I do not own Code Geass. Any parts that resemble the Anime or Manga are most likely from it.
The problem with killing characters, is that it would only affect Kallen and Nunnally as the multiple attempts at life aren't helping Lelouch views on bothering to keep people alive. I'm assuming use of Knight Police Frames continued and less than twenty generations in seventy years, after going up four in two years during the show. When I said possessed it was a metaphor although I admit that could be confusing. By other areas I meant the Areas of Britannia. Just Lelouch/Kallen. By controlling Nuclear explosion we have Nuclear reactors which we use for energy, Code Geass uses Sakuradite for a similar purpose, so suitably controlled I believe F.L.E.I.J.A could be used for a variety of purposes. I won't be saying much about R3 but you can imagine what you will, there are plenty of fics out there. The Gun design was made to be reloadable in battle, it was made to put out as many rounds as possible to overwhelm Suzaku and it didn't quite work. It was less that Lelouch isn't intelligent and more he doesn't have the correct tools or materials but I will make him more intelligent from now on. Next chapter will put Nunnally in the spotlight.
- E.P - E.P -
The day after Lelouch and Kallen had kidnapped Jeremiah Gottwald was pretty quiet. Or at least it would have been, if it weren't for the fact that Kallen stopped by to eat breakfast with Lelouch and Nunnally. That in itself wouldn't have been too bad but when he and Kallen walked in to their first class together, Kallen on his arm as was usual now, the whispering of their classmates started up again.
Kallen seemed to take a great deal of pleasure in the jealous glares of their female classmates while Lelouch just rolled his eyes and let their comments roll of his back. Shirley was staring at Kallen intensely, her face red and fists clenched, although her eyes flicked over to Lelouch occasionally. Whispered comments were flying through the air, taking Lelouch and Kallen's relationship and dissecting it, then creating rumours from its remains. First they decided it was an arranged marriage, then that Kallen had gotten pregnant and it was a forced union, and from then on things just got more and more ridiculous throughout the day.
There were a few comments on Lelouch's new medical eye-patch, the girls claiming it made him look roguish and more handsome while the boys thought it looked cool but a little silly. Lelouch himself didn't really care, it was just a stop gap measure until he could get a pair of Geass blocking contact lenses. His teachers accepted the Doctors note as an acceptable reason to where the patch until his 'eye infection' cleared up, even if his P.E. teacher didn't accept it as a reason to let him get out of lesson.
He did say it was a good try though. Lelouch was tempted to Geass him about it but decided it probably wouldn't be worth it.
Eventually lessons for the day ended and Lelouch and Kallen both headed back to Lelouch's rooms, picking up Nunnally on the way. It didn't take them long to reach their rooms, Nunnally teasing Kallen about the rumours she had heard and Lelouch laughing along with them.
"The plan went off without a hitch, then, I take it?" Nunnally asked when they were in the Dorm away from prying ears.
"Yeah," Lelouch replied, "Orange is on our side now and has his orders."
"What's our next step then?" Kallen asked, "Shouldn't we be preparing for the attack on Saitama Ghetto?"
"We don't know if that'll happen," Lelouch answered, "Don't get too caught up in preparing for what happen at this point in time during our last life, for all we know Cornelia might not even come to Japan."
"She is," Nunnally interrupted, "Clovis called me and confirmed it while you two were out, Cornelia and Euphemia are planning on coming here."
"So..." Kallen asked, "Should we be preparing for the events we know are coming or not?"
"We don't know if the will be coming or not," Lelouch sighed, "Cornelia might not attack Saitama to root out Zero as he hasn't killed Clovis, the JLF might not attack the Hotel as Zero hasn't wounded their pride, so on and so forth. We plan out our moves and we prepare for anything, not just what happened last time, because it might not happen this time."
"I see what you mean," Kallen said after a moment's thought, "But have you got plans in case they do occu- of course you do, never mind."
Kallen carefully ignored Nunnally's giggling.
"What about why we're still here?" She continued sharply, "Any thoughts?"
