Well…that was a first blow if I haven't seen one. As you can imagine, after such a broadcast, the world will wants answers and for Clovis to be punished for his actions, even if he's a veggie right now, mob mentality works in odd ways. As you all saw last chapter, I showed Lelouch's broadcast to the world from many people's and groups point of view, even Charles and Marianne who also watched it.
Poor Euphie, though, we all saw in canon that she still thought her brother was a gentle man when she took office. I will say she was ignorant of the situation she never really was that involved in government as we thought she was. I mean if she was she would have found out what really happened in Shinjuku, all she had to do was ask Suzaku who KNEW there was no poison gas to speak of. If she did she would have known that Clovis ordered a massacre for other reasons and she would have watched her sister better. After all Cornelia first act to draw out zero was to do the same to Saitama as she knew he would have to show up and stop her to save face.
This was proven in the story 'Code Geass: The Prepared Rebellion V2' (Great story by the way) as in that story, as soon as Euphemia found out what her sister was up to, she raced off to stop it. She didn't do this in canon as she must of not known about it as if she did, she would have done something, if she found out about it later, she would have doubt brought it up with Cornelia who herself had no way of proving that the
wholeof Saitama were assisting the rebels there. That would have no doubt shaken the relationship between the sisters and added some more seasoning to the plot by showing us how much they differ even if they are siblings. Much like Lelouch and Nunnally since he was Chaotic Good while Nunnally was Lawful good. Roles they both played for most of the series.
Anyway this chapter will have the aftermath of the whole affair and how the people of the world and Japan are dealing with it. It will also have more Alice moments as she needs her time to shrine as a character.

Chapter 11: On a Calm Day

April 25th 2020S A.T.B/ 3 968BBY:

Unknown Region:

Milky Way Galaxy:

Earth/Sol-3:

Britannian Homeland:

Pendragon Imperial Palace:

(News broadcast)

"In our main story, the Area 11 government has once more denied reporters answers as to what former viceroy, 3rd Prince Clovis la Britannia was really doing in the Shinjuku ghetto. It has been two days since the masked, terrorist who goes by the name of 'Zero' made his statement to the world and released video and documents pertaining to the alleged criminal activities of the former viceroy. Since then riots have broken out in the Tokyo settlements as well as four other cities across Area 11. Each one has been put down since by police forces as our sources have reported that all military personal have been effectively placed on house arrest until such a time that a detailed inquiry on the Shinjuku massacre as the people have come to call it and the private dealings of Prince Clovis can be launched. Anti-government sentiment among Britannian citizens has risen to a record high 34%, a number so high it has not been seen since 1980s. In other news, 2nd Princess Cornelia has been announced to be the replacement to 3rd Prince Clovis by Prime Minister Schneizel el Britannia. In his speech, the Prime minster has assured that the truth of the matter will be revealed in time and that the results will be made public." The new reporter told the public over the television, as she gave her short speech, shorts clips and videos of the incidents were being shown in the background, each one not looking good as Britannians had not taken to the street in protest in years.

"Yes on the matter of the Prime minster, talks between the Britannian Empire and the E.U have slowed to a halt as the delegates of the E.U member nations of France, Greece, Portugal Spain and Italy pull out in response to the uproar caused by Zero. No comment as been made as to why other then they will first see if the office of the Prime minster is to be trusted at this point. Due to the breakdown of talks, Britannian and Spanish troops have begun to mass in Gibraltar and Area 15 respectively however, Prime Minister Schneizel el Britannia has called the move a security measure and not a build-up to an invasion." Her colleague confirmed as a clip of the French delegates leaving the summit in New York were shown before they all got into their limos and drove off. It was at this moment the emperor of the most powerful empire the world had ever seen turned off the TV. It was rare that he even watched it as he had agents who informed him on matters like this but he wanted to see it with his own eyes.

"Well that's a great big mess of things." Charles summarised as he messaged his eyes for a bit, this wasn't what he was expecting if you had asked him what he was planning just a month prior but his children always did a way of getting to him

"Too right dear, now with these revealed to the world, we have to halt all plans for conquest till the commoners are settled." Marianne replied as she read over the reports of the riots, already the nobles were showing signs of fear in what the people may do, spineless inbreeds.

"That's not taking into account all the increased rebel activity in area 11 through 16. At this rate, we may have to despatch rounds to all of them." Charles told her.

