask if he was okay, the young man bowed and quickly
spoke:

"Pleaseteachmehowtobearealknight!"

Bishop blinked in surprise as Arthur raised his head. The boy tried to look serious but his cheeks
were red from embarrassment. Not hearing a response, he repeated himself but this time slower.

"Lord Bishop, can you teach me how to act like a knight?"

"I heard it the first time, Lord Calhoun. I'm more surprised by your request. May I learn why you
want it?" Arthur nodded before adding.

"Eh, is it okay if we speak inside your room? It will be embarrassing if somebody hears me," he
said and glanced around the corridor.

The two of them were alone right now but morning patrol will be there soon and Arthur didn't want
to shame himself in front of them. In his mind, he already did it before lord Bishop. The old man
nodded.

"Of course, come in."

As a knight of four entered the room of the older knight, he noticed how little lord Bishop brought
with himself. There was a desk that had some documents on it. On the wall behind the desk, the
old Britannia flag was hung. His bed was already cleared, most likely by old knight himself. His
sword was near it, and his uniform was lying on the bed. Everything was clean and minimalistic.
Nothing like Lord Thomson's room.

Arthur remembered how one-eyed man would fill his room with as many weapons as possible. Not
only modern rifles but the ancients too. Sometimes Peter would go to weapons museums and will
take some of its oldest guns. No one could say no to him and Lord Bishop would just wave it away.
To his credit, Peter would take only one weapon sample and give something back, usually
Knightmares that then will be taken back by the army who will pay money as an apology.

Then again most of the time museums had several spare ones. Who could know that Peter is a
collector.

Bishop pulled out two mugs and asked him.

"Tea?"

Arthur nodded, good hot tea might help to calm down a little. The first knight pointed at the chair
before the desk. A minute later two of them were sitting in chairs, tea mugs in their hands. The
older knight drank a sip before asking.

"So, Lord Calhoun why exactly do you want it? Why do you want me to teach you?"

Arthur thought about what to say before he opened his mouth.

"I was only trained on how to follow orders and pilot Knightmare in the army, nothing else. I was a
simple private. I mean, even becoming a sergeant was something I believed is impossible for me.
Now? I'm the fourth knight of the round. Only his majesty can command me. I'm honoured...but
also terrified by it." he said with a nervous smile and drank a sip of tea."Almost everything about it
is difficult. Giving orders to people who were higher than you in rank just a few months ago.
Leading them into battle. I don't know how to do it. I-I don't think I deserve my title." William
coughed before speaking.

"Excuse me, Lord Calhoun. But I remember reading reports after battles. You were able to lead
soldiers in a fight without any casualties." Arthur looked away.

"I would just run towards the enemy in my Reaper, leaving my unit behind. When they catch up
with me, usually all enemies were already dead."

"Yeah, I had this problem sometimes. Europeans were better fighters when I was young. But I
remember how Lord Jeremiah praised your fight in Moscow. You showed excellent results there,
winning against these Japanese pilots." some kind of Dragon squad or something like this. William
didn't bother to learn too much about them. All he knew was that their commander, Leila Malcal,
was now serving his master, and that was enough."I was even told you showed mercy to the
enemy. That's something knights do as well." Arthur nervously coughed.

"Yeeeeah, it was Lord Jeremiah who stopped me from killing 'Vyvern Squad'."

"Really?"

"Yup. I just wanted to crush them with my Reaper's feat, but I didn't want to go against his
majesty's order."

"...Well, at least you followed our master's command, and that's a good start. We can start from
here." suddenly blonde boy's eyes went wide.

"L-lord Bishop, it means?"

He nodded before speaking.

"It's believed that chivalry is dead these days. Real knights who knew the actual code of honour are
dead. Charles and Bismark got rid of all of them." it didn't surprise William.

The former emperor, let his soul suffer in hell, didn't need proper knights. Instead, he made his
knights of the round from children and psychos. Age isn't a decisive factor these days. Anyone can
be a great pilot, Cinder and Arthur are proof of that, but making 15 old girl knight with the
questionable character of six? Weird to say the least. Don't even mention that Luciano Bradley. If
even William, who is friends with Peter fucking Thomson, found that 'vampire' insane then it must
mean something. Thinking about it, he spoke.

"Maybe this is the reason why the majority of the Britannian army was underperforming." he
voiced his thought aloud. The blonde next to him blinked.

"What do you mean, Lord Bishop?"

The older man turned away from him and made his way towards the old empire's flag on the wall.

"Knights of the round aren't just best soldiers." he slightly touched the flag. Old fabric material
wasn't like when he got it decades ago."They are also the best leaders. Someone soldiers will
follow in battle without hesitation. People with the highest morals. They would know what to do in
extreme situations, never showing weakness or fear...Our predecessors were hardly like that. For
example, Luciano Bradley." he didn't see it but Arthur winced when he heard the name of crazy
'vampire'."A madman who killed as many allies as enemies. Or Anya Alstreim, 15 years old girl
without any emotions who wouldn't hesitate to blow up one of her ships, simply because that is the
easiest way. Do they give you the impression of sane people?"

"Eh, not really."

Bradley was hated and feared among all army units. The crazy bastard was worse than the enemy
because no one could say a thing against him. As far as Arthur remembered no one missed him
after his death, in fact, many celebrated it. Anya Alstreim, on the other hand, was almost unknown
to the public eye, but if Lord Bishop says that she might as bad as The Vampire of Britannia, then
he will believe the older knight.

"Or well-known Kururugi Suzaku." continued William as he turned towards a boy."I don't care
about ethnicity if you're a good soldier, that is all that matters. However, making someone like the
son of the former prime minister of Japan doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Not to mention, that
he failed as a knight of honour and didn't save his princess." he said last part with sorrow."I know
that many in our army hated him for the simple fact that he is a number, but there were other good
reasons as well. For instance, do you know about the battles Kururgi led by himself?"

Arthur looked troubled trying to remember anything. Usually, their media won't shut up about how
great their knights of the round were, even Bradley. However, when it comes to the former knight
of seven there is almost nothing.

"I can't recall anything."

"It is because all of them were failures," William said and brought some documents to him. All of
them were battle reports."After his majesty had freed me, I decided to learn what happened in the
last ten years, especially with knights of the round. I was surprised to find that for the majority of
his time as emperor's knight, Kururugi was under someone's command. Be it, a former prime
minister or some military advisor named Julius Kingsley. For some reasons, all information about
this advisor was destroyed, photos included. Almost all of the battles under this advisor were
victories. But all of this changed when Kururugi was given the freedom to operate in Japan when
Zero returned."

"Wait wasn't princess Nun-"

Arthur immediately stopped when William clenched his palm. He almost forgot what the
emperor's assistant warned him in Berlin about mentioning that name in presence of his majesty,
Lord Jeremiah or Lord Bishop.

"I'm sorry." the knight of one was silent for a few seconds before continuing.

"As I was saying. While there was a viceroy, Kururugi wasn't required to obey her orders but to
protect her...something he failed." he whispered last words with pain, Arthur decided to not
comment on this." And all of his attention was focused on Zero. Every time he tried to capture the
masked revolutionary. The knight of seven would fail." then he showed him some battle reports."
He almost got the viceroy killed when Zero attacked her ship. When Kururugi led Britannian ships
after Black Knights submarine, the entire fleet was destroyed because of bubbles." he looked at
him with a disappointed look and repeated himself."Bubbles, Lord Arthur."

Yeah, now kind of hard to imagine 'White Death' very scary and intimidating when you know that
guy had lost to some bubbles.

"So old knights of the round were terrible knights? Then it means that we just need to be better."
William agreed.

"Exactly. Because of them, people forgot what it meant to be a true knight. Not only do we need to
defeat them and bring them to justice but also fix the mess that they left."

"We?"

Arthur said not knowing how to feel about that. While Lord Bishop was a perfect example of a
knight from their history books, others, himself including, were not like that.

"Sorry, but only you fit for this role."

William shook his head.

"Don't be too shy, Lord Calhoun. Despite being just a soldier in the past, you proved to be a great
warrior who cares about his comrades. The story of why you have become a knight inspired many
soldiers to be like you." Arthur's eyes blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes." happily nodded William before continuing with an ecstatic voice."A private who lost his
friends and had no other choice but to fight off invaders, only to be saved by our emperor himself.
Not to mention, being acknowledged by his majesty and given the rank of knight. You're a living
legend for many soldiers right now. And I agree with them."

The blonde boy blushed from embarrassment. He didn't know why but suddenly learning about his
popularity made him feel like he had butterflies in his stomach. Even Lord Bishop praised him.

Don't get over your head! You are just a soldier doing his duty. Err, now a knight. He mentally told
himself.
"Wait, what about Lady Fall?"

Cinder didn't give him the impression of someone who cared about honour or things like that.
Although they didn't spend a lot of time together but still.

"What about her?" he asked a little overprotectively of his emperor's future wife, one of them at
least. If master Lelouch decided to marry Lady Fall then it meant she is worthy of him."She is a
well-trained knight who has gone through a difficult childhood. She showed excellent results
during the war. And while she might be somewhat cruel towards the enemy, Lady Fall doing
everything in her power to make our empire's army more effective."

It was Lady Fall who noted that EU Alexanders might be of great use under Britannian control and
not like mindless drones either but as special forces. As far as William heard she was trying to
transform Union's old weapons into something new. Soldiers respect and fear her, mostly fear
though.

Arthur didn't know what to ask next, but then he remembered the last knight.

"Okay, what about Peter?" this time the old knight was visibly troubled by the question, not
knowing how to answer.

"Peter...Peter, he is." it was funny to see how Lord Bishop couldn't describe his friend."Peter is
many things. Calling him a perfect knight role model will be an insult to everyone, himself
included...As far as I know, soldiers find him both funny and terrifying, at least he doesn't kill his
soldiers. I heard that he had become a meme according to some? I don't know what that means
really." William didn't notice how Arthur giggled when he said it."Anyway, I will do my goal to
return the good name to Knights of the round. And I would start from you, Lord Calhoun, no,
Arthur."

"Lord Bishop, you don't nee-"

Willian stopped him.

"Please, if we're to become an instructor and student, then it is only natural that I will call you by
your first name. If you wish you can do the same." boy in question shook his head.

"Sorry, but I was taught to show respect to my superiors...but how about master? Not, like a lord
but as a teacher?"

"Master." the first knight said, not able to remember when he was the last time Bishop was a
teacher figure if he ever was one." Very well, then let's start our lessons. Hmm, I suppose learning
about all former knights operations will be a good start." he said and gave him documents."We can
even analyze all of their mistakes and learn how to improve them. Preparations, and rereading them
multiple times will benefit us. In fact, I'm sure some examinations will be helpful."

Suddenly, learning how to be the knight didn't sound as awesome as Arthur thought.

UFN. The United States of Japan. Horai Island.

The artificial island of Horai had become home to one million Japanese. While main Japan was still
under Britannia's rule, this island was seen as a Japanese country and capital of UFN at the same
time inside the Federation. The miracle of technology was something that many people from
former Area 11 could finally call home. Their home. And while it was a temporary solution, they
did everything in their power to make it as comfortable as possible.
The island wasn't gigantic but had enough space to establish a primary base of operations to the
Order of Black Knights. Some civilians decided to stay and help the Federation's army with
anything they could. Right now many of them were excited to hear that new guests would be
arriving soon. Not every day you could see refugees from Europe that were heroes in their union.
While the war was lost, hearing that W-0 ace teams were coming was exciting news for many.
Especially, when some of them were Japanese, something that raised the morale of folk.

Dozens of Mass-Production Model Akatsukis stood in the two lines. All of them were fresh
machines from the factory. It was an official welcome to W-0 and while they were technically
refugees, in UFN they were unofficially government in exile since there was no one left to fill that
role. And so the leaders of both Black Knights and UFN needed to greet them.

General commander Li Xingke, general secretary Kaname Ohgi, head of the joint staff Kyoshiro
Tohdoh and first chairwoman of the UFN Kaguya Sumeragi were standing before the main port.
Besides them stood the head of Black Knight's research and development team, Rakshata Chawla,
with her favourite pipe. All of them waiting for their guests.

"I never met Europeans before." suddenly commented Ohgi. China was probably the only place
that he visited outside Japan and meeting representatives from other countries wasn't his job
before, not that the EU sent anyone in the past."I wonder what they're like."

Xingke didn't take his eyes off a ship that was coming in the port.

"Not too different from Britannians. They think low of others, high of themselves. The difference
is, they brag about their superiority behind your back." unlike his colleague he had experience
meeting some of them in the past. Xingke knew they weren't all like that, but after Union refused to
join UFN or even start a conversation he started to doubt it. In the end, Malcal is from Britannia
while the two best Knightmare teams are either from Euro-Britannia or Japan.

Black Knights' secret intelligence was pretty good even without Diethard Ried.

Tohdoh, who has been silent until now started.

"Union was a fool to attack Britannia. They didn't expect Lelouch to be a cunning opponent. Two
months ago they had more soldiers and territories than us. But now?" he narrowed his eyes as he
looked at the transport ship that stopped in port."Only this ship and its people. What can they do?"

"We had less than them when we created Order, General Tohdoh," commented Ohgi.

Two years ago they had only a few old Knightmares. Rakshata, who was happily smoking, added
with a carefree voice.

"But we also had someone else." she didn't pay attention to the glare that the general secretary gave
her."Still, I'm looking forward to meeting with the inventor of the Brain Raid System."

Many people forget that Rakshata's main field of study was medical cybernetics and something
like BRD easily caught her attention. Besides, for a carefree woman, it was nice to talk to
somebody else who has a doctor's degree and knew his way with tech.

"They are coming."

Declared Kaguya as she saw several figures coming toward them. Two men in union officers'
uniforms arrived first. Kaguya saw a man and woman in white coats walking next to each other.
And finally, two young boys wearing military clothes. She noted that one of them was Japanese. So
it is Akito Hyuga.
Once they were in front of them, one of the officers introduced himself.

"General Li Xingke, general Kyoshiro Tohdoh, secretary Kaname Ohgi, lady chairwomen." he
bowed slightly to them." Major Oscar Hammel currently taking command of W-0. This my
colleague Lieutenant Colonel Claus Warwick." he glanced to another man who just said 'Sup' to
them. Oscar was glad that at least his friend wasn't drunk. "Let me introduce you, Sophie and
Takeru Randle. And finally, team leaders of our teams Ashley Ashra and Akito Hyuga."

Tohdoh was the first one to start talking.

"It is nice to finally meet you, Major. I hope the journey here was pleasant."

Oscar slightly looked down.

"We didn't have any problems on the way here, but I'm afraid many of us were too tired from
everything that happened, especially after the last battle of the war." his tone was neutral, but
Tohdoh could notice that he was troubled by something. It wasn't hard to imagine why. Japanese
pilot Hyuga looked especially worn-out."But I hope that W-0 would find home here."

"Of course, Major. Of course." agreed Tohdoh.

"Still, it is nice to be here. It is my first time in China. Oi! I mean The United States of Japan."
corrected himself, Claus."Sorry."

Ohgi immediately shocked his head.

"No, it is okay. After all, Horai Island is just tiny land next to China."

"Really? Anyway, I'm looking forward to testing one of your Japanese sake or how you call your
beer?" leaders of Order decided to ignore how Oscar not so gently stepped on his friend's foot and
mumbled something that sounded like a threat in German.

Rakshata paid them little attention as she moved next to Takeru Randle. She stood right in front of
him, giving the man a good view of an Indian woman's cleavage. Something that man himself
didn't pay any attention. While his wife glared at her.

"So you are the genius who made BRD and installed it in Alexander?" she started with a voice that
sounded excited to meet a brilliant Europe scientist.

Again, his wife didn't take it kindly, but Takeru warmly smiled.

"Well, it wasn't me who combined it with Alexanders. You need to meet Anna. She is a real
genius, not me. And for BRD, well." he placed a hand around Sophie's torso."I wasn't alone."

Sophie narrowed her eyes at the vixen, as she started to think.

"Sophie Rundle. His wife," she said making pressure on the last word and squeezed her husband's
arm. Rakshata didn't notice or pay it any concern as she smirked.

Suddenly, the general secretary noted something.

"Wait, where are Kallen and Tamaki?" he looked around unable to see them. It was a redhead from
W-0 that answered.

"Hot stuff and second Ryo? They had left before we got on the ship. Loudmouth said something
about visiting his girl back in Tokyo. Redhead didn't say a word to us, but I heard that she wanted
to go there as well."

Ohgi let out a groan. Their best pilot and worst captain left without saying anything to him. I
expected something like this from Tamaki, but Kallen?... it looks like something she would do right
now.

Kaguya noticed that the Japanese member of W-0 was silent and was looking off. Deciding to say
anything she started.

"Welcome to UFN, Akito Hyuga. How does it feel to return home?" she said with a sympathetic
voice. Kaguya thought that maybe the Japanese boy will be happy to return home, or at least be
near home. "I know it is not the mainland, but at least we can call this place free Japan."

Akito bitterly smiled.

"I wasn't born there, but I suppose it is nice to be near my homeland." but it wasn't the same
without all members of his family. Akito tried to think of anything else right now.

"I think we shouldn't stay under the sun." started Xingke and looked around at their guests." Major
Oscar, let's head inside." he glanced at the main base building behind him."We have a lot of things
to discuss."

"I can't wait to look at your tech," commented Rakshata and winked in Takeru's direction, she
couldn't wait to see BRS close. Sophie's grip on her husband's arm only tightened.

Ohgi looked at two boys and said.

"We need to call the rest of W-0 as well."

While Ashley said that they would inform them, Tohdoh silently watched all while thinking about
the future.

It wasn't what Black Knight wanted to gain from the last war, but it was at least something. W-0
was able to run from Lelouch multiple times and find the way to use one of his weapons against
him, even if for a few seconds. Since Peace Mark didn't answer any of their calls, the old general
considered that having homeless Europeans isn't a bad idea. Something might come out of this
partnership in the end.

Britannian Occupied Tokyo.

Ayano Kozuki didn't know what to think when her daughter stormed into her hospital room. She
had just finished her daily procedures and was exhausted when she was about to lay down, only for
her little girl to kick in the door and rush to her, hugging her with affection that Ayano hadn't felt
since the day she'd last seen her little redhead angel

However, she quickly realized that something was wrong. Call it a mother's instinct, but she felt
that her Kallen was troubled by something. They began talking about normal stuff, as usual, as she
decided that it would be better if Kallen herself brought up the issue.

"Mom, do you think I should leave the Black Knights?"

Kallen knew that they were alone in the room. She already noticed that Sayko had disappeared and
other occupants had left as well. It didn't matter right now, she just wanted to be with her mom.
Mrs Kozuki didn't know what to think. Kallen had never consulted with her about her position in
the Black Knights before. Thinking about what to say, she stayed silent for a good minute. As she
thought, she glanced to the side of the bed she was sitting on, motioning for Kallen to sit, and as
she did, she began to speak.

"Ever since I learned about you and your brother going to the ghetto I know that you were doing
something dangerous. Then imagine my surprise when I learned that you two were part of the
rebels. I wanted to scream at you, talk you out of this, but neither of you wanted to listen, and
then... Nauto." Tears streaked her cheeks as her voice died down.

Kallen immediately hugged her again, trying to comfort her, she almost started crying. If she and
Naoto hadn't ignored their mother then maybe, everything would've been different.

"Mom, you don't need to-"

"No." her mother brushed away her tears and looked at her daughter's eyes. So similar to her
father."Kallen, every time you left home on a mission with resistance my heart ached. Every time I
was afraid that you wouldn't come back. I should have talked with you, should have comforted you
but instead, I tried to remember times when we were family. I acted cowardly and made you
worry." she let out a pained sigh."If it wasn't for the ceasefire I might have tried to talk you out of
this Order thing right now...But I know that you must continue it." Kallen looked at her mother
with surprise, not expecting to hear such an answer." Naoto followed his dream and died fighting
to free Japan. If I tell you to leave now, I will fail Naota again and will make his sacrifice
worthless. I wasn't there when you needed me the most, but I will try to fix it."

Kallen was silent as her head fell on her mother's shoulder.

"Mom, I know that I could... I... Just know that I'm watching myself." her mother hugged her
tightly.

"Every parent is worried about their children. Especially when they are soldiers...Kallen, parents
shouldn't bury their children, yet I already buried one. Promise me that you won't die, no matter
what you will return to me." she said with a soft voice as a few tears fell from Kallen's
eyes."You've done so much on your own. I'm proud that my little girl is called a hero."

"I won't die, Mom. I promise."

"That's all I want to hear." Ayano said as she looked at her little girl, wiping away her tears and
giving her a bright smile."Let's stop talking about sad things. We need to focus on positive stuff as
well." Being depressed about the past wasn't a good thing. Ayana knew it better than anyone."
How was your business trip to Europe?" Ayano tried to change the topic and noticed that her
daughter looked aside uncomfortably at her words."Did something happen there?"

The redhead was silent for a few seconds, thinking if it was wise to speak with her mum about this.
Kallen doubted her mom would have any better idea as to how to change the Black Knights
without using force than she herself had. Why not a hostile takeover of the entire high command?
At first, glance, that might've seemed like a plausible, if a brutal option, until one thought about
exactly how much planning and precision would be necessary to pull off such a coup. She wasn't a
genius like some people. All she knew was how to follow orders and fight. Not to mention that
some members of Order are quite popular. While Kallen was the best pilot and hero to many,
Tohdoh, for example, was a hero to everyone. Then there were Xingke and Kaguya. Neither of
them was part of that damn deal, but it didn't mean that they would help her. Kaguya might be an
option if she will be able to convince the young chairwoman to see things from her perspective, but
Chinese warrior? Unlikely.
Not to mention, Xingke and Tohdoh were close friends, were they not? Kallen didn't know what
else to call them. They were spending a lot of time together, to the point that some started to joke
about why the Japanese general ignored Chiba's advances. In short, Xingke wouldn't go against
Tohdoh...maybe Tianzi? Xingke would do anything for the little empress, and she didn't hate
Lelouch like the rest of them. She was just scared of him because he had pointed a gun at her.
Kallen rubbed her nose.

Nice job, Lelouch. Fucking nice job, pointing the loaded gun at the child's head. Makes you
wonder what kind of father he will be in the future. Wait.

At her own thought, her cheeks turned as scarlet as her hair. Kallen didn't know where this train of
thought was coming from. Unfortunately, for Kallen, her mother noticed it and smirked.

"Kallen, are you thinking something inappropriate?" blue eyes looked with terror at the woman
who had given birth to her." I can feel that something happened during your trip." she said with a
smirk."Did you meet someone there? A boy?"

Kallen didn't answer, but her mother knew better.

"Finally!" she said cheerfully, Kallen on the other hand, looked pale."I was starting to get worried.
All you were doing was fighting and never showed any sign of having personal life whatsoever.
Sayoko told me that everything would eventually solve itself on its own, but I couldn't wait. So!
Tell me everything!"

Ayano felt like an actual mother right now.

"Who is he? What is he like? Did you two-"

"Mum!"

Kallen shouted embarrassed and glad that they were alone, otherwise, she might have thought
about killing an unfortunate witness. She didn't want to talk about it, but she saw the look on her
mother's face. Sparks in her eyes and a wide smile on her face. Kallen couldn't remember the last
time her mum was this energetic. For some reason, she couldn't say no to that face.

"He...he is someone I know from Ashford Academy. We were together at the Student Council.
You might have seen him."

"So, did something happen?" Kallen shook her head.

"We just talked, and besides," her face darkened."it seems he has someone right now."

Or two. If that bitch Cinder could catch Lelouch's heart then C.C most likely too.

The smile on her mother's face disappeared.

"Kallen, are you angry?" Blue eyes went wide.

"What?! No! Of course not! Why should I be?"

It wasn't like Lelouch had just revealed all of his secrets to some random girl, all, while she had to
thank Suzaku for breaking Zero's helmet lest she never knew the truth. It's not like he had told
Cinder about Geass, while she had spent a year trying to pull information out of C.C. And not
because he made Cinder Q-2 or White Queen. Or that he had said that he loved that amber-eyed
bitch, who he had known for just a few months, compared to Kallen who he knew for two years
now by then.

Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder and said.

"Kallen, be honest with me. Are you jealous?"

A pink shade appeared on Kallen's face.

"No, I'm not. It's just that thinking about him with that girl makes me a little angry and I want to hit
something or someone."

Ayano giggled.

"Sounds like someone is jealous." she teased before her expression turned serious." Kallen, you
might think these feelings a temporary thing, but don't ignore them. The longer you do it, the
harder it will be to solve them at the end." before her daughter tried to say anything, Ayano
added."Kallen, I know it better than anyone else. I spent years seeing the man I love being forced
to live in a loveless marriage with another woman."

"How did you live with it?"

Ayano immediately answered.

"I was thinking about my children. That no matter what I will have you, even if I can't be with your
father like before. Besides, sometimes when your father was on a business trip I allowed myself to
take some small bit of revenge on that woman." she giggled."-Nothing serious. Put some laxative
in her tea, do some small thing with her heels so they could easily break, stuff like that. I know it
might sound childish but for me, it was some kind of comfort. Your father wasn't happy about
forced marriage and that woman didn't make it easier for him. The person wasn't happy and those
petty mischiefs were the only things I could do. Kallen, If you think that you will make this special
person happier than anyone else, what's stopping you from doing it?"

"But what if-"

"All is fair in love and war, honey. Just because he may have someone does not mean that you
cannot try to take him. Sometimes to show love you need to use force. How do you think your
father and I got married?" her mother said with a sweet smile.

As she said it with an innocent smile, Kallen felt a little scared of what her mother could do.
Suddenly she remembered how Tamak had said something about how there is nothing scarier than
a jealous woman, ironic taking into account her own snap during a fight in Moscow.

Mother and daughter chatted for some more time until the nurse informed them that the visiting
hours were over. With a sad smile, Kallen hugged her mother and left. Ayano lied down and
thought about it all. Kallen had asked some strange things, and she knew that there was a story
behind them. Then there were things close related to the heart. On one hand, she was happy that
her little girl had finally shown some affection to the opposite sex, on the other hand, her self-
denial was both cute and troublesome. Ayano was so old, and it was about time the Kozuki family
became bigger. Without her husband, it left only Kallen to fulfil that role, unless her husband
showed up of course. Again, thinking about her little angel Ayano couldn't help but sigh.

"Goddammit, my daughter is a tsundere."

As Kallen moved away from her mother's hospital, she began thinking about what to do next.
Changing the Black Knights from within didn't sound too difficult until you start thinking about the
details. Many Black Knights in the Japanese branch were former rebels and terrorists who were
united under Zero. All of them wanted to see Japan liberated, and Britannia destroyed.

All of them want revenge for what the empire did, some more than others. But even more, people
just want to live normal lives without being treated like second-class citizens in their own
homeland. There are many people like Chiba who are more than willing to treat the Brits as bad as
they treated us.

Maybe in the past, Kallen could agree with that, but Black Knights were supposed to be more than
just revenge-driven revolutionaries. Zero-Lelouch created them to change the system, not just
replace it. And they repaid him by pointing guns at him. Lelouch might have been secretive about
his identity and geass, but he more than anyone else wanted to see Britannia in ruins.

In some way, he achieved it. No more nobles, no more number system or Britannian social
superiority. His Britannia shares only the name with the one his father governed.

With Britannia so drastically changed, it might be logical for the Black Knights to make some
improvements as well. However, how was she going to start then?

Ah! This is difficult! How am I going to do it?

Kallen was frustrated, she needed to come up with an idea or at least to talk to someone who might
help her. However, soon her thoughts were occupied by something else.

While she was walking away from the hospital, she felt like somebody was following her. She
went around a corner and pulled out her phone to look at the reflection. Kallen narrowed her eyes
when she noticed a strange figure in a cloak. Was it an enemy? Britannian spy? Maybe someone
had recognized her when she left the hospital? The ace of the Black Knights needed to play it
carefully.

The unknown pursuer continued to follow their target until she suddenly changed direction and
went towards the destroyed street. This one among many was badly damaged during the last battle
and wasn't fixed yet. While it wasn't dangerous to simply traverse, it was still easy to get lost there
or hide among ruins. Kallen disappeared from his sight. When the cloaked figure began frantically
searching for the redhead girl, it found itself standing stock still as it felt something cold pressing
against its neck.

"Who are you and why are you following me?"

Her voice was cold while her eyes were focused on the person before her. This was something
more familiar to Kallen than thinking about the Black Knights. She was a soldier first after all.

"..Huh, guess I'm getting old. Lying in the hospital wasn't without its shortcomings." replied a male
voice as it barked a laugh

Kallen could swear she had heard that voice before. When the figure tried to move without a word,
she reacted and kicked him forward. The man fell on the ground but didn't try to stand up. Instead,
he stared at her.

"I think this is the first time we meet face to face." her eyes went wide, and now she recognized the
man.

"You?"
"Didn't expect to see the first lance of the empire in such condition?" asked the personal knight of
Cornelia li Britannia, Gilbert Guilford. The once-proud knight and right hand of Cornelia was now
lying on the ground in a pile of mud."Well met, Red Lotus."

Nemesis.

Lelouch allowed himself to relax as he lay on the sofa. Currently, he was alone in his room, while
the girls were off busy with their tasks. All official work was finally done, a place for the next
meeting and everything related to it was decided. He and Leila had already prepared their speeches
for the upcoming event as well. Everything was going great, including security.

Speaking of security.

Lelouch remembered Jeremiah's report. Sayoko got rid of the people who planted the bomb but
failed to find the rest of the collaborators. The only clue was that it was someone from Paris. Well,
nevermind, the OSI would take care of it now that they didn't need to play a significant role in his
plan.

If anything, Peace Mark was annoying. It wasn't their technology or battle potential, they were
using relatively old KMF and most of their soldiers were mercenaries. No, their greatest weapon
was their numbers and that they were all around the world, so If one cell falls the other would
continue fighting all the same. They were not like the Black Knights who were practically useless
without a central command to lead them. It made Peace Mark both stronger and weaker at the same
time. They could work separately, but there was no unity among them. All they shared was a name
and hatred for Britannia. Destroying them would take time, but if he crushed this cell which was
causing him the problem in Europe then Peace Mark's fighting capability would decrease
drastically,

And they have Geass users.

Lelouch sighed. As C.C had said one of them, a young girl according to his witch, was able to use
her Geass to raise the speed of her Knightmare. It was an interesting ability but hardly mattered to
him. While Orpheus Zevon's own Geass was still unknown and another user was a mystery to the
White Emperor. Still, Lelouch figured that as long as he had Jeremiah, C.C, and D.S by his side he
could counter whatever they threw at him.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden call. Pressing a few buttons on the remote next to him, a
picture of one of his legion's captains appeared on the screen. Kneeling, an enslaved man deeply
lowered his head.

"Your majesty! According to your orders, we have gathered the civilians. All of them were
unharmed and currently waiting for you inside the hangar." A devilish smile appeared on his
emperor's face.

"Excellent work, captain. I will be there in a few minutes. In the meantime make sure that no one
outside the white legion enters the hangar. I don't want anyone else near there."

The Geassed captain nodded and proudly said.

"As you wish, your majesty." as the screen turned black, Lelouch got up from the sofa and took his
cloak.

In the past, as Zero I had limited supplies and time to prepare for anything. Now, however, as
emperor, I have unlimited power and can do as I please. The raven-haired boy smirked as he made
his way outside his room. Scarlet guards lined up in colons as they walked behind their emperor.
As Lelouch walked inside his ship, everyone stopped to salute him. It felt nice to have power like
this but Lelouch knew that he had this power for an important job. Once he entered the hangar, he
saw dozens of civilians. Confused, scared. They were simple people who might die soon, but
Lelouch couldn't allow his plans to be stopped by mere terrorists.

Ironic. Is this how Charles felt about me and the Black Knights? Did the old man feel, anything at
all? Doesn't matter. I will do whatever it takes to accomplish my goals. I won't allow anyone to
take from me anymore.
 The Attempt and failure

August 1. Special Administrated Zone of Germany. Berlin.

The monarch of the Holy Britannian Empire stood inside Reichstag, making the last preparations
before going public. White Emperor looked in the mirror, making sure everything was perfect. His
eyes turned to his assistant.

"Is everything prepared as I ordered?" Alfred respectfully nodded.

"Yes, sir. Lady Malcal is done with her preparations and waiting for you." Lelouch chuckled.

"Well, then let's not make a lady wait for any longer than needed. Go ahead, Alfred. I will be there
in a few minutes." Lelouch ordered as the loyal assistant bowed before exiting the room and
leaving him alone. Well, not completely alone. Lelouch glanced at his reflection in the mirror and
asked no one in the room. "Are you ready?"

Suddenly a shadow appeared out of nowhere and knelt before her master.

"Yes, master Lelouch."

"Rise, Sayoko." her lord smiled.

At these words, the loyal maid got up from her position and waited patiently for his next words.
The monarch nodded in the satisfaction that the uniform imparted to her for this mission was
looking good.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to kneel before me?" He raised his eyebrows.

Sayoko's loyalty was more than welcome, but she didn't need to behave like his soldiers from
White Legion.

"I'm sorry, my lord. I'm just happy to be serving you again. Please forgive me."

She slightly bowed her head, and an exasperated Lelouch sighed before walking toward her and
placing his hands on her shoulders. His maid raised her head to see his face as he spoke.

"There is no need for you to apologize for anything. Actually, it is me who needs to apologize to
you, Sayoko. I left you in Tokyo for too long. Please forgive me for being a bad master."

Her eyes widened as she immediately shook her head. "No! You shouldn't apologize, Master
Lelouch! You were too busy after what happened, changing things for the betterment of everyone.
I understand that."

Sayoko spoke quickly trying to prove that her master hadn't done anything wrong but Lelouch
chuckled.

"Even if you say it, I still feel guilty for leaving you for too long."

It was nice talking to her again. Sayoko had become family for him and Nunnally during their stay
in Japan. There were many good memories of this country. He met many good people there, some
of whom he didn't want to forget. It's a shame that there were just as many bad ones.

He sighed again as he looked to the side. "I suppose I'm just very happy to see people from Japan,
from the time before any of this happened."

Sayoko didn't say a word, but she understood him. Everything changed in the last two years. She
herself missed the old days when she could prepare tea for her mistress and observe how her
master would get away with his gambling hobby. A melancholic smile appeared on the face of a
Japanese maid. Many great things happened in this world thanks to her master, but they had come
at a great price. Shaking her head, not wanting to think about this stuff again, she looked at her
master, the determination has filled her.

"Master Lelouch, please don't worry about things of the past. I will make sure that these good
memories and people will not be forgotten!" Lelouch laughed at her enthusiasm.

"I'm happy to hear that, Sayoko."

It was then that knocking was heard on the door. It was most likely Alfred reminding him about
time. Lelouch pulled out his phone as it was about time to start.

"Do you remember your lines, Sayoko?" he asked. She nodded without hesitation. "Excellent, then
let's go. The main show is about to start."

He stated as he got up, Sayoko smiling as she moved for the door.

"Of course, Master Lelouch," the maid stopped with her hand on the doorknob as she looked at her
lord. "I won't fail you again, master!"

Lelouch couldn't help but smile at these words. Before she went away, Sayoko had heard what her
master said.

"You never failed me, Sayoko. You never did."

Outside of the Reichstag

Orpheus glared with irritation at a giant number of people around him. Ever since it was announced
that Emperor Lelouch will hold his speech, the people of the Special Administrative Zone of
Germany were more than eager to see their usurper. Especially those in Berlin. Well, not only
would they hear and see the white emperor but also the Messiah of Europe: Leila Malcal. Thinking
about it made the leader of Peace Mark more than annoyed.

What is with these people? Their country had been invaded by their worst enemy, their capital
completely destroyed and their men killed. And yet, they want to attend the speech of the enemy
leader and traitorous commander...sometimes I don't understand people... Then again they might
be people who supported Lelouch from the very start. Oz thought as he looked around.

Old and young, women and men, they were all before Reichstag, waiting for Lelouch to make his
speech.

It doesn't matter. White Emperor will die today.

Still, he expected to see a few hundred people but not this many! It looked like it was close to a
thousand. At least he was far away from the centre of the crowd, he would need to secure an
escape route; however, Oz suspected he needed to get closer to the end of this swarm if he wanted
to leave without issues. A few glances at his side showed that there were few guards, enough to
hold back this crowd but not enough if knightmares appeared. Even Lelouch's royal guards and
their machines weren't there. Was White Emperor so confident in his security or did he prepare
something else?

His thoughts were interrupted when some kid suddenly bumped into him. The child eyed him with
confusion before saying, "Sorry mister!"

Former Britannian noble sighed as he looked down at his clothes. A slightly shabby grey suit,
black gloves, and a fedora on his head. Alice was right when she said that Rei doesn't have the best
taste in clothes. Then again it was his fault for asking for his advice. X or Dian would have been a
better choice but X wasn't with them at the moment while Dian needed to prepare for his part of
the plan.

Ah, yes. Our 'genius' plan to assassinate Emperor Lelouch.

Oz couldn't help but worry about their plan. In the end, most of it was his idea. They spent a lot of
time planning everything, but he still felt uneasy thinking about it.

One day before.

'We will divide our forces into three main groups. Alice and Rai will be leading their teams while I
prepare everything for a retreat.'

He remembered Dian's words from last night. Orpheus and three of his most trusted lieutenants
were standing around a table with a detailed city map on it.

'Let's repeat and check everything over one last time.' Orpheus said as he looked at the people
before him. 'Rai, you remember your part?'

'Come on, Oz. I'm insulted!' the boy in question smirked. There's no way I will forget something
this important...what I'm doing again?'

Oz rolled his eyes as Alice kicked Rei from the side, the white-haired geass user quickly raised his
hands in surrender.

'Okay, Okay! Not joking right now! I remember everything.' He coughed before continuing. 'I will
help these German guys enter Reichstag and then head over to my location. Some small buildings a
few streets away from Reichstag. There our team of snipers will be waiting for me. They will have
sniper rifles with range enough to shoot Lelouch.' Saying that he pulled out a few photos from
another side of the table.

'Then we will leave the house by using the tunnel. We will retreat through the sewer, and while I
prefer literally anything else, it is our best option. After that, we will meet with Dian at the meeting
point. I heard those snipers were already there and had dug a tunnel.'

Orpheus nodded. The reason why Rai needed to help the former German secret service was
because of his power.

'Good. And you, Alice?'

'I will lead a team of knightmares.' The blonde girl pointed at the location that was a few blocks
away from both Reichstag and Rai's place. 'This construction site is the closed place we were able
to find. I and ten other pilots will wait there. Once you give signal we head towards that whatever-
Reich and if neither of you will be able to do it then I will kill that bastard.' Orpheus narrowed his
eyes.
'Don't forget that your main role is to distract Lelouch's guard. And don't kill civilians.'

The last thing he needed was for Peace Mark to become enemy number one in CIS. He knew how
well Lelouch and his machine of propaganda were able to make enemies of the empire as absolute
monsters in the eyes of the public. They didn't want this kind of attention. Oz actually expected
Alice to protest and say something blunt to him but to his surprise, she just sighed before agreeing
with him.

'Okay, I will try to do my best.' she looked at him and then Dian.' Once we have killed Lelouch and
you two get out of there, I will head towards Dian.'

Oz observed the map, hoping that the plan will work. It would have been better if they could move
Alice and the pilots with their knightmares somewhere closer to Reichstag, but it was impossible
with the level of security there. Their best choice was to use buildings, hide among them and rush
towards a place of speech before the Britannians could stop them. Originally, Orpheus was afraid
that the monster in the sky would ruin this part of the plan, but their spies in the city reported that
the thing wasn't in Berlin. While it calmed him down a little bit, the fact they didn't know where
exactly it was right now made Oz a little paranoid. Rai decided to break the silence.

'What about knightmares? Everything okay with them?' Alice nodded.

'Alexanders, all of them painted at a special units colour scheme. At best it will confuse the Brits.
Each one of them is well armed.'

Before Rai could ask something else, Alice interrupted him as she anticipated his train of thought.
'There won't be any workers on that day. We already sorted this out.'

Oz nodded, satisfied that Alice was taking this seriously. His eyes turned to the last person around
the table. Dian cleared his throat before talking.

'I will be waiting for you guys at the meeting point. There will be four garbage trucks waiting for
us. But we will need only two. Alice and the other pilots will leave the Alexanders behind. Two
other trucks will drive in a different direction, while the rest will leave the city as fast as possible.
Once we are outside Berlin, a plane will be waiting for us.'

'From sewer right into a garbage truck. Who needs sanitation anyway?' Rai sighed.

Alice looked like she was about to kick him again.

"Stop bitching. We deal with Lelouch and no more Britannia.'

Oz wished it was that easy but at the very least the emperor's death will stop Britannia's progress.
Or so he hoped.

Orpheus was waiting for the speech to start when he heard a familiar voice in his right ear.

"Oz?" he covered his earpiece and asked.

"What is it, Rai?"

The Peace Mark leader wasn't afraid that somebody would hear or even pay attention to him. When
he glanced at the side he noticed how everyone was busy waiting for the speech to start.

"It's about these Germans guys. I brought them inside Reichstag and left. I'm heading to my
position."

Orpheus breathed with relief. Even since that accident with the Malcal girl in Rome, he and Alice
both feared that Rai couldn't use his geass anymore. Soon the albino-haired boy proved them
wrong when he used his power again a few days later. He didn't know what happened but now at
least everything returned to normal.

"Oz?"

"What's wrong, Rai?"

"It just...I helped these guys enter Reichstag, but you never told me how they plan to leave."
Orpheus became silent for a few seconds before Rai said. "Oz?"

"...they aren't leaving."

"Wait, what?"

"Rai, they aren't planning to leave Reichstag."

He could imagine how a boy on another end of the connection was confused. It took a moment for
a white-haired boy to understand what he meant.

"Wait! Do you mean-"

"Yes, they decided it themselves." there was silence until Rai spoke again.

"I see...I'm heading to my location. Will be there in 3 minutes."

Rai felt bad for them. Oz could sense sorrow in his voice. He himself was surprised when they
declared they would allow neither Lelouch nor Britannia to have Reichstag and Germany.

Patriotism is something that can give meaning to your life but make you take somebody else's life.

His thoughts were interrupted when the surrounding crowd started to clap vigorously. His eyes
quickly aimed at the person that stood on the podium in front of the people. Lelouch vi Britannia
ascended before them in his usual robes, smiling at the people who had come. His royal guards
were there behind him with their captain next to them. Everything seemed normal, yet Orpheus
couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right here.

Many things were weird about all of it. There were some guards and 5 or 6 Vincent Wards. Not to
mention all of Lelouch's personal guards were standing next to him. Yet none of these red fanatics
were inside their knightmares, not even Gottwald. If they expected the assassination attempt, it
wouldn't look like they cared about it.

When Lelouch raised his right-hand cheering stopped, and the emperor smiled and started talking.

"Citizens of Berlin! There is an important matter that I need to address but first I want to thank you
all for coming here today!"

Lelouch spread his arms to the sides.

"I'm happy to see after everything that happened in this city. Your spirits didn't shatter one bit.
Even after an accident that happened a few days ago, you still trusted me to come here. You cannot
imagine how much I am touched by your trust." White Emperor slightly bowed his head in an act
to show it. "As your monarch, I promise to prove that I deserve your trust. I promise that I won't let
you down like those before me and will guide you into the perfect, peaceful future!"

When Lelouch raised his head before raising up his right hand with a clenched fist, the people
started clapping again. So in an attempt to try and not look out of place, Orpheus clapped as well,
albeit in a slower rhythm. After all, it was Lelouch and his Britannia that had brought the war to
this city. His soldiers and knightmares were destroying Berlin not so long ago. And yet, these
people didn't mind all of this. Some fancy words from the emperor and they forgot everything that
happened. Well, not all of them at least.

Lelouch continued his speech for the next ten minutes. He talked about the progress that was
already made and how things would only improve in the future. Orpheus nodded that the emperor
would avoid topics regarding UFN. The emperor stopped soon enough, however.

"While I am more than happy to speak before you, there is someone who will do it better, believe
me." Lelouch turned to the side and extended his hand towards someone who stepped on the
podium.

The crowd exploded with applause and screams when they saw a familiar face. Orpheus just rolled
his eyes. Leila Malcal stood before all of them, wearing her new uniform.

She quietly coughed before saying. "Dear citizens, I'm happy to stand here before all of you. As his
majesty, emperor Lelouch said earlier all of you are brave for coming here today. And like his
majesty, I'm happy to stand knowing that your lives are in the safe hands of emperor Lelouch and
the Holy Britannian Empire."

No wonder I never liked her! She is just a traitorous bitch! Doesn't Leila have any shame? While
the crowd cheered, Oz's left eye twitched.

Orpheus was disgusted by the blonde 'Messiah of Europe' before him. He questioned her
effectiveness as a military leader during the war but now he started to question her sanity as well.
Safe hands of Britannia? Tell that to millions of people who lost everything because of that damn
empire! Britannia was an evil entity that used powers that shouldn't exist in the first place! Orpheus
knew little about Geass and Geass Order but he understood that it would be better if Geass didn't
exist at all.

"I know there are people who still cannot acknowledge what happened. Those who are still
fighting despite the end of the war. Those who are unable to understand that their actions don't help
anyone, they only hurt innocent people. But this is not their fault. Not completely." Malcal shook
her head. "They are misguided by words of snakes who want to bring chaos to the newly formed
Commonwealth of Imperial States. All nations of Europe suffered greatly in this decade. The last
thing we need is a new conflict. Britannia is here to help us, help to rebuild our cities, help to heal
our people, and help us move in the future."

So she said with great enthusiasm, but Oz knew better.

People around him might have believed her words, but Orpheus knew that all of this was just a
facade. She didn't tell them that it was Britannia who obliterated their cities, killed their men and
destroyed their Union.

Britannia can create only weapons of war to use them in their never-ending conquest! The only
future where Britannia leads Europe is the path of submission and slavery!

Ever since Orpheus left the Geass Order he learned the truth about his homeland. Even calling this
place his homeland made Oz sick, he wasn't part of that hideous empire anymore.
I would rather die than surrender myself to Lelouch and his Britannia!

Orpheus let out a tired sigh. The last thing he needed or wanted was to get angry because of some
nonsense. It won't do him any good. He looked around and saw that everything has been calm so
far. No fighting in the crowd or something like this. Good, they need to wait for Lelouch to start
speaking again before striking him. Then it all will be over. His death will hurt Britannia more than
any attack Peace Mark did so far. He just needed to wait.

Just a little longer.

"The public sure loves her."

Orpheus' eyes went wide, he felt like something stuck in his throat when he heard this voice. His
voice. Peace Mark's leader in hiding slowly turned his head to the right side to look at the person
who just spoke.

No, no, no, no, NO! NO!

Right there next to him, wearing a casual brown jacket, blue jeans and a red cap was a man he
didn't want or expect to see. He might have been wearing sunglasses but Orpheus would recognize
these violet eyes anywhere. The new person just tilted his head and looked at him with confusion.

"Is everything okay? You look like you have seen a ghost."

Lelouch fucking Britannia was standing next to him.

The first thing Orpheus tried to do was to go after his gun. However, before he was able to reach
his handgun, the former noble felt something cold pressing against his back. Orpheus froze. A
quick glance behind revealed that it was just some random smiling woman, but her hand was
pressing against his back with something metallic in her hand.

Goddamnit! That's why there weren't a lot of guards, they were among the crowd! Now the entire
plan was good for nothing! The emperor isn't on the stage! Realization struck him a moment
later. We need to run. Rai, Alice and Dian we need to escape from here!

"Now now, I'm sure that we don't want it to end so quickly. Don't you agree, Orpheus Zevon?" the
emperor asked with satisfaction in his tone. "I was expecting someone with your reputation to be a
little older."

"Emperor Lelouch, you are shorter than I expected." Oz clicked his tongue. "You know my real
name."

He glanced around him, trying to see if there were other Britannian agents in the crowd and if he
had an escape route. Still...

"Well, you never really bothered to hide your identity in the first place, so it wasn't really hard,"
Lelouch admitted.

Oz wondered then and there if there was a point in hiding who he truly was. Officially, Orpheus
Zevon died years ago, unofficially he went missing with a few other kids from the Geass Order
when they ran away. His power was useful to stay hidden for a long time, no matter how restricted
it was. If things did go bad - really bad - then his Geass was the only solution.

"There wasn't any point hiding anyway. My name means nothing."

Lelouch simply stared at him before he turned to the podium as Leila continued to speak.

"Then what about your sister? What about Oldrin?"

Orpheus clenched his fists but bit his tongue. He glared at the emperor and noticed how the left
side of his mouth raised to form a smirk. He wanted to punch that shit-eating grin but the gun was
still pointed at his back. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down. The last thing he needed was to
think of his sister. Oz knew she was somewhere in the Britannian army, Orpheus didn't even want
to think what she was doing there.

Once Lelouch is dead and Britannia destroyed I will find her. I swear I will, but not right now. It is
for her protection. He wants to see my reaction. He wants me to lose control. Bastard, you won't
get it.

Thinking about anything to distract himself he asked. "So another one on the stage, your double I
take?"

Lelouch let out a disappointed sigh, the emperor was expecting a different reaction. Still, he was
asked a question. Might as well satisfy his curiosity. It isn't like Orpheus Zevon is going anywhere
soon.

"You could say." Lelouch proudly answered as he continued. "A person under that mask knows
how to play my role pretty well."

Orpheus trembled slightly at the severity of the situation. He hoped that the Lelouch on the stage
was real and the one talking to him right now was a double, that it was some kind of complicated
plan to lure him out. He needed to contact the others. If Alice or Rai started their part of the plan, it
would be too late. They needed to run but how? The woman behind him won't allow him to make
any move and he was sure there were others like her around them. The gears in his head turned as
he wondered on what to do, Lelouch likely noticed how intense Orpheus was and decided to calm
him down.

"I see you thinking about how to escape," the emperor continued despite hearing no response, "I
assure you that nothing will happen to you or your friends...Those who have a Geass at least."

This time Oz stopped and looked at Lelouch. "Don't worry, I don't want to kill you or the other two.
I need your help with something after all."

He smiled with closed eyes while Orpheus started to panic.

"How...do you know about the others?"

As far as he knows only Alice showed her Geass during a fight with Gottwald back in Rome. How
did the emperor know about him or Rai possessing this power?!

White Emperor just waved the question away. "Just some nice lady who whispered it in my ear,"
Oz remembered that strange pink-coloured Knightmare and female voice. "Still, I was really
curious about meeting you personally. I was told by my partner that you remind her of someone."

"Really? A mere peasant like me managed to catch the attention of your agent? I'm truly honoured,
your majesty." Oz said as he rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.

Lelouch paid the sincerity little mind as he continued. "I would like to chat more with you but I
think it will be better if we had your friends here as well. Now, I don't know the exact moment
when other members of Peace Mark will make their move but I'm sure that it must be soon."
A single drop of sweat appeared on Oz's head.

"Besides," Lelouch smiled with an expression that sent shivers down Orpheus' spine. "I always
wanted to see what it's like to hear myself from the point of the crowd."

Leila Malcal stopped talking and allowed the double to continue.

Orpheus was nervously glancing between real Lelouch and the double, praying to whatever god
could hear him right now, wishing for others to survive whatever this Demon had planned for
them.

Same time, somewhere else.

"Something isn't right."

The blonde Geass user couldn't help but feel pessimistic about this whole operation. Alice and her
group of pilots were already at their destination, making last preparations before moving out. They
were on the construction site of some destroyed building that was in the middle of reconstruction.
Peace Mark's agent called out some favours to stop all works in this area for one day so Alice and
her team could pretend to be workers. That should have given them enough time to kill the emperor
of Britannia.

Alice and her team were dressed as contractors if someone decided to check this place, they even
had some people making it seem like they were working. Alice was more than glad that Rai was
not here with them, or she would have killed him before the albino bastard could make a comment
about her clothes. It wasn't her fault that they couldn't find a yellow vest of her size. She was still
growing and damn Rai, if he dared to say otherwise! Still...

Alice didn't know why she had a bad feeling about all of this but her gut was telling her that
something terrible was about to happen. So far everything has been going according to the plan,
things were going smoothly...too smoothly. There weren't any patrolling police despite the recent
assassination attempt. This place wasn't so far from Reichstag, and their scouts didn't spot any
snipers on the roofs of the building either. If Brits were trying to protect their emperor then they
were doing it pretty shitty right now...or were they?

What if all of this was just some kind of plot to lure them in and capture or kill them? Rai was
having second thoughts about this entire thing. Saying that this might be orchestrated by Lelouch as
a trap but their cell decided to attack no matter what. If the emperor was challenging them to kill
him, then Alice was eager to accept this challenge.

But there wasn't any word from Oz.

Oz was supposed to act as their eyes in-crowd and inform them if something went wrong. Thanks
to his Geass he was the best choice for this mission since X was stuck in France. Alice didn't want
to admit it, but maybe it would have been better if they had X here in Berlin as well. Annoying as
she might be, the seductress was the best spy and infiltrator among them. However, Oz made it
clear that she couldn't join them because of her work in occupied France, something to do with
meeting a new and important supporter of Peace Mark there. Orpheus himself wasn't happy that X
wasn't with them no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Rai said it was kind of cute while Alice
didn't care, but now wasn't the time for this.

"Any news from Oz?" she glanced at the nearest pilot, but he shook his head.

What the hell is Oz doing?

"What about team R?" this time the man nodded in confirmation.

"They're at the place and waiting for a command."

Okay, at least Rai was answering.

However, time was running out, soon the emperor would finish his speech. They needed to act
before Lelouch did it. Right now that girl Leila should have been finishing her part and that means
that they were about to move out. Alice closed her eyes and thought about what to do.

Oz didn't respond. Maybe his signal is being silenced. No way he is captured or killed! Alice didn't
want to even think about it. She won't allow another member of Geass Directorate to die! It doesn't
matter if Orpheus runs on his own, there were only three of them left and there was no chance in
hell she would allow either of these idiots to be killed.

Not on my watch. But if Oz doesn't answer, we will need to act without him.

"Someone is here."

Alice quickly turned to the entrance of the site and saw an old lady who was talking to one of the
guards.

What the hell? Can't she read warning signs?

Alice pulled out a radio. "What is going on here?"

"The old hag asks how to go to an event. Nothing serious."

Alice was silent for a moment wondering if she should do anything with this old lady.

"Okay, help her and let her go."

Dammit, false alarm. She turned away and looked at some trucks that they brought with them, each
of them was hiding an Alexander. Fully armed and ready for a fight. They even painted them in the
colour of special forces so the Brits would be confused, at best it would buy them a few additional
seconds. Eleven Knightmares should be enough, with her power she will make sure this plan will
work. No Lelouch means Britannia loses its head, from there UFN could finish the rest.

"We have another visitor."

Alice heavily sighed.

"For fu- Who is it now?"

"Some girl. Says she is an inspector. Said she had come to check this site, something about people
in the neighbourhood complaining about the noise."

Alice clenched her fists. Noise?! They weren't even seriously working. It might be bad, they
weren't supposed to attract attention and the inspector might find the Alexanders.

"...Is she alone?"

"Positive, she arrived by herself and I see no one else. What should I do?"

Okay, think Alice! They could keep her out but Alice wasn't sure this inspector would leave. Maybe
let her inside and just knock her out? They'll depart anyway in a few minutes. Alice couldn't let this
girl see the Alexanders, else she would alert the Brits. It should be a minute or two before their
Alexanders will reach Reichstag, even at this time Lelouch can run away before she even has a
chance to deal with him.

"Let her inside, I will deal with her. Don't let anyone else come inside. "

She didn't bother to hear an answer. She prepared to quickly deal with this 'inspector'. Non-lethal...
Oz said to minimize casualties among civilians as much as possible. Alice didn't really care, but
she wasn't some kind of insane killer that was slaying everything in sight unless it was the Order of
Black Knights. She looked towards the pilot who was near her as he nodded and went to prepare a
place to hide an unconscious body.

A few seconds later the inspector arrived, but Alice felt there was something strange about her.
This inspector turned out to be a young girl in casual clothes. Nothing special about her appearance,
except maybe for green hair. However, the way she was staring at her made Alice uncomfortable,
like she was studying her. And the blonde girl could swear she saw her somewhere before.

"Where is your boss?"

Her voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where she heard it before. Alice pointed in
the direction behind her. As the girl moved past her, Alice quickly turned and prepared to attack.
Thanks to her Geass, she was trained as a special agent back at Geass Directorate. A quick kick to
the head and this girl is done! Alice raised her leg and went for the strike when suddenly the girl in
front of her stopped walking and immediately dodged the attack.

What-

Before Alice could even think about what to do next, the 'inspector' moved away. Alice stood at
the battle position and glared at her.

How the fuck did she do that? I should have been fast enough.

"...I expected more." was all the inspector said with an unimpressed face. Alice glared and went for
another kick. Green-haired girl dodged it as well. "Come on, at least try to make it interesting."

This bitch! Wait, is she from OSI?!

However, before either of them could do anything, the OSI agent suddenly fell. Blood gushing out
from the back of her head. Alice turned and saw that the pilot that she sent earlier was standing at
the doorway with a handgun, silencer on of course. Not bothering to hear anything from him, the
Geass user pulled out a radio.

"Brits know we're here! All pilots to their machines! None-pilots escape according to plan B!"

Alice didn't bother hearing response and was about to head towards her Alexander, but before she
could go any further she suddenly felt pain in her right leg.

"AHH!" Alice screamed as she fell forward.

She quickly glanced back and her eyes went wide. First, she had a hole in her leg that was bleeding.
Second, Alice just saw a real zombie. In place of the dead girl now lay one of her pilots while the
green-haired enemy was standing over him with his handgun, an intense glare aimed at the only
other occupant.

"You are lucky we need you alive."

Alice tried to stand but couldn't, the pain in her right leg was becoming worse with each second.
Her second-best choice was to crawl while she could get away. Alice didn't even bother to turn
back, fearing what this zombie would do. Her answer came right away, as the green-haired zombie
walked right in front of her. The unknown girl squatted down and rested her head on her hands
while looking down at her.

"How cute." she smirked, "A little worm crawling in the mud."

"F-Fuck off!"

She screamed through her teeth. Alice was furious. How was this girl still alive?! What the hell
was going on?! Where is the rest of her team?

"What did you do to the rest of them?!"

Golden eyes slowly blinked before responding.

"Me? Nothing." she turned away and looked at the distance."These OSI elites have come in handy.
Dealt with all of them without any noise."

"When did they-"

"Once I entered this place and found you, I sent them a signal to start moving. I needed to secure
you before we could do anything."

Alice raised her fist and tried to punch her but the girl just captured it, a second later she pointed the
gun against her head. Alice froze.

"We need you alive, but..." She suddenly aimed at her second leg and pressed the trigger. "We
don't need you in one piece."

Alice bit her lip to stop herself from yelling. With her eyes already bloody, she muttered.

"Y-you f-fucking bitch!"

"I was called worse before. Don't worry child, you won't die. In the end, what is the point of going
this far only to let you bleed to death?" She rose from her position and moved away. "By the way,
don't worry about your Geass friends. We need them too." Alice spat blood.

"So...you know about Geass?" she asked with venom in her voice, already knowing the answer.

If she knows about Geass then maybe it was her power that allowed her to survive a headshot. The
zombie girl turned to stare at her with a surprised look that quickly became a disappointment.

"Seriously? V.V didn't even teach you about me? I thought that at least his little agents had known
about me." she let out a sigh. "Well, I expected too much from the little goblin anyway."

When Alice heard the name of director V.V, she couldn't help but ask. "...You were part of the
Geass Directorate?"

Golden eyes looked at her with melancholy.

"I was more than part of the Geass Directorate but...that is in the past. None of this matters now.
Geass Directorate has been destroyed anyway and there is nothing you can do about it."

The blonde girl put all her strength in her arms and tried to stand up. She managed to raise herself a
little bit and with a look of determination answered. "No, there is one thing I can do. I will avenge
all those who died there. Zero is already dead and soon the Black Knights will join him-AGH!"

Before she could finish Alice fell to the ground again. She glanced and saw that her enemy was
now stepping on her.

"You naive little worm," Zombie said with sadness in her voice, as she pressed her heel harder, not
letting Alice stand up.

"You know nothing," then a mischievous grin appeared on her face." Well, since this is only going
to get worse for you, I might as well tell you." she leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"...Zero is still alive."

Alice froze.

"...No, no, no, NO!"

Alice screamed at top of her lungs, unable to comprehend what she had just heard. She tried to
stand up again but when it failed, she just fell and started yelling.

"You are lying! I don't believe you!"

"Believe what you want, but all I did was tell you the truth." a new figure entered and saluted to the
green-haired girl. "What is it?"

"My lady, the area is secured. All targets are neutralized and we found their Knightmares."

Alice listened and clenched her fists. Her team was killed and their machines were found. She
could only pray that Rei and Oz were okay.

"What about the others?"

Whoever was answering to her stopped for one second before continuing, visibly uncomfortable.

"The third team prepared and about to start the attack. However, his majesty is...is speaking with
the first target."

This time, both Alice and her attacker froze.

Wait, Rai is inside the apartment with a full squad of soldiers. Lelouch couldn't be speaking with
him. That means!

"Stupid boy." Zombie girl facepalmed. She opened her mouth and tried her worst to mimic her
warlock. "I don't like risking my life- he said before talking to the leader of the assassins. Damn it,
Lelouch."

Damn it, Oz.

"What should we do next, my lady?"

Green-haired zombie first glanced at Alice before looking back at him.

"Get her out of here, but first fix her legs, make sure she is alive." As she said that, the green-
haired foe took away her boot from Alice's back and started walking away, "Get me some
transport. If Lelouch wants to have a conversation with the fellow terrorist leader, then he can
speak with him later in the cell. I'm leaving, take care of her."

Alice was silent while this girl went away.

"A-as you wish, my lady."

Soon other OSI agents came and picked up Alice. She wanted to fight back but couldn't do
anything with so many of them there. Minutes later Alice found herself pressed against the metal
floor of one of their cars. She couldn't do anything as they had already handcuffed her. And now
they were fixing her legs.

"Oi! At least try to be gentle, you fucking brute!"

No response, thankfully the bullets went right through and did not hit bone. Soon they wrapped her
legs in bandages.

Well, shit, this is bad.

Alice found herself handcuffed inside a car full of OSI armed agents. And now she couldn't even
use her geass, with her wounded legs she couldn't even run away or alert others.

"Can't you just shoot me here and end it?" No one answered her as they all remained silent while
the car started driving away. "Faggots."

They were holding her head down but she managed to see that there were other cars as well. There
was an entire convoy.

I can't run, can't fight and can't contact Rai or Oz. And now these two will get captured and taken
to some fucking lab to get experimented on. First Directorate and now this...I can't save them, can't
save anyone.

Suddenly Alice started doing something she never did before, she started silently sobbing. OSI
agents glanced at each other thinking if they needed to do something about it.

However, before any of them could do anything, something happened. Suddenly out of nowhere
the truck had appeared and crushed at the first car of the convoy. The car Alice was inside stopped
and she heard shooting outside.

What is going on? We didn't have back up for this.

Many questions were inside Alice's head, but all of them stopped soon. Her car tried to make a run
for it and drove away, however they were stopped by a giant hand that crushed at the front of the
car. No doubt a knightmare. Seconds later the roof of the car was literally ripped off. Sutherland.
And an old one. Before OSI agents could do anything, they all were shot by her saviour. Alice
forced herself to stand up and saw an obviously friendly knightmare pointing an anti-personnel
machine gun in her direction. It quickly turned it away and soon the car's doors were opened by an
armed man, she recognized some of them as members of Peace Mark. They said nothing while
helping Alice take off the handcuffs.

Once Alice was free again, one of them yelled.

"Quick! We need to escape while we can!"

Alice stopped and looked at the directions where her friends were supposed to be.
"Wait! What about Rai and Oz?"

The same man replied. "It's okay, others will help them."

Alice nodded and followed as they started moving away.

"Who sent you?"

As far she knew there shouldn't have been another team besides this who went after Lelouch.

"X."

"Everything is alright."

The albino Geass user said to himself in order to calm down. Rai and the rest of his team were
hiding in one of all the living buildings not so far away from Reichstag. It was an old five-story
house, with their sniper nest being on the last floor. During the battle of Berlin, the inhabitants of
this place were left in fear of getting stuck between two fighting sides. Thankfully, the building
wasn't hit or damaged in any way and its occupants were yet to return, leaving this building empty.

Snipers were ready. The retreat path was secured and so far everything was going according to
plan. A few minutes ago they received a call from team A. Alice was doing fine. While Oz was
maintaining radio silence for some reason, probably to minimize the chance of getting caught, Rai
was calm and confident with his friends. If anything he and the snipers could cover for Oz.

Rai sighed with relief. He didn't want to admit it but this plan was making him feel uneasy ever
since the start of the mission. Not that he will ever tell it to Alice. The last thing he needs is a little
girl to find another reason to insult him.

Seriously, what is her problem? Is it because of her height? If it is, then she shouldn't be so angry.
It isn't so bad, in fact, I think she is really cute. Petite girls have their own charm as well.

Rai was always ready to praise women's beauty, especially well-developed beauty. However, his
female Geass friend wasn't sharing his affection.

Alice gets angry whenever I bring it up. Don't worry, Alice. One day you will grow up...maybe…

His thoughts were interrupted by one of the snipers that called him.

"What?"

"The commander is speaking with someone."

Confused Rai took out binoculars and looked where Oz was supposed to be. Yup, he quickly found
his boss still wearing a fedora he picked for him. Some lady was standing right behind Oz and Rai
couldn't see everything that was going on here. However, he saw that his friend was chatting with
some guy. He couldn't see the face of either one, but he noticed how Oz would glance at the side
from time to time.

"Weird."

Maybe Oz wanted to appear as a normal bystander and so started talking to the nearest person. Or
maybe it was one of their agents reporting to Oz in the middle of the crowd. For all Rai knew, it
might have been the emperor himself.
Yeah, right, like that could happen.

"If something happens with Oz, distract them. But don't shoot at civilians."

One of the snipers nodded and returned to his position.

If anything happens, Oz will send a signal or if it comes down to it they will act on their own. Save
Oz and shoot the bad guy. Simple Plan. Rai was sure that everything would work out for them at
the end. Still, Rai needed to be careful if he didn't want it to become another massacre like Geass
Directorate, this time with German civilians.

Lelouch might appear as a kind protector of the weak to the public but I doubt he or Orange guy
won't go as far as killing everyone in their way.

Suddenly someone knocked at the front door. Everyone inside the apartment, Rai including, froze.
The entire fifth floor was theirs, not to mention Peace Mark agents outside the building. None of
them would knock at the door.

"Hello, this is Pizza-La, Camino Store."

Everyone froze. Slowly other members of Peace Mark aimed at the door, in expectation of an
attack. There was a dead silence. One of the Peace Mark snipers had raised his head and narrowed
his eyes before the ceiling above him was suddenly destroyed. As shards of the roof fell, a giant
metal fist went through it and crushed the man. Before the rest of them could react, several stun
grenades fell through the hole. Rai had less than a second to cover his eyes and turn away.

When Rai opened his eyes he saw as the front door was busted and armoured figures rushed inside.
His men tried to shoot at them but their weapons weren't doing anything against the enemy armour.
In desperation, one of the snipers took the sniper rifle and aimed at the intruders, however, before
he could do anything, the Hound's hand which destroyed the roof hit him, sending a sniper flying
at the wall behind him. Someone helped Rai to stand and shouted something. Even without
hearing man's words, Rai knew what to do. He ran towards the bedroom, towards the escape route.

Once, inside he saw a hole in the floor that was leading to the basement. Even before Rai arrived
there, Peace Mark agents in the city managed to make a hidden tunnel through the entire house. If
needed, the team on the fifth floor could easily get to the basement thanks to it, from there he
might escape into the sewer. He saw a rope hanging from the ceiling above and took it. Rai heard
the sounds of shooting and without a second thought jumped inside the hole. However, a few
seconds later the ceiling above the hole was crushed by the Hound and Rai started to fall.

The Geass user fell two floors down before reaching the harsh and unforgiving ground.

"F-fuck me!"

Thank God someone placed several mattresses there, the furniture breaking his fall. Once he got up
on his leg that wasn't sprained, he made his way towards the sewer. The gunshots were getting
quieter and quieter. Rai didn't want to think about what happened to the rest of his men. He ran
inside the sewer, not looking back.

I just need to get to Dian!

Once he entered the sewer, Rai stopped and quickly took cover. He saw several Britannian soldiers
walking and checking every corner in the sewer. His team's entrance to the tunnel was well hidden
and apparently, Brits didn't know where to look. However, Rai could hear noises coming from
behind him. He had a minute at best before soldiers from the top would catch up with him. There
were only four Brits before him, and he had a handgun. Rai pulled it out and prepared to make a
run for it.

Shouting Geass commands might help, but they most likely wear something to block noise.

However, before he could do anything, all four armed men fell dead on the ground. Rai peeped
from his cover to see their dead bodies and one figure standing above them with a sword. The new
person noticed him and with a tired tone of voice spoke.

"Come on, child. The others are already waiting."

Orpheus was scared and wasn't shy to admit it. Right now the entire assassination plot was already
useless, and he didn't even know what was going on with the others. Lelouch vi Britannia was
calmly standing next to him, Orpheus couldn't contact any of his teammates and the situation
wasn't getting any better. His friends couldn't even call him, certainly because the signal was
getting silenced.

I have two options. First, I can try to distract Lelouch and his agents around me before escaping.
Or the second option...try to take Lelouch before his people gun me down.

Orpheus only had a hidden knife and handgun on himself. The woman behind him didn't stop
pointing a gun at his back, and Oz wasn't too eager to die today.

But if it means taking down Lelouch and weakening Britannia…

"I'm curious why someone from a family such as yours would want to destroy Britannia with such
resolve. Once the son of a prestigious noble family turned into a mercenary/terrorist with a desire
to see his homeland in ruins. I feel deja vu. Orpheus Zevon, I want to know what made you go so
far."

"Why do you care? I'm just another soul who has seen the true nature of Britannia and wants to
stop it. My homeland is corrupted, a bloodthirsty war machine that only wants to continue
spreading conflicts and colonization. Someone needs to end this vicious cycle."

As a child, Oz thought that his country was a beacon of hope in comparison to China and the EU.
His mother talked about noble knights who protected the weak but after escaping from the Geass
Order, Orpheus saw a truth. The truth.

Britannia is a wild dog that needs to be put down.

"You are right, Orpheus. Britannia is nothing but a corrupted system with only one future." White
Emperor agreed, making Oz surprised. "Or it was before me. Now, I'm doing everything in my
power to fix it. I want to make actual change not only in the empire but in the world itself. Together
with Leila and others, I want to make things better for everyone, but some pesky terrorist can't stop
disturbing my plans of world peace."

Orpheus snorted, "Don't make me laugh, Lelouch. You are just another tyrant like your father and
all emperors before him." White Emperor's gaze became colder but Oz continued. "You know how
to manipulate the public but if we remove all these beautiful promises of nothing, we will see your
true goals."

"And these goals are?"

"Enslavement of the world. Don't think you can fool me, your majesty. I can see the writing on the
wall, you can lie as much you want about wanting world peace, but we both know this is bullshit.
You are just another power-hungry maniac."

Orpheus said with venom while Lelouch stared at him with disappointment.

"Well, I can't really blame you for having such a narrow mind. Orpheus Zevon, you are a talented
person but it is a shame that you can't see the bigger picture...Well, I suppose it won't matter in the
future anyway."

"Are you planning to kill me?"

"Nothing of that sort, you and your friends with Geass are valuable resources I need for personal
reasons."

The blonde terrorist clenched his fist as the woman behind him pressed the barrel of the handgun
deeper against his back.

"We won't become your subjects." Oz tried to sound threatening, but Lelouch let out a short laugh.

"Oh, but none of you will have a choice in that matter. When I want something I will achieve it no
matter how many people have to die...Speaking about that. I'm sure my people already dealt with
your friends. As I said those with Geass will survive but others aren't needed."

"You aren't White Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia. You are a Demon."

"I will play any role if it means achieving my dream." The raven-haired ruler just smirked. "Now,
this conversation wasn't as interesting as I hoped it to be. I thought that we could negotiate about
the future of your friends but it seems I was wrong. Take him."

The moment he said it Oz felt how his hands were grabbed. Orpheus wanted to fight back, but he
couldn't think of any plan of escape. This was bad. If he gets captured with Alice and Rai their cell
of Peace Mark will be crippled. As Oz continued to struggle against Britannian agents something
unexpected happened.

As the impostor emperor and traitor Malcal were finishing their speech, someone from the crowd
pulled out a gun and shouted.

"Death to Britannia!"

However, before the poor assassin managed to make the single shot he was stopped by civilians
around him. They took away his weapon and held him in place as security arrived to seize him. At
the same time, fake Lelouch was quick to calm down and thank people for saving his life.

"...what was that?"

"Such a simple act and yet even this can spread a good message." answered real Lelouch. "Some
desperate and misguided person trying to kill the emperor, only to be stopped by regular people.
I'm sure he will receive help and won't be punished for such an act of weakness."

Oz didn't like the grin on his face.

"You planned this. Didn't you?"

"What? Me?" Lelouch dramatically asked. "Please, why would I decide to use some nobody from
the crowd as a means to boost my popularity among citizens at such difficult times?"
Orpheus bit his lip, wanting nothing more than to put a bullet into Lelouch's head right now. Alas,
it was impossible. Currently, his main objective was to escape this trap but so far it seemed like a
hopeless situation. At least for now.

Above the crowd in the sky flew a news helicopter. Guards didn't pay it too much attention since it
was already checked prior, but in one moment the previously peaceful helicopter exploded. People
on the ground immediately started to panic as scraps of the flying machine started to fall on them.
However, before it could hit the ground, several Vincent Wards flew to the scene and reacted.
Britannian machines used harkens to stop the helicopter from falling while guards tried to calm
down the public. On the stage, both Leila Malcal and 'Lelouch' were reassuring masses.

While fake Lelouch was playing her role, the actual emperor was standing among the crowd, with
a frown on his face. His Geassed agents formed a protective circle around him and were ready to
drag their master to a safe place but the problem was already solved. While everyone was
distracted by the explosion, Oz managed to get out of his captors and tried to escape.

Orpheus didn't have a choice but to use his Geass. His eye lit up with a red bird as his power started
to work. In one second Orpheus Zevon was no longer a blonde male but an unknown black-haired
girl that was trying to run away. His power allowed him to change his appearance in the eyes of
other people, but it only worked while others were looking at him without any gadgets between
them and Oz. Looking at him through a camera or even phone will show the real Oz. His geass
only worked for a limited time, but the man was hoping that 5 minutes were enough to run as far as
possible from this place.

Lelouch's agents were too busy guarding their boss and gave me just enough time to do it.

Oz was already a few meters away from the emperor and so far no one stopped him. Orpheus
hoped it would continue this way but sadly fate wasn't on his side that day.

"And where are you going?"

As he made a few steps further away from the emperor, Oz soon faced an unknown green-haired
girl. At first, Oz tried to walk past her, but she grabbed his hand and with a tired sigh spoke.

"I can see you just fine."

There was a moment of silence as Orpheus's eyes went.

How?! What?!

Without a second thought, he went for his handgun but before Oz could pull it out, something hit
him behind and the terrorist fell to the ground.

The last thing Oz saw before losing his consciousness was this green-haired witch and several
armoured soldiers around. He managed to make out a few words.

"Send Jeremiah and Nemesis after those who escaped...As for him. Raise our friend Orpheus. I
want to have another chat with him."

The last thing Orpheus saw was Lelouch vi Britannia's eyes and how they changed colour from
Royal purple to bloody red.

He hoped that at least his friends made it out.

 The Knight

August 1. Special Administrated Zone of Germany.

After leaving the city, the Peace Mark and their rescuers made their way towards the sea. The tall
trees of the forest had given their temporary base a good cover while the submarine was being
prepared for their escape.

Even so, a successful retreat was not without loss, given that the operation at Berlin was a failure.
The moment that the auxiliary forces and onboard personnel were informed of this, they had taken
to packing everything they had for departure. The rush to the underwater transport was underway
and no time was to be wasted, else the hammer be brought down upon them. However, amid the
hurried retreat, some could not shake the despair of the situation, and not even the sight of the
submarine's sail was enough to assuage their emotions.

"We can't leave without Oz!" Shouted Alice as she glared at Dian.

"Look! I'm not happy about it either but we cannot rescue him right now. You know how it works,
if the leader dies the second in command takes charge." Dian sighed before rubbing his nose. In the
case of Oz dying or being captured, Dian was meant to replace him.

The Peace Mark was big, maybe even bigger than the Order of Black Knights. However, they
didn't have a centralized leadership. All of their cells shared only name and a common goal, the
destruction of Britannia. Working separately allowed for the safety and secrecy of other cells, but if
one was destroyed they couldn't rely on others in case of emergency. After Orpheus had become
the new leader, he was able to unite smaller cells in Europe and Africa under one leadership. But
now Oz was taken, X was far away and they couldn't hope for other cells to assist them in a rescue.

"I don't want to leave Oz there either but we can't do anything about it. At very least we can be sure
that he will be kept alive. I promise Alice. We will find a way to save him."

The blonde Geass user clenched her fist. Alice knew why Oz was taken, why he would be kept
alive by the emperor, if only for the time being. Not just because he was their cell's leader but also
because of Geass. Lelouch vi Britannia knew about that power and actively tried to hunt them
down. She doesn't know the reason yet, but Alice knew for sure she wasn't going to surrender
without a fight.

"What do we do now?"

"Escape. The emperor will be hunting us down in Europe. We need to retreat and replenish our
manpower. The best place will be either Africa or South Asia right now." Alice grumpily nodded.

"What about X?" Alice wasn't the biggest fan of that woman, but she saved her and the others
today.

"She is in Paris, but don't worry about her. OSI is hardly an issue to her...If anything X will be
more devastated by Oz's capture." Alice looked at the ground with a bitter expression. She failed to
protect the members of the Geass Order again.

I will protect Oz and Rai. I must.

"Enemy is approaching!"
Upon hearing the horrified shout, both Dian and Alice immediately turned and saw a familiar
silhouette in the sky. But how?! The empire found them too quickly. The dreaded Britannian ship
known as the Nemesis was passing over the forest, its imposing size casting a shadow over it. And
then the knightmares started to emerge from the sky fortress.

One of the Peace Mark members had asked Dian on what they should do.

"We need an escape but we need some time...Alice can you and others win us time?"

"We don't have a choice. Where is Rai?

"Already here, m'lady." Lancelot Club flew next to Alice, other knightmares joining him."We don't
have a lot of flying units but we can try to distract them. Alice, are you going to just stay here or-"

"I will do my best to protect you. Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you alone there." Alice
reassured Rai before making her way towards her knightmare."And Rai, There is something we
need to discuss alone. I have to tell you something important."

Rai smirked before turning to the other units. Vincent Wards and old Gekkas with some Akatsukis,
seeing them together was kind of strange. They also had Alexanders but none of them had the
flying platform so they wouldn't be too much of a help in the air. The albino Geass user looked at
the approaching ship then and couldn't help but feel fearful.

We just need to win some time. We… I can do it.

Under Nemesis.

As Nemesis flew closer and closer towards its prey, knightmares of the empire started to come out
of the giant ship. However, instead of the usual Vincent Wards, they were Gareth units, which
were accompanied by four Scarlet Guards and their captain. Sutherland Sieg's pilot was more than
eager to show the enemies of his master what fate was waiting for them.

On the ground, among the trees, a pink Akatsuki was hiding. C.C's personal knightmare Morrigan
was avoiding the battle. Instead, the witch had been focused on finding enemy Geass users and
reporting them to Jeremiah. Before Nemesis - and her warlock - entered the forest, the witch was
sent ahead to scout and locate the enemy base. She wasn't alone of course, no way in hell Lelouch
would allow his witch to be without a guard. Lifeless Alexander Hounds were protecting their
lady. At the moment the enemy was surely focused on the cyborg captain and his entourage. If it
would be needed, C.C would interfere but losing the element of surprise right now wasn't the best
idea.

"Remember! Gareths will cover our flanks while I and his majesty's guard will retrieve both
targets. Once we have taken them, feel free to show them the might of his majesty warriors!"
Jeremiah Gottwald commanded zealously. These assassins dared to think that they could harm His
Majesty while Jeremiah was alive? Such arrogance would cost them their lives.

However, as Master Lelouch ordered, I need to bring him, two Geass users. Two targets to
capture, everyone else to the slaughter.

Sutherland Sieg stopped in the air at the Peace Mark's temporary base, Scarlet guards on his sides.
Jeremiah switched to an open channel before starting to speak.

"Attention members of the Peace Mark! I, Jeremiah Gottwald, the captain of his majesty royal
guard had come here to give you one chance to surrender. Should you lower down your weapons, I
promise to spare your lives." Nothing but empty lies to win a few seconds. He knew it, and they
knew it too.

His answer was a shot from V.A.R.I.S. rifle but the green energy shield around his machine
protected the cyborg. Predictable. However, he only needed to give lady C.C enough time to locate
two Geass users. Speaking about pizza lover, the cyborg switched to a closed channel before
asking.

"My lady?"

"One in a custom Lancelot unit while the second is in a blue Gekka. Be careful with the latter. Its
pilot can increase her speed in the fight." Jeremiah nodded with gratitude before returning his
attention to the enemies in front of him.

"You heard Lady C.C.! Bring me the Geass users alive, everyone else is expendable. Go! Show
them the power of our Emperor! The power of Master Lelouch!" Shouted Jeremiah before his
Sutherland Sieg rushed forward, Scarlet guards behind him.

She looked on with amusement as Jeremiah charged into the enemy, screaming his name all the
while in that grand manner of his. If it would be required she would join Jeremiah in his assault,
but for now, she needed to wait.

The battle had started above the temporary camp.

Sutherland Sieg didn't waste time and launched several missiles at the enemy knightmares, leaving
two custom units alone. Some of the enemy machines were destroyed immediately, but these two
particular targets weren't harmed. Both of them were now focused on Orange.

Jeremiah sent his slash harkens at the two unique knightmares, aiming for their legs in an attempt
to stop their movements. However, both pilots were experienced enough to dodge or block the
upcoming attack. The Peace Mark quickly realised that Gottwald was going after their best
fighters. Some of the Gekka units tried to shoot him down from the side but were quickly
destroyed by the Scarlet guard machines that were tearing through them. This left the enemy to
focus on the red menace first, leaving their two pilots to fend for themselves against the infamous
Captain.

Jeremiah continued firing his slash harkens at them, always aiming for the legs or arms of their
machines. His majesty ordered them alive and his loyal knight would deliver them alive. When the
Lancelot Club tried to flank his Sutherland Sieg and stab it, Jeremiah pushed him aside with his
knightmare mass. Another slash harken was sent at Lancelot's cheap copy but the blue Gekka was
fast enough to catch it mid-air.

"Should you two surrender, I promise his Majesty will show you mercy." The blue Gekka used its
left claw to destroy his slash harken. The giant drill was covered in bubbles before exploding.

"Don't give me that bullshit! We know why Lelouch wants us alive. It is only because of Geass!"
Yelled a woman's voice from the blue Gekka as its right hand was aimed at him and fired.

I won't fail as I did in Berlin.

Sutherland Sieg didn't bother to dodge, its green shield protecting it from bothersome bullets. In
response, the main cannon was aimed at the Gekka's lower torso and fired. The blue unit dodging
with incredible speed.
"You know the value of your life, girl," Jeremiah smirked, now he had a better idea of how her
power worked. "Better to give up now while you can. I was ordered to bring you two alive but it
doesn't mean in one piece."

"Go and die Orange! Rai!" Alice shouted before ducking at the side and moving from Lancelot
Club's way, allowing Rai to take a shot with his V.A.R.I.S. rifle.

This time Sutherland Sieg dodged but was met with the blue Gekka's left claw as it grabbed the
side of his knightmare. Jeremiah clenched his teeth, remembering when Guren did the same back
in Japan. This time, however, he was fast enough to react and used his unit's superior mass to hit
the enemy and violently pushed away the smaller knightmare. The blue Gekka flew away, it's
outer armour slightly damaged but nothing serious yet.

However, while Sutherland Sieg was focused on her, Jeremiah didn't notice how Lancelot Club
rose into the sky with its MVS sword aimed at the giant orange machine below it. It was about to
dive and stab him through when one of the Scarlet guards rushed at it from the side, sending it
careening to the ground as it clumsily landed among the trees.

"Rai!" Alice screamed but before she could do anything, her Gekka froze in place. Her eyes
widened as electricity travelled through her machine. Was it Gefjun technology? She tried her best
to move but nothing worked, the knightmare was completely frozen.

No! No! No!

"It is time we finish this." Now that it was a duel between just two, Sutherland Sieg was able to use
its most deadly weapon, its electrical shock system. Thankfully his current opponent wasn't the
most advanced knightmare, so his system worked without a hitch.

Behind him, Lancelot Club and the Scarlet guard engaged in a fight. The royal guard only needed
to distract Rai while lord Jeremiah dealt with his partner. Other Peace Mark forces were slowly but
surely being eradicated. Gareths were mercilessly blowing up any unit who tried to flee, and the
remaining Scarlet guards had no issue with other knightmares even if the enemy had superior
numbers. The Nemesis hovered above the battlefield, seemingly content in observing the fight. It
didn't fire any of its weapons yet as there was no need to endanger lord Jeremiah or the Scarlet
Guard.

Alice's blue Gekka was stuck, unable to move. Inside her machine, the blonde girl frantically tried
to fix the controls but it was futile.

"It is over scum."

Jeremiah prepared to destroy the Gekka's legs and send a signal for a Hound to transport it to his
majesty. However, in the next second, a single sword pierced one of Sutherland Sieg's electrical
shock system generators. The generator stopped working, allowing its captive to act. The moment
Alice could move, she immediately activated her Geass and moved as far away from the
Britannian knightmare as far as possible. She looked for reinforcements and was surprised to see a
new knightmare.

"Took you long enough."

"Sorry, but I needed to make sure others were ready to leave," Dian answered. "The submarine and
others will leave in a few minutes. Once they are gone, we will retreat as well."

His knightmare was Gekka Shiden. It was a heavily modified purple Gekka with swords - too
many swords really - but help in any form would be great at the moment. Dian didn't waste a
second and charged at Sutherland Sieg. Jeremiah had been momentarily taken aback by the strange
machine but was quick enough to react and engage in a fight. Giant drill-like slash harkens met two
large swords. The cyborg captain eyed the enemy unit with interest.

"How many swords do you have, assassin scum?"

"Eight! And two battle axes!"

"Impressive!"

Gekka Shiden specialized in close range fights, while Sutherland Sieg wasn't as manoeuvrable
thanks to its enormous size. As long as they were fighting in close distance, Dian had a chance and
Alice was going to make sure Gottwald wouldn't pull back. Any time Jeremiah tried to increase the
distance between himself and Gekka Shiden, Alice would use her Geass and rush at him, forcing
the cyborg to block or dodge while leaving his flank open for Dian.

The fight continued like this for some time. Jeremiah needed only Alice alive, so he wouldn't
hesitate to unleash his arsenal upon Dean. But the Chinese man wasn't a green pilot and could put
up a fight. Alice had only her left claw as an effective weapon. Soon Gekka Shiden stopped and
tossed something at her.

"Use this. I will try to distract him while you attack from behind!" Dian commanded through a
closed channel.

Alice's Gekka caught the battle-axe and nodded. Her eye sparkled with the red symbol of Geass as
she activated its power. Jeremiah was focused on both of them at the moment, she needed just one
second to finish him. Gekka Shiden threw its two large swords at Sutherland Sieg before pulling
out a new pair of swords and jumping in the air. Jeremiah's focus shifted to Dian, and even if it was
just for a second, it was enough for Alice. The speed of her Gekka increased dramatically as not a
moment was wasted, moving behind the giant Knightmare.

However, unknown to Alice, Jeremiah activated his Geass Canceler. His left mechanical eye
opened, as the blue symbol covered the surrounding area, nullifying any Geass within it.
Thankfully, neither of the Scarlet Guards were near him as it would have complicated things. Most
of them were busy with other Peace Mark forces while the single unit continued to keep Lancelot
Club occupied.

Wait, how?! Alice immediately felt her Geass stop working, eyes wide in shock as Sutherland Sieg
turned its attention to her. It fired its slash harkens at the unmoving machine. Alice, still shocked
by what just happened, just wasn't quick enough to react. One of the drills penetrated her unit's left
arm, destroying her claw. Before the second one managed to pierce her leg, Alice was able to cut it
down with a battle axe.

She hoped that at least Dian's attack would be more successful, but she was proven wrong the next
second. Before Gekka Shiden could even land, a Hound charged at him from the side. The black
unit jumping in the air and tackled it away from the planned trajectory. The custom unit fell on the
ground with the Hound still on it but Dian was quick to stab it before tossing the lifeless machine
aside.

"Lady C.C, I assure you I have this under control," Jeremiah said respectfully to someone on the
side.

Both Dian and Alice turned to see the familiar pink modified Akatsuki Morrigan standing not too
far to the side, dozens of Hounds around it in a protective formation. Its only red optic was
watching them, yet Alice was sure this machine was staring at her specifically. What's more, is
that it was the same unit that had attacked them back in Rome.

"I believe you, Jeremiah. But it's time to finish off the Peace Mark for good." That voice! Alice
froze as she recognized the voice of that zombie girl back from Berlin.

"You! What are you doing here!?" That single red eye never left her. Its pilot answered in an
uninterested tone.

"Walking out dogs, taking out the trash. Everyday stuff. I told you back at Berlin that you can do
nothing, stupid girl. " Alice clenched her teeth, trying to stop herself from getting even more
furious. Or maybe scared. She needed to think straight if she wanted Rai to survive.

No matter what I will protect him.

Speaking about Rai. Behind them, Lancelot Club continued to fight one on one against the Scarlet
Guard. Inside his Knightmare, Rai grew ever more frustrated with every moment. His opponent
was clearly keeping him busy, being on defence and not letting Rai help the others. However, soon
two Hounds joined the scarlet Knightmare and stared at Lancelot Club, waiting for him to make
the next move.

"Curse you Brits and your dogs!" Rai yelled before charging forward again.

Back to Alice, now Gottwald could focus solely on Alice. Gekka Shiden was busy cutting down
Hounds that didn't stop coming after it. The Morrigan calmly flew above them, ready to act at any
moment. Behind them, the remaining forces of the Peace Mark started to dwindle. The Scarlet
Guards were superior fighters and were finishing off whatever was left of their cell. They couldn't
go like this for too long. The situation... was hopeless.

This can't be it. It can't end like this.

Alice couldn't and didn't want to believe it. After Berlin, she thought that they would be able to
escape and live to fight another day but it seemed fate was laughing at her right now. Even so, she
took a deep breath and slowly let it out, she needed to calm down first.

So what? If fate or whatever fucking force up there thinks I will go down so easy, they can go and
fuck off! No matter what, I will make sure that Rai and Oz get out of here, that's my duty as
Irregular.

Her blue Gekka lifted her only arm with the battle-axe and stared at the enemies before it. The pink
unit and its dogs under it stopped, interested by what she was doing.

"Come on Orange. Fight me like a real knight, one on one! I will rather die than surrender."

Jeremiah was silent for a moment before speaking.

"I will admit you have guts, assassin. But it won't stop me from fulfilling his majesty's orders." He
certainly sounded impressed.

Sutherland Sieg had begun moving towards her but froze suddenly. Jeremiah narrowed his eye as
the scanners picked up the fast-moving object that was approaching them. However, it was
impossible. No Knightmare aside from Guren S.E.I.T.E.N was this fast!

Suddenly both the Peace Marks and Scarlet Guard units next to them exploded as dozens of green
shots covered the entire area. Everyone stopped fighting as both parties looked to the sky and saw
a new unit entering the battle. This time Jeremiah's single eye went wide while C.C hissed. Both
Dian and Alice were speechless as they stared at the new white Knightmare.

No way, this is-!

The white knight hovered above them. Its presence alone was enough to startle everyone on the
ground, as well as those in the battleship above them.

It had slick white armour with gold plates at several places. The knight wielded a Super V.A.R.I.S.
rifle, the second one was on its back. Its head and face were known to everyone, especially in
Europe. However, the most horrifying and amazing new feature were two green energy wings in
place of the standard flying platform. The green eyes from the head stared down at its enemies and
potential allies. The unit that once started the arms race between the Black Knights and Britannia.
The machine and the infamous pilot that brought terror and dread to the hearts of Europeans.

The constant thorn at Zero's side.

The White Reaper.

The modern knight of treachery.

"Lancelot Albion, ready to engage."

Suzaku Kururugi had entered the battle.

Inside the Nemesis.

Guided by C.C ability to feel Geass users, Nemesis had no problem finding two fugitives and
whatever forces they had left. Leila was left in Berlin to calm down the public and assure them
everything was under control. D.S stayed with her. According to his witch, the Peace Mark was
making its way towards the North Sea, obviously trying to escape with whatever means they had
left. Lelouch won't lie, the situation had gone a little out of hand.

He knew that some of the assassins would be able to escape. The White Emperor expected some
sort of back-up plan in case of an emergency. The suicidal former German soldiers they brought
inside his Reichstag might count as such. However, the Geass users weren't supposed to leave as
both C.C and D.S were ordered to bring them alive. They captured a member of the Zevon family,
but it wasn't enough. Two Geass users running on their own was a problem that needed to be
solved fast, they must be either taken alive or dead.

However, I'm sure Orpheus Zevon will be eager to help me and answer some of my questions.

Lelouch smirked as he looked at his failed killer. The former noble sat across the table with his
hands and legs handcuffed, much to the dismay of the prisoner. Both of them were inside an
interrogation cell. Not completely alone of course, as two Scarlet guards were standing behind their
emperor, ready to act on his order.

"It is a shame that we have to talk like this, Orpheus. Believe me when I say this."

"You can think whatever you want, Lelouch! I'm not going to answer anything."

Lelouch darkly chuckled.

"Oh, but you will."

The White Emperor snapped his finger and Scarlet Guards acted. They forced the blonde man to
stare at their emperor, making sure he won't blink.

"What the-"

Before he could finish, the Demon Emperor's hand reached upward and removed the eye's lens.
The once royal purple left eye turned a sinister red as Orpheus froze, his worst theory was proven
correct after all.

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you! Whenever I ask you, you will answer any of my questions
and you won't hide any information."

The red bird flew toward Orpheus, making its way towards the brain and altering it according to
his command. Soon both eyes had a red circle around pupils.

"As you command, your majesty." Lelouch nodded to the Scarlet Guards who released the prisoner.

"Good, good. Now let me learn more about your friends and what kind of geass they possess as
well as your own."

The next few minutes were filled with Lelouch learning information about these Rai and Alice.
Both were former members of Geass Directorate who managed to survive and escape his purge as
Zero. Orpheus went as far as telling a story about how he and a few other kids left the order.

My, how ironic. He also lost someone who completely changed his life? Reminds me of one
annoying knight. Troublesome. Especially this Rai person. His geass can be too dangerous. Maybe
getting rid of him will be a safer option. Now about his regular soldiers... Geass business aside, he
still needed to gather information about Orpheus's Peace Mark cell in Europe and whatever
connections they had left before destroying it. Getting rid of the European cell was still a high
priority.

Orpheus told him everything. Names, codes, safehouses and their sponsors. Nothing was left out,
even information about an unknown outside force that had been supporting them with new KMF
models and money. Most interesting was information about this 'X' character. Orpheus said she
should have been working undercover in Paris. How coincidental that D.S and Sayoko reported
someone in Paris helping former officers in Germany. He would need to inform them about this
later.

Lelouch was about to continue asking questions when a sudden knock on the door stopped him.
One of his royal guards opened the door. It was one of his servants, bowing down and yet his
shoulders were trembling. Lelouch left the interrogation cell, expecting news about how C.C and
Jeremiah captured the remaining geass users.

"Is this about the status of operation? Was it completed?" Lelouch asked with a hopeful tone,
expecting it to be over by now. His servant on another hand started to sweat.

I just hope C.C didn't do anything reckless. But with Jeremiah and the Nemesis, everything should
be fine.

"New knightmare unit appeared out of nowhere, y-your majesty. We recognized it as Lancelot and
its pilot as sir K-kururugi."

"..." Lelouch smile didn't disappear but the look in his eyes changed. The poor servant didn't need
to raise his head to feel the death glare his emperor was giving right now. "Hah.
How...troublesome."

The White Emperor turned towards his captive. Was Suzaku there because of them? Was this
unknown supporting force his siblings? It wasn't good. If they knew about geass users, it meant
someone told them about it... Wizard. He was an uncle of Orpheus and Oldrin. How troublesome
indeed. Lelouch would need to change his current plan, he couldn't risk it anymore.

He turned towards one of the Scarlet Guards and commanded him to join the battlefield, but with a
different Knightmare. Lelouch contacted the captain of the battleship and ordered him to prepare
the main guns.

He would welcome his old friend with fireworks.

On the ground, Lancelot Albion stared down at the battlefield.

Neither of the sides knew what to do. The Peace Mark started to question if they should be happy
by the arrival of a former Knight of The Round or angry that he just killed several of their
members. The Britannia side was horrified with the loss of three Scarlet Guards, who died in a
matter of seconds from Lancelot's first attack. Jeremiah in particular was most furious about the
deaths of his best subordinates.

Suzaku wanted to startle both the Peace Mark and Lelouch's pawns, succeeding in grabbing their
full attention. Good, now he just needed to make sure the VIP made it out alive. His new Lancelot
Albion should be more than a match to anyone here. Mariel put hard work in it, almost building it
on her own. The Honorary Brittannian wouldn't let it be wasted as he aimed Lancelot Albion's
MVS at Sutherland Sieg.

"Leave now, Lord Jeremiah. And I shall show you mercy!" Suzaku shouted at the top of his lungs,
even if he knew it was useless. Lelouch wouldn't allow his pawns to leave unless he desired so.

He is no different from his time as Zero.

His answer was a shot from Sutherland Sieg's primary cannon. Soon the rest of the Hounds behind
the cyborg opened the fire at white knightmare. However, Suzaku's new defence was more than
enough to protect him. In fact, it was more than just a defence tool. Suzaku switched on the Blaze
Luminous generator and the green shield formed around his arm. A second later, Lancelot Albion
appeared above the Hounds, crushing two of them with one hit.

The rest of them scattered to the sides in their 'insect' forms, shooting at him while on the move.
Both Sutherland Sieg and the pink Akatsuki drew distance between themselves and Lancelot
Albion as they began firing at the white machine with Hadron blasts. Suzaku chose not to waste
energy on using his shield against those and simply dodged the red spheres of doom.

However, soon all enemy units stopped fighting and began to leave the area. They were retreating,
and most likely to regroup and prepare for a new attack. Suzaku and the two remaining Peace Mark
members had a few minutes to regroup and get ready for the new wave. His Lancelot Albion flew
closer to them.

"Are you two okay?" Blue Gekka missing an arm didn't move, but its pilot answered.

"Y-yes! But we need to help Dian and Rai!"

Suzaku turned to see Gekka Shiden, damaged but still operational, standing up and moving away
from the enemy. The one named Rai wasn't seen, most likely fighting somewhere else. Schneizel
ordered only to evacuate three targets.

The girl Alice, a boy named Rai and especially a guy named Orpheus. Nothing about Dian. Suzaku
and his new unit might be powerful enough to stop Lelouch's cronies but evacuating three
knightmares would be hard, to say the least.

Suddenly Gekka Shiden raised one of its swords against Lancelot Albion. The blade was close but
Suzaku wasn't afraid, if needed he would react. They weren't allies and he was there only for
people with Geass.

"You killed our men!" A furious male's voice shouted. Suzaku's gaze hardened.

"I was ordered to bring the leaders of this cell alive. Alice, Rai and most importantly Orpheus.
Only them." The Knight of Seven answered in a cold tone of voice.

Inside Gekka Shiden, Dian's eyes went wide.

"Ordered? Only them? What are you talking about?! We have a few dozen of people over there!
We need to help them as well!"

"Negative. I have my orders."

"You-!"

"Can you save Rai?" The girl, Alice, asked with worry in her tone." One of the red knightmares
attacked him and they both disappeared."

"I will. But we must leave with Orpheus as well."

"Orpheus… Oz was captured in Berlin."

The Japanese knight narrowed his eyes, unhappy with how the situation turned out. One of the
targets had been captured. No doubt Lelouch already used his cursed power on the poor man and
made him his slave, as he did with others.

Schneizel won't be happy but that Wizard guy will be furious. The masked man made it very clear
that he wanted this Orpheus above others.

However, before Suzaku could say anything, the entire area, including the shore behind them,
exploded as the Nemesis opened fire. Its main guns started to fire Hadron blasts, both repetitive and
continuous. Somehow it reminded Suzaku about the second battle in Tokyo.

The entire sky was covered in red lights.

Lancelot Albion immediately activated Blaze Luminous shields and covered the two other
machines from the bombardment. It continued for some time before the monstrous battleship guns
finally went silent. As he looked around the battlefield, Suzaku saw nothing but craters and
leftovers of knightmares that were beyond repair at this point. However, all three of them noticed
the smoke in the air and the ruins of the submarine in the water.

"No!" Shouted Dian. He tried to contact them but it was useless. Soon, he had no choice but to
realize everyone in the submarine was dead. Their cell was destroyed. Alice was silent, she was
more worried about Rai. Suzaku said nothing as he looked at the floating corpses on the water.
Is this how you handle things, Lelouch? Is this your version of the gentle world?

"Kururugi Suzaku. Surprise to be sure but a welcome one."

All three pilots froze as they heard the familiar voice. Suzaku closed his eyes, trying to push aside
negative emotions that won't help right now. Lancelot Albion turned towards the voice. On the top
of Nemesis, on its edge stood one black and gold knightmare, Shinkiro Imperium. The Emperor's
black machine stared down at them. Suzaku stared back, he was sure Lelouch was observing only
Lancelot Albion.

Soon the White Emperor spoke.

"Former knight, Sir Kururugi. You are wanted for atrocities you committed in the Special
Administrative Zone of Japan. Surrender now and I should show your mercy of my empire."

Lelouch is planning something, he always does. If Lelouch wanted to be formal, Suzaku would
humour him.

"His highness demands that you give back the throne to the rightful heir and stop this farce, vi
Britannia," Suzaku said with a cold professional voice but his answer was only a short laugh.

"And who will be this rightful heir? Odysseus? Schneizel or maybe Cornelia?"

Nunnally, you're a mad demon. Suzaku wished he could say it, just to shut up Lelouch but
Schneizel was against it. It wasn't the right time according to his highness, such a powerful trick
shouldn't be revealed too early. The Japanese pilot didn't know how to feel about such a plan. On
one hand, it sounded like something Lelouch might do. However, if it meant weakening Lelouch at
the right moment, Suzaku might accept it.

"How about you join me on Nemesis over a cup of tea and we talk about it? My new friend
Orpheus would join us as well, he has many interesting stories to tell. I also would welcome those
behind you. Alice and Dian of Peace Mark are to be guests on my ship." Suzaku could sense how
the two members of Peace Mark behind him became anxious when they heard the name of their
captured friend and leader. "I have already talked with Orpheus and we discussed the terms of
Peace Mark's surrender. You can join us as well, Sir Kururugi. I more than others know you would
like to stop fighting after everything that happened."

Don't react. He taunts you. Stay calm.

"Nothing to say, Sir Kururugi? What about you two? Orpheus would love to speak with his
friends." None of them said anything. Lelouch let out a sigh. "What a shame. In that case, I would
have no choice but to continue this fight. Open fire." At his words, the Nemesis aimed at them.
Before it could start firing, Suzaku yelled.

"Find your friend! I will distract the battleship!"

Not waiting for a response, Lancelot Albion activated its energy wings and flew towards the ship.
Alice and Dean quickly moved away from the area, eager to escape from both Lelouch and
Suzaku. Now, they just needed to find Rai.

The Nemesis started to fire from its enormous Hadron cannons. However, Lancelot Albion had no
issue dodging between the shots. The order to live would activate on its own whenever one of the
death balls was near Suzaku. If needed, he would force command to work. He hated it but Suzaku
needed any advantage right now. In his mind, it was Lelouch's fault, all of it.
The white knightmare bypassed the black ship and was out of its cannon range, at least those that
were on the bottom. Now as Lancelot Albion was above the Nemesis, Suzaku used his energy
wings and opened fire at the giant fortress in the sky. The dagger-like green particles flew at the
battleship, but none of them managed to damage or scratch it. A giant shield appeared around
the Nemesis and protected it from any attack.

Shinkiro Imperium didn't leave its place and continued to stand on the edge of the battleship. Its
four eyes were watching Lancelot Albion's every move, studying it. Suzaku saw an opportunity
and pulled out an MVS sword. His knightmare dived towards the black unit, sword aiming for the
head.

Maybe I can-

However, Shinkiro Imperium's Absolute Defence System worked as always and covered the
Knightmare in a red shield. Lancelot's green eyes stared at Shinkiro's empty ones. Now that the two
of them were alone, the White Emperor spoke.

"I knew that this moment would come, Suzaku. Ever since Kamine Island, I was thinking about our
next meeting. Thinking if it will be our last one. Were you thinking the same, old friend?" His tone
was soft, almost melancholic.

Shinkiro Imperium jumped back and Lancelot's MVS hit the metal. The White Reaper aimed at the
black unit but instead of making another needless attack, Lancelot Albion started to slowly walk
around Shinkiro, waiting for it to make the first move. Suzaku scowled.

"Every day since your coronation I have been thinking about how I will put an end to this madness.
Lelouch, you must be stopped. You only spread death and tyranny."

"Hahaha! And how is that different from what you were doing? Suzaku, before judging me you
should take a look in the mirror. I'm not the only monster here. What would Euph-"

"Don't you dare say her name!" Suzaku screamed with fury before Lancelot Albion jumped at
Shinkiro. The black Knightmare dodged and a green energy blade had come out of its wrist.
Shinkiro tried to stab Lancelot but the white machine reacted faster and blocked before kicking the
other model, forcing it to step back. "Don't you dare say her name! After everything you have
done!"

Suddenly Shinkiro took a fighting stance as another energy blade came out of its second wrist.

"After everything I have done?! Suzaku, don't make me laugh! Everything I did was for Nunnally!
Every sin I committed was for sake of my little sister! Everything, even the death of Euphemia."

Shinkiro Imperium charged at Lancelot and Suzaku became confused. When did Lelouch become
such a confident Knightmare pilot? Suzaku was able to see where Lelouch was striking and his
Lancelot reacted accordingly. Either dodging or blocking the upcoming attack. Suzaku tried to
attack with MVS but Shinkiro would either use it as a shield or dodge. Using wings wouldn't work
against the ADS.

"Euphemia might have not agreed with my methods but she understood who I was fighting for.
What was at stake. I didn't do any of this for power. No, I did everything I could to protect my little
sister and get revenge on that man. And yet..." One of Shinkiro blades disappeared as it started to
fire with its hadron cannon at Lancelot. "You sold me to Charles and killed Nunnally."

If only he knew.
The hadron blasts were a more serious threat than simple bullets. Sukazu didn't want to waste his
shield's energy on it, therefore he had no choice left but to dodge. Still, this fight was strange.
Suzaku didn't remember Lelouch being this experienced or confident as a pilot. Usually, he would
use others to fight for him, not doing it himself. Now, however, Lelouch was here, fighting him one
on one. And the weirdest part, he was standing his ground.

This doesn't seem right...Unless.

Suzaku's eyes widened before he pressed on and charged toward Shinkiro. The black Knightmare
activated one of the energy blades while continuing to fire at him. Lancelot blocked every one of
the shots with the MVS sword, not slowing down for a second. When it was close enough,
Lancelot Albion shot one of the slashes harkens forward. When Shinkiro's pilot saw that Lancelot
wouldn't stop, the pilot decided to back down before blocking a slash harken with its blade.
However, when Suzaku saw it, Lancelot Albion stopped fighting and pulled away the MVS.

"You aren't Lelouch."

Inside the Nemesis.

Lelouch smirked as he watched the fight from one of the monitors. Right now he and one Scarlet
Guard were inside the meeting room. The emperor would prefer the bridge but he wanted to have
some privacy when speaking with his old friend.

Suzaku was quick to recognise the difference. Still, my replacement might have acted too boldly.

Lelouch couldn't risk and go out fighting Suzaku on his own. Some training and little battle
experience wouldn't make him a better pilot than the infamous menace of Europe or put them on
the same fighting level. No, the one piloting his Shinkiro Imperium right now was one of his
Scarlet guards. They were more experienced fighters than him, not to mention replaceable if need
be. Of course, that would be the last option since he already lost a few of them thanks to Suzaku.

Oh, Suzaku. Only you can fall from the sky and ruin my day. Is this some sort of talent? Or am I
just cursed. You're always there to stop my plans. Especially with this new Lancelot model.
Albion, that's what Lloyd called it. Cinder's current Knightmare was based on its design but
without the energy wings. Troublesome, Lelouch didn't have pilots who could effectively use
energy wings. Not yet at least. The Black Knights had Kallen while his brother had Suzaku. Truly
troublesome.

That's why I need to learn more about this model.

The primary reason behind sending a Scarlet Guard in his place was to learn more about this
Lancelot Albion. How it moved and how it fought. While this design gave birth to Cinder's
machine, it was most likely altered after Lloyd and Cecile departed from Schneizel's company.
Lelouch was curious as to who was behind creating this new Lancelot, without either of its creators
being available to his brother. However, most worrying of all was not the Lancelot itself but its
energy wings. Regular ones provided a giant boost in speed but those on Lancelot Albion were also
giving fighting support.

Super V.A.R.I.S, MVS, slash harkens and now energy wings. Hmm, sending anyone in a close fight
will be pointless and Lancelot is too fast for Nemesis's main guns to hit it. However, something else
might work.

Lelouch switched to a closed channel and called his most loyal knight.
"Jeremiah."

"Your majesty! What are your orders?"

"Suzaku is here and we can't let such an opportunity be wasted. I want you to engage him and use
your Geass Canceller." Without his command to live, Suzaku won't be as invincible as before. He
should have done it a long time ago, back in Tokyo during the last battle.

"But what about the PM targets-"

"Execute them. Suzaku had come here to rescue them, I cannot allow that. Schneizel might be
using Suzaku and his new Lancelot as a distraction for his allies to take away geass users while
we're busy." His old friend won't allow him to safely capture Alice and Rai, and Lelouch wasn't
sure if Suzaku was the only one sent there by Schneizel. "Go after Lancelot Albion. Leave the
Hounds to find and kill the Geass users before they escape. If we can't have them, no one will.
C.C, I want you to return to Nemesis."

"I can fight Suzaku as well, Lelouch." His witch said with an irritated tone.

"Not in a Knightmare fight, my dear. Suzaku is too dangerous, even for you. If your unit will be
destroyed you won't be able to do anything. Return to Nemesis, please." There was silence but
eventually, she agreed.

"Very well, my warlock."

Lelouch quickly returned to watching the fight, ordering the Scarlet Guard inside Shinkiro
Imperium to make sure Suzaku's attention was only on him. His old friend had discovered his trick
but it didn't mean Suzaku could just turn away. No, Lelouch won't allow it. A smirk formed on the
demon's face. He switched to another channel and asked.

"Captain, I want all of our Gareth units to be deployed. All pilots should keep their distance from
the enemy, close combat is pointless. I want them to flank Lancelot. All of Nemesis's arsenal is to
be fully prepared. Do not attack without my command."

"As you wish, your majesty."

Since you are so eager to end our personal war I will oblige, my old friend.

Suzaku got tired of this fight.

This wasn't Lelouch, but just some pawn who is used by him. It wasn't Kallen to give him a harder
fight either. Whoever was piloting Shinkiro Imperium was good but not good enough to make
Suzaku sweat. Instead, the unknown pilot would waste time and delay him.

This isn't good. I need to find the Geass users and escape before Lelouch captures them. But this
ship will just continue firing at us. Only Lancelot Albion was fast enough to dodge
the Nemesis's weapons. Neither of the remaining Peace Mark machines would be able to do so. At
least, I need to make sure it won't be able to fire at us as we leave.

The new plan then. He should destroy the main guns and kill whoever will pursue them. Sounded
simple enough. Now Suzaku just needed to do it.

However, the moment Lancelot Albion rose in the sky, Shinkiro Imperium decided to use its most
powerful weapon. The chest plate opened and revealed the chest-mounted Diffusion Structure
Phase, Transition Cannon. Before Lancelot could fly away under this ship, the black Knightmare
shot the prism. While it was meant to be an anti-army weapon, it could be used against a fast-
moving single target as well. Especially when it is merely a distraction.

The prism created enough light to blind Lancelot's scanners but Suzaku's command to live kicked
in. Without even seeing the danger, the Japanese knight moved on instinct, dodging missiles and
Hadron blasts that were fired by the enemy. A second later, Suzaku got a better look at his enemies.

Gareths. A lot of them. Copies of the famous Gawain were floating in the air to the sides of
the Nemesis. Shinkiro Imperium provided them with a diversion which allowed them to take their
positions. Now the black Knightmare was surrounded by grey giants on both sides. They had
enough firepower to destroy anything at their sight, anything but him.

Doesn't matter. I will take down anything you send after me, Lelouch!

The Japanese pilot was about to charge, but his eyes turned red again. His command sensed the
danger and Suzaku reacted accordingly. He dodged the incoming attack by the Sutherland Sieg
charging at him. Suzaku remembered Sutherland Sieg's electrical shock system and how it was
able to freeze his old Lancelot Conquista back in Tokyo. Albion was more advanced but Suzaku
didn't want to test if Jeremiah would be able to repeat the same trick twice. However, Sutherland
Sieg wouldn't back down so easily. Lancelot pulled out its Super V.A.R.I.S rifle and aimed at the
former member of the Purist faction.

"Lord Jeremiah, stand down!"

His shout was useless as a giant fortress of a Knightmare moved forward, simply rolling and
dodging Hadron shots. Sutherland Sieg launched its giant drills but Suzaku blocked it with an MVS
sword. When Jeremiah was close enough he activated his canceller but Suzaku flew further away
from him, escaping the affected zone of Geass Canceller.

"If I knew it would come down to it, I would have finished it back in Tokyo, Sir Kururugi!"
Jeremiah yelled as he continued to chase the former friend of his master.

"Huh, you still call me sir." Suzaku grimaced before his sensors picked up the incoming missiles.
Without stopping, Lancelot Albion continued to move as it sliced all of the missiles that were sent
after it. He saw the next wave of them and used his energy wings to destroy as many as possible.

Gareths. But why is Lelouch using them to kill me? He can't possibly hope for them to reach me.
Or is it to distract me while Jeremiah finishes me?

Suzaku didn't have time to get his question answered, suddenly his command to live activated
again and the next second Lancelot Albion ducked. A giant Hadron shot flying past him. This
wasn't one of the Gareths firing but rather Nemesis's upper guns that had fired at him.

I need to take care of them as well.

"My, what an interesting toy you have brought, Suzaku." The Japanese boy clenched his teeth
when he heard Lelouch's voice on the open channel.

Do not answer him. Don't give him the chance to provoke you.

"So you're giving me the silent treatment, I see how it is. Very well, in that case, I will be the one
talking." Lelouch spoke with a pleasant tone.

Suzaku would have cursed if not for Jeremiah trying to stop him. Shooting missiles at him and
rushing at Lancelot Albion at the same time. Suzaku activated his energy wings and destroyed all
missiles before ducking and flying towards Nemesis. If Jeremiah won't leave him, Suzaku would
outmanoeuvre him. His new machine was faster than Sutherland Sieg anyway.

"Tell me, my old friend. How do you feel about my new Britannia? Do you think it is what
Euphemia wanted? No more numbers, no more Honorary Britannians, no more Social Darwinism,
no more nobility or system that would feed on the people of different ethnicity. Britannia where
people like you could live in peace, no longer being subjugated to the society where the strong live
and the weak die. Isn't it what your princess wanted?"

"Not like this!"

Lancelot ducked under the Nemesis, the command to live always on as Suzaku moved to slice the
ship's weapons. He used MVS to cut two of the bigger guns but the ship's shields kicked in and
stopped him. Suzaku thought about what to do next but had to quickly move away when Gareths
started to open fire at him. Missiles, Hadron blasts, everything they had was fired at him.

"She would never do it like this! Using this damned power of yours to enslave her family and
anyone who doesn't agree with you! Or simply killing them. Sacrificing people like pawns. You
think the end justifies the means. Euphemia would never be like this!"

Lancelot Albion moved around the ship trying to find its weak spot. One of the Gareths rushed at
him, firing everything it had, before deciding to crash into Suzaku. The Japanese pilot reacted by
cutting the bigger Knightmare in two. However, Suzaku had to move quicker, as Sutherland Sieg
had been closing in on him.

"Oh, my. Look who's talking! Suzaku, you blind fool. Euphemia's dream was beautiful but
impossible to complete. She naively believed she could have achieved peace without action to back
it up. No one but only she believed in it. Charles never cared about anything but his thirst for
power, for him, a free Japan meant nothing because soon he was planning to transform humanity
into abominations. If it wasn't me then somebody else would have destroyed that innocent dream
of hers. And what gives your moral high ground over me? I wasn't the one who sold my soul to
Charles for a title. I wasn't the one who became an emperor's lapdog and helped subjugate other
nations. I wasn't the one who pressed the button and killed millions by F.L.E.I.J.A, including
Nunnally!"

"You forced my hand!"

Lancelot Albion activated energy wings and opened fire at everything that was before him. Neither
Nemesis nor Jeremiah suffered, both protected by their shields but the number of Gareths was
significantly reduced.

"Nothing but excuses! No one forced you to join Britannia, no one forced you to start killing your
own countrymen, no one forced you to sell me to Charles! No one forced you to become the
Monster of Europe and kill innocents for my father and brother. And no one forced you to use that
weapon in Tokyo. Suzaku, you will say and do anything if it means shifting responsibility on
somebody else. We're both monsters, Suzaku!" Lelouch's voice was furious and stern as Suzaku
tried to retort but couldn't. "But at least I can acknowledge my mistakes unlike you. You and I
committed terrible things, old friend. But you just don't want to see the truth."

"Lies! All of it! You lied to everyone around, Lelouch! Me, the student council and even Nunnally!
You use people like pawns for your goals. To you, it is just another chess game! You can think
you're better than your father but in truth, you both are the same. Insane maniacs who only care
about themselves!"
"You dare!?"

Lancelot Albion sensors sparked with warnings as dozens of red dots appeared on monitors. The
Nemesis started to use all of its arsenals to destroy him. Suzaku dived in and hidden among the
trees, as everything behind started to lit on fire. Lancelot Albion increased its speed and flew up,
flying above the ship. Once it was above the Nemesis, Lancelot Albion opened fire and destroyed
any unit that was in its way. Only two knightmares and the battleship itself were left.

"That's the most outrageous thing I heard from you yet. The traitorous knight who betrayed and
stabbed in the back everyone he knew. You betrayed your own nation and its people. You became
the dog of the system that oppresses the Japanese for the sake of it." As Lelouch spoke, Suzaku
didn't have time to answer back.

I had to do it for their safety!

"You killed your own father as a child, thinking you will save Japan."

It was for the survival of my people, including you and Nunnally!

"You betrayed your friends. You sold me to Charles and allowed him to use Geass on the student
council! You used Nunnally as bait to capture me!"

Zero had to be stopped no matter what!

"You used F.L.E.I.J.A, killing allies and enemies alike! One button and millions died, Suzaku!"

You left me with no choice!

"You betrayed everyone you served under. You betrayed your father, you betrayed and slaughtered
your own people, you were ready to assassinate even Charles for the promise of becoming the
Knight of One. I don't doubt you aren't even loyal to Schneizel. If it means achieving your dream
faster, you will surely betray him as well. You have loyalty for no one, Suzaku! Not even for
Euphemia."

At that moment something snapped inside Suzaku. He stopped thinking and just rushed to Shinkiro
Imperium which was still on the Nemesis's top. He didn't care that it wasn't piloted by Lelouch. He
didn't care that it was dangerous. He didn't care about anything but to stop Lelouch. To kill
Lelouch.

"Everything I did for the sake of her dream! Euphemia would have understood me! We both
wanted to change Britannia from within. We both gave up everything for that idea. And I will make
Japan the way she wanted!"

His response was only laughter. Not the insane or desperate laugh that he heard from Lelouch
before. At his words, Lelouch laughed and it sounded as if the emperor was showing pity.

"Is that what you tell yourself every day? Adorable. My sister was too kind and naive. Euphemia
wasn't able to understand that you need power and actions to back your words. Our world is a
violent place where people kill each other for the most pointless reasons. Euphemia believed she
could have changed it with just good intentions. She thought that she could have achieved anything
as long as the course is just. You thought giving her the throne would be enough? As long as the
system won't be changed, her vision of a free Japan would never be possible."

"We, I, would have changed all of it. In the right way."

"Yeah? So tell me, Suzaku, why after her death you changed nothing?"

In that sole moment, Suzaku froze inside his Knightmare, unable to say a word.

What, no.

"I-"

"You had power and time as a knight of the round but instead you… did nothing. Did the lives of
the Japanese people become better after the Black Rebellion? Tell me, Suzaku. What have you
changed within my father's Britannia?"

He couldn't answer because he had nothing to say. The entire time Suzaku spent as the knight of
seven, he was fighting Britannian wars. Europe, Africa or colonies. He was always on the front,
fighting, and killing per Charles or Schneizel's orders. Only when Zero returned, Suzaku was able
to visit Japan again. Everything after that was about stopping Lelouch and finding C.C as Charles
commanded.

"You can yell all you want about me being a monster but at least I gave the Japanese people a
chance to make actual change, unlike you. You claim you did all of it for the future of your nation
but where are the improvements? If you truly cared you would have saved your nation a long time
ago. If Euphemia was alive right now, she would have been horrified by everything you did.
Suzaku, you have never been able to see the big picture… even now. Jeremiah."

Suzaku didn't notice how Sutherland Sieg sneaked on him, nor did he notice a blue field that
appeared around the huge machine. Lancelot Albion immediately raised in the air and flew away
from the Nemesis. The ship and its Knightmare crew didn't fire at him or even bothered to follow
after him anymore. The black monstrosity stopped. He didn't know why but Suzaku didn't care
about it at this point. Because-

Kamine island. Zero. Live!

What? What is the meaning of it?

Something strange happened, but Suzaku had another concern. Old memories of that time when she
was alive appeared in his mind. He couldn't understand what happened but Suzaku knew he needed
to complete the mission. The battleship guns were not destroyed but it meant his Lancelot Albion
would have to dodge them better if needed. Right now white machine tried to find its targets and
evacuate them.

The words of his childhood friend stuck in his mind. After Black Rebellion he was busy proving
himself to Charles, he simply didn't have time to help the Japanese. Yes, that's right. He needed
time. Suzaku needed to become the knight of one to save Japan. Lelouch was wrong. Lelouch is
always wrong. However, a traitorous thought formed in his mind. What would Euphy think about
everything he has done? Would she react as Lelouch said?

No...no! No! It isn't like that! I will prove you wrong, Lelouch!

Lelouch was a liar, a monster who used Geass on everyone around him, including Suzaku.
Everything he said was lies, they had to be. However, Suzaku would prove him wrong. Once
everything was fixed, he would free Japan and do what Euphemia wanted.

This is what she wished for. Everything is to achieve her dream.

Inside the forest, the last members of the Peace Mark tried their best to escape and survive. When
Lancelot Albion flew towards the ship, Alice hoped the Brits would be more focused on the new
unit. She was right since the battleship and Britannians were busier with the former Knight of
Seven. It should have made their work easier but it didn't. The blue Gekka and Gekka Shiden made
their way through the fallen trees.

"Rai respond! Rai please respond!" Alice shouted into her communicator but no sound had come.

The empire was silencing them. The entire area was in ruins. First those Scarlet Guards and
Gottwald, then Kururugi with his fancy green wings blowing everyone up and finally the cursed
battleship finishing whoever left there. At least Orange went after Lancelot. Alice hoped that the
Japanese knight would take care of him. However, right now all of her attention was focused on
finding Rai.

Where is he?! I won't let him die on me!

Her answer was the sound of fighting. Alice and Dian quickly moved towards the source of the
noise. Soon, two of them found Rai and his company. One of the Scarlet Guards was still alive and
was standing before Lancelot Club. Both machines were visibly damaged and from the looks of it
were running low on Sakuradite. Neither of them were flying and the Brit was fighting with just his
spear.

Without any words both Gekka and Shiden moved. All of them are exhausted but one more
Knightmare shouldn't be too hard. Alice moved from the flank while Dian rushed from the front.
Rai might have been surprised but neither of his friends slowed down. Gekka Shiden with two of its
last swords forced the Guard into close combat. Alice didn't waste a moment and jumped at the
enemy from the side, forcing it to react to her as well.

The Scarlet Guard was now fighting three opponents at the same time. Dian was its main enemy
while Alice tried her best to support with only one arm. Rai quickly joined it and made several
strikes against their foe. The Britannian warrior had to block and dodge all three of them
simultaneously. Holes started to appear in his defence. That was all that Alice needed. Her eyes
turned red and a symbol appeared as her geass started to work. In less than a second, she was
already behind the enemy. The Brit didn't have time to react and paid for it with his life. With one
swing of her battle axe, the cockpit of Scarlet Guard was cut, instantly killing the man inside it.

Rai knew what just happened while Dian decided he was too tired to question how she did it.

"Alice, Dian! I knew you guys will be alr-"

"We need to leave." Dian cut him off. "The submarine was destroyed, Suzaku Kururugi killed our
forces while taking down the rest of the Royal Guard. We're the only survivors."

"Wait, what? Kururugi? The same Kururugi who destroyed Tokyo?!"

"We have no time for this, Rai! They both are after Geass users. We must leave right now." Alice
wasn't going to let some former knight in shining Knightmare take her and Rai. Or Lelouch and his
empire for that matter. She wasn't born yesterday, whoever sent Kururugi wanted them alive.
Either as weapon or lab rats, Alice wasn't going to let someone use Rai like that.

Not while I'm still breathing.

"I don't know what this Geass business is about but I'm not letting anyone take you guys away."
Dian's voice was reassuring. He wasn't Oz but Alice could trust him nonetheless. "Let's move. We
will leave the forest and abandon our knightmares. After that, we will meet others in Paris. X
should be waiting for us there-"

Suddenly Gekka Shiden exploded from Hadron blasts that came out of nowhere. Nothing but
burning scrap was left from the war machine. Both Alice and Rai froze, only for the albino boy to
yell.

"Dian!"

Soon new Knightmare signals appeared on their scanners. Hounds appeared between the fallen
trees, but they didn't attack yet. The lifeless machines were waiting for something, an order most
likely. And then a new unit joined them as well. The pink modified Akatsuki Morrigan.

"You!"

Alice ready was tired of seeing the pink unit. This Knightmare and its pilot were terrible news.
Morrigan stared down at her. The Hounds next to her waiting for a command.

"Surrender children. I promise as a former member of Geass Order, I will make sure you two won't
be killed."

"Fuck you! You're just a traitor who joined Lelouch!" Alice didn't know anything about the green-
haired zombie girl inside a pink unit. However, this zombie knew about Geass and was working for
Lelouch and his Britannia. She was most likely another survivor from the Order and decided to ally
with the White Emperor. "I would rather die than let you take us."

"How foolish. You have a chance to surrender without a fight. Don't act childish and do the right
thing. I give you one minute to reconsider."

Alice was silent, thinking about what to do. Surrendering might be the safest choice. As the last
living member of Irregulars, it was Alice's duty to protect and ensure the survival of other members
of the Geass Order. Even if it was only one person right now. She would protect Rai.

Remember children. No matter what, your primary goal is to protect our Order and everyone in
it. Director V.V had chosen her for this role. No matter what, Alice would always prioritize the
survival of other geass users. I knew Oz escaped from the Order as a child but I and Rai could
have trusted him. But trusting Lelouch? He might just make us into living weapons, I cannot allow
that.

"Rai. There was something important I wanted to discuss with you." Both of them were using a
closed channel. Alice's voice was softer and quieter than usual. Rai didn't know why but his gut
started to feel sick as if something bad was about to happen." I will distract her. When I give the
signal, get as far away from here as possible. Don't look back."

"But you-"

"That's an order! Run as far as you can. Don't worry about me, I will use my Geass and join you
soon." Alice's face appeared on one of his monitors. Alice did something, Rai had never seen
before. She smiled, Alice sincerely smiled at him. "On that day when our home was destroyed, I
promised to protect you no matter what. Please, let me fulfil that promise, Rai."

Inside Lancelot Club, his hands started to shake. None of this sounded right but Rai couldn't find
the power within him to say no to her. He slowly nodded. Alice was silent before a single tear fell
from her face. Her attention returned to Morrigan.
"Back in Berlin, you said something interesting to me, zombie girl." The blue Gekka started to
slowly move towards the enemy group.

"Oh?" The voice of the witch sounded curious."And what exactly did you find interesting? Me
calling you worm?"

"Hah, nope. It was about that masked bastard Zero. I don't care that he might be alive." Alice was
sure it shocked Rai. Alice aimed her battle axe, the last gift from Dean, at the British dogs before
her. "It just means I have to wait for him in hell!"

Alice moved. Her Geass was in full power now, no more holding back. Her Gekka moved faster
than it was physically possible for a unit of an older generation. With her current speed, Alice was
curious if she could compete with that Kururugi guy. However, Alice knew she wouldn't have a
chance to test it. The Hounds reacted and moved after her but her Gekka was faster. One Hound
tried to jump at Alice but her Gekka simply ducked under it, cutting it in the middle section. As it
exploded behind her, Alice continued her rampage towards the pink unit. She would take down the
zombie girl no matter what!

Even with one hand, even with one battle axe, Alice was able to cut them down. The Gekka
practically danced between lifeless machines that were stumbling to catch up with her. One strike
with an axe was enough to destroy one machine at a time. It was a shame those
black Alexanders didn't have pilots. Alice wished she could have killed more Brits.

The Hounds tried to use harken slashes against her but Alice would avoid each one of them. She
would use her axe to slice anyone close enough. Soon she saw that Morrigan had begun to rise in
the air, before starting to shoot at her Gekka with Hadron blasts. Alice had no issue dodging the
death spheres but she needed to catch up with the pink machine. Her flying platform was destroyed
earlier in the battle, leaving her with no means to fly. However, a new idea appeared in her head.
Alice couldn't fly but she could jump.

The Gekka stopped avoiding attacks from the Hounds and instead rushed at them. Maybe even
Alice could get surprised since she wasn't sure what to do at that moment. These few seconds were
enough for Alice to jump on top of one of them. Alice uses her harken slash and shot at the pink
Knightmare. Morrigan grabbed it but it was good enough for Alice who activated her harken. Her
Gekka jumped towards the Akatsuki, harken slash pulling Alice towards the zombie girl.

Morrigan's pilot was surprised but reacted quickly enough. The Knightmare managed to catch
Gekka with one hand. Morrigan's claws were digging into the frame of the older model, damaging
it even further but not enough to kill its pilot.

"And what was the point of this? I still caught you." Alice smirked.

"If you were a member of the Geass Order, you must have heard about Irregulars." Inside her
machine, C.C blinked.

"I never heard of such a group. V.V probably created it after I left."

"Shame. But that means you never heard our motto." Alice closed her eyes, thinking about Rai and
his safety. Her fingers moved towards the button and pressed it. Gekka's Yggdrasil Drive went into
overdrive.

"We live and die for Order and its people."

In the next moment, the Gekka exploded, ending the life of the last Irregular. Morrigan fell on the
ground, red shield surrounding it. The pink Knightmare was damaged but still operational, even so,
the pilot was more than furious. Its flying unit was damaged and couldn't work properly anymore.
The remaining Hounds moved toward her to help. But inside her Morrigan was furious.

In the end, Alice did manage to protect the last member of Order. Even if it did cost Alice her life,
her duty had been fulfilled.

In another part of the forest, a lonely Knightmare tried its best to escape this hell. The machine
meant for war was crashing every tree on its way, but the pilot inside it didn't care about it
anymore. Rai didn't dare to look back. He wanted to but he couldn't.

Why?! Why does it have to end like this?!

Rai wished it wasn't real. That this entire day was nothing but a bad dream, a nightmare. However,
it wasn't one. His Lancelot Club continued to fly between trees. Rising higher would alert the
empire and its soldiers. He couldn't allow that. Alice gave him the chance to run and he did. Rai
hated himself for doing it, even if it was what she wanted him to do.

Why Alice?

He knew what she meant when she asked to fulfil her promise. Rai knew where this was leading
but he continued to believe, to hope she would survive. That Alice would be able to find a way to
survive and the two of them would escape together again like before.

But now it won't happen ever again. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Lancelot Club continued to fly away, the pilot hoping that soon it would escape this cursed forest.
But Rai couldn't see the end of the trees. His vision was already blurry with fatigue from battle and
now tears. He needed to escape, he needed to survive for the sake of her wish.

I must do it for her. Alice, she did all of it for me to escape.

However, his Knightmare was running out of power. Lancelot Club couldn't go on any longer, a
warning popped up and informed him about the low battery but Rai pressed on. Soon the damaged
machine landed on the ground, it didn't have any more power left. Its pilot had no choice but to
leave powerless Knightmare and move forward, now on his own. Rai wasn't able to walk away too
far, his body was mentally and physically exhausted. Unlike Alice, he had limited training and
couldn't go on for too long. Soon he collapsed on the cold muddy ground.

I must survive for Alice. I-

The last thing Rai saw was a giant white angel with green wings kneeling near him.

Nemesis.

The entire room was silent as no one dared to make any sound. Lelouch silently rewatched footage
of the battle, analyzing the data they gathered on Lancelot Albion. Both Jeremiah and C.C didn't
say anything, waiting for him. Soon, the white emperor closed the video and turned to two of them.
He wasn't happy.

"I remember telling you to return to the ship, C.C." Lelouch's voice was cold. The witch turned
away with a frown. "Now one of the Geass users had managed to escape us. I couldn't risk it with
Suzaku and his new Lancelot being there. Those two proved to be too troublesome to be captured
alive."

If we can't get them, Schneizel won't either.

She knew he wouldn't be happy with her going against his order but C.C did for their sake. Another
Geass user would speed up their plan with Leila. However, that girl, Alice, was too stubborn. That
good-for-nothing girl was meant to be used to destroy C.C.'s code. With her captured, the witch
would have been one step closer towards her future with her warlock. In the end, Alice did manage
to hurt C.C. Even if it did cost Alice her life.

Lelouch knew C.C had a personal interest in it, he shared her desire but he also had to make sure
nothing would threaten his empire. His brother knew about Peace Mark having people with Geass,
maybe he even knew what their exact powers were. Lelouch couldn't risk it, especially with Suzaku
showing up there.

"I know, Lelouch. But you must understand how important it can be for me, for us." C.C wasn't a
fool, but the chance of getting rid of her code was too important to her. Lelouch let out a sigh.

"So, now we have one user captured, one killed and one managed to escape. And the one who got
away had the most dangerous power out of the three. The European cell of Peace Mark is pretty
much done for." With their leader sharing all of the information with Lelouch, it is just a matter of
time before the remaining agents in Europe would be eliminated. "I won't call it a complete victory
but at least it is something. Although we did suffer considerable losses today."

Jeremiah placed a right hand over his chest and bowed.

"I will find an appropriate replacement for the Guards who died today." Lelouch nodded.

They would need to announce his royal guard dying during the battle against assassins. Shame, but
he can't let news of the new Lancelot spread across the empire. Better make it look like they were
killed in the desperate last stand of Peace Mark. It might raise morale among other cells, even if
slightly. However, it was a lesser evil. The alternative would have been Europeans learning that
their worst nightmare had returned and Lelouch couldn't allow that right now.

Speaking about Europeans. I spend too much time in Europe and it is time to return home...My, I
actually called that place my home. But before that, there is something I need to do.

"Do that. We will have a ceremony for them later. Now that we have captured a new Geass user, I
think it is time to properly introduce Lady Malcal to our little plans."

And done! My, I wanted to write this chapter for a long time. I'm happy this is finally out,
hope you're enjoying it! Ok, before addressing stuff that happened in this chapter, I want to
talk about something that many readers were mentioning.

As many of you know I allowed several characters to escape death situation thanks to some
deus-ex machina or something else. I will admit, I might have overdone it. But from my point
of view, it was required to have interesting character interactions as well as move plot
forward without killing characters who might be needed later. Also, I know that as a reader
it might annoying to see someone from a story escape an impossible scenario again. However,
as I author I have clairvoyance and can see how certain characters would die in the story. It
was especially interesting to see how someone spoke about how Peace Mark was able to
escape while I knew only one of them was going to survive in the next chapter.

Now, about the elephant in the room, Suzaku.

First of all, I know I haven't done any foreshadowing for him as I did for Kallen before her
battle with Cinder. I wanted it this way. Hear me out, I wanted for Suzaku to literally fall
from the sky and ruin Lelouch's plan again. To be fair that's pretty much his job. I still
remember how someone under Code Geass AMV on YT called Suzaku "embodiment of
stepping on lego block.", still the funniest insult I ever heard. Besides, I wanted Lelouch and
Suzaku to have their conversation. Speaking about it.

This isn't character-bashing. Yes, I know how many people feel about Suzaku. I share your
opinion (strong dislike), but at the same time, I like how his character was done, well at least
in R1. From a writing perspective, Suzaku did what he was made for pretty well. Of course,
there is stuff I would have changed about him in R2. (I still think everything after the second
battle of Tokyo was rushed in the original series and needed more time, but this place isn't to
discuss it.) My point in this chapter was that Suzaku hasn't really done anything that
improved the lives of his people after the Black Rebellion. He had a positive effect on the
Japanese people back in the first season, but in the second season, I don't remember any
scene where he helped to improve the conditions of his nation.

Let's not forget that at the start of R2 Japanese people were still being publicly executed,
used as entertainment for Britannians and treated like shit. Lelouch/Zero at least gave them
a fighting chance. Also, Euphemia might have good intentions but she couldn't change a
bloodthirsty violent empire with just good intentions. She had a good idea for a start, but
realistically speaking Euphemia's plan to help the Japanese wouldn't work in Charles's
Britannia. And knowing Charles's plans, he most likely didn't care about Euphemia
succeeding or failing.

Anyway, this was most likely the last chapter of His Britannia to be posted in 2020 and oh
boy what a terrible year it was! I hope everyone is doing fine right now. And hey, I actually
managed to post four chapters before the end.

Editor: Kingpin Lunamaria.

 The proposal

August 5. Special Administrated Zone of France, Paris.

Paris, the city where it all began. The first battle between the EU and Britannia happened there.
The first battle of the last war between old rival systems. The irony that it all started in the capital
of France - the oldest enemy of Britannia - wasn't lost. Today the city was going through
reconstruction, thanks to the EU's blitzkrieg. The city of love was first on the former union list of
cities to liberate, however, none of the EU ambitions were achieved on that day. Once His Majesty
and His white legion joined the battle, it was over.

However, even to this day, the city is still plagued with those who do not accept Britannia rule.
With the end of the war in Britannia's favour, French resistance lost all of its remaining allies,
leaving them no choice but to cooperate with the Peace Mark. Unfortunately for them, the cell
which had worked with them had been destroyed in Germany, with any connections it had left in
Europe being next. The purge by the White Emperor had been swift and quiet, but it wasn't over
yet.

Currently, one of Lelouch's most trusted agents was making her way through the last of the Peace
Mark's safehouses in Paris. It was a normal warehouse that usually wouldn't catch anyone's
attention. A good place for enemies of the state to hide and gather any information they found.

'Too bad their leader ratted them out.' Sayoko silently made her way through the building, making
sure no one would notice her. However, the longer she stayed inside the more she felt like
something was wrong. This place was silent. She couldn't hear any voice or movements.
Something was wrong. She went deeper inside the warehouse, perpetually on alert in case of attack
but none came.

Soon, she found two men. Both of them leaned against the wall and looked as if they were sleeping
but Sayoko quickly noticed something. She moved closer to one of them and lightly touched his
shoulder, only for the man to immediately fall to the ground without further movement. He was
dead. The Japanese ninja narrowed her eyes and turned towards the door two men were guarding.
Once she entered she was greeted with surprising sight.

"Oh, lady Shinozaki! I didn't expect to see you here." Before Sayoko was standing her Master's
personal aid, Alfred.

However, even more, surprising was to see a dead man tied to a chair next to him. Sayoko could
see that this person had died recently. Looking back at a smiling Alfred, it wasn't hard to guess
how.

"I thought I was the only one ordered to investigate the remaining Peace Mark agents in Paris."

"Yes, but lady D.S. decided that I could help with this task as well. Personally, I'm glad for such an
opportunity. While being his majesty's assistant is a great honour, I didn't want my old skills to
become rusty."

Sayoko eyed a dead man, she could see that before dying he was tortured, obviously for
information. That's an OSI agent for you.

"Did you find anything useful, Mr-?"

"Just Alfred. We're serving the same master and therefore there is no need for honorifics, at least
not while addressing me." Alfred smiled politely. "As for this good sir, sadly he didn't know
anything useful for his majesty. No information on where this X person went nor what she is
planning."

X. A mysterious woman who was helping Peace Mark and acted as their spy. The captured Zevon
went into great details when describing her but he didn't know anything about her real personality
or where she might hide. While troublesome, the captured leader of PE told everything about her
appearance, habits and skills. Or at least those he knew about.

"However, I learned something interesting. Apparently, this Miss X is still inside Paris and was
planning to escape to the Special Administrated Zone of Spain."

"Hmm, do you think she is planning to meet with members of Peace Mark there?" She asked but
Alfred shook his head.

"Unlikely. After the failure at recapturing Madrid, both Peace Mark and EU forces pulled out of
there. She is most likely trying to escape."

Sayoko thought about that.

"We did everything in our power to minimize the leak of information about the purge. However, if
this X is as good as we were told, she might have learned about it." Sayoko looked at a corpse next
to Alfred. "Why did she leave them here though?"

"Possibly to slow down us so she alone can escape. She is most likely prioritizing her own life.
From what Orpheus Zevon told us, his majesty did mention his concern that this Miss X might
work for Schneizel or Wizard. Maybe even the one who informed them about Geass." Sayoko
narrowed her eyes.

She knew her master shared some of his past with a select number of people under his command.
As his maid and guardian, Sayoko made sure to keep an eye on those who knew Lelouch's secret.
Especially Alfred and Lady Cinder Fall. While the old OSI agent was Geassed, it didn't mean she
could leave him without a check. As for Cinder Fall, well, Sayoko was Master Lelouch's guardian
and as such, it was her duty to make her master choose the right woman to wed.

'Since Master Lelouch never had caring parents, it is my duty to look over his love life and make
sure he is happy and avoid making a choice that would hurt him.' Sayko proudly thought to
herself. She was informed about how her master started having multiple lovers. While she was
happy that master Lelouch and C.C finally got together-together, there were two other girls. She
knew little about Cinder and even less about D.S but Sayoko would make sure to check their
background later.

'Master Lelouch can have multiple lovers if he so wishes. I don't have a right or desire to stop him.
However, it was always my duty to protect the Lamperouge siblings from any harm, that includes
their romantic life.' Over the years of taking care of Lelouch and Nunnally, Sayoko started to see
them as more than just master and mistress. They were important to her and she would protect the
last member of the Lamperouge Family no matter what. She won't allow any vixen near master
Lelouch.

"Something on your mind, Lady Shinozaki?" Alfred asked.

"Nothing important to the mission. By the way, where is Master Lelouch?"

"Ah well, His Majesty decided that it is time for Lady Malcal to learn about Geass. Currently,
they're checking Paris."

"Alone?"

"Heavens no! Lord Gottwald with them."

Sayoko sighed with relief. Jeremiah was a capable man and she was sure he would do anything to
protect master Lelouch.

'It all started here.'

Lelouch silently watched as regular people went about their business, not paying attention to him or
his female companion. Why would they? Both Lelouch and Leila made sure to keep their identities
secret unless they wanted to aggravate Jeremiah. The emperor wouldn't be surprised if all people
around them were OSI agents, ordered by his loyal cyborg to keep an eye on him. It was either this
or a squadron of Knightmares following his every move.

"The city is doing pretty good. Taking into account all the firepower both the Britannian and EU
forces used."

Lelouch turned to his companion. Unlike he who had a wealth of experience hiding among the
public, Leila was new to this. The White Emperor smiled at her appearance.

"You look cute with glasses."

"Let's focus on work, Lelouch. We're here to check the city." Leila said with a strict voice but he
did notice a slight pink colour on her face. "Still, I'm glad this place was able to recover fast."

"Usually people would get angry if their property was destroyed. After the attack, I knew to calm
the citizens that I would need to fix their city fast. And with some good PR, it wasn't hard to make
Paris into the poster city of the new regime." Lelouch proudly smiled. "Of course, there is still
work to be done but I was told it should be fixed within this year."

"I'm afraid to imagine how much it all costs."

"Leila, you have seen the documents. The cost of Paris repairs is nothing compared to Berlin or
Moscow-"

"No, I meant all of it, Lelouch. This city, France and entire Europe. It won't be cheap. Aren't you
worried Britannian citizens might become angry by the fact their emperor is spending enormous
amounts of money on the old enemy?" Lelouch waved away.

"Europe isn't the enemy anymore and you know this. Now we're united and they should accept it.
There is nothing wrong with helping your neighbours, even if they're across the ocean."

Leila didn't look convinced.

"I don't doubt you or your intentions, Lelouch. But we both know how Britannian society feels
about those who weren't born under their flag. Our nations haven't had a good relationship ever
since Napoleon kicked out the Royal family from the British Isles."

"True, a century of social darwinism and Britannian military expansion only worsened the
situation." Lelouch had destroyed institutions behind social and racial prejudice but they left a
negative impact on the nation. Several generations of people were raised to hate and look down on
those who weren't born in their homeland.

'Regular people who were raised and brainwashed to believe they're superior only because they're
Britannians. The system of hatred and racism that feeds on war and bigotry, how it was so
successful for so long is hard to understand. Although Geass surely played a large part.'

"I know, however, the most troublesome and vocal part of that society was dealt with the moment I
took the throne. Without nobles or the number system, those who believe in the fantasy of
Britannian superiority have little support."

Leila chuckled in response to that. "What about you, Lelouch? Aren't you proof of said fantasy? A
young Britannian who managed to take over the empire and later conquered the old enemy of his
nation. They might as well call you a living example of Britannian Superiority."

Lelouch laughed as the two made their way across the city streets.

"I constantly spit on everything Britannia was led to believe. I got rid of the nobility and number
system. I gave former numbers equal rights on par with their old masters. I publicly shamed
Purebloods and others like them. I dissolved old colony policies and reorganized everything, giving
more autonomy to Special Zones. The Britannia that my father ruled over is no more, now
everything is different. But-" Lelouch sighed. "I know that changing the hearts and minds of
everyone so quickly is impossible. Purebloods and nobles might be dealt with but there are still
people who shared their perspective and I can't change all of them."

'Unless I will have no choice but to take away their free will.' Using Geass on Purebloods was a
necessity. Using Geass on the entire nation would be madness and Lelouch knew it. There is a
difference between using his power on the likes of his father and regular people just to make sure
they obey.

"I don't worry about mainland citizens. I'm more concerned about the European people and how
they feel about my rule." Schneizel will target Europe, of that Lelouch was sure of. Recent
conquest with a lot of unhappy people would be a perfect opportunity to start a conflict to distract
Lelouch and cause enough chaos.

Leila shook her head, "My people are not the ones you should worry too much about, Lelouch.
Unlike Britannians, people here have different values. However, not all of them were better or too
different from Britannia."

Simply looking back at how Japanese refugees were treated after Japan was conquered was enough
to see that Europeans weren't too different from their western counterpart. Both of them knew it.

"Neither of the systems were perfect. The imperial war machine and corrupted democracy. Empire
of bigots and Union of oligarchy. Britannia raised generations of people to hate weakness and to
believe in themselves as masters of everyone different from them. While the EU preached about
freedom and democracy, they looked down on nations who failed to develop and become a victim
of greater powers. They did little to help those in need outside their sphere of influence."

Africa was a good example. The continent was under constant rule by either Britannian or
European. Native people had next to no power in self-governing for over a century so neither of the
superpowers was bothered by their needs or rights. The former Chinese Federation used to
dominate Asia. Europe didn't want to interfere unless it was profitable to the Union.

"You didn't call your elite class nobles, but fundamentally they were no different. Flawed
democracy allowed corruption and people who wanted more power. Smilas had failed but he was
close to becoming a dictator because no one tried to stop him until the very end." Lelouch stopped
and looked directly at Leila. "Don't get me wrong, Leila. Between old Britannia and old Europe, I
would have chosen the latter. Compared to how my homeland was before, this continent had
redeemable qualities that might have made me stay here." Leila became curious.

"Like what?"

"You." Her eyes went wide while Lelouch smirked. Before she could ask what he meant, the
emperor continued. "I'm not joking. The EU had many bad sides but at least it had people like you
who had a chance to raise and make a difference. My father would either kill or imprison people
who went against him and his views. Or worse."

Charles wouldn't hesitate to make rebellious individuals into obedient puppets, as he did with
Lelouch.

"After the death of my parents, I was picked up by the Malcal family, and while they gave me a
chance to join in the military, I know they did it to spread their influence." It wasn't hard for Leila
to imagine what might have happened if she didn't join the army. Political marriage was a popular
thing in the EU as well as in Britannia. 'Between fighting on the front lines and being forced to
marry some old pig, the choice wasn't difficult.'

"Still, here you have the chance to voice your opinion, unlike my homeland where you would be
silenced before you could say a word. But you and I will fix it. All of it."

They made it farther into the city as they passed areas that weren't repaired yet, but for the most
part, the city of love and its citizens were at least in a sense of peace. As the pair made their way
across a busy street, a devilish idea formed in the mind of the emperor. He looked around and saw
that many people were around, of course, many of them were OSI agents in disguise but regular
Frenchmen were there as well.

'Let's give them a little show.' Lelouch thought to himself as he turned to Leila.

"Leila, I know that after what happened in Moscow you have been busy with work. I think that hard
work should be rewarded. "

The blonde advisor blinked in confusion, unsure where this was going. "I won't lie, we had a lot of
work but it was to be expected. But I did it to help people, not to get something out of it."

"Admirable, but still, your work should be rewarded properly. And that's why…"

Before Leila could protest, Lelouch did something unexpected. The raven haired man got down on
one knee in front of her and gently took her hands. Blue eyes went wide as Leila froze. She wasn't
alone in this however as everyone around them stopped and took a look at what many people saw
as a young man proposing to his lover. Women laughed while men smirked, OSI agents on another
hand didn't know how to react. Lord Gottwald never warned them about such a possibility, it didn't
look like his majesty had a ring, should they quickly find one? Leila Malcal didn't move, she
wasn't expecting this at all. Her face was red as her hand started trembling.

"L-Lelouch, what are you d-doing?" Her heart was rapidly beating, She felt shocked, surprised and
for some reason... excited. 'Where did that last thought come from?!'

Lelouch couldn't stop smiling, red faced Leila was a cute sight. He would love to see this
expression more often. Now, however, Lelouch needed to focus on an important matter.
"Leila, our story might have started on the wrong foot but it didn't stop us from working together.
In the short time I spent with you, I realised how reliable you are and I need someone like that.
That's why, Leila," Violet eyes stared into her soul and Leila felt like her heart would stop at any
moment. "Would you become my prime minister?"

Leila blinked several times, not understanding what she just heard.

"What?!"

Lelouch smirked before standing up but didn't let go of her hands. He glanced around at the small
and confused crowd of people. Some of them either didn't hear what Leila said or didn't
understand. Some OSI agents were frustrated by their emperor's action since he acted suddenly and
because he asked the wrong question. Playing with a maiden's heart like that… Truly, a cruel
emperor.

Lelouch didn't waste a moment and took her away from the masses so they could chat in private.
Leila was admittedly still shocked by what just happened, and a little angry, but followed him
nonetheless.

When the two of them were far away from the eyes of people, she almost screamed.

"What was that, Lelouch?!"

"Disappointed?" He asked with a grin.

"Yes! I mean no! Goddammit Lelouch." Leila let out a frustrated sigh before calming down. "What
was the point of this act?"

"As I said, I wanted to reward you and decided to make it special."

Leila pouted at that. "Ok, let's forget about the embarrassing part for a moment and focus on your
question. Me as the prime minister? Seriously?"

"Why not? Seems like a good reward to me. Not to mention how it would send a positive message
across the empire. The Messiah of Europe becoming Prime Minister of Britannia. Just imagine it,
Leila. How useful it will be for us." Lelouch said with a confident tone as Leila thought about it.
The strategic part of her brain already thought over the pros and cons.

Until now, among the general population of the empire, she was known as a simple advisor of the
emperor. Being the prime minister would improve her status in Mainland Britannia. No longer she
would be just some military general from the European Union who joined Lelouch's side. She was
already called Messiah amongst many people and getting such prestige and important rank would
increase her popularity. Of course, the negative part existed as well but Leila was sure that their
propaganda machine would easily deal with it. However, she was sure there was another reason
why Lelouch had chosen her.

"I can see benefits, Lelouch. But I feel like you aren't telling me everything." He chuckled at that.
She was right.

"Another reason I want you to be my prime-minister is to show how much I trust you, Leila."

"Really? But I haven't done a lot to gain your trust or at least to such a degree." Leila knew Lelouch
trusted her as an advisor and expert when it came to dealing with EU governing, but still…

"On the contrary, dear Leila. You started to gain my trust ever since our first meeting back in
Prague. Despite how your soldiers felt about me, you were willing to listen to me. You weren't
blinded by Smilas's words and managed to learn the truth. But most importantly, you chose me
over W-0." Lelouch grimaced. "I understand that it was a hard choice but you did it for your
people, Leila. I won't forget that. That's why I want you to have this position."

A melancholic smile appeared on her face as she remembered the last part. It happened not so long
ago but for some reason, Leila felt like it was years ago.

"I didn't have a choice. Either leave with the Black Knights and forsake Europe in chaos or stay
with you and fix help as many people as possible."

"Wrong. There is always a choice, but it depends on the person and how they deal with them and
the consequences that follow. You could have chosen the Federation over me and still be able to
find a way to improve the situation. I know it." Leila stayed silent, touched by his words.

"You are putting a lot of trust in someone who was your enemy not so long ago, Your Majesty."

"What can I say? One day you can be my enemy, but next time my most trusted ally." Jeremiah
was the first to come to mind. Their history didn't start well but look where they were now.

"In the world of war and politics that can be another way around as well." She let out a short laugh
but Lelouch nodded sadly.

'A sad truth.' It was hard to imagine who he was thinking about.

Leila didn't say anything, thinking about his offer. She already chose him over W-0 and pledged
herself to Lelouch as long as he kept his word and protected Europe. If he falls, she will fall too.
However, becoming his prime-minister was something else. Their fates were already integrated but
becoming his PM felt heavier, more personal. Leila felt that it wasn't her place to fit this position or
at least right now.

"Sorry, Lelouch. I appreciate it. Being your prime minister sounds tempting but I must say no."

He blinked. "Are you sure? I'm not forcing you, but Leila, this is a big step."

She shook her head.

"I will be more comfortable with the position of advisor, a military rank would be more than
enough for me. Thank you but I'll have to decline, Lelouch." He looked troubled for a second but
quickly responded.

"Hmm, well, I knew there was a chance of you saying no. But know that the offer is open unless
someone else takes the free position."

"Thank you, maybe I will take it one day." Leila smiled.

"Very well. Hmph, now I know how you react to the sudden proposal. Next time I will plan
something else." Leila laughed and waved away.

"No need to ask me again, Lelouch. If you can't find anyone to be your PM, I might agree-"

"Who said it would be about the prime-minister position?" He asked slyly. "Leila, my dear. There
are reasons beside promotion, to propose to a beautiful woman like you."

"Oh. Oh." Gears in her head started to move as a mischievous thought appeared in her mind. Leila's
face turned red from the heat." Wait, what do you mean next time-"

"I think it is about time we head back to our place."

"Wait, Lelouch!"

Lelouch started to strategically escape while Leila quickly followed him, trying to get an answer
for the sake of her heart. The two weren't alone as OSI agents moved among the shadows,
following their emperor and…. their new mistress? Some of them wanted to get answers as bad as
Leila herself. Their emperor was truly a cruel man.

Federation Occupied Tokyo.

The sun was slowly setting above Tokyo. The part of the city that was under Federation and Black
Knights control was in a similar stare as their Britannian counterpart. Many destroyed streets and
buildings were left after the last battle, along with the giant crater that served as a reminder of that
monstrous weapon. The main difference would be the construction of the UFN embassy, however,
to many people it looked more like a military base. Several Black Knight ground soldiers and
Knightmares were proof of that.

And while the Black Knights had brought more soldiers than the empire liked, the temporary
government of the Britannian side of Tokyo could do little to protest. Better to have more potential
enemies in front of you, instead of behind your back like back during the second battle when Zero
somehow managed to freeze a significant amount of Britannian Knightmares from within.

Hoping your enemy was only in front of you was something Kallen hoped was true in her situation
as well.

The redhead ace of the Black Knights didn't take her eyes off the man in front of her. Gilbert
Guilford, once a proud knight of the empire, now sitting before her in dirty clothes. From the smell
in the air, Kallen was sure he didn't take a shower for a long time either.

"You're sure no one followed you here?" When Gilbert nodded Kallen let out a tired sigh. "For
your sake, this better be worthwhile. I'm taking a huge risk speaking with you right now."

Sneaking into Britannia territory to speak with her mom was one thing. Kallen knew that Order
wouldn't complain about it too much. Kaguya knew where she was going and Kallen didn't doubt
that Oghi and others knew too. She had done nothing suspicious so far, for it was one thing to visit
her ill parent and another to speak with the Britannian who was her enemy not so long ago.

'Although the Order didn't mind doing it with Schneizel.'

It was easier to defend herself on the Federation part. If needed, Kallen could count on the Black
Knight patrols helping her; However, from the state of the man before her, Kallen wasn't sure he
had some sort of trap. Back when she first encountered Gilbert, the knight of Cornelia insisted on
meeting on her territory. Kallen wanted to refuse but stopped when Gilbert mentioned some sort of
strange power that was used by a boy who looked like the new emperor. That changed her
response.

'Talking to someone who was under Geass might help me to prove to Black Knights that Lelouch
didn't use it on them.' Kallen was still thinking about her issue but having proof that Lelouch was
innocent would help her to convince some members of the BK.

Gilbert looked like he was in bad condition. From what he told Kallen during their first meeting, he
was constantly on the move as he was afraid that Britannians would capture him.

'I was told he joined Lelouch during the second battle but was presumed dead in that
explosion.' Many people among the Black Knights were confused about why the knight of
Cornelia joined them that day, but only core members knew the truth. 'Geass. Anything mysterious
related to Zero, Geass.'

"I didn't come all the way over here only to waste your time, Red Lotus."

She groaned and gave him an annoyed look. "Just call me Kozuki. No need to attract any
attention." Kallen said as she looked around. They were alone.

"Very well, Lady Kozuki. I wanted to speak to you about something; ever since that battle, I started
to have strange visions from that battle. I started to question many things, like why Zero is now the
Emperor of my homeland."

There was a long silence.

"So you knew it was Lelouch. But how?"

"Right before the battle started I was ordered by Prince Schneizel to set up an ambush for Zero. I
didn't expect some teenager to come instead." Gilbert recalled. "Everything that happened after that
felt like a dream. Soon, I started to see Princess Cornelia instead of this boy. And she ordered me to
accompany her into battle but on the side of the Order of The Black Knights."

"And you obeyed." She concluded.

"I would never disobey the order of my princess but after waking up from the coma I started to
question everything that happened on that day. When I woke up, everything changed. My princess
was labelled as an enemy of the state while Zero had become Emperor of my homeland." He stared
at her intently. "I don't care what you ask for, I need answers. What happened on that day and why
have I seen my princess in place of Zero?"

Kallen thought about it. From what Order told her after making a deal with Schneizel, Lelouch
confessed about being the reason why Princess Euphemia massacred the Japanese people on that
day. Apparently, Lelouch was led to a trap; however, he managed to escape with the help of
Gilbert.

'So Lelouch most likely met him before the ambush and used Geass. He controlled Gilbert but why
did he appear as Cornelia? Was it a side-effect or a direct order?'

"You said you saw Cornelia instead of Lelouch on that day? Was it permanent? Was there anything
weird about her?"

Gilbert grimaced as he tried to remember. "I only saw her highness when I was receiving orders.
But I remember that she was always holding her collar when speaking, rather strange now that I
think about it. After I had woken up, I started to see memories of that terrible day but now instead
of my princess, I saw images of Zero… I still see him when I sleep. I started to question myself.
Was my loyalty some lie?" His expression seemed to get more frantic as he thought about it.

'So Lelouch programmed Gilbert to see him as Cornelia only when he made a specific move? Ugh,
some of the Black Knights would argue that he might have done the same to them... but wait!
Gilbert said he started to see memories of Lelouch which means the command stopped working
properly. Does it mean Geass can stop working after some time or the coma played some role in
it?'
It was slim but maybe there was a chance to learn the aftereffects of Geass. So far Gilbert is the
only person who was under Geass that Kallen knew about. If she managed to learn what the
aftereffects were, she could use it as proof before the other Black Knights.

'But it would require medical analysis and I only know of one person who can help me with that.'

Going to Rakshata would be a bad idea. Kallen had nothing to bribe her with to stay silent and the
other Black Knights would be suspicious as to why she brought Gilbert. They wouldn't allow her to
explain; worse still, they might label her as the puppet of Lelouch and shoot her for it. She needed
to find someone else to check Gilbert, someone who wasn't related to the Black knights. Their
medics would report to Oghi, so they wouldn't cut it. So who?

'Wait, didn't the Europeans bring someone with them who was an expert with BRS? That girl I met
in Kazakhstan, Anna mentioned something about their doctors. A husband and wife. They might
help me. At least they won't immediately report to the Order.' She knew little about the technology
behind Alexanders but she had heard of how it could be used to monitor brain activity. It was a
start but once she has proof, Kallen will think of how to show it to the others but for now… it was
something.

However, she still had questions.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Learn about what happened to me on that cursed day. After that, I will find a way to reunite with
her Highness and serve her once again."

"You aren't going to ask why Zero is now your emperor first?"

"I have little information but I thought that something happened in your Order. Maybe a coup that
forced Zero to escape to Britannia where he used whatever power he used on me to take over the
empire. Am I right?"

Kallend blinked before looking at the side with a hurtful expression.

"...Yes."

"There are things I still don't know. Can you give me more information?"

Kallen thought about it. Sharing with him some part of the truth might be beneficial. Or at least
clear holes in his theory. So Kallen told him about Lelouch and Nunnally's true identity and who it
was underneath Zero's helmet, though she didn't mention Geass. Without solid proof, he might not
believe her.

"So, this means that Zero has some method to persuade others. That must be how he took over an
empire so quickly." Her eyes went wide.

'Even without knowing everything he is pretty close to the truth. Should I just tell him about Geass?
No, not right now at least. After getting medical results from W-0 I will try to tell him more.'

"So the reason why your Order tried to get rid of him is because of his past as Britannia prince and
you thought he used all of you. That's why Black Knights betrayed him?" Kallen glared at him.

"We-!" She wanted to shout but stopped. She had nothing to say. It was like back then with
Sayoko. She bit her lip, angry at all of this. At how they- she - betrayed Lelouch. The truth was
painful but she needed to accept it if she wanted to fix everything. Kallend hoped by proving that
fact to other BK members, she would get more support and maybe fix the Order from within. 'I
can't do it alone. I'm a soldier, not a leader. I need someone to show me a direction. This was
easier when I had Lelouch by my side.'

Gilbert silently observed her before speaking.

"I can see that whatever happened back then is still troubling you, Lady Kozuki. I don't know the
entire story but I can guess it has something to do with Zero now being on the Britannian side
instead of yours." Kallen said nothing but slowly nodded. "So, this story is more complicated than I
thought."

"What makes you think so?

"If it was a simple coup, why would you struggle so much when thinking about your former
master? You reminded me of someone."

"Who?"

"You reminded me of myself." She looked puzzled but Gilbert spoke again. "Princess Cornelia left
Britannia and gave up her right to the throne. She promised to find out the truth behind Princess
Euphemia's massacre. When Her Highness left after the Black Rebellion, I was devastated. I didn't
know what to do anymore. She didn't leave me any order other than to look after Area 11-"

"Japan." Kallen hissed.

"Yes. Japan. But after she left the new viceroy had come. Calares wasn't anything like princess
Cornelia. Serving under him, I started to notice things I didn't see under my princess's rule."

"Let me guess. Terrible things Britannia did to my people on a daily basis?" Gilbert nodded.

"I always knew that many natives were treated poorly by the empire's system but after Her
Highness left, I started to see how the attitude towards Japanese people got worse."

"Heh, without your princess the world stopped being black and white?" Kallen chuckled. "But your
princess wasn't the kindest person either. I remember how Cornelia stormed ghettos to slaughter
everyone who she thought was a rebel. I bet she did things worse than this before coming to
Japan."

Gilbert glared at her, "Lady Kozuki, I will warn you once. I won't allow you to insult my princess.
Her Highness did things that were a necessity at the time. If you want, I can point out all crimes
committed by Zero. But I'm sure there are things we don't know about." Both of them glared at
each other. Neither knight would allow insulting their lord, even if they weren't with them
anymore.

"Cornelia killed the innocent."

"And so did Zero. Honestly, why are you so protective of him? Zero is no longer the leader of the
Black Knights."

She didn't know why but Kallen got angry. It was true. Lelouch wasn't with them anymore. They
betrayed him and he left. That cursed betrayal back on Ikaruga. Kallen wished she had a chance to
fix it.

"Doesn't matter! I still believe in Lelouch!"

"Why? From what I understand he might have used your Order to gain more power."

"You don't know anything! Lelouch wanted change! He gave us a fighting chance when everything
went to shit. He saved us and helped the Japanese people to finally start winning. He made us into
an army powerful enough to fight Britannia and take back our home. I believe and trust Lelouch
because I want to! Because I'm still-" Kallen froze as she realised something.

'I'm still loyal to him.'

Was this blind loyalty? Perhaps Geass? No! Kallen didn't want to think that these thoughts of her
were some sort of command Lelouch placed on her. The fact that she was questioning it was proof
on its own. This was loyalty but not a blind one. Kallen owed Lelouch for everything. For the
Black Knights and Japan, no matter what others might say.

He gave them a chance but they backstabbed him. And Kallen hated how she accepted it. Even
back in Moscow, Kallen never thought about hurting Lelouch in any way, only Cinder. They were
on different sides but it didn't mean they were enemies. Just because the Black Knights and
Britannia were enemies didn't mean Lelouch and Kallen were as well.

'I can't stand the thought of us being the enemies no matter what the Order of the Black Knights
thinks of him. Lelouch isn't a monster.' She remembered Nunnally. How Lelouch did everything
for his little sister. How he was ready to fight Britannia for her. It reminded her of Naoto. However,
Naoto and Nunnally were dead while she and Lelouch were alive. They survived and continued to
fight for something better. 'Lelouch was never our enemy. He was a big brother who wanted to
make his little sister happy. The Order trusted our enemy and betrayed our leader.'

He was in Britannia, plotting something but it didn't matter to Kallen. She was his black queen, his
most loyal soldier and no matter what happened she will prove to everyone that Lelouch wasn't a
monster. He was her leader, the man who gave Kallen a chance to achieve the dream of her big
brother.' Is this what Sayoko talked about?'

Kallen didn't know if this was all Lelouch was to her but now she knew for sure one thing.

'We are meant to fight together no matter what.' She was his knight, the person he could trust the
most. But she failed him back then on Ikaruga.' I will fix it. If needed I will force other Black
Knights to accept it but I will fix it all.'

"We are getting off the topic. Listen here, Guilford. I might know someone who can help us. I will
help you but you will help me to prove the innocence of Zero."

He laughed, "You are seriously going to continue trusting him?"

"Yes," She said simply. "I am his knight and I shouldn't have left him." She said with a defeated
tone before lowering her head.

"Well, now I have an idea who I'm working with." Guilford stared at her before standing up.
"Kallen Kozuki, you and I are loyal to different masters but right now we have the common goal."

"You want to learn about what happened to you. I can help with that but I can't help you with
finding Cornelia."

"That will be enough for me. I will find Her Highness on my own. But what is your plan? I'm sure
this person is one of the Black Knights and I highly doubt they will let me inside their base so
easily."
Kallen smirked, "In that case, you are lucky that the Black Knights are currently recruiting, Private
Guilford."

Thus, two failed knights started to work together.

Special Administrated Zone of France. Paris. Nemesis.

Lelouch led Leila back to their ship. Over the time she spent on his side, Leila got used to the
monstrous ship. However, she still found the reasons behind the design of the ship to be a little
overdramatic. Still, it was her job to not repeat the Moscow battle and make sure Nemesis won't be
used for military purposes in Europe again. The day in the capital of France was calm, and for that
she was glad.

'I can't live through another assassination attempt. Two were enough.' Of course, being Lelouch's
advisor, Leila doubted it would end with only two attempts. Speaking about the advisor role. 'I
can't believe he asked me like that! T-this was embarrassing! You ask someone like that for
something else! Not to offer a government position.'

Leila didn't know why she was more disappointed with the fact that Lelouch asked her to become
prime minister, instead of asking her something else. Her face turned red. Yes, she knew what she
thought about and Leila didn't want to admit it. However, part of her brain thought over what
would happen if Lelouch properly asked her.

'If Lelouch will ask me to m-m-marry him, how do I answer? I never thought about anything like
that!'

Leila spent her life as a military person, actively trying to stay away from political marriages. She
never thought about romance or had time for one. Some in W-0 thought she and Akito had a secret
romance but Leila thought of the Japanese pilot as a brother, and she was sure he thought about her
like that in turn. Neither of them had any romantic experience or thoughts and they were just happy
to stay as friends. But things were a little different with Lelouch.

'Lelouch gave me the power to do things I couldn't do before. Now, I can help more people and
save more lives. I feel more useful and influential now. We started as enemies but right now we are
allies, partners. He wanted to fix Britannia and Europe with me. We have the same goals and I feel
comfortable near him.' Leila raised her head and glanced at Lelouch's face as he talked with some
soldiers before looking at her with a smile. 'I will admit he is handsome and has charm. Not to
mention if I become emperor's lover or empress my position in the empire will improve greatly. I
will have more power to help people.'

While she never thought about stuff like this, it didn't mean she couldn't start now? Now when
Europe was in a more stable state, Leila can start thinking about herself and her own happiness. A
future with Lelouch? She already joined him and was helping. Yes, love and romance were
something else compared to their partnership but… can they grow to love each other? Could she?
Leila knew nothing about romance other than these silly and sometimes lewd books a scant few of
the W-0 personnel had, though she might try to experience it.

'We are both intelligent individuals who prioritized others before ourselves. Why can't we be a
little selfish and try to have a little more?' Of course, there was an issue of Lelouch being in a
relationship with other women but she could work around it. 'Polygamy is a tradition for
Britannian emperors, and besides, if I'm his wife I might try to make Lelouch more focused on
Europe... hmm, I can see the benefits.'
Being inexperienced in matters of heart, all Leila could do was to think strategically. Leila didn't
know what was normal for love, so her best guess was to try to handle it in her own way. Her life
wasn't normal so why should her love life be normal? Who can blame her for trying to experience
something she was denied before?

'If I'm going with it, I will need more time to think about my feelings. I will think about it more in
the future.' Leila thought as she followed Lelouch until he stopped and called her.

"Leila?"

"Yes, dear?" She asked with a sweet tone before realisation kicked in.

Both of them froze. Lelouch from the unexpected response while Leila from shock. Her face
turned crimson as she quickly tried to change the situation.

"Why did you bring me here?" She asked and quickly turned towards the metal gates. Right now
the two of them were in a section of the ship Leila never visited before.

Lelouch decided to ignore what happened for the time being, although he might tease Leila about it
later. However, now it was time to reveal the truth to her. As he opened the gates, they were
greeted with giant golden doors. Ever since C.C informed him that they can't be used as teleporters
anymore, Lelouch started to think about a new method to use them for his plans. It was D.S who
gave him an idea.

Thought Elevators can be moved.

Such a simple thing but it opened many possibilities to him. While not teleporters, Thought
Elevators and their potential can be used for something else.

"What are these? They look a little out of place." Leila asked. Huge golden gates didn't match well
with Nemesis inner design in her opinion.

"I think it will be better if I show you."

Lelouch said as he offered a hand to Leila. Without a second thought, she took it and followed him
inside. He had no issue getting inside them since C.C taught him how, both of them finding
themselves inside World C. Leila's blue eyes went wide as she looked around. Right now World C
looked like a usual green field. The place was enormous as she started to question how this place
could even fit inside Nemesis. However, what caught her attention were the Knightmares.

World C had an entire platoon of Knightmares inside it. Gareth, Vincent Wards and Hounds. All
equipped and waiting for a command.

"What is this place?"

"Glorified storage would be a good name for this place right now."

According to D.S the Thought Elevator can be moved if it was done carefully. Destroying them is a
difficult task without sufficient fire-power, so why not make the most use of them? His people
started to experiment how much equipment they could place there without it disappearing, and so
far tests yielded good results. Now Nemesis had additional Knightmares if needed. Most
ambitiously in the future, however, was the possibility that they try to copy the properties of this
place and recreate it.

"Leila, remember when I told you I want to be truthful with you? Well, I think it is time I share
some of my secrets with you. But first, maybe we should change the background. Something more
familiar to you." Lelouch said as he snapped his fingers. The next moment World C changed from
greenfields to the lonely castle.

'This is Weisswolf! But how?' The old base of W-0 appeared before her. Leila immediately turned
back and saw that the Knightmares didn't disappear as they remained behind them. She couldn't
understand this place. It didn't obey the laws of physics. How was any of it possible?!

"I'm sure you have questions, Leila." Lelouch chuckled when Leila gave him a shocked expression.

"I want to know how can this place change like this...But I have more questions."

"Hmm, well I'm sure telling a story from the start would be easier to understand. Very well, it all
started one day when I went gambling..."

Paris.

A lone person navigated the streets of the city. Her face was covered, making it hard to learn her
identity. She avoided populated places as much as possible but she knew that OSI was following
her. Soon she found herself before a small cafe. This was the place she was looking for,
somewhere where she could take a break and think about her next move.

Miss X quickly entered it and closed the doors behind her. She looked around and saw that it was
empty, save for stuff. X allowed herself to sigh in relief, maybe now things would start to improve.
After ordering a drink she took a seat and collected her thoughts.

'Peace Mark is no more, at least in Europe. I don't know how many of our agents managed to
survive but without the main fighting force, there is little we can do. First Leila and now
Orpheus.' X never liked to think negatively but right now the situation was bad. After everything
that happened she didn't know what to do anymore.

"Is this place taken?" A soft voice asked. X immediately raised her head and saw a strange girl.
Before X could say anything, the girl sat down next to her. "You know, we had a hard time trying
to find you, X."

Miss X slowly started to lower her hand and tried to pull out her weapon but the unknown girl
stopped her.

"Let's not start something both of us will regret. I have come here to talk, not to fight or capture
you."

"Sorry but I don't trust Britannians," X said with a smile but inside she felt scared. If it was a trap
set by OSI, her chances to escape were small.

"In that case, it is a good thing I'm not Britannian. However, I'm very close to Emperor Lelouch,"
she said with a sly tone. X clenched her fist. This was bad. "Don't worry, I'm not here because of
OSI. No, I want to talk with you about something different. Tell me, X. What do you think about
getting a new job?"

"Hah, as if I will say yes," X let out a fake laugh. "No money in the world would be enough to buy
me. I'm not that kind of woman, you know."

"Who said anything about money?" her opponent said with a smirk. "Everyone has a price. You
just need to find the right motivation. In your case…" she leaned closer to X and whispered in her
ear. "Orpheus Zevon."

X froze, unable to say anything but she didn't show it on her face. Experience taught her that
showing any emotion would be a defeat, but the girl next to her already knew what X was feeling.

"You can get out of this place and leave, no one will follow you." She pointed at the door behind
them." Or you can stay and learn how you can help your knight in shining armour."

"What makes you think I care about him?" X lied as naturally as she breathed.

"Because everyone wants a happy ending for their story and you are the same. Now, what will you
do?"

There was a long silence as the two of them stared at each other. X looked at the door and then
back to this girl.

'This might be my only chance to see him again.'

X closed her eyes. She felt like she was making a deal with a devil as she slowly nodded. A smile
appeared on the girl's face as she spoke with excitement.

"Excellent! Now, you can call me Diana but my friends prefer to call me D.S."
 Return to the capital

August 7. Pendragon.

It was early morning in the capital of Britannia. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On
days like this, the Emperor of Britannia was busy with his usual morning routine.

"Faster, Master Lelouch! Faster!" Shouted Jeremiah.

Sweat was dripping from the young monarch's head. He stared at his loyal cyborg and through pain
managed to say.

"Jeremiah, I-I can't go on like this."

"Don't stop, your majesty! You are almost there! Come on!" The captain of his Royal Guard spoke
vigorously. "We are near the finish line!"

Lelouch wanted to collapse but forced himself to continue. He faced many enemies in the past, but
this one was the worst out of all of them. Running. Jeremiah wanted to help him and Lelouch didn't
want to disappoint his loyal knight. Lelouch wasn't a fan of physical activities, especially running
but ever since he took the throne, the emperor was given little choice and was basically forced to
start exercising.

'I know that Jeremiah and Alfred want it for my own good but I'm sure C.C just wants to see me
suffer like this.'

Soon both of them finally reached the finish line and the emperor of the mightiest empire in the
world groaned.

"I hate it," Lelouch complained between heavy sighs as he sat down on the nearest bench. Running
circles around his own palace was a nightmare. Especially this early in the morning.

"Doesn't change the fact that you need it, master," Jeremiah said proudly as he passed a bottle of
water to Lelouch. "You can't use excuses like the war in Europe to avoid your training. Besides,
you are doing a pretty decent job."

'Between paperwork and exercising, I will choose the former any day. I can't even use Geass on
him to stop this torture.'

In Lelouch's opinion, 'decent' was a stretch. He might have improved in Knightmare piloting but he
was still severely lacking behind in other things like martial arts. However, no matter how Lelouch
wanted to avoid this part of his duties and ignore them, he knew he couldn't. Lelouch never knew
when he would need any of this and being the emperor meant that his life won't be normal or safe.

'Huh, like it was safe before. But at least back then as Zero I had a mask and could just give it to
C.C.' Lelouch thought about Sayoko just taking his place during this training with Jeremiah, but
his loyal maid was actively supporting the idea of him exercising every day. 'And I thought
Ashford Academy PE was the worst. At least there I could escape it.'

Ironically as emperor, he had less freedom when it came to his health. At least it was Jeremiah who
was training with him. Lelouch was afraid to imagine what could have happened if it was Sayoko
or worse... Bishop.
"Ready to repeat it, master Lelouch?" Jeremiah asked but Lelouch quickly shouted.

"No! I mean, I have already run the morning norm, right? I have important tasks to attend,
Jeremiah." Lelouch was silently hoping Jeremiah won't force him to do it again.

"Very well, your Majesty. I can't allow myself to interfere with my master's work." Lelouch sighed
in relief.

'Finally, some rest. Maybe I should start another short war just to avoid its stupid training. And
now I need to prepare for this stupid banquet tomorrow.'

Lelouch was away from Britannia for a long time. Because of his plans to reorganize the newly
formed Commonwealth of the Imperial States, the White Emperor neglected some of his
responsibilities on the mainland. Namely, victory celebrations once the war was over. Lelouch
didn't bother to attend parades or public celebrations, being more focused on the recently
conquered continent. Of course, the young monarch's popularity wasn't hurt by any of it but
Lelouch was strongly advised to pay more attention to celebrations in the future.

Personally, he was never a fan of festivals or anything like that. He had a bad experience with
festivals during his time as a member of the student council and wasn't eager to attend even bigger
events when he had an important job. However, his advisors pretty much forced him to throw at
least one banquet. It didn't help that C.C was annoying him with it as well. Lelouch didn't know
but he suspected that his witch planned something and it made him nervous.

'Maybe she wants to make the world's biggest pizza again? It never worked back in Japan. Ahh, I
will worry about it tomorrow. Right now I just want to-' Lelouch closed his eyes and tried to catch
his breath when he felt something soft pressing against his back.

"Oh, my. If only I know that my dear emperor is doing something like this every morning. I would
have volunteered to train you, my emperor." A sultry voice whispered into his ear. Lelouch didn't
need to look back to see who it was.

'Oh no.'

"Cinder! My white queen, what are you doing here at such an early hour?" Lelouch asked before
turning around.

His second knight of the round wasn't wearing her usual uniform. Instead, she was in casual clothes
which allowed Lelouch to take a good look at her exposed midriff. She quickly noticed where he
was staring and winked at him.

"Like what you see? If you want, I can replace Lord Jeremiah and exercise with you. Although I'm
afraid there will be less running and more of something we both will enjoy." she leaned closer. The
sly look in her eyes was enough to give Lelouch an idea of what his lover was planning. And he
won't lie, it sounded tempting.

"Sorry, but I must decline. I would love to repeat what we did on Nemesis, but I'm sure Jeremiah
and others won't like the idea of me running away from my responsibilities." Cinder pouted.

"Shame but I understand. Still, we can enjoy ourselves after your morning routine," she said with a
hungry tone before sitting on his lap. "Like right now."

Lelouch wanted to say something, but she quickly captured his lips, not giving him a chance to
make another excuse. They remained like this until their lungs demanded oxygen, forcing them to
stop the kiss. Cinder licked her lips, satisfied for now.
"You are more forward than usual. Is there any special occasion?"

"Nothing special today. I just missed you. I'm sure you did too." Cinder smirked when she felt his
reaction." Now, time for something more lecherous."

"If so, then let's move to my chambers and-"

"And have C.C or D.S interfere? Nope."

Cinder didn't give him a response and knocked him down on the lawn. Violet eyes stared at her as
Cinder quickly took off her top, her amber eyes never left his. Lelouch hoped no one was around
them right now, or at very least no one was suicidal enough to stop them. The White emperor was
sure, his Q-2 won't be pleased if anyone stopped her special time.

Inside the palace.

While she was still young, Leila's life was in danger many times. She could tell when someone was
thinking about killing her by their gaze alone. This time it was easier to understand.

"Die."

There was something nostalgic about hearing this word to Leila. Orpheus Zevon didn't bother to
insult her, instead, he simply wished to die. At the moment the former leader of Peace Mark was
sitting before her. His arms chained to the metal table, not giving him room to move. While it was
a big difference since their last meeting, Leila didn't come here to gloat.

'My Geass, Lelouch wants me to improve my power and it means using it more frequently. Still, to
think that something like this exists.'

Back in Paris, Lelouch told her everything. About his past in Japan as Zero. About how he created
Black Knights, about how he fought Britannia. Most importantly, however, he told her about
Geass.

Ever since Leila learned about Geass and code, she started to think about all important events in
world history. Lelouch said he had Geass and that his parents had as well. Does it mean every
Britannian emperor had it? Is this how they controlled their empire? Who else had it? Habsburgs?
Romanovs? Maybe even Napoleon? Knowledge of Geass opened her eyes to so many things. Ever
since dealing with Shin, Leila knew that there exists something unnatural, out of this world.

'And turns out I have been part of it since my childhood. And thanks to C.C out of all people.' Pizza
lover, annoying as she might be, helped learn more stuff. Like the fact that she gave Leila Geass
when she almost died. 'Still, Lelouch wants my power to be used to help him and now I can't
decline.'

It was one thing to learn about Geass, but learning about Lelouch's power was something else. At
first, Leila was scared. He had the power to enslave people, make them obey his will and do as he
pleased. However, once she learned about all nuances about his Geass and most importantly her
own, Leila had become more reassured. Lelouch didn't want to and couldn't successfully use his
Geass on her.

'But I need to advance my own Geass.' The best method was to use Geass more often, and in her
case, it meant using it to destroy the effects of another Geass or on users. C.C was helping her but a
green-haired pizza lover warned Leila that she didn't have too much experience in testing different
variations of Geass. According to her, it was the job of Lelouch's dead uncle. It didn't help that
Leila's power is rare, so their best option was to use it on Geassed people first.

Lelouch provided test subjects. Three servants were ordered to do simple commands, such as
singing the anthem of Britannia and so on. Nothing dangerous. Leila was asked to use her power
and destroy the command Lelouch gave to these people. In case something went wrong, the cyborg
captain Gottwald was there to assist her. Apparently, his cybernetic eye had the same property as
her Geass but it was artificial and therefore couldn't evolve. With some time Leila managed to use
her power and got rid of the command placed by Lelouch.

They spent the entire day testing, collecting data on everything that happened. So far Leila's Geass
didn't change from the first time she used it on Lelouch's servant. C.C had told her that it might
take months before it evolved. Or in the worst-case scenario years. Leila was told why C.C was
interested in it more than anyone else. Despite their rough first meeting and that C.C liked to annoy
Leila out of enjoyment, the blonde girl did want to help her.

'Living alone for so long sounds too lonely. I don't like her but it doesn't mean I want her to
suffer.' Besides, destroyed code meant no more Geass users, which was a safer option in her
opinion. From the stores Lelouch and C.C told her, Geass was too dangerous. To improve her
power. That's why she was sitting before Orpheus.

"If you want to ask me any question, you have come for nothing. Your emperor already learned
everything I know. Not that I would have shared anything with someone like you, Malcal." he said
the last part with venom. Leila wasn't fazed by his glare.

"I know. Lelouch told me that he already used Geass on you."

Orpheus eyes went wide for a second.

"So, he told you about it, huh? How much did you spread your legs in front of him?" Leila
narrowed her eyes.

"I see you don't have a high opinion of me. Lelouch and I don't have that kind of relationship." Yet,
a small part of her brain wanted to say.

"Why should I?! You betrayed your nation and joined that demon! And for what? The promise of
power? Or did Lelouch promise you something else?" Suddenly he froze." Did he promise to give
you Geass too?"

She noticed that Orpheus' voice started to tremble at the last part but Leila shook her head.

"Nothing of that matter. Lelouch and I have common goals that we want to achieve, to change this
world for the better and help as many people as possible. The EU government failed to protect its
people from internal and external threats. The last decade was full of nothing but conflicts and
chaos. I'm tired of it, and so is Lelouch. Working with him is my best option with minimal
casualties. The world without war, with one system to lead others in the future."

"And you think that you two can actually do it? Bring world peace with Britannia in control? Under
Lelouch's control? That's ridiculous, Malcal. The world won't accept such a future."

"Maybe. Maybe we will fail but it's worth trying to improve things, instead of living every day in
fear, waiting for a new war." Leila closed her eyes. "My parents died fighting for a better future,
trying to make a change. Now, I have enough power to make this world at least a little bit better.
And you, Orpheus Zevon, will help me."

He laughed.
"Help you and Lelouch? Don't make me laugh. I would rather kill myself than help you two." Leila
grimaced.

Lelouch offered her idea of using his Geass on him, making Orpheus into an obedient servant. At
least until Leila would use her own power and destroy the previous command. However, Leila
decided to refuse such an offer. Asking Lelouch to use Geass on the former Peace Mark leader was
unnecessary. Leila was sure she could agree with the former noble.

"Lelouch told me about Geass but in truth, I had my own for years." This piqued his interest.

"You were part of the Geass Order too?" Leila shook her head. She was told about this
organization which was destroyed by Lelouch when he was still wearing the mask of Zero.
However, C.C gave her more information about them.

"No, when I was a little girl I was saved by one of Order's former leaders who gave me Geass.
However, I learned about my power just recently. Do you want to know what it is?" Despite his
clear hatred for her, Orpheus was curious. It wasn't every day he met another Geass user. He
slowly nodded. "I have the power to destroy the effects and Geass of other users," Orpheus said
nothing, and it took him a few seconds to understand exactly what she meant.

"No way! That's impossible!" Leila smirked.

"What makes you think so? Geass can do anything." C.C told her numerous times. "Is it strange
that some powers can counter others?"

"But that-! All of this-" Suddenly he froze. "That's why you had come here? To use your power on
me? To destroy my Geass?" He sounded scared.

"Not exactly. As for right now, I'm unable to fully destroy someone Geass or at least so I believe."
C.C told her that right now Leila's Geass can destroy the effect of other powers but they needed
more testing to learn if they could destroy another Geass. "I need to use it on other users and that's
where you come in. I propose a deal. You will help me with my training and I will make sure your
sentence is shortened." He thought about it for some time before speaking.

"If you want me to help you will need more to convince me." Leila let out a tired sign.

"You have no room to bargain. If I wanted, I could have asked Lelouch to simply ask you to
cooperate with me." Leila narrowed her eyes and with a cold tone said. "And we both know what
happened last time he did it."

Orpheus said nothing. He knew Lelouch had Geass too but didn't know exactly what it could do
other than make him answer all questions. He didn't know that Lelouch Geass could go further and
make him into a slave. Suddenly an idea popped up in her head.

"You know, despite my and Lelouch partnership, I'm still unsure about some things. His Geass
being the biggest obstacle for me trust him completely." Leila lied, but it worked. Orpheus looked
at her with a curious look. "His power is too dangerous and that's why I think it is best I had some
kind of trick up my sleeve to counter it if needed. If my Geass is strong enough, it will be able to
destroy his one." Orpheus started to look troubled.

"Are you being serious, Malcal? Is there some kind of recording device here?"

"Nope, I work with Lelouch but it doesn't mean I'm too naive to trust that he won't think about
using his Geass on me."
However, Leila didn't mention one detail to Orpheus. Lelouch himself suggested this idea. Should
his Geass become uncontrollable, she would have the freedom to destroy it. In fact, Lelouch
encouraged such a plan. He didn't want to repeat his failure in Japan with Princess Euphemia. So,
Leila was telling Orpheus a half-truth. And he believed it.

"Hmm, you might have betrayed the EU but at least you aren't a complete idiot, Malcal." Leila
slowly blinked at that.

"Jeez, thanks. Now use your Geass before I call in Lelouch.'' One mention of the emperor was
enough to speed up a failed assassin.

Leila already knew about the ability to "become" any person he chooses. When activated, he
completely takes on not only the appearance of someone else but also their voice and gestures.
Orpheus himself told everything to Lelouch, including a time limit of 5 minutes before it stopped
working on its own. However, should he try to activate it a second time in a row, and he won't be
able to activate it again until an hour later.

The red symbol of Geass appeared in Orpheus' left eye and a moment later another person was
sitting before Leila. However, the blond messiah of Europe didn't know if she should be freaked
out or irritated by a new person before her.

"You think it is funny?" she asked with an annoyed tone, not pleased to see a familiar face.

"I think it is hilarious." With a feminine voice said another 'Leila Malcal'. She looked exactly like
Leila but in her European military uniform. Originally Leila glared at her copy, but fake Leila
smirked. "Hey, don't look at me like that. Can't I have some fun while we are doing it? Maybe we
should call Lelouch and see what he thinks about second Leila? Although, I must say," Fake Leila
looked down at her chest. "I think he can find someone better."

A vein popped up on the real Leila's otherwise stoic face, as much she wanted to shout at him now
was not the time. But then... a new idea formed in her mind. A smile that promised trouble
appeared on her face.

"Hey, that does sound like a good idea! Give me a minute to call him." Confusion appeared on the
fake Leila's face. "I will also tell him to bring some protection." Confusion quickly turned into
horror.

"Wait, what?! Didn't you say you and Lelouch aren't like that?!" Real Leila smirked.

"This Leila Malcal?" she pointed at herself." Nope, but the one before me?" She pointed at her
copy. "Who knows? Maybe she won't mind some private time with the emperor." She said and
pulled out her phone.

"Wait no! I beg you don't do it! I won't take your appearance anymore I swear!"

Leila laughed at how quickly the tables could turn.

"You were right, it is hilarious. But we need to focus on an important matter." Leila closed her eyes
and took a deep breath.

C.C told Leila to use her Geass. She needs to think about her desires. What she wants to do and her
power will comply. When she opened her eyes, a Geass symbol appeared in her left eye. Unlike the
regular Geass symbol, her symbol was blue instead of red and inverted. The bluebird flew towards
second Leila and a moment later her copy disappeared, leaving Orpheus at her place. He looked
puzzled as he looked down at his body that now changed back to his normal state.
"Wow. It actually worked." He sounded amazed, having never before seen anything like this. A
Geass that can cancel other powers.

"Try to use your power again." He nodded and tried to do it again. However, nothing changed.
Leila stared at normal Orpheus as he looked at himself.

"It didn't work." He said, admittedly a little anxious. Orpheus grew fond of his power and thought
of it as a useful tool in his crusade against Britannia. And he was a little scared to lose it.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it blocked your Geass for the time being. We will need to test it later but for
now, it should be enough." Leila said as she stood up and made her way out. However, she
stopped. "Also, there was someone who wanted to speak with you." Orpheus scoffed.

"Who? I don't remember having any fans in Britannia."

Leila said nothing as she opened the door and called for his guest to come in. Orpheus' attitude
quickly changed, as he looked with horror at the newcomer.

"I will leave you two behind. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

Leila said before leaving the interrogation cell. Once she left, Orpheus looked with unease at his
second guest.

"Hello, brother. It's been a while, don't you think?" Oldrin Zevon, his little sister said with a cold
tone.

Outside the palace.

After their passionate reunion, Lelouch started to quickly put back his clothes. He was glad that no
one disturbed them. Cinder was dressing back as well. He would admit he didn't know Cinder
could be so… passionate. Then again she had been working hard since their last night back in
Moscow.

"I will be honest. While I like it, I would have preferred fewer bites." Lelouch said as he rubbed at
another hickey she left on him. Cinder laughed.

"Just a lot of stress after work. Think of it as stress relief. I spent the last month helping to
reorganize the European army basically from the scratch." She couldn't find her bra until Lelouch
handed it to her. "Thanks. I thought the hardest part would be a command structure but it was
pretty easy. Leila did most of the work by picking popular former officers who either defected
before the war or had a clean resume. After that, I started to work with the Knightmare department.
The main issue was rearmament. And I swear to God, I wanted to kill everyone there."

Lelouch laughed. "Was it that bad?"

"You can't imagine." Cinder gave him a deadpan look. "It was made mostly of German military
engineers. They were behind the creation of the EU Panzers Hummel KMF. I decided that it would
be better to create Knightmare units that specialize in different areas instead of universal machines,
Vincent Wards can do that without issue. European Alexanders showed good potential during the
war but their main purpose was to inflict havoc behind enemy lines. I thought that inviting people
who created the European main battle machine would be a good idea, but oh boy."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "They didn't want to work?"

"On the contrary. They were thrilled to finally create new KMF models. They said, the old
government never gave them budget or resources after creating Pazner and few of its submodels."
Lelouch became confused.

"In that case what was an issue?" Cinder softly smiled before looking at the distance.

"I thought Lloyd was the only weird and eccentric scientist but now I think every person who
creates Knightmares is like that. Compared to these guys, Lloyd is sane." Now Lelouch was
worried and a little terrified. "At first, they gave me blueprints of what they called Panzer 2. It was
two times heavier than the original Panzer and had a better arsenal but for the most part, it was just
a bigger Panzer. I thought it wasn't what we want for a new European army to be like and ordered
them to think about different designs. However, it seems to them that different means just heavier
and bigger machines. Panzer 3, Panzer 4, Tiger, Tiger 2, Panther, Panther 2, Löwe. Each one
heavier and bigger than the previous model."

"A lot of feline names." Lelouch noticed and she nodded.

"I said the same thing to them. So next time they called the new model a Maus. And if you are
thinking it was some kind of small Knightmare meant for scouting then you are wrong."

"Let me guess. It was another heavy and big version of Panzer?"

"Worse, it was the heaviest and the biggest one they came up with so far. You know Lord Bishop's
Knightmare Sir Uther?" when Lelouch nodded, she added. "Imagine that but triple the size and
weight. And give it weapons we usually put on battleships. It was a monstrosity!"

"While the idea sounds interesting and kind of funny, I can see it being a logistical nightmare."

"Exactly! It will be impossible to maintain the battalion of such things. Not to mention how
impractical they are. Their weight alone would slow them down, making them an easy target. I
haven't even mentioned sakuradite consumption, it needed to work." She let out a sigh. "I decided
to go with a different approach. Divided them into teams, gave them a limit in weight and size of
KMF and ordered them to give me their best design. Some did as they were told but some didn't.
One team thought they were so clever, that their model would win. Therefore, they went behind
my back and created a few dozens of units of their prototype."

"Was their prototype at least good?"

"Nope. It was horrendous. They called it an Elephant. Not only they created a few dozens of
models, but they also went around my rule of the weight limit. They made base frame weight
within the limit, but its equipment was separated and had enormous mass as well. They argued that
since the mainframe wasn't too heavy without its weapons, it was within rules."

"And what did you do with them?"

"Well, I wanted to send these Elephants to scraps but all Germans engineers were against it. They
said since they already made them, it will be a waste to disassemble them. They actually wanted
these prototypes shipped off to the army. Lelouch," Cinder gave him a serious look. "I accepted
many things in this crazy world. Such as the presence of unnatural powers, laser weapons with
'super' in their name or even the fact that ninja actually exist. But I won't allow some crazy German
eggheads a chance to create their wunderwaffe. I would rather oversee the logistics of our entire
military."

"Heh, it seems Lloyd isn't the worst option we have."

"We should pray that Asplund won't suddenly discover a fetish for gigantic robots." When Lelouch
raised an eyebrow, she added. "Bigger than the ones he already creates."

"Considering that he loved working on Nemesis, it is possible he would want to create something
of similar proportions in the future," Lelouch smirked when Cinder groaned. "What happened to
these Elephants anyway?"

"Oh, since they wanted their toys to be used in practice so badly, I complied. Used them as target
practice for my Amber in front of these engineers."

Lelouch chuckled. "Cruel."

"They should be thankful I haven't killed anyone. Ugh, after that I decided to do anything other
than working with the creation of Knightmares. I then moved to the European garrisons."

"Wait, wasn't it Bishop's responsibility?" Cinder nodded at that.

"Yes, but his primary objective was to oversee borders with the Federation and our forces there. He
allowed me to make changes within Central Europe but only If I directly reported to Leila about
any change." Cinder waved lazily.

"I don't remember Leila mentioning any of this."

"Because nothing was interesting," Suddenly a spark appeared in her eyes. "Or at least I didn't
report anything interesting."

"Cinder," Lelouch called with concern. "What did you do?"

A cruel smirk formed on her face. If anyone else were there they would be terrified of such an
expression but Lelouch had grown used to it and even became fond of it.

"Lelouch, let's be real here. It is most likely that sooner or later either UFN or your brother would
make a move. Our enemies won't hesitate to explore any possible weakness. That includes Europe.
It will be a perfect place to raise revolts and try to kick the empire from the continent. And it is
most likely that we would face potential rebellion within our own army. So, to minimize this threat,
I decided to experiment on some Knightmares."

Lelouch stayed silent, carefully listening to her. Part of him started to see where Cinder was going
with this and he didn't know how to feel about it.

"Not all of the German engineers were useless. A few of them gave me an idea of how to deal with
Knightmares that were captured or whose pilots had become traitors. Simply placing a device that
would turn off Yggdrasil Drive should it be needed. Or," her smile became feral. "Add a few
adjustments and you can turn Drive into a sakuradite powered bomb. Apparently, that's how old
units of Alexanders were destroyed when escape from our forces was inevitable."

The white emperor said nothing, thinking about what he just heard. It sounded like madness.
Basically planting a bomb amongst his own soldiers was inhumane. It sounded like something
Eunuchs would do to the Chinese army. However, another part of him thought about this idea with
interest. It wasn't unlikely that some native soldiers of the recently conquered states in Europe
would rebel should a good opportunity appear. He couldn't use Geass on everyone but having
preinstalled safety devices at their Knightmares would lower the number of defective pilots. A
good plan, besides, none of it would be known to anyone outside a few people.

So why did Lelouch feel like he wanted to vomit at the thought of him allowing something like
this?!

'Eunuchs, Charles and Schneizel wouldn't hesitate to do something like this. But I'm not like them! I
have used my soldiers in the past as a distraction but using them as like this...I-!' Lelouch was sure
he never wanted to do anything akin to this but then a treacherous thought formed within his mind.'
But Cinder is right that safety measures should be taken. What if my will army betray him as the
Black Knights did?'

After his experience with the Black Knights, Lelouch knew he needed to be more careful with his
subordinates. He had Geass to ensure absolute loyalty, but it might be not enough. For now,
however, he decided to play it safe.

"Did you put these 'devices' in Knightmares?" His white queen shook her head.

"Not yet. I asked them to make myself a working prototype and used a few Hounds for practice. It
was successful. I won't give permission without your approval." she said proudly but her emperor
didn't look like he was sharing her enthusiasm. "What do you think of this, Your Majesty?"

Lelouch thought about a response before he spoke.

"The plan itself has merit but should any of it become public knowledge, the backlash would be
disastrous. It can lead to a mutiny among forces, even among Britannian ones. Cinder, for now, I
order you to stop your plan until the need for it would arise." The black-haired beauty pouted but
obeyed.

"As you order, my emperor."

"Was it everything you wanted to report?" Lelouch started to fear if she had any more nefarious
plans but Cinder simply nodded and asked about the banquet instead.

"I think we both know you don't want to attend it tomorrow." She smirked when Lelouch groaned.
"Not a big fan of parties?"

"Even as a child, I found stuff like this useless. But it seems I would need to do something like this
at least once in a while. What about you?"

She waved the question away.

"I'm fine with it. Technically it is my first appearance in public on the mainland. But tomorrow I
will be acting mainly as one of your bodyguards. "When Lelouch raised an eyebrow she added.
"Jeremiah and Bishop both agreed that it will be a better use of knights of the round. Arthur was ok
with it too and Peter didn't care. Still, I'm disappointed that I will go there as part of the job."

"Really? I thought you would love to brag about your status in front of people." she smiled softly.

"Well, they aren't nobles but showing these people that I'm above them would feel good. However,
I can think of something else that would make it even better."

"Yeah? And what is it?"

Cinder stepped closer to him and whispered into his ear.

"If instead of Cinder Fall, knight of the round, I went there as Cinder vi Britannia, fiance of the
emperor. Just imagine the reaction of everyone, not only here but around the world as the news
spreads." She didn't tell him but Cinder was interested only in one reaction of a specific person.
Maybe she would fly over here from Japan to fight her again? That would be funny.

"That would be both entertaining and troublesome." If the news that the white emperor already
found a future wife became public knowledge, his lovers would be in greater danger. And while
Lelouch knew that they weren't defenceless, he would like to avoid unnecessary risk to people who
are close to him. 'I'm tired of losing people around me.'

"Hmm, maybe but at the same time, we can't keep it as a secret for too long. But this poor maiden
was already corrupted beyond salvation by you so I can wait." Cinder said with an overdramatic
tone before giving him a quick kiss. "Sorry but I have to go. Lord Bishop wants us to prepare for
tomorrow night. See you soon, my emperor." she said with a wink before leaving him in the
garden.

Lelouch stared at her back as she left before slowly looking down.

'One moment she was telling me about her plan to use our soldiers as suicide bombers and then we
quickly switched to talks about dances. Huh. Even now thinking about her plan doesn't seem so
outrageous.' This felt strange. Lelouch couldn't remember when he was like this. Having no issue
with using his subjects as cannon fodder. Maybe before Black Rebellion but back then he was only
focused on his revenge. 'Now, Euphemia, Shirly and Nunnally are dead. My motivation is to create
a gentle world where these tragedies won't repeat. Today I can see that Cinder's plan is wrong but
what if next time I will agree with something like this. I will achieve my goals no matter what but...
But what if I will start acting like him?'

The white emperor sat silently. The scary thoughts of following the steps of his old man terrified
him. At the same time, Lelouch tried to reassure himself that it wasn't like that. He wasn't anything
like that monster and never would be. However, a small part of him didn't stop thinking about it.
And it won't stop for some time.

Unknown location.

Inside the unknown facility, a sole person was lying on a medical bed. His breathing had become
more abrupt before he jumped from his bed in a panic state. A single thought was on his mind.

'Alice!'

However, Rai froze the moment he remembered what happened to everyone, to Alice. He wanted
to collapse on his knees but stopped himself. He was sure she wouldn't want for him to be like this.
Instead, he looked down. His body was covered in bandages, but he didn't have a problem moving.

Rai was inside some room with nothing other than his bed, a table near it and a door that was
leading outside. The albino boy immediately stood up and tried to make his way towards the door
but before he could do anything, it opened. A new figure entered the room.

"Hey, you're finally awake." The masked individual remarked.

However, the recently awakened person wasn't in such a pleasant mood and immediately acted. His
left eye sparked as the red bird appeared in it but the masked man before him didn't even flinch.

"You will-"

"It won't work, Rai." Rai froze but the man pointed at his ears, there was some kind of gear." I
know about your Geass and I prepared protection against it." When Rai wanted to ask another
question, the man added." Don't worry, I worked for your Order in the past. I'm not your enemy."
His Geass was still activated but a man in the mask didn't show any reaction.

"Do you know who I am?"

Rai slowly nodded. Oz used to talk a lot about him, mostly negative stuff but Rai remembered one
critical thing.

"Wizard." Oz was saved by this man one time and he never directly said that the Wizard was an
enemy. A man before him nodded. "My friend Oz talked about you."

The masked man let out a tired sigh.

"That brat," he said softly. "I'm sure it was mostly negative stuff," Rai said nothing at that.

"Good, that would save me time. Now, I'm sure you have many questions but I'm also sure you
wouldn't mind some food. Right?" Rai tried to act serious but he felt how his body was craving for
any sustenance. With a sigh, he slowly nodded. "Good, in that case, let's go. I will show you
around."

Rai silently followed him as both of them left the building that most likely was the medical wing.
Rai grew confused when he noticed the amount of foliage around them. Clearly, they were in a
first, but where? He froze when he saw something else in the distance. A shipyard for Britannian
airships but it wasn't what caught his attention. No, Rai's gaze was focused only on the object
inside this strange shipyard. The enormous white tower was sticking out of the ground as dozens of
construction Knightmares were simultaneously working on it.

"W-what is this?" He asked with a trembling voice. Wizard looked at him with what appeared to be
a sympathetic look before answering.

"As I was told numerous times by some insane prince, this is our best option in getting rid of
Lelouch." Wizard started with irritation which quickly changed to a serious tone. "Meet the Sky
Fortress, Damocles."
 Banquet

August 8. Pendragon. Royal Palace.

Despite how much His Majesty can deny, there was one thing Lelouch shared with his father no
matter what anyone would say. Neither were fond of parties or any not important gatherings. The
Royal Palace was one of the most well-guarded places in the entire empire, a magnificent giant of a
building that was meant to show the power of Britannia. Only a select number of nobles were
allowed within the palace. However, with the death of Charles and the rise of Lelouch, everything
changed. Now, the previous emperor's fortress of solitude was more open to outsiders, especially
on this night.

Banquets were another way to show status and power, although the previous emperor preferred to
show this by giving speeches before nobles and cameras. Since Emperor Lelouch's coronation,
however, the young monarch was swamped with work and didn't have enough free time to spare it
on throwing parties. So it was surprising to many when it was announced that His Majesty wanted
to have an official banquet. Some suspected that His Majesty made it because he missed every
celebration event after the end of the short Euro-Britannian war.

However, many became interested in who would be invited to such an event. After all, nobility was
abolished and many of those who rebelled against Emperor Lelouch were either imprisoned or
executed. Media was invited as well and while it wasn't something too strange on its own, His
Majesty made sure to invite foreign journalists as well, mainly those from the Federation. This was
something new but not unexpected. Among citizens of Britannia, it was a long-running rumour that
Emperor Lelouch sought to improve relations with the UFN and the Black Knights.

Because of all these factors, this night was special for His Majesty and his followers. This event
would show the changes and improvements that were made under Lelouch rule. Obviously, it
meant that security was raised at the highest level. As had been expected, many guests were
intimidated by the sheer amount of Knightmares and the assortment of armed forces outside the
palace. Particularly towards the new flagship of the empire, Nemesis, as it floated above the
palace. The White Legion was on guard duty today, proudly patrolling the palace outside.
However, the Knight of The Round - the most prestigious and deadliest group of knights - were
inside the building, ordered to protect the guests inside. The empire's most elite forces were
performing their duty with the utmost responsibility...or at least Bishop prayed they did.

"Look at all those chickens, Arthur!" Laughed the Knight of Three Peter Thomson. He and his
colleagues were standing outside the crowd of guests in the main hall. The event had only started
but his majesty didn't appear yet. According to Lelouch, he was waiting for all-important guests to
join before he would show face.

"Come on, Peter. These people aren't old nobles. At least try to show them some respect. Please."
his friend Arthur Calhoun asked. The young knight of the round was nervous but he was sure he
could go through this night without embarrassing himself, at least as long as Arthur wasn't talking
with anyone. 'If I don't talk to anyone, I won't make a fool out of myself. Inhale, exhale. Just like
Lord Bishop instructed.'

"Artur is right, Peter. At least try to act like a normal human being tonight." Cinder sighed. Like
the two of them, she was in her standard Knight of The Round's uniform. While Cinder liked it, she
would rather wear her favourite red dress this night, but alas, she had a duty. She would rather
spend this night next to Lelouch but that was Bishop's duty. 'At least for the time being.'
"Nah, that's too boring. If they want my respect, they should earn it first. Until then they aren't any
different from those fat nobles." Cinder chuckled at Peter's comment.

"Fair enough. Still, try to not start a scene, Peter. Many of the guests here are part of the new
European government and media from UFN. We must show the best of the new Britannia."

"Ehh, it is the kid's concern, not mine. My main objective tonight is to get wasted and make sure
no one would start shooting without me." Peter smirked as he discretely pointed down to his waist
where a revolver was stowed away. "Bishop said if someone would start blasting tonight, he would
prefer it if it was me hehe." Both Cinder and Arthur gave him an anxious look." Ah, don't worry
children. Your awesome uncle Peter won't start shooting unless provoked...or bored."

Cinder massaged her nose before turning to Arthur.

"I will watch over the guests, you will make sure Peter behaves, at least until Lord Bishop arrives."
He nodded and the Knight of Two made her way towards the crowd. The moment Cinder was far
away from them, Peter quickly approached Arthur.

"At last, the lady with probably the biggest stick up her ass is away. Seriously, I don't envy the kid,
fucking her must be a nightmare." He laughed but Arthur blushed.

"Peter, please. Let's not discuss Cinder and His Majesty's personal affairs."

"Come on, Arthur. That is always the hottest topic behind doors. Aren't you interested in learning
who is sharing a bed with our boss?"

"No! Absolutely not! His Majesty's love life isn't my business. Can't we talk about anything else?"
Peter smirked as his only eye sparkled with fire.

"In that case let's talk about YOUR love life." Arthur gulped. He looked for a strategic escape out
of this situation but Peter was faster and grabbed his shoulder. "Not so fast, Arthur."

"I-I have nothing to talk about, Peter!"

"Exactly! Nothing! Your sex life is nonexistent!" The Fourth Knight of The Round winced. Ouch,
no matter how true it was, it still hurt him. "Arthur, I know what it is like to spend your entire life
without getting any."

"Wait, you do?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't expect Peter to be-

"Yeah, I see Bishop every day. I don't remember the last time he got laid and I have known him for
30 years! I don't want you to end like that old single bastard." Arthur stared at his friend with a
deadpan expression before he spoke.

"Wasn't the Lord Bishop in love with His Majesty's mother?"

"That old hag? Arthur, it was more like an obsession. I tried to talk him out of it but old William
was dead serious on getting that ass. Not that I blame him. Kid's mom had a nice rear, but she was
crazy for that bastard Charles. William never had a chance with her but it didn't stop him, I always
found it idiotic and irresponsible. But the man knew what he wanted. We even went to prison
because of it." Peter sighed before he quickly pulled out a flask and took a sip. "Fucking simp."

"Ahh, I don't think it was only because of that."

"Well, that's how I remember it so it must be true. Don't try to change the topic. Tonight I will
make sure you won't repeat William's fate, my friend." Peter looked at him with a serious
expression. "Tonight you will get laid no matter what. Operation Code GetAss is starting now."

Cinder made her way towards the guests, pleased with what she was seeing. All of them showed
their respect for her. Some bowed, others saluted. Of course, she played her role as the perfect
knight and returned the respect, but hidden behind her pleasant face was cruel satisfaction. This
was it! What she wanted since her life as a noble was destroyed. Respect, power, and status were
now hers. However, now she had even bigger ambitions and desires. Of course, her main desire
hasn't come yet but Cinder knew that Lelouch would arrive soon. Until then she will humour these
people.

'Tonight I should be a perfect knight. Next time, I will be a perfect empress.' Cinder thought to
herself as she kept up a pleasant smile. While Arthur was making sure Peter didn't start a fight, she
spent time talking with the different guests. These people were a part of the new foundation of
Lelouch's power and she needed to build a connection with them. Once she became Empress,
Cinder would need to make sure that everything was going smoothly in His Britannia. Title and
status would change, but her duty and responsibilities wouldn't.

As she was making her way to one group of people, someone suddenly called her. Cinder turned
around and at first, was surprised by the sudden appearance of this person.

'Oh, it's her. I think this is our first meeting face to face.' Cinder thought as she stared at a Japanese
woman in a green and yellow kimono. "Oh, Miss Shinozaki. What a surprise to see you here. I
thought OSI usually prefers to stay away from the public eye."

Sayoko smiled but Cinder could feel that this woman was dangerous. Even since she heard that
Lelouch's personal maid was an actual ninja, Cinder prayed it was an exaggeration. However, from
the mission reports she received from D.S., Sayoko was currently their best assassin. This fact
alone made this maid/ninja a dangerous individual, and Cinder could feel how Sayoko's gaze was
piercing her. She was either testing or threatening her. 'I won't deny the fact that it is a little
intimidating. But if she is after Lelouch's heart as well, this isn't a battle I can afford to lose.'

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Lady Fall," Sayoko said as she slightly bowed. "Forgive me, I
wish I could have reached you out before, but Master Lelouch had a lot of work for me to take care
of."

"Oh, yes. I saw the reports." For someone with such a kind face, this Sayoko was quite a dangerous
woman. Deadly and effective. A good combination in Cinder's mind but right now she was feeling
like she was Sayoko's target. "I understand that everyone has their duties."

"Of course. In the future, I hope to spend more time with you." Sayoko smiled but her eyes were
cold. "As Master Lelouch's guardian, I must make sure his inner circle is trustworthy."

"In that case, I'm sure there won't be any issue with me."

"I hope so." The two of them laughed but Cinder didn't stop feeling the pressure. "Anyway, there is
also someone I wanted you to meet," Sayoko said as she turned to a new face Cinder hadn't seen
before.

It was a man, somewhere in the early fifties. His hair was red but Cinder could see grey colour
among it. Still, with these blue eyes, Cinder felt as if she had seen someone like him before.

"Lady Fall, let me introduce you to Lord James Stadtfeld," Sayoko said with a knowing smile
while the man in question coughed.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady."

'Wait, Stadtfeld? But that's-' Cinder's eyes widened for a second before she turned to Sayoko whose
head nodded just a fraction. A cruel smile appeared on Cinder's face. 'Oh, my. What an interesting
turn of events. Perhaps we can get along without a hitch, Miss Sayoko.'

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Stadtfeld." Cinder said with a polite smile. "Still, I can't help but feel
like I have heard about your family somewhere before." The false confusion etched on her face
was good enough as James started to panic.

"Y-yes, after Area 11 - I mean Japan - was conquered, the Stadtfeld family was the first of the
nobility to move there. I took part in the reforming of the economy after the invasion." James
smiled but sweat started to form on his face. "Sadly, after the Black Rebellion, I, among a few
other noble families, was accused of helping the Black Knights and spent the next year in prison.
Although these accusations were false, and it is thanks to His Majesty that I was released."

'Being a father of the Black Knights' best Knightmare pilot was good enough reason for the old
regime to imprison you.' Cinder thought but didn't say anything. James wasn't a fool and most
likely knew what she was thinking. 'Still, for what reason did Sayoko introduce him to me? To see
how I will act? To use him to get closer to his daughter? Ah well, I can use this opportunity.'

"During the war, his majesty realised how important Lord Stadtfeld would be for Britannia. It is
useful to have someone who has experience in reforming the economy of another state after all."
Sayoko said proudly while James waved away.

"Lady Sayoko, please. No need to call me a lord. The nobility of old is no more and I have been
stripped of my title a long time ago. Just call me James. The same goes to you as well, lady Fall."

"So, His Majesty gave your position as-?"

"Oh right! At the moment I'm a member of the Ministry of National Economy. For the time being
my main role is to be an advisor and help to reform the economy of the European states."

"Must be difficult." James waved away Cinder's inquiry.

"Well, yes, it is not easy. But I'm not alone and so far everything was going according to a 5-year
plan. After all, it can't be harder than Japan… Apologies if this all sounds boring to you, Lady
Fall."

"Not at all. In fact, I'm curious to learn more about your work. While I was in Europe I was busy
with military affairs and didn't have time to learn more about other developments." An innocent
smile appeared on her face. 'Hmm, this James person can be useful outside his connection to
Kallen.' Despite her smile, her thoughts were far from innocent. "By the way, you said for the time
being?"

"Yes, his majesty called for me to help him in the reconstruction of the former EU and I agreed.
But after that is done, I'm not sure I will continue working as an advisor...I have family issues I
have to take care of." It wasn't hard for either Cinder or Sayoko to guess what he was talking about.
Sayoko was the first to speak in the silence that followed.

"Since His Majesty got rid of the number system, marriages between former numbers and
Britannians were finally allowed. The old system prevented James and his loved one from having a
normal life because of that." Sayoko sent James a forced smile. "I'm sure Ayano can't wait to
finally see you again, James." Cinder raised an eyebrow as the man in the question nervously
laughed.

"Of course, I can't wait to see her again but-ahh, there are many things I need to take care of first
before I can see her again." Sayoko turned to Cinder and suddenly understood what the maid
wanted.

'So this Ayano must be Kallen's mother but James is not too eager to see her. Huh, Sayoko wants
me to arrange a date between the two of them? if so why not ask Lelouch. Wait. Since they are
Kallen's parents, Lelouch might try to contact Kallen or she will try to interfere. Sayoko doesn't
want them to meet? Hmm, in that case, we share a common interest.'

"It is always important to stay in contact with your significant other. I'm sure I can arrange a short
trip to Japan for you. Don't worry about your work, I will find a temporary replacement." James
looked like he wanted to argue with Cinder but stopped when Sayoko gave him a cold stare.

"James, we both know that Ayano would love to see her family. And I'm sure you would love to
see her again." James looked down.

"Yes, you're right, Sayoko. In that case, Lady Fall, I would appreciate your help if it isn't
troublesome for you." Cinder shook her head.

"Not at all. I would love to help you to reunite with this Ayano. I'm sure she is a lovely woman." A
melancholic smile formed on his face.

"Indeed she is." He said with a sadness in his tone. They continued their talk for a short time before
James excused himself and left the two ladies. Sayoko spoke first.

"Thank you. I have known him for a short time but James is a little timid. I raised this topic many
times but he would always find an excuse to not see his wife." Cinder nodded.

"Yeah, I can see it." She came a little closer to Sayoko. "They are parents of Kallen," After the
maid nodded, she continued. "You are doing it for her?"

"Not at all. I'm not eager to help that girl but her mother is a friend of mine. I just want Ayano to be
happy. No one knows what might happen tomorrow. Of course, with her daughter being a member
of Black Knights, it would be hard to solve this family issue. That's why I came to you." Sayoko
eyed Cinder. "I heard what happened in Moscow. I had a suspicion you would like to get involved
with Kallen's family."

'Hmm, I can see potential in all of this. Should Kallen and I fight again in the future, this might help
me. Besides, should I help her parents reunite, I could shove it at Kallen's face,' A cruel smile
formed as she thought about it. Imagining how Kallen would react when she heard how she, an
enemy, made her parents happy again. 'Oh, that would be fun.'

"Lelouch doesn't know about it?"

"I hide nothing from Master Lelouch but I'm sure you understand how this might affect him. So, it
will be better if you took care of it."

"Thanks for your faith in me." Cinder smiled.

Sayoko giggled. "Oh, it's nothing like that. More like a test. I want to see what kind of person you
are. And how you will act towards the parents of your enemy. Besides," Sayoko closed the
distance between them and whispered in her ear. "I heard about everything that happened in
Moscow. And while I'm happy that Master Lelouch opened up to another person, I want to make
sure it wasn't the wrong one."

The last part was cold enough to send shivers down her spine, but Cinder tried her best to not show
any emotion. Despite how she felt inside, her face remained calm. However, she wouldn't stop
thinking about this conversation for a long time.

'So this is how people feel when they are meeting their lover's parents. Can't say that I'm thrilled.'

Soon enough, as the night dragged on, the royal guard stepped in and announced the arrival of the
Emperor.

Everyone quickly turned towards the main entrance as His Majesty made his way inside. Lelouch
vi Britannia was accompanied by the First Knight of The Round. Lord Bishop was standing before
His Majesty, his hand on the hilt of his sword as always. Behind him, the members of the Royal
Guard closely followed the young monarch. The Royal Captain Jeremiah Gottwald was always
near. However, the eyes of many guests quickly turned to two beautiful ladies who were standing
next to Lelouch.

The unknown green-haired beauty who was still a mystery to the Britannian public was as usual by
Lelouch's right side. Like before, tonight she was wearing the black dress that was reaching her
legs, with eye-and-wing emblems and cut off at the shoulders, dipping down to reveal an ample
amount of cleavage. On her head, she wore a simple golden diadem. However, the most notable
thing was how she was tightly holding the Emperor's arm.

If there were rumours about her relationship with Lelouch before, they started to quickly fade
away. Lelouch smiled, sure that C.C was getting the attention of the majority there. However, he
was sure Leila wasn't ignored either.

The blue dress that Leila was wearing was tightly hugging her body, reaching all the way to her
heels. Her back and cleavage were covered with transparent silk. She was admittedly a little
embarrassed, as it was her first time wearing anything like this to an official event. Back in Europe,
she always appeared in her military uniform. She couldn't imagine the reaction of W-0 once they
saw the news. Still, she was standing next to Lelouch and couldn't afford to show any weakness.
She was the face of a new Commonwealth and had a reputation to uphold. There was a rumour
about her declining the Emperor's offer to become the new Prime Minister, and while nothing was
made official, many among the Britannian government were happy that the position was still free.

Lelouch eyed all these who gathered here before speaking.

"First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming here this night. The fact that so many people
gathered here is proof that I and my allies managed to make a change in Britannia. A lot of work
was done in such a short time. Thanks to all of you, Britannia managed to abandon its old ways. We
are moving towards a bright future. A future where the world is peaceful. A future where the likes
of my father would never rise to power. A future where we're all can live in harmony." Lelouch
stopped for a second as the guests started to cheer. He smiled before continuing. "However, tonight
we are here to celebrate the progress that we already made. So as your Emperor, I command you to
relax and enjoy this night."

The night continued on as the Emperor was soon surrounded by people who wanted to talk and
meet Lelouch. The raven haired young man preferred to avoid the public until now, as many
people wanted to learn more about the emperor. As for the two ladies by his side, C.C. decided to
ignore them while Leila politely gave short answers to some of them. And far away from the group
that surrounded the emperor, two scientists were talking.

"He talks about enjoying the night and yet I'm forced to wear these stupid clothes," Lloyd said as
he fixed his collar again. Even someone like Lloyd had no choice but to obey the dress code. "It
feels like I'm being strangled."

"Continue whining and I will strangle you, Lloyd," Cecile said with a happy smile. Like her boss,
she had dressed accordingly. A beautiful and simple blue dress was more than enough. Lloyd
suggested she wear the dress she had on when they were speaking with Zero but Cecile was
extremely against it. She didn't want to imagine how embarrassing it would be to appear before the
emperor in such clothes. "Remember what we talked about."

"Yeah, yeah. I won't point out how stupid this entire thing is and his majesty would increase our
budget. But honestly, it is a waste of time to-" He didn't have a chance to finish as Cecile quickly
stepped on his shoe with her heel. Lloyd wanted to scream, but the glare she sent his way made
male scientist froze. "Ah-"

"You will act like an adult and I won't use violence to make you behave maturely," Cecile said with
a forced smile. "Besides, the budget for our department is already high. We have enough."

Lloyd corrected his glasses before he spoke. "Enough for the time being. His Majesty spoke about
new projects he wants us to build in the future. Why one of them is already-"

"Lord Asplund, please don't reveal national secrets so casually." Both of them turned to see the
Knight of One, William Bishop, standing next to them with his hand on the sword. "Otherwise, I
will have no choice but to act."

"Haha, I was joking, Lord Bishop. By the way, shouldn't you be near our dear Emperor?" Bishop
glanced at his lord.

"His Majesty is currently enjoying a chat with some guests. If needed, Jeremiah is close enough to
protect Master Lelouch. At the moment, I am more interested in looking after two troublesome
individuals."

"Two?" Lloyd looked puzzled. "But Cecile is the sane one."

"Mhmm."

Bishop silently stared at the two of them before continuing. "Aren't even denying it, Christ. I was
talking about you and-"

"Hey, Willy!" Shouted the Knight of Three as he made his way towards them. "Took you long
enough. I was getting worried I would have only Arthur to talk with."

"You could have chatted with the guests, Lord Thomson." Cecile pointed out but Bishop objected
with her.

"Too dangerous. God knows what Peter might try if left unsupervised. That reminds me, where is
Cinder or Arthur? I hoped they would look after you."

"Cinder was talking to that ninja maid, while Arthur... Well…" Peter smirked before pointing at
their fourth knight who was talking to one of the female guests. "Let's just say I helped our friend
get some. Wink, wink."

"Isn't that Lady Liliana?" Cecile asked as she looked at two young knights. "I heard she joined the
Glinda Knights and now serves under Princess Marrybell."

Arthur and Liliana were casually talking and judging from how the two would occasionally blush,
the young knights were getting along pretty well.

Cecile chuckled. "Oh, my."

"Yup. Arthur is pretty good when he isn't worried about everything or gets too worked up. With
my help, he might lose his v card pretty soon." Peter proudly stated while Bishop blinked.

"V-what? Nevermind. Peter, you didn't give young Arthur any wrong advice?" William knew his
friend well enough and was afraid of what Peter might cause.

"Don't worry, Willy. I just told him what not to do." Bishop let out a sigh.

"Oh, that's good. I hope."

"Yeah, I just told him how you would act around a kid's mom and said to never repeat it." William
coughed.

"You what- Peter! I was always a gentleman around Lady Marianne."

"Yeah, sure. The only reason she didn't have a restriction order on you was that you would ignore
it anyway." Peter said before pulling out his flask. "Admit it, Willy. You weren't a ladies man. But
hey we can change it tonight. Look around! There is plenty of fish in the sea, the fish you can
pleasure yourself with." He said with a grin while his friend narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not surprised that you are single as well."

"Haha, very funny. At least cellmates loved me back in Alcatraz."

Lloyd and Cecile silently watched the two knights bicker until Lloyd decided to break it.

"Speaking about your time in that place, Lord Thomson. I was curious to hear some of the stories
from Alcatraz prison. Like how you lost your eye." Peter massaged his missing eye.

"Huh, want to hear my best story? Well, get ready egghead, because this story is full of mystery,
action, betrayal, love and hot mind-blowing se-"

"We were celebrating my promotion in Florida. You got drunk and started a fight in the pub.
Barman tried to shoot you but missed. Then you smashed a bottle against your own face.
Thankfully none of the shards got in your eye." Bishop said with a neutral tone as he remembered
that night.

"Oh yeah...Did I win at least?" Peter asked with a hopeful voice.

"You burned down the pub. I had to carry you back to our barrack."

"But how did Lord Peter lose his eye?" Cecile asked with interest. Bishop was silent for a moment.

"On our way, Peter managed to take my handgun and was curious if it was loaded. He pointed it
against his face and fired." William said. "I was fast enough to take it away before he shot the
second time."

"Huh, in my head that story was more epic."

"That's because you're insane, my friend," Bishop said with a small smile. Peter smirked. "Hmm, I
suppose it is good Arthur is enjoying this night as well. He is young and shouldn't be forbidden
from experiencing love."

Lloyd smiled. "I say the same thing about Cecile." The woman in question turned to him with a
confused look. "Come on, Cecile. This place is full of single men. That includes our dear emperor
as well." He winked as her face turned red.

"Lloyd! That is not-his majesty is already-"

"Oh, Lady Croomy is interested in his majesty too?" Bishop asked with a surprised tone that
quickly became excited. "How great! Master Lelouch is a ladies man! Wait here Lady Croomy! I
will go and ask if his majesty is free and can dance with you."

William happily said before sprinting towards his master.

"Lord Bishop wait!"

Cecile went after him, her face heated from embarrassment. Lloyd and Peter silently stared as their
friends left them behind.

While the older knights had their own shenanigans, the younger generation was enjoying their
time.

Oldrin looked at her friends and new members of their little Order, Liliana and Marika. Two former
members of the Valkyria squadron, the only two members who managed to survive the last battle
for Tokyo. After the two were medically discharged, Marrybell immediately requested to add them
to the Glinda Knights. Something that Leonhardt was extremely happy about.

All of them followed Marrybell to the banquet and dressed accordingly. Oldrin had an idea of what
her princess was thinking tonight. While normally she would have tried to stop Marry from doing
something taboo, tonight was a time to relax and enjoy themselves. So she would allow Marry to
do as she pleased. Then again, a princess wouldn't get far, considering His Majesty's entourage.

'The green-haired advisor is always around his majesty, not to mention Lady Malcal as well.
Tough luck, Marry.'

While Oldrin was feeling sorry for her charge's chances. her friends were focused on another love-
related business. Albeit, this one was nowhere near as forbidden as Marry's.

"Never thought I would see the famous Reaper getting embarrassed," Tink said as they stared at the
show before them. The Knight of Four was publicly flirting with Liliana, who was more than
willing to flirt back. Both knights were red but didn't stop talking. The two blondes either didn't
notice or didn't care about the looks they were receiving from others.

"Love in the air. Do nothing and all the ladies will be taken, Tink." Leo smugly stated. He and
Marika were pretty much inseparable tonight.

"Don't act cool just because your girlfriend is here, Leo." Sokkia rolled his eyes." Don't worry,
Tink. I'm sure you will find someone soon."

"Shame we can't say the same about you." Leo looked away with a grin but smacked by Marika.

"Don't be rude, Leo."

"Yeah! Not my fault guys can't see how awesome I am. But hey, now that the war is over I'm sure I
will get a boyfriend. Right?" Sokkia happily asked but everyone silently looked away with a poker
face, not wanting to hurt the poor maiden. "...Guys?"

Oldrin giggled at the silly scene before she decided to walk towards the open window and get
some fresh air. Once she was alone, the knight of honour let out a deep sigh and looked down.

'I know Marry called me here so I could forget about Orpheus, but it isn't easy.' Learning about the
fact that your long lost brother was alive isn't easy to take in. Even harder when it turns out he was
an enemy and tried to kill your nation's leader. Oldrin didn't know how to feel about it, about him.
When she learned about it, she thought it was some kind of mistake. But Marry wasn't joining,
Oldrin was told about everything that happened with Orpheus. However, she felt like there was
something that both OSI and her brother didn't mention. First her uncle and now this, she didn't
know how to feel anymore.

'When he saw me he looked so shocked. Like he forgot he had a sister. He changed. After
everything that happened, it is to be expected. But I feel like there is something else. I'm sure I
wasn't told the entire story and Oz doesn't want to tell me either. Oz seemed scared by something,
but by what?'

Doubt started to form in her mind. There was more to her brother's story but others kept it a secret
from her. Oldrin understood that it was probably related to the assassination attempt or the Peace
Mark but deep down she was worried about her brother. She didn't know what to think about him
anymore, but she sure didn't want Orpheus to die. She lost him once and didn't want to repeat it.
However, it didn't change the fact that Oz was her enemy. What should she do?

However, her thoughts were interrupted when Oldrin heard someone laugh.

"Feeling down, Zevon?" The Second Knight of The Round Table, Cinder Fall, said with a satisfied
smirk as she walked towards her.

Oldrin froze before turning away, hoping the second knight would leave her alone. Lady Fall didn't
like her and it was obvious. Oldrin didn't know the reason but she didn't want to be bullied by
Cinder tonight. Marry wasn't here to help/protect her and Oldrin didn't want to provoke the second
knight or give her the reaction she wanted. With that in mind, she thought about ignoring Cinder's
provocation.

"Good evening, Lady Fall," Oldrin said with her best poker face while Cinder smirked.

"Come on, Oldrin. Lady Fall is for outsiders, friends can call me Cinder."

"Forgive me, but since when are we friends?" the blonde knight asked with narrowed eyes.

"Since forever, silly! We had become friends the moment I saw you. After all, His Majesty wanted
me to get along with you and I was doing my best. Or..." Cinder's smile vanished, leaving only a
cold stare. "Do you want to see how I treat those who aren't friends?"

Oldrin froze but instead of backing down, she pushed forward. She was already done with the
situation with her brother and didn't have the patience to tolerate the second knight's insults/threats.

"Please, for the love of God, at least tonight don't try to torment or insult me. I'm not in the mood
and tired of you-!" Oldrin stopped before she shouted. She glared at the ground and looked away.
"I have a difficult situation and will appreciate it if you will leave me alone. Please."

Both knights were silent. Oldrin didn't bother to look at her companion, hoping she got the
message. Cinder didn't say anything, Instead, she leaned against the window and stared at the night
sky. The blonde knight returned to her brooding, thinking again about the situation with her
brother. The second knight finally spoke with a knowing smile.

"Are you worried about your brother, Zevon?" Oldrin looked at her with confusion but sighed. Of
course, Cinder would know, she is the knight of the round after all.

"...Is it so obvious?"

"Yup. I noticed it before when you were with your friends." She chuckled. "They look so happy
and you look like your dog was killed. Heh...Pretty hard to believe. Your long lost brother is alive
and well. This should be a dream but not everything is so easy."

"Oz- Orpheus is a member of the Peace Mark! We fought them, maybe even before! How many
people did he kill? H-how many of his friends and comrades have I killed?" Oldrin almost
screamed. "I thought he was dead all this time while he was trying to destroy Britannia, all these
years we were on opposite sides and I didn't know any of it. What am I supposed to do now? He
tried to kill the emperor. Should I treat him like a terrorist or like a brother? As if everything that
happened up until doesn't matter anymore!? I don't know!"

Oldrin stared at the Cinder when she felt something wet on her face. She touched her eyes and
found tears, the blonde knight quickly turned away. The last thing she needed right now was for
the second knight to find another material to bully her with. However, instead of any insults from
Cinder, Oldrin saw how the black-haired beauty gave her a handkerchief. Oldrin was confused but
took it and quickly cleaned her face. There was an awkward silence between the two before Cinder
spoke.

"Zevon, no, Oldrin. Tell me, do you know anything about the Blackwood family?" Cinder asked
with a melancholic smile.

'Blackwood...wait, I remember when mom was alive she used to complain and grumble about their
head.' Oldrin slowly nodded. "Yes, but only a little. I remember that mom wasn't fond of them."

"Heh, that's putting it lightly. Blackwood was an old noble family who specialized in the trade. The
last head was at odds with Zevon's own. The two matriarchs couldn't stand each other and hated
each other with such passion...something that was useful when Zevon's family head was
assassinated." Oldrin remembered it, the day her uncle killed her mom. She was lucky Marry took
her in.

"Salem Blackwood was the easy target and other enemies of her family used it as an opportunity to
destroy and get rid of her and the entire clan… she was blamed for the crime your uncle did and
was executed for it." Cinder stooped and glanced at her. "Did you know that Salem had a
daughter? A little girl, the same age as you. She was forced to abandon her family legacy and
become no one. Live in the shadows, in fear that the people who killed her mother will one day
come for her too. She spent the next years trying her best to become someone, gain power and
have her revenge...Do you know what happened next?"

Oldrin had an idea where this was going. It wasn't hard to imagine who this little girl was. But she
asked nonetheless.

"What?"

A feral, bloodthirsty smile formed on Cinder's face as she leaned closer. Her face was a few inches
away from Oldrin's. Her amber eyes stared at her green.
"My Emperor made me a Knight of The Round. My first act as a knight was to find everyone who
was related to the death of my mother. After that, I butchered them like animals. Only one family
remained, the old foe of Blackwoods. Zevon, your family."

Oldrin froze, she thought about backing off but she couldn't. Cinder's stare wouldn't allow her.
However, instead of being scared, Oldrin clenched her fists.

"And so what? The one responsible for it is my uncle, not me or my brother. I have nothing to do
with your mother's death or your fate...I'm sorry for what my uncle did but I'm not the one who did
any of this, Cinder." The Knight of Two remained silent. Oldrin started to feel dread, did she say
something wrong? But then the Emperor's White Queen laughed.

"Hehe, His Majesty said the same thing and I agreed with him. You can't imagine how much I
wanted to hurt you, to break you! But, the logical part of me said that it would be useless. Your
uncle is my target, not you. And he will pay for it, maybe even with your help. As a knight of
Britannia, you will protect the crown against him too. Don't feel bad about the situation with your
brother." Cinder smirked. "I hope this helped you. My feelings were screaming to hurt you and yet
I listened to reason. Why should I kill you and waste a good opportunity to use you against
Wizard? It will be logical to have you as 'friend' then enemy."

"Why? How learning about your past can help me to solve my family issue?" Cinder groaned.

"I expected too much...Because, dear Oldrin. Despite how I felt, I didn't act on my feelings and
instead followed logic. So why should you be bothered by your emotions and turmoil about your
brother? Follow your logic, if you have any. Your brother is alive and well. He might be behind
bars but I know that his majesty won't execute him. Your family member is alive after all these
years. Not everyone is as lucky as you." Cinder looked at the window." I would give up everything
if it meant my mother was alive and with me. Oldrin, who cares about the stuff your brother did?
Just be happy he is with you again."

Oldrin didn't know what to say. She didn't expect Cinder Fall, the same knight who had an issue
with openly threatening her, to say this.

"I-I don't know what to say, Cinder."

"Don't bother. After all, friends always help each other when needed. We are… friends, right?" she
said and placed her hand on Oldrin's shoulder. "Since by being your friend, I have better chances to
use you as a tool against your uncle and sacrifice if needed."

"And you're back to normal." Oldrin sighed. "I already started to hope you're actually a good
person."

"Being good is boring." Cinder smirked before she walked away, but stopped and gave her a final
glance. "Enjoy the night, Oldrin, and don't think about your problems. You will worry about them
tomorrow because I will remind you of them."

The second knight smirked while Oldrin just rolled her eyes. But deep down, the Glinda Knight
was feeling better. Perhaps Cinder wasn't such a bitch after all.

Lelouch smiled as another person started speaking with him about another uninteresting subject.

This was getting tiresome. He knew he needed to spend some time with these people but constantly
smiling and nodding at everything they say was getting annoying. A quick glance at Leila showed
that she was in a similar situation but more people wanted to speak with her. C.C on another hand
was completely free and was enjoying her pizza. Wait, where did she find it?

The White Emperor thought about anything that would solve his problem but soon his salvation
had come in the form of music, indicating the beginning of the dance. The guests gave him space
and Lelouch had a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Not liking speaking with your subjects, Lelouch? How cruel, these people would be so
heartbroken to learn it." His witch giggled but her warlock just shook his head.

"It wouldn't be so bad if they had at least anything interesting to talk about. Most of them repeat the
same thing and congratulate me." He sighed. "I thought only nobles were this bad. I just hope it is
over." Suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Who is it-" He stopped speaking the
moment his eyes landed on the person behind him.

"Hello, brother. I was wondering if you would like to share a dance with me." His younger sister
Marrybell asked with a slight blush on her face.

A pink shade formed on Lelouch's face as well as he looked at his younger sister. Marrybell was
wearing a red dress that was nicely hugging her figure. Her shoulders and back naked. The lower
part of her dress was made of silk, which allowed to see what was below the knees. Her slim legs
were covered with white stockings. Instead of her usual ponytail, Marrybell let her hair down. She
was smiling while Lelouch stared at her with wide-open eyes. Quickly coming back to his senses,
the White Emperor coughed before answering.

"That would be my pleasure, my lady," Lelouch said as he took Marrybell into his arms.

Despite his dislike for such events, Lelouch never forgot the dancing lessons Marianne forced him
to attend. At least something good that woman did for him. Royal siblings danced as people around
them looked with delight at them.

"Finally we have a moment alone, brother," Marrybell said with a happy smile. "It was so long
since we could talk like this."

"Well, we're still in the middle of the dance. But I'm glad you're here, Marry."

"As if I would miss such a night! You didn't celebrate our victory at all, Lelouch. After battling in
Moscow I wanted to spend more time with you," She said with a pout. "But all this stupid work
kept both of us busy." He let out a short laugh.

"At least now we're free for the time being and can enjoy this night together." Marrybell smiled
softly as she placed her head on his chest.

"I would love nothing more than to spend more time with you like this, Lelouch...If only my knight
was as happy as I am." She looked to the side.

"Oldrin Zevon is still upset about the situation with her brother?" She nodded.

"Much like myself when I learned of your survival, she was shocked but quickly became happy
that her brother is still alive. Telling my friend the truth that he was a rebel and attempted to
assassinate the Emperor was a heavy hit for poor Oldrin." Marry replied, eyes downcast.

"I'm sorry." It was expected. Lelouch decided it was better if Oldrin knew about her brother. Not to
mention it might help to make Orpheus more open to the idea of joining him without the use of
Geass.
"Don't be, none of it is your fault. But I wish I could help her. She didn't want to come here tonight,
but others managed to convince her. She needs company right now. "Marrybell sighed. "Let's focus
on happy thoughts tonight. We will deal with problems after celebrations."

"Of course, Marry. I gotta say, I don't remember you dancing so well."

Marrybell smirked. "Well, I wasn't a part of your little group back then. Unfortunately, we didn't
spend much time together but I would love to change it, dear brother."

"My group?" Lelouch asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You, Clovis, Cornelia, Schneizel, Euphemia and-" She stopped. Both of them knew who she had
in mind. "You were so close as children. Kind of hard to imagine how everything changed."

'I killed Clovis and Euphemia...Cornelia and Schneizel are my enemies. And Nunnally... They were
a huge part of my childhood. And now they aren't with me anymore. Huh, I know that it is the path
I had chosen, but I will miss the days when we were a real family.'

"We can't change the past but we can improve the future. I have you by my side, Marrybell. That's
all I need." Lelouch said with a warm tone, making his sister melt in his embrace.

"Lelouch." Marrybell blushed as her heart started to bite faster. She had half mind to close the
distance between their faces and claim her brother's lips, until-

"Y-y-your majesty, I would love to share a dance with you as well."

Both of them turned to see Cecile who was blushing from embarrassment, her eyes closed. Behind
her, Bishop was standing at the side with thumbs up. The female scientist wanted to retreat but an
enthusiastic knight of the round didn't give her any chance to escape. However, it was not too late.
Cecile slowly opened her eyes and saw Lelouch's warm smile which made her feel at ease...until
she noticed the glare that Princess Marrybell had which promised suffering in the future.

"If you do not mind, of course, Princess Marrybell." The princess in question looked as if she
wanted to protest but decided against it.

With a pout, she said. "Ok but only one dance...And after that, I will continue!"

Lelouch laughed but promised to have another dance with her. Cecile awkwardly took the
emperor's hand and both started to move. All the while Marrybell was feeling salty. Bishop on
another hand was feeling great, he felt like he won another battle right now who started to think
about it. 'While I'm not interested in pursuing romance myself, I see no problem helping others to
experience love themselves...Hmm, perhaps I should give Arthur advice as well.'

While everyone was having fun inside the main hall, two individuals decided to enjoy the fresh air
outside.

Two lovers of the emperor were standing outside on the balcony, enjoying the view of the night
sky. C.C took a sip of wine before she glanced at her ally. She was still refusing to call D.S
anything but that.

"Surprised you didn't come in a fancy dress." Despite the event, D.S was still wearing her casual
clothes. The woman in question simply smiled.

"I thought about it at first but decided against it. Easier to avoid conversations. Everyone thinks I'm
part of the stuff and avoids me."

"You don't want to chat with these people?"

"As head of OSI, I already knew pretty much everything I needed about them. Don't see the point
of speaking with people. Besides, events like this are boring to me. I'm more surprised you
managed to avoid all of it." C.C rolled her eyes.

"I know how to present myself to evade boring talks. But I had a few small chats. Leila is currently
more interesting than I am. The girl turned down Lelouch's offer to become his PM and people
want to know why." The witch glanced at her future saviour. The blonde messiah of Europe was
surrounded by guests who wouldn't stop asking her about everything. "Poor girl."

"Not going to save her?"

"Nope," C.C smirked before taking another sip. "Fresh breeze, good wine. All I'm missing is a
slice of pizza right now to make this moment perfect."

"Hmm." D.S stared at the horizon. The green-haired witch looked at her before sighing.

"What's on your mind?"

"I was thinking about Zero Requiem." C.C froze. "Sorry, I know this is a heavy subject for you."

"It's fine. I just don't want to think about it more than necessary. I thought everything was going
according to our plan. That Peace Mark spy is doing her part and we're doing ours." After their last
talk in Berlin, both girls come up with an idea to fix their problems. However, it was harder to do
without letting Lelouch learn about it.

"I just feel like not telling Lelouch about it will backfire. Maybe we should tell him about Zer-"

"No," C.C said with a cold tone. D.S said nothing, expecting this response. "Lelouch doesn't need
to know something that would bring him only harm...but I can see why it would be better to inform
him about everything else."

D.S.'s eyes widened. "You mean-?!"

"After the banquet, I will corner my warlock and tell him everything except that cursed Requiem. I
will tell him about Nunnally and Schneizel." She looked at Dimensional Supervisor with a
sympathetic look. "I know that keeping secrets from Lelouch - especially something this important
- is a bad idea. But I don't want Lelouch to put himself in unnecessary trouble again. The moment
he learns about Nunnally, things will change. But I don't want to tell him about Zero Requiem. At
least not right now. Once we deal with Schneizel, I will tell him everything. But until then..."

"I get it, C.C. While things are different from that timeline, everything might change and follow
that scenario. I don't want it either." D.S moved closer to C.C and placed her hand on the witch's
shoulder. "In that case, after this event, we are telling him part of the truth."

C.C sighed before she looked down with a sorrowful expression on her face.

"I already hid the truth about his parents and the fact that Marianne was alive. But Lelouch never
questioned me about it. He simply came up with a new plan and continued to move forward. He
never brought it up."

"That's because he loves you, Cera." In normal circumstances, C.C would have been irritated by
the fact someone was mentioning her name without the witch's permission. However, right now
she was fine with it. "He trusts you."

"That's why keeping information from him makes me feel like a shit." D.S laughed.

"Well, you're doing a good job at it. I haven't noticed any difference." C.C rolled her eyes.

"Haha, speak like this and I won't Lelouch spend nights with you." A playful smirk appeared on
D.S.'s face.

"What are you going to do? Occupy him by yourself? In that case, I with other girls could join in
your fun too." C.C raised an eyebrow.

"Others?" D.S said nothing and just pointed behind her. Seconds later, two new faces joined them.

"C.C, here you are! Do you have any slightest idea what I went through?" Leila said with an
irritated tone. "All these guests asked the same question about my refusal. They make it seem like
I'm giving up on a cancer vaccine or something."

"To be fair, if I wasn't a knight of the round, I would have asked the same thing, Lady Leila."
Cinder commented before she glanced at them. "Lady-"

"Stop with the Lady bullshit, Cindy. We are sleeping with the same man. At least call us by our
names." C.C said with a monotone voice. Leila's face went red.

"Wait, what! I and Lelouch aren't like that yet-"

"Yet?" Cinder asked with narrowed eyes. Leila froze and looked away, her ears red from the heat.
Cinder's left eye twitched. "And here I hoped I only had three girls to worry about."

"Don't see the issue." D.S started. "Look at us. We all knew about Lelouch's past, about his Geass."
Cinder and Leila looked at each other. Both never spoke with each other about anything not related
to work."

"And your point?"

"Neither of you had any issues with it and you accepted Lelouch without any issue. We all have
feelings for him so why not share him? C.C is fine with it and I would welcome even more women
in our group. Sharing is caring after all. All I want is to keep Lelouch happy, but that doesn't mean
we can't be happy as well. But then there is also Marry-" D.S thought about the incest loving sister
while Cinder looked unimpressed.

"My mother always taught me to be the best. That includes love life as well. However, as long as
I'm his main wife I don't have any problems."

C.C. laughed. "You can keep that title if you want, girl. It won't change the fact I'm Lelouch's
partner and will always be closer than anyone else." The witch said with pride in her tone.

"Ah." All attention turned to Leila." I'm Lelouch's partner as well so that means-" C.C rolled her
eyes.

"Not the same and never will be. You can argue about stuff like this, I don't really care. However,"
a sly smile formed on the witch's face. "Should you decide to join me and Lelouch in bed, be
prepared. I'm not as gentle as my warlock."
"What do you mean?" Leila asked.

"Leila, you are still a maiden but I know how to easily change that. And you little knight, all bark
and no bite, unless... hmm." An exciting idea popped up in C.C's head as she closed the distance
and whispered into Cinder's ear. "Lelouch didn't tell me but I have a pretty good idea what you two
did back then. What do you say we replay that moment but with me in charge?"

Both Cinder and Leila turned red, understanding what she meant. The blonde advisor was having
an especially hard time. Still thinking about her thoughts on the aspect of starting a relationship
with Lelouch. Cinder on another hand started to imagine what it would be like, only for strategic
reasons! That's right if she wanted to be Lelouch number one, she needed to be the best in every
area. That includes carnal desires as well. Beating the witch there will be a sweet victory. D.S on
another hand was looking forward to such time. C.C didn't bother to listen to their responses as she
left them behind and went after her warlock.

"We can work out a schedule." Offered D.S. Still, with a red face, Cinder nodded.

"T-that will be a good idea. I-I would prefer a bed instead of a garden next time I would be alone
with him."

"Wait, what? What garden?" Leila asked with a confused look.

The witch made her way inside the main hall, the people were still dancing and it wasn't looking
like a celebration would end soon. Green haired immortal didn't need to look around, her
connection with Lelouch was enough to sense him. She continued to walk toward him. Soon the
witch found her warlock. Lelouch just finished dancing and was talking to some of the governors.
She paid them no mind, as she walked towards her man. C.C intervened in their conversation and
took his hand.

"Now, my warlock, dance with me." She wasn't asking but demanding. Lelouch smirked while his
subject looked astonished by her actions. However, their emperor obeyed his witch. Soon, the
witch and warlock enjoyed comfort in each other's arms as the two started to dance.

"Hmm, you do know how to move, Lelouch. Not to mention actually hosting this event or
bothering to show up."

"Surprised?"

"A little bit. We both know you would rather spend the entire night in the war room or gambling.
But then again, you surprised me many times." Lelouch smiled.

"And I'm not going to stop doing that. I love nothing more to see the smile on your face. Or
embarrassment." his partner let out a short laugh.

"Well, you would have to try harder than that if you want to see that. By the way, I had a word
with your little fan club?"

Lelouch blinked. "Which one? I'm sure there is more than one."

C.C. sighed. "The one you're sleeping with. Or planning in case of Leila."

"Oh my. My witch is making new friends? I'm so proud."

Her response was to step on his foot. "Look who's talking. I haven't seen you in the company of
anyone outside your little tin soldiers or these girls."

He froze but quickly tried to defend himself. "I have friends. I have Jeremiah, eh, Bishop."

C.C stared at him." Lelouch, you need to find more friends."

"Shut up witch." Lelouch rolled his eyes while she smirked." I will find friends after I deal with the
empire's problems."

"Excuses, Lelouch, nothing but excuses. Speaking about problems." her expression turned serious."
There is something I need to discuss with you. It is important, Lelouch."

He said nothing but from the look on his face, C.C could see that he was now concerned. If his
witch called something important, then it was serious. They continued their dance until the white
emperor spoke.

"Remember that night on Kamine island?" She nodded with a bitter expression.

"How can I forget it? Not the best night you and I had." C.C might have lost her chance to die that
night but she gained something more important, someone.

"Well, there is one thing that I would always remember without any regret," Lelouch smirked
when his witch asked what exactly he meant. "This."

C.C didn't have time to react when Lelouch leaned closer and captured her lips. The kiss wasn't
hungry or lustful like their previous ones. Instead, it was a simple kiss and yet both of them were
more than happy with it. Her eyes went wide, it wasn't their first kiss but Lelouch preferred to not
do anything like this in public. Now, however, everyone was staring at them with wide eyes.
Guests, Knights of The Round and others.

Marrybell looked like she wanted nothing more than to be in C.C.'s place. Knights of the round
were mostly taken back by the sudden action of their emperor. Bishop looked like he would start
crying from happiness at any moment and was stopped by Peter and Arthur. Cinder was feeling
jealous and already started to plan how to get Lelouch to do the same with her. D.S was happily
approving while Leila covered her eyes and yet couldn't help but pick at them. Lelouch's
guardians, Jeremiah and Sayoko were both proudly nodding, approving of their master's action.

Then there were the guests. C.C didn't care about any of them but she found it quite funny how
everyone froze and was staring at her and Lelouch. Pawns they might be, C.C enjoyed this type of
attention. Her warlock was making bold moves and she loved it. Sadly, the kiss couldn't last
forever and two of them withdrew with heavy breathing. Lelouch looked around. His followers
were shocked by his deed. The white emperor preferred to avoid any confirmation of his love life
in public until now. His witch was smiling. However, he knew how to make them even more
shocked. He took her hand and started to lead her outside the hall. His witch looked supposed.

"Where are we going, Lelouch?" He smirked.

"Somewhere more private," He spoke loud enough for those close to hear him. Needless to say, the
night became more interspersing as guests started to whisper and talk about what just happened.

Lelouch brought her to his office.

It was a huge room deep inside the palace, meant for the emperors to quietly think and have a calm
place for themselves. It had a throne with a table before it and a huge screen above it. Behind the
throne on the wall was placed a Britannian coat of arms. Charles made this room into his private
library and while Lelouch would have liked to burn it just out of spite, the young emperor kept it
mostly untouched. Because of his trip to Europe, Lelouch wasn't able to use this room often. As the
young emperor took a seat, C.C looked around.

"Does the Demon Emperor want to have his way with this maiden right here and now?" She asked
with a Chesire smile as she made her way towards him. C.C sat down on his lap, her arms tightly
hugging her warlock. Lelouch smirked but stopped her.

"While that's a quite tempting offer, I have to decline for the time being. Instead, I'm more
interested in what you wanted to tell me." His tone became serious. "C.C, what's wrong?"

She knew she promised to speak with him about Nunnally but now it felt harder. Sex would have
been a preferable alternative but she knew that telling him after that would be even worse. C.C took
a deep breath and prepared herself for a heavy talk.

"Lelouch, it is about Nu-"

However, before his witch could even say a word, someone knocked at their door. Both blinked,
unsure who it was. His Scarlet Guard was standing outside, giving their master some privacy with
his lady. Lelouch entered and the door opened, revealing Alfred. The concerned look on his way
did little to calm them.

"Your majesty! We're receiving a call. It is your brother, Schneizel."

Lelouch's eyes went wide while C.C felt like something terrible was about to happen. She got up
while Lelouch clenched his fist but said.

"Put him on. If Schneizel feels comfortable enough to call me so casually, he must have planned
something. Put White Legion on high alert." Alfred nodded.

A moment later a face of the former Prime Minister appeared on TV before them. Cornelia was
standing next to him. It appeared like they were standing in some garden, as Lelouch could see a
vast field of flowers behind them. His older brother looked pleased, with his usual fake smile.
Cornelia on another hand was just glaring at him. The white emperor's face became serious.

"Schneizel, Cornelia. What a surprise. Are you calling to congratulate me perhaps? Or just to
chat?" he smirked when Cornelia got angry.

"You don't deserve anything after what you have done, Lelouch. You're a monster!" She didn't
bother to hide the venom in her voice. Yet, Lelouch's smirk didn't fade away, making his older
sister even more furious. Schneizel placed a hand on her shoulder before he addressed their young
brother.

"Lelouch, we're calling you to reason with you. Brother, for the sake of everyone, we ask you to
peacefully abdicate and return the throne to the rightful heir." Lelouch laughed.

"A rightful heir? And who that would be, dear brother? You or perhaps Cornelia? I would like to
see you try to take Britannia from me." Neither of his siblings said anything. However, a new voice
joined in.

"No, that would be me, big brother."

As a new young female voice spoke, the camera zoomed out, showing another face. Lelouch froze,
his heart started to race faster, and his eyes went wide. Dozens of feelings started to form inside
him. His witch wasn't feeling better either. C.C clenched her fist. This shouldn't have happened!
Not like this! Before them, in her wheelchair was a sitting little girl. The girl who was Lelouch's
reason to live and go on all this time. The girl who was believed to be dead after the last battle in
Tokyo.

Nunnally vi Britannia was alive. Lelouch could only whisper.

"Nunnally..."

"Hello, big brother. I called you to announce my declaration of war. From now on we are enemies,
Demon Emperor Lelouch."
 Declaration of war

August 8. Pendragon. Royal Palace.

'How?! This is impossible!'

Lelouch froze. Right now before him on the screen was the face of his little sister. The one who
was the meaning of his life for years. The one for whom he was ready to fight the entire world. The
one who was believed to be dead. His eyes went wide as many emotions started to overflow him.
Confusion and panic were the most prominent ones. He didn't know what to think. This situation
was problematic for the emperor. His mind told him to stop and critically analyze what was going
on, but his heart was screaming. This was bad.

"N-Nunnally."

He trembled as he said it, but Lelouch couldn't do anything. This was Nunnally, she was alive! He
should be happy, but what she just said. It made no sense to him. How can they be enemies?!
Lelouch didn't want to believe it! From the corner of his eye, he saw how Schneizel smirked. The
emperor's blood boiled. 'This bastard! Schneizel! All of this-!'

However, before Lelouch could do anything, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. A glance
showed him that C.C was looking at him with concern. He saw the worry in her usually calm eyes.
She didn't need to say but he could feel it nonetheless. Lelouch closed his eyes and took a deep
breath.

'I shouldn't show any weaknesses. I can't. But...but this is Nunnally. My little sister, the same one
for whom I did everything.'

This was Nunnally, but she was with Schneizel and Cornelia. He didn't know how it was possible
but if it is really her, then it means that this entire time she was alive. After the second battle of
Tokyo, Lelouch thought she was dead. He was ready to die while taking out Charles, only to
change his plan to take over the world in the memory of Nunnally and others who died because of
him. However, now his little sister was in front of him, and Lelouch didn't know what to do.
Should he rethink his plans? Should he back down now? Did the fact Nunnally is alive change his
goal?

While Lelouch was troubled by his inner thoughts, C.C decided to do something. With a warm
voice, she whispered.

"Do not forget about the others."

Lelouch froze. Others? Did she mean Knight of the rounds or his lieutenants? His lovers? A slow
realisation of who she was talking about came to him.

'Nunnally might be alive, but Shirley, Rolo and Euphemia aren't. They died because of me, but they
never stopped believing in me, no matter what I did they were there for me.' People he held dear
were killed because of his actions. After killing his parents and having his revenge, his new dream
was to create a world where something like this wouldn't happen.

'Nunnally was my reason to move forward, but after her death, I decided to continue my
revolution. I wanted and still want to change this world...Schneizel thinks he can scare me with
this, make me question my dream. No! I won't allow it!'
But what Nunnally just said. She called herself his enemy. She wanted to fight him. Nunnally his
enemy? Ridiculous. Could Lelouch do it? Could he fight the girl who was his reason to live all
these years? Could she stop him?

'No, I can't allow it to affect my plans. Nunnally, she is alive but this...but she can't change what I
had already started...I can't stop now or ever. I must go on.'

When he opened his eyes, the look of panic disappeared. Instead, it was a cold and focused stare
that made Cornelia flinch while Schneizel showed no emotion, only his smirk faded away. With a
calm voice, Lelouch spoke.

"Nunnally vi Britannia, my sister who was supposed to be dead after the battle in Tokyo. Killed by
the actions of Suzaku Kururugi. My first question is, how? Sayoko told me she failed to save you
in time."

He needed to learn answers first. How did Nunnally survive? Was it even Nunnally or was it
someone else? A plot by Schneizel to trick him? Lelouch needed more information. The girl in the
wheelchair was silent for a moment. It was Schneizel who answered.

"There was a second emergency train under the government building. That's how she escaped." The
emperor glared at him but the former prime minister simply smiled.

"Lelouch, I know what you might be thinking. I'm your sister. The one who was with you all these
years." Nunnally said. "And now, I'm your enemy, Demon Emperor Lelouch. I will be the one to
take your throne that you stole. I shall put an end to your regime, brother."

There was dead silence as everyone waited for his reaction. Cornelia didn't stop glaring at him but
even she was on edge by all of this. She didn't support this kind of move, but Schneizel wanted it,
and Nunnally agreed as well. C.C. stared silently at her warlock. Thanks to their connection she
could feel how her partner was troubled by all of it. And yet, he didn't show any of it.

'This is Schneizel's doing. All of it! Nunnally was alive all this time and yet he decided to reveal her
now. Why? Schneizel wouldn't do something like this unless he was sure he was in a good
position.' Did his older brother plan something? An attack perhaps? No, the palace was well
secured and his people would have learned about any movement a long time ago. What then, was
the endgame of this?

Whatever it was, Lelouch was going to learn it, but he wouldn't play into his older brother's hands.
Schneizel wanted him to panic, to make him afraid but Lelouch won't fall for it. This might be the
real Nunnally but Lelouch cannot allow himself to be defeated at this stage of his plans. He
sacrificed too much. He won't back down now. Because of this, the White Emperor smiled and let
out a short laugh.

"How cute. You think too much of yourself, Nunnally. You're my enemy? Don't make me laugh,
sister." Lelouch put on the mask. Cornelia shouted at him.

"Stop playing games, Lelouch! This charade of playing the emperor must end!"

"But my dear sister, this isn't a game for me. I'm the Emperor now. The most powerful man in the
world. Or are you still thinking I'm a child from Arries Villa? Please Cornelia," Lelouch's gaze
became cold as ice. "That child died ten years ago."

Cornelia said nothing, instead, it was Schneizel who continued.

"Lelouch, we all know how you took the throne. Geass, a power that helped you to enslave
everyone under your command."

"Correction, Schneizel. I mainly used it on purebloods and others like them. The majority of my
followers and soldiers are loyal to me not because of Geass but because unlike the rest of our
family, I actually try to improve the lives of people."

Cornelia snorted. "Improve?! Don't make me laugh, Lelouch. Don't you see what you are doing?!
You enslaved our family and destroyed everything Britannians soldiers fought and died for!"

Her younger brother looked confused.

"Are you talking about social Darwinism, Cornelia? The system where so-called strong fed on
weak? Where nobility did as it pleased, committing crimes without punishment, destroying the
lives of millions? Or perhaps about how Britannia treated natives in its colonies? Please enlighten
me, dear sister. Because I can't understand what you are talking about." He clenched his hands.
"Cornelia, perhaps you can't understand it but our dear homeland wasn't some sort of Utopia. It
was a harsh nation that would slaughter millions for the sake of its belief in superiority. There was
nothing about old Britannia that was good, A rotten empire with a mad man in charge."

"Britannia wasn't perfect but at least it wasn't controlled by Geass, Lelouch."

The young emperor smiled at his brother's words.

"Oh, Schneizel, please don't tell me you're so naive. I'm sure Cornelia already told you about our
uncle but I will tell you a secret." He drew in closer to the screen. "Charles had Geass. I'm
surprised that Suzaku never told you anything about it." There was something funny about how
they confusingly looked at him. "Don't tell me he never said anything about it?"

"About what?" Cornelia didn't bother to hide venom in her voice but Lelouch couldn't help but
chuckle.

"Really? Our knight in the shining armour never told you anything? About how our dear dead
father went insane and tried to kill God? About his Geass? Or maybe-" a devilish smile appeared
on his face. "About the fact that Marianne vi Britannia was alive all this time?"

Lelouch laughed when his siblings froze. Cornelia had a shocked expression, she didn't want to and
couldn't believe in it, not lady Marianne! Schneizel's usual fake smile temporarily faded away. He
had his suspicions ever since the day when Charles died, but he couldn't confirm them. Bismark
wouldn't answer any of his questions and the former prime minister had no means to force the
knight to speak. Although learning about Lady Marianne's survival was unexpected. Nunnally on
the other hand was thinking about something else.

Nunnally said nothing but Lelouch could see how this truth was affecting her. All three of his
siblings were taken back but this truth.

'Unlike me, she never hated Charles. She never forgave him for leaving us to die in Japan but
Nunnally didn't hate father as I did. Marianne was always a kind mother in her memory.' A small
part of Lelouch wanted to comfort her but then the larger, more cynical part stopped him. Instead,
it told him to go further.

"M-mother is alive?" her voice started to tremble as tears started to form on her face. However,
Lelouch's next words made Nunnally freeze once again.

"Was alive. I killed her with Charles on that day on Kamine Island. You're welcome, sis." Lelouch
saw how Nunnally's expression became shocked while Cornelia was first to start yelling at him.
"You are lying! This is impossible, Lady Marianne died-"

"Her Geass allowed her to take control of a little girl's body. She survived and continued to serve
Charles as the knight of the round." Schneizel raised an eyebrow.

"The Knight of The Round?"

"Anya Alstreim, she was just a noble who was sent to be mother's next student. And our dear, kind
mother hijacked her body and did whatever Charles ordered her to. An unexpected side of
Marianne the Flash, don't you think?"

Cornelia couldn't believe it. "I-impossible! These are nothing but lies!"

"Well, you can go and ask Suzaku. He saw everything with his own eyes. In fact, you can go and
ask him right now. I will wait." Lelouch smirk didn't leave his face. "I feel like you need to figure
out stuff on your end before calling me and making empty threats."

"But these aren't empty words, Lelouch." Schneizel was taken aback by the new information, but it
won't change his plans. Although, he would need to question sir Kururugi after this. Cornelia was
going to do more than asking questions on another hand. "Lelouch, despite what you said, our
intentions are still the same. Nunnally will become Empress and we will make you accept it."

"Make me? Schneizel, you couldn't capture me when I was defenceless. What makes you think
you can force to do anything?" Lelouch's voice became serious. "Or are you going to use
F.L.E.I.J.A. again?" He didn't answer. "What? Come on, just admit it. Your only weapon is that
thing. Your forces cannot be compared to my armies. Your Knightmares and pilots are limited
while I can call upon as many soldiers as I please. Geass is just a useful tool for me. However,
should you start bombing my cities with F.L.E.I.J.A, I won't need to use Geass at all. People will
join just to take you down anyway."

F.L.E.I.J.A. was a terrifying weapon but it didn't mean Schneizel could do as he pleased. One
wrong move and the former prime minister would only make people more willing to join Lelouch.
After all, no one wants to follow a leader who destroys everything. Of course, Lelouch would
prefer to avoid such risks but it didn't change the fact that Schneizel could use F.L.E.I.J.A. without
any consequences.

'It was used only once but it was enough for me to make both Schneizel and Suzaku into monsters
in public eyes...Huh, so that's why he is using Nunnally.'

Schneizel couldn't call himself the emperor, not publicly at least. F.L.E.I.J.A. explosion in Tokyo
was one thing, but he already had a bad reputation in Europe and outside the empire. Compared to
Lelouch who did everything to improve the lives of former numbers, Schneizel couldn't compete
with him in that regard.

'There is no nobility to support him and the governors I placed in charge are loyal to me. If he and
Cornelia tried to announce themselves as rightful rulers of Britannia, my propaganda machine
could easily tarnish them even further. I would destroy whatever support they would gain. But
Nunnally isn't like that.'

Unlike them, Nunnally had done nothing that would soil her reputation among the public. Sure she
was disabled, but the fact that she tried to peacefully solve the situation with the Black Knights
could be used as a bridge for an open alliance between the two. Lelouch knew that they might
work together but he was sure that even the Black Knights should understand how dangerous it
would be to unite with the people who killed millions of the Japanese. Nunnally was a safe option,
while Schneizel can just play the role of the loyal subject to her, it won't fool everyone. It is
obvious who is in command but it might be enough for the Order to work with them.

'Troublesome indeed. I suspect that Nunnally is going to announce her claim for the throne to the
public soon. It can complicate some of my long term plans but I should be able to handle the
damage control.' Nunnally might be innocent compared to her siblings but at the same time, she
didn't have any achievement that could be compared to the White Emperor. It was likely that she
would gain small support but nothing compared to Lelouch.

Nunnally who was silent after learning about the survival and death of her mother finally spoke.

"No one wants to repeat what happened in Tokyo on that day. No matter what, we won't use
F.L.E.I.J.A. as an offensive weapon. I can promise you that, Lelouch." The raven-haired emperor
looked unimpressed.

"It's not for you to say, Nunnally. You might call yourself a rightful ruler but in my eyes, you're
nothing but a puppet. So Schneizel." His attention turned to his brother, ignoring how Nunnally
looked hurt. "We both know who is in charge over there, well at least I hope you're controlling
things. Taking into account how you didn't know anything about Geass or Marianne makes me
wonder if you are actually in control."

Schneizel knew where he was going with it but unlike Nunnally, he wasn't affected by Lelouch's
words.

"Lelouch, I'm always a helper who guided our homeland towards the bright future. Nothing
changed, I'm just helping a rightful empress take her position and fix the mess you have created. In
fact, I would have loved to help you to replace our father before you did all of this. The Black
Knights, the Special Zone Massacre and taking the free will of our siblings and nobles. I want
nothing more but a bright future for our people but I can't stand the way you do it. Lelouch, I
always thought of you as my dear little brother but even I can't close my eyes and ignore the crimes
you committed. This Geass is too dangerous. We cannot allow you to do as you please anymore,
Lelouch."

Lelouch would have applauded for such good play but he knew his older brother better than this.
Schneizel knew how to convince people but he wasn't better than Charles. The former prime
minister did everything according to his own views. He cared about the numbers as much it was
required from the person of his position but he never understood their struggles or desires. It was
convenient for him to run Britannia with nobility and purebloods. Schneizel loved to be in control
and didn't want to lose it to someone like Lelouch.

'I'm sure it must be painful. To spend all these years building your support base, working with
nobility, making yourself irreplaceable to the empire. Only for me to come and turn everything
upside down. Everything you did, Schneizel, all of your achievements and accomplishments, I made
all of them obsolete. Huh, I actually feel sorry for him now!' Lelouch wanted to laugh but the
emperor knew if he did, he wouldn't stop.

For Schneizel, everyone was a useful tool. Maybe Lelouch was like him in the past, but now he had
people he wanted to protect no matter what. To create a world for them. Nunnally was one of them
but now Lelouch wasn't sure. Still, they disliked the fact that he used his Geass. It was just a tool
for him, but they were afraid of it. They had no protection against it, they didn't understand it and
were afraid of it.

Geass is the Power of Kings but to Lelouch, it was a weapon that helped him achieve his goals.
However, this weapon didn't bring only victories to the Demon Emperor...
"And what exactly is bad about my rule please tell me? The fact that I got rid of the number
system? Destroyed the nobility? I'm trying to change the empire as Euphemia wanted."

"Don't you dare speak about her!" Cornelia shouted." You are the one who killed her! Because of
you, my sister is labelled as a monster!"

Lelouch said nothing. His face didn't change but he felt an ache on his chest. The little sister who
always loved him died by his hand. He was the one who made a fatal mistake that day and
Cornelia was right. And yet.

'They won't see me as anything but an enemy...In that case, I will show you my best performance.'

And so the Demon Emperor laughed like a mad man.

"Yes, I was the one who killed her, Cornelia. The one who killed Euphemia. And you know what?
I did her a favour." Both Cornelia and Nunnally froze, horrified by his words. Schneizel showed a
stern look before asking.

"Explain, Lelouch." The emperor waded away.

"Euphemia had a good heart but was too naive to make a hard decision. Giving away her right to
the throne for the sake of the Special Zone was a noble but ultimately worthless sacrifice. Charles
stopped caring about Britannia and matters of the mundane world a long time ago. He knew that
her idea would never work out and you did too, right Schneizel?" Lelouch leaned forward with a
grin. "You know that neither the nobility nor the military would allow something like this. While
the creation of a Japanese autonomous zone would improve the relationship between the two
nations, it would lead to more problems within the empire. Even if I didn't kill her, Euphemia's
project would have been crushed from within."

No one inside the empire supported Euphemia in her attempt to help the Japanese. Charles allowed
it, but the old man knew it wouldn't end well for a kind princess. The upper class of Britannia
wouldn't allow for something like this zone to exist for too long. The existence of a special zone
itself threatened the safety of other colonies. If this worked out, other numbers would have
demanded the same and the Britannia inner system would start to collapse if it was allowed. Old
Britannia couldn't allow any form of self-government to its conquered nations. Euphemia gave up
her right to the throne, she had no allies inside the court and even Cornelia wouldn't be able to
protect her. In fact, this problem would have been used by the enemies of Cornelia to destroy her.

"You know that her plan would have never worked, or at least was hoping to, Schneizel."

"What are you talking about?! Schneizel supported Euphemia from the start!" Cornelia intervened
again. "He was the one who spoke with our father about it."

"Yes, he was a negotiator. Euphemia could never convince Charles on her own. But Schneizel, let's
be honest here. You just saw this plan as an experiment didn't you?" His older brother said nothing
but Lelouch was sure he hit the nerve. "An experiment to see how far you can go away with such
radical reforms before either the emperor or nobility tried to stop it. How far Euphemia could go
before she would have been forced to make a hard decision. How effective it might be to pacify the
native population in the future."

If Euphemia's plan showed at least some positive changes, it could have been used as a precedent
for the future. Japan wasn't the only nation that wanted independence from Britannia. There were
others but they weren't as successful in creating anything close to the Black Knights. Even if
Euphemia's dream would have been destroyed from within the empire, someone like Schneizel
could have found a use for this example in the future when he would need to deal with a similar
problem.

'But my Geass...that massacre ended Euphemia and her dream in a way that even he couldn't
expect.'

"...Euphemia wanted what she thought was the best solution for everyone. She was young and
inexperienced, and eventually, she would have realised just how difficult it is to change Britannia
from within." Schneizel said with a sorrowful expression. "I know that one day something would
have gone wrong inside this special zone of hers, but I was sure that either I or Cornelia would have
been there to help her...But you destroyed everything before it could even start."

"You killed Euphy." Nunnally said with a sombre tone. "Lelouch, I can understand your desire for
vengeance against our father, but Euphy-! She never deserved it. Everything you did, all these
deaths and pain you caused. You need to stop, big brother."

'And I will never forget this. I won't allow myself to forget it.' That day, that moment when Lelouch
pressed the trigger and took the life of his sister, it was the moment that changed everything.' I
knew that one day I would be forced to fight people I cared about. But Euphy...Her death changed
everything. Not only I lost my first love but my first friend as well. Suzaku would never forgive me
for her death, and he shouldn't. I don't need his forgiveness. I never needed it.'

"...I know my sins, Nunnally. But it won't stop me from doing what needs to be done. I know my
goal and I will achieve it. My entire life I only wanted to avenge our mother and kill that man who
sent us to die in Japan. But after learning the truth I had realised something. This world is rotten to
its core. Britannia isn't the only thing that must be fixed. We live in a world where war has become
the norm. Where dictators and monsters raise to power while people allow them to do as they
please. Where the death of millions is nothing but another statistic. I hated Charles, but he was
right about how the strong rule while the weak obey. It is because the weak don't do anything and
allow monsters to walk over them. Europe tried democracy but it failed. Britannia expanded at the
expense of the blood of innocents and no one tried to stop it until I took the mask of Zero. I cannot
allow any government, any system to continue this. To repeat the mistakes that allowed someone
like our father and uncle to rule."

"And you are ready to use Geass for it? To take away the free will of people like our father
apparently did? To wage war for the sake of your goals like you did in Europe? Lelouch, you speak
about how the world is terrible and yet you do the same thing that Charles did. I see a little
difference." Nunnally said with anger in her voice, something that took off guard both Cornelia and
Schneizel.

"That's because you're blind, Nunnally. All these years I spent taking care of you while you were
obvious to the outside world. I sheltered and protected you from anything that could have harmed
you. You can't see how bleak our world is… Do you remember the times of invasion? When you,
Suzaku and I made our way across the destroyed Japanese cities. How I would carry you through
the fields of the dead. You didn't see what Suzaku and I saw there. I didn't want you to think about
it, to learn how terrible the world really is. However, now you're calling yourself my enemy, telling
me how wrong I'm for using tools to achieve Euphemia's dream."

"Euphemia would never do it like this, Lelouch! You know that Euphemia would never approve of
violence or this power of yours! She would call it a fate worse than death." As Cornelia spoke, her
eyes became watery. In her eyes, this was the worst way to insult the memory of her little sister.
"Don't you dare speak about her dream when you are doing nothing but ruining it! Everything she
believed in, you spit on it."
"Cornelia," Schneizel called out, worried about her state.

"What a pathetic display, sister. And this is the Goddess of Victory who brought triumph to
Britannia? How disappointing." Lelouch said with a disgusted expression. "Did you also cry over
people you killed like this, Cornelia? Not only over Japanese rebels who fought for the sake of
their families but everyone else who fought against you? How many people did you kill without
carrying what they had loved ones as well? Euphemia lived her entire life next to the mass
murderer who was celebrated as the hero of the empire. Have you ever wondered how she felt
being the little sister of someone who wouldn't hesitate to slaughter Japanese while she wanted to
help them?"

"What is your point, Lelouch?" Schneizel said.

"I'm not a saint but at least I acknowledged Euphemia's dream, unlike Cornelia who never believed
in her, never gave her a chance to prove herself. She was a caged bird that Cornelia would rather
keep imprisoned. No wonder someone like Suzaku easily made his way into her heart." Lelouch
laughed. "I killed her and I might smear her innocent dream with blood, but at the very least I
acknowledged Euphemia and her ideals. Something neither you nor Cornelia ever did."

"You understand nothing, Lelouch."

"On the contrary, dear sister. I understand more than either of you do. While you two were in
relative safety, I had to carry Nunnally through the battlefields. I know what it's like to live with
the fear that you might die because of a stray bullet. I know the feeling of hunger when we haven't
eaten for several days. How it feels to be on the other side of our nations 'superiority' when we
were hated for the simple fact that we were Britannians." Memories from childhood started to
overflow Lelouch. No child should ever experience what he, Nunnally, and Suzaku did.

'I won't deny the truth. There are probably children in Europe who experienced all of these
because of my actions. But, I didn't stop when people I cared about died because of me, so I can't
stop now either. It would be an insult to anyone who died for my sake.'

"Cornelia, you are a soldier who did as your emperor ordered without caring what it is like on the
opposite side. You know that war is hell and yet you were fine with it, never questioning
anything."

"I did all of it for Euphemia!"

"And I did the same for Nunnally. I created the Black Knights, became Zero, I killed people, all of
it for her sake." His gaze focused on the little girl in the wheelchair. "But now I see that it was for
nothing."

"Lelouch-"

"No, I should correct myself. It wasn't just for Nunnally, not anymore at least. I always wanted to
change everything and you being my sister was my motivation until recently. However, now I see
how deluded I was. You aren't my reason to live, Nunnally. You're a parasite who was in my way
all this time."

Lelouch didn't know where this had come from. Was this part of his act? Or were these his honest
thoughts? He didn't know but he didn't care either.

'All these years I tried to survive and do something others couldn't. They have no right to criticize
me nor my actions! They didn't go through what I went through. I want what is best for everyone
but they can't see it. They are stuck in the past but I will force them to acknowledge the future I
should create! I finally see the answer that was always before me!'

"Schneizel, you spent your life inside the Royal court. Tell me, brother. Have you ever looked a
person in the eyes before taking his life? Have you ever seen the fear as you pressed the trigger? I
did. When I killed Cloves for the crimes he committed. He ordered the massacre just to cover his
inhuman experiments." Lelouch felt how C.C looked away, that time was far from pleasant for his
witch. "And you know what I felt?"

Schneizel said nothing, already abhorred by all of this.

"Satisfaction. The same satisfaction I felt when I destroyed Cornelia's forces, and killed everyone
who stood in my way during the Black Rebellion. I felt alive. I felt great because I made a change
in the worst possible way. I killed, I destroyed and brought chaos. But you know what?" His smile
became vicious. "I loved all of it."

Lelouch smiled with the smile that sent shivers down Cornelia's spine and even made the ever
collected Schneizel become unsettled for a moment. The Emperor rose up from his throne and
spread his arms at the sides. That wild smile never left his face.

"I loved destroying what I saw as wrong. I loved killing those who I labelled as guilty. I loved all
of this because unlike others I managed to make a change. I gave the Japanese people a chance to
fight when their spirit was broken. I did what everyone thought was impossible and challenged the
might of the Holy Britannian Empire and I won numerous times. I lost the battles but I never
stopped fighting. I was discouraged but people around me always were there to support me. I'm the
man of Miracles. I'm Zero. I'm The Emperor!

"I will burn down this world and create a new one from its ashes. I won't stop until I achieve
absolute victory. Until my dream of a gentle peaceful world is complete. And no one would stop
me. So, hear my final warning!" The Demon Emperor pointed his hand at them, declaring his final
word. "I, Lelouch vi Britannia, will stop at nothing to defeat all my enemies no matter who they
are. Should you continue to oppose me, I will destroy you. I will kill everything and everyone you
hold dear. Nunnally."

His cold gaze fell on the little girl he called sister all these years.

'She was my only motivation all these years but now I see that it must be changed.'

"You dare to call yourself my enemy and challenge my rule. Yet, you're nothing but a little crippled
parasite who was ready to listen to anyone as long as they took care of you. You never had power
on your own. You're still a puppet to those around you. Nothing changed...Heh, you might be alive
but now I see that I don't need you anymore, Nunnally. Only after your death I finally realized what
I must do to change the world. The assassin from Geass Order was a better sibling to me than you
ever have been."

'Rolo, despite everything that happened, in the end, you were the brother who never betrayed me.'

"I lost people who loved me but I won't stop. I will continue my revolution for the sake of their
memories."

'Shirley, you loved me but I only caused suffering to you and your family. After everything I have
done, I don't think I was worthy of your love but you never stopped believing in me. No matter
what, you continued to love me, you died because of me. I should create a world which you would
have loved.'
"I will make the dream of the princess who wanted peace into a reality!"

'Euphemia, I will cleanse your name and will create the world you wanted. A gentle world without
wars, I won't stop at anything.'

"Nunnally, it would have been better if you stayed dead because now I will stop at nothing to crush
you and your new masters."

"How dare you!/Lelouch!" Both Cornelia and Schneizel shouted while Nunnally couldn't hold it
inside anymore, as tears fell from her eyes.

"You want war? I will give you war!" Lelouch screamed with rage that he didn't feel for a long
time. "This conversation is over."

Before either of his siblings could do anything, he cut off the connection. Soon their faces
disappeared from the screen, leaving only Lelouch and C.C. The witch looked at her warlock with
a worried face, troubled by the things she didn't tell him. This was exactly what C.C wanted to
avoid but now that it happened, she needed to speak with her warlock. However, before she could
say anything, the Demon Emperor started to laugh. This laugh was no different from the time when
he learned the truth about the identity of the pilot of the Lancelot.

Lelouch laughed from insanity and inspiration of everything that happened. She saw the tears
starting to form on his face as he continued to laugh.

"Nunnally wants to be my enemy, Cera! Hahahaha! Just think about it! How ridiculous it all is?!
She wants to fight me?! To take my throne?!" Lelouch stopped as every emotion left his face,
leaving only a cold, serious expression.

"In that case, she will die."

Cambodia.

'This didn't turn out the way I wanted.'

Schneizel thought to himself as he stared at the mess before him. Nunnally was crying while
Cornelia tried to calm her down. Right now all the Royals were inside their secret base. The former
prime minister knew that one day he might need to hide from his father and this place was prepared
a long time ago. However, hiding there from Lelouch made Schneizel chuckle.

'My little brother grew up into a dangerous individual.' He calmly observed his sisters,
disappointed with how this went. 'I knew that Nunnally alone can't convince him to stop, but I
hoped that at least it would make Lelouch doubt himself. However, it might have the opposite
effect...Doesn't matter either way. Damocles will destroy whatever Lelouch can throw at it. Geass
or not, little brother won't stop me.'

"How did it go, Your Highness?" Kanon, his loyal subordinate, asked as he made his way towards
the Royal trio who were sitting inside the garden of the future war machine.

"Not as effective as I hoped it to be. Lelouch was shocked at first but I'm afraid we didn't manage
to shake his resolve."

"We were expecting this, my Prince. Still, it won't change your plans?"

Schneizel smirked.
"Of course it won't. We only called him to give him the last chance to surrender and declare
Nunnally as Empress...Tomorrow, we will move to the next stage of the plan."

They gave him a chance to back down but now it is time to make their move. Schneizel glanced at
his sisters. With a trained fake worry in his voice, he asked.

"Nunnally, how do you feel?" Cornelia helped her to wipe away tears before she answered.

"Worse than I expected. I know big brother won't listen to us, but I hoped to solve this without-"
she looked down. "I wanted to believe-"

"We can't solve every problem with only words, Nunnally. Lelouch showed us his true colours. He
won't give up his powers. It is too late to save him." Schneizel was sure of it. He said it not only to
make sure his little sister didn't forget her place in his plans but because he was sure Lelouch was
beyond redemption. Their brother won't go down without a fight.

'And who can blame him? I wouldn't want to give up everything either. This Geass is such a useful
tool. Such power, no wonder Lelouch became like this.' Schneizel knew little about Geass but he
could admit, this power was tempting.' All my life's work was undone by him in a matter of days.
My connections with nobles, alliances and reputation. Destroyed by him and his power. A lesser
man would have been infuriated but I'm impressed by what he managed to achieve. Still, it won't
change the fact that I must defeat him.'

"What about the things he told us?" Cornelia asked. "I don't trust Lelouch one bit but if Lady
Marianne - if what he told is partially true...Did Kururugi tell everything? Can we trust him?"

Schneizel wasn't surprised by her suspicion. Among them, she had the hardest time working with
Suzaku. They both loved the same person and both failed her, but it mattered little to him. Suzaku
was a useful tool that had his own reason to despise Lelouch, but if their brother didn't lie, it would
mean that the Japanese knight wasn't as honest as he believed. It would appear it was a good thing
Schneizel made sure to add some modifications to his new Lancelot.

"I'm sure we can trust Suzaku." Nunnally started. "He wouldn't lie to me. I'm sure of it."

Both of her older siblings looked at her with doubt. Schneizel glanced at Cornelia and silently
nodded. His sister understood what he meant and made her way towards the Knightmare hangar.
He then turned back to Nunnally.

"I don't doubt it, Nunnally. But it is likely that Sir Kururugi didn't mention some details about how
our father died." He gently placed his hand on top of her tiny ones. "We will need to discuss it with
him again; meanwhile, you should take a rest. I'm sure this wasn't a pleasant conversation to you,
Nunnally. You have an important task tomorrow."

The little princess said nothing and only nodded, but it was visible that she wasn't happy by how
things were going at all. The guards escorted her back to her chambers. However, she couldn't help
but start thinking about Lelouch's words. She didn't want to believe in the words he said. Not after
everything, she learned about him, but deep inside Nunnally couldn't help but wonder about some
things he said. A single question was on her mind as she entered her room.

'Am I a puppet?'

Inside the hangar.

Suzaku stared at the Knightmare before him. His Lancelot Albion received quite the beating after
his last fight with Lelouch and his minions. While the damage wasn't critical, it was still
concerning. Their resources weren't unlimited. While as the Knight of The Round, Suzaku will get
the best treatment, it didn't mean the Japanese boy wanted to waste materials that others might
need.

Another issue was the engineer/technician/anything to do with Knightmares.

"I feel like I now understand how Lloyd felt wherever pilots trashed his creations!" Complained
the feminine voice of his new friend, Mariel Lubie. The female creator glared at the boy before
her. "Come on, Suzaku! I know you can do better than this. Was it so hard to avoid a hit or two? Or
better all of them?"

"It was a difficult fight, Mariel. Cut me some slack." Suzaku coughed, a little embarrassed.

"I wish but his highness prioritizes his Damocles before Knightmares. I swear that ugly thing will
eat all of our resources before we even launch it in the sky."

Suzaku noticed that Mariel inherited more quirks from Lloyd than she was willing to admit. Still,
he was worried about the Damocles as well. The giant creation wasn't even complete but many
were nervous but how well it would work in a real battle. Personally, Suzaku hated the idea of
using the F.L.E.I.J.A. again, but he wasn't the one calling the shots.

'But if we can defeat Lelouch with it then I'm fine...but I would love to avoid using it again. I must
prove Lelouch that he is wrong and F.L.E.I.J.A. isn't a way to do it.' Suzaku was sure about one
thing. F.L.E.I.J.A. won't kill Lelouch, he will. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a new
person.

Mariel immediately saluted as princess Cornelia made her way towards them. However, Suzaku
quickly noticed that she was angered by something, and her glare didn't leave him. He started to
feel nervous. Mariel noticed it too and whispered.

"Suzaku, did you mess up or something?"

Before he could answer, he felt how princess Cornelia lifted him by the collar. Suzaku felt like her
grip was going to strangle him. Her violet eyes didn't leave him, as she hissed.

"I have a few questions, Kururugi."

Pendragon. Royal Palace. Lelouch's office.

It wasn't a stretch to say that after the call, the Emperor wasn't in a good mood.

C.C stared silently at her warlock as he called Alfred and gave his orders. She could feel the
turmoil inside her partner, the witch felt the same. This wasn't how she wanted this night to go. The
things Lelouch said to Nunnally, his anger and feeling of betrayal, she felt it too. However, she also
felt his confusion but worst of all, his grief. As if he already buried Nunnally inside his mind. C.C
couldn't allow him to be like this.

'I can't allow him to do something he will regret for the rest of his life.'

"I want my legions to be prepared for any potential attack. Send me any report about activities on
the border with UFN. Schneizel wouldn't call like this until he was planning something. I'm sure he
will make his move soon." Lelouch sounded paranoid, but more than that, he was furious." I want
the knights of the round to take a rest while they can. Should enemies make their move, they will
be the first forces to respond."

"Should we declare martial law?" Alfred asked as he was writing the orders his master made.

"Not yet. Maybe Schneizel wants me to start panicking like this. He might use it to start chaos,
especially if he has F.L.E.I.J.A… I want our reserves to be alerted as well. Fill up the Nemesis, I
want it to be fully operational for the next 72 hours nonstop." As Lelouch finished ordering, at
least for now, Alfred respectfully nodded before leaving them alone.

Lelouch returned to his throne and took a deep breath. C.C could see that he was exhausted from
that call. He needed rest, it wasn't good for the Emperor to be in such a condition. The witch knew
what her warlock was capable of when he was desperate. C.C would have loved to comfort him,
but she also knew there was something she needed to say as well.

"Lelouch-"

"I can't believe it." Lelouch interrupted her, he sounded hurt. "Nunnally is alive. She is alive, C.C.
But why does it have to be like this? Why is she with them? Why? Is this punishment for
everything I did? If it so-"

"Lelouch!"

Her warlock stared at her with surprise, she rarely raised her voice. C.C placed her hand on his
shoulder as she called him. The witch saw the look of despair on his face. She bit her lip, he needed
to hear it.

"I need to tell you something important. It is about Nunnally." his violet eyes stared at her, waiting.
C.C sighed, this was hard. "...I knew that she was alive."

Silence.

Neither of them said anything but for C.C this was even worse. The silence continued for a few
moments but to her, it felt like an eternity. She could see how his eyes went wide, he opened his
mouth as fear formed on his face. She knew this was going to happen, but C.C continued to hope
for the best. Lelouch asked only one question.

"What?"

C.C took a deep breath before she started.

"Back in Moscow, D.S told me about… she told me about how her power allowed her to see the
different possibilities. Because of her power, she saw that Nunnally was alive all this time and was
with Schneizel and his people. Your sister was alive all this time but with the enemy." C.C told it
slowly, making sure to notice every change on her warlock's face. "She told me everything and we
decided to keep it a secret from you for the time being."

"But why? Why didn't you tell me anything?"

He sounded betrayed and C.C knew why. They were partners, they were the closest people in this
world. There shouldn't be any lies or secrets between them. And yet, C.C lied to him. Lelouch had
all right to be angry with her but he wasn't. He was hurt, he felt crushed and C.C couldn't take it.
She lowered her head.

'I knew this was going to happen but I did it for your safety. I did it for you, Lelouch.'
"C.C speak to me. Why did you and D.S do it?" Lelouch asked again but C.C didn't know how to
answer. "Cera?"

"Because we were worried about how you might react to it, Lelouch." Both turned towards the
new voice. D.S looked at them with a sad look on her face as she entered the office. Lelouch rose
up from his throne and walked towards D.S.

"Explain yourself, D.S. What is the point of all these lies?! Why didn't you tell me about it back
when we met?" Lelouch shouted as he looked around. "You said Collective Unconscious owes me
a debt. Is this how 'God' is treating a person who saved it?! Nunnally is alive but apparently, I'm
the last person who learned about it."

"Collective Unconscious wants you to win, but I want you to survive no matter what, Lelouch. The
fact about Nunnally is that we didn't know what you would do. Both I and C.C were afraid you
might react badly. We decided to deal with it ourselves. That you might endanger your life again
because of your sister."

Lelouch glared at her. "D.S, my life belongs to me and I will do as I please. Neither you nor anyone
else can dictate to me what to do. I won't allow others to control my life anymore." He said slowly,
his voice is full of venom. "If I decide that I must die to achieve my goals, I will do it without
hesitation. And you have no right to stop me."

C.C froze when she heard it. The memories about the potential future she was told about, started to
play out in her mind. The Zero Requiem. How her Lelouch allowed himself to be killed by his best
friend. The witch looked at her warlock with fear. 'No, I won't allow it.'

"I don't need backstabbers in my ranks, D.S. You and I made a deal. I thought I could trust you.
C.C, I thought I-"

When Lelouch turned towards his witch, he froze. In front of him was standing his green-haired
partner, but the emperor saw something he had never seen before on her face. Tears. C.C, the witch
who lived for centuries, the annoying pizza lover who wasted his money like it was nothing was
crying. Both D.S and Lelouch were taken back by it. Neither ever expected to see this side of the
immortal code bearer. Her gold eyes looked at him with tears as she spoke.

He said nothing, his anger left him, now replaced with concern. D.S didn't know what to do, this
was unexpected. Lelouch on another hand, without words, closed the distance between himself and
his lover. Lelouch opened his mouth but nothing came out, instead, he only hugged her. It didn't
stop her tears as she pressed her head against his chest. With a quiet voice, she whispered.

"I don't want you to die, Lelouch."

"Cera-"

"I've been alone all this time. I stopped feeling anything until I met you." her gold eyes stared at his
violet ones. This was the first time when he saw her like this, scared. "I don't want to lose you,
Lelouch."

Lelouch said nothing and only continued to hold her. He was silent for a time being before
glancing at the third person in the room. With a calm voice, he asked.

"You said you two wanted to fix it without me knowing." She slowly nodded, Lelouch continued.
"What have you done until now?"

"Do you remember Miss X? The one Zevon boy talked about?" After he nodded, D.S added. "I
recruited her to be my spy inside Schneizel's forces...We wanted to use her to find Nunnally."

"And then?"

"...We didn't decide on what to do with her yet." She didn't say it but Lelouch immediately
understood what she meant. He said nothing, trying to suppress the emotions inside him. He
needed to be calm and think rationally.

"Very well. I want a full report by tomorrow morning, D.S. And this time don't leave out anything."
She nodded, she wasn't going to hide the truth from Lelouch anymore. Both she and C.C now could
see how it affected him. "Now, please give me and C.C some privacy...We need to speak."

She said nothing and did what he asked. However, on her way out, D.S added.

"Lelouch, you can hate us for our lie. But C.C and I did it because we both care about you. We did
it to ensure you will live on," She slightly smiled. "I'm sorry for my actions but I'm not sorry for
my intentions."

Once the door behind her closed, Lelouch turned to his witch. She didn't raise her head, still
pressing it against his chest. Lelouch slowly put his hand under her chin and gently raised it. Violet
met gold as Lelouch stared at her eyes.

When they just met, these eyes were cold and uninterested in anything. Now, Lelouch could see an
ocean of emotions inside them. Once a distant witch was now at his arm, crying. Lelouch would
have smiled if not for the situation. With a warm tone, he spoke.

"I remember our deal, C.C. I promised to make you smile. I want to make you feel emotions again.
I like to think I'm succeeding in it, but-" Lelouch gently wiped the tears from her face. "I never had
intentions of making you cry, my witch."

She said nothing, her eyes never leaving his. Lelouch could feel how she was in turmoil. She
lowered her head again.

"I don't want to lose you, Lelouch. I don't care about anything else. I just want you to live."

"And you are ready to hide the truth from me?"

"Yes." C.C said without hesitation." I will lie if it means keeping you alive. Lelouch, I-I-I can't do
it anymore. If something happens to you, I won't be able to go on anymore."

"C.C..."

"Lelouch, tell me something. Did you ever consider something like Zero Requiem?"

He froze. C.C felt like her heart was stabbed. Lelouch thought about it, maybe even planned at
some point but didn't do it. At least not yet. With a trembling voice, she whispered.

"Don't tell me-"

"When you, Suzaku and I left World C, I thought about something. After killing my parents I
realised how rotten our world is. Where people like Charles and V.V can do unspeakable things
without consequences. I wanted to change it. At that time, I had two options." Lelouch remembered
that night. It was just a few months ago, but to him, it felt like five years. "I could either go and
conquer this world and rule it until my death. Making sure my successors will continue my work
and keep this world safe. Or, I could go the Zero Requiem route, becoming the enemy of everyone.
Force people to fear and hate me for generations to come. Before being slain by the hand of the
masked hero."

"Why? Why did you even think something like that? Sacrificing your own life like that?!"

"Because if it means achieving my goals, I'm willing to ditch my life, morale or feelings. I never
wanted to see my loved ones in pain, and yet, I only cause more suffering to those around me. So
many died because of me...Maybe I just wanted to escape this pain? Maybe I became like your past
self." Lelouch asked her and C.C froze. "Maybe I just became tired of everything. And the death
seemed to me like the only way out."

"Never say it again. I beg you. I was seeking death because I didn't have anything to live for. I
never had family, my friends would die and leave me behind."

"And my friends died because of me, C.C. Even Nunnally is now my enemy. She was the meaning
of my life for so long. And now, she wants to fight me. To destroy everything I worked for."

"She is a child who is confused and afraid, Lelouch. She doesn't want to fight you more than you
want to fight her. She might have been your motivation but you have outgrown it. Now, you have
other things to fight and live for."

"Like what?"

"Your friends, your loved ones, the future you want to create." She placed her hand on his cheek.
"Me? I know I'm selfish, but if it means keeping my love alive, I'll become your reason to live,
Lelouch."

Lelouch was silent, he stared at her face, thinking about all of this. C.C lied to him, she and D.S
both did. Nunnally was alive and he didn't know it. They said it was for his sake, but what right did
they have to keep something like this from him? He was her brother, the one person who cared
about her more than anyone else. However, wasn't it hypocritical of him? Lelouch himself lied to
keep people he cared about safe. Student council, Suzaku, and Nunnally herself. Lelouch kept
secrets from them for as long as possible but in the end, the truth was revealed. They learned about
his identity as Zero, about Geass, about everything he did. They left him, became his enemies.

Everyone but C.C. His witch never left him, never betrayed him. She kept her own skeletons that
she didn't want to talk about. The truth behind his mother's death, the true plans of Charles, she
knew it but never told him. However, he didn't care. Lelouch didn't care about her secrets, he didn't
leave her back in Geass Order, he didn't leave her to Mao. He changed their deal, made them
partners and promised to make her smile. And now, she did so because, like Lelouch, she wanted to
keep a person she cared about safe. C.C didn't want him to die, she never wanted it.

"I've lived alone for too long. I've seen empires rise and fall, while I was never able to die.
Everyone I knew died while I continued to live... I stopped caring about the world around me. My
only dream was to finally end it all. To get rid of my code and..." C.C stopped when she saw the
look in his eyes. Lelouch didn't want to hear it, being reminded of her old desire. "...But then I met
you. The insane boy who wanted to destroy his own homeland. I found you amusing. I thought you
were a fool who would get himself killed one way or another but I decided to stay with you. I
started to feel things I have forgotten about. I was no longer just curious about you but completely
absorbed by your plans. You stopped being just another means to the end. I started to see us as
partners. And now-" C.C looked at him. "I love you, Lelouch. I love you and I'm afraid because I
might lose you."

"Heh, I remember how one witch told me something about not saying obvious things back in
Moscow," Lelouch smirked but C.C didn't look fazed.

"I don't care about that anymore. I will say it millions of times if it means you won't put your life in
danger. Lelouch, I know how you feel about Nunnally. About how I and D.S kept it a secret from
you. I could feel the pain you felt when your sisters spoke with you. I felt your anger, your fear as
you talked with Nunnally. I know I shouldn't have lied to you, but I did it for your sake. Hate me if
you want, but it won't stop me from keeping you alive. I can't lose you and I won't allow anything
to take you away from me."

She became silent, waiting for Lelouch to scold her or order to take her away. C.C hurt him with
her actions and she knew it. However, she didn't care about any punishment, her resolve won't be
changed no matter what.

'If Lelouch hates me, I will endure it. As long as he is alive, I'm happy.' C.C thought about it but
deep down she was afraid that he might stop loving her. She knew it was selfish but the idea of her
warlock hating her was painful. Still, if it was her punishment for lies, she will accept them, no
matter how it hurt her heart,

Instead, her warlock remained silent. He slowly moved away from her and walked towards his
table.

"After what happened tonight, there is a lot of work to be done. We will need to prepare for
whatever Nunnally and Schneizel will throw at us."

C.C blinked in confusion.

"We?"

"Yes, C.C. We." Lelouch rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb, witch. I can handle many things but I
still need you by my side."

"But I-I lied to you!"

"And?" Lelouch asked with a raised eyebrow, she wanted to scream. Why was her warlock so
casual about it?!" You lied to me tonight and so what? You said nothing to me about my parents
and it didn't change our relationships."

"But this is about Nunnally. Aren't you angry? Shouldn't you hate me?" Lelouch looked at her with
a surprised look.

"I'm angered by the situation and irritated by the fact my lovers kept something this important as a
secret. But I will never hate you, C.C. Nor, should it change my relationship with D.S. She and I
have our own deal." Lelouch said as he sat on the throne. "Granted, I'm still angry at both of you
and you won't get off so easily. But it won't change the way I feel about you. After all, aren't you're
my witch-"

"And you're my warlock." C.C didn't notice how she smiled.

"And nothing will change that. Now, my little sister might be alive but I will not allow Nunnally to
crush my plans. This world is mine and I will make everyone see it as such. Doesn't matter who
stands against me. The Black Knights, my old friend or even my sister. As long as we're together,
nothing will stop us. Now, my witch, we have to prepare and plan our next move. Does my little
sister want to fight me? Very well." Lelouch smirked darkly.

"Then we should show her what happens when you challenge the Demon."
 Confession

August 9. Pendragon. The Royal Palace.

Last night's banquet ended pretty well, despite the sudden leave of the Emperor. After His Majesty
and his green-haired advisor left the guests, the night continued in the same calm atmosphere.
However, with the celebration over, it was time to return to important business. And that's why the
Knights of The Round found themselves inside the war room.

There was an intense silence inside the chamber as the knights glanced at each other with a
confused look. They weren't alone there; in fact, Princess Marrybell and Lady Leila were present as
well, both in their official uniforms now. No one knew the true purpose of why they were called
there. They were all waiting for Lelouch.

Well, except for Peter who after the last night wasn't fully sober. The First Knight wished he was
closer to his old friend to not so gently 'remind' him where he was, but Cinder was sitting between
them. Arthur looked at him with concern while Bishop sighed with disappointment. At least Arthur
was there to help him keep an eye on Peter. The old knight sent a knowing look to the young
Reaper.

The Knight of One looked around the rectangular table. Neither Cinder nor Arthur had any idea
why they were summoned by the Emperor. He glanced at the Princess and Advisor Malcal but it
was obvious they didn't either. The only person who might have had the idea was the dealer of
their intelligence, Dianna or D.S as she preferred, and the girl with unusual hair was tired. One look
at the bags under her eyes was enough to see. The last person was the maid, last Sayoko. The only
Japanese person there was silent and didn't move, patiently waiting for her lord to join them.
Bishop wondered if it was related to the reason why their Emperor called them. Didn't help the fact
that last night the security around the palace was doubled.

They would get their answer sooner rather than later as the huge golden doors opened and Lelouch
walked in. The White Emperor was escorted by the captain of his royal guard and loyal pizza-
lover. Jeremiah and C.C. were standing on his left and right side respectfully. Everyone
immediately stood up and was about to bow when their Emperor stopped them. He gestured for
them to take a seat before he took his place at the head of the table.

Once again there was silence as everyone waited for him to speak. The Emperor said nothing and
slowly eyed everyone at the table. Bishop could feel that everyone was on edge, except for Peter
looked like he might fall asleep any second. This continued for a few moments before their leader
finally spoke.

"I'm sure all of you are confused about why I called you today. First, I should apologize for forcing
you to return to service so early."

Bishop cleared his throat before he spoke. "Your Majesty, we all understood the gravity of the
situation." Something serious happened last night, it was obvious to everyone in the room. "We're
your subjects and will answer your call anytime."

Lelouch gave him a small smile.

"I'm pleased to hear that. Hmm, before we move to the main topic of the day, I feel like I should
share a few things with you." He looked down. "Last night was supposed to be the time we all can
relax and celebrate our achievements...and yet someone decided to ruin the mood. I received a call
from interfering individuals. My siblings, Schneizel and Cornelia."

Everyone tensed. The former prime minister and the wanted prince called them like this? This was
suspicious. Even Peter became interested.

"Did they call to congratulate you? Oh, how sweet of them." He laughed and Bishop sighed again.
Princess Marrybell was the second to voice her thoughts.

"This is strange. Brother Schneizel and sister Cornelia wouldn't call so casually unless they wanted
something."

Her beloved brother nodded.

"You're right, Marry. Our enemies demanded that I step down and give up the throne to the true
Empress or I will face consequences." Lelouch chuckled.

The reactions from these present were immediate. Bishop land Jeremiah looked furious while
Cinder just laughed at such a stupid proposition. Leila thought of it as nothing more than an empty
threat. However, both she and Marrybel quickly noticed something.

"Wait, empress? As in a princess, Cornelia demands a throne for herself?" Arthur was confused.
Peter smirked.

"Or this Schneizel guy decided to make some changes and cut something off." Peter chuckled.

"Doesn't matter. How dare these traitors to question the rule of master Lelouch? This is a crime
punishable by death." Jeremiah said as he crossed his hands. Royalty or not, they were enemies of
his lord. Their fate was sealed.

Lelouch looked at them with a melancholic expression. If only it was so simple. C.C looked at him
with concern, silently she took his hand and squeezed it. Her warlock gave her a small smile. The
White Emperor opened his mouth, and his next words made everyone freeze.

"They want me to hand the throne to my little sister, Nunnally vi Britannia. Apparently, little
Nunnally didn't die back in Tokyo. But instead of calling me to celebrate it, Nunnally announced
herself as the true ruler of Britannia and declared war against me. Quite ludicrous, isn't it?"

Silence once again fell on everyone. But this time it was different. The reactions he received were
predictable. Arthur looked confused. Leila had a surprised look but quickly started to think about
how it might complicate everything. So did Cinder, who was busy trying to come up with a
possible solution on how to solve this issue. The issue might be similar to an accident back in
Moscow, the Knight of Two couldn't allow anything to stop her master.

"N-Nunnally is alive?" Marry looked heartbroken. However, Jeremiah, Bishop and Sayoko had the
worst reaction.

For two knights who swore to serve and protect the vi Britannia line, this revelation was like a stab
in the heart. Not only have they falsely believed the princess had died but it turns out she joined
their enemies and was fighting against their master, her brother.

Sayoko didn't say anything, but tears started to collect in her eyes. However, these were tears of
happiness. Her young mistress was alive, she might be on the wrong side but Lady Nunnally was
alive. The maid couldn't believe it, the girl who was part of her family was alive after
all...However, she also understood the main problem.
"And now we have princess Nunnally to worry about as well," D.S said with a sigh. Lelouch
nodded.

"This isn't easy to take in, I understand. But it doesn't change the fact that Nunnally declared war
on us, to me. And I'm not going to sit down and give up my empire just because my little sister
asked for it." Lelouch said with a cold tone. Everyone was silent until Sayoko asked with a fearful
tone.

"Master Lelouch, do you mean-"

"Yes, Sayoko. If Nunnally wants war, she will get it." Lelouch knew this won't be easy for her. To
Sayoko, Nunnally was still a child. The same kind little girl who asked the maid how to make
origami for her big brother. She couldn't believe that someone like Nunnally could do anything like
that.

"But-but, your majesty. She is your little sister." Lelouch glanced at Bishop who had problems
accepting it.

"And? She is collaborating with traitors and wants to undo everything we did until now. Something
I won't allow. As far as I'm concerned, the only sister who still matters to me is sitting here." He
eyed Marrybell. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but feel touched by his words. But even
Marry had a hard time accepting this.

"Lelouch, you're my brother and emperor, I will follow you no matter what, but this… Are you
sure? This is Nunnally we're talking about. The same Nunnally from our childhood." While Marry
wasn't too close to the vi Britannia siblings, she loved both of them anyway. Among all Royal
members, Lelouch and Nunnally were among few who welcomed Marrybell and her little sister
with open arms. "You and I both knew how it is like to lose little sisters. But now that you know
Nunnally is alive, you can get her back. I know how much she means to you."

Marrybell wasn't naive. She knew that conflict against Schneizel and Cornelia was inevitable, she
was ready to fight them. But Nunnally was a different matter. Marry looked around the table, she
could see that First Knight of The Round and Captain Gottwald shared her thoughts. However,
Lelouch had a different view on this.

"Indeed, she is my little sister and that means she is my responsibility, she always was. I failed to
protect her from F.L.E.I.J.A, because of that I believe she was dead. But now I see it was a
mistake...However, it will not change my mind. She is just another enemy and will be defeated. I
know some of you don't agree with it, but this must be done if we want to achieve a peaceful
world."

Lelouch looked around. It wasn't hard to see who was unhappy with this decision. Jeremiah, Bishop
and Sayoko were supposed to protect the Lamperouge siblings but now their Lord was asking them
to fight his own sister. Marrybell was troubled but unlike the two zealous knights and a ninja maid,
deep down Marry understood that she wouldn't change her brother's mind. Others had an easier
time going along with this. For them, it was a shock but nothing that should change the direction.
However, the only one who was concerned with a different matter was Peter as he silently eyed his
best friend.

"Jeremiah, Bishop, Sayoko," Lelouch called his most loyal subjects. "I know how you might feel.
I'm not going to force you to do something you don't desire but know that my decision won't be
changed...However, don't be mistaken. I'm not thirsty for my sister's blood. Should Nunnally
surrender or be captured alive, she will be convicted and imprisoned but nothing beyond that."
This made them feel easier. For the three of them fighting Nunnally won't be easy but as long as
they know their master will let her live, they will breathe easily. However, the rest of the present
there didn't have the same problem. While others didn't desire to spill her blood either, many of
them understood how dangerous it might be to leave this problem unsolved.

Everyone knew Britannian history and how stable the empire was at a time of crisis similar to this.
The last civil war that allowed Charles to rise to the throne was one of the bloodiest events in the
history of Britannia. Inner fighting between Royals always left an ugly mark on the nation, not to
mention outside forces that will love to use this opportunity. It went without saying that Black
Knights and their Federation were the most worrying foe for the Empire.

"Right now our empire is united and powerful but one wrong move might shatter everything. Only
one rival stands before Britannia to be the sole power on this planet. Many fear that war between
our empire and the Federation is inevitable. Depending on what my siblings will do, this might be
true." Everyone understood the gravity of the situation. The conflict with the dying European
Union was akin to putting down an ill lion, its days of glory were over. However, a full out war
with the UFN will be nothing like that. "At times like this, it is important to be organized and trust
each other if we want...But in that case, we're already weakened since I wasn't completely honest
with you."

"What do you mean, your majesty?" Bishop asked with a worried voice.

The White Emperor looked at those who knew his history, the truth behind Lelouch vi Britannia
and the former leader of Black Knights, Zero. Jeremiah and Sayoko were taken aback but decided
to stay still and trust their lord. D.S looked surprised but smirked, she expected this to come up
sooner or later. Cinder's eyes went wide as the quick shock of realization formed on her face, she
understood what Lelouch was implying but couldn't understand why her Emperor decided to share
his most important secrets. The last person to learn about his history, Leila thought it was the best
course of actions. Since Schneizel already knew about it and used this trick once, it would be better
to make sure the accident with Black Knights won't repeat. His witch gave him a look of
reassurance, they already talked over it.

Lelouch took a deep breath before starting his tale.

"My knights, sister, there is a story you must hear. A story about how I tried to fight my father
before I took his life and throne. A story about how I started the Order that now covers half of the
continent. About how I decided to unite and lead people who were conquered by Charles
Britannia, about how I took the lives of my siblings. About the power that gave me a chance to
change the world."

At first, those who didn't know the truth raised their eyebrows. But the more he spoke, the more
they began to understand. Many emotions started to form inside them. Now, they knew. Lelouch
saw it, he expected it and was ready. The White Emperor chuckled.

"Let's start from the beginning so you will understand why I took the mask, why I became Zero."

Unknown location.

Nunnally couldn't see but she could feel the uneasy aura in the room. Many were silent, one could
even hear their breathing if they concentrated, but she felt their doubts about this plan, about her.
Their eyes were studying her, still unsure how to feel about her. Nunnally looked down. She knew
she wasn't as strong as the rest of her family. She was chosen for this position because she was the
safest option. She understood that this was all part of the plan to stop Lelouch.
She was sitting in her wheelchair before two giant rows of people, all waiting for her to say a word.
The huge official room was full of former Knights of The Round, soldiers and people who didn't
kneel before Lelouch. Many of them were loyal to her father, some of them tried to stop and kill her
brother. Nunnally knew that now Lelouch was her enemy, these people were her allies and yet she
could feel that they didn't trust her with this position. Can she blame them? She, a little crippled
girl who has been protected since her childhood. Now she was supposed to lead them in a fight
against Lelouch and his Britannia.

She could feel Suzaku among the crowd but he couldn't comfort her. Nunnally couldn't see him but
she was sure he was standing among the other knights, like them, he was waiting for her to say
anything.

Nunnally felt a soft touch and immediately realized who it belonged to. She smiled at Cornelia's
action but even now the blind princess sensed the doubt. A bitter smile formed on her face.

'Even big sister Cornelia is unsure...They don't believe in me.'

Her hands were shaking but Nunnally took a deep sigh before she spoke.

"T-he warriors of Britannia-! I'm Nunnally vi Britannia, the daughter of Marianne vi Britannia and
Charles zi Britannia. I was chosen to lead you in our battle against my brother, self-proclaimed
emperor Lelouch vi Britannia. Please, lend me your strength and I should lead you to victory-!"

Silence, none of them said a word. They continued to stare at her, their doubt only increased.
Nunnally froze in her wheelchair, unsure what to do now. However, these doubts were gone the
moment the new figure walked inside the room. The door opened as Schneizel entered. Nunnally
could imagine how everyone stopped paying her attention and turned towards her brother. He gave
them a small smile before walking towards and standing on her right side.

"Dear knights of the round. I know that many of you have questions about our decision. About the
course of actions we have decided to take but do not worry. Everything that is happening is for the
sake of bringing back Britannia which you swore to serve and protect. The same nation that is
currently under my brother's unworthy control. Right now the fate of our homeland and the entire
world is at stake. Lelouch is possessing the unnatural power that allows him to take over Britannia
and do as he pleases. Today we will officially declare our opposition and ask the people of
Britannia to side with us. Lelouch is a usurper, one we do not recognize as the true Emperor. For
we already have a rightful monarch." Schneizel said as he turned towards her and bowed. "The
Empress who will lead us, in this crusade, Nunnally vi Britannia!"

The surety of doubt and uneasiness was gone, replaced by confidence and fighting spirit. And yet,
she wasn't the one who inspired them like this. It was Schneizel who made them believe in it, not
her.

'Can I even do this? I know my role but if these people were doubting me, how will I convince the
rest of Britannia and follow me?'

"Nunnally, it is time." Her thoughts were interrupted by Schneizel.

Nunnally nodded as the new person joined them. Diethard Ried, a former head of intelligence of
Black Knights, defected after the 'death' of Zero. Nunnally didn't like this man. The former reporter
was giving her a deceiving aura. Like the rest of Black Knights, this man betrayed her brother but
decided to join Schneizel. That's what was concerning her. Like many others, Diethard was there
because of either Schneizel and Cornelia, not her. While she knew her place, Nunnally also
understood that these people won't listen to her unless either of her older siblings will order so.
A bitter feeling formed inside the little princess. Last night, during her conversation with Lelouch,
many things were said. She declared herself as his enemy, demanding he surrender to avoid
unnecessary bloodshed. She was called the True Empress and yet her brother only laughed and
asked who is really in control. No, he didn't even ask and just started to speak with Schneizel.
Lelouch called her a puppet, a tool used by others. She didn't want to believe in it. But now, when
she could see the difference between how people treated her and Schneizel, Nunnally was having
second thoughts.

Nunnally vi Britannia felt doubt in her heart but she couldn't do anything other than follow
Schneizel's plan. Follow someone else… huh, the more she thought about it the more she felt like
Lelouch was right about one thing yesterday.

"Smile, Your Majesty.," Diethard smirked as he prepared the camera. "In a few seconds, the entire
world will hear you."

'Even if Lelouch is right, it doesn't mean that will stop me. I-we should stop him and I don't care
what role I should play...and yet, this feels wrong.'

Pendragon. The Royal Palace.

The dead silence filled the room. None of these who were present dared to move or utter any word.
All were still in a state of shock from what they were told. After all, it wasn't every day you learned
your leader was the person who created the biggest enemy of your nations since the days of
Napoleon.

Their White Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia, was Zero, the Man of Miracles and leader of the Black
Knights.

He told them everything. Starting from the day he received this mystical power, Geass and ending
it with his coronation. He didn't hold back anything, speaking about how he created the Order of
Black Knights and how he started a revolution in order to destroy Britannia. Lelouch told them
about how he killed two of his siblings. That he was the one who should be blamed for the
Euphemia Massacre. About the true intentions of Charles and V.V… including the true fate of
Marriane vi Britannia and her secret.

How can anyone comprehend this information?! Not only have they learned their emperor created
their biggest rival but also has some sort of magic that allows him to control people. The last part
was most concerning to some of them.

However, among the expected reactions of shock, there was one who started to scheme. Cinder
was among those who knew everything even before Lelouch shared it with others. She was his
White Queen and was given the privilege to learn the truth before ours but at the moment she was
a concern. Not about hearing the full story, Cinder already knew some parts of it. No, what
worried the second knight was the dangerous possibility this revelation could bring.

Even now, she could see the fear in the eyes of Arthur and how Princess Marrybell still had
problems accepting the truth. However, the one reaction she was looking for was of the Knight of
One, Bishop. The old knight covered his face with his hands as he looked down. It was obvious
which part of the story affected him the most. Being a fan of Marriane vi Britannia, it wasn't hard to
imagine how he felt about learning the truth behind her 'death'.

Surprisingly, the Knight of Three, Peter showed less shock or any negative reaction. He was
surprised and some parts of the story actually made him invested but overall his main concern was
the state of his best friend. Cinder had come to the conclusion that after learning the truth,
whatever direction Bishop might choose, Peter will follow his old friend.

Whatever issues they might have with the Lelouch's truth, Cinder didn't share them. She made up
her mind the day she was recruited by her emperor and wasn't about to back down. Should her
fellow Knights of The Round rebel, she will act and protect her Emperor. The White Queen had
her own reasons to trust Lelouch no matter what. Still, she would prefer to avoid the worst
scenario. And she was sure the others felt the same. One look at Lelouch's most loyal agents was
enough to see that they had the same idea. Both the cyborg bodyguard and the deadly maid will act
if necessary but at the same time, they know that acting without orders is forbidden in such a
situation.

"I can see that it isn't easy to accept what I just said. And I'm sure you all have questions." Lelouch
started since no one could break the silence. "In that case, I'm ready to answer all of them."

Arthur and Marrybell glanced at each other, waiting for another to start first. Seconds later, the
princess was first to speak.

"Your majesty-Lelouch. I can see that some people already knew about your past in Japan."

He nodded. "Indeed. It is obvious that C.C. knew everything from the start but besides her
Jeremiah, Sayoko, Cinder, D.S and Leila were informed as well." Marry narrowed her eyes as she
looked at the Second Knight of The Round.

"May I ask those who already know. How do you feel about it?" Marry eyes never left Cinder. "I
have conflicted thoughts about all of it but first I want to know how others felt about it."

"Well, my first reaction was a shock, followed by fear but I was interested as well. After all, it's not
every day you learn about something like this and proposes to join the new system. The Geass part
was frightening at first but ultimately I was more excited to learn about its existence. His Majesty's
past as Zero didn't make me suspect him at all, in fact, it only made the working proposition all
more intriguing." Cinder smirked.

"Intriguing?" Marry asked with a confused tone. "Can you please elaborate it, Lady Fall?"

"Serving under the man who killed and destroyed everything I hated would have been enough for
me, but learning that Emperor Lelouch was fighting old Britannia for so long is quite breathtaking.
I won't miss the former emperor or his regime, so working to change it and crush the old nobility
was everything I wanted...Besides, I got even more than I wanted." Marry bit her lip at Cinder's
lustful smile but moved on.

"And what about you, lady Malcal? How does the Messiah of Europe feel about the worst enemy
of Britannia being its Emperor?" Leila bitterly smiled.

"Heh, I could never get used to this title. But if you want to know, princess Marrybell, I will
answer. Before I made an alliance with Lelouch, I shared Zero's desire to stop Britannia and its
hegemony. However, my main concern always was and will be the prosperity of the people of
Europe. Lelouch isn't his father and I feel like I can trust him." Leila gave Lelouch a sincere smile.

"And Geass? How do you feel about it?" At Marry's question, Leila tilted her head.

"It is without question the most disturbing part of this story. The power to control minds sounds as
scary as it sounds ridiculous. And yet it exists. Similar to Cinder, I was scared at first but quickly
was able to move past it. I suppose the main reason is that I have a countermeasure to it, but also
because I can trust Lelouch. This entire conversation only proves my choice to trust was earned."

Marrybell tilted her head. "In what way?"

It was C.C. who answered. "Think about it, little princess. Since Lelouch has something like Geass,
why bother to waste time and tell you all about his past." The witch said with a smug expression.
"He could have used it to turn you all into mindless obedient puppets and yet he shared his story.
Something he wouldn't have done before. If that isn't proof that he wants you to follow him
willingly, I don't know what to tell you."

Marry said nothing to her and only turned towards Lelouch.

"Brother is that true?"

"Yes." Lelouch nodded." After what happened with the Order of Black Knights I realized that I
need to be more open with my followers. As C.C said, the option to use Geass was always here but
I didn't want to do it. I want to create a world without wars, a peaceful and gentle future. Using
Geass to force my will on everyone feels wrong. I feel like my father would have done it without
hesitation and that's why I'm afraid to even think about it. I know that it might sound a little
hypocritical coming from me, after all, I used my power multiple times to take away the will of
other people. Only a few times did I feel remorse but only because I knew some of them
personally. Let's not lie to ourselves, I'm not a saint, I kill and am willing to kill if needed but I
realise that mindless slaughter in the name of my dream will make me follow Charles's footprints.
Something I have no desire to do. I will rather die than become like that man."

"Lelouch..." Marry became worried as did others. D.S and Cinder looked at their lover with worry
while C.C placed her hand on top of his.

The former Zero stood up and looked around the table. "Before all of this, I was focused on
avenging my mother. I wanted to kill Charles for everything he did to me and Nunnally but soon I
saw the consequences of my desire for revenge. I lost my friends, loved ones, and everyone who
was with me is now either dead or thinks I'm a monster. Because of my actions, I chased off those
who were there for me. Now I'm Emperor and my actions affect millions. Many times I was told
people trust me because I'm not like my father but the more I hear it, the more afraid I am to repeat
his doing, to follow his madness. Charles thought of himself as a saviour who would rid this world
of lies. The old bastard didn't mind lying to everyone around him, to his brother, to his children, to
his nation. But am I different? I want to create a world without wars, a world where people like my
parents cannot rise to power and harm others… And yet I feel like I'm stepping on the same path
Charles took decades ago. Did I go too far or can I go further? Was he asking himself this question
too?"

Charles was a monster who didn't care about his family. He used and killed anyone who stood in
his way. Even V.V, the brother who shared his fate and desire, was killed the moment he was no
longer useful. Charles wanted to create the world without lies and yet he did nothing but lied to
everyone around. He lied to his family about the death of Marriane, he lied to his nation about his
intentions, he lied to his own brother, his closest ally. Geass allowed him to do unspeakable deeds
and Lelouch was afraid to follow in the same footsteps.

Many could argue that Lelouch was already beyond the point of no return but he will disagree. He
committed atrocities that cannot be justified or forgiven but for as long as Lelouch understands it,
he isn't lost. He could use Geass on everyone and force his vision on people but Lelouch doesn't
want such a world. The White Emperor wants to create a peaceful world by his own means. Geass
is just a tool to deal with the most troublesome groups in the fastest way, like the purebloods.
Lelouch doesn't want it to be the only method to achieve his goal. It will make him no different
from Charles. And yet the possibility of him doing that was still present.

"Marry, let me ask you something. Am I similar to our father?" Lelouch asked with a cold tone
while his sister struggled to answer.

"...No, no you aren't. People might say you and him have many things in common but they will be
wrong. Everyone in the royal family knew that father only thought of us as tools. Princes and
princesses were born to serve him as his tools, not as his children. No one was naive enough to
believe he had any love for us." Marry chuckled. "Being the child of Charles zi Britannia was a
lonely life. And that's the main difference between you two, Lelouch. Ever since childhood, I could
see that you were passionate, your love for Nunnally or Euphemia was proof of that. And yet..."

"And yet I killed the latter while the former is now my enemy." Lelouch grimaced. "Sadly I'm not
an example of the best big brother."

"I disagree," Marry denied confidently. "The revenge wasn't the only thing that motivated you to
fight father and Britannia. Your love for Nunnally and desire to see her happy was a factor as well.
Lelouch, you know that I lost my little sister too. If I was in your position, I would have done the
same. I don't care that you were Zero or that you wanted to destroy Britannia. Many would want
revenge after everything father and the old empire did to them. What matters to me is that you did
it to create a world where your little sister could live happily. If Euliya was alive right now, I
would have done anything to make her happy." Tears formed in her eyes. "As an older sibling
myself I can't judge your actions since I aimed my fury at terrorists as you did at Britannia. Tell
me, Lelouch, how do you feel about Euphemia's death? You already said that you don't seek the
death of Nunnally, but if your hand will be forced, what will you do?"

Others were silent, everyone was interested to learn about it too. The leader was thinking about the
one girl who wanted to solve every problem peacefully, so he and Nunnally could have returned to
her. Euphemia, his first love and the victim of his power. She said she wished to return to old times
when they were a complete family but it was impossible. After everything that happened nothing
could have returned that innocent time. Because of Lelouch, Euphemia and her attempts to bring
peace ended in bloodshed. What about Nunnally then? A child who he protected for years, his little
sister who sheltered from the cruel reality of the world. As her older brother, Lelouch tried his best
to make sure Nunnally would never experience the horrors of war again. And yet he failed at that.
Would he fail with her as he did with Euphemia? Would Nunnally become another victim of his
vision?

He didn't want it.

"... I will never forget the day I killed her. That moment changed everything. On that day, I lost my
sister and my best friend. Euphemia's dream to make Japan a peaceful place where both
Britannians and Japanese could live in peace is something I will create no matter what. I killed her
but I will make sure her dream is achieved no matter what. As for Nunnally...she was part of my
reason to fight the world and now she wants to fight me. I will stop at nothing to achieve my goals,
even if it means fighting her, but I will do everything in my power to avoid a repeat of Euphemia's
fate. Despite everything, Nunnally has no ill intentions or at least so I hope. She is a child who is
protected from the dangers of this world. Like Euphy, she wants peace. She shouldn't suffer a
similar fate. Does this answer satisfy you, Marry?"

"Yes." Marrybell happily smiled. "Despite everything that happened to you, I can still see the same
boy from my childhood. The one who wanted to make his sister happy. Geass or not, I don't care
but I want to help you. I already told you before on the day we had reunited." Marry said as she
bowed. "Command me and I shall strike your enemies."
"Even Nunnally?" Lelouch couldn't help but ask.

"Like you, I will do everything in my power to defeat her without taking her life. Lelouch, you
must understand she feels confused and betrayed. Especially since only Schneizel and Cornelia are
there to comfort her. As her older sister, it is my responsibility to protect her from ill influence,
especially when it is an enemy of the state." She kept her smile. "Lelouch, no matter what will
happen, we will rescue her. You have my word, my dear brother."

Despite her optimism, Lelouch stayed silent. He already promised himself that neither Nunnally
nor anyone else will stop him in his journey. But no matter what he said or promised to himself,
Lelouch couldn't get rid of the small part in his heart that was screaming to save her.

'No, Nunnally is now my enemy. She said herself and if so, she should be treated as such...but I
cannot afford to repeat the accident with Euphemia. I will defeat Nunnally and show her that my
new world is the only possible future for everyone!' At the very least, now he was sure about
Marry. That left only three knights.

"What about you, Sir Arthur? I imagine you have even more questions you want to ask."

The young knight was startled by the question but did his best to calm down. Lelouch made him
into a Knight of The Round because he needed more skilled pilots, but the boy was innocent. As
innocent as soldiers could be, he wasn't a believer in Social Darwinism and didn't desire the blood
of others. He deserved honesty from his lord for every challenge Lelouch made him go through.
Compared to others, Lelouch was completely fine with the possibility of Arthur deciding to
relinquish his title. It would be a shame to lose a knight with good potential but the emperor didn't
want to force soldiers who suffered enough to fight for him if the young knight didn't desire to do
so.

"I-I...When I was private we were told by our superiors about Zero and his Black Knights. At that
time I didn't really care about any of it, just another loud terrorist. It was across the ocean on
another part of the planet, far away from me. But then we saw the news about the Battle of Narita,
about how hundreds of soldiers and civilians were crushed under the mountain. Then the Black
Rebellion. We were told about how Zero killed Britannian people because he wanted to see our
homeland in ruins, our families massacred and everything we believed in destroyed...Is that true,
your majesty?" Arthur asked with a scared tone.

"Yes," Lelouch said simply. "I hated everything about the old Britannia. Its policies, its system, its
ideology, it is the way of existence. I wanted to destroy my homeland. And I did." He said with
mild amusement. "Look around, Sir Arthur. I accomplished what I wanted. Everything I hated
about Britannia is gone, I changed all of it and I intended to do more. You're a good example of
that. You aren't noble or related to nobility in any way. A simple private without any background
becomes the Fourth Knight of The Round because I saw the potential in you. And I still see it, you
can become something more...but if you want to resign, I won't force you to stay. As I mentioned
before, I want all of you to follow me because of your own choice. What is your answer, Sir
Arthur?"

The blonde knight remained silent, he thought about it carefully. Zero was the enemy of the
Empire, someone who killed thousands of Britannian soldiers. Everything Zero did was a result of
Britannian policies in Japan. People wanted their homeland free from tyrants and Arthur
understood that but how many regular privates like him were killed by masked revolutionaries?
And now Zero was sitting in front of Arthur. His Emperor, the man he swore to serve and protect
was the same person who slaughtered sons and daughters of Britannia. This wasn't easy to take in.
But at the same time, Lelouch saved him in Paris. His Majesty made him into a Knight of The
Round, something Arthur could never dream of. As Lord Bishop taught him, knights served their
master no matter what and Arthur made a promise to become the true knight worthy to serve his
master. Emperor Lelouch wanted to destroy Britannia but in the end, he helped more people after
killing emperor Charles. Without nobility and the number systems, millions were able to achieve
more under a new ruler than before. Did the fact that this was achieved by a person who killed
thousands matter? Did it matter if the end result was a peaceful world? If Emperor Lelouch truly
wished to achieve such a world, why shouldn't Arthur support him?

Arthur turned towards his teacher who was still unwilling to face their lord. The young knight was
troubled by sudden revival as well but at the same, he couldn't allow himself to do what Lord
Bishop was doing. Gathering all his confidence, he spoke.

"Y-your majesty, before you picked me up I was a simple private who lost his friends. I have no
connection to Japan or anything that happened there because of Zero. I can't say I will ever miss
Prince Clovis. I understand why people mourn Princess Euphemia and now I understand how you
feel about her, but I didn't swear my loyalty to them or former emperor Charles. I'm your knight. I
swore an oath to you and If you want to make the world into something better, I won't question
your actions or your past. However, I have to say this a lot to take in. Zero, the Black Knights,
Geass. I have no intentions to abandon my position but I will ask for time to collect my thoughts."

Everyone looked at him with amazement, it was truly unusual to see a normally shy knight speak
so courageously. What they didn't know was the fact that Arthur was barely holding this persona.
All of them were staring at him, Arthur was doing his best to not become red from embarrassment
and run away from the room with screams. No, he can't do it! He can't embarrass himself like this
in front of lord Bishop and his Emperor. But after this meeting is over, Arthur won't come out of
his room until everyone will forget about his false bravado!

After the quick surprise from the blonde knight's unexpected speech died down, Lelouch smiled
and motioned for him to take a seat.

"I appreciate your loyalty and your trust in me, Sir Arthur. Do not worry, if you need time I shall
grant it. But be advised, with my siblings making their moves, I might call for your service soon."
Lelouch smiled as Arthur nodded and quickly hid his face from everyone else. Peter was sitting
next to him and couldn't help but ask.

"Hey, Arthur. Where did you get all of this knightly nonsense?" He asked quietly so no one heard
them.

"Lord Bishop made me learn the way knights of old spoke before their lords," Arthur whispered,
his face still covered. Peter hummed before he turned to Lelouch.

"We didn't interact a lot, Lord Thomson. I trusted Bishop with your position and wasn't
disappointed so far. Having cunning and noble knights is always welcomed. However, sometimes
the ruler needs people who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. I want you to know that despite my
desire to change the world, I will require the service of men like you." Every king and emperor
needed executioners, Lelouch wasn't different. Words alone can't get him the world, he needs
people like Peter and Cinder as well. "If you have anything on your mind, feel free to speak."

"Well, I'll be frank, kid. I don't care about your past as Zero or that you have some sort of magic."

"Oh, is that so?" Lelouch raised an eyebrow.

"Yup. Actually, that actually makes my work even cooler. Just think about it! I'm working under
the guy who was banished from his country as a child and survived through war. Years later he had
become a masked revolutionary in a slim costume and created the powerful enemy of his nation,
using his magic like stuff to take over the minds. Only later to take over his homeland that
banished him. And now you're THE Emperor! This all reads like bad fanfiction but damn it! It is
fun!"

Jeremiah narrowed his eyes, not liking that his fellow one-eyed friend was making his master's
tragic life sound like some kind of fiction. Lelouch on another hand agreed with the disrespectful
knight.

'Even I can agree that some parts of my life sound like a plot of a made-up story to entertain
teenagers. Hmm, perhaps in the future someone might even make a movie about me, that will be
fun.' Many people in his empire liked to dig into his past and mad\ke theories about him. It wasn't
too far fetched. Diethard did want to make a documentary about him. 'Actually, now that I think
about it. This might be a good way to get back at the obsessed reporter for his betrayal.'

Peter laughed like a mad man but froze as he realized something. "Wait! You have a mystic force
that allows you to manipulate people. You united people who were looked down upon by self-
entitled assholes from the mainland. You started a war between them and then used the
opportunity to kill people who supported the old system before taking over and declaring yourself
as Emperor." His one eye went wide as he put pieces together. "Do you have a scary cyborg
assassin/general who despite his badassery failed his job multiple times?"

"I'm not scary," Jeremiah complained from his seat, offended at this part. He glanced at Sayoko.
"Right?"

The Japanese maid smiled and tried to comfort the cyborg while Peter had become even more
excited.

"Holy fuck, it is actually a prequel!" Others looked confused at his comment. No one but Arthur
understood him." I'm gonna be honest, kid. I liked you before just because you killed that son of a
bitch Charles but now I actually want to work with you. If only to see how all of it will end." Peter
declared with determination. "But! I will leave the final word to William. He is the one who spoke
up for me so I will see what he has to say." He glanced at his best friend who looked at him with
surprise.

"Peter?" Bishop spoke for the first time since learning the truth. The Knight of One had a problem
understanding his old friend's logic, if Peter had any left that is.

"You heard me right, old bastard. I'm here only because you didn't leave me to rot in Alcatraz. If
you leave, so will I. No point staying here if I can't annoy you." The one-eyed man said with a
smirk. "You put me in so many shitty life-threatening situations that now I have some kind of
Stockholm syndrome. Can't leave you alone anymore."

Bishop said nothing but one could see how corners of lips were slightly raised. He quickly coughed
before he turned towards his Emperor. William and Lelouch stared at each other. The White
Emperor knew why his first knight was troubled by.

"You loved my mother," Lelouch said the obvious. Bishop sadly nodded.

"Compared to the rest of backstabbing and deceiving knights of the round at that time, Marianne
was a breath of fresh air. She was unlike anyone else. She was both deadly in combat and elegant
in daily life. I wasn't the only one who was captured by her charm but her heart was taken by the
man who didn't deserve a woman like her...Or at least so I thought."
"Sir Bishop-"

"I always knew that she was killed because of Charles' doing but to learn that Marianne was
assassinated by her brother-in-law because of jealousy. This is wrong. Even worse, the fact that she
had this Geass and was hiding inside the body of the little girl. Master Lelouch do you understand
what this means?!" William asked with a horrifying realization. "All those years she was alive
while you and lady Nunnally were hiding in another county. She was alive and with Charles while
you were in Japan, surviving on your own through war and in the nation that hated you. It means
she did nothing to protect you two when your life was in constant danger. That isn't the Lady
Marianne whom I loved and respected. I-I don't know what to think anymore." Bishop lowered his
head in defeat. "I attempted to kill Charles while she was alive. She probably knew why I did this,
and yet she didn't care about her own children while I went to prison because of you and Princess
Nunnally."

The assembled knights and others were silent, they didn't know what to say to the old knight.
Bishop was ready to die for the sake of a woman who didn't bother to care about her own children.
Peter silently patted his friend on the back. Lelouch's face was neutral. The time when he cared
about Marianne is long gone. For him, that woman was no better than Charles and deserved her
fate, but he could see how much she meant to Bishop. And not to him alone.

"Master Lelouch, If I may." Jeremiah, someone who worshipped his mother as well asked. His
master nodded and the loyal cyborg turned towards the Knight of One. "Lord Bishop, I understand
how you feel right now. After the supposed death of lady Marrianne, I was confused and lost. I
didn't know what to do anymore. Neither Prince Lelouch nor Princess Nunnally were there, so I
couldn't protect them either. For years I lived for the sake of her memory. It was like that until fate
gave me the chance to serve the vi Britannia line again. I swore a new oath to Master Lelouch and I
was ready to die for him. I'm still ready to do it."

"But what about Marianne's Gea-"

Jeremiah interrupted Bishop. "The lady Marianne I respected and loved died ten years ago in her
house. The one who was slain by Master Lelouch was nothing more than her ghost, perverted by
Charles and his mad thirst for power. I won't allow it to affect my loyalty to my lord in any way. If
anything, Master Lelouch put her to rest for the last time. That's what I believe in anyway."

After what happened in C's world, Jeremiah was told everything. Lelouch still remembered that
moment. The Orange Knight was shocked but not once did he question his lord or his plans.
Jeremiah remained loyal to him despite everything.

'I killed the one whom he loved and yet he still follows me. After everything that happened between
us, Jeremiah decided to continue serving me. Huh, I feel like a knight like him is wasted on a lord
like me.' For his service, Gottwald deserves nothing but the highest honour. Lelouch was confident
that the cyborg knight wouldn't ask for anything from him, but it was still within his responsibility
to reward him.

Returning to Bishop, the first knight glanced from the royal captain to Peter and then to Lelouch.

"Are you fine with this, Your Majesty? Can I continue to respect the memory of Lady Marianne
who died all these years ago? Can I continue to hold that image of her in high regard?" He asked
with an unsure, pleading tone. Lelouch thought about it before speaking.

"Do you want to? Even after learning the truth?" Lelouch asked.

Bishop hesitated. "I-...your mother inspired me in the past, when I was lost she showed me the
way. This truth is changing my perspective of her. But deep down, I want to believe the Lady
Marriane I respected was true, even if only for some time. That Marriane the Flash wasn't just a lie
and that there was a time when she was a noble soul." his eyes stared at Lelouch. "Do I have a right
to believe in this lie, your majesty?

"I can't think of my mother in the same way anymore. As you said before, she knew and did
nothing to protect me and Nunnally when we were in danger. Such a person doesn't deserve the
right to be called a parent or love of her children. But I understand that both you and Jeremiah
loved her. Personally, I don't want to encourage it." Surprisingly, both C.C and Peter nodded. "But
if Marianne the Flash was a woman worthy of the respect of true knights like you and Jeremiah, I
won't forbid you two to respect the memory of a dead person."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. For allowing this old knight to keep this part of memory." Bishop
bowed." As Lord Jeremiah said, I cannot allow it to affect my own loyalty to you. I was chosen as
the First Knight of The Round and I shall carry this honour with pride. I care not about my liege's
past, I cannot judge you for revolting against your bastard father since I tried it too but failed. And I
don't care about something like Geass to make me question my oath to you, Your Majesty."

"So, does it mean we have an understanding?" Lelouch asked with an excited tone as a devilish
smile formed on his face.

He received his answer when Bishop rose up from his seat and knelt before Lelouch. The rest of
the knights did the same.

"We're the Knights of The Round Table, chosen by Your Majesty to carry your will. We're the
swords that will cut your enemies. We're the shield that will protect your reign. We swore an oath
to serve you until our last breath, our lives belong to you." Bishop spoke for them all. Neither of his
knights disagreed, even Peter acted accordingly. Marry looked from her place and bowed.

"While I'm not a knight but like them, I'm still your majesty's subject. Brother, please give me your
orders."

Sayoko bowed while Jeremiah rose up and repeated after the knights. The only ones still sitting
were D.S, C.C and Leila. Lelouch smirked as he looked across them, he gave them a choice to
leave if they wanted and they decided to stay. What a wonderful outcome!

"Rise my loyal knights! You entrusted your lives to me and I shall not let you down. We have a job
to do."

"What is your command, sire?" Bishop asked as Lelouch's violet eyes sparked.

"I don't think it is a secret for anyone here that I have my own vision for what this world should be.
I always wanted to change this world as I saw fit. Before I thought the only way to do this was by
killing Charles and destroying Britannia. But now I see that it is more complicated. I desire to see a
future where people like my father and uncle will never rise to power. Where the strong won't
abuse their authority over the weak. Where families won't stab each other in the back, where no
nation stands above others just because of its false belief in superiority. I want to create the reality
where no child will repeat the fate that I and Nunnally suffered because of Charles. But there is
only one way for such a future to exist...under my absolute rule."

Some of them already understood this goal, others had a guess but until now weren't completely
sure. Marry was of the latter.

"So, world domination, huh? Can't say I didn't expect it but that still sounds impossible, brother."
Lelouch smirked.

"Dear sister, don't forget who I am. I'm the Man of Miracles. Impossible is just a name of a
challenge I shall accept. With your help, I will achieve this reality. Hear my words!" Lelouch
shouted as he rose up and put his hand over his chest. "We will fight. We will conquer. We will kill
but not for the sake of violence. No. We will fight for the sake of the future where the entire human
race is united under one banner. My banner… Do I have your cooperation?"

"Pointless question, Lelouch." His witch said with amusement. "But do not forget about Nunnally."

"I won't, speaking about her-" The moment the subject returned to his sister, the doors to the room
were kicked as a servant rushed in. Jeremiah was about to yell about interrupting but Lelouch
stopped him. The poor servant looked exhausted and terrified.

"Your majesty! S-she is on TV! Princess Nunnally vi Britannia!" Lelouch narrowed his eyes but his
smirk didn't leave his face.

'So, they've already started.'

Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Ikaruga.

"Hear me, people of Britannia. I'm Nunnally vi Britannia, the rightful Empress and ruler of the
Holy Britannian Empire!"

The original group of Black Knights stared at the screen when the face of a little girl appeared.
None of them expected the sister of their foe alive and well but the moment she showed up on TV,
all of their attention was focused on her. The entire world was watching her.

"N-Nunnally? But, Lelouch thought she was dead." Kallen whispered with a shocked expression.

"Then he was mistaken," Kaguya answered. Her green eyes never left the young princess who was
calling herself Empress. "This might complicate things."

"I know that some of you might be asking how I can still be alive. Truth is, I was alive ever since
the Second Battle for Tokyo. I was saved by my brother Schneizel and sister Cornelia. After the
horrific battle, my siblings and I were hiding and watching how my brother violently took the
throne. How Lelouch forced the entire royal family to obey him. How his hunger for power made
him go to war with Europe. The Union might have been the first to take the shot but it was Lelouch
who desired such an outcome. He gladly took advantage of it and conquered the rest of the
continent. My older brother is slowly going mad with power and is unfit to be a ruler. The image
you have of him is nothing but beautiful lies. Lelouch vi Britannia is a ruthless man who won't
hesitate to burn down cities if it means achieving his goals."

"I like her already," spoke Chiba. Kallen glared at her but before she could say anything, Nunnally
continued.

"And that's why I ask you, brave citizens of Britannia to rise up against the lies of my brother and
support me in my fight against him. Don't be mistaken. I don't desire to be an empress that people
won't accept. I'm just a girl who wants to see this conflict solved peacefully."

"Good luck convincing anyone!" Tamaki shouted, many agreed with his comment.

"I'm not naive and understand that many of you think I'm just a little girl who doesn't know what
she is doing. And I will agree. Since my childhood, the world around me was nothing but darkness.
I can't do anything on my own and need the help of others. I know my limits and that's why I have
only three intentions to accomplish as Empress of Britannia. First, the arrest of my brother Lelouch
vi Britannia for his crimes against peace and the world. Second, to give Schneizel el Britannia and
Kururugi Suzaku a fair trial for their usage of F.L.E.I.J.A against the people of Japan. And finally-"
Nunnally stopped and took a deep breath. "My third and last order will be the full decolonisation of
the Holy Britannian Empire."

"WHAT?!"

No one knew who shouted, perhaps they all did. None of them could stay silent or calm. Even
usually carefree Rakshata was taken aback by this news. Kallen didn't know what to think. Was
Nunnally as insane as her big brother?!

"Since I was a little girl I was able to hear what common people thought about Britannian rule. I
was living in Japan with my brother Lelouch in exile. I couldn't see but I could hear and feel how
Japanese people felt about being ruled by a foreign power who conquered them. All the hate, fear
and pain finally resulted in the creation of the Black Knights. Many people died on both sides. And
Japan wasn't the only one who suffered under Britannian rule like this. I know for a fact that every
colony was at some point fighting for independence, only to be brutally crushed by the iron fist of
the Empire. The reign of my father and those before him brought only pain to native populations. I
shall end this. That's why! I swear that once I become Empress, all of my power will be focused on
the dismantlement of the Britannian Empire. I ask all of you to help me in this dream. Not just
citizens of Britannia but people across the world. Black Knights, Federation, I ask you to assist me
in my journey to create a peaceful world where we all can live in harmony."

Nunnally stopped for a moment. Two familiar figures joined her. Everyone immediately
recognized Schneizel and Cornelia. However, soon the rest of the old Knights of The Round joined
the frame. All of them kneeled before the little girl in a wheelchair. The camera started to move
backwards and more people were seen. Soldiers, field medics, engineers and so on, all kneel before
her.

"I have the full support of my siblings and true knights of the round, all of us want to see the future
where people can live in peace. I ask all those who were wronged by Britannia, join me and help
me bring my brother to justice!"

Pendragon. The Royal Palace.

Lelouch and his entourage silently watched the little show his sister made. His lieutenants had a
mix of reactions. Their emperor on another hand had only one. The White Emperor remained silent
while the rest started to chat among themselves.

"Little Nunnally demands are almost impossible," D.S noted. A ballsy move from the little
princess, in fact, it was insane to even ask for this. Guess she shared insanity with her big brother.

"Independence for the Britannian colonies...there will be many groups who will support her for this
alone," Leila said. Even if Nunnally won't do it, the war between the two Royals will weaken the
empire to the point where people will revolt on their own. Not to mention, F.L.E.I.J.A was a
dangerous but useful tool of destruction. Even if Nunnally won't use it right now, she might try it
as the last option in the future.

"But she already made an enemy of the loyalists. There are just as many nationalists who won't
allow decolonisation of the Britannian Empire no matter what. She won't be able to convince them
no matter what." Cinder said with narrowed eyes. "However, right now there are many former
numbers in our military. Most likely many of them would love an idea of their home being free
from us." She glanced at Leila. "Europe is the primary concern."

"The last thing people of Europe want is another conflict. They will stay out of this, I will make
sure of that." The blonde messiah said with a determined voice. "I won't allow another war on
European soil. We split enough of our blood, I won't allow more people to die for nothing."

"What do you think, Lelouch?" C.C calmly asked.

Her warlock didn't say anything. He continued to stare at the giant screen, watching as his little
sister made the promise that he won't allow it to be fulfilled. Soon her speech ended and the
broadcast stopped. Lelouch let out a sigh.

"Five points for presentation and the speech itself but one point for the climax. Besides, it is
obvious Schneizel was the one who wrote or at least heavily affected the speech. Nunnally will
need to improve in the future." Lelouch chuckled. "Still, not too bad for the first time, but I hope
next time she will add any movement or some kind of visual effect to make it more exciting."

'Have to give credit where it's due, Nunnally surprised me with the decolonisation part. Both Leila
and Cinder are right. Now my subjects will divide into two groups. Those who support Nunnally's
wish and those who are against it. Loyalists will follow me but now I need to deal with possible
traitors in the army. Hmm, I was anticipating something this troublesome but this surpassed any of
my theories. Well done, little sister!'

"My lord?" Jeremiah called out. Lelouch glanced at him.

"Hmm?"

"What should we do about it? Lady Nunnally just declared her wish to put an end to Britannia.
What are your orders?" Bishop asked with concern.

All of them looked at him, waiting for him to give a command. A sly smile appeared on his face.
Lelouch let out a short laugh, stopping himself before it transformed into his usual uncontrolled
insane laughter.

"Nunnally made her intentions clear. She spoke big words and now must follow them with bold
actions. It is obvious we will face opposition from our own people. Doesn't matter, I was expecting
issues and potential rebellion sooner or later. We must prepare for her attack and make our moves.
Hear me! I'm not afraid to fight a war but I won't allow any of you to make the first shot. We will
take a defensive position, waiting for Nunnally to make a wrong move, then we will strike." A
familiar smile formed on his face, the smile that promised destruction and chaos to anyone who
saw it. "Little Nunnally thinks she can defeat me in this game. Let's show her how wrong she is."

Lelouch knew that at some point there would be rebellion from within. He quickly dealt with
nobles and purebloods, but it didn't mean that the common folk wouldn't rise against him. He
destroyed any monument of Britannian superiority and waited in anticipation if radical nationalists
might try to challenge him. But it never happened, instead, it looked like they would join his side
against Nunnally. Meanwhile, the former numbers are more likely to side with his sister, which
was ironic. He gave them more rights but didn't give them the independence many of them craved
for generations. He expected Schneizel to raise some sort of revolt if only to slow him down.

"Our main concern will be the potential traitors in our army. My reforms gave former numbers the
rights and opportunities that only Brtitannains had before. My, Schneizel and Nunnally managed to
find a way to use them against me. Not bad, but I still have my Geass."
"Your Majesty is planning to use your power on our armies?" Bishop asked with a worried tone.

"Indeed. Fear not, I only do it out of necessity. I'm not planning to take away their will or anything
like that. A few orders should be enough to minimize the number of these who will betray us. I
hope all of you understand it but I will take criticism if anyone has something to say to me." Some
looked at each other, a little concerned.

"But what happens if people will learn about it?" Arthur asked, worried about the fellow soldiers.
"This might make them hate us."

It was D.S who answered. "Nunnally didn't say anything about Geass and she won't. Just imagine
it, a self-proclaimed empress telling people that her brother has magic powers. They might have
some evidence but it will be easy to refute. It will hurt their credibility, making people think she is
delusional. Some will believe but it will be easy for us to call Geass a fairy tale. Nunnally and her
allies must realize it."

"But they also must realize that since Lelouch has Geass, he can simply use it against traitors."
Marry added. "Schneizel wouldn't do something so obvious if he knew that Lelouch would use his
power on our military."

"Then he doesn't care about the military. He must understand that hoping for support from within
the army is pointless if Lelouch can just turn them into puppets. No, the former prime minister
aims for the masses. The normal people, those who will believe in Nunnally. Lelouch can use
Geass on a million soldiers but he can't use it on hundreds of millions of regular people. Not to
mention, with F.L.E.I.J.A at his disposal, our armies will mean little." His witch said. "With Geass,
any long term revolution will be impossible. He will try to raise rebellion as a means to slow us
down."

Lelouch nodded. "While he will deal the final strike."

"Or the Federation will," Bishop said. "Unlike Europe, they won't sit this one out. We need to
prepare for a possible attack from them and the Black Knights. And unlike Europe, they will put up
a tough fight. No offence, Lady Malcal."

"None is taken." Leila waved away. "I would prefer to avoid open conflict myself, especially since
the UFN shares a border with Europe. Let's say the Black Knights will attack from Central Asia
through Russia, we won't be able to protect the entire region. With your siblings' rousing
revolution, it will be harder. But my other concern is logistics should war happen. The UFN is
within reach of the Siberian Sakuradite fields. If they manage to destroy or capture it, we will lose
large amounts of fuel for Knightmares and airships."

"There is also Japan itself." Cinder spoke. "It produces one-third of the Empire's Sakuradite. The
Black Knights tried to liberate their country two times already. As the old saying goes, the third
time's a charm, and it is obvious they will try to at least cripple our Sakuradite production there.
With both Russian and Japanese Sakuradite fields in danger, we cannot let them make the first
strike."

Their Emperor nodded. Wars were not won by bravery and sacrifices alone. To defeat one nation,
their opponent should first destroy its means of fighting. The manpower, the Knightmare
production, its logistics, resources. As long as Britannia had enough of everything, they will be able
to continue fighting. So it was obvious that the Federation will aim to take out these targets first.
The Britannian homeland was across the sea, its population and KMF factories were safe, but
Sakuradite wasn't. With the increase of his army and air fleet, Lelouch required more Sakuradite
than the former regime. Siberian Sakuradite fields in Russian and small mines across Europe were
a good addition, but because of their close location to the Federation, they might become a liability.

'But the Federation has similar weaknesses.'

"The increased size of our military and its need for Sakuradite became our Achilles' heel, indeed,
but the Black Knights have their own issues." Lelouch started. "After the short revolution and
change of regime in the Chinese Federation, its population decreased dramatically. We outnumber
the entire Federation in numbers alone, both in manpower and KMFs."

Marry looked worried. "Brother, you aren't suggesting we send our troops to death until the enemy
runs out of its reserves?"

"Of course not. But the war of attrition will hit the Federation harder than it will weaken us. Do not
forget that UFN isn't a single nation, it is an alliance of multiple nations that agreed to unite and
fight together. As Zero, I created it as a countermeasure against Britannia, for when I should have
destroyed the old Britannia, the new world system would be ready to take its place. The primary
purpose of the Federation was to replace Britannia and lead the world into the future."

Peter chuckled. "So your former project wants to kill us all? Adorable. So what are we gonna do?
Strike first before they will?"

"Precisely." Lelouch clapped. "The preemptive strike will be our strategy. We will be the first to
strike down the Federation. We have an advantage in numbers and therefore can open several war
fronts, forcing the Black Knights to spread their forces thin. We won't give them the chance to
attack, always keeping them in the defence. The Federation is made up of nations with their own
governments and interests. Sure, they all share the common goal but should we pressure and bring
the war to their doorstep-"

"The house of cards will start falling apart." Leila finished, her eyes wide. "You want to repeat
what happened to Union. But the Black Knights aren't European military. They are more
experienced, especially when dealing with you. They will be waiting for something like this."

Lelouch smirked. "The Federation with the Order of Black Knights is the beast I helped to create.
And that's why before making the first shot, we will cut off its head. Before starting this war, we
will get rid of the Black Knight's high command, leaving their military without a leader."

Without either Tohdoh or Xingke, the Black Knights will be weakened. As far as they knew, they
lost Zero and anyone capable to lead them. Ohgi cannot hope to command the entire army by
himself, slowing down any potential attack. The chaos will be short-lived but it will be enough to
give Lelouch and his Empire time to attack first. The White Emperor knew in such a scenario he
would be able to conquer the western parts of the Federation with minimal resistance. There was a
chance of Schneizel interfering and trying to take over the open position of leadership. But without
Tohdoh or Xingke there won't be anyone to appease the soldiers who won't like the idea of
working with people who slew millions of their countrymen.

"It will give us a window to strike first, but it won't last forever." Cinder narrowed her amber eyes.
"We will need to act fast and inflict as much damage to the Federation war machine as possible."

Marry remembered something. "Before the agreement between Britannia and the Eunuchs, the
Militarized Zone of India was a primary place to strike first. It was believed, should a war break
out between two superpowers, this place will be the first target of our armies." She turned to her
brother. "Your Majesty, from your time as Zero can you share with us how the infrastructure of
Black Knights are working?"
Lelouch being the former leader of Black Knights made the future war less fair, but conflicts were
rarely fought fair. 'This can count as cheating, but I'm willing to use anything if it means achieving
my goals as fast as possible. Besides, the Order must have anticipated something like this.'

"You and the rest of the command staff of our armies will receive the full documentation with
information on Black Knights after this meeting. Their bases, location of KMF factories and so on.
The OSI already knows of it. With this I want everyone to prepare for the invasion. I already gave
the order to start mobilising forces for two fronts. But I will hold on to the preparation for the third
front."

"Three fronts? It is obvious that one will be on the Russian-Kazakh border while the second most
likely naval invasion of India. "Bishop thought about it. One front in Central Asia was needed to
secure their European territories while the second would deliver a heavy strike to Federation
production of KMF in the Militarized Zone of India. "Where does Your Majesty desire to open the
third front?"

"The only one place that I want to take care of for once and all, Japan." Lelouch couldn't help but
chuckle at the irony. He tried to liberate that island nation two times before, only to rule it later.

"But Japan is already under our control," Arthur spoke for the first time since the conversation
moved to strategy. "Why start a fight there?"

D.S answered. "Because the core of Black Knights is made of the Japanese who followed Zero.
They want their nation back no matter what. The moment war will start they will attack and try to
retake their home for the third time. Doesn't matter if with or without leadership, many will try to
conquer Britannian Japan."

"Lelouch, don't you find it amusing? Unlike the two previous times when you tried to retake Japan,
you must protect it now from your own creation." C.C said as she looked at him. "I take it you
want to protect Sakuradite and Britannia's main holding in east Asia."

The White Emperor smiled. "I'm pleased you understood. Yes, while my armies will attack from
Europe and the sea, I will protect the island from the army I created to liberate it. It is quite
ridiculous how sides changed, now I'm the one who will try to fight off the Black Knights. But
first, we will need to deal with the Order itself. My loyal followers, I have orders for you."

"Give us your command and we will obey." Bishop and Jeremiah said in unison.

"If you wish to see the traitors who dared to betray you dead, I will be more than happy to see it
done, Master Lelouch," Sayoko said.

"I will keep it in mind, but I will personally deal with my former colleagues, Sayoko. It is time for
me to return to the place where it all started." Lelouch said with a melancholic smile. The island
nation to where he was banished to die, now it was his and Lelouch will make sure it remains that
way.

"It is time for me to return to Japan."

It is time to return to the roots.

After Lelouch sent away his followers, he stayed alone in the room. They were given their orders
and would carry them out. D.S. left after the knights, she had her own work as head of intelligence.
C.C. took Leila for Geass related business. Jeremiah was ordered to prepare everything for the
Emperor's trip to one specific country. Marrybell left to prepare for potential riots that would start
sooner or later. The Knights of The Round had been the first to leave… all except one.

"You can come out, Cinder."

The she-devil slowly stepped out from behind one of the pillars, the familiar smirk on her face. As
Lelouch called her, she made her way towards her Emperor. She stopped near the edge table and
leaned against it.

"So, Your Majesty, any special order for me? You wanted me here for that reason or-"

"It is business-related, Cinder," Lelouch said calmly. Even before today's meeting, he ordered her
to stay afterwards.

"Hmm, does it have something to do with your confession or it is about your siblings? I felt like
there was something you wanted to speak about during the meeting." Cinder replied before her
tone became serious. "Something worries you, Your Majesty?"

"It is about Nunnally and others but first I would like to know something...Why are you serving
me, Cinder?"

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I told you about my past before others learned about it. You know about Geass, my past as Zero
and decided to swear allegiance to me. But unlike with others, I always know what exactly you
want. Bishop is loyal to me because of his honour and duty. Peter will follow Bishop no matter
what. Arthur wanted revenge but now remains my knight because he wants to be a part of
something bigger. You, on the other hand, always had the primary goals. Revenge against the
nobility, status, and power." Lelouch said as he studied her face, looking for any reaction.

"Do you doubt my loyalty?" Cinder asked, she was a little hurt by his words. But Lelouch shook
his head.

"No, you have proven yourself already. Quite opposite, I have little reason to doubt you. So far you
didn't give me any reason to question you."

Cinder didn't look convinced. "Then why question me, Lelouch?"

"Because I want to be absolutely sure I can trust you no matter what. That you will obey my order
no matter what I will ask."

The others weren't like Cinder, that included D.S and C.C. They all cared about him but it also
meant that they would go behind his back if it meant protecting Lelouch. And the White Emperor
couldn't leave it like that. The accident last night didn't leave his memory. Both of his lovers were
sure they were going the right thing when they hid the truth from him. Lelouch wanted to learn if
Cinder will do something akin to that.

Their relationship started as mutually beneficial contact. Lelouch was a young and talented knight
while Cinder got power and revenge against the nobles. However, unlike the rest of the knights,
her desires might be the easiest to exploit. He didn't want to believe but after his experience with
Black Knights, it was preferable to avoid potential betrayal before it even happened. Not to
mention, Schneizel is a cunning snake who knows his way with words. It won't be the first time
Lelouch's older brother managed to convince his allies.

"I just don't want to be betrayed by people I trust, so it is better to clear any doubt right now,
Cinder. You're a valuable knight and we have a relationship outside our duties. Sorry if I sound
paranoid but you must understand I don't want to repeat the same mistakes."

She could understand where this concern was coming from. "The Black Knights. You never told
me what happened and why you left them until today… To learn that they acted against you
because of that."

Cinder looked down. She always wanted to know why Lelouch stopped being Zero. The Emperor
didn't tell her everything. Asking the Red Lotus wasn't helpful either but Cinder expected that. Still,
she could understand why the Order felt betrayed because of Geass and Lelouch's real identity. But
trusting Schneizel and his promise of independent Japan? Really? How disappointing.

"Hmm. very well. I see your point but I will let you know. Questioning my loyalty to all people is a
waste of your time. My goals align with your own, in fact, they depend on your success and
victory. That's why I will make sure you will achieve everything you want."

"Oh really? And why is that?"

"Because you are everything I want and need in life. Sorry if it sounds cheesy." Cinder said and
moved closer, leaning forward to her Emperor. Her face was a few inches away from his. And yet
unlike the previous time two were close like this, both faces had a neutral expression. "You gave
me a chance to avenge my mother and kill all those who played a role in her execution, only the
former Zevon is left. You made me into a Knight of The Round, the most powerful position next to
only yours. I got status, power, and authority thanks to you. It is within my best interest to make
sure you will continue to rule no matter what. Schneizel might try to approach me with a
proposition to betray you but I don't trust him to not backstab me afterwards. For others, I will be a
liability and only under you, I can show my full potential… Tell me, My Emperor, what can I do
those other knights won't?"

Lelouch carefully thought about it. Cinder was many things. But among them all, she was deadly.
She cared little about the lives of others and that had its uses.

"You don't care about the morals or lives of anyone else but yours," Lelouch said. Her old plan
about using explosives in the Knightmares of their European soldiers was the first thing that had
come to mind. Neither of Lelouch's followers will think about something like this. Lelouch himself
would never have thought of this until Cinder suggested it. "And that's useful. I want to rule justly
and make sure no one will suffer. But even I know I will need people who don't care about getting
their hands dirty."

Cinder was ready to kill her allies just because of the possibility of them rebelling. She didn't
hesitate to make an example of others. Jeremiah and Sayoko were assassins, they would strike
down his enemies, but they were doing it because it benefited their master, him. Cinder could burn
cities without care because it meant protecting his ideas and wishes. Lelouch didn't need to order
her anything, she would be willing to act on her own if it meant getting rid of his enemies. Her
fight with Kallen was proof of that and her word before that. His White Queen was out of line back
then, but it didn't change the fact that she was ready to fight the infamous Guren simply because it
might have weakened his resolve. Even today he saw how she looked at the other knights when
they heard about his past. She was dangerous and a little bit unstable but Lelouch needed people
like this as well. If he had anyone like this during his time as Zero, maybe the Black Knights
wouldn't have gotten away with their betrayal.

"Correction. I don't care about anyone else but you and me." Cinder smirked. "Your survival is
directly related to my goals to stay in power. Should My Emperor die, I will lose everything I was
given, my position, power. So, you are the reason I'm here and I want to keep it that way forever."
"Oh, my," Her lover and master let out a short laugh. "Aren't you a greedy woman?"

"I know what I want and how to achieve it, mother made sure I understand it. Now I must keep my
happiness for as long as possible." Her face leaned closer. "You can think of me as a blunt tool to
achieve your goals, I'm fine with it because my goals will be accomplished as well." Her smile
revealed a feral grin. Her voice was cold and yet he could sense the feelings behind it. "Lelouch, I
think calling you my world will fit in such a situation. Won't you agree, My Emperor?"

Cinder was a broken person, but then again, so was he. He knew that Cinder was his and won't
hesitate to do as he told her. But in order to avoid repeating his failure with the Black Knights, he
needed confirmation and now he had it. Lelouch asked his second question.

"Do you remember the first time we met?"

Cinder nodded with a pleasant smile. "How can a girl forget something like that? It happened only
four months ago but feels like five years, and that makes me feel old."

"I used my Geass on you to learn your goals. As you and others now know, I can use my Geass
only once on a person." She nodded again, this little aspect reassured many of them. Not that
anyone doubted His Majesty! "And then Jeremiah used his Geass Canceler on you, nullifying the
effect… Do you know that I can use my power again after this?"

This time Cinder froze, now understanding where Her Emperor was going with this. Her mind
quickly jumped to several theories about what exactly Lelouch wanted, but only one was most
likely. Slowly, the White Queen shook her head.

"My dear White Queen, what do you think about getting an advantage against others? The kind of
advantage only one person has." As far as Lelouch knew, Jeremiah failed to erase Suzaku's Geass
command to live. Since he didn't have enough information, the White Emperor must assume the
worst. The former First Knight of The Round had Geass as well, and with his old friend there,
Lelouch needed something to combat them. She was the perfect candidate for that role. "Cinder, I
want to offer you a gift that I have not offered to anyone else. Will you accept it, my knight?"

Never before did Lelouch offer anyone to use Geass on them. It was always just a tool to get what
he wanted or required to survive. Suzaku got his command to live only because Zero didn't want
either of them to die on that day. Lelouch uses Geass on Kallen only to learn about her resistant
group and nothing else. But with Cinder, it will be different. It was the first and probably the only
time he asked anyone if they wanted to be Geassed, which was an unusual experience for him and
Cinder most likely too.

Cinder for her apart was taken back by such an offer. This was big, as he said, she will be the first
who will receive such honour. If what she heard about the White Reaper is true, then the Geass
Order played some kind of role in his rise to fame. Cinder wouldn't hesitate to use any advantage
she could get and this meant unnatural means as well. Then again, since the previous emperor had
Geass too, maybe at this point it is a natural thing as well?

The Second Knight of The Round kneeled before her lord and master. "My life belongs to you, My
Emperor. Do as you see fit," Her amber eyes stared at his violet ones. "I, Cinder Fall, am at your
service."

"In that case..."

Lelouch raised his hand and with one movement took off his lenses. Gone the pure royal violet
colour of his eyes, replaced by two red symbols that brought dread to those who knew the power
behind them. But Cinder wasn't afraid, on the contrary, she was excited. She was about honour and
power that others couldn't think of. She was curious how a certain redhead would react to this
development. Oh, she couldn't wait!

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you-!"

 Certified loyalty

August 12th. UFN. The United States of Japan. Horai Island.

Inside one of the engineering complex buildings, the female scientist of W-0 silently took a bite of
her sandwich. Her eyes glued the TV as all her attention was directed to the current Britannian
news program.

"...the entire empire was shocked by the sudden reappearance of Princess Nunnally vi Britannia.
The princess was believed to be killed during the explosion of FREYJA that took place in Tokyo-"

"-However, it would appear not only Nunnally vi Britannia survived but also joined forces with the
Prime Minister and second prince Schneizel el Britannia. A wanted criminal and traitor-"

"News loves to waste time on exposition." Commented a new voice from behind, scaring the
European scientist who almost choked on her breakfast.

"Augh!" The timid girl in glasses turned around towards the new voice and saw a familiar face.
Before the young scientist was standing the famous redheaded pilot known as the ace of the Black
Knights. "Major Kōzuki?"

"Good morning, Anna." Kallen waved at the girl with light purple hair. "Sorry for ruining your
breakfast."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Anyway, what are you doing here?" Anna was currently the main
engineer for the European Knightmares. However, W-0 wasn't responsible for the Black Knight's
machines. "Do you require assistance with your Guren?"

"Nah, nothing to do with Knightmares." Kallen looked behind her with an awkward
expression. 'How am I supposed to ask them for help? Will they recognize Gilbert?'

"But I would like for you or any W-0 doctors to examine someone who might need a little medical
help-"

"And now a word from our Emperor, his majesty Lelouch vi Britannia." The female news reporter
said and soon her face was replaced with the image of an all too familiar person. Both Kallen and
Anna froze as they glanced at the TV, not daring to miss what he had to say.

Lelouch vi Brittania was standing behind a podium before the cameras. In some irony, it was the
same podium where his father stood and gave a speech after the death of Clovis. The current
emperor eyed the camera, making sure every soul in his empire and beyond was listening to his
next words.

"Greeting, citizens of Britannia and the realm beyond it. You know who I am, so I will skip the
introduction. All of you know why I'm standing before you all, the matter of my siblings' foolish
attempt to sow the seed of discord among my subjects." Lelouch narrowed his violet eyes.
"Nunnally vi Britannia, my own sister, decided to declare her claim on the throne, promising the
impossible to those who will fight under her banner..."

After the last message from Nunnally, Britannia was anything but a calm place. No matter if she
meant to keep her promises, people reacted. Some were angry, furious at the idea of a little girl
destroying their homeland. Loyalists were quick to call Nunnally an enemy of the state and its
people. However, there were those who found hope in her works. Those who were terrorised under
the Britannian rule for decades if not centuries. Former Numbers who dreamed of their homes and
lands being freed from Britannian iron fist.

'Their lives might have improved under Lelouch's rule, but it doesn't mean people forgot about the
years of tyranny from previous emperors.' Kallen eyed Lelouch, her expression becoming one of
worry.

Nunnally appeared out of nowhere with sweet promises and it was enough to give hope to those
who needed it. However, this hope was Lelouch's obstacle and the redhead knew how Zero dealt
with them.

"Right now many of you might be curious about how I feel about fighting my own blood, my own
sister who was with me during the invasion of Japan." Lelouch let out a chuckle. "After all, she and
I were together when our own father sent us to die in Japan. Sadly, it would seem that Nunnally
forgot the horrors that we had to go through. It would seem she already forgot the sound of cities
being levelled to the ground, of children screaming and mothers mourning for their husbands,
praying for them to return from the battlefield. Nunnally vi Britannia speaks of changes that should
bring prosperity to Britannia and its people, but she is wrong. She speaks of peace, but her words
will cause only suffering to everyone inside our Britannia." Lelouch said with a cold tone.

"She speaks of decolonisation, not realising how it will affect people everywhere. What my sister
wants is impossible to achieve in the short term and will have a disastrous effect in the future. Yes,
our ancestors committed terrible deeds to the natives of lands that we all occupy today, I won't
ignore that dark chapter of our history. But after centuries of living on this land, said ancestors
mingled with the natives, creating modern Britannian people. You cannot simply draft the line on
the map and divide the empire in such a way. Culture, people, their history and their beliefs were
mixed and gave birth to something new, no lines will be able to divide that. Decolonisation will
break the empire, destroy our infrastructure and our way of life. We can look at history and see
examples from the attempts of others to solve this question and how many people died because of
it."

Lelouch stopped for a moment, narrowing his eyes.

"Do not take me for a tyrant who is afraid of losing his power. To me, my power as Emperor is
nothing but a tool to serve my subjects and protect them and their future. What my naive sister
wants is a weak and unstable future for everyone. Britannia was always the dominant power on this
planet, using its influence for good and evil. Its dismantling will leave us in a weak state. A world
without Britannia is one where former neighbours will fight each other for dominance over the
former Britannian Empire's territories. Throughout our history, we created many enemies who will
attempt to enact vengeance against us. Our enemies, former and current, even our own allies, will
be more than happy to crush any potential future for independent Brittannian states. If Nunnally
was able to ensure rather than a promise that she can oversee the future where the lives of people
aren't endangered by outsiders, where neighbouring states of former empires don't wage war
against each other for power, where the future of our people is secured, I might consider
negotiations with my sister… but empty promises ensure none of that."

A sudden smirk appeared on his face.

"Nunnally is many things. She is kind, naive and tends to have a blind hope in everyone around
her." Kallen wondered if that was supposed to be a pun. "However, above all else, she is innocent,
unable to understand the reality of the world or the fact that she is being used. My naive sister is
being manipulated by the likes of Schneizel. She cannot see or realise how dangerous her words
are, what kind of destructive power they wield. But I see it, I understand it and I already saw the
future that Nunnally might bring."

Lelouch snapped his fingers and the background behind him changed. No longer was it a Britannia
crest of arms, but a city situated in a jungle. Kallen narrowed her eyes when she saw people,
protesters throwing rocks at the police who were standing before them, preventing them from
going further. The scene changed and was now showing the aftermath of the riot, with both sides
injured. Military police Knightmares interceding the rioters who surrendered while soldiers on the
ground were moving the dead, be it policemen or citizens.

"Oh, god…" Anna whispered as she covered her mouth. Kallen said nothing, familiar with this
scene. How many times has the same thing happened in Japan? Elevens tired of living as second
class citizens, demanding change and ready to fight for it. Only, the old regime was less merciful
and didn't hesitate to gun down people and show it on the news.

'But why is Lelouch showing it to everyone?' Wouldn't it only worsen the situation? Police brutality
was a norm among the empire's servicemen.

"What you see right now is the aftermath of the riot that broke out in the Special Administrated
Zone of Brazil. After Nunnally's promises, the people decided that they liked her empty words and
rose up to challenge the government. At first, it was a peaceful protest, local authorities were
prohibited to use any force per my orders. If people want to speak their minds, I will be more than
happy to hear them out and make changes according to the wishes of the masses...sadly, not
everyone is willing to speak." The scene changed, now showing an armed man in an unknown
uniform, making their way towards the wall of police standing before the protesters. "I'm sure
many of you might have heard about the Peace Mark, a terrorist organisation that is responsible for
numerous acts of terror that endangered the safety and lives within Britannia. The same people
who were behind the latest attempt on my life in Berlin that might have killed dozens of its
citizens. The same organisation that was found responsible for turning this peaceful protest into a
bloodbath. They acted in order to start chaos, to provoke the local police and government to take
action against their own people. Their scheme was stopped, but not without a heavy cost… They
are among those who will profit from our misfortune and suffering, among those who wish to
destabilize Britannia."

It was then that Kallen froze at a sudden shift in Lelouch's expression.

'Does he think UFN and Black Knights will try something similar?' Kallen wanted to believe that it
won't ever happen, but she couldn't. 'I was used as bait to make Lelouch nervous back in
Moscow...who knows how far the Black Knights will go because of their fear of Lelouch...'

"Peace Mark was merely the first to act, but sadly I doubt they will be the last." Lelouch let out a
tired sigh. "I understand the hate and pain that Britannia caused to the world, more than anyone
else."

"Lelouch-" Kallen whispered.

"But I also know the heavy price of vengeance. How it burns down everything around a person
until nothing is left, leaving only ashes and hollowness. After what my father has done to me and
Nunnally, I was broken. I wanted nothing more than to see that man dead, killed by my hands…
Eventually, I did it, but I lost so many people on my journey. Charles deserved death and the world
needed change, but sometimes I look back at my past and wonder if there was a way to avoid the
needless suffering and death. Now, as the Emperor of Britannia and protector of the future, I have a
duty before the world to achieve a peaceful world. I don't intend nor want to ignore the pain
Britannia caused before me, but I do intend to protect the peace, a peace I will protect with words,
willing to hear out my subjects. However, I'm also willing to protect this peace with sword and gun
if I have no choice left. I won't allow anyone to endanger the lives of my people and their
livelihood, be it outside forces or inside… Or even my own sister. Nunnally vi Britannia speaks of
change but is unwilling to seek me out and discuss it personally. No, instead she is willing to
spread lies and sit back as we fight each other for false promises from the little girl who could
never keep her word. If my sister wanted peace and change she would have acted on her own, but I
know for the fact that she is nothing but a puppet to those who do not care about the lives of the
many. My only sister wishes to protect Britannia, while the rest scheme from the shadows, afraid to
speak directly with me. Schneizel and his puppets are afraid of the world I want to bring, therefore
they would rather manipulate innocents into killing each other. I cannot and will not accept such
actions as anything but a threat to the world itself. Therefore, I declare Nunnally vi Britannia as the
enemy of the state, the Britannian Empire and the people!"

There was silence in the room, neither of the girls knew what to say right now. The millions around
the glove were most likely in a similar state. Both Kallen and Anna were silent, unable to say
anything.

"Despite hating his father so much, you can't deny there are some similarities between the two.
Both Lelouch and Charles knew how to quiet down the entire world." Anna looked at the
newcomer with a confused look while Kallen fought back a groan.

"Excuse me, Mister-?"

"Roger Craig Smith." Said former 'Lance of the Empire' Gilbert Guilford.

Anna blinked. "Sorry if I sound rude, but aren't you a Britannian?"

"I may be a Brit but I joined the Black Knights because I believe in their cause, no need to worry
my lad - I mean ma'am!" Guilford winced. Kallen wanted to shoot herself.

'He isn't the first Britannian amongst the Black Knights, but Gilbert G.P. Guilford might be
recognised among some of the older members… then again I wouldn't be able to imagine him like
this.'

After realising that he might help to prove that Lelouch didn't use Geass on them, Kallen had come
up with a plan to enlist Guilford as a member of The Order of the Black Knights. As long as she
could bring him to Horai Island as a volunteer soldier no one would ask questions. Kallen was a
member of the core Black Knights group and her status as their ace helped to smooth things out.
Making Guilford show his skills as a potential pilot for the Zero Squad wasn't hard either. It was
some time since the Knight of Cornelia piloted a Knightmare but his skills and experience didn't
disappear while the man was in a coma. No, what did raise a few eyebrows was his strange name
and appearance.

When Kallen said that Guilford needed to take a disguise she meant something inconspicuous. She
didn't want him to stand out, but the knight of honour had a different idea about going undercover.

The once-proud knight decided to spread his ponytail, replace his glasses with shades and a fake
moustache he found from god knows where. Kallen didn't know which was worse. The idea that
Guilford's understanding of a disguise had come from children's movies or the fact that it was
working. People didn't suspect anything and just thought he was a weirdo, but no one was going to
think it was Cornelia's knight of honour.

Anna looked at him again before glancing at Kallen.

"Smith was drafted into the empire's army but decided to defect when he saw what they were doing
in Japan." Kallen told the legend they came up with for 'Smith'.

"Indeed, the Britannian military isn't the honourable institution it once was. Knights, soldiers,
citizens, everyone forgot their way. Without Her Highness, everything started to fall appar-AGH!"
A quick kick to the side from Kallen reminded 'Smith' to not go off the script. While the hopeless
actor was trying to stand up, the redhead quickly closed the distance between herself and Anna.

"Don't mind him! Smith is quite idealistic and likes to compare real life to tales of knights."
Kallen's forced smile wasn't enough to convince Anna, but the overworked girl didn't really want to
get inside this matter.

"... And he is here because?"

"Because Smith had a traumatic accident. He's tried everything to deal with it, like traditional
medicine and so on, but nothing worked. He is a talented Knightmare pilot and I want him to be
part of the Zero Squad, but he needs to deal with this issue first. We know that it had something to
do with his brain but the hospital couldn't understand what it was and had no idea how to fix it."
Kallen coughed. "I heard that W-0 has amazing doctors and scientists who dealt with brain damage
before. With your experience in this BRD system, I thought maybe you could help him."

"Hmmm…" Anna thought about it. Originally BRD was created with the idea to help in medicine,
but the military saw potential in it. Randles weren't happy but couldn't say no. Eventually, BRD did
help them to wake Takeru Randle from this coma, so theoretically it could be used to heal people.
Since W-0 was running away from Emperor Lelouch, they didn't have enough time or resources to
invest further in this aspect of their technology, but it might help. "...Mmm. Ok."

"I promise - wait, ok?" Kallen blinked. "No need to convince you?"

"There is no need. BRD was created with the hope to help people, sadly it did it in the way neither
I nor Randles wanted. It can help your friend, although I won't promise anything."

Kallen sighed. "Don't worry, we'll take anything if it means it might help Guil - Smith!" She
quickly laughed, thankfully Anna didn't notice anything suspicious.

"In that case, follow me. I will ask Mrs Sophie and Mr Takeru to help us. Besides, it can be a
useful experiment."

"I'm sorry it can be a what?" Guilford raised an eyebrow and was ignored by the young scientist.

"We can start immediately."

Cambodia.

"Brother..." Nunnally vi Britannia whispered as they finished listening to the latest decoration from
Lelouch. They knew that he would inform the public and try to make them into villains. At the
moment she was sitting inside the planning room with Schneizel and Cornelia. The latter was
especially furious with Lelouch's words.

"Protecting the Brittannian future? That is rich forming from Zero of all people. Doubt he was
thinking like this when he collapsed Tokyo and destroyed the city."

"Hypocrisy was always running inside our family, sister. No one among us is safe from it, not even
our dear Lelouch." Schneizel waved away lazily, his attention focused on the documents at his
hands.
"Are you talking about yourself as well, Schneizel?" Cornelia asked with a little venom. After their
last online call with Lelouch, the older princess was less pleased with Schneizel's comments about
family. She didn't ask him if what Lelouch said about Euphemia was true. Perhaps she wanted to
believe it was a lie or was scared to admit that Lelouch wasn't wrong and that Schneizel would
confirm her fears. Regardless, Cornelia started to doubt Schneizel's direction, especially when it
involved another masked individual. "Or is this Wizard clown part of an attempt to fund our own
Zero? After everything he has done to us?"

Schneizel let out a short laugh. "Cornelia please, Wizard is working with us because we have a
common enemy, nothing beyond that. The man has his uses and we will capitalize on it."

Nunnally decided to speak up. "You heard what Peace Mark did. Was it true? Did they try to
provoke the police?"

Both of her siblings shared a look. Cornelia turned away, irritated while Schneizel walked closer to
Nunnally and took her hand.

"Nunnally, sometimes to achieve our goal we have to get our hands dirty. It isn't a pleasing reality
we have to accept." Schneizel said with a soft voice, while Cornelia glared at him.

"But it wasn't our hands. Those were people who believed in me and decided to take a stand… and
now they are dead." Nunnally carefully took her hand away from Schneizel's. "Brother, you said
that we will improve the lives of everyone but this isn't the way to do it. Using such a method will
result only in more deaths. We need to find a different approach."

"And I don't disagree with you, you're absolutely right. But Nunnally, Lelouch isn't the kind of
person to give us any chances. You heard him yourself, our brother said he is ready to talk things
out but we already tried that. Lelouch made it clear that he won't accept you as Empress or even try
to do things your way. Although," He glanced at Cornelia. "I will inform Wizard that this isn't how
we wanted to get help from the masses. Next time he won't repeat this mistake. But enough about
the unpleasantries, I'm sure you're tired of this. Get some rest, Nunnally."

She couldn't see but the little princess was sure Cornelia was silently agreeing with him. Nunnally
couldn't do anything but nod. Schneizel and Cornelia clearly wanted to talk without her in the
room. Perhaps that was for the best, she needed to think about something on her own as well.

Moments later she was escorted by the servant to her room, leaving the older siblings alone. There
was a pregnant silence, neither of them spoke until Cornelia decided she had enough.

"Schneizel, your little games will get us nowhere."

"What do you mean, Cornelia?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I mean how you behave around Nunnally, your plans to use this masked
fool and Peace Mark. None of it will benefit us in taking down Lelouch. Just look at what this
Wizard caused. Now Lelouch will use it as an example to make Nunnally and her promises into
nothing but empty words. People will be cautious, if not antagonistic towards our course."

"It doesn't matter." He said simply.

"What?"

"I said it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what people will think about us. All we need is their
attention and short term reaction. We need them to pressure Lelouch into a defence position. Even
if we will gain minuscule support from the masses, it will be enough to make Lelouch cautious.
With potential enemies among his subjects, he will have to deal with them one way or another.
Yes, in the long term we won't get too much out of it, but we only need short term results. With
Damocles-"

"Yes yes, your Damocles and its ability to render Lelouch's assets obsolete. Everyone in this base
heard enough of your praises for that oversized chess piece. At this rate, people will start thinking
you're obsessed with that thing." Cornelia sighed.

Schneizel closed his eyes. "It isn't Damocles that intrigues me, but the very idea of such a weapon
existing. However, I will save my commentary on it for later… for now, we will continue with our
current plan. Wizard will get support from other cells of Peace Mark, while some of their more
radical groups will raise panic among civilians."

"Agh! Fighting a war like this is no different from what Lelouch did."

Cornelia didn't like any of it. Using terrorism to scare people into acting against them while
allowing them to demonise Nunnally's words and her potential support was a terrible idea. She
couldn't make sense of it, but Schneizel was the one calling shots and even if Cornelia wanted she
couldn't do anything. Their forces were under his command, all knights for the most part were
following him. Nunnally became the face of their movement to topple Lelouch, but Schneizel was
the power behind the throne, or in this case wheelchair. Just like during the time before Lelouch
took over.

"At least don't lie to our sister. You want Nunnally to take the role of leader, even if only for show,
at least be honest with her. She isn't a child." Nunnally was young, but Cornelia knew that they
needed to trust her more. Unless she wanted to repeat what happened to Euphie...

"Hmm, you're half right, sister. Nunnally has potential and can become something more, but for
the time being, she doesn't need to get involved with the darker side of our plan. She will continue
to play her role. Right now Lelouch will try to do some damage control, securing his forces on the
mainland. No doubt using Geass, but it matters little. I'm sure our little brother will try to prepare
for any possible attack and act fast. Lelouch will try to secure UFN, either slowing them down
from any potential attack or he might try to take them out while he has time."

"You think he will attack the Black Knights?" Cornelia raised an eyebrow. Open war between the
Empire and the Federation sounded too absurd even for Lelouch. It would be stupid of him to do so
while they were planning to overthrow him.

Schneizel thought about this with an amused smile. "That would be too good to be true, but no,
Lelouch will most likely try to destroy them from the top. I have a few theories but we will have to
wait. Meanwhile, we need to focus on his forces. Especially his so-called Knights of the Round."
Schneizel handed her the documents he was reading minutes ago.

"What is this?" Cornelia asked as she perused the photos.

"Wizard sent these. The last photo was taken by a security camera at one of Peace Mark's bases. It
was attacked right around the same time a riot broke out in Brazil. Within an hour the entire base
was captured, everyone there was eliminated." Cornelia narrowed her eyes.

"OSI?"

"Not this time, they prefer to work silently. This was made by one of Lelouch's knights." Schneizel
pointed to the photo that had the silhouette of Knightmare that was similar to Suzaku's Lancelot."
All sources say that it was the second knight of the round and that she didn't care about making
things messy. We need Peace Mark and other anti-Britannian groups. We can't let Lelouch wipe
them out too early."

"You want to take out his knights?"

Schneizel nodded. "It is necessary. Not to mention we can use it to increase the panic. I have few
potential ideas-"

On her way towards her room, Nunnally said nothing.

She didn't know what to think about their current plan or what her siblings were planning to do
next. They clearly wanted her to stay out of this. The words of Lelouch about her being nothing but
a puppet never left Nunnally's mind. Thinking about it hurt, realising that there was truth was even
worse. How could she be a leader when she couldn't even walk on her own? She liked to think she
could sense truth within others. Perhaps Schneizel and Cornelia haven't even thought of her as a
useless crippled girl, but neither of them saw her as an actual empress for sure.

'Even I don't see myself as one. Schneizel only wants me to act the part, but-' Despite taking the
role, no one saw her as Empress and Nunnally couldn't blame them. 'What am I supposed to do?'

So many questions and no one to answer them. No Lelouch, Suzaku didn't want to talk about it
either and her siblings didn't want to reveal their actual plans to her. How frustrating. Nunnally just
needed someone to talk to right now, someone who might give her advice in such a situation.

"Your room, Your Majesty." The female servant stated, but Nunnally didn't feel like royalty when
no one trusted her with anything. How was she supposed to be their leader if she knew nothing
about their plans?

'How irritating, in their eyes I'm but a child.' And sadly they were right. All Nunnally could do
was just sit on her throne on wheels and hope for the better. How tiresome.

"I would like to lay down." The servant nodded with a pleasant smile.

"Of course, your majesty. I will prepare a bed for you." Nunnally couldn't see and therefore was
able to see how the older woman pulled something out of her sleeve and put it behind the pillow.
Moments later she helped Nunnally to lay on the bed. "Have a pleasant dream, Your Majesty."

Nunnally thanked her before leaving the real world and travelling to the world of dreams, perhaps
there she will get answers to her problems.

What little princess didn't know that she was partially right, but it won't be the world of dreams she
was going to see.

UFN. The United States of Japan. Horai Island. W-0 medical centre.

Kallen watched as Guilford lay down on a medical bed that was connected to some kind of
machine. The old knight was wary when the eggheads started to attach wires to his head, but
Doctor Takeru Randle was quick to assuage his worries.

"Don't worry, I was connected to this machine before as well. You have nothing to worry about."

"Except for that time when you almost fried your brain and spent years in a coma, dear." His wife,
Sophie Randle commented with a little smirk as their current patient's face went pale.
"Wait, what?!" Guilford nearly screamed and the good doctor calmed him down.

"As I said, you have nothing to worry about, Mister Smith." Takeru glanced at his wife with an
annoyed look. "My wife just likes to scare new people. This technology is tested and won't hurt
your central nervous system in any way… I hope..."

Guilford looked at them with a dumbfounded expression. "And you use this thing on your
soldiers?" After he received a nod from the male doctor, Guilford whispered to himself. "And I
thought Lloyd was the crazy one."

'There is something comedic about seeing the famous knight of Cornelia being afraid of doctors.
Then again I would be nervous at his position as well.' While the knight of honour was scared of
checkup, Kallen kept her distance. Anna was standing next to her while the Randle couple were
preparing the machine. If everything went according to plan, they would know for sure if Lelouch
used Geass on Guilford. Then Kallen could use this method to prove to the Black Knights that they
weren't under Lelouch's Geass when they followed him.

'Of course, all of this sounds nice in my head, but first, we need to make sure.' From everything, he
said it sounded like Geass to Kallen, but she needs evidence.

"Ok, we're about to start the process. Remember, don't move and as my husband said don't stress
yourself. Just inhale and exhale." Sophie advised him and Guilford nodded.

Seconds later the screen of computers above Guilford flashed and the strange machine started to
work. Kallen had no idea how it was working and was sure she would understand nothing Anna
would explain to her about the inner workings of this thing.

"He's tough, he'll be fine," Kallen commented, remembering how Guilford on numerous occasions
tried to capture Lelouch as Zero. Even for a Brittannian, that much warranted respect.

Sophie walked next to her husband and rested her head on his shoulder. "That reminds me, why
didn't you try to talk with the Black Knight's doctors or that woman?"

"You mean Rakshata?" Kallen blinked in confusion as Sophie hissed at the mention of that vixen.
Perhaps Kallen missed something while she was checking her mom. "Ahhh, she's busy right now,
more focused on Knightmares lately. Meanwhile, I heard that W-0 had some experience with brain
stuff. Sorry, I don't know anything more."

Also, she didn't want anyone among the Order to ask her where Kallen found the Britannian pilot.
Not to mention that some of them would recognize Guilford immediately.

"Neither does Anna, but our little genius knows how to connect the human brain to Alexander
without setting either on fire. By the way, why won't the Black Knights try to use BRD? It might
help you guys." Kallen waved away the question.

"Don't think it'll work. All of our soldiers are trained to pilot the old way, I doubt many of them
will be thrilled to connect themselves to your Alexanders… but they are good machines, more agile
than our units." Kallen always thought Alexander was a strange but unique Knightmare. Its agility
was quite impressive and they could carry enough firepower to destroy even the latest Brtitannian
models with the right tactics. However, there were issues with them as well.

"And yet they are almost useless against flying units. Both Britannians and the Federation's
standard machines will outperform Alexander simply because they can fly. Insect mode and BRD
offer little against an enemy that can just fly above your firing distance." Anna noted the critical
issue with her creation.

Kallen blinked. "Wait, why won't you try to add a float system to them?"

It was Sophie who answered.

"Already tried that, but regular units aren't compatible with standard float upgrades. Drones
controlled by AI won't work either, the computer will crash the Knightmare. Apparently,
Britannians can't find a solution to this problem either and just use their Alexanders as we do. The
only exception is their Hounds, irritating things."

"Britannian AI military program is superior to what the EU used to have. I wonder why they won't
try to get more drones on the field." Anna asked herself while Kallen chuckled.

'Because Lelouch already has living drones and he doesn't need to use Geass to command them.' A
few passionate words from the raven-haired boy and people will throw themselves at the enemy
because Lelouch managed to convince them. 'A little scary how he can do it on his own. Then
again, I suppose I was one of those people who were ready to die for him. And I'm sure it wasn't
because of Geass.'

"It is quite depressing how modern technologies are primarily used for warfare." Takeru sighed. "I
always wanted for BRD to be used in medicine like with your friend over here, not to kill people on
the battlefield."

"Humans will always find a way to use anything with weapons, dear." His wife looked down.
"People like us can only hope it will prevent more wars and help the wounded."

Kallen looked at husband and wife, both clearly unhappy with how their work and life was focused
on war. To Kallen, the war was a natural evolution to revolution. She and her big brother fought for
Japanese independence against Britannia. However, even during that time, she knew that they
wouldn't stop until Britannia was no more.

'But now Lelouch is their emperor. He changed Britannia from the top, but does it mean I don't
need to fight anymore? I don't know what the Black Knights will do in a world where Britannia is
gone, but I know that I won't allow the UFN to become some kind of mix of the Chinese Federation
or EU.' The system was made of united nations who oppress outsiders and try to spread their
influence without care for their lives. 'Black Knights are soldiers of justice, this is the reason
Lelouch created us. Even if he isn't with us I will make sure we stay that way.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by noises that came out of the main computer. Everyone looked at
the machine while Sophie quickly ran towards it. She examined the data before she narrowed her
eyes.

"Takeru, can you come here?" She said with a serious tone. Her husband quickly walked towards
his wife and analyzed the data they got.

Guilford, who didn't move an inch from the medical bed asked. "Is everything ok?"

"In a way." started Takeru. "Tell me, Mister Smith. Do you know anything about a person named
Shin Hyuga Shaing?"

Kallen didn't know why the name sent shivers down her spine or why she felt angry at the mention
of this person. It was as if this guy did something unforgivable.

"I think I heard about him, but I never met him. Wasn't he a member of a noble family in Euro-
Britannia?"

"He is Japanese but was adopted by the nobility as a propaganda move. He was a high ranking
member of the government, but soon he rebelled and killed many people. That psychopath attacked
us and tried to take over our old castle, seeking to kill as many people as possible." Sophie
remembered that time with disgust.

Kallen raised an eyebrow." And what does this guy have to do with Smith?"

Anna answered her. "He had a little brother, our Lieutenant Akito Hyuga. Both of them fought each
other, but whenever Akito saw Shin, his brain would go into overdrive and cause a strange
phenomenon. We don't know what it was, but it affected every Alexander pilot who was connected
to Akito."

"Ok, two brothers trying to kill each other is fucked up on its own, but I still don't get it." Lelouch
hated his family and did kill Clovis. Kallen thought two brothers on opposite sides trying to kill
each other was the norm in their crazy world.

"We questioned Lieutenant Hyuga and according to him both Akito and Shin were raised in a cult.
We found little information about his cult, but theories that Shin gained some kind of strange
ability there. We don't know what it was, but this ability left Akito's brain in a strange state.
Whenever he saw his older brother, Akito's adrenaline would increase and he would focus entirely
on Shin, frenzied and dangerous to everyone around him." Kallen froze, afraid to think about what
it might be.

'Don't tell me it is-'

"Even worse, it would affect his teammates. We never understood what it was, but we have saved
data from that time." Takeru said and pointed at the screen. There Kallen and Anna saw an image
of two brains. Takeru pointed to the left one. "This is Smith, while the second one is from the time
when Akito Hyuga was under that strange effect. We don't know what exactly it is, but we learned
that this power puts a person's brain in overdrive mode. I do have a theory. It might make it go
hyperactive, but we also noticed that it affects a person's prefrontal cortex the most. It looks like
this power shuts down the prefrontal cortex when it is activated and then overstimulated with
information. Once the PFC has shut down, a person is no longer able to think before acting, which
can lead-"

"Sorry doctor, I didn't finish high school. Could you explain it in English, please?" Kallen admitted
with a little embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry I got a little carried away. Basically, I think that both brains were affected by some kind
of drug or form of hypnosis that affected their personality. Whatever it is, it was able to shut down
or change part of their brain. This made them act in an unnatural way. In Akito's case, it was going
into a frenzied state. Mister Smith, did you have anything similar to this?"

"No… but I feel like some of my head will explode whenever I think about princess Cor-about
someone dear to me." Guilford was silent for a second before answering with a scared tone.
"Before I came here, I had an accident that left me questioning my own values and loyalties. I have
done something I wouldn't normally do because I thought she asked me to do so. But now I'm not
sure about anything. There is a woman that means the world to me, but I'm afraid that my feelings,
my thoughts about her were false."

Both Randles looked at each other with worried looks.

Sophie asked with an understanding tone." Does this person mean a lot to you?"

"Everything. I'm here because I want to see her again, but I want to be free of those doubts. To be
sure my feelings for her are real."

Takeru smiled. "That sounds wonderful."

"Sounds like a usual love story to me." His wife said with a chuckle. Guilford said nothing, but
Kallen was sure she saw his ears turn red for a moment.

"..."

"Anyway lover boy, good news, we have a solution to your problems." Sophie said with
amusement when 'Smith' raised his head from the medical bed. "Back in W-0, the last time we ever
saw that monster, something happened. We don't know what or how it even happened, but it
nullified the effect Shin had on Akito's brain. Not to mention-" She locked hands with her
husband's. "It was strong enough to wake my husband from the coma."

Takeru smiled. "Science might not be able to tell what it was, but this miracle saved me and W-0
on that day."

"And it can fix Smith?" Kallen already got what she wanted. The confirmation that Lelouch used
Geass on Guilford and that it is still active in some way. If they tested someone else it would show
normal data. Of course, there were some plot holes, but with the knowledge she had, it was enough
to confirm this as Geass. It might be enough to make the others question whether Lelouch used
Geass on them or not. 'But the idea of something being able to nullify Geass...This might prove
Lelouch's innocence even further, but others might try to use it as a weapon against him.'

Having something against Geass power was reassuring, but the idea of it being used against
Lelouch, in particular, didn't sit well with her. It might put him in danger… and she'd put a stop to
it. Different sides or not, Kallen won't allow anyone else to harm him. Kallen was supposed to be
captain of his personal unit, his bodyguard, she failed him before, she won't repeat it.

"In theory, it might work. Of course, the situation is a little different and we never tested it before-"

"Do it, please." Guilford asked softly." If it means I will be sure about how I feel towards her, I'm
ready to do anything."

"Ah, you cute little thing. That woman must be worth it." Sophie smiled.

"She is," Guilford said with absolute devotion.

'She really isn't.' Kallen thought as she frowned slightly. Nothing against Guilford's taste in
women, but Cornelia did oppress her people and tried to kill her and Lelouch before.

"Very well, lie down and don't move. We don't know how exactly it will affect you, but we will
intervene if required."

Takeru reassured him, but Guilford wasn't afraid of this. Not when it meant he can be sure of his
loyalty. Kallen carefully watched as European doctors started to work. Guilford remained still,
moving from his position as Randles finished the procedure. Then his entire body twitched. Both
Kallen and Takeru immediately run up to him, helping him to stand up.

"Mr Smith-"
"I'm fine-I'm just-argh-" Guilford looked pale, but it appeared he was fine. "Her highness-that boy-
Zero, he-"

Guilford looked like he had run a marathon. But there was one thing Kallen immediately noticed.
Guilford looked happy, relaxed as if something he answered the most important question that was
bugging him. He whispered his next words with such a quiet tone that only Kallen heard it.

"... My loyalty to her is real...Zero tricked me, into-It means nothing now."

He struggled to speak while Kallen's eyes went wide.

'It worked? They managed to get rid of Lelouch's order?'

"His condition is stable." Commented Anna while reviewing the data. Takeru nodded while Kallen
asked.

"Will he be ok?" Even if Kallen helped him mainly to get answers for herself from it, she didn't
want Guilford to be hurt like this.

Sophie was first to answer. "Hard to tell right now. He should be fine, but I would recommend for
him to stay here a day or two, see if there are any side effects."

Kallen nodded, it might be better if Guilford stayed with W-0 for some time. He will be safer here
than among the Japanese members of The Order who were more likely to recognise him.
Regardless, she got her info and results, she'd speak with Guilford later and tell him the full story.
He won't be happy with her keeping secrets about her knowledge of Geass, but he got his own
answer. He had little room to complain. It might have been a little cruel, but equivalent exchange
and all that.

Takeru helped his patient stand from the medical bed and began to lead him out of the laboratory.
However, the knight of honour stopped and glanced at Kallen.

"Thank you." He said and actually smiled at her before leaving. Kallen didn't move, feeling awful
about using Guilford like this.

'We were enemies but now we are helping each other to get the answers we need. He got his.' Now
Guilford knew that his loyalty towards Cornelia wasn't faked. She didn't tell him about Geass, but
he was a smart man. 'No doubt he already has theories about all of it. If only I could solve
questions so easily, it would have made my life easier.'

"Something on your mind, major?" Sophie asked. "Your friend got his answer. He looked so happy
even though we basically sent a signal full of information into his brain. My husband fell into a
coma when the process went wrong. Smith didn't even hesitate."

"He's a soldier. We're used to the possibility of dying any moment." Kallen responded.

Sophie sighed tiredly. "Coming from the mouth of a teenager, that sounds wrong. Children who
didn't finish school, but fight on the battlefield. Such is this life I suppose." She turned to Anna,
another young girl who was the victim of war. "What are you doing, Anna?"

The younger female scientist looked from her position behind the computer. "Oh? I was confused
about how it's possible for Mister Smith and Akito to have the same brain issue. In the case of
Akito, it was more active to the point where he would only focus on his brother or trying to kill his
enemies. But here, despite computers showing the same data, Mister Smith looked more stable."
"Akito would go crazy whenever he was near his brother, or in extreme situations where his life
was in danger. Perhaps this Smith would do the same near the right person. All of this sounds like
a result of some kind of brainwashing program to me. Soldiers going frenzy near their targets."

Sophie wasn't too far from reality, but Kallen didn't need to correct her. Even so, this Akito person
being under the effects of Geass was food for thought. The most likely order was from that Shin
guy. C.C barely mentioned anything about Geass other than the fact that Lelouch wasn't the only
person with this power.

'This really isn't my field. Still, they can nullify Geass orders. This is both helpful and dangerous. I
will need to be careful or the Black Knights will use it as a weapon. But I can use it to prove that
Lelouch didn't use Geass on them and that we were wrong to betray him. Wait, agh! No doubt they
will think I'm under his command and...and might demand me to go through this process...'

Kallen turned towards Sophie and Anna.

'If this can actually nullify Geass, others will want to test it first...They most likely test it on me
first...'

"Hey, sorry." Both Sophie and Anna turned towards her. "Can you do this process again… but with
someone else?"

'After what Sayoko said, I was questioning everything we did on the day we betrayed Lelouch. She
said if I was questioning if I was able to betray him it meant I was never under his Geass control,
but what if-But it couldn't be-'

Anna helped Kallen to lay down and prepared the machine while Sophie was examining the data.

When Guilford found her after their talk Kallen was confident she was right. That her old fears and
doubts were wrong.

'That they mean nothing because I wanted to think my loyalty towards Zero, towards Lelouch, was
real.'

"Wait, a second- You have the same condition!" The older woman shouted.

Kallen closed her eyes, her eyes became a little wet, she felt a lump in her throat.

'S-so Lelouch used Geass on me.'

It hurts… but she should finish the procedure. Guilford learned what exactly Lelouch made him do
after it, Kallen would do too. If it was all nothing but the result of Geass, Kallen needed to be
absolutely sure. A small part of her hoped that maybe the machine was wrong, and everything was
fine, but she needed this. Will it change her view on the man she wanted to protect?

'If my loyalty, my feelings towards Lelouch are fake, I must know.'

With a small whisper, she pleaded. "...Can you do what you did before?"

The older woman silently nodded while Anna looked at her with concern, but they continued.

Kallen didn't want it, she didn't want her worst fears to be true. But at the same time, other
questions appeared in her mind.

Will it change her desire to fix The Order of Black Knights? To be the knights of justice Lelouch
created them to be? Will she view Lelouch as an enemy?

'No. If even Lelouch used Geass on me, I'm Black Knight. I fought for my people before him, it
won't change my resolve...And I don't want to see him as my enemy, I don't want to fight him no
matter what.'

While Kallen was having an inner dilemma, Sophie pressed the button and the same signal that
saved her husband and now helped Guilford was activated.

Time froze for Kallen. It felt like the world was collapsing around her as she remembered
something.

The place that she was forced to attend as a part of her disguise. She hated the fake act of a sick
girl, she hated the fake smiles her 'friends' gave her. She hated that part of her life. But this place
was also the most peaceful one she knew, before everything.

Ashford Academy.

It was a sunny day. She was alone, hiding and trying to eat when that happened. Kallen saw him.

Lelouch stood before her, his left eye turning red with the symbol of Geass before as he spoke.

"I want answers."

'...Ha...'

All this time-

'-Ahaha-'

Ever since she saw who was under the mask of Zero. Ever since she learned about Geass from C.C.

'-Ahahahaha-'

Her doubts, her fears about the possibility that it was all his command. That she under Lelouch's
Geass-

'-Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha-!'

Kallen bit her tongue, trying to not start maniacally laughing. She felt the taste of blood, but it
meant nothing to her. Her eyes were no longer wet. The expression of shock left her, now replaced
with the biggest smile she ever had.

"Major Kōzuki-? K-Kallen?" Anna tentatively called her name, but the redhead ignored her
completely and left the laboratory. Anna and Sophie didn't know what to make out of it but weren't
able to stop her.

Kallen made her way to… somewhere, where no one would bother her and her thoughts. Soon,
Kallen found herself alone inside a bathroom, staring at the mirror.

She wanted to laugh about this situation, about this absurd situation. And if she started to laugh,
others would think she had gone insane, which was well within the realm of possibility. After all,
how could she not find this situation hilarious?! After all-
'He used Geass just to get answers out of me.'

Not to control her mind. Not to change her personality. Not to betray her people or comrades. None
of that. Instead, Lelouch used it to learn about her secrets and nothing else. He could have guessed
it on his own but instead decided to use Geass. All to learn about her small resistance group that
was on the verge of death if not for him.

"Hahaha… all this time I was scared that you might have used Geass on me, Lelouch." Kallen
stared at her reflection. She was smiling like a madwoman. "And you could have just said that you
used it to learn about resistance. If you said that, we could have avoided so many issues- I would
have never doubted your words if you just were honest with me, Lelouch."

'I wanted him to answer my questions. But why would he? After he got his memories back the first
thing I did when we were alone was to hold him at gunpoint… maybe he thought I would act
without thinking if he said the truth- but I wouldn't!' Kallen knew she was emotional, she knew that
her feelings often took control over her. 'Lelouch probably thought I was too irrational to handle
the truth, maybe he might have been right before, but now?'

But now what? Kallen was crying when it was revealed that Geass was used on her. Without even
learning everything, she started to doubt herself and Lelouch, again. This happened before, on that
day when the Black Knights betrayed him. All because she couldn't handle her emotions. Maybe
Lelouch was right to hide it from her, afraid she will shoot him, but...