"Only the vaguest of thoughts at the moment," Lelouch replied with a sigh, "I don't have any solid evidence and I doubt anyone else knows, so..."
"What have you thought of so far, Brother?" Nunnally asked, "Perhaps we can help?"
"Well, the only thing that could send us back is Geass, correct?" Lelouch started.
"As far as we know, yeah," Kallen replied.
"But a Geass of that power couldn't belong to a person," Lelouch continued, "The drawbacks would be ridiculous, Rolo's stopped his heart after all. The only thing that could have enough power would be the World of C but I don't see any reason for the World of C to send us back."
"World of C, eh?" Kallen mumbled, her brow wrinkled in thought.
"Would it have to be the World of C though? The one with a motive I mean," Nunnally asked, "Your Geass effected it, could someone else's have done the same?"
"I fairly sure that after us, no one else could get into the World of C," Lelouch replied, "And no one before would know about us."
"Perhaps they were more vague about it," Kallen added, "Something about the world rather than us?"
"Why send us back though?" Nunnally asked, "What can we do that no one else can?"
Kallen shrugged as she turned to look at Lelouch, Nunnally turning to face him slightly.
"It doesn't really matter though," Lelouch sighed, "I mean, this is all hypothetical really, based off what could be a load of flawed assumptions."
"I'm sure we'll work it out," Kallen said thoughtfully, "You haven't failed yet."
"I suppose..." Lelouch replied quietly.
"Still, you seem a bit down," She continued, putting a hand on his arm, "Are you feeling alright?"
"It's..." Lelouch grimaced, "It's just that we back here again."
"Go on..."
"We did everything perfectly last time, or nearly anyway. But here we are, back at the beginning, what's to say it won't happen again in another seventy odd years time, what's to say we won't be stuck fighting our lives over and over again?"
"We'll find a way out of this," Kallen said, trying to comfort Lelouch, "You've found a way past everything else."
"But that's part it," Lelouch replied, pulling Kallen closer to him, "The weight of the world is always on my shoulders, I'm always expected to know what to do, after all, I'm Zero! But I've saved the world twice now and I'm expected to do it a third, if we get sent back for a fourth attempt I might just stay a normal student, let the Emperor go ahead with his plans, just to see what will happen, to see if the Ragnarok connection will end it all..."
"Hey," Kallen said, glanced at Nunnally, both of them sharing worried looks, before turning back to Lelouch, "Let's not get all gloomy just yet. We're both here as well and I'll gladly take some of the weight from your shoulders, and I'm sure Nunnally would too. We'll find a way out of this, all of us, and yes, it will probably be you that comes up with a solution but that doesn't mean you'll be looking for it alone. As for our possible next life... if that's what you want I'll support you. Just don't leave me hanging in Shinjuku."
"Kallen's right," Nunnally added, "We are here and we love you. Not in the same way, but we do. If you feel so strongly about this then we'll help, you'd do the same for us, after all."
"Thanks," Lelouch replied after a moment, "Sorry, it's just everything got to me."
"Better?" Kallen asked.
"Yeah."
"Anyway," Nunnally started after a few moments off awkward silence, "What shall we do for the rest of the evening?"
"Uh?" Lelouch replied with a shrug, "Watch the T.V.?"
Nunnally turned her head and stared at him for a moment, as if she was trying to glare through her eyelids.
"Maybe something else," Kallen said with a smirk, "We could play a board game or something?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Lelouch replied hurriedly, "Chess?"
"No," Kallen said, joining Nunnally in glaring at Lelouch.
"Monopoly?" Lelouch continued.
"No," Nunnally replied quickly.
"...Risk?"
"Not only No!" Kallen shouted, waving her arms expressively, "But Hell No!"
"Are you even trying?" Nunnally questioned, her head in her hands.
- E.P - E.P -
Cornelia watched as the capital of Area Eleven grew larger out of the cockpit of her personal transport. She and her royal guards, her personal Knightmare squadron led by Andreas Darlton, along with her personal knight, Gilbert Guilford, had left the newly created Area Eighteen a few hours earlier and were only a short while out from her newest command as Viceroy.
