"I hereby renounce my claim to the throne!" – Regular speaking
'How dare the Emperor abandon Nunnally!' – Regular thinking; Italics not in singular quotations are used for emphasis
"Q-1, strike the left flank now!" – Speaking as heard over radios and other communication devices
"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, DIE!" Speech influenced by using Geass
Disclaimer: I don't own any franchise that is used in this story nor do I make any profit from it whatsoever.
Hope you enjoy the new chapter.
Chapter 9: The Shadow of Zero
(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Ashford Academy – 7:33 pm – September 20 – 2017 a.t.b.)
'How could I have been so careless!' Lelouch mentally screamed at himself.
He should have waited until nightfall to go get his helmet instead of getting it right off the bat while everyone was distracted.
He stared at Ruben, searching for any sign that the man was bluffing. He didn't see any.
Lelouch subtly tapped his finger once, letting Sayoko know she didn't need to use the knife she pulled out from behind her. He knew she'd be willing to take care of Ruben if he gave the order, but that was not necessary for now so he gave her the signal to hold back for the moment. His maid nodded slightly, slipping the knife back into her sleeve as he turned to Ruben.
"And what are you going to do with that information?" Lelouch smirked, bluffing at how much confidence he had. "Rather, what have you already done with that information?" If Ruben had prepared to deliver that information in the event of his death or already distributed it, he would die. There was no question, no matter how much he owed Ruben he could not let a man who was so much a threat to Nunnally's safety live.
No matter how he felt, Lelouch was all too willing to order Ruben's death if necessary.
"Nothing, to both questions." Ruben answered honestly. He had already erased the footage from the security cameras that had caught it, though he hadn't needed them.
"I saw you grab it from the bushes from my office after I returned from one of my meetings. I have gotten rid of all evidence already, you don't have to worry about the military coming after you." Ruben was here for another reason.
"I have always known that you would strike against our Homeland one day, but I had thought it would have taken you a longer time." He leaned against the door and sighed. "I never thought I would see the day you began to take your revenge, but I guess the attempt at executing your friend Suzaku forced your hand. You must have jumped your schedule by years for his sake." Ruben smiled. "I hope your friend was worth it."
"He was." Lelouch asserted strongly, despite knowing that he had essentially admitted to high treason with that statement. Nothing he had said to Ruben before that had been as incriminating as that admission. "Suzaku will always be worth it." Even if he hadn't joined Zero, Lelouch would never abandon Suzaku. "Why have you come here if not to blackmail me?" Lelouch spoke seriously. He could no longer treat this man as Lelouch, he had to think as Zero.
Zero would take everything into account before deciding to use or manipulate the man before him or, if it was necessary, to kill him.
"I have come to offer my services. I want you to follow me somewhere." Ruben answered, turning his back to open the door. "If you want Sayoko to kill me, then do so, but I promise that you will lose a very valuable source of knowledge regarding your armor." He stepped through the threshold and smiled when he didn't feel a knife in his back.
'Good, even if his heart is steel at least his mind can be swayed.' Ruben had a feeling it would have been futile to appeal to Lelouch's heart, he had to appeal to Zero's mind.
Luckily, he knew a thing or two about the Zero Armor.
"Will you come with me, milord?" Ruben requested with great respect for Lelouch and Zero. "I wish to show you something that may help you in your war against Britannia." He turned his head slightly, looking at the boy who he had essentially raised alongside his granddaughter.
Lelouch stood carefully and whispered to Sayoko, "If he does anything that may hint he could be a danger to Nunnally, kill him and take Nunnally." Lelouch ordered his servant. "I want you to go to the Sumeragi family if necessary. They would gladly take Nunnally in." Kaguya would never allow harm to befall the Princess she had befriended when they were children.
He looked at C.C., "I trust you can take care of yourself?" She nodded seriously at his question and he nodded to himself. "Good, if I'm not back in a half hour, treat the situation as though I have been captured or killed."
"Sayoko, follow me." Zero commanded as he followed Ruben out of Lelouch's bedroom door.
"Yes, milord." Sayoko nodded, falling into step behind her young master. She would follow his commands, he had earned her service with his unswerving kindness for her in her position as their servant and Nunnally's caretaker. She was more than willing to kill for him, and even more willing to continue serving him if he truly was the man who had given her people hope.
"I know you could hear my orders, I don't care." Zero said as he spoke with Ruben. "They change nothing, but since you only have a half an hour you better make it quick." He narrowed his eyes at the man who had cared for Lelouch for so long. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, milord." Ruben answered, slightly unnerved at how easily Lelouch had switched personas. Zero was far… colder in his demeanor than Lelouch. While Lelouch was a cold person by nature to those he wasn't close to, Zero was worse. Ruben considered all of this as he led Zero towards the back of the clubhouse that housed Lelouch and his sister.
"There is a supercomputer underneath Ashford Academy," he began, stating something Lelouch already knew. "I have told you that it is for maintaining the Ganymede's systems, but that is not entirely true." He pressed a small place on the furthest wall in the deepest hallway, causing a scanner to open up and scan his eye. It was placed at an area that would not scan any lower than his eyeline. The hidden elevator door opened up, allowing the three of them to enter and head down.
"The true purpose of this computer," he continued as they went down. "Is to hold all the information I have gathered in preparation for you to go against Britannia." He closed his eyes and laughed self-deprecatingly. "Like I said, I didn't expect to live to see you begin your war. But I had planned to leave you everything I knew after my death. This computer is entirely focused on securing and compiling information that could be useful in a campaign against Britannia."
Once they arrived, the door opened revealing a dark basement that looked like an abandoned factory. Lights flickered on automatically as they sensed movement and Ruben stepped out, with Zero and Sayoko following him.
"What I offer is full access to this information as well as my services in gathering information in the future." He turned, standing in proudly front of his first creation. The Ganymede Frame. If he was going to die, he wanted to die here. "Even revolutionaries need advisors and I think that I can serve you well, Lord Zero." He bowed with his hand open over his heart. "Please tell me what you think of my offer."
Zero stared at the man in front of him. 'He could prove useful after all.' He decided against killing the man before him for now. "What do you know about the Zero Armor?" He asked, as that was one of the reasons he had followed the exiled Lord down here.
"I allowed Sayoko to take information on the Frame behind me to her former masters." Ruben answered. "They used the information on Knightmares to begin crafting a countermeasure, but they failed to fully complete it before Britannia invaded."
He smirked sadly. "Or so I had thought. I had asked the name of the project as well as a few other questions and I was allowed to have some answers due to my cooperation in handing over the information on the first Knightmare Frame."
He took a deep breath. "Project: Zero, the title of the project that I had thought destroyed, resurfaced last week." He tossed his hands up flippantly. "I had no idea who was behind that mask until I saw you recover it the other day. But I am glad that it was you who discovered it."
Ruben made his way over to the console and began typing in commands. "From what little I was told, the Armor works by taking in data from Sakuradite fueled tools, everything from remotes with Sakuradite batteries to Knightmare Frames, and then renders them powerless with a pulse that negates the conductivity of Sakuradite."
The screen flashed, revealing the schematics for a number of different Knightmares before settling on a basic Glasgow Frame next to a basic Sutherland Frame. "By having the helmet download the schematics for a tool fueled by Sakuradite, it is capable of essentially turning off anything from a remote to a Knightmare and making it powerless as its fuel source stops working."
He turned and leaned against the console's keyboard. "The Sutherland has been out for a while now, but it's the newest Frame I have access to the plans for." He shrugged. "Given enough time I could acquire the Gloucester Frame's plans, but it could take me another few weeks."
'So, that's what the D.O.M Hostia does. That must mean it had the schematics of the collar already implanted inside it, considering I could deactivate Suzaku's.' That made sense considering it was a rather well known Britannian prisoner accessory. If the Japanese wanted to initiate a prison break it would have been helpful to have the Zero Armor capable of automatically deactivating the prisoner collars if necessary.
Ruben was turning out to be a goldmine of information since the information on the D.O.M Hostia system had been corrupted.
"I believe I will accept your offer, Ruben Ashford." Zero spoke before reverting to Lelouch. "Thank you for your help, I'm sure that this will help greatly in my war against Britannia." He turned to his servant. "And Sayoko? I presume I can count on you?"
The stealthy maid kneeled down in front of him, her head bowed. "If you will allow me the honor, I would gladly serve as your shadow milord." Her head rose as she looked up at the boy, now young man, that she served willingly.
"I, Sayoko Shinozaki, swear to serve as the shadow that protects Zero from the threats in the dark and serve as his blade to strike down those he deems his enemies in the light. So I swear." She had sworn a similar oath seven years ago, when she first met Lelouch and Nunnally.
"I, Sayoko Shinozaki, swear to serve Lelouch and Nunnally faithfully and without question, to protect them from all threats, whether they reside in the dark or in the light. So I swear."
As far as she was concerned, this oath simply reaffirmed and extended her promise to protect and serve her young master. The fact that she got to assist in his attempt to free her homeland was merely a side-benefit.
"I, Zero, hereby accept and affirm your oath." Lelouch declared, holding out his hand to help Sayoko stand before him as she deserved. "I do have a few orders for you to fulfill, but they will need to be carried out outside of your normal duties." He looked at his loyal servant. "Are you willing to accept them at this time?" He smiled, already knowing her answer.
"Yes, milord." She answered swiftly. "What are your orders?"
Lelouch had planned on making contact with the terrorist group run by Kallen's friend soon, this simply helped him add another layer of subterfuge to protect his identity. He ordered Sayoko to track down Ohgi in Shinjuku, and make contact with him as well as deliver a means with which he could communicate with Zero. But only do so after she had sufficiently concealed her identity.
A set of two burner phones, purchased by Sayoko under a false identity, would serve as his connection to the terrorists in Shinjuku until he could set up a better system. Sayoko would help act as his covert agent, delivering his orders when he couldn't deliver them personally.
After doing that, the two of them made their way back to the main floor of Ashford's clubhouse. Lelouch went to obtain his helmet so he could begin downloading the schematics Ruben had available, as well as let C.C. know he was still alive and they didn't need to flee.
Sayoko went out to head off to Shinjuku to begin tracking down her target as well as obtain a pair of phones for the two of them to use. Ruben remained down in the basement, preparing the most relevant data for the Zero helmet to download.
It was even better than the best outcome he had hoped for in the event of his identity being discovered. Not a bad evening all things considered.
(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Viceroy Palace – 5:01 pm – September 20 – 2017 a.t.b.)
Cornelia was having a lousy evening.
"Let me get this straight," Cornelia deadpanned, trying to not show her annoyance at this situation show on her face as she addressed Colonel Madd and Earl Asplund separately from their units. "You," she began, pointing at Colonel Madd. "Have been using two soldiers since they were thirteen years old." She breathed sharply and continued her rebuke.
"Which makes your unit illegal even under Britannian law, which is notorious for allowing those who are four years under the age of majority to volunteer for military service compared to other nations." A policy that Cornelia had mixed feelings about.
On one hand, it granted a resource other nations were unwilling to tap to Britannia's military, but on the other they were willing to throw teenagers who were only fourteen years old into live combat. Commander-General of Britannia's military forces or not, that policy left a bad taste in her mouth.
She turned to Lloyd before he could make a crack at his contemporary. "I'll get to you in a second." Cornelia glared at the Earl before returning her attention to the Colonel, shutting up the motor Lloyd called a mouth.
"Not to mention the fact that you have been using one of these soldiers who you recruited illegally to spy on the Ashfords, a family that has done nothing politically or otherwise to reveal even a hint that they plan to go against the Homeland." Cornelia exhaled through her nose.
"I don't care what reasons you had to do that, but you will immediately release her from those orders, she may continue her education there if she so wishes." She glared at the Colonel icily before wrapping up his reprimand. "That will be a decision she will make on her own and tell me before she consults you on the matter. Am I understood?!" She whispered harshly.
"Yes, Viceroy Cornelia." Colonel Madd acquiesced submissively, keeping his head down as he had since his scolding had begun. At this point, he was just happy Cornelia was letting him keep his unit without giving it to anyone else. She was not happy to discover that he had been running the Irregulars illegally at some point during his tenure.
"I will let Alice know about her options and tell her to go to you before making her decision." He didn't like losing control the ability to spy on the Ashfords, but he could deal with that loss. They hadn't done anything suspicious beyond throwing insane parties or school events every now and again.
He was lucky she bought his explanation that he was too afraid of Clovis' retaliation if he didn't recruit early, otherwise he had no doubt that he would have lost his rank and been thrown into prison for enlisting a minor under the age of fourteen into the military.
"And you." Cornelia hissed as she turned onto Lloyd, Colonel Madd remaining in place as she began to reprimand his colleague next. The fact she hadn't dismissed him yet gave him a rare opportunity to see Lloyd get chewed out.
"You gave an Eleven, regardless of the fact he's an Honorary Britannian, unauthorized access to an experimental Seventh Generation Knightmare Frame?!" Her hiss got deeper the greater her incredulity became. "What the fuck were you thinking?!" She was pissed off that Kururugi was the one who had piloted the experimental Lancelot Frame during the Shinjuku Massacre, that was an event that would haunt Clovis in the history books she was sure, where they were fighting off other Eleven terrorists.
For all Lloyd knew, he could've been a double agent ready to use that Frame against the Britannian military. While that hadn't been the case, that was still something that should have occurred to the eccentric inventor.
"Technically, Your Highness." Lloyd began to defend himself. "He was granted authorized access to the Lancelot." He withheld a smirk for now, knowing that Cornelia wouldn't take his usual brand of insubordination well.
"Prince Clovis never said who we had to use as a pilot since Jeremiah couldn't be found at the time and he desperately wanted us to use the Lancelot to turn the tide after the failure of the Colonel's Irregulars." He couldn't resist a dig at his colleague. "I had done a little research on Private Kururugi before handing him the controls, he had the highest score aside from Lady Alstreim on the Knightmare Simulator back in the Academy." Lloyd shrugged flippantly. "No one else was qualified to pilot the Lancelot at the time, we simply had no choice."
Lloyd had to resist a giddy smile as he thought of the luck he had at getting Kururugi to be his Devicer, the boy was simply amazing. He had requested a Knight of the Round to pilot his Lancelot, but the Emperor and Prince Schneizel had shot that down, not wanting to risk the Knights on experimental technology.
And he so happened to find a boy who was equal to the one of the Knights after he fell into his lap. He may have not gotten the Knight of the Round he expected, but Lloyd had no doubt that, were the boy not a Number, he would have been one in no time flat.
Cornelia closed her eyes, ignoring the headache forming behind her temples and considered Lloyd's defense. "Fine, you can keep that Number as your pilot, I'll promote the brat to Warrant Officer, that should satisfy him."
She opened her eyes, glaring at the two men in front of her, ending on the Colonel. "And as for your unit." She was nearing the end of her patience. "I'll allow you to keep it and maintain control, but I will not tolerate any insubordination from the Irregulars." Her eyes narrowed. "After what you've told me, you're on thin ice Colonel, tread carefully."
She uncrossed her arms, letting one fall limply while the other rubbed the side of her head. "I'm done with you two, I want to meet with your soldiers now." She had a feeling that she would be going grey prematurely with these two on her staff. She wanted to get the boy's promotion and her evaluation of the Irregulars over with so she could get some dinner with her sister.
"Very well/No problem." The Colonel and Earl responded respectively. Though the Colonel thought bitterly to himself as they turned to gather their subordinates, 'Damn Lloyd and his silver tongue.' That bastard seemed like he could talk his way out of anything.
While their superiors were getting chewed out by the Viceroy, the two units were getting to know each other better. Suzaku hadn't wanted to talk at first, thinking it inappropriate but at Cécile's urging had relented.
"So, Alice," Suzaku tried to think of how to ask what he wanted to know. "What are you doing enrolled at Ashford?" He hoped it wasn't to spy on Lelouch and Nunnally, if that was the case he'd have to warn his friend he needed to run. He didn't think Lelouch and Nunnally could handle uprooting their entire lives again.
"Same reason as you, I need to get an education." Alice partially lied, she shuffled her feet feeling strange. "Why are you meeting with the Viceroy?" She wished they hadn't run into each other here, she didn't want things to become awkward between them in the Student Council.
"I'm with the Camelot Project," Suzaku answered honestly seeing as there was no good way of hiding it. "If you could keep that a secret, I would appreciate it. I don't want the others to worry about me." They knew he was in the military, but he didn't want them to worry so he told them he was in engineering. It wasn't exactly a lie, considering it was the secret engineering corps, but it definitely wasn't the full truth.
"Only if you do the same." Alice responded with a small smile. "I don't want the others to know I'm in the military either." She hoped he would keep this secret, she didn't want Nunnally to worry.
She hadn't minded Suzaku, finding him to be rather funny and a good person to talk to if Milly became too much to deal with. Aside from Kallen and now Suzaku, Alice had been the newest member of the Student Council and, as a consequence, was less used to Milly's insanity than the others. Suzaku was the only one who actively tried to sympathize with her as a new member, though Nunnally tried her friend got too much enjoyment out of Milly's insanity.
"That's enough of that." A dark-skinned girl with a red bow in her white hair said with a grin. "No need to be all serious Speedy, let's try and get along with the newbie in the Special Divisions." She had her arms draped over Alice's shoulders, reaching up with one of her hands to shake with Suzaku. "The name's Dalque, what's yours Newbie?"
Suzaku looked amusedly at the individual who was offering him a handshake over her friend's shoulders. "Suzaku Kururugi, Private." He stated his name and rank as he shook hands with the light-haired girl. "Nice to meet you Dalque."
Alice's eye was twitching before she shrugged Dalque off her shoulders. "Don't do that Dalque." She glared slightly at the girl who sidled up to her and draped her arm over her shoulders. Alice groaned. "Lucretia!" Alice sing-songed, drawing the usually quiet girl over. "Dalque wants to play!" The other blonde in their unit sauntered over, wearing a blank face with her eyes shining playfully.
Dalque started to shake slightly, her grin getting shakier the closer her friend got to her. "Eh, Scanner, I didn't say anything like–" Dalque cut herself off as she squealed, running off from Lucretia back to Cécile and the woman she was talking to. "Cappy, Speedy's being mean to me!" She whined cutely, ignoring the violent twitch from her superior officer. The Captain of the Irregulars stood ramrod straight, ignoring the giggles from her counterpart in Camelot.
"I've told you countless times, Dalque, if you need to call me anything, call me Captain or Sancia." She turned her head and looked down at her subordinate. "Don't call me Cappy! Especially in front of our colleagues."
Dalque sped off, sulking against the wall and twirling her finger on the ground. "No one appreciates me." She pouted, a cloud of depression hanging over her head.
"Is she always like that?" Suzaku asked as he watched Dalque go through about three different emotions in what felt like three seconds. "And what did she mean by Special Divisions?" When he had broken up the fight between the Purists the other day they had referred to him as a member of the Special Corps. He had thought it was just another nickname for Camelot, but apparently it was an actual designation.
"Dalque likes to mess with people, if she hasn't already she'll come up with a nickname for you soon and she'll stick with it until the end of time." Alice answered his first question dryly.
"And the Special Division is a designation given to those units who are outside the traditional structure of the military, like ours." Lucretia answered his second question quietly. Her playfulness had faded after Dalque fled, leaving her expression rather impassive.
"And since you're our newest member I'm gonna call you Newbie, Newbie." Dalque sprung up from behind Suzaku, wrapping her surprisingly strong arms around his waist and looking up at him from underneath his arm. "What do you think, Newbie?" She asked, her eyes shining with mischief.
Suzaku chuckled, making a mental note to avoid giving this girl any sugary sweets in the future. "I don't mind, Dalque." He replied, surprising the three Irregulars. "Why were you so afraid of Lucretia?" He asked curiously.
Dalque's eyes shifted over to the suddenly giggling blondes, her pout returned with a vengeance. "She's vicious, she'll hold me down and tickle me until I can't breathe if I bug her too much." Her head hung slightly. "Luckily Scanner doesn't get mad at me often, but Speedy likes to drag her into our arguments so I give up." Her head drooped further. "It usually works." She admitted with shame coloring her cheeks.
The nicknames confused Suzaku, but he noticed the Princess and their superiors walking towards the group. He shifted, moving the amusing girl off of his body and standing at attention as they began to make their way over to where the units were mingling.
The other three girls and their Captain did the same, with Cécile following the Irregulars' Captain. The six of them stood at attention, even the seemingly ever mischievous Dalque, as they were approached by their superiors and the Viceroy.
Cornelia examined the group in front of her, feeling dismayed at how young they all were. 'Only a few of them are older than Euphie.' She realized with a heavy heart. And even then, it was barely.
What kind of hell they must have seen, to have been able to reach this point without breaking like so many others. To willingly join the military at their age, it must have been terrible. It almost broke her heart. Cornelia was talented in the field of warfare, but she did not enjoy seeing the faces of soldiers as young as these willing to face death on the battlefield.
The Irregulars were dressed immaculately. Each of them wore a waist length coat colored deep purple. They had a cravat at their throat, as well as a short skirt and set of shoes that complimented the formal wear they had on. Cornelia frowned unnoticeably in mild distaste, noting many ways that their uniform could be used against them if they had to fight. It looked as though Clovis had set their uniform for formality over functionality. She'd have to change that later.
As she turned to Camelot, she was pleased to see that they were dressed simply and effectively, something she was sure was encouraged by her elder brother. Suzaku was wearing his white pilot's uniform, Earl Asplund's assistant was dressed in her regulation uniform, leaving only Lloyd as the one out of uniform though she had a feeling he was never in uniform in the first place.
Each unit was distinct, but each had potential she was willing to use if they could prove themselves on her domain.
The battlefield is where she ruled and it was the battlefield where they would serve.
She gave one last look to Suzaku. He had proven himself, and she believed in merit above all else. She wouldn't prove herself a hypocrite over this boy in front of her. Still, she was loath to leave the Lancelot in the hands of a Number, it felt far too much like a security risk.
"For your valor in the Battle of Shinjuku, Private Kururugi, you are hereby promoted to Warrant Officer, I hope you appreciate this." She said. The Viceroy sounded strained as she spoke. "You are free to serve as the Lancelot's Devicer for the foreseeable future." She turned to the Irregulars. "You and Camelot are dismissed, I have no further need for your presence."
She turned her attention to the Irregulars as they left the room. Once she was sure that she was alone with the Irregulars, she gave her next orders. "Now, I want to see a demonstration of these powers Colonel Madd has told me about before I commit any of you to combat missions." She ordered, her cloak flourishing behind her as she began to lead the Irregulars to the roof where she had prepared a set of obstacles to test them based on the documents Madd had sent her earlier in the day detailing their capabilities.
She wanted to see proof of this so-called Geass.
(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Ashford Academy – 4:02 pm – September 27 – 2017 a.t.b.)
Lelouch was preparing to leave Ashford and head to Saitama, having noticed the clear bait and was willing to take the risk of falling into Cornelia's trap to get more resources and information.
Over the past week, he had conversed with Villetta a few times in secret and he learned Cornelia's Knights were preparing to set up a situation similar to Shinjuku to lure him out. They were using her and a few of the other Purists as well as Clovis' guards for information to make sure it had as many parallels as possible, giving them the opportunity to redeem themselves he guessed.
He didn't know what Ghetto they had chosen until he saw the clear as day trap set for him in Saitama, but he figured he could make do with the Yamato Alliance in the area.
Ruben's information network was invaluable, he actually knew the names of some of the terrorist groups he would be recruiting or had already recruited thanks to the Kozuki's efforts on Zero's behalf to spread the word in the Ghettoes around Shinjuku that Zero was seeking more soldiers to join his effort. Quite a few weren't willing, but a good amount had already joined his fledgling organization and now he just had to find a good way to introduce them to the world.
But that was a problem for another day. He called Ohgi on the phone Sayoko had got for him. "B-1, I take it you've seen the news?" Zero asked his subordinate rhetorically. Ignoring the man's comments, Zero continued as he gave his orders.
"Your group will not be part of the offensive today, you will be focused solely on evacuation of civilians and ensuring that the remaining members of the Yamato Alliance are integrated into our group after the battle ends." A reputation for defending the powerless was integral to the persona he was trying to craft.
"This will be a test battle for the Yamato Alliance, to see where they will stand in our organization, you are not to interfere beyond delivering the modes of communication my Shadow has given you to the leaders of the Alliance and accomplishing your other tasks."
Ohgi had protested little at his commands, but Zero wanted to make sure that the man's group didn't get involved, he wanted to test the Yamato Alliance to see if they would be valuable soldiers in his army or deadweight he had no need for. "Am I understood?"
At his answer, Zero hung up the phone and Lelouch sighed slightly. Sayoko claiming to be the Shadow of Zero had spooked Ohgi it seemed, especially as she had tracked him down and told him to not reveal her existence to anyone else. He was just happy to finally have an untraceable way to communicate with Ohgi for once, it made coordination so much easier. Still, it turned out his servant had a flare for the dramatics just like her master.
"So, you're truly planning to go there?" C.C. asked from behind him as he pulled out the military uniform Villetta had commandeered for him during one of his meetings with her. She was sticking her rewards stickers onto her Pizza Hut membership card, giggling at the thought of all the pizza she had been able to enjoy when Lelouch walked in talking on the phone.
She had heard the news, she wondered what he was going to do. She lay on her side, getting herself comfortable. C.C. clutched the pillow to her chest, considering her options depending on what Lelouch did.
The more they spoke the more she realized the time for fun and games was over. It was disappointing, she was enjoying herself with this kind of relationship, she didn't want it to change. At Lelouch's declaration she pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.
"I can't let you die." She said solemnly, knowing they couldn't go back to the way things were after this. "You still have yet to fulfill your end of our contract, you can't go and get yourself killed." C.C. wasn't enjoying threatening Lelouch like this, she truly enjoyed his company, but she couldn't allow him to risk his life like this.
"So, this is who you really are then." Lelouch smirked, leaning against the table holding his case that contained the military uniform he planned to use in Saitama with his arms crossed. "Nice to finally meet you, C.C." He commented flippantly.
"What do you mean?" C.C. was confused by his reaction.
"Remember what I said a week ago?" Lelouch recalled the moment easily, as it was just before he learned Ruben had discovered his identity. "I told you to stop, that it wasn't funny." His smile faded as he looked C.C. directly in her amber eyes.
"I realized that the reason I was having such a hard time getting a read on your personality was because you were putting up a front. Every time you teased me you were doing so under a façade, a mask." Lelouch placed his hand over his left eye, brushing his hair back as he chuckled looking up at his ceiling.
"If anyone could recognize someone wearing a mask, it would be me." He shook his head. "Like recognizes like after all, but I had no foundation to base your personality on, so I didn't know you were faking your personality except for a sense that something just wasn't quite right about how you behaved."
His eyes flashed and he smiled an almost predatory grin. "So, like I said, it's nice to finally meet you, C.C." He repeated, noticing she still had yet to lower the gun. "Though you state you wish to save my life, pointing a gun at me seems to indicate your actions are contradicting your words." He observed, not afraid in the slightest.
C.C. ignored the shock she felt as she listened to the exiled Prince's explanation. 'So, he could tell.' Well, it looked like Lelouch was far more impressive than she thought. The witch had assumed that this action, threatening him so blatantly, would have provoked a different reaction. One of surprise and betrayal. But all the boy in front of her reacted with was satisfaction that he finally saw her true face. A smirk flickered before disappearing. 'This boy…' He was someone she didn't expect to meet, he was far more perceptive than she had given him credit for.
At his comment about her supposedly contradictory actions, she shrugged. "A blast to your leg shouldn't do too much damage before you get medical treatment and it'll keep you from running off on suicidal revenge missions." She replied easily, before gasping slightly as she felt cold steel press slightly against her throat.
"If I give the order, Sayoko will kill you." Lelouch spoke quietly, not enjoying this turnabout on his accomplice. "I know death is a temporary inconvenience for you, but it would easily give me enough time to leave and prevent you from catching up to me." He placed one of his hands in his pockets and walked up to C.C., taking the gun from her hands as she stared at him.
"I don't want to do this, I do enjoy spending time with you, in fact I would prefer to have the real you around more often." Lelouch smirked. "She's got some steel in her, and I like that." He admitted. The revolutionary truly enjoyed this glimpse of the true C.C., he hoped he got to see more of her.
He set the gun down and looked her in the eye. "Are you willing to let me go?" He signaled with a flick of his wrist for Sayoko to remove the knife, to allow C.C. the opportunity to respond without the threat of a slit throat hanging over her head. "I need to go to Saitama if my revolution is to succeed. This war is one of few things that gives my life meaning." The other, without question, was Nunnally.
C.C. raised her hand and wiped some of the blood that had slipped out before she could heal from the small cut on her neck. She stared at the red liquid on her palm and gave a small smile, a real one for once. "A life without meaning is no life at all." She murmured. "Very well, I will allow you to go to Saitama." She looked behind her and was only mildly surprised to see no trace of the maid behind her.
"Thank you, C.C." Lelouch responded as he left. Leaving C.C. alone in his room.
'I didn't say I would leave you to go alone, you brilliant fool.' C.C. thought with a strange sense of fondness for Lelouch.
A Devil couldn't go to war without his Witch after all.
(Saitama Ghetto, Area Eleven – Cornelia's Command Center – 5:53 pm – September 27 – 2017 a.t.b.)
It had taken a while, but Cornelia was finally ready to put her plan to bait Zero out of hiding into action. "So, this is Saitama huh?" She murmured as she took in the scouting data she received. A smirk formed on her face. "Perfect." Everything was set up so that Zero would recognize the clear parallels to Shinjuku and arrive to either capture or kill her under the misconception she was as foolish as her brother.
As much as she'd loved her dear brother, he was a lousy General.
After she finished the pre-combat checks, she turned to the individuals who had failed at their duties in Shinjuku. They would get the chance to redeem themselves in this battle to eliminate the Yamato Alliance as well as the population that helped the terrorists hide their bases and members from Britannia.
While she was preparing her attack, two groups beside her Command Center were complaining about not being allowed to participate in the battle.
The Purists were showing signs of infighting as Kewell insulted Jeremiah while the other group watched on. "Men, will their egos ever stop getting bigger?" Alice complained, watching the dispute between Orange and his ally. She had called in sick to get out of having to go to Ashford today.
"These two, they're worse than teenagers." And she knew considering some of the most well collected men she knew of were only a little older than her. Lelouch and Suzaku, even Rivalz, were more mature than the two she was watching next to the Command Center.
"Some grow out of it." Her Captain responded, watching the byplay with some amusement. "Though these two seem to have quite the rough relationship."
Dalque groaned in boredom. "Why aren't we allowed to hit the front lines?" She asked, irritated the Irregulars were relegated to backup. "Seriously! We're gonna miss all the action!" She threw her hands up. "I thought we would finally be able to use our Knightmares for once since that virus was fixed and Newbie had his unit temporarily relegated to reserves."
Colonel Madd had laughed maniacally after learning that Camelot would not be taking part in Operation Pride Fall, as the Saitama Operation was called due to the assumption that Zero's pride would lead him to his first defeat.
Cornelia had not been happy with Lloyd allowing Kururugi access to the Lancelot during the Shinjuku incident, despite her promotion of the Private to Warrant Officer and allowing him to remain the pilot. She still had to punish him for taking such a risk and chose to punish Lloyd by refusing him access to this operation as penance for his carelessness.
The only reason she didn't outright refuse to use his unit for the next few operations was because she knew that denying herself a useful resource despite a single instance of carelessness would be downright foolish. That, and her brother likely would not appreciate it since it would reflect badly on him as Prime Minister if the Commander-General was unwilling to use his unit.
Ah, Imperial Court politics, they color even some of the most basic decisions in the military it seemed.
"We're supposed to go in and sweep after Cornelia implements the last stage of her plan." Lucretia replied, not happy with the orders since it meant she would have to kill again. "We need to make sure that there are no stragglers and prevent Zero from escaping." She didn't like killing, but as an Irregular in Britannia's military, she didn't have much of a choice. If she didn't obey, she would die.
It was that simple.
As the Operation commenced, Lelouch observed from his position on a stone platform that was once part of a building. "It's like nothing has changed, from Clovis to Cornelia the bloodshed continues." Zero mumbled solemnly. A Knightmare pulled itself up to where he was and demanded his name, rank, and unit. He responded he was with reconnaissance and held up a disk that held no information on it, not that the pilot knew that.
"I recovered this from one of the terrorists." Zero lied, drawing the man out of his Knightmare. When he stood in front of the revolutionary, the unmasked Zero flared his Geass. "You will give me your Knightmare and then snap your neck to kill yourself near the edge so you fall after you die." He ordered, once he committed the Knightmare's information to memory he watched as the soldier grabbed his own head and twisted. With a sickening crack, the man's head turned as his body went limp and he fell off the edge of the platform, blank eyes staring at nothing on the way down.
The first of many Britannian casualties during the Battle of Saitama.
He would not be the last.
Saitama will be wrapped up next chapter if all goes according to plan. I just hope my luck with that sort of thing is a little better than Lelouch's. By that I mean I hope, after everything goes smoothly, that I don't get nuked or something like that.
I hope everyone enjoyed my characterizations of the Irregulars. I used the wiki for the gist and decided to fill in the blanks myself to give them a unique personality since I want to distinguish the characters in this story. Same with Cornelia, I'm trying to do her justice by writing from a perspective that I feel she would hold based on her own experiences in this story.
Each of Dalque's nicknames refers to the Geass of the Irregulars (Speedy and Scanner for Alice and Lucretia) or their position (Cappy for Sancia), except for her nickname for Suzaku which is her screwing with him. She and the others didn't expect him to be such a good sport with being called Newbie, so they were a little surprised.
Review if you enjoyed the chapter please, I like knowing what my readers enjoyed. Also, feel free to check out my other work.
King Draconias Over and Out.
