So, a guest asked me why no one was talking about Code Geass R3...it's because I am stunned, and excited to see an immortal Lelouch coming back for round three! Hell, who didn't think he stole his father's code when he killed him?! Bah, enough of my rants on this stand alone story, on with the show, and let's see some ass kicking!

3: Conclusion

Shots rang out across the area as Lelouch's forces bombarded Clovis' G-1 Base, neither the black Tiger unit, Liger, or Lightning Saix seen to join the battle, yet. Despite the advantage of higher ground, Clovis' forces were not giving up without a fight. What pilots could after they had ejected ran back into the base to re-arm and board fresh Knightmares stored ont he base, but there were only so many left.

And the bestial machines seemed to never run out of ammo.

"They must also use Thermic weaponry," Lloyd theorized as he watched the battle from the safety of his trailer, "Absorbing the heat from the surrounding area to power their cannons is an ingenious way to make sure that ammo would never be a problem for the forces," he said, monitoring the five Wolf type machines, and smirked as Cecile brought him a cup of coffee, "But drawing in all of that heat can have adverse effects as well."

"Such as?" Cecile asked as she poured herself a cup.

Lloyd smiled at her interest, "Well, you see, for a machine that absorbs heat to power weapons," he said, taking an appreciative sip, "The pilot runs the risk of overheating not only the cannons, but the machine itself. Depending on the machine's power source, Sakuradite being the most likely, it could cause the machine to shut down, or even explode given how volatile such substances are. It could also short out the weapons systems, or even short out the control systems, maybe even effecting the pilot directly with heat syndrome."

Cecile raised her brow at this, "How likely is that to happen?"

Lloyd hummed in thought, "Well, given the number of shots they're lobbing at His Majesty, the intake of heat must be almost as immense as what that monster that was tearing up my poor Lancelot was putting out, double time. Couple that with the combined heat they're putting off on each other with each passing moment, I'd say that the heat index for those five machines must be reaching critical at this point. The only way that they would avoid such a disaster would be to install an enormous cooling unit inside the machine, or...oh, dear..."

Cecile saw the look on his face and set her cup down, "What is it? Lloyd?!"

"That's it!" Lloyd smacking his fist into his palm, "They're not just sucking heat in from the surrounding area, they're sucking heat away from each other!" He said, turning to her, "See the design of these fellows? They are decidedly canine in appearance, most likely that of a wolf, and wolves, as I understand it, are pack hunters, each member of the pack supporting each other in order to make a kill!"

Cecile covered her mouth in astonishment, "That's...brilliant! We need to tell His Majesty at once!"

"Not so quickly, my dear," Lloyd said, "we still need to figure out just how the main unit was able to function so long without over heating. And we also need to get in touch with Private Kururugi so that we can get him back into the game."

Cecile huffed as she placed her hands on her hips, "This is a little more important right now, Lloyd!" She yelled, "Prince Clovis' forces are getting wiped out, and you want to stand back and watch a little more!?"

Lloyd shrugged, "Well, the research data would be invaluable."

"Lloyd!"

"Alright, alright," the man finally relented.

Meanwhile, Clovis was throwing a proverbial hissy fit over the developments outside his base. General Bartley's forces were being pushed back and were being made to use fallen tanks, VTOLs, and Sutherlands as shields against the onslaught, using both small arms fire and explosive round to try and get at the five Command Wolves bombarding them.

"This is unacceptable!" Clovis roared angrily, his face beaded with sweat as the enemy units made small yet sure advancements. "Can't we do anything to stop those damned abominations?"

General Bartley was sweating profusely as the prince's anger rose, "We're doing all that we can at the moment, My Lord, but the terrorist are dug in like the worms they are." He said, taking a kerchief to his face, "And with the Lancelot out of the picture, we just don't have any Knightmares that can stand up to their mobility in this type of terrain!"

"Sir, we have an incoming call from the Camelot trailer," one of the men said, "They say that they have information the enemy that may prove useful."

Clovis looked relieved, "Well, what is it?"

"Sir," the man said, "Apparently the enemy has a heat absorbing weapons system much like the main unit, but they must remain close together or else the machines could over heat and potentially harm the pilot or explode."

Clovis tapped his chin in thought, "So we must get them out of their formation, and take them on one at a time?" He said, "Alright, advance our units. Take on the nearest machine you have within your sights and take it down before the others can join it or it retreats!"

"But, My Lord, if we send out our troops any further than they are, there won't be sufficient numbers to protect the base!" General Bartley cried. "There are three more of those monsters out there, and what if they take advantage of the absence of our forces?!"

"Well then you'll just have to make sure that they can get back here double quick!" Clovis snapped, "We are being wiped out! As it stands, we have less then twelve Sutherlands left, and five in reserve, which are due to go out any minute with the pilots we still have left alive!"

"I know, Sir, but inviting the enemy in like that may prove to be a worse disaster than this already is," the General argued, though he knew it would do no good to try and convince the hot-headed Britannian prince otherwise.

"Deploy the remaining troops and smoke those dogs from their hiding places," Clovis growled at the man, "Or would you rather take one of the remaining Knightmares into battle yourself?"

General Bartley ground his teeth, and set about giving the order to advance. Outside the squadron of Sutherlands began moving carefully through the debris field, taking care to stay out of the open as Ohgi's group kept the firing up.

Yoshida saw the first wave coming up the hill, and smiled, "Alright, here they come, boys." He said over the open communications line, "Time to fall back and let the idiots have it."

"Ah, come on," Tamaki complained loudly, "Can't we just keep shooting?"

Minami groaned, "Tamaki, come on, we've got our orders. K-1 said this was the likeliest possibility, and he was right. Now we need to fall back and let him handle getting a crack at the base."

"Yeah, but - "

"But nothing," Yoshida said, shaking his had, "He's led us this far, and we're just about to put all of this into the last phase if I've any mind for planning." He said, and hit the communications link for Ohgi's machine, "This is N-group, pulling back as planned, they're all yours, guys!"

"Great work," Ohgi's voice said, "Thanks for thinning'em out for us, we'll take it from here."

The five Wolves moved out, Clovis' forces right behind them as the level ground provided them with the speed needed to keep up. A mistake on their part as Tamaki brought up the rear. As the lead Sutherland was about to strike, one of the buildings erupted in an burst of rubble, and dust as a red blur surged forth.

The pilot never had the chance to eject as the protruding blade on the side of the beast slashed right through the cockpit, slicing the Knightmare in half. the second in line leveled its rifle at the red Liger as it turned toward the units, but another burst followed as a black and red machine slammed into it, tearing into it with glowing claws.

By the time the second Knightmare was downed, the others had their weapons trained on the two newcomers, the remaining ten Knightmares preparing to fire, when the last, and fiercest of the band made itself known when the familiar roar of the Brastle Tiger sounded from behind them.

"Full attack!" Lelouch roared over the radio as C.C. worked the weapons controls, lobbing shots into the group while the others joined in. Lelouch grinned victoriously, and wheeled the Brastle about, heading toward the base.

Clovis was now panicking as the massive machine barreled towards him, "I have to get out of here!" He shrieked loudly and sprinted for the door, dashing down the halls for the Knightmare hangars.

Meanwhile, C.C. was doing her best to keep from totally destroying the base in her eagerness to get to the prince. "So close," she muttered, "So close!"

Lelouch was busy theorizing how he could question his foolish elder brother whilst avoiding being seen. As he advanced, however, he noticed a Sutherland dashing out of the base, "That's Clovis for sure," the exiled prince snarled at his brother's cowardice, "Hang on, C.C.!" The Tiger took a hard, skidding right as it barreled after the retreating Knightmare, gaining ground quickly.

Clovis saw the beast coming, screaming madly as he fired off pot shots to keep it off of him for a as long as possible. But it was a vain hope as Lelouch easily out maneuvered the Knightmare's shots, and gained further ground on his fleeing brother.

"Stay away from me!" Clovis roared, and fired off a shot from the his rifle that Lelouch ducked beneath easily, and charged forward.

"Take out one of his legs," Lelouch grinned, "I want him alive for a few more minutes."

C.C. nodded, taking careful aim, "Don't worry, I'm having quite a lot of fun with this," she smiled as she took hold of the trigger, "I haven't had this much fun since the Hundred Year War!"

Lelouch felt his brow nearly fly off as he looked back at her, "Just how old are you?"

"Don't you know it's rude to ask a lady her age?" C.C. smirked coyly through half-lidded eyes that gave her a seductive look.

Despite the blush on his face, Lelouch kept his focus on the task at hand, with a parting, "I never met a woman old enough to ask!"

"Eyes on the target!" C.C. said as Clovis attempted to to climb a building in order to escape. "Locking on target." She had the Knightmare's left leg in her sights, and pulled the trigger.

The impact from the Pulse Rifle knocked the Sutherland from its perch and to the ground, throwing the prince around in his cockpit roughly as the man was practically foaming at the mouth with fear as the Brastle advanced on him.

Desperately, the Knightmare crawled away on its hands and remaining leg as Clovis' voice pitched higher and higher with each step the Tiger took toward him. "No, it wasn't supposed to be this way!" He screamed as the monster loomed over him like an image of the grim reaper. He unclipped his harness and and opened the hatch of the cockpit, bumbling out on his hands and knees in the squalor of the ghetto. His eyes fell upon the dirt and grime on his crisp white clothes, "Is this truly the way it ends?" He asked of no one in particular, "I, who would have gained the impossible, and ruled forever, am destined to die in this filth?!"

A rumbling growl from above him caused him to look up into the red eyes of his tormentor, jaws agape, as if waiting to savor a meal.

"He's done," Lelouch smiled, preparing to disembark, "C.C., keep an eye out for anyone. I don't want my face being seen by - "

The ground beneath the Tiger exploded as a body of white and gold slammed through the ground, throwing the bestial machine skyward. Lelouch, having undone his harness partially, was slammed into the cockpit roof, opening up a cut on his forehead. "What in the - ?!"

"It's the Lancelot!" C.C. snapped as the Tiger righted itself and landed on all fours, roaring out in anger at its former quarry. Without even turning to look at the angered machine, however, the Lancelot scooped up the frightened prince and blasted away as quickly as it could.

"NO!" Lelouch roared as he pushed the controls into maximum speed, "I had him!"

"Lelouch!" The woman shouted, leaning over his shoulder, "You're bleeding, badly, I might add, and the Lancelot is faster over open ground than we are," she said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Ease down, my prince, you've beaten him." She said soothingly, "Clovis will never forget this moment, no rest will come to him while he knows there's someone out there that can get so close to killing him without so much as scratch of damage."

Lelouch growled, swiping blood out of his right eye, "GRAGH! DAMMIT!"

His roar was followed closely by a massive explosion as his forces took down the G-1 Base, no doubt pleased with the slight victory. But Lelouch knew better. Clovis was insanely paranoid. If he didn't end him now, the people of Japan would suffer greater abuse under his rule. Britannia would bolster the military power, and perhaps even replace the fool given the right amount of grievances, but not before he wrought his vengeance on the conquered people of Area Eleven.

There was a ripping sound as C.C. tore off a bit of her sleeve to wrap around his wound. He looked back at her for a moment, seeing a smile on her face. "I haven't seen such a warrior since Joan of Arc," she told the younger man with a slight pink hue to her cheeks. "You've impressed me, Lelouch Lamperouge," she said, encircling him with her arm once she was done with his bandage. "No one's done that for a long time."

Lelouch felt the heat rising to his face once more around the woman, and looked away from her, "I may have won the battle, but with Clovis still alive, the people will suffer," he said, shaking his head, "This battle was an overall failure."

C.C. shook her head, "Look at your troops," she said pointing toward the hill where the G-1 once stood, now seven large beasts surrounded the wreckage, a Japanese flag held high by one of the men, and Lelouch had to wonder fleetingly where they had found it. "Do you see it?" She asked, smiling, "They were all going to die, and none of them were ready for it. And now you see them smiling with hope and a pride not seen for nearly a decade."

Lelouch nodded and leaned back in his seat, letting her arms cradle him, "I cannot afford to show them my face as of yet." He said, sighing, "As much as I would like them to trust the real me, the fact is that I'm half Britannian, and French, I won't make any friends among them until I've done something monumental."

C.C. smirked and caressed his face gently, "Such as?"

Lelouch steeled himself, "I'm going to finish what I started...and kill my elder brother."

=|RoR|=

"YEAH-HAHAA!" Tamaki roared in elation as he jumped up and down, holding up a machine gun he'd pilfered from a fallen Britannian officer, "We totally kicked ass out there!"

Kallen, although she didn't show it as much as the loud-mouthed red head, but inside the half-blooded girl was screaming with pride as Yoshida planted their country's flag into the battle ground. A rumbling growl from above her spooked her as the red Blade Liger leaned down and nudged her. Kallen smiled at the machine, "We really couldn't have done it without you."

"Yeah, no kidding," Ohgi said as he stood by the Lightning Saix, sitting on it's haunches, "These guys are amazing. I've never moved as fast as that inside a Knightmare, but this guy was way faster than any Knightmare I've ever piloted."

Tamaki cackled again, "Totally! My big bad wolf wiped the floor with this Brits!" He boasted, and the Command Wolf he stood by gave out a rumble in agreement.

Minami capture the boisterous man's head under his arm, "Get real, you dumb ass, we all fought great today, and we owe the guy that gave us these Knightmares big time!"

Yoshida nodded as he looked around the area, "Speaking of which, where is he? I thought he was still fighting?"

Kallen pointed off in the direction she'd seen him taking off in, "I saw that Tiger of his running after a Knightmare that was trying to get away." She pointed out, "I don't know why it was so important unless it was going for help."

"It was Clovis," a new voice cut into the revelry as a lime-haired woman came up to them, one sleeve of what looked like a straight jacket torn off, and small amounts of blood on both of her hands, "Zero was trying to capture him, but that white knightmare we were fighting earlier came back and blindsided us."

"Who the fuck - ?!" Tamaki shouted, instantly aiming his gun at the woman, but a stern look from Ohgi stopped him from firing.

The man stepped forward, cautious of any weapons the woman may have hidden, but she looked overly harmless. Which was what was setting him on edge about the woman. She was dangerous, with or without a weapon, that much he could tell. "You said Zero," he said, raising his brow at the woman, "If you mean the person that gifted us with these Knightmares, then what was the name he used over the radio?"

"No name, he just refered to himself as K-1," she said, smiling a bit at them man, "And if I'd wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have just waltzed into you like a stupid harlot wanting a quick romp, you know?"

"Fair enough," Ohgi said, frowning, "You said he was chasing after Clovis? Did he get him by chance?"

C.C. shook her head, "I already said that we were attacked by that stupid white frame." She hated repeating herself, "It made off with him before we got the chance to get at him. And we'd just shot down his Sutherland, too."

Kallen looked at the strange woman in interest, "You were piloting that black Tiger?"

"Co-piloting," she corrected, "Zero did the moving, and I did the shooting." She said, smiling at the young red head, "He said he was impressed with how well all of you handled these guys. Apparently they have an A.I. system that makes them a little quirky, but he said you piloted them perfectly."

Kallen found herself blushing under the praise for but a moment before everything seemed to catch up with her, "Wait, so you know who we were wirking with," Kallen said, "Is he really a Britannian half-blood?"

C.C. nodded, "He is, but he feels he needs to earn your trust before he tells you who he really is," she said, smiling a little bit, "He's gone after Clovis by himself."

"What?!" Was the collective shout, making the woman wince.

"That's suicide!" Ohgi snapped, "I admit the guy has some amazing machines, but there's no way he could get into the Viceroy's palace without being killed!"

C.C. smiled wider, "Believe me, our mutual friend has his ways." She said, looking at Kallen, "He instructed me to take you back to his base to repair and refuel the these Z-Knightmares, and keep a promise to a Mister Tamaki, was it?"

Tamaki perked up at this, lowering his gun, "You mean my guy actually gets an upgrade?"

=|RoR|=

The Brastle Tiger pounded into Theta Base with a thunderous roar a full hour ahead of the cell he had just aided, and Lelouch quickly dismounted the bestial Knightmare. "Bit! Van! Where are you?!" Lelouch roared out, hoping to find his technicians around, "I need you guys to help me out!"

As the young man climbed down from the Tiger, a loud clattering was heard from the back of the base, and two young men bumbled around the corner, one tall with blond hair and blue eyes, and the other slightly shorter man with black hair shaved at the sides, and tied back into a spiky tail, "There you are," Lelouch smiled at them, and noticed that there was something off. "Why do you two look like you've been fighting with a cat?"

"Boss!" Van, the shorter one, yell, "You gotta get outta here!"

"Yeah, she's right behind us!" Bit yelled frightfully.

Lelouch froze, "We're compromised!?"

"No, but you are dead when I'm done with you!" A familiar voice roared as deathly familiar woman rounded the corner. "Lelouch vi Britannia, you have some explaining to do!" Milly Ashford growled as she crossed her arms and glared at her childhood friend.

Lelouch felt a cold sweat break out all over his body as the blonde's face bordered obscene violence. "Oh, shit."

How many people think Lelouch is screwed? :p

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