Her younger sister, Euphemia, had arrived earlier in the day, having wanted to speak with Clovis before she left the Homeland and took up her new duties. As for Clovis himself, Cornelia was unsure as to why he had stepped down and she doubted Euphie would be able to find anything out. Just like her Clovis had hated this country for taking Lelouch and Nunnally away from them and he'd spent a great deal of time trying to track down their killers.
Thankfully the situation in Area Eleven had been fairly stable for a while now, most of the terrorist groups had started to lay low, but whether it would remain that way would be a different matter. The public may not know it yet, Clovis had done a decent job covering it up with his story of a rampaging prototype Knightmare and hadn't that tweaked Schneizel's nose, but the battle in Shinjuku, and there was no getting away from it was a battle, had statistically been one of the worse losses in recent Britannian history.
Effectively every Knightmare frame committed to battle along with most of the Gunships and a decent portion of the ground vehicles would be out of action for months while they were repaired, if they could be repaired and most them couldn't be. The pilots were almost all dead and the foot soldiers themselves had also taken quite a few casualties. Along with the news of the devastation of the Pureblood and the ever present corruption of the Knight Police, the local forces were completely out of action.
Thankfully, Cornelia was being accompanied my several units from her recent campaign, so he wouldn't be left without an army, but they were all specialists in the open warfare of the deserts of Area Eighteen, not urban warfare or guerrilla suppression.
And that, led her straight back to the Shinjuku problem.
According to Clovis' reports, the terrorists had snuck in and stolen one of his secret projects, then led the military on a chase through the Ghetto. Aside from a single red Glasgow, all the other terrorists had been on foot, and were likely one of the minor groups in the Ghettos with no funding or support. Somewhere along the line though they had picked up a highly capable strategist, seeing as after the battle they were in possession of all of Clovis's Royal Guards' Knightmare Frames, having massacred their opponents despite being heavily outnumbered and still taking no casualties.
She wouldn't have been able to do that, and she doubted Schneizel would have been able to either.
Hopefully, Cornelia thought as her plane touched down, the strategist would be revealed to be Tohdoh, she really didn't want the Elevens to have another strategist of his level running about.
She watched as the Royal Guards disembarked from the plane and formed up in a neat row, as if they were out on parade. Their Knightmares were stored in the aft of the transport plane, and the other transports would be landing at nearby military base while the bulk of the reinforcements would arrive by sea in a few days time. She was looking forward to unloading them here, all these decorations were pointless and she would take a great deal of satisfaction in restoring it to a military standard. Moments later Cornelia disembarked herself, wondering why a military hanger had a red carpet stretching to the entrance.
Cornelia strode past her subordinates, each of them at attention as she did so, and walked up to her younger sister. Euphie's hair was a few shades later than her own, though their faces were the same shape and they shared the same royal purple eyes.
"Sister," Euphie started, smiling slightly, "Welcome to Area Eleven."
"Sub-Vicereine," Cornelia replied, her tone hard, "As we are closely related we must hold ourselves to a higher standard than others would in our position."
"Very well, Vicereine," Her sister responded, curtsying as was expected knowing the difference in their positions.
"Now," Cornelia continued, "Make your report on Area Eleven."
"Yes Vicereine," Euphie replied as the senior administration approached their location, "Having spoken with the previous Viceroy, Clovis La Britannia, I have taken control of various administrative roles to ensure a smooth transition during this change of leadership. He had not begun his investigation into the recent terrorist activity and following the problems of the local Pureblood faction and the kidnapping of the interim Governor, Jeremiah Got-"
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Cornelia interrupted, raising her hand up even as her eyes narrowed, "The kidnapping of the Governor, that's the first I've heard of this."
"It is?" Euphie replied, surprise evident on her face even as those of Clovis's senior administration paled, "I was assured it was in the preliminary report that had been sent to you."
"Oh?" Cornelia sharply, a shark-like expression on her face as she turned to the senior administration, "And what is the first order of business?"
There were a few seconds hesitance as the Nobles looked between each other before one of them eventually found the courage to step forward and start speaking, "The first matters are the welcome party for your Highnesses and the opening of the HRH Clovis Art Museum, as the ransom of the Governor is a minor-"
"Ransom?" Cornelia interrupted with a snarl, drawing her sidearm and pointing it at the offending speaker, "Are you senile and corrupt bureaucrats telling me that the interim Governor has been killed? Do you have any idea who the culprit is?"
"Of course not, your Highness," The man stammered nervously, "We paid the ransom straight away and-"
Cornelia didn't even listen to the rest of the incompetents babbling, she just squeezed the trigger and let his body fall to the floor. She knew Clovis wasn't the best of the Royal family, he'd never been able to shoulder responsibility without mucking it up, but had he really chosen such idiotic subordinates or had he simply let the political games play out regardless?
"Britannia does not negotiate with terrorists," Cornelia ground out, whilst stared in shock at he body of the man she'd just shot, "You're all fired, get out of my sight!"
The corrupt bureaucrats quickly scurried away after that, Cornelia still radiating anger even as Euphie approached her and laid a hand on her arm.
"You shouldn't have shot him, sister," Euphie said quietly, "It wasn't nessecaary."
"I know," Cornelia muttered, "But you know I don't like failures, it reminds me too much of when we lost them."
"Nunna wouldn't have liked it though," Euphie replied, tearing up slightly, "As for Lulu, well, he might have done the same."
Cornelia snorted as the two of them followed the fleeing former bureaucrats out and into the Area that had taken the lives of their two closest siblings. It hadn't been long after the invasion began that their bodies had been recovered, killed by the last of the Kururugi Administration and both sisters had been heavily affected by the loss.
For Euphie, she had lost her second closest sister, one she could almost call her twin, as well as the brother she loved the most. It had driven her to finding more peaceful ways, hoping that if the invasion had never occur they would never had lost them. Cornelia had been similar, she'd treated Nunnally mush the same as she'd treated Euphie and she had always enjoyed Lelouch's company, smart beyond his years and someone who wouldn't be smarming up to her. She'd had a great deal of fun playing chess with him and Schneizel, even if she never won, and discussing the military with them, Lelouch's views much closer to her own rather than Schneizel's more political ones.
Cornelia put the thoughts out of her mind as they approached the interim Governor's quarters, Guildford trailing slightly behind as the rest of the Knights went to inspect the rest of the base. She wasn't looking forward to this meeting, not since she'd met the rest of the administration of Area Eleven and she only had the faintest hopes that the Governor would be different.
"Jeremiah Gottwald?" She questioned, striding into his office.
"Yes, Your Highness!" The blue haired man replied, standing up and saluting her, "I'm at your command."
"You were rescued from the terrorists?"
"Yes Ma'am," Gottwald replied sheepishly, "Though I can't say I agree with their decision."
"Oh?" Cornelia questioned, one eyebrow raised.
"Policy is there for a reason," Gottwald answered, drawing from his desk a sheaf of papers before continuing, "Nevertheless I've recalled what I can from the experience and correlated it with the attack on Shinjuku Ghetto."
Cornelia took the report and flicked through it, a small smile slowly forming on her face, before handing the file over to Euphie who started to read it in detail and asking, "And in summary?"
"I believe they were the same group, your Highness," Gottwald replied, "Both employed a female pilot of exceptional skill commanding a red Knightmare, supported by several sub-par pilots providing fire support and led by an excellent strategist. Two of those in particular should be examined in detail, the female is possibly Rounds level and the strategist is not Kyoshiro Tohdoh, although whether or not they are affiliated with him is unclear."
"And what would you suggest?" Cornelia asked, wondering if the apparently highly-competent man had been carrying the rest of the administration.
"At this moment in time we still don't know enough," Gottwald started after a moment's thought, "I would suggest trying to draw him out in some manner and try to gather some more information. After that, well act on it I suppose."
"Yes..." Cornelia drew out, a plan slowly forming in her mind, "I know what to do..."
