Chapter 6

Graduations

2174 (17 AH):

Elanus Risk Control Services headquarters on Illium is bombed, killing the board and several key personnel. An organization referring to itself as "The Patriots" claims responsibility and release a statement outlining their "Raison d'être" as taking a stance against the 'corruption of all species'. At first it is believed to be a human organization until recordings show the bombers are Batarians and Vorcha.

Binary Helix headquarters on Noveria is bombed, claiming most of the board. The Patriots claim responsibility. This time the bombers are identified as human.


0911 Local Time

June 22nd, 2174 (17 AH)

Dinas Emrys

Avalon, CLASSIFIED

It was the time that they had both looked forward to and feared at the same time: the day in which Kallen would become a subject of Project Ascension. Where she would either ascend and become a recipient of Geass, or she would die a horrible and excruciating death…or worse.

The subject of said distressing event looked over at Lelouch vi Britannia, Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire and her boyfriend for months now, as he looked out the window of their aircar at one of several escorting gunships that flew in formation around them. If his hand wasn't wrapping hers in a firm grip she would have believed that he was ignoring her because of what was coming.

It had been a month ago when she had finally decided that she would go through with it in spite of the risks. She could still remember Lelouch's reaction, it had been both sweet and disconcerting how he seemed to urge her against it so hard in spite that he had intended that as the future for her in the very beginning. Maybe it was because he truly loved her that he didn't want to risk it. It had taken several arguments and even a fight before Lelouch had finally relented to her whims. After that he had done almost everything he could with her as they counted down the days until she had the procedure.

Last night they had simply sat outside on the balcony looking out to the small lake that was situated behind the estate. Hardly a word had been exchanged between the two, simply the joy of each others company sustaining them through the fact that last night would be the last that they had together until they both fell asleep.

Not many people got to see this part of Lelouch, an awkward romantic who didn't shower her with gifts and remind her of who he was, instead doing such simple things. A walk, a quiet dinner, a movie, it was those things that endeared him to her slowly but surely.

And here he was, her other hand landing on top of his to give him a reassuring squeeze, causing him to look back to her in silent question.

She just merely gave him a smile and a shake of her head that caused his lips to quirk up in response. That simple silent exchange fraught with so much more than any observer could imagine.

"Approaching the Darwin Institute," the pilot communicated, causing the both of them to stiffen at the news that their quiet time was coming to an end.

"Kallen," Lelouch started, only for him to stop as she squeezed his hand, knowing exactly what he wanted to say.

"Don't," she whispered as she felt the aircar transition to vertical flight, "I made my decision and I stand by it."

Lelouch let out a soft sigh before nodding, his eyes not leaving hers.

"I just wanted to try one more time. I don't want you going into this thinking you need to, you are fine-"

"And if I don't then there will be no one to stop-"

"You don't need to do it because of that Kallen, we can-"

She leaned forward and pressed her lips on his, silencing his denial in his throat.

Breaking away from him, she caressed his face.

"I'm content, Lelouch, this is my choice. You're not forcing me and if something happens I know you will carry on. So let me do what I wish."

Lelouch finally bowed his head in mute acceptance as aircar came to a stop. He then reached over and opened the door to the car to step out, holding his hand out to her which she took and was helped up out of the car.

They then separated, even though they were in a relationship it was a well-guarded secret because they had both agreed that it would create a situation with his subjects reading too much into it, but also to avoid too much strain upon her. Being treated as a potential Empress when out in public was something she never wanted considering the reactions of his people, she didn't even want the treatment even if she were to become Empress.

So as they walked in, Kallen assumed a position behind him while Jeremiah, who had just jumped out of the gunship he had been piloting situated himself to Lelouch's front as they moved to enter the facility, the doors parting way for them as they entered.

After going through another set of doors and being quickly checked over by the guards they proceeded into the elevator that descended deeper into the facility before it came to a stop and the door opened. C.C. was standing there with her arms crossed, gone was the usual knowing smirk that she always seemed to have, instead it was all professional as she motioned to them.

"This way," she declared, turning to lead them further into the facility, choosing to not say anything else, leading them through another door and into a small lounge.

"Lelouch, Orange, I need to ask you to wait here while we do the procedure," C.C. stated simply, motioning her hand to the luxurious seats.

"No, I-"

"Lelouch, just do it," Kallen interrupted him in exasperation, "this is C.C.'s show now and I don't want you inadvertently interupting the procedure."

And killing me, was the unsaid portion of that statement, causing Lelouch to nod.

"Well then," the green-haired witch stated, "we'll be waiting for you in the procedure room, Kallen, join me whenever you are ready."

With that, C.C. went through the door and went on her way, Kallen turned to follow after her when just as she was about to go through the door, Lelouch's hand reached out and grasped her shoulder with a tenderness most of the world would never know he possessed.

"Kallen...," he paused as she turned to him, collecting himself before continuing, his eyes flashing into the telltale signature of Geass and before she could protest, he continued, "you have to live."

It was one great rush, forced out both as a heartfelt wish and desperate plea. His words were heavy, poignant with both the command, unspoken meanings, and nervous anticipation. It was the very wish that he yearned for more than anything else when he made the command.

And when it was done, her mind absorbing the command, she snapped back and could not help but be enraged by the audacity that he would use that power upon her for his own gain. Yet just as she was about to scream at him for betraying her trust, she stopped as she saw the fear that was laid bare before her eyes, his eyes a doorway to a soul that was even more tormented than her own, that desperately didn't want to lose anyone anymore.

Instead of saying anything, she simply leaned in on him and gave her answer and her thanks, kissing him once, briefly, before turning and walking through the door as she disentangled herself from his grasp. As the door closed behind her, she missed Lelouch vi Britannia, the almighty Zero, lean up against the wall and sigh, hands balling into fists as he fought the urge to second-guess his latest gambit and go in there nonetheless and cancel the procedure entirely, an operation that would either bring her Ascension...or kill her.

In this, like so many things where he was concerned, there was no middle ground. Either she would survive or she would not. He didn't quite know what he'd do if his Geass failed and it was the latter.

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"Alright, Kallen," C.C. started as she came into the room now dressed in a hospital gown, "I need you to lay down onto the table. We'll then begin the procedure whenever you are ready."

She could only nod, her breath had been robbed by the chilled air she now resided in that caused a rise in her flesh, but also the several other scientists and doctors that were gathered around the table manning consoles and stations. It was a little unnerving to say the least for her, even with all of the mental preparation she had made for just this event.

Stepping forward, her legs now feeling like they were encased in cement, she came to the table and proceeded to lay down on it, C.C. giving her a wan smile before walking over and proceeding to secure her to the table, activating the various panels that would restrain her for the coming procedure.

"How bad is it going to hurt," she could only ask as she looked at the golden-eyed scientist.

"Worse than anything you could ever imagine," the limette replied as she grabbed Kallen's hand and squeezed it gently. She then stepped away from her and over to a container and retrieved a small item and held it out to Kallen's face.

"Bite down," she stated simply, Kallen's eyes widening, "so you don't bite off your tongue."

Nodding gently, she opened her mouth and proceeded to bite down on the object that C.C. placed in it, her eyes looking anywhere but the bright lights, not in panic but in silent anticipation.

"We shall begin the procedure," C.C. then called out, and the room because a bustle off activity.

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"Your Majesty, you need to sit down, pacing is not going to make the procedure go any faster or better."

"And sitting on my ass will," Lelouch snapped at Gottwald, watching him wither at his ferocity of his Emperor.

Sighing, he ran his hands through his hair, already messing up the ebony locks and it had only been a few minutes.

His head snapped to the sound of the door to the lounge opening as his sister stepped in, a worried expression on her face as Sayoko Shinozaki, her protector, silently slid in behind her. Sayoko had been Nunnally's protector and maid since their mother's assassination, Jeremiah having personally handpicked her from Britannia's OSI before they had left. It was a decision that Lelouch had not regretted since, providing a maternal figure for his sister in addition to the protection she gave. In a couple years Nunnally would be given an actual Knight to protect her so Sayoko could go back to work as an infiltration specialist for him.

"Big brother, I'm sorry the council meeting ran late," she started with a huff, "Baron Czerny wanted my personal opinion on additional funding for an expansion to the Stalker production line."

Czerny, Lelouch thought with a flash of irritation, for all of his brilliance in the design of the Stalker Frigate, was treading dangerous water going to his sister to get him to get additional funding for improving the ship design even further.

"And what did you tell him?"

"That it would be unwise to continue talking to me about military matters when you are im charge of it. I might have mentioned how protective you are of me and how I might misinterpret his advances as something they are not."

Lelouch froze still, his eyes searching hers in stunned shock. Just where had the innocent young girl that merely wanted piggyback rides, to serve tea, and fold origami cranes gone.

She grew up, he thought with a hint of despair.

But Nunnally looked past him towards the door.

"Is she in there," she asked in a whisper, earning a nod from Lelouch.

Nunnally had already come to see Kallen as a type of surrogate big sister since they had first met. Whenever Kallen had time off, she would spend it with Nunnally getting to know her and serving in almost every role she could to help Nunnally. Lelouch had at first tried to stop it, but when he had seen how Nunnally had morphed from a girl that while she was happy, almost seemed to have a sad air to her, to a confident and vivacious young teen who had assumed much of the public governing role that he should be handling.

The fact that Nunnally was here and in just as bad of shape as he was because of what Kallen was doing was a credit to the effect that the redhead had upon her.

"Yeah," Lelouch replied, "she just went in a few moments ago."

That was all that she needed to know as she leaned in and hugged him.

"She'll be fine big brother. She hasn't let anyone down before and she won't now."

He wrapped her up in a hug in response, he couldn't help but try and accept her words as truth, in spite of the fact that everything screamed at him that it will go wrong. If anything, he was the very epitome of a cynical pragmatist, a decade of experience had molded his perception to where he expected anything to go wrong and was pleasantly surprised when it went right. It was the only thing that truly kept him from his despair the more he thought of it.

Releasing her he gave her the warmest smile he could.

"Thank you, Nunnally," he stated simply.

She returned the smile as she nodded, getting the unsaid meanings in what he was saying.

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"Preparations are complete."

"Very well," C.C. replied to the technician, focusing on Kallen with worry, "are you ready, Kallen?"

The redhead stared at her for a few moments with the implement in her mouth before letting out a sigh as she closed her eyes and nodded.

Brave girl.

"Begin the operation. Hellis, attach the nutrient feed to Subject K. Reynolds, proceed with nanomachine insertion system placement."

She had spent the last week preparing Kallen for this, running her through the various events and procedures necessary. Barbarian as it was, there was no anesthesia, she would have to suffer through the entire procedure without anything to hold back the pain.

C.C. watched as the machine was moved into position over Kallen, several large syringes positioned over her.

"Last chance Kallen."

Kallen simply shook her head.

"Very well, begin the procedure."

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Kallen could only watch as a final strap was added to her forehead as the syringes began their descent, unfurling thenselves from their rest position to position themselves in place to where they could complete the operation.

Taking position, they proceeded to slide the needles into her neck, her arms, and her legs. The feel of the cold instruments just sitting there sent a chill through her as she held still.

"Insertion complete."

"Very well," there was C.C. again, "inject the nanomachines."

As the command was made she could feel them start entering into her bloodstream, it was the oddest sensation, entirely wrong yet it was happening.

"Injection complete. Withdrawing probes...withdrawal complete."

That wasn't so hard, a part of Kallen thought even as another part of her chastised it. She knew what came next was the worst part.

"Beginning activation of nanomachines in three...two...one...zero."

And the entire world erupted into white-hot agony.

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Lelouch was back to pacing now, with a cigarette dangling from his lips. Nunnally had attempted to get him to try and stop it, but one look had quickly killed any further attempt at intervening in her brother's health at the moment.

Frankly, she should have known better to make it an issue and criticize him at the moment. Lelouch had already exceeded what would be considered a nervous wreck and was teetering on nervous breakdown, only the cigarette seeming to hold him back from doing anything stupid.

It had been like this for several minutes, the only sound of Lelouch's shoes scuffing over the surface of the carpet as he continued his nervous pacing.

This all ended at the shriek of metal bending beyond its elasticity. Everyone's heads snapped to the door that led to the where Kallen was being operated on as it bent in towards them.

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C.C. felt groggy as her senses returned, only one eye opening to the sight of mad red energy flying around Kallen as she let out another blood-curdling scream, her body arched upwards from the table in response to the scream.

Reaching up with her right hand, she grabbed the sheet of metal that had been part of the injection machine that was lodged into her head, pulling hard to extract it even as she felt her body slowly start to regenerate itself, the various little pieces slowly being removed.

She was still in a daze as she brought herself to her feet.

Everything had gone to hell in a handbasket the second they had injected the nanomachines into Kallen. Her body had reacted completely outside of the parameters as her biotic seem to run completely out of control, the only warning she had was enough to order people to take cover, but wasn't enough for those that weren't clear of the situation.

Currently the entire room looked as if a bomb had gone off, and in the middle of it, struggling against restraints that were starting to give was Kallen, her body trying to twist and contort as the nanomachines ripped through her body, repurposing, redesigning, and renovating every single structure, working to improve almost every single facet to her. And all of this was because of that reaction when pain thresholds were exceeded and the body was literally eaten from the inside and rebuilt at the same time.

It couldn't just get any worse, everything was falling apart and she didn't know what to make of it other than she had underestimated the effect it would have on a natural biotic. She should have known, Lelouch and herself were never biotics to begin with. Lelouch had been completely redesigned to be a biotic from scratch by the machines.

So why didn't she even think of that?!

All of her thought came to a stop as the doors to the operating room were ripped from their hinges and Lelouch came rushing in.

I just had to think it couldn't get worse.

"Lelouch," she yelled, trying to prevent him from doing exactly what she knew what he was going to do, but it was too late, her body was still healing and repairing itself, she couldn't move in time. She could only watch as Lelouch pushed himself through a wave of wild biotic energy and get to her side, leaning down, but before he could touch her he stopped.

It was as the howl of Kallen's biotic energy lashed out at everything, this time ripping the injector completely off and onto the ground that Lelouch placed himself beside her head...and all she could see was his eyes had begun to water even as the Geass sigils blazed the brightest she had ever seen.

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"Kallen. Wake up." voice drifted out to her from the sea of pain. suddenly the pain receded to a dull ache as she opened her eyes. "Come on, Wake up sleepy head." the voice said as she felt a hand shake her shoulders. She looked over to where the voice was coming from and saw Naoto!

"Naoto!" Kallen exclaimed before practically flying from her bed and wrapping her arms around her older brother "You're alive." she whispered as she felt the warm familiar form of her brother, felt his heart beating as she embraced him.

"Of course I'm alive, I'm not the dingbat who throws herself into fights at the drop of a hat. What brought this on?" he asked her.

"You threw yourself onto a live grenade to save me!" She exclaimed as she pushed him back to arm's length. At this Naoto chuckled "So you had a nightmare. It's OK everyone is safe."

"So there isn't a war?"

"Of course not; with the Cycle there is no need for war, don't you remember silly?" Naoto reminded her.

"What about Lelouch? Is he safe," Kallen asked suddenly at this Naoto looked confused for a second "Why wouldn't he be? He is the Britannian Emperor. Isn't he coming over to meet Mom and Pop today?"

"What!?" Kallen screeched.

"By the Cycle; You forgot that too? I must've gone overboard with the sparring match yesterday. Anyway you better get ready." he said as he walked toward the door. "Oh and Kallen?"

"Yes?" she responded.

"If Lelouch does anything you don't like just tell me; I don't care if he's Emperor, By the Cycle he will suffer if he hurts you."

"Don't you dare!" Kallen cried back with a smile on her face, though it fell on deaf ears. Naoto was being as over-protective as always.

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"Kallen! Are you ready yet? Your boyfriend just landed outside!" she heard her mother yell, Kallen glanced outside her window and saw Lelouch exit the Air Limo with Jeremiah acting as his guard. "I'm not done with my hair!" Kallen shouted in a panic. She quickly proceeded to finish her hair into a somewhat presentable style and rushed down the stairs to the front door were her family were waiting.

Naoto elbowed her in the side; "You took an entire Cycle to get ready Kallen." he told her with a grin before they proceeded to head outside to meet with Lelouch to head to dinner.

Kallen was the first to step outside and she heard Lelouch mumble "By the Cycle." as she walked up to him.

"Hello? Earth to Lelouch?" she said as she waved her hand in front of his face.

After stuttering for a bit Lelouch said "Sorry Kallen, but you look absolutely stunning."

Blushing at his comment Kallen redirected the topic of the conversation "Anyway... I'd like you to meet my parents."

"Emperor Lelouch – it's an honor to finally meet you!" mom said to Lelouch before dad said "I am honored to make your acquaintance again my liege." before both swept into graceful Genuflects

"It is wonderful to meet you too, Lord and Lady Stadtfeld, and please don't bow there's no need."

'Wait this can't be real! Lelouch would never say that!' Kallen realized and the scene before her dissolved into a sea of black.

"YOU CAN HAVE THAT. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS SERVE THE CYCLE AND WE WILL HELP YOU MAKE THAT WORLD."

"It's not Real!"

"YOU CAN MAKE IT REAL; WE CAN HELP YOU, GIVE YOU THE POWER YOU NEED. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SERVE THE CYCLE"

"No!"

"YES."

"I refuse to be a slave! I would rather die!"

"SO BE IT."

And then the world returned to mind-numbing agony.

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"C.C.," Lelouch snapped, recovering from being thrown halfway across the room by the latest of Kallen's biotic pulses, he threw a massive barrier around Kallen, throwing his energy into it even as it fought to contain the energy being projected by Kallen, "get everyone out of the room now and evacuate this floor."

"Lelouch."

"NOW!"

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"dO YoU SUbmIt."

The dark voice demanded from her for the fourth time... but it sounded weaker as tough her resistance was wearing it down this alone gave Kallen all the incentive she needed to redouble her efforts.

"No!" she screamed back before being plunged into the sea again.

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By now the room had been cleared out and Lelouch was now alone with Kallen, C.C. having evacuated everyone even over the protestations of Jeremiah and his sister. But he wouldn't have it any other way, if they had stayed they would have been killed in the process if he had lost the containment on her. But it was fast approaching the fact that he was wearing out, his body protesting the exertion of energy just to contain everything Kallen was throwing out.

"Kallen," he murmured, his eyes focused on her as she arced again, a pulse of biotic energy colliding with the barrier and he could feel it balloon again but this time it did not returned back to normal, his body on fire as it entered into dangerous territory that he knew was the warning signs that the nanomachines in his body had exhausted all the energy they could and was now converting his body to energy to feed them.

He knew exactly what was happening to her. It was something he had never shared with anyone, not even C.C.. He had hinted it to Kallen when he had finally admitted his feelings and why he trusted her. The intoxication and temptation that had been presented by his own deepest darkest desires offered by the machines that had been injected into him. He had a feeling that was the real reason that Mao had fallen.

But what could he say to C.C. when he wasn't even sure if what he had experienced had not been a hallucination of his mind playing tricks on him. It was only Kallen that had proven it, to his dismay and horror, because there was distinct possibility that she would submit to it because the world it offered was infinitely better than what he could possibly offer.

It had offered him his mother, probably the one thing that he desired more than anything. She had been there and he had interested with her, without the specter of war or Turian aggression, instead they were all alive and happy. It was the perfect world.

There was so much he wanted to say, but the words refused to come to him. Instead, he could only watch and silently plead that she would just wake up, even as he realized it was becoming futile, blood starting to drip from his nose as he ground his teeth at the pain that was starting to eat at him.

Instead, the only words that came to him were whispered in desperation and pain.

"Kallen, you can beat this."

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"SuuBmitt... AnD T-thE P-pAin StOooooo..."

"I did it," Kallen stated tiredly, "I beat you."

Yet as the relief flooded in from the lack of excruciating pain, she could not help but feel a tinge of sadness as she slowly retreated, the one final image sent as a taunt to her burned into the back of her brain.

It was an image of her with Lelouch, but surrounded by not only her family, but Lelouch's as well, Marianne in formal attire, it was like she was looking through the eye of the photographer. They were all dressed for a wedding, her and Lelouch's, she was dressed in an elegant flowing gown in white and gold livery, while Lelouch was dressed like the Emperor, an ornate latticework of white, gold, red, and dark blue.

They were all happy and smiling.

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Outside Kallen's screaming had stopped, no more pulses of energy were coming, and she was laying still on the table. Lelouch focused on the form of his girlfriend that when she spoke, he missed the first half of it.

"I beat you." Kallen breathed out before smirking and letting another breath out. What terrified Lelouch though was the fact that she didn't inhale.

He could feel himself stagger forward, his body resisting every moment, exhausted, the nanomachines no longer making demands on his body, part of him wondering just how much damage had been done to himself even as he came to a stop by her side, bracing himself against the table Kallen laid upon.

"Kallen," he asked quietly, his eyes searching her even as she had a serene smile, as if she were at peace, as if she were-

"No," he murmured, she just couldn't be, he thought, after all of this shit, she's-

It was as that thought flitted through his mind she finally inhaled, her chest rising up as it brought in badly needed oxygen, her body rousing itself. A few moments of slow, level breathing, and then she slowly opened her eyes, his sigiled eyes meting her newly awakened eyes, complete with their own Geass sigil.

"Lelouch," she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, feeling even heavier now, his body only wanting to rest in spite of his insistence to keep himself up.

"This isn't a dream?"

He chuckled, leaning down to her and kissed her on the forehead, ignoring the blood he placed on from his lips.

"Does it seem that way," he could only ask whimsically.

"...No," she could only respond, before wrapping her arms around him, pulling him down and burying her head into his neck.

That was all his body wrote, finally giving out as he staggered, his body becoming lax and finding all the strength he needed in the woman that he had come to love and would do anything for.

"Kallen," he murmured sheepishly into her hair as he brought his hand up to caress her head, it was about the only thing he could do right now, "would you mind pulling me up."

The redhead pulled away from him for a moment, taking note of how he looked, then their surroundings, her face paling even further than it already had. Realizing Lelouch's state, she then pulled him up onto the table, thankful that it was large enough for two, even though it wasn't designed for that. She arranged their bodies, taking the time to lay Lelouch down flat onto it while she laid on her side, looking at him in concern at the blood that was beginning to dry on him. It took every part of her not to start panicking at his war-torn look.

"H-How'd you end up like this," She asked him.

"You pack quite the punch Kallen." he replied, his eyes falling shut, "I could barely contain you."

She looked at him for a few moments, taking note of his exhaustion, but also the fact that everything around him seemed to be encased in a purple hue while he had a red outline.

"Lelouch?"

"Hm," he opened his eyes again, looking towards her.

"Why am I seeing everything around us in purple and you outlined in red?"

"Oh. Probably your Geass," he replied, letting his eyes slide shut, yeah, sleep sounded good right about now, "we'll go over it in a bit, but first, I think I need a nap."

She opened her mouth wanting to say something more, but instead, she realized it was probably about right for him. If what she was seeing was true, Lelouch had thrown everything into preventing her from doing even more damage than she had already done. If she could have done that, then what Lelouch had done must have exhausted him.

Besides, she had to admit, sleep sounded somewhat attractive right now.

Deciding on the course of action, she chose to make herself comfortable, molding her body to his side, it seemed Lelouch was already asleep that he didn't even register he contact. Taking advantage of that situation, she laid her head upon his chest, the sound of his heartbeat easily filling in her ear, letting it lull her into her own slumber.

Within a couple of minutes, she had also joined Lelouch in slumber.

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It was nearly a half an hour later, that C.C. had come back down to the level, intent on seeing the fallout of what had happened with Kallen and Lelouch. Part of her was terrified that she had lost her best friend's son because she had underestimated the effect the nanomachines would have on an actual biotic. And then she had been too damn week to stop Kallen from ripping everything apart.

Sometimes it was times like this she cursed her own immortality and the secrets she kept. She wasn't sure she could have contained Kallen, but she sure could have thought of something to solve the damn problem with Marianne's son throwing himself into the mix.

Taking a deep breath, she settled, well, if push comes to shove, I'll activate Lazarus and fix this damn mess!

The door opened to the level an she stepped out, her yellow eyes scanning the area with scientific curiosity, noting how the lounge area looked like it had been through a storm, but it was relatively untouched compared to the Ascension chamber.

Filing that away for her studies of artificial gravitic energy flow through solid objects, she braced herself as she walked through the lounge and into the chamber, coming to a stop in shock at the sight before her.

Sighing in relief at the sight of Lelouch and Kallen wrapped together on the table that had been used for Kallen's ascension, she stepped further in, taking note of the surroundings before focusing back upon them and how they were snuggled against one another, a content look on both of their faces.

Now, the scientist part of her would have just written it off and moved on, intent on taking notes on her observations. But the slumbering prankster and troll inside her awakened at the perfect blackmail opportunity presented to her, the image of the two teens embracing one another like this was just too much to pass up, that and the fact that Nunnally might try and figure out a way to kill her if she did not record this for posterity.

Reaching up to her wrist, she activated the omnitool there, watching it come to life with a certain amount of amusement as the two lovebirds were completely clueless as to what was about to happen to them. Satisfied with it's status, she then proceeded to both record a few minutes of the two of them together, but also take several dozen highly detailed pictures of the two. Content with her work, she deactivated the omnitool and went back to work, leaving the two alone and unaware of what transpired.

So...who all would be interested in this, she thought to herself with a bit of cheerfulness, and what can I get out of them for it?


1452 Local Time

September 7th, 2174 (17 AH)

Outside New Southampton

Logres

Logres, Arcturus Stream

"Why are we out here Schneizel," Cornelia li Britannia audibly enough for Schneizel to hear but for no one else as they entered the private villa the Imperial family had on Logres, their guards and Knights had broken off to go over the entirety of the estate to personally make sure it was secure leaving them the inside.

"I felt it was necessary that we both had some time to relax, you and I have been working much too hard the last few years to take the time to relax."

"And you know how much hell that would be for me after this, right?"

Currently the entirety of the Home Fleet as well as Task Groups Excalibur and Secace were parked over the planet to guard it, such was the requirements for the protection of the Prime Minister and the ranked commander of the Britannian military.

"They can consider it paid leave," he murmured with one of his patented smiles designed to disarm even the most bellicose of recipients.

Cornelia sighed as they moved further into the mansion, passing through the main foyers and towards the living area, "and why isn't Euphie here?"

"She respectfully declined. You know how she dislikes Logres."

"And leaving her in the hands of that Ashford harlot is any better?"

"The Ashford family has been loyal to the Lamperouge line and by extension us. Millicent Ashford, while certainly different, is an upstanding citizen who has provided an excellent performance as a cultural attache in spite of her youth. I sincerely doubt your fears are legitimate."

Cornelia could only grumble in response before coming to an abrupt stop, suddenly sniffing the air.

He could smell it too, cigarattes, a familiar smell he hadn't smelled since Marianne.

Before he could say anything else, Cornelia unholstered her pistol and stormed into the living area, her shields flickering into place.

Coming in she leveled it at a figure sitting in one of the leather chairs, her head in a book as she casually leafed through another page.

"Who are you and why are you here," the Princess demanded, even as he came up and got a good look at the woman in question.

She had red currently down that framed her head, he had caught a glimpse of sapphire that had merely glanced at them for an instant. Outside of her defining features which had a hint of Japanese in it, she wore a women's trouser suit in black, her hands covered by matching black gloves.

In spite of the look she just oozed danger to his eyes, from how she had swiftly scanned over them before returning to the book.

"I'm talking to you, girl," Cornelia snapped.

"Cornelia, would you kindly stop pointing your weapon at my girlfriend before she kicks your ass?"

Cornelia froze as both she and Schneizel turned to the newcomer, Cornelia double-, then triple-taking as she took him in.

It had been over a decade since she had seen him in the flesh, really the only thing that had given him away was the all-too-familiar hairstyle and violet eyes.

"Lelouch," Cornelia cried, replacing the pistol, coming up and enveloping him in a bonecrushing hug, not even noticing the glass of iced bourbon in his right hand.

"Cornelia," he rasped, eyes wide as the hug had deprived him of breath, "it's...good to see you."

Letting him go she stepped back casting an appraising eye over him.

"You've grown up quite well...wait," she froze before whirling to the redhead, "GIRLFRIEND?!"

Kallen had taken that as the cue for her to get involved, softly closing the book and looking up, allowing the Princess a good look over her.

"You're joking, Lelouch, right," she asked looking back at her younger brother.

"What makes you think that," Lelouch asked, his boyfriend senses screaming possible danger as Kallen's expression hardened, not for himself, but for Cornelia. He had learned in the last year and a half, Kallen getting pissed was a serious danger for the recipient.

"Cornelia," Schneizel warned also sensing the danger and was trying to head it off, but Cornelia didn't seem to listen to the warning.

"Look at her Lelouch. She's not a proper woman, she's wearing decidedly non-noble clothing, her bearing is not lady-like, and she's obviously a mixed breed."

"That's rather ironic, considering your mother's grandfather originated from the Nordic countries of the EU," Kallen spoke pointedly, "Lelouch, if I didn't know any better, I'd think your sister was a pureblood like my grandfather."

Lelouch paled at the pointed words, eyes glancing at Cornelia who looked ready to explode, electing now to quickly down his bourbon in preparation for the fireworks. There were very few in Britannia that dared correct Cornelia because she could be such a firebreather. It was a death sentence to mock her.

"And who is your grandfather?"

"Baron Malcolm Stadtfeld. My father was Elend, he was disowned for falling in love with my mother, who happened to be Japanese. They and my brother ended up all dying at Shanxi thanks to that man's prejudices."

Cornelia seemed to have the wind taken out of her sails at the mention of Shanxi.

"You were at Shanxi?"

"I was a cell commander replacing my brother after he jumped on a grenade intended for me," she stated flatly with a challenging glare.

"My condolences for your loss, but that does not exempt the fact that you are not nobility."

"Actually," he chose this moment to intervene, "I am restoring her family's noble rank in lieu of the conduct unbecoming of the title of Britannian nobility and granting Kallen the noble title of Countess for the service she has rendered unto Britannia."

Cornelia spluttered in response, her mind automatically assuming the only thing that a hormonally driven pair of teenagers would be concerned with.

"Come now Lelouch," Kallen chirped a bit too cattily, "don't give your siblings the wrong idea."

"And you need to stop antagonizing my sister," Lelouch shot back, stepping past Cornelia and situating himself in a chair to Kallen's left, reaching into his pocket and extracting a cigarette and proceeded to light it, then taking a slow inhale of it before letting it out.

"And you told me that Cornelia can be too uptight at times."

Lelouch paused, his eyes glancing furtively at Kallen before coming back to Cornelia who was beginning to look like she was ready to explode again.

"I swear, Kallen, you and C.C. need to stop being together. I have enough problems unruffling the feathers of everyone that witch pisses off. I don't need you increasing my workload."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the redhead replied nonchalantly.

Well, they are certainly acting like they are in a relationship, Schneizel mused to himself as he watched the two exchange with one another. It was a bit difficult to wrap around in his head the fact that his brother was now not only legally an adult, but was also in a relationship. If he was having issues with it, he knew Cornelia was probably even worse off then himself.

"Now that everyone is here," Lelouch's voice caused him to snap out of his reverie, the smoke swirling around him as his amethyst eyes narrowed, all business-like now, "I think we can save further pleasantries until after we discuss the events in the galaxy."

Taking the invitation, in spite of Cornelia's disgruntled rumbling, he took up another chair across from the two, Cornelia quieting herself due to the importance of what was to be discussed. It had changed from a reunion to a war council.

"First," Lelouch began, "if I have not said it before, thank you brother and sister for your administration of my role in your absence. Britannia has expanded and become stronger far beyond my expectations of when we began this ten years ago. Even with my limited input as dictated by the situation, you seem to have managed exactly as how I would have imagined it would have come. Second, I intend for both of you to continue to maintain this role for foreseeable future."

Pausing, he allowed them a moment to absorb the praise as he took a deep drag of the cigarette.

"May I ask what you plan to do, Lelouch," Cornelia spoke, asking the question that Schniezel was busy trying to wargame out, "there is only so much we can keep doing, soon you'll need Schneizel's permission to reclaim the throne... and you know what a hassle that has been in the past."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Lelouch spoke, his eyes shifting to Schneizel for a moment, unspoken message being sent, there better not be, "If I reappear now too many questions will be asked, it is better to take advantage of the chaos brought on by a crisis to where the questions will be drowned out by the cries for something to be done."

"So what's the plan?"

"Cerberus will rise, of course. Not as a large-scale threat, at least not for another five years or so, but we will start making the moves necessary to force the Council to pay attention to us. We don't have the necessary assets for a straight up fight, again, that won't at least for five to ten years, so we will do what the Shadow Broker has done and keep to the shadows."

"And what is your asset strength, you have been cryptic in it."

"Three superdreadnoughts, six fleet carriers, nine battlecruisers, twenty-three destroyers, and a hundred and seventeen Stalkers."

That was certainly respectable, Schneizel thought as Cornelia's frown deepened. Britannia was just now setting up its shipyards in Bolthole, the code-name for the Camlann System, a system that was not in any of Britannia's stellar charts because it was intended to be a secret facility in the same vein as the Salarians. Unlike them, Lelouch had none of the problems with maintaining secrecy or really finding the funding for the projects simply because of how Avalon was set up. Still, to have that type of hull count in a decade was nothing short of miraculous.

"Moving on," Lelouch continued, "in lieu of my return, it is time to move to Stage III of the Plan Adrasteia."

This caused the temperature to seemingly drop between the three siblings, while even Kallen perked up, previously she had only been listening half-heartedly to the siblings talk. Now that it seemed that they were getting down to the true business of the meeting, the two part plan for acquiring revenge for Empress Marianne vi Britannia and establishing Britannia, and by extension humanity, as the premier power of the galaxy.

This was where Cornelia took over, as she started speaking.

"Currently we have lost track of Saren," she started, watching Lelouch's face harden into a snarl, they all knew he was the man who had pulled the trigger that had claimed the Empress, he was also the hardest to touch because of his Spectre status, if he was dealt with wrong, then the Council would come after them because of how important Saren was to them, "other than the usual incidences as you are aware of, Saren has done nothing to earn the ire of the Council, in fact, they have quietly commended him for the massacre on Camala. Since then we have had several pings on him entering Batarian space and even Batarian Intelligence has been having difficulty in tracking him."

"Moving on, Primarch Vyrmus has been keeping to Palaven, his age has become a concern but too many Turians look up to him to provide any challenges. He only makes a trip to Citadel space once or twice a year, usually to confer in person with Councilor Avitus. We now have confirmation thanks to the Quarians that he was the one who authorized the production and distribution of Refrain into Britannian and HSA space."

If the room had been chilled before, it became like an icebox. Six years ago, Refrain had reared its ugly head in the drug markets in a rash of overdoses. It was single-handedly the most insidious of drugs that existed within the known galaxy because of what it did to the user. Simply put, it stimulated the brain to create more dopamine than it requires in order to create hallucinatory flashbacks of past pleasant experiences by stimulating the memories of its users. With a humanity that had been placed in a cage by the Citadel, it was an escape that had become wildly popular in several colonies and even in the home system. However, what made it worse was that it damaged the cerebellum of its victims, causing it to deteriorate until the user became an invalid. However, for biotics, it was discovered that Refrain reacted to eezo for unknown reasons, causing the body to attack the eezo nodules as if they were a foreign entity, extended exposure to Refrain literally robbed the ability of a biotic to use their power forever by destroying their ability to manifest it, which had become a major point of contention for Vyrmus since Shadow Order 66. Britannia was just now starting to stamp down on Refrain, but it would be years until they would be able to gauge the level of damages that had been caused.

Even worse though, the drug was found to be just as effective to ALL levo-based organisms, and as soon as that was discovered it had spread like wildfire throughout the galaxy. It had only been a few weeks ago that the Council had finally realized just how dangerous and devastating Refrain had become, even the normally neutral Asari were beginning to viciously crack down on it, authorizing Justicars to kill-on-sight any Refrain dealer.

Coughing slightly, she continued from memory, "Avitus has not left the Citadel since he had been sworn in, other than his meetings with Tyrmus and the Council, he keeps himself isolated and well-guarded, only allowing certain personnel in for a private audience, the rest are delegated to his current aide, General Sparatus."

"And just how is Sparatus? Is he an improvement over Avitus if the good Councilor were to meet his demise," Kallen asked.

"Sparatus is even worse," Schneizel spoke, with a frown "if you were to sum him up, an asshole and bigot would easily come to mind, and he doesn't play well with others. He's skeptical to any idea not his own, and makes his personal disdain for humanity readily apparent. Personally, I think Quentius or Victus would be an infinitely better option compared to him, but Sparatus has too many allies not to be considered Avitus' heir apparent."

"Knocking off Sparatus is something we should avoid," Lelouch interrupted, looking to Kallen, "if anything, he could be useful in the long run, the more he cracks down on humanity and Britannia, the better we will look when we initiate Stage IV. Now, what about Kryik?"

"Nihlus is surprisingly acting like a repentant sinner," Cornelia took back over, "he's become the anti-Saren of the SPECTREs, keeping the bodycounts to a minimum and going out of his way to help Britannians in several situations. He's not exactly popular with the Turians, but because of his status he's relatively unassailable. He's actually the easiest to get to."

"Then he'll be useful in the future, if he's turning pro-Human, or at least ambivalent to us, I'll stay the executioner's blade on him for now," Lelouch spoke cooly, he didn't like it, but of everything he had read of Nihlus, the man seemed generally repentant of his involvement in his mother's assassination. He could be useful in the long run with a few pushes in the right direction, "for now, just keep an eye on them, I doubt we will need to move on him anytime soon, if anything, I would like to personally deal with him last. Kallen."

"Understood," the redhead spoke, taking a small breath, this was her time to shine, "Lelouch has decided that we will start Stage III by reacquiring and eliminating Saren Arterius, we have reason to believe that he has developed a beyond normal interest in Prothean relics. This is significant because previously Saren had no interest in any type of Prothean relics, in fact, there have been two documented incidents in which he has willfully destroyed a relic in spite of their worth. We're have not been able to ascertain exactly what is the cause of this interest, but it has been enough to have STG place a flag on several accounts tied to Arterius."

"Does the interest have any connection to Jötnar," Schneizel asked. Everyone frowned at the question, Jötnar was the codename given for the Reapers.

"We don't know," Lelouch replied, "all we can do is track his transmissions and recipients. Because he pings his messages off of Citadel servers any type of EVI intervention could be detected and the last thing we need is the Citadel discovering that our EVIs are actually fully-fledged AIs. For Saren's hunt, I have tasked Kallen with it, her specialty should be sufficient to counteract Saren's skillset. For the operation, she has complete carte blanche for assets, logistics, anything she asks, I expect for her to get."

Cornelia bristled, but nodded.

"I can give her Task Group Secace," Cornelia stated, "Clarent should become operational next month to replace it, we'll be stretched a bit, but it will give me the excuse to form Galatine from the new ship construction at Logres."

"And I want the Knight Nine under her command," Lelouch added, "since I am leaving you the Knights of the Round, the Knight Nine should be a good enough consolation."

"Right now they are prepping for an operation on Ilium," Schneizel responded, "someone killed the Ambassador and the locals refuse to cooperate with us. I have authorized them for a Cromwell if they find anything suspicious."

A Cromwell was a special action authorization that could only be authorized by the leader of Britannia. To put it bluntly it was a scorched earth dictum, giving the operatives the ability to prosecute the operation to their specifications. When the Knight Nine we given a Cromwell they had a tendency to go wild in the prosecution of their mission.

"How long until they are mission capable?"

"A week, maybe two," the Prime Minister replied.

Lelouch leaned back for a minute thinking.

"Very well. In a few months' time time I will be moving on Omega to meet Aria T'Loak."

"What the hell for," Cornelia protested, "T'Loak is a cutthroat and a criminal. She is beneath your presence, Lelouch."

"Maybe so, Cornelia, but T'Loak could provide an excellent ally, she isn't a fan of the Council and she's only really interested in retaining her fiefdom. Which is why she's perfect for what I plan. Currently Aria's having some internal issues with various mercenary groups on Omega. I plan to put her in my debt by bailing her out with Cerberus and getting Omega as a forward operating base for my assets."

"Still, I would be careful Lelouch," Schneizel chose to interject, "Aria has a history."

"That I'm perfectly aware of, but she's getting desperate, even though she has been able to keep it off the extranet. She maybe has nine months left before they will make their final move."

"Just...be careful," Cornelia warned.

"For the foreseeable future," Lelouch continued, "I will be operating in Citadel space setting up various operations and facilities. Furthermore, I believe it's time I start seeing firsthand the Citadel to confirm a suspicion. But, enough of that, we can talk more later, I want to hear everything. And how is Euphie doing?"


4:47pm Arcturus Local Time

April 2nd, 2175

Arcturus Academy

Arcturus Stream

She had done it, she thought happily as she mingled through the crowd of families and well-wishers there to see the graduates of the Arcturus Academy Class of 2175.

Double-checking her beret again after getting bumped into by an excited family member spotting their loved one.

She had grown her hair out over the last two years, she hadn't had the need to worry about her hair being used against her as a weapon since she hadn't had to fight since she had started taking Instructor Nu's classes, word got around the Academy that she was hands off.

And now thanks to all of that here she was, top of the class, a commissioned Lieutenant thanks to her diligence and hard work.

Unfortunately, David Anderson was not able to be here today. He was on deployment with the SSV Europa, the newest and latest Dreadnought in the Alliance, he had finally got that vaunted Captain's chair that would quickly catapult to a much higher rank. She was happy for him, though it would have been nice if he had been here.

"Shepard," her name called out caused her head to snap to the voice spotting Suzaku waving at her.

Flashing a smile she changed her course and joined up with her best friend.

"Look at you, all dashing in a graduation uniform," she said pulling him into a lighthearted hug, "you see Tylinian's face when I got announced."

"He looked ready to claw his eyes out," Suzaku laughed, "so you got your orders?"

She nodded as she held open her letter that was still unopened, they had both agreed to open their orders together. There was an extraordinarily high probability because of their performance in the last year of squad training being the best in Academy history they would be assigned together. Hell, even Anderson had told her it would be odd if that didn't happen.

"Suzaku," a deep voice interrupted the two before they could open their orders together.

Suzaku's face froze into a smile even as some of the excitement was lost in his eyes as Jane turned to face a man dressed in a business uniform with six men surrounding him, their shades making it obvious that they were bodyguards.

immediately she recognized the man as Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi and she stiffened to attention.

"Father," Suzaku said as pleasantly as possible.

"Prime Minister," she got out as respectfully as possible even for the suddenness of it.

He looked at her for a minute before his lip twitched up for a moment into a sneer before it was quickly gone and she kept her expression as warm as possible.

She knew the expression, she had seen it too many times when people recognized her as a Britannian.

"Congratulations Suzaku," he rumbled, "you've done all of us proud with your performance here. Though it would have been preferable if you were top of the class."

"I apologize Father," Suzaku replied, bowing his head as if in shame, "but I never could seem to keep up with Jane."

"So you say," he responded darkly as his eyes fell back to her, the irritation at her presence radiating off him.

She wanted to deck this asshole so badly, for treating Suzaku like shit but just being a bigoted asshole in general.

Instead she merely bowed as respectfully as she could.

"Your son is quite skilled, Prime Minister, in fact he kept me on my feet the entire time in the Academy, I just couldn't afford to be second best."

"You're Shepard," he stated, his voice like he had bit into a rotted fruit.

She could only keep herself bowed as her eyes narrowed in anger.

Deep calming breaths Jane, decking the leader of a member nation is going to earn you the fastest stint in the history of any military.

The uneasy silence continued before she could hear the man snort as he turned to Suzaku.

"I can see why you're second," he stated, the acid in his tone strong enough to etch titanium, "you're too much like your mother in you put other's feelings first...oor perhaps you're smitten with her."

This caused her head to snap up as she glared at him, his own challenging glare bearing down on her. How dare he suggest!

"She is my friend, Father," Suzaku replied as firmly as possible, catching his friends reaction and knowing the disaster developing, "I would be in remiss not to do my best because she is that."

"...Disgraceful. Come," he commanded, "we must be going, our transport back to Japan is awaiting us."

"I have my orders here, Father, I was about to open them."

"Then do it, I will be awaiting you, if you take too long..."

He then turned and walked away, his bodyguards arranging themselves around them as he departed.

"I'm sorry," Suzaku said quietly, his eyes narrowed in anger at his his father's back, "my father can be-"

"An asshole?"

The edge of his mouth quirked up in a semblance of a smile before he nodded.

"You always have a way with words."

"It's cuz unlike you, I didn't grow up with golden chopsticks."

He snorted in amusement.

"At least I didn't rut around in a gutter all of my life, peasant."

"There you go again with that Japanese royalty shtick," she laughed in return at the jab, "I am not worthy of your benevolence my prince."

"Bamboo splinters it is."

They both broke out laughing

After settling down they both looked at the envelopes in their hands.

"So, where do you think we'll be assigned," he asked, a bit of nerves in his tone.

"Probably on the frontier somewhere, they always need new recruits for the colony worlds. Though I would love to get assigned to the Europa, newest dreadnought in the fleet, you just know she'll see some serious action sooner or later."

"What is it with you and looking for a fight?"

"Hey, for the record, I only did that ONCE when that girl started talking shit behind your back. Other than that I never looked for one."

"So you just attract trouble then, that's great to hear. Now I really don't want to get assigned with you."

"Hey!"

They both smiled again before again looking at the envelopes.

"On the count of three, right?"

Suzaku nodded solemnly.

"One, two, three!"

They then both opened up the envelopes, unfolding the orders and both began reading them.

Order Number 36-001-8083 April 2nd, 2174

73rd Guards Marine Detachment, SSV Thermopylae

Lieutenant Shepard, you are hereby ordered to active duty from academy status and assigned as shown below. Proceed immediately to your assignment and report within the allotted time listed below. Congratulations, Lieutenant.

Assigned to: SSV Thermopylae

Reporting Station: Elysium Defense Command (EOC), Vetus System, Petra Nebula

Reporting Date: April 9th, 2174

Authority: Commander Benjamin DeVries, Commander, 73rd Guards

Purpose: Executive Officer of 73rd Guards

Additional Instructions: Lieutenant, you will be expected to be familiar with the design layout of the Trafalgar-Class Frigate by the time you arrive. Additionally, you are to study the personnel profiles and provide your initial input on the personnel to the CO 73rd Guards by the time you arrive.

Authentication: S10D64KL

"Wow," she said, "looks like we get to be right in the middle of it. We might even-"

She then saw Suzaku's expression and felt herself become chilled. The face frozen in rictus, the narrowed eyes, the set jaw, oh no, this was not going to be good.

"Suzaku, what is it? You're assigned to the Thermoplyae, right?"

But he didn't respond, instead, she could feel the air around her becoming energized, it was becoming increasingly evident that Suzaku was enraged about something.

"Suzaku," she asked, placing her hand on his shoulder, grinding her teeth at the static shock from it, but it snapped him out of it as he looked up at her.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, before handing her the orders, allowing her to read it.

Order Number 36-001-8084 April 2nd, 2174

Security Police Division Section 1

Lieutenant Kururugi, you are hereby ordered to active duty from academy status and assigned as shown below. Proceed immediately to your assignment and report within the allotted time listed below. Congratulations, Lieutenant.

Assigned to: Security Police Division Section 1

Reporting Station: Office of the Prime Minister of Japan

Reporting Date: January 7th, 2174

Authority: Director Nagisa Chiba

Purpose: Protection Detail for the Prime Minister of Japan

Additional Instructions: None

Authentication: V87L29SO

That's why he was telling Suzaku to join him, she thought as she fought the urge to crumple the orders in her hand. She wouldn't do that because it would reflect badly upon him. Politics, that's all it was, and that's why Suzaku is so damn pissed. He can't escape his father's shadow like he had always feared.

"It's only a protection detail," she found herself saying, trying to reassure him as he seemed heartbroken by the fact that they wouldn't be teamed up, hell, they were an unstoppable team together, to be broken up just wasn't right at all, "give it a few months and you'll be able to get reassignment no problem Suzaku."

He forced a smile on his face, even though they both knew it was more than likely not going to happen, "Yeah."

"Just you wait, you'll be over with me in Elysium kicking some pirate ass like we've been doing the plebes around here. I bet I'll have to be the one trying to catch up with you by the time you get over here."

"Hey, you'll write, right?"

"Of course, I'll make sure to tell you everything that's going on over there so when you jump right in you won't be lost. But you have to write me back, okay?"

He nodded, a wan smile on his face, "I'll do that."

She then held out a hand to him, and he took it, both clasping firmly.

"Well, you better get to your assignment, hit me up when you get settled and I'll do the same."

"Hn."

"And if you turn anti-social because your Dad pushed you around too much, I swear to whatever God you may worship, I will personally take the first transport to Earth to personally kick your royally pampered ass."

He laughed, a smile coming back on his face.

"Then I better not let this get me down, should I? Well, I'll be going now, good luck with your assignment."

"You too."

And then he was gone as he quickly took off in a trot, Shepard's smile fading as she let out a breath. It was tough for her to see him off like this, Suzaku had become that one person she could depend upon for anything and to suddenly lose him like this, she felt…naked. It was almost as if she were back to square one. She knew that she was going to have to work her ass off to gain any respect.

After all, she was a Britannian…


1937 Local Time

April 8th, 2175 (18 AH)

Omega

Sahrabarik, Omega Nebula

It was aptly known as Omega, the end point for the lives of many of the down and dirty denizens of the galaxy, a hub for scum and villainy that were able to do whatever they pleased with little to no consequence for their actions unless it was from other criminals that they had angered. It was both the unofficial capital of the Terminus Systems' and the home of many mercenary and underground groups. No Citadel group outside of SPECTREs were sane enough to tread upon the grounds that were considered the most dangerous in the galaxy.

Which was perfect for Cerberus, which had set its sights upon the facility. As a result, a frigate approached one of the many docking collars that dotted the superstructure of Omega, sidling into position before coming to a stop. The mere presence of the frigate was both as a symbol of power but also protection for its occupants as three figures stepped through the door of the docking collar and into the hall.

To the left was a grizzled man with close-cropped brown hair, the right side of his face horribly disfigured completed with a mismatched eye. He was decked out in full black combat armor that had a T with the vertical part ending as a dagger blade.

To the right was a woman dressed in a red and white skinsuit with an odd skirt with holes on the side to where one's hand could slip in. Her face and ebony locks easily identified her as of Japanese ancestry even as her alert eyes scanned their dingy and dark surroundings, if it wasn't for the fact she had the bearing of a killer the small white maid hat and yellow scarf she wore would have been comical.

"Master Zero," she warned, her eyes locking onto a Turian that was sauntering toward them like he owned the place. Her right hand slipped down to her side to where the third member, Zero knew where she kept her kunai.

"Welcome to Omega, Cerberus," the Turian growled, obviously not happy with something.

"I'm surprised you are aware of us," Zero replied, his synthesized voicing.

"Aria is aware of many up and comers who want to take a piece of her pie. And when you show up with an unregistered frigate people notice."

"But of course. I take it Aria is interested in talking with us."

"She's expecting you at the Afterlife."

"Of course."

The Turian's job done, it walked away leaving the three of them standing there.

"Well he was certainly cheeky," rumbled the man.

"We probably ruined whatever he was doing with our arrival," the woman returned, "still, I recommend caution Master Zero, I did not like his look."

Zero nodded before replying, "We'll continue as planned. If Aria is waiting for us then we shouldn't keep her waiting."

The trio then began walking, intent on their objective, even as the air behind them shimmered in several places before settling.

"So this is Omega," Zero mused to his accompaniment as they exited through the door that led them into the main chamber that would lead them to Afterlife, taking the time to scan over his surroundings. While he intellectually understand the state of Omega in its abject squalor from its lack of governance, still it was completely different to see it for what it was. Yet where people saw destitution, crime, and evil, he saw opportunity. But before he could take advantage of it he needed to clear the next obstacle.

"I've been here a few times," the man stated, "not exactly the kindest place to be, but it was always a good source for mercenaries and work. Lot of desperate people looking for a quick credit."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, do you Massani," the woman stated simply, her back to the two as she looked for threats while the other two were talking.

"As much as I enjoy running Tacitus, I do miss the good 'ol days when it was just me and Jessie."

"Very well," Zero spoke, stepping back from the railing, his head moving towards where Afterlife lit up the entire area in its ambient lighting, sorely sticking out in the poorly lit surroundings. The lighting serving as an exclamation for both itself and its owner, "let's get this done."

Turning, he moved towards the front of Afterlife, his entourage retaking their places beside him. It was only a few more minutes before they were in front of it, sliding past the line, the Krogan bouncer casting one glance at them before they passed a pair of armed Batarian guards and into the hall.

As the last gateway to the club parted, they were bombarded with the music that was blaring in the club, the middle of the club taken up by the large vertical hologram of an outlined Asari dancer moving to the music, surrounding that more Asari poledancing. To the right a bar, and to the left a pit with seating arranged all around.

However, instead of the usual expectations you would have of a bar with people enjoying the entertainment and drinking, there was a different atmosphere to that, one of stress and anticipation. They could easily see that there were more armed personnel than there were civilians and they all seemed to be on edge. But that was all they logged as the three proceeded towards their objective in the back, passing by the bar and to the stairs where a Turian and two Batarians looked them over once before allowing them past, their assault rifles out and ready to bear.

As they moved up the stairs finally came to the balcony where their target was, Zero stepping forward and allowed himself a good look at her.

She was certainly different from many Asari, where many Asari had a skin color in hues of blue, Aria T'Loak was purple, furthermore, she also had tattoos on her face while almost every known Asari preferred unmarred skin. All these did was add to the allure of the pirate queen of Omega.

As he looked her over she was likewise returning the favor, generating her own opinions on the unknown variable before her. This was technically the first official appearance of Zero, and Cerberus was a relatively new entity in galactic affairs for the most part, so for him to be here was probably something she was trying to figure out both who he was and what he intended.

"And you are," she asked finally, the frost in her voice setting the tone for the coming dialogue.

"I am Zero."

A small quirk on the left of her lip, whether it was amusement or annoyance he wasn't sure, instead she simply stood up, folding her arms underneath her chest as she turned to the holographic display of the Asari dancer.

"A curious name," she stated, "but that tells me nothing. All I know is that a Cerberus flagged frigate has shown up in my space and has docked at my station. I don't appreciate surprises and I especially don't appreciate unknowns on my station, so you will have to do a bit better to placate me."

So she's going to go with that route, Zero thought, fair enough.

When he had prepared for this he had spent two weeks poring over every single bit of information on Aria T'Loak, from psychological profiles created by the Citadel to her criminal record in order to deconstruct her to the simplest of terms for him to predict how she would act.

He turned his head to a Batarian that was watching them a bit too intently for a mere guard. Bringing his hand up til it was visible, he snapped his finger.

The Batarian in question didn't even have time to react as a blade passed through where his heart was and jutted out the front, his body falling limp. At the same time as the rest of her men reacted, blades appeared across their the necks as they were all grabbed and held still. That was when mirages appeared and dissipated to reveal black clad men and women.

"How about an informant," he asked, watching as Aria's expression harden as she faintly ground her teeth, "the Batarian my subordinate just dealt with has been feeding info to your enemies and the STG."

He then held his hand and retrieved a small datapad that had been thrown at him, pilfered from the informant's person . He then held it forward towards Aria allowing her to take it and look it over, her scowl deepening further and further.

"Garka," she snapped, the blade disappearing from the Batarian's neck allowing him to come up to her and take the pad, "how the hell did you miss this?"

The Batarian faltered, looking over the information being shown to him.

"I don't know, but I will make up for this Aria."

"Deal with the problem," she snarled, her eyes not leaving Zero's mask, "personally."

"But Aria-"

"If you can't deal with Varren in my ranks how the hell can I expect you to work as my Chief Enforcer."

The Batarian realized the situation and beat a hasty retreat, leaving the tense standoff between the pirate queen and rogue leader.

"Disperse."

The command given, swords were sheathed, their owners phasing into nothingness as they stepped back, Aria's men turning to engage only found air.

"Have a seat," Aria motioned sharply, Zero taking the offer and sitting down, feeling the couch absorb his weight. He looked back to Aria now who looked ready to explode. But then again, it was understandable considering that he had just waltzed in here and put out that display of power. The underlying messages couldn't be simply ignorde, if he could slip in several operatives in cloak and no one be the wiser, certainly he could have killed her.

"What do you want?"

Clear and concise, she knew the score and she wasn't going to dally around the situation. He was right in that he could work with her.

"We need a forward operating base, but we would prefer it first if we had an ally of you."

The Asari chose to snort at the statement.

"From what I hear you have some internal issues here in Omega. The Blood Pack, Eclipse, Green Wave, Black Hand, and Vertigo have all banded together to topple you."

Of course, she was doing her damndest to prevent that from getting out, but when you have EVIs poring every snippet of information going in and out of Omega you can build a picture quickly.

And judging by Aria's reaction of irritation, his intel was right.

"Hypothetically," she spoke, reining her irritation in, "let's say I have the issue you are speaking of. What can you do to solve this issue?"

"I can annihilate it."

Pursed lips were his only response, he knew exactly what she was thinking about, the quick display of power from before, but also the presence of the Commander and CEO of Tacitus meant he had assets. The only question was the risk, if he had that power, what would stop him from knocking her off when he no longer needed her.

Time for the last item to the masterpiece.

"Can we speak privately?"

Aria looked at him for a few moments before nodding.

"Leave us," she commanded her men.

"Sayoko, Zaeed, give us a minute."

They then stepped away, joining her men, as Aria stood up and waved her hand in the air, a holographic display powering up as she tapped a few buttons. In response, their surroundings were encased in a shell, shielding them from prying eyes.

"There, you have your privacy. What is it?"

"It'll be easier if I do this," Zero replied, reaching up and unsealing his helmet, revealing himself and allowing Aria to see the man behind the mask.

He knew exactly what she was seeing, messy silver hair framing Britannian features and blue eyes.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Viscount Nicolai Alvin Hubert, and I am an emissary for His Majesty."

"Schneizel sent you?"

"I said His Majesty, not His Highness."

The expression was worth it as Aria's changed from annoyance to intrigue.

"I...see," she stated.

"While Schneizel may represent Britannia currently, His Majesty still operates with the best of his people in mind, even if it may be tempered by the desire of revenge upon those who murdered the Empress. In spite of this distraction, the concept of forming alliances for his return has not left his mind, considering you have already proven to be a capable ally of Britannia itself thanks to your graciousness."

"And that is why you are here."

"Of course. Britannia has become one of your top buyers of Element Zero in the last five years, spending significantly above what the others do in order to open an extralegal pipeline in order to avoid Citadel interference. The loss of both you and Omega would be a significant setback for our long-term objectives. Simply put, His Majesty wants to expand our already flourishing alliance by offering a defense pact. His exact words to me were 'My enemies are yours, and your interests are mine'."

"And likewise in return," Aria replied with narrowed eyes, her mind obviously calculating the pros and cons of such an arrangement. She was a pirate, the concepts of honor and allegiances were both fleeting and figurative, one day's friend could be the next day's foe.

But then there was the information that he had placed before her. The power of that information could easily balance out the risk of being betrayed. Aria will no doubt set up contingencies in the event that Cerberus betrays her.

"You have a deal," she finally stated, "on three conditions."

"I'm listening."

"First, you have a week to deal with my issue. You do that and you have your FOB."

"Acceptable."

"Second, the loss of all of these mercenary units will leave a vacuum in Omega. They have been effective implements of maintaining the status quo before they decided to bit the hand that feeds. If they are wiped out, I expect you to support me."

"Already been planned. They will not be Tacitus or classified as Cerberus, but consider Omega's peace and a bit of its seedier and dangerous facets to be adequately contained in the interim."

"Finally, I want to meet him. I don't trust anyone who isn't willing to make deals face to face, so as soon as conditions one and two are completed, I expect a visit."

"I do not have that authority, but considering His Majesty, I believe he can respect that sentiment and will make sure to arrange a meeting."

She searched his expression for a few moments before nodding.

"You have a deal then."

"We do have one condition though."

"What is that?"

"You will not reveal the existence of His Majesty to anyone unless we say so."

"...Of course."

"Very well then," he smiled, holding forward a hand towards Aria, who looked at the hand for a moment, before taking it, "it's a deal."


A/N:

A day late, but this was the best we could do in light of the circumstances. Personal life, work, college, and general unwillingness to write all sum up the excuses that propogate the reason for our tardiness.

So, we have a series of graduations in this chapter, with Kallen finally reaching Lelouch's level of power, Lelouch has returned to known space, Jane and Suzaku have graduated but it seems things aren't looking up for them, and Lelouch is scheming in earnest with Aria in his sights.

Now, moving onto business, guest posts, while appreciated, when they are critical, it would be nice if we were allowed the opportunity to question and defend ourselves in lieu of the criticism. Posting a guest post in the negative isn't exactly conducive to allowing us to improve the product of our labors. So, please, if you can, leave us an account review or a way we can talk back to you so we can ask what might be a problem.

Finally, there will be one more update in the next week (or so) before we go on hiatus. Like we have stated before, it is to allow us to work up some material so we can continue the consistent updates. But it is also a marking of a changing of the arc, per se. We have established much of the world that will take place (with some more necessary), it is now to actually start digging into some of the more weightier issues over the next few months as we make the transition.

In fact, expect the chapter to be deeper into the weekend, AlSmash is celebrating his birthday Monday, which means he will probably be too drunk to write...or will proceed write too much.