'But now I won't repeat those mistakes. Lelouch never controlled my mind, never turned me into
his slave. We were fools to believe Britannians, to betray our leader, I was an idiot to believe that
crap. Lelouch needed someone after everything that happened. Everything and everyone was
against him, and I should have stood by his side but I didn't! I betrayed my leader because of his
own words. Lelouch wanted to protect me…'

Kallen pressed her forehead against the mirror, her twisted smile slowly falling off, replaced with
that of a sorrowful expression.

"I should have stayed, even if they shot us, I should have stayed by your side, Lelouch."

She was his Q1, his bodyguard, his shield and his sword. She meant to be next to him. Instead, she
left him when Lelouch needed someone by his side. The entire world was against him, but she
failed him, leaving him defenceless. She made mistakes. Kallen was a fool to believe others when
they knew nothing about him. Maybe she didn't deserve to be his bodyguard. Before Kallen was
angry at Lelouch for being Zero, for having Geass, for the fact he was Britannian fighting for
Japanese people.

"I'm such an idiot."

Sayoko called her a little foolish girl and she was right. When she needed to stay by Lelouch's side,
Kallen ran away. Again and again, but-

'No more.'

Kallen punched the mirror right in the centre, breaking the reflective surface into pieces as a spider
web formed on the once clear image of herself. Now fragmented, she saw herself in a new light, all
the same on the outside but just as fragmented inside as the mirror.

'...Lelouch always wanted to give the impression of a cold, uncaring person. But this time his lie
didn't work.' Did he want to improve this worthless world for people who didn't deserve his
kindness? Create the peaceful one he spoke of for his sister? 'If that is what he wants, I will make it
happen no matter what.'

This world was a cruel and violent place. Neither Britannians nor Japanese were fully innocent, but
Lelouch wanted to fix it. He made mistakes but didn't stop even when everything was against him.
Kallen had her mother, but Lelouch lost everyone close to him. He lost friends and family, he lost
his Black Knights. Before Kallen wanted to free Japan from Britannian control, but she understood
that it won't fix the fundamental issues. The Order of the Black Knights were no better than the
Chinese eunuchs if they sold their leader so easily. All of them needed to be fixed. The Order lost
its way, and so did Kallen but now she found her purpose.

No more running away. No more doubts or fears. Now Kallen knew everything. Now she knew
that Lelouch was never guilty of anything he was accused of. Now, Kallen knew what she needed
to do. No, she always knew what to do.

Kallen stared at the mirror, at her expression. Her hands gripped the sink tight as her knuckles
turned white. Her teeth ground against each other as she felt her eyes stinging from tears of
frustration. And then…

Then she closed her eyes and loosened a breath she hadn't known she was holding in for a long,
long time. Her shoulders were rotated and her neck tilted from side to side, easing the tension with
a pop. When her eyes opened back up, they held none of the frustration from before. Just dead
calm.

"This won't do." She wiped away her tears and put her fingers on the corners of her lips and
stretched them, making a smile appear on her face. Her eyes shined with determination, with a
purpose she finally understood. She had no reason to be sad anymore, not when she finally
understood what she must do.

"Smile, Kallen, now you know what to do."

Reunite with her leader, with her Lelouch and never again leave him. She would fix The Order of
the Black Knights and return them under his control. Whatever plan Lelouch has, she will make it
happen.

Q1 now has a mission and no one will stand in her way, be it Britannian or Japanese.
 Old friends

August 13th. Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Tokyo. Ashford Academy.

While the entire world was spinning around anything the current Britannian Emperor was doing,
the life inside his old school didn't change that much. Right now it was Summer and the academy
was empty, save for a few individuals. One of these individuals had no other choice but to hide
inside her old school.

Inside the old school building, the sole person was sleeping in one of the basements. The young
girl slept with her head on the desk, computer laying inactive before her. Last night she worked
until her body couldn't go on anymore and she collapsed, just like the night before that and so on.
However, she couldn't afford the time to rest, not when everything was dependent on her success.

Nina Einstein couldn't give up now, not after everything she had done. The creator of the
monstrous weapon known as F.L.E.I.J.A., the one that killed millions of lives in one moment, her
child.

Despite how much hatred and fear that weapon caused among masses on both sides, Nina herself
was spared any mention. No one knew about her or the fact she was the mother of that weapon.
Maybe that was for the best because the young scientist was able to hide better without any party
trying to either capture her or avenge the dead ones.

Or so she thought.

The girl was blissfully unaware of the fact that the entire academy was surrounded by unseen
watchers. One of whom was on their way towards Nina.

The only door to the basement was opened and the light illuminated the small room, forcing Nina
to open her eyes with a frown.

"R-Rivalz, is that you?" Only he was visiting her those days, not that Nina wanted any company.
The blue-haired boy would always bring her some food because she forgot about basic necessities
while researching.

However, the figure that stepped inside the room wasn't that of the infamous academy clown.
Instead, it was someone she didn't recognize. One with a playful voice that carried a cold
undertone.

"Nope, little Einstein," D.S smirked when Nina's expression instantly turned from a half-sleep state
to wide-awake. The poor girl tried to cover her computer with her body, hoping to hide whatever
was there.

"W-who are you?! What are you doing here-?! I-"

"You will stay silent and follow me without any questions, little Einstein." D.S walked closer until
she was inches away from her face. Nina tried to move away as far as possible but soon her back
hit the wall. The black and pink-haired woman loomed over Nina with a satisfied look. "After all,
you don't want to make Zero wait any longer right?"

The fear and confusion left Nina when she heard the name of that man, of her old classmate. For an
instant, it was replaced with anger that she didn't feel for a long time.
"He-!"

"How cute. Just one word is enough to make you forget your position. The time to pay for your
sins has come." The Caretaker of Spacetime took Nina's chin with her hands and smiled lightly.
"What are you gonna do? Blow up Tokyo again?"

Nina looked down, unable to hide the shame on her face. D.S let out a short laugh before turning
around and walking away.

"Let's go, His Majesty is waiting."

This time Nina did as she was told and silently followed this woman. She knew that sooner or later
she would see Zero again, but she didn't expect it to be so soon.

Inside the director's office.

The youngest but already popular reporter Milly Ashford made her way towards her grandfather's
office, not paying attention to anyone on her way there. Maybe if she did, Milly would have
noticed that the secretary was gone and the entire building was empty. However, her attention was
focused on only one thing, the message her grandfather sent her this morning. He said he needed to
see her immediately but didn't elaborate further, making his granddaughter worried.

She practically kicked away the doors as she entered his office. With a worried tone, Milly
shouted.

"Grandpa-!"

The moment she saw the occupants of the room, Milly froze.

Because inside the office before her grandpa was sitting none other than Lelouch vi Britannia,
happily smiling and drinking tea with the older man. Their eyes met, Milly didn't know what to say
while Lelouch looked at her with a small smile, but she sensed that he was hiding something.

'Lelouch, but what is he doing here?' Ever since his coronation, the blonde beauty didn't know
what to think anymore about her childhood friend.

Everything went too fast and chaotic even for someone like her. After the events of the second
battle for Tokyo, her old student council fell apart. Suzaku was declared as an enemy of the state.
Nina became a ghost and was hiding inside the academy, unwilling to see Milly. The last time she
saw Kallen was during the banquet in China, and that didn't turn out great. Rolo… she didn't know
where the awkward boy disappeared but for some reason, she felt like something awful happened
to him. Shirley was dead. And then there was Lelouch.

"Oh, Milly! We were just talking about you with Lelouch!" her grandfather Ruben happily said.

"Milly." The girl in question looked at Lelouch. His eyes never left her, gauging her reaction
perhaps. "It is nice to see you again."

"Lelouch..."

"Come on, Millificent. Don't just stay there and join us! Lelouch brought some amazing tea with
him." Ruben said like there was nothing wrong with having the Emperor sitting next to you.

Milly could only do as she was told and silently sat with them. Even then, Lelouch was still
watching her every move. The former council president didn't know what to do or think.

'Did Lelouch come here to see me?... No, why would he? I'm just some reporter.' The idea of
Lelouch of all people getting homesick for their academy was laughable.

"How are you doing, Milly?" He asked with a warm tone. Milly looked at him before staring down
at her tea.

"I'm fine, Your Majesty. Thank you for asking." She said carefully.

"Milly, it is Lelouch, why are you behaving so uptight?" Her grandfather frowned, seemingly
unable to understand what was going on. After all, why was his dear granddaughter behaving so
strangely next to Lelouch? They have known each other since they were children. "What is wrong-
"

"Ruben," Lelouch called him. "Remember what I said about Charles' actions?" the White Emperor
eyed his old friend. "You weren't the only one who was affected."

"...Oh," Ruben said with sudden realisation before clenching his fist with fury. "That son of a
whore!"

Milly's eyes went wide, never hearing her grandfather speak like this. "Grandpa-?!"

"Calm down, Milly," Lelouch said calmly before turning to the older man. "Ruben, please leave
my dead grandmother out of this. If you want to spit on Charles' memory, you're more than
welcome." the young emperor said with a small smirk. "As for the current issue, please leave
everything to us. We will handle it."

"We?"

Milly raised an eyebrow before Lelouch pointed behind her. The blonde reporter turned around
only to see another blonde girl standing in the corner, a little impatient. Milly's eyes went wide
when she realised who it was.

"Milly, let me introduce to you Leila Malcal, my political advisor. Leila, this is Milly Ashford, the
most honest reporter you will find in Japan." Lelouch smiled while the two blondes stared at each
other. Leila silently nodded while Milly weekly waved at her.

'Ok, what is the Messiah of Europe doing here?' Milly saw Leila on TV but never imagined
meeting her in real life, then again she didn't expect to see Lelouch again either. 'He is planning
something, Lelouch wouldn't come all the way here without some motive. And why is grandpa
acting so weird around him?'

"Ruben, if you could give us some time alone please." The old man nodded and quietly excused
himself. However, he stopped near his granddaughter and whispered.

"Millificent, don't worry. It is Lelouch we're talking about. He cares about you." After that, the
older man left them. After he was gone, Milly turned to Lelouch.

"Lelouch, what is going on here? What did you and grandpa talk about?" She asked with a serious
tone. Lelouch on the other hand just smiled at her.

"Seeing you so serious is a little unusual, Milly. Makes me almost miss the old you, the one who
would put on weird costumes and force everyone to dress up." Lelouch remembered the old times
with a feeling of nostalgia. However, the girls in the room gave him a look.
"Lelouch, let's move on to business." Leila reminded him.

"Yeah yeah, I didn't forget." He said and turned to his old friend. "Tell me, Milly, how much do
you remember about the Black Rebellion?"

'What? What does a rebellion have anything to do with this?' Milly wondered but decided to
answer his question. "Ah, after the students were evacuated we were taken to the mainland. We
spent a week there before we were allowed to return back to Tokyo. Why are you asking this,
Lelouch?"

Lelouch sighed. "So you don't remember anything?"

"Unsurprising, your father made sure there won't be any leaks," Leila commented, making Milly
pause. What did Lelouch's dead father have to do with it?

"I know but the fact he managed to change their memories about her is frustrating. Old bastard
destroyed everything they knew about her." Lelouch said with venom.

Milly didn't understand what was going on, but she thought this might be a good opportunity to ask
Lelouch about someone.

"Lelouch, where is Rolo?"

The White Emperor froze. His violet eyes stared at her with an expression that Milly never saw on
his face. Sorrow.

'What happened to Rolo?'

"Le-" Before Milly could ask any further, there was a knock on the door.

"Sire, we brought him-"

"Let me go, you weirdo!" Milly heard the familiar male voice. She eyed Lelouch with a question in
her eyes. What was he doing here?

Lelouch quickly collected his thoughts and glanced at the doors. "Let him in."

With his permission, the door was opened and the OSI agent led the familiar face inside the room
before bowing and leaving them. The newcomer angrily looked back at the agent who just left.

"Jerk! I told him to leave me alone, but he-" the blue-haired young man stopped when his eyes
glanced towards the European beauty in the room, not noticing or paying any attention to his old
friends. "Well hello there, Miss-?"

"Leila Malcal." Lelouch answered, making his old friend turn towards him with wide eyes. "Hello,
Rivalz. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"LELOUCH?!" His old driver and partner in crime from the times of gambling, Rivalz
Cardemonde shouted with genuine surprise. "What?! How?! Who?!"

"You know the answer to the last one, Rivalz." Milly sighed, at least the blue-haired fool never
changed. She did smile when Rivalz turned to her. "Hi, Rivalz."

"Oh hi, Milly." Rivalz waved at her before his eyes went wide again. "Wait, Milly?! What are you
doing here?!"
"She is here for the same reason you're, Rivalz," Lelouch said as he moved from his seat and took
the one that was occupied by Ruben. "I invited you two because I wanted to discuss something
with you."

"Wait, Lelouch, you're the Emperor!" Rivalz suddenly shouted, realising he forgot something
important. "We're talking with the freaking Emperor who is our Lelouch!"

"Is he always like this?" Leila asked, not bothering if she offended the loudmouth.

"Sometimes." Both Milly and Lelouch said in unison before smiling. The blonde reporter was
happy to see the same Rivalz. At least he didn't change like everyone else. Their friend/emperor
chuckled, seeing those two made him nostalgic for a moment.

"Milly, Rivalz, I came here because I have an urgent matter." This made them pause, looking at
him with a worried look.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be travelling around the mainland?" Milly finally remembered that
the White Emperor was planning to give a speech today. After what Nunnally said on TV, Lelouch
was flying around the empire, trying to reassure the population. The monarch in question nodded.

"Indeed, his Imperial Majesty Lelouch vi Britannia will give another inspiring speech about
nothing in particular. However, simple student Lelouch Lamperouge will just have a normal day
and reunite with his school friends." Lelouch pointed at himself. "Today I'm here as a regular
student." His friends didn't need to know every detail of his real purpose in Japan.

"But wait, what about your duties?" Milly asked.

Lelouch waved away. "Let's just say I have a good stunt double and she knows how to perform my
role."

"Heh, it is so weird talking to you like this, Lelouch." His friend raised an eyebrow before Rivalz
quickly added. "I-I mean after everything that happened you know… who could guess our Lelouch
would become the Emperor."

"Milly could have," Lelouch commented with a downcast look.

"Wait, what?" Rivalz turned towards his high school crush. "Milly?"

"... I don't know what you are talking about, Lelouch. My family used to be a high ranking nobility,
but we were never close to the Royal Family. I never-" Milly felt a headache. She pressed a palm
against her head. "Wait-"

"Milly?! What's wrong?" Rivalz looked at her with a worried look while Lelouch silently observed
her.

As for the former noble, she remembered something from the past.

'Millificent, let me introduce to you His Royal Highness prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally vi
Britannia.' Her grandfather said with a smile as he introduced the children of Marrianne
Lamperouge.

A memory she forgot. Or was forced to forget.

"W-what is this?" Milly whispered to herself. She raised her head and glanced at Lelouch. "Did
we-"
However, her question was interrupted by the sound of the doors opening again and followed by
new faces. Milly and Rivalz turned towards it and saw another familiar person, followed by
someone they didn't see before. A woman with pink and black hair, and-

"Nina?" Rivalz looked pale. Now having an idea why Lelouch might have visited him. He most
likely found them hiding Nina! It was Rivalz's duty to look after her while she was hiding from
everyone.

"...Nina."

The girl in question stared at Milly with mixed emotions. After the battle, neither of them talked to
each other. Milly knew that Nina was hiding at the academy, while Nina knew that Milly was
informed about her whereabouts. However, they didn't want to or didn't know how to speak to each
other. The last time they had a moment alone was back in China, and neither of them were happy
with their talk. Rivalz practically has become a middle man between the two girls.

It wasn't hatred or anything like that, but the two of them didn't know what to say to each other.
Milly was afraid to act first, worried she would scare off Nina. Meanwhile, the young scientist
didn't know how to solve something like this, social interactions were her weakest area of
expertise.

However, it mattered little to the person who brought Nina out of her hole.

"Guess who I found, Lelouch!" D.S. happily said as she showed the girl inside the room. "Amazing
work right?"

Her lover gave her a light chuckle. "Don't forget to knock next time, Dianna. We are having a
conversation here. Now, if you please give us some privacy."

"Ohh… not even a head pat or quick kiss?" D.S attempted to do what mortals called puppy eyes,
but it wasn't enough to manipulate the emperor.

Lelouch's attention was focused on three individuals before him. He paid little mind to D.S right
now, she will get anything she wants later. "Not now."

D.S stopped and nodded, quickly stopping her childish play and left the room. The Caretaker of
Spacetime left her champion to deal with his old friends. However, student council members
weren't completely alone.

"Lelouch, it is time," Leila spoke again, breaking her silence. She didn't want to interfere with their
reunion, despite how awkward for some it might have been. Leila understood that Lelouch wanted
to spend more time alone, but there was also a matter of grave importance.

Geass.

"As usual you're right, Leila." Lelouch eyed them. "Milly, Rivalz and Nina, I will ask you three to
pay close attention to Leila and don't blink."

Rivalz had no issues with it, especially when the messiah of Europe walked before the three of
them. Her expression was neutral but Milly noticed that Leila was nervous about something.
However, not everyone was willing to cooperate.

"Why should I listen to you?" Nina turned away, not bothered to hide venom in her tone. "After
everything you have done."
"Nina?" What got into her? Rivalz wanted to ask her what she meant but Lelouch interrupted them.

"Because otherwise, you won't learn the real reason Zero killed the princess Euphemia," Lelouch
said with a cold tone that made the girl freeze.

Nina looked at him with horror and shock.

"You-!"

However, now Nina was looking in Lelouch's direction and it meant that Leila was within her line
of sight. Which meant now all three of them could see the symbol of the blue reverse bird in her
eyes that flew towards them. Milly and Rivalz froze when they remembered something, someone
important.

'How?'

After the Black Rebellion, the students of Ashford academy were taken not to a safe place, but to
Pendragon. Once there, they met the former Emperor Charles zi Britannia. However, the old ruler
didn't meet them as a show of kindness. No, the former emperor had a nefarious reason in mind. He
made them forget about one person, about a small kind girl who loved her brother more than
anyone. For the majority of them, it was nothing serious, but for Milly, it was a fate worse than
death.

'Everything we did together. Our childhood. All of those moments. That man-'

How they used to play together. How they used to prank and tease Lelouch or fight for his
attention. Everything they did together. She, Lelouch and-

'Nunnally, how could I forget all of this?!'

Tears started to fall from her face.

Everything was changed, happy memories replaced with fake ones. Milly never knew about
Lelouch and Nunnally real identities, she never knew princess Nunnally. Instead, she only knew
Lelouch's little brother, Rolo. All of it was just to trick Lelouch into a trap.

Milly Ashford fell to her knees.

Lelouch didn't think twice when he rushed towards Milly and helped to raise her up.

'I should have prepared them better for this.' He could feel her tear-streaked face pressing against
his chest. Milly Ashford was crying and Lelouch couldn't remember the last time it
happened. '...Maybe during Shirley's funeral...'

"Lelouch," Leila called him out as he turned towards her. The blonde advisor had an anxious look
on her face. More than anyone else in this room, she was afraid of her power not working properly.
However, he was always confident in her ability.

"It worked, Leila. It worked." Lelouch quietly said, making the Saviour of Europe sigh with relief.
His attention returned to a girl in his arms when he felt how Milly hugged him tighter.

"Lelouch- Everything, everything from our childhood, is that-?"

"It was real, Milly. Every moment we spent together back on the mainland and in Japan was real.
You, me and Nunnally."
"Nunnally," Milly whispered, still horrified with how her memories were changed. "How? How
could I forget about her?"

"My father brainwashed you and the rest of the academy. He made everyone forget about her and
replaced your memories with ones where I had a different sibling."

"Rolo." It was the first thing Rivalz said after being affected by Leila's Geass. He looked pale as if
he would vomit any moment. His hands were shaking a little bit, still trying to understand what just
happened. "H-he isn't your brother right, Lelouch? I remember now, you had Nunnally as your
sister. But what happened to him? We haven't seen him since forever."

Lelouch regarded him silently.

'Rolo, a fake brother who was more family to me than hundreds of siblings or my own parents.' He
might have been an assassin and an agent of the Geass Order, but the boy gave up his life for
Lelouch multiple times. Something he wouldn't forget, even if Rolo took the life of someone
precious to him.

"He is dead." Both Milly and Rivalz froze. Rivalz looked down as tears began to fall.

"Oh, Rolo buddy…"

Lelouch didn't tell them about Shirley. They deserved to know the full truth, but not right now. Not
after everything they just experienced.

"But how? How did we forget everything about Nunnally?" Milly managed to stop her tears,
looking at Lelouch's eyes. "What had your father done to us?"

"...Charles had a unique power, think of it as the ability to brainwash people and change their
memories. He could make people forget something while replacing old memories with fake ones."
This power allowed him to change even Lelouch on several occasions. From making him into a
Britannian lap dog in Euro-Britannia to replacing memories of his sister with fake ones. He even
changed the biggest trauma Lelouch and Nunnally had experienced or were made to believe they
experienced. "This power is called Geass. He used it on me as well, multiple times in fact."

'Bastard made us think we saw how Marianne was gunned down, just so he could sell his lies
better. Worthless piece of shit. Not that Marianne was any better.' If Lelouch could make a
collection of human consciousness obey his order again, he would wish for his parents to suffer an
eternity.

Normally Milly would have a harder time believing something like that, but after everything that
happened, she didn't have time for everything the existence of what sounded like magic.

"Geass… just like prince Schneizel." Lelouch turned towards Nina with narrowed eyes.

"So… I see that you weren't under Charles' Geass." Nina turned away while Lelouch's gaze turned
cold. He felt how the girl in his arm froze, Milly heard it too. "All this time you had your memories
about Nunnally, but never said anything to them. Nina, what did my brother say about Geass to
you?"

The green-haired girl looked down."... He showed the evidence of you using this Geass power on
Princess Euphemia on that day. To me, the other scientists and the Knights of the Round."

"False Knights of the Round." Leila decided to correct her.

"...Majority stayed with him, while I-"

"While you ran away, hidden from the world after what you have done." Lelouch started with a
mocking tone before Nina closed her eyes. "After-"

"Don't-"

"After F.L.E.I.J.A. killed millions in one second."

Nina's head snapped toward him, her fists were clenched as she shouted at him.

"And what right do you have to judge me?! You who killed even more people?! Even those who
died from the F.L.E.I.J.A explosion, their blood on your hand as well! Everyone who has died ever
since Zero showed up, all of it your-"

SLAP!

Nina fell to the ground, hand on her right cheek that reddened from the sudden hit. Shocked, she
looked up and saw that Milly stood over her with an enraged expression, her eyes still wet.

"... All this time you remembered Nunnally. All this time you kept your memories unlike the rest of
us. But you didn't even try to tell us about it. You didn't say anything… didn't even try to speak
with us." Milly spoke quietly, but it was clear she was hurt. "After what happened on that day, I
couldn't even imagine how you felt. After F.L.E.I.J.A… I knew you needed help and I said nothing
when you hid here. I always thought that you needed time to calm down after that… but all this
time you knew. Back in China, you knew all of this and never told me anything. How could you?!"

Nina was silent, she opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to say anything. Eventually,
she found an excuse. "Prince Schneizel said not to reveal anything, he didn't know the whole truth
himself but said that it was for the best-"

"BULLSHIT!" Milly shouted, making Nina wince. "We're your friends! Our memories were
changed and the person we all knew was ripped away from our own heads! Only you remembered
her… And your excuse is some fucking order?! And for what?"

"... To kill Zero." Nina glared at Lelouch. "To kill the man who took Princess Euphemia from me."

"Adorable," Lelouch smirked. "You have gone to such lengths to avenge Euphemia but failed
miserably. All you managed to achieve is the death of what? Twenty-five million people? Thirty
million? Not to mention creating the most terrifying weapon in the history of mankind, something
that will bring only more death and suffering. I'm sure I have an idea how Euphemia would have
reacted to this. Could you guess how, Nina?"

Lelouch taunted her, not because he wanted to hurt Nina, but because he wanted to make her
understand the consequences of her actions. Was he innocent? No, Euphemia's death was his
mistake, one of many, but it didn't justify Nina's actions. Nothing could justify F.L.E.I.J.A.'s
existence.

"You-! You're the one who killed her! What right do you have to mock me about how her highness
would have reacted?!"

Rivalz looked confused. "Wait, but Zero killed the princess Euphemia. Not Lelouch."

"Oh, I forgot to mention." Both Milly and Rivalz turned to him. "I'm Zero, or I was until I was
betrayed by the Black Knights."
He said it with such ease that he paid little mind to how his friends reacted.

"..."

"..."

"I need a drink." Milly covered her eyes with a palm, trying to process everything. She retired to
her seat, Nina looked at her, thinking about what to say next but decided to stay silent. Rivalz
meanwhile just blinked before speaking.

"You know what? I'll believe it. Just because it sounds like the least crazy thing today."

Lelouch gave him a small smile. "Fair enough. I know that everything you heard right now does
sound crazy, but it is true."

"But why tell us all this?" Milly looked at him with a tired expression. "Nunnally, your father
messing with our memories, and now your past identity as Zero. Why did you tell us any of it?"

"I want you to know the truth because you deserve to know after everything that happened. And
because I care about you." They were his friends, the only ones Lelouch still had from his old life.
Well, two of them were at least.

Nina's glare didn't die down. Her eyes were piercing him. Lelouch couldn't blame her, the desire
for vengeance was familiar to him after all. However, what he can do is remind Nina of her current
position.

"Nina Einstein, please take a seat so we can speak like adults. Of course, unless you want me to
treat you like a criminal for what you did and punish accordingly." Everyone in the room froze.
"Say, announce to the world about your identity as the creator of F.L.E.I.J.A. and just toss you into
the room of relatives of those who died because of your creation."

Nina looked at him with a horrified expression.

"You-"

"Fully intended to do it and more, unless you're willing to cooperate. Sitting next to us and talking
like normal people, instead of glaring at me will be a good start." With clenched teeth, the girl in
question did as she was told to. "Thank you."

She didn't say anything, Nina stopped glaring but refused to meet his gaze. Milly and Rivalz
glanced at each other, not sure what to say. Lelouch noticed that the atmosphere became awkward
and spoke.

"I can understand that this reunion didn't go the way you expected."

Milly shook her head. "After you came to power I didn't expect to see you again, but I guess that's
because of our memories as well."

"I always knew that you would come back, Lelouch," Rivalz said sincerely. "I mean, I knew that
you'd want to return to Japan at least to take back your stuff."

"Rivalz, I'm the Emperor, I can get anything I want-"

"No, I mean your albums and photos." Lelouch froze when Rivalz reminded him of them. "After
your coronation - which was insane by the way- no one touched your room or Rolo's… your things
are still there."

Lelouch paused. After killing his parents, he left Japan and didn't return here until now. He sent
OSI agents to monitor Ashford Academy in case something will happen and if Nina decided to
hide there. However, he never bothered to take back his belongings or Rolo's stuff. The only
valuables there were photos of their time in the academy. Sadly, Lelouch knew there was nothing
with Nunnally. After Charles changed his memory, everything from his past life was destroyed.

'But there are memories I created with Rolo and the others.' Lelouch forgot about those small
things. Rolo was dead and there was nothing left after him except those memories.

"... And my belongings are still there?"

Rivalz nodded. "Yup made sure no one would touch them."

Lelouch smiled, impressed and surprised Rivalz of all people was this thoughtful. "Thank you,
Rivalz."

"No problem buddy. But…" Rivalz looked troubled, not sure if he should bring this up. "If you
were Zero, that means you and your Black Knights attacked the academy and took everyone
hostage during Black Rebellion, right?"

"... Oh." Lelouch did that, didn't he? He also used them as bait against Suzaku, even if it was a
bluff. "Sorry?"

'How am I supposed to apologize to them? Never had this talk with my hostages… wait, there was
Tianzi, but I barely spoke with her. It was Kaguya who spent time with the little empress.' Lelouch
winced, remembering that night. Milly chuckled when she saw the troubled expression on his face.

"Oh wow, did our Rivalz manage to make the mighty White Emperor wince?" Milly smirked when
Lelouch glared at her.

"You are unnaturally carefree about the fact I used you as bait." Milly waved that thought away.

"After everything I learned and remembered today I don't care too much about your bluffing."
Milly smiled. "I know that you wouldn't harm us of your own volition. Now that I have my
memories back I can say that I know you very well, Lulu."

Lelouch froze when she said his old nickname, something that made Milly laugh. Rivalz grinned at
the familiar reaction, while Leila raised an eyebrow.

'Not that name again!'

"Lulu?" She wanted to give them some privacy, but couldn't help but smile at this nickname. "That
sounds cute."

"Right? I came up with it when we were kids. I remember how Lelouch tried to make us stop but
gave up after everyone started to use it. Our Lulu was such a cute child, an easy target for teasing."
Milly happily said. "When we grew up, I didn't stop using it, but now I had more opportunities to
tease and embarrass Lulu."

The familiar playful fire returned to Milly's eyes, the same one Milly had whenever she decided to
have a weird festival.

Lelouch looked at her with horror, remembering that there was always a fate worse than death.
'Oh, crap.'

"We had some many fun festivals with Lelouch dressed in anything we will find. He was a catboy,
wore a dress and everything."

"Oh my." Leila covered her mouth, her cheeks were a little red from imagining Lelouch in such
clothes. But at the same time, she wanted to see it. "Do you have photos or videos?"

Lelouch gave his advisor a horrified look while Milly enthusiastically nodded. "Of course! I will
show you-"

"Let's change the topic, please." Lelouch quickly intervened before it was too late. However, the
look on Leila's face made it obvious she wasn't done with this matter. She glanced at Milly as she
nodded before winking at Lelouch who wanted to groan. 'I will order OSI to find every damn photo
and get rid of it. No one will ever know about them.'

Rivalz's grin disappeared as he suddenly remembered something.

"Hold up, if you're Zero, how did you become the Emperor of Britannia? Aren't Zero and the Black
Knights against Britannia?"

Lelouch sighed. "This is complicated ...well yes, but actually no. The core members of the Order of
Black Knights didn't know my real identity and secrets until Schneizel revealed everything to
them."

Rivalz blinked. "And what? It was enough to betray you?"

"Without getting into small details, yes. They did."

"Because a guy who was their enemy said some stuff about you that might have been fabricated,
they betrayed you?" Rivalz continued.

"Well, the Black Knights had some evidence. They had a witness in the form of a former OSI
agent-"

"So the Black Knights betrayed their leader because they believed the enemy leader and Britannian
spy." Rivalz stared at Lelouch, even Milly and Nina were giving him a questioning look. "Lelouch
buddy, you need to have better hiring requirements for your employees."

Even Leila was nodding at this statement.

Lelouch wanted to say anything. He didn't want to admit that Rivalz was absolutely right. Not
because he wanted to try and defend the intelligence of his former followers, but mainly because it
made their betrayal sound even more idiotic.

'Then again I can't say I had the most qualified people with someone like Ohgi being General
Secretary.'

Lelouch hoped that maybe his current followers were brighter than the Black Knights. Maybe they
were less sane, but they were certainly more trustworthy.

'Milly embarrassing me in front of Leila, Rivalz pointing out obvious plot holes in the logic of the
organization I created. What about you Nina?' Lelouch thought as he eyed the silent girl in glasses.
"Nina, don't you want to speak with your friends?"
"You are not my friend, not after everything you have done." Nina tried to hide the anger in her
voice. Leila narrowed her eyes but Lelouch nodded.

"Fair enough, I killed your idol and am partially responsible for you choosing this path in life, I
will admit it. If it weren't for me, Euphemia would have lived a little longer. Of course, before
someone from Britannia would have come and killed her anyway."

Nina looked at him with a puzzled look. "What?"

"Hmm? Don't tell me you thought her plan would have worked without anyone from our ideal
homeland ruining everything? Euphemia's plan would have been sabotaged by the nobility or the
Royal Family just because it was inconvenient for them to have something like a Special Zone. Or
did you think that without Zero, your dear princess would have no enemies? Please, I can see
dozens of scenarios where Euphie would have been killed." Lelouch said in a carefree tone,
knowing what effect his words would have on Nina. "In other words, her plan was doomed to fail."

"Lies! You're wrong! Princess Euphemia- she- I would have helped her!" Nina stood up and
slammed her hands against the table. Leila was about to pull out her gun when Lelouch raised his
hand to stop her.

"Nina-" Milly tried to interject but Lelouch beat her to the punch.

"Oh, really? Please, tell me how you would have done this? Perhaps you would have used
F.L.E.I.J.A. against anyone who disagreed with Euphemia? Blow up city after city, until there was
nothing left to harm your precious princess. You do know how Euphemia would have reacted to
this, right?" Lelouch laughed as Nina began to tremble at the thought, and when he rose up from
his seat, the smaller girl shrank back as he leant forward. "How disgusted and horrified she would
have been?"

"S-stop it-"

"Euphemia would have called you a monster and would never look at you with those kind-"

"Stop!" Nina said as she fell on her knees and covered her ears. "Don't say it-"

"You know it is true. Euphemia was a naive but kind girl, she would never approve of something
like F.L.E.I.J.A. You created a weapon that killed millions and can kill even more." Lelouch raised
his hand to stop Milly when she tried to reach out to Nina. "You have created the most terrifying
weapon of this century, Nina. Tell me, what are you going to do about it?"

He already knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from Nina.

"...I-I'm trying to atone for it… I know that F.L.E.I.J.A. was a mistake and I want to make sure
what happened in Tokyo won't be repeated ever. I'm working on something, something that can
render any F.L.E.I.J.A. useless."

"Yes, I know about it." Nina blinked when Lelouch said it. "I had my people monitor your every
move even before I took the throne."

"What? But I was hiding-"

"Please, Nina. Any secret service would have found you by now if I didn't order OSI to hide your
presence. The only reason neither the Black Knights, Schneizel, or the EU were able to find you is
that I wanted you safe." Lelouch enjoyed the shocked look she gave him. "Unlike you, I'm willing
to look past old grudges. Not always I will admit that, but this time I was able to forget about a
crime against the world itself because I knew that you will try to create something to combat
F.L.E.I.J.A."

"Nina, is that true?" Milly wasn't going to forget past revelations, but she also understood how
much Nina suffered because of her creation. "All this time you were working to-"

"To make sure F.L.E.I.J.A won't be used ever again, yes." Nina looked down, shame and
memories of that horrific night returning to her. "I couldn't forget that night, what I had seen. The
explosion and number of casualties… I couldn't sleep since then, so I worked until my body… all
this time I was trying to create a device that would make any warhead useless."

"And you succeeded," Lelouch said as he returned to his seat. "My agents were monitoring your
activity, reporting anything you found and handing over your research to my scientists. They
assured me that you were able to come up with a design for the countermeasure to F.L.E.I.J.A."

Nina shook her head. "Yes, but it is only theory, I don't actually know how it will perform in
practice. Besides, I didn't have anything to build it with."

"Then it is a good thing I have come with a team of scientists ready to test your idea."

Nina looked at him dumbly.

"What."

"You heard me. I need a tool to combat F.L.E.I.J.A. Schneizel surely will build dozens of warheads
and I need a working countermeasure to it. The one you will build."

Lelouch thought about securing Nina and moving her to the mainland even before the war with the
EU, but after reading the reports on her research he decided against it. She was working day and
night, driven by her desire for redemption alone. Forcing her to work under him at that time would
have been counterproductive. Nina hated Zero and it could have affected her at that time. But now-

"Right now you can't deny me. You need better equipment and access to my resources to build this
device of yours. I need it and I want you to build it, the perfect combination in my eyes." Lelouch
smiled while she narrowed her eyes.

"Working with Zero, a murderer who killed my princess-"

"You don't have a choice, Nina. I can force you to work with me, whether you like it or not. But
you're a smart girl, you know it is your only chance to do the right thing." He leaned in closer and
whispered into her ear. "Besides, don't you want to know the reason I killed your precious
princess?"

Nina's eyes went wide. "You-!"

"I prepared everything, you will find anything you need outside," Lelouch smirked as he stood up.
The emperor decided to make a joke to lighten up the mood "I offer a three-month vacation, health
insurance and personal parking space, you might even get an annual bonus. Sounds like a good
plan, doesn't it?"

"-Personal parking space..." Rivalz mused with dreamy eyes.

"...I don't have a choice anyway."

"That's right. I will make sure you will work even if your body will start rotting." Lelouch said
happily. "Japanese work culture has a term for death from overwork, perhaps you will experience
this as well."

Nina said nothing as she stood up and walked towards the door. "I'm only doing it because-"

"Because you want to protect people from your mistake, Nina. I understand it." Lelouch said with a
sympathetic tone. "You will do it. We will do it. I promise."

She said nothing before glancing at Milly and Rivalz one last time. The blue-haired boy waved at
her awkwardly, hoping she would be fine and there was nothing to worry about. The blonde
reporter merely gave her a side glance, having nothing more to say to her.

Nina bit her lip, maybe hoping to hear something from them. But at the same time, she understood
that after everything that happened today neither of them knew how to treat her now. She couldn't
blame them, and even if she wanted to despise Zero, Lelouch was right about F.L.E.I.J.A.

"... I will start working immediately." Lelouch simply nodded as she left the room.

"You're sure she will manage it?" Leila decided to ask.

"She is a genius who changed the warfare simply because she wanted to avenge an important
person to her. She will do it." Lelouch turned to his old friends. "As for you two, I'm sorry that you
had to go through all of it because of me."

'Being Geassed, having their lives put in danger and having their circle of friends destroyed. They
suffered because they are close to me.' Suzaku's words about how it would have been better if he
never existed rung in his head

Milly and Rivalz exchanged a look before the former council president spoke.

"You're overthinking this, Lelouch. Who is to say everything would have been fine if you didn't do
anything?"

Rivalz quickly nodded. "Yeah buddy, your dad would still be an asshole and might've done
something worse. Besides, right now everything is fine, even if not everyone is around..."

"...Do you remember when we launched fireworks that one night?" Lelouch never forgot that night.
It happened after the emperor got back his memories. The student council wasn't full anymore, but
he cherished the moment he had with them. "I would like to repeat that."

"Do you want to do it right now?" Rivalz wondered. "I'm sure we have a few fireworks left if you
want."

"Hmm, maybe not at this moment, but later. When our group is bigger." Milly gave him a
concerned look.

"Lelouch, about Nunn-"

"Let's not mention my work right now. I will return to it after our little reunion so I would like to
spend more time with you two." Lelouch needed some escape from the burdens of his current role
and needed some time with people who still thought of him as a friend. "Tell me about your life
and what happened while I was away."

He glanced at Leila. "If my adorable advisor so wishes, she can spare herself from this meeting.
Leila, you could take some time for yourself while we have a moment."
"Thanks, but I would prefer to stay and hear more stories about your academy life." A cheeky grin
appeared on her face. "Plus, I'm sure other girls would like to see some of those photos Lady
Ashford spoke about."

"Girls? Lelouch is there something you aren't telling us?" Milly's old Cheshire smile returned to
her face. "Don't tell me the rumours are true about White Emperor's unofficial harem-"

"Let's change the topic from my love life." Lelouch needed to quickly change the subject again
before Milly got too much information. She was both Milly and now part of the media culture, the
scariest combo for any leader with a secret. "As I said, I want to hear more about your life.
Anything interesting happened lately?"

Rivalz 'eyes sparkled. "Oh, I can start! Remember my old moped, well I sold it and got a new-"

Nunnally opened her eyes and looked around, bearing witness to a verdant field of greenery and the
shine of the sun above her head. Stranger still however, there were dozens of Knightmares standing
before her, empty but nonetheless waiting for their time to fight. Despite the war machines ruining
the picture of a peaceful landscape, she was more focused on another matter. The fact that she
could see right now.

The fact that the crippled princess was able to open her eyes could mean only one thing. She was
asleep and this was just a dream.

'After all, my dreams are the only place where I can see or-' Nunnally took a few steps. '-walk
without assistance.'

Regardless if it was her dream or not, Nunnally could use some time alone with her thoughts. She
started to walk and wondered what she must do in the real world after this dream ends. She walked
next to the Knightmares, wondering why they were so detailed. She hadn't seen real Knightmares
in years, so how could her dream have them in such detail?

"Don't those machines belong to Lelouch?" Nunnally asked no one as she slowly touched one of
them. Sadly, she felt nothing once her flesh made contact with the metal. "For quite the realistic
dream it feels kind of empty."

"Because it isn't your dream, little princess." A sudden voice spoke up, making Nunnally spin
around in surprise as she stared at a new face.

She was... beautiful. Her skin was as pale as what she remembered moonlight to be like, and her
eyes! They were a vibrant violet so pure she found she couldn't pull away from them. Her hair was
just as alien to her as everything else about her, black as midnight strands with purple tips at the
ends. And yet, as invitingly friendly that she came across as-

"What- who are you?" If this was a dream then why was someone actually talking to her? This sort
of thing had never happened!

"Oh, my name is Diana, but my friends call me D.S." The pink and black-haired Caretaker of
Spacetime spoke as she approached Nunnally and circled around her with a curious expression.
"Do you want to be my friend?"

"Ahh… umm… hello Lady Diana. I'm sorry but what do you mean this isn't my dream?" Nunnally
felt weird around this woman, she didn't give her the sense of danger but at the same time she felt
strange. As if she was an outsider.
"Oh, because this is C's world, a place of many things. For example, this is where your brother
killed your parents and saved the world from a meaningless existence."

"What-" Nunnally froze. "What?! Do you know my brother? And what do you mean about my
parents?"

"Oh, I know your brother alright." A perverted smile formed on the woman's face. "In fact, I know
every inch of his body by this point."

Nunnally didn't like the way she phrased that. It sounded kind of indecent.

"As for your parents, that's a long story. Perhaps you want to hear it?"

"Wait, why should I listen to you?" Nunnally wanted to step away but was stopped when her back
was pressed against a Knightmare's leg. D.S noticed that she didn't flinch.

"Can't feel it eh? Well, I didn't expect you to show up here. The plan was just to find your
location."

Nunnally looked at her with a questioning look. "What?"

"Well, you see I'm the head of the empire's intelligence network and I wanted to find you after your
little chat with Lelouch. So I decided to use Geass to find your location." That X woman was
supposed to place a small beacon somewhere near Nunnally. Later either D.S. or C.C. should have
been able to sense her presence with the help of C's World. But somehow, the little princess
appeared here, even if she was in spiritual form. "I can say more if you want. I don't mind sharing
some secrets with the little sister of Lelouch."

"And why should I listen to you?" Nunnally needed to be wary of this person. She was on the
enemy's side, on Lelouch's side.

"If you don't want to, you don't need to." D.S happily said, a finger to her mouth in a shushing
motion. "Anything I will say might be a lie. You don't have to believe anything that will come out
of my mouth. You will wake up and forget about this place… or you can have a conversation with
me and maybe learn more about your dear older brother and why Lelouch is doing what he
considers the right thing."

Nunnally didn't move or say anything. This might be useful, to both learn more about the side of
her brother she never knew and get useful information out of this weird woman.

"Also," D.S started to walk away as she gave her a side glance. "I will give you information about
how you can start walking and have your vision back in real life."

What?

"Impossible." Nunnally whispered but D.S heard her. "I-I can't walk or see after that night when
mother-" A finger stopped her lips from moving as the woman was in front of her suddenly.

"Fabricated lies placed in your head by Charles' Geass. There are many things you don't know.
About the real reason your brother killed Charles and Marianne. Why Lelouch is trying to expand
his empire, why he killed Euphemia and many other things you can learn from me." She smiled a
cheshire grin then, but somehow it did not feel malignant. "If you wish, of course."

"How do you know all of this?" Who was this woman and where did she get this information?
For a moment D.S. stopped, her stance changed, becoming more robotic as she spoke with a voice
that carried hundreds more.

"Because the collection of human consciousness always sees those who try to change human
nature, those who try to challenge nature and those who think of themselves to be above God.
Nunnally vi Britannia, your parents thought of themselves to be above the world order, above
collective human consciousness and were punished by their own son."

'What-how? What is going on?' The only answer Nunnally could come up with was Geass, the
unknown to her power that somehow gave Lelouch a chance to challenge their father and
homeland.

The little princess was frightened by the sudden change in her attitude, her very voice shaking her
to the core. The moment passed quickly though as D.S. returned to her normal state. She smiled as
if nothing happened.

"Heh, love seeing the expression of shock on newcomers." D.S chuckled. "If you want to learn then
join me and we'll have some girl talk as they call it. Am I using that term right?"

"... What about Lelouch?" Nunnally was willing to hear out this D.S, but only to learn more about
Geass. Will her brother hear about it? Could she talk with him like this too? If so… Nunnally didn't
know if she wanted to speak with her brother or not. Part of her thought it might be dangerous, but
another part wanted to see Lelouch with her own eyes and speak with him, even if they were
enemies.

"Lelouch? He won't be able to speak with you as well as I can. I can act as a messenger between the
two of you if you want. As for knowing about this, I will report this conversation to him later." So
Nunnally needed to be careful and not reveal anything about their location to D.S. "But I know him
very well. Your brother won't be against us talking, believe me."

"How can you know so much about him? Lelouch never told me anything about someone like
you." Although, her brother didn't tell her about many things…

"Oh, I was watching your brother and his adventure for a long time. Stuff like the Black Rebellion,
his time as Zero, how he killed his siblings, even when he was sleeping or taking a bath. Your
brother is such an interesting man. Always had my eyes on him."

Nunnally looked at her not with shock but with a little suspicion. Some of this sounds like a crime
to her.

"Are you his stalker?"

D.S actually paused and thought about it for a good minute before clapping her hands with a
beaming smile upon realisation.

"I'm actually his stalker! By mortal's standards, I fit the description. How interesting!"

Nunnally gave her a blank stare.

'Is this woman serious?' She was now wondering if all of Lelouch. However, maybe this
conversation will be better than just dreaming about reliving childhood tales.

Ashford Academy.
Lelouch walked around his old room, checking if everything was still there. As Rivalz said, all of
his belongings remained there, all untouched. This place didn't mean too much to him, but it was
nice to visit his old room simply because he could remember the time he spent with Rolo or
Nunnally. A time when his little siblings weren't his enemies, or in the case of Rolo when he didn't
know about his role as an assassin.

"I suppose I can stay in this room while I'm staying in Japan," After all, it was his room. Besides,
Lelouch was there unofficially and couldn't reveal himself to the masses yet. Therefore he couldn't
stay in the government palace. It would draw attention. Ashford Academy would be his base of
operation. "Just like old times."

It was nostalgic, being back at the academy and planning out how to take down a powerful
international entity. Even if this time it meant fighting his own Black Knights. How ironic.

"Enjoying the moment, Lelouch?" The man in question turned towards the door and found his dear
witch standing there. C.C was in school uniform, the same one she used to wear. Of course,
Lelouch took C.C with him back to Japan. It was the place where they met for the first time. Not to
mention he will require her help in dealing with the Black Knights. She was absent during his talk
with his old friends. D.S. stayed behind while Lelouch ordered C.C. to check the Thought Elevator
on Kamine island.

"How many plans and schemes have I come up with here? Many sleepless nights plotting against
Britannia. And now?"

"And now you own it. Rejoice, boy, you have achieved your goals, albeit in a different manner."

Lelouch nodded. "Maybe… but now isn't the time to remember the old times, we have a job to do.
Still, I won't deny it is pleasing to be here again."

"Hope you didn't forget our old rules. Boys are sleeping on the floor, ladies on the bed." C.C said
before walking toward his old bed and lying there. "Also, order someone to bring me pizza."

Lelouch clicked his tongue in annoyance. He forgot about this part. The green-haired girl used to
waste his money on pizza. Even after he had become the emperor, C.C didn't stop wasting his
money for her favourite snack. The difference now was she was wasting the national budget of his
empire.

'Seems someone wants to remember old times as well.' Lelouch sighed in defeat before thinking
about calling OSI and ordering them to take the role of errand boys.

His thoughts were interrupted by a vibration in his pocket. Lelouch pulled out his phone and eyed
the caller.

Q2.

"Cinder?" Did she want to have a quick chat or discuss their strategy again? Lelouch wondered
while answering it. "My dear White Queen. How are you do-"

How he was interrupted by the voice of his lover and Cinder didn't sound happy at all.

"Lelouch, Pendragon was attacked."

 Eye-opening experience

August 13th. Holy Britannian Empire. Pendragon.

It was an early morning in the capital of the empire. Birds were singing, flowers were growing, and
Britannians were plotting to take over the world. Well, only one of them was at the moment.

Cinder Fall looked around the Pendragon prison building, pondering the point of a prison with only
one prisoner at the moment. After Lelouch took over the empire, old political prisoners were
released with the change of the regime. Today only one soul remained within these walls and even
then, they were the only inmate living in the best conditions. Mainly because he was related to the
knight who asked for it.

'Speaking about this knight.' Cinder smirked as she found the person she was searching for. She
silently sneaked up on her and pinched the knight who let her guard down.

Oldrin Zevon reacted immediately as she turned around and tried to kick the unknown attacker.
Her attack missed as Cinder jumped back, a cheeky grin on her face while the blonde-haired knight
pouted.

"Cinder!" Oldrin hissed. "What was that?!"

"I was checking your reaction and fighting skills. If I used my sword you would have been dead by
now."

Oldrin narrowed her eyes. "Must you always try to provoke and irritate me?"

"You know the answer." Cinder smirked when her bait/friend swore under her breath and walked
away. "Come on, Zevon. I was just teasing you, no need to get moody."

"What are you even doing here? Last I heard you were on a mission in South America."

All of the knights of the round were on the missions assigned by the emperor. Cinder had a job to
hunt down and destroy Peace Mark cells in the south. Something she quickly finished with high
efficiency and fatality rates among enemies.

"Been there, done that." Cinder crossed her arms under her chest. "I returned to Pendragon to report
to His Majesty. He will return to the capital tomorrow and I want to prepare everything until then."

It was a half-truth. Currently, Lelouch was away on his own mission in Japan while his ninja
maid/legal guardian was taking his role as emperor. Lelouch said he left everything prepared for
Sayoko for her campaign across the mainland to raise morale. The knights of the round and
princess Marrybell were the only ones who knew about the Emperor's departure to the troublesome
island nation.

'I don't need to report to Sayoko, but Lelouch will want to know about all the details.' Most of what
she found was insignificant data, but Cinder still needed to inform him about it. 'Who knows,
maybe he will find something useful?'

"By the way, aren't the Glinda Knights in Europe right now?"

Oldrin shook her head. "Not yet, others are getting ready to depart, but I asked Her Highness for
temporary leave to check on my brother."
"Figures." Cinder commented as the two made their way inside the building. "How's your
brother?"

"He is fine, I feel like he is getting used to his position, which isn't really good." Oldrin didn't want
Orpheus to spend his life there, but until her brother was pardoned she couldn't do anything. From
what she understood, Orpheus was questioned by Leila Malcal who frequently visited him before
returning to Europe. Oldrin didn't know what the two of them were talking about, but she was told
he was assisting the empire and that if whatever lady Malcal worked on turned out successful, her
brother might be freed.

"Hmm..." Lelouch said that this Orpheus was used to help Leila improve her Geass, but right now
he was wasting time behind bars. Perhaps it might be worthwhile to employ his talents while the
blonde messiah was away? Cinder wasn't going to let him anywhere near KMF, but if she spread
the rumours about the former Peace Mark leader working for Britannia it could force Wizard to
act.

'After all, it is his nephew. Instead of Oldrin I can use him as bait.'

"What are you thinking about?" Oldrin raised her eyebrow.

Cinder waved the question away. before she eyed Oldrin's slim figure. "Just thought your uniform
suits you."

"Pfff, I bet you were thinking about something nefarious. Don't even think about harming my
brother." This made the black-haired beauty laugh.

"Come on. Oldrin. Do you think I would do something that would put your or your brother's lives
in danger?"

"Yes," Oldrin said with a straight face. "Why are you even following me? Wait, don't tell me that
the second knight of the round wants to spend time with me?"

"Don't get full of yourself. I was just nearby and heard that you were heading here. I was curious to
see how you will speak to your criminal brother." Cinder wanted to offend her, but it didn't work.
The knight of honour was used to her insults by this point.

"Wait, don't tell me Cinder Fall was lonely. What? Can't spend too much time away from our
emperor?" Oldrin asked with a known grin.

From the way Marrybell spoke about Cinder outside work-related matters, it became obvious that
the knight of the round and her lord had something going on. Not that Oldrin was going to ask her
friend about it. Few people outside the emperor's inner circle knew about Lelouch's love life and it
might be better if Marrybell didn't know about it for a little longer.

"What woman doesn't want to spend more time with her lover?" Cinder didn't see the point of
denying it. After all, once she will become Lelouch's Empress, Oldrin will be among those who
will bow to her. As for a blonde knight, she looked surprised but nodded.

"Huh, I guess you're right - Not that I know anything about it!" Oldrin quickly added with a red
face. "I just mean, it must be nice to have a boyfriend-"

"Fiancee." Cinder corrected her and enjoyed the reaction Oldrin showed to her.

Blush was replaced with wide-eyed shock, as the knight of honour asked, "W-wait, for real?!"
When Cinder nodded, Oldrin looked away. "Oh. Oh."
Marrybell wasn't going to like it.

"I'm sure her highness will give me her blessing once you will tell her about it, Oldrin." The girl
before her froze, embarrassed expression was replaced with dread. Cinder wanted to take a picture
right now. "Good luck, you will need it."

"Haha… oh god." Oldrin felt a cold chill run down her spine at the idea of telling her friend this
news. Nope, let someone else be an unlikely victim of the princess's rage.

The two of them continued their walk in silence as they went past several checkups. No one was
going to turn down the knight of the round and Oldrin had permission to visit the prisoner. Soon
they were standing before Orpheus' cell. Two legionaries were standing guard as the former leader
of Peace Mark was too valuable and Lelouch didn't want something to happen to him.

Oldrin turned to Cinder. "Sorry, but could you give us some privacy."

"Very well, but I would like to speak with this Orpheus as well. Who knows, maybe I will manage
to get a pardon for him." Cinder innocently smiled. "Of course, after he will offer his service to His
Majesty."

Oldrin thought about arguing against it but stopped. If Cinder does it, her brother might be
pardoned for his past crimes.

"Thank you, Cinder." Oldrin said before entering the cell, leaving the second knight of the round
confused.

'... Did she misunderstand me or was my threat not clear enough? I did try to threaten her
brother… am I getting soft? Uhh, without Lelouch near me, irritating others isn't as fun.' Cinder
did miss Lelouch, especially after he gave her a special gift. 'I have the power that is punishment to
others but to me, it is a blessing. After all, who doesn't like a power boost?'

Geass was a scary power, Cinder won't deny it. It terrified her at first, but she quickly saw the
opportunity with it. Lelouch's Geass gave him absolute authority above others if he wished and it
could be used to increase personal combat abilities. The Black Knights were fools to turn against
him because of their fear. Where others saw only a curse, Cinder saw the miracle that would grant
her power.

Cinder walked away from the cell until she was far enough away from earshot. The last thing she
needed was for Oldrion to hear her. The black-haired knight pulled out a pocket makeup mirror
and stared at her face.

'Lelouch said I need to think about the situation where my command will activate. I thought it
would work in Brazil, but it didn't. I need more practice.' Cinder liked the amber colour of her eyes,
but there was something intoxicating about imagining her eyes with a red circle of Geass around
them. As it will be a proof of her standing and Lelouch's trust. She will also need to report about
her progress in using her command. Besides thinking about her new power, the knight checked
herself.

"This won't do," Cinder placed fingers on the corners of her lips and stretched them, making a
smile appear on her face. Her eyes shined with determination, with purpose. "Smile, Cinder, your
life is perfect and you will keep it that way."

'After all, Lelouch said I must protect his dream and crush anyone who will dare to oppose them.'

Such was the wish of her emperor and lover, and so Cinder will obey.
However, in the next moment, something happened. The siren rang across the entire capital,
stopping any activity within the city. The lights within the prison flashed red as shouts were heard
outside.

'This isn't good.' Pendragon was under attack. However, Cinder was too far away from her Amber.
She needed to get out of here, but first, she needed to make sure her bait was alive. 'Oldrin should
be happy to have such a friend like me.'

Cinder thought as she made her way towards the cell.

'That reminds me, I need to check on James Stadtfeld. I did get him a secured plane to Japan. I
wonder if he managed to meet his-'

However, before Cinder could take any step, the ceiling above her collapsed.

Oiagros Zevon, also known as Wizard, stared at the city beneath him.

'Once this place was my home before I tore down my own family.' How many years has it been
since he left Pendragon and Britannia? All this time he was away, his own niece was turned against
him, but he won't repeat the same mistake. 'Orpheus, I will get you out of this mess, I promise.'

Wizard's Agravain flew above the capital, looking down on its defenders that were appearing out of
shadows.

"What is our status?" He asked over the private channel.

One of his comrades, a Sutherland with an air unit flew next to him.

"We got the imps attention. They're pulling out big guns to shoot us down."

Wizard scanned the sky above the city. "That monstrous ship isn't here so we should be fine.
Remember, we're here to rescue one of Peace Mark's leaders, nothing else."

"Well, we don't have enough firepower to fight for too long anyway."

Sadly, even with all Pluton resources used for this operation, Wizard wasn't able to organize an
assault squad strong enough to pierce palace defence and kill the emperor brat.

'He isn't in the city anyway. Schneizel doesn't know about this operation, but he wouldn't
understand anyway. What that man might know about a true family bond.' His Agravain aimed its
hadron cannons at the nearest Vincent Ward that was rushing at them. The improved aim system
found its target and destroyed one of Lelouch's slaves. "We just need to distract them long enough.
Follow the plan and everything will be fine."

"You are the boss." The Sutherland pilot replied before following Wizard as the Agravain flew
towards the enemies with intent to wreak havoc.

Back inside the prison, Cinder Fall tried to stand up but was stopped by fallen debris that had fallen
on her.

'Fuck.' Slowly she started to dig herself out of this mess. Soon she was free but the problems didn't
end there. The corridor behind her was buried underneath the debris, cutting her off from Oldrin.
She looked around but found no one near her. Cinder was on her own. "How nice."
She needed to get out and examine the situation. Attacking Pendragon was a death wish. Even
without Nemesis or all the Knights of the Round within the city, the capital had enough soldiers to
protect itself. Whoever was behind this had a plan, was crazy to think they will get away with this.
Was the attack on this prison a calculated move to take her out? Unlikely, she decided to visit this
place last minute because of Oldrin. Most likely prison was among the first targets to spread chaos,
Cinder lacked information to make any coherent decision.

The Second Knight of the Round pulled out her communicator to learn about the situation outside,
but it didn't work. It was severely damaged during the first hit. Coming to a decision, Cinder
started to move towards the exit, at least the path wasn't buried. The knight was lucky she didn't
break anything, without first aid getting to her Amber would be troublesome.

However, on her way towards the exit she saw something. Two men, not in soldier uniform
walking within the prison and try to find something. Those two had light gear, bulletproof vests
that covered their bodies but left an opening, their throats in particular…

They didn't look like heavy-duty soldiers, most likely KMF pilots. Cinder hid behind the corner,
watching how the two of them were checking the main hall. The first hit managed to take out the
majority of the prison personnel, those who survived weren't able to get free of the debris before
two soldiers gunned them down.

"The target should be inside his cell." One of them said and the second one nodded before turning
towards the halfway where Cinder was hiding.

The female knight took cover before they saw her, trying to find her personal handgun but finding
that it was missing. Most likely it was lost under the debris. Cinder swore under her breath,
checking if her military knife was still on her. After checking her boot, she quickly pulled out the
sharp object, satisfied that she wasn't fully unarmed.

'This will do.' Cinder glanced at the knife before hiding it under her torn cape, thinking about how
to deal with those thugs. An idea formed in her head as Cinder raised her hand in surrender and
walked out of her cover.

'This might be a good chance to learn more about enemy forces and test my command in such a
situation.' She didn't have time to interrogate them.

"Don't shoot!" She faked fear as two men aimed at her.

"What the- who the hell are you?!" Her uniform was damaged and because of the red light flashing
those two couldn't recognize her.

"I-I'm one of the prisoners!"

They looked at each other, their rifles still aimed at her. "Bullshit, this place has only one prisoner."

'So they're after Oldrin's brother, I can't allow them to get him.' Cinder narrowed her eyes before
speaking. "I-it was but they throw me in a cell only today, all because I dared to speak against their
tyrant emperor!"

"So you're an activist?"

"Yes! I even know where they're holding another prisoner, a blonde teenager."

"That's our target." One of them whispered and another one nodded before walking to Cinder.
"Okay girl, show us where that guy is and we'll help you go free."

"That sounds wonderful, thank you!" She smiled. "By the way, are you enemies of Emperor
Lelouch?"

Now one of them was within her arm's distance, close enough to act. However, Cinder wanted to
use Lelouch's gift for a situation like this.

One man looked confused but confirmed it. "We're Peace Mark, the ones who will bring down
Britannia and its child emperor to his knees. Now, turn around and show where another prisoner
is."

"So you're the enemy of Lelouch and his dream."

Cinder's expression turned emotionless before a wicked smile formed on her face.

Before either of the two men could react, Cinder moved faster than light. She closed the distance
between herself and the enemy, her fist aiming for his windpipe. As it made contact, she managed
to stun the man as he struggled to breathe. His friend didn't lower down his rifle, but he couldn't
shoot with his buddy in the middle. Cinder capitalized on that as she grabbed the stunned gunner
and used him as a meat shield. The bastard was heavy, but she had another target. The second
knight ignored the limits of her body, pushing her shield forward.

The second man dodged to the side when Cinder pushed his friend forward. However, his rifle
wasn't aimed at her, giving Q2 a moment to dash forward, her left hand pulling out the hidden
knife. Her enemy immediately started to shoot in her direction, but Cinder managed to slide
towards him. Cinder rose up on one knee and before he could react, her knife cut through his
throat.

His rifle fell to the ground as the White Queen stood up, not breaking contact with the dying man
as he tried to stifle the blood loss, to say anything, but the blade made any attempt meaningless.
She stared down at him impassively as life left his eyes.

Those insects dared to challenge Lelouch's rulership?

"Pathetic."

Cinder pulled her knife out of the dead man as he fell to the ground. She did notice he was carrying
a sidearm and took a pistol for herself. His friend was still on the ground, trying to normalize his
breath but before he could do anything, Cinder walked past him with one quick shot to the head.
She didn't even bother to look at the corpse, they weren't important. The second knight made her
way outside, those two most likely came with Knightmares. Worst case scenario, she would take
one of their machines. Hopefully, she wouldn't need to.

On her way towards the exit, Cinder saw the ruins and corpses of the guards. Most of them died
from the initial attack. Some were buried under the rubble, some shot. None of it mattered to her
right now. Soon she found the entrance she and Oldrin used not so long ago. When she went
outside, the second knight was greeted with the sight of Knightmares and soldiers.

Britannian soldiers.

The squad was from the local garrison, but they were not soldiers from Lelouch's personal legions.
They had six Vincent Wards and two hounds with them, near them she saw two old Vincent
models. Most likely they were used by two men she killed. She was a little disappointed that they
weren't from the white legion or had more firepower, but they will do.
"My lady!" the closest one saluted. "We didn't expect to see you here. Do you require medical he-"

"Oldrin Zevon and the important prisoner are still stuck under the prison ruins. Dig them out and
escort them to the safe location, quickly."

The soldier wanted to respond but was interrupted by the sound of something flying above them.
Their Knightmares quickly took the defensive position as something flew with high speed over
their heads. Cinder narrowed her eyes.

"What was that?"

"The enemy Knight of the Round."

"Excuse me?" Cinder raised her eyebrow.

"I-I mean the traitorous Knight of the Round!" The soldier quickly corrected himself. "They
appeared out of nowhere and were attacking random locations."

'Strange.' Why would the knights of the round attack the capital while Lelouch was away? Just to
free Orpheus Zevon? But why? If they want to take the city, the enemy will just waste resources
and manpower. To use F.L.E.I.J.A? The two men from before were from Peace Mark and Lelouch
did say that Wizard most likely will cooperate with his brother. However, if they had the warhead
why not use it from the start and take out half to the city and its Britannian forces?

'And Knights of the Round don't just fly over the enemies. The majority of their Knightmares aren't
that fast.' The thing that flew over Cinder seconds ago was too quick for KMFs unless it was using
energy wings. 'Something isn't right.'

"What about the royal palace? What is the situation there?"

"Protected by the second legion." The soldier from before answered. "The invaders broke into
small groups and spread around the city, the majority of them near the palace. The enemy Knights
of the Round tried to attack it but didn't break through the defence."

'Why are they wasting time? The palace is useless without the emperor there. The entire city could
be destroyed and nothing of value would be lost.' Peace Mark came here for Orpheus Zevon, but
were former Knights of the Round acting as a distraction? Too risky even for them. 'It doesn't
make sense.'

"I need a Knightmare." Her dear Amber was in the palace hangar. If the enemy was focusing its
attack there, trying to get her personal Frame might be dangerous. Cinder didn't even know if the
attackers were the real deal. 'Suzaku Kururugi uses energy wings, if he was in the city I would see
it by now. No, there is something more to this attack.'

"Agh, of course, my lady-!" Cinder didn't bother to listen to him, taking away his activation keys
and climbing inside one of the regular Vincents.

'Not my Amber, but it should do the trick.' She eyed the collapsed prison before turning her
machine towards the two drones. "Hounds aren't useful in air combat, you two will stay and rescue
Oldrin Zevon and her brother."

The AI recognized her voice and followed the order, Cinder ordered ground troopers to secure the
area while she would take KMFs with her. The Britannian war machines rose up in the air. Once
they were high enough, Cinder looked over the city.
Pendragon was hit hard. Different parts of the city were covered by the smoke, most likely from
explosions similar to one that destroyed the prison. However, she quickly picked up on the sounds
of fighting around them. Cinder tried to contact anyone, but the Knightmare radio wasn't working.

"Enemy is jamming our signal, my lady." The Knightmare next to her commented. Cinder
clenched her fist before, closing her eyes and trying to analyze the situation.

'Even with help of Schneizel, the Peace Mark wouldn't waste so many resources on the pointless
all-out attack. They lack the manpower and will try to save it for something bigger than attacking
the capital without Lelouch here. So, most likely our quest will try to divide and conquer.' Divide
their limited forces into smaller teams and attack distant locations, forcing defenders to spread their
Knightmares around the city. 'The royal palace will be the most obvious place to attack and they
know it. White Legions stationed there will defend it until the last man, but Peace Mark doesn't
need to fight them. Does Peace Mark just need to distract the main forces while some of them will
try to free Zevon? He has Geass, it does make sense why they would want him.'

Cinder eyed the soldiers and hounds on the ground as they were digging through the ruins of the
royal prison. If her theory was correct, she would need to defend this position and wait while
enemy manpower would be cut down by city defenders. However, without any connection to the
palace or any squad nearby, she couldn't call for reinforcements. Staying there by herself won't be
too useful, the enemy might have a secret weapon in the form of F.L.E.I.J.A. in which case she
needs to be on the move. However, since the Peace Mark sent only two pilots to the prison, it
meant that they didn't know the exact location of Orpheus Zevon.

'I could try to free Oldrin and secure her brother. Maybe even use him as a meat shield against the
other Peace Mark soldiers, they won't kill him. However, digging them out will take time and I
don't know if the enemy has more secrets up their sleeve. I need to take risks and act quick.
Besides-' Cinder looked up at the sky, where the object that was supposed to be a former Knight of
the Round was flying with incredible speed. 'I need to see if those guys are the real deal and take
them out.'

One of the Vincent Wards flew closer to her as the pilot asked. "My lady, what are your orders?"

"We are going after those so-called Knights of the Round. They're enemies of his majesty's dream.
And I will destroy any enemy of my Emperor."

Cinder eyed the surrounding area. The ground troops were slowly but surely taking care of the
Peace Mark. Enemy KMFs were small in number, but since communications were cut off there
was no organized command structure amongst Britannian soldiers. The smaller groups were trying
to get rid of the isolated enemy unit, unable to cooperate with the rest of the forces. Because of this
advantage, PM pilots had more space to act. Since the palace was believed to be under attack, the
majority of forces were there, protecting the empty place since no one could send them after more
important targets.

'And I have only a small number of Knightmares under my command.' Cinder was piloting a
regular Vincent Ward while five others accompanied her. Not enough to take out every enemy in
the city, but she didn't need to do that. 'Something is jamming the communications, we need to find
it and destroy it.'

However, the only enemy unit near them was the supposed Knight of the Round, flying in the
skies above them. If it was the real deal, then it would be - for lack of a better word - a pain in the
ass for Cinder, especially without her dear Amber. Taking it out first might make the situation
more clear. And that's why her unit was getting ready for the hunt.
"It is only one enemy KMF, it won't be able to sustain fire from several directions at once unless it
has shields. We need to slow it down before shooting it down, my lady." One of her pilots
suggested.

Cinder eyes scanned across the sky. "Do we have a spear?"

"Ah, y-yes?" The Knightmare behind looked around until one of the Vincent Wards offered its
spear. "Yes, we have my lady."

"Excellent, now listen to me very carefully-"

"W-what just happened-?"

Oldrin groaned as she tried to stand up, but froze when she felt someone's body above her.

She opened her eyes and saw her brother, covering, using his own body to protect her. Oldrin
paused before a small smile formed on her face.

"Orpheus, I'm fine." As she said it, her brother opened his eyes before quickly moving away.

"Good, the last thing I want is for Britannians to pin another crime on me."

Oldrin rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea what that was?"

"Most likely an explosion. Someone either tried to repeat my attempt from Berlin or the city is
under attack." His sister's eyes went wide.

"Attacking Pendragon? That's madness! This city is the most guarded place on the planet."

Orpheus smirked. "Didn't stop people then, didn't stop them now. I heard Lelouch was on his tour
around the empire, maybe someone decided to ruin his shiny palace while the White Emperor
wasn't looking."

"Not funny, Oz. We could have died." Oldrin looked around the cell. The selling almost collapsed
on them, they were alive by pure luck." Maybe it's Schneizel or the Peace Mark?"

"I doubt it is the latter. Peace Mark doesn't have resources for an open fight with Britannia."
Orpheus said with regret in his voice.

"I dunno, Oz. They seem like a desperate bunch who might try to do something like this. After all,
a lack of resources didn't stop them from trying to assassinate His Majesty in the middle of the city
with the public in reach." Oldrin gave her brother a deadpan look. "Your old friends are crazy
enough to do something like this."

"Oz, please." Orpheus sighed. "There is no point for them to-"

"You." Oldrin realised as she stood up and took her brother's arm. "They're here for you."

"What- Oz, Peace Mark has policies about stuff like this. They don't rescue leaders of different PM
cells!" Orpheus always knew that if something would happen to him, other PM groups wouldn't put
their necks for him, and he was fine with it. "They don't help people like me, who are as good as
dead."

"You aren't dead and nothing will happen to you while I'm still alive." It was a promise. Orpheus
knew better than to call out his twin sister on this. "Now come on, we need to get out of here. If
they're here for you, I need to get you to a safe place."

Oldrin walked towards the door and opened it. However, it immediately fell forward. She winced
as she entered the hallway, trying to find anyone but finding only two corpses. Those guards were
from the emperor's White Legion and were ordered to guard her brother no matter what. Now they
were buried under rubble, a terrifying death, but at least the way outside wasn't completely covered
by ruins. There was a small passage, wide enough for a person.

"Come on, brother, we need to get out," Oldrin said as she started to crawl out of the thought
passage. She had tried to put the dead bodies in a more dignified position, but it would take a while
to dig them out in the first place. She let out a sigh, silently praying for them.

Her brother didn't feel the same way.

For him, they were nothing but brainless toy soldiers of Lelouch, but to his sister, they were
comrades in arms. He moved past them and went after his sister, picking up a handgun one of them
had. Dead men didn't need their weapons anymore. And so Orpheus couldn't help but ask a
question.

"Say, Oz. Why are you serving Britannians?"

"Not the best time for a chat, Oz. We're kind of busy right now."

Orpheus pressed on. "Don't try to change the subject. I know you, the small shy girl who always
hid behind our mother whenever someone tried to speak with you. I can't see that girl serving the
nation that benefited from the suffering of others."

"Correction, you knew me before disappearing from my life for a decade, leaving me without any
family and only Marry to rely on." Oldrin said with slight annoyance in her voice, "We grew up,
Oz. I became my best friend's knight of honour while you become a terrorist-"

"Freedom fighter-"

"That's what they all call themselves. I saw those so-called 'freedom fighters', some of them aren't
any better than the worst pureblood jerk. One time, one group called the Wings Of Talleyrand tried
to attack Pendragon, they didn't like the way the empire was governed. They didn't hesitate to kill
civilians in the city either. While serving under Marry I saw how people tried to fix the empire
through violence. Many innocents died." Oldrin glanced at him with a bittersweet expression. "I
know that the old Britannia wasn't the best place for many people and that many will prefer it
gone, but it was our home and someone has to protect it. Be it an enemy from within or outside."

"Protection from the nations Britannia conquered?"

"Protection from the likes of Peace Mark who won't hesitate to sacrifice innocent lives. From the
likes of a Wizard who would kill their own sister to gain power." Oldrin raised her tone, forcing
him to look down. "Let's not talk about it while we're trying to get out of this trap, please Oz."

Orpheus said nothing but decided to obey his sister on this matter. The two continued to move
towards the exit or hoping there was an exit at all.

In the air above the city, the battle continued.

The forces of Peace Mark were running out of time. Pendragon's defences were caught off guard
and temporarily lost communications, but were still able to engage them in a fight. The Britannian
side had enough firepower to defend, but without a clear understanding of enemy position and
numbers, any counterattack was risky. Some saw among the enemy ranks some kind of upgraded
Gareth Knightmare that was able to destroy any machine within its sight. Others commented about
the Knight of the Round being somewhere in the city, but without connection to her, Cinder Fall's
location was unknown. However, the most worrying rumour was the supposed appearance of
traitorous Knights in the city.

No one saw the Knights of the former emperor, but it was said that the palace was attacked by one
of them and now they were terrorizing the sky. None of the soldiers dared to test this rumour, even
the White Legion soldiers preferred to remain on their post and guard the palace until either
reinforcement arrived or communications had been fixed. Needless to say, the defenders were
playing into the Peace Mark hand right now.

However, Cinder Fall didn't intend to leave it like this for too long.

"My lady, we have a visual on the enemy."

Cinder stared at the monitor inside her temporary Knightmare. The first thing she noticed was how
blurry the image was, she couldn't make anything out of it. Whatever it was, their tech couldn't
capture it. Either it was too fast or the enemy was using some kind of cover to conceal its presence.

Cinder bit her lip before ordering her soldiers. "Rely on regular cameras. Follow the plan, force it
to move where we want it to go."

The five Vincent Wards flew in different directions as she ordered them to do, while Cinder
focused on the unknown enemy machine before her. She noticed something strange. It was flying
in a somewhat predictable manner, only changing its course whenever Britannian Knightmares
were nearby to avoid direct contact. It always kept its distance.

'It doesn't want to fight us, only flying to either distract us… or was it something else?' Was it
waiting for some kind of opening in their defences? Maybe the traitor inside didn't bother to fight
regular soldiers and was waiting for a real challenge? No, such a method didn't match the fighting
style of any known traitor. Scum like Suzaku and Bismark preferred to fight directly, not running
around the battlefield. Other Knights under the command of Charles didn't fight like this either.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the signal from one of her Knightmare units as it engaged the
enemy machine. The unknown machine was flying above her, not even bothering to try attacking
her. However, it didn't take too long for her soldiers to make their move. The purple Knightmare of
the empire appeared in her view as it quickly closed the distance between itself and the enemy.

The sole Vincent Ward used its assault rifle and opened fire upon the enemy, but it immediately
dodged the shots. However, Cinder didn't expect it to be so easy. The enemy machine changed its
direction and started to fly where she wanted it to go.

'It doesn't even try to shoot back.'

A lack of armaments then? Why even bring a unit that cannot fight back and flies around instead?
Soon, another one of her Vincent Wards showed up. The friendly machine rose up from the cloud,
certainly surprising their opponent as it quickly changed direction again. This time it flew upward,
trying to get the distance between them. And once again another Vincent Ward appeared out of
nowhere, firing a few shots and sending the enemy away in the opposite direction.

It was no different from a mouse in a maze, constantly scurrying about to find the exit. At this
point, Cinder was able to make out separate details of this unknown machine.
For the fourth time, one of her Vincent Wards appeared out of the cloud and startled the enemy as
it flew away, towards where Cinder was hiding. The Second Knight pressed the controls of her
machine and her Knightmare moved up. She pointed her assault rifle and opened fire. The enemy
made it clear that it was capable of dodging their puny bullets, but there was a human factor. It was
clear it wasn't a drone, no AI was able to adjust and avoid attacks so quickly. However, if it was a
human being controlling the machine, then it was expected for this person to mess up.

'After all, being forced to retreat several times in a row and being shot at would make anyone
twitchy, especially on the battlefield.' The human brain could only endure so much before it started
to make mistakes, such as missing important details.

The pilot of the enemy machine was most likely exhausted from being chased and having no way
to fight back. That's why when it tried to fly away again, it didn't notice how something fell on it
from the sky.

The fifth and last Knightmare under her command dived down, the battle spear in its hand aimed at
the enemy. Cinder ordered the final Vincent Ward to wait outside the area as she wanted to
surround the enemy and wait until the opportunity arose. The spear made contact with the side of
the enemy machine as it sparked and smoke billowed out. Once it was damaged, her monitors were
able to finally distinguish the unknown Knightmare before her.

Except, it wasn't a Knightmare.

Cinder blinked as she rubbed at her eyes. It was a-

"Fighter?" Cinder couldn't understand what a relic of the past was doing here. With the
introduction of the Knightmare Float System, the old military air force was practically phased out,
at least in Britannia. Especially when something like energy wings was introduced. Europe tried to
use their air forces against Britannia during the last war, but the empire's airships and Knightmares
showed who was the new ruler of the sky. So what were one of these fighter jets doing here, in
Pendragon?

As she thought about it, the enemy fighter was carefully pried off of the Vincent's spear, the
Knightmare holding with both hands. Inside the cockpit, they could see the unlucky fighter pilot
tremble with fear. Not surprising when your machine was in the hands of a literal war robot. One
wrong move and the pilot would be crushed by the metal fingers.

"My lady, I think it is some kind of modified model of the standard Russian fighter." The Vincent
Wards flew next to her, now that their supposed Round was taken care of.

"Russian? But how did it manage to mask its presence on our sensors?" They wouldn't even show
if it was actually Knightmare. Even monitors would show blurry images. However, now that
Cinder took a better look at this thing she noticed how its wings were covered with some
mechanism that stood out. It looked like a crudely put armour set on top of the wing but didn't fall
off during the flight. "Is it some kind of stealth technology?"

Where did the Russian fighters get it? Russia was quiet since the war, now part of the
Commonwealth under Lelouch control. Cinder didn't even see these things back during the war.
The Vincent Ward next to her shook the fighter like it was some kind of toy before speaking.

"What should we do with it, my lady?"

Cinder thought about it before taking away the fighter and bringing the cockpit closer to the head
of her Knightmare, making sure the enemy pilot was focused on her. She could see how the man
inside the fighter tried to back away but had nowhere to go or hide. With a cold ice voice, Cinder
spoke.

"Unless you want me to forcibly open the cockpit and toss you outside you will answer my
questions. Do I make myself clear?" The terrified pilot quickly nodded. "Perfect, now speak."

The fighter pilot pressed some buttons and soon they heard his voice. "I-I was just a diversion-! He
told me to fly around the city, make the Brits think I was some sort of special threat! I don't have
any weapons - I swear!"

"What about communications? How are you able to jam them?"

"I-it's our fighters, we have some kind of new jammers-"

"We? You aren't the only one?"

"F-four! There are four of us!"

Cinder looked away, towards the direction of the palace or any other city part. Pendragon has an
anti-air defence that should be able to deal with traditional fighters. However, if those models had
new jammers and stealth covers, perhaps automated systems weren't able to notice them.

"Turn it off immediately." Cinder hissed, scaring the captured man as he quickly nodded and
immediately did as he was told.

Cinder checked her communications and was pleased when she finally had a signal with all other
forces. Although there were three other fighters like this, it would appear that with one of them out
of the picture, she was able to send a message - however weak it was - to all forces. Cinder didn't
waste any time and spoke.

"Soldiers of Britannia! Hear my words! This is Cinder Fall, Second Knight of the Round! I
command all of you-"

Oiagros Zevon aka Wizard wouldn't admit it out loud, but there was something calming down
about destroying Britannian Knightmares.

Wizard moved his machine, dodging a missile flying next to him before bringing his Agravain
forward and firing its hadron cannons. The red ray of death blew up the unfortunate Vincent Ward
that was in its way. The pilot smirked under his mask before counting his carnage. Oiagros was
always a skilled pilot, bested only by the likes of his sister. The former noble had little issue killing
off his countrymen.

'Serving the likes of Lelouch, they are as good as dead.' The boy had a terrifying Geass power and
Wizard was sure the majority of his forces was made up of slaves whose will Lelouch took away,
at very least they were former purebloods, now conscripted legionnaires. 'They are also the ones
who cause the most problems.'

White Vincent Wards proved themselves to be a worthy adversary when they had the advantage of
numbers. The Agravain had to use more of its firepower to take them down since legionnaires liked
to dodge every hadron shot and fly around like flies. However, where his hadron cannons couldn't
do it, Wizard's missiles would do the trick. None of them could dodge 14 missiles at once.

As he got rid of another squadron, the Wizard looked around. He and his team weren't close to the
palace, so why were white legionnaires there? Last he heard, they were protecting the empty royal
palace, unable to understand that they were doing exactly what he wanted.

'My attack force lacks numbers and firepower to take over the city. If we tried to engage them in an
open fight, we would be massacred within minutes. Thankfully, there was no need.' He had not
come to the capital to take it. Wizard had no use for the damn city, all Oiagros cared about was his
nephew who was supposed to be in the city. 'However, none of the search teams I sent reported
anything useful yet. We're running out of time…'

While the Peace Mark and Pluton forces he managed to assemble lacked the necessary manpower
or powerful weaponry, they had the element of surprise on their side. That and the new device
Schneizel provided Wizard with.

'Of course, the former prime minister didn't exactly say to use it here.' The masked man chuckled.
In fact, Schneizel didn't even know about this operation. Why would he? Oiagros was there to save
his last sane family member, the second prince wouldn't understand him. 'I doubt that bastard
knows what it means to care about your family...not that I'm the perfect example either.'

Their new technology was supposed to cut off Britannian communications and coupled with the
stealth armour, their fighters would be invisible to the empire's machines. Of course, this
technology wasn't supposed to be used on old fighters, it was meant to be carried by other
Knightmares, but Wizard had a better plan. Put the jammers and stealth armour on the fighters and
watch as they flew circles around the city, rendering the Britannians unable to communicate or
even see the enemy. Sadly, one fighter wasn't enough to cover the entire city, forcing him to use
four at once to get the desired effect. All he needed to do was divide his limited forces and make
them attack different parts of the city, making the enemy believe the attack force was bigger than it
actually was. Wizard's forces also managed to hack into Britannian communications and were
listening in if the Brits were able to speak with each other. So far all channels remained silent,
proving that the jammers were working.

'No idea where Schneizel got those things. I was able to find good old Russian fighters in
acceptable condition, but this tech wasn't made by his people.' Schneizel was too busy building his
oversized fortress, and Oiagros saw that his engineers struggled to maintain even one Knightmare
with energy wings. So where did the second prince get these toys? 'A good question for later, right
now I need to focus on finding-'

"Boss, we got news from the search party!" One of his lieutenants piloting an old model of the
Platon Vincent spoke up, the Agravain coming to a stop.

"Did they find Orpheus Zevon?" Was his nephew rescued?

"No, they checked all potential places and found nothing. However, one of the teams didn't
respond, their signal was lost somewhere in the north of the city."

Wizard paused, it wasn't exactly the news he wanted. However, it meant that Orpheus might be
somewhere there.

'North… north - wasn't there a royal prison?' Oiagros recalled what we knew of the capital's
layout from the time he had to serve Charles as part of the nobility. 'I thought that place was too
obvious. Whatever, at least they didn't hold him in the palace.'

Even with their small advantage, storming the royal palace was out of the question. It was suicide.
The Agravain started to fly back, turning towards the direction of the prison. However, Wizard
stopped when one of his lieutenants yelled.
"Boss! We lost one of the fighters!"

Oiagros narrowed his eyes under the mask. "How? Did that Nemesis come here?"

"Not sure, but the signal went off. Either the unit was destroyed or captured."

Capturing the fighter in mid-air shouldn't be possible, but Wizard was used to impossible things at
this point. But before he could say anything, a voice came from the open channel.

"Soldiers of Britannia! Hear my words! This is Cinder Fall, Second Knight of the Round! I
command all of you to go on the offensive! Our enemy was deceiving us! Those insects are
nothing but trash from Peace Mark! None of the traitorous Knights of the Round are among their
ranks. Our communications are still jammed so aim for the enemy fighters in the sky, destroy each
one of them and bring glory to His Majesty!"

This wasn't good. Wizard saw how the Britannians stopped attacking for a moment, most likely
regrouping before trying to overrun them. Peace Mark could no longer bluff with false information.
He saw how the imperials started to leave their defence positions, going after the numerically
inferior groups of Peace Mark. They were losing precious time, and if this continued the magician's
forces would be massacred before he was even able to save Orpheus.

"Shit, they figured it out."

"Should we escape?"

"Not without Orpheus! We need him alive. We follow plan B and a secure escape route, I will
rescue Orpheus and meet there."

The Knightmare next to him turned towards the supposed escape before asking. "What about those
fighters?

Agravain looked at the sky, the female Knight of the Round somewhere up there. He didn't know
if this Cinder Fall managed to capture his fighter, but Wizard wasn't going to let her have it. He
pulled the detonator and activated the little insurance mechanism.

"She can take whatever will be left of it."

Once Cinder's words reached the soldiers, the flow of battle changed. Britannian soldiers who were
until too unsure about the complete situation and didn't want to risk an all-out offence against a
powerful enemy were now storming Peace Mark positions.

White Vincent Wards that were guarding the royal palace were now on their way to clean the
capital from the trash that dared to attack it. None of the Peace Mark Knightmares were able to
stand against the firepower of Gareths that decimated anything that came in their view.

On the streets, the ground troopers were slowly making their way around the city, picking out any
hostiles while Hounds jumped from building to building and ambushed the disorganized enemy
groups. Peace Mark wasn't winning before, they were merely able to hold the puzzled Britannain
forces on the defensive, but now since their tricks weren't working it meant only impending doom
for them.

The imperial army in the city was on a rampage and while she couldn't directly lead the attack,
they were more than capable of eliminating the now fleeing Peace Mark soldiers. And yet, Cinder
couldn't exactly understand the logic of the attackers, they were deep inside the empire, right in its
heart. Even if some were able to run, it was only a matter of time until they were all hunted down.
Worse still, communications were still not fully operational.

"Can we contact anyone?" She needed to order reinforcements for the Oldrin position quickly.

"We still have issues, my lady. Other units are organising the counter-attack against the enemy, but
the channels are too flooded to reach them."

'Well, at least we can hear them. Good enough.' Cinder eyed the city from the sky. She saw the
small explosion as KMFs were destroyed, considering the pattern she concluded that their forces
were trying to encircle the Peace Mark. "They will be fine on their own, we still need to deal with
those fighters."

As she said this, all attention returned to the captured fighter and its terrified pilot. Surely Lloyd
would like to get inside this thing and see how it works. The weird scientist will enjoy this gift.

However, what none of them knew, including the fighter pilot, was that there was a safety measure
in case the fighters were captured. Wizard didn't want the Brits to get their hands on his new
ordinance and he would rather destroy everything than let Lelouch gain anything from it. Inside the
fighter was hidden a secret explosive mechanism that none of the pilots knew about.

And it was activated.

"I want this thing to be delivered to-"

BOOM!

The fighter jet exploded while in the hands of the Vincent. Cinder's KMF hadn't flown away too
far and was still near it when it happened. The explosion sent one of the fighter's wings flying in
her direction. The sharp metal made contact with her Knightmare, piercing its armour and barely
missing the Yggdrasil Drive inside the mainframe. But it went further, into the cockpit. Its edge
was separated from the wing and flew at Cinder as it made contact with her face, stabbing into her
left eye.

The Second Knight of the Round felt a pain that couldn't be compared to anything she had ever
experienced. She wanted to scream, but the noise died before it could leave her mouth. Instead,
Cinder bit her tongue until she tasted blood. The metal had pierced her eyeball but didn't go further,
thankfully leaving her brain relatively safe.

Oh but there was blood inside her cockpit, a lot of it in fact.

'It's alright Cinder, there's just a piece of metal in your head right now.' She grits her teeth, trying
her best to force herself to endure pain. 'You won't die… but they will.'

However, her trouble didn't mean she could faint from shock right now, not when her Knightmare
was falling from the sky.

The damage done to her Vincent Ward by the explosion and fragments of the fighter was quite
severe. Her float system wasn't spared the damage and now it was failing, causing the machine to
plummet from the sky.

'I won't die like this! Not now when I finally became someone, when I finally have power!' Cinder
forced herself to ignore the pain she needed to survive and prevail.

'He ordered me to slay his enemies, the enemies of his dream. I cannot fail until there are those
who will threaten Lelouch and his dream!' After all those years of hiding, being a powerless girl,
she wouldn't allow herself to lose right now.

The determination Cinder found to prevail, to protect the happiness she finally managed to secure
was enough to make his order active. Her remaining eye turned red, rendering her pain null and
void.

The symbol of the emperor's power.

The proof of Lelouch's trust in her.

At last, her Geass Command was activated.

First, she needed to stabilize the control of her KMF. The float system was collapsing, but she
managed to slow down Knightmare, using all power to boost the engine forcing it to stay in the air
for a little longer.

At least it didn't take too long for the help to arrive. The group of Vincent Wards that flew with her
immediately caught her. Two of them helped to hold her machine in the air. At the very least, she
won't fall down now.

"My lady! Wh-"

"My bloody eye is bleeding!" Cinder shouted over them as she tried to find a first aid kit. She
pulled out the painkiller and bandages. "What is your status?"

"We lost two units because of the explosion, nothing of the enemy fighter was left, my lady."

"My lady! We should escort you outside the battlefield! You're wounded-"

"Doesn't fucking matter! The fight isn't over yet and his enemies are still alive. I won't stop until
everyone who threatens my emperor is dead!"

Cinder took the painkillers, she didn't feel the pain now because of Geass, but it didn't mean her
body won't collapse at any moment. She touched the edge that stabbed her left eyeball, the bloody
thing was still there. Cinder prepared to pull it out but stopped midway. No, she will bleed out if
she does it. Cinder knew she shouldn't attempt to remove a foreign body from her eye, but she
didn't have time to get medical help. She was still in the middle of the battle.

"Contact anyone near us, the Zevon siblings are the priority right now-"

"My lady, our forces identified one of the enemy units as the Agravain Knightmare-"

Agravain, that Knightmare, it belonged to-

The same person who was behind the death of her mother, the same one who ruined her childhood,
the uncle of Oldrin-

"...Wizaaaard." Cinder's hiss was whispered in a cold and deadly tone.

For a moment, she almost considered going after him. There would be no words or pleasantries
shared between them if she did, only a primal urge to kill. Her breathing was erratic as she thought
of her mother, killed by the treacherous Wizard. Her mother. Killed by the Wizard…

Dead silence ringed through the cockpit, Cinder's expressionless face staring at the monitor so
intently it appeared she might be looking beyond. At Wizard. She closed her eye then, wincing in
slight pain as she tried to do so with her other eye. When she beheld the interior again, she took a
deep breath and followed her Command.

She didn't have the strength to shout or be angry at this point.

The bastard who was responsible for her loss was here in the city, yes, most likely trying to free his
nephew.

'No. No matter what, I won't let that son of a bitch get his hands on the Zevon boy.' Even if it will
cost her confrontation with Oldrin. "Very well, you're right. I need medical assistance."

Cinder couldn't afford to risk it right now. She would hunt down the Wizard later if need be. She
will get her revenge, for her mother and now her eye. However, fighting him right now will be
idiotic. The Agravain was said to possess stronger firepower than the famous Gawain. In her state,
hoping for regular Knightmares to take Wizard out was too naive.

But that was alright. The man didn't need to go anywhere! She would come for him eventually.

"Contact our forces on the ground, I have instructions for them."

"Of course, my lady."

The two Vincent Wards began to descend, carrying a heavily damaged machine between them.
Removing the cockpit was too dangerous when the entire KMF could fall apart at any moment.
But the Second Knight of the Round remained calm, saving her strength and giving orders to the
soldiers near the Zevon siblings, making them prepare the welcoming party for their uncle.

'Even if I cannot kill you myself, Wizard, I will make sure you won't achieve your goals today.'

Back inside the collapsed royal prison, Oldrin and Orpheus made their way out of their entrapment.

Though they were slowly moving between the collapsed rubble, Oldrin knew that someone would
come after them. She was a Knight of the princess while her brother was a prisoner of His Majesty,
that alone was enough of a reason to rescue them.

'Little egotistical to be happy that my status is important, but to get Oz outside I will be happy for
any help.'

Soon the two of them made it inside the small room that was supposed to be the prison guard
room, but half of it was buried. The red emergency light didn't stop flashing above their heads.
Sadly, they didn't encounter any living person. Her brother's cell was deep within the prison and
both of them were lucky to even survive the initial hit.

However, the most worrying part was the fact that they hit the dead end. Orpheus sat down while
she started to look for any way further outside.

"Oz, I won't lie but I don't like our chances to get out of this." Her brother commented, but she
waved away.

"Rescue team should be on their way, we will be free at any moment-"

"No, I mean the oxygen. I doubt we have enough before we start suffocating,"

Oldrin paused, he was right. Everything around them was buried under the ruins, and she doubted
fresh air was entering this place anymore. This was still the military building and the ventilation
should have been able to work even in an emergency situation, but she was afraid her brother was
dead right.

She let out a tired sigh. Do or die, what use was there in just sitting around and giving up?

"That doesn't mean we can't try to dig ourselves out," Oldrin said as she started to clean up the
debris with her bare hands.

Orpheus stared at her back, a little amazed she didn't look fazed by the likely prospect of death.

"Still hoping for the best." He muttered.

She heard him. "Not hoping, trying to do my best. Now come help me or stop talking, brother."

Orpheus smirked before joining her in clearing the way, still convinced it was a lost cause. But
hey, at least they would die trying.

"You know, If we get out of this mess alive, I will do everything in my power to get you out of
prison." Oldrin will make sure her brother is a free man, no matter what.

"Oz, stop. I'm considered a terrorist by your empire, you might get into trouble because of me."

She chuckled. "Please, I would like anyone to challenge Marry… Actually, wait, Cinder will
definitely do it just to piss me off."

"You're talking about the Second Knight of the Round? She is a scary person." Back during the last
EU war, Orpheus heard rumours about how cruel the White Queen of Lelouch was.

"Irritating, that's what she is. Always tries to annoy people." Oldrin whispered to him. "I think she
gets off from it."

This made her brother snort, while Oldrin smiled.

'Cinder was right. Even if he was on the enemy side, Orpheus is my family. I shouldn't let anything
change it.'

However, for as long as they dug, there were still heaps of rubble obstructing the prison. Large
pieces of the building had piled on top, and they couldn't do anything about that. Orpheus and
Oldrin tried their best to dig themselves out, but there was little they could do with their bare hands.

Orpheus stared at his sister with a sorrowful look. "Oldrin, if we die here, I want you to know… I
wanted to find you. I wanted to reunite with you, but first I needed to stop Britannia."

"... And I didn't even know you were alive all this time, Orpheus… I thought I was alone, the last
Zevon. But now I found you again. I was scared, but I'm happy you're alive, brother… although…"
She looked around. "I think we're actually going to die here…"

"Hehe, at least I will die next to my sister. That's more than I expected."

Oldrin chuckled. "Marry will be furious, she won't forgive me for this. Is there anyone among
those Peace Mark forces who will miss you?"

Orpheus stayed silent, frowning as he remembered his comrades from his Peace Mark cell and how
all of them were killed. Perhaps Ray managed to get away, but… there was someone who might be
saddened by his death.
"...There is someone… I think she'll angry with me as well-"

"She?" Oldrin looked at him with sparkling eyes. "You never told me there was a girl! I didn't
expect you to find someone-"

"What?! It isn't like that!" Orpheus glared at his sister who just laughed. "And what do you mean
you didn't expect me to find someone? Is your opinion of me so low, sis?"

"Heh, sorry it is just while being in the cell talking about how you wanted to take down Britannia I
got the impression that you're too serious. It was hard imagining you with a girlfriend."

Orpheus groaned as he turned away. "X-she isn't my girlfriend...but she is among those who I can
trust with my back." As long as she wasn't trying to drive him mad.

"Hmm…" Oldrin gave him a small smile. "This is nice. Just talking to you like this. No empire or
Peace Mark talks, just talking like brother and sister."

"Normal is far from what I would call us, but I will admit I like this peaceful atmosphere. Don't
know how long it will last though."

Oldrin turned towards their exit and began to dig the way out again. She finally had her brother
back and she wasn't letting some crazy terrorist take it away from her. Orpheus noticed her
regained motivation and started to help. Dying like this wasn't the way he wanted to go out
anyway. The two of them couldn't do too much on their own, but thankfully they weren't alone.

Soon they heard a strange noise, whirring like a machine. Oldrin stopped and took a few steps
back, her brother following her example. The noise was getting closer and soon they saw how the
rubble before them started to shake as the giant metal hands made their way inside and cleared the
way. It was a Knightmare, and from the looks of it, it looked like the Alexander. It meant Hounds
were saving them. Oldrin's face beamed with happiness to see her allies while Orpheus had mixed
feelings about being saved by drones that were killing his people back in Europe.

In a few moments, the new exit was made as the wall of debris and the ceiling above it were
removed by the Hounds. The Zevon siblings stared at the battle machines above them and helped
them to escape this prison. A Britannian soldier quickly moved to the newly made entrance and
offered his hand to Oldrin. Once she was outside, she turned to her brother and offered her hand to
him.

Orpheus looked at it, he was surrounded by Brits and behind him was nothing but the ruins of his
old prison. Nowhere to run, but he didn't mind staying in their custody a little longer if it meant
Oldrin will be there. Someone has to look after her. With a roll of his eyes, he accepted her hand.
As they were finally outside, the sounds of battle still raged around them, the attackers and his
potential comrades were still in the city.

"What now?"

"Now we-"

However, before his sister could finish, one of the Hounds was shot down. The drone exploded
next to them, killing the Birttanian who helped them. On instinct, Orpheus moved to cover his
sister. When the two of them looked in the direction where the shot came from they saw a familiar
Knightmare. The second Hound lunged forward in an attempt to destroy the hostile newcomer but
was quickly eliminated by a hadron shot.

The Agravain and a group of Peace Marks KMFs appeared above them. Wizard then.
Their uncle.

Orpheus stared at the Agravain.

This unit and its pilot saved him once in the past. But it didn't mean he had a relationship with the
man piloting it. Although he won't admit it, Orpheus always hoped that his sister was wrong about
the identity of the person under the moniker of Wizard.

There was a pregnant silence as neither of the sides made any move. Peace Mark Knightmares took
the defensive position, with the Agravain in the middle, floating before the nephew and niece of its
pilot. Soon the giant machine kneeled before the failed assassin as the masked figure made his way
out.

Wizard didn't change, still playing the game of masquerade, even if his family and empire already
knew who was behind the ridiculous mask. Their uncle stood on the left shoulder of his
Knightmare as he spoke.

"Orpheus Zevon." Wizard spoke with a neutral tone, perhaps hoping his nephew will play along
with this charade.

However, Orpheus was done with playing games with people around him. He had to endure
imprisonment in Lelouch's prison and didn't have patience left. Especially when his dear uncle
almost killed him and Oldrin.

Speaking about his sister, she glared at the masked individual. Oldrin had her hand on a handgun,
ready to act if the opportunity would be presented. Killing the leader of this Peace Mark group will
be suicide, for both her and Orpheus.

Orpheus took a deep breath before speaking. "What do you want, Oiagros?"

His uncle didn't even flinch, he knew that his little niece won't stay silent about his identity.

"So, Oldrin told you everything. I see." No emotion was heard in his tone, but with the mask in the
way, Orpheus couldn't make anything else out. "As for the reason why I'm here, well I'm sure you
understand why, Orpheus."

"My Geass."

Wizard nodded. "I'm pleased that you understand your value. In that case, what would you say
about helping us destroy Britannia?"

Wizard offered his hand to Orpheus, knowing very well that his nephew despised their homeland
just as much as the masked man did. Together they would get rid of this cancer for good.

All that is left is for Orpheus to make the right choice.

"Do you have a visual on Wizard?"

The voice of Cinder Fall rang inside the ear of a Britannian sniper who was hiding among the ruins
of nearby buildings.

"Negative, my lady. The target is covered by his Knightmare. Can't take the shot."

Since the communications were partially restored, the Second knight ordered every available KMF
to secure the Zevon siblings. However, with Wizard and his followers making their way towards
the prison as well, the operation was temporarily halted.

Not to mention that Cinder was wounded and couldn't fight properly herself, so the next best thing
she came up with was using ground troopers to get information about the masked terrorist. The
closest allied forces were fighting their way towards the prison, but Peace Mark put up the fiercest
fight there. They wouldn't allow anyone to stop them from accomplishing their mission as long as it
meant the destruction of Britannia would be achieved.

For those reasons, Cinder Fall ordered this sniper to monitor the situation. He would make sure to
report everything that was going between Wizard and the Zevon siblings, as well as act if
necessary. Something like if the Wizard offers some kind of deal to the prisoner. The nameless
sniper watched through the scope how Orpheus Zevon spoke and nodded about something. The
sniper immediately contacted the second knight.

"My lady, Wizard reached out his hand towards Orpheus Zevon."

"Do you have a visual of the boy?"

"Affirmative, my lady."

On another hand of the line, Cinder Fall was silent for a moment before speaking. She knew what
should be done in case things went wrong. And yet, she was hesitating. Not because of Orpheus,
but because of Oldrin. The girl finally got part of her family… it was a shame she might lose it
again.

"... If the Zevon boy takes a step towards Wizard, eliminate him immediately."

"As you wish, my lady."

Orpheus never suspected Wizard to know about Geass, but then again he didn't suspect the masked
bastard to be his uncle either. The revelations Oldrin shared with him made male twin question
everything he knew about their childhood. The last time he saw Oiagros was before he was
kidnapped and sent to Geass Order. Back there he almost forgot about his family and after
escaping that place, he was focused only on his crusade against Britannia.

However, he always suspected someone would come after him. Adding onto the fact that he was
kept at the capital primarily because Leila Malcal needed a target practice for her Geass, that made
it obvious that Orpheus will be freed only because of his power.

"That and-" Wizard stopped himself. "No, your power is all that matters, boy. Come with me, I will
make sure you will get another fighting chance against Lelouch and his Britannia."

That...sounded tempting to Orpheus, He made it his goal to take down Britannia, getting revenge
against Lelouch for taking away his PE cell and friends will be welcome as well. If he was offered
this deal months ago, Orpheus would have agreed in a heartbeat, but there was something that
made him hesitate.

"That's it? You finally see your family again and all you can speak about is fighting Britannia?!
Not even going to apologise for almost killing us?" Oldrin shouted furiously as she stomped closer
to the Agravain. "Or say anything about the fact you killed our mom?"

"Oldrin." Wizard spoke with what sounded like regret. "You're still as naive as back then in
Brussels. Still acting like a dog to the empire that will toss you away once you're no longer useful."
"What? Like you did with our family?" Oldrin shouted back. "Because I don't remember you
staying behind to raise me or help Orpheus after our mother died. And what right do you have to
call me a dog when you killed your own sister for the sake of a title?!"

Under his mask the Wizard grit his teeth, remembering the sacrifice he had to make for the sake of
everything he had.

"Stupid girl. You don't even know the full truth of what happened. I had no choice, it was the only
option to save our family, including yourself and your brother. Charles was a true monster, he held
nothing sacred, the madman would have killed both of you if I didn't obey. His son is no better, he
is using both of you. He is using everyone. You don't even know what Lelouch did to get where he
is today."

"I don't know what Emperor Lelouch had to endure or sacrifice to achieve his goals, but I do know
that with him on the throne, Britannia started to improve. We have finally become the nation that
can change this world for the better. But you don't care about that, do you, uncle?" Oldrin clenched
her fists. "You just want to blame Britannia for every sin you committed, shifting responsibility for
your crimes on someone else. I bet it makes you feel better when you don't need to worry about
every life you ruined, including those of your own family."

Wizard - no, Oiagros looked down. He didn't try to argue with her on this matter. Because deep
down he knew his niece was right. It was easier to blame the corrupted institution and people at the
top.

"You're right, Oldrin." This made her pause, while Orpheus narrowed his eyes. "I'm not a saint and
I'm just as guilty as the empire. I will welcome any punishment for the sins I have committed. Be it
from anyone else, or either one of you. But only after this nation and that brat are gone."

His sister was surprised by her uncle's words, but only for a moment. "Do you think I'll just let you
do it?! I'm the knight of Her Highness, a servant of Britannia, and I will stop anyone who dares to
threaten the safety of my homeland."

"You think too much of yourself, Oldrin. What can you do in this situation? Try to shoot me?"
Wizard chuckled darkly. "You're the hopeless cause, my dear niece. If you can't see the evil that is
Lelouch then you are no better than his slaves. I will not hesitate to treat you like any other
brainless imperial doll, Oldrin Zevon."

Wizard returned his attention to Orpheus.

"As for you, I know how much Britannia took from you, Orpheus. We both knew what must be
done in order to improve this world. Wouldn't you agree?"

His nephew looked away from both of them. "...Yes. Britannia cannot exist anymore, not after
everything it did. All the suffering it has done and caused to the people..."

Under his mask, Oiagros smiled weakly, glad that at least one of them saw reality.

"In that case. Let us fix this world and destroy Britannia together, nephew."

"Orpheus." His sister whispered, scared at the prospect of losing him again. She was terrified of the
idea of Orpheus leaving with Wizard. What's worse, if Orpheus left with their uncle, she and the
other knights will be ordered to go after him. The last thing she wanted was to fight her own
brother.

'Oldrin...'
What about his sister? Orpheus didn't want to leave her behind, mainly because it meant that one
day he might fight her. Orpheus wasn't sure if he could do it. Fighting and even killing his sister…
no, he won't do it. But Oldrin won't join him either. No matter how many atrocities were
committed by their homeland, Britannia was still worthy of being protected in her eyes. And he
won't be able to force her to join them either.

'...Maybe if Rai uses his Geass-'

Orpheus froze, feeling like he would vomit any moment from the mere idea of using Geass on his
sister. Where did this thought come from?!

'No… no, anything but that.'

He won't allow anyone to do it. Oiagros made it clear he won't think twice about killing Oldrin.
Who is to say he won't use something like Geass on her?

'I can't leave Oldrin. I can't let Wizard or anyone else hurt her.'

They lost their mother. Oldrin thought he was dead while Orpheus was too focused on his goal, not
even trying to seek out his own sister. They lost their childhood. Forced to endure life on different
sides, fighting each other without even knowing they could kill each other one day.

Orpheus took a deep breath as he looked at Wizard, preparing to give his final answer.

"No."

"..."

"..."

"What?"

"I said no. If I join you, Oldrin will become my enemy. I can't allow that. I want to get rid of
Britannia, but I cannot do it knowing that my own sister might die because of my actions."

"You're making a mistake, Orpheus. Many people died today just so you and I could speak. Do
their lives and sacrifices mean nothing to you?"

"Don't even try to guilt-trip me, uncle! Of course, I know that all those deaths, Britannian or Peace
Mark are my fault as well. If I didn't have this power you wouldn't even have bothered to come
here and save me, isn't that right?"

Wizard wanted to say he was wrong, but deep down he knew that Orpheus was right about it.
Oiagros needed more Geass users to take down both Lelouch and then Schneizel. He wanted to
convince himself that he was doing it for the sake of his nephew as well, but his goals were more
important than just saving his family members.

"Your silence is an answer on its own, Wizard," Oldrin commented as she walked closer to her
brother. "What are you going to do now? Kill us too?"

"... I can just take Orpheus by force. I still have enough people to make it out of the city and the
continent. And-" He waved at the Agravain. "This helper. Orpheus, tell me, what is stopping me
from just forcing you to come with me? You want the destruction of Britannia just as much as I
want. Are you betraying the goal you and your comrades were fighting for?"
"Never, I will never forgive the lives of people who died because of me, but I'm not going to leave
my family again. And no way in hell will I allow anyone to harm my sister." Orpheus glared at
him. "Unlike you, I care about my family and I won't spill their blood. I will fight Britannia on my
own terms and I won't join someone like you."

Wizard stared at his family as both Oldrin and Orpheus stood side by side, ready to protect each
other if needed. There was a long silence as neither side wanted to give in. Not until one of
Wizard's men pointed something out.

"Boss, Brits are closing in. Our people are trying to hold them back, but we're running out of time.
We need to move right now or we're done-"

Wizard said nothing. What should he say? Say that he couldn't convince his own nephew to go
with him?

While his nephew and niece glared at him, Oiagros couldn't help but find something nostalgic
about their expressions.

It looked just like the face of his sister.

Finally, Wizard turned away, under the mask, Oiagros hid the expression full of regret that it had
come. He needed to make a choice, before-

"Incoming missile!" Someone shouted as his Knightmare dodged the rocket before a second took
him out. As his unit exploded, Peace Mark and the Zevon family saw the new units that were
moving towards them. Mere capital police KMFs, supported by ground troops but their numbers
alone will be enough to slow down Wizard before real forces will come and wipe them out. Their
time was up.

Orpheus turned to his sister with intent to cover her from possible shrapnel, but the female Zevon
acted first. She grabbed her brother and tossed him behind one of the destroyed walls that now
acted as a barrier for them. It won't protect them from the Knightamres but should be good enough
against stray bullets. The Britannians were advancing, finally able to break through the obstacles
the Wizard left for them. Ground troops had an arsenal and Britanian doctrine taught them how to
knock down older KMFs models, while police units would distract Peace Mark.

Wizard didn't bother to hide from the attack, his Agravain acted on its own and raised its hand to
protect its pilot, another bonus of working with Schneizel was access to experienced and talented
engineers. The masked man made it inside his machine, still more focused on the matter with his
family. Once inside, he found them on the screen, hiding from the battlefield. It would be so easy
to take them out so Lelouch won't have them...

"...We're leaving. We managed to hit Britannians at their own capital and show them how
vulnerable they can be." Plus testing new weapons and their effectiveness should be good enough
as well. Besides, it was time to use the last trick up his sleeve and see how effective this gift from
Schneizel was.

As Wizard's forces departed, he commanded everyone who was still alive to leave Pendragon, they
failed to achieve the main goal, but at least Peace Mark finally managed to challenge the empire in
an actual battle. Even if victory was not granted, this should be enough to inspire more people to
fight Lelouch. However, when the Agravain rose up in the air, Oiagros pushed the button and
activated his escape plan.

Agravain let out the high pitched noise that quickly spread towards other Knightamares,
immobilizing them. This trick should have affected all KMFs that weren't protected from this
signal. Wizard saw that the police Knightmares froze, but some of his own units weren't spared as
they fell down from the sky before being quickly surrounded by ground soldiers.

Zero used something like this on the night of the second battle for Tokyo, a similar trick was
achieved by W-0 when they managed to escape Britannian in Rome. He got reports that the
majority of more advanced Britannian Knightmares weren't affected by this, but they were
confused by an unexpected move from the enemy, and that was good enough for him.

Oiagros looked at Zevon siblings through his Knightmare monitor as he gave them the last
message.

"This isn't defeat. We will meet again, but I won't be so kind next time."

"And I will make sure you will be defeated, Wizard." Oldrin shot back while Orpheus stayed
silent.

Soon the remaining forces of Peace Mark left Pendragon and the battle was finally over.

Inside the Royal Palace.

Cinder stayed silent, her finger gently touching the place where her left eye once was. While the
left side of her face was bandaged, the doctors weren't able to save the organ, the damage was too
severe and total removal was necessary. Right now the female knight was still under the effect of
the medicine, feeling a little numb to pain. However, her wound didn't mean she forgot her duty.
Such was the reason why she was reporting everything that happened.

"That's what happened, my emperor."

Lelouch stared at her with a horrified expression. She could see the fear, sorrow and anger on his
face.

Normally Cinder would be delighted to be the focus of her beloved's attention, but right now the
situation wasn't romantic… alright, Cinder did feel a little out of it thanks to the drugs dulling her
pain, but she knew this wasn't the time to fool around.

'Is it me or did Lulu get taller? Having him right next to me right now would be welcoming and
fun.' She had to surpass the indecent thought. This wasn't the right time. 'Of course, we would have
to make it fun.'

Right now she was inside her personal quarters in the palace. It had been an hour since the battle
ended. The moment Pendragon's connection to the outside world was restored, Cinder immediately
contacted His Majesty. Cinder was the only one in the room as she ordered the doctors to leave her
alone.

"Both Oldrin and Orpheus Zevon were relatively unscathed and are currently under the protection
of the White Legion. "Of course, Cinder didn't expect anyone to try freeing Zevon after the failed
attempt by his uncle, but there was a possibility some of Peace Mark's more insane members might
try to assassinate him now since he refused to cooperate with them. 'If they can't have him, they
might make sure we won't either.'

However, her beloved emperor was more worried about her state.

"I don't care about Orpheus Zevon at the moment, Cinder." Lelouch only needed him as a tool for
Leila to improve her Geass, nothing else. Sure, D.S and C.C used him as a hostage to command
some X spy, but he only lives because the emperor allows it. If the White Emperor wants the life of
the former Peace Mark leader extinguished, it will be over in an instant, damn the consequences.

"Lelouch, I know I have lowered my guard and paid for it dearly, but I'm fine."

"You're missing your left eye, Cinder, I wouldn't call that fine." He spoke with anger in his tone.
"Your life is important to me, especially when we're so close to the end. I need you alive and in one
piece, so please, be safe."

"... Is this an order?" she gave him a devious smile.

Lelouch glared at her for a moment, before letting out a sigh. "If I must order you to look after
yourself, then yes Q2, this is an order. I want you to follow it to the full extent."

Cinder bowed deeply. "If my beloved emperor commands it, then I will obey your command.
However, be noted that I prioritize my goals above my life, and you know about my goals by this
point."

Both of them knew the feeling of loss and neither wanted to feel it again. Cinder finally found her
happiness in this world. She found someone she wanted to serve and make his dreams come true.
The White Queen wasn't going to lose any of it.

'Wizard was here. That man, the one who is responsible for the death of my mother. I had a chance
to kill Wizard and make him pay for taking her away from me… but I shouldn't let my thirst for
revenge overtake me, not like this. I'm the Second Knight of the Round, Lelouch's future empress.
Wizard is nothing, not when even his family left him. I will make him suffer, I swear not on my
revenge alone, but as my duty before Lelouch.'

Besides, in a twisted sense, it was thanks to the Wizard and the nobility who executed her mother
that she was even here today, with Lelouch. So maybe she should thank a former member of Zevon
in her own twisted way. She will do something respectful with his ashes, maybe give them to the
Zevon siblings.

A cruel and excited smile formed on Cinder's face, just imagining how wonderful it would be. So
many ideas...

"Cinder?' Ah, her dearest was calling out to her.

She bowed again. "I will not let you down, My Emperor. What happened today was a mistake on
my part. If only I was in my Amber or was more cautious this wouldn't have happened. I promise
this is the last time the enemy beats me."

Lelouch shook his head. "Wizard didn't beat you. It was deception that managed to wound you, but
he didn't win today. To think Peace Mark would be able to have such technology..."

Cinder nodded. "I suspect that your brother most likely gave them to the Peace Mark."

"Troublesome. If this is anything like what W-0 managed to pull in Rome, I want my people to be
prepared next time. Still, if this truly was based on W-0 findings then it would mean… hmm, I will
look into it later," Lelouch smirked. "Might be a little insensitive of me to say it, but we didn't
come off this accident without gaining something. Besides learning about this new enemy tech and
not losing one Zevon sibling, you finally managed to use your Command."

Cinder proudly nodded. Happy to finally use his gift even if the situation was far from desirable.
"Yes, my Emperor. I will continue using your gift with pride. It proved to be useful during my…
unlucky accident."

If losing her eye was the price she had to pay for being able to her Geass Command, Cinder was
fine with it. No power comes for free after all and she was powerful thanks to Lelouch. Cinder
wasn't going to let anything or anyone ruin her life anymore.

'I have the power that only the White Death possessed, but where the traitor Kururugi saw the
curse, I saw the blessing. Now I should be able to take him out, as well as Scarlet Dragon… that
reminds me.'

"Lelouch, there's something I forgot to mention. It's a family matter."

Just imagining the face the Red Lotus will make was worth anything.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "Zevon family?"

"Nope, someone far more important." Cinder gave him a small smile. "It is about a man who wants
to reunite with his beloved one, and maybe even see his daughter in Japan."

This made her beloved pause, slowly understanding what Cinder was talking about.

"Wouldn't you like to personally oversee the reunion of Kallen's parents, my dear?"
 Preparing for a date

August 14th. Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Tokyo.

Despite everything that happened to the city, it was still able to overcome all obstacles, be it the
Black Rebellion, numerous Knightmare skirmishes, or the explosion of F.L.E.I.J.A. itself. Tokyo
survived it all, but not without its casualties. However, none of it meant that the capital of the zone
couldn't be rebuilt. People, both Britannians and Japanese would fix the city every time something
happened to it. Life didn't end just because of one tragedy.

The same could be said about its people. Citizens were tough and quite persistent to continue their
normal life. Unfortunately, it also applied to the criminal world of Tokyo.

Some might wonder how criminal activity could have been possible in the city that was in the heart
of the most troublesome area/zone in the empire. However, the conflict between the Black Knights
and Britannia did give some people an opportunity to profit through illegal means. Of course, both
superpowers took action against the underworld. Before the Black Rebellion, the Black Knights
committed numerous raids against drug dealers and their sponsors, while former Princess Cornelia
cracked down on nobility that allowed and assisted the said dealers.

Cornelia's policies were mostly abandoned by the next viceroy but returned with the appointment
of Princess Nunnally as the ruler of the area, but a small princess couldn't create the same effect as
the Witch of Britannia. The Black Knights had some issues without a leader and were more
focused on different matters, such as fighting Britannia. All of it provided an opportunity for
criminals across the city to rebuild their businesses. Of course, after F.L.E.I.J.A. and with both
Britannians and the Federation in Tokyo, the underworld had to decrease some of its more daring
activities, such as the spread of Refrain. Neither of the superpowers looked kindly towards the
drug business, making any business related to it being punishable by firing squad by both sides.

But of course, there were always those who were ready to take a risk.

"Are you sure it was this guy?" The boss of a small gang asked one of his underlings as he checked
the photo.

"Yup, this kid took everything." The henchman nodded. The entire gang was hiding inside the
empty warehouse. "No idea what brat is going to do with it. He hasn't ratted us out to the police
yet."

"Do you think he will try to sell it himself?"

Their boss disagreed. "How will he do it? He has no connection or organization to back him up."

"...Maybe he IS using it himself?" someone suggested.

Perhaps, this stuff was in demand for a reason. The kid will die from an overdose, but it didn't
matter to them. However, they needed to take back their goods before this brat got rid of them.

"Do we know where he is?" The boss asked.

"Look at his uniform. I know this place, we'll be on his tail and wait while he's alone somewhere
where we can take him out. Sounds good, boss?"

"Sounds good." The middle-aged Japanese man in a black suit grinned as he tossed away the photo
with the thief who dared to steal their goods. They will make him pay for it.

As the photo fell on the ground, one could see that the thief had blue hair and was dressed in an
Ashford Academy uniform.

Ashford Academy.

'There is something nostalgic about sleeping here again.' Even if his damn witch made him sleep
on the floor. Said witch was currently taking a shower, while her warlock was lost in his thoughts.

Lelouch stared at the window outside his room, observing how OSI agents were checking the
entire academy for additional security measures. They were disguised as academy staff, but their
emperor still found their actions a little unnecessary.

'Still, it was Jeremiah and Sayoko who demanded additional security.' His bodyguards/guardians
demanded their master be guarded at every moment. It didn't help the latest attack on Pendragon,
but at least Lelouch wasn't there otherwise they would have raised the fuss. Their wish to protect
him was welcome, but Lelouch thought that inside his old home he should be safe.

'Neither Schneizel nor Black Knights would suspect me to hide here.' With Sayoko acting as a
temporary replacement for Lelouch, the Emperor could hide right next to the Black Knights and
plan out his next move. 'I need to start acting today. Although it will be a little hard to move with
so many OSI agents following my every move… perhaps it will be better if I moved without them,
as long as both Jeremiah and Sayoko don't learn about it.'

"Lelouch?" He heard the voice of his childhood friend and turned towards the source of the voice.
Milly opened the door and looked inside. "Hey, Lelouch, do you have a moment?"

"Good morning to you too, Milly." Lelouch rolled his eyes. "Didn't even bother to knock. What if I
was with someone?"

She snorted. "Yeah? Like who?"

"My, surely someone with your profession would have heard about all those rumours surrounding
my love life." a small smirk formed on his face when Milly waved away in denial.

"Pfft, as if our Lelouch will turn out to be some kind of womanizer as those rumours claim. Lulu, I
can believe you to be Zero and every dark secret about the royal family, but there is no way in-"

However, Milly went silent when the shower door was opened to reveal the half-naked beauty. C.C
stood there, nude from head to toe, the only piece of clothes that covered her was Lelouch's white
shirt that was too big for her.

"Lelouch, we ran out of shampoo." His witch said nonchalantly before glancing at Milly. "Do you
have any to spare?"

Milly had seen the green-haired girl before. The press and the internet wouldn't stop speculating
about her relationships with the Emperor, especially after the banquet at Pendragon. However,
Milly always thought - or rather hoped - that it was just someone brave enough to tease Lulu in
public.

"Milly, this is C.C, my partner." his childhood blinked.

"Partner in what?" She asked, still unable to process the situation.

"In everything." C.C simply said before repeating her previous question. "So do you have any
shampoo or do we need to show you a proof first? I won't mind some morning fun, you are
welcome to join."

The blonde reporter froze, unable to formulate a sentence.

"I-you-argh-?!" Her eyes turned to Lelouch. "What?!"

"Ignore C.C. She is only half-serious. Plus, I have work, C.C. You will have to wait until tonight."
Milly nodded before hearing the last part as her face turned scarlet. "Huh, never expected it would
be so easy to embarrass you, Milly."

"And I never expected you to act like a playboy, Lelouch!"

Her friend let out a short laugh while his lover silently moved towards the bed and took the pizza
box lain there.

"Well, there was that one day when I had to attend dozens of dates." Even if it was Sayoko's fault
in the first place.

"That doesn't count. I knew that you weren't serious about any of the girls back then, but now?"

Milly motioned towards C.C who was lying on the bed, Lelouch shirt was covering only her upper
body, leaving everything else for the eyes of the two Britannians. Milly didn't know what was
scarier. How carefree Lelouch was around a half-naked woman or the fact that she enjoyed the
view. She turned away with a blushing face, ashamed that she was eyeing her friend's supposed
lover.

Milly was always ready to tease her friends but never expected some of her jokes to become
reality. She knew them too well, especially Lelouch who showed little attraction to people who
weren't his friends or siblings… Although taking into account the fact that her memories were
changed, maybe there are some aspects of the Emperor she either forgot about or misunderstood.
What was the saying? Always look out for the quiet ones? Wait, no that was about academy
security. Point is, their Lelouch did hide many aspects of his life. Having a relationship with this
woman shouldn't be as crazy as other things he said yesterday.

"If you react like this towards me alone, I'm curious what you will think about other girls," C.C
said between bites, still more focused on her pizza but not missing a moment to mess with Milly.

Milly felt a shiver run down her spine. "What girls?"

Her blue eyes didn't leave Lelouch's.

"His little harem," C.C said while Lelouch decided to ignore how his childhood friend was about to
choke from sudden news. "You met Leila right?"

"Wait, her? But she is - I-what, Lelouch?!"

"As I said, just ignore C.C." Lelouch waved away, still finding it funny how Milly was losing her
mind over the idea of him having a relationship with multiple women. 'Poor Rivalz might have a
heart attack if he hears it. That would be fun to see.'

Was it the influence of his witch? Lelouch was confident she played a major role in corrupting him.
But it was a nice and fresh feeling to be the one who was on offence while Milly failed to defend
herself from such simple teasing.
"I-I will just try to stop thinking about it for now… But you will explain yourself, Lelouch!" Milly
pointed her finger at him. "If you actually have multiple girlfriends, I must know everything!"

He blinked. "Do you want to write news about it?"

"Of course not! I just need to know everything that happened while you were away, Lelouch."
Milly turned away. "So much happened in the last few months and not everything was good for our
student council." Lelouch could agree. His old group of friends was divided, some of them on
different sides of the conflict. "And with Nina… she hasn't said anything to us ever since she
appeared here and it turns out she was hiding so much. I'm tired of other people hiding the truth
from me. I just want to hear about the good moments you experienced while you were away…
And that's why I must know everything about how you actually managed to date several girls at
once, Lelouch! You won't run away from this explanation, mister!"

"It was mainly us who had to make the first move." C.C was referring to his lovers as 'us' while
pulling out a second pizza box. "Lelouch can be quite dense when he doesn't want to acknowledge
obvious signals. Cinder had to pin him against the wall the first time. Then she pinned him against
the bed and took Lelouch by-"

"Ok! That's enough, C.C!" Lelouch quickly moved between two girls, the red colour on his face.
The last thing he needed for Milly to gain was the ammunition to use against him in the future. Her
knowing he had lovers was fine, Milly knowing what exactly went in the bedroom wasn't fine. His
face went pale when he saw Milly pull out a notebook as she started writing. "Milly? You said you
wouldn't write anything about it."

"I said that about everything else you did. But I'm sure many people across the empire will be
more than interested to hear about the sex life of the famous Emperor Lelouch." She smirked when
Lelouch started to tremble. "This will finally confirm some of the crazy theories about who bonks
the White Emperor."

"So far it is me, D.S. and Cinder-"

"Shut up, C.C!"

"Please continue!" Milly happily said. "Why so gloomy, Lulu? Please remind me who had no issue
showing off one of his girlfriends just a moment ago?" Her expression turned into a devilish smile.
"I'm sure your dear subjects and enemies will love to hear about the sexual exploits of His
Majesty. Who knows? Maybe it will sway some troublemakers to join your side, eh?"

Lelouch wanted to say anything to stop Milly but paused when he remembered who he was dealing
with. Sometimes she was scarier than any enemy he faced. Maybe Lelouch should give up her
position in the security council? Milly will surely find a way to blackmail anyone with any
embarrassing stuff she could find.

"I-I will just go and look for Rivalz," Lelouch said in a defeated tone while marching towards the
door.

"Please take a photo of his face when you brag about your harem." Milly said happily before
turning towards C.C. "So are there any embarrassing facts about Lelouch that you can share?"

"Did you know he owns a giant golden statue of himself?"

Milly's eyes went wide while her hand didn't stop writing. At the moment she was no different
from a crazy fanfiction writer who was writing about their absurd noncanonical relationships. All
the while the target of said writings was trying to leave the room as fast as possible.

'Never thought I will have to use OSI for this, but I will censor whatever this woman will publish.
Responsibilities be damned!'

The United States of Japan. Horai Island.

'You know what to do, Kallen.'

The Scarlet Dragon thought to herself as she made her way inside the European barracks. It was the
usual day on Horai Island, with people doing their everyday business. That being military drills, a
checkup of fresh KMFs and weaponry, joint training between Europeans and Japanese and just
preparing for any potential conflict. The part about the training between Black Knights and W-0
was more interesting to her.

Ever since W-0 took shelter there, both sides were eager to learn more from each other. Black
Knights provided resources and their experience from fighting Britannia while the European
remnants shared their data and experimental tech. Everyone knew that if another war against the
empire broke out, they would be ready to fight Britannia and Lelouch.

'No, not if but when. Everyone here is determined that Lelouch will attack first.' Kallen wanted to
prove them wrong, but at the same time, she didn't care about it too much. Because, if Lelouch
actually went through with it, she would assist him in whatever path he chooses. 'I want the Black
Knights to fall back in line and remind them who is our leader, but if it won't work I won't hesitate
to fight them for Lelouch's sake.'

No more hesitation, not when it comes to Lelouch.

However, it didn't mean Kallen desired to spill the blood of her countrymen, at least, not all of
them anyway. As long as they joined Lelouch's cause, they were fine in her books. Traitors won't
be tolerated anymore, that included the original core of the Order of Black Knights.

'Speaking about them…' Kallen moved between the W-0 barracks, looking for someone. Her
search stopped when she found two people standing near the KMFs weaponry. "Hey you two, I'm
looking for someone."

Ashley and Ryo turned towards Kallen with surprised expressions that quickly changed into
smiles. The European redhead spoke with a carefree tone.

"The famous Guren pilot visiting us? To what do we owe such honour, my lady?" Ashley made a
little bow as he tried to remember the little he learned from etiquette lessons back in Euro-
Britannia. His male companion gave him a dry look. "It will be my pleasure to-"

Kallen just ignored his attempt to flirt. "I'm looking for Shinichirō Tamaki. He was supposed to
meet me near your barracks."

"Oh, the loud guy?" Ryo blinked while Ashley looked defeated. "He's been here for an hour now,
he is in the canteen. He was telling the guys about his adventures when the Black Knights were
just formed."

"Can you show me where he is?"

Ryo nodded. "Yup, follow me."

She went after the Japanese pilot of W-0, which up until now Kallen didn't interact with them too
much. She was focused on her own business, visiting her mom and making sure Guilford wouldn't
blow his cover. The latter shouldn't be too hard since the knight of honour was staying with W-0
for now. His position among the Black Knights was fabricated and thankfully no one so far raised
any fuss over it.

'Speaking about Guilford.' Once three of them entered the canteen, Kallen soon found the knight in
hiding and the person she was looking for.

"So here we are on that damn mountain. JLF was crying for help and of course, we have come to
rescue their sorry asses. Zero placed those things around the mountain before it exploded and
covered the Brits in the rubble. Took out the majority of them, but some of those fuckers survived
and decided to attack us."

"And what happened next?" Like the rest of them, Yukiya was interested. Hearing the story from
an original member of the Black Knights was enough to gain the attention of everyone in the room.

Except for one Britannian knight who was trying his hardest to ignore how Tamaki spoke about the
rather devastating defeat of his princess. Kallen felt sorry for Guilford, hearing about how your
loss is celebrated on another side must be confusing and a little irritating.

'Especially since it was his princess' first major defeat.'

"They weren't a challenge to us. Attacked us and we kicked their asses. I also punched the Orange
guy right in the face!" Tamaki proudly claimed to the W-0 personnel who were sitting around him,
listening to his own version of what happened. "The bastard was lucky he got out alive. If it wasn't
for that annoying Lancelot, I would have-"

"You would do what, Tamaki?" The man in question froze when he heard the familiar voice.
Tamaki slowly raised his head before his face went pale when he saw Kallen giving him a deadpan
expression. Members of W-0 looked at her with sparkling eyes, excited about seeing the famous
Slayer of Brits. "If I remember correctly, I was the one who fought and took out Gottwald."

"Ah! Kallen, well you see-agh-I just thought it was Orange! Yeah, all those purebloods bastards
were piloting similar Knightmares, maybe I just mistook him."

"Sure, Tamaki, sure." The older Japanese rebel winced before looking around. "I hope you weren't
going around and taking my position in your stories."

Tamaki started to sweat, but one of the Europeans, Rene, decided to save him. "Hey, how about we
hear the story from the Red Lotus herself? I'm sure everyone will love to hear it."

"Y-yeah, Kallen, tell them about how you kicked Knights of the Round when we tried to take that
viceroy girl." Tamaki quickly nodded, hoping to change the topic from himself.

"Oh! I heard Guren had to change its arsenal and get a float system mid-battle!" One of W-0 spoke
with excitement.

"Is it true you were kicking Britannian asses even in an old Glasgow?"

"I heard she didn't finish high school," Guilford commented.

"Wait, you guys went to school?" Ryo asked as Guilford looked at him with a dumbfounded
expression.
"I heard that Scarlet Dragon toyed with the Vampire of Britannia before burning him alive,"
Yukiya remembered reading the internet posts about the second battle of Tokyo.

Ayano's eyes went wide. "No way! Do you mean that bastard who liked killing his own people?
Ha! Serves him right! Nice job."

"Is it true that you fought White Death multiple times and defeated him?" Even the usually stoic
Akito heard about her achievements.

"Defeated? Please, our Kallen destroyed that Kururugi boy! He was lucky he had-" Tamaki
proudly spoke before remembering the later part of that fight. "Oh, the bastard was done for, he's
just lucky he survived."

'Shame Tokyo wasn't so lucky.' Not to mention millions who died. The conversation stopped for a
second as everyone felt a little awkward to continue after Tamaki was reminded of that exposition.

"Well, some of those stories are true," Kallen commented, a little embarrassed that her old fights
were so popular among people. "I fought Britannians, doesn't matter if it was just purebloods or
Knights of the Round. I just did what was necessary, nothing else."

Fighting was her duty and the only way Kallen knew how to make a difference. She didn't enjoy it
the same way Bradley did, but at the same time, the ace of the Order wasn't ashamed of what she
did. Kallen was fighting for her people and free Japan, she didn't see anything wrong with
admitting she killed people if it meant protecting her home. Although, now it was a little
complicated.

'No, it isn't complicated at all. I'm not going to fight Lelouch again. I will make sure the Black
Knights return to being under his command no matter what. Right now we might be apart but it is
temporary, it is fixable.'

"Yeah yeah, she kicked the butts of some old knights. Everyone knows that." Ashley reminded
them."But what about the current ones? Heard you met the Second Knight back in Moscow while
we were packing our stuff and running. That bitch, Cinder Fall."

The moment Kallen heard that name, her mood changed. The memories about the battle returned
and with them the memory of what the Second told her. Cinder Fall knew about Lelouch's secrets
and was someone he genuinely cared about. Kallen knew why she was furious whenever she had to
think about that night again. However, she also had a talk with Lelouch, even if it was a short one,
which made that night less terrible.

"I fought her alright," Kallen clicked her tongue as a shadow was cast over her face. "She knows
how to fight but doesn't know when to shut up. Maybe next time I'll shut her up for good."

'Lelouch prioritized her over me that night. I know we were on different sides and everything, but
seriously? What did he see in her?' The anger over how fast Lelouch was able to trust someone and
reveal his secrets was the main reason Kallen was furious at Cinder. Anger which turned to
jealousy as she realized the fact that Lelouch chose another Queen.

Ashley swallowed and looked around for support, but his friends didn't know how to continue this
topic. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say now. Even Tamaki looked silent,
having no idea what to say to Kallen.

"Uh… nice to know the Red Lotus doesn't shy away from a fight." Ryo swallowed a lump in his
throat. "Always nice to see the fire in a warrior, right guys?"
It would appear Ashley brought up a less than pleasing memory. His second in command made
sure their leader understood it as he hit Ashley in the shoulder.

"Ahhh, you wanted to see this Tamaki, right?" Ashley asked as he pointed at the second member of
the Black Knights. "Here he is."

"Oh right!" Tamaki jumped from his seat. "You said to meet you here."

"Yes, we need to talk, but not here." She didn't W-0 to know anything about Lelouch. "Now just
follow me, Tamaki."

Kallen motioned towards the door before leaving. Tamaki quickly moved after her, with Guilford
leaving his food and joining them. And so the pilots of W-0 were sitting alone, not knowing what
to do.

"Ten pounds on the Scarlet Dragon beating the shit out of the Second Knight." Jan offered the bet.

Ryo gave him a deadpan look. "Dude, for real?"

"Twenty pounds they will make out." The bald Kuzan who was seeing the future script spoke.
Everyone gave him a concerned look. "What? Some guy predicted it years ago in the comments
section."

"So why did you want to see me? And who is this guy?"

Tamaki pointed at Guilford who was standing behind them. The three of them were hiding from
the others to make sure no one else would hear their conversation. Kallen didn't want anyone,
especially the other Black Knights to hear it. Thankfully, her countrymen didn't visit the European
barracks at this time of the day.

"Hi, I'm Roger Craig Smith-"

"He's Guilford." Kallen cut him off, there was no need to hide from Tamaki, few will believe him
anyway.

Tamaki and Guilford stared at each other for a moment when 'Smith' slowly waved with an
awkward smile. Tamaki looked at him with wide eyes before trying to pull out his gun but was
stopped by Kallen.

"Drop it, Tamaki. He isn't our enemy."

"This fucker wanted to execute me and others!" Tamaki shouted as he pointed at him."Why is he
here?! I thought he died back in Tokyo."

"I was in a coma. As for my reason for being here, it is simple. It is because Zero used this Geass
power on me." The moment he said it, Tamaki froze.

"Huh?"

"That's true. Do you remember how during the Second Battle of Tokyo that the Spear of the
Empire suddenly decided to join our ranks out of nowhere?" Kallen remembered that Tamaki also
was there in the city, fighting brits. "Well, haven't you ever wondered why he did it?"

Tamaki scratched his head. "I mean, after that shit show that happened when everyone returned to
Ikaruga I was more focused on other things… you know… Zero business."
"Yeah, I remember it very well." Kallen looked down. "The worst decision everyone ever made."
including herself. "But that's why Guilford is here and why we need him to help us. With him, we
can prove Lelouch's innocence."

"Wait, what?!"

Kallen pointed at Guilford. "Before the last battle, Lelouch used Geass on him and made him
follow his every command."

Guilford nodded. "I was ordered to see my princess whenever Zero made a specific gesture. That's
why I was fighting my own countrymen." He looked away with shame. "I will kill for my princess,
but to be tricked like this is difficult to accept."

"So wait, Boss made Four Eyes see him as that Cornelia bitch?" Kallen had to stop Guilford who
clenched his fist. "But how did he survive the F.L.E.I.J.A. thing?"

"My eternal loyalty/pure luck." Guilford and Kallen spoke in unison.

Kallen shook her head. "That doesn't matter, Tamaki! What is important is that we have a person
who was under the influence of Lelouch's Geass and can use it to prove that he didn't use it on the
Black Knights."

"But how?"

"The brilliant minds of W-0 had the technology to nullify the effect of that cursed power. It can be
used on the rest of the Order to see if they were under Zero's influence." Guilford started. "I agreed
to assist Major Kozuki as long as it meant I would be free from the doubts of my mind. She kept
her word, even if she hid away a few details." He sent a silent glare towards Kallen.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Kallen sounded a little guilty. "I knew more than I told you, but I needed
to be sure it was his Geass before telling everything. But since everything is fixed, it's fine right?"
She gave Guilford a weak smile.

"While it wasn't foolish to not share some information with a former enemy, I still feel cheated.
Although, now when I get my answer I'm content to ignore that moment, as long as I won't be used
again."

Tamaki raised his hand. "Wait ok, so we have this tech that gets rid of this Geas and it works. But
why are you still here?" He eyed Guilford. "No one wants to see the knight of that woman here, a
lot of people want to get back at you for what you dear princess did to us."

"They're welcome to try. I'm not planning to die without permission of Her Highness." Guilford
said proudly while Tamaki looked at him with little disgust.

"Fucking simp." He muttered.

"We're getting off-topic." Their attention returned to Kallen. "Guilford is here because he has
nowhere else to go, plus when we fix the situation with Lelouch, we might try to deal with the
Cornelia issue. She's working with Schneizel, but our knight in shining armour here is sure she
doesn't want to do whatever the second prince is planning."

"Princess Cordelia and Zero were at odds, but I'm absolutely confident Her Highness would never
accept the actions of prince Schneizel. Her Highness can be cruel but she would never risk using
her sibling the way the former prime minister is doing."
Tamaki didn't trust him yet. "Yeah? And it means you won't stab us in the back? I heard about
Britannian honour bullshit, but I don't trust you."

"Your distrust is justified. However, I have my honour as her knight. I won't fall to such a level.
Besides, helping Major Kozuki is the only way I can assist Princess Cornelia. Her Highness is
many things, but she doesn't have the heart for dirty political tricks like what the former prime
minister is using. I don't trust Schneizel with my liege's life and therefore cannot support his side.
Helping to change the leadership of Black Knights and forging the truth with Lelouch vi Britannia
might be the only route where Her Highness will be fine."

"Yeah? And if your dear princess will decide to continue fighting us? What's then?" Tamaki asked
while Kallen couldn't help but wonder as well.

'Guilford is an honourable person, but his loyalty lies within a different person. So far we have
worked together. But we both knew for the fact that we will fight for our respective leaders.' Kallen
didn't want to see herself fighting him in the future.

Guilford shook his head. "Everything I'm doing is for the sake of her highness."

"Forget about it, Tamaki. He won't backstab us. Even if he wanted to, Guilford would do it the
honourable way." Kallen looked at him. "I expect someone like him to announce it before
challenging us in the duel."

"You would be correct, Major Kozuki. For helping me this much, I owe you an honourable duel."
Guilford was fully intended to uphold this promise if his princess commanded such from him.

Tamaki thought about what he had heard so far. "So we have some kind of machine to prove Boss
didn't make us into his slaves and this guy to back it up. My last question is, what do you need me
for? Like, I'm not an egghead and I don't understand anything with tech or this Geass thing. All I
know is what that prick Schneizel told us. Plus… I'll admit, I'm not the most charming guy in this
group. You could have gone to Tohdoh or Li Xingke. Maybe even the Sumeragi girl. Why me?"

Kallen had to admit, it was a good question. Why Tamaki? Simple, of all the Black Knights he was
the most devastated by what happened with Lelouch. Sure, both Kallen and Kaguya weren't the
same after the Black Knights betrayal, but Tamaki's reaction was the most obvious. He wouldn't
come out of his room or Knightmare, he would just sit there and try to convince himself it wasn't
true. Compared to the others, Tamaki wanted Zero back the most even before Kallen even started
to question herself.

'Ironic. The guy who was questioning Zero the most when Order was just created, ended up being
the one who trusted him the most.' Sure, Tamaki was among those who pointed their guns at her
and Lelouch back on that day, but even then Kallen saw how Tamaki was shaking. 'Maybe he
would have shot if Ohgi demanded him to, but Tamaki wouldn't have shot Zero by his own choice.'

"Because you want everything to return to the good old days, right? When Lelouch was with us, we
were fighting Britannia together. You don't like what's going on right now. Do you, Tamaki?"

Tamaki looked away, a frown on his face. Kallen touched a nerve.

"Answer me, Tamaki!"

"Well of course I want it! Back then everything was simple, Zero would command us what to do
and we would kick Britannains out of Japan. But now everything went to shit. Ohgi and Minami
barely talk with me. Minami is too focused on work while Ohgi spends all his time with that bitch
who shot him… It feels like Tohdoh and the Xingke guy are the ones who call shots now.
Everyone is paranoid, always blaming everything on Boss for whatever shit happened after we
tried to kill him… I'm sick of it. He saved us and made us into real badasses who can show
everyone what real knights look like, and we just stabbed him in the back. Fuck-"

"Tamaki.'"

"What?"

"You're crying."

Tamaki touched his face and felt the wetness. He quickly turned away from them and wiped his
tears away, the last thing he wanted was for some Britannian knight to see him crying like a girl.

"It's ok, I was the same when I realised what we did to him." Kallen placed a hand on his shoulder.

She didn't know if she could have acted on her own if it weren't for Sayoko's words back in the
hospital. Such a small thing, simply questioning herself, but it was enough to make Kallen doubt
the actions of her colleagues and the lies of her leader who told them only to protect her.

"...Even if he was a prince, even if he was a teenager with some kind of magical power, we should
have listened to him. Not trusting some Britannian bitch from the secret police and that blonde
fucker Schnitzel." Tamaki said as he stopped crying, he did not turn around though. "Even if Zero
was hiding something from us, we should have given him a chance to speak out without pointing
guns at him and you. That shit was wrong."

For her to see the folly of their actions, Kallen had to be threatened by the deadly overzealous
maid. Meanwhile, Tamaki was feeling like this without anyone pointing out to him how wrong
their actions were. They believed in an enemy leader who could have provided them false evidence
and they took it without questions. However, Kallen knew she betrayed Lelouch on that day. Now
she needed to fix the mess they caused, that she caused.

Kallen weakly smiled. "I know, and I'm happy you think the same. So, will you help me to prove
Lelouch didn't use Geass on the Black Knights and that we aren't his puppets?"

"...I want Boss back, but I'm still clueless about this hypnosis thing he has or anything else. If it
means proving to everyone we fucked up on that day, I'm on board." Tamaki nodded. "But how do
you want to do it? The others hate his guts right now. And no offence, but you and I aren't the most
important people here. We can't just order people around like Tohdoh can."

"You're right. That's why I want to start small. We can't just go and announce it to everyone. The
others will think we're under Lelouch's Geass and kill us for sure." Tamaki winced, not liking the
idea of his old friends gunning him down without second thought. "So we tell the truth to the Black
Knights who will listen to us. You were the first who came to mind."

"Aww… thanks, Kallen." Tamaki happily smiled while Kallen coughed offhandedly. She decided
to tell him the truth first because compared to everyone else he was the least dangerous person
among the Order. Even if Tamaki decided to hand her over to Ohgi and the others, no one would
believe him. She was ready to destroy the evidence and Guilford agreed to assist her. Despite
hiding some truth from him, the knight still felt indebted to her and would help for time being.

"But even with him, we still need to gain more support," Guilford commented. "Is there anyone
else who can help us?"

"Kaguya." Kallen knew that the young chairwoman felt like her in some way, but convincing her
would be problematic. Kaguya wasn't there when they betrayed Lelouch and doesn't know
anything about Geass beyond what the Order told her. Maybe if she can prove to Kaguya that
Lelouch never used Geass on them, she would be willing to listen to them. Not to mention, Kaguya
would see the potential to improve the relationship between Britannian and the Federation. Kallen
didn't know how two nations would achieve peace, but she was sure it would go easier if both
factions cooperated willingly.

"We can tell it to Rakshata." Tamaki offered. "I mean, she is smart right? If we show her this tech
to prove Boss didn't mess with our brains she will understand it, right? Like, she's a scientist, she
should be able to understand all this hypno-brain stuff."

"That's actually a good point." Kallen blinked, surprised by his effective suggestion. Rakshata
cared mainly about Knightmares, but Kallen heard that she was also good at neurobiology. From
what Anna and the Randle couple said to her Geass was affecting the brain and changing it. Surely
if Rakshata saw their data from using their tech on Kallen and Guilford, the Indian genius would
listen to them.

"So the chairman of the Federation and the head of the Black Knights' research and development
team who might hear us out. Not bad so far." Guilford spoke.

"Don't forget Kallen and me, Four-Eyes!" Tamaki yelled. "Sure, I'm not some kind of military
genius but I can be useful too." He turned to Kallen. "I was in charge of looking after the new
recruits, making sure they were fine here. They'll listen to me if we tell them that Zero was
betrayed by everyone else. Plus I have my own squad and I know those assholes will back me up if
needed."

Kallen grimaced. Starting the fight among Black Knights wasn't something she wanted, but Q1
was ready to go on any length to achieve her goal. The Order of Black Knights killing each other
wasn't the best path, but one she was ready to choose.

'Besides, they pointed guns against our leader and we betrayed Lelouch. The civil war will be a
consequence of our own idiocy.'

Guilford narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you so eager to turn against your allies? And you didn't even
ask us to show you a proof. For all you know we could be lying."

"Buzz off," Tamaki barked at him. "I wasn't happy with what happened but didn't know what to do.
Everyone is just happy to turn on Boss, sell him out and just continue life like it wasn't a big deal. It
sickens me! Plus, if Kallen says Boss is innocent then I trust her."

Kallen looked at him with wide eyes, a surprise was clear by her expression. "Wait, what?"

"Yup, I mean you're probably the hardest person to get along with. If you trust Boss to the point
you're sure he didn't do anything wrong, I believe it." Tamaki smirked. "If you care about him so
much that you'd turn on everyone else, I'd know you aren't bluffing. Plus, Oghi and the others kind
of started to act just as bad as the Brits. Talking about how they expect Boss to attack us and
prepare for war when everyone is sick of it. I heard the new guys whisper to each other. Without
Zero and with Tokyo being destroyed no one wants to fight right now. Everyone is tired."

Morale in their ranks wasn't too high, mainly among Japanese soldiers. Zero was a messiah in their
eyes and to lose their leader after the worst defeat was devastating. The units from the other
Federations countries fared a little better at this matter, but many of them lacked the experience the
main army had. Not to mention, not everyone was happy with following Xingke. Tohdoh was a
hero, but the Chinese commander was a controversial figure. Mainly because of bad blood between
China and Japan. Without fighting Britannia every day, old grudges started to emerge. Kaguya and
others tried to make sure everything was ok, but without Zero's charisma, convincing everyone to
fight the common enemy was difficult.

Kallen wanted to groan, they were supposed to be better than the likes of purebloods. Black
Knights shouldn't be having such issues. Not to mention, Chiba fueling the shit storm of hostilities
between their Japanese soldiers and the Brittanian counterparts wasn't helping at all.

'Chiba always hated Britannians. With Zero being Britannian and Diethard gone, she is doing
everything to make sure our Japanese Black Knights will despise Britannians and their Emperor.
She won't listen to me no matter what, then again I wasn't counting on her joining my side.' Chiba
was the most likely enemy and Kallen wouldn't hesitate to take her down, but it raised another
question. How to deal with Tohdoh? He won't allow harm to his direct subordinate and last Holy
Sword. Kallen wasn't even sure if the old general would join them. Worst case scenario she would
have to fight him, which will surely split the Order in two.

Then there was the issue with how to convince everyone else to follow Lelouch. Some might join
Lelouch if the truth of him being Zero was revealed, but that will create new problems. Surely
Lelouch won't be happy if his own subjects learned about his past as a masked revolutionary and
Britannian's most dangerous enemy. Especially now when Nunnally complicated things for her big
brother. On the other hand, with Lelouch and Black Knights working together they can fix
everything peacefully and avoid any war between the two nations.

'So many problems I don't know the solution for.' There was a bloody option of using force and
making sure everyone will obey Lelouch, but Kallen wanted to avoid it. Still, the redhead will need
to have people who will fight on her side. Maybe Tamaki was right to remind her about the
recruits. A quick take over of the Order might be the most dangerous but quickest way out of this
mess. 'The consequences be damned! Black Knights must return to their right path and it doesn't
matter if we will have to fight each other to achieve it. Right now every wrong step will destroy
everything the Order was created for, I won't allow it!'

Maybe someone would call her insane for thinking like this, but Kallen was tired of it all. She was
a soldier who followed orders and right now her leader was absent, betrayed by everyone, herself
included. As far as Kallen cared the Black Knights weren't the same without the person who
created them. None of the current leaders followed the principles Lelouch wanted for the Order to
uphold. They were changing from protectors of justice and becoming similar to the same people
they wanted to defeat.

"...If it means fixing the Order and reuniting with Lelouch, then I don't care if we will have to kill
our own people," Kallen said slowly. Both men gave her a worried look. "We can't call ourselves
the warriors of justice if all we did was sell out our leader and fail to achieve any meaningful peace
without him. So I don't care how much blood it will take, we will make sure the Black Knights
won't stray away from their purpose and leader anymore."

Guilford and Tamaki looked at each other, thinking how they should respond to it. What Kallen
was suggesting was basically the start of schism in the Order. The Britannian knight was first to
speak.

"I know that you're doing it out of loyalty to your lord. Even if I personally disagree with his views
and methods, I will acknowledge your feelings. Not to mention, I must help you as you helped me
regain confidence in my own loyalty towards my lady. Besides, if you manage to avoid a war
between Britannia and the Federation I should have an easier time finding and reuniting with Her
Highness."
"Thank you, Guilford. I won't forget this. What about you, Tamaki?"

The loud man in question spread his arms at the sides. "Come on, Kallen. I said I want Boss back
and I'll help you. Sure, I don't want to start dropping our own people, but I want to beat some sense
into Oghi and the rest. Would be nice to avoid an actual fight, but if there's nothing else we can do-
" Tamaki's eyes hardened. "I won't hesitate."

Kallen didn't know if she could call someone like Ohgi her friend, but at the same time, she didn't
want to end his life. Kick him for trusting some OSI agent who sleeps with him maybe. However,
as long as everyone will believe their evidence that Lelouch didn't use Geass on them and will start
working with him, Kallen would be satisfied for now. There was also the matter of Lelouch
himself. Kallen didn't know what exactly he was planning or how she should try to contact him
again. However, she had one method.

Kallen pulled out her phone and found the number Lelouch used.

She didn't tell anyone about it. She knew Lelouch won't just leave behind his old device, the
mastermind that he was, Zero would always save it for the possible plans in the future… Maybe he
thought about calling her too. Kallen wanted to press the button and call him but stopped herself.
No, not right now.

"... Ok, we have a plan and know who might understand us." Kaguya and Rakshata. "But I also
want you to make sure we will have some soldiers on our side if needed, Tamaki." Her brother's
old friend nodded. "Good, for now, we will keep a low profile, I will try to speak with Kaguya
first, see how she will react. But right now… I need to visit someone in Tokyo."

Guilford nodded. "I will continue my stay here, among the Europeans."

Tamaki stared at him with a weird look, before Guilford called him out for it.

"Actually, you can come with me. I-I mean, my guys are a little green and could use training from
a pro." Tamaki suddenly offered. "I remember you being one annoying bastard to deal with. So,
maybe you can train the recruits?"

"Will it not raise suspicion?" Someone might recognize him as the former enemy.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I know people here, they won't say anything as long as you're with me.
So, what are you thinking?"

Guilford thought about it before nodding. "I could use combat training as well. I spent enough time
lying on the bed in a coma and need to strengthen my body."

While the two of them were discussing their new potential partnership, Kallen reminded them to
stay silent about their secret plan for the coup. When everything was talked over again, the redhead
girl made her way towards the exit. However, her thoughts were still focused on the matter of
contacting her leader. It wasn't so easy for Kallen to just call Lelouch and ask him to help install
him as the leader of Black Knights again. There were many things the two of them needed to
discuss, but the red lotus didn't know how to even start a conversation.

'Maybe she will give me advice on how to speak with Lelouch. Mom should be better at this than
me.'

And so Kallen went to her mother.

Tokyo.

Lelouch had to admit that he did miss driving with Rivalz like in the old days. Back when they
would sneak out of the academy to gamble in the city and defeat overconfident nobles. Compared
to what happened after Lelouch met his witch, that time can be considered quite peaceful and
enjoyable to an extent. However, life didn't stop and things changed.

That included Rivalz's life too.

"Can you repeat where you got this car or driving license? I thought you could only drive a
moped." Right now both the Emperor and his old gambling partner were in a Honda Civic that
Rivalz somehow managed to get while Lelouch was away.

"Oh, this beauty? Won the tournament!" Rivalz glanced at his buddy while driving at high speed.
"I also got my license two months ago. I've been planning to get one for a while now since I was
17."

The minimum age to get a full driving license in Britannia was 17, although it varied among
colonies. Considering how his friend was driving pretty recklessly and without looking at the sides
too much, Lelouch thought it might be a good idea to increase age just in case.

'Wait, Rivalz is already 18.' Maybe the issue was Rivalz's driving skill. He was driving like it was
a race. "What tournament?"

"The Racing Tournament. Didn't you know Tokyo had those?" Lelouch gave him a blank stare.
"Oh, sorry with all this Zero and emperor business you were probably too busy. Not so long ago
people started racing in the city. Since you were away and I couldn't go gambling without you, I
decided to give it a shot. Turns out I'm really good at it! Who could have guessed?!"

"Not me," Lelouch said with a worried expression. Were these races legal? Should he do
something about it? It was his empire after all.

Rivalz remembered something that made him smile proudly. "I even raced against Black Knights!
In fact, they were regular members there."

"Wait, what?!"

"Yup, your guys know how to drive. They also had the best music!" Did it happen while Lelouch
was still Zero or even before Black Rebellion? Why didn't he hear anything about it?!

"But what about the car?"

"Like I said, I won it. Used to drive my parent's car before. One day, some guy offered a bet to me,
the winner gets the car of the loser. He sucked at racing and I easily won. Took his car and have
been driving it ever since."

"...Huh." His life was pretty exciting after all. What else did Rivalz do while Lelouch was away?

Lelouch looked outside. Tokyo was still recovering after the last battle, progress was made but not
everything was completely fixed. With the city divided into parts, there was a high presence of
Knightmares on both sides. The Emperor was surprised by how calm civilians were around the
battle machines that were flying in the sky. Vincent Wards and Gareths were on standby while
Black Knights Akatsukis stood on the opposite side of the city.

The white emperor knew about the presence of the Black Knight in the city, he wanted them to be
there. It would be easier to find his old followers when they were in his city.

'My city. My Japan. My empire.' Lelouch was Emperor for some time now but the understanding
that the nation he tried to liberate from Britannia two times was now his still felt surreal. However,
he shouldn't allow himself to forget his current goals and plans regarding his former Order. 'The
Black Knights surely built a base of operation in Tokyo. Maybe I will find her there.'

Lelouch always knew there was a high possibility to meet Kallen again. He was planning to deal
with the Black Knights and it was obvious she would be part of whatever happened. Their last
meeting in Moscow wasn't perfect. The White Emperor wasn't even sure about his stance on Red
Lotus, but he knew he cared about Kallen and didn't want to fight her. Ideally, talking with Kallen
outside the Order would be the better option. He can try to talk with her, maybe manage to
convince her to not fight him.

'Whenever I think about Kallen again, I feel strange… I miss her.'

"Hey, Lelouch," Rivalz called him out. "I was wondering what you were actually doing in Japan
again?"

"As I said, I returned to see you guys again. That includes talking with Nina."

"Yeah yeah, I get it. But you also came because of the Black Knights right?" Lelouch stared at
him, the monarch didn't say anything while Rivalz signed. "Ok, fine you don't need to tell me
about your plans. Knowing you it's something insane, but please stay safe."

"Hoh? Why are you so worried all of a sudden? Rivalz, you were always calm when we went to
gamble with aristocrats, no matter how dangerous they were."

"Back then, old nobles were assholes, but they wouldn't kill us. Now you're dealing with the people
who followed you." The boy's face became unusually serious. "I can't imagine what it must be like
being an enemy of your old friends, but you have the entire Order of Black Knights to worry about.
All of it is so weird. You're the Emperor and Zero. Just wow."

"You took the news pretty well yesterday." Or at least better than Lelouch expected.

"I mean, I couldn't believe it when I heard it for the first time. Thought that maybe I would wake
up and it was just a dream, but a day passed. It still feels super weird to be sitting next to the
Emperor himself."

"Heh, don't worry about it, Rivalz," Lelouch said as he glanced outside again. "I'm still the same
person you knew. I will admit I was hiding many things from you, but it doesn't change anything
between us. At least I don't want to change anything. I'm happy with our friendship the way it is. I
always valued our small adventures in the city, without you it wouldn't be the same."

"Aww, stop Lelouch. You're making me blush." Rivalz turned away, unable to hide the giant grin.
"By the way, where are we driving?"

"The local hospital. I need to meet with someone there. It should be somewhere around the
amusement park."

"Clovisland? Oh, man! There is always a traffic jam at this time of the day. Wait, couldn't you
order your servants to drive you there?" Rivalz blinked. "Wait, Lelouch, do you know how to drive
yourself?"

His friend shook his head. "No, why would I? I always used public transport or had someone drive
me to my destination. There was no need for me to learn how to drive."

"Are you for real?!" Rivalz looked at him with wide eyes. "I saw the news, you can pilot
Knightmare but cannot drive a car? Come on buddy, everyone has a driving license these days.
Even Milly has one."

Lelouch clicked his tongue, a little embarrassed. "W-well, as Emperor I have a busy schedule and
cannot afford to spend time on something so trivial. Not to mention, I can just order someone to
drive me."

Did it sound privileged? Doesn't matter! Lelouch was perfectly fine without knowing how to drive.
There was nothing wrong with it, right? Many people didn't know it either. It was absolutely
normal!

'Right?'

"Mhm, sure thing buddy." Lelouch didn't like the smug expression on his face, it felt like it was
mocking him! "It means you can order those guys to drive you?"

"What do you mean?"

Rivalz pointed out to the side. There were several black cars forming a protective circle around
them. The most likely suspects were OSI agents/his bodyguards. Lelouch blinked. How hadn't he
noticed it before?

'But I made sure no one would disturb us. I was sure none of them would follow me outside the
academy.' Lelouch knew his way around the academy and how to sneak out without anyone seeing
him. 'Even my own secret service shouldn't be able to find me unless I want it...Wait, were they
tracking me?!'

Lelouch checked himself, looking for any hidden devices but couldn't find anything. Of course,
OSI wouldn't use something obvious, unless… The White Emperor pulled out his imperial crest. A
small emblem of Geass, a proof of his position as the monarch he carried in case he would need to
immediately access anything he needed when someone would dare to doubt his authority. He
examined it carefully, looking for any detail, this should be it.

'I cannot have OSI following my tail.' They would draw attention, even if they were in disguise.
Worse, if something happens the secret service will call for reinforcements. With so many
Knightmares in the city, it might cause an accident and Lelouch didn't need that. 'Either Jeremiah
or Sayoko ordered this. Who am I kidding? They both made sure OSI won't leave me for even a
moment. This will complicate my talk with James. I need to get rid of them.'

"Rivalz, change of plan. Make a quick turn and try to escape our escort. Then leave me somewhere
nearby. I will walk to the hospital on my own while you will drive around the city, trying to
distract them. "Although it was a long way to his destination. Lelouch hated it, but he didn't have a
choice.

"Wait, what? Aren't those guys working for you? Can't you just ask them to leave us?"

Lelouch shook his head. "That won't happen. When it comes to my security, some of my followers
can get overprotective."

Especially if it was an overzealous cyborg knight or maid ninja.

"Ok, fine. But you're paying for gas!" Rivalz demanded.

Lelouch nodded. He would buy his friend a new car if it meant he can get away from the clingy
secret service. After all, he didn't need additional guests in the hospital. Minutes later, Rivalz found
an opportunity to get away from their pursuers and change the direction, driving through the
defence perimeter OSI made and leaving them behind. Not wasting a time, the blue-haired driver
took a quick turn and left Lelouch among buildings. The raven-haired young man made sure to
leave behind his crest.

'Perfect. Can't have others ruin my small talk with the Stadtfeld patriarch.' Cinder did say that
James Stadtfeld was visiting his wife in the hospital and Lelouch it was a good time to have a
private talk with them.

And so Lelouch went to meet Kallen's parents.

 Black Queen

August 14th. Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Tokyo.

James Stadtfeld looked at the medical building before him with dread. This was the day he feared
the most ever since being released from imprisonment. Right now a former noble turned advisor
stood before the hospital where she was. The current advisor on economical issues in the
Commonwealth was in disguise, receiving attention from people who looked at the weird man who
wouldn't move from his spot.

But James hesitated. He hasn't seen his wife for a long time. The last time the two exchanged
words or even saw each other was back when he was a noble. Before the Black Knights were
formed and his daughter joined them. He hasn't visited Japan for almost two years now. He didn't
even visit Naoto's grave…

'Am I a terrible father?' He hasn't seen his daughter or bothered to pay a visit to his dead son. And
now he was too afraid, too ashamed to walk inside the hospital and look at his ex-wife's face and
talk with her. The Second Knight of the Round and Lady Sayoko made sure he will return to Japan
just so he will finally meet Ayano. What was he supposed to do?

"Something is troubling you, Lord Stadtfeld?"

"-?!"

James froze when turned and saw the familiar face of his ruler and current monarch. Emperor
Lelouch vi Britannia was standing before him in casual clothes, alone without anyone else
protecting him. At first, James thought he was hallucinating, but this thought quickly left his mind
when Lelouch moved closer and pointed the older man to follow him elsewhere. James wanted to
say anything but stopped when he noticed that they were receiving glances from hospital staff;
namely, guards who were eyeing James for some time now.

The former noble quickly followed his majesty and the two made it around the hospital entrance
and found themselves near one of the hospital open areas for patients to walk outside. Making sure
that they weren't followed, Lelouch asked him.

"So, Lord Stadtfeld, what brings you back to Japan?"

The man in question looked down. "I didn't know Your Majesty was here as well. If I had known I
would-"

"You aren't answering my question, Lord Stadtfeld," Lelouch smirked when James winced. "No
need to be so tense. I was told that one of my knights helped you to fly over here. And I have a very
good guess what you are doing here, in the hospital where one Ayano Kozuki is being treated."

Cinder had more pressing matters right now and while Lelouch won't question her motives, it was
rather obvious what the intent was. His White Queen wanted to gain an advantage over Kallen and
reuniting her parents and having them indebted to her might be just enough to pressure Kallen in
the future. The White Emperor acknowledged that his knight made it purely out of a desire to use
against Kallen, but Lelouch can use this opportunity as well.

James Stadtfeld didn't meet his gaze, but slowly nodded. "Lady Sayoko told me about Ayano's
current conditions. About how she is getting better and will be discharged soon… I know that I will
need to speak with her sooner or later. But I was- I didn't know what to do. If not for others, most
likely I wouldn't have come here." He sighed. "I'm a sorry excuse for a husband and father after
all."

"What makes you think so?"

James chuckled. "Because it is true? I haven't seen or talked to my daughter in years and I
neglected Ayano for so long… and after Japan was conquered, she came to me, begging to be a
part of our children's life again." Lelouch stayed silent, letting the man continue. "I knew that the
nobility and my own family wouldn't allow me to stay engaged to a number, so I had no choice but
to end our marriage. Ayano was devastated but understood it. She only asked to stay with Naoto
and Kallen. All I could do was to hire her as a servant in my manor… I-I forced her to stay in that
place, watching as I brought another woman whom I had no choice but to marry. Our kids couldn't
even act like children around her, they could only watch how their mother acted as a servant,
reduced to a number and harassed by my new wife… and I just allowed it. What else would you
call me if not a terrible person?"

"A coward," Lelouch said without a second thought. "A coward who allowed the system to break
apart his family and just watched how his wife and children suffered. I know about your family
history, resistance business including. I know about the death of your first son. You did nothing
when your wife took Refrain. I'm sorry that someone like Naoto Kozuki died because of my
family, but if you think you will gain my pity you're mistaken."

James said nothing, Lelouch was right of course. After everything he did, James couldn't disagree
with anyone who would call him a coward. He was imprisoned after the Black Rebellion, but it
didn't nullify his past actions or lack of them to comfort Ayano and Kallen after the death of
Naoto.

"However, I wouldn't call you a terrible person or the worst father in the world. That privilege
belongs to my old man, let his soul burn in hell." Lelouch said with a small smile while James
blinked. "Don't get me wrong, you made mistakes, but the fact that you're here right now means
that at least you acknowledge them. You came to Japan and stand before the place where Ayano
Kozuki was resting. You obviously feel sorry over everything you did, that alone means that you
aren't a terrible person." Lelouch glanced at the sky. "While you were forced to take the first step,
you still want to atone for your wrongdoings. That is more than someone like my father ever did. A
truly terrible person wouldn't be bothered with such emotions, believe me."

"But just because I know I made a mistake and want to fix it, that won't justify my past actions."
James sighed. "Or lack of them." After all, he didn't do anything to fix his family.

"Oh of course, just because you acknowledge them doesn't mean your problems go away.
However, you can continue feeling sorry about your past and speculate about how you could have
prevented everything. Or you can stand up, go there and talk with Ayano Kozuki. Instead of being
afraid, you can take the first step and try to fix everything." Lelouch placed his hand on James'
shoulder. "I know that sometimes having a conversation with your loved one can be the hardest
challenge. I will admit, I missed my chance to talk it out with people who are dear to me, but it
doesn't mean I will just give up. In your situation, that would be the worst thing to do."

"Why are you telling me this, Your Majesty? Surely you know who my daughter is… my little girl
is a member of the Bla-"

"I know. I will admit that your daughter is the part of why I'm so invested in you and your ex-wife's
meeting. However, you don't need to worry. Despite our current standing, I don't see Kallen as the
enemy, or at least I don't want to see her as such. Who knows? Maybe after talking with Ayano,
you will be able to talk with Kallen as well? Maybe that will help to solve issues between us..."

James stared at the emperor with a wandering gaze. He knew that the young man had been hiding
in Japan and followed the news about the monarch's past on the island nation. He had even studied
at the same academy where his daughter went, so it wasn't too far-fetched to guess that the two of
them knew each other.

"You were her friend," James said as a matter of fact. Lelouch paused before chuckling.

"Calling us friends might be too generous. We were… I don't even know what we were exactly. I
do think of Kallen as someone I don't want to see hurt… but I'm afraid I have failed in that
department."

"There is a story between you and my daughter then? Is Your Majesty implying Kallen is hurt
because of you?" James said with narrowed eyes. "A good father would have been suspicious of
you, maybe even gotten furious at you… but I can hardly call myself a good father."

"It is a good sign that you acknowledge it, Stadtfeld," Lelouch said with an emotionless tone. "You
don't exactly have the privilege to act like an overprotective dad after everything that happened, but
you're far from the worst ones. The matter that involves me and Kallen is a personal issue, you
don't have a right to interfere. But I will admit that I made a mistake regarding her, a mistake that
brought her only sorrow." Lelouch stood up as he started to walk away.

"Where are you going, Your Majesty?" There were things James wanted to learn. What exactly did
Lelouch mean about this business he had with Kallen?

"You're a coward while I'm a liar, James Stadtfeld. Go and try to rebuild the family you run away
from. Today is your chance to redeem yourself. As for me, I will try to tell the truth to Kallen when
I see her." Lelouch mused to himself. "Should you fail, I will welcome you as another subject of
mine, but I genuinely hope you will succeed."

James said nothing. Instead, he turned towards the hospital, mastering everything he had to stand
up and go there. To her. No more running away from his family. James needed to start rebuilding
what he allowed to be destroyed. As he started to walk, the redhead man heard the emperor again.

"Also, next time you want to visit your family just ask me directly, I would allow it immediately.
As for this unauthorized family trip, I will ignore it this time." James said nothing but silently
nodded. "However, I'll cut this time out of your paid vacation, advisor Stadtfeld."

The older man watched as his ruler left. James worried little about the last part, right now he was
focused only on seeing Ayano again.

Little did he know that she wasn't alone at the moment.

Inside the hospital.

Kallen showed her ID to one of the hospital staff before they allowed her to enter the building and
check on her mother. She was used to this process by now, but at the same time, the redhead pilot
understood that soon her mom will leave this place. And then what? Where will her mother go
after that?

'I can't bring her to the Black Knights.' Sure she would be welcomed by Ohgi and the others, but it
was still too dangerous. Especially considering Kallen was planning to change the Black Knights
from within, either by reason or force. 'I can't have my mom there when it happens. Others might
use her as a hostage if I'm not careful.'

Stadtfeld Manor won't work either. It was seized by the government after the Black Rebellion, not
to mention Kallen doubted her mother was eager to return there. That place held many bad
memories for her after all. Maybe Tamaki had someplace in the city where she could hide for the
time being?

Kallen's thoughts were interrupted when she finally found the door she was looking for. Without
knocking, she quickly entered it and found her mother sitting on her bed. Ayano Kozuki blinked
when she saw her little girl, but a huge smile immediately formed on her face.

"Kallen!" In an instant, the red lotus closed the distance between them and hugged her mother.

"I missed you, mom." Kallen's face was buried in her mom's shoulder, while Ayano just giggled.

"Come on, Kallen. It wasn't too long since we last saw each other. But I'm happy to see you again.
Now, tell me what happened."

Her daughter looked away. "Why do you think that something bad happened?"

"I learned to sense when something is bothering you, but it doesn't need to be a bad thing right? I
feel like this matter is different from previous issues you had."

Kallen slowly nodded. "Maybe… I have a question, mom. What would you do if you were forced
to make a decision that will ruin your past relationship, your duty and obligations to others, but you
know it might be the only way to achieve what you want?"

Kallen was ready to fight the other Black Knights, it doesn't matter if they were her friends once.
However, at the same time, she won't deny that a small part of her felt remorse overthinking how
easy she was ready to battle the entire Order because of Lelouch. What's worse, Kallen was certain
she was ready to silence this thought. It was a little scary, but at the same time, she cared little
about this small feeling compared to her desire.

"Huh? Where did this come from?" Ayano blinked when Kallen said nothing, her little girl didn't
want to elaborate further. "W-well, did I ever tell you about how I decided to work as a maid in
your father's manor?"

"What? But I thought that you stayed with us after the invasion." After Britannia took over Japan,
her mother was made number and had to suffer many things. Kallen remembered how after Japan
had become Area 11 her mom could only live with them as a servant.

"Before, Japanese couldn't marry Britannian nobility because numbers weren't seen as people. It
was seen as a disgrace to their ideology and your father had no choice but to remarry someone else.
But even before Britannia took over, Japanese people looked down on mixed marriage, like mine."
Ayano let out a deep sigh. "Even before the invasion, life wasn't easy. I remember that our people
were always hostile towards the foreigners. People used to call me a traitor for marrying your
father and giving birth to his children. Then the empire invaded and everything became worse.
Everything changed so fast, no one knew how to react. I didn't care about politics, I just wanted to
see my family no matter what. Some of my friends tried to talk me out of this, saying that I will be
nothing more than a second class citizen to Britannians, an animal in their eyes. But I didn't care, as
long as I could see you, Naoto and your father. However, there was only one way to be a part of
your life again."

"By being a servant. You gave up your freedom to be with us."

"Heh, we didn't have a lot of freedom anyway, but no one was pleased when I decided to return to
my husband."

"What about your friends?"

A sorrowful expression formed on Ayano's face.

"My old friends despised me for it. They cut any contact with me and I haven't seen them ever
since. In their eyes, I was no better than a sheep ready for slaughter. For some time after the
invasion, I lived among the Japanese camps. Word of me trying to find my Britannian husband
spread out and people started to despise me. They thought of me as a traitor. They called me a doll
because I was ready to become a Britannian servant just so I could see my family again. I'm not
angry at them and I don't regret my decision because it meant I could spend time with you. But I do
miss the time before Britannians attacked us. Back when everything was simple. When we were a
normal family… I couldn't allow the feelings of my friends and our people to change my mind. I
wish to be with you again… Kallen, as long as you're happy with your decision and know it will be
best for you, you shouldn't allow other people to influence you."

Kallen hated it. She hated how Britannia destroyed her family, how her mother had to serve as a
maid to her own children while the man she married ignored her. But above all else, she hated the
fact other Japanese people looked down on her mother because of it.

'Just ignore others? No, that's not it, I should prioritize my desire above whatever other Black
Knights think. I want for Japan to be free from tyranny, but I know that Lelouch isn't like this
father and the rest of his family.' Kallen wanted Lelouch to lead the Black Knights again against
the injustice in this world. She knows that Lelouch will figure out how to improve the world, and if
needed she will help him.

The ace pilot let out a sigh. Hearing from her mother what she already knew didn't solve all of her
current problems. But it was reassuring to know that her mom was wanting her to pursue her
dream, not be stopped by others. Still, there was another matter Kallen wanted to discuss.

"M-mom, I have another matter I want to talk with y-you-"

This time, she did feel embarrassed to ask her mother about this topic. Ayano quickly noticed that
something was wrong with her daughter when Kallen's face went red and she started to look at the
sides, clearly flustered about something. Her mother froze, a sly thought appeared in her head.

It couldn't be it, right?

Forcing herself to say it, Kallen slowly opened her mouth and whispered.

"It is about a guy-"

"..."

"A-ah, you see. There is this one guy, and I can't stop thinking about him." Now that many things
were cleared and Kallen knew what she needed to do, the only question was how to approach
Lelouch. Ever since using the W-0 anti-Geass device, the raven-haired young man wouldn't leave
her mind.

"... Go on."

Ayano was staring at her little Kallen with such intensity, even a saint would get embarrassed, let
alone a daughter who was trying to talk with her parents about a relationship problem. Her mother
didn't know about actual matters that her sweet little girl was part of. As far as Ayano knew, Kallen
couldn't stop thinking about her crush. In a strange way, she wasn't completely wrong.

"I want to see him and speak about what happened between us. But we had a fight in a sense-"

Their first fight already?! Ayano's grin was getting bigger and bigger while Kallen struggled to
speak about the feelings she didn't think about too much until now.

"And now we can't just talk to each other like before." Not that she and Lelouch were the most
talkative people. "And I want to know what is the best way to approach this situation. Despite what
happened, I'm not angry at him and want to speak with him again, to clear the misunderstanding
between us. To try to return what was before between us-"

"Ah! My little Kallen wants to fix things with her boyfriend!" Ayano immediately hugged her
daughter, wishing Sayoko was there to chat with her about this. Finally, her little girl found
someone! Meanwhile, Kallen's eyes were about to leave their space on her face.

"Wait, what, b-boyfriend?! No! We aren't a couple!"

She and Lelouch weren't a couple!

"What?" Her mother blinked. "But you said you were thinking about him nonstop."

"W-well...yes?" Kallen learned that Lelouch didn't use Geass on her. She finally stopped doubting
her resolve and loyalty to her leader. Now she wanted him to be their leader again, so she could
follow him again. That was natural to her.

"And you want to fix things between the two of you after your little fight, right?" Kallen wouldn't
call being held at gunpoint and leaving him there a small fight, but she nodded. "Plus your first
question was about this person as well, right?"

Her little girl nodded again.

'That's why I was so proud to be a Black Knight when Zero was with us. Lelouch can try to appear
as a cold person, but he reminds me of Naoto. He can try to act uncaring but he cares about
people he considers his close friends. I just want to be with him again… wait.'

"Might it mean that you think about this person romantically?" Her mother asked with a Cheshire
smile that would fit on the face of a certain green-haired pizza lover.

Her little girl said nothing, her mind was in complete chaos as Kallen tried to analyze it.

Back when she didn't know the identity of Zero, Kallen thought her loyalty was just another form
of admiration for the person who wanted to free her people. Then she learned about the person
behind the mask. She couldn't understand it at first, but she learned to see Zero as just a mask
Lelouch hid behind. Kallen knew she was ready to fight whatever will stand in her way as long as
it meant she could reunite with Lelouch. No more running away from him and questing her
feelings towards Lelouch. Kallen knew she cared about him and wanted to be next to him again.
She wanted to fight alongside him again, to change the world for the better with Lelouch. She
understood why Lelouch was fighting for and wanted to help him achieve his wish for a better
world. After everything they both lost, they could rely on each other to pursue something greater,
together.

She cared about Lelouch and wanted to see him happy. This she could admit. She also wanted to be
with him, standing next to him and helping to achieve whatever he was planning. Lelouch was a
liar and was ready to manipulate others around him, but at the same time, he was an older brother
who was ready to do anything for a person he cared about… but did it mean she wanted to be more
to Lelouch than just his knight or friend?

'...Whenever I saw C.C next to him I felt pain in my chest.'

Could it be that all this time, she unknowingly developed feelings beyond those the knight and her
leader had?

Kallen never understood this feeling. However, she remembered how she felt this emotion again
when she met Cinder. When Q2 started to speak about how Lelouch trusted her and how Cinder
wasn't just a knight to him, but someone closer, someone-

'Someone I want to be.'

There was dead silence as Kallen started to see what exactly she wanted beyond Lelouch leading
her again. She wanted Lelouch there, next to her.

'All this time, I wanted more.' Where did these feelings come from? How long was thinking of
Lelouch like that? Was it the reason she wanted him to return to Black Knights, to her? She cared
about him and wanted Lelouch to feel the same about her. But why would he? After everything
that happened, he wouldn't think the same way.

"I-I… it doesn't matter. Lelouch most likely doesn't see me the same way."

Her mother smiled, happy that her girl was feeling those emotions toward someone she cared
about. Now it was her duty to make sure her daughter wouldn't doubt her feelings.

"Did you speak with him about it?" Kallen looked at her with a puzzled look. "I mean it, have you
spoken about these feelings with him? Obviously not, seeing how you have a hard time admitting it
to yourself. Then why are you already thinking that he won't return these feelings? You didn't even
confess to him. But you already think it is over."

"No, not over. But I-I don't know how to speak with him, now it seems even harder." It was
ridiculous, she was ready to fight and kill for Lelouch, but declaring her feelings was like an
impossible challenge to Kallen.

"Just try to seek him out and see how it will turn out." Her mother smiled. "Did you know that your
father wasn't the one to make the first move? Heh, I still remember it. He was a young foreigner in
Japan, sent by his family to learn how to operate without family support while I was assigned as a
guide in the country. He was raised in a noble family and knew little about how to speak with some
commoner girl, let alone with someone from a different nation. As we spend more time together,
we just fall for each other. He was so cute, putting on a cold facade, but I could see past it and I
wasn't indifferent to him either."

Ayano giggled when she remembered how their relationship started. James was a little awkward at
first, naive to the matter of the heart. Ayano wasn't an expert either so it was the first experience
for both of them.

"I had to ask him out first and tell him how I felt, from there we worked things out. The year didn't
pass and we were already married." A melancholic smile formed on her face. It was the happiest
time in her life before everything changed for the worse. "If your emotions about this Lelouch are
so strong, then don't waste time questioning yourself and tell him about your feelings."

"And if he doesn't feel the same?" That was the part Kallen was scared about. What if Lelouch
won't return her feelings after everything that happened?

"I said don't question yourself, Kallen. Don't torture yourself and try to speak with him first. You
shouldn't worry about something that may or may not happen. Maybe not the best advice, but
sometimes acting first and thinking later is the best approach to matters of the heart. That's how I
and your father got together." Ayano looked away. "Although right now that isn't the best
example."

"Mom-"

"No need to worry about my love life, you have your own to worry about, Kallen." Ayano let out a
tired sigh. "All this talk about young love is so exhausting but so entertaining, I feel like an actual
mother might now."

Kallen noticed that her mom was weary and decided to offer any help. "Do you need anything?
Maybe a drink?"

Ayano nodded. "Glass of water would be nice, but the tap on this floor doesn't work. Kallen, if it
isn't difficult for you, can you bring me some water from the first floor?"

"No problem. I will make it quick." Her daughter left the room and made her way downstairs while
Ayano lay down on her bed. Her little girl was most likely still processing what they just talked
about. Ayano just hoped Kallen will achieve her happiness, at least someone in their family
deserved to be with their loved ones. The mother did wish she could see the face of her own
husband at least once-

"Ayano?"

The woman in question froze when she heard the familiar voice. She will never forget to whom it
belonged. How could she? After all, it was her own husband. With wide eyes, she turned to the
same door through which Kallen left just a minute again. There she saw him. The same red hair
and blue eyes she would recognise anywhere, after all, her children had the same ones as their
father.

"James?"

The patriarch of Stadtfeld stood before his wife, while not knowing that his daughter just was there
moment again. Meanwhile, the mother of Kozuki children couldn't take her eyes away from her
husband, having no idea that the object of her daughter's love was in the same building at this
moment.

While the old couple was about to have their talk, young love was blooming elsewhere.

While James Stadtfeld was busy reuniting with his wife. Lelouch decided to inspect the hospital.

Think of this as an unofficial inspection from the government. The White Emperor had a little
problem walking inside the hospital, even in disguise Lelouch easily avoided the unwanted
attention from staff. He didn't even need to use Geass either, but the young monarch was ready in
case something happened.

'This was one of the hospitals that were used after the explosion.' Sayoko told him that after the
second battle for the city she was brought to this place among other survivors. It was a simple
medical facility, but Lelouch noticed that it didn't look like the hospital was in the best shape after
everything that happened. 'That doesn't surprise me. According to Sayoko, the corridors were filled
with stretchers. Now the situation is better, but this place could use some additional funding to fix
the damage done during and after the battle.'

Lelouch couldn't just print money unless he wanted to repeat the mistake of the Weimar Republic.
His plans needed funds, the rebuilding of Europe and the military took priority, but he couldn't just
leave the rest of the empire's infrastructure to rot while he conquered the world. Still, bureaucracy
was a challenge even now and Lelouch was in Japan secretly. He couldn't just order an additional
budget without people raising eyebrows.

'Additional source of money would be welcomed.' While Lelouch was busy wondering about this
matter, he didn't notice how someone moved behind him and placed a cold object against his back.
Lelouch froze while his eyes were narrowed, already thinking about who it might be and how he
can take off his lenses.

"Don't move, boy." The voice of an unknown man whispered. "My boss wants to see you, right
now. Don't do anything stupid and you won't need the services of this place. Do you understand
me?"

Lelouch slowly nodded his tone calm. "Crystal clear."

"Nice, now move." The unknown man pressed the gun again, forcing Lelouch to start walking.

The man grabbed his hand and started to walk towards the closed door that led deeper inside the
building. Soon Lelouch found himself inside the hospital basement that looked abandoned. It was a
huge hallway filled with old wooden boxes and broken equipment. However, they weren't alone.
The entire room was full of men, most of them didn't give Lelouch the impression of UFN agents.
He quickly noticed that they were armed. Nothing beyond handguns, but one person caught his
attention above everyone else.

"Oh, my. And who do we have here?" The unknown man spoke with arrogance. Lelouch has never
seen this man before, but from the face alone, it was obvious it was a Japanese person. "Do you
know who I am, boy?"

'Nope, but saying that would make him angry. Can't have that right now. Some small fly managed
to become someone in the underworld? It matters little to me, I will leave it to OSI to look into.
However, right now I need to get out of this little predicament.' Lelouch needed to play his hand
carefully. To use Geass he needed to take off his lenses, but a quick move would alert other men.
He needed to win some time first.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I never heard about you, sire. I didn't visit Japan ever since that dreadful
night, thus I am oblivious to everything that happened here-"

"Kids these days, no respect for adults. Can't even be bothered to learn who is ruling the streets
right now!" The gang boss yelled with a pleasant smile when his men cheered. "Listen well, boy.
I'm the man who will bring back the good old days of the yakuza! Since the brat in Britannia calls
himself the White Emperor, you can call me the Black Emperor."

'How unique.' Lelouch rolled his eyes. "So a Japanese person who wishes to reinstall an old
Japanese crime organization? Can't imagine others being too thrilled with such an idea. Even
before Britannia invaded, the yakuza was facing difficult times."

"Merely rumours, we're strong and ready to take back our place in this country. Brits might be in
control for now, but it won't matter. Heh, everyone thought we were done for and I used that.
Despite that asshole Zero failing to free Japan, I managed to pull together enough resources to use
from the start. Britannians might look down on us, numbers, but they love money just like
everyone else... especially when you have enough to buy out some high ranking members. While
numbers and imperials were busy fighting each other, I laid low and started to build my influence
over this city… something that became harder after the last time those idiots blew up a giant hole
in Tokyo." Black Emperor spat. "Britannia, the Black Knights, they don't matter. Both are a pain in
my ass."

"But what are you doing here?" Lelouch needed to know if he had come after Kallen's parents.
Perhaps someone blurted out this information?

"Because of you, boy. Or more precisely, because of your blue-haired friend." Black Emperor
motioned to his men and one of them showed Lelouch a photo of his old friend who was his driver
just today.

'Wait, Rivalz?! Why do they need him?' Rivalz wasn't a person to work with criminals. Gambling
was one thing, but his friend knew when to back down.

Black Emperor smirked. "We were following him for some time and we know you're his friend.
We saw how this little bastard was driving you around and I decided to chat with you. Send a
message to your pal so to speak."

Lelouch glanced at his sides, noticing how the men were eyeing him with clear intent.

"What kind of message?"

"Hehe, let's just say your friend will know better than to cross Black Emperor again." the self-
proclaimed Emperor said as he pulled out some device with a needle on it.

Refrain. Lelouch saw it before, after all, he thought about using it that one night… but he was
stopped by someone who reminded him of his mission.

"Rivalz crossing you? Impossible. That guy wouldn't hurt a fly. What did he do to you anyway?"
Lelouch asked while slowly bringing his hand closer to his face, ready to take off his lenses.

"The kid had the audacity to steal from me and even dared to drive around the city in my car." For
Black Emperor, it felt like an insult. To have some brat drive his favourite car, not to mention the
secrets this car had. Lelouch meanwhile had to fight back the biggest headache he had for a long
time.

"Didn't he win this car in racing? As far as I know, the car was a prize." Rivalz won this car in
illegal racing and it caused this accident. On the other hand, Black Emperor approached Lelouch
on his own. White Emperor in disguise could easily take him out with his Geass.

"It doesn't matter that he won. No one dares to take what is mine, boy. I will make sure your friend
learns this lesson after I'm done with you." Black Emperor snapped his fingers and his henchmen
started to close on Lelouch. "Don't worry, my boys will make sure you will be able to talk after
they're done with you. You'll pass on a message, and I'll get my car and stash. Refrain will provide
just enough motivation."

Lelouch didn't even bother to mask himself with fear, his expression was one of indifference. If
these scumbags thought they could threaten the Emperor, they were welcome to try. He was about
to take off his lenses when someone fell behind him.

Everyone stopped as they turned to look past Lelouch and saw one of the men lying on the ground.
His throat cut as it was bleeding profusely. However, what caught Lelouch attention was the
redhead girl that was standing above the fresh corpse. The newcomer was wearing her clothes from
the first time Lelouch saw her, that rebel outfit. She was holding a familiar pink purse with a
hidden knife sticking out of it.

While others had no idea what just happened, Lelouch couldn't take his eyes from her.

"Kallen?"

The ace of Black Knights stood there menacingly. Her blue eyes pierced into every soul, appearing
blank and lusterless as she pointed her knife at them, intent on delivering only one thing to them.

Death.

A few minutes ago

Kallen made her way on the first floor when she noticed something. It was only for a split second,
but she could swear she saw him.

Kallen saw Lelouch.

Without even thinking she started to walk towards him, forgetting about everything else. She could
get the water after checking if it was Lelouch or not. However, she stopped when someone moved
behind him. The unknown man grabbed Lelouch and pressed something against his back.

~Kill~

She couldn't hear what the man whispered, but Kallen heard his voice.

"Crystal clear."

It was his voice, it was Lelouch.

'Lelouch is here,' She felt how her heart started to beat faster. This was it, call it fate or whatever,
but it was her chance to finally speak with Lelouch. There was only a small, insignificant issue.

The ingrate that dared to threaten Lelouch.

~Kill~

But she couldn't kill him right now, in the middle of the hospital. She needed to make sure there
wouldn't be any witnesses.

As the two moved towards the basement, Kallen followed them. She already pulled out her purse,
its hidden knife ready to cut anyone in her way. But first, she needed to analyze the situation better
before acting. She followed them downstairs, hiding behind one of the boxes while Lelouch was
brought to the centre. Some man started to talk with Lelouch, but Kallen couldn't hear everything
they said. However, what she heard made her blood boil.

"Don't worry, my boys will make sure you will be able to talk after they're done with you."

The logic and reason left Kallen as she moved. Her instincts and emotions took over, but if before
it usually caused her problems, this time it will help her protect Lelouch. She moved out of her
hiding spot and aimed for the man who brought Lelouch there. Without any mercy or second
thought, she moved behind him and raised her knife. One quick move and the ingrate that dared to
harm Lelouch was lying on the ground in his blood.
Everyone froze as they stared at her, but Kallen was focused only on Lelouch. The familiar violet
eyes looked at her with surprise, but she could see the warmth in them. While he said her name, all
she could think about was how much she wanted to jump at him and hug him and never let go.
Everything that happened until now didn't matter as long as she could be with him.

'I missed you. I missed you so much, Lelouch.'

However, other insignificant people started to whisper among themselves. Kallen wished they
would just die and leave her and Lelouch alone together. However, for it to happen she first needed
to make sure nothing would endanger Lelouch again.

"KILL HER!"

While their boss yelled, his men were frozen in terror by the sudden act of cold-blooded murder at
the hands of some girl. However, before Black Emperor's men could come to their senses, Kallen
threw her knife forward. Her weapon found its target and pierced into the head of the man standing
next to Lelouch, killing him instantly. The emperor was caught off guard but acted quickly as he
turned to the downed man and took away his handgun.

Kallen didn't waste time either and took the gun from her first victim and rolled towards Lelouch.
Before Black Emperor's men opened fire, she grabbed Lelouch and tossed him to the side behind
the nearby boxes. It was clear that the criminals before them didn't have any kind of military
training as they started to shoot the boxes that provided Lelouch and Kallen with a cover.

The redhead blindly fired back, forcing their attackers to take cover and hide. Winning some
breathing room, Kallen turned to Lelouch with an awkward smile and waved at him.

"Hey, Lelouch."

Lelouch blinked, a little confused about what is going on right now. He raised his and slowly
waved back before shaking his head. "Wait, what are you doing here, Kallen?!"

"I could ask you the same question, but I came here to visit my mom. I didn't expect to see you
here. And why were you surrounded by those men?" Kallen asked while firing back at them. "Who
are those guys anyway?"

"The Black Emperor and his men. Japanese criminals."

"Who? Eh, doesn't matter, he's dead either way."

Lelouch peeked out of his cover and counted at least twelve men there.

"Not so sure about that. I was going to use Geass on them, it would have been more effective than
slitting the throat of one of them." He sent Kallen an annoyed look.

"Well, sorry that I wanted to protect you. Besides, you were surrounded from all sides. Using
Geass might not have worked as you wanted." Lelouch would agree to some degree with her on
this. There was a chance one of these grunts would have knocked him out before Lelouch could
even activate his Geass.

"Maybe, but I don't like our chances right now." There were only two of them while their enemy
had numerical superiority. The firepower of two guns won't be enough and Lelouch couldn't use
Geass while his enemies were hiding their heads behind cover. "This isn't how I wanted to meet
you again, Kallen."
His companion paused as she stared at Lelouch with a red shade on her face.

"You wanted to see me again?"

Lelouch stopped and noted how flustered but focused Kallen was. He didn't even realise how
much it meant to her.

"Yes, but let's talk about it after we deal with the current issue. Dying to some petty criminals isn't
the way I wanted to go."

"You won't die, I won't allow it," Kallen said as a matter of fact. "I won't allow anyone to harm you
while I'm still alive, Lelouch."

She closed her eyes and ignored the sounds of gunshots, thinking about something. Considering
what she learned recently and the fact that she apparently got rid of the old Geass command there
might be a way to get out of this. Lelouch stared at her with a puzzled expression. What was she
doing?

"Kallen, we need to-"

"Use your Geass on me again." Kallen interrupted him. "Order me to deal with them and save
you."

'What.'

"I know that you used Geass on me and for what. W-0 got rid of the effect and I remembered that
morning in Ashford Academy."

Lelouch had dozens, thousands of questions. Where on earth did W-0 get another Geass
Canceller?! Why did Kallen use it on herself?! However, the most important question was-

'Why isn't she angry?!'

He used Geass on her, something Kallen was afraid of and threatened him to learn if she was under
his command. Lelouch never told her about the command because he knew how negatively she
would react to it. It was another lie he hid from others, knowing full well that if it came out the Red
Lotus would hate him…or so he thought. So why was Kallen smiling at him, as if nothing
happened?! What is going on?!

"Lelouch, give me your command and I will act." Kallen ignored the background noise as it was
muffled away, making sure all of her attention was focused on him alone. "I trust you."

'Trust, huh?' After all this time he would never imagine she would be the one to approach him with
such an offer. But, Lelouch wanted to trust Kallen too. 'Geass is the power of Kings, I suppose it is
rather fitting that the Queen will want to have it in some way as well.'

"We will need to talk about it, about everything." Lelouch raised his hands and took off his lenses.

"Oh, there are many things we need to talk about. I won't let you leave me without answers,
Lelouch." She won't let him leave her in general.

So this was it, huh? Lelouch needed to make a choice. The man who once wore the mask of Zero
opened his mouth as he took away his lenses.

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you-!"

Once Lelouch took off his lenses Kallen saw his eyes. The usually violet eyes were now covered
with the red symbols of Geass and she found herself lost in them. It was the second time she saw it,
the first time when Lelouch ordered her to reveal information about her rebel cell. There was
something mesmerizing about them. Or maybe it was just Kallen feeling excited. After all, in a
twisted way, it was the form of showing trust to her. And she won't disappoint him.

Her King gave his order.

"-Protect me, Kallen. Protect me, Q1."

And his Queen obeyed.

'He called me Q1 again. He said it, Lelouch said it!'

Kallen felt like she could die from how fast her heart was beating. But she couldn't allow that, not
while there were those who could harm her Lelouch.

Her Lelouch.

'Mine.'

"Hey, wait, did that kid just call himself-" One of the criminals who was curious enough to peek
out of his cover fell to the ground with a bullet in his head. Everyone stopped as they all looked at
the girl who had come out of her cover, holding a gun in one hand. However, the most unsettling
detail about this image was the smile on her face. She was smiling madly, a wide grin stretching
from one ear to the other.

"Hehehe."

Her laugh was that of a maiden in love who just received a gift from her beloved, which in a sense
was true. The men of Black Emperor opened fire again, this time a little creeped out by this weird
girl, but it matters little to Kallen. They all tried to harm her Lelouch, therefore they all deserved
nothing more than death.

Lelouch's order to her was to protect him. Which means she needed to eliminate every danger to
her Lelouch in this room, in this world. Kallen was more than happy to oblige her King.

There were eleven men left. Kallen's smile didn't disappear as she dodged their shots. She won't die
as long as she protects Lelouch, she won't allow herself to be killed. Her enemies were taking cover
behind the wooden boxes and old medical equipment, the lighting in the room wasn't best and they
had a hard time tracking her. She on the other hand has no such weakness.

Kallen started to execute the command Lelouch gave her the best way she knew how.

The sight of the girl jumping at one of them, the biggest of their muscles, was unsettling as the big
man tried to defend himself. Even more unsettling was the face of said girl. It felt like her blue
eyes were shining with a little red light in them. And then there was her smile, which made anyone
who saw it almost immediately freeze in fear. The poor bastard who was first on her list didn't
even stand a chance, despite his previous advantage of better reaction speed. He was in the midst of
lunging forward with a jab when a split-second loss of composure cost him, and so Kallen's boot
went for his throat, crushing it underneath it as he fell backwards. Then she rolled forward, taking
the gun from the new corpse.

Ten left.
Kallen didn't bother to take cover as she opened fire with dual handguns. She knew most of her
shots were missing, but she didn't care. Q1 just needed these walking corpses to hide as she made
her advancement. Lelouch's command gave her a newfound strength but Kallen could still think
straight, as long as it meant protecting Lelouch. There were ten of them and she needed to take
them out quickly before they managed to encircle her. Forcing them to stay behind cover while she
got rid of them one by one was a good idea.

Her guns clicked, she had run out of bullets. Not an issue. Kallen took cover behind one of the
pillars when they started to shoot back at her. She couldn't help but feel delighted.

'This feels natural. This feels right.'

Lelouch ordered her to protect him. He wanted her to be his bodyguard again, to be his shield.
After everything that happened, Kallen could only hope she would return to this role. Q1 protecting
her K1 from anyone who dared to oppose him. Right now it might be just mere criminal scum, but
Kallen was dead set on continuing to fulfil this command.

Kallen heard some of them swear as they stopped firing, the distinct sound of magazines being
reloaded was heard. This was her chance. She moved out of her cover, running towards the pair of
dead men that needed to be eliminated. Kallen threw her handguns at them, one hitting the head of
the first man and knocking him out. His friend was luckier, yelling as the hit left a mark on him,
but she would finish it. Kallen moved behind him before he could react, her hands reaching for his
neck and constricting around it. A quick turn and a moment later it was broken, her hands peeling
away the gun just as he fell, shooting the next one and moving forward.

Eight left.

"What are you waiting for?! KILL HER!" Black Emperor yelled at his minions to do something.
This was getting out of hand, he needed to get out of this mess. While he started to look for an exit,
half of his men who were still alive decided to charge while the other half provided them covering
fire.

'Ah, they're finally using their brains.'

It doesn't matter, they will die regardless.

'Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.'

Kallen ran forward, shooting the guy who was closest to her. Before his corpse could fall, she
grabbed it and used it as a shield. She couldn't move it very effectively, but it was enough to
become her cover while their fire support tried to kill her. She shot back and a trio of dead men fell.

Four left.

The three who were charging her slowed down, terrified of what this crazy bitch could do. But they
were even more scared of their Boss. An unfortunate decision for priorities. Kallen glanced at them
before tossing the corpse she used as a shield at one of them. The first man caught his dead friend,
meanwhile, Kallen took two potshots and the other two criminals fell on the ground. The guy with
a corpse on hand started to panic and tried to aim his gun at her, but Kallen saw something shining
on the ground.

It was her knife, the same one she sent flying and killing the ingrate that wanted to harm her
Lelouch. Kallen rolled towards it and plucked it out of the dead man's eye. She jumped up and
spun in the air to dodge a bullet before throwing her knife, killing the last attacker. His corpse fell
back with a pink purse above his stabbed eye.

One left.

Black Emperor didn't even bother to try to fight back. While his men provided a distraction, he
started to crawl towards the way out. It didn't matter that Kallen had been busy killing his people.
The man could just hire new muscle, numbers or Britannians, it didn't matter. However, before he
made it out he heard the gunshot and fell on his side, screaming from pain.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lelouch asked with his handgun aimed at the scumbag before
him. While Kallen was on her short rampage Lelouch made sure to oversee the fight and make sure
no one got away. Helping her was an idea, but he abandoned such a thought. Lelouch will just get
in her way. There was no need to assist Kallen when she followed his command so zealously.

"W-wait! We can talk it over!" Black Emperor started to beg.

"Hmm, well there is something I want from you."

Black Emperor smiled. "Then I can provide-"

"I don't require your assistance." Lelouch took off his lenses, his red eyes stared down at Black
King. "You will provide me with information on your gang. Their whereabouts, their business and
every member of the government who is bribed by you."

It was most likely that he and his people had someone among the temporary government. When
the man started to spill out every detail, Lelouch's worry was confirmed. Black Emperor provided
him with the names, addresses, and most importantly what kind of business they had.

"Our main product is the Refrain. After the Babel Tower was destroyed, the underworld was in
chaos. Someone needed to step in and take control. I started to hire numbers and made contact with
some old friends. Some of them are part of the Black Knights." This part made Kallen narrow her
eyes. "My friends are helping me to smuggle Refrain from China for the cheap price and keep it
secret from their leadership."

"Why are they helping someone like you?"

"I pay them, but they're happy to assist as long as it means Britannians will be the ones who will
die from the refrain. Many of them share the sentiment that it is time for Brits to experience the
suffering numbers had to endure, starting with Refrain." Kallen clenched her fist. So some of the
Order members were ready to go this far. The same thing that put her mother was now
redistributed with help of Black Knights? Sickening.

"The business started booming after that explosion-"

Kallen heard enough, the fire of fury appearing in her eyes.

She started to walk towards Lelouch and the last scum she needed to kill. The knife in her hand was
ready to take the last life for today. However, Lelouch raised his hand and stopped her.

"I still need to hear everything." Kallen paused but nodded. Her King turned to scum and spoke.
"Rivalz Cardemonde, the driver who won your car. Why are you so adamant about sending him a
message? What was the stash you were talking about?"

"There is a hiding-place in that car. I used it to hide the refrain and move it around the city."
Lelouch wanted to laugh. All this time Rivalz was driving a gangster car with narcotics and didn't
even know this.

"That's all I wanted to hear." The red circles around Black King's eyes disappeared as he came to
his senses and started to scream from pain, but was silenced by Kallen's heel that was now atop of
his throat.

"AGH! Y-you crazy bitch-!"

"Shut up! You're selling Refrain, trash like you don't deserve to be alive." Kallen yelled, she
wanted to crush the bug under her heel, but stopped when Lelouch placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Wh-what? Lelouch?"

"Q1, do not forget he is a worthless criminal while you're a regular citizen. He should be handed
off to the proper authorities." Kallen was confused until a devilish smile appeared on Lelouch's
face. "How fortunate that I'm the highest authority around."

"What-YOU!" Black Emperor finally recognized the boy before him. It was the same boy that was-
"AGH!"

"Don't you dare open your mouth." Kallen's heel pressed harder while Lelouch moved to the place
where he originally stood and looked for something. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, this man is clearly missing the happy times from his past." Lelouch found what he was
looking for and raised the small device. "So why not give him something to remember this happy
past?"

In his hand was a Refrain injector.

Black Emperor's face went pale. He knew that he would die from an overdose, or worse, survive
and crave more refrain just like the rest of his clients. Kallen paused before a cruel smile appeared
on her face, similar to the one Lelouch had. She wasn't a sadistic woman, but perhaps the order to
protect Lelouch made her desire to kill anyone who dared to harm him. Even in the most inhumane
ways.

"Hold him for me please, Q1."

"As you command, Lelouch." Black Emperor couldn't resist and was forced to take the same
poison he imposed upon the people who were desperate to experience their past happiness. Perhaps
he would experience his own happiness before overdose will kill him.

"Wait-no-!"

His cries landed on empty ears as the needle entered his neck. The man went silent, his pupils
widened while the body stopped moving. Lelouch and Kallen let go of them and looked over the
basement. It was a mess with corpses and one paralyzed gang leader.

"I will contact OSI and order them to clean this place. This man gave the names of the people in
my government who were getting paid to stay silent." Maybe some of them were part of this
hospital. OSI will have their hands full for some time, still, it was the failure of Lelouch as well
since now his people failed to deal with criminal activity.

"Hmm."

"Kallen-" Lelouch turned to her but she already closed the distance and hugged him. He didn't
move, caught off guard, but Lelouch was ok with it. He slowly raised his arms and returned the
hug.

"I missed you, Lelouch." Kallen finally saw him, Lelouch was finally within her arms. She could
feel his warmth, his smell, she could feel him. Kallen didn't want this feeling to end ever.

A bitter smile appeared on his face. "... There's something we need to talk about, Kallen. But first I
think you need to check on your mother."

This made the redhead blink in confusion. "My mom? Why?"

"Well, the reason I came here wasn't just to see how this medical facility was performing.
Although the increase in budget and some changes would be welcomed here. No, the real reason
I'm here is because of James Stadtfeld, your father."

Kallen took a step back, mixed emotions within her. "Father is here-?"

Lelouch noticed the change in her tone. "A few months ago I made sure he was freed from the
prison and offered him a job. He was sentenced to spend life behind bars for being the father of a
rebel… I know that you might not have the best relationship with him. But Kallen, he came here
because James wants to see your mother again. And I imagine he will love to see his daughter as
well."

"Why? Even before the accident he ignored mom and avoided me." Kallen had complicated
feelings about James Stadtfeld. She didn't outright hate, but the pain of knowing that while she was
fighting for her people and mother he did nothing was hurting her. "And now what? He wants to
apologize and think mom or I will forget him?"

"... Will you at least hear him out? If you don't want to do anything with your father, that is fine.
I'm more than anyone else will understand it. But at least see him and talk with him."

Kallen looked down. 'Lelouch is here and I'm happy, but knowing that James is seeking out mom
makes me feel irritated. If he thinks he can just appear out of nowhere, apologize and be forgotten
he is mistaken.'

This was supposed to be a happy reunion between the two. Well, as happy as the shootout with a
gang can get it. Still, she will do it only because of her mother. If her mom wants to hear out her
father, then Kallen will too.

'... Isn't it hypocritical of me? I don't even think about giving father a second chance to tell why he
never bothered to visit mom. After everything I learned and accepted, I can at least meet one
time.' And what could happen? Her father wasn't part of her life anymore, and no matter what he
will say it won't affect Kallen. If she didn't want to see her father anymore, he wouldn't stop her.
Besides- 'I have more important matters than my father. Both mother and Lelouch take priority
above everyone else.'

"You will stay here right?" The last thing Kallen was going to do is allow Lelouch to leave her
with her parents.

"Of course, I still need to call OSI and tell Rivalz about the car. But I will wait for you, Q1." The
way he said it made Kallen feel the warmth she missed. "We have a lot to talk about."

"Yes, we do."

Both of them knew this was it, a time to finally make everything clear between them.
'No more running away from Lelouch or my problems.'

Kallen stared at the room before her.

She was hesitant to enter but knew that sooner or later she would need to take a step forward. Her
parents were there, both waiting inside apparently.

'I was gone for too long. Mom might be worried. Or worse, she might think I saw my father and
decided to run away.' Kallen's shaking hand held a glass of water for her mom. 'But, mom is still
not fully healed and might get emotional because of father.'

Taking a deep breath, the redhead ace pilot opened the door and stepped forward. What she found
inside was both calming and weird in some way. Her mother was sitting on her bed while her father
took a seat on a nearby chair. Both were talking about something. However, Kallen's attention was
more focused on her mother's face. She looked relaxed, even happy.

Ayano noticed her daughter and happily smiled. "Kallen! Finally, I was starting to get worried you
got lost."

"Sorry mom, I had a hard time finding the place." Kallen awkwardly laughed before making eye
contact with her father.

James Stadtfeld stood up from his place, but said nothing. The former noble didn't know what to
say in such a situation. He didn't expect to see his daughter today, if not for Ayano he would be
caught off guard by Kallen's presence.

"..."

"..."

"Are you going to say anything?" Kallen coldly asked before James did something unexpected. He
bowed deeply before speaking.

"Please forgive me, Kallen!"

"What-"

"Forgive me for being a terrible father." James continued. "I failed you and Ayano as father and
husband… I don't deserve to be called such after everything I did- no, after everything I haven't
done. I did nothing when Ayano was taken here. I should have been there to prevent her from
taking Refrain, I should have been there for you and Naoto. I should have supported you and your
brother instead of avoiding you. I should have done so much for you, but I didn't. I'm so sorry,
Kallen."

"..."

"Kallen, I know I don't deserve for-"

"... Do you expect me to forgive you and tell you everything is fine now after you apologized? If so
then you won't hear it." Kallen narrowed her eyes. "Listen here, father. For the last two years, I was
a member of the resistance. I was following Zero. I was there when Black Knights were formed. I
fought Britannia and tried to make a difference in the world. I made many mistakes and I
acknowledge them. But not once in all this time have I thought about you. You left us in that cold
mansion with that bitch you married after making mom a servant. When mom was taken to the
hospital you didn't even bother to visit her. At some point, I just forgot about having a father and
continued with my life as it is… I don't hate you father, because at this point I don't care about you
at all."

Both of her parents said nothing. They understood where Kallen was coming from and couldn't say
anything to her. Naoto was dead, instead of comforting her daughter Ayano decided to lose herself
in happy memories from her past while James alienated himself from them. He wasn't brave
enough to look at Ayano who was content being a servant as long as she was near her children.

"... That's fair, Kallen. I do not expect forgiveness from either of you. You have a right to despise
me and if you wish, I will leave." James turned to Ayano. "I will pay for your treatment and
everything you will need to start a new life and enough funds to live your life without working
anymore. You won't be a servant anymore. I owe you that match, Ayano."

"James-"

"Kallen, you and I are on different sides and I can't just help you no matter how much I want."

Kallen wouldn't want him to betray Lelouch either. "That's fine. It doesn't matter to me what you
want, I don't need you in my life anymore. I'm listening to you only because someone important to
me said I should hear you out."

"Someone important?" James paused before a knowing smile formed on his face. "So he did, heh…
very well, I know when my presence is unwanted and will leave you two alo-"

"James, stop." Ayano looked at her ex-husband before turning to her daughter. "Kallen, I know you
have a negative opinion of your dad and I can't force you to change it, but please, let me speak my
piece."

Both father and daughter glanced at each other before silently moving closer to Ayano who let out
a tired sigh.

"Look at us, what happened to our family? My boy is dead. Kallen is a soldier. And you James,
you were imprisoned while I spent all this time here in this hospital, trying to undo the effects of
my own mistake."

"Mom-"

"Let me finish, Kallen. Our family is fractured and what are we doing to fix it? Nothing, instead
we're fine with leaving things as they are and just try to avoid each other." She looked at her dear
daughter and the man she fell in love with. "We all made mistakes, but I don't want our family to
end like this. Kallen, I can understand why you feel about your father this way. I cannot and won't
ask you to change your opinion of him. You have a right to be angry, to hate him if you so wish.
Neither will it change my opinion of you. You're still my daughter and I will love you no matter
how you feel about him. And James… I don't want you to leave."

"But Ayano, why?"

Her mother laughed as she took his hand.

"Because I still love you." Ayano smiled warmly. "I love you and don't want you to leave us, me."

He froze, not understanding her. "How? I ignored you, I wasn't part of your life and I wasn't there
when you needed me. I'm a coward who couldn't look you in the eyes while we were in the
Stadtfeld mansion… even coming here would have been impossible if I wasn't convinced by your
friend Sayoko."

'Sayoko?' The same maid who threatened her? Kallen felt a chill run down her spine while Ayano
smiled.

"Sayoko? Heh, she is truly a great friend, I should thank her, but right now… James, I still love
you and I don't need a reason to stop loving you."

"But I-"

"Made mistakes, we all did. I won't lie there were moments when I felt hurt, when I wanted you to
look at me, to speak with me. But at the same, I know you very well. You are still the same
awkward man I met all those years ago. I know that you didn't remarry because you loved that
woman or hated our family. Your position as family head forced you to make choices against your
will. It might sound selfish and maybe naive, but I don't want to be angry at you because at this
point why does it matter? I will leave this hospital one day and I want to spend the rest of my life
with my family. With both of you. Perhaps I just want to play the role of the happy family even
after everything that happened, but am I a bad person for wanting this?"

Neither of them knew what to say. Kallen looked at her father. She didn't hate James, but she didn't
care about him at this point. All that mattered to her is to make sure he won't hurt her mom
emotionally. But could she understand her mom's desire to be with him after all of this?

'... Isn't it similar to my and Lelouch's issue?' Kallen wanted to be with Lelouch even after
everything that happened between the two. She betrayed and left him, but she couldn't live with
this. Her father left her mother when she needed him the most. 'Just like I left Lelouch back when
others turned on him… I can't forgive my father, but at the same time, I want Lelouch to forgive me
for leaving him. Huh, guess I share more things with my father besides the colour of hair and
eyes.'

When putting it like that, Kallen and James both messed up. However, James didn't even think
about being forgiven and he didn't wish for it. He was content with both of them wishing for him to
leave their lives forever. Meanwhile, Kallen couldn't even imagine the possibility of Lelouch
rejecting her.

"... If mom forgives you, I'm willing to tolerate your presence as long as you're with her," Kallen
said suddenly, surprising her father.

'If I want to be with Lelouch, what argument do I have against mom wanting to be with father
again?'

She couldn't control her mother's life and if it meant Ayano will be happy, Kallen could live with
it.

"Kallen-"

"But! Only if you will promise you will never leave mom again and that you will atone for all
those years she was a servant." Kallen knew she was guilty as well. The Red Lotus was fully
dedicated to supporting her mother and making sure the older Kozuki will never experience such
sadness again. "As long as mom is happy I will allow you to stay with her."

"Hah, that sounds like a great deal to me. So James, what do you think? Will you take this old lady
and try to make her happy?"

James chuckled. "Ayano, you and I aren't even in our fifties. But as long you and Kallen are happy
with this I will do anything."

Ayano clapped her hands with a happy smile. "Then it settled! Wonderful… by the way, who is the
young man over there?"

She pointed towards the door as both Kallen and James saw Lelouch vi Britannia leaning against
the door, waving at them upon being noticed.

"Don't mind me, I'm just watching what a semi-functional family looks like."

"Lelouch/Your Majesty?" Both daughter and father said in unison. Wait, semi-functional family?
Well, compared to his Royal Family, Kallen didn't have it as bad...

"Oh! Is this the same Lelouch you were talking about, Kallen?" Ayano looked at him from top to
bottom. "The same one you l-"

"AGGHH!" Kallen jumped towards her mother and covered her mouth before whispering. "Please
don't say it out loud… I want to speak with him about this myself."

Her mother gave a knowing smile and winked at her. "Remember, Kallen. Less thinking and more
acting. That's how I got your father."

Kallen wondered if taking love advice from her mother was a good or sane idea anymore. Her
father meanwhile approached his emperor and asked him.

"Your Majesty, forgive me, but why are you here?" James had a pretty good idea of what was
going on here but wanted to hear it from Lelouch.

"I have finished with a small issue that came up moments ago. I'm here because of your daughter
actually." The raven-haired emperor smiled before turning at Kallen. Red Lotus felt he was
planning something, judging by his sly smirk.

"More precisely, I want to ask Kallen to go out with me. Right now."

Kallen froze, her face turning the same colour as her hair. Her mother grinned as she gave her
thumbs up while her father lost consciousness.
 The Knight of Zero

Tokyo. August 14th. Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Tokyo.

As the sun started to settle over the city, the lone driver decided it was enough for today. The car
took a turn and stopped somewhere not far away from the main road as its driver slowly got out of
the driving seat and watched as the sunset for today.

"Ahh… this is nice," Rivalz said to himself while waiting for his guests.

It didn't take long for them to arrive. Minutes later, several cars pulled up next to him as the armed
men walked out of them and surrounded the student. The blue-haired boy waved at them, still
smiling.

"I don't want to sound rude, but you guys could use some driving lessons. You're like snails on the
road." Rivalz waved at them while the leader of OSI agents narrowed his eyes.

The day went pretty well for him. They were playing this game of cat and mouse for hours,
although Rivalz was fast running out of fuel and finally his precious car couldn't go on anymore.
Those guys were persistent. And although Rivalz didn't want to be mean, he felt like Lelouch's
people were slow in more ways than one.

This day was crazy for people besides the blue-haired student, but it was especially so for the
servants of His Majesty. Things went out of hand the moment the emperor left the academy
without notifying them and left with this insane driver. This boy was able to outmanoeuvre the OSI
agents for hours before they caught up to him, but they didn't feel victorious.

Because Emperor Lelouch wasn't in the car and now they didn't know what to do.

No secret service in the history of the Britannian Empire ever lost its monarch. What the hell were
they supposed to do now?!

"Rivalz Cardemonde, do you know how many laws you broke today?"

"None, since I was doing what my friend asked me." Rivalz's smile turned smug. "Who is THE
Emperor, might I remind you?"

"..." The leader's eyes scanned the car. "Where is His Majesty?"

"I have no idea. Lelouch wanted to have some fresh air and asked me to drive him around. I
suppose he isn't a big fan of people stalking him." Rivalz chuckled while the OSI agents silently
glared at him.

"We have orders to protect His Majesty-"

"Lelouch clearly didn't give you such an order and was really surprised to see you. He clearly didn't
want anyone to interfere in his business. I always thought the emperor's word was the law, and I'm
curious why you decided to act against his wishes."

The OSI agents tensed at his words, the emperor's order was absolute. And even if Emperor
Lelouch didn't say anything, his intention was obvious. OSI was loyal to His Majesty, all who were
disloyal were purged long ago. However, Lelouch wasn't the only one they answered to.
"Lord Gottwald will kill us." One of the agents hissed, wondering if suicide would be the best
solution now.

"Worse, he will send us to serve in Lord Thomson's battalion. That madman will use us as target
practice."

"... Suicide sounds like the least painful way out right now." One of them commented and their
leader wanted to nod, before quickly yelling at them.

"S-shut up! We can fix the situation." Their boss tried to reassure them, but even he was terrified of
returning back without their emperor. Forget the cyborg or gun-obsessed pirate, it was the
emperor's mistresses they needed to fear. Each one of them will make sure those agents suffered a
fate worse than death.

"If His Majesty isn't here, then where is he?" One agent weakly asked as he glanced at Rivalz. In
the minds of OSI agents this teenager, no, this psychopath was the most dangerous foe the empire
has ever faced.

One simply had to look into his aloof eyes and know that madness was swimming in them.

"Dunno, maybe on a date or something. It isn't my job to look after him. I'm pretty sure it was
supposed to be your job, guys. Can't say you're doing great work though." They stared at him with
a mix of scared and angered faces. "Oh come on guys. Don't be so tense, I just wanted to have
some fun with you." Rivalz tried to calm them down, but it only made them more terrified of him.
"So what will it be? Are we going to spend the entire night here or will you free me? I honestly
hope you know what is the best for you."

...W-was this a threat?

"You-!"

"Uhh, sir? We received a call from the hospital." One of the underlings interrupted the older man
as he gave him a phone. The leader of the group took it swiftly before listening to the news.

"..." The leader turned towards Rivalz who waved at him with a small smile. It both infuriated and
terrified him. This boy- no, this monster was so carefree about the fact he managed to conceal the
location of the freaking emperor with OSI unable to find him. Or even catch one car. "Situation
changed. His Majesty is safe and requests for us to arrive at the hospital and 'clean up' some
leftovers."

"Thank God."

"We will live!"

"I'm happy for you guys, really. Now can you please free me? I'm getting tired sitting like this."
Rivalz said innocently, but it only made agents nervous again.

"What about the boy?" One of the agents asked.

"I could use some help right now. Because of you, I'm empty." Rivalz pointed at his car. "Lelouch
owes me for this, so can you guys give me a hand?"

It was both embarrassing and annoying, but they couldn't say no to him. The fact that Rivalz was
addressing their monarch so casually spoke how close the boy was to the emperor… denying him
might be terrible if word got out to Emperor Lelouch. The leader nodded and his agents moved
towards the car, but a minute later one of them found something disturbing.

"Wait, what-there is Refrain!"

Everyone, even Rivalz, froze as the agents glared at the boy.

"W-wow! I didn't know that was in there. This most likely belongs to the previous owner. Good
thing he won't need it anymore, hehe." Rivalz knew that guy was rich enough to afford a new car.
"You probably should look into that guy's history."

"We should." The leader slowly nodded, making a mental note to look after this boy. For the sake
of the empire, His Majesty and OSI agents sanity.

C's World.

Two souls stayed inside in the middle of vast green fields that were nothing but masterful illusions
in the realm that was C's World. The scene was quite breathtaking. The beautiful garden was
located in the middle of the peaceful field, the gentle sun above them and dozens of Knightmares
lined up in rows. The last part was maybe out of place there, but it was a reminder to a little
princess that this wasn't an ordinary place.

C's World. A mysterious dimension that was related to the cursed power of Geass her brother and
parents had.

'And this woman is just as strange as everything around me.' Nunnally stared at her company.
Diana or how she preferred to be called D.S. The supposed stalker of her brother smiled slyly when
she noticed the glare of the little princess.

"You will make me blush, Nunnally. Is there something you want to ask or-"

"Let's stop playing around and just get down to business," Nunnally spoke with unusual boldness
in her tone. At this point, she was tired of people hiding the truth from her. Be it Lelouch or her
other siblings. "I'm here because I want to learn about why Lelouch has done all of this, about his
power and truth behind my parents. And you're here to get the info about my location out of me."

D.S smirked. "You know, I always thought of you as a passive person. Doing nothing but sitting in
your little chair while the world is spinning around you. Waiting for someone to come and take
care of you."

Nunnally glared at her, something she couldn't do in the physical world. Here in this… whatever
this place was, she had the ability to walk and see again. And she wanted to be able to do it in the
real world as well. And the person before her might be her chance to achieve it and more.

'Of course, there is a high possibility she is lying to me and saying those things only to get my
attention.' Nunnally know little about normal conversation, let alone how to read another person.
Before this, she was always sheltered by Lelouch and could only understand what another person
was truly feeling when she touched them.

"I might be no different from a hopeless flower in the storm, but it doesn't mean I don't want to be
more than that."

Ever since her childhood, Nunnally dreamed about being able to walk and see. She wanted to walk
hand in hand with Lelouch and see his smile. Now everything was different. Nunnally wanted to
walk and see so others would stop thinking she was merely a powerless child. She wanted to finally
live her life without being sheltered by others.

'If I'm going to fight Lelouch, I need to be strong. No one will follow the little crippled girl.
Schneizel and Cornelia will continue to see me as nothing but the child if I won't change anything.'

"Not bad, Your Highness. Not bad." D.S. clapped, her use of Nunnally's title a little mocking. "It
would appear you can finally show some backbone. In that case, I should start with two secrets of
mine. Number one: Lelouch doesn't know about our small meetings yet." When Nunnally blinked,
the pink-haired woman clarified. "I'm not withholding anything from him. But I have yet to reach
any progress with you and Lelouch is a little busy with other matters at the moment."

'Namely some redhead knight with attitude.' She thought to herself.

"So Lelouch doesn't know about us-"

"Yet. I'm planning to report to him everything after our talk, granted I should gain any useful
information for him first." D.S carefully eyed Nunnally. "I'm sure you didn't say anything to your
siblings either. I doubt you will gain anything useful from telling people you can talk with
mysterious high ranking enemy personnel in your dreams." The woman giggled as she waved her
hands around and moaned as if she were a ghost.

Nunnally nodded. She was looked down on by others among the people she was supposed to lead.
None of them would believe her about C's World or even D.S. Not even she could believe the
latter, not if she acted so… so her.

"What's the second secret?"

D.S kept her smile up and leaned closer until her mouth hovered just beside the girl's head,
whispering sweetly into her ear.

"I genuinely want for you and Lelouch to become brother and sister again."

"What?!"

'Why would she want that? Lelouch made it clear we're enemies.' So why would one of his closest
followers say something like this?!

The mysterious woman looked at her and smiled while Nunnally was aghast with shock.

"Hehe, you're cute when you're surprised, I won't get tired of this face of yours. But I mean it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate you or think of you as an actual threat, now." Nunnally looked
down, her hands balling into fists. "However, Lelouch's safety and wellbeing are my main priority.
And to make sure he is mentally stable and won't try anything suicidal, I will make peace with you,
his little sister who was his reason to fight."

"Was?"

D.S. sat down on a chair that wasn't there before.

"Don't think too much of yourself, little one. Lelouch is quite the overprotective brother, maybe a
little too much, but he didn't do everything just because of you. There were other factors that made
him choose the path of revolution and become Zero. I'm sure you know some of them."

Nunnally nodded. There was one most obvious motive behind her brother's actions. "His hatred for
father."
"Oh, hatred is too simple to describe what Lelouch felt towards Charles. If there was a chance I'm
sure he would have killed his old man hundreds of times again. Can't blame him. Your father
overstepped every boundary and attempted to break the taboo."

"... Something that involved my mother too?"

D.S nodded. "Marianne, Charles, and your uncle V.V. They thought of themselves to be above
nature itself, and were planning to kill what cannot be killed."

Nunnally was curious. "What were they trying to accomplish? Who did they want to kill?"

D.S smirked when she pointed behind the little girl.

"God."

Nunnally didn't understand what she meant until she turned around and froze. Instead of the vast
grassland that stretched on, there was now what appeared to be a sea of clouds and a planet in the
sky, however, what caught her attention immediately was the symbol on the surface of the celestial
body. It was the symbol of Geass.

"W-what is it-?!"

"The collection of human consciousness," D.S said lazily. "You can also think of it as my boss, my
old place and my primary objective to monitor. Also, the very being your parents and uncle wanted
to kill. However, all three of them had their own issues they couldn't solve. In the end, your uncle
was killed by Charles while Lelouch finished off him and Marianne." She huffed. "Serves them
right. They were so power-hungry, killing and conquering to a point that they felt their own world
was beneath- Hey! Are you listening to me?"

Nunnally couldn't pay D.S any attention right now. She was focused on the planet above it and the
Geass symbol on it. Something about it was making her feel emotions she forgot about. Nunnally
felt dread, she felt hopeless. As if her body was forced to stop moving when she saw this cursed
symbol.

"I-I can't move-!" Nunnally spoke with fear in her tone.

D.S stood up from her seat and walked towards the little girl. She looked at Nunnally's face and
noticed the red circles around her pupils. The Caretaker of Spacetime glanced at the 'God' and the
little gift her chosen one left there. Then it clicked.

"... Could it be that the mere appearance of Geass triggered the after effect Charles left on you?"
D.S knew far more about Geass than Lelouch or even C.C. did. She knew many secrets of the
Power of Kings, but above all else, she knew the main rule of Geass. It was unpredictable. No
matter how much you study it, one will never learn all the secrets of Geass. D.S. herself knew she
would never learn everything about this power, and she was fine with that. "How intriguing.
Charles was the one who used Geass on you, but Lelouch's mark can affect you too."

"P-please do something- I don't want to be hopeless, powerless like this-help-" Nunnally

whispered, begging to stop this.

But D.S. simply stood there, impassively observing the girl locked in place.

Nunnally vi Britannia stood there in place, apparently unable to move. At her current state, she may
not even be able to leave this plane of existence at all, that is to say, wake up. And if that were the
case, she won't be there to play the role of puppet and raise the people against Lelouch. She won't
be there to act as a tool against Lelouch and cause him grief. D.S didn't report anything to her
chosen one yet and theoretically could have just stayed silent about it. This might be the perfect
chance to get rid of one of the obstacles on Lelouch way and his lover would be fine with doing
it… but she couldn't.

After all, she and C.C. withheld the truth from Lelouch once and it only hurt him. Something
neither of them wanted to repeat ever again. Not to mention, D.S. doubted she would be able to
hide something like leaving Nunnally paralyzed in C's world forever. Lelouch would visit this
place sooner or later. And leaving a little girl who was afraid of being weak and unable to move
was just a terrible thing to do. So… inhumane.

"You're lucky I love Lelouch more than I find humanity undeserving of a better future." D.S.
leaned over and placed a small kiss on top of Nunnally's forehead. C.C wasn't the only one who
could nullify the effect of Geass.

Nunnally took a step back before she fell backwards, unsure of what just happened. She frantically
checked herself, now able to move again. The feeling of dread and hopelessness disappeared after
whatever the woman did to her.

"What was that?!"

"I got rid of the Geass effect Charles imparted on you." When Nunnally stared at her with
confusion, D.S sighed. "I told you your memories from the past were fabricated by your father.
Charles' Geass allowed him to freely alter an individual's memories at will, as well as physical
senses such as sight, something he used on you. Your memories about how you and Marianne were
shot down by unknown attackers were made up by him."

'Wait.'

Nunnally brought her hand next to her eyes, trying to think over what she just heard. At this point,
she was willing to believe anything D.S would tell her. "If all this time my memories were altered
and father only used his Geass on me… it means-"

All those years, ever since she was a child and couldn't see or walk-

'Everything was a lie.'

Her father made her believe she was a crippled girl that couldn't see or walk. All those years of
Nunnally lost in the dark, without a chance to take a step on her own. Was it all a lie?

'Lied. They lied to me. Not only Lelouch but everyone else.' Charles used Geass on her for whatever
reason, denying Nunnally a chance to have a normal life. Who else knew about this? Her
mother? 'Charles, Marianne, they-they- did all of this-!'

With her father's Geass gone, she remembered a distant memory from the past. How one night she
was brought before the emperor, the night when her mother should have been shot with Nunnally
lying under her. She remembered how Charles's eyes turned red and…

'He made me believe I was blind. Charles made me believe I couldn't walk, that I was there when
mother was shot, trapping me under her dead body.'

Nunnally never hated anyone. She could feel hurt, betrayed and saddened by the actions of others.
But it was never enough to make her genuinely hate other living beings. Others called her the
kindest soul who would never hurt a fly. Even her conflict with Lelouch didn't mean she hated
him. She didn't want to hate him no matter what. Nunnally just wasn't able to hate anyone.
But it was no longer the truth.

'I hate them.'

Her parents, the people who were supposed to protect their children- monsters unworthy of
anything but torment.

'I despise them.'

Nunnally always thought of her mother as a beautiful and kind woman, that's how she remembered
her.

'Hate.'

Nunnally didn't feel any love towards her father after he sent her and Lelouch to die in Japan. But
she respected him to some degree as the emperor. But not anymore.

'I hate him. I hate them both!.'

'They're guilty of every sin Lelouch committed, for every pain he and I suffered.'

Everything was their fault. If they were better parents, none of it would happen. Nunnally wouldn't
be made to believe she was crippled. She and Lelouch would never be sent to Japan to die during
the invasion. Her big brother wouldn't need to become Zero.

'...'

It was a good thing they were dead. Charles and Marianne deserved death for everything they have
done.

'I don't agree with everything Lelouch did… but the death of those two is the only matter where I
will agree with him.'

C World started to shake as a response to the strong emotion inside the little girl. D.S didn't move,
merely observing her and interested in what Nunnally will do next.

"Ah… ah…" She'd started shaking, her shoulders rising while her trembling hands held her head.
Her hitched breath had turned to choked sobs, cutting into spasmodic whimpers when she could no
longer manage to cry. Tears still fell from her eyes, but her lips weren't quivering anymore, instead,
they were pursed together. "... Hah…"

Her first attempts to even say anything came up short, stifled by her short breath thanks to her
breakdown. Lips parted as teeth were bared in anger surfacing, the girl's tears beginning to burn
even with her eyes shut tight.

"Ah… ah… hah… hahahahaha…"

Her hitched breathing stabilized somewhat as laughter escaped her, a quiet chuckle with a little
mirth.

"Ahahaha… ahahaha! Ahahahahaha!"

Nunnally started to laugh merrily in spite of everything. Her hands laid to her side as she threw up
her head and laughed upward. It may well have been laughter of madness, but who could truly say?
Who could truly judge if not the Dimensional Supervisor? She judged not with amusement or
repugnance, but impassive neutrality.
At the moment, D.S. stood over her, vibrant purple eyes shining at the positive progress she has
had so far.

"You and Lelouch are truly siblings. The resemblance is uncanny."

Nunnally slowly stopped her hysterics and glanced at D.S. with a small smile, dried tears had
stained her cheeks, but the smile remained.

"You… you know other truths besides this one, right?"

The Dimensional Supervisor nodded. "I know many things, are you interested in hearing about
them?"

"Yes, everything," Nunnally answered without a second thought. "I want to know everything. I
need to know everything. No more secrets, tell me everything this world hid from me."

"Ohoho! How bold! I like it. Very well, since you're his little sister I will share some of my
knowledge. But! Only if you will tell me about some of your secrets as well."

Nunnally paused, understanding what D.S was trying to do. It was a trade of knowledge for
knowledge. Nunnally needed to know more about this world, about her family, about Geass and
most importantly about Lelouch.

"What do you want?" Nunnally wasn't a master at negotiations, but she won't give out everything
without getting just as much.

D.S waved away. "Oh, nothing too expensive. I just need the information about your stock of
F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads, their exact number. The location of Wizard and any Peace Mark cells that
work for you and if there are other rebel groups who joined you."

"This sounds… acceptable."

Nunnally hated the idea of using F.L.E.I.J.A. It would be better if her faction could emerge
victorious without such a terrible weapon at all. Sadly, she couldn't stop her older siblings. She
could, however, make sure Britannia will be able to minimize the damage of the F.L.E.I.J.A.
explosion when Schneizel will use it. As for Wizard or the likes of Peace Mark? She didn't care for
them at all. They were the worst kind of people she wanted to lead into a better place.

Nunnally still didn't know how exactly she was going to lead her people, but she had no use for the
people who weren't better than the worst followers of Charles.

'I want to know why Lelouch chose his path, I want to know everything about my brother. I am still
unsure of how to feel about him, but maybe I will understand him better if I will learn about his
journey. Who cares if it means meddling with Schneizel's plans?'

Her older siblings didn't think too much of her, so why should Nunnally go along with their plans?
If she was going to become the empress it was time to spread her wings and show her siblings that
she wasn't as powerless as they thought.

Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Tokyo.

A pair of young people made their way around the city, taking the train to travel fast. A handsome
raven-haired man was in the company of a beautiful young woman, and in the eyes of the people
around them, they looked like a regular couple on their date.
The reality was complicated in a way.

'I don't remember the last time I took the train.' Lelouch used them for his plan to retake Tokyo.
The train part worked out fine, everything else not so much. His attention returned to the person
sitting next to him, gently holding his hand as if she was afraid Lelouch would leave her there.

'Kallen.'

After everything that happened today, a logical thing might have been to retreat and analyze what
he has learned, but there was a big obstacle that wouldn't allow Lelouch to do it.

And it wasn't because he was afraid of her or thought of Kallen as the enemy. Quite the opposite
really, he wanted to speak with her. The last time the two saw each other was back in Moscow
when Lelouch was about to win the war. The place and timing weren't perfect, but tonight,
everything was different. Lelouch knew that sooner or later he would run into Kallen one way or
another. She was a Black Knight, part of the Order he created and was planning to unmake. It was
better to make everything clear between them while they had a moment of peace. Who knew how
long it was going to last.

'Besides, it is clear she was looking for this meeting as well.' Sometimes during their trip, she
would glance at him before turning away. Lelouch couldn't understand this exactly but he did
notice how the corners of her mouth would raise a little every time she looked at him.

The emperor in disguise looked around and stared out the window, wondering how long it would
be until their stop.

"We're almost there."

Kallen nodded silently. Ever since the two left the hospital, they didn't exchange much in the way
of words. They were going to have a talk, but not near her parents. Lelouch offered a place where
they won't be bothered and she followed him. Her parents stayed in the hospital, OSI agents should
be there by now as well. His people would take care of the mess they left while their emperor
would have one awkward and difficult conversation.

'After all, telling the truth and revealing one's secrets is always harder than simply lying.' That was
the part he was most worried about. Kallen wanted to know the truth, she deserved it by now and
wouldn't take no for an answer. Lelouch hoped that telling her everything she wanted to know will
help him make sure she won't fight him in the future. 'The last thing I want is to repeat the accident
from Moscow. I do not want to fight Kallen or kill her.'

The train stopped with a shake, they had reached their destination. Lelouch motioned for Kallen to
move and two were on their way outside the public transport. Soon they found themselves on the
uncompleted construction site. Kallen paused before giving him a knowing look, Lelouch couldn't
help but smirk a little as the two walked further inside. Moments later they were inside the closed
area. Workers were called off today and no one will bother them tonight.

"You sure love your theatrics," Kallen remembered this place, how could she forget? "Taking me
to the place where Zero was born."

They were on the same construction site where two years ago Lelouch took the mask of Zero.
Where a few months ago he came defeated and lost, ready to take any pleasure to forget his pain
and problems, to run away from them. The same place where he tried to use Kallen to forget his
responsibilities for a night when she wanted to help him and remind him of his mission as Zero.
"How much time has passed? Half a year and they still haven't finished fixing this place." Lelouch
walked around, faking his disappointment at his subjects' work. "Perhaps I should pay more
attention to my construction workers instead of Schneizel?"

"Lelouch, tell me why you brought me here?" Kallen took a seat on a nearby box.

"You and I want to talk about everything between us. That's why we're here, Kallen."

She shook her head. "No, I mean why here? The same place where you tried to take Refrain. I don't
think this is the most pleasing place for you."

"I disagree, sure this place isn't the most pleasing or one I miss the most, but it is the same place
where I am reminded about my goal and mission." Lelouch sat next to her. "I tried to distract
myself with anything, Refrain, the pleasures of the flesh with others. But you and Rolo reminded
me that I have a purpose that must be fulfilled… that night wasn't the easiest for me. After
Nunnally had become the viceroy I didn't know what to do. How to act or fight Britannia when
they were using my little sister as the face of their forces in Japan… then I took the mask of Zero
again."

"You're talking like you abandoned the Black Knights and left." Kallen placed her hand on his
shoulder. "You were caught off guard and confused, it happens with everyone sometimes.
Everyone has those moments-"

"But not everyone is the leader of the Black Knights." Lelouch chuckled. "Or was the leader in my
case. But I didn't bring you here just because I wanted to feel nostalgic about that time. I'm here
because this is the place where everything started and where I continued to walk forward. Even
though my path wasn't perfect I do not regret taking it, despite how much it cost me… I think I feel
comfortable here, talking to you when I know that this conversation might change our life for better
or worse."

Kallen didn't say anything, she didn't want to think about it like this. However, he was right.
Whatever they will discuss and decide will change their lives. Kallen telling him about her plan
regarding Black Knights, Lelouch either rejecting or accepting her loyalty, everything after tonight
will go a different direction.

"Argh… I don't like it when you get philosophical, it always sounds pessimistic to me." Kallen's
out managed to make him laugh. "What?"

"Heh, I wouldn't call it philosophical. I suppose I think of it more as my way to express the
atmosphere. But I digress, I have questions, but I'm sure there is something you want to know
first."

She nodded. "Yes, why did you bring my father back to Japan?"

He expected for her to question this first. After all, this involved her mother and unlike Lelouch,
Kallen cared about her parents. At least one of them. Despite Cinder staying silent about sending
Kallen's father back to Japan until the last moment, Lelouch found such an idea useful. If it meant
making sure Kallen would not attack him and try to talk with him first, Lelouch was fine with
taking any methods. Such a way of using her parents as hostages for negotiations was disgusting to
him. But if it meant making sure he and Kallen wouldn't have to fight, he would do it.

"Even before Moscow, I always knew that sooner or later we would meet again. I didn't want to
fight you back then and thought about a way to go around this issue. I didn't want to use your
parents as hostages, but I did want for them to influence you so you will at least hear me out."
Lelouch knew she wouldn't be happy with such a plan. "I didn't want your father to return to Japan
so early… while I didn't notice how Sayoko decided to reunite your parents."

"Sayoko?" Kallen asked with wide eyes. Did the deadly maid do it out of kindness she felt towards
her mother or because of something else?

"She wasn't alone, but-" But Lelouch felt that reminding Kallen of Cinder might not be the best
idea in this scenario. Two of them didn't leave on positive terms the last time they met. "But I saw
how hesitant your father was when he was about to enter the hospital. I don't know your personal
family history as well as you do, but I can see that he is genuinely sorry."

"... Mom was happy to see him again at least, to feel like a family again. Even if Naoto is no longer
with us." The return of her father made her mother happy and that was enough for Kalle, "Thank
you, Lelouch."

"I feel like it is too early for you to thank me for anything. After all, there are matters that I hid
from you, my lies and secrets. But I would like to learn something as well first. This is only fair
after I answered your question. I will start with the most worrisome business, Kallen… how did
you learn about my Geass? And how did you manage to get rid of it?"

After all, this was important strategically and emotionally in a sense. If the Black Knights
somehow managed to build a machine that is able to nullify the effect of Geass, Lelouch's plans
were in danger. However, Kallen's attitude was important as well. Lelouch was always worried
about the possibility of Kallen learning about him using Geass on her.

'She would have shot me for learning the truth, or at least I thought so.' Goes without saying he
was beyond surprised by her request to use Geass on her. 'With Cinder, it was my idea to increase
her fighting capabilities. But with Kallen it was situational. I didn't know how she would react to
my command or what she would do with it now.'

Kallen looked around, trying to think how to tell him everything that happened to her while
Lelouch was ruling Britannia.

"After we betrayed you, I visited my mom. There I met Sayoko, she wasn't happy about seeing one
of the Black Knights." Kallen felt a lump in the throat when she remembered how the
overprotective maid threatened to punish her for betrayal. "She terrified me, but also made the
comment that made me feel like a complete idiot… we betrayed you because some prince came
and said you were lying to us, that you used Geass on us and didn't even realize we acted against
you… how could brainwashed puppets act like this if they were slaves to your Geass? I told her
about how you told me everything about how you used us all and me as tools. About how hurt I
felt. And Sayoko called me a stupid child for believing your lies. That you said everything to get
me away from you, so I won't be shot by the Black Knights along with you… and I believed her.
After that damn battle, you were tired after everything that happened. I was such a fool to believe
your words back on Ikaruga." Kallen covered her face with her hands, still blaming herself for not
seeing past his lies, how Lelouch tried to protect her and make sure only he was killed back then.

Lelouch stared at her for a moment before he started laughing, to which Kallen blinked. "What's
funny?"

"This situation! Hehe, I have to admit it is rather comedic and depressing how fast the Black
Knights turned on me after talking with Schneizel once. I didn't know every detail but I suspected
that my brother was convincing enough to make them act hostile against me so fast… I can't help
but find it sad that it took a person on the outside to make someone see the holes in their logic.
However, I'm sure there were other factors that played a big role."
After all, Lelouch was a prince of Britannia. That alone would have made some of his followers
think less of him. Not to mention, everything happened right after the battle where neither side
gained victory and lost many lives. The leadership of the Black Knights wasn't in the best place
and Schneizel's timing couldn't be better.

"But we're moving away from the topic, please continue."

"Right after that I started to question everything we did after what I did, we started to look for
answers. Then the war in Europe started, you were obviously winning and I was sent to Russia. We
both know what happened there." Kalle clicked her tongue as she remembered the second knight
and their fight, but most importantly Lelouch's words. "This made me think about every mistake
the Order made. Trusting Schneizel, turning against you so quickly and not giving you a chance to
defend yourself. After that, the Black Knights were only preparing for the war against Britannia,
against you. In their eyes there was only one option, defeating you… I didn't agree with it. I didn't
want to fight you, I couldn't force myself to do it after everything. We betrayed and almost killed
you, I couldn't allow them to kill you and tried to think about how I can fix everything. Then I met
Guilford, well, he found me."

"Wait, what?" Lelouch looked at her with a questioning look. "Guilford? The Spearhead of the
Empire? Cornelia's knight of honour? That Guilford?"

"Yup, the one who you made see you as Cornelia." Lelouch's jaw was wide open as Kallen
laughed.

"How?" As far as he knew Guilford was dead. The knight died protecting Lelouch from the
F.L.E.I.J.A. explosion. There was no way for him to survive.

"He was in a coma. Apparently, he was in the same hospital as my mom and Sayoko. Strangely
convenient, but he woke up and quickly managed to realize what happened to him, for the most
part. He didn't know about Geass but he remembered you and the fact you were Zero. Guilford
concluded that you did something to him and it made him question his loyalty to Cornelia. He was
terrified, afraid everything he felt towards her was a lie. We made a deal to help each other. I will
help him and find out if his fears were true or not, while Guilford would help me change the Black
Knights from within. I hope that if I will find a way to show that you didn't use Geass on us, others
will start trusting you again or at least will stop thinking of you as the enemy. W-0 helped, their
scientists had an experience with Geass before, even though they didn't know what exactly it was.
And so they helped Guilford and he stopped doubting his loyalty towards Cornelia."

'This is… a lot to take in.' Lelouch knew about W-0 and Leila running into the Geass user before.
Shin Hyuga Shaing, a psychopath reminiscent of Mao. Leila and her forces managed to defeat him.
Shin was dead and W-0 never learned about his power or at least the full extent of it. Or so D.S and
Leila told him. 'Somehow W-0 managed to create something that is able to repeat the ability of
Jeremiah's Geass Canceler. This is troublesome, I cannot allow Black Knights or anyone to have
such technology.'

"Where is this device right now?" He needed to deal with this new discovery fast.

"On Horai Island, still in hands of W-0. I didn't tell the other Black Knights about it… well not to
everyone."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "Who else?"

"Well, there were the W-0 scientists themselves, obviously, then there was Guilford… and
Tamaki." Kallen looked at the side with a forced laugh.
"T-Tamaki?!" Lelouch couldn't believe it. W-0 could be dealt with without problems, Leila could
play a role. Guilford was predictable because of his loyalty towards Cornelia and Lelouch could
exploit it. But Tamaki? What the hell. "Why did you tell him about it?"

"Because he misses you." This comment made Lelouch only more confused. "I mean it, I think out
of everyone he hated our betrayal the most from the start, maybe even more than me. He wanted to
return to the old times when you were with us and lead the Black Knights. I know Tamaki isn't the
first person you would think of as most reliable, or competent, or smart, or responsible-But! He is
genuine about his feelings and I trust him with it. He wants you back just as I do. I-we failed you
and I wanted to fix everything, to redeem myself." Kallen's eyes become wet. "I should have never
left you, Lelouch."

There was something that Lelouch noticed through her conversation.

'She is constantly saying that she and the others betrayed me, but she didn't play any role in it.'

His Black Knights pointed their guns against the two of them, Kallen was only trying to defend
him. And Lelouch made sure she left him there, so she would survive.

'And yet she blames herself for it as well… I think I can see her logic.' In her mind, Kallen was no
better than everyone else who betrayed him since she left him alone and defenceless. On that day,
after believing Nunnally was killed, Lelouch was devastated. He was done and had no desire to
defend himself before his own people. 'If they wanted to shoot me, I would have been fine with
that. At that point, I didn't care about anything more.' Then Rolo came and saved him. 'Only to die
for me… Kallen would have been killed if she stayed with me. It was for her own good. She knows
it, but still thinks she made a mistake.'

"Kallen, you-"

Lelouch wanted to tell her she wasn't wrong for leaving him on Ikaruga, that he wanted her to live.
But he froze when he saw the expression on her face. Kallen's eyes didn't leave him, monitoring
every move he made as if he would disappear any moment. Lelouch tried to comfort her but before
he could make any move, she launched forward and embraced him. He was caught off guard as she
hugged him so tightly, not allowing him to leave her again. He didn't move, worried anything right
now would make the redhead girl only more anxious. Instead, he gently hugged her back to calm
her down.

"Kallen, what's wrong?" He slowly asked with a quiet voice.

"I failed you, Lelouch. I was meant to be your shield, your sword. I should have protected you, but I
left you alone. I believed the lies you said to protect me when I should have stayed with you
regardless if you thought of me as a pawn. I sided with everyone else, I trusted them when they
knew nothing about you. They knew nothing about the person behind the mask of Zero. I doubted
you again and again. Back when I learned about you being Zero, then when you remembered
everything and when others turned on you. And I started to doubt you again when the W-0
machine worked. Just like Guilford, I was afraid everything I felt towards you was a lie, a Geass
command that made me think of you this way." Her grip tightened. "I don't think I was afraid about
the possibility of you using me as a pawn. No, I was terrified of the idea of my loyalty, my feelings
towards you were a lie. I wanted to believe they were true, that I followed you on my own choice
because I trust you, Lelouch."

"And so you used that device," Lelouch concluded.

"Yes. And that's when I saw the truth, about how you used Geass on me. But you didn't make me
into your slave or change my personality to suit your goals. No, instead you just asked me about
my true identity and connection to the rebel cell… what a silly move on your part,
Lelouch. Hehe~!"

"Pardon?"

Suddenly her voice had become more sultry. Lelouch blinked when she moved back so he could
see her face. The first thing he saw was the playful smile. Kallen was smiling as if nothing bad or
serious had happened. Then the emperor noticed her eyes. The blue eyes appeared to be blank as
they stared at his violet ones, not moving or blinking once.

"Lelouch, you used Geass on me for something so trivial." Trivial? Lelouch didn't think being
made to answer his every question was something petty. However, Kallen thought so. "You're a
smart person, you could have figured everything out on your own. Instead, you wasted Geass on
me and made me worry over nothing important. Hehe, Lelouch, you made me doubt my loyalty to
you, how troublesome."

"What-? Kallen, I used Geass on you!" He didn't understand it. How could she be fine with it?!
"Why aren't you angry at me for this?! I know that you were afraid I used you, and finally got
confirmation that I did use Geass on you. Small reason or not, I still manipulated you to answer my
question against your will."

"And? Did it change my choice to follow you when you created the Black Knights? Did it change
the way I viewed others? My friends or family? Did it change me at all?" Kallen smiled warmly. "I
will be the first to admit that your power is terrifying, but it didn't harm me in any way. Yes, I gave
you information about my rebel cell, but it didn't harm anyone. Instead, you led us to victory after
victory and shaped us up into an actual fighting force that changed the lives of the Japanese for the
better. Yes, there were moments when things went south. Didn't help the fact that you had to play
the role of an irritating bastard. Seriously? Why couldn't you just try to speak to me about
everything that bothered you, instead of acting like a cold person who cared little about others?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember when I was a Britannian prisoner? I told you that I met Nunnally and how nice she
was to me while I was there. She told me stories about you, about how overprotective you were of
her… I was jealous, to have such a brother like you must have been great. A person who is always
there for you and will protect you no matter what. After my own brother died, I tried to focus on
my goal to fight Britannia, and I forgot about everything else. After the battle, everyone thought
Nunnally was dead, and I saw you at your lowest and that you needed someone- anyone to be there
for you. C.C lost her memories while everyone else turned against you, I shouldn't have left you,
Lelouch."

"Kallen, I told you-"

"Stop. I know I'm repeating myself and it doesn't matter. I said it once, I will say it again and
again. We made a terrible mistake, I was wrong. I will repeat it again to make sure I will never
forget it. And I will make sure I will answer for my mistake. And that's why," Kallen stood up
from her position and moved in front of Lelouch before settling down on one knee. "I'm Kallen,
Kōzuki or Stadtfeld, it doesn't matter anymore, for I swear with my life, that I will never fail you
again. That I will never turn my back on you, that I will never leave you when you need me. I will
fight for you, Lelouch. It doesn't matter who you are, Zero or the White Emperor of Britannia. I
will follow you to the deepest depth of hell and back."

Lelouch stared at her, completely taken aback.

'We don't want to fight, we don't want to harm each other. I can understand that. I would have been
happy with Kallen just staying out of the possible future conflict between Britannia and the Order.
But why did she offer her loyalty, her life to me?!' After everything that happened Lelouch didn't
expect something like that. And yet, despite what the logical part of him couldn't comprehend, his
emotional side was welcoming. Part of him felt peace hearing this, happiness even.

"Why, Kallen? How can you still be willing to follow me despite everything?"

There was a difference between loyalty and fanaticism. Jeremiah and Bishop were closer to the
latter, but Kallen shouldn't be like that, at least in Lelouch's mind. She told him about how he
helped her and the Japanese people, but Lelouch knew he wasn't a saint. He couldn't see the reason
why someone like Kallen would desire to follow him again.

"Why? Hehe, simple." Kallen didn't rise up from her position, still kneeling before him as she took
his hand and gently placed it against her cheek.

"Because I love you, Lelouch."

'I said it... I actually said it?!'

Kallen's face might have been calm, even if it felt hot, but inside she was a mess. She wanted to
scream but needed to keep her cool. The last thing she wanted is for Lelouch to think she wasn't
serious about her confession, about him.

But she was. Oh, she was serious alright. Dead serious.

'-Sometimes acting first and thinking later is the best approach to matters of the heart.' Those were
the words her mother spoke and Kallen followed them to the letter. Now here she was, on one knee
before the man she loved and to whom she just confessed. 'Also, I just swore an oath. Like… an
actual knight or samurai would have.'

That part wasn't embarrassing, in fact, Kallen felt great when she said it. Her declaration of love
was a different matter, although her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest any moment.
Didn't help the fact that Lelouch's face had a red shade.

"I-I meant everything I said, Lelouch!" Kallen screamed, hoping it was enough to cover
embarrassment. "I always had a hard time admitting my feelings. But, I intend to be honest with
myself and with you."

Kallen didn't want just to follow Lelouch, she wanted more. She wanted to stand next to him. She
wanted to be with him.

The revelation was sudden, but at the same time, it felt right. It felt right saying 'I love you'. Kallen
felt like she wanted to say them for a long time. She missed Lelouch, she wanted to see him again
and be with him. And now she was, the only issue was to make sure he felt the same way towards
her.

"... Kallen, I-This is unexpected."

"Love is like that. You never know when it will strike you or how to act, but you still feel it, you
want it." Kallen placed Lelouch's hand on her chest so he could feel how her heart was beating,
faster than ever before. "I love you, Lelouch. Saying this makes me happy, to finally admit it, to
confess to you. I'm happy… even if you reject me, I will still feel this way. Because-"
'Because I love Lelouch. It doesn't matter to me anymore what happened before, no, it won't
change my feelings towards him. I don't care what others think. I don't care if the entire world will
be against him, I won't leave him.' Kallen will defend him, she will fight the entire world if it
means protecting her love.

"I don't care about Britannia, the Black Knights, the Federation, none of it matters to me anymore.
All I care about is you. If you want, I will fight all of your enemies and destroy them. I will make
them submit them to you. I will make your dream a reality no matter how long it will take. I will
live for your sake because I love you, Lelouch."

To some it might have sounded like fanaticism, but not to Kallen. To her, a girl who only knew
how to fight and who always ran away from admitting her true feelings, this was true love. The one
she will cherish and protect forever.

'I'm no different from mom.' Her mother was the same, a woman who was willing to do anything
for her love. She was ready to be a servant in the house where her husband lived with another
woman, just so she could be with him and their kids. 'Heh, I saw the way mom looked at father. She
still loves that good for nothing man… but I'm no better. Guess being lovestruck runs in the family.
And? Why should I be ashamed to admit I'm a slave to my emotions if they make me happy?'

Reason and logic? Screw that. Kallen will choose her love and will live without any doubts.

'This is my choice. Not Geass or anything else. I want it, I want Lelouch, I want to be with him,
forever.'

And good luck to anyone who will dare to separate them.

While the Red Lotus was busy being happily lost in her own thoughts, her love didn't know how to
react. No, Lelouch didn't know if he had the right to return Kallen's feelings.

Lelouch didn't know how to react at all. Perhaps question her reasoning? Why? Didn't having
several lovers teach him that love isn't the most logical topic? After becoming emperor and starting
to enjoy himself more, Lelouch was able to quickly grow attached to women around him. He didn't
know what to call his relationship between them but love, since he had little experience with such
matters before that. And now? Receiving a confession in such a way by someone who was there
for him since the first day Lelouch took the mask of Zero. Sure, many things happened, but it
doesn't change the fact that Kallen was there for him during his victories and defeats, just like C.C.
He cared about Kallen, but the small part of Lelouch will admit he wanted her to be with him. To
stay with him and never leave. It was the selfish part of the White Emperor, and so what? Sue him
if he wanted to love someone who loved him back this much.

Besides, both of them deserve this.

'If I promised to make that witch smile, then why can't I make you smile as well, Kallen.'

Lelouch was a sinner who killed innocents and loved multiple women. So why couldn't he return
the love to one who was there since the first day, one of his most loyal knights despite everything?
Kallen might have made the wrong calls, Lelouch wasn't perfect either, but she wanted to be with
him once and for all. Who was he to deny her goal when he pursued his own happiness and goals
at the cost of the entire world. "My life was always unusual, no one said my love life would be any
different."

"Lelouch?" Kallen called him out with hope in her eyes.

The man she loved kneeled next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure about this, Kallen? There won't be any turning back. I'm not saying this because I
doubt your determination, but because I know you will have to fight your own people, your friends,
and the entire world."

"I made up my mind, Lelouch. To hell with everyone, I'm going with you." The only people that
truly mattered to Kallen were Lelouch and her mother. Maybe her father if only for the sake of her
mom. Everyone else wasn't important to her, not the Black Knights, not the people she used to call
friends, nor Japan itself. "I'm absolutely sure about my choice, about you. No more running away
from the truth, so, you better take the responsibility, Lelouch."

"In that case-" Lelouch stood from one knee and spoke up. "As the Emperor of the Holy Britannian
Empire, I shall recognise you, Kallen, as my shield, as my sword, as my pillar, as mine… as my
Knight of Zero! The Knight that will stand apart from others, the one whose role is to be my
shadow, to never leave my sight, to always be there for me. Do you accept this title and position by
my side until death will do us apart? Do you accept this contract, Kallen?"

'Yes! Yes! Yes! Million times yes!'

"Yes! I accept it!" She was making a deal with the devil she loved. 'If it means being together then
I will do anything for you, Lelouch.'

"Then rise, Knight of Zero. Rise Q1." Lelouch offered her his hand and Kallen gladly took it. It felt
warm, the entire time this was happening Kallen couldn't stop smiling like a madwoman. Why
shouldn't she? She was happy and will make sure to protect her happiness.

'There is only one thing that could make this moment better… actually, why shouldn't I do it?'
After all, apparently, Lelouch wasn't shy away from physical contact if she could trust that vixen
Cinder. And her mother did say to Kallen that acting first and thinking later is the best approach to
matters of her heart.

"Hey, Lelouch."

"Hmm?"

Kallen placed her hands around his head, her face the same colour as her hair, but the confident
sultry smile was there as well.

"... I know all of this seems so sudden, but… I want to make up for all the time we lost without
each other."

Lelouch got her message, but before he could do anything, Kallen captured his lips with hers. The
sudden kiss was unexpected for him, but he quickly started to return it. Lelouch gently embraced
Kallen, making sure she was as close as possible. She eagerly kissed him back, her want for him
clear on her lips as they made out, as she practically threw herself against him. For Kallen, it was
her first kiss; she never thought about romance before, but it was different. They were both letting
their feelings show without any repercussions or anxiety. Her tongue shot forward inside his mouth
before it was claimed by him. Their moans rose up into the night sky.

This ceremony was only for the two of them. No one will ever hear or see it again, since there was
no need to repeat what was said. Although both would love to repeat the last act of this testimony
to their passion. Kallen confessed to him and Lelouch returned her feelings. He made her his,
claimed her once and for all. She was his knight, the one who was meant to stand with him. This
was everything Kallen wanted and more.

'Knight of Zero. I like the sound of it.' This was her title and no one would take it from her. Kallen
won't allow it.

Eventually, they departed from each other, the need for oxygen forced them to stop this before it
went further or two lost consciousness. Both were heavily breathing, yet neither broke eye contact.
Kallen was about to launch at him, but Lelouch stopped her.

"Lelouch-"

"Staying here the entire night isn't good for your health. There is so much I wish to discuss with
you. Somewhere more familiar should suffice."

'...Ashford Academy.'

Kallen nodded before he turned away and pulled out his phone. His people were most likely
looking around for him, Lelouch hoped they wouldn't do anything drastic while he was away.
Meanwhile, his Knight of Zero stared at his back with the biggest smile she ever had, before a
question popped in her head.

'I want to do what is right, I want to fix this world with Lelouch.' She told herself this, didn't she?
Back when Kallen finally learned the truth.

"By the way, Lelouch. What is your wish? What goal are you trying to achieve now?" Kallen
promised she would make whatever he wanted into reality, it was time to start it.

Lelouch gave her a devilish smile as he remembered how he told it to his witch on the day he took
the throne.

"What is my wish? Heh, I want to make this world a better place. A perfect world where the likes
of my parents would never rise to power. I want a pure world without the evil that was Social
Darwinism, where no system would prey on the weak. I desire a just and peaceful world… but to
create such a world, first I will need to burn down the old one and raise it anew, under my absolute
control."

A normal person would have been horrified by his words. No sane soul would accept the idea of
one person ruling above everyone unless they were given no choice. What Lelouch wanted was
world domination with him as the ruler… however, his new knight wasn't a normal or sane person.

Kallen looked at him with sparks in her eyes, as if she was enlightened. Her smile unconsciously
took a frenzied appearance.

'Lelouch wants this good for nothing world?'

In that case, Kallen will make it happen.

That night Q1 and her K1 were finally reunited.

Kamine Island.

A lone figure stepped out of the Thought Elevator located on the island where this entire journey
started.
After having a nice and long conversation with Lelouch's sister, D.S felt exhausted. Usually, she
was more than happy to speak about everything she saw while watching Lelouch's life. However,
his little sister wanted to know everything, down to the last dot. The pink-haired pervert was fond
of the little princess's curiosity, but even she had a limit. She could use a shower right now.

D.S paid no mind to the soldiers who were stationed there as the guardians of the Thought
Elevator. Lelouch made sure every known Elevator was well protected. D.S cared little about it,
knowing that without the Geass Order, no one outside the emperor's forces was interested in these
devices. However, she did stop when she saw the familiar silhouette standing near the entrance to
the cave.

"C.C? What are you doing here?" Normally she would be able to sense the presence of the code
bearer. But tonight, after spending too much time with a young, energetic and demanding girl, D.S
was truly tired. "I thought you would stay with Lelouch."

The green-haired pizza lover leaned against the wall as she looked at D.S with a pleasing smile.

"I'm here to learn what exactly you were doing here, as for Lelouch… let's just say the boy is
having a reunion with one troublesome girl who has problems admitting her feelings." Or had. C.C
had a strong connection with her warlock and could sense when something was happening with
him. And maybe sometimes she went out of her way to watch over Lelouch, without him knowing
it. She did it simply out of curiosity.

"A girl-Oh my!" D.S giggled when he realized who her friend was talking about. "I will say, it was
about time. Took Red Lotus too long to follow her role."

"You knew Kallen and Lelouch will reunite?"

D.S swung her head. "Not exactly, I saw the possible scenarios. Nothing is absolute even when
Geass is involved. You should know that."

C.C said nothing as the two started to walk out of the cave and towards their transport. "You didn't
answer my question. Why are you here?... is this about Nunnally?"

After the conversation between Lelouch and his siblings. The emperor wanted to deal with his
remaining relatives once and for all. C.C and D.S didn't tell him about what they knew back then,
and even though the issue didn't go further, Lelouch demanded they bring him options on how to
deal with his pesky family members. Both of them decided to use Geass for this problem, as well
as the Peace Mark spy that was now under their thumb.

"Yes, I was able to make contact with her again. And this time it went better than last time." D.S.
was proud of her achievement tonight and fully expected the reward from her chosen one.

"Did you learn about their whereabouts?"

"Not yet, but I gained information that will be just as good. Now, I would love to gossip with you,
but I need a hot shower." D.S winked at her. "You're welcome to join me."

C.C rolled her eyes. "Pass. By the way, what about that spy girl? X, right? Are you sure she can be
trusted?"

"For the time being, yes. We have something she wants." After all, any person would agree to
work with the devil if it meant protecting their loved one. "As long as we have the Zevon boy, she
will obey."
"... There was an attack on the capital." Officially nothing happened, the last thing they needed was
even more panic and fear among the masses. However, even the empire couldn't stop every rumour
from reaching the people. "She might double-cross us."

"Maybe." D.S nodded. "But that's why we should give her cryptic orders that she won't fully
understand."

X was the enemy of Britannia regardless of whether she was currently working for them. This
partnership had a limit, any wrong move from their side and X might decide to stop following
them. She agreed only because of the boy she loved, without him, she won't obey them. Not to
mention, giving her extreme orders such as the assassination of Schneizel was too risky… or at
least right now when they still have use of X. Later, when they no longer required her services?
Why not?

"So, Q1 will join us tonight?" D.S wondered.

"If you mean in that sense, then no. Give a girl this night but after that? Heh, it was always easy to
make Kallen red-faced, I would love to do it again." But now the ace pilot will experience the full
length of C.C teasing, bedroom activities including. C.C and D.S also remembered that they left
something in the kitchen to use later tonight.

It was so nice to have Kallen back.

And here is the final chapter of the Lelouch and Kallen reunion!

Hope you all enjoyed this one and this arc overall. Ever since I started this fanfic I was
thinking, drafting plans and changing stuff for this chapter. Returning Kallen to the Lelouch
side was probably my number one priority since the end of the EU war.

6 years have passed since the first chapter….it makes me emotional, to be honest. Primary
because I wanted to start 2022 with the goal to finish 'His Britannia' this year. I'm not
abandoning this story or anything, but I was determined to finish this story this year.

That goal might be thrown aside until 2023…because of my IRL situation.

Maybe some of you have guessed, but I live in Kazakhstan and we don't have the best time
rn. I won't get political, but right now we have everyday internet blackouts for a long period
of time. My connection to the outside world is limited and unstable. This affected every
aspect of my life and I have no idea for how long it will go on, but I will hope for the best.

Anyway, back to this chapter. I thought about writing a long text, explaining some stuff that
might come out strange, but I just don't feel like it with the internet not being available every
hour. So, sorry for being lazy this time. Buuuut! I have something else for you! :3

Ashford Academy.

"And then I killed my parents. It might have been the best moment of my life if it wasn't for
F.L.E.I.J.A, considering I thought Nunnally was dead."

"I don't think that is something normal people would call their best moment." Kallen's deadpan
expression stared at him.

"Heh, then it is a good thing I'm not normal." Lelouch chuckled before taking a sip from tea.
"Hmm, this tea has an interesting taste."

He didn't remember having this brand before.

Right now both he and Kallen were resting inside the kitchen that was part of his old apartment,
conveniently Lelouch found the teapot ready and just needed to heat it.

For some reason, both C.C. and D.S. were missing. Leila was sleeping by now, and thankfully
Milly didn't manage to show her any compromising evidence that would hurt Lelouch's image. Yet.

"What about you, Kallen? I don't think the situation in the Order was going great if their own ace
was planning a coup. You always had the spirit of a rebel, didn't you?"

"Lelouch please, I don't really want to talk about the Black Knights right now. As for anything
else, well… you saw my mom."

Lelouch nodded. "Yes, a lovely woman, if Sayoko thinks so positively of her. Then, there's your
father. I would like to talk with them without rushing next time… perhaps ask for their blessing and
hand of their daughter, who knows."

Lelouch had to fight the urge to laugh when his Black Queen almost choked on her tea. With a mad
blush and wide eyes, she stared at him while Lelouch's satisfied smile only grew larger.

"W-what-?!"

"Oh, Kallen, weren't you the one who stole a kiss from me? It was so shameful, I don't think I'll be
able to get married."

Lelouch faked embarrassment as he covered his face with palm, and yet his eye picked between
fingers to watch her. He felt amusement and a strong desire to tease her longer, it felt weird but he
wanted to continue it. Kallen bit her lip, remembering her bold move, now that adrenaline wore off
she started to feel embarrassed about it. Although Kallen's face was hot from the blush, the girl
also felt hot in… other places.

B-but… her mother had said-

"Unless…" Lelouch started as he walked closer to her.

An excited and sly look at his eyes in a combo with a shade of red on his cheeks gave Kallen an
image that made her hands rub together eagerly, her chest and nether region felt like they were on
fire. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "The brave knight before me will take the
responsibility for shaming her lord in such a manner."
"..." Kallen's mind froze or lit up, maybe both.

"My dear Q1-Wait, Kal-!"

Lelouch didn't have a moment to react before Kallen grabbed him and repeated her bold move from
earlier. Pushing her lips forward with renewed vigour, Kallen captured the lips of the White
Emperor in a firm grip, not giving him any room to object… not that he was going to.

However, this time the Black Queen went further and continued her offensive beyond just a kiss.
Her hands snaked behind his head, making sure Lelouch was as close to her as was possible. At the
same time, Kallen leapt up and wrapped her legs tight around his waist, ensuring that she was
hanging onto him.

If Lelouch was his past self from half a year ago, he would have fallen over. However, it would
appear the hellish training with Jeremiah paid off as the young man managed to stay strong.
Despite the initial surprise, the mastermind went to counter the surprise attack from his knight.

Pushing his tongue into her mouth and licking at Kallen's own, Lelouch grinned mentally as she
moaned into the kiss. He'd caught her off guard… now he just needed to keep up his counter
attack.

The field of battle needed to be changed, this was far too unsuitable for him.

Lelouch held Kallen in their embrace as he started to walk towards the bedroom, wrapping his
arms tight around her waist. After a few moments of continued kissing, he reached down with his
left hand and began gently massaging her firm rear. Another few moans and gasps from Kallen
was his reward.

If the beauty in his hands even registered Lelouch's carrying her towards the bedroom, rather than
remaining in the kitchen, then she was far past the point of caring. She just wanted him… no, she
needed him right now, it didn't matter where they did it.

Kallen's hand went for his collar, the first piece of his clothing to be removed. In her haste to get
rid of the fabric, she substituted gentle finesse and rough brute strength, almost ripping it apart.
Lelouch almost lost his balance and had to stop near the sofa. Despite how much the redhead was
moving, he made sure to hold the girl carefully.

After a moment or two, Lelouch tried to stand up properly and continue on, but with how the vice-
grip of Kallen's legs tightened even further as soon as he tried, he quickly thought better of it. She
didn't want him going anywhere anymore.

Both Lelouch and Kallen took a moment to catch their breath, sucking in air through saliva-
drenched lips.

Bright violet eyes met deep blue, both set ablaze with lust and passion.

They didn't say anything, they didn't need to.

Their hands were everywhere, each trying to undress the other as fast as possible. Kallen had a
head start there, but Lelouch was determined to close the gap. His upper clothes fell somewhere
behind him as Kallen's fingers went to explore every inch of his body, but soon they dropped
downwards to try and dispose of his belt and pants.

Meanwhile, Lelouch's hands slipped between her legs, one hand was gently massaging her thighs
while the second one was removing the fabric of clothes, and eventually her panties, the only
barrier between claiming Kallen as his once and for all.

Soon all obstacles were removed and the young couple stared at each other. Lelouch was the one
with experience in such a situation while Kallen was following her instincts until now. However,
now when she felt his member pressing against her entrance, her mind started to think rationally
again. Namely, because Lelouch stopped moving.

"What's wrong, Lelouch?" Did she do something wrong? Maybe she acted too quickly?

"Kallen, are you sure about this?"

Lelouch didn't want to do something that would hurt her. He wasn't talking about the act itself, but
about the implications behind it. He was the White Emperor, a selfish man who was ready to die
for his plans and goals. The talk with C.C. that he had back in Pendragon played again in his head.
Zero Requiem might be just a design in his mind and nothing more. But who could tell that
Lelouch won't hurt people close to him in other ways? Becoming one with Kallen would seal their
fate forever, his fate will become hers and vice versa. Sure he knighted her and they talked about
it, but now Lelouch felt the full weight of those emotions ramming into him.

Kallen stared at him, not knowing if she should hit him and kiss again, most likely both. She
giggled.

"Idiot, too late for asking that. I told you, Lelouch." Kallen's hands went behind Lelouch's head,
bringing it closer to her face. "I love you, Lelouch. I always will and nothing will change that. The
Black Knights, your siblings, the world itself, I will fight them all for our happiness."

"Kallen-"

"Shh." Her finger pressed against his lips as she whispered. "Right now there is the only thing I
have in my mind and you're at fault. So, you better take responsibility for that or I don't know what
I will do, Lelouch."

The White Emperor said nothing, his eyes never leaving the sultry smile on her face. His hands
went towards her legs, spreading them before him before he leaned closer.

Soon the sounds of moans and lovemaking filled the room. Neither of the lovebirds paid attention
to anything else, focused only on each other, lost in the heat of passion. They didn't see the little
bottle with a heart shape on it near the teapot they used minutes ago.

Perhaps, by careful planning, the bottle had been prepared by a warlock's witch? Or perhaps a
dimension supervisor overseas? Both?
 Back to business

Tokyo. August 15th. Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Tokyo.

The sunlight lit up the gloomy bedroom inside Ashford academy, forcing the sleeping young man
to cover his head. The former student of said academy didn't have any intentions to leave his comfy
bed just yet and decided to sleep a little longer, rolling to the side and feeling something warm and
soft pressing against his chest. Without thinking the young man squeezed it, nor realizing that it
was another person.

However, being the monarch with a lot of plans, the young man had no choice but to wake up. The
White Emperor of Britannia, Lelouch vi Britannia did miss sleeping in his old room. The feeling of
another person in the bed became the norm to him by this point, to the extent he didn't even think
who it might be. Normally it would either be an annoying pizza lover, a perverted dimension
watcher or a wild she-devil.

'Strange… I don't remember either of them having spiky hair.' Lelouch knew his lovers very well
by now and knew what each one of them felt like. So he was very confused by feeling an
unfamiliar presence next to him. The former revolutionary slowly opened his eyes to discover
whoever it was.

Instead of green or dark hair with pink tips, he was greeted by a completely nude redhead, with
only the blanket barely covering her private parts. She snuggled up to him, her face inches away
from him, her breath pushing into his skin. She slept peacefully, and if Lelouch had to describe this
calm expression on her face he would simply call it beautiful.

'Oh, it's just Kallen… oh-!'

Lelouch froze before looking down, noticing that he was in a similar state to Kallen. Both he and
his newly acquired knight were nude from head to toe, their bodies pressing against each other. The
emperor's brain started to work, trying to remember exactly how they ended up in such a situation
and what happened last night after their heart to heart talk on the construction site.

'Whatever happened, I first need to get dressed before she will wake up. I have no idea how Kallen
will react to what happened.' If anything happened at all that is, Lelouch was sure he wouldn't
forget something like this- 'Why do I smell alcohol? I don't remember drinking anything-'

"~Mmh~"

Kallen stretched her body but felt something next to her and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing
the redheaded beauty saw was the face of Lelouch. Far from an angel's and more akin to a devil's,
but it was a most pleasing view regardless. However, her mind quickly caught up to the situation
and realized the truth.

Her face turned the same colour as her hair. Lelouch found her intense blush quite cute, adorable in
fact. He couldn't help but smirk.

"Good morning, Q1. I hope you enjoyed last night." Lelouch rose up a little to cover her face from
the deadly sunlight and to see more of this side of Kallen.

"..."

The new Knight of Zero said nothing as she reacted in a way that Lelouch didn't foresee. He half
expected her to yell at him and act violently; instead, she covered her face with a blanket, trying to
hide her embarrassment from him. What Kallen didn't take into account was the fact that the
blanket was meant for one person and couldn't cover her entire body. Which allowed Lelouch to
have a good look at her majestic figure.

"I will head to the bathroom. If you want I can order anyone to bring you some breakfast-" Lelouch
thought Kallen wouldn't like to nor bring up what happened after they returned from the
construction site.

Judging by their clothes everywhere and the room being in a messy state, it wasn't difficult to
conclude for Lelouch. Kallen herself suddenly remembered the previous night and how the two of
them talked about what happened while they were on opposite sides of the world. However, then
she found the bottle of alcohol out of nowhere and things got spicy from there.

Spicy enough that Kallen barely remembered how the activity went or how she had her first time.

'We did it. We had sex. And I loved every moment of it.' Kallen was always the most emotional
person Lelouch knew, so surely such memories would embarrass her.

However, Lelouch underestimated how passionate one might get when their loved one was
involved. She had her first time with the man she loved and Kallen barely remembered anything.
That was unfair… and it was fixable.

The emperor sensed that he needed to act like a proper gentleman and covered the rest of her body
before standing up and trying to reach for his clothes. But before he could get them, Lelouch felt
how she gently took hold of his hand.

"L-Lelouch, wait," He turned back to see Kallen slowly coming out of the blanket, her face still
slightly red, but her blue eyes gave him the feeling that she didn't mind the situation. "I… wouldn't
mind staying a little longer in bed...w-with y-you."

'Now this is interesting. Never expected this from Kallen, but then again I never expected to
become what this academy claimed.' Having several lovers would kill any sense of shame Lelouch
had. Well, almost any, Milly could bring up some embarrassing blackmail he needed to get rid of
unless anyone found out. But right he needed to focus on the naked beauty in his bed. With a warm
smile, Lelouch nodded as he turned to the bed and laid right next to her.

"Anything for my Black Queen," Lelouch said with a sultry tone, knowing that similar phrases
always made Cinder react positively. Kallen wasn't too different. 'Better to not say it to her. No
woman would want to hear that.'

This phase slowly brought back the memories from last night, namely their small ceremony where
she was knighted. Something that made Kallen feel butterflies dancing in her stomach as a happy
smile formed on her face. Then she remembered that she was really close to the object of her
affection, both of them completely naked and feeling each other's heat.

This situation felt surreal to Kallen, but her mother did say not to overthink when it comes to
matters of the heart.

"Lelouch," Kallen whispered, her heart beating faster and faster.

"Yes, Kallen? Anything you want?"

"You."
Lelouch didn't have time to react when she grabbed his hand and pulled him over her, the White
Emperor now on top of the Black Queen as she continued where they left off. Despite whatever
training Jeremiah forced him to go through, Kallen was still physically stronger than him.
Therefore she had no issue closing the distance between them and claiming his lips again. Both
moaned into each other's mouths, Lelouch's hands went to explore her body; meanwhile, Kallen
raised a leg around his waist to support herself, raising another soon after as she wanted more,
turning it into a leglock.

"Le-" Kallen moaned between kisses. "Lelouch, I love you!"

He paused, his mind overanalyzing everything again, such was his curse. It was just three words,
but it did make him happy. Lelouch was happy with the current situation. Before everything that
happened, the Black Knights betrayal and the Second Battle of Tokyo, Lelouch never had the time
to think about these sorts of things. But now he had much time and desire to explore the
relationship he always tried to keep at a distance. Before, Lelouch needed to be careful, to not let
other people get too close to him, too attached to him. Nothing good happened to those close to
him. Shirley and Rolo were clear examples of this. However, it wasn't right, and it didn't mean he
wanted to be alone.

'I can't change what happened, but I can make sure it won't repeat in the future. I always prioritize
my goals and Nunnally's happiness over myself… I don't want to live like this anymore. I want to
live for myself, to love. I want to feel the touch of the women I love. I want to achieve my dream for
my sake, not Nunnally's or the sake of my revenge.'

Lelouch was selfish, he knew it but at the same time… why should he care? He was the emperor,
he was Zero, the Man of Miracles. The man who challenged the world and if the world wanted to
punish him for being selfish, it was more than welcome to try.

'How funny. I never cared about stuff outside my desire for revenge and Nunnally. But now, I want
everything. I want this world. I want relationships I always run away from. I want to make C.C
smile. I want to show D.S the world. I want to make sure Cinder won't experience tragedy again. I
want to help Milly create a better world for her people. I want Kallen to be here with me. And I
want my future.'

He was truly a Demon Emperor. If some wannabe hero wanted to slay him, they were welcome to
try. First, they would need to get past the she-dragon whose naked body was under his. pressing
herself as close to Lelouch as possible. Kallen was no longer embarrassed and just waited for him
to say anything. Lelouch being the cruel demon he was, decided to tease her instead.

"Sorry, I think I misheard you, Kallen. Could you repeat what you just said?" His cruel and teasing
smirk didn't faze Kallen at all. Instead, she smiled brightly.

"I said I love you, Lelouch." Kallen brought her hand and gently caressed his face. "I don't want to
stop right now when we're this close. I want all of you. I want you, Lelouch. It isn't mere lust, I
truly love you and you alone, Lelouch. And I want your love showered at me. I love you and I'll
never stop loving you. Maybe I always did but didn't dare to admit it to myself. But that doesn't
matter now, I love you and I don't have any intention to deny my own feelings. So you better
accept all of me, because I'm not leaving you ever, Lelouch."

The way she smiled dreamily made Lelouch's face turn red. Physical intimacy was one thing,
hearing such a passionate declaration of eternal love was another. Something Lelouch didn't know
how to deal with. A sane person might have said that it sounded like a borderline obsession, and
they might be right. But neither Lelouch nor Kallen were sane people. This was an honest
confession Kallen came up with and she meant every word. Now it was Lelouch's turn to accept
this confession after others last night.

"I love you too, Kallen."

Simple words, but it made both of them happy. After everything that happened in their lives, why
couldn't they love each other? Who would dare to oppose such a beautiful union between them? A
certain Second Knight of the Round might have a word or two with the Red Lotus, but not right
now.

"Lelouch-!" Kallen didn't waste time and moved forward, capturing his lips once again, not
wishing to ever let go of them. Lelouch himself will be glad to spend the rest of the day like this.

However, the outside world wouldn't wait for the pair of lovebirds.

The sound of a crunching sound stopped the two lovers as they paused and looked to the side.

There in the chair next to the bed was sitting a certain green-haired witch who was enjoying the
show with some pizza. C.C expression was one of amusement as she watched them make out.

"Please, don't mind me, go on." She said with a calm face before taking another bite. "This is
getting good."

"C.C!" Kallen shouted as she tried to cover herself with a blanket from the perverted eyes of the
witch who just smirked. Meanwhile, Lelouch calmly rose from the bed and picked up his clothes,
sure his witch wouldn't allow her warlock to finish his 'session' with Kallen. "What are you doing
here?!"

"Right now? Eating and enjoying the free show. Didn't expect you of all people to be this bold in
bed. Then again, it is always the shy ones. Your technique could use more work, Kallen. I'm sure
Lelouch would love to help you improve it." A teasing smile formed on her face when Kallen
threw a pillow at her before C.C. dodged it. "Nice to see you too, Kallen."

The redhead paused, blinking before a small smile formed on her face. "Nice to see you too, C.C."

Sure, the situation was weird, but Kallen felt somewhat nice seeing the annoying pizza lover. After
all, when Kallen and everyone left Lelouch, it was C.C. who stood by his side. According to
Lelouch, the greenhead had her own demons to deal with it. While there was always the feeling of
jealousy when it came to C.C, Kallen won't deny that the witch was trustworthy and a good
companion. Besides, those feelings of envy when it came to Lelouch could be fixed now. They
could make up for the lost time. Kallen wasn't going to leave Lelouch ever again.

"Hmm, you seem more mature, Kallen," C.C noted before smirking. "Then again, you aren't a little
girl anymore, isn't that right Lelouch?" The man in question froze as he was trying to get dressed,
he turned to his witch who was giggling.

"Did you come here just to make fun of us, my dear Witch?"

"That, and also to remind you that the world isn't yours yet, my horny Warlock. Go and fix that.
And after that?" C.C turned toward a red-faced redhead and winked at Kallen. "You can fuck
around all day and night, we would all love that."

Despite the crude comment made by a witch, and the mad blush on Kallen's face, Lelouch had to
agree with C.C. He came to Japan with a mission. Meeting and recruiting Kallen back into the fold
was an unexpected but welcome surprise. However, he was far from achieving his goal. While
reuniting with his friends was a great time and reminded Lelouch about people who were there for
him before he became Zero, he needed to get back to work.

"You're right, witch. Yesterday I learned new information that can be used to our advantage. Plus,
there is a sudden development amongst the Black Knights themselves. I would be a fool to not use
it. Thanks to Kallen, we now know about the split inside the Order. A change to my original plan
will be made, but the main goal is still the same. What about you and D.S.'s business related to our
spy?"

Miss X. The woman who was forced by D.S. and C.C. to work for them, and through such a simple
reason, the Zevon boy. And yet X was willing to cooperate as long as it ensured his safety. Still, no
matter how simple it was to manipulate the spy, the recent attack on Pendragon might have given
her some ideas to stop their partnership.

"You have a spy?" Kallen raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, among Schneizel's forces. Before, they were working for the European branch of Peace
Mark. However, after that cell was dealt with, she was jobless." C.C giggled. "Good thing D.S. was
looking for a qualified person with years of experience."

Kallen blinked. "D.S.? That sounds dangerously similar to C.C. Don't tell me she is your sister."

"Pff, as if."

Oh, yes. Lelouch didn't mention Kallen to her. In fact, last night Lelouch was trying to avoid
speaking about his lovers as much as possible. For the sake of Kozuki's sanity and his own well
being. Don't blame him, the Japanese pilot was very emotional last night. One wrong word and
those emotions could have easily turned murderous… and not towards Lelouch, but his lovers.

"Oh, the loverboy didn't tell you about her?" C.C asked with an amused smile, something that
made Lelouch nervous. "Heh, I'm sure you were going to meet her anyway. Either because of her
job or simply run into her whenever she will occupy Lelouch's bed."

The confused look on the redhead's face was quickly replaced with a cold expression, an empty
gaze in her eyes. She turned towards Lelouch, her look screaming 'explain'. The White Emperor
took a few steps backwards until his back hit the wall, he turned back and had to suppress the urge
to scream as Kallen closed the distance between them in a second and was now standing an inch
away from him. The look on her face promised the lethal troubles for the unknown vixen that
apparently was sharing a bed with her Lelouch.

"Who is she to you."

It sounded less like a question and more like a trap to Lelouch. The wrong answer would lead to
death, again not his, but Lelouch doubted he would come out of this situation unscratched. He
looked around, praying for help. Thankfully, God was benevolent towards Lelouch and C.C. was
ready to interrupt.

"Look at you, Kallen. Seems the rumours about the Scarlet Dragon were right. You're a real
dragoness who is ready to kill to protect her treasure and keep our dear Lelouch all to herself. Don't
mind the fact that you left my warlock to the mercy of fate two times." It was rare to hear the
coldness in C.C tone. "I'm pleased to see you here, I'm truly glad, but don't get ahead of yourself,
girl. You don't have the right to act like a jealous wife."

The remainder of her past mistakes made Kallen snap back and look away with shame. As much as
she disliked admitting it, C.C was right. Kallen didn't know what exactly got into her right now. All
she knew was that the moment the idea of another woman being with Lelouch popped into her
head, she saw red… perhaps it had something to do with the Second Knight of the Round who was
more than happy to brag about her status.

But the idea of standing at the side while the love of her life was with someone else brought great
pain to Kallen. Is this how her mother felt towards her father and his new wife? If so, then Kallen
needed to learn how to deal with it. The last thing she wanted was to repeat the tragedy of her
parents' love life.

"You're… right, C.C. I'm sorry, Lelouch. I just-ah! It's just so sudden and I don't know how to react
to everything." Kallen facepalmed. "I'm acting like an idiot, aren't I?"

"Not for the first time." C.C lazily commented while looking for another pizza box.

"C.C." Lelouch gave her side look before moving to comfort Kallen. "Don't overthink it, Q1. I
know from experience that acting on your feelings is a strange experience. We don't always think
rationally."

"Maybe. But it doesn't change the fact that I need to take a hold of my feelings." Kallen
remembered the fight in Moscow and how badly it went in the end. The last thing she wanted was
to lose control and succumb to her more violent emotions. At least not when it was near people
close to Lelouch, Still, the feeling of jealousy didn't leave her. C.C was one thing, Kallen believed
she could tolerate and learn how to deal with the idea of sharing Lelouch with the annoying witch,
no matter how strange this idea sounded. But other than her? She could only hope.

After all, as long as the others gave her some time to get used to her new position, Kallen was sure
they could get along...maybe except Cinder with whom Kallen wanted to have a few words with
and another duel, maybe a duel to the death-

"Hey, hey!" A new voice happily sang after the door was kicked open. The pink tipped dark-haired
girl walked in with the biggest grin imaginable. "Are you having fun without me now? Oh,
Lelouch, how could you? I expected this from C.C, but you? You have two beautiful girls
attending you in the morning without even thinking about poor little old me?"

Kallen looked at her, not knowing how to react. She glanced at C.C and Lelouch, but both of them
looked used to this. Was this happening regularly?

D.S wore a depressed expression, covering her face as she tried to fake the scene. It didn't convince
anyone. She stopped playing around and stared at a naked Kallen, a barely clothed Lelouch and an
annoyed C.C.

"So… foursome anyone?"

Cambodia.

"Is this everything?" Cornelia didn't bother hiding the hostility in her voice. Then again, she didn't
have problems using physical strength on Suzaku.

'But having one of your Knights of the Round beaten is bad for the morale of the soldiers. Even if I
am Japanese.' When the second princess found him, the last thing Suzaku expected was being
lifted up by the collar and thrown across the room. 'The fact that my command to live didn't
activate… is… is something I will deal with soon. But right now I need to get out of this mess.'

Suzaku didn't know what Lelouch told them, he didn't understand why they even decided to speak
with him. Nothing good would come out of it and the proof was his current condition. Ever since
that talk, Suzaku was questioned every day on anything he knew about Geass, Charles'
involvement in it and the former emperor's plan to kill God. Putting the knight of the round in such
a situation, even if he was looked down on by the purist soldiers among their faction, wasn't
something Schneizel approved of. Because of that, and to not antagonize him any further, the
former prime minister put him on house arrest.

The Knight of Seven couldn't leave his quarters on his own, not without permission from the royals
at least. Plus, every day he was questioned by them, usually by Cornelia. Now that Lelouch
revealed the information to them, Sukzau had no choice but to share everything he knew, which
wasn't a lot. The princess would ask questions, he would give her answers she wasn't happy with,
then Cornelia and Schneizel would spend the rest of the day checking out if what Suzaku told was
true. The last part was quite complicated considering the limited resources they had and the fact
that neither Charles nor Lelouch allowed any information to be left available to the public.

"As far as I know, Your Highness." Suzaku let out a deep sigh. "Emperor Charles never shared
information about his plans with me… perhaps Lord Bismark knows more than me, as Emperor
Charles oldest knight he would surely-"

"The First Knight of the Round won't tell us anything." Cornelia cut him off, visibly angered. A
rare instance when her anger wasn't aimed at Suzaku. "He said he won't reveal the secrets of his
lord even to his children and that it doesn't even matter that he is dead. Said that the plan cannot be
accomplished anymore and shouldn't concern us. That bastard-!"

The princess slammed the table between them. Despite their limited resources and everything their
faction could get, the Knights of the Round were still receiving the best treatment, mainly for the
sake of titles at this point. Suzaku himself was never a fan of a luxurious lifestyle and preferred the
modest appearance of his personal space. With one irritated princess sitting before him, his room
was reminiscent more of a well-cleaned prisoner's cell right now.

"Your Highness, I can understand your frustration with Lelouch and all this Geass business. But
with all due respect, isn't it pointless to rage over something that shouldn't matter to us at the
moment?"

Cornelia looked at him like he killed her favourite... never mind. "You dare tell me something like
that after hiding the fact you knew something this crucial?!"

"Princess Cornelia, please understand that this might be Lelouch's plan to distract us by revealing
the dark past of Emperor Charles." Suzaku tried to reason. Their faction couldn't waste time on
something like this in his opinion. "All of us knew that his majesty was a man who has done a lot
of terrible things, but trying to make sense of them right now-"

"Is this what you tell yourself every night, Kururugi?" Cornelia's voice was cold as ice, her glare
never left him. "Just because our father was never a good man, means should we ignore the fact
that he had an entire underground city full of kidnapped children that were experimented on? Used
as child soldiers? Just because apparently my father failed to kill something he believed to be a
God, should we just forget how he started entire wars just to get access to some Geass temples? I
was there in the Middle East fighting his wars, believing it was for the sake of the Britannian
Empire, but turns out that old man only wanted these fucking temples! He conquered your
homeland because it just happened to possess one of them. Forget sakuradite, Charles didn't care
about anything but his damaged ego and this foolish plan to kill God."

"You accept this news pretty fast, princess."

Cornelia massaged her nose, both tired and irritated. "Bismark won't speak and we can't force him
to do so, but that damn masked noble, Wizard, knew something as well. After Schneizel informed
him about what Lelouch told us, the former noble shared his knowledge. We compared his
information with your testimony and my personal experience in Geass Order… as much as I wish it
wasn't true, Lelouch was right about some things."

"But it shouldn't matter-"

"It matters, Kururugi! Truth always matters!" Cornelia slammed the table again as she rose up to
tower over him. "And the truth is that for the last decade I, Schneizel, and the rest of the empire
were following the orders of a delusional old man who thought of himself to be above nature
itself." the second princess sighed before collapsing back in her chair. "All those people I had
killed, destroyed their homes and ruined their lives…all of that was for nothing. Don't you
understand, Kururugi? If Charles wasn't the emperor, if he wasn't in charge or this insanity, your
homeland might have been spared… Lady Marianne wouldn't have been killed and neither Lelouch
nor Nunnally would have been sent to Japan. All of this could have been avoided."

Suzaku frowned, a bitter taste in his mouth. "We can spend hours wondering what could have been.
Asking what-if questions, but it won't fix things. Britannia conquered Japan, killed millions of
people around the world. You and I both have spilt the blood of people, including that of innocents.
Diluting ourselves that it could have been avoided if Charles was a different person is pointless.
Maybe even cowardly, after everything we all have done, we can't blame everything on one power-
hungry old man. That's… huh."

"You thought about Lelouch too?" Cornelia looked down with a sour expression on her face. "Ever
since he took the throne, I have been livid. He killed Euphemia... after everything he had done,
somehow he managed to take over the entire empire with this cursed power of his and speaks of
bringing peace to the world. Lelouch is delusional and I cannot agree with his methods or plans…
but I started to feel responsible for his current state." Cornelia covered her face. "After all, he is
like that because of everything that happened to him. He was just a foolish, angry child who
thought he lost his mother when he confronted the emperor. Neither I nor Schneizel stopped and
helped him when he needed it the most. Lelouch might be insane, but we aren't any better, we
followed a mad man as well." Cornelia actually let out a small laugh. "Only he doesn't shy away
from hiding his ambitions and plans from this family as our father did…The longer this conflict
goes on, the more confused I get. What are we fighting for at this point?"

"Princess Cornelia!" Suzaku's eyes went wide as anger formed inside him. "Everything we're doing
is to stop Lelouch and bring back-"

"Bring back what, Kururugi? The way things were before? A time with nobility, with your kind
labelled as numbers and all other atrocities Britannia committed? Or bring a new future where we
will threaten everyone on the planet with the usage of F.L.E.I.J.A like Schneizel wants?" Cornelia
shocked her head. "What's the point? This isn't the way wars should be fought."

'Her words can be considered treason… but I agree with her. Schneizel might be no better than
Charles or Lelouch. But should he become another threat, there is always an option of making
Nunnally the sole member of the Royal Family.' Suzaku knew that even if they defeat Lelouch,
there will be another conflict. F.L.E.I.J.A. will cause more harm than good in his eyes and it wasn't
the method he wanted to use to stop Lelouch. 'Lelouch, he is a demon and a monstrous weapon like
F.L.E.I.J.A won't stop him for good. To defeat the evil that is Lelouch, we will need to use
Nunnally. She's inexperienced, but she can become a good leader, a good empress. I will help her-'

"Say, Kururugi." Cornelia suddenly called him, stopping the Seventh's inner thought process. "Do
you think Euphy would have approved of what we're doing right now? Making Nunnally the
empress and enemy of Lelouch, using this F.L.E.I.J.A against him?"

'Euphy' is a single name but it carries such strong emotions for Suzaku. Oh, he knew how she
would have reacted if she knew what he had done after her death. Imagining the beautiful princess'
horrific expression should she learn of him bringing Lelouch to the emperor. Becoming known as
the White Death in Europe or him using Nunnally to hurt Lelouch… it was painful to know that the
girl he loved more than anything would have hated him for doing what was necessary at the time.

'I had no other choice. Sacrificing them was the only option I had. She wouldn't understand and I
don't want her to understand.'

"We both know the answer to this question, princess. Euphy… she was the kindest person I ever
knew. She could see a good side in anything, even if it was covered by pure evil. She wanted to
make peace with Zero, she knew it was Lelouch." This made Cornelia pause. "I don't know how or
when she learned it, but I'm sure she knew it and that's why she was ready to sacrifice her right as
the emperor's child. She was sure that together with Lelouch she could have accomplished peace in
Japan."

Cornelia wiped her eyes as a few tears formed under them. "But she didn't..."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Euphy was too kind for our world… sometimes evil deeds must be
done for the sake of others and-"

"I'm sure Lelouch thinks the same." Cornelia bit her tongue. "Ever since his usurpation of the
throne, you were always first to call him a madman and yet you think just like him."

'Never!' Suzaku would never allow himself to fall to Lelouch level. His former friend was a
monster, a demon who was ready to sacrifice everything and everyone around him. That's why he
stopped himself from using refrain on Kallen when he had a chance, why he tried to warn Lelouch
about F.L.E.I.J.A.! 'I'm nothing like him! Never was and never will be. I don't have Geass like
Lelouch to cause the damage he did. I cannot manipulate people as he can. I can't send people to
their deaths for the sake of his plans. I-!'

Cornelia could easily see how the knight before her was struggling to hold back the emotions.
Suzaku's poker face was horrendous, even worse than her own. He looked like he wanted to
strangle her right now. This made the princess chuckle, and yet she didn't feel anything funny
about this situation.

"Forget it, Kururugi. Euphy is dead and nothing will bring her back. All we can do is honour her
memories and her ideals… and yet you and I fail miserably at it." Cornelia rose up as she started to
leave his room. "My little sister wanted a peaceful world, but all we can do is kill people to
accomplish it. Lelouch is the greater problem at the moment, he cannot be left on the throne with
his Geass, or we will get something even worse than Charles… but once he is dealt with, we might
need to look at ourselves, Kururugi."

"Will you interrogate me again, Your Highness?"

Cornelia stopped near the door. "No, I cannot stomach speaking with you anymore. You told me
everything you know and for now, I will believe you. However, should you withhold information
from us again I will kill you, Kururugi." And he believed her. "You're free to do as you please, just
don't come into my line of sight."

With these words, she left him alone to his thoughts.

Suzaku let out a tired sigh, relieved that it was over. Cornelia wasn't an angel either. Her words
were alarming, but he knew she wouldn't betray their side, not right now at least. Cornelia wasn't
the person who could backstab them, she voiced her complaints to him, and Suzaku was sure that
the second prince would hear them soon too. In his mind, the older princess was too stubborn to
accept that what they were doing was the only way to end Lelouch… although Suzaku shared her
dislike of F.L.E.I.J.A.

'Like Euphy, she is naive in her own way. But maybe now she wants to do what Euphy always
wanted.' Suzaku didn't know if she could do it, but maybe the older sister will have an easier time
accomplishing the pink-haired princess' wish compared to him. 'Anyway, since I'm free I need to
check on Mariel-"

"Hello, Suzaku."

The knight froze when he heard another princess's voice. The Japanese boy turned back towards
the door to see the little girl in a wheelchair and her servant. For some reason, Nunnally felt a little
different today, but Suzaky couldn't tell why. Also, her servant was giving him a bad feeling.

"Hi, Nunnally. Is there anything I can help you with?" Suzaku said as he walked closer to her and
kneeled before his supposed leader.

In some ways it was funny, Nunnally always liked to play princesses and knights when they were
kids. She would be a princess while Lelouch and Suzaku would be two knights fighting for her
honour. Now Nunnally had only one knight.

The princess smiled. "Actually yes. Because of my big sister Cornelia, I couldn't chat with you."

"Good news, Her Highness is done with questioning me," Suzaku chuckled. "And I'm mostly free
right now, so ask anything, Nunnally."

She mischievously smiled, a rare expression for her. She tapped her servant's hand who understood
immediately and left two of them alone.

"After declaring my intentions to the world I felt uneasy. I'm supposed to be a leader and yet I don't
feel like one with both brother Schneizel and sister Cornelia making every decision for me. I felt
useless and irrelevant, but right now… now I have the desire to be more than just a doll on the
throne."

"Nunnally! You aren't a doll. Don't ever think of yourself like that-"

"But I'm irrelevant to others, Suzaku. I have no experience or talents to lead people, let alone unite
them against Lelouch. I don't have anyone who would listen to me, actually listen that is." She
frowned, her voice sounding bleak. "I'm tired of being weak, Suzaku."

Suzaku didn't know why but he immediately moved to comfort her, placing a hand on her shoulder
and doing his best to lift her spirits."You aren't weak, Nunnally. No matter what people say, you're
a strong person for enduring everything. Not everyone can live what you've been through and stay
optimistic and kind like you."

A huge smile formed on the princess's face as she clapped together her hands.

"You cannot imagine how happy I'm to hear it from you, Suzaku. I know that I can always rely on
you, no matter what… say, Suzaku… oh never mind."

Suzaku frowned slightly. "What's wrong, Nunnally?"

"I-I, nothing is wrong it's just-" Nunnally deeply sighed. "I know that I'm not popular among
people who are with us. I'm just some poster girl while Schneizel is the one who does all the
leadership. I don't like it, but there is little I can do to change that. But it just hurts knowing that
everyone thinks less of me because of my conditions. I wish I had more people like you, Suzaku.
People I can rely on."

"I-" Suzaku could understand her. Despite being a princess, in the eyes of people like those who
ruled during Charles regime, she was the weakling. Never mind that she is tied to a wheelchair,
Nunnally wasn't strong politically, she doesn't have any achievements to back her up. That's why
she might have become an easy target in the eyes of the pureblood group if it wasn't for both
Schneizel and Cornelia guarding her. But this only cemented the fact that Nunnally was incapable
on her own. And there was nothing Suzaku could do to change that at the moment.

"Nunnally, I know it isn't easy and there will be challenges you might face, but I want you to know
that I will protect you no matter what." Suzaku took her small hand and lightly squeezed it. "I
promise that I won't allow anyone to harm you."

The tiny princess smiled weakly. "Is that a pinky promise?"

"Sure." Her old friend laughed a bit. "Anything to make you happy."

"In that case, I want you to be my personal knight, Suzaku!" She happily said while the Japanese
boy before her froze.

"What?"

"You heard me, Suzaku! You're the only one I can trust here, my only friend and I want you to be
my knight." Nunnally giggled. "Besides, since the father is dead and Lelouch is the usurper, you
are no longer a Knight of the Round."

Suzaku looked around, worried that anyone could have heard her. "Nunnally, please don't say that
out aloud. It might get you in trouble."

"But you will save me, right?" Nunnally raised her pinky as she smiled warmly. "No matter what
happens, I can always count on you, Suzaku."

The knight in question didn't know what to think. On one hand, Suzaku would always do his
everything to protect Nunnally. But on another occasion, he felt conflicted about becoming a
personal knight again. After all...

'She didn't say it, but she wants me to become her knight of honour… but I cannot betray Eu-
' Suzaku stopped that thought. No, it shouldn't affect his judgment now. Nunnally had suffered
enough in her life: Lelouch becoming a monster, losing her friends and close family members. The
last thing she needed was for him to turn off her plea right now.

Suzaku was silent when he wrapped his pinky finger around hers.

"It is a promise, Nunnally."

A small smirk formed on the princess's face.

"Good."

Tokyo.
Kallen had to admit, she missed Ashford academy. Sure most of her memories about this place
were mostly related to the time she had to act like a sick school girl, but there were also good
times. Like whenever Milly would force Lelouch to dress up for another ridiculous event of hers,
granted Kallen wasn't spared either. But the image of Lelouch dressed as a cat boy might've been
worth it, even the student council business felt like forever ago. She couldn't remember what
exactly her role there was at the time, but she remembered how she was greeted positively by the
student council.

This is why it was weird having a conversation that involved war and the death of Black Order
leaders in the same room where Milly declared Cat Day.

"So W-0 managed to create a Geass Canceler." Lelouch started with the most worrying matter. His
gaze was focused on the former leader of said group. "You never said your people could do that,
Leila."

The White Emperor took the position of former council president while the rest of his
entourage/harem took the seats around him. The Scarlet Dragon felt weird being in a situation like
this.

'Never expected Lelouch of all people to get intimate with so many girls.' The girls whom Kallen
had no shame admitted were rather breathtaking. She did want to vomit a little bit when that
thought included C.C and to some extent the one knight she didn't want to think about.

The blonde messiah of Europe looked puzzled. "Because I didn't know they even had data left
from that battle. When Shin attacked us I remember Akito starting to behave strangely. Now I can
see that it was because of my own Geass. But before you and C.C revealed the existence of my
power I never paid attention to what happened on that day." She walked in circles. "Them making
something like that without even knowing what Geass is, it is both ludicrous and incredible."

"And dangerous for us, for Lelouch," Kallen added pressure on the last part. "If the rest of Black
Knights learn about that machine they might, no, they will weaponize it and use it against you."
she looked at her king with worry.

D.S raised her hand as if it was a class. "Question. Weren't you the one who made W-0 actually use
that thing to cancel Geass?"

"Yes, but I wanted to use it to prove Lelouch's innocence." Kallen looked at Lelouch. "I want to
make them realize we all were wrong for judging you."

"Yet it doesn't change the fact that it might be used against me should the rest of the Order learn
about it. You're sure only a few people who knew about it won't speak out?" Lelouch needed to be
either absolutely sure of these people or to be ready to silence them fast.

Kalle nodded. "W-0 has no reason to talk about it, at least not right now. Guilford won't betray me
like that, not if it means backstabbing me. Tamaki won't either, besides no one will believe him
anyway."

"Well isn't that something? The first who raised a gun against Zero years ago is now one of his
secret loyalists." C.C was amused, even poking fun at another redhead who wasn't even there. "I
don't know if it is depressing or hilarious."

"Absurd and out of nowhere in my opinion, but I will take anyone I can get on my side right now,"
Lelouch commented. "Very well, in that case, we will secure that machine without raising the
suspicion from other Black Knights. Leila, I want you to write a letter to your friends in W-0,
namely Anna right now. Kallen will deliver it to her."

Leila blinked. "You want me to write a letter? But won't Anna find it suspicious? What if she will
speak about it with others, she is a bad keeper of secrets. Someone like Oscar will surely report it to
Black Knights."

"Then Anna will be the only one who will read your message. And she won't speak about it with
the others." Lelouch leaned back in his chair. "Anna Clément, from what I remember she is the
genius behind the Alexanders. Tell her you're trying to secure an escape back to Europe for her and
the rest of W-0. She will be confused, but make her believe you want to save them from any
possible conflict with me by hiding them in Europe." the emperor smirked. "You can even provide
information about some secret military locations in Siberia, that will be free and empty for them."

The blonde girl looked astonished. "Lelouch, that's too much don't you think? I can't lie to them
like this."

"Who said it was a lie?" Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "I only need one phone call and these sites
will be prepared and emptied for them. Leila, I know how much W-0, your family, means to you. I
have no desire to fight them and if it means making you happy I will make sure all of them will
survive. After all, I wouldn't want my future prime minister to be lonely without her friends."

"Lelouch." Leila slowly said as a smile formed on her face. However, the moment she noticed the
stares of other occupations in the room she coughed and looked away. "I-I mean, I said I won't
become your PM."

"By this point, you must realize that I don't give up when I want something." A sly, small smile
appeared on his face. "Or someone, Leila."

"I-I see. So it is like that, hehe-" Leila coughed loudly and turned away, doing her best to hide the
embarrassment and the fact her knees felt weak right now. For no particular reason!

Kallen stared at her before turning to Lelouch. She leaned closer to C.C who again managed to get
pizza out of nowhere.

"Is she-?" Kallen whispered while Lelouch continued to sweet talk Leila who was completely
defenceless. They didn't pay attention to her and C.C.

"Absolutely. She just doesn't admit it out loud." The green-haired witch took a bite before giving
her old roommate a lazy side glance. "If it makes you feel any better, Leila and Lelouch haven't
reached your bond level."

"Oh, I see," Kallen let out a satisfied sigh before freezing. "Wait, what the hell do you mean bond
level?"

D.S. who was silently watching them suddenly appeared behind them as she inserted her head
between the witch and she-dragon.

"C.C. means you're ahead of little Leila, Kallen!" The woman placed her hands on their shoulders.
"Right now the hierarchy is such: first is C.C, second is Cinder, I'm fine with third place, then it is
you and Leila behind you." D.S winked at her. "You just joined but are already progressing faster
than little blondie."

"What the hell are you talking about? And why is Cinder ahead of me?!"

D.S smirked slyly. "I mean, what else did you expect? While you were busy questioning yourself
on the rather obvious matter, some deadly and sexy girl no one heard about before comes and takes
place in Lulu's heart. Considering how aggressive Cindy is, I'm surprised she didn't topple C.C.
yet."

The witch shot her an annoyed look. "Because that will never happen, you succubus."

"You can think of it as a tier list… wait, no if it was a tier list you wouldn't be in the first place,
C.C. Sorry."

"I'm what?!" C.C said with irritation as her eyes went wide open. She stared at D.S. with a look
Kallen never imagined seeing on her face.

'C.C is being annoyed by someone else?! Is this karma? I love this girl!' Kallen wasn't sure about
sharing Lelouch, but she was sure she would tolerate this woman just because she would tease C.C
so effortlessly.

The witch might have read her thoughts, or just noticed a giant grin on Kallen's face. It was the
first time the redhead ever saw the always smug witch be flustered. For the first time since forever,
Kallen felt like her and C.C.'s roles were switched.

"Hehe~" Kallen couldn't help herself, now she was really glad to see C.C. again, if only just for this
moment. "I like you, D.S. Keep doing the good work."

The Dimensional Supervisor winked at her, silently promising to repeat this in the future.

Meanwhile, C.C turned away and stared back at the table. The pizza in her hand didn't feel so good
anymore. The witch lowered her head and covered her eyes if only to not see the smug expression
on Kallen's face. This was wrong on so many levels, C.C couldn't ever think of something to return
the world to is a natural place, with her as the most stoic and vexing in the group. All she could do
was look at her warlock with a slight glare.

"It is your fault, Lelouch."

"Hmm?" Her partner stopped making Leila redder than Guren. It took him a moment to realize
what might happen and he couldn't miss an opportunity. "Something wrong, C.C? Are other girls
bullying you? Should I speak with them?"

Kallen had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't burst out laughing. D.S patted her on the shoulder
with her thumb up.

"..." C.C.'s face became neutral but the look in her eyes was practically screaming. "Just return to
your important business… stupid Lelouch."

The White Emperor's playful smile grew bigger before he clapped his hands.

"You're right. We need to finish our earlier discussion. Leila, can you do it?"

The woman in question nodded, although she looked a little uncomfortable. "I feel like I'm using
my friends, but I will do my best to convince Anna and the rest of W-0 to stay out of any potential
fighting."

"Wait. Wasn't it only about the Anti-Geass machine?" Kallen asked.

"Yes, but if we can make sure Leila's people will avoid confrontation with us, then we must take
these chances. With what Kallen said yesterday we now know that there is a schism amongst the
Black Knights. We need to play out cards right and we can benefit from it, maybe even take out the
entire Order without any actual fighting."

'He can always do that.' Kallen paused for a moment before offering her idea. "Lelouch...maybe
you can use Geass to control them? That way they will listen-"

"No." His answer was swift. "Kallen, the Black Knights left me because I wasn't honest with them,
because I withheld the most important information from the people who were my support. I cannot
blame everything on Schneizel or the Order's lack of intelligence. If they could have been so easily
swayed by my brother then it means the doubt already existed in their minds before Schneizel told
them about my identity." Lelouch stared at the ceiling. "It was my failure as a leader to make sure
something like this won't happen, and yet it did."

"But we were the ones who betrayed you!" Kallen slammed the table as she rose from her seat.
"The Black Knights, we have betrayed you, Lelouch. You're our leader, literally the reason we
survived and became an actual power. On that day you were just exhausted!"

Lelouch smiled as he looked at her. "Feels like we're returning to last night's conversation, Kallen."

"Doesn't matter! I will say it a million times again if needed, you weren't at fault for what happened
on that day in Ikaruga!." Kallen was adamant on this and no matter what he or anyone will tell her,
Q1 won't be convinced otherwise.

"Save this vigour for later. You might need it later to convince your friends in the Order that it is
indeed not Lelouch's fault." C.C spoke softly. "Of course, only our dear Zero will try to convince
his old comrades."

"I recommended just cutting them down. No point trying to reason with people who were so quick
to betray you." Surprisingly it was D.S who offered the more aggressive approach. "After
everything you did for them, they turned their backs against you, Lelouch. Aimed rifles at you and
Kallen. if one of these imbeciles had killed you, your father wouldn't have been stopped. The Black
Knights could have assisted Charles in completing Ragnarok without even knowing if it wasn't for
your little brother."

The former revolutionary was silent for a moment. The rest of them waited for him to say anything.
Kallen knew she will support whatever choice Lelouch will make, but she also could have
understood why he might hesitate.

'After all, Lelouch can try to act cold and distant, but he cares about the people around him more
than he wants to admit.' The time she spent as a Britannian prisoner wasn't too bad thanks to the
little princess who spoke out about her brother and how caring Lelouch actually is. 'Killing your
former comrades in arms, that isn't easy. I'm your knight and won't think twice if you will give such
an order, but you...'

"Lelouch." Leila was first to speak. "I don't know what it is like being betrayed by people who
were ready to die for you and fought by your side. I hope I will never find out, but right now my
only advice is to think about their perspective. They're humans too and therefore will make
mistakes, sometimes terrible ones. They turned against you because they were scared. I don't know
what that snake told them, but it must have been convincing enough and probably aligned with
some of their own suspicions about Zero. In their eyes, you might be the same ruthless enemy I
thought you to be during the start of the last war in Europe. Maybe try to convince them?" An
innocent smile appeared on Leila's face. "You did a fine job turning me to your side, didn't you?"

"It would have been so easy if everyone could get along, but the world isn't that nice, Leila. You
should know it by now, or has Smilas taught you nothing?" The usually deviant D.S was speaking
with an edge in her tone. In the eyes of the otherworldly existence, this was too important. Lelouch
life was on the line. The last thing D.S wanted or will ever allow was to endanger the life of her
chosen one and let the world fall towards the route full of conflicts. She watched enough times of
Lelouch being betrayed and left by the ones who were supposed to be his closest companions. "We
cannot take risks with them. They made their choice and should suffer the consequences."

Leila narrowed her eyes. "I'm not a naive little girl. I know what we're talking about and can see the
danger of trying to solve the situation peacefully. But Lelouch, tell me, you want to build a perfect
world without wars the likes of which everyone in this room went through. Does it mean you want
to build it on corpses of your former comrades in arms?"

Lelouch thought about what both of them said before opening his mouth. "I didn't hesitate to kill
my sister and first love when it was the only way to stop the carnage I created. The betrayal of
Black Knights is an issue I'm responsible for to some degree. I came to Japan intending to put them
down, and I still intend to do just that… however, I also remember why I chose them to become my
Knights of Justice. Kallen, Ohgi and everyone else wanted to change, they wanted a free Japan and
unlike JLB they wanted a change for the better. I remember that the people who were right now
leading the Order were mere rebels who could have died any day and were ready for it." his gaze
shifted towards Kallen. "Naomi Inoue, Toru Yoshida, Shōgo Asahina and Ryōga Senba."

Kallen blinked in small disbelief. "Y-you remember them?"

"They were my lieutenants who laid their lives following me. Maybe with the exception of
Asahina, but they and many more trusted me to make their wish of better Japan into reality. I don't
know them personally, but they died under my command. I'm not a saint, but I must honour their
memory in the only way I can. Inoue and Yoshida were members of the Kozuki resistance while
Asahina and Senba were Tohdoh's Holy Swords and old retainers. For the sake of their memory I
don't mind trying to approach the Order with a peace offering… besides, using Geass on them feels
like I'm proving the Order right and therefore justifying their betrayal." Lelouch started. "And I
completely hate it."

"It means?"

"We will try Kallen's original plan and use W-0 Geass canceler to prove their worries were for
nothing, after that I will try to make peace with the Order of Black Knights. However, I intend to
do so only with three of them. Kaguya, Rakshata and Xingke are the only people whose assistance
I might need. Neither Kaguya nor Xingke were present during the betrayal and didn't participate in
it. Both of them are important and will be required to force the rest of the Federation to accept my
rule. Rakshata, while she most likely was informed before Black Knights pointed guns against us."
He sent Kallen a sympathetic look. "We will need her services as head of research, not to mention
help painting Kallen's Guren. It is unlikely she will hold the same grudge as the other knights, but
still, it might take some convincing."

A Cheshire smile formed on C.C's face. "Just allow her to do anything with Lloyd and she is yours,
at the expense of Llyod of course."

"I can't see the reason for either lady Sumeragi or general Xingke fulfilling your desires, Lelouch."
Leila first questioned this part of his plan. "While they might be less antagonistic towards you,
they don't have a reason to join your world conquest. Especially that Chinese warrior."

"You aren't wrong, Leila. But I have an idea about how to manipulate Xingke. After all, the
general has a bleeding heart when it comes to someone specific. In the past I understood this part
of him, but now?" A cruel smirk formed on the emperor's face as Lelouch let out a short laugh.
"Let's just say Xingke might experience the wedding accident again."

All of them quickly caught on to what he meant. Kallen had to admit, it was cruel, but then again
she didn't care about it the first time so why should she care now?

"But what about Kaguya? She is a completely different matter. Especially considering her past
fantasies about you, Lelouch." D.S didn't like the fact that her chosen one was going for the more
risky approach towards the Order, but after the banquet accident, she knew it was pointless even
trying to argue with Lelouch. The best she can do is offer assistance.

"Kaguya is a complicated matter, maybe not as hostile as others but making her see things the way
I see them won't be straightforward. But then again, I do like a good challenge."

Kallen decided to summarize their new direction. "Lelouch, you will try to convince Kaguya,
Rakshata and Xingke while ignoring the rest? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not ignore, but after what happened on Ikaruga I do want to punish them for believing my brother
so casually. They call me a monster, the Demon Emperor. Maybe proving them right will be a
good chance of pace. And you, Kallen, will play a central role in this play.

His Q1 didn't hesitate immediately. "If it is your order, Lelouch, I will do anything for you."

"I know. But it will have to wait a little longer. First, we need to prepare the stage for the play."
Lelouch turned towards his head of intelligence. "D.S, I want you to look into something. I need
some evidence and analysis of something that has come out of the Pendragon battle. Leila, you will
prepare letters for your friend, ask me if you need anything and I will grant you anything. C.C, I
have a few errands for you to run. And Kallen-"

"Y-yes?"

"I want to check the Black Knights controlled part of Tokyo myself, namely the embassy building.
Can you afford me a tour?"

"Of course! It will be easier. When do you want to go?"

"Hmm." Lelouch held his chin. "Give me one week to prepare everything necessary. Meanwhile,
you will need to return to the Black Knights." Kallen wanted to voice her disapproval. She wasn't
going to leave him alone again, or with anyone else, but Lelouch quickly stopped her. "If you don't
appear for too long others might notice something is wrong. We don't want that, not yet at least. I
will call you when I am ready and we will meet in Tokyo. Are you fine with these arrangements,
Kallen?"

"I don't want to leave you, Lelouch, but…" Kallen promised herself that she would never do it, but
she also knew that right now Q1 must follow her King's orders. "Agh! Fine, but only one week!
After that, I won't leave you alone for a second, Mister!"

"My, aren't you a needy lover." Lelouch leaned closer and took her hand into his, gently holding it
to treasure his Black Queen. The Red Lotus face turned the same colour as her namesake, but
Kallen didn't avert her gaze from him. Lelouch could see that she meant it. "Hehe, very well,
Kallen. Believe me when I say that I won't stay away from you either."

This seemed to brighten the mood of the ace pilot as she returned to her seat with a happy smile.
This little scene was, however, also seen by the rest of the girls around the table. Leila turned
away, giving two lovers some privacy, hearing Lelouch say it to Scarlet Dragon made the messiah
of Europe wish he could start courting her in front of others again. The two Geass experts' lovers
were less embarrassed and more amused by this scene.

"Look at them having a good time, while we are forgotten." D.S started to complain to her fellow
supernatural friend. "Guess all we're good for is sniffing out Geass and quick sex, granted, I'm not
against the last part." D.S winked at Lelouch who would have answered back if the redhead didn't
pope her head between them and glared daggers at her. "Oi-oi, I get it, not while others here."

Kallen wanted to change her earlier statement, she didn't like this D.S at all. In some way, she was
worse than C.C. Then there was a matter of the Second Knight of the Round who was more than
willing to brag about her relationships with Kallen's King.

'I'm not looking forward to meeting that amber-eyed bitch… actually, no, I look forward to it. I will
beat some sense into that vixen.' Kallen couldn't wait for it.

Both Queens needed to settle some scores.

Soon everyone left the student council room, leaving Lelouch alone. Well, almost alone.

"You have something to report, D.S?" Lelouch noticed that she was sending him a look during the
planning. Not her usual suggestive ones, but a more serious one often used in relation to work.

"Yes. There is something I stumbled on while checking the Thought Elevator on Kamine." Her
tone was neutral, but Lelouch could sense the notes of worry in it.

"Kamine island? Heh, please surprise me and tell me that Elevators can teleport again." That would
make transporting his armies to Japan easier. However, his pink-haired lover shook her head.

"Sadly no. It is Geass related but..."

She hesitated something that made Lelouch narrow his eyes. This wasn't a good sign. He waved at
her to continue. "But?"

"It is about Nunnally."

Cambodia.

"Say, how much does my brother pay you?"

The servant paused for a second before continuing to brush the hair of the princess. Right now the
two of them were inside the princess' personal room, alone. The supposed empress was quietly
sitting in her chair while her servant became confused, and felt like something bad was about to
happen.

"I don't understand, Your Highness. Prince Schneizel doesn't pay me, I'm only serving you because
I believe-"

"I meant Lelouch." Nunnally smiled when the servant's hand paused again. "Let's not play around.
I know that you did something the other day when I fell asleep. I don't know what it was. But I'm
sure that both Schneizel and Cornelia will be quite alarmed if I said something about you behaving
suspiciously around their little sister."

"Your Highness, I think you misunderstood something-" Before the woman could say anything,
Nunnally grabbed the hand that was holding the hairbrush.
The woman gasped before she went deathly still.

The female servant felt as if the electricity went through her body while the little princess 'saw'
many interesting things about her current friend. A small, innocent smile formed on her face as
Nunnally giggled.

"So it is about a boy. How romantic!" She clapped her hands. "I always loved romantic stories with
a happy ending. Do you want a happy ending for your story?"

"..."

"Your silence is worrying, Miss. It makes me think you don't want to see that noble boy again."
Nunnally couldn't see it, but the spy winced, horrified to even think about that outcome. "After all,
everyone wants to have their 'happily ever after', don't they? I, for example, want a future where
everyone I know will have a happy life… but I don't know you so that might be an issue and we
don't want issues, right?"

"No… Your Highness."

"Good. Good. Good." Nunnally massaged her closed eyes. "Right now I'm busy with a little
something that will take a lot of my strength, but it will be worth it. You, in the meantime, will
have to run some errands for me. And after that, we can speak and learn more about each other. I
don't have a lot of friends and could use someone like you, Miss-?"

"..."

"Your name." The innocent smile didn't leave her face, but Nunnally's voice became full of
venom.

"X."

"Hmm? Why does everyone like using silly nicknames? First Zero, then Wizard, and now X. Oh
well. I want you to check on the Knightmares of the Round Table, especially the one that Suzaku
pilots. He might as well be blind to what happens around him." Nunnally didn't bother waiting for
a response as she continued. "Then I want you to visit our masked ally, without him knowing you
were there of course. Just watch what that Wizard is doing and tell me afterwards. I'm sure you can
manage."

"Why are you so sure of this?" X could just escape now. Her cover is blown, by the blind girl of
all people. She knew the danger of coming back to that woman without good news, but she also
knew staying with Nunnally might be just as bad.

"Because you have no reasons to not work for me while also doing whatever my brother sent you
here for. You're here to watch over me and report to him? Go ahead, tell him everything you saw,
tell him that I'm not just a parasite, not anymore. You have nothing to lose, of course, as long as
you will listen to me as well, Miss X."

X bit her tongue, as long as it meant securing Oz… to hell with it. "As you command, Your
Highness."

"Good. Good. Good. Now leave please, I want to be alone for now."

X had no choice but to obey, this was getting out of hand but all she could was follow the orders of
another vi Britannia. As she left her alone, Nunnally stared at the mirror. No, that wasn't right, she
couldn't stare, Nunnally couldn't even see anything at all. At least for now.
The little princess opened her eyes and saw nothing. It was expected and Nunnally was used to it.
Years of living in the darkness made her lose any hope of the day when she can finally see… well,
see anything. But now? After talking with that strange stalker of her brother who revealed the truth
to her?

"Perhaps miracles can happen, after all, Lelouch."

 A date with two queens

August 22nd. Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Tokyo.

The Tokyo airport has been a busy place in the last few months. Following the city's second battle,
many began to leave the nation, most of them being Britannian citizens. The constant threat of
military escalation and the conflicts themselves had proven too much for the lives of the people,
hence why civilian aircraft were flying back and forth following the battle.

However, the situation had seen improvement following the ceasefire. People across the empire
started returning to Tokyo, a majority taking jobs in the reconstruction business that appeared after
the mass destruction and chaos in the city. That was on the Britannian side.

The side that was controlled by UFN had different issues. The Federation had to bring people into
its territories by using military aircraft and boats. Obviously, it had a lot of problems, especially
with the Britannian military keeping a close eye on everything, unsurprisingly enough. A few
civilians felt calm by returning to their homeland when the threat of another war was slowly
growing. Like the empire, the Federation was bringing its workers to help rebuild parts of Tokyo,
as well as build everything necessary for Black Knights to make a firm stance in the city they
failed to take twice.

Despite everything, both sides continued air travels, like the one that just landed in a Britannian
airport.

The older Britannian man looked at the documents before giving a boy in front of him a
questionable look. "Aren't you too young to be a construction worker, boy?"

"I need a job and my agency was looking for fresh blood as they said." The young man with grey
hair smiled, doing his best to appear as friendly as he could. "Can't complain where I'm going or
what I'm doing when the pay is good."

"Should have joined the military as everyone else does. With the current pay they receive, I swear
if only I was twenty years younger..." The check-in officer grumbled before giving back the
documents to the young lad. "Welcome to Area 1-I mean, Special Administrated Zone of Japan,
agh. Enjoy your stay here, sir."

The young man moved, further along, stepping outside of the airport and looking for any taxi that
could take him where wanted. Soon he found one and happily entered it, to the question of where
they were going, the man with complicated health conditions pointed towards the volcano.

"Mount Fuji. My boss wants me there as fast as possible."

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, in an area less available to the public and the UFN eye,
another landing was happening. Albeit this one wasn't a civilian plane.

"So this is Japan? Heh, a new battlefield for us, Lelouch."

The Britannian military aircraft landed on one of the empire's secret bases, one that hadn't been
destroyed by Zero during his lighting campaign. The plane brought equipment, Knightmares,
including Hounds and new technology against any machine that might silence the empire's
communications, again. However, the most important cargo on the ship was the young woman and
her personal vehicle.
"M-my, lady! Can you please wait-! We didn't finish unpacking." One soldier tried to catch up with
his superior who was practically running towards any transport that could take her to the city.

"You do that. I don't have time to waste. My Emperor wants me there as fast as possible." The
female knight with an eye-patch said as she walked towards the helicopter.

After all, the emperor wouldn't want his most loyal knight to leave him for too long.

City centre, near the UFN territory.

Despite the tense relationship between the two superpowers, the streets of Tokyo that were nearest
to the city's divisive line were relatively peaceful. Obviously, both sides had a constant military
presence in the area, but those in charge knew that it was merely a display of strength. The Black
Knights would put ten Knightmares along the border, Britannia would do the same and so on, lest
either of them look weak to each other, to the people. When the ceasefire just started and talks
about dividing the city in half were made, many feared that it would result in conflicts across the
negotiated borders. However, much to the surprise of everyone, it didn't. It was hard to start a fight
when both sides were afraid to do so, neither power wanted to take the first shot.

With the Britannian war in Europe temporarily distracting people across the world, life took a
strange but kind of peaceful pace in Tokyo. Everyone tried their best and got used to the presence
of Knightmares flying around the city, without any attempt to provoke each other into a fight.
Meanwhile, the city would slowly recover from the last fight between UFN and Britannia, giving
everyone a chance to catch their breath before another conflict broke out.

The early morning breeze was a nice and refreshing change of atmosphere for the young would-be
world conqueror. The monarch sat on the bench before a small abandoned building, which was
perhaps one of the places the emperor used to gamble at years ago, but he didn't pay it any mind.
Instead, his train of thought was focused on a revelation he had a week ago, one that frequented his
thoughts and diverted his attention.

Lelouch promised himself he won't allow her of all people to ruin his plans, but he couldn't stop
thinking about her. Not when Nunnally somehow managed to enter C's World.

7 days ago.

"Repeat that."

Less than a minute ago, after the rest of his closest confidants who will one day drive him insane
left, Lelouch was left with D.S. However, instead of being subject to her usual innuendos, the
Dimensional Supervisor immediately started with what Lelouch considered the worst news today.

D.S grimaced. "I spoke with your sister in C's World. I told her about your life, especially when
you were Zero. I hoped it might change how she views you-"

"How, D.S.? How can Nunnally enter C's World without a Thought Elevator for her to use?"
Lelouch felt a headache coming from all of this. He didn't need or wanted to deal with this, not after
everything was going so smoothly for him with Kallen and the Black Knights soon enough.

"I ordered X to place a small Geass pentagram near Nunnally. My original idea was to use it and
learn about her whereabouts. Using X to expose their location was too dangerous in my opinion,
one mistake and her cover would be blown."
Lelouch blinked. "We can use Geass like that?"

"The Geass cult in Europe, the one Akito and Shin Hyuga belonged to, had experience using Geass
artefacts. Some of their techniques are known to me, but most of them are useless without a Geass
user to activate them." D.S sighed. "I decided to give it a try with X, but this wasn't the result I
expected. The pentagram acted like a small communication device that allowed Nunnally's
consciousness to enter C's world. In some ways, she was limited, but she could experience the
touch, smell and even see there… I am still trying to learn how exactly it happened, but it is most
likely because your sister has the strange ability even without Geass, Lelouch."

"..." The White Emperor turned away, facing the window and the city beyond it. He didn't want to
deal with it. Nunnally and Geass, both were highly unpredictable matters put together and Lelouch
feared what might come out of it. 'Maybe-'

"Maybe ordering that X dealt with Nunnally for once and all wasn't the worst idea." He said
without thinking twice. D.S walked closer to him before placing her hand on his shoulder.

"If this is what you truly want, I won't object." Lelouch shot her a look, not knowing if he should
glare or laugh at this mess.

"Nevermind… you said you showed her my past. What was her reaction?"

D.S thought about her talks with the little princess. Remembering how a curious Nunnally reacted
to some more extreme revelations. The head of the empire's intelligence decided to not worry her
lover too much. "Unhealthy in my opinion. I believe the truth behind her blindness and why she
can't walk left a scar on her. To say her opinion about Charles and Marriane having dropped
significantly will be an understatement. I think her newfound hate towards your parents can rival
yours on your happier days, Lelouch."

Lelouch stared at her blankly, having no mood for any attempts to lighten the situation. D.S
coughed.

"Hmm, she agreed to share information on some of her less likeable allies. Nunnally will trade
information with me in exchange for learning more about you."

The strategic part of the emperor's mind managed to take over and ignore the sheer disdain he had
for this entire topic. "Did you learn anything useful?"

"A little bit. She confirmed that Wizard and some of the Peace Mark cells work with them. From
her words, it appears more and more of them join Schneizel's side. She didn't know the exact
number, but piecing together talks she'd heard around the place there were a lot of former EU
regiments who managed to escape during the war. Schneizel's little coalition is growing, not
enough to wage war against you on its own, but I fear their strength will be enough to start terrorist
acts across the empire as they did in Brazil."

Lelouch waved away. "That's not Schneizel's style, Cornelia wouldn't allow it either."

Even if his sibling were desperate, and he doubted it, they wouldn't start using methods that will
hurt them in the long run. Then again, perhaps Schneizel didn't intend to play a long match this
time. With his limited resources, untrustworthy allies and F.L.E.I.J.A. being the extreme weapon,
perhaps his older brother wanted to end the conflict quickly and with the bang. As much as
Lelouch hated to admit, in a situation like this, any information would be welcome. No matter how
small it was, or the fact that it came from a trusted source, Lelouch wanted to think about it less
and less every day.
"Tell me, Lelouch, is the idea of getting information from Nunnally so loathsome to you?"

"Yes, it is!" Her chosen one yelled, before giving her an apologetic look. D.S comforted him once
again, encouraging him to go on. "Geass gives power but brings suffering in exchange. I
experienced it, you saw it all and more. Nunnally is naive and our enemy, she cannot be trusted to
deal with it. It is akin to giving a child a grenade, there is only a terrible outcome."

"Lelouch, are you perhaps worried about Nunnally?" D.S asked in little disbelief, hoping that her
chosen one would disagree.

He froze for a moment before clenching her fists. "I made up my mind about Nunnally. She is the
enemy and she will fall as all others did. There is no sympathy for her… I do not want her
anywhere near Geass. This isn't a matter someone like her should ever get involved with. But-"
Lelouch lowered his head, tired from it. "If we can get any information from it, I can accept it to
some degree. But, D.S, please don't mention this before me or others without absolute necessity. I
don't want to hear about it unless there is important information. Act on your own, use anything
you need but don't mention Nunnally and C's World to me."

She slightly bowed before making her way outside but stopped near the entrance. "I know you
won't like the idea, but Lelouch, if you want I can bring you to one of our talks."

Lelouch covered his face with the palm, trying to ignore it. "D.S...please, I have other matters to
worry about, she is the last thing I want to worry about right now, or ever."

Present time.

'I cannot allow Nunnally to ruin my plans by simply driving me insane.' Lelouch would think about
that conversation from time to time. D.S never brought it up again, but with her almost every day
flying to Kamine Island, it was obvious she continued to meet with Nunnally in C's World. In some
way, it was a little reassuring for him. The emperor had a difficult time trying to convince himself
that it was merely for the sake of learning more, yet his mind didn't want to accept it. 'She wants to
be my enemy, and I shall crush her like one. But Nunnally shouldn't get involved with Geass, ever.
She can learn whatever she wants about my past, it won't change anything between us, I shouldn't
allow it. I need to return to present matters. She can wait.'

Right now he was dealing with the Black Knights, well, making preparations for it.

Lelouch pulled out his phone and called his Q1. The two of them agreed to meet near the territory
that was under UFN control, he had a plan and needed to make some preparations there today. He
pressed the button and started to wait for a response, but soon heard something behind him. The
emperor turned around, only to see the redhead beauty standing behind him with a bright smile.

"Hey, Lelouch."

"Kallen."

Q1 and her K1 stared at each other. She changed from her old dress and was now wearing more
practical clothes to move and fight in, should things get complicated. A black hoodie covered her
head, but Lelouch could see that Kallen was smiling once she saw him. They both wore casual
clothes, looking like a normal couple that was about to go on a date, and in some sense, it was one.

However, it wasn't a regular date and they weren't a regular couple, something that became
apparent when a third wheel appeared out of nowhere.
"~My Emperor~"

Cinder Fall hugged her emperor and soon to be husband before giving him a passionate kiss on the
lips. It lasted for a few seconds, but it left an impact as everyone who saw it froze, including the
feared Scarlet Dragon who stared blankly at the scene before her. As the black-haired beauty
departed, her hands didn't leave her fiance once, giving him a sultry look before licking her lips.

The kiss was enjoyable, but he knew that admitting it right now was a terrible idea. Lelouch bit his
lip, it was bad timing for her to appear. The emperor wanted to say he was pleased to see his Q1
right now… but she might have a different idea. Finally, Cinder looked at her biggest
target/predecessor/rival before waving happily at her.

"Oh, hi Kallen! Didn't see you here. How are you?" An amber eye watched her with a smirk. "How
are your parents?"

'Why is she here?!'

Kallen felt her entire body freeze before going into battle mode as she prepared to move forward
with one sole intent. The same feeling that she had back in Russia, during their first meeting
reappeared inside her head. The desire to chop off the head of the bitch in front of her. In Kallen's
mind Lelouch had his Q1 back, he didn't require a replacement like Q2 anymore.

However, Cinder Fall was a sneaky snake and moved closer to Lelouch, pressing her chest against
his arm. The one-eyed wretch-

'Wait, one eye?'

Thi caught Kallen off guard. Her purse was pointed at the one-eyed vixen that was hugging her
Lelouch. Like Kallen, Cinder wasn't dressed in her usual knight's uniform. Instead, the black-
haired knight preferred grey pants and a brown jacket. The most noticeable change in her
appearance was the black eyepatch that covered her left eye. The Second Knight of the Round used
her hair to cover it a little bit, but the eye patch was still visible.

'What happened? Ah, it doesn't matter, she is about to lose a second eye if she won't-'

The emperor was thankful that there was no one around them at the moment. Otherwise, the image
of one young and beautiful woman pulling out a knife from her purse and using it to stab another
equally stunning beauty might alarm others and warrant them a visit from the police. Explaining
why Kallen had a hidden knife and was looking with killing intent at Cinder might have been
complicated.

Didn't help that Cinder look just as ready to leap into action. Lelouch had to interfere, quickly.

"Kallen, let's calm down. Please." He moved in front of the second knight, knowing very well that
neither Queen would do anything with him in-between. At least he hoped so.

His Q1 glare didn't disappear, but she took back her knife and put back the purse. "What is she
doing here?"

"The same thing as you, Kallen dear. I'm here to protect our dear Lulu. A little bird whispered to
me that the famous Red Lotus is now returned to her old master. I should be jealous right now-"
Cinder placed her head on Lelouch's shoulder as she whispered into his ear. "But I have a funny
feeling about having the famous Q1 watch me spend time with My Emperor. After all, I'm sure
Lelouch will prefer someone far more trustworthy to keep him safe."
"You-!"

"I called her," Lelouch needed to clear any misunderstanding right now. "Cinder is here because I
have called for additional forces. Following what you told me about Black Knight's internal
situation, I came up with a plan but I might need backup if it doesn't work out. And because I
wanted to make sure she was fine after what happened."

The last part was easy to understand what exactly Lelouch meant. Cinder smiled quietly as she
touched her eyepatch. "I said I was fine, Lelouch. But being in your thoughts, even in such
circumstances, is always pleasing to me."

"And I do think about you, Q2." Lelouch would have shown it more intimately but decided against
provoking one side. "Such is why I ask that you please do not provoke her, Cinder. Kallen is one of
us, your fellow knight."

Cinder blinked.

"What? I knew from D.S that our dear Kallen is now serving Britannia, but… did you make her a
Knight of the Round?" The second knight paused before a huge grin appeared on her face. "Hehe,
marvellous, now I'm also her senior. Don't worry, Kallen, your senpai will take good care of you."

The redhead winced at her usage of that term before laughing. 'The mental image makes me want
to vomit… but my position isn't beneath her.'

"Senpai? Don't get ahead of yourself. If anything, I'm the one who is your senior."

The Knight of Two turned to Lelouch with a questionable look, not understanding where this
conversation was going. The White Emperor felt like he was pressed between a hard nail and a
hammer.

"Please inform this squire about this one's position within your realm, Your Majesty." Kallen tried
her best to mimic the noble talk as she spoke, even bowing, "After all, it won't do good for the
image of the round table if a mere second knight talks back to the knight of Zero."

"Knight… of Zero?" Cinder looked dumbfounded, clearly not expecting this today. "What-?!"

The look on her face was priceless. as if a fish was pulled out of the water and was suffocating.
Kallen wished that were actually the case, but she was satisfied with the stupid expression of the
Second knight, for now. Lelouch on the other hand now was trying to calm down Cinder.

"I have decided that placing Kallen into a regular position of a Knight of the Round won't be the
wisest decision considering the circumstances. After all, her fame as the Black Knight's ace will
have a negative effect on Britannia, even if I care little about what others will think about it. Still,
the title of Knight of Zero is different from the rest of the Round. They are my sword and shield,
while the Knight of Zero-"

"Is the Emperor's Shadow, always to be on his side, while the lesser knights can do errands for
him." Kallen smiled mockingly at Cinder as she walked closer towards Lelouch. "While you will
be busy, I will make sure to keep Lelouch safe and happy."

A cold smile formed on Cinder's face. "Of course, with your track record of protecting Lelouch in
the past. Please remind me why you didn't stay with him when Black Knights tried to kill His
Majesty?"

That made Kallen want to use her knife again.

'I killed a Knight of the Round in the past, why not add a new name to that list? It might grow
bigger soon. Maybe it is time to finish what we started in Moscow.'

"..."

Blue eyes glared at amber one and vice versa. Lelouch wanted to groan, he expected issues and
truthfully, in his mind, it might have gone even worse. Didn't mean he could leave a situation like
this.

"Both of you stop this immediately," Lelouch ordered them with a commanding tone, making the
two stop in their tracks. "Do I need to say it again? Kallen is our ally, my Q1 and Knight of Zero,
Cinder. Don't provoke her. Kallen, despite what happened before and your… more protective
nature, please don't fall to Cinder's bait and do not harm any of my followers."

Both women stared at each other. Neither wanted to get along with each other, but both knew since
Lelouch ordered, they had to. However, that doesn't mean they would enjoy it. Cinder was the first
to speak.

"For the record, I was merely teasing our new knight, Lelouch. I would never attack my comrade in
arms… first." Her smile made Lelouch roll his eyes.

"Of course, Q2."

Cinder giggled. "What? Just ask Oldrin Zevon, I behaved like a good girl around her, didn't I? She
is still alive, despite how stimulating the idea of sending her head to her uncle appeared to me at
times."

"Jeez, aren't you the image of a proper knight? You remind me of Bradley."

"Please don't compare me to that vampire. That animal would waste manpower and resources to
satisfy his murderous fetish. I'm on the other hand just experiencing my desire for revenge more
healthily." Cinder thought about it for a moment. "Well, a healthier way to express my desire."

"Pfft, you psycho."

"And you're a doll for believing people who were ready to kill you and Lelouch."

"That-!"

'Was truth.'

Kallen clenched her fist but lowered her head. "You're right about that one. I was an idiot for
leaving Lelouch there. And don't you dare talk back about it, Lelouch-!" She narrowed her eyes at
her K1 when he prepared to refute that.

Both knew by this point that Q1 was quite sensitive about that topic. Something that Q2 noticed
now too, but said nothing. Kallen didn't need her sympathy, she didn't want to deal with Cinder
more than necessary. But since Lelouch wanted her there, Kallen had no choice but to get along, at
least in front of him.

Cinder paused, blinking before turning away. Lelouch watched these two, wondering where it
would go, at least they weren't trying to kill each other anymore.

"Let's get going, We spent enough time here," Lelouch ordered as he started to walk towards the
Federation controlled territory. "Kallen, please lead the way."
Q1 nodded as she walked closer to him and took Lelouch's hand. This seemed to calm down Kallen
to some degree, feeling his warmth, even if it was just hand holding was nice. Cinder didn't
comment on it but didn't let go of his hand either. To the people around them, the image of the trio
gave off a strange aura. Normally, a young man with two beautiful girls on both sides should have
looked like the picture on the right of a playboy magazine. Instead, both women had a murderous
area about them, and it alarmed the people around them, with the calm yet tired-looking man
between them not helping matters.

And like that, the White Emperor and his two Queens went on their 'date'.

UFN controlled part of Tokyo.

Cinder had to admit that despite her low opinion of the Order of Black Knights, they were doing a
fine job in their part of the city. The area around her was being reconstructed by Federation
workers, dozens of whom were working at this very moment. Old Burai Knighmares that were
once the main unit of Black Knights during the Black Rebellion was now helping in such works.
The obsolete machines weren't well armoured, so it was unlikely that they would provide any
challenge to modern Britannian Vincent Wards, but they still had their usage like transporting
heavy materials and helping rebuild the city.

'Federation isn't exactly super picky, and you have to use everything they have.'

As a Knight of the Round, Cinder had access to the empire's intelligence network and therefore
knew that UFN had more limitations than Britannia. The former Chinese Federation, now
disbanded and absorbed into UFN, had a terrible infrastructure. Not to mention the civil wars that
divided the nation following Zero- Lelouch's victory over the eunuchs. Despite the potential, the
UFN was limited by its low population following all the quick, still bloody civil conflict and
outdated infrastructure. From the reports she read before coming to Japan, the leadership of the
Federation was more focused on fixing their own nations than helping rebuild some small land
within Japan that might be retaken by Britannia should war break out.

'Can't blame them. Putting too many resources into Tokyo is a risky idea. Japan is still under
Britannian control.' Although having the entire Federation right across the ocean wasn't great for
Britannia either. The empire had to protect Japan no matter what, something that was complicated
when your rival/future enemy was so close. If the Federation decides to go all out and attack the
tiny islands with all they have, they are most likely to succeed. 'After all, the nearest colonies will
need to defend themselves too, the mainland is too far away from Japan and reinforcements might
take days to arrive.'

Still, despite the Order's admirable job in fixing the mess they were at fault for as well, some issues
existed. Namely, security ones.

"The Order lacks much-needed numbers. Following the last battle, morale wasn't the best and
many of the old veterans died, we are still replacing them and can't oversee every corner here."
Kallen commented as the trio made it through the blind spot in the supposed border between two
superpowers. "Originally I was thinking of making a fake ID for you, Lelouch. Just you."

Cinder didn't miss the blank stare the Red Lotus sent her way. The second knight waved with a
fake smile to her fellow Queen… ew, it sounded weird. "But?"

"But it means either asking our intelligence agency or doing it ourselves. Either way, someone will
notice if I get inside the system, so that's a no go. Thankfully Tamaki already knew some blind
spots in security where our patrols won't notice anyone entering the area."
Q2 noticed that Lelouch said something like 'seriously?' under his breath. There was a story, but
Cinder wasn't so interested in that as she was curious about what they were doing there in the first
place.

"Lelouch, love. I'm always happy to spend time with you, even if I would prefer without a third
wheel." Kallen offered her a middle finger. "But I don't think enemy territory is the best place to
have a date. We can always try the garden in your old academy, I'm sure it will be as comfortable
as the one in Pendragon."

She got a reaction as Her Emperor coughed, his face flustered. The Scarlet Dragon remained
oblivious, but could see that it was something she wouldn't like seeing Lelouch's reaction.

The emperor collected himself before speaking. "We're here because I need to examine this place
and see how vulnerable it is. I have read the reports about this place from OSI, but there is a
difference between reading and seeing it yourself."

"Are you planning to attack this place?"

Lelouch paused. "I have a few ideas, but the biggest issue is the fact this place has non-combatants.
I want to avoid killing them at any cost. However, this place has too many people, and the heart of
this area, the Federation embassy, is well protected. Taking it without causing casualties among
civilians will be a tough challenge. The Black Knights took into account my old tricks and prepared
for it. There is no Babel Tower to crash, the sections under the city won't work again either."
Lelouch shrugged. "Of course, all of these preparations will be of use only in the worst-case
scenario. If everything goes without a hitch, then there won't be any fighting in Tokyo."

Cinder looked around them. The place had a lot of Knightmares, positions that could easily
become chokepoints for any invader and defensive positions that could withstand a fair amount of
firepower. It didn't help that it was a little crowded there. Soldiers and construction workers were
one thing, regular civilians that were in-between might become a PR problem. It would look bad if
the protector of the weak allowed the massacre of the innocent masses.

"I'm curious why you even allowed the Federation to take a part of the city in the first place, Lulu."

Her lover narrowed his eyes at the nickname but responded.

"Because Tokyo was in a bad state. After everything that had happened on the night of the battle,
the entire nation was paralyzed. Britannia lost millions of people here, soldiers and civilians, alike.
The giant crater in the centre of the city didn't help. Everything was in bad shape, it didn't help that
there was no one competent to fix the situation quickly. With the absence of a prime minister and
emperor, no one knew what to do. Once I took the throne I planned reconstruction and sent
whatever I could spare to Japan. However, it wasn't enough, so I decided to kill two birds with one
stone. The Order of Black Knights was in a strange position, where they didn't know what to do or
what to expect. I didn't want to fight them at that time and therefore decided to throw them a bone,
half of Tokyo. I got a ceasefire that gave me time to prepare. They didn't get Japan but they weren't
in a position to demand more and had to settle for what I offered them."

"But giving the Order land might backfire if they will be first to attack, Lelouch. They tried to take
Tokyo two times by now, they knew what to expect. Especially with you on the throne." Cinder
had to agree with Q1 on this.

The two times Zero tried to conquer/liberate the city, Lelouch relied on the terrain and element of
surprise. Crashing the city or freezing entire Knightmare armies, both worked spectacularly. But
the Black Knights knew that he might try the same tactic as the emperor. There surely will be
countermeasures to prevent or minimize any upcoming attack from the empire's side.

'Hmm, but we can also use the same methods Britannia used to crush the Black Rebellion.'

"You have something on your mind, Cinder?" Of course, Lelouch noticed her smirk. "If you have
ideas, I'm open to suggestions."

"Why not try brute force? All of these preparations from your ex allies are meaningless if they will
fail to hold on. They have half of the city, but they're surrounded overall. Japan is still under
Britannian control, Federation's little territory is already encircled from all sides. The only
exception is the ocean. We can make preparations, prepare the needed amount of airships and
Knightmares. Divide this part of the city into smaller zones and harass them from the air. Akatsuki
is superior to anything the EU could offer, but they don't pack the same firepower as our Gareth.
We still have an edge in the air and hence we should have supremacy there. If we manage to
destroy their reserves and cut off their reinforcements, we will be victorious."

"And what about civilians? What will we do about them?" Kallen asked while Lelouch remained
silent, thinking about Q2's proposal.

"Acceptable casualties."

Cinder said with a neutral face. Kallen froze before glaring at her.

"You can't-" She wanted to yell at her but stopped herself. Q1 looked at her king, waiting for his
response. The final word will be his. Lelouch gazed at Cinder who didn't look troubled at all.

"Cinder, you know I cannot allow that."

"And you won't need to, Your Majesty. I will take full responsibility for everything that will
happen here."

This time Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "Elaborate."

"It will look bad if people will see His Majesty ordering and leading soldiers into battle with
civilians. However, should it be his Knight of the Round who went too far and overstepped her
limits, the fallout will be less impactful. Maybe none at all to the image of the emperor." Cinder
placed a hand over her chest, smiling dreamily. "I will take the negativity away from you, Lelouch.
This way only I will receive the wrath and fear of the masses, which honestly sounds quite
tempting to me." Her eyes crinkled as her smile turned monstrous. "Being feared and despised will
fit me quite nicely."

'After all, this will be something that will solidify my role as the emperor's sword. The people in the
motherland won't raise too much fuss. It will be people from Japan and other former colonies that
will complain. However, it will also scare off any potential rebellion, at least in this region which
is good enough for me considering the Black Knights' history.'

"Cinder, do you understand that it will have a negative effect on your stance? And mine since
you're a Knight of the Round?"

Kallen added her thoughts. "Of course she did, Lelouch. But maybe someone is too bloodthirsty for
her own good."

"Oh, Kallen, unlike you I'm not afraid to take the risk if it means winning. I will deal with the
fallout if needed, Lelouch. Just think how much it will benefit you. You advertise yourself as the
protector of the weak. The Europeans thought they could defeat you, but you proved to them that
you aren't a pushover. You showed people a carrot, now I can show them the stick. Only fools will
dare to go against the benevolent leader." Her devilish smile spread wide, her sole eye sparkling.
"Especially when he has a knight who isn't afraid to dirty her hands with the blood of masses. After
all, the evil that is carried out in a single stroke, done out of necessity is cruelty well used."

Kallen's glare didn't disappear while Lelouch let out a short laugh. "Ah, Machiavelli. These days
reminiscing his words feels quite ironic with my position and goals. Your plan is too extreme for
me, Cinder. However… it can make for a suitable plan C so to speak."

"C? And what is plan B?" Kallen knew Lelouch was preparing for the worst, but she will prefer his
schemes to the second knight's.

"Let's just say that it has some similarities with the one Cinder offered, albeit less devastating for
the people. I came up with a few designs after our little accident in the hospital, Kallen." Lelouch
had a smile that mimicked Cinder's a moment ago, but Kallen was comfortable with this one.

"As long as you know what you're doing, I will do anything. I know I can trust your plan."

Cinder rolled her eye. "Wow, Kallen, aren't you too biased? I feel no love from you."

"And you never will, vampire."

"Ladies, please." Lelouch looked between them, massaging his nose tiredly. It didn't look like they
would calm down, and therefore the emperor decided to leave them alone for a moment. "There is
a good spot nearby, I will be there. Join me when you two are done bickering."

He moved a few meters away from them, trying to ignore their quarrel. The White Emperor
whispered something about 'how am I supposed to handle all of them' before moving further away
from his two companions.

Cinder clicked her tongue. "Look what you've done, Kallen. Now Lelouch got annoyed by your
attitude."

The redhead looked at her with wide eyes before lowering her tone, "Maybe Lelouch doesn't want
to hear another one of your fucked up plans. Seriously, this is the kind of shit he created Black
Knights for, to stop some insane Britannian from massacring civs."

"And how did that pay off? Please enlighten me, Kallen." Her amber eyes looked at her with
disgust. "He gave you everything, and how did you repay him for it? Perhaps showing some fangs
from time to time will help keep people in line. Maybe I don't want to repeat that failure with the
Black Knights, saving Lelouch from another betrayal."

Kallen turned away, looking down. "You aren't wrong about them. We made a big mistake, but it
doesn't mean it is ok to do what you suggested. I know that Lelouch doesn't like doing stuff like
that. That's exactly how Britannia conquered Japan when he was a kid."

"I don't want to sadden his majesty with something that might bring back painful memories,
Kallen. But I do want to keep Lelouch strong, focused on his goals and wishes. That way, he won't
allow anything to hurt him, I won't allow it. And hence I care little if I need to kill a few dozen or
thousand people in his name."

"Well, you're a crazy bitch," Kallen smirked. "But I get you, I really do. But only in this matter. In
all other times, you're a crazy bitch."

"And you have loyalty problems, Kallen."

"Shut up, one eye."

"Oh, now making fun of disables, are we? Truly, the best of the best out here. I will let you know,
I got this wound while fighting off Lelouch's enemies, a duty you were neglecting since forever."

"I wish you got your vocal cords cut along with your eye. At least it would have been less noisy…
still, you lost your eye in the battle? Was it against an old Round or something?"

Cinder wanted to say that Kallen needs to watch the news more frequently, but remembered
something.

'Oh yeah, information about the Pendragon attack is vague.' They didn't want to give Peace Mark
too much credibility or spotlight. Britannia didn't ignore the attack, but the empire did downplay its
significance and PM performance as much as was possible, which is pretty easy when you control
the media. Stuff like the Second Knight being severely wounded was left out of the general media,
Cinder was going to reveal her wound later. "Remember the news about the battle in the capital?"

Kallen nodded. "I got a general idea… but our reports were weirdly empty for something this big. I
read the reports, but since Lelouch or anyone important wasn't there, Black Knights paid little
attention to it, or at least that's what higher-ups told us."

"Not important?! I was there."

The redhead grinned. "As I said, no one is important."

"You're a bitch." Cinder shook her head, she walked into that one.

"Heard that one before… still, how did you lose your eye? Was it in a fight?"

The Second shook her head and let out a disappointed sigh. "I wish it was. Even a sneaky sniper
shot would have been more acceptable, but nope, it was the trap inside the jet we had captured. So
lame."

"It is," Kallen smirked before coughing. "Well, you do look cooler with an eyepatch. Better than
before."

Cinder rolled her eye. "Oh, my. I feel my knees going weak from your words, my fair lady. You tell
similar stuff to Lelouch in the bedroom?"

"Oh, shut up. And what we do in our private time is none of your business."

The amber eye narrowed dangerously. "Oh? So there was something?"

"Got a problem with that?"

"I do." Cinder then looked around them. "But talking about it here feels underwhelming. I would
prefer to speak with you while I'm piloting my Amber."

Kallen smirked as she tilted her head closer to her. "Oh yeah, your piece of junk. Sorry, but this
time your comments won't affect me like back in Moscow. Things changed, and my Guren will
wipe the floor with your Knightmare."

Cinder had a feral grin as she leaned closer. "I might have lost to you in some aspects, but beating
you in a Knightmare fight will be just humiliating. I did help your parents reunite, I will feel bad
about destroying their daughter. Only a little bit though."
Both Q1 and Q2 glared at each other. Their foreheads were pressing against each other as sparks
started to fly in-between. One amber eye glowed while a pair of blue eyes shimmered. Both
women did want to drop the previous pleasantries, if they can be called such, and just jump at each
other's throats. Both female knights were more than ready to start a lethal fight, but they didn't.
Instead, after a minute of this strange display, both Queens stepped back, their glares didn't
disappear but the atmosphere became less bloodthirsty.

"You said you helped my parents to meet each other. Is that true?" Kallen was the first to break the
ice. "Honestly, I was fine with just mom being near me… but mom is happy that father visited her.
"

"I just added pressure on your dad and made preparations for him to visit Japan. Sayoko was the
one who convinced him in my opinion, without that ninja maid your old man wouldn't even think
about returning here." Cinder didn't know but it felt a little bit irritating that Kallen had both her
parents alive and happy. Was it jealousy? Well, Kallen had to be jealous of Cinder for everything
the second knight accomplished while the Scarlet Dragon was away, so it was fine for the White
Queen to lose in one aspect.

"Sayoko, huh… I have to be thankful to her, of all people. Crap." Kallen felt a chill run down her
spine remembering the last time the two met… or the fact that they will meet again in the future.
With Lelouch and Kallen being together, it was a matter of time until the overprotective mother
maid would speak with her again.

Cinder noticed the change in the redhead's behaviour. She would have laughed and tried to
humiliate Q1, but the reason behind said the change in Kallen's behaviour wasn't a lighting matter
to one-eyed beauty either.

"Never knew that it's like to speak with your boyfriend's mother, especially when she is an actual
ninja maid for Christ's sake." Cinder groaned, still trying to come to terms that the closest thing she
has to mother in law is some kind of shinobi or whatever they were called in Arthur and Peter's
cartoons. "Spoke with her, she is scary."

"Try terrifying as fuck, especially when you left her master to the mercy of people who were ready
to shoot him. You don't have it as bad as me, at least she didn't threaten to cut your throat." Kallen's
face went pale. "I will be with Lelouch, but I'm dreading the next time I will see that woman…
still, I will need to thank her for giving me a push. Without her advice, I most likely would have
continued to think that Lelouch betrayed us."

Cinder looked at Kallen with a puzzled gaze. "Do you need someone to put a knife to your throat to
see the obvious or what?"

"Oh shut it, pirate queen. At least I don't want to start killing civilians. Say-" Kallen looked around,
trying to find her significant other. "Where is Lelouch?"

Q2 started to look around as well. "Lulu said he wanted to check something next to us. Wait." Her
eye narrowed. "He is over there!"

She pointed towards the small group of people that surrounded Lelouch. Five men in uniform,
Black Knights uniform. The image of their Lelouch encircled by potential enemies was enough to
make both female knights forget about their shared dislike of each other. White and Black Queen
had only one idea in their minds at the moment, and it was to deal with the trash that was near
Lelouch.

Both of them looked at each other and with a nod moved towards the group. Both Queens went
there without a second thought. Kallen pulled out her purse with a hidden knife, while Cinder was
about to take out her personal handgun. As they approached Lelouch and the group of future
corpses, Q1 glanced at Q2 who nodded before speaking.

"Hello, boys. Mind telling us what is going on here?" Cinder smiled playfully while hiding her gun
in her pocket.

"And why are you harassing the Britannian?" Kallen was less tactful. Because of the hoodie, they
couldn't recognize her.

The five Black Knights stopped and looked at them with confusion. Now that they were closer,
both Queens could see their King. Who was calmly standing in the centre wait, what?

"The hell? Harassing? We would never do that!" One of them sounded insulted.

"Yeah, this guy was just asking for directions." Another one said. "And then Ritsu over here
recognized your friend from before."

The last comment made Cinder freeze, while Kallen started to slowly activate her hidden knife.
"Recognized you say?"

"Yeah! He was the guy who helped me to deal with bullies two years ago when I was still working
in Clovisland!" The guy, apparently Ritsu, said happily before looking away, slightly embarrassed.
"W-well, more like he made them leave while I just stood over there. He and his girlfriend were on
their date when some guys started to harass me."

"Please, I didn't do anything special." Lelouch humbly waved away. "Still, it is a surprise to see
you here. A small world isn't it?"

Ritsu nodded. "Yeah. After everything that happened in the last two years, I decided to join the
Black Knights. But I'm not a fighter or Knightmare pilot material, so all I can do is be assigned to
police streets here."

"And you're doing a great job, buddy!" One of his comrades yelled proudly, making his friend
flustered.

Lelouch let out a short laugh. From what Cinder could see, it wasn't a mask. Her Emperor appeared
to be genuinely pleased. "Glad to hear that you're doing alright and that you have such good
friends."

"Thanks. Your friends are also really nice since they were worried about you." Ritsu eyed Cinder
and Kallen. Q2 wasn't known to simple foot soldiers of Black Knights, while Kallen- "Hey, didn't I
see you before somewhere?"

"I-I have no idea what you are talking about." Kallen looked away. She thought with her hoodie
she could pass without being recognized as long as she avoided others and stayed behind Lelouch.

"That's it! You were there as well! You and your boyfriend helped back then. Thank you, Miss."
The Black Knight bowed, while Kallen wanted to correct him that Lelouch wasn't her boyfriend at
that time. However, they are a couple now, or perhaps something more, so all was good.

Cinder got tired of all of these pleasantries and just walked to Lelouch before taking his hand and
wrapping it around her torso. "Calling her girlfriend is a big stretch, especially when I'm here. Now
come on, honey. We need to get going."
"Hey! Don't get full of yourself, Cindy." Kallen hissed as she walked next to Lelouch and took his
spare hand. She couldn't let Cinder have an advantage in this regard. "Now, let's get back to our
place… love." Her face became the same colour as her Guren.

Lelouch eyed two of his Queens before turning back to the Black Knights. "Thanks for giving me
directions and have a safe day."

"You too." One of the Black Knights waved them as the trio left them five men alone. "Man, I
wish I had two beautiful girls like that guy."

"Believe me, you don't want that, bro. Real-life isn't anime, stuff like harems wouldn't work here."
His friend spoke.

"I dunno. Did you hear that the Britannian Emperor has a few lovers? Plus, Zero used to have his
own back when he was alive!"

"I bet those are just rumours. Plus, I heard that Zero was actually into men, or why would he allow
that Kuruurgi traitor to escape so many times? I tell you, these two had something going on."

"Dude, that's just gross considering everything the White Death did to Japan."

His companion just shrugged it off. "Hey, don't tell me. Tell it to the internet. They will ship
people without caring about the history they might have or lack of any… hey Ritsu, what are you
thinking about, buddy?"

"I feel like I saw that man on TV somewhere, his voice felt familiar too. Probably should have
asked for his ID."

The trio of the soon to be world conqueror and two Queens walked towards the embassy that was
still being built. Both girls could notice that Lelouch seemed to be in a good mood.

"Were you happy to see that boy or something, Lelouch? Should I now compete for your heart with
some guy who used to sell hotdogs?" Cinder smirked. "Then again, he will be in the same category
as Kallen."

"Shut it, or you will lose your last eye," Kallen said with annoyance before glancing at Lelouch.
"But still, I never expected to run into someone from that time here."

Lelouch nodded, "I'm just glad that someone decided to change their life. Look around, there must
be dozens of people like that. Simple people who got looked down upon by the old system…
knowing that I have a harder time thinking about how I might order to set this place on fire."

"I hear you, but your tone…" Cinder spoke before Kallen punched her in the shoulder. Q2 gave her
fellow Queen a blank look.

"But nothing, Cinder. I'm ready to do whatever it takes to achieve my goals. However, I won't
forget that the people whom I might fight and kill tomorrow are the simple folk who just want to
live as everyone else does." Lelouch paused. "I don't know if that makes me a good or bad person
since I'm not against killing them."

Kallen patted his shoulder. "At least you acknowledge their dreams and don't think less of them,
Lelouch. That's more than the rest of your family and country ever thought of the Japanese people.
War is war, sometimes we kill good people as well. We can't let their death slow us down." She
leaned forward and placed her head on his shoulder. "I remember when you said something similar
to me back when I was doubting us."

"I remember that night." Lelouch also remembered that going after Cornelia and Suzaku in the
older Knightmare model was a terrible idea after that night. Lelouch sighed before taking their
hands walking further into Black Knight's territory. "Hmm, since apparently, I have such a big
heart, we might as well try to minimize casualties."

"Where are we going now, Lelouch?"

"Making sure we avoid the worst-case scenario. I want to speak with the Goddess of Victory."

Waiting for Kaguya in her office might be a bit too much. But preparing a surprise meeting for her
in a more familiar place for both of them should work nicely.

After all, Kaguya always wanted Zero to take her out on a date, Lelouch might as well satisfy the
wish of a Japanese princess.

August 23rd. UFN. The United States of Japan. Horai Island.

The young chairwoman of Federation walked down the halls of W-0 base as she moved towards
the target of her current visit to the island. Kaguya didn't visit Horai Island unless there was a need
to be there. Hence, since the time she met W-0, the Japanese princess didn't bother coming back to
the island. The situation between Britannia and the UFN wasn't the best, but also wasn't the worst
scenario at the moment.

'Lelouch is building troops on the border in Central Asia and officials from over there are freaking
out. It doesn't matter that we send them Knightmares and personnel, the Britannian battleships are
making everyone nervous.'

The Black Knights were managing to rebuild themselves, but they weren't able to answer to the
empire on every front. There was evidence that Britannian regular fleets were having military drills
closer to India than Black Knights would prefer. And last night Kaguya received news that the
empire was sending fresh machines and soldiers to Japan.

'Either Lelouch is planning the most obvious invasion or is trying to scare us into putting similar
effort. If we try to answer in a similar manner, we will be the first to run out of resources-'

The chairwoman was so stuck in her thoughts, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and
the people in front of her. Kaguya almost bumped into someone if it wasn't for her
companion/current guide inside the base.

"Kaguya, please look where you are going." Kallen signed before apologizing to the W-0 staff. The
Red Lotus volunteered to show her a way around W-0 base. Apparently, Kallen visited this place
frequently in the last month.

"Sorry, I'm just focused on the political issues, and issues in general." Kaguya stopped as she
leaned against the wall. "I have a lot of stuff to deal with and no one who can assist me. General
Xingke used to be a help, but these days he is focused only on military matters."

"Come on, is the situation that bad?" Kallen wondered, secretly having some ideas.

Kaguya gave her a black stare. "Our allies in Asia are acting like scared chickens and asking for
more and more reinforcements. Our main Knightmare producers in India feel like because of the
need for more Knightmare units, they deserve double the payment when the Federation's coffins
are already starting to bleed. We need to catch up with the Britannian war arsenal or we will fall
back, that will only cause more issues for us. It doesn't help that a rogue princess is calling herself
an empress. Because of Nunnally's statement, everyone wants to know our response. But we cannot
respond and risk the ceasefire we got. The last thing I, no, everyone wants right now is another
war. I don't care what the rest of the Order might think, we can't provoke Britannia right now.
There are too many problems, and I feel like I'm the only one who must deal with them, at least
among Federation circles. After we are done here, I need to rush to another meeting."

'Although that one isn't meant for anyone to know about.' It would be better for all sides if
Kaguya's meeting with some whistle-blowers on the Britannian side stayed a secret. 'If someone
wants to escape Britannia and needs political asylum, I don't mind helping, especially when their
bargaining chip is so generous. Still, having negotiations in Mountain Fuji is both exciting and
depressing.'

The younger girl sulked, visibly tired. That place was once her home. Normally she would be in her
office, dealing with all of these issues. However, this morning she received a call from Kallen,
asking the chairwoman to check something important personally. Kaguya was confused, and with
her busy schedule might have declined the request of their ace pilot, if it wasn't for the key reason
Kallen wanted her to be there.

"Kallen, are you absolutely sure that whatever you have found is related to that?" Kaguya didn't
need to elaborate on the topic of discussion, both of them knew what she meant.

Geass.

'No one in the Order knows anything about this, whatever it is, beyond what was told to us by
Schneizel and Villetta Nu.' The thought of getting the vital information that justified the attempt to
kill Zero from their enemies should have been ludicrous and nothing but a bad joke. Yet it did
happen, the Black Knights did turn their rifles against Zero and this resulted in Lelouch becoming
the emperor. 'None of the Order members managed to find more information on this Geass, the
only source we have is Villetta Nu, but she cannot be relied upon… I wish all of this was a mistake
and Lelouch never did any of what everyone accused him of, but I lack evidence or any useful
information to make the coherent choice.'

Right now, all Kaguya could do was take with a grain of salt the version of truth Black Knights
told her. She couldn't just contact Lelouch and get an explanation from him so easily. And beyond
the matter of Geass, the fact remains that Lelouch was the ruler of Britannia. The nation that was
the Federation's biggest adversary at the moment. Kaguya viewed Schneizel as a future enemy that
will backstab them sooner or later. Still, Kaguya couldn't help but feel betrayed? Having her idol
and the man she wanted to marry being the leader of the nation that took over Japan and caused so
many deaths was beyond strange.

'I cannot blame Lelouch for what his father did. We were both here in Japan when Britannia
invaded. But I cannot understand what he wants. Does Lelouch still follow his views as Zero of
justice and a better world? Or does he want the same thing his predecessors tried to achieve?' The
White Emperor, protector of the weak, such a title made Kaguya want to believe that it was still the
same person who swore to liberate Japan. But then the chairwoman looks at Europe and has to ask
herself, 'Is this just another mask of his? Appearing as the benevolent ruler while taking over the
world? It doesn't matter if Europe was the first to attack, I know someone like Lelouch could have
prevented the war. Even using his Geass could have led to a peaceful resolution! Is this it? Are
Zero and White Emperor just masks for him to use? Is the man of miracles I dreamed of just a
power-hungry demon?'
Kaguya looked down, her usual polite and cheerful smile replaced with a frown. She didn't want to
believe it. As someone who is the dominant figure in UFN politics, Kaguya knew about the harsh
reality of the world. Even the Federation, a superpower that was supposed to follow the principles
of justice and strive to create a better world. was mainly a political and military alliance for Asian
nations to protect themselves. She knew that many were using the words of justice and a better
future without caring about them, but Kaguya hoped and wanted to believe that Zero wasn't like
that.

'I wish I could trust Lelouch. I really do, but now when I have a chance to rebuild Japan as a free
nation, I have to see him as an obstacle.' Even if she didn't want to. God knew she didn't want to.
However, it was time for Kaguya to put on a mask of a cold politician and view everyone as the
future obstacle in her way.

And that's why she needed to know more about Geass.

"We're here." Kallen stood before the door that led inside one of W-0 medical facilities from what
Kaguya could guess by nearby signs. "Just remember, what you might learn here is to remain
secret from the rest of the Order. I don't trust them to not rush to conclusions and think I was under
Lelouch's Geass or something."

Kaguya could see her point. Someone like Chiba would jump to conclusions and might make a
mistake. "Very well, you have my word to keep quiet about all of this. But Kallen, this better be
worth it. You are acting unusual and I want to know the reason behind it."

"Oh, believe me, I have a great reason for all of this."

The usually somewhat awkward and stoic Kallen gave her a Cheshire smile reminiscent of a
certain pizza lover and member of Zero's unofficial harem. The door was opened and Kaguya saw
the occupants of the room, which made her only more confused about this situation.

"Oh, our young chairwoman is here too? My, this gets more interesting every moment." Rakshata
laughed before returning her attention to the medical equipment next to her. "Are you here to see if
this thing can nullify the supposed effect of the Geass?"

'What?'

This wasn't what Kaguya expected, ever. She turned towards Kallen, only to see that she was
flanked by another redhead and a Britannian man that looked awfully familiar.

"Kallen, what is going on here?"

Rakshata was the one who answered. "Our dear little Lotus over here said that great minds from
W-0 managed to do something truly genius regarding that little thing that made all us jumpy and
trigger happy in front of Zero. And, as a scientist myself, I couldn't help but get intrigued by this
prospect. I already checked the machine over here and the data that Anna gave to me." She paused
to smoke her favourite pipe. "Kallen, needless to say, I'm both fascinated and a little horrified by
the data they got from you and your strange friend over there. Miss Chiba will be quite furious
should she learn about it."

"But you will be quiet about it, right Rakshata?" Kallen asked while the Indian scientist just
smiled. Meanwhile, Kaguya couldn't help but feel like she was missing a lot of critical information
about all of this.

"Kallen, what is she talking about?"

Their ace smirked before offering Kaguya her hand.

"I'm trying to fix the mistakes the Order and I made on that day. And I'm offering you a chance to
avoid the war between the Federation and Britannia. To prove that Lelouch isn't our enemy and
that he is still the same man despite abandoning his mask… what do you think, Kaguya?"
 Deal

August 23rd. UFN. The United States of Japan. Horai Island.

Something was terrifying about learning the truth to the question that might have changed a
person's entire life. Learning that even your mind wasn't in your control, that every decision that
you made wasn't yours but a lie you were ordered to believe might've been a fate worse than death
in the case of Black Knights. They were soldiers who wanted to free their homeland and followed
the man who promised them to accomplish it. Finding out that this was just an illusion and that the
Japanese people were just a means to an end, is unimaginable.

However, it wasn't the case.

"Hmm, you can stand, chairwoman. Everything seems clear, no influence of Geass in your cute
little head." Rakshata happily declared before returning to her pipe.

Kaguya rubbed her head as she stood up from the medical table. The young politician looked at the
only person with a medical - among others - degree in the room. Even despite having her brain
checked for what was supposed to be an anti-Geass machine, she couldn't help but doubt all of it.

"Are you sure we can trust any of this, Miss Chawla?" After all, it was the first time both Kaguya
and Rakshata ever heard about this machine or Kallen's idea, and yet they were participating in this
somewhat crazy plot.

"As a scientist, I cannot be 100% sure about something I have not a single idea of how it works."
Rakshata enthusiastically while Kaguya frowned. "Oh relax, or you will get wrinkles before you
turn 20. While I have next to no data on this Geass. All I can do is theorize how it might operate.
The notes and data collected by clever people from W-0 gave me a general idea, but without
further study, I cannot be positive about any of this."

The young chairwoman narrowed her eyes. "Then all of it was for nothing?"

"Not exactly." Rakshata tapped the computer screen. "While I can't make any conclusion right
now, judging from the data W-0 got in Europe a year ago, something was going on in the brains of
some people who suffered experiences that drastically changed their behaviour. One might say that
it is a mere variation of posttraumatic stress disorder. However, since you and I both know about
the existence of a certain paranormality, it makes me believe that our adorable knight over here
managed to make something incredible."

The older woman pointed towards Kallen who meekly smiled, noticing the stare Kaguya was
sending her way. "I just bought Craig over here to help him. I thought that it might have something
to do with Zero, and decided to try my luck with W-0… by the way, where are they? I thought they
would be the ones performing the check-up."

"Oh, Takeru wanted to help, but his wife was against letting him stay anywhere close to me. I
wonder why." Rakshata giggled. "As for the young genius Clément, she was feeling exhausted and
left to rest, a friend issue from what Mr Randle told me."

"You seem to be on friendly terms with them, Rakshata," Kallen spoke, trying to ignore the cold
look the chairwoman was sending her way.

"It is refreshing to speak with people who can understand your profession. Eh, after being
surrounded by soldiers for so long, speaking with fellow underpredicted geniuses is a novel
experience. But I'm not the only one who was getting new friends, Kallen?" Rakshata smiled
knowingly. "If your worries were true, then I can help. However, I do wonder who your friend
Craig really is if our old leader used that on him."

"Yes, Kallen. I would like to know too." Red Lotus flinched when Kaguya looked at her coldly.
"You aren't telling us the whole story. What-"

Before the last surviving member of House Kyōto could continue, the man in question moved
forward. 'Craig' stood between three women as he took away his poor disguise and revealed a more
familiar face. Instead of some homeless looking man, in front of them now stood the once-famous
Lance of the Empire.

"Gilbert G.P. Guilford." Kaguya didn't forget the man who was left to run Area 11 after his
princess left. There might have been a viceroy, but Kaguya knew that Guilford was the one trying
to sustain the island while his precious princess was God knows where. "What are you doing
here?"

"And what are you doing?!" Kallen hissed. She brought him in case they will need to speak with
one of the 'test' subjects. Or in a worst-case scenario, help her and Tamaki to tie up both women.

The knight of the second princess lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, Lady Kozuki. But I don't intend to lie when there is no need for it." He turned to the
chairwoman, despite being almost two times bigger than her, Guilford couldn't help but feel
smaller under her gaze. The knight coughed, trying to stay cool. "Lady Sumeragi, I will try to keep
the explanation short. You know who I am and the part I've played. And yet, I was used by Zero,
who is now sitting on the throne of my homeland. I had many questions, I still have some of my
own, but I do know that I'm no longer under the influence of whatever power the current emperor
has. And all of that thanks to this machine and the people of W-0. I am not your ally or
subordinate, but I assure you that this machine works. If you didn't feel anything, then
congratulations. Zero didn't use his Geass on you as he did with me and Lady Kazuki."

Kaguya turned to Kallen. "So, Lelouch did use Geass on you."

'And yet she believed in him...but how far does this trust go?'

Was there a possibility of Kallen leaving the Black Knights for Lelouch? After everything that
happened, it wasn't too far-fetched.

"Yes, but it's not what you think, Kaguya. Lelouch didn't turn me into his slave or changed my
personality. Everything I did was of my own volition, including bringing you and Rakshata here.
Believe me, when I say it, Lelouch didn't use Geass on any of Black Knights. Tamaki believed me,
we wanted to prove it to the rest of the Order starting with you two."

"Having that sponge for brains assisting you isn't the most convincing argument, dear." Rakshata
let out a short laugh, ignoring the shout from the redhead man who was standing on guard in case
someone decided to interrupt their little meeting. "However, I can see the logic in it. I don't think
Zero did with us what Schneizel suggested. I mean think about it, if this Geass is really that
powerful and Zero did actually control our minds, then why did we turn against him so easily?
Why didn't we continue to follow his commands or why was the rest of the Order so eager to gun
him down? Anyone with functional brains would have thought about it."

"Y-you thought about this too?" Kallen felt like she was punched into the stomach, again. She
could imagine a certain maid giving her a disappointed look, again.

"Oh? It was the first thought that came to mind when the truth, at least parts of it, was revealed. I
could have mentioned it to the others, but our dear general secretary was too furious because his
OSI girlfriend was hurt by Zero. I'm not a genius in military matters, but it is common sense to at
least question what you're told before pointing a gun at it."

Kaguya paused thinking about this. "And yet you didn't say anything about it to others."

"Well, I'm still a human and don't want to die at such a young age. The rest of the Order was ready
to kill Kallen over here just because she wanted to hear out Zero. I might have been shot for
questioning their decision for all I knew." Rakshata smoked her pipe before speaking again. "And
then things just calmed down to some degree. Zero had become the Emperor of Britannia. The
Black Knights didn't stop hating him, despite pushing him out of the Order, leading to him
becoming an emperor, talk about irony."

'I know that the others acted idiotic on that day. I didn't know the full story of what happened, but
all of it paints a bad picture in my imagination.' The knights of justice blindly believed their
enemies and almost killed their leader. What a mess. Kaguya herself had suspected that everything
that happened on that day was a terrible misunderstanding, and yet all she could do was damage
control and try to guess what the new emperor was planning.

Kallen looked at them, with a hopeful stare. "So, what do you think?"

"I am not fully convinced until I run more tests myself, but I would need test subjects for that, and
sadly I cannot make them. However, I don't see the reason not to believe in the possibility that all
this business with trying to kill Zero was a colossal mistake and humans, no matter their origin,
make mistakes all the time. My point is, I don't mind buying your narrative, Kallen. But what is the
point of it? Zero is now the leader of our enemy, whose goals are still unclear to us. Even if it is
true and he didn't use Geass on us, the ship has sailed, there is little we can do now." Rakshata
wanted to hope for the best, but couldn't see how exactly it would change anything.

"But it can fix the situation, we still can try to talk and stop things from escalating. There is the
matter of Nunnally, and I'm pretty sure Schneizel isn't planning to fight Lelouch without using
F.L.E.I.J.A. The last thing Japan and the Order needs to fight against is that monstrosity." Kallen
turned to Kaguya. "I know that it isn't simple to achieve, after everything that happened it is easier
to believe that Lelouch is a monster like his father was, but you know this isn't true, Kaguya. You
of all people should believe in him."

The chairwoman of the Federation wanted to contradict her statement, but Kaguya paused as the
memory from childhood reappeared in her mind.

A simple recollection of a raven-haired boy who was playing with her cousin. The same boy who
would never leave his sister behind, who would carry her anywhere they went. The boy whom
Kaguya liked, who had become the man she wanted to marry and who was now the biggest
obstacle on the path of a free Japan.

Lelouch was many things, but he wasn't Charles zi Britannia. The old emperor was cruel to his own
children, and despite how harsh Lelouch might have acted towards others, he was still the same
boy from her childhood. Kaguya and Zero didn't spend as much time as she would have liked to,
but knowing who was under the mask and remembering what kind of person he used to be…
Kaguya was willing to hope that Kallen was right.

'However, it still doesn't answer the question. How can we try to repair the relationship with
Lelouch?'

"Agh, I need time to think about it. I have a business meeting today and need to be there." Kaguya
sighed, feeling the stare from the ace pilot. "I won't speak about it with anyone, Kallen. But I really
need some time alone."

"Of course." Kallen nodded before thinking about something. "Say, I can fly you to your business
meeting. What do you think? With my Guren, flying over to Fuji is a matter of a few minutes."

Rakshata looked curious. "Hoh? Using my most precious child as a glorified taxi now?"

"Come on, Rakshata. Guren hasn't seen any action since Russia, some flying won't hurt. Plus it is
too fast for any Britannian radar to see it coming. Besides, everything seems settled on staying
silent." She glanced at her fellow conspirators who nodded. "Plus Kaguya is small enough to fit
inside the cockpit."

"True." Rakshata nodded.

Kaguya felt her eyebrow twitch but decided to stay silent about this. She was still a growing girl
and will one day be bigger than these two! She groaned before starting to walk towards the exit.

"Fine, but be quick with it, Kallen. I have a few agents waiting nearby-" Kaguya paused as she
looked back at Kallen suddenly.

"Cool, I won't change into a pilot suit, so let's go immediately." Kallen smiled as she joined the
chairwoman. Meanwhile, the Japanese princess was thinking about one small detail.

'I never said that my meeting was at Mt. Fuji.'

As the Goddess of Victory followed the Scarlet Dragon, she started to have a good idea of who
was waiting for her inside the mountain.

Mt. Fuji.

Leila couldn't help but be bewitched by the scenery before her. There she was, standing inside the
most famous geographic location in Japan, literally inside the mountain. However, instead of rock,
she was surrounded by modern technology while her blue eyes stared at the city beyond the one-
sided mirror. For the rest of the nation, there was a giant rock, while for Leila and her partner it
was akin to a penthouse apartment.

'It is both beautiful and depressing that such a scene of technology and nature mixed together
became possible only after the Britanian invasion.' Despite all the horrors the Darwinistic empire
brought with its conquest, it also improved some aspects of life on the tiny islands. Still, Leila
wasn't about to admit that economic and technological advancement was worth it. 'Especially when
all these achievements were used only by first-class citizens. At least with Lelouch, things are
different.'

"Enjoying the view, Leila?" Think of the handsome devil and he will be there.

Leila didn't even fight the fact she called him handsome in her mind. The Messiah of Europe and
the emperor's partner in crime turned to see Lelouch walking towards her with a bottle of wine and
two glasses to use. They were alone there, Lelouch having ordered the workers and facility staff to
leave this part of Fuji and gave him and Leila some privacy.
"Drinking so early in the morning. My, people might think their great leader is an alcoholic." Leila
commented as she took the wineglass.

"I don't mind. It might show folk that even the emperor needs some distraction from time to time."
Lelouch smirked as he poured wine for both of them. "Of course, there already are enough rumours
of me distracting myself with more carnal distractions. Although, I wouldn't call them rumours or
distractions."

"Haha," Leila's eyes looked away as she drank from the glass. She tried to not imagine the scenario
in her head but judging by the smirk on his face she was failing. Blame her if you want, she was
still young and sometimes imagination сould run rampant. "Still, this place seems like a strange
place to hold talks, even if they're secret ones."

As she eyed the meeting room, she couldn't help but feel like it was too huge. It felt as though a
Knightmare would fit in there. Besides, despite being a mainly sakuradite mining facility, this place
gave her strange feelings. Leila did notice some Japanese traditional ornaments that wouldn't make
sense to be in a Britannian place, no matter the fame of the mountain.

"Thinking about something?"

Leila nodded. "I'm curious why you want to have talks here."

"This place used to be owned by Kyōto House before the Black Rebellion, back when they were
hiding their support for Black Knights." Lelouch looked over the place where once was Taizō
Kirihara's little 'throne'. "Kaguya hasn't been here ever since the Rebellion. I thought that visiting
this place might brighten her mood."

"Do you think it will help convince her?"

Lelouch shook his head. "Kaguya isn't so naive to agree to my demands just because of nostalgia.
No. Perhaps I just imagine that bargaining at the same place where her grandfather once gave me
his blessing and support might make her remember how it started."

Leila was silent for a moment as she took the sip from her glass, she understood his intentions but
was still confused. "Back then, you had a different goal."

"Not exactly. My mission was always to liberate Japan and give it back to its people, while I will
fix the rest of the world by destroying Britannia." Lelouch smiled. "I want to think that I'm doing a
good job with the latter task, but the first part of my old goal is yet to be fulfilled. After everything,
Kirihara, Kaguya and the rest of the people of this nation did to me, I have to show them my
gratitude-"

'What.' Leila's eyes went wide as she almost dropped her drink. She knows that when it comes to
Japan, Lelouch had a different attitude, despite him claiming otherwise. However, she wasn't
thinking he would go so far.

"But giving the Japanese Administrative-"

"I will show them gratitude, in my own special way, Leila." Lelouch winked at the confused
blonde. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

The blonde messiah stared at the grinning emperor before letting out a sigh. "After everything that
happened, I think I got a good read on you. But sometimes I feel like I'm facing another one of your
masks."
"Oh? And would you like to know the real me?" Lelouch put his own glass on the table before he
closed the distance. Leila didn't think much of it until he walked too close, leaving her no choice
but to start moving back. However, soon her spine pressed against the cold surface of the giant
window while the hot breathing of Lelouch made her freeze and stare into his face. "Do you want
to learn more about me? The side I don't show to anyone but selected a few. The real face of
Lelouch. Not Zero. Not vi Britannia or Lamperouge. The real me. However, in exchange I too
would like to know the Leila no one ever saw, the one only I can witness."

"I-I-" Leila felt like wine in her glass would slip any second from how shaky her hands, nay, her
entire body was right now. His face was too close, but Leila didn't dislike it. A sly thought popped
in her head as she started to lean forward. However, to her disappointment, Lelouch pulled out too
early.

"But perhaps, right now isn't the best time for this." The emperor stepped back, a satisfied smile on
his face made Leila's own face take the colour of a hardon blast. "Maybe after all of this is over,
we can continue unmasking each other, Leila."

Leila didn't know what she wanted more. Should she bask in the relaxation that it is over, or scream
in distress that it ended too early. She bit her lip, trying to calm herself and her poor heart that
might explode any second. Lelouch noticed it. Of course, the bastard was the cause of her current
state. Leila would have made him take responsibility for it, if not for the sounds of someone
walking towards the meeting room.

"My, good thing we stopped before it got out of hand. Isn't that right, Leila?" Lelouch's usual
satisfied smile made Leila want to punch him. If only her hands were shaky and her knees weren't
weak right now.

"... Absolutely."

The usually stoic blonde pouted, making her partner giggle. However, the time for games ended
and the time for real politics was about to start. The doors were opened as the familiar face stepped
in.

"Welcome, Miss Chairwoman. It is nice to see you again, after all this time."

After all these months, Kaguya Sumeragi finally saw her husband.

The first thing Kaguya did when she saw his face was to cover her eyes.

The second thing she tried to do was look for the exit, but the door behind her quickly closed. She
had come here alone. Kallen was waiting outside, Guren nearby. Kaguya bit her lip.

'So, I was right. She follows him again.' It was both impossible but somehow expected. Back on
Horai Island, Kallen felt a little bit different, not to mention she knew information Kaguya didn't
reveal to anyone. Was it Geass? That should have been the obvious answer, and yet after testing
that machine and hearing Kallen's story, Kaguya couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the reason,
no matter how much her logic said otherwise.

"Kaguya, you can stand like this however you want, but I don't think we can have a meaningful
conversation like this," Lelouch spoke with a calm voice, but all Kaguya could think of was a trap.

She didn't dare to look at him. "What conversation? Using your power on me and turning me into a
slave-like Kallen?"
"Kallen isn't a slave and never was. She and I reunited because she learned what was bothering her.
Now she is my knight again." Lelouch frowned, not liking that his knight's name was insulted like
this. Kaguya could tell it by his tone.

'He is protective of her. Could it be… is this why Kallen is with him again?' The young Japanese
princess felt a pain in her chest thinking about it. She could guess what it was. Lelouch and Kallen
were on different sides but now it wasn't the case anymore. Ever since that cursed day of battle and
betrayal, Kaguya saw that Kallen wasn't doing well. However, this morning the redhead was
different, happy even. 'She is happy, despite him being the Britannian Emperor. Japan is still
under their control, but I don't think Kallen cares anymore… this is unfair.'

It was unfair. Unfair that Kallen could simply look past her responsibility to her nation, to her
people and just be happy with someone. While Kaguya couldn't. She had responsibility, before her
family, all of whom were dead, besides Suzaku. She had a duty before her people, before Japan
itself. And therefore, she cannot allow herself to ignore the position she and Lelouch had, their
opposing sides.

No matter how much she wanted to forget about it.

"And so what? Maybe you didn't use Geass on Kallen, me or maybe the rest of Black Knights."
Kaguya was ready to accept that idea if nothing else. "However, you're the Emperor of Britannia.
The same Britannia that bombed us when we were kids. The same empire that turned Japan into its
colony. Your past, our past doesn't matter right now, Lelouch. As the chairwoman of the
Federation and as the emperor of Britannia, we both have roles to play. So, what is your game
today, Demon Emperor?"

She didn't look at him once since the moment the doors opened. Kaguya Sumeragi turned away,
refusing to look at the man whom she once called her husband. Lelouch stayed silent, not saying a
word. Instead, Kaguya heard the footprints as he slowly walked toward her. Kaguya breathed
deeply, afraid of the uncertainty. She didn't know what to expect anymore today. She knew they
weren't alone in the room, but she also didn't know how much Leila was part of this. As far as
Kaguya cared, she joined Lelouch and shared whatever plans this demon had.

Kaguya certainly didn't expect Lelouch to kneel before her.

"Kaguya." She heard him kneeling before he spoke. Lelouch's voice is closer, but at the same time,
it had come from a lower position. "Please, accept my apologies for lying and keeping the truth
from you."

"..."

Lelouch wasn't fazed by her silence, he continued.

"I know that I should have trusted the Black Knights more, at least with some of my secrets. With
you… at the very least, I should have revealed my face to you. I did not hesitate to take off my
mask before Kirihara, knowing that he would understand me, that he would support my crusade
against Britannia. I wasn't wrong, but the old man wasn't the only one whom I should have trusted.
You, Kaguya, were always ready to help me, despite me trying to keep my distance from you. I
was blind for ignoring you. For that, I'm sorry." Lelouch lowered his head. "We knew each other as
kids, I should have trusted you more-"

"What do you want, Lelouch?"

Kaguya spoke with a distant tone. Lelouch looked up, not surprised to see her still refusing to look
at him. That was expected. Still, the emperor sighed before standing up and turning away. He saw
Leila silently giving him a comforting look. Lelouch appreciated her concern, but this wasn't the
reason he brought her here.

"I have come to Japan to put an end to the conflict between my Britannia and the Black Knights.
There might be a ceasefire, but we both know that it is unlikely to last long enough. One day, either
of the sides will act. I want to minimize the damage and deal with the issue, I want to deal with the
Black Knights for good."

"... Is that a declaration of war, your majesty?" The chairwoman asked with clear venom in her
tone.

Lelouch laughed. "Please, I won't declare war so casually. No, instead my declaration will be the
message to the whole world over the news as I broadcast the destruction of the Order I have
created… but no, today I want to negotiate with you the price of you joining my side, Kaguya."

This made her pause and turn towards him, only to face his back. Green eyes stared at him with
confusion.

"What-"

"However, we cannot start negotiations when there is a clear mistrust between us. And that's why
our dear Lady Malcal is here to help us fix that." Lelouch gestured towards the blonde advisor who
started to walk toward the younger girl. Considering that she was working with Lelouch, Kaguya
didn't trust her either, But unlike the man she once wanted to marry, the former general didn't have
Geass.

"Chairwoman Sumeragi, it is a pleasure to meet you face to face, even if the circumstances are
strange, to say the least. However, do not be afraid, I'm here to help you and if needed I will protect
you from Lelouch's Geass with my own."

'I stand corrected.'

Her green eyes would have exploded if they could go any wider. Forget the part about Leila
knowing about Geass, Kaguya could argue that Lelouch revealed it to her to avoid a situation
similar to the Black Knights. Why on Earth did the Messiah of Europe have Geass as well?! Was it
the reason behind Leila's popularity? Did she use Geass to make people love her? What the hell
was going on?!

Kaguya's poker face was good, but Leila could see that she was questioning a lot of things.

"Lady Sumeragi, please trust me when I say that everything will become clear if you will listen to
Lelouch. At least hear him out, it won't hurt you."

The Japanese girl narrowed her eyes. "Unless he decides to use his power on me."

"In that case, I will use mine to nullify any effect of his Geass." Leila smiled, though it did little to
reassure Kaguya. "Oh, we didn't mention it yet, but my Geass allows me to make any Geass effect
left by another user ineffective. If Lelouch will actually do what you're afraid of, I can just get rid
of his command and you will be fine. Not that Lelouch will use his Geass on you today."

"Leila is right, Kaguya. Similar to the machine W-0 created, her powers allow her to make any
other Geass obsolete. And besides, I have only one use for my power today and it won't be you."

Kaguya didn't even bother asking where Lelouch learned about the W-0 machine. The certain
redhead probably told him any info about Black Knights. No, what truly caught her attention was
the second part of what Lelouch said.

'Lelouch said he won't use Geass on me, and I doubt it will be Leila if that will even work on her
with her own power. So who?'

The White Emperor could feel how her green eyes stared intensely into his back. Lelouch laughed
before he turned around to face both of the ladies. Kaguya was about to turn away when she
noticed a foreign object in his hand.

"Is that-?"

The emperor was holding the mirror.

"To negotiate on the fairgrounds, both parties must trust each other. However, we don't have the
required trust yet. And that's why I want to share everything you might want to know." Lelouch's
smile grew bigger while Kaguya became more puzzled. Leila watched the play before her with
interest, already knowing the script and her role. "And that's why I Lelouch vi Britannia command
myself, to answer any question you will ask about my past as Zero and intentions to kill my
partners."

His hand moved over his eyes, the royal purple was replaced with devilish red as the command was
given. However, instead of usually giving the order to others, this time the use of absolute
obedience flew back to its owner. Like in the past, Lelouch Geassed himself.

Three of them have stood in silence. Lelouch obediently waited for questions, Kaguya was baffled
and still trying to comprehend what just happened and Leila was just enjoying the show. The
Japanese politician looked between her and Lelouch.

"What just happened?"

"You heard him. Lelouch used his Geass on himself. Yes, he can do it and it isn't the first time
either. You can ask him about that and anything else you want. Lelouch will obey his own
command and answer accordingly. Once you're satisfied with his answers, I will nullify the effect
of Geass and continue our talks."

"...What is the point of this? To make me trust Lelouch? What if this is all just a trick? I know little
about Geass and cannot confirm nor deny anything you might say about it."

Leila nodded. "True, but you're also knowledgeable about Zero. You can understand Lelouch's
views on everything from his time as Zero. We aren't trying to trick you, but show the perspective
you haven't seen or heard before. In the time of conflict, in our case, a future one, knowing and
understanding your opponent is helpful if nothing else."

".." Kaguya stayed silent. 'This is insane. I cannot trust Lella, let alone Lelouch, not anymore… but
if it is true and he will answer any of my questions. Besides, what choice do I have? Kallen brought
me here so Lelouch could do this. I don't know If I will be able to leave this place alive. Never
thought I would die in this place, I wonder what old man Kirihara would have thought. The old
man would have probably listened to Lelouch, he always liked him… I suppose it won't hurt, I can't
do anything else right now.'

Kaguya took a deep breath as she approached Lelouch, the man was simply standing and waiting
for the answers. Now that she was near and could see his face closer, the Japanese girl couldn't
help but be flustered for a second. She hadn't seen Lelouch face to face since they were kids, Back
when she also wanted to mar- no, it was a bad time remembering her childhood.

"Lelouch vi Britannia, I want to know what are your current intentions toward Japan and the rest of
the Federation."

"Denied," Lelouch answered automatically as if the robot was speaking. His expression didn't
change while Kaguya turned to Leila with an annoyed expression as if asking 'WTH?'

"Heh, you heard the order. He will answer questions about his past as Zero and up to the moment
when he killed his parents, meaning on the day of betrayal. Nothing after that."

"I see… wait, parents? But didn't Lelouch kill only his father, Charles?"

"Correction, I only announced that I killed that man before the world. However, I kept the truth
about my mother being alive before I killed her a secret." Geassed Lelouch answered immediately,
scaring Kaguya as she almost jumped. "My mother, Marianne vi Britannia was alive thanks to her
Geass that allowed her to hide and take over the body of a host."

'I see, so it will work like this.' Kaguya coughed before giving him a stern look. "I want you to tell
me the entire story of everything that happened, starting with the day you first acted as Zero."

"As you command. Everything started on the day I went to gamble with Rivalz. We were driving
back to Ashford when-"

In the past, Kaguya wanted her husband Zero to spend time with her. For the masked man to tell
her stories of his battles, of how he fought Britannia and what he wanted at that time. Now, the
situation wasn't what a self-proclaimed wife dreamed of, but Kaguya won't deny that a small part of
her heart had felt some closure about finally having that wish fulfilled, even like this.

Special Administrative Zone of Japan. Tokyo.

Inside the city, life went as regular. The only unusual sight was the image of an albino young man
who clearly wasn't feeling well as he pressed his body against a nearby wall, trying to keep himself
standing, no matter how weak his body felt. Around him, the rest of the people paid him little
mind. Maybe because it wasn't the best street and he appeared like any other young man who
decided to try Refrain that until recently was sold on the streets to Britannian citizens.

"F-fuck." Rai breathed slowly, before coughing blood on the ground. He was a little annoyed that
people weren't even trying to ask if he was fine. Then again, he was in some shady area where
normal people wouldn't dare to step. And even if someone did try to approach and help him, Peace
Mark's only Geass user would have to manipulate that idiot as well. Which will only worsen Rai's
conditions. "I-I already did it on too many people."

Namely, on the workers and regular security inside the facility on Mountain Fuji. About twenty of
them, it was enough to make Rai wish he had just shot them. However, killing people will only
alert others and ruin the plan. Well, calling it a plan was a stretch, just an international accident.
Surprisingly, he didn't encounter too many people on the mountain. Apparently, someone
important from the city was coming over and the majority of the staff was called off. Whatever,
having some big shot in there would make it only better and noisier on the news.

'And now is the time to get out of this city.' Rai eyed the people around him. From what he was
told, there should be carriers who might help to leave the city for the right price. Some people
wanted to leave Japan, but couldn't do it legally. Because of the Black Knights' presence,
Britannians weren't paying too much attention to some small fries leaving their city. However, Rai
wasn't like the rest of the fugitives, he wasn't running away from conflict, quite the opposite.

Soon his tired eyes spotted the figure that fitted the description Peace Mark gave to him. A middle-
aged Japanese man smoking near the exit to a small bar. Rai moved closer before leaning against
the nearby wall.

"Hey, there mister. How is life?"

The carrier stared at Rai, looking from head to toe before speaking. "Better than yours right now,
that's for sure."

"Hehe, I bet it is. But that's why I have come here. Heard you can help some people get a nice way
out of the Administrative Zone." Rai whispered. "Would really appreciate it if you could help a
fella in need. I must get medical treatment, but here it is impossi-"

"If you need to fly over somewhere, just get a plane ticket. The border isn't closed and right now
the imps are behaving well because of their new emperor. Getting out of this place isn't as hard as
it was before."

Rai nodded. "Yeah, but not everyone has the same issues as me. Besides having poor health, I also
have a bad record with the authorities. Hehe, so legal means are out of my reach. And I heard that
you have experience sailing to China."

"I do have a boat… but it won't be cheap."

"Money isn't an issue, trust me."

"Eh, fine. If you're in a hurry, we can move right now. While the sun will settle we will enter
Chinese waters. Sounds good, kid?"

'I will pay you millions if it means I can avoid using my Geass.' Rai was sure if he used it a few
more times without proper rest he would collapse on the spot. Wizard gave him funds to get
everything necessary for the operation, so getting transport did fall under that category.

Besides, Rai knew that it would be safer in the open ocean than anywhere near Tokyo right now.

Mt. Fuji.

Kaguya has never experienced confession before. Was the current situation applicable in her case?
There she was, listening to the story of how Zero was born, of how Lelouch created a symbol of
justice. How he killed, lied and manipulated to give her people a chance to fight. How he killed his
own blood, his lack of hesitation, achieving victory whatever it cost. And yet he paid the price for
it, multiple times.

The self Geassed man didn't just tell her about the events, what he did and so on. No, he could also
answer questions that weren't related to the battles themselves. Such as-

"How did you feel about killing Princess Euphemia and the massacre?" Kaguya hesitated to ask
that question for some time. Even if he wasn't on her side anymore, it was obvious that for Lelouch
this matter wasn't the most pleasant topic. The Geassed emperor was silent for a moment before he
spoke.

"I felt lost at that moment. As I moved toward Euphemia every step felt like my body was trying to
stop me. I remember feeling like I was crying, but there weren't any tears. My hands didn't shake
when I took the shot. I didn't flinch or tried to look away. It was silent for a second. Euphemia was
my first love and killing her was soul-crushing. And yet, I did it and continued my revolution. I
didn't think of her when I gave a speech to the people or met you and the rest of House Kyōto.
Only when I took off the mask of Zero, did I feel the pressure of what I have done. I killed her, I
used her as a tool to push forward my goals and I know I couldn't stop. The massacre was a
mistake, but I had to use it as a catalyst to push the entire nation. I don't have a right to criticize
something I have created and that which benefited me the most. However, neither can I forget that
tragedy, the atrocity I have committed. The Special Zone Massacre is my worst defeat and will stay
like that forever."

Lelouch stopped for a moment. He hasn't done that before, instead always answering her question
with a robotic tone, never breaking a pace as he went on.

"I remember how bloodied and dying Japanese people were trying to reach out to me. Begging to
save their people from this. They thought of me as their messiah, even in their last moments. These
people kept believing in me, in Zero. They-"

The images appeared in her head as Kaguya remembered that bloody scene from the news. Now
she had to imagine Lelouch standing in the middle of corpses, the people who had come hoping for
peace. Instead, all they got were bullets and deaths.

'This is… this is painful. I-please make it stop-!'

Kaguya wanted to turn away, to close her eyes and make all these thoughts go away. But she
couldn't. Part of her couldn't let her do it, that part made her continue listening, creating the scenes
in her mind. The events she never experienced herself, the ones Lelouch have gone through. How
he killed, how he planned and how he led her people into the battle. He didn't stay silent about his
crueller schemes. At some moments Kaguya's eyes shifted toward the third person in the room.
Leila wasn't as shocked as the Japanese politician, most likely she heard this before. However,
often she looked like Kaguya, likely having a hard time imagining the horrible situation the White
Emperor experienced.

Be it a massacre at a Special Zone, using his own friends as hostages even if it was a bluff,
slaughtering the entire Britannian Geass facility, or sacrificing his own false brother to avenge his
dead friend, Lelouch left out no details. This went all the way to him confronting his parents.

"-And with that, I killed both Charles and Marianne."

Kaguya silently watched as the emperor finished telling his tale. Was it an hour since he started or
more? For the Japanese princess, the time stopped as she started to hear, to learn what happened to
start on the day when Clovis ordered the massacre of her people in the ghetto and all the way to
the death of the previous emperor. Lelouch didn't leave out any details. He spoke about the old
plans that he used in the battles. How he was planning to liberate Japan as the start of his
worldwide revolution against his father. Lelouch didn't shy away from admitting the sins he
committed. He used the Japanese Liberation Front as bait and killed General Katase. Nor did he
stay silent about committing a massacre in the Geass Order.

'Charles and his cronies having child soldiers don't surprise me. And yet, the way Lelouch
annihilated them.' Strategic reasoning aside, Kaguya knew the exact reason why Lelouch was so
ruthless towards the cult. 'He killed people because of Nunnally and his other friends. I remember
how overprotective he was of his sister when they first arrived at the Kururugi Shrine. Is this a
natural extent of his willingness to go for the people he cares about?'
Another prominent question was, could have Lelouch cared for Kaguya the same way? Care
enough to fight and kill. Not just her, but other core members of the Order of Black Knights. Most
likely not. As much as Kaguya of the past might have wished for, Zero always kept his distance
from them. And yet Lelouch never spoke in a degrading manner to them. Never did he call them a
means to achieve power or the throne. They were his subordinates, their reward would have been a
free Japan. It was a mutual partnership and Lelouch didn't plan to sabotage it.

'And yet we ruined it. No, I did nothing wrong on that day. But I didn't fix the situation after
that.' Kaguya would have tried to prevent the betrayal if she was there when that bastard Schneizel
turned Black Knights on their leader. At least she could have reasoned to not trust the second
prince so blindly. 'For all, they knew it might have been a fabricated lie. Zero had no intentions to
use them like that. And Lelouch… if I knew who was behind the mask, everything would have been
different.'

Kaguya covered her face, trying to not groan. This was ridiculous, this entire situation was absurd.
One giant misunderstanding, lack of communication and sheer idiocy on the part of Ohgi and
Tohdoh.

'Ohgi didn't think with his head because of that OSI agent, but Tohdoh?'

She wished there was a way to turn time back and fix that day. Kaguya wished she had the ability
to send her current memories back to the past, maybe even Geass. But, life wasn't so easy. And
despite learning so much, it didn't change her mind.

'I… I wish I could have fixed everything. He didn't deserve to have to suffer all of that, no one did.
But, he is the emperor of Britannia and I'm the chairwoman of the Federation. I-I cannot make
exceptions. I'm sorry Lelouch, I truly am.'

"I heard enough."

Leila walked over to Lelouch who remained still, perhaps waiting for anyone to ask a new
question. She gently took his face in her hands, making sure they were keeping eye contact before
activating her own Geass. Her eye sparkled blue as the bird of Geass flew towards her target.
Kaguya watched this affair with curiosity, still finding all this Geass matter both terrifying and
captivating to some degree. Immediately, the effect took its course and Lelouch's own command
stopped working.

The emperor blinked a few times. "Huh, first-time experienced Geass canceller. Feels a little
weird."

"Do you remember what you said?" From all the times Leila tried it on other people during her
training, they normally remembered some parts of what they did under the effect of Geass. Lelouch
nodded.

"I do. It is coming back to me. Kaguya," The White Emperor turned towards his guest who sat in
her seat, visibly exhausted. Noticing it, he asked. "How are you?"

"Angry." The chairwoman sent a glare.

"Oh, well, that was expected after every-"

"Angry that you had to put yourself under a spell to tell me about what you had to endure, Lelouch.
You could have spoken with any Black Knight, even me." Kaguya's glare transformed into a
worried expression. She said his name without any malice or venom. After everything she heard,
she didn't want to be antagonistic toward him. "You suffered so many personal losses, you could
have tried to tell it to others."

Japanese princesses forgot about their current positions for a moment. Instead, she remembered a
memory from a distant past. Back when both of them were young children. Lelouch would always
be near his sister, the only exceptions were when he played with Kaguya's cousin. However, on
some occasions, two of them would meet. Kaguya wasn't a very active child back then, preferring
to hide from the foreign prince and watch him from the side. She even called him Oni when they
first spoke. It was ironic, considering that she was the first to start calling him a Demon Emperor.
Even more absurd was the fact that she felt protective over him at this moment.

"..." Lelouch remained silent before he took a seat in front of Kaguya. The small politician didn't
try to hide her face from him anymore. "That… would have been a foolish move on my part. Zero
was supposed to be a symbol of justice, he couldn't show weaknesses. Not to his enemies or his
allies."

"But you're still a human, Lelouch. Everything you had to suffer through. Princess Euphemia…
your friends from the academy, all tragedies that happened, you needed someone to comfort and
support you. The more you endured, the more unhinged you acted. After the Special
Administrative Zone massacre, you didn't hesitate to do anything. You said so yourself. This isn't
right." Kaguya looked down.

Lelouch stopped the look Leila was giving him, silently agreeing with her. The emperor sighed.
"That wasn't right, you're correct. However, things had changed… I had to open up and start to
share with the people around me. I'm doing it to avoid experiencing the same pain I went through
on some of my worst days. Kaguya, I didn't Geass myself and retell you my story to make you feel
sorry for me. I don't need your pity, I-"

"It isn't a pity!" The chairwoman slammed the table between them, surprising Lelouch. "You were
our hero. Zero was the symbol, alright. But I knew that there was a person under that mask, a
person who had emotions. felt fear and anger like anyone else does. I wanted to marry Zero, to
support that person and help him when he would need me. I failed all of my goals, and for that, I'm
sorry, Lelouch."

Once again Lelouch was surprised when Kaguya stood up from her seat before bowing before him
and Leila.

"Kaguya, you don't have to-"

"I want to apologize for being a bad wife when you needed me, and yet I wasn't even your wife, to
begin with." a bittersweet expression formed on her face. "It was just a childish wish of a girl who
wanted to be with a man who promised to make her wish to come into reality and free my nation.
And yet, I did nothing to assist you."

Lelouch shook his head. "There was nothing you could have done anyway. Neither Charles, Geass
nor my brother was within your capabilities to handle. It is an absolutely different battle from the
likes you had faced, Kaguya. Charles and the Geass Order are dealt with, but I still haven't defeated
Schneizel. This is my war against my brother… and her. The best you can do is help me deal with
the Black Knights."

Kaguya became silent for a moment, her worried expression changed to a neutral one. "Are you
planning to fight them?"

"I do expect resistance from the likes of Chiba and Tohdoh. I was planning to simply cut off
everyone in the Order, at least the majority of them and deal with the Federation before going after
Schneizel. However, because of a certain someone," his gaze moved to the other person in the
room for a moment. "I am now considering a more non-lethal approach. Not from the kindness of
my heart, I hope, but merely because I think this new plan is more efficient."

"Do you want me to help you fight the Black Knights, Lelouch?" Kaguya's mask of a cold
chairwoman disappeared a long time ago when she heard what Zero had to go through. From the
horror she felt when Lelouch admitted what happened with Euphemia, to the anger she felt towards
her cousin, Lelouch told her about being sold to the emperor by her Suzaku.

However, no matter what she felt, there was a line she couldn't cross. Not because of her feelings,
but because of their positions in the world.

"I cannot assist you in that. We betrayed you and are at fault for what happened. Despite that, I still
have a responsibility before my people, Lelouch. Japanese people have endured too much, they
deserve to be free and happy. The Order of Black Knights you created is the only means to achieve
that. Despite what we have done to you, they are the instrument that will protect our people. As
long as the people of this nation remain under Britannian control, be it yours, Schneizel or even
Nunnally's, there will be conflict. The Japanese people won't stop trying to gain independence,
even if you will be a better leader than your predecessors, my people will never stop fighting."

Lelouch nodded, unable to stop a smile from forming on his lips. "Indeed, that's the stubborn spirit
of your people. The same spirit that helped me to lead them into battle, is now against me. It is as
you said, Kaguya. After testing what being able to fight back tastes like, neither will simply lower
their heads and accept the rule of the foreign power, no matter how much they try to change their
minds and hearts. Well, at least right now, maybe all they need to accept my rule is to be governed
by someone from their own people."

Her green eyes narrowed as Kaguya leaned closer. "What are you implying?"

"Oh, nothing too drastic, Kaguya. All I'm saying is that the Japanese people would not accept my
rule, at least not all of them would. There are those who are willing to look over the past, for the
promise of a better future. Others, like the Black Knights, might need more conviction. And who
might help convince Japanese people better than a person who understands their struggle better
than anyone else? Who always tried to help them? A member whose family is related to the
bloodline of past Japanese emperors. A young girl who spends her teenage years on the political
battlefield, manoeuvring and trying to not only return Japanese people the status they once had but
improve their lives and create a better future for them." His smile, that cursed smile that might have
made her feel weak at the knees if Kaguya saw it before, was now making the young chairwoman
freeze.

'He cannot mean- It is ludicrous, impossible-'

"Kaguya Sumeragi, to gain your help in achieving my goals, I'm willing to give all of Japan to you
and you alone."

A dead silence fell over the room as both Kaguya and Leila looked at Lelouch like he went mad.
Maybe he did! Leila had a hard time comprehending what her partner just said, while Kaguya tried
her best to keep from laughing like crazy, or maybe even crying out.

"Lelouch!" Even Leila Malcal didn't expect that, judging by how shocked she looked.

"You-you w-what?!"
It was a trick, it had to be! Kaguya couldn't accept the fact that the Britannia Emperor, the same
man she wanted to marry, was just promising to hand her the entire nation. It was prosperous!

"I said, I will give all of Japan to you, Kaguya. And I mean it." The playful wink he sent her way
didn't make Kaguya feel better. It only made her feel even more on the edge! And why did Lelouch
look super cute doing that?! "The Japanese people only want to be ruled by their own? Then why
can't it be you, Kaguya? Japan will be yours, you can do as you please with it. However, the only
price I ask for is you to remain neutral in whatever happens between Britannia and the Black
Knights."

"You-? What?! How can you ask this, Lelouch?!"

Was he mad?! The answer was obvious, but Kaguya had no idea what his angle in all of this was.
Her having all of Japan had to be a trick. Even if he kept his words, there were many loopholes that
would have prevented Kaguya from being an actual independent owner of her nation. Being neutral
in the potential war meant that Lelouch had some kind of schemes for Black Knights and
Federation that might include military conflict and the following war between the two. She was a
chairwoman of the freaking Federation! How was she supposed to be neutral?! She would lose the
support and loyalty of her people and Black Knights… meaning that even if Japan will be hers,
Kaguya will have no choice but to rely on Lelouch. She will need his backing to actually hold the
nation together.

"Why would I do this? There is nothing beneficial to me from this. For all we know, you might
lose entire Japan tomorrow and your words will be worthless. My current position is enough for me
to wield power and free Japan with the help of the Black Knights. Choosing your proposition will
strip me of my previous reputation. People will think of me as they thought of Kirihara, an old man
who sold his nation. Even if I will try to improve the lives of the Japanese, I will be dependent on
you for security, for funds, for international trade since the Federation won't support or
acknowledge such Japan."

As she spoke, Lelouch nodded, but his smile didn't disappear.

"Everything you said is true, Kaguya. With your current status as the chairwoman, you do not have
a reason to side with me on this matter. Why do something that will bring you only losses today?
However, that is true today, Kaguya. Tomorrow, it might become a different story." The way he
grinned made Kaguya alert.

"What are you insinuating, Lelouch?"

Lelouch moved from his position as he walked towards the window that oversaw Tokyo. He didn't
turn to look at either of them, but both Leila and Kaguya could see his reflection and how the
emperor was smiling like he already won.

"You're chairwoman because Zero made it that way. Because the majority of core members of
Black Knights are made of Japanese rebels. Because Black Knights' armies consist mainly of
Japanese people. However, who to say it will continue to be like that, Kaguya? The hard truth is
that the Federation was created as an anti-Britannian military alliance from the nations that were
victims of superpowers and born in the destruction of the Chinese Federation. This alliance has a
clear goal to combat Britannian superiority and hegemony over the planet, replacing it with the
Federation's own. However, how long can the UFN stand when it cannot achieve its primary goal?
How long before such a mutual partnership between different states that have enough bad blood
between them will continue staying together? The Chinese Federation was a corrupted system that
was akin to a raging parasite. It was just as tyrannical as Britannia, but even less competent than
the society full of self-centred fat nobles. Right now there is unity because the Black Knights under
Zero, under me, managed to stop the Chinese Civil War and challenged Britannia. But in the
future? Zero is gone, there is no replacement and we both know that cracks will soon start showing
up in your precious Federation. Look at the history between its member states. How do the nations
that were robbed by the Chinese Eunuchs feel about having someone like Li Xingke, a fist of the
old regime now practically leading the military of the Federation? Or maybe how others feel about
Japanese people leading the Black Knights when they don't even have their nation?"

Unlike Britannia which Lelouch could rule thanks to institutions installed by his ancestors, the
UFN had nothing like that. Britannia had absolute monarchs and Lelouch's take over of the throne
fell perfectly fine with the methods of successions. He had the right to the throne, and followed
Britannian ideology, if he was strong enough to take it and rule, he was worthy to be the emperor.
Centuries of absolute monarchy and centralized power structure prepared everything for the new
emperor to simply walk in and announce his reign. The Federation had nothing like that. Almost all
states in UFN were ruled by the Chinese Federation, a system that did little to actually install a
successful system of government anywhere in its territory. The royal family lost actual power
because of the Eunuchs, any attempt to reform was stopped in its tracks. The Federation claimed to
be different from the old Chinese system or Britannian, it called itself a democratic entity.
However, how can states that never had any real democracy suddenly change over the night?

"Democracy, people love the sound of that, however, in practice, it is pretty hard to implement.
Especially when all you know is authoritarian rule full of corruption. Federations might call
themselves democratic, but people in power will take measures and make decisions that aren't
different from their old Chinese overlords."

Kaguya narrowed her eyes. "Lelouch, that won't happen. UFN is made to prevent the tragedies
people of Asia suffered through because of superpowers, be it China or Britannia."

"You say that, but tell me how would you act once the rest of the Federation will get tired of the
Japanese question? Liberating Japan was such a great and uniting idea at the start, but now? When
I already took down Europe, increased the Britannian military and stood on all borders with the
Federation? Sending its people to free some tiny islands doesn't seem so great anymore. Not when
the Federation failed once with Zero, now when he isn't alive anymore? How many people will be
willing to lay their lives for this nation? And how many people on the continent will be willing to
continue following a young girl who will try to send more troops here. We both know that you
won't stop trying to free Japan, Kaguya. But how long will it take for others in UFN to get sick of
your leadership as chairwoman? Say, would you allow others to take power from you? A power
that might help you free your homeland? Kaguya, what will you do to stay in power for the sake of
your dreams and goals?"

"..."

The silence was his answer. Lelouch fought back the urge to laugh. Kaguya wasn't too different
from him. For both of them, the end justifies the means to achieve it. However, for the Japanese
princess, it was Zero who did the majority of the dirty work, of which the masked man hid behind
the miracles he created. Zero kept creating miracle after miracle, and people didn't notice what it
took for him to achieve that. Kaguya would have to do the same on the political battlefield,
however, she won't achieve any significant miracle that might make the rest of the Federation
convinced that trying to free Japan again will be worth it, Lelouch won't give her a chance.

"You and the Black Knights are running out of time. You need to prove that you can continue
creating miracles without Zero so the rest of the people will believe in you. I, on the other hand,
have no such responsibility, not after conquering Europe and shattering the old ways of the empire.
I can live off of my achievements while waiting for you and other Black Knights to be replaced
with people from other parts of the Federation. You are a talented politician for your age, Kaguya.
However, you will be replaced as chairwoman one day. Do you think your replacement will have
the same goals as you? For all we know the Federation might forget about Japan, happy with what
they already got, instead of focusing on different matters. Meanwhile, you will forever lose your
homeland." Lelouch let out a short laugh. "Unless of course, you will take my offer."

Kaguya bit her lip. "And betray the Order? All the people who died for a free Japan?"

"I think the saying of rats fleeing a sinking ship will apply here better, Kaguya. The Black Knights
will be dealt with soon, they will either be destroyed or absorbed into my empire. There is no in-
between. I cannot let them continue existing in their current state. Not when my siblings are lurking
in the dark with warheads. Having an army that was made with the goal to stop my empire will get
in my way." Lelouch watched the city behind the window with a small smile before he turned to
face her and Leila. "My aim is to change this world for the better. End the era of wars and
conflicts, install peace by whatever means necessary: be it lies, Geass or force. I won't allow the
likes of my father to have their own reign. Our world is a cruel place and the only way to fix it, to
improve it is by destroying the current systems and installing one sole design that will lead people
into a brighter future. Such a design is my goal to achieve, to rid this world of injustice, end
hunger, poverty, and help people around the planet. There won't be class systems, no more
numbers or nobility, there won't be armoured borders that divide lands between nations, I want for
the whole of mankind to be united under one banner."

'This-'

Time froze for Kaguya as she stared at him with a dumbfounded look. It was like she learned about
the existence of Geass again. Had she heard him right? Lelouch was planning that? All of her fears
that he might be power-hungry were correct? But how could it be true after what she had heard
about his life as Zero, as he tried to change the world for the better?

"World Domination."

The White Demon didn't bother to deny it, instead, Lelouch nodded.

"Absolute. Don't be mistaken, Kaguya. I do this out of my wish to create a miracle for all people
who desire change, a better future. I care not for power for the sake of power, I don't need a throne
beyond its use as an institution that allows me to go through the easiest path. If there was another
way to achieve my goal, I would have taken it. However, absolute monarchy is my best and only
choice to make my plan into reality."

"But there has to be another way! People won't just sit calmly and accept your rule!"

"They won't have a choice. They have the right to fight against my reign, I won't deny them this
privilege. However, I offered peace and prosperity. I will create a better world no matter what it
takes. And that's why I wanted to avoid pointless bloodshed as much as possible. That's why I need
your help, Kaguya. You're the key to creating peace between the Japanese and my Britannia. With
you, by my side, I will have more legitimacy and trust of the people. I need you, Kaguya."

"Lelouch- '' Leila noticed the state their guest was in and decided to remind her partner that he
needed to be more subtle about this matter. "Don't tell people about your plans so casually, they
will not understand."

"What is hard to understand? I want this world to be mine. To make it answer only to me so I can
change it as I see fit. So I can make sure people like my parents and uncle will never rise to power,
so the atrocities they committed won't be repeated. As I said, a united world without wars, where
any issue - be it hunger or poverty - can be fixed within days. No second-class citizens, no system
demanded racism, and no more division between people. Everyone will be united as one nation.
No Britannia, but an empire of people."

'This is madness… but… I cannot help but-'

Lelouch walked towards Kaguya. The more he spoke, the more Kaguya thought he was insane.
However, the passion behind his words made her continue to listen to him. She couldn't take her
eyes away from the emperor. Was it another effect of his Geass? One that neither Kaguya nor
anyone else knew about? Ability to sell any crazy idea as a solution to the problem. The White
Emperor kneeled before the Japanese princess, as he took her hand and spoke again.

"I want to create a perfect world, a perfect future for all humans on this planet, Kaguya. And I will
need your help to achieve this goal."

There he was, kneeling before her and asking for assistance, for her to be with him in this mand
scheme. There was a time when Kaguya would have been in sixth heaven from such a display. The
time and situation have changed these days. The things Lelouch said to her, it couldn't be
allowed… but a small part of her heart couldn't help but listen and think of the future the man next
to her had envisioned. The one where people will live in peace, the one more stable than whatever
their world had until now. The world where her people, her nation will be among equals, no more a
country of numbers. A future where she and Lelouch-

'This is a selfish thought. I shouldn't think about it… but at the same time, I cannot stop but
imagine how much could be achieved if we could work together. If his words are sincere then
perhaps there is a way to make his words into reality, no matter how insane it sounds. I-I don't
want to betray the ideals Zero, he installed for us. But-' Where were these ideals even fulfilled in
the first place? Was justice brought for the people of the Federation? Was betraying Zero for their
homeland justified? 'If I take this path I might be labelled as a traitor by my people, but I will be
able to help them. My position is useful and if Lelouch wanted to use me as a pawn, he would have
used Geass on me by now… should I accept it? I don't know what to do.'

Kaguya stared at the hand that was offered to her, uncertain what to do. Why was she hesitating?
She didn't know why, but Kaguya was torn, clearly not wanting to choose the obvious path.
Instead, a tiny voice was telling her to take the path of the Demon, to take his hand in hers and seal
the deal. Was it the unresolved feelings that she wanted to fulfil no matter what, the world itself be
damned? Her heart was saying one thing, her mind was telling another, but at some points, two
would agree on something.

"Lelouch, I-"

However, before she could say anything, the unexpected happened.

Before anyone could do anything, the entire facility shook violently as the sirens rang. The lights
turned red as an emergency was activated. The reason behind all this mess? Quite simple.

Mt. Fuji erupted as its sakuradite reserves were detonated.

 Unexpected return

August 23rd. UFN. Mt. Fuji.

Kallen yawned as she looked at the control panel of her Guren, watching what cameras picked up
outside. The official ace of Black Knights and secret Knight of Zero was currently doing nothing,
merely waiting for her Lelouch to finish his meeting with Kaguya. The giant red machine of death
and destruction was sitting duck outside the entrance of Mt Fuji, hiding from everyone. Lelouch
proposed that it would be better if her Knightmare wasn't spotted. Even if staff were ordered or
Geassed, the White Emperor didn't want to risk it. On the off chance that she was needed, Kallen
would have an easier time responding to any attack and moving with her machine not being trapped
inside with so much Sakuradite around.

'Fighting right next to a highly explosive substance? Screw that.' Kallen remembered how Lelouch
relied on Knightmare fuel in the past and how destructive even the smallest amount of it was.

And so, the Knight of Zero leaned against her bike-like seat and patiently waited for her Emperor
to emerge with the good news of convincing Kaguya to join his side, or at least agreeing to stay
neutral during the future conflict. Kallen hoped that the Japanese princess would listen to Lelouch
and make the right choice.

'Please Kaguya. The last thing I want to see is you as another enemy.' With the UFN chairwoman
on their side, Lelouch will have an easier time dealing with the Federation and Black
Knights. 'Everything depends on how convincing Lelouch is… which shouldn't be an issue.'

The Red Dragon knew that would take a lot of time, but Kallen was starting to get anxious,
worried that a worst-case scenario might happen. She should have joined them and helped to
convince Kaguya, even if the redhead knew she wasn't the best speaker.

"I hate waiting," Kallen whispered to herself, trying to think about positive outcomes if only to
distract herself from her mind pondering the worst what-if questions. Still, at least it wasn't like
they were under attack from the enemy-

*BOOM*

Suddenly the entire mountain rumbled as the powerful explosion was heard. Everything around the
Guren twitched as the earthquake wave shook everything in the vicinity of the mountain. Without a
second thought, Kallen quickly activated her Knightmare and flew upwards in the sky where she
could get a good picture of the situation and react, mainly to find and secure Lelouch's position.

Scarlet Lotus's red energy wings opened as the Guren moved up with insane speed. Once she was
in the sky, Kallen had to curse under her breath.

Mountain Fuji was activated as the mix of magma and liquid Sakuradite was coming out of its
volcanic crater. Smoke arose from its centre and the deadly substance immediately covered a huge
proportion of the mountain. It didn't reach the ground at the bottom yet, but already covered the
spot that was meeting room was supposed to be-

"LELOUCH!"

Red circles appeared in Kallen's eyes as she gripped her controllers and moved forward. Mind and
soul were in agreement as she flew towards the place where her K1 was meant to be. Without any
doubt, she manipulated Gurren's right silver claw at the magma-covered mountain. However, the
moment the claw made contact with the semi-liquid Guren's panels went into a frenzied state, and
dozens of emergency notifications popped out. Kallen wanted to ignore them, but the claw's
condition was already critical. Losing it meant losing her only chance to save Lelouch. She bit her
lip and reluctantly took back the claw. The silver hand was already damaged from a single contact
with a mix of magma and Sakuradite, but it was operational, if at least in working condition that
was enough if needed.

Kallen cursed as she tried to contact Lelouch or Kaguya through their communicators, but all she
was hearing was the static noise.

"Come on, come on, answer dammit!" Kallen screamed, unable to do anything in her current
situation. Gurren was a fighting Knightmare, not a rescue one. Her shields won't be strong enough
to protect Knightmare from the damage and it meant going inside herself was a suicidal idea, not to
mention worthless if it meant she won't get Lelouch out of there safely.

However, while Kallen was thinking of ways to save the trapped people inside the mountain, she
heard something on the closed channel.

"-len we are safe- I repeat, we are safe." The male voice on the other end tried to speak through an
unstable connection.

Kallen gulped as she heard Lelouch's voice, a weight on her shoulders becoming easier, but only
slightly.

"Lelouch! Can you hear me?"

There was static noise, followed by his voice. "-es. Kallen, make sure neither debris nor lava will
reach the population-"

Kallen blinked. What?! She should be trying to rescue them, the collateral damage could be dealt
with later. Lelouch and Kaguya's lives were more important to her, and Leila Malcal's as well.

"Lel-!"

"This is an order, Q1." The communication became more stable for a moment and she could easily
hear his voice and a commanding tone in it. "We will get out of here, right now our lives aren't in
danger, we are inside the safe room. I cannot allow this situation to get worse and let the people be
killed as well. My forces will respond and come here to assist you. Secure the mountain before
trying to dig us up, do you understand, Q1?"

"Yes… K1." Kallen didn't want to leave Lelouch and others there, but she wouldn't disobey him
again.

"Excellent. I don't have a visual of the outside but if Mountain Fuji's Sakuradaite is leaking outside,
you must cut off its access to the city-" Suddenly the communication was cut. Kallen tried to
contact Lelouch again but was unable. She squeezed her controller before turning away and flying
towers to the ground level. Q1 was going to obey her K1, even if she wasn't happy with it.
However, if the Britannians would assist her then it would be easier to deal with the explosive
outcome and save her Lelouch.

As long as nothing else distracted Kallen, Q1 will complete her mission.

Inside Mt. Fuji.

Communications went dark and all Lelouch could hear was static. The White Emperor grimaced
before turning toward the two ladies trapped with him. The meeting room was in ruins as the fallen
debris covered half of it and closed the way towards the giant window. Thankfully, the ceiling
above them was sturdy enough and didn't fall, at least right now. The biggest issue will be the
oxygen if they won't make it to the safe room in time. The unexpected explosion certainly
activated the Sakuradite reserves that the mountain had in abundance.

'If this was done the way I would have done it, then it means that everything around the mountain
is covered in flames.' Even without having access to the outside world, Lelouch could theorize how
exactly it was going on outside. After all, this was one of his plans in the past as well. 'Nevermind,
right now the top priority is survival and making sure both Leila and Kaguya are safe.'

Royal purple looked over the Japanese princess and European messiah who silently leaned against
the half-collapsed wall. He noticed that Leila was holding up her elbow, red drenching the
clothing.

"Something wrong, Leila?" Lelouch asked as he approached and pointed at her arm.

The blonde advisor gave him an awkward smile. "Sorry. When the explosion shocked the
mountain one of the falling rubbles caught me. It is nothing serious, just a scratch."

"We don't have first aid with us. No matter how small your wound is, leaving it exposed is a bad
idea." Last thing Lelouch wanted for his best PM candidate to bleed out, even if it was just a small
scratch. Lelouch was anything if not careful and logical, plus paranoid.

The White Emperor silently took off his coat and tore off a small piece of it. Leila tried to protest
when she noticed what he wanted to do but had to give up and allow Lelouch to bind her wounded
elbow that was slowly bleeding. Kaguya silently watched the scene from the side.

"This should be good enough until we will get outside. Afterwards, professionals will assist you,
Leila."

"I'm not so fragile, Lelouch. Don't forget who between us has actual military training, Your
Majesty." Leila said with a pout. The last thing she wanted was to be treated like a frail flower.

Lelouch gave her an apologetic smile. "I know better than others to not underestimate the famous
Messiah of Europe. Forgive me but I cannot leave my ally if they're hurt." He turned towards the
UFN chairwoman who was sitting on the opposite side and staring at them. "That includes you as
well, Kaguya."

The Japanese princess let out a short laugh. "But I'm not your ally, Lelouch. Even if I know what
happened on that day, I cannot change my stance."

"Yet," Lelouch smirked. "But even then, it doesn't change the fact you were one of my most
helpful confidants in the past. For that alone, I must treat you as any other ally or friend of mine."

"Friend, huh?" A melancholic smile formed on Kaguya's face.

"Something wrong?"

Kaguya smiled. "No, oni."

"Huh." For a moment Lelouch's memories returned to the old Kururugi shrine and his first meeting
with a small black-haired girl who was a quite shy girl back then. How long ago it was…
"Anyway, we must move. There should be a safe room where we can reorganize." Plus it should
have everything for them to survive long enough until the rescue team will find them.

"What you said to Kallen earlier, about Britannians assisting her." Kaguya already came to terms
with the fact that Kallen joined Lelouch, but she knew that the Red Lotus working with Britannians
out of the blue wouldn't be the best look for either side at the moment. Not without proper
preparation first.

"Yes. None of my subjects will dare to attack Kallen… although she might play around with poor
Q1." Lelouch let out a tired sigh. Only Leila realized who he was talking about while Kaguya
looked puzzled. "Nevermind, she of all people will understand that this isn't a proper time for that."

Leila adjusted her makeshift bandage as she spoke. "Do you think whoever is behind this knew
about you coming here, Lelouch?"

"I'm not sure. OSI and I made sure none of my movements were tracked. While the mountain
wasn't too heavily guarded, my agents made sure to check everything and placed some additional
eyes where needed." Lelouch was confident that his side wouldn't allow any window for
opportunity for the wannabe assassin to claim his life. His eyes turned towards Kaguya who
understood what he meant.

"Black Knights had no plans nor intention to blow up Mr Fuji. This place is part of our culture, not
to mention an important economic and strategic place. We don't know how bad it is outside, but the
damage to the Sakuradite reserves was too severe." Kaguya bit her lip and clenched her fist,
knowing fully well what the loss of the Sakuradite rich mountain would mean for the Japanese
people in the Federation.

"It will lessen the value of Japan in the eyes of UFN," Leila concluded, not surprised at all. It was
expected that the Federation would value the importance of Japan, especially after everything that
happened with the island. Both Britannia and the EU in the past were no different. Superpowers
always counted the pros and cons of any move in geopolitics. After the young chairwoman nodded,
Leila snorted. "Typical."

"Sometimes the most obvious solution to a problem is the one with the least resistance. It might be
some kind of convoluted assassination plot to take down both me and Kaguya… or it might be just
a carefully planned but simple terrorist attack from the third side. I want to say it was my brother,
but Schneizel wouldn't use something as crude as this. The man would value the importance of the
mountain and its energy reserves if only to use it later." Lelouch didn't have time to overthink it
right now. "Regardless, we should move towards the safe room. If we are lucky we might find
OSI agents and complex staff on our way."

Two ladies nodded as they followed behind him out of the half-destroyed room.

Outside the mountain.

The red hardon energy ray annihilated everything in its way as both trees and ground were melted
under its constant fire. Guren S.E.I.T.E.N.'s right claw didn't stop working as its primary weapon
was firing towards the ground. Kallen's Guren was a war machine, not a rescue or constitution one,
but as long as it could destroy anything in its way it would do its job. All the knight of zero had to
do was stop the deadly liquid that was erupting from the top of Mt Fuji. It sounded hard and it was
even harder to accomplish.

Kallen's best attempt to stop the moving magma was by creating holes deep enough to slow down
to moving liquid and destroy any tree that might spread the fires. At best, she might slow it down
enough for proper Knightmares to arrive. However, the Radiant Wave Technology on her Guren
wasn't built for this kind of action. Her battery was quickly running out of Sakuradite. Ironically,
there was enough liquid Sakuradite below her to sustain a battalion of Knightmares.

'I can't go on like this.' The entire mountain was covered in lava that was moving down with
freighting speed. Kallen barely covered one side of Mt Fuji and was already down to only 49% of
her battery. She needed to either recharge or an entire battalion of proper Knightmares! 'I would
welcome any help right now!'

Her plea for assistance was heard. Not by God, but by another servant of the demon Q1 was
serving.

Soon Kallen saw multiple Knightmare signals on her monitor. It must have been the forces Lelouch
mentioned. She saw military Knightmares: Vincent Wards and Gareths, but also civil Knightmares
meant to act as rescue machines and firefighters. Mainly retired military Sutherlands that were
modified for civilian purposes. Without any acknowledgement of her Guren, the Britannian
machines went right to work, doing their best to stop the moving lava. Although, some of the
Vincent Wards flew up towards her. Kallen didn't have time for this when the life of her Lelouch
was on the line!

"Listen here, brits! We don't have time to-!" Kallen was about to shout at them on the open channel
when one of Vincent Wards pulled out a spare energy battery. No doubt for her. Kallen blinked, a
little bit puzzled. "Huh-?"

"Huh? Is that all you have to say about your rude behaviour? My, what he saw in you…" A
familiar voice spoke from above as Kallen raised her eyes upwards. A glare immediately formed
on her face. "What? You don't even have the decency to say hello?"

"Cinder," Kallen said the name of the second knight of the round with venom. Q1 wanted to say
that she didn't need nor want to see Q2 there, but both knew that wasn't the case. Lelouch needed
both of them right now. Especially now, when Kallen's Guren wasn't the only one equipped with
Energy Wings. "I see that someone got an update. Finally, you won't be a handicap in the air."

Cinder's Amber, the exact copy of Lancelot Albion, safe for colouring and shielding, was now
using the energy wings. In contrast with a traitorous seventh knight, the energy wings on this
model were different. Not green but dark orange wings.

"Why thank you for having working eyes and the ability to see the obvious! Although you did have
a problem with that in the past." Cinder's own venom was easily noticed in her words. However,
both queens knew their roles and that they would have time for a nice chat later. "I take it he is still
inside the mountain."

"Yes." The hostility was gone from Kallen's voice as both Q1 and Q2 focused on the mission of
saving their K1 for now. "I don't know what exactly happened, most likely a bomb but I'm not fully
sure. Lelouch contacted me and said he, Leila and Kaguya are safe. He wanted me to stop the lava
flow and I lost contact with him afterwards."

"This is troublesome." Cinder sent a file to Guren that Kallen immediately received. "This is the
map of Mt. Fuji's inner complex. There are few safe rooms they can use to hide in, but if the inner
rooms were damaged too then we cannot be sure. Worst case scenario, lava and Sakurdaite made
their way inside as well. My shields might be able to withstand lava for long enough, but without
knowing their exact position I might accidentally destroy whatever is left of the inner complex and
cause a collapse."
"Fuck." Kallen bit her lip. Any wrong move might kill Lelouch and the others. "I lost contact with
him, but there must be another way to find his location, right? Doesn't Lelouch have any
transmitter on him? Hell, maybe even try to find him through his phone?"

Cinder stayed silent for a few moments as she contacted some of the Britannian pilots, but soon she
gave a negative answer. "It seems the Sakuradite in the mountain disturbs any kind of signal. We
cannot locate the position of His Majesty or any microchip on him or Leila Malcal."

Kallen cursed. "Then that means-"

"All we can do is stop the spread of lava and send rescue Knightamares after Lelouch and others
once the mountain is cleared. Are you ready, Kallen?"

One of the Vincent Wards finished changing the battery on Guren as Kallen gave Cinder a
confirmation. "I'm good."

"Then start blasting Mother Earth itself, Q1. Our Demon awaits."

Cinder didn't bother waiting for an answer, not that Kallen was intending to give one. Both Guren
S.E.I.T.E.N. and Amber Tertiary flew at different sides, trying to cover as much land as possible.
Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. started to use its Radiant Wave to cause havoc with hadron rays among nature,
while Amber Tertiary pulled out two Super V.A.R.I.S Rifles. The rest of the Britannian forces
made sure to stay out of their way in order to not become a casualty of the rescue mission. Among
the military Knightmares, only Gareth variants were useful as they had enough firepower to blow
up holes in the earth. Vincent Wards acted primarily as assistant units, flying around and helping
others more suited to the job.

Rescue and Emergency Knightmares were the true heroes as they managed to stop the majority of
the flames and had some success in stopping lava. Although they were limited by their dated
technology. Who could blame the machines that were never intended to be used for something like
this? No one expected Mt. Fuji to become activated, let alone erupt with a mixture of Sakuradite.

Getting tired of slow progress, Kallen decided to get more creative as she activated another
function on her silver claw. With a press of a single button, the silver claw shot forward as it
pierced the ground and dragged further, destroying the dirt with hadron energy. In some way, it
was acting similar to a construction claw digging through the earth, only more deadly.

There was silence save for the sounds of the explosion caused by Gareth, but both female pilots
remained quiet, focused only on their task. The lack of speech and the uneasiness of the situation
were getting on Kallen's nerves, and something told her that the Second Knight of the Round was
feeling the same. Deciding that as senior knight of Lelouch, Kallen was supposed to ease the
situation she decided to chat a little bit.

"This reminds me of the Battle of Narita," Kallen recalled the first full-out battle Black Knights
had with Britannia. It was the first time ever since Japan surrendered that the Japanese were able to
fight on equal terms with Britannia. Not as mere rebels and terrorists, but as the force that the
empire had to take seriously. That was their first victory. 'And now? Almost two years later, I'm
helping Britannians, because of him, for him. You have a bad influence on me, Lelouch.'

And despite it, Kallen wouldn't dare to doubt her choices anymore, not the ones that led to her
happiness.

Cinder thought for a moment. Her Amber didn't stop firing as its pilot recalled the memories of
studying that battle back at the academy. "Yes, Narita. I remember it now. News tried their best to
portray it as a barbaric act of numbers who were massacring civilians. Even then I didn't see it that
way. When you are outnumbered and outgunned, using any advantage is crucial to a victory. Zero,
no, Lelouch was a genius for doing what he did. Haha-" An amused predatory smile formed on the
one-eyed she-devil face. "Collapse the entire mountain, that's exactly what Lelouch would do."

"And now the tables have turned and we are dealing with someone else's mess." Ever since joining
Lelouch, Kallen has come to accept that now she will have moments like this. Protecting Britannia
from Black Knights and other factions who like her past self only wanted independence for their
homelands. Well, there is no turning back and no desire to do so, Kallen might as well do her best
as a knight of the realm.

The Second Knight of the Round remembered another thing, something her emperor mentioned
once. "This was supposed to be his backup plan…"

"What?" None would hear the private conversation between the two of them and there was little
point in keeping secrets between two knights who were serving the same lord.

"Lelouch had ideas to use this mountain and blow it up in case Black Knights' situation got out of
hand. His original idea was to lure their main battleship over the mountain and destroy it with the
eruption caused by the explosion. However, the collateral damage to surrounding areas and
population, plus certain obliteration of Sakuradite resources made such measures less desirable."
Cinder told her one of the secret plans Lelouch had. "So, His Majesty decided to put away this
strategy for now."

"Does that mean someone from Britannia did it?" Kallen asked as her Knightmare continued to do
its current job.

"Impossible. That idea was known only to a few souls, myself included. At that moment it was
only words and no concrete plan was drafted yet. It is most likely someone else had a similar idea
and went with it. For what reason? I have a few theories, but it will be OSI's job to figure them out.
Still, I wouldn't mind hearing what happened during his time as Zero from the perspective of his
least useful asset."

And here was the familiar mischievous tone, it was actually welcoming for Kallen to hear it. Was
she getting used to Cinder? Yuck!

"You will have to ask nicely if you want to get anything from me, newbie." Kallen could be bitchy
too. "Compared to how many battles the two of you fought together? I have more experience and
stories."

"Yes, yes. I would like to hear all about how you were captured in China and were nothing but a
burden to Lelouch." She could easily Cinder's pleased smile, that bitch. "Don't get me wrong,
Kallen. I genuinely want to know more about his past, from every angle. So, even someone as
unreliable as you would be welcome. As for now-"

"Pardon me, my lady." Cinder was interrupted by one of her soldiers. Normally the knight had little
patience for something like this, but the message had urgent news. "We are reading signals from
the helicopter. It is a civilian one."

"What." Both Cinder and Kallen were dazed. What are the civs doing here?

"My lady, it appears it is a news helicopter."

Cinder's working eye turned towards the direction of the upcoming vehicle as she blinked. "Media?
Here? It is too early for them to arrive, we aren't done yet. They will be a hindrance. Order them to
turn back and fly away, tell them this is a dangerous area for civilians."

There was a short silence which was followed by a strange answer. "My lady, ehm, they are saying
they were called here by us."

"Wait what? I never gave such an order." The confusion turned into suspicion as Amber stopped
for a moment and turned towards the news helicopter. Kallen did the same and focused on the
vehicle when she noticed something, no, someone. "What if they were called by whoever is behind
this mess? Is that part of their plan? What the hell is going on?"

"Hold up… is that Milly?!"

Kallen's eyes went wide when she saw the familiar face of her former student council president
who was reporting from a helicopter as it was flying over the danger zone. She couldn't hear what
she was saying, but Guren's monitor shows that she was being filmed by a camera. Was it a live
broadcast?!

'This is bad. The Black Knights will see it.' Kallen bit her lip. Them learning about her defection to
Lelouch so early wasn't a part of his plan. This will complicate Lelouch's plans, or so Kallen
thought. Meanwhile, Cinder was trying to understand who gave the order to call the news in the
first place.

"Who ordered this?!" Cinder looked around as if trying to find anyone from OSI and asked what
the hell was happening right now. News live feeding the Black Knight's ace and the Second Knight
of the Round was bad enough, but if they get a glimpse of the Emperor of Britannia and the
chairwoman of the Federation together it will get messy for everyone.

"Can't you tell them to go away? I don't want Milly here." Despite staying with Lelouch in Ashford,
Kallen still didn't meet Milly. She knew it would be an awkward meeting, especially if it was on
top of an activated volcano! "It is bad enough they filmed me, but Lelouch and Kaguya cannot be
seen together!"

"I-I can't." For the first time, Kallen heard anxiety in Cinder's voice. "The order had come from
someone higher than me."

"Wait, that's impossible. The only person who is above the Knights of the Round is-" Both Guren
and Amber turned towards Mt. Fuji which was still covered in burning lava. "What is going on?!"

"M-my lady." The same unfortunate messenger had something else to tell. And he already knew it
won't make the two queens' situation better or appease their minds. "We are receiving a signal from
an incoming Knightmare approaching at high speed."

"I'm done." Kallen raised her silver claw and aimed at the direction from where the new
Knightmare was meant to come from. "This must be a trap, all of this-"

Cinder was having so many questions she had no answer to. The Second Knight was about to agree
with Kallen when the Vincent Ward that was delivering the news flew up and stood before the
Guren itself.

"My l-lady, please, wait!...t-that's His Majesty's Shinkiro Imperium."

"..."

"..."
This was a confusing day for everyone, for all but one person who was on their way toward the
mountain.

Back inside the mountain, Lelouch and his companions were trying to get to the safe room.

The key word was trying. The explosion collapsed a huge part of the inner structure. Sadly, it
would appear they were the only survivors as everyone else was already dead. The corpses lay
scattered on the ground, crashed under the fallen rubble. They could see a few flames, but not
outright fire yet. At least it means they don't need to worry about suffocation, yet.

"Their deaths won't be forgotten." Leila turned to Lelouch who nodded. This entire accident was a
complete mess. The one who was responsible for it will answer in blood. Those who died because
of it will be honoured as they should be.

"I don't want to imagine that my people were behind it." Kaguya meekly whispered into his ear.
Currently, the young chairwoman was being carried by the White Emperor piggyback style. The
Japanese princess tripped some time ago and had a hard time navigating in the dark environment.
Remembering how Lelouch had to carry his sisters in the same manner as a child, he offered
Kaguya a ride. Her flustered expression told him that she more than wanted it.

"Don't jump to conclusions yet, Kaguya. We know little about what is going on outside. Let's
worry about the reason and the culprit after we get out of this death trap."

Kaguya silently agreed with him, but she couldn't help but think about everything that happened
today.

"First I learned about some kind Anti-Geass machine and that I never was under your mind
controlling power. Then I'm tricked into coming here and meeting you. All these shenanigans
about learning about your past and your proposition of joining you, Lelouch. And now I am
involved in some kind of terrorist act, being carried by the leader of an enemy nation." Kaguya
couldn't call it anything else but pure madness. "This one day will cause me to get wrinkles."

"My life was always pure chaos, I wouldn't want it any other way. However, you must admit I
know how to make life exciting." His gaze turned towards Leila. "Isn't that right my former enemy
and now close confidant?"

The former European general snickered. "Sometimes I'm thinking about our first meeting in
Prague. There are many things I might have changed, but meeting you won't be one of them, Your
Majesty. If anything, you make life more interesting to live if only to see the climax of this story."

"You think you will get what you want, Lelouch?" Kaguya asked with a somewhat glum tone.

"Where is this coming from?"

"Think about it. Even if it was just a mere coincidence and not a planned assassination attempt on
your or my life, little will change outside. The Order of Black Knights will continue to see you as
an enemy while you will plan on how to deal with them because they might prevent your plan.
Today's event will only make everything more complicated if word of our two meetings gets out."

Lelouch could see where she was coming from. "Are you worried they will try to kill you for this?"

"I doubt they will outright execute me, but I most likely will lose their trust."

"Don't know if the trust of people who can easily believe someone like Schneizel over their leader
is worth too much," Leila commented.

Kaguya had to agree with that. "Even if true, they are still Japanese, my countrymen who wanted
only to see their home free. I have the same dream and now I don't know if I can continue to
achieve the way it was before. Even if it wasn't your plan, the explosion might leave me with no
choice but to join you."

"I never wanted to force you into any kind of situation that might threaten your life, Kaguya…
you're one of few people from my childhood who are still alive and you hold importance to me
beyond being a genius in your own right. You were the only one beside Suzaku who didn't look
down on me or Nunnally for being Britannian."

Kaguya smiled sadly. "Kirihara always liked you, even more than his own relatives. I think
Tohdoh never treated you or Nunnally any differently for being foreigners, he isn't that type of
person."

"That may be so, but Kirihara is dead while Tohdoh will never accept my vision for the future.
However, you're a different matter entirely. You know what is best for the people of this nation,
Kaguya."

"Being under the hill of the Britannian Empire, even if it is yours now? Tell me, Lelouch, after
everything that happened, do you think you, me and everyone else who committed terrible things
for the sake of our goals will get our happy ending? Do you even deserve it?"

Kaguya wasn't a naive girl. She was responsible for the death of many people as one of the leaders
of Black Knights, even if not direct, and as Chairwoman of the Federation. She was a politician for
crying out! Of course, she did terrible acts to get what she wanted and didn't bite an eye. To her,
the end justifies the means, and Kaguya knew Lelouch was the same. Maybe that is one of the
many reasons she fell in love with Zero. It was hard to tell, and Kaguya didn't really care about the
reason anymore. She wasn't delusional about being innocent when her countrymen went to die and
kill for the sake of her homeland while she sat behind safe walls and manipulated the political
battlefield to benefit their shared course.

But now? When she knew the perspective of Lelouch, the Zero she loved and followed, Kaguya
knew she cannot look at Black Knights with the same pride she had. If her fellow countrymen were
ready to betray and kill their leader and saviour for the sake of empty promises, then the Japanese
weren't any better than the Britannians as they liked to think.

"If every person got what they deserved, humanity as a whole would have been more miserable.
Everyone loves to shift the responsibility for their actions to others. Soldiers will blame their
officers for orders to kill unarmed captives when they already carried them out without a second
thought. No one likes to think that they are wrong or a bad person. We think like this because we
don't want to burden ourselves with the knowledge we aren't the holy person who has never done
anything bad. Kaguya, I have done terrible deeds and tried to ignore them until I couldn't anymore.
Am I a good person for understanding my wrongdoings or am I a monster for committing them in
the first place?"

Zero wasn't a saint no matter how much people wanted to disagree. Lelouch better than anyone
understood how much blood of innocent it cost to even start the Black Rebellion, especially when
the price was Euphy's life and dream. Zero was another mask Lelouch wore that now was living its
own life as a symbol. In that case, why can't the face of White Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia
become a symbol as well? If Zero was meant to be a symbol of justice, then Emperor Lelouch will
become a symbol of order and world peace, no matter the price. Whatever it will cost. Lelouch
must achieve his goal.
"Frankly, it doesn't matter to me. There are things I want to avoid, but if left with no other choice I
will commit them. Let me clarify this, my old friend, this isn't me hiding from my actions under the
mask of my 'altruism'. No, I won't do that again. This is me doing what is best for everyone
because I know it is the best option I and humanity as a whole have right now. I will kill and die
for this goal and none will stop, I won't allow it."

"I wonder how much people would continue to support and love the White Emperor if they heard
this." Kaguya wondered while Lelouch merely laughed.

"I bet the majority would still support me. Few among the Japanese people resisted me as I took
control over all of them. People love the idea of democracy, the tyranny of the majority. However,
no one can guarantee absolute peace, absolute safety, or absolute equality among nations. You have
a good position as Chairwoman, Kaguya, but you cannot guarantee that you will be able to achieve
the liberation of Japan and its future prosperity at your current position."

Kaguya gave him a knowing look, even if he could see it. "I bet that has to do something with a
certain handsome demon emperor sitting on the Britannian throne and doing his best to make a life
for everyone complicated."

"Handsome you say?"

"Oh hush you, tyrant."

"I will take that as a compliment, my dear princess." Lelouch proudly smiled. "After all, tyrants are
those who will change the world according to their will and won't allow anything to stand in their
way. Fitting for me."

"The man who wants to take over the world and without any shame to admit he is a tyrant. You are
unbearable, Lelouch."

Lelouch smirked. "Perhaps one of the reasons you wanted to be my wife?"

Kaguya thought about it as she pressed herself closer to him and squeezed her hands around his
shoulders. "Who knows…"

"My, aren't you a good couple," Leila said half sarcastically, making the Japanese princess's face
take on a pink shade that wasn't very well seen in the dark. "Maybe you should have offered the
position of Prime Minister to her instead of me, Lelouch. I'm sure Lady Sumeragi would have
made sure his tyrannical majesty didn't get too obsessed with his world domination goals."

What was supposed to be a simple joke by the blonde advisor was instead taken seriously by both
leaders.

"Huh, that actually sounds pretty promising." Lelouch could see the merit of this idea. He never
thought of Kaguya as his PM simply because he was sure Leila would agree sooner or later.

"If I was the empire's Prime Minister, many among the Japanese population would see it as a quiet
achievement and it would lessen ethnic tension. Not to mention, as PM I would have enough
resources and political power to improve Japan."

Leila blinked, not sure what just happened. Did she just create a completion for herself? In the field
where she was pretty much the only competitor and was granted to win?!

"H-hey now, I was only joking-"

The two leaders of their respective factions were already discussing what it might be like if Kaguya
was Lelouch's PM. Leila wanted to remind them all about the difficulties and their current
standings on opposite sides of armies that might fight in the future but stopped herself. With the
open closer look and hearing their ramblings about made-up scenarios, Leila realized something.

"They're just playing around." The blonde salvation of the EU whispered to herself.

The two were just distracting themselves from the current situation, talking about things as if every
issue between them was already solved. No Black Knights or Lelouch's traitorous siblings. Was it
an attempt to pass time and wait for the rescue team or their way to bond over missing time? Leila
didn't know but felt like she didn't need to. Both of them were enjoying their time, and in this crazy
world that was more than enough sometimes.

However, everything good comes to the end and judging from the experience of everyone in this
room, the good was ruined by a terrible discovery. Soon the trio come to a dead end, literally. The
furthest way through the corridor was blocked by collapsed walls and debris, making it impossible
to progress further. None of them had any tools to dig up their way out.

"So should we start panicking now or what?" Kaguya joked, half serious. They didn't encounter
any fire on their way there, but the bigger issue was the oxygen that would ultimately end in these
collapsed ruins.

"My people should be digging in by now." Lelouch knew that neither of his queens would allow
him to die inside the collapsed Mt. Fuji. Such an anti-climatic end for him would be a terrible
climax for his story. "We just have to wait."

"Waiting, sometimes I feel I spend all my life waiting for someone else to come and save me,"
Kaguya commented. Thinking about it more carefully, it was the case with Zero and now Lelouch.
"I already lost all the past love I had for this place."

"If it makes you feel better, I will make sure the inner complex will be properly rebuilt. Not sure
how I can fix the entire mountain though." The worst-case scenario it will become even more
industrial, somewhat fitting for changes in the future of this nation.

At this point, three of them decided to stay silent if only to save some oxygen. Lelouch had to
admit that getting stuck inside the deadly mountain with Kaguya and Leila wasn't the worst way to
meet his end. Not that either of his ladies would allow this. And he was right.

Several minutes later after complete silence, the walls around them started to shake as all three
heard the noise of something coming closer. Soon the nearby wall was crushed, but none of the
fallen rubble hurt anyone. The first source of light they saw was the red shield of the Absolute
Defense System. Such a system was carried by a few Knightamres and one of them was very
familiar to all three captives.

It was Lelouch's Shinkiro, but if the pilot was outside then who was piloting the Knightmare?

Outside Mt. Fuji, the news helicopter was filming everything that happened. Its crew didn't know
how their channel managed to get info about the eruption or even direct access to the place when it
was filled with Britannian Knightmares, and one from the Federation.

"As all of our viewers can see, the rescue operation continues." The familiar and already widely
popular young reporter Milly Ashford commented while the camera crew was filming the
Knightmares fighting against the inferno. "Our sources are still unable to get information about the
exact number of workers that are stuck inside the complex. However, according to some reports,
the number of people crosses over three dozen men. As you can see, even the famous Second
Knight of the Round, Lady Cinder Fall herself arrived to assist in the rescue operation… as well as
the ace pilot of the Black Knights, Red Lotus."

Milly thought if she should even report the last part given it would be obvious to anyone with eyes.
Guren of the Black Knights was there, helping Brtitannians in their mission. She knew who was
piloting the Red Knightmare and knew that Kallen would have a hard time explaining it to her
people among the Order. One question that Milly was afraid to learn the answer to was if Lelouch
was inside the mountain. Right now millions were watching the news since it was in the middle of
Japan, probably the most critical nation in the current geopolitical climate for both the Federation
and the Empire. Without a doubt, every member of the Order was watching in horror at what was
happening to one of their national centres of the past.

Exactly what a certain person wanted.

"A few moments ago an unrecognized Knightmare made its way inside Mt. Fuji. We don't have a
visual of that machine yet but are inclined to believe that whatever model of Knightmare went
inside was built for such a situation." Milly froze for a moment when she received word of
something apparently coming out of the mountain. "Hold on! We are getting the visual on the
unknown Knightmare and it is-!"

Before Milly could finish, the black and gold Knightmare flew out of the mountain through the
same hole it created. Surrounded by a red energy shield it flew upwards, distant enough from the
danger of Mt. Fuji before it finally stopped in the middle of the air. Once the shield disappeared,
the entire world could take a good look at and see the famous Knightmare piloted by the White
Emperor, Shinkiro Imperium.

However, more than likely every viewer was paying attention to three people who were currently
in the arms of Knightmare. Seeing none other than Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, Advisor Leila
Malcal and Chairwoman Kaguya Sumeragi was definitely a shock for everyone on either side, but
it wasn't the only surprise.

The cockpit of Shinkiro opened and another widely known figure and believed to be among the
dead stepped out of it, proudly standing over the Knightmare.

"What?!"

"That's impossible, isn't he dead-?"

While Milly's coworkers didn't bother to hide their utter shock upon seeing him, Milly could only
whisper to herself.

"What game are you playing now, Lelouch?"

Ikaruga.

"What?!"

Oghi's eyes were so wide they might pop out of their eye sockets any second. The same could be
said for everyone on the command bridge.

Even the ever-stoic Tohdoh could do little to hide his surprise as he stared at the screen with an
open mouth. Li Xingke was trying his best to analyze the situation but was failing badly. There
was little information and no way to make any concrete sense of what was going on anymore.
Among the other members, Chiba was practically having an aneurysm. The same wasn't shared by
the rest of the Black Knights who felt like a miracle happened before them. Of course, they would
think so, after all, the Man of Miracles himself was standing on top of his old Knightmare.

"He is back!"

Tamaki didn't understand what the hell was going on like everyone else, but it wouldn't stop the
loud idiot from celebrating.

"The boss is back!"

Cloud in his regular cloak and by now legendary mask. The dark figure raised its arms to the side
and the whole world trembled, not knowing how to react.

Some cheered, some wept. The citizens of Britannia were having deja vu as their worst boogeyman
came back from the dead, while the people of Federation felt hyped up as their national hero
returned to fight another battle.

There, on top of the black and gold Knightmare, every member of the original Order of Black
Knights could see the mask. His mask.

Those who knew the truth, the real identity of the person behind the mask couldn't comprehend
how it was possible for him to be in two places at once. And worse, what did the Demon and Man
of Miracles plan?

The mask belonged to the only person who dared to challenge Britannia and could achieve victory
after victory.

The same person who breathed in a new spirit of revolution to every number in every colony that
suffered under the tyranny of the empire.

The revolutionary who already returned from the dead twice was now standing proudly in front of
the entire world.

"Hear me, world!"

His voice, the same voice that announced his crusade against injustice and evil years ago was now
speaking again.

"I have returned once again! To bring justice to those who deserve it and protect those who need
it!"

The Emperor of Britannia, the General of the former EU and the Chairwoman of UFN were
literally at his hands. None of the Britannian Knightmares knew how to react, what to do. Save
their Emperor? Slay their worst enemy? All they could do was stay still and silently watch as the
masked revolutionary announced his return, this time the final one.

"I'm back, world!"

Zero was back.

 Her name is Zero

August 23rd. UFN. Mt. Fuji.

Lelouch didn't know how to feel about the current situation. On one hand, he and his companions
were saved. However, on the other hand, he was currently at the mercy of his nation's greatest
enemy.

And it was his own creation.

The entire world was staring with eyes glued to their screens as the picture showed none other than
Zero. The masked revolutionary, the original leader of the Order of Black Knights. Britannia's
most dangerous enemy and the person who was believed to be dead two times by now was
standing atop his old Knightmare, which was used by the White Emperor for the last few months.

'Feels weird not being the centre of attention in the room, so to speak.' Lelouch knew that there
were just as many people who were confused to see the famous emperor in Japan when he was
supposed to be in Britannia. Well, there went his element of surprise for the future phases of the
plan. 'All thanks to 'Zero'. She better have a good explanation for changing our plan to such a
degree.'

Of course, Lelouch knew who was under the mask, he was the one who gave Zero's mask to this
person with instructions on how to act and when. This attack had nothing to do with that. However,
Zero decided to change the course of their original plan and now Lelouch was completely in the
dark while the masked hero waved his arms to the side.

'I don't wave too much, stop that.' Lelouch critically analyzed every movement Zero did as the
masked person turned toward the news helicopter. 'Wait, why is the news here… is that Milly?!'

Zero's mask was at the mercy of the camera as a helicopter flew closer. Surprisingly none of the
Britannian Knightmares tried to kill their infamous public enemy number one or attempt to rescue
their beloved emperor who might be a hostage. Instead, the Second Knight of the Round silently
flew nearby, the same was the case for the Red Lotus of the Black Knights. For the outside viewer
who knew nothing of the real machinations behind the scenes, this might have looked as if
everyone was frozen from the sheer shock of seeing Zero again. Well, it might have been the case
for a majority of people.

"Hear me, world! I have returned!" Zero announced once again with a dramatic pose that made
Lelouch roll his eyes. She was doing it wrong. "Death won't stop me from making miracles and
once again I will come back to fix this broken world! I know what many of you think. How can he
be alive? Didn't he die after the second battle of Tokyo? Why did Zero save Emperor Lelouch vi
Britannia? What are the Emperor of Britannia and Chairwoman of the UFN doing together inside
the mountain as it blew up? What does he intend to do now? Fight Britannia? Kill their emperor
while Zero has him at his mercy?" After the last part, Zero looked at Lelouch who stood tall and
proud, openly challenging him, if only for the sake of the show.

'People love theatrics when they are done right.' Lelouch thought, and no one could convince him
otherwise, not even his witch.

Zero's gaze turned back to the camera as he continued. "Well, since today is my third coming, I see
no reason to not answer these questions. Let's start with the easiest one, my return. As all of you
might know I was believed to be dead. That I succumbed to my wounds after that terrifying weapon
took the lives of millions in a single moment! The official version my Order of Blacks Knights
announced isn't a lie, as far as they knew I was dead. However, my death was nothing but a facade
to trick my enemies among the empire… as well as my own Knights." These words most likely
caused a second shock among the masses, especially to the intended audience. "Indeed, my life was
in danger because of unknown conspirators within my own Order. I do not know their identity yet,
but because of them, I had to fake my own death and hide until the right moment."

This will cause an uproar among the ranks of Black Knights. Both Zero and Lelouch knew who
was responsible for the assassination attempt. However, until now it was publically believed that
Zero died because of his wounds. If it turns out that assassins within his own group are the ones
responsible for his disappearance, the outcome might be a witch hunt inside the Order. One glance
at Kaguya told him that she came to the same conclusion.

'The original members might try to debunk everything Zero said. That he isn't the real one and that
the original died months ago. They knew that I was Zero, so this one must be fake no matter what.
There will be those who will believe them, but if Zero will play his cards right, it won't
matter.' After all, it doesn't matter what the general person thinks when their leadership is more
than happy to eat a convincing lie and go along with it because it is convenient. 'It won't be
convenient for the leadership of Black Knights, but the leaders of the UFN will think otherwise.'

"This moment came today when I learned that His Imperial Majesty, Lelouch vi Britannia, along
with the Angel of Europe and Chairwoman of the Federation were trapped inside the ruins of Mt.
Fuji. These people are the ones I considered necessary for the future of the world where we can
achieve peace among all nations. You heard me right, world! I, Zero, the one who rose up against
the evil of Britannia, now seek to fix this broken world with the new Emperor Lelouch vi
Britannia!" Zero turned once again to Lelouch and offered him his hand. The Emperor decided to
oblige and climbed up on top of the Knightmare cockpit, now standing next to his past self. "He
isn't his father. He won't repeat the sins of his predecessors. Should he fall from the right path of
justice and peace, I will be there to assist him, as I did before. Isn't that right, Your Majesty?"

'Another bombshell of the news. I will give credit where it is due, you have good timing.' Not to
mention when and how to use the opportunity. Lelouch turned his head and saw that Milly's news
helicopter was flying closer and closer. His childhood friend had the most confused expression that
was screaming 'I want answers right now!' of which Lelouch was more than happy to deliver. 'Let's
give the world a good performance, Zero.'

"I am pleased to see you once again, Zero." The world was having a stroke by now, Lelouch was
sure of it. "I was worried that our last meeting would be the final one. But I'm glad that you
managed to survive their assassination plot. After all, I wouldn't want my saviour to die before I
could repay my debt."

"Please, Your Majesty. All I did was offer safety and a place to hide from another victim of Charles
zi Britannia. Your father was a rare breed of monster, not even above leaving his own child on the
battlefield to die. You might have been the prince of a nation that I swore to destroy in the past, but
I wouldn't dare judge you for the sins of your family. I see that you managed to escape Ikaruga on
my Shinkiro when my Knights mistook you for the enemy. I'm sorry on their behalf." Zero slightly
bowed while Lelouch raised his hands to stop him.

"Zero, there is no need. If it weren't for you I would have died because of F.L.E.I.J.A. on that
night. As for your Shinkiro, it was a useful tool that kept me safe ever since I took it. I apologize
for that, but I'm afraid the Black Knights weren't very friendly on that day, it is understandable
though. I hold no grudges."
"Then I'm glad that everything turned out mostly fine. Never would I expect a simple boy I picked
up on the field of battle to be able to bring Charles zi Britannia to the justice he deserved and
change Britannia so much. I knew you weren't a mere man, but I did not expect you to become such
a noble emperor. I have my own grudge against the Britannia your father ruled, but yours isn't my
enemy as far as I can see. For achieving what I could not, you have my gratitude. As thanks for
completing that part of my goal, you can keep the Knightmare." Zero turned towards Shinkiro.
"Sorry that I had to take it from you today, it was only for one ride."

Lelouch warmly smiled, hoping Milly was filming everything. "What can I say but thanks for
saving me again, as well as Lady Malcal and Lady Sumeragi."

Either Zero or Lelouch will need to clarify it later in some public interview, but for now, it was
enough context for everyone. As far as people thought, Zero found and saved Lelouch before he
even became an emperor. This should be safe enough to minimize any negative impact for both of
them from their respective sides. The Britannians wouldn't be angry that their beloved leader was
hiding all this time with the enemy who caused them such grief. Meanwhile, Japan and the other
nations within the Federation won't think it was some kind of Zero plot. As far as people
understood, their meeting prior to the Second Battle of Tokyo was just a coincidence.

'Well, it won't be a simple coincidence for some, but their opinion will be irrelevant.' Zero coming
back in a time of high tensions between two superpowers might be just the miracle the Federation
was looking for. Lelouch could see that Kaguya already figured just as much. 'The way her eyes
sparkled once she understood where we were going with it was adorable.'

Zero saving the emperor when he was just a nameless nobody trying to survive was safe enough,
but why come to save him and why was the chairwoman with him? Good questions that many still
had.

The masked man turned to Leila and Kaguya. "Kaguya Sumeragi, I'm thankful for your coming
here. And even though the meeting was spoiled by whoever is behind this act of terrorism, I'm
happy to see that there are people who value the future and peace of the world above their personal
feelings."

This was it. Kaguya was given a choice, to either play along and accept whatever plan Zero, no,
Zero and Lelouch were doing at the moment. She could refuse and speak the truth, that she was
tricked by a redheaded ace pilot who was just as confused by what was going on as anyone else.
However, this also might be her only chance to get a good ending where neither the Black Knights
nor Britannia needed to fight anymore. And it meant that she and Lelouch could be… well, why
not give it a chance?

"Next time… there will be no need to hide your identity from me, Lord Zero." Kaguya accepted
her role in Lelouch's plan, at least for now. The rest of the Black Knights' leadership won't be
happy with it, but they were going to mistrust her anyway. Once the world saw her and Lelouch
next to each other, her fate with them was already decided.

'Ohgi, Tohdoh, and even Xingke won't have a choice but to suspect she was compromised. That she
no longer has control over her mind and was turned into a puppet under my Geass. Sorry, Kaguya.
As I said I didn't want to put you into such a dangerous situation, but it was inevitable.' Lelouch
would make sure she was safe no matter what. He either lost or turned against himself every
person whom he once considered his friend from Kururugi Shrine, Kaguya won't become another
casualty because of his schemes.

"Forgive me for this, Goddess of Victory. However, it was the only way to make sure you will
come to this meeting. Once all three of you were here, I hoped to arrive shortly after. Together we
would have drafted the future peace agreement between the Holy Britannian Empire and the
Federation of United Nations." Zero let his words sink in for everyone on either side.

'Another bombshell of the news. You're doing a pretty good job giving everyone a heart attack,
Zero. Bravo.' Lelouch had the desire to start clapping if only to see the reaction of the people. Who
could blame him? The peace agreement between two superpowers which was pretty much ready to
start a war any day? That was a big change of plans for everyone. 'Of course, I never planned to
cancel my invasion of the UFN, but let's say I was ready to wait a little bit longer if only for the
Black Knights to lose their heads over Zero's actions.'

There was a ceasefire agreement between the UFN and Britannia, but it wasn't officially signed.
When Lelouch took over he made sure to only announce his desire to stop conflict with the
Federation, but never committed to it entirely. Until Zero stepped in and apparently planned to
make the White Emperor sign a peace agreement. It might be a window of opportunity for those
who want a peaceful existence between two superpowers, or just need more time to rearm
themselves.

"Since we were unable to agree on any concrete terms today, I offer another meeting. This time an
official one between the empire and federation."

Lelouch thought about it for some time. "You know I can't say no to something like this. However,
we need a better place than the one we tried today."

"True… what about the Ashford Academy?" Lelouch had to fight against scowling at Zero. The
masked bastard knew he was staying there and allowing a meeting there meant Lelouch to move
from his old home.

"Sure, I see no issues here." The Emperor of Britannia now was forced to stay in the official
government building in order to allow the Black Knights to check Ashford on their own. 'No more
freedom of moving freely, hooray, ew.'

"Splendid! I suppose it is time to finish our meeting, even if it didn't go the way I wanted." Zero
looked at the Lancelot lookalike that was flying nearby. "I and lady Sumeragi will depart with our
ride." The red Knightmare descended as the pilot quickly understood his intentions, floating right
next to them to offer its claw as a stepping point. Zero offered a hand to Kaguya as they carefully
climbed on it. It seemed as though they forgot they were talking over the lava flow, or perhaps no
one cared anymore. This was a strange place to hold an unofficial public meeting between all of
them.

Guren picked up both Zero and Kaguya before they flew away. Lelouch watched for a few
moments as the UFN 'side' left him and Leila on top of his Knightmare. He was pleased that
Milly's news crew hadn't left yet, so he might use them to get an impression from the people as
always. Meanwhile, the White Emperor breathed deeply as he analyzed his current situation.

"What now?" Leila was silent until now as she didn't have anything to add to the conversation. She
was in the same boat as Lelouch when they saw Zero, absolutely lost. "This wasn't part of your
plan, Lelouch."

"No, it wasn't. But plans have a tendency to change rapidly. Zero saved us and now we moved to
the next phase earlier than expected. Never mind, we have no choice but to go along with this
scenario." Lelouch cast a look towards Mt. Fuji. "Right now let's focus on the aftermath of this
accident and help rescue efforts. It is always a good image when the Emperor and his trusted
advisor go out of their way to assist the people."
Leila turned towards the news helicopter. "I doubt people want to see their beloved emperor
exhausted and unable to do any physical work."

"Then it is a good thing I will be using the Shinkiro and mainly coordinating the rest." Lelouch
offered her his hand. "If you want, milady?"

Leila eyed the red cockpit. "Does this thing have enough space for two?"

"We will fit in. Or is the European Messiah afraid of sharing close quarters with me?" Lelouch sent
her a knowing look, but Leila didn't look flustered.

"Nope, don't have any issues. Let's go, Your Majesty." She said without a second thought as the
two entered the Knightmare. Inside the black and gold machine, Lelouch was taken aback by
Leila's boldness as she calmly sat on his lap, even though there was room for her at his side, but he
wasn't about to protest. Of course, the news crew definitely filmed this as well, Lelouch genuinely
didn't know if it was the best or not.

While the Britannian side was dealing with nature, the Order of Black Knights had a difficult time
trying to understand what the hell was going on and most importantly, what to do with Zero, again.

UFN controlled part of Tokyo.

A few hours had passed since the incident in the mountain and Kaguya was exhausted beyond
relief at this point. Not merely because of the near-death experience, that part was actually quite
tame all things considered. No, her biggest problem was the aftermath and all uncertainties that
come with it. Such as dealing with the return of Zero, even if she understood perfectly that it wasn't
the same Zero because of the fact Lelouch was with her the entire day.

Despite the return of the masked revolutionary, even if he wasn't hers, the biggest subject was
Zero's peace agreement proposal. Kaguya didn't know if it was part of Lelouch's secret plan, but
she was confident the handsome oni played a hand in this. However, for now, the Chairwoman had
to focus on another issue, namely the three faces on the screen before her.

"So, Miss Chairwoman, is there a reason you decided against coming to Ikaruga as we asked?"
Even when Xingke tried to sound calm there was some dangerous undertone in his voice, no
wonder many people found him intimidating among the UFN politicians, or maybe because he was
one of the eunuchs' enforcers in the not-so-distant past.

Next to him, on a second screen, Ohgi nodded. "After what happened we need to know everything,
Kaguya! We can't be sure if-"

"If the Demon Emperor used his Geass on me?" Kaguya glared at him. "And how would you know
if I'm under his control or not? Would you believe anything I will say? Will you even allow me to
speak out or will you just gun me down like you tried to do with him?"

Ohgi's eyes went wide. "W-what?! Kaguya, we wouldn't-"

"Enough, General Secretary." Tohdoh stopped him as the old general took a deep breath and turned
his attention back to the girl. "If you don't want to come on board Ikaruga, you're leaving us no
choice but to suspect that you're hiding something, Miss Chairwoman."

"Yes! Especially with this Zero next to you. How can we trust him when we don't know who he
is?" Ohgi asked while Kaguya fought the urge to roll her eyes.
'That didn't stop all of us in the past.' Currently, the new masked miracle maker was inside one of
the guest rooms the UFN embassy had to offer, naturally under the protection and watchful eye of
the Red Lotus herself. After the incident in Mt. Fuji, Kaguya decided that coming to the finished
embassy was the best course of action. The Order of Black Knights will try something stupid and
might either arrest or kill Zero if they went to Ikaruga. At the present, such a move would
jeopardize any opportunity UFN had and Kaguya couldn't allow it. 'This isn't the same Zero, but
they might be good enough for UFN to use the chance and achieve a safer position against
Britannia.'

Kaguya sighed. "I want all three of you to understand that I feel safer inside the embassy, not to
mention I would prefer to work from here instead of wasting time on investigations. You know this
isn't the same Zero as Lelouch simply because he was right next to us and looked just as surprised
as everyone else was. So, it is impossible for the new one to have Geass. Zero arrived at the scene
right in the end and we didn't interact in any matter."

"That might be true, but what about Emperor Lelouch himself?" Tohdoh pointed out an easy flaw
in her story. "The two of you were inside Mt. Fuji for a prolonged time. How can we be sure that
you aren't under his influence right now?"

She could point out the anti-Geass machine on Horai Island. However, such a move might cause
more harm than good. Not only it was impossible to predict how exactly the rest of the Black
Knights would react after today's events. Even if Kallen, Kaguya, Tamaki and Rakshata would
speak in favour, this might cause even more distrust among the members of the Order. For them,
everything might be too out of the left field, and the timing would be too suspicious. For now,
Kaguya was against mentioning that machine, at least for the time being. Besides, she had no
military control over Horai Island and couldn't guarantee anything.

"I can say that I can defy Lelouch's orders but I doubt it will convince anyone of you. However, it
matters little what you think, General Tohdoh." Kaguya's tone becomes colder. "I'm still the
Chairwoman of the Federation and my responsibility to the UFN is that I must fulfil no matter what
its military leadership might think."

Xingke quickly understood where she was leading with it. "The other members of the Federation
already talked over it?"

Kaguya nodded. Right after she arrived at the embassy she quickly assembled an unofficial
meeting between the UFN leadership. Of course, many of them had little time to prepare, but the
majority of them agreed on a few things. Such as the new Zero being too useful to discredit him in
the eyes of the UFN's people. They didn't know who was under the mask, and frankly, they didn't
care too much. It might have been the real deal, a nobody with the mask or a proxy sent by the
Black Knights to raise the spirits among their soldiers. For the time being, it was good enough for
the politicians.

'They don't know who the original Zero was, have no idea about Geass and aren't as worried as
the Black Knights. Not to mention, Zero and Lelouch knowing each other prior to the later
coronation might be a great bonus in their eyes. Both anti-war and pro-war factions within the
Federation would want to humour peace agreement talks if only to achieve their own goals. With
an anti-war group, it is easy to guess what they want, while those who want war with Britannia
will have additional time to prepare for the conflict, they know they need more time. The only ones
who aren't happy are the leadership of the Order, but they aren't too important in their eyes.'

Kaguya winced when she remembered the words of Lelouch. The Federation's leaders won't like
the idea of Japanese Black Knights telling them what to do and not to do, especially when the only
thing the Japanese can offer is manpower and battle experience.

'The first can be replaced by people from any UFN nation if needed, while the second was losing
its importance thanks to joint military training. The Japanese side of the Black Knights was always
first to lead in the conflict, but without direct conflict itself and Zero they were losing their
prestige.'

"A majority of the Federation agreed to the peace agreement Zero imposed on both us and
Britannia. In their eyes, it is a perfect chance to win either full peace between the two nations or
more time to prepare our armies. Either way, they want to sign the peace treaty." Kaguya looked
between all three men on the screens. "And this means they want the new Zero to be there as well."

This was the part none of them would approve of. After today's events, they wouldn't trust Kaguya
as they did before, not to mention this new Zero. But the Japanese princess hardly cared. They
couldn't just shoot her as they tried with Lelouch, not unless they wanted to start infighting within
the Order. In the eyes of the world, the Order of Black Knights would appear to go mad, some
would think that the conspirators Zero mentioned today were the original Order. Which was true,
Kaguya had to admit.

"The stance of the Black Knights on this matter isn't as important as you would like to think. If
anything, the rest of the Federation will be happy to replace the current leadership if they think it is
for the best." Kaguya warned them. "So instead of accusing me of the things you cannot prove, I
would recommend watching over your own actions. Ohgi, Tohdoh, tell me, what do we want?"

"A free and prosperous Japan," Tohdoh answered in a heartbeat.

"Exactly, but we cannot achieve it without the help of the UFN. With today's attack and loss of Mt.
Fuji's Sakuradite resources, the rest of the Federation will have even more doubts about trying to
liberate Japan through military means."

Ohgi's slammed his fist against the table on another end of the screen. "You can't be serious! After
everything we did-"

"It was precisely because of everything we did, General Secretary." Xingke signed tiredly. "The
Order of Black Knights failed to free Japan two times by now, even with the old Zero. Our last
attempt ended in complete disaster, millions perished and Zero was believed to be dead. The rest of
the UFN will be reluctant to agree to only a risky move from our side. I'm not happy with the
current situation, but we cannot go against the will of the masses or we will be labelled as tyrants
no better than our predecessors."

"What about the wishes of the Japanese people who want their homeland to be free?" Ohgi shot
back, visibly angry.

Tohdoh stepped in. "I would advise both of you to stop this and focus on our current issues.
Namely, this new Zero. We know nothing about him or what to expect from him. While the
politicians might see him as the godsend who will fix their problems with Britannia, we know
better than that. At worst, this new Zero might cause a split among our ranks. Our people who
knew nothing about real Zero's actual identity might believe the new one is the real deal and side
with him instead of us."

"Publicly discrediting him or trying to silently deal with him won't work either, General. The word
will get out and it will be the end of the Black Knights." Kaguya pretty much threatened them,
making all the grown men look at her with scandalous looks. "I would advise against toying with
any idea that might ruin the future of Japan and our people."
The conversation was going nowhere and all of them could sense it. The Black Knights could try
to send squads to 'rescue' both Zero and Kaguya for some chat on the Ikaruga. However, it was
obvious that the Japanese princess would be against it, not to mention Kallen was a wild card.
Well, Kaguya knew how the redhead would act and was confident Ohgi and Tohdoh were too.
Neither side brought up their ace because it was another can of worms everyone was too exhausted
to discuss tonight.

Tohdoh was the first to break the silence. "Very well, for the time being, we should go along with
the plan of this Zero. However, we will make preparations for whatever will happen next."

"You can't be serious!" Ohgi cried out while Xingke stayed silent. "You know this is some sort of a
trap!"

"And we will prepare for it. Kaguya is right, going against this new Zero now will be bad for us,
but we know he will try something. The moment Zero tries to step out of the line, the Order will
move. However, you shouldn't get carried away either, Lady Sumeragi." Tohdoh narrowed his
eyes. "Our people have a good memory and a stubborn spirit. The Japanese people won't look
kindly on traitors of the nation."

'Ironic coming from a person who betrayed his own leader.' Kaguya stayed silent, seeing any kind
of aggravation was pointless at this point. All four of them were exhausted and wanted to stop this
conversation, it was visible from their tired expressions. "I won't, General. I hope the three of you
will have a good night."

The military leadership of the Order bid their goodbyes before closing the call. The chairwoman
took a deep breath before walking out of her office. 'They are a major pain in the ass, and yet they
are still better than a good half of UFN diplomats I have to deal with. Maybe because they aren't
even trying to hide their true intentions and hope for the best.'

Being a chairwoman was sometimes way too much work than it was worth, but she had to prevail.
Until today, however, Kaguya was confident in her stance in this crazy world, but now? After
talking with Lelouch face to face, she wasn't so sure anymore. What should she do now? Well, the
green-eyed princess had limited options. Blaming Lelouch wasn't fair considering the explosion
wasn't his doing, but right now Kaguya wouldn't mind seeing the Emperor's face if only to
complain and rant about everything. Beyond simple venting, she would have liked just talking to
him again, it was refreshing.

'Huh, maybe I just want to make up for the missing time.' They knew each other since childhood,
back when Kaguya naively thought that marrying Lelouch would improve the relationship between
Britannia and Japan. 'I wish it was that easier back then or now… gosh, I need to stop even thinking
about this idea lest I will disappoint myself again.'

As she left her office, Kaguya made her way towards the only guestroom that was occupied at the
moment. Despite the embassy being finished, the building was pretty much empty, save for the
guards posted outside. Knowing that the Black Knights might try something, Kaguya decided to
minimize the security within the mansion. Guren was still there, with its pilot being pretty much
the only bodyguard for Zero for tonight. However, despite how risky it sounded, Kaguya felt
confident it was more than enough.

And she was correct to think so, judging by a strong smell of cheese coming from the room.

Once Kaguya entered the room, she wasn't too surprised to see the current scene in front of her.
The guest room looked quite luxurious considering the Black Knights' usual preference for
minimalism, with the curtains fully drawn to not allow anyone to see what was inside the chamber.
Zero's cloak was lying on the floor, surrounded by dozens of empty pizza boxes. The masked
revolutionary himself, no, herself was sitting on the sofa. The mask was lying on the small table
before the sofa as one slender female leg used it as a footrest. The current person behind the mask
itself was lazily eating another slice of pizza while the famous ace of the Order was yelling at her
for lack of manners.

"How many times do I have to tell you this, C.C!? Don't leave empty boxes on the floor! It will
attract cockroaches!" Kallen Kozuki yelled at the green-haired pizza eater who didn't even bother
to look her way.

The gold eyes lazily glanced at Kallen after the redhead finished her tirade. "So far those boxes
only attracted your attention, Kallen."

"You-!"

Kallen closed her mouth before she could curse C.C, even if the curses had no effect on the witch.

"I swear to God, you didn't change at all! It is just like when we were sharing the room!"

"If it makes you feel better, during my time in Britannia, Lelouch's room was always clean."
Kaguya's interest perked at this.

"I bet it was! You probably had a bunch of servants clean up after you!" Kallen pointed her finger
at C.C accusingly.

"Close, it was Lelouch's job. Something something can't allow anyone to see the emperor's room in
such a state. Even with an army of servants, that boy would prefer looking after himself whenever
he could, not that those zealous servants would allow it."

C.C giggled at the memory of her warlock trying to avoid having staff do literally everything for
him and failing at it most of the time. "Speaking of Lelouch doing all the chores, you can do them
for him for tonight."

"Oh jeez, thanks, your highness. This lowly knight couldn't think of a higher reward for her
services." Kallen mockingly bowed.

"Then get to work, Knight of Zero. And don't slack off or I'm reporting it to your Emperor. Who
knows, mayhaps he will lower your rank all the way to the fifth knight and you will be lower than
you know who."

C.C's usual Cheshire smile made Kallen want to strangle the immortal witch if only to let out her
frustration.

"I bet she would like that."

"As if I would allow Cinder to be my superior, ha!"

Kallen laughed while starting to collect the empty boxes. This was no different from the way both
she and C.C lived together before. Seeing that the pizza lover won't say anything, Kallen glanced
at the third person in the room.

"Kaguya, if you don't have anything to say then at least help me."

"I-you noticed me?"

Not that Kaguya even tried to hide, or could. She was just silently observing the two women,
feeling somewhat pleased to see their friendly conversation. Was it friendly? Kaguya was lacking
any proper knowledge of how regular people acted as friends. Tianzi didn't count, being a thirteen-
year-old child and having only a Chinese warrior for a friend. Thinking about it, the majority of
people whom Kaguya knew and were around her age were a bunch of weirdos.

"Sure we did it. Now, are you gonna help or not?" Kallen asked while Kaguya blinked.

"You're not even going to pretend you aren't with Lelouch anymore?"

Kallen shrugged. "What's the point? By now Lelouch should have filled you in, besides, I'm not
the greatest actress."

"And not the greatest cleaner either. Less talking and more working, Kallen." C.C reminded her
while Kallen showed her the middle finger. "Good evening to you too, Kaguya. Say something or I
will start thinking every Black Knight is as disrespectful as our Kallen."

Kaguya looked at the green-haired woman who was only wearing a white shirt that looked too big
on her. Knowing to whom the mask and overall costume belonged before, it didn't take long for the
Japanese princess to figure out whose shirt it was. Kaguya's face took a brighter shape of pink as
she thought about the things she read in pre-invasion manga. So the cultured texts of Japanese
artists of the past weren't lying…

"Agh," Kaguya cleared her throat. "Hello, Lady C.C., or should I call you Zero from now on?
Perhaps at least until you will stop wearing his costume for whatever phase of the plan Lelouch
planned next?"

Kallen noticed something. "You don't look surprised about this."

"I was surprised when I saw Zero back on Mt. Fuji, but quickly got over it. After talking with
Lelouch and listening to his goals, I managed to come up with some theories about who might be
under the mask of Zero." Kaguya spoke as she moved closer and sat next to C.C who gave her a sly
smile. "I heard from Kirihara that you were once Zero's double. Knowing Lelouch's love for
complicated schemes and the timing of Zero to the rescue made me realize that you are the best
fit."

"Is that so?"

"Also-" Kaguya took one of the pizza slices and took a bite of it. "Because I haven't seen you next
to Lelouch."

Both C.C. and Kallen blinked. The latter was the first to question it. "Wait, really?"

"What can I say? Sometimes childish logic and guessing might be the right answer. Remembering
how lady C.C. was always next to Lelouch when he was Zero, seeing him without her was kind of
jarring, even after he became emperor. I already accepted that you two were inseparable." Kaguya
didn't know why but she was sure C.C. gulped and were her ears red? "Actually, now that I think
about it, Lelouch's speech about Geass would have been more believable if Lady C.C. was there as
well."

"I told him that bringing me along would have helped, but that boy was sure that he and blondie
would do the trick. But now I'm glad that I wasn't there or I wouldn't be able to save his ass and
you two." C.C. ate another slice before mumbling under her nose. "-leaving it to D.S., she would
never shut up about it."
Kaguya heard something new, no, someone. "Who?"

"Someone capable of terrorizing our double here, heh." Kallen smiled warmly at the memory of
D.S. annoying C.C., bless her soul for that. "I actually think you two would get along very well…
and that's pretty scary."

"You speak like I already joined your group." Kaguya looked down. "Just because I'm pleased to
see Lady C.C. and won't allow the Black Knights to take her as Zero doesn't mean I agreed to join
Lelouch."

"Yet." C.C lazily added. "You didn't say yes to him because of your responsibilities. I have already
seen this melodrama dozens of times."

"Real life isn't fiction!"

C.C waved away. "Of course. Fiction needs to be credible. No one is forcing you to say yes or no.
Lelouch is perfectly fine with waiting while you watch the show he prepared for you."

"What show?" Kaguya didn't bother to hide her interest. For all the anger and tears she cried after
learning Zero true identity and mystic power, Kaguya could never stop enjoying Lelouch's
theatrics, even when he was the emperor.

"His plan." Kallen started. "He wanted to deal with the Order before focusing on his brother.
Originally, he wanted to start a simple invasion, but after some thinking, he decided that the Black
Knights deserved the experience of the last play before being defeated… his words, not mine." she
quickly added.

"And you're ok with it, Kallen? I can understand why Lady C.C. is doing it, but you?" Kallen was
always a fighter, a rebel, just like her brother who died for the dream of a free Japan. If Kallen
stuck with the Black Knights she might have seen this dream come into reality, at least Kaguya
thought so before. Now she wasn't so sure.

'Considering that I'm to be arrested or even killed by my fellow Japanese for simply talking with
Lelouch, I'm not sure if the Order has what it takes to free Japan anymore.' If they were willing to
betray and kill their leaders, could they be trusted with the fate of the nation?

"I will follow and obey Lelouch because I trust him. I know that he won't rule for the sake of
power like the rest of his family. He will lead Japan into a better future, I'm sure of it. And if
needed, I will be there to assist him, to be his support no matter what." Kallen spoke with
confidence and a warm smile, absolutely sure of her choice. "I'm willing to trust Lelouch because I
love him."

Both C.C. and Kaguya listened to her in silence. The Witch wordlessly agreed with Red Lotus's
words, every part. Meanwhile, all Kaguya could do was laugh bitterly.

'Huh, betraying your people and organization because of the boy, how cliche and simple.' Kaguya
silently took another bite of pizza, she felt salty. 'I wish I could be like this, say her words without
any worries too.'

The Witch noticed that the Chairwoman wasn't looking very lively anymore. Deciding that she
might as well offer some of her century's worth of wisdom, C.C spoke. "You don't have to choose
between your own feelings and expectations of others. You cannot please everyone and there is no
point trying to do so."

"What are you talking about? I cannot turn my back on my people and my nation. I have a
responsibility."

"What responsibility? The one placed on you by some old geezers who died, never able to
accomplish half of your achievements? You are a teenage girl who is chairwoman of a global
superpower and manages to control dozens of politicians, a literal hell in itself and you can
maintain order there. Kaguya, you're being too restrictive on yourself, thinking there is only one
way for Japan to be free and that it cannot be under Lelouch's control because he is Britannian."

C.C. moved closer to the Japanese princess. "In a way, you're thinking in the same way as the
Britannian nobility did before Lelouch wiped them out. Dividing nations into numbers, not giving
them a chance to exist together. Who cares about what the nationality of the leader is if they do a
good job and think of everyone as equal no matter their origins? For Lelouch, the Britannian
Empire is just a tool to use in order to achieve his goals. He told me this plenty of times. His
nationality means nothing to him. The legacy of his nation disgusts him. He doesn't differentiate
between people, all of them are equal in his eyes, without exception."

"And it means it is okay for Britannia to control Japan and everyone else? After everything it did?"
Kaguya wasn't against Lelouch leading, if anything she would have supported him. However,
Lelouch doesn't want to lead nations behind the mask of Zero, he wants to control the world under
the banner of the empire, even if it is the most convenient tool for him. "It will be unfair for all
those who died fighting against Britannia, dying for the sake of the dream to see their home free."

"You aren't wrong, but if we judge everything like this then no nation deserves anything good,"
Kallen commented. "I mean, every country on this planet did fucked up stuff towards others. Just
look at Japan's history. The Japanese Empire was just as cruel as the Britannian one, only less
competent. The same goes for China and everyone else. And what? That didn't stop the UFN from
being formed where everyone is willing to listen to the former enforcer of Chinese rule and
Japanese teenagers without a nation. People are willing to look beyond the bloody past if it means
moving towards a better tomorrow."

Kallen looked to the side as a small smile formed on her face. "My own mother was ready to forget
that my father was a Britannian noble if it meant she could be with her family, with me. She never
cared that her father was part of the system that took over her home and killed her countrymen, she
knew he wasn't part of it and that he was a good man. Lelouch never approved of his family's past.
He was a victim just like you and me, Kaguya. And now he wants to make sure nothing like that
will ever happen again."

Kaguya stayed silent, now even more conflicted than before. These two sounded so sure of
themselves, so convincing. Until you realize they were advocating for world domination and the
absolute dictatorship of one person.

This was insane, pure madness.

The madness that Kaguya wanted to accept at his point.

'Lelouch won't stop unless he is dead.' And Kaguya didn't want that, not after learning everything.

'What alternative does the world have? UFN? I'm not sure the Black Knights can act as its
protectors anymore if they are willing to act like the Britannian nobles we fought against… I just
don't know anymore… what should I do?'

Wait and see? For what? For Schneizel to trick the Order again, only to betray them later? For
Lelouch's predictions to become true and for the rest of the UFN to abandon Japan because it is no
longer valuable to them? Kaguya didn't know anymore.
"What are his plans anyway? I don't know how to answer yet, but at least let me know his plan or
parts of it. I did bail you out of the Black Knights' hands for now. I think I deserve to know more."
She glanced at two of them who shared a look before Kallen started.

"As long as you promise you won't report it-"

"Kallen, please." Kaguya massaged her nose bridge. "At this point, the Order will arrest me with
the two of you if I tell them anything that might trigger their fight or flight response, which is a
wide list. As far as they know, I'm your and his partner in crime, and I doubt there is anything I can
do to change that anymore. So go ahead and tell me your diabolical plan of world domination."

The redhead took a deep breath before she started. "Well, originally-"

Britannia controlled part of Tokyo.

"The original plan was for our dear C.C. to dress as Zero and act as a convenient guest of
importance among the Black Knights. Of course, the original return of Zero was scheduled to
happen in a few days and not today, but the situation forced C.C's hand."

D.S started as she took a sip of wine, making sure the other two were listening. At the moment, the
head of OSI was sitting carefree on a sofa inside the government building, next to the Second
Knight of the Round and the Emperor's Advisor. Both Cinder and Leila were quite exhausted after
everything that happened today. Once the masked man left on Guren with the chairwoman, the
Britannian side returned to their work on the mountain.

It took them the rest of the day to get any actual progress in the rescue works. There were few
survivors, but it was less than half of the complex workforce. The White Emperor heroically was
among his subjects, not afraid to jump into the fire to save his people. And that's what every news
outlet will tell the masses. With enough footage and eyewitnesses, the empire used terrorist
exploitation as much as possible, at least as some kind of bonus.

However, since the emperor was seen in Japan when he was supposed to be on the mainland, many
started to ask questions about how it was possible for him to be in two places at once. Thankfully
for today, the maid didn't have any official meetings or public speeches to give as the emperor's
imposter. A quick call from D.S. and Sayoko made sure to not appear as Lelouch anymore. Now,
the maid ninja and the cyborg bodyguard were on their way to Japan, with Nemesis to back them.
Mainly because their poor little master almost got himself killed inside the mountain. They were
the reason why Lelouch had to stay inside the government building for tonight when the Emperor
would have preferred to stay in his old room in the academy.

"We knew about this part." Cinder was informed about Lelouch's idea to place a new Zero inside
the Black Knights, as were the rest of the knights of the round in order to make sure there was no
confusion. "And I can see the point of revealing Zero earlier, the circumstances were good for it."

"More importantly, it saved the three of us from that trap. Thanks to C.C.'' Leila was quite often
annoyed by the Witch, but won't deny that she was her saviour today. No matter how rocky their
first meeting went. "Huh, I actually forgot that I collapsed my old castle on C.C. when we met in
Europe."

D.S giggled. "Oh yeah! Poor C.C. was quite furious about it back then." Leila looked embarrassed
about exploding the entire castle and burying the green-haired witch under it. "Don't sweat over it,
C.C. moved on… well, at least she stopped wanting you dead so that's a plus right?"
"Sure." Leila deadpanned as she took the wine glass D.S. offered to her. "What was the original
intent for Zero to return? Something as flashy as Mt. Fuji?"

"Nah, a simple skirmish between Britannia and the Black Knights on the border checkpoint of
agreed zones inside Tokyo. We planned to start small fighting among regular troops, no
Knightmares at the start, and then have both sides raise tension inside the city. Only for the great
Zero to appear out of nowhere and stop the bloodless fight from turning into a full-out battle. C.C.
was supposed to pilot one of the stolen Gareths." D.S. remembered that there were multiple
scenarios they prepared for C.C. to make an appearance. "All of this is not so important anymore."

"That may be so, but what now?" Leila looked between them. "Black Knights, at least those who
know about Lelouch being the original Zero won't just sit back and wait. They will try to take
down this new Zero."

"And that's what we want." Cinder's usual cruel smile was a normal sight for them at this point.
"For the idiots to make a wrong move so we could use it to deal with them. The original Order of
Black Knights will act and will try to arrest Zero. There will be a backlash from others, the ones
who know nothing. Using Kallen's knowledge about her little group of conspirators, and with the
new Zero's words of failed assassins within the Order, those in the dark will put 2 and 2 together
and realise that their leadership tried to murder their hero. This will lead to short infighting that
weakens the Order, to the point where its effectiveness will be severely cut. And then Britannia
will make their move while the UFN is too busy with the schism in their only functional army that
can give us a proper fight. It will be over as soon as it starts." The Second Knight of the Round
didn't bother hiding her lust for the upcoming war, no matter how short it might be.

"Out of all the Knights of the Round, you give the impression of the sanest one, but then you start
talking." Leila was at least glad that Cinder was on their side and was as bloodthirsty as the
infamous vampire knight before her.

Cinder snorted in a very un-lady-like way. "Sometimes you need a precise tool that can be used to
deal with any infection on the body. That's my role, to be Lelouch's most useful tool to use."

"Kinky. I'm sure he finds enough uses for you in the bedroom." D.S. winked at her but both ladies
just rolled their eyes, only one in the case of Cinder. "Speaking about our lover boy, where is he?"

"His Majesty is busy giving an online conference at the moment. After today's event, it is best to
make a clarification of everything public as told by Zero to avoid any misunderstanding among the
people." Leila would have preferred if he was here with them, to relax and talk about the upcoming
peace agreement talks. However, the Emperor needed to make sure his people were on the same
board as him. "Right now he should be talking about how Zero found him right before the Second
Battle of Tokyo and offered him shelter. Basically just repeating what Zero said."

"Neat, cool, really nice. We have another issue. I felt a Geass user nearby." D.S.'s carefree smile
disappeared as she spoke while the other two paused. "Not in the city or in the county, at least not
anymore. I was busy talking with the little girl-whose-name-we-don't-say, and felt the weak signal
of another Geass user."

"There is only one Geass user who isn't dead yet or captured." Cinder narrowed her eye.

Leila nodded, remembering her own encounter with an albino boy back in Rome. "Rai from Peace
Mark."

"Yup, the little bastard was here, or so I think. After using the Thought Elevator, my connection
with C's World isn't very stable and I might not sense everything as regularly. The last time I
sensed him, he was moving towards China… I already told Lelouch about it."

"And his reaction?"

"He wants to monitor every ship that comes from the Chinese side to Japan and for me to stop my
talks with her. I will focus on looking for Rai's signal while OSI will spy on any Black Knight's
ships in the sea."

Leila sighed. "Ok, this should be good enough for now. That Rai… I bet he was behind the
explosion."

"That might be the case, but it means that either Peace Mark or Schneizel ordered this, for what
reason we cannot be sure yet."

Cinder yawned. "We know what they want, to destabilize Britannia and weaken Lelouch's regime
before attacking. This most likely was just a coincidence that Lelouch was there. Heh, the
imbeciles didn't know they had their only chance to kill him." Cinder grinned dangerously. "They
won't get another opportunity like this ever again."

"Good." D.S finished her glass before with one gulp. "Oh! Now does anyone want to fool around
while daddy Lulu is busy?"

Cinder cringed. "Please don't call him that, the internet already ruined that word enough for
everyone."

"Oh come on! I bet you two were using some pet names in the bedroom as well. Oh, wait-!" D.S
looked apologetic as she raised and clasped her hands. "I forgot not everyone here is an adult
woman, sorry Leila."

"Eh?" Leila stared at D.S coldly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you're a virgin, Leila." Cinder simply stated a fact while Leila's face became red.

"My sex life-"

"-complete lack of it-" D.S quickly added.

Leila glared at her already intoxicated OSI chief. "-is none of your business! I'm a soldier! I was
the leader of the entire army and had more pressing matters than worrying about romance."

"What about Akito Hyuga?" Cinder wondered. "I heard rumours about the two of you being closer
than a simple commander and soldier."

Leila waved away. "Akito is like a brother to me-"

"Normal brother or 'brother' case similar to Princess Marrybell?" D.S interrupted her again and
Leila wished she had anything to throw at her. There was a bottle of wine, but the blonde didn't
want to actually hurt the dark pink-haired shit-talker or waste wine.

"Of course, it's a normal one! W-0 is like a family to me and there was nothing between us
romantically!"

"Good, it means you're cool with sleeping with Lelouch?"

"Absolutely." Leila nodded before she realized what she said. With a face as red as a hadron blast,
she tried to deny the previous statement. "Wait, what?! I meant-!"
"Didn't hear no," D.S said as she stood up and started walking towards the exit. "I'm calling Lulu.
Tonight I will finally have my first foursome!"

Cinder grabbed her hand and forced her to sit down. "The last thing the Emperor needs is for a
drunk OSI chief to ask him for sex while he is giving a speech to the entire world."

"Oh come on! I'm sure he will love it! Come on, Cindy, I'm sure you want it too!" The Second
Knight of the Round stayed silent, despite her eye looking at the side and actually considering the
proposal. "See? You are already thinking about it! I'm going after our Lulu."

"How about we talk about different stuff!" Leila shouted, mentally not ready for what D.S. wanted,
at least not tonight.

"Like what?"

Leila tried to think about anything else but intercourse. However, thanks to the pink-haired
succubus her brain couldn't get rid of the images of Lelouch...naked...with the-

"Wait!" She stood up suddenly. "I found photos about Lelouch's time in the Academy."

"Like when he was a student?" Cinder blinked. "What about them?"

That didn't sound as exciting as D.S.'s idea to be completely honest-

"These ones!" Leila pulled out her phone and showed them the photos Lelouch's counsel president
sent to her while the raven-haired boy wasn't looking. The photos were interesting, to say the least.

Cinder's eye went wide, her cheeks becoming red. "I-is that-?"

"Lelouch dressed as a cat boy! Yay!" D.S. completely forgot about her previous plan as her
attention was focused on the current photos, this was a treasure trove of information! And she was
OSI Chief so her words were legitimate.

"Yup. And there is more." Leila showed them the rest. "Here Lelouch is dressed as a princess. Here
is the one when Ashford had rabbit day, don't ask me, Milly is a weird one."

"Everyone is a weirdo, but not everyone can force the prince in hiding and future emperor into
crossdressing or cosplaying!" D.S was having a blast. She must get a copy of every photo out there,
it was too good. "With this, we can blackmail Lelouch into doing anything we ask of him!"

"He most likely would have agreed to anything regardless." Cinder pointed out.

"Even being tied to bed again? Maybe this time even blindfolded?" D.S. asked them with a cheeky
tone.

"..."

"..."

"I stand corrected." Cinder had to clean her nose as she felt blood coming out of it.

And so the rest of their night transformed from talking about future plots and coups to discussing
what photo of Lelouch looked cuter. Was it the one with cat ears or with bunny ears?

"We will need to make new ones."

D.S suggested, no, stated and the other two immediately nodded. Both Leila and Cinder already
had flustered expressions from looking at all those photos, some of them quite revealing. Milly
Ashford was a dangerous individual, and one they will need to hire in the future for more of this.
Three ladies of His Majesty found something they could agree on completely.

Down in the meeting room, the White Emperor felt a chill run down his spine. Lelouch vi Britannia
felt as if something terrible haas just occurred and he felt absolutely helpless at the moment.

Cambodia.

In the deep jungles of their hidden base right next to the construction site of Damocles, a lone royal
was busy with her demons. Well, the Demon in her case. The puppet empress of Britannia silently
sat in her room as she tried to analyze what to do now when the phantom her brother created was
back and alive, standing right next to her older brother.

'It is obviously a replacement but what does Lelouch want to achieve?' Nunnally knew that the new
Zero wasn't sent by either the Black Knights or her faction. 'Zero would be an issue for both the
Order and Schneizel, plus it cannot be a third party. Wizard and his leftovers from Peace Mark
were busy preparing for this explosion in the first place, Zero couldn't be their doing. So it leaves
only Lelouch, but what does my brother want to get with his former mask being alive again?'

Place a puppet inside the Federation and control the Black Knights by using Zero? It might have
been a good plan if only the original members of the Order didn't know the real identity of the
original Zero.

Trying to destabilize UFN with the new Zero sounded like the best option, but Nunnally felt like
there was more to it. Lelouch always loved to overcomplicate everything for the sake of his vision.
Whatever his goals were, this Zero was a big issue since it could potentially end as the best tool to
use once the fighting between Lelouch and the Order of Black Knights started.

'Although, now that I know the entire history of what happened, the war against Lelouch isn't what
I would call my wish.' Schneizel and Cornelia want to fight Lelouch and Nunnally will play along
until she will be ready to make her own move. 'Granted, I'm limited by everything around me, but
at least I'm still capable of using a certain tool I have.'

"Your Highness, Lord Kururgi arrived." The voice of her duplicitous servant X spoke from outside
as Nunnally allowed them to enter. Soon the Knight of the Round was sitting inside the little
princess's chamber. Her servant remained outside.

"You wanted to see me, Nunnally?"

She nodded. "I'm sure everyone else knows what happened today."

"Zero." Suzaku tiredly sighed. "I don't want to imagine what scheme Lelouch planned now. I feel
like I will lose time and patience trying to understand his plans."

"He sure likes to complicate life. Reminds me of his attempts to provide for us three when we were
travelling across Japan." Recalling that time after Britannia invaded as a pleasant memory wasn't
right, but Nunnally couldn't deny there were some warm feelings for the time when the three of
them were together.

"I remember how Lelouch would make his elaborate traps, trying to catch animals for us. But none
of them ever worked out. Lelouch was a terrible hunter and didn't have the patience to fish."
Suzaku didn't smile upon remembering their childhood, instead, he had a slight frown. "Nunnally,
you wanted to talk about our past?"

"No, of course not. The past is the past, no point in trying to distract ourselves with it. I wanted to
talk to you about your next mission."

Suzaku's expression changed to his usual battle-ready self. "His Highness already has an order for
me?"

"Yes. Following the new Zero's declaration of peace agreements between Britannia and Federation,
we decided that there is a need to act before it is too late." Suzaku nodded, fully understanding that
leaving Lelouch to do as he pleases was a terrible idea. "So, once the official date of peace talks
will be announced we will prepare. On the day of the talks, you will be sent to interrupt the peace
talks between Lelouch and Zero."

Green eyes went wide. "Wait! You want me to-"

"To use your Lancelot and crush at the Ashford academy right when both leaders will sign the
peace treaty." For anyone else, it would have been a suicide mission, but Nunnally knew Suzaku
would succeed. If only because she saw the images of the Geass command given to him by that
woman. "You will interrupt both sides and announce that the new Zero is an imposter. During all
this, reporter Diethard Ried will broadcast a video of how the Black Knights cornered the real Zero
and how he revealed his true identity right after the second battle of Tokyo."

"The entire world will see that Lelouch was Zero…" Suzaku came to the conclusion while
Nunnally nodded.

"Exactly. Once everyone will see that Zero and Lelouch were the same people, he will lose the
support of the Britannian masses while the new Zero will be suspected to be a puppet. Your role
will be to make sure neither Lelouch nor his masked puppet will give any order. The Britannians in
Tokyo won't attack you while you have their leader as a hostage. Meanwhile, we will announce
everything Lelouch has done while hiding under the mask of Zero." Of course, it was unlikely
Lelouch would lose all of his loyalists. His legions alone won't betray him, but the chaos that will
be birthed because of this broadcast should be powerful enough to paralyze Lelouch's regime, or so
Schneizel planned.

"I see…" Suzaku saw the potential in this idea. Especially because it would directly prove to the
entire world that Lelouch was nothing but a liar and manipulator. Of course, it didn't mean that
once he showed up that Suzaku won't be attacked, but with Lelouch's life on the line, his Geassed
slaves will have no choice but stay put. "In that case, I will start preparing for the mission-"

"There is another matter I want to discuss with you." Nunnally looked troubled by something and
Suzaku immediately kneeled beside her.

"Something wrong, Nunnally?" Suzaku couldn't help but feel protective and care for the little
crippled girl, especially now when her own brother treated her as the enemy.

Nunnally carefully pulled out a small device. It looked like some kind of transmitter.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure but it was inside your Lancelot. This was given to me by the woman who looks after
your Knightmare."

"Mariel," Suzaku whispered her name.

"Yes. She approached my servant and asked for an audience with me, stressing that no one should
learn about it." She could feel that Suzaku became concerned. "She said it was placed inside
Lancelot's Active Core and that it could potentially act as a switch. She didn't know what it was
placed there for or by whom, but she was worried that it could be used to turn your Knightmare-"

"Into a bomb," Suzaku concluded. It went without saying who would order such a thing. "So, His
Highness doesn't trust me."

'After everything you did to your former masters and allies, who could blame Schneizel?'

"Or he wants to use you as the bomb during the peace talks. If both the Emperor of Britannia and
Zero died there then it would have resulted in a full-out war between the Empire and Federation.
The chaos might be something Schneizel wanted all this time, with the secret weapon he will be
unstoppable if both sides are too busy. He always kept his true intentions hidden from everyone
else. Just like Lelouch." Nunnally made sure to add the last part to have maximum effect on her
oblivious knight.

"..." Suzaku stayed silent, but the blind girl could feel his anger. Good. The Japanese knight never
saw the silver-tongued second prince as someone he can consider a friend or comrade, but now it
was even worse.

'When the time comes, Suzaku will listen to me and not Schneizel or Cornelia.'

Nunnally couldn't inspire loyalty in armies or make masses kneel before her, but she could make
sure at least one person listened and obey her command.

"After all, I did it for him… Prince Schneizel-"

"Suzaku!" Nunnally leaned forward to take his hand into hers, and with a warm tone, she spoke.
"Please. I understand how you feel. Brother Schneizel is a liar, no better than Lelouch, but right
now we all share the same goal and enemies. I ask you, please wait until we deal with Lelouch.
After that Schneizel will answer for his crimes as well, I will make sure he will be judged fairly as
I promised to the people of Britannia." The small empress doubted the White Reaper cared about
the fair court, but she needed to be careful and not say something that would make Suzaku suspect
her.

"Trial, yes," Suzaku mumbled before standing up. "I'm thankful for your honesty, Nunnally. No,
Your Majesty. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to start preparing and make sure nothing else
was placed inside my Lancelot."

"Good." Great, she had him wrapped around her finger. "Of course, it goes without saying but don't
tell anyone about this, Suzaku. Your friend Mariel was already informed to stay silent." her foolish
knight nodded, understanding the danger of spreading that news. "And Suzaku, be careful, please.
Despite how my brother and sister might treat you, I need you, my knight."

"I won't let you down, Nunnally. Never."

And he won't have enough time to fail her. The empress had the use for her knight, but only for a
limited time.

"It is a little unnerving to see someone like you use the poor fella like that," X said as she and
Nunnally were now the only occupants of the room.

Suzaku left shortly after Nunnally made sure he knew which royalty to follow in the future. The
princess leaned further in her wheelchair as she tiredly sighed.

"This is the only tool I have to use against others. Their pity, love and desire to protect me. It works
only on a few people, the situation might improve in the future depending on which scenario will
play out."

X narrowed her eyes. "I still can't understand your endgame."

"And you won't because it isn't part of your job. Now, about your task." Nunnally raised her hand
and X reluctantly gave her a communicator. "This is it?"

The triple agent nodded. "Yes. This should allow you to hear every conversation Wizard has with
Rai. There is a voice changer that will make you sound like Wizard to confuse Rai as you asked.
Don't ask me where I got all of it."

"I'm not interested in how it was done, only what results it will bring."

In the eyes of the X, it wasn't something too strange. Nunnally had her plans and wanted to spy on
the masked noble. Rai was just a field agent who was on a mission. Despite knowing that Rai was
part of Oz's team, X decided to play along and hoped to learn Nunnally's end goal. What the spy
didn't know was that this Rai had a powerful Geass that can be used to help Nunnally achieve her
personal wish, the one neither Lelouch, Schneizel, or Suzaku will ever see coming.

All Nunnally needed to do was give only one command for Rai to carry out. Even if the boy didn't
succeed, as long as he creates enough chaos among the Order, it would be enough for Nunnally.

'After all, who would expect a little crippled girl to cause so much trouble.'
 Failed Peace Talks

August 28th. UFN. The United States of Japan. Horai Island.

"-in less than an hour a historical document between two nations will be signed in the halls of
Ashford Academy, located just behind me." A young blonde news reporter known to everyone as
Milly Ashford announced as the camera showed the academy. The place was home to both the
Emperor and masked revolutionary for many years. It was early in the morning for that part of the
hemisphere, but despite that, the majority of the human population was eagerly watching the live
broadcast of what might be the end of the conflict between Black Knights and Britannia, a war that
hadn't started yet.

"They're really going with it, huh." Wyvern Squad's only female pilot Ayano Kosaka said with
amazement. It was hard to believe that both sides were ready to stop all hostilities outright.

"Yup." Her friend Yukiya nodded before lazily yawning. "Seems like the Federation's politicians
want to avoid total war with Britannia. Although I always suspected that the Emperor was more
than happy to go into another war. Oh well, if not this year then next."

"Do you think it will change our position?" Ayano asked worriedly.

"Shouldn't be the case. W-0 is still important as the only representative of the old EU government,
even if we're just a bunch of soldiers. Heard some rumours that the Federation will use us as a
political tool to get something of Britannia in the future."

"Tool? For what? All we can offer is fighting and then some, agh-" Yukiya never cared about
politics and for a good reason. "Without Leila, we can't really do anything sufficiently. Speaking
about blondie, how is Anna doing?"

A few days ago their pink-haired genius managed to somehow get a letter handwritten by their
leader who was in Britannia right now. Well, Leila was supposed to be in Britannia, instead of the
mountain that just exploded. To say that W-0 were scared and furious that their leader and friend
was in a dangerous situation was an understatement. Still, they got a letter from Leila, speaking
about a potential safe haven where W-0 can hide if the situation gets nasty. Some had a hard time
believing Leila was basically asking them to pick things up and run, while others were concerned
if it meant White Emperor was on the warpath. The peace agreement by Zero and Lelouch's full
desire to sign it made everything even more confusing for Europeans.

"Akito and Ryo are with Anna, still trying to make sense of what our little angel wrote for us. Heh,
Ryo thinks it is fake and that the Britannians set up a trap for us. But Akito and Anna were
convinced it was from Leila. Personally, I have a hard time believing that the Brits' Emperor
allowed Leila to send a letter with secret information of some base that won't be found by
Britannia." It was hard to see the person who almost killed him as anything but a threat to them.

"I dunno, Yukiya. I want to hope everything will work out for us. It usually does."

"Forget Moscow? Or Rome? Or Prague? Or Paris? I certainly didn't for the last one." Yukiya
deadpanned as he massaged his head.

"Eh, most of the time." Ayano waved away. "Anyway, when will Zero and the Emperor start? I'm
getting bored-" At that moment both soldiers turned behind when they heard movement. Neither of
them tried to go for their handguns, this was a friendly base so it was expected that some people
might come to the W-0 camp. "Who is it?"

"Hey, Tamaki, is that you?" Yukiya knew that the redhead loudmouth, not Ryo, was coming to W-
0 quite often. The older Japanese man grew on Europeans who enjoyed hearing his banter.

"S-sorry, but I'm not a Black Knight." a weak male voice spoke as the silver-haired boy walked up
to two Wyvern Squad members, his hand raised to show he didn't carry a weapon. "Nice to see you
again, W-0."

"Wait, I remember you." Ayano recognized the guy from the time in Rome when they were
running away from Orange. "You're Peace Mark member, one of those who was following that
blonde asshole. You're Rai."

"Yup and yeah, Oz can be a little grumpy at times." The only survivor of the European Peace Mark
spoke with a warm smile. Rai missed the times when everything was better, with Alice.

"What are you doing here?" Yukiya asked with a carefree tone while his hand slowly gripped his
pistol. There were no PM members on Horai Island last time he checked. Let alone one of the
people who were close to Europe's former cell.

"Well, originally I was hoping to stay in China for some time, but the higher-ups just couldn't miss
such an event and had to order me around. Eh, once all of this is over I might just retire." Rai
walked closer and noticed that two of them tensed up. "Why so nervous? I'm just here to do some
errands and will be on my way."

"Sorry, buddy." Yukiya started as he raised his gun. "But we have to report you. Can't have a
member of Peace Mark walking willy-nilly around the island. No hard feelings."

Rai managed to smirk despite the pain. "Nah, everything is cool. It is I who must apologize. Never
hold grudges against you Europeans, but the mission is the mission."

"What are you talking about-" Ayano didn't like the sound of that but before she could react, Rai's
eyes flashed red as he activated his damn Geass power.

"Obey me."

Ayano and Yukiya froze before standing still and giving him a salute. Meanwhile, Rai had the urge
to puke, he used Geass too much by now. However, it wasn't over. The boy looked behind them at
the TV screen and saw that peace talks would start soon.

"I'm running out of time. Fuck, I don't have enough manpower, but you will have to do." Rai should
have started using Geass on the island earlier, maybe then he would have enough cannon fodder to
use, but using his power too much was draining him. "First, get me to the others and then bring
your Knightmares, we will have a mission in Tokyo."

His new puppets obeyed and wordlessly moved while Rai started walking towards the W-0
barracks. Afterwards, they would need to visit Black Knight's transport hub. They will need a big
airship for all Knightmares.

"Damn it, Wizard, ordering me right at the last moment."

Tokyo. Ashford Academy.

Every camera and every news reporter were glued to the most important event on the island as both
superpowers stood opposite of each other in front of Ashford Academy. It was surreal to see
Knightmares of the Emperor's Scarlet Guard on one side, and Zero's Squad on another. However,
both groups represented their respective nations and were there only on purpose. To protect the
White Emperor and Zero.

Since both the Black Knights and Britannia had to agree on security measures, it was decided that
both armies will have access to the facility and should cooperate for the sake of the peace talks.
Ashford was part of Britannian Tokyo, but by the order of their monarch, the Federation's
Knightmares and soldiers were allowed to pass through the territory and act as guards during the
talks.

Milly Ashford still couldn't understand what her childhood friend was planning, but she had to
smile for the camera as they broadcasted the start. The blonde news reporter gave her usual
cheerful expression as she spoke.

"As our dear viewers can see, both the Holy Britannian Empire and the United Federation of
Nations were able to look past their past and work together in order to achieve peace." A somewhat
corny line Milly herself wrote and was proud of it, hoping it was the case between two factions.
"The peace talk would start in a few moments as we just received the word that His Imperial
Majesty Lelouch vi Britannia and leader of Black Knights Zero have arrived!"

The camera moved towards the chosen landing as the aircraft landed. Moments later the emperor
of the realm walked out, politely smiling and waving to the paparazzi. He wasn't alone as the
Knight of One, Willam Bishop, walked next to the Emperor, acting as His Majesty's shield.
Lelouch ordered the elite soldier to accompany him during the peace talks, as was expected of the
group's Lord-Commander during events like this. Not to mention, it should ease the Federation to
see Bishop there instead of inside his Knightmare on the border with the UFN. Bringing the Knight
of Two was out of the question since the White Queen was required somewhere else at the
moment.

Zero moved out of their craft, followed by the loyal redhead ace pilot as Kallen Kozuki mirrored
Bishop. Instead of her Knightmare suit, the captain of Zero Squad wore a regular military uniform.
Both Zero and Lelouch stood across from each other, their knights, well Lelouch's knights, stood
next to their respected figures. The White Emperor looked over the crowd across the fences as
people lined up to see the Emperor and leader of the Black Knights together. They stood close
enough that no one should be able to hear what they were talking about.

"It must be quite a show for them." Zero commented.

"For the people?" Lelouch wondered.

"For the ones who know the real Zero."

Kallen cleared her throat. "Please be quiet about that matter, Zero. Someone might hear you."

"Lady Kozuki is right, my lad-it will be better if moved inside the academy." Bishop offered.

His lord nodded. "Yes, let's not waste time with useless chatter. Let's give the people what they
want."

Ikaruga.

The flagship of the Black Knights flew over, close enough to the city if something went wrong.
Britannia and Black Knights agreed to keep their main forces at distance from each other. Ikaruga
was flying over the edge of the city, close to the waters, while the Britannian monster battleship
Nemesis stayed behind Mr Fuji. For the sake of the peace talks, both sides were constantly
communicating and keeping each other updated on everything. Despite the clear willingness of
both factions to cooperate, there were those who didn't have positive thoughts about this ordeal.

General Secretary Ohgi was one such person. He and the rest of the Black Knights' high command
knew about the truth behind Zero. At least behind the original Zero. They knew this was a trap, but
their hands were tied. Any attempt to act on their own might be seen as treason by the leadership of
the UFN and their own soldiers. Oghi knew all of it and hated every moment of this day.

"You should learn how to hide your true feelings by now.." Ohgi felt a warm touch and looked to
the side to see his lover Villetta as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "People will be confused if
they see one of the original Black Knights scorn during a happy day. Or at least what is supposed
to be."

"Sorry, but I never was a good liar, unlike him." The man's gaze turned towards the screen as the
White Emperor entered the building. "It's infuriating. He plays all of us so easily while everyone is
happily ready to eat every lie he gives them."

Villetta nodded, more than familiar with this. "Even when he was brainwashed, Lelouch always got
what he wanted. It is in his nature. It is scary, but it shouldn't distract you today. Whatever he is
trying to achieve, all we can do is be ready to act."

"How? UFN's leaders want this peace and don't care about who is the new Zero. They know
nothing. Even Kaguya was compromised. For all we know, she is under his Geass."

"Maybe." Villetta sighed. "Maybe not, you never know what Lelouch told or did to her. He doesn't
always need his power to get what he wants out of people. I know some of his methods."

"Hmm." Oghi studied the screen, watching every small detail the Order could get about the
negotiations. "Kallen might be an issue too, worst case scenario is we have to arrest her until we
learn how to deal with Geass. Tamaki was acting weird too, he asked me to bring our new
members on guard duty beside Zero Squad."

"You think they're traitors?"

"I don't want to think so, but we have to be ready for the worst. The last thing I want is to fight my
own friends." Oghi looked down. "This situation is difficult for all of us. Tohdoh and Xingke
decided to stay in the embassy while Kaguya wasn't there. They brought Knightmares."

Villetta's eyes went wide. "Oh."

Oghi nodded, it was easy to guess what the two military commanders planned. Once the peace
talks were completed, the Black Knights would question both the chairwoman and this new Zero,
using force if needed. The former rebel cell leader had to agree with them. They would need to be
careful and not make any wrong move if they want to avoid anger from their soldiers who idolize
Zero.

"Anyway, let's focus on the show for now-"

"Sir!" One of the female operators stood up from her position. "We're receiving a signal from one
of our transport ships. It is entering the Tokyo air space."

"What? We never ordered- what is it doing there?" Oghi looked at the screen as it showed the
approaching aircraft. It didn't have any weapons but had enough space to carry dozens of
Knightmares if needed. "Who ordered it?"

"Their codes are right and according to the message they're following the commands of General
Tohdoh."

Oghi blinked. "Tohdoh ordered to bring more Knightmares? Why? Did something happen? Why
didn't he contact me about what's going on-?"

Should he stop them? Contact Tohdoh himself and question the general on what was going on. Or
maybe let them go? What if something serious happened and they needed more manpower, what if
Lelouch played his hand and the Order was in danger? Oghi didn't know how to react or what to
do.

"Oghi," Villetta tried to comfort him. "Calm down and think straight. Panic would only complicate
everything."

Her lover froze before nodding. "Y-yes, you're right. I… contact the general, I want to know what
is happening on the ground and why they called for reinforcements… and why they arrived so
fast."

The operator nodded before returning to her position. Meanwhile, Oghi exhaled and inhaled.

"I feel like a blind and helpless child right now."

Villetta gave him a reassuring smile. "You're a leader and feel responsibility over your people,
Oghi. Feeling overwhelmed is part of the job. Don't panic and you will make the right decision."

"For the sake of my sanity, I hope you're correct, Villetta."

Ashford Academy.

"You know how to act and what to say?" Lelouch asked his Witch as the four of them climbed the
stairs inside the main building. Just a few meters away was the room where it would happen.

The masked idol waved her arm. "Calm down, boy. I of all people knew how to act with this mask
on my face. Not the first time I had to play as your double, have more faith in me."

"I have faith that you will do something ridiculous just to irritate me." Lelouch narrowed his eyes.

"Excellent, you already can see my future moves, as expected of you Lelouch." Zero replied
mockingly before Kallen pushed her forward.

"Don't you dare anything stupid out here, C.C. The last thing we need for Zero to clown around."

Bishop agreed with the new unofficial Knight of the Round. "Lady Kozuki is right, Your Highness.
Please abstain from hurting the legacy and image of Master Lelouch's past persona."

"Again with this lady nonsense, you can just call me by name, Mr Bishop." Kallen didn't know
how to act around the older man. Lelouch said that once he will make her position official, she will
have a higher standing among the Knights of the Round. The redhead used to be the leader of
people who were older than her as captain of Zero Squad, but having a higher rank than a literal
knight with decades of the experience felt different, awkward even. "Just call me Kallen."
"That will not do, my lady. Not only are you the Knight of Zero, but you are also a mistress of my
liege, therefore a future empress." Kallen's face flushed red while Lelouch just snickered. "I shall
show full respect."

"A-at least don't say it loudly, I still can't get used to it, please." Bishop nodded while Kallen let out
a sigh. "It will take time to get used to all these knightly manners."

"You can start your lessons after we're finished with our business. Remember your roles, nothing
should go bad during the talks themselves. Even the Black Knights won't be mad enough to attack
me while I'm negotiating with Zero." Lelouch was known for being quite paranoid and
overthinking, but right now everything was supposed to be safe. The Black Knights could do little
but guarantee the safety of talks on their side, while Lelouch brought all the Knights of the Round
there.

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Bishop nodded before heading out.

Lelouch couldn't see her face, but he was sure his Witch was grinning. "Since I have this chance,
why not prolong our negotiations, Lelouch? Give the world a verbal battle between Zero and the
Emperor."

"You know we have a script to follow." Lelouch rolled his eyes. They needed to make the talks
look as believable as possible, even if everything was already decided. Not too long, but not too
short either.

"You know the saying 'fake it till you make it'. Zero is known for bringing unexpected miracles out
of nowhere. Wouldn't it be interesting for regular people if a masked man suddenly challenged the
famous emperor to a debate?"

"No."

Kallen pushed C.C. forward before giving Lelouch an apologetic smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure
Kaguya wouldn't allow anything like that to happen. She sure understands C.C.'s weird
tendencies."

Lelouch gave his Witch a stare that she immediately understood and gave the two some privacy.

"I hope so, and Kallen."

"What-?"

The redhead stopped as Lelouch walked closer to her and closed the distance between their faces.
She was caught off guard but didn't fight when Lelouch placed his lips on top of hers. Blue eyes
went wide for a second, worried as if someone would see them like this, but a moment later Kallen
closed them calmly. If Lelouch wanted to show his affection she wouldn't deny him. The kiss
wasn't hungry, or lustful and didn't last too long, just enough for both of them.

Lelouch pulled back and looked at his Q1 with a small smile. "I know that everything was planned
and talked over, but make sure you will be safe."

"I-you don't need to worry about me, Lelouch." Kallen brightly smiled. "If something goes wrong,
I'm getting you and C.C. out of there."

"Don't forget, I have Bishop here, plus the entire Scarlet Guard to protect me if needed."

Kallen snorted. "Maybe but do they know that their leader likes to get himself into the worst
situation just to achieve his insane plan? I had to get your royal ass out of some mess."

"I'm sure Jeremiah would repeat everything you did in a heartbeat without me even asking. Still,
with my shadow Knight of Zero, I imagine their work should become easier."

The ace pilot of the Black Knights and now of the empire gave him a confident expression. "I won't
allow anything to happen to you, Lelouch. Never again."

"Good, now let's get going, I'm sure we made everyone wait long enough."

Kallen nodded as she followed him, only for Zero to lazily stare at them from the top of the stairs.

"What's this? Is my own bodyguard cheating on me right behind my back? The White Emperor
himself cucking Zero? Oh, the humanity."

"Please never say that again, my Witch." Lelouch wanted to-what was the word Rivalz used? Oh,
yeah, cringed. "That gives me a confusing mental image."

"I'm sure people will feel the same when they see Kallen of the Black Knights as one of the White
Emperor's Knights of the Round in the not-so-distant future, my Warlock." Both Kallen and
Lelouch couldn't say anything to that. "Well, if you two lovebirds are finished, let's start this circus
called politics."

The room for negotiations was the academy's enormous gym that could have easily fitted multiple
Knightmares. However, for now, it was occupied by multiple tables and representatives from both
the Federation and the Empire. The most noticeable part was the little podium with two tables on
opposite sides, one for the UFN and another for Britannia. The flags of both nations were hanging
over them. No Knightmares or armed personnel was allowed to enter the room, besides Zero's
bodyguard and the Emperor's Knight of One.

Chairwoman Kaguya Sumeragi silently sat next to Zero. As the leader of the Federation's ruling
party, she was expected to be Zero's right hand during the talks. Her green eyes looked forward to
seeing the blonde Messiah of Europe, Leila Malcal in the same position as the Japanese princess,
only for the Emperor. Since Britannia didn't have a prime minister yet, Lelouch wanted Leila to be
his right hand for today.

For many, it would have been the highest honour, but for Geass user, it was just another trick to
make her accept Lelouch's proposition as his PM. Considering the issues with the Order of Black
Knights and whatever endgame Lelouch had in mind, Kaguya might not be against the idea of
taking the blonde's place.

Soon all chatter ended as everyone's attention moved towards the main entrance as the two most
powerful men on the planet entered. Zero and White Emperor, followed by their protectors, moved
to their positions. Zero nodded towards Kaguya who stood up to officially start the talks.

"I welcome our Britannian side for coming to this historical event. I'm confident that together we
can achieve what no one before us ever managed to do, and I hope that we will succeed and come
to an agreement on every matter between our nations."

Lelouch said nothing, still silently smiling while Leila cleared her throat. "As the advisor and
confidant of His Majesty, I speak for the entirety of Britannia when I say that peace and prosperity
are the primary goals of everyone in this room."

"Excellent, now let's focus on the matter of disputes between two nations. Ever since its formation,
the Federation couldn't solve the matter of maritime boundary. As the successor to the Chinese
Federation, Federations expects to inherit-"

And so the talks started. For the most part, it was primarily Kaguya and Leila talking with
occasional add-ins from either side. Lelouch noted that Empress Tianzi was trying to bring up
some issues as well, despite being too shy, the girl was doing relatively well. As for himself and
Zero, they would only add some small talk from time to time, leaving the main stage to the two
political heads. Well, Leila would have been a political leader if she agreed to the Prime Minister
position, but there's always tomorrow to convince her.

The talks covered all important and hot matters between UFN and Britannia. From the question of
borders to the matter of inheriting the responsibilities of the UFN ancestor state Chinese Federation
in the matter of agreements and deals with the Holy Britannian Empire. Meanwhile, the UFN side
had multiple issues with how exactly they should treat the Commonwealth of Imperial States that
replaced the EU, considering that the remnants of the EU army were under the Black Knights'
protection. It was easy to see that Leila was personally involved in this question and made sure that
none of her former comrades will be persecuted for following the orders of the dysfunctional
government at the time of war, and that all of them will be greeted as citizens of a new European
state without any fuss. Lelouch expected some backlash from the citizens of Britannia who weren't
too happy with that matter, but his subjects from Europe should be glad to hear it.

However, soon the question came to the most controversial topic between the two countries.

"What about Japan?" Zero spoke, silencing the entire room. "After everything that happened, we
cannot ignore this question. The Black Knights were originally created to liberate Japan from
tyranny."

"That was true, but I made sure to deal with this tyranny myself, Zero." The White Emperor
answered. "Japanese issues are important to me as well. I lived in this nation for a decade and saw
the struggles of the Japanese people who were treated as second-class citizens. And it is within my
intentions to see this island prosper under my rule and to make up for everything my homeland did
in the past."

"That's a noble goal, but I'm sure people would prefer to decide their fate themselves. Even if
you're the positive change, there is too much bad blood between two groups on the island." Zero
commented. None dared to interrupt the two leaders. Even Kaguya silently watched, doing her best
to hide the uneasiness.

"True, but what about the Britannians who moved to Japan and lived here for years? Those who
settled it and built families? As the Emperor of Britannia, I cannot ignore them and simply give
their lives to UFN. Sorry, but how can I know that the Black Knights won't turn the tables and
oppress my people once Japan is theirs? I'm sure it isn't a secret that pre-invasion Japan under the
rule of the Kururugi clan was far from the most tolerant and accepting place."

"Times change just as people do. The Black Knights worked with other nations to create the UFN
and followed me, a non-Japanese person, as I tried my best to assist them. Your Majesty must
understand that this matter is of personal importance to me. Young and old, men and women, the
Japanese fought and died while following me, believing I would create a miracle they always
wanted to see. The independent state of Japan. I would ask Your Majesty to see things from my
perspective. I cannot face my followers and comrades after everything I did and announce that
Japan isn't free." Zero leaned forward. "Worst case scenario I'm worried that the people who lost
too much, and waited too long will become desperate and commit acts without my approval."

A dangerous thing to say in life, but Lelouch wrote this line for C.C. himself. The White Emperor
nodded, trying to act as if he was in deep thought. "I see… I dealt with my nation's purebloods to
avoid a similar issue. While I cannot advise the same to you, Zero, I would suggest trying to
remove more radical elements of your Order for the sake of everyone, themselves including. As for
Japan… this matter cannot be solved by just you and me, we both have our agendas and won't give
up. Therefore I suggest a compromise."

"Oh?"

"A vote," Lelouch smirked when he saw Kaguya's eyes go wide, she wasn't informed of this. "Let
the people of this nation vote for themselves, do they wish to be part of my Britannia or become an
independent state? Well, as independent as any other nation within your Federation. Fair voting
will be ensured by both sides."

"Hmm, but how can we guarantee that voting will be sincere with Britannian citizens obviously
voting in your favour? After everything that took place in the last two years, I'm worried that the
number of people of Britannian nationality will outnumber Japanese people significantly. Your
people will be biased and vote against an independent Japan. I suggest allowing the Japanese
members of Black Knights to participate in the vote as well."

"Then wouldn't it create the same problem? My citizens voting against independence and your
soldiers voting for? I know that after everything that happened some would be happy if Britannian
people who were treated as first-class citizens weren't allowed to vote, but that would be no better
than the policies of the past. Meanwhile, the Japanese soldiers of your Order are guaranteed to vote
in favour of free Japan, especially if the Black Knights will bring in all Japanese that fled their
homeland following the invasion. In that case, the vote will become an ensured victory for your
side. Hardly a fair matter."

"So we're at a deadlock," Zero concluded.

"It would appear so. This matter cannot be solved easily, but I'm worried that we both have
pressing matters beyond this question." Lelouch had to deal with his siblings for good while Zero
needed to find the conspirators within the Order, at least so believed the average person. "We more
or less agreed on all other issues and already agreed to a peace agreement between our states. I
think the Japanese question can be left alone for the time being."

"I have to disagree, the status quo would benefit pretty much only Your Majesty while my
followers will continue to live without a home to call their own. As their leader, I cannot agree to
current terms."

"Is that so? Then… what if the Black Knights were allowed to live among other cities of the
Special zone of Japan?" Everyone on the UFN side froze upon hearing. Even the empire's officials
weren't informed about their emperor's plans. "I understand that they fought for the right to live as
free people and I respect it. Therefore I'm willing to grant amnesty to all Japanese members of the
Black Knights and allow them to live as free citizens in my Britannia. They can be the empire's
citizens as well as the soldiers in the Order. Of course, that part must be cleared out, but I see no
issues implementing this from my side. What do you think, Zero?"

Lelouch thought it was the safest solution to slowly dissolve the Order of Black Knights. Instead of
giving them Japan or tossing them aside, why not welcome them back with open arms? Only to
assimilate them one way or another. With his Witch as acting Zero and the leadership of Black
Knights eventually going against the new Zero, the confused members of the Order would be an
easy target to turn into Lelouch's subjects without any use of his Geass.

"Allowing the Black Knights to live alongside Britannains might cause conflicts between our
people, Your Majesty…"

"I know I can guarantee that my subjects won't do anything that would bring harm to them. I will
ensure the safety of your people no matter what. As well as welcoming the Black Knights into
positions of power within my government. So, your thoughts, Zero? I would call it the best solution
for the time being. Who knows, maybe when the time comes to vote our people will change their
minds and we will get unexpected results."

"..." Zero thought about it for some time, everyone in the room tensed up waiting for the next
move from either leader. However, no one expected the masked man to raise and walk toward the
emperor and offer his arm. "Lelouch vi Britannia, do you swear to protect the interest and lives of
the Japanese, no, the people who want to live and see the brighter future of this nation no matter
what?"

The White Emperor stood up from his seat and took Zero's hand. "After all the bloodshed I saw as
a child during the invasion years ago, the last thing I want is another full-out war between
Britannians and Japanese. We all deserve happiness after the horrors and chaos we were forced to
live through. As the monarch whose primary dream is to create a peaceful world for all of
humanity, no matter their past, I promise that I will do everything in my power to guarantee a
prosperous life for both of our people"

"Then I see no problem trusting you, Your Majesty."

"And I hope for future cooperation between us, Zero."

Two leaders shaking hands and promising to improve the world was sure to look good on the
screens around the world. Lelouch expected this image to become a symbol of cooperation between
UFN and Britannia, for the sake of manipulating it in the future.

However, the world itself wasn't to simply accept Lelouch's vision.

What neither Lelouch nor Zero expected was for the ceiling to collapse as a white titan fell from
the sky. The infamous Knightmare with green energy wings raised its weapon at both sides of
peace talks as the voice of the traitorous knight spoke.

"By the order of Her Majesty, Nunnally vi Britannia, this farce of a peace negotiation is over!"

Suzaku Kururugi shouted as he took every person in the room hostage. Lancelot Albion flew over
both Emperor Lelouch and Zero, its Super V.A.R.I.S aimed at them. Both Kallen and Bishop
already moved in front of their respectable leaders. No one stopped filming as the entire world
could only watch as the Knight of Seven aka White Reaper fell from the sky and took over the
scene.

"Suzaku!"

Lelouch clenched his fists, this was one thing he couldn't prepare for. His old friend once again
appeared out of nowhere and ruined everything. The pilot of Lancelot stared at his once best friend
from the monitor before turning his attention to the cameras.

"I'm Kururugi Suzaku, the Seventh Knight of the Round, servant of Her Majesty Nunnally vi
Britannia. I have come here today to reveal the truth to all those who believe the lies of Lelouch vi
Britannia." His right arm pointed at Zero, still holding the giant rifle.

"This isn't the Zero who created the Black Knights or tried to get rid of Britannia two times. He is
nothing but an imposter sent among the ranks of Black Knights in order to allow Lelouch to take
over the Order! Lelouch was lying to the entire world all this time, everything he did and said was
nothing but fabricated nonsense he used to manipulate everyone around him! The truth is-!"

Tokyo. UFN embassy.

Inside the embassy building serving as the base of the Black Knights inside Tokyo, numerous
Black Knights soldiers checked the place for anything suspicious. Both of the Black Knights'
military leaders arrived there today to make sure the UFN chairwoman and 'Zero' wouldn't be able
to avoid meeting them anymore. Ever since the new Zero first appeared, both Tohdoh and Xingke
were trying to find the best moment to arrest and question him. However, because of Kaguya, they
couldn't do anything or the chairwoman might cause a political incident. Worst case scenario it
would have created a rift among the Order with some following the fake Zero instead of them.

However, right now both men were more busy watching the live broadcast of the peace talks. At
least, they were supposed to be just that.

"We need to act," Xingke said before trying to exit, planning to get his Knightmare.

His friend tried to stop him. "Don't rush, general. We don't know what Suzaku is trying to achieve.
Perhaps he can deal with both Emperor Lelouch and his puppet Zero for us-"

"Tianzi is there!" Xingke shouted, not bothered to hide his fury. "I won't allow anything to happen
to her! And not only that but If we don't do anything the rest of the Federation leadership will
question the current high command of the Black Knights. We need to save both Tianzi and Zero or
our own people will replace us."

"..."

Tohdoh said nothing, silently agreeing with his statement and decided to follow his Chinese
comrade outside. Both of their Knightmares stood in front of the embassy, ready to go. Both
generals called the rest of their forces and were about to fly towards the Ashford academy when
the news arrived, even worse than before.

"General Tohdoh! Ohgi tried to contact you two and ask about-"

Before Chiba could even finish a loud explosion was heard around the city as everyone turned
toward the sky. Ever calm Tohdoh and Xingke froze when they saw the image of Ikaruga opening
fire at the Britannian side.

"What in the-"

"Oh, Komi-!"

"What is going on," Xingke whispered while Tohdoh rushed towards his Zangetsu, not even
thinking about hearing the rest of what Chiba said.

"O-our forces engaged in a fight with Britannia-" Chiba looked horrified, not ready for any of this.
"There is too much confusion but it seems Ikaruga opened fire first-"

Xingke didn't bother to listen to the rest as he raised his hand. "Enough. Mobilize all forces in the
city. Britannians won't bother trying to make sense of what is going on with their emperor being a
hostage. All forces to be in a defensive formation, do not attack the Britannian position-"

The Chinese warrior was interrupted by another explosion, this time way closer to their position.
However, the new exposition was followed by gunfire that was getting closer every moment.

"Sir! Britannia attacked our part of the city! Their H-hounds appeared out of nowhere and-"

"Knights of the Round!"

Someone shouted as Xingke turned to see something moving towards the embassy, upon closer
inspection he saw the energy wings.

Cambodia.

Schneizel watched the live broadcast, satisfied that Sir Kururugi managed to accomplish the
hardest part of the mission. Even with energy wings, it wasn't guaranteed that Lancelot Albion
would make it to Tokyo. Pretty much the entire air space around the Ashford academy was off
limits for anyone, let alone wanted Knightmare. However, the Knight of Seven knew how to
surprise the former prime minister.

"It would have been so easy to detonate Lancelot and deal with multiple issues at once," Schneizel
whispered to himself.

His ever-loyal assistant Kanon cleared his throat. "Your Highness."

"Oh, yes? Don't worry, Kanon, I'm only thinking aloud. Almost forgot. Mr Ried, how is your
progress?"

Schneizel almost forgot he wasn't alone in the room. He looked around the command centre of his
newly built super weapon. Damocles was pretty much complete. While it was still preferred to
finish the final touches, according to his engineers the battle station was ready and could be
operated, its arsenal fully prepared. As usual he was surrounded by his sister and the former Black
Knight. Their empress was left out of the meeting since it wasn't necessary for Nunnally to be there
for this part of the plan, instead preparing to give a speech for the entire world once Lelouch's lies
were revealed.

Cornelia looked conflicted. "Kururugi should capture Lelouch and bring him here. Without their
master, his puppets would fall apart."

"Wishful thinking at best, sister. Lelouch isn't so simple, I'm certain that he has a backup plan
should something happen to him. Even if he will die, our sister Marrybell is still under his
command and is likely to become the new empress." Although Schneizel was doubtful their sister
would be very successful in ruling Britannia, she would most likely just follow whatever plan
Lelouch left for her. "Not to mention, revealing his past lies should have a better effect, crushing
Lelouch's credibility as well as ruining the Black Knights' image. So, how is it going Mr Ried?"

"Eh- we have a problem, or two." The former reporter said nervously as he tried to operate one of
the computers. "I'm unable to take control over their communicators."

Schneizel blinked. "What? But you said that-"

"I know! But something interrupts my signal!" Diethard snapped in a rare display of anger. "I don't
know how, but my codes and backdoor exits I left in the Order's system and Tokyo don't work. But
we have a bigger issue. All news channels started showing this-"

Diethard showed them the hottest topic on every channel right now. The sudden appearance of the
White Reaper was no longer the only problem both Britannia and Federation were facing since now
their forces were fighting between each other in confusion.

Black Knights Knightmares in the company of European Alexanders were attacking the Britannian
positions. Ikaruga opened fire with some of its weapons at the side of Ashford academy while
Nemesis started to move towards the location of peace talks, no doubt trying to rescue the
Emperor. Some news channels even showed more concerning things, such as a multi-coloured
Knightmare that was an exact copy of Lancelot Albion fighting against Black Knights, while a
centaur-like war machine moved with incredible speed around the city, with a giant scythe. And
then there were the newscasters and reporters.

"Just a moment ago, the Black Knights' flagship attacked-"

"We're receiving multiple reports that the Order of Black Knights have attacked the cit-"

"Knights of the Round engaged in a fight with-"

Cornelia li Britannia liked to think of herself as a battle-hardened woman who saw the most
unsettling images in the life of a soldier. However, she won't hide the fact that witnessing her
always calm and collected brother Schneizel in a panicked and lost state was the last thing she ever
wanted to see.

"What the hell is going on."

Schneizel el Britannia muttered under his breath as the Order of the Black Knights started a fight
with Britannia, but none of this was his plan.

No, not his plan. But it was part of her plan.

Ashford Academy.

He felt sick.

Suzaku listened to the open channels, waiting for the prepared video made by Diethard to start
playing out. However, he saw none of that. Instead of the video that was meant to show the true
identity of the real Zero, filmed by Diethard on board the Ikaruga, Suzaku saw dozens of
notifications. All of them spoke about the fight that took place in the city around them.

'What is going on?!'

According to the plan, Nunnally was supposed to give a speech before the entire world,
condemning Lelouch for his lies and once again calling for the world to deny him as the Emperor.

None of that happened. Suzaku was left without any instructions on what to do now. The Japanese
Knight felt a chill run down his spine as he stared at the people before him. The shock was
replaced with anger and looks of defiance. They were still afraid of death, but the Knight of Seven
was losing control of the situation. Despite his big words, Suzaku didn't do anything else.

It wasn't a surprise when Lelouch spoke… and was followed by Zero.

"Is this some kind of joke, Kururugi Suzaku?" Lelouch spoke as he pushed Bishop away to give
him more space. He looked around the giant room, at the other hostages. "We were in the middle
of actually trying to achieve harmony through peaceful means, something one of your former
masters always wanted to accomplish, well except one. I bet she would have been furious by your
actions, Suzaku."
'Always the smart ass, even in the face of danger.' Suzaku could never understand how Lelouch
managed to ignore danger around himself so easily. 'Even when you were hiding under the mask of
Zero, you were too daring. And the price for that was the lives of the innocent.'

"I have to agree." Zero nodded. "The last thing I expected today was for the Japanese Knight of the
Round to come uninvited and ruin the talks that were meant to improve the situation of his people.
Suzaku, what are you even trying to accomplish now?"

"Be quiet!" Suzaku barked at them, but none of them even flinched while the Japanese pilot started
to panic. 'Dealing with Lelouch alone was difficult, but now I have to tolerate his imposter.'

He was getting too worked up, too angry for no reason. Suzaku knew Lelouch, Zero, and they had
this effect on him. After everything they, he has done, Suzaku couldn't just stay calm while in the
same room. The memories of everything were popping up in his head.

"Cousin, why are you doing this? All of this?" Kaguya joined the conversation as she walked
around the table to stand next to Lelouch and Zero. "This is the first time I see you since China and
the first thing you do is point the weapons at us. Suzaku, for the love of everything our people
suffered and died for, please lower your weapons. If you want to represent Princess Nunnally vi
Britannia, I will personally vouch in your favour to let you stay."

"Can't promise anything," Lelouch smirked, not even trying to play along with his old friend.
"Suzaku did break many laws ever since I took the throne, he won't get off with a simple fine after
everything."

"You forced my hand!" Suzaku roared while Lelouch raised his hand in fake surrender, still
grinning.

'The Special Zone massacre, the Black Rebellion, the Second Battle of Tokyo, the rescue attempt in
Germany, my service under Charles- you forced me into those situations, Lelouch! I never wanted
to be part of any of this!'

"No idea what you are talking about, Suzaku Kururugi. I don't remember forcing you to do
anything."

Zero raised his hand. "I believe that was intended for me, wasn't it Sir Kururugi? I'm sure you feel
like my actions for the sake of the Japanese people and the accident with Princess Euphemia-"

"I told you to never say her name again!" Suzaku shouted before he stopped himself. 'Wait, no, I
said that to Lelouch, not this faker.'

"Huh? I don't remember ever hearing that." Zero sounded genuinely surprised.

For a moment, Suzaku forgot that there were two of them.

"You two-!"

'Bastard, killer, liar, manipulator, monster-!'

"Suzaku," Kallen spoke for the first time since the start of the talks. "What the fuck are you
doing?!"

Taken aback by sudden fury from his old nemesis, Suzaku tried to speak. "Kal-"

"Not only did you become a butcher under that bastard Charles and killed your own countrymen,
but you're constantly doing everything in your power to rob the Japanese people of their right to be
happy, to live." Kallen didn't even pretend to hide her anger, she was done. "What are you even
trying to accomplish anymore? Like for real? Charles is dead, and Schneizel did jack shit to free
Japan. But them?" She pointed at Zero, Lelouch and Kaguya. "They were actually doing something
to improve the situation for everyone. Instead of just killing people who stood in their way, we
actually managed to sit peacefully and suggest the best ways to fix shit. But no! Our self-
proclaimed knight in shining armour just had to fall from the sky and ruin everything for everyone,
again! What the fuck do you even want at this point?!"

"I-I-" the Japanese Knight felt like he would puke any moment.

Suzaku tried to remember his own promise from that day when he fought Lelouch again in
Germany. The images in his head flashed as he started to remember everything, every battle he had
against Lelouch in the past. When the raven-haired bastard was still Zero- no, now.

"I want to bring to justice-"

"Hearing the word 'justice' from the mouth of White Reaper who massacred entire armies and left
cities in rubble seems like a sick joke." Leila Malcal made herself known as Lancelot turned to her.
"This is the first time we see each other, Kururugi Suzaku, if hiding inside a Knightmare can be
counted as such. However, I heard more than enough about the Britannian Butcher who is as
infamous as the Vampire of Britannia himself was before. Despite hearing about you from
Emperor Lelouch, I could never understand how someone with such a noble goal as yours could
serve someone like Charles or Schneizel."

The memories of his time in Europe returned to Suzaku. That time when he was forced to protect
Lelouch, no, Julius-

'I wanted to kill him every moment.'

Back then, even if he were Geassed, Lelouch acted as if the entire world spun around him. As
Charles's pawn, Lelouch sent the EU into a state of chaos and now one of its former leaders was
practically serving Lelouch. Suzaku was sure Leila Malcal was either Geassed or manipulated by
him. How else could someone like her cooperate with Lelouch?

Suzaku felt sick. He felt like his entire body was on fire, moving fingers felt beyond painful.

"I… I am the knight of Her Majesty Nunnally vi Britannia-"

"Please, Suzaku. Even my sister understands she is just a puppet, you of all people would know
that better than others." Zero, no, Lelouch spoke while Suzaku had to take a double look between
the two. "After all, you never had issues using people close to you as stepping stones in order to
achieve what you wanted."

'You're one to talk!' Lelouch was no better than him, no, his old friend was worse. Suzaku knew it.
For every sin Suzaku was forced to commit, Lelouch has done dozens more. Suzaku felt sick even
thinking about it. He felt pain in his head as the memories of everyone who died because of
Lelouch flashed in his head, it was painful. They didn't deserve to die like that, because of Lelouch.
His hand trembled as he focused on the image before him.

"Sir Kururugi." Bishop once again moved in front of his master as the old knight noticed that the
white Knightmare was actually turning its head at the sides, the erratic movement causing an
audible creak of the grind of metal, its weapon slightly faltering in place and raising whenever
someone spoke. Reminding an older knight of the pilots who suffered shell shock. "As the knight
who failed his loved one, I ask you to stop this madness at once. If you aren't willing to surrender,
then at least leave this place at once. My master and his friend Zero were close to taking a step
towards a better future. I'm sure Her Highness Euphemia would have understood it."

'You don't know her! None of you knows what she would have wanted!' Suzaku wanted to scream.
They would never understand someone as innocent and kind as Euphy, even-

Even…

Even Suzaku couldn't understand her, not anymore.

How she could discard her chance to get the throne so easily because of Suzaku, for his people?

What she found in some honourable number who was looked down upon by his own countrymen.

He couldn't understand how she could see the good in everyone around her.

'Including Lelouch.'

Suzaku could never see what she saw in her half-brother.

The one who took her life.

The one who destroyed her dream, a project that took everything from Euphemia, including her
life.

The same brother who could easily use everyone around him as pawns and tools to achieve his
goals.

The brother who had the audacity to claim to understand her when even Suzaku couldn't see the
world the same way Euphemia did. Not anymore.

'It is all your fault!' Suzaku stared at Lelouch who, like before, was dressed in dark robes, and that
mask! That damn mask that took the life of his dear Euphy. 'You took her life, killed her. Now you
want to kill Nunnally, your own sister, you're a monster-!'

That was definitely what Lelouch would do, Suzaku knew it. Lelouch killed his siblings, and his
parents already. What is stopping him from taking the life of another royal? Suzaku knew what
would stop Lelouch for good. He will.

'I wanted to show the world your lies and prove that you're nothing but a fraud who tricked the
entire world. But-'

The original plan was no longer possible for whatever reason, for which Suzaku honestly didn't
care anymore.

Lancelot Albion stared at Lelouch who was standing behind Kallen, still hiding behind the others,
in that cursed mask of his.

'But-'

Suzaku remembered Kamine Island. That time when he could have shot Lelouch, to end this
nightmare for good, forever. That time when his green-haired partner interrupted him. When she
knocked out his gun.

'I could have saved her-'

"Euphy-"

His wide green eyes closed as the Japanese Knight tried to remember for one moment, their time
together. Tried to remember the sweet face of his princess, the one whom he loved so much. Her
angelic face and gentle voice-

'Suzaku-'

"Suzaku-!" His eyes snapped open as he heard her voice, of his princess. No, not a princess, not
anymore.

"E-Nunnally."

Suzaku called his new master's name, already tired of the current situation and his strange
condition. Was it stress? That didn't matter, he had to focus on the mission at hand.

"What is going on? Why-why didn't you tell the truth about Lelouch to the world? Why Nunnally?"

"Suzaku, I-" Was it a worry or dread he heard in her voice? "The plan has changed. I want you to
capture Lelouch. Bring him in, alive, no matter what."

Suzaku stopped looking at the people around him. His attention only focused on the masked
bastard Zero- Lelouch.

The special zone was almost completed. Everything Nunnally wanted, everything she did for this
dream. Everything was destroyed, corrupted by him! Lelouch! Zero ruined everything he touched!
His lies! His Geass! Everything went wrong because of him, if it wasn't for him then Euphemia
would have been alive.

"You!"

Why bring someone like him to Nunnally? To allow him to use his Geass on everyone around her?

'The same way he used Geassed on Euphemia before?!'

Suzaku couldn't allow that, never again. He would never repeat the mistake that took Euphemia's
life. Not when it meant losing Euphy- Nunnally.

'Today was meant to be her special day, everything she worked for and gave up everything in order
to achieve. But you ruined everything, Lelouch!'

Lancelot Albion pulled away its V.A.R.I.S rifles as its metallic hands reached forward, towards its
target. Both Bishop and Kallen were unable to react fast enough when the white Knightmare
grabbed him, Lelouch.

Everyone froze as Bishop stood in front of his lord while Kallen moved closer toward the man she
loves. Meanwhile, the pilot of the death machine focused entirely on the person in his hands.

"Lelouch!" Suzaku roared like a wild animal as his Knightmare captured the masked man.

"You-you-!" His old friend, enemy, spoke as he struggled in the machine's grasp. "Boy, you're
making a big mistake-"

Mistake.

'Mistake.'
"Mistake," Suzaku whispered.

A distant memory appeared in the mind of the knight. A memory of two old friends yelling at each
other in a cave on some godforsaken island. Zero and Suzaku. Lelouch and Suzaku. Of all the
words they said to each other, only one was on the Japanese boy's mind.

"Your-"

Suzaku pressed down on the controls as Lancelot Albion's hands started to crush the masked
revolutionary. A mortal caught in the grasp of a titan.

"-very existence-"

"Agh-!" Zero, Lelouch shouted while someone in a white robe on the ground screamed in horror.
One of Lelouch's puppets no doubt.

"- is a mistake!"

"Stop it, Suzaku!" Kaguya, Kallen, everyone shouted at once. Or was it only one person? Suzaku
didn't care. All that mattered to him was dealing with the monster- the demon in his hands- at his
complete mercy.

'No, no more mercy for him!'

For everything he has done, for all the lives he destroyed, Lelouch-

"You need to be erased from the face of the Earth!"

SNAP.

One moment Zero, Lelouch, was trying to move and the next, he went numb. No more moving, no
more lying, no more using others for the sake of his plans. No more Lelouch, Zero was dead.

Outside these academy walls, the entire city was slowly turning into another battlefield as both
sides were preoccupied. However, the cameras that were meant to film historical peace talks didn't
stop working, they continued to broadcast everything within Ashford to the outside world. And so,
everyone could see it.

Everyone saw how Suzaku Kururugi killed him.

What was supposed to be a glorious day, turned into a horrific tragedy at one moment. All thanks
to one knight.

The man who brought nothing but destruction and pain for Japan, for the whole world, was dead
for good. No return, no resurrection, nothing for him. His slaves, the Black Knights, and Britannia,
were free now- Suzaku saved them all-

"Zero, C-" Kaguya whispered in horror while Leila moved in front of the chairwoman to cover her.

"Agh-!" Suzaku felt a weak smile, his hands started to shake. He did it. He finally did it! Lelouch
was no more! He- 'I killed him. I killed him. I killed him-'

He went against Nunnally's order.

'I accomplished the mission.'

"You-!" Suzaku blinked, unable to process how he could see an exact copy of that man standing
right behind a huge old knight and a redhead girl. "Suzaku!"

"Lelouch-?"

But Suzaku killed him… the corpse of Zero was lying right before him. How could there be
another Lelouch? Was it another trick of his? Another plan to lie to everyone?! What was-

"Agh!" Suzaku vomited, feeling dizzy after everything. 'What- why do I feel exhausted, hungry-
what?'

"Suzaku!" His princess screamed from another end of a communicator as Suzaku snapped back to
reality. That voice, the voice of an angel, the one Suzaku promised to protect no matter what-

"Euphemia!"

Euphy's voice became confused for a second. "What? No, it is me- Nevermind, Suzaku, you must
leave now!"

Yes, leave. Suzaku needed to escape. The mission was accomplished, and Zero was dead. Lelouch
will no longer bother them, or him, anymore. Never again.

He took a last look at the people under him. The copy of Lelouch was kneeling over the corpse of
Zero, holding him closely. The poor soul was Geassed to obey Lelouch even after his death. He
was just another victim… all of them were, just like Suzaku-

As Lancelot Albion flew upwards, the moment it was out of the Ashford building, an unexpected
hadron ray hit the white Knightmare, sending it flying. Suzaku didn't react for one second even as
the monitors of his Knightmare showed a danger notification. Lancelot Albion was surrounded by
a green shield as it hit one of the empty buildings of his old academy. His Blaze Luminous shields
protected him from the attack, but he didn't dodge.

'I-I didn't feel it. That means the command-'

The command to live, the one that bastard forced on him was gone. Suzaku lost it. He… he was
free-

"You little son of a bitch!" An unknown male voice shouted as a Knightmare similar in design to
Anya's Mordred appeared in Suzaku's sight. However, unlike his fellow knights, this one was
armed beyond the norm. "Dropping from the sky and ruining the day for everyone, you little shit!"

As the pilot spoke, the dark red and grey bulky Knightmare with a weird headpiece opened fire
with a minigun. However, the green shields continued to protect Lancelot Albion even now.
Suzaku didn't know what to do anymore. Should he engage in a fight? Or just allow his attacker to
finish him off? Suzaku didn't care anymore, he was finally free from everything.

'I killed Lelouch. I no longer have the command to live.' Suzaku could just allow them to end his
life and be done with it. He-

"If you want to die so badly then turn off your fucking shields!" The man shouted as Suzaku
looked at the weird Knightmare. However, he wasn't alone anymore.

One of the attackers turned towards its commander. "Lord Thomson-!"

"Shut up, Jenny! Go and help Orange save our fucking Emperor!" The regular Vincent Ward said
nothing as it flew away, several Scarlet Guard Knightmares followed him. "Everyone else! Focus
your fire on the little cunt before us! Don't stop firing until nothing but rubble is left of him! Fire!"

Vincent Wards, the red Knightmares that Suzaku fought against in Germany, and Akatsukis
surrounded Lancelot Albion. All of their weapons were aimed at him. The pilot inside the white
Knightmare just laughed at this. Soon they opened fire. Bullets, hadron rays, rockets, everything
flew towards Suzaku while the green shield absorbed all damage, saving its pilot for now.

'So this is how it will end, huh?' The Britannians and the Japanese worked together to kill him.
How fitting for Suzaku to go out like this. Perfect. 'I will finally rest, I can-'

"His Majesty was secured! I repeat, Emperor Lelouch was rescued. His Majesty is safe-!"
Someone announced on the open channel and Suzaku froze.

What

No, it couldn't be-

Suzaku crushed him with Lancelot's own hands. He murdered that monster, for good, forever-

'I killed Zero, I killed Lelouch!'

Lelouch was supposed to be dead! Meant to be dead-!

"He is dead! Lelouch is dead!"

Suzaku shouted trying to prove to the entire world that the masked liar was dead. However, none of
them heard him, instead, they counted to shoot at him. Suzaku snapped back, understanding that
they wouldn't see the truth like this. And so he activated the energy wings and opened fire at
everything around him with them. Luminous wings opened fire with green energy as they hit every
Knightmare around him. Only a few remained standing after that. Those red Knightmares that
acted as Lelouch's bodyguard, red just like Guren, and that Mordred-like-walking arsenal.

"Lelouch is dead! That monster is dead!"

Lancelot Albion rose up into the air, waving its hand towards the place of talks. The dark red and
grey Knightmare stopped firing as its pilot took a long hard look at Suzaku's machine.

"You're blind bitch! Even I can see with one eye that you took out the wrong person! My boss
Lelouch vi Britannia is alive! You killed Zero, you little cunt!" Peter Thomson announced as
Suzaku's mind went dark

"What? But I killed Lelouch! He was in his Zero dark costume and mask-"

'No… no, no-'

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

He saw it with his own eyes! Lelouch was dead- his corpse fell on the ground- and-

But there were two of them.

'Lelouch and the man behind Zero's mask. The real one and a fake one. Lelouch and his faker, I
didn't kill Lelouch, it was a faker-'

"Are you high or something? The boy wears only white, you killed Zero and the entire world saw
it." Peter coldly said as the remaining Knightmares opened fire at Suzaku again. "And now, we
will kill you."

However, this time Lancelot Albion was going to just allow them to kill him. Not anymore.

"I-!"

"Suzaku!" Her voice spoke again from the communicators as the screen showed the image of his
princess. A little blonde angel was replaced with a pink-haired beauty for one moment.

"Euphy-"

"Snap out of it!" Nunnally yelled at him. "Get out of there! Right now! This is an order!"

'Order, her order. Nunnally's order. That's right!'

Suzaku swore to defend her no matter what, to make her an empress! The Japanese Knight
clenched his fists as he took a deep breath. His focus and mind are now working properly.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" He repeated the same phrase he was telling Charles, to Schneizel and now to
Nunnally.

Instead of fighting and killing everyone around him, Lancelot Albion raised its energy wings as it
moved up. One moment it was on the ground and the next, it completely vanished. Peter's
Knightmare Uncle Teddy silently watched as the little white dots just disappeared out of their sight.
It was so fast, it was useless trying to go after him. However, just because the White Reaper was
gone didn't mean their problems ended there. Nope. Peter turned towards the rest of Tokyo,
hearing the sounds of battle. Soon his gaze fell on the giant battleship, Ikaruga, that was firing at
their soldiers.

"Shit, this won't do. Jenny."

His trusted and scared first lieutenant immediately answered. "Yes, my lord?"

"I called for reinforcements, secure the entire area and shot anyone who tried to start a fight. Move
His Majesty to the safe zone. I will go and take out the big annoying bird in the sky."

Peter said as his Uncle Teddy flew towards Ikaruga.

Ashford Academy.

Despite the fact that Lancelot Albion left, nothing returned to normal. If anything, the dead silence
that was interrupted by the noise of fighting outside only worsened the situation.

Soon the guards, both Britannians and Black Knights, stormed the room. However, all of them
froze upon seeing the sight in the centre of the room, right under the destroyed ceiling.

There, both Britannians and Japanese could see their greatest enemy and hero silently lying on the
ground, not moving. All former hostages silently stared at the scene with the horrific realization of
what happened moments ago.

Zero was dead. Killed by Kururugi Suzaku.

The masked man lay silently in the arms of Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia who was holding him
like he lost a dear person in his life.
No one could say anything at the moment. Everyone in the room as well as around the world saw
it. Zero was killed once again, and this time it was impossible for him to return. Well, at least so
thought everyone who didn't know who was under the mask of Zero at the moment.

'Cera.' Lelouch wanted to take off her mask and see his Witch's face. He knew she wouldn't die
since Leila didn't take away her code yet. However, it didn't mean he could just sit calmly when
his beloved partner was killed once again. She suffered because of him, again. Lelouch wanted to
ignore everyone and comfort C.C. who suffered and died because of him again. But he couldn't do
that, so instead, Lelouch gently held her, hoping she would wake up soon.

Kallen kneeled next to him and took his hand, whispering so no one could hear. "She will be fine,
don't worry. She survived the worst."

"I know..."

"Lelouch, we need to leave." His Knight of Zero advised.

Lelouch could say nothing but nod and get up. Once he took a look around the room, the White
Emperor saw his captain of the guard in a panicked state run up to him.

"Your Majesty!" Jeremiah looked like he faced death with how pale his face looked. He squeezed
Lelouch's shoulders, worried as if his master might disappear any second now. "Are you alright?!
We need to bring you to medical-"

"Jeremiah… my loyal knight, calm down." Lelouch placed a hand on Orange's shoulder to reassure
him. "I'm fine... though I can't say the same about Zero… what happened? What is the status
outside?"

His cyborg bodyguard took a deep breath before he spoke again. "Your Majesty, Lord Peter
managed to drive out Lancelot and reinforcements are already here. Both Britannians and Black
Knights in the academy took a defensive position."

'It was expected,' Lelouch thought. The Black Knights around Ashford were Zero's Squad, people
that Tamaki managed to sneak in. All of them were unlikely to start firing at the Britannians,
especially when they saw a common enemy appear and kill their Zero. However, Lelouch could
still hear the sounds of the battlefield. This wasn't good. He ordered everyone to turn off the
cameras before addressing his first knight.

"Jeremiah, what is going on in Tokyo?"

His Knight of One paused for a second, collecting himself before speaking again.

"Your Majesty, both Britannia and the Order of Black Knights are engaged in battle all around the
city. The Order opened fire at us when Suzaku Kururugi appeared. Ikaruga is currently fighting at
our positions, while the Black Knights' Knightmare units together with W-0 machines are fighting
on the ground."

"What?!" Both Leila and Kaguya shouted in shock. Neither could ever expect such a thing to
occur. Black Knights hated Lelouch/Zero, but they would never be the first to take a shot in the
current situation. Lelouch and Leila knew it was an inevitable part of the plan, but the W-0 unit
wasn't supposed to be part of it, ever. There was no logical explanation for it, except one.

"My soldiers would never start the battle, they know it is suicidal, Wyvern Squad-" Leila stopped
as her eyes went wide. "Geass."
The White Emperor stayed silent as he looked around. So, this was Schneizel's plan. Pure chaos.
Lelouch couldn't see what his older sibling was trying to achieve right now, and frankly, he didn't
care. His violet eyes turned towards Kallen. There was only one Geass user left in the wild who
was capable of causing such problems with his power. The last member of the European Peace
Mark cell. This was problematic for everyone.

"Q1, take Guren and Zero's Squad, I want you to get out there and stop them all. Jeremiah, Leila,
find the W-0 and cancel the effect of Geass."

Kallen stood up and nodded. "I won't disappoint you, Lelouch."

"By your command, Your Majesty." Jeremiah bowed before going for his Sutherland Sieg.

Leila looked at Lelouch with a thankful expression before running after the cyborg bodyguard.

"Good, now." He turned towards Kaguya who was calming down Tianzi, the little one was still
visibly shaken by what she saw. "Bishop, you and the Scarlet Guard will escort us out of here to
Nemesis. I will take command from there."

His knight nodded while Lelouch stood up, still holding C.C. in Zero's attire. He was thankful for
her code that ensured her body won't change, always leaving it light and easy to carry. As the
Emperor of Britannia walked out of the academy, with Zero in his hands, Lelouch couldn't help but
laugh. Thankfully none of his escorts could hear or be bothered to call him out on this.

"This is absurd," Lelouch spoke quietly.

"..." Lelouch breathed in, his Witch was unavailable for now, but she would be fine soon. He knew
it and that was the only reassurance keeping him calm and collected right now. She didn't move in
his arms, but Lelouch could feel that C.C. was still with him.

"This wasn't how I imagined any of this to happen, C.C., but I promise I will make sure everything
will be fine."

The world wouldn't take anything or anyone from Lelouch ever again, he won't allow it. C.C. will
live thanks to her code, but if it were anyone else whom Lelouch cared for, they would have been
lost forever.

Unacceptable.

Schneizel, Cornelia, Suzaku and even Nunnally dared to think they could hurt him again? Hurt
people Lelouch held close to his heart? They called him a monster, a demon… and now they shall
get one. Maybe it was foolish and childish to get worked up over the "death" of his immortal
partner, but Lelouch didn't care. His Witch, Leila's friends in W-0, and Kaguya's people, all were
used by his enemies.

Suzaku… his old friend wasn't alright today. Lelouch could tell something was wrong with him.
However, that wasn't the most important matter for the Emperor at the moment.

'Defend Tokyo, crush any Black Knight who will oppose me. And then I will find Schneizel and
Suzaku. I will make them pay for everything they did today.' He thought coldly, his hands
tightening around his Witch.#
 Fallen Order Edit Chapter Title

August 28th. Tokyo.

In the area of the city controlled by the Black Knights, confusion ran amok the Order's forces and
chaos arose. Ambushes led to small skirmishes, and soon nearly every part of the city was caught
in a firefight.

Not even high command knew how to react in mere seconds when their main ship suddenly began
firing at the Britannian position. Both their leader Zero and UFN Chairwoman Kaguya were taken
hostage so the logical decision was to rescue them, but how can anyone organize a rescue mission
when everyone was busy trying to understand if war broke out between both sides? According to
some reports, even the Europeans joined in a raid against Britannia in Tokyo as the Alexanders of
the famous W-0 were seen attacking unprepared Britannian positions. Without Zero, no one knew
who to listen to or what to do, fight the Brits or not. Without a word from their emperor, the
Britannians didn't know whether they should fight or try to stop the battle. It was pure chaos for
everyone.

The chaos which was used by people who knew how to benefit the most from it.

While the Black Knights were confused and lost, unable to organize a proper… well anything, a
sole woman's plan was to take the fight to them. The multi-cloured copy of Lancelot Albion flew
inside the territory of UFN within Tokyo, followed by a squadron of Britannians Knightmares and
Hounds. Some of the Black Knights didn't even open fire on them, scared that it would trigger an
international accident. Surrounding those people was easy without any bloodshot. Of course, not
everyone was like that.

A group of Akatsukis opened fire on the Knightmare with energy wings, hoping to at least slow it
down. However, they would have no such luck as they were all sliced in half in a mere second
while the Knightmare moved at an incredible speed, pretty much teleporting from one place to
another. The Britannian hit team consisted mainly of Vincent Wards and Hounds, prioritizing
speed over firepower. Besides, firepower would have been fruitless as a Knight of the Round was
presently taking care of most of the enemy.

"I want all Hounds to disperse between the buildings and scout out anything that passes for
reinforcements!" The commanding voice of the Second Knight of the Round Cinder Fall was met
with absolute obedience from the automated Knightmares. "The Black Knights are still confused
for the most part. Take as many of them out before they can organize any kind of counter-attack!"

'Not to mention, according to OSI intelligence both General Tohdoh and Commander Li Xingke
are in this part of the city. Taking them out will cripple the command structure of the Black
Knights.' Her Emperor had a long-term plan on how to deal with them with minimal resistance
from the Order, but Cinder couldn't let this chance go to waste. 'Both White Emperor and Zero
were taken hostage while some of the Black Knights started engaging our forces. If we play our
cards right, we can blame everything on the Order's high command and take control over them.'

Zero, or rather the masked C.C., already spoke about unknown conspirators within the Order; it
would be easy to denounce Tohdoh, Xingke, and Ohgi as traitors who tried to take out both the
Emperor and Zero. Using Kallen and her small group of loyalists, the fake Zero could easily claim
credibility and deal with people who threw him away. However, they needed to act fast. This battle
must end quickly while there is confusion inside Tokyo. The last thing everyone needed was an
actual full-out war between Britannia and UFN.
"You're taking your sweet time, Q2," the voice of one known as D.S. was unusually serious and
was practically daring Cinder to retort. There was a calm fury in her voice, one that the one-eyed
knight could relate to. "Everyone in that part of Tokyo is already heading towards you and is likely
to shoot on sight."

"Doesn't matter, I will cut down every last one of them. We only need Kallen and Chairwoman
Kaguya to gain control of the Order with Zero."

"Then you better act fast before the rest of the UFN decides that we're at war."

Cinder sighed, "As long as our forces hold fast, the Federation won't dare to make the first strike.
They're too scared to be blamed for a full-on war."

"The leaders of the Black Knights are still here in Tokyo and might order their overseas forces to
attack. We have to expect the worst."

The knight wanted to curse, "What about His Majesty? I can move towards-"

"You will stay here and complete your mission, Q2," it was surreal to hear such venom in the voice
of the usually carefree and lewd OSI director. "Peter and the Scarlet Guard will rescue Lelouch.
While you will deal with the Black Knights."

Cinder glared at the duo hair-coloured woman on her monitor, "You aren't Lelouch to order me
around."

'Lelouch's life is in danger. I promised to slay his enemies,' Cinder's only eye flashed red as she
remembered his command. 'I must be there-!'

"No, my Champion's safety is guaranteed, I have sent the rest of the Round to deal with the more
serious issue at the moment," The strange woman's stern gaze didn't let up. "Cinder, I understand
how you feel, but we must think about everything around us. Lelouch's safety is guaranteed; what
we must prioritize now is taking out the Black Knights' high command. It would ease the future for
us all, so would you kindly focus on your current mission?"

"I understand…" Cinder didn't want to accept it, but she knew it was the best use for her right now.
Not to mention, Kallen was there. Even if the redhead was without a Knightmare, Cinder knew she
would make sure Lelouch was safe. 'I won't ever admit it to her, but I know she is capable enough
to get him out of that mess.'

Although, leaving the fate of her Emperor at the mercy of someone like Suzaku was beyond
infuriating to Cinder.

"I will have to vent my frustrations on the Black Knights in the meantime." She frowned as her
monitor found two of the signals she was looking for. "Found them."

In a rare instance, a cold smile formed on D.S.'s face. "Leila managed to make Lelouch consider a
more peaceful approach to the Black Knights. However, I want to watch them writhe in agony. I
have no desire to show them any mercy. Deal with them as you please. I will move Nemesis
towards the Ashford Academy and prepare everything for Lelouch when he will take command. As
for now, go and wreak havoc, White Queen."

A feral smile formed on Cinder's face as she forced her Geass command to work. With one red eye,
the second knight spoke.

"With pleasure."
Her Amber moved, flying with incredible speed as it closed miles in mere seconds. Her target
hadn't even seen the attack coming until the last moment, the reflex and intuition of Kyoshiro
Tohdoh allowed him to raise his Seidoutou katana just before Cinder could slice him with her
maser vibration swords. The momentum was still too much as Amber pressured Zangetsu, the
winged Knightmare pushing the other back as they slid through the ground and crashed into a
building. Zangetsu's head looked up as Amber drew back one of its swords and prepared to plunge
it down into its frame, Tohdoh's machine grabbed hold of the opposing blade's hand to prevent
movement and raised its katana to block the incoming attack.

"You're the Second Knight of the Round, Cinder Fall," Tohdoh said as his machine's grip
struggled.

"The one and only!" Cinder smirked before drawing back and firing one of her arm-mounted slash
harkens. Zangetsu easily blocked it but was caught off guard when Amber once again tried to close
the distance and cut him. Using its katana's ability to get out of close quarters as blue flames
appeared out of the blades, an additional boost was given to the black Knightmare as it dashed to
the side. "Now just stop moving and die, old man!"

"You're no different from the rest of your countrymen. Your leader is in danger, but instead of
saving him, you're more concerned about killing. Both Emperor Lelouch and Zero are in danger!
We should stop fighting and rescue them!"

The black-haired pilot laughed mockingly. "Please, as if you of all people care about my Emperor
or your own masked leader. A joke from someone who had no issues opening fire at Zero before!"

"So, you already know," inside his Zangetsu, Tohdoh frowned. "It would appear Emperor Lelouch
learned from his mistakes. Or he simply used his power on you, turning you into a mindless slave
of his will."

"Hahaha~! Only two things right with that little theory! One, my Emperor made sure our loyalty
won't crumble as yours did. Two, His Imperial Majesty did use Geass on me, but unlike you
cowards, I welcomed his gift," Cinder's eye flashed red again as she quickly sheathed her purple
swords and pulled out two Super V.A.R.I.S. rifles and shot hadron rays at Zangetsu. The black
Knightmare dodged the first shot while his Radiant Wave absorbed the second one. "Because
unlike you, I'm not afraid of real power."

"Your power is nothing but lies!" Zangetsu aimed its katana as it rushed toward her. Their blades
met as Cinder deftly pulled out a maser sword while still holding a hadron rifle in her machine's left
hand. "His cursed power brought nothing but suffering and destruction!"

Amber's head tilted as its eyes seemed to glare at Zangetsu.

"And how would you even know this?! All you people did was side with the enemy prince instead
of your own leader and saviour!" Amber kicked Zangetsu who managed to block the Knightmare's
hill but was sent back. Not wasting a moment, Amber raised its V.A.R.I.S rifle at its right hand and
fired, but Zangetsu cut the hadron ray in two. "You didn't give Lelouch a chance to defend himself!
He was devastated after believing he lost his sister. But instead of supporting him, you stabbed him
in the back!"

"..."

Tohdoh was silent for a moment as Zangetsu lowered its weapon. Cinder didn't attack yet, thinking
it was a trap.
"I won't deny those facts. As a warrior, I know what we did on that day was dishonourable. I knew
Lelouch and Nunnally when they were children. Maybe I should have defended the honour of a
man who saved the Japanese people… or maybe I should have shot the manipulator who was
hiding his true nature as a Britannian prince and his monstrous power while using my people as
pawns. I don't know what the best course of action could have been, even now I still think about
what-if scenarios. I do have regrets about that day even now. I'm ready to acknowledge what we
did at that moment might have been wrong. However, it doesn't change the current situation,"
Tohdoh said as Zangetsu pointed its katana towards Amber. "We're on opposite sides of a conflict.
Everyone knows that war will break out sooner or later. I have no desire to play Lelouch's games
and see my nation become just another pawn for him to use. Even if we made mistakes, the past is
the past, we cannot change it. All we can do is move forward and accept the consequences of our
choices, Cinder Fall. I will accept mine and will fight for the sake of my homeland and my people
even if it means fighting the man who united us!"

"...honour? Bullshit!"

Despite his words of honour, all the Second could think of was the absolute disgust she felt
towards Tohdoh, towards all the Black Knights.

'Nothing we can do with the past? Just have to move forward? Toss aside the man who led them,
and made them into what they're today? Without investigation, without trial, without any sort of
justice, did the Black Knights sentence, Lelouch, to death and now they were simply saying to
forget about it?!'

For a single moment, Cinder Fall, no, Cinder Blackwood remembered her childhood. When her
own mother was used as a mere scapegoat for slaughter, despite being a noble and doing her best to
prosper within the Britannian world, she was tossed aside. And even when it was revealed that her
mother wasn't responsible for the crime she was accused of, the people did nothing to amend
destroying her family, and her childhood. They just moved away, never thinking about the life they
ruined with their mistake.

She lost her mother to people like those, and now Black Knights thought they could just ignore
their mistakes? Fuck no.

"You dare speak about the future but will deny my Emperor?! Ungrateful bastard!" Amber shot
another hadron ray as Tohdoh avoided it, but she hit again and again. "If it weren't for Lelouch you
wouldn't be here, commanding an entire army of Black Knights! I read all your files, Kyoshiro
Tohdoh! The only reason you're alive is because Lelouch saved you! He gave you everything in
order to turn your pathetic bunch of rebels and Japanese relics into a modern army, capable of
challenging Britannia! And this is your gratitude?! 'Past is the past, nothing we can do about it?'
What a fucking joke! I will make sure you all pay for your crimes! History will remember you as
nothing but small insects who dared to oppose His Majesty Lelouch vi Britannia! And Japan will
remain as his subject, forever." Amber prepared to rush forward. "Even if I will have to massacre
its entire population to keep them in line!"

"Over my dead body!"

"That's my intent!"

Amber rushed forward, a second away from standing before Zangetsu. The Britannian sword met
the Japanese katana. Cinder was pushing the old general back, Ambers' energy wings adding
additional power as it practically sent Zangetsu flying back. Caught off guard, Tohdoh tried to
regain stability as his Knightmare was airborne in a horizontal position and had no way to defend
itself properly. A moment later Amber was on top of the Japanese machine, maser sword aimed for
the chest, ready to stab through it. However, once again Zangetsu activated its katana's function
and dodged the strike at the last second.

Thanks to its energy wings Amber had a clear advantage at speed. Cinder abused every card she
could play. From speed to overwhelming firepower. Tohdoh was forced into defence as all he
could do was dodge and block. From an outside perspective, it looked like Zangetsu was fighting
several machines at once, one could say after images. However, both fighters were wasting their
time.

The longer the Second Knight of the Round took, the more resistance the Britannians would meet
from the Black Knights. Logically, without Tohdoh, the Order couldn't organize properly or react
fast enough to counter the empire's offensive. Cinder knows she can just outlast the general,
waiting until he made a mistake and then strike him down. Between the two, Tohdoh was in a
worse position.

Amber danced around Zangetsu, aiming for its torso and cockpit from every side. However, a
veteran like Tohdoh was able to stay safe for now, either blocking or dodging the knight's attempts.
Deciding to switch strategies, Cinder flew up in the air as she aimed her V.A.R.I.S. rifles at the
black Knightmare before firing. The two hadron rays melted everything around him, but Tohdoh's
Zangetsu remained operational. However, Cinder was not done yet.

Relying on her speed, she fired again. Another pair of hardon rays flew towards Zangetsu, but
because his sensors were momentarily scrambled by the blast's energy, neither they nor Tohdoh
noticed as Amber vanished from its previous position. Amplifying the energy wings to their
maximum potential and abusing her Geass command, Cinder dived in, obscured by the hardon rays
for a precious few seconds. The moment Tohdoh saw her, it was too late as Amber's fist made
contact with Zangetsu's chest armour. A little barbaric for her tastes, but Cinder couldn't switch
between her guns and pull out her swords in time, resorting to the machine's fist to damage her
enemy.

Tohdoh screamed in pain as his Knightmare was pressed against the concrete ground as Amber's
fist penetrated its chest, trying to get deeper inside. If Cinder was in a better mood she might have
joked about the situation, but she was pissed. No witty comments until everyone in her path are
dead or kneeling out of fear! She dug Amber's right hand inside Zangetsu's chest, trying to find the
Knightmare's core and crush it, but Tohdoh collected himself and kicked her off. Without skipping
a beat once Amber was a few meters away from her enemy, Cinder immediately rushed back, this
time armed with both swords. By the time her swords whipped for a killing blow, Zangetsu ducked
to the side and quickly got up.

Sparks flew out of the gaping hole in its chest, the internal monitors showing emergency
notifications, but the general paid them no mind. Not wasting any more precious time, he aimed his
katana and rushed towards Amber's exposed right flank. All Amber had to do was block the
upcoming attack as it redirected the katana and opened Zangetsu for the attack. His katana in the
Knightmare's left hand was sent to the side while Zangetsu's entire body was left wide open.
Amber's left sword went for the chest once again, aiming to create a new hole on that side of the
frame, this time with her maser sword.

As the sword made contact with the upper part of the armour, Tohdoh immediately activated the
hidden slash harken on the left side of his chest and fired towards Amber's left wrist which was
holding the sword. The Britannian Knightmare's metal fingers were damaged and the maser sword
fell out of its grasp, but Cinder wouldn't let this window of opportunity go to waste so easily. She
pulled Amber's mass to the side, raising its left leg and kicked across Zangetsu's head.
Zangetsu's sole red visor cracked as sparks flew out of it. The kick violently sent the Knightmare to
the side and Tohdoh hit his head against the side of the cockpit. The general was disoriented and
his vision grew fuzzy, unable to properly see that Amber raised its remaining maser sword with
both hands and prepared to cut Zangetsu in two. Tohdoh knew he wouldn't be able to react fast
enough when Amber's energy wings flashed as the war machine dived in. He tried to raise his
katana but simply wasn't fast enough.

For a moment, Tohdoh closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate. However, someone else had a
different idea as another Knightmare crashed into Amber's side and sent it flying.

"Get away from him!" A female voice roared with fury as a new fighter entered the fight.

"What the-?!" Cinder yelled as her Amber hit the ground before quickly standing up and taking a
defensive stance. "Who the hell are you?!"

Once Amber was standing, the one-eyed knight took a good look at the new person. The new
Knightmare was nothing but an Akatsuki Command Model, a Zikisan if Cinder recalled correctly.
The Black Knight was armed to the teeth as Zikisan raised its inferior copy of Zangetsu's katana,
revolving blade in one hand and an arm-mounted 2-barrel machine gun in another one.

"I'm one of the Four Holy Swords and Kyoshiro Tohdoh's retainer!" The female pilot shouted back
as she fired three Radiation Wave missiles. Amber slashed all three missiles before they could
make contact with her as they exploded in the air.

Behind the new arrival, wounded Tohdhoh tried to collect himself. "Chiba, what are you doing
here!?"

"Saving you, general!" Chiba answered while continuing to fire at Amber with her Zikisan's
machine gun. "We mobilized everything we had to come to save you!"

"We?" Both Tohdoh and Cinder asked at the same time.

Their answer came in the form of multiple missiles that flew towards the Amber. The Second
Knight of the Round didn't bother dodging them as each one of them exploded around Amber. The
smoke covered everything around her while the Zikisan stood in front of Zangetsu. Tohdoh took a
look behind to see a squad of heavily armoured Akatsukis now aiming their weapons toward the
enemy. However, among them, the most noticeable machine was the purple Knightmare of
Chinese design.

"Xingke…" Tohdoh whispered the name of his friend and brother-in-arms.

Shen Hu touched down next to the command units as Li Xingke spoke on the open channel.
"Knight of the Round, cease your fight at once and surrender immediately! Both Black Knights and
Britannia have matters more important at the moment. Order your forces to halt or we will have to
fight back. You're outnumbered."

"Me? Surrender? Ahahahaha!"

Amber's eyes burned through the smoke as unhinged laughter emanated from the Knight, chills
running down the spines of the regular Black Knights around her. Amber's energy wings opened up
and cleared the smoke around the machine. She tore her second maser sword from the ground,
blade dug into the concrete, and was now holding both of them, ready to fight again. The Black
Knights manoeuvred around her, entrapping her in a circle as Xingke spoke again.

"Zero and your Emperor are still trapped with Kururugi Suzaku. If you care about your lord, then
you will stop this madness at once," Shen Hu aimed its Baryon Cannon at Amber. "I will say it
again, you're outnumbered. Surrender."

Cinder narrowed her eye, thinking about a way to get out of this mess and kill everyone around her.
Her backup was unavailable, she ordered them to focus on the rest of this part of the city while she
sowed chaos among the Black Knight's ranks. Having some suicide bomber Hounds would have
been nice at the moment.

'I know this Knightmare model, Shen Hu. I cannot allow its slash harkens to touch my Amber.'

Cinder could have flown away to strike down from the sky. But both Xingke and Tohdoh were
undesirable opponents to fight at once, especially with all those small insects around them.
However, while she was planning her next move, Cinder received an incoming signal from a
friendly unit. And not just any ally, but one of her own.

Amber raised one of its swords and pointed it at Shen Hu. "Check your math again, Li Xingke.
Two on two and dead weight on your side is barely a losing battle."

"What?" Chiba asked, confused while both Xingke and Tohdoh quickly understood what she
meant. Both generals shouted to their troops.

"Get ba-"

However, both men were too late as every mass-produced Akatsuki got warning notifications.
Before their pilots could even react, every single unit exploded as one single continuous hadron ray
sliced among all of them. Tohdoh moved his Zangetsu in front of Chiba's Zikisan to block a
surprise attack with its radiant wave shield. Shen Hu activated its wrist-mounted slash harkens as a
shield and blocked the ray.

In a mere moment, an entire squad of Knightmares was wiped out. The Black Knights were caught
off guard as they soon heard something similar to a horse gallop.

"Well well, look who decided to show." Cinder drawled as her fellow knight joined the battle.

Xingke narrowed his eyes as they saw a dreadful Knightmare from Europe. A machine similar in
appearance to a centaur from ancient myth walked on its four legs next to the Second Knight's.

"Arthur Calhoun."

Xingke recognized his Knightmare, Reaper, as it raised its primary weapon, a scythe. The one most
likely used to annihilate all of their soldiers just moments ago. Inside the new machine, the pilot
took a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke.

"Greetings, Black Knights. I will say this only once, surrender and we will show your mercy."
Reaper's scythe pointed at Shen Hu. "This is my first and final offer."

"You bastard!" Chiba screamed. "You're a monster! You killed dozens of our soldiers and think
about warning us now?!"

"Yes."

Xingke took a deep sigh. "I take it you aren't here to retrieve your fellow knight and go away,"
silence was his answer as Xingke prepared for a fight. "Then I have to decline your offer on behalf
of all the Black Knights."
"A foolish decision," Arthur said with a voice empty of any emotion. Meanwhile, Cinder could
barely contain her laughter.

"Hahaha! Look how far you have come, Arthur!" Cinder had to admit, the boy grew a pair since
his time in Europe. And now was the time for him to shine. Amber and Reaper both took an attack
position. "I will take Shen Hu, Amber will have an easier time dealing with its electrified slash
harkens. As much as I want to kill that prehistoric relic Tohdoh, you can take him."

Arthur nodded as his Reaper started to move forward, slowly. "Then I will finish him off."

"As if I will allow it!" Chiba screamed before opening fire at the two Britannian knights. Both
Knights of the Round scattered to the sides, going around the Black Knights. Arthur didn't have
energy wings, but he could still outrun the Japanese machines with Reaper's quad mode. Raising its
scythe and aiming for the purple Knightmare's cockpit, the Fourth targeted the weakest one out of
them.

"Chiba, get back!" Tohdoh screamed as he pushed her Zikisan away before Zangetsu blocked the
strike with its katana. Reaper had more strength than the already damaged Knightmare of the
general and had little issues pressing on. Zangetsu had a hard time trying to fight off Reaper when
the new Knightmare was in better condition and had enough power to tear regular Akatsukis apart
with its bare hands.

Xingke cursed as he tried to open fire at Amber with the Baryon Cannon. The blast was bright and
powerful enough to be equal to Guren's radiant wave. However, Amber had a clear advantage in
speed. Even with everything and everyone around blinded by the blasted shot of pure light, one
could see the orange energy wings of Cinder's Knightmare and how it flew forward, its purple
sword aimed at the Chinese warrior.

Shen Hu pulled back, avoiding the close attack before activating its slash harkens and trying to
freeze Amber. Cinder expected such an attack and barrel-rolled to the side, dodging the electrified
whip. She was too close to effectively use her swords, so instead, she decided to use Amber's legs.
Once it was close enough, she kicked Shen Hu in the chest with a powerful kick and sent it
careening backwards, increasing the distance between him and the two remaining Black Knights.

It was easy to see what the Knights of the Round were trying to achieve. With Tohdoh and Xingke
separated, the generals won't be able to assist each other with the divide and conquer tactic. Chiba
was assisting her sworn superior, but alone she could offer next to nothing when dealing with the
Fourth Knight of the Round.

Amber pulled out both Super V.A.R.I.S. rifles and fired at Shen Hu who dodged one ray and
blocked the second one before raising its double-edged sword and rushing towards the multi-
coloured Lancelot copy. Neither Shen Hu nor Zangetsu had enough firepower to deal with the
knights from a distance. Both Britannian machines had powerful shield systems, so a close-quarters
fight was the only way to go.

When Shen Hu was close enough to Amber, it went right for the head, but Cinder hoped for it.
Before Xingke's sword could touch Amber's face, the purple sword blocked it. Xingke smirked as
he shot an electrified slash harken and caught Amber's left hand with it.

"Got you."

"Wrong, I'm the one who got you. Good timing too, I was running a little low on battery."

Shen Hu's slash harkens were known for being able to disrupt any Knightmare's internal systems.
Lelouch knew it and specifically ordered some of Britannian elite Knightmares to be ready for it. It
also meant that the Knights of the Round were prepared beforehand to fight with the Chinese
warrior and any Black Knight machine similar to him. However, not every Britannian war machine
could have been armed properly. Arthur's Reaper already had a complex mechanic with its quad
mode and additional gimmicks would have broken the Reaper. Meanwhile, Cinder's Amber was
more than compatible with Lloyd's new tools.

It was nothing too extreme, merely a new function her energy wings offered. The orange energy
wings flashed brighter than usual. Instead of going offline, Amber's monitors showed that the
Knightmare was actually getting more energy than before as its sakuradite battery was
replenishing.

"What the-" Xingke's eyes went wide when he noticed that his own machine was losing energy
instead of Amber.

"Surprised?" Cinder didn't bother hiding her mocking tone as she launched one of her slash harkens
at Shen Hu. The wired projectile immediately hit its target as Amber started draining Shen Hu
faster. Her energy wings acted outside the conductor, stocking the energy Amber stole from other
Knightmares before sending it to the multi-coloured Knightmare. "If your Knightmare can destroy
the enemy's battery, why can't mine steal them? After all, I will spend this precious energy better
than anyone else."

"By slaughtering the innocent?!" Xingke shouted as he tried to stab Amber with his double-edged
blade. However, by now Cinder pulled away her maser sword and deftly caught Shen Hu's wrist.

"I would hardly call you innocent, Li Xingke," She coldly replied as Amber crushed the other's
wrist. "Or what? Are you gonna tell me before joining the Black Knights you weren't a dog of the
Chinese eunuchs?" Cinder taunted while her Knightmare continued to feed on Shen Hu's reserves.

"I did everything for the sake of my Empress," Xingke replied with a cold tone as he quietly started
preparing the Baryon Cannon while he still had energy for the last shot. "I did whatever it took to
keep her safe, even following the orders of those disgusting eunuchs. Everything for Empress
Tianzi's sake."

"Then you will understand my reasoning. Everything I did was for the sake of His Majesty. In the
name of Emperor Lelouch, I will destroy everything that stands in his way." Cinder's eye flashed
red. "And at the moment, it is you."

Shen Hu angled itself to fire the chest-mounted cannon. Cinder bit her tongue, Amber didn't finish
stealing the energy but she had enough for now. Deciding not to test her fate, Amber flew past
while still tied to Shen Hu with the slash harken. Shen Hu slowed down Amber greatly since
energy wings weren't meant to carry two Knightmares in such a way. However, Cinder only
needed to catch Xingke off guard as the Black Knight was no doubt rolling in his cockpit.

"Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a little… turbulence. It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

Amber's slash harkens quickly retracted, while it was still holding on to Shen Hu with its own
wired projectile. She stopped before turning towards the Chinese Knightmare and kicking it
directly in the chest. The Baryon Cannon shot missed completely as Shen Hu fell from the sky.
Xingke tried to regain control over his machine, but the blast added only more issues. A sudden
pull brought Shen Hu violently back up to Amber as it flipped in the air before yanking him down
hard. The plummeting war machine of Xingke fell on top of the UFN embassy not too far from
their battlefield as it smashed through the roof. Cinder didn't bother looking for Arthur, she trusted
him enough to know that if he didn't show up yet then it meant he was still busy fighting off
Tohdoh.

'Joining him and stabbing the general in the back is tempting, not to mention poetic, but-' Xingke
could fleed or call for reinforcement if Cinder left him alive. They had a window of opportunity
and she couldn't waste it. So instead, she called her fellow knight on the closed line. "Arthur, once
you're done with those two, regroup with me."

Amber's head looked at its hand to see Shen Hu's slash harken was still in its grasp, the wire having
been torn from its machine by such a show of force. Its pilot simply tossed the now useless device
away as she descended to continue the battle.

"Understood."

Arthur was pleased, no, happy he was still able to hold the serious facade for too long. Originally,
he was meant to wait in the back line like Cinder and Peter. The peace talks were meant to go
without a scratch and the Knights of the Round were supposed to only act as a backup plan in case
Black Knights tried something funny. The young male knight wasn't happy with leaving both his
Emperor and his master Bishop at hands of a traitorous Knight of the Round. Especially someone
like Kururugi Suzaku, but they had their roles to play. Not to mention...

'Taking down the White Reaper would have been a matter of honour, but taking down W-0 will be
of personal significance.'

Of course, he heard that European Alexanders were noticed among the Black Knight ranks that
started a fight. Even after all this time training under lord Bishop in the art of knighthood, Arthur
couldn't forget the reason he gained the fighting spirit.

'Wyvern Squad.'

He defeated them once and while that fire of vengeance became weaker, it didn't fade away yet.
And it was bothering Arthur greatly. However, not great enough to forget that he was still in a
battle at the moment.

His scythe hit the ground as Reaper tried to strike down Zangetsu, but the latter was still able to
either dodge or redirect the attack. Even damaged, Tohdoh's Knightmare was still a formidable
opponent. Only one among Black Knights that Arthur was facing at the moment.

From the side Zikisan moved quickly, trying to sneak on Reaper while the bigger Knightmare was
focused on Zangetsu. Chiba moved closer before jumping in the air, her katana aimed for the
cockpit that was hidden in the lower body part of Reaper. However, before she could succeed,
Arthur turned to the side while Reaper's rear was facing Zikisan. In a similar way to regular horses,
Reaper used its back legs and kicked purple Knightmare away. Her Zikisan had less study armour
compared to Zangetsu and had a harder time after the hit

The purple Knightmare hit the ground, its pilot unable to operate it anymore as blood covered her
vision.

"Agh!" Chiba screamed in pain as she hit her head against the back of the cockpit.

"Chiba-!" Tohdoh shouted with fury before raising his own katana and slashing his enemy.

Arthur was fast enough to pull out Reaper's single MVS sword and block the upcoming attacks.
With a giant scythe that was also a gun in one hand and a red sword in another one, Reaper walked
forward. Swings from the sword at a closer distance and slashes from the scythe at a longer
distance were enough to keep Zangetsu at bay. Their little dance continued for some time.

However, nothing could go on forever and eventually, Tohdoh made a mistake. His opponent was
already exhausted after fighting Cinder while the fourth knight was full of force, not to mention
Zangetsu was already heavily damaged by Amber. All Reaper needed was a single mistake on his
enemy's part and he got it.

Zangetsu's right hand gave an error at the worst time and didn't react when Tohdoh tried to raise it
for one second. One single second was everything Arthur needed to finish the fight as he
immediately kicked away his katana, sending it to the side of both of them. Reaper's MVS sword
shot forward but didn't stab Zangetsu yet, only pressed against the chest of Black Knights
Knightmare.

"Surrender."

Inside his machine, Tohdoh scoffed before he coughed with blood licking out of his mouth. "You
lied, you said you won't offer surrender a second time."

"I did so, yes. But I'm also a student of my master and Lord Bishop taught me that it is never late to
lay down your weapon when you cannot win. Consider it chivalry."

"Heh, so at least one of the new Knights of the Round actually follows some warrior code. Unlike
your colleague, you are an actual knight. Even the old rounds were like that…even he." Tohdoh
thought back to the knight whom he personally knew. "You know, my own student is there in that
academy. Your teacher is there too."

"Kururugi Suzaku, I read about him. White Reaper." Arthur said with clear antagonism in his
voice.

At that moment, a distinct humming sound was heard in the air and Tohdoh chanced a look around.
It was then that he saw the familiar form of Guren landing atop a building, energy wings furling as
it balanced itself upright. Kallen had arrived! Although it appeared as though the knight before
them hadn't noticed her yet. It seemed she may have been waiting for an opening.

"Not a fan? What? Jealous of his nickname?" Tohdoh asked, hoping to stall for time.

"Partially. I despise knights who know nothing of loyalty to their lords. Kururugi Suzaku betrayed
every master he served. Lord Bishop told me that loyalty was the most important aspect of any
knight. Loyalty to your homeland, to your brother and sister in arms, to your family and to your
lord. The previous Knight of Seven had none of those."

Inside his Knightmare, Tohdoh had a small smile. The words of the first knight sounded similar to
the code of samurai Japanese general himself followed to this day.

"Then why not go after him instead of all of this? Or what? You Britannians can't miss the chance
to oppress people?"

"Treachery should be punished no matter what, Black Knight. Kururugi Suzaku will answer for his
crimes, sooner or later. You will pay for them right now."

His opponent spoke with sorrow in his tone. "I agree with your logic, but I cannot just let you do it,
knight of Britannia. At this point, I care little if I made the right or wrong choice when trying to kill
Lelouch vi Britannia. But I cannot give up now. As you said, a knight should be loyal to his
homeland. I cannot leave Japan in the hands of Lelouch. Maybe that boy will be the most
benevolent leader Japan and Britannia ever had. Perhaps he will lead all our people into a better
future as he claims, or turn them all into his slaves. Whatever path Lelouch will take, it changes
nothing for me. Japan suffered too much under Britannian control, I cannot allow Lelouch to keep
it under the empire's rule… if only he wasn't a Britannian royal."

"So, is this what it is all about?"

"Partially yes," Tohdoh smiled sadly. "His heritage and his Geass, I cannot ignore no matter what.
Leaving my homeland at hands of someone like Lelouch is too dangerous. He can be worse than
Charles or Schneizel ever could have. All of us saw what he could achieve as Zero, and even now
as the emperor. He has too much power to be left to do as he pleases with the world. You can never
know if he will turn into the same monster as his father did. Leaving someone as dangerous as
Lelouch to run Japan will be a betrayal of all Japanese people who died for the dream of free and
independent Japan. I lost my comrades, my people, for that dream and cannot allow Lelouch to
make their sacrifices meaningless."

"More people will die for nothing…"

"You see it that way, I see it as fighting for their beliefs and dreams. No one can deny them this,
not even your Emperor."

Arthur stayed silent, having no choice but to agree. His master said it himself, people were
welcome to fight against his vision of the world. As a revolutionary in the past, Emperor Lelouch
couldn't deny them what he did himself, it would have been hypocrisy. People can revolt all they
want and fight for their future, but...

"As one of his Knights, personally chosen by my Emperor, I will strike down all those who oppose
my lord's wishes."

"Hmm, getting defeated by someone like you won't be the worst fate. I hope your master will be
proud of you. But-"

He chanced another look up at the nearby building, Guren was still motionless; as a matter of fact,
it hadn't even drawn its weapons. Something wasn't right. He dared not think of the possibility that-

"Tohdoh now!" Chiba yelled as Zangetsu raised its hand while a still-damaged Zikisan threw its
own katana Tohdoh's way. While Arthur and Tohdoh conversed, Chiba managed to regain
consciousness.

"I cannot allow myself to be defeated even by an honourable knight!" Tohdoh screamed as
Zangetsu rushed forward, close to Reaper as its katana slashed down.

Arthur's eyes went wide, but his hand remained steady on the controls as he pressed on. Reaper
fired its slash harken forward, hitting Zangetsu's chest and breaking the stance of the Japanese
samurai and ruining his attack. The katana barely touched the metal of Reaper, the Britannian
knight was simply faster than the Japanese samurai. Tohdoh couldn't react fast enough when
Reaper swung its scythe, the chest armour ripping away as the weapon tore through the interior,
through the flesh and blood pilot.

In one moment, everything ended. Zangetsu stopped as it lowered its weapon, its pilot could only
smile weakly as blood started to drip from his mouth.

Inside her Zikisan, Chiba watched everything unfold on her half-broken monitor, an expression of
shock on her face, then horror as she shuddered.

"T-Tohdoh?" With that, came sorrow. And then…

Arthur didn't move, he should have expected a possible new attack but the young knight knew
there won't be another one. Not from the samurai before him. Reaper lowered its scythe to the
ground, there was no need for it now. Zangetsu didn't move anymore, it couldn't.

"Not the worst death…" Tohdoh himself couldn't move anymore, the loss of his legs apparent by
the fact that he couldn't feel them anymore. His sight drifted off to where Guren was still situated,
where Kallen just watched… and then it dawned on him. 'So that's how it is…'

"My Emperor will ensure peace and prosperity for you people, I swear on it."

"H-huh, then I have no choice but to accept my fate. If I was your teacher, I would have been proud
of having a student like you, Arthur Calhoun."

These were the last words of Kyoshiro Tohdoh as neither he nor his Zangetsu frame could go any
further. All the damage it sustained until now was too much for the Knightmare as it fell forward
on its knees.

Reaper walked closer to the defeated machine and ripped off what remained of the cockpit to make
sure the pilot was no longer alive. There he lay, with a peaceful expression on his face. Arthur took
a moment to pay respect to a fallen warrior. The fourth knight felt a little happy that he managed to
grant Tohdoh a swift end. However, Arthur's thought was interpreted by gunfire.

"YOU-!"

Chiba screamed tears and blood mixed as she tried her best to raise Zikisan and fight on if only to
kill the knight who took away Tohdoh. Zikisan managed to stand up, but its pilot was wounded and
had a hard time controlling the machine.

"I loved him!"

"In that case…"

Arthur's tone was empty of emotion as Reaper spit both hands on the scythe. Mere bullets did next
to nothing against his armour and shield. He could have offered the remaining Black Knight to
surrender or destroy her machine's legs and arms. However, Arthur realized that it won't end the
woman's pain. He knew it better than most.

"Let the Reaper reunite you."

The Knightmare of Death galloped towards the Zikisan, its scythe raised high. The Black Knight
didn't even bother dodging or thinking about blocking the upcoming attack. Inside her cockpit,
Chiba never thought about running away, not while Tohdoh was still there, waiting for her. So she
remained, continuing to fire at the Britannian monster Knightmare, despite knowing that her bullets
were worthless. She herself knew that it was suicide, but she didn't care. At that last moment of
hers, all Chiba could think of was one man.

"Tohdoh-" Chiba whispered as she closed her eyes, ready to meet the end.

Reaper moved and in one swift move, its scythe went through Zikisan like a knife through butter.
There weren't any final words, no arguments over loyalty or anything of the like with Tohdoh.
Zikisan crashed down next to Zangetsu as both Black Knights were silenced forever. Arthur
blankly stared at the two titan's corpses. He did not feel sorry or sad, after all, these two were just
enemy commanders, ordered to be executed for the sake of His Majesty's Britannia. Still...

"Perhaps they will find peace in death among their friends and comrades."
Guren departed the scene shortly afterwards, as silent as its pilot had been in observing. Red
particles emitted from the dorsal device were the only sign it was ever there, shining brightly
before dimming completely.

While the Fourth Knight of the Round and the Japanese general had their last duel, the White
Queen was busy with her own opponent.

Shen Hu fell down the darkened embassy's building, destroying the walls of the recently finished
place. At least no one was there and so no casualties. Xingke quickly tried to rise back up, before
his attacker could finish him. Perhaps calling for reinforcement would have been a good idea… no,
Xingke knew that they would be nothing but cannon fodder if he did so.

"Found you~," the ice-cold voice of Cinder Fall did nothing to calm Xingke down as Amber fell
from the sky, its maser swords aimed at the head. Shen Hu rolled to the side as Amber's sword
pierced the ground where he was just a second ago. The Chinese warrior pressed into the controls
and moved back, the frame slamming against the left side of Amber. The hit affected Xingke as he
vomited blood, but he could tolerate it for now.

Cinder was caught off guard by the risky move. Amber couldn't raise its arms as Shen Hu was too
close and was pressing on. Deciding to use his chance, Xingke moved Shen Hu for a killing blow,
its double-edged sword aimed for the enemy cockpit while his Knightmare rolled in the air for the
attack. Amber moved like a dancer when Knightmare dodged away, rotating as it moved. Now it
was behind Shen Hu that struck down an empty air.

Amber aimed for the cockpit and tried to pierce it, but Shen Hu ducked forward before turning
back, catching the tip of the maser sword with its slash harkens. Xingke tried to use Shen Hu's
ability again as the electrified shot was sent down the whip-like weapons. However, Amber
activated energy wings as they opened up and started to work. Her vampire-like ability also
allowed Cinder to counter annoying mechanics similar to Xingke's Knightmare. The Chinese
warrior already noticed it and something more.

"You're open!" he yelled as Shen Hu jumped and hit the left energy wing. His blade didn't destroy
it but left a black mark as it pierced the matter.

"You-!" Cinder clenched her teeth as she pulled Amber back, ducking behind. Once she was a few
meters away from Shen Hu, she raised Amber's right leg and went for a kick. Shen Hu blocked the
hit, but Cinder didn't lose momentum and followed the kick with the left sword swing, and the
right one. Shen Hun blocked them with its sword and slash harken, but left a window of
opportunity as its chest area was open for some seconds. Cinder pressed on as her Amber head
slammed against Shen Hu's chest plate, cracking the Baryon Cannon launcher panel. Xingke
cursed, he barely had enough energy for another shot, but still could have used it as a distraction
move, but now it would rather melt his Knightmare.

Amber raised its head before launching its slash harkens forward, aiming for the joint points
between Shen Hu's main frame and its arms. One was blocked while another found its target. Shen
Hu's right arm fell off as Amber slash harken returned to the launcher. Now her opponent was
fighting with only one hand armed with a double-edged sword.

"If I were you I would have fled by now." Cinder had an advantage over handicapped Knightmare.
There was no dishonour in retreating when you couldn't win a fight.

"I might have if I was sure you wouldn't shoot me in the back." Xingke knew turning his back on
Knightmare with energy wings was a pointless idea, especially when its pilot was a bloodthirsty
monster. "You will try to kill me."

"Yup." Cinder smirked as she launched one of her maser swords forward, throwing it against Shen
Hu. Having only one hand, Xingke deflected the purple sword as it hit the wall next to them.
Meanwhile Amber jumped forward, targeting the left side of Shen Hu that couldn't block
upcoming attacks anymore without an arm. Shen Hu couldn't little but try dodging. It barely could
as the Britannian machine continued its assault, swinging its left sword left and right.

Cinder could easily outlast Xingke. His Knightmare lost one arm, its most powerful weapon and
was running out of energy after Amber stole some of it. However, she needed to finish off the
Black Knights' controlled portion of Tokyo for good.

'The backup Knightmares should have been sent by both sides now.' Black Knights should have
organized counter-attacks at least in some manner now and must have been deploying
reinforcements for their forces in the city. However, Cinder was planning her battle plan for a long
time by now. Britannia already encircled the Federation area in the city and should have been
systematically taking over it, even without the second knight's direct presence.

Neither of the pilots looked up the news or radio channels, too preoccupied with their fight. So
neither knew of the events that took place at Ashford academy. As far as Xingke and Cinder were
considered, Suzaku was still there. However, that wasn't the case anymore. While the two fighters
were too busy trying to kill each other, none of them noticed a signal of something coming toward
them.

At least not until something tore through the walls of the embassy, destroying everything in its
way. A massive object obscured by trailing smoke landed in the battle arena between Shen Hu and
Amber before dissipating. Xingke didn't have time to react when a silver claw shot forward and
dug into its frame, sending his Shen Hu flying back. Though his visuals were scrambled, Xingke's
eyes widened as it was hard not to recognize what attacked him.

"Guren?!"

"Kallen?"

Cinder's eye blinked as she stopped her attack to look behind. The red-coloured Knightmare of her
fellow and highly disliked knight joined the battle. Guren SEITEN stood next to Amber, standing
next to it as its claw didn't leave Shen Hu.

"It is over, Xingke," Kallen spoke as her eyes didn't leave the blue Knightmare, ready to destroy it
at any moment.

"So, our fears were proved right. You joined forces with Lelouch vi Britannia." Xingke leaned
against his controls, not even bothering to try resisting. His Shen Hu was heavily damaged and
there was no way for him to win against two Knightmares equipped with energy wings. "He did
use Geass on you after all."

"He did, but not in the way you think." Kallen could imagine it got the reaction out of Xingke.

"You standing here means that hostages in Ashford were rescued…"

Cinder turned Amber towards Guren. "His Majesty?"

"Lelouch is safe and is now being escorted towards that ship of yours. But Zero was killed by
Suzaku." Kallen informed her. Both queens knew that C.C. was still immortal and didn't have to
worry about her beyond feeling a little sorry for the greenhead's most likely painful demise.
Xingke noted the lack of concern in her voice. "I knew it was just a fake. What are you trying to
achieve now, Major Kozuki? Have you come to kill me?"

"I and the Black Knights pilots who were around Ashford are working with Britannia. We will stop
the fighting in the city. Afterwards, we will need you to explain what happened from the
perspective of the Black Knights. You will say that the conspirators were the ones who started a
fight with Britannia," the defeated warrior said nothing while Kallen narrowed her gaze, "We
rescued Tianzi, she is safe, Xingke. She is currently under the protection of Black Knights and
Britannia joint forces. Kaguya is there too, reassuring her."

"I see," Xingke muttered before opening the cockpit of Shen Hu and coming out of it with raised
hands, a shadow cast over his face. "In that case, I surrender. You won."

Neither of the girls actually knew if he gave up because he was absolutely outgunned or because
Tianzi was in their hands. At least the knowledge that the chairwoman was there calmed down the
Chinese empress's most loyal subject. Xingke was confident that the Japanese princess could
protect his little empress, especially since Xingke himself was in no position to do so.

"Well, that was easy. What now?" Cinder asked while calling for Britannian units in the area to
collect their new prisoner of war.

"D.S. has relayed that W-0 units are causing issues behind our lines. Jeremiah is the only one who
can cancel the Geass on them, but he can't be everywhere at once. I will go after the Black Knights,
while you will keep Europeans busy."

"Got it. I'm going after Wyvern Squad?"

"Negative," inside her Guren, Kallen shook her head before reading the message D.S sent her with
a confused expression. "Eh, someone named Ashley Ashra. Do you know him?"

"Ashley Ashra, huh?"

A distant memory of another annoying redhead with a loud mouth that didn't know when to shut
up popped into the head of White Queen. A nostalgic smile formed on Cinder's face as she
remembered her old prey that managed to get away, alive.

"I remember that name."

Nemesis.

"Welcome, Your Majesty."

The ship captain bowed before Lelouch as the emperor walked towards the throne that was
currently occupied. The moment he was out of Ashford, Lelouch was immediately flown to his
battleship to command his forces and try to understand what was going on. He didn't have the time
nor the patience to humour regulations right now. Once the Emperor reached the heart of the
command room his eyes fell on the apparent messenger of God or the closest thing to it.
Surrounded by holographic screens that were updated every few seconds, Diana worked with a
calm efficiency befitting someone of her status, organizing all of their attack forces, monitoring the
general ground situation, and keeping updated on all OSI activities; at least, to name a few that
Lelouch could keep track of.

"You seem to be doing well," Lelouch complimented while the black-through pink-haired woman
just waved him away, her pink eyes glancing up from the screens for only a second before
returning.

"Please, all I do is make sure all on-the-ground commanders get updated every minute. The
Knights of the Round took the actual charge."

Lelouch simply nodded at the humble answer as he studied the huge map of the city that was
displayed over their heads. "So, you all decided to move right to the invasion part."

"We couldn't let such an opportunity go to waste. A majority of the Black Knights opened fire on
our forces while both you and Zero were taken, hostage. I am confident that neither General
Xingke nor Tohdoh ordered this. Once we have control over the situation, both the Empire and
Federation can blame everything on the conspirators Zero talked about. Of course, it would have
been easier if Zero was still with us..."

"Zero is dead, and this time forever," Lelouch knew the original plan was no longer suitable. Sure,
C.C. was recovering but they couldn't show Zero publicly after the entire world saw him getting
killed on TV. "He will become a martyr, a symbol of justice and change who died trying to make
this world into a better place. Both Britannia and Federation will punish the people who were
behind today's attack. That will be our official message."

"We would need a few of the Black Knights to support us on this."

"Kallen and Kaguya will do. Xingke will have to listen since Tianzi is under our protection.
Convincing Tohdoh and Ohgi won't be easy, I might have to force them. In Oghi's case threatening
Villetta should work, but for Tohdoh..."

The ethereal being keenly listened to him before she received a notification on one of the screens.
After checking it, the Dimensional Supervisor hummed. "Better add Tohdoh to the list of
conspirators who were killed while trying to interrupt the peace talks.

"What?" Lelouch leaned forward to see the message she just got. His eyes went wide for a second
before he regained his calm and sighed. "So, Tohdoh was slain, and by Arthur. At least we secured
Xingke… yes, your suggestion works just fine. Adding big names like his should help destroy the
credibility of Black Knights leadership and sell everything better to the public."

"Does it not worry you the Japanese people won't be happy that one of their national heroes was
slandered as a traitor and killed? By a Britannian knight of all people."

Lelouch waved off. "Tohdoh and the rest of the conspirators we will name were the reason the
national hero Zero died. We will tell them that they cooperated with my siblings and planned to
have a sabotaged peace talk from the start. If both Britannia and the Federation will spread this
version of events, people will accept them. Speaking about the Federation, what is their status?"

Kaguya and Tianzi were under the joint protection of Black Knights and Britannian soldiers.
Kallen reassured Lelouch that Zero Squad won't attack the empire and that the rest Black Knights
members were trained under Tamaki, hence they will listen to him before the rest of the Order.
Lelouch couldn't understand how that loudmouth of all people was capable of getting the loyalty of
new recruits to the point they didn't question when Tamaki asked them to work together with
Britannia and ignore the battle between the two sides.

'Then again, none of these people know my secrets. And they all just saw how their hero and leader
Zero was murdered on the live broadcast by third-party.' From the perspective of confused Black
Knights who were caught off guard, they and Britannians were currently in the same boat. Having
someone like a famous ace pilot like Kallen flying right next to imperial Knightmares and helping
them put down fighting Black Knights should help as well.

"Some UFN members have already contacted us to reassure us that they aren't behind the attack.
They promise that the Federation wanted those talks to succeed no matter what. They are
organizing an emergency meeting at the moment. My OSI agents have reported that some
countries already planned to blame everything on the current Black Knight leadership, but some
were hesitant to do so. As of now, neither the Empire's nor the UFN's borders are engaged in
battle." D.S. informed him, hand resting on her cheek as she idly read another report.

"So they are already looking for scapegoats." The Federation was at a disadvantage now. With
Zero dead and the entire world witnessing how Black Knights first opened fire at Britannia, the
UFN might get blamed for starting a conflict by their own people and politicians. "This should
help to convince Kaguya to accept my proposal. The UFN is leaving her less room to negotiate out
of this."

Unless the leadership wants a full-out war with Britannia after the death of Zero who returned from
the dead only a week ago, they will try to hold peace talks again. Thanks to a live broadcast
everyone could see those negotiations were quite successful right until the end. Now, if the new
talks were agreed upon, UFN would have a weaker position and might make more amends. Worst
case scenario for them, they would have no choice but to give up the idea of a free Japan.

"I wish I could find this situation humorous… but considering that all of it was because of Suzaku I
can't help but question the intent behind it. Did they expect Britannia and the Federation to start a
full-out war? Was it an attempt to create chaos when the entire world saw Suzaku kill Zero? This
can't be Schneizel's full plan." Lelouch would have laughed, but there was another worrying
matter. "The Black Knights wouldn't attack their own, even if they must realize the fallout of such
actions. So that leaves only one option."

"Indeed," The OSI director showed him an image of Ikaruga that was currently firing its main
guns. "The last Geass user, a European Peace Mark cell survivor named Rai is currently there. I felt
him when one of their transport ships was moving towards Tokyo. I had hoped to send OSI agents
and monitor his moves, thinking he would wait before making a move, but he started immediately.
From what intelligence found, some of the Order's Knightmares and European Alexanders left their
transport ship and flew towards the city."

"And then they immediately started a fight." Black Knights on their own were bad, but if W-0 was
there then it meant more issues. "My former Order has the technology and training to fight
Britannia effectively. Even if limited to only Geassed members, they can cause enough damage..."

"Not to mention, Leila's friends from W-0."

"I already sent Jeremiah with her to deal with W-0." His Orange knight's Geass Canceler was
extremely useful right now, but Jeremiah couldn't be everywhere at once. So Lelouch prioritized
the rescue of Leila's European forces. "To be honest, I don't really need to cancel Geass's effect on
the Black Knights at this point. They played their role and can be discarded. W-0 were unfortunate
enough to get in the middle of this mess and for the sake of Leila I shall free them of this Rai's
influence."

"I'm in the same boat. Screw the Order of Black Knights," came the bored answer. It wasn't a secret
that D.S had no love for Lelouch's former employees. "Traitors deserve nothing but death."

"Crude but correct. However, I might need at least some of them in the future. Xingke might be
needed to better control Chinese territories, although Tianzi alone was good enough as a political
tool. Don't tell Kaguya I talked about her friend like this." She simply smiled while Lelouch went
on. "Tohdoh is dead and that leaves only Ohgi. Yes, he will be the good scapegoat for everything
wrong, hmm…"

"Cruel as always aren't we, Lelouch?" The amusement was apparent in the woman's voice. The
apparent avatar of C's world wasn't bloodthirsty, but she did want to see the people who were
responsible for possible future Lelouch's death and following world catastrophe get punished for
their deeds.

Lelouch smirked. "You were always watching me and should know better than anyone that I'm a
very vindictive person. My former Order of Black Knights isn't safe from my vengeance either;
after all, I didn't forget their betrayal. Now, where is our last Geass user?"

"At the place where he can cause maximum damage." D.S. pointed at the battleship on another
screen. "I already sent a maid and butler to deal with him, while Peter distracts the Ikaruga."

"Lovely. We should consider the entire crew of Ikaruga lost to Rai's Geass. Jeremiah is busy with
saving W-0 for Leila, no point in calling him for this. Tell Peter to preserve Ikaruga, that ship will
support my Nemesis quite nicely." Lelouch said as he moved towards the exit.

"And where are you going, dear?" Diana looked up from her throne, crossing one leg over the
other.

"To talk with the UFN leaders. Now that the entire world believes Zero is dead I must contact them
and suggest a new agreement. They have little reason to decline."

Ikaruga.

In mere five minutes, the entire situation switched from bad to terrible and finally to horrendous for
Black Knights. The leaders of the Order were already on edge because of the peace talks between
Lelouch vi Britannia and his puppet Zero, when suddenly, out of nowhere, Suzaku Kururugi
appeared on his Lancelot Albion and pointed its weapons at both the Britannia and Federation
sides. Having to rescue both the Emperor and fake Zero was bad enough in Ohgi's opinion. Black
Knights couldn't afford not to try to save them or the entire world would have questioned their
leadership and desire for peace, but then the situation truly turned into full chaos.

Ohgi froze as he received dozens of notifications and calls from their ground forces. Everywhere
across Tokyo, Black Knights soldiers reported being under attack as Britannian Knightmares were
pushing them. One would see this mess and think it was the Empire that made the first strike, but
no. Everyone saw that it was the Black Knights who fired the first shot figuratively and literally
speaking.

"What is going on?! Who ordered that shot?!" Oghi screamed as the operators around the room
frantically tried to understand what was happening.

The weapon systems officer answered. "Sir! Someone fired one of the main guns directly-!"

She was interrupted by the sound of another explosion as one of Ikaruga's main cannons fired
again. Everyone stopped as they looked at the city and saw the smoke coming from the target that
was hit.

"Oh, God," Villetta whispered as she covered her mouth.

"No..." Oghi knew it was beyond terrible. He didn't know if it was part of Lelouch's plan, but the
boy was currently held hostage by the Knight of Seven. However, if they quickly didn't take
control of the situation they might face full-out war with the empire and worst, they will be the
ones who started it. "I-I-!"

"Stop these guns!" Minami yelled, seeing that his friend and commander couldn't act at the
moment. "Override the controls and call the security to deal with whoever opened fire-"

"Captain Sugiyama reported that he went after whoever fired the guns personally!"

"Sir! We receive the signal of Britannian Knightmares flying towards Ikaruga." One of the pilots
shouted while Minami bit his lip.

"Shit, did they open fire yet?"

"Negative, and our fly units outside the ship didn't engage them yet. What are the orders?"

"They might be trying to understand what is going on," Minami thought aloud, "What if those
Britannians want to try and de-escalate the situation?"

Ohgi focused before he spoke. "But their countrymen have already attacked us."

"Only because they thought we were the first who pulled the trigger. They might think they're
defending themselves. Their Emperor is currently a hostage and maybe their leadership is just as
confused as we are," Minami suggested before speaking again, "Maybe some of their forces want
to stop both sides from fighting?"

"That's…is something we need right now. Send our units to intercept them and question their
intent, do not engage," the operator nodded while Oghi turned to Minami, "We need to get Tohdoh
and Xingke here, the Black Knights need to make it clear that we aren't responsible for the
fighting. This is one giant misunderstanding."

"The misunderstanding that cost people their lives and will cause even more harm, Oghi," Villetta
told him, "The Britannian military won't stop unless Lelouch orders them to and he isn't available
right now. In their mind, this might be a trap set by us and Schneizel."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Oghi clenched his fist, feeling lost, "We cannot continue
fighting, but we can't just let Britannians attack our soldiers and kill them."

What to do? Oghi knew he was placed in this position because of his reputation and the past, not
because of his skills. However, even someone like him should have gotten enough experience by
now and be able to see the situation from a strategic point of view. Zero… he was the one who led
and dealt with situations like this, even after that day Xingke and Tohdoh couldn't replace him.
Oghi wanted to laugh but was afraid it would unsettle everyone on the bridge. This was insanity,
Lelouch was probably out there as helpless as Ohgi right now, but the Japanese man found himself
missing the masked leader right now, as much as he hated to admit it.

"Get on a call with that monster ship with whoever is in charge while their emperor is unavailable.
Tell them the Order of Black Knights are not responsible for what our rogue members did and that
we want to cooperate with them to stop the battle in the city." Oghi spoke while one of the female
operators tried to contact the Britannian battleship, but froze with wide eyes.

"Sir… General Tohdoh… he-he was killed in action."

Complete silence took over the bridge as both Oghi and Minami were gobsmacked, unable to utter
a single word. Tohdoh was dead. The Kyoshiro Tohdoh , a soldier who practically carried the
spirits of the Japanese soldiers within the Black Knights following the 'death' of Zero after the
reveal of his true identity. The news alone could make entire squads drop their weapons, feeling
demoralized. The bridge staff started to murmur among themselves, all devastated by the news.

"General-"

"Tohdoh is dead?"

"How- who-?!" Oghi felt his knees getting weak as Villetta stopped him from collapsing.

"Major Kazuki sent the news on an open channel. According to her message… General Tohdoh
and Chiba were part of the group who started a firefight in the city, with the intention of killing
Zero and Emperor Lelouch." Both Oghi and Minami looked with wide eyes at each other.

Minami was the first to recover. "Kallen-? But she was with Kaguya? What happened?"

"This."

Villetta pointed at the main screen as it showed the main news. All who were present looked up,
only to see the image of the white Knightmare that was their greatest nemesis, raising the masked
leader in its hand and crushing him. Seconds felt like an eternity as everyone looked on with
horrific expressions as Lancelot crushed Zero with its hands before dropping his corpse on the
ground. What followed afterwards was of little focus as everyone was stuck on the fact that Zero
had died, again.

"Dear god," Minami looked down. Whoever was under that mask dying like this was terrible, even
if it was an enemy agent.

"..."

The death of Tohdoh was already a giant hit to morale, but this?! Zero's third death, right when
everything was already going terribly for the Order, it would cause defeat. The pilots who were
currently on the ground fighting would either surrender or get themselves killed. Their reserves
would be devastated, losing two national heroes in a span of minutes while the rest of the Black
Knights were lost and did nothing. And worst of all, now the leadership of UFN will try to replace
the rest of the Black Knight's founding members, seeing as the current heads weren't competent
enough for the Federation anymore.

'If they replace us, we can forget about a free Japan.' By now the Federation suffered some terrible
losses trying to liberate the tiny island. Japan was valuable to the UFN, but even its advantages
couldn't outweigh the sacrifices that were made by nations within the collective. 'All of our
funding, Knightmares, and weapons are coming directly from their pockets. If we cannot produce
any meaningful results, why even bother keeping us around?'

Ohgi said nothing as he turned towards the previous female operator, who could barely keep a
calm face and motioned her to continue.

"The Britannians killed Chiba and all the pilots who went with them. General Xingke was
captured… Major Kazuki is currently working with the Second Knight of the Round to stop the
battle around the city."

"Ohgi-" Minami grabbed his friend's wrist, shaking. "Order our forces to pull back and leave the
city or we will lose everything. Whatever happened, Britannia is going to benefit from it if we don't
act right now."

"I… you're right-"

Something violently shocked Ikaruga as the bridge felt as if something hit them. One quick report
from operators or a simple look outside the main window would reveal a new issue. Ohgi cursed as
he saw the infamous Knightmare of Peter Thomson aiming its weapons at them. Unlike the more
standard variants, his arsenal was more than enough to take down the entire ship.

"Report!" Oghi shouted.

"Our shields can hold for some time, but we will run out of energy."

Another operator added. "More than half of our guns are not available right now and we can't fire
back."

"No firing back! Attacking him will solve nothing!" Minami shouted as Oghi nodded.

"Contact the Knight of the Round, I will try to negotiate."

The female operator from before nodded as she signalled the Britannian machine, but a worried
look formed on her face. "He's not answering, sir."

"Shit." Oghi cursed as he stared at the walking, well flying, arsenal. Black Knights intelligence
found enough information about the units the current Knights of the Round used. And therefore the
Order knew how troublesome it would be to deal with one, especially without their elite fighters on
the ship and with an overall lack of organization.

Ohgi closed his eyes before he would give the order to all Black Knights in Tokyo. However,
before he could give the order to retreat, the doors to the bridge opened as Kento Sugiyama walked
in. Not alone, as he was accompanied by a few armoured guards. All of them looked fine, except
for one member who was holding on to the others for support, visibly exhausted and maybe
wounded.

"Good news, we dealt with the saboteurs. Some of our people lost their minds and started shooting,
they thought it was the best option for Japan." Sugiyama said with a sorrowful tone, his face and
uniform covered in blood. "We tried to reason with them, but they didn't listen and opened fire at
us. I'm sorry, we had no choice but..."

"Kento-" Minami whispered, seeing that something was wrong with his old friend.

"I… I understand." Oghi had to stop his hand from shaking. They just had infighting among their
forces, but at least it was over. This was wrong, all of it. "Black Knights shouldn't fight among
themselves, but..."

"Wait, we didn't receive any news of the fighting." Minami pointed out, while one of the Black
Knights started to walk forward, closer to the two commanders on the ship.

"Ohgi," Villetta whispered when she noticed something. She pointed at Sugiyama's eyes, his pupils
were covered by red circles as the man and his little group walked close to Oghi. "That's-"

"Geass."

Suddenly the issue of having an antagonistic Knight of the Round outside their window was no
longer the worst issue anymore. Not to mention, 'Uncle Teddy' hadn't fired a single weapon since
its appearance, for whatever reason.

Ohgi realized as he pulled out a gun and pointed it at the newcomers. All of them stood still, but
they formed a defence circle around the supposedly wounded member. Villetta moved behind him
as she slowly started to reach for her handgun.

Ohgi's gaze fell on the person behind Sugiyama. He was wearing the standard uniform of the Order
and from his height alone they could tell it was a young man. He could easily see that the boy
wasn't doing alright. His entire body was shaking as if he would collapse any second now. He was
wearing a visor, but there were small drops of blood under his nose and his eyes appeared lost as if
he was high.

"Who are you?" Oghi asked coldly, tightening his grip on the weapon.

Sugiyama tried to stand before them. "Come on, Oghi. This is a bad misunderstanding-"

"Kento stand down!" Minami shouted as he pulled out his own pistol. None of the operators was
armed so it was only Ohgi and Minami against the small group who were better armed than the
duo. "All of this is suspicious, Kento. Lower your weapons and don't move!"

None of the Black Knights moved while the weird one walked forward, his hand raised as he tried
to appear friendly. However, something was wrong with him.

The boy didn't say anything at first. He blinked slowly before his stare focused on Oghi as he
moved up towards the main screen where the death of Zero was on replay before the entire world!
A smile formed on his face as it grew bigger every second, as the boy tried to cover his mouth and
stop himself from laughing. Now the unknown person was looking like he was on the verge of
hysteria.

"-Ahahaha, g-god. Seeing Zero die on TV would have been the greatest show ever, serves him
right… if only Alice saw it. She would have loved it," the unknown boy spoke with sorrow in his
tone, "But that isn't the real deal, right? After all, the real one is right next to this faker."

"How- how do you know this?" Oghi didn't know who it was, how he managed to get on the
Ikaruga or what he was doing there. However, he knew the truth behind Zero and Lelouch.

"How? Well, another masked person told me this. He was far from the most pleasant people I
knew. And I saw some weirdos, but still, he is kind of my boss right? So, I have to obey his orders,
for now," the boy said as he forced himself to move forward, visibly in pain from whatever caused
his current state. "Honestly, once this is over I'm taking a paid leave somewhere in the tropics. But
today, right here, right now, I deal with some vermin. For Alice. Now-"

He was three meters away from Oghi when an ugly smile formed on his face, and the boy shouted
at the top of his lungs.

"Obey me!"

In a mere second, red circles appeared around Ohgi's pupils as he heard the Geass command. He
froze, unable to move or react in any way. Both Villetta and Minami looked at him with horrific
expressions. Villetta was more than familiar with what just happened as she tried to call him.

"Oghi!"

Minami looked at the weird boy with fury as he aimed at his head. "What the hell have you do-?!"

However, before he could press the trigger, Kento shot first. A bullet went right through Minami's
head and his body fell to the ground. One of the female operators screamed in horror as the Black
Knights around the strange boy with Geass pointed their weapons against the rest of the people on
the bridge. The one with Geassed just waived away.
"I have a general secretary, that's good enough for me. Everyone else, I recommend you to stay still
and do what you're told. Unless you want to follow the example of this one." he pointed at
Minami's fresh corpse. "Now, Kaname Oghi, I want you to-"

Before he could order him to do anything, Villetta used the moment and shot at him. The boy
couldn't react on time, but that wasn't the case of his Geassed puppets. Kento moved to the side and
acted as a human shield. The bullets pierced his body, but Kento continued to stand, even with
bloody holes. The Black Knights behind them quickly aimed at Villetta, but their puppet master
immediately stopped them.

"Don't shoot, idiots! She is too close to Kaname. I need the general secretary alive!" the boy
shouted before turning towards the Geassed Ohgi. "You! Deal with her!"

Oghi silently obeyed as he turned around towards the woman who was behind him and grabbed her
wrists. Despite being a trained operative, Villetta was unable to free herself of his grip and could
only stare at him with a scared expression.

"Oghi, please. This isn't you, snap out of it!"

Her lover said nothing as he looked at her with an emotionless expression, his face no different
from some kind of doll. However, he didn't do anything else beyond stopping Villetta. His new
master shouted in fury as he leaned on another Black Knight to support himself.

"What are you waiting for? Just kill her already!"

Despite the direct order, Oghi couldn't follow this command. Villetta felt that his grip on her wrist
started to loosen as she felt him shaking.

"I-I-" Oghi whispered as the red circle in his eyes started to flash. Villetta looked at him with hope
in her eyes.

"Oghi-!"

BANG!

Time froze as Villetta shakily looked down to see blood coming out of her stomach, she slowly
raised her face to see the Geass user with a handgun aimed at her. Her gaze turned towards Oghi.
He was still under the influence of Geass but despite that, a shock formed on his face as he realized
what happened. Villetta could do nothing but fall forward, her body leaning against Oghi. With
whatever strength she had, the former OSI tried to whisper.

"Fight it-"

Villetta was silent as her body pressed against his chest, but Ohgi didn't let her fall. Instead, he held
her in his arms, tightly hugging the wounded woman as the red circle in his eyes continued to flash.
Perhaps his mind was trying its best to fight off the invading force that was Geass, perhaps it was
succeeding-

However, few could oppose the Power of Kings and Kaname Ohgi was not one of them.

After a few seconds of absolute silence, the General Secretary removed his hands from the now
dying woman as she fell to the ground. Blood pooled around an unmoving Viletta. Ohgi didn't even
look at her, waiting for the next command. The boy who was now in control over the bridge
looked around, looking if anyone else would dare to challenge him. The rest of the staff didn't
move from their positions, all scared and horrified by what just happened. None of them had
weapons and could only sit in silence as the Geassed Black Knight soldiers held them at gunpoint
ever since Minami was killed.

"..."

The Geassed Ohgi could only stare at the body of Villetta unconsciously lying on the ground.
Every second her chances of survival were getting lower and lower. However, none bothered to
help her, all Oghi did was wait for further orders. Perhaps a small part of his brain could realize
what was going on, maybe it even wept in sorrow for her, but ultimately it could do absolutely
nothing and obey his new master. Turns out the Black Knights were right to be afraid of Geass
after all this time, but not the person who used it.

"Ok, now that the situation is under control, let's continue," Rai spoke as he walked next to Oghi.
"You will send a message to all Black Knights around the Federation. You will tell them that
Britannia attacked you in Tokyo and was planning to start an invasion. Order them to attack
Britannian forces on the borders, call it a pre-emptive strike."

"Yes… my lord." Oghi nodded as he turned towards the deck operators who were too horrified by
everything that just happened.

Rai noticed that none of them were returning to their tasks and he would rather use intimidation
than his Geass.

'I used it way too much. More than I ever did. I can't stop, but I might collapse any second
now.' Rai's mission and personal reasons to see Britannia and the Black Knights destroying each
other had to take a backseat as his basic survival instincts kicked in. 'If I die now, then Alice's
sacrifice would be for nothing.'

If only to honour her memory Rai would try to make it out of this mess alive, with the Order of
Black Knights getting absolutely annihilated in the process. Perfect scenario. While Rai was glad
for the chance to finish them off, Wizard's order was still strange, to say the least. They had to use
one of the more extreme plans in a rather hurried manner. Rai thought he would have more time for
something like this, maybe days. Certainly not a few hours.

'I can see why the conflict between the Black Knights and Britannia is good for us, but like this?
And so suddenly? Well, can't complain now anyway.' After this was all over, Rai would be on his
way far away from Wizard, Britannian royals and everyone else.

All he needed to do was make sure the fighting between Black Knights and Britannia spread
outside Tokyo and became an international conflict. Using the Order's secretary general should be
enough. And while UFN and Britannia will engage in all-out war, Rai will leave his little helpers to
deal as much damage to Britannia as possible.

'Sure all I needed to do was order them to attack Britannia and destroy the enemy who took so
much from them.' Such a simple Geass command but good enough for both Europeans and Black
Knights. 'But since I'm getting out of here soon, why not play all leftover cards, won't have another
opportunity. Wizard did want me to use that failed experiment and see how much damage it would
cause.'

After all, not every day Rai could get his hands on something like a failed experimental weapon
that was once an original concept for F.L.E.I.J.A. That shit-talking prince reassured the albino man
that it would explode. Not as huge as the one created by the crater in the city under them, but
powerful enough to guarantee war between two nations.
'After all, with Zero dead and all this confusion, both sides will blame each other for that
explosion.' Britannia would say that the UFN developed warheads on their own, while the
Federation will accuse the Empire of preparing another F.L.E.I.J.A. right inside Tokyo. Rai cared
little about their arguments, only interested in their mutual destruction. 'Those Europeans from
Wyvern Squad better not fail me.'

"Now, let's fuck this world-Agh!" Rai tried to act cheerful but the pain in his chest almost made
him throw up. His body was at its limit. He didn't know how much longer he could go if he didn't
stop using his power, but was sure one or two more tries would be his final ones. "N-not right now,
come on. I'm this close."

"My lord, what should we do about that Knightmare?" One of the Black Knights he Geassed asked
as he pointed at Uncle Teddy behind the window.

'What?'

Rai didn't know there was a Britannian Knightmare, let alone a Knight of the Round. Was this one
behind a sudden shake-up of Ikaruga? That almost made him vomit with blood, bastard. Although,
Geassing the knight sounded nice, but even attempting to do so would be suicide. Rai doubted he
could even convince the knight to get peacefully on Ikaruga.

'Using his own knights to kill the White Emperor sounds really nice… wait, why doesn't it shoot at
us?' If the knight flew there to wreck the shit out of the Order, then why did it stop? "Ignore it until
Kaname sends the order to all forces around the Federation, then you can open fire on that thing. I
will be on my way out of here anyway."

Rai didn't care what happened to the rest of the Ikaruga crew, actually, no, he would prefer for all
of them to meet the same fate as the Geass Order had. The Geassed Black Knight nodded before
shoving his rifle right against the head of the communications operator, making sure she
understood what to do. However, instead of obeying for the sake of her own survival, she acted
against Rai.

"We c-can't do that!"

Rai rolled his eyes. "Oh, please! Save me this speech about right and wrong. You either follow my
orders and get a small chance to live, or these brainless drones kill you-"

"W-we can't fire because we lost access to guns. All of them."

"What? I left some groups there!" Rai shouted as he walked close to the scared operator. "They
were supposed to wait until I took command over the bridge before firing again. Where are they?!"

"I don't know!" The operator raised her hands to defend herself, even though Rai was sure she
could easily overpower him right now.

"Whatever. Kaname, start speaking. Once you're done, I'm leaving."

Ohgi obediently nodded as he turned towards the main screen. The operators around the room
exchanged a nervous look before Rai's puppets fired a few shots in the air as a reminder to do as
they were told. Having no choice, they could only submit to the albino's orders under the barrel of
their former comrades' rifles. Rai could almost feel the relief that his mission was almost
completed.

'The Black Knights will be no more! Alice, we did it!'

All he had to do was cause absolute chaos and confusion. Of course, White Reaper was of great
help, but it was thanks to Rai's Geass that the Order was completely lost and caught off guard to
the point they couldn't even properly defend their flagship from Britannia.

The same ship where Rai was at the moment, the one few Britanniasn would like to take out of the
battle.

Before Oghi even could utter any word, the Japanese man fell forward as something pierced the
weak spots on his legs. One look at the secretary general was enough to notice two knives sticking
out of his legs, kunai. The Geassed Black Knights acted quickly and raised their weapons against
whoever attacked them. Rai turned around with wide eyes only to see someone entirely new.

There, standing on top of the Ikaruga bridge near the throne that was once occupied by her master
was standing a woman clad in attire Rai had only ever seen in manga. A yellow scarf was tied
around her neck that followed behind as she quickly moved, but the strangest thing was the simple
maid's hat placed atop her head.

"What the- a ninja maid?!"

Rai was lost while his little puppets opened fire at her. However, the maid was too fast for them.
Without missing a beat, she jumped forward, throwing two kunais in the process. Both blades
found their targets as they pierced the throats of two soldiers. The ninja-maid then landed right
between them. Rai thought it was his chance and shouted, his Geass activating.

"Obey me!"

However, instead of listening to him, the female attacker proceeded to go after the remaining
armoured Black Knights. One quick kick was enough to send the third flying while the last one
tried hand-to-hand combat. She didn't have any problems dodging the strikes before knocking the
rifle out of his hand. Before Black Knight could react, she pulled the trigger and fired several shots
at him. She immediately aimed at the previous Black Knight whom she sent flying with a kick and
landed a few shots, making sure he wouldn't stand up.

Rai looked at her with a shocked expression. He ignored the immense pain in his chest as he yelled
again.

"O-bey me!"

No reaction.

"O-b-bey me!"

Nothing as she turned her gaze towards him. This time Rai could see the small devices in her ears
that were more than enough to protect her from his Geass. He froze, realizing one terrible thing.
She had come prepared.

Rai's hands were shaking, not from fear but because his entire body was at its limit. He forced
himself to pull out the handgun and took aim at the woman. However, he was nothing against this
assassin as she threw a kunai at his hand and knocked away the firearm before jumping forward
and kneeing him in the face, knocking him into the ground. When he tried to get back up, she
slammed her foot down against his face as he struggled to move.

"Y-you bitch!"

The operators around the bridge felt at ease, feeling like their nightmare was over. However, a new
voice spoke up, getting their attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your hands in the air and don't make any sudden moves."

An older man with grey hair walked toward them. He looked out of place with his regular butler-
like attire. Except for the blood on his hands that he was cleaning with a handkerchief. The friendly
smile on his face should have put people at ease, but because of everything that happened it only
made him more unnerving. More armoured soldiers arrived, clearly Britannian spec-ops behind
him, they did little to calm them down.

"Lady Sayoko, I see you have everything under control."

Sayoko silently nodded, not removing her foot from the target.

"Kaname Ohgi is secured." She pointed towards the secretary general who couldn't get up as her
kunai practically paralyzed him. "Yoshitaka Minami, Kento Sugiyama and Villetta Nu are dead."

"Good. That's fewer loose ends." The butler said before he pulled out a silenced handgun and
wordlessly shot the rest of the operators on the bridge. They didn't even have time to react as their
end was quick and painless.

Rai narrowed his eyes. He didn't care about the Black Knights, and neither did these two
apparently. "Who the hell are you?"

"You don't have the right to ask questions," Sayoko said as she applied pressure to her leg before
looking at her fellow assassin, the muscles visibly flexed through the black leggings as she kept
him down. "What should we do with him, Alfred?"

"Well, His Majesty took control of the situation but didn't overrule Lady Dianna's orders. So, we
can bring him in warm or cold."

Gears started to move in Rai's head as he realized who they were working for. His Majesty could
mean only one person. The same person who was until a few months ago wearing the mask of
Zero. The one who ordered the massacre of his and Alice's home, their people. The one who
destroyed everything, the person responsible for the death of Alice.

'Lelouch vi Britannia!'

Rai wanted to scream, to fight his way out of this mess, but he couldn't. His body was barely
working anymore. And it meant, those two could take him to Lelouch, to execute him. Or worse-

'They will turn me into a lab rat. Use me for experiments, never letting me go. They won't let me
die.'

The image of Alice popped into his head as Rai remembered what she was fighting for, what she
died for.

She wanted him to be free, to live. However, living as Lelouch's guinea pig would be a fate worse
than death in Rai's mind.

He could do nothing as both assassins had auditory protection against him and could easily break
his legs and arms. He was nothing against them like this.

There was only one way out.

'Alice, I'm sorry. There was only one way Rai could fulfil his friend's last request, but only one of
them. 'I can't run, I cannot allow them to keep me prisoner… all I can do-'

Be free from everything and everyone. Forever.

"Obey me," Rai whispered as tears started to form in his eyes, fully understanding what he was
doing.

Alfred shook his head disappointedly. "Young man, perhaps you need to check your eyesight but
we have-"

"Obey me! Obey me! O-bey me! O-o-bey me! Obey m-e! Ob-e-y me! Ob-ob-bey-"

Rai didn't stop, shouting at top of his lungs as he used his Geass again and again. Without stopping,
he ignored the pain, no, he welcomed it. For it was his last chance to be free. However, in his last
moments, all Rai could think the place they called home. And the person who died for it.

'Alice, I'm coming home-'

Sayoko and Alfred were slow to react. However, once they realized what was going on, they were
too late to act as Rai's body twitched violently a few times before it stopped. The Ninja maid lifted
her foot off him and kneeled to check his pulse, making sure he was dead. She looked at Alfred
who gave her a nod before starting to walk out of the bridge.

"All targets are secured or eliminated, just as was ordered; our mission is complete, time to leave."

Ikaruga was lost to the UFN as Britannia took control of it. It pretty much ended the existence of
the Order of Black Knights as an enemy of Britannia, his previous army, and his creation.

Now Lelouch vi Britannia had full control.

Tokyo.

A squad of Vincent Wards flew as they followed the giant Knightmare of the Captain of the Royal
Guard, Sutherland Sieg, across the battle-torn city. The situation had been alleviated greatly.
Guren's pilot herself ordered all Black Knights to stand down and with the death of their leader
Zero, many Japanese fighters complied in surrendering; however, that wasn't the case for those
who originally started the battle, the ones who had come with Geass user Rai.

The Geassed Knightmare pilots of the Black Knights and W-0 didn't have any intentions of
stopping. They couldn't.

'Please be safe,' Inside one of the Vincent Wards, the blonde hero of Europe thought with
desperation. She piloted her gifted Vincent Ward to the best of her abilities, having received some
training back in Pendragon from both instructors as well as C.C. who wanted her to be capable of
fighting with Britannian steel.

Leila Malcal saw the footage Diana sent her. She saw her people's machines taking part in the
battle, attacking Britannian units and causing chaos in the city. Only one explanation was for this,
Geass. Leila knew that both Wyvern Squad and Asura team would never attack the Empire on their
own unless forced by the unnatural power that was Geass.

'If Rai isn't dead yet, I will shoot him myself.' Leila wasn't the vengeful or bloodthirsty type, but no
one dared to use her people as toys. She would never forgive such a person.
However, thankfully Britania had two tools against such a problem in the form of Jeremiah
Gottwald's Geass Canceler and Leila's own power. And while Leila's own ability would work only
with direct eye contact, Jeremiah's device could easily cover a huge distance around him. All they
needed was to find the Europeans and reverse the effect of Rai's.

"Remember the plan! Don't engage the W-0 units unless they will attack first. Stay in defensive
formation and let me deal with those insect- I mean, pilots." Jeremiah cleared his throat,
remembering who was with him. "The Black Knight pilots do not fall under this category, feel free
to destroy them if they get too close."

"Yes, my lord!" The Britannians inside Vincent Wards yelled in unison. Jeremiah made sure not to
bring pilots from either White Legion or Scarlet Guard. Using Geass Canceler next to them would
be awkward, to say the least.

"Good." Inside his Sutherland Sieg, Jeremiah switched on the private channel with Leila. "My
lady, I know I don't need to mention this, but please stay safe. Your old friends are currently not in
control of their actions."

"I know, Jeremiah, I know. But I won't allow some small terrorist organization to use my people as
puppets. Even if I'm Lelouch's partner, as their leader I must protect my people no matter what."

The Orange knight nodded, pleased. "Very well, then allow me to do the honours."

It didn't take too long for them to find the first units of W-0, the Asura team as the red Alexanders
were fighting their way towards the centre of Tokyo. Compared to regular police units that were
trying to stop them, Alexanders had no real competition. The Akatsuki of Geassed pilots dealt with
more advanced Britannian models in the air as several Vincent Wards fell on the ground.

"There!" Leila shouted as Jeremiah pressed on as his Sutherland Sieg flew towards the group of
Alexanders.

They were shooting at the Britannian forces, but immediately noticed a familiar machine that gave
them problems back in Europe.

"That's him!" Franz shouted.

"Orange!"

Simon yelled before turning his rifle against Jeremiah, and the rest of his friends followed the suit.
Sutherland Sieg's shield could easily take all their bullets without any issues. Its cyborg pilot
simply smirked as he flew at them, not bothered by their attempts to kill him.

"Be thankful that my master cares so much about Lady Malcal, you lot," Jeremiah said as his left
eye sparked with blue.

Ashley's team didn't stop firing until a giant blue bubble covered all of them. One second they
were fighting for the sake of fighting and next they stopped, confused by what was going on.

"What the hell?" Simon wondered.

Kuzan just sighed in relief. "So this is finally over."

"Wait, Jeremiah Gottwald!" Franz yelled as he raised his rifle against their old nemesis, but was
stopped by the arrival of one Vincent Ward. "What-"
"Asura team, stand down! This is an order!" The familiar voice of General Leila Malcal spoke with
a commanding tone, "Jeremiah Gottwald and Britannia are here to assist you, do not open fire."

"General? What is going on?" Franz asked.

"There was an attempt to start a war between UFN and Britannia. You and the other Black Knights
were used as pawns. Soldiers, what is the last thing you remember?"

"Uh? Well, we were watching the news, waiting for the peace talks to start when some twink
walked in, accompanied by Wyvern Squad and said something to us." Franz described the events
of this morning.

His friend Simon picked up. "He said to obey him and after that… eh? Are we here? What was that
about?"

Leila bit her lip. "So Rai brainwashed all W-0 fighters… wait, Asura team. Where is Ashley?"

"I remember that he went behind enemy lines to cause chaos and confusion among the Brits,
stubborn bastard! I told him to wait for us to back him up… why do I remember that?" Franz was
confused by the entire ordeal while Leila asked further.

"And where is Wyvern Squad right now?" Leila's tone became more anxious.

Kuzan raised Alexander's hand and pointed towards the area of the TV station. "Akito said they
will take over the station, all of them there. I don't know why they wanted it, but I think they were
carrying something there. I'm not sure."

"They are on opposite sides," Leila spoke with a worried tone as she turned to face Sutherland Sieg.

Jeremiah sent a signal to Britannian soldiers before he addressed Leila. "I sent orders to our forces
around the TV station to stand back and not attack the Wyvern Squad. We will prioritize that loud
clown over Japanese pilots for now. Even if Geassed, your unit shouldn't attack civilians."

Leila was reluctant but had to agree. Ashley would cause more damage if left unchecked. Worse,
he had higher chances of getting himself killed if left alone without support. If the TV station won't
be counter-attacked by the empire's forces, Wyvern Squad won't engage in a fight.

"Lord Jeremiah, you go after Ashley while I will fly towards the TV station."

"My lady-!"

"I know I can't cancel their Geass command while we're inside Knightmares. However, I should be
able to slow them down and maybe change their minds without it." After all, C.C. taught Leila that
some Geass command could have been refused by its victim if the order was too alien for a person
with a strong will.

"I understand. As you command, my lady." Jeremiah obeyed before he flew away, leaving a few
Vincent Wards to protect Leila.

"Wow, since when does Orange treat Leila like royalty?" Simon asked as the rest of the red
Alexanders watched the scene silently.

Kuzan said with a sly tone. "Since she might become one, duh?"

"So the rumours were true. Welp looks like I lost a bet." Jan sighed.
"So, now we're back to working under Britannia eh?"

"We aren't serving Britannia, but we're following Leila, like before," Franz clarified. "Now, I have
no idea what happened but we will rescue Akito and others from brainwashing or whatever that
guy did to us."

"Asura team!" As Leila spoke, all Alexanders stopped their banter and stood still, waiting for her
orders. Even if she went with emperor Lelouch in Moscow, she was still their commanding officer
in the eyes of W-0. "All of you trained with Wyvern Squad. You know their moves and techniques.
You will join me and help rescue them from the same effect that made you like this. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" All shouted in unison.

"Good, now let's go," Leila ordered as both Vincent Wards and European Alexanders followed her
suit towards the TV station. None of the Britannian units would dare to stop them, knowing who
was leading the mixed group.

Behind the briefly formed front lines, there was complete disarray for the imperial side as they
struggled against one sole unit.

The police force's Sutherlands were stationed there mainly to protect civilians, having no way to
compete against modern military units. And so, they were getting slaughtered as Alexander Red
Ogre sliced them in half, the pilots managing to eject out of their cockpits at the very least.

"Hahahahaha!" Inside his Red Ogre, Ashley Ashra laughed maniacally as his heat sword sliced and
pierced the unfortunate Sutherlands. "Come on! Where is the real challenge?!"

Regular Vincent Wards and even Gareth were mostly busy fighting the main forces of the Black
Knights. Only a few small teams could occasionally fly near Red Ogre and try to take it down.
However, Alexanders specialized in urban warfare. Even without a float system of any kind,
Ashley could easily move between buildings akin to some spider Knightmare as his Red Ogre
easily outmanoeuvred brits there.

"Where are the warriors of the Empire, huh?! Where are those so-called Knights of the Round!?
Orange?! Come on! Give me a real fight!" Even Geassed, Ashley's usual character didn't change
too much as he continued to act cocky. "What? No one? Guess that brat on the throne actually
knows nothing about true fighters! Surrounding himself with nothing but trash and one who-"

Red Ogre got a warning notification as something flew towards him. Ashley had a split second to
raise his heat swords and block the dive attack. Purple blades met silver steel as Ashley stared at
the familiar Knightmare frame, the same one that almost took his life back in Europe.

"You!" He roared while his opponent laughed.

"Me." The cold tone of Cinder Fall was enough to make the redheaded male go on a rampage,
Geass or not.

"Fuck you!" Ashley screamed as Red Ogre rolled to the side and raised its swords against Cinder's
Amber. However, thanks to her energy wings Cinder only needed to move a little bit to avoid the
strike. It didn't stop Ashley as he continued his onslaught.

Red Ogre's heat sword flew towards Amber as the latter simply blocked or redirected their way.
Compared to other units the second knight of the round had to fight today, except for two generals,
Red Ogre was on a more impressive end. However, Ashley Ashra was no Tohdoh or Xingke. Or
Kallen.

"Is this all you can offer? Please-" Cinder smirked. "I've had better fights."

"Agh!" Ashley screamed with fury, not stopping for one second. The memories of their fight in the
Netherlands didn't leave his mind. He remembered how he had to distract her, having no chance
against the superior Knightmare model. Today the rift between them grew only bigger as White
Queen upgraded her unit with energy wings and already went through battles against some
legendary Knightmare pilots. Ashley knew it and understood that his chances were small.
However, he wouldn't dare to give up or run away again. "I won't escape again!"

"Of course, you won't! I won't allow you!" Cinder spoke with a sadistic tone as her Amber danced
around the Red Ogre, her maser swords leaving multiple scars on Alexander. She didn't go for its
critical parts, knowing that it might cause an explosive reaction and kill the pilot. "You're lucky
Leila wants all of her toy soldiers alive. Otherwise, I would have slaughtered you and the rest of
your friends."

This caused Ashley to remember his past, that day and that battle that took the life of his friend.
Only causality his team ever suffered. And now this Britannian bitch dared to threaten his friends,
his brothers in arms?! Hell no! The Geassed mind of an enraged male pilot did wonders to make
him fight like hell. Red Ogre used the damaged buildings and transport around them as it jumped
from side to side, landing on top of empty trucks before jumping towards Amber.

When she tried to fire her slash harkens at him, Red Ogre moved in its insect mode and dodged the
attack. It was running circles around Amber, perhaps trying to confuse her or caught off guard.

"Hmm," Cinder noticed the increase in his attack pattern and how aggressive they have become.
Less thinking and more basic instincts and reactions. One powerful hadron shot would have been
enough to destroy the unit, but Leila wanted her people alive, and Lelouch wouldn't want to make
his blonde advisor sad. She only needed to wait until Lord Jeremiah arrived to deal with the loud
redhead. "How irritating."

However, Cinder had a secret weapon in her sleeves. Amber stabbed her maser swords into the
ground. It raised its arms in a challenging manner as its pilot spoke.

"Come on, Ashley Ashra! Show me that the former Knights of the Holy Order of Michael are
capable of any sort of competence!"

"FALL!" Ashley screamed as Red Ogre jumped towards her, its heat swords aimed for the
Knightmare's chest, hoping to pierce all the way to the cockpit. However, before the sword could
make contact with her frame, Amber moved its hand and took Alexander by its wrist. "What in the-
?!"

"Caught you!" Cinder had a satisfied smile as she activated Amber's 'vampiric' ability and started
to steal Alexander's energy reserves. Red Ogre could do little as its systems were turning off one
by one. It didn't have the same weaponry as Shen Hu to fight off Amber this close and all Ashley
could do was helplessly watch as his unit went offline.

"You-?!" Red Ogre fell on its knees as almost all systems save for visuals went dead. Amber stood
above it, its pilot pleased with herself.

"Game over."

"Indeed," both machines looked at screens to see the approaching Sutherland Sieg, "Lady Fall,
please stand back. Allow me to deal with this nuisance."

"Of course." After all, Cinder herself had a Geass command and her last wish was to lose it because
of Jeremiah. Amber flew back, leaving Red Ogre at the mercy of Jeremiah.

"Orange!" Ashley cursed as another ghost from the past appeared before him. "What are you
waiting for, you stupid fruit! Finish me!"

"You can't imagine how much I would like that. After failing to kill your group of dogs in Europe,
I was looking forward to ending your miserable lives. However-" Jeremiah's left robotic eye
activated as Geass Canceler started to work. "I would never deny my master's wishes and His
Majesty wants to see your commander happy, therefore, be grateful."

The blue bubble grew as it covered Red Ogre. Inside his Alexander, its pilot was trying to turn on
his machine while not forgetting to insult the cyborg even if it would be his final words, if anything
Ashley preferred it that way.

"Rot in hell, you annoying Orange!" Blue aura hit Ashley as the red circles in his eyes disappeared.
He stopped yelling and looked around himself, confused by what happened. "Wait, what-? Where
the hell am I?! Wh-what are you two doing here?! Where is my team?!"

"Alive and safe," Jeremiah said with an irritated tone. "So instead of shouting, I would recommend
you to close your mouth and listen to what we tell you."

"Orange you-! Huh… whatever, I can't fight anymore," Ashley sighed, realizing the futility of his
action since Alexander was nonoperative, "Let me guess, Leila asked you to save us?"

"Indeed. You should feel honoured that someone like the Messiah of Europe cares about the lives
of small bugs like yourself." Amber flew around Red Ogre. "Lord Jeremiah, I will take it from
here."

"Understood." Jeremiah acknowledged before moving his Knightmare towards the next
destination.

Ashley's Team was secured and that meant only Wyvern Squad was left.

Meanwhile, far away from the fight between Red Ogre and the Second Knight of the Round, the
Tokyo TV station was recently taken over.

As per orders of the emperor's cyborg captain, the Britannian forces didn't try to retake the station
anymore. Instead, the empire's machines hid behind the surrounding buildings, waiting for future
orders.

Leila took a deep breath as she stepped forward, leaving the security of her Knightmare behind. If
anything, her Wyvern Squad would have shot it if they saw Vincent Ward. Never mind if she was
the pilot. The Asura Team was close, ready to rush to her rescue if needed.

'I hope it won't come to that,' All Leila needed was to make sure that Akito and the rest won't leave
or engage in a fight with Britannia anymore. Giving them a TV station was the lesser evil in her
mind. 'Little they can do about it.'

"Ma'am, are you sure about this?" Franz asked as his Alexander hid to the side, close if required.

"It is fine, they won't attack me," Leila smiled weakly as she started to walk forward. She actually
missed being called 'ma'am', already getting used to the Britannian 'my lady'. 'Even if Geassed, I
know they won't kill me, not Akito.'

However, a quick sniper shot from Alexander's rifle hit the ground not too far away from the
blonde woman. Leila closed her eyes but didn't flinch. One quick glance was enough to find
Yukiya's Alexander hidden on the roof of the station. Its sniper rifle aimed at her. He could have
easily taken her life if he wished it so.

'But he didn't shoot me.' One glance at the sides and Leila could see dozens of destroyed Britannian
Sutherlands and a few new models.

"Leila Malcal," The blonde's light purple eyes turned towards the voice as she saw Akito's
Alexander Liberte. The purplish unit stood in front of the TV station, looking down at her with the
weapon in hand. "Leave now and don't turn back. I won't ask you again."

"Akito, please listen to me-"

Alexander Liberte raised its rifle and aimed at her. Leila had to raise her hand and stop Ashley's
Team units from moving as the latter were about to rush.

"Akito, what the fuck are you doing?! This is Leila!" One of them, Simon shouted from his
position.

"Irrelevant. She joined Britannia, she is with Lelouch," Inside his unit, her old friend coldly looked
at the monitor, staring at the face of his old commander. The red circles appeared in his eyes as
Geass's command reminded him of itself. "We must destroy Britannia, massacre its people and kill
their emperor. Including any traitor who joined them. That is our order, our duty."

Leila bit her tongue. "So this is the command Rai gave to you, Akito. And yet, you didn't kill me
despite the fact I pledged my allegiance to Lelouch vi Britannia. I have sworn to help him change
and rebuild Europe and Britannia for the sake of the future. That makes me a traitor, doesn't it? So
why not just shoot me down? You, Yukiya and others were ordered to kill traitors, right?"

"..."

The silence around them was a little unnerving for Alexanders behind Leila, but the blonde advisor
felt at ease.

"You remember Shin, right Akito?"

"..." Alexander Liberte didn't move, its rifle still aimed at her. But Leila was sure this confused the
pilot. "What does he have to do with anything? Shin is dead."

"Yes, just like his influence on you. His power. His Geass." Leila made a few small steps forward,
pushing her luck. "The same one that was enough to make you go insane, and affected the rest of
the team. The same one that is used on you right now, making you do things you wouldn't
normally do. The Akito Hyuga and Wyvern Squad I used to command and consider my family
wouldn't start a pointless massacre in the city. And they wouldn't raise their weapons against me or
their fellow friends," she motioned towards Ashley's Team, "Even now, you didn't kill me. Akito,
you know this is wrong. You can fight it, as you fought against Shin's influence."

"Leila…" She could see that her words had an effect on him as Alexander Liberte hesitated for a
few seconds before it lowered its rifle.

"Akito, I knew that both Euro-Britannia and mainland Britannia took a lot from you," Leila walked
closer towards his Alexanders until she was right next to them. She placed her plan on it. "But our
fight against Britannia is over. Lelouch isn't like his father, we can trust him. I- I trust him. Please,
Akito."

"..." Alexander Liberte said nothing as it kneeled next to her. Its cockpit opened and Leila could
see the conflicted face of Akito as he stared at her with doubtful eyes, the red circles around his
pupils flashed. "You… are you sure about this, Leila?"

"I'm. Do you trust me, Akito?" Leila asked as she silently activated her own anti-Geass. The Blue
sigil flew towards the Japanese pilot as it entered his mind and got rid of the command Rai forced
on them.

"I do," Akito said as the Rai's Geass control of him had disappeared. He blinked a few times,
looking at Leila and then his surroundings. "I- what- just like with Shin back then..."

Leila nodded, a warm smile on her face. "I will tell you everything once this nightmare is over, but
now, I'm glad to have you back, Lieutenant Hyuga."

"Glad to be back, general." It was rare to see Akito smile like right now, but Leila would remember
these moments as pleasant memories. She was getting her friends, her family, and her W-0 out of
this mess.

However, the reunion between the two friends was short-lived as several gunshots were heard.
Alexander Liberte immediately moved to cover Leila in a crouch as the machine took the hit. Akito
raised his rifle and aimed at… the three members of his team.

"Ryo, Ayanao, Yukiya! Snap out of it!" Akito's cries went unheard as his still Geassed teammates
opened fire at him. Alexander Liberte dodged their shots as it picked Leila with one free hand
while using another one to shoot in their general direction, hoping they would take cover and stop
firing. However, under the control of Geass, the rest of the Wyvern Squad didn't care too much
about their own lives.

"They won't listen! We need Lord Jeremiah's help to help them!" Leila shouted as she grabbed
Alexander's metal arm with two hands. Akito made sure to cover her with the machine's frame.
However, unlike Britannian and Black Knights elite Knightmares, their Alexanders lacked shield
protection. Too many shots and his Liberte would be done for. One lucky shot from Yukiya's
sniper rifle would do the trick.

"Cover Akito and General Malcal! Aim for their legs and arms!" Franz shouted as the Asura Team
opened covering fire from their positions. Some of their shots found their target as Ayanao's
Alexander lost its left arm, while Ryo's machine became crippled with the lack of one leg.

"Akito! Get behind the others! They won't stop shooting! Akito?" Leila noticed that he stopped,
she could sense that something was wrong. "Akito? What-"

"The bomb," Akito remembered what orders they were given by that boy, Rai. He ordered W-0
fighters to fight off Britannia but had specific orders for Wyvern Squad. "They have a bomb! I
remember now, we were ordered to take out as many Britannian forces as possible with that bomb.
We would have exploded it with everyone, us included."

Leila's blue eyes went wide as she turned toward her soldiers. Bomb?! Was it part of Rai's plan?
What if… what if it was that dreadful weapon?!

"What?! We need to save them-"

"No!" Akito shouted and for the first time, Leila could hear the fear in his tone. "I'm getting you
out of here first!"

"What?! Akito, don't you dare!"

Leila shouted, not even thinking about leaving her people behind. However, she could do little to
stop Akito as his Alexander Liberte turned around and started to run towards Ashley's Team's
positions. His three Geassed friends never stopped firing at their backs.

"Akito!"

"I'm sorry, Leila. But I need to make sure you're alive no matter what-" Akito stopped as his
monitor picked up the signal of new Knightmares arriving. "What. no-!"

Leila turned her gaze towards the sky and saw Sutherland Sieg and the company of Knightmares,
both Japanese and Britannians with him. Suddenly the words Akito said a few moments ago rang in
her mind.

'-take out as many Britannian forces with that bomb-'

Leila froze.

'No! No! No!' She thought with a horrified expression before turning her communicator and yelling
at everyone on every possible channel. "RUN! THEY HAVE F.-'

Inside his already damaged Alexander, Yukiya analyzed the situation. Even if he was Geassed, the
boy could see that they were outgunned and outnumbered by both upcoming Britannian and Black
Knight units. So, this was it. He sent the message to every Wyvern Squad member, including
Akito. He looked at the trigger on his panel as a small smile formed on his face.

Even under the power of Geass, Yukiya Naruse smiled genuinely for the last time.

"Farewell...friends."

All it took was a single button press and the entire TV station went up in a flame of bright light.
The same one that once destroyed part of Tokyo and took the lives of millions a few months
before. All those that were presented stopped fighting as ever-consuming light made them freeze.
Leila stared at it as tears filled her eyes, still screaming to turn back, even if she knew it was no
longer possible. Akito bit his tongue until it started bleeding if only to ignore the pain in his chest.
His friends were there.

The light quickly covered all three Geassed pilots and their Alexanders. Sutherland Sieg stopped
flying towards the station and instead dived in towards Ashley's Team. Jeremiah activated his
machine's Blaze Luminous Shield to offer as much protection as possible for the red Alexanders.

The bomb that was given to Wyvern Squad wasn't the same one that was used by the Knight of
Seven all those months ago. As a prototype, it was a weaker and more unstable version. It could
never achieve the same size and magnitude of destruction as its predecessor. However, it was still
capable of wiping everyone around the TV station, including Alexander Liberte and the blonde
messiah in its arms.

Or it would have if it wasn't for the intervention of a quad-legged Knightmare that galloped as fast
as it could.

Reaper ignored the danger of the ever-expanding light that promised certain death. The only thing
that was on its pilot's mind was to save the two people before him, the Fourth Knight of the Round
pressed on. Reaper's hand reached forward the moment the machine was close enough to
Alexander Liberte. Arthur's machine used so much force and turned so fast to run away, it literally
ripped off the upper half of purple Alexander. It was dragging the main frame with its cockpit and
hands still attached.

Reaper didn't turn back, now focusing only on escaping with the two Europeans it just saved. Its
speed allowed it to outrun the light of the prototype weapon. It was far away, at least as far as they
could get away from the explosion. Afterwards, it pressed half of Alexander Liberte against its
chest and activated its shield to protect them.

The explosion wave hit every Knightmare, building and transport in its way. Many Britannians and
Japanese units in the air weren't able to handle the wave or the wind that started to suck everything
towards the small crater in the epicentre of the explosion.

The Alexanders from Asura Team managed to stay mostly safe as Sutherland Sieg covered them,
taking the hit. Reaper was basically hugging Alexander Liberte as the latter machine made sure the
tiny human in its arms was safe and alive.

As for Leila, she stopped reacting to what happened around her. All she could focus on was the
sight that was burned into her mind.

She saw their death-

Her people, her friends, her three soldiers of Wyvern Squad were gone, swallowed by the death
light of F.L.E.I.J.A.
 Calm before the storm

August 28th. Horai Island.

A few hours have passed since the chaotic battle in Tokyo. Britannian forces and Black Knights
worked together to deal with traitorous saboteurs behind the attack during the peace talks.

At least, that was the official story told to the entire world. In truth, following the sudden arrival of
the fugitive Kururugi Suzaku and the attack organized by Geass-controlled Black Knights and
European units, Emperor Lelouch and his people on both sides immediately took over. The
confusion and chaos allowed the Knights of the Round to deal with the leaders of the Order that
wouldn't accept their emperor no matter what. Meanwhile, Major Kozuki and Captain Shinichirō
were technically the highest military officers in Tokyo, therefore took command. Of course, the
UFN's politicians were more than happy not to provoke war with Britannia, moments after they lost
Zero. Again.

As for now, with the high command of the Black Knights being pretty much eliminated, none
could or even wanted to organize resistance against Emperor Lelouch. As far as the members of the
Order were concerned, the Britannian monarch was their ally until the confusion was dealt with
and the perpetrators were brought to justice. Chairwoman Kaguya Sumeragi ensured that upon
speaking in favour of working with Lelouch.

However, the political implications of today's action mattered little to the European residents of
Horai Island. To say that the people of W-0 were devastated would be the understatement of the
century. The remnants of the EU lost some of their own members today, their friends.

There was a silence permeating the barracks of W-0. The Asura Team sat silently, their leader
looking worryingly at his comrade. Ashley could see that Akito was trying his best to hold up, but
today's events were slowly breaking him. The redhead couldn't blame him, none would dare to.
After all, seeing your friends disappear in the F.L.E.I.J.A. explosion was an absolute nightmare.

"Akito-" Ashley tried to reach out for his friend but was stopped by his teammates who shook their
heads. It would be better to leave him alone for the time being. The Asura Team leader scowled
before punching the nearby wall, unable to do anything else. Everyone suffered today. The Black
Knights lost Zero and some of their original members, and W-0 lost four members of Wyvern
Squad. And Britannia… the Brits didn't lose anything or anyone of value. If anything, they gained
the most.

One look outside was enough to see Horai Island being all but occupied by the Empire. Vincent
Wards and Gareths patrolled the island, while that giant black ship hovered in the sky. As for the
Black Knights, after being ordered by the chairwoman and major Kozuki, they had no choice but to
work alongside their old enemies. While officially both sides had a truth, the Britannian military
was the one calling the shots now.

Ashley didn't know how to feel about it. He wasn't a stranger to Britannia, being a knight of the
Euro-Britannian knight order in the past. However, after everything that happened, Ashley wouldn't
call himself a fan of the Empire. Still, the last thing he wanted was to start a fight when everyone
among W-0 was devastated and too tired for that. Didn't help that Leila personally asked them to
cooperate with the Brits.

"Anything better than going against that bitch again," Ashley whispered, not wishing to cross his
path with the Second Knight of the Round. Especially not after whatever she and Orange did that
got him back to his senses.

"Should we try and speak with General Malcal?" Rene asked, but Franz waved away.

"Negative. Right now Major Captain Hammel and aide-de-camp Warwick are with her, trying to
make sense of what happened. We'll just get in the way." This silenced any idea of talking with
their leader. Well, technically their former leader, seeing as Leila had come to them as a member of
the Britannian Empire.

While the Asura Team were silently talking among themselves, trying to calm down and ease the
situation, all Akito could think about was his team. They were gone, Wyvern Squad now had only
one member. After everything they have gone through, realizing that they were dead was
something Akito didn't want to think about. However, he had no choice. Deep inside he
remembered the time when losing all of his squadmates was a norm, how used he was to this
feeling. Now, however, trying to repeat the same was impossible.

Losing fellow teammates was expected of a soldier like the Japanese boy. Losing his closest
friends, however, was heartbreaking. Especially when whatever happened to them was done
because of one person with albino hair. Akito was ready to hunt him down but was stopped by
Leila who simply said that Rai was already dead. Perhaps that was for the best. Something like
revenge didn't work out for Akito very well last time with his brother. So maybe it was for the
best… although, Akito couldn't forget the strange yet familiar symbol he saw in the eyes of Rai
when he did something with W-0.

"Akito Hyuga."

Everyone in the barracks froze as they turned towards the entrance to see a familiar face. No,
calling him familiar wasn't correct. They only saw his face on TV news, but his voice was already
known among them. After all, Akito met him back when the war started in Paris.

"Arthur Calhoun," Akito greeted simply.

The Fourth Knight regarded the members of W-0 with a neutral expression. The Asura Team was
on guard, after all, he was another Knight of the Round. No one said anything as both sides
carefully studied each other, but their silence was interrupted by a meek female voice.

"E-eh, c-can we speak with Leila Malcal?" An unknown green-haired girl in glasses spoke as she
hid behind the Fourth Knight. None of the Europeans even noticed her at first.

Arthur added. "This is Nina Einstein, a scientist and the one trusted by His Majesty to prepare anti-
F.L.E.I.J.A. measures."

The last part made everyone in the room freeze, even the scientist in question. Asura Team looked
at the girl with amazement and shock while Akito didn't know how to react. His first reaction was
to get angry, but for what? That she wasn't there to save his friends when they were the ones who
detonated that bomb? All he could do was clench his fist and slowly breathe in and out.
Meanwhile, Nina herself was scared by the sudden introduction and was shaking, terrified that the
knight would have told them more than that.

"She wants to meet with W-0's own scientists and engineers and says it is important for her
project."

"I… will take you to Leila," Akito said as he walked towards the Britannian pair. Ashley sent him a
questionable look but Akito just shook his head, while the fourth knight slowly nodded.
"We appreciate that, Akito Hyuga," Arthur said as he and Nina followed behind the Japanese pilot.

The trio left European barracks and moved towards the command centre that was now occupied by
the European high command. It was getting late around them as the sun was slowly settling in. The
aftermath of the battle was still being dealt with as both factions were still looking for survivors as
well as the units who were lost in Tokyo. One would imagine the atmosphere to be quite hostile
among both forces. However, the Britannian legions showed no such reaction while the Black
Knights were too distracted by everything that happened today. Word was, General Xingke himself
was attacked by one of the conspirators and was currently in the medical wing, but gave his
'blessing' to Major Kozuki.

Britannian and Japanese soldiers walked around the base as they were preparing for something.

"..."

"..."

While the two armies were mostly on good terms at the moment, the Fourth Knight and last
Wyvern silently walked, with the poor scientist catching up with them. Akito sent a side glance at
Arthur who had a neutral expression. The Japanese boy didn't know how to behave around the
knight, considering they fought in the past and that Akito's friends killed Arthur's old teammates.
However, at the same time, Hyuga knew that it was thanks to the blonde Britannian that he and
Leila were still alive.

"Thank you… for saving Leila..." Akito said quietly.

Arthur blinked, "His Majesty would be saddened if something happened to lady Malcal."

"So, Emperor Lelouch cares about Leila, that's reassuring." Akito felt at ease for some reason.
Trusting the Britannian Emperor might be a foolish thing, but if it meant Leila would be safe and
happy, then Akito was ready to look beyond Lelouch's position. He and W-0 wouldn't have to
protect their leader, not anymore.

Nina bit her lip as she looked away while Arthur nodded. "I can guarantee that the life of Lady
Malcal is in safe hands with His Majesty… and, I'm sorry for your loss, Akito Hyuga."

"Why," Akito stopped as he looked at Arthur with narrowed eyes, "Why? Shouldn't you be
pleased? Yukiya and Ayano were the ones who killed your friends back in Paris. And you tried to
kill me and Ryo as well. And now, they are dead, your friends are avenged-"

"They aren't!" Arthur shouted with anger. Behind him Nina jumped, scared by the sudden shout.
The Fourth glared at Akito for a few moments before muttering something and calming down. "As
Lord Bishop told- Akito Hyuga, I know you and I were enemies in the past. After what your friends
have done in Paris, I wanted nothing more than to hunt them down and slaughter them. However,
this desire, this revenge was getting in my way and therefore I needed to let go of it..."

"Does that mean you forgive Yukiya and Ayano? Us?" After all, Akito and Ryo were responsible
as well for what happened in Paris.

"Never," Arthur immediately said. "I won't forget that day, that moment. I defeated Wyvern Squad
back in Moscow, but it didn't get rid of my desire for revenge. I thought that perhaps killing you
would have helped, but my Emperor had different plans for W-0 and I won't dare go against his
word. Therefore, while I'm not going to ever forgive what Yukiya Naruse and Ayano Kosaka did, I
was ready to look past my personal feelings towards Wyvern Squad for the sake of my Emperor's
wishes… but now it is irrelevant since they are dead. My revenge and His Majesty's wishes no
longer matter since they died in such a terrible way. And for that… I'm sorry, Akito Hyuga."

Akito blinked as Arthur slightly bowed, "I'm sorry for your loss. If Wyvern Squad were meant to
die, then it should have been an honourable death in battle, against their enemy. You and your
friends were ready to put your lives on the line for each other. They didn't deserve to die as puppets
in the schemes of the insane terrorist. For that, I'm truly sorry."

"How ironic," Nina whispered with a bittersweet smile, for she knew where the exact words could
be applied to someone else. She thought mentioning what was on her mind was a good idea but
decided against it. It was a terrible moment to bring it up, and she didn't want to cause more
anguish to people who suffered because of her actions.

Akito and Arthur ignored the scientist as they stared at each other for a few seconds. None of the
warriors said anything before Akito turned around and started to walk towards Leila's location.
Arthur and Nina silently followed. Once they were there, Akito motioned for them to get inside
while was planning to get back to the barracks, he needed some time alone. However, before
leaving, Akito glanced at the blonde knight as he was entering the building.

"Thank you for saving me as well, Sir Calhoun."

Arthur paused, he didn't turn back but let out a short laugh, "You're welcome, Lieutenant Hyuga."

The command centre which was originally used primarily by Black Knights was now occupied by
a group of Europeans.

Following the aftermath of the battle, Kallen and Tamaki became the commanding officers of the
Black Knights. It was obvious which redhead was superior among them and even more apparent
was that Kallen all but surrendered command of the Order to Lelouch. So, it wasn't even a question
when Leila asked for some private place to speak with her people.

Of course, talking about serious matters was quite difficult when the entire unit was crushed by the
news of their best pilots getting killed.

"Leila-" Anna Clément quietly whimpered as her old friend offered comfort. Leila pressed the head
of the pink-haired genius against her chest, trying her best to ease the pain Anna was feeling, as
well as trying to stay stoic herself.

She looked around the room. Both Oscar and Claus stayed silent, both military officers were more
than familiar with the pain of seeing their comrades die and knew how to handle it better than
others. Even if Leila could see Oscar's hands tremble. The Randle couple had a harder time as the
husband was calming down his wife. Following the arrival of Nemesis, their lab and anti-Geass
machine were seized by the Empire and both scientists had questions for Leila as Lelouch's
representative.

"It is okay, Anna. I'm here and won't leave any of you," Leila whispered softly while patting the
head of their best engineer.

The happy reunion between the friends was ruined by the battle that they were forced to participate
in. None of her W-0 soldiers would have followed Rai of their own volition. All of it happened
only because of some Geass user who wanted to see both UFN and Britannia destroyed as revenge
for his own people.

'And I can't even tell them,' Leila bit her lip. The knowledge of Geass was too dangerous and might
cause W-0 to treat Leila differently if they learned that Lelouch had such power as well.

"What now, Leila?" Oscar asked after everyone stayed silent for several minutes. "Should we run
again? Will you leave us again?"

Claus glared at his fellow officer as he yelled. "Oscar-!"

"What?! Look around, Claus! Britannia, the same one that took over our homeland and tried to kill
us is now here, right outside this door! We have nothing! What are we to do now? Black Knights
lost their leaders and Britannia is the one in charge of the island. W-0 is unable to function. Not to
mention… with the losses of Wyvern Squad, Asura Team is not ready for fighting. Our remaining
soldiers are too tired and drained after whatever took place today. What are we supposed to do
now? I-I don't know what to do anymore-"

"Major Captain," Leila spoke with her old commanding tone that silenced the man. "First of all,
calm down. Neither you nor anyone in W-0 is in any danger. Britannia… Lelouch is my partner,
my ally. He wouldn't do anything that would hurt our partnership, and that includes going after my
people. I trust him and you all can trust me. I know that after the war it isn't easy to see Britannia as
anything else but our enemies. However, as the last units of the EU military, we have to see it
through that our soldiers haven't died for nothing, that their sacrifices weren't meaningless."

"Hard to do that when our biggest and scariest enemy who we were fighting for the last decade is
literally surrounding us, ma'am. After all, many of our boys and girls died fighting Britannia."
Claus let out a short laugh, coping with the situation.

"Wrong. The soldiers of W-0, and the entirety of Europe, fought and died for the dream of a better
future. We fought against the tyranny of Charles zi Britannia that his regime would have forced on
our nation. Lelouch vi Britannia is not his father, his Britannia isn't the same. He and I share similar
if not identical dreams of better tomorrow for everyone, be it in Europe or anyone else around the
globe. What happened today... is a tragedy. A sick manipulation by those who want to see this
world succumb to a state of absolute chaos and death. My Wyvern Squad… Ryo, Yukiya and
Ayano were led astray. I wish I could have saved them, but I also knew that between peace and war
with Britannia, they would have chosen the former. I promised them, back when we were dealing
with Shin and Euro-Britannia that I would guarantee their safety, that no one would die under my
command… and I failed."

"..."

"..."

"..."

All of them stayed silent, not wishing to speak against Leila on this. Rai was the one who took
control of her people, but Leila couldn't stop thinking that it was her fault as well.

She promised them that they will survive. That they will live on.

And Leila failed.

'I should have asked Jeremiah to go after them first.' Maybe that way, Wyvern Squad would have
survived. 'Maybe if my Geass was more powerful, maybe I could have-'

This was slowly driving Leila insane. Blaming everything on the dead albino Geass user would be
easy, but it won't return her friends, her family back from the dead. Geass was the curse, but even
she who had a weapon against it was helpless when her own people became victims of such power.
She could do next to nothing and simply watch how that atrocious weapon claimed their lives.

Leila, the so-called messiah of Europe was unable to save her own friends.

She wanted to cry. To hide from the entire world and sit in some dark corner, hoping that everyone
would forget about her. She wasn't naive, Leila knew death was always present whenever war went
on. However, she never expected to see people close to her die like this. Instead of dying in battle
against the evil enemy, fighting side by side as a family, Wyvern Squad died as puppets who
followed the suicidal plan of a broken man. There were no bodies to bury.

"Secondly… our true enemy is Schneizel el Britannia and everyone who follows that backstabbing
snake," Leila spoke with venom, not bothering to hide her fury. Better to transform her sorrow and
pain into anger. "He was the one who sent the White Reaper after both Zero and Emperor Lelouch.
He is the one behind the perpetrator of today's madness, Rai. If you want to be mad then be mad at
Schneizel. You can mistrust Lelouch, but do not treat him as the enemy when he is the only reason
we managed to save some members of W-0 today."

Even if Leila didn't join Lelouch and remained with W-0, nothing would have changed. She
wouldn't learn about her Geass and wouldn't be able to use it effectively and free her friends from
Rai's Geass. Worst case scenario, Geassed W-0 members would have started a fight among the
European side if Leila tried to interfere. However, the what-if questions didn't leave Leila's mind
regardless.

"I-"

"We understand, Leila." Sophie Randle noticed that no one was in a good mood and that continuing
the conversation was useless. She glared at two officers who could only nod in understanding.
"But what should we do for now?"

Leila took a deep breath. "Look after the rest of the W-0 pilots, make sure they are fine. The Asura
Team and Akito need rest. I will talk with Lelouch about the W-0's current position. You have
nothing to fear, he will listen to me and I will make sure my people are safe. And-" The blonde
remembered another matter that would require the attention of the Anna and Randle couple, "There
is someone who might help with a little project of hers."

"Who?" Anna blinked.

"That would be me," All eyes turned towards the new voice in the room, and soon found two new
faces.

Leila cleared her throat. "I'm sure, Sir Arthur Calhoun needs no introduction. As for his
companion, meet Nina Einstein. She is-"

"Creator of F.L.E.I.J.A.," Nina said with a straight face. Both Leila and Arthur looked at her with
wide eyes, not expecting this. Meanwhile, the rest of the room stared at the green haired scientist
with a mixture of fear, shock and rage. However, Nina expected all of this. "I'm the one responsible
for the creation of that weapon and all deaths that were claimed by it, including those who died
today. I do not ask for your forgiveness, but instead, beg for your cooperation," Nina bowed. "I'm
close to finishing the weapon that should render any F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads are obsolete, but I need
the assistance of any military engineer to calibrate the final touches. Please."

It was obvious whose help Nina needed the most as Anna and Randles looked between each other
before turning to Leila.
Her old friend was the first to ask, "Leila, what is going on?"

"Schneizel and his forces are preparing for the final battle. We don't know what his plan is, but he
is already on the move. He is coming here, and not empty-handed. He will bring F.L.E.I.J.A., a lot
of it and we must be ready. Britannia has been preparing an anti-F.L.E.I.J.A weapon for some time,
but it isn't completely ready. You heard Nina, she needs your help. You're free to hate her, but she
made giant progress towards making something that would make that monstrous weapon useless. I
know all of you went through a lot today. Britannia isn't your ally, but I ask you to help her, help
us. We couldn't save our soldiers today, but we might be able to save others with Nina's new
creation," Leila turned towards the pink-haired girl, "Anna, you can't imagine how guilty I feel for
making you work on military projects all those years. Alexanders, space elevator, I'm sorry. But
please-"

"I understand, Leila." Anna took the blonde messiah's hand into her own and gave Leila a
confident smile, "If it means we can protect people, I will help with whatever is required of me,"
She glanced at two medics of W-0. "Isn't that right Mr Takeru, Mrs Sophie?"

"Hmm, that thing means death for anyone, so of course dealing with it is within my interest." the
female doctor spoke with a reassuring smile.

Her husband nodded. "We will need to call Joe as well."

"Thank you all for your help." Leila glanced towards Nina. Perhaps blaming the girl for today's
F.L.E.I.J.A. would have helped Leila, but she was back in Ashford when Lelouch spoke with his
friends. Einstein was broken, devastated by her own creation and probably wanted to disappear
more than anyone else. Leila had a lot of blood on her hands, as the leader of a military unit, so she
could relate to Nina's misery to some extent. 'Arthur lost his friends because of my soldiers, but he
never showed me any hostility. No one under Lelouch's command ever did. There are many people
in Britannia and maybe even among former Euro-Britannian states who curse my name, and yet I
never thought about their pain. Nina, you aren't innocent, but I don't want to judge you. It won't
help me in any way.'

"If no one has any more questions, then I think our reunion is over, for now. Oscar, make sure the
rest of W-0 will get rest, that includes you two as well," Leila ordered Oscar and Claus who gave a
salute before leaving the room. The Fourth Knight of the Round said nothing as he motioned for
Nina to follow him, followed by the Randles. Her old friend stopped before running up to Leila
and tightly hugging her.

"A-Anna-?"

"Leila, I know the situation isn't the best. I'm sad about their death, but I want you to know that
everything will be fine. I know it sounds naive, but please don't be too hard on yourself."

"Anna..."

Leila looked down, not knowing how to respond. Anna gave her a small smile before going after
the rest of the scientists' team Nina was collecting. Once they all left her, Leila turned towards the
window and stared at the setting sun. For a minute the blonde general silently looked out at the
outside world, but a moment later she leaned forward and pressed her head against the glass. Tears
started to slowly fall down her cheeks.

She knew it was the worst time to show her weakness, even if no one was around to see Leila. She
was supposed to be strong, for the sake of her people. Leila couldn't allow herself to be devastated
by today's events, by their deaths.
And yet, she couldn't stop crying.

Ryo, Yukiya and Ayano were three pilots among dozens who died under Leila's command. Several
squads went with Akito, but never returned safe for the formerly suicidal pilot. However, unlike all
of them, Wyvern Squad were her friends. The ones who entrusted their lives to her, the ones who
saved her from Shin. And now, they are dead. All because Leila wasn't able to save them.

"This is my fault-" She whispered, knowing that no one should hear it.

"I have to disagree with that statement of yours, Leila."

The blonde advisor turned back with a surprised expression when she saw the familiar face of the
Britannian monarch. Lelouch vi Britannia was standing in the middle of the room, alone. He
looked at her with a kind smile as he stepped closer. Leila was taken by surprise but quickly got
over it and turned back to stare outside the window.

Of course, he would check in on her. Leila wanted to feel annoyed but felt thankful to Lelouch for
this.

"I hope you didn't run into my people on the way here. Oscar might be a little antagonistic towards
you, and the others might be too scared."

Lelouch waved her worries away, "I know my way around this place, you know from my time as
Zero. I used to calibrate the wiring right there, yes," The Emperor pointed towards one side of the
room. "There was a fun small accident with Kallen. She is behind the door by the way. My
Knights don't want me to be left alone after what happened in Tokyo. Speaking about that-" His
voice became quieter, "How are you holding up, Leila?"

She shrugged. "You just saw it. Terrible. I need some time to accept what happened, but I know
that we don't have it."

"Sadly. D.S. received info from her spy, plus our agents reported activity among Peace Mark cells
who went into hiding. Schneizel is coming after us."

Leila narrowed her eyes, "How bad is it?"

"You will see with the others, we will have a meeting, that's why I'm here. But-" Lelouch walked
closer and leaned against the window, not breaking eye contact with Leila. "I personally wanted to
make sure you're fine."

"Sorry for making you worry, Lelouch. It is just," Leila bit her tongue, not knowing what to say. "It
might come out wrong… but you lost your friends, you know this feeling."

Lelouch nodded with a small smile, "Yes. Unlike you, I handled it worse. I would hide my
emotions deep down, knowing that they would only get in the way. And they did, heh. Not the best
strategy to cope with the loss."

"Then what should I do? I'm not blind to my- our duties. But Lelouch, I need something to help me,
anything."

Leila was hurt, it was obvious to both of them. Lelouch stared at her for a good few seconds and an
idea came to his head. He quickly walked towards the door, opened it and said something to Kallen
who was on the opposite side. The redheaded Knight of Zero noticed Leila's gaze and sent her a
sympathetic smile before nodding to whatever her lord said before leaving. Lelouch closed the
door and returned to Leila.
"What was that?"

"I asked Kallen to notify the others that we will be late. Do not worry. They, Schneizel, and the rest
of the world can wait for the next 30 minutes. Right now we can have some privacy and talk,"
Lelouch took off his white cape and placed it on the ground, before motioning for Leila to sit next
to him on it.

Leila blinked but eventually joined the monarch on the ground. She wondered if they looked
ridiculous like this, that would be a really cute picture. The all-mighty Emperor of Britannia and his
advisor, sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor like some kids.

"Now what?"

"Now… you know, I actually never learned what happened after Akito Hyuga's brother, Shin
Hyuga, captured me and Suzaku. Back when I was that shell, Julius Kingsley," Lelouch laughed,
"At least Charles knew how to name people, can't deny that."

"You want to hear about that time? I thought you despised that moment of your life."

He immediately nodded, "I do. I hate the person Julius Kingsley as much as I hate my parents.
However, I don't want to remember that time of my life, no. I want to hear about the W-0 unit's
adventures and battles from the perspective of its leader. Don't get me wrong, I read the reports and
know the conclusion of your mission, but I want to know what happened on the ground, from you."

"Is… this your way of making me feel at ease?" Leila turned away from him and stared ahead. She
was silent for some time, while Lelouch patiently waited for her to speak. "I wasn't a great pilot. I
knew how to pilot an Alexander, but my skills were subpar when compared to the rest of Wyvern
Squad. At best, all I could do was provide fire support. And I didn't offer a match of help when
Shin attacked our castle."

"You tried to negotiate with him, didn't you?"

Leila nodded, "Yes, and it went terribly. Although, it wasn't as bad as today's talks."

"I don't know, Leila. That Zero fellow was quite cooperative when we spoke."

Leila ignored the joke and continued. "Afterwards, we fought and won. It wasn't easy, it wouldn't
be possible without D.S.'s help. But we put everything we had on the table. From stationary turrets
and drones to experimental anti-matter cannon. It didn't stop the Euro-Britannian units, and all they
had were modified Sutherlands and Liverpools," Leila fought the urge to laugh. "Liverpools,
Lelouch! Out of all things."

"Never underestimate your opponent, granted I highly doubt Liverpools will help us against my
siblings. But that anti-matter cannon sounds quite fascinating, I didn't know the EU had something
like that."

"A failed prototype. It was able to shoot, but it was eating too much energy. The high command
discarded the project and sent us the leftovers. Actually, they were sending us a lot of broken
weapons, huh."

"Like what?" Lelouch asked with genuine curiosity, a small part of him always felt interested in
advanced weaponry.

"Well, we didn't have fancy float units like Britania and instead used parachute wings for
Alexanders-"
And so, both of them spoke about the W-0's past. Leila told about the battle and misadventures her
unit experienced, while Lelouch attentively listened to her. The blonde general thought the White
Emperor would try to ask more about the Wyvern Squad pilots who were gone, but it wasn't the
case. Lelouch was more interested in the overall story of her group, not the individuals themselves.
Not once did Lelouch ask about how she felt, instead he criticized their strategies and offered his
own ideas of how he would have dealt with the problem. Leila agreed in some cases and argued in
others. They talked like this for what felt like hours, but when Leila glanced at her wristwatch, she
noticed that only twenty-five minutes had passed.

"Huh, it feels like we talked the entire day."

And Leila enjoyed every moment of it.

"That's what happens when you get lost in conversation. Now, my lady-" Lelouch said as he stood
up and offered her a hand. "Do you feel better?"

Leila stared at his hand, amazed at how much time had passed since the first battle in Paris.

'We were enemies, I ordered the Wyvern Squad to capture him… and now we're partners, allies.
We fought against each other, and now? He makes me blush and act like a high school girl. This is
ridiculous, no, insane. All of it.'

This man, Lelouch vi Britannia, Zero, White Emperor, he was the most interesting and complicated
man Leila ever knew. And she enjoyed it. Mayhaps it was basic curiosity, but she wanted to see
the end of Lelouch's grand and mad plan of world conquest. Never mind that she was his partner,
one of them, and was just as guilty for his actions since Moscow. Leila just wanted to see the
conclusion of his story, if only to make sure the sacrifices she and Wyvern Squad committed
weren't for nothing.

'They died because of Geass, used as mere puppets. Schneizel is responsible for it, all of it. I must
see his defeat, so the Wyvern Squad will be avenged.'

And perhaps after all of that, Leila could move on and live normally. Well, as normally as one in
her position could. They lived in a crazy world, that was for sure. Leila smiled as she took his
hand.

"I can't and won't forget their deaths, but I'm thankful for being here for me, Lelouch. I appreciate
it."

Leila didn't feel at peace, but she felt warmer once they talked. There was a funny feeling inside her
chest. She already knew what it was, but instead of trying to fight it or ignore it, Leila simply
accepted it.

Lelouch waved away. "I hardly did anything. All I did was ask you some questions, nothing more.
If you want to get over your sorrows, first you need to honour their sacrifices and help the people
of Europe, I'm sure that would have made them proud."

"I'm not sure," Leila giggled. "Wyvern Squad were hardly the most social and outgoing people.
They cared primarily about their friends, each other."

"Well, in that case, they'd be happy for you. After all, I promised that Europe will prosper under
my rule with your help, Leila. This is your dream, and I'm sure W-0 would be happy for you."

Leila could only nod. "I owe them a lot."

"You will repay your people, both living and those who are no longer among us with a newly
rebuilt Europe. You have your responsibilities for your people, your friends. And I have mine for
mankind as a whole. As their future overlord, I must take good care of my subjects."

"No shame in admitting you want to take over the world. And this is the man to whom I pledged
myself." Leila shook her head as a smile formed on her face.

Lelouch sent her a playful smirk. "Careful with the phrase, my fair lady. You never know how
some people misunderstood you and reacted inappropriately."

'After all this teasing you made me go through, you now dare think it's inappropriate?!' Leila's left
eye twitched. This guy! 'Agh!...fine! If you want to play hard to get, then-'

"Please, Lulu-" Leila decided to be the daring one and leaned closer to Lelouch. Her hands went
around his neck as she brought herself closer to him. Their faces and their lips were a few inches
away. "We both want this."

Lelouch paused, a neutral expression on his face. "A great strategist knows when it is time to make
his move and when he should bide his time, Leila. My personal feelings aside, you went through a
lot today. We shouldn't-"

"I might have died, but instead I saw my friend- I don't know what is worse, Lelouch. Right now
I'm trying really hard not to break and lose whatever is left of my self-control. I just want to hide
and not see anyone until all of it is over."

Her partner sighed. "I wish I could say it was fine, but-"

"But we have responsibilities, I know that. Lelouch, I just need something to remind me that I'm
still alive, that I'm not a broken shell-"

That she wasn't someone like Shin. The nihilistic husk who only craved death for all living beings,
himself included.

"That I'm still fighting for a righteous path."

That she wasn't someone like Smilas. The bitter war hero who forgot the principles he fought for
and only cared about his own legacy, about power.

"That I'm not alone in this world. That there are people who will help me, and support me when
I'm like this. That… even if I lose all those who are important to me, there will be someone to
support me, to care about me. I don't want to be left alone ever again-"

Like when her parents died. When all these around Leila were only after her status when no one
cared about her own dreams and hopes, her feelings.

"I-I… I want to be alive, to be loved, even if only to remind me that I'm not alone." Leila froze,
realizing what she just said, "Lelouch, forgive me. I'm sorry-"

Leila looked down, ashamed of herself. Or tried to do so.

As she turned away her gaze, Lelouch gently captured her face with his hands and closed the
distance between them. Her own purple eyes went wide while he calmly stared at her. Leila felt her
entire body freeze, but then she felt warm. Yes, the warmth took over her body as their lips
connected and didn't leave each other. It wasn't a hungry kiss. Instead, it was a calm yet passionate
kiss. Leila slowly closed her eyes as she lost herself in the moment.
Her first kiss was taken by the man who took over her homeland. Both of them. He who was once
her enemy was now holding her like a lover.

And Leila enjoyed every second of it.

'Am I a terrible person for feeling happy at a time like this? Acting like a heartbroken crybaby,
begging for closure from him. I'm Leila Breisgau, the daughter of two kind people who wanted to
help those around them. I'm the commander, the general of Europe's most elite military unit. They
called me their messiah. I was supposed to carry myself according to their image and hopes… then
why does it feel so nice?' Leila tightened her grip around Lelouch's neck, bringing it as close as
possible. Making sure there was a minimal distance between them as she refused to let him go. 'To
forget who I am, like this. It feels reassuring, safe.'

However, eventually, they needed to break off the kiss, if only to breathe again. Despite her first
kiss being taken, Leila didn't feel flustered. If anything, she felt amazing, as if a weight was lifted
off her shoulders.

"We should head out. Everyone is waiting for us," Lelouch said, yet his hands didn't leave her
body. Their purple eyes stared at each other.

"Yes, we shall," Leila nodded, although her grip around his neck only tightened. They stayed like
this for some time, until Leila decided that the world waited long enough for them. However,
before leaving the pleasure and warmth of their personal space, and facing the cruel outside, Leila
decided on another promiscuity. She leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on Lelouch's lips
before immediately walking towards the door, smiling. Lelouch wasn't ready for this. He stared at
her back as the blonde angel was about to walk out of the room and she sent a small smile towards
him.

'I can't let him be the one who always surprises me.'

"Let's go, Your Majesty. Can't keep the others waiting."

Cambodia.

In the last few hours, the atmosphere around the Toromo Agency facility in Cambodia was tense.
Schneizel's faction was preparing for the upcoming conflict for months and hence it was at its
battle-ready status after the events during peace talks in Tokyo took place. Everyone knew that
sooner or later the secret weapon within the facility would have been unleashed. However, no one
expected it to happen this way.

'This isn't how it was supposed to go,' Suzaku Kururugi thought as he leaned against the chair in
their war room.

Right now all key figures of their faction were discussing what to do next. Nay, everyone knew
what was about to happen, but just like Suzaku, none of them expected or wanted it to happen this
way. The true Knights of the Round silently sat and watched the scene between the prime
minister's advisors.

"This is too early," Kanon spoke with a visible frown as he addressed his prince. "Damocles isn't
ready yet-"

"We cannot wait any longer!" Diethard slammed his fist against the table. "This might be our only
chance to fight Lelouch while we have an upper hand! He has already taken over Tokyo's branch of
the Black Knights and the UFN leaders will fall in line before him. Especially with Geass. If we
don't move out right now, we will be facing the combined force of the Britannian military and
Black Knights! F.L.E.I.J.A.'s effectiveness will go down against the literal army of the world!"

"We can't be certain all nations within the Federation will submit to Lelouch's will. Even with
Geass, he cannot turn every field commander and officer to his cause in a short time. There will be
rebellions-"

"Lelouch will crush every single one of them. Either using his own forces or leaving the dirty job
to his Black Knight pets," Cornelia tiredly spoke with a distant look, "I hate to admit it, but the
reporter is right. Either we attack him now, or we will fight both UFN and Britannia at the same
time. F.L.E.I.J.A. will become our only choice against all of them, but using it will only make us
enemies in the eyes of everyone… I don't want to approve this method, but-"

The princess sighed.

"If we use only a few warheads against Lelouch right now-"

"We cannot!" Shouted the blind princess. Nunnally turned her face towards the place where her
brother was supposed to be and spoke, "Big brother, Schneizel. Please, I gave my word that
F.L.E.I.J.A. won't be used as an offensive weapon."

Suzaku raised his head and stared at his princess with regret in his eyes. He didn't want to say it,
but it was clear to everyone in the room that it was too late for that. None of the other knights said
anything, waiting for their current lord to speak his mind.

Schneizel's eyes didn't leave the TV screen that was showing the latest news around the world,
showing as both nations agreed on cooperation for the sake of finding the culprit behind today's
attack. The usual mask of calmness remained on his face as he studied the screen.

"Wizard," Schneizel finally spoke, addressing the masked man without turning. "What happened?"

All attention turned to the former noble who stood silently far away from the others. "Something
went wrong… Rai, he went out of control and acted on his own-"

"He used the F.L.E.I.J.A. prototype, Wizard," To anyone else, Schneizel's current tone sounded
perfectly normal, but Suzaku spent too much time under the second prince's command and knew
when he was displeased. "The one I gave to you with the intention to use it to frame Lelouch for
developing his own warheads behind everyone's back. Not to use as some mere bomb inside
Tokyo."

"I… I don't know what occurred, Schneizel. Rai knew the details of the plan, but-"

"But the Geass User went mad and started this mess." Cornelia finished for him as she glared
daggers at the man before turning towards her brother. "I knew we should have killed that boy
when we had the chance! We cannot trust anyone with Geass!"

Bismarck Waldstein cleared his throat as he turned their attention towards him and the other
knights. "Your Highness, we cannot change what has already transpired. No point in arguing and
fighting over matters we have no power over anymore. Instead, we shall focus on the present task.
I represent all Knights of the Round when I say that we're ready to carry out your commands."

As the First Knight of Charles spoke, he and the others bowed their heads towards the second
prince. However, from the corner of his eyes, Suzaku noticed that Nunnally flinched. It happened
too fast, but the Japanese boy could swear he saw the frown on her face for a moment.
"Mobilize all our forces," Schneizel spoke without sparing anyone a glance. "We are leaving the
base."

"Your Highness!" Kanon wanted to protest, but his prince raised his hand to silence him.

"The reality of the situation is that we are running out of time. We have this short window of
opportunity to defeat Lelouch before he can poison the rest of the world with his lies, his Geass.
We have to act now or suffer the consequences, Kanon. I never fought the battles I couldn't win
and don't intend to do so now. We will raise everything we have. Damocles, the knight orders we
have, the remnants of EU armies, Peace Mark cells, and any Black Knight splinter group we have
contact with. We march right to Tokyo and fight Lelouch. He surrounded himself with his elite
forces, and all of his little Knights of the Round are there. It is our best chance to cut the head of
his Britannia and end his regime at once. This is my final word."

Kanon clenched his fists, but he would never defy his prince. Diethard hungrily smirked,
anticipating the coming battle while Cornelia looked away, ashamed of what was happening. The
princess was sharing the treacherous reporter's desire for battle only because she could see it as
their only chance of stopping Leluch for good. The assembled Knights of the Round had mixed
feelings, but all would prefer direct fighting instead of doing nothing and waiting in the shadows.

All of them except Suzaku.

'This isn't how it was supposed to go.' The Seventh Knight thought again.

Today was supposed to go differently. Suzaku would have held Lelouch and his Zero puppet as
hostages, not giving them a chance to do anything and preventing the truth from reaching the
people. Meanwhile, Diethard Ried was supposed to broadcast the video of Zero unmasking himself
and admitting the accusations of the Black Knights. And at last, Nunnally would have spoken and
told the full extent of Lelouch and his lies.

'But none of it happened. Instead I-'

Instead, Suzaku saw phantoms as his mind played cruel tricks on him for a few minutes. He was
unable to differentiate between Lelouch and his alter-ego Zero, despite the two beings standing
next to each other at that moment. The Japanese knight didn't know what happened to him, but he
remembered these few moments clearly.

'The way I loathed Lelouch when I looked at that black mask. The memories of Euphy, my promises
to her and Nunnally. All of that mixed together. But why?!'

Was Suzaku going insane after everything? Was his mind broken after everything that happened to
him over the years? However, the most chilling realization was his final moment in Tokyo.

'I was ready to accept my death. I welcomed it.'

If it weren't for the words of that knight who shattered Suzaku's delusions, the White Reaper would
have met his end there. Instead, he had run away. Suzaku didn't finish his mission, Diethard failed
to take over the news and Nunnally never spoke. Mayhaps that was for the best as at the same time
Peace Mark member Rai started absolute chaos with his power.

'The Black Knights are now under Lelouch's control. All because of that boy.' Suzaku couldn't help
but regret saving Rai on that day. 'If it weren't for him then-!...No, there is no use shifting all blame
on that Geass User… I failed too.'

If it weren't for Suzaku, if his psyche didn't go off the rails for that one moment, perhaps he could
have captured Lelouch. Maybe Suzaku could have brought him before Nunnally and others so he
could have answered for his crimes. Or-

'Or I should have killed the real Lelouch instead of whoever was behind that damn mask!'

Lelouch's death would have fixed everything. It was the solution to their, to his problems all that
time.

'The answer was always clear to me, but I failed to do what was necessary. Always.' Lelouch was at
fault, but Suzaku knew he was responsible for not stopping his former friend from committing all
those atrocities. 'It is my fault, all of this. Euphemia, Special Zone, F.L.E.I.J.A. and Black
Rebellion. All of this could have been avoided if only I dealt with Lelouch for good. This is my
fault, Lelouch is my fault.'

His green eyes started to shake as he accepted this truth. Suzaku would have remained frozen,
realizing and embracing his delusions if it weren't for Gino who padded him on the shoulder.

"Are you good, buddy?" The blonde knight asked with a worried tone. He and a few other people
who still cared for Suzaku (that list had only three individuals) were worried about the Japanese
knight ever since his return from Tokyo. "You need some rest, Suzaku. That engineer Mariel was
saying the same thing. You don't look good."

"I-" Suzaku wanted to tell Gino everything was alright, even if the two of them knew that wasn't
the case. However, they were interrupted by the princess as Cornelia moved between them.

"Suzaku Kururugi will stay here, we have a few questions for him. As for the rest of the Round,
they shall prepare for the battle. You're dismissed, Sir Weinberg." The former general spoke with a
dismissive tone as she forced Suzaku to take a seat. "As for you, Kururugi. We must discuss what
has transpired today."

Suzaku recognized this tone, the same one from when Cornelia interrogated him. He glanced at the
remaining group in the war room and with a defeated sigh accepted the inevitable. Gino wanted to
say something but only bit his lip before leaving with the rest of the knights, leaving Suzaku with
three royals, one masked man, a zealous assistant and a dubious reporter.

"Well then," Schneizel's cold tone all but confirmed Suzaku's worries. "Let's hear what happened
while you were inside the academy and please don't leave any details, Sir Kururugi."

'I didn't want everything to turn out like this.'

'This isn't the way I wanted events to take place… but I can work with this.'

Nunnally vi Britannia thought to herself as she and her siblings heard the account of today's events
from the perspective of Suzaku. She couldn't open her eyes to everyone in the room, but even
hearing the story from Suzaku's point was enough to construct a disturbing picture. Nunnally could
feel that Kanon and Cornelia were creeped out by his words, even without holding their hands.
Meanwhile, the others didn't bother themselves with any sort of worries about the knight's mental
state.

'No, Schneizel is definitely concerned about the state of one of his tin soldiers. But as far as he
knows, Lancelot Albion is a walking bomb if he ever decides to use it as one.' Nunnally didn't
know if the second prince ever carried about anyone beyond their usefulness to him. 'Granted, I'm
starting to see the point of such a mindset.'
After all, she was the reason why Suzaku suffered such strong hallucinations.

'That maid, X. She promised that the effects wouldn't be too powerful. Only strong enough to make
Suzaku lose focus, not go insane and try to kill Lelouch on the spot.'

Was it too hard to believe that Nunnally was able to do something as heinous as drugging her
childhood friend and proclaimed personal knight? Of course, it was, and Nunnally both wanted it
to be that way and absolutely hated it.

'After all, no one would believe that a blind crippled girl was ever capable of using something like
a refrain. Although that honour shall go to X,' The blackmailed maid was once again 'convinced'
by Nunnally to add some small device inside Lancelot Albion. 'I knew that this stuff was
dangerous, but to this extent even in gas form?'

X convinced Nunnally that in gaseous form the refrain wasn't as potent as it was in needle
injection. She said that Peace Mark used such a method to make their hostages reveal secret
information back in the day. With some careful mixing, the usually pleasant memories-inducing
drug could act as a truth serum or adrenaline rush by showing dangerous scenarios from the
memory.

'Suzaku was supposed to attack Lelouch and Black Knight's forces upon seeing them before he
even entered Ashford. Not losing his mind inside the academy itself. Was it perhaps because we
used too much refrain? Or maybe because it kicked in too late?' Nunnally frowned and showed a
troubled expression, knowing others would take it as her showing concern for Suzaku. 'Diethard's
attempts were tampered with for the sake of my version of this mission. Neither Suzaku nor that Rai
boy were supposed to go the extra mile today, but it should be salvageable.'

With Rai and his Geass, Nunnally didn't expect the Peace Mark agent to outperform her simple
command. Using the voice-changing device X used in the past on her missions, all Nunnally said
to Rai was to cause havoc. She knew he was near the Black Knights' little island and expected him
to start from there. However, she didn't anticipate for him to cause so much destruction, especially
with a weaker F.L.E.I.J.A.

How was Nunnally to know that the albino survivor of the Geass Order had such a vendetta against
the Black Knights and was planning his own revenge plans in advance? Nonetheless, this was still
within her goals.

'I can work with it, I don't have any other choice.' Nunnally thought while her siblings chastised
Suzaku about his 'panic attack', but they weren't going to stop the Seventh Knight from taking a
part in the upcoming battle. 'If anything, Schneizel would want to use this as a chance to get rid of
him. As far as the older brother thinks, his secret device is still within the frame of Lancelot.'

They don't have enough time to check it again and likely won't bother.

"I would recommend for Sir Kururugi to get professional medical help, but-" Diethard tried to
speak, but was interrupted by Cornelia.

"We don't have time for this. We need all experienced pilots we can get and Suzaku is one of few
knights who can fight against that Guren pilot," The general clenched her teeth, "Normally I would
have discharged my men who showed symptoms similar to yours, Kururugi. But we don't have
spare fighters."

Suzaku nodded slowly. "I understand, but I must fight Lelouch. I must put an end to his madness."
"And you will, Sir Kururugi," Schneizel agreed, at least pleased that his semi-useful knight
continued to cooperate willingly. "I know I can count on the Knights of the Round to perform their
duties thoughtfully, or at least try to. Sadly, I can't say that for others."

Wizard who was still inside the room turned away as Schneizel sent him a glance. "If you want to
criticize me then at least learn how to pilot a Knightmare first. I don't like being ordered around by
an armchair general who can't join his troops on the ground."

"Someone has to keep everything in order, or we might have our soldiers going rogue and acting on
their own." Schneizel smiled, not bothering to hide his discontent towards the masked man.
Nunnally had to fight the urge to giggle.

It wasn't every day she heard her brother being passive-aggressive. Meanwhile, Wizard snorted
before leaving the war room.

"Peace Mark will be ready for this battle, but afterwards our alliance might come to an end,
Schneizel. I suggest you be prepared. Lelouch isn't my only enemy." The former noble said before
leaving the room.

"Better to shoot him while he doesn't cause more trouble," Cornelia glared at the door. "Masked
psychopaths who want revenge against our home, against us. This never ends well."

"And it won't end well for Wizard," Schneizel spoke coldly. "Nevertheless, Oiagros Zevon shows
some competence when it comes to leading and piloting a Knightmare. At the very least, he will
act as a sufficient field commander. Before- I feel like we spoke enough for time being. Won't you
agree, Nunnally?

Nunnally felt how his gaze fell on her. She bit her lip. 'Of course, when it comes to serious
discussions, they don't want me to be here.'

Cowards who didn't want to see her as equal. Then again, the blind princess could understand why
they didn't even want to humour the idea of treating her as an adult, as an equal player.

'What can a small, blind princess do? Well, she can cause so much death and destruction behind
everyone's back that it would force even the mighty prime minister, the White Prince, to play his
hand earlier than he would prefer. Sadly, I can't gloat about it before them, yet.' Nunnally had to
play along as her usual, weak self for the sake of appearance, but at the same time, she had to make
one move.

"Kurururgi, take Nunnally back to her chamber. She should rest. I hope we can trust you to not
have another accident." Cornelia ordered the Japanese knight whose eye twitched, but he obeyed
her order.

"It won't happen again, Your Highness. I swear-"

"Actually, before we leave, I wanted to ask something, big brother Schneizel." Nunnally
interrupted her knight as her brother looked at her with curiosity.

"Oh?"

The little empress-to-be took a deep breath before speaking the most crucial part of her plan.

"Please, grant me the right to fire F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads."

The room went silent for a second before the uproar started.
"Nunnally-"

"You can't be serious!" Cornelia shouted with horror while Suzaku looked at her with a pale face.

"What an unexpected plot twist," Diethard smirked, not even knowing half of it.

Meanwhile, Kanon looked at his prince with a concerned expression, fearing what his lord would
say. As for Schneizel. Nunnally could sense his surprise, and a small part of her felt some pride
that she managed to shock them like this.

"I'm wondering why you want to do this, Nunnally. After all, you promised the masses that
F.L.E.I.J.A won't be used as anything but a final defensive measure."

"And I intend to keep my word, brother." Nunnally placed a hand over her flat chest. "I know that
the realities of war are different from my wishes and I know that at some point F.L.E.I.J.A. will be
used no matter how much I would wish against it. Nevertheless, as the one who shall become
empress and the one who gave my promises to the people, I must carry the burden and
responsibility. I must do it for the sake of my words, of my ideals, Schneizel."

Her brother thought about it while both Cornelia and Kanon tried to persuade him against it.
Suzaku openly questioned her while Diethard advocated in favour. Schneizel was thinking,
counting the pros and cons of such a decision.

'He won't give me unlimited access. No doubt Schneizel will save some control for himself, merely
giving me the chance to press the button to launch warheads. X won't help with that,' especially
when considering the fact the maid already left their base, hiding from everyone else, 'I might miss
her presence a little bit, but Mariel should do the trick. That girl can have her uses as well. I only
need access to the launch button and the young genius would do the work from there.'

Nunnally knew how to motivate the female engineer, after all, she was unknowingly sharing
Nunnally's goals.

Everyone in this room thought of her as nothing but a weak little girl, a puppet. Suzaku and
Cornelia could deny it all they wanted, saying they wanted to protect her but it was a truth
Nunnally knew. She was nothing, well, she was used to being like that and others continued to
think like that. And if Nunnally wanted to show them how wrong they were, cut the strings she
willingly placed herself in, the proclaimed princess needed to continue on her path.

"I see little reason to decline your request, Nunnally." Schneizel gave in, despite the protests from
others.

Nunnally smiled warmly. "Thank you, big brother, Schneizel."

'Thank you for giving me the means of proving you all wrong. All of you, Lelouch and everyone
else. I will prove that I'm more than some puppet for you to use as a glorified doll. Even if it will
cost the lives of thousands, if not millions.'

Nunnally's mask of innocence didn't falter once.

Horai Island.

The command centre that in the past was used as Black Knights headquarters, was now occupied
by the leaders of the nations the Order swore to defeat. Lelouch could see the irony, him returning
to basically what was his old office, accompanied by Britannian knights. How the times have
changed. The White Emperor glanced to the side to see his Witch sitting close to him, visibly
annoyed.

"Someone is moody," Lelouch whispered so only C.C could hear.

His green-haired lover turned her gaze away. "Hush. You don't know what it is like to be crushed
by a giant robot that weighs several tons. Spoilers, it isn't pleasant."

Lelouch placed his hand on top of his under the table. "All of it will be over soon, C.C., I promise."

She didn't look convinced but squeezed the tips of his fingers as she spoke with an emotionless
tone, "Either Kallen kills that boy or you will have to scrape off the remains of Suzaku from the
walls."

'What a nice thing to say,' And it wasn't even a threat but a promise, one his C.C. would fulfil if
Kallen didn't save Suzaku by killing him herself. 'Suzaku… I will think about your fate later, for
now, I must focus on the present issues."

The Emperor's attention turned towards the centre of the room where the once general secretary of
Black Knights, Kaname Ohgi, was kneeling on the ground, hands bound in cuffs. The rest of the
living Black Knights stood at the sides. Xingke and his aide Zhou Xianglin sat silently, surrounded
by two Scarlet Guards behind them. Not that the Chinese warrior was going to do anything foolish
with the life of his empress on the line. As for Tianzi, Kaguya advised against bringing her to the
meeting for the sake of the younger girl's mental well-being and Lelouch agreed.

Rakshata lazily lay on her sofa, how she brought it there was everyone's guess. Despite appearing
nonchalant about the current situation, one could see some concern on her face. The chairwoman
of UFN, at least for now, sat silently closer to Lelouch's group, next to her sat Leila. D.S leaned
against the wall behind them, an unusually serious expression on her face as she glared at the man
on the ground. Kallen, who didn't bother hiding her status as Lelouch's Knight of Zero anymore,
stood right next to her beloved master. Both Jeremiah and Bishop actually had to give redhead
their usual place, not that they were saddened by this, if anything both older knights barely hold
their joy. The rest of the Knights of the Round sat around the table, forming a defence formation
around Lelouch. Not that he needed one with so many loyal to him confidants in the room.

Especially when the only openly antagonistic person who is held back by a certain princess.

"Lelouch, you son of a bitch!" Ohgi shouted before letting out a cry of pain as a sharp hill pressed
against his back.

"Silence, criminal scum!" Marrybell mel Britannia ordered with a venomous tone.

"Come on girly, the guy is already down, no need to kick someone who is wounded. Isn't that
against international law or something?" Tamaki asked as he stepped closer towards Ohgi. Even if
the loudmouth was willing to join Kallen's group and helped her, he still considered Ohgi his
friend. One who thought with the wrong head, but a friend nonetheless.

Lelouch didn't know how to treat Tamaki or the Britannian knight who stood next to him. Kallen
told him about Gilbert Guilford and how Cornelia's knight helped his Q1.

Marrybell narrowed her eyes, "He should have thought twice before insulting my dear brother after
everything he and your little group of traitors did. Or should I treat you in the same way, Black
Knight?"

"Marrybell, that is enough," Lelouch raised his hand as his only loyal sibling bowed before
stepping away from Ohgi. Lelouch walked out of his seat and moved closed towards the chained
man who was glaring daggers into him, cursing his very existence. "Not the way I expected to see
you again, Ohgi. Then again, I thought you would have died before we had a chance to speak
again."

"Fuck off!" Ohgi spat at him while Lelouch had to stop his more zealous followers from punishing
the defeated man.

"I can't do that, not after everything that transpired today. The only reason I'm speaking with you
right now is that I'm willing to show mercy for the sake of the time when you and I were allies and
offer a deal. You shall take responsibility as one of the conspirators who aimed to kill Zero and
wanted to start a conflict with Britannia."

The General secretary's eyes went wide. "What?! Never! We weren't the ones who started this
mess! It was your insane knights who attacked us and killed Tohdoh! Xingke-!" he looked towards
the Chinese warrior, his eyes basically pleading with him. "Say something-!"

"I'm afraid it is no use. As long as Her Excellency is under Britannian control, I cannot act or say
anything." Xingke spoke with regret as he lowered his gaze.

Cinder couldn't hide her grin. "At least someone with brains to accept their fate."

"Q2, please," Lelouch glanced at his mistress before returning his gaze back to Ohgi. "At this
point, it is nothing but formalities. We both know I can force you to obey me, but I'm giving you a
chance to atone for your treason and cut your sentence."

"We have nothing to do with-"

"Really? Because I clearly remember how you and the rest of my Order pointed guns at me and
Kallen right after the second battle of Tokyo." Lelouch spoke with a cold tone as he walked around
Ohgi, "Do you remember? How you listened to my brother, a prime minister of Britannia who was
responsible for the creation of F.L.E.I.J.A. that took the lives of millions of hours prior to your
betrayal. How you, my knights of justice whom I personally saved and turned from mere rebels on
the brink of death into a proper military force, were ready to gun me down because you easily
believed someone like Schneizel."

"Because you lied to us! About everything! About your past, about Geass! Villetta told me-"

"Oh, yes, Villetta Nu. The former pureblood who had no issues gunning down your countrymen if
it meant promotion. The same one who worked for OSI and used me as bait to get C.C." Lelouch
let out a laugh, "You know, it is a pity she is dead. I wish she was still with us if only to show her
that everything she did was for nought. That no matter what she always will be nothing but a pawn
to be used by others and that she had no choice but to obey. That woman was a thorn in my side for
so long, to the point that simply killing her wouldn't be enough." Lelouch smirked as he kneeled
next to Ohgi and leaned closer, "I'm the vengeful type, Ohgi. I had some ideas to punish you and
especially Villetta for daring to betray me and side with Schneizel. Do you know what I had in
mind?"

The man next to him trembled, visibly afraid. "The same acts your family did to the Japanese?!
Torture? Humiliation?"

Lelouch stared at him with a disappointed look. "Really? Do you think I would settle down for
something so crass and tasteless? Every time you speak, I regret ever giving yourself such a high
position. No, Ohgi, if I want to discipline you I would go for the deserving punishment. After all,
you were ready to murder me because of some empty promises and wrong facts about my power.
Oh, yes! You and the rest of the traitors were so sure I used my Geass on you, despite that I never
even attempted to do so. In that case, why not do it now? Why not do what you were so afraid of?
Perhaps it would give some credibility to your brainless act of betrayal," Lelouch raised Ohgi's
face so he could look him in the eyes as he reached up and took off his lenses. "After all, it is only
fair I will allow you to see what I can do with Geass."

"What are you-" Before Ohgi could finish, Lelouch gave him an order.

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you. Stop breathing, Kaname Ohgi."

The red circles formed around Ohgi's pupils as his body was forced to obey the command. He tried
to scream, but the absolute command prevented that as his body started to twitch violently. Ohgi
was still handcuffed and could do nothing but spasm as his own lungs refused to work and provide
the body with oxygen. Kallen didn't turn away, ready to accept Lelouch's sentence for the old
friend of her brother. The Knights of the Round did not bat an eye. Princess Marrybell and D.S.
glared at the man who betrayed and tried to kill their Lelouch. While Leila and Kaguya looked
more uncomfortable, with the blonde advisor giving Lelouch an imploring look. As for the Black
Knights beside Kallen, they looked horrified.

"So this is…" Rakshata spoke with fear in her tone while Zhou Xianglin looked away, unable to
witness. Xingke silently stared while clenching his fists, realizing with each second how terrible
his situation would be if he tried to rescue Tianzi. Tamaki was the most affected as he begged
Lelouch.

"Zero! Boss, please! This is enough!"

Lelouch looked down at Ohgi whose face turned bluish before glancing at Tamaki. The White
Emperor sighed before turning to Leila and giving her a nod. The blonde general immediately
walked towards the suffocating man and activated her own Geass. The blue sigil flew towards
Ohgi whose eyes were already bloodshot before he could finally breathe again. In his choppy
breathing, he couldn't say anything but stare with wide teary eyes at the man who almost killed him
with few words.

"And there you have it. The full extent of my power," Lelouch said dangerously, "I can turn you
into my slave, take away your ability to see, breathe, or walk if I will desire so. And you would be
absolutely defenceless. This is my Geass. You already experienced something like this today,
when the Geass user Rai turned you into his pawn, most likely wishing to use your position to
spread further chaos across our armies. How ironic. You lot betrayed me, thinking I used this on
you, only to be used and turned into puppets by another Geass owner. I must say it serves you right,
but it ruined my plans as well… believe me, Ohgi, I didn't wish to physically punish you or
Villetta. I wished to simply leave you two no choice but confess before the Black Knights and the
rest of the Japanese that you were the ones who betrayed Zero and leave you to live off the rest of
your lives as subjects in my empire, in my Japan. The two of you, weak and unable to do anything
but silently exist within my world, hated and despised by everyone, knowing that you lost only
because of your stupidity."

"I-I would rather die than live like that," Ohgi whispered, still weak from the Geass order, "Just kill
me already!"

"I won't. Do you want to die so badly? Feel free to end your own life, but only after I'm done with
you. You will cooperate, willingly. You will tell the Japanese people whatever I will order,
afterwards," Lelouch only needed to raise his hand close enough to his eyes to make Ohgi tremble
in fear. "Afterwards, you're a free man. You can do whatever you want, you will be no one
anyway." The emperor's gaze turned towards the rest of the Black Knights. "However, that won't
be the case for the rest of you. Xingke, you will continue to be the protector of your little empress.
Don't be afraid, I don't have any plans for her. However, Tianzi will have to abdicate the throne in
the future when she becomes an adult."

Xingke narrowed his eyes but chose his words carefully. "That's her birthright-"

"One that brought almost nothing but suffering. The girl would be happy to live a simple life with
you by her side, instead of trying to live up to the expectations of others as empress. She is just a
child." D.S. commented. "Or she can continue as child empress, having no choice but to be our
puppet and most likely become one of Lelouch's wives to secure his power over China. Is this what
you would want for her?"

Lelouch glared at his lover. "That is certainly not something I want, but it is a possibility. Another
Royal might encourage rebellion and become their symbol. I already took down all Royal houses in
Europe, either by force or conviction. House of vi Britannia will be the only Royal house on this
planet, no one but my descendants allowed to be Britannian Royalty, no, mankind's Royalty. Their
future shepherds, their protectors."

Might have sounded rather arrogant, but the main drive for such an extreme decision was logic.
Lelouch couldn't allow any nobility or royalty to claim themselves as symbols to unite and fight
against his regime. He better deal with any rival house around the world now and let the time
cement his line as the only one worthy to be emperor and empress.

'For the sake of my perfect future, I will have to put the burden of responsibility on my children and
their children,' If his empire was to become the sole superpower on the planet, future rulers of
Britannia would have to guarantee his new world order will continue to exist. 'It might be cruel of
me to force it on my offspring, but they will have to be protectors of the weak, symbol of peace and
ensure the prosperity of the entire humanity. In return, this world will be theirs to rule and guide
forward.'

"I… I understand." Xingke lowered his head, defeated. However, as long as it meant that Tianzi
would be safe and happy, he would do anything.

"Good. Do not be mistaken, your skills will be used by me in the future for some time. However,
once my hold over China is secured, you and Tianzi will be free to live your lives in peace, I will
provide the two of you with everything." Lelouch nodded before turning towards the only scientist
in the room. "I'm sure it is obvious, but I will require your genius as well, Rakshata. Especially to
deal with my siblings and their F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead. Once this meeting is over, you will join the
rest of the science team to assist them in the final preparations of an anti- F.L.E.I.J.A. weapon.
Afterwards, I will welcome your cooperation in whatever field you will want to pursue. Be it
Knightmare engineering or medical cybernetic, obviously, funding for your future projects is
guaranteed."

The Indian woman carefully thought about it. "I… have no real reason to decline your offer, Your
Majesty. And while I'm unsettled by what I saw a few minutes ago, I also understand that there is
no going back for me. Agh, someone needs to look after my dear baby Guren and make sure some
creepy four-eyes won't violate it again… plus, if you're honest about your intentions for a better
world, then I see no reason to not help you, as long as my funding is unlimited." Rakshata giggled.
"Oh, and if you will allow me to pay back Lloyd for touching my children without my permission."

"As long as he is still capable of creating whatever I ask of him, feel free to do as you please." The
dark chuckle the older woman gave was a clear indication Lloyd's life won't be so pleasant in the
near future. Perhaps Cécile will enjoy the company of someone who can torment Lloyd's life.
Lelouch smiled a little bit before turning towards the last Black Knight. "Tamaki."

The redhead man jumped back, still not ready to speak with Zero-Lelouch. "Yeah, b-boss?"

"You don't need to call me like that, Tamaki. I'm no longer Zero and never will wear my old mask
again. I'm the White Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, the monarch of Britannia, the man whose
homeland took over yours and the one who won't give it back. I don't know why you decided to
join Kallen and help her. I'm grateful for that, but you must realize that I'm no longer the same
man who promised you and your friends a free Japan. I'm the reason many of them died...and I'm
sorry for that. Shinichirō Tamaki, I'm willing to compensate you for your assistance and prior
service, despite your small role in the Black Knights' betrayal. You're free to leave and I will
guarantee your safety."

Tamaki was silent for a few moments, before looking at Ohgi who was still on his knees. "Say…
Lelouch. What are you going to do with the Order?"

"Hmm, most likely disband the current one and recognize it as a personal unit to the Knight of
Zero." Lelouch had plans down the line. After all, now that Zero was 'dead', for good this time, he
needed to show his respect to the masked man's legacy in some form. Turning former Black
Knights into the Empire's knight order should do the trick.

"Wait, w-what?" Kallen was taken aback by the sudden revelation. She wasn't told about it!

"What? It makes sense for former Black Knight ace pilot and new Knight of Zero to have her own
little order. Even if it serves primarily propaganda goals. It won't be anywhere close to the size of
the current army, so don't worry about it." Lelouch gave his Q1 a reassuring smile but the redhead
didn't feel at ease regardless.

"That's not what I-!"

"Can I become a prime minister?" Tamaki's request caught a majority of the people in the room off
guard. Others stared at him with dumbfounded expressions while Peter started to laugh. Leila
moved closer to Lelouch, actually feeling overprotective over this title that was meant to be hers. "I
mean, the Japanese Administrative Zone. Or any minister would do. Can I?"

"I…"

Lelouch vi Britannia, the man who had control over half of the world and was about to take over
the remaining half, didn't know how to answer. He stared at Tamaki with wide eyes before turning
towards Kaguya who was in a similar state and sent her a questionable look. After all, he did
promise to give Japan to her to lead in the future. The Japanese princess blinked in confusion
before she shrugged her shoulders, leaving the final word to Lelouch.

"I can… appoint you as a minister of- eh, culture?

Tamaki blinked before a huge smile formed on his face as he raised his fist into the air.

"Hell yeah! That's even better! I think so!" He yelled happily before looking down towards his old
friend. "Hey, Ohgi. I will make sure to honour the memory of everyone who died. Naoto, Naomi,
Toru, Minami, Kento and others. I will make sure none of them died for nothing!"

Ohgi and even Kallen looked up at him with surprised expressions. The ace pilot never expected
the usually loud and simpleminded Tamaki to be this thoughtful. His former leader who was on the
ground stared at him with teary eyes before lowering his gaze.
"Good luck, Tamaki."

Lelouch decided to not make any comment and moved towards the silent former Britannian knight
of honour who was standing further behind Tamaki.

"So, Sir Guilford. Should I thank you for helping my Q1 or should I put you behind the bars? After
all, I doubt your loyalty towards my sister was shattered in any way."

The former Lance of the Empire, still in terrible disguise nodded. "If anything, working with major
Kozuki helped me to deepen my trust towards Princess Cornelia. I won't bother lying to you, I'm
willing to die for her. The reason I helped major was to find out the truth about my doubts. I
learned the answers and was pleased with them. Afterwards, I decided to cooperate, thinking that
should I help major Kozuki take over from within the Order, I would win a favourable position to
assist my princess in the future. Or weaken the Black Knights to the point where they won't pose a
threat to Her Highness. If my princess sees you as her enemy, then you're my enemy as well,
Lelouch vi Britannia."

This comment caused the Scarlet Guards to look at Guilford with killing intent, but Lelouch raised
his hand to seize any attempt. The White Emperor actually laughed a little bit.

"How interesting. Does that mean you plan to join the ranks of my brother's forces and fight under
Cornelia's command again?"

"That might have been a good idea one day ago. However, I understand that my current stance
won't allow it." Guilford gave Lelouch a small smile. "I'm neither naive nor stupid to believe that
your majesty will spare me or allow me to rejoin my princess. Therefore, I have only one
proposition for you."

"Oh?" Lelouch raised his eyebrow, genuinely curious. "I'm interested to hear what you can even
offer to me."

"My life. Again." Guilford said simply. "During the last battle for Tokyo, you used your power on
me to turn me into your puppet. This time I will offer my service willingly. I will pilot whatever
Knightmare you will grant me in your fight against Schneizel. In exchange, I will ask… no, beg
Your Majesty to grant amnesty for Princess Cornelia."

"My, aren't you a bold one," C.C. couldn't help but smirk, actually respecting the knight's guts. Her
sentiment was shared by Bishop and Arthur while Cinder and Peter rolled their only eyes
respectfully.

"Cornelia is a terrorist and war criminal for being part of the usage of F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads,"
Marrybell spoke as she moved closed towards Lelouch. "We cannot allow Cornelia to walk free
after siding with Schneizel."

"My princess would never approve of using something like this weapon, not unless she is
desperate. Schneizel would act as he wishes without listening to her, this is how it always was."

"She did a lot of terrible things before," D.S commented. "Colonization in the name of Charles who
didn't even care about it anymore. Gunning down civilians and rebels who could do nothing
against her Knightmare."

Guilford frowned, "Your side isn't innocent either."

"The difference is, we're doing it in the name of peace and order, not barbaric colonialism." What
Cinder said was technically correct, but she and many others understood that the two concepts
weren't too different.

Lelouch cleared his throat. "Despite all the bad blood between me and Cornelia, I would prefer for
her to be alive. If only she could see that I was honest about my words and that I can and will build
the world Euphy would have wanted. I cannot and won't forgive all her crimes, but I'm willing to
change the conditions of her punishment. Dishonourable discharge from the army, her previous
merits will be forgotten. Cornelia will atone for her crimes before the people of Japan and other
nations she conquered in the name of my father's regime, hard labour sounds good enough. Of
course, it won't be life long, only until my sister makes up for all the damage she caused. And yes,
she will be under my protection, can't have my prisoner getting killed after all," Lelouch smirked.
"How does that sound, sir Guilford?"

"Acceptable. Thank you, Your Majesty." He had nothing to bargain with besides his life and
everyone knew the Emperor only humoured him because the knight couldn't do anything. Trying
to desert them and join Cornelia would result in his death, maybe at the hands of Kallen. At best,
he managed to secure a somewhat safe future for his princess.

"Excellent! You will be granted the older Vincent model, with a lance as the only weapon. Quite
fitting for the 'Lance of Britannia', doesn't it? If you actually manage to convince my sister to
surrender, I might offer better conditions for her sentence."

"Your Majesty's benevolence knows no bounds." Guilford could only bow and accept such
conditions.

"Loyalty, even if it isn't directed for me, should be rewarded, Sir Guilford. You're excused. The
same goes for you Xingke and your little helper. Someone took Kaname Ohgi away. Rakshata, my
people will guide you towards others who are helping Nina. And Tamaki?"

"Y-yeah?" The future Minister of Culture was caught off guard when the Scarlet Guards took away
the people their Emperor no longer wanted in the room.

"I was told you have quite a reputation among new members of the Black Knights. I'm sure they
might need some guidance from their seniors. You should help them to get used to the new
situation."

"Oh, snap, you're right!" Tamaki cursed under his breath before running out of the room. Lelouch
sighed before returning to his position next to C.C.

His Witch couldn't help but smirk, "Never expected to run into him, did you?"

"Hush," Lelouch turned away and looked at his only loyal sibling. "Now that we're done with that,
let's focus on real business. Marrybell, please."

The pink-haired princess nodded happily before speaking, "Of course, brother. The reinforcements
and expedition forces that were originally meant for the invasion have already entered Japanese
waters. My own Order is fully prepared and is ready to fight. We're all waiting for your command,
Your Majesty."

"The Black Knights units that are made up of Japanese soldiers acknowledged the command of
Major Kozuki for the duration of the emergency situation," Kaguya spoke from her seat.
"However, the UFN has received news that some divisions refused to accept cooperation with
Britannian and deserted our ranks. They escaped with Knightmares and light armaments."

Kallen narrowed her eyes. "Those bastards! Never mind, I will find them."
Lelouch shook his head. "Later. For now, we should prioritize Schneizel and his secret weapon.
Well, it isn't so secret anymore right, D.S?"

"Indeed." The Avatar of 'God' nodded before snapping her fingers as the monitor in the middle of
the room showed the image of something quite problematic. Many in the room looked towards the
gigantic ship on the screen with concerned looks. "This giant construction is called Damocles. The
images you see are the photos my agent managed to take, as well as some basic blueprints.
However, do not expect anything game-changing from this. Our intelligence on this weapon is
limited, but we know that it is already on the move and can be in Japan within the next 24 hours."

Marrybell spoke. "Schneizel will need more time to organize his forces before he marches here."

"I doubt someone like Schneizel will wait too long. His best units are likely battle ready. Waiting
for the rest of his small coalition might just slow him down." Leila concluded.

"I see only one cannon on this thing. Bet it is meant to fire F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads." Peter
immediately noticed.

"So it has no weapons on its own. That means for protection they will have to rely on their KMF
units," Cinder theorized. "They cannot shoot if their own force will block the way and our long-
range guns can neutralize warheads while they are still close enough to this thing. Damocles'
ability to successfully fire warheads will be severely cut."

"It still has Blaze Luminous shield generators from the looks of it," Lelouch clicked his tongue,
which would be the most troublesome obstacle to deal with. "How should we deal with it?"

"And where will the fight take place? I hate to say it, but it most likely will have to be on Japanese
soil," Kaguya bit her lip, "Fighting in the territories of any other UFN state might employ military
units there to join the fight, the chance that they will side with Schneizel over Lelouch isn't zero."

"Shame we can't explode Mt Fuji now." The Second Knight of the Round signed.

"I recommended fighting over the ocean. We can utilize our sea fleet as a distraction as well as
another front in the battle." Bishop offered.

Kallen voiced her opinion. "They will be the first target for F.L.E.I.J.A. in that case and the easiest
one to take down."

Jeremiah decided to put in his two cents "We have superiority in numbers and can surround this
Damocles from all sides-"

"But that would-"

"How about-"

The battle strategizing went on as everyone offered their ideas. Meanwhile, Lelouch made sure to
pay attention to his knights and confidants while silently studying the blueprints D.S's agent, X
brought to him. He didn't care too much about what happened with the spy herself, for all he cared
she might have drowned somewhere-

The White Emperor stopped as that thought crossed his mind.

His people continued to talk over each other, doing their best to offer the most suitable strategies,
be it by-the-books military doctrines or more orthodox plots. However, beside Lelouch only his
Witch was silent, captivated by the image of her Warlock coming up with a new miracle to win the
upcoming battle. She didn't need to say anything, but squeezing his hand was more than enough.

'Drowned, hmm?'

An idea formed in Lelouch's mind as the gears in his head started to move, coming up with the
most insane scheme yet.
 Endspiel: Part 1

August 29th. Mt. Fuji. Nemesis.

The sun was rising as the final preparations before the anticipated battle were finished. The
flagship of the empire currently served as the command centre for the two armies with both
Britannian and Black Knights' Knightmares being hosted inside the monstrous ship.

Outside said ship, an enormous army group stood ready, waiting for their enemy to arrive and the
battle to start; but until then, the engineers and scientists of the Britannia/UFN side had to make
sure every weapon and every war machine was ready. Especially the one meant to stop
F.L.E.I.J.A.

The pilots and the engineers who kept their machines in check ran back and forth. Among all this
turmoil few would stop to pay attention to the more prominent people inside the main hangar.

"Ah! The chaos right before the finale! I like this!" Lloyd announced happily as he raised his hands
up, Cécile fighting the urge to kick her boss. "By sunset, the battle will be over and whoever
emerges from this bloody conflict will rule the world! How exciting!"

"Lloyd, please be quiet. The last thing anyone needs is more stress. And it will be literally
impossible for Schneizel to actually rule. There are dozens of obstacles in his wa-"

"Yes, yes, I wouldn't want a guy with the world-ending weapon to get to do as he pleases. But this
is the endgame, Cécile! We might as well get excited about it, or you can instead worry your head
over everything and act miserable like some people."

"I-" Cécile wanted to say something but stopped. Perhaps there was a logic to Lloyd's words. Better
distract yourself with the silliest things in the face of an upcoming battle where your chances to
survive aren't guaranteed. "I guess you aren't completely wrong, Llyod."

"I'm never wrong! I'm always correct, no matter the topic. Be it creating the most powerful
Knightmares or human psychology. Hence why I always said to everyone that the European Brain
Raid System was complete shi-AGH!"

Lloyd let out a painful yell as he fell down on his knees, his hands covering his groin that was just
kicked by the heel of a very annoyed woman who stood behind him. Cécile thought about helping
her supposed boss, but then thought again and decided to greet newcomers.

"Good morning, Sophie. You too, Takeru." The blue-haired scientist happily waved to W-0
members. "Hope you slept well."

Takeru tiredly shook his head. "Barely. Spending the entire night helping Miss Einstein wasn't the
easiest task. We're both medical specialists, not weaponry experts. Hope whatever help we
provided was useful."

"I'm sure it was. We all did our best to assist Nina and can't do anything else anymore," Last night's
calibration should be the final touch on the anti-F.L.E.I.J.A. tools. "The best minds of former
Europe, Britannia and UFN working together. This will work out."

Sophie stopped glaring at the fallen man as she turned toward his right-hand woman. "Thank you
for your kind words, Cécile. I wish your idiotic colleague over here knew how to speak without
insulting the work of those who poured their blood, sweat, and tears into this."
Lloyd groaned before he managed to utter his piece. "Y-your BRS is a waste of perfectly good
human brains. Kick me all you want but that's absolute t-truth!"

"Perhaps I will!" Sophie yelled and was about to use her leg again but her husband tried to stop her.

"Hahaha-! The Earl of Pudding is also quite a masochist isn't he? Insulting the scientific
achievement right in front of their creators. My, imagine if someone dared to talk ill about your
own inventions. How would you react?" The voice of Rakshata was heard as she walked towards
the science team. "You would be throwing such a tantrum, I can only imagine."

The white-haired man who still didn't stand up from the ground could only clear his throat. "I will
let you know, Rakshata, my and Cécile's creations proved themselves to be superior to others
almost all of the time. My, I even have to compensate for some of your shortcomings with both
Guren and Shinkiro. As far as I know, both His Majesty and Red Lotus prefer my version of your
own machines."

Cecile and Takeru both had to take a step back as they noticed a vein pop up on Rakshata's face.
Her smile was anything but sweet as she stepped closer to Lloyd who failed to sense the deadly
dangerous aura around her.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about that," Rakshata put away her pipe. "Because the entire night we
were too busy with work, I didn't have time to properly express how I feel about you touching my
dear children without my consent."

"You make it sound weird-AGH!"

Rakshata's kick went for his stomach, but she was willing to repeat what Sophie did. The poor
creator of Lancelot and many other Knightmares could only raise his head in fear as two very angry
women glared at him, completely ready to spill the first blood of the day before the battle even
started.

"Since we did all we could and the anti-F.L.E.I.J.A. spears are ready, we might as well cut down
on research team numbers." Rakshata openly threatened him.

"Did you hear the Russian phrase 'beat your own so that others are afraid of you', Lloyd? Perhaps
we will scare our enemy into submission once they see what we did to you." Sophie was done with
the man and would rather spend the final moments before the battle beating the shit out of Lloyd.

"A-ah," Their victim looked around the hangar, trying to see if anyone might save him. Soon his
eyes fell on a certain Knight of the Round. "Arthur! Please save me from those harpies!"

The young elite knight didn't hear him as he was deep in conversation with a new female pilot of
the Glinda Knights, Liliana Vergamon. Although judging by the way the both of them were close
to each other and the radiant blush on their faces, the conversation was anything but normal. It
didn't help the fact that Liliana took Arthur's hand and led the knight towards her own
Knightmare… where she tossed him inside her cockpit and joined him before closing it.

"Damn it, Arthur!" Lloyd exclaimed as his face went blank. "This isn't the time for fornication… at
least they don't do it inside the Reaper."

"Ah, young love. How beautiful." Sophie smiled before glancing at her husband who waved back.
"Now where are we, Rakshata?"

"Why, we were about to make sure dear Lloyd over here won't ever be able to repeat what those
teenagers are doing. Not that he ever could on his own."
"Hey-!" Any attempt from Lloyd to speak back or try to flee was punished by another series of
kicks from two very angry women. He tried to call Cécile for help, but his loyal assistant turned
away and walked towards the exit with Takeru.

"His Majesty should be giving his speech to stir up the soldiers in thirty minutes. Let's get Nina
with Anna and join the others on the bridge."

Takeru nodded. "Sounds good, I will stay here and make sure Sophie and Rakshata will be there on
time."

Both of them and pretty much everyone in the room ignored the pleading man as he was being
kicked by two scientists.

"HELP ME!"

Outside Nemesis.

"Hear me, knights of Britannia! Warriors of the Federation! Heroes of Europe!"

Shinkiro Imperium flew in the air above everyone as its pilot stood on top of it, raising the red
royal sword forward.

Lelouch vi Britannia spoke before hundreds of Knightmare in the air and the ground. Despite the
fact that almost half of them were Black Knights and W-0, Britannia's former enemies, everyone
stood in silence, listening to him. Following the betrayal of the Order's high command, according to
the official version, the White Emperor was the only one capable of leading an army of three
factions. Well, two factions considering none of the W-0 units were in a battle-ready state, but
Lelouch wanted to make sure they felt included even if only for the sake of kindness towards them
and Leila.

Their combined force was made up of Vincent Wards, the White Vultures of Lelouch's favourite
legion, Garethes, and mass-produced Akatsuki units. The primary unit of the former Black Knights
had red paint over its head and shoulders, trying to mimic Guren in some way to show their new
allegiance. It was done in haste before the final battle in order to differentiate the Japanese pilots
who joined Lelouch and who were the enemy. Incidentally, Kallen herself didn't order them to
paint their Knightmares like hers, according to rumours it was actually the order of Chairwoman
Kaguya herself.

"Today we stand here as one united front against the evil that is F.L.E.I.J.A. and the people who
would use it for the sake of their twisted ambitions and delusions! We cannot allow this to happen
no matter what!"

Inside her Amber, Cinder chuckled. Her darling emperor wanted this world and yet some pockets
of the old Britannia would call him mad. Well, there were losers and winners, yet there were also
the victorious. And she would ensure that for Lelouch; after all, it was for the greater good.

"My siblings wish to drag the world as a whole into the past. In the age of fear and conflict, one we
were forced to survive all these years. My naive younger sister Nunnally might speak for the
diving empire but don't let her words confuse you. She only speaks so because it will be convenient
for Schneizel to control! What they want to cause is more chaos and dependency on them as the
only means of stability among other nations!"

Inside her own ship, Marrybell silently watched, making sure to hear every word her brother spoke.
Today was the most important battle of her life, nay, their nation's history. The victory was the only
outcome for her. She and her Glinda Knights will do everything to bring her siblings to justice,
including little Nunnally.

"I know you all have terrible memories of each other. For the Order of Black Knights, your leader
Zero created you to fight for the sake of justice and order. To stop the evil that is Britannia. My
own countrymen were your enemies and oppressors, no longer is this so. Gone are the monsters
that murdered and colonized their way across the world. I killed my father to start a change in the
empire and am determined to live up to my words of protecting the weak and creating the perfect
world, so please lend me your strength today. For the sake of the perfect future!"

His Witch stood on the edge of Nemesis as she watched her warlock descend even deeper into his
madness. One she was ready to share with him, not to mention all the other people who entrusted
their lives and future to Lelouch's wish. As long as her partner isn't alone, he will be fine. He
promised her much, and C.C. was fully prepared to make sure her Lelouch would follow through
with it all.

The Knights of the Round raised their swords, minigun in Peter's case, as they shouted in unison.
They were followed by the rest of Britannia forces, the majority of whom were those of the White
Legion.

"All Hail, Lelouch!"

The Black Knights weren't so enthusiastic until they all saw how Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. raised its
golden claw in the air. Some worried that it might be an attempt to attack White Emperor, but
judging by the lack of reaction from the Knights of the Round, the Scarlet Guard or their captain, it
was nothing dangerous. Instead of starting a fight with her own lover, the ace of Black Knights did
something nobody expected.

"Long live Japan! Long live Lelouch!"

The unexpected combination of battle cries confused her own people, but soon more and more
joined the cry. The second one was Tamaki as he shouted louder than even the zealous cyborg
captain of the emperor.

"Long live Japan! All Hail Lelouch!"

It would appear that Black Knights and Britannians were trying to overshoot each other. At some
point, they even stopped caring what was their battle cry as both sides started to chant the same.
Meanwhile, the leader of this army smirked. Lelouch wanted this battle to act as a joint effort
between both groups since Black Knights will absorb into his empire sooner or later. Might as well
make sure his old army will feel more at ease once it happens.

'For the sake of my perfect world, the future I intend to create no matter what. Go forward my
soldiers, my knights of old and new! Create the world in my image!'

Lelouch knew he was far from the sanest people, his childhood was partly to blame. He was insane
for attempting world domination, but screw it. If being insane means he will create a better
tomorrow for the entire mankind, in exchange for their control over their nations then so be it. He
will be the hero and villain if needed, but he must achieve his goal, for their sake.

"Let us burn the old world my siblings and their followers are grasping at so desperately! From the
ashes of the corrupted and violent past, we will forge a future of peace and prosperity together,
under my guidance! I swear this on my name!"
The final words before the battle were spoken. The preparations were complete. Now was the time
for the main event to start.

Damocles.

The gigantic flying fortress made its way across the sky as hundreds of Knightmares of different
designs followed it. The anti-Lelouch coalition was at best a temporary alliance as the many
organizations in it had too many different views on each other, hating one another above all else.
Anarchistic Peace Mark rebels/terrorists, remnants of the former EU army, purebloods and
traitorous Knights of the Rounds, and now members of the Black Knights who didn't accept the
Lelouch's 'temporary' leadership of the Order.

"Quite hypocritical of them to turn their backs on their countrymen, only to side with us," Kanon
spoke as he stood next to his prince on the command bridge.

"All those months I was slandered by the empire's propaganda at every opportunity, in their eyes,
I'm nothing but Lelouch's enemy as well. They're probably thinking that once our common enemy
is gone, everything will return to the norm and we will continue fighting each other. Perhaps even
kill me once my little brother is defeated," Schneizel smirked. "I bet a good half of our force's
schemes are of the same mind. I won't deny that I have similar plans towards them once this is
over."

His loyal aid could only shock his head in disappointment. "So much for trusting allies… that
includes you, my prince."

"We aren't allies by choice, Kanon. This alliance has one purpose and we will be ready for the
aftermath with Damocles at our disposal," Schneizel raised his hands and looked around, gesturing
at the enormity of the superweapon. "This battle station should render any Geass and weapons
obsolete with the power of our F.L.E.I.J.A. arsenal."

The nearby standing Diethard smiled excitingly. "Now this is a proper end for the story of Zero!
Corrupted and fallen Hero slain by the hands of progress and change!"

Schneizel wouldn't deny he enjoyed traitorous reporters sucking up, especially since Diethard was
quite a zealous fellow about his desire to make a documentary out of it. Good, after Lelouch is
gone, they will need it to show more evidence to the world about the lies his younger brother used
to lead both Black Knights and Britannia.

'Even with Lelouch gone, I will have to deal with the UFN but if the truth of Lelouch's past as Zero
comes up, they will be up in flames.' Not to mention Geass. While talking about some kind of
magical power that might be bad for his reputation, Schneizel knew with enough conviction and
charisma he can make it believable enough to work. 'Often the truth is something the masses
repeat over and over again, even starting to believe it. Geass might act as a scapegoat for all of
Lelouch's successes and manipulations. Perhaps there will be a witch hunt of sorts inside the
Federation. Even better for me.'

"Brother, we have visual confirmation of enemy forces." The voice of his sister Cornelia made
Schneizel return his attention back to the giant screen before the three of them.

"Very good. Stay in your positions, sister. No one acts without my orders. Let our forces be the
vanguard. Lelouch's army will be the ones to approach us. He always preferred offence over
defence." Not that a defensive formation would stay long enough against the might of F.L.E.I.J.A.
All Schneizel and the coalition needed to do was cut down Lelouch's forces enough so he won't
have anything to put between himself and Damocles's main weapon. Then it will be over.

"Understood." Cornelia ended the call.

'I wish she didn't have to join the battlefield as well,' Schneizel won't deny that Cornelia was
among the few siblings he honestly cared about and valued. She was out of action for too long and
never used Knightmares with float systems in real combat. Cornelia didn't like Schneizel's plans at
all and it was obvious from one glance, his sister was a terrible liar. Still, she didn't become a
potential risk and he didn't need to get rid of her yet. The former Prime Minister really hoped it
wouldn't come to that. 'Depending on the situation I might have to fire F.L.E.I.J.A. on our friends.
Getting rid of Wizard and his little terrorists will be necessary, but she might get caught.'

"Your Highness, we are awaiting your orders." The voice of the Knight of One, Bismarck was
always unpleasant in Schneizel's mind.

'Another person who will have to perish in the fire of F.L.E.I.J.A. along with Wizard. I cannot trust
you, Bismarck, your loyalty to my father will always mean trouble for me.' A good portion of the
Knights of the Round will have to be purged now that he thought about it. "Good, await my further
instructions."

The Knight of One nodded before ending the call while Schneizel let out a short sigh. His work as
a diplomat was putting up with people he preferred to avoid, and that experience became valuable.
Having to control and maintain order among Charles's former attack dogs wasn't difficult, well,
save perhaps one.

"Kururugi Suzaku, what is your status?" The White Knight would play the most important part in
this battle, Schneizel knew that. "How are you feeling, Suzaku?"

"I'm perfectly fine… Your Highness," Suzaku reluctantly answered. "Lancelot Albion is in perfect
condition and I'm ready to go, just give me the order."

'A soldier no matter what.' Schneizel always liked that about him. "I'm pleased to hear that,
Suzaku. The energy wings on your Knightmare provide your speed and firepower unmatched by
anything else we have. However, Lelouch has two units with energy wings on their own. It is likely
he will try to single you out and have them destroy you. At the moment our numbers are similar,
but our enemy has access to nearly unlimited reinforcements, while we don't. Our forces will
prioritize taking down their battleships, including the Nemesis. Let the other Knights of the Round
deal with the Guren and Amber pilots while you shall await for the right moment to strike."

A pause. "Understood."

"Excellent, now get ready. The battle will start soon. And Suzaku, please be careful, Nunnally
wouldn't want to see you hurt." Another reason Schneizel liked Suzaku was that the perfect soldier
was also easy to push if you knew how.

"..."

He didn't need to hear his answer. Schneizel turned his attention towards the battle screen and
studied it, making mental notes of Lelouch's strategy. Damocles and their coalitions have come
from the ocean side while Lelouch's forces gathered over the same mountain where his little
brother almost died not so long ago. Nemesis, Avalon and Ikaruga were accompanied by dozens of
Briitannian old-generation battleships. He even recognized Marrybell's ship. Lelouch put his army
in a semicircle with battleships covering each other. Schneizel could see what his little brother
wanted to do. Surround his forces and prevent them from giving Damocles an opening to fire
F.L.E.I.J.A. The battleship's weapons should be enough to strike down the warhead before it can
explode.

"An expected strategy, Lelouch. Take away my ability to fire unless I want to wipe out my own
forces." And it was too early for that. "But I remember our chess games and you little brother, were
always too aggressive for your own good. You will advance first no matter what."

Schneizel ordered putting him on the open channel so everyone, ally and enemy alike would hear
him.

"To all those who fight for their freedom, for their home, for their families, hear me! We have
reached the finale and it is the last battle between forces of good against the evil that is my brother
Lelouch! Do not fret my friends, no matter what happens, victory will be ours. My brother went
mad with power, thinking himself to be above everyone else, but we will put a stop to this madness
today, here! All of you have come from different backgrounds and were enemies in the past, but
now you're allies and comrades in arms since we share a common goal, return to the normal world,
one that was damaged by Lelouch. Forget about the past grievances we had with each other and
focus on the monster that is before you! Fight for your dreams, fight the demon and his lies!"

Simple words of encouragement were needed before the battle to rally the troops. Schneizel highly
doubted it would work for some individuals like Wizard, but as long as the units under the second
prince's command obeyed his orders and didn't break formation, everything would be fine.

'Now Lelouch, show me the resolve of your Britannia and if you have what it takes to beat me, little
brother.'

'Nemesis'.

On the command bridge, the White Emperor sat in silence as he studied the picture before him.
The staff of the commander centre were reporting the status of his own forces and preparations, at
least that's how it looked. Their emperor meanwhile was more preoccupied with trying to find one
specific Knightmare among Schneizel's forces.

"Where is he..." His purple eyes moved between dozens of different Knightmare models. From
Vincent commander models, mere Sutherlands and other Britannian older units, to mass-produced
Akatsuki machines. Among all former Knights of the Round, Lelouch couldn't spot the one who
could ruin everything for him, again. "Where you are, Suzaku."

"What do you plan to do with him?" C.C. spoke from the side. Among his confidants, his Witch
was the only one with Lelouch. Everyone else who knew how to pilot a Knightmare was outside in
the air. "You don't plan to show him a sudden act of mercy right?"

Lelouch looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Mercy? After everything he has done to me? Heh, the
only mercy I can offer him is a quick death… but I don't want to see his face anymore and I will
leave the honour to Kallen."

"Good. Now, what about our attack plan?"

"You know what we will do. Let Schneizel take the bait and then we will act, for now, we will
play it as a normal battle exchange. He will think I will rely on my numbers and firepower to
counter anything he has. He also expects me to go on offence, putting my KMF units close to his
Damocles. Well, let's proceed according to his expectations, for now."
"D.S. will take command of the bridge once you will leave. For all her brain issues, she at least
knows how to organise people. I'm sure everything will be ready." Serious D.S. always felt strange,
but Lelouch knew what was at stake.

"Very well, then let's-"

One of the operators reported. "Your Majesty! The enemy ship wants to contact us."

Lelouch expected Schneizel to exchange some final pleasantries and ask him to surrender, both
knowing it wouldn't happen. Well, some final words with this older brother might be in need, if
only for the sake of formalities. Lelouch motioned to accept the call and prepared some words for
the former Prime Minister.

However, what Lelouch didn't expect was to see the face of a young girl in some kind of flower
garden.

"Big brother Lelouch-"

"What do you want now, parasite?" Lelouch spoke coldly as he looked away, it was preferable to
seeing her face again. His Witch looked at him with concern before taking his hand and gently
squeezing it. His eyes met hers and with a heavy sigh, he turned back to the main screen.
"Nunnally, is there anything left for us to speak about at this point? You aren't commander in chief,
and no matter what, you cannot surrender on behalf of your army."

The little princess on the other end of the call didn't move as her eyes were closed, but Lelouch
could swear he could feel their stare on him. Something felt wrong about this, but he couldn't say
what or show his concern. For all, he knew it might be, no, it was another attempt by Schneizel to
emotionally distract him from the battle, not that he would allow it to work.

"Lelouch… this battle will decide whether your dream will be allowed to exist or not. I'm sad that
you see me as nothing but a pawn of others, but I want you to know that I'm serious about it, about
fighting for my own resolve and best you."

"Hahaha, oh my, what is it? Are you actually thinking you are capable of doing something,
Nunnally?" Lelouch remembered the talks she and D.S. were having in C's World and how
according to his lover, his young sister was acting strange. "Even if you developed some kind of
sense of pride or backbone in the time since our last conversation, it means nothing. Victory will be
mine, it has to be. You might survive today's encounter, but you won't achieve anything you wish
for. I will crush you and everyone who stands by your side."

Lelouch expected to see a frown, to hear her disapproving voice and accuse him of being a
monster. Any form of disgust towards him, the monster who lied and killed people all this time
with the power of Geass. Lelouch knows she is supposed to despise him. However, none of it
happened. He didn't hear a venomous voice on the verge of tears or a judging tone. Instead, what
Lelouch got was a small smile as Nunnally looked at him with a somewhat kind expression.

"I would expect nothing else from you, big brother. May the best man win, Lelouch. Hehe~"

And with that, her call ended, leaving confused Lelouch and C.C. Neither Witch nor Warlock
understood what just happened.

"She is different," the green-haired woman was first to speak. "Perhaps she changed more than
even D.S. thought during their conversations."

"That's… it doesn't matter. Nunnally will go down like the others no matter what. Perhaps I
promised to not seek out her blood to Jeremiah and others, but she is still my- our- enemy and must
be treated as such." Lelouch spoke but even he noticed the doubt in his tone. The White Emperor
shook his head as his attention returned to the battlefield that was about to start. "Let's ignore her
for now and focus on the present task. Hmm, left-flank, move forward. Centre and right, stay back
and cover the left one. Cinder, lead the charge."

As the emperor spoke, his commands and orders were immediately sent to all of their forces in the
air.

Q2

'I thought you would never ask, darling!'

"You heard His Majesty!" The Second Knight of the Round yelled as her Amber flew forward to
the position her emperor ordered to. The mix of Vincent Wards and Akatsuki units at her side
followed her behind. A few dozen units moved in unison while their enemy made changes
according to Lelouch movements. The one-eyed demoness smirked as she licked her lips. "Let's
have ourselves a victory!"

Inside the Damocles, Schneizel smirked as he saw the obvious move and acted accordingly. Per his
orders, the formation under the command of Monica Krushevsky moved to intercept her. The green
and black coloured Knightmare of the Knight of Twelve, Florence moved towards Amber as the
Vincent Command Models covered her flanks.

The enemy Florence flew closer towards her Amber as it raised its green claws and went for the
torso of the Lancelot variant. Amber blocked the attack with her purple swords. Their units opened
fire upon each other as the entire aerial front formed around them. Neither of the female knights
needed to look around to see that the battle had already started as battleships from Cinder's side
opened fire upon Schneizel's forces. While the anti-Lelouch coalition lacked the same amount and
quality of airships, they still had some transport ships that were changed to serve as platforms for
some of the European anti-ship guns.

Meanwhile, the Second Knight was stuck in a blade lock against the former Knight of Twelve.

"If you will lower your… mantis claws?" Cinder blinked. Monica's Knightmare looked like heavily
upgraded Alexander likes of which she fought among W-0. "Then I will grant you a swift death, I
promise you won't feel a thing."

Inside her Florence, a blonde knight glared at the screen. "As if your promises are worth anything,
Cinder Fall. I read your file, you are a sadistic monster!"

"Oh wow, you did the bare minimum, what an achievement," Cinder spoke back with a sarcastic
tone. "Monica Krushevsky, at age 19, became a Knight of the Round at 17. No lover, but was
engaged to Orpheus Zevon despite never meeting him face to face during childhood. Oh, how cute.
You're an illegitimate child of a high-ranking noble, whom I killed months ago, you're welcome by
the way. Breast size is-"

"Enough!" Monica shouted in anger as her Florence broke away and raised a claw to shred her foe.

"As you can see, I too can read classified case files." The black-haired knight smiled, pleased by
her reputation as Amber raised its leg to deliver a kick that was blocked by the same claw. Since
the purple sword was no longer held by Florence, Cinder quickly moved for the opportunity and
twisted Amber in place, spinning to try and stab her opponent's chest. However, Monica was far
from inexperienced and knew her way in a fight.

Florence flew back, creating a space between itself and Amber as it shot its waist-mounted Slash
Harkens towards the multi-coloured machine. Cinder blocked both of them with her left maser
sword, but in doing so her left flank was now exposed and Monica rushed to the side. Florence
raised its left green claw and stopped Amber from moving its hand; meanwhile, Monica's
Knightmare activated its hidden blade. Florence's uruna edge knife came out of its wrist as Monica
aimed for the side of Amber's cockpit.

Cinder's eye went wide as she activated her energy wings and pulled Amber back. Her Knightmare
flew several metres away from Florence. The modified Alexander specialized in close combat, but
how else would it fight at a long distance? Now that was a question Cinder would like to see the
answer to. Amber aimed one of its Super V.A.R.I.S. rifles towards the mantis Knightmare and
pulled the trigger.

The hadron ray flew towards Florence as it dodged the red laser of death. Unlike Amber and the
other Knights of the Round, Monica's machine didn't have any form of shield system. It was
difficult to combine either the absolute defence system or the Blaze Luminous system with her
Florance insect mode. Her Knightmare was made especially for fights in urban warfare to use
against ground units. Even the float system was basically an afterthought and with the lack of either
Lloyd or Cecile on their side, Monica didn't have any access to an engineer good enough to solve
her KMF's issues on time.

However, what she couldn't make up technically, she will have to compensate with her skills. And
she won't go down without a fight so easily!

Florence dodged shot after shot as they hit the nearby unlucky Knightmares instead. One of the
Akatsuki units with a red painted top tried to charge her with its katana, but Florence pierced its
cockpit with a needle-like blade before tossing it forward into the upcoming hadron ray. The
following explosion provided a small smoke cloud that Monica immediately used and fired from
both of her back-mounted hadron cannons to answer back to Amber's shooting.

Cinder narrowed her eye as Amber took hadron shots and let its shield block them. She switched
the mode on the Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle and fired a continuous ray of death as Amber's energy wing
sparkled before moving to the sides at high speed. She was sure Florence didn't get any kind of
shield system during all this time and her theory was proven correct as Monica had to dodge the
ray. When it was impossible due to the speed of Amber, Florence had no choice but to block the
ray with its claws. Amber pressed on, hoping that it should be enough to melt the damnable mantis-
like weapon, but nothing happened.

While Florence lacked any actual defence measure, its claws were durable enough to endure the
heat of the hadron energy. Another new question would be how much they can withstand physical
attacks if they are non-stop.

Amber dived in, its heel aiming for Florence's head. The insect-like Knightmare blocked the
obvious kick. Monica raised its empty claw to try and stab the leg of Amber. Without wasting her
breath, Cinder danced in the air as Amber quickly changed positions and was now lower than
Florence and upside down. Fighting in the open air opened the opportunity for unconventional
fighting in every sense of the word.

'Let's try this pose.' Cinder genuinely hoped she wouldn't puke, having only one working eye also
meant that she could get sick pretty quickly.

Monica was caught off guard and wasn't able to act on time when Amber slashed her maser sword
with a wild spin. However, thanks to Florence being built from an Alexander, its system was able
to move into a defensive stance in its insect mode. The damage was done as a giant scar from one
slash attack was seen across Florence's body and right leg, but it was still operational. Monica
ignored the system warning she got on her screen as she yelled at her opponent.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Just trying new things, pretty cool right?" Cinder's smile was feral. Her fight was enjoyable, even
if she must cut it short, with Monica as well. "So this is what fighting knights is like? Traitor or
not, I didn't have this much fun since I fought Red Lotus herself! Be proud you managed to provide
me with such entertainment, former Knight of Twelve!"

Monica bit her lip. "You sound just like Luciano, you crazy monster!"

Her Florence opened fire again at Amber. She repeated what Cinder did earlier and switched to a
continuous stream of hadron energy. The red laser was blocked by Amber's shield, but the constant
force pushed the Knightmare down, further away from her opponent.

Amber blocked the ray for a few seconds until Cinder activated her energy wings and flew back
into the sky, closer to Florence. Meanwhile, Monica managed to find a squad of coalition
Sutherlands and Vincents with float systems. Without giving Cinder a chance to relax, the Knight
of Twelve ordered them to shoot the Amber down. The onyx-haired knight smirked as she moved
Amber with grace and near-light speed between them, there was power to be had after all.

Cinder activated her machine's vampire-like capabilities as Amber captured one unlucky enemy
Vincent unit by its head. The poor fool screamed as his KMF failed to do anything, its battery
quickly going down as it was drained by Amber. Meanwhile, the machine pulled out its spare
V.A.R.I.S. rifle and shot down the enemy units that assisted Monica one by one.

Once her Amber was sufficiently charged- not like Cinder was at the danger energy level- she
crushed the head of the derelict Vincent before tossing it towards Monica. Before the knight could
even dodge, Amber shot the falling powerless Vincent, smoke from the explosion temporarily
made Florence's scanners blind. However, Monica could hear the familiar sounds of something
being launched. Without even seeing her enemy or what was going on, on pure instinct she flew her
Florence to the side as it made several turns in the air, dodging what she soon recognized to be
missiles.

Once the black smoke was gone, she could see Amber in the company of several Gareths that
aimed their combined arsenal at her. Monica had a surprised expression for half a second before a
glare formed on her beautiful face. She moved her Florance forward, flying towards Amber and its
escort of titan Knightmares, none of which stopped firing at her. Florence dodged both hadron
blasts and rockets as it danced like a butterfly among the projectiles. Monica cut a few missiles
with her claws as they got too close to Florence. Once she was within her slash-harken proximity
range, she fired both of them and hit one of the Gareths. Before the giant Knightmare could do
anything, Florence transformed into its insect mode and stabbed the chest, hitting the cockpit with
its heel.

As the first Gareth exploded, Florence jumped onto the next one, using her slash harkens to pull
itself towards it. However, when it landed on the bigger Knightmare and was about to decapitate it
like a praying mantis, Cinder made herself known. Amber threw its maser sword at Florence as it
stabbed the left shoulder of green Knightmare and pinned it against the torso of Gareth.

The pilot inside the Gareth was a Geassed member of the White Legion and had no sense of self-
preservation left if it meant fulfilling his master's wishes. Since at the moment they were under the
directive to kill all enemies of the emperor Lelouch and follow Lady Cinder's orders, they had
absolutely no issues being used as a sacrificial lamb. If anything, they provided assistance as both
Gareth's arms moved to 'hug' Florence to make sure it wouldn't escape.

Monica panicked as her screen showed red danger signals, her left arm was not working properly
and she could see imminent death. With a scream, the blonde knight did everything she could to
stay alive as Florance kicked and stabbed the suicidal Gareth. Having no choice left, Monica
pressed the control panels and forced Florence to disconnect its left hand entirely. The entire left
side of her KMF was removed as only the connecting joint was seen, but it allowed Monica to
survive. At least for a little longer.

Even with only one hand, Florence still had the capability to move at high-speed thanks to its
Alexander insect mode and float system which was still working. Monica used the golden horn on
top of Florence's head and pierced Gareth's chest as it was no longer able to operate to hold her in
one place. It jumped away from the giant KMF as it exploded, her aim was now surely on Amber.
With one arm, Monica knew her chance of survival was reduced significantly, which meant she
must win this fight as quickly as possible!

The remained Garethes were about to open fire again, but Cinder ordered them to stay still. She
will finish traitorous Knight of Twelve herself now. Instead, she sent her underlings to bring back
the missing maser sword she threw at Monica a minute ago which was currently falling down with
the remains of dead Gareth. As Florence rushed towards Amber, the Second Knight of the Round
pulled away its rifle and instead held its only remaining maser sword in both hands and stood in the
defensive stand, challenging the blonde pilot to attack her.

Monica didn't need to be told the obvious as Florence moved forward, its only remaining claw
aimed at the head and cockpit of Amber. The green Knightmare rushed close to multi-coloured
Lancelot look-a-like as it went for a swift strike. However, it was blocked by Amber as it managed
to cut the mantis claw in the middle, the purple blade embedded into the claw. It looked like
Monica was stuck, but she still had the final trick. Her Florence had an additional set of legs to
assist the movement of Knightmare in the insect mode, they could be used as a weapon in
situations like this as a last resort weapon.

Monica pressed one, the sweat forming on her forehead as two smaller blades shot forward
Amber's torso, aimed to pierce it. However, they simply didn't move fast enough. Florence's last
attempt to survive and kill the Knight of Two failed as Cinder fired two slash harkens forward,
piercing Florence's body and going past it, destroying the remaining functions of Knightmare and
breaking its core, leaving it no choice but to self-destruct.

The blonde knight could see that her end was inevitable, but she showed no fear in spite of that.
Instead, she tried to grab Amber and make sure the monster inside it would go down with her.
Sadly, Monica didn't have much luck as the machine glared at hers and grabbed the offending
hand, crushing it in its grip.

"Defiant to the end? I don't think so." Cinder's tone was cold as ice, at least until she let out a short
laugh. "Well, this was an amazing fight. I offered you the easy way out, and instead, you showed
me this. I'm pleased. Hah, didn't even need to use the Geass command His Majesty bestowed upon
me. I'm rather impressed. Good fight, Krushevsky."

"I do not care about your enjoyment, monster." Monica wasn't going to give this woman the
satisfaction of killing her. Still. "You killed my bastard father, correct?"

"Sure did."
"Well… at least I don't have to try to impress that pig anymore. As for you… one day your
emperor will lose, perhaps not to us, but he will."

Cinder actually nodded at this, adopting a more serious tone. "Yes, that's certainly a possibility.
Emperor Lelouch always knew there was a chance for another man of miracles to raise to challenge
him. But should that happen, I will be there to burn down his enemies and massacre anyone who
will oppose my Emperor. Even if we are meant to lose, I will burn this entire world before allowing
Lelouch to fall on his knees. But that's-" Cinder's smile turned feral, sadistic. "No longer your
concern, Krushevsky. Now enjoy your rest in silence, a former knight of twelve."

As she spoke, Amber simply tossed the damaged Florence away from itself. As the green
Knightmare fell, its female pilot said nothing as Monica closed her eyes and met her death in
absolute silence. Cinder's eye watched as Florence exploded before moving on with her master's
plan.

"Q2, report."

"Knight of Twelve Monica Krushevsky is neutralized, Your Majesty."

Q1.

"Centre, cover the left flank."

As emperor Lelouch ordered his armies to move, the battle started. Schneizel's forces reacted and
changed their positions accordingly as they too moved forward. Half of the coalition's right army
group flew towards Lelouch's forces as the rest stood on guard in the rear, shooting down
Britannian and UFN Knightmares from the distance. The battleships on both sides provided
support as their guns didn't stop firing at the big accumulation of war machines.

Ikaruga by far had the most powerful arsenal on the battlefield, but was handicapped by the
number of friendly units in the air and couldn't fire with so many of them close. Even the mighty
Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements had to await for its master to give the command before moving
to attack.

Kallen was stationed right in front of Nemesis as she received the news. She saw as Cinder moved
towards the enemy with their units, before engaging some sort of insect Knightmare. Apparently, it
was one of the enemy Knights of the Round, but Kallen didn't pay too much attention to it. Instead,
her focus shifted towards a giant black and white Knightmare that moved towards Cinder and
Monica's location.

'She doesn't look too tough, so Cinder shouldn't have too much trouble and if needed I can launch
my claw towards the enemy unit. Only because that idiot will slow us down and not because of
anything else!' Kallen thought to herself with an irritated expression as her mind tried to convince
herself. 'Forget stupid Cinder, where is that bastard Suzaku?!'

The traitorous scum lived too long. She should have finished him off back when she just got Guren
S.E.I.T.E.N. and before that bastard fired F.L.E.I.J.A. Perhaps it would have changed everything,
but Kallen promised herself to never ask what-if questions again. The past is the past, she learned
to accept it and pay for the consequences. Now she will make Suzaku pay for all the bullshit he
made her and Lelouch go through.

'Suzaku, we will finish our fight for good today. I won't allow you to get in Lelouch's way
anymore!' A bloody promise she will make sure to fulfil, but for now, her attention was required
somewhere else.

"Q1, we have visual confirmation that Bismarck Waldstein is moving towards our left flank.
Bishop is preoccupied at the moment, and might not be able to stand up to Bismarck's Geass. Your
skills and equipment should be able to surpass whatever he has. Move and eliminate Galahad, if
unable to do so, wait until reinforcements arrive." Lelouch's commanding voice sounded like music
to Kallen.

"Understood." No questions or doubts, simply following his orders was more than
enough. 'Bismark isn't Suzaku, but a problem nonetheless… I'm pretty sure Bishop has his own
vendetta against the former Knight of One, but If he is too busy I will be the one to kill Charles'
former knight.'

Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. moved faster than light as it closed the distance with the giant Knightmare
Galahad. Without any greetings or banter, Kallen went for a kick to the head while simultaneously
launching her claw at the side before it turned sharply in the air and flew back towards Galahad's
left side. However, both C.C. and D.S. told her and the rest that Bismark wasn't the usual fighter
because of his Geass.

And surely, the former first knight of Charles's regime wouldn't go down so easily as he blocked
the kick with its giant sword Excalibur. The claw attack was dodged as Galahad pulled back and
avoided it entirely, its purple sword held tightly as the titan adopted a defensive stance. Kallen bit
her lip, there goes her element of surprise.

'Granted, I don't know how well that might work on someone who can see the future, even if only
for a few seconds.' According to D.S., the old bastard got Geass from Lelouch's uncle V.V. How
well he mastered it was unknown, but he had it for years and most likely was familiar enough with
it by now. 'Gottwald and his Geass Canceller are out there somewhere. too busy-'

The sounds of hardon explosion could be heard as two giant hardon rays fired at each other,
accompanied by missile rain and distant but determined screams of loyalty. Seems Jeremiah and
Peter were having fun there.

'But it doesn't matter! Even if he has Geass, I won't lose!' Kallen raised Guren's claw and fired a
radiant wave at a wide range. The giant red circle covered several flying units that acted as
Galahad's entourage. As the rest of the small Knightmares exploded, Kallen saw that Galahad
blocked the attack with its sword as a shield formed around it.

"Hahaha, what a performance. For some mongrel girl, you sure can put up a fight." Bismark
laughed as he raised his Excalibur and challenged Kallen. "I heard that Red Lotus is quick, but this
is beyond whatever the rumours spoke of. You might have made a good Knight of the Round, a
shame you have to serve under that parasi-."

He didn't finish as Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. dove towards Galahad. Its claw captured the Excalibur as
Kallen activated a radiant wave, but the giant sword didn't melt. Instead, it was covered by a shield
that took all the damage.

"What the issue, girl? You don't want to hear the truth about Lelouch?"

"I'm Kallen Kozuki, the Knight of Zero, the Shadow of Emperor Lelouch, his first blade and his
closest shield. All those who dare to stand against him will perish." Kallen narrowed her eyes as
red circles flickered around them. "I won't allow anyone to hurt him or insult his name! Especially
not some old shit who allowed his master to get killed!"
As she yelled, Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. brought her MVS knife and aimed for Galahad's face. As she
expected, Bismark flew back, dodging the attack. His KMF didn't have any weapons besides the
giant blade and ten slash harkens according to the official file. It meant that at long-range Kallen
would be superior. Forget about his stupid Geass, she just has to be faster than his brain can detect
her.

And so Guren moved, its energy wings activated as the red Knightmare practically teleported into
the air. The redhead pilot activated her claw again, firing radiant waves in the form of smaller shots
and a continuous ray of destruction. Galahad dodged and blocked every upcoming attack with
Excalibur. However, the units around them weren't so lucky. Bismarck had to fly higher if only to
make sure the rest of his forces won't be caught in the middle of the fire. Perhaps it was the order
of Schneizel, seeing as anything close to Galahad was melted in a red ray of agony that was
Rakshata's radiant wave technology.

"You have the skills to be a Knight of the Round, I will acknowledge that, girl. However, Knight of
Zero? What kind of foolishness is that?!"

Bismark yelled as he moved Galahad into offence, the titan's five-finger slash harkens were shot
forward as he tried to capture Guren. However, Kallen simply blocked the attack with her blade
before Galahd moved too close and swung at her with Excalibur. Guren's heel crashed against the
sword trying to push it back, but Galahad's heavier mass proved to be too much for her Knightmare
and sent Kallen flying back.

"That fool can title whoever he wants as a Knight of the Round, but have the audacity to create a
Knight of Zero? The Knight of One highest rank of honour! Even that imbecile Bishop should
understand it, so how in the world such a ridiculous title can exist?!" Bismarck ranted as Galahad
raised its sword and made strike after strike.

Kallen couldn't help but snort with amusement. "What? Is someone jealous that his old position is
no longer the most important? Why so mad? You aren't even a proper knight of the round
anymore! You're the ones who failed to defend that old fart Charles, turned traitor and were
replaced, now stop whining about it and just die!"

Guren shot its shash harkens at Galahad. She aimed for Excalibur but caught the finger of the left
fist that was holding the sword instead. Inside his unit, Bismarck clenched his teeth in frustration,
he let his guard down for a second and wasn't quick enough to see this. Ignoring the small sparks
among the fingers on his left hand, Galahad was still fully operational.

"You aren't Suzaku for me to get worked up over. You're just an old man who cannot accept the
fact that he isn't important anymore, that his dear old lord is dead and Lelouch is now Emperor of
Britannia. Aren't you knights supposed to be an honourable bunch with a strict code to follow?
Please do everyone a favour and just off yourself with that oversized sword."

"Hmm, big words for some little girl who apparently had issues with choosing a side not so long
ago. Aren't you half-Japanese, a so-called freedom fighter? Then why did you side with Lelouch vi
Britannia, the leader of the nation that conquered your precious homeland? Why? Because he is
Zero? Geass?" Bismarck asked as for the rare moment, neither knight attacked the other.

"I can ask the same questions. Why help bastard Charles in his insane plan? Why continue to fight
when your master is already dead? According to the laws of your own fucked up homeland
Britannia, the strongest rules. Forget patricide, Emperor Lelouch took the throne according to
Charle's own idiotic view of the world. By your Darwinistic rules, Lelouch is the rightful monarch
and it means you knights should have kneeled before him. And yet you didn't, in fact, you went as
far as declaring war against him. Why? Charles had Geass too. No, you fight for the memory of
Charles for the same reason I fight for Lelouch," Kallen's Guren pointed its MVS knife forward,
giving Galahad a chance to answer. "You know why."

"Because we're their knights, their most trusted and powerful confidants…" Inside his Knightmare,
Bismarck couldn't help but smile as the laugh escaped his mouth. "Well now, for some half-
eleven, you sure know how to act like an actual knight. Shame you have to serve a master like
Lelouch… or perhaps it is shameful that Marianne's son has to be my enemy. If only the situation
was different back then..."

"It is pointless to think about what-ifs. We live in the present and move towards the future. You
and I made the choice that led us here today. You fight for the honour of your dead master. I fight
for the man whom I love. Even in victory, nothing awaits you. Not that you're going to win
anyway." The Geass command Lelouch gave to her never stopped working as Kallen's eyes still
had red circles around them. "I gave my promise to protect Lelouch no matter what and from
anyone who dares to harm him. You're a dead man walking, Bismarck Waldstein."

"Hah, was one for years," Bismarck smirked as he didn't even deny it. The old knight memorized
the image of Guren in his head. "Marianne, you might be no longer among the living, but at least…
at least your good-for-nothing son found a knight and someone who is worthy to be a knight of vi
Britannia! Come on, eleven! Show me the full power of your resolve! Fight for your lord, for your
love!"

For any outsider, it appeared as a strange conversation between two individuals who never met and
should despise each other on every level. And they did. Bismarck was the vanguard of Charles's
regime, the man who subjugated nations for the sake of his master's delusional Darwinistic view.
The one Charles didn't even care for as it were merely a means to achieve his mad goal to kill God,
the plan Bismarck followed as well if only to serve his liege. On the other hand, Kallen was a
Japanese rebel, a girl who fought for her homeland and its freedom. And now she was continuing
to do so in the form of serving Lelouch and his delusional plan of world conquest. She no longer
cared if Japan was truly free, believing that under Lelouch everything will be better, ready to act
like Bismarck and subjugate Lelouch's enemies.

Both knights were loyal and insane enough to serve the lords who weren't alright in the head.
However, neither cared about it and were ready to follow their master into hell itself. In the case of
Bismarck death was only a matter of time, once he avenged Charles he had nothing to live for
anymore. Kallen on the other hand had everything to strive and live for.

'Lelouch, mom and even you, father. I will fight for my own happiness and do whatever it takes to
keep people I care about close to me!' Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. activated its claw as the red Knightmare
moved forward, aimed for the kill.

"For the sake of my love, for my goals, I will kill you and everyone who stands in my way!"

Once again, the two most powerful knights of the two regimes clashed against each other. The
Strongest Knight of Charles against the Red Queen of Lelouch. Old guard versus the new blood.
Galahad's Excalibur blocked the claw of Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. as it rushed towards it.

As the two knights fought each other, the rest of the battle continued under them.

Knight of One.

"You heard His Majesty! Provide defence for our brothers and sister-in-arms!"
The voice of one William Bishop rang among the units around him as they provided support fire
and got rid of the enemy units who flew too close to their army group. Bishop's own titan, a
successor to both Galahad and Gawain, Uther fired its right-hand hadron mounted cannon and shot
down some unlucky enemy Sutherland that didn't notice the giant Knightmare aiming at it.

The units under Bishop's command were mostly Gareths, with a few Akatsukis to provide support
and act as a quick response force if need be. For the time being, William's orders were to defend
the other flank as their army group was gaining superiority and slowly moving forward. Lelouch's
side had a superior number of powerful battleships that were slowly, but surely grinding down the
enemy numbers.

"Schneizel is no fool and knows if we destroy all of his units, he will have enough free space to
unleash F.L.E.I.J.A. upon us." The voice of his lord spoke to all high-ranking members, a slight
frown on his face. "We cannot allow his forces to wipe out our army, but at the same time, we
cannot destroy all of them at once in fear of F.L.E.I.J.A. retaliation. Our secret weapon must be
used at the right moment or Schneizel will understand that something is wrong. My knights, hold
back his forces and neutralize the elite units that are the false Knights of the Round!"

"Yes, my lord!"

William overlooked the battlefield as both sides engaged in an all-out conflict. To be completely
honest, he was out of his element. Aerial combat was still out of his expertise, and it didn't help
that his Uther was far from the fastest unit under command of His Majesty. Still, the last European
war provided him with enough experience and he can hold his own against others in the air,
especially if emperor Lelouch will order him to do so.

'Still.' Bishop looked up to the sky to see the radiant wave that came from the claw of the Knight of
Zero, Lady Kallen. 'Am I good enough to fight that man?'

His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of his master. "Bishop, report."

"We are moving forward according to schedule. No enemy knights in my vicinity… Your Majesty,
can you grant me permission to replace Lady Kozuki and duel Bismarck instead? I know I
overstep-"

"Bismarck is too dangerous with his Geass and Jeremiah is currently busy with a different matter,
unless he is freed and can assist, you aren't allowed to engage with Bismarck." Lelouch sighed. "I
understand the desire to settle personal debts better than most; however, Suzaku and his Lancelot
weren't seen yet. As far as I'm concerned, Schneizel wants me to send Amber and Guren for
different targets and give him a better chance to attack them when they are busy with different
opponents. I need my best pilots to be available and either destroy or distract Suzaku while Q1 and
Q2 will finish their battles. Await your turn, my First Knight."

"Understood, Your Majesty," Bishop spoke with a heavy heart, but he must obey. 'Perhaps it is for
the best Lady Kozuki will fight and even kill that man… perhaps I'm too old to face him...'

Lelouch smiled. "Once this battle is over our victory will be absolute. My wish will come true and
you helped me to achieve it. Revenge might look sweet from a distance, but there is little to enjoy
once you achieve it. We are fighting for tomorrow, not for past memory's sake, William."

"Wise words, Your Majesty." Bishop noticed that something fast was approaching him at high
speed and it didn't look like another mere trooper. No, it was definitely an elite. "I'm picking up the
signal of an enemy unit approaching me. This must be one of the former knights. Let me deal with
it."
His master nodded before Lelouch's face disappeared on the screen. Once Bishop was left alone. he
ordered his troops to give him more space. The regular Knightmares, even the ones from White
Legion were unlucky to stand against the former Knight of the Round. The old knight's worry was
proven correct when he saw who was his opponent.

The old knight allowed himself to smile bitterly as he spoke with a warm tone. "It seems I almost
forgot that Bismarck isn't the only person from my past on this battlefield. How are you, Lady
Enneagram? It was a decade since we last spoke. Wasn't it?"

"Feels like an entire lifetime has passed, Lord Bishop."

The always cheerful voice of the Knight of Nine could be heard as a blue Lancelot copy flew in
front of Bishop's group. Her Knightmare unit, Lancelot Club was pretty much the copy of the
original Lancelot, of course, it was most likely heavily upgraded to stand against the later KMF
generations. The biggest difference from the original Lancelot was the horn and blue colour
scheme on the machine. Unlike the current version of either Amber or Albion, Club didn't have
energy wings. That made Bishop sigh with relief, don't get him wrong, he did get good with float
systems and flying, but not good enough to win against energy wings systems yet.

Lancelot Club levitated in the air as units around Bishop raised their weapons and were about to
open fire before Uther gave them the order to freeze. The giant copy of Gawain floated before
Club. Both Knightmares looked like re-coloured copies of legendary machines from the battle of
Black Rebellion. The irony wasn't lost on the female knight as she pulled two MVS swords.

"What is it? Duel to death, Lord Bishop?"

"No, instead I have a proposition. Even back then, when I was still serving that rat Charles, you
were one if not the only one worthy to have the title of Knight of the Round. I would never forget
the kindness you showed to me and the children of Lady Marianne. Nonette Enneagram, put away
your weapons, concede and pledge your allegiance to His Majesty, Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia. I
will make sure you are granted a position among the true Knights of the Round. How does it
sound, Nonette?"

"..."

Her silence was strange as the battle behind them continued. Bishop knew he was taking massive
liberties by giving such rather impossible promises, but he was honest, While he needed the
permission of his majesty, Bishop was sure his lord can be convinced to let Nonette survive and
get off with a light sentence. If it meant he can win against one of the false Knights of the Round
without fighting then surely His Majesty will agree-

"I refuse."

Bishop's hope was shattered as Lancelot Club adopted a fighting stance. The Vincent Wards and
Garethes behind Uther were ready to open fire, but Bishop ordered them to stand down.

"Why? I cannot see you fighting for the goals of someone like Schneizel. Even if you don't want to
serve as a knight under Emperor Lelouch, you still can walk away as a free citizen from this
conflict. I will put in a good word, make sure you're-!"

"Thank you, Lord Bishop. I'm genuinely touched by your kindness, but I cannot leave my side, at
least right now. I don't agree with Schneizel and his methods, but I care about Empress Nunnally
and Cornelia… especially the latter. Cornelia wasn't feeling herself ever since this mess started, no,
even since little Euphy died. She is hellbent on fighting Lelouch, his Geass. I cannot fully
understand her, but I must stay by her side when she needs friends to support her… sorry if my
reasons are too strange for you, Lord Bishop. But I can't leave that crybaby alone, especially right
now."

"Nonsense, Lady Enneagram. Hehe, I can completely understand how you are feeling." an old
knight and former prisoner of Alcatraz looked with a small smile past enemies and allies to see his
old cellmate trashing everything and everyone around him while screaming some crap out loud.
"Believe me when I say fate left me heartbroken, but at least it blessed me with a friendship I
would never betray. I understand."

"Ha! So you can guess what I have to do, correct?" Nonette asked as her Knightmare prepared to
attack. "Nothing personal, Lord Bishop."

William gave orders to all units to leave Lancelot Club to him, they would be better off continuing
moving forward and destroying the enemies of their lord. His Uther raised its double sword and
shield, ready to accept whatever attack Club would send its way.

"Of course! Among all those whom our empire fights today, you're perhaps the most honourable
opponent I could have asked for. I will do my best to make sure once you're defeated, you will
survive."

Inside her unit, Nonette couldn't help but giggle. "Gentleman to the end, aren't you? Well, I can't
say no to the chance of surviving, but I have no intentions of losing!"

As she said it, her Lancelot Club moved forward, her swords aimed at the hand that was holding
the double sword. Uther didn't waste time and opened fire with its shield-mounted missiles as
dozens of them flew towards Club. Nonette might not have been Suzaku, but she was a more
experienced fighter and unlike Bishop had more time in the air. Not to mention, her machine was
far more agile than a giant titan like Uther.

She dodged some of the missiles while cutting the rest as she continued to fly forward. Her swords
met his shield as Uther pushed a smaller unit with its superior mass and sent Lancelot Club flying
back. Nonette didn't waste time as she rolled in the air and moved back, now rushing at Uther's
side, going for his blind zone. This time the titan Knightmare unleashed a rain of missiles from its
leg as they all flew towards the Club.

Once again, Nonette was forced back, but unlike the previous time, Bishop didn't give her time to
recover. He saw that mere rockets wouldn't cut it against a Knight of the Round, even if it was a
former one. So instead, as Lancelot Club was forced to eat flying missiles with its green shield
system, Uther's double sword swung towards the smaller frame and might have cut it in half if the
female pilot didn't react fast enough.

Lancelot Club had to block the giant blade, Uther's sword was bigger than Nonette's KMF, and
was being pushed back. The blue sister of the original Lancelot was being pressured on by the
successor of Gawain as the latter pressed on its double sword. Nonette swore under her breath
before pulling away two MVS swords and rolling to the side as his double sword almost caught
her.

Without wasting a chance, Bishop continued his offence as Uther tried to kick Lancelot Club at the
side. One good kick would surely cause a lot of damage to a smaller frame if Bishop could actually
land one. Lancelot Club went for quick and swift attacks with its swords as it danced around the
bigger Knightmare. Nonette remembered how Cornelia described her fight against Zero in his
stolen Gawain back in Tokyo. Gawain, Uther, Galahad and Agravain, all were built on the same
platform. They had superior strength, firepower and parameters, but all were slower compared to
Lancelot type of KMFs.

"Even specialized units like yours and Galahad cannot be a match for smaller and quicker units!"
Nonette yelled happily as her Lancelot Club rushed up, flying between the sun and Uther. Bishop
was blinded for one second but lifted his shield to block whatever attack the female knight had in
mind. Instead of going for an obvious direct strike, Lancelot Club fired its slash harkens towards
the shield. They made contact with their target as the blue Knightmare rushed towards it. Using her
unit's weight, Nonette managed to force the shield to move a little bit and give her a better opening
on Uther.

In a mere second, Lancelot Club threw its left MVS sword at Uther's shoulder and pulled out its
V.A.R.I.S. rifle before taking a shot. Contact was made as sparks flew out of Uther's chest armour,
but it wasn't enough to destroy the titan. Not that Nonette wanted to kill the older knight, simply
taking Uther out of order would be enough. And of course, said older knight had no intentions to
play along.

Even if his machine was damaged, Bishop wouldn't allow himself to lose no matter what! His
Majesty's honour and wishes were on the line and as the First Knight of the realm, he will never
disappoint his master!

Uther let go of its shield for a moment and shot a few of its finger slash harkens towards Lancelot
Club and managed to get her second MVS sword out of Knightmare's hand. Uther grabbed the
smaller red sword that was akin to a toothpick compared to its double sword. Still, the smaller size
meant it was quicker to swing and Bishop intended to do so.

Uther used Lancelot Club's own sword to slash the machine. Thanks to titan's superior strange,
what might have been a simple slash by any other KMFs instead turned into cutting off the limb as
the blue Knightmare's legs fell down from the sky. Leaving only the upper torso, arms and float
system intact. Nonette was caught off guard, but didn't panic and instead decided to use the shield
that her machine was still holding with slash harkens. She used to push Uther away from her before
retreating back and trying to shoot Bishop with her rifle. However, Uther simply captured its own
shield she threw at him before returning the favour and launching its double sword at Lancelot
Club.

Nonette dodged the slow projectile and then the following five-finger slash harkens Uther shot at
her. She had half a mind to say something classic line like 'you missed," but quickly remembered
what followed that line. She managed to turn halfway before Uther's double sword made contact
with her Lancelot Club. Bishop managed to trick her and pretty much used his own giant sword as
some kind of boomerang!

The double sword connected by five slash harkens managed to leave a deep cut on Lancelot Club's
left side, breaking down the system of that arm and causing sparks to fly. Nonette eyed the blaring
damage report, her machine was missing its legs and had a malfunction with its left arm that was
holding the only MVS sword since Uther simply threw away her second one after cutting her unit
in half. Meanwhile, the reason for her issues was still flying high, with noticeable damage as well,
but in far better conditions than Nonette.

The light green-haired woman groaned in frustration before switching to the open channel.

"Is your offer still valid, Lord Bishop? My, I really hope it isn't the kind of limited offer I can't take
back anymore. Because if it is so, well, I'm screwed." She laughed, not showing any fear in face of
potential death.

"Rest assured, lady Enneagram. I will make sure you will be treated as a proper prisoner of war, no
harm shall fall on you… and I want to add that His Majesty gave his permission to spare the former
princess Cornelia. Sir Gilbert G.P. Guilford was given a chance to talk Cornelia out and if he
succeeds-"

"Gilbert? He's still alive!? Nonette spoke with excitement. "Cornelia was devastated, and the poor
girl thought her knight died on that night. Well, this might just work out. Hahaha-! If that four-eyes
knight in shining armour has really come here to save his princess, then Cornelia might just be fine!
Well, since I cannot fight anymore, fuck you Schneizel, I'm taking a leave!"

Bishop could see that the female knight's mind changed and he could see her agreeing to cooperate
or at least don't try any funny business as long as Cornelia will be saved. Uther moved closer to
detain Lancelot Club and contacted friendly units to bring her to Nemesis while he continued to
fight.

"This is the first true knight of the realm, William Bishop. The former Knight of Nine Nonette
Enneagram was defeated and is now under the custody of His Majesty! I repeat, the false Knight of
Nine is out of battle!"

Knight of Three.

While the other Knights of the Round, both old and new, engaged in the more traditional type of
fighting, the same cannot be said for the most trigger-happy of them all.

"Why won't you die?!" Peter yelled in frustration as his Uncle teddy fired its most powerful hadron
cannon.

"Blaze Luminous shield system," replied the false Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim as her Mordred
blocked the powerful hadron ray. "It hardens in response to physical and electromagnetic attacks."

Both Uncle Teddy and Mordred were built on similar platforms and carried the same hadron
cannon armoury, with Peter placing as many guns as Lloyod would allow on his machine. And yet,
even with all his firepower, Peter couldn't deal with the girl before him. Didn't help that she wasn't
alone.

"You're an animal, criminal scum." The voice of Dorothea Ernst indicated she was far from the
kindest one as her own KMF opened fire without a sign of stopping.

Palomides was an interesting Knightmare. On its own, it was merely a seventh-generation unit
specified for close combat but had additional assist mode in form of two additional giant hands that
also had hadron cannons installed into its fingers. So, it could effectively fight at close range and
cause a giant amount of destruction in a wide area. In other words, Peter approved of this type of
war robot as a former beta tester.

"You should have been left to rot in your cell back in Alcatraz!" Dorothea screamed and Peter
nodded.

"Yup, totally. But I have this thing called friendship, maybe you heard about it, but I doubt you
ever had it. Thanks to this majestic concept I can pretty much do whatever I want as long as I kill
people the kid points at, pretty fucking good deal, right?" Peter spoke before firing another hadron
blast. However, both Palomides and Mordred didn't even need to dodge the attack as they simply
blocked it with their green shields. "Fucking broken piece of shit! Who even uses this?!"

"You do, my lord." came the quiet voice of 'Jenny' as the male pilot under Peter's command hid
behind Uncle Teddy, along with other Vincent Wards and Akatsukies. Somehow dozens of them
managed to get behind a rather small and wide Knightmare that was the only means of providing
protection around here. Palomides and Mordred were alone on their side of the battlefield, seeing
as they acted as artillery support of sorts and simply destroyed whatever was in their view. "We
have received news from other battlegroups, my lord! Enemy knight Monica Krushevsky was
eliminated by Lady Fall, while lord Bishop defeated and captured Nonette Enneagram."

"Oh, Willy is winning? Great news! Now it is my time to shine!" Uncle Teddy pulled out its
Diffusion Structure Phase Transition launcher and aimed at two Knightmares. "It should distract
them for a second. After I pull the trigger, you all encircle them. Don't get too close! You're dead if
you get caught, but I will try to keep their attention on me. Now go!"

As Peter screamed, Uncle Teddy fired from the launcher. The prism shot forward towards Mordred
and Palomides before the ray of light followed it. The weapon was an exact copy of the emperor's
Shinkiro primary weapon and imperial soldiers were already familiar with the sight. Peter made
sure the prism was far away from him and his boys so none of them would get hit by it. It failed to
kill either of the female pilots, but at least opened a window for movement. His boys managed to
fly in different directions as they started to provide support fire, distracting Anya and Dorothea.

Uncle Teddy fired from its hadron cannons again, aiming for Palomides as it proved to be the
bigger threat between the two of them. The dark blue Knightmare of Dorothea proved to be a giant
pain in Peter's ass. It moved too fast for something with four arms and its shots were quite painful.
Peter stopped bothering trying to dodge them, letting his shield system take the hits. However, with
constant hadron firing and shield usage, his battery won't last too long at this rate.

He got aid in the form of one of the Britannian battleships providing fire as its main guns fired
upon Palomides and Mordred. At least now his soldiers weren't targeted anymore, so that is a plus.
What wasn't good though, was the fact that Mordred stopped firing at Peter and instead aimed at
the battleship.

"Target acquired," Anya spoke with an emotionless voice, no different than if she was a robot.
"Proceed to eliminate."

"Oh, come on!" Peter moved Uncle Teddy forward, rushing towards Mordred to take a hit instead,
his shield should be able to handle it. However, Palomides didn't allow him to stand before
Mordred and its bigger hands literally punched his Uncle Teddy away, out of Anya's blast. "Fuck
you!"

"Foul language befitting scum like you, Thomson. I could never understand why Emperor Charles
didn't simply execute you like the dog you are." Dorothea glared at the machine before her as
Palomides proceeded to squeeze Uncle Teddy from the sides with its second pair of arms. "A fool
like you deserves nothing but death!"

"I won't deny it, but it just proves that Charles is an absolute retard and you are trying to avenge
that fat pig. Your old boss is dead and your new one will probably kill all of you once you are no
longer needed. Victory or death, you won't live long enough either way." Peter's eye beamed with
delight. "And I will make sure you won't survive this day, stupid! I finally get to use it!"

"What-?" Dorothea's confused tone was interrupted as Peter pressed a button on the upper half of
his cockpit.

Peter was in love with weapons, this was no secret. However, what people didn't know was the fact
that he also was quite paranoid to be in a situation where he couldn't use his favourite guns to get
out of the problem. At the moment, Palomides was trying to crush him. Both of Uncle Teddy's
hands were too busy trying to keep a bigger pair of arms from destroying it. From an outside
glance, it looked like Peter was out of options, but he always packed an additional gun for such a
situation!

Uncle Teddy's head only had one 'eye', just like its pilot, but unlike Peter, his Knightmare was
packing more stuff inside its head. The head of the Knightmare shifted as the eye extended
forward, as the glass lens on its end opened and revealed the muzzle. Dorothea blinked, caught off
guard by this display while Peter barely could contain his hysterical laugh.

"What in the-"

"Head-mounted rocket launcher, bitch!" Peter happily yelled as he pulled the trigger and fired. The
sole rocket flew out of the eye muzzle and hit Palomides upper body, damaging both the head and
chest as sparks flew. "I've wanted to use it ever since Europe! Yay!"

"Agh!" Dorothea screamed as her Knightmare was violently shocked, half of Palomides' face was
damaged and her shield system was showing error messages. "You!"

"Me!" Peter smiled, pleased with himself as he raised Uncle Teddy's left leg and kicked Palomides
away from itself. Once there was some space between them and Palomides arms were no longer
pressing on him, Peter pulled out his minigun and opened fire. "Now just stay still while I kill
you!"

Palomides had to cover itself with its second pair of arms to defend itself from the green bullets of
the Blaze Luminous minigun. Dorothea's shield wasn't working properly anymore and now she
needed some time to stabilize it. At least Anya should be able to kill this animal.

"Anya! I require fire support!" Dorothea wasn't a fan of asking for help, but she was even less a fan
of dying.

Mordred stopped destroying the Britannian battleship, as it was already on fire and slowly going
down. Her attention turned to Uncle Teddy and Palomides as the two machines were flying around
each other, the fatter KMF was unleashing a bullet onslaught upon her comrade. With a dead stare,
Anya moved her hadron cannon towards Uncle Teddy and pulled the trigger.

"Target acquir-"

"Not so fast!" A new male voice spoke as a huge object flew towards Mordred, crashing into its
side and sending the red Knightmare flying as its hardon blast caught unlucky KMFs on both sides.
"Enemies of His Majesty will be defeated no matter what! I swear on my name of Jeremiah
Gottwald!"

His Sutherland Sieg rammed Mordred, but the shields of the latter took the physical hit. Anya
didn't show any emotions as she activated miniature proximity missile launchers. The small hadron
blasts, akin to snakes moved towards Sutherland Sieg, but Jeremiah rolled away as his flying
fortress pulled back before he switched on his electrical shock system. It worked on the previous
version of Lancelot, so the orange knight was hopeful it would work on the same generation of
Mordred as well.

However, even as an electrical shock went through Mordred, the Knightmare remained fully
operational. Without a second word, Anya fired her hadron cannon in close range and forced
Jeremiah to pull back as Sutherland Sieg did a backflip before opening fire with its missiles.

"Feel the full might of my loyalty!" As Jeremiah yelled, all of his missiles hit Mordred, causing
some disturbance but not enough to destroy it.

Anya's face didn't show any emotion, and yet the small girl couldn't help but frown. "How
annoying."

"Nice work, Jerry! I know my fellow one-eye brother will always have my back!" Peter shouted
from his position before dodging the hit from Palomides. "Say, do you wanna switch? This one is
really mean and hurts my feelings."

"I will crush your brainless skull!" Dorothea screamed, doing her best to fulfil that promise.

"See? What a wretch. No wonder you are single-!"

"Agh!" Dorothea rushed Uncle Teddy but was sent flying to the side as Sutherland Sieg launched
one of its lances at her. This forced Palomides to block the attack as it captured the upcoming lance
with its larger hands, but Uncle Teddy didn't stop firing at her with its minigun.

As Sutherland Sieg rushed at Palomides, Jeremiah spoke. "Very well. Let me end the life of this
foolish knight who dared to oppose our Emperor. Take care of Mordred."

"You got it, Jerry." Jeremiah didn't even bat an eye at the nickname, still better than being called
Orange he supposed.

As Uncle Teddy and Sutherland Sieg switched opponents, the false Knights of the Round were
now divided and had serious issues trying to assist each other. Anya, having little choice of how to
fight, aimed her hadron cannon at Uncle Teddy, who repeated the motion. Soon both Knightmares
unleashed the giant ongoing hadron ray as they clashed against each other.

Meanwhile, Sutherland Sieg and Palomides had their own dance as the larger Knightmare of the
cyborg knight moved faster than the already damaged machine of his opponent. Palomides was
supposed to have a far more powerful weapon, with its finger cannons being able to demolish
entire squadrons with one shot. And yet, that was useless when Dorothea couldn't land a hit on
Jeremiah who flew circles around her, thanks to his cybernetic parts.

"Just stay still and die, Orange!"

"Only my allies are allowed to call me so, and I didn't give permission to you, worm," Jeremiah
spoke coldly as he activated the electrical shock system again. Just like before, it didn't work,
which meant that the enemies managed to build some defensive measures against this attack.
However, since Palomides was already damaged by a prior rocket hit from Uncle Teddy, its shield
system was malfunctioning and some electrical shock attack managed to hit the cockpit, wounding
Dorothea.

"Ahh!" The female knight screamed in pain, but she didn't lose consciousness and could still fight.
With an enraged look, she screamed at Jeremiah as Palomides punched one of Sutherland Sieg's
spears away. "Worthless knight who got his mistress killed! You are the reason Marianne is dead.
You failed her and you will fail that brat!"

"Huh, how pathetic are you if you have to resort to such cheap insults? Lady Marianne is no more,
indeed. However, her son is now the true ruler of Britannia, and soon the entire world. Sadly, or
may I say, fortunately, a failure of a knight like yourself won't live to see that glorious future."
Jeremiah spoke with an ice-cold tone as Sutherland Sieg launched two of its forward lances at her.

Palomides managed to capture both lances with its larger set of hands and it was about to crash
them. However, Sutherland Sieg aimed its hyper-velocity cannon right against the head of
Palomides. With her shield system barely working and Dorothea already exhausted because of the
shock attack, the dark-skinned woman didn't have time to react properly and try to retreat. With a
fearful voice, she screamed.

"Wait-!"

"This is the end, Dorothea Ernst."

Jeremiah Gottwald sent a signal through the nerve capable of connecting him to Sutherland Sieg as
it made a shot. A single bolt of lightning was all it took to end the life of the former Knight of Four.
Sutherland Sieg pulled back as Palomides erupted in flames. As the imploding machine
plummeted, Jeremiah's attention turned towards the second false knight in this area of the
battlefield.

Anya looked away from her opponent to see the remains of Palomides falling down from the sky.
She didn't stop firing at Uncle Teddy but was silent for a moment before contacting Schneizel.

"I'm engaged in a fight with the enemy Knight of Three and captain of the royal guard. Dorothea
was eliminated. I repeated that Dorothea was eliminated. Requiring reinforcements."

Anya didn't stay on the line long enough as both Uncle Teddy and Sutherland Sieg attacked her
from different directions, even the soldiers under command of Peter became bolder as they moved
closer to fully encircle Mordred.

This didn't look good for the Knight of Six.

Grandberry.

The Knights of the Round, true and false, weren't the only elite squads who fought today.

The Order of Glinda Knights attacked the enemy coalition from the right flank as their Caerleon-
class battleship Grandberry provided heavy fire support. The KMFs units under command of the
princess Marrybell mel Britannia were ordered to cover the main army groups and act as
reinforcements, should the enemy elite units overpower the emperor's knights of the round.
However, as news about duels between former and new Knights of the Round came in, it was
starting to become apparent that Britannian and UFN forces were getting the upper hand.

"Your Highness, we received news that Nonette Enneagram was captured," Elicia reported while
Marrybell let out a relaxed sigh.

"And with false Knight of Twelve already dead, that means we already dealt with two of them.
Good, very good. The more of them we take down before the second phase, the better." It was a
shame Marrybell had to give credit to that vixen Cinder for defeating Monica. However, the one-
eyed knight deserved it this time. "Did we get any visuals on Lancelot?"

"Negative." Her tactical operator said, Marrybell clenched her fists.

'This isn't good. Suzaku Kururugi is by far the most dangerous obstacle for us, for brother
Lelouch.' Marrybell offered to send her Order after the former Knight of Seven, but she had to
agree with Lelouch that it was too risky. 'I can't allow myself to lose my friends no matter what.
Even if I want to prove I'm worthy to Lelouch, I'm still worried about Oldrin and others' safety.'

The princess and pretty much everyone on the bridge were in a stressful situation. Their side might
be in a better position at the moment, but you never knew how the tides of the war might change.
When dealing with F.L.E.I.J.A., one warhead is all it will take to destroy whatever plan they had
prepared. Marrybell and others knew it and were obviously concerned, but the same worries
weren't shared by a lone individual on the bridge.

"I won't mind seeing more dead Britannians, not your own knights, of course, princess." Orpheus
Zevon spoke with a small smirk as he ignored the death glares coming from the rest of the
personnel of the command bridge. Marrybell massaged the middle of her nose as she tried to ignore
the brother of her best friend.

"Orpheus, please, for the sake of Oldrin's reputation don't say anything that can get you killed. Just
because both my beloved brother and Lady Malcal have your back doesn't mean you can say
whatever is on your mind." Marrybell didn't really want to bring the former leader of the Peace
Mark cell on her ship, but it was Cinder who advised in favour.

Since Wizard would definitely show up, the second knight wanted both his niece and nephew to be
there and use them against the former noble. Neither of the twins was really a fan of the idea, but
both wanted to see their uncle behind bars. Well, Oldrin would definitely prefer that and Orpheus
didn't want Wizard to get away with using Rai to cause so much death and get him killed in Tokyo.

"I'm only here because I don't have a choice, not because I want you guys to win. All I want is for
Oz to survive and get away from here, everyone else can die for all I care."

"What about Wizard? Do you want Oiaguro Zevon to win too?"

"If he is really in cahoots with Schneizel and ordered Rai to use F.L.E.I.J.A., then he isn't any better
than your emperor. He screams bloody murder while using others as a means to an end."

Marrybell snorted in a rather unladylike way, good thing her brother didn't see it. "You speak as if
you have any moral high ground over us. Don't forget who tried to start a battle and put the lives of
the innocent at risk back in Berlin. Typical terrorist. Still, you're the brother of my best friend and
knight of honour, not to mention a valuable test subject to my brother. You can hate us as much as
you wish, but you're valuable to Britannia and you won't get away with it."

Orpheus. looked away. "Don't remind me about it. That's a fate worse than death."

"I'm sure there are worse deals, so don't complain. Be glad you are alive and in one piece. Now,
instead of being a pain in the ass, how about you provide some tactical assistance on the tactics
and fighting methods of Peace Mark units? They are trying to kill Oldrin as well."

Orpheus clicked his tongue before turning towards the main screen, or perhaps looking at the giant
window was enough to see the battle outside. The former terrorist leader was handcuffed,
something he was fine with since it meant he won't be shot for the smallest thing. The blonde man
analyzed the units that were most likely used by Peace Mark. Of course, he won't provide new
information OSI and Lelouch didn't know, but his input might increase their chances if only by a
little bit.

"It is obvious the majority of them aren't used to Vincent units. They use older tactics, staying
closer as a larger group and overwhelming their opponents with firepower, not really fans of getting
close."

Marrybell nodded. "They lack the training to use more advanced tactics and have issues with
flying."

"They are scared, terrified by everything. Compared to rebelled Black Knights, European and
Britannian units, PM pilots lack military discipline and will desert once they realize their side is
losing… killing or capturing Wizard should do the trick."

Marry agreed with him, unable to hide cruel satisfaction from this cruel irony. A former PM
member spoke of how to fight his old faction. "His Majesty thought the same. We still don't have a
visual on Wizard and his Agravain, but we expect him to be in the back line, waiting for
Schneizel's further orders."

"Like some kind of dog." Orpheus couldn't understand why his uncle decided to work with the
former prime minister. All royals were the same.

Marrybell said nothing as she glanced away from the VIP prisoner and turned her attention towards
the battlefield. Her purple eyes focused on the Glinda Knights as their units fought against the
coalition.

"Your Highness!" Toto shouted with a fearful expression as she analyzed the data. "We got signal
which belongs to one of the enemy Knights of the Round! It is the Knight of Three!"

'So, Gino Weinberg.' Marrybell narrowed her eyes. Well, at least it wasn't White Reaper, but still,
one of her knights might have issues fighting his old family friend.

"Lord Weinberg, our right flank is being harassed by the Order of Glinda Knights. Since you're
familiar with their personnel, I leave them to you."

Prince Schneizel's order was logical, he knew these guys better than most. Still, it felt wrong, even
if Gino knew that sooner or later this day would come. He knew that the Glinda Knights won't stay
at the sideline. Either because Princess Marrybell wasn't that kind of person, or because the Demon
Emperor used his Geass on them. It was hard to tell now. And so, Gino flew towards his old pal
and his Order.

However, Gino wasn't the only one who had personal matters with the Glinda Knights.

"I thought His Highness ordered you to stay closer to Damocles and act as a guard," Gino asked his
masked companion as his Tristan Divider flew towards the ship.

The giant Knightmare Agravain flew behind Tristan, somewhat keeping up with a faster machine
even when Tristan was in its fortress mode. Inside the titan machine, Wizard clenched his fist.

"Your prince is no master of mine, boy. I'm willing to cooperate as long as it is beneficial to me.
And having my men get slaughtered for no purpose doesn't seem fair to me. If Schneizel is
unwilling to do anything about it, then I won't listen to his orders." Oiagros Zevon or better known
as Wizard these days spoke without bothering to hide his venom. "Schneizel puts too much faith in
his wonder weapon, willing to sacrifice us instead. If he has issues with me showing basic human
decency towards the lives of my soldiers, he can shove it!"

'Rude, but not false.' Gino knew that ever since Schneizel allowed Suzaku to kill Emperor Charles,
his personal impression of the man changed. 'I always knew His Highness was capable of doing so,
but I hoped that I won't have to choose between him and someone like Lelouch. Working with a
backstabber is less terrible than being a puppet of a monster who can brainwash you.'

Schneizel was the means to the end, Gino knew and he was sure some other knights of the round
felt the same. With little Nunnally as the future empress, they would be able to make things better.
It won't be easy, but it should be better than either Schneizel or Lelouch. As for now, they need a
genius who could lead them against Lelouch and his Geass. The blonde knight hated the fact that
this was the mindset he chose, after getting angry at both Schneizel and Suzaku back when they
wanted to assassinate Charles.

'Hypocritical? Sure, but at least I want to make things better, not use F.L.E.I.J.A. to threaten the
world into submission. Or Geass to do it.' Gino hoped, no, he knew that magic was the reason why
Leonhardt and Kallen sided with Lelouch. It has to be.

Both Agravain and Tristan Divider flew towards the Glinda Knights, the Britannian Order was too
preoccupied with the Peace Mark forces to notice them on time. Wizard didn't waste time and
immediately opened fire upon their KMFs with its two arm-mounted hadron cannons. This caught
the attention of Glinda Knights' second-in-command, Oldrin Zevon.

Lancelot High Grail rushed towards Agravain as its two MVS swords clashed against Agravain's
own ones. Inside her scarlet machine, his niece screamed in fury as she fought Wizard.

"You! Don't you have any honour?! Any shame to dare show up here?! Fighting for Schneizel!"

The masked man hummed, and his black Knightmare pushed Lancelot High Grail back. "I lost my
honour when I sold my soul to Charles. As for shame, I don't need it on my crusade against
Britannia."

"Agh!" Lancelot High Grail rushed at Agravain, dodging the missiles the large Knightmare fired at
her from its torso. Oldrin fired her unit's Schrötter Steel Swords as six swords flew akin to a regular
slash harken. Agravain blocked three of them with its MVS swords, but the remaining three
managed to pierce the upper layer of his shoulders, but not deep enough to damage them. "I tried to
ignore you, thinking that someone else will take care of you, hoping I won't have to fight you
again. And yet you decided to show here, in front of me again! Do you want me to kill you?! Like
you killed mom?!"

"Oldrin..." Oiagros whispered with a sorrowful tone, before opening fire with its missiles. "Best
me if you can, I won't go down without a fight. Nothing will stop my crusade, not even my own
family!"

"Don't you dare call me family, you bastard!" Oldrin screamed as her Lancelot High Grail dodged
dozens of rockets before rushing at Agravain again. The rest of Glinda Knights tried to assist their
commanding officer but were too preoccupied with the Peace Mark units that unlocked their
second wind with the appearance of their de facto leader. Wizard's plan paid off, his soldiers
managed to organize themselves and continue their attack on the brits.

Well, the presence of the Knight of Three was also a big help.

Tristan Divider raised its maser swords before bringing them down to cut in half another Gareth.
While Wizard was busy having a dramatic conversation with his niece, Gino didn't waste time and
started to cut down a number of the Britannian KMFs in the vicinity. Few could stay long enough
against the third knight and his machine. And even then, those who could have other issues to
worry about.

"Please, Gino! Stop this madness!" His childhood friend, Leonhardt Steiner shouted as his
Bradford Brave moved to block Tristan's attack. His spear met two swords as both transformer
Knightmare stared at each other. "Just give up, please! I don't want to fight you!"

"Then you already lost, Leonhardt." Gino bit his lip before pulling back Tristan to dance around
Bradford and cut it from the side. However, his attack was stopped by an accurate sniper shot from
Sokkia's Sheffield Eye. "Damn it! I don't want to fight you guys either, but I won't allow Lelouch to
win! You don't know who you are fighting for! He is lying to you, using you to die for his goal!"

"And Schneizel doesn't do the same with you?! Wake up, Gino! His Majesty wants to stop this
insanity! It was White Reaper who started all of it!" Leonhardt spoke as his Bradford Brave tried to
attack Tristan with its spear. When Gino kicked the spear out of its hands, Bradford raised its arms
and aimed its built-in rail cannons at Tristan before firing hardon ray.

"You didn't even know the truth! Lelouch is lying to you!"

Sheffield Eye aimed its rifle before opening fire. "Even if he hides something, as long as it means
we won't have to fight any more wars or kill people, I'm good with that."

"Good knights follow orders." Tink Lockhart spoke automatically as his Zetland Heart similarly
fired a hadron blast to Anya's Mordred, if only less powerful. "We are Knights of Britannia, who
gave the oath to serve and defend it from anyone who dares to harm our homeland. You gave the
same oath and yet you are trying to kill the rightful monarch. It is treason, Lord Weinberg."

"I won't serve the guy who will brainwash people into dying for him." Gino bit his lip. He didn't
want to do it, but Glinda Knights didn't leave him any choice. He hoped they will survive it and
maybe forgive him one day when they will learn the truth behind Lelouch's true nature. "I'm doing
it for your own good, guys. I'm sorry."

Before either of them could react, Tristan Divider went for a crippling blow as it attacked all three
KMFs at the same time. Bradford Brave was the closest and most dangerous among them, so Gino
raised both of his swords to cut them down. Leonhardt predictably tried to get away and try to
shoot him, but Tristan divided and used its arm-mounted Megiddo harken to toss it off balance.
Leonhardt was caught off guard before Tristan Divider threw one of its maser swords and pierced
the lower abdomen. Gino was a little nervous, but let out a sigh of relief when Leonhardt used his
cockpit ejection system.

"Leonhardt!" He recognized the voice of Marika Soresi as her Gareth rushed to catch Leonhardt

Gino smirked. "Ha, at least one of us got a girl. Nice one, Leo."

The Knight of Three didn't get more time to himself as both Sheffield Eye and Zetland Heart fired
at him from different sides, trying to minimize his zone of movement. Not that it worked. Tristan
Divider transformed into fortress mode as its jet form flew towards them. Gino opened fire with its
machine guns as he targeted Sokkia. He managed to shoot her rifle out of Knightmare's hands
before coming closer and transforming back into KMF mode. Before Sokkia could react, Tristand
cut off her machine's arms and kicked away, trying to make sure she was close to other forces of
Glinda Knights.

The last one was Zetland Heart as it fired its hadron cannon at Gino again. Tristan Divider
activated its energy cannon as it sent two Megiddo harkens forward before they combined to form
a cannon. The blue ray met the red one as both Knightmares tried to shoot each other down.
However, his Tristan was uprated to be on the same level as Suzaku's Lancelot Albion, and stat
wise it was supposed to be superior to anything short of Guren. Eventually, an energy ray
overwhelmed hadron as the blue blast hit Zetland Heart. Tink's unit started to spark before its pilot
ejected himself, only to be caught by one of the Britannian units.

The blonde knight frowned. He didn't want to fight them, they are good people, but it was better
than letting them die at the hands of someone else… like Suzaku. There was still a matter of Oldrin
and her Lancelot High Grail. However, as Gino turned towards the remaining Glinda Knight, he
decided to leave the matter to Wizard. It was his family matter, not to mention, he needed to be
elsewhere.

"To all remaining Knights of the Round on the field, the enemy managed to defeat three of our
knights. Monica Krushevsky and Dorothea Ernst were killed. Nonette Enneagram was captured."
Gino froze as he heard the voice of Kanon.

"Shit!" Monica and Dorothea were gone, this wasn't a piece of good news. Gino switched on the
channel as he spoke. "We need to get Nonette-!"

"Negative, sir Weinberg. We can't spare our forces while enemy elite units outnumber us. Focus on
your task, the other knights of the second attack group will take care of it." as always the voice
Schneizel felt cold and callous. Gino slammed his fist against the panel of his unit, furious at first
before he blinked.

'Wait, but the only knight who wasn't on the battlefield is-'

White Reaper.

Suzaku had only one goal right now.

To find and kill Lelouch.

This was it, the end of their story. No more running, no more setbacks. No hallucinations, no
doubles. Lelouch will die, he had no choice but to do it. Lancelot Albion flew at incredible speed as
it cut down any enemy unit that was unfortunate enough to get in its way. In mere seconds, it
closed the distance and approached the Britannian battleships in the right flank before activating
Lancelot's energy wings.

In less than a minute, one of the mass-produced Caerleon-class Floating battleships exploded.
Without wasting a moment, Lancelot Albion moved to another and then next. In three minutes,
three Britannian battleships were gone, changing the flow of battle in this sector. However, it won't
be enough. If Suzaku wants to win, to kill Lelouch he would need to go for the head. After
Nemesis.

'The representation of Lelouch's true self, a monster that brings nothing but death… the same
could be said about me.'

Lancelot Albion flew towards the Nemesis as the monstrous ship opened fire at the white
Knightmare. Its defenders were mostly Gareth units who could do little as white lighting moved
between them, cutting all of them down. Soon, Suzaku was before the same ship that he fought
back in Europe, on the day Lelouch finally destroyed whatever was left of his sanity. And most
importantly his command to live.

'Once this is over, once Nunnally is empress, without that cursed command I can finally...'

Lancelot Albion dove towards Nemesis, aiming for the command bridge, hoping Lelouch was still
there. However, Suzaku knew this won't be how his former friend will die. Lelouch was too much
of a coward, he was somewhere safe. Kallen was too busy at the moment, fighting against
Bismarck and couldn't fly there to stop Suzaku, so he needed to abuse this short window of time.

However, the maser sword Lancelot Albion used met a wall in the form of the ship's absolute
defence system, experiencing great difficulty in trying to pierce it. Ultimately, Suzaku decided to
stick to a long-range fight and fire his energy wings and Super V.A.R.I.S. As Lancelot Albion flew
up, Suzaku heard a distinct whistling tune on the open channel, receiving a signal from a
Knightmare unit shortly after. He narrowed his green eyes as Lancelot stopped for a second. Was it
Lelouch? Was he thinking of trying to distract Suzaku with his demagogy again?

"..." Reluctantly, Suzaku accepted the call. He was surprised when instead of the face of the
Demon Emperor, he saw the face of some blonde Britannian in the midst of whistling that same
eerie tune, in a pilot suit belonging to a Knight of the Round. Suzaku remembered where he saw
this face before, during the information briefings. "One of Lelouch's new knights, his tools."

The blonde knight glared at him for a second with his blue eyes, before clearing his throat as
speaking.

"Greattings, Kururugi Suzaku. I'm Arthur Calhoun, the Fourth Knight of the Round, loyal servant
of His Majesty Lelouch vi Britannia. It is our first meeting and most likely the last one. Therefore, I
want to challenge you for the title of Reaper."

This Arthur person portrayed himself in a noble manner, but at the same time, the Japanese pilot
felt a quiet fury. Suzaku didn't move, expecting some sort of attack, but none ever came.

"What's the point? If you want to kill me, just attack me without speaking. Or is this some kind of
Lelouch's scheme? It won't work."

"His Majesty did give me the order to engage with you should the rest of the knights be busy.
However, my Emperor left me a choice on how I want to fight you. I won't lie, I'm still learning
how to be a true knight, but for the sake of my growth, I want to fight you in an honourable duel.
No tricks, only one on one fight between us. None of the empire's and Black Knights' forces will
interfere with our business."

Suzaku glared at the boy before him. "We have no business whatsoever, I can just ignore you and
continue my mission."

"If you will turn your back to me, I will have to kill you." There wasn't any sarcasm or witty
remark. Arthur said it as a matter of fact, and Suzaku was sure he meant it. Without his command
to live, the former Knight of Seven wasn't so sure he could survive a potential attack from behind.
Suzaku knew Lelouch's new pawns were insane, but they were also dangerous. "I'd catch up to
you, no one's escaped me yet."

'I want to go after Lelouch, but he will be an issue regardless, Might as well fight him without
having to worry about others… but Lelouch will try something, I know it.' Still, until then Suzaku
could humour his new knight. Did he want his old worthless title of White Reaper? Perhaps he was
some kind of bloodthirsty vampire like Bradley. 'Let him die for it.'

"Very well, Arthur Calhoun. Let us fight. Where are you?" Suzaku expected some kind of surprise
attack, but nothing happened. Instead. Arthur responded calmly.

"On the top of Nemesis, move closer to the hangar."

Suzaku had a weird feeling in his gut, expecting some kind of trickery. The sounds of explosions
and firing around Nemesis did little to calm him down. The monstrous ship stopped trying to kill
Lancelot Albion, and the rest of Lelouch's forces there didn't come any closer to him, giving him a
safe passage towards the back side of the black and purple ship.

When Lancelot Albion arrived there, he was greeted by a purple Knightmare with four legs,
reminding Suzaku of one unpleasant person from former Euro-Britannia. Arthur differently lived
up to the title of Reaper as their intelligence informed him. His Knightmare was the closest thing
Suzaku saw to a Grim Reaper. It was ironic, there it was, the death personified as Suzaku wanted
it. However, there was something else he had to do before letting Reaper claim his life.

"You don't have a float system." Suzaku quickly turned his attention to the fact that Reaper had
four legs and lacked any wings. "I agreed to a duel, but it doesn't mean I will go easy on you or
show mercy. You won't win like this."

Arthur nodded.

"Lloyd said the same." The name of the weirdo scientist made Suzaku feel nostalgic. "That's why I
got an upgrade."

As the true Fourth Knight said it, his Reaper changed. The second pair of legs moved up and
packed itself right under the cockpit as the shoulder armour opened up, two rib-like appendages
came out on each side as pink energy wings appeared out of thin air. Now with only two legs,
Reaper rose up into the air, its scythe always in its hand. Grim Reaper looked closer at the Angel of
Death than at the Rider of Death.

"Now, this way we should have no difficulties fighting, I won't slow you down, Kururugi Suzaku."
It was weird how Arthur spoke with such respect and mannerism as if he was about to fight by
Suzaku's side instead of against him.

"I'm your enemy, I will kill your puppet master, why are you being respectful?" Suzaku found it
weird and creepy. None of his enemies, perhaps except Jeremiah, behaved like this. "Don't you
hate me?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. However, lord Bishop taught me to show proper etiquette in an
honourable duel. I'm a Knight of the Round and should behave accordingly if only to suppress my
desire to murder you. This is nothing but formalities, otherwise, I would have attacked you like a
beast, but neither of us would want that." Reaper raised its scythe. "You are a traitor and deserve
death, but you are also a knight just like me. If you have even a shred of honour left, you'd let our
skills decide who can survive this day."

Suzaku had to bite his lip as anger overwhelmed him. Knights? Honour? As if Lelouch ever truly
cared about these concepts! He simply used them as means of achieving his goals, that is how it
always was. He doesn't care about anything, but himself. Arthur and other knights were nothing
but other tools to use and sacrifice! And yet, he had the audacity to speak of such things to Suzaku!

'Is it Geass? A ploy to get me mad, Lelouch?! I won't fall for it! I will find and kill you! Anyone
pawn you will send after me will die as well, because of you!' Lancelot Albion prepared for a
charge, its maser sword pointed forward and ready to attack.

Arthur smiled as he prepared Reaper for the attack. "Let's duel, Kururugi Suzaku."

The White Reaper rushed forward to deliver justice as the Black Reaper prepared to slaughter.
Swords met scythe as the two knights engaged in a fight.

Damocles.

"Sir Kururugi Suzaku, bring us victory today. End this nightmare."

Schneizel said as the last Knight of the Round who wasn't on the battlefield until now made his
presence known. Lancelot Albion rushed forward from the insides of a giant flying fortress.
Damocles' shield was lowered for a mere second, but it was enough for the 9th generation
Knightmare with energy wings as Suzaku practically teleported forward. The former prime minister
smirked as he watched Lancelot start decimating Lelouch's forces the moment it was out.

'Akin to an attack dog, but it is fitting.'

Schneizel couldn't let Suzaku out from the start, knowing that both of the Lelouch units with
energy wings would prioritize him. And he didn't want to admit it, but the older prince had no idea
how well the Japanese knight would manage to fight against both Amber and Guren. At least, now
he had only Amber to worry about. And if his bait in the form of Wizard will work out as he
intended, the Second Knight of the Round won't have enough time to react to Suzaku.

'Oiaguro, your insubordination was expected. Now you will pay for it.' He knew about the history
of the Blackwood and Zevon families and expected Lelouch's knight to attack Wizard since she had
a chance now. 'Lelouch, perhaps there is merit to hiring unstable individuals. Both you and our
father have done so, but it is also a double edge sword. Still, the battle became less desirable.'

Schneizel expected losses, but losing three Knights of the Round before his side even managed to
take down one was problematic. Still, Schneizel has yet to lose Gino, Bismarck and Suzaku, the
three strongest knights he had. With the F.L.E.I.J.A. arsenal at his call, the second prince didn't
worry about anything. The same couldn't be said for Kanon who nervously watched the scene on
the screen.

Blue dots that signified their forces were getting more and more spread out. For every group of red
dots of Lelouch units, blue ones had to engage them. As a result, there were huge openings among
them. Normally it might mean issues as enemy storm groups could explode such breaches and get
behind their line and closer to Damocles. However, Prince Schneizel didn't worry about it too
much. After all, he micro-managed his forces, hoping to create enough free space so that once he
would fire F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead, they would be far away from it so most of them would survive.

Kanon hated the fact that he could see his prince trying that any moment now. Diethard Ried on
the other hand felt euphoric as he anticipated that moment. As for Schneizel himself, he smiled as
he watched their forces get more and more widespread.

'Come on, Lelouch. Make your move, let me counter it with F.L.E.I.J.A. I dare you.' Any front
assault will be destroyed, and once Lelouch's elite units are out of a fight, it will end for him. He
will have nothing to defend himself with from the might of warheads.

Kanon clenched his fists but said nothing. He has to follow his prince no matter what. However,
his face took a pale colour when he noticed a strange reading on one of the screens. He made sure
to analyze it before turning to Schneizel.

"Your Highness! There is something in the water below Damocles, and it is emerging!"

The blonde prince blinked, not expecting this but quickly composed his usual calmness. He gazed
upon the screen that immediately showed the surface area of water as a black submarine came out
of it.

"Now, this is interesting. What are you planning, dear brother?"

Below Damocles.

While the battle was taking place in the skies above, the submarine started to surface from the
depth of the ocean. The old submarine that was used by the Order of Black Knights, was currently
in service of the Britannian empire as several of the Scarlet Guard flew out of the Knightmare
hangar that opened following the rise of the underwater vehicle. The Knightmares weren't alone, as
per their role they protected their master.

Shinkiro Imperium rose in the air above Nemesis. All ten red Knightmares formed a circle around
the black and gold machine while the Emperor watched the battle above him.

"I was expecting Schneizel to contact me, but nothing happened. Was I expecting too much?"
Lelouch asked aloud no one in particular. The Emperor then turned the head of his Shinkiro
towards the place where Suzaku was fighting Arthur. 'D.S. said they just started. Arthur promised
that no one would interfere, I will allow it since Kallen is still busy.'

The White Emperor knew his Q1 would want to finish off her old nemesis. Not to mention, it
would be best if Kallen and Guren handled Suzaku and his Lancelot. Even though Cinder and
Arthur got their energy wings as well, the redhead had by far more experience fighting Lelouch's
old friend. She defeated him once, and she can and will do it again. And this time, Suzaku won't
have F.L.E.I.J.A. this time.

'Speaking about F.L.E.I.J.A.' Lelouch's gaze fell upon Damocles as a giant fortress flew above
them. 'As I was hoping for, Schneizel is yet to fire a warhead. Most likely waiting to create better
conditions for it. Maybe he wants more of my forces to attack him at once so he can wipe them out.'

Both Lelouch and Schneizel knew how dangerous the usage of F.L.E.I.J.A. can be if the timing
wasn't right. Schneizel might be too obsessed with his super weapon, but he wasn't an idiot.
Accidentally wiping out his forces and making Lelouch's job easier will be a suicide move for the
older prince. It didn't matter how many warheads he had or how powerful they were if his precious
Damocles were surrounded from all sides by enemies.

'The fortress will become his tomb if I and the majority of my army will outlive his forces. He
knows it, hence why he waited for me to reveal as many cards as possible. Still, he let Suzaku out a
little bit too early. Kallen is still busy and he didn't know where Arthur was. But it is of little
relevance now. I already came out and now it's time to get their attention.'

While Schneizel and the rest of his coalition thought Lelouch was inside Nemesis, the White
Emperor sneaked right under them. Of course, his knights, especially Kallen and Jeremiah, were
against the idea of Lelouch being alone this close to F.L.E.I.J.A. and the heavily armoured
Damocles. However, they couldn't convince him to drop the risky idea. After all, one thing
Lelouch will never stop enjoying is becoming the centre of attention when he wants to.

'And now, all that is left is for you to make your move and fire this wrenched warhead, brother!'

Lelouch activated his Knightmare's most powerful weapon as Shinkiro's chest panel opened up. He
aimed the diffusion structure phase transition cannon towards the coalition forces before pressing
the button. The prism shot forward before a ray of light followed it. The prism worked perfectly as
dozens of silver rays bounced off it and destroyed anything it came in contact with. The emperor
made sure none of his army groups was in that vicinity, micro-managing them in advance to make
sure it wouldn't hit them.

The effect was immediate as the rest of Knightmares turned to look down and find Shinkiro with
the emperor's guard. If they thought about trying to attack Lelouch for shooting them in the back,
they stopped. Most likely per orders of Schneizel who had a different idea in his mind.

Lelouch received the call from C.C. as his witch monitored the situation from within the
submarine. "Damocles is gaining altitude. It-"
"Will launch F.L.E.I.J.A. Schneizel knows it might be a trap, but the opportunity to kill me is too
good to let it go to waste." Lelouch couldn't help but smile wickedly. "What is a better way to
prove that his F.L.E.I.J.A. is superior to me than killing me with it?"

The White Emperor started laughing like crazy as Damocles prepared to fire its first F.L.E.I.J.A.
warhead. While their emperor was having a moment, his Scarlet Guard pulled out a F.L.E.I.J.A.
Eliminator. A staff with one end that has three green protruding rods and a pink crystal in the
middle, was the best measure Nina managed to come up with, but it should be enough for Lelouch.
It might not even work out properly, but he was ready to gamble his life to win.

Shinkiro Imperium ascended closer to the skies, waiting for Damcoles to try and smite it. 'God' was
on the Demon's side, hence why Lelouch wasn't afraid. No, it was more than that. Even without
D.S. or Collective human consciousness favouring him, Lelouch knew he wouldn't die like this.
After all, it will be quite an anticlimactic ending for his story, something neither God nor the
World wanted.

"Here I am, here I remain!" Lelouch's eyes were full of determination. "Well, go on dear big
brother! Do it, Schneizel! Show me the might of your F.L.E.I.J.A.! Prove me that it is stronger than
my Geass!"

The second phase of the battle only started.

And we're officially in the endgame! Congratulations everyone, we are actually here! The end
of the story is near :3

Can't believe this is actually happening, but here we're. Anyway, about the chapter. Almost 7
years ago I said I wanted to write a big final showdown with many characters and I finally
got to write the first part! I was actually hyped writing about former knights of the round
and especially their knightmares. I think info about their Knightmare (such as Monica's and
Dorothea's) was added after the first Code Geass gacha game was released, or maybe second
idk. Anyway, I wanted old knights to have a more dignified way of going out. Some died,
some did not yet. Of course, there is matter of Lelouch and Nunnally plans that will be
revealed later :3

I hope the first part of the final battle is to everyone's liking and lives up to your expectations,
dear readers. Anyway, until next time

Anyway, thanks to our editor Kingpin Lunamaria.

 Endspiel: Part 2

August 29th. Cambodia.

Far from the battle in Japan, a lonely old bar could be found in a small town. The bar itself was
nothing special and neither was the town. It was still daytime and the number of customers was
low, in fact, only two of them were there. Two women who were clearly not local were drinking
and chatting, or at least one of them was while the second looked to be frightened, constantly
looking over her shoulder.

"You need to calm down, Miss Mariel," The former maid of Empress Nunnally vi Britannia and
better known as Miss X said as she took another shot of cheap alcohol. "Drink something, we had a
long walk."

The former scientist and engineer of Schneizel's forces didn't listen to her companion's advice.
Mariel was a nervous wreck, her hands were shaking, and she was terrified out of her mind. It was
like this ever since the two of them escaped from the camp and left the coalition. X lazily offered
another drink to her, but Mariel turned it down.

"I-I don't think it will help. What if Prince Schneizel will send people after us? We're deserters!"
Mariel raised her tone before remembering where she was and leaned closer to X who had an
amused smile. "We defected, and according to military protocol, we will be court-martialed and
shot!"

"Then it's a good thing Schneizel and his little gang are currently busy elsewhere, right?" X
laughed, slightly drunk by now. "You worry too much. Just relax, Mariel. There is nothing you can
do anymore. As you said, we're deserters. The best we can do is to continue running."

"None of this is normal to me, I-I've never done anything like this. How can you be so calm?"

X raised her glass. "This helps. And also the fact that I have a goal in mind and running towards
the goal, makes me stay focused."

"What goal? You were Empress Nunnally's personal maid, I don't get it. You were the one who
decided to run away and I just happened to pass by…" Mariel clenched her fists, trying to stop her
hands from shaking. "I didn't have plans to leave, but after what happened in Tokyo, after what
Suzaku did..."

X listened to her as she took a slow sip. "You realised the situation was going out of control and ran
away. Good call. Nothing wrong with trying to stay alive."

The death of Zero at the hands of Suzaku changed everything they planned, and it certainly
destroyed their chances of potential negotiations with the Federation in the future. Mariel wasn't a
politician, but even she could see how bad it would become for Schneizel's faction. They will have
to use F.L.E.I.J.A. offensively and that was something she didn't want to see. Even if she realised
that Zero on the broadcast wasn't the same one who killed her father. Since the real one was only a
few metres away.

'I was ready to turn a blind eye if they used it as self-defence, but now Prince Schneizel will
definitely use it to attack.' Any route but the direct conflict was out of the picture. And not only that
but Suzaku- 'What did he mean when he said I must live? I don't get it.'
When he returned from that failed mission, all Suzaku said to her was she must live and get out of
there. Mariel didn't understand what was going on, but with the strange device inside his Lancelot
Albion she found before and now all those events, she became scared. By poor luck, she managed
to run into the maid of Empress Nunnally who was also on her way out of the base. And so, two of
them were now in this bar, waiting for something, or at least X said so.

"What are we even going to do now?" Mariel lowered her head, too tired and confused to make
sense of the situation. "We can't go to Britannia or the UFN. We don't have anything of value, our
money-"

"You are worrying too much, again." X giggled. "First time running away from your problems?
Trust me, it gets easier with enough practice. But for now, we just have to wait and see who will
come out victorious. Perhaps Schneizel will win or maybe Lelouch. I don't care either way… but
there is a complicated business I have, which makes me wish that Lelouch's forces at least won't
die."

"Why? Lelouch vi Britannia is our enemy, well, was one before we ran away, now I don't know."

"Do you have issues with the young emperor?" X asked with curiosity.

"Well, he had come out of nowhere, started purging the empire and using his-" Mariel didn't even
know what to make of Geass from what Suzaku and others told her. Not to mention the current
emperor's past as Zero. Which was even more confusing to Mariel, beyond the fact that the masked
man was responsible for the death of her father. "I was terrified of what would happen to me."

"You're smart, and pretty good-looking too. A strong 7 out of 10." X winked but Mariel didn't look
relaxed at all. "Jeez, as I said before, having a goal helps me stay focused. If you are so worried
about getting chased and killed by either of the groups, just think about your personal end game of
life and what makes you go on. It helps to stay sane when everything around you is insane."

"My life goal then?" Mariel never thought about it beyond simple stuff like keep researching and
creating new inventions, even helping others with that. Once her father died in Japan, she was more
focused on beating Zero and defeating the Black Knights. Then it was fighting Emperor Lelouch
who was the original Zero. However, now she had no plans on what to do… except one thing. "I
would like to continue developing new Knightmare technology."

X blinked. "What? Working? That's your dream? Don't take it the wrong way, Mariel, but I think
you need to get a better life. Not even planning to get some mansion where you can live in luxury?"

"I always wanted to become someone who can stay on equal ground with the likes of Lloyd and
Cecile. And… help someone who might need it." Mariel stopped for a second. 'I would have liked
to continue working with Suzaku. The boy suffered too much and needs friends, anyone to support
him. But he was the one who said I must leave and after what happened… perhaps he doesn't want
to be helped anymore.'

That was both a terrifying and sad thought. Mariel didn't know what to do or how to help her
friend. X noticed how her companion's poster and facial expression changed, and thanks to her
expertise, there was only one that could prompt such a look.

"A special someone, eh? I get it. Heh, well, my goal is pretty simple too. Not as boring as yours
though." X took a sip before a melancholic smile formed on her face. "I was saving enough funds
to get a small piece of land in Australia, in the countryside. I got tired of the big cities, of
constantly having to blend in with masses." To be a spy, always lying to everyone around her. "I
just want to be done with all this and just live in peace… with one obvious idiot who is too dense to
notice me."

"Wow," Mariel smiled warmly. "That's a beautiful dream."

"Yes." X's face turned sour when she heard the cars outside the bar. One glance at the window was
enough to see a few armoured vehicles outside. It was finally time. "Sadly, the methods I use to
achieve said dream aren't as beautiful… I'm sorry, Mariel."

"Wait, what-"

Before Mariel could finish, the entrance doors were kicked open, scaring the bar owner. Several
men walked in as they formed a semi-circle around the two women. The scientist on the run froze
in fear as her heart started to beat faster, terrified that they would come for her. However, X
grabbed Mariel's hand to calm her down. The double agent had an apologetic smile as she turned
towards the newcomers.

"So, you finally arrived. Took you long enough." X spoke with her usual bravado, but Mariel could
feel how X squeezed her hand. "After everything I have done, I was expecting a limousine and red
carpet. Is this how His Majesty rewards good work?"

'What-'

Mariel didn't understand what the hell was going on. The group of agents stayed silent, as they
made a way for their commanding officer who walked closer to the bar. Neither of the two saw this
old man before, but unlike the others, he looked different in his butler attire.

"You were employed not by our Emperor, but by the director of OSI. You might find out that they
aren't as benevolent as His Majesty. "Alfred spoke with a smile as Mariel's face went pale. "Who is
this one?"

"Just an engineer who helped with Knightmares." X glanced at Mariel. "She also used to be Lloyd
Asplund's assistant and worked in Camelo, so she's a big deal. Might want to check up with her old
boss and see how useful she might be in the future. As for myself, I'm pretty sure your boss would
like to have a girl talk with me regarding a certain princess."

"Is that so?" Alfred offhandedly said before turning away. "Get them into the car. We can always
take care of them later, but let's see what His Majesty will say."

"Yes, my lord." The men obeyed as they moved closer. They didn't pull out their weapons or
threaten either of the girls but made it clear X and Mariel needed to follow.

Mariel looked around, feeling betrayed as she took X's hand. "What is going on?! Who are these
people?"

The former Peace Mark spy and now apparently tool of OSI sighed. "Lap dogs of the empire, I just
ensured your goal will happen. Or at least tried. As I said, Mariel, my dream might be beautiful,
but the methods to achieve it aren't. Who knows, perhaps you will have a chance to help someone.
Let's go."

And so, two defectors managed to escape from the clutches of the Puppet Empress into the hands
of the Demon Emperor.

Nemesis.
'Lelouch! He is here!'

Suzaku saw the light, the same one Shinkiro uses to fire its primary weapon. So his former friend
was hiding right under their nose this entire time? It meant attacking this ship wasn't as important
anymore. Suzaku needed to go after Lelouch, and end this for once and all. However, there was just
one issue with that idea.

Lancelot Albion dodged the swing of the scythe as Reaper tried to cut the white Knightmare in
two. Both Knightmares were flying above Nemesis, and true to Arthur's words no one interfered in
their duel. Both Fourth and Seventh knights were fighting each other for a few minutes now and
neither was giving any chance to get a clean strike. Suzaku knew he had more experience, but this
Arthur guy was talented and determined enough to keep up with him.

Lancelot Albion's energy wing flashed bright as Suzaku opened fire with hundreds of green
projectiles. Reaper apparently didn't have any shield systems, or at least Suzaku didn't see either
variant of shielding as they fought. However, even without shields, Arthur didn't allow any attack
or projectile to touch his Knightmare. Reaper was fast, almost as fast as Guren with its energy
wings and was agile enough to dodge everything Suzaku threw at it. And so, none of Lancelot's
shots made contact with the purple unit as it danced in the air.

Reaper closed the distance between the two machines and once again tried to cut down Lancelot
Albion. Suzaku raised his MVS swords to block the attack as the edge of the scythe was only a few
inches away from Lancelot's face. Both KMFs struggled to hold each other as Reaper pressed on
while Lancelot put more force into holding it back. Reaper's right hand moved up to hold the head
of the scythe and forced it further. The sharp tip of the unusual weapon made contact with Lancelot
Albion's golden face as it made a small scratch. Suzaku narrowed his eyes as Lancelot pushed the
swords up, Reaper's scythe was raised in the air before Lancelot kicked it away.

A small window to attack Reaper in close range. Lancelot moved to Reaper's left side which was
open to aim its MVS sword at the place between chest and cockpit, hoping to make enough
damage and force the ejection system to save Arthur. Killing perhaps the only rational knight of
Lelouch's insane table wasn't something Suzaku actually wanted, not if he could help it.

'Arthur, I don't know anything about you but if you are sincere about your code of honour, then you
better leave this place alive.' Lelouch didn't deserve to have good people follow him
anymore. 'Cinder Fall and the likes of her will meet the same fate as Lelouch, but you still have a
chance.'

However, before the sword could make contact with Reaper's armour, the purple Knightmare fell
on the hard surface of Nemesis. Reaper landed on its two legs before its energy wings sparkled and
brought Knightmare further back as its scythe transformed into rifle mode. Arthur aimed and fired
hadron blasts. The red orbs didn't manage to hit Suzaku as Lancelot Albion dodged every one of
them. Seeing as it wasn't providing any result, Reaper stopped and transformed its V.A.R.I.S. back
into scythe mode before rushing forward. Its energy wings carried the bigger Knightmare closer to
the ship before it leapt up and did twirl with its scythe as Reaper brought down upon Lancelot.

The two MVS swords took a cross-like position as they stopped the scythe from damaging
Lancelot Albion. Once again, both knights were stuck in the same position as a few moments ago.
Seeing that the two of them were stuck in this loop, Arthur was the first to break the silence that
was among them since the start of the duel.

"I read that before the Britannian invasion, you were personally trained by Kyoshiro Tohdoh."
Neither Lancelot nor Reaper stopped their fight.
Suzaku narrowed his eyes. "And so what? Sensei was indeed the one who trained me in martial
arts, but after the invasion, we were always on different sides of the conflict. Don't tell me he's here
somewhere, fighting for Lelouch."

'Tohdoh sensei learned the truth about Lelouch and his Geass. He would never pledge his
allegiance to him again. There is no way for him to fight alongside Lelouch's Britannia unless that
bastard used Geass on sensei!' Suzaku clenched his teeth. 'If that is true, then I will personally free
Tohdoh sensei and end his life-!"

"No. Kyoshiro Tohdoh is dead. I was the one who took his life."

Arthur's words managed to freeze Suzaku for a second as a shocked expression formed on his face
before it changed into a furious one. Lancelot Albion went for the offence, its swords trying to stab
the upper half of Reaper. The purple Knightmare had to block attacks with its scythe, stopping each
sword with a staff part and edge blade. Reaper was forced to move back as Lancelot pressed on
until Arthur was walking on Nemesis again. Lancelot Albion continued to press on, making Arthur
switch from energy wings mode to his Horseman Mode as the second set of legs pressed into the
metal surface of the ship. Reaper finally managed to stop moving back as Lancelot pressured on,
and once again both Knightmares were stuck in the same position.

"Cinder said that it would be best if I revealed the news to you. She said it should have quite an
effect on you and I have to agree with her. Granted, I do it not because I want to taunt you or feel
pleasure from your anger, as Cinder would have done, but because as his student you deserve to
know."

"I and Tohdoh were opponents ever since I pledged to serve Briatnnia and he joined Black
Knights." Suzaku bit his tongue, remembering that night. When the same system he wanted to
serve and change just gave him an execution order to sign. "We both knew that sooner or later one
will die on the battlefield. Perhaps slain by one another."

Arthur sighed. "That is rather sad. Teacher and student fighting each other. This isn't right, but
neither is treason. You said you pledged to serve the empire, but what now? You are fighting the
legitimate monarch. Emperor Lelouch took the throne following the principles of Darwinism and
yet you refuse to acknowledge and obey him. The same goes for your teacher. Kyoshiro Tohdoh
betrayed his own leader, Zero, and tried to kill him. Was this one of his lessons too? Betraying
one's ruler?"

"You know nothing about Zero! About Lelouch!" Suzaku shouted back, outraged at the idea of
Lelouch being his ruler. 'None of you can even imagine what that monster has done to us! To me!'

Lancelot Albion rose up in the air as it tried to slow Reaper again since it was now in Horseman
Mode. Arthur didn't lose his cool as his unit started to gallop around the Nemesis, green energy
bolts not being able to catch him or pierce the surface armour of the ship. However, the Fourth
Knight knew that it wasn't the best idea to test how strong the armour of His Majesty's flagship
was and so Arthur turned back into energy wings mode. Reaper jumped up with four legs as it
aimed its V.A.R.I.S. rifle again, the Hadron rays forcing Lancelot to dodge at the side. It gave a
few seconds to Arthur as Reaper switched to two legs and two wings before rushing forward with a
transformed scythe, trying to cleave Suzaku.

"Perhaps I and the rest of the Knights of the Round do not know the entire story. We lack the
perspective of those who were there like you. However, it doesn't stop us from serving our master
to the best of our abilities!"

Arthur announced before Reaper threw its scythe at Lancelot. Suzaku reflected the upcoming
weapon and sent flying at the side, but was caught off guard when Reaper rushed him with its
secondary MVS sword in one hand. While the seventh tried to cut Reaper, the purple Knightmare
of death shot his hand-mounted slash harken towards the scythe and hooked it. Arthur re-called the
slash harken as it brought back the scythe with it. Suzaku had a half second to block the scythe as it
went for the white Knightmare's back cockpit. Lancelot had to turn half of its body to block the
flying scythe and block Reaper's MVS at the same time.

'I can't always be on the defensive!' Suzaku glared at the Reaper before kicking it away to make
more room for the next attack. Lancelot then flew to its right side and brought both swords towards
its torso. Arthur quickly captured his scythe before rotating it and stopping Lancelot's side attack.
Suzaku wasn't planning on giving Arthur any room to breathe and attacked again.

This time Lancelot pulled away one of the MVS swords and brought out a Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle.
Suzaku moved to medium range and opened fire with a hadron ray. As expected. Reaper started to
dodge his shots, flying away and doing zigzags. Lancelot continued to fire at Reaper and whenever
Arthur got too close, Suzaku would block this scythe attack with an MVS sword. This dance back
and forth continued for some time, as Lancelot was the one keeping Reaper on the defence, giving
the Japanese knight better chances to strike him down.

When Arthur expected another hadron blast, instead he got hundreds of green ones. Reaper
immediately tried to dodge them and fly higher, but Suzaku stopped him. The moment Reaper
rushed up, Lancelot quickly moved to kick him back and send him flying towards Nemesis. Arthur
swore as his unit was falling before he managed to regain control. However, Suzaku didn't stop as
his Lancelot kept on attacking, further pushing Reaper towards Nemesis. Hit after hit, Lancelot
used his sword to bat aside Reaper's scythe and simply punched Reaper into the ship. Literally.
Reaper's cockpit made contact with the metal of Nemesis, but it wasn't enough to kill or knock
Arthur out.

"Agh-!" The Knight of Four yelled in pain. He wanted to get back but saw how Lancelot Albion
brought down its MVS sword and tried to stab Arthur's Knightmare. Seeing how he didn't have any
shielding system since according to Lloyd, his Reaper couldn't handle too many inner systems, and
so Arthur had no choice but to stop the attack with his machine's hands. Reaper let go of its scythe
and captured the blade of Lancelot. The hands of Reaper were shaking from the pressure of
Lancelot that was standing over him. Slowly but surely the tip of the sword was making its way
towards the chest of Reaper until it finally pierced the surface level of the armour. "No! Not yet!"

Arthur brought up the hands of Reaper as it managed to redirect the sword. Instead of the chest,
Lancelot stabbed Reaper's left shoulder, piercing the joint that had the left energy wing. The red
MVS sword went through the shoulder and destroyed the mechanism within it. The Knight of Four
received the notification that the energy wing wasn't available anymore as power was cut off. The
sparks flew at the face of Lancelot Albion, blinding its sensors for a second. Reaper's right energy
wing remained operational and so Arthur used it to knock Lancelot over as the pink energy wing
hit from the side and sent him flying.

Reaper stood up and tried to turn on its left energy wing, but nothing worked. Arthur cursed under
his breath before turning off the right wing and switching to Horsemen Mode. As the second set of
legs appeared behind him, Reaper started to slowly walk around Lancelot Albion. Suzaki did the
same as both knights were preparing for another attack.

"His Majesty told us a lot about his past, about you. You want to improve the lives of your people,
in that case, you should have worked with him. He is the Emperor now, the ruler of the system you
wanted to serve, therefore you should serve him too, correct?" Arthur asked as he raised his scythe.
He knew the reasoning of the treacherous Knight of Seven but needed more time for his system to
stabilise. The loss of one energy wing was seriously messing with his electronics.

"If Lelouch told at least half of the truth, then you already heard about Geass. That cursed power of
his, the one he is using to turn people into his slaves. Perhaps even you!" Suzaku was waiting for a
good opening to attack Arthur again. Without an energy wing, Reaper could no longer fly and was
stuck on Nemesis.

"We trust His Majesty! I assure you, none of us is under the influence of his power. Emperor
Lelouch shared with us his dreams, his goals and wishes for the future. He wants only what is best
for Britannia, for the entire world!"

"He is using you, Arthur! You are just a means to an end for Lelouch. He was always like this!
Everyone around him is a tool to be used to achieve his goals. He would promise you everything,
make you obedient only to sacrifice you for his own agenda! Lelouch doesn't care about you or
Britannia, he doesn't care about anyone but himself!"

Arthur frowned. "And you do?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Suzaku narrowed his eyes.

"You heard me. Do you actually care about what you are fighting for? About your people? About
Japan or Britannia? Did you care about Charles when you served him or just thought of him as a
useful master until you decided to switch to Schneizel? Was Princess Euphemia like that too? Just
a convenient Royal to pledge your service to get a better position in the empire? When she died,
you managed to get an even higher rank thanks to Charles."

"You know nothing about Euphemia and me!"

"Master Lelouch told us about how you fought him when he was still Zero. I know that you
betrayed your people to serve Britannia, changed lords at least three times and talked about
changing Britannia from within, but the moment Emperor Lelouch took the throne you decided to
become a rebel who now wants to decolonize the empire! What are you fighting for, Kururugi
Suzaku?! Do you fight for the future? For your beliefs? Or just for yourself?!"

"I fight for my people!"

"What people!? The dead?! Are they with the ghosts of the Black Knights or do they lay with the
millions of corpses you created with F.L.E.I.J.A?! You have no people to kill and die for! You
have no nation to defend! You have nothing! You are nothing! You are less than zero!"

Suzaku roared. "Don't you dare call me that! I sacrificed everything I had! My father, my family,
my own people and even my friends! All of it so I could gain a chance to save more! To protect
everyone!"

"Did it work out?" Arthur's question wasn't answered as Suzaku bit his lip until blood came out.
"Well? Was it worth it? Do you feel like you achieved what you wanted? Do you feel like the hero
that your people wanted, needed even? Answer me, you dog!"

Instead of speaking, Lancelot Albion rushed forward as its MVS swords made contact with
Reaper's scythe. Forget about waiting for a good opening. Suzaku's attack was easily telegraphed
and Arthur had no issues blocking it.

"Is this your answer? Are you so incapable of answering back when asked a simple question?!"
Usually, Arthur wasn't like this. He got better thanks to lord Bishop, but such boldness was new for
him. Even during a duel with Tohdoh, the blonde knight showed less courage and aggression than
he did in this conversation. It couldn't be a simple bravado and no it wasn't some honour talk.
Arthur was genuinely pissed. "You think you can stop the bloodshed by shedding more blood!?
Some saviour…"

"Shut up!"

"What do you even have to show for yourself? Blood? Gold? A title? I joined the army to serve my
homeland! I was ready to fight under Charles's rule because he was the emperor at the time, I didn't
question it. I would have served as a soldier no matter who sits on the throne because I'm
Britannian. Because I love my home. But Emperor Lelouch isn't like the rest of his family. He
wants to make a change, to improve this world for everyone. I finally knew what I wanted to do
beyond being a simple soldier. I lost my friends, that was the worst thing that ever happened to me,
but beyond their loss, I managed to gain a new goal in life. The goal I can proudly declare and
defend. I always wanted to protect my country, but now it is more than that! Now I want to help
improve it, to help as many people as possible. I want to be a person worthy of the title of the
Round, to prove that I have what it takes to make a change!"

Suzaku's glare never left Reaper as the two Knightmares were still stuck in close range. "So? Why
are you telling me this? Want me to congratulate you? Are you trying to prove something to me?"

"This is our chance to start anew! And this is how you deal with it!? You make me sick, Kururugi!
You have no values, loyalty, or faith. You follow whatever is most convenient for you. You lost
the woman you loved, and yet instead of trying to become better, you turned into a hypocritical
killer on a leash! We are both killers to our masters, but at least I know what I'm killing for and that
it is a worthy goal. You can't say the same!"

"Delusional pawn, that's who you are!" Suzaku screamed as Lancelot Albion rose up in the air and
prepared its Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle, ready to shoot down Reaper. "Tell yourself whatever bullshit
Lelouch made you believe in. It means nothing! You will die just like all the other pawns he used!
Maybe I lost sight of what is right, of my dream. But I'm still able to see the wrong and evil that is
Lelouch! He is no saviour and never will be!"

For a moment, there was no response, only the unmoving form of Reaper as its eyes seemed to burn
with Arthur's emotion. The next words he spoke were stated with such clarity, that Suzaku couldn't
help but believe him.

"I will bury you so completely, the earth will turn over a thousand times before your body is dug
up," Arthur promised, almost sounding as if he was in a trance, transforming his scythe into
V.A.R.I.S. mode and aiming it at Lancelot. "If not me, then there will always be others who will
put you down for good."

"Let them try. Once Lelouch is dead, I will welcome whoever wants to finish me off." Suzaku said
before firing a hadron blast. Arthur returned fire with his own as Reaper fired. Two hadron rays
met and didn't allow either to go past. The old stubborn White Reaper met the determined Black
Reaper as both were stuck like this. Arthur's Reaper on Nemesis and Suzaku's Lancelot in the air.
The Knight of Seven was preparing to duck and attack Arthur again, but Suzaku received a call
from Schneizel.

"Sir Kururugi. We have confirmation that Lelouch is preparing something. He might have some
sort of means to combat my F.L.E.I.J.A. Should he succeed, I will need you to be there to deal with
him, for good."

Suzaku bit his lip as his gaze turned back to Arthur and Reaper. He was still in the middle of their
duel, the one for which Arthur never broke his word. No help came to the fourth knight, even as
their fight became more heated. To leave it now would be the coward's way out, but if it meant
going after Lelouch…

"Enough," Suzaku spoke before rushing to the side and shooting two slash harkens. Before Arthur
could redirect his rifle, two of them already made contact with Reaper's hands and sent the
V.A.R.I.S rifle flying away. "Our fight is over, you lost."

"Don't you dare run away, Kururugi!" Arthur yelled, furious as Reaper pulled out its MVS sword.
"Fight me like a Knight of the Round!"

Suzaku closed his eyes.

'I'm Euphemia's knight of honour. She chose me to be her sword and shield… I failed her back
when she died and again to uphold her principles. I-I… I cannot be her knight anymore and I can't
be a Knight of the Round...' If Suzaku couldn't fight for the sake of his love's dream, he wouldn't
bother upholding the responsibility Charles placed on him. 'I wanted to be the Knight of One, but
never cared about the master I would have served and what their dream might be. You're correct,
Arthur.'

"My old title is yours… as I said, once Lelouch is dead, I will welcome whoever wants to finish me
off. If you want, feel free to cut me down, but only after I killed my former best friend." Suzaku
spoke before turning Lancelot Albion towards Damocles, where Lelouch should be located. A
moment later, White Reaper vanished.

"Don't you dare- KURURUGI, YOU COWARD!"

Arthur screamed until his throat couldn't take anymore. The Fourth coughed a few times before
clearing his throat and opening the Britannian channel. "Reaper to Lloyd! How long will it take to
fix my damages? Never mind them, send a squad of Gareth units. Yes, I will manage."

Arthur began to whistle the eerie tune he grew fond of recently, making sure to do so on an open
channel. Reaper might not have wings, but death wasn't going to let Lancelot get away so easily.

Q1.

Galahad's Excalibur missed Guren by a few centimetres as the red Knightmare dodged the
upcoming attack. Since Bismarck's unit was out of long-range options, it could rely only on its
sword against the red menace. At the same time, Kallen's attempts to shoot it down with long-
range hadron blasts didn't work out very well. Bismarck's Geass was working non-stop as he
dodged blast after blast, followed up by a flying claw to his machine's face. And yet, neither knight
gave in, the fight being at a stalemate for some time now.

"Old bastard!" Kallen yelled as her Guren activated its radiant wave surge in close proximity.
Galahad was only a few metres away, but the former Knight of One managed to raise his sword on
time and block the attack as hadron sprays flew in different directions. "Stay still and die already!"

"Wouldn't want to make it too easy for you, Knight of Zero!" Bismarck swung his Excalibur again,
this time Guren simply blocked it with a close radiant wave shield. "You are the one who killed
Luciano. He died in battle but I couldn't look past you killing my fellow Knight of the Round."

"He was an animal and died like one. He incorporated everything that is wrong with Britannia! The
arrogant maniac who took pleasure in torturing and killing weaker people, such people don't
deserve any honour. If you truly consider him to be your comrade, then you aren't better in the
slightest."

"When you have strength, arrogance is a pick of your confidence. The strong should not bother
themselves with what weaklings think of them. Strength always prevails no matter what. Lelouch
understood that he took the throne by the right of strength. Even if you share some of this mindset,
Knight of Zero, how many Britannians have you killed in the past? Did you ever care about their
thoughts and feelings? Of course not! They were weaker and therefore they died. You were
victorious and stronger, you had no time to bother with them."

Kallen gritted her teeth. "Pompous cunt, you know nothing about me or Lelouch. Those with
power and strength should guide and defend the weak. I fought and killed for Japan and its people.
It didn't change back then and it won't change now."

Bismarck laughed. "And yet you fight under the Britannian banner, the same one which conquered
your precious Japan."

"I fight for Lelouch and whatever banner he would carry! I trust him and know he will do better
than your Emperor Charles ever could! I will help Lelouch, keep him on the right path!"

Guren shot its claw to the side as a Radiant Wave surge made its way across the sky before making
contact with Excalibur. Kallen turned on the gear and activated her claw, metallic bubbles
expanding around the tip of Excalibur. However, before it could entirely melt the purple sword,
Galahad swung it to the side and shook off the claw. Still, some damage was done to the sword.
Guren didn't waste a moment and rushed the giant Knightmare, ripping off the stitches on his left
eye that kept his Geass inactive unless needed, opening his left eye to reveal a red sigil.

Bismarck foresaw the upcoming attack and blocked Guren's attempt to stab Galahad with her knife
blade. However, his machine wasn't fast enough to block the follow-up kick that hit the head of
Galahad. The old knight bit his lip, the girl got him there but it wasn't enough to kill him! Galahad
attempted to retaliate and punch Guren away, but Kallen pulled back before the punch made
contact with her machine.

"Heh, those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they're invincible." Kallen
taunted before circling around Galahad and trying to pierce his cockpit with her shoulder slash
harkens; however, the giant Knightmare managed to block the attack with a slightly damaged
Excalibur. "I'll bet you do too, old man."

"If you truly want to be a Knight of the Round, you will have to learn how to speak properly in the
presence of your superiors." Now that his Geass was activated non-stop, Bismarck could see all of
Guren's future movements.

"Bite me. I was personally ordained by Lelouch, I'm already higher than you."

"I refuse to acknowledge whatever changes that boy did to bastardise Britannia!" Bismarck
declared before Galahad launched its finger slash harkens. Guren dodge one after another as Kallen
rushed Galahad.

"Tch! Old useless relic refusing to accept the future! The Britannia of old is dead! Lelouch killed it
and I will make sure that whatever was left of it will rot. We're creating a better future and you
won't be part of it."

"Then it just means I should cut down your future!"

Galahad raised a slightly damaged Excalibur and was prepared to bring it down upon Guren as Red
Lotus rushed it. However, Bismarck's Geass eye showed him the future attack from behind. The
older knight pulled back and flew higher before raising its sword to block the not-a-surprise attack.
It didn't take too long to wait for a hadron ray and several missiles flew at Galahad before
exploding around the giant Knightmare. Once the smoke settled, both Kallen and Bismarck saw
two new units joining the fight.

"Welp, we lost the element of surprise. Fuck his Geass and fuck him." Peter sighed as his Uncle
Teddy deactivated the hadron cannon and pulled out a minigun and launcher. "Guess it just means
we need to use more firepower!"

"Bismarck," Bishop said with a cold tone as his Uther raised higher to be on the same level as
Galahad.

"William." The former Knight of One spoke with venom as he greeted the new one.

"Dorothea and Monica are dead. I defeated Nonette and she is currently under guard." Uther raised
its double sword and pointed at Galahad.

"I heard the news. So what? Do you expect me to be afraid or surrender?"

"No. We both know what will happen next." Bishop said before addressing Kallen. "My lady,
please leave this sorry excuse of a knight to us. Go and protect His Majesty. I and Peter will finish
Bismarck."

Kallen said nothing as she turned towards Damocles where Lelouch was supposed to be. For the
next phase of the plan he would need her and Kallen promised to never leave him again. With both
Bishop and Peter, three of them could have killed Bismarck, but it would take time. And the time
might not be on her side if bastard Suzaku was out there.

"Alright, I bruised the old fart a little bit, so make sure to finish him off," Kallen smirked before
turning Guren towards the giant flying fortress and flying there to make sure her emperor was fine.

"Will do, Red!" Peter said as his Uncle Teddy prepared its entire arsenal. "Now then, let's show
him what ten years of pent-up anger and emotional scars look like, Willy!"

It was rare for Bishop to get furious or humour the antics of his best friend. However, right now
Bishop was facing off against the same man who allowed the greatest crime in his life to happen
before sending both of them to rot in a prison. Uther prepared for the attack as Bishop spoke
through gritted teeth.

"Today you are going down, Bismarck." Uther rushed forward, shield up and double sword ready
to slash its enemies.

"Heh, you couldn't do anything a decade ago and you will fail again, William." Bismarck taunted
before flying towards Uther. His Galahad raised the sword to block the storm of green projectiles
that were shot by Peter.

Excalibur met Uther's double sword as two titan platform KMFs engaged in a fight. Peter provided
long-range support as he aimed for the cockpit of the Galahad. However, Bismarck's Geass always
showed him every upcoming attack and the knight of Charles had no issues keeping up against two
opponents at the same time. Galahad would block Uther's slashes before putting Excalibur up and
guarding Uncle Teddy's shots.

"Since you don't care for an honourable fight, you should have asked Scarlet Dragon to stay. Both
of you are incapable of even touching me."
"Silence." Bishop coldly spoke as he went for another swing, but Galahad simply moved to the side
to dodge it. "We know your secret. Your Geass. You have no right to speak about honour when
you've had this power for years. How many times did you use it during fights? In our duels in the
past? Did you ever win any fight on your own or was it thanks to this power, Bismarck?"

The Geass Knight frowned. "You were always an idiot, William. You don't even know half of what
I did. You were always so obvious, incapable of seeing the bigger picture. Your sorry excuse of
rebellion was short-sighted. You could never defeat me or Emperor Charles on your own, you
always needed someone to guide you like a lost kid. Pathetic."

"Says the guy who served Charles while he fucked the woman you loved!" Peter yelled from the
side as he sent a message to Bishop to get away. Uther pulled back as Uncle Teddy fired hadron's
cannon again. Galahad blocked it with Excalibur. "You cuckold, were you standing next to Charles
while he was making out with that bitch Marianne? Did it hurt to see the woman of your dreams in
the hands of your lord? The same one you are trying to avenge right now?"

"I forgot how obnoxious you are," Bismarck spoke before Galahad directed hadron's ray towards
Uther. Bishop flew to the side to dodge as Peter stopped firing. "Incompetent to do anything but
bark at others. William, you should keep your pet on a leash. How can you allow him to badmouth
Lady Marianne?"

"He is my best friend, and he is correct. You are indeed a cuckold!" Peter cheered as Bishop said it.
Uther rushed at Galahad as the two titans traded blows. "We both loved Marianne and yet I was the
only one who cared about trying to protect her children! You stayed and silently watched as young
Lelouch was sent to die in Japan! If you truly loved her, you would have saved Master Lelouch and
Lady Nunnally back then! If you treasured her memory you would have made sure her children
were reunited and happy. Instead, you dare to speak of killing her only son, using her little girl as a
puppet! Your love is as shallow as your honour, Bismarck!"

"You dare-?!"

"Eject, while you still can," Bishop spoke before unleashing all of his missiles upon Galahad. Both
knew it was futile as Galahad cut all of them down, but Uther managed to ram into it with a shield.
Galahad was quick to stop the attack at the last moment as Excalibur cut it in half. Yet even with
Geass, Bismarck was not fast enough to stop the fist that followed behind the shield and punched
Galahad's face.

"Hell yeah!" Peter yelled happily before aiming his launcher and fired a prism. Uther moved away
to give his friend more space to fire. Prisms flew towards Galahad as dozens of lights emerged
from them. Copying the primary weapon of the Emperor's Shinkiro, Uncle Teddy unleashed the
full power of the diffusion structure phase transition cannon. As always Galahad blocked the attack
with Excalibur. However, the sword was slowly destroyed by all the damage it sustained.

Bismarck saw the warning that his maser grand sword was in critical condition. Seeing that if he
lost his primary weapon, even with Geass he wouldn't win, so the former Knight of One decided to
end the fight as soon as possible. Galahad guarded against Peter's attack, and instead of starting to
fight against Uther again, Bismarck rushed at Uncle Teddy.

"Peter-!" Bishop yelled before firing his slash harkens and trying to slow down Galahad. However,
the second titan simply dodged them as he aimed his sword and threw it at Uncle Teddy.

"Fuuuck!"

Peter activated his shield system as a blaze luminous shield flashed green around him, but
Excalibur was too much. Even in a damaged state, the maser grand sword managed to pierce
through the green shields and hit Uncle Teddy. The sword made contact with the torso as it cut the
midsection of the Knightmare in half. Sparks flew at all sides as Peter's Knightmare showed danger
warnings before the system went offline.

"Welp, I'm done for."

"Peter!"

Bishop screamed in agony as he saw his friend plummeting, the unit landing on the Ikaruga of the
Black Knights, just under their area of the fight as the upper half of Uncle Teddy slammed into its
wing.

"At last, no more useless barking from him. You should be thankful, Wil-"

"Aaaagghhhh! Bismaaaarccck!"

Bishop screamed as Uther rushed into Galahad and rammed into it. Bismarck saw it with Geass's
eye but was too late to dodge or block the attack. Uther's double sword pierced the torso of his
Knightmare while Galahad managed to shoot a few of its finger slash harkens into the opposing
Knightmare. They pierced through the shoulder and destroyed the built-in float system. Both
Knightmares showed warning signs to their pilots who ignored them as the two titans fell from the
sky, tumbling with a crash on the same wing of Ikaruga where Peter landed seconds ago.

And so, the three ravaged machines lay upon the left wing of the Japanese battleship as the fight
continued around them. No one came for them as the Black Knights didn't have spare units to send
and check on the three Britannians, instead trying to get the more able-bodied out to save their
wounded fighters on the battlefield. The cockpit of Uther struggled to open as Bishop managed to
climb out of it, landing rather roughly on his feet. Whatever pain was inconsequential as he had far
more pressing issues.

Without a second thought, Bishop looked to the unmoving form of Uncle Teddy, smoke billowing
out of the Knightmare. Bishop started to run as best he could with his wounded leg, still, he
screamed through the pain. "Peter! Peteeeeeer!"

His insane friend didn't answer back as Bishop was about to climb on Uncle Teddy, but stopped
when he heard the laughter coming from behind him.

"Give it up, William. That imbecile is dead." Galahad lay next to Uther, its cockpit was torn open
from the crash landing as Bismarck climbed out. The former Knight of One was wounded judging
by the blood leaking from his forehead. "At last, no more of that loudmouth. I would say I did you
a favour. You no longer need to hear his annoying voice."

"You-" Bishop started to walk towards his old archnemesis, his fists clenched. "-son of a bitch. I
will kill you."

"Ha! I heard that from you so many times, perhaps you forgot the meaning of those words."
Bismarck smirked as he pulled out his sword, he always kept it near himself as a proper knight
should.

"Then let me show you the true meaning of them."

"Eh? Well, where is your sword then? A true knight always carries a sword with them."

Bishop left it in his cockpit, too worried about Peter's life to carry it with him. Still, he can do it
without a sword as well. "You don't deserve a knight's duel. To kill a bug like you I don't need a
sword. I will kill you with my bare hands."

"Fool."

The Geass in Bismark's left eye was still active as he raised his sword and lunged towards Bishop.
The knight of Lelouch prepared for the attack as Bismark swung his sword at him. Bishop
managed to dodge the obvious attack and moved to the side, he was lucky Bismark was wounded
and couldn't move too fast. Still, the Geass user had a weapon and Bishop didn't.

Bismark swung his sword again and again. The only thing keeping Bishop alive was the fact that
his opponent wasn't as fast, but he couldn't stay on defence for too long. Bishop moved closer
when another attack missed and while Bismark tried to catch his breath, attempted to punch him.
However, Bismark's Geass showed him the attack and allowed Bishop to get close enough before
stepping at the side. Bishop's fist missed its target while Bismark sidestepped and brought up his
sword and aimed for the abdomen. His sword managed to stab through as Bishop fell backwards,
his hands instinctively trying to close the bloody cut.

"You should have stayed in Alcatraz," Bismark said as he stepped on Bishop's stomach, causing
more pain to the wounded knight. "Maybe in that case you would have survived and your idiotic
companion wouldn't die because of you."

Bishop fought off the pain his body was experiencing. "If it meant paying for my failure to protect
Marianne's children then I would have accepted death. And yet, my emperor wanted me to die
serving him and I have no intentions to die from some wound made by another failure of the
knight."

"Do not worry, William. I will make sure Lelouch will meet Marianne very soon."

Bismark raised his sword and prepared to stab Bishop's chest, but his Geass showed him the future.
He immediately raised his sword to block the upcoming attack and two bullets made contact with
the blade before being ricocheted. Bishop's head looked up to see Peter lying on top of Uncle
Teddy's cockpit, two pistols in his hands as he continued to shoot Bismarck.

"Come on, Willy! This cunt has cheats, do something!"

Bishop clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the pain and use his legs. His wound was bleeding, but
he could still move. Bismark was right on top of Bishop's lower body in a very unfortunate
position. Perhaps the old Knight of One expected his former colleague to show etiquette during
their fight, but beyond being a model knight Bishop was also convicted with ten years behind bars.
So, sometimes proper manners were ignored.

Bishop raised his leg and kicked Bismark's groin with all his might. Bismark was still a man, no
man could handle such an attack in their most vulnerable spot. He winced as the pain went through
his entire body, forcing him to ignore what his Geass revealed. By the time he even realised to
defend himself, it was too late as two shots found their target and hit Bismarck's shoulder and left
hand. He snarled in pain as he gripped his hand in pain with Bishop quickly kicking his legs out
from under him, slamming his heel on the other man's knee before getting on top of him. He
kicked away the sword and pinned the Geass user down, legs on either side of the man to prevent
escape.

"So much for the Knight of One, can't even properly defeat two aged inmates!" Bishop snarled,
eyes wide and teeth bared in hatred. "No wonder you let Charles get killed."
"Will-!" Bismark tried to get up but had his head pushed down against the metal, dazing him as
Bishop's hands closed tight around his face.

"I said I will kill you with my own hands. Unlike you, I make sure to fulfil my promise." Bishop
said as his fingers plunged into Bismark's eyes. The former knight of One screamed and thrashed as
Bishop proceeded to gouge out both of his eyes. The trouble with Bismark, however, was that he
was still seeing the future, and all his Geass showed him was how Bishop would continue to do it
again and again. The former Knight of One started punching the old man in the face, trying to get
Bishop away from him but his arms were starting to slow down from the pain. Eventually, Bismark
stopped moving, his arms falling to the side.

Bishop silently looked down at his work. A corpse with a mutilated face lay before him as the
Knight of One stared at his former brother-in-arms and worst enemy. Bishop closed his eyes and
took in a deep breath of air, ignoring the sounds of battle to fill the moment of peace within
himself.

"It is finally over." He breathed out.

Charles was dead at the hands of his Emperor and now Bismark was gone too. Perhaps his original
mission to avenge Lady Marianne was no longer the same after learning the truth from Master
Lelouch, but Bishop was pleased with his deeds. At least it meant that no ghost from the past
would harm His Majesty. Only a few enemies were left.

Bishop's silence didn't last long as Peter managed to walk up to him. His one-eyed friend had a limp
but was fine. Once his eye saw what Bishop did to their old enemy, Peter couldn't help but gasp.

"Shiiiiiit, didn't know you would turn him off like this, Willy. That is fucking metal, and nasty.
Don't put your hands anywhere near your face until you wash them. We know what kind of shit
they were in, ehehehe!" Peter's insane laugh was quite relaxing to Bishop's tired ears.

"I'm glad you're safe, Peter. I truly am."

The usually maniacal knight stopped as he gave his best friend a reassuring smile. "I won't die
before you, Willy. Someone will have to avenge your sorry ass once you will bite the dust and I
want to go out with a bang, perfect TNT. But, I'm also thankful that I didn't die to this fucker, good
thing I'm too hard to kill. So, good job me… hey, is Bismark's magic eye still intact? Do you think
if we put it in my empty eye socket I will get his abilities? That's how it works in video games!"

"Heh-hehehehahahah-!" Bishop couldn't help but start laughing. It was stupid, but somehow this
made William lose his cool. Peter paused and smiled warmly, happy to see his best buddy enjoying
himself. The old bastard deserved it after all the shit two of them went through, Peter will most
likely remind him of that after the battle. However, Bishop suddenly winced as he remembered that
he still had an open wound.

"Agh-! I need a medic-!"

"Oh, crap." Peter quickly moved to the Bishop as he leaned against the shorter man's shoulder.
"Hang in there, I'll get a doctor."

"-need to contact His Majesty-and report-" Bishop spoke as he was losing too much blood.

"Yeah yeah, I'll call the kid, just stay conscious, William! Leave everything to the youngsters, we
did our part." Peter helped Bishop to move as they walked towards Ikaruga's battleship, soon
medics from the Black Knights ran up to them and proceeded to help.
Grandberry.

Lancelot High Grail launched all four of its sword harkens at Agravain. Schrötter steel trans
swords were on the same level as MVS swords and should have pierced the armour of Agravain,
and yet the titan Knightmare managed to parry them with its massive MVS blades.

"Oldrin, this is pointless. Just move aside and I won't have to end your life." Oiagros Zevon spoke
as he tried to reason with his niece.

"And let you kill my best friend?! My companions and my people?! Never!" Oldrin declared before
Lancelot High Grail rushed forward, its two MVSs aimed for Agravain's chest.

Wizard let out a sigh before rotating the hands of his Knightmare, pulling back the MVS and
replacing them with two hadron cannons. Agravain aimed for High Grail before making a shot. His
niece managed to dodge two blasts and get pretty close, and yet she forgot to account for rockets.
Wizard launched four of them at Oldrin, who managed to cut two and dodge one. However, the
final one managed to explode. High Grail's blaze luminous system was meant only to be used for
its swords and not as a traditional shield system. Hence why a simple missile managed to shake the
entire Knightmare as it exploded at close range.

Oldrin bit her tongue to not lose consciousness and focus. She could still fight! Lancelot High
Grail combined two swords into one double sword before swinging it at Agravain. Bigger
Knightmare had to block the attack with its right hadron cannon as Oldrin's double sword damaged
it. However, Wizard quickly managed to rotate its left arm and pull out his MVS blade before
slashing High Grail with it. Oldrin had to block, but the force behind the strike was powerful
enough to send her back as Agravain then proceeded to kick High Grail further.

Once there was enough distance between them, Wizard launched another barrage of rockets.
Oldrin's eyes went wide before she started to fly circles around Agravain, trying to avoid missiles
and find an opening to strike him down. Wizard didn't worry about it too much, knowing where
she would attack him and prepared to counterattack. Eventually, Oldrin went for the most obvious
place between his cockpit and torso as she shot two schrötter steel trans swords while transforming
her double sword into whips and striking Agravain in the side with it.

Wizard turned to face her before blocking two swords with his own blade. His right-hand mounted
hadron cannon was still operational and so Agravain shot away one of the schrötter swords Oldrin
used as a whip. The second managed to cut his chest armour but left only a scar that wasn't deep
enough to destroy the Knightmare. Before Oldrin could recall one of her schrötter swords,
Agravain cut the connection between the red Knightmare and the huge sword which proceeded to
fall from the sky.

"Oldrin, while we're fighting, the dogs of Schneizel push back against your comrades. If you care
about them, fall back and assist them. You won't win this battle."

His niece glared daggers at him. "I don't need any kind of mercy from you, Wizard! You are my
enemy, I will fight and if needed kill you with my own hands! I already told you this in Brussels!"

"Naive girl, the offer wasn't out of some kind of familial bond or anything of the sort," Oiagros
spoke coldly. "This battle will be the end of Britannia. Both Lelouch and Schneizel will be dead
once this is over."

Oldrin paused. "Wait, what-"

"I have no intention of leaving the world in the hands of someone like Schneizel and his
F.L.E.I.J.A. Replacing a demon with a madman isn't an improvement. Both of them must be dealt
with and then the rest of Britannia. This way we will finally achieve a better world for everyone."

"Unbelievable! You killed mom for her position, then betrayed Charles and Britannia and now you
openly admit to betraying your own allies. Does your life consist of anything but lies and betrayals,
Wizard?! What about Nunnally vi Britannia? Do you plan to kill a little crippled girl as well?"

Under his mask, Oiagros frowned. "The Puppet Empress can do as she pleases if she will help me
destroy the empire with her decolonization plan. She might be just a tool, but if she can actually
manage to gain the people's support then I will use her for the sake of the world without Britannia."

"You're a monster. Do you even hear yourself?" Oldrin asked with disgust. "She is just a child. I
bet Schneizel and the rest of his forces think of her as nothing but a pawn as well. Bastards, all of
them. I won't allow it! I won't allow you to destroy our home, not when we finally started to make
change for the better under Emperor Lelouch!"

"Naive girl, there is so much you don't know and are unlikely to ever learn if you will continue to
be a pawn of your princess. Perhaps you are already a slave to the Demon Emperor's power, in that
case, I can't do anything to free you. It is disappointing, but if you want to die for the sake of that
Britannia, then you leave me no choice, Oldrin." Agravain prepared for an attack. "For what it's
worth… I'm sorry we couldn't solve this differently."

"Save your excuses for a mom," Oldrin spoke with an ice-cold tone, her Lancelot High Grail ready
to rush. "You will see her soon and you will have to explain a lot to her, Wizard."

High Grail moved forward. Even without an energy wing system, her Knightmare was fast.
However, not fast enough to catch Agravain off guard as the larger unit blocked and then pushed
her back. Oldrin didn't give up as she attacked again and again. Her sword continued its relentless
barrage of slashes and strikes. And yet, Wizard managed to block and redirect all of them. Her
uncle was more experienced even with a new-generation machine, but Oz didn't have plans to give
up. She went up as prepared High Grail to make a kick, aiming for Agravain's head.

"Futile, Oz."

However, before her Knightmare's leg could make contact with the titan unit, Agravain managed to
catch it. His left hand let go of its MVS blade and instead was holding High Grail's left leg in a
death grip. Agravain's right hand turned into hadron cannon before pressing against the joint
holding leg and firing point blank. Hadron shot made contact and exploded, destroying a good
portion of the leg and the lower part of High Grail. Oldrin screamed as her Knightmare was shaken
from the explosion, her screen showing dozens of warning signs. She tried to stab Agravain's chest
with her left hand as she pulled out a schrötter sword. She actually managed to pierce the upper
armour before Agravain aimed its cannon at her left arm and made the second shot. The second
explosion schooled her High Grail again as Oldrin now lost her arm. Still, her sole sword managed
to get stuck inside Agravain's chest.

"You-!"

However, Oldrin's High Grail was now leg and arm short and was incapable of continuing the fight
in this state. Oz tried to get her remaining swords with the last arm, but Wizard stopped her.

"If you refused to acknowledge the reality, to see the evil that is Lelouch vi Britannia, then you can
die for his empire." Wizard, no, Oiagros said with a sorrowful tone before tossing High Grail
away. Oldrin's Knightmare was going offline, her float system was dying. Her cockpit ejection
system was still fine, so she should survive it.
As Oldrin expected, her Knightmare couldn't fly because of the damage. She sent a distress signal
to Marrybell and prepared to eject herself. However, before she could do it, something caught High
Grail from falling further.

"You didn't have a plan B, didn't you, Oz?" A familiar male voice asked.

"Oz?" Oldrin called her brother's nickname as she saw one of the experimental Vincents the Glinda
Knights had as their backup. "Wait, how did you get a Knightmare?"

"Vincent Gram, one of your unit's older prototypes. Your princess saw that you were getting your
ass kicked and since almost all of your teammates were beaten by an enemy knight of the round,
she allowed me to use it. No weapons though, I only have slash harkens on this thing." Orpheus
said as he helped her High Grail to get some footing as it leaned against his temporary Vincent
Gram.

Oldrin blinked. "Marrybell allowed you to take a Knightmare?"

"Only for the time being and just to save you. Since you know, I'm likely to stab your dear emperor
if left unchecked." Orpheus smiled, but his sister was afraid he meant it. "Now let's get away from
here."

"Oz, wait! What about Wizard."

"Indeed, what about me."

Both Zevon siblings looked up to see Agravain flying above them. The sword High Grail left was
still stuck in its chest as Wizard was trying to pull it out with his left hand, but it wasn't so easy.

"Uncle."

"Oz," Wizard addressed his nephew as Agravain turned towards Vincent Gram. "Orpheus, I know
there is a lot to discuss and I wish we could do this so as a family, but you must desire the same as
me. The complete destruction of Britannia, together we can accomplish it. You want it as much as I
do! Join me, nephew! Together will rid this world of both Lelouch and Schneizel! We will avenge
all those who died because of them!"

Orpheus stayed silent as he looked at Oldrin's Knightmare. Inside her High Grail, his sister was
actually scared that he would choose their uncle. Orpheus wasn't a servant of Britannia, he wasn't a
member of Glinda Knights. The only reason he was considered important was that Marrybell cared
about Oldrin and because Emperor Lelouch required him for whatever reason. If her brother
decides to join her uncle, Oldrin won't be able to stop him… and Emperor Lelouch will be forced
to kill Orpheus.

"What about Oldrin? What will happen to her?" Orpheus asked after a moment of silence.

Agravain didn't move as its pilot stayed silent for a few seconds. "She made her choice. If she is
willing to continue being a slave to this empire, then I can't do anything to fix it."

"So, you are telling me to abandon Oldrin and leave her to die?" Orpheus's calm voice turned
aggressive during the final part. "Or kill her myself as you have done with our mother?"

"Orpheus please, act rational-"

"And just let my sister get killed?! Screw this rationality! I loathe Britannia, but I won't allow
anything to happen to my family." He glanced at Oldrin. "And as far I'm concerned, my family is
right here next to me."

"Does the death of your comrades and friends mean nothing to you?" Wizard asked.

"Don't talk like you know me, old bastard! You are the reason Rai died as far as I'm concerned!
Their death was unjust, but I know that one day Britannia will collapse no matter what, even if it
won't be because of me. You have the audacity to bring up my teammates when you are ready to
let Oldrin die. I won't be like you and let my family die! I wish I could have cut you down for this,
for mother."

"But you can't, boy." Agravain raised its left hadron cannon and aimed. "It is sad that I have to do
it, but if you want to stay with your sister then you will share her fate… I'm sorry."

"Oz, we can't fight like this." Oldrin quickly said with a panicked tone. "We can't defeat him on
our own!"

"Oh, I know. But she can."

Orpheus's words confused both Oldrin and Oiagros before a powerful hadron ray hit Agravain's left
side from above. The titan Knightmare lost its balance for a second as Wizard tried to regain
control and understand who attacked him. Was the boy stalling time?!

"You like to talk a lot, Wizard. I was sure I could win some minutes and give her enough time to
get here. She wouldn't let such an opportunity be wasted, not when it involved you, dear uncle."
Orpheus spoke confidently.

"What the hell are you talking about, boy?!" Wizard demanded, but his nephew just chuckled. It
was Oldrin who quickly realised what was happening.

"Oh, God. You called-"

"-Hehehehe- ''

A woman's laughter was heard on the open channel.

Inside his Agravain, Oiagros felt a chill run down his spine. For some reason, he felt in mortal
danger. However, before he could do anything, something fast hit, then again and again. Agravain
tried to defend, but whoever the attacker was they were faster than light. That meant that his
opponent had energy wings, it could be none other than-

"Well well well, what do we have here? A family reunion? How touching! I wish I could
experience the same… what a shame that my family was killed because of you, Zevon." That
woman spoke, still not within their vision. Her voice didn't sound sad at all, if anything it sounded
more playful. "But, it isn't nice to leave family members out of this conversation. Poor Olivia
Zevon is probably feeling lonely on the other side, perhaps you could pay her a permanent visit,
what say you to that, Oiagros?"

Before Wizard could do or say anything, a Knightmare dropped down before him, the metal
surface groaning beneath its weight. The multi-coloured Lancelot Albion, better known as Amber,
towered over Agravain as it rose to look down at it. As Oiagros tried to do anything, Amber raised
a leg and kicked against the sword the Lancelot High Grail left in Agravain's chest. The sword
sliced right through the back of the machine but missed the Yggdrasil Drive by a few centimetres.
Agravain tried to stand back up, but the Knightmare with energy wings was faster than the already
damaged titan class unit, pushing down on its shoulder with a single hand and forcing it to stay
down.
Amber turned its body at the last second to avoid the potshot from a Hadron cannon, and before its
opponent could do anything more, White Queen stabbed the joint between the left arm and the
main body with a maser sword, slicing it apart as sparks flew outward. Wizard panicked as he got a
red notification of error as his Knightmare's left arm fell off. Wasting no time, Amber's left hand
went and grabbed the 'neck' of the titan Knightmare.

"Do you know who I am?" The devious voice from before turned ice cold.

Wizard gritted his teeth. "Another pawn in Lelouch's game-"

"Uhuh, first of all-" Amber pulled away the maser sword she was holding in her right arm and
punched Agravain's left side of its chest, sending a shockwave through the entire unit. "I'm not a
mere pawn, but a queen… and you," the second knight pulled Agravain closer, glaring at it. "You
didn't answer my simple question. Do you know who I am?"

"..." Wizard needed more time, to either call for reinforcements or for Agravain to stabilise before
he could attack. "You're Cinder Fall, the Second Knight of the Round within Lelouch's Britannia."

"And?" Cinder's patience was running out. "There's a grand prize if you answer this-"

"What else do you want to hear from me, you freak?!"

"You don't remember… huh. Then again, it is my fault for getting my hopes up. It was obvious
someone like you wouldn't remember the name of every child whose life you destroyed. But, oh
well!" Cinder happily smiled. "Back to the business of executing you!"

"Wha-" Before Wizard could finish, Amber kicked the Knightmare up. Oiagros tried to do
anything, but his Knightmare was showing zero energy. "What have you done?! My battery is-"

"Completely empty? I hope you don't mind, but I took some of it for myself, thank you for the
meal." Cinder winked her sole eye before it turned red. "I did hear you talking shit about His
Magnificence. Not cool, Oiagros. Not cool."

"You-"

"Silence, insect." Cinder's tone was jumping from happy and playful to cold and vicious so easily,
it terrified even Oldrin. Agravain was essentially lost without energy and the fight could be
considered won, but Cinder wouldn't settle just for this. Oh no, she wanted more after all those
years of waiting for this moment! Amber pulled out the sword Oldrin's High Grail used and
proceeded to cut off the right arm and slash the legs of Agravain. Now, the titan Knightmare was
nothing but an upper body with a head and cockpit.

Amber turned towards the ship of Glinda Knights, Grandberry, before flying there. She never let
go of Agravain as the multi-coloured Lancelot model brought it towards the red battleship. Amber
threw her prisoner as whatever was left of Wizard's unit hit the upper armour of the ship before
sliding down on the wing. Inside his cockpit, Oiagros screamed as the impact sent him flying
inside the small room of the piloting unit. The older man hit his head against the panel as he
shattered it and broke his own mask. Wizard tried to eject himself, but that system was out of
energy as well.

"Ju- just kill me already, you bitch." Oiagros said through a headache as he was seeing doubles
after hitting his head.

Amber landed right in front of Agravain before capturing its head with its hands and crushing it.
Cinder didn't stop as her dear Knightmare went further, essentially tearing Agravain apart as she
pulled out wires and other internal workings, breaking it into two as the pilot fell on the metal
surface of the wing. Oiagros screamed as he fell on his legs and could barely stand up. Cinder
didn't give him room to breathe as Amber picked up Oiagros by the leg and kept him in the air,
bringing it close enough to its shoulder. The Second Knight of the Round then unlocked her own
cockpit and went outside, standing atop Amber's shoulder to regard the man in person.

"A quick death is far too kind for someone like you, Oiagros Zevon. After what you have done to
me, to my family, you don't deserve such kindness."

Oiagros's mask of Wizard was broken, and only left part of it remained covered in his own blood.
Still, the man didn't show any fear. "You sadistic bitch! Stop playing games and end me already!
The battle isn't over and your emperor might need you elsewhere. Just stop it already!"

"..." Cinder's only eye didn't stop flashing red as she dropped to a knee before Oiagros, allowing
him a better look at her face even with the height difference. "Does the name Blackwood ring a
bell?"

There was a slow realisation on Oiagros' face as he started to remember the events from the time
when he killed his own sister. Finally, he remembered everything he has done, killing Olivia and
leaving evidence to frame her old rival from another noble house. "Wait, Salem- you're her
daughter!"

"Yes," Cinder couldn't help but grit her teeth as an ugly expression formed on her always beautiful
face. "I'm the daughter of the woman who was executed because of your crime! You destroyed my
family, my childhood! You took everything from me and don't even have the decency to remember
the name of a little girl whose life was shattered because of you, Zevon! You talk of destroying
Britannia, ending its evil and killing my darling emperor. And yet, you killed your own sister,
framed an innocent woman and destroyed her family and now, you even attempted to kill your own
niece and nephew. Is this your holy crusade against Britannia? Is this how you want to beat the
empire? You accuse Britania of being evil incarnate and yet all of your actions brought nothing but
suffering to everyone else, to me! Was it worth it, Zevon? Was it fucking worth it?!"

"..."

"Answer me, you fucker!" Cinder pulled out her dagger and stabbed Oiagros in the abdomen.
"Here I am, the girl whose life you destroyed, a decade later standing as a champion of the
mightiest empire in the history of mankind! All these killings and yet Britannia stands stronger than
ever and will continue to be like this! Did you want to destroy it? Well, I will dedicate my life to
making sure Britannia will triumph no matter what! I will find and slaughter all those who want to
destroy it, I will make this nation stronger, only to make all your sacrifices worthless. Ha-hahaha-!"
Cinder couldn't help but laugh, being close to losing her mind. "I don't even care about Britannia
beyond it being under Lelouch's control, but I will do everything in my power to make sure your
dream will never be accomplished. Not by you or any other rebel scum!"

"You-" Oiagros finally spoke, his voice full of anger but at the same time Cinder could hear the
fear in it. "-delusional bitch!"

"Yes! Ahahaha-!" Cinder didn't even bother hiding her madness anymore, twisting the knife as
snarled her next words. "And this crazy bitch will defend and strengthen what you couldn't destroy
all those years! So, please rest in agony knowing that the work of your life will be undone by the
girl whose life you ruined." Cinder turned away before stopping on her way. "My darling emperor
told me that the dead greet new arrivals in C's World, and I do so hope you will meet your sister
there, maybe she's first in line! Oh, and don't worry, I will make sure that those who dare to defy
Lelouch's Britannia will join you soon."
Oiagros tried to get out of the deathly grip, even with the dagger still stuck in him. He screamed,
finally some fear making itself more apparent in his voice. "Blackwood!"

Cinder didn't bother listening to him anymore as she climbed back into Amber before resuming
control of it. She let go of Oiagros as he fell back down, breaking his bones upon landing. This
time too wounded and broken to get up again, but still alive. Well, Cinder was going to fix that.
She raised Amber's right leg before bringing its heel on top of the small human. Oiagros tried to
remain calm, but he was still just a human and his body gave in to the natural reaction of screaming
in agony as a multi-ton robot stepped on him. Cinder felt resistance, even if only for a second as her
Amber crushed a cockroach beneath its foot.

"..." Cinder's eye didn't blink for a few moments as she stared forward, not moving. Soon she
received the intel from Nemesis and messages from D.S. She accepted them on auto, but didn't
move yet. Slowly, she took a deep sigh before her body started to shake. With a meek voice, she
whispered. "It's finally over, mother. I… I killed all those who destroyed our family. It is over…
but the battle isn't, I can't stop yet."

Her past was no more, now dead with Oiagros Zevon. House Blackwood was no more, now only
Fall remained. The little girl who ran from the killers of her mother was now a ruthless killing
machine under the command of her emperor and lover. Cinder Fall finally achieved the pick of her
dream and now only needed to ensure its safety and prosperity.

"Haaa…" She shuddered, the last of her tears had fallen. "Now I can live knowing that I avenged
you, mother."

"Cinder!" Amber slowly turned to face Lancelot High Grail as Vincent Gram carried it towards
Grandberry. Oldrin's Knightmare landed on the wing as she tried to walk towards Amber, and was
doing a poor job with only one leg. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Are you actually worried about me, Zevon?" Cinder hid her previous emotions with a laugh.
"Well, thanks for your concern, but I'm fine. In fact, I feel great! Could use some help scraping off
your uncle remains from my precious Amber's feet though."

Oldrin paused and had a horrified look on her face for a second before she managed to fight off the
urge to puke. "You're a disgusting and crazy woman."

"You're forgetting happy!" Cinder smiled warmly. "Still, it was rather disappointing. I expected
more. Not from your uncle, but from finally killing him. I dreamed about this moment for years,
you know, and now that I finally did it…" Cinder's voice took on an unusually melancholic tone.
"It feels empty, worthless. I-I don't feel the satisfaction I expected."

Oldrin was surprised to hear such words from the knight, she knew her past but to hear her like
this… she had the heart to try and console black haired girl, but found the words were like stones in
her mouth. Luckily, someone else beat her to it.

"That's how revenge usually is. It is fuel to make you go on, but by the time you get to your
destination, it may run its course, leaving you with nothing but emptiness." Orpheus spoke with a
melancholic tone.

"Hmm… well aren't you quite a philosopher?" Cinder asked with a mischievous tone, not
forgetting who Orpheus was. "Still, you aren't completely wrong and you did prove yourself to be
rather useful out there. My thanks for distracting your uncle."

"You're ah… welcome?"

"Cinder, did you come here to save me?" Oldrin's voice was hopeful.

"Of course not," Cinder answered with a cruel smirk. "I flew here to murder your uncle. Your
princess was begging for anyone to save her weak and worthless knight of honour and because I'm
such a good-natured person, I immediately arrived to save the day since you clearly couldn't do
anything on your own, Oz." Oldrin rolled her eyes, somewhat pleased to hear the usual Cinder
annoying self. "Also, because Gino Weinberg was seen in this location, making a muck out of
things. However, it seems I missed him and- oh, and we just found him again, very nice! Well,
looks like I should be on my way towards Damocles. See you after the battle is over and I killed all
the bad guys. Bye Oldrin."

"Cinder, wait! Let me change Knightmares and I will join you-!"

"Oh, you're a silly, stupid girl. You could do nothing in your state. Get to the hangar and rest,
Marrybell must be worried about you." Amber walked past the half-broken High Grail and
prepared to fly away before Cinder gave a warning to Vincent Gram. "Make sure your sister gets to
rest and keep her there. Your value is justified by only two things, Orpheus, don't forget that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Go away and get yourself killed." Orpheus didn't bother with niceties.

"Dying, after what I just did? Me? I think not." White Queen was going to get something from her
beloved Emperor, and Cinder will make sure both Marrybell and Kallen in particular will know it.
She defeated the ghosts of her pasts and now was time to show her rivals that she was one
annoying and tough bitch.

Amber's energy wings sparkled as she flew away and towards the giant flying fortress where all the
main players were gathering for the ending act.

Damocles.

Inside the command centre, the Second Prince studied the battlefield. So far, the situation was
slowly moving in Lelouch's favour. With the death of several Knights of the Round under
command of Schneizel, Lelouch's forces were getting more aggressive since regular coalition units
could do little against the elite and experienced pilots of both Britannia and the Black Knights
working together. Of course, with two of Lelouch's Knights of the Round being out of the fight,
and the Glinda Knight's overall defeat at the hands of Gino, the balance was relatively equal.

'Lelouch prioritises the offence, leaving holes in his defence. He was always like this, but if he can
kill more of my fighters the defence will be irrelevant for him. His army could do little against
F.L.E.I.J.A., so perhaps he is correct to ignore defence in favour of quicker decimating my army.'

"Your Highness, it is obvious Lelouch is planning something-"

Schneizel waved away. "I know, Kanon. However, even if my brother managed to prepare some
sort of tool to counter F.L.E.I.J.A., how likely is it to succeed? Weapons of F.L.E.I.J.A. magnitude
couldn't be easily dealt with. Perhaps Lelouch is bluffing or his tools won't work as he hopes. If we
managed to defeat him with one warhead, no one would dare to oppose the might of Damocles."

"White Emperor dying to F.L.E.I.J.A., an inevitable future of warfare," Diethard smirked. "Now
that's a perfect end for Zero!"

"I have made up my mind." Schneizel rolled his eyes upon seeing Kanon's frown. "But we must
have a backup ready just in case. Sir Kururugi will arrive here and will deal with Lelouch if he
manages to survive. Not to mention, Lelouch's zealot forces are unlikely to stop their assault. White
Reaper will deal with them."

Schneizel switched to a private communicator as he addressed the person with the detonator. Of
course, it was done merely out of respect for Nunnally's wish to be one who fires warheads, not
because Schneizel couldn't do it himself.

"Nunnally, we have a situation-"

On top of Damocles, inside her little perfect garden, the Puppet Empress sat alone on top of her
wheelchair 'throne'

"I understand, brother Schneizel." Nunnally spoke with a concerned tone as she clenched the staff
that acted as a detonator. "I-"

"If you don't want to do it you don't have to force yourself, Nunnally. We have other means of
fighting Lelouch." Schneizel was always quick to offer alternatives when he clearly wanted the
best option for himself. He couldn't see Nunnally's face and wouldn't be able to watch her frown.

'The alternative is firing F.L.E.I.J.A. himself. Of course, I don't have the only launcher. Schneizel
no doubt prepared one for himself as well. Well, people will hold me responsible for any used
F.L.E.I.J.A. since I promised to not use them. No matter how many warheads Schneizel will fire, I
will be the one to blame for them. So, I might as well do it myself. And if… if Lelouch dies then-no!
He won't die! He is Lelouch! He has something up his sleeve, he won't go out like this.'

Nunnally didn't know if it was pride or desperate faith in her insane plan, one that wouldn't work if
something happened to Lelouch. She knew it was foolish, crazy and unlikely to happen as she
wanted it, but she didn't have any other options.

'I'm weak no matter how I want to deny it. I'm limited by everything, first of all, my own body. I
want to achieve my plan. I have to rely on others, on Lelouch to accomplish my wishes. I needed
the help of X, that Geass user, Rai. Hah, it was pathetic of me to get angry at Lelouch's words
when he was right about me acting like a parasite… but this is the only thing I can do to win,
Lelouch. So, you will have to forgive this useless sister of yours, dear brother.'

The 'blind' empress took a deep sigh. Her garden was peaceful and quiet, while the battle outside
was anything but that. Others died while she sat in this perfect replica of her childhood memory of
better times. Everything around her was a beautiful lie, as always. At least this time, Nunnally
wanted to shatter it entirely.

"Prove once again that you're the Man of Miracles. Come and defeat us, Lelouch. Turn my wish
into reality. And-"

Nunnally vi Britannia raised the staff and pressed the button.

"Fulfil my little selfish dream, Lelouch."

Outside Damocles.

The giant flying fortress was above him as Lelouch prepared for an inevitable attack. He received
the news that more enemy elite units were defeated. However, both Bishop and Peter were out of
the battle and in need of medical help. Still, Schneizel had only three Knights of the Round left.
Meanwhile, Lelouch still had Cinder, Kallen and Arthur, even though the blonde knight lacked the
means of flying now.
'Arthur might be useful on Damocles itself once we will start boarding the fortress. My biggest
concerns are Suzaku and Gino. Both of them are experienced and powerful knights. Anya in her
Mordred is rather a slow enemy and can be overpowered. If anything, my Shinkiro Imperium could
be a good match. As long as we engage with her in long-range fights, she wouldn't be able to stop
attacks from the sides and react fast enough to them.' Lelouch thought while the cannon right
under Damocles started to move as it aimed down towards his position.

"Your Majesty, the enemy ship is preparing to launch the warhead." One of the Scarlet Guard
warned as the rest of them formed a defence circle around Shinkiro.

"Oh? Finally, Schneizel is acting as I hoped. Hand me the Eliminator and get ready. We're moving
out the moment F.L.E.I.J.A. leaves the shields of Damocles."

"As you command, Your Majesty." A Scarlet Guard's Knightmare brought to Shinkiro a staff with
one end that had three green protruding rods and a pink crystal in the middle.

Such a simple tool, and yet Lelouch placed his trust and life into this thing. Trusting Nina after
everything she has done and suffered might not have been the smartest idea, but it was a risk and
Lelouch was ready to risk as long as it meant winning everything. The White Emperor was
confident his fellow student council member wouldn't jeopardise her own creation. Not because she
cared about Lelouch, but simply because Nina wanted to see the destruction of F.L.E.I.J.A. as the
weapon more than anyone else.

He still remembered what they told him back on Nemesis.

"The pink crystal in the middle creates the reaction that will bombard the F.L.E.I.J.A.'s
composition," Lelouch remembered the words of the young scientist as Nina described how the
staff worked.

"You'll have to manually enter the local environment data into the system in 19 seconds before
detonation. The environment data is based on temperature and distance along with the timing of
when the F.L.E.I.J.A. launched requiring great skill, coordination, and perceptive and analytical
abilities. So, make sure to not screw up, Your Majesty." Lloyd spoke with his usual uncaring
attitude, ignoring the gravity of the situation. "If you die, I will have to give Cécile a few days off
to cry over losing another potential husban-AGH!"

Cécile's fist found its mark as the bashful woman hit Lloyd's celiac plexus. "Don't even joke about
that, Lloyd! But he is correct, I meant the first part! Not the crying part… but I will cry, and not for
the reason Lloyd suggested, mostly- anyway, Your Majesty! After the data has loaded in less than
19 seconds or earlier, the Eliminator must make contact with the solid hull of the warhead between
the time the warhead starts to detonate and before it unleashes its diffusing energy, a time period of
0.04 seconds. If detonated earlier, the canceller will trigger the F.L.E.I.J.A. to detonate
prematurely, safely neutralising it. If detonated later, the Eliminator fails and the F.L.E.I.J.A. will
detonate normally. Please, stay safe out there and succeed."

"Lelouch, are you ready?" The concern in C.C.'s tone would have made Lelouch smug in any other
situation, but right now he was focused entirely on making sure his plan worked out. "If you're
scared, I can do it instead."

"My Witch, how can I face you if I dared to turn away now? This is but another test I have to pass
if I want to win. Nothing comes without a price. Besides, D.S. did say I managed to do it in other
potential futures."
"Yes, in the ones where Suzaku was on your side and threw that staff. You also eventually died
there, so I don't take them as a credible source."

Their head of intelligence and OSI inserted herself into the conversation as D.S. spoke. "They are
the most credible sources you will get, and they did calm you down before the battle when you
were on the verge of crying over Lelouch again, C.C. Stop questioning what cannot be changed
and focus on the battle, both of you. We detect both Lancelot Albion and Tristan flying towards
your location, Lelouch. Act before these two got in your way. Schneizel won't think twice about
sacrificing them if it means killing you."

"Indeed. Enough of worries, time for action. My dear Witch, watch me create another miracle for
us." Lelouch couldn't help but smirk before transforming his Shinkiro Imperium into fortress mode
and flying up towards Damocles. The Scarlet Guards followed behind him, making sure to create
the shield of Knightmares around their master.

"You must survive, Lelouch… and return to me," C.C. said as she watched her warlock fly towards
the giant fortress.

'I will.' Lelouch didn't need to say it for her to feel their connection. The Warlock felt the ease of
his Witch as she gave him her silent blessing. How ironic, that her blessing was the most reassuring
thing Lelouch felt, even above 'God's' favour and help.

'Failure is not an option.'

Sending others to do it might have been a better idea, but someone needed to enter the environment
data within the time limit on the spot. Perhaps someone like Lloyd, Rakshata or Nina herself could
have done it, in the safety of their labs. However, out there in the air on the battlefield next to no
one can do it. No one except for Lelouch.

'Who could have imagined that piano lessons would help me defuse a weapon of mass destruction?
If this will work out, I will thank you for forcing me to learn how to play the piano, Marianne.' Part
of Lelouch actually wondered if dying in a blast of F.L.E.I.J.A. was a preferable alternative to
thanking the dead spirit of his mother.

Damocles's only weapon, the F.L.E.I.J.A. cannon, was aligned as it fired the warhead. The single
pink projectile flew down as it passed the shields of the fortress and flew towards the group of
Knightmares underneath Damocles. Lelouch didn't waste time as he started to enter the data of the
surrounding environment. His Shinkiro was collecting and analysing every little detail around
them, but it was up to the Emperor to make sure it was correct. Within less than 19 seconds he put
all the required data for the Eliminator on the side of Shinkiro's fortress mode and was activated
and ready.

"Now!"

Lelouch shouted as one of the Scarlet Guards took the staff and prepared to throw it at the
F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead. 'We will have few moments to get rid of the F.L.E.I.J.A. and get behind the
shield system-'

"Target Acquired."

The last thing Lelouch expected to hear was the emotionless voice of Anya Alstreim as her
Mordred fired its Hadron cannon. The Hadron blast found its target as it destroyed the Scarlet
Guard that held the Eliminator.
Everything froze around Lelouch as his purple eyes stared with horror at the exploded Scarlet
Guard. Was it cruel that he cared little about the Geassed pilot inside and only that his plan was
ruined now? Including the fact that his life was literally on the line.

He felt the scream of both C.C and D.S. Perhaps, this was one of the times when his gamble didn't
work out.

'No-' Lelouch's entire life flashed between his eyes in less than a second. Was it what death felt
like? One single thing didn't go as planned and now everything is. 'This can't be how it ends.'

After everything, Lelouch has gone through. After all the death and destruction he saw, the ones he
experienced and he has committed, going out like this was rather disappointing.

It couldn't end like this.

And it won't.

Life works in mysterious, bizarre and just weird ways. Sometimes help arrives from the place you
least expect. Lelouch hoped that perhaps a Dragon or Demoness would arrive to his rescue, but he
got something else entirely.

Instead of two Knightmares with energy wings, what White Emperor got was a mass-production
model of Akatsuki and the wrong redhead piloting it.

"Have no fear, Boss! Because I am here!"

"-?!"

Shinichirō Tamaki has come to his rescue and Lelouch vi Britannia was at a loss for words.

Before anyone could say or do anything, Tamaki's Akatsuki grabbed the Eliminator staff before
throwing it at the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead. No question asked, Tamaki just did it without any
hesitation as he hit the target. Eliminator hit the heart of the warhead as it started working and
eliminating it. Exactly 19 seconds passed when the canceller triggered the F.L.E.I.J.A. and
detonated it prematurely, safely neutralising it. F.L.E.I.J.A. exploded, but instead of mass light that
brought death to everything within its radius, it was merely sparks of light that soon disappeared.

Lelouch didn't know what to say for one second as he tried to comprehend what just happened.

'Tamaki saved me, he saved all of us. The same one who always questioned me back when we just
started, the same one who pointed his gun at me, just to save my life. I-I-I… should I make him my
Prime Minister after this?!'

While the Emperor was losing his mind, the hero of the hour tapped his Shinkiro on the shoulder
as the black and gold Knightmare turned towards Tamaki's Akatsuki.

"Go get 'em, Boss! I'll do my best and cover you from here, I promise!" Tamaki's voice was full of
enthusiasm that only caused more mind chaos to Lelouch.

"I… will do that."

Shinkiro Imperium transformed back into Fortress Mode before it flew towards the hole in
Damcoles's blaze luminous shields. The hole was getting smaller, but Lelouch's Knightmare
managed to get between it and activated the Absolute Defense System as red shields formed a
circle and stopped the green shield from getting smaller. Once Lelouch was inside, he sent the
order to C.C.

"Now!"

His Witch immediately activated the new feature of the Black Knight's submarine. The Hadron
laser which was one of Nemesis's primary weapons now was implemented into the submarine. The
satellite-like weapon popped out of the underwater vehicle as it prepared to fire. The continuous
red ray flew up through the hole Shinkiro was holding up, missing the black and gold Knightmare
by a few centimetres as it shot past the Emperor and towards Damocles. The Hadron blast made
contact with the F.L.E.I.J.A. cannon and slightly hit it, but the primary target was the shield
generator past it.

'Thanks to the blueprints this X spy got us, we know that there are five generators. Without one, the
Damocles' blaze luminous shields will be less impenetrable and can be overpowered by newer-
generation Knightmares. Still, we need to take care of more.' Lelouch switched towards the Scarlet
Guard channel as he ordered them.

"Everyone inside!" The nine remaining Scarlet Guard KMFs flew towards the emperor and entered
the hole in the shield before Shinkiro Imperium closed the breach and went behind them. "Two,
Three, and Six deal with the remaining generators. Seven, One, and Nine capture F.L.E.I.J.A.
warhead arsenal and guard it, don't let anyone fire any more missiles. The rest are with me!"

His bodyguards yelled in confirmation as each assigned unit went to fulfil its part of the plan.
Inside his Shinkiro Imperium Lelouch pulled out a blueprint of Damocles on his screen. It wasn't
the most detailed and was likely dated a little bit, but it was still his best map to navigate inside the
giant flying fortress. The Emperor's machine along with three Scarlet Guards created a hole in the
walls of the fortress as they entered inside.

It was time to meet his brother.

Inside Damocles' hangar.

Schneizel along with Kanon and Diethard was boarding one of the airships as the trio prepared to
leave. The Second Prince couldn't help but feel both shame and pride at the moment. He had to
leave his greatest weapon and let it explode, taking away all his enemies. However, at the same
time, Lelouch did surprise him with how he managed to bypass Damcoles' blaze luminous shields.

"So much effort was put into this fortress and we abandoned it during its first engagement. A waste
of resources, but also a lesson for me. Still, this fortress should become Lelouch's grave once we
detonate all F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads from a safe distance. Cornelia and a few other soldiers should be
waiting outside, ready to escort us to safety… I don't need to remind you gentlemen, but say
nothing about Nunnally to Cornelia, I will handle it myself." Schneizel said with a disappointed
sigh as he sat behind the ship's seats. "Kanon, dear, I can see the expression on your face. Come
on, say it."

Kanon's face was screaming 'I told you so', as the prince's assistant tried to fight off the urge to
grin. Still, the situation was far from the calmest one. "I would never take pleasure in your
misfortune, Your Highness. However, I did warn you that placing too much trust in this
monstrosity was a bad idea. It would have been far smarter to recreate a European experimental
weapon and launch F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads by means of missiles through orbit."

"Hmm, sounds less fun than Damocles." For the rare instance, perhaps ever, Schneizel pouted, but
he had to agree. "Well, we still have my saved-up resources and secret base in Argentina. Not to
mention, soon the states within UFN will start to break apart since Lelouch will attempt to take
over Asia. It is useless to try striking an alliance with their governments and would be faster to
reach field commanders and soldiers who won't accept Britannian rule no matter what. India is by
far the best choice, thanks to their population and Knightmare production facilities."

"From my time as a member of Black Knights, I remember that a certain Maharajah is considered
an important person in the ruling class over there," Diethard added. "And from what I can tell he
was far from the most loyal of allies, always putting his own interest and safety over everything
else."

"Ah, one of these people. Well, it shouldn't be too hard to bargain with him then." Schneizel
smiled, a little bit sad that he has to play the old politics game again, but oh well. His thoughts
were interrupted by a sudden call on the ship's panel. "Oh?"

"Your Highness, this is most likely-"

Schneizel nodded. "Yes, Kanon. It has to be him, but after everything Lelouch at least deserves to
have a last conversation."

He turned on the video to see the face of his younger brother sitting on a chair in the command
centre of the fortress in his usual royal robes. Lelouch's smirk was overconfident, although
Schneizel supposed it was earned this time, even if only for a short time.

"Schneizel."

"Lelouch." The older brother smiled warmly. "Must be feeling quite euphoric at the moment,
brother. You are inside my battle fortress, in the command centre while I'm on my way out. Well,
congratulations, Damocles is yours. Consider it a gift for all the birthdays and New Years we
missed together."

"Oh my, I always know this is a reason why you were my favourite big brother, Schneizel."
Lelouch smiled with closed eyes before speaking. "However, it seems you forgot to leave me the
big red button to launch the warheads. Can't really enjoy my prize to the fullest without it."

"Oh, I must have forgotten it at Nunnally's garden on the top floor. You can pick it up there."
Schneizel's smile was never fated, but it became a little bit more sinister. "I'm sure the two of you
will have something to talk about while I'm gone."

"I'm sure we will, but until then-" Lelouch's warm smile disappeared as his face became more
serious. "Tell me, Schneizel. Do you believe in anything?"

"What do you mean?" Schneizel asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean do you have any values? Did you ever truly believe in Social Darwinism our homeland
preached, or the noble superiority Britannia had above others? Maybe you loved European
democratic values or even Chinese traditionalism. Or did you ever believe in what Euphemia was
trying to achieve? A peaceful coexistence between numbers and Britannians in father's empire?"
Lelouch eyes stared right into Schneizel's soul. "Or was it merely a convenience for you at the
moment to use and play with these values of others?"

"You might already know the answer to that, Lelouch." Schneizel sighed. "I will be blunt with you,
brother. I only believe in stability and my ability to predict the movements of every player on the
board."

"Oh?"
"Britannian, European, Chinese and Japanese, are all the same once you look past the surface
differences. Every system in our world believes itself to be better compared to others, every leader
thinks they are the second coming of Caesar. They are all equally wrong and misguided in some
way. However, the imperfection of these systems is what creates perfect stability. I can always
know what Chinese eunuchs want even if I don't know the situation on the ground in China. I can
see where European diplomats are heading before their own population. I can read the minds of
Britannian nobility because almost all of them are simple-minded. And Japanese are the easiest to
manipulate as you would know, Lelouch."

"..."

"Everyone has problems, all I need to do is know these problems and then offer a solution even if
it is unreachable. That was faith, where I placed the value of the entire world. Our homeland's
Social Darwinism was a flawed system with self-destructive policies. Treating your conquered
population as slaves and second-class citizens is short-sighted since numbers were making a sizable
part of Britannia's overall population and were critical to the economy. Rebellions were expected
and regular, of course, some were expected to be more successful than others. That's why I was
rather pleased to see you create Zero and Black Knights. That proved my prediction that Japanese
people would eventually unite around the common banner. Do not take me wrong, Lelouch. I do
not take pleasure in the suffering of others, but I'm a rather cynical person and place logic above
feelings of pity towards others. If I wasn't born a Britannian Royal, I would have supported a
different system. However, since I was born as the Second Prince, I used whatever tools I could in
my position. I felt horrified when I heard the news of you and Nunnally dying during the
Britannian invasion of Japan, but I felt little to nothing towards the rest of the Japanese people."

"The death of one is a tragedy, the death of a million is a statistic," Lelouch remembers one of the
quotes Charles liked to reference.

"I'm still a human being with emotion and feelings, Lelouch. I'm just good at masking them."
Schneizel's usual fake smile did little to Lelouch. "But returning to my point, I simply use whatever
I can to achieve my goals. I care little what banner I have to serve or what promises to make as long
as it gets me results. I'm sure you are similar to some extent."

"Not really, but let's focus on you for now, brother. Hmm, and what is your end goal? Simple
stability?"

"Yes and more. I desire a world where I can predict future developments and can manipulate them
as I wish for the sake of an even more stable world system. I'm a diplomat at heart, it was always
my job to make sure everything inside Britannia and outside it was stable and easy to handle for
me...that's why you are my biggest problem and the scariest enemy I have faced, Lelouch."

"Heh, I feel flattered, Schneizel. The feeling is mutual. Charles was my target of vengeance and the
biggest obstacle, but I always knew that it will be you who will prevent me from destroying
Britannia." Lelouch smirked. "And you lived up to my expectations."

"You are the Emperor of Britannia, but it isn't the same empire I grew up with and tried to stabilise
from the sidelines. Your Geass and your character, all of it could never coexist with Social
Darwinism, with nobility and the number system. Hence why you destroyed fundamental policies
of our homeland. I agree that they are problematic, but they are fundamental for a reason. Britannia
as a society and as a system exists because of them. And yet-"

"And yet I destroyed everything our ancestors believed in. Such a worthless ideology and system
that cannot exist in my perfect future."
"Your perfect future is what scares me, Lelouch. That is why I refuse to accept your Britannia and
your desire for the future. You are an anomaly, brother. You can, will, and already did destroy
what existed for centuries with your Geass. You and your power are something I could never
predict. I cannot fathom what exactly you planned for this planet, for its people and it terrifies me.
That's why F.L.E.I.J.A. has become my hope and obsession for defeating you, Lelouch. You're a
monster. Yesterday you were Zero and promised to destroy Britannia. Today you're the White
Emperor, the empire's ruler and defender. What will you do tomorrow? Destroy mankind? Attempt
to slay 'God' as father wanted or attempt to conquer it? In the way you and Charles are similar,
you're tyrants, people who don't care about anything or anyone but themselves." Schneizel looked
exhausted, something Lelouch never expected to see. "Agh, your old friend Suzaku is similar as
well. But at least with the good knight, I can direct him towards my goals. Suzaku is limited by his
own nativity and lack of creative thinking, not realising he can do more if he had more
imagination. Then again, if he did I would be forced to dispose of him prematurely."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "You know, you could hang out with more regular people, Schneizel."

"What do you mean?" Schneizel looked with a somewhat insulted look.

"People can be predictable and easy to manipulate as you're used to. However, every individual has
their own goals and wishes. I can kill and Geass them, but it won't stop people from doing what
they want, not all of them. You gave me too much credit. I'm no different from other mad conquers
in history who tried to take more than they could handle. I'm just good at managing my chess
pieces and timing. Geass is but a tool that will die with me or even earlier than that. It is
convenient, but it isn't the sole reason I managed to take the throne. You fail to see that people
wanted change, everyone was getting sick of the world's affairs. I don't mean only Britannia, but
every superpower, every nation. Children were robbed of their childhood, and forced to become
soldiers and leaders before they even turned eighteen. The masses want a change and that's why
they were so quick to accept either Zero or emperor Lelouch. Because I proved that I can make a
change and am willing to go to any length to achieve their wish for a better world. You want
stability while I and millions of others want a change. If not for me, then someone else would have
done it, Schneizel. Even if you managed to defeat me, there would be others who will attempt to
shatter your stability because they are sick of it. You would have never won, brother, and won't
defeat me. It is checkmate and-"

Suddenly the ground under the emergency airship started to tremble as everyone on the ship
grabbed the seats to not fall. Before the airship itself, a hole in the ground was made as something
huge crashed through it. Schneizel and his entourage saw a black and golden Knightmare,
accompanied by two Scarlet machines. The third one has come out from behind and the Scarlet
Guard immediately proceed to impale the armed men next to the ship with its spear.

"You lost, Schneizel." Lelouch on the screen spoke as his Shinkiro Imperium stood before the
airship.

"But how?!" Diethard shouted.

"Please, Mr Ried. You of all people should know the magic of the green screen." Lelouch smiled
slyly before snapping his fingers. The command centre behind him changed into the cockpit of the
Knightmare. "I had ideas to simply put Sayoko as my double and have her talk with Schneizel or
just re-record my video and have Schneizel talk to it. However, I just couldn't miss the last
conversation with my favourite older brother, after all."

Shinkiro Imperium stepped on the airship, crushing the pilot's cockpit under its weight. A Blaze
Luminous blade ignited from its wrist as Shinkiro cut off the roof of the airship before staring
down at Schneizel and others. Diethard froze in fear, while Kanon tried to save his prince and
cover him. However, Lelouch simply moved an arm as Shinkiro tossed Kanon away, sending the
man flying into the back of the ship.

"Kanon!" Schneizel shouted with a distressed tone before Shinkiro grabbed him. "What are you-?!"

"Stay still brother, I don't want to break you before she arrives," Lelouch spoke as Shinkiro
Imperium raised Schneizel like some sort of toy. Among all of Schneizel's people, only Diethard
was in fine condition, with Kanon most likely unconscious.

"Who are you talking about, Lelouch?!" It was rare to see Schneizel angry, but his assistant was
just tossed aside like nothing and he was captured by a giant war machine, in the hands of a
madman.

"Who else but Cornelia!" Lelouch grinned. "You and I already talked and have nothing else to
discuss, but our dear sister might want to hear something from your lips. Speaking of the Goddess
of Victory herself, she should be arriving soon."

As Lelouch predicted, his sister didn't take long to show herself as a purple Knightmare, a mix of
older Gloucester model and more modern Lancelot Vincent Wards machines entered the scene.
Cornelia wasn't alone as she was in the company of two older Vincent models. All of them were
there to rescue Schneizel, but the White Emperor only needed his sister to talk to. Therefore the
rest were unneeded.

"What is going on?" Cornelia asked as her Quinn Roses Model-Z aimed its gun at Shinkiro
Imperium the moment she saw her little brother's Knightmare. "Lelouch! What have you done to
Schneizel?!"

Shinkiro Imperium turned around to face Quinn Roses and show Cornelia the new cool toy it was
holding in its hand. Lelouch turned on the open channel and excitedly spoke.

"Schneizel and I were just having a nice little chat before you showed up, sister of mine! Don't
worry, you and I have something to talk about as well. However, your friends aren't invented to our
family reunion." Lelouch said with a cheeky tone before launching Shinkiro's slash harkens into
two of the enemy Vincents.

One of them managed to avoid the gold and black slash harken, while the second wasn't as fast.
When the Quinn Roses and the remaining Vincent tried to attack Lelouch, Shinkiro reached
forward and used Schneizel as a meat shield, if only to scare his opponents. Both Cornelia and her
companion froze before Shinkiro shot a hadron cannon with its free arm, killing the second
Vincent instantly and leaving only Cornelia.

"Now can we talk, Cornelia?" Lelouch asked.

"You-!"

"I see that it isn't enough."

Lelouch sighed before opening the chest section and revealing the chest-mounted diffusion
structure phase transition cannon. Lelouch shot the prism before, but the transition cannon was still
deadly as Shinkiro fired it at Quinn Roses. Cornelia had no means of stopping or blocking the light
ray, therefore tried to attack Shinkiro with her lance. However, the red shield of the Absolute
Defence System blocked it. The ray from the chest cannon didn't stop as it hit Cornelia, her
Knightmare was wounded before it fell on its knees. The two Scarlet Guards moved to surround
her and make sure she won't try anything else against their master.

"Now, we will talk."

Lelouch climbed out of the cockpit and walked on the arm that was holding Schneizel. The second
prince, still held by Knightmare's hand was heavily breathing, not prepared to experience
something like this. However, even now the former Prime Minister was still trying to understand
what Lelouch's angle was at it.

"What are you doing, Lelouch?" His young brother smirked before taking off his lenses and
revealing two Geass sigils in his eyes.

"Returning a favour to a certain knight, not mine though. Hers. Now, Schneizel, you will answer all
my questions."

The power Geass worked as usual, the red sigil sent a bird flying right into the eyes of the former
white prince. Schneizel's eyes turned red with red circles around his pupils.

"Ask anything, Lelouch."

Inside her Knightmare Cornelia looked up with a frightened expression, recognizing the scene from
when Lelouch Geassed her. "B-brother-!"

"First, I want to know about Nunnally. Did you truly plan to make her a legitimate empress if you
managed to kill me and take over Britannia?"

"Yes." The Geassed Schneizel instantly nodded. "She was going to become Empress and follow
through on her promises. I and Kururugi Suzaku would have faced trial, though it is irrelevant what
the verdict would have been. Nunnally wouldn't have the courage to execute us. Then, she was
going to start decolonization. Within the next three years, the former colonies and parts of
Britannia would start fighting over bad blood, resources, borders and policies. Empress Nunnally
wouldn't be able to do anything and fail to control the situation. I would have been called to help
her. With the use of F.L.E.I.J.A. I would crush rebellions and conflicts. Using this achievement, I
would have created a new system that would imitate the Britannian imperial system. Nunnally will
face all backlash and the idea of decolonization would become forgotten. In the case where the
situation wasn't going according to my plan or post-decolonization governments were too
successful, I would have influenced radical groups from the shadows to start a civil war among all
former Britannian territories."

Lelouch's earlier smirk disappeared, now replaced with a concerned face. "You want to save your
present so much, you will refuse to give people a future. Hmm. And what about the Federation?"

"Post decolonization Britannia under Nunnally's rule would attempt to join UFN but will be denied.
Following the imperial civil war, UFN countries will attempt to retake some of Britannia's
colonies. Under the banner of unifying the country, I would have started the war, preparing
F.L.E.I.J.A. in advance to destroy the majority of UFN with Damocles."

"What makes you think Damocles would have been within your control once I was defeated?"
Lelouch wondered.

"Damocles will be the best option for Nunnally to use as the base of operation. All of her inner
circle will be filled with my people to make sure she won't make wrong decisions that could hurt
my plans."

"And what would happen to Nunnally in your plan?"

"If everything goes according to my schedule without serious setbacks, Nunnally will become the
disgrace who failed to protect and lead people. With me as the new emperor, Nunnally will spend
the remaining years hidden from the public. However, if the situation becomes problematic, I
might have no choice but to assassinate Nunnally if she manages to successfully enforce reforms
and gain sizable support of the masses."

Both Lelouch and Cornelia felt the same the moment they heard it.

"Schneizel, how could you?! She is our little sister!" Cornelia's head fell against her monitor, she
felt betrayed. "She is a child! You monster!"

Lelouch didn't let his emotion cloud his mind as he continued to ask. "Tell me, Schneizel. What
were you planning to do with Cornelia?"

"Cornelia is too experienced as a general and won't share my views for the future. She will join
Nunnally's side no matter what, I can't risk it and I have no choice, but to eliminate her as well."

Cornelia didn't react, too exhausted from everything she heard. There she was, seeking to stop and
defeat Lelouch and for what? A world where Schneizel would just manipulate and sacrifice
Nunnally and her before killing millions with his fucking F.L.E.I.J.A.? How was it better than
Lelouch and his Geass? What was the point of it all...

"This is enough." Lelouch looked away, staring at Cornelia's Knightmare. Schneizel blinked as he
looked around, trying to understand what happened before realisation settled in.

"You-you used your Geass on me." There was a genuine horror in his tone. Lelouch was curious if
he saw an all-new expression on his brother's face.

Lelouch said nothing before walking back inside Shinkiro's cockpit as he activated his Knightmare.
The Emperor's Knightmare tossed Schneizel back into the half-destroyed airship where Diethard
and Kanon were. Schneizel hit the ground as he let out a scream, unable to stand back up with his
fractured legs.

"Y-your Highness," Kanon whispered as he did his best to crawl up towards his prince and help
him stand up.

Schneizel leaned against Kanon before screaming towards Cornelia. "Sister, you must-"

"Shut up." Cornelia's tone was emotionless, weak and tired as she let out a long sigh. "All these
years I knew you were a liar, but I always thought it was for the sake of our home, our family, or at
least those whom you cared about. But you don't care about anything. Not about Britannia or us.
Nunnally, me… not even Euphemia. I tried to not think about it since Lelouch was our enemy, but
now I can't ignore it… I can't go on anymore, it is too much."

"We can't choose our family, Cornelia." Shinkiro Imperium turned towards Quinn Roses as the
'face' of his Knightmare leaned forward towards Cornelia's machine. Shinkiro lifted Quinn Roses
as it stood up. The Scarlet Guard on each side lowered their weapons. Shinkiro pointed towards the
sky out of the hangar. "But we can choose our friends and loved ones. I managed to find people
who care about me and want to help me. You already have a knight of honour out there, searching
for you."

"Guilford." Cornelia's eyes went wide. "But he died in Tokyo-"

"He lived and helped my Knight of Zero to find some answers they both needed. And now, he is
here, somewhere. I made a deal with him. Quite a persistent fellow, this Guilford. He cares about
you, sister. If he manages to convince you to surrender, I would spare both of you from certain
death and give you a relatively light sentence for your crimes."

Cornelia's heart beat faster now, beyond happy that her knight was alive and was still loyal.
However, there was a matter of Lelouch 'allowing' her to go and find him.

"You speak like it is some sort of mercy."

"Because it is, Cornelia. You and I aren't so different. We were both ready to burn this world for
the sake of our loved ones. But many things changed… Euphemia is dead because of me and
Nunnally is my enemy. I cannot change the past, but I can create a better future. One where
Euphemia's name is cleared of the crimes I have done. I want to fix my failures for the sake of her
memory. And killing and making you suffer won't help me atone for Euphemia's death. However,
you have your crimes and you will answer for them. That doesn't mean you have to do it alone."

"..." Quinn Roses walked towards the hangar gates before Cornelia spoke last time. "I cannot
forgive you for what happened, Lelouch. At least not yet, not until I see your so-called perfect
future Euphemia imagined. But I can make peace with you."

"Heh, that's more than enough for me, Cornelia. Now, leave this tower and go get your knight in
shining armour, Princess." Lelouch smiled slightly as Quinn Roses flew away. He sent a message
to D.S. "I had a small chat with Cornelia and she is on her way towards Guilford. Make sure those
lovebirds reunite, don't bother arresting them, they will turn themselves in."

Lelouch then turned back towards the airship where his older brother was. Both Schneizel and
Kanon couldn't escape with multiple broken bones from being tossed around. Instead, the prince
leaned on his assistant as both silently waited for whatever fate the Demon Emperor prepared for
them. However, Diethard Ried raised his arms to the side as he shouted with a terrified expression.

"Zero-!"

The former masked revolutionary paused as Shinkiro Imperium looked down at the former Black
Knight who was on verge of losing his sanity. Diethard was shaking while the four eyes of the
Knightmare stared down at him. The White Emperor was silent for a second before he started to
laugh, the same laugh he had in the past, a maniacal one.

"Hahaha-! Diethard, you were always the easiest one to control. Your wish was simple, but it didn't
mean it was worthless. If you had remained with the Black Knights I might have even found work
for you in my empire. But no. Not only did you betray me with the rest of the Order, but you also
had the audacity to find a different 'hero' for your documentary. I'm rather disappointed and feel
cheated."

"Z-zero-"

"Zero is dead. Killed by White Reaper. However, such a legend like Zero deserves something to
immortalise him. Yes, a documentary might be a good choice."

"Y-yes! I can do it! I can film a documentary about Zero! About White Emperor! About anything
you will-"

"Who said anything about you? Actually, who are you?" Lelouch asked with an amused tone as
Diethard froze.

"Wha-I- I'm Diethard Ried! Im-!"

"Never heard of someone like that. I'm pretty sure there is no one that goes with that name in the
Britannian system, and most likely doesn't exist in the Federation's system either." A sadistic smile
formed on Lelouch's face as he watched Diethard's face go pale.

"What-no, you couldn't-!"

"I'm the Emperor, the planet will be mine and erasing someone from existence isn't very hard for
me. Be it in the real or digital world. Never heard of Diethard Ried since he doesn't exist. Nope.
No one will remember him, no one will remember what he did or tried to accomplish. His biggest
life goal… would be completed by another and all praise will go to them." Lelouch finished with a
devilish smile as Diethard fell on his knees and started to punch the ground with his fist.

"No! No-no-no-no-no-no! You couldn't-!"

Kanon gritted his teeth as watched Diethard beg for it. "You're pathetic, Ried."

Shinkiro Imperium raised its right hand and aimed a hadron cannon at the remains of the airship,
focusing on the three men there. Schneizel closed his eyes. It would seem his older brother
understood what would happen. The former Prime Minister and his assistant already accepted their
fate. It would seem Kanon Maldini was not too different from either Kallen or Guilford when it
came to feelings of loyalty and something else toward their lord. At least they accepted their
demise. The same couldn't be said for one delusional reporter.

"This game is over, Lelouch. I… lost." were the last words of Schneizel while Diethard continued
to cry.

"Zero! At least use your Geass on me before killing us! F-finish me with your Geass! P-please-!"

His cries were silenced once the airship exploded upon contact with a red ball of destruction.

This was the end for Schneizel el Britannia, his ever-loyal assistant Kanon Maldini and some
unknown madman. As the smoke scattered, Shinkiro Imperium stood silent for a second before
turning towards the gate leading outside.

"Two are dealt with, now only one relative of mine left to take care of." Lelouch looked at the map
on the screen.

'Time to have a chat, little sister.'

Outside the fortress.

Suzaku flew towards Damocles as fast as he could. He encountered resistance on his way in the
form of Lelouch's forces. The worst one was some mass-produced Akatsuki with a pilot who
couldn't shut up. Suzaku couldn't even kill that guy! He was anything but a newbie when it came to
piloting a Knightmare. White Reaper had to cut down his legs before flying away, fearing that
loudmouth could have slowed him down.

'But now that I'm here… it might be too late.'

One look at Damocles was enough to see that something wasn't right. The smoke was coming from
the outside sections where shield generators were supposed to be. Suzaku noticed dozens of
Hounds crawling all over the fortress, like cockroaches. Lancelot Albion raised its MVS forward
and tapped on the supposed blaze luminous shield that didn't respond. Suzaku clenched his fist.
Lelouch was inside the fortress… and since Suzaku didn't receive any orders from Schneizel it
could mean only one thing.

'Schneizel is dead, Cornelia might be too. With them gone, Nunnally is the only one inside
Damocles who matters, and who must survive. I must save her, I must-' Suzaku froze when his
Knightmare picked up signals of enemy units, however, the Knight of Seven could easily see the
black and golden machine flying towards the upper section where Nunnally was located.

'-Lelouch.'

Even without his Geass command to live, Suzaku Kururugi saw nothing but red.

Lancelot Albion rushed forward. Thanks to energy wings, in one second Lancelot closed a giant
distance as its pilot went for the killing blow. Suzaku raised his MVS and prepared to cut down his
worst enemy, his best friend, to pieces. Lancelot Albion flew at Shinkiro Imperium like some sort
of missile flying towards its target. And Suzaku didn't bother being secretive about it either. No,
Lelouch needed to know who hit him.

"LELOUCH!"

Shinkiro Imperium and three Scarlet Guard Knightmares paused as they looked around.

"Suzaku-?!"

Before Lelouch could understand what was going on, Lancelot Albion crashed into him. Multiple
red shields on top of each other covered Shinkiro Imperium as the royal Knightmare was sent
flying into the outside wall of Damocles, creating a hole in it. Lelouch didn't die though, that damn
shield protected him. Shinkiro struggled to stand up for a second as the Emperor tried to regain
focus from the sudden hit. However, Suzaku wasn't going to stop.

"Lelouch!" Suzaku tried to go after him but was stopped as two Scarlet Guards blocked his way
with their spears. The third one tried to stab Lancelot from behind. However, Suzaku managed to
duck at the side, avoiding the spear before bringing his red sword on top of the guard and cutting
him in half.

The remaining two Scarlet Guards tried to create more distance between their master and White
Reaper as they rushed him, trying to push him away from Shinkiro. They weren't alone, however,
as three Hounds crawled to assist them and attacked Lancelot Albion. However, none of them will
stop Suzaku from his mission. He will kill Lelouch! Nothing will stay in his way!

"None of your pawns will stop me, Lelouch!"

"You don't need to shout my name every second." The White Emperor said with an irritated tone as
he shot Hadron blasts from his wrist cannons. Lancelot dodged both red balls before stabbing the
Hound that tried to jump it. "How annoying. Always appearing out of nowhere to ruin my day.
This is getting old, couldn't you take a day off and just leave me alone? Just once?"

"I will kill you, Lelouch!" Suzaku yelled as he pulled out the Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle and fired
continuous hadron rays at the second Scarlet Guard. The unit's shield managed to block the ray, but
not the slash harken that flew after it and stabbed the chest and pierced all the way to the cockpit.
"You won't get away alive this time, Lelouch!"

"Can you say anything else beyond threatening to kill me? Not even a hello or asking how my day
went? I just killed Schneizel, Kanon and some random guy. We could chat, and catch up on the
stuff that happened-"
"Lelouch!"

Lancelot Albion swung MVS at Shinkiro Imperium. The black and gold Knightmare didn't even
bother dodging as its absolute defence system blocked the attack.

"Oh, come on, at least attempt to humour me, please?"

Lelouch whined as he activated blaze luminous blades on his Knightmare and moved into offence.
Yes, fighting against Suzaku one on one was madness, but Lelouch wasn't alone. Lancelot Albion
blocked the obvious slash attack from Shinkiro with one MVS and stopped the spear from piercing
Suzaku with the second sword as the last Scarlet Guard tried to attack from the side.

"Suzaku, I killed your king. According to the rules of chess, I have already won. So can you kindly
just drop dead or something?" Lelouch asked with a tired tone while Suzaku couldn't hold inside
his fury. "Actually, can you do me a favour and fly towards the submarine underneath Damocles
and leave your Lancelot there? There is someone who wants to have a word with you."

"Why won't you take this seriously?!"

"Why should I? To give you some kind of satisfaction? Never, Suzaku. After everything you put
me through, I won't allow you to feel any pleasure in your helpless attempt to defeat me. I won and
you can't do anything about it.." Lelouch said with a venomous voice before Shinkiro kicked
Lancelot back. Shinkiro Imperium stood with two green energy blades coming out of its wrists.
The red absolute defence system shields covered the cockpit and Lelouch from the sides. "No
matter what you will do, it is irrelevant. You won't achieve anything. You never could. You won't
defeat me, let alone kill me."

"I can try my best." Suzaku bit his tongue, making sure to fight down his emotions and focus.
Anger alone won't help him win this.

"Heh, stubborn as always, Suzaku. Very well." Scarlet Guard rushed forward from the side, trying
to charge and stab Lancelot. Meanwhile, Shinkiro Imperium opened its chest and aligned its
cannon at White Reaper. MVSs blocked the spear attack before Lancelot kicked Scarlet Guard
away as the green shield covered Suzaku from a white ray coming from Shinkiro.

Suzaku heard noise from behind as he turned to cut another Hound which tried to jump Lancelot
and stab with its blade. The Knight of Seven saw more lifeless drones surrounding him, he would
be overrun at this rate. Lancelot Albion flew up and activated its energy wings, before firing a
barrage of green projectiles at everything before Suzaku. Nothing except for Shinkiro Imperium
managed to withstand the attack as all other Knightmares exploded, leaving Lelouch alone.

"It's over, Lelouch! You have no pawns left to die for you!" Suzaku knew his former friend
wouldn't be able to fight him alone. Lelouch might have gotten some training and experience to
pilot Knightmares better, but it was not enough to beat the White Reaper. Lancelot Albion swung
its swords on the ground before swinging back up, drawing sparks with clear murderous intent.
Suzaku didn't care if Lelouch had shields, he would break them sooner or later!

However, Lelouch wasn't out of people wanting to protect him no matter what. There was someone
who promised to defend Lelouch no matter what.

A red radiant wave ray hit Lancelot Albion from the back before Suzaku could reach Shinkiro. The
White Reaper was off his course and missed Lelouch before the golden claw flew towards Suzaku.
The Japanese knight quickly blocked the attack before the claw could grab him and do its usual
short work of Knightmares. Lancelot Albion stood in battle position, its energy wings activated
and ready to fight as Suzaku raised his MVSs.

Shinkiro Imperium stood unscratched before a new red Knightmare appeared between it and the
white Knightmare.

Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements joined the fight as its pilot stood before Shinkiro, ready to
protect its master no matter what.

"Knight of Zero reporting for duty!" Kallen announced with pride in her voice, always happy to
declare her title. Especially in front of her old enemy and traitorous knight.

"You know how to make an entrance, Q1," Lelouch spoke with a pleased expression.

"I learned from the best," Inside her Knightmare, Kallen's smile was wide. Red circles hugged her
pupils, her Geass command was active and working as intended. "I ran into some obstacles on the
way here. Now there's just one left."

"Kallen," Suzaku bit his lip. This wasn't good at all. "You are with Lelouch and are a Knight of the
Round?"

"What the matter, Suzaku? You thought you were the only Japanese who would get knighted? I'm
the Knight of Zero, Lelouch's shadow, his shield and blade. And today-" Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight
Elements pointed its claw at Lancelot Albion. "I will put an end to the problem that keeps ruining
Lelouch's plans. You, Suzaku!"

Suzaku glared at the machine behind Guren. "Even now you hide behind others to fight your
battles, Lelouch?!"

"You know, no matter what I say you won't hear me out regardless. So I won't even bother. Kallen
dear, have fun and don't take all day. I have an important family meeting, the last one for today."
Lelouch said before turning Shinkiro Imperium and flying away. "Q1, I expect nothing but
victory."

"And I won't disappoint, my emperor," Kallen smiled, still unused to saying it.

"You won't get away, Lelouch-!"

Suzaku screamed before activating his energy wings and preparing to shoot down Shinkiro
Imperium. However, the red radiant blasts hit Lancelot, forcing blaze luminous shields to appear
and protect White Reaper. Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements didn't waste time and fired before
launching its claw forward. Lancelot redirected the claw, but Guren immediately charged it and
went for the kick at the head, forcing Suzaku to step back. Both Knightmare had a 'dance' as Guren
circled around Lancelot, its MVS blade and claw trying to stab Suzaku. Meanwhile, Lancelot
Albion managed to block and guard against every close attack with its MVSs.

Suzaku's left sword met Kallen's blade in Guren's left hand as both pilots exchanged pleasantries.

"You're still willing to kill and die for him?! Lelouch is using you!"

"And I wouldn't have it any other way! We're finally together and I will burn this world before I
will allow anyone to tear us apart! I'm his Knight of Zero! His Q1! Where you failed to protect the
princess you loved, I will not allow any harm to the emperor I love."

"Love? What- did Lelouch Geass you?" Suzaku had a dumbfounded expression, taken off guard by
the mad devotion in her voice.
Kallen smirked. "My command is special, it exists to help me, to always remind me of what I want
to accomplish. Protecting Lelouch from the likes of you."

"You're delusional, Kallen!"

"Perhaps, but certainly not as delusional as you, Suzaku. Now, let's duel for the last time, White
Reaper!"

Guren brought up its claw and fired at Lancelot point blank. Suzaku had shields and could survive
such an attack, but both pilots knew it was only the start of the battle. The two Japanese warriors
battled each other once again. The former White Knight of Seven versus the Red Knight of Zero.

One wanted to do nothing but kill his worst enemy while another would protect her lord no matter
what.

Guren and Lancelot started their last dance.

Inside the garden.

In the beautiful flower field that mimicked the one from her old house, Nunnally vi Britannia sat
patiently as she hummed a simple melody to herself. The Puppet Princess waited, knowing that the
battle outside was getting closer to her safe heaven and it only made her more excited. Soon, this
all will be over.

Her waiting paid off as the floor before the garden was destroyed. The black and gold Knightmare,
Shinkiro Imperium, flew up out of the hole it created. The machine of the White Emperor landed
on one knee as the cockpit opened and the pilot came out. Lelouch vi Britannia was silent when his
eyes fell on the last enemy Royal. The young monarch took a deep breath before addressing her.

"Nunnally vi Britannia, according to the law of the empire you have committed unforgivable
crimes. Treason against the crown and attempt to destroy the nation's unity and sovereignty. You
dared to challenge the might of Britannia, and you were delusional to think you can take away the
throne from its rightful ruler. Me." Lelouch spoke with a cold tone as he walked towards the stairs
before the garden, his hand on the handgun. "Each of those crimes is punishable by death. Do you
plead guilty?"

Lelouch knew he prepared himself for this moment. The White Emperor was ready to take a shot,
he knew. However, what he wasn't ready for was to hear Nunnally's answer.

"Yes. I do."

The purple eyes of the young emperor went wide, and Lelouch froze as he saw the scenery before
him.

There, sitting in her wheelchair was the same Nunnally who spent the last decade in darkness,
oblivious to the world around her. However, that was no longer the case.

The girl who was believed to be crippled moved. Her tiny hands squeezed the arms of her
wheelchair as she stood up.

Nunnally vi Britannia got up and stood, even if a little shaky but she did it.

"H-how-?'
This wasn't the last surprise for Lelouch however.

Nunnally opened her eyes.

The pair of purple royal eyes stared at each other.

The vi Britannia siblings watched each other, face to face, for the first time in a decade.

Lelouch froze, not knowing how to react to this. She broke Charles's Geas?! Was it because of
D.S.? What happened? Lelouch had dozens of questions, but Nunnally had something else to say to
her older brother.

"All the crimes I have committed, even if only as a pawn of Schneizel, I acknowledge all of them,
I'm ready to pay for them. Therefore Lelouch," Nunnally raised one of her hands forward towards
Lelouch. Her smile was full of kindness as she spoke. "Finish me. And-"

The next words Lelouch heard made his heart beat slower, the world around them felt slower. The
sound of the outside battle has become nothing but silence. Lelouch forgot about Kallen and
Suzaku's duel for a moment. Everything became irrelevant once she heard Nunnally utter words
whose meaning only three individuals in the whole world knew.

After all, it was Lelouch's backup plan.

"Fulfil this Puppet Requiem of mine, big brother."

Did you think there would be only two parts of the finale? Nope!

This part was similar to the previous one since I had to move between multiple POVs. Now
that the majority of characters had their spotlight, dead or wounded, we can focus mainly on
Lelouch, Nunnally, Suzaku and Kallen. Of course, with few leftovers to address. Now about
the content of the chapter:

On X and Mariel's part, I'm kind of disappointed in myself because I didn't give Mariel
enough spotlight. By the way, she isn't OC, but a character from spin-off manga in case
people forgot or never read about her. And the fact she didn't receive enough time, especially
as a friend of Suzaku, has heavily affected one of the decisions you will see in the next
chapter. But at least X is close to her goal? Maybe? At least she won't die, arguably.

Arthur vs Suzaku I have wanted to write ever since the European War. Either that or Arthur
vs Gino, but because I decided to cut the size of that arc, it never happened until this chapter.
I think their interactions were interesting, hope you enjoyed them as well. Cinder finally got
her revenge and it felt unsatisfying. Both Arthur and Cinder got to avenge their loved
ones/friends but in both cases, it didn't go as they expected. Bishop and Peter got to deal with
their own nemesis and kill Bismarck. Fun stuff.
Now, I know what some might think right now…why Tamaki? :3

How can Tamaki be the one to save Lelouch and possibly everyone around him? Tamaki is
pretty cool that's why. I wanted him to have a moment to shine and this felt like the best and
most unexpected place to use him. Again, I hope it was fun to read that part. As for Lelouch's
plan, I will be honest, I'm stupid and sometimes have a really hard time writing battle and
fight strategies that make total sense. Like, this time my strategy for Lelouch was just to wait
out until most of the dangerous Knightmare pilots are far away from the Damocles before
getting Schneizel's attention and baiting him into firing a warhead. Then it is mostly similar
to the show, except of course having Tamaki save him and the day.

Schneizel and Lelouch's talk was fun to write. In my mind, Schneizel was never really a
terrible person but someone who placed personal convenience and what he considered
stability over the lives and opinions of others. In my mind, Schneizel is someone who will try
to keep the status quo until it is impossible, while Lelouch will aim to break it. Considering
the background both brothers experienced, they both have different views on the world.
Lelouch wants to create a better future, while Schneizel wants to save the current present
because he is worried about what Lelouch can and will do with Britannia and especially with
Geass. Schneizel and Cornelia's moment was my alternative take on how their last
interaction in the show, with Cornelia, finally admitting he wasn't better than Lelouch.
Diethard's final moments were especially delightful to write. What is the worst punishment
for someone who wanted to immortalize the legacy of Zero and himself as well in the
process? Take away that dream, give it to someone else and delete anything about the person
who wished for it in the first place. Diethard who?

And then there are the final two scenes. And well, you will read about them in the future :3

I won't tell when, but since we are this close to the end and I don't want my readers to freak
out, I will give only one reassurance.

The last chapters of 'His Britannia' are almost complete.

Anyway, thanks to our editor Kingpin Lunamaria and see you all in the future.
 Endspiel: Part 3 Checkmate

August 29th. Ashford Academy.

Behind the walls of the academy, the old home to the current Emperor and his sister, the place was
completely silent, except for one room. It was still summer and studies hadn't started yet. In
addition to the battle taking place not far from Tokyo, many non-essential services were suspended
until the battle was won. The academy that was only a few days ago used as a negotiation place for
two world superpowers was now empty. At the moment there were only two young people in the
old student council room.

Rivalz was nervous as he checked his laptop, trying to find any information about what was going
on with Lelouch. "Come on, show any crumb of info. Please."

"You won't get anything, Rivalz," The former student council president sighed. Milly sat on the
table in her usual news reporter's uniform. "Every official news channel was banned from going
anywhere near the battlefield for safety reasons. No one in the empire can access what is going on
out there except the military."

"But we need to know how Lelouch and the others are doing!" The blue-haired driver said with a
worried tone. "That F.L.E.I.J.A. thing is-"

"This is Lelouch we are talking about. Don't worry, our vice president will always get out of bad
situations. He has to." Milly smiled, but Rivalz could see that his old president had a worried look
as well.

Rivals sighed. "Can't believe a good portion of the old student council is out there, piloting
Knightmares and fighting while we're simply waiting for them… surreal to know that almost
everyone in our group is part of world-changing events in one way or another. Heh, makes me
think I didn't live my student years to the fullest."

"Hey, you didn't finish the academy yet, Rivalz. Who knows, perhaps you will create your own
Order and challenge the world next year." Milly smirked.

"I don't think Lelouch will like me messing up his plans, whatever they are. Nah, I'm good with a
more simple life… but I wouldn't mind some crazy adventure once in a while too. Something cool,
I dunno like-"

"Participating in illegal car races?" Milly asked with a judging expression.

"Yeah, like- Ah, hehe, Milly, how did you know about it?" The boy looked away, knowing his old
president won't let it slide.

"Lulu mentioned it." the blonde succubus smirked when Rivalz cursed under his breath. "The only
reason you got away with it was because everyone was too busy. And probably because Lelouch is
literally the Emperor."

"You mean I can do whatever I wish because my best buddy is the Emperor, yeah?" Rivalz asked
in a half-serious manner before Milly flicked his forehead. "Ow!"

"Rivalz Cardemonde! Don't even think about breaking the law and hiding behind Lelouch, hoping
he will cover you! Or I will personally make sure you will regret it." Milly threatened in a strict
motherly manner, while Rivalz looked terrified.
"I won't, I won't! I swear!" He raised his hands in surrender, Milly stared at him for a few
moments, making the young man even more terrified before she started giggling. "Hey, what's so
funny, Milly?"

"Sorry, heh, it's just… I miss when we would just sit in this room and do the simplest stuff." Milly
spoke with melancholy in her tone as she looked around the club. "When we were actually in a
club with everyone. You, me, Lelouch… life back then seemed so simple."

"Eh, I would say it is still pretty simple. Even if Lelouch is who he is, he is still the same vice
president we've known for years. Granted, with more insane secrets but still the same. And the
same goes for others: Kallen, Suzaku, Nina… and Nunnally." Rivalz scratched his head. "Well, ok,
that memory change thing with this Geass magic still gives me a headache when I think about it…
not everyone is with us here today, but we still have good memories of time spent together and that
all matters."

It went without saying who they were thinking about. The little brother of Lelouch who was an
imposter still managed to become their friend. And the young maiden in love who died too early.

"Wow, never expected you of all people to say something sound and philosophical."

"I didn't either. But hey, I like to believe that no matter what we will get a good outcome… but I
also want to make sure we won't lose any more of our friends and for that, I need to know what is
going on!" Rivalz said before looking through any news site, official and nonofficial, to see
anything about how Lelouch and others were doing.

"I believe I can help you with that." A young cheerful voice sang from the entrance. Both Milly
and Rivalz glanced to see two individuals standing at the doors. A young girl in traditional
Japanese dress with black hair and green eyes, in the company of a familiar maid. The younger girl
looked around the room. "So this is the club Lelouch was part of?"

"Wait, I think I saw you on TV or something. Ouch-!" Rivalz winced when Milly highly slapped
the back of his head before the blonde former noble stood and bowed before the young girl.

"It is an honour to meet you, Kaguya Sumeragi." Milly remembered her old lessons of etiquette.
She rose up and smiled warmly when she noticed her house's former maid. "And I'm happy to see
you too, Sayoko."

The ninja maid smiled back. "I'm happy to be back at Ashford. After everything that happened,
returning to my home is relaxing. Even if only as an escort."

"Home, huh?" Milly was glad to see the older woman again. However, there was a matter of a
young chairwoman. "Lady Sumeragi, forgive me but what exactly are you doing here? I was told
all officials of both Britannia and the Federation were evacuated to safety."

Kaguya waved away with a confident smile. "Lelouch landed me his maid. That is more than
enough 'safety' for me. While the White Emperor is fighting, I need to do some preparations on my
own and for that, I require a news reporter. Such as yourself, Milly Ashford."

"Wait, what?" Milly blinked. "But if the Emperor doesn't prohibit it, you can call any news
channel in the Special Zone-"

"But I want you, in particular, Miss Ashford," Kaguya smirked. "While Lelouch is busy, it falls on
me to make special preparation for when he will announce his victory."

Milly looked worried. "I hope for the best, but maybe it is better to wait until-"
"Nope. The timing should be perfect and we must make sure all cameras will show everything we
want the world to see. So, please help me with it. And I know you're up to the task."

"You're confident Lelouch will win no matter what, huh?" Milly asked with a small smile.

Kaguya proudly nodded. "As his temporary failed wife-to-be, I like to think I can at least predict
his moves when it comes to getting public support. Lelouch is going to win because he won't allow
anything else but victory! I can tell you this as the Goddess of Victory."

"Well if Goddess herself says so, then we have to believe." Milly spoke with genuine enthusiasm.
"Guess you can stop worrying too much about Lulu, Rivalz."

"Lulu?" Kaguya blinked.

Rivalz answered. "It is the nickname Milly come up with for Lelouch. Lulu."

"That's… really cute."

Milly quickly nodded, "I know right? And of course, Lelouch never approved of it so it only made
it better. Why we had so many fun moments where Lelouch-"

"My lady, perhaps we should focus more on the important business first?" Sayoko cleared her
throat. The maid was trying to make sure the honour of her Master wasn't damaged by whatever
Milly might say to Kaguya. But it was inevitable now. "You can discuss other matters once we are
finished with our task.

"Oh yeah! There are so many stories I can tell you about Lelouch from this time here. And in
exchange, I want some spicy stories from when he was Zero."

Kaguya nodded. "So Lelouch did tell you about that. Ok, if he trusts you enough with it, I can
too… and I want to hear more embarrassing stories of the mighty White Emperor's life as a student.
My, after all those situations he has put me through, it is only natural I will have some small
revenge," The self-proclaimed wife of Zero smiled slyly. "And I will have enough blackmail to
make Lulu agree to my propositions."

"I like the sound of that, Miss Chairwoman. I think we will get along very well."

Rivalz felt dread when he saw a mischievous smile on Milly's face as she walked closer towards
Kaguya with devilish intent. The blue-haired boy thought if it was worth coming with them if only
to make sure Milly won't say something that will hurt Lelouch's honour… but then realised it was
useless since it was Milly they were talking about. Lelouch could fight the entire world, surely
their old council president can't be worse.

On the battlefield.

Tristan Divider flew in its Fortress Mode across the sky as Gino tried to get to Damocles. The
battle wasn't going in the coalition's favour anymore. They lost almost all their elite pilots and no
one could get in contact with Schneizel. Something was wrong, the former Knight of Three could
feel it. Their forces were being decimated as the Britannia/Federation united army went on the full-
out attack, no longer afraid of any possible F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead attack. If Lelouch's forces were so
bold, it could mean only one thing. Damocles's defence was breached.

"Come on, I need to be there." Gino bit his lip, trying his best to get to Suzaku on the flying
fortress. The last thing he saw was Lancelot Albion rushing there with incredible speed. "Anya, I'm
on my way to assist Suzaku. How is your situation?"

What he got was somewhat unstable audio as sounds of explosions were heard. Soon Gino heard
the monotone female voice of the Knight of Six.

"Mordred received a moderate amount of damage, but my cannons are still operational and my
battery isn't empty yet. I can provide you with fire support."

"No need. I can't get in touch with Prince Schneizel or Princess Cornelia. We have to assume they
were killed." Gino spoke with a frown. "We must leave. Anya, start retreating towards the
southwest. Once I got Suzaku and Empress Nunnally out alive, we will evacuate-"

"Negative."

"Anya?" Gino bit his lip. "Come on, it isn't a time for some kind of last stand or staying because of
Schneizel and Cornelia."

"It isn't that, Gino. I can't leave. Sutherland Sieg is attacking me. I can't get away from it- I can't
talk anymore, he is preparing to charge at me again." Her link was cut short as Gino tried to call
her again.

"Anya? Anya! Damn it!" Gino slammed the panel of his Tristan before focusing on his plan. "I'll
get you out of here. You, Suzaku and Nunnally. We aren't dying here today."

"Only three things wrong with that, little knight."

Without a second to spare, Tristan Divider turned back into Knightmare Mode as it raised its two
maser swords and prepared for the upcoming attack. Gino didn't notice how the enemy managed to
reach him, even though he was in Fortress Mode. He clenched his hands around the controls when
he saw the painted dreadful copy of Suzaku's Lancelot Albion, Amber Tertiary. Which meant
before him was the same crazy pilot Suzaku fought against back in St Petersburg.

"Cinder Fall," Gino said with a neutral tone. Usually, he liked women who knew how to fight in
Knightmares. However, he read about the second knight's cruelty towards her enemies on the
battlefield and the impression Suzaku got of her. Needless to say, it was quite a turn-off.

"Gino Weinberg. Former Knight of Three and now just another dead man walking." Inside her
Amber, Cinder smirked. "My my, so much variety in the Old Guard, but even among them you're
quite a catch."

"I'm flattered." Gino barely fought off the disgust in his tone. Cinder on the other hand didn't
bother to do so.

"Ew, don't be. Don't think too much of yourself, Weinberg. You're just another nice trophy to add
to my collection of prominent enemies I killed. Hmm, sadly my collection has only one Knight of
the Round and I need more if I want to one-up Kallen." Cinder said with an annoyed tone. "The
Red Lotus is likely going to kill the Kururugi boy and raise her kill count of the Rounds to two.
Can't let her outperform me, so, I must be quick to cut down you and Alstreim before someone else
steals what's mine."

Gino glared at Amber. "You're a bloodthirsty psycho, none of you will get us. I don't know what
Lelouch has done to you or Kallen, but I will make sure he will pay for it. And I will free Kallen
from his Geass."

"Ahahaha! How cute, the little knight thinks he is capable of anything. Listen here, Weinberg."
Cinder's sultry tone was replaced with a cold one, full of murderous intent. "Kallen might be an
idiot, but she is Lelouch's Q1. As much as I want to rip her titles away and take them for myself,
she is my Emperor's knight and unless His Majesty wishes otherwise, nothing will change that. So
don't ever think for a second you will succeed in your foolish attempt to get a girl whom you don't
even know, lover boy."

Tristan Divider stood in the attack position as Gino was ready to rush forward and attack Amber. "I
know enough about Kallen to see that she wouldn't forsake Japan for someone like Lelouch!"

"Well, we have an imbecile here. Some of us will prioritise personal happiness above our duty.
Besides, Kallen gets Lelouch and he gets the entire world, win-win for all of them. Of course, in
this situation, you won't win anything, but that isn't my problem."

"You speak as if you alone can actually defeat me." Usually, it was Gino who was a cocky fighter,
but Cinder gave him a vibe similar to Luciano. It wasn't good.

"Oh, I know I can! I did call you a dead man walking because that's what you are, Weinberg. A
living corpse already inside a coffin, waiting for someone to end your pathetic life! And who said I
was alone?" Cinder clicked her finger as a squad of Gareths, Vincent Wards and Akatsukies flew
around them, encircling Tristan. "You'll die here, and I want you to know that you lost in every
way imaginable. Your nation, your status, and let's be honest, Kallen is out of your league. And
now your life."

"I won't go down without a fight!" Gino yelled, not letting some crazy monster end him before he
managed to save Kallen from Lelouch.

"It won't even be a fight, it will be a funeral- Oh, and here comes the undertaker. Right, Arthur?"
Cinder asked the last part with a glint in her eye.

"What-?!" Gino's comms managed to pick up a distinct whistling sound before his Knightmare was
hit by something from behind.

Tristan Divider struggled in the air as a giant scythe hit its left leg. The sudden strike wasn't
enough to cut it off but left a nasty scar. The scythe fell off and was quickly picked up by Reaper
Knightmare in its normal form. The true Knight of the Round had only one working energy wing,
but it was enough to allow a quick sneak attack. He arrived with additional help in the form of a
few Gareth units that acted as escort and temporary flight assistance. His Reaper managed to float a
little bit with the sole energy wing before firing a slash harken towards one of the Gareths and used
it to pull itself upward as a platform to hang on to.

Reaper transformed its scythe into V.A.R.I.S. mode and aimed it at Tristan. The Knightmares
around Amber started to move closer to impede any escape route for Gino, Cinder ready to enforce
that. The former Knight of Three gritted his teeth as he rushed at his enemies first, knowing
waiting was foolish.

Somewhere else, the other former knight of Charles was having a hard time as well.

Anya fired another hadron blast as her Mordred struggled to take out the Knight Fortress unit.
Sutherland Sieq was too fast for something of its size. The former Knight of Six missed her last
shot as the Captain of the Royal Guard drew closer. As always, Jeremiah Gottwald was determined
and ready to die, but not before fulfilling his master's wishes. Besting the enemy Knight of the
Round was nothing but proof of his loyalty.
Mordred's blast missed Sutherland Sieq as the orange Knightmare did a flip to avoid it. Jeremiah's
long-range weapons weren't fast enough to get Mordred, so the charge was his only option left.
Without any more words, the cyborg knight prepared to stab Mordred. However, as a last resort
measure, Anya activated her shield and miniature proximity missiles. The rockets moved akin to a
snake as they flew towards Sutherland Sieq, exploding upon contact. Jeremiah's eye went wide, but
it wasn't enough to dissuade the knight since he had his secret weapon.

"You dare to think that is enough to stop me?! Fool! Nothing gets in the way of my loyalty!"

Jeremiah screamed as he took control of the second Knightmare inside the Sutherland Sieg. The
orange-coloured standard Sutherland unit fell forward towards Mordred as it activated its blaze
luminous shield, cutting the Knightmare into two. However, it wasn't enough to take out a knight
who was full of loyalty! Jeremiah's Sutherland exploded, destroying the upper layer of Mordred
with it. Any normal human being wouldn't be able to operate after all of this. However, Jeremiah
Gottwald wasn't a normal person, at all.

"Feel the full might of my loyalty!" The cyborg Knight of Orange screamed at the top of his lungs
as he lunged forward. Jeremiah landed on top of the half-destroyed Mordred and pointed his left
wrist blade at the cockpit. "This is over, false knight! Surrender or feel the wrath of His Majesty's
might!"

"Do whatever you want… I don't care." Anya looked away, not bothered that she might die. "I
have no memories, nothing to live for anyway."

Jeremiah paused. "No memories you say? Could it be, after effect of Geass?"

His left mechanical eye opened up to reveal the reverse blue Geass sigil as he activated it.

Damocles

The raging battle around the flying fortress didn't stop, even when the defences of the Damocles
were breached and its prince was killed. However, even if the Coalition and united army of the
Empire and UFN didn't stop fighting, they could see and feel that two legendary Knightmares were
engaged in a fight.

A giant radiant wave flew towards a green dot in the sky as it moved with incredible speed. It
missed its target but hit the distant group of unlucky regular Knightmares, who weren't fast enough
to dodge it. The green dot would rush the red one, the second would block it and attack the green
in turn. This was their dance.

On one side, the notorious White Reaper, Lancelot Albion and its pilot Kururugi Suzaku fighting
for the sake of vengeance and killing his enemy.

In the opposite direction, the legendary Red Lotus, ace of the Black Knights Kallen Kōzuki piloted
her Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements, fighting to protect the one who is most precious to her.

Both knights had fought each other multiple times by now. Never able to completely finish one
another, always close but not enough to end the feud for good.

Today it will be different. There was no more running, and no more tricks or weapons of mass
destruction to stop either from killing the other.

Today, one of them will die no matter what. Both Kallen and Suzaku knew it.
Guren S.E.I.T.E.N.'s golden claw was held to the side as it flew towards Lancelot Albion. Suzaku
blocked the upcoming claw with an MVS before raising both swords to guard against Kallen's
forward charge. The Black Queen's blade met Lancelot's swords, trying to go past them. When that
didn't work out, Q1 proceeded to raise her claw and made a grab for Lancelot. Suzaku gritted his
teeth as he ducked out of the way while dancing around Guren and coming up from the right side,
his swords aimed at Guren's right arm. Suzaku went for the radiant wave claw, trying to get rid of
Kallen's primary weapon. It wouldn't be so easy and, as expected, Kallen saw it coming.

Her Guren immediately turned towards Lancelot and raised its claw. Instead of trying to grab him
or fire claw again, Kallen simply fired a wide-range radiant shield. Suzaku scowled to himself as
the makeshift shield held against the MVS swords.

Suzaku changed his tactic and flew up, activating his wings and firing hundreds of blaze-luminous
projectiles. Without losing her cool, Kallen dodged each one of them, charging at Suzaku with the
claw ready to strike him down.

One second later, Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. was above Lancelot as Kallen prepared to swing her claw
downward.

Unfortunately, Suzaku had already switched one of his swords with a Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle,
aiming at Guren before pressing the trigger. Once again, Guren activated the radiant wave
technology as an energy shield and blocked the Hadron ray.

Kallen didn't stop her charge, Guren rushing Lancelot even through the blast, red meeting red as
the radiant shield and V.A.R.I.S blast clashed.

Guren moved closer and tried to grab the annoying rifle with its claw. However, Lancelot quickly
pulled the arm away and brought out the second rifle, aiming it directly at Gurren's head.

As Suzaku pressed the trigger, Kallen faltered for a moment before remembering for whom she
was fighting as her Geass command was activated. Protecting Lelouch was her priority above
everything else. Going beyond any human normal reflexes, in less than a second the redhead
turned off her energy wings, causing Guren to drop immediately and Suzaku's jaw to open wide as
his point-blank shot passed by it harmlessly.

Once Guren was just under the white Knightmare, Kallen turned her energy wings back on. Once
she'd stabilized herself, she aimed her claw and fired a continuous blast, Lancelot evading all the
while. Though he wasn't quite fast enough to dodge it all, his shields absorbed the few hits he took
saving the unit and its pilot.

Suzaku didn't waste time in returning fire, both hands converted to V.A.R.I.S rifles. One hadron
blast after another, all missed or were blocked by Guren as it pursued Lancelot Albion.

The male pilot flew back without looking, his entire attention focused on the dragon before him.
Nothing else mattered right now. Once Kallen was out of the fight, Lelouch wouldn't be able to act
fast enough to call for reinforcements. No one else would be able to stop Suzaku once the redhead
pilot was gone for good.

During the entire fight, neither pilot forgot what was on the line. Spirit of vengeance versus loyalty
of love. Suzaku fought to kill and Kallen to protect. Ironic, considering she was trying to kill
Suzaku and anyone left who wanted to hurt Lelouch, but it was for the sake of protecting her K1.
Neither of them spoke, there was nothing left to say by now. Nothing that the other would possibly
accept, anyway.
However, Kallen knew there was something she could do, the same trick a certain Second Knight
of the Round used against Kallen herself back in Moscow.

Reasoning with Suzaku?

No, it was time to rile him up.

'That didn't quite work out when Cinder tried it… but right now simply fighting isn't working
either. Bastard Suzaku is too focused and won't make mistakes as it is.'

"All these deaths, suffering and pain you inflicted upon others- still can't admit you're wrong,
Suzaku!?" Kallen shouted before firing a red ray of death at Suzaku.

"What was that?!" Suzaku yelled back, dodging the attack before launching all of his slash harkens
at Guren. She dodged each one of them and grabbed the last one. Kallen thought to melt it with her
claw, but Lancelot Albion rushed Guren in an attempt to stab it. Kallen let go of slash harken and
blocked the attack.

"You heard me, traitor! You were wrong and you knew it! You always were!" Kallen yelled as she
danced in the air. Guren struck and kicked, trying to hit Lancelot while the White Reaper blocked
and dodged each strike.

"All your reasons, your ideals on why you fought for Britannia, all that stubbornness is
meaningless now! You didn't achieve anything you wanted, instead, you fell even deeper into a
shithole! How many Japanese did you kill, trying to protect them?! How many nations did you
subjugate for Charles and your other Britannian overlords?! How many innocents did you kill for
these bastards?! And what did you get in return? Where is your reward? Where are the fruits of
your hard bloody work? I can tell you where they are, up your ass!"

"You-!" Suzaku's tone was furious as he kicked Guren back. Kallen's Knightmare activated the
shield to block the kick attack and the following point-blank barrage of blaze luminous projectiles
before Guren flew away from Lancelot. "Get back here, coward! Don't you dare talk to me about
innocence! You have no right to speak about how many died because of me when you killed just as
many!"

"Idiot, I didn't kill people and soldiers fighting to protect their homeland…" Kallen smiled darkly.
"At least, Lelouch didn't order me to do that yet."

"You-" Suzaku couldn't believe it. How could she?! "What did Lelouch do to you?"

The Knight of Zero smirked. "He accepted my love and eternal devotion. I gave him my body, soul
and life to prove my loyalty to him. And he gladly took it."

"You're a hypocritical psycho!" Suzaku fired the Super V.A.R.I.S. rifles, knowing full well that
they wouldn't even hit Guren. "All of your accusations, and you aren't better! You killed people
who were ready to die for their homeland, and now you're serving a monster just as bad as
Charles!"

"Of course I am! As long as he orders me, I'll kill whoever's in his way! Britannians, Europeans,
Japanese, Chinese, it doesn't matter! Everything is for his sake!" Kallen admitted with a dreamy
expression. "This is what love is, you see. You'd understand…if your precious little princess was
still with you."

Suzaku froze, disgust and shock twisting his face into a frown. "You're a crazy bitch, Kallen."
"Oh, fuck off, Suzaku. You betrayed your nation for some princess and sold your best friend to a
monster for a title. At least I acknowledge what I did. I chose Lelouch, I put my and his happiness
before others and no one can judge me for it! Lelouch isn't his father, he isn't like the rest of the
Britannian Royal family. You knew him, you saw what he had to go through. Of all people,
Lelouch knows what it will take to make a change in the world for the better. I trust him. I trust his
judgment and entrusted my life to his hands and his vision of a better tomorrow. Japan will be a
free nation, just like every country will be in Lelouch's future world. One where he will make sure
everything is perfect. And I will be there to help, protect him and support him no matter what!"

Kallen raised her claw and formed a radiant blast into a saw before throwing it at Suzaku. Lancelot
Albion dodged it, suspecting it would cause serious damage to either his shield or swords.
However, Kallen repeated the attack with another blast followed by another. Suzaku dodged each
one of them as he spoke again.

"Do you even hear yourself? How are you any better than me!?"

Kallen snickered.

"Because I'm not a coward, I can admit what I am and what I'm doing. Didn't you hear me? These
aren't my brother's methods, but something better. Why don't you get it?! We can fix this good-for-
nothing world, Suzaku! We were both there when the Britannians invaded! They destroyed our
childhood, our chance at normal lives and now we can ensure it won't be repeated. Lelouch will
ensure that! Under his absolute control, Britannia will make up for the evil it did! We can make
sure people won't die for anything! We can fix so much! With Lelouch, with me and others under
his command, we will guarantee world peace!"

"In exchange for their freedom? Of their free will?! How many innocents must die for Lelouch's
vision of a perfect world? How many must become his slaves, pawns to toy with and then
sacrifice?!" Suzaku roared as Lancelot Albion rushed forward, its MVS aimed at Guren's upper
body.

"Look who's talking. You didn't care about any of that when you served Charles as an obedient lap
dog!" Kallen spoke back as she blocked the charge with her left-hand blade. "What is the name
people of Europe gave you? Oh yeah, White Reaper! I'm sure they didn't name you that for being a
calm and reasonable person, Suzaku! How many did you kill just for the promise of becoming the
Knight of One? Were you ever promised such a title or was it just another delusional wish of
yours?! You were nothing to Charles, to his nobles and to the old Britannia! You were just another
fool who got tricked into servitude, thinking he was a hero when he was just another pawn!"

Suzaku glared at Guren. "Everything I did was for the sake of the Japanese-!"

"It was for your own ego! If you truly cared about the Japanese then you would have stopped
Calares from executing our people on the live broadcast! If you cared about us, you would have
helped Lelouch during Black Rebellion! Instead of allowing the Brittanians to bomb us into
oblivion! We were treated like animals by them and you simply watched from the side," Guren
clenched its claw and punched Lancelot. "You piece of shit!"

This time Suzaku didn't react quickly enough to block the attack. The Red Lotus' right hand made
contact with Lancelot's chest plate and sent White Reaper flying back. Kallen pressed on as
Lancelot was falling back, striking again. However, Suzaku blocked the next punch, tossing his
MVS swords away and stopping the claw. Lancelot held Guren's claw with both hands, trying its
best to keep away from the rest of the Knightmare. Kallen quickly activated her claw and was
about to melt Suzaku, but the male pilot raised the claw up before putting its own arm under
Guren's right shoulder, grabbing it in the process and throwing it. Akin to a ball, this time it was
Guren who was sent flying down before Kallen managed to regain control.

'You little-!' Kallen glared at him before dodging the charge as Lancelot Albion managed to return
its swords and was on the offence now. Guren dodged Suzaku's swings without serious problems,
but the redhead knew she wouldn't win if she kept playing defence. She blocked one of the swords
with her own MVS blade and, before Suzaku could bring the second sword, fired her right
shoulder-mounted slash harken. The red slash harken flew toward and went around the sword,
tying it up.

"What the-"

"Mine now!" Kallen smirked as she recalled the slash harken with a shiny MVS sword as a reward.
Guren captured it with the claw and wielded it rather awkwardly, as expected with such a giant
hand. However, Kallen didn't plan on using this thing any more than needed. She immediately
went for the head as Guren, now armed with Lancelot's own sword, tried to stab the golden face of
White Reaper and plunge it toward the cockpit.

Lancelot had to hold the Guren's blade with its right hand while the left stopped the MVS from
getting too close to its face. The Knightmare's free hand grabbed the blade of the sword as sparks
flew from the finger upon contact with the sharp red sword; however, it was a better alternative to
getting stabbed. The hand slowed down the sword as it got too close to Lancelot's face, the tip
touching the space between the green eyes. Close to the scar that was left by Reaper. Suzaku
struggled to hold it before he snapped and screamed.

"I can't lose now!'' The scream was full of desperation and pain as Suzaku kicked away Guren.
Lancelot's right hand stopped blocking the blade and moved to kick off the sword Guren had stolen
from it, grabbing it before activating his energy wings and firing at Kallen. The Knight of Zero
narrowed her eyes as her machine immediately flew away from the green projectiles, but Lancelot
went after her. Both Knightmares with energy wings chased one another, with Lancelot being a
pursuer this time as Suzaku wouldn't stop firing his unit's energy wings.

Eventually, they engaged in close combat again as Guren was first to try and close the distance
between them. Kallen stopped flying away and stopped her Knightmare, turning it 180 degrees
towards Suzaku before firing her claw. Even if the golden radiant wave claw was away from
Guren, it was still fully operational as Kallen fired a radiant wave blast from her claw. As a result,
the golden claw flew towards Lancelot Albion while simultaneously firing at it. Suzaku's eyes
went wide as he had to dodge it, already planning how to cut off the claw from Guren since it was
detached from the Red Lotus for now.

However, Kallen wasn't going to give Suzaku any window of chance as she went for the attack.
Even if Guren was without its claw at the moment, the red Knightmare could still move and fight.
Guren activated its energy wings and rushed Lancelot while its claw was still firing at the white
unit. Suzaku had to block the kick from Guren with Lancelot's right elbow before ducking away
from the radiant wave blast and claw that flew at him from another side. The blast and the claw
itself avoided Guren entirely. What kind of weapon will hurt its wielder after all?

At first glance, it looked as if Guren's claw had a mind of its own as it flew after Lancelot Albion
while the main frame went to attack from the side. However, it was nothing more than good
programming made by Lloyd and Cecile's expertise. The radiant wave claw had a harken booster
and was able to chase its target with a limited set of moves. Not for too long, however, as Kallen
had to eventually recall it before firing again.

Suzaku saw the connecting wire that was keeping the two merged. It was obvious what he needed
to do as Lancelot Albion prepared its MVS and went for the cut, aiming to get rid of Kallen of her
most powerful weapon in the arsenal. Lancelot dodged another radiant blast as it avoided the red
rays that guaranteed certain death. Eventually, it moved up, avoiding the blast as it flew closer to
the wire with a simple plan. Lancelot raised his sword and prepared to cut the wire. However,
without his cursed Geass command to live, Suzaku didn't sense the approach of Guren until it was
too late.

Kallen charged Lancelot, her blade aimed for the cockpit of White Reaper as she attacked from
above. One stab was all she needed to end this fight, their personal war. Suzaku saw Guren when it
was right above him, its intentions clear as day. Lancelot leaned back and fired both of its hip-
mounted slash harkens at Guren. Kallen gritted her teeth as she had to block both of them or they
could pierce her Knightmare, killing her. Guren's blade blocked one and redirected another, but
Kallen could still finish her attack, or at least attempt to do so.

Her element of surprise was lost as Suzaku managed to get out of the way of the red menace. Still,
Guren's blade managed to make contact with Lancelot's cockpit, even if only for a second, leaving
a scar on it.

Suzaku narrowed his eyes before he brought up Lancelot and attempted to kick Guren away. White
Reaper's left leg made contact with Guren's right side, punching the arm that was supposed to have
a claw. Said claw was sent moments ago and was currently on its way back to the main frame.
Once it returned to its rightful place at the right hand, Kallen didn't waste time and proceeded to
grab the leg that dared to kick her.

Suzaku bit his tongue as he brought up Lancelot's left arm which was holding an MVS. He was too
close to Guren and wasn't capable of cutting the red machine. So instead, Lancelot's hand punched
the head, smashing the right antenna ear as it fell off. Kallen felt the hit as her cockpit was
violently shaken, but it wasn't enough to wound or knock her out. Still, it was the closest Suzaku
had gotten to her yet. The grab on Lacenlot's left leg was weakened and Suzaku managed to get
away.

Green energy wings sparkled as Lancelot flew at high speed around Guren. MVS swords went for
the back of the red Knightmare, trying to destroy the back of the cockpit. Suzaku remembered the
difference between the units built by Lloyd and Rakshata Chawla. Unlike his model, Kallen's
machine could handle attacks from the back, as long as they weren't aimed at the chest area.

'As if I will allow you to do that, you bastard!' Kallen didn't need to look back, relying on her
reflexes and experience. Guren turned around and kicked off the sword swing before bringing up
the claw and punching Lancelot in the side. White Reaper flew to the side from the powerful
impact while Kallen attempted to grab Suzaku again. Suzaku allowed her to get close before using
its energy wings to rise up and kicked Guren in the face with a knee. This time it cracked the left
eye on Guren's face, shattering the upper layer and revealing the flashing red underneath.

"Quite fitting for you, Kallen." Suzaku allowed a small jab while Kallen roared.

"You-!"

Kallen was furious. The traitorous bastard managed to hit her again! This was too much, she
needed to get Lancelot on the ground where he wouldn't be able to constantly dodge her attacks.

Now with right blue and left red eye, Guren leapt back while raising its leg to kick Lancelot. The
attack was blocked, but Suzaku didn't notice how Kallen fired her claw again, this time down
before the claw redirected itself and flew towards Lancelot from below. It was pretty close to
Kallen herself, but Red Queen didn't care as she activated radiant wave technology and fired
another red blast. Suzaku thought she was out of her mind, but he had to dodge.
His blaze luminous shield system was activated as some of the blast's particles did almost connect
with Lancelot Albion. However, his attention was away from Kallen for one second and it was
enough for the redhead pilot. Suzaku didn't react in time when Kallen brought Guren from above,
her left fist with an MVS blade in it aimed at Lancelot's main body. As she predicted, Suzaku
blocked the attack, but Kallen was hoping for that. Now her Guren was on top and could push
Lancelot down as Suzaku was too busy blocking the attack. Guren's pinkish energy wings sparkled
as Kallen put all the force her Knightmare had into pressure.

The claw already returned as Guren pushed Lancelot all the way back down to Damocles. White
Reaper wasn't able to stop Red Lotus as the latter had the advantage. Kallen was already preparing
her golden claw and aimed at Suzaku. The former Knight of Seven had to block the blade attack
and simultaneously time the moment Kallen tried to grab him with her claw. Getting out of the way
wasn't the primary concern for him right now.

Eventually, the two of them reached the flying fortress. Suzaku knew if he allowed Kallen to have
her way at this moment, it would be game over for him. Instead of letting the Knight of Zero do as
she pleased before they would crash against the walls of the fortress, Lancelot raised its sword up,
pulling Guren's blade with it. Kallen was open, but she wasn't defenceless as she already prepared
her claw and attempted to stab Lancelot's chest armour with Guren's talons. The green-eyed pilot
frowned but didn't panic. Instead, he fired one of Lancelot's hip-mounted slash harkens as it hit the
claw and redirected it. The claw missed the chest armour and went past the head of Lancelot.

Kallen swore under her breath before, hitting Lancelot's head with the back side of her claw. It
didn't kill or do any actual damage, but at least it sent Lancelot's attention to the right side. Suzaku
pulled away before his sensors showed him that there was a wall behind them. Both Lancelot and
Guren activated their land spinner propulsion systems as they landed on the surface.

Both Knightmares roughly hit the solid ground that was one of Damocles's sections between the
armour. They were in the lower area of the fortress, closer to the warhead cannon and pretty far
away from the top where Lelouch and Nunnally must be right now. Lancelot and Guren both
turned off and hid away their energy wings. Even if they didn't say it, energy consumption was
getting to them and neither knight wanted to run low mid-fight.

'I already experienced what that was like in Moscow.' As much as Kallen disliked Cinder, at least
she will acknowledge the battle experience that the annoying vixen provided her with.

Both Knightmares prepared themselves for another attack and this dance of theirs. However,
before Lancelot Albion could even make a move, three Alexander Hounds jumped at it from the
shadows. Kallen was surprised but remembered that Lelouch was planning to have his lifeless
drones scout Damocles once the shields were down. Since the majority of his army was still
fighting, none of them could quit their post and join the attack on the giant fortress.

Kallen had an idea to blast Suzaku while he was dealing with three Hounds, destroying all of them
in the process. However, her attention turned towards the sole Hound that approached her Guren
with a spare battery in its hands. Kallen blinked, not knowing what she should prioritize.

The chance to kill Suzaku right now, or get a new battery with the likely outcome of Guren simply
outlasting Lancelot in the long fight?

Suzaku didn't give her time to make a decision. Before Kallen could do anything, Lancelot threw
one of its MVS swords at the battery, destroying it and blowing up the generous Hound that sought
to help her. Guren's radiant wave shielding covered Kallen from the explosion.

Lancelot Albion quickly dealt with three Hounds even with one MVS sword. When one of them
tried to stab Suzaku's cockpit, the Japanese boy rotated his Knightmare, making the Hound that
jumped on it lose balance and fall before Lancelot crushed it under its feet. One slice was cut in
half another Hound in half and it went offline. The last Hound attempted to stab the chest armour
of Lancelot with its wrist blades. However, Lancelot's free hand caught the head of the drone and
crushed it, destroying the central processor.

Suzaku threw the headless Hound at Kallen, Guren simply batting it away with its claw and
sending it flying off the fortress. Now, both Knightmares and their pilots were alone again. No one
else would dare to interfere in their final duel.

'I wouldn't mind a new battery and someone to distract Suzaku again.' Kallen thought with
irritation before she decided to speak with the boy again.

"How are you feeling, Suzaku? Do you feel like a hero now? Here, in Damocles, the ship that
would have been used to cause chaos and destruction on the entire planet by your prince?"

"I never said I was a hero, never tried to be. Unlike Lelouch. All I wanted was to protect the
Japanese people. Our people. The people you've discarded to follow that butcher around like a
dog!"

The Knight of Zero narrowed her eyes. "I care about the people I love, my mother and Lelouch.
The Japanese people will prosper under Lelouch's rule, it will be better than the previous Britannia,
better than the old Japan ever was under Kururugi's rule."

"Do you even hear yourself, Kallen?! You're placing your trust and the lives of millions in the
hands of Lelouch, the same Lelouch who manipulated everyone around him all this time!" Suzaku
shouted in frustration. "He doesn't care about our people, we are all the same to him!"

"You're right about one thing, Suzaku. Lelouch doesn't see the difference between the Japanese,
Britannians and everyone else. Now that he destroyed the old Britannia, everyone is the same in
his eyes. And that means he will rule and lead everyone equally. No more Britannian superiority
bullshit! No more Numbers, and no more Elevens. Isn't this what your Princess wanted? What she
tried to accomplish? Be happy your and her dream work is being completed and perfected by my
emperor!"

Suzaku hit the panel of his Knightmare. "You don't even know what Lelouch will do! He has
Geass, he can brainwash millions into becoming his slaves and never question him. Is this the
better future you fight for?!"

"Heh… heheheheheheheh-!" Clutching her stomach, Kallen couldn't help but start laughing in the
same manner her lover did. Insanity. The mad laughter would make anyone look at the redhead
pilot in fear and worry. Suzaku definitely felt so worried that Kallen was entirely lost at this point.
"After all this time knowing Lelouch, is this what you believe will happen? That Lelouch will
simply Geass entire mankind into submission? Do you think he needed his Geass to create the
Black Knights? To make us follow him? No! As Zero, Lelouch never needed anything but his own
words and actions. We followed him because he promised us what no one else could do. He gave
us a chance to fight Britannia and win. The future where we can make a change! And we fucked it
up! I wish he used Geass on us so we wouldn't have to point guns at our own leader."

'I don't care anymore if I'm a Black Knight or not. I'm Lelouch's Q1, his Knight of Zero. But if we
were smarter, less trusting of Schneizel- heh, no more what-if questions, Kallen. Come on, I
already promised to drop it. It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that I and Lelouch are
together now.'
After all, it doesn't matter what banner she fought for, as long as it was with Lelouch. Suzaku can
spout whatever nonsense he wants to believe. It won't change the truth Kallen knows.

"So… what makes Lelouch evil, Suzaku? That he has Geass? That he is willing to fight and do
whatever it takes to win the war? Or what? Because innocent people die? We have been at war
ever since our childhood. This is what happens during warfare. Or do you want to tell me you
didn't spill the blood of the innocent in Europe as you massacred their people for your master
Charles?"

"Kallen, you cannot understand what I had to endure." Suzaku suddenly spoke with a cold tone as
Lancelot stopped fighting for a moment. Both Knightmares stood in a defensive stance,
anticipating an attack from another, but for now, none came. Seeing that he had a window to talk
calmly, Suzaku continued. "I had to sacrifice so much. My father, my pride and the chance of being
accepted by our people. I know that once I have become an honorary Britannian, my own people
would hate me. But I did it anyway if only to give them hope. To show them that we can work with
Britannia and change it from within… and as much as I hate to say it, Lelouch proved my point. He
did change Britannia from within. He did what I killed for..."

"He didn't." Kallen quickly corrected him.

Instead of fighting and striking him, she decided to speak.

"Lelouch always wanted to destroy Britannia for what it did, for its crimes. And he succeeded.
Charles is dead. The nobility and the number system are gone. Everything that was wrong with the
empire was destroyed and is now being replaced. Darwinism is no more, now strength is used for
the sake of the weak, to protect them. Just as Lelouch created the Black Knights with the intent to
protect Nunnally back when she was his meaning of life. Charles's Britannia would never become
like this, with your way of trying to change it. Accept the truth, Suzaku, that the old Britannia was a
fascist state that existed to spread its misery to others. Britannians lived in prosperity at the
expense of everyone else, that was the foundation of their ideology, their nation. You gave an oath
naively believing they will reward you, thinking you will be allowed to be equal to them when it
went directly against their worldview. You wouldn't. They would never allow it."

The last part was spoken with pity in her voice. For all the hate Kallen had for Suzaku, she also felt
sorry for him. He was fighting, killing, and ready to die for the system that would never value him
beyond a title Charles gave him for selling out Lelouch. The only reason Suzaku even managed to
become a Knight of Seven and get far in Britannia was because of Zero, because of Lelouch.
However, there was always a limit to Suzaku's luck. He was an attack dog, similar to Kallen. The
original Order of Black Knights was made mostly of Japanese who had the same wish as Kallen
did in the past. She was part of that system and the Order wouldn't even think about abandoning
her... until they did over Lelouch, but Britannia would sacrifice Suzaku without a second thought.
Kallen knew it, and so did he.

"..."

Suzaku was the target of the predatory system that simply 'spared' him from being eaten alive and
killed like many others. That was the Britannian Empire that Suzaku tried to change, thinking he
could do it alone. Without Euphemia, he had no one who shared his wish of a free and prosperous
Japan that existed in peace with Charles Britannia. Everyone only used him as a soldier, knowing
very well that Kururugi Suzaku would obey any order if only it meant it could bring him closer to
his dream.

"You got to pilot Lancelot only because Lelouch attacked Clovis and drew him to desperation. You
are a Knight of the Round only because you sold Lelouch. You're here because you are a useful
tool to use against Lelouch. Lelouch is the reason you got this far because he created a chance
where you could accomplish anything. If it wasn't for him, you would have died as a mere foot
soldier under Clovis. Suzaku, your dream of changing that Britannia… it would never work, accept
it."

There was a long moment of silence as neither moved nor said anything. Kallen took a deep breath.
She didn't plan on giving Suzaku a chance to leave, he was too dangerous. However, the redhead
pilot was tired of hearing his accusations of Lelouch. If she was going to end it for good, she
needed Suzaku to accept his own sins, his own mistakes and then she would kill him. Grant him
ultimate freedom.

'Hero of justice, that's what I wished to be when the Black Knights were created… I can see my
own shortcomings. That I'm just like my mother, ready to twist and accept the world around me as
long as I can be with the person I love. I will do whatever it takes to keep Lelouch alive, no matter
the consequences. I'm a soldier, a killer… and I accept that. Suzaku, you must come to terms with
your own fate.'

It was meaningless, Kallen knew it. There was only one outcome for their duel. Suzaku will lose,
she won't allow any other future to exist. Lelouch won't be haunted by the ghost of his past
anymore. To create a better future, Kallen will cut down on the past that might hold back Lelouch's
wish.

Suzaku Kururugi was silent. Was he thinking about his goal, how real or how futile it was from the
start? Was it all worth it or not? Kallen could never understand the thought process inside Suzaku's
head, but she knew she was right.

You couldn't create a better future for your people under a system that would never allow it.

Solution for this problem?

Fight it. Burn the system down. Destroy it.

And from the ashes of the past create a new and better tomorrow where you can live in peace. One
where you can be happy.

In retrospect, Kallen always aimed to achieve her happiness. However, back then she thought
freeing Japan would make her happy, avenge Naoto and make his life goal a reality. The difference
between then and now is that Kallen realized she wants more from life. She wants to live it with
people she cares about.

'Destroying the system that turned mom into a second-class citizen and servant. One that sent
Lelouch and Nunnally to die in the war as children. Now that Lelouch destroyed it, we can create
something new, something better. Together. I'm a soldier, a killer. But I will create a better world,
one where I can live with mom and be with Lelouch. Where we are happy together, forever and
ever. I won't allow anyone to ruin my happiness!''

That was a worthy wish, one Kallen was ready to kill for. And she intended to do so if required.

After what felt like an eternity, Suzaku finally broke the dead silence as he spoke.

"I can't, Kallen… not after all this time. After everything… After everything I have done, I can't
stop now. Too many people have died because of me. I acknowledge my sins… I did when I
realized that I couldn't accomplish Euphemia's dream. I can't do what she would have wanted.
Euphemia would never approve of my actions, I know that but I tried to fulfil her dream, our
dream. I thought if I followed their rules, played their game then I..."

"You thought they would reward you. That you can prove Euphemia's wishes true." Kallen never
met the princess in person, but Lelouch told her what truly transpired on that day. 'He said she was
the kindest one among his family, the one who genuinely cared about people. She didn't deserve
her fate and such a legacy. But it won't justify Suzaku's actions after her death no matter what.'

"I'm jealous of you, Kallen." Suzaku suddenly said. "If your feelings about Lelouch are true and it
isn't some kind of lie he tricked you into, then you have everything I lost. A love to protect and
fight for, a goal you believe is just and personal desires you put before whatever others think… I
have none of those anymore. I lost Euphemia and at this point, I can't stop. I'm a monster, one who
is as terrible as Lelouch himself. There is no turning back for me. For either of us. You realize that,
Kallen?"

"I do, Suzaku," Kallen spoke as she prepared Guren's radiant wave claw. The Red Lotus raised its
claw and prepared to lunge forward. The red circles around her eyes appeared once again as Kallen
declared her life commitment. "I won't allow you to hurt him. I will protect Lelouch until the end of
times… it is time to end our fight, for good."

"Let's finish it." Suzaku smiled bitterly as Lancelot took his MVS sword in both hands, ready for
the end of this duel.

The two knights rushed each other. There was no need for energy wings, their batteries should be
prioritised for the fight itself. The red Knightmare lowered its claw closer to the ground, bringing
up the blade in the left hand forward. Guren planned to block the attack with its blade before either
grabbing or piercing Lancelot with the golden claw. Lancelot needed to get back its second sword
that was still stuck in the ground behind Kallen. Suzaku aimed to go past Guren, blocking and
dodging its attack before it was fully armed.

The knight without a true master moved close to Guren as the latter attempted to stab Lancelot
when Kallen realized Suzaku wouldn't try to strike her yet. Instead, Lancelot jumped over Guren
and landed behind it. The Red Lotus didn't take her eyes off White Reaper and jumped right after
him. Lancelot grabbed its second sword and immediately raised both of them in crest form to block
Guren's blade attack. Kallen tried to bring down both swords before grabbing Lancelot's head and
defeating the Knightmare with one radiant melting attack.

The first part of her plan worked as the mass of Guren was enough to force Lancelot to lower its
swords towards the ground. However, when Kallen extended her claw forward and aimed for the
head of Knightmare, Suzaku let go of the swords and grabbed the claw instead. Kallen was caught
by surprise but it meant little if she could activate her claw regardless. Suzaku didn't have the
intention to allow her to do so and instead moved Lancelot. The White Reaper made a half circle,
planning on the red Knightmare not to be well balanced because of the claw. Lancelot circled as it
tossed Guren backwards.

The machine landed on its legs, the claw slowing it down with a slide and quickly sparkled red as
Guren created a radiant wave saw and threw it at Lancelot. Suzaku dodged a few of them as he
moved closer towards Kallen, his sword aimed for the head. Guren allowed Lancelot to get close
enough before it jumped in the air, using the wall on the left side to bounce off before diving in
towards Lancelot. Kallen finally grabbed Lancelot's head but saw that Suzaku was bringing up his
swords to cut off her claw.

It was annoying, but she needed to get rid of the stupid red swords first before she could kill him.
So instead, while Guren was still in the air, Kallen moved it forward, bringing the multi-tone
Knightmare to land behind Lancelot. However, since Guren was still holding onto its head, it acted
akin to a lever as Lancelot was sent flying back. Guren moved forward, its spinners driving the red
Knightmare right under Lancelot before it could land. Kallen aimed her shoulder-mounted slash
harkens at the MVS swords while Suzaku was off balance.

The former Knight of Seven did see her slash harkens and twisted Lancelot in the air as it moved to
block the wire-tied projectiles before landing. Guren's blade met Lancelot's sword once again and
the two were stuck in the lock.

The blue and red eyes of Guren stared at Lancelot's face full of scars before continuing their dance.

Guren attempted to grab Lancelot's legs and melt them. Lancelot would try to use its swords like
scissors to cut off Guren's head. White Reaper's hip-mounted slash harkens shot forward as they
went for the middle section of Guren, trying to pierce it. Meanwhile, Kallen launched her own pair
of slash harkens.

All four of them wound up tangled with each other. Guren and Lancelot immediately pulled back,
trying to yank the other Knightmare over. Their land spinners went into reverse mode as sparks
flew out of the wheels under them.

As the tug of war ground to a stalemate, the Red Lotus decided to end it and aimed her golden
claw, activating the radiant wave technology and firing a powerful blast at Lancelot.

Suzaku dodged it before he moved his Knightmare over the edge as he tried to bring Kallen closer
and toss her away. Both still had working energy wings, but at least this way Suzaku would have
the high ground. When it didn't look like it would work out as he wanted, Suzaku pulled out a
Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle and fired it at Guren. Kallen blocked the blast with her claw's radiant wave
shielding before she came up with a risky plan.

'Suzaku wants to toss me over the edge of the fortress? Alright. Let's break his brain.'

Kallen moved Guren as it jumped over the edge, both Knightmares were still connected by their
slash-harkens. Lancelot was forcibly pulled over the edge as well, but Suzaku managed to stand his
ground and stop his unit from falling. His Lancelot had more weight than Kallen's Guren.
However, Kallen had a different plan as Guren was now standing on the wall in a horizontal
position, thanks to its slash harkens being tied together with Lancelot's. Now, Suzaku had a choice.
Cut off his own slash harkens and let Kallen activate her energy wings first, or try to shoot her like
this with a Super V.A.R.I.S. rifle. However, she would block his attack no matter what, Suzaku
knew it. He couldn't understand what she was trying to do, but she had some sort of plan. Suzaku
was sure of it!

"I won't fall for your tricks, Kallen!"

Instead of playing her game, Suzaku will fight by his rules. Instead of doing what he thought
Kallen would anticipate and prepare for, Lancelot Albion prepared to cut the slash harkens that tied
them. However, before he could do so one lonely Hound appeared out of nowhere. Perhaps it
followed the sounds of battle and acted once it saw Lancelot. It immediately jumped at Suzaku's
Knightmare, trying to stab it.

Lancelot Albion had to awkwardly turn around to stop it while it was in the air, but the corpse of
the Hound hit the white machine and sent it flying back. Suzaku's eyes went wide as he used the
sword in his left hand to slow down his descent, falling towards Guren. Was it somehow part of her
plan or simple luck?

"-! Was this your plan, Kallen? Fight while being stuck to the wall?" Suzaku couldn't see the logic
but knew something was wrong. However, without his command to live the White Reaper couldn't
sense the danger.

"My plan was simple and absurd." Kallen proudly admitted. She wasn't Lelouch to come up with
complicated and detailed schemes for fighting, she just relied on her instincts and at-the-moment
choices. It worked so far and it works now. "All I needed was for you to get out of that open
corridor and to a more open location. Since now-"

Guren's pink energy wings pulsed as Kallen prepared to fly.

"-I can do this."

Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements shot for the sky, blotting out the sun in Suzaku's field of vision
and casting the silhouette of a demon. White Reaper's green eyes went wide, he didn't foresee this
at all. Suzaku wasn't able to react, his Lancelot still holding on to the sword to not fall off the wall.
And so, when Guren flew towards Lancelot with its claw and the intention to grab the white
Knightmare, Suzaku could do only one thing. Lancelot couldn't block the attack but the free hand
with the second MVS sword was able to pierce the claw and cut it off. Guren lost its most powerful
weapon, but Kallen didn't allow that to stop her. The claw was destroyed, but the connecting arm
was still operational.

Kallen pressed on and plunged her damaged right hand forward. The sharp edge of the wounded
arm pierced Lancelot's chest, going right between the upper armour and the head. The sharp golden
edge went through the machine as it dug into the cockpit. Painfully gritting his teeth as a small
explosion rocked the interior, the Knight of Seven attempted to do anything, but his panel was
destroyed and what parts of the main screen were working showed the warnings before they froze
in a static image. Suzaku had to pilot Lancelot blindly now as he instinctively moved the controls.

As Kallen flew up, she saw that Lancelot was still able to move its arms. She wouldn't allow
Suzaku to stop her now! Guren brought up its left hand as Lancelot managed to grab it after letting
go of the MVS sword. The Red Lotus still managed to stab Lancelot's right shoulder deep enough
for the right arm to stop moving, no longer working. Suzaku fired two hip-mounted slash harkens
at Guren as they went right towards the waist of the red Knightmare, damaging it. Kallen bit her
tongue as her Knightmare was shaken.

Lancelot couldn't turn on its energy wings despite Suzaku's best efforts. Meanwhile, Kallen saw
the warning of her battery dying out, she still had 28% left, but the damage and energy wings were
quickly eating up the remaining power. Still, she was close and had the upper hand.

Without letting go, Guren slammed Lancelot against the wall as the red Knightmare dragged the
enemy machine while blasting off. Lancelot Albion's cockpit hit the surface of Damocles as sparks
flew from the conjunction between the fortress and Knightmare. Suzaku was violently shaken
inside his cockpit, doing his best to not lose focus even if death might be guaranteed at this point.
Guren dragged Lancelot like this for quite some time, neither pilot paid attention as one tried to
stay alive, while the other did her best not to let her enemy get away.

Eventually, Guren wasn't able to continue pulling Lancelot like this. The remains of the right arm
finally broke under the weight of the heavier white Knightmare. Pieces of the arm scattered over
the air as Guren let go and slid across the surface before floating away with its wings. Kallen lost
her most powerful weapon, and her battery was almost dead. However, Lancelot and Suzaku were
in a far worse position.

Lancelot Albion, the infamous White Reaper, didn't move as the white Knightmare was embedded
in the outside wall of Damocles. If one were to look closely, one would see a giant black track that
was left by Lancelot on the surface of the fortress, indicating the lengthy distance Guren carried it
through. Eventually, Lancelot stopped and could no longer move, its systems were fried and
inoperable despite its pilot's best efforts to fix it. Nothing was working, except the cockpit ejection
system that was implemented by Mairel. However, Suzaku was still against the wall of Damocles,
though perhaps if the layers were thin enough…

"Kallen… you got me," Suzaku whispered softly.

The inside of his cockpit was lit up with a red emergency colour, around the huge hole formed in
the place where Guren stabbed Lancelot with its appendage. While it was still intact, it had also
done more than pierce through the armour; however, the biggest danger that was certainly going to
destroy Lancelot now was the Core Luminous. Even if Guren didn't pierce it directly, the damage
and stress Lancelot endured until now, especially with this last manoeuvre, would destroy the main
power source of the war machine.

"Hah! Hehehe, I finally did it." Kallen couldn't help but laugh. She finally beat Suzaku. No more
stupid commands to live and F.L.E.I.J.A. to save Suzaku. This was it, Kallen was sure! "I won,
Suzaku! This is-"

The end of their journey.

After all this time, after all their battles, this was finally it. She won.

'We switched sides in a way. Now I serve the Emperor and he tries to destroy the new world order
Lelouch creates. Heh, so this is the real irony.'

The Knight of Zero, Red Queen and Lelouch's bodyguard smiled bitterly. Kallen always dreamed
of this moment, especially once she and Lelouch became an item. The worst enemy is slain. The
redhead felt euphoric, she finally accomplished her own wish and proved who is the better fighter
between them. And yet, it was somewhat unfortunate she finally killed her own nemesis. Still, it
was for the sake of Lelouch and his wish. Kallen promised to burn the world for her King, for
Lelouch.

The bitter smile turned into a proud smirk as the Red Lotus accepted her victory.

"Farewell, Suzaku."

The duel was over.

White Reaper was no more.

The Knight of Zero, Kallen, won.

Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements flew back as Kallen watched Lancelot's stale corpse. As the red
Knightmare gained some distance, she finally saw it. Lancelot Albion exploded, the flames quickly
engulfing the entire machine, leaving nothing behind. The red circles around her blue eyes
disappeared, for now, the biggest threat to Lelouch's life was gone, forever.

'This is over. Suzaku is gone at last.'

Kallen let out an exhausted sigh. The fatigue after the fight, after every battle she was part of
today, finally started to get to her. She was tired but still needed to get back to her K1. However,
the blaring noise brought her attention back to the low-energy warnings. Guren might fall from the
sky at any moment. Kallen still had a working cockpit ejection system and could survive the fall,
but from this height, she was a little sceptical. Eventually, Guren's systems went offline. The lights
in the blue and red eye of the Knightmare went out as Red Lotus started to fall.

'Oh, shit!'

Kallen tried to turn on the system again and maybe try to latch onto Damocles, but she had no such
luck. Well, she had luck in a different form as someone quickly grabbed Guren from behind and
stopped it from falling. Blue eyes went wide and a thankful expression formed on the redhead's
face, but her smile quickly dissipated and her mood went sour when she heard the voice. Kallen
was saved, but now she wasn't so eager to thank her saviour.

'Why did it have to be her? I would take anyone at the moment, even C.C!'

"Oh, my! What do we have here? Did the fast and fearsome Scarlet Dragon run out of energy in
the middle of a fight? Again? Kallen dear, I have to say, this reminds me of a certain fight you had
back in Moscow. I was sure you would learn something after that fiasco. But perhaps I expected
too much from our poor little Kallen." The haughty black-haired vixen sang happily as her Amber
was holding Guren, not letting go. "I learned from my mistake that night and made sure I won't
have the same critical failure. I was sure you would do the same."

"Stop making fun of me and give me your battery, Cinder. I would have more use for it than you.
Besides, your Amber can just suck the energy out of others, so you can go and do that, Carmilla."
Kallen said with an irritated tone.

"Make myself as useless and defenceless as you at the moment? Pfff, as if! Unlike you, I had to
take care of serious matters. Thanks to my efforts, and a little bit to others, the battle is as good as
over." Cinder proudly announced while Kallen blinked.

"For real?"

The one-eyed demoness nodded. "For real. The remaining forces of the coalition are pretty much
destroyed. With the death of the Knights of the Round and Wizard, there was no one to guide
them. The trash from Peace Mark tried to escape while others put on the last stand. Some small
pockets of the enemies are being dealt with, but none of them will get away… I see that despite my
earlier comments, you were busy." Cinder's gaze fell upon what was the destroyed corpse of
Lancelot Albion. "Congratulations, Q1… you won."

Kallen leaned against her controls in the form of the bike. It still felt weird, knowing Suzaku was
gone, knowing that she finally defeated him for good.

"Cinder, you said the enemy Knights of the Round are dead."

The Second nodded. "Yes. With the exception of Anya Alstreim and Nonette Enneagram, all other
traitorous Knights were eliminated."

"Good," Kallen sighed in relief, feeling at ease now. They were enemies of Lelouch and would
have tried to hurt him. Kallen couldn't allow it. "I didn't see Gino on the way here, did you fight
him?"

"Yeah, I did. Loverboy put up quite a fight, not even thinking about surrendering. Yelling about
how Lelouch Geassed you." Cinder would admit the battle was quite enjoyable, even if she wasn't
fighting the former knight one on one this time. "I'm actually unsure who took his life. Either me or
Arthur, we can't decide. So it was a team effort. Feeling bad for killing a guy who was stupid
enough to like you? Kallen, I know you had issues with loyalty but Gino? Come on, you could do
better, well, you already do."
Kallen groaned. "Stop it, Cinder. If Gino was hellbent on getting in Lelouch's way then I would
have killed him myself. No doubt about it. Whether I'm a decent person or not, I won't allow
anyone to harm Lelouch… another girl, Anya, she's the one who passed by Lelouch's mother. I
don't know how that Geass worked, but we're sure there isn't a ghost of Lelouch's dead mom inside
her head?"

"Hmm, Marianne's spirit is no longer inside Anya. So, if you want to ask for Lelouch's parent's
blessing then you know whom we have to ask." Both Knights trembled when the image of a certain
terrifying maid ninja came to their minds. "Let's… go back."

"Y-yeah, let's. I need a battery and I'm good to go." Back to Lelouch. Even if all false Knights were
defeated, her K1 will still need Kallen by his side.

Amber helped Guren to fly towards their forces where the Red Lotus could receive help. Damocles
was pretty much under their control and no enemies would dare to attack the fortress that now
belonged to White Emperor, not that there were enemies left.

Meanwhile, the young monarch was having his own battle with an unexpected foe. Neither of the
vi Britannia's siblings knew they wouldn't be alone.

Damocles garden.

Ever since that dreadful night back at their childhood home, Lelouch hoped that his little sister
Nunnally would be able to see and walk again. Year after year, no matter what was around them,
be it an invasion or hiding among Asfords, the older vi Britannia sibling didn't stop hoping and
doing his best to help his little sister. Doctors said it was useless, that Nunnally would never walk
again and will never open her eyes again. That it was her life. Back then Lelouch couldn't accept it,
he promised to make a better world for his precious sister and make sure she would live.

But-

All of that, the blindness and inability to walk again. It was all lies. The attack on Marianne where
Nunnally was supposedly covered by their mother to protect her from the attack. Lies. Nothing but
lies created by their own parents, by Charles who implemented the false memory in the heads of
his own children. What kind of father could traumatise his kids like this? Make his own daughter
believe she was crippled and would never see the light of day again? How could they commit such
an atrocious act?

Simple, they didn't care about their own children. They didn't care about anyone.

Marianne and Charles were too far gone in their mad quest to slay 'God'. Delusional fools who
abandoned any reasoning and delved deeper into this mad wish of theirs. His uncle V.V., the Geass
Order. All the suffering they caused to the world, to their children. It was sickening. So, it wasn't a
surprise when the consequences of their doing come back to destroy their dream, dash their hopes
and spit in their face. Every lie will eventually be discovered, and sooner or later the truth will
come out.

And right now, the truth came out in the form of a miracle to a fabricated tragedy. Just another lie
Charles and Marianne created that was finally destroyed.

Nunnally vi Britannia could walk and see once again.

If it was done in the past, back when everything was easier, Lelouch would have been happy. No,
the raven-haired Royal would have been on Cloud Nine from the shock, happiness, and bliss. To
see his little sister be able to walk and see again, that might have been a miracle, true happiness.

'If it was back then… however, things have changed, and life is no longer as simple.'

The true monarch and ruler of the Holy Britannian Empire, 99th Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia
stared at the self-proclaimed 100th Empress Nunnally vi Britannia, a faker. Both siblings stood in
the beautiful garden on the top of Damocles that was meant to duplicate one from their childhood
in Aries Imperial Villa. A cruel joke considering Schneizel would never expect Nunnally to regain
her sight. Except she did.

"Nunnally…" Lelouch's voice had a mix of dozens of emotions as he looked at the fierce face of
his little sister. So much he wanted to ask, to say. However, he had far more pressing matters.
"Nunnally vi Britannia, you dared to challenge me over the throne of Britannia. You declared
yourself Empress and had the audacity to threaten the safety of my Empire with your delusional
plans. According to the regulations of my nation, you have broken multiple laws. Treason, acts of
terrorism, colliding with war criminals and many more. Normally, your sentence would be death
for each crime you have committed… however, since you were merely a tool to Schneizel and
others, I can write off your misdeeds since you were nothing but the face of our brother. Hand over
the staff and surrender."

Lelouch spoke with a cold and emotionless tone. His gaze was the same as he watched Nunnally.
Lelouch didn't know what to expect. Lelouch could never imagine this happening. And so, it
would be an underestimation to say that the White Emperor was caught off guard once again and
even terrified a little bit when the girl in front of him burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Hehehe… ahahahahahahahaha!" Nunnally vi Britannia laughed. The same laughter Lelouch had
when life went insane around him. "Oh, Lelouch. I finally get to see your real face and this is the
first thing you say to me. Hmm, what callousness, brother. But I can forgive you for this."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "Forgive? Nunnally, I think you don't understand your situation. Can't
you see that it is over? I killed Schneizel and his forces are being destroyed at this moment. You
lost, your coalition is no more. Victory is mine and so is Damocles. Surrender and for the sake of
those who wish for it, I'm willing to spare you."

"Oh my! It seems it is you who doesn't understand what kind of situation you're in right now,
Lelouch." Nunnally smiled innocently before she pressed the button on the end of the staff.
Lelouch froze in his place.

"What have you-"

"By this point, I expect your little tin soldiers to take over the arsenal of F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads. Of
course, someone like you will make sure to cut off Schneizel's access to his most powerful
weapon. However, what you couldn't know is the fact that the staff in my hands is capable of
detonating the warheads even without firing them from a cannon."

Time froze as Lelouch looked at Nunnally with uncertainty bubbling up inside him. His mask was
perfect and didn't show any emotions, but inside he started to feel a little panic.

"You're bluffing, Nunnally. Schneizel would never trust such mechanism to someone-"

"To someone who might use it against him? No. But, Schneizel wouldn't think too long about
giving this staff to a little girl who can't see or move on her own as far as he knows." Nunnally's
smile was innocent, but it was just another mask. "It was Schneizel's last resort for dealing with
you. He knew you might get inside the fortress, so instead of doing the dirty work himself, he
would leave it to me, expecting me to press the right combination. I only need to press the button
four times for the entire warhead arsenal to explode, taking us all out."

"Do you honestly expect me to believe this nonsense?"

"Heh, call your forces and ask them if warheads are activated."

Lelouch stared at his sister for a moment while Nunnally continued smiling. This wasn't good at
all. The White Emperor didn't turn his gaze away from her as he pressed the communicator in his
ear and contacted the Scarlet Guards who were sent to take over the arsenal and guard it.

"What is the status of the F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads?"

After a momentary silence, one of them answered. "Your Majesty, all warheads appeared to be
activated-!"

"Crap," Lelouch swore under his breath while Nunnally giggled.

"Language, brother. It isn't befitting for the Emperor to curse in front of a little innocent girl such
as myself." She gave him a big smile, but Lelouch felt anything but calm.

"What have you done? Answer me!"

"Calm down, I only pressed the button once. Usually, when the warhead is loaded into the cannon,
the first signal will automatically launch the warhead and activate F.L.E.I.J.A. Once it is outside
Damocles's zone, the activated warhead will explode on its own because of the reaction. However,
I can force the warheads to react while they are still inside the fortress in a sleep state. Right now,
the warheads in the arsenal shouldn't be able to explode, unless I press three more times and force
the reaction."

Lelouch made sure he was knowledgeable about F.L.E.I.J.A. properties before the battle so he
would be able to use the Eliminator efficiently and combat Nina's weapon. He did remember that
an activated F.L.E.I.J.A. reacted to the surrounding area and while it was still in a sleeping state in
the safe container it couldn't explode unless provoked. So, perhaps there was some truth to
Nunnally's words.

"So, please don't do anything silly that might make me do that, Lulu! Don't even think about
calling your forces, I don't want anyone to ruin our reunion. That includes your little fan club of
girls. I'm happy my brother found someone, in fact several girlfriends in fact. But please, don't get
them involved here. Oh, and don't even attempt to take off your lenses and use Geass on me,
Lelouch." Nunnally spoke with a knowing smile. "In the two seconds it takes you to do that and
give a command, I will be able to press this little button two more times."

'Wait, two-?' As Lelouch was thinking, Nunnally pressed the button on the staff once again. 'She
isn't playing around… and she knows about my Geass usage. Was it because of her talks with
D.S.? No, she wouldn't reveal something like this to Nunnally. Then how did she learn it?!'

"What do you want, Nunnally? What are you planning? You can't get away from Damocles, you
can't win and take the throne on your own. Your so-called supporters and servants among
Schneizel's forces are either dead or won't be able to do anything for you. Ha, not that they ever
were going to. You're nothing but a puppet after all. Schneizel was the real power behind your little
throne on the wheels."

"How funny, Lelouch. But you are misunderstanding the situation, dear brother. I don't care about
the throne, about Schneizel or the maggots who followed me because of him." Nunnally's innocent
smile didn't disappear but her tone was full of disgust. "Let them all die for all I care. They never
saw me as anything but a tool. So why should I care about their worthless lives?"

'This… this doesn't sound like Nunnally I knew.'

"You didn't answer my question, Nunnally. What do you want to gain from this? And what you
meant when you said-" Lelouch paused, still feeling rather uncomfortable saying it, Perhaps
because of his own past with both C.C and D.S. when it came to this topic. "Puppet Requiem.
What the hell is that?"

Nunnally's purple eyes, the same ones as his, shone with delight as Lelouch asked. "Tell me,
Lelouch. Did you ever think about burning down this world?"

"Do you know who you are asking? Of course I did. That's what I was doing all this time. As both
Zero and now White Emperor. The world we were born into is a cruel and violent place. The
superpowers in charge did nothing to fix the mess they were making, so it is only natural that such
a world should be remade into something better. Something more."

Britannian Darwinism was terrible for obvious reasons. It was a system that couldn't exist for too
long. However, the remaining alternatives weren't good either. European oligarchic democracy was
nothing but a facade of imperialistic ambitions hidden behind populist votes. The Chinese mix of
empire and the federal government was a mess where corrupt eunuchs got all the power, only
slightly different from Britannia but wholly incompetent. And who even remembered what the
Middle Eastern Federation was doing?

"Colonisation, slavery, wars, famine, poverty, inequality, racism as state policy and fascist beliefs."
Lelouch listed with irritation. "Humanity existed for several millennia and yet we refuse to get rid
of such old concepts that destroy us. We developed Knightmares and even this fortress, all only to
kill each other more effectively. What other species will create weapons capable of wiping entire
life on the planet? Mankind is ridiculous, we are a mess."

"Does that mean you despise humanity?" Nunnally wondered. She and Lelouch never had this kind
of philosophical talk. Since she was breaking every status quo she might as well have one now.

"Of course not! How can I despise our kind if it is my wish to see it improved? Humanity is many
things. Violent and cruel? Absolutely. But we're also capable of showing compassion and kindness
when we aren't busy killing each other. I have seen the people's will to see change, to have a better
life and to exist in peace. In Europe, I saw people welcoming me because they believed I could
make a change and help them. I saw people willing to look back on their past and work together
towards a better life for all of them. Of course, there are challenges and difficulties on the way, but
no war is fought without struggle. My crusade against the old world is a war for the sake of the
future itself. And I did destroy the old world, at least inside Britannia. But Britannia alone isn't the
only one that must be fixed. Now I want to destroy the world's concepts of the past that allowed the
likes of our parents to gain power." Lelouch declared passionately as Nunnally watched him with
hidden amazement. "Even if it takes my entire life. no, even if it takes my life I will accomplish
this task. That's what I fight for and will die if required. This-"

"Is your own Requiem," Nunnally spoke with a soft tone. "Or more correctly, it might become your
Zero Requiem, hehe~!"

Lelouch didn't move as he carefully studied his sister. Nunnally appeared to be in a playful mood,
but she was having a hard time simply standing up. And yet, she never let go of the staff and not
once moved her gaze off Lelouch, even now.
"The Dimensional Supervisor would never tell you about Zero Requiem."

"And she did not," Nunnally nodded. "I saw it myself when I touched her hand during one of our
talks. I don't know what exactly happened, but I saw everything. Things D.S. told me about it
before. And I saw the future, the one where you and Suzaku fought side by side against the world
and won… only for you to give up your life and die in my hands, whispering your final words,
Lelouch."

"..."

"How insane must you be if you think that your death can change the world for the best? I'm not
even trying to disrespect your plan, I'm simply curious about it. What makes you think death is the
best fate for you? Or is this desperation? What might it be in that potential future? Was this plan
your potential attempt to run away from all problems and you giving up on life itself? Answer me,
Lelouch!" Nunnally suddenly screamed.

"What does it matter to you?" Lelouch spoke with venom. "You, who never had to worry about
how the world treated you while I had to do everything within my power to protect you from
everyone! You might have seen my past and even the future. But you do not know what I felt!"
Lelouch screamed, his mask was gone for a moment. "Do you know what it was like holding
Shirley as she was dying, her final words being her confession of love?! Or watch Rolo die after he
saved me when I treated him as a mere tool? Do you think I felt nothing when I accidentally used
Geass on Euphemia and then killed my first love?! I'm a monster, Nunnally! A terrible monster
who will pay for all his crimes sooner or later. Zero Requiem was meant to create a perfect world
without monsters like our parents, like me!"

How can the world be free of the evil that was Charles and V.V. if the Demon Emperor Lelouch
still existed? In the scenario where the Zero Requiem would happen, Lelouch must become the
worst possible monster humanity has ever seen, one that will be remembered for centuries to come.
Feared, and hated, the Demon Emperor's legacy will be one of warning for future generations.
However-

"We aren't on the Zero Requiem route, at least I have no need to fulfil that plan at the moment."
Lelouch acknowledged calmly. "Right now, I'm the White Emperor, protector of the week, their
guardian and shepherd. In this route, I plan to lead by example and create a long-term foundation
for my successors to continue my work of ruling the world as a benevolent ruler, with an iron fist if
needed. Instead of becoming the world's evil to be feared, I will become the first among many who
will lead people into a prosperous future. And should this plan not work out, then Zero Requiem
will become irrelevant, always a backup plan. For either me or my descendants."

"I don't like this answer, but I can accept it. And you asked me just a moment ago… what does it
matter to me? Well, it matters to me tremendously. After all, my big brother, the same one who
spent his entire life taking care of me, the same one who was fighting our homeland and everyone
else for my sake, thinks that his death is a good 'backup plan'. Hahah! Don't make me laugh,
Lelouch!" Nunnally pointed her finger at him. "You dare to think that this world is worth dying
for? How narcissistic are you, Lelouch? Perhaps Clovis could learn a thing or two from you!"

"What." Lelouch was lost, unable to understand Nunnally's logic. "What are you talking about?"

"Lelouch, your current plan is rather simplistic. Stick to it and don't even attempt that silly Zero
Requiem of yours. After all-" Nunnally raised her hands at the side. The innocent smile on
Nunnally's face morphed into an ugly and fanatical grin as her smile was as wide as it was possible.
The purple shined as if they were amethysts, adding only more madness to this Nunnally.
"The only one who must die for the sake of the world- for the sake of the future- IS ME!"

"What?!"

Lelouch expected to find his little sister in a completely different mood. He was ready for
accusations and so on. Not whatever this was!

'What is going on? What happened to Nunnally? She said D.S. didn't reveal anything about Zero
Requiem. Was it? Is it some kind of Geass? What the hell is going on?!'

It wasn't the first time Lelouch was lost and confused because of the Geass, because of whatever
his family did. However, never before was it Nunnally or anything close to this!

"Why such a frightened expression, Lelouch? After all, you just gave me your reasoning for Zero
Requiem. You didn't expect my Puppet Requiem will be the same as yours, except for differing
reasoning? That I won't have to die for committing the crimes so the world would change for the
better? Ehehehe-! I have my reasons as well, Lelouch! We're true brother and sister after all! Do
you want to hear them? Then just look around you!"

She pointed at the beautiful garden around them, one that was meant to showcase the gentleness
and innocence of Empress Nunnally vi Britannia. A beautiful artificial garden was built for the
artificial ruler, one who couldn't even see it. What Schneizel was thinking was a mystery now,
since the former Prime Minister was dead.

"Look at this place! What was the point in making it?! Just to show me off before everyone? A
little crippled girl who was left alone in the beautiful garden, is this the image of an independent
100th Empress?! Of course not. This is just a showcase of a little flower who can't live without care
and help from others. That's how Schneizel saw me, Cornelia and everyone else in this God-
forsaken faction! No one saw me as an actual person, just a face for their group! I was a
decoration! No difference from furniture that will do nothing but stay where you left it. I couldn't
move, couldn't see or even eat without others helping me! I was defenceless. I was just a doll, a
puppet to them, to Charles, and even to Suzaku..."

Nunnally pointed outside the fortress.

"They are killing and dying out there not because they want to make a change and fix mistakes of
the past. No. They only want to make the world convenient for them. They want to return to the
past when everything was simple. Britannians oppressing others, Black Knights and Europeans
fighting them, and Peace Mark terrorising the people of the empire. They don't want changes, not
the ones that might benefit everyone. They don't care about what I think because I'm just a little
girl in a wheelchair who will be a new empress only in name. Schneizel never intended for me to
be anything but that. I always knew it and even learned to accept it. After all, it isn't my fault I was
like this, it was all because of the people who attacked our home on that accursed night. There was
nothing I nor anyone could do to fix my blindness or make me walk again… or so I thought."

She went silent for a moment. Lelouch felt his arm reaching forward, but he stopped himself. She
was the enemy, they both agreed to these roles. Enemies didn't deserve mercy… even if the White
Emperor started to feel conflicted as he heard her.

"I gave up on thinking I will ever be able to live normally. To be able to see the world around me,
and walk in it without the help of others. I thought that life was forever gone for me… Hahaha, and
then, heh, I learned that my own father simply made me think that I was blind and crippled." Her
voice became hoarse. "All these years I spent in darkness, bound to the wheelchair, I could have
been walking! I could have been walking next to you, Lelouch! Holding your hand and watching
the fireworks with you and everyone else in the student council, I could have done that! I could
have been able to live with you as a normal little sister and not as a burden! But I was denied such a
life! I was denied all of it! By my own parents! And for what?!"

Lelouch watched the always gentle little sister scream in fury as Nunnally was on verge of losing
her mind.

"What was the point?! Why did that pig Charles make me like this?! Only to make his story more
believable?! I lived like this for a decade only because that fat son of a bitch needed better
evidence?! And what about that harlot Marianne?! Was this her motherly love as she let Charles
turn me into a blind useless doll? I couldn't read, I wasn't able to write or do anything! All these
years I was like this because of them! What was the point, Lelouch?!"

"I… don't know, Nunnally. I don't know. Charles and Marianne were deprived of any rationality.
They were so obsessed with their wish to slay God, they stopped caring about everything else.
Charles didn't care about Darwinism or Britannia anymore and Marianne didn't bother being a
mother to us. That's the only fact I can tell you. I spent years thinking of how I will avenge our
mother but turns out she wasn't better than our father. Nunnally, I cannot understand their thinking
and I don't want to. However, they are dead. If you hate them as much as I do, then find
satisfaction in their death. Know that their last moments were full of agony as their life's work was
destroyed. Everything they sanctified, and everything they did was for nothing in the end and they
saw it. You can't kill them again for what they did, but at least find closure in this."

Lelouch said it as one victim of their parents to another. After all, he spent years hating their father
and then mother, so let someone else understand his hatred for them. Nunnally might be an enemy,
but she was still a child of Charles and Marianne, another one of their victims. If anything, she
suffered a fate worse than Lelouch experienced.

'Blind and unable to walk. All of these lies. I fought and experienced pain, but she couldn't even
stand up on her own. And now, knowing that it was all nothing but a cruel manipulation of
Geass… I can see why Nunnally is acting like this now.'

How could anyone remain sane after learning such a terrible truth? And worse, Nunnally couldn't
do anything to make their parents pay, to make them regret turning her into a living doll. She
couldn't force them to amend for their sins and no one could return Nunnally all these years she
lost because of their parents.

"You're the first person to see me like this, Lelouch." Nunnally suddenly spoke with a weak voice.
"Perhaps, only Diana in C's World saw me with open eyes. But in the real world, it is the first time
I saw a living person with my own eyes. And I'm happy it is you, big brother. The first one to see
me with my eyes open, standing proudly as I make my first and last debut before the world!"

"Nunnally." Lelouch made a step forward, Nunnally didn't forget her threat as she quickly raised
the staff, her finger over the button. "This Puppet Requiem you're doing, what are you trying to
achieve? Kill yourself because of what Charles did? Because Schneizel and his group of failures
didn't think of you as an individual? Don't you think that is too much? You heard me, you're my
enemy but it doesn't mean you have to die. Give me the staff and I will make sure you-"

"I what, Lelouch? Will I continue to live like a puppet? Or spend the rest of my life behind the
bars? I know what I did, Lelouch. I declared myself as your enemy before the entire world,
promised the impossible for the sake of it. I can't accomplish my promises, but it doesn't matter. As
long as I live I will be used as a symbol against you. I will continue to be used by others as nothing
but a symbol, and continue to exist as a puppet to them! I don't want to live like this!" The disgust
and anger were easy to see on Nunnally's face.
"I don't want the world to remember me as nothing more than an innocent face that could never do
anything for herself. I'm done being weak and defenceless. No. Once I left C's World and opened
my eyes for the first time in the real world, I knew what I wanted. I wanted to prove to the world
that I'm not useless, that I'm not weak and capable of challenging the world head-on! Even if I
couldn't reveal my true face, I could do what you did, Lelouch. I could manipulate and lie like you
and get what I wanted."

"And what? What did you accomplish?"

Nunnally giggled playfully. "Ehehe, who do you think orchestrated the battle in Tokyo? The one
that happened only a few days ago, but almost started a full-blown war in the world. The same one
that saw the final and last death of Zero!?"

Lelouch froze, his eyes looking at the little girl before him with sudden horror.

"You-?"

"Me! It was me! I was the one who tricked that Peace Mark Geass User into sowing chaos! I
blackmailed your X spy into doing favours for me and putting gaseous Refrain into Suzaku's
Lancelot! All of it so I could stop the negotiations between you and whoever you put behind Zero's
mask. Schneizel wanted to ruin the talks, to have Suzaku stop and reveal the truth about you to the
world. If Schneizel did so, maybe he would have been closer to making his vision of the world real,
and since I will be nothing but a puppet in Schneizel's world I couldn't allow him to succeed. Poor
big brother Schneizel, he never even suspected me. How could he? In his eyes, I'm nothing but the
little girl who needs others to save and guard her. As you said back in Pendragon, I'm nothing but a
parasite. Even people who wanted to put me on the throne thought so. And well, I proved them all
wrong in the end, didn't I? And all of it, so this world could see me as a new person. In the eyes of
the world, I will no longer be a puppet but my own person! I have done terrible deeds, and now it is
time to reap the consequences of my own actions!"

"So many people died because of you… Nunnally." Lelouch was demanding to know why she did
so. He already knew the reason and motivation. He couldn't accuse her of the suffering she brought
to others since he wasn't better. However, Leila was hurt because of this. 'People died because of
my actions. Intentionally and not, I cause more chaos than she ever could. And both of us did it to
spit in the face of those who thought of us as nothing, but cattle.'

"I'm not a sadist, Lelouch. I do not take pleasure in the suffering and pain of others. What I did to
my own friend Suzaku… it makes me sick, but I would have done it anyway. I'm not like you or
Schneizel. I can't manipulate armies into killing and dying for my goals. I'm not a warrior like
Marrybell or Cornelia. The only thing I could have done was lie and use the pity and kindness of
others, of Suzaku. The same thing I used all these years, abused their compassion and let them do
dirty work for me… I didn't want Suzaku to die or hurt him to this extent. However, for the sake of
my wish, my only friend had to become my tool, a pawn. It is a depressing realisation, but even
when I know the truth and know what I want, acting like a parasite is the only method I know."
Nunnally sighed. "And it worked. How pathetic of me. I want to change the world and make it stop
seeing me as a little doll, but I still have to rely on others' pity to accomplish what I want."

"I still don't understand how you would change the world like this, Nunnally." Lelouch looked
around. "By forcing Schneizel's hand and making him act earlier? By uniting both Britannia and
Federation against your group because you hate them? The world won't know any of this,
Nunnally. People and history won't remember you as the one who led the forces against me. In the
eyes of people, you're just a girl who proclaimed herself the Empress. You gave big promises, but
you didn't do anything to back them except be a part of Schneizel's war against me. You want the
world to view you as new, independent, and free. And yet, no one will learn your story, Nunnally.
You must realise this."

His little sister might be the face of the coalition, of the so-called change Britannia needs instead of
Lelouch. However, no one outside this room knows what Nunnally truly wants or what she has
done. No one will learn about her direct involvement in the death of Zero and the destruction of the
Black Knights' high command. For the masses, she is but a face of the faction made up of old
Charles loyalists, terrorists, and remnants of a nation that no longer exists. The citizens of the
Empire won't think the little girl was actually in charge or capable of doing so much damage.

"Your story won't be known to others, Nunnally. No one will learn about the pain you had to
endure and the suffering you inflicted upon others. They will blame everything on Suzaku, on
Schneizel and anyone else before thinking of you. After all, in the eyes of the population, you will
be an innocent little girl no matter what. The world won't see or understand your struggle. It won't
ever see your Puppet Requiem."

Lelouch spoke with a cold tone, but there was a note of sadness. Nunnally tried to do what he was
doing for two years now. Fight the world, change it for the better in her eyes. Lelouch killed so
many to do what he considered the best option. Back then as Zero and right now as Emperor
Lelouch. However, people saw his fight, and they joined them. He wanted to destroy Britannia and
change the world for the better, and those who shared his dream fought by his side. Nunnally on
the other hand has no people to rally around her true wish. The promises of decolonization and so
on, are nothing but sweet words of nothingness to turn people against Lelouch. The White Emperor
doubted the little girl even cared about such promises.

Lelouch couldn't see the logic in Nunnally's plan. However, it was time for her brother to be in the
dark as Nunnally giggled playfully. She laughed happily as she walked forward, managing to not
fall.

"After all this time, I finally managed to surprise you and you're still confused, Lelouch. How cute!
The world won't see or learn my story? Hahaha-! It already did! The world knows what I have done
and sees me in a different light. You don't even understand!"

"Understand what, Nunnally?" Lelouch spoke carefully.

"You do not understand one simple matter, Lelouch. The fact that-

Nunnally vi Britannia stopped walking forward as she raised her hands towards Lelouch. They
were meters apart, but the older brother felt as if she was calling for him. Neither moved an inch as
Nunnally said the last thing Lelouch expected to hear.

"You're my whole world, Lelouch." Nunnally spoke with a kind and warm voice, even as her
brother froze.

"W-what-"

"All these years I lived blind and was unable to walk. I was happy because I wasn't alone. I had
friends in the student council and Sayoko. But the one who gave me strength to go on, to live as
happily as it was possible was you, Lelouch. When the invasion started, you carried me through
ruined cities, when everyone treated me as a burden only you continued to love me. I wasn't afraid
of the world, of people who looked down on me as long as you were with me, Lelouch. My wish
was always to stay with you, to continue to be your little sister and help you even if I was too weak.
Our life back in Ashford was as close to perfection as I could imagine when we were together… I
gave up on the idea of ever seeing and walking again, but I was happy as long as I could live with
my big brother. The one I love, my brother Lelouch."

"But you become my enemy, Nunnally! You sided with Suzaku and Schneizel! You called yourself
my enemy! After everything we endured together-!" Lelouch let out his frustration and showed the
side he didn't want to admit. "Do you know how I felt?! I thought you died in Tokyo that night.
And after all this time, I see you joining my enemies and trying to ruin my wish!"

Nunnally nodded as she looked down. "I hurt you, Lelouch. I never wanted that, but at that time
the only thing I knew were the words of others. I didn't trust Schneizel or Cornelia when they
accused you. But when Suzaku spoke about the Geass, about how you created the Black Knights to
create a better world for my sake and all the people you killed because of me, I felt terrified. I
always knew my big brother to be a kind person, one capable of anything. I was afraid, terrified that
you went too far. That this Geass changed you. Perhaps it was the battles you fought, killing others
and the tragedy with Euphemia… after everything that happened and that talk we had at
Pendragon, I was afraid I lost my brother forever. Until then I didn't trust anyone, still believing
that you're the same Lelouch I always knew and loved. Your words at Pendragon hurt me more
than anything else. To hear the person I love the most speak of me like that, I was heartbroken. I
didn't know what to do or who to trust. I felt lost and alone..." Tears formed in Nunnally's purple
eyes. "Lelouch, I'm sorry for the pain I caused you. I never wanted it. I never wanted to be your
enemy. But I thought we needed to stop you for your own sake before you could turn into a
monster like Charles or worse."

"I was ready to do anything for you, Nunnally. I killed so many and took away their freedom and
lives if only to make your future brighter. And yet, you sided with the others over me." Lelouch
didn't bother hiding his true self. The mask was long gone, revealing only the true emotions the
Emperor felt at the moment. "Do you know how much I sacrificed for that dream?! Euphemia,
Shirley, Rolo, and everyone else! I lost my best friend and now we can't coexist as long as one of
us is alive! Can you imagine what I have gone through?! Nunnally… I… my wishes no longer
revolve around you. You were my world, my meaning to live… I thought I lost you, I thought you
were gone forever. But, you have survived and went against me… back then, at Pendragon, I
almost lost it when I saw you and when I heard you. It hurt worse than anything else I suffered, to
hear the for whom I moved forward reject me like that, to turn against me. I was in pain."

"I saw it, Lelouch. I saw everything and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Nunnally's voice became weak. "I
never wanted to hurt you, to make you go through all of it. I saw all of it and I saw how much pain
you experienced. After I saw the truth and saw Zero Requiem inside Diana's mind, I knew what I
needed to do. There was only one way for me to make up for all the pain I made you go through.
Be in this reality or the future where you killed yourself. I couldn't believe what I saw. Your death,
I-I couldn't accept it no matter what. If someone has to die for the sake of the world, it has to be
me! You went through all of this for me, even if it's no longer the case. My life is meaningless if
the person I love the most is no more. I thought the Puppet Requiem will stop you from trying to
fulfil the Zero Requiem, forever."

"You think dying will make up for everything that happened? You dare to think your complicated
suicide will compensate for everything I went through?!" Lelouch didn't bother hiding his anger.

Nunnally looked down again and nodded.

"I used Suzaku and forced Schneizel's hand into acting differently, knowing he won't succeed and
defeat you. And if he somehow did, I would have blown up Damocles with him on it. However, I
always knew you would succeed, Lelouch. All of your enemies are here, at one place where you
could crash them and win. Puppet Requiem always had only one end. One, where I make my
world, my big brother Lelouch sees my resolve. One where you saw my struggle and stopped
thinking of me as a burden. I wanted you to see me like this. Nunnally vi Britannia. No, just
Nunnally. Your little sister who can stand right next to you as an equal. Even if only for a
moment."

Nunnally walked towards Lelouch until she was right in front of him. The staff of Damocles was in
her hands as she offered him it. The White Emperor looked with conflicted emotions as she offered
it.

"You won. The world will be yours with whatever means you want it and this fortress is yours. All
that is left is to slay the Puppet Empress and finish this spectacle, brother. Once I'm dead, no one
can claim the throne and Britannia will be yours forever."

Nunnally looked at Lelouch with a happy face.

"End this Requiem, Lelouch. Please."

"If you wish to die, Nunnally vi Britannia…"

The White Emperor, Man of Miracles Zero, and Ashford student, Lelouch stared at the girl before
him. Nunnally stayed still, waiting for Lelouch to do what she planned. His prize, the staff, was
waiting for its new owner to take it and command Damocles.

"..."

The White Emperor said nothing as he slowly lowered his hand to pull out a handgun. Slowly,
Lelouch raised the gun and pointed it against the forehead of his little sister.

Nunnally smiled once again before she closed her eyes, knowing it would be the last time she did
so.

Still, she gotta say what she wanted and saw her dear big brother for the last time.

Her plan was almost completed. It was a good way to go.

Now, it was time for Lelouch to end this game.

The Endspiel was completed.

Lelouch took a deep sigh before he pressed the trigger.

'One bullet is all it will take-'

"H-huh?"

'-to end this foolish Requiem.'

Nunnally vi Britannia looked dumbfounded as she glanced at her brother with a questioning look.
Lelouch was still holding his pistol. However, instead of it being pressed against the head of his
sister, the Emperor pointed it behind her. A shot was fired, but it never took the life of the fake
empress.

Nunnally couldn't understand what just happened. She was still holding the staff, not knowing what
to do.

"Lelouch, you were-!"

"Supposed to listen to you? To obey you and fulfil this foolish request of yours, little sister?"
Lelouch vi Britannia smirked. "Who do you think you are? Ordering the Emperor of the whole
world, how ridiculous. You're nothing, Nunnally. As you said, your life is meaningless and so will
be your death. Therefore-"

Lelouch put away his gun before his hand moved over his face and took off the lenses. The royal
purple was replaced with red Geass sigils. It was the first time Nunnally witnessed them up close.
His Geass, Nunnally saw it back in World C when she touched Diana. However, back there she
was horrified by them, but now? She found a strange beauty in Lelouch's eyes.

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you. Live!"

The command was given. The pair of red birds flew towards the pair of purple eyes as Geass had
begun to alter the brain of its victim. The pupils around Nunnally's eyes were now surrounded by
red circles as the little girl blinked. The confusion quickly changed into the realisation of what just
happened as Nunnally looked at her brother with a shocked look.

She knew what Lelouch just did. It was more than mere Geass command. When she saw Lelouch's
story, she saw what effect such a command had on Suzaku. What it meant for her too.

"You- but why Lelouch?!"

"If your life has no meaning then your death is worthless. So why should I accept such a useless
tribute? Nunnally?" Lelouch asked with a devious smile. "I came here to defeat you, not
necessarily kill you. After hearing your story, your little plan for this silly Requiem, I simply refuse
to grant you the satisfaction of fulfilling your wish."

"Why?! I will be a burden to you! People will use my name, my identity as a symbol to unite
against you! I'm a hindrance to your future, Lelouch! Take a shot, kill me and take Damocles! You
will be unstoppable!"

Lelouch laughed. "I'm already unstoppable. You and this fortress are just a nice bonus. You're
right, Nunnally vi Britannia will be a hindrance to my rule. Marrybell is the only Royal member
who can exist within my reign. However, the Nunnally who dared to fight me doesn't deserve such
a privilege-"

"Then-!" Nunnally hoped Lelouch will change his mind and kill her.

"Then it just means that Nunnally vi Britannia is no more." Lelouch pulled out his phone to check
the time. "Time of death: 1 PM. Good enough, this will do."

"What-"

"Nunnally vi Britannia is dead. Killed by the White Emperor after she tried to activate the
F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead and kill everyone in Damocles and around it. Yes, such a story will do
nicely."

His sister looked perplexed. "Lelouch, what are you talking about?"

"For someone who managed to ruin mine and Schneizel's plans you are rather slow to take a hint,
sister." Lelouch pointed around them. "This place, this fake garden of peace is now a place where
White Emperor had slayed the Faker Empress and ended the turmoil within Britannia. You are no
longer, Nunnally vi Britannia. You're no one. Nunnally vi Britannia managed to show incredible
courage and will that her brother never expected. The world changed as it witnessed this Puppet
Requiem, even if it won't ever leave the walls of this garden. The Emperor will tell the story to the
outside world, his version. And you, well, you will make up for all this mess."

"You… want me to live, Lelouch," Nunnally said this more to herself than to Lelouch. Her older
brother waved away, disagreeing.

"Wrong. I just don't want my prisoner to get away with her crimes so easily. What is the point of
killing an enemy who wants death? No no no, you will compensate me for all this chaos. Many
people died because of you. And I won't allow you to die so easily. Do you hear me?" Lelouch
bent slightly and drew closer to Nunnally until their faces were a few inches away as he captured
her chin. "I will make you pay for this mess. You will spend the rest of your life serving me as no
one, a shadow, a void. And only then I might allow you to die. Nun- no, you aren't allowed to use
that name anymore. From this moment on and until I will find your services no longer needed you
will have a new name."

She was a puppet, a pawn in the game of others. A doll who couldn't move without others pulling
her strings until now. However, she was also the person who manipulated others. The Nunnally vi
Britannia he knew wasn't like that. She was a gentle spirit who could never hurt anyone else.
Therefore, her new name was-

"Faker."

Nothing but imitation. Just as how her Puppet Requiem was an imitation of his Zero Requiem, so
was her new name, her new life. A walking fraud of his little sister, a walking lie-

'One who will live no matter what. A Faker who will see my gentle world, who will be able to live
there without fear. Who will participate in it.'

The White Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia offered his hand. The little girl looked at him with
uncertainty as he spoke.

"You are nothing like the Nunnally vi Britannia I protected and loved all these years. She was
gentle and innocent, while you lied and used your own friend and knight. She could never hurt a
soul, while thousands died because of you. And at the same time, my Nunnally was weak, she had
to be protected. You aren't strong enough, but with enough training, you will learn how to live for
yourself, for my goals. You can walk, but you won't be free. You can see, but your eyes will focus
only on my goals and ambitions, fulfilling them will be your life. Nunnally wished for a gentle
world, you will live and help me build it. This is Geass I force upon you. I leave no room for
negotiations, Faker."

The little girl who was a princess, a fraud empress just minutes ago looked at the hand her brother
was offering. No, she was no longer his little sister. She was but a shadow, a void. Less than Zero,
a mere Faker. She couldn't say no, she wasn't allowed to. And besides, it meant that from now on
she could see her world, and be with him.

She was ready to die for the sake of making up for all the pain she brought upon just moments ago.
The Puppet Requiem was fulfilled in a way. Her world saw her, he saw her change and that she
wasn't so weak anymore. Her selfish cruel dream was completed and she died. And now, she was
ordered to be reborn as a new blank person, one who will serve him.

Slowly she took his hand as images flashed in her head. The deceiver smiled slowly. He wasn't
lying, no, despite his best efforts she saw past his bravado and could sense the simple truth both of
them wanted.

Her world wanted her to be with him. Lelouch wanted her to remain, to live. If it was the will of the
victor, how could the vanquished oppose it?

"If my brother… no, if the White Emperor wants me to serve as his servant, to live in his world as a
new person. Then I-"

The purple-eyed girl raised her staff as she offered it to her ruler. The monarch took it as the girl
before him slowly bowed.

"I will do everything required of me to make sure my world will be bright, secure, and happy."
Faker raised her head as she looked at White Emperor. "I want my world to be gentle, and I will
serve him as long as he wants me to."

"You will live for and die as I was ready to do so for my little sister," Lelouch whispered as he took
the staff, now control of Damocles was his in every way. "Your face, your eyes, we will have to
hide them from everyone. Come, I have an important meeting."

Faker giggled. "If my world wants to keep my face for only himself to gaze upon, then I'm fine
with this, Lulu."

"Be silent. We can't allow anyone to see you. In the eyes of the masses, Nunnally vi Britannia is
dead now and that means you will need a mask… huh." Lelouch suddenly realised what it meant.
How ironic. After all this time, now it was her time to wear the mask of nothing.

'Zero is dead and will stay like that… but there's no rule stating that a fake can't surpass the
original.'

"We will find something to use, but for now we have to-" Lelouch vi Britannia turned around
before he froze, his eyes falling on the person who stood behind him and Faker.

There, standing on the broken staircases, bleeding and leaving a blood trail behind him was the one
person who never knew when to stop.

Suzaku Kururugi stood there, his green eyes never left either of the vi Britannia siblings. His hands
covered a bloody open wound as he struggled to stay upright.

"..."

The White Reaper didn't utter a word. His eyes didn't leave them, they didn't move. At first glance,
it appeared as if he was already dead. However, both Emperor and Faker could see the pain and
anger in his eyes, mixed with fatigue.

"Suzaku-" Faker whispered, her voice full of regret.

Lelouch said nothing as he moved forward, walking up to his former best friend. Suzaku stood and
did nothing as the object of his hatred now stood before him. If the former Seventh Knight still had
any weapon on him, perhaps he would have been able to strike Lelouch. However, any slight
movement brought pain to the Japanese knight.

The Emperor's purple eyes stared down at the Reaper's green ones. One was wounded, his clothes
dirty from the fight, covered in his own blood. Another was in a perfectly good state, white
garments clean even without the royal hat and robe. Neither said anything, simply watching each
other, waiting for another to be first to act.

Suzaku glanced at Faker, looking behind the emperor. The 'reborn' girl looked at her friend with a
sorrowful expression, not knowing what to say. Eventually, Suzaku broke the dead silence as he
spat blood.

"Your eyes… you walk again. I… I heard your conversation when I climbed here. I heard you,
Nunnally. About how you used Refrain… on me." Suzaku said before Lelouch corrected him.

"Nunnally is dead. The person behind me is nothing, nothing but a Faker. Please refer to her with
the right title from now on, Suzaku."

The brown-haired knight forced himself to laugh, even if the blood contained to come out of his
wound. "Again with your theatrics, Lelouch… go to hell. I won't be able to call her that anyway… I
won't have another chance."

"Hmm. Jeremiah used his Geass Canceler on you back in Europe, didn't he? It worked out. You
don't have the Geass command anymore." Lelouch said with satisfaction, prideful of his cyborg
bodyguard. "And yet you managed to make your way over here. Impressive. Even without my
Geass command to live, you just refuse to die when needed. Heh. You've always had more muscle
than brains."

"And you always lacked the former… bet I can beat you even like this..." Suzaku rasped, half
serious. "Wanna try me? Or will you call Kallen to finish the job?"

"I can call my Witch and let her pay you back for crushing her back in Ashford," Lelouch said,
fully serious. "You aren't in any state to make threats, Suzaku."

"That is the only thing I can do right now. That and accusing you again. But... eh, I don't have
enough patience left for that."

Suzaku gasped before he fell forward. However, before he could hit the floor, the bleeding boy
was caught by the Emperor. Lelouch slowly let Suzaku lean against the staircases as the knight
tried to keep focus and not lose consciousness. All three of them knew what it meant in his current
condition.

"Suzaku," Faker spoke as she walked closer. "You won't sur-"

"Take… take a seat, Nunna." The green-eyed pilot glanced at the space between him and Lelouch.
The White Emperor thought about it, but his old friend was no longer in a fighting state, Suzaku
could no longer be a threat.

Lelouch nodded and Faker sat between them. The girl looked down, the Emperor watched the
Reaper and he simply stared past them at the wheelchair and the garden.

"You're actually pretty tall, Nunna…" Suzaku commented, his tone relaxed. "Do you think I or
Lelouch can still piggyback you? Well… Lelouch certainly can't."

"I carried her across Japan back then," Lelouch said with an irritated tone.

"Yeah, and you were slower than a turtle." Suzaku allowed himself to smirk, while the mighty
White Emperor rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"At least I was smart enough not to put every berry we found on the way into my mouth, unlike
some of us." Lelouch accused Suzaku who weakly waved away.

"I was tired of waiting for you to get any food. Of course, I would try some berries on the way. Not
my fault some of them weren't safe."
"Yes, it was. You're supposed to know these things."

"I preferred to train instead of spending all my time in the books or behind the chess board. Thanks
to that training, I'm still here… right now." Suzaku said proudly, even if his current state was
anything but good.

"And because of my reading and spending time with a chessboard, I'm here," Lelouch smirked as
he showed himself off. "I would say that I did better than you, Suzaku."

"Bet you can't even outrun children."

"Ok, listen here you-!"

"Heheheh!" Faker couldn't help but giggle. Both men stopped arguing as they glanced at the young
girl who sat between them. Both Suzaku and Lelouch glanced at each other before small smiles
formed on their faces. Nu- Faker finally stopped as a bittersweet expression appeared on her face.
"This is just like back then… 8 years ago when we were still children. Everything back then
appeared so simple. Why couldn't we stay like that?"

"Because children eventually grow up, Nunnally," Suzaku said as he leaned closer to the ground,
laying down as he stared up through the glass roof. "We were denied a carefree childhood and had
to grow up fast. It isn't our fault, but we had no choice."

"It is rare to hear something smart come out of your mouth, Suzaku." Lelouch snickered while
Suzaku managed to give him the middle finger. "Hmm, still you're right this time. Our world is a
terrible place. Charles was only part of the problem. Still, he and others are dead. And now we can
improve everything, fix the world."

"Suzaku, do you hate me for what I did?" Faker asked. Even though she made up her mind to
follow her world, a part of her still felt sorry for what she did to him.

The White Reaper was silent for a second before he spoke. "I spent the last few months despising
Lelouch, hating his very existence. It caused me so much pain, loss of self-control and… I'm just
tired of hating him to start hating you as well, Nunnally. What you did was unexpected… but then
again you're his sister and even I'm impressed. I feel betrayed, but I'm used to it by now… I don't
have any strength left to hate you, Nunnally."

Perhaps his words were nothing but lies, but they meant little at the moment. All that matters to
both Lelouch and Suzaku is that the little girl who could finally see and walk would move on.
However, Nunnally wasn't without surprises.

"I can sense when someone is lying, Suzaku." Nunnally said slyly as she took his hand. The
Japanese boy didn't know how to react when her smile turned into a devious one.

"What- you know what? Never mind, I don't want to hear any explanation for this…" Suzaku
sighed before turning back to stare at the glass roof, towards the sky. "I'm too damn tired for any of
this."

"Please, you didn't see what I had to go through to get here." All of the things Lelouch experienced
today, the weirdest and most exhausting, were still dealing with F.L.E.I.J.A. and Tamaki coming to
his rescue. That was one moment the White Emperor will never forget and he didn't know how to
react to it. "I want to get back to Tokyo and get a warm shower."

"There is water under Damocles. Feel free to jump out of the fortress." Suzaku said with a small
smile. "And count how long it will take everyone to jump after you. Bet… Kallen will save your
ass."

Lelouch thought about it for a second before answering. "Nah, it will be Jeremiah. The louder his
screams, the closer he will be."

"Heh… Lord Gottwald was pretty weird even before he found out you're alive. Instead of loyalty
screams it was all about honour and so on." Suzaku remembered the days back when he was a
simple Private. "It is weird, after everything that happened between us, he still showed me
respect… I feel like I didn't deserve respect from others back then, Lelouch. I don't know if I ever
did."

"I'm curious how he will react to me," Faker spoke, looking forward to seeing the man who swore
allegiance to the vi Britannia family. Even if she was no longer technically one.

"It will be difficult making sure Jeremiah won't say something unnecessary when he will start
delivering his loyalty." Lelouch needed to make sure his overzealous cyborg, and everyone else,
wouldn't say a word about the new addition to Lelouch's allies. "Hmm, I'm curious how Bishop
will react when he sees you, Faker. You didn't meet him in person, but I can already see him crying
rivers of tears. Heh, I was actually surprised you didn't run into him out there, Suzaku. I bet both of
you could have something to talk about."

"..."

"Suzaku?"

"..."

"Oh… I see."

"..."

Suzaku Kururugi could no longer say anything, he didn't answer or move anymore. Instead, he lay
with a small smile as his face gazed upon the sky, his eyes closed. From the side, it might have
looked like he simply fell asleep. And he would, for a long time.

Faker didn't let go of Suzaku's hand as she slowly turned to Lelouch.

"Lelouch-"

"I know." Lelouch vi Britannia spoke simply. The White Emperor took a deep breath as he covered
his eyes with a palm, trying to focus. He took away his hand and opened his eyes. There were no
tears, how could there be? His enemy has just died. There was no need to cry over Suzaku's death.
And yet, Lelouch fought off the urge to let out a single tear. After all-

'For one last moment, we were together. As if nothing changed.'

A distant memory returned to Lelouch.

Three kids playing outside. A little girl in a wheelchair between two boys. All three of them were
smiling. They were happy.

Faker squeezed his hand,

"Lelouch-"

"Let's stay like this for a little longer. Everyone else can wait." Lelouch spoke as he enjoyed the
peace of the scene around him, enjoying their last moment together like this. Faker said nothing
and joined her world in silence.

Soon the last sounds of the outside battle ended as the smoke outside the garden started to
disappear. The sky was now clear, save for the Knightmares that flew around Damocles. The battle
was over, it was obvious who won. However, the White Emperor allowed himself to enjoy the
small moment, after all, he won and could enjoy his victory however he wanted.

Still, the planet didn't stop moving and its people needed to hear him, and see their future ruler.

Soon a pink Knightmare entered the garden. Morrigan entered the entrance made by Shinkiro
Imperium and kneeled right next to her Warlock's machine. The pink unit of the Akatsuki Model
stood still as its cockpit opened to reveal the green-haired Witch, still wearing her royal clothes.

"Lelouch."

C.C. looked at the trio before her. For a second she remembered a moment from their past but
quickly moved on. Her gaze fell on the unmoving body of the departed White Reaper before her
eyes focused on the girl. Her warlock nodded as they exchanged looks, there was no need for
words between them on what happened there.

The White Emperor gave a small smile to Faker before he stood up and moved towards his royal
Knightmare.

"This world is waiting for me. Kaguya and Leila should be done with their part of the plan. Well, it
is now time to address the world. Not for the last time. My Witch, take Faker and hide her from the
others for now. As for me, well-" A devilish smile formed on Lelouch's face. "Let's give another
performance for the masses."

The world was his, but the people just didn't realise that yet.

Inside Damocles command centre.

The battle was finally over. The alliance between Britannia and the Federation has won. The final
remnants of the Coalition were destroyed and captured. Lelouch's forces suffered losses, but
nothing major. Still, the news of Knights of One and Three being wounded did lower morale, until
it was known they took down the former Knight of One. With Schneizel, Wizard and the
remaining false Knights of the Round gone no one could command or organise their units. Once
the Second Prince was killed, it was as good as over in the mind of the Britannian high command.
Still, there were reports that Cornelia's Knightmare was seen on the battlefield in the company of
Vincent with a single lance. However, none were allowed to interrupt them.

The Knightmares of Britannia and Black Knights surrounded Damocles. There were no more
fights, no discharge of weapons. The fortress in the sky has been overtaken and now belongs to
their alliance, to the White Emperor.

The command centre room which was occupied by Schneizel not so long ago was now under the
control of Lelouch vi Britannia. Standing in the middle of the room, walking over the map of the
world on the floor, the Emperor smiled proudly. The staff of Damocles in his hand. The giant
screen before Lelouch lit up as the world saw its protector, its future sovereign.

"Hear me, world!" Lelouch vi Britannia raised his hand forward. "The battle is over, Nunnally vi
Britannia and her forces are defeated. The snake that was behind this madness, Schneizel el
Britannia is dead… and so is the False Empress Nunnally vi Britannia, who in her last moments
showed defiance and courage to go to any lengths." Faker could do this now, and Lelouch knew it
pleased her. "As for the rest of the traitorous Knights of the Round, they were bested by my own
order of true Knights! The White Reaper Suzaku Kururugi paid for his crimes against world peace
and his own home. Japan!"

Outside the Damocles, Kallen smiled as she watched the broadcast. Q1 was inside the Nemesis as
the rest of Lelouch's confidants rested there. Bishop and Peter were bedridden and joined the
youngsters as they witnessed their master. In the corner of the room, D.S. observed the scenario.
Unlike the rest of them, the Avatar of 'God' wasn't calm yet, still nervous and unsure if her dear
Champion would take the path they all want for him. Her worries were put at ease when she felt a
hand on her shoulder. Looking back it was obviously C.C.… who needed help with their new
guest.

"This is the end of the Coalition. Damocles is mine. However, I have no intentions to use it as my
siblings intended. No! This fortress will become a new symbol of the hard-earned victory and
struggle we went through for the sake of peace! Don't be afraid. The F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead arsenal
will be liquidated."

Damocles will become a nice addition to his air fleet. As for the F.L.E.I.J.A., as long as Lelouch
maintained an absolute monopoly over warhead creation he could get rid of the ones Schneizel
built. Nina wouldn't work on them anymore, but the technology was already developed and
witnessed by the world. Once this planet is his, Lelouch's grip around the governments of every
nation will tighten. None will have the power to develop any warhead. Still, he wasn't blind to the
weapon's potential and would rather minimise its future numbers to a minimum. Besides, getting
rid of F.L.E.I.J.A. would be a good publicity stunt.

"However, this isn't the end. The world is still unstable and requires protection, it needs unity and
cooperation. And that's why I offer an accord. Without Zero and with the treachery of the Order of
Black Knights' high command, we need strong leadership more than ever. Our planet, mankind, is
closer to a new age of peace and prosperity than it ever was. I offer a solution. The Holy Britannian
Empire and its entire military will pledge themselves to defend the Federation and guarantee the
safety of the world, and of its people! What do you say, Lady Kaguya Sumeragi?"

The screen before him showed a new face. Kaguya and Leila stood inside the UFN embassy in
Tokyo. He even saw Sayoko standing next to the two women. However, they weren't alone as the
entire meeting room was filled with representatives and even some leaders of Federation countries.
Many of them looked nervous but still smiled. In the eyes of the regular UFN politicians, Lelouch
just avenged their creator before the entire world, not to mention that he held control over the giant
army and now Damocles. They didn't even know that a huge part of the Black Knights' forces was
pretty much his now.

"We hear your declaration, Emperor Lelouch. The United Federation of Nations will be happy to
welcome the Holy Britannian Empire under your rule as a new member of the organisation.
However, there are limitations that must be placed for the sake of stability that will guarantee long-
lasting peace for everyone. First, the armies of the Empire will remain under the control of Your
Majesty, but the rest of the states will be allowed to form their own forces. There will be a limit to
the number of Knightmares of Britannia that can be inside each individual state at any time.
Because of its population size, Britannia will have to put a limit on the Special Administrative
Zones that can participate in voting. As for the Commonwealth of Imperial States, since it isn't a
direct part of the Britannian Empire it will have its own seat with Representative Leila Malcal."

Leila moved forward and placed her hand over the chest. "I want my fellow countrymen to
understand that it isn't the rebirth of the EU. Our future is tied to Britannia one way or another.
However, His Majesty was benevolent enough to grant me a chance to lead and protect my people
not only under the umbrella of Britannia but also within the walls of the Democratic Federation. I
pledged myself to Lelouch vi Britannia and have no intention of breaking my oath, but I can and
will do everything within my power to ensure the prosperity and safety of Europe!"

"UFN is an organization of equals, and therefore there must be a unanimous agreement on this
matter." Kaguya turned towards the rest of UFN's high command and raised her hand. "All these
who welcome Britannia and the CIS, please raise your hands."

As expected, everyone did so. None dared not to welcome the emperor that just saved their lives
and their nations from certain doom and disability in the hands of Nunnally and Schneizel. They
weren't even under the control of Geass and yet, for fear of sticking out of the group before the
entire world was a fate worse than death for them. After all, Lelouch vi Britannia was a hero right
now and one does not simply stand against a hero in public.

"As you can see, everyone agreed." Kaguya smiled proudly. "By the laws of this organisation, from
now UFN welcomes its new protectors and members, the Holy Britannian Empire and
Commonwealth of Imperial States!"

"And I swear an oath to fulfil the responsibilities that the Federation will place on me. I will not
harm the interests of my people in any way or allow others to hurt my subjects. However, I live for
the sake of a future gentle world, one where we can exist without wars and carnage. And for that
dream, I will do anything if it means protecting my people and this world. I, Lelouch vi Britannia
promise this, I will bring peace and prosperity to mankind!"

People around the world reacted differently. Some didn't care about these events, some were glad
that the worst was behind them now and some were scared for the future. Britannians were a little
confused. After all, their Emperor offered to protect what in their mind was at best their
geopolitical rival. Still, their White Emperor proved himself to be a worthy leader and a hero in
their eyes. Some wouldn't agree with his decisions, but none could do anything. Lelouch and
Cinder purged all potential risks a long time ago.

As for the Knightmare pilots around Damocles, they cheered. The battle and perhaps the war they
were fighting all this time was finally over. Even if it meant they had to co-exist together, both
Britannains and Black Knights were happy as long as it meant they could live in peace.

Milly Ashford entered the picture, most likely waiting behind the camera. The blonde reporter
happily spoke. "Dear viewers around the world, as you can see we were witness of the historic
event as-"

This was over. The victory was his.

'My, it was easier than I thought.'

Lelouch smiled calmly but inside he could barely hold his laughter. It would look bad if the White
Emperor and new protector of the Federation would start laughing maniacally. However, who
would blame him? The world practically gave itself to him, spreading itself as open before the
conquer as possible.

'Well, in the eyes of a regular person it might appear as such.' Lelouch could see how ordinary
people of Britannia might react negatively to this. 'After all, in their eyes, the Britannia under my
rule was the one who saved the day. And as a reward, what does the Emperor get? A leash around
his neck and potential limits to Britannian sovereignty if the politics of UFN will have their way.
People might get furious, calling such an agreement unfair. And it is!'

Lelouch always had one goal ever since he killed his parents. Defend this world, guide making and
start an age of prosperity and peace, under his absolute control. So how would the Emperor do it if
he was now burdened with bureaucratic chains of UFN and its more democratic institutions that no
doubt will get in the way of his wishes?

Lelouch will let them.

Ever since Nunnally ruined his original plan and had Suzaku kill Zero before the entire world,
Lelouch needed to make changes to his plans. He could always simply conquer UFN and rule it as
conquered, but why go the easy route when he could try something unorthodox?

'It is quite simple. While I was fighting and leading combined forces, Leila and Kaguya were
tasked with preparing everything in the political arena. They would organise a meeting between all
UFN states with one goal in mind. Have Britannia become a member of the Federation and tie it
down to their laws. In the eyes of these politicians, it is a good bet they should take. They will think
that if I can get a seat on the console and have my armies defend them while Black Knights will go
under reorganisation, they will save their positions and indirectly weaken my standing.' Emperor
Lelouch couldn't just go conquering left and right after he promised to defend the people of UFN.
Well, he could but it will ruin his image in the eyes of non-Britannian citizens and that is too
troublesome.

It is easier to get inside UFN, accept their limitations on his position and let them think they are the
ones benefiting the most from this deal. Let them. Sooner or later they will start trying to put more
restrictions on Lelouch. Angering Britannians and Europeans who will feel UFN's restrictions. The
Order of Black Knights will see changes as the rest of the Federation will try to fill it with their
own people and try to rebuild it in case Britannia tries something.

'All I need to do is wait a little bit, and perhaps have chats with some of the UFN
leaders.' Lelouch's smile became bigger for one second, almost feral. 'I can see their future
intentions, they won't accept me as their equal, in fear that I will gain even more power. They will
try to put me down and at a distance. I will use it as justification and get rid of them one by one. By
the end of the next year, the UFN will be no more and I will have everything.'

Lelouch didn't mind waiting a little bit longer. In the meantime, he will make preparations for all
required procedures. Not to mention, he will be busy with some other matters involving his
personal life. His gaze fell on Leila who was giving a speech to Milly, C.C. was given a promise
and Lelouch will fulfil it no matter what.

The world is his, it simply doesn't want to acknowledge that yet.

After the battle, life moved on. Even if it was nothing like before.

As the White Emperor predicted, the rest of the UFN leaders started to make their moves to
weaken him and his Britannia. All according to his plans. In the following months after the final
battle, the world was slowly setting itself on fire.

Emperor Lelouch and his army acted as guardians across Asia, however, as the monarch predicted
UFN would get in his way. They were slowly digging their own grave.

"-just received news about the terrorist attack in Ankara, Turkey. The Britannian units in the region
quickly acted and thanks to them we-" News reporters around the world spoke.

Vincent Wards could be seen helping locals following the aftermath of the short firefight. From the
looks of it, the terrorists were a mix of former EU army units who attempted to cause chaos
anywhere they could. Peace Mark was all but dead, its most prominent cells were destroyed during
the final battle. The leftover rabble couldn't be compared to the likes of the groups both Wizard
and his nephew commanded.

"Today thousands of protestors gather before the president's palace in Astana. People are unhappy
with the rise of gas and oil prices and demand the government take action. According to our eyes
on the ground, fights between citizens and police units already happened in-"

The economic situation was slowly improving following the start of the new age. However, some
had a harder time adapting to changes, usually because of outdated and corrupted institutions. The
change was happening and people welcomed it, but many weren't happy with how their leadership
was handling said changes. Everywhere this was a case, everywhere but Britannia.

"We are in Pendragon, just moments before the former ace pilot of the Black Knights, Kallen
Kozuki, will be knighted as the new Knight of Zero. Having served in the Federation, she will be
the latest member of Emperor Lelouch's Knights of the Round. When asked about her position as
the former bodyguard of Zero, Lady Kozuki said that she wants to see her loved ones happy and
safe, saying that even as a Knight of the Round she knows where her loyalties are."

The red-haired pilot kneeled before White Emperor as he placed the red ceremonial sword on her
shoulders. Kallen spoke the oath, having memorised it again and again for this moment. It was a
mere formality for the sake of the public, but for now, to the officially knighted Red Lotus, these
words of love and loyalty meant the world to her.

"The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea today gave a speech, noting the need for
further restrictions on Britannian military presence in Asia and their hold over the world's
sakuradite reserves."

The news reporter spoke with a concerned look on his face. The screen behind him was showing
the reactions of people around the world. Positive and negative.

"It will be the fifth wave of restrictions placed on the Holy Britannian Empire in the last three
months. People both inside and outside the Empire are unhappy with said measures. His Majesty
Lelouch vi Britannia announced his displeasure with such treatment of his nation and proposed to
hold the meeting among the UFN nations. Not every government agreed to the talks, but following
Chairwoman Sumeragi's speech it was decided to hold-"

"We are receiving news about the attempted coup in Beijing. The conspirators declared the current
government weak and unable to carry out the will of the people, stating that a new empire must rise
in its place. The coup was stopped by the intervention of Knight of Zero Kallen Kozuki in the
company of Britannian Knightmares. Thanks to their quick intervention, the coup was quickly put
down before more people suffered."

The images behind the news reporter showed a new model of Guren. Guren Type Special with its
energy wings flew in the air, and footage showed the new Knight of Zero destroying multiple units
of conspirators.
"I'm just telling you, it is quite unfair to demand Britannia to continue disarming itself when the
rest of UFN doesn't do enough to justify a smaller military." One of the guests on the nightly TV
talk show spoke with an irritated tone. "Think about it, there are riots, revolts and clashes between
people and the governments in different parts of Asia. Almost on a weekly basis, some are armed.
The Black Knights aren't the same anymore, I have friends there who complain about bureaucratic
nightmares and lack of proper organization, they simply can't act fast. Meanwhile, the Imperial
Army doesn't have the same issue. I know people are scared of Britannia taking over, but come on!
If they wanted to conquer the world they would have used the F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads all these
months ago. Emperor Lelouch is an alright fella, he didn't do it back then and he won't try anything
now."

His host nodded, trying to ease the atmosphere. "I'm sure His Majesty is busy with preparations for
the upcoming wedding. From the looks of it, the citizens of Britannia are more interested in their
monarch settling down with one of the numerous women he was seen with in public. Some on the
internet even started betting on who the first Empress will be. Even my daughter got invested in it.
Heh, I never understood people's obsession with the personal life of Royals."

"Hey, the young Emperor took over his home and more afterwards. I can't handle my wife, more
than one seems like a real nightmare, but if His Majesty thinks he can handle more women, more
power to him."

The news reporter had a sour expression as she read the news. "This morning, the First
Chairwoman of the UFN, Kaguya Sumeragi, sent an official letter of resignation. Stating that since
Japan cannot be an independent state like the rest of the UFN, she will serve her people as a servant
of His Majesty Lelouch vi Britannia. The sudden news had a mixed effect on the people of UFN, as
the people of Japan itself welcomed the change."

If one looked online then they would see that many people suspected the First Chairwoman to
harbour certain relationships with the White Emperor as the two were seen together quite
frequently. Some spoke that since Sumeragi was the last line connecting to the Japanese Imperial
family, the young girl would try to tie vi Britannia to Japan via marriage. Obviously, because of the
story between the two nations, the topic is controversial, and the internet was the only place where
such an idea was actively discussed in mostly negative ways. Everywhere else it was either ignored
or had passive support and encouragement. As if someone was trying to advance their hidden
agenda.

"The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Zilkhstan has officially declared that the
presence of any Knightmare units on their territory will be seen as a declaration of war. Let us
remind viewers that the so-called 'Land of the Warriors' is the only nation that is surrounded by
Federation members and still refuses to join any international organization. Not to mention, it is
rumoured that Zilkhstan is supplying militias and radical groups with KMFs around Asia. Some
speculate that this is the only way for the Kingdom to have any sort of economy since prior to the
creation of the Federation, Zilkhstan was known for providing different regimes with elite
mercenaries."

The Kingdom of Zilkhstan and its rulers were the biggest problems Britannia was facing after it
dealt with all previous threats. However, the Emperor knew that Zilkhstan had more secrets than a
mere mercenary army, thanks to a certain Avatar of 'God' among his lovers.

"King Shalio offered an official invitation to Emperor Lelouch with hopes of improving
relationships between Zilkhstan and the rest of the UFN. However, His Majesty is yet to give an
official answer."

"-the construction of the memorial for the victims of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan's
Massacre will be completed within the following weeks. His Majesty Lelouch vi Britannia will
personally visit the memorial on its opening day to give a speech before the families of those who
lost their loved ones on that terrible day.

"Some say that His Majesty will speak not only about the terrible event but also about the princess
who is publicly blamed for the massacre, Euphemia li Britannia. Critics of His Majesty's rule often
note that Emperor Lelouch speaks in a rather defensive manner when it comes to the departed
Princess Euphemia. Some say it is an attempt to whitewash the history of the Britannian Royal
family since Princess Euphemia was very close to the vi Britannia siblings when they were
children."

"Well, it is understandable when family members try to protect their relatives. Even if we're talking
about His Majesty and his rather harsh history with his family. Still, the tribunal over Cornelia li
Britannia is scheduled for the week after the memorial's opening. it is possible it is merely a way
His Majesty shows courtesy towards a former general who might be living her last days. It was
always known that former Princess Cornelia loved her little sister very dearly and even gave up her
claim on the throne to clear her name."

"I'm telling you all! It was Zero! I saw him with my own eyes!"

"The police reported numerous instances of citizens believing they saw the deceased masked
leader of Black Knights. However, no evidence was presented. Official investigation from police
and the Black Knights showed no confirmation of the existence of this new 'Zero'. It is most likely
being a loyal admirer for the departed Hero of Justice who was merely cosplaying." A male
reporter announced.

"I saw Zero too! But… Zero looked smaller. And like… slimmer? Plus, the mask and cape looked
off."

Despite official channels denying the existence of Zero, online forums and people didn't give up so
easily. Many people were sure the Fourth Coming of Zero would happen eventually. While some
among them speculated if it is entirely a new person who will carry the title of Zero. Some
believed that Zero was immortal and returned, but worked from the shadows in order to not take
the spotlight from important players on the world stage and let them handle world affairs while he
operated in the shadows.

None of them could imagine that their theories were only partially correct.

"BBC news interrupted its normal programs to bring an important announcement. Just moments
ago we received the news about the attack on His Majesty during the opening ceremony of a new
memorial for the victims of the Special Administrative Zone Massacre. The attackers were
immediately arrested. His Majesty was evacuated by the Knight of Zero and is currently being
escorted by the Royal Guard-"

It wasn't even an hour, but among pro-Lelouch people, and there were many of them around the
globe, there were calls for a witch hunt. People were quick to start accusing everyone of trying to
kill the protector of the weak and start another war among Federation states. Some pointed out that
UFN leadership was trying to 'castrate' the Britannian military and its capabilities in Asia for a long
time. Many remembered the old blood between each other. It didn't help the fact that many UFN
leaders were slow to give official responses which only fueled conspiracy theories.

"We are interrupting our broadcast to deliver emergency news. An hour ago multiple high-ranking
officers within the new Order of Black Knights military declared themselves as a separate entity
from the rest of the Federation. We received news that they already took over strategic locations all
over Asia, including KMFs factories in the Indian Militarised Zone. Their appointed
representatives said that, and I quote: 'Britannia and Emperor Lelouch is a tumour that slowly
poisoned the Federation and tried to destroy it from within. We will no longer stand aside and
allow this to happen. We declare war upon Emperor Lelouch and his minions in the Empire and
inside UFN. The world cannot be free or peaceful as long as this Demon is allowed to reign free.'"

"Ever since the failed attempt to take the life of His Majesty, many within the UFN were quick to
blame the newly formed Order of Black Knights that consists of armies of states beside Japan. To
say that this declaration proved these theories will be an understatement. Britannians and people
across the Federation went to the streets to express their fury over the new Order of Black Knight's
actions. People want peace and criminals who try to break it are brought to justice."

"The leaders of the Federation held an emergency online meeting where it was decided that the
Britannian military must handle this crisis with whatever means necessary. His Majesty Lelouch vi
Britannia was given emergency powers by the rest of UFN to act and bring peace back to the
world-"

"The Federation is facing a new Black Rebellion, and this time the Black Knights are the ones
trying to undermine the stability of the entire world-"

Six months after the battle of Damocles.

February 29th. Tokyo.

'It happened faster than I predicted, but I will take this as another gift from the Collective Human
Consciousness.'

Lelouch vi Britannia stood in front of dozens of cameras inside the viceroy's palace. He was back to
the place where his journey started, Tokyo Settlement. The city was finally rebuilt after two
F.L.E.I.J.A. explosions. Now the capital of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan was going
through different construction works as per Kaguya's orders, and Japanese culture and architecture
were finally returning to Japan. Starting with said palace that now was resembling a mix between
Britannian and Japanese castles. The same could be said for the army before Lelouch.

On the ground and in the air, hundreds of Knightmares flew in formations. Vincent Wards,
Garethes, Akatsukies and so on. Ikaruga, Avalon, Nemesis, and now Damcoles flew in the air
above the palace and the army. One united army of the Empire, under the absolute control of
Lelouch. Behind the White Emperor, the map of the entire world was seen, covered entirely in blue
with Britannia's coat of arms in the centre. The entire world was watching Lelouch, from every
corner of the planet. On every screen, every person was watching the only man in a position to
maintain peace and stability, and guarantee peace and life.

To his right side stood the Knight of Zero. Wearing a uniform similar to the rest of the Knights of
the Round, with the main distinction being a red and black-coloured cape. His Q1 stood still, her
expression was one of calmness, but one could see a tiny smile on the redhead's face. C.C. was
next to her, standing close to Lelouch in her royal attire, there weren't any questions about her
relationships with the Emperor anymore. His witch had her usual face of indifference, but Lelouch
knew even she was excited about what was going to happen in a few minutes. After all, it wasn't
every day that one witnessed the complete takeover of the entire planet, of mankind.

The rest of his loyal Knights and entourage were outside the camera's view. Bishop with Peter and
Arthur stood outside the palace, remaining there on guard. Even when all enemies of their Emperor
were defeated. Cinder stood next to D.S., close to the main podium and Lelouch. The White Queen
didn't hide her desire to replace Kallen and stand in her place, but there were regulations. Plus, she
lost to Kallen in hand-to-hand combat just minutes before the broadcast and had to give in for now.
D.S. was beaming with excitement, her mission and wish were all but complete, and all that was
left was for Lelouch to confirm it.

Both Leila and Kaguya were among the first seats in the crowd before Lelouch's stage. They
weren't alone, others close to the emperor were there. Generals, governors, and high-ranking
members of Lelouch's regime. Geassed and not. All those who were loyal to His Majesty were
there to witness the birth of a new dynasty.

Marrybell with her knights was stationed on Damocles. The princess was given the responsibility
to guard the flying fortress. Lelouch knew she would have preferred to be in the hall, but he
promised to make up for it with the favour of whatever she wanted. Remembering the blush his
'only' living sister had upon hearing it, Lelouch was sure he had succeeded. Jeremiah was behind
the stage, in the company of Sayoko and Alfred. All three were ready to act if needed even if it was
overkill. None of his guardians wanted to allow any potential assassin any chance to kill their
master.

'They almost never leave me alone after that failed assassination attempt at the memorial. Sayoko
nearly strangled D.S. for OSI's failure to find out about the plot.' Lelouch knew people who didn't
want him alive would eventually come after him, but that one surprised him. 'I will give credit to
the Black Knights' latest leadership. Even if their time was cut short, they tried their best.'

The new leadership of the Order was made up of multiple military officers from all the
Federation's states, except Britannia. Xingke was not invited into the new Order of the Black
Knights, and the Chinese warrior didn't bother trying to get into it anyway. However, weeks after
UFN reorganised Black Knights' command structure, the new leaders quickly realised how bad
things were. Lelouch was silently and quickly choking UFN sovereignty from within. Britannia
already had a huge power within the UFN, but the new Order saw past Lelouch's beautiful lies and
found out what he wanted.

'All these little accidents around Federation just showcase the local government's inability to
control its own population in this new world. It was truly fortunate that my Britannia was always
there to assist. Is not it? Hehe- Be it military or financial assistance, I made sure people knew who
to thank. The more it happened, the more apparent it became that I'm the only one who could
guarantee safety and stability.'

The new Black Knights saw the inevitable downfall. The longer Lelouch was allowed to spread his
influence through soft power and direct involvement, the more UFN states were losing their
independence and legitimacy in the eyes of the people. The politicians' attempts to minimise
Briatnnian involvement in UFN's everyday life only backfired, making people question if it wasn't
a simple xenophobia against the Empire and its citizens. Of course, it happened so effectively
thanks to Lelouch's control over mass media, all of it.

'Even people who hated Britannia in the past started to question if it was logical to hinder the work
of the only UFN's state who was doing a good job and helping everyone. And the final nail in the
coffin was the Second Black Rebellion. They amassed a sizable army of freshly trained pilots and
seized the means of KMF production. Although from a military perspective, the new Order of
Black Knights did everything right, they already lost public support. If their opponent was anyone
else, they might have won. But-'

They were fighting a Demon who was wearing a mask of an Angel.

This game was rigged from the start.

'And now, I have unlimited power within the Federation.' UFN politicians made a smart and at the
same time stupid move. By giving Lelouch emergency powers, the Emperor now had the official
means to take over the Federation and justify it however he wanted. 'I have the support of the
people. I Geassed all important pawns around Asia into supporting me and thanks to the
emergency powers, I also possess legitimacy. Any attempt to go against me now will be seen as a
declaration of war against the new peaceful world.'

When the Black Knights tried to rebel, it was game over for them, for anyone who tried to fight
Lelouch.

Milly Ashford stood before one of the cameras, greeting the viewers. She was the only news
reporter allowed within the palace today and would get the interview with the Emperor. Milly
turned towards Lelouch, all cameras focused on him. It was showtime.

"Attention, world! Hear my proclamation! I am Lelouch vi Britannia, Emperor of the Holy

Britannian Empire and your Protector! Half a year ago I stopped my own blood and flesh, Nunnally
vi Britannia, in her attempt to challenge my right of rulership of Britannia. She was one of many
enemies I defeated-"

Hidden in the shadows of Tokyo, away from the busy crowds and city lights, a lonely mask was
watching Lelouch's declaration. Calmly resting their arms on a railing, they watched from an
unassuming point in the city, atop a common building.

Faker silently watched her whole world as his face was on every screen around the city, around the
globe.

"Those who were responsible for the usage of F.L.E.I.J.A are long dead. Schneizel and Suzaku
died for their crimes against the world, against the peace. After the battle, I was sure that peace
could be finally established with Britannia as a new member of UFN, and as its defender. My
people, my soldiers, were ready to embrace a new peaceful and gentle world and were ready to
fight and die for it. I was ready to die for such a noble goal!"

C.C. gave Lelouch a side glance. Her Warlock could feel her slightly unpleasant mood upon
hearing this part, but his Witch knew it was no longer the case. Zero Requiem wasn't something
that Lelouch could fulfil at the present, for personal and rational reasons.

"However! At every step, we were stopped by the incompetence of the UFN bureaucracy and their
so-called 'democratic' principles. While the leaders sat around and wrote their worthless laws, their
people were dying and starving on the streets. My Britannia was the only one who was ready to
offer our limitless aid, never wanting anything back. After decades of carnage and pain my
homeland caused the rest of the world, I and my countrymen sought to repent for the mistakes of
our ancestors. To guard and help the people of the world… but we were denied such a chance of
redemption!"
"Following the tragic death of Zero, I was sure the new leaders of the Black Knights would live up
to the doctrines of their Order's creator. I thought we would work together towards a better future
as one united front, but I was mistaken!" Lelouch shouted with fury. "The new leadership wasn't
any better than the previous one! Like all these before them, they refused to accept the new age,
the future that was the world united in coexistence! Instead, they choose the path of war! And if
they refused to join the rest of us in the new world, in our future, then I had no choice but to
destroy them!"

Lelouch paused for a moment, allowing his words to settle in.

"As a result of this, I am in control of both the Holy Britannian Empire and the United Federation
of Nations. No one left to oppose my strength, my rule. All those who tried were destroyed.
However, I'm not a tyrant, all I want is for humanity to be united as one and move forward. I tried
to guard and guide my people within the confines of UFN. But they proved themselves to be
foolish leaders and protectors, unworthy to carry on Zero's will of justice. All I ever wanted was
happiness for those who couldn't protect themselves, the weak and scared. To defend people who
were too kind in the violent and cruel world we all were born in, forced to survive through the war
with no prospect of such age ever ending. I lost those who were close to me, my loved ones."

Euphemia, Shirley, Rolo… and Suzaku. Even if his oldest companion had become Lelouch's worst
enemy, the Emperor would never forget the green-eyed boy who was his best friend once. Suzaku
had to die for Lelouch to achieve his wish, his goal, but it didn't mean the White Emperor didn't
miss the days when they were simply friends.

"My fellow Britannians, know that I will protect those whom I consider my subjects. Those who
know the real me know that I will burn the world for the sake of the people I love. Therefore, for
the sake of mankind as a whole, I have the only solution to guarantee the safety and prosperity of
our world! The entirety of UFN and the rest of the world will be recognized as one united empire.
The entire planet will become one state where everyone is equal. No more prejudice, no more
wars! Together humanity will unite under one common banner! Under my direct control!" Lelouch
raised his right fist in the air as he declared. "Britannia is reborn today as a new being, an empire
that will lead our kind into a new gentle future! I will lead you, my subjects!"

Outside the palace, all over the planet, Lelouch's followers cheered.

Bishop raised Uther's sword into the air as Peter and Arthur followed suit.

"All Hail Lelouch!"

The rest of the White Legion shouted the name of their master.

"All Hail Lelouch!"

The former Black Knights, those who followed Zero, and now unknowingly served the same man,
joined the rest.

"All Hail Lelouch!"

All those who welcomed the new age screamed the name of their saviour. All those who were
against it were silent.

"All Hail Lelouch!"

"All Hail Lelouch!"

"All Hail Lelouch!"

The Warlock remembered the words he said to his Witch all those months back when he only took
the throne when his plan only started.

'If I am to create the world I just described: a world of peace and unity - a gentle world… then…
this world must answer only to me.'

"If anyone dares to resist my supreme authority, they shall know the devastating powers of this
new empire! Those who could challenge my rule no longer exist. Yes, from this day, from this
moment forward, the world belongs to me!"

This was the climax of his plan.

The plan is to make this world perfect, to avenge all those who died because of him.

To create a world where evil will no longer triumph. One where he will become evil to conquer an
evil larger still!

'Britannia is mine, this world is mine.'

Once a school student. Once Zero, once Hero of Justice. And now, White Emperor Lelouch vi
Britannia gave his order to people, to the world.

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you! Obey me, subjects! Obey me, world!"

This is not an April Fool's joke. This might be a long A/N, so just a heads up, this isn't the last
chapter! There is one left…

Now, for this finale…boi, where do I even start? First of all, it feels surreal to know that 'His
Britannia' is all but complete. 7 years later, just wow. I will have more to say in the last
chapter about the full experience and the rest. I'll leave that for the last chapter and the
moment when we will say goodbye, but not today. Ok, let's go in order.

A calm and more comedic atmosphere with Milly, Kaguya and Rivalz. All three chapters of
Endspiel had a starting scene that was mostly outside the main battle and served as a means
to showcase background movements and some moments of relief. Yeah, Milly wasn't the
necessary part of the plan, but I thought Kaguya would want to have someone close to
Lelouch as part of the main performance. Not to mention, I like when every character has
some part to play, no matter how small their role might be.

Cinder, Arthur and their units gangbanged Gino, not really much to say about it. Jeremiah
and Anya's scene is pretty much the same as in the canon, so she will have pretty much the
same fate here.
Now, onto the big moment. Kallen vs Suzaku. Hope I and Kingpin Lunamaria wrote this
fight in a fair and satisfying way. Because of the changes from canon and both knights having
changed world views and methods, the fight was going to be different. Kallen is the
executioner of Lelouch's will, while Suzaku is the one who tries to stop the emperor and
Britannia. Writing about their fight was both fun and irritating because it needed to be
detailed, logical and epic at the same time. Anyone who tries to write coherent fighting scenes
knows just how difficult it is. And then there are battle tactics they used. I'm stupid and I
won't deny it, writing complex battle scenes is difficult for me, but I tried my best here and I
pray it was good enough for the final battle of the story. Now, about their dialogue, here I am
somewhat more confident. Both Kallen and Suzaku had different journeys from their canon
variants and obviously are quite different people now. I know the arguments I used for
Kallen against Suzaku might come off as character-bashing, but I'm being honest when I say
it wasn't my intention. For real. However, I do think they were fair arguments for someone
like Kallen who doesn't want to understand Suzaku's point of view and what he hoped to
achieve in an ideal scenario. For the last month, against better judgment, I participated in a
debate/the worst example of online arguing over Suzaku's plan of changing Britannia from
within. I have always held the position "Suzaku's plan sounds nice as long as you forget that
Japanese people were dying on a daily basis before Zero created Black Knights. Suzaku's
plan would require decades to even start working, meanwhile, Japanese people will continue
dying every day. We can't be even sure if Suzaku's plan will succeed after who knows how
many years, since he can be easily assassinated to maintain the status quo. Britannia's
foundation is Darwinistic and Fascist ideology. Allowing Japanese people to be equal or get
any favourable treatment will be seen as a weakness in the eyes of ideologically driven elites
like pure bloods. Is Suzaku's plan possible in theory? Yes, but only if Suzaku will face
minimal opposition during decades of serving Britannia and as long as Japanese people won't
rebel. Remember, Zero didn't just start his revolution out of nothing. There were other
rebels, and they wouldn't just wait for Suzaku's plan to work out while their people are dying
like flies." (part of my position in the peaceful and good conversation I had this year.)

During this entire story, I wanted to write about Suzaku as someone who was on the losing
side and who grudgingly acknowledged it. Ideologically, Suzaku and his principles were
pressed against the wall. He's stuck in a paradox where joining Lelouch or fighting him went
against either his personal feelings or principles. Kallen represents someone more grounded
in her worldview. She follows Lelouch and trusts him to do better at ruling Japan and the
entire world. She changed her goal and now both her feelings and duty are aligned,
strengthening each other. While Suzaku is the opposite and conflicted over everything, only
sure that his own demise is a matter of time. Oh, and yeah I know that Suzaku arguably
shouldn't be able to keep up with Geass-powered Kallen when he lost his own command to
live. But I think of this more as Suzaku's last-stand type of scenario, where he gives his best,
plus being in rather unstable and furious mode helps go Berserk.

As for Nunnally and Lelouch's talk, once again I'm questioning whether I'm so predictable or
whether some of you can see the future. But yes, some of the reviews more or less managed to
predict some parts of the endgame between the two of them. Evil Nunnally wasn't part of my
original plan in 2016, but it did become a guaranteed part of the finale since chapter 29
"Declaration of war" in 2021. I always thought that Nunnally vs. Lelouch is an underused
concept, where Nunnally will be the one who wants to challenge Lelouch and not simply
because of Schneizel. Here I wanted to write about Nunnally who was acting in the same way
as Lelouch during the start of R1, but she was more fed up with the whole world. After all,
picture a little girl who had to accept the fact that she couldn't see or walk anymore. Someone
who had to endure all these years of fake disability, finding happiness in being with Lelouch
and her friends. And after all this time, after learning several mind-breaking revelations and
having to go against the older brother who loved and cherished her all these years, Nunnally
learns that it was all a lie. She wasn't blind or crippled but was made to believe so. And for
what? So Charles could sell his lies better? What was the reasoning behind making Nunnally
believe she couldn't see or walk? Anyone who might learn this will have a breakdown.
Doesn't help that Nunnally is surrounded by people who do not care about her at all, feeling
alone.

At best there was Cornelia and Suzaku, but even they only thought of her as an innocent
flower and symbol instead of an actual person. Lelouch at least didn't want Nunnally to be
involved with his revolution and tried to shield her as much as he could, which can be seen as
another issue arguably. Nunnally was pretty much alone, going through serious realization
issues. Why should she help Schneizel who sees her as a doll and puppet? Lelouch called her
a worthless parasite so why not prove him wrong at least once and show that she wasn't as
weak as everyone believed her to be? That was the point of Puppet Requiem, ruining the
plans of Schneizel and everyone who wanted to use her as a puppet and show Lelouch that
she wasn't just a little girl who couldn't do anything anymore, even if it meant using lies and
manipulating her only friend Suzaku.

It wasn't about changing the world or winning Lelouch in some insane way, simply showing
him that Nunnally can be just as vicious and manipulative as her dear brother when she is
motivated. Puppet Requiem was similar to Zero Requiem since Nunnally fully intended to die
once Lelouch saw her strength and left him to rule the world in peace. The tables have
turned. And yes, Nunnally saw Zero Requiem from the canon timeline when she touched
D.S.'s hand, Geass is weird, we all know it. The plan wasn't perfect and Nunnally knew but
she was limited by her tools and abilities to execute it. Rai's and Suzaku's rampage went
outside what she wanted, but still not enough to ruin her Requiem. Of course, the biggest flow
of her plan was to rely on Lelouch and she knew it. If Lelouch wouldn't succeed and instead
will die during the final battle, Nunnally would just blow up Damocles and everyone on it,
herself included. The hidden mechanism on her Damocles staff is real for the sake of the plot,
don't like doing it like this but I had no other option. If she cannot achieve her Requiem, then
dying and taking Schneizel as well is a better alternative than living as nothing but a puppet
in his world. Yes, this is an insane and suicidal idea, but in my mind Nunnally who learned
everything and saw actual Zero Requiem was in a bad mental state and didn't think about
her own life. In a way, both Nunnally and Lelouch cared about each other more than they did
about themselves, even if Lelouch saw Nunnally as an enemy whom he was ready to simply
imprison. Both of their roles were flipped from the canon show, now Lelouch was in the dark
and thought of his sister as the traitorous enemy while Nunnally planned to give the whole
world to her brother and die for it.

And just like in the canon show, once the other sibling learned about the real plan they
refused to accept it. In Zero Requiem, Nunnally was too late to do anything, while here
Lelouch had an opportunity to save his sister, in a way. Nunnally vi Britannia died so no one
could use her name as means of uniting people against Lelouch. And yes, I love the Fate
franchise if you didn't get the reference :3
Now, I know Suzaku's surviving battle with Kallen might diminish that fight's importance,
but I also think Nunnally, Suzaku and Lelouch deserved a moment of closure. Suzaku needed
to learn what Nunnally did. Revealing it in the middle of his fight felt like a cheap trick to
further hurt Suzaku and a cheap way to end the fight with Suzaku taking the role of
betrayed and suffering enemy who lost everything in the end. Instead of that, I decided all
three of them deserved a last moment together. Nunnally, now Faker experienced the closest
thing to her happy childhood, now able to see it. Suzaku met his last moment with his best
friends, even if he couldn't forgive Lelouch, but at least could forget for one moment since he
was too tired after everything. I think it is a fair way for both Lelouch and Suzaku to end
their feud, ignoring it for the sake of one moment of peace for the last time.

This doesn't mean Suzaku and Lelouch simply moved over their history and issues, in the
settings of this story, they cannot and somewhat it is my fault. I did have a 'good' ending for
Suzaku where he will have to live in Lelouch's world, unable to do anything anymore.
However, since I didn't focus on Suzaku and Mariel's interactions too much, I couldn't
develop their friendship enough to make it satisfying. Mariel was supposed to be a character
who can act as a fresh start for Suzaku, a new best friend, and emotional support, perhaps
romance. I didn't focus enough on her and therefore had to cut away from such a route,
sorry.

And for the last part of the chapter. Lelouch realistically could take over the world right after
the battle, but in 'His Britannia' he is playing the role of benevolent ruler and doing "Obey
me world' right then will ruin his image that must become the foundation of his regime.
Mankind must realize that White Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia is the best choice for them,
either on their own or through manipulation and some force. And so, I tried to write in such
a way that Lelouch's take over of UFN felt as believable as it can in the Code Geass universe.
In their world there is no successful democratic nation, not to mention that UFN is made of
former Chinese Federation states that likely never had democratic institutions and wouldn't
give power to the people from the start. At least this early in UFN's life cycle. And such a
scenario is easy to manipulate with Geass and Britannia's influence to make people accept
Lelouch as their ruler.

I will talk about this topic more in the next and last chapter of this journey.

Thanks to our editor Kingpin Lunamaria for all the work they have done.

The Epilogue of "His Britannia" will be released on April 21st.

 Epilogue

Kamine Island. March 18, 2019.

On one of the islands surrounding the Special Administrative Zone of Japan, four individuals
moved towards the cave where the Thought Elevator was located. It was dawn as the sun rose over
the nation, another one among many within the empire. In the past, Kamine Island was mostly
uninhabited, save for the military outpost on the beach. However, that was no longer the case, as
now this place is of high priority for scientific research as well as holding a personal place in the
heart of the monarch walking its grounds.

The island was quite unique for two among the party, having several vital events happen there.

C.C. was in somewhat of a daze as she, Lelouch, Leila, and D.S. exited the Thought Elevator. All
she could think about was that she was close to it, after centuries of having received her accursed
Code, she would finally do it!

She will be free of immortality. Free of her Code!

'At long last, Lelouch and I can-'

"This should do."

The White Emperor, the most powerful man in the entire world and her Warlock spoke with a
small smile. Lelouch ditched his royal cape, still wearing that white imperial robe of his. It was
only six months into his checkmate of the entire world, his declaration of his rulership over the
planet. Her partner hasn't changed too much since that day. Save for some muscle he gained thanks
to Jeremiah's slave-like training that Lelouch despised. On the other hand, C.C. and the Emperor's
mistresses enjoyed feeling said muscles.

"Okie-doke! Time to find out if my guess was right and dear Leila can actually do it!" D.S. happily
sang while the blonde girl in question looked somewhat nervous.

"You said it will work. Definitely." C.C. narrowed her eyes. This day, this moment, it couldn't be
ruined no matter what.

D.S. stuck out her tongue as she comically punched her forehead. "I would say many things to
make you happy, C.C.! Rest assured, C.C. It must work."

"I trained for a long time to help you, C.C." Leila offered her some reassurance. "I did manage to
get rid of Toto Thompson's and Orpheus Zevon's Geass abilities after all."

The green-haired witch looked a little scared. "I know, Leila. It is just-"

"It will work, C.C." Lelouch placed his hand over her shoulder to calm her down. "We made
enough tests, Leila's Geass works as we hoped. All that is left is to do it. Failure won't happen no
matter what and we will succeed. Do you know why?"

The look of curiosity, as well as trust in her golden eyes, silently asked her partner.

"Because I'm a man of miracles, witch. I promised to make you smile and if I need to break the
curse of yours, I will do it. I will challenge the world, gods, and fate itself if needed to make sure
you're happy, C.C."
'You're over dramatic as always, boy. But-' C.C. took his hand and moved it to her left cheek as
Lelouch gently squeezed it as she closed her eyes. 'Our lives are tied to each other. No matter what
happens we will be together. I will stay with you forever, Lelouch. Even if it won't work- no, it will
work. If you want it to succeed, to create another miracle, then it will happen.'

Both D.S. and Leila gave them a moment, smiling at the scene. However, D.S. received a message
from the rest of Lelouch's entourage.

"Agh, Kallen messaged me. She wants to remind her dear Emperor that he still has important
meetings today." The OSI director didn't want to ruin the moment, but Lelouch was still the
Emperor of the whole world and couldn't ignore some things.

Leila sighed. "It is about the revolt in Berlin? God, sorry, that was my responsibility. but I
underestimated how much the older generation can be a pain. Even after everything that happened,
old folks don't want to accept the new reality and would rather create new problems."

"It is natural for people to fight the change when they're afraid of it, worried that it will destroy
their old way of life. Don't worry, Leila. You did a great job. We will deal with them one way or
another, preferably quickly and peacefully." Lelouch wanted to be a benevolent emperor for his
subjects, all of them. However, it didn't mean he would be a weak emperor who was afraid to use
an iron fist or a few insane followers who were ready to do anything for him. "But right now I want
to focus on making my Witch happy."

"As long as I'm with you, Lelouch, I'm happy." C.C. hold his hand, not letting go of it.

D.S. couldn't hold her excitement. "Gosh, you're so cute, C.C.! Why can't you show us more of this
moe side? Wish I had a camera right now!"

The Witch looked annoyed, even if she was a little embarrassed. "If this works out I wouldn't mind
showing this side to you all… only once though."

"I have to admit, it is adorable. Seeing you blush never fails to make me smile, C.C." Leila, the
Witch's former prey and bully target, joined D.S. Perhaps the green-haired immortal was going too
easy on the blonde messiah lately.

'These two! I will have to remind them who is in charge of our dynamic.' The rest of the girls were
forgetting who is the main wife-to-be in their relationships.

Lelouch gave D.S. and Leila a wink. "We'll get her, don't worry."

"Hmph," C.C. stared hard at Lelouch who only laughed back. "If you're all feeling so carefree then
let's proceed with our ritual before you all continue fooling around."

"Indeed, let's begin."

The four of them started as Lelouch moved to the side to give Leila more room. The blonde Geass
user stepped forward and placed her hands on C.C.'s shoulders. Leila could feel that despite
everything, the Witch was nervous. Even if the immortal was hiding it, the trio before her could
see it easily. Leila gave her one last reassuring smile to confront her before both of her eyes
sparkled with blue colour as the reverse Geass symbol appeared in them.

'This is it.'

The blue reverse bird of Geass flowed from Leila's eyes as it moved towards C.C.'s golden orbs.
The witch's eyes went wide, her pupils were covered by blue circles. The code on her forehead, the
symbol of Geass, lit up in a bright red colour. C.C. remembered the years of pain and loneliness. Of
how she wanted nothing but death and to finally be free from it all.

And then she remembered how she met Lelouch.

How many centuries have passed since that day in the church? C.C. was young and naive back
then, thinking the nun had the best intentions for her, but in reality, the old tormented immortal
only sought death. Some hungry peasant girl who wouldn't survive a winter was just a means to an
end for her.

'Just like how Lelouch was when we first met. He was just another Geass user I would observe and
be disappointed when they would fail to progress, one able to receive my Code… but I was wrong.'

The annoying boy with delusional dreams was anything but a disappointment. Almost three years
passed since the day she gave him the Power of Kings. These three years were more fulfilling than
the centuries C.C. lived through until then. Before, decades moved in the blink of an eye for the
immortal woman. However, in this short time, she got more than she ever hoped for. She got to see
and be part of crazy schemes to take down the world and then take it over. She witnessed things
even C.C. couldn't fathom. All thanks to the boy who was supposed to be her means to the end.

'I'm loved and I love.'

No longer was she loved because of her old Geass, no. This was real, sincere love and C.C.
answered Lelouch's love back. She was no longer alone, with him she had a partner. One she will
treasure until the end of times.

'He is the Warlock and I'm the Witch. My Code be damned! I won't allow fate to take this
happiness away. Zero Requiem, revolting masses and my cursed immortality, none will stand in
our way.'

The Geass symbol on her forehead started to change. Its colour slowly shifted from bright red to
blue before it gradually disappeared.

It was gone. Her Code was destroyed.

C.C. felt lightheaded as Leila had to help keep her balance. Lelouch moved to catch his witch,
worried she was too weak. D.S. remained to the side, smiling slightly as she watched another soul
tormented by the Power of the Kings regain her mortality.

"Did… it work?" Leila asked with an anxious expression, fearing that she might have failed.

C.C. didn't answer, instead, she regained her focus before she pulled out a small knife she had for
self-protection. Without any words, the witch left a small cut on her palm and waited. Everyone
waited. Before, small wounds like this meant nothing, healing in less than a minute. And yet this
time, nothing happened. The wound didn't close up and blood was slowly leaking, but the Witch
wasn't afraid or in pain.

Her wound didn't disappear. Her body didn't heal itself.

It worked.

She was free of the Code, of her immortality.

"I- this, it worked!" C.C. shouted, not believing what just happened. "I- hah, ahahaha!"
She was no longer immortal.

Her laughter was on the border of hysteria as C.C. struggled to contain herself, she was feeling
light. She was worried she might fall, but Lelouch held onto her, tearing off a piece of his robe to
use as a bandage to stop the blood. Lelouch was gentle as he did so before looking up at C.C., who
was having a hard time containing her shock and excitement.

Leila turned towards D.S. "Did it work?"

"I can't feel the connection between C.C. and World C anymore." The avatar of God smiled. "I
don't sense the Code anymore. She is mortal."

"At long last." C.C. managed to hold back the mix of her emotions. She didn't cry despite wanting
to do so. Her hand was still feeling pain, reminding her that she was now a normal human and
would no longer be immortal. Perfect, she wouldn't want it any other way.

Lelouch watched her in silence as a smile never left his face. The Emperor then glanced at his
lovers.

"There is something between me and C.C. must discuss. Please tell Kallen that we will be there
soon."

D.S. gave an understanding nod before walking up to Leila and taking the blonde's hand. The girl
who destroyed the Code waved at the green-haired woman, smiling from ear to ear as two of them
left the two alone.

Lelouch turned to C.C. as he took her hands into his own.

"Cera."

Lelouch spoke her true name gently, his voice full of love. C.C. froze, her eyes focused only on the
Emperor speaking.

"We went through a lot. We learned about each other and hid secrets from each other. After all this
time, you finally got rid of your Code. Are you happy?"

C.C. smiled brightly. "You know the answer to this, Lelouch. This is everything I ever wanted."

The Witch spent centuries looking for a way to die, even agreeing to an insane plan to slay God.
But it wasn't her real wish. No, all she ever wanted was to smile, not to be alone, to be loved.

'And now I have it. I'm no longer alone.'

She won't have to watch Lelouch and others around him age and die from the strain of time while
she continues to exist in the world without him. No, now she will be able to join him when Lelouch
will close his eyes for the last time with her, in a distant future where they are happy together.

"Did I not promise you the smile you've always deserved?"

"You did." C.C. moved as Lelouch smirked.

"Now that you're immortal, you're no longer bound by our old contract. Which means we have to
make a new one. Therefore I must know-"

Lelouch asked before kneeling before her. The White Emperor pulled out a small box. Her golden
eyes goggled at the object inside the box. A ring.
"Will you stay with me, C.C.? Let's renew our partnership, make it legal."

The mortal Witch couldn't take it anymore. Tears started to fall from her face, she didn't sob as
these weren't tears of sadness but of happiness. C.C. had to wipe away her eyes, still smiling like
she never did before.

'Me, the old Witch who wanted nothing but death, crying like a young maiden. Hah. Ahahaha! This
is-'

Beyond anything, she ever expected to happen. C.C. never dreamed of it and yet, it happened.

"Someone has to keep their eyes on you," C.C. spoke, tears still on her smiling face as she took the
ring before examining it. "Who knows what kind of insanity and foolishness you will try to
accomplish without someone making sure you won't get yourself killed? You're still a boy, too
cheeky for someone who wants to rule the world."

"Good thing I won't be alone at this." Lelouch's smirk widened as he stood up. "I will have my
partner always to guide me, support me, and waste my funds on her pizza obsession."

"Hmm, the last part sounds quite appealing to me."

"So? We have a deal, my Witch?"

C.C. smiled brightly as she put on a ring. The Witch, now future empress, admired how the golden
object hugged her ring finger.

"How's this for an answer?"

Before he knew it she'd leaned in and captured his lips, placing a kiss on them. Unlike the previous
times, this one went on, neither wanting to ever stop. The kiss lasted a long moment, it meant to
reinforce their contract with each other once again.

On that day, the Demon freed the Immortal Witch, with the help of those under his banner. Said
followers weren't too far away.

D.S. lied, she had a camera on her all this time. Both she and Leila were hiding behind one of the
nearby trees as the director of OSI was filming every moment before them. She was going to use it
to remind C.C. of this magical day! And show how adorable the girl looked when she was crying
from happiness to the rest of Lelouch's lovers.

His Britannia

Epilogue

Pendragon. August 20th.

The Royal wedding was an event that the entire nation, no, the entire world was watching. Not
only did it help to calm down the more traditional Britannians about the security of the Royal
family's future, but it also worked as a good distraction for the masses. The number of revolts was
well within the White Emperor's expectations and therefore many good political moves were made
to take away attention from the issues. As with everything else. His Majesty used even his wedding
to unite the people, as well as spread his control further. No longer was it only a wedding of
Britannian Royalty, but now of the world's ruler. No matter what people thought of Lelouch and
his regime, everyone had to admit it was an important event and that alone was already solidifying
Lelouch's power over the people.

Of course, such matters were of secondary concern for the groom himself. Lelouch would like to
think everything was going according to his plan, and it was security-wise. However, the emperor
was also a nervous wreck at the moment.

"She's taking too long, what if something happened? What if she won't be here?" The mighty
Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia was whispering to himself beside the pastor who will register their
marriage… said the pastor was also far from ordinary.

"Do you really think she will run from her own wedding? Please, Lelouch. Just take a deep breath
and calm down… if you need help we can get behind the doors and quickly-"

"Diana, please," Lelouch whispered as he forced a smile.

The White Emperor was currently inside one of many rooms the Imperial Palace provided. His
wedding was going to happen in Pendragon's church hall. Britannians were Protestant and
Protestantism was still the biggest school of Christianity among them, even if the Royal Family of
the past perverted religion with Darwinism, making older religions less important, or at least tried
to do so. Over the centuries since Napoleon kicked the Royal Family from the British Isles, the
church went through changes in Britannia. So it wasn't shocking to have a female pastor. What
might be shocking for the empire is what the pastor says.

"Oh come on, Lelouch. Don't you think it would be hot to have sex with a nun right before your
wedding?" D.S. said as she lifted part of her robes to showcase the skin under them. "C.C. won't
mind, if anything she asked me to do it quickly if you felt scared."

"First, we aren't doing that here, not right now. You will ruin my clothes." Lelouch was wearing a
tailcoat, the Emperor picked it personally and made sure it was following his preferable colour
scheme, black and gold. "Second, you aren't a nun, you're a pastor. And finally, I'm not scared, just
a little worried."

Why did Lelouch allow D.S. of all people to be the one to officially register him and C.C. as
husband and wife? Worse, the Dimensional Supervisor made it clear she will do it at every
wedding Lelouch was going to have, including her own. How that would work was beyond his
understanding but he felt like the horny pastor would find a way. Still, the Director of OSI wanted
to play the role of a religious figure in public. Her reasoning?

'It is simple, Lelouch! I will have to appear in public sooner or later. Why should I be OSI Director
when I can be the figurehead of your religious base?' When Lelouch informed her that the
Britannian Emperor was the figurehead of the Church in the Empire, D.S. simply waved it
off. 'Second in command, whatever. Oh and not just Christianity, but every religion out there! After
all, religion and the secret service go hand in hand nicely. And I'm the closest thing there is to
'God', isn't that right my Champion?'

"You weren't as worried before the final battle, Lulu. Don't try to lie to me or yourself." D.S.
placed a quick kiss on the Emperor's cheek. "It is completely fine to be nervous. For humans, their
wedding is a special day. I imagine it is especially the case for you, a person who treasures his
loved ones so dearly. Don't panic and don't overthink everything. C.C. said she wants this day to be
best for both of you, so don't think about the negative stuff. And seriously, Lelouch? Do you think
Cera wouldn't come here? Please."

"You're right, you're right." Lelouch took a deep breath before looking at the mirror. Everything
was prepared, and all necessary preparations were made. Security was everywhere and on guard.
Too many important people were there and nothing was allowed to go wrong. "I think I'm good to
go."

"Great, because we are starting now. Let's get your first wedding started, Your Majesty.'"

In the main hall.

The giant room was filled with guests from all over the planet. Since the nobility was purged the
guests were made up of government officials and military officers from all over the Britannian
Empire, which meant the entire world now. Above all else, this wedding served as a good uniting
event for the higher-ups within Lelouch's empire. More than half of them weren't Geassed and their
loyalty needed to be appreciated by showing that the White Emperor trusts them enough to invite
them to his special day.

Kallen didn't bother herself too much with caring about administrative duties, that was Lelouch's
front. However, she and the rest of the Knights of the Round were more preoccupied with security.
The Royal Palace was surrounded by the entire White Legion, everyone was ready. As for the
Knights of the Round themselves, they were all within the hall to provide direct protection if
needed. They were outside their Knightmares, but their battle machines were nearby if needed.

"This is so exciting!" Kaguya happily said as she stood next to Kallen and the other bridesmaids.
"First Royal wedding I'm attending that Lelouch doesn't plan to crash."

"C.C. will kill him if he decides to ruin their own wedding," Kallen said with a small smile. It
wasn't her and Lelouch's wedding, yet, but the redhead was happy for the annoying pizza lover. As
long as Kallen was with Lelouch, she was ready to tolerate almost all other women within
Lelouch's heart. Even going as far as being their bridesmaid.

Indeed, C.C. made sure Kallen was among the bridesmaids, even if the redhead would rather stay
as close to Lelouch as possible. Well, she was at least in good company with Leila, Kaguya, Milly,
Princess Marrybell, and Cinder. Actually, scratch that, the Pirate Queen was far from a good
company.

"I can't believe I will see Lelouch getting married here of all places," Milly spoke with a small
smile. The bridesmaids were close to the altar, standing on the right side of the hall. The rest of the
bridesmaids, save Kallen and Cinder, were wearing beautiful dresses. The two female Knights
remained in their official uniform. "Feels like a fairy tale."

"It is a big event for everyone, but I'm sure Lelouch and C.C. are the most excited about it." Leila
nodded. "I imagine she must be feeling quite emotional right now."

"You know who else feels emotional at the moment? Bishop." Cinder smirked as she glanced at
the Knight of One on the opposite side of the hall.

Lelouch's groomsmen were made up of Rivalz, Arthur, Peter, Bishop… and Tamaki of all people.
How exactly the loud and mannerless redhead managed to get into the Emperor's closest circle was
anyone's guess. It was strange enough that the loud idiot was appointed the position of Japan's
Minister of Culture, he was even publicly seen hanging around with Lelouch and now this.
Somehow, because of all this Tamaki managed to become a popular topic in the Empire's talks and
discussions. As well as getting recognition for his past as a Black Knight, of which the loyalists
were now led by the Knight of Zero. It was absolutely bizarre and even Lelouch couldn't predict
such an outcome, but for some reason, people liked Tamaki so it was alright.
And now the bizarre hero was quietly chatting with Rivalz as both of them were happy about
something. Arthur looked decent if only a little nervous, and often sent smiles to the crowd. Most
often to his lover among the assembled Glinda Knights.

The Knight of One looked like he would burst into tears any moment now. His best friend Peter
looked at him with a disappointed look and prepared napkins, having a good idea of how it would
go.

"I imagine it would be bad if people saw the first knight losing his composure on national news."
Milly awkwardly laughed.

"It would be," Cinder sighed. "Lelouch even Geassed Bishop into staying calm and not crying in
public for today." Obviously, Jeremiah or Leila were going to nullify the command once the
wedding was finished. "But even now he is barely holding up."

And truly, the red circles around Bishop's pupils were disappearing every now and then, an
indication that the Knight was on the verge of breaking his Master's command.

"This wedding is exhausting." Cinder took a deep breath.

"Standing here is exhausting, I would rather prefer being next to the altar." Marrybell eyed the spot
where the bride was supposed to be with a predatory look, licking her lips. "If C.C. doesn't show
up, I'm fully prepared to take her place. I know every word of the wedding vow and have a
wedding dress on me."

Kallen deadpanned. "You aren't replacing C.C. on her own wedding. You are his sister- wait, what
do you mean you have a wedding dress on you?!"

Instead of answering, Marrybell lifted up her skirt to show the rest of the girls a white dress
underneath her pinkish bridesmaid's dress.

"It is very light and won't crumble. I made some changes to the dress and can easily tear it apart
with one move-"

"Don't," Cinder said with a serious tone. "If you want to live through your incestual fantasies, you
will do it on any other day."

Kaguya nodded with a disapproving look. "Marrybell, we talked about this. No sabotaging on the
wedding days of the other girls, you know the schedule. You will patiently wait your turn. If
anything, I'm the one who should be complaining and being jelly since mine will be only in 2021."

"Agh, fine." Marrybell wasn't happy with the rules but had to play by them.

"Good- wait what schedule?" Both Cinder and Kallen looked at the rest of the bridesmaids with
questioning looks. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Leila was the one to answer. "We needed an official schedule for the upcoming weddings Lelouch
will have. So, I and Kaguya made one. And Marrybell better not get ahead of others if she wants to
still have her very special day next year."

Marrybell rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get full of yourself, Leila. Just because you're ahead
of me by a few months."

"Nine months and ten days to be precise," Leila spoke with a small grin. "And it isn't just me, D.S.
booked the first of April and Cécile asked to be placed somewhere in June or July."
Both female Knights looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions.

"Why didn't we hear anything about this schedule?"

"Yeah, and why are you booking dates without asking us?! Wait, Lady Cécile is in on this too-?!"

Milly looked at them with an apologetic smile. "Sorry girls, but most of the time when either of us
tried to approach you, you two were sparring with each other-"

"Trying to create an accident where one of us will die in unfortunate circumstances." Cinder
corrected her and Kallen quickly nodded.

Milly gave them a hard look. "Sure. Anyway, you wouldn't bother to hear us and we already made
a list of those who booked the dates for the next few years. But you're in luck! Since Kaguya isn't
getting her wedding until 2021 you two might be able to secure a safe spot sometime before that."

"As much as I would prefer to have my wedding sooner, there are certain matters we better not
push so hastily." Kaguya knew that even if her reciprocated feelings for Lelouch were sincere, the
White Emperor might be a little troubled in marrying her right now. It might be still too early for
Japanese people to accept the last member of their nobility marrying into the Britannian Royal
Family, not to mention it might look strange if the Emperor married a girl who is underage
according to the Empire's law.

Lelouch didn't want to be like Odysseus eu Britannia. Even if the age difference between him and
Kaguya was only three years, it would be safer to wait another two years before the Japanese
Princess could tame the Oni via marriage. Kaguya was content with waiting, plus in a very
complicated way, her childhood plan of marrying Lelouch for peace between Britannia and Japan
would work out.

"Ok, let's ignore the part about us not being informed about this very, and I mean absolutely,
important topic. But why aren't we top priority brides?!" Cinder asked as she gestured at both
herself and Kallen.

"I'm his Shadow, I gave the oath to protect Lelouch. I might be considered his wife as well by this
point."

Leila waved her away. "None of that counts. A Knight's oath is one thing, marriage is another.
Now that you know about the schedule list, get in line girls."

"And what if we want to move up in the list?" Cinder asked with a smirk. "I bet Lelouch doesn't
even know about this list so what if I decide to propose to him, he will answer me in kind won't
he?"

Leila nodded, still having that smug grin. "You're correct, Lelouch is unaware of this list, he
doesn't have to know." Everyone immediately agreed with it. "And if you want to go out of your
way and ruin all the planning we did, then feel free to bring it up with Lelouch's official wedding
triad."

Leila pointed towards the sitting crowd. Cinder's and Kallen's eyes followed her finger as they saw
Alfred sitting among Lelouch's most valuable and close retainers.

"Alfred will be easy to convince," Cinder informed and Kallen believed her.

However, the triad wasn't made up of Alfred alone. The blonde Messiah of Europe smirked in a
similar way to Lelouch's usual devilish smile. Leila then pointed at another person, one that made
both Cinder and Kallen freeze as the chill ran down their spines.

Sayoko Shinozaki. The battle ninja maid and the closest person to Lelouch's mother figure were
happily sitting among the guests. Next to Kallen's parents. She was wearing traditional Japanese
clothes, smiling as she witnessed the wedding of her master and Lady C.C. However, when she
noticed the gaze of the two Knights of the Round Leila pointing at her, she immediately
understood what they were talking about.

Still smiling brightly, Sayoko closed her eyes and pulled a small sharp object, her kunai, one
among many. She then proceeded to make a movement of kunai slowly going over her throat, of
course not literally, before pointing a finger at Kallen's and Cinder's direction. To say that both
Knights were terrified would be an underestimation of the century.

"Crap."

"Yup, we are done for." Kallen knew Sayoko was still giving her a cold shoulder. Cinder wasn't on
the maid's good list either.

"There is also Jeremiah, but he is currently with Lelouch. Of course, he and Alfred aren't the
hardest to convince. But Sayoko, well, you two screwed up. Heh, good luck."

"How did any of you manage the secure place with Sayoko acting as one of the judges?" Kallen
asked with a perplexed look.

"Good manners and sincerity on my part." Leila was the first to explain. "After losing my friends I
decided life was too short to worry about everything and not enjoy the feeling of a loved one by my
side. I know for the sake of Europe I might have to tie Lelouch to it via betrothal, but it is mainly
for my own self. After everything I endured, I think I deserve to be a little selfish when it comes to
this."

"I had plans to save Japan by marrying Lelouch when we were kids. Then I wanted to marry Zero
and support him as a wife. Neither plan really worked back then, but now I can and will
accomplish it by supporting Lelouch." After everything that happened in Japan almost a year ago,
Kaguya made up her mind. "Sayoko was supportive, but also said that it would be better if I waited
a bit."

Kallen and Cinder looked at Milly who nervously looked down. "Heh, I know it might be strange
for me to be in this, but Lelouch and I have been engaged since childhood. Yeah, it was called off
once Lelouch was sent to Japan and then you know the story."

"Are you serious, Milly?"

The blonde reporter gave Kallen a wink. "We shall see, hehe. Who knows what will or will not
happen? But I would like to see the chaos that will be Lelouch's personal life, that will be
entertaining to watch."

Kallen couldn't help but give Milly a small smile while Cinder looked past the blonde reporter and
childhood friend, and gazed at the princess who liked her brother a little bit too much.

"What about you? I can't see Sayoko accepting you."

Marrybell nodded. "She didn't. She wasn't a fan of my love for my dear brother and said it is
immoral. Huh, after everything we dealt with, somehow little love between two half-siblings is
apparently forbidden, but having a harem isn't. Don't make me laugh."
"You're a weirdo." Cinder sighed. "Come, Marry. Tell me how you got on the list. I did save
Oldrin for you."

"Only because it was convenient for you. Tch! Fine, I challenged Sayoko Shinozaki and fought her
to a standstill. Afterwards, she acknowledged my feelings and devotion to my goal. So don't you
dare make fun of my love when I proved I meant it." Marrybell said with a proud smile, even if she
still remembered how her body hurt like hell after the battle.

"You fought Sayoko and didn't die? Bullshit." Kallen wasn't able to sense the ninja maid and how
she could move behind you with a blade. How could some princess, even a soldier, fight Sayoko?
"Did Cécile Croomy fight her too or what?"

"Nope. But after hearing Cécile's numerous failures to get married, Sayoko herself asked the
scientist to marry Lelouch." Milly giggled. "I think Cécile herself didn't realise that Sayoko meant
it. Oh, well, it will be quite a surprise for both her and Lelouch, I can't wait to film their reactions."

"As for me. Well-" Marrybell snorted. "I know how to handle a sword and fight in a proper duel.
Lady Sayoko is good, really good, but I wasn't going to give up so easily. If you want my advice,
go for direct combat…and bring enough painkillers for the aftermath."

Both Kallen and Cinder looked at each other with unsure expressions as they thought about it
carefully.

"We both can try to take her out at the same time. She shouldn't be able to handle two of us at
once." Cinder provided a viable, perhaps only winning strategy.

"We both have Geass commands so we can activate them, I think. I can imagine that Sayoko is
standing in my way of protecting Lelouch. While for you, you can think that she is an enemy of
Lelouch's future with you or something."

Cinder nodded. "Yeah, that might work. We might have a chance. I recommend we challenge her
right after the event, today. Before she can change into more flexible clothes."

The two Knights were scheming how to fight and beat their future 'mother-in-law' who was also a
ninja maid. Meanwhile, the rest of the bridesmaids and groomsmen went closer to the altar as the
main event was about to start.

Lelouch was the first to arrive, in the company of Jeremiah. The Royal Captain followed his
master until the altar before leaving to join the rest of the groomsmen.

The doors opened as the bride walked in. The first Empress regnant-to-be walked towards the altar.
The green-haired pizza lover looked stunning in a more classical white wedding dress. Her
Warlock waited for her with a content smile as the ceremony started. Everyone was silent, only the
sounds of traditional music were playing as C.C. walked. Every guest could see how beautiful the
bride was. Those who were present at the royal banquet night a while ago would remember that
even back then the mysterious woman was very shameless when it came to showing affection to
the Emperor in public.

Soon the music died down as both bride and groom were standing right in front of the pastor. D.S.
proceeded to read out the vows:

"Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining
together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage were
established by God in the creation of this manner of life by its presence and first miracle at the
wedding in this new age of humanity. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Britannia
and God, let it be honoured among all people. The union of husband and wife is intended by God
for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given to each other in prosperity and adversity; and,
when it is God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of
the Collective. Therefore marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently,
deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God."

D.S. changed some parts of the vows by her own choice. According to her, for a better and more
stable rule under Lelouch, the question of religion will have to be handled by her. The collection of
human consciousness wanted to become a more known factor in the lives of humanity, if only
through sneaky methods. So, the Caretaker of Spacetime decided to tie it to already existing
religions. With Lelouch's Britannia backing her, it won't be a hard task, it was only a matter of
time. Perhaps some in the crowd had questions on why some parts were changed, but none would
dare to comment in fear of the Emperor's wrath, or worse, the Empress. For the sake of letting the
masses know the name of the first Empress, it was decided to simply leave it as "Cece". C.C. didn't
want anyone but a select few she allowed to know her true name.

"Into this union, Lelouch vi Britannia and Cece now come to be joined. If any of you can show just
cause why they may not be lawfully wed, speak now, or else forever hold your peace." D.S. turned
towards Lelouch. "Your Majesty, Lelouch vi Britannia, will you have this woman to be your wife
to live together with her in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honour and
keep her, in sickness and in health and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both
shall live?"

"I will," Lelouch said without a second thought.

"Cece, will you have this man to be your husband to live together with him in the covenant of
marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honour and keep him, in sickness and in health and,
forsaking all others, be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?"

"I will," C.C. said.

"Those whom God has joined together, let no one put asunder. I now pronounce you husband and
wife. You may kiss the bride!"

Lelouch leaned forward as he placed his hand over C.C.'s face to close the distance between them.
However, the now Cece vi Britannia was quite bold as she grabbed her husband by the collar
before capturing his lips.

Unknown to the many, in the shadows of the upper level of the hall, close to the ceiling was hiding
a certain masked individual. Even if she didn't move or say anything, the young girl under the
mask smiled as she watched the procession.

It was the final straw for a certain Knight of One as Bishop couldn't take the emotional blessing he
was feeling. The old knight started to cry out loud as his friend Peter rolled his eye and gave him
napkins. He knew it would end up like this!

The rest of the ceremony went without any issues. Emperor Lelouch had to be saved from Bishop's
and Jeremiah's bear hugs as the two loyal Knights had a hard time containing their inner emotions.
In the end, it was Tamaki and Peter who had to save Lelouch before a knight of one and of orange
could accidentally break him. Peter had to act as the rational one among their ranks, and he hated
every moment of it. Arthur had run away with Liliana somewhere, to do something lewd. As for
Cinder and Kallen, after congratulating C.C. and then accusing her of keeping information from
them, both gave Lelouch a strange warning of keeping his schedule free. The last time anyone saw
them was on that day when the two went outside after Sayoko. According to rumours that would
spread about the first wedding, witnesses saw both Knights attack the Emperor's oldest guardian…
and no one knew if they emerged victorious.

And like that the royal wedding went on as both Lelouch and Cece vi Britannia enjoyed the rest of
their day together. The young married couple was congratulated by numerous guests. However,
beyond polite replies, the Emperor and Empress only paid real attention to the people who knew
them very well. The after-party went without any issues. The entire world saw the first wedding,
one among many events Lelouch vi Britannia will use to spread his influence over the people in
every way.

Administrative Special Zone of Japan. Tokyo. April 21, 2020.

"Good morning, Tokyo! Milly Ashford here reporting from the heart of the city near the former
Britannian Victory Memorial Center that was closed for the sake of rebuilding the former Tokyo
Tower, which you can see right behind me!" Milly Ashford happily announced.

One of the youngest and most successful news reporters in the Empire was standing before the red
Tokyo Tower that saw complete reconstitution. From the ruins that were meant to showcase the
might of Charles's Britannian invasion of Japan, this place now symbolised the union between
Britannia and Japan. The reconstruction works were done as a collaborative effort by both
Britannians and Japanese on orders of the Prime Minister of Kaguya Sumeragi.

"And I'm not alone here, as we have a special guest! Let's say hello to the Minister of Culture of the
Administrative Special Zone of Japan, Shinichirō Tamaki!" Milly introduced the former Black
Knight as Tamaki walked into the camera view with a grin and hands making two peace signs.

"Wazzup!" Tamaki's unusual greeting caught many viewers off guard, but many enjoyed it. One of
his assistants who was appointed by both Lelouch and Kaguya to make sure the minister won't do
something stupid in public quickly whispered something into Tamaki's ear. "Oh, I mean, greetings,
good day and everything."

"Ahaha! I'm glad to see you in a good mood, Minister. I and many of our viewers are happy to see
that Japan is rebuilding its former legacy that was lost following Charles's invasion. But we're also
curious to know if the new administrative government has more plans beyond rebuilding destroyed
relics of the old Japan. What can you share with us, Minister?"

"Oh, well, I heard the boss was planning to build a shipyard for a new battleship-"

The same assistant quickly pulled on Tamaki's sleeve and whispered. "No disclosure of classified
information, sir. We talked about it."

"Ah, yeah yeah. My bad," Tamaki quickly corrected himself while Milly was happy there was a
few moments delay and that her news team was rather adept in cutting segments no one needed to
see. "As for cultural plans and other things like that, well, eh, for now, we're focused on rebuilding
as the first phase of our long-term plan to fix the damage that was done to Japanese culture in the
last decade. As well as introduce new elements that will depict the stuff that happened while Japan
was in shi-I mean, in a bad position. We're talking about events, memorials, and many other things
to show respect to the Black Knights who lost their lives."

Tamaki sounded surprisingly serious as he talked before he quickly added.

"Oh, and we're totally going to make new movies and anime! Hell yeah! We're bringing our best
media back to life. And this time we will do it in partnership with Britannians and others around
the world. I even found a perfect star for many upcoming movies and documentaries! They are
going to be full of action and no CGI. Nah, we will be using real Knightmares to show-"

"Minister," His assistant cleared his throat.

"Ehhh, you want to see our main star? He's here, I wanted cameras to see him to hype up future
trailers. Wait one sec, I will bring him here."

Milly nervously shook her head. "There is no need for that, sir-"

However, Tamaki quickly ran away. His assistant apologised on his behalf and followed the
Minister before he could do anything foolish. Milly awkwardly smiled at the camera before
speaking.

"Well, dear viewers. As you can see, the future of Japanese cultural development is well secured in
the hands of-"

"Here we are, everyone! My second best buddy." Tamaki laughed as he brought a new familiar
face into the picture.

"Rivalz?!"

"Oh, hi Milly," Rivalz Cardemonde, the same person who was studying with Emperor Lelouch vi
Britannia when the young world ruler was still in hiding, and was later seen at the royal wedding
was now there with Minister Tamaki. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, but what about you? And what are you doing here?"

Tamaki smirked. "Met him back at my boss's wedding. Turns out I threatened to shoot him back
during the Black Rebellion. But after talking, we found out the two of us have so much in common,
now we're best buddies! Well, he is my second best friend with big E being first. Same for him."

Both men laughed wholeheartedly while Milly felt an upcoming headache.

"And you're going to play a part in the Japanese cultural movie program?" Milly asked her old club
member.

"Yes. We're already filming a few scenes of the future documentary about "Lelouch Lamperouge's
life in Japan". We already found actors for all the important roles."

"Why wasn't I informed about this?" Milly wondered aloud before returning to the news reporting.
"And what role will you be playing, Mister Cardemonde?"

"Myself," Rivalz pointed his thumbs at himself. "How I and Lelouch used to hang out, including
our gambling adventures. Also, what I did in my free time, such as my car racing. Oh! And we will
have a scene about how I and Lelouch had a car chase! That one I'm looking forward to the most!"

"Don't worry, buddy. I will make sure that scene will have as many explosions as needed to make it
more credible." Tamaki reassured Rivalz, while his assistant corrected the Minister of Culture.

"But there weren't any explosions, only drugs sir Cardemonde was carrying in his car." One of the
OSI agents from that day corrected his new boss.

Milly had to bite her lip. The blonde reporter was worried if her agency had already turned off the
broadcast because of how it was going… and was surprised, to say the least, when she received a
message from the channel director asking her to keep the camera on these two and continue asking
them. Their views were only increasing thanks to Tamaki and Rivalz.

Milly Ashford wondered if royal life would be less strange than this… well, at least in comparison.

Administrative Special Zone of Australia.

"What a mess."

Orpheus Zevon turned off the TV and walked towards the exit. The former noble and terrorist
leader covered his face from the sun as it blinded him. Their house just happened to be in the
middle of nowhere in Australia. Just their luck, Zevon supposed as he checked on the farm
animals. Their new place was pretty good, a modern building with everything needed and a secured
area around the farm.

The only issues were the neighbours.

"Come on, Oz. Do you think animals will jump over the fence?" A sultry female voice asked from
behind him.

Orpheus didn't bother to look at X. "I'm just making sure they're fine. It is hot outside."

"They have water, speaking of, want some?" X offered a bottle. Orpheus narrowed his eyes but
reluctantly accepted. He realised his mistake only when X covered her lips with her hand and let
out a short giggle. "Heh."

"What do you want, woman?" Orpheus turned away with a slight blush.

"Just making sure the man of the house is fine," X looked at Orpheus from top to bottom. "Yup,
you're fine. Solid eight."

Orpheus sighed. "X, if you're bored then at least do something useful."

"I already finished my chores and now want to spend time with my partner and hubby," X said the
last part with more focus and enthusiasm.

"Our so-called marriage is nothing but a farce and you know it." Orpheus narrowed his eyes as he
looked over their farm.

Following the final battle and death of both Schneizel and Nunnally, Emperor Lelouch quickly
took control of the UFN. Orpheus was still needed for their Geass experiments for some time until
Leila Malcal finally deprived him of his own Geass. X was working for the Britannians to help
him apparently. That in combination with Oldrin speaking up for him with her princess managed to
secure X and Orpheus a solid future.

The former Peace Mark members were officially dead, but the two of them were allowed to live in
Australia. They were given a good farm and house to live in, new documents and identities. And to
Orpheus's horror and X's delight, according to their new IDs, they were a married couple now.

"It is real if we want it to be, dear!" X sent him an air kiss. "And I'm very much into this new
identity of mine. Mrs Smith, heh. Brits lack imagination but it will do."

"Not even going to bother to give me your real name? And you expect me to take this married life
thing seriously."

"I'll tell you my name and even moan about it after you do a few small things for me, Oz." X
winked at him and leaned forward to show her very noticeable cleavage. Even when two of them
were supposed to be regular farmers, this succubus managed to act flirtatious. Oz was glad he was
the only one on the farm and no one else would see X like this… not because he was feeling
defensive over her or anything!

"Sure, I'll do anything for you after you get the latest Knightmare and access to Britannian
intelligence."

"Tch, such a good deal would have been so easy to do last year. But now the game's changed and
you know it. Lelouch is victorious and he makes the rules. If you don't want to make dear Oldrin
angry or sad, you know neither of us can do anything."

That was the hard truth Oz still didn't want to accept. They lost and Lelouch won. The Holy
Britannian Empire was the one running everything, the entire world was part of it and the White
Emperor was spreading his rule even further, cementing it. Oz still had access to the internet and
news. He could see signs of worse things to come, even if every media outlet and the majority of
people online were praising it.

Britannia increased its army. The Black Knights, at least those who didn't join the Second
Rebellion, were reorganised into a new Imperial Defence force. Any attempt to revolt was crushed,
sometimes with words, sometimes with Knightmares. Many were praising White Emperor for
bringing security and change to poorer countries. Orpheus had to admit that Lelouch was trying to
fulfil his promises of prosperity. Former victim states of three superpowers were getting the best
treatment. Last he heard, the Empire was investing heavily in the least developed nations, building
their infrastructure. Public schooling, universal health care, newly available jobs, and secured
institutions to support all of it.

Since there was one only global government, the world economy was still going through changes.
The globalisation of the economy, Constitutionalism of international and national law. One giant
system where everyone was dependent on each other and needed the rest for survival and
prosperous development. One state needed food and water? One of the agricultural states will
provide it via new supply lines that are appearing almost every month. Did someone need
Sakuradite? Russian and Japanese reserves were open for them. It wasn't free, but neither of the
Administrative Zones could really demand exorbitant prices from others when everyone was
technically part of one government system. Britannia had complete control over the military and
police forces of every Zone. If you wanted to serve, the Imperial Army was your only choice.
Britannia had a monopoly on violence and wasn't afraid to remind it whenever someone tried to
stand up against the Emperor.

"People gave their freedom for the sake of security and development," Orpheus whispered to
himself as he sat on the bench before their house. "This isn't even the Britannia as I knew it. There
are no nobles or numbers, now everyone is part of Britannia."

"Doesn't it mean no one is Britannian then?" X half joked as she sat next to him. "Oz, people all
over the world knew pretty much nothing but war. Whenever you looked, there was some kind of
conflict, be it in Asia, Europe or in Britannia. We aren't even twenty-one, but we saw so much shit
over the years. The same goes for entire generations. If you are safe and know that your future is
stable and secure, giving up some of your freedom will be an easy choice for many."

"Today… every nation gave up their sovereignty to Lelouch. People are more or less fine with him
as their ruler. But what about tomorrow? What if it won't be enough for the White Emperor or his
successors? What if they keep taking and taking until there is nothing left?"

"Then someone will rebel, start a new revolution. A new Zero will appear and fight the empire. If
Lelouch and his children try to bite too much, people will eventually fight back. But that isn't our
fight anymore. We tried and did our best and we still lost. Orpheus, unless you want to get yourself
killed fighting your own sister, accept our reality and-" X moved closer and leaned against
Orpheus's shoulder. "I just want to live the rest of my life as a normal person. I'm tired of being this
spy, of being X."

"And what if I'm not tired?" Orpheus asked with a serious tone. He didn't forgive Britannia, it
didn't matter if it was all but destroyed under Lelouch and reborn into whatever it was today.

"I see the way you look over the farm every day. You don't want to admit it, but this place is
growing on you. We were here for less than a year, but you are already putting so much effort into
this place. If you want to escape you won't bother with this place."

"Running? Please, we're under watch 24/7 from OSI. But-" Orpheus sighed. "I will agree on one
thing. This farm grew on me. I will hate to see this place destroyed by Brits as revenge for me
taking the mantle of a PE cell leader again."

"Well, I suppose that is good enough to reassure me. Wouldn't want my only entertainment to die
for nothing." X giggled before leaning closer and leaving a quick kiss on Orpheus's cheek. "I will
go and cook us something."

She left the flustered boy as Orpheus glared at her back, ignoring a blush on his face. The former
leader of the terrorist cell returned his gaze towards the farm and the area beyond it. It was
peaceful, quiet, and relaxing. No city sounds or claustrophobic submarine walls, no war around
them.

"Perhaps I'll wait a little bit longer and see how Lelouch is handling the world. If he makes a giant
mess, someone will make him answer for it." And perhaps Orpheus will join the new revolution, or
perhaps he won't. Only time will tell.

Pendragon. Knights of the Round's Headquarters.

The capital of the Empire was an active place, to say the least. Besides being the home to the
Emperor and his confidants, the giant city was also a central place of many organisations within
the inner structure. From administrative and political institutions to the main military and science
department. And the Knight of the Round's main base of operation played a primary role in
preparing the strategy for the upcoming battles the most elite order was going to fight in the future.

"Attention!" The Knight of One, Bishop William shouted as the rest of his fellow knights focused
on the older man. Almost all of the Knights were there today, sitting around the table as Bishop
pointed at the screen behind it while it showed the map of Asia. "As you would know, ever since
His Majesty defeated the False Empress and her forces in Japan, Emperor Lelouch brought peace to
this world. However, we know that reality is harsher and despite our master's best efforts we have
to continue fighting and guarding the weak and innocent from the forces that want to destroy the
peace our master created-"

"Cut to business, Willy. Christ," The realm's Knight of Three, Peter Thomson, didn't even bother
looking at his best friend as the one-eyed knight was more focused on his Animal crossing
playthrough. "I and the boys were planning to hit the pub after it so be quick with it, bestie."
"Peter, I told you I can't join you. Liliana wants me to meet her parents and we planned to buy
presents for them today." The Knight of Four, Arthur Calhoun spoke with an apologetic tone. "I'm
sorry but I really can't."

"Bleh, If you can't then surely Akito and Ashley can. Right, boys?" Peter turned towards the new
Knights of the Round.

"Hell, yeah! Just let me call the rest of my team. The more the merrier right?" the former Euro-
Britannia, then European and now Britannian Knight Ashley Ashra spoke with an excited grin. The
former W-0 was now wearing the Knights of the Round uniform since he was now the Knight of
Five. His old team followed their leader since they knew he would get himself killed even as a
Knight of the Round, perhaps by one black-haired demoness.

"Pass." The new Knight of Seven, Akito Hyuga spoke with a neutral tone. "Sorry, but I would
rather spend my free time doing something else than being next to drunk Ashley or you, Peter. No
offence."

"Guys, take this seriously! We're having an important meeting." Perhaps the only one among them
who was paying attention was the new Knight of Six, Oldrin Zevon. Besides Bishop, she was the
sanest member of the order, even if the bar was pretty low.

Following the aftermath of the final battle, W-0 didn't know what to do. Leila was there to guide
them, but from now on it meant working with Britannia and Lelouch. Not the easiest pill to
swallow, but somehow they made it work, even with all their issues. Akito and Ashley were
knighted and given ranks at the Round Table. Neither of the former W-0's best pilots was serious
when they pledged loyalty to Lelouch, and to his credit, the Emperor was understanding about it.
Lelouch didn't demand much from them, only working together with his Knights and trying to
avoid making trouble. Leila was the one who made sure they were knighted. It was more of a
political move to showcase the unity between Lelouch and Europe, with Japan now having two of
their people within the Knights of the Round.

Working with Britannia was strange, to say the least. However, Leila made sure they understood
that it was no longer the same Britannia they fought against before and that now the entire world
was under their protection. Also, Leila warned them not to screw Lelouch and her plans for world
peace. The last thing either Akito or Ashley wanted to see was the angry blonde messiah who got a
little bit more aggressive after spending so much time with the Emperor, who was also her
husband.

Personally, both W-0 members more or less become accustomed to the rest of the Knights. Save
for Ashley starting an argument and then a fight with Cinder… or Jeremiah… or sometimes Peter.
Actually, Ashley was probably the biggest troublemaker. As for Akito, the Japanese pilot was
content with doing his job as a soldier and helping Leila. Not to mention, Arthur appeared to be the
most pleasant company among his new comrades.

Peter and Ashley were talking about their upcoming crusade at the pub, most likely followed by a
drunken fight between both Knights in said pub. Meanwhile, Arthur was more focused on family
meetings with his girlfriend's parents, whom he might as well marry at this point. The Knight of
Two and Knight of Zero were absent. It was quite expected in the case of Red Lotus as she
followed His Majesty everywhere. While the Second was usually either on the solo search and
destroy missions, or following Kallen and making her life harder.

The former knight of honour of Princess Marrybell gave Akito a stern look. The Japanese pilot
nodded before turning towards his redhead friend and kicking his leg under the table. Oldrin made
a similar move towards Peter who didn't even look bothered until Bishop took away his Switch.
"Oh, come on, Willy."

"Oi! What the hell, Akito!?"

"You can get drunk on any other day when we don't have a strategy meeting, Ashley." Oldrin
narrowed her eyes at the only redhead Knight in the war room before turning towards the First.
"Lord Bishop, please continue.

"Thank you, Lady Zevon. Now, as I was saying." Bishop cleared his throat. "We are currently
facing a serious threat from the Kingdom of Zilkhstan. The desert Land of Warriors was
responsible for arming multiple rebellions and terrorist groups all over the world following the
glorious victory of His Majesty and the aftermath declaration of protecting the world. We have
evidence of that and parliament is already introducing a number of sanctions that are meant to
damage Zilkhstan's economy and ability to produce Knightmares."

"But sanctions can do only so much," Oldrin pointed out. "Neither the king nor his court will feel a
thing while common people will suffer because of them."

"Yeah, not to mention Zilkhstan was never that invested in actual trading with the outside world.
Their only export was their mercenary soldiers." Ashley was the one to provide more info. "Heard
a lot of spooky stuff about these fuckers. But they operated primarily in the black market, so that
means they won't have much trouble getting Knightmares through it."

Bishop nodded. "We expect this. I and Peter heard many stories about the Kingdom and how it
was able to fight to a standstill against Britannia before I even became a Knight. Their military is
not to be underestimated no matter what. However, any action that can hurt their fighting
capabilities is the advantage we will use. I understand your concern, Oldrin. I too don't enjoy
forcing civilians into dire circumstances, but their government would never accept the reality of the
new peaceful world His Majesty started. The sooner we manage to deal with them the better it will
be for everyone in that country."

"Willy, remember one of the guys who were with us in Alcatraz? The one who mysteriously died
after he tried to eat my dessert?" Bishop gave his friend a long stare before Peter continued. "Well,
I remember how he said he served in the Zilkhstan army. Tough bastards, but unless you're a
fighter or scum, your life in that shithole is far from pleasing. So raise your heads, kids, we're going
there to spread security, and prosperity in the name of the Empire. All Hail Lelouch and that shit."

"All Hail Lelouch." Both Oldrin and Arthur enthusiastically repeated while Akito looked unsure.

Ashley leaned closer to Akito before he whispered. "No matter what happens, Zilkhstan will be
better off. Trust me, the place is worse than even Japan was back when Clovis ran it. So, think of it
as helping people."

"You're right… it might be the only way to protect everyone."

This was the new reality of their world. Akito wasn't a fan of such a mindset, but then again, what
else could he do? His entire life he was a soldier. The EU treated him as cannon fodder. Black
Knights failed to protect the world and themselves threatened it. If it wasn't for Leila, Akito would
have died back in Europe without ever knowing what having a real family felt like. His family died
because of an insane person who wanted to see the world on fire. But Rai was dead and now Akito
needed to make sure no one like him would repeat what he did back in Tokyo. If the King of
Zilkhstan and his court were anything like Rai, Akito would stop them.

Both European Knights of the Round joined the rest as they quickly repeated. "All Hail Lelouch."
"All Hail Lelouch." Bishop smiled before turning back to the huge screen with Zilkhstan's map on
it. "Very well. Now, let's focus on the upcoming plan. Parliament introduced sanctions month and
it will be some time until they will have any effect. However, Zilkhstan has another weapon in its
arsenal. Something similar to what was used by the terrorist Rai on W-0."

Akito clenched his fist. His fear was correct. "Then it means we must deal with it."

"We will put down the king and Zilkhstan's ruling class. However, some of their more dangerous
elements might be dealt with by an outside party while we're preparing." Bishop paused, a knowing
look formed on his face. "The reconnaissance inside the Kingdom informed that they saw a
familiar face, or rather, a familiar mask acting within the borders of Zilkhstan. Knowing how our
masked mysterious figure operates, it is likely that their goal is taking out one of the most
dangerous targets on our list, or perhaps more. We shall see, and prepare an attack force. Zilkhstan
is a desert nation with few natural borders between cliffs and the sea, the country is made up of
roughly 90% desert and we will easily achieve air superiority."

With Nemesis acting as the main battleship and its arsenal it was easy to destroy military targets.
Upgraded Damocles on another hand gave the Empire absolute dominance since now the fortress
acted as the KMF carrier, capable of transporting the entire army. New Britannian military doctrine
was to achieve absolute control of the skies and be capable of bombing enemies into submission.

"The only issue might be the capital Gralbahd. The capital is the heart of the nation and contains all
government institutions. It is the most heavily protected strategic target within the Kingdom. We
will prioritise taking it over as quickly as possible. His Majesty is expecting a heavy resistance and
therefore warmed us to get ready. Our Emperor was benevolent enough to show me his early plans
for the upcoming operation. Because of the certain figure inside Zilkhstan and economic sanctions
placed on the Kingdom, the invasion was scheduled to begin in four months. Peter, Ashley, make
sure neither of you will say anything unnecessary out loud in public."

"Come on, Lord Bishop. Who are you taking us for?" Ashley asked with a confident smile.

"..." Bishop's silence was enough of the answer for them as he turned towards Akito. "Sir Hyuga,
I'm sorry to ask you this but please accompany those two after the meeting is over. I know Peter is
responsible… at times. But I will feel calm knowing that someone else is there to watch over
them."

"Very well, Lord Bishop." Aktio complied.

"Excellent, now onto the upcoming strategy."

Bishop continued to explain the details of their future operation and required preparations. The
Kingdom of Zilkhstan wanted to defy the new world order that Emperor Lelouch created and it was
going to feel the outcome of such a decision.

Pendragon. Imperial Research and Development Centre.

While the Knights of the Round were preparing for the upcoming military operation, the scientists
and engineers behind their war tech were busy with their own work. Following the "unification" of
the world under one system, every aspect of life was affected by it. Above all else, scientific
innovation and technological development received special attention from his majesty.

The brightest minds all over the planet were now working together to solve issues and improve life
with their achievements. Which also included the development of military hardware and
surveillance technology as well. Emperor Lelouch wanted a safe and secure world, and for that, he
would also need the latest-generation arsenal to deal with potential threats if words alone cannot
solve the problem peacefully. The global superpower couldn't secure its position and status by kind
words alone, an iron fist was required.

"Cécile! Cécile! Look! I made another 3D model of the new space station!" Lloyd Asplund happily
declared as he showed his assistant another miniature model of the airship. "It can even fly! Isn't it
awesome?!"

The woman in question took a deep breath before speaking. "Lloyd… this is the third week in a
row that you've made toy models. We didn't even get approval for the first actual station yet and
you already made follow-up projects. And every new one is bigger than the previous."

"But we already started production on the first space station. His Majesty has already green-lighted
it." Lloyd said proudly while Cécile shook her head.

"No. Emperor Lelouch asked for verification of whether your first model is actually realistic in the
first place. We were supposed to run simulations and not move on to the following projects.
Especially when we didn't even get an order for them, Lloyd! The budget can't cover so many
colossal projects at once! We will get defunded!"

"Oh, Cécile! If we will need a working space station, I will build it in one month, tops! Schneizel's
goons built his Damocles in some jungle with limited resources compared to us! And If push
comes to shove I will just upgrade Damocles to be fully operational in space and tah-dah! His
Majesty gets his first space station! Everyone will be happy and we will get more funding. Win-
win." Lloyd ignored Cécile as he continued to play with his new toy.

Cécile blamed whoever allowed Lloyd to use a 3D printer without control. After the battle and the
Emperor's declaration of new world order, Cécile and Lloyd were given new responsibilities. Now
instead of creating new Knightmare units, Lelouch wanted them to focus their attention on
spacecraft. Especially stations that were capable of staying in Earth's orbit and acting as
warehouses for military equipment. Including a fully functioning long-range missile system and
KMF-carrying capabilities. Damocles acted as an example of what direction His Majesty wanted
them to pursue.

"Lloyd, I will tell Emperor Lelouch about how you spent time playing with the 3D printer instead
of doing your job. And who knows, perhaps His Majesty will give this project to the Germans as
he did with the new Camelot Program."

The eccentric man immediately froze before looking at Cécile with a frenzied look. "What?! He
wouldn't dare allow them to steal another project of mine! No! It is terrible enough that they're
working on the Knightmare program based on my-sorry, our achievements! But I won't allow them
to get the upper hand over me again! If these brain-exploring Huns think they can get away with it
again, they will be surprised! I'm not losing this time!"

Cécile smirked at her little victory. Since all prominent Knightmare research teams across the
world were now under Lelouch's command, the Emperor decided to see who was the most suitable
for the new Knightmare development. Now that the Empire controlled everything and had control
over every KMF production facility, Britannia needed to build a future generation of war machines
following one common design. For now, it was decided to keep focusing on building Vincent
Wards and Akatsuki as mass-produced standard units, with Gareths as heavy support. Hounds were
already ordered to be replaced within the next two years, still having drone systems instead of
traditional pilots. Some of the Black Knight's KMF designs were saved for more specialised army
groups to be used in small numbers.
Lloyd expected that he and Cécile would be in charge of new KMF generation development.
However, much to egocentric scientists' shock, Emperor Lelouch gave precedence to development
teams from the former EU. Some Germans who were hired by the Knight of Two, Cinder Fall, in
the past. From what Cécile heard, it was done because Emperor Lelouch trusted Lloyd more than
anyone else with new spacecraft development after he built him Nemesis. And because new
European teams were grounded and were less likely to create new Knightmares that couldn't be
used by 99% of pilots like the original Lancelot was. Granted, the German scientists were rather
fixated on building "grand" war machines, but after some rough convincing from Lady Fall, they
fell in line with the Emperor's wishes. Personally, the female assistant was fine with working on
something besides KMFs.

"Hahah, what is that? Earl of Pudding can't accept that he isn't the best? Has reality finally hit you,
Asplund?" A new voice spoke with a pleased tone as a familiar face entered their lab.

"Rakshata," Lloyd said with venom as he greeted his arch-nemesis. "You say that but don't forget
whose Knightmares were critical in our victory in the last battle."

"Yeah, I remember, My Guren and Shinkiro," Rakshata smirked. "And you don't forget who made
the new Guren Type Special for our dear Knight of Zero, Lloyd. Not to mention who is currently
working on some personal units for His Majesty. Development of future mass-produced units
might be handled by our friends in Berlin, but I'm still the Emperor's go-to when he needs
something new for himself and his knights."

"Pff," Lloyd turned away, not wanting to admit that she had a point. Emperor Lelouch was ordering
more specialised Knightmare models from Rakshata while Lloyd and Cécile focused entirely on
new air and space crafts. "What are you even doing here? Aren't you supposed to be a cybernetic
research wing right now?"

"Unlike the foolish individual, I won't name-" Rakshata gave Lloyd a cocky grin. "My team is
working ahead of schedule and we're allowed some small breaks thanks to it. I decided to run by
and see how you two are doing. Oh, and Cécile, I wanted to give you this."

Rakshata handed over a letter to the indigo-haired woman who blinked.

"Meh, not interested," Lloyd said before walking towards his favourite 3D printer.

"What is it?" Cécile asked while opening the letter.

"An invitation from the Randle family. Sophie is having a baby shower soon and invited us. Well,
I'm pretty sure Takeru was the one who invited me and asked to give you a letter as well."
Rakshata giggled while Cécile covered her face with a palm to contain her excitement.

"Oh, my! With all this work I almost forgot Sophie is expecting!"

"Don't stress it, Cécile. I'm sure the Randles were also busy with their share of jobs. Although,
unlike us, they aren't working for the Emperor's projects, well not directly at least." Rakshata
added.

Per the wishes of Leila Malcal, all of the W-0 members were pardoned for whatever criminal
record they had as former members of the EU's military and were heavily compensated for their
service by their old commander. All of them were allowed to pursue whatever path they wanted in
the new world. Randles decided to return to their old passion, medical research. Of course, Leila
made sure both were sponsored and His Majesty didn't bother managing their work, trusting his
advisor and lover.
"Little Anna will be there too. Last I heard, her new semester didn't start yet and she won't miss
such a party. The science team is getting back it seems."

Cecile smiled. "And Nina?"

"Eh, I think she will sit this one out. Our Einstein is hellbent on speedrunning her university life as
fast as possible. Won't be surprised if she is already writing her thesis despite only being in the
second year." Rakshata sighed. "Kids these days. They're either running the planet or doing what
took us a few years in a matter of months."

"Still can't believe Anna and Nina are studying together."

Cecile quickly grew fond of the EU's pink-haired engineer, while Nina was still a good friend in
her mind. Of course, after all the F.L.E.I.J.A. business, Nina wasn't the same shy and timid girl
they knew. According to rumours, after the final battle, the creator of the weapon of mass
destruction asked His Majesty to reveal to the entire world who created the F.L.E.I.J.A so everyone
will know who was responsible for the death of millions. Emperor Lelouch denied her this wish
and instead suggested that Nina must make up for these deaths with her brilliant mind. The girl
wasn't fine mentally after all these events but agreed. His Majesty even provided a scholarship for
her to one of the best universities within the Empire. It was quite a surprise that Anna Clément
ended up in the same year as Nina. Both Cecile and Rakshata suspected that it was the Emperor
and his blonde advisor doing so Nina would have some positive encouragement and competition. It
goes without saying that Einstein was constantly under protection in case someone would want her
for the re-creation of F.L.E.I.J.A. Nina was growing up, and in Cecile's opinion was going in the
right direction.

"I… read some of the scientific papers they already posted in some journals. Pretty good stuff."
Lloyd suddenly added after being silent, doing something with the 3D printer. "I also saw some
works from Mariel Lubie, quite an interesting topic all of them chose. Pretty sure they are studying
at the same university. Of course, with Mariel being a different year."

"Mariel," Cecile had a melancholic feeling when she remembered their youngest assistant. "I hope
she is doing ok. Last we spoke, she wasn't very fond of His Majesty's new world. She was still hurt
after everything that happened, but didn't turn down an invitation letter from the facility."

Rakshata analysed this info. "Three young and promising geniuses together at the same place. This
cannot be a coincidence. But, eh, not our concern. Let's leave politics and world-changing
decisions in the hands of the youngsters. They surely know more about it than we do."

"Hehe, yup." Cecile had to admit that sounded ridiculous, but in their reality, it was a norm. "By
the way, we need to start preparing for Randle's party! We need to prepare presents, oh and what
we will wear!"

"I'm not wearing anything besides what I already have on me," Lloyd spoke. "I won't be forced into
wearing stupid official clothes anytime soon.

"Pff, you weren't even invited, Asplund." Rakshata laughed while Lloyd looked at her with a
flabbergasted face. She ignored his desperate question of why he was left outside the party and
focused on Cecile. "I already checked out some popular places in Pendragon online. We can visit
them right now, let's call it a day off. My team is good and your portion can be handled by Lloyd."

"What," Lloyd asked calmly.

"Agreed," Cecile immediately answered.

"WHAT?!" Lloyd asked calmly again.

Both women ignored him as they started to walk outside the lab, still talking and ignoring Lloyd
who was trying to get their attention.

"Oh, by the way, Takeru wrote that we can bring our partner. And I mean partner, Cecile. I didn't
have time to love in a long time, but I heard you had more luck than me in this department.
Something to do with a certain young dashing monarch, eh, Cecile?" Rakshata gave her colleague a
wink. "Going after the young and powerful, aren't we? My, I didn't expect this from you, Cecile.
Or should I start saying, Your Highness?"

"Rakshata, please stop!" Cecile blushed deeply. "His Majesty and I just shared some late dinners
together. It was primarily official report meetings!"

"Sure, sure. And I bet he was giving similar treatment to Lloyd as well."

"He didn't as a matter of fact… I wouldn't say no to some coffee and lunch if he paid for it
actually." Lloyd commented.

Cecile cleared her throat. "There is nothing between Emperor Lelouch and me beyond professional
relationships… but if he has free time and won't mind attending a party with me, I don't see the
reason to not invite him… only out of respect!"

"Atta girl! Go and get yourself some Emperor! Don't end up alone and pathetic like a certain Earl
of Pudding." Rakshata cheered her while Cecile's blush deepened, but she didn't disagree with the
more mature woman.

Meanwhile, Lloyd had to keep up with two women as they were leaving him alone.

"Hey, what do you mean by that, Rakshata?! Hey! Stop and wait, you two!"

Pendragon. Royal Palace.

The Royal Palace is the centre of Emperor Lelouch's reign and his usual spot to relax and enjoy his
time. After a failed attack by Peace Mark's combined forces, the capital and Emperor's castle saw
some new reconstructions that were meant to provide additional protection. Among the security
measures, there were also new architectural changes that were meant to showcase Pendragon's
growth as part of the new world system. New building designs and structures were supposed to
replicate the cultural peculiarities of different countries around the globe. Before Lelouch, it would
have been unheard of and scandalous to see post-Napoleonic European architectural styles, in a mix
of Chinese and Japanese unique tones.

The Royal palace was going through a renovation as well, with parts of Japanese architecture
starting to slowly appear all over it. Still, it didn't stand in the way of showing off the might of the
Emperor's home in any way. Many parts of it remained the same, like a royal garden that was
currently occupied by a few young women.

"Being mortal sucks," Started the Empress Regnant Cece vi Britannia for everyone. "Any small
scratch won't heal in a moment. I even have bags under my eyes. Don't even get me started on
pimples and wrinkles, I never had them before. I have to be careful about my diet or I will gain
weight. I can't eat pizza all the time!"

For the green-haired Empress, losing her Code was a blessing. However, she quickly realised that
an immortal body and eternal youth had their privileges. The worst thing for Cece was that neither
Lelouch nor anyone else even needed to remind her of it. The Witch had to look after her own daily
routine unless she wanted to appear as anything but the mystic beauty she was for centuries.

Her companions held back their snickering but the Empress would have none of it. "Diana, I blame
you for this!"

The head of OSI and now self-proclaimed head of world religion nearly choked on her tea. "Me?!
You are the one who wanted it and I only helped! Or did you want to stay as a teenager while
everyone around you aged? You know it will be creepy seeing an adult Lelouch and his never
ageing first wife. And if you want to blame anyone, then blame Leila! It was her power after all!"

"Oh, please. I didn't even know what my Geass could do until you two told me." Leila waved off
before offering more tea to Kaguya and Marrybell. "It is only fair that Cece will experience the
hardship of mortals, including taking care of yourself. Or what? Did you think you will keep your
looks without a proper diet or working out?"

"I… agh, this is too much." C.C. sighed in defeat. "It would have been far easier to turn Lelouch
into an immortal instead."

"No can do, girl. Charles's code was destroyed and Lelouch didn't inherit it. Not to mention, if he
did there would have been a high chance of him eventually going apathetic to world affairs just like
you." D.S. paused to take a sip of her tea. "Two immortals would eventually stop bothering
themselves with the world and its people and just focus on each other. And while that might have
been a good deal for you, Lelouch is unlikely to agree. Besides, what is the problem? Can't the
wisest woman in the world deal with some simple diet plan?"

Cece looked at her with pleading eyes. "But pizza-!"

"You can keep eating junk food if you want to," Kaguya tried to brighten her mood. "Just not every
day, or every week!"

"And workout, have a stable sleep schedule, make sure you-" Marrybell added as well.

The four women were giving her advice on how to look after herself while C.C. became more
exhausted by every moment.

"I want to turn back time." the First Empress whispered.

D.S. smirked. "The best you can get is for my counterparts to witness this dimension and see you
whining. But knowing myself, they won't help you out on this, C.C. By the way, have you been
feeling well lately? Fatigue? Maybe nausea or miss pe-"

"I'm not pregnant, D.S." The green-haired woman narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, man and here I was hoping for good news." D.S sighed. The Dimensional Supervisor didn't
even bother hiding her intentions for women close to Lelouch, including herself. The bigger the vi
Britannia family will be, the stronger Lelouch will be tied to life and this world. "I'm doing my best
on my end, but I need you two to pick up the slack. This is a team effort! What about you, our dear
Second Empress?"

Leila gave her a stern look. "Children are not on my priority list for this year, Europe is still not
fully stable with rebel groups popping out all over the continent."

"Excuses! Nothing but excuses, Leila! The Empire needs an heir and I need to make sure Lelouch
won't decide to do something foolish."
Marrybell tried to stand up, excited and ready. "Well, if it is for Lelouch's sake then I-"

"-will sit down," C.C. said with a commanding tone. Surprisingly Marrybell did as she was told.
The Witch smirked. This was the power of the Empress Regnant and head wife. "Good girl. Just
because Oldrin is no longer around you as a knight of honour doesn't mean you can just jump
Lelouch without my approval."

"Pff." Marrybell narrowed her eyes but did as was told. She was going to get what she wanted and
therefore it would be better to not damage her relationship with the First Empress. "Speaking about
Oldrin, the Round Table must be having a meeting right now. One concerning Zilkhstan."

"Oh, yes. While the Kingdom didn't fall under my responsibilities, I did see many troubling reports
coming from there." Kaguya commented.

"Meh. Just a small nation with nothing but hardcore mercenaries who can't do anything but fight.
They will be better off under Lelouch's rule. Of course, after that, we will deal with their Geass
users." A dangerous look appeared in D.S.'s eyes as the third Empress spoke. "Their head priestess,
Shamna and her stupid overpowered Geass is the biggest threat among them. Still, nothing careful
planning can't solve. And I already knew a good extent of her and others' powers so they lack an
element of surprise. My dear hubby already prepared a plan, or like a dozen of them."

Marrybell nodded. "Brother was rather focused on this matter. Not surprising when it is she who
will play a crucial role."

"She is already in Zilkhstan. Not alone of course. Our best maid and butler went with her." C.C.
lazily added.

It went without saying about whom they were talking about. After all, for the world, the identity of
a certain new masked individual was a mystery. For the inner circle of the White Emperor, it was
obvious who was under the new mask.

"Speaking about siblings," Kaguya decided to change the topic. "How is Cornelia doing? The last
time I saw her was during her tribunal."

Among all those who joined Schneizel's side and followed the False Empress, Cornelia was the
only high-ranking Coalition member who survived and was convicted of her actions. The death
sentence was brought up, but thanks to the mercy of the Emperor and multiple law loopholes, it
was decided to make the former Britannian general compensate for her crimes via hard labour.

"OSI keeps an eye on her. Her old friend Nonette Enneagram pretty much reports everything
Cornelia and Guilford do. Last month they were helping with humanitarian aid for the victims of
the earthquake in Syria. Enneagram said all three of them will stay for another month before
moving to whatever mess will need helping hands. Obviously, we make sure they are under guard
in case someone will want to avenge the people Cornelia killed in the past." D.S. spoke. While the
avatar of God was anything but merciful to people who played a role in Lelouch's misfortune, she
had a somewhat soft spot for the only living older sister.

"I'm sure Cornelia will put her best into doing her tasks. Even if it is because Lelouch left her no
choice." Marrybell said with a small smile. "She was always the strongest among Charles's
children who stayed in Britannia."

"And right now one of four, sorry, three Royals who survived. Anyway, let's move the
conversation to a more important topic. Leila, you and I are finding Lelouch and-"
Before D.S. could even finish, Leila turned to the rest of the girls. "Just this month alone I had to
talk to numerous civil activists who had dozens of issues, and hardly any were serious. At least I
resolved it peacefully, but I'm getting overwhelmed with them sometimes."

"Good work, Leila!" Kaguya clapped, having somewhat similar issues. "The peaceful protests are
the hardest to deal with, honestly. At least with violent terrorists, you know what to do, but you
can't fight people with posters."

"Who could have guessed that one of the biggest issues for Lelouch will be not armoured militias
but normal people huh," Marrybell laughed. "Lelouch doesn't want to treat them harshly. At least
the propaganda machine does its job well. Now it became easier moving with Thought Elevator
working as portals between each other, a shame not all of them are activated yet."

"You all welcome by the way about all of that." D.S. proudly smirked. "Not only is it thanks to me,
and C.C. 's, help we made half of Thought Elevators work properly, but I did a good job on the
intelligence front. Thanks to me, the public gets to learn only about the stuff we allow. Everything
else is nothing but rumours, misinformation, and online trolling with no reliable source to back it
up. Truly, the true wonder of technology is the ability to feed people with so much information
from all directions, they simply can't analyse everything and start treating everything as noise."

Leila had to agree. "Personally I'm not a fan of lying or withholding information from people on
this scale, but if it means protecting them it is a necessary evil."

"We are victors who help everyone, therefore we can't be evil," C.C. lazily stated. "The masses
will believe whatever they want to believe, which means we must make them believe Lelouch and
his new world order is objectively the best future for them. The silent majority will accept it, while
a radical minority will make itself known and we will deal with them with due force and measures.
Lelouch's Geass is a better alternative than outright killing, won't you agree, Leila?"

"Hmm, the EU put democracy and freedom above all else… but it only applied to specific people
on the continent and if they weren't poor. Absolutism is new to me, but so far it proved itself to be
more effective in creating conditions where people can live in peace." The blonde messiah of
Europe couldn't help but laugh. "Look at me, talking about things like this, huh, Lelouch did
corrupt me after all."

"The Demon Emperor corrupting the heart, soul, and body of modern Jeanne d'Arc? My, now that
is impressive." Kaguya joked with a sly look. "But you're correct, it is surreal to realise I'm pretty
much a warden of my own people. I governed and led Japan for Lelouch. But I can't say it is worse
than being in Area 11. At least now Japanese people are treated as equals and can be a proud
nation."

"Under the rule of my brother," Marrybell reminded others. "Leila, Kaguya, don't forget you and
everyone else who knows the true intentions of Lelouch agreed to assist him and follow his vision
of a perfect world. The people would have been manipulated and lied to in any system. The
difference is, ours will be the most effective and grant results that will make everyone happy. I still
remember how often my Order was sent to deal with uprisings in the Brtiannian colonies. So far,
there haven't been rebellions of the same size, so I consider it an improvement."

"Part of the reason for that is because OSI makes sure to learn about them in advance. Afterwards,
Lulu sends either of his favourite attack puppies to deal with it. But I will give credit for the first
part." D.S. made a peace sign while C.C. gave her a long stare.

"Did you just call Kallen and Cinder… puppies?"

"Better than calling them his dogs or bitches, right? Sounds cuter!"

Cece took a sip before speaking. "I'm telling them about this."

"Haha! Please don't. Cinder is really into bondage and Kallen is getting interested in it too," The
most recent and Second Empress Consort looked genuinely spooked. "I don't mind rough sessions,
but I can't handle the two of them."

"That sounds like your problem."

D.S. pouted. "C.C. you meanie! Hmph!"

The Empress Regnant couldn't help but chuckle. Somehow, this simple meeting was far more
pleasant than C.C. expected. Just talking with other people about everything without losing interest
felt refreshing. Now that the Witch was no longer immortal, the limited time she had with others
actually mattered. Life could no longer be viewed through the eyes of an immortal. She would age
and die one day. This was her life now and she was enjoying it. Stil-

"Some pizza right now would be nice."

D.S. smirked. "Shame that I gave the palace's chefs orders not to make any pizza even if you
threaten them. Said it was Lelouch's command-"

The Caretaker of Spacetime had to duck as C.C. threw her tea mug, only after finishing the tea
though. She was a Britannian empress after all.

Kingdom of Zilkhstan. Gralbahd.

The capital of Zilkhstan was a beautiful place said to be the gem of the desert Kingdom. Sitting on
the seaside, the city was home to beautiful Middle Eastern-style brick buildings, as well as
modern-style steel and glass buildings, giving a nice contrast between the old and the new. It was
also the military heart of the nation and therefore had the best defence and enough forces to hold
off any siege. Perhaps the nation and its heart were the last remnants of resistance who refused to
bend over before the Britannian Empire.

And it was currently under martial law as sirens rang all over the city.

The army was searching every house and every corner in their attempt to find the criminals who
dared to steal the king's most prized treasure.

His older sister.

While the kingdom's military was trying and failing to find the culprits, the people behind this
situation were on their way outside the city.

Sayoko Shinozaki jumped over one of the walls before she landed at the evacuation point, an old
warehouse that had been abandoned. Wearing her battle gear, the maid made sure everything was
clear before giving a signal to her teammates. The Emperor's butler Alfred followed shortly after,
carrying a person who was very much alive inside the human-sized bag on his back. Despite
looking quite old, the OSI agent was anything but physically unfit for whatever task his master had
for them. And finally, the last person joined them.

If one saw the masked individual, their first thought would be that Zero returned again. However,
upon closer look, everyone would notice how different this masked hero of justice was from the
famous revolutionary.

The person in the mask was clearly shorter than Zero. The cloak was shorter, barely reaching knee
length, with the colour scheme having new changes in the form of fewer yellow stripes. And then
there was the mask. The 'eye' orb was closer to pink than Zero's dark purple. If one had words to
describe this version of Zero, then one might call it less regal but more upstart, in a good way.

Quite fitting for Faker.

"The second phase of the operation was a success," Faker spoke with a low voice, doing her best to
sound serious as she contacted their transport. "Target is secured and we're ready for evacuation."

"You don't have to lower your voice like that, mistress." Sayoko couldn't help but smile as she
watched her lady freeze before glaring at the maid through the mask.

"Sayoko! Never call me like that in public ever again! What if somebody heard you?" Faker, better
known in the past as Nunnally vi Britannia, the supposedly dead False Empress scolded, frustrated.

Her maid and guardian giggled. "Don't worry, my lady. This place is empty."

"And even if it wasn't, silencing the witnesses is hardly a matter of your concern, my lady," Alfred
spoke as he tossed the bag with a human on the ground like it was a sack of potatoes.

"Is that… ok? I mean treating her like this? Won't she wake up?" Faker looked at their prisoner
who didn't move. Part of her was worried if she was even alive after everything. "His Majesty
asked to bring Shamna alive for questioning."

"Oh, don't worry. She is fine." Alfred said before he poked the unconscious Shamna in the side
with his pistol. "We used enough drugs to make a lion nap. She won't wake up for the next twelve
hours, enough time for us to leave Zilkhstan's borders."

"O-ok." Faker was a little hesitant but decided to trust the somewhat sociopathic butler. She was a
little nervous since it was her first big operation and the most important one.

Ever since that day when Nunnally and Lelouch finally saw each other, her life changed. Nunnally
vi Britannia was dead, killed by the White Emperor for the sake of his wishes. However, Faker was
born from the dreams, fears, and hopes of Nunnally. Serving as the new hero of justice under
Lelouch, Faker was tasked with helping the new world order from the shadows. Instead of being a
doll, or a puppet, Nunnally became an active player. Her role was similar to how Zero and the
Black Knights initially acted in Japan, busting down the underworld and criminals. Revealing the
corrupted politicians who managed to get into Lelouch's perfect future. Faker was no one, she
wasn't bound by any laws or public opinion like the Empire and its ruler was. A perfect agent to
carry out justice without limits.

It was both thrilling and scary. A girl who in the past couldn't walk on her own was now going on
secret operations and protecting the world from the shadows. It was similar to the comic heroes
Rivalz told her about. Nunnally didn't think of herself as a hero, but it felt good knowing she was
doing something close to it.

"My lady," Sayoko smiled as she walked closer to the Faker. "You did wonderfully out there. I'm
proud to see you improve and that our training is paying off."

Faker turned away, under her mask the former princess couldn't help but feel embarrassed. "P-
please, Sayoko. I did nothing compared to you or Alfred. I only distracted Shamna long enough for
you to render her unconscious."
Their plan was rather simplistic in Faker's mind. Shamna's Geass made it impossible for any
mistake, their team needed to kidnap the Head Priestess on the first try without letting Shamna die.
Even with the info D.S. gave them, it was far from an elementary mission.

"That's still an achievement. You held on your own against the head priestess and showed no fear.
Not to mention, being able to stay hidden from her guards and enemy Geass users. You still need
more training, but soon you will be the 38th Successor of the Shinozaki School of Martial Arts!"

"Haha… heheh." Faker couldn't even fake her excitement. Nunnally was grateful to Sayoko for
training her and making sure the formerly crippled girl knew how to defend herself. However, for
someone who didn't walk or couldn't see for a good portion of a decade, suddenly receiving ninja
training was a nightmare. As it turns out both Nunnally and Lelouch were more similar since both
siblings shared a hatred for physical training.

"Oh, and don't forget about our training as well, my lady," Aflred said while placing a small
explosive device on Shamna's body in case they lost her. "I still need to show how to properly
interrogate your prisoner for information and what tools to use."

"..." Nunnally was looking for these lessons even less than for Sayoko's nightmarish training. At
least Jeremiah was kind enough to let his lady rest when she was on missions and simply talked to
her about Knightmare mechanics. The Orange Knight was more focused on making sure Lelouch
was in shape, always. Neither of the vi Britannia siblings was getting easy treatment from their
trainers. Speaking about Jeremiah-

The ground before them started to tremble as the green lance-like drill pierced the earth. It was
followed by the appearance of Sutherland Sieg with upgrades needed for underground movement.
The cyborg pilot exited the machine before greeting them.

"Sorry for being late, but the underground cave system appeared to be more complex than I
expected. Anya stayed back, someone had to prepare a distraction in case we needed another one."
Jeremiah apologised before grinning upon seeing they were successful. "As expected! My lady was
victorious in her quest! Let it be known that no one would dare to stand against the might of vi
Brit-"

"Lord Jeremiah, I know you like your speeches, I enjoy them too, but it isn't the time or place for
one. Let's move before Zilkhstan's military and King Shalio can find us. I'm sure little Anya is
waiting for us as well." Sayoko offered with a small smile while the cyborg knight blushed in
embarrassment. The former knight of Six, now another assistant of Faker, was still waiting for her
legal guardian and the rest.

"Oh, of course! Come this way everyone, and don't forget the target." Jeremiah quickly said before
turning back towards his Sutherland Sieg.

Alfred lifted up Shamna and moved toward the giant Knightmare. Faker left a small piece of
clothing, something resembling Bolvona Forgnar's attire. Now that his sister was kidnapped, King
Shalio will be on a witch hunt so why not let him go after his own court in the meanwhile?
Whatever Zilkhstan was reduced to just before the Britannian invasion was a win in her book.
Faker pulled out a small device, a detonator in the form resembling a chess piece. As they entered
the Knightmare, Nunnally pressed the button before Sutherland Sieg entered the hole. What
followed was the series of explosives around the warehouse as a means to get attention to find fake
evidence.

Once all of that was done, Faker and her teachers/guardians left the scene of the crime. By the time
Shamna will wake up, she will find herself in Britannian custody, getting her Geass destroyed by
the Second Empress Leila and revealing everything to Emperor Lelouch.

C's World.

The gates of Thought Elevator were located on Nemesis and opened as someone stepped inside C's
World. The dimension of "God" stayed the same as Emperor Lelouch preferred it, a green field
reminiscing one of his happier childhood memories. Of course, a few dozen KMF units right next
to the door weren't part of that memory, but the Emperor certainly didn't mind their company. C's
World was still used as storage in some way by Nemesis. Now that the Thought Elevators were
working again, at least half of them, Lelouch and his confidants had an easier time moving around
the world. It made it easier for Lelouch to respond to world issues, as well as to check on his lovers
when they were on different continents.

Still, not that was a concern of a certain Knight of Two. Cinder Fall, still not vi Britannia to her
scorn, walked inside C's World, looking for her dearest. Instead of being welcomed by the embrace
of Lelouch, Cinder was greeted by an annoyed look from Kallen.

"And here I thought it was someone important." The Knight of Zero sighed as she sat on one of the
chairs Lelouch 'imagined' in C's World for her. When the redhead knight wasn't on the missions or
visiting her parents, she spent her time making sure Lelouch was safe. Even if he was inside the
realm where next to none could enter.

"Good day, Kallen! How was your day? Oh, me? I had a wonderful time wiping out the resistance,
thanks for asking!" Cinder clapped her hands and showed Kallen a fake smile. Afterwards, the
black-haired beauty stared at her comrade with a lukewarm expression. "You know if you want to
be irritated then at least be good at it."

"I can say the same to you, Cindy." Kallen stood up as both knights moved towards where their
leader was supposed to be. "But congratulations on the job well done anyway."

"Heh, thanks," Cinder looked proudly as she spoke. "Wann hear details of how it went?"

Kallen shook her head. "Knowing you it was most likely a one-sided fight with you constantly
taunting poor bastards who can't even fight back properly."

"It is so nice you know my style, Kallen!" Cinder sounded genuinely touched. "But hey, we need to
remind every small insect out there who is in charge now and forever will be. Can't allow
cockroaches to think they have any chance of winning."

"The rebels were hiding in Afghanistan, right? I heard some of the former Black Knights hid there
too after the second Black Rebellion." Kallen spoke with a little venom. The Knight of Zero
considered the members of her old organisation who didn't join Lelouch as anything but traitors
who were just as bad as White Death. "Perhaps it would have been better if I was the one to get rid
of them."

After Emperor Lelouch's declaration of the new world order, many refused to accept it. Different
groups all over the planet, with different histories and views, went against Lelouch's order. The
peaceful protests and activities were dealt with via efforts of Leila, Kaguya and D.S.'s OSI
manipulation. Whenever it was possible to solve problems with words and promises, it was done so
as to avoid bloodshed and present Lelouch's regime in a positive way to further spread his control.
However, some people didn't want to oppose Lelouch's rule in a peaceful manner. Former members
of the old world superpowers, radical extremists from the either political spectrum, religious
zealots of any kind, criminals who wanted to make a profit and of course Zilkhstan's mercenaries.
All of them wanted to make the world go back to the older status quo where war was a tradition
and chaos was the natural state of the world. Of course, some of them had more understandable
reasons. Anyone could see where the world was going at this rate, absolutism on a global scale,
perhaps for generations to come. And not everyone was ready to accept it. Lelouch himself
expected revolts and resistance from his subjects. He welcomed it, after all, he was once
revolutionary too. So it was understandable if some wanted to see their worth and challenge the
White Emperor and his future.

Too bad for them that neither he nor his retainers were planning on making it easy for the rebels.
While some protests could be solved without violence, in other instances, brute force was the best
solution. The Empire was to show itself as a benevolent rule, but it didn't mean it was a weak one.
Violent uprisings were crushed without mercy, and put down before rebellion could grow. Some
were destroyed publicly to showcase the military might and denounce failed rebels as terrorists
who wanted to destroy the world. Others were cut down from the shadows, leaving nothing but
trails of blood to make it clear what happened to those who went against the will of the White
Emperor.

"If we send you and Guren, you would have destroyed their mountains, too messy. Anyway, how
have you two been?"

"The usual, Lelouch was having endless meetings and gatherings. Some were crucial, but most
were worthless. I got tired of standing and listening for the same shit hundreds of times and so did
he. He got exhausted and wanted some time to relax. I have been here since our last meeting." The
worst part of being the Emperor's bodyguard was the boredom of constantly having to endure
numerous talks Lelouch had to partake in the Empire's administration, civil representatives, and so
on. It was a nightmare. "This place's atmosphere is way more preferable to lifeless halls and
meeting offices, even if this place is an illusion."

"Ha! By the way, any news on our people in Zilkhstan'? Was too busy to read reports."

Kallen nodded. "Jeremiah sent a message that they are already on their way out, and got the target
out alive."

"Good, good. At least we don't have to worry about whatever bullshit powers the King's sister has.
Can't wait to finally fight against the proper military again. Dealing with insurgencies is fun and
all, but it isn't as thrilling as fighting an enemy army that can put up a fight. Even if it's a short
one." Cinder said with a dreamy expression.

"You psycho," Kallen let out a short laugh. Somehow she got used to Cinder's crazy side. For all
her barking and making out herself look like a mad woman, the Knight of Two was rather tame on
the battlefield unless the opponent refused to surrender. Perhaps it was per Lelouch's orders or
maybe Cinder was putting on a tough facade, but Kallen didn't bother too much. "How many
surrendered this time?"

"Almost all of them. Once I broke down into their underground base, they didn't even have time to
react. Some tried to attack me with their machines, but I didn't even bother slicing all of them to
pieces. Meh, not really fun. Now that almost every worthy opponent is either dead or on our side, I
will have little choice but to quench my need for proper duels with you, Kallen. How unfortunate."

"How unfortunate indeed. Don't forget we still have a score to settle."

"Yeah, yeah. What is the current score? 4-3 in my favour? Sounds like I will win this bet." Cinder
smirked.
"You wish! And it's 4-4! We both passed out when… you know." A pink shade formed on Kallen's
face. Even Cinder had to fight back the blush on her face as she cleared her throat and looked to the
side.

"W-well, I remember seeing you collapse first, so it was my victory." It was rare to see the Second
embarrassed by something.

"Lelouch said that we both collapsed at the same time. Sorry, but I trust his judgment more than
your one eye."

"Not cool, Kallen. Not cool. But if you don't want to admit your loss in that, e-eh, unique fight then
I suppose we can count that as a draw if even Lelouch insists on this. Still, that means we need to
come up with a new idea for a duel."

It wasn't a secret that both ladies constantly duelled with each other. The training was a secondary
reason, and most of the time it was to resolve a dispute of some kind or because they were bored.
However, there was also competition between them. During the wedding day of the First Empress,
both Knights managed to fight and defeat the mother figure of the man they fancied. Sayoko
admitted defeat, but it was a hard-earned victory for the two. Still, the ninja maid was quite
conniving when she asked a simple question once their fight for the Emperor's hand was over.

'Who will be first between you two?' Sayoko's fox-like smile was anything but sweet. After all,
they both couldn't marry Sayoko's lord on the same day, obviously.

It was thanks only to the intervention of the other Knights that Cinder and Kallen didn't succeed in
stabbing each other on that very spot. Who could have known that their short alliance would
collapse the moment their common enemy was defeated? It was only after C.C. warned them to not
ruin her day that both Knights came up with a solution. They will have different kinds of duels
with each other. Whoever wins 5 times first will be the victor. However, each duel must be
different from the rest so they couldn't just fight each other in Knightmares all the time. The
majority of the duels were rather straightforward: hand-to-hand combat, a 5 km run and other
regular competitions. Some were Kallen's victories, some were Cinder's.

…Then there was that one time when both got into their usual argument and spent a good portion
of a night yelling at each other. The atmosphere became quite tense and both didn't notice how
regular screaming and arguing turned into more heated and physical ways of trying to see who was
right, even if it stopped being a fight after some time. According to Lelouch who walked on them,
he was supportive of their new methods of solving disputes with each other, or on each other in that
case.

"We still didn't have a Knightmare duel." Cinder pointed out.

"Yes, because collateral damage will be a pain in the ass to explain to Lelouch. It will get the
attention of people and it might give us a bad look," Kallen answered why. "We need something
else to settle our quarrel."

"Agh! We're wasting time trying to find out who will be first. I bet it was Sayoko's plan all along,
as impressive as it is infuriating. Tch."

Kallen nodded. "Can't blame everything on her when we can't decide who will be first ourselves.
Maybe Lelouch will have an idea for this."

"He will most likely suggest some kind of a game to settle it. I won our chess duel, so that's out of
the question. Perhaps darts?" Cinder wondered.
The Knight of Zero sighed. "We will see, but for now let's go see him for your mission success.
Plus, he has another meeting in an hour. Let's go."

Both Knights moved further into the C's World as they saw the sky above them change into the
night scenery with the very distinct place around them. Kallen immediately recognized Ashford
Academy which replaced the open green fields of the past. Even more appealing was that it was
the terrace next to their old student council room. It was a moment of them launching fireworks,
but this one was different.

It didn't take them long to find the Emperor. Not to mention, Lelouch wasn't 'alone' at the moment.

Around him, Kallen saw their student council, all of them.

Rivalz was trying to launch multiple firecrackers at the same time, while Shirley panicked and was
trying to stop him. Milly was laughing as she filmed everything with Nina standing behind her,
shyly smiling as her eyes were glued to the fireworks. Kallen was standing to the side, lighting up
her own firecracker. Suzaku was nearby and holding a box of more fireworks… a little bit further
from everyone there stood Rolo and Nunnally, with their own petards. Both Knights noticed that
Lelouch's real sister was actually standing on her own and staring with wide eyes at the
firecracker's light.

This was nothing but a mirage, wistful thinking of what might have happened in a more kind world.
Kallen was on the run ever since the First Black Rebellion, Suzaku was a Knight of the Round,
while Shirley and Rolo didn't live to see Lelouch accomplish his wish. Not to mention Nunnally…
and yet there was something beautiful and sad about the monarch's little image of that time, even if
it is a lie.

"I promised that we would have fireworks together as student council." Lelouch vi Britannia, not
Lamperouge, spoke as he stood before this scene, there was no need for him to turn towards his
Knights. Still wearing his royal robes, the monarch couldn't help but chuckle. "I tried to stay close
to their true personalities and make this as realistic as possible. I know, I know. This isn't the best
use for C's World's, but I couldn't help myself-"

"It's beautiful," Kallen spoke as she moved closer to give a closer look at the unmoving copies,
especially herself. "This is like interacting with photos, even if it is more like your dream. Heh, at
least you didn't make me look like my old fragile persona."

Unlike her regular days at Ashford where she had to hide her true self, here Kallen looked similar
to how she appeared around the Black Knights. Spiky hair, with a somewhat annoyed but confident
facial expression. Was this how Lelouch saw her back then? Quite satisfying.

"Meh, you look just as bland as you do in real life." Cinder offered her analysis as she walked
closer and stared to pick at her cheeks while real Kallen tried to brush off her finger. "Lelouch, you
have a rich fantasy. You could try to make Kallen more pleasing at least here."

"Watch your language before I take your last good eye, Pirate Queen." Kallen narrowed her eyes.

Cinder smirked. "Hey, can I use this one as a punching bag, Your Majesty? She won't get any
worse than she already is. Pretty please?"

"You-!"

"Me-!"

"Hahaha!" Lelouch had to hold his laugh as both Knights glared at him. "Sorry, it is just seeing you
fool around that reminds me of the old student council days."

Both of them could see the melancholy in his purple eyes before glancing at each other. "You miss
that time?"

Lelouch nodded.

"For me to move forward I also need to appreciate the past and make sure I don't forget the good
and bad." Lelouch glanced at his first friend, his best friend. "We wanted to change the world for
the better. How ridiculous. He is dead and I'm the Emperor of the place I hated so much. My, I'm
curious when the next masked revolutionary will pop out to destroy my world. When that happens,
I can finally admit that we absolutely switched the places in this play. But for now, when he and
others are no more, the responsibility of our promise falls entirely on my shoulders."

"You aren't alone, Lelouch. You will always have me." Kallen placed a hand over her chest.
"Everyone will be there for you, including this one." she pointed at her fellow knight.

Cinder rolled her eye but smiled. "Indeed. Not to mention, you did change the world."

"And all that is left is the 'for better' part. Something that might be more complicated when you
don't have a single enemy to defeat and instead have to run the government. Still, I don't mind such
a challenge even if it is rather boring." Lelouch chuckled before offering his hands to both of his
Queens. "Cherish the past, move towards the future and enjoy the present. Shall we, ladies?"

"That sounds like a good mantra." Cinder was first to take his left hand and snuggled up to her
Emperor. The black-haired beauty placed her head on Lelouch's shoulder as she whispered loud
enough for Kallen to hear. "And I certainly know a few things that will help you enjoy the
present."

"Hey!" Kallen quickly moved to take Lelouch's right hand and side and nuzzled against his chest.
The redhead applied more strength to make sure Lelouch leaned closer towards her side. "Don't get
cocky just because you had another successful mission. Lelouch needs to relax before another
meeting and I won't allow any one-eyed vixen to disturb his time off."

"Oh, yeah?" Cinder tilted her head closer to Kallen. "How about I off you before relaxing with
Lelouch, Q1?"

"Try me, Q2," Kallen answered similarly, her head moving closer until their foreheads were
pressed against each other. The amber eye glared at two blue ones and vice versa. "We won't have
to settle our argument if I get rid of you here and now."

"Ladies, please." Lelouch sighed before squeezing their hands. "Neither of you is getting rid of one
other, so you might start getting along. Well, you were already back then at the palace, weren't
you?"

Their silence was enough of an answer as both Knights turned away from each other, blushes on
their faces. The Emperor smirked.

"See? You two know how to play nice with each other. Now, why won't we get out and get some
tea? My next talks with my viceroys and parliament in less than an hour. I would rather spend that
time hearing about your victory, Cinder. And of course, I want my closet knight to be with me
there." Lelouch smiled warmly at them, knowing neither of his Queens would say no.

"Hmm, when you put it that way-"

"Good thing you have a cute face, Lelouch."

Still blushing, The Knight of Zero and Knight of Two walked forward. Still tightly holding on to
their lover from both sides. The White Emperor kept smiling, enjoying their presence and comfort
as the trio was leaving the C's World.

Before Lelouch vi Britannia stepped out of the 'Gods' dimension, the Geass user snapped his
fingers. The night scenery of Ashford changed into the cosmos and planet with the red symbol of
Geass over it. Lelouch glanced at it with a small smile before turning towards the gate that opened
for the three of them. Checking on the old images and seeing what could have been was nice from
time to time. However, the White Emperor had business outside this world.

Britannia, no, the world required Lelouch to keep playing his role in this performance, preferably
until the end of his days.

'The perfect world. People call it an impossible and foolish dream, but they are wrong. For the
Man of Miracles, this is nothing more than another challenge. And now, when I conquered this
world and destroyed its foundation, I shall rebuild and transform it into something greater. For the
sake of their memories.'

This is it, time to say goodbye

I have many emotions right now. I feel proud, ashamed, excited and sad about the fact that
'His Britannia' is over. Before we will get to talking about the Epilogue itself there is
something I want to say:

First of all, thanks to all Beta-readers/co-authors who helped me to make this story exciting
and readable. If anyone remembers how the original first 3 chapters looked back in early
2016, they might remember that it was very, very rough and that I needed help at that time. I
started writing this story when I was 16, still in school and English was only my third
language. Writing this story in the language I'm more comfortable with and know better,
would have been a smarter move, but I wanted to show 'His Britannia' to as many people as
possible and therefore used this site. I know for a fact that this story managed to get attention
in its earlier lifespan thanks to the hard work of Tahkaullus01 who made my first chapters
actually good. Over the years several people helped me to write this story and I'm incredibly
grateful for that. Working with all of them was very enjoyable even if some stopped being
active on this site. So thank you:

Tahkaullus01

The Jingo (The King in White)

Tatrin

Gammatron942
Destrox

D'nnome

The Path of a Writer

Kingpin Lunamaria

Special thanks to Kingpin Lunamaria for helping me finish this story! Because of these
writers, you can read 'His Britannia' in the way it exists today and I do hope our work made
your time in this fandom more enjoyable!

Now, onto the context of this chapter. I like when stories come back to the significant/starting
place, hence why return to Kamine Island for the last time. C.C. finally got her code deleted
by Leila and can enjoy her mortal life as a normal human, well, as much normal as the first
empress and Lelouch's partner can be. Then there is their wedding. I know some readers
wanted a group wedding for Lelouch and all his ladies, but I thought it might be too
corny/unrealistic even by this story's standards. So, a normal wedding for the Witch and her
Wallock. And some comedic moments for ladies in waiting with all shenanigans. Poor
Kaguya has to wait a few years because of political reasons since her marrying Lelouch too
quickly might be too fast for the Japanese people who will need more time to accept the new
Britannia. And yeah, I decided against writing every wedding separately because I felt it
would be too repetitive for the last chapter. Kallen and Cinder were left out of the schedule
and had to fight their mother-in-law for it, but nothing unusual. Tamaki, unknowingly for
everyone, himself included, is becoming an important person in the empire's world. Arthur is
too busy in someone and Bishop can't stop being a happy grandpa figure. Peter has to be the
responsible one, which is worrying. Copied the wedding vows from the net because I couldn't
really come up with my own, oh and D.S. now wants to influence religion and manipulate it
for the sake of government rule, just like in real life.

For the next several parts I won't attempt to retell what happened, but I want to stress out
one important moment in my opinion.

Lelouch's new Britannia is the absolutist dream state of every authoritarian admirer.

Obviously, I never meant it to be taken as a serious political message, and it is nothing but the
writer's ideas for fanfic work. I'm telling it because sometimes people might take such
matters out of context and think it represents the author's real-life views. It was written for
the sake of the story's plot.

Now back to the upper statement. Since Lelouch's empire is now an absolutist state with no
outside enemies, he needs to secure himself from inner problems. Rebellions will be a regular
issue when your empire is the entire Earth and its population. That's why both peaceful and
violent means to deal with them are needed. Lelouch is the person for whom the end justifies
the means, even if he understands the price of some of these means. For the White Emperor
Lelouch vi Britannia, to secure his peaceful future he needs to take away people's freedom to
govern themselves and make decisions for their homelands. In exchange, he will give them
security, prosperity and a promise of no war on a massive scale.

In the world of Code Geass, such promises will be more agreeable than in ours. Unlike canon
CG future after Zero Requiem, here post-Puppet Requiem for the Empire to guarantee
peaceful coexistence they need to use more power and brutal force when needed. Instead of
trying to decrease the number of Knightmares and military, here Lelouch needs a bigger
army to police his own people now when there is no more outside enemy in the form of Black
Knights or his siblings. New Britannia will have to become a surveillance state, the state has
to be the only source of violence where the empire can use legitimate governmental authority
to control groups and individuals. I can't really call it a fascist state since I don't see Lelouch
who wants to rule as a benevolent strong ruler using institutions and ideology similar to
Charles and past Britannia.

The new empire won't oppress minorities for the sake of the state's policies but will heavily
crack down on any attempt to destabilize the empire's control over the world and humanity.
In other words, Lelouch's Britannia is a tolerant absolute monarchy that doesn't care about
people's ethnicity, race, religion, etc. As long as you don't dare to go against Emperor
Lelouch and his world, you won't be an enemy. It is fantasy, but hey it is a fanfic about
mecha anime. Plus, I still think it is more realistic than the scenario where Lelouch's Empire
is some kind of perfect utopia where everyone is happy with everything and doesn't try to
rebel or something.

Throughout the entire story, I wanted to showcase that Lelouch's mindset is pretty terrifying
when you think about his goals. A perfect world with one ruler has to be very militaristic and
centralized in a unique way. There are still nations and borders, but they mean very little.
Think of this as our irl EU, but there is only one army, one government and one law system.
And no one but the Royal Family and the Emperor can change anything. You can see that it
is a pretty terrifying concept and Lelouch in this story wants this system to become the world
system that should exist as long as it can prove itself a reliable and a better alternative to the
older systems of the Code Geass world. Democracy in their world was always a falling
concept with authoritarian regimes regularly being stronger, and more stable than their
democratic counterparts. Therefore I can see one Global Absolute Monarchy being the
possible scenario with Lelouch. Where such a system would either prove itself to be reliable
or will exist only until a massive widespread Revolution will occur that will start a legacy of a
new Zero. And I can see Emperor Lelouch actually welcoming such a chance.

Either Lelouch rules the world as the Emperor and his children continue his plans and
legacy, or a new masked revolutionary will be born and create a new Order to destroy
Lelouch's Empire. After all, while Lelouch's Britannia isn't the old Darwisnsitc 'shoot
civilians because they're Japanese' Britannia, it is a system that will take away your
freedoms if it is necessary to maintain new world peace under subjugation. Any attempt to
revolt for the sake of wanting to be free is valid. This isn't a scenario where Lelouch is
objectively good and everyone else is bad. I can see White Emperor Lelouch who chose such a
path, acknowledging this, but not backing down because in his mind either way it will be the
best way to make Euphemia's dream true.

In this chapter, it is more obvious with Lelouch's demand for Lloyd to create a Damocles-like
station whose primary mission will be to act as a military warehouse and outposts in orbit. In
case of rebellion, such stations can be used to deploy Knightmares to deal with rebel groups.
Lelouch never stopped recruiting soldiers and this policy will only increase since it will be
required to have a huge regular army and police force to deal with civilians and rebels if
needed. Not to mention it is also good propaganda and a uniting tool where people across the
world will serve in one army under one ruler, their individuality won't matter and they will
think of themselves as part of a collective. People who watch Star Wars, think of it as
something similar to the Palpatine stormtrooper program which also had a goal to unite
humans across the galaxy under one banner and ideologically. Of course, it isn't an easy task,
some groups like Purebloods will have to be Geassed but in Lelouch's mind that might be a
relatively small price to pay. Orpheus's concerns about the Empire's future are valid
depending on how it will go. The Knights of the Round have no qualms with ignoring the
sovereignty of nations for the sake of the Emperor's wish. Knights like Kallen and Cinder
might be used more often to quickly and violently deal with more troublesome groups of
whom no one will learn since the propaganda machine of the empire is everywhere. Former
European members like Akito and Ashley might have some issues but can fall in line since
like the majority, in their eyes, it must be done for the collective good. In fact, some might
argue that the collection of human consciousness itself manipulates/pushes average people
into subconsciously accepting such worldview and reality as a means of securing a peaceful
world as either reward for Lelouch or part of its own goal for the stable world with no wars
that perfectly aligns with Lelouch's goal. Who knows.

And now that we're done with silly stuff like fanfic politics and so on, let's get to the last part.

This story changed my life.

I know I know, this sounds corny. It does, but it is also true that some major changes in my
life happened thanks to this chapter. I started writing this story back in 2016 when I was still
a teenager who was consuming anime every day without a filter. I wrote this story as a harem
because I love harems. I still do, but if I started writing His Britannia after 2019-2020 it
would have been only Lelouch/Kallen/C.C. romance. Still a harem, but way smaller and I
know it is more acceptable than huge harems with OCs. I know that this story isn't perfect.
The primary reason this story managed to gain readers when I started writing it was thanks
to Tahkaullus01 and because the concept of Emperor Lelouch and no Zero Requiem was
rarely used. I know of shortcomings His Britannia has. Some people couldn't stand my OC,
especially Cinder since she might come off as Mary Sue. Some didn't like how over-
competent Britannia was immediately after Lelouch took over. Some didn't like moments
with a harem that were seen as waifu collecting. Some didn't like D.S. because she was seen as
a horny waifu and didn't have much to offer. And many, many readers didn't like the fact I
didn't want to kill characters and that many of them survived for too long.

I know that not every idea was liked by readers, and I do know that you can never please
everyone and I don't hope to do so. When I started writing this story I only wanted to write a
fun harem story where Lelouch didn't die and stayed as the Emperor in the world that he
controls with benevolence and an iron fist. Some of my thoughts from above were already in
my mind back in 2016.

I always welcome criticism and try to fix moments that I see as issues from a writing
perspective. For example, back in 2016, I wrote that I want a giant finale with as many
characters as possible and some readers pointed out that it will be too much if I don't kill any
characters and will have them all survive until the end. I agree with it, and after Endspiel, I
saw that I wouldn't have been able to do so anyway. Some of the characters were left outside
the battle since I didn't know how to properly write them in, like Akito or Xingke. I agree
that in some moments of the story, my OCs dominated too much focus. In fact, I will go as far
as say if I could I would have used only Code Geass characters instead of using my OCs. I do
love the OCs I wrote, but Code Geass has such a giant variety of characters that can be used
instead. Did you know that the main reason D.S. and Cinder were a big part of the story was
that I wanted to have counterparts to C.C. and Kallen among other reasons?

Same with a smaller harem, If I wrote His Britannia now I would have replaced OCs I like. I
would change Cinder for Alessandra Dolos, a Code Geass character whom I can see playing
the role of "Britannian Kallen' with clear hints of romance with Lelouch- crap here I go for
the harem route again. I can't help it, oops, but I don't feel sorry.

I also know that my moments of deus ex machina where characters should have died but
didn't was annoying to many. While I acknowledge it and would have preferred to avoid it, I
can also see it as something rather needed in some cases. Besides, Code Geass wasn't good at
killing its characters when they should have died, like with Mao. If you think about it, only
Diethard died in the final battle and everyone else survived. That isn't a cheap shot at canon
anime, but killing characters doesn't make the story always better, but I see the need for
consequences and so on.

Another issue I know some people had was the fast-paced romance and how some moments
felt too rushed. For example, Lelouch took over Britannia and had next to no struggle during
the EU war. While I would have liked to have more chapters that show things left outside the
main focus and a more natural growing romance between Lelouch and his ladies, I had to
speed up some aspects because of logistics.

Writing fanfic isn't as easy as people might think. Many people can start writing a huge story
with massive planning and so on, only to ditch it for many reasons. Some might lose passion
and interest, some might feel their work isn't good enough and feel ashamed, others can't for
personal and irl reasons, and so on. Planning the logistics of your story is important, you
have to be realistic and accept that some grand plans must be cut. Every writer has an image
of the perfect story that tells every plot point in a satisfying way. However, the reality is that
not many can achieve that. Many might stop writing because they think their story wasn't
good enough and didn't live up to their own expectations. I have experience with such
thoughts.

When I started His Britannia I acknowledged that it won't be perfect and that some plot
points must be decreased, some because of my personal preference. For example, I don't like
slow-burn romances because fanfic stories usually take forever and unless the author is
determined to finish the story, they will never see the conclusion. I wrote Cinder and the rest
of the knights of the round as powerful Knightmare pilots because I didn't want to waste time
building them up from zero through dozens of chapters before they can even stand on an
equal level to Suzaku and Kallen. I know some readers might have preferred it in a different
way. But like with a slow-burn romance, such a concept would have taken too much time and
no one can guarantee that the big story will ever see the finale. I know that my preferable
style in general is to harry up many concepts because I put myself in the reader's position and
I don't want to waste their time. Perhaps my other story Demon Emperor and Demon King is
an example of how I try to write a romance between Lelouch and Maou Nobunaga slower
than in His Britannia, but not slow-burn level of slow because I strongly dislike them. I just
don't like when the story is taking forever to go anywhere and is left unfinished because the
author wants to spend too much time building up relations and concepts slowly, too slowly
for fanfic writers who cannot be sure to ever finish their story.

I always knew I would finish His Britannia because it meant a lot to me and I would see it
completed even if it would take years, which it did. Part of the reason is that I'm a very lazy
person. Seriously, if only I was more responsible, I could see His Britannia being finished in
2020-2021. I also had dozens of the stories I wanted/still want to write about Code Geass, but
had to constantly stop myself from writing them because I had His Britannia, other fanfic
writers might relate to this problem. Demon Emperor and Demon King was an exception
because I got addicted to Fgo and then other gacha games (save me from this hell).

But overall, I was lazy and had irl responsibilities and hence it took literally 7 years to finish
this story. These are excuses but I have nothing but excuses, sorry. Well, I also got into
university as an International Law student and got a bachelor's degree last summer so 2018-
2022 were kind of busy years for me... Oh, yeah! I got a scholarship for that degree thanks to
this story actually :3

Yes, for real.

When I was interviewed as the final part of getting a uni scholarship, I went on a long
discussion about His Britannia in detail back in 2018. I got a scholarship, then lost it, then got
it back and lost again. Still confident that His Britannia is the main reason I got a
scholarship. So yeah, thanks to this story I got my first degree, and it got me into many other
adventures, getting jobs in the law field and currently getting a master's degree. Even if my
assumptions are wrong, I will forever thank this story as a contributor to a huge and
important part of my life.

So you might imagine when I say that His Britannia changed my life, I literally mean it.

This story was nothing but the attempt of some teenager to write an alternative ending for his
favourite anime and a good ending with his favourite character, but it became a huge part of
my life. Thanks to this story I got into uni, continued to interact with this site and got into
many fandoms, met new people, improved my English (I hope) and just had a great time.
Again, giant thanks to Tahkaullus01 for being there when I needed someone to make my
writing look coherent and readable. If you want to see how bad it was you can read my 2016
story Fallen Prince and see how my writing used to be. If you think my writing style and
skills are still bad, that's fair. I usually don't feel confident writing big stories without a beta
reader, with my one-shots being an exception to that rule.

This Author's Note is turning into a mess but screw it! This is farewell so I might as well say
everything I have on my mind. Want to hear my wisdom?

If you want to see a specific story that no one wrote before or you want to write fanfics/stories
then just write!

Never think that you aren't good enough!

Just try and see how it will turn out. I was a terrible writer and thanks to the help of others
His Britannia got attention and it motivated me to get better and keep writing. Now I have
dreams of becoming a professional writer in real life as well. His Britannia was born because
I wanted an Emperor Lelouch harem story after re-reading Lelouch vi Britannia, the 99th
Emperor by Karndragon (great story btw). I know for a fact that this story managed to
motivate at least 2 writers to write their own stories and I'm beyond happy about this fact.

In fact, this entire story makes me feel proud. Despite its many flaws that are of my own
making. This story was enjoyed by readers I gained and managed to keep their interest. I do
not know how many readers from 2016 are still reading it, I know many stopped enjoying it
for their reasons and I understand why some might dislike the directions and moments I
wrote. However, as long as I made some readers enjoy their time while reading this story, I'm
happy.

Hell, if some of you want, you can take my ideas and plans for potential Code Geass stories I
had in mind for years. Take them and change them however you want, as long as it manages
to motivate you in any way or give you an idea for your own story, it means His Britannia
and I are capable of being something more than mere pass time. Here are some ideas:

Code Geass/RWBY crossover: Emperor Lelouch's Britannia and RWBY Remnant

experiment with teleporting technology at the same time. In Britannia, imperial scientists use
Thought Elevator, while in Remnant their scientists used semblances with teleporting
abilities. Both worlds become connected and despite efforts from the government of each side,
through actions of Salem and her forces Britannia and Remnant start a war. It is obvious
who is winning.

Code Geass/Gate: Jieitai Kano Chi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri crossover: If you know what GATE
is then you already know the plot. Gate opens in Japan and Lelouch's Britannia has to deal
with the fantasy world. ImmortalEmperorWithAnEpicBeard has "Gate: Thus Britannia
Liberated There!" that is a good example of what I had in mind (please update it!)

Code Geass/High School DxD: DxD magical world makes contact with Code Geass world and
Collective Human Consciousness feels threatened. As a result, it wants its champion
Emperor Lelouch to deal with foes from the DxD world by using any means.

Code Geass's story: "His Japan '': Black Rebellion succeeds because one of the key players
(V.V.) decided to not play his hand and teach his brother a lesson, and because of his own
overconfidence. As result, Zero's biggest weakness wasn't exploited and Area 11 fell, Japan
was reborn and now Black Knights had to lead in the world where Charles' Britannia had to
be more active. The Black Empire by PaulXion was my inspiration, but in my mind, I
wouldn't attempt to follow the plot of the second season and wouldn't make Lelouch get
Geassed by Charles (also please update it!)

Code Geass's story: "Demon in Europe": During the events of Akito the Exiled, Lelouch
regains his memories and manages to escape captivity. However, stuck in Europe he decides
to create a power base there, destroy whatever authority Britannia has and if needed burn
the EU with fires of revolution if it proves itself to be another failed system.

Code Geass/Nikke Goddess of victory crossover (yes, I joined another gacha hell, I'm beyond
saving): Lelouch wakes up in Nikke's world after who knows how long time has passed and
now has to act as commander in order to survive and understand what happened. Why is he
still alive? Why do some Raptures react differently to him and how both Demon Emperor
and Zero played a role in the creation of Nikke? Not to mention, the Ark might just irate
Lelouch enough into destroying it by himself, and well, his army of Nikkies.

And many more stories I have in my mind. Believe me, I have dozens of them. And not all of
them are about Code Geass!...just a huge majority, hehe...If you want to take these ideas and
adopt them with your own twists and plans, then do so. I just want as many people as possible
to write Code Geass stories because this anime means a lot to me. God, I wish I had the skills
and mastery of Coeur Al'Aran to have a consistent schedule and update Code Geass stories
weekly.

One story ends, another continues and a new one begins But alas-!

Ha, no idea what else I can say

….

So…this is it, yeah? The final goodbye?

I know some of you might read my other stories, but for many, this is the end of our
relationships as author and readers.

I enjoyed this time and am thankful to everyone who read my story and gave their criticism
and opinions on how I can improve it. Thanks to beta-readers and co-authors for sticking up
with me and helping me write His Britannia. Thanks to Tahkaullus01 for being the reason the
first part of his story was legible and thanks to Kingpin Lunamaria for helping finish His
Britannia.

Thank you for reading "His Britannia"!

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