"Weakening out attack force for the assault on the E.U. which are using our delay as a means to build up their own forces. Naval blockades now monitor their territorial waters much more closely now. V.V was most annoyed by the fact his agents in the E.U are finding it hard to leave." Marianne finished for hi as she caught on to what he was saying.

"That's little troll can't handle the thought of having a 2nd plan and is just pissed his first one failed. Speaking of which, does he know?" Marianne added as she had read the letter V.V sent Charles.

"About who Zero may be? No he has no clue as our wayward son dropped off the map ten years ago. He spent 3 years looking for him and only ever got dead ends." Charles told her, somewhat glad those two won't meet for a while, he didn't need to think what kind of destruction a telekinesis user and immortal could do.

"We assumed he would head to the Ashford's but he never made it. I don't know where they were all these years but now…this isn't something we foresaw." Marianne told him as she worried for her children, she knew they weren't dead as Charles would frequently enter C's World to check. Not those same children have returned…ready to burn down everything the nation of Britannia stood for, with Charles on top of that fire.

"By the way, how did Clovis get his hands on C.C for so long? Even in her capsule, she should have been able to escape. Why didn't she?" Marianne asked as she was not easy to even get a picture of the pizza loving immortal, how did idiot man child Clovis manages to catch and contain her for so long in the first place?

"From what I can guess, V.V must have had a hand in it, do doubt he wasn't thinking again and now it has blown up in our faces." Charles told her his thought as he felt every bit as old as he was due to this latest setback, they were supposed to have started the Ragnarok Connection in 2018 but due to some new thought elevators being found in other lands, they had to hold it off.

"I told you he can't be trusted, he may be older than both of us Charles but he acts and thinks like a child at the worst of times." Marianne told him, angry that his short sighted actions may have cost them big this time, oh who was she kidding, that little midget never thought before he did something.

"Yes dear but we still need him for the plan to succeed." Charles told her tiredly as this wasn't the first or the last time she would bring this up.

"That doesn't mean he needs to have free reign to walk around and such, you and I both know he isn't as good as he thinks he is. He's an envious little troll who throws his faulty geass agents at any and all problems that arise rather than looking for alternative means." Marianne told him firmly as she didn't let up.

"Faulty?" Charles, he didn't think geass could be faulty as it was based off their user's deepest desires and not the contractor.

"You heard me, I mean what kind of power stops your own heart, with a condition like that, that's a geass which will never reach maturity and sooner kill off the user." Marianne told him as she thought back to that Rolo boy V.V as so fond of, how could he reach his full potential when his power was sure to kill him before then?

"I thought you were dealing with your anger towards V.V Marianne." Charles asked but more said as this was a topic they would always argue on, he didn't even need to look to see that she was not in the mood.

"Sorry about that, dealing with being killed in my own home by such a troll isn't something easily forgotten. We could have completed the plan by now you know. You were there when I put Lelouch through his first combat classes, when it comes to adapting to the battlefield and intelligence, he outstripped both Schneizel and Cornelia. Hell he would have lead the charge to recapture the isles and saw it as a challenge. But no, that little troll just couldn't stand the thought of his brother having a humanly relationship outside himself, I swear he has may be on the closet with a brother complex to boot." Marianne raged as she paced around the room, clearly incensed that he was allowed to roam free when he had proven he wasn't trustworthy by quote unquote killing her!

"Alright that's enough dear, I sure he isn't gay or has a brother complex but I assure you that he is being watched." Charles told her as he had several agents who weren't fully loyal to his elder brother watching over him, so far he hasn't done anything of importance.

"Good, what do you suppose we do about our children?" Marianne asked as she wanted to hear how he planned to handle them now that they have returned to the light of day…so to speak.

"At the moment, we know too little about their abilities and resources, the boy was able to mask his and his sister presence from both the O.S.I and the Order. That says that if he thinks he has a tail, they'll disappear like smoke in the wind. For the time being, we need to watch his movements before approaching them. At the very least I can see young Nunnally listening to reason, her brother will be easier swayed if she sees our point." Charles told her as he thought to how the battle of Shinjuku went and how he led Clovis by the nose into trap unto trap over and over.

"That's right, he always did dot about for her. I would recommend Euphemia as well bit it has been 10 years so we don't know how he would respond to her, clearly Clovis wasn't considered a brother enough to not end him." Marianne said out loud as they didn't know what their son was capable of now.