- E.P - E.P -
Jeremiah Gottwald carefully kept the servile smile on his face as the Second Princess left, although his expression on the inside was very different. His meeting with Cornelia had gone exactly as his Lordship said it would, from the carefully written report that he had given to him to pass on, to the minor verbal clues and tics he had been told to use and look out for.
A few days ago Jeremiah would have considered what he had just done the heights of traitorous behaviour, lying to a member of the royal family and consorting with terrorists, but now, now his Highness had commanded it and the world had changed a lot during those few days.
Although he still wished it hadn't changed so much that a seventeen year old slip of a girl could beat the hell out of him during Knightmare combat.
- E.P - E.P -
For Euphemia, being in Japan brought mixed blessings. It was a beautiful country but marred by Britannia's half-hearted rebuilding efforts and, in her view, the loss of two of her most beloved siblings. She was too young when they were exiled to really understand what that meant but the loss of Lulu and Nunna from her life had sent her into a depression, especially when she had heard they were dead.
Euphie knew that their deaths were not the fault of the Japanese people, two children in the middle of a war were not likely to survive, if anything it was the fault of the war itself.
That was why she wasn't looking forward to her current task. Cornelia had briefly looked over the report from the head researcher of Camelot, but upon reading that the Z-01 Lancelot would be out of action until repairs could be completed, had handed the job over to Euphie. Camelot wasn't exactly the cheapest project running off of the Japanese budget even if Schneizel was helping to fund it.
"Ah, your Highness," Came Earl Asplund's voice breaking her out of her contemplations, "We've been expecting you."
"Indeed," Euphie replied with a smile, taking a look around the warehouse that Camelot was using, "I'm here on behalf of the Vicereine to inspect your progress on the seventh generation Knightmare Frames."
Camelot didn't look like much to Euphie's eyes. There was a transport truck parked up near the doors and several workers were bringing in pieces of what appeared to be scrap. The torso of the Lancelot was suspended in the air and more workers were removing damaged armour and inspecting the stumps of its limbs.
"We've gathered a great deal of data from the encounters in the Ghettos," Earl Asplund started as he guided Euphie towards his office, "However the tactics used by the Lancelot have caused a great deal of damage, so we've no longer any spare parts and are having to fabricate new ones from scratch."
"And the Devicer?" Euphie questioned, "Have they been injured in these battles?"
Earl Asplund paused for a moment, blinking in surprise before he continued, "Only his pride, he's currently practising on the simulators with some of the experimental ranged weaponry."
"Would it be possible to meet with him?" Euphie asked, "From your reports, the Lancelot requires superhuman effort to pilot."
"Of course," The Earl replied, the two of continuing to talk even as Euphie wondered if Genbu Kururugi's son knew what had happened to Lulu and Nunna during the invasion.
- E.P - E.P -
"Kallen!" Lelouch called, pulling on a soldiers uniform over his Zero costume, "Cornelia's taken the bait, Britannia will be attacking Saitama tonight."
"Oh?" Kallen replied, looking up from where her and Nunnally had been playing chess, Lelouch having been banned, "We'll have to continue this later Nunnally, it seems I've got work to do."
"Of course, Onee-chan," Nunnally teased, a confused Sayoko glancing between the three of them as she cleared away the remains of their dinner.
"Lelouch-sama?" Sayoko began, "May I ask..."
"I'll explain," Nunnally interjected, "You two go save the world."
Lelouch and Kallen quickly hurried down into the storage facility below Ashford Academy where Kallen's Knightmare was stored along with the remains of Lelouch's. By the time Lelouch managed to get there, panting and out of breath, Kallen had already started her red Sutherland up and was waiting for him. He climbed up onto the Sutherland's shoulder, desperately trying to catch his breath as Kallen sent the Knightmare rocketing through the tunnels towards the Ghetto.
"Right, here's the plan," Lelouch eventually started, "You head into the Ghetto and try to meet up with the Yamato Alliance, thanks to Orange's tip the encirclement has not yet been completed so try to get them to evacuate the civilians if they haven't done so already. Drop me outside the encircling units and I'll go fuck with Cornelia's plans."
"How are you going to do that on foot?" Kallen asked, bringing up a map of the Ghetto and reminding herself of the terrain.
"Cornelia leads her armies from her personal squad at the front," Lelouch replied, his breath starting to even out, "But she still relies heavily on her G-1, which she keeps at the rear under lighter guard."
"I think I see where you going with this," Kallen said with a sigh as she moved round some more debris.
"Something wrong?" Lelouch asked, hearing her sign.
"It's just this Frame is so slow," Kallen replied, "I miss my Guren."
"You've been spoiled," Lelouch chuckled, "But I'm sure we'll get it back soon enough."
They continued on in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before Lelouch told Kallen to let him off. There wasn't really anything that distinguished it from the rest of the tunnel system, save perhaps a ladder in a darkened corner, but Kallen sped off nonetheless. She trusted her Husband? Boyfriend at least, to know what he was doing.
Lelouch meanwhile climbed the ladder and when he reached the top, slowly pushed the drain cover up a little. Looking round, he satisfied himself that no one was watching and pushed the cover aside and climbed out of the drain.
The G-1 wasn't exactly undefended, but Cornelia had effectively written the rules for Britannia's modern military, so the placement of the sentries was textbook and for Lelouch they might as well not have been there at all. Saitama was in better condition compared to Shinjuku and it only took a little effort to sneak past patrols and get within striking distance of the G-1. There were tanks and APCs parked up nearby, but the crews were lolling around chatting and waiting for orders, not expecting guerrilla attacks after having spent so long in the empty and open deserts.
A small application of Geass and he was inside the mostly empty G-1. Cornelia and her officers were in the command module at the top of the base and there was a patrol wandering the corridors but the hanger directly below the command module was empty, aside from Cornelia and her Knights' Gloucesters. That would be his second stop, but first of all he had to make a quick visit to the Sakuradite reactor that powered the G-1. He had a package to deliver.
Quickly attaching the package to the reactor somewhere inconspicuous Lelouch headed back to the hanger and walked over to one of the many monitors on the wall and knelt down beside it and began pulling out wires. It didn't take him long to connect the systems he had ripped form Villetta's Knightmare into the main command module, revealing to him everything Cornelia could see.
According to the layout of her Knightmares the encirclement was nearly complete but her forces have yet to move in. Looked like it was his move, Lelouch thought as he turned on his radio, trying to raise Kallen.
"Q-1," He began, "Have you made contact with the Yamato Alliance?"
"Yes Zero," Came Kallen's reply, "They've begun evacuating what Civilians they can through Routes One, Two and Four. They've set their radio's to Channel one and are awaiting your orders."
"Good," Lelouch replied, "R group, move to location H-3, B group to B-21 and N group to C-4, and prepare to ambush. Q-1, I'm routing you the Britannian feed, move to Beta sector and eliminate all incoming hostiles."
He was cut off by a sudden rumbling as Cornelia ordered her units to move forward, slowly tightening the noose around Saitama Ghetto. It wasn't long after that that the explosions started, as well as several Britannian IFF signals blinking to 'lost' on his screen.
"R group, fall back to F-5," Lelouch begun, ignoring their confirmations, "B-1, 2 and 3 head to D-20 and prepare to intercept flanking hostiles. N group, hold your position until the opponent exhausts themselves, then fall back. Q-1, have you prepared the explosives on Bridge 2."
"Yes, Zero," Kallen replied, "All hostiles in Beta sector are retreating, your orders?"
"Move to assist N group in Gamma sector," Lelouch ordered, "How goes the evacuation?"
"Multiple casualties were taken before the evacuation began," Kallen replied, her Knightmares IFF moving across the map, "However interference is minimal and seventy-five percent of the remaining civilians have been evacuated to nearby Ghettos."
"Good," Lelouch muttered as more and more of Cornelia's forces' IFFs were lost, "B group fall back, R group, go to ground and allow this wave of hostiles to pass, then hit them from the rear. Q-1, blow the bridge."
A series of affirmatives came through the radio, followed by another, louder set of explosions as all the Britannian forces on it were lost. A few moments later all the remaining Britannian forces halted, than began to retreat.
Lelouch smiled then spoke into the radio again, "All forces regroup at E-10. The next wave are likely to be Cornelia's royal guard, anyone unable to face them move to cover the last evacuees, then follow them and provide a rearguard."
"Royal Guard?" Came a few worried voices, "I'm out of here!" "Me too!" Came another, and Lelouch watched as a good half of his forces peeled off and headed down into the tunnel systems.
"All remaining units, support Q-1, she'll lead the defence."
The few replies that came this time sounded obviously worried, aside from Kallen's somewhat exited agreement. Lelouch watched the map for a moment as Cornelia's forces lined up and their pilots disembarked and were inspected, before quickly shutting down all the screens he had up as footsteps came echoing down the hallway.
"-ot appear to have taken the bait," Cornelia said, striding into the hanger with her Knights behind her, "So we'll have to provide a juicier morsel."
Lelouch quickly tried to look busy as they all embarked onto their Knightmares and shut the hatches, but paused when Cornelia's shouted, "You there!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Lelouch replied, turning, saluting and wishing he had put the face-piece on.
"Pass me my Lance," Cornelia ordered from atop her Knightmare, before sitting down and sealing the hatch.
Lelouch quickly moved over to the pallet the lance was stood on, wheeling it over to Cornelia's Knightmare and allowing her to pick it up. Without a word of thanks she shot forward and into the Ghetto, followed by her Royal Guards. Lelouch coughed slightly due to the dust they kicked up, then smiled to himself and left the hanger.
"Q-1," He said into the radio as her head to the top deck of the G-1, "Cornelia's Royal Guard are on route, accompanying Cornelia herself, capture her if possible."
Lelouch ignored her confirmation in favour of knocking on the entrance to the command room, his rifle under one arm and a blank info disk in his hand. As he entered Lelouch noted the officers present, Darlton and Guildford apparently having left with Cornelia, most of them part of Clovis' command, with a few of Cornelia's own thrown in.
"Sir, Private Dario Torres, Third Reconnaissance company," He started, stepping inside and closing the door behind him, "We recovered this data disc from the enemy."
"Oh," One of the Generals replied, taking it a pulling the Data up on screen, the other officers grouping round to see what the furore was about. Once they had gotten into a relatively tight group Lelouch raised his rifles and opened fire, gunning the whole lot of them down in a spray of blood and bullets.
Stepping over the cooling corpses, Lelouch opened a Com line to all the Britannian force aside from Cornelia and her Royal Guard then began, "All forces, hold your positions. Her Highness wishes to handle this herself."
The Britannians quickly acknowledged his order, none of them suspecting that it has been given by the wrong commander.
"It's all up to you now, Q-1," He muttered as her turned and left the command module. It was time for his own evacuation.
- E.P - E.P -
Cornelia frowned as she led her forces into the Ghetto. She had been rather surprised when Zero had not taken the bait and attempted to repeat his actions from Shinjuku Ghetto against Clovis. She had set of the scenario exactly the same, could it be that he had seen through her gambit?
Idly, she wondered about the soldier who had been manning the hanger, he'd looked somewhat familiar...
Cornelia was quickly brought out of her musings by the appearance of a red Sutherland, flanked by several painted similar to her own subordinates. She smiled grimly, it was time to show the Elevens why she was the Goddess of Victory.
- E.P - E.P -
Kallen watched as the six enemy Gloucesters approached, led by Cornelia's own regal frame. She barked out orders to the few Yamato alliance members who had agreed to support her as she turned and began to sprint towards the enemy line.
One of the Knightmares leapt forward and attempted to prevent her from reaching the princess but Kallen ducked under the oncoming lance and shot a line of bullets up the torso of the Knightmare, causing its pilot to eject.
The next two Knightmares appeared to be slightly higher spec than the other four, well three now. They engaged her allowing Cornelia to dart past her and attack the remaining Sutherlands coming up behind. She dodged a spray of bullets then the thrust of a lance, shooting one of her Slash Harkens into one opponent's foot and reeling it back, pulling her towards him, out of the path of more bullets and him off his feet.
Kallen dropped a Chaos mine next to the downed one as she ran past towards the remaining one, shooting several rounds into its joints whilst avoiding its returning fire. Its manoeuvrability now limited she quickly disarmed it of its lance, claiming it as her own, even as both pilots ejected and retreated from battle. She ignored their cries for reinforcements, by the time any arrived she'd be long finished with this fight.
Spinning round Kallen quickly took in the rest of the fight. The Yamato alliance members had managed two of the Britannian Knightmares, leaving only Cornelia and one other, but at the cost of all of their own. Thankfully they had managed to eject and she couldn't see them anywhere in the ruins, so they'd probably retreated.
The three remaining Knightmares eyed each other for a moment, before Kallen shot forward towards Cornelia. The other Knightmare attempted to stop her but she vaulted over it, embedding her lance in its cockpit and using its leverage to throw herself towards Cornelia.
Cornelia herself quickly raised her rifle, letting loose a few controlled bursts forcing Kallen to shoot her Slash Harkens into the ground to pull her out of the way. Quickly pushing herself up, she jumped out of the way of another burst and returned fire, putting several rounds into Cornelia's left knee joint before the clip ran dry.
After that Kallen quickly threw the rifle aside, she didn't have time to reload, and chucked a Chaos mine forward to cover her advance. Cornelia's attempt to dodge was hampered by her damaged knee joint and the hail of fragments from the Mine damaged her other leg. Kallen took advantage of that, closing to close range and punching the side of Cornelia's rifle, damaging it enough to prevent it from firing.
Cornelia scrambled backwards on the concrete, her Knightmare unable to get to its feet and lashed out with her lance in a last ditch attempt at defiance. Kallen contemptuously batted it aside, wrapping a hand round it even as a Slash Harken shot out and severed the arm holding it. She spun it round like a baton, raking the point across both of Cornelia's Slash Harkens and destroying them, before smashing the Factsphere off.
"-1! Q-1!" Came Lelouch's voice cutting through the battlelust, "Q-1!"
"I'm here, Zero" She replied, preparing to capture Cornelia's cockpit.
"Retreat now!" He shouted down the radio, "The entire army is bearing down on you!"
"But Cornelia's right here!" Kallen shouted back, "If I had the Guren-"
"But you don't, and you won't make it out of there carrying her cockpit!" He yelled, "We'll capture her another time."
"Yes Zero," Kallen replied, annoyance evident in her voice before switching to loudspeaker, "You'll live for now, Princess, but know that I spared you on a whim."
Smiling to herself at the little bit of trash talking, Kallen turned and headed deeper into the Ghetto. She had memorised the location of the tunnel exits and the nearest one was only a few streets away. Looked like it was time to go back to school.
- E.P - E.P -
Lelouch watched Cornelia's forces return to her G-1 carrying her Knightmare from atop a nearby building, now in his Zero costume. Kallen had played her part to perfection along with the Yamato Alliance, and Cornelia was well and truly beaten with as few civilian casualties as he could manage.
Most of Cornelia's forces had returned to their positions near the G-1 as Cornelia herself was brought to the medical facilities in front of the mobile base. His eyes flicking over there deployment Lelouch concluded that now was probably the best opportunity he would get and, reaching into his pocket he pressed the detonator for the package he had placed earlier.
Inside the G-1 the concentrated package of explosive detonated on the Sakuradite reactor, destabilizing it and causing a much larger secondary explosion. The blast ripped through the G-1, its armour designed to deflect damage from outside not within, sending great chuck of metal shrapnel scything through the nearby forces.
Most of the closest Knightmares were destroyed instantly and the rest were thrown to the ground. It took moments before they realised what had happened, soldiers slowly pulling themselves to their feet from damaged Knightmares and staring towards the remains of the G-1.
"Remember this, Cornelia Li Britannia," Lelouch shouted, his voice augmented by loudspeaker drawing everyone's attention, "As the day you almost caught Zero!"
He laughed to himself between gasps as he ran back into the tunnels. Sometimes he just couldn't resist.