"Trans-humanism, the mechanical or genetic modification of one's body, it's always been a contentious issue. For how much can we change before we stop being humans and start being something else."

Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia.

…..

"We just finished the arm prototype your highness, its fingers function fully but the thumb is a bit rough to get used to apparently, but we should be able to bring the civilian model to market in a few weeks."

"Which will fund our other projects for months to come, good, proceed with that immediately Harris, anything else?"

"One thing sire, regarding Realm?"

"Of course, speak freely, this line is as secure as possible."

"It seems that we should be able to instal one of the B-tier reactors on it, but it will be a risky thing, it might effect shielding negatively but would speed the project up significantly."

"Install one, we can always refit it once the A and S tier projects bear fruit."

"Understood your highness, best of luck with your efforts in Area 11."

"Thank you Harris, contact me if any problems arise."

…..

"Casualties?"

"Quite a lot your Highness, the terrorists injured many pilots but only killed four, still we lost nearly two hundred infantry, material damages were far greater, over four dozen Sutherlands destroyed, seven Gloucester damaged or destroyed and many tanks and APC's heavily damaged."

Cornelia frowned, it was far more then acceptable for such a small engagement, and the loss of a member of the royal guard stung more than all of it combined. She had underestimated Zero, she was willing to admit that, he clearly had a support network larger then she or anyone else had anticipated. The man clearly had at least one skilled commander as a subordinate, several 6th gen frames stolen and acquired for a few elite pilots that could clearly pose a problem and had been preparing for quite some time, with the several Knightmares stolen months earlier during raids by rebels and terrorists.

"I am making another two battalions available to you Cornelia, if this Zero inspires others like him to rise you might need them." Andre spoke from besides her, the large man looking slightly agitated about the situation, she had had to wake him early to join the meeting, and as the man had a preference for sleeping in, that meant he was rather tired. "The blood of the Samurai faction for instance could be a large problem, they have over half a hundred Knightmares and are more than willing to deploy them against us."

She had heard of that particular terrorist cell, a highly aggressive faction that had declared open rebellion with the news of Clovis death. They had had some success raiding Britannian factories and supply depos for spare parts to create Uglies, a type of Knightmare made up from several different types of frames that could range in effectiveness from below 4th gen to anywhere near the performance of a Gloucester. A threat to be sure, especially with her own forces as diminished as they were, she was likely going to need to the forces Andre was making available to even encircle their territory.

"Do you believe Zero will show up there as well Brother?"

"Unlikely, but not impossible, it is probable you exhausted his forces at Saitama and he will need to replenish, but it's not impossible that he may deliver some kind of support to the Blood of the Samurai."

"Its best we move quickly then, we strike before he can rally his forces and drown the Blood of the Samurai in their own blood."

"Poetic. And people call me a Ham?"

…..

"It seems that Cornelia is targeting rebel cells all over the area Lelouch, she has inadvertently targeted some of my resources as well, I won't be able to provide much support for a few weeks."

"You are not upset? I would have expected you to be angry."

"Oh not at all, there has been some damage of course, but the benefits have been even greater, I won't go into detail but just know that many of my competitors have been having it even worse."

"I am going to go out on a limb and say that this was not the only reason for your call."

"Of course not, I also wished to congratulate you on your deception with Zero and yourself, a brilliant manoeuvre, furthermore I wanted to say that I will support that deception, say whatever you need to." The man on the screen took a long drag from his cigar, he could just barely make out the rows of shining white teeth, smiling in the firelight. "Have you decided on a name for your little army yet?"

"Not yet, but I will have one soon."

"Good, the people need a name, one more than just the masked man Zero, to unite under. If you want there is something you can do for me that might advance your cause further."

"I'm listening."

….

"Kallen, how can I help you."

"Hey Lelouch, can we talk for a moment, in private?"

"Sure, let's go to the roof, nobody will bother us up there."

Following behind the Britannian boy Kallen found herself having a tough time keeping up the disguise of a sick schoolgirl, she had to many questions to ask the arrogant boy. The way to the roof was one he clearly knew well, guiding them to it without encountering any other students or faculty that might question them.

"Alright, what did you want to know Kallen?"

"Who are you Lelouch?" Best go with a general question, she knew such questions might throw someone off enough to get some information out of them. It was unlikely to work on someone with experience Kallen knew, but it would be a nice start anyway.

