Man, has it really been a long while since the last update? Doesn't feel like it's been that long. Anyway, this is the next chapter and one of the last for this story before I begin work on the sequel, the R2 if you will. I'll be honest, I didn't think I'll get this far but thanks to all the positive support and people messaging me to continue this work, here were are. For that, I say thanks. Reviews will be addressed at the end of the chapter so those who posted them will have to wait to see my responses to them.

Chapter 36: A Bloodless Victory.

4th December November 2020 a.t.b. /3 9688 BBY:

Unknown Region:

Milky Way Galaxy:

Earth/Sol-3:

Area 11/Japan:

Imperial Colonial Navy Headquarters – Tokyo Bay.

"Are the rumours true? Was Pearl hit by enemy attack?" One of the operators observing radar asked the other. Even for the military, only the higher ups really knew what was going on but that didn't stop rumours from spreading.

"Impossible, who would even have the strength in the Pacific to challenge them?" Another refused that.

"Maybe the EU? They've been building up their armed forces for a while now." One of the more opened minded observers pointed out as things did seem like they were heading for another war with the EU.

"What? The Russian? We would have picked up any large troop movements if they tried." Someone else said as they were the area in charge of monitoring any Russian incursions into the Pacific. If they wanted to send troops passed them, they would have spotted such.

"Focus, with our main surveillance grid down, we have to rely on local ones much more than we would like to. Added to the fact our communication lines with the other areas is shot means that for while we're on our own." Their commander spoke up as they had been given direct orders from the Viceroy to keep a eye out for anything. Even small ships like fishing boats were being monitored and all aircraft had been grounded.

"Sir, I'm detecting some movements. Out at air, approximately 120km away." Someone spoke up as the picked up a large mess of objects heading towards them on their only functional ranged radar. But from the shapes….these unknowns were huge, there was no way a flock of birds or civilian craft could be this large.

"Can you give me details?" The commander asked as he walked over to see the screen himself-Holy hell, those were some large unknowns.

"Sir, I'm detecting…..Jesus." The operator was of the same opinion as he tried to get a read on them and their present altitude and speed. "Sir, I'm detecting a mass of objects, the size of ships if not larger heading right for us. Altitude is 22,000ft, speed is 45 knots. I can see around 15 of them. They'll be on us within two hours." He finished as they all saw that the unknowns were on a direct course for them.

"Get this information to the Viceroy. We may be under attack." The commander yelled out as the warning sirens started sounding to alert others to the potential danger and for them to get to their battle positions.

"Sir!" Someone replied to him as they rushed out of the room to send word to the capital not too far from here.

"Just what could this be?" He asked himself as he had expected this position to be a quiet one but it seems that that wasn't the case for him.


(Later – Imperial Bureau)

"What was that?" Cornelia asked as she along with the command staff for all branches of the colonial armed forces were in a meeting when a messenger entered with news.

"Mam, a force of at least 15 ships is heading right for us. Their vector indicates that they are coming from the area where Hawaii is." The messenger repeated herself as she saluted the room of generals and other high ranking staff. Though there was a noted absence as the two seats that were reserved for Andreas and Alex were still open.

"Meaning that it could be our own forces but more likely, whoever attacked it. It seems Zero is returning to Japan." Nonette stated as they could all figure out what that mass was.

"What shall we do?" One of the local bass commanders asked.

"Ready our men and gather our forces." Cornelia ordered them as they all saluted her and begun communicating these orders to their troops on the ground.

"Sister." Euphemia said to remind her sister without saying too much in present company.

"I know Euphie, I won't give the order to fire but until we receive some sort of reply, I have to act like I've always have and treat him as an enemy." Cornelia replied to her, a response which proved surprising but not out of nowhere with the rest of the them seeing how they still don't know how the Black Knights had taken out Pearl harbour, that combined with the fact they had no clear victories over them made even more most stubborn see reason.

"I'll go head the A.S.E.E.C. ready for action, chances are that Lloyd is itching for some actions after hearing about recent events." Nonette said as she got up from her chair and started to walk out of the room.

"See to it. If things really do boil over, I at least want us to have some fighting chance," Cornelia said as she dismissed the rest of them. "However how slim."

"I just hope things don't get that bad to begin with." Euphemia said as she had hoped that their message had gotten to him, but they had no way of knowing that.


(With the Black Knights)

"Zero, about the message." The captain of the Sakura asked their commander and chief.

"What about it?" Zero replied as he sat at his desk reading through reports about their previous attack on Pearl. Just because the attack was over didn't mean he got to rest.

"Are we not going to respond to it?" The captain, who had no love or hate towards earth, asked his leader as it did make him feel uneasy if they just disregarded what was basically a ceasefire request.

"Not yet, we'll get into position first and then issue our response." Zero responded as he paused on a report of casualties. It was never easy reading the names of those that will never return to their families but he can't let that stop him. "They need to see that we aren't holding back."

"So force then, lovely." SK said as he walked into the office, not bothering to knock or announce his presence beforehand. With him, he had the recently arrived LM, Akito and Nunnally.

"One must have an advantage at any negotiation otherwise the other parties will walk right over you." Zero, at this point that even bothered by his comrades lack of tact, replied before he turned his attention to the only non-human present. "Captain, when will we arrive?"

"In twenty minutes, sir. Shall we have the fighters and knightmares prepped?" The captain asked as he had been informed earlier that all preparations had been completed.

"No need. Our enemy is in no position to fight us. Just keep a clear course and make sure they can see us coming." Zero ordered him as he placed the last report down and got up from his chair.

"Sir!" The captain saluted him before he turned on his heel and left the room.

"Things are going smoother than I expected." Zero said as he walked out as well, quickly followed by the rest of them as they made their way through the steel blue and grey corridors.

"It is because our enemy isn't foolish enough to try some desperate last stand. Speaking of fools," LM responded to him as they all predicted that Cornelia wouldn't try to fight them in a battle she knew she couldn't win. And with Pearl harbour destroy and Britannian global communication shot, there was no way she'll try to bunker down and wait for reinforcements she couldn't even contact and request. "What have the Chinese? Any word from them?"

"Not yet, but we haven't seen any movements from federation forces and our contacts in the government have informed us that another attack in unlikely at this time." SK replied as they had purposely left some of their submarines in the East China Sea as well as the Sea of Japan. This time, if the eunuchs tried anything, their forces wouldn't even make landfall.

"So we have some breathing room, excellent." Zero remarked as this was just what they had planned for. Now they could work without having to worry about that for the most part as sure.

"Brother," Nunnally spoke up, drawing their attention to the girl that had largely been silent.

"I know Nunnally, there is little reason that Cornelia would have authorise that message unless she knew something." Zero responded as while his own feelings towards Cornelia was mixed, he didn't want to kill her and Nunnally had made her own wishes to try and keep things peaceful known from the beginning. "It appears that they're finally catching on."

"Will you continue on, with the plans?" Akito asked the command staff as though he was a valued field agent, it was just that, field agent. He had little talent for tactics or strategy and he knew it.

"Depends on how they receive me and our demands. Look on the bright side, if they agree, you'll have little work today. A bloodless victory." Zero responded as they needed to capture Tokyo with as little damage as possible. The facilities of the city needed to be intact for a government takeover to aid their efforts to keep both the colonial and native populations calm and meet their needs.

"I'm sure that the masters will be pleased." Nunnally stated as they had always been taught to never be cruel or wasteful.

"Yes well, they are the ones that taught us these things, and how violence isn't always the answer but rather diplomacy." Zero said as the group reached the bridge of the ship and in the distance, they could make out a small landmass that was slowing growing.

It wouldn't be long now.


(With Rai)

"Have we heard anything yet?" Meanwhile, in Japan or Area 11, the colonial government has issued an area wide alert that ordered all non-essential civilians to remain in their homes and off the street, banned travel and had placed the military on high alert. Rai like many other units had been stationed near or inside high profile target areas, in his case, he and the rest of the A.S.E.E.C unit had been instructed to deploy to Tokyo Harbour and aid the navy in repelling any sea born assault.

"Only that the enemy force is still on route. They currently around 30km out." Cecile replied as she and Lloyd kept on eye out on radar to monitor things. With the way things had been going, they needed every scrap of knowledge they could get as they were basically trapped in Area 11 unless they win a massive victory against Zero.

"I still can't believe that the Black Knights got their hands on float technology. Oh, Rakshata, how could I let her best me like this?!" Lloyd complained as he worked, having been peeved ever since they has seen this used on mass during the Kyushu affair.

'That's Lloyd for you, more focused on that then the enemy force heading right for us.' Rai thought to himself as he was pretty much used to his boss's odd personality quirks. "But why haven't we been given the order to attack? Why wait for them to reach the city?" That had been something that had been bugging him, why were most of their ships still in harbour?

"You guess is as good as mine. But we have to obey Viceroy Cornelia on this. With no international communications, we don't even have contact with Prince Schneizel." Lloyd replied as it had been a while since they last spoken with their main sponsor and employer. Not even private communication lines got through.

"Hold on, I think I can see them now." Cecile reported as she started to see feint spots on the horizon. Both she and Lloyd pulled out binoculars to get a better picture of that they were looking at.

"Oh my…" For once in what Rai felt was forever, Lloyd didn't have a comeback as he just lowered his own binoculars with a stunned stiff expression on his face. "Well I know when I'm beat."

"How did they even build such ships on such a scale? The Avalon would be smaller than all of them." Cecile asked as she could feel the dread pouring down her spine and she wasn't the only one. Anyone with their own binoculars could see the same demoralising sight as there were.

"Is this….really Rakshata's work?" Lloyd asked himself as he had been studying any and all remains of BK material that could recover after battles and while they had always been cutting edge, they at least appeared to be something his rival could create but this….there was no way she was soley responsible for this.

"Avalon? Their size? What are you talking about?" Rai asked as he was one of the few could didn't have a way to see them, he only had the IFF of the Lancelot ant it couldn't identity shapes or accurate sizes.

"Here, kid. You gonna want to see this." One of the tech aides said as she tossed him a pair to see what they were all seeing.

"Thanks." Rai said as he caught them item before focussing on what everyone else was seeing.

And he was stunned silent.

'Holy shit….what in the hell is that?!' Rai asked himself as he could clearly make out 15 ships of varying sizes. The two largest ones are close to a full km in length. The second two largest were close to that but much smaller, appearing to only be around half a km in length but they were still ridiculously big. The smallest of them was still much larger than even the large fleet carriers used by the imperial Navy. And it wasn't just them, around the ships, he could make out attack birds and knightmares flying about as some appeared to take off and land.

'That's…that's the Black Knight fleet? How in the hell did they get their hands on those things?" Rai thought to himself as a cold sweat made its way down his spine. They still had issues with the Float system and even if that were the case, he was sure that they couldn't take down the entire force.


(With Cornelia)

"Your highness," Guilford stated as he like the rest of the command staff, saw the same sight that was spreading feat and panic across the ranks of soldiers that saw it.

"Yes, Guilford. I see it." Cornelia told him as she worked to suppress both her amazement and her fear as the enemy fleet was clearly getting closer by the minute but moving at snail's pace.

"What is our move? Shall we open fire?" One of the commanders present asked as the Black Knights were well within striking range from their missiles and tanks. However, before any decisions could be made, one of the controllers got a message on his screen.

"Your highness." The controller reported as he turned to his viceroy.

"What is it?" Cornelia asked as she saw something on his screen from her throne but was too far to make anything of it.

"We're being hailed by the enemy fleet on the international communications line. Shall I patch it through?" The controller revealed to the room, surprising some but not others as they had come to expect such things from Zero or just believed he would have tried something like this.

'Did they get our message?' Cornelia thought to herself as she wondered what her brother could want with her but chose to hope for the best in this case. "Do so." She ordered as the controller nodded their heads before blowing up the communications window on the big screen for all of them to see.

"Viceroy Cornelia li Britannia, Sub-viceroy Euphemia li Britannia." Zero greeted them, from what appeared to be an operations room of his own, most likely abroad one of those approaching vessels.

"Zero. What is the reason for your call?" Cornelia asked him, she didn't have the patience for pleasantries in this case since there was a literal army on her doorstep.

"I won't bother being around the bush. I got your little message, I must say, it was a little surprising to hear it." Zero started, at least confirming one to the sisters before he turned his gaze towards the up till now, silent Euphemia who had her own seat next to her sisters.

"Am I to assume you authorised this?" Zero asked her before he went on.

"Yes, if you heard the thing, then you know that we hope to avoid a battle this day." Euphemia replied, not caring for the angered or appalled looks in the faces of many of the command staff who still believed that wished for conflict.

"A wise choice, there is a difference between a lost battle and an unwinnable one. We will meet to discuss the terms of your surrender." Zero nodded his head towards her as he leaned back, letting them see more of the location he was in as black knights in uniform and a strange orange skinned man with duel head growths, that was hell was that? Why wasn't anyone on their end making anything of it?

"Surrender?" Cornelia forced that question down into the pile of unanswered questions as she asked this new one. In response to this, Zero had the gall to chuckle at her as if she were a child that tried to act like an adult.

"My dear, did you really think this would be anything but? You can't win, this is a fact. However, as you have chosen to surrender, I will meet with you to discuss the future of both your forces and Area 11." Zero told them all, giving no quarter as he said that this was over. Despite the fact that this was humiliating for her and quite vexing, Cornelia also knew that this was her best bet as they didn't nearly have enough to contend with the fleet he had brought with him, the same fleet that by all reasoning, was the same one that destroyed Pearl harbour.

"When and where?" Cornelia grounded out as she kept her ire at bay as she tightened her hand into a closed fist. 'Dammit, he has the cards and he knows it!'

"In one hour, aboard my flagship. You may bring with you your sister and six others. We'll send you the information on which ship you should head to." Zero replied to them as both sisters sat up at the fact he chose the one place that he truly would be in absolute control, aboard one of his ships and surrounded by his men. He wouldn't even need the fancy powers he revealed to the world, he could just say the world and both their throats would be slit.

"That is….agreeable." Cornelia replied as she had to accept that this was the first time in her military career that she would have to admit defeat and negotiate on the losing side.

"Until then. Oh and, if your try anything," Zero started before he leaned in close, his faceless visage viewing into all their souls and sending a jolt of fear through them all. "We will burn this settlement of yours to the ground." He finished his threat as he cot the connection, leaving the command bridge in silence for the longest time.

"The nerve of-" Guilford worked up the effort to voice his ire at how his princess was talked down to by some masked bastard but Cornelia waved his anger off.

"Guilford, have them ready transport for us." Cornelia ordered as she turned to the command staff, including the monitor that had Nonette's face on it. Her old friend having decided to join the fray and lead what could still be their frontal defence.

"But-Yes, your highness." Guilford tried to rebuff as this was clearly a sigh of defeat, a way to humiliate her worse than her defeat at Narita.

"So it really comes down to this, a surrender." Nonette asked her, the knight of round in her personal knightmare as she looked over the scared and nervous looking troops she was in charge of. Not that she could blame them, even from what she knew about Prince Schneizel's Avalon, his maiden ship paled in comparison to even the smaller ships that Zero(Lelouch) had brought with him. "It's our best bet, even here in the field, the men are getting nervous. I can't blame them though, I didn't think they could even build ships that large." Nonette voiced that as she saw some soldiers standing around a couple tanks speaking to each other, their nerves so visible it was almost embarrassing.

"It's natural for them to feel fear. For the longest time, we've been the ones on the technological high ground but now, we're the ones staring down the barrel of the gun." Cornelia had to admit, this feeling that was coursing through her, this feeling of near helplessness. It was quite the experience, and she hated every second of it. This must be what all her opponents felt throughout her career.

"Sister, we mustn't lose hope, this meeting is our best bet for peace." Euphemia told her.

"Yes, Euphemia. I know." Cornelia repelied as she looked her sister in the eye. One way or another, it seems they were going to meet their brother again.

If only it was under better circumstances.


(With Zero)

"Have the meeting room prepped, have all forces move to level 2 battle stations. Get word to our submarines to stay hidden and to not engage the enemy until the other is given, is that understood?" Back on the Sakura, Zero handed down orders as he watched Tokyo settlement from the bridge as they approached it.

"Sir!" The staff on deck replied as they went to work issuing his orders down the chain of command. At that same time, Kallen along with the rest of the Zero squad made their appearance on the bridge, most likely having finished all their tasks.

"Zero!" Kallen saluted him as the rest of the squad did the same. Unlike before, SK, LM, Nunnally and even Akito weren't present as Nunnally was in the med-bay, prepping for any possible patients to come her way, Akito was most likely with LM and she stated that she wished to discuss something with Hammel some time ago. SK had left to go check up on his machine and speak with the Rakshata and Kaya.

"Kallen, is there something you need?" Zero asked them as they fell in line behind him as he walked off towards the tactical display slash communications area of the bridge.

"Sir, I wanted to ask…." Kallen tried to voice but felt like she was out of line.

"No need to be shy, we are all comrades here. Speak." Zero encouraged her as she was one of his best, she had the right to voice her opinions in his opinion, heck he wanted them to feel they had that right to do so and to not be shy about it.

"Are we really going to attack the settlement? Raze it to the ground?" She asked him as she and the rest of them had run into SK on the way out and he told them of the threat. While Tierra and Liu Mei had no opinion on it, Lockon, Allelujah and herself did and they didn't approve of such a plan. That would mean the deaths of tens of thousands easily and while they had found out that such numbers on a galactic scale were pretty small, they refused to accept them now.

"No, that was nothing more than a bluff. Such tactics are not only ineffective but brutal. Besides," Zero explained to him, addressing their concerns before he gave them the pragmatic reason he wouldn't order such a thing. "The settlement is most if not all the infrastructure is, everything from power plants to hospitals, all of which are crucial to running an area."

"Yes, of course, sir. Thank you for clearing that up." Kallen replied as she felt at ease that the innocents would be left out of it. She had come a long way from a simple terrorists and while she still wished to liberate her people, she didn't wish for needless slaughter and destruction.

"No need, now I expect you and the rest to get ready, we'll be hosting our enemy soon and we need not look bad." Zero informed them since it would less than an hour before the viceroy of area 11, the Goddess of Victory, the Witch of Britannia…would surrender to him.

"Of course, sir!" They all saluted him as Lie Mei and Allelujah stayed on the bridge to discuss something with him while the rest left to get themselves ready since in Lockon and Kallen's case, they were a mess and needed a shower and change of clothes.


(Meanwhile – At Ashford)

"Is everyone in their dorms?" Milly asked Nina and Rivalz as the three managed the student body from the council building. It had only been short time since the government handed down orders to have everyone stay at home but it had been hectic getting every person back to their rooms and closing down all club activities for the time being. Even teachers left with only a few still on campus helping them to ensure order was preserved.

"Yeah, I just double checked. The police are also patrolling the place now." Rivalz replied as he put down the phone had been using to talk with one of those teachers.

"I can't believe that they went and did it." Nina whispered to herself, terrified and barely functional as she starred out the window at the group of flying warships in the distance. She couldn't understand why they got so close to the settlement but she wanted those elevens gone.

"No kidding, where they even get that many ships or whatever those things are?" Rivalz asked though super impressed by them, he wasn't dumb enough to believe they were out of the clear yet. Those ships were meant for fighting which meant they had weapons that could easily be turned on the settlement.

"I don't know, Rivalz but our first priority is protecting the student body." Milly told him as she had a feeling on why they weren't fighting but couldn't voice it in present company. After all, she knew that he old friend was fighting against them and he could be rather cold but she also believed he would never try to actively attack the settlement. She just hoped that Cornelia and her forces didn't try and throw the first punch since it was a fight they wouldn't win.

"Where's Shirley?" Rivalz asked her, getting her out of her thoughts as their orange haired swimmer had been absent the whole day, even before the mandatory lockdown orders were issued.

"She's with her mother. They've been ordered to stay in their homes, same as everyone else. Milly replied as Shirley had called to tell them that after she went to see Reyla. Milly could tell that something was different with the girl as she seemed distracted but not in the way she thought she would after telling the women she had a massive crush on her husband.

"And Lelouch and the gang? They said they were going to be away on business, right?" Rivalz asked as he was worried about his motor buddy, granted that most of the events for the year had been cancelled due to rising terrorist levels but the two got along just fine, bonding over motorcycles and racing in general.

"Yeah but I don't know if they made it back, I can't get a call out." Milly answered, telling them the lie that Lelouch had told her when she last spoke with her. She just hoped that he would grow to trust them enough to let them in.

"You and me both. Man, I hope Reyla and Alice are doing alright, a pregnant women doesn't need this kind of stress." Rivalz stated as he was seriously hoping for when the baby was born. Not only was Reyla super-hot(he knows she's taken but it's the truth) but she seemed real bizarre as he had never met someone who seemed that pale yet not sickly looking. Either way, he was going to be a great uncle to the kids, just like how he was with Alice.

"I'm sure they're just fine." Milly said with a smile as she knew that their family must have taken whatever safety measures they felt were needed.


(With Reyla)

"Mom, how long do we have to stay down here?" Alice asked her mother figure who held her close to her. Currently, the small group of herself, Alice, C.C and Nagata were in a secured, bomb shelter located under their house.

"Just a little longer, sweetie. Then we can leave again." Reyla comforted that girl as she held her closer to herself, despite the fact she was heavily pregnant and due any day now. "Go back to sleep, everything will be over soon." She finished the little girl was dressed in a cute pair of pyjamas, seeing how she had felt ill that day and was resting in bed when Lelouch called them and asked that they moved to the bunker just in case.

"Will you hold my hand? I'm scared." Alice asked her as she didn't like the bunker, it didn't feel was warm as their house did and she also didn't like that her father wasn't here with them, she knew he would always protect her so it was little overwhelming for her to face this new situation without him.

"Of course I will. I will always be there for you." Reyla told the girl with a sweet motherly smile as the little girl yawned a little before settling down her head on her mother's lap and trying to fall asleep again, nulled into dreamland by her body's warmth.

"I had no idea there was a bomb shelter built under the house." Nagata, once he was sure that the little girl was asleep, commented as while he had worked here for months, he had never even suspected this.

"Most wealthy homes in far flung areas have them. This one included. We added onto it over the years after buying it." Reyla explained as they had discovered it when they were looking for a house to buy and renovate to their liking.

"I can tell, there's enough food and water for a while." Nagata joked as he gestured towards the large pantry which contained a whole lot of preserved and canned goods.

"Three weeks' worth, there is also plumbing, lights and communications. But we won't touch that last one, at least for now." Reyla pointed out as the bunker was not just built to keep its inhabitants safe but also to care for their needs while they waited out whatever disaster occurred. It even had its own water supply as well as air and water filtration system.

"Got it." Nagata replied.

"How are you holding up?" Reyla asked as she turned to the up till now, silent member of the group as C.C. just lazed about on one of the couches, microwave pizza in hand. She would be lying if she said she didn't find the thought of the bunker having a stock of pre-cooked, microwave pizza amusing but much like her guest, she had a craving for them.

"I've been in worse, this isn't bad." C.C answered her as she had lived in just about everywhere from palaces to dungeons in her long life, a bunker wasn't that bad all considering.

"Nothing phases you, does it?" The alien women giggled to herself as C.C passed her a slice of pizza.

"Not true, finding out you're an alien was a certain twist." That was an odd day for her, sure she suspected that Reyla wasn't from around here but she didn't think she was literally not from earth.

"I hope that my origin isn't a problem." Reyla said as C.C hadn't said anything about it ever since she found out. Aside from one comment at the time, she had said nothing else.

"You don't have to worry about that, I'm no racist." C.C told her. 'Live as long as I have and you'll learn to see that such concepts were meaningless creations of fools.' The immortal thought to herself as such a mind-set lost meaning to her thought she was curious about her. She had believed that there wasn't much more for her to experience in life but it appears that the sky was literally not the limit, there were entire worlds, peoples, customs and foods she hadn't tried yet, she wasn't too sure about it but if things were as interesting as she believed them to be off world…

She'll be willing to hold onto her immorality a little longer to experience it all.


(Later)

"Amazing." Euphemia worded as she along with her sister, Guilford, Nonette and some bodyguards looked out the window of their small VIP transport as they approached the Sakura.

"To have the resources to build and maintain such a vessel…" Nonette stated in amazement and slight fear as she and the rest had seen the number and size of the weapons this ship was carrying, on the way up they had even seen some of the smaller ones and could see that they could just point them down and decimate the city if they pleased.

"Not to mention arm all those soldiers, I have a feeling they'll blast us the first sign of trouble." Cornelia said as they started to land in the hanger which was a hive of activity from all the mechanics running about as they worked. But what caught her attention were the armed guards standing about as well as the familiar knightmares parked in the corner. She didn't know the black and gold one but that familiar clawed right hand was enough for her to know which model it was based on.

"Let's not give them a reason to try." Euphemia stated as they waited a little longer before they came to stop and were allowed to disembark onto the ship.

"Welcome, Viceroy, Sub-viceroy, Knight of nine." Tierra, who was in his uniform rather pilot gear, welcomed with a straight face as he and a squad of troopers approached them.

"If it's okay with you, I would like to skip the pleasantries and get started. Where is Zero?" Cornelia asked as she was itching to not just get this over with but also see if her sister was right about her assumptions.

"As do I, come with me. I'll show you to the meeting room, the rest of you get back to work!" Tierra responded to her as he turned tail and started walking off, leading the small group as two of the troopers fell in line behind them, boxing them in and making sure they couldn't slip off or try anything.

"Impressive ship here, can't imagine how you built it." Nonette said in an attempt to try and learn something about this ship and its origins as they the group walked down some hallways, away from the hanger.

"I'm not at liberty to say. All you need to know is it's one of the best ever built." Sadly for her, Tierra didn't fall for the bait, at least, not entirely as he did let some info slip.

'Ever built?' Nonette wondered to herself as she caught that little choice of words. 'Does that mean there are others, even better than this?' She asked herself as the thought of him having even grander, larger vessels then this in the works was a troubling thought to consider. 'Just what are you hiding, Lelouch?'

"Here we are, they are inside." Before she could dive deeper into her own thoughts, they found themselves being shown to a closed door. Cornelia nodded at their escort as the door opened up and allowed them entry into the room. Much like what she had expected, the room was styled like a meeting room with a large table, seats along with glasses and pitchers of water. But that wasn't what grabbed their attention. What they were focused on was the small group that was already seated and waiting for them.

"Welcome, to the Starship Sakura. Flagship of the Black Knights." Zero welcomed them from his seat at the head of the table, with him was both Kallen, acting as his personal bodyguard, SK, and Nunnally, who was wearing her hood to mask her identify.

"Starship?" Euphemia decided that what he said would be as good a conversation starter as any as her own group sat down, with Cornelia on the opposite end of the table, starring down their host.

"As the name implies, it was built with the capability to operate in space for long durations. But that's not why we are here, is it?" Zero answered them as he felt that their need for absolute secrecy was coming to an end. Sure they will still retain most of their secrets but some will soon be made public.

"No, we're here to discuss surrender terms, right?" Cornelia asked as she bite down her pride and swallowed it. While the two faced off each other, each having their own take on the poker face, Euphemia was the only one who didn't appear to have one as she kept her gaze on the masked man with a little hope in her eyes. Something that Zero picked up on.

"Is there something the matter? We have better thing to discuss about then whatever it is you're worried about." Zero asked her as they did have an schedule to keep. Seeing that this might be their only chance, she took it.

"Zero…no, brother." Euphemia stated, grabbing everyone's attention as they turned to face her, confused as to why she was bringing it up or confused as to how she figured it out. "If you would be so kind, could you take off that mask?"

"Euphie!" Cornelia tried to admonish the girl but ceased when Zero rose his hand as a way to ask for peace. The man didn't say anything as he watched her, his faceless head looking into her very soul but Euphemia refused to buckle under its weight.

.

.

.

"As expected, you finally put two and two together." Zero started as he slowly reached for his own helmet. With baited breath, the Britannians in attendance bar Nunnally and Kallen watched as he undid the locks that kept it on his head and removed it from it. "Tell me, when did you figure it out?" The unmasked Zero asked them, showing them the face of a person they had thought long dead for almost a full decade.

The face of their brother, Lelouch vi Britannia.


Alright, I'm going to stop there. How did you all enjoy the chapter? Was it good? Too short? Not enough action? Well sadly, at this point in the story, fighting has largely concluded as this story which acts as R1 will only cover their affairs in Area 11-soon to be Japan. The sequel story of this will have them begins their plans and fighting in both Asia and the Middle East as their world starts on the path to an actual world war. Now, before any of you get any ideas, no-the story isn't over yet, there are still a chapter more chapters to be posted before I finish it up. With Shirley and C.C as I set up in previous chapters and with C.C in this one, they will have a larger role but that will only start in R2.


Reviews:

Tf330129: Thanks, I will. Hope you stick around for the sequel.

Dontus not Donut- Powerus: Well I can't really say everything that will happen play by play in their meeting but I can say that they will learn more then they hoped to about both their siblings and the galaxy at large. Though he won't be as cruel and blunt as your review implies he'll be….at least not the whole time.

Vein Bloodborne: Well, they already have seen what he can do due to his television execution of Britannian prisoners and how he chocked Reginald without even touching him. Also as previous chapters and this one show, the li Britannia sisters are not foolish enough to try and fight. This isn't the finale of cannon R1 when Lelouch mostly had untrained and undisciplined rebels under his general command but he now has a trained, experienced and well equipped fighting force that may be smaller than the one he tried to use to take Area 11 in cannon but they make up for it with quality of training, vehicles and weapons.

JCarrasco: Thanks.

Perseus12: Yes, the Britannian empire days are numbers but they won't do down without a fight. The sith wouldn't help them since though there are not Jedi, Lelouch and his group still have contrasting ideals and practices to the Sith. Trust me, it was tempting to make him a Sith in the beginning but I've seen stories where that was already done but never completed. So I did something I haven't seen and made him the middle ground between the Jedi and Sith, in a way his masters are trying to start a Grey Jedi order of their own. You can guess how poorly the Sith and Jedi will handle that since Nunnally has already said in a previous chapter that if the Jedi found out about them, they'll be hunted down and killed like animals because even at this point, the Jedi order was very scared of those who didn't conform to their ideals.

Blaze1992: The public at this point doesn't know about the attack on Pearl. Global communications are down and there is no way that the Britannian government would announce that their jewel in the Pacific was destroyed, thousands killed and they have no real clue as to how the attackers got there and left. Besides, the public of Tokyo settlement is more concerned about the warships literally flying overhead in Area 11.