"Attention! This is the Britannian Military. Surrender now, and you will not be harmed."
Lelouch glanced at his opponents – the four surrounding Knightmare Frames – from his position inside the cockpit. Given the current state of his own Sutherland, coupled with his positional disadvantage, his probability of survival was less than fifty percent. But even so, he'd also known that he'd worked with less favorable odds before. Odds that, all things considered, could've led to an arguably worse fate than the one presented to him now.
Electing to ignore the speaking pilot, Lelouch quickly shot out two Slash Harkens; one to discourage the opposition, and one to ensure his escape. He had never been an expert marksman, but point blank range served as excellent compensation, and while the first harken only clipped the foot of the other Frame, the second found its target – the protruding rooftop railing.
Rapidly accelerating his landspinners, Lelouch scaled the three-story complex to his right, warily noting the other Frames' attempts to do the same. Fortunately, however, his own Knightmare reached the rooftop first, and two quick slashes from his Stun Tonfas allowed for the ever so satisfying crash of steel upon stone.
"Good. That should have bought me ten seconds."
His fingers tightened around the controls even as he spared the slight degree of relief. True, his stunt had most likely decommissioned a Sutherland given the sheer volume of its crash, but three more still remained on his radar. And, while the present high ground offered a significant advantage in a battle of attrition, his current mission had a specific time limit.
Reinforcements, after all, would be inevitable in three minutes.
Spinning his Frame around ninety degrees to face the enemy Command Center, Lelouch deliberately equipped his assault rifle. Then, once an isolated Knightmare lined up with his field of vision, he moved.
A single slash harken embedded in the rooftop's cement served as leverage as he jumped off the building, the targeted Frame having been caught completely off guard by the maneuver. Only four shots followed, all his own, before another signal on his monitor identified the destruction of the enemy.
'Two more left then,' he mused silently. The odds, it seemed, had transitioned back to his favor.
Quickly moving back to his position on the rooftop, Lelouch readied himself again, his eyes scanning his monitor for another opportunity to employ the same strategy. Fortunately, it only took a minute, this time, for the remaining pair to separate. Yet as he shifted his Frame to get a better angle of approach, he couldn't help but notice that the second Knightmare appeared to be staying motionless on his radar.
"… Wait a second."
Turning his Frame rapidly to face the seemingly disabled Knightmare, Lelouch couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise. What had come off as an anomaly on his monitor had actually been a turtled Sutherland aiming down his back. A Sutherland whose distance away from him made him an apt target for…
"Shit!"
Landspinners shrieked across cement as a single missile tore through the sky. Yet while the last-minute maneuver had prevented significant damage to his cockpit, the projectile had clipped something of equal importance.
The energy filler.
"No, no, no! Damn it! Where's the spare?"
With one eye on the monitor and one eye on the controls, Lelouch frantically began the transition to reserve power. It was idiotic of him, he realized, to have relied so much on his radar system. The height advantage of that sniper had been completely lost to him due to his monitor's 2D properties.
But, even with hindsight, there was little he could do other than race against his enemy's reload speed. And unfortunately, just as he managed to restart the controls, another missile managed to tear through the air.
Indeed. His odds of survival this time, were decidedly zero.
"Knightmare Frame Simulation Complete. Score: 82/100."
"… Damn it. Still too low."
Irritated, Lelouch opened his pseudo-cockpit, his feet meeting solid ground a moment later. The black market Knightmare Simulator he'd obtained had been top of the line, courtesy of both his gambling connections and the Ashford's underground tunnels. Yet even after three months of practice, his skill had plateaued just below Knight of Honor level.
It was both frustrating and sobering to know that his expertise lay in the strategic fields, and nothing beyond. Perhaps if he had the opportunity to commandeer a patrol plane as opposed to a Knightmare, some of his primary problems would have been solved. But even so, the odds of that happening were slim to none. As of now, if he were to assume that Clovis maintained a guard of five soldiers at all times, he would be capable of doing nothing more than slightly scaring the Britannian higherups.
And even those terrorists at Shinjuku did more than that with their poison gas stunt.
He sighed then, a tense breath that expressed more annoyance than any amount of cursing ever could. No matter which angle he looked at it, he was running out of time to make his move against Britannia. It was already the middle of 2017. And, once he graduated from high school in a year, he would be forced to go to university and, by extension, separate from Nunnally. A situation that would be almost impossible to oversee properly, given the variables that could arise without his protection.
But, despite the need for urgency, there simply weren't enough options at his disposal. The E.U, despite its democratic principles, needed to shore up its infrastructure before immigration could prove feasible. And the Chinese Federation, to the same effect, had less than stable conditions at present.
Yet even so, simply lying in wait for a less than probable opportunity just wouldn't cut it anymore. If Cornelia's progress in the Middle East was any indication, it would only be a matter of time before more of his half-siblings would be sent to finish off the rest of the Japanese resistance movements.
And once that happened, it would be nigh impossible for him and Nunnally to stay out of scrutiny.
"What I need… is an accomplice."
The murmur was made more out of impulse than necessity, but the sentiment still held true, even as he entered the elevator that would take him back to Ashford Academy's upper levels. If he just had one more person that he could rely on; one more person that he could trust explicitly; he wouldn't have had to mull over the problem that was slowly eating away at his sanity.
But even then, he wasn't sure if Suzaku Kururugi was alive, much less an easily available asset.
Indeed. As much as it annoyed him, he couldn't afford to think of "what ifs" when approaching his current dilemma. After all, no more pieces would miraculously fall into his lap in this game. He simply had to work with what he had and, by extension, minimize as much collateral damage as possible.
A difficult task, to be sure, when an absolute skewer was leaving him in danger of losing his queen, without any piece to block. He couldn't afford to go on the offensive; his most recent Knightmare training session had already determined that approach's impracticality. And, similarly, the option of sacrificing Nunnally to save himself was an idea so selfish that he had scorned himself for even considering it.
Truly, no matter which way he looked at it, the only option available to him was to do nothing. And if his previous reflections were anything to go by, that idea had already been proved to be uncertain. Honestly, if he hadn't known any better, he might have even considered "moving forward" as a possible, desperate maneuver.
"… Wait a minute."
"Now arriving at the First Floor."
The sudden indication of the elevator's standstill temporarily broke him from his reverie, and he quickly exited through the sliding doors and into the Ashford Clubhouse. Yet while his feet were still moving toward his residence, the seemingly absurd idea that he had just reflected on was remerging inside his head.
Indeed. Now that he considered it further, the merits of charging into the face of danger were surprisingly undeniable. With the tactic, he could ensure Nunnally's protection. Remove potential scrutiny from Area 11. And even allow for his sister's immigration if the opportunity arose.
The only real disadvantage, he thought resignedly, was that it would require the sacrifice of himself.
"Welcome home big brother!"
Slowly, Lelouch passed through his oaken door, unable to stop his eyes from drawing toward his sister's smile. His reaction to it was paradoxical, he supposed. On one hand, the grin made him want nothing more than to indulge in his sister's happiness. Yet on the other, more dominant hand, cynicism told him of the need to protect that smile from dangers across the Pacific.
"Hey there, Nunnally," he exclaimed softly, the tension in his mind threatening to burst out at any moment. "Have you seen Sayoko? There's something that I need to talk about, with her and Milly."
"You're joking, right?"
Lelouch only blinked at the harshness of Milly's tone, despite his internal wincing. After having found both her and Sayoko, the three of them had left for one of the Clubhouse's private offices for, what he had called, an important discussion. Yet while he had expected a degree of incredulity after explaining his plan, he hadn't quite braced himself for the emotional backlash that would ensue.
"No, I'm afraid I'm completely serious Milly."
Milly, for her part, maintained a stoic demeanor that almost rivaled his own. Yet while he had practiced the art of calm unflappability for years, Milly had almost always taken a whimsical approach when disguising her emotions. To that end, it must have been clear to her that arguing seriously with him would no doubt be a losing battle.
But even so, she hadn't been swayed from giving him a piece of her mind.
"So, that's it then. You'll be leaving Ashford Academy; the Student Council, and even Nunnally, all for the sake of paranoia."
"It's not just paranoia Milly, and you know it."
Wincing slightly at his own grating voice, Lelouch sighed heavily before continuing.
"Look. I know it's selfish of me to be doing this–"
"Incredibly selfish, actually."
"–But for Nunnally's sake I have to do this." Amethyst orbs met navy in a desperate appeal. "I'm running out of time, Milly. Once I graduate, there will be no way for me to ensure Nunnally's safety. This is the only feasible option."
"You're going to be declaring your sister as deceased in front of the entire royal family, Lelouch."
"And even if it pains me to do so, it's a lie that I'm willing to bear for the sake of discouraging scrutiny."
The glare Milly sent his way spoke of both frustration and angst.
"Then if you're so prepared to figuratively kill off your sister, why don't you tell her yourself then?"
Lelouch visibly flinched before meekly responding.
"You… you know why I can't."
"Oh, do I? Enlighten me then. Is it because Sayoko's more of a guardian to her than you are?"
"Milly…"
"Is it because she'll be able to deliver the news while maintaining a calm composure?"
"Don't do this…"
"Oh, wait I know! Maybe, it's because you're too afraid to tell Nunnally yourself!"
His composure broken then, snapped beneath the uncontrollable trembling of his frame.
"Of course it's because I'm afraid!" He roared, palms slamming down on the table between them. "I'm afraid of how Nunnally will treat me! I'm afraid of how Nunnally will react to me! And, most of all, I'm afraid that she'll end up preventing me from doing the only thing I've lived to do for the past seventeen years – protecting her!"
The ensuing silence was deafening, even as blue eyes tried to wrestle with the raw emotions behind his declaration. Finally though, Milly's own mask cracked.
"I'm sorry," she said, almost inaudibly. "It's just that… I didn't want you to be right for once." The sad smile she sent his way made his fury vanish in an instant. "Despite all your logic and worrying Lelouch, I'd just wanted you to be happy with the present. Those ridiculous festivals. The student council. They were meant to help you love this ordinary life of yours. Because if you chose the extraordinary… I wouldn't be able to help you."
Milly couldn't help but shed a tear after that, her head lowering in an attempt to break eye contact. Unable to stay put himself, Lelouch slowly walked toward Milly's side of the room before pulling her in a tight embrace.
"I know… believe me I know." A shaky breath helped him collect his thoughts. "If there was any other option, I would take it in an instant. But as long as my father is still Emperor, there's no avenue for me to take that would lead to an unchallenged, ordinary life. No matter how much any of us want it."
A half-minute of motionlessness passed then, as Lelouch silently awaited Milly's recovery of composure. Yet while sentimentality wanted nothing more than to stay in his current position, rationality urged him to finally address the other, more silent occupant in the room.
Expectedly and, perhaps unfortunately, the latter won out in the end.
"In any case, Sayoko," he started slowly, "I'm truly sorry for dragging you into this mess."
Sayoko, all things considered, had stayed relatively self-possessed during the exchange; electing to busy herself with an occasional finger roll against the cream walls. Yet while her appearances didn't reveal much, he still feared the possible thoughts that were hidden behind her chocolate eyes.
"There's no need to apologize, Master Lelouch." A slight push off her position on the wall signaled her resolution. "Even though it pains me to have you and Mistress Nunnally separate, I can't deny that your justification is sound."
He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at that.
"Thank you for your understanding, Sayoko." Another stroke of Milly's hair and, by extension, his pause in speech, served to emphasize the sentiment. "I truly appreciate it."
"There's no need to thank me either, Master Lelouch." A soft smile graced the maid's features. "Just tell me the order, and I'll carry it out to the best of my ability."
"Right, of course."
Slowly, amethyst orbs locked with chocolate brown.
"Given the amount of illicit chess winnings I've deposited in my money-laundering account, there should be enough to purchase a discrete complex for Nunnally's leisure. I trust that, with Milly's help, you'll be able to determine the site for such a place."
A slight pause, to give an opportunity for a nod.
"Good. Now once that's accomplished, give yourself four hours before informing my sister that the Britannian military discovered my identity during one of my gambling escapades. Before you escort her to the safe house though, make sure to remove any evidence pertaining to her existence at Ashford. With any luck, Milly will be able to wrestle down the student body simultaneously. After all, only the Student Council knows about Nunnally's existence, and they can be sworn to secrecy if given enough explanation."
A soft grunt coming from his chest spoke of Milly's solemn agreement.
"Very well, Master Lelouch. Is there anything else that you need of me before I go?"
"No, that'll be all Sayoko." A silent shift in eye contact spoke of his rationale. "I think I need to spend a bit more time with Milly, as of now."
A silent bow served as acknowledgement before the creak of the mahogany door was heard.
"Actually, wait. Now that I think about it, there are two more things–"
The maid paused, hands frozen on top of the brass doorknob.
"–First, I still need to thank you. For everything you've done for Nunnally and I. Without you Sayoko… we never would have lasted for this long."
Another smile graced the maid's features as she slowly turned around.
"Didn't I tell you already, Master Lelouch? There's no need to thank me for anything. I do it, simply because you two, more than anyone, deserve chances at happiness."
He smiled at that. Not only because it warmed his heart, but also because it assured him of Sayoko's ability to fulfill his last request.
"Then with that being said, I only have one thing left to say." A deep sigh left his lips before he gathered the courage to continue. "Please… tell Nunnally that I love her."
Chocolate eyes glinted wistfully before locking with amethyst orbs.
"Of course, Master Lelouch. I thought that was implied."
"For the last time Schneizel, the situation in Area 11 is under control."
Clovis began rolling his fingers then, a light staccato meant to break the tension of the current video call. He'd never had anything explicitly against Schneizel, despite their occasional quarrels and disagreements. But given the amount of attention his half-brother had invested in his Area, he couldn't help but treat the constant advice as attempts meant to discredit his ability to rule on his own."
"Are you certain, brother? After the poison gas scare a few weeks ago, the Homeland hasn't exactly been… content with Area 11's policy on terrorism."
"Well, you can remind them that the conspirators of that attack were captured promptly afterward."
Schneizel's lips pressed downward in a slight frown before reverting back to neutrality.
"It's not that I'm denying the ultimate success of your operation, Clovis." A soft click of the tongue was heard over the line. "I'm just recommending a different approach for the future. The Britannian populous wants glorified battles and strategic triumphs. Even if crude massacres offer the same result."
Clovis sigh spoke of both resignation and bitterness.
"I'm a romanticist Schneizel. A born-legislator meant for media stunts, not guerilla warfare. What I did was a maneuver with little to no chance of failure. I can't afford to lose face for the sake of… militaristic honor."
Schneizel snorted in bemusement before resting his head against his palm.
"I suppose that's fair. Though I'd still retain a degree of caution, if I were you. That strategy of sheer numbers only works on smaller resistance cells, after all."
The subtle attack on his credibility was not lost to him, and he replied with a pressed smile.
"Yes, well, fortunately your Camelot Project has found a pilot for its 7th generation Knightmare Frame. So, I have a good feeling that the JLF won't be much of a concern anymore, either."
Schneizel blinked at that, his eyes mulling over what seemed to be a recently recollected thought.
"Actually, that reminds me. Lloyd was mentioning that he was slightly disappointed with the current abilities of his devicer."
His stoic façade became a look of astonishment before he managed to recollect himself.
"He is aware that Gottwald has an eighty-one percent compatibility ratio, correct? A ratio that's three times more efficient than any pilot they've tested thus far?"
"With all due respect to the Margrave, it seems that some of the Lancelot's capabilities are still locked behind his skill barrier."
Clovis pinched the bridge of nose before releasing another sigh.
"Look. I too, want the Lancelot to be as effective as it can possibly be. But the fact remains that not a single Britannian in our Knightmare Corps is more qualified than Jeremiah."
"Have you checked the Honorary ones?"
He blinked hard before responding, seemingly caught off guard by the query.
"You're… joking, right?"
The silence on the other end of the line pressed him to continue.
"That system was established for the sole purpose of causing an internal schism amongst the Elevens, Schneizel. There are too many risks that could arise if I used it for militaristic purposes."
"Granted, that would be true under traditional circumstances." Even with a television screen between them, Schneizel's gaze was still piercing. "But at the same time, even a rabid dog can be appeased by a large enough bone."
A moment of silence passed as skepticism and tenacity wrestled between orbs of blue and mauve. But finally, Clovis's eyes shifted first.
"Fine then. I'll investigate the matter at my next opportune moment."
"Thank you Clovis. You won't regret it."
The smile Schneizel cracked then almost seemed too wide given the circumstances, but eventually, he brushed it off as excessive suspicion.
"Yes… I hope so. Now, if you'll excuse me brother, I'm scheduled for dinner in five minutes."
Clovis ended the call at that, his hand reaching out to massage his temples a moment later.
It was exhausting, really; having those conversations with Schneizel. His brother was an expert at diplomacy. A master of whispered words and string-pulling. And while his primary ulterior motive had been made clear to him – winning his favor in the Britannian game of succession – his secondary subtleties had been nigh impossible to keep track of.
Yes, perhaps if he hadn't recaptured Code-R in Shinjuku, his mental exhaustion would have already forced him to have resigned to Schneizel's ploys. Yet as long as that immortal had the potential to give him power, he had the determination to not become a sheep in any of his sibling's plans.
And truly, who could blame him?
"My apologies for interrupting your highness, but there's an issue that needs to be brought to your attention."
Slowly, Clovis turned around, his eyes shifting from the ceiling to his opened office door. Perhaps under normal circumstances he would have berated General Bartley for entering his room without formal permission. But, at this point, he was too drained to do more than sardonically retort.
"Unless this has to do with Code-R, Bartley, I'm afraid my impending meal will have to take precedence."
The uneasy look on the general's face spoke of something beyond mere hesitation.
"No, unfortunately it's not related to the project."
"Then you already have my–"
"But the matter is still of equal concern."
Clovis paused then, his cerulean orbs scrutinizing navy.
"… Fine. Enlighten me."
Bartley drew in a shaky breath. "To put it concisely, your highness, there's a man outside demanding an audience with you."
A single eyebrow rose on Clovis's side of the table, wrinkle lines displaying both confusion and curiosity. To his knowledge, there shouldn't have been any reason for a last-minute meeting from any of his associates. In fact, the only possible scenario could've been that one of his siblings had sent a liaison to spy on him, and even that was semi-ludicrous.
"And I assume that your men had a sound rationale behind letting him inside the palace?"
"Well… to a degree. The man is saying that he's–"
Suddenly, a loud crashing sound was heard from across the hallway, drawing the attention of all eyes in the room. After only a few seconds of stillness, however, a man slumped through the open doorway, with two uniformed soldiers following closely behind.
"Hello… brother."
Cerulean met amethyst in what could only be described as disbelief.
"L-Lelouch?"
Author's Note
And so concludes the first chapter of my latest side-project. To be honest, I've always wanted to write a "Lelouch stays in Britannia" fic. Yet my own hesitance regarding the saturation of the genre, coupled with my fear that I could never live up to revolutionary works like Dauntless kept me from writing.
Fortunately, however, I was struck with an inspiration that offered a unique twist to the story type. What if Lelouch not only didn't receive geass at Shinjuku, but also later submitted to Britannia on his own accord?
It's certainly a concept that has great potential for new plotlines and arcs that I can't wait to explore, and I hope that the idea is received well by you, the readers.
In any case though, I feel that I should apologize again for the lack of Pawnless updates. It must be a bit disheartening to see two new fics roll out on my end, but still no new chapter. Rest assured, however, that Pawnless will be my primary writing priority from now on.