"They call my Knight a Butcher for his actions in service to me, that he has no purpose other than serving me, that he is the lesser of two siblings, that he is only barely better then Bradley. Yet I call the man Brother gladly and without and qualms about it, because I know who he truly is."

Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia.

….

"He is getting bothersome Charles..."

"Come now Victor, he is ambitious sure and has some skill to back it up, but he has not interfered with our business, at least not purposefully."

"He has been fucking with Code-R again, I had to personally intervene to keep it from going public."

"Clovis was not exactly careful with his affairs, it was bound to come up eventually, better that it was Alexander and not someone with a more firm moral compass."

"You just say that because he is your favourite."

"Hmm, I suppose he is one of my favoured children, I do enjoy his war stories and his unhidden brutality reminds me of us when we were younger."

…

"It seems we have a new mission." Lelouch's casual words made Kallen look up, she had been sitting with Rai at the student council table, studying in her case and staring at Shirley in Rai's. The boy was an interesting one, smart, silver tongued and with decent skill as a pilot, if not for his obsession with Shirley she might have considered him attractive as well, but she could not bring herself to look at him like that while he was staring at the other redhead in their group. "We are going hiking this weekend, make sure to prepare for a long weekend with a lot of exertion."

"Alright then, I'll bite, where are we going." Rai said before Kallen could, she could not fault him for his enthusiasm, it was likely to be his first real combat mission with the Black knights, and Rai was eager to get back at Britannian for whatever they had done to him.

"To the Narita-Mountains, but before that I have a surprise for the both of you, come to base tonight."

"If it is something stu-"

"Don't worry Kallen, it won't take long, you should still be able to visit you mother afterwards." Nodding at him Kallen turned back to her homework, she found that going to school as much as she currently was had both up and downsides. The upsides being that she made friends here that she actually liked, the downsides being the extra homework. There was also the boys drooling over her, but she had teamed up with Lelouch for that, as he had a whole horde of girls after him and taught her how to avoid them.

…

"The Pegasus package is ready your highness, installation will take a little while though, I assume now is not a good time for it?"

"Correct unfortunately, we have a combat operation in a few days and likely more to follow, make sure to have it ready and transported to Realm-1." My words got a series of rapid nods from the overly excitable scientist.

"As you say, speaking about Realm, 1 is nearly complete, save for its combat systems, it should be ready for launch in a week or two."

"Excellent, I get the feeling things are about to escalate here, I need the Rock prepared for possible, no, for likely attack, I want the Lord-Admirals fleet in the South China sea and the Hyperion fleet at Okinawa. Prepare Realm 1 to move out ASAP, weapons or not I will need it soon."

….

"Alright Lelouch, why are we here?" Kallen asked, they were currently in the Black-Knights most secure warehouse, Lelouch not dressed as Zero but in his 'ace uniform' as he led them to the end of the Knightmare storage.

"We just received some new machines, one from Kyoto and one donated by the Illusive man, your new mounts." Excitement bubbled within her, she had taken a liking to her Gloucester Jouster but the machines limitations were clear, a new Knightmare frame was likely to outperform it by far. Lelouch pulled a large tarp off of one of the machines. "First is yours Rai, donated by Kyoto, the Gekka-test type."

The Knightmare was painted a dark blue with gold highlights, slim and tall with a metallic left arm and a large chain sword in its right hand, it looked fast to be sure, its decorations somewhat reminiscent of a Samurai of old.

"It's a gen 7 frame meant as a testbed for future development, though it's out performed by its predecessors, your machine Kallen, donated by the illusive man though from the same creator. The Guren Mark II." As he pulled the tarp off, Kallen felt her heart skip a beat as the red, orange and silver monster was revealed to her, everything about it was perfect, from its colours to its sharp and crisp armor and glorious weapons, she could see her jousting lance had already been put ready in its left hand too. "They both have a very interesting feature, a radiation surge emitted from their claws, it should able to melt and bubble damn near any other frame on the field as long as you can get a hold of it."

"Radiation surge?" That made her worry for a moment, such a weapon was highly illegal, banned by several conventions and very dangerous, dependent on the kind of radiation it could also fry the person using it.

"It's a Sakuradite contained reaction, it soaks up the radiation and makes sure that it does not affect anything other then what you are holding."

That still did not make her feel better about using what is essentially a melee nuke.

….

"Commander, glad to have you here."

"Glad to be here Ser Ernst, I heard we are to deploy soon?'

"Yes, his highness is unfortunately indisposed dealing with the local nobles, he will brief you in a few hours, its best to get the men settle into their new quarters first."

