Authors Note: Yo. I take it that some of my readers are slightly irked at me for only uploading an interlude chapter rather than a full one without prior notice. I am sorry about that. Next time, I will let you know in advance.
Moving on, some of you might have noticed I have started two new stories. Please read and review them. And by 'Review' I would like something a wee bit more substantial than 'It's cool'. I like reading any reviews of course, but constructive criticism is always appreciated.
ON to the fic!
Disclaimer: Code Geass is not mine. If you have not grasped that fact by now, I am stumped as to how I can make it clearer.
"Kallen"-Speech
'Lelouch'-Thought/mental communication
"{Die}"-Geass Command
"Halt!"-Loudspeaker
"Roger."-Radio/Walkie-Talkie
Chapter 9: Zero Debut
Junkyard, Old Tokyo, 12:00 am
With Kallen
Kallen walked forward cautiously, Kaname Ohgi at her flank. She kept a wary eye on the surroundings as they advanced. Part of her was confused. Why would Zero arrange a meeting in a junkyard of all places? Another, larger, part of her was excited. Zero was going to save an innocent man, without any civilian casualties, or so he claimed.
'How can he do it?' Kallen wondered as she negotiated a path between piles of rusting junk, 'The amount of security that will be around Kururugi will be impossible to breach. Even if it were possible to get to the prisoner, the collateral damage would be significant. Not even Todoh the Miracle-Bringer could do this.'
'But neither could he win a battle in Shinjuku against a battalion of Knightmares or follow that victory up with killing the murdering bastard who orchestrated the entire debacle.' a part of her whispered seductively, 'Todoh couldn't have done it; Zero did. Todoh didn't give you a chance to bury Onii-sama according to his wishes; Zero did. What if he can do this?'
'Shut it!' Kallen told the traitorous hopeful part of her.
"Thank you for coming." A familiar voice said from her left.
Kallen spun around to face the masked form of Zero standing atop a small pile of junk. Beside her, Ohgi removed his hand from the small of his back, where Kallen knew he had a compact pistol concealed.
"Zero." Kallen said evenly, attempting to keep her irritation at being snuck up on to a minimum, ignoring the fact she had been so deep in thought that she hadn't seen Zero standing in plain sight.
Zero nodded cordially back at her and at Ohgi before he looked around for moment.
"I see." Zero said softly, "Just the two of you?" There was no surprise in his voice at this turn of events.
Kallen grimaced. Only Ohgi and herself had been willing to aid Zero, the rest were either too sceptical about the likelihood of success or were sulking after being shouted at for two hours straight (Tamaki).
"I'm sorry." Ohgi said, "If you give us a little more time-"
"No." Zero interrupted coolly, "Just the two of you will be fine."
Both of the Japanese gazes in astonishment at the masked man. Three people to rescue a prisoner under heavy guard?
"That's crazy!" Kallen exclaimed, "You can't seriously think three people can do this, there'll be too many of them!"
"With the two of you here, the task at hand will easily be cleared." Zero rebuked, "Besides, you presume that I don't have people of my own."
"You do?" Kallen asked.
Zero nodded. "They wont be showing themselves until I prove myself to your group, but they will be standing ready to extract us if things go wrong."
"I thought you said we could do this?" Ohgi questioned.
"It is a foolish strategist who does not plan for the possibility of failure, Ohgi." Zero reassured him, "Yes I believe that we can and will succeed, but there is no harm in preparing for the remote chance that the plan fails."
Kallen frowned as she thought about it, and then nodded. "He has a point Ohgi. Look what happened when we didn't have a backup plan."
Ohgi reluctantly nodded. Kallen could tell he didn't like the thought of such a situation happening that they would require a backup plan, but she could also tell that he was willing to go along with the idea.
"Excellent." Zero said, approval in his voice, "If you two will follow me I shall explain the plan to you both."
Turning on his heel, Zero strode off confidently, Kallen and Ohgi trailing in his wake.
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Cellblock, Pureblood Main Base, Britannian Tokyo Settlement, same time
With Suzaku
Suzaku Kururugi sat on the floor of his cell, gazing sightlessly at the floor. He was having a very bad week, although it hadn't started that way.
He had been selected among other Elevens to search for the stolen poison gas canister. They had been told that should they successfully complete the mission, they would get elevated to the next rank and may even be allowed to carry pistols, a privilege normally reserved for Numbers who had been enlisted for over a decade.
Suzaku had found the gas canister all right. Along with a face, he hadn't seen in seven long years: Lelouch vi Britannia. The reunion had been cut short by the Royal Guard shooting Suzaku in the back. He had been lucky enough to be found by Earl Asplund and Ms. Croomey, otherwise he might have been shot by his own countrymen if they had found him.
Then, completely unexpectedly, he had been offered the chance to pilot the only Seventh Generation Knightmare frame in existence. Suzaku sighed, remembering how the Lancelot had handled, almost like an extension of himself. The only downside had been the violent movements aggravated his bruised ribs something cruel.
Suzaku frowned. The next part was definitely not a happy occurrence. He had been ambushed and almost killed by the Terrorists and their stolen Knightmares (especially those thrice-be-damned Chaos Mines!), swiftly followed by being led into an intricate trap that had culminated in half of Old Tokyo City Hall being dropped on him.
He had escaped narrowly and had made his way through the labyrinthine passages beneath Shinjuku, with only forty-five minutes of power left. He had just barely made it back to the Britannian HQ when the power failed.
Lloyd had been pleased with the data he had collected. Cecile Croomey told Suzaku later that the average Knightmare pilot could barely get the Lancelot to move and only had a sync ratio of about 40% at best, whereas he had made almost full use of the Frame's abilities and had a sync ratio of 94%, which was previously unheard of.
The next day, he had helped buff out the scrapes in the Lancelot that had been happened during the incident Suzaku had termed in his mind as the 'mess with Suzaku's mind' plan the previous day, as well as advising Lloyd on the alterations he wanted to make to the Blaze Luminous.
The day after that had been the worst. He had been in the middle of a shower when a member of the Purebloods had stormed in, dragged him out and arrested him for the murder of Prince Clovis. The Pureblood, a Kewell Soresi, also interrogated him and made it blatantly obvious that Suzaku was the prime and in fact only suspect in his investigation.
After Kewell had gotten tired of hearing Suzaku repeat, 'I didn't do it' for the nth time, he ordered Suzaku tossed into a cell until his court appearance.
Suzaku was drawn out of the spiralling pit of misery he was in by a thud outside the reinforced bulletproof glass that was the door to his cell. He looked up to see the grinning face of Earl Lloyd Asplund sitting on a campstool.
"Well hello there Private Kururugi!" Lloyd greeted him boisterously, "How do you like your accommodations?"
"They…could use some improvement….like furniture….wallpaper…a carpet…you know, just a few little things." Suzaku replied dryly.
"Good to see they haven't ruined your sense of humour." Lloyd grinned back at Suzaku, "I did a little digging since our last meeting. The two you mentioned weren't anywhere in the casualty reports."
Suzaku sagged in relief. "That's good. Thanks Lloyd."
"Unfortunately, there's not a lot of good luck on your end though." Lloyd said his grin fading. "You may be getting a trial, but it's a trial in name only."
"But the courts are where the truth comes to light!" Suzaku protested, "They have to be fair…it's the Law!"
"I suspect that rather than light, smoke and mirrors will be the prevailing attitude in the courthouse." Lloyd said with a sardonic grin, "The truth is a scarce commodity these days, I'm afraid."
Suzaku looked Lloyd square in the eye. "If that's how the world works, then so be it. I have no regrets. Even if they sentence me to death, I will know the truth at the very least, and that's good enough for me."
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Timeskip-The Next Day
Hi-TV Media Mobile Control Van, Britannian Tokyo Settlement, 18:00
Diethard Ried was disgusted.
With what you might ask? The answer was simple: he was, once again, in charge of a media dog-and-pony show, as he had been for most of his career.
He had graduated from the Imperial Britannia Central University's Faculty of Law at twenty-one and had joined Hi-TV after being rejected from a prominent law firm in the Homeland. He had steadily risen in the ranks until he attained the position of producer.
Up until then he had been somewhat aware that a significant amount of the broadcasts made by Hi-TV were propaganda-oriented and had tried to have minimal involvement with them as much as possible. When he became a producer, he discovered that he had been wrong.
All of Hi-TV's broadcasts were either blatantly propaganda oriented or subtle brainwashing, all directed towards reinforcing the opinion that Britannians were superior to all other races, cultures and countries.
This had been especially true in Area 11, which baffled Diethard. The Nobles in Area 11 were idiots and the overall Britannian population were easily led sheep overall. The native Eleven population was downtrodden, ignored and taken advantage of. A more sensible approach, in Diethard's opinion, would have been an educational approach, teaching the Elevens that Britannians were their rightful rulers from the cradle onwards.
But nobody had asked him and so here they were, short one Third Prince Clovis, and his 'assassin', one Suzaku Kururugi, was being escorted amid a media bloodfest to his 'trial', which would be little more than a kangaroo court designed to take full advantage of Kururugi's status as a former-Eleven to vilify and demonise any Honorary Britannians in Area 11 AND give the Purebloods the opportunity to 'temporarily' revoke the Honorary Britannian system, thus making their mark on the governance of Area 11.
'I hate my job.' Diethard grumbled to himself as he directed the camera crews for the 'grand event' that was due to start in half an hour.
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Vehicle Bay, Pureblood Main Base, Britannian Tokyo Settlement, 18:25
With Suzaku
Two faceless Footsoldiers were dragging across Suzaku to the mobile platform. This was humiliating enough, but they also kept accidentally on purpose dropping him to the floor every so often, which got sore after a while.
Standing atop the mobile platform was a smirking Kewell Soresi. The ginger-haired Pureblood waited until the two grunts secured Suzaku to the platform with extra bindings before securing a shock collar around Suzaku's throat. It would activate if Suzaku tried to speak or so Kewell said. Suzaku saw the gloating in his eyes and heard it in his voice, so sensibly decided not to test the device.
The two guards took station on either side of him and levelled their rifles at his head. They had orders to blow his head off if he so much as twitched.
Eyes downcast, Suzaku prepared to face the court that would seal his fate.
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En-Route to the Courthouse, 18:40
Kewell Soresi was very pleased with himself. He was going to be the one who brought the assassin of a Prince of the Realm to justice. The accolades from this little publicity coup would be useful in ousting Jeremiah as the leader of the Purebloods.
The ginger haired man snickered to himself. He had ridden Jeremiah's coattails for long enough; now was the time for Kewell Soresi to step out of the shadow of his 'friend' and take the glory he had too long denied himself.
He was currently standing out of his Sutherland's cockpit, pistol drawn as the small convoy made its way along the road to the military courthouse.
The convoy, consisting of four Sutherlands, including his own, and the mobile platform that the prisoner Suzaku Kururugi was secured to, was moving at a steady, unhurried pace, to give the handpicked crowds of suitably 'loyal and enraged' citizens a chance to cast their rage verbally at the prisoner before he was found guilty and executed.
In addition to the convoy's Knightmares and the Sutherlands spaced along the route to the Courthouse, four VTOLs carrying additional Sutherlands were hovering nearby, ready to deploy at a signal from Kewell. Not that anyone could -or even would- interfere with this. Kururugi was an Honorary Britannian. He was disdained by both his own countrymen and his masters. Neither side would raise so much as a finger to aid him.
To Kewell's mind, Suzaku Kururugi was as good as dead.
"Commander Kewell." his radio crackled all of a sudden. Frowning at this unexpected interruption to his mental gloating, he pressed the button on his earpiece headset.
"Yes? What is it?" he demanded shortly.
"It's….well….Its Prince Clovis' car, sir. It's approaching the front of the convoy." The soldier on the other end stammered out at length.
"Say what?" Kewell asked, baffled. Prince Clovis' car had been locked in its parking bay in the Area 11 Administrative Building since before the Shinjuku Debacle. How could it be here?
Kewell's expression cleared after he thought about it for a moment. 'Ah yes. In the briefing, Jeremiah did mention that there was the likelihood of an incident happening today to do with terrorists. If memory serves he recommended neutralising the threat before they show up on camera.' Kewell thought for a moment then gave a sadistic grin, 'But where's the fun in that?'
"All forces HALT!" Kewell called, raising his arm as he did so.
The gathered crowd muttered restlessly as the convoy ground to a halt all of a sudden. Why was the convoy stopping? Was there a machine problem?
The approaching car answered their questions.
Prince Clovis had commissioned his personal transport from a private company that catered to Royals, Nobles and the well-off merchants. It was unique and drew attention wherever it went due to its unique shape and finely decorated body. It was designed to function as either a luxury limousine for the prince and his close compatriots (read: beautiful women) or as a mobile platform so the prince could stand and wave to his adoring public.
The car that was approaching the convoy was, to all appearances, Prince Clovis' transport, pure white with gold trimming and the proud flag of Britannia covering the entrance to the interior.
The car stopped a few hundred paces from the lead Sutherland, which just so happened to be Kewell's machine.
"You dare defile His Highnesses transport?!" Kewell yelled over his Sutherlands loudspeaker, "Come out of there at once!"
{FWOOSH!}
In a burst of fire, the flag of Britannia burned away and revealed a solitary figure standing atop the fake transport. The figure could be tentatively identified as male, but even that was uncertain due to the gold-trimmed black cloak he was wrapped in. Concealing his face was a featureless, pointed black mask with a violet circle in the centre. Grasped in a gloved hand was a sheathed Japanese sword.
Kewell was momentarily taken aback. This…person…was visually very intimidating, what with the lack of facial features to read and the cloak concealing most his body language. Then the figure spoke over what must be concealed loudspeakers, because his voice resonated across the entire concourse.
"I am….Zero."
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Lelouch's Perspective
"I am…Zero." Lelouch declared, his voice carrying to every member of the gathered crowd.
'Keep calm.' Lelouch told himself forcefully, 'The die is cast; let it fall as it wills.'
To calm himself, he felt the weight of the sword he held in his hand and remembered how he had been given it.
{Flashback}
10 Hours previously.
Lelouch removed his mask and shook his head slightly. The combined efforts of Kallen and Ohgi had taken just over six hours to convert an old beater of a truck into a fairly good replica of Clovis' 'pimpmobile' as Kallen had called it when she saw a picture of it, as well as rig various mechanisms for effect, such as the flag burning device and the capsule release mechanism. The two Japanese Resistance Fighters were taking a well-earned break and were fast asleep when he left them in the junkyard's night watchman shack.
He was currently in the supervisor's office with the door locked, the curtains drawn and the surveillance systems deactivated. Sitting down on the desk chair, Lelouch closed his eyes and ran through the possible outcomes for his plan once again. There could be no errors in his plan in order for it to succeed.
"Tea, Goshujin-sama?" a familiar voice asked from right in front of him. Lelouch's eyes shot open to see Sayoko Shinozaki offering him a cup of tea in one hand, with a plate of biscuits in the other.
He regarded his maid for a moment, his face completely deadpan, before he spoke.
"Sayoko, what are you doing here?" His voice was more resigned than anything else.
Sayoko gave him a small smile in return. She was dressed in a black outfit that was a dead ringer for what the pre-invasion movie industry had depicted a ninja outfit to look like. The only things that detracted the authenticity from that image were the victuals in her hands and the matt-black backpack on her back.
"I am fulfilling my oath to you, Lelouch-sama." the brown haired maid replied, mirth dancing in her eyes. She loved sneaking up on Lelouch, appearing out of nowhere and acting like nothing odd had happened.
Sighing in resignation, Lelouch took the cup and plate from her and proceeded to devour the food and drink with an alacrity that surprised him. He must have been hungrier than he thought.
Once he had finished, Sayoko reached into the backpack and withdrew a kodachi from it. As soon as he saw the weapon, Lelouch's eyes were unable to look away. It was a beautiful weapon.
The Tsuka (handle) was tightly wrapped in a black Tsuka-Ito (Handle binding) that seemed to drink in and absorb the light. The Tsukagarashira (pommel) was a snarling golden dragon. The Tsuba (guard) was square, and had small carvings of…leaves…carved into it. The Saya (sheath) was the same black colour as the Tsuka's binding and was fairly plain.
Wordlessly, Sayoko handed the sword to Lelouch. Reverently drawing the sword for the first time, Lelouch's eyes widened. This sword was a masterpiece. The distinctive Hamon (temper pattern) of a Japanese-forged blade rippled down the length of the sword's razor-sharp edge, what Westerners called 'Damascus Steel'.
Just above the Habaki (piece of metal that holds the Tsuba to the Tsuka) was a maker's mark. One that made Lelouch's jaw drop when he recognised it.
"A Masamune blade?!" Lelouch exclaimed in shock. Sayoko nodded once in affirmation.
"My ancestor, the founder of the Shinozaki School, was a shinobi of the Iga Clan." Sayoko told him, "He was a prodigy with his fists and a blade. There was no one, Samurai or Shinobi, who could challenge him and hope to win."
The maid paused and then Sayoko's voice hardened when she next spoke.
"Jealous of his talent, a group of his peers banded together and attempted to kill him. He fought valiantly, but was overwhelmed by sheer numbers and his sword broke in half."
Lelouch frowned at the story but let her continue.
"Left for dead, my ancestor was discovered by Masamune-shi and was nursed back to health by him. Masamune-shi then took the remains of my ancestor's sword and reforged it into the blade you now hold in your hands. Once my ancestor slew the ones who had attempted to slay him, as a gesture of gratitude to the man who saved him, he swore an oath to Masamune-shi that he and his decedents would only use the sword in the defence of his loved ones or his masters. That oath has been sworn by every person to inherit the title of Successor in my family." Sayoko finished her tale, her voice soft.
Lelouch was silent for a moment before he spoke.
"What is the sword called?"
Sayoko smiled again. "The sword is a Meito (Famous Named Sword) and has been given many nicknames over the years. Kokushibyō (Black Death), Eiyū no Hokori (Hero's Pride) and Senkensha-ō (Seer King) among them. Its true name however is a reflection of how Masamune-shi found my ancestor. He was travelling to Edo from Nagoya when a fierce autumn storm forced him to seek shelter in a cave from the falling rain, where he discovered my ancestor. Thus he named the sword Shūrin (Autumn Rain)."
Lelouch blinked. "I can understand the first two nicknames, but Seer King?"
"The sword sometimes seems to move of its own volition to block blows that its wielder couldn't possible see coming. Assassins hated the sword because it was nigh impossible to kill the wielder, so rumours started circulating that the sword was sentient or that it granted its wielder precognition." Sayoko explained.
"I see." Lelouch said as he re-sheathed the sword and made to pass it back to Sayoko, who shook her head.
"I am giving this sword to you, Lelouch-sama as a symbol of my oath to you." Sayoko gave him a sheepish smile, "By all rights, the oath I gave you wasn't in full force until I gave you Shūrin. And if you try to give me it back, it will dissolve the oath." She added quickly.
Lelouch gave her an exasperated look, which she returned with a bland and innocent expression.
"OK, fine, I'll keep it." he said resignedly. A small smile made its way across his face.
"Arigato, Goshujin-sama." Sayoko replied with a bow and faded into the shadows.
{Flashback End}
'Now to return the favour, Suzaku.' Lelouch thought as his hand tightened on Shūrin's sheath slightly.
General POV
Across all of Area 11 (or Japan, depending on who you asked) people were talking to each other confused. Zero? He calls himself nothing? What's with that?
Diethard Ried was equally puzzled, but mentally applauded the masked man for his choice in pseudonyms. It drew attention, confused those who heard it for the first time and gave away nothing about the person behind the mask. In short, a perfect name for a terrorist.
The members of Kallen's Resistance Cell were asking each other if Zero had a death wish, going against a full military convoy in an unarmed car and revealing himself to aforementioned convoy on top of that!
Back to Lelouch
Kallen was terrified. Lelouch could hear her rapid breathing from where he stood. He silently willed her to keep calm and not do anything rash. He would have preferred her to be the one manning the civilian Knightmare he had 'acquired' rather than Ohgi, due to her greater skill.
Unfortunately, Clovis had always had female chauffeurs drive his personal transport (Kallen had muttered angrily about sexist pigs after hearing that titbit of information) and thus, Kallen had to drive the car.
In front of him, Lelouch could see Kewell recover from his surprise and sneer at him.
"I've seen enough, Zero. This little show you have put on is now over!" the arrogant man said as he fired a single shot from his pistol.
Almost as one, the four Sutherlands held as a reaction force dropped to the ground around the fake car, weapons levelled at Zero.
"Before I have my men deal with you, remove your mask!" Kewell ordered as he pointed his pistol at Lelouch.
Lelouch raised his free hand to graze the surface of his mask with his gloved fingertips before he abruptly raised his hand above his head and clicked his fingers.
Evidently Kallen had kept her head, as the false back of the car falls apart as she pulls the correct lever to reveal the bulb-like 'poison gas canister' from Shinjuku.
Immediately the crowd starts muttering to each other, wondering what the odd-looking device could be. Kewell, on the other hand was gaping in horror, his pistol hanging at his side uselessly.
'The poison gas?! Dammit all!'Kewell thought as he suffered a mild panic attack, 'He's just taken every Britannian here hostage, and they are totally unaware of it! I can't even warn them because it would cause a mass panic. Zero might even release the gas if I say a word about it!'
Lelouch smirked beneath his mask at Kewell's expression. By the looks of things, his plan is going well so far.
"Bastard!" Kewell snarled as he brought his pistol up and pointed it at the masked man who was humiliating him on live television.
"Ah-ah-ah, Kewell." Zero admonished him waving a fingertip as if admonishing a child, "You know perfectly well what the device behind me is. It would be most…unfortunate if you missed me and hit it. Don't you agree?"
Kewell gritted his teeth as he reluctantly lowered his weapon. The masked man was correct; he could not put the lives of all the gathered Britannians at risk.
Especially since that included his own life!
Suzaku tried to tell them that the capsule wasn't a gas capsule, but got shocked by the electric choke collar.
"Fine then, terrorist. Your demands?" Kewell spat out, angry at himself for being forced to negotiate with terrorist scum.
Meanwhile, Diethard was having a hard time getting his camera crews to obey him. They simply would not go near the man calling himself Zero. Therefore, with a disdainful mutter of "Amateurs!" Diethard grabbed a spare camera he kept nearby and ran out to focus on Zero in time for his demand.
"An exchange. This device, which you Britannians have been looking for with ever increasing panic for four days, in exchange for Kururugi." Zero declared with a sweeping gesture that took in the bound Suzaku and the device behind him.
"Impossible! I can't do that!" Kewell barked at once, "He's charged with High Treason for killing a Britannian Prince! I cannot just hand him over!"
"Wrong, Kewell." Zero replied, his voice somehow becoming more sinister as he talked, "That young man is no murderer."
Turning his head, Zero looked straight into the lens of Diethard Ried's camera.
"The one who killed Clovis…was none other than myself!" Zero declared with relish, whilst behind the mask Lelouch was silently apologising to C.C. for claiming her kill.
'I am so not getting any sleep tonight…' He thought ruefully.
"For saving scores of Britannians, all I ask for is a single 'Eleven' in return." he continued, "I for one find that to be a bargain!"
Diethard meanwhile had a crazed smile bloom across his face. "This whole thing is a performance for him! Amazing….now THIS is news-worthy material!'
Kewell, on the other hand, was absolutely livid. He was in fact so angry that he wasn't thinking clearly.
"Blasphemy! He's mad!" Kewell raged at Zero, "How dare you make this piece of junk up to look like His Highness' transport! You will now pay the price for mocking the crown!"
At his words, the Sutherlands levelled their rifles at various points on Zero's body.
"Hold it Kewell!" Zero barked, his voice one of command, "You don't want the public to learn of the Orange Initiative do you?"
"Huh?" was the intelligent reply given by Kewell, his face twisted in confusion.
Tapping his foot on the metal deck he stood on, Zero continued to talk even as the car drew closer to the increasingly baffled Britannian commander.
"Yes, if anything happens to me, everything I know about the Orange Initiative will be released to the public. Not only in Britannia, but across the entire world." Zero proclaimed, "Once that is done, Clovis' name shall forever be sullied. He will be held up as one of the most vile of villains in the history of Britannia. If you wish to avoid this…"
Kewell was getting angry again. He hated it when people told him things he had no frame of reference for. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, his face flushing red with anger.
Lelouch activated his helmets slide system, revealing his left eye and activated his Geass.
"… {You will do everything in your power to let us and your prisoner go free!}" He commanded as he glared straight at Kewell.
The orange haired Britannian stiffened as the command took root and was implemented. He snorted dismissively as the red corona appeared in his eyes.
"Very well." These two words caused jaws on every nearby soldier. Kewell was actually going along with this? Kewell, the most stubborn, obstinate, pig-headed and arrogant officer in the Purebloods? Considering that, this was the Purebloods that was quite the accomplishment.
Turning in his seat, he barked out orders to the two soldiers to release the prisoner. Amidst general confusion and much shouting, Suzaku was released from his bonds and his restraint suit was loosened so he could walk.
Rather confused, Suzaku was escorted to the waiting Zero by his two guards. Zero motioned at them to back off, which they did, albeit reluctantly.
"Who-gaah!" Suzaku said, the collar shocking him once again.
"As expected." Zero said softly, "You were not even going to be allowed to speak in your own defence. How Britannian."
The female driver approached Zero and said something to him in a low voice that Suzaku couldn't hear.
"Understood." Zero replied and unclipped a device from his belt.
"Until next time, Britannians!" Zero shouted as he pressed the button on the device in his hand.
Immediately, the capsule vomited out a cloud of faintly red gas that engulfed the entire area, panicking the civilians and making the soldiers curse.
When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of Zero, his accomplice or of Suzaku Kururugi.
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Timeskip- 30 Minutes
Abandoned Theatre, Unknown area, Old Tokyo
Lelouch's POV
"So Private Kururugi, how are you feeling?" Zero enquired politely. He was standing atop a pile of rubble that evidently originated from the hole in the ceiling above him. Suzaku stood at the base of the pile rubbing his neck where the shock collar once rested.
"I'm…fine." Suzaku replied tersely. The former Japanese looked at Zero through narrowed eyes and asked, "Did you really kill Prince Clovis?"
"No, it was a subordinate of mine that actually pulled the trigger." Zero admitted, "But it was done on my orders and I was present when he died, so I am ultimately responsible for his death, regardless of who the triggerman was. Besides, in a war there is nothing wrong with killing an enemy commander." Zero added the last part with a steely voice filled with determination.
"War?" Suzaku asked with disbelief, "What war? Japan was defeated in the Second Pacific War! Britannia won, we lost! Why can't you people understand that?!"
Suzaku's voice rose steadily in volume until he was shouting at Zero.
Once he stopped and took a breath, Zero interjected.
"You truly are naïve aren't you?" the masked man asked rhetorically, "True, the government fell. True, Britannia has the people trodden underfoot. But, so long as there are those who still dream of a Japan free of the rule of Britannia, Japan still lives, even if it is only in the hearts of those who dream."
Zero regarded Suzaku with a thoughtful air.
"It was for that reason that I commanded at the Battle of Shinjuku."
"What?!" Suzaku exclaimed, "YOU'RE the one who dropped a building on me?!"
"….Sorry, what?" Zero asked.
"You dropped half of Old Tokyo City Hall on my Knightmare!" Suzaku exclaimed angrily.
"You piloted that white Frame?" Zero questioned, "Who did you get permission from to…?"
"Camelot." Suzaku replied tightly, "Anyway, how could you use such reckless and dishonourable tactics? You could have killed hundreds of civilians with tactics like that!"
"'Dishonourable'?" Zero parroted, disbelievingly, "Private Kururugi, are you really a soldier?"
"Of course I am!" Suzaku replied, offended.
"Then by all means, start acting like one!" Zero snapped back, "I don't know if anyone has let you in on the secret, but wars are almost never clean and pretty things. Look at the war seven years ago! The Britannians conducted numerous unnecessary massacres right up to the formal surrender! That, Private Kururugi, is who you serve. That is the undeniable truth."
"If enough people try, things can change." Suzaku countered. "I plan on changing the system from within. It will be bloodless and painless."
"Fool." Zero said coldly, "I see now that you are far too much of a cowardto see the truth of the world and stand up to do what must be done to save lives. Go then, Kururugi. Do what you feel is right, but remember this: When your ideals betray you, when you are consumed by despair, when your life seems to hold nothing but darkness, seek me out. Seek me out and join me so we can save not only Japan, but the world."
Suzaku nodded curtly and began to stride off, only to be halted by Zero's voice.
"Before you go, indulge me. What was the name of the Knightmare Frame you were piloting?"
Suzaku seemed to have an internal debate before replying.
"The Lancelot."
"The cursed knight who was said to have been raised by the Lady of the Lake and ultimately caused the fall of Arthur's kingdom…how fitting." Zero said with a chuckle.
Scowling, Suzaku walked off towards the courthouse. He was already late for his trial as it was.
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Next Chapter: The Goddess of Victory Descends.
Authors Note: That's that for now. If you dislike the Suzaku Rescue scene, I felt that a quick and easy escape was sufficient for my purposes and didn't need any unusual flourishes.
Oh, and the Honorific -shi is used when talking about a famous historical person that you respect but don't know that well.
See you in a couple of weeks (maybe three)