Chapter 14: Zero's Strife
Throw away the old and bring in the new!
-Widespread saying
Part 36: Operation Sabotage
July 31 started off with a bright and beautiful morning in Canberra. The parks were quiet and the urban highways clear of traffic. The capital of Britannia's greatest commonwealth city rested like a relaxing civic holiday but that was not the case. Many of its inhabitants left for the capital to attend Imperial Ascension Day. This made it the perfect chance for the Black Knights to take over a city. Suddenly, the parliament building blew up as crimson ember filled the air with rising smoke. Many officials and government workers died as a result. Fire trucks rushed their way down the calm roads in a hurry to quell the flames but in amidst of doing so, five Knightmare Frames lifted themselves to surface from the subterranean tunnels they dug undetected over the course of five days. The squad of terrorists began to open fire and wreaked the pacific metro into a firestorm of chaos. The fire trucks were trampled and innocent lives were brutally slaughtered in the process. The Black Knights have calculated this incident to a fine degree and for one reason only: make Britannia pay for their prejudice. The commonwealth territory of Australia was not an area occupied through conquest. It was a colony where many noble Britannians immigrated to. Others include the entire North and South American continents and New Zealand. Some moved to the colonies for job opportunities, others took advantage of the natural resources and started companies and conglomerates for rare commodities that the region had to offer. Over the centuries, these once poor districts of the empire boomed into powerhouses of wealth, attracting more and more to immigrate. Now, Lelouch is taking advantage by distributing propaganda in Britannia's captured territory while inducing fear in native territories. On that day of celebration for Holy Britannia, five commonwealth metropolises were attacked simultaneously. As the streets of Pendragon were filled with floats and celebration, the targeted cities burned without mercy.
"Master Zero, our status reports say we have destroyed the parliament buildings of every target city and gained control of their militaries," Diethard said as he tracked the messages from five parts of the globe on a central computer.
"Perfect, now slay the ministers and soldiers!" Lelouch commanded on his commander's chair, "Show no mercy!"
Lelouch, C.C., Diethard and a number of the Black Knight's intelligence staff were aboard a massive battlecruiser, the Hai Gong. This flying airship was lent by the Chinese Federation in response for returning Empress Tianzi to the Vermillion City safely. The ship was well armed with twenty rail guns, Baryon Cannons and a force-field.
"Set a course for Pendragon, we will invade the capital with full forces!" Lelouch pounded his fist on the arms of his seat.
"Yes master," a female pilot replied as she quickly plotted the course.
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, two large forces hovered over the coastlines of San Luis Rio Colorado. One was the Chinese division, led by Li Xingke who was piloting the Shen Hu, a devastating indigo coloured Knightmare Frame armed with twin Baryon Cannons and Flail Harkens. The other was led by General Tohdoh with Kallen's Guren and Suzaku's Lancelot acting as separate armies.
Lelouch stood up and exited the control centre of the Hai Gong. C.C. followed him silently and caught up by his side.
"C.C., I have a favour to ask you," Lelouch requested behind his mask.
"Yes honey," C.C. replied.
"I want you to take on my role as Zero, I have some unfinished business down there to take care of," Lelouch told her.
"I will do as you wish dearest, you can definitely count on me," she said and held his hand.
Lelouch turned his head to face her and walked into one of the rooms on board the ship. It was an empty cargo room. C.C. removed his gloves and wore them on her hands. Lelouch removed his cape and mask and handed them to his trusted partner and said, "Promise me that you will not purge any of the Imperial Villa's, Gardens and Palaces."
"I promise," she said as she accepted his entire outfit. Lelouch was seen in his Ashford Academy uniform.
"Do not worry dear as I will return to you," Lelouch reassured he will come back in one piece.
"I pray for you my love," she replied as she fitted Zero's mask to cover her hair and face.
"Since when did you pray," Lelouch asked with a smirk on his face.
"Since I endowed my life to you," C.C. replied sincerely behind his mask, which was hard to tell.
"The things you say C.C., the things you say," Lelouch responded as he shook his head and left the storage room.
He ran to hanger 5, activated a shuttle and flew out of the hanger. "This will be my day of triumph. I will obliterate all of Holy Britannia and watch it spiral to the ground," he said to himself as he descended below the Hai Gong, with the invisibility cloak function engaged.
C.C. walked back to the command centre of the ship and resumed her position as Zero.
"Master Zero, we are approaching Pendragon city, what do we do now?" Diethard requested for orders.
"Call for air support divisions A and B to engage battle stations! Li's legion will attack the North sector while Tohdoh to the South," C.C. commanded, trying to act like the great strategist Zero.
"You have a powerful resolve master Zero," Diethard replied as he sent signals to hovering troops.
"Justice comes at a price but one can only kill if they are prepared to be killed. Seeing the people as weak as they are, none have the right to intervene in our mission for justice," C.C. said, quoting her beloved husband.
The Hai Gong launched several EMP's within the city's perimeter in unison. The massive detonations in midair released waves of tremendous energy, disabling every Knightmare Frame below. Zero's two armies flew over Pendragon and darted the streets with laser cannons, laying waste to the massive parade. People shrieked in fear as their surroundings were being torn and blasted into the air, incinerated by powerful concentrations of heat.
"This is what you get for trying to buy our nation from us, vile demons of the west!" Li cursed as he fired shot after shot from his Baryon Cannons. The megaton blasts descended to the middle of a parade and seared hundreds of thousands civilians to a crisp. Suzaku fired his V.A.R.I.S. Rifle at two towers and crushed a crowd of civilians with the twin towers' fall. The entire force split as some headed for the north and some to the south. The fleet descended from the skies and started to attack the fleeing pedestrians with Slash Harkens, rounding them up like crop harvest. Kallen stopped a ceremonial float and fired her vehicle's Radiation Wave to vaporize every Britannian she so greatly despised. The streets of joyous celebration became a bloodbath as mothers sobbed over the deaths of their blameless children whose heads were mutilated by the blades of hatred. Pillaging and mayhem was not enough to describe what had happened. It was total carnage; bodies were thrown all over the place as lives were tolled mercilessly no matter who they were. Lelouch and his terrorism have risen beyond any recorded in history. He waged war against the world superpower and decimated its confidence, providence and grandeur to a heap of ash within a tiny margin of time.
Part 37: I am Lelouch vi Britannia!
"I haven't step foot on this wretched land since nearly eight years ago. I remembered being overfed by the palace ladies but lived a life imprisoned in my mother's villa, unable to see the outside world. I was a no-one given too much of a title as Prince of Holy Britannia without a clue about what is happening outside the walls and gates that barred me from reality. I could not do anything; I could not sew, I could not cook; I could not dress or bathe myself. The palace ladies did all that for me. Instead of acting vain behind the shadows of my family, I was led by my curiosity to explore how things were done. I remembered sneaking into the kitchens, watching how all the delicious foods were made. I could recall the times when I followed palace workers from morning until night, observing how the clothes were specially washed. After my dear mother's death, I was exiled to Japan and was forced to apply what I learned from observation. Had I not learned how to cook, my sister and I would have starved miserably on the streets. Had I not learned how to sew, our warm clothes would have been tattered and torn. If it weren't for my hard work determination, our death on foreign soil would have looked too pitiful to bear. In addition, we were unaccepted by the Japanese people, being kicked out of shelters because of our Britannian origin. Because of all the torment and anguish, my sister and I have suffered greatly and this was entirely father's fault. My father's indifference towards my mother's death was intolerable and he must pay for his sins. He must feel not only our sufferings but also the suffering of every colonial. I must cleanse him of his immorality and he is the blame for not only my degradation. I must repay him with the vindictive taste of vendetta, for my singular vengeance alone does not suffice. He deserves to be burned by the hate of thousands, of millions of anguished souls for his wretched deeds. I curse him one thousand times to the death! People who rise to power and be corrupted by power must absolutely fall; this is the law of natural processes.
Lelouch thought to himself as he flew to a vacant area of the Imperial Palace. He rushed outside with the cloaking field kept on, ran to a nearby stable and opened the gates unseen. He grabbed a tall, black steed by the reins and led it free out of its stall and mounted on its saddle by the stirrup.
"Hyah!" Lelouch yelled to command the horse. He shook erratically until he grabbed onto the reins and secured each foot to a stirrup. Lelouch galloped on his steed magnificently as he crossed lakes, fields and rooms. He rode his horse expertly with one hand on the reins and the other trailing his back like a scout.
"Hyah!" he said again as he steered the mighty horse across a bend around a shallow pond. There he got to Beliel Palace, where Nunnally was kept under captivity by Emperor Charles.
Lelouch got off his horse and let it graze on the grass freely. He said to himself, "I will save you Nunnally, don't you worry."
Lelouch ran to the main entrance of a large villa where two Imperial Guards stood at their post.
"Halt! Identify," one of the guards asked.
"I, Lelouch vi Britannia command you to let me in!"
"Yes milord," the two guards submitted hypnotically.
Lelouch ran up the spiralling stairs to a locked wooden door, past every portrait on the wall and chandelier on the roof. He opened the door and found a portrait of Nunnally hanging on the wall beside a shelf of books.
"Who is there? Are you Alice?" Nunnally asked. Alice ti Britannia was another princess around her age who often played with her over the months since Lelouch and Nunnally separated.
"No, I am here to take you back where you belong," Lelouch said.
"Lelouch? Is that you," she asked with a surprised expression.
"Yes and you mustn't stay here my dear sister," he said with a consoling voice as he walked over to her wheelchair and placed his hands on top of hers.
"I knew you were somewhere in these palaces Lelouch, but I cannot leave this one so I haven't gotten the chance to meet you for over a month," Nunnally exclaimed innocently.
Lelouch sobbed on her hands as his tears dripped onto her dress. "Are you crying big brother?" Nunnally asked.
"I am overjoyed to have finally found you in this ridiculously large palace that our family live in," Lelouch said holding his tears back.
"You do not have to act all emotional, I cannot blame you for not finding me," she spoke with a pacifying voice.
Lelouch heard the front doors opening as the sound of horses neighed from outside.
"What is going on?" Nunnally asked.
"Wait," Lelouch said, "I will handle this."
Lelouch ran out of Nunnally's royal bedroom and found himself cornered by four Imperial Guards and a little boy.
"I was expecting you Lelouch," the boy said.
"And who are you, you can't be Alice," Lelouch said.
"True, I am not Alice. But you might recall my name," the little boy said.
"I never recalled meeting anyone like you," Lelouch said with a leaned stare.
"True, we haven't formally met before but I am your uncle Victor!" the boy remarked.
"Impossible…but you look," Lelouch stammered as he struggled to speak intelligibly. He was stunned by his uncle's juvenile appearance and thought, "Was he the Code to Kamine Island?"
"I am your father's older twin brother and yes, I sent that letter to your mother fourteen and a half years back!"
"I assumed you died on the battlefield. Is that why I never meet you?"
"You pick things up quickly young one, I never appear in public. Only your mother and your royal highness father know of me."
"Then you must know who killed my mother."
"Yes."
"Then who did it."
"I did. In fact, I acted like your mother's brother because she had always wanted something from me. She wanted to die in my hands!"
"What?"
"Why I executed the orders just like the one I am going to execute to you!"
"You can't kill me you puny little brat!"
"Oh yeah, just watch me you irksome devil! You should not even be here right now, you belong to the grave!"
"Never! I will not die like this! I cannot let Nunnally die as well," Lelouch thought silently.
"Guards, apprehend this criminal!" Victor ordered.
"I, Lelouch vi Britannia command you to listen to my orders," Lelouch declared.
"Yes sire," were the guards' response.
"No!" Victor zi Britannia said in disbelief.
"Forgot I have Geass! I figured you probably knew but fell to your own pride," Lelouch said with a maniacal laugh.
"This can't be happening," Victor said with his hands covering his ears.
"Oh this is happening alright, it is all too real! Guards, kill this child," Lelouch ordered as his eyes grew malicious. The rampant sound of gunfire knocked over this childish frame with hundreds of bullets. A pool of blood stained the carpet crimson red.
"What did you do?" Nunnally asked in fear behind the door, "The voice from behind sounded like a boy's."
"I saved the two of us from our execution. They kept you locked in this palace to lure me to the spot and kill us both like what they did to mother!" Lelouch said as he re-entered Nunnally's room and held her hands..
"Kill us?" Nunnally squeaked in confusion, "Who would do that?"
"Our diminutive Uncle Victor," Lelouch said.
"Uncle Victor? I never talked to him before. But now you mention it, I remember seeing a short boy-like figure somewhere," Nunnally said as she gathered the information from his touch.
"We are safe now, nobody will kill us anymore," Lelouch said while he tightened his grip on her hands.
"Big brother I am scared by this sudden news. Let me think this through," Nunnally said as she was utterly confused.
Lelouch crouched down to her feet and said, "Remember this Nunnally, like back at the shrine?"
"What are you saying?"
"Get on my back, we have to leave this place to mother's old house," Lelouch replied as he carried her on his back. "You have grown a lot heavier over the years," he teased.
"Big brother, are you calling me fat?" Nunnally responded with a nagging voice.
"No, you cannot stay the same weight as when you were seven Nunnally," I am glad you are growing up to be a fine woman.
Lelouch piggybacked his sister to the door and discovered his Uncle Victor standing with a bullpup rifle in his hands. Lelouch kicked the door shut and a bullet pierced through it and refracted to the left of them.
"That was too close," Lelouch thought as he locked the door.
"What was that?" Nunnally asked.
Lelouch placed her back onto her wheelchair and said, "You must wait a minute okay."
Lelouch pushed the wheelchair to a safe corner and pulled out a pistol from his pocket. He opened the door, stepped out low on the floor and opened fire. His uncle did not expect what was going on and was shot in the throat by Lelouch's precise aim. His uncle fell to the ground once again as did the rifle in his arms.
"So you have a Code?" Lelouch asked.
"Correct," Victor said as he gaped at his older-looking nephew, coughing and wheezing.
"Then you were the one who kidnapped Nunnally and sealed the gates at Kamine Island."
"Correct."
"Why!"
"You figured it out, to lure you to your execution!"
"Why?"
"I can't tell you, but maybe your father would be kind enough to explain our plan. Your mother has a part to play as well."
"What plan?" Lelouch yelled in angst. He stomped on his uncle in the chest and forced blood to spill out of Victor's mouth. Lelouch looked at the halberd a guard carried and grabbed it. The guard did not budge and Lelouch ordered, "Give me that!"
The guard happily handed him the halberd and Lelouch carried this heavy weapon with both arms. He pointed the tip of the blade on Victor's neck and cut it slowly until the head was severed. To ensure the body did not reanimate, he relocated every piece, Lelouch cut off every finger, limb, and toe. He carved the abdomen in three sections, letting blood and gore to spill out violently. He tossed the body parts all over the place like garbage in a waste dump. Some landed on the stairs, others in the hall and some in storage rooms and closets.
"I cannot kill you but I can KILL YOU!" Lelouch raged. He threw the halberd on the floor and washed his hands in a nearby lavatory.
"I am still alive," Victor cried from the head lying on the floor; he awoke from the short interlude of death, "Cutting me up is as futile as shooting me."
"You are a monster who will suffer forever without a body. You deserve this for killing my mother, Nunnally and I!"
"But your selfish deed of vengeance is equally horrific, perhaps even more psychotic. How are your actions justified?"
"Shut up you callous brute!"
"Now I cannot move from this spot, but I own your heart! Your personal vendetta will come back to haunt you," the severed head exclaimed terrifyingly.
"Shut up you accursed beast from hell! I will kick you back to a realm of eternal torment! Suffer forever in the abyss where you belong, you wretched runt!" Lelouch cursed as he kicked his uncle's immortal head down the stairs until blood splattered all over the wall and railing, instantly replaced by new tissue and blood.
"We must leave Nunnally," Lelouch said as he got Nunnally to climb on his back. Lelouch ran down the stairs, past Victor's head and body parts and headed out the main door.
"I will never go back in there again," Lelouch noted.
Lelouch found his horse slaughtered with a trail of blood leading to the bushes behind. He noticed Victor's white pony stood calm, grazing on the light grass. Lelouch climbed onto the pony with ease and asked Nunnally to hold on tight. He charged quickly to whence he came and boarded his cloaked shuttle. The shuttle lifted off with the two safe inside it. Lelouch tracked the Hai Gong on his sensors and piloted the cloaked vehicle back. Upon his early arrival, Lelouch carried Nunnally to the empty storage room and paged C.C. to join them. C.C. arrived in his Zero's suit and removed her mask.
"C.C., I got Nunnally here. She is safe with us," Lelouch said while he was short of breath.
"Welcome home Nunnally," C.C. said.
"Where am I?" Nunnally asked.
"We are on a ship to bring you back to Ashford Academy for the new school year," Lelouch fibbed.
"I had several tutors back in Beliel Palace," Nunnally said.
"Forget Beliel Palace, it is no fun without any friends around," C.C. said.
"True, Ashford Academy was much more fun than hanging out with Alice," Nunnally said. She was easy to convince.
C.C. traded the mask and suit to Lelouch. He said, "C.C., I still have something to settle so you hang in there and order a tactical retreat. Tell them, Zero is going to slay the emperor of Britannia by himself and come out safely in the future. Do not lose hope and good luck."
"I will," C.C. said as she gave a light kiss on his lips. Lelouch put on his mask and rushed out of the storage room to hanger 5 once more. He flew the shuttle and parked at the exact stable again.