Code Geass: Plan Orange

A/N: This is being published because Lostguy got a look at a part of this that I had been dabbling with and pushed me to finish the chapter... so if you like it thank him for giving me the motivation to complete the chapter (I had only really been playing around with the idea)


Jeremiah wasn't entirely happy with what he had decided to do as he walked to the warehouse where Princess Cornelia and her rebel force had agreed to meet with him... it felt like he was betraying his lord... but it would be an even bigger betrayal of Lady Marianne and his oath to never let harm come to her children if he could do anything about it. 'Forgive me my Emperor; but I cannot stand by while you send yourself to your death; your mother would never have tolerated it.' Jeremiah thought as he approached the warehouse; thankfully there had been no one to lose so he had made good time on his journey there; as he entered the massive steel doors they began to close behind him activating his fight or flight instinct but he fought it down; Cornelia and her troops had every right to be suspicious of him and any actions he took would only make things worse.

"This is something I never thought I would see;" Cornelia Drawled as she walked out of the shadows flanked by her knight Guilford while the shadows around them lit up with a dozen red dots as lasers illuminated Jeremiah's head; "A Gottwald Betraying their oath-sworn liege? It is inconceivable; so you will forgive my skepticism."

Jeremiah gulped he knew that unless he played this right he would fail to save his Emperor from himself and fail Lady Marianne in the worst possible way. "Princess Cornelia; I swore my Oath to Lady Marianne above all others; and I am here to try to fulfill one of her wishes; I ask for your assistance in saving your brother..."

At this Cornelia cut him off "Why would you want to save Schneizel?" she asked her confusion well veiled by her steely demeanor

"Princess you misunderstand; please allow me finish." she waved at him to continue; "Please help me save Emperor Lelouch from himself." he pleaded

This time the confusion Cornelia felt actually made it to her face for a second before her face flushed with anger and she practically demanded "Why should I save him? He Killed Euphie! I want him dead!" this time it was Jeremiah who cut Cornelia off.

"Because the original sin lies with the entire Royal family." Jeremiah said with all of the certainty he could muster; "Tell me what is left when you strip away everything that a man has ever loved; every dream that he has ever had? What happens to a man who has lost everything so many times that his sanity is stripped away?" Jeremiah demanded before continuing more softly "I just hope that there is still something that can be salvaged from the disaster that his psyche has become... I fear that Nunnally declaring herself to be his enemy may have been too much..." he finished somberly.

Cornelia couldn't believe what she was hearing and asked a bit unsteadily "What are you getting at?"

"Because of the circumstances I know that Emperor Lelouch is insane; among other things he has split personalities now; he believes that Princess Nunnally is an imposter; and often speaks to Suzaku Kururugi as though he were still alive; his mental condition has spiraled out of control; I fear that if it goes much further either he or the world will be destroyed."

It took Cornelia some time to respond; "If what you say is true then..." it was hard for her to say "I will help you save Lelouch..." this statement startled Guilford "How do you propose we do it though Gottwald"

"I brought some plans with me detailing the route he takes to head to his bedchambers to sleep; it is the time of day that he has the fewest guards protecting him; if you strike then, you will have the greatest chance of success; fortunately I do not act as his guard at this time; he usually has me sent out to review the palace defenses; so I can easily get you in. Just be ready to capture him as soon as possible though." Jeremiah turned to leave the warehouse before turning around and tossing Cornelia a disposable cellphone "Princess; I know it is not my place but please promise me that you will do everything you can to help save your younger brother." Gottwald plead.

It took Cornelia a second but she responded "You have my word Sir Jeremiah Gottwald."


After Gottwald left Cornelia sequestered herself into what had effectively become her private office so that she could think... could all of Lelouch's actions up to this point have been the result of Lady Marianne's death? Could Clovis' death, her father's death, Euphie's death... Could it all have been avoided? If she had saved Lady Marianne from death eight years ago would Euphie still be alive today? The more she thought about what Gottwald had told her the more emphatic the YES answer became. Cornelia could only try to put herself in his shoes; she could only try to understand the suffering; but it wasn't until she thought of having to see and protect a permanently wounded Euphie every day for seven years that she was brought to the point of hysteria. Guilford who had been waiting patiently outside heard his Princess start hyperventilating and rushed to her side.

"Princess! What is it?" Guilford asked Cornelia as he knelt beside her as she sat back in the chair that he had guided to her.

"Guilford; My knight..." Cornelia began as she composed herself "I was thinking about what Gottwald told us... and if he is right I can only think that in the end Euphie died because I failed to protect Lady Marianne... that all of this traces itself back to that day that she was gunned down in front of Lelouch... that day that Nunnally was permanently injured..."

"My lady... don't blame yourself for that; Lady Marianne ordered you to withdraw the guard." Guilford said to comfort Cornelia.

"But if I had stayed!" Cornelia began before Guilford cut her off

"You couldn't have known what would happen and if you had stayed you could have died too."

Cornelia had no counter for that statement but quickly latched on to another point where she had failed Lelouch back then. "Fine... But I should have gone to comfort Lelouch instead of comforting Euphie... Lelouch was the one that had lost his MOTHER not Euphie... yet I prioritized her and the pain she felt... What kind of big sister does that?"

"The kind that is grieving and can't think straight herself." Guilford countered

"But if I..." Cornelia started when Guilford cut her off

"Forgive me princess; but dwelling in the past is not going to do you any good; Yes if you had done something different back then; maybe Lelouch wouldn't have suffered, maybe Euphemia would still be alive; but that doesn't matter; what matters is what you decide to do now; you need to move forward and if you need to repent for your sins; but do not dwell on them, that does no one any good and only makes you and those who care about you hurt" Guilford said as a single tear trailed down his cheek; here in front of him his strong warrior princess was breaking to pieces and he felt so impotent.

"Guilford... will you help me? No matter what I decide?"

"I will stand at your side in all your endeavors Milady." his words elicited a reaction that he had never seen from her before... she hugged him... it took him a second but he gently returned his embrace; and while they held each other Cornelia seeking comfort from another person for the first time since Euphemia's death she made a decision, she would seek to repent her sins and failures; she would try to save her little brother from himself... from the damage that she and the others in their family had inflicted upon him... from the damage that had driven him mad; the last thought that crossed her mind before she drifted off to sleep in the arms of her knight was 'I hope you can forgive me... Lelouch... little brother'


While Cornelia was letting her emotions flow for the first time in a year Jeremiah Gottwald made a round to visit the prison that the Black Knights were held in... Lelouch officially tolerated this because Jeremiah still had a few people who he could call friends among the Black Knights; most notably Kyoshiro Tohdoh who respected Jeremiah despite the fact that Jeremiah was one of Lelouch's followers. That was the explanation for the Black Knights and the Rank and file; Lelouch had actually given Jeremiah orders to keep the Black Knights up to date on current world events because of the plan; regardless Tohdoh was really the only Black Knight that he knew he could trust with his plan.

"Sir Gottwald! Here to visit General Tohdoh again?" the warden in charge of the cells the Black Knights were in greeted Jeremiah.

"I am indeed warden" Gottwald replied as the warden grabbed his keys and lead Jeremiah towards Tohdoh's cell.

"Forgive my curiosity Sir Gottwald; but I do wonder; why do you visit this prisoner so often?" the warden asked halfway to the cell "I mean you used to be the leader of the purist faction in Area 11..."

At this comment Jeremiah smiled slightly remembering how blinded he had been at the time... how his rage at the Japanese for killing then prince Lelouch and his sister princess Nunnally had blinded him to what a fine people they really were... 'I'll have to remember to thank Sayoko for protecting and serving the Vi Britannia line while I thought they were dead.' he thought.

Jeremiah took a second before responding to the Warden's inquiry "While serving Emperor Lelouch while he was still in seclusion I adopted his position on the matter, simply put I respect him for who he is and what he has done; I respect the loyalty that he has for his people and his nation, I respect him because he is an intelligent and skilled warrior who has always followed his code of honor." before muttering under his breath "though he has proven to be a fool at times..."

"What was that?" the warden said as they neared the cell.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with Warden; If you would be so kind?" Jeremiah said gesturing at the lock on Tohdoh's cell.

Sighing the Warden said to Jeremiah as he unlocked the lock and let him through before closing it behind him; "I'll be back in half an hour as usual. Until then do as you will."

As the door shut behind him Jeremiah heard General Tohdoh's usual greeting "Hello Jeremiah"

"Hello General;" Jeremiah returned.

"So why have you come to visit today Gottwald? Is it to bring me more news? Though I still see little point in your bringing news of the outside world to a condemned man..." Tohdoh asked

"Kyoshiro while you and I fight for different reasons I respect you no less because of it; a man in isolation will go mad... and I would rather not see that happen to another person..." Gottwald stated.

This confused Tohdoh. "Excuse me Jeremiah; but what do you mean by that?"

"That is actually the reason that I came here today General" Gottwald said making sure that there was no one that was in obvious earshot; unbeknownst to him though Kallen was paying attention

"Tell me General; what was your first impression of Lelouch when you first met him at the Kururugi Shrine?" Jeremiah asked

This question confused Tohdoh but he took a moment and answered it truthfully "He seemed much like a young child who had lost everything except his little sister... he seemed like he would do anything for little Nunnally... I am sorry Jeremiah where are you going with this?"

"In good time General; but you see that is exactly what he was at the time... Lelouch was a young boy who had lost everything and then had to take his crippled blinded sister through a War Zone... tell me what kind of psychological impact do you think that has on a ten year old boy?" Jeremiah asked

Tohdoh thought for a second before shuddering something like that would push him to the limits of his own sanity... "Gottwald are you saying what I think you are saying? Are you saying that Lelouch is insane?"

On the other side of the wall Kallen gasped. If that was true then... but before she could finish that thought Gottwald started speaking again.

"While that is certainly the case now General... the events described merely made him dangerously unstable; all of the pressures came to a head on a single day... the day of the destruction of the Tokyo concession; the day that he lost everything and everyone he cared about. Put simply General he went mad because he no longer had anything or anyone left to to keep him sane." Jeremiah said, "The pain was too much after that day... I did what I could to save my lord's mind... but sadly all the loyalty in the world is unable to rescue him from his madness..." he sighed.

It took Kyoshiro Tohdoh some time "I would believe that he was insane before then; what of the massacre, Gottwald; what sane man slaughters helpless children?"

At this Jeremiah chuckled grimly "You and the other Black Knights are so terrified of his geass but you hold against him the eradication of Britannia's army of geass users. It's a sad proof of how trusting of Schneizel you and the other Black Knights were."

"What?" Tohdoh asked with alarm; "A geass army?..."

"Hundreds of people; men women and children all weaponized with geass powers under the aegis of Charles Zi Britannia; my lord wiped them out because of the threat they posed as well as for personal revenge." Jeremiah said "I ask you why is it that you and the others believed the word of your enemy rather than trusting your own commander; Tohdoh? Why did you believe a man known for his silver tongue? A man who had every reason to want Zero out of the picture? A man who would seek that end by any means if he deemed it necessary?" Jeremiah heard the footsteps of the warden approaching the cell; "Well now... Excuse me General there is much that I must attend to if I am to save my Lord."

As he walked away from the stunned general; Jeremiah let a smile creep onto his face as he mused about the burden of realized ignorance. A burden he had suffered once before.


As Jeremiah took his leave Kallen slumped against the wall of her cell; if what she had overheard was right... then Lelouch hadn't tricked her... he hadn't used her... she then remembered the last few words that he spoke to her aboard the Ikaruga "Kallen, you must live on." those five words had stopped her heart from shattering completely; they were her lifeline until she could start healing... but at that same time she had walked away from him... when she should have seen through his lies she believed them and walked away... he had saved the shattered remnants of her heart with five simple words the same day that his sanity fell to ruin...

Kallen hugged her knees as tears started to flow from her eyes... if what she had heard Gottwald say was true... and if he had truly wanted her to 'live on'... then that means that she had been important to him... but if so then she had failed him... failed him so completely... 'Am I even worthy of wanting his love? Could I have prevented this? What would have happened if I had been able to see through his lie?' Unfortunately for Kallen; unlike Cornelia she had no-one to comfort her... no one to convince her that she needed to act in the present... then again it did look pretty bleak from where she was sitting... no way out; no way to escape... little did she know of what Jeremiah had planned and the chance it would give her to soothe the pain that Lelouch was suffering.


General Tohdoh on the other hand was rapidly processing the information he had received as well as the accusations that Jeremiah had leveled at him... if all of that were true then the blame for the current situation lay directly on his shoulders as well as those of the rest of the Black Knights... while the blame also lay on the shoulders of Schneizel and Cornelia; it was the members of the Black Knight leadership that had not given him any chance to explain himself; he recognized now that he along with the others had become so entranced by the idea of regaining Japan without any further bloodshed, just by turning over someone accused of horrible crimes... and that was just it the evidence was weak; all of it easily forged of fibbed; it was as simple as that Schneizel and Cornelia simply accused Lelouch of crimes; and he and the others fell for it, hook line and sinker...

It occurred to him that everything that Schneizel had told him was suspect... Britannia certainly had the resources to be able to fabricate all of that; and the tape he had heard were suspiciously incriminating especially combined with one fact; everything Schneizel had told them was perfect to incriminate Lelouch; to make them glad that they were turning over one of the world's greatest strategists and tacticians to the enemy. General Tohdoh now just hoped that he would get a chance to learn more before he was executed.


Jeremiah meanwhile went on his final trip for the night; he went to his office; he rearranged the patrol schedules so that 2230 hours the following night the only guards that would be anywhere near the west entrance would be those that Lelouch had ordered to only follow the orders of three people; Suzaku had gone into hiding until the requiem was ready to end; and Lelouch didn't suspect a thing... Jeremiah suddenly cringed and thanked his stars there it was again... the pain of split loyalties... still Lady Marianne had made him swear to protect her children at all cost. If that cost included betraying the trust of his lord then so be it he would not fail Lady Marianne.

Jeremiah stood up from his desk and headed to bed; he would contact princess Cornelia at some tomorrow morning to inform her of the time to attack... for now he had to sleep.

As Jeremiah laid down on his bed one last thought occurred to him... if everything went well tomorrow he will be the only person to have outsmarted and outmaneuvered his lord completely... A smile crossed Jeremiah's face as he drifted off; if everything went well his lord's greatest and hopefully final defeat would be the one that saved his life.


A/N: Well I may or may not put any further work into this story for a while; I have other stories to attend to but... this was still fun to write... here you go.

to those who think that Jeremiah is acting a little OOC here... all I have to say is that he has to have some cunning himself otherwise he would never have become the head of the purist faction.

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