"An interesting question, I am me, that is all there is to it." The fucker was smirking in a manner that made his face look oh so punchable, but his answer was an interesting one. He both avoided the question and showed part of the answer, showed that he considered himself something unique and that he felt that he had no need to explain why he was as such, unlike most arrogant people. Time to go more direct.

"Alright then you evasive cunt, you are Zero, I can tell, don't deny it, why is a Britannian fighting against his own country." The slight twitch of his eyebrow was the only sign of emotion on the boys blank face, she resisted the urge to smirk, he was clearly annoyed at having been found out.

"Huh, if anyone was going to figure it out it was bound to be you, I suppose you deserve an answer." Lelouch broke the eye contact they had been holding, she frowned at that, it was a lot harder to see if someone was lying when they weren't looking at you.

"I want to destroy the country that destroyed my sisters life, let me tell you a story Kallen. On a day very long ago, a common woman married an important man, she bore him two children, a boy and a girl, they lived a happy life in the lap of luxury." He paused, a hard look upon his face as he took a breath. "Until one day the rich man's family decided that they did not agree with the common woman's influence over the rich man. They had her killed while she tried to cover her daughter with her body, her son seeing it all happening from nearby."

"Fuck." It was all she could say, she could see the commonalities between them and she found she could easily imagine herself in Nunnally's place if her father had ever bothered to marry her mother as he should have. "Still, as much as I sympathize, that does not answer the most important question."

"I fight against Britannia because I have denounced its very existence, after my mother's death we moved to Japan, where we lived in peace if not happiness until the invasion. It was then I saw the destruction the empire reaped upon the world and knew that I could not stand to look my sister in her eyes when she eventually opens them again, not with the world as it is. You might not be able to trust me just on my words, but know that I seek to bring freedom to all oppressed by the empire."

"Fuck, you are such a Ham, I will take your word on it for now, but I will be making sure you don't betray us."

"Thank you Kallen, while we are here I think it is best I inform you of our next mission, we are going on a field trip in the near future."

…..

"What the hell..." I muttered as I approached the hanger, the sight of the Perseus a great confidence booster, but not what I was referring too. No that was my little sister and a familiar Japanese boy were chatting beside my machines newest hanger mate, the first 7 gen Knightmare known as the Lancelot. I knew about her escape from her watchers yesterday of course, that she had run off after literally falling into Kururugi arms after that was monitored, they were supposed to be separated after th-

Oh yeah, Jeri is dead, no fight in the arena, no reason for Kururugi to break it up, I had not considered that... it would not change my plans overmuch luckily. Approaching them I put on my friendliest smile, the one that Dora told me made me look like a car salesman, it only took a second before Euphie noticed me.

"Brother Andre!" she shouted loudly, the sudden noise making the other people in the hanger flinch, yet Euphie did not care as she threw her arms around my neck and pulled me into a crushing hug. I hugged her briefly in return, it had been a while since I had last spoken with her let alone met in person. "It's so good to see you!"

"Same here dear Sister, I wish we could have seen each other under better circumstances." I took note of how Kururugi stiffened up at my presence, how the boy stood at attention with not even a quiver or word. "Leftenant Kururugi, good to finally meet my competitors test pilot."

"Thank you sir, it's my pleasure sir."

"Suzaku, no need to stand on ceremony with Andre, you are not under his command."

"Exactly Leftenant, now I would like to know what it would take to get you to spar with me."

….

Seeing Suzaku at Ashford had been a big surprise, and while it was nice to see him making Nunnally happier, convincing Kallen to not got after him for the trouble the boy caused almost made him wish he had not come. Shaking his head Lelouch pulled his phone from his pocket, sending the security text to Sayoko to stop her from bursting in and killing Suzaku.

"So Suzaku, are you coming with us to the Kawaguchi hotel?"

"I'm afraid I have work that day, my boss wants me there to do some tests."

"What kind of tests?" Nunnally asked as she sipped from her cup of tea, the slight crick in her voice signifying her worry.

"Nothing medical, just some new tech my boss wants to perfect."

"What department do you work for anyway Suzaku?" Lelouch found himself wondering, he had said that he was no longer in the infantry but had not mentioned anything about his new assignment.

"Engineering, I work for a scientist that is building some new Knightmare developments, mainly as a test pilot."

"Quite a promotion!"

…

"Status on the Chinese?"

"Posturing at the Korean DMZ again, they won't cross without a sign of weakness, at least one bigger than the ones they have seen already, your highness being in Area 11 also helps."

"When Realm is operational they will have to try something, I want everything prepared for that, have the army groups on New-Guinea change basses to Pride-rock, the cannibals are unlikely to cause trouble for a few generations."

"Yes, Lord Bradley was hard to control even for Monica your highness, he only respects Bismark, the Emperor and you to some degree, he simply slaughtered until he could find no more resistance." Bloody fucking Vampire and his ignorance to politics, messing with my territory, I should have had him killed but I can't risk such bold moves yet.

Still it freed up forces previously tied down there, meaning that I could bring another 500 Knightmares up to China's jugular. With them stationed at Pride-rock I could launch an attack on any target within 50 miles of the shores of the federation west of Singapore within 6 hours. With over 10.000 Knightmares stationed at my fortress this meant that in the event of war I could have the Chinese coastline under control within a few days, a week at most.

At least that was if the Chinese were sticking to the treaty restrictions, every sign was pointing towards the fact that they were not, secret military factories disguised as civilian operation, Knightmare training for every man and woman in the army, new anti armor weapons for their Gun-ru's and a massive anti-air missile program meant to grind down any bombing campaign. Not a bad strategy all things considered, it might be one I would have played in their situation, the basis of a defensive campaign where manpower and materials would play the biggest part.

"Move a unit of my Spartans and their Knightmares to Area 11, I might have need of the extra firepower in the future."

…..

"Lelouch, why did you agree to go along with us? You are usually very opposed to most extracurricular activities." Shirley asked, and Kallen found her attention perked, she supposed it made sense with what she knew about the Boy, Lelouch, she corrected, that he was too busy. That just left the question, why go on a trip now? He had refused to tell her more than their destination and that she needed to make sure she brought a secondary pistol and suppressors, something that made her rather nervous.

The rest of the Cell was preparing for an operation with 'Zero', currently being impersonated by the strange green haired Girl called C.C, a rather infuriating personality, but she seemed pretty loyal to Lelouch. Kallen believed that something big was going to happen, it was the only realistic scenario she could come up with using the information available to her, maybe a move to take out the Britannian sakuradite operations by taking down the CEO's of the companies also currently at the hotel, without the room temperature super conductor the Brits would have to scale down Military production for a time.

Not a bad plan all in all, but it came with many downsides as well, after an operation like this the Cell would be hunted with everything the Brits could drum up. They would have to join up with other cells to bolster numbers to fighting ones at that point, it would have to go straight to open rebellion, giving the Brits and excuse to hunt them down to a man with all their forces. The more she thought about the worse the idea was, really, Lelouch must have realized that too, so what was he planning...

"Nunally convinced me, apparently she feels that I need to socialize more." A believable enough lie, especially considering it was the truth, tough Lelouch had her convince his sister to 'convince' him, a lot of extra work but a good way to keep his presence here realistic and explainable.

"Oh is that the only reason?" Milly's drawn out suggestive tone made it clear what the girl meant, "Or do you want to spend some more time with one of these prett-"

The Blond got no further in her sentence, as Shirley had jumped her, covering the girls mouth and causing the two of them to start wrestling, Kallen found herself smiling, at least these Brits weren't so bad.

….

"Euphie, I must let you know that I will take no blame for what happens, nor will I keep Cornelia of your back."

"I understand Andre, but it will be perfectly safe."

"I know that, I am talking about the Leftenant you are going with."

"Suzaku is a kind man Andr-"

"I know that, Cornelia does not."

Euphemia's little frown was as cute as always, despite the fact that it was meant to convey a lot of anger, I was simply unable to see her as anything other than the young girl I grew up with. Her taking Suzaku as additional protection was actually a suggestion Dorathea made to her under my instructions, it would fit well with my plans, and would have Suzaku seen as something of a protector by Nelly, at least that was the hope.

I was ready for the punch to the face I was likely to receive when Nelly found out I endorsed Euphie's little trip with her not boyfriend, that was something I was guaranteed to receive. But I will do all necessary for my plans, even getting my lights knocked out by my ridiculously well trained sister, at least Marius will be entertained by it.

….

"Ultimate Victory has become a strange thing to me, something I am always chasing yet never get closer to, like someone is continuously moving the goal post. Well if that is the case... then I will simply cheat as well, it's not like I care much about honour anyway."

Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia.