Greetings, once again. Here, I give you the fourth chapter of Code Geass: Masquerade Redemption. Thank you to all those who favorited, followed and reviewed this story. Since I've already given the disclaimer in previous chapters, I do not think I need to repeat it hence forth. However, I will remind you that since this is a fanfiction, there will be things that will be different from canon, but there won't be too many differences (other than this being a completely different plot as it takes place after canon).

Also, if you check, you'll see that I've changed the cover image for this story.

Replies to Reviews:

I had already replied to most of the previous reviews in the Geass 4 teaser, but just to sum it up, this fanfiction doesn't exactly have a pairing but all romantic elements involving Lelouch will probably be directed at the Lelouch x C.C pairing and there may be some background pairings for the other characters. I haven't really decided yet. Also, I'm working on improving my writing so that the flow doesn't cut off abruptly. I know how annoying that is and I don't want to cause any of you that sort of trouble. Things might not be better right away, but I will continue to try and improve.

Frwt: Thank you!

And now for the chapter.

[Tokyo Settlement, Japan]

In the city known as the Tokyo Settlement, the consistent hum of daily life continued, not a single crack in the routine. People bustled through roads and vehicles roared their engines in competition over each other as they strived to arrive at their destination. From overhead, all the mechanics of life were only noticeable through the lights down below that flickered like candles in the night sky. Clouds bundled together, hovering over the land, sparing only the moon. And amidst them, were Knightmares.

"Confirm terrain,"

"Roger...Confirmed, ma'am. No changes,"

"State of division?"

"Stable,"

"Status of teams?"

"Ready, ma'am,"

"Good to go, commander,"

"Ready,"

"All ready," A few more voices of confirmation.

A thin smile, "A-Team, standby at coordinates G670. Other teams, get to points Alpha, Delta and Zeta on my signal."

"Understood,"

The air around them seemed to stand still for a moment. Huffs of nervous breathing escaped all of them. Time was moving agonisingly slow and sweat bled through the pilots' gloves as each of them grasped their controls harder in anticipation for that one phrase.

"...Begin operation,"

And as if a dam had been broken, the Knightmares that hung in the sky lurched towards the Tokyo Settlement set out below in a flurry, dropping down in one fell swoop with seemingly no control like puppets cut from their strings. Only one Knightmare hung back from the ones in a maddened dash, a calm and confident aura exuding from it from the way its pilot held its posture.

Within, E.E smiled with almost innocent curiosity, "I wonder...how will you handle our 'greeting', Zero? Will you shine like you once did? Or will you fall to the battle that—no doubt— is raging within you?" A giddy laugh escaped her lips, "I sure can't wait to find out!"

Geass 4: The One and Only

"There's no need to talk about it, because the truth of what one says lies in what one does."

~Bernhard Schlink

[Black Knights Base, Tokyo Settlement, Japan]

Zero walked through the corridors of the Black Knights Base with as much regality as he could muster. The past week had been exhausting and everything just seemed to be moving too fast. Three days ago, Jormungand's declaration had greatly surprised the entirety of the government in Japan and he was sure that the other nations had the same reaction as well. The matter of the E.U had been revealed. A matter that they would have liked to keep a secret for as long as possible. This piece of information could very well send people into a panic.

They all knew that the E.U was strong and hard to defeat, but with the knowledge that they were brought down so easily by these people...

Zero shook his head. Even though there might have been a siege, there had to be people from the military who had hopefully gotten away. He, as Suzaku, had been there before and he had witnessed the battle there to some extent before Julius Kingsley's real identity had been found out by Shin Hyuga Shaing. During his stay there, he had witnessed first-hand the E.U's prowess and especially that of the W-0 Unit.

That's right. That unit had a commander who could bring them victory along with powerful Knightmare pilots and Zero believed there was something more that commander had under her sleeve. That being Geass. And from personal experience, Zero could safely say that Geass was something only those holding resolve could wield. And if that were to be the case, he could place some hope in his theory.

He soon reached his office door and pulling out a card from his pocket, he swiped it at the scanner. The door whirred open upon confirmation of his identity and Zero stepped inside. He immediately walked over to the computer and typed in the password, opening the screen to the desktop consisting of applications with one window open. A map of the E.U. Suzaku may not be as good as Lelouch when it came to what he was about to do, but with some time, Suzaku was sure he could pinpoint a few locations where there was a possibility of staying out of the radar of the Jormungand troops.

Zero's fingers immediately made their way to the keyboard once more. The insistent drumming continued as data was gathered. Slowly but surely, the numbers he had gathered before-hand were coming together, forming some sort of an outline. Zero didn't know how much time had past, but he knew he had one set of coordinates to include in the map. He quickly typed the numbers in and a red circle overlapped the area. Suzaku sighed in his seat. He had one down, but just one set wouldn't suffice. He slowly reached out to save the coordinates to the copy of the map he had been working on, but before he could press the button, everything before him turned to darkness.

"What in the-" Suzaku blinked in confusion as he abruptly stood up from his chair. The room before him was completely dark in his eyes and he couldn't make out a thing. He reached into a pocket situated in his Zero suit and pulled out his phone and turned it on. Zero blinked as he tried to adjust his eyes to the new source of brightness and when he could see it again properly, he turned on the flashlight function available on the it. A small area of the room was illuminated by the thin ray of light from the device, showing the way to the door.

"It's not a power cut," Zero asserted, "The generators haven't kicked in yet either. What's going on?"

A ring reached his ears. Hearing the familiar sound of his phone beeping, Zero brought it to where his ear was behind the mask after accepting the call. Suzaku hadn't known before but apparently, the material of the mask was slightly thinner there than the other areas, allowing the sound from the phone to be more intelligible.

"What's happening?" Zero asked.

"The systems have been hacked, sir!" A voice said from the other line, "No-wait, it's not hacked. There seems to be some sort of signal that's keeping the systems from working properly. Headquarters can't communicate with anyone outside the building!"

"Are the Knightmare comms units working?"

"They aren't linked to the system, so it's possible. But sir-"

The phone fell out of Zero's hand as he was sent tumbling back down towards the floor by something akin to a small earthquake as the sound of a thunderous explosion rocked his ears. Suzaku quickly reached out for the rolling chair on instinct, but it only slid back with him as he pulled on it in a failed attempt to steady himself.

"This is-" Zero whispered before he scrambled his hand towards the light still shining from the flashlight function on his phone and picked the small device up to his ear once again. "Control Centre, can you hear me? Respond!"

Nothing but static answered him and a fit of panic filled him. He quickly pushed the panic back easily in a way which almost seemed practiced. He turned on his heel and guided himself towards the door with the help of the flashlight. He had no time to waste. He felt it right at the moment of the explosion. Call it intuition, but he was sure of it.

Jormungand had come calling, and he would answer them well.

[Origin Headquarters]

"Where in the world is Crown!?"

This sentence was spoken by none other than Crown's very own secretary, who at the moment seemed to be in quite a fix if the frustrated look on her face was any indication. As she stood in the middle of quite a busy hallway, those passing by mostly paid her no mind. This was a common occurrence to them and they had way more pressing matters to deal with than to find their adventurous leader.

"Crown ventured off again?"

"Poor Mia. Crown really doesn't give her a break,"

"No kidding,"

But that didn't stop the news from spreading like wildfire. Mia was just about to start yelling again when a hand made its way to her shoulder, causing her to look back.

"Don't worry, Mia," Lacus spoke. "Crown actually left yesterday night."

"Left!?" Mia looked shocked. No, horrified would be a better word. "There are several meetings that Crown has to attend today and they're all with influential figures! Do you know how much effort I had to put in to simply get the meetings scheduled!?"

"Probably not," Lacus replied, a nervous smile on his face. He knew that Crown was quite a hard person to deal with at times, but when things meant business, there was no-one in Origin who could handle the situation better than their leader. The masked figure was strangely reliable when you needed them to be.

"What is that darn leader of ours up to?" Mia asked, curiosity written over her features.

Lacus sighed. "I don't know. Though, I'm pretty sure it's related to that secret project of theirs."

"Secret project? Oh, that's right, there was a secret project!" Mia exclaimed as realisation dawned on her. "You were asked to help Crown out with it, right? Do you know what it's about?"

Lacus could only smile tiredly at her enthusiasm.

The secret project was something no-one in Origin was sure about. Everyone knew it existed-something that Crown considered important was bound to get attention from the ever curious employees. But this one was different than any other secret projects Crown had before. For some reason, Crown seemed more subdued-in voice and actions more than anything else. The masked enigma carried a deeper form of seriousness than ever before and this had prompted many to grow insistent on finding out what it was, but no-one would ever get close. No-one except those that Crown asked service from concerning it. And even then...

Lacus shook his head, "I don't know what it's about. Crown just asked me to lend them a few contacts that I had and then dismissed me."

This was a lie. Crown hadn't asked him to lend them contacts, but arrange a meeting with the most influential people he knew in Zilkhistan and Lacus hadn't been dismissed by Crown just yet. Once their conversation had ended that day, Crown hadn't kicked him out of the project after just including him. At least, he didn't think so considering that the masked CEO never shunned him from asking questions about it. That was something, right? Answering all the questions, however, was a different matter.

Lacus believed that Crown's sudden disappearance this time was something related to this project. The leave was abrupt and uncalled for, but not unlike what happened with the Euserphor Festival and the events they had to organise in the E.U. And both of these sites were now done in by Jormungand. To anyone else, finding this pattern would not be simple as it looked fairly similar to what had been done with other events and projects in the past, but there was a slight difference.

A slight difference that made all the difference. Crown was too prepared for it.

Like they knew it was coming.

Where it was coming.

And exactly when it was coming.

[Black Knights Base, Knightmare Hangar, Tokyo Settlement, Japan]

In the darkness of the hangar, a light suddenly sprang out. The eyes of the Knightmare known as the Shinkiro seemed to come alive as its body jerked forward a bit upon being activated. Inside it, Zero quickly pulled up the comms screen on the monitor.

He had no time to waste if what he thought was happening was actually happening. After this over, Zero was sure he was going to have a huge headache. Things were going too fast.

And it didn't sit right with him.

It was a good thing that he had the Shinkiro's comms updated to reach even mobile devices. Zero had no idea what had been done to make it happen, but Lloyd was more than happy to explain even though Zero hadn't really been listening. He knew he wouldn't be able to make sense of it anyways.

After Zero tapped in a few numbers, the comms started ringing and Zero worked through the controls of the Knightmare before his hands froze.

Wait- it was too quiet. After that initial explosion that had sent him up to the hangar, there hadn't been anymore.

Suzaku shook his head. It must have been a ruse to draw him out and as there was nothing he could do while sitting in headquarters, he would have to engage the enemy outside. The thought did not please him. There was a battle to be fought once again.

He didn't want to do this again.

He was tired.

The comms crackled and Zero's eyes snapped to the monitor on reflex, his mouth pouring out words even before the person on the other side had a chance to speak. "Tohdoh, this is Zero. I need you to assemble the rest of the Holy Swords and a team of electricians and then get to the Settlement as fast as you can. There's an attack from forces I assume are Jormungand. Even if they are not, they are still a threat. I want you to prioritise half of your forces on evacuating the citizens. The power plants seem to have been disabled and all communication systems other than those of Knightmares are being jammed. The power plant needs to be fixed. The other half are to fend off any and all enemies that wish to interfere in the process. Further plan of action will be given once I get the gist of the situation there."

The onslaught brought forth only a second of silence before the monitor resounded with a voice. "Understood, Zero. We shall contact you once that's been done."

"Good," And the line was immediately cut off as Suzaku stirred up the Shinkiro and bolted out the parted hangar doors.

It was quiet, something that greatly puzzled Suzaku. Where were the explosions, the sound of metal on metal, rifles being fired, the sound of a battle being waged? The should be non-existent silence was hard to process when there'd a been a bomb that shook HQ just a while ago.

A soft flicker of something blinked in his heart.

A reluctant truth in his mind.

The second Zero had long since learned to trust his mind more than his heart.

His eyes scanned over the vicinity once more and there—hidden in the darkness of the night with only the moon bearing witness to it all—were the Knightmares.

The flicker died instantly.

And a golden light swerved out of the sky like a shooting star and shot down right next to him with a brilliant explosion.

A whisper.

"Live,"

[Tokyo Settlement, Japan]

Matthias wasn't sure how it happened, but it did. He wasn't sure how Zero was able to move away and survive at the very last second when the missile hit. But he did. Matthias honestly felt compelled to salute the guy for his reflexes but even then, how could a Knightmare move faster than a missile which is about to hit at the last second?

It makes no sense to him so he made sure to file the question away for later to ask a member of the Knightmare Division. He could think about that later. Right now, he had a battle to fight.

Matthias quickly pushed on a button on his panel and soft whirring reached his ears, signalling that the missile extensions of his Knightmare had retracted.

And what happened next bamboozled his mind even more. No longer was there a perfect view of the Black Knights Headquarters in front of him, but instead he got a clear view of the legendary Knightmare known as the Shinkiro. It was only because of his reflexes that he was able to doge the blow that would have otherwise completely destroyed his Tyrant inside-out.

How was this Knightmare that fast? He was sure even the Guren Mk II couldn't move that fast and that was a Knightmare specially built for speed and efficiency on the field while the Shinkiro was a long-range Knightmare.

Another strike, another narrow dodge. Matthias grit his teeth. Zero was going good and going strong. But the technique-with the graceful yet vicious moves that resembled a python in a dance was such a stark contrast to the style with which Zero once fought.

This was nothing like that.

This was a completely different person.

"I really should be paid more for this," Matthias sighed and swung the joystick in his hand sharply forward. His Tyrant jerked ahead with newly granted speed, somehow bypassing the Shinkiro mid-assault and hurtled itself towards the ground, the Shinkiro quickly following in pursuit.

Waves of building and walls flew by, but not a single Knightmare interfered during the chase. Suzaku's mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure the motive for this choice. The darkness of the city and its quiet aura looked to be straight out of a horror movie. The only thing that rang out again in this unbearable silence was sound of the shots being fired from the MVS rifle that Zero had dutifully took to retrieving from its holder.

The Knightmare in front of the Shinkiro swerved from side to side in an attempt to dodge the flurry of bullets.

How long would this continue? The only thing he wanted to do right now was take out the target. That's what he's always done. As a Major in the Britannian Army, as Euphemia's Knight, as The Knight of Seven and as the Knight of Zero. This was how he fought and he saw no need to change it. But how could he if he couldn't get up close to the enemy Knightmare? For some reason, Jormungand's Knightmare was way faster than the Shinkiro and no matter how much energy he put into the thruster, he would always remain behind and at too much of a distance to launch a combat attack. And the Hadron Cannon would be too dangerous to use in a crowded area like this with all it's buildings and settlements.

Zero might have already put in an evacuation order, but anyone who hadn't gotten put in time might get hurt and Suzaku would not risk it.

The scowl on his face grew. This was becoming a tedious task and he didn't want to play cat and mouse all day. A red light on the monitors caught his attention and his eyes widened.

"A buffer," Suzaku whispered. And so, the two Knightmare then made to twirl and squueze through the spaces of the buildings in a baseless unity. The attacks ceased as the giant wall that had been built to surround the Black Knights HQ came up in a flurry and Suzaku whole-heartedly believed that the Knightmare would give him a chance to strike- would pause to redirect itself- but it didn't.

It went full speed ahead towards the wall and swiftly changed it's course from straight ahead to up towards the skies. And only when Suzaku made to follow, did he notice sparks of light from the dark abyss surrounding him.

Some type of wire was upon the Shinkiro's limbs almost instantly as other Knightmares made themselves known. Blue, Green, Red and Grey lined themselves up, surrounding the restrained form of the mighty Knightmare of Zero.

"What is this!?" Zero hissed as he continued to struggle against the bonds and even the sharp edges he brought out from the frame didn't snap the wires away, but instead they seemed to get tighter the more he tugged at it.

"I suggest you stop struggling," Matthias said from his Tyrant that was floating a bit above the Shinkiro. "You'll only make it harder for yourself."

"Like you care about that," Zero sneered.

Matthias raised a brow, "What?"

"Bombing innocents just to tell the world you exist? That's despicable!" Zero spat, "So why would you care about what I do!?"

"Well, considering you're the person who liberated Japan from Britannia, I'd say that you're a big threat for our vision of eternity,"

Suzaku's brows scrunched in confusion, "Eternity?"

"Yes," Matthias nodded from within his Knightmare, "I'm sure you saw our broadcast from three days ago, did you not? It's quite hard to miss if I say so myself. We seek to preserve the peace and make sure a nation is never oppressed for its culture and religion. We want to make sure it never ends up oppressed by another like Britannia oppressed others countless times."

"You…" Suzaku whispered in astonishment before a scowl replaced it. "Do you even understand how contradictory you sound?"

"I do not believe I see a contradiction,"

The masked man growled, "Everything was already at peace before you showed up! From what you're saying, the world won't be at peace! It'll just be under another country that wants to bestow its own culture onto the the others and not allow them to have any diversity! That's oppression!"

"Bestow its own…?" Matthias whispered in confusion, "Jormungand is made up of people from different nations! We have diversity in our very own country! We won't-"

"That would be enough, A-3," A voice crackled in from the comms, "Please continue with the rest of the plan. Remember, any sort of delay is not acceptable."

"Commander…! I understand," Matthias mumbled and looked back at the Shinkiro. "Talking will be of no more use. It's time we finish this." He looked at the four other Knightmares from which the wires were protruding. "Begin."

The pilots of the Knightmares nodded and a second later, the wires were engulfed in a sizzle of purple that slithered its way up to the Shinkiro and the systems of Zero's Knightmare crackled in static before going into darkness.

Panic settled across Suzaku's face bit he quickly pushed it down, urging his Knightmare to move with the controls only for it to come out useless. He could see as the Tyrant pulled out a sword which seemed to pulse with energy and it began to inch towards Zero with each passing second and all Suzaku could do was watch helplessly.

A thought passed through his mind but he crushed it ruthlessly like a flea.

"Oh, no you don't!"

And he watched at the Tyrant was tackled away by a red Knightmare that was oh so familiar. He had seen it in action so many times, but it had always been on the opposite side of him. To see that very same Knightmare that he's never been call anything but an enemy come to his aid, was a surreal feeling.

The Shinkiro and the Guren may have fought together before.

Zero and Q-1 may have fought together before.

But Suzaku and Kallen had never fought together before.

You are Zero now. Not Suzaku. Never Suzaku again. A voice berated him. Suzaku Kururugi is dead.

A cold feeling wafted in his heart but he didn't pay it any mind. He could already see several more Knightmares of the Black Knights approaching and he felt relieved yet slightly disappointed in himself for letting his guard down like that.

Turning his head, Zero watched as the Guren traded blows with Jormungand's Knightmare and as the Burais and Gekkas threw themselves into combat against the other enemy Knightmares.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" Kallen yelled from inside the Guren as she reflected another bullet coming her way. "Deciding what we get to do and what we don't!?"

Matthias jumped back when Kallen tried to use the Radiant Wave Surger. "We won't rule over you!"

"Well, you're clearly trying to take away everything a nation stands for!"

"Zero! Zero! Can you hear us!?" The masked man's attention was drawn onto the one active monitor.

He quickly pushed a button so that he could respond. "Yes, I can hear you, Cecile."

"Oh thank goodness!" Cecile spoke, relief evident in her voice. "We don't know how that monitor is still on after that electrical signal from those wires, but it's good that it is. Listen, we need you to abandon that Knightmare-"

"No!" Lloyd's voice screamed, "I still have many more tests filed out for that Knightmare! You can't just-"

"Lloyd!" Cecile berated.

"I hate to say it, but I agree with the Earl of Pudding. That Knightmare is my child-!"

"Ms. Chawla!" Cecile gasped. "This is for survival! You can build the Knightmare again later but Zero can't be resurrected!"

"Oh really? Considering he's come back from the dead once before-"

"Zero, I have to ask you abandon the Knightmare," Cecile said, breaking off Rakshata's words. "Ohgi had already been assigned to retrieve you, so we need you to get to the coordinates sent on your phone. Do you think you can do it?"

Zero detached his gloved hands from the controllers and sighed, "There's no other option. I'll make it."

Cecile gave a huff of relief, "Good. Signing off now, Zero."

Suzaku quickly got to work. Taking hold of the seat, he stood in the jostling cockpit of the Shinkiro, the sound of fighting just a blur in the back of his mind. He was somehow able to get the hatch open as it was his only route of escape seeing as to how the ejection system had also stopped working along with most of the electronic controls. Hazed smoke greeted his eyes and the thundering sound of bullets and clashing steel struck his ears. Zero grit his teeth in pain but managed to muster the strength needed to get down to the ground.

He then began in a sprint towards the depths of the trees that lined up the path to the Black Knights HQ.

"He's getting away!"

"After him!"

Slash harkens zipped into the Tyrants' path, blocking their pursuit, but even so many more enemy units were arriving by air- a small portion of which seemed to be heading Zero's way.

So Zero did what he could.

He ran.

[Outskirts of the Tokyo Settlement, Japan]

"If your destination is the Tokyo Settlement, I suggest you make other plans,"

Lelouch raised a brow, his amethyst eyes glinting in the shadows of the night under the hood of the jacket he currently wore. He paused in his march towards the truck and turned back to look at the old lady who owned the diner they had just bought some food from. "And why is that?"

She shrugged, "I don't really know but I've heard that a battle was taking place there. My customers have been hurrying away and I will be closing shop earlier than I usually do. They said some frightening things about that Jormungand having seemingly attacked out of nowhere a few hours ago. See that horde over there by the other road?"

The old woman pointed to a road parallel to the one they were currently on; the road that led out of the Tokyo Settlement. It was filled with signs of evacuation as people crowded out in a hurry from the Settlement.

"They're getting people out of that place," The lady continued. "It's dangerous."

"Meh, it's fine," C.C's voice interrupted as she slowly walked over to the two figures. "We flirt with danger more often than you know. Now, if you'll excuse us, we really should be on our way."

The lady sighed but nodded, "Suit yourself. Just be careful."

C.C flashed a small smile her way before she quickly grabbed Lelouch's hand and made a beeline for the truck parked just a few meters away. Lelouch doesn't resist and instead ends up being the one leading her to the truck as urgency claws at his heart and mind. The shadowed forms of Sayoko and Imran lounging in the front seats of the truck were soon visible to the duo and seeing them approaching, Sayoko and Imran took their leave from the front and entered the back. C.C quickly seated herself on the driver's seat, her posture tense as she gripped the steering wheel and pulled the truck into forward gear as soon as Lelouch got himself situated.

"Is something the matter?" Sayoko asked, raising a brow at the uncomfortable expression on their faces. Imran looked at the two curiously but a small spark in his eyes could show that had an inkling of the situation.

"Jormungand's already there," Lelouch grit out, his fists tightening before him as the truck swerved onto the road leading to the battleground known as the Tokyo Settlement. "I didn't expect them to be making their next move so soon. I don't doubt the Black Knights' abilities but I can't help but feel that something's off."

Imran sighed, "Then we need to hurry."

And that was the end of the conversation, the sound of the engine filling in the silence as truck continued forward full-speed until finally reached the edge that entered the settlement.

"We can't head into a war-zone with a truck," C.C stated bluntly and Lelouch glanced at her with a speck if annoyance.

"I know that, witch,"

Imran lazily turned to Sayoko, "What's with the name?"

"It's a bit hard to understand couples especially when it's these two,"

"We are not a couple!" Lelouch argued back to which he was graced with the deadpan looks of both Sayoko and Imran. "And stop getting off topic! A city is in crisis here!"

"We can't really do much without the necessary armaments," C.C replied. "We only have the two Prison Knightmares we managed to somehow fit in the back."

The situation was quite clear to everyone present in the truck. Just two Knightmares would not do it especially if they were older models which were only fit for prison guarding considering the fact that they were going up against newer and more efficient models. And even if they were to be put into use, only two of the four would be able to use it and the other two would be left defenceless. The sound of faraway fighting reigned for a moment until Imran's voice emerged.

"You were the Emperor, right?" He asked rhetorically before continuing. "So, would you happen to know any bases where Knightmares were stored?"

Lelouch shook his head, "There are barely any bases of that sort in the settlement and if we tried infiltrating them now and get to the point where we could access their Knightmares, it would be incredibly time-consuming and time is of the essence here."

Before Lelouch could try speculating further, Sayoko's eyes widened as an idea struck her and she interrupted, "Actually, Master Lelouch, I believe there is a place that we can acquire Knightmares without having to go through all the trouble."

Lelouch stared at her in question but realisation soon dawned on him. "Oh, you're right."

C.C rose a brow at their exchange as she felt confusion arise but of course, that emotion was neatly tucked away from her facial expressions. Imran, on the other hand, just sighed and waited for either of the two to reveal thr name of the mysterious location. He had long since gotten used to being out of the loop with this group and it wasn't all that surprising considering how he'd just joined three days ago.

Gathering his thoughts, Lelouch turned to face C.C, "We're taking a detour. C.C, we need to head to head to Ashford Academy."

[Tokyo Settlement, Japan]

"All units!" Cornelia addressed her soldiers from inside the cockpit of her Gloucester, "Our main objective here is to assist the Black Knights and minimise all damage to the Settlement while driving the enemy out! Do you all understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!" A collective response.

From his own Gloucester, Guilford followed Cornelia along with the rest of their legion and he subtly smiled at Cornelia's commands. Before, she'd always be on the offence no matter what the situation. If there's anything good that's happened from going up against her own brother during his time as Zero, then it would be that she has learnt to defend as well.

Not just a destroyer.

Now also a protector.

The thought felt foreign yet comforting but the time to mull over such things was not now. The unit of the Britannian Army under Cornelia's command was now charging out into battle and going up against the swords of enemies of who little was known about.

Guilford watched as the Guren Mark II danced aggressively with another unit belonging to the enemy faction and as Cornelia and the other Britannian soldiers engaged in battle with the Jormungand troops. He himself joined in as per his duty and the sound of metal clashing against metal filled the night sky.

"We need to fend all of them off from reaching the heart of the settlement until all the civilians have been evacuated!" Cornelia called.

The cries of acknowledgement she received felt distant to her as a small thought kept bugging her mind, but she had to push it into a corner while she fought, a grimace marring her face.

"Q-1, how are you holding up?" Cornelia asked through the comms, "Do you require any assistance?"

The comms crackled as the line established, "You don't get to call me that! And yeah, I can handle this scrap of metal!"

A smirk soon replaced the grimace on her lips, as Cornelia postured her Gloucester straight and flexed her spear to the side before bringing it to the front, readily, "Well then, let's cut them down!"

Ah, the Goddess of Victory had arrived. Guilford smiled.

"Yes, Princess!"

E.E watched in silence from her spot hidden within the clouds, a frown marring her pale face. A sigh escaped her lips, as she leaned back further into her seat with her hand coming up on the armrest to support the weight of her head.

"Bored?"

Her eyes slid towards the comms as it buzzed into life, the silhouette of a figure appearing strangely within it armed with static. The blue haired immortal pursed her lips, "Why the delay?"

"An unfortunate hold-up on both sides. They're both on their way there, though. Only a piece is missing but it's nothing I can't provide."

"Very well then," E.E murmured. "See to it that there needn't be any further changes in the plan. It can be detrimental for everyone."

The figure nodded. "I am aware. Please make sure you fulfil your end of the deal as well. A lot of people will die because of this."

"I know. We have a contract and you know that I never go back on my word. Your cooperation is most appreciated. However, I believe the time for chit-chat has come to a close."

"I see. You never really were much for talking," They sighed. "Very well then, I shall begin preparations."

"Yes, please do," E.E added, a wistful smile quirked at her lips as the comms flickered out signalling the call's end. The immortal sat up in her seat and quickly inched her hands towards the controls, a grim expression on her face. "Nothing's ever fair in love and war." She pulled the controls back, her Tyrant jolting along and striking out over the sky.

"I apologise," She whispered. "for everything."

Next Chapter:

Geass 5: Demon's Call

A/N: I'm craving brownies so hard right now, but life is so cruel. I've moved to where I live now from a different country and I haven't seen a single brownie here at all! What is up with that!? Do they not exist here!? Stupid bakeries!

Anyways...that was chapter 4 of Code Geass: Masquerade Redemption. What did you guys think? After working on this for months now, it's finally here! You have no idea how happy this makes me considering all the times I banged my head on a wall when all the parts I'd just written ended up disappearing when I tried to save them due to my shitty Internet connection…

Ok, that's enough ranting. Now the chapter, I know I said that Lelouch would be coming back into society this chapter and I planned on finishing the battle in here, but then the length of it would be enormous and frankly, that would take a lot of time to come out. So, I added another chapter to my plans for this story and you can consider this chapter as part 1 of the Jormungand's greeting and the next chapter will be part 2. However, do note that this battle might end up being divided into 3 parts (most likely) because it takes me a lot of time to come up with battle sequences and I like to plan out part by part of it. Seeing as to how this is probably my first time writing battle scenes, this process can get really long and thus, updates will take more time. I tried figuring out how to pull this off faster and I think I've got a game plan.

Now, usually I'd write the next chapter thing above as something to give you a basic idea of what the next chapter will be about and not the actual title, but I'm going to stop that now. I'll put in the actual chapter title there from now onwards.

So, as you can tell, the characters of Code Geass: Akito the Exiled will be playing a part in this story because- well, the E.U is involved. That's all the explanation I need for that. And I know that many of you may understand that E.E and Yukio have a contract, so Yukio has a Geass. Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to be giving you a good understanding of what that Geass is and what it can do until we're further into the story. This for a good reason, trust me.

Also, I'd like to apologise for the spelling and grammar mistakes you may find in this story. I usually just post the chapter right when I'm done writing the events and later on when I have time, I go back to it to check for spelling or grammar mistakes and the like. Stupid of me, I know. I don't have a beta so these problems occur, and especially more so seeing as to how English is not my first language. But still, I try my best and hence forth, I'll try to look over the chapter for these things before I publish now. Excuse me for the trouble you may have while reading this story. I'm just a school kid with story ideas I can't keep to myself.

There were a few other things I wanted to add to this chapter that kind of lightened up the modd, but then I realised that it would completely break the severity of things if I just added that now. So, the light-hearted things will have to wait. Sad, I know.

Another thing I'd like to make clear is that the update on my ongoing stories section that I give on my profile does not give an exact date of when the next chapter is going to come out. Unfortunately, I can't guarantee the exact date because school life is a roller coaster even during this pandemic. The update there basically tells you that I have not given up on the story and around when you can expect the next chapter to come out. So, if you'd like to get that basic idea, go check out the 'Updates on Ongoing Stories' section of my profile. And, if by some miracle, I can find enough time to write it on a free schedule, I'll include a specific date and I'll stick to it.

I'm going to try and work with an update schedule of a monthly update but if I do choose to do that, September is going to have to be left out because I have exams on that month and my exam portion is huge and I only have three weeks to study. And I guess that means I'll be even more sleep deprived than I usually am so I'll have make a study schedule there and I still need free time to watch, read manga and do other things so….yeah.

So to wrap this up...

Next chapter, Lelouch meets an old ally and E.E betrays her conscience, but is that really all that's happening? This story has only just begun and reality's far more gruesome than it may seem. For life is not a fairy tail- it never has been.

Stay tuned~
And thank you to all those who came back to this story even after such a long time!