Pretty Sneaky, Big Brother
By Jack Swearengen Ruby
Untap Phase: The best laid plans
A small detachment of Black Knights watched collectively as Lelouch, dressed in his exquisite and ultimately fabulous Zero costume, stood upon the ridge on an island somewhere in the south pacific. In the distance, a small chain of islands were visible in the early morning light. Kallen, of course, stood with him, as did C.C. Meanwhile, Todo was just off to the side, while Tamaki and others were interspersed among the troop. There could have been no more than a dozen altogether: nowhere near the force needed for a major offensive.
He was silent for a moment, right before tossing his cape to the side, flourishing it dramatically. "I am sure you are all wondering why I summoned you to this Island. I will cut right to the point. The Britainnians have captured a small island chain just south of here." He gestured to the distance Islands.
"The locals call it 'Sunshine Island'. It is a small farming community that occasionally holds annual livestock shows and exports commodities such as grass and small rocks."
"My God…" muttered Todo. "Their strategic value must be immense!"
"Yes." Remarked Lelouch, slightly vexed at being interrupted. "It is for this reason that we must intervene! Come noon today, The Black Knights shall launch an all-out invasion. We shall liberate the Sunshine Islands and free their rock and grass farming denizens… FOR GREAT JUSTICE!"
There was a cheer from the crowd. Todo stood next to Zero. "We strike at 10:30 AM, a little less than four hours." He addressed the crowd. "I suggest you use that time to prepare."
The crowd saluted, then dispersed to their line of Knightmare Frames located just past the shoreline on a lower part of the island.
Kallen walked with Zero to the Shinkiro, which was hidden in a tree-line right next to the Guren MK-II. C.C was only a few steps behind, as always. Kallen looked off to the side, wanting to ask something, but not sure how best to.
"I sense you are apprehensive, Kallen. Is something wrong?"
Remembering herself, she immedietly regained her composure. "No, its just… Lelouch, our scouts have reported the Britainians have fortified those islands to the teeth. Each one holds at least one battalion of infantry and at least five Knightmare frames, not to mention AA batteries and constant submarine patrols. We'd be torn apart before we even get close."
The trio entered the brush. Once he realized no one was around, he removed his Zero mask, taking in a breath of fresh air.
"It's true. The Britannians outnumber us immensely in this theater, and in a direct assault we would not last a moment."
Kallen took a deep breath. She knew she was in for one of those speeches he liked to give when he was all too happy to brag about how clever he was.
"Fortunately, we have an ace up our sleeve that Britannia could not have anticipated."
Lelouch looked at her with a slight smirk, almost glowing as he said: "It will all come down to the pop-tarts."
Kallen shot a cockeyed grimace at him. If this was anyone else, she would be sure it was some kind of joke. But with Lelouch, she feared he was serious."
"I… I don't…"
"The Britannians' have had to reduce costs in order to compensate for the remote nature of this island chain. Usually, their officers feast upon tea and crumpets for their late morning brunch. However, because of cut-backs they've had to resort to Tea and Pop-tarts instead."
Kallen silently watched him. "Oh… okay?"
"At 10:30, 90 percent of the command structure and Sunshine Island security forces will take a five minute break to eat their bruch pop-tarts. But what they do not know is that that will never arrive. I have arranged for their pop-tarts to be misplaced. When they begin to have their brunch and realize their pop-tarts have been taken, there will be mass confusion. Their command structure will be in utter disarray as noble and soldier alike struggle to make sense of their loss of brunch. In this chaos, we will strike, and watched their house of cards fall like a hand of dominoes. Game over…. Yahtzee."
Kallen looked blankly at Lelouch. Ever since she discovered he was Zero, she knew he toed a fine line between genius and madness, but she never truly understood it until this moment.
"Lelouch… that plan is… BRILLIANT!" She was so excited, she could barely speak. "I-I mean it's such utter genius! It's almost unfair! But… how did you pull it off?"
He looked through the tree-line to the distant island chain. "Let's just say I have an inside man."
His violet eyes fixated on the bigger of the islands. "Let's call him: Codename Pierre."