May 2nd 2020 A.T.B/ 3 629BBY:

Unknown Region:

Milky Way Galaxy:

Earth/Sol-3:

Area 11/Japan:

Tokyo Garrison Aerodrome Settlement:

Cornelia li Britannia, Second Princess of Britannia and one of the highest ranking members in the Imperial Army, strode off the her private jet and looked at the neatly ordered ranks of soldiers before her. They disgusted her. Why were they here, at the aerodrome, when they should be out hunting for her younger brother's murderer? "Viceroy, glaring at the soldiers will get you no closer to our brother's killer." A voice said from behind her. Cornelia relaxed somewhat and turned to view the concerned and saddened face of her younger sister, Euphemia li Britannia looking up at her. Ever since the broadcast, her sister had been in a very depressed mood. She rarely ate and barely slept after seeing what her brother was really up to, Cornelia herself could understand as she too didn't approve of her brother's actions

Cornelia had to restrain herself from pulling her sister into a comforting hug or something. Euphie and she really were two physical opposites. Where Cornelia was regal, Euphie was elegant. Where Cornelia was imposing, Euphie was delicate. Where Cornelia was coldly beautiful, Euphie was adorably cute.

Their hair was also a point of similarity, yet even there the difference was obvious. Cornelia's was dark pink and was shoulder length, whereas Euphie's hair was a lighter, brighter pink that cascaded down to the small of her back.

Personality wise, they were different as well. Euphie was kind-hearted, naïve and innocent, while her older sister maintained a cool, distance façade with everyone except those closest to her and was ruthless as they come. Despite their many and varied differences, the li Britannia sisters were very close, even more so since their two favourite siblings' deaths united them in grief. Lelouch and Nunnally had been sent to Japan as hostages and their father had sacrificed them like pawns, as if they had not even existed, during the Second Pacific War ten years prior. At the time Cornelia's mother forbid her from contacting her siblings in any way, they still got letters and missed phone calls but with Catherine hovering over her, she could do nothing. She was greatly disheartened when after five months, the letters stop showing up, no missed phone call, nothing.

After news of their deaths had reached them, she was near inconsolable for a full week, Euphie not much better. She felt so weak, how this could had happened and she just stayed back. She prayed ever night to them, begging for their forgiveness, hoping that they were happy in heaven with their mother but it didn't alleviate the pain of losing them, never being able to finally see Lelouch beat Schneizel in chess, never being able to see Nunnally pose for Clovis to paint, those happy moments were gone.

It wasn't till about a year after their secret funerals that she dared to open the letters. At the time, Euphie was with her as well as she refused not to be present as she opened up what may have been their last words from them. The first couple were sad to hear, how they were nothing more than prisoners, how he and some boy weren't getting along. The next were not much better as they him asking for Nunnally if they could sent something back. As they rad on, they saw as the negatives started to crawl deeper into the sweet boy, the letters would reflect his emotions as he wrote them as they could see he started getting desperate for contact with family, how she sent letters to all the siblings he was close to but none replied. The final ones drove them both to tears as he begged, the proud and noble son of Marianne the flash begged to them to send something, anything to let them know they were missed. Euphie ran out of the room in tears when she read the last letter they ever got from him. It was a short one but impactful none the less

"I didn't want to believe it, I wanted to believe we were family, that mother was wrong when she told she told me your may turn on us. But now I see those were the foolish illusions of a naïve child. You all have shown us your true colours, we know what he are to you. Not family, not friends…we are nothing but liabilities to you people. I have seen the Britannia from the eyes of the world and I now know just how twisted you have begun. War is coming, I know asking you to stop it would be pointless, after all don't all you royals love spilling blood and working those born lower than you to death for fill your own pockets? This is the last you will hear from Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia, we have thrown away any and all relations to you people much like you did to us. I will hunt down whoever killed my mother, and I WILL destroy them all and if you and any other royal are found to be connected to it…May heaven have mercy on your souls as I cast them to the lowest pits of hell."

Signed Lelouch the Abandoned

The cold nature of which he denounced any connections to them as strangers, enemies even cut deeper than any other wound. She couldn't fathom the thought they (he) thought she had anything to do with Marianne death but she couldn't complain, they were alone to fend for themselves in a world that was cruel. After this, she couldn't find in herself to visit Marianne grave, what right did she have to when her children died alone and scared after she promised to always look out for them? Euphie still called Millicent every now and them but she stayed to herself. She knew her father wouldn't hesitate to use Euphie in such a way as he did Lelouch and Nunnally, So to make sure this wouldn't happen, Cornelia had taken Euphie with her to every posting after that, rarely letting her out of her sight.

"Yes, I suppose you're right, Euphie. " Cornelia replied to her sister's remark, "But it's just irritating to see all these soldiers here rather than doing their jobs, I thought they were supposed to be looking into this mess Clovis left for us."

"The bureaucrats and nobles here wanted to throw a banquet to celebrate your arrival." Said a light skinned mad with light brown hair and blue eyes as he jogged over and saluted both imperial princesses, "Lord Jeremiah slapped them down and sent them scurrying. Welcome to Area 11, you're Highnesses."

"Sounds like Jeremiah Gottwald still remembers my dislike of pomp then." Cornelia remarked dryly, "And you are?"

"Altgrave Kewell Soresi, Your Highness, the Temporary Sub-Viceroy." Kewell replied as eh dropped the salute, "Lord Jeremiah sent me along with an armoured escort to ensure escort you are well protected. He wants to update you on the progress on the hunt for Zero."

"Excellent!" Cornelia said with a nod of approval, maybe this area wasn't full of incompetent fools and cowards. "It's good to see being in such a provincial Area hasn't dulled Gottwald much. Lead on."

"Of course. This way, you're Highness." Kewell said as she led them to an armoured limousine alongside four Sunderlands and held the door for the two princesses. Once he followed them in after them, the limo drove off.

Seeing a questioning look on Cornelia's face, Kewell said, "Lord Jeremiah ordered me not to let the two of you out of my sight until I had you both safely inside the Viceroy's Section of the Administrative Building. Paranoia is the word of the day after Zero somehow able to get as deep in as he did and attack Prince Clovis."

"Naturally." Cornelia nodded, "What has Gottwald done to improve security thus far?"

"He has reinstated the normal security measures and is currently reviewing them for holes." Kewell said.

"'Reinstated'?" Euphie parroted, confused by the word. "What do you mean?"

Kewell looked slightly uncomfortable at the question. "His Highness didn't appreciate all of the intrusive measures in place to safeguard him. On his second night here after assuming his post as Viceroy, he used his Royal Privilege to have a great number of them either dismantled or greatly toned down in scale. Or so the records say."

"Idiot!" Cornelia fumed, "He was a Prince! He should have been used to such things! He grew up with them!"

"Lord Jeremiah said much the same thing but after reviewing some of the evidence of his highness'…personal activities it seems he may have been covering for them." Kewell said uncomfortably as he was one of the few who still couldn't believe Clovis would do such a thing.

A frown crossed Cornelia's face. "Yes, we certainly need to look into that." She muttered bitterly, "The fact that a lot of those measures were simple common sense and weren't put in place until after Lady Marianne was murdered does not sit well with me."

Euphie laid a hand on her sister's shoulder and sent a fleeting look at Kewell that screamed 'change the subject!' at him.

"Oh yes." Kewell opened the briefcase on the seat next to him and pulled out a clipboard with a couple of sheets of paper on it. "Princess Euphemia, would you believe me of my post as Sub-Viceroy?"

"Ah….certainly." Euphie said, taken off guard by the bizarre topic change. "How?"

Kewell handed her the clipboard and a pen. "All you need to do is sign here, here, here…and here." He pointed out the relevant sections. Euphie signed in the relevant areas and handed the form back to Kewell, who signed his own relevant sections as well.

"Congratulations Your Highness. You are now the official Sub-Viceroy of Area 11, with all the migraine inducing paperwork that the position entails." Kewell said seriously as he struggled to hold in the laughter as the pink haired princess adopted a look of sheer horror.

"Why do you say that like you've been buried in it?" she asked.

"Because I have." Kewell replied frankly. "Although Prince Clovis did most of his paper there was still some that were uncompleted along with all the paperwork this whole fiasco has generated. I have been helping Lord Jeremiah deal with it the best I could but…That was after I filled out about 20 forms to become the Temporary Sub-Viceroy's position."

"20 whole forms?" Euphie and Cornelia almost looked green at the thought.

"Don't worry, Your Highnesses, that was because I not a member of high nobility." Kewell told Euphie, "You just took my job with four signatures. Much to my relief, I assure you."

"I assume that you will be returning to the Purebloods now then?" Cornelia asked relief at not having to fill out endless swathes of paperwork showing in her voice.

"That…is a bit complicated, you're Highness." Kewell said, now looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Oh?" Cornelia asked, the man was obviously unsettled by something

"It's one of the things that Lord Jeremiah wishes to discuss with you, Your Highness. I can't say anything else other than I will go where ordered." Kewell replied as he tried to avoid the gaze of the fabled 'Goddess of Victory.

Cornelia was curious now, but then the limo just pulled into the secure garage of the Area 11 Administrative Building, so she put her questions off until she met Gottwald.

The Viceroy's Office, once Kewell had bowed them in and closed the doors behind the sisters, was slightly too large for Cornelia's taste, but she could work in it since he met Guilford and Andreas could use the space as well. What really drew her attention was a large family portrait on the right hand wall. It had a black haired woman in a blue dress, a black haired boy in neat clothes and a brown haired girl in a pretty dress smiling out of it.

"Lady Marianne…Lelouch…Nunnally…" Cornelia whispered at the faces that had been silenced all those year ago before she turned to look away in shame, something Euphie caught.

"His Highness Prince Clovis painted that piece himself and purely from memory." Jeremiah said as he walked into the room from a side door, "I had it placed here to remind me to never again stray from the path they wanted. Greetings. Princess Cornelia. Princess Euphemia. It is good to see you both again." Jeremiah said as she saluted them both.

"Margrave Gottwald." Cornelia nodded in greeting, "Clovis painted this? He was better than I remember him being." 'Shame he wasn't nearly as kind as we all thought'

"That's what the man in charge of His Highness' personal art gallery said." Jeremiah confirmed, "You must admit, the likeness is uncanny."

"Such gentle colours…" Euphie muttered as she walked up to the painting for a closer look, wondering how the man who did this would ever be commit of such crimes against his fellow man.

Cornelia reluctantly turned away from the painting to look at Jeremiah. "I believe I have you to thank for not being buried under bureaucrats and their attempts to fawn over me as soon as I stepped off the plane?" She asked as she hated ass-kissers with a passion.

"I merely recalled my time as a Royal Guard under your command, Your Highness." Jeremiah replied, a hint of a smile on his face, "Your dislike of pomp was almost legendary amongst us Guard."

"I'm glad to have left a lasting impression on you." Cornelia replied dryly, "As pleasant as this trip down memory lane is, I believe you wished to brief me on the progress in the hunt for Zero and the investigation?"

Jeremiah became serious at once. "Of course. Do you wish to wait for your knights to arrive or shall we start now?"

"Dalton and Guilford are ensuring that our Gloucesters and Sunderlands are stowed correctly and will be for some time." Cornelia replied, "So brief me now and I'll be able to brief my knights as well. Euphie, you pay attention as well." Her sister moved over to a chair and sat down with a sigh. Cornelia also took a seat and gestured for Jeremiah to begin.

"Yes…Let's see…." Jeremiah mused, "Well, to start with, there have been next to no indications of Zero in the last ten years. It's almost as if he appeared overnight, around the beginning of March this year."

"Beginning of March, not the battle of Shinjuku?" Cornelia asked.

"It appears that before he showed himself in the light of day, Zero of his 'knights' were taking out other resistance groups here in Area 11." Jeremiah reported as he brought out some of the files they had on the black knight's earlier movements.

"Why would he target his own allies?" Euphie asked confused and hurt he would kill his own people.

"Because against popular belief, the rebels groups don't get along well which we have determined comes down to methods and pride. The groups Zero targeted were some of the cells which target civilian targets as they don't have the power to take on military ones. After he made his announcement to the world, it had become clear he will targets anyone who targets the 'weak'" Jeremiah reported as he gave them the reports to see for themselves, each group taken out was the textbook definition of a terrorist down to targets preferences.

"So he's a man of his word?" Euphie asked, she wanted to know this for sure.

"So it would seem" Jeremiah told them, biting back the urge to swear at him being complimented for not lying.

"Was there any sign of him before hand? No-one just appears, especially someone as well trained and equipped as him. Were there no secret gatherings? No unrest among the Numbers?" Cornelia asked in disbelief.

"The Elevens are always in a state of unrest." Jeremiah said frankly, "From what I gathered, Prince Clovis blamed them for the deaths of Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally, so there has been almost no urban renewal, other than what was necessary to build the Settlement, in the ten years since the conquest, hence why the ghettos here are some of the largest in the empire." Jeremiah told them as he pulled out a thumb-drive with the relevant data and plugged it in to his desktop to show them.

"As to secret meetings, there are countless resistance groups meeting in secret nearly every day, more than in almost any other Area. Mostly, we bribe a member to feed us information on what they do, which mostly amounts to them complaining how awful Britannians are, or minor acts of vandalism such as tagging buildings and trains. Even so, we only have ears in about a hundred groups Area-wide and none in the Japanese Liberation Front or Blood of the Samurai." Jeremiah told them before he signed in exhaustion as the workload was staring to get to him.

"Simply put, we were overwhelmed by what was demanded of us and were spread too thin to detect Zero's arrival, creation or movements." Jeremiah reported as they were pulled too thin as is. Cornelia and Euphie stared at Jeremiah. Part of them was amazed he had recalled that load of information without notes and part of them was appalled by how bad things were in Area 11.

"That is ridiculous!" Cornelia spat out, "Those groups should have been eliminated, not just tracked!"

"Prince Clovis was of the opinion that they were of no threat to the forces he had in place which in most cases is true as most of the cells don't even process knightmares or RPGs of their own, although I think the real reason was that he was worried about being recalled to the Homeland if his Area was constantly a hive of military activity." Jeremiah said bluntly.

"That…does sound like Clovis." Euphemia said hesitantly.

"Yes, unfortunately it does." Sighed Cornelia, "And we have to reap what he has sown. Continue, Margrave."

"Yes your Highness. One month and two weeks ago, The Purebloods along with the other forces received orders to mobilise in pursuit of an unregistered group of Eleven Terrorists who had stolen a weapon of horrific abilities." Jeremiah said.

"The supposed poison gas, yes?" Cornelia asked him, if this was how it started how did those rebels even get their hands on it? The JLF or BoTS maybe but some no-name group?

"It seems so as in hindsight, I wondered why he sent so many to capture it but at the time we were not informed on the cargo till after the battle." Jeremiah told her as he did wonder why he was sent out but at the time didn't care.

"We have already been informed on the battle and aftermath Jeremiah, have the Black Knights done anything since?" Euphie asked as Andreas already gave them the mission report Jeremiah submitted.

"Yes, aside from the original broadcast which had gone viral with around 68 million views and rising, the Black Knights have hacked into eight different weapons manufactures here and in Area 12. From what we could gather they appeared to have stolen the schematics for the Portmans and Gloucester while at the same time sending a crippling virus which has resulted in all eight factories to be out of commission. The best estimate places their re-opening in around 2 weeks."

"SO they know to go after the industry as well." Cornelia muttered as this wasn't the run of the mill group if they knew to cut the supply of arms first before attacking.

"Yes, the Black Knights have been doing their homework. They have also taken responsibility for the assassinations of 24 different government officials which they then exposed to be corrupt. In one instance they were able to sneak into the lady Spears home and kill her in her sleep without killing or alerting any other person on site." Jeremiah reported as he handed them the file which the information of the police investigation findings.

"They assassinate people too?" Euphie asked him appalled by such tactics.

"It appears so but because of who the targets are along with their crimes, the people aren't too upset about it, most reports are just about people complaining about the bodies being hung from public places." Jeremiah told her as sad as it is, Clovis and his little side project ruined the government reputation in the eyes of the common man, being shown to have corrupt elements isn't helping them as reporters swarm their teams before they can do anything.

"I have a sick feeling that says that wasn't the only thing they did, was it?" Cornelia muttered aloud.

"Afraid not, about a week ago, a shipment of Sunderlands coming in through port Shizuoka was raided." Jeremiah revealed, surprising the two royals as shipment records were purposely kept to a need to know basic to stop things like this.

"How many were stolen?" Euphie asked.

"Not stolen, from the reports, it seems that they sunk the ship with all cargo and personal on board. About 20 Sunderlands and about 80 crew gone." Jeremiah told them grimly as he pulled out the reports the divers complied about the wreck, only around 30 bodies were recovered.

"Why would they sink them rather than take them?" Cornelia asked, heedless of her sister disgust at such a loss of life.

"I think this may be the reason your highness, please watch this video. It was the only one we could salvage from the destroyed 12 Sunderlands on scene." Jeremiah said as he played a clip on his monitor which he turned to face them. On the screen were numerous black and grey knightmares fighting against the imperial forces but what stuck out as the two royal as the fact that the machines attacking them were far more stream lined than the bulky Sunderlands, appearing to be based off armoured ogres of old folklore going by the fact their heads only had one glowing red eye, they also looked to be around half a metre taller than their Imperial counterparts and were using a rifle much larger than the Sunderlands. It was…amazing in a way to see just 4 of them take down 22 Sunderlands.

"What are those?" Cornelia asked, she didn't like it when word reached of the E.U developing their own knightmares to replace their Panzer Hummel's as it meant for brutal fighting, could these be those new machines.

"Unconfirmed Black Knight knightmares it seems going by their colour scheme. From what you can see they match Sunderlands in most performance but seem to fire a different type of rifle." Jeremiah told them as he pressed a button which showed their predicted stats versus those of a factory fresh Sunderland and it was plain to see that it matched in everything except armaments and speed which it was better in.

"How so?" Cornelia asked, every detail was needed to properly fight this new threat to the crown.

"Well as you know, all out knightmares use the standard 45mm anti-armour assault rifle which fires both HE and AP rounds but these models fire what looks like 55mm rifles which makes them much more powerful than what we field." Jeremiah told them as he gave them the ballistic report for the shells found on scene.

"So this new group is really something. Fine then, what about the report on my brother activities?" Cornelia asked, wishing to move on to the next topic.

"That's has made more progress but not much." Jeremiah told them as the investigation had yet to learn anything of substance.

"Explain." Cornelia ordered.

"We were able to determine that Prince Clovis used another man, a baron Cobalt. The company that was producing our unknown was registered to a Cobalt house that after investigation revealed to just have been a cover for Prince Clovis to carry it out. I was able to get in contact with the baron in Area 13, he was willing to tell us what he knew seeing how the prince was nearly killed for this. He was able to supply the names of three members of the staff there." Jeremiah reported as he took out all the files they had the case so far which Euphie started looking into as soon as could, needing to see the truth.

"What do you mean unknown, was this the supposed 'victim'?" Euphie asked as she wasn't one to believe the media like most and wanted cold hard facts.

"Yes your highness, this was confirmed as after the battle, the remains of the truck were recovered and after examination showed that there was no gas in that capsule, the only thing we found was unidentified strands of human hair as well as hair of an individual of eleven descent." Jeremiah told them.

"I see…so it was true." Euphie said, sadden that her brother really was the monster Zero made him out to be.

"That's what the information points to your highness. Also there appears to be more at work here than we originally thought. Of the three we identified to be connected to this, two of them were found dead, both seemed to have been killed. One was found to have cyanide in her system suggesting she was poison and the other was strangled in his sleep. The poison victim was found to have been killed 12 hours before he was found a month ago, the second was found to have been killed 3 days before discovery a month ago as well." Jeremiah told them as Cornelia was reading the autopsy report as he said this and saw it matched up.

"My god, who would target their own people?" Euphie asked, that wasn't the actions of the country she knew, those were the actions of a criminal family.

"Someone who doesn't want to be found out. Were you able to gain any from the man you were able to bring in alive?" Cornelia asked him as the bodies were dropping faster than she cared to count, all because of this secret project.

"Oh yes, after some interrogation sessions, he told us the names of the scientist who were working in this Code-R project but…." Jeremiah started but stop mid-sentence and seemed to be looking for the right words.

"But what Gottwald? What happened?" Cornelia demanded, she was hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

"They're all dead. There was an explosion in a privately owned building in Mito and the police were able to confirm the bodies of all the staff. It appears a bomb went off, collapsing the building on top of them." Jeremiah told them both.

"Oh no, it can't be" Euphie nearly gagged at the thought of such a demise.

"It as I say your highness. Over 20 floors of steel and concrete crushed them to death, the only person not found in the wreckage was Bartley who escaped his hospital room shortly after awakening on the 2nd of April." Jeremiah told them, as he went on to brief them on all that was going on in Area 11.

(Meanwhile)

"Come one big bro lest go!" Alice called out to Lelouch as she ran ahead of him. They both were walking down the street toward the amusement park. They have been doing things like this for the past few days, Lelouch thought she needed the pick-me-up. You see, unlike himself and Suzaku who only start their classes at Ashford University in August, Alice and Nunnally started their classes a couple weeks prior. Nunnally was doing well for herself at Ashford academy where she already joined the ballet club and made some friends. Alice on the under hand….

Due to her clearly Japanese features, she was faced much racism from the first day, she tried to be strong as to not worry them but she snapped on the fourth day when she returned to her locker to see it covered in racial slurs and other chauvinistic terms. She ran home crying that day…it took both Suzaku and Nunnally to stop him from hunting down the snot nosed brats who dare make his adopted daughter cry, when he did calme down he went to see the school principal as well as the parents of the bullies and bought it up with him them Of course the damn fools refused to see that their kids had done anything wrong and dared to argue the whole Britannian first policy on him.
He was outraged at this but chose not to kill them, he still got his way in the end.
You see he had created a new force power called Force Daunt, by carefully leaking out one's own force power and giving it shape with their minds and emotions, they create a spirit embodiment of this that only those the user's wishes to see can. To the parents and principal, they saw a massive black and red bipedal demon in his shadow. After he gave the old principal a heart attack from fright, he got his apologies and all the bullies were suspended for a full semester.
Does he feel bad about giving a 70 year old man a heart attack? Not really.
Did he enjoy watching the suppose 'superior' beings crumble and fall before him at the face of true power? Of course.
Would he do it again? Most definitely.

Anyway the point was that he decided to spend more time around his little girl to make sure she knew she was loved…and because he loved seeing her so damn happy.

"Alright already, you don't have to rush so far." Lelouch said with a small smile as he picked up the pace and took her hand into his so she could lead him without getting to far from him. She chose for them to park. They spent hours there where he pushed her on the swings, got her ice-cream, took her to the merry go round and played other games. Lelouch cherished every moment of it.

Since he knew his war would soon kick into high gear.

Alright, that's this chapter over and done with. As you all just read, Shirley dad along with all his co-workers are dead, or more accurately they have been killed to cover up the Code-R research and everything it entrails so Shirley is going to be a bit broke next chapter as Lulu doesn't have his Geass to make her forget the pain so she can move on, she will have to deal with it like everyone else does.
As you can imagine, the force in Star Wars has many uses and depending on who uses it, has many abilities to be unlocked. Lelouch is a person unlike any before him, while Suzaku may be the better fighter between the two hands down, Lelouch had discovered many different force abilities to make up for this, one of which is Force Daunt which as stated, allows the users to manifest anything they desire as to intimidate their opponents or trick them.
It works similar to a Jedi mind trick but is much more complex in both nature and skill level needed to use it. As it takes aspects from genjutsu in the Naruto franchise, the user needs to be exceptionally strong willed to control the manifestation but also must be feeling great emotional strain such as happiness, anger or love. It's because that the user must be emotional that most Jedi can't use it as it would violate their code on emotions as their code stated 'There is no emotion, only peace' and most Sith can't use it as they are too weak willed to as they allow the darker aspects of both themselves and the force to corrupt them and turn them into heartless greedy monsters.
As Nunnally stated earlier, Lelouch excels at the 'Control' aspect of the force while Suzaku is the best at 'Alter' with Nunnally being the best at 'Sense'. As some of all may have suspected when it was mentioned Lelouch basically used Genjutsu on those parents, a lot of Lelouch's techniques actually were inspired by the Uchiha clan and their techniques. Lelouch named most of them their Naruto name as he as rejected his Britannian heritage to the point where he even threw away his mother's maiden name and as a result, he wouldn't name his skills and techniques anything related to English. I know that he still uses this name in public but he is working as the leader of a rebel cell, he just chose it as a cover.

Here are some of the force related abilities that Lelouch has either improved upon or created:

Force Daunt: By carefully leaking out one's own force power and giving it shape with their minds and emotions, they create a spirit embodiment of this that only those the user's wishes to see can.

Force Clone: Much like the force ability known as Doppelganger, the user if able to create near perfect copies of living creatures but unlike Doppelganger, these are capable of self-thought and understanding which makes them able to move around and interact with the environment around them like a real creature would. They are very useful in gaining information as once they are dispelled or defeated, any and all information they gathered through the five senses is sent back to the user, their only drawback is that they only last around 2 days and can't detect other force users or force related abilities.

Force Madness Inducement: By leaking out the user's own dark emotions and amplifying them, the user can then send this wave of negativity at anyone in a certain radius to them which in turn makes the target act irrationally and returns to the basic fight or flight response, which ever they chose, the target is not able to use higher brain functions and lashes out or flees like an animal. The effects last anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 days depending on the mental strength and fortitude of the target.

Thebes: An illusion which was intended to be used on people with high body counts. This ability manifest the ghouled formed of those the target had slain or directly ordered slain. These ghouls will then torment tha target, burying them in fear, guilt or regret over their actions.

Force Cloak: An improved version of the standard, not only are the users able to mask their presence by manipulating light and sound waves but they are also capable of using a mass mind trick an anyone within a 10m radius of them so that targets minds don't register them.