Authors Note: Sorry I'm like two weeks late guys! I just haven't known what to write latley, and it makes me uncomfortable when I have the same amount published as written. (So yes, I have written past this point!)
Annabelle, unarmed and outmatched, surrendered quickly. India walked over to Kallen, panting. "Wow I didn't actually expect that to work. Thanks for the help,"
"Wow, that was impressive. You're pretty good at that," Kallen observed.
"At what? Strategizing? I play chess a lot," she smiled. "And checkers and other strategy games, though I've ever actually put them to use like this before,"
Kallen nodded. "Well, Zero said to take you to your room, so we should get going," she added. India nodded and the two of them walked out, letting Rollo finish up the arrest.
After walking along in silence for awhile, India thought how much easier this must be for them. Nobody cared if they threw a Brittanian or two or even an Eleven or two in jail.
But India vowed to make it a lot harder for them.
"Stay here," Kallen said, indicating the room they'd stopped at. India walked in. It was a beautiful little room with a seating area, bed hidden by screen and a door leading into a small washroom. It was all done in traditional Japanese style.
"It's beautiful!" India gasped. "This is an old Japanese style?" she asked. Kallen nodded. "Wow, it's so different from Brittanian things... more natural," she smiled pleasantly.
"Yeah, it's nice. Look I've got to go. Zero will be here in an hour or two, he wants to talk to you," Kallen told her.
India's eyebrows arched like that was news. "To me? Wow," she said.
Kallen nodded again and left the room...
Finally, no more acting. India sighed and threw herself on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Well, it was comfortable at least. And she'd have to get used to the Eleven style, because if all went as planned she'd be staying here a long time. That reminded her that she'd be meeting Zero face to face in a couple hours. She should get ready. Maybe have a shower or something.
An hour later she was pretty much ready. She'd showered, washed and dried her hair and brushed her teeth. She was finally presentable when here was a firm knock on her door.
She looked up. That must be him. She danced over to get the door. Then she stopped. She wondered if she should've put her hair up or something, she looked too Brittanian. But maybe that was overkill... if Lelouch thought she was overdoing it he might get suspicious... She sighed and opened the door.
Of course he was in his usual getup, with his mask and cape. After all, HE didn't know she knew who he was. Without a word, India stepped back to let him in, going over to sit in one of the chairs in the little seating area in the room.
"Y-you wanted to see me?" India said shyly
"Yes. Do you know why the Brittanian Emperor was looking for you?" he asked her.
Taken aback at his bluntness, India paused before answering. "I'm not totally sure. My mother, she's a very, erm... 'patriotic' Brittanian. Maybe he thought I'd be like her." She hoped he could hear the quotation marks in her voice around the word "patriotic".
"Then why wouldn't he go to your mother?"
"Because she's an idiot," India sighed, looking annoyed. "Hooked on refrain, can't even play checkers let alone chess, and she's thirty nine years old. I don't think she'd be of any help to him,"
"And you do not support the former Emperors vision?"
Damn it! To just straight out and ask like that, this Zero was better than she'd thought. She couldn't just answer "no," she'd never be believed. But to her surprise the lie rose to her lips easily, almost before she had to think about it. "No," she sighed and continued "I wish the Brittanians were given more status than they have now. Though on the surface we are treated equal to the Japanese, when nobody's watching it is revealed that we're treated only a little better than we treated the Elevens back in the day. I want that to stop. However, if given the choice I would rather leave the world as it is than go back to Brittania and the way things used to be,"
"I see," There was a long pause, and India held back a smile. She'd chosen her words well.
Suddenly Zero's phone rang. After retrieving it from under his cloak, he paused and looked at it before answering quickly. "What is it Q-1?"
India could just barely hear Kallens voice on the other end. So Kallen was Q-1, which meant the Guren in battle. Interesting. Maybe if she could tap their communication lines she'd have warning when they finally got to battle. "Eight more attacks on the Black Knights! And six of them have advanced weapons from our armoury!"
"Who are the defectors?" Zero demanded.
"Amy Reel, Judy Worth, Chinatsu Hasimoto, Brandon West, Nolan Speller, Hoshu Ishihara, Yasmin Sinclaire and Jhonothan Namiki," Kallen reeled off the list of names so quickly India had to strain to hear. "Nolan and Judy had no access to the weapons but they brought guns with them. Hoshu has a Sutherland and forced his way into the armoury,"
"And the rest were high ranked soldiers," Zero said, almost to himself. "I see. With Veletta injured and many of the Black Knights in the United States of Iran attending a meeting with the Head of the European Union, now would be the best time for them to make their move. Send everyone in on the offensive. Secure the Knightmares starting with the 16th Generations and working down,"
There was a yell and Kallen dropped the phone. It was almost immediately picked up by a male who'd been listening to the conversation.
"Den Ando here. I've already done that, we've got Yaso Umari piloting the Redaxe while Rin is gone, and we've mostly got the L-wraths kept under our control. All the custom Knightmares have been secured except the Justine, the Damistus and the Vincent. Death toll approximately 20 with another 80 injured. Nobody above class 6 was killed, but High ranking officials wounded include Rollo, Kallen now, but it's not serious, Ogi and Tamaki,"
"Tell squads 1 through 4 to retreat to the inner center of Headquarters. Zero squad continue frontal assault. And tell Miyu her project will be necessary for this battle,"
India had caught most of that. L-wraths, short for Loticiuswraths, were the replacements for the Sutherlands and were the most common Knightmare in the Black Knights. 11th generations. Most of those other Knightmares were custom piloted by certain members of the Black Knights, though it seemed the Justine and Damistus captains had defected. But Miyu's project? Who was this Miyu she kept hearing about? "What's going on?" She asked anyways.
"There's been a defection of eight more Black Knights," he replied. "India, I heard about your plan defeating Annabelle,"
"Huh? Oh, I actually can't believe it worked, I'm not usually that good," she said modestly.
"Be that as it may I would like you to help us in this battle," Zero stood up.
"Me? Are you sure?" After a quick pause she said "Okay, I'll help. But I don't even know how to pilot a Knightmare!" This was of course a load of bull crap, the King had taught her how to pilot one when she'd asked him about it. However, most people weren't military experts and knowing how would probably look odd.
"An L-wrath can be piloted with mostly intuition, I think you will do very well," Zero told her as he led her down the twisted hallways. He led her into a side room, and India gasped. There were countless Knightmares; the room really couldn't fit them all. India guessed this room was where they were storing the Knightmares they'd saved from the rebels but could not be used because there weren't enough people.
Zero was about to say something when a young girl rushed into the room. She had long silvery hair, like Veletta's, but there was something about her face and chocolate brown eyes that suggested not Brittanian. A half-and-halfer maybe? That was quite possible, since she looked young enough to have been born several years after Brittania was overthrown. She could hardly be 13. "Zero!" She cried. "Den told me you said to use my project in the battle. Is that true?"
No way! This 13 year old girl was the Miyu character everyone was talking about? Some little kid?
"Miyu. The rebelling members of the BSB have spent months preparing for this. Over 40% of the Black Knights are in Iran. Veletta, Kallen, Rollo, Ogi and Tamaki are all injured. Who do you think has the upper hand in this battle?"
"But I haven't tested it yet! We don't even know if it's compatible with our other Knightmares!"
"That doesn't matter!" Zero's voice raised a notch or two, he was clearly frustrated. "If we're expecting to win this battle we need to be ready to do anything! Don't think we can take down terrorists the same way as we did Brittania! We can no longer count on our enemies to make the first move. They choose when they want to attack, and that gives them the upper hand in this battle! To overcome that advantage, we must use every resource available to us,"
"But it's dangerous!" Miyu cried. "There's a 12.2376% chance of-"
"Miyu," He said slowly. "Do you honestly think we can win this battle without your help?"
There was a long pause. India could feel the tension in the room. "I guess not," Miyu said finally. "But who will pilot it? You know most advanced Knightmares never let go of a good pilot,"
For one horrible second, India thought Lelouch would ask her to pilot the Knightmare. She couldn't gain status too quickly; she didn't want to stick out.
"C2. It's about time she had her own Knightmare," Lelouch said confidently.
"But doesn't she pilot your Knightmare when you aren't in the battle?"
"My Knightmare will most likely be destroyed in this battle,"
Looking surprised, Miyu nodded and ran out. India looked on wonderingly. Zero's Knightmare hadn't been caught yet, so why was he planning on destroying it?
Zero said nothing more about it, simply walking over to one of the L-wraths and opening it. "India,"
"Yes?" She said, sounding a little shy and scared.
"I want you to use your head in this battle. I won't be giving you orders like the rest of the Black Knights, you will be on your own. Also..." he paused for a moment and then continued. "Don't reveal your identity to anyone. Collaborate with the other Black Knights if you wish but do not state your name to anyone,"
"And if they ask? Do I make something up?"
"Don't answer,"
"Okay,"