"Understood, Sir!" Marius nodded at the Commander, signalling her to leave, Janet Shader was a solid fighter and good commander, nearly ace pilot level in a Knightmare, word was that Pride-crop was building her a personal frame as well. He found that it was not a bad idea, the commander of his brothers Spartans should have a more advanced frame.

Shaking his head Marius found himself once again looking at the Hercules Hydra, the massive hunk of metal and power he had such a strange relationship with. He did not have the connection with his machine as Andre did, nor the synchronization Dora had with hers, to him his Knightmare was a simple tool, a means of doing his job more efficiently. Be that job protecting his Prince from unwanted suitors or slaughtering his foes on the fields of battle, as long as the Hercules Hydra was the best tool for the job it would be his preferred one.

Not that it was not fun to pilot it of course, its speed and strength were unmatched on the field and its new guided mortar worked like a charm. He had always had a thing for things that went fast, be they cars, planes or Knightmares, and with a max speed of 45 meters per second the Hercules Hydra was damned fast.

"Sir Marius?" A voice shook him out of his thoughts, he turned to it and bowed at the hip on instinct, Cornelia stood tall and graceful as ever, he could not stop his eyes from briefly taking in her form, beautiful as always. "What are you doing here?"

"I was to receive his Highnesses Spartans upon their arrival, I chose to lag behind to think for a moment."

"Think when there is time to spare, act when there is not." He recognized one of Andre's sayings easily, even though it was not one he used often anymore.

"He also said that thinking is only beneficial when one knows what to think about, I do not fit that description at all."

"Do not down speak your intelligence Sir Marius, I will not let you." Cornelia smiled at him in a way that made him flush for a moment, damn, he had to learn how to control himself around her. Cornelia smirked as she saw the colour on his cheeks, and he knew he had been found out. "Now, are you up for a spar? I would like to test the Butcher of Brunei myself."

"O-of course your Highness."

…

Euphie stood silently in the parking garage, Suzaku by her side a comforting presence as they waited, it was nearly midnight now, and she was anxious to see him. She was not exactly surprised that he was alive, her brother had always been resourceful and she and Cornelia had always held out hope for their survival. What was surprising was running into him so suddenly, in a hostage situation of all things.

Then she saw him come around the corner of the garage, her smile lighting across her face as she dashed to him, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug, Lelouch collapsed to the floor with her atop him. She laughed as she stood and offered him a hand he accepted and she pulled him up, then hugged him again.

"Its so good to see you Lulu! Is Nunna alright?"

"Yes she is alive, but moving her for a covert meeting is difficult."

"I'm glad," Then she slapped him, Lelouch reeling back from the blow while Suzaku chuckled, clearly having expected her to do that, he knew her so well... "Why did you stay away!?"

"You know why Euphie. I can't let them use Nunna like that..."

"Hmmph, fine, I can accept that." She paused for a moment. "Now tell me about what happened."

…

"When the operation is due to start I want an evacuation order issued for all people within thirty miles of the battlegrounds, any stray shells could prove a propaganda disaster."

"A fair idea brother, I agree." Euphie said, putting on her 'strong' voice that made Nelly cave within seconds, I smiled at the scene, it was nice to see her at least ignoring the other member of the room. Suzaku was likely happy for the break in angry stares as well. I knew bringing him so close so early was a risk, but one entirely worth it if the two lovebirds had a bit more time to develop a relationship out of the eyes of the public.

It was the only reason why Euphie had not made the boy her knight yet, when she did that he would be exposed to the world in the most direct way possible, their every actions scrutinized by the media. Some might think that me playing match maker like this was not ethical, and those people are probably correct, I was toying with the emotions of my sister, not because they were a good match, but because I wanted a pilot on my side.

Then again I have already discarded such pity things a long time ago, morals are but a barrier to goals, one that is easily destroyed when the goal is great enough. And Euphie was happy, as long as she was happy I would not feel bad about my actions.

"Fine then, I suppose a few hours of forewarning won't make much of a difference to their defence¸ Darlton will take the south-eastern approach with the bulk of our forces, Guilford will take the western approach with a small force meant to cut off their escape towards Kyoto, and I will take field command from the south in that new Gloucester you brought me Andre."

"And I will be on standby at the rear with a small force should anything go wrong." Which would happen, there was no doubt about that.

…

"So Lelouch, what exactly are we going to do?" C.C was lazing back on his bed, once again devouring a pizza with more cheese then tomato sauce in the most ravenous manner possible, it was rather cute really. Lelouch just looked at her in an annoyed manner, he had been planning this for a week now and she just now decided to show interest.

"I will be playing the part as Zero's second in command again, you will be Zero, commanding the Black knights."

"I know that much Lulu, I am just wondering how you are going to get us past the JLF sentries and onto the top of that mountain for your little miracle?"

"Oh simple really, once the illusive bastard heard of my plans he was most eager to help out, for a favour at a later date of course, I do not like the man but he is exceptionally useful."

"An ally of circumstance, to be discarded as soon as interests no longer align, I assume it's going to be the same with the JLF?"

"Of course, I don't expect to take control of the entire organization, but when they are inevitably destroyed many of them will flock to the ones who tried to save them, all we really have to do to get a strategic victory is to simply fight for a little while after our arrival and then retreat."

"But that is not your plan correct, you want to capture your sister."

"Of course, isolating her should be easy enough, and with four Ace-frames capturing her should be possible."

"So you want to fight her yourself? In that 'Shogun' of yours?" She laughed as he nodded, not understanding her amusement, before shaking his head and chuckling awkwardly along with her.

….

"Suzaku, a word?"

"Of course Ser Marius." Marius rolled his eyes at the boy, he had told him that such titles were unnecessary among those sworn to the royals like they were, but the Japanese boy was very set in his ways. That was what Andre called it at least, Marius just called it being a stubborn fuck, at least the boy had skill and was loyal to his princess, good qualities to have.

"My lord wishes you and the Lancelot to be on standby with him during the operation, to protect the Princess Euphemia in the event that he has to move out."

"She insists on being at the battle?"

"Yes, she is just as stubborn as her siblings in that way, when her mind is set on something she will not let it go." Hoping the boy would understand the undertone of his words, Marius led him into a nearby office room, empty because of the late time of day. "Now Kururugi, my lord has made it clear that he does not mind his sisters interest in you, but I wish to make certain matters clear to you."

"Sir?"

"We servants of the royal family, those known as their knights are expected to uphold their masters reputation and honour at all costs-"

"But my lord I am not a knight!?"

"Not yet Kururugi, the only reason you are not is because Princess Cornelia and Prince Alexander are still testing you, it won't be long, but let me continue, do not interrupt again, it is rather rude." Marius frowned to make the message sink in. "We are expected to uphold the honour and reputation of our masters at all cost. Princess Euphemia is clearly interested in you as more than a friend, and as her knight it is your duty to oblige her, to please her and to make sure she is satisfied, you cannot refuse her advances, yet you cannot show that she has made such advances to anyone else."

"S-ser Marius!"

"Oh quite being a prude Suzaku! Remember this from our conversation. Reputation, Honour, Life, in that order, sacrifice them if needed in that order. Protecting your master is all that matters in the end."

…

"Alright, I won't lie to you all, our operation tomorrow will be the toughest one yet, for many of you it will be the hardest fight you will ever have, against the Witch of Britannia herself. But know that my plans will bring you to victory! Some of you will die, but I know all of you have accepted that, otherwise you would not have joined us. Our goal will be to assist the JLF in any way possible, give them a chance to fall back if possible, because this is such a large operation I have invited K-2 to assist us again, he will join us on the morrow when we move out."

Zero paused for a moment, his masked face both intimidating yet reassuring, Diethard found that he had made the right choice joining with the masked man. The chance to record an event as great as this was not simply passed up, it was the chance to be in the middle of history as it was created. "Now get some rest, for tomorrow, death and glory awaits us!"

The cheer that ran through the ranks of elevens was loud as it echoed around the hanger, bouncing off of the hulls of just shy of fifty Knightmares, a true army indeed. He did not know how Zero had done it, getting this many assets so quickly, everything from infantry weapons and armor to Knightmares ranging from Burai to Sutherlands to Gloucester's and even special models, all gathered and ready for war.

Whoever Zero's allies and backers were, they were rich and had resources to spare, Diethard suspected several people but he could not be sure, not until Zero himself confirmed them.

…

"This is Cornelia Li Britannia, second Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire! Hear me and obey! Today we face the foul savages of the Japan Liberation Front on their own doorstep! We will bring these rats to the surface and end their miserable resistance! Today we end the war started seven years ago with fire and blood! Advance in the name of god and country! Attack!"

"And people call me a Ham, Marius! Did you hear that speech, like it came straight out of some novel or tv-show! So cheesy!"

"You are a Ham, Brother. You have given a similar speech at least a dozen times before."

"Have I? hmm, must be on instinct then, did they sound good?"

"Yes Brother."

"Honest?"

"No Brother, it was as cheesy as a Dutch market."

"Fuck."

…

"You want to know why I took Marius as my knight and not Dorathea? Who would ever pick the Butcher of Brunei over the Widow-Maker? I did not pick. They drew straws for who would come with me and who would come with Nonette, Marius drew the short straw."

Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia.