Chapter 6: The Empire's Enemy

AN: Here we go, chapter 6 is out. Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad to see that my story is well appreciated. The last part of this chapter is a little bit special, I hope you'll like it.

To Kaya Smith : Maybe 'surprised' is a bit exaggerated, but she noticed an anomaly in his son's behavior and it intrigued her. For me, Marianne wants his son to avenge her because she thinks it will be easier for him to cooperate with Charles in order to destroy God and create a world without lies once he discovers that his mother is alive. So, Lelouch not even mentioning her in front of Clovis intrigued Marianne.

Anyway, I wish you all a good read.

Lelouch woke up suddenly at 4AM; on this day last time, Cornelia made an assault on the Saitama Ghetto. Of course, she could have planned the attack one day after, considering the minor changes he made. But she didn't strike earlier, so everything should be fine. He took a coffee, a quick breakfast, put up some ordinary clothes and brought his soldier uniform in a suitcase. He got out of the academy while using the underground systems, walked down the street, then stopped a car and Geassed the driver into getting him near Saitama. Once he arrived to destination, he went to his warehouse, checked if everything was there and walked to the Ghetto.

After the independence and Tokyo's destruction, Saitama became one of the greatest symbols of Japan's reconstruction. The renovation works had begun under Nunnally's rule and were boosted by the Japanese will to rebuilt their country. During his reign, Lelouch had made a lot of renovation in the Imperial Colony of Japan, making it one of the most efficient areas in the world. Saitama was the central point, the prefecture of the area while waiting Tokyo to be rebuilt. It was his legacy, the debt he paid to the country that treated him like a guest, while his own country treated him like a lifeless corpse.

Lelouch noticed a look-out; quickly he used his Geass on him. As expected, he was a member of the Yamato Alliance. He led Lelouch to their hideouts and Lelouch enslaved them all. Last time they disobeyed him because they thought foolishly that Cornelia would let them alive if they surrendered. It was his little revenge. Lelouch ordered them to take him to the mayor's place and controlled him into alerting the population of an incoming invasion. Lelouch Geassed some reluctant people into helping him to evacuate the Ghetto; who knows, maybe this act of salvation would turn to Zero's favor one day. At 9AM, the Ghetto was empty; remained only Lelouch and the Yamato alliance. Lelouch used the terrorists to move the Sutherlands from his warehouse to Saitama; he explained them all the codes Zero would use during the battle.

When everyone was in position, Lelouch composed Jeremiah's number.

"Lord Gottwald?" Lelouch asked with an aristocratic voice.

"Ah, Mr Stevenson, how are you today?"

"I'm fine. Is my sister going to watch a movie today?" It was a code for 'Is Cornelia planning the Saitama operation today?'

"Yes."

"Do you think she'll bring oranges and popcorn?" Meaning: 'Will you and Cornwell be in the command center?'

"Yes. She'll be with one of your employees too." One of his employees? Oh, yeah, Villetta.

"That's good. Oranges are good for her health." Lelouch said.

He could hear Jeremiah's smirk over the phone. Only the two of them knew the real meaning of this sentence. "I see, good match then, Mr Stevenson."

"Thank you, bye."

He mused 'If Cornelia hear this conversation, she'll be very confused. Now, let's wait for the prey to walk into their trap'.

Kallen was worried, pissed, or both. Lelouch was out there fighting against Cornelia without her. And here she was, feeding this damn cat while she could kill Brits with him. But without her Guren, it wouldn't be the same, of course. And Lelouch didn't want to release the Gloucesters so soon. She couldn't pilot a Sutherland or her old Glasgow now that she had tasted the wonderful piece of technology that was the Guren SEITEN. So she would wait him here, at the Academy. Lelouch had found the stray cat the other day, and he wanted to call him Schneizy, but everyone found this name stupid. So they called him Arthur, just like before.

"Say, can I ask you something important?" Shirley asked suddenly.

"Sure, Shirley." Kallen replied. What would she ask again? Oh yes; her and Lelouch.

"Hum… Are you going out with Lulu?" 'Lulu?!' Kallen almost laughed. 'I forgot about this stupid nickname'.

"What makes you say that?" she asked innocently.

"Well, you two are together quite often and, I don't know, you act like if you were close so…"

"Yeah, we discuss a lot. You see, I'm sick quite often so he helps me to catch up." Kallen lied.

"Oh." Shirley said relieved. "Nothing … more, right?"

Suzaku was humming. He wouldn't have to work today, and he got a promotion. 'Life isn't so bad' he thought 'I have friends, a cool boss and a nice coworker. The guys here were a bit discriminated but thanks to Lelouch's little stunt and the student council I'm well integrated. If the students here can change opinion, why wouldn't it be possible on this country's scale?' Suddenly, the door of the student council's room opened, revealing Kallen.

"I assure you, there's nothing between Lelouch and I." She said to someone in the room, probably Shirley.

"Lelouch?" Suzaku asked confusingly. What did he say the other day? 'I'm popular with girls here.' Oh, the lucky guy.

"Military authorities report that they have surrounded the Saitama Ghetto, a known hiding place for terrorists. Viceroy Cornelia is also on the scene, and entry to that area is restricted." The Hi-TV reported said. "It appears that a full scale assault will be launched in two hours. Consequently, power will be shut off..."

"Why are we broadcasting the start time too?" A technician of the broadcast team asked.

Diethard sighed "They're trying to lure Zero out, obviously." When he saw Zero gloating over Clovis' death the other day, he really thought that he would be the one to shake this twisted and depressing Empire. But if he's captured by Cornelia on this operation, he would be nothing more than a failed experience. Still, Diethard wished for him to survive.

C.C had watched the news report 30 minutes ago and was now eating a part of pizza. Lelouch was already there, alone, and she feared a bit for his sanity. His father's little speech must have excited him somehow, and alone he could enjoy being cruel. Last time it ended up badly for his ass and now he would prove to himself that he has grown up. It wasn't a decisive battle anyway, it was just for fun, a game between siblings; an innocent full-scale chess match as he had said it yesterday.

'Have you seen the news? Cornelia is going to lure Lelouch out, is he going to fight?'

Oh, her again. Marianne feigning concern for her son. Of course, Lelouch didn't risk much but C.C had to act.

"Yeah." She replied nonchalantly "He's going to take the bait. I tried to stop him but he threatened to kill himself, saying that he was dead before he met me, blah blah blah. Too bad, if he dies I'm going to find another contract." She could scare her a little.

'Don't do that! Lelouch has to be the one who takes your code! Understood? Go out there and help him!'

C.C snickered. They still relied on her wish to die. 'I'm ready to bear the curse of immortality forever if Lelouch asks me to stop the existence of Geass. What is your answer to that? You want the people to understand each other but you don't even want to understand your own son.'

"Alright, alright!" She replied instead. "But I wouldn't be too worried about Lelouch if I were you. After all, he survived the invasion of Japan when he was 10…" C.C had more fun annoying her former contractor than last time, now that she had some feelings for Lelouch while Marianne hadn't any for her children.

'Oh, stop it. We didn't have a choice, V.V would've targeted them.'

"Sure, keep saying that." No matter how she looked at it, Charles did that so he wouldn't show any weakness to his brother. Lelouch probably drew the same conclusions than her, which was why he still despised them, or at least his father.

'Whatever. By the way, do you still don't know why he didn't mention me in front of Clovis? He still wants to avenge me, right?'

C.C rolled his eyes, Marianne and Charles had written a scenario or what? "Don't worry, he cries for his mommy every night." She replied sarcastically. Oh, If Marianne knew Lelouch was considering killing his mother instead of avenging her…

'And you're here to comfort him?'

Her teasing didn't have the same impacts now. "That's right." C.C said. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to finish my pizza without having someone speaking in my head."

Cornelia was sitting in the command center, with Guilford at her left and Gottwald at her right. After having read the reports of the operation where his brother lost his life, she thought of a plan to lure Zero out by recreating the conditions of Shinjuku. The Saitama Ghetto was the ideal place; it was near the Tokyo Settlement so Zero could come in less than 2 hours.

"The locals are hiding." Andreas Darlton said. "It looks like they were expecting us."

"No, it means they aren't stupid enough to show their head." Cornelia replied smugly, but internally she thought about what Gottwald had said at her arrival. "So, shall we begin?"

"Right." General Andreas Darlton ordered on the radio. "Attention all forces, commence eradication of the Saitama Ghetto."

Lelouch was in his soldier uniform, lost in his thoughts. 'Cornelia still deployed the Knightmares; it means she thinks I'm here to try to kill her even if I evacuated everyone. Good.' Suddenly, a Sutherland took the bait and stopped in front of him.

"What unit are you from? Your unit name and ID, soldier." The pilot ordered inside his Knightmare.

"Private Dario Torres, sir."Lelouch replied "With Second Reconnaissance Company. I found this item in one of the terrorists' hideout. Could I ask you please transmit it to headquarters for me, sir?" He would need a Sutherland deployed by Cornelia to have the entire card of the Ghetto with the Britannians IFF signals.

"A Disc? Well, I still need to verify your ID first." The pilot got out of his cockpit and revealed his eyes: a fatal mistake.

"Understood." Lelouch activated his Geass. "But before we do that, sir, I'd like to borrow your Sutherland. So, hand it over and kill yourself."

The pilot replied simply by giving him his key. "Sure. No problem. Just take good care of it."

"Thanks." Lelouch said with a smirk.

Then the pilot shot himself in the head, with a satisfied smile, like if he had done his good action of the day.

Lelouch put himself in the Sutherland cockpit and chuckled. "So, Sister Cornelia, shall we dance?"

Cornelia was losing patience. It had been 10 minutes since the beginning of the operation and no Eleven was found. 'Darlton was right; they were expecting us.' She had kept a closed eye to the minister of Defense, Darius Cornwell, suspected from giving military supplies to the enemy. She brought him here, in the G-1, in order to keep him at sight. She was highly suspicious of him being Zero because no resistance was found. Right now, it would be logical if it were him, the Empire's Enemy. Gottwald was there, too, along with his collaborator, a silver haired pilot by the name of Villetta Nu. After the incident with Soresi, the Acting Consul decided to disband the Pureblood Units in the military and named Villetta his assistant. It was probably because Gottwald only trusted her now in the former unit.

"No response at all. But where are the Elevens? And where is the infamous Zero?" A Knightmare pilot asked to his team member.

"He surely was so scared to come after all." The other replied smugly.

"Yeah, you're right."

Suddenly, the two Sutherlands were blown up by rockets.

Cornelia was about to say something when the Operator spoke.

"Gester team, contact lost." 'So, he came after all.' Cornelia thought, relieved. If Cornwell was implied, he wasn't the only brain they had. Good, it would have been an operation for nothing if he were the only one involved.

"Enemy spotted in district G-4-7."

"Kaszinski team engaging. They were ambushed."

"The enemy appears to be using Sutherlands." 'So, Zero had brought the 15 Knightmares missing. Or maybe it was the ones he captured during Shinjuku?'

"Those are the same tactics as Shinjuku." A colonel said. 'Of course you moron. Same conditions, same tactics.'

"N-2, continue towards the upper-right." A helicopter was shot by a slash harken.

"R-4, fire. N-1, take the man on the left." Two Sutherlands were put down instantly.

"P-5, P-6, shoot on the armored units." Two tanks passing on the avenue were blown up.

"P-3, take out the bridge and close down the route now." Lelouch ordered to his men.

The bridge fell down, wiping 12 units in the process.

"Point 1-7 has fallen. Halley team, contact lost."

Cornelia frowned. Zero was a brilliant tactician. It wasn't surprising Clovis had lost to him so easily. But did Zero know the difference between tactics and strategies? "That's enough. Order all troops to fall back. Further damage and casualties serve no point." She ordered suddenly.

"Fall back?"

"With all due respect, we can still fight them." Cornwell said. 'Do you say that because he's your ally?' Cornelia thought, amused.

"We're changing tactics." She replied simply.

Darlton ordered on the radio. "To all forces, fall back behind Ghetto perimeter at once. Formation doesn't matter. Fall back behind Ghetto perimeter at once."

Lelouch chuckled "He he he, I got you now Cornelia." He turned on the radio. "P-7, P-8, P-9, blend in with the retreating units. Turn off your radio; you know what to do next." Lelouch then deactivated the IFF signal on his Sutherland.

Suzaku was playing with Arthur on the student council meeting room. It was the cat he and Euphie had found during their date and, surprisingly, he went straight to Lelouch and Nunnaly's place. Lelouch wanted to call him Schneizy, probably as a mockery of his half-brother. Milly burst out laughing when she heard that, but they preferred to call it Arthur.

Shirley asked suddenly "So Lelouch went to vacation here, before this became Area 11? You were on the same summer camp?"

Ah, Lelouch and his habits to lie. Even when they first met he lied to Nunnally, describing Suzaku's shack as a nice villa. Here too, he lied to his roommates on the reason behind their first encounter. And he lied to Britannia by faking his and her sister's death. 'What more lies did you spread, Lelouch?'

"Something like that. What about yourself?" He asked.

"Myself? I guess we're a lot alike in that respect. Honestly I didn't like Lulu at the beginning when I first met him. He gave impression that he was flippant, and only thing he worked hard at was avoiding hard work."

Suzaku was surprised. It wasn't the Lelouch he knew. He had known him more expressive, more hard-working than that. In the Kururugi's family house, Lelouch was reading a lot of Japanese literature, and was always eager to learn something from the old Taizo. Maybe the experience of war changed him.

Shirley continued "But back when we were both freshmen, I happened to see him come upon a traffic accident. A driver rear-ended another car and was clearly at fault, but he tried to blame on the elderly owners of the other car. Nobody tried to help them. And then Lelouch clutched the guy's car to a tow-truck passing by. Ah, Lulu didn't do it so he could boast to his buddies or laugh about it later. He did it with the same bored expression he always wears. That's when I wondered, 'What's up with this guy? What goes on his mind? What does he wanna do?' I really wanted to know and in the process of finding out..."

"You fell in love with him?" Suzaku asked.

Shirley blushed and lowered her head. "Huh, um... You think that what this is? Maybe you're right."

"How dreamy it is to be in love. Oh, how I wish." Milly said to herself while listening at her friend's story. Unfortunately, as she learned earlier in the morning, she was condemned to be sold by her parents for prestige and noble titles.

Lelouch was now in position, near the sewer's entrance, ready to flee. "As long as sister thinks she has the upper hand, I'll win."

"Zero is no match, I'll win." Cornelia said smugly while watching the Sutherlands gathered in front of the command center.

Lelouch continued. "Of course, I have the advantage of knowing your strategy, but you have the advantage over everything else…" His phone rang. "What the, Student council meeting room? They called last time as well…"

"I know Kallen said I imagined things, but still…" Shirley said weakly.

"Which is why in this case, it's best to simply ask him directly. On your behalf, I can ask him how he feels about you." Suzaku said lightly with the phone on his hands.

"What? You'd really do that?" Shirley babbled blushing. She ran to make Suzaku hang up the phone but Lelouch's voice stopped her.

"Hello?" Lelouch asked.

"Lelouch is that you?" It was Suzaku's voice.

"Yep. Suzaku, what's going on?" Lelouch asked casually. It couldn't have been that worse.

"You first." He said, much to Lelouch's annoyance. "What are you doing now?"

"I'm enjoying myself." Lelouch replied with a smirk. "I'm playing a really interesting game. Something suited for me."

"Uh uh."

"Anyway, what is going on?" He asked.

"I was wondering, how do you feel about red-heads?"

Lelouch rolled his eyes, Suzaku never was subtle.

"Suzaku, I'm not that oblivious to this kind of things. You're trying to know if there is something between Kallen and I, right? Is that Rivalz who told you I had a thing for her? He's annoying as hell with that."

Suzaku laughed. "Well, not exactly. It's Shirley who's asking."

Lelouch paused. He could sense her presence over the phone.

"Ah. She's there, right?"

"Yup. Don't try to slip away."

"Humpf… Truth is, even if we were dating, you wouldn't even know about it." Lelouch laughed. "I'm not the kind of guy to be foolish enough to give up such a big gossip to Milly. So, to answer your question, maybe we are dating, or maybe what I'm doing right now is just a diversion to hide my true feelings. Or maybe both. Nah, I'm kidding."

"You talk too much to be that innocent." Suzaku mused. "And what about Shirley?"

"Well for Shirley …" Lelouch began. He didn't loved Shirley like he loved Kallen, but he cared about her. The sight of her dying slowly while declaring her love to him was still giving him nightmares. 'No matter how many times I'm reborn…' she had said, and she was right. C's world contained the conscience of all the dead people, and the Shirley he once knew was now a part of what he called God… He said absently. "It's not the same… This is not something you can explain clearly, even for me. Anyway, I have to go. See you."

"Bye Lelouch… Ouch, Arthur!"

"You hear that Cornelia?" Lelouch mused aloud. "I'm discussing about my love interests with our future brother-in-law during our battle."

"So, Cornelia has finally deployed her Royal Guard." He turned on the radio. "N-1, reengage your IFF signal. B-1, B-2, get in position."

As expected, three Gloucester pierced the decoy's Knightmare. "B-1, B-2, Fire!" Positioned in their dead angle, the two terrorists fired their RPG and shot two of the three Knightmares who were piercing the bait. Only one survived, the purple one.

"Shit!" Cornelia snarled. "They expected my move. Guilford, are you okay?"

"I am, your Highness." Cornelia's knight replied reassuringly. "But Winslow and Monroe are dead."

"They had a lucky shot, we'll have them soon." She replied.

Suddenly, another IFF popped up in the screen.

Cornelia snickered. "They've transmitted another signal which means one thing. They've set an ambush. He's so predictable it isn't even interesting. Send in more Gloucesters and surround them."

"Gloucesters have arrived at the indicated area. No sign of the enemy."

She raised an eyebrow. "He anticipated my move. It's possible we really are dealing with Zero himself."

Lelouch frowned. 'It will turn to a war of attrition if it continues like this. Last time the battle stopped because the Yamato goons surrendered.' He said aloud. "I concede you this win so you can boost your little ego, sister. It doesn't matter to me anyway, because my victory stands elsewhere." Lelouch turned on his radio. "To all units. Do whatever it takes to kill as many royal guards member as you can." Lelouch opened his cockpit. 'It's time to abandon the battlefield.'

Guilford was patrolling the streets with his Gloucester. Suddenly, three enemy Sutherlands appeared in front of him. He shot his slash harken at the one on the left, but he avoided the hit. The three shot at him simultaneously. He barely avoided the shots and went on contact. He pierced one with his spear but at the same moment, the two other shot at his left arm, forcing him to give up on his weapon. He activated his harkens and managed to hit the other two. But they didn't eject, they kept on attacking. He pierced them one by one, thus killing the two terrorists.

'Strange.' Cornelia thought. 'The enemy is attacking straight. They don't use any tactics now … has Zero fled from the battle or is he sacrificing his troops?'

Two groups of four Sutherlands suddenly attacked the four remaining Gloucesters. They fought with an impetuosity the Brittanian pilots never saw before. On their repeated assaults, one of the royal guards ejected and was killed by a terrorist hidden in a disaffected building. The others managed to kill all the terrorists, but it took a lot of dexterity.

"Mission complete. All forces, take formation No.4." Darlton ordered.

"This didn't work out the way it did in Shinjuku, Zero." Cornelia said smugly. "Still, you fought well, I have to recognize that." 3 of their loyal soldiers were killed because of him, and she would take way more pleasure by capturing him.

Cornelia said. "And now, I will show you, Gottwald, how to deal with the Empire's Enemy."

"I'm looking forward to see, your highness." Jeremiah replied simply. He really was, but for other reasons.

"That you should." Cornelia replied with a smirk. "Cornwell, go close to me. We need to talk."

The minister of Defense obeyed and put himself at her right.

Cornelia whispered. "I know you're working for the enemy." She was looking for any signs of betrayal from his body language but Cornelia didn't find any.

"I have no idea what are you talking about." Cornwell replied with a monotone voice.

"Tche. Don't play dumb with me." She said a bit pissed.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He repeated.

"It doesn't matter now." 'If this man works for him or not, Zero is finished.' Cornelia then said imperiously. "Attention, all Knightmare pilots. Open your hatches and reveal your faces. I repeat, all pilots, open your hatches and show me your faces." There was absolute pleasure in her tone. She was enjoying herself while imagining the frustration and despair in Zero's eyes. She had won! She would avenge Clovis, and all her soldiers she lost today. But what came next was beyond all imagination.

In their cockpit, P-7, P-8 and P-9, whose real names were Shinji, Izumi and Schinichi, obeyed to their master and activated their Sakuradite hand-bomb. Nearly all forces were obliterated by three enormous blows.

"No!" Shouted Cornelia. "The bastard!"

Guilford managed barely to eject himself, but Cornelia didn't see it.

Jeremiah watched the scene with astonishment.

Villetta blushed. 'That's the beautiful work of my master!'

And for a moment Cornelia forgot about the man on her right. Zero had predicted everything, and now his soldiers were dead; her knight Guilford was too, probably. Then she felt something in her right leg. Suddenly she had a blurred vision; she couldn't neither move nor talk.

A poisonous dart.

Cornelia was trapped. Zero has predicted everything, her strategy, her personality, and her suspicions against Cornwell. Zero predicted that she would lose her legendary focus by seeing her soldiers being blown up. He predicted that she would keep the minister of defense close to her to detect some signs of betrayal. She managed to raise her eyes.

Darius Cornwell was smiling.

It was the smile of someone who looked at his prey, and Cornelia was his prey. She could feel it now, the man behind the mask, the Empire's enemy. He was right here, under their nose, and no one besides her knew it. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move; she was going to die if the others kept looking at the chaos Zero managed to make.

Lord Cornwell approached her head and whispered to her ear, sadistically. "Your daddy says that the weak have no use to them. But between a 5.5mm caliber and your cranium, which one is the weakest? How about we find out this now, Cornelia-hime?" Then, when no one was looking, he pulled out his gun, removed the safety and pointed it to her temple. Cornelia began to lose consciousness.

The sound of a gunshot resonated on the command center. The one who shot didn't have anything against the person he just killed; it was just his mission. It was the script his master had written, nothing more, nothing less.

Lelouch laughed maniacally. He had finally found it! In the sewers of the Saitama Ghetto, dressed as a foot soldier, the Empire's Enemy just found an easy way to destroy Britannia. He already thought about it while he listened to his father's speech, but now he knew exactly how to operate. What was wonderful about his plan is that he wouldn't even have to move in order to do the majority of the work. But there is a problem: Would he be able to look at Nunnally's eyes after that? What he was about to do was certainly not an act of Justice, and he would stomp on all its ideals. 'But the ends justify the means, right? This was what I always thought and it won't change'. He would use evil to destroy a greater evil. And no matter what Lelouch would do, Britannia would still be more evil than him.

"Your Highness! Are you okay?"

Cornelia opened her eyes. She was in the VIP room of the G1's field hospital. Gilbert and Andreas were at her bedside.

"Guilford, you're alive." She said weakly, still under the drug's effects.

"Your Highness, what happened exactly?" Her knight asked.

When she was about to lose consciousness, she only noticed a man pointing a gun in her direction.

"I saw everything." Darlton replied at her place. "Lord Cornwell tried to kill you, but Jeremiah Gottwald noticed it in time and shot him in the head. He's dead now."

"I see …" she said slowly. "He saved my life then…" Without Gottwald's intervention, Cornelia knew she would've been killed. So Cornwell was dead. But Cornelia wasn't sure if the man she had seen at that time had really vanished. It was weird to explain, but she knew it; the Empire's Enemy was right there, and somehow, possessed this sloppy bureaucrat.

Cornelia said finally. "What i'm going to tell you doesn't leave this room. Understood? Officially, Darius Cornwell foolishly tried to kill me but wouldn't have any chance anyway. Now, about what really happened… "