"Is it not strange that Machiavelli argued for both a strong dictator and a fair republic? What a weird question, of course not, he argued for a strong leader to unite and then step back when no longer needed, as to allow the people to rule themselves, a decent enough idea but flawed, when one knows what happens when people are granted too much freedom."

Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia.

…

"Would Kallen Stadtfeld come to the front desk please, an object of yours has been found." Exactly as Lelouch had said it would happen a message was broadcasted when she arrived, making her way to the front desk she made sure her friends were acting inconspicuous, the receptionist noticed her and swiftly handed her a phone, only a few moments later it rang and she picked up.

"Hello." She said, keeping her voice even.

"Hello Q-1." The voice over the phone made her stiffen in response, the same one from Shinjuku, the one that led them to beating the Britannian's the one responsible for the death of the Viceroy. The brits were pinning the thing on the old prime-ministers son Suzaku Kururugi, but she had long since learned to see through propaganda and that was bullshit as could be. "It's time we meet, take the outbound train on route 5, the one that passes by the ghetto."

"Alright, I will see you there." She answered as to not draw attention to herself from the surrounding Britannian's, hoping the voice, K-1, would get it. If not, she thought, he was dumber then she believed him to be.

"Smart, and yes, you will."

She and the others got onto the train silently, waiting as it began to move out from the settlement, looking out over the broken and cracked ghettos, the few fired burning fliting trails of smoke upwards. After a few moments the phone rang again, she answered before it rang twice, remaining silent as the voice, Zero, K-1, whatever the fuck he wanted to be called, spoke.

"Make your way to the front of the train." The further to the front she got the stranger people seemed, sitting silently as she and her friends walked forward. Opening the door to the front cabin she found a strange sight, a woman with long green hair lounging on a couch, she was not Britannian nor Japanese, she looked more European than anything else, on the other side stood a figure, shrouded in black clothes, the tanto and pistol on her hip clear signs of a body guard.

Then there was the last one, tall and wearing a long black cape with golden trim, it was clear he was this Zero figure only by the feeling he gave off, a commanding presence that matched well with his voice, a second later the train hit a tunnel and the man turned in a flash. He wore a suit of purple and white, well fitted to a skinny form, dress shoes that could function in a fight if needed and on his head was a helmet with a crown of thorns at its back.

"Greetings all of you, thank you for meeting me here."

…..

He found himself surprisingly comfortable under his mask, the faceless thing had an intimidating visage but also able to hide his emotions and looks. Lelouch was rather happy with how this Zero garb came out to look, taking a page out of Schneizel's book and chose to dress in a high quality dress suit over more traditional clothing or Alexanders more casual style of suits, with a large rimmed cape to make his rather skinny frame seem broader and stronger.

"You are the one who helped us in Shinjuku? K-1?"

"Yes, that was me, and K-1 is my battle designation, I prefer Zero off the fields of battle." Lelouch said with a small nod, "And you are Kallen Kozuki."

"Did Lelouch tell you anything about me?"

"The boy? No. He works for The Illusive Man alone, at least for now." He paused, "But your skills were plain to see, and I feel a partnership between us all could be to great benefit."

"And why should we 'Partner' with you then, we know nothing about you, you helped us once but that could have just as well been for your own benefit." The redhead was smart, very much so, she might have been a good businesswoman if she were not set in her ways as a pilot and rebel.

"I know you don't trust me, it's understandable I suppose, I know that you wish to see my face but that would put the few people I care about at great risk, as such I have a proposal."

"And what would that be then." A man spoke up, Ohgi he recalled from the reports he read.

"A chance for us to work together to achieve a goal we have in common, I know you would like to liberate your leader, but Pride Rock is a fortress even beyond me at this point, as such we will do the next best thing."

"Which is?"

"We are going to free Suzaku Kururugi."

…..

"What is that?" Marius found himself asking as he looked over the blue prints of something rather strange, tiny metal tendrils and a large port all he could make out on it. It seemed like someone turned a squid into a machine and then ran it through a laundry press.

"That, brother, is the future." Marius found himself the slightest bit disturbed by the look in his prince eyes, a strange mix of focus, determination and perverse interest. They had copied all of CODE-R's blueprints and research before sending them off to the OSI as requested, the barbarity of the methods CODE-R used to gather the research disgusted him more than he had ever thought something could, but his prince was right, letting it all go to waste, left to rot in OSI's archives... it would have been a greater crime.

"So what is this 'future' exactly."

"That Marius, is the Alaya Vijnana system."

"..."

"..."

"Yeah, that does not clarify it at all."

…..

From my seat in front of the window facing the highway I sat silently, occasionally taking a sip from the bottle of rum in my hand, not my preferred blend but the best I could get from the palace. Marius stood leant against the wall besides me, looking relaxed but I could tell he was ready to fight at a moment's notice. The events of the last few days had disturbed my knight, he had not stated as much but I could tell he did not like the idea of using technology garnered by such brutal ways.

But I could not simply let such an asset go, and even if I wanted too the signs of Amon's tampering with the research were there, clear as day for someone who roughly knew what to expect from CODE-R's research. Things that were not meant to be there, strange lines of code that I only recognized because of my previous lives research into AI, and of course the grand prize, a rudimentary neural linking system.

I have a fairly decent idea about what Amon wants to see me doing, and while I don't dislike it, it's going to be unpleasant and take a long time to develop. Stopping that train of thought I returned my attention to the execution parade, waiting for my younger brother to appear to save his old friend. It was time to see how much my actions had changed this world in person, well as close to it as I was going to be getting for a while.

"My lord, vehicle spotted, it looks like Prince Clovis's car."

"Let it pass Kali, remember the plan."

"Understood, my lord."

….

She could barely pay attention to what the lunatic atop the car was saying as she did her best to stop shivering in the uncomfortable drivers clothes she was forced to wear. Another damning thing about Clovis was the fact that he only had woman drive his cars, which was why she, as the only uninjured woman in her group, was forced to drive.

"So what say you? Should I tell them about Orange? If not, You will do everything in your power to let us escape!"

Despite everything stacked against them, despite all of the Knightmares ready to tear them apart, Zero walked back to the car, she got out of it herself and the three of them ran for it, jumping over the ledge before a few of the Knightmares began to fire. The net below them caught the small group and she recoiled as they were stowed in a moving train, away from the smoke spraying container.

…..

"I have the shot."

"Take it."

I watched as a heavy bang echoed out between the high rises of the Settlement, the antimaterial round tearing through the armor of the Knightmare, its pilot, Jeramiah Gottwald, being hit straight in the eye. I had considered letting the man live to fulfil a similar purpose as in the original timeline, but with my plans he was too much of wildcard, too big a risk, yes this was easier.

"A traitors death, filled with dishonour." Marius said, distaste clear, not for the man's death, but for his actions in the moments before it. Of course he did not know about Geass, he did not know the extreme power of the orders my little brother had given the Margrave, so it was natural for him to consider the man's actions his own. "All he deserves."

"Make sure he is given the proper nobleman's honours at his funeral, blame the attack on Zero, I am sure he won't mind."

"Of course Brother."

….

Lelouch found himself filled with anger and frustration, Suzaku was even more stubborn then he used to be, refusing to even consider working with him. His ideas of right and wrong were so strange and backwards that they made him seethe in anger, why would the way one achieved his goals matter when set against what does goals will do in the future? He could not fathom the idiots thinking, it simply seemed so overly emotional.

He sighed, leaning back in the couch in his room, ignoring the ever increasing number of pizza boxes that were quickly stacking higher and the girl emptying them. Tough he was not so sure if the term girl could be applied to a person who's age could be counted in the centuries.

"So are you done moping Boy?" She said, after she finished her slice, "Or do you need another hour?"

"I was not moping, I was brooding, there is a big difference!"

"Hmm, and what would that be?"

"Well first of all moping is a lot more childish, and brooding can also be described as sexy."

"Ha, so you admit you were moping." Before he could continue their argument she spoke again. "Why are you so upset about losing that boy anyway? So what if he chooses to not fight with you? Aren't you still so confident in you victory?"

"Of course I am!"

"Then why are you moping? If you don't need his help then stop thinking about it and get to work on the rest of your plans."

"Why are you being so helpful?"

"The faster you achieve your desires , the faster you can grant me my wish."

…

"My lord, the prototype was successful, the Pegasus system should be ready for integration in a few weeks."

"And the heating issues?"

"Mostly fixed, the data you delivered on multi dozen ton Knightmare production helped immensely."

"Good work Harris, I am pleased, do you have any requests?"

"I would like to take some time off from the Realm project to study the data you delivered further, I feel it might help with the stabilization issues."

"Then you have my permission of course!"

Harris smirked in that demented manner of his and cut the line after a few dozen thank you's, I simply shook my head, glad that the stress of the past few days was soon to be lessened. Nelly was set to arrive in but a few hours, to take the position of Viceroy until the area had been stabilized, by my father's direct orders I had permission to interfere if I felt she was going to fail. I don't quite know what to think about my father's directives, it was a great sign of confidence that I was granted the right to interfere, but it also showed that the emperor was paying attention to what was happening in my territory, which made me very nervous.

"Brother I have some strange news."

"Hmm, go ahead Marius, tell me."

"Gottwald's body is missing."

"What?!"

…..

"Nelly! Good to see you." Her younger brother looked as ruggedly handsome as ever, wearing a slightly tussled white suit and a golden cloth half cape. He was the very image of their father in the man's youth, tall, broad and heavily muscled with a roguishly handsome face scarred by war. She saluted him as was proper in front of the soldiers, before embracing him for a moment, she felt rather emotional lately, with the death of Clovis grating on her.

"Have you found out anything?"

"Not much unfortunately, this Zero figure has been tied to several attacks in the past that we were unable to tie to anyone else." She could see his frustration as well, he had been dealing with the fallout for a few days now, right after surviving a sniper shot in Madagascar with a brand new scar. "He seems to have several assets at his disposal, including some concerning ones."

"Hmm, what kind of assets."

"Prototype Knightmares, my prototype Knightmares!" That could be bad, Andre's Pride Corporation was known for creating high performance, high quality frames, if this Zero had one or more of those in his possession he could pose a threat to Knight squadrons. "The prototype for the SPARTAN-III, apparently modified for ambushes and the Agamemnon, a prototype for my Perseus with a heavy plasma cannon prototype."

"That could be bad, I will have to account for those in the hunt..." those two could definitely be an issue, especially because she would only have her personal forces and a Battalion sponsored by Andre, enough to overwhelm two frames of course, but the two could still wreak casualties. "Speaking of, I have a plan and I will need you to sign off on it."

"You mean to recreate Shinjuku?" Damn the man and his need to always predict exactly what someone was going to do. "I have made a statement Nelly, I can't go back on it, no slaughters of civilians."

"Terrorists only then, I suppose I can work with that."

….

"Cornelia is quite forward, I did not expect an invitation like that, it's almost like she is rolling out the carpet."

"It's a trap."

"That is obvious, the question is if I can afford to ignore it." Lelouch watched the new of the encirclement of the ghetto with a considering look, the civilians being allowed to leave after their being such was confirmed reeked of Alexander's influence as well. The man's presence in a battle would have to be considered, and while he felt confident in fighting Cornelia alone, but the two of them could prove to be too much. "My new subordinates would not look kindly on me simply abandoning the people who would not be able to leave..."

"Risk reward ratio, boy, is the potential reward worth the risk involved?"

"That will depend on the battlefield and the forces I can bring, those Yamato thugs won't have any Knightmares, and sneaking frames in will be hard. I can guaranty getting infantry in via the sewers but the tunnel passages are not mapped well enough to be sure I can bring heavier equipment in."

"That's just battle preparation boy, what is the possible reward from fighting it?"

"Reputation and loyalty of the survivors of the Yamato alliance, maybe some captured equipment, I would like to add capturing Cornelia to that list but that is currently not possible."

"And is it worth the risk?"

"Not really if I am honest, but it is my only option if I wish to continue building my reputation with this little army I am making." Lelouch found himself entertained by their conversation, playing dumb was more amusing then he expected it could be. "So I need to find a way to make the risk worth it."

"You can, but you can also not fight."

"Now that would just be boring."

….

"I would have thought you would be participating in combat Andre."

"I am sure I will not be needed here, and without the Perseus combat is a lot less fun." Her brother said, leaning against the wall of the G-1, smirking that insufferable smile of his. "I am sure your royal guard will provide challenge enough Nelly, I am only here to monitor the situation."

"Alright then." She turned to the deck crew of the land fortress the officers familiar to her from the African war and stood at attention within a moment, brave Britannian soldiers every one of them ready to follow her orders. "Commence the operation, draw Zero out into the open so I can kill him myself!"

"Yes your highness!"

…..

"Always apply the correct amount of force, too much and it can shatter everything your trying to do, too little and it could prove inefficient. How do you know the correct amount? Experience."

Alexander Andreas Gustavos DI